Need to Know for Oct. 2

Obama endorses Jealous, Baltimore’s bad crime weekend, Nobel Prize, Seth Rogen in a pickle

Obama endorses Jealous

Benjamin Jealous is the Democratic candidate for governor. (Handout photo)

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous, who would be the first African-American governor of Maryland if elected, received the endorsement of former President Barack Obama. While still trailing in the polls, the Jealous campaign has laid out a path to victory that relies on a large Democratic turnout from voters angry with President Donald Trump. Here in Maryland, Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1, and Obama carried the state with ease in both the 2008 and 2012 elections, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. In a statement released by the Jealous campaign, Obama praised Jealous’ record as the president of the NAACP and his support of progressive causes. “Ben Jealous is an accomplished civil rights leader, businessman, and advocate for working people,” Obama said in a statement. “His exemplary work as national President of the NAACP and as a leader in Maryland fighting for the DREAM Act, marriage equality, voting rights, and the abolition of the death penalty make him the best candidate for Governor. As a social impact investor, Ben has worked closely with small businesses, creating jobs and building a more inclusive economy. He has the vision, experience, and courage to move families forward, which is why I ask all Marylanders to stand with me in supporting his election as Maryland’s next Governor.” Obama also endorsed Courtney Watson, a candidate for the House of Delegates in District 9B. Mason-Dixon Polling surveyed 625 voters and found that Gov. Larry Hogan still holds a comfortable lead, 52 to 37. Nine percent of voters remain undecided.

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All hands on deck at BPD

Baltimore City Crime Scene — Baltimore City crime scene (Photo by Joel Nadler)

Following a deadly week that saw 18 killings in Baltimore, police are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach in attempt to quell violence. Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle announced Oct. 1 that an additional 527 officers and detectives, 66 sergeants and 20 lieutenants will be deployed on city streets, focusing on areas where they believe retaliatory shootings may occur, over the next three days, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. The department is suspending leave time, except in emergency situations, to free up the manpower. “We’ve scrubbed this building for personnel that can be on the street, in uniform, doing the job,” Tuggle said during a press conference at police headquarters. While noting that it would be impossible for his department to control human behavior, Tuggle said it was important to have a strong presence in the wake of the violent uptick to serve as a deterrent. A breakdown provided by Tuggle shows the murders happened across the city: two in the Central District, one in the Eastern District, three in the Northeastern District, two in the Northern District, one in the Northwestern District, one in the Western District, four in the Southwestern District and four in the Southern District.

3 researchers, including 96-year-old Jewish American, win Nobel Prize in Physics

Three researchers, including a Jewish American, won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventions in the field of laser physics. Arthur Ashkin, who retired after 40 years from Bell Labs in New Jersey in 1992, but remains active in his home laboratory, at 96 is the oldest ever Nobel laureate. He started his work on manipulation of microparticles with laser light in the late 1960s which resulted in the invention of optical tweezers in 1986. Optical tweezers can grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers and have resulted in the invention of advanced precision instruments used in corrective eye surgery and in industry. Ashkin won one half of the $1 million prize, with Gerard Mourou of France and Donna Strickland of Canada sharing the other half for together developing a method to generate ultra-short optical pulses, which also is used in corrective eye surgery. Ashkin also is known for his studies in photorefraction, second harmonic generation, and non-linear optics in fibers. He holds 47 patents. His parents were immigrants from the Ukraine who married and settled in Brooklyn, where Ashkin was born. He received a PhD in nuclear physics from Cornell University.–JTA

Israel launches high-speed train linking Jerusalem to airport

Israel Railways launched a new fast connection between Jerusalem and Ben Gurion Airport, promising a 20-minute ride once glitches are worked out. The new connection began operating free on Sept. 25, The Marker reported, but passengers had to reserve a ticket online in advance of the journey. One train is departing every hour currently, but the frequency will be increased in the coming months to four per hour, the report said. Each train carries up to 400 passengers. The ticket price from the Tel Aviv-area airport to Jerusalem will be under $5. The $2 billion high-speed connection project, which was launched more than 10 years ago and has cost more than double its initial budget, was scheduled to be completed by March 2018, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz told Ynet in 2016. Safety concerns caused the postponement of the launch date. At 260 feet below ground, the Jerusalem terminal of the new train is one of the world’s deepest. Passengers told The Marker that navigating the terminal and descending in its elevators can easily take 10 minutes. Transportation by train between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem used to take more than 90 minutes even though the cities are only 33 miles apart. Using the connection to the airport and switching trains there shortens the trip to about 45 minutes. The trip from Jerusalem to the airport takes about 40 minutes by road. The high-speed rail runs for miles through mountains in a set of tunnels. Excavating the tunnels greatly complicated the project, causing a delay of approximately seven years and ballooning its budget. Once fully operational, the train will save millions of dollars in lost productivity and make Jerusalem a more attractive seat for the high-tech industry, its proponents maintain. Among the tunnels dug are two of Israel’s longest, each measuring 7 miles. The route also features Israel’s tallest bridge, at 311 feet, just outside Jerusalem. –JTA

Samaritans view part of ancient Torah scroll stolen from them in 1995

More than 20 years after the theft of ancient Torah scrolls from a Samaritan synagogue in Nablus, the Israel Antiquities Authority retrieved one page from the missing objects and invited its owners to view it. The piece of parchment was retrieved earlier this year during a customs inspection. It came from one of two missing 14th-century Torah scrolls that were stolen in 1995 from a house of worship belonging to the Samaritans – a community of several hundred people who follow an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism. It was found during a routine customs check of a backpacker seeking to exit Israel to Jordan through the Allenby Crossing, the news site Kipa reported Sept. 26. Uri Mendes, the deputy head of the Civil Administration body that governs the West Bank, showed the retrieved parchment last week to leaders of the Samaritan community, whose Torah is said by adherents to reflect what the ancient Israelites practiced before the Babylonian exile. The scroll is believed to have been written in 1362 by the scholar Avishua ben Pinchas. Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron Regional Council, called for the retrieved page to be given back to the Samaritan community for safekeeping.–JTA

Seth Rogen will play a time-traveling Jewish pickle maker in upcoming movie

This could be Seth Rogen’s most Jewish role yet. The Jewish actor is set to play a young pickle maker named Herschel Greenbaum who gets trapped inside a barrel for 100 years. The pickle brine preserves him, so he does not age. When he emerges from the barrel, Brooklyn is full of hipsters — not the ethnic Jewish immigrants of Herschel’s time. Yes, you read all of that correctly. The currently untitled project is an adaptation of Simon Rich’s very Jewish novella “Sell Out,” published in the New Yorker in 2013, The Hollywood Reporter learned. Rogen is teaming up with his longtime Jewish collaborator Evan Goldberg, and Rich is writing the screenplay and executive producing. Production is set to begin in October. Rich is the son of Jewish columnist Frank Rich and brother of Nathaniel Rich, a novelist and essayist himself. The protagonist of “Sell Out” is a Jewish immigrant who finds a job at a Brooklyn factory. Here’s an excerpt: “One day at work I fall into brine and they close the lid above me by mistake. Much time passes; it feels like long sleep. When the lid is finally opened, everybody is dressed strange, in colorful, shiny clothes. I do not recognize them. They tell me they are ‘conceptual artists’ and are ‘reclaiming the abandoned pickle factory for a performance space.’ I realize something bad has happened in Brooklyn.” –JTA

Health Wise

Among the advantages of living in the Baltimore metropolitan area is the incredible access to some of the best health care institutions and facilities in the nation. In Jmore’s October issue, we cover innovative techniques in the area, a Pediatric Brain Injury Program, cosmetic surgery trends, sleep disorders and more.

Here’s Jmore’s guide to healthy living in the Baltimore area.

Donate your gently used clothing

Taylor Listening Center is collecting gently used clothing for women and children during the months of October and November. All clothing will be donated to Asylee Women Enterprise, a Baltimore-area non-profit. These women seeking asylum come to the U.S. with absolutely nothing. Drop your donations off to The Commerce Center, 1777 Reisterstown Road Suite 118a, during business hours (Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday: 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m.). Asylee Women Enterprise (AWE) helps women seeking asylum to rebuild their lives and their spirits. AWE provides transitional housing, companionship and community to asylum seekers by offering a safe and nurturing home, opportunities to connect within the larger community and each other.

More information: asyleewomen.org

Meet-up, eat-up and drink-up with Jmore at our JBiz networking event on Nov. 7 at Renaissance Fine Arts in Cross Keys. For more information and to get tickets, go to jmoreliving.com/jbizmeetup.

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