Giora and Edna Shaviv

Edna Shaviv, of Israel, received the 2012 Passive Pioneer Award:

The American Solar Energy Society has established this award for passive solar pioneers. It honors those in the passive field whose pioneering work set the stage for others to follow. Honorees are men and women who developed the theories, early research efforts, new concepts, and opportunities for later researchers to develop. Their foresight, innovative thinking, and creativity opened the doors for others.

Over the last 40 years, Shaviv has created software, integrated ideas on community design, and initiated research in the United States and in Israel changing the way buildings perform. Edna and her husband, Giora, lived in Boulder in the late 1970s.

Frank Kreith

Frank Kreith Professor Emeritus of Engineering, University of Colorado – Boulder, was honored with the Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award,

Dr. Abbot was a prominent researcher in solar energy. During his lifetime of 101 years, he developed a number of instruments for measuring insolation, determined the solar constant with great accuracy, and contributed greatly to the understanding of the solar resource on earth.

Dr. Kreith was honored for his innovative thinking that spurred many technology advancements. He has publicly promoted solar energy for decades while inspiring generations of young engineers. In addition to CU-Boulder, he has taught at Lehigh University, University of California, and in Israel “when there were only quonset huts in Be’er Sheva.”

The awards were presented during the World Renewable Energy Forum in Denver.

Rabbi Marc Soloway and Rabbi Ori Har of Haver, Boulder’s Rabbinic Fellowship, opened the evening’s program. Rabbi Har noted that the night’s value in the counting of the Omer was “Beauty in Strength or Gratitude that comes from Strength.” This took on added meaning as the evening unfolded, with mother-daughter pairs in conversation telling their own stories of survival and growth. Irene and Beverly Rosenschein, Doris and Miriam Small and Rabbi Ori and Lael Har shared brief recollections in armchair interviews.

This annual remembrance day is set aside, through the wisdom of our tradition, with an amazing opportunity to still hear from the remaining few blessed survivors,” said Gary Kornfeld.

We were privileged to record parts of the conversations.

Keeping Kosher for Passover? There’s an app for that! The Orthodox Union (OU) has released an app for iphone/ipad that tracks kosher status of everyday products. Called “OU Kosher,” the app includes Kosher for Passover products, product alerts, new certifications, and general info. Product details include brand names that you may even find in local stores.

Carry a Pocket Haggadah? There’s an app for that! Now you can prep for the holiday wherever you are, in case you need a refresher on the order or the blessings – which are included in Hebrew and English. And of course, “Instructions for when to drink the cups of wine.”

Want a bigger one? There’s another app for that! The Haggadah App one was funded on Kickstarter.com and is “the world’s first multimedia Haggadah built for the iPad.” Featuring songs, recipes, an alternative approach to the seder from Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder of Storahtelling, audio commentary from Rabbi Irwin Kula of CLAL, and even activities for kids.

iMahNishtana – no we are not kidding, there’s an app for that. Kids, don’t let us down. Practice a little before the seder.

Beyond apps - “A Rugrats Passover” is available on iTunes, and there’s even “Gluten Free Passover Cookbook” in the iBooks store.

Not just for Passover: Kids just want to play, you want them to learn Hebrew – There’s an app for that!

Israeli iPad app developer Gil Weiss recently released a new educational Hebrew app - Kids 1st shape puzzle – learning animals, alphabets & numbers is “an entertaining and fun-filled word learning game in English and Hebrew.” This puzzle-based app is great for kids ages 2+, as it includes all the basic words – אלף בית,numbers, colors, house things, fruits and vegetables and more. Check it out!

Boulder Hadassah's Past Presidents Present

Local Hadassah members celebrated the organization’s 100th Birthday Thursday night in Boulder, with champagne, chocolate, cake and Chagall. Surrounded by the beautiful art on the walls of the Boulder JCC, Hadassah members of all ages gathered to toast this milestone. Ten Presidents of Boulder Hadassah – a minyan! – were on hand as well as Liz Fox, National Board Member from Boulder.

Though most of the guests did not need reminding, current President Sharlene Kark remarked on the truly lifesaving work done by Hadassah and how it had touched her own family. Just this week, Hadassah opened the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower at Hadassah-Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, to relieve overcrowding at their other facilities.

Many have heard of the Chagall windows at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. The birthday celebration included a documentary about artist Marc Chagall as well as the story of how he connected with Hadassah.

Boulder Jewish News congratulates Hadassah on their 100th birthday!  Here are pictures from the event:

Last year they released an app to help “unplug” smartphones. This year, they have teamed up with Causes.com and launched a “Cause” you can join, then share with friends on Facebook.

The National Day of Unplugging, rooted in the tradition of the Sabbath, is guided by Reboot’s Sabbath Manifesto, an ongoing project that encourages people to slow down their lives by embracing its 10 principles once a week:

1. Avoid Technology
2. Connect With Loved Ones
3. Nurture Your Health
4. Get Outside
5. Avoid Commerce
6. Light Candles
7. Drink Wine
8. Eat Bread
9. Find Silence
10. Give Back

In case that list isn’t enough of a start, you can sign up for the Undolist, an email that comes out weekly with a brief list of ideas of things to do/explore while you are unplugged.

on Friday afternoon you’ll receive the weekly UNDO list filled with ideas for conversation topics, readings, local outings and creative endeavors to ease the time away from technology and help make the day better.”

(That works unless you have your own personal “honey-do” list, in which case you are already booked with things to do while you are unplugged. Yes, you.)

To connect with National Day of Unplugging on Facebook, go here: http://www.facebook.com/SabbathManifesto

To learn more about the Sabbath Manifesto, the on-going unplugging project that was the genesis of the National Day of Unplugging, go here: http://www.NationalDayOfUnplugging.com

Will you unplug?

In a twist this year, guests were able to purchase a ticket that included a donation to Jewish Family Service and nearly half the guests chose this – raising over $250 for JFS for safety net needs in Colorado.

A big thank you to local business sponsors:

• Falafel King
• Hapa Sushi
• Rembrandt Yard
• 303 Vodka
• Colorado Native
• TheNextStepVideo
• Lindsay’s Boulder Deli
• Rob’s Mountain Gin
• Zolar Brazilian Superfruits
• Naked Pizza

and to the nonprofit co-sponsors:

• Boulder Jewish News
• Boulder JCC
• Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado
• 18 Pomegranates
• SoulFood
• BirthrightNext Denver
• Hazon
• Keshet
• LimmudColorado
• Congregation Bonai Shalom
• Menorah
• Boulder Jewish Festival

Photos and video to follow for those brave enough to watch the sparks. Beware, adult content included!

In addition to soundbites, many of the tweets today included links to videos, websites, slideshows and other resources online. These links should work in the display below – if it starts with http:// you can click on it and it will go to additional content. This is one of the most-used features of Twitter – the ability to share a link with others (similar to sharing on Facebook). The link in the first tweet is to a video that was played during the session – and we’ve added it at the bottom of this article (after the tweet sections) – enjoy!

The first section is “meta” – the social media from a session on social media. After that are tweets from the session on Jewish Futures, cosponsored by 18 Pomegranates Foundation. We look forward to comments from other attendees!