What Went Wrong? Lessons in Leadership from Solomon, the Bible’s Wisest and Worst Ruler

This paper attempts to demonstrate the many insights about successful and unsuccessful leadership that may be derived from the life of King Solomon, who, according to Scripture, was the wisest man who ever lived. Solomon may have been very wise but made some very serious blunders as a leader that led to the breakup of his empire after his son took over. This paper answers the obvious question as to which mistake/character flaw transformed Solomon from a great leader to an unsuccessful leader. This paper will also examine the Book of Proverbs attributed to Solomon and see what leadership lessons can be gleaned from it. One question that the paper will attempt to answer is whether or not Solomon followed the path of wisdom discussed in Proverbs

A study of selected Hebrew high schools in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to determine how they confront the problem of assimilation in the American Jewish community

This study examines the goals and curricula of two supplementary Hebrew high schools and questions whether they changed their focus after the release of the 1990 Council of Jewish Federations\u27 National Jewish Population Survey, which cited a 52% rate of intermarriage since 1985. The study investigates the synagogues\u27 response to the reported 52% rate of intermarriage, as well as the response of the south Jersey Jewish community as a whole. It probes successful strategies for synagogues and their staff to increase the retention rate of their post bar/bat mitzvah students, through their confirmation. By means of interviews with rabbis, principals, teachers, students, parents of students, and the head of the Department of Jewish Education of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, the study explores the relationship between additional post bar/bat mitzvah Jewish education and resulting student attitudes towards interdating and intermarriage. Results of the interviews were analyzed, using information gleaned from national studies and surveys. Education is an effective tool for producing young adults with positive attitudes toward their Jewish identity but not necessarily young adults who reject interdating. Youths\u27 attitudes toward interdating correlate strongly with those of their parents: many parents skirt the issue because they lack the skills and knowledge to deal with it. Therefore, communities and synagogues need to take more initiative and direct more resources toward educating the multi-generational family in order to adequately confront the problem of assimilatio

Welcome to New York City, COVID-19 Capital of the World

[Excerpt] We write to you from the epicenter of the United States coronavirus pandemic, New York City, more specifically from the deadliest zip code in Brooklyn, where we are “sheltering in place” Times Square, New York City, New York April 22, 2020, Courtesy Pearl Weisel although, being New Yorkers, we prefer to call it “lockdown.” New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo likes to say we are on PAUSE, an acronym for Policies Assure Uniform Safety for Everyone. Thank goodness, an acronym. We’re in good hands

What Went Wrong? Lessons in Leadership from Solomon, the Bible’s Wisest and Worst Ruler

This paper attempts to demonstrate the many insights about successful and unsuccessful leadership that may be derived from the life of King Solomon, who, according to Scripture, was the wisest man who ever lived. Solomon may have been very wise but made some very serious blunders as a leader that led to the breakup of his empire after his son took over. This paper answers the obvious question as to which mistake/character flaw transformed Solomon from a great leader to an unsuccessful leader. This paper will also examine the Book of Proverbs attributed to Solomon and see what leadership lessons can be gleaned from it. One question that the paper will attempt to answer is whether or not Solomon followed the path of wisdom discussed in Proverbs

Encounters with God: Rabbinic Stories and What We Can Learn from Them

Storytelling skills are an indispensable way of teaching people lessons. Unlike case histories that are limited to facts, stories can stir emotions and arouse the audience\u27s passion. This may be why stories, even fiction, have been used to teach ethics/Mussar. The sages of the Talmud were not historians; they told stories—fascinating ones. The Rabbinic stories involving God are a clever device to teach various lessons about the Divine. Several of the above narratives demonstrate conclusively how the legal system based on the Torah is supposed to work. The stories are also designed to show that God cares about people and even spends His time as a matchmaker. God is very close to humanity in Talmudic stories and even laughs when they best Him; he is also a bit of a joker. He has incredible warmth for His creations and sometimes seeks advice and blessings from mortals. He appreciates a good discussion and allows angels and people to argue with him. The authors provide a Table to illustrate the characteristics, lessons, and ideas contained in each of the examined stories

How We Got Here: Connectivity, Creativity, Confluence and Internet Culture

There are more innovations today than at any time in human history. The companies that value creativity and diversity of ideas in their hires are the ones most likely to thrive. Indeed, the key asset of a corporation is the abilities, innovativeness, and creativity of its employees. The authors construct a timeline of critical events leading up to today’s highly networked and interconnected world with its ubiquitous social media technologies. The current state has been influenced by advances in media, technology, military defense, and commerce. One trend that stands out in this timeline is the increasing rate of change. It also becomes apparent that the companies that will survive are the ones that are nimble, sensitive to changes in the competitive environment, and can quickly adapt

A Framework for Information Systems Metaresearch: The Quest for Identity

Information systems (IS) research has a rich history of self-referential research efforts, i.e., those in which the object under study happens to be IS research itself. The nature of such inquiry has always been an ontological pursuit of the identity of IS research. In the current paper, we adopt a positivistic approach to what exactly is the identity of IS research. We extrapolate the IS discipline as an organization using concepts from organizational identity, and incorporate the quest for identity as a form of social identity, thus bringing it within the theoretical realm of the social identity theory. We posit that the best way to seek out this ontological pursuit is by looking at the observations of IS research from its highest level of abstraction–that is, from a metaresearch perspective. We examine the literature and identify major recurrent themes that discuss the identity of IS research–those that focus on the essence, the sustainability, indeed, the very future of IS research. We develop a framework based on this overarching quest for identity as a unifying theme that integrates the diverse streams as dimensions of achieving identity. These metaresearch streams include rigor, relevance, diversity and the essential core. We also look at current trends in IS research and highlight how they appear to correlate well with this research framework

The Gap Between What We Know and What We Do About Childhood Obesity: A Multi-factor Model for Assessment, Intervention, and Prevention

Childhood obesity in the United States has increased alarmingly and much is becoming known about multiple factors that contribute to this epidemic. These include environmental (e.g., prevalent junk foods), behavioral (e.g., inactivity), intrapsychic (e.g., depression), interpersonal (e.g., parenting style), as well as biological, socioeconomic, and cultural factors, to name just a few. A comprehensive multi-factor model of childhood obesity is presented based on extant research and its implications for assessment, intervention, and prevention are explored. Emphasis is placed on the importance of developing sound assessment approaches, on the potential value of treatment matching using interventions focused on assessment results on each child’s unique combination of causal factors, and more broadly on public health implications for prevention

The Summit on Creativity and Aging in America

This report looks at how the federal government can leverage the arts to foster healthy aging and inclusive design for this growing population. This white paper features recommendations from the May 2015 Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, a convening of more than 70 experts hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Creative Aging. The paper highlights recommendations on healthy aging, lifelong learning in the arts, and age-friendly community design. The summit was a precursor to the 2015 White House Conference on Aging, which addressed four major issues: retirement security, long-term services and supports, healthy aging, and elder abuse