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11 years ago
Rabbi Berel Simpser Added To 8/6 Cruise
Rabbi Berel Simpser was recently added to the August 6, 2012 sailing of the Costa Fascinosa cruise to the Mediterranean! Departing from Venice, Italy and docking in ports such as Santorini and Croatia, this exotic journey still has cabins available.
Born and bred in the New York area, Rabbi Berel Simpser migrated first to sunny Florida, and then to the Midwest, working in Jewish communal work for over two decades. He founded the Des Moines Community Outreach Kollel in 1999 and was a staff member of the Greater Des Moines Jewish Federation for most of his 7 years there, as a communal educator and at Jewish Family Services. Sara and Berel moved to MN in September 2006 with their seven children to start AISH Minnesota. Berel, who has a two Masters in Talmudic Law, and is finishing a Masters in Communal Leadership, has taught a wide variety of inter-denominational classes – ranging from Basic Judaism, Hebrew language, Kabbalah, to ten years at the Florence Melton Adult Mini School. He has also developed educational programs for teachers, parents and students.
Kosherica is the world's leading kosher cruise company!
Passenger Has Iphone Stolen, Recovered
An annoying incident has now turned into worldwide headline news aboard a cruise ship. A passenger had her iPhone stolen aboard a Disney Cruise in April, but she has since recovered it, all due to Apple's "cloud" technology. Katy McCaffrey had her phone stolen and posted a Facebook album titled "Stolen iPhone Adventures". McCaffrey reveals the man she believes is responsible, a Disney Cruise employee named Nelson, whose pictures taken with her phone were automatically pushed to her thanks to Apple's Photo Stream. "This is Nelson," McCaffrey wrote next to this sunset shot of the man, who is wearing a name tag. "Nelson stole my iPhone."
McCaffrey also included pictures of a woman she refers to as Nelson's girlfriend, who also appears to work on the Disney Cruise, social gatherings featuring other employees, and even a man she identifies as the co-captain of the ship. There are twenty photos in all (subtitled: "how Nelson lost his job") and in the comments, the rightful owner writes, "I have alerted the officials of the Disney Cruiseline and forwarded them the photos. Hopefully I'll get my phone back and maybe some free passes to Disneyland."
The moral of the story for wannabe thieves: better think twice before you steal something that may be smarter than you. Cruise travel is generally thought of as a very safe form of travel, and crimes (even petty ones) are extremely rare. For more info, head over to the world's #1 Jewish cruise company.
2013 Passover Filling Fast
Throughout the week, there were daily shows for kids, an amusement park with rides and slides and an all-star day camp that occupied children from 9-5pm. When adults were not busy schmoozing or hitting one of five tournament golf courses, they attended a full-scale lecture series covering a wide range of topics - be it psychological, political or rabbinical.
For more information on Kosherica’s Passover program and numerous kosher cruises throughout the year, visit Kosherica.com or call 877.724.5567.
Crusing Alaska's Glaciers
The first surprise is that they're blue—startlingly blue. A glacier in Alaska doesn't look anything like an ice cube in your freezer. That's
because the ice in tide-water glaciers is so densely packed that it
absorbs all visible light except the short, blue spectrum. There is some
white near the surface, where the ice traps air bubbles, and there are
patches of brown throughout from dirt and rocks and debris. It's all a
reminder of how, on its slow trek downhill, the mighty glacier's
movement scrapes up everything that lies in its path, including the
earth.
We all think we know what a glacier looks like—how many times have you watched Titanic?
But seeing South Sawyer Glacier in person—in one of the last wild
places on the planet—is nothing like you expect. At first, the glacier
looks almost like a toy. As you head out on the Disney Wonder
cruise ship, you pass sparkling blue bergs bobbing like ice cubes in a
punch bowl. On a few of them, you spot seals and eagles sunning
themselves lazily on their icy rafts. As you get closer, however, the
mood changes. You're confronted with what looks like a massive blue
river of ice pouring down the mountains. The individual pieces are
indeed pretty—you can see why the slang for a diamond is "ice"—but they
are also threatening, with their jagged peaks and sharp crevices.
Yet for all the visual drama, what's surprising about getting up close and personal with a glacier is how it hits the other senses. Listen carefully, and you'll hear low groaning and popping and maybe even a distant roar that sounds like thunder. That's the sound of an impossibly large force hauling its weight around the world. You can feel a glacier, too, even when you're not touching it. Even in the middle of the summer, you shiver in your hat and gloves, due not as much to the cold as to the chilling realization that you're witnessing a kind of raw, natural power that makes everything else feel insignificant.
At no time is that sense of helplessness greater than when a glacier calves. Calving (a term that has nothing to do with cows but is related to the word cave, as in cave in) happens when massive icebergs are set loose from the motherland. You see it first: a spray, like a frozen mist or fine sleet, shimmying through the air. Then comes the violent sound of a hotel-size piece of ice falling into the water. If you're close enough, the glacier says good-bye in ripples that rock your boat, as if you'd strayed too close to a waterfall. You don't realize until afterward that you were holding your breath. And then it really hits you: The glacier is dying. Whether that's the result of global warming or the natural ebb and flow of nature is a matter of debate. But there's no question that what you've been witnessing is a piece of earth fading away. Like Luca Brasi in The Godfather, a part of South Sawyer Glacier has just gone to sleep with the fishes.
Join a Kosherica cruise to Alaska while you can still witness the stunning beauty of glaciers.
Yet for all the visual drama, what's surprising about getting up close and personal with a glacier is how it hits the other senses. Listen carefully, and you'll hear low groaning and popping and maybe even a distant roar that sounds like thunder. That's the sound of an impossibly large force hauling its weight around the world. You can feel a glacier, too, even when you're not touching it. Even in the middle of the summer, you shiver in your hat and gloves, due not as much to the cold as to the chilling realization that you're witnessing a kind of raw, natural power that makes everything else feel insignificant.
At no time is that sense of helplessness greater than when a glacier calves. Calving (a term that has nothing to do with cows but is related to the word cave, as in cave in) happens when massive icebergs are set loose from the motherland. You see it first: a spray, like a frozen mist or fine sleet, shimmying through the air. Then comes the violent sound of a hotel-size piece of ice falling into the water. If you're close enough, the glacier says good-bye in ripples that rock your boat, as if you'd strayed too close to a waterfall. You don't realize until afterward that you were holding your breath. And then it really hits you: The glacier is dying. Whether that's the result of global warming or the natural ebb and flow of nature is a matter of debate. But there's no question that what you've been witnessing is a piece of earth fading away. Like Luca Brasi in The Godfather, a part of South Sawyer Glacier has just gone to sleep with the fishes.
Join a Kosherica cruise to Alaska while you can still witness the stunning beauty of glaciers.
June 24 Alaska Kosher Cruise Coming Up Quick
April is already coming to a close, which means that summer is just around the corner. Time seems to be flying in 2012, and it's time to think about a vacation as the weather warms up.
Kosherica's June 24 Alaska kosher cruise is the perfect opportunity! America's grandest state is beckoning, and whether or not you've been before, Alaska always has more to offer. Eagles soar over massive glaciers, mountains and waterfalls while grizzly and black bears forage in the dense forests. The last true wilderness in the United States can be enjoyed from the comfort of a luxury cruise liner, departing from Seattle. With numerous day trips from the ship, whale watching and much more, Norwegian Cruise Line's Pearl will be your home for a week as you cruise through the beautiful Inside Passage. Rabbi Mordechai Shifman is Kosherica's featured Scholar In Residence and will add another level of excitement to the cruise. Learn more today!
When should you book your trip?
Everyone seems to have advice on the subject of the best time to book a trip, but what is the real truth? For every person that tells you to wait until the last minute for the best deal, another person will tell you that you should book as far in advance as possible. A new study was recently completed by the Airlines Reporting Corporation that compared hundreds of travel sites, airlines and agencies to finally reveal the best window to book your trip.
For domestic flights within the U.S., it turns out the most ideal time to book is roughly 6 weeks from the date of travel. The study gathered data from the past 4 years and found the average lowest price was in the "sweet spot" of 6 weeks. So, is the 6-week rule in play for international flights as well? The answer is no, as the study found that the ideal booking time was much farther in advance, in the range of 24 weeks from the date of travel. Although it's long been a tactic to try and wait for a last-minute sale for international flights, experts say that is becoming a risky approach with less chances of success than in previous times. A trip to Europe in the summer should be booked as early as possible, with fare increases common throughout the Spring. The ideal window is 21-22 weeks out for flights to major European cities.
If you're looking into traveling to the Caribbean to escape the cold U.S. winter (perhaps for a kosher cruise), plan on booking 11 to 12 weeks in advance. The most popular destinations, such as Costa Rica and the Bahamas, are exempt from airfare wars generally. Unfortunately, the fares are high year-round and deals are very difficult to come by.
Several tools are available to assist you in your airfare research. Bing.com offers a Price Predictor that uses algorithms to determine how likely a fare is to rise or fall during the next seven days. It applies to flights from more than 250 cities in the United States and to top domestic destinations and major hubs in Europe.
For the cheapest dates to fly, go to Itasoftware.com, which allows you to scan an entire month’s worth of fares. To buy, you must go to the airline’s Web site or online agencies like Travelocity.
For domestic flights within the U.S., it turns out the most ideal time to book is roughly 6 weeks from the date of travel. The study gathered data from the past 4 years and found the average lowest price was in the "sweet spot" of 6 weeks. So, is the 6-week rule in play for international flights as well? The answer is no, as the study found that the ideal booking time was much farther in advance, in the range of 24 weeks from the date of travel. Although it's long been a tactic to try and wait for a last-minute sale for international flights, experts say that is becoming a risky approach with less chances of success than in previous times. A trip to Europe in the summer should be booked as early as possible, with fare increases common throughout the Spring. The ideal window is 21-22 weeks out for flights to major European cities.
If you're looking into traveling to the Caribbean to escape the cold U.S. winter (perhaps for a kosher cruise), plan on booking 11 to 12 weeks in advance. The most popular destinations, such as Costa Rica and the Bahamas, are exempt from airfare wars generally. Unfortunately, the fares are high year-round and deals are very difficult to come by.
Several tools are available to assist you in your airfare research. Bing.com offers a Price Predictor that uses algorithms to determine how likely a fare is to rise or fall during the next seven days. It applies to flights from more than 250 cities in the United States and to top domestic destinations and major hubs in Europe.
For the cheapest dates to fly, go to Itasoftware.com, which allows you to scan an entire month’s worth of fares. To buy, you must go to the airline’s Web site or online agencies like Travelocity.
Rabbi Mordechai Shifman On Alaska Cruise
RABBI MORDECHAI SHIFMAN has been added to the June 24 Alaska kosher cruise!
After studying in Jerusalem under Harav Yochanan Zweig Shlit'a, Mr. Shifman moved to California where he is currently
the Head of School Emek Hebrew Academy Teichman Family Torah Center in Sherman Oaks. In addition to seeing the beautiful scenery of America's wildest state, you'll be in the presence of an amazing scholar in residence. Learn more about this amazing Alaska kosher cruise today!
