Haredi radio shuns male singer due to feminine voice (YNET NEWS)

Singles released by young singer boycotted by haredi stations following angry calls from listeners who thought songs were sung by woman

Yael Eichenwald Published: 06.27.07, 17:00 / Israel Jewish Scene

Twenty-year-old Eliyahu Haim Fayzakov, a young and talented singer from Netanya, recorded his first album this year and released several singles, which were initially warmly accepted by haredi radio stations.

However, Fayzakov recently noticed that his songs had disappeared from the airwaves and were no longer being played by the stations. “At first they played my songs frequently and an interview with me was even held on one of the stations.

“But suddenly I noticed that they stopped playing me… I approached the stations to find out what’s going on, and received the answer I feared most, ‘Your voice is too feminine’.”

According to Fayzakov, radio station directors explained to him that his songs prompted angry calls from listeners who complained of the stations playing women singing.

According to Jewish law, men are not allowed to hear women sing, due to modesty considerations.

“I always knew it wasn’t easy being a singer in the haredi world, and certainly not with a voice like mine,” Fayzakov said. “But there are still a lot of people who encourage me to keep singing. My voice is unusual and even special.”
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If this isn’t a case of “don’t bother me with the facts” we don’t know what is. How sad is this? FEH!

Diet Pepsi MAX Says ”Wake Up, People!â„¢”
New Invigorating Cola with Ginseng and More Caffeine Hits Shelves this Week

Survey Reveals the News Behind the Slump

PURCHASE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Americans are tired of being tired. According to a new survey commissioned by Diet Pepsi MAX, an invigorating zero-calorie cola with ginseng and more caffeine, 84 percent of Americans1 experience a daily “afternoon slump.” They’re also having a tough time being discreet about it. More than half of respondents admit to yawning up to five times a day and another 86 percent believe that those yawns are contagious. Diet Pepsi MAX, which arrives on store shelves nationwide this week, plans to do something about it.

“It’s evident that Americans are tired and could use an extra kick to help get them through the day,” said Russell Weiner, VP, Colas, Pepsi-Cola North America. “Diet Pepsi MAX was designed to offer a great-tasting solution with a unique formula that invigorates the mind and body, preventing those ill-timed yawns from taking over.”

The yawn is the focus of the advertising and marketing that supports Diet Pepsi MAX. The TV ads, created by BBDO New York, debut nationally today. The :15 and :30 spots, featuring the tag line, “Wake Up, People!,” illustrate how Diet Pepsi MAX “stops the yawn,” which can adversely affect both everyday activities and important moments, such as a job interview, a football game or even a wedding.

Additionally, Diet Pepsi MAX has launched a Web site, www.WakeUpPeople.com, which features a “Yawn-a-Thon,” offering a humorous take on telethons. The site also provides the option to send a celebrity wake-up call to a friend from Ben Stein. The site was created by Tribal DDB.

Diet Pepsi MAX Survey

According to the survey commissioned by Diet Pepsi MAX (a national consumer poll of 1,102 adults conducted by Harris Interactive), one-third of Americans (31 percent) blame the workplace as the reason for their exhaustion. But America is also transforming the cause into the solution, because half of all survey respondents have caught someone asleep on the job, while 28 percent have confessed to falling asleep at work themselves. The most popular ways respondents overcome their slumps at work include walking around the office (58 percent) and consuming caffeinated beverages (52 percent). The survey also revealed the following:

About one in five respondents (18 percent) has faked a yawn to get out of a conversation
Nearly one in ten (8 percent) Americans has yawned while on a job interview
Half (50 percent) of respondents say they’ve caught someone sleeping at work
54 percent of working Americans say they would take a nap at work to reinvigorate themselves in the afternoon if given permission by their supervisor
One-third (32 percent) have admitted to yawning on a date
Nearly one in ten (9 percent) Americans has had a bug fly into their mouth while yawning
Additional survey findings are available upon request.

Available in 20-ounce bottles, two-liter bottles, and 12-packs of 12-ounce cans, Diet Pepsi MAX is sweetened with a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium. Diet Pepsi MAX joins Pepsi-Cola North America’s wide portfolio of 13 colas that includes caffeine-free, diet and flavored versions. The national rollout is supported by a full slate of advertising, marketing and in-store activity.

**************** With ginseng and caffeine, it should call itself an aphrodisiac, too!

Have you had any pastrami lately? Did you notice anything about the meat? “Like what?” you ask. How about lousy meat? How about pastrami made from chuck meat and not brisket? What happened to pastrami so tender it melts in your mouth? How did it happen that much tougher meat is now being used instead? And why are we paying more and more for a cut of meat that is clearly not up to snuff?

We are not sure when it happened, but we are not happy about it. In the summer time, a common shabbat, cold meat meal meant corned beef and pastrami. Well, forget the pastrami- it just aint worth it any more!

With one kosher agency reporting (in print) that they average a 30% glatt rate in every shechita, shouldn’t there be enough meat for the market? A 30% glatt average is a huge amount of glatt meat; a number that has never ever obtained in the real world- at least up to now!

So again- why the lower grade meat?

Need a kosher bagel at 3:00am? Nope- neither do we. But if we did, we know where to go!

AVI AND DAVID located at 1046 Third Ave, NYC is open 24 hours a day, but closed on shabbat and yom tov. Located between East 61st and East 62nd Streets, the store features bagels and just about anything you might want to put on a bagel.

Certification is by the OK. The phone number there is
212 486 6004.

The latest issue of KASHRUS Magazine features an article by the editor calling for mediation in matters of kashruth. The author maintains that disagreements in Kashruth could be better handled in mediation rather than in confrontation.

He relates three “popular” and recent disgraceful events that shook the kosher world. Although he does not mention names, he is abundantly clear about whom he is writing. Two of the cases involve a restaurant in Manhattan (the mashgiach ultimately went public with a blog and web site) and a store in the Five Towns. The author basically feels that mediation would have served both better than the shameful and public display they put on.

On this matter, we have to agree. Just about anything else other than the disgusting, public display of fireworks, lashon harah and richilut would have been better.

We have to wonder, though. What are the odds that there will be mediation? After all, in matters of Kashrut, both sides believe they are correct and maybe even have God Himself on their side. So, we ask the question: If you think you are correct in a matter of kashrut would you submit to mediation, the crux of which is almost always some sort of compromise?

We salute them over at Kashrus magazine. We like the idea. And we also believe in the coming of the Messiah.