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Noam: Teaching on Zoom is difficult and requires more effort than teaching in the classroom. (photo credit: Courtesy) As a child I felt that Talmud is a conversation that links people and creates joy and also has something different from everyday life, something higher and beautiful. When Prof. Vered Noam, 59, was in high school in Jerusalem, her school did not teach girls  Talmud . So twice a week, she snuck out of school and went to the newly opened Pelech school for girls in Jerusalem to study Talmud. Today she is the first woman to win the  Israel Prize  for Talmud. She is the chair of the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology at Tel Aviv University. When she talks about Talmud, her face lights up. She spoke with The Jerusalem Post on Zoom. How did you get interested in Talmud? I can’t remember a time I wasn’t interested in Talmud. I grew up in a house filled with Torah conversations at the table. As a child I felt that Talmud is a convers

The Federal Government has declared Friday, May 1, 2020, as a public holiday to mark this year’s International Workers’ Day Celebration. The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government in a statement by signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Georgina Ehuriah. In the statement, Aregbesola commended Nigerian workers “for their resilience, patience and understanding, particularly in their support at stemming the spread of COVID-19”. Aregbesola who further thanked Nigerians and the labour force for their “sacrifices in the present period of trial”, assured that their “commitment and patience will complement the efforts being made by Government and other stakeholders to ensure the speedy control of the virus”. He said, “With the cooperation of every citizen, as well as strict adherence to the measures being put in place by relevant authorities, the challenges being faced by Nigerians as a result of the disea

  The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has raised the alarm on Boko Haram/Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists’ recruitment drive in the Lake Chad region to replace its lost fighters. The alarm was reportedly based on credible information on the terrorists’ plot to launch aggressive indoctrination and recruitment drives. MNJTF’s spokesman, Col. Timothy Antigha, stated yesterday in Maiduguri that “the terrorists’ recruitment drive commences in May 2020,” adding that Boko Haram was targeting young male adults to continue terrorism in the Lake Chad region. The task force comprises armed forces of Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger who are fighting insurgency in member countries of Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC). “The backup plan is to kidnap unwilling targets into recruitment and indoctrination drives of Boko Haram,” he disclosed. Noting that in the last few weeks, offensive operations and internal squabbles for money and power depleted Boko Ha

Three South-west states that received rice from the federal government say they are still examining the quality of the food item after the alarm by Oyo State government that its own consignment was not fit for human consumption. The federal government ordered the Nigeria Customs Service to donate 1,800 bags of rice each to Oyo, Osun and Ekiti states and 800 bags to Ondo state as part of efforts to cushion the effects of Coronavirus on the people of the four states. The Comptroller, Oyo/Osun Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Helen Ngozi, on Monday, handed over the bags of rice each to the governments of Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states. But the Oyo State government, four days later, vowed to return the bags of rice after discovering that  much of the rice had expired . Seyi Makinde, the Oyo State governor, said the rice is not fit for human consumption. The Osun State Government said it has subjected its own 1800 bags of rice to “quality control.” However,

A 45-year-old man, Osita Ezuruike, on Tuesday, committed suicide in his house at Umudafa, Awo Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. Sources at the community said the deceased expressed frustration with life over the lockdown and the dusk-to-dawn curfew declared by the state government. But the police had yet to ascertain why the deceased committed suicide as of the time of filing this report. The police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, who remarked that the Ezuruike’s corpse had been taken to a morgue. Ikeokwu also said an investigation into the incident had commenced. The police spokesperson said, “On April 27, acting on a report, operatives of the Divisional Police headquarters in Mbieri moved to Umudafa, Awo Mbieri, Mbaitoli LGA, in a house belonging to one Osita Ezuruike, 45, and met the lifeless body of the said Osita hanging. “The reason for taking his own life could not be ascertained. “However, the corpse has been removed to the

A top Brazilian cocaine trafficker was arrested in Mozambique, officials in both countries said, underlining the growing global footprint of the First Capital Command (PCC) gang, Brazil’s most powerful criminal organisation. Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos, aka “Fuminho,” was on the run for more than 20 years until his capture in Maputo on Monday. He was one of Brazil’s “most-wanted” fugitives, Brazil’s federal police said . “The prisoner was considered the largest supplier of cocaine to a gang operating throughout Brazil, as well as sending tonnes of the drug to several countries,” the statement said. Originally a prison gang in Sao Paulo, the PCC spread across Brazil and is increasingly moving cocaine to Europe and Africa. In March, Reuters reported Brazil is one of the top suppliers of cocaine to Europe, transforming the country’s role in the trans-Atlantic drug trade. Leonardo Simbine, a spokesman for Mozambique’s Criminal Investigations Services, told Reute

A  coronavirus  contact tracing app has been downloaded more than 2 million times since it was launched in  Australia  on Sunday. The COVIDSafe app, which is voluntary, is designed to help health authorities trace people who may have come into contact with someone who has  Covid-19 . By Tuesday midday local time, 2.44 million people had downloaded the app, exceeding expectations, Australian health minister Greg Hunt said at a televised news conference. "Australians have embraced their part in actions to prevent the spread of coronavirus," he said. The app, which uses Bluetooth signals to track when people are close to another app user, has raised privacy concerns. Lessons in mateship as Australia lurches from one crisis to another On Tuesday, health officials slammed a hoax message circulating online that purported to come from COVIDSafe app, claiming to detect when a user has moved from their nominated location. "The COVIDsafe app has detected you are n