\fR oo m-hāk\ n. Any application of ingenuity for those who are committed to observe the 613 Mitzvot. [ORIGIN: Yiddish פֿרום (frum|fR oo m) meaning "commited to observe the 613 Mitzvot, or Jewish commandments" and the English Slang term HACK (hāk|hak) or LIFEHACK (līf-hāk|lahyf-hak) meaning "anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever/non-obvious way or an appropriate application of ingenuity"]

We’ve all been there, out and about, about to take a bite of our snack or lunch when we realize, “Wait, what is the bracha on quinoa?” or “Do I say a borei nefashot after rice, or al ha’michya?”, if only we could all carry Halachos of Brachos in our back pocket. Well now you can! Thanks to an amazingly well built web app, Brochos.com, we all now have access to a breadth of knowledge on what the appropriate bracha is for a given situation. Whether you have a smartphone (Andriod, Iphone, Blackberry, Palm, etc.) or not you can access this database via its wonderful mobile site, touch site or by sending text messages and receiving automated responses, including sources.

The database covers a wide array of foods, from Ale to Zwieback, and has sources, which range from Mishna Berura to Halachos of Brachos, to back up its claims. Additionally, most database entries include pictures of the food in question to guarantee that we are talking about the same item, the actual text of the bracha for easy reference and articles about the proper shiur to be consumed to require an after bracha.

The database features an easy to search interface, with search (and autocorrect), alphabetical and food type references. All in all, it is well designed, very useful and intuitive and provides of wealth of neccesary information to the Frum consumer.

Well Done!

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I enjoy a good film. I know this may get me put in cherem in some circles, but I am not embarrassed (well, maybe I am in some company, but generally not), I like movies. I am a student of the theatre and of the screen, I love to analyze plot lines, look at story arcs and comment on cinematography. I love a good chase and a good adrenaline pumping suspense scene. I like metaphor and social commentary. I also happen to be a Frum Jew (again, according to some people) and along with that comes observance of halacha and a love of finding sneaky ways around common problems (or is that the hacker? or both?). So how do I balance these two apparently conflicting sides, easy! And now I will share.

Living in this modern world often presents many challenges for those of us who make a whole-hearted attempt at observing the Mitzvot. With the advent of many new technologies and these technologies becoming a staple of our modern lives, keeping Shabbat often presents a challenge while utilizing such staples of modern life as a refrigerators or heating trays. Thank God for Frumhackers from various organizations worldwide, we can enjoy modern convenience to

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gether with ancient tradition. Wired Magazine featured a story back in 2004 about Jonah Ottensoser and engineer for the Star K:

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Well, the Seder is over but the fun has just begun. This time of year is always ripe with cool technological inventions to help us Frum Jews remember the only thing we have more difficulty remembering than our anniversaries: Counting the Omer. That’s right, as of three days ago the 49 day trek to Shavuot has begun and Jews worldwide have already forgotten to count…How many of you have felt that gut-wrenching feeling, you finish davening mincha just as the sun sets behind you and you realize, “Did I count last night? Where was I for Ma’ariv? I knew I should have stayed to the end of Ma’ariv!”But have no fear! Technology is HERE!I have some great new/not so new way to keep track of and remember to count the 49 days of the Omer.

I am going to outline 5 ways to help remember to count the omer, some are pretty technologically involved and other, not at all. Choose the one that suites you and don’t hock me if one is too simple/complicated for your liking.

Post It Note:
I know this seems stupid to write about, but my sister-in-law has been using this method for 3 years now and has made it through for all of them (Bli Ayin Hara). It probably doesn’t hurt that she’s a little OCD…
The method basically calls for a post it note being stuck into your siddur on the Omer Counting page with a little bit sticking out like a bookmark, every day that you count move the post it note down to uncover the day you just counted leaving the next day covered up.
This method requires you to use the same siddur and relies on the fact that you are at least partially paying attention during one of the three times you daven throughout the day.

Buddy System:
Again, this system isn’t technologically advanced but it works. Find a friend, or buy one (Pirkei Avos) and tag team each other. As the saying goes, ‘Two heads are better than one’ and in terms of remembering the Omer, if you make it a team thing, it is much more likely to get remembered.

Actually Daven:
This is not a mussar blog,but realistically if one actually davens from a siddur (even more so with a minyan) every night and pays attention to the davening without rushing through the chances of remembering to count are much higher.
In addition to this, I have added the minhag to count at shachris every day as well and have affixed a post it note to my siddur right after Shmonei Esrai to remind me. This is a big safety net for me.

Myzmanim.com Reminders:
Finally, some tech. As we have previously mentioned (Frumhacks: MyZmanim.com Adds Alerts!) Myzmanim now has a range of alerts to choose from. On the homepage (Myzmanim.com) enter your zipcode and follow the banner link for OmerAlerts. This service is free but requires a login (which you should already have for printing out monthly zmanim calendars, mincha alerts and candle lighting time alerts). OmerAlerts will either email or text message you to remind you to count once the time is right. The SMS service only works in the US and Canada and with specific times (it offers three stars and 72 minutes). For a more customizable/international solution see the next tip.

Blackberry/iPhone/iPod/Google Calender/Hebcal:
As we mentioned before (Frumhacks: How To: Get the Jewish Calendar On All Your Devices) you can easily add the Jewish Calendar to any of your devices, and recieve customized alerts via SMS, email and even pop-ups on your Google Calendar interface or Smartphone/PDA. As I outlined in the above post, you can use Hebcal to download a custom iCal (.ics) file and upload this file to Google Calendar (and sync it to your various devices or upload it to them directly).

We are all lazy. We know it. So lazy that often times when someone sends us link in an email we are too lazy to click it. Well leave it to the Internet to enable our laziness even more!