Family Sounds

Fish or Cut Bait - The Michael (Micha) Balf Story

Each of us is given a name at birth. I was born as Michael Balf, in a smalll fishing village in the US. Yet l lived my adult life as Micha Balf, on a kibbutz in Israel. For reasons that will become apparent during the podcast, this is a moment of reflection for me. This is a time to look and reflect. This is a time to focus my eyes, and those of others, on my legacy as a person who has always lived between worlds. This is a chance to hear from many who have been impacted by my acts and attitudes. The narrative of my life touched others. What do they have to say? How are some of the ways that their lives have been impacted by their interaction with me? This podcast tells a tale that will give insights into my world - one in which we can sense how I tried to step up and make changes by actively influencing the people and the surroundings of the worlds that I am a part of. By living my life as I have and in the manner that I have chosen, I hope to have made a difference. This is my story. - Micha Balf

A Life Full of Mazal - The Gucia and Szlamek Melnik Story

Gucia Fried and Szlamek Melnik were born in 1918 in the Polish town of Pultusk. There they went to school, the shtiebel and local jewish youth groups, where they met and fell in love. A few months after the Holocaust began, they were married in the Siauliai ghetto in Lithuania. It was from this unholy place that they were taken, in 1944, to separate concentration camps and it was there that they last saw their two year old son Moshe. But despite their harsh beginnings the Melniks’ life was a life of perseverance, happiness and joy. Through sheer willpower, determination and optimism, the Melniks began their life anew in Melbourne Australia, where they raised their two daughters Ray and Betty, and built a small knitwear empire. This is their story.

Ask Good Questions - The Avi Seidmann Story Part 2

Abraham (Avi) Seidmann is the Everett W. Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar of Information Systems and an Associate Research Director for Health Analytics and Digital Health at the Questrom Digital Business Institute of Boston University. He is the author of over one hundred research articles and has over 9,300 research citations.In 2012 he was named a “Distinguished Research Fellow” by the prestigious Institute of Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and the Information Systems Society of INFORMS; the Fellow award was given to him in recognition of his outstanding scholarly leadership contributions to the information systems discipline.In addition to his prolific research, he has consulted and worked together with Israel's and America’s foremost companies.In February 2022, and again in January 2023, Professor Seidmann was named a part of the world's top 2% active scientists by two recent Stanford University studies.Prior to joining Boston University, Avi taught at the University of Rochester, Tel-Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, the Technion, and Yale University.Avi has also been the president and co-founder of several commercial companies dealing with real estate, management consulting, medical imaging CME, hospitals’ business management, and Medical Residents recruiting software development. In part two of his life's story "Ask Good Questions", we get to know Avi as a husband, a father, a successful and much admired professor, consultant and businessman. We hear about the many obstacles he had encountered, throughout his life, and his unique philosophy which helped get him through it all.

Ask Good Questions - The Avi Seidmann Story Part 1

Abraham (Avi) Seidmann is the Everett W. Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar of Information Systems and an Associate Research Director for Health Analytics and Digital Health at the Questrom Digital Business Institute of Boston University. He is the author of over one hundred research articles and has over 9,300 research citations. In 2012 he was named a “Distinguished Research Fellow” by the prestigious Institute of Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and the Information Systems Society of INFORMS; the Fellow award was given to him in recognition of his outstanding scholarly leadership contributions to the information systems discipline.In addition to his prolific research, he has consulted and worked together with Israel's and America’s foremost companies In February 2022, and again in January 2023, Professor Seidmann was named a part of the world's top 2% active scientists by two recent Stanford University studies. Prior to joining Boston University, Avi taught at the University of Rochester, Tel-Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, the Technion, and Yale University.Avi has also been the president and co-founder of several commercial companies dealing with real estate, management consulting, medical imaging CME, hospitals’ business management, and Medical Residents recruiting software development. In part one of his life's story "Ask Good Questions" we get to know Avi through the stories of his early childhood, adolescence, army service, academia, marriage and fatherhood.It is a story of a boy, a son, a lover, a husband, a father and a learned man, who chose hope and perseverance in the face of adversity. It is the story of one man’s joys, sorrows, fortitude and resilience. Of a life fully lived.

A Fully Lived Life - The Story of Bob Magid Part 2

It is said that it is better to master your passions than conquer cities. Such is the practice of Robert - Bob - Magid, who travelled across continents to discover his passions - and lived them. From making toys for little children to creating a documentary film, from leading a nuclear disarmament movement to nursing the wounds of war victims in Israel. From living the life of a refugee - to becoming a real estate tycoon in Australia… not many people get to live a life so full of adventures. This is the inspiring story of Bob Magid, an entrepreneur, a businessman, a father - and a proud Jew.