Daniel Brody at Yeshiva University

As our readers know, Dan watched the March 20th episode of The Apprentice at Yeshiva University's Morg Lounge, with students, alumni, faculty, friends and family. YU published this photo from the event. That's Dan Brody in the center with his wife on the left.

Will he keep smiling during the next episode when he takes his turn as project manager?

Dan takes the lead. Diamonds for Amy?

Today's release from NBC Universal....

IT'S A "JEWEL" OF AN EPISODE ON NBC'S "THE APPRENTICE" MONDAY, MARCH 27th, 9-10 PM ET/PT

The Winning Team Is Rewarded With Diamonds

It's all aboard this week as the teams are given their fifth task to produce a 30-second commercial for Norwegian Cruise Lines - The Norwegian Jewel - a ship that's about to set sail, on NBC's "The Apprentice," (Monday, March 27th, 9-10 p.m. ET/PT). The team with the most effective, captivating, and creative advertisement wins. Dan volunteers to lead Gold Rush but alienates everyone on his team while taking on the task alone. Meanwhile, Roxanne's leadership clashes with her teammates, causing rough waters for Synergy. The winning team is rewarded with real jewels and a trip to the Brinks Diamond Vault where they get to take home their own diamonds. While it's smooth sailing for the winners, the losing team will walk the plank and face Trump in the boardroom.

Separately, Norwegian Cruise Line announced today....

The company is launching a nationwide contest for viewers on Monday, March 27 when they can log on to ncl.com for a chance to win a grand prize trip for two to New York with first-class air, three nights at the Trump Hotel and a cruise out of New York aboard either Norwegian Dawn or Norwegian Spirit. Entrants can also qualify to win one of 10 seven-day cruises.

Yom Kippur on The Apprentice? Not Yet!

Good news for fans of Lee and Dan! Orthodox Apprentice has determined that the task for Episode 5, airing on Monday, March 27, did not conflict with Yom Kippur and at least one of our guys makes it through to Episode 6.

Episode 5 Description
The candidates race against the clock to shoot a commercial aboard a cruise ship (Norwegian Jewel) that's set to sail. One project manager clashes with a mutinous teammate while the other project manager alienates everybody. The winners are rewarded with a bounty of treasure, while the losers head to the boardroom where another candidate is sent home.

What We Know
We know Episode 3 (Chevy Tahoe dealer event) took place on October 4-5, 2005 (Rosh HaShana).

We know Episode 4 (Post cereal billboard) was filmed over a minmum of two days.

Based on that knowledge, Episode 5 could not have started earlier than October 8. If there was a day off between tasks (very likely), it could have started on the 9th.

We know from a Norwegian Jewel staff member's journal that the ship left New York on Monday, October 10 for an 11-day cruise. In a subsequent journal entry, Tracy writes: "Did I tell you all that Donald Trump was on the ship when I first signed on? They filmed an episode for the apprentice- the task of his people was to create a commercial for NCL."

The sailing schedule documented in Tracy's initial post is consistent with the Halifax Port Authority's October 2005 cruise schedule. The Norwegian Jewel was scheduled to arrive in Halifax on October 13.

Our Conclusions
Based on the cruise schedule, this task must have been completed by October 10. Since Yom Kippur started the evening of October 12, it did not play any part in the upcoming episode. Unless production stopped over Yom Kippur, it could play a role in the Arby's task.

Since Theresa reported that Lee misses two tasks for holidays, and he's only missed one so far, we can conclude that Lee is not fired in Episode 5.

Revisiting Episode 3
Speaking of Theresa and the holidays, her TV Guide interview is a must-read. We learn another way that Rosh HaShana impacted the Chevy dealer event and we get her thoughts on taking off for religious holidays. She also gives the Orthodox candidates a strong endorsement, "It was a big hit for us, because Lee and Dan are very talented individuals."

One More Note
Melania Knauss Trump christened the Norwegian Jewel in November and is the ship's Godmother.

Orthodox Apprentice: Episode 4

Religious observance was a focus point of Episode 3, but it didn't play a role in this week's episode. Gold Rush, featuring our two Orthodox Jewish candidates - Dan Brody and Lee Bienstock - designed an impressive billboard for Post Grape Nuts Trail Mix Crunch cereal and came away with a win.

Dan and Lee didn't get a whole lot of airtime today, but it appears that Daniel Brody is making strong contributions to the team and everyone seems to like him (except Lenny perhaps). In the four epsiodes we've seen, he certainly hasn't said or done anything that could hurt his chances. He seems to be non-controversial (other than that little Rosh HaShana thing), so he could go far. We'll need to see him in the project manager role to get a better idea of his long-term prospects.

Other candidates who we've barely met: Leslie, Michael, Roxanne. There's no reason to believe that any of them will or won't stay in the game for a while. We just don't enough about them.

We finally saw both Dan and Lee enjoying some food. As we told you last week, the cereal Dan was snacking on is certified kosher. Both candidates looked somewhat uncomfortable at the dinner table in Jean-Georges' restaurant. Eventually we saw them chowing down, so their kosher meals might have been delivered late. It's known to happen.

Brent Buckman was the first Jewish candidate to be fired, but it wasn't for anything he did or didn't do on this task. His Synergy teammates continued to pick on him, trying to reach his breaking point. His downfall in this episode was talking too much (and too abrasively) in the boardroom. If he had toned it down in front of the father-daughter Trump team, he would have survived for another task and Tammy would have been sent to the Hot Jobs cab.

Did anyone else notice that a Saab commercial aired shortly after a Tarek Saab scene?

Theresa on Lee

Mr. Trump fired Theresa last week. In her exit interview, Theresa had this to say about Lee Bienstock:

Lee is a rising star. Having chosen to opt out of two of the tasks due to his religious holiday - no doubt during a job interview - shows that he is an individual who isn't afraid to walk to his own beat. That could prove to be a plus or a minus for him. He is young and hungry, so get out of his way. This kid has everything to gain and little to lose.

So now we know that Lee will skip one other task. Does that mean he's fired after Yom Kippur? Or is there no task scheduled for Yom Kippur and Sukkot causes a conflict? There's no point in speculating now. We'll just wait to see what happens.

In her video remarks on Yahoo, Theresa also had some nice things to say about Daniel Brody: "I liked Dan... he's full of personality."

Yahoo has uncut video from Episode 3's boardroom. We learn that Lee still has a "trust issue with Tarek." Dan, however, tells Trump "I could see Tarek running one of your businesses."

Clearly, the two Orthodox Apprentice candidates don't see eye-to-eye on the Mensa Man.

On another note, Dan Brody will watch Episode 4 of The Apprentice with students at Yeshiva University.