There is nothing more powerful than the truth—yet, paradoxically, nothing easier to distort. When a person is determined to reject reality, no amount of evidence will convince him otherwise. He will grasp at the smallest inconsistencies, twist words, and cling to any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to justify his denial.
This phenomenon is strikingly illustrated in how Moshe Rabbeinu conveyed Hashem’s warning before Makkas Bechoros. Instead of stating that the plague would strike precisely at chatzos, Moshe altered the wording slightly, saying “k’chatzos”—around midnight. Chazal explain (Berachos 4a) that he did so to prevent the Mitzri astrologers from miscalculating the exact moment and accusing him of falsehood. Even after nine makos, as Mitzrayim stood at the brink of devastation, Moshe understood that those determined to find fault would seize upon even the slightest discrepancy to discredit the message.
By this point, the Mitzriyim had endured nine makos, each foretold with precision. The Nile turned to blood, their land was overrun by frogs, lice, and wild beasts, their livestock perished, their bodies were covered in boils, their food was wiped out by hail and locusts, and for days they were plunged into an oppressive darkness. The most powerful civilization of its time was reduced to ruin. And yet, they refused to submit, grasping at any excuse to deny the truth. Even amid devastation, they clung to delusions of strength.
Contrast that with Hamas and its enablers today. After months of war, the people of Gaza have returned to their cities, encountering total destruction—entire neighborhoods flattened, infrastructure gone, suffering everywhere. Yet, instead of recognizing the futility of their war, instead of acknowledging that their leadership led them to ruin, they celebrate. They march through the rubble waving flags, proclaiming a “victory” that exists only in propaganda. The reality? They are broken, their capabilities crushed, their
land unrecognizable. But just like the Mitzrim before them, they refuse to acknowledge the truth.
But we know how the story of Mitzrayim ended. After nine makos, the final blow—Makkas Bechoros—ultimately broke Paraoh and his nation. The moment of ultimate judgment arrived, and the enemy that had oppressed Bnei Yisrael for so long was finally crushed. We stand at a similar moment in history. Hamas and its enablers have suffered immensely, yet they remain defiant, clinging to their illusions. But we hope and pray that the final Makka is near—the moment when this evil is eradicated once and for all, and the suffering of Am Yisrael comes to an end.
At the same time, we see this same distortion in American politics. While Hamas fabricates victories, some politicians do the same on a different scale—twisting reality to undermine Israel. Senator John Fetterman, despite being a Democrat with mostly liberal values, refuses to bend to pressure when it comes to standing with Israel. His moral clarity stands in stark contrast to Senator Chuck Schumer, a Jewish political leader who should instinctively recognize the stakes, yet repeatedly prioritizes political calculations over principle. Not only does he fail to stand firmly with Israel, but he actively works against them, siding with those who embolden their enemies.
Just as Paraoh’s astrologers refused to acknowledge the emes, so too do many politicians, media figures, and activists today distort the truth about Israel. But clarity is a rare and invaluable trait. When a person refuses to be swayed by popular opinion, when he remains steadfast in recognizing truth despite immense pressure, he stands out. And in the end, it is those individuals who shape the course of history.
Wishing everyone a peaceful Shabbos
Aaron M. Friedman
WIN with !
Comfort Year-Round:
Experience stable indoor temperatures, and reduce drafts, with warm winters and cool summers, when you upgrade to spray foam insulation in your attic.
Save Big on Energy Costs:
Cut your heating and cooling bills by 30-50% and make your HVAC system work smarter, not harder.
Breathe Better:
Enjoy improved air quality with reduced drafts and outdoor pollutants, creating a healthier living environment.
Celebrating 36 Years Of Seven Mile Market: A Day Of Fun, Food, And Community!
By: BJLife Newsroom | Photos: B. Ansbacher Photography
Seven Mile Market’s 36th-anniversary celebration was an event to remember! The Customer Appreciation Event, held today, brought together family, friends, and community members for an afternoon filled with delicious food, exciting activities, and amazing prizes.
The store was buzzing with energy as guests enjoyed food sampling from
beloved brands like A&B, Golden Taste with Sara Lasry, iKonic, Kayco, Klein’s Ice Cream, Mehadrin Dairy, Norman’s, Reisman’s, Shefa Dips, and many more.
Adding to the fun, the Balloon Man and Eduardo the Clown entertained the crowd, bringing smiles to children and adults alike. Lucky guests had the chance to win fantastic raffle prizes,
including elegant tableware packages, assorted dip packages, a Herr’s bike, a Pepsi beach chair, and more.
It was a day of joy, gratitude, and celebration, as Seven Mile Market thanked the community for 36 wonderful years of support. Food, prizes, and fun—Seven Mile Market always knows how to throw a party!
Around the Community
Bais Yaakov High School Grandparents Day Exhibit: A Day Filled With Nachas
By: BJLife Newsroom
Close to 400 Bais Yaakov High School grandparents and 300 granddaughters braved the predicted snowfall and came together for a delicious brunch and a visit to Exhibit. The goal of this special event was to host our high school grandparents and for them to spend quality time with their granddaughters while touring Exhibit.
At the brunch, Rabbi Aaron Gross, Director of Development, welcomed the grandparents as our honored guests and thanked the volunteers and office staff who worked on putting the beautiful event and program together. Rabbi Yechezkel Zweig, High School Principal, then introduced Exhibit and recognized the inspired staff leaders behind Exhibit. Rabbi Zweig commented on the grandeur of Exhibit as a reflection of the wonderful students who created it, and that the students themselves are products of their families and ultimately the grandparents who came to derive nachas from them. After the brunch,
grandparents went downstairs to view Exhibit led by their granddaughters.
Boruch Hashem, from start to finish, the morning was enjoyable and uplifting, as the following comments from grandparents speak for themselves.
“Yesterday was spectacular! One could tell the forethought that was put into the day from the delicious and beautifully prepared breakfast to the tour through the Exhibit. The creativity and talent that went into the Exhibit was boundless. Everyone involved can be extremely proud of their accomplishment. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to be with our granddaughter and share this wonderful Exhibit.”
“The Exhibit was stunning and gorgeous as always, and the girls gave such wonderful and informative tours! The brunch was beautiful, the photo booth was fun, and the work by the students and the people behind the scenes who put it all together was noticeable and appreciated. Lastly and
most importantly, the bonding time and good feelings that the event provided for myself and my granddaughter, will last a lifetime. Thank you!”
“I enjoyed the breakfast very much. It was so nice to be treated so graciously. The Exhibit was beyond my expectations. The girls do a superb job and are so very creative and informative. I really could cry that it all has to come down. I wish I had a house big enough to put each room in my room. They are gor-
geous works of art. The girls really know how to express and explain the points they are trying to get across. Thank you again for a wonderful experience.”
“The breakfast and layout were so nice. The decorations and name tags were spot on. I can’t thank you enough for dedicating time just for the grandparents, and for inviting our granddaughters for the breakfast and arranging for them to be our tour guides. The middos of the girls speak for themselves.”
THISSUNDAY!
OPEN HOUSE OPEN HOUSE PARENT PARENT
FOR PARENTS OF HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS AND CURRENT SEMINARY STUDENTS
SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 2 10:00 AM
Meet the Menaheles and Academic Dean
Tour the campus
Learn about our Torah-focused academic experience and unparalleled support services
Hear about the Israel Study Abroad Program and receiving college credit for the seminary year
Learn about financial aid options and scholarship opportunities
Have all your questions answered
A Magical Night: Mary Poppins Enchants Audiences With Two Sold-Out Shows
The Theater in Hampstead, MD was transformed into a magical wonderland as Mary Poppins soared into the hearts of nearly 2,000 delighted theatergoers. Produced by Meira (Levi) Berendt of Stardom Talent, the performances of this beloved musical were nothing short of spectacular. The sold-out shows, brimming with energy and excitement, brought together women and girls who traveled near and far, from Baltimore, Washington D.C./VA area, other states and countries, including Panama to experience the magic of this world-renowned story.
From the moment the iconic character of Mary Poppins, played by Shaina Ettel Menda, took to the stage, it was clear this would be a performance to remember. The magical nanny entered with grace and charm, captivating the audience. The cast, led by a strong ensemble of singers, dancers, and actresses, brought the beloved characters to life in a way that felt both nostalgic and fresh. The performances were filled with highenergy choreography, colorful costumes, and show-stopping musical numbers.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the event was the audience - Women and girls from the Baltimore/Washington D.C. metro area, along with those from neighboring states, gathered together. But what truly set these performances apart was the international turnout. The allure of Mary Poppins even drew people from abroad. Families and fans came from places as far-reaching as Panama! Rivka Soffer, herself from Panama, connected to the show, drawing upon her artistic upbringing and passions for theater and dance.
Produced and directed by Meira Berendt, the performance was an impressive feat of organization and creativity. Berendt’s ability to assemble a team of dedicated artists and performers shone through in every aspect of the production. From the intricate set designs to the meticulously crafted costumes (many of which were designed by Shaina Ettel Menda, herself) that reflected the whimsical nature of the story, every detail was executed with precision and flair. The choreography was another highlight,
with dancers twirling and leaping in synchronized perfection, further elevating the energy of the show.
In addition to the dazzling performances and flawless production, what stood out about the event was the sense of community it fostered. The cast and crew were replete with women who all shared the same love of the arts.
Hadassa Friedman, who played George Banks, uses her creativity as she creates artistic masterpieces at The Candy Store. Her daughter (on and off-stage) Rivka Hammelburger, who played Jane Banks, uses her acting skills in the classroom, as a history teacher at Bais Yaakov. Tzivya Aviva Ambush, who played Michael Banks, brings her creative talents in her career as a social worker, as well as in her DanceFlow fitness class at the JCC. Devorah Katz, who played Winifred, has always enjoyed singing and considers music as something “she couldn’t live without!” Adina Berman, who played Bert, is an avid musical theater enthusiast and put her heart and soul into bringing Bert’s infectious energy to life. Leslie Ginsparg Klein, who played Mrs. Brill, is an actress/singer/songwriter, who founded the Girls’ Night On! open mic nights. (Leslie is also the Academic Dean of WITS). Raizel Urszuy, who played Robertson AY, brought to the show her experience from many theater roles, as well as having a BA in Theatre.
Performers like Shaina Ettel Menda and Elena Tal, who did not grow up religious, brought with them their extensive artistic expertise and rich vocal and drama backgrounds to Mary Poppins. Shaina Ettel, owner of SE Wigs, grew up “stepping in time” in regional theater productions before earning her degree in classical voice and has been in over 45 plays in both regional and local theater.
Elena Tal, a professional singer and voice teacher holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and is a certified member of the prestigious National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Elena has dazzled audiences performing in theater and concerts throughout the USA, around the world, and aboard England’s QE2. Before becoming frum, she also performed on television and was in a Hollywood movie.
While many of the cast members had been committed to Mary Poppins from the very start, one very special performer’s journey to this stage was a bit different. Elena Tal, known as having a busy performing and voice teaching schedule, did not actually audition for Mary Poppins However, midway through rehearsals, Shaina Ettel Menda who, in addition to playing Mary Poppins, also acted as Musical Director, personally invited Elena to join the cast, asking her to portray what Shaina Ettel dubbed as “the evil Mary Poppins.” Elena was so impressed with how hard the cast had been working when she signed on. They were going to numerous rehearsals and even meeting outside of scheduled times. They all pulled together to make this show happen on a very high professional level, and were very committed to making it the best it could be. They were also so kind and respectful to Elena when she joined later on and she was very touched! It was clear how much heart
and effort everyone was putting into this production. Elena states that she is “humbled to be able to share her love of singing and music experience with women and girls in the Jewish world. It is truly an honor!”
As the final curtain fell, the cast and crew were met with great applause, knowing they had created something truly magical—a night that will be remembered by all who were fortunate enough to witness it. The success of Mary Poppins in Maryland has set the stage for even greater productions in the future, and fans are eagerly awaiting what Stardom Talent will bring to the stage next. For those who missed the performances, the legacy of this magical night will soon be available for purchase on DVD and will live on in the memories of the audience and in the hearts of those who helped make it happen. In the words of Mary Poppins herself, “Anything can happen if you let it.” And indeed, for the lucky audience in Maryland, magic most certainly did.
Discover the Miracle of Parnassah
by DOV WELLER
For millennia, reciting Parashas HaMahn has been recognized as a powerful segulah for parnassah. Renowned author Dov Weller delves deeply into Parashas HaMahn, sharing numerous commentaries, practical insights and true stories of bitachon.
Reciting – and understanding — Parashas HaMahn strengthens our emunah in Hashem and His direct role in our financial life. And as we grow in our emunah, we will see the conduits of berachah open before us.
“Whoever recites Parashas HaMahn each day is promised that he will never experience a lack of sustenance”
— Rabbeinu Bachya, Shemos 16:16
Zichron Malka Edition of Seder Kodashim
dedicated by Barbara and Jerry Weissman
The Eishes Chayil Candle Lighting Treasury
The Eishes Chayil Haggadah
The Eishes Chayil Yamim Noraim Treasury
Greater Washington: Around the Community YGW Holds Court At The Maryland State Mock Trial Program
The Yeshiva of Greater Washington has proudly participated in the Maryland State Mock Trial Program for the past six years, providing our students with an invaluable opportunity to refine their analytical skills, courtroom acumen, and practical application of Gemara in a real-world legal setting.
Under the expert guidance of two dedicated attorneys and a faculty coach, our team meticulously researches case materials provided by the state, developing a deep understanding of legal principles while honing their advocacy and critical thinking skills. Their dedication and perseverance have consistently placed the Yeshiva of Greater Washington among the top competitors in Maryland, securing a coveted spot in the state’s top 20 year after year.
Greater Washington Weekday Minyanim Guide
6:15 am Young Israel Shomrai Emunah M-F
6:25 am Southeast Hebrew Cong., Knesset Yehoshua M-F
6:30 am Beth Sholom Congregation M-F
Beit Halevi (Sfardi) M, T
Chabad of Silver Spring M-F
Ohev Shalom Talmud Torah OLNEY M-F
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah S YGW M, Th
6:35 am Ohr Hatorah M, Th
6:40 am YGW S, T, W, F
Magen David Sephardic Congregation M-Th
6:45 am Beit Halevi (Sfardi) S, T, W, F
Kemp Mill Synagogue M, Th
Ohr Hatorah T, W, F
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah M, Th
6:50 am Woodside Synagogue/Ahavas Torah M, Th Silver Spring Jewish Center M-F
Chabad of Upper Montgomery County M-F
6:55 am Young Israel Shomrai Emunah T, W, F
7:00 am Kemp Mill Synagogue T, W, F
Southeast Hebrew Cong., Knesset Yehoshua S Silver Spring Jewish Center S
Woodside Synagogue/Ahavas Torah T, W, F
Young Israel Ezras Israel of Potomac T, W, F
7:05 am Kesher Israel M, Th
7:15 am Kemp Mill Synagogue M, Th Kesher Israel T, W, F
Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah/The National Synagogue M-F
Ohr Hatorah S
7:30 am Chabad of DC M-F
Chabad of Potomac M-F JROC M-F
Kemp Mill Synagogue T, W, F
Southeast Hebrew Cong., Knesset Yehoshua M-F
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah S
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah (Sfardi) M-F
7:45 am YGW (Yeshiva Session Only) S-F
8:00 am Beth Sholom Congregation S
Kemp Mill Synagogue S
Kesher Israel S
Ohev Shalom Talmud Torah OLNEY S
Southeast Hebrew Cong., Knesset Yehoshua S Chabad of Upper Montgomery County S Woodside Synagogue/Ahavas Torah S
8:00 am YGW (High School; School-Contingent) S-F
Young Israel Ezras Israel of Potomac S Young Israel Shomrai Emunah (Sfardi) S
8:05 am Ezras Israel Congregation of Rockville M, Th
8:15 am Ohr Hatorah S Ezras Israel Congregation of Rockville S, T, W, F
Kehilat Pardes / Berman Hebrew Academy S-F
Silver Spring Jewish Center M-F
8:30 am Chabad of DC S Chabad of Potomac S JROC S Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah/The National Synagogue S
Silver Spring Jewish Center S YGW (Summer Only) S-F
8:45 am Young Israel Shomrai Emunah S-F
9:00 am Chabad of Silver Spring S Kemp Mill Synagogue S
mincha
12:30 pm YGW Sunday
1:00 pm Silver Spring Jewish Center M-F
1:10 pm YGW M-Th
3:00 pm YGW Middle School School Days
mincha/maariv
Before Shkiah (15-18 minutes), S-TH
Beit Halevi (Sfardi)
Beth Sholom Congregation
Chabad of Potomac
Chabad of Silver Spring
Chabad of Upper Montgomery County
Ezras Israel Congregation of Rockville (20 min before, S-F)
Beyond the Headlines A weekly glimpse into the Israel you won’t read about in the news
By Sivan Rahav Meir
The Jews of October 8th
“Since October 7th, we’ve been making Kiddush every week. No matter where we are or who is present, I will take a bottle of wine and recite the Kiddush.”
“After Simchat Torah, I was in Israel for the first time in my life — at the age of 30. I came to volunteer around Gaza. I will return again in the summer and bring along friends.”
“After 7.10, I started learning Hebrew online, and also began attending a weekly Torah lesson at the synagogue.”
“For the first time, I have been walking around campus wearing a Star of David necklace, despite receiving hostile reactions. I cannot recall anything that has ever moved me with such intensity.”
These are just some of the statements I heard this week during my lecture tour in Toronto, Canada. The question is: If Hamas slaughtered, burned, murdered, and kidnapped Jews in the Gaza vicinity, why did someone in Toronto start laying tefillin?
The answer is the global phenomenon called “October 8th Jews,” the Jews who woke up on the day after. Their hearts were opened, and they suddenly understood that they are part of a bigger story — a battle over consciousness and faith, over identity. And the spiritual affects the material: Canadian Jews donated more than $100 million to settlements in the north and south, to first-responder emergency squads and resilience projects. Thank you.
A young student contemplating Aliyah for the first time in her life drove me to the airport. Suddenly, her future seems to be in Israel.
I don’t have any definitive conclusions, although I did come back to Israel filled with thoughts and ideas. But in the first stage, it’s crucial that Israelis recognize this phenomenon and act on it. This is a historic opportunity, for millions of our brothers and sisters in the diaspora who are liable to be lost, but who could also return home. Together we will win – together with them, too.
I’d like to extend a big thank you to the Shaarei Shomayim community led by Rabbi Sam Taylor, to Mizrachi Canada and to Rabbi Elan Mazer, Rabbi Dr. Seth Grauer and the Israeli emissaries, as well as Rabbi Yitzchak Landa and Rabbi Shimon Binstock from Chabad of Toronto. Thanks to you, I met more than a thousand brothers and sisters.
The main headline in the local newspapers when I landed in Canada was “Trump: We don’t need Canada.” Well, without delving into Canada-US politics, we need Canada, and we most certainly the Jews of Canada!
These Are My People
Hello from Toronto, Canada.
This past Shabbat morning, I was sitting in the women’s section at the Shaarei Shomayim shul, when I overheard a woman whisper to the woman next to her, “What’s happening with the hostages?”
“I don’t know,” the woman replied, “but I prayed for them all night — I almost finished reciting the entire Book of Tehilim.”
“I’m so worried about them. If only they will come back alive…” the first woman said in a trembling voice.
Here were two women living 9,000 kilometers away from Israel, who had never even met the hostages, but who can’t sleep at night because they’re worried about them and want to do everything in their power to help them.
How do we explain this?
I think the answer touches at the very core of what it means to be a member of the Jewish people: The bonds that bind us are invisible but unbreakable.
Only a few minutes after this conversation took place, the following verses were read from this week’s Torah portion: “And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord, your God.”
We are one people —and after all the confusion and worry, the pride
and humiliation, the excitement and trepidation, our deep connection to each other is a source of strength.
How can we apply this powerful feeling of unity to our day-to-day lives?
Here is a suggestion that I’ve shared in this space before and which has helped people shift their attitude towards those around them: Let’s try and transfer this tremendous love that we feel for every one of the hostages, all the worry and caring, to those who have not, thank God, been kidnapped.
Think about the people we meet over the course of our day. If they would be kidnapped, God forbid, we would be so worried about them that we would feel almost a physical pain. So, take a good look at the people around you and appreciate that they too are part of the amazing phenomenon known as the Jewish people and worthy of our love.
Where Is Our Will?
A small child can walk around all day with a mud-stained shirt and not care at all. He doesn’t even notice it. But an adult? Even a small stain would bother him. He is mature.
At the beginning of the parashah, Hashem tells Moshe about the first and necessary step of the exodus to freedom: “And I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt.”
The Sefat Emet writes that the intention is that the Children of Israel should no longer be able to tolerate
this exile; that they will no longer have the patience for even one more day of slavery.
For 210 years, they labored in Egypt under extremely harsh conditions. But like a small child with a dirty shirt, they didn’t even realize how inappropriate it was for them to be slaves.
The first step on their path to becoming free was to develop a revulsion for slavery, to say from the depths of their souls, “Enough, we cannot tolerate this anymore!”
Perhaps what delays us most from making positive changes in our lives is the fact that we don’t even feel that our situation requires correction! We’re used to it; we don’t even imagine anything better, or maybe we are afraid to change — so we accept reality as it is and make peace with it.
The initial condition for progress is the clear distinction between good and evil, the understanding that we deserve something better, that we need to grow. From there, the door opens to great change — to the exodus from Egypt.
May our personal and collective awareness grow, so that, together, we can emerge to true freedom!
Translated by Yehoshua Siskin, Janine Muller Sherr
Want to read more by Sivan Rahav Meir? Google The Daily Thought or visit sivanrahavmeir.com
The Week In News
The Week In News
China-India Direct Flights
It’s been five years since there have been direct flights between China and India. Now, the two countries have agreed to resume commercial flights between the world’s two most populous countries.
Flights between India and mainland China were suspended at the
onset of the pandemic in early 2020. They remained halted due to political tensions.
The announcement on Monday came as India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
In a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the two countries had reached a consensus “in principle to resume direct air services,” with officials expected to hammer out details “at an early date.”
Confirming the development, China’s Foreign Ministry also said it had agreed to reopen Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in western Tibet to Indian pilgrims this year. The two destinations are considered sacred in the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon faiths and are popular pilgrimage sites.
Just a few months after the flights were suspended in 2020, soldiers from the two countries fought a bloody hand-to-hand battle at their disputed border high in the Himalayas, in which at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
Both India and China maintain
L CHAIM
Tuesday February 4th Monday February 3rd
9:30 am
Yoga with Deborah Bandos
10:00 am
Baking with Ms. Hirschman
11:00 am
Discussion Group with Rabbi KarpParsha Overview
1:00 pm
Arts & Crafts with Shifra
2:00 pm
Music with Mr. Fried
9:30 am
Yoga with Deborah Bandos
10:15 am
Anagrams with Malka Zweig
11:00 am
Discussion Group with Rabbi KarpHistory of Famous Kosher Companies
1:00 pm BINGO 1:45 pm
Guitar with Yossi K
a significant military presence along their 2,100-mile de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has never been clearly defined and has remained a source of friction since a war between the two countries in 1962.
After the bloody battle, there were border talks, although tensions remained high.
The two countries have sought to further ease tensions in recent months, following a rare meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia this past October.
Daring Art Heist
WEEKLY CALENDAR
Thieves blasted their way into the Drents Museum in Assen in the Netherlands on Saturday and made off with four ancient gold artifacts.
They used explosives to get to the exhibition of priceless Romanian jewelry made from gold and silver, including three Dacian spiral bracelets and the exhibit’s central piece: the strikingly decorated Helmet of Cotofenesti, which was crafted almost 2,500 years ago.
Romania’s ministry of culture has promised to take all possible steps to recover the stolen items, which had been loaned to the Dutch museum from Bucharest.
Drents Museum director Harry Tupan said staff were “intensely shocked” by the burglary, which he said was the biggest incident in its 170year history.
After the heist, police found a burning car on a nearby road.
All four stolen items are of huge cultural significance to Romania, with the Helmet of Cotofenesti considered a national treasure.
In the late 1990s, 24 bracelets from the same era were dug up by treasure
FEBRUARY 3RD - FEBRUARY 7TH
February 5th
9:30 am
Yoga with Deborah Bandos
10:15 am
Anagrams with Malka Zweig
10:30 am
Bais Yaakov Middle School Visit
11:00 am
Discussion Group with Rabbi Karp- Hello to Tu Bishvat from the Jewish Day School Movement Perspective
1:00 pm
Arts & Crafts with Shifra
1:45 pm
Guitar with Yossi K
Thursday February 6th
9:30 am
Yoga with Deborah Bandos
10:15 am
Anagrams with Malka Zweig
11:00 am L'Chaim Bowling 1:00 pm
Arts & Crafts with Shifra 1:45 pm
Guitar with Yossi K
Friday February 7th
am
Baking with Ms. Hirschman
11:00 am
Parshas Beshalach
Discussion w/ Virtual Krias Yam Suf
1:00 pm
Music with Aharon Grayson
The Week In News
hunters and sold abroad. The Romanian state worked for years to get them back from collectors in Austria, Germany, France, the UK and the United States.
S. Korea Indicts President
In an indictment filed Sunday, prosecutors charged South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol with insurrection, following his sudden and controversial declaration of martial law on December 3.
“The prosecution has decided to indict Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing charges of being a ringleader of insurrection,” Han Min-soo, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party, said at a press conference. “The punishment of the ringleader of insurrection now begins finally.”
Yoon maintains that his martial law declaration was necessary, asserting that the Democratic Party controls parliament, paralyzes the government, and sides with North Korea. Shortly after his declaration, parliament voted to end martial law.
On December 14, parliament impeached Yoon, revoking his presidential powers but keeping him in the position, pending another vote.
On December 31, authorities issued an arrest and search warrant, making Yoon the first sitting president in South Korea’s history to be arrested. Around two weeks ago, Yoon surrendered to authorities. He has vowed to fight the charges.
Ecuador Arrests Cartel Head
On Friday, Carlos Da – also known as El Chino – was arrested at his home in Portoviejo, Ecuador. El Chino was the second-in-command of Los Lobos (The Wolves) and was “considered a high-value target,” the armed forces said in a statement.
A large amount of cash was found at his home, along with armored vehicles, drugs and weapons. The armed forces released images of the arrest on social media, showing a shirtless El Chino and at least two other detained suspects.
“His arrest represents a strategic blow against the structure of this organized armed group,” the military said in a statement
The United States last year declared Los Lobos to be the largest drug trafficking organization in Ecuador, which has gone from being one of South America’s most stable nations to among its most violent in just a few years due to a surge in narcotics operations.
In the sanctions announcement, U.S. officials said the gang “contributes significantly to the violence gripping the country” and said that its network includes thousands of members backed by Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación — New Generation — and Sinaloa Cartel, which makes the gang particularly dangerous.
Los Lobos was formed in 2020 after it broke off from the Los Choneros drug cartel. It was involved in many prison riots, particularly in a riot in September 2021 in which 123 inmates were killed. In 2022, Los Lobos was behind other prison riots where inmates were killed and others fled the prison.
In November 2022, Los Lobos, along with their ally Los Tiguerones, were behind a wave of violence across Ecuador after many of their members were transferred out of the Litoral Penitentiary. In August 2023, masked men claiming to be members of Los Lobos said that they were responsible for the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio; they later denied involvement.
Last year, Ecuadoran authorities seized a record 294 tons of drugs in raids, mostly cocaine originating in neighboring Colombia and Peru, which is smuggled to Europe and the United States through the port of Guayaquil.
Los Lobos has a presence in 16 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces, where it also engages in illegal gold mining. Jailed Los
Lobos members are the de facto rulers of several Ecuadoran prisons, often directing operations on the outside from behind bars.
In January 2024, President Daniel Noboa declared a state of “internal armed conflict” after a brutal wave of violence, sparked by the jailbreak of a powerful crime boss. The move came after gunmen stormed and opened fire in a TV studio and bandits threatened random executions of civilians and security forces. A prosecutor investigating the assault was later shot dead.
the words shavuy and assir to mean hostage.
However, in more modern times, the Academy said, the word chatuf has been used more, “especially in cases of bursting into the life of an innocent person and taking their freedom from them.”
On October 7, 2023, 251 people in Israel became chatufim when Hamas terrorists burst into Israel and snatched these men, women, and children to be brought back to Gaza.
Chatufim: Word of the Year
We’ve had them on our minds for more than 475 days. This week, the Academy of the Hebrew Language announced that its word of the year for 2024 was chatufim, hostages.
The Hebrew word for hostages, chatufim, was selected as the top pick by thousands of online voters, beating out the other top contenders including gevura, which means “heroism,” and hutar lefirsum, a phrase meaning “approved for publication,” which the IDF uses when announcing fallen soldiers.
“Hostages” received 45% of the online vote, with “heroism” in second place at 11%. “Approved for publication” got 10% and the remaining votes went to “responsibility” (achrayut) with 9%, “together” (yachad) with 6%, “home” (bayit) with 5%, “UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle” (katbam), “short distance” (kefesa), and “reserve duty” (miluim) with 4% each, and “intensity” (atzimut) with 2%.
The word chatuf (singular of chatufim) is relatively new to the Hebrew language, which in older times utilized
The terrorist organization released four hostages shortly after October 7 and another 105 in November last year as part of a deal with Israel. Another three hostages were released last Sunday as part of a ceasefire deal that came into effect that day; four other women were brought back home on Saturday. The deal is in its first phase during which another 30 hostages are set to be released and the terms of the second and third phases will be negotiated for the release of the rest.
The IDF also rescued eight hostages alive and retrieved the bodies of 40 hostages, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
“This year, the year of the hardest and longest war in our history, was also a year when we often felt speechless. Still, throughout the year, words stood out that reflected the reality: the pain, the grief, the anger, and the pride, overcoming and feeling grateful to those who risked their lives. The words that were chosen represent that entirety,” the Academy wrote in a Facebook post that announced the word of the year.
The Academy’s word of the year in 2020 was matosh, meaning throat swab. In 2021, the word was tirlul, which refers to a celebratory noise made at weddings. In 2022, the word bolan, sinkhole, was chosen. There was no word of the year in 2023 in light of the October 7 massacre.
Hebrew Language Day has been celebrated on the 21st of Tevet – the Hebrew birthday of Eliezer ben Yehuda, who was instrumental in the revival of modern day Hebrew – since 2012.
The Academy said that it hoped that “toward Hebrew Language Day next year, we’ll be considering words that represent happiness and peace, and until then, we’re waiting for the swift return of all the hostages from
AN EVENT FOR PHYSICIANS AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
This unique event provides medical professionals with the opportunity to meet with representatives from across the Israeli medical establishment.
MedEx is the only place where you can:
• Have your documents certified in person
• Begin the process of transferring your medical license
• Interview with Israeli hospitals and medical clinics
• Discuss your Aliyah plans even if they are long term
The Week In News
captivity and the safe return of all our soldiers from battle.”
Withdrawing from Lebanon
As the 60-day deadline for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon draws near, the Jewish state has asked an international committee for an extra 30 days to complete the pullout.
The November 27 ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian-proxy terror group Hezbollah mandated that the IDF give all its southern Lebanese positions to the Lebanese army by January 26, which has since passed. Simultaneously, Hezbollah must flee past the Litani River, around 18 miles away from the border.
lah’s threats but cannot deal with longer-term issues unless the Jewish state submits complaints to an oversight committee that is made up of officials from the U.S., France, Lebanon, and UNIFIL, a United Nations peacekeeping force on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called on officials from the U.S. and France to deny Israel’s request. According to reports, Lebanese officials are concerned that a delay in Israel’s withdrawal would hurt efforts by Lebanon’s army to take control of the ceded positions.
The Hezbollah terror group, which started the war with Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after the October 7 massacre, declared that a withdrawal extension would be “considered a flagrant violation of the agreement and an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty” and called on all involved parties to ensure that the Israeli military withdraws by the end of the 60 days.
According to reports, France is okay with the extension if the other parties agree with it. However, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly wary of granting Israel’s request. Michael Hezog, Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the U.S., has stated that he thinks Israel and the U.S. could “reach an understanding” on the issue, allowing
However, Israel is now requesting an extension of its withdrawal deadline
The Week In News
try [Lebanon], until we understand that a weapons arsenal doesn’t again trickle to Israel’s northern border,” the IDF should remain in certain important positions in southern Lebanon, declared Moshe Davidovich, the head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council.
“At the moment, it is not right to withdraw,” he noted. “A firm stand by the IDF on both sides of the border will give us, the council chiefs, the ability to install confidence in our residents and tell that they can return home without fear.”
Last Wednesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke to Jeanine Hennis, the U.N.’s special coordinator for Lebanon.
“I emphasized that Israel is committed to implementing the ceasefire agreement, but will not compromise on its security,” Sa’ar said of the conversation. “There is an opportunity for Lebanon to break free from the Iranian occupation and build a better future.”
During the ceasefire, Hezbollah violated the truce hundreds of times by transporting ammunition, trying to attack Israeli soldiers, and readying rockets to launch at northern Israel. Israeli sol-
diers have found Russian-made weapons and several Hezbollah tunnels, both of which the IDF destroyed.
Israel Elects Supreme Court
President
Following 16 months with no permanent Supreme Court president, the Judicial Selection Committee forced the high court to hold a vote on Sunday night. Following a five-hour committee hearing, the winner of the election was acting president Justice Isaac Amit.
In response, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a conservative, declared that he
wouldn’t recognize Amit as the court’s president, declaring the vote “illegitimate to its core.” Levin vowed against cooperating with Amit on matters that require the two officials’ collaboration.
Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat of the Likud Party tweeted: “Shame. This is what a full legal coup looks like. The Supreme Court judges appointed a Supreme Court president on their behalf tonight, overriding the elected officials. A black day for Israeli democracy.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, also of Likud, said, “Everyone understood what the results of the corrupt, shady plan would be. The people will not put up with its oppression. We will dismantle and rebuild the Supreme Court and the prosecutor’s office from the ground up.”
Otzma Yehudit Party chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted, “The election of Justice Amit as president of the Supreme Court is an attack on democracy and public trust. A person over whom a cloud of [real estate] construction offenses hangs cannot serve in the
highest position in the judicial system.
“This is contempt for the law and for the citizens of the country. The time has come for real reform of the judicial system, which will include replacing the attorney general and eliminating the monopoly on appointing judges,” he said, adding, “Who will judge the judges?”
When Esther Hayut, the former Supreme Court chief justice, retired in October 2023, Levin began repeatedly delaying holding a vote for president, as he hoped to wait until the Judicial Selection Committee secured enough votes to elect a conservative instead of Amit, a liberal justice.
But in September, the Supreme Court ruled that Levin doesn’t have the right to indefinitely postpone the election. The high court ruled that Levin must call a vote by January 16. However, in early January, the court extended the deadline to January 26 following the emergence of misconduct allegations against Amit, which Levin wanted time to examine. When that date came along, Levin refused
SINAI HOSPITAL
1st floor, off the Blaustein
Lobby
JOHNS HOPKINS
1st Floor, Blalock Room 175
GBMC
New Building, Main Entrance, Adjacent to the Spiritual Care offices – Room 3281
UNIVERSITY OF MD MEDICAL CENTER
6th Floor, Gudelsky Conference room
UNION MEMORIAL First floor, Johnson Professional Building across from the Zen Meditation Garden
The Week In News
to call for the vote. Rather, he allowed Judge Tzahi Ouziel, the director of the Israel Courts Administration, to convene the Judicial Selection Committee for the election.
Amit has called the investigations, which allege he presided over a number of cases where he had conflicts of interest, “unlawful” and an “organized smear campaign.”
Bringing Them Home
As part of the newly brokered ceasefire and hostage deal, four female soldiers who had been held by Hamas for 477 days were freed on Saturday. Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag were abducted from the Nahal Oz army base on October 7.
Before their release, the four hostages were forced to participate in a Hamas ceremony, during which they wore olive green garbs similar in appearance to IDF uniforms, held Hamas “gift bags,” and waved to crowds of Gazans. In the stage’s background, slogans in English, Arabic, and Hebrew read, “Palestine: The victory of the oppressed people vs. the Nazi Zionism,” and “Zionism will not win.”
On the afternoon of their release, Hamas released a propaganda vid-
eo in which terrorists handed each of the four hostages a “prisoner release form,” a framed certificate, and a Palestinian flag keychain. In the video, they were coerced into thanking the terror group, which murdered 1,200 people on October 7 and kidnapped 251 others, for their treatment. According to Israel’s Health Ministry, Hamas drugged the freed hostages to make them seem happy.
Following their release, the Red Cross brought the four women, all aged 20 except 19-year-old Albag, to IDF special forces, who brought them to the Re’im IDF facility, where they were given a short medical examination which found them to be in normal medical condition, and reunited them with their loved ones.
“Hamas is a murderous terror group. In the last few hours, Hamas proved its cruelty by organizing a cynical ceremony,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, adding that the terror group “presented a misrepresentation of treatment and care for the hostages, while in reality, it is cruelly holding for 477 days innocent civilians.”
Just a week before, three other female hostages, Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher, were freed. The reaction to Saturday’s release was very similar, with hundreds gathering in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in celebration, and videos surfacing of family members hugging the former hostages.
Hamas went against the terms of the deal by releasing soldiers before civilians. However, Hagari pledged that Israel will ensure the release of Arbel Yehoud, a civilian hostage Israel believes is alive, and Shiri Bibas and her
The Week In News
children, whose fate Israel is heavily concerned about. Hagari added that Israel should soon have more information on the Bibas family.
In exchange for the four hostages, Israel released around 200 Palestinians, including 121 terrorists who were serving life sentences for committing acts of terror and murdering Israelis.
Hegseth Confirmed as Sec of Defense
Late on Friday, after a dramatic, tie-breaking vote, Pete Hegseth was confirmed by the Senate as the nation’s secretary of defense.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran, has vowed to bring a “warrior culture” to the department. With the votes at a 50-50 tie, Vice President JD Vance arrived to cast his vote, leading to Hegseth’s confirmation.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, all Republicans, voted against Hegseth.
Only once before has the vice president had to break a tie on a Cabinet nominee — during Trump’s first term, when Vice President Mike Pence cast the vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary.
“Is Pete Hegseth truly the best we have to offer?” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urging his colleagues to think seriously about their vote. All Democrats opposed the nominee.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that Hegseth, as a veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, “will bring a warrior’s perspective” to the top military job.
“Gone will be the days of woke distractions,” Thune said, referring to the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives being slashed across the federal government. “The Pentagon’s focus will be on war fighting.”
Hegseth is now the head of an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians, and a budget of $850 billion.
TB Outbreak in Kansas
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking and reporting on tuberculosis cases in the United States since the 1950s. Now, public health officials are saying that Kansas may be experiencing a tuberculosis outbreak, the largest in recorded history in the country.
Officials documented 66 active cases and 79 latent infections in the Kansas City, Kansas, metro area since 2024.
“Currently, Kansas has the largest outbreak that they’ve ever had in history,” Ashley Goss, a deputy secretary at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee last week.
Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium that typically affects the lungs, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. People with an active infection feel sick and can spread it to others, while people with a latent infection don’t feel ill and can’t spread it. Tuberculosis is spread person-to-person through the air when a person with an active infection coughs, speaks, or sings. It is treatable with antibiotics.
State public health officials are assuring the public, saying that there is “very low risk to the general public.”
Health department statistics show that statewide there were 51 active cases in 2023. That number jumped to 109 in 2024. There has been one so far in 2025.
“Some of you are aware, we have and still have mobilized staff and resources addressing an unprecedented tuberculosis outbreak in one of our counties,”
Goss told lawmakers. “We are working collaboratively with CDC on that. CDC remains on the ground with us to support. That’s not a negative. This is normal when there’s something unprecedented or a large outbreak of any kind, they will come and lend resources to us to help get a stop to that. We are trending in the right direction right now.”
Goss said that when the health department got involved with the Kansas City outbreak last summer, there were 65 active cases and roughly the same number of latent cases. She said the number is now down to about 32 active cases.
For active patients, after 10 days of taking medications and having three sputum-mucus tests, they will generally no longer be able to transmit tuberculosis.
The Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine for tuberculosis is regularly used in countries where the disease is more common and not in the United States.
More people worldwide are getting tuberculosis than ever recorded, according to the World Health Organization. Some 8.2 million people were newly diagnosed with the disease in 2023, the health organization said in October. The number of new diagnoses is the highest since the organization began keeping track in 1995 and marks a significant increase from 7.5 million diagnoses reported in 2022, the WHO said.
Tuberculosis was the leading infectious disease killer in 2023 in the world, surpassing Covid-19, according to the WHO.
Gulf of America
If you’re searching for the Gulf of Mexico on Google Maps, you may just find it – under a new name. The company said on X on Monday that it will change the name of the body of water separating the two countries to Gulf of America once it is officially updated in the U.S. Geographic Names System.
The change will be visible in the U.S., but the name will remain “Gulf of Mexico” in Mexico. Outside of the two countries, users will see both names on Google Maps.
On Friday, the Trump administration’s Interior Department said it had officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and the Alaskan peak Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley.
The 20,310-foot peak had been known as Denali until 1896, when a gold prospector unofficially named the peak after William McKinley in support
of the then-presidential candidate. Even though McKinley had never been to the mountain and had no special connection to Alaska, the peak was officially named in the late Republican president’s honor in 1917. The name was officially changed to Denali, as a symbolic gesture to the Koyukon people, by the Obama administration in 2015.
Mount McKinley’s name will also be changed on Google Maps.
President Donald Trump ordered the name changes as an executive action hours after taking office on January 20, making good on a campaign promise.
“As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America’s highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley,” the Interior Department said in a statement last week.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month jokingly suggested North America, including the United States, be renamed “Mexican America,” a historic name used on an early map of the region.
Scott Bessent is Treas. Secretary
On Monday, the U.S. Senate officially confirmed Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, helping President Trump to shape new policy ambitions around tax cuts and spending and managing economic relationships with nations around the world.
The vote was 68-29, with 16 Democrats supporting the nomination.
Bessent, 62, warned during the confirmation hearing that failure to renew $4 trillion in tax cuts expiring at the end of this year would be a “calamity” for middle-class Americans. He said that tariffs would help combat unfair trade practices, increase revenues, and bolster U.S. leverage in international negotiations. Bessent assured that Trump’s policies would not be inflationary.
During the hearings, Bessent spoke about “out of control” government spending. He pledged not to touch the
The Week In News
Social Security retirement program and Medicare insurance plan for seniors, among the biggest line items in the federal budget, along with interest expense, determined by market rates that the Treasury does not control.
Bessent founded and ran the macro hedge fund Key Square Group and emerged as a key economic advisor to Trump during the 2024 campaign.
ADHD Side Effect
According to a study released last week in the British Journal of Psychiatry, individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tend to live fewer years than those without the condition.
The study, which links ADHD with a reduced life expectancy, compared United Kingdom health records from over 30,000 people with the condition to data on almost 300,000 others without ADHD, and found that men with an ADHD diagnosis tend to live 4½ to nine years less than average. Women diagnosed with ADHD, on the other hand, saw a 6½- to 11-year life expectancy reduction.
“Although many people with ADHD live long and healthy lives, our finding that on average they are living shorter
lives than they should indicates unmet support needs,” noted Dr. Liz O’Nions, the lead author of the study and an honorary research fellow in clinical, education, and health psychology at the University College London. “It is crucial that we find out the reasons behind premature deaths so we can develop strategies to prevent these in the future.”
Though most people with ADHD are diagnosed as children, the condition, in many cases, continues into adulthood. Many individuals with ADHD struggle with concentration, organization, time management, memorization, and the like, due to imbalanced neurotransmitters, including dopamine.
Three- to four-percent of adults living in the U.K. have been diagnosed with ADHD, while 4% or more of children have the disorder. However, because ADHD often goes undiagnosed, the study’s findings may be exaggerated.
The research also found associations between ADHD and personality disorders, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and other mental health issues. Those with ADHD were, on average, more likely to also have autism, intellectual disabilities, physical problems–such as diabetes or high cholesterol–and unhealthy habits, including nicotine and alcohol use.
Dr. Kevin McConway, an emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University in England who was not involved in the study, called the research “striking.” However, he noted that the study only proves an association between ADHD and lower life expectancy, not a causal relationship.
“Things like differences in smoking, alcohol use, and several health conditions are likely to be consequences of the ADHD, to a large extent,” McConway said, adding that such issues could be the reason why those with ADHD have a shorter average lifespan.
Dr. Josh Scott, a lead author for the study and a University College London professor of aging and clinical psychology, noted that individuals with ADHD “have many strengths and can thrive with the right support and treatment.”
Orange Soda
Remember creamsicles? Those orange and cream yummy ice cream bars? Now, Coca-Cola is getting into the or-
ange cream flavor. The soda company said that it is debuting a new flavor next week: Coca-Cola Orange Cream.
Described as “the delicious taste of Coca-Cola infused with refreshing orange and smooth, creamy vanilla flavors,” Coca-Cola Orange Cream will also be available in a Zero Sugar version.
“Coca-Cola Orange Cream was developed in direct response to consumer demand for the iconic and nostalgic taste of orange cream,“ the Coca-Cola Co. said in a news release.
Coca-Cola first released Diet Coke in 1983. Since then, it has debuted more than two dozen variations of the popular soft drink. Most of the various flavors that have come about since the turn of the century have been discontinued, including Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla and Coca-Cola with Coffee, although others like Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola Cherry have become a fixture on store shelves.
11:00-9:00
The Week In News
The Spiced flavor was discontinued in September, just months after it was introduced to consumers, “to introduce an exciting new flavor in 2025,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said.
President Donald Trump is a fan of Diet Coke. A few weeks ago, Coca-Cola Co. chair and CEO James Quincey presented President Donald Trump with a special bottle of Diet Coke.
“A limited quantity of Diet Coke bottles commemorating the 47th President of the United States – which will not be available for sale – will be distributed to the White House, as well as inauguration events,” the Coca-Cola Co. said on its website.
Trump’s affinity for Diet Coke is well-known. After his inauguration, the White House brought back the Diet Coke button for Trump to easily order his favorite drink from the Oval Office. The red button, hidden in a wooden box, was used by Trump during his first term.
Coke has held onto the soda crown
The Past in the Trash
Last week, police found a valuable statue that is believed to be more than 2,000 years old. The relic was discovered in a most unusual place: in the trash.
An eagle-eyed resident saw the 31-inch headless statue near a trash bin in a city near Thessaloniki, Greece. The man turned it over to local authorities, who contacted archaeologists to assess its significance.
Police said experts, following an initial evaluation, determined the piece dates to the Hellenistic era, a period roughly between 320 and 30 B.C. that was marked
who discarded the statue in the dustbin.
Accidental archaeological discoveries are relatively common in Greece, a country renowned for its ancient heritage, and are often made during building construction or public works. In December, workers installing natural gas pipelines near Athens uncovered a Roman-era statue buried upright in a brick-lined pit near the Acropolis.
Sounds like this one is making history.
Smelly Sensation
Looking for a great place to visit that will shock your senses? Consider the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where the rare Amorphophallus gigas, a relative of the “corpse flower,” has been blooming.
Throngs of visitors have been lining up to see – and smell – the plant.
It supposedly smells like rotting flesh.
“It smells like feet, cheese and rotten meat. It just smelled like the worst possible combination of smells,” one visitor said. “That was disgusting.”
This is the first time the plant has bloomed since arriving in Brooklyn in 2018. Native to Sumatra, the plant is known for its height and carrion scent, which it uses to attract pollinators.
It has hundreds of flowers, both male and female, inside the bloom, and it can take years between blooming events. The bloom lasts only a few days before it collapses.
There are only a few of these types of plants in botanical gardens around the world. This week, another putrid-smelling flower was blooming in Sydney, where people waited for three hours on line to smell the off-putting blooming Amorphophallus titanum, which evokes whiffs of gym socks and rotting garbage.
It was the first time in 15 years that a corpse flower has bloomed at the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden. That plant’s flower was spotted in December, when it was 10 inches high. Last week, it was more than 5 feet tall.
That makes perfect “scents.”
The Associated: Programs Help Individuals with Disabilities Succeed
February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), a month dedicated to bringing the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities to the forefront and reminds us of the importance of making sure everyone can participate in Jewish life.
Yet, The Associated understands that creating a welcoming environment for people with disabilities is a year-round priority. From the earliest ages, The Associated network offers numerous programs to make sure everyone— no matter what their ability—has the chance to succeed in their community.
From an Early Age
Supporting individuals with disabilities begins at an early age, well before they start school.
Whether your child has an existing or newlydiagnosed educational disability, thanks to funding from The Associated, our network is able to provide services, some of which are free or subsidized, to Jewish children in public, private, home or Jewish day school.
As part of The Associated’s commitment, the Macks Jewish Connection Network offers support to access initial assessments, IEP, IFSP and 504 plan advocacy, financial resource identification and more.
If your child attends a Jewish day school, SHEMESH Student Services, a program of Jewish Educational Services (JES), provides early childhood behavior and education consulting, executive function coaching, speech and language therapy and early intervention for reading—during the school day.
And if your child doesn’t attend a Jewish day
school, that doesn’t mean they can’t receive a Jewish education.
On Sundays, Jewish Educational Services’ Gesher La Torah, a multisensory, Jewish educational program geared toward individuals with significant disabilities who attend public school or non-public school education programs. With two options— one for teens and young adults and one for children through high school—Gesher La Torah teaches Judaic content, including holidays, life cycle events, Parsha and customs. Educators tailor the curriculum to maximize the strengths of each student.
And It’s Not Just for Students
Parents, too, may need support and skills when raising their child with a learning or behavioral disability. Through JES, they often find compassion, guidance and a better understanding of learning disabilities.
JES also provides parent consultation. For one mom in the community, this service was a lifesaver. “We were dealing with behaviors that felt like a crisis—everything from taking things that didn’t belong to him to struggling with self-care activities like getting ready for bed. The whole family was affected.”
Through personalized guidance, JES’s parenting consultant helped the family focus on their son’s strengths, offering practical strategies rooted in behavioral analysis.
“What once felt chaotic has settled down. The impact on our home—and even at school—has been incredible.”
Not only that, but JES partners with CHADD of Greater Baltimore, offering a monthly parent support group for families of children with
ADHD, covering a wide range of topics.
Transitioning to Adulthood
Thinking about what the future holds for some children with disabilities can be scary for some parents. Yet beginning in the high school years, parents can reach out for help with gathering resources for transition planning.
Once your loved one completes high school or sometimes before, Jewish Community Services (JCS) can assist with learning daily living skills, such as cooking, grocery shopping, learning to take public transportation and more. They can help your loved ones participate in social experiences and learn skills for employment success.
The Macks Jewish Connection Network also helps families plan for life beyond school, from post-high school education, getting state identification cards, accessing mobility services and specialized driver’s education, applying for government programs and more.
Job Success
Adults with disabilities can find success through several programs in our system. JCS provides Employment Support Services and can connect individuals with disabilities to job opportunities that match their skills and abilities, including internships and long-term employment positions.
JCS also provides on-site job coaching, including offering support to help individuals navigate their work experience to become independent on the job.
Check out all the Associated network programs and a listing of JDAIM events at associated.org/disabilities
An Unforgettable Weekend with Mesivta Shaarei Chaim
Although the Mesivta is in high gear getting our new campus ready for move-in, some things just cannot be pushed off. Our annual special getaway, “Shabbos Chizuk,” is one of them. So, this past Thursday we braved the sub-freezing temperatures and travelled in style to the magnificent, snow covered, Aishel HaTorah Retreat Center in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania. This once-a-year event serves as an opportunity for much of our Rabbeim, staff, and others involved with the Mesivta to spend an extended weekend together with the Talmidim.
We departed after a morning of learning, arriving just in time for a BBQ supper and settling in with personalized welcome packets. Following Maariv and night seder we gathered in the spacious dining room for cholent, sushi and some terrific programming run by our indefatigable Rav Yisrael Meir Lebovits shlit”a. The rest of the retreat’s activities continued with the davening, learning, and inspiration coupled with excitement, relaxation, and camaraderie. Shabbos was definitely a highlight, with beautiful zemiros and Divrei Torah shared by Rabbeim and Bachurim alike during the delicious seudos. The spectacular weekend was capped off with dancing, a snow tubing trip, and hot Melave Malka. Everyone left, wishing the magic would never end.
While the Shaarei Chaim hanhala, Rabbeim and talmidim all left exhilarated, their spirits were lifted further by the beautiful words of praise received from the manager of Aishel: “As a place that sees dozens of Yeshivas of all stripes, up close and involved, we can say with
certainty that Mesivta Shaarei Chaim was exceptional. From the Rebbeim to the bachurim, you were humble and focused; Yiray Shamaim who are also real menchen.” We hope that next year’s Shabbos Chizuk can be celebrated in Yerushalayim ha’benuya, bh”v.
Talmudical Academy - 4445 Old Court Rd The Adas: Chofetz Chaim Adas Bnei Israel - 5915 Park Heights Ave The Shul at the Lubavitch Center - 6701 Old Pimlico Rd Tiferes Yisroel - 6201 Park Heights Ave
Tzeirei Anash -
WITS: Impacting Communities —Baltimore & Beyond
Education is more than just academic achievement – it’s about developing individuals. The WITS Impacting Communities – Baltimore & Beyond campaign celebrates the remarkable alumnae of WITS who are helping shape Jewish life, locally and across the globe—in their homes, schools, nonprofits, and professional roles.
Building Homes on a Foundation of Torah
At WITS, students gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Jewish woman in today’s world. Courses like Nashim B’Tanach with Rebbetzin Rosenbaum, Women in the World with Rabbi Heber, and Relationship Building and Family Dynamics with Rebbetzin Hauer provide students with tools and inspiration for building strong homes rooted in Torah values.
“WITS has definitely impacted who I am and, therefore, has impacted my family—my children and my husband. The choices I have made as a mother, the profession I wanted to pursue, have all been shaped by the superior education I received.” – Bracha Frohlich ’08
Teaching the Next Generation
WITS graduates are shaping the future of Jewish education in Baltimore and beyond. They serve as teachers, administrators, and role models in schools like Bais Yaakov, Bnos Yisroel, Ohr Chadash, Tashbar, Toras Simcha, TA, Cheder Chabad, and TI, bringing passion, dedication and expertise to their classrooms. This success is made possible by WITS’ commitment to developing its graduates into the best teachers they can be, by ensuring they are thoroughly prepared before entering the classroom. Even after graduation, WITS continues to mentor and support its alumnae educators, providing the ongoing guidance needed for their long-term success.
“The way my Rebbeim, Mechanchos, and teachers—regardless of the subject—shaped and inspired me to be my best, it continues to influence how I teach and, hopefully, how I impact my students.” - Nechama Stein ’13, Teacher, Bais Yaakov
Strengthening Nonprofits
Our students and alumnae are also pillars in the nonprofit world. From founding organizations to volunteering, these women are serving vital roles in the community at places like Elevate, Bonei Olam, Menucha, Chai Lifeline, the Star-K, Jewish Caring Networking, JTAP, BG3, JEP, Tal, and more.
“In WITS, you have a firsthand opportunity to be close with and learn from people who are role models in how to be pillars in the community and coming from an out-of-town community, that’s always been something that’s very important to me – to make a difference and be an integral part of my community.” - Ayelet Pitterman ’25, Health Science student, WITS
Driving the Local Economy
Beyond schools and nonprofits, WITS alumnae are making meaningful contributions to businesses and the professional world, both inside and outside of the Jewish community. They are excelling in diverse roles such as speech pathologists, lawyers, marketers, social workers, software developers, and more. From the Naomi Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital, Autumn Lake to The Therapy Spot, as well as businesses like Baltimore Dental, MITRE, Warschawski, and AMF Creative, WITS graduates are making a lasting impact in our greater community, all while bringing professionalism, purpose, and Torah values to their workplaces.
“I came back from seminary and went to WITS. I was able to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in one year. I work full-time and run a mini urgent-care out of my house. I get called by Hatzalah on a regular basis, we’re pretty much on-call all the time, including Shabbos. I love it, it’s great. I’m so happy to give back to the community.” - Chani Mainstain ’11, Family Nurse Practitioner
Be a Part of the Impact
The strength of WITS lies not only in the big accomplishments of alumnae but also in the countless daily contributions they make—often behind the scenes—that shape our communities in meaningful ways. Recent surveys reveal that 60% of WITS graduates have contributed to Jewish education by working in Jewish schools, while 78% have actively engaged in the Jewish community through roles in schools, kiruv, nonprofits, or Jewish-owned businesses.
As we celebrate this campaign, we honor the incredible WITS alumnae who are making an impact in our
community and communities around the world like Beit Shemesh, Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, Yerushalayim, Lakewood, Las Vegas, Houston, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Manchester, and more - creating a Kiddush Hashem wherever they go.
Your support goes far beyond WITS, it strengthens our entire community, making a lasting impact across Baltimore and beyond.
To make a donation, visit witsimpact.com.
Left to right – Gratzia Atkin, Nurse Practitioner, Village Obgyn and Rena Malka Heineman, School Administrator, Tashbar
Left to right – Sarah Strobel, Founder, Elevate and Yakira Price, Associate Attorney, Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP
Want to see your simcha here? Email mazeltov@baltimorejewishhome.com or text 443-675-6507 to submit your simcha!
Mr. & Mrs. Menachem Manevich on the birth of a daughter
Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Slone on the birth of a son
Mr. & Dr. Moshe Golombeck on the birth of a son
Violet Battat & Shlomo Bolts on the birth of a daughter
Daniella & Shamai Whitman on the birth of a daughter
Chaim & Hadassa Bloom on the birth of a son
Want
Torah Thought Keeping Dogs At Bay
By Rabbi Zvi Teichman
Moshe takes one parting shot at Pharaoh, never to see him again, warning him of the impending Plague of the Firstborn.
Moshe first describes how absolutely every firstborn among the Egyptians will die. He then goes on to foretell of the resulting ‘great outcry’ of painful anguish that will be expressed by the people that will be unparalleled in its magnitude in the history of all mankind. Finally he reveals to Pharaoh that ‘against the Children of Israel, no dog shall whet its tongue, against neither man nor beast, so that you shall know that G-d will have differentiated between Egypt and Israel’
It seems quite strange that Moshe chooses to distinguish between the Egyptians and the Jews not by accentuating the fact that not even one Jewish firstborn will die, but rather by emphasizing merely the silence of the dogs towards the Children of Israel.
What is this ‘great outcry’ that the Torah stresses? Of course, with so many deaths and ‘not a house where there was no corpse’, there would naturally be an overwhelming outburst of grief. What added dimension to this plague is punctuated by reporting this fact?
The term used to describe this lack of any barking dogs among the dwellings of the Jews is intriguing. No dog, ץרחי — shall whet its tongue. (ו אי תומש)
The word normally associated with barking is חבנ. The root word used here of ץרח, is a matter of much discussion. Some allege it means to ‘growl’, ‘bark’, ‘bite’, ‘sharpen’ (its tongue), or perhaps ‘wag’. All of these translations somehow relate
to the dog stifling its normal instinct to react, by either; sharpening its tongue; growling; barking; biting or simply wagging.
The Ibn Ezra, however, directs us to a verse in Melachim, ךיטפשמ ןכ — So shall your judgment be, ת
— yourself has decided it. (מ
The word implies rendering a decision
What ‘decision’ or ‘judgment’ do dogs generally adjudicate over before barking that the Torah finds it necessary to tell us here that the dogs didn’t ‘decide’ to bark?
Until the Plague of the Firstborn the Egyptian people took a physical beating. Their water, crops, bodies and livestock were afflicted with painful and damaging assortment of assaults.
Somehow this toughened people led by their pompous and defiant king, held on to their pride and distorted self-confidence, in taking it on the chin rather than submitting to defeat.
They were still a mighty nation with a system of government that was headed by their Pharaoh, supported by the privileged caste of firstborns and followed by the people who each found themselves a role within this hierarchical system. As long as the leaders could maintain their composure, displaying confidence in their positions of leadership instilling a loyalty, within the populace, to the kingdom, they would fend off their pain for the sake of the greater nation.
But with the advent of the total decimation of the upper echelons of this precarious ‘House of Cards’, they were left with nothing to have faith in, and became totally demoralized causing true fear to set in. The great
‘outcry’ wasn’t merely over the grief on the loss of their loved ones, but rather a paralyzing angst that their whole world was crashing in. Never in history did an entire nation suddenly discover at once that the ‘Emperor had no clothes’!
The contrast between the Egyptian nation and the Jewish one, wasn’t simply the total survival of every firstborn among them, but rather their absolute faith in G-d that instilled within them an
aura of extraordinary confidence in themselves, in their mission, and in their deepening bond with the Creator.
Dogs sense fear or confidence and react accordingly. The Egyptians were falling apart emotionally and displaying profound angst and fear that prodded the dogs to respond with wild and frantic barking. The Jewish nation on the other hand were supremely calm, firmly implanted in the safe and warm embrace of a benevolent and caring G-d. The dogs instinctively reacted in kind by withholding any display of anxiety whatsoever.
Perhaps this is the ‘judgment’ the Torah alludes to, referring to dogs natural ability to sense and discern danger or safety, fear or calm, and reflect it in their behavior.
In Torah literature the ‘barking dog’ serves as a metaphor at times for; ‘the dogs that surround us’, our enemies; the evil inclination; the speaker of Loshon Hora — slander.
The antidote for these marauding canines is to reaffirm our faith in G-d and ourselves. When we doubt G-d’s unconditional concern for us, we become exposed to the attacks of these vicious dogs. They sense our fear, defensively responding, seeking to undermine us further by adding to our angst.
When we weaken in our personal resolve to grow, the keen sense of
smell of the doglike evil inclination picks up our scent and growl menacingly at our helplessness, compelling us to sink even further into self-doubt.
When we doubt ourselves and our abilities and lose faith in our personal mission, that is precisely when the slandering ‘frisky dogs’ attempt to take advantage of those vulnerabilities by yelping their aspersions upon our character, further diminishing our confidence in ourselves. They desperately seek to draw us into the ‘dogfight’, compelling us to join them in the hurling of invective that will only leave us muddied and wounded.
The Plague of the Firstborn and its impact served as the ultimate distinction between our two nations.
Will we strut through life with an artificial sense of power and confidence supplied by privilege and circumstance, positioning ourselves conveniently above others, where we can assert our authority and influence?
Or will we lead lives of purpose and mission, empowered by our relationship with the Almighty and His faith in us that will bring a quiet calm to all our endeavors even when they don’t bring our expected results?
If we mimic the former attitude, sooner or later our personal ‘House of Cards’ will collapse, exposing the folly of our ways, leaving us among the ruins of ancient Egyptian culture.
But if in the spirit of our poised ancestors who made the exodus from Egypt, we ‘gird our loins’ with determination, firmly placing ‘our shoes on our feet’, trekking purposefully towards our goals, and carry proudly the ‘staff in our hands’, we will be able to face any challenge and succeed in keeping those ‘dogs at bay’ as our ancestors so admirably did on that fateful night!
You may reach the author at: Ravzt@ ohelmoshebaltimore.com
OVERVIEW PARSHA
Egypt gets “plagued” with the final 3 (out of 10) Makkos - locusts, darkness, and the death of the firsborn. The Jewish people are given their very first Mitzvah as a nation, the Mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh. Also, ,many Pesach-related Mitzvos are given to the Jewish people as well. We are commanded to always remember the departure from Egypt; Yetzias Mitzrayim serves as one of the central themes of Judaism.
Quotable Quote
TSorahparks
Inspiration Everywhere
Parshas Bo on
“Jewish texts and times are not colourcoded but music-coded. The map of holy words is written in melodies and songs.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l
GEMATRIA
Check out Chapter 12, Verse 17 in this week’s Parshah.
In the Dibur Hamaschil of םתרמשו Rashi says:
- but if it (a commandment) comes to your hand, perform it immediately.
The gematria of this phrase is 986, which so happens to be the exact same gematria of the word
You can do with this gematria what you like, it is just fascinating to show how there are no coincidences and everything Rashi wrote was specific and exact.
Rabbi Ori Strum is the author of “Ready. Set. Grow.” and “Dove Tales.”
His shiurim and other Jewish content can be found on Torah Anytime and Meaningful Minute. Your feedback is appreciated: oristrum@torahsparks.com
Pesukim - 106
Words - 1,655 PARSHA STATS
Letters - 6,149
Mitzvos - 20
QUICK VORT Chassidus
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains
On the words תוצמה תא םתרמשו - and you shall guard the Matzos (12:17), Rashi brings the Mechilta which teaches us that the word Matzos (unleavened bread) can also refer to Mitzvos (commandments)!
Just like Matzah must not be allowed to ferment, so too our Mitzvos should be performed right away, and not be allowed to ferment!
This level of תוזירז (alacrity) to perform Mitzvos right away stems from being happy a nd excited with one’s yiddishkeit.
Accordingly, it’s quite possible that the word רמש (guard) from the phrase תוצמה תא םתרמשו can be understood as “excitement and anticipation” - just like by Yaakov Avinu where the Torah said: ויבאו רבדה תא רמש - and Yosef’s father anticipated the matter.
By answering the call of the Mitzvos right away - on the first ring! - we are showing our excitement for our yiddishkeit.
The idea of “coming to Pharaoh” represents the importance in our Divine Service to approach and “come” to the root of the Yetzer Hara within us and eradicate the bad.
We must crush the Yetzer Hara at its roots so it doesn’t grow back!
In life, if we really want to fix something, we must go to the root!
Points to
The Sanhedrin - which would decide on the Rosh Chodesh, based on the witnesses seeing the new moon - sat in a לוגע
- a semi circle, the same shape as the moon!
Why did Sanhedrin sit in this way, in a semi circle?
Scan the QR code to join the Torah Sparks WhatsApp Chat for more content!
Rabbi Adi Isaacs
Connecting Jewish Youth to Their Land, Their Heritage, and to Their People
By Eliyahu RosEnBERg
Atrip to Israel could last a few days, weeks, or months. But beyond that, the experience could leave an impression that lasts a lifetime.
We’ve all heard stories of those who came to Israel as wandering spirits and left as proud Jews. There’s an undeniable magic to Eretz Yisrael—a special quality responsible for spiritually awakening thousands of baalei teshuvos
The Holy Land’s supernatural power to be mekarev non-religious Jews was perhaps best encapsulated by a study conducted some time ago.
Fifteen years ago, MASA published a study on the transformative effects of spending time in Israel. The organization, which empowers Jewish students to travel to Eretz Yisrael, found that spending three or more months in the land is a life-changing experience for most Jewish college students. That means that a trip that lasts for days or weeks could be powerful, but the impact of a three-month stay would be unbelievable.
The study caught the attention of many kiruv professionals around the world, including Rabbi Adi Isaacs, who has spearheaded several projects in light of the research. Born from the study was a question. Rabbi Isaacs pondered, “How do we encourage Jewish college students to spend three months in Israel?” Then, born from that question was an idea that changed the kiruv world.
He was headed for UCLA Dental School. But when Rabbi Adi Isaacs married his wife, the young couple decided to spend the first year of their marriage in Israel. Thus, he deferred his dental ambitions for a little while and spent the year learning
in a kollel in Eretz Yisrael.
“During my last years in Yeshiva University, I enjoyed doing outreach work,” shares Rabbi Isaacs. “When I was in New York, before I moved to Eretz Yisrael, I started a program through the OU that we called Friday Night Lights. We went to smaller communities in Long Island that had a very large Reform or Conservative community and a very small Orthodox shul. We would go and unite the entire neighborhood for Shabbos, have one big Shabbos meal in the Orthodox shul, and everybody would come.”
While in Israel, his passion for kiruv grew stronger. Rabbi Isaacs and his wife joined the Birthright organization, hosting Shabbos meals and Kotel trips for non-religious participants. Eventually, after a year or two of learning and doing kiruv work, Rabbi Isaacs’ dream of going to dental school faded away. He discovered he much preferred working as a kiruv rabbi than as a dentist.
“We felt we could take a chance and try to do something innovative that nobody else was doing,” Rabbi Isaacs recounts. “I looked at some research studies. One was produced by an organization in Israel called
MASA, which gives funding to most gap year programs in Israel. They put out a study that said that when college students come to Israel for over three months, it makes the greatest impression on their lives forever.”
Thus, Rabbi Isaacs brainstormed ways of inspiring Jewish students to spend three months in Israel. During his research, he stumbled upon the concept of colleges offering their students a semester abroad. That means that, for example, a student from New York could spend a semester studying in Hong Kong or Australia and receive college credits all the while. And just the same, a student attending a U.S. college could spend a semester in Israel and lose no time or credits while doing so.
“Ultimately, through the study, I reached out to Hebrew University, a prestigious college in Yerushalayim, which is ranked in the top 70 colleges worldwide,”
80 new Jewish student leaders, ready to deploy to secular campuses across the U.S.
Rabbi Isaacs explains. “I went to them, and I said, ‘You have a semester abroad program. You have accreditation from Harvard, Columbia, Yale, UCLA, etc., and you’re trying to recruit kids. I’d love to partner with you. I’m going to build a really strong Israel and Jewish experience for kids who come for five months. They won’t just come for classes; they’ll learn about Israeli politics, kibbutzim, and the army and also about the yamim tovim and have a Jewish experience.’
“Long story short, they trusted me, and we developed a very strong relationship.”
From there, Rabbi Isaacs founded a program called Thrive, which today is generously supported by the Seven Schwartz Brothers Leadership Trust. The mission of the organization, which is partnered with Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, is to recruit college campus Jewish students to spend a semester abroad in Israel and provide them with an enriching Jewish and Israel experience while they study at one of those two colleges.
“I would go speak at different colleges around the United States to recruit Jewish kids,” shares Rabbi Isaacs. “And basically, the pitch was as follows: You could always go on vacation anywhere at any time. Vacation is a three-day experience. But if you have one time to study abroad—which basically means you have one time to call somewhere else your home—wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to tell your parents, your grandparents, and your future kids that you lived in Israel? And therefore, with everything that you see in the news and everything that’s going on—you were actually a part of it. You weren’t just a visitor. You actually lived it.”
In conjunction with Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rabbi Isaacs, who runs Jewish Life on campus, helped to spearhead a full, three-year degree program for English speaking students. The program, which started this year, allows students to get a full college degree in Israel at a fraction of the price of most colleges in the United States. Additionally, the program, set in Yerushalayim at one of the most prestigious colleges in the world, is
in English and allows students to continue learning in Beis Medrash while pursuing their degree.
The Thrive program has seen remarkable success. Most students stay in Israel for a semester and then come back to the U.S. to finish up college. But then, a whopping 15% to 20% of Thrive alumni wind up returning to Eretz Yisrael to go to yeshiva or to make aliyah. At its peak, Thrive recruited upwards of 400 students a year. But unfortunately, since October 7, most U.S. colleges have paused their Israel semester abroad programs out of an abundance of caution. Even though
“With small actions and interactions with other people, you can really change people’s lives forever.”
most of Israel is safe to travel to, universities don’t want to send their students to what they perceive as a war zone, so as to not risk endangering their students’ lives.
“Studying abroad in Israel is definitely on hold right now,” explains Rabbi Isaacs. “Due to the war, between Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, we only have 40 study abroad students now. But study abroad is poised to explode, as multiple universities have already announced in the last week that study abroad in Israel will be open to students for the coming fall semester. In the meantime, we have expanded to work with students at Olami Herzliyah, in addition to Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University, totaling over 600 students in the last semester alone!”
Although the events of October 7 had initially impacted the university’s decisions to allow students to come to Israel, more and more Jewish college students have been awakened to a new level of Jewish consciousness. Many were horrified to find their classmates—their friends—on the side of Hamas after the massacre. And for others, October 7 was a spiritual wake-up call. Today, many students are joining a movement of those considering Israel as the ideal destination to study abroad or earn their full degree.
Thrive is a program that shows Jewish college students the beauty of Judaism through a semester abroad in Israel. In 2021, together with the Seven Schwartz Brothers Leadership Trust, Rabbi Adi Isaacs created another program—one meant to transform Modern Orthodox gap-year students into empowered campus ambassadors for the Jewish people and Israel.
The organization, which is called the Nitzavim Fellowship, engages, educates, and empowers gap year students in Israel to become leaders on campus by giving them the tools they need to locate and encourage other Jewish students on campus to engage in Jewish life on campus.
Tragically, a large chunk of Orthodox Jewish students who attend college campuses get lost in the wild sea of college life. Many religious kids have a difficult time staying religious while immersed in a highly social, non-Jewish environment, living in dorms far away from their families and Jewish communities. While many secular colleges are compatible with frum living, some universities, with their party culture and emphasis on social life, aren’t really.
And that’s where Nitzavim comes in.
“The idea of Nitzavim is to take a group of Modern Orthodox students and educate them about everything going on in Israel and everything going on on college campuses,” explains Rabbi Isaacs. “They live their life in a bubble, essentially. And then they go off to secular colleges. The question is, ‘Can we empower them to be leaders, to stand up, and reach out to other Jews in
Rabbi Isaacs welcoming Rabbi Yitzchak Berkowitz
University of Maryland students winning $5K for the most innovative campus outreach idea
their classes and clubs, to get more Jews into different Jewish clubs like the Olamis, the Hillels, and the Chabads?’ The idea is to teach them that the Jewish people need them more than ever. If they are willing to go a little bit out of their comfort zone, they can make a difference in a way that no rabbi on campus can.”
The yeshiva and seminary students learning in Israel who are set to attend secular colleges in North America and beyond sign up for a three-credit Nitzavim Fellowship at Hebrew University that takes place on Fridays on campus.
Through its seminars, the fellowship teaches students how to combat antisemitism and speak up for Israel, including through public speaking and social media. They work in groups of four to six students to create a social startup with a mission statement, financial analysis, a vision statement – all geared toward helping expand Jewish life on campus. At the end of the year, Nitzavim hosts a Shark Tank-esque competition wherein students come up with ideas on how to promote Jewish life on campus. If the idea works, Nitzavim helps facilitate funding for the project.
Nitzavim is currently funding a few student-run projects.
“One project is called Terrapin Tisch (after the University of MD mascot). They’ve gotten over 300 people who have never been involved in any Jewish groups before to come. It’s on Thursday night, and the Jewish students sing, make cholent, and meet each other,” shares Rabbi Isaacs. “Another project that they’re launching is a newspaper at Binghamton University called the Campus Scroll.” Campus Scroll is a student-led, Jewish focused newspaper for Jewish students, by Jewish students that is launching this coming month, with plans to expand to other campuses in the near future.
Several projects are in the works, including Soup for the Soul, where students who feel homesick can sign up to receive a warm visit and comforting food from fellow Jewish students; the Bar Mitzvah Project, for students who never celebrated a bar or bat mitz-
vah; a student-led challah bake; and Beyond The Beis, which pairs students from different campuses to maintain a chavrusa learning session.”
During the fellowship, the program pairs students with business mentors to help in the project-creation process. The point of these initiatives is to build strong Jewish communities on campus—to foster togetherness and fight isolation. By creating a Jewish presence at these universities, Nitzavim combats assimilation
“If they are willing to go a little bit out of their comfort zone, they can make a difference in a way that no rabbi on campus can.”
and antisemitism and makes college a safer experience for everyone.
“Yes, we want people to come to Israel and change themselves, but with small actions and interactions with other people, you can really change people’s lives forever,” declares Rabbi Isaacs. “And that’s what the Nitzavim Fellowship is all about: creating leaders.”
Rabbi Isaacs recounts a story about one of the students he’s in touch with.
“After Rosh Hashana, we sent out a group message to our students about how to hang up a mezuzah in their dorm rooms,” he relates. This girl hadn’t yet hung up a mezuzah; she felt uncomfortable with the concept of outreach. But the message hit home after
October 7, and so, she wanted to hang up a mezuzah. As she was banging it into the wall, she saw two students watching what she was doing. It made her nervous, but she turned to them and asked them, “Are you Jewish?”
When they answered affirmatively, she explained to them what she was doing and gave them a mezuzah to hang on their door. The next week, on her way to Hillel, she knocked on their door and invited them to dinner.
“Now, those two girls, plus three of their friends, started coming every single week to the Shabbos meal.
“It’s that one small story that makes it hit home for me as the whole reason I wanted to create this program. If you have people who are in these college campuses, they’re naturally going to meet other Jews. If they just learn and have confidence to go a little bit out of their comfort zone, they could be mashpia and change people’s lives in ways that no rabbi or no rebbetzin ever can,” Rabbi Isaacs shares.
With the generous support of the Seven Schwartz Brothers Leadership Trust, Rabbi Adi Isaacs and his team, through Thrive, Nitzavim, and his other projects, have touched the lives of more people than he could count.
He adds, “I want to give a big shoutout to our incredible staff, who continue to work tirelessly to give all of our students a great experience. Through our various programs, we have expanded significantly in the past few years, and we’re poised to grow even more. The impact we’re continuing to have is tremendous.”
And he feels blessed to be able to often see the fruits of his labor. To date, Rabbi Isaacs has been mesader kiddushin at over ten alumni chasunahs. He’s aware of about 30 people a year who become frum through the various programs.
Rabbi Isaacs says, “People have bumped into me in the street and said, ‘I was at your class once, and it changed my life.’ When you see that, everything else is icing on the cake. At the end of the day, you never know when it comes to kiruv. But ultimately, the ultimate Mekarev is HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We’re just a keili.”
Students framing campus outreach projects for Fall '25
Rabbi Eytan Feiner visiting the Jewish Year Abroad office with Rabbi Isaacs and Gavriel Sanders
Forgotten Her es Medal of Honor Recipients
By Avi Heiligman
The Medal of Honor is not only the highest decoration that an American can receive for actions on the battlefield; it is also likely the most wellknown decoration. While the public may have heard of a handful of the over 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients like Alvin York and “Buffalo Bill” Cody (his medal was revoked and later reinstated), many others have had their stories relegated to the back pages of history books.
The Medal of Honor was first awarded during the Civil War. Record keeping was very rudimentary compared to 20th and 21st century methods and often the Medal of Honor citation did not go into details. This was the case for Prussian-born David Orbansky who served in Company B of the 58th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The Jewish soldier fought during the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 and the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863 and was cited for “gallantry in action.” According to other accounts, the action took place during the Vicksburg Campaign. Orbansky ran onto the battlefield to rescue his fallen commander and made it safely back to Union lines. His actions saved the commander’s life, and Orbansky was awarded the Medal of Honor.
St. Louis native Herman Henry Hanneken had a long history in the U.S. Marine Corps that spanned three wars. Enlisting in 1914 as a private, he rose to rank of sergeant during World War I and was sent to Central America to fight in
the Banana Wars. On the night of October 31, 1919, he and Sergeant William Robert Button were led to the hideout of Haitian rebel leader Charlemagne Péralte. During the ensuing fight, the two killed the wanted resistance leader; 1,200 of the resistance members were killed, captured or fled. Both marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions which reportedly saved the lives of other Americans.
Five months later, Hanneken killed another rebel leader, Osiris Joseph, and was awarded the Navy Cross for that action. He earned another Navy Cross for actions in Nicaragua in 1928 and the Legion of Merit for his outstanding services on Pelilu in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. The highly decorated marine retired in 1948 as a brigadier general.
The Battle of Iwo Jima was the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history, claiming the lives of over 6,800 marines and sailors and another 19,000 wounded. Twenty-two marines and five sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor during this battle, with four of the sailors being hospital corpsman attached to marine units. Pharmacist’s Mate First Class Francis Junior Pierce was with the 2 nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division and had served during the Battles of Tinian and Saipan before landing on Iwo Jima.
Most corpsmen did not carry guns,
but Pierce was different. The Iowa native was on Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein Atoll in February 1944 when he obtained a Thompson submachine gun to protect himself from Japanese attacks. Known as the “Angel with a Tommy Gun,” he was with his unit for the first four weeks of the Battle of Iwo Jima, tirelessly treating and evacuating wounded marines.
On March 15, after learning the terrain and troop positions, Pierce and his unit found themselves under heavy enemy machine gun fire while trying to move two wounded marines. Three more men were wounded, and that’s when Pierce took control of the situation. He carried two newly wounded men to a safe location, rendered aid to them, and went back into the firefight. With his gun blazing, Pierce gave enough time for the litter bearers that had been carrying the two initial patients time to find cover. He then rendered first aid to the two remaining wounded marines when a Japanese soldier opened fire from less than 20 yards away. This gunfire wounded one of the patients again, and he was in danger of losing his life. Disregarding his own safety, Pierce exposed himself to the enemy soldier and forced the Japanese out of his cave. Pierce took care of him with the last of his ammunition and lifted one of the wounded marines on his back. Then he ran through 200 yards of open ground that was constantly being raked with enemy fire. Once that
patient was in a safe area, Pierce again ran through the terrain and rescued the remaining wounded American.
The next day, he led a patrol to wipe out a sniper’s nest when another marine was wounded by gunfire. Pierce was seriously wounded while rendering aid but refused treatment on himself while directing others on how to care for the wounded marine. Finally, he was taken to the rear to be treated for his wounds.
Pierce was awarded the Silver Star and Navy Cross for his actions. Three years later, those awards were recalled and were replaced by the Medal of Honor. The prestigious medal was awarded to him at a White House ceremony in 1948 by President Truman.
The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuous combat medal awarded to a member of the American military. Recipients of the Medal of Honor have their actions carefully reviewed, and only those truly deserving are given the prestigious award.
In a future article, we’ll look into a potential Medal of Honor recipient and the story of a janitor whom nobody knew had been awarded the Medal of Honor.
Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.
David Orbansky
Francis Junior Pierce receiving his Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman
Herman Henry Hanneken
To Raise a Laugh
I Don’t Do This For My Health
Losing weight is not easy. It might be easier to try to get taller.
But what are you gonna do?
So occasionally, I’ll get it in my head that I should start an exercise regimen. But what would I do?
I do like the idea of running. It’s like walking, but for people who want to get it done faster. Every once in a while I get this idea in my head to take up running, so I put “Run” on my To Do list, and magically, that doesn’t make me lose weight. Maybe I should actually run. I’ll put that on my To Do list.
In general, most of the running I do is reactionary. For the most part, only 3 things can make me go running: When someone yells, “Fire!” “Free food!” or, “The free food’s on fire!”
Of course the question is, “Where should I run?” I can’t just run to a destination, such as the supermarket, because then I have to run home with grocery bags. Or I guess I can run off with the cart.
So I had an idea: Every morning, after I drop the kids at yeshiva, I would head over to the local park, which has trees, a playground, and a lake full of ducks who love challah. (I too, love challah, but I don’t get to spend all day swimming it off.)
My goal is to run around the lake. Only it turns out that I can’t actually run all the way around the lake, so it’s more like I run alongside the lake, or next to the lake. I don’t even know why I need a lake. I should run around a tree.
But the thing about working out outside is that it’s almost always either too hot or too cold. Or raining. (I’m not making excuses. They’re just coming
naturally.) There are like 6 days a year when you can’t use weather as an excuse, and two of them are Shabbosim.
So I had this idea in my head to run at the park, but I never actually did it. It did make me feel better to know I had a plan, though, especially since my diets were getting me nowhere.
But then my wife told me about a new regimen she’d heard about, where you spend about 30 minutes per day, 3 days a week for 9 weeks, alternating between walking, jogging, running, panting, lying on the ground, and crying for specific amounts of time, and the regimen gets more difficult as the weeks progress. First they wean out the lying on the ground, then the crying, and so on, until, by the end of Week Nine, all you’re doing is running, which really doesn’t seem fair. So I weaned out the running first.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Which isn’t hard, because as I found out, I don’t run very far.
The program is called “Couch to 5K”, and is supposed to be a running regimen for people who normally do nothing but sit on the couch, and they suddenly one day decide that they want to be able to run a marathon in 9 weeks. By the end of the 9 weeks, apparently, you’d be able to run for a half hour straight. You could run to work. I could bring my kids to school without a car. As long as they’re willing to run behind me.
So one Sunday, I began Day One of the program. Apparently, the couch is not involved at all in Day One. You’d think it would be, but no. Couch is Day Zero. It’s not even on the schedule.
The workout was supposed to begin with a 5-minute walk. I did okay on that. Not great, but it was Day One.
By Mordechai Schmutter
Then I was supposed to do a minute of running, followed by a minute and a half of walking, followed by a minute of run— Ow! My calves are burning! Am I supposed to stop running, or keep going and ignore the pain? Let’s think about nothing but that as we run. Okay, so now they hurt even more. What if I can’t do Day Two because I killed my calves? Then Day One will be for nothing and I’ll have to start over. I guess we should cancel for today.
So I went home and looked into it, and I discovered that if your calves burn when you run, then before you run, you’re supposed to be stretching them, which doesn’t sound like something that is possible without medieval torture equipment and a friend who doesn’t particularly like you.
And I’m supposed to do this every time I run? What if I’m being chased?
“Excuse me, sir. If you wouldn’t mind for a moment, I just need to stretch my calves.”
I don’t know why this is happening. Apparently, I’m too heavy to run. It’s not like I’m causing earthquakes, or scaring villagers, but still.
“He’s coming! Everyone run! Oh, wait. Everyone can just walk briskly. Okay, now he’s stretching again.”
My point is that I haven’t finished Day One yet. But don’t worry, I’ll figure out a regimen eventually. Maybe if I do enough stretches, I’ll be taller.
Mordechai Schmutter is a freelance writer and a humor columnist for Hamodia and other magazines. He has also published eight books and does stand-up comedy. You can contact him at MSchmutter@gmail.com.
By Baltimoreans for Baltimoreans
Blackout Magic Tech Triumphs
As told to Rebbetzin Sara Gross
The lights went dark. It was 11 p.m., and there was no warning, no bad weather, or expected blackout, but there we were without any electricity. Feeling very organized, I located, in the dark, my two lanterns that we keep for such occasions. My younger kids were asleep, and my husband was
in Shul, but my daughter and I were home in the dark. My cell phone was dying, but I had no way to charge it.
For a few minutes, my daughter and I sat quietly together, wondering what to do next. Then the realization hit me that we usually spent that time on the com-
puter—emailing, shopping, or wasting time. Now I was bored. My daughter and I started to shmooze, and I felt completely relaxed doing it. Usually, I feel antsy talking to my daughter at night, feeling like I have other things I want to do, and I don’t know when she’ll finish talking. The realization hit me that I was being that “distracted and negligent” mother people refer to with sorrowful sighs. Only now that I had nothing else to distract me did I suddenly have the patience to have a good shmooze with my daughter. The lights went on before morning, but I hope my lesson lasts longer than the blackout did.
DID YOU KNOW:
Many online services offer parental controls to block adult content, but they’re not nearly as effective as they seem. With so much inappropriate material online, parents want to protect their kids—but the built-in controls on
platforms and devices like YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Fire, and iPhone, to name a few, have serious flaws.
These controls are often hard to set up, easy to bypass, and don’t always block everything they should. They can also be glitchy, sometimes randomly stopping without warning. Even worse, companies don’t make them truly secure because their main goal is to keep users engaged. They offer just enough protection to look responsible, but not enough to hurt their business model.
TAG’s recommended filters provide real protection. They block more, are harder to bypass, and are tailored to your family’s needs. Our trained experts work alongside you to customize the settings, ensuring the right balance of access and safety. When it comes to keeping your family safe, don’t rely on weak controls—use a filter that actually works.
Faithful Reflections Living Kiddush Hashem
ABy Rabbi Shraga Freedman
note was once discovered among the belongings of Rav Naftali Amsterdam, one of the leading disciples of Rav Yisrael Salanter, in which Rav Naftali committed himself to bring all of world Jewry back to Torah observance. Someone mustered the courage to ask the gadol how he intended to carry out his resolution, and Rav Naftali responded, “This resolution means that I will fulfill all of the laws in the Shulchan Aruch! By doing so, I will serve as a living Shulchan Aruch, a manifestation of what it means to devote one’s life to Hashem. Thus, I will inspire people to return to the ways of the Torah.”
If we do not proselytize or preach the message of the Torah to the mass-
es, how do we bring about kiddush Hashem? The answer is that kiddush Hashem comes from our modeling Hashem’s Will and emulating the character traits He has revealed to us. The more we perfect our tzelem Elokim, the more we fill the world with knowledge of Hashem.
According to Rav Dessler ( chelek 1 pg.138), in fact, this is the meaning of the mitzvah of v’halachta b’drachav. The Torah enjoins us to emulate the ways of Hashem so that we will be proper representatives of Hashem in this world. By conducting ourselves in a praiseworthy way, we bring honor to Hashem and show the world what it means to be His servants.
As Jews, we are all representatives of Hashem. A Jew must always evaluate whether his actions proclaim Hashem’s kingship to the world. In today’s world, we are familiar with the concept of “identity theft.” An unscrupulous individual who obtains another person’s social security number, bank account number, and other identifying information, can literally ruin the person’s life; in addition to robbing him of a fortune, he can destroy the person’s credit rating and financial standing, preventing him from ever obtaining a loan or even a job. L’havdil, Hashem has entrusted us with representing His “identity” to the world, and we must make certain that our actions do not tarnish His “image,” so to speak.
Rabbi Shraga Freedman is the author of Sefer Mekadshei Shemecha, Living Kiddush Hashem, and A Life Worth Living.
Email LivingKiddushHashem@ gmail.com for a free sefer. Visit LivingKiddushHashem.org for more resources
Living Kiddush Hashem was founded with the goal of imbuing every Jew with a powerful sense of mission — the mission to be mekadeish Sheim Shamayim in his or her own unique way. We strive to accomplish this by raising awareness of the paramount importance of the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem and its centrality in everything we do.
Parenting Pearls Holding Both Hands
By Sara Rayvych, MSEd
We were once again zocheh to see the safe return of some of our sisters who were cruelly held hostage for over 470 days. We once again experienced the joy and excitement of their return, mixed with the pain of their prior experiences and the knowledge of so many still being held. We’re simultaneously holding multiple emotions, and it’s challenging to maintain this balancing act.
We’re often asked to balance dual – and often competing – emotions, such as joy with sadness or anger with love. We can be mad at someone we love, excited as we’re nervous, and looking forward as we remain hesitant. For many individuals, it can be a challenge handling just one emotion – two feels impossible. While this discussion can be extended to many areas, I will be limiting the discussion to parenting.
We often don’t like to talk about feeling anger or resentment towards our beloved progeny, but it’s an emotional reality we can’t ignore. Children are still learning the very basics, and their behavior can reflect this. They can scream, tantrum, throw things and act outright disobedient. Children will fight with each other and embarrass their parents in public. It’s a challenge to handle all the normal insanity.
Parenting is a full-time job that lasts every minute of every day. With always being on-call, it’s inevitable that we won’t be in top shape at every moment. It’s natural that we may feel anger or hurt from even our sweetest of little ones, but it can be painful to have negative feelings towards someone we love so much.
Duality In Action
We’re told to move away with the left hand as we bring close with the right one. As the right is the more dominant hand, love needs to be the stronger emotion. Even when we need to appear stern, we still need to demonstrate care and affection.
Understanding why we’re doing something can help us maintain our fo -
cus. Discipline itself should come from love and the desire to help guide our children into becoming their truest selves. We provide structure and boundaries to educate our children and build them into emotionally healthy adults. We don’t punish or belittle them to get back at them for their misbehavior.
There are times when we need to appear tough, but we can’t approach our children from anger or hate. We may need to push aside our feelings or delay discussing the issue until we’re calm. This is particularly important with teenagers with whom immediate discussions can be unproductive and lead to arguments, but a calm conversation later can yield real results. There are times when parents may need to step away and address their own emotions before they can control themselves in their child’s presence. I think of this as parents taking their own “time out.”
We also can’t let our love prevent us from correcting misbehavior. We can’t ignore something negative simply because we feel bad saying something. While there are times when it’s best to avoid making an issue out of something, it should only be done when it’s in the child’s best interest to do so.
It’s possible to express both emotions simultaneously: “I love you but that was unacceptable.” “You made a mistake but you’re still amazing.” “You can’t do that, but I still love you.” We can hold a child close or choose another way to show affection while correcting them.
There are many scenarios that can create this need to carefully balance our emotions in order to properly raise our children. I’d like to mention two of them.
Kids – especially younger ones – can misbehave but still be incredibly adorable. Perhaps they intended to say something mean or chutzpahdik, but it came out funny. Maybe they grabbed a toy or were mean to another child at the same time they were performing some cute antics. It’s hard not to laugh or smile, yet we give the wrong
message if we encourage bad behavior simply because they’re adorable. Their chinuch is important, and we need to keep a serious expression when correcting their behavior. We can still be friendly and loving, but we can’t give the impression that misbehaving is funny or acceptable.
Sometimes, the opposite occurs, and we are furious over the behavior, finding it hard to remember they’re just a child (or even a teen). Maybe we’re so angry that we’re challenged to recall how much we love them despite their actions. Even as we correct them, we need to feel how much we love them and not appear hateful, chas v’shalom.
The Guilt
Parents are experts at guilt. There is no limit to the ways a parent can feel guilty. I’ve heard parents express guilt over many things, both big and small. We want to give so much to our children, and it’s inevitable we’ll fall short of that goal.
Parents can feel guilty if they get angry at, or experience negative emotions towards, their beloved child. The adult may feel evil or like a bad person; perhaps they are ashamed of their emotions.
Guilt is an interesting emotion in that it can be used positively to propel us towards improvement, but it usually just makes us feel terrible and prevents growth. Rather than wallow in our own self-pity, mentally whipping ourselves for our errors, we can use this as an opportunity to see what we can improve and focus on doing better next time. This tends to be more productive than just feeling miserable. It also may help to remember that Hashem designed the world so that children will be born to imperfect parents.
The Kid Factor
The truth is that some kids upset their parents more than other children do. We don’t like to discuss it, but there are certain parent-child combinations that are more explosive.
It’s the reality that some children are harder to raise than others. The child who sits sweetly and obediently is going to be easier to care for than the one who flies from the ceiling and smacks their younger siblings.
It also can be because something in the child sets off, irritates or otherwise triggers the parent. I’ve heard parents describe how they continuously get upset at just one of their children. Perhaps the child reminds the parent of themselves, or maybe there is something about the dynamic that is unhealthy.
These situations are specific and require more personal attention. These families will often benefit from the guidance of a professional to help them get to the root of the problem and address it appropriately.
Ideally, everything we do with our children can – and should – be done with feelings of love. We may feel a wide range of emotions, but love can always be present, even if it’s harder at times to tap into. Ultimately, it’s the continuous love of a parent that goes a long way towards building emotionally healthy adults.
Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rockaway. She can be contacted at RayvychHomeschool@gmail.com.
TJH Centerfold
A Perfect Ten
Each of the following clues refers to a word that begins with “ten.” For example, if the clue is “a game played with rackets,” the answer would be “TENnis.” Can you score a perfect TEN (I bet if you play close atTENtion, you can)?
1. Unsubstantial
2. Delicate or gentle
3. A sinew
4. Persistence and determination
5. Capable of being stretched
6. Between the bass and alto
You Gotta Be Kidding Me!
Over breakfast one morning, a woman says to her husband, “I’ll bet you don’t know what day this is.”
“Of course I do,” he answers, as if he is offended, and leaves for the office.
7. Stretched tight (or stuck in traffic and late for a meeting)
At 10:00 a.m., the doorbell rings and when the woman opens the door. She is handed a box of a dozen long-stemmed red roses. At 1:00 p.m., a foil-wrapped, two-pound box of her favorite chocolates is delivered. Later, a boutique delivers a designer dress.
The woman couldn’t wait for her husband to come home.
“First, the flowers, then the chocolates and then the dress!” she exclaims. “I’ve never had a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my life!”
Double Talk
Amnesia: What did you just ask me?
Apathy: I don’t care.
Bigotry: I’m not going to tell someone like you.
Egotistical: I’m the best person to answer that question.
Evasive: Go do your homework.
Hostility: If you ask me just one more question, you are not going to know what hit you!
Ignorance: I don’t know. Indifference: It doesn’t matter.
Influenza: You’ve got to be sick to ask me that question.
Insomnia: I stayed awake all last night thinking of the answer.
Riddle Me This
Narcissism: Before I answer, tell me, don’t I look great?
Overprotective: I don’t know if you’re ready for the answer.
Paranoid: You probably think I don’t know the answer, do you?
Procrastination: I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Repetitive: I’ll tell you the answer. I’ll tell you the answer.
Self-Centered: Well, I know the answer, that’s all that matters.
Snobby: Uh, excuse me!
Suspicious: Why are you asking me all these questions?
Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was born on April 14 and named April. The second child was born two years later on April 16 and named May. The third child was born on May 16. What was his name?
Answer: Johnny
Notable Quotes “Say What?!”
Groundhogs are shy prey animals who, when allowed, actively avoid humans. Yet, year after year, Phil is transported to Gobler’s Knob, whisked on stage, and subjected to a noisy announcer, screaming crowds, and flashing lights against all his natural instincts.
- Statement by PETA condemning the famous Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
PETA will deliver a delicious “Weather Reveal” vegan cake each Groundhog Day in perpetuity if [the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club] agrees to let Punxsutawney Phil and his family retire to a reputable sanctuary, a move that will earn…kudos from wildlife fans. - Ibid.
The only reason why I still had a security clearance, as I have for the past number of years since I left government service, was for the benefit of the government, so that if the CIA or another government agency wanted to call me in to discuss the classified matter, they could do that. It was really for the government’s benefit.
- Former CIA chief John Brennan, who spent years lying about Pres. Trump, bemoaning the fact that Trump stripped him of his security clearance, and claiming that he only had it so that he can advise the government
It was the best thing, the hug that I got from Romi. I didn’t cry at all, I only cried on the inside. Today, I’m talking and smiling. When Romi and I hugged, she didn’t cry either. She told me: “Grandma, I’m so happy to see you. Hug me, sit next to me, don’t move.” Romi is such a smart girl. I trust her that she knew how to manage there, and she continues to manage here.
- Devorah Leshem, grandmother of Romi Gonen who was released after 471 days in Hamas captivity, sharing the exciting moment when she finally got to hug her granddaughter
All my people are getting attacked, the children. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something but I can’t.
- A Hollywood actress whose family comes from Mexico sobbing in an Instagram post about ICE agents removing criminals from the U.S.
Certified moron @selenagomez crying for criminal illegal aliens is really something else. This is why we don’t take our political advice from Disney child stars.
- Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren, in response
Did she ever cry about the Americans killed by illegals? Of course not.
- Another responder
[Trump’s] saying, “I kept my promise.” Then you turn around and look at the left and you say, “What promises did you keep?” What voter can look at the Democrat Party and say, “There’s a voice for us, somebody who speaks for us, that goes up on Capitol Hill and fights the fights that we want them fighting on our behalf?”
- ESPN host Stephen A. Smith in an interview with Bill Maher
Yes, I voted for her, a lot of people voted for her, but in the end, we end up feeling like…fools, because we supported it, we fell for the okiedokie as they say.
– Ibid.
It was really the greatest moment. It felt as if I used every ounce of energy I had.
- Japanese snowboarder Hiroto Ogiwara after making history at the X Games in Aspen by landing the first known 2340 in a competition, an incredible trick which consists of rotating six and a half times in the air
We took some off other people, too. They can hire their own security, too. … I can give them some good numbers of very good security people. Fauci made a lot of money.
- President Donald Trump when asked about his order stopping taxpayer-funded security for retired Dr. Anthony Fauci
I know it’s been a tough time here for us Angelenos, right? I mean, last week, a lot of people lost their homes to the fire. This week, a lot of people lost their gardeners to ICE.
- Bill Maher
You know, and we’re not out of the woods yet with the fires, right? That came up again. Some of them came up so quickly, the mayor barely had time to book a trip.
- ibid.
No. We have to recognize there was a Palestinian state. It was called Gaza. Look how that turned out.
- U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee when asked on Fox News whether he supports a two-state solution
The radical leftists are really upset that they had to take time out of the busy day praising Hamas to call me a Nazi.
- Tweet by Elon Musk
Dating Dialogue What Would You Do If…
Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters
Dear Navidaters,
I am 32 years old, and I’ve been going out with a really nice girl (I will call her Sara) for the past two months. Things are really progressing nicely on many different fronts. We have common goals, religious levels, and personality traits, and I really feel like we get each other. Recently, we started talking about child-raising, and I’m really not so sure this is what I want to proceed with anymore. I’m learning more about how she was raised and how she wants to raise her children. Sarah was basically raised by her nanny. It kind of makes sense now because she doesn’t have a very close relationship with her mother.
Putting the pieces together, I sense a broad shift between my upbringing and Sarah’s. She’s very clear that she wants the kind of upbringing that she herself had, full-time, live-in nanny, going back to work soon after having a baby, etc. While I am very respectful of everyone’s personal choices, I know this is not the way I want my family dynamic to be. Before ending it completely, I just wanted to write into the panel to hear your perspectives on the issue. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question!
Ben*
Disclaimer: This column is not intended to diagnose or otherwise conclude resolutions to any questions. Our intention is not to offer any definitive conclusions to any particular question, rather offer areas of exploration for the author and reader. Due to the nature of the column receiving only a short snapshot of an issue, without the benefit of an actual discussion, the panel’s role is to offer a range of possibilities. We hope to open up meaningful dialogue and individual exploration.
The Panel
Dear Readers,
We want to offer YOU an opportunity to be part of the discussion! Please email us at MichelleMondShadchan@gmail.com, subject line “reader’s response,” if you would like to participate in the new “A Reader’s Response” columnist spot. We will send you a question and publish your answer in an upcoming Navidaters edition. If you have a question you would like the Navidaters to answer, please reach out to this email as well.
Looking forward!
Michelle, the “Shadchan”
The Rebbetzin
Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.
Iagree with you, Ben. Your values are not aligned. The primacy of family building in Torah life makes your values different. It seems that Sara doesn’t understand that relationships and parenting need focus and attention. While I am not discounting the self-development and fulfillment that a career offers, it seems she has not processed that a family needs nurturing. A person who was not raised with parents who were very present and focused can absorb and learn these skills from other sources – family, neighbors, mentors, and education if she “gets it.” However, it doesn’t seem like she has. It’s not a matter of her wanting to work full-time while raising a family. It sounds like you perceive that she doesn’t get what raising a family is all about. If that is the case, I would end it respectfully.
The Shadchan
Michelle Mond
My take on your conundrum may not be popular, but hear me out. There are some intricate details that come out through the process of dating that we could not possibly have known earlier. Child-raising is one of those topics that are reserved for discussing once things solidify in the relationship. You know the basics are aligned, you know that you are attracted, there is chemistry; you see your-
self marrying this person. It is at this junction in the relationship where you start to delve deeper and talk about all the serious and more vulnerable topics.
When delving into these hard discussions it is crucial for both sides to keep the following point in mind: We are both two people from two different worlds, with completely different upbringings and experiences. There WILL be stark differences in your perspectives on some hot topics. When you discuss these topics, you will also be able to recognize what the person is committed to and what they will be flexible about.
In your discussions with Sara, it is clear that she is not flexible about this specific lifestyle goal. You do not see yourself having a foreign woman, a live-in nanny, as a committed fixture in your home. You are not belittling the fact that she would like to go back to work after having a baby and are not opposing a babysitter situation (as far as I can tell from your letter). This issue is about having another person living with your family, traveling with your family, taking care of the kids and the home which inevitably will be a huge change to the family dynamic that you are familiar with.
So, the main question now is: how does one differentiate what is a dealbreaker from what is not? You must ask yourself, “Will I be able to respect a spouse who is headstrong about this specific thing?” and “Can I physically live with this thing?”
In every relationship, there are things you will have to be flexible about. After all, this is a normal thing when two people come from two different worlds. If, however, as much as you try, you simply cannot
imagine living with a live-in nanny in your home, Sarah must not be the right one for you. Will Sarah’s maternal instincts kick in when she has a baby, causing her to change her mind on the topic? Maybe. While this might be true, it is a dangerous gamble to bet on when she has been so utterly adamant on a topic which you simply do not agree with or respect.
The Zaidy
Dr. Jeffrey Galler
You have been dating for a while and may have finally found the “right” girl. Don’t be too hasty about ending this promising relationship!
Let’s try to understand what makes this particular girl so attractive to you. Your girlfriend’s identity has been shaped by many factors – genetics, upbringing, education, aspirations, and experiences.
Despite your concerns, it’s important to recognize that your girlfriend’s career focus and her upbringing, which included a nanny, are integral parts of who she is. All of these elements have shaped her into the person you find so appealing.
Clearly, the idea of having a live-in nanny worries you. But it’s important to recognize that both you and your girlfriend turned out well despite having had different upbringings. Your children will benefit when the two of you incorporate
the best of your individual backgrounds and experiences into the marriage.
Please accept that for many educated and ambitious women today, having a nanny enables them to successfully balance their career and their family life. They are more interesting, worldly, and capable life partners because of their work outside of the home.
Please understand then, that a livein nanny can offer a structured, consistent, caregiving environment, and make it possible for both of you to pursue your careers, while also enjoying very strong, hands-on relationships with your children. And, you should be aware that credible research consistently indicates that the quality of time spent with a child is far more important than the quantity of time. Furthermore, note that the financial benefits of having a full-time working spouse will also allow you to incorporate even more high quality, beneficial times and experiences with the children.
Researcher Emily Oster advises, “Children raised with a nanny turn out well and develop strong social skills and emotional well-being,
as long as there is a strong parent-child bond maintained alongside the nanny’s care. The key factor is the quality of the nanny and the parents’ active involvement in their child’s life.”
Reader’s Response
Isaiah Cox
The Curmudgeon
What a great question! How can or should Sara expect to parent her own children? We don’t know what something is like until we experience it. Think of parenting as a bit like Shabbos: no textbook can capture the underlying feel of a warm and wonderful Shabbos – and people who choose to become Shomer Shabbos invariably do so because they visit someone’s home on Shabbos, and realize, through that experience, that Shabbos is an uplifting and heartwarming gift.
The same thing is true for the experiences within marriage and motherhood. It is likely that Sara has not identified with
Pulling It All Together
The Navidaters
Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists
Dear Ben,
First, I want to acknowledge the care and thoughtfulness you’re bringing to this conversation. It’s clear that you deeply respect Sara and are genuinely invested in understanding whether your visions for family life align. That in and of itself speaks volumes about the kind of partner and father you hope to be. It makes sense that this difference in upbringing is standing out to you. Our early experiences shape not only our ex-
pectations but also our emotion - al frameworks—what feels “right” and familiar in relationships and parenting. It sounds like you grew up with a strong parental presence, and you value that closeness. Meanwhile, Sara, having been raised with a full-time nanny, sees that model as not only normal but desirable. These aren’t just logistical decisions; they touch on attachment, connection,
happy families where the mother has joyfully invested herself into her children. And so, I would strongly suggest that she (and perhaps the two of you) seek out and find such loving homes. Ideally, these mothers are (or were) quite similar to how Sara is now, and Sara can emulate role models outside of her own upbringing.
We were put on this earth to make conscious choices. And to do that, we have to be willing to examine ourselves and decide what parts could perhaps benefit from an upgrade, or at least a slightly different perspective. If we are lazy, we may well, as a default, become our parents. But if we put conscious thought and energy into it, we can choose to emulate the best of our parents and then be open to improving those elements of ourselves that we feel could perhaps do with a few adjustments.
In sum: broaden Sara’s horizons and ensure you are both open to growing and changing, aiming to consciously choose how best to raise your children.
But there is more: I would like to take a step back, and question your premise, because it is a common error to assume that the person you marry is the same person you will be married to! People can – and should – change and grow!
Every new mother is a totally dif-
and what each of you imagines as the heartbeat of your home.
That said, it’s also important to separate two things: a woman’s financial independence and her attitude toward fulltime help. With the growing divorce rate and the realities of modern life, many women feel strongly about maintaining their own means not as a rejection of family life but as a form of security and self-sufficiency. It’s possible that Sara’s desire to work isn’t the issue but rather the degree to which she envisions outsourcing caregiving. Some parents return to work but remain deeply hands-on and emotionally present, while others take a more hands-off approach. These are distinctions worth exploring.
ferent person than she was when she was a single girl. The process of pregnancy and labor and the resulting chemical and spiritual changes are simply breathtaking. The least maternal girls can transform into the most doting and adoring of mothers – I have seen it countless times. Any man who loves his wife with all his heart is going to befriend and hopefully come to love quite a few different permutations of the young lady he married. (Every long-married man who is reading this is nodding his head.) These changes are some of the most delightful features of women and marriage!
But it means that you cannot control the success of a marriage by simply carefully curating every desired characteristic in a prospective spouse. On the contrary, most of the magic happens long after the wedding day and as a result of deep investment in each other.
You are 32. It sounds like she is great in every other respect. I suggest that you marry her, love her, and support her deeply. As you both flourish through the love and connection and validation from the other person, you’ll be amazed by how much you each can grow. In that marriage, the questions that concern you now will be remembered in years to come as nothing more than irrelevant musings.
Rather than making this a yes-or-no decision just yet, consider having a deeper conversation about what a connected, present parent looks like to each of you. Is it about physical presence? Emotional availability? Shared decision-making? You may find more common ground than it seems at first. But if, in the end, your visions remain fundamentally at odds, it’s okay to acknowledge that some differences—especially around the kind of family you want to build—carry real weight. Whatever you decide, it’s clear that you’re approaching this with integrity. Wishing you clarity as you navigate this important conversation.
Warmly, Jennifer
Jennifer Mann, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist and certified trauma healing life coach, as well as a dating and relationship coach working with individuals, couples, and families in private practice at 123 Maple Avenue in Cedarhurst, NY. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 718-908-0512. Visit www.thenavidaters.com for more information. If you would like to submit a dating or relationship question to the panel anonymously, please email JenniferMannLCSW@gmail.com. You can follow The Navidaters on FB and Instagram for dating and relationship advice.
Bringing Anne Fr A nk’s Secret Annex to n ew York, A nd the w orld
By Laurel Graeber
The children seem like typical kindergartners: Some beam at the camera; some glance coyly aside; others appear lost in reverie. One slim, dark-haired girl in a pale dress looks precociously serious.
She is Anne Frank, and this classroom photograph, taken at a Montessori school in Amsterdam in 1935, appears twice in “Anne Frank the Exhibition,” a 7,500-square-foot multimedia installation that opens on Monday — International Holocaust Remembrance Day — for a three-month stay at the Center for Jewish History in New York before traveling to other cities.
Visitors first see the picture in one of the exhibition’s introductory rooms, before they walk through the show’s core: the first full-scale re-creation of the secret annex that was the Amsterdam hiding place of eight Jews, including the Frank family, from July 1942 to August 1944. In those cramped, cloistered spaces, Anne wrote her famous diary.
When viewers encounter the kindergarten photograph again, this time as an animation, it deliv-
ers a gutting blow: As an audio track reveals their names, their ages at death and the places where they were killed, 10 of the classroom’s Jewish children, one by one, turn into black silhouettes and disappear from the picture, their images erased as swiftly and summarily as the Nazis ended their lives.
Appearing after the annex, this animation introduces “a very personal, intimate, heartbreaking element of schoolchildren who were murdered for no other reason than the fact that they were Jewish,” Ronald Leopold, executive director of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, said as he walked amid cables and boxes during the New York show’s construction.
Created by the Anne Frank House and presented in partnership with the Center for Jewish History, the entire installation aims to examine Anne Frank’s life — and death — with a scope not often found in other treatments of this chapter in history. And while Leopold said the current political climate did not inspire the exhibition, it opens when antisemitism is rising in the United States and abroad, and
when American popular culture has been turning to visual mediums to resurrect the memory of the Holocaust: fact-inspired dramas like the television miniseries “We Were the Lucky Ones” and the movie “The Survivor” and award-winning recent fictional films like “The Brutalist” and “A Real Pain.”
“Anne Frank the Exhibition” is the answer of the Anne Frank House to “how this history, how this memory will go into the 21st century,” Leopold said.
Following a chronological path, the installation traces Anne and her family from the 1920s in Frankfurt, Germany, through their flight to Amsterdam. It is only after exploring this early history that visitors encounter the reconstructed annex: five shadowy rooms whose exact dimensions and details the exhibition team has copied from their original location in the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, down to the covered windows and bits of peeling wallpaper.
The show goes on to chronicle the return from Auschwitz of Otto Frank, Anne’s father and the sole survivor among the eight hidden Jews. Visitors discover how Otto learned the fates of his wife and two
A photo of Anne Frank in a Montessori school
daughters and how he pursued the publication of Anne’s diary: 79 editions in different languages are on display, along with memorabilia from the theatrical and film adaptations. He also secured the preservation of the annex in Amsterdam, now a museum space that admits some 1.2 million visitors annually.
“We all know that the diary is about the two years in hiding,” Tom Brink, the head of collections and presentations at the Amsterdam house and the traveling exhibition’s curator, said in an interview. “But of course, the story is much bigger than that. It starts earlier, it ends later, and that entire story and entire journey deserves to be told.”
Working with Eric Goossens, the exhibition’s designer, Brink confronted the challenge of relating that history more than 3,600 miles away from the real annex, tucked into the back of the canal-side house where Otto Frank ran his business. In Amsterdam, the annex is completely empty except for some material on the walls, including Anne’s pictures of movie stars and artworks.
Otto Frank requested that the spaces, plundered by the Nazis, remain vacant, their barrenness attesting to profound loss. But using his and others’ accounts, the New York exhibition’s team has filled each annex room with furniture and possessions, including books and a board game retrieved from the original space.
“Otherwise, it would just be four walls,” Brink said. “In Amsterdam, it’s just four walls, but it’s more than just four walls. It’s the fact that you’re in the actual place. That is not the case here.”
The re-creation, however, may lead to controversy. Novelist and essayist Dara Horn, for instance, has asserted that any Anne Frank exhibition inevitably cheapens and commercializes the girl’s memory, turning her into a symbol of easy uplift.
Agnes Mueller, a professor and a fellow in Jewish Studies at the University of South Carolina and a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, has similar concerns. “My instinct says that when Otto Frank wanted the annex to be empty in the original Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, he was worried about that kind of commercialization and universalization of the persona of Anne Frank, and so he actually emphasized absence as a way to represent that which is not representable,” she said in a video interview. The sight of an annex room filled with homey touches, she added, “might induce us to feel way too good about things that we should not feel good about.”
Many items in the recreated annex, however, are wrenching, as they reveal its occupants’ expectations for an unrealized future. Anne Frank, 13 when she went into hiding, took her diary — a facsimile is here; the original remains in Amsterdam — and Peter van Pels, the teenage boy who briefly won her heart, took his cat (a model of the pet carrier is in the reconstructed spaces) and his bicycle (also a reproduction). In his parents’ room, his mother, Auguste, hung a festive black dress, an original artifact
never before displayed and now in the show.
Mueller acknowledged that an annex filled with artifacts would probably have far more impact on young viewers than empty spaces. Since the exhibition, which she has not seen, is intended to bring Holocaust history to future generations — more than 250 school tours have already been booked — it could lead “toward a better understanding of what the Holocaust might have been,” she said. (American knowledge of those events is poor; one 2020 survey of millennials and members of Generation Z revealed that almost half could not name a single concentration camp or Nazi-era Jewish ghetto.)
The show does not neglect the horror. Although a smiling photo of Anne is at the entrance, the exhibition’s audio guide — included with tickets — begins by giving away the story’s unhappy ending: The Nazis discovered the annex’s occupants and arrested them.
Containing more than 100 original artifacts, the installation features quotations from the Franks, along with objects from their personal histories: furniture, friendship albums, correspondence, a Torah. The display rooms chronicle the political climate of the 1920s and ’30s. A blown-up image of a 1938 Nazi rally appears repeatedly on the walls, its cheering participants teenage girls no older than Anne and her sister, Margot.
dergarten photograph undergoes its repeated transformation.
“The immersive element in this exhibition is very much to bring people back in time and in place,” Leopold said, especially young visitors.
To draw that audience, the exhibition, a nonprofit venture whose revenues support the missions of its two presenting partners, offers $16 tickets for weekday visits by those under 18. Providing curriculum materials to classes, it also grants free admission not only to New York City public-school field trips, but also to those from schools nationwide receiving federal (Title 1) funding.
“The intention is 250,000 students moving through the exhibition,” said Michael S. Glickman, the founder of jMUSE, an arts and culture consulting group, and an adviser to the show. Through online resources, he added, “our expectation is that we will be able to support another half a million students in their classrooms.”
Another introductory room recreates the atmosphere of Amsterdam in 1940-42. On a continuous loop, a montage of film and photos covers the walls, interspersing scenes of family life with images including roundups of Jews, deportation trains and anti-Jewish regulations that “kept coming and kept coming,” Brink said.
The annex is behind a reproduction of the bookcase that covered its entry. After leaving the reconstructed hiding place, visitors walk onto an illuminated glass floor covering a full map of Europe, with the site of every death camp or mass killing of Jews marked by a small flag. One wall has an aerial view of Bergen-Belsen, where Anne and Margot died in February 1945 — only a few months before Germany surrendered; other panels display photographs of roundups, camp prisoners, Nazi shootings, the Warsaw ghetto. At the end of this gallery, the kin-
Public programs will also offer adults additional perspectives on Anne Frank, whether it’s “the debates about the play from 1955, or the film of ’59, or any number of other present-day political debates about her legacy,” said Gavriel Rosenfeld, president of the Center for Jewish History. Author Ruth Franklin (“The Many Lives of Anne Frank”) will be interviewed at the center Tuesday evening, and novelist Alice Hoffman (“When We Flew Away”) will appear on Feb. 9. The center will also host a film series. (An extension of the show in New York is being considered; more venues will be announced in the spring.)
The mission is to sustain the memory of those 10 kindergarten classmates and the 1.5 million other Jewish children whose lives the Holocaust erased. Leopold said he hoped the show would inspire engagement as well as reflection.
“If this exhibition is doing anything, it’s not just teaching history,” he said. “It is also teaching about ourselves.”
“Anne Frank the Exhibition”: Jan. 27-April 30, Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., Manhattan; 212-294-8301, annefrankexhibit.org.
Anger is often called a secondary of the iceberg, and there are many This can be illustrated by the following two scenarios. Yehuda walked into his house one day and tripped over his briefcase that he had left in the middle of the room. Although Yehuda bruised himself pretty badly, no angry outburst followed. On a different occasion, Yehuda entered his house and tripped over a pair of shoes that his daughter had absentmindedly left in the middle of the room. This time, Yehuda completely lost his cool and started screaming at his daughter, “Haven’t I told you a million times not to leave your shoes in the middle of the floor!”
tal cortex is not fully developed until age twenty-five. This means that teenagers are, on the one hand, highly susceptible to anger, but, on the other hand, are not fully equipped with the tools that they need to keep their anger in check.
The stark difference between Yehuda’s different reactions is that in the first scenario he does not feel threatened. In the second scenario, he feels that his daughter is not taking him seriously and that he is not receiving the respect that he deserves. This “attack” on his stature triggered a fight-or-flight reaction that is physically identical to what would happen to his body if he were fighting off an intruder! Thus, his primary emotion was fear of being degraded, and his anger was merely his secondary emotion.
Anger’s status as a secondary emotion means that the humiliation, rejection, fear, or emotional pain that exists beneath the surface may result in a much higher frequency of angry outbursts. All of this is very important in understanding the nature of anger during adolescence.
Teenagers are going through a period in their lives when they have hormones surging through their system and a newfound sense of identity and independence that makes them highly susceptible to emotional flareups. Adolescents also have an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that controls our judgement and decision making. This makes it a crucial element in controlling our anger. Your prefron-
Now the question arises as to when do we consider a display of anger as regular adolescent behavior, and when do we view it as a red flag that might require intervention. As mentioned before, anger is just the tip of the iceberg, so the warning signs for an anger issue would be very similar to other mental health issues in teens.
Therefore, if you see some of the following issues, you might want to consider professional help. Anger that appears defiant, difficulty bouncing back from stressful situations, isolating from friends and family, changes in eating habits, difficulty falling or staying asleep, complaining of headaches or other aches and pains, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, or neglecting self care.
We all understand that anger never solves our problems; it only creates new ones. This knowledge often fails to help us avoid anger. We fall into the anger trap when our emotions are so aroused that we lose our sense of judgement. Anger management skills can be very helpful, but long-term relief from anger may only occur if you work on your primary emotions. Nobody ever said that life was easy!
This is a service of Relief Resources. Relief is an organization that provides mental health referrals, education, and support to the frum community. Rabbi Yisrael Slansky is director of the Baltimore branch of Relief. He can be contacted at 410-448-8356 or at
Political Crossfire
Israel Must Win This War
On Oct. 7, 2023, Israelis saw what the end looks like.
Thousands upon thousands of Palestinians invaded the country in wave after wave. They were unified in their barbaric hatred of Jews and bloodlust. The atrocities the Palestinians committed against their overwhelmingly Jewish victims were like nothing we had ever imagined. And they were made all the worse by the fact that everyone participated.
Roaring crowds handed torches to 10-year-olds, giving them the honor of lighting homes ablaze, burning entire families alive. The Palestinian hordes whooped and laughed in ecstasy as they raped, tortured and murdered their victims.
And when they arrived home to Gaza with their hostages—dead and alive—they were greeted by crowds of thousands as conquering heroes. Yes, Hamas planned the sadistic genocide. Yes, Hamas led the charge. But it was a whole-of-society endeavor.
Somehow, over the past two weeks of President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s dealmaking, the events of Oct. 7 seem to have faded from view. The deal he demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept is incomprehensible in the context of that day.
Ignoring Oct. 7, Witkoff and his Israeli cheerleaders present the deal as a step on the road to peace. When the ceasefire becomes permanent, he has said, the Saudis will rush to make peace with Israel. So will Qatar and everyone else. Indeed, Witkoff told Fox News on Wednesday that even Hamas would be welcomed at the table. And Trump will get a Nobel Peace Prize.
In the same Fox News interview, Witkoff explained that his deal is precisely the deal that former President Joe Biden tried to coerce Israel to accept last May. The Biden deal, at its core, was a ransom deal. Israel, Biden said, would pay Hamas “generously” for the release of some of the hostages. How
By Caroline B. Glick
generously? Well, it depended on which phase you were in.
The Biden/Witkoff deal is a threephase deal, and each phase is essentially a separate agreement. The first involves massive Israeli concessions to Hamas that are rife with dire strategic consequences for Israel in exchange for 33 hostages—including all of the women hostages.
To receive the 33, Israel is required to free nearly 2,000 terrorists, hundreds of whom are convicted mass murderers. It must withdraw its forces from the cities of Gaza and from the Netzarim Corridor, permitting the mass return of Palestinians to northern Gaza. And it must permit the full resupply of Gaza, still under Hamas control. All told, Israel is paying for the 33 in a manner that risks all of its soldiers’ hard-won gains on the battlefield over the past 15 months of war.
While that is a steep price, it pales in comparison to the price of moving to the second phase. Under the terms of the Witkoff/Biden agreement, in the second phase, Israel is to withdraw all of its remaining forces from Gaza, including
from the border separating Gaza from Egypt. In other words, Israel must cede control of Gaza to Hamas. In exchange, Hamas will return the remaining live hostages to Israel—but retain the bodies of the hostages it has murdered.
Phase 1 will make it difficult for Israel to restore its previous gains and go on to achieve victory in the war. Phase 2 secures Hamas’s victory. The implication of a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is that Hamas wins the war. It survives not only intact, but in full control of Gaza, respected worldwide as the jihadist force that committed genocide and survived to rebuild and do it again and again.
Phase 3, if implemented, involves Hamas’s return of the bodies of the dead in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian proto-state controlled by Palestinian terrorists. So if implemented, Phase 3 ensures that Hamas will renew its genocidal assault on Israel sooner rather than later.
Biden’s administration sold this deal by ignoring the strategic implications of Oct. 7. He and his advisers abjectly refused to draw the necessary conclusion
from what happened. The atrocities of that day showed that the Palestinian war against Israel is a zero-sum game— either Israel wins, ensuring its survival, and the Palestinians are defeated; or the Palestinians win and Israel’s countdown to destruction begins.
Instead of accepting that self-evident reality, Biden and his advisers talked about Israel as a “traumatized society.” A traumatized society is not one that needs to win. It is a society that needs a hug.
Israelis who demanded the destruction of Gaza were demonized as genocidal extremists rather than realists who understood the implications of the bloodlust. The administration refused to accept the legitimacy of Israel’s war goals of destroying Hamas and preventing Gaza from ever posing a threat in the future. They placed hostages at the center of the narrative instead. The Palestinians weren’t an enemy, they were victims of Israel, which was waging a war for no reason. Israel had the right to defend itself but not to harm its enemy.
The hostage ransom deal as crafted by Biden administration officials was a means of joining Hamas in exploiting Israel’s anguish over the plight of the hostages to prevent Israel from winning the war. Israel, Biden and his advisers believed, would be ensnared in the deal as Phase 1 moved to Phase 2. The deal was structured in a way that would make it almost impossible for Israel to walk away. Negotiations for Phase 2 are to begin 16 days after implementation of Phase 1 begins. And if Israel walked away, the last of the 33 would remain behind.
Given the stakes, two questions arise. What does President Donald Trump intend to do with Biden’s agreement going forward; and what does Israel intend to do?
President Trump’s messaging regarding the deal has shifted several times over the first week of implementation. Initially, he said the deal will
bring all of the hostages home—a statement that indicated he expects all three phases will be implemented. A couple of days later, the president said he is uncertain that the second and third phases will be implemented.
By adopting Biden’s framework, Trump placed himself in a box. Trump wishes to prevent new wars from happening in the Middle East. But if he maintains faith with this deal, he ensures that even larger wars will break out in the region during the course of his four years in office. He also guarantees that massive jihadist assaults in the U.S. and the West will occur. After all, if Hamas’s success in murdering 1,200 Israelis in a day gave rise to the avalanche of antisemitism and jihad worldwide, there can be little question what a Hamas victory over Israel in the war will bring.
This is doubly true if the reports that President Trump is insisting that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon next week and that he is urging Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear installations are true. Hezbollah has not withdrawn its forces north of the Litani River. And the Lebanese Armed Forces, which are supposed to force Hezbollah forces to decamp to the north, are helping them to remain in the south. Under the circumstances, an Israeli withdrawal projects weakness that invites a future invasion.
As for Iran, if Hamas survives and Hezbollah survives, then Iran will emerge as the victor in this war. If Iran, the victor, is also permitted to keep its nuclear installations, it will quickly cross the nuclear threshold.
The Iranian regime is not interested in a deal. It is interested in destroying Israel and the United States. That is why it has been trying to assassinate President Trump. And that is why it built terror armies all around Israel and has deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guard personnel to Central and South America, all while building nuclear weapons.
To win the peace of the Middle East, Trump must walk away from Biden’s failed policy of standing with Iran and its terror proxies Lebanon and the Palestinians in Gaza. He must restore his first term’s doctrine of supporting America’s allies against America’s enemies.
If Trump backs Israel in returning to the battlefield to secure Hamas’s defeat in Gaza, and maintaining its buffer zones in Gaza permanently to prevent the area from threatening the Jewish state in the future, then he will build
the foundation for a long-term peace between Israel and the Arabs of the region.
If President Trump stands with Israel and backs its requirement for a security zone inside Lebanon that will prevent Hezbollah and other terror forces from invading northern Israel, and
bodies as they butchered them. That was a mistake, or something. And anyway, fighting is futile. Bring them home.
This week, former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren wrote an article resonating this view. Oren admitted that the deal means
if he stands with Israel in its efforts to destroy Iran’s nuclear installations and supports the Iranian people that have fought for their freedom from the regime for decades, then he will restore America’s standing as the only significant superpower in the region.
If he fails to do these things, then he will cede the U.S.’s position to China. China has been a beneficiary of Biden’s weakness and determination to realign the U.S. away from its allies and toward Iran and its terror armies.
As for Israel, the dilemma is whether to sacrifice its future collective security for the salvation of the hostages today, or to secure its national survival. Israe lis who support the first option speak of the damage to Israel’s soul if we accept that the hostages may continue to suffer.
For those who receive their news from most Israeli media outlets, the dilemma isn’t too large. With a few notable exceptions, the Israeli media have been serving the public a diet of demoralization for nearly a year. Israel cannot win, they are told. There is no purpose to the fight. All it does is pro long the suffering of the hostages. The only reason we are still fighting is that the man they have spent the past decade demonizing—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—refuses to quit. He refuses to capitulate despite the futility of the fight, because fighting is the only way he stays in power.
The media—like the Biden adminis tration— prefer to ignore the strategic ramifications of Oct. 7, which they prefer to present as a one-off. The Palestinians aren’t really the people who beheaded their victims, and who mutilated their
not futile. Our heroic soldiers are winning and can win. And they must win. Oct. 7 will only be a one-off if Hamas is annihilated and Gaza remains pacified forever. They are willing to pay a steep price to secure the freedom of 33 hostages, but the fight cannot be forsaken.
Hostage taking is the cruelest form of psychological warfare. And it is the most powerful weapon that Israel’s enemies have in their arsenal. They know that while they sanctify death, the sanctification of life is the foundational creed of the Jewish people.
that Hamas wins the war. But then he counters that Israel will save its soul by showing its devotion to the lives of its hostages by losing. “Our victory is moral, deep and long lasting,” he crooned.
The problem with Oren’s argument and the broader claim of the deal-atany-price advocates is that the war is
Those who seek a deal at all costs are right about the soul of Israel. Our collective soul was bludgeoned on Oct. 7, and the wound remains unhealed every day the hostages remain in Gaza. As the years pass, the wound will become a scar that every Israeli and every Jew on earth will carry till the end of time. But our ability to carry those scars requires Israel to survive.
Oct. 7 showed us our enemy. And now that we have seen it, we cannot ignore the truth. For the nation of Israel and the State of Israel to survive, Israel must win this war no matter what the cost. (JNS)
MIDDOS AWARDS
Shaya Orlofsky, MDSC (1st)
Ian Levitt, Holy Smokes BBQ (1st)
Huda Schwartz (1st)
Donny Weinberger (3rd)
Adir Shapiro (3rd)
Eli Brodie (3rd)
Asher Flamm (3rd)
Binyomin Spatz (3rd)
Yaakov Herman (3rd)
Yitzy Pickett (3rd)
Shalom Landa (3rd)
Ezzy Friedman (3rd)
MIDDOS RAFFLE WINNER: Netanel Mandanipour (7th)
YOUTH HIGHLIGHTS
In 1st grade Clothier beat Holy Smokes BBQ 20-15, while MDSC won in a shootout over Sprinkles 20-18. In 2nd grade Fired up scores a whopping 65 to Holy Smokes BBQ 44, and Clothier suits up and beats MDSC 40-30. In the 3rd grade, Rentals of Distinction scores 22 to Holy Smokes BBQ 14 points, MDSC beats JTAP 25-15, and Inkredible kids beats Clothier 40-26. In 4th grade, MDSC tops Taam Thai 35-25, Clothier beats Mamah Leah's 36-35 in a nail biter, and Tov Pizza edges Jtap 26-22. On to 5th grade, Clothier narrowly edges Goldberg Bagels with a score of 23-22, Abbo’s Auto Shop beats Fired up 19-13, Jtap vs MDSC was an instant classic with Jtap winning 26-25, Orshan Legal Group LLC 27 to Holy Smokes BBQ 20. In 6th grade, Clothier edges JCC 38-36, while MDSC scores 45 to The Club 10, Holy Smokes BBQ takes down Tov Pizza 42-36. In 7th Grade Clothier edges Rentals of Distinction 44-42, while JCC wins in an offensive onslaught 80-50, Bella Boutique Fine Jewelry scores 68 to Holy Smokes BBQ 48. In 8th grade, Clothier 54 Skye Landscaping 50, Holy Smokes 48 MDSC 38.
ADULT HIGHLIGHTS
In the first game of the evening MDSC led by Shmuli Sauer’s (The Jewish Magic Johnson) 21 points and countless blocks was too much for Town Appliance. In the second game of the evening we may have had the game of the year. Ortho Maryland and Fired Up faced off for an unforgettable match. Brandon Wassel (AKA “The Jewish Julius Randle”) with a game leading 19 points hit a buzzer beater three to send the game into overtime. Fired Up lead by Ezra Feldman's (aka “ Manu Ginobili”) 13 points had some of their own clutch shots in the 4th quarter and both overtimes but came up short. Ortho eventually won with a score of 43-41. In the final matchup of the evening Bella Boutique Fine Jewelry took on Holy Smokes BBQ for a mid-season rematch. Bella came out strong and was in the game at half with Holy Smokes up 19-17. Mordechai Grunhut (“the Jewish Durant”) had 15 points but Bella were outscored in the second half. Holy Smokes played a great team game led by JoJo Straus (“the Jewish Jalen Brunson”) 19 points.
MIDDOS AWARDS
Avrami Reznitsky (4th)
Naftali Maradian (4th)
Yehuda Barr (4th)
Avi Parry (4th)
Akiva Polsky(4th)
Eitan Weissman (5th)
Shua Moskovitz (6th)
Yehuda Hyatt (6th)
Shaul Luxenberg (6th)
Gavi Erez (6th)
Nachum Shepard (7th)
Netanel Mandanipour (7th)
MIDDOS RAFFLE WINNER: Avrami Reznitsky (4th)
YOUTH HIGHLIGHTS
In first grade Sprinkles (40) vs Clothier (32), Holy Smokes BBQ (30) vs MDSC (24). In 2nd grade: Clothier (32) vs MDSC (44), Holy Smokes BBQ (41) vs Fired Up (47). In 3rd grade: Inkredible Kids (30) vs MDSC (45), Holy Smokes BBQ (19) vs Jtap Tennis League (46), Rentals Of Distinction (28) vs Clothier (26). In 4th Grade: JTap Tennis League (30) vs MDSC (42), Tov Pizza (36) vs Clothier (26), Mamah Leahs (13) vs Ta'am Thai (20). In 5th grade:Holy Smokes BBQ (26) vs Jtap Tennis League (37), Fired Up (14) vs Orshan Legal Group LLC (13), Goldberg's Bagels (16) vs Abbo's Auto Shop (24), Clothier (31) vs MDSC (30). In 6th Grade: JCC (48) vs The Club (38), Holy Smokes BBQ (27) vs MDSC (35), Tov Pizza (19) vs Clothier (27). In 7th Grade: Rentals of Distinction (34) vs Bella Boutique Fine Jewelry (72), Clothier (54) vs JCC (52), Holy Smokes BBQ (55) vs MDSC (28). In 8th Grade: MDSC 60 over Clothier 40, Holy Smokes BBQ over Skye Landscaping 48-39.
ADULT HIGHLIGHTS
In the first matchup of the night Holy Smokes BBQ took on Fired Up. Eitan Hariri (AKA “ The Jewish Jaylen Brown”) scored 18 points and David Braunstein (AKA “The Jewish Alex Caruso) added 15 of his own. Fired up led by Ezra Feldman’s (AKA “The Jewish Manu Ginobili”) game high 19 points was not going to go away easily. They were down double digits but fought back late in the second half to pull within three. However Holy Smokes BBQ made a few clutch shots and came away with the “W” with a score of 56-52. In the second game of the evening MDSC led by Yisroel Luchansky’s (AKA “The Jewish Gordon Haward”) 21 points came out strong against Bella Boutique Fine Jewelry. Shmuli Sauer (AKA “The Jewish Magic Johnson”) added 13 of his own. Bella, led by Mordechai Grunhut (AKA”The Jewish Kevin Durant) had 13 points, came up short with MDSC taking the win with a score of 58-32. In the third matchup of the evening, Town Appliance led by Chewy Gunzburg’s (AKA “The Jewish Klay Thompson”) 11 points faced Ortho Maryland led by Bobby Dolitsky 8 points. Ortho had a chance to tie with 10 seconds left. Brandon Wassel (AKA “ The Jewish Julius Randle”) just missed the game tying three pointer as time expired. Town Appliance wins 36-33.
Emmie Schwarzenberger, 5 Devorah Rubenstein, 9
Note: Not all submission have been published. Keep sending in your artwork for another chance to be featured!
Moshe Milch, 7
Yael David, 8
Menachem Shaps, 9
Leba Priluck, 5
Maya Schwarzenberger (& Maya Milner), 11
Esther Olson, 4
Naomi Penina Winchell, 6 Meira Robinson, 5
Naftali M, 10
Temima Olson, 6
Note: Not all submission have been published. Keep sending in your artwork for another chance to be featured!
Shoshana Gorin, 7
Leora Hersh, 8
Aviel Hakimi, 5
Azi Sperling, 4
Eliana Kushner, 5 Ayelet W., 7 Eitan, 3
Ashira, 8 & Sruly, 2 Temin
Avi W., 2
Tamar Abadi, 6
Shlomo Lasker, 6
Shoshana Winchell, 4
Rivka & Ari Rosenbaum, 8
Hadassah and Shoshana Schwarz, 8 & 6
Ashira W., 4
The Zmatkins!
Eli Korb, 6
Danny & Leah E., 8 & 4
Gili Jakobi, 7
Shifra Brody, 6
Eliam Hakimi, 4
Tamar, 6 & Renah, 4 Massre
Tehilla H., 10
Sadie Schwarzenberger, 8 Noam Abramson, 7
In The K tchen
Tres Leches Cake
Dairy / Yields 12 servings
By Naomi Nachman
I just spent Yeshiva Week in Panama working for the Go Beyond travel company running their social media account. We had a fabulous week sightseeing and eating at the all the incredible kosher restaurants. Panama boasts more than 60 kosher establishments. I had this delicious cake called Tres Leches which translates from Spanish as three milks. It is a rich and decadent alternative to cheesecake. This one has a twist with some caramel.
Ingredients
◦ ½ cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
◦ 1½ cups sugar
◦ 4 large eggs
◦ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
◦ 2 cups all-purpose flour
◦ 1 Tablespoon baking powder
◦ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
◦ 1 cup milk
◦ 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
◦ 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
◦ ¼ cup caramel sauce (dulce de leche)
◦ 2 cups whipping cream
◦ 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
◦ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 1 (9x13-inch) baking pan.
2. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy; mix in eggs and vanilla.
3. Turn mixer speed to low. Combine flour and baking powder; add gradually to butter mixture, stirring to blend.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Pierce cake with a fork all over.
5. Combine milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and caramel sauce in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour mixture onto hot cake. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
6. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until stiff. Spread over cake; cut into squares and serve.
Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.
