Baltimore Jewish Home - 10-27-22

Host: BONEI OLAM

Date: A.S.A.P

Dear Readers,

was in 1934, at the Aguda’s first Knessia Gedola, that Reb Meir Shapiro, ZT”L suggested the development of an international learning

which would eventually

Daf Hayomi, a

united Torah true Jews

Torah study. Reb

program even a

able to complete

years.

wrote Reb Meir, “will create

common language among our people. When two Jews from different towns, or even different countries, meet, the knowledge they share on the Gemara currently being studied will help them form a deep bond of friendship.

gain new direction in their lives. A day without Daf Hayomi means a day lost in the steady journey that the entire Jewish nation Yisroel is making toward attaining greatness in Torah. The sense of obligation and the regularity of the program will help the common man continue learning.”

Reb Meir Shapiro words were of course prophetic as we’ve seen Daf HaYomi make Talmud study accessible to all Yidden. However, the effect of his flagship initiative has extended far beyond Gemara. This structured style of learning has been parlayed to span a wide range of Torah

topics, catering to men, women, and children, regardless of learning level. There are now official “Daf-a-Day” programs for Gemara, Yerushalmi, Mishnah, Shnyim Mikra, Shmiras HaLashon, Nach, Mishna Breura, along with probably another dozen options.

The Chofetz Chaim once expressed his appreciation of Daf Hayomi to Reb Meir. “I am especially fond of you-and do you know why?” asked the Chofetz Chaim. “Because of what you have achieved through the Daf Hayomi study program.” The Chofetz Chaim understood the importance of daily learning and without a doubt understood the long term impact of such a structure.

I had orginally written this as a means to offer inspiration for people to perhaps take on some sort of daily learning following the inspirational days of the Yomim Noraim, Succos, and Simchas Torah. However, as I completed writing this, I noticed that Reb Meir Shapiro’s Yahrtzeit is 7 Cheshvon (this Tuesday November 1st)! What better way to honor his memory than to find an area of Torah learning that resonates with you, and make it a daily part of your life. May such a lofty commitment be a zechus for you, your family, and Reb Meir Shapiro, ZT”L!

Aaron Menachem

Around the Community

The Jewish Community Football League (JCFL) by “ShimzCars” kicks off 2022 season

On a beautiful Sunday morning in midSeptember, “JCFL by Shimz Cars” began its 11th season.

Prior to the opening week, 80 play ers were divided between 8 different teams via a draft system, ensuring parity in competition. The teams are named for their individual team spon sors: All State – Yaakov Schmell, Autumn Lake Healthcare, Doctor Auto, Dougies, Iconic Builders, My Goods, Sushi Sakura, Tripping Ko sher, and Worthy Insurance

Following the draft, teams were provided with their team jerseys, thanks to Computer Cure, MD. They also spent quality time meeting the 2022 IV Drip Officiating Crew who along with officiating duties, prepped the ActualEyes fields (at Pikesville Middle) with Stanley Markovitz Or thodontics equipment for the 2022 season.

Like previous seasons, all eight teams will compete for seven regular season games, with the top four facing off in the playoffs. The playoffs win ners will then battle each other in the league championship, The Chef Dan Bowl.

For a recap of some of the excite ment from the first few weeks of the season, keep reading: Sushi Sakura 18 Allstate – Yaakov Schmell 13

In the season opener, rookie QB Moshe Burr and his team took on third year QB Ezra Bregin and his Sushi Sakura crew.

Allstate – Yaakov Schmell was roll ing from the whistle, with an early deep ball TD pass to David Pen sak and a fadeaway TD to Avner Shotz, putting the insurance ex perts up 13-6 going into the half.

But with some halftime adjustments, Bregin and his team turned things around, securing two TDs to TE Avra ham Mond to go ahead 18-13. With under two minutes to go and 1st and goal at the 1-yard line, Sushi Sakura kept Allstate - Yaakov Schmell out of the end zone to hold on to their lead and secure the win.

Autumn Lake Healthcare 26

In a matchup of 2 championship hopefuls, Autumn Lake scored the go-ahead points with 20 seconds left on the clock, thanks to a 4th down TD pass from Avi Yudkowsky to Rafi Strum to secure a 26-22 victory.

For much of the game, it looked like Worthy Insurance would cruise to victory. Though Autumn Lake jumped out to a 13-8 lead in first half (thanks to TD passes to Ari Pliskin and Yoseph Orshan), Worthy stormed back with 2 quick TDs in the second half to take a 22-13 lead.

Autumn Lake scored with 10 minutes left to close the gap to 22-20 and af ter a goal line stand on defense, the Healthcare Pros executed a method ical 5-minute drive which includ ed a critical 4th down conversion to Oren Bluman, and the aforemen tioned winning TD pass on 4th down.

Doctor Auto 28 Iconic Builders 24

Ahh, opening day. There’s nothing like it, am I right? The sounds! The smells! The vibrancy and pageant ry of it all! If only every day could be opening day. But enough scene setting for now – on to the game!

And what a game it was. Iconic Builders, led by All-American QB Ab Reznick vs Doctor Auto, led by 2021 Comeback player of the year, Ari Hettleman. The game got off to a quick start as Doctor Auto forced a punt and then marched down the field to score a TD and take a 6-0 lead.

Ab was quick to respond with a gloriously thrown deep ball TD to Asher “Salt of the Earth” Meth, tying the game at 6 apiece.

Following a few key defensive stops, Dr. Auto took a 12-6 lead with a TD to undrafted rookie Sam “Ciabatta” Novograd. On the ensuing drive, Ari Hettleman (the rare dual-threat QB and defensive lineman) sacked Ab to push the Builders deep into their own territory. Hettleman then followed that up with another sack for the

safety to give Doc Auto a 14-6 lead.

But Ab did what Ab does best – putting the team on his back, this time with his legs. Ab’s designed 70-yard QB sneak for a TD narrowed the gap to 14-12.

At halftime, Iconic took their first lead of the day (18-14), with an impressive TD grab by Aharon “The Howling Gastropod” Schnur. After a costly in terception thrown by Hettleman, Icon ic capitalized with another TD to go up 24-14. I’m not going to lie - it looked bleak for the transportation physicians.

It was ultimately grizzled veteran, Shi

mon Kanter, who gathered the troops with messages of inspiration. Dr Auto responded with a TD bringing the scoring within 4 (24-20). The only question that remained was – how will we get a stop in only 1 minute and 45 seconds? Well wouldn’t you know it –rookie Sam Novograd had the answer, picking off Reznick with an impres sive display of athleticism and poise.

With 30 seconds remaining in the game, Hettleman leveraged the im pressive O-line play of his Center, Levi Akkerman, to connect with Ye shaya Lerner on a check down pass. Lerner broke a tackle and took it in for the game-winning TOUCHDOWN!! What a Play!! What a Game!!

Tripping Kosher 34

Dougies 25

Tripping Kosher came into the game missing they’re top Center but that didn’t matter as the O-Line would give up zero sacks on the day. On the defensive side, the Trip pers collected 4 of their own, thanks to the tenacious efforts of Bar ry Dollman and Avrumi Freund.

It was a full-team effort for TK with each receiver collecting 2 plus catch es on the day, led by star WR, Mordy Reches, who scored 2 TDs. Freund, Dollman, and Aron Meister each had TD catches themselves while Chaim Pleeter played the role of “security blanket” in the middle of the field. New QB Shulie Hochman threw 5 TDs on the day, leading his team to victory.

Dougies 26

Allstate – Yaakov Schmell 6

Dougies overcame a slow start to dominate the second half and beat Allstate 26-6. Josh Zaslow caught two TDs and added an INT, Avraham Abba Freedman caught a long TD and passed for another to Eli Dollman, and Dan Gutman passed for 3 TDs. After an early deficit and a 6-6 halftime score, Dougies controlled the game on both sides of the ball, with Tzvi Haber destroying the Allstate offensive line with 5 sacks and multiple tipped pass es.

Around the Community

Meet and Greet With Dan Cox – Gubernatorial Candidate

By: Ariel Levy

On October 20th, Dan Cox, Republican Nominee for Maryland Governor was invited to Goldberg’s Bagels in Pikesville to meet Baltimore City and County residents. The room was filled with Baltimoreans from all walks of life. It was a packed house.

Dan Cox addressed a diverse array of important issues: rampant infla tion, crime, anti-semitism and medical freedom. After painting his vision for Maryland’s future, he took many ques

tions from the audience. In the Q & A period, Dan continually hammered home that he is pro-liberty, pro the Maryland Constitution, anti-mandates and anti-shutdowns.

The meeting took place on the same day the CDC advisory commit tee added the Covid vaccine to immu nization schedules for children ages 6 months and older as well as adults. Dan Cox said, “I will never use my power as Governor to coerce parents to give their children a Covid vaccine. If you want your child to be vaccinat ed, you can have your child vaccinat

Sukka at Aberdeen Proving Ground!

For the 5th year, thanks to the efforts of Rabbi Chesky Tenenbaum, director of the Jewish Uniformed Service Association of Maryland-Chabad, a Sukka was built at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Sukka is located in the courtyard of the main Chapel, and is available for use by the Jewish members of APG

throughout the days of Chol Hamoed. JUSA hosted a Sukka Party on the first day of Chol Hamoed that was attended by soldiers and employees of APG, were they had a chance to do the Mitzvah of Lulav and Estrog and make a Brocha in the Sukka. JUSA would like to thank Chaplain (LTC) Joshua Metz, Installation Garrison

ed. If you do not want your child vac cinated, you do not have to have your child vaccinated.”

Ruth Goetz, the republican nomi nee for State Senate District 11 orga nized the successful event. Other nom inees in attendance were Jim Amos, the republican nominee for the Balti more County County Council District 2, Patty Fallon the republican nominee for Delegate District 10 and Rebecca Chesner, candidate for the Baltimore County School Board, District 2.

The meeting was full of positive energy and excitement in support of

Dan Cox. After the meeting attendees expressed, “Dan is a man who practic es what he preaches”, “I can’t believe he has ten children”, “Dan was real ly down to earth”, “Dan will make a great Governor”.

For more information, to volunteer or contribute visit CoxForFreedom. com.

Chaplain and his office for all their help and assistance.

Yifei YNof ifei Nof

E x p l o r e t h e i c o n i c w o n d e r s o f t h e w e s t e r n U n i t e d S t a t e s

J u l y 3 0 t h - A u g u s t 1 1 t h 2 0 2 3 L e a r n , g r o w a n d b e i n s p i r e d

P u s h o u t s i d e y o u r c o m f o r t z o n e L u x u r i o u s a c c o m m o d a t i o n s B u i l d m e a n i n g f u l r e l a t i o n s h i p s A c t i o n p a c k e d p r o g r a m : h i k i n g , j e e p i n g , r a p p e l l i n g , w h i t e w a t e r r a f t i n g , h o r s e b a c k r i d i n g , l a v a c a v e s

Y O M I N G

V E N T U R VE E N T U R E O U T W A R OD U T W A R D

T H E U L T I M A T E A D V E N T U R E F O R F R U M H I G H S C H O O L G I R L S

T A

D A H O

E

T E D B Y M R S

C H A Y A M I L I K O W S K Y A N D M R S

D E V O R A H B U X B A U M

J O U R N E JY O U R N E Y I N W A R ID N W A R D

Community Wide Simchas Beis Hashoeva at Shomrei Emunah

Photo Credit (all photos): Jeff Cohn

by Nachman Schachter

Rav Yaakov Perlow zt”l, the Novominsker Rebbe, was a rebbe and rosh yeshivah.

leader of the Torah community. A brilliant thinker, gifted speaker and writer, a

chacham

advisor

gadol

Rabbi Yecheskel Ostreicher

shiurim

thousands,

close talmid of

of course,

Rav

Khal Chassidim

Kehilas Kol Torah Simchas Bais HaShoeva

Ohr Hamizrach

Around the Community

Kiddush for Seniors: A Call to Action

By: Howard Elling

“Al Tashlichainu l’ais ziknah”, “do not cast us aside in our old age” (Selichos [ital]). Our Baltimore community is blessed with a number of assisted living, as well as nursing home facilities to service the needs of our local elderly & infirm. In addition to attending to their medical requisites, these facilities also engage their residents in a myriad of activities to address spiritual & creative needs. Among these pursuits are the weekend recitations of Kiddush and Havdalah. Since 2007, a group of volunteers has, on a rotational basis, fulfilled these sacred functions at Aventura at the Park (formerly Weinberg Park). Founded by Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld of Jewish Spiritual Literacy, the program is formally called Love Your Neighbor and of 9 participants, including yours truly. Kiddush and Havdalah are recited when all residents are gathered, typi cally in the dining hall for lunch. Con sistent with recommended protocol & in order to embellish the event, I make it a point to start with either a short sto ry or a song. As I deliver my presenta tion, I gaze out at the audience in front of me & detect, with satisfaction, the full attention the residents are giving me. I truly believe this phenomenon derives from a sense of appreciation each one feels. One only has to reflect & realize that, for the majority of each day, these residents are deprived of the presence of their loved ones. Hence, it is only natural that they look forward to Kiddush & Havdalah with a sense of anticipation.

Several other senior facilities in Baltimore have hosted Love Your Neighbor programs in past years. However, at present, none of the other like facilities in our neighborhoods of fers any such arrangements. Instead, weekly Kiddush/Havdalah functions fall each week to, typically, a lone ad ministrator with no backup. Accord ingly, an effort is currently underway to extend the Aventura at the Park model to the following care Aventura at the Heights, formerly Tudor Heights (Friday night Kiddush

Ner Israel’s Simchas Beis HaShoeiva With HaRav HaGaon Shmuel Kamenetsky, Shlita

Hoshana Rabbah at Mercaz Torah U’Tfiloh

Simchas Bais HaShoeva at Mercaz Torah U’Tfiloh

Developing

Simchas Bais HaShoeiva at Tiferes Yisroel Beis Dovid

Orthodox Toras Chaim Congregation

Bais HaShoeva

Khal Machzekei Torah

Hershey Park Chol Hamoed Fun

On October 13, over 600 Chai Lifeline children and families from across the New York, New Jersey/ Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic regions had a blast at a special Chol Hamoed Hershey Park event.

“As a mom of a sick child who is regularly in and out of the hospital and medical appointments, family time can be a rarity,” said Sarah, a Chai Lifeline mom. “To have an exciting day at the park with a dedicated medi cal team onsite, meant my family and I could really enjoy Chol Hamoed in a way we usually cannot.”

In addition to all the usual rides and attractions, Chai Lifeline set up special surprise stations for families throughout the park. Each station was manned by volunteers who distributed gifts ranging from cotton candy and snacks to teddy bears and custom Chai

Lifeline gear. Kids and adults alike had a great time exploring the park, collecting their surprises, and meeting other Chai Lifeline families.

“It was really amazing to watch families spend time together and con nect with one another,” said Faige Yudkovsky, Chai Lifeline director of volunteer services. “These events provide a vital opportunity to bond in such a relaxed and supportive environ ment.”

Chai Lifeline is an international children’s health support network pro viding social, emotional, and financial assistance to children with life-threat ening or lifelong illnesses and their families. To learn more, visit chailifeline.org

Please tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a Bobover Chassid who lives in Boro Park with my wife Chani. I have worked in the garment indus try for decades as both a designer as well as a buyer. In 1979 my wife and I got married, with the same dreams of every young couple – having a large family, the noise, the laughter, and the action. For years, we tried every thing medically to try to have children, leaving no stone unturned, but after 20 years of trying our doctor, told us we should come to accept that our jour ney to try to have a child had come to an end. On the car ride home my wife said to me, “Shlomo, Hashem said no but we will respond with a resounding YES!”

How and when did Bonei Olam start?

Bonei Olam, was started nearly 24 years ago after my wife and I had gone to Europe with a few other couples on

a consultation trip to see top fertility specialists. In addition to the extraor dinary cost of these appointments, we were told to bring along some extra cash in the event unexpected costs arose. One of the couples on the trip was told that they had a high chance of success if they attempted an extreme ly expensive treatment. The couple didn’t have extra cash for the expen sive medication that would be needed in addition to the cost of the treatment. When my wife heard this she said to me, “Our fate is still up in the air but this couple has a real chance. Let’s give them our extra money.” We gave them the money and the treatment succeeded for this couple. We realized the lack of funds was stopping many couples from having children. When we realized our journey had ended, at my wife’s urging, we started Bonei Olam, an organization with the goal of assisting couples financially to help finance the exorbitant costs of mod ern fertility treatments. Today, Bonei Olam has grown and offers so much more than just financial assistance but the financial aspect is what pushed us to start the organization. And with tremendous Siyata D’shmaya over 10,000 babies have been born with the assistance of Bonei Olam.

What an amazing story of self lessness. Can you tell us what ser vices your organization provides?

B”H Bonei Olam has had tremen

dous growth! Our services include: Confidential Counseling, Professional Counseling, Financial Grants, Fertility Drugs, Insurance Support, Pregnancy Support, Fertility Research, Genet ic Research, Fertility Preservation, Bonei Olam without Borders as well as some amazing programs we have developed over the past 12 months.

What are these new initiatives that Bonei Olam has developed?

We have many new programs that we are very proud of and excited to share with the Baltimore community!

We had the first frum uterine trans plant surgery yielding BH a healthy baby this year! Currently there are multiple patients waiting for this same procedure which costs at least $250,000.

We have just launched a program to help single women preserve their fertility called, Your World Tomor row, (www.yourworldtomorrow.org) which assists single women with egg retrieval.

We have started Kesher (www. koshernetworks.org), Kesher assists singles looking to get married with unique circumstances, be it physical, genetic, medical or emotional. Bonei Olam hosts a database of Jewish sin gles with specific concerns and they harness their power of extensive med ical knowledge to deal with the most complex issues in shidduchim.

We have built a lab in Boro Park as

well as a lab that’s in the development stages in Lakewood

And to mention, Ohel Sarala (www.ohelsarala.org), that’s an ini tiative that’s older than 12 months but still worthy to mention, Ohel Sarala partners women looking for a shid duch with a couple longing to become parents. Rav Shteinman explained the mesiras nefesh of caring for someone else’s pain, is so valued that it storms the Heavens, and B”H we have seen results not to be believed.

Wow! These new initiatives real ly cover so many different aspects of how infertility can affect a person! If a couple in Baltimore needs Bonei Olam services what should they do?

Please reach out to us at 443-8390784 and baltimore@boneiolam.org, www.boneiolam.org/baltimore

Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Bonei Olam was started with the mission of a couple should not be turned away from having a child due to financial constraints. On Novem ber 6th-8th, 2022 Bonei Olam Bal timore will be having its annual campaign to help raise much needed funds for Baltimore couples. Please open your hearts and help Bonei Olam continue its mission of an swering yes to every couple waiting BH to date Bonei Olam is celebrating 10,453 babies!

Rabbi Schlomo Bochner, Founder of Bonei Olam

First Israeli to Compete in Saudi Arabia

Super League Triathlon, a team-based cycling, swimming, and running com petition. He ranked the fastest cyclist in the most recent competition in Tou louse and was the eighth-best compet itor overall.

Saudi Arabia, which does not gen erally allow Israelis to enter, has in the past few months begun to issue spe cial visas to Israeli citizens, primarily businesspeople.

“I am very excited to be a trailblaz er by being the first Israeli athlete to compete in Saudi Arabia,” Sagiv told the website Sport1. “This is proof that sports connect peoples and countries.

“I hope to have a good competition, move up in the general ranking at the end of the race and retain first place in the cycling competition,” he added.

The annual Super League Triath

They were only the second and third Israeli triathletes ever to participate in the Olympic Games.

In November, Shachar Sagiv is set to compete in the Bermuda World Tri athlon Championship Series as part of his effort to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Terrorist Leader Killed in Raid

in Palestinian territories.

On Saturday night, a Lion’s Den fighter, Tamer al-Kilani, was killed in the Old City of Nablus by an “explo sion” that is said to have been a bomb remotely activated by the Israeli army.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that anyone who hurts Is raeli citizens “should know it will end badly,” after troops carried out anoth er raid in the West Bank city, sparking clashes that left five dead including a top leader of the Lion’s Den terror group.

“The terrorist Wadee al-Houh was killed in the exchange of fire,” Lapid told the Kan public broadcaster.

“Israel will never be deterred from acting for its security. Part of this squad are people who hurt Ido Ba ruch, and the moment they hurt us,

BETH TFILOH’S FAREWELL TRIBUTE

post, “There aren’t and won’t ever be sanctuary cities for terrorists. We will continue to act against anyone who tries to harm the citizens of Israel, wherever and whenever necessary,” he added.

Meanwhile, the head of the hard line Arab Israeli Balad party, Sami Abou Shahadeh, condemned the IDF raid on Nablus as a “war crime and terrorism.”

Israel Defense Forces soldiers de stroyed an explosives workshop in Nablus in the early hours of Tuesday, the military said, in an extensive op eration that led to the deadly clashes that also left over 20 injured, accord ing to Palestinian health officials.

Blasts and gunshots rang out for over an hour in Nablus after a large convoy of Israel Defense Forces vehi cles entered the West Bank city.

Al-Houh was a senior and found ing member of Lion’s Den, according to Israeli officials and Palestinian me dia reports.

Al-Houh, who ostensibly led the group and was allegedly responsible

for numerous attacks, was a “main target of the operation.” The terror leader was also responsible for man ufacturing explosive devices and pro curing weapons for members of the group.

Nablus has been the focus of weeks of operations targeting the Lion’s Den terror group, responsible for a string of attacks on military positions, set tlements, and other targets.

The recently formed group made up of members of other terror organi zations has claimed a slew of attacks in the weeks since Israel killed senior al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade member Ibrahim al-Nabulsi in late August.

for roughly $26 million each.

The two families who purchased them paid NIS 88 million each for 438 square meters of living space and a terrace measuring 145 square meters that can fit a swimming pool, accord ing to Holland Real Estate and Neot Shiran, Tel Aviv, the agencies that closed the sale.

The two-story penthouses are lo cated on the 24th and 25th floors, and feature six-meter-(20 foot)-high liv ing room ceilings and panoramic sea and city views. They were purchased in shell condition; the families will complete them to their own original specifications.

The total price tag for both units amounted to NIS 176,000,000 ($51,187,000).

Dolphinarium. The 28-story David Promenade Residences on the Tel Aviv coast stands right next to the five-star David Kempinski Hotel, which opened earli er this year, and directly across from the waterfront. Residents can tap into perks provided by the hotel next door, including the restaurants, the spa, and room service to their apartments.

Tel Aviv Price Records

A new price record for a Tel Aviv luxury apartment may just have been set this year at the David Promenade Residences, with the sale of two units

The price represents a cost per square meter built of NIS 200,000, excluding finishes and purchase costs, which easily tops the previous “nor mal luxury price” this year of NIS 130,000 to NIS 140,000 set by The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Tel Aviv, next to the what used to be the

U.S. Students’ Scores Plummet

Students across the United States are not doing well. According to an au thoritative national exam released on Monday, students in most states and across almost all demographic groups have experienced troubling setbacks

The Week In News

in both math and reading.

In math, the results were espe cially devastating, representing the steepest declines ever recorded on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, which tests a broad sampling of fourth and eighth graders and dates to the early 1990s.

In the test’s first results since the pandemic began, math scores for eighth graders fell in nearly every state. A meager 26 percent of eighth graders were proficient, down from 34 percent in 2019.

Fourth graders fared only slightly better, with declines in 41 states. Just 36 percent of fourth graders were pro ficient in math, down from 41 percent.

Reading scores also declined in more than half the states, con tinuing a downward trend that had begun even before the pandemic. No state showed sizable improvement in reading. And only about one in three students met proficiency standards, a designation that means students have demonstrated competency and are on track for future success.

“I want to be very clear: The re sults in today’s nation’s report card are appalling and unacceptable,” said Miguel Cardona, the secretary of ed ucation. “This is a moment of truth for education. How we respond to this will determine not only our recov ery, but our nation’s standing in the world.”

The exam, which is administered by federal officials and is considered more rigorous than many state tests, sampled nearly 450,000 fourth and eighth graders in more than 10,000 schools between January and March.

The results are detailed for each state, as well as more than two dozen large school districts.

Many are pointing to pandemic restrictions as the cause for the bleak results.

For example, in Texas, where many schools opened sooner in the pan demic, students’ scores held steady in reading but showed declines similar to national averages in math.

In California, which stood out for dragging its feet in reopening schools, scores declined slightly less than na tional averages in several categories — about in line with Florida, which was a leader in opening schools sooner.

Hobby Lobby CEO Steps Down

In announcing his decision to give up ownership of Hobby Lobby, CEO and founder David Green attribut ed the company’s success to G-d and cited his religion as the reason he is relinquishing it.

In an op-ed for Fox News, Green claimed that “all my success had come from G-d.”

“As we were blessed by G-d, we saw it as a great privilege to give back. We’ve been able to provide hope

to Tehillim Kollel

In News

through supporting ministries and planting churches all over the world,” he explained.

Green described thinking deeply about the future of the company before ultimately deciding to give up owner ship. Green said he was inspired by Patagonia’s former owner, Yvon Chou inard, who transferred ownership of his company to a specially designed trust and nonprofit organization.

“I experienced a similar deci sion-making process with my owner ship of Hobby Lobby; I chose G-d,” he said.

Like Chouinard said, “Instead of ‘going public,’ you could say we’re ‘going purpose.’

“That bigger mission and purpose helped me realize that I was just a steward, a manager of what G-d had entrusted me,” Green wrote. “G-d was the true owner of my business. When I realized that I was just a steward, it was easy to give away my ownership.”

He explained that his realization of “stewardship,” rather than ownership, drove him to pay workers $18.50 an

hour, close the business on Sundays, and close by 8 p.m. each evening. He said he felt a responsibility to care for his employees in these ways.

Hobby Lobby is a company that owns a chain of 969 arts and crafts stores in 47 states, except in Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont. Green is the son of a preacher. On his web site, the company declares, “Honor ing the L-rd in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.” All stores are closed on Sundays to “allow em ployees time for family and worship,” according to signs posted on the front doors of their retail stores.

Trapped Underground

Five people remain trapped 200 feet underground at Arizona’s Grand Canyon Caverns after an elevator broke down on Sunday.

The issue was discovered on Sun

day evening when visitors went to leave the popular tourist attraction near Peach Springs, Arizona, about 100 miles west of Flagstaff. Sever al people were able to walk up the 21 flights of stairs to get out. Five vis itors, though, were either unable to safely walk up the stairs or chose to stay behind with those who physically couldn’t.

An external generator was brought in on Monday and did not fix the prob lem.

A spokesperson said the sheriff’s office has sent a search and rescue team with a basket apparatus that can lift people up the elevator shaft one-by-one, in the event that the tech nicians cannot repair the elevator quickly.

Alaskan Rep. Party Censures McConnell

The stranded group was provided accommodation and food that night by a small hotel and restaurant adjacent to the dry caverns, which are among the largest in the United States.

Authorities now believe that the is sue with the elevator is mechanical in nature, as opposed to being electrical.

The Alaska Republican Party voted on Monday to censure Senate Minority Lead er Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for spreading “divisive and misleading statements” about their endorsed candidate in Alaska’s Senate race.

The party said that McConnell’s fi nancial support for incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in the Senate race against fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka

"Moving to Israel was a dream, but it was hard to start all over. I am so thankful for OU Israel. Not only have I enjoyed the programming, but they have helped me find my new community.

As I recently celebrated my first Yom Ha'atzmaut in Israel surrounded by my fellow Jews at the OU Israel's Tefila Chagigit, I looked around and thought, 'I am finally home'. "

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was “in direct contradiction” to the party, according to a copy of the resolution posted Monday night on Facebook.

“Much of the financial support from the Senate Leadership Fund has been used for malicious political attack ads targeted at our endorsed candidate, Kelly Tshiba ka, that are gross distortions of fact,” the resolution reads. “We request the Senate Leadership Fund immediately stop the attack ads against Kelly Tshibaka and dis continue the support of all other opposing candidates.”

The resolution passed by a 49-8 vote, according to local news reports.

The Alaska Republican Party also cen sured Murkowski, a 20-year incumbent, last year after she voted to convict former President Trump in his impeachment trial for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Tshibaka is endorsed by Trump, who has become a vocal critic of McConnell and has pushed for the Senate leader to step down.

Alaska’s November general election is a ranked-choice process, where a candidate needs more than 50 percent of the vote to win.

was armed with a long gun and nearly a dozen high-capacity magazines –enough ammunition for a “much worse” situation, police Commissioner Michael Sack said. The murderer was killed by authorities.

Authorities credited locked doors and a quick police response – includ ing by off-duty officers – for preventing more killings at Central Visual and Per forming Arts High School.

Alexandria Bell, 15, was killed at the scene and a 61-year-old health and physical education teacher, Jean Kuczka, was pronounced dead at a hos pital, Sack said. The gunman died at a hospital after a gun battle with officers, he said.

Seven other teenagers were injured, some of them with gunshot or graze wounds, and others with abrasions. One had a fractured ankle. They were all in stable conditions, the commis sioner said.

There have been at least 67 shoot ings on school grounds this year in the United States.

They include products such as Dove Dry Shampoo Volume and Fullness, Dove Dry Shampoo Fresh Coconut, Nexxus Dry Shampoo Refreshing Mist and Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo Refresh and Revive.

Benzene is a human carcinogen. Exposure to benzene can occur by in halation, orally, and through the skin, and it can result in cancers including leukemia and blood cancer, according to Friday’s recall notice.

Last year, Procter & Gam ble (PG) recalled more than 30 aerosol spray haircare products, including many dry shampoos and dry conditioners, warning that the products could contain benzene. P&G also last year issued a similar recall for more than a dozen Old Spice and Secret-branded aerosol deodorants and sprays, warning that the products could also contain benzene.

Along those lines, cosmetics com pany L’Oréal, along with multiple oth

er parties, is being sued over claims that its chemical hair straightening products put women at an increased risk of uterine cancer.

Virgin Australia has just launched the Middle Seat Lottery, a special raf fle worth about $145,000. And it’s only open to those who sit in the mid dle seat – voluntarily or involuntarily – during a flight.

Middle Seat Lottery

Hate sitting in the middle seat while flying? You’re not alone. In fact, only 0.6% of more than 7,500 voters polled prefer – or, perhaps more like ly, accidentally voted for – the middle seat, according to a recent social me dia poll by Virgin Australia.

Now, the airline is tackling middle seat anxiety head-on by making sit ting squished between two other trav elers a bit sweeter.

“Virgin Australia is an airline that’s doing things differently and we are having a lot of fun coming up with exciting innovations to make ev ery part of the travel experience more wonderful,” says Jayne Hrdlicka, the chief executive officer of Virgin Aus tralia Group, in a press release.

“Now we’re giving our loyal guests the opportunity to win from a prize pool valued at over $230,000 for sim ply sitting in a middle seat.”

From now until April 23, 2023, any Velocity Frequent Flyer member aged 18 years or older who is seated in a middle seat can use the airline’s app to enroll in the lottery.

Each week, a different prize will be awarded to the winner of a lucky

draw. Among the innovative gifts up for grabs are a full day helicopter pub crawl (including return flights to Dar win) and a two-night holiday in Cairns including flights, accommodation, and a bungee jump.

For fans of the Australian Football League, there are flights and tickets to the Australian Football League Grand Final as well as exclusive access to the pre-game lunch and after party.

Travelers could also win Virgin’s “Platinum Velocity” frequent flier sta tus for one year – along with one mil lion extra Velocity Points – as well as a few refurbished, themed gallery carts.

May the most squeezed person win.

Playing the Sax During Surgery

Doctors in

that a patient remained awake and played the saxophone during delicate brain surgery.

Paideia International Hospital in Rome said in a news release that the 35-year-old patient, identified as G.Z., was kept awake and played his saxo phone during the 9-hour surgery to remove a tumor from his brain.

Doctors said the musical perfor mance allowed the surgeons to map the different functions of his brain as they operated.

“Awake surgery makes it possible to map with extreme precision during surgery the neuronal networks that underlie the various brain functions such as playing, speaking, moving, re membering, counting,” Dr. Christian Brogna, who led the surgery team, said.

Brogna said the surgery was a suc cess.

That’s music to our ears.

Bread Boy

A bakery in the San Francisco area is hawking more than just bread. The eatery now features a 6-foot life-size bread sculpture of “Star Wars” char acter Han Solo, seemingly frozen in carbonite.

Hannalee Pervan and her mother, Catherine Pervan, co-owners of One House Bakery in Benicia, California, spent weeks molding, baking and assembling the life-sized sculpture using wood and two types of dough, including a type of yeast-less dough with a higher sugar content that will last longer.

The two worked at night, after the day’s business was done. The lovingly crafted details show Han Solo’s an guished face and his hands straining to reach out.

Creating “Pan Solo” was particu larly meaningful, she told the paper, because she contracted covid in Jan uary 2021 and lost much of her senses

of smell and taste.

“So just to find joy in a different part of food is really important,” she said.

The sculpture is now on display outside of the bakery, located about a half-hour’s drive north of San Fran cisco. It will be entered into a commu nity-wide scarecrow contest, in which the public will vote on their favorite scary-thing created by local business es.

composted – and not eaten.

As Yoda wisely said, “Difficult to see; always in motion is the future.”

Giant Gourd

This pumpkin squashed its compe tition.

On Monday, Travis Gienger of Minnesota set a new U.S. record for the heaviest pumpkin after raising a giant gourd weighing 2,560 pounds. With that vast vegetable, he won the annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California.

The Pervans, who are big sci ence-fiction and fantasy fans, entered another “Star Wars”-themed creation in 2020 featuring the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda.

Eventually the bread boy will be

“Minnesota has a great midyear, but our spring in our parts is really, really tough. So to do it in Minneso ta, it just shouldn’t happen,” Gienger said. “It’s like winning the Tour de France on a big wheel. You know, you can only hope, but it worked.”

Gienger drove the gargantuan gourd for 35 hours to see his hard work pay off at the 49th World Cham pionship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half

about

Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

“You think driving in a snow storm is bad? Try driving one of these things,” he said.

Gienger, who also won the same contest in Northern California in 2020, broke a record set last week in New York where a grower raised a massive pumpkin weighing 2,554 pounds.

Despite Gienger’s huge numbers, a grower in Italy holds the world record for the heaviest pumpkin. He grew a 2,702-pound squash in 2021, accord ing to Guinness World Records.

Sounds gourd-ess.

Auto-Manic

These people are crazy – in a good way. Greg Harris, Priya Singh, Mi chele Daryanani and Nevena Lazarev ic are participated in the recent auto rickshaw challenge in India. Although the way, the two teams ended up set

ting a world record for the highest alti tude drive for the type of vehicle.

The Canadian team, consisting of Harris and Singh, and the Swiss team, composed of Daryanani and Lazarev ic, set the record while participating in the Rickshaw Run (Himalayan Edition).

The groups were challenged to drive auto rickshaws, motorized three-wheeled vehicles often used as taxis in India, from the Indian city of Jaisalmer to the Himalayan city of Leh, a distance of about 1,430 miles. But they weren’t given a specific path to travel. The two teams decided to drive to the summit of Umling La Pass, which featured the highest alti tude road in the world.

The auto rickshaws traversed the road at an altitude of 19,024 feet, which is now believed to be the high est altitude at which an auto rickshaw has ever been driven.

“The road grade climbing to the summit of the pass was so steep that much of the drive could only be done

in first gear,” Harris said. “However, the Bajaj auto rickshaws were real workhorses and persistently made their way to the top, a drive usually only accomplished by higher powered motorcycles or cars.”

(swelling of the brain) or pulmonary edema (lungs filled with fluid).

Singh noted, “At the summit of the pass, we were breathing air with only half the oxygen found at sea level; so it was both the vehicles and the drivers that were oxygen deprived. Luckily, we had spent time prior to the attempt acclimatizing, so other than some minor discomfort, none of the team members suffered any serious issues.”

Aside from the altitude and the thinning air, the adverturers were able to sample interesting dishes along the way.

Umling La Pass, at a height of 19,024 feet (approximately equivalent to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro), carries a real risk of serious altitude sickness. At such altitude, there is about 50% less oxygen per volume of breathable air than at sea level, creat ing breathing difficulties, headaches, dizziness, nausea, as well as more potentially serious or fatal altitude re lated illnesses such as cerebral edema

Lazarevic added, “While the world record was our ultimate goal, the en tire Rickshaw Run of over 2,300 km from Jaisalmer to Leh, while quite dif ficult, was adventurous, thrilling and spectacular…. That being said – the culinary experience was amazing. The dishes changed totally from the desert bean pickles of Rajastan to spicy and aromatic curries around Shimla, until the momos in Leh.”

High excitement!

Israel Today

What I Love About Israel

By Rafi Sackville

There inevitably comes a time for every new Oleh when the dazzle of having made Aliyah wears off; life assumes a routine that has nothing to do with rose gardens or dreamy visions of being a pioneer. Daily life with its un adorned challenges is far removed from the dreams of living in the Holy Land. However diminished it may be, the aura of those dreams remains in a hidden drawer that we occasionally open – to ponder, to reminisce, to sigh over.

I recently contacted a large group of friends who have been living in Israel for many years to ask them why they love liv ing here. Their answers ranged from the spiritual, the sublime to the practical.

I present them to you here in no par ticular order:

• “How on Shabbat our neighbors place a table covered with different spic es outside their front gate so that passers by can make brachot. I’ve watched total strangers walk into their house during the Shabbat meal to thank them for their effort.”

• “At a young age, I was taught that Hashem gave us this land.”

• “Surrounded by Jews is a great feel ing; how good is it when the news read er wishes everyone Shabbat Shalom and then plays songs that resonate.”

• “It’s great to be protected by my own Jewish army.”

• “We have a Jewish government and have even had a PM who wears a kippah.”

• “I never feel strange sleeping in a sukkah.”

• “keeping one day Chag and not hav ing to cook so many meals.”

• “Antisemitism doesn’t exist here. In France, I was reminded that I was a Jew every day.”

• “The natural and spiritual history of Israel is akin to living in a magical king dom.”

• “I have a fetish for taxes and bu reaucracy.”

• “In Israel, I feel that I am partic ipating on the stage of history. Outside Israel, one is in the audience.”

• “Education is far cheaper than chutz la’aretz.”

• “Hashem is always looking at Israel. It has a heightened spirituality.”

• “Living here gives me the opportu nity to do favors for fellow Jews. The Fe dEx guy who won’t come out of his truck when it’s raining. I’ll run out to him with something to drink.”

• “I love feeling that I am at home and not a member of a tolerated minority.”

• “I love that I can be anywhere in the country and be able to go into almost any grocery store and everything is kosher.”

• “I don’t feel defensive when I read things anti Israeli in the foreign press.”

• “Better to be part of the majority than not.”

• “I love the constant roller coaster ride in politics, security and co existence. ”

• “Family and friends from all over the world come to visit you.”

• “The proximity to Europe.”

• “It’s home.”

• “I love the fact I can keep Shabbos and holidays without it being awkward, because mostly everyone is keeping or recognizing them.”

• “When new Olim are learning He brew, the first word they learn really quick is ‘mah, mah.’”

• “To constantly experience the knowledge that wherever we are in the country we are walking on holy ground.”

• “That despite the political divide Is raeli society functions, for the most part, respectfully and congenially.”

• “Despite its growing affluence, life is easier than in America.”

• “I‘m comfortable, and I love being home.”

• “Being in the land my ancestors dreamed of for 2,000 years.”

• “Being part of Jewish history in the making.”

• “The chag sameach signs on the buses.”

• “The energy, madness, frustration and inspiration I experience daily.”

• “Bringing my family back to be an active part of an amazing Jewish histori cal adventure.”

• And then there’s this: one friend told me that within a three minute period he experienced the many faces of Israel. He was on the beach when the lifeguards left at the end of the day. He noticed that, except for a large group of elderly Russian men and women, most of the Israelis left the beach when the lifeguards finished work at the end of the day.

He decided to take a walk south to wards the mechitza, the area designated for religious bathers. Behind it, he dis covered a large group of Chareidi men dressed totally in black from head to toe, listening to a shiur by their rav who was standing before them lecturing from a shtender.

As he was talking, a unit of soldiers do ing a stretcher march walked into view, trudging along the sand in formation.

All this occurred within a few meters and all within moments.

Only one respondent had a negative take on her almost-30 years here. She caught me off-guard when she wrote, “If I had the chance, I’d leave.” She is an anomaly among the dozens I contacted.

There were also more than a few who didn’t answer me. One reply to my persistence was curt; she was too busy. Another friend completely ignored my request.

What I did find interesting was the fact that so many of my friends took a while to respond. When I asked them why, they admitted they were not accustomed to having to respond to such a question. There tended to be a need to think about the question.

Taken together, these responses do not help us understand Israel any better. They prove nothing statistically. And yet they do say something about the nature of those who have made Israel home. One can detect an undercurrent of mild sur prise, of delight and honor in being Israeli citizens.

No, we were never offered a rose gar den, but one thing is certain: many of us have planted our own flower beds and still revel in having made the choice when we were young to leave family and friends behind and carve out a life for ourselves here.

If given the chance, I’m sure all of them would try to convince you to make Aliyah. I certainly would.

So what are you waiting for?

Rafi Sackville, formerly of Cedarhurst, teaches in Ort Maalot in Western Galil.

By Rabbi Zvi Teichman

With the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Israel, the holy soil of our land has once again been stained with innocent and pure blood. Our enemy’s insatiable thirst for our blood has ignited an explosion of hatred and a frenzy of wanton murder.

Yet from the moment Noach and his family stepped off the ark the re ality of man’s capacity for bloodshed is addressed.

After permitting humanity to now

consume animal life the Torah asserts:

However, your blood which be longs to your souls I will demand, of every beast I will demand it; and of man, of every man for that of his brother I will demand the soul of man. (Bereishis 9, 5)

The simple reading of this verse seems to be implying that G-d will personally hold accountable every ‘beast’ who snatches a person’s life, every ‘man’ who murders his fellow human, and even a ‘brother’ who ex

tinguishes his siblings life force.

If this is so then the order in the verse seems odd. Shouldn’t G-d first establish that He will attend to broth ers who kill each other? Then the To rah should have gone on to assert that any man and even the non-free-willed beast will be taken to task for violat ing man’s right to live.

The early commentaries are also perplexed by the implication that an imals are ‘guilty’ for following their reflexive instinct to kill.

Although I have scoured the texts and have not found a clear source, I would like to suggest the following approach.

The Torah concludes that whoever sheds the blood of man shall have his blood shed ‘for in the image of G-d He made man’.

Is that the sole reason for forbid ding murder? Isn’t man’s entitlement to live sufficient to hold his fellow man responsible for taking that inher

ent right away?

The actual term for ‘image of G-d’ is צֶלֶם, tzelem. This is rooted in the word צל, shade or shadow. Being cre ated in the ‘shadow’ of G-d means that just as a shadow is an outlined repre sentation of the item that it is cast off of, so too are we, in a manner, a replica of G-d’s presence. The way we act and emulate His ways in our interactions in this world is a projection, albeit feint, of His greatness. Conversely, we are endowed with the power to have G-d, so to speak, act in the capacity as our ‘shadow’, insofar as a result of our healthy choices and noble deeds, G-d directs proportionately His cornuco pia of blessing from on high unto this earth.

So perhaps what the Torah is in forming us is not simply that G-d will take to task those who shed blood, but rather that all bloodshed on earth is a byproduct of Man’s deficient projec tion of that inherent greatness.

The murderous beast and man can only operate in an environment that is void of His presence embodied within

man. Precisely because we were creat ed with this power to ‘shadow’, in the absence of our illuminating the world it allows it to become darkened by the baser instincts of man.

The Torah therefore correctly be gins to assert the most obvious, that nature and the animal kingdom’s reac tion are determined by our actions. It then goes on to assert that even freewilled creatures perverse actions can only be cultivated and grow in a world bereft of His presence.

Perhaps the final emphasis on ‘ev ery man for that of his brother’ is G-d telling his beloved children that it is ultimately incumbent upon them to set the standard that will ultimately influ ence an entire world.

G-d’s ‘demand’ in the verse, is His assertion that He will ultimately hold us liable for animals and man turning against man for at the end of day it is how ‘brother treats brother’ that sets the stage for the possibility of murder in the world. The ripple effect of our actions can indeed be fatal.

This is not to exonerate those de mons who have cast off their cloak of humanity for the beastly blood thirst of the jungle, but it does certainly place a heightened level of sensitivity, empathy and devotion to one another in these most difficult days.

In a similar vein, the Gaon and Tzaddik, HaRav Mordechai Yehuda Lubart, a great scholar who was one of the illustrious students of Rav Meir Shapiro in Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin prior to World War II, who escaped the fires of Europe and survived the war years in Shanghai, China, studying with great diligence in the most diffi cult of circumstances, and eventually settling in New York where he was a renowned teacher of Torah and a cel ebrated Sofer, penned the following sentiments evidently during those try ing times:

The Torah alludes to the respon sibility placed on every Jew towards his fellow man and brother who are in danger, and certainly when large numbers of our people are exposed to danger and extinction, may G-d save us, at a time when the enemies of Is rael are threatening Jewish commu nities with killings and destruction, it is incumbent on every individual in communities that are not suffering to carry the burden of responsibility for their brothers who find themselves under venomous attack, it must pene trate their hearts and they must bear the pain of their brothers suffering whose blood is being spilled like wa ter, for only then, will they not rest for a moment spending days and nights arousing the world to the plight, doing whatever they can, and even beyond, to save them. It goes without saying that in these difficult times it is impos sible to go about their daily lives nor mally, they must don sack and ash over the plight of their brethren.

To this the verse alludes when it states that, ‘your blood which be longs to your souls I will demand’, the blood of the communities of Israel which is being spilled like blood, ‘of every beast I will demand it, and of , if he is man or a beast in hu man form, as we have seen, much to our sorrow, in our generation of the frightful Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis, may their name be erased, who exhibited behavior more cruel then the most violent animals of prey.

And the verse concludes, ‘of ev ery man for that of his brother I will demand the soul of man’, implying also from our brethren, the Children of Israel, we must seek and determine if they have fulfilled the responsibility placed on them, and they can’t justify their inaction by claiming they were helpless and unable, for every Jew has unlimited spiritual strengths, and these powers can bring to fruition their goals, when their brethren are facing annihilation, G-d forbid, either through efforts of rescue or at the very least by sharing in their pain, to stop for a moment during one’s daily rou tine to contemplate and join in their suffering.

And this is what the following verse gives as the reason for all of the above, ‘for in the image of G-d He made man’, for after all, the image of G-d that man was made in is invested with vast supernal abilities, and is there fore held accountable for the blood of his brother that was spilled.

We are living in frightening times. We must do whatever we can to sup port any effort that serves to protect our brothers and sisters in Israel, Jew ish communities in Ukraine, and else where. We must share in their pain and anxiety. We must support one another in whatever way we can. It is in these actions that the restoral of G-d’s pres ence to the world is contingent on.

be glad and the earth

first letters of the four words in this sentiment spell out ‘The Name’ of G-d, ה-ו-ה-י, and the last letters ומלצ, in His image. We can only deserve the joy of His presence if we live ‘in His image’!

we be worthy in the merit of enhancing ‘His image’ by elevat ing our consciousness and actions, emulating G-d’s ways in all that we do, that G-d will quickly send us the Moshiach, so we may rejoice once again in the return of the Divine Pres ence to the Temple, this time for all of eternity.

You may reach the author at: Ravzt@ohelmoshebaltimore.com

Parenting Pearls

Prioritizing Your Home Over Your Phone

By Sara Rayvych, MSEd

When I was a kallah, the mes sage we were often told was “get off the phone when your husband comes in.” In those days, the phone was really just a phone, but it was still a potential distraction from those closest to us. Ignoring your spouse to speak to a friend was not properly pri oritizing this special relationship.

Most phones today are cordless. I don’t know if the modern-day child realizes that phones ever had a cord in the first place. A short cord meant you were standing close to the wall, while a long one meant your siblings could jump rope over it as they passed.

Today, our phones are a home office where you can communicate simultane ously with everybody and nobody. Rath er than competing for attention with our other family members, our children are finding social media, news sites, text messages, emails and anything and everything taking away our atten tion. We’ve gone from “just one minute sweetie, I’m speaking to Bubby” to “just one minute, I’m checking Instagram.”

Technology has brought much good along with the challenges. I am not de bating the pros and cons of any given device. I just want to take a few para graphs to focus on two points about the use of technology and parenting: keep ing our children prioritized and the ex ample we’re setting.

Throughout this article the assump tion is that every website, contact, and text is 100% kosher. I will not be discuss ing the inherent dangers of inappropri ate content. Such a complex topic is be yond the scope of this article. There are many organizations and professionals available for those finding themselves experiencing difficulties in this area. I urge all those who need assistance in this to overcome any embarrassment or shame and get the appropriate help.

I am not here to tell our chashuve readers how they should or shouldn’t use their devices, nor how much time is appropriate for electronics on any given day. This is up to each person to deter mine for themselves, and it would be completely inappropriate for me to even suggest I know best – what is necessary for one person may be unnecessary for others.

The Challenge

I recently read a Jewish weekly publication that challenged a group of women to read a particular book on the science behind the addictiveness of cell phones along with a systematic program to drastically reduce their us age. I think the book is called How To Break Up With Your Phone by Cather ine Price; unfortunately, I don’t know for sure since I eventually threw out the article and never read the book. The ar ticle consisted of these women sharing

their experiences and thoughts after this challenge.

It was interesting to read the wom en’s responses in this article. These were frum women who were clearly focused on their family and avodas Hashem yet they still were finding themselves exces sively drawn to their cellphones. They described many of the techniques they used to successfully bring down their screen time usage, all while keeping their phone as a functional device.

I’ll give just a few of the many ex amples. What I found helpful was that it wasn’t just “throw it out” or “drop everything.” Some women felt they still needed social media for business purposes. With this in mind, they cre ated set times they used it or set other parameters to keep it controlled. Many charged it away from their sleeping ar eas, turned off alerts or kept it on silent. Checking their time usage gave them a clear indication of how they were doing.

Many of us have taken the time to contemplate the role modern-day tech nology plays in our lives. I’ve long debat ed back and forth over bringing up this topic in an article but have been very hesitant. Seeing the benefits these wom en and I have experienced from reining in the technology in our lives, I finally decided to humbly begin just a small portion of the discussion that is at the forefront of our generation’s challenges.

Feeling Special

As adults and parents, there are so many things we need to do each day, most of which our children fail to ap preciate. On any given day, our “to-do list” may feel more like a “wish list.” Particularly with the yomim tovim in our rearview mirror, many of those rou tine tasks had to be put aside to prepare for the Days of Awe; now we are playing catch-up.

Our children, despite our many re quired roles and tasks, still want to feel like the center of our universe. Even if those many items on our to-do list re volve around them, our little ones often fail to realize that we’re only doing those things for them. We pay the mortgage to have a house to raise them, tuition is for their education, healthcare for their many pediatric visits, and the grocery bill is so high because they’re continu ously hungry.

With the many obligations we have it’s crucial that our children still feel they’re important to us and central to our day. We need to carefully priori tize our time. It’s hard enough to make a child feel special as we go about our daily day and those necessary tasks; it’s even harder to accomplish this goal if our children are fighting for our atten tion with a tiny screen playing a funny video, frequent text messages, or social media.

Attention Competition

It’s a fallacy to think we can divide our attention limitlessly. While the reality is that we often have to multitask, there’s a clear difference between our child talking to us as we stir the pot as opposed to when we’re staring at a screen while trying to type a coherent message. (Sadly, text messaging has de stroyed spelling, grammar, and punctu ation, but that’s another topic.)

Many of the jobs we do simultane ously require minimal focus, and our loved ones don’t feel it detracts from our ability to concentrate on them. In contrast, using our phones or tablets creates a competition between our child and an electronic screen. How sad for a child to feel their parents find the device more interesting than their child.

There are definitely times that we need the information on the screen, and these items can be very useful. There is incredible convenience in doing your banking, finding a recipe, or being able to make a phone call from wherever you are. Many of our readers may remember the days before cellphones when you al ways kept a quarter in your pocket and had to search for a pay phone – some thing our children can’t even fathom.

We just need to keep our priorities pri oritized and our children feeling like the priceless gems they are.

Living By Example

Our children are growing up in a world very different from ours when we were young. They’ve never experienced a time without the constant bombard ment of high-tech. It’s a tremendous

ample we expect from them.

If we prioritize our loved ones over the phone, hopefully they will, too. We want them to have healthy relation ships, and too many of our youth are relying on electronic relationships over in-person ones.

We want our children to use their time wisely. We want them to do their schoolwork, learn Torah and focus on

crossing streets on the red while typing, unaware of the passing vehicles. At a simcha, I saw the family members of the baalei simcha all typing on their phones and ignoring each other. The endless list of examples are all an indication that perhaps we’re not setting the example we’d like our children to follow.

Each individual, knowing their own needs, can take the time to assess what role technology should play in their lives. Our children’s needs and the ex ample we are setting for them should be among the criteria we take into con sideration. As we wade through the new terrain technology presents us, we can pave a path for the next generation to follow. May Hashem help us in our goals.

And if you text me but I don’t see it right away, please be understanding; I’m trying to follow my own advice.

challenge for us to learn how to balance our time and avoid the addiction (yes, many professionals acknowledge the addictive properties) of these devices while maintaining their usefulness. It’s nearly impossible for our children to do so. We can teach them by living the ex

their inner self – sports, hobbies and arts are all fun, too. Do we want them to spend their day with their eyes glued to a small screen? We can only expect our children to enjoy themselves sans tech nology if we set that example ourselves.

Sadly, I’ve seen too many 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 Rayvych Homeschool@gmail.com.

Reb

Moshe

Meir

Shua

Levi

Yeshai

Shmuel

Noah

Ozzie

Nechama

There’s a clear difference between our child talking to us as we stir the pot as opposed to when we’re staring at a screen while trying to type a coherent message.

Inthe classic movie Groundhog Day, Phil Con nors gets stuck in a time loop where he keeps waking up to repeat the same day again and again. In Israel, it seems Election Day is becom ing the national equivalent of that; Israelis will wake up this Tuesday to vote for the Knesset for the fifth time since 2019. To put that into perspective, five presidential elections ago, Americans were choosing between George Bush and John Kerry and the current high school seniors were being born. Israel’s political sys tem has confused outsiders for many years, but even by Israel’s standards, what is happening is unprecedented.

To understand the 2022 election, we have to under stand how we got here and answer some big picture, systemic questions: Why are we having elections again? What is going wrong in Israel’s political system? Is there any chance that this election will change things?

Why Can’t Israeli Elections

Be More Like the U.S.?

To begin understanding what is going on in Israel, it is helpful to compare elections in Israel to elections in the U.S.

In America, elections are straightforward. There are two main parties, Republicans and Democrats. There are elections at fixed, predictable times. We go and vote, someone wins, and then we repeat it in a few years’ time. So why isn’t Israel’s system like this?

Actually, on paper, Israel’s system should be simpler and require fewer elections than in the U.S. In the United States, there are separate elections for the legislature –the Senate and Congress who make the laws – and the executive, the president who runs the country. In 2022, Americans are voting for senators and congressman, and in 2024, Americans will vote in a different election for the President.

Is Israel Stuck?

A Look into the Era of Endless Elections

By Aron White

In Israel, there is a parliament rather than a presi dent, so things work differently. Israelis only vote for the legislature, the Knesset, and whichever party wins that election also gets to form the government. If Israel would vote, and the Likud party would win 65 out of the 120 Knesset seats, the Likud party would control the legis lature, the Knesset, and would get to form the next gov ernment, picking who will be the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and all other government positions. Israel has just one election, and whoever wins the vote for the Knes set automatically gets to make the government as well.

In theory, this is simple, but in practice it has always been more complicated. The reason for this is actually remarkable; in 74 years of history and 24 elections, no party in Israeli history has ever won a majority of seats in the Knesset. From the very first election, there have always been lots of parties running in Israel, rather than just a two-party system, and with so many parties run ning, no one is able to get an absolutely majority of over 60 seats. Ben Gurion’s Mapai party never won more than 50 seats, and the highest Bibi Netanyahu has won leading the Likud party is 36 seats. The closest anyone ever got to a majority was the Maarach lead by Golda Meir who won 56 seats in 1969.

Why is it like this? Why are there usually over ten parties represented in the Knesset, rather than just the two in the U.S. Senate and Congress?

There is a sociological answer to this question: two Jews, three opinions. Israel has so many different group ings of people – right-wing and left-wing, Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, Russian and Ethiopian, Dati Leumi and Chareidi – that all of these groups would be hard to represent in just two par ties. However, while this is true, it is not sufficient as a complete explanation. The United States is a country of hundreds of millions of people, with different ethnicities,

religions, races, political leanings and more, yet still only has two parties.

The deeper reason for why Israel has multiple parties is because of how voting works in each country. In the U.S., each election is actually 50 mini elections as each state votes separately. Let’s suppose I created a new po litical party, and won 10% of the vote across America, winning 10% in every single state. I would have amassed millions of votes but get absolutely nothing from it – I would have lost in every state, so I would end up with no senators, congressmen or electoral college votes. When there is a system like this, which is known as First Past the Post, it usually leads to a two-party system, as it’s very hard for a small party to break in and get mean ingful results.

In Israel, when there is an election, there is one elec tion for the whole country. If my party would win 10% of the vote, it would win 10% of the seats in the Knesset. When there is a system like Israel’s, which is known as Proportional Representation, it makes it easier for small parties to compete, leading to multiple parties winning seats. (In political science, this effect of voting systems on the number of parties is called Duverger’s Law.) Isra el is a country of almost 10 million people, and you just need 140,000 votes or so in order to get into the Knes set, making it much easier for small and new parties to reach the Knesset. Since 1948, countless small parties have formed, grown, shrunk, and disappeared, and with very low barriers to entry, this process will continue. Is raelis choose between numerous parties that get into the Knesset, and with the pie split between so many players, it is no wonder that no party has ever managed to win a majority of the seats.

When No One Wins

So what happens when no party wins 61 seats in the

Knesset? If the largest party only wins 35 seats, who becomes prime minister and forms the government?

In order to form a government, a group of parties have to join together to form a coalition – this is a group of different political parties from the Knesset who have a combination of a majority of seats who sign agreements to form a government together.

To take an example from a few years ago: In the 2015 Israeli election, ten parties won seats in the Knesset. Because Likud led by Bibi Netanyahu had the most seats with 30, President Ruvi Rivlin tasked Bibi Netanyahu with trying to form a coalition. He negotiated with dif ferent parties and came up with the following coalition: Likud joined with Kulanu (a party focused mainly on economics), Jewish Home (Religious Zionists), United Torah Judaism (Ashkenazi Charedim) and Shas (Sep hardi Charedim) to form a coalition. Likud had 30 seats in Knesset, Kulanu had 10, Jewish Home 8, Shas had 7, and United Torah Judaism 6, so in total the coalition had 61 seats, a majority of the 120 in Knesset, allowing them to form a government together. The government positions were split up between these parties as part of the coalition agreements – Bibi Netanyahu of Likud was the Prime Minister, Aryeh Deri of Shas was the Minister for the Economy, Ayelet Shaked of Bayit Yehudi was the Justice Minister, etc. Naturally, the process of building a coalition takes a while, as all the parties want to feel they are getting their fair share. The above coalition in 2015 took around two months to form, but ultimately the agreements were signed, the government was con firmed by the Knesset, and the country moved on.

This is the basic dynamic of how a government is formed in Israel – no one wins the election outright and parties have to negotiate who will join together to form a coalition government. This system is complicated, it looks very different from the system in America, but ultimately it has worked for Israel – until 2019.

2019: From Complicated to Dysfunctional

In April of 2019, Israel went to elections for the 21st time. After the results came in, the parties began the usual cycle of trying to join together to form a coalition but were unsuccessful; there was no grouping of parties who could agree to join together to be a coalition. Be cause of this, new elections were called to try again, but the same thing happened – the parties after the elec tion couldn’t agree to form a coalition. Elections were called for a third time, and in May 2020 a weak coali tion formed led by Bibi Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, but it only lasted six months. Because they couldn’t pass a budget, new elections were called, Israel’s fourth in two years, and again these did not seem to lead to a coalition. However, a government was formed, but in the most surprising of ways: Naftali Bennett joined with Yair Lapid’s coalition of the center, left and Arabs, even though he had explicitly told voters he wouldn’t do that. He had “crossed the aisle,” a right-wing party joining with the center and left, in a move he claimed was to save Israel from the endless cycle of elections.

The Bennett government lasted for a year, but it gradually started to weaken, with members of Bennett’s own party jumping ship and refusing to vote in line with the coalition. As the situation became untenable, new elections were called, and so on Tuesday Israel will vote

for the fifth election in this never-ending chapter.

Why is it that until 2019, the coalition system, even if it was messy, still worked, but since 2019 it hasn’t seemed to produce a stable government? There are two main causes for this.

Firstly, the great weakness of Israel’s system is that nothing ensures that a coalition will be able to be formed. If a party wins a majority, then it automatically makes a government itself. Once you are dealing with

2009, this coalition has been his core support. Howev er, this right-wing coalition split in 2019 when Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, abruptly left the coalition. At first, he left because he felt Netanyahu was too weak in his response to Hamas, he then wouldn’t join the coalition because he wouldn’t compromise with chareidim about army service for yeshiva students, and now he says he won’t join any government led by Net anyahu, accusing Bibi of putting his own interest above that of the country. Other right-wing figures such as Gideon Saar also joined this contention of being un willing to join with Netanyahu because Netanyahu is on trial. And so, the right-wing camp has essentially split into two parts that wouldn’t work with each other, crushing the right-wing coalition that had existed. This issue still exists today –Leiberman, Saar, and other right-wing figures won’t sit in a government led by Netanyahu. Along with the religious, social, and ethnic divides that already split the parties, now there is the question of “Yes Bibi” or “No Bibi.” This created more splits, making it harder for a coalition of parties to form a government.

multiple parties having to work together, there is noth ing that ensures there will be enough parties willing to work together to form a government. Theoretically, if every party was unwilling to negotiate anything, and refused on principle to work with any party that was different than itself, then Israel would be stuck from the get-go. This is an extreme scenario that doesn’t happen, but it serves to illustrate the weakness – Israel relies on enough parties making enough compromises with each other to be able to form a majority and a government. Each party has their principles, items they are willing to negotiate on, and features that are red lines it won’t cross. If too many parties have too many red lines, then the system can simply become dysfunctional.

Over the past few decades, a coalition formed be tween secular right-wing parties and the religious parties that came to be seen as a natural partnership. Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas, Mafdal/Bayit Yehudi and United Torah Judaism all agreed to work together, and this became a natural coalition that often had a major ity. This camp has come to be known by a number of names in Israel like the right-wing bloc, the nationalist camp, or the believing camp, based on the fact that most of its voters are either religious or traditional. From when Bibi Netanyahu came back as Prime Minister in

Another factor that has caused the instability was re cently noted by Haviv Rettig Gur of the Times of Israel. Israel made a change to its voting system in 2014 that has possibly had unintended consequences. There is a minimum threshold of votes a party needs to receive to get into the Knesset, a rule that many countries around the world have. This basically discourages small parties from running. If you didn’t have this, you could theoret ically have loads of tiny parties, each with one seat in the Knesset which just becomes impossible to manage. Until 2014, a party had to get 2% of the vote to get into the Knesset, but in 2014, this threshold was raised to 3.25%. In the election in March 2019, Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked led a party called HaYamin HeCha dash who received...3.24% of the votes, 1,500 votes un der the threshold. If they had gotten 1,500 more votes, they would have passed the threshold to enter Knesset, would have had about four seats, and Netanyahu would have had a coalition and formed a government. Because they just missed the threshold, Israel had to go to an other election, and we are where we are today. Raising the threshold was meant to give Israel more stability, but it has actually contributed to more electoral chaos.

What Will Happen Next Week?

On Tuesday, Israeli voters will choose their parties, after which the big question will be: can a coalition be formed? There are a few possible coalitions that theo

If too many parties have too many red lines, then the system can simply become dysfunctional.

retically could form: a right-wing coalition, a left-wing coalition, or something in the middle.

1. A right-wing government - The Likud, Re ligious Zionist, Shas, and United Torah Judaism could theoretically get 61 seats and form a coalition together. Whether they will get this number will come down to fine margins – at the moment, some polls say they will get 59 seats, some say 61, so it is very close, but there certainly is a realistic possibility of them forming a coalition.

Two things could help the right-wing coalition bounce over the threshold of 61. If the Bayit Yehudi party, an other Religious Zionist party led by Ayelet Shaked, could get into the Knesset with four seats, they could join this coalition, helping it reach 61 seats. The issue there is that Bayit Yehudi is currently polling at 1.9% of the vote at the time of this writing and would need to pass the threshold of 3.25% in order to get into the Knesset.

Another possibility that could help the right-wing coalition is if one or more of the left parties don’t pass the threshold. In some polls, no less than four left-wing parties are above the threshold but are very close to the margins. If one or two of Labor, Meretz, Ra’am or Cha dash-Ta’al don’t pass the threshold, then that will trans late into more seats for the other parties, which could help the right-wing parties to reach the desired 61 seats.

2. A left-wing government - Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, Benny Gantz’s Machane Mamlachti, Labor, Meretz, and the Arab parties could theoretically get over 61 seats and form a government, but this seems unlikely. At the moment, they are polling at around 56 seats, and even if they would get 61 seats, it is not clear whether the Arab parties would be invited into this coalition. Ra’am, one of the Arab parties, was in the most recent coalition so it could be invited back, but Chadash-Ta’al are so extreme that it is hard to imagine a government with them –some of their Members of Knesset openly celebrate Pal estinian murderers, support BDS, and celebrate violence against Israeli Jews.

3. Something in the middle – If, once again, there is no right-wing or left-wing coalition formed, something unexpected could happen to form some hy brid government. This is unlikely but is what happened last time – Naftali Bennett decided to break his campaign promises and joined a Lapid-led coalition in order to form a government. For this to happen, someone would have

to cross one of their red lines. Would Bibi go back on his word and join a gov ernment with Benny Gantz? Could Shas or UTJ decide that they will join with the left-wing par ties to become part of their coalition?

Could Yisrael Beit einu led by Avigdor Lieberman revoke their promises and join a coalition with all the Arab parties or the chareidim?

Another pos

sible route to a coalition would be if Bibi Netanyahu stepped down as the leader of Likud. Avigdor Lieberman, and even potentially some center and left-wing parties, might join in a coalition with Likud, but not if it is led by Bibi. Were Bibi to step aside, there could be a coali tion; however, the Likud voters are voting for Bibi and giving him significant support, and since he claims he is innocent in his trial, he will see stepping down as a capitulation to those who think he is guilty, so is unlikely to do so. Nonetheless, there are reports that some figures even within his own party would want this to happen so the country can move forward.

ly being in election cycles is tiring and frustrating for the country, and the deadlock has delayed important projects, even ones that have a complete consensus. A great example is the Tel Aviv Metro, one of the biggest infrastructure projects Israel has ever undertaken. Over 4 million people live in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area, and the area is the economic heart of Israel. Even though the first light rail lines will (hopefully!) open next year, in the long-term that won’t be enough, and the Tel Aviv region needs a metro system. The planning for this was started by the Likud party in 2015, and plans have been drawn up, budgets have been proposed, and architects assigned. For such a massive project (the current cost is $50 billion), a law needs to be passed through the Knes set to be able to properly regulate numerous aspects of this complex project. Before the Knesset disbanded in May, the Bennett-Lapid government tried to get this law passed in the Knesset, but the Likud wouldn’t vote for it as it would give Lapid and Bennett political points for moving the metro forward – even though the Likud are the ones who initially started this process! There is no debate between right and left, Jew and Arab, religious and secular about the need for the metro system, but the only reason it hasn’t moved forward is the political deadlock.

Another infrastructure project Israel really needs is a new airport. Ben Gurion has over 20 million passengers passing through a year and is reaching full capacity. This has been discussed in Israel for years, and one of the strongest candidates is an airfield near Haifa called Ra mat David. Mysteriously, a few weeks ago, Benny Gantz reversed the Ministry of Defense position on this and vetoed that location. One of the most plausible expla nations for this is that the residents of the Emek Yizrael area near Ramat David are potential voters for Gantz, and they are against the airport plans; Gantz didn’t want to approve something that residents wouldn’t like a few months before the election. The wait for Israel’s new air port will go on for months and years more, possibly just because of local party interests in yet another election.

Where is Israel Headed?

One good thing about Israel’s elections is that they give a very accurate view of what Israelis are thinking and feeling. Even small groups can be represented by their own party, there are very few wasted votes, so what happens in the Knesset is a pretty good reflection of Is raeli society. If the Knesset is deadlocked between all the different parties, it represents that Israeli society is caught between these different groups, all wrestling for power and influence, but none able to fully achieve that.

All of the above are unlikely scenarios, but few peo ple predicted that after the last election Bennett would join the center and left-wing to form a coalition. At a time of political chaos, never say never.

If the last five elections have taught us anything, it’s that we are in unchartered territory, so nothing can be ruled out.

What is the Impact of the Instability?

Israeli politics has become more unstable since 2019, and it is unclear whether this latest election will do anything to help stem the chaos. The biggest losers of this situation are actually the Israeli public. Constant

Taking a step back and looking at Israel’s history, the country has shifted from being dominated by a secu lar-socialist majority, to one in which there are lots of interest groups, none of whom are able to dominate and govern the overall tone of the country. No party is getting much more than a quarter of the seats in the Knesset.

What will this mean for the future of Israel as it pre pares to celebrate its 75th anniversary? Will it be some fine margin that swings the balance of political power, or will a new group or political movement form that will be able to change the deadlock? Perhaps on Tuesday we will get some answers, or perhaps we will have to continue to work towards more tenable, stable solutions.

As told to Rebbetzin Sara Gross

My daughter Leah was in high school and had a great group of friends. They were frum and fun, and allaround wonderful girls. Each girl had a flip phone and texting was the norm for them. I noticed that Leah was texting a lot. She was constantly in touch with her friends, texting away.

One of Leah’s high school teachers approached her one day and brought up Leah’s texting. She was close to her and felt that the texting was getting out of hand. The teacher challenged Leah to try removing texting from her phone.

Leah came home feeling overwhelmed. She respected this teacher and wanted to take her advice, but she couldn’t imagine doing it. I un derstood how Leah felt. I was always texting too. It was a big part of my life. Without thinking it through, I blurted out, “If you get rid of texting, I will do it with you.”

My daughter was shocked. “You would really get rid of texting, Ma? How?”

I gulped, thinking about what it would really entail. Then I took a deep breath and said, “Yes, I would get rid of tex ting if you did it.” My daughter smiled at me and said she would do it then. The first few days (or weeks!) were rough, but I stayed strong. After some time, I slowly sur prised myself and even found that I was enjoying not texting. It’s true, it took me more time to speak to people rather than quickly texting them, time I truly didn’t believe I had in my hectic day, but it was well worth it.

When Leah returned from seminary, she decided she wanted to start texting again, but with control.

I was fine with that, but when I went to bed that night, I tossed and turned, thinking how I didn’t want to start texting again. Then I realized that just

because she was, I did not have to. The rest is history. I have not texted in years and do not miss it at all. My re lationships are stronger, and I feel that communicating verbally or in person is better for my life.

Did You Know?

Did you know that there are a lot of options for someone who doesn’t have a smartphone to get information they need? If you need directions and don’t have a GPS, you can text your address and destination to WAZE and for a very minimal cost a list of directions is texted back to you. The

number is 732-994-6947. If you need to know when sundown is where you are, you can text for Zmanim at 516-261-6262 with the city, zip or nearest airport, and they will text you the zman.

Additionally, there is a free ser vice to help people utilize the services on the internet without going on by themselves. You can call a hotline and somebody will do whatever you need. The number is 1877-OUT-WORQ.

To share a tech triumph or story of chizuk to inspire others, please email Techtriumphs@tagbaltimore.org or call 410-449-1824 and choose option 5.

This is a service of TAG Baltimore. TAG Baltimore is an organization that provides technology awareness, education, and support. They can be reached at 410-449-1824 or help@ tagbaltimore.org.

Better Business Elon Musk: A Unique Visionary

By Chaim Homnick MA MBA

Elon Musk is the world’s wealthiest man and one of its most re markable. He founded and owns Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Com pany and Neuralink and is on the cusp of closing a $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter, the platform that he also regularly goes viral on.

Elon Musk provides a fascinating case study of entrepreneur ialism, innovation, and persistence. But he is also a fun-loving, meme-posting, singular thinker with diehard fans and vocal crit ics. Below is an outline of the polarizing genius who has changed the course of history in numerous ways while accumulating a net worth of approximately $200 billion.

His Origin Story

Elon Musk was born in South Afri ca in 1971. As a child, he read for hours each day, and he even wrote the code for a computer game when he was just 12 years old.

While in college, he saw the potential of the nascent technology called the in ternet, so he dropped out of his Stanford doctoral program in physics to focus on his first company, Zip2. He sold it, pock eting $22 million, and then reinvested most of those proceeds into X.com, his attempt to establish an online bank. Online banking was complicated and wasn’t working as he hoped, but the ability to send payments virtually via the internet was a huge hit with inves tors and users alike. X.com merged with Peter Thiel’s PayPal, with Musk becom ing the largest shareholder. He earned about $250 million in the $1.5 billion sale of PayPal to eBay in 2003.

Musk then threw those profits into launching SpaceX and co-founding Tesla.

Tesla

After making two fortunes in the early days of the internet, Musk turned his attention to the goal of creating a

sustainable electric vehicle. Tesla’s web site states that the company “was found ed in 2003 by a group of engineers in Silicon Valley who wanted to prove that electric cars could be better than gas oline-powered cars.” GM had made an electric vehicle in the early 2000s but

the ultimate vehicle in terms of driving experience, safety, and fun. Tesla and Ford are the only American car com panies that have never gone bankrupt, although Musk admits that Tesla came close several times. As Musk explains, “It is easy to design an EV or even to

ica are Teslas. In fact, the demand for Teslas is so high that there is a 6 month wait list for some models, and as a result used Teslas are currently selling for as much as new Teslas.

SpaceX

Musk felt strongly that mankind should be expending more efforts at space exploration and reaching Mars, so he did something about it.

He first traveled to Russia in 2001 to meet with government officials and to attempt to purchase two or three in tercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that he could use as rockets. When he found their price too steep, he decided that he could build them for less money.

recalled them all in 2003 and destroyed them. Musk felt compelled to pursue an EV company, even if it was likely to fail and highly unlikely to ever earn enough money to justify his investment.

From the beginning, Tesla was ob sessed with making a car that would be

make a prototype. The challenge is manufacturing it at scale.”

Ultimately, Tesla accomplished that and more. It is now the EV leader by a huge margin, and its gigafactories are an incredible testament to human in genuity. 80% of all EVs sold in Amer

SpaceX struggled early on, but its persistence paid off. Now, SpaceX is making better rockets than anyone else, that can carry a bigger load, for far less than it would cost NASA or another company. SpaceX is also making rock ets that can be reused, something others had considered impossible.

His Unique Intelligence Musk thinks differently than the av erage human. As a result, he has man

When Tesla was on the brink as it strove to go from a compelling concept to a manufacturing juggernaut, Musk spent three years sleeping in his own Tesla factory.

aged to build the world’s best EV, to construct rockets for a tenth of the cost of NASA, and to become the wealthiest man on the planet.

His other companies also demon strate his willingness to think outside of the box. The Boring Company seeks to reinvent transportation with the Hy perloop and with a network of under ground tunnels for cars. (Musk asserts that skyscrapers are three-dimensional while city streets are two-dimensional, thus leading to an impossible traffic congestion. Flying cars are impracti cal. But Musk contends that a network of car tunnels can rectify that problem and ameliorate the brutal urban traffic ubiquitous in LA or NYC.)

Meanwhile, Neuralink is a gadget that Musk hopes will one day connect human brains to computers. This would likely first be used to aid stroke victims and other people who cannot commu nicate verbally. Long-term, it may have wider applications that today seem en tirely out of a science fiction novel.

Musk thinks and strategizes differ ently than most people and his prod ucts prove it. EVs used to be tiny cars with inefficient range and a dangerous propensity to be crushed in case of a

collision (picture a tiny Prius). From day one, Tesla was obsessed with safe ty, quality, and experience. To this day, a Chevy Bolt loses 20-50% of its range in cold weather, while a Tesla is near ly unaffected. Last year, Biden praised Chevy for their EV efforts. In 2021, they delivered a total of 26 EV cars. Tesla de livered over 1 million cars.

Tesla also has no dealerships and spends zero on advertising. Musk be lieves that a company’s mission, and its entire raison d’etre, is to provide the best product it can, and every resource should be expended on that pursuit alone. You won’t see a Tesla Super Bowl ad, because every available dollar is spent making better cars and a better company.

Tesla is now a car company, a mer chandise brand, an insurance company, a manufacturer, a battery company, the number one solar panel company, and so much more. Other car companies design cars and source supplies. They simply don’t compare to what Musk has built and continues to build with Tesla.

When it comes to both creating EVs and building rockets, Elon Musk didn’t accept the consensus opinions on what something should cost or how it should

ELON MUSK FUN FACTS

- This year, the Tesla Model Y will surpass the Toyota Corolla to become the number one car model in annual sales (over 1 million model Y’s sold annually).

- The Tesla Model Y is the safest car ever created, with the highest safety rating scores on the Euro NCAP.

- The Tesla Model 3 was supposed to be the Model E, but Ford sued to block the name, claiming it sounded too much like the famed Model T. So Musk went with the name “Model 3.”

- The Boring Company sold out of 10,000 flamethrowers they made as a gag. Several states do not allow flamethrowers to be mailed, and these “flamethrowers” were really blowtorches shaped like a gun, so Musk had them shipped in boxes that said, “Not a Flame Thrower.”

- When the “Falcon 1” rocket reached orbit in September 2008, SpaceX became the first private space company to achieve this.

- The “Falcon Heavy” can carry 70 short tons of payload into space. That’s twice as much as its most powerful competitor, but at a third of the cost.

There are numerous interviews and speeches that can be viewed online where Musk shares a unique mindset and a visionary’s imagination. For ex ample, Musk correctly contends that population decline is a bigger threat to

Bee was suspended on Twitter for an an ti-woke joke.

Musk isn’t just a visionary. He also has a legendary work ethic to match his brilliance. In the early days of Zip2 and X.com, he often worked 20-hour days. When Tesla was on the brink as it strove to go from a compelling con cept to a manufacturing juggernaut, Musk spent three years sleeping in his own Tesla factory. He said he wanted to show his employees that he was willing to suffer more than any of them while they faced production challenges with

Tesla has embodied this ethos, and as a result, it has customers who are true fanatics. Tesla drops limited-re lease items on their website that quick ly sell out, like the Tesla Cyberquad, an $1,800 electric ATV for kids that sold out in under 48 hours. Musk’s humor can land him in trouble upon occasion, as can his quick-trigger tweets, but it is a beloved part of his persona that en dears him to his myriad fans.

Elon Musk is a generational figure. Part Einstein, part Rockefeller. Is he flawed like anyone else? Sure. But he makes for a fascinating case study in entrepreneurial excellence, and his unique combination of perspicacity and fortitude and impeccable timing have helped him shape the world we live in in numerous ways. The next chapter in the Musk saga promises to be just as in triguing.

Musk also has a sense of humor –something other billionaires don’t al ways seem to display. Musk retweets memes, supports dogecoin as the “peo ple’s crypto,” and may have started the process to buy Twitter because he was upset that the satirical site The Babylon

Chaim Homnick is a serial entrepreneur who owns several businesses. He also men tors small business owners. If you have questions you would like to see answered in a future column, or other feedback, email chomnick@gmail.com.

Health Corner

Liking Your Therapist

By Rabbi Azriel Hauptman

The therapeutic alliance – also known as the therapeutic relationship –has been proven by countless studies to be a better predictor of a successful out come than the specific type of therapy that is practiced by the therapist. Does this mean that you need to like your therapist in order to have a therapeutic experience? Not necessarily.

There is no question that you must feel heard, understood, and valued by your therapist. You have to trust your therapist and be able to be open and honest with him or her. In such an en vironment, you will presumably like your therapist. However, at times you might experience feelings of anger or aversion towards your therapist. This is not a hindrance to therapy at all. Rather, it might be the breakthrough that you were looking for in therapy. This is due to a phenomenon known as negative transference.

Transference refers to the projection

of emotions or feelings from one person onto another. In therapy, this manifests itself as subconsciously viewing the therapist as representing a figure from one’s life, especially from childhood. The client may interact with the thera pist as if the therapist were that person.

Transference is a well-document ed aspect of psychotherapy that was described by none other than Dr. Sig mund Freud himself. Although many of Freud’s theories have not stood the test of time, a large number of his ideas have prevailed and have become fundamen tal principles in psychology. Transfer ence is one of those principles.

Transference can be positive or neg ative. When one experiences positive transference, the therapist might remind the client of another trusted figure from earlier in life, resulting in positive and warm feelings towards the therapist. Negative transference, on the other hand, may cause someone to feel anger

towards the therapist. This can occur, for example, if the client has been be trayed in the past by someone who they thought was trustworthy. The therapist is viewed subconsciously as being in that person’s role, resulting in painful feelings directed towards the therapist.

Here is where the therapeutic alli ance and negative transference, which at first glance seem as opposing forces, actually can come together and produce a therapeutic breakthrough. As the cli ent experiences negative feelings to wards the therapist, the therapeutic alli ance allows the client to share this with the therapist. The resulting insight can lead to progress in therapy that would have otherwise been impossible. With out the therapeutic alliance, the client would have almost certainly denied the negative feelings, and the elephant in the room would have been ignored. The result will be a therapeutic process that does not really get anywhere.

The bottom line is that one of the benefits of the therapeutic alliance is that it allows the client to have a safe place where they can heal. You will definite ly overall like going to such a therapist, considering all of the value that you are receiving. Negative feelings that you experience are not a contradiction to liking your therapist. On the contrary, your comfort level with your therapist has given you access to those thoughts and feelings. Now you are truly ready to turn the corner in your journey.

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 Balti more branch of Relief. He can be con tacted at 410-448-8356 or at yslansky@ reliefhelp.org

When a woman from Rabbi Mosheh Aziz’s congregation in Great Neck contacted him to ask why canned vegetables need a hechsher, he was able to provide an in-depth response, thanks to his participation in a threeweek seminar hosted by OU Kosher.

Without certification, he ex plained, such vegetables may have been cooked and packed on the same equipment recently in contact with pork or shellfish. In fact, he wrote, he had just witnessed a cannery package cans of pork and beans immediately before handling vegetables.

Rabbi Aziz, a pulpit rabbi at Ohr Esther Synagogue and an onsite rabbi at the Sephardic Beit Midrash Kollel, had just participated in a three-week seminar about the laws of kashrus hosted by OU Kosher, the world’s largest kosher certifying agency. The OU division recently concluded its two annual kashrus training cours es: the ASK (Advanced Seminars in Kashrus) OU Summer Kashrus Train ing Program, in which 20 people took part in the three-week course, and a concurrent one-week training program that attracted 60 participants.

Based at the Orthodox Union’s headquarters in Manhattan, both pro grams aimed to demystify kashrus through seminars and hands-on in struction at field visits across the re gion. The programs offered partici pants the opportunity to learn from experts about the laws of kosher in a variety of settings, and then see the concepts in action immediately after.

“ASK OU turns participants into firsthand reporters on the laws of kosher,” said Rabbi Aziz. “This is a program for serious learners who want to see for themselves how the ‘kosher sausage’ is made.”

ASK OU was conveniently timed to coincide with many kollels’ yeshi va breaks – including participant Zvi Spiegel’s – Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Md.

Spiegel said, “It’s one thing to learn about the laws of melicha (salt ing meat) on paper, but it’s quite an other to see it in action on such a large scale. Maybe our grandparents used to have to kasher chicken themselves, but these days, no one really thinks about what it takes to make a chick

en kosher, from start to finish. That’s just one example of something I’ve been learning that may have been hard to see practically otherwise.”

Other examples that partic ipants witnessed include what it takes to perform hafrashas challah (separating and burn ing a section of challah or large quantities of other baked goods) at an industrial level at a pastry manufacturer, and how to analyze pasteurizers at a beverage maker.

ASK OU brought participants into the kitchens of companies across the tri-state area, including the Kedem Winery in Marlboro, N.Y.; baked goods supplier David’s Cookies in Cedar Grove, N.J.; the Empire Ko sher poultry plant in Mifflintown, Pa; the Culinary Depot, a commercial restaurant equipment designer and distributor in Spring Valley, N.Y., near Monsey; and several OU-certified restaurants and caterers.

Participants came from around the world to take part in ASK OU. Some who lived nearby, such as Rabbi Aziz, commuted, while others stayed at ho tels or with family members. Spiegel went to a relative’s empty apartment in Queens for the duration of the pro gram. Another participant, Edgardo Rozenknopf, flew in from Panama City, Panama, and stayed at a hotel close to the OU.

“My expectations for this program were extremely high, and still they were exceeded,” said Rozenknopf, a mashgiach at three restaurants and a small factory in Panama. “I wanted to make sure that I’m the best mashgiach I can be, by learning from the biggest people in kosher.”

The ASK OU Summer Kashrus Training Program is sponsored by Lakewood’s Harry H. Beren Founda tion, and has been offered to men and women in alternate years since its in ception in the 1990s. Combined, the two programs have over 1,000 alumni, many of whom are now rabbinic coor dinators at OU Kosher.

“We were pleased to be able to offer such high-level programming that even drew in international partici pants,” said Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, who gave one

of the program’s opening shiurim, “The State of the Orthodox Union.” “Whether they came from New York, Panama, or the Netherlands, the over whelming feedback has been that par ticipants were impressed with the con tent, rabbinic coordinators, and overall organization of the programs.”

“There is simply no other program as expansive and hands-on as ASK OU,” said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO and executive rabbinic coordinator of OU Kosher, who led the last session of the one-week program, “ASK the Rab

bi.” “For future mashgi chim, as well as anyone curious about the processes behind kosher, this is the program to take part in.”

About OU Kosher

OU (Orthodox Union) Kosher is the world’s largest and most recog nized kosher certification agency, cer tifying more than 2.2 million products produced in almost 13,000 plants lo cated in 104 countries worldwide.

Photo credit: Orthodox Union

Edgardo Rozenknopf of Panama City, Panama

Zvi Spiegel of Baltimore, Md.

Rabbi Mosheh Aziz of Great Neck, N.Y.

TJH Centerfold

Philadelphia: Many Firsts and a Second

If the Liberty Bell rang, it would be in E-flat. (Sorry every Jewish guitar player only knows A-minor and E-minor)

On the Liberty Bell, Pennsylvania is spelled with only one “n.” When the bell was create,d this was an acceptable form of spelling Pennsylvania. (The bell is also cracked and plays in E-flat…would never get a shidduch in the real world!)

The first American piano was built and kept in Philadelphia, in 1775. (Strange because my grand mother’s piano definitely looks older than that, es pecially with the sewing needle tomato jabby thing prominently placed on top of it.)

Philadelphia is said to be the most haunted city in the U.S. with the highest density of haunted hous es. (I guess that’s another reason to be scared of Philly.)

25% of the U.S. population lives within 5 hours of Philadelphia. (That means that at least 75% of the

population doesn’t have to put up with Phillies fans!)

In 1988, the largest cheesesteak was made in Phil adelphia; it was the length of a football field. (Not sure what the big deal is…that’s such a big sand wich?!)

Founded in 1809, the Walnut Street Theatre is America’s oldest theater. It was once owned by Ed win Booth, John Wilkes Booth’s brother. (Sounds like a lovely place to take in a show…if you have a bulletproof vest.)

Philadelphia is home to the first flag, bank, library, stock exchange, U.S. Mint, library, stock exchange, volunteer fire station, the world’s first pizza muse um, and the first soft pretzel. (This list was written in reverse order of importance.)

Of the 100 questions on the U.S. citizenship test study guide, half of the answers can be found in Philadelphia. (And 100% of them can be found on Google!)

Two Phillies fans are in Houston for the World Series. They are walking down the street and see a sign on a store that says, “Suits $5.99 each, shirts $1.99 each, trousers $2.49 each.”

They are amazed at the low prices in Texas and decide to buy out the place and sell the items to their buddies in Philadelphia. Since they don’t want the storeowner to know they are Philly fans, they put on their best Texas drawl and walk into the store.

“I’ll take 50 of them suits at $5.99,” one of the guys

says. “100 of them there shirts at $1.99, 50 pairs of them there trousers at $2.39. I’ll back up my pickup and....”

The owner of the shop interrupts, “Y’all from Philly, ain’t ya?”

“Well...yeah,” replies the surprised Phillies fan. “How come y’all knowed that?”

The store owner replies, “Because this is a dry cleaners.”

Houston Astros Trivia

The Astros are making their sixth World Series appearance this year against the Phillies. (Go Astros! Wait, I don’t like them. Go Phillies! Wait, I don’t like them! Go really long blackouts in both stadiums!)

1. How many times have they won the Championship (not including this year)?

1

2

4

5

2. What was the first name of the Houston Astros?

Texas Boots

Houston Slickers

Colt .45s

Houston Astros

3. How tall is Houston 2nd baseman Jose Altuve?

5’ 6”

5’ 10”

6’ 2”

6’ 6”

4. Where do the Houston Astros play?

Astrodome

Minute Maid Park

AT&T Stadium

Tootsie Roll Arena

5. During the 2017 and 2018 season, the Houston Astros had a system in which they would steal the signs of opposing teams, meaning they figured out what type of pitch the opposing pitcher was about to throw and notified the batter at the plate. After a widespread investigation by the MLB, what was one of

the methods that was used to let the batter know what pitch he was about to get?

a. The scoreboard would light up with fake fireworks

b. Someone would bang on a garbage can

c. The PC Richards whistle would be blasted in the stadium

d. The PA system would play a specific song

6. Houston Astro Bob Watson scored the 1,000,000th run in MLB history, on May 4, 1975. Aside for $10,000, what else did he get for it?

a. $1,000,000

b. A trip to Disney World

c. A signed Babe Ruth jersey d. 1,000,000 Tootsie Rolls

Answers:

C

B

B

D - Recalling that moment, Watson later said that everyone knew going into the game that the MLB was 10 runs shy of 1 million runs. By the time the game was in the second inning, the scoreboard showed that

the MLB was now only 3 runs shy. Watson got on base. A few minutes later, his teammate Milt May hit a home run. Watson was casually jogging toward third base when his teammates in the dugout began frantically yelling, “Run! Run! Run!” He charged to home plate, and he became the millionth run in MLB history. He had not realized that in other games two more runs had scored and that at the very same time that he was jogging towards home plate, Dave Concepcion of the Cincinnati Reds hit a home run and was racing around the bases to try and be the millionth run as well. Watson beat Concepcion by 1½ seconds. As a result, he was awarded $10,000 in pennies (one million pennies) and 1,000,000 Tootsie Rolls, which he donated – half to the Boy Scouts and half to the Girl Scouts.

Wisdom Key:

5-6 correct: Amazing! I’d give you my 300,000 Tootsie Rolls that I bought on eBay from the Scouts of America, but I just can’t live without them.

2-4 correct: Not bad; now try this trivia again with someone banging on a garbage can in your ear – maybe it will help you get some more hits.

1-0 correct: You ate one too many Tootsie Rolls.

Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

history to scholar for calling criticized the which by the that years which is yourself for not you were your past that wanted to you tried Rand. I had to grow course. atrocious. a slave, people talk it was a invented in

My name is Linda Paulson, Republican and awesome. I love G-d and family and the Constitution. I tried to get another conservative to run. Nobody could do it so I’m getting it done.

- Linda Paulson, 80, running for state senate in Utah, in a rap campaign video that is going viral

We are in a climate catastrophe. And all you are afraid of is tomato soup or mashed potatoes on a painting. Does it take mashed potatoes on a painting to make you listen? This painting is not going to be worth anything if we have to fight over food.

– One of the two protesters who threw mashed potatoes at a $110 million Claude Monet painting in a German museum this week

I don’t think it’s a big deal.... We don’t look at color.… I think the minute you guys stop making a big deal about it, everybody else will as well.

- Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles, who is black, responding to questions about facing the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, another black coach

Having children is why you’re worried about your price for gas.

- Georgia’s Democrat governor candidate Stacey Abrams when asked on MSNBC about high prices due to inflation

Anyone watching weekend football has seen Hochul ads about abortion. That’s because she wants the party faithful to keep talking about the non-issue of abortion and not thinking about the fact that nine New Yorkers were murdered in the subway this year.

- Democratic congressional candidate Maud Maron writing in the NY Post

Yes. We have to be on brand at all times. Very important ... it was a way to tweak the media as a final goodbye from Rush, which we know he certainly would have loved.

- Rush Limbaugh’s widow in an interview with Glenn Beck confirming that his occupation on his death certificate stated “Radio’s Greatest of All Time”

I have disagreed more with him than with any other justice. Which means we don’t come together on many cases. And yet I can tell you that I spend time with him, understanding that he is one of the few justices who knows practically everybody in our building. He knows their name, he knows the things about their life, what their family is suffering.... There’s no other justice who does that. I try, but he does it better. He cares about people.

– Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor talking about Justice Clarence Thomas

I turn to all the Chareidi Ashkenazim that don’t want to vote for various reasons. Please, go out to vote for Yahadus HaTorah (Gimmel). You need a Jewish state. I’m relying on you. I love you very much.

-Saudi blogger Mohammed Saud, who is a fan of Israel, in a video to chareidim

James Corden is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny cretin of a man, and the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago. I don’t often 86 [throw out] a customer. Today, I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh.

They’d say the secret to a happy marriage and reaching 100 is to have a row every day. They are like that, nothing serious, just a bicker.

- The son of Josephine and Alfred Waterfield — who are both 100 years old and who recently celebrated their 75th anniversary – talking about the key to their lovely, long marriage

-Balthazar restaurant owner Keith McInally revealing he banned comedian James Corden from his restaurant for Corden’s abhorrent behavior to staff

When you see our kids, and I truly believe that they are our children, they are the children of our country, of our communities. I mean, our future is really bright if we prioritize them, and therefore prioritize the climate crisis.

At the core of inflation – and it’s out of control, especially in food – is evil. Our desire to control us. When I was a child, my parents said, never take candy from a stranger. And they’re giving out candy, incentivizing people not to work. They’re taking away our purpose, our spirit, our reason to get up every day. And they’re doing it without their own candy. They’re taking our candy, and using it to incentivize us not to, that’s very inflationary.

- Goya CEO Bob Unanue on Fox News

- Vice President Kamala Harris while on “Late Night with Seth Meyers”

He eats a lot of ice cream.

Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? She must not be here.

– Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker when asked if he agrees with anything that Joe Biden has done as president

- Pres. Joe Biden at an event trying to locate Congresswoman Jackie Walorski at an event last week (Jackie was killed in a car crash two months ago)

The president was naming the congressional champions on this issue and was acknowledging her incredible work... She was on his mind

- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explaining the President’s faux pas

We have a brand. New York has a brand. Kansas doesn’t have a brand… Brand means diversity. That brand means we care. That brand means that we are compassionate.

– NYC Mayor Eric Adams

I almost look at a football season like I’m going away on deployment for the military. And it’s like, “Man, here I go again.”

- Tom Brady

I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness.

-Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announcing that she is leaving the Democratic Party

How is it controversial to define what a woman is? It is the height of hypocrisy for those who claim to be feminists, who claim to be champions for women over decades … to deny that there is such a thing as a woman.

- Ibid.

This governor still has not talked about locking up people committing any crimes.

- NY Republican Gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin to Gov. Kathy Hochul at their debate

I don’t know why that’s so important to you.

– Gov. Hochul in response

Happy Birthday to a great president!

- President Joe Biden on Monday wishing Vice President Kamala Harris a happy birthday

Right wing extremists already have a plan to literally steal the next presidential election, and they’re not making a secret of it.

- Hillary Clinton in a recorded message on behalf of a leftwing grassroots organization

Claiming 2024 is being stolen is easier than coming up with a plan to fight inflation.

- Fox’s Jesse Watters in response

I know y’all think it’s funny up here when he talks about Popeyes and all that [stuff]. That doesn’t make me happy to hear. We’re high-level athletes.

– Minnesota Timberwolves basketball star Karl-Anthony Towns talking about his teammate Anthony Edwards

Isn’t it time for your state to choose who you are with? Is it with the democratic world, which is fighting side by side against the existential threat to its existence? Or with those who turn a blind eye to Russian terror, even when the cost of continued terror is the complete destruction of global security?

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking about Israel to a conference organized by Haaretz Daily

Every time we in Ukraine, at the meetings of the staff of the supreme commander-in-chief, discuss Russian missile and drone terror, we also talk about our partners who already help or can help protect the sky. Unfortunately, the words – Israel, Israeli – do not sound at that moment. Of course, this is the decision of your state, your governments.

- Ibid.

Zelensky doesn’t do himself any favors when he makes these types of hyperbolic accusations. They feed into allies’ misgivings about increasing their support for Ukraine. Going forward, the indelicate leader may want to try a new tactic when wooing potential partners. There’s a reason the charm offensive has remained a mainstay of diplomacy for thousands of years.

– Bobby Miller, National Review

I just want to make things very, very clear. The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.

- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when his gubernatorial opponent accused him of planning to run for president in 2024

Forgotten Her es Captain Herbert Mandel

Fighting Underwater

By Avi Heiligman

Known as the silent service, life on an American World War II sub marine was anything but luxuri ous. Over 60 sailors were crammed into an underwater metal tube that lacked sunlight and fresh air. Submarines would go on patrol for weeks or months at a time looking for targets of opportu nity. They faced many threats including enemy submarine chasers that would release deadly depth charges, enemy aircraft, mines, and even their own de fective torpedoes. Fifty-two American submarines never returned from patrol and at least two submarines were sunk when their own torpedoes that made a circular run.

It took a special type of sailor to serve on a submarine, and the officers who caused a massive decline in vital Japa nese shipping are often overlooked. Many of these officers deserve mention with at least one Jewish commanding officer of a submarine during World War II.

As the commander of the USS Fin back (SS-178), Captain Herbert Irving Mandel was the only submarine com mander during World War II that this author could confirm was Jewish. Man del hailed from Brooklyn and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annap olis in 1938. Graduates of the academy were usually assigned to a capital ship, and Mandel served on the carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) and later on the USS Wasp (CV-7). He later took the subma rine course at New London, Connecti cut, and first served on the submarine R-13 (SS-90 and built in 1919) as the third officer.

In 1942, Mandel was transferred

to the USS Finback (SS-230) as the torpedo and gunnery officer. While on the Finback, he earned the Silver Star for his performance while the subma rine was under attack during three war patrols. On a patrol in the waters off the Aleutian Islands, the Finback was tracked and then attacked two Japa nese destroyers. She sent a spread of torpedoes at the destroyers and barely missed getting hit by eighteen depth charges when one of the enemy ships came looking for the submarine. The sailors on the Finback heard an explo

causing large explosions. Soon it settled into the ocean by the stern.

Mandel’s experience and thorough knowledge paid off while directing the torpedo attacks in the sinking of these important ships. For his efforts on this patrol, he was awarded his second Sil ver Star while the entire crew earned a Navy Unit Commendation.

On the Croaker ’s second war patrol in the East China Sea, she sank three freighters and damaged another one with her last torpedo. Mandel received a Gold Star medal instead of his third

After the war, Mandel was appointed to second in command while achieving the rank of captain. In 1953, he was the operations officer that planned a large-scale, five nation naval exercise in the Mediterranean and in 1954 was appointed as commanding officer of the destroyer USS Douglas H. Fox (DD779). Captain Herbert Mandel passed away in 2016 at the age of 99 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Several submarine officers during World War II may have had Jewish sounding names but either weren’t Jewish or there wasn’t enough conclu sive evidence that they were. Abraham Leichtman was almost certainly Jewish, but he commanded the USS Picuda (SS382) a year after the war ended.

sion, and there was evidence of one of the destroyers being sunk. However, the Finback did not get credit for the sink ing as it wasn’t seen going down.

In July 1944, Mandel was appoint ed as executive officer of the submarine USS Croaker (SS-246). On the subma rine’s first war patrol in July 1944, she sank the Japanese cruiser Nagara , a minesweeper, and two freighters. While attacking the Nagara, the Croaker sent four torpedoes at a range of a thousand yards. The enemy ship was zig-zagging wildly, and the fourth torpedo slammed into the ship’s ammunition storage

Silver Star on this patrol for his excel lent leadership in leading the attacks that sank over 15,000 tons of enemy shipping. Another small Japanese ship was sunk using the Croaker ’s deck gun. As executive officer of the submarine, his outstanding math skills translated well into the attacks of the enemy ships.

In December 1944, he was appointed as commanding officer of the USS Per mit (SS-178). The Permit had been on 12 patrols before Mandel took command and soon it was used as a school ship. Mandel did not have the chance to take the ship on a war patrol.

A submarine can strike without no tice and can quickly change the course of a battle. Submarines played a vital role in grinding the Japanese war ma chine to a halt. For sailors onboard, it was considered an honor to serve but was dangerous as well. The names of most submarines’ captains and their sailors are rarely mentioned in the media but these Forgotten Heroes are to be remembered for their dedication and duty under extremely difficult con ditions during World War II.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contribu tor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for fu ture columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

Mandel’s experience and thorough knowledge paid off while directing the torpedo attacks in the sinking of these important ships.

Dating Dialogue What Would You Do If…

Dear Navidaters,

I met a guy (I’ll call him Moshe here for clarity) at a shidduch dating event, and we started dating shortly after. We have been dating for five weeks and hopefully things will continue going well... This guy is amazing and I’m very appreciative of the women who put this event together.

Moshe wants to bring in a shadchan who was part of the event to “keep her in the loop” – he feels we owe it to her because we met at her event. Personally, I don’t want any outside people included in our relationship. Not only will this woman probably try to pry and give advice but also will probably claim we owe her shadchanus if it works out when we really met organically. This has become a point of contention between me and Moshe, but I feel he’s just being pressured by the shadchan. How can I help him understand where I am coming from?

Disclaimer:

Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters

The Panel

The Rebbetzin

Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

This seems to be more than a commu nication issue with Moshe. It seems that you have expressed your fears to Moshe about her inserting herself into the relationship. He still feels that the woman who facilitated your meeting at the event had a role in setting you two up and should be given the courtesy of an update.

You say you appreciate the women who set up the event. Yet you are also seeking to avoid the hakaras hatov of giving her something as shadchanus should the shidduch develop.

He recognizes that there was effort involved from the get-go and your de veloping a relationship with him is a byproduct of that event. And he wants to acknowledge that effort by telling the woman that you are dating for a few weeks already.

Recognize the effort involved. Rec ognize Moshe’s menchlechkeit and awareness of the difficulty of setting up events and shidduchim. Recognize his middos tovos.

At the same time, look at yourself in the mirror. Why are you afraid of bring ing someone else into the know? Why are you afraid of giving credit where credit is due whether or not this devel ops into a shidduch? Your attitudes and appreciation need work.

the table and all comment on the won derful Shabbos seudah. Moshe responds with a “thank you!” taking responsibil ity for the meal. He does not mention your part in the seudah at all. He does not thank you for the wonderful spread. How does this make you feel?

Your relationship at its core is the ingredients which the two of you are working together with Hashem’s help to build a lifelong relationship. The chopping, cooking, baking and the stuff behind closed doors to make the meal happen were the women who curated, invited, planned, set up, and organized this shidduch event.

Your attitude claiming a disinterest in giving shadchanus if this shidduch transpires correlates to the “Moshe” in the story who refuses to recognize his wife’s immeasurable efforts to make the seudah delicious and beautiful.

Do you know what shadchanim go through day-in and day-out for the sake of the single population? Do you know how many hours it takes to plan and cu rate a successful shidduch event (which, judging by your and Moshe’s interest in each other, it sounds as if it was)? Before even discussing your issue with the mat ter, I am pointing out a middah which can make or break a marriage. This is a middah which it seems Moshe has got ten right, and you have got all wrong.

Yes, you should keep the shadchan who organized the event in the loop, and yes, she deserves shadchanus, a gift of your and Moshe’s gratitude, if you iy”H get engaged.

The Single

Tzipora Grodko

The Shadchan Michelle Mond

I magine the following scenario:

You’re married to Moshe, and on Shabbos you host a beautiful Shabbos meal. Moshe did the shopping for all the ingredients for the delectable seudah. With all of the ingredients he bought, you prepare dips, chop salads, blend soups, whip cream, check strawberries, and fry chicken. The guests sit around

I know I am answering a question you did not ask, but as a shadchan on the other end of your predicament, I can’t not respond to it.

One more thing: Check in with Moshe about communication in gen eral. It sounds like he’s the type of guy who will want to check in with mentors about issues that arise. You, however, sound like a person who wants to figure everything out by yourself. This imbal ance can cause many shalom bayis is sues in the future, if it is not worked out now. Discuss the topic and figure out if you’re both on the same page.

Hatzlacha!

I

strongly support your decision. Con sider expressing to Moshe that you don’t want to do anything that can po tentially compromise or interfere with the development of your relationship. A shadchan is supposed to make things easier, assist with communication, guidance, and formalities in place to limit painful experiences. Based on your description, it doesn’t sound like those are areas that you and Moshe need as sistance in right now.

If he feels like he “owes” her some involvement, he can write a thank you card or simply give her a thank you call as well. Both actions reflect gratitude and appreciation, which I think is his underlying motive for trying to involve her.

How exciting, and much hatzlacha!

Yeshiva A or Yeshiva B?

Your question seems like one that is amenable to compromise.

On the one hand, you’re at that point in your relationship where the couple would usually “drop” the shadchan; on the other hand, your boyfriend sounds like a very ethical and proper gentlemen who feels a moral obligation to involve the shadchan .

Why not compromise here? You can keep the shadchan “in the loop” by Moshe sending an appreciative text, ev ery few weeks, reporting that things are going nicely. At the same time, the two of you can politely but firmly inform her that you wish to keep the relationship private and prefer to not have a go-be tween.

The Zaidy

Dr. Jeffrey Galler

Welcome to the wonderful world of boy/girl relationships and dis agreements. Let us attempt to classify he/she disputes as follows:

Category #1 are issues that don’t really matter. For example, she might like Raisin Bran, the Mets, and Demo crats, while he might like Cheerios, the Yankees, and Republicans, but they can agree to disagree and live happily ever after.

Category #2 are issues that are amenable to compromise. For example, they can spend one Pesach with her par ents and the next Pesach with his par ents; they can go on a Disney vacation one year and a tour of Spain the next year.

Category #3 are disputes that need to be decided one way or the other. For example, should we live in the 5 Towns or in Teaneck? Do we send the kids to

Now, please step back for a moment, and keep in mind that when folks volun teer to run a singles event, they, at best, break even financially. No one makes money on these events. They do it out of a sincere desire to help people.

So, giving hakaros hatov to the shad chan who helped organize the event and recruit singles to attend the event would certainly seem like the proper thing to do. Providing positive reinforcement for her efforts might encourage her to orga nize future events and help more folks like yourselves.

I don’t really know if you will “owe” a shadchanus fee, but consider what a local shadchan told me: “There is room for generosity of heart and spirit if this relationship culminates in an engage ment. Why not reward the organizer with a token of appreciation? Hakaras hatov brings about bracha. And, if your relatively small act of gratitude encour ages the shadchan to plan more events, you and Moshe will have a part in future shidduchim as well! What a bracha for a new couple.”

The healthiest relationships will have disagreements.

Pulling It All Together

The Navidaters

Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

Thank you for writing into our column! I don’t feel it’s my place to comment on the appropriateness of inviting the shadchan into your relation ship at this time, as I am not a shadchan and don’t understand “the rules” as to how this works. I am curious about why Moshe wants the shadchan’s involvement now. Why now? Is there something he is feeling uncertain about? Have you asked him about this? Did she reach out to him? This may be of utmost importance! What I am going to comment on is the importance of being able to communicate with your partner and the ability for you two to hear each other, validate each other’s needs and concerns, and reach a

con clu sion to gether, as an intact cou ple who is stronger due to the intima cy created having learned about each other’s needs.

The first piece to examine is the way you communicated your needs to Moshe. Were you direct or indirect? Aside from the shadchanus issue, did you com municate to Moshe exactly what your concerns are about having a shadchan involved? “I am scared she will pry or of fer advice that could ultimately hurt us, as I’ve seen happen so many times.” If you are certain you have been lovingly direct with Moshe, and have expressed

yourself clearly and vulnerably, then the fact that this has become a “point of contention” may be of concern. It’s not always the content that two people are arguing about, it is the inability to hear each other, and possibly not really caring about what is important to the other. In a securely attached, emotionally safe rela tionship, both parties feel understood and important. In my relationship, my needs matter to my partner. I am wondering if you and Moshe feel this way in your rela tionship. In the lifetime of a relationship, five weeks is a blip and not enough time to have developed a securely attached rela tionship. It is enough time to begin to get a sense of your emotional safety and abil ity to work together as a couple Perhaps this is your first disagreement. Disagree ments are going to happen! Oh boy, are they going to happen! The healthiest rela tionships will have disagreements. Both you and Moshe are entitled to your feel ings about the shadchan’s involvement. And the goal is to listen to the needs of the other and make the other feel that his/her needs are of utmost importance! When we don’t feel heard or cared for in our disagreements is when “points of con tention” develop.

So, bring this up again to Moshe. Calmly and lovingly ask him to share his feelings about the shadchan with you. It is my hope that he will do the same for you. If he shows no concern or regard for how you feel (or vice versa), and a deeper, more intimate conversation doesn’t take place, that is worth examining. A true partner in life is going to care more about his/her spouse’s feelings than disappoint ing a shadchan.

If you truly get stuck in this area, it is most definitely worth seeing a therapist together to help navigate this disagree ment. Moshe may be Mr. Right, and you guys may need a little help in the com munication department. Don’t avoid this issue and don’t “agree to disagree” if one

party is going to have resentment. Re member, couples argue. It is not about the content as much as it is about the way you handle disagreements and the way you care for each other during dis agreements. One person cannot do all the emotional labor. The labor of a relation ship should be an absolute labor of love for each of you.

All the best, Jennifer

P.S. Without a fuller picture, I don’t feel I know enough about what is going on to say the following, however this is my urging to anyone dating: discuss every thing before getting married! Discuss your visions for involvement from others – whether its family, a doctor, a thera pist or a rabbi. Discuss the boundaries you each envision around your relation ship. From how much time you want to spend with family to financial decisions and how much money you invest in en tertainment and how much money you feel comfortable having in the bank be fore you buy your first home. How are we going to resolve conflicts? While peo ple grow and evolve and circumstances change, it is important to address it all before you get married. A couple is a team who wants to win together. In or der to do that, you need a shared vision that you both believe in. You need to find out if you’re playing for the same team.

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. She also teaches a psychology course at Touro College. 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.

Do you know what shadchanim go through day-in and day-out for the sake of the single population?

Health & F tness

Reasons Not to Return to Therapy

By Yeshaya Kraus, LCSW

I’m pretty sure we’ve all seen articles that dance around the idea of “Why You Should Find a Therapist” or “How Therapy Can Help.” It’s true, many people can benefit from therapy, and many peo ple should find a good therapist. The rea sons people have for not going that route don’t get as much attention, though, and they deserve it.

Here are a few reasons that those same people who might be helped use for not going back to therapy. These are all really good reasons, by the way. I’m spe cifically speaking to those who have been and either feel they finished or had an in complete experience in their journey.

1. “I’m fine. I don’t need to go back to therapy, I’m doing just fine. I’m OK, real ly”: If you feel that you’re going through your day with a reasonable amount of sat isfaction, balance, and fulfillment, then it’s more than likely that this is complete ly true. There are many roles that you play in life, such as professional, spouse, in dividual, parent. If you can honestly tell yourself that you’re happy with where you are in all of them, going back to therapy is probably not for you.

2. “I don’t want to have to spill my guts again. I did that once (or twice, or several times), and it was heart-wrench ing. I don’t want to face that again”: Therapy is hard! No one ever said that it would be fun, or comfortable. I’ve heard it said that the ideal of therapy is to have a safe place to be uncomfortable. There’s something powerful about that descrip tion and about having a safe place to ex perience the feelings that have caused you so much trouble. Especially if you’ve had some experience in therapy, and you know how much work it may be for you personally, you may decide that the cost of re-opening a conversation isn’t worth the potential benefit of coming out the other side. Depending on your situation, it may be perfectly fine to sit with the feelings and not go back to take care of them. It all comes back to the foundation of reason #1: If you’re OK enough with where you are in life, there’s no need to start up again.

3. “There are too many choices. How do I know who’s good and who’s just not for me?”: I call this “Expensive Restau rant Menu Syndrome.” OK, I really don’t call it that, but it’s the same idea. Unless you’re comfortable with the therapist you were seeing previously, starting up again means that you’ve got to find someone new. How are you supposed to judge? You

therapists don’t seem to take insurance. In some cases, change can be expected within a few months, but that’s a few months of weekly sessions. And this is aside from the emotional experience ref erenced above. You need to balance the need for change with how comfortable you are with taking the time to make that change start and stick.

possible that the talk will cause a shift, whether in your thinking or about your brain. The feeling that it won’t help is a very powerful one, though. You may feel it’s not worth challenging it.

6. “I stopped going to therapy for a reason. I wasn’t seeing any change, and quite frankly, I don’t think anyone can help me. I’m just going to have to live with my depression/anxiety/marriage etc. There’s nothing anyone can do”: Hav ing stopped before, you had a reason for it. You determined at the time that what ever was going on in your life wasn’t be ing addressed in the way that would have made you feel better, and you decided that you’d live with it as is. It’s that cost ben efit analysis. Sometimes the conviction that no one can help can be helpful too, as it helps you to justify not addressing the issue fully, or even partially, and ac cept that things are what they are. That’s completely OK, as long as it works for you.

7. “If I see a therapist who lives in my community, someone will know what’s really going on. That’s too much for me to deal with”: Confidentiality rules aside, people get really nervous about this. The idea of “Someone” in the community knowing what you’re going through, even if they’ll never share it with anyone be sides possibly a supervisor or consultant, can be daunting and even overwhelming. Even though it may be much easier to deal with once you’ve actually shared your sto ry, many people find it easier to just keep their silence.

can certainly go by letters after the name. Certifications and trainings certainly show that a person values their profes sional competence. They don’t mean that the person will necessarily be a good fit for you personally, though. Same deal with which modalities or approaches they use. It can be overwhelming.

4. “Shoot, therapy is expensive! And it takes a lot of time. Who can re ally commit to that?”: It does take time. Time is money, especially when so many

5. “If I hear someone ask me how it feels, I’m going to flip out. I know how I feel, and talking about it isn’t going to help any”: Alas, this is a cornerstone of many psychotherapies. Yes, there are some that focus on physical sensations too or with how you’re thinking about different parts of yourself. At the end of the day, though, it’s likely to get back to emotions and feelings. The feeling that talking about your feelings may not help much is also potentially true. It’s always

What it all boils down to is where you’re up to in life and how the challeng es you face are affecting you. If you’ve concluded that the downsides of starting up again outweigh the potential benefits, then there’s really no push to go back. The important thing is to be honest with your self and give yourself the chance to really think it through in a way that works for you.

Yeshaya Kraus, LCSW, is a therapist in pri vate practice in Far Rockaway, NY, special izing in relationship issues. He can be reached at yykraus@gmail.com.

Your Money Falling for Taxes

By Allan Rolnick, CPA

October is here, and Sunscreen Summer has faded into Pump kin Spice Fall. Leaves are turning yellow, temperatures are turn ing cool, and shirts are turning plaid. Children are dreaming of costumes and candy corn. (It’s OK, they’ll outgrow the candy corn part.) We’re all celebrating with bonfires, hayrides, cheerful pump kins, and more. And every town seems to have its own favorite fall tradition.

Cincinnati is one of those “flyover” cities that coastal elites don’t think about until the Bengals take the field. But Queen City natives are fierce ly proud of their town and traditions. They hate when you confuse it with Cleveland. They cringe when you mock their trademark Skyline chili. (You wouldn’t visit Philadelphia and make fun of cheesesteaks, would you?) And Cincinnati’s deep German heritage in spires residents to welcome fall with the world’s largest Oktoberfest outside of Munich.

As you would expect, Oktoberfest Zinzinnati features plenty of beer, schnitzel, lederhosen, and even the World’s Largest Chicken Dance. (Re ally.) And there’s one more adorably unforgettable tradition that kicks off

the entire event: the Running of the Wieners. One hundred dachshunds, all dressed in hot dog bun costumes, line up at the start to race in 10 heats of 10 dogs each. The wieners of each heat –excuse me, the winners – race one final time to crown the fastest dog in town. This year, “Leo” covered the 75 yard course in just over 3 seconds to bring home the bacon.

Frankly, we can assume the owners keep the beer for themselves.

So. Taxable income. Who pays? Ob viously, the owners, if they choose to re port it. (Dachshunds don’t have social security numbers.) None of the prizes are large enough that festival organiz ers issue 1099s. On the flip side, rac ing-dachshund owners can deduct the cost of buying, raising, and training

entry for dachshund racing.

Except . . . this year’s winner Leo also won last year’s race. Do we have a professional on our hands? If so, then Leo’s owners could deduct any losses from racing him against outside income. Here’s the key: are they racing him with a bona fide intent to make money?

Sadly, as Leo’s owner told local news, “We don’t really do anything special to train him. We let him dig in the yard and we play fetch a lot.” While both of those sound delightful for everyone involved, it means the hobby loss rule applies, and Leo’s owner is barking up the wrong tree if he wants his pooch to fetch tax breaks.

By now, you’re surely wondering what any of this has to do with taxes.

It turns out the dogs aren’t racing just for pride. They’re racing for prizes! The third-place winner walks away (on a stylish leash, hopefully) with a 25$ gift certificate to Petsmart. Second place wins $50. And the first-place finisher wins $75 plus a case of Samuel Adams Octoberfest beer. (Sam Adams founder Jim Koch is a Cincinnati native.)

their funny-looking critters. But, since dachshund racing is just a hobby, the “hobby loss” rule prevents owners from deducting actual losses against outside income. It’s safe to assume that none of this year’s racers will be filing returns for their activity. The North American Activity Industry Classification System, which slices and dices business and in dustry activities into categories with six-digit codes, doesn’t even have an

The American Pet Products Associ ation reports that there are 90 million dogs in America. Almost all of them are winners to some lucky owner. For tunately for them, Fido doesn’t have to outrun the tax man.

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 years in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

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