Baltimore Jewish Home - 10-6-22

IMPORTANT SUKKOS SAFETY TIPS!

1. 2.

Protect your home and valuables. Be sure to lock your doors every time you leave!

OUT IN THE SUKKAH? BE SURE YOUR HOME IS SAFE! CARBON MONOXIDE DANGER!

Carbon Monoxide, “The Silent Killer”, can build up over time when the stove is left on, even if there are no leaks! With two 2-day Yamim Tovim approaching, the danger is compounded. The Baltimore Fire Department has urged the community to either use an exhaust fan or leave a nearby window slightly open.

“I turned on my front burner on Erev Yom Tov. The second night, I was woken up at 3am by the alarm on my carbon monoxide detector. I turned the stove off with a shinui, got everyone out of the house, and called 911. Three fire engines came, but they called for the HAZMAT fire engine because of the danger. After opening up all the windows and doors, and turning on fans, they would not let us back into the house. When the fire chief let us back in, he asked my children questions to test their disorientation. He told me never to leave my stove or oven on without proper ventilation. We were very lucky to be alive – the week before, another Baltimorean suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and died.

The chief also told us that we should have a smoke and carbon monoxide detector on each level of the house, located not in the kitchen, but close by.”

Mrs. Janine Chapman

P.S. On July 15th, 2021, over 50 people were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning after there was a leak at a Jewish sleepaway camp. According to the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association there are 1,200 deaths and 50,000 emergency room

Preparing our Community Today for a Safe and Secure Tomorrow™

The Chesed Fund Limited

in memory of Mordechai & Rebecca Kapiloff,

, Dr. Bernard Kapiloff,

Louise Gerstenfeld,

Leo & Hannah

Let’s help ensure our community’s simchas Yom Tov.

Darchei Noam Montessori Hosts a Momentous Hachnasas Sefer Torah

Thank you to all who joined us for such a meaningful and momentous occasion at our Hachnasas Sefer Torah. Welcoming

iam Sarah b’ Aharon, a’h. Following a joyous car parade, the dancing and singing accompanied the Torah inside where an impromptu kumzitz helped

perience for all. The children joined in with handmade tambourines, original banners, and Torah learning. Follow ing the Yomim Tovim, all will partake

munity to enjoy. Thank you to all of the DNM Staff, students, families, to the community members, Mr Yitzky Schleifer, and Rabbi Ariel Sadwin for

a sefer Torah to our school has been an memorable experience that ensures DNM fulfills its mission to provide a Torah-centered environment.

This past Sunday, Darchei Noam Montessori welcomed in a beautiful sefer Torah belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Lou and Edie Goldberg, written in honor of Mr. Goldberg’s mother Mir

guide the Torah into its temporary aharon kodesh. As the room sang out “Eitz Chaim Hi” the kedusha of the moment was visceral.

With divrei chizuk from Board Member Dr. Yoni Baron, thoughts from Mr. Goldberg, and divrei hisori rus and bracha by Rabbi Goldberger, the event was a rich and rewarding ex

in creating an aharon kodesh for the Sefer Torah through woodworking, sewing, and decor. Sponsorships are available through our website www. darcheinoaamontessori.com

A special thank you to Shomrim and Chaveirim of Baltimore for their help and support in creating a smooth and safe event for the whole com

all of your support in this event and all of the successes of DNM.

Dachei Noam Montessori is proud to be able to provide a Torah centered environment where each and every child can learn and grow, instilling a lifelong love of learning!

Yom Kippur Special: All-You-Can-Pray @Accents

BaltimoreJewishLife.com/Jeff Cohn

After days of rain, Just hours before Kol Nidrei, the roof in the Ohel Moshe (R’ Teichman) social hall building, soon to be demolished as part of the upcoming expansion project, began leaking in several places. A Netz minyan with nearly 50 people was planned to take place in that very space!

Desperate to find a new place to host the minyan, the Shul reached out to Larry and Lara Franks - of Accents/ Serengeti/Cocoaccino’s/Accents Li quor who didn’t hesitate to offer their party room which literally fit exactly

the number of seats needed.

Within a few hours volunteers had transformed the beautiful event room in to a Shul, and soon it was packed

with men and women as Kol Nidrei began in Shuls all across Baltimore.

What a beautiful Chesed, May it be a Zechus for the Franks family for

Hatzalah Of Baltimore Assisting In Hurricane-ravaged Florida

By: BJLife Newsroom BaltimoreJewishLife.com/Jeff Cohn

a year of good health, Parnassa and Simcha!

Mi K’amcha Yisrael!

“Shtelling Lekach” at Mercaz Torah U’Tefillah

Yaakov Feinstein, Nosson Samet, and Yitzy Kaplowitz accepting “lekach” from Rabbi Eichenstein on Erev Yom Kippur at Mercaz Torah U’Tefillah.

Kaplowitz, Samet, Fein stein (l-r).

Councilman Yitzy Schleifer: Council Bill 22-0247 - Obstructing Street – Racing Or Stunt Driving Is NOW LAW!

By: BJLife Newsroom BaltimoreJewishLife.com/Jeff Cohn

Whether you are the driver or an active participant, doing donuts and/ or street racing is now subject to a $1,000 fine + up to 12 months in jail. Baltimore City is now leading the charge to end this dangerous and disruptive behavior.

Thank you Mayor Scott for signing the bill today and to Council Presi dent Mosby and all of my council col leagues for your support.

Engagements

Aryeh Hexter (Baltimore) & Chaya Shurin (Baltimore)

Elazar Yechiel Teitelbaum (Brooklyn) & Nechama Meister (Baltimore)

Yehuda Ashurov (Brooklyn) & Michal Klotzman (Baltimore)

Avi Carroll (Baltimore) & Leah Dinovitz (Baltimore)

Yosef Chaim Brejt (Baltimore) & Malky Neuhaus (Miami Beach)

Meir Frankel (Baltimore) & Miriam Weinreb (Teaneck)

Want to see your simcha here? Email mazeltov@baltimorejewishhome.com or text 443-675-6507 to submit your simcha!

Kosher

Crossing the Divide

By: Chaya Chazan

Crash!

Mazal tov!

As the plate splintered into shards of uneven, glittering glass, we hugged and wiped surreptitious tears from our eyes. Our youngest sister was a kallah!

The baby of eleven siblings was now a grown woman, looking forward to build ing a home with her shyly smiling chassan. We teased my mother about letting go of her mezhinke, and excitedly planned the wedding. With a family of eleven, it was difficult to plan a date that would work for everyone. There had been family weddings in the past that not every sibling was able to attend, but everyone was sure to be there for the last wedding of our baby sister!

That was February 2020.

A month later, everything looked very different.

“Maybe Corona will be over by then,” we all hoped. But the months dragged on and we remained in lockdown.

“I don’t want a wedding like that,” my sister whispered, tears pooling at the edge of her lashes as we watched footage of

“Corona weddings” attended by no more than ten people, simchas chosson v’kallah fulfilled by waving to a car carrying the newlyweds.

“It won’t be,” I promised, with more hope than knowledge.

My sister’s wedding took place lat er that year. Monogrammed masks and gloves were given out to each guest. Her friends had to sign up for half-hour slots during which they could socially distance dance with her.

Of all eleven siblings, only four made it to the chuppah. The rest of the family dressed in wedding gowns and suits, and celebrated in their own living rooms, while “Zooming” the wedding from their couch es.

I know that my sister’s story is not unique to her or us; in fact, there are many kallahs who made do with much less.

I heard heartbreaking stories of chil dren forbidden from saying a last goodbye to a parent they would never see again, of elderly grandmothers withering away from loneliness and isolation. Of a world gone silent; a world sequestered.

Yad Hashem is clear to see as we close

2022 and wave goodbye to many Covid restrictions. It is a Hakhel year, a year of unity and togetherness, filling a deep and existential void that has penetrated every facet of society for the last two years.

Like the Jews of old, we can shake off the shackles of our isolation and journey together as one nation with one heart.

Imagine the excitement on the dirtpaved roads leading to Yerushalayim as families and friends greeted loved ones they hadn’t seen in seven years! Together, men, women, children, and babies traveled to the Beis Hamikdash, thousands of faces shining with the same joy and elation. As one they stood and listened to their king, enveloped in flowing robes of royal blue read the Torah, exhorting them to follow Hashem’s laws and recommit themselves to His teachings. What a shudder of awe must have rippled through that assembled crowd as the king’s voice thundered above them. What a wave of inspiration must have enlivened their service of Hashem for the rest of the year!

Although we have been exiled from our land and deprived of a Beis Hamik dash, the spirit of Hakhel is as relevant and fundamental as ever.

“U’neshalmah parim sefaseinu,” “Our lips will replace the sacrificial cows,”

says the pasuk in Hoshea. Every day, we fervently murmur the words of tefillah, begging Hashem to accept them with the same fiery pillar that consumed the korban sacrifices. On Yom Kippur, we read a viv id description of the Kohen Gadol’s avoda in the Holy of Holies, the chazzan’s voice bringing every motion to life.

The spirit of Hakhel is just as power ful and potent as it was thousands of years ago.

Like our ancestors, we can gather to gether with family and friends and inspire one another to increase in ahavas Hashem, ahavas Yisroel, and ahavas Hatorah. We have been quarantined, isolated, and con fined. Now we unite, connect, and merge, becoming stronger humans, parents, friends, and Jews.

My family is now planning a reunion, the first time in almost ten years that all eleven siblings will be together. My sister joked that we should make her a do-over wedding celebration.

Maybe she’s right.

To learn more about Hakhel and how to incorporate it into your life, vis it shnashakhel.com or hakhelnation.com

If you would like assistance arranging a Hakhel gathering of your own, email Bal timoreHakhel@gmail.com

Eretz Hakodesh Chairman Calls for Freeze of NIS 30 Million Transfer to Reform Movement

In light of findings of an investigation against MK Gilad Kariv

The chairman of the Eretz Hako desh movement, Rabbi Pesach Ler ner, called upon the Israeli Supreme Court to place an immediate hold on the transfer of NIS 30 million to the Reform move ment.

Rabbi Lerner, on behalf of the Er etz HaKodesh organization, recently filed an urgent petition to the Israeli Sup reme Court for an immediate freeze of the transfer of funds to a joint venture of the Ministry of Diaspora and the Panim orga nization to establish a so-called “Office of Jewish Renewal,” which was approved from coalition funds of the Labor Party.

As readers may recall, several weeks ago, an in-depth investigation was con ducted by journalist Kalman Libeskind in the Ma’ariv newspaper, revealing that the procedure for establishing the Office of Jewish Renewal in collaboration with the Panim organization was carried out in an improper manner, raising suspicion of im proprieties. Libeskind highlighted the involvement of MK Gilad Kariv in the project, raising serious questions about the approval of the project.

The Ma’ariv investigation enumerat ed questions surrounding the transfer of NIS 30 million to the Panim organization, of which MK Kariv served as a member, and the fact that the Diaspora Ministry did not hesitate in any way to transfer tens of millions of shekels without a bidding pro cess as required by law, without criteria, to an entity that has no serious financial ma nagement or organizational experience.

The establishment of the Office of Jewish Renewal and the budgeting of the project are the implementation of a clause in the coalition agreement that was signed when the Labor faction entered the govern ment. MK Kariv, who previously served as the chairman of the Reform movement in Israel, promoted the introduction of the clause and took an active role in its approv al in the state budget for 2022. However, it has emerged that the money was allocat ed to the Panim organization, in which MK Kariv was involved as an executive committee member. MK Kariv‘s connec tions with Panim did not prevent him from dealing with the budget, as illegal as that is.

A few days after the publication of the investigation, Libeskind revealed that even before the Ministry of Diaspora ap proved the project, the deputy legal counsel to the Ministry of Justice forwarded to the ombudsman of Knesset a statement high lighting the legal difficulty of carrying out the project without governmental approval for the Ministry of Diaspora to proceed. The ombudsman clarified that as the proj ect’s budget increases, there is even great er difficulty providing legal basis for the decision.

Following these disturbing findings, a number of Knesset members, along with Rabbi Lerner, appealed to the ombuds man, demanding that the project be fro zen. After the ombudsman’s response was not forthcoming, Rabbi Lerner, on behalf of Eretz HaKodesh, appealed to the Sup reme Court, asking for a freeze on the proj ect and for there to be an emergency ses sion to examine the disturbing revelations related to this project.

Rabbi Lerner’s petition explains the concern over the attempt to distribute pub lic coalition funds, in the tens of millions

of shekel, transferring them in a circular way to a private association that is con nected to a Knesset member, who actually dictated the distribution of said funds.

This is corrupt, dishonest, and contrary to the law, averred Rabbi Lerner.

Rabbi Lerner further stated in the ex planatory notes of his petition that Eretz HaKodesh, as an international movement that works to strengthen the Jewish iden tity of Jews around the world, considers itself a worthy candidate to participate in activities that are carried out in the field of Jewish renewal, including the activities that fall under the umbrella of the Office of Jewish Renewal established by the Minis try of Diaspora and the Panim organiza tion.

“In light of all this,” concluded Rabbi Lerner, “we are asking for an immediate freezing of the transfer of funds.

As of this moment, the Israeli Supreme Court has given those involved in the transfer of those funds ten days to respond to the complaint.

Please tell us a little about yourself

I happen to be an identical twin, so naturally I do sometimes question if I am really who I think I am. But assuming it’s really me, my name is Ori Strum, born in Baltimore, raised in Baltimore, married a girl from Baltimore (Arielle Reches), and am currently raising my two daughters in Baltimore. I daven at KSA, Kehillas Shaa rei Avodah, under the leadership of Rabbi Shmuel Iser shlit’a. I recently published my first book – Ready. Set. Grow. - with Mosaica Press, and I put out a weekly pod cast called The Torah Sparks Podcast.

When did you start writing this book?

About 5 years ago I started sending out a weekly inspirational Dvar Torah email to family and friends, and Baruch Hashem that list has grown tremendously. At some point along the journey, I asked myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool to write a book?” I

Rabbi Ori Strum

put the write-ups into a single manuscript, organized it, and sent if off to several pub lishing companies, and Mosaica Press was willing to work with me, so I kindly agreed to work with them. They were incredible to work with and I am so ecstatic at how the final product came out.

What is your book about?

When people ask me this question, my reply is generally something along the lines of, “Oh thanks for asking! It’s a book on Hilchos Ribbis written in Yiddish. Would you like a copy?” Only after the person gives me a quizzical look do I tell him that I am joking. The book – Ready. Set. Grow. – is essentially a personal growth book with modern-day anecdotes, parables, and personal stories. It’s a book that brings to life concepts and lessons from the holy Torah. It’s an easy-to-read, humorous yet impactful book. Readers will learn to strengthen their resolve to be a life-long winner, experience what it means to value inner greatness, and dis cover that the “secret sauce” to a life of calm, tranquility and genuine happiness is having a relationship with G-d.

Do you have any haskamos for this book?

Rabbi Menachem Goldberger shlit’a: Upon reading it an making your way from story to story and from insight to insight, you start to feel the fiery warmth which its pages hold.

Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz shlit’a: The tone is light, humorous, and engaging,

but the content is deep, pro found, and inspiring.

Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried shlit’a: Anyone who will take a message a day from this sefer and internalize it will certainly be on the path to greatness.

Tell us about your pod cast

I enjoy creating meaning ful Jewish content and have a passion for speaking, so about a year ago I decided to start my own pod cast, which is essentially a platform for me to share Torah thoughts and inspirational ideas to whoever wants to listen. I strongly believe that inspiration, meaning, and holi ness can be found everywhere, however it is up to us to find these sparks of spiritual light and bring more of a G-dly awareness to ourselves and the world at large. In The Torah Sparks Podcast, you will hear insightful, meaningful, humorous, seem ingly random, deep and relatable ideas gleaned from lessons within the Torah.

Do you have a favorite episode?

Yes, I do. It’s called Holy Dumpster Diving. A few months ago, I interviewed our Christian painter, David C. Milke and we discussed why he woke up at 4 in the morning to go dumpster diving for a miss ing mezuzah.

Do you have any hobbies?

No, I like to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs. All joking aside, I enjoy tennis, and I even bought a pair of tennis shoes.

Do you have any Pet Peeves?

No, but growing up I did have a pet dog named Pando ra (which I guess is similar to Peeves).

Where can our readers get a copy of your book?

The book can be found locally at Shabsi’s, Seforim Nook, or my house. Feel free to reach out to me for a signed copy (oristrum@torahsparks. com). The book is also available at seforim stores around the world, or online at Mosa ica Press and Amazon.

Where can our readers listen to your podcast?

The podcast is available on all podcast players, such as Apple, Spotify, Google, and more. You can also find the episodes on my website at www.torahsparks.com

What is something you are incredi bly passionate about?

I recently joined the Meaningful Min ute app as a content creator where I share meaningful Torah ideas through speaking, text, pictures, and creative videos. Feel free to check it out on the FREE app.

Is there a message that you would like to share with our readers?

Yes, exactly that: Share! If you have a certain unique gift and talent that Hashem gave you, make sure to share it with the world. Otherwise, it is borderline stealing. There is no one on this world who doesn’t have something unique to share.

The Week In News

His right-wing allies won 19 of the 27 seats that were up from grabs in the Senate, and initial returns suggested a strong showing for his base in the lower house.

Although Lula left the presidency 12 years ago with record popularity, he is now disliked by many Brazilians after he was convicted of accepting bribes and jailed during the last elec tion. His conviction was later over turned by the Supreme Court, allow ing him to run again for president this year, along with nine other candidates from an array of smaller parties.

fans piled up against narrow exits, crushing each other. At least 125 peo ple were reported dead as of Sunday night.

The disaster has focused attention on the use of tear gas by local police in such a tightly packed stadium. On Twitter, one of the top trending top ics in Indonesia was “National Police Chief,” with many Indonesians calling for his removal. A spokesperson for the national police said that in addi tion to the huge death toll, there were reports that at least 300 people had been injured.

government efforts to suppress them. The protests stem from the incarcera tion and death of a young woman who had been taken into custody by Iran’s morality police three weeks ago.

This week, Supreme Leader Aya tollah Ali Khamenei broke silence on the matter, responding publicly to what he called “rioting” and accusing the U.S. and Israel of planning the un rest.

Runoff in Brazil Elections

Sunday’s elections in Brazil saw President Jair Bolsonaro nabbing 43.3% of the vote to rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s 48.4%. As neither of them garnered a majority of support, the country is headed to a runoff elec tion set to be held on October 30.

Several opinion surveys had shown the leftist Lula, who was pres ident from 2003 to 2010, leading the far-right Bolsonaro by 10-15 percent age points ahead of Sunday’s elec tions. The much tighter result dashed hopes of a quick resolution to a deep ly polarized election in the world’s fourth-largest democracy.

“The extreme right is very strong across Brazil,” noted Carlos Melo, a political scientist at the Insper busi ness school. “Lula’s second-round victory is now less likely. Bolsonaro will arrive with a lot of strength for re-election.”

Meanwhile, Lula put an optimistic spin on the result, saying that it would only postpone his victory and that he looked forward to going head-to-head with Bolsonaro in a debate.

“We can compare the Brazil he has built to the one we built,” he told re porters.

Bolsonaro was also calm and con fident in his post-election remarks, disparaging polling firms for failing to gauge his support.

“I plan to make the right political alliances to win this election,” he told journalists, pointing to significant ad vances his party made in Congress in Sunday’s general election.

A career lawmaker turned selfstyled outsider, Bolsonaro rode a backlash against Lula’s Workers Party to victory in 2018, uniting strands of Brazil’s right, from evangelical Chris tians to farming interests and pro-gun advocates.

He has dismantled environmental and indigenous protections to the de light of commercial farmers and wild cat miners, while appealing to social conservatives. Still, the pandemic has soured his image in Brazilians’ eyes.

125 Dead After Soccer Match

Violent, often deadly rivalries be tween major teams are common in Indonesia. But Indonesia has never before seen a sports stadium disaster on this scale. Saturday’s tragedy ap peared to be a perfect storm of every thing that could go wrong at a soccer match.

Indonesia’s president, Joko Wido do, has asked the police chief for a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident. In a televised speech to the nation, he said he had also or dered the minister of youth and sports and the chair of Indonesia’s football association to evaluate security at soc cer matches.

Police defended their use of tear gas, which they said was necessary to subdue aggrieved fans. East Java’s police chief, Inspector General Nico Afinta, said the gas was deployed “be cause there was anarchy.” He said the fans “were about to attack the officers and had damaged the cars.”

Speaking to a cadre of police stu dents in Tehran, Khamenei said he was “heartbroken” by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, calling it a “sad incident.” However, he sharply condemned the protests as a foreign plot to destabilize Iran, echoing authorities’ previous comments.

“This rioting was planned,” he as serted. “These riots and insecurities were designed by America and the Zi onist regime and their employees.”

It was supposed to be a joyous oc casion for fans of Arema FC, the most beloved soccer team in Malang, Indo nesia.

Tens of thousands of young people — who call themselves “Aremania” — had packed the Kanjuruhan Stadium on Saturday night, hoping to watch their team beat Persebaya Surabaya, a club it had defeated for 23 years run ning.

But Arema lost, 3-2, and angry fans began rushing the field. What unfolded next became one of the deadliest sports stadium disasters in history: Police officers began shooting tear gas canisters into the crowd and beating fans with batons, witnesses said, and in a rush to flee the stadium

But witnesses dispute Afinta’s ac count, saying that police officers fired tear gas indiscriminately into the stands, causing a stampede and many people to suffocate. Videos circulating on Twitter showed fans scaling a fence as they tried to flee the clouds of tear gas. Other videos showed security forces with shields and batons kick ing and hitting fans who had rushed onto the field. (© The New York Times Company)

Iran: U.S. to Blame for Protests

Mass protests have been rocking Iran for the past few weeks, despite

Meanwhile, Sharif University of Technology in Tehran announced that only doctoral students would be al lowed on campus until further notice following hours of protests Sunday evening, when witnesses said an ti-government protesters clashed with hard-line pro-establishment students. Hundreds of students were arrested.

In his remarks on Monday, Khame nei condemned scenes of protesters ripping off their hijabs and setting fire to mosques, banks and police cars as “actions that are not normal, that are unnatural.”

Security forces have responded to protesters with tear gas, metal pellets, and, in some cases, live ammunition, according to rights groups.

Iran’s state TV has reported that the death toll from violent clashes between protesters and the secu rity officers could be as high as 41. Rights groups have given higher death counts, with London-based Amnesty International saying it has identified 52 victims, including five women and at least five children.

of every 6

challenge of infertility.

Bonei Olam was founded to alleviate the suffering of couples struggling with infertility to help finance the exorbitant costs of modern fertility treatments. The organization has guided countless couples through the labyrinth of medical options, underwritten thousands of fertility procedures and launched a groundbreaking genetics program critically acclaimed by medical researchers

Bonei Olam provides millions of dollars in financial assistance to cover the costs of fertility treatments and medical procedures. Thousands of children have been born through the financial assistance of Bonei Olam.

The Week In News

Hundreds have been arrested.

Khamenei warned that that those who foment unrest to “sabotage” the country deserve “harsh prosecution and punishment.”

Young people who “come to the streets after excitement after watch ing something on the internet,” he added, should be “disciplined.”

UK Axes Tax Cut

sent the pound tumbling to a record low against the dollar.

The Bank of England was forced to intervene to prop up the bond market. Fears that the bank will soon hike in terest rates caused mortgage lenders to withdraw their cheapest deals, causing turmoil for homebuyers.

Opposition parties said the gov ernment should scrap its whole eco nomic plan.

“UK gov U-turns on top tax rate abolition because it’s a ‘distraction,’”

Scottish First Minister Nicola Stur geon of the Scottish National Party wrote on Twitter. “Morally wrong and hugely costly for millions is a better description. Utter ineptitude.”

groups that has displaced nearly 10% of its population and killed scores of civilians.

This weekend’s coup began Friday when military officers accused Dami ba of failing to sufficiently contain the Islamist insurgency. Damiba initially refused to relinquish power and, in a post to Facebook on Friday, warned of a “fratricidal war” if Traoré did not back down.

The military has also commit ted widespread human rights abuses against civilians, according to rights groups, casting doubts on its popu larity throughout the country and, in turn, filled the ranks of extremists.

officials, according to a tally compiled by The Associated Press on Monday.

Dozens more were wounded in Friday’s blast, making it one of the bloodiest attacks since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan more than a year ago. There was no claim of responsibility; Islamic State group extremists have carried out a series of attacks against Taliban targets and ethnic minorities, although the terror group has yet to admit responsibility.

The British government on Mon day dropped plans to cut income tax for top earners, part of a package of unfunded cuts unveiled only days ago that sparked turmoil on financial markets and sent the pound to record lows.

In a dramatic about-face, Trea sury chief Kwasi Kwarteng abandoned plans to scrap the top 45% rate of income tax paid on earnings above 150,000 pounds ($167,000) a year.

He and Prime Minister Liz Truss have spent the last 10 days defending the cut in the face of market mayhem and increasing alarm among the governing Conservative Party.

“We get it, and we have listened,” Kwarteng said in a statement. “It is clear that the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country.”

The U-turn came after a growing number of Conservative lawmakers, including former ministers with broad influence, turned on the government’s tax plans.

“I can’t support the 45p tax re moval when nurses are struggling to pay their bills,” Tory lawmaker Maria Caulfield said.

Truss took office less than a month ago, promising to radically reshape Britain’s economy to end years of sluggish growth. But the govern ment’s announcement of a stimu lus package that includes 45 billion pounds ($50 billion) in tax cuts, to be paid for by government borrowing,

A Coup – Again – in Burkina Faso

The post left many confused over who was actually in charge, but by Sunday the message had been delet ed and Traoré declared that the situ ation was “under control.” As he left the headquarters of the national tele vision network on Sunday, protesters shouting “Merci” and “Our President” urged Traoré to seek a new interna tional partner in the country’s fight against Islamist insurgents: Russia.

“No to France, and Traoré should travel to Russia soon,” said Roland Ouedraogo, a protester who was demonstrating in front of the French Embassy on Sunday.

The blast struck at a time when hundreds of teen-age students were taking practice exams at the Kaaj Higher Educational Center in the Af ghan capital. The explosion blew the roof off the building.

Most of those who were killed in the blast were women and girls, in cluding 31 students between the ages of 17 and 20. The youngest victim was a 14-year-old girl called Nasrin, who was visiting the center with her 19-year-old cousin Layeqa, who also died in the blast.

Since the Taliban takeover of Af ghanistan in August 2021, the Islam ic State group, a rival of the Taliban, has carried out a series of attacks, in cluding suicide bombings in crowded mosques.

The army officer who seized power over Burkina Faso in a coup in Janu ary conceded Sunday that he, too, had been ousted by mutinying soldiers, capping two days of unrest and plung ing the West African country again into uncertainty about its political future.

Lt.-Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Da miba, who has led the junta ruling the country since the January coup, offi cially resigned Sunday after the mil itary assured his security, religious and community leaders acting as me diators said in a statement.

The resignation appeared to end two days of tensions in the capital, Ouagadougou, between factions loyal to Damiba and the man who has now replaced him, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré.

Traoré was designated as presi dent until a transitional leader could be named, according to a statement read on national television. No time line was provided.

A poor, landlocked West African nation of 21 million, Burkina Faso has faced a mounting insurgency led by extremists affiliated with Islamist

Traoré had accused France, the country’s former colonial power, of helping Damiba stage a comeback and protecting him at the embassy or at a base where French special forces are posted. The French Foreign Ministry denied it was hosting Damiba in any of those locations, and Traoré later retracted his comments. (© The New York Times Company)

52 People Killed in Kabul Blast

Afghanistan’s minority Hazaras have been a frequent target of the vi olence. Most Hazaras are Shiite Mus lims, despised by Sunni Muslim radi cals like the Islamic State group, and discriminated against by many in the Sunni majority country.

The education center targeted Fri day is in the Kabul neighborhood of Dashti Barchi, where many of the res idents are Hazaras.

American Prisoners Released From Venezuela and Iran

Last week’s suicide bombing at a Kabul education center killed as many as 52 people, more than twice the death toll acknowledged by Taliban

Seven Americans held in Venezu ela for years were on their way home

The Week In News

Saturday after President Joe Biden agreed to grant clemency to two neph ews of Cilia Flores, Venezuela’s first lady, who were sentenced in 2017 to 18 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States, officials said.

At the same time, Iran on Saturday released Siamak Namazi, a 51-yearold dual-national Iranian American businessman who has been jailed since 2015, on a renewable furlough and lifted the travel ban on his father, Baquer Namazi, an 85-year-old for mer official for the United Nations, according to the family’s lawyer.

A senior official in the Biden ad ministration said the timing of the two announcements was coincidental.

American officials said the two Venezuelans known as the “narco nephews” — Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas — were flown to a third country on Saturday at the same time that a plane carrying the Americans landed in the same country, which of ficials would not name.

A senior administration official called the president’s action to grant clemency “a tough decision and a painful decision,” but said it was the only way to persuade Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to release the Americans.

Officials declined to say whether the prisoner swap represented a thaw in the relationship between the United States and the government in Venezu ela. The United States has imposed sanctions on Maduro’s government as it presses for negotiations between Maduro and Juan Guaidó, the former National Assembly leader, whom the United States considers Venezuela’s legitimate interim president.

The release of the Namazis comes as negotiations over returning to a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities have bogged down. American officials have long insisted that prisoner talks are not connected to the talks to re vive the 2015 deal.

The White House made no official mention of the actions by Iran on Sat urday. In a statement, Biden did not mention the release of the Venezue lan drug smugglers. But he welcomed home the Americans: Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Mat

thew Heath, and Osman Khan.

The announcement is likely to be another flash point in the debate about whether it is a good idea to re lease criminals convicted of signifi cant crimes in exchange for detained Americans. (© The New York Times Company)

War in Ukraine Drags On

Ukrainian territories into Russia. No lawmakers in the lower house voted against President Vladimir Putin’s bill and constitutional changes to in corporate the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions into Russia. Russia’s constitutional court has already recognised the annex ation of four key Ukrainian territories as lawful, effectively rubber stamping the annexation accords signed by Putin with the Moscow-backed leaders of the regions, despite widespread condemnation by the West.

In a sham gesture of democracy, the Kremlin said on Monday that it will consult with residents living in two of the Ukrainian regions it moved to annex last week – Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – on how their borders should be defined.

from around 233,000 on Friday, based on information from LUMA En ergy, which operates its grid.

Despite the many who are still in the dark, energy companies have been working faster than they did five years ago, when Hurricane Maria left 1.5 million customers without power for a week. It took Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) about 11 months to restore power to all cus tomers at the time.

Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 155 miles per hour, while Fiona hit as a Category 1 storm with winds of 85 mph.

It’s been more than seven months since Vladimir Putin’s troops marched into Ukraine. The Russian leader thought that Ukraine would capitulate to his strong-armed tactics and that he would be able to declare victory in a matter of days, or even weeks. But Ukraine has proven itself to be a for midable adversary.

Just this week, Ukrainian Pres ident Volodymur Zelensky declared that Ukraine had “fully cleared” Rus sian forces from the key eastern city of Lyman, a day after Moscow ad mitted its troops had pulled out after they were encircled. Lyman’s recap ture by Ukrainian troops is Russia’s largest battlefield loss since Ukraine’s lightning counteroffensive in the north-eastern Kharkiv region in September. Russian forces had captured Lyman from Ukraine in May and had been using it as a logistics and transport hub for its operations in the north of the Donetsk region.

Along with Lyman, Ukraine forces have liberated the small Arkhan helske and Myrolyubivka settlements in the Kherson region as well, Zelenskiy said.

In Kherson, Russian troops occu py the Ukrainian city, although the head of the Russian-imposed author ity in the region admits that Ukraini ans had gained some ground.

Meanwhile, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the state Duma, has approved laws on annexing four

Still No Power in Puerto Rico

Poland Wants $1.3T from Germany in Reparations

Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico on September 18, knocking out power to the 3.3 million people who live in the territory. As of Monday, an esti mated 120,000 homes and businesses were still without power, two weeks after the storm.

After hitting Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, Fiona turned north and slammed into eastern Can ada on September 24, leaving more than a third of Nova Scotia without power.

Nova Scotia Power, a unit of Cana dian energy company Emera Inc, said about 24,500 customers were still without power in the province ear ly Monday, down from about 59,900 early Friday.

PowerOutage.us said about 120,000 customers were without ser vice in Puerto Rico on Monday, down

Poland’s foreign minister on Mon day signed an official note to Germany requesting the payment of some $1.3 trillion in reparations for the damage inflicted by occupying Nazi Germans during World War II. Poland’s repara tions demand includes cases of Jews killed by Poles during the Holocaust.

Zbigniew Rau said the note will be handed to Germany’s Foreign Ministry. The signing comes on the eve of Rau’s meeting in Warsaw with Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is attending a security conference.

Rau said the note expresses his view that the two sides should take action “without delay” to address the effects of Germany’s 1939-45 occupa tion in a “lasting and complex, legally binding as well as material way.”

He said that would include Ger man reparations as well as solving the issue of looted artworks and archives.

Baerbock said in Berlin before de parting for Poland that the two Euro

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pean neighbors and partners have a “responsibility to preserve the trust we have built together over the past 30 years.”

Baerbock stressed that “this in cludes that coming to terms with and remembering the immeasurable suf fering that Germany brought upon the people of Poland.”

“There cannot and will not be a line drawn here,” Baerbock added.

Poland’s right-wing government insists that Poland is owed repara tions for extensive war damage, while Berlin says it has paid compensation to the affected countries, including Poland, and considers the matter closed.

On the war’s 83rd anniversary, September 1, Poland’s government presented an extensive report on the damages, estimating it at $1.3 trillion.

Included in the list of atroci ties are villages that were the sites of Polish pogroms against Jews — perhaps most infamously the vil lage of Jedwabne, where over 300

Jews were burned alive by ethnic Poles — as well as other Jewish deaths that can be tied to Polish citizens.

Finland Bars Russians from Entering as Tourists

route into the European Union for people fleeing the Kremlin’s military mobilization effort.

The policy takes effect at midnight on Friday, Finland’s government an nounced.

The decision leaves open some av enues for Russian nationals to enter Finland — including for work, stud ies and what an official described as “humanitarian reasons” — but is ex pected to sharply reduce the number of Russians arriving.

Approximately 80% of Russians entering Finland on tourist visas go on to other countries.

Finland announced on Thursday that it would bar Russians from enter ing as tourists, closing off the last land

Finland was the last European Union nation to allow Russians to en ter as tourists, after Poland and the Baltic States, which also share a land border with Russia, enacted their own bans last week. As a member of the Schengen area, which allows free travel within 26 countries in Europe, Finland has been a key entry point for Russians into the EU; last week, two-thirds of the 66,000 Russians en tering the EU via land borders came through Finland, according to Fron tex, the EU border agency.

Finland’s government had long discussed barring Russian tourists, but President Vladimir Putin’s callup this month of hundreds of thou sands of civilians for military service “had a significant effect” on the deci sion, Finland’s foreign minister, Pek ka Haavisto, told a news conference. Russia’s mobilization prompted an ex odus of Russian men escaping possi ble deployment to the war in Ukraine.

Living in the shadow of Rus sia, a large and powerful neighbor, has shaped Finland’s foreign policy, and Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted fast changes. In June, NATO leaders formally invited Fin land and Sweden to join the military alliance, as both Nordic nations aban doned decades of neutrality and mil itary nonalignment in order to but tress their security.

The numbers of Russians entering Finland have dipped since reaching a

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peak over the weekend. On Tuesday, 7,052 Russians entered the country, twice as many as the number that re turned to Russia, according to govern ment figures. The number of arrivals dropped to 4,707 on Wednesday, as Russia began restricting access to the border for men eligible for military service.

Finland had already this month cut the number of tourist visas it is sues to Russians by 90%, to only 100 a day.

“Our government’s view is clear: Tourism and transit through Finland must end,” Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters last week. (© The New York Times Company)

Federer’s farewell in the Laver Cup team event in London last month.

Djokovic, who did not drop a set all week, now heads to the Astana ATP tournament, where world number one Carlos Alcaraz takes the top seeding.

Lebanon Maritime Deal

The U.S.-brokered talks on rights to the area, the subject of long-run ning but indirect negotiations be tween Jerusalem and Beirut and re peated threats from the Hezbollah terror group, have made progress in recent weeks. The deal has been in the making for the past ten years.

The discussions began under the auspices of the previous government, led by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Net anyahu.

Netanyahu charged on Sunday that “Lapid has no mandate to hand over to an enemy state sovereign ter ritories and sovereign assets that be long to all of us.”

only on drilling within its own sov ereign territory — that’s beyond the scope of the maritime dispute with Lebanon. As to the disputed territory, I understand Lebanon gets it all.”

Tensions rose after earlier this year Israel moved a gas exploration ship to the disputed Karish gas field and recently said it will begin extracting from the site. Last month Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened that his Iran-backed terror organi zation’s missiles were “locked on” to Karish. Still, on Saturday, Nasrallah said the U.S. draft deal opens up “new and promising horizons for the people of Lebanon by rescuing the country

Prime Minister Yair Lapid con firmed Sunday that Israel has received a long-negotiated U.S. proposal to re solve its maritime border dispute with Lebanon, adding that the plan would preserve Israel’s regional interests.

Netanyahu also said Lapid had “surrendered to Hezbollah’s threats,” and that if he were to form a govern ment after the November 1 elections, he would not be bound by the deal.

Djokovic Wins Tel Aviv Tournament

The United States handed over the written plan to Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday.

Addressing ministers at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Lapid said that the emerging agreement se cures Israel’s interests, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

“We are conducting discussions on the final details,” Lapid said and cau tioned that it was still too early to see the agreement as completed.

Lapid responded in a tweet ad dressing Netanyahu directly, saying, “For 10 years you have failed in trying to bring about this agreement. At least don’t harm Israel’s security interests and help Hezbollah with irresponsible messages.”

Texas Senator Ted Cruz expressed concern over the emerging deal, af ter Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah hailed Israeli concessions as a sign of Lebanese victory.

Attacks on the Rise

There has been a significant rise in shooting attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem over the past month, an increase of around 47 percent, accord ing to new data released by the Shin Bet internal security agency.

Novak Djokovic claimed his third title of 2022 and the 89th of his career with an impressive straight-sets victo ry over Marin Cilic in the Tel Aviv final on Sunday.

The 35-year-old Djokovic tri umphed 6-3, 6-4 to add the Israeli trophy to victories in Rome and Wim bledon this season.

It was Djokovic’s 19th win over Cil ic in 21 meetings, in a rivalry stretch ing back to 2008.

Djokovic was playing his first sin gles tournament since wrapping up a seventh Wimbledon crown and 21st Grand Slam title in July.

He was banned from the U.S. Open and the entire North American hard court swing over his refusal to be vaccinated before returning for Roger

“We do not oppose the develop ment of an additional Lebanese gas field, from which we will of course receive the share we deserve,” Lapid said. “Such a field will weaken Leb anon’s dependence on Iran, restrain Hezbollah and promote regional sta bility.”

Even so, Lapid insisted that “as we demanded from the first day, the proposal fully preserves Israel’s diplo matic and security interests, as well as our economic interests.”

The maritime dispute relates to some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that include lucrative offshore gas fields. Lebanon claims that the Karish gas field is in disputed territory, while Israel says it lies within its interna tionally recognized economic waters.

“I am deeply troubled that Biden officials pressured our Israeli allies to hand over their territory to the Iran-controlled terrorist group Hez bollah,” Cruz tweeted. “Another topic for the next Republican Congress to investigate.”

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman also weighed in on the deal, lambasting the agreement and claiming it marks a complete ca pitulation of Israel’s interests in favor of Lebanon’s.

In a series of tweets Monday morning, Friedman, wrote, “We spent years trying to broker a deal between Israel and Lebanon on the disputed maritime gas fields. Got very close with proposed splits of 55-60% for Lebanon and 45-40% for Israel. No one then imagined 100% to Lebanon and 0% to Israel. Would love to under stand how we got here.”

He added, “I could be wrong, by I think Israel does get zero. My under standing is that Israel gets royalties

The numbers released by the agen cy showed that in the month of Sep tember there were a total of 34 shoot ing attacks, which comes out to more than once per day. The data marked an increase from the 23 shooting at tacks in August and a significant in crease from 15 in July – 126%.

According to the Shin Bet, there were a total of 212 attacks compared to 172 in August, a rise of 23 percent. Meanwhile, July saw 113, and June had a total of 147 attacks.

The majority of attacks were Mo lotov cocktails – a total of 139. In ad dition, there were also 53 pipe bombs compared to 39 in August vs. 27 in the previous month. September also saw four stabbing attacks. There were also four assaults and four vehicular ram ming attacks.

Fourteen Israelis were injured in September in attacks; two were killed.

On Monday morning two Palestinians were shot dead and another injured by IDF troops in the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah after the terrorists attempted to run over the troops during an arrest raid in the area. They were identified by

“During the activity, a ramming at tack was attempted against the forces, who responded by firing and neutral ized the two suspects,” the IDF said.

The rise in attacks comes as the IDF continues to carry out regular op erations in the West Bank, focusing on cities like Jenin and Nablus as well as their refugee camps, as part of Opera tion Break the Wave in order to put an end to terror attacks against Israelis.

Over 100 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,500 have been ar rested and security forces have fo cused on the northern part and cities

like Jenin and Nablus. But despite the high number of arrests, the increase in shooting attacks has become a ma jor source of concern for the IDF.

Despite the military attempting to crack down on weapons smuggling, sources told The Jerusalem Post that the many years without a strong barrier between Israel and the West Bank allowed for a significant amount of weapons to flow into the hands of gunmen.

A Restart to EUIsrael Association

On Monday, Prime Minister Yair Lapid and EU foreign policy chief Jo sep Borrell spoke at the start of the long-frozen EU-Israel Association Council meeting in Brussels.

Lapid, speaking by videolink from Jerusalem, stressed what the two sides have in common, including “lib eral and democratic values.”

“We are all united in our desire to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said.

Lapid highlighted both Israeli and EU support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the need to “defend free dom of expression, freedom of reli gion, and freedom of the press around the world.”

Borrell, on the other hand, touched on areas of disagreement, particularly Israel’s policies toward the Palestin ians.

“We will discuss frankly and open ly about some specific issues which are of our mutual concern,” he said in regards to the council meeting, the

first since July 2012. “I am talking about the situation in the Palestinian territories and the Middle East peace process which is stalled.”

The Spanish diplomat and econ omist added that the Europeans are concerned about “continued violence and tensions on the ground, and the continuation of unilateral measures such as the expansion of settlements.”

In his remarks, Lapid emphasized Israeli support for the Palestinian Au thority and his backing of a two-state solution.

“We are working with them and helping their economy develop,” he said, before adding that “the Palestin ians need to put an end to terrorism and incitement.”

The prime minister asserted, “Is rael wants peace that will lead to secu rity, not peace that will destabilize the Middle East.”

He invited the EU to become part of the Negev Forum, the regional co operation framework launched this

Palestinian media as Basel Basbous and Khalid Anbar.

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summer in Sde Boker, while also tout ing the potential to expand coopera tion on energy security, cost of living, research, and trade.

According to a statement released Monday afternoon by the Prime Min ister’s Office, the specific goals of the meeting included accessing EU funds for Israeli companies; signing a cellu lar coverage agreement to reduce the cost of roaming charges; concluding an export agreement for Israeli organ ic produce; and a deal allowing Israel to adopt European food standards to reduce the cost of living.

Israel signed an Association Agreement that defined its relation ship with the EU in 1995 and ratified it in 2000. The Association Council, a meeting to cover matters of mutual concern, is meant to occur annually between Israel and the EU.

Israel canceled the Council in 2013, when the EU angered Jeru salem by issuing new regulations according to which no Israeli body that operates or has links beyond the Green Line can receive EU funding or have any cooperation with the EU.

Gantz Visits Azerbaijan

Elchin Guliyev and visited a State Bor der Service headquarters.

During the visit, Gantz empha sized the importance of maintaining strategic relations between the State of Israel and the Republic of Azerbai jan, as well as the importance of con tinuing to work towards regional and global peace and stability. During his meetings, Gantz reflected on the changes in the Middle East region following the signing of the Abraham Accords and discussed Israel’s devel oping ties with Turkey and additional countries in the region and the world.

Minister Gantz was joined by the MOD Director General Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Eshel, Director of the Pol icy and POL-MIL Bureau Dror Sha lom, and Military Secretary Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf.

Due to security reasons, the visit was not reported until Gantz departed back to Israel.

Azerbaijan is located on the border between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It borders the countries of Rus sia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, and Iran. Ninety-seven percent of its pop ulation are Muslim.

set to lapse. It will keep the govern ment open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their con siderable differences over the dozen annual spending bills.

The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With Friday’s vote, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War, reflecting a remarkable bipartisan consensus in favor of pouring huge amounts of U.S. resources into the fight as the nation seeks to reclaim more of its territory from Russia.

Still, most House Republicans op posed the measure, which passed on a largely party-line vote of 230-201. Ten Republicans joined every present Democrat in voting for the legislation.

Passage of the bill met the last legislative deadline facing Congress before the November midterm elec tions. Lawmakers, eager to return the campaign trail, vowed to address outstanding disputes in the annual legislation as part of an increasingly packed to-do list for when the House and Senate return in November.

The Dangers of Ultra-Processed Food

According to a study published re cently in the British medical journal

The BMJ, eating a lot of ultra-pro cessed foods significantly increases men’s risk of colorectal cancer and can lead to heart disease and early death in both men and women.

The research included two new, large-scale studies of people in the United States and Italy.

Biden Signs Stopgap Spending Bill

“The investments included in this bill are urgent and necessary to avoid disruptions to vital federal agencies, to help communities get back on their feet, to ensure we have the time needed to negotiate a final funding agreement that meets the needs of hardworking people,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., chair of the Ap propriations Committee.

Ultra-processed foods include pre packaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals and other foods such as hot dogs, sausages, French fries, sodas, store-bought cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts, and ice cream.

On Monday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz completed an official visit to Azer baijan, which was dedicated to security and policy issues and aimed at fostering defense cooperation between the coun tries.

During the visit, Gantz met with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. He was also welcomed to the Ministry of Defense with an hon or guard ceremony and met with his counterpart, Minister of Defense Col onel General Hasanov Zakir Asgar oglu. Gantz also met with the Chief of State Border Service, Colonel General

Congress gave final approval Fri day to a short-term spending package to keep the government open through mid-December and President Joe Biden signed it soon afterward, stav ing off a midnight shutdown and send ing about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine.

The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was

Republican leaders, however, counseled their conference to oppose the package. Although several Senate Republicans supported the package when it passed that chamber Thurs day, House Republicans argued that it did little to address their priorities, including providing a substantial in crease for the military and shoring up resources at the southern border.

Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, the top GOP member on the Appropriations Committee, chastised Democrats for a bill she said was being “rushed through the House today, with just hours to spare to avoid a government shutdown.” (© The New York Times Company)

“Literally hundreds of studies link ultra-processed foods to obesity, can cer, cardiovascular disease, and over all mortality,” said Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and au thor of numerous books on food pol itics and marketing, including 2015’s “Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning).”

The U.S.-based study examined the diets of over 200,000 men and women for up to 28 years and found a link between ultra-processed foods and colorectal cancer – the third most diagnosed cancer in the U.S. – in men, but not women.

Processed and ultra-processed meats, such as ham, bacon, salami, hotdogs, beef jerky and corned beef, have long been associated with a high er risk of bowel cancer in both men and women, according to the World Health Organization, American Can cer Society and the American Institute

for Cancer Research.

The new study, however, found that all types of ultra-processed foods played a role to some degree.

“We found that men in the high est quintile of ultra-processed food consumption, compared those in the lowest quintile, had a 29% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer,” said co-senior author Fang Fang Zhang, a cancer epidemiologist and chair of the division of nutrition epidemiology and data science at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston.

That association remained even after researchers took into account a person’s body mass index or dietary quality.

Interestingly, the study did not find the same risk for colorectal can cer for men and women.

Why are ultraprocessed foods so bad for us? For one, they are “readyto-eat-or-heat industrial formulations that are made with ingredients ex

tracted from foods or synthesized in laboratories, with little or no whole foods,” Zhang noted.

These overly processed foods are often high in added sugars and salt, low in dietary fiber, and full of chemi cal additives, such as artificial colors, flavors or stabilizers.

In 2019, the National Institute of Health (NIH) published the results of a controlled clinical trial comparing a processed and unprocessed diet. Researchers found those on the ul traprocessed diet ate at a faster rate – and ate an additional 500 calories more per day than people who were eating unprocessed foods.

Hurricane Ian’s Staggering Scale of Wreckage in FL

The extent of Hurricane Ian’s de

struction became clearer last Thurs day as people across southwestern Florida — left without electricity, drinking water or inhabitable homes — began to assess the damage and gird for what Gov. Ron DeSantis said would be a yearslong recovery.

The scale of the wreckage was staggering, even to Florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes. The storm pulverized roads, toppled trees, gut ted downtown storefronts and set cars afloat, leaving a soggy scar of ruined homes and businesses from the coast al cities of Naples and Fort Myers to inland communities around Orlando.

Although state officials had not released a death toll by late in the day, DeSantis said Thursday night that “we absolutely expect” to learn of storm-related fatalities as rescuers work through a backlog of 911 calls and scour the most devastated neigh borhoods. More than 500 people in Charlotte and Lee Counties, the hard est hit, had been rescued Thursday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said; the small town of Fort Myers Beach, on a barrier island just off the coast, appeared decimated.

Although Ian left Florida on Thursday afternoon as a tropical storm, South Carolina residents were bracing for lashing winds and heavy rain as it quickly became a hurricane again at sea; forecasters said it could strengthen again before doubling back onto land there by Friday.

Photos from several areas of the state showed homes crunched togeth er in a chaotic jumble or smashed into what looked like toothpicks. Fishing

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boats and pleasure cruisers had been hurled onto the ground as if they were bathtub toys. The streets were a per ilous obstacle course of toppled trees and downed wires.

In North Fort Myers, where Mari on Burkholder, 84, survived the storm by clambering into a dinghy inside a neighbor’s screened-in porch and floating up with the rising waters, Thursday brought dreaded news. Her carpets were sopping, and her floors were covered with a dark-brown liq uid. Her fridge lay on its side.

“Everything floated,” said Marvis Long, 96, who lives nearby. “The water was coming in just like waves in here.”

Mayors, sheriffs, and other offi cials surveying the damage struggled to even describe its scope.

“The damage that was done has been historic,” DeSantis said in a briefing Thursday. “We’ve never seen a flood event like this. We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude.” (© The New York Times Company)

United to Leave JFK

choices, and robust United service to JFK is good for our customers, our employees and our airline,” United said in the letter. “As a result, we will continue our pursuit of a bigger and more desirable schedule for our cus tomers and be ready to seize those op portunities if and when they surface.”

United has been negotiating with the FAA to acquire additional slots, or takeoff and landing authorizations, at JFK and advocating for the agency to update its assessment of the airport’s capacity. United said its discussions with the regulator have been “con structive” and that it is clear the FAA is serious about operational improve ments in the New York region.

But United said these improve ments would take time.

Earlier this month, United threat ened to pull service from the airport if the FAA did not give it additional slots.

70 Lives Lost in Hurricane Ian

cal examiner offices across Florida. Those reports show floodwaters were the greatest danger from the storm. Of the 25 official fatalities in those re ports, all but five listed drowning as a cause of death.

Gov. Ron DeSantis called Lee Coun ty “ground zero” for Ian destruction given the severe flooding in an area that includes the islands of Ft. Myers Beach and Sanibel.

Ian made landfall in Charlotte, a county that includes Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte. So far, 23 people have been reported dead from the storm.

States Sue for Student Loan Debt Program

Thursday. “President Biden does not have the power to arbitrarily erase the college debt of adults who chose to take out those loans.”

The legal challenge could delay one of Biden’s signature achievements just weeks before midterm elections that will determine who controls Congress for the balance of the president’s term. Nearly 40 million people with out standing college loans stand to benefit under the president’s plans, even after the administration cut about 700,000 borrowers from the program Thurs day in an attempt to ward off lawsuits.

The states of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, South Carolina and Nebras ka joined the lawsuit, which attacks Biden’s claim that the debt relief is justified by a federal law authorizing actions during a health emergency like the coronavirus pandemic.

The Republican officials in those states note that Biden recently de clared the pandemic to be over in an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS.

United Airlines had begun to fly out of JFK Airport in March 2021 af ter a five-year hiatus. Now, the airline is once again leaving the NYC airport.

This week, the airline announced that it is temporarily halting service at New York’s busiest airport, say ing its schedule there is too small to remain competitive. The departure will take place on October 29.

The airline noted that the start of the winter season, when more airlines resume flying to and from JFK, con tributed to its “difficult decision.”

“The significance of JFK to our operation hasn’t changed — we think New York customers deserve more

As of now, the death toll from Hur ricane Ian tops 70 people, whose cause of death mainly came from draining.

Fatality numbers are likely to rise in the coming days. Rescue teams also haven’t been able to reach all areas hit by Ian, with an unknown number of people still missing from the storm.

On Saturday, Lee County’s sheriff announced 35 deaths from Hurricane Ian in that hard-hit jurisdiction alone, nearly triple the official count for Lee released the same day by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission.

“It is with a heavy heart that I say that number,” Sheriff Carmine Marce no said in a Facebook video post.

Lee County accounts for half of the Ian deaths in tallies from medi

Six Republican-led states took legal action last Thursday to block President Joe Biden from wiping away billions of dollars in student loan debt, even as the administration tried to avoid a court challenge by reducing the number of people eligible for re lief.

A lawsuit filed in federal court by Leslie Rutledge, the Republican at torney general of Arkansas, accus es Biden of vastly overstepping his authority last month when he an nounced the government would for give as much as $20,000 per person in student loan debt, a far-reaching move that the nonpartisan Congres sional Budget Office estimated could cost $400 billion over the course of the next three decades.

“President Biden’s unlawful po litical play puts the self-wrought col lege-loan debt on the backs of millions of hardworking Americans who are struggling to pay their utility bills and home loans in the midst of Biden’s in flation,” Rutledge said in a statement

White House spokesperson Ab dullah Hasan said the lawsuit is at tempting to stop Biden from providing much-needed relief to people who are struggling in the wake of the pandem ic.

“Republican officials from these six states are standing with special interests and fighting to stop relief for borrowers buried under mountains of debt,” Hasan said. “The president and his administration are lawfully giving working- and middle-class families breathing room as they recover from the pandemic and prepare to resume loan payments in January.” (© The New York Times Company)

A Behemoth Bobblehead

This bobblehead can’t sit on your dashboard.

Last week, bargain retailer Ollie’s said it broke a world record with a 16.5

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In the Blink of an Eye

It was just this time of year. Besides baking round challos, cooking carrots, and focusing on the potent days ahead, the Klein* family had something else to be busy with. It all began with a tiny object that somehow flew into little Leah’s eye. They hoped it would disappear as quickly as it had arrived.

Mrs. Klein tried to assuage Leah’s discomfort, which before long, turned into full-fledged pain. “It will pass soon,” she tried to reassure her daughter. But it did not. In fact, the pain was growing and growing – and the area around Leah’s eye was growing along with it. Soon, Leah couldn’t open her swollen eye and could hardly see!

Her parents were beside themselves and made Leah’s eye their top priority. They ran for medical intervention. Special eye drops hardly helped. An emergency visit at an eye care professional didn’t offer the solution they were waiting for either. Leah still could not see from the affected eye.

On Thursday, during the week of Selichos, Mr. Klein, who happens to be an active Tehillim Kollel member year-round, called in to the office with his anxious request: “Please, beg for my child to have a complete recovery! The prognosis does not look good,” he stressed.

The Kleins arranged for an appointment with a top specialist in the hospital, and were told to come in that Friday. They prepared to remain in the hospital over the Shabbos immediately before Rosh Hashanah

But even before they had a chance to be seen, the results of the concentrated Tehillim recited that morning were visible. Just before candle lighting time, Leah opened her eye – as if nothing had happened. She could see! The sudden salvation was dramatic and complete. Leah regained full vision in the blink of an eye. Indeed, “Yeshuas Hashem k’heref ayin!”

have been changed.

foot tall, 600-pound bobblehead repli ca of their mascot.

The massive, fully-functioning bobblehead depicts Ollie, the compa ny’s mustachioed mascot. The compa ny unveiled the huge statue as part of their 40th birthday celebration.

Ollie’s had a stiff mountain to climb to claim the bobblehead title. The bob blehead record was previously held by Applied Underwriters, who created a 15-foot replica of their St. Bernard mascot in 2016.

Guinness’s guidelines stipulate that the bobblehead must be fully functioning and must be a replica of an existing item – like the smaller Ollie bobblehead that Ollie’s already sold.

Making such a huge figurine takes time. It took the company four months to hand-sculpt with doll with foam. Over 10.5 gallons of paint were used.

Giant Ollie weighs more than 600 pounds.

The bobblehead was revealed at the company’s flagship store in Har risburg, Pennsylvania.

“For 40 years, we’ve been commit ted to offering huge deals on brand name merchandise, so we wanted to create something big to help honor our anniversary, and what better than a 16-foot bobblehead?” John Swygert, Ollie’s president and CEO, said.

Sounds like a big deal.

A Young Inspiration

Yalemzerf Yehualaw did not let a major fall get in her way.

The 23-year-old became the youngest winner of the London Mar athon on Sunday – despite falling in middle of the race after stumbling over a speed bump.

Yehualaw’s victory, in two hours, 17 minutes and 25 seconds, was the third fastest time ever in the women’s race, the fastest debut time in history, and an Ethiopian record.

Yehualaw, who ran her first com petitive marathon in April, made her break with four miles to go and clocked a remarkable 4:43 mile split on mile 24.

2021 champion Joyciline Jepkosgei finished 41 seconds back in second, while Ethiopia’s Alemu Megertu was third.

Sounds like Yehualaw won the race against time.

Something Fishy

The incident caused her to lose time over her rivals, and later she ad mitted the faceplant “hurt.”

A fishing tournament turned out to not be too much fun after judges found that professional fishermen about to win a prize had stuffed their fish with weights and fillets.

Jason Fischer, the director of the Lake Erie Walleye Trail, became sus picious of foul play when the five fish he guessed to weigh not more than four pounds each came to a total of 34 pounds on the scales

“I thought, there’s just no way,” he said. “I could also hear the crowd grumbling, like ‘no way, there’s no way.’

“I physically felt the fish, I could feel hard objects inside the fish,” he said. “It’s not like they’re eating rocks.”

Fischer then sliced open the bel lies of the fish caught by Jake Runyan and his partner Chase Cominsky. Lead weights and fillets from other fish were found in the fish’s bellies.

The crowd was outraged by Runyan and Cominsky’s blatant cheating, many of them wondering if they cheat ed in previous tournaments.

The would-be winners were set to take home a $28,760 prize.

Sounds really fishy.

Jewish Thought

The Ticket or the Plane?

By Rabbi David Sutton

People constantly struggle to find the balance between the mitzvos of bitachon and hishtadlus — the effort they are required to put forth. We have trouble understanding how the ef forts we undertake do not really cause the outcome, whether the issue is money or healing or anything else. We must be aware that the result is not our doing, but rather, it is G-d’s decree. How do these seemingly opposing forces work together?

Chacham Ben Tzion Abba Shaul, in his sefer Ohr L’Tzion Chochmah U’Mus sar, explains with an elegantly simple, on-point mashal:

A person wants to reach a certain destination and needs to fly to get there. To be able to board the plane, he must first buy a tick et. Only then can he board. However, he knows very well that the ticket is not what brings him to his des

tination; rather it is the plane. The ticket does nothing at all to fuel or guide the plane. It is only a requirement for the passenger to embark. The airline has its rules, and we must follow them if we want a seat on the flight.

Likewise, says Chacham Ben Tzion, G-d’s “airline” has its rules and regu lations, which state that we must do our hishtadlus if we want to board the plane and get where He intends for us to go in life. Once we board, however, our hishtadlus has done its job. It has no ef fect on the flight.

Sometimes, a person keeps adding to his hishtadlus, but he doesn’t see results until he puts in one final bit of effort. Why is it so hard for him to get on the plane? Why the delay?

A couple was checking in to fly from Tel Aviv back to their home in New Jer sey. They had gathered all the Covid test results and papers they needed to fly, but the clerk wanted to see proof of Covid vaccinations. Unaware that this would be necessary for their homeward flight, the man had stashed the document hap

hazardly in his luggage. He wasn’t sure where it was. Since he had been required to show it to enter Israel, he tried to rea son with the clerk that there could be no doubt that he had it. “Rules are rules,” she replied.

Instead of passing through to the de parture gate, the couple went off to the side to dig through their luggage and find the little laminated card that would gain them passage. It was a tense fifteen min utes until they calmed down and method ically unpacked the carry-on, where they at last found what they needed. They could go to the gate.

Like the vaccination card, sometimes hishtadlus seems frustrating and unnec essary. However, for whatever reason, this is what Hashem requires of us, and when we calm down and dig a little deep er, we achieve whatever it was He wanted us to achieve. But after all that, we still have to realize that it’s the plane – not the ticket, not the passport, not the Covid test result – that gets us where we need to go.

With this mashal, Chacham Ben Tzion also explains why there are great tzaddi

kim who receive their parnassah without hishtadlus. There are extreme examples of this, such as Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosa and Rav Shimon bar Yochai, to whom Hashem provided special ways of obtain ing sustenance. Even today, some of our gedolim seem to be sustained magically, directly by Hashem’s hand.

Continuing with the airline mashal, those who need not “pay” hishtadlus are those who work for the airline. Imagine if someone were to ask the pilot, “How do you get from New York to Florida without a ticket? It’s impossible to fly without a ticket!” He would answer that it is not at all impossible. The ticket doesn’t get him there; the plane does. He doesn’t need a ticket because he is among those who operate the airline. Likewise, the tzaddik helps Hashem run His creation. He is in separable from Hashem and His Torah. Therefore, he can board free of charge, whereas ordinary people need to buy a ticket, and some tickets cost more than others.

In all cases, it’s the plane — G-d’s de cree — that transports them.

This article was excerpted from A Daily Dose of Bitachon by Rabbi David Sutton, ArtScroll/Mesorah.

about to sprout

Drops of water connect to seed

a secret of nature.

the miracle of growth

When you connect with your students they will come alive in your classroom.

your power as the teacher.

marvel at how fulfilling your teaching experience becomes.

with wonder

Real connection

seeds

plant

The Borders of Eretz Yisrael Encompassed in Your Sukkah

The Abarbanel ’ s Revolutionary Approach to Sukkos

By RaBBi Daniel Glatstein

There is a custom to display in the sukkah samples of the shivas haminim , seven species, with which Eretz Yisrael is praised. The origin of this custom is not readily identified, but as all minhagei Yisrael are rooted in holy sources, let us endeavor to discover the meaning of this practice.

The pasuk tells us, “You shall make the Festival of Sukkos for a seven day period, when you gather in from your threshing floor and from your wine cellar ” ( De varim 16:13). The letter “taf ” as the prefix to a shoresh, word root, adds the directive “ you shall” to the action mentioned. Usu ally, when the Torah employs this prefix, it is to issue a command, a mitzvah that we are directed to do. Thus, the pasuk can be read as an instruction from the Torah However, this prefix can also be interpret ed not as a directive, but as a declaration that you will do it.

The sefer Yaffeh LaLev, by Rav Chaim Palagi, quotes a Pesikta that interprets this pasuk using both interpretations The pasuk could have written the in struction beginning with the word asei, make, without using the prefix taf The fact that the taf is added tells us that the pasuk means, “ You are to make the suk kah, and if you do, you have a havtachah, assurance, from Hashem that you will continue to do so for years to come.” It is both a command to celebrate the yom tov and a bracha that if you do keep the yom tov, you will be enabled to continue to keep the yom tov in years to come. The Kaf HaChaim, Rav Yaakov Chaim Sofer, quotes this Pesikta, including the promise of being blessed to continue to sit in the

sukkah in the future

The Abarbanel also quotes this drasha of the Pesikta When Yitzchak Avinu was born, Avraham Avinu made a seudah at his bris (Bereishis 21:8). The Midrash Rab bah states that the malachim, in the guise of men, attended the seudah. The Abar banel points out that the pasuk makes no mention of the malachim having attended this seudah How, then, does the Midrash know that the malachim attended? He ex plains that the source is the malachim’s response when Avraham welcomed them into his home and invited them to partake in a meal. He told them, “ Let some water be brought and wash your feet and recline beneath the tree I will fetch a morsel of bread that you may sustain yourselves, then go on — inasmuch as you have passed your servant’s way ” ( Bereishis 18:4-5). The malachim’s response to his invitation was, “Do so, just as you have said” (ibid., v. 5). Based on the prefix taf, Chazal interpret this to mean that they were saying “do this now” — i e., feed us now — “and you will feed us again in a year.” They were predict ing that they would come to the seudah to celebrate Yitzchak ’ s bris milah Says the Abarbanel, this is similar to how the Pesikta interprets the pasuk above. This is also found in the Ran in Parshas Vayeira

Interestingly, despite the Pesikta be ing quoted by several sources, this expla nation is actually absent from the text of the Pesikta that is available to us This lost passage has been preserved for pos terity by the Abarbanel and the Ran, and we can invoke the statement, “Blessed is the Omnipresent [Hashem], Who entrust ed His world to guardians.”

A Segulah for a Long Life

This midrash is teaching that the mitz vah of the sukkah carries with it a special bracha for arichas yamim, longevity. Each year that a person fulfills the mitzvah of sukkah, he is granted a new havtachah that he will survive at least another year to ful fill the mitzvah again

The pasuk states, “ You shall dwell in Sukkos [ booths] for a seven day period; every ezrach [native] in Israel shall dwell in booths (Vayikra 23:42). The term ezrach is unique to the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah Rav Naftali of Ropshitz teaches that this word is used here to convey a mes sage The word ezrach refers to an elderly person Hashem is thus promising that one who keeps the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah will, in fact, live to a ripe old age and will merit to fulfill the mitzvah of suk kah even as a zakein, elder

The gematria of the word ezrach is nu merically equivalent to the gematria of the word gevurah, as both equal 216 The signif icance of this is that the pasuk states, “ The days of our years among them are seventy, and if with might, eighty years” (Tehillim 90:10). Sitting in the sukkah is a segulah that one will live to be an ezrach, which is achieved at the age of gevurah: Sit in the sukkah, and you’ll live to be at least eighty Rav Chaim Palag quotes the Zohar, who says that the sukkah resembles the letter beis A sukkah must have three walls, as does the letter beis The letter beis com posed of three vavs and is thus numeri cally equivalent to eighteen, the value of the word chai, life The mitzvah of sukkah shields and protects us, and taking refuge in the shade of Hashem’s emunah gives us

longevity In the merit of fulfilling the mitz vah of sukkah, we will be zocheh to arichas yamim, as alluded to by the fact that the sukkah resembles the letter beis.

Why is fulfilling the mitzvah of sukkah a segulah for a long life? There are many very significant mitzvos that we do not find provide a person with this gift What is unique about the mitzvah of sukkah so that one who sits in the sukkah is promised a long life?

Like Sitting in Eretz Yisrael

Hashem promised the Jewish people that He would save them from Mitzray im: v’hotzeisi, I will take you out of Egypt; v ’ hitzalti, I will rescue you from Egypt; v ’ ga’alti, I will redeem you; v ’ lakachti, I will take you for My own, as My people; v’he’veisi, I will bring you into Eretz Yisrael (see Shemos 6:6-8). The first four promises were fulfilled, and Hashem saved us from Egypt He gave us the Torah and acquired us as His chosen nation

However, Tiferes Shlomo points out that the fifth promise, v ’ he’veisi, did not come true with regard to the generation to whom it was promised Seemingly, Hashem fulfilled only four out of these five promises to the Yidden who were enslaved in Egypt. Hashem promised that generation that He would bring them into Eretz Yisrael But this did not take place.

In the instructions regarding the yom tov of Sukkos, the Torah tells us, “So that your generations will know that I caused Bnei Yisrael to dwell in booths when I took them from the land of Egypt; I am Hashem, your G d” (Vayikra 23:43). The last phrase of the pasuk seems superfluous We all

know that Hashem is our G d Why does the Torah feel the need to remind us that Hashem is our G d specifically amid the commandments of Sukkos?

The Gemara discusses what factor en ables one to live a long life. R’ Yochanan was told there were elderly men living in Bavel R’ Yochanan responded that this cannot be true, since the pasuk states, “In order to prolong your days and the days of your children upon the Land that Hashem has sworn to your forefathers to give them, like the days of Heaven over the earth” (Devarim 11:21). Living long is therefore a feature of ha’adamah, the Land of Eretz Yisrael! R’ Yochanan infers that one who is not in Eretz Yisrael cannot expect to live long! Thus, it cannot be that old people live in Bavel However, after R’ Yochanan was informed that these elderly people came to shul early and left shul late, he agreed that in this zechus there could be old people in Bavel R’ Yehoshua ben Levi instructed his son to come early to shul and to stay later afterward so that he would live long

The Maharsha is troubled by this Ge mara R’ Yochanan provides a pasuk to prove that longevity can occur only in Eretz Yisrael; how does one ’ s shul atten dance counter the inference of the pasuk?

The Maharsha’s novel conclusion is that a shul must be considered as having the equivalent spiritual status of Eretz Yisrael

In the future, when Mashiach comes, the shuls will be transported to Eretz Yisra el Since they will eventually be there, the shuls already have the status of Eretz Yis rael Therefore, one who spends a long time in shul will live long. Staying in shul and breathing the air is tantamount to actually breathing in the air of Eretz Yisrael

Rav Dovid Shapiro (the son of the Bnei Yissaschar) writes that the pasuk, “So that your generations will know that I caused Bnei Yisrael to dwell in booths when I took them from the land of Egypt; I am Hashem, your G d” teaches us that just as a shul has the same status as Eretz Yisrael, so too does the sukkah! Sitting in a sukkah is equiva lent to sitting in kedushas Eretz Yisrael, the holiness of Eretz Yisrael

There is a fundamental difference be tween Eretz Yisrael and all the other coun tries in the world Every other land has an intermediary between it and the Ribbono shel Olam; it has a ministering angel that serves as a go between, connecting Hash em and the people The Jews in Eretz Yis rael, however, enjoy a unique relationship directly with Hashem There is no inter mediary. This explains the Gemara that states that one who resides in Eretz Yisrael is considered to have a G d, while someone who dwells in chutz l’Aretz is considered to

be G dless

The purpose of the sukkah is for us to sit in the direct shade of Hashem: b’tzila d’m’heimenusa This direct connection to Hashem and His Presence is reminiscent of living in Eretz Yisrael, where the inhab itants continuously enjoy this direct rela tionship with Him

As Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim, Hash em enveloped them in the protection of Clouds of Glory, representative of Eretz Yisrael, so that the Jewish people would already have the benefits of living in the Land; as we know, the Gemara states, “the air of Eretz Yisrael makes a person wise.”

limbs: dwelling in Eretz Yisrael and sit ting in the sukkah. These are the only two mitzvos during which our entire body en ters into the cheftzah of the mitzvah This is hinted at in the pasuk that states, “ Then His Tabernacle, sukkoh, was in Jerusalem, b’Shalem, and His Dwelling in Tzion” ( Te hillim 76:3). When can you do a mitzvah b’shleimus, with the entirety of your being? Only in the sukkah or in Tzion, Eretz Yisra el Furthermore, a person is not considered shaleim, complete, until he has fulfilled these two mitzvos.

One might find this concept troubling, however, since one might think that im mersing in a mikveh is yet another mitzvah that one enters into with his entire body! Howev er, the Ran explains (in the name of the Ram ban) that immersing in the mikveh is, in itself, not a mitzvah. It is only machshirei mitzvah , the preparation to a mitzvah In addition,

and all the eivarim, it is only fitting that it is hinted to with the word ba’kol.

The Bnei Yissaschar calculates the ge matria of the word sukkah with the letters spelled b’milui, in full The total is 248, the number of limbs we use to fulfill the mitz vah

Sitting in the sukkah not only allows one to fulfill one of the two mitzvos that can be performed with the entirety of a per son Since, as noted above, the sukkah is considered to be a part of Eretz Yisrael, by sitting in the sukkah a person simultane ously fulfills both mitzvos that uniquely are performed with one ’ s entire body: living in Eretz Yisrael and sitting in the sukkah!

We can thus interpret the pasuk, “Then His Tabernacle, sukkoh, was in Jerusalem, b’Shalem, and His Dwelling in Tzion” to mean that if one wants to perform a mitz vah with sheleimus, he should sit in the sukkah Why? Because sitting in the suk kah is tantamount to living in Eretz Yisrael

The sukkos in which Bnei Yisrael lived during their sojourn in the Midbar were microcosms of Eretz Yisrael; as we have seen, dwelling in the sukkos is considered as if they were living in Eretz Yisrael. Thus, the sukkos themselves are the fulfillment of the promise of V ’heiveisi! Bringing Bnei Yisrael into their sukkos was equivalent to bringing them into Eretz Yisrael, as Hash em had promised

We commemorate this concept by dwelling in sukkos that will give us the same benefit: a direct and personal relationship with Hashem.

That is why the pa suk concludes with the words, “I am Hashem, your G d ” The pasuk is stating that when you sit in a sukkah, which is equivalent to sitting in Eretz Yisrael, it will be considered that you indeed have a G d. At least during the week of Sukkos, one who dwells in a sukkah will achieve the level of closeness to Hashem as those who live in Eretz Yisrael, since the sukkah itself is a microcosm of Eretz Yisrael, with all its kedushah

With regard to residing in Eretz Yisrael, the Torah relates, “ You will prolong your days in Eretz Yisrael.” By extension, one who resides in the sukkah, a microcosm of Eretz Yisrael, will also merit long life Sit ting in the virtual Eretz Yisrael will provide the same bracha as residing in the actual Eretz Yisrael

With All Your Limbs

The Vilna Gaon writes that there are only two mitzvos in the Torah that one fulfills with his entire body, with all 248

the Kesef Mishnah writes that one becomes tahor only upon exiting the mikveh, not upon entering it, and therefore the fulfill ment of the tevilah is not when one enters or is immersed in the mikveh but upon emerging

We know that the Avos kept the entire Torah. The Vilna Gaon was asked how we know that the Avos observed Sukkos He replied that we know it from the pasuk , “Now Avraham was old, well on in years, and Hashem had blessed Avraham with ev erything, ba’kol” (Bereishis 24:1). The word ba’kol stands for the three phrases in the Torah that discuss the mitzvah of sukkah.

The mitzvah of sukkah is hinted at with the word ba’kol, with everything, because it is one of the two mitzvos that can be ful filled with all of your body! Your ba’ kol, your entire being, can fulfill the mitzvah of sukkah; therefore, since the mitzvah of sukkah is performed with the entire guf

A Temporary Dwelling

The sukkah is termed a diras a’rai, tem porary dwelling There is profound hidden meaning in this phrase The borders of Eretz Yisrael are listed in the Gemara: Re kem, in the east; Ashkelon, in the south; Acco, in the north Rashi states that the western border is the Yam, the Mediterra nean Sea

The Rambam writes that these are the borders of Eretz Yisrael with regard to all halachos that pertain to Eretz Yisrael. Rav Shem Klingberg reveals that the roshei teivos, initial letters, of the four borders of Eretz Yisrael spell the word a’rai! The sukkah is considered a diras a’rai because sitting in it is tantamount to sitting within the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael

Rav Klingberg adds that by giving us the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah, the temporary dwelling, Hashem demonstrates His love for us By fulfilling the mitzvah of sukkah, we are sitting in His Land, in Eretz Yisrael, where the Shechinah dwells Incredibly, the gematria of diras a’rai is the same as that of ha’bocher b’amo Yisroel b’ahava (Ahavas Olam).

This is an incredible gift that Hashem bestows on us: He gives us the mitzvah of sukkah, which, when performed anywhere

Sitting in the sukkah is a segulah that one will live to be an ezrach, which is achieved at the age of gevurah.

in the world, is equivalent to actually liv ing in Eretz Yisrael and encompasses the brachos of Eretz Yisrael, such as longevity!

Zman Simchaseinu

This concept also helps us understand why Sukkos is referred to as Zman Simcha seinu, the time of our rejoicing

Rav Meir Shapiro states that there is no simcha comparable to that of entering Eretz Yisrael This is hinted at in the To rah in the pasuk, “And it will be when you enter the Land [Eretz Yisrael]” ( Devarim 26:1). The Ohr HaChaim teaches that the term vehayah is a reference to simcha, to a time of joy and happiness Coming to Eretz Yisrael is the ultimate simcha

We also see this in Sefer Bereishis When Yaakov Avinu left Eretz Yisrael, the pasuk says that he poured oil, whereas when he returned to Eretz Yisrael he poured both oil and wine As we know, “wine

rejoices the heart of man ” ; thus, his uti lizing wine on his return was symbolic of the exception al simcha he experienced as he entered Eretz Yisrael

Sukkos is called Zman Simchaseinu , the time of our rejoicing, because the sukkah is a micro cosm of Eretz Yisrael Entering the sukkah is tantamount to entering Eretz Yisrael, and it is therefore a time of great joy

The Tur teaches that the yom tov of Sukkos corresponds to Yaakov Avinu. The Belzer Rebbe explains the depth of this analogy When Yaakov left Eretz Yisrael and passed the makom HaMikdash, the future site of the Beis HaMikdash, Hash

em moved the makom to Yaakov ’ s lo cation This incident is an example of the kedushah of Eretz Yisrael being situated somewhere other than its actual space

This is exact ly what takes place in the sukkah: The kedushah of Eretz Yisrael joins us wherever we build our sukkah

Let us add one precious nugget that will deepen our understanding of this exhila rating concept The Abarbanel writes that Hashem gave us Shalosh Regalim to corre spond to three amazing kindnesses that He showered upon us The yomim tovim allow us to display hakaras hatov, gratitude, to Hashem for these kindnesses.

The three extraordinary gifts that Hashem gave the Bnei Yisrael are Yetzi yas Mitzrayim, Matan Torah, and Eretz Yisrael Pesach is a yom tov of gratitude toward Hashem for having taken us out of Egypt On Shavuos, we display hakaras hatov toward Hashem for having given us the Torah Sukkos is the yom tov when we show our appreciation to Hashem for hav ing given us Eretz Yisrael and its produce.

We may suggest that on Sukkos, which is when we collectively thank Hashem for having given us Eretz Yisrael, Hashem ele vates our sukkah to the status of Eretz Yis rael Furthermore, writes the Abarbanel, the reason Sukkos has seven days is to cel ebrate the Shivas HaMinim, seven species, with which Eretz Yisrael is blessed. This is a possible explanation for the custom to display the Shivas HaMinim in the Sukkah

May we be zocheh to the bracha of Chag hasukkah taaseh lecha and in the merit of sitting in the sukkah this year, may we be zocheh to sit in the sukkah again, for many years to come.

Rabbi Daniel Glatstein is the Mara D’asra of Kehilas Tiferes Mordechai in Cedarhurst, NY, and author of numerous seforim in Lashon Hakodesh and in English for ArtScroll. He is an international lecturer and maggid shiur. His thousands of recorded shiurim are available on Torahanytime.com, podcast, his website rabbidg. com, and other venues.

This article has been reprinted with permission from The Mystery and The Majesty by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein, published by Artscroll.

Sitting in a sukkah is equivalent to sitting in kedushas Eretz Yisrael, the holiness of Eretz Yisrael.

Jewish History

Berkeley’s Version Of “Ghetto Benches”

by Rafael Medoff

The decision to bar “Zionist” speakers from meetings of stu dent groups at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law has been described by some critics as cre ating “Jewish-free zones,” as during the Holocaust.

A closer historical analogy, however, would be to the infamous “ghetto bench es” established on some European col lege campuses in the 1930s.

In many universities in pre-World War II Poland, antisemitic faculty and students humiliated Jewish students by forcing them to sit in the back of class rooms. Those areas came to be known as the “ghetto benches.” In some instances, the benches were marked with the first letter of the name of the Jewish student group on campus – a kind of precursor to the Nazi practice (first instituted in German-occupied Poland, in fact) of identifying Jews via a badge or ID card bearing a Star of David and the letter “J” or the word “Jude.”

If there were insufficient seats in the back of the Polish classrooms, the Jew ish students were made to stand, even if there were empty seats elsewhere in the room. Jewish students who ignored the regulation were often assaulted, and those who boycotted classes in protest were severely penalized.

The Polish Ministry of Education at first opposed the practice, on the grounds that it violated the treaties that Poland had signed after World War I to protect ethnic minorities. But under pressure from antisemitic student or ganizations, the ministry ruled in 1937 that individual universities had the right to decide their own seating policies.

The intensification of such practices triggered some protests abroad. More than one thousand American profes sors and university presidents signed a petition denouncing the ghetto benches as “alien to the spirit of academic free

dom.” Several thousand British academ ics joined a similar protest.

Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, America’s most prominent Jewish leader, raised the issue of anti-Jewish discrimination in Poland when he met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1938. Wise was shocked and disappointed by FDR’s response.

In a private memo for his files –not intended for publication – Wise described how President Roosevelt blamed the alleged Jewish domination of the Polish economy for provoking an tisemitism. The problem, FDR asserted, was that “the Jewish grain dealer and the Jewish shoe dealer and the Jewish shopkeeper” were squeezing out their non-Jewish competition. And that, Roosevelt claimed, was the reason that many Polish Christians began saying “the Jew should go.”

Wise protested that blaming Po land’s Jews was “pure Fascist talk,” but the president was unmoved, according to the memo. “It was,” Wise wrote, “like a blow in the face” to hear Roosevelt’s remarks.

The president’s attempt to lay the blame for antisemitism in Poland at the

feet of Jewish shopkeepers could not, of course, account for the spread of an tisemitism in nearby countries, includ ing Austria and Romania, where “ghet to benches” likewise were instituted. In Romania, the practice was extended even to Jewish reporters covering par liament.

When Rabbi Wise raised the issue of Romanian Jews in that meeting with President Roosevelt, FDR told him to “talk about that to [Secretary of State Cordell] Hull.” But when Wise met with Hull later that day, all the secretary of state would say on the subject was, “I will have to consider that with my as sociates.”

Senator Key Pittman (D-Nevada), chairman of the Senate Foreign Rela tions Committee, received a similar brush-off when he wrote to Hull that week about the mistreatment of Jews in Romania. The reports of persecution actually were the result of “misunder standing or confusion,” Hull insisted. Besides, the secretary of state claimed, “only those Jews who have in recent years immigrated into Rumania” were at risk. In any event, Hull concluded, “any action taken by the Rumanian Govern

ment concerning the peoples with its borders is a matter which lies within the jurisdiction of that Government.”

Hull’s position reflected the long standing view of President Roosevelt that the persecution of Jews in Europe was none of America’s business.

The Roosevelt administration was unmoved even by evidence that an ti-Jewish discrimination, such as the “ghetto benches,” often escalated into violence. In his book “The Swastika’s Darkening Shadow,” Prof. Monty N. Penkower reports that 118 Polish Jews were murdered, and over one thousand wounded, in local pogroms during a sin gle eighteen-month period from 1935 to 1937.

Nevertheless, the idea of opening America’s doors to more Jewish immi grants from Poland or Romania – even within the existing quota laws – was never considered by the Roosevelt ad ministration. The Polish quota of 6,524 annually was not filled in any year from 1933 to 1945. Even the tiny Romanian quota of just 377 was unfilled in nine of those twelve years. Roosevelt’s policy of suppressing immigration below what the law permitted did not waver.

Berkeley, California, in 2022 is not Poland or Romania in 1937. But the frightening spectacle of Jews (or, eu phemistically, “Zionists”) being exclud ed from specific spaces on a university campus in the United States today is no less repugnant than it was in Europe in the 1930s.

Dr. Medoff is founding director of The Da vid S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Stud ies and author of more than 20 books about Jewish history and the Holocaust. His latest is America and the Holocaust: A Documen tary History, published by the Jewish Pub lication Society & University of Nebraska Press.

The Unity and The Uniqueness A Sukkos Perspective

By Rav Yaakov Feitman

One of the special qualities of Sukkos is the multiplicity of mitzvos we are privileged to perform. In addition to all the com mon features of yom tov, such as simcha, seudos mitzvah and the like, there are numerous mitzvos to elevate us each day. We sit in the sukkah, shake the lulav, esrog, hadasim and aravos, are elevated by the tefilos of Hoshanah Rabbah, celebrate the joy of Simchas Torah, and much more. Yet, each aspect of this amazing yom tov carries its own unique quality. Even more, two of the major compo nents of Sukkos seem to contradict each other.

The halacha teaches that the Four Species must belong to us exclusive ly, at least on the first day. However, regarding the sukkah, not only may we eat in each other’s sukkah, but the Gemara (Sukkah 27b) teaches that “all of Klal Yisrael are [potentially] capable of sitting in one sukkah.” This statement is a reference to the fact that in the original sukkos in the desert, all of Klal Yisrael did, in fact, dwell inside of one great cloud of glo ry (see, for instance, Rav Yonansan

David, Kuntres Sukkos 31:7). Why is there this dichotomy in the heart of two of the essential mitzvos of this yom tov?

I believe that the answer may be found deep in the essence of being a Jew itself. Let us begin with the im portance of achdus in Am Yisrael.

The Gra (commentary on Mishlei 6:19) and Rav Yitzchok Issac Choveir (Drush for Parshas Shekalim) both

the great unifier of Klal Yisrael, also helps to connect us to our Father in heaven. Rav Dovid Cohen, Rosh Ye shivas Chevron (Zman Simchaseinu, page 82), adds that for this reason the Ananei Hakavod – Clouds of Glo ry – were in Aharon’s merit. Since he brought Klal Yisrael together by making peace between individu als, he also effectuated Hashra’as Ha’Shechina in the nation.

We can all fit into one Sukkah, yet we retain our individualities and singular qualities.

speak eloquently about the sine qua non of Jewish unity for the Shechinah to dwell in our midst. Rav Choveir concludes that “just as the soul does not attach itself to one organ by itself, so is Hashem not called Elokei Yisrael – the G-d of Israel – unless the en tire nation is unified so that He dwells with the complete nation as one.”

The Maharal (Netzach Yisrael 53, 54), too, also teaches us that Aharon,

On the other hand, as is well known, the Arba Minim – the Four Species –represent four different types of Jews. The Gemara itself (Menachos 27a) tells us so and the Medrash (Vayikra Rabb ah 30:12) elaborates: “The hadasim have a good smell but no taste like Jews who have good deeds but no Torah. The aravos have no taste or smell like Jews who have neither Torah nor good deeds.

The esrog represents the highest possible achievements of both Torah and maasim tovim, and the lulav rep resents Jews who have Torah but no good deeds. However, the Shulchan Aruch (651:11) insists that we must combine the three of them with the esrog and hold them together when we perform the mitzvah. The Gra (Biur to this halacha) explains that holding the species as one symboliz es the achdus of the people of Israel. Before anyone claimed the phrase for education or politics, we knew that “no Jew can be left behind” as Klal Yisrael welcomes the Shechinah into our midst.

This is the magic of Sukkos, when we can all fit into one sukkah, yet we retain our individualities and singu lar qualities.

The parsha which introduced the New Year, Nitzavim, stressed this immediately from the beginning. The greatest and the most seemingly minor in our nation are mentioned together, just as the esrog must be waved simultaneously with the other species. However, the esrog, which represents the leaders such as the

Sanhedrin and Gedolei Yisrael, must always be both together and sepa rate. For the naanuim, we hold them together, but the esrog remains in the other hand, to symbolize that we must always revere the zekeinim as our role models, just as they must always be above the fray and the vi cissitudes of life. Thus, even when we are separate, we are together, and even when are together, some distinc tions will remain. On the level of Klal Yisrael, everyone counts. On the in dividual level, some accomplish more than others. Yet, every Jew counts; each is precious to Hashem and to each other.

Perhaps we can now also under stand the difference between the night of Pesach and eating in the Sukkah. The Korban Pesach required those partaking of the lamb to be registered for that group. No others were allowed to join. On the other hand, as we heard, all of Klal Yis rael essentially sat in the same suk kah, since we were all enveloped by

were forbidden from eating the Kor ban Pesach, but everyone enters our sukkah. When we left Mitzrayim, we were not yet a nation and needed to be selective and careful about those with whom we associated. But once we were a nation, everyone was not only welcome but absolutely neces sary.

Such has been our history as well. Although there were always deviant groups and those whose philosophy had to be rejected, no individual was ever thrown out.

We can now understand more clearly two more aspects of this beautiful yom tov. The Unshpizin –our holy heavenly visitors – come only on Sukkos, no other yom tov. Rav Yechezkel Sarna (Delayos Ye chezkel ) explains that we are zocheh to their presence after we have done the rigorous teshuvah of the Yomim Noraim. This, too, symbolizes the unity of Klal Yisrael. Even though some have sinned, at the end of the process, we are all purified together

However, as my rebbe, Rav Yitz chok Hutner, zt”l, always pointed out, at the Simchas Bais Hashoeivah in the Bais Hamikash, there were two songs. One was sung by the baalei teshuvah and one by those who had never sinned at all. We recently learned this in Daf Yomi (Sukkah 53a) but many wondered a bit why specifically Suk kos seems to reflect this separation.

The Pachad Yitzchok explains that since Sukkos is the culmination of the Yomim Noraim, the avodah of teshu vah must be recognized and receives a song of its own. We may now add as well that the greatness of Sukkos is that there is absolutely no contradic tion between the achdus of the nation and the uniqueness of the individual. Both together build the fabric of the nation of Hashem.

May Hashem help us in 5782 to unify as a nation but to each add our unique contribution to the kavod Sho mayim, the glory of Heaven.

Rav Yaakov Feitman is the rav of Kehillas

Amidst

By Rabbi Zvi Teichman

For a Jew the journey from awe to joy is a short trip. We just cried our hearts out, appealing for a favorable judgment, and just five days later we are dancing for joy.

Are we so confident to think we effected a full repentance that we de serve to celebrate?

Is it merely our confidence in G-d’s verdict, that no matter the out come, we accept our fate with joy?

There is a perplexing Midrash that reports how Iyov complained about his suffering and was only consoled when he was shown by G-d a Suk kah consisting of two [perpendicular] halachic walls and the third consist ing of only a tefach, [spaced slightly within three tefachim, of one of those walls].

What secret to overcoming pain is encrypted within the image of this Sukkah?

There was a family that had the custom during the meal to break the fast after the inspired but long and arduous day of Yom Kippur, to go around the table and ask each mem ber to share their highlight during the prayers of that day. Each child would point out their ‘moment’. For some it was Kol Nidrei, others during ‘Vidui’, perhaps U’Nesaneh Tokef, and for many it was at Neilah.

One daughter though never con tributed to the conversation in all her years at home.

When she graduated High School, she approached her father telling him she had something very personal to share.

Tears were already streaming down her face as she confessed to her father that she was embarrassed by what she was about to reveal.

“Do you know why on all those Motzei Yom Kippurs I never shared my ‘special moment’? Because it was

extremely difficult for me to fast, as you know. I always feel terrible, with a pounding headache. The most cher ished moment for me, spiritually that is, is when I take that first cold drink after Havdalah and taste some deli cious cake. I feel relieved and liber ated and am grateful to Hashem Who bestows His abundance of good, and only commanded us to fast one day a year, and even forgives pathetic little me who rejoices when the fast is over.

“During these instances I feel an overwhelming closeness to Hashem, Who alleviates after difficulty, and does not demand from me more than I

has their challenges and how truly re markable it was that she took a mo ment of lightening the load to a spiri tual place. He added how fortunate it is that there is a young Jewish woman who can open doors in heaven even while all others are closed!

(טארק ןיזגמ ךליו עידומה)

The holy Arizal taught that the minimum size Sukkah, two walls con nected at a right angle, with a small wall of a tefach placed at a right angle at the beginning of the third wall, is reminiscent of an arm extended with the intention to embrace another with in it. This he says is the fulfillment

Whatever your objectives in Torah study, we can make it happen.

For all your auto home life and business needs

Even as we cry from the lack of clarity in appreciating our challenges fully, we can still open a door to Hash em’s love and warmth.

But it goes even further than that.

We are taught that in the merit of Avraham Avinu welcoming the three weary travelers to ‘set a spell’ under the shade of his tree, his descendants were blessed with the mitzva of Suk kah.

Imagine for a moment the back drop of this story. Avraham was bleed ing profusely and in debilitating pain. The bull he sought to prepare for his guests suddenly ran away and he went to chase it. The enticing aroma from the bread his wife Sara was preparing, was never served as it became impure due to discovering she was miracu lously in the ‘manner of women’.

Despite all the erupting chaos they enter an island of tranquility as they recline beneath the cool shade of the tree.

It is precisely this ability to be calm amidst the storm that Sukkah represents. One who lives in G-d’s em brace deflects the stress. (Rav Yitzchok Lasry)

During Shacharis of Yom Kippur we read a piyut entitled Asher Ometz Tehilasecha. It describes the force of Your praise as expressed effortlessly by the angels on high, in contrast to the praise You desire from the mouths of mortals who must cry out in sup plication.

‘Yet You desire praise from those of limited life spans, who have forgot ten goodness..., whose souls are aggrieved, and this is Your glory!’

Esther Schlesinger, the bereaved Savta of Dvir Sorek hy’d, a remark ably vibrant and inspired 19-year-old Hesder student, who was murdered by

a terrorist on his way to Yeshiva three years ago, was asked for her response after the tragedy.

Mrs. Schlesinger was five years old when she was part of a group the Na zis routed from their hideout, spraying them with bullets and then piling the ‘corpses’ on a wagon to be discarded like trash. She recalls how the wagon driver stopped with his ‘wares’ to grab a drink from a local tavern. A passing stranger observed her movement and begged her not to succumb, retrieving her and bringing her to an impromp tu hospital that removed a bullet from her skull that was just two millimeters from her brain.

She went on to survive and make Aliyah, rebuilding her life in our holy land. She later lost a half-brother at the hands of an Arab employee who sought to prove to his family that he truly hated Jews.

“My role as a grandmother is to worry that my family continues ‘litz chok u’lehishtolel’, to laugh amidst the chaos, that Dvir doesn’t simply be come a lifeless monument, that is not who he was or would desire!”

This is the legacy of Avraham and Sarah, to laugh amidst the chaos. This is the mission of Sukkos. We ensconce ourselves in the Sukkah taking leave of our worries, fears, and challenges, entering the embrace of His loving and joyous shade.

...and this is Your Glory!

So, even though we may have not quite reached the levels of repentance we hope one day to achieve, we can still celebrate with much joy, those moments of being in the warm and un derstanding embrace of Hashem!

author

Tech

As told to Rebbetzin Sara Gross

It’s always been a goal of mine to learn Hebrew. A year ago, I found an app on my phone that teaches Hebrew. I was so excited and installed it right away. The app was fun to use, and I was learning steadily, but it was starting to worry me. You see, the app was extremely addictive. I found myself on the app for hours at a time, sometimes until 1:30AM! It kept drawing me in and I felt powerless.

Then I went to the Nekadesh Asifa in June. I felt so silly to have lost my self in the addictive nature of this silly app. When I got home that night, I re solved to take control somehow. In the morning, I discussed the issue with my

husband. He was able to install a timer for me that limited my use of that Hebrew app to thirty min utes tops. I felt so much more in control and at the same time, I was happy to be able to continue learning the language.

Did You Know?

There is a great new move ment changing Baltimore one class at a time, called MUST, Moth ers Unite to Stall Technology. To help keep peer pressure in technology to a minimum and attempt to control the spread in their children’s classes, mothers are joining together with a

plan. For those who join the MUST program, they work with the other parents in the class to decide on the tech guidelines that they are comfort able with. This program is changing the face of Baltimore. Working togeth er, parents can make a difference in

the technology challenges their children face. To find out more about MUST, reach out through the email below.

To share a tech triumph or story of chizuk to inspire others, please email Techtriumphs@ tagbaltimore.org or call 410449-1824 and choose option 5.

This is a service of TAG Bal timore. TAG Baltimore is an organiza tion that provides technology aware ness, education, and support. They can be reached at 410-449-1824 or help@ tagbaltimore.org.

Parenting Pearls

A Sukkah of Truth and Joy

By Sara Rayvych, MSEd

Like most groups and classes these days, the Warrior Women fitness program that I attend at Warren Levi Martial Arts has its own WhatsApp chat to keep us informed of schedule changes, provide updates, and create a feeling of community. Occasionally, Coach/Sensei Rebecca, the head instruc tor, will post photos or videos (with per mission) taken during the workouts.

Besides teaching incredible classes, Coach/Sensei Rebecca is also talented at designing and editing videos and photos. Recently, she posted a video showing one of the women on a stationary bike (usu ally we don’t get anything as easy as sta tionary bikes). As playful and calm music was heard in the background, the video ran at a slightly slower speed. You could see the biker relaxedly peddling with her hair blowing in the breeze, peaceful and serene. For a moment you forget she was in a gym and not at the beach. During the last few seconds of the video, all special effects were removed and you saw the truth – someone peddling very hard but laughing that someone was filming her.

We all enjoyed the video and found it entertaining with many joking how much it resembled a professional commercial. I found it incredible how different the biker appeared with the addition of a few spe cial effects.

It also struck me how quickly decep tive the world around us can be. While the biking video was all in good fun, so much of the world around us can be con fusing and misleading.

There are so many potential themes for a Sukkos parenting article. We have everything from the practical aspects of teaching children the mitzvos to the phil osophical meanings behind the sukkah and arba minim. Sukkos is like a smor gasbord of topics. One recurring theme I find meaningful is the idea of the sukkah being a sanctuary of safety for our chil dren.

Ironically, we associate our homes of strong walls with security and strength, but it’s the temporary and fragile exis

tence of the sukkah that is where we go to find spiritual protection. As in the Mid bar, we can turn our humble abode into a place of fortitude for the next generation. It’s not the walls surrounding us but the light we create inside that determines the future.

The world around us has become in creasingly confusing as society tries to convince us that right is left, left is right, and immoral is moral. It’s just for times like these that we need to turn our home into a sukkah, a haven from the insanity, and create an abode of truth for our chil dren, a place where they can grow into yarei Shamayim.

Years ago, I initially attempted to shield my children from the outside world, keeping them in a cocoon of puri ty. It’s sad how much innocence the world has lost in just two decades. At that point in history, it was possible to keep the out side world where it belonged and protect my little ones from it; now that is a mere fantasy. In more recent years, I have still tried to maintain their innocence while having to increasingly inform them about the outside world, because if they don’t hear the truth from me, I’m afraid they’ll get it elsewhere.

Honestly, I never thought I would have to explain certain things to my chil dren, yet now these are commonplace. I won’t deny the difficulty in having these conversations. Still, we need to take the time to have these discussions and keep the channels of communication open. Whenever possible, they should hear the truth from us so they know we are the ones they can trust to answer them. Chas v’shalom should they go elsewhere when they don’t understand or have doubts.

As more and more of society creeps in, we need to fortify our youth with the truth of the Torah and pride in their her itage. Only once they know right is right, left is left, and Torah has the only truth can they step outside our doors to face the world around them. Only when we work together to educate our children in holiness and the ratzon Hashem will they recognize the sheker when it’s unfortu nately – but inevitably – present.

Being B’Simcha

Just before Rosh Hashana, as I pre pared to write this article, I read an excerpt from Rav Yaakov Bender on Chumash on that week’s parsha that dis cussed the importance of raising children

to recognize the joy of being a Jew and creating a home of happiness. I found it timely as regarding Sukkos we are told “v’samachta b’chagecha,” to rejoice in our holiday. It is precisely on Sukkos that we are told to be sameach.

I found the timing so relevant. Just as we are about to enter the yom tov that Hashem commands us to be b’simcha, we have another reminder of the importance of raising children in an environment of simcha to optimize their development as Jews.

Being Jewish and keeping the mitz vos should bring us joy and contentment. This may be one of the most important lessons we can pass on to our children. Being a Jew isn’t a punishment but a priv ilege. The mitzvos aren’t there to make our life difficult but to make it better and guide us in every step we will take. Often it takes the maturity of an adult to appre ciate how lost we would be without proper guidance and objective truth.

There’s such a pull to the society that surrounds us with so many mocking or hating us. Passing on the happiness along with our mesorah is one of the ma jor steps we can take to ensure that, with Hashem’s help, our children will follow in the derech ha’yashar.

The task is daunting, but we can al ways take hope from the lesson of the sukkah. A fragile, temporary building, containing mere branches as a roof, can withstand centuries of assaults against our values and contains hope in the most limited of circumstances. We have been around for thousands of years and have seen the rise and fall of all different kinds of insanity and “isms.” B’ezras Hashem, we will surpass it all and welcome the coming of Mashiach Tzidkeinu soon.

Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rock away. She can be contacted at RayvychHome school@gmail.com.

During the time of the Yishuv, the years prior to Israel’s indepen dence in 1948, several armed groups were formed to protect the Jews from attacks. The Ottomans, and later the British, didn’t like these organiza tions and deemed them illegal. Howev er, with much coaxing, the British al lowed a unit of Jewish soldiers into the British Army during World War II. The Jewish Brigade became the backbone of the IDF in 1948. Many of the soldiers who fought in the ranks of the brigade have fascinating backgrounds and sto ries both while members of the brigade and in the months following the end of World War II.

Chanoch Bartov was born in Petach Tikvah to Polish immigrants and in 1943 enlisted in the British Army. He had previously worked for Haganah and spent three years with the British Army during the war as a medic. Af ter fighting in Italy, he was sent to the Netherlands and other areas to care for Holocaust survivors in DP camps. Later, during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948, Bartov was the commander of a machine gun unit in the Etzioni Brigade that fought in tough battles in Yerusha layim.

Forgotten Her es Soldiers of the Jewish Brigade

By Avi Heiligman

Moshe Karpovich was born in Lith uania in 1917. His family moved to Eretz Yisrael when he was eight years old, where the family changed their last name to Tavor. Before joining the British Army, Tavor was a member of the Special Night Squads formed under eccentric British General Orde Wingate and was present on dangerous missions with the squad. One of these operations

the Jewish Brigade. The brigade fought the Germans in Italy, and Tavor stayed with them through several battles and firefights including one where they an nihilated a Nazi commando unit.

After the war, Tavor stayed in Eu rope to track down Nazis and collabo rators with other members of the Jew ish Brigade. Called “the Avengers,” the group investigated the Nazis based on

their activities. Dozens of Nazi officers who had been directly involved in the Holocaust were killed by this group, with Tavor playing a key role in getting rid of many Nazis. In 1960, Tavor was a member of the Mossad team that was sent to Argentina to capture notorious Nazi Adolf Eichmann.

was to an Arab village to “get” suspected terrorists who had massacred Jews in Tiberius, and the night squads complet ed their mission successfully.

During World War II, after several failed attempts due to being blind in one eye, Tavor was finally accepted into

information given to them from sur vivors. All members of the group were part of the Jewish Brigade under Chaim Laskov and others, and they went after SS officers who tried to escape the Al lies. They wore British uniforms, but the British high command did not know of

Mordechai Maklef was another for mer member of Wingate’s Special Night Squads to join the British Army’s Jew ish Brigade during World War II. He had been a member of Haganah before learning specialized skills under Win gate, and as a soldier in the Jewish Bri gade, he took an officer’s course. During World War II, he took part in both the North African and Italian campaigns against the Germans. After the war, Maklef remained in Europe to help survivors emigrate to Eretz Yisrael as well as acquiring arms and weapons for the future Jewish state. As a senior op erations officer in the Carmeli Brigade during Israeli War of Independence, Maklef planned and participated in the campaign that captured the Galilee.

Similar to the backgrounds of Tav or and Maklef, Israel Carmi had been a member of Wingate’s unit in the 1930s. Carmi was sent to the British Army by

Dozens of Nazi officers who had been directly involved in the Holocaust were killed by this group, with Tavor playing a key role in getting rid of many Nazis.

Moshe TavorChanoch Bartov wrote a fictionalized account of the Jewish Brigade in the book, The Brigade

the Haganah and became a sergeant with a regular unit. He was part of the Palestine Regiment, a unit that had both Jews and Arabs in its ranks, which took part of the pitched battle against the Germans in Benghazi.

After joining the Jewish Brigade in 1944, Carmi began to act on the behalf of his Haganah superiors. They were inter ested in what the Nazis were doing, and Carmi helped smuggle two operatives in British uniforms to determine the truth about the gas chambers. An incident in which Carmi and his unit attacked Nazi POWs led to the order for them to stay

in Italy and not to enter Germany. After the war ended, Carmi entered Germany and began the quest to rid the world of Nazis. His exploits with other soldiers of the Jewish Brigade led them to eliminate many Nazis who otherwise would have escaped justice for their actions during the Holocaust. Many long months of hard work eventually paid off, and soon Carmi and the other remaining mem bers of the Jewish Brigade were back in the Holy Land.

In 1947, the British announced that they were leaving Israel, and the Jews began to prepare for the inevitable war

with their very unfriendly Arab neigh bors. In addition to the arms smuggled out of Europe, many of people who were trained by members of the Jewish Bri gade joined the Israeli Army and proved vital in the early days of the IDF.

The Jewish Brigade was disband ed in 1946. Eight-three members were killed in the fighting in Italy and anoth er 200 were wounded. Overall, 30,000 Jews from Eretz Yisrael served in the British Army during World War II. Seven-hundred of these soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice and were killed in combat. Many of the volunteers that

returned to Eretz Yisrael were an inte gral part of the Israeli Defense Forces, and 35 former Jewish Brigade soldiers went on to become generals in the IDF. More than 70 years after the war, the Italian government awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor to the Brigade for their role in the campaign.

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.

Members of the Jewish Brigade in Italy, 1945 Mordechai Maklef, left, with David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan, 1953

A Sefer Torah in the Valley of Death

by Y. Yechezkieli

Hasag. It was called a labor camp, but it was a slaugh terhouse: no more, no less. We were the remnants of the Chenstochover Ghetto. Our families had been sent to their death. Only we few remained, like limbs torn from their bodies, writhing with pain, living a life without life.

Our task was the manufacture of bullets, millions of bullets for the mighty German Army. And whenever it suffered a loss or a defeat, the guards exacted their re venge on us, the bullet makers.

We, the inmates, were only part of a vast mechanism of destruction, destroying and being destroyed at the same time.

Simchas Torah was approaching. We had no Torah Scroll, and joy was absolutely foreign to Hasag. Worse yet, on that date, just one year earlier, we were witnesses to the liquidation of the Chenstochover Ghetto.

Simchas Torah — a day of unbridled joy? Hardly. Yet, Simchas Torah was brought to Hasag by a shoemak er, who was so obscure to us that I cannot even recall his name. Here is how it happened:

One day of Chol HaMoed Sukkos, a whispered mes sage flitted around the camp: the shoemaker had been delayed in his return from the ghetto. When he finally appeared, he did not head for the kitchen for his espe cially generous portion, but instead hurried into the depths of his hut. What had happened?

The impossible — no, the incredible — had come to pass: He had successfully spirited a Sefer Torah out of the clutches of the dreaded Gestapo and smuggled it into our camp. How? He simply rolled it around and around his body, let his loose tunic hang over it, and then walked into the camp.

Where he had gotten it from, he adamantly refused to reveal. A theory was advanced that he had found it in the SS stores of Jewish properties, from where he had procured a shofar one month earlier. But we were at least partially wrong. It had not been nearly as easy to get the Sefer Torah. The SS maintained an extremely heavy guard on their large holdings of Jewish plunder and were particularly careful with sefarim and other religious objects, regardless of their intrinsic value. Our intrepid cobbler decided to bribe one of the guards, but since he was not exactly solvent then, he offered the corporal something that he could never have purchased for any sum — a pair of officer’s boots! (The Germans seemed to have regarded hand-crafted boots as a singular luxury and thus reserved them for high-ranking officers. Hence, too, the cobbler’s privileged status.)

We later found out that he had literally saved the Sefer

Torah from desecration, because a short while later, the Gestapo burned all the Sifrei Torah, other sefarim, and various sacramental cloths and articles in one gigantic bonfire. This one Sefer Torah was the sole surviving rem nant of the sacred articles of the ghetto. The cobbler se lected it because of its small size, for that made it feasible for him to wrap it around his midriff without causing a telltale bulge, and later, in camp, its size permitted easy concealment.

We had instituted a regular minyan on Shabbos in

called home. These hakafos would have been outlandish in any other situation. The Sefer Torah remained safely ensconced in its hollow behind the board. We stealthily walked around the wooden cot that contained our sacred treasure. As we passed, we leaned over and kissed the board that lay directly above the Sefer Torah.

We knew that if we had carried the Sefer Torah in our arms, as in conventional hakafos, we would have been running a great risk. Don’t think it was our lives that we were protecting! Of course, being caught carrying the Torah would have meant sure death, but what value did our lives have, anyway? It would have been worth it! But the Scroll would have also been destroyed — G-d forbid! — and this was a loss we would not risk.

And so it went, far into the night. The silent “dancers” held themselves strenuously in check, as the joyous songs surged repeatedly to their lips.

one of the barracks, and it was there, on Shabbos Chol HaMoed Sukkos, that the heroic shoemaker turned to us and demanded: “Who wants to hide the Sefer Torah?”

A companion of mine and I decided to assume the responsibility. We immediately removed a board from the head of one of the wooden cots we slept on, and in the hollow under it concealed the Scroll.

The news of the Sefer Torah’s arrival had naturally electrified the entire camp. On Simchas Torah night, we held crowded hakafos in the cramped run-down shack we

One song echoed softly in our ears. Because of its obvious relevance, we could not contain it within us. And as we walked around the Sefer, we were almost deafened by the silent screaming of its chords that enveloped us all: “Rejoice and be glad on Simchas Torah, because it (the Torah) is our strength and our light…”

Do you think I made up this story? Have you ever been at the Gerrer Bais Midrash on Or HaChayim Street in Bnei Brak? Well, the Sefer Torah is there, in the Aron HaKodesh. I brought it there after the war. The destruc tion was terrible, but we survived.

This story was excerpted with permission from Seasons of the Soul by Y. Yechezkieli, adapted by Moshe Barkany, published by ArtScroll/Mesorah.

The silent “dancers” held themselves strenuously in check, as the joyous songs surged repeatedly to their lips.

Caring For Someone with Depression

By Rabbi Azriel Hauptman

Depression is a debilitating illness that takes the joy out of life and inter feres with the entire spectrum of daily functioning. Unlike other illnesses, where the sufferer can sometimes see the silver lining in the clouds, depression is unique in that the illness itself is person ified by the lack of access to that kind of optimism. Family members try their best to help their loved one, but with out proper guidance, their well-meaning effort might be counterproductive or in effective.

There are several points that one must bear in mind when caring for someone with depression.

It is not personal. Individuals with depression are often withdrawn and have a difficult time connecting with other people. Additionally, irritability is a common symptom of depression which can lead to anger even with some one who has never had an anger prob lem. This has nothing to do with you. It is a symptom of the illness.

They are not simply lazy. When

one suffers from depression, even the simplest tasks can feel overwhelming, as there is simply no motivation to be active. It can be very hard to avoid being judgmental, and you might need to con stantly remind yourself that they have a real illness.

You can’t fix it. When we get into a “fix-it” mode, we do everything we can to fix the problems that we encounter. With depression, you can create a ther apeutic environment for your family member, but ultimately you will not be able to repair the problem. In the addic tion world, they often mention the three C’s that every family member should internalize. You did not cause it, you cannot cure it, and you cannot control it. This hold true by depression as well.

Listen. When one has depression, it is vital to have someone who will listen to you emphatically. Encourage the indi vidual with depression to talk about how they are feeling, and be willing to listen without judgement. No single conver sation will be the key to recovery, but

the openness to listening over and over again can be a lifeline that over time can literally be a lifesaver.

Another important point that you must remember is to take care of your self. Living with someone who suffers from depression can be very draining, and if you want to be there for them you must remain healthy yourself. This may involve setting boundaries, keeping your life on track, and seeking support.

Setting boundaries. You cannot possibly be available 24 hours a day. Eventually, you may burnout and be at risk of depression yourself. Setting lim its on your availability is not being un kind or cruel. You are actually making yourself more capable of helping as you avoid exhaustion and caretaker fatigue.

Keep your life on track. Try to maintain your personal life and schedule as much as possible. Some adjustment will likely be necessary, but overall try to maintain activities and pursuits that bring you fulfillment and meaning. This will keep your gas tank full and give you

A Healing Laugh Using Humor to Cope with Stress

the energy to keep on going.

Seek support. Support groups for family members of those suffering from mental illness are becoming more and more common. The strength that you can draw from others who are deal ing with the same issues will give you strength and a sense of community.

Depression is a real disease that affects everyone involved, not just the one suffering from depression. Doing whatever you can to try to un derstand what depression is and how you can help will go a long way in creating an environment for recovery.

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

Teen Talk

By Rebbetzin Sori Teitelbaum

Dear Teen Talk,

I am now in eleventh grade in a local Bais Yaakov. I am a “good girl” and like going to school. This week, though, the principal came in with a list of rules that we have to follow. Now, although many of those of rules were already “on the books” for the past few years, I felt overwhelmed by all the rules that we were given. Some of them had to do with schedules (be on time for class, not hang ing out in the halls, not leaving the school for lunch period), others were about tests (no retakes allowed, etc.), and others were about tzinius rules.

Teen Talk, a new column in TJH, is geared towards the teens in our community. Answered by arotating roster of teachers, rebbeim,clinicians, and peers (!), teens will behearing answers to many questionsthey had percolating in their mindsand wished they had the answers for.

My question for you is as follows: first of all, why do we have so many “rules”? Why do they always feel like they have to make us a thick rulebook to follow? Aren’t we almost adults? Can’t we be expected to behave that way?

And secondly, I don’t see that tzinius should be about rules. The rules list the obvious tzinius rules (elbows, neck, knees) but also no nail polish, no loud knapsacks, no too-colorful shoes, no loose hair. Isn’t this too much? And I know a lot of girls who follow these tzinius “rules,” and, if you ask me, aren’t really too tzinius, meaning, they follow the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law.

I’d appreciate your insight. I know this is not something I’m comfortable asking teachers in my own school.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for sending in these important questions. They highlight the importance of the Teen Talk column where teens can feel more comfortable ask ing their questions here as op posed to their teachers and/or parents. I am proud of your maturity and understand ing of right and wrong. In

deed, it must be frustrating to be told “what to do and how to do it” when it seems so natural and logical to you.

Let me address your two questions one by one.

I have been in education for over 30 years and have heard over and over again the question of why do we need so many rules?!

Some even question why we need ANY rules! When seeking an answer, I always go straight to the source, and that is our Torah. There are 365 mitzvot Lo Ta’aseh in the Torah. These are the “Don’t Rules” tell ing us what we cannot and should not do. Yet there are only 248 Mitzvot Aseh in the Torah. These are the “Do Rules.” Did you ever wonder why there are more Don’t than

makeup

Are you a teen with a question?

If you have a question or problem you’d like our columnists to address, email your question or insight to editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com , subject line: Teen Talk.

Do mitzvot? Did you ever wonder why in Hilchot Shabbos, Shamor (guard – a Don’t rule) comes before Zachor (remember— a Do rule)? I don’t believe it is because we are inherently bad and need the Don’t rules to stop us from being terrible people. When children are little, and their parents tell them, “Don’t touch the hot stove,” it is not a rule because they are bad but rather a rule to pro tect them. When parents tell their children, “Don’t cross the street until you have looked both ways,” they don’t say that to annoy their children and put added restrictions on them but rather, again, to protect them. When the Torah tells us we are not allowed to have a balcony on our roof without a fence, the To rah is teaching us that creating a structure like a ma’aka (fence) makes the roof safe for use instead of restricting its use.

Not everyone naturally sees right from wrong like you do. Many times, teenagers

“rules are meant to be broken.” Sometimes, the school has to take into account that the rules might be broken somewhat, and there fore they need to set forth the rule in a little more extreme manner than needs to be in order to make sure it gets followed proper ly in the end. Even adults make mistakes and need some rules and guidance. You SHOULD be expected to behave in a cer tain way, and you personally just may, but not everyone is mature enough to do that. I know these rules can seem unnecessary and overwhelming but try to remember that, ultimately ,they are for your own good and protection.

And now I would like to respond to your second question about tzinius. Firstly, I agree with both your mature observations. Tzinius should not be just about rules, and just following the letter of the law is not enough.

As far as your first observation, I be

inner sense of self and true under standing of each girl’s unique poten tial and purpose in this world, then, again, there would be no need for any “tzinius rules.”

I know you have heard the pasuk, “Kol kevuda bas melech penima ” a thousand times, but think about how true it is. We just witnessed the pomp and circumstance of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. We have read all about the dignity with which the Queen carried herself. Every Bas Yisra el is, indeed, a dignified queen in her own right. In my opinion, and I believe you agree with me, this would be the better way to “teach tzinius!” The best way for a teacher to teach tzinius is to role model what it means to dress, act, and speak in a dignified and proper way.

will deliberately choose “wrong.” It is the school’s responsibility to outline a safe path for their students and for the students to ad here to the rules set out for their protection. I had a wonderful principal once who used to always say, “It is the teachers’ responsibil ity to teach and the students’ responsibility to learn.”

Your school is doing the responsible thing by setting forth rules. The students hopefully are doing the responsible thing by following them. We all know the phrase

lieve tzinius should not be given over to the students ONLY via rules. The girls should have a chance to clearly understand the rules and the reasoning behind them. We need to teach the ever-important message that our job is to merge the physical body that Hashem has given us with the neshama that is housed within it. If we understand the beauty we possess inside, then we will understand how to present ourselves on the outside and there would be no need for any “tzinius rules.” If we could just build up the

As far as some girls dressing in a tzinius way but not really acting in a tzinius way – where it seems like they follow the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law – un fortunately, this is a problem with many adults as well. It is actually the same issue we just discussed. If someone is dressed in a tzinius manner but doesn’t understand her self-worth, her inner sense of self, her dignity, her royalty, then she doesn’t under stand the whole concept of tzinius. As we discussed, it is not only about, like you said, knees and elbows, but rather tzinius is a way of being. It is a way of life!

In Parshat Kedoshim, the Torah begins, “Kedoshim tihiyu.” The Ramban defines ke dusha as an understanding not to mar the fine line of demarcation between the letter and the spirit of the law. Don’t become a “naval bereshus haTorah.” This is our as piration and our challenge.

I hope I have helped you come to terms with these issues, and I wish you the best of luck as you continue on your spiritual jour ney through life!

Rebbetzin Sori Teitelbaum is the rebbetzin emeritus of Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. She recently retired from teaching at HAFTR middle school and high school in the Five Towns. She is a well-known speaker and is involved in all aspects of the community. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Teitelbaum recently made aliyah and live most of the year in Ramat Beit Shemesh.

If someone is dressed in a tzinius manner but doesn’t understand her self-worth, her inner sense of self, her dignity, her royalty, then she doesn’t understand the whole concept of tzinius.

TJH Centerfold

You Might Just Be a Jewish Redneck If…

Your home is mobile and your sukkah isn’t

You have a gun rack in your sukkah

Your standard is “Ad d’lo yadda”….every day

The only plant in your home is your lulav

Your siddur lists the Shabbos greeting as: “Shabbot Shalom y’all”

Your yom tov suit was purchased at Walmart

Your tallis is made from camouflage cloth

Your local sofer shoots his own parchment

Your belt buckle is bigger than your yarmulke

You’ve used the song “Rawhide” for kedusha

You’ve fired a shotgun at the sound of Haman’s name

You Gotta Be Kidding Me!

Lucy is having a bad day at roulette tables. Down to her last $100, completely exasperated, she cries, “What horrible luck! What in the world should I do now?”

A gentleman next to her, trying to calm her down a bit, calmly suggests, “I don’t know... Why don’t you play your age?”

Your shul used to have wheels, but now it’s up on blocks.

You’ve ever called the “psychic hotline” to answer a halachic question

You know what bracha to make when you see a UFO

Your rabbi yells “Yee-Haw” during his drasha

You keep a can of spray paint in your Tallis bag

You know which brand of grits have an acceptable kashrut supervision

Your Omer counting calendar has come up with three cherries in a row

Gefilte fish is the most solid thing you can eat with your tooth

He walks away. Moments later, he is intrigued to hear a great commotion at the roulette table. Maybe she won!

Rushing back to the table and pushing his way through the crowd, he is stunned to see Lucy lying limp on the floor, with the table operator kneeling over her.

He asks, “What happened? Is she all right?”

The operator replies, “I don’t know, buddy.... She put all her money on 45. When 67 came up, she fainted!”

Think You Can Work at Google?

The following are a sample of the type of questions you will be asked during the interview process, according to William Poundstone’s book titled “Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?” Good luck!

1. When there’s a wind blowing, does a round-trip by plane take more time, less time, or the same time?

a. More time b. Less time c. The same time d. It depends on the airplane

2. You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin increasing the speed slowly. What will happen first: will the glass slide off, will it tip over, or will the water splash out?

a. Fall b. Tip over c. Have water splash out d. Depends on the shape of the glass and how full it is

3. Using only a 4-minute hourglass and a 7-minute hourglass, measure exactly nine minutes. You must use both.

a. Start both hourglasses, flip over the 4-minute glass when it’s done, flip both glasses over when the 7-minute glass is done, then flip over the 7-minute glass when the 4-minute glass is done

b. Start both hourglasses, flip over the 4-minute glass when it’s done, flip over the 7-minute glass when it’s done, let it run 1 minute, then flip it again for the 9th minute

c. Start the 7-minute hourglass, flip the 4-minute hourglass when the 7-minute glass is done, measure 2 minutes using the 4-minute hourglass

d. Start the 4-minute glass, flip it when it’s done to measure another 4 minutes, then flip the 7-minute hourglass to measure 1 minute

4. You’re given a cube of cheese and a knife. How many straight cuts of the knife do you need to divide the cheese into twentyseven little cubes?

a. 10 b. 12 c. 8 d. 6

5. You’re in a car with a helium balloon tied to the floor. The windows are closed. When you step on the gas pedal, what happens to the balloon – does it move forward, move backward,

or stay put?

a. Moves forward b. Moves backward c. Stays put

6. At 3:15, what is the angle between the minute and hour hands on an analog clock?

a. 0 b. 7.5 degrees c. 6 degrees d. 5.5 degrees e.

Answers: 1-A 2-D 3-B 4-D 5-A 6-B

Wisdom Key:

5-6 correct: Congrats!! You should actually fly out to Silicon Valley right after Sukkos for an interview at Google! (Maybe we could fly together.)

3-4 correct: You won’t get the Google job, but you can become CEO of AOL if you want.

1-2 correct: You won’t get the Google job, but you can work at a pizza shop if you want.

0 correct: When you Google your name, does a “nobody home” sign come up?

Notable Quotes

“Say What?!”

I don’t mind being taxed more. I wrote a blog 20 years ago saying it’s the most patriotic thing you can do, after military service, is pay your taxes, because that’s what allows everybody to live and to prospect. But yeah, the idea of “soak the rich” …. [Jump in a lake] Elizabeth Warren; you’re everything that’s wrong with politics.

– Billionaire Mark Cuban talking about Sen. Elizabeth Warren (DMA) at a conference

Sadly, and with a broken heart, I can no longer say that my hometown of San Diego is the greatest place in the world. I can no longer say that SD is a safe, healthy, clean, and beautiful place. I can no longer urge my family, friends, tourists, and businesses to come to SD to live, work, and play.

– NBA legend Bill Walton writing on social media after he was assaulted by a homeless man

I can no longer say that our neighborhood for the last 43 years is still my dream. I am brokenhearted, Mayor @toddgloria – clean up our city, and let us reclaim our lives. We must fix our homeless crisis. We need engagement, rehabilitation, and constant enforcement, and we need it now.

- Ibid.

I’m doing fan—fantastic and it’s not about kicking balls in the authority or anything.

- Pennsylvania’s Democratic senate candidate John Fetterman, who had a stroke and has mostly stayed out of sight, when asked at the start of a rare appearance on TV how he is feeling

Plenty of liberals also want to abuse history to control the present, and last month, a scholar named James Sweet caught [outrage] for calling them out for doing just that. He criticized the phenomenon known as “presentism,” which means judging everyone in the past by the standards of the present. It’s the belief that people who lived 100 or 500 or 1,000 years ago really should have known better, which is so stupid. It’s like getting mad at yourself for not knowing what you know now when you were ten…

Who doesn’t have moments from your past that make you cringe? ... You ate dirt, you wanted to be a Ghostbuster, you shoplifted gum, you tried to be a white breakdancer … read Ayn Rand. I smoked, I was into numerology. You had to grow into the person you would become…

Did Columbus commit atrocities? Of course. But people back then were generally atrocious. Everybody who could afford one had a slave, including people of color. The way people talk about slavery these days, you’d think it was a uniquely American thing that we invented in 1619. But slavery throughout history has been the rule, not the exception: the Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the British, the early Americans, all the way up through R. Kelly…

But in today’s world, when truth conflicts with narrative, it’s the truth that has to apologize. Being woke is like a magic moral time machine, where you judge everybody against what you imagine you would have done in 1066, and you always win.

-Bill Maher, HBO

I probably went to shul more than many of you did. That’s where I received my education. -President Joe Biden, a Catholic, at a White House reception for the Jewish High Holidays, referring to visiting the Conservative synagogue in his hometown

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

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

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

- 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

I have John Lennon top of mind just about every day, but I’m not looking around for him.

- A reporter in response

Sometimes I feel really powerful when I do that, but sometimes I also feel really small, and I feel like I’m nothing. Being able to do that makes me feel free.

- Nathan Paulin, who set a new record for highline walking when he walked a distance of 7,218 feet over Mont-Saint-Michel, France

It is significant that we are here together in Tokyo. In where we also share a common goal and dedication to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific. And the work that we will continue to do to ensure that we are guided by what we are joined in in terms of international rules and norms.

- Vice Pres. Kamala Harris in Tokyo

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

Kansas has KS wheat, Jayhawk basketball, KS beef, and the Wizard of Oz. What’s New York Mayor Adams’ brand? Violence, murder, homelessness, and high taxes? I’ll take Kansas any day.

-Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) in response

I can tell you in the state of Florida, you never know what may be lurking behind somebody’s home. And I would not want to chance that if I were you — given that we’re a Second Amendment state.

– Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warning people not to loot

We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality… If we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we need to take into account those disparities and do that work.

- Vice President Harris declaring that that “communities of color” would be first in line for Hurricane Ian relief

School of Thought

By Etti Siegel

Q:

Dear Etti,

My child is very mature for his age and sees things in a straight and honest way. Some say it is a very black and white way of seeing the world. It makes it hard for him to understand other people who don’t have that maturity or understanding.

I think it is causing him issues in school, due to his low tolerance for the way other boys act out. It is even starting to cause issues with his rebbi and teacher, be cause he is always coming home and saying things are not fair.

Is there something I can do?

-Mother of Black and Whiter

Dear Mother of Black and Whiter, Adolescence is a time of judge ment, of others and of themselves, as the almost-teen and teenager make sense of the world around them. That can lead to black and white thinking, wrong vs. right.

A:

A parent’s (and teacher’s) job is to model and teach children perspective taking (along with the other thou sands of things they need to model and teach!).

Suppertime or bedtime can be a fun time to play, “What is the other side of the story?”

You repeat an incident, and then everyone has to think and try to say what might be happening. For ex ample, I might say, “I saw a Jewish lady get into a car on Shabbos.” This will prompt responses like, “Maybe she had an emergency and had to go the hospital on Shabbos.”

Another scenario, “A woman was rude and pushed her way into line at the grocery.”

Everyone can agree that perhaps it was rude, but still… “maybe her meter was running out.” “Maybe it was time to pick up her child from school and she just realized how late it was.”

This could lead into a small side conversation: “What could she have done differently?” (“Asked peo ple if they minded and told them why she was in a rush,” “Leave the cart and ask a cashier if she could continue shopping later,” etc.)

There are wonderful books with small stories in them that are great to use as a springboard. ArtScroll

has two books that I know of on this topic. The Oth er Side of the Story and It Wasn’t How It Seemed by Rebbetzin Yehudis Samet are books that give scenar ios that seem so obvious, but when you see the other side of the story, you have a new perspective on the situation. Each story can be a lead into a family dis cussion. For younger chil dren, I Can Be Dan Lkaf Zchut by Sara Blau (Juda ica Press), There’s a Rea son Why by Brenda Weiss (Israel Bookshop) and Step into Their Shoes by Freidle Gayla Soban Biniashvili (Hachai Publishers) are a few of the assortment of interactive and fun to read books you can find on the topic of perspective taking that even bigger children can enjoy.

Aim magazine for kids has a dan l’kaf zchus weekly comic that gives a scenario and picture clues, but you need to wait until the following week to get the ex planation. They are currently running a contest that allows children to submit their dan l’kaf zchus own stories for prizes, which might be a great motivation

for your child to work on stretching his perspec tive taking muscles.

Fairness, or the lack thereof, is a big bone of contention among chil dren, especially in the tween years as they begin to compare and contrast themselves with what others have. Point out, when you can, in as ca sual a way that you can, when the child or the family is doing or getting something that others are not. You can even ask, “Hmmm. I wonder how others feel when they see this. I hope they under stand that they get and do things others don’t do as well!”

This is not something that is “fixed” overnight, but with practice, your black and white thinker will learn to recognize gray, and at the very least, accept that he is missing the other side of the story.

An added bonus? The positive time and attention he, and your other children, are getting from you!

Mrs. Etti Siegel holds an

in Teaching and

from her over 35 years of teaching and administrative experience. She is an

the

for

Learning, is a sought-after mentor and workshop presenter around the country, and a popular

of Jewish Day Schools. She is a frequent contributor to Hamechanech Magazine and The

and writing articles weekly for The Jewish Home. Mrs. Siegel can be reached at ettisiegel@gmail.com.

for

- Etti

Fairness, or the lack thereof, is a big bone of contention among children, especially in the tween years as they begin to compare and contrast themselves with what others have.

Dating Dialogue What Would You Do If…

Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters

Dear Navidaters,

Baruch Hashem, we have married off our 6 children and we are busy over Yom tov hosting and entertaining dozens of grandkids. Most of my neighbors, though, have quite a few older singles home for the chagim. We see them outside and greet each other with love and hope for a mazeldik year. Every year that goes by I can’t help but reminisce about all the shidduchim I have tried for their singles only to have my ideas shot down rather quickly. Every year I have the same conversation with my husband: do I talk to my neighbors about it? Do I tell them I think they are being too picky with their kids? The ideas we try for their kids are fantastic people, who are not ever given a chance. I always keep quiet but am wondering if this should be the year we say something.

What do you think?

- Chavie

Disclaimer: This column is not intended to diagnose or otherwise conclude resolutions to any questions. Our intention is not to offer any definitive conclusions to any particular question, rather offer areas of exploration for the author and reader. Due to the nature of the column receiving only a short snapshot of an issue, without the benefit of an actual discussion, the panel’s role is to offer a range of possibilities. We hope to open up meaningful dialogue and individual exploration.

The Panel

The Rebbetzin

Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

This is a matter of communicating with care, respecting the relation ship you have with your neighbors with sensitivity and concern. I would have a conversation with your neighbors by opening up with something like: I really care about helping your kids toward the chuppah. What can I do to be helpful?

Don’t criticize. Show empathy and follow up with some specific questions. Is there someone specific your child is interested in dating? Maybe I know them and can help connect you with them through my own connections.

The conversation usually gets very specific afterwards. It frequently results

in phone calls and introductions you can make. Even if it doesn’t result in some specific names or ways you can help, you have verbalized your concern and caring in a helpful, sensitive manner.

This is what I do for my family members and friends who can hear this kind of comment. It is always well-re ceived. And, of course, I daven for them to find their partner. There are others who are in so much pain that I don’t even bring up the subject of their child’s sin gle status. They don’t need to be remind ed and are happy to focus on something else when we are conversing.

It is not our place to criticize and to tell people they are being too picky as parents or that their children are being too picky. Carefully offering to help with supportive words about the young peo ple is also menschlech.

Under some circumstances, such as

when a young person is traveling their own journey in shidduchim, one can carefully speak to the young person and offer to help with something specific. Or you can ask what kind of person they are seeking to date. Obviously, you have to have some kind of a relationship with the person you are speaking to.

Mitzvos bein adam l’chaveiro count all the time, especially during single hood. We need to be very sensitive to other’s feelings and pain about not being married. Someone who is single or has single children is not a target for unso licited advice.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond

S

ocial etiquette is tricky, and your question basically boils down to it.

There are many things that can be thought of in your mind that do not have to be said. There are also many details going on in the single’s life that you have no idea about. Generally, other people do not like to be reminded of their ni syonos, even if it’s obvious. Will your conversation with your neighbors do more harm or less? Will it teach some thing they do not know? If yes, will your lesson be warmly received or hurtful? Is it possible they’ve heard that line a million times before, “Are you being too picky?”

Maybe they are being too picky. So, now what? Do you think they will respond in kind, “Wow, I have never thought about that before, thanks for the heads up!”? Or will they quickly build a fence ten feet high? What if by chance they are not being too picky, and there are a whole bunch of things which you know nothing about? (A strong possibil ity as well.)

My practical advice for you this yom tov:

When you are sitting around the liv ing room surrounded by your married daughters and sons have a mandato ry shidduch meeting. Try to figure out

which single friends of your married kids would be good for your neighbors. Then act on it. Suggest the shidduch, but remember, they have every right to po litely decline the suggestion if they do not think it’s shayach. Do your part in helping them, and if you are burnt out, take a break. It is not your place though to show them where you think they are going wrong.

Have a kesiva v’chasima tova!

The Single

Tzipora Grodko

Dear Chavie,

The most important thing that a person has is their dignity. As a single, one’s dignity is challenged in so many ca pacities. At public celebrations where they “stand out” since they haven’t reached the “social standards of success in their life stage”;, by receiving pitiful glances or brachos indicating that regardless of one’s beautiful personality, achievements, and character, none of that seems to mat ter since some individuals can only see that you’re “single” and nothing else. And my personal favorite (note the sarcasm), when your judgment is doubted, indi cating that YOU are the source of being single and that would “all change if you just listened to what other people think.”

I’m glad you asked this question as I believe it’s a topic that many people yenta about yet have no idea how much harm they are causing. I personally believe that there’s no way G-d is holding back a prospective soulmate from someone because “Chavie the neighbor from next door” didn’t share her opinion that the

Choose to build them up by talking to them about anything other than dating.

parents are being too picky. Please don’t misinterpret my words as rude but rather understand the significance behind them. People try to make sense of what they can not control. It’s frustrating and unnerving to relinquish control with positivity and peace of mind. Therefore, people are quick to believe that everyone else MUST be the issue because there’s no logical explana tion why someone should “still be single.”

G-d doesn’t work according to logic. It’s so, so important for readers to know that when you criticize, doubt, and make private or public judgment to a single or his or her family, you are stripping away their dignity – leaving them feeling em barrassed, which we know is a grave sin in Judaism. If you really care (and I can tell that you do, Chavie), daven for your neigh bors. Choose to build them up by talking to them about anything OTHER

THAN dating. Compliment them on their character, achievements, and beauty, and state that whoever ends up with them will be the luckiest guy in the world.

The Zaidy

Dr. Jeffrey Galler

Here’s an etiquette quiz for our read ers:

Question #1 – You’re having lunch with a friend at a fancy restaurant and notice that she has a piece of spinach stuck between her front teeth. Do you tell her?

Answer – Yes, you should. You can simply gesture and point to your own teeth.

Pulling It All Together

The Navidaters

Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

Question #2 – You’re at a kiddush and your friend returns from the restroom with a tissue stuck to his shoe. Do you tell him?

Answer – Yes, of course. Tell him, “There’s a tissue stuck to your shoe.”

Question #3 – You notice that the per son you’re speaking with has terrible bad breath. Should you tell him?

Answer – Yes, but only if you’re a den tist. Otherwise, you can send a bottle of mouthwash anonymously.

Question #4 – Should Chavie tell her neighbors that they are too picky when it comes to shidduchim and are, therefore, ruining the lives of their children?

Answer – NO, NO, NO!!

You sincerely want to be helpful. But this is an extremely sensitive subject, and you should give advice only when asked. Clearly, the parents know that their chil dren are single, and, clearly, they must be in pain. They don’t need to be re minded.

Chavie, you desperately wish to be helpful, but you need to wait for that perfect, opportune moment before you of

fer unsolicited advice. Someday, perhaps, one of the mothers might say something like, “I wish my kids could be happily married like yours,” or “Do you have any suggestions for my single kids?”

If and when that ever happens, that will be your opening. Plan ahead of time, and review in your mind what to say at that perfect moment. And then, go for it: Share your thoughts about shidduchim and dating; review the matches that you had previously suggested; give her the benefit of your experiences.

Until then, wait patiently.

Dear Chavie,

Your heart is big and in the right place. The shidduch world needs more “Chavies” to roll up their sleeves, make suggestions, and get involved.

I don’t believe there is one right or wrong answer here. To be perfectly hon est, when I read your email the first time, I read it as you having one neighbor with older singles whom you are contemplat ing speaking with about her rejecting your shidduch ideas. When I reread it a second time, I understood that it is many neighbors on your block with older sin gles who are rejecting your ideas. The fact that it is multiple neighbors may (or may not) be important in your next

steps. If it was one per son, I would be more likely to think that she is picky or finicky or perhaps there is some familial dysfunction in which the moth er/father is subconsciously preventing his/her children from marrying to satis fy his/her own needs (which is rare but happens, unfortunately.) Being that it is multiple neighbors, that leads me to won der if it is something about the suggested shidduchim that perhaps you do not know about. Just some ideas and possibilities I’m throwing out there.

You want to help out of the goodness of your heart, but I think your query boils

down to you being unsure of whether or not you will be crossing a boundary. These conversations would be very personal and intimate, and you are uncertain whether or not they will be welcome. You are on the fence about it because it is indeed a risk. We cannot predict outcome, and we don’t know how your neighbors will react. Reactions may range from Who does she think she is? to I’m so glad we are hav ing this conversation (which may lead to a marriage.)

Should you decide to get involved and say something, I suggest you stay away from language like “I think you are being too picky.” That may put people on the defensive immediately. Keep it open and just reflect the reality of the situation and ask if you should keep sending resumes their way. I want to keep sending and I want to know what you are looking fo, be cause you’ve rejected all my suggestions.

Open up the conversation and see where the neighbors take it. You will figure out very quickly who is open and who is not.

Pickiness is definitely a problem in shidduchim and so many wonderful peo ple aren’t meeting because of it. Writing into the column and bringing awareness and attention to it is a great help. Maybe your neighbors will see this column.

Best of everything to you...and try to focus your efforts where they are wel come. There are so many families that would love to be flooded with shidduch resumes! You know what they say about fences and neighbors... see whose fence door is open and whose is closed and honor their boundaries. Remember, you have to live on the block after you have these chats. Keep your own comfort in mind as well.

Sincerely, Jennifer

Jennifer Mann, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist and certified trauma healing life coach, as well as a dating and relationship coach working with individuals, couples, and families in pri vate 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.

You need to wait for that perfect, opportune moment before you offer unsolicited advice.

Life C ach Open to See!

By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS

I know that sounds a bit confus ing. Go ahead. Build a whole outdoor structure, furnish it, light it up, deco rate it. Even put beds in it. But make sure the roof leaks.

Why would you do all that work just to get a sunburn and get soaking

Aha! That’s the lesson of the holi day. Don’t kid yourself. There’s always a way for the elements to get to you.

meals prepared and served. Because we know exactly who is making that happen – there is absolutely no won dering there! In fact, let’s hear it for the woman who makes these holiday feasts possible, and all while juggling a million other things!

I’m talking about the wonder ing about Who is running the bigger show! That is, the realities that we live each and every day, rain or shine.

Yes, that is what our open-top

We go “outside” to get some good

Namely, we should not put our faith in a structure. It is not really what is protecting us. Because struc tures can give way; buildings can col lapse, and homes can be permeated by

So, eat out in that sukkah. Sleep out in that sukkah. Hang out there all

But, whenever you look up, stop and have heavenly thoughts. And I don’t just mean wonderful ones. I

As to Who is running the show?

And I’m not just talking about the show of getting these holiday

structure, our sukkah, is directing us to do. To create a replica of security. Yet, not to get fooled by it.

We should know that we certainly can fortify our lives, enhance them, have an impact on them. We should and must attempt do this. Just as we must build our sukkah. Nevertheless, we must keep an open outlook from the top down. And thus remember that ultimate success is directed by the One Above!

Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relation ship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com.

Your Money Who Cares?

By Allan Rolnick, CPA

When Covid broke in early 2020, it was clear that our economy would catch the virus. So Washington did something they’re actually pretty good at: finding new and creative ways to throw money at the problem. The stimulus payments we all love and remember were the first and most obvious example. These included a first round of up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child, a second round for $600 per person, and a final round of $1,400 per person. For some, they were a life line; for others, they were a route to a new 55-inch TV.

Washington also wanted to encour age employers to keep staff paid. So the CARES Act, which authorized the first round of stimmy checks, included a Pay check Protection Program encouraging employers to apply for forgivable loans (i.e., “handouts”) for up to 2.5 times their average monthly payroll. Tax pros imme diately jumped into helping business cli ents get their piece of the action.

The PPP helped keep thousands of businesses and nonprofit organizations afloat. Almost immediately, though, cer tain enterprising individuals with under developed moral grounding realized how easy it would be to make up a business,

make up some employees, make up some payroll numbers, and walk away with some sweet government cash. Apparently, a lot of it went towards buying Teslas. (It’s gratifying to see that at least some of the scammers weren’t complete sociopaths and showed a little respect for the environment.) Today, it looks like as many as 15% of PPP loan applications showed signs of fraud, and crooks may

at $5,000/employee per year, then ex panded to $7,000/employee per quarter

If you paid enough in qualifying wages, that could mean millions in refunds.

Now we’re discovering the ERTC may be an even bigger fraud than the PPP. But this time, the culprits aren’t individual scammers working alone on their laptops.

The IRS has identified a new group of miscreants: sketchy promoters barraging

credits. Obviously, not all of them will be fraudulent. But the sheer volume of claims means the IRS needs to pay attention. And it seems they are. On May 20 , agents from the Criminal Investigation unit raided the offices of Alliantgroup, a Houston-based tax consultant pitching ERTC services. Alliantgroup boasts two former IRS commissioners, a couple of former governors, and a half-dozen members of Congress on their Strategic Advisory Board. Those are impressive credentials. But one indictment is all it would take to sink the entire ship and sig nal a hard line against abuses.

have walked away with 10% of the pro gram’s $800 billion budget.

The CARES Act also authorized a re fundable Employee Retention Tax Cred it for qualifying wages. (“Refundable” means that if the credit is more than your tax, the IRS sends you a check for the difference.) I’m not going to both er explaining how it works because it would just bore you. But the numbers can be eye-popping: the credit started

business owners with come-ons to grab a share of that booty for fees of up to 35% of whatever their marks (excuse me, clients) recover. These credit mills file claims for businesses that didn’t suffer qualifying Covid-related losses, often by taking aggressive positions defining terms like “government guidance” or “supply-chain disruptions.”

By March of ‘22, the IRS had received 11,096 returns claiming over $2 trillion in

Clearly, Washington chose to operate under the principle that “done is better than good” when it comes to pandemic relief. History will tell whether that was the right approach. Today’s lesson comes down to something your mom told you long ago, and it’s just as true with taxes as with anything else: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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.

Today, it looks like as many as 15% of PPP loan applications showed signs of fraud.

tness

Sukkos the Easy and Healthy Weigh

By Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN

September is a busy month. It’s back to school, back to work for some of us, Labor Day, and back to back yomim tovim. After Rosh Ha shana, when we daven over two days for a healthy, sweet new year, comes Yom Kippur, a day of atonement when we fast and daven an entire day. Luckily for us, then comes Sukkos, a

joyous yom tov when davening is not terribly long and we can eat lunch at a decent time. We sit in our beautifully decorated sukkahs and enjoy quality time with our friends and families. On chol hamoed, we go on trips and fun adventures. Then comes Simchas To rah and Shmini Atzeres, another two days of yom tov to celebrate the Torah

and our relationship with Hashem. Yes, September is an extremely busy month. Now, throw cooking for all of these yomim tovim into the mix, and it becomes even busier!

It doesn’t have to be so busy. For yom tov, we prepare elaborate meals with festive delicacies, which take up a lot of time and not to mention en ergy. Yet these delicacies tend to be a dieter’s challenge. The simpler the foods, generally, the less calories they contain. For example, think of the time and effort it takes to make a broccoli kugel vs. the time and effort it takes to make roasted broccoli. And which one is healthier?! My point exactly. Instead of working so hard and gaining ten pounds in a matter of weeks, let’s try cooking lighter, simpler, and healthier meals over this holiday season.

1. Menu planning: Preparing a yom tov menu that is elegant, yet low in calories can be a hard balance.

• The first step is to nix any fried foods. Standing over a frying pan and flipping food is a lot more tedious than throwing the food into the oven. Fried food is irresistible – there is no deny ing that. However, consuming fried foods is linked to obesity, heart dis ease, and stroke. Fried foods are more calorically dense, and the oil from fry ing raises your cholesterol levels. The easier and healthier way would be to bake your food instead of frying. Most fried foods can be baked instead and still be just as delicious.

• Second, the more fresh and sim ple your foods are, the less calories they contain. Sauces tend to be high in calories and sugar. Try moving away from using sauces and reach for a

spice rub instead. A spice rub over fish, chicken, or meat tastes delicious and is a healthier option than heavy sauc es. Even when recipes call for making your own sauce, chances are the sauce contains ketchup, brown sugar, hon ey, duck sauce, or sweet chili sauce. Each of these condiments have a high sugar content. Many sauces also call for melting sugar and sauce together and continuously stirring over a flame which is time-consuming. The easier and healthier way would be to throw some spices together instead to flavor your food. Some olive oil and a spice rub over meat or chicken is easy, light, and delicious. Lemon juice and herbs over fish is fresh and lovely as well.

• Staying away from kugels is the next big tackle. Kugels often call for margarine, a lot of oil, eggs, flour, and even mayonnaise. They also involve multiple steps and peeling vegetables too. The easier and healthier way is to roast vegetables. Roasted vegetables or fresh salad is the healthiest and most ideal side dish option. There are so many light and delicious ways to make whole grains as well, such as brown rice, quinoa, or buckwheat.

2. Concentrate on quality not quantity: It is not necessary to have multiple main dishes at each meal. It is definitely more work to prepare more food, and nobody needs to eat three different main dishes! The easier and healthier way would be to prepare one main dish and eat that as your protein source for the meal. If you do have multiple main dishes, don’t eat too much of one food item. Try sampling small amounts of the foods you want instead of taking a full portion. For

example, do not eat a slice of brisket, plus a chicken leg, already after you had a whole portion of salmon (yes, even though these are great sources of protein, it is still too much protein for one meal and already an abundance of calories). This does not even include the challah and the side dishes – not to mention dessert. Therefore, my sug gestion is to have the full portion of only one protein source. The healthiest options are fish and poultry. Or, have a half a piece of each of your mains. If you want a piece of fish and a piece of chicken or meat, take a half portion of each so that together you are still only eating one portion of protein. Then have only a small piece of the side dish es that are rich in calories. Feel free to load up on the vegetables being served.

3. Eat slowly: Before you reach for seconds, wait twenty minutes to see if you are still hungry. It takes time for your brain and stomach to commu nicate and decide if you are satisfied. Once you finished eating your allotted portions, instead of focusing on the

food that your stomach is craving more of, focus on socializing and/or serving and clearing the table.

4. Portion control: Make sure your protein portions are not larger than the size of your palm.

5. Don’t skip meals: On yom tov, people tend to skip breakfast and come to lunch with a big appetite. Starting a meal when starving will promote overeating. Instead, eat a healthy breakfast and then a balanced lunch. A small breakfast such as a yo gurt, cottage cheese or a banana will help balance your blood glucose and satisfy your appetite until lunch.

6. Smart snacking: Snacking leads to unaccounted for excess calo ries. Instead of going for the cookies and cake in the afternoon, trying to have an excuse to make an extra bra cha of “lesheiv b’sukkah,” choose fruits and fresh vegetables to snack on in be tween meals. Having a fruit or vegeta ble platter prepared in advanced and left on the table is a great way to en sure appropriate snacking. Cutting up

a fruit or vegetable platter may not be so easy, but it is definitely the healthier way.

7. Drink water: Alcohol and sugary drinks add much more calo ries than you think. Yom tov is about the good food; you don’t need to con sume more calories through a drink. Drinking water will also help fill you up during meals and limit your food intake.

8. Plan physical activity into your day: The typical yom tov day involves davening, meals, and a good snooze. More often than not, physical activity gets ignored. However, includ ing physical activity into your day will make you feel more energized and will burn off some calories from your feasts. You can take a walk after the meals or briskly walk to and from shul. Of course, intense exercise is forbidden on yom tov, yet light physical activity is always advised.

9. Planning Chol Hamoed trips: Packing meals for chol hamoed trips can be tricky, especially when

trying to avoid hamotzie or mezonos food if lacking a sukkah. Eating onthe-go “shehakol foods” the easy and healthy way include:

• salad with tuna

• salad with egg salad

• salmon with vegetables

• grilled chicken cutlets with vegetables

• corn cakes as opposed to rice cakes with peanut butter, cheese or chumus

• all fruits – fresh and dried

I wish all of my readers a gut g’bentsched yuhr, a chag kasher v’sameach and a delicious and nutri tious Sukkos!

Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN, is a Mas ter’s level Registered Dietitian and Certi fied Dietitian-Nutritionist. She graduated CUNY Brooklyn College receiving a Bach elor’s in Science and Master’s degree in Nu trition and Food Sciences. She is currently a private nutritionist. She can be reached at CindyWeinberger1@gmail.com or at 917-623-6237.

a taste of the Best of Kosher

Coming this Chanukah from ArtScroll Mesorah Publications is the most incredible cookbook of all! The world’s top kosher cookbook authors come together to create the greatest collection of Kosher recipes – all in one book!

The Best of Kosher features 130 recipes, including 45 brand new ones, with beautiful new photos and rewritten introductions. Here is a sampling of two recipes from this upcoming new release.

Salmon RollS with CR azy-Good SauCe

By Sina mizrahi

I love stuffing all sorts of veggies into a summer roll and seeing them peek through the translucent rice paper. Here I combined salmon with creamy avocado, herby cilantro, scallions, and a touch of jalapeño for heat. I wouldn’t be opposed to a few slices of man go for fruity sweetness or a medley of sprouts and crunchy radish. The options are limitless. Things go over-the-top when the rolls get a short fry — the rice paper gets a glorious crisp — and are dipped into the eye-popping delicious sauce. It’s not to be missed.

Yield 10 rolls

i ngredients

» 1½ lb salmon fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces

» 1 tsp garlic powder

» ½ tsp sea salt

» ¼ tsp black pepper

» 2 Tbsp olive oil

Dipping Sauce

» 3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

» 1 Tbsp rice vinegar

» 1 Tbsp mirin

» 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

» 2 tsp maple syrup

» 2 tsp peanut butter

» 1 garlic clove, minced

» 1-inch ginger, minced

» ½ tsp chili flakes

» ½ tsp toasted sesame seeds

For Assembly

» ½ avocado, sliced

» 1 jalapeño, sliced

» 2-3 scallions, sliced

» 1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

» 10 rice papers

Oil, for frying

Sesame seeds

directions

Position a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to broil.

Place salmon into a baking dish; season with gar lic, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil; rub to coat. Broil until golden and cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Prepare the dipping sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Set aside.

Set up an assembly station with salmon, sliced av ocado, jalapeño, scallions, and cilantro. Coat a cutting board with oil.

Fill a wide bowl with lukewarm water. Immerse 1

sheet of rice paper into the water, leave it in for 30 sec onds or until the edges start curling. The paper should be pliable but still slightly firm. Place on the greased cutting board. Layer center with jalapeno slices, avo cado, scallions, cilantro, and salmon. Fold the edges over the filling to create a tight roll. Set aside; repeat with remaining rice paper and filling.

Heat a large, wide skillet over medium high heat. Add a thin layer of oil. Fry each roll on all sides until golden and crisp, 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat with the rest of the rolls. Place on a platter, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve with dipping sauce.

Tip! You can use leftover salmon in this dish.

BBQ SK i Rt Stea K CaeSa R Salad

By danielle Renov

The Caesar dressing really is the best non-dairy version, and I don’t say it lightly. Ask anyone who has made it! In my original book, one of the salads had it paired with BBQ chicken, rice (crazy, I know, but so good!) and veg. It’s one of my family’s favorite dinners or Shabbos lunches, and lately I’ve been replacing the chicken with skirt steak and all the people are even happier! If serving on Shabbos day, take meat out of the fridge early in the morning and let it come to room temperature. You can also warm on the plata, on top of another dish, 30 minutes before serving.

i ngredients

» 4 cups chopped Romaine lettuce

» 2 cups arugula

» 1 red Belgian endive, cut into ¼-inch strips

» 2 shallots, thinly sliced

» 2 cups prepared white rice

Best Caesar Dressing Ever

» 2 tsp kosher salt

» 2 tsp black pepper

» Juice of 1 lemon

» 12 garlic cloves

» 4 tsp red wine vinegar

» 4 tsp fish-free

Worcestershire sauce

» ¼ cup Dijon mustard

» ¾ cup mayonnaise

» 1¹⁄3 cups oil

Steak

» 2¼ lb (1 kilo) skirt steak

» 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

» 2 cups favorite BBQ sauce, divided

» ¼ cup Franks hot sauce

» 3 Tbsp maple syrup directions

Prepare the dressing: Place all ingredients except oil into a food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Pro cess until the garlic is well blended into the ingredi ents. While processor is running, slowly drizzle in oil. Dressing will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Cut steak into 5-inch pieces. Place into a large bowl; fill to cover with cold water. Add vinegar. Stir and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Drain, rinse, and return to the bowl. Add 1½ cups BBQ sauce, hot sauce, and maple syrup, mix to coat. Allow to marinate for 1 hour.

Preheat grill pan over medium high heat. Cook skirt steak for 4 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side. Remove steak from pan and im mediately brush with remaining BBQ sauce. Set aside.

Prepare the salad: Place veggies into a large, wide bowl; add warm rice. Toss to combine. Dress salad with Best Caesar Dressing Ever (you may have extra).

Slice skirt steak against the grain into ½-inch slic es; fan meat over the salad. Drizzle with any accumu lated juices. Serve and enjoy!

Tip! If you don’t want to grill the steak, you can broil it! Place the steak on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the lower middle section of the oven. Broil for 5 minutes on the first side, then flip (brush second side with any of the accumulated juic es) and broil for another 4 minutes.

Preorder your copy of Best of Kosher now at ArtScroll. com or Amazon.com.

My Israel Home Buying an Existing Home 11 Ways to Protect Your Rights

By Gedaliah Borvick

Real estate attorney Nicole Levin recently shared with me important thoughts regarding protecting buyers’ rights when pur chasing an existing home.

1. Title search. Your attorney should do a title search to ascertain that the seller is indeed the owner of the property. This search will also re veal whether the property is encum bered by mortgages, liens, or debts of any kind.

2. Engineer’s report. As the property is not new, the engineer’s report will enumerate what needs to be repaired – and will give a cost es timate. In a few cases, the apartment may be structurally unsafe, or the re pairs too costly for your budget. If you are interested in building an addition to the apartment, the engineer can de termine if your ideas are structurally viable.

3. Zoning. If you want to make an addition, get zoning advice to verify what is permitted to be built. Even if you are not contemplating an expan sion, you may want to retain a zoning specialist to find out (1) whether the

neighboring property is permitted to build another floor, which may ob struct your views, and (2) if there is a vacant lot across the street, what the zoning laws allow to be built.

4. Budget for additions. If you would like to build an addition, find out the expected “hard costs” for construction and also the “soft costs” such as preparing the permit request, receiving the permit, municipal fees, and betterment taxes.

5. Financial planning. If you need a mortgage, you should apply for a loan before you sign the contract. Unlike overseas, contracts are not “subject to” financing. Therefore, be fore contract signing you need to con firm how much you can borrow and what the monthly payments will be.

6. Negotiate. When you have all the information you need, your lawyer will negotiate many important condi tions of the contract, such as the pay ment schedule and the closing date. This is where a lawyer with strong negotiation skills shines.

7. Understand the deal. Before you sign the contract, your attorney

should explain all the details to you. In addition, if your agent hasn’t already educated you, your lawyer should break down all expenses you will incur above and beyond the purchase price.

8. Register a cautionary note. After the contract is signed and the first payment has been made, your attorney should immediately regis ter a pledge, or “he’arat azhara,” in the Land Registry. This prevents the owner from selling the apartment to someone else and protects your rights against other encumbrances that might get registered after the contract is signed.

9. Escrow. Transactions often close before all the documents re quired for the transfer of rights are received. In this situation, your attor ney should require that a portion of the funds owed to the seller are held in escrow until all the required docu ments are received.

10. Sign closing documents at contract. Your attorney should make sure that all documents neces sary to register the property in your name upon closing are signed by the

seller at contract signing, including an irrevocable power of attorney to your attorney. Doing so will ensure that if something happens to the seller and she is unable to sign additional doc uments, your attorney will be able to sign on her behalf and complete the transaction.

11. Registration. After the clos ing, your attorney should proceed im mediately to register the property in your name. When this process is fin ished, you will receive a deed to your property which proves your ownership and protects your rights.

Nicole Levin is an outstanding real estate and zoning attorney. If this article inspires any follow-up questions, please contact her at nicole@levinlawoffices.co.il or visit her website www.levinlawoffices.co.il.

Gedaliah Borvick is the founder of My Israel Home (www.myisraelhome.com), a real estate agency focused on helping people from abroad buy and sell homes in Israel. To sign up for his monthly market updates, contact him at gborvick@gmail. com.

Shabbos