The news of Donald Trump being shot rattled us all. Regardless of what you may think of him, a meltdown within any democracy is alarming. Some may argue that this isn’t indicative of our current times, pointing to the historical context where four Presidents have been assassinated and another two were targets of attempted assassinations. While Americans have endured such tragedies and rebounded, the scars remain indelible. Those who lived through the Kennedy assassination remember precisely where they were when they heard the news, just as the younger generation vividly recalls their whereabouts on 9/11. The pressing question is whether America can once again bounce back and restore societal peace and respect for our leaders. It can be argued that this attempted assassination was a direct result of the significant rise in social unrest that has largely gone unchecked. From the Black Lives Matter protests to Palestinian “demonstrations,” acts of violence and unruly behavior have largely occurred without repercussions. This escalation of unrest seemed inevitable, fueled by deepening societal divisions and increasing political and social polarization, exacerbated by the influences of social media. It is deeply concerning that these fires of discord and division will continue to burn without strong leadership.
The near future of social unrest is on an unrelenting path, with no clear resolution in sight. The violent incidents and chaos we have witnessed are symptoms of more profound issues within our society that are not adequately addressed. As a nation, we must confront these challenges head-on if we hope to restore stability and respect for our democratic institutions. Moving forward will require not only addressing the immediate causes of chaos but also fostering a broader culture of dialogue, understanding, and mutual respect. Only then can we hope to navigate these turbulent times and emerge stronger.
As Jews who desperately need a leader who supports Israel, we find ourselves in a complex position. It is crucial to have someone who will stand up against the evil rhetoric of the Squad and anti-Semites both in our country and around the world. We also need a leader who will confront tyrannical leaders on the global stage. While many of us are willing to tolerate Trump’s baggage for the sake of his unwavering support for Israel and strong policies, wouldn’t it be great if he were just a bit more presidential?
Wishing everyone a peaceful Shabbos.
Aaron Menachem
N’shei Agudath Israel of Baltimore is Proud to Present
This Year’s N’shei Café Evening of Stars
This year’s N’shei event will be taking place on Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Bnos Yisroel. At this event, we will honor the First and Second Grade Teachers in our community schools. These women truly deserve this honor as they are instrumental in helping our children at the outset of their education by providing the most optimal environment for their success.
We will also be presenting memorial tributes to four special women whom we have recently lost: Rebbetzin Rochel Kaplanע“ה , Mrs. Leni Broder ע“ה, Mrs. Margaret Guggenheim ע“ה, and Miss Goli Balakhani ע“ה.
We will be publishing a Journal of Stars in which the public can insert ads and messages for our honorees. Ads can be submitted to nsheijournal@gmail.com. Ad prices are: Diamond page$500; gold page-$250; full page-$125; half page-$75; quar-
dairy buffet, a talk by Mrs. Nomi Frankel, entertainment by the Kol Zimrah Choir, a slideshow presentation by Baruch Bitman of Simcha Photography & Video, and a Chinese Auction.
Our Summer Lecture Series for Women began on July 2 with an informative lecture by Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld, author and lecturer, on “The 9-1/2 Commandments of Health and Wellness.” Mrs. Chaya Kruk, also a popular lecturer, gave an inspiring talk on July 8 on “Grabbing Priceless Gems: Turning Our Everyday Actions into Mitzvos.” The following week, on July 16, published author Mrs. Bracha Goetz delivered an impressive lecture entitled “Climbing Higher: A Woman’s Guide to Spiritual and Personal Growth.”
At our N’shei Café Evening of
Rabbi Yisroel Roll, author of Self-Esteem in the Talmud, who will speak about “Loving Hashem by Loving Yourself: The Avodah of Elul.” This lecture will be at 8:00 p.m. and accessible only via Zoom* and phone.
*For information on accessing these lectures and recordings, please email nsheibaltimore@gmail.com or call or text Mrs. Chavi Barenbaum at 410-935-3010. ADA accommodations are available upon request.
N’shei Agudath Israel of Baltimore is part of an international organization of women dedicated to achdus, community service, education, and charity. Our members include women from different shuls, schools, and organizations. N’shei provides the women in our community with quality programs to enhance their homes and their families. N’shei organizes halacha and hashkafa shiurim, including our annual Teshuva and Pesach shiurim given by Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, shlita. In addition, each year, N’shei officially welcomes the women who are new to the community at our Welcome Newcomers Night.
All shiurim are free of charge; however, there are sponsorship opportunities. You can sponsor a shiur or you can sponsor an ad. Please call or text Mrs. Chavi Barenbaum or email nsheibaltimore@gmail.com for more information. We would greatly appreciate N’shei dues and donations, so we can continue bringing quality programs to our community. Dues are still only $25 and can be paid at any of our shiurim; mailed to Mrs. Sandy Cohen at 6314 Cross Country Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21215; or by sending an email to nsheibaltimore@ gmail.com with a request for a link for online payments. We can also use volunteers to help with our programming, especially with publicity, phone calls, and computer graphics.
We look forward to having you join our lectures and events.
Our hearts are still bleeding from the tragic loss of our dear friend, Rena Baron a”h, founder of Mom2Mom and the “Mommy and Me” classes that have become so synonymous with AIM.
Rena was, “kishma kein hi,” pure joy, to all those who were so fortunate to know her. She touched us, uplifted us, and inspired us in all areas of our lives. We saw the love and excitement she felt towards being a mother, and that love was felt not only by her
immediate family, but by her broader Baltimore family as well.
When she reached out to bring her organization, Mom2Mom, under the umbrella of AIM, it was a win - win for everyone. Rena embodied the mission of AIM - her passion for new mothers knew no bounds, and the dedication she exhibited to mothers in all stages was an inspiration to behold. The weekly “Mommy and Me” classes continued to grow in popularity, reaching over 50 women
in attendance, and becoming the highlight of many women’s weeks.
Rena, your painful loss has left a gaping void within us. But you would not want us to wallow in our sadness. You would challenge us, “Hazor’im bdim’ah b’RENA yiktzoru”, to take our sadness and channel it towards growth.
So, Rena, even though you are no longer here by our side, we still commit ourselves, stronger than ever, to your mission of helping every mother
in Baltimore. We do this for you.
Your spirit will live on, through every song, every smile, every relationship built during those invaluable classes. Your AIM family will be there to perpetuate your incredible legacy, and bring more joy, more RENA, to every mother who welcomes a new neshama into this world.
May it be a zechus for the neshama of Rena Esther bas Rav Daniel Efraim
The family of Rena (Lapin) Baron
extends deep gratitude to the individuals and organizations of the Baltimore community for their support over the three and a half years of Rena’s illness and through the week of shiva. It is impossible to list the overwhelming chesed we received, both as tangible, physical help and through the tefillos that stormed Shamayim on Rena’s behalf.
We particularly wish to thank the dozens of volunteers from Jewish Caring Network, Chai Lifeline, and Chai4Ever who embraced and continue to embrace the Baron children, as well as the countless friends who drove carpools, provided meals, and responded to all our needs.
We would be grateful if you would share stories about Rena with us at MemoriesofRena@gmail.com
HIRINGHIRING
Positions for the 2024-2025 School Year
Middle School
English Teacher - 7th & 8th Grade, 3 Periods
SEND YOUR RESUME: YMAJESKI @ TALMUDICALACADEMY.ORG
Woodshop Teacher - Monday-Thursday: 3:40-5:15 pm, 2 Periods
SEND YOUR RESUME: YSCHWARTZ @ TALMUDICALACADEMY.ORG
High School
English Teacher - 9th Grade, Monday-Thursday: 5:20-6:05 pm
Focus on Writing Skills
Home Construction - Monday-Thursday: 4:33-5:17 pm
Proficiency in general construction and plumbing required
Electrical Shop - Monday-Thursday: 5:20-6:05 pm
Proficiency in wiring home to code required
SEND YOUR RESUME: SSTEINBERG @ TALMUDICALACADEMY.ORG
Competitive Compensation
Qualified Tuition Reduction
Cafeteria Plan for Vision, Dental and Dependant Care
Disability & Life Insurance Plans
Group Dental Plans
Highly Subsidized JCC Membership
Warm, Friendly & Frum Environment!
Parent Friendly Hours! Enjoy being on your kids’ schedules!
Following the Petira of His Father, HaRav Yissocher Dov Eichenstein Named Zidichover Rebbe of Baltimore
The entire Mercaz Torah U’Tefillah Kehilla joins the Rav in sorrow as he begins the year of aveilus for his father, the Zidichover Rebbe of Chicago who was recently niftar.
The Rebbe, Zt”l’s, warmth and love for every Yid were legendary, leaving Klal Yisroel and the Chicago community with a profound void.
Following the Rebbe’s petirah, the instructions were revealed that his sons will carry on the important mantle of Rebbe in his stead.
As announced this past Shabbos, we are excited to inform you that our Rav should now be referred to as the Zidichover Rebbe of Baltimore.
We wish the Rebbe much bracha and hatzlacha in his new role, leading us for many years to come with gezunt and arichas yamim tovim.
A Women's Constant Companion For Every Tefillah
FOR TIMES OF JOY • FOR TIMES OF SORROW • AND ALL TIMES BETWEEN
AVAILABLE IN TWO COLORS
Siddur Shiras Sheina
DEDICATED BY JAY AND SARI TEPPER
ALL-HEBREW WOMEN’S SIDDUR WITH ENGLISH INSTRUCTIONS
• ASHKENAZ •
For generations, a woman's “Korban Minchah Siddur” was her best friend. This new siddur is the Korban Minchah Siddur for today's generation and beyond.
THIS COMPLETE SIDDUR INCLUDES:
› Detailed instructions, in English, specifically for women
› Guidelines of priorities in tefillah for women
› Additional tefillos and techinos.
› Tefillos for mekomos hakedoshim in Eretz Yisrael.
Tashbar Camp Takes the Plunge
This past week the boys at Tashbar camp went on a trip to the second grade Rebbi’s home to try cold plunging! For those not yet in the know, cold plunging is when a person dunks into an ice bath. It’s a very healthy way to reset your body and initiate healing after an intense workout. It’s also a great way to cool off – a must in this never-ending heatwave!
The boys worked as a team and learned how to man a grill, at first helping their counselors roast chicken wings, then taking over and doing it themselves. To top it off, they toasted marshmallows on sticks, enjoying their treats in the great outdoors.
Councilman Schleifer Swings into Action with New Playground Near Cheder Chabad
Councilman Yitzy Schleifer secures another brand-new playground open to all.
This new playground is next to Cheder Chabad on the fields of the Baltimore City Police Training Academy.
613 Seconds with Atara Frankel & Rebecca Spero, Sister to Sister Baltimore Founding City Captains
BJH: What is Sister to Sister?
AF & RS: Started in 2006, Sister to Sister (S2S) empowers Jewish divorced women to create their next chapter by providing a supportive network, services and a community. It has grown from an organization helping 50 women in Brooklyn to a national organization providing critical support to over 2,000 women and 3,800 children under the age of 20.
BJH: Tell us more about the role of a City Captain.
BJH: How did you get involved?
Atara: My Rav felt that Baltimore needed a chapter and asked if I would take it on.
Rebecca: Someone asked me to help as I was finishing a different volunteer role, so the timing was right.
BJH: How many women and children are part of the Baltimore chapter?
AF & RS: Sister to Sister Baltimore currently has 91 members and 176 children.
BJH: What services does Sister to Sister provide?
AF & RS: Sister to Sister believes women who feel connected to their community will raise children connected to the community, so every effort is made to ensure that connection.
The organization is always thinking about how it can provide more assistance for our Sisters. The goal is to make our Sisters’ lives a bit easier and give them opportunities to participate with their children in the larger community. This past Pesach, we arranged for members’ kitchens to be Kashered and cars cleaned to make a very busy time of year a bit easier. Over the summer, a donor sponsors membership to the Bais Yaakov pool for members, while other donors have sponsored tickets to community events and concerts.
BJH: What are some of the recent S2S Baltimore events?
AF & RS: Events for Sisters are planned to pamper them a bit and provide inspiration and Chizuk. Most recently we hosted events with guest speakers Esti Hamilton, Chana Grove and Shifra Rabenstein.
Recent events for Sisters and their children include a Chanukah party and pre-Pesach pizza dinner.
BJH: What unique challenges do women face?
AF & RS: Each of Sister to Sister’s 33 chapters are run by volunteer Captains. We make sure that every woman in Baltimore who is a member of Sister to Sister has the supports and resources she needs by working with the organization and local community partners. We plan events and foster a sense of community among the members.
We have four other Baltimore City Captains who share the role with us: Tamara Breitowitz, Shushi Ehrenfeld, Feige Engelsberg and T ova Shapiro.
Social events for the women are held in every community, as well as an annual national weekend retreat. Many Sisters are paired with an Advocate, a volunteer which provides a neutral sounding-board, an empathetic ear and an invaluable source of emotional support on a weekly basis.
Sister to Sister provides educational and inspirational workshops, Yom Tov assistance, birthday and Yom Tov gifts for Sisters and their children, dating support, resource referrals and advocacy, Shabbos and Yom Tov hospitality, financial and employment counseling, shul partners for boys, and much more. Sisters are given the opportunity to sign up to receive weekly calls from Rabbi Bender and Chani Neuberger and from Rabbi Krohn for their children.
AF & RS: We all have busy lives, but single mothers face additional challenges juggling all the responsibilities of running a home alone. Our Sister to Sister members are some of the strongest and most resilient women we know! We are inspired daily by how these women put a smile on their faces and approach their challenges with grace.
Around Yom Tov there are unique challenges to preparing for the Yom Tov and performing some of the Mitzvos of the Yom Tov. Many women have to navi-
gate purchasing and putting up a sukkah, buying a lulav and esrog, ensuring their sons have someone to dance with on Simchas Torah, lighting menorah alone for 8 nights, hearing megillah on Purim with little kids at home, selling chometz and running a Pesach seder.
BJH: As a community, what can we do to help?
AF & RS: While Sister to Sister works to ensure every woman has what she needs, there are many ways our community members can help. If you are interested in becoming an Advocate and being matched to a Sister to provide weekly support, please contact one of us or Bracha Zomber (bracha@sistertosisternetwork.org). If you have a skill set that might be helpful and are willing to donate time, please reach out. We have volunteers who fill many roles, including helping women file taxes, small home repairs, and other needs.
Invitations for Shabbos and Yom Tov meals are generally appreciated, especially when done in advance. An offer to drive a carpool or send a high schooler over to babysit for an hour during the week or Shabbos afternoon can help a single mother get through a challenging day.
Men can offer to take a boy to shul or attend father-son learning (if the father isn’t available to do so). Women can offer to sit with a Bas mitzvah girl in shul on Rosh Hashana if her mother can’t go with her.
BJH: Where can I find out more information about the organization?
Visit www.sistertosisternetwork.org.
The Week In News
The Week In News
houses and carry out acts of vandalism. However, reports of the Kremlin’s assassination plot, which was confirmed by U.S. and German officials, indicate that Russia is now willing to take drastic measures to harm Ukraine’s allies.
Russia Plotted To Kill German CEO
The United States had uncovered a Kremlin plot earlier this year to kill Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall, Germany’s top arms supporter to Ukraine. After the U.S. notified Germany of Russia’s plans, German officials were able to thwart the assassination plot. Reports about the plot were made public last week.
The CEO’s company is Ukraine’s top weapons manufacturer, having produced artillery shells and military weapons to help the embattled country defend against Russia’s ongoing invasion. The company has played a key role in Kyiv’s efforts to defend itself and is expected to open an armored vehicle plant in Ukraine in the weeks to come.
In the past half a year, Russia has been responsible for carrying out several indirect attacks on European allies of Ukraine. Moscow has previously hired individuals to, for instance, set fire to weapon Ukraine-affiliated ware-
“We’re seeing sabotage, we’re seeing assassination plots, we’re seeing arson. We’re seeing things that have a cost in human lives,” a senior NATO official said on Tuesday. “I believe very much that we’re seeing a campaign of covert sabotage activities from Russia that have strategic consequences.”
The exact details of Russia’s assassination plot are not yet known; whether they planned on carrying out the attack themselves or through indirect means is currently unclear.
After the United States acquired intelligence earlier this month that Russian proxies were thinking of conducting sabotage attacks on U.S. army bases, American military facilities in Europe were put on an increased state of alert.
There has also been speculation about whether Russia was responsible for an attack that burned down Warsaw’s biggest mall. Additionally, last April, two nationals from Germany and Russia were detained for reportedly planning to bomb and carry out arson attacks for Russia on U.S. military bases and other targets.
43 People Sentenced to Life in UAE
Last week, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal in the United Arab Emirates sentenced 43 people to life in prison in a mass trial.
The trial was criticized by human rights groups who said it targeted political dissidents and activists, linking them to Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement proscribed as a terrorist organization by the UAE.
The defendants were sentenced for “creating, establishing and managing the Justice and Dignity Committee” for the purpose of committing terrorist acts in the country, state news agency WAM reported.
The court said they “have worked to create and replicate violent events in the country, similar to what has occurred in other Arab states — including protests and clashes between the security forces and protesting crowds — that led to deaths and injuries and to the destruction of facilities, as well as the consequent spread of panic and terror among people.”
Twenty-four other defendants were acquitted.
Among those convicted were Nasser bin Ghaith, a prominent academic, and activist Ahmed Mansoor.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International condemned the trial for alleged due process violations and called for the immediate release of the defendants.
offence,” he said. “Trying 84 Emiratis at once, including 26 prisoners of conscience and well-known human rights defenders, is a scarcely disguised exercise in punishing dissenters that has been further marred by a myriad of fair trial violations, the most serious of which is uninvestigated allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.”
Pakistan to Ban Imran Khan’s Party
Pakistan’s government plans to ban the party of the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, officials said Monday, a decision expected to exacerbate the political turmoil that has consumed the country for the past two years.
The country’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the government was moving to outlaw Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, after actions that had posed “a direct threat to the fabric of our nation.”
“These over-the-top long sentences make a mockery of justice and are another nail in the coffin for the UAE’s nascent civil society,” Joey Shea, a researcher focusing on the UAE for Human Rights Watch, said. “The UAE has dragged scores of its most dedicated human rights defenders and civil society members through a shamelessly unfair trial riddled with due process violations and torture allegations.”
Amnesty International’s UAE researcher Devin Kenney said, “The trial has been a shameless parody of justice and violated multiple fundamental principles of law, including the principle that you cannot try the same person twice for the same crime, and the principle that you cannot punish people retroactively under laws that didn’t exist at the time of the alleged
But analysts said the decision — which few expect to be upheld in court — reflected growing desperation by the Pakistani government. It has struggled to assert its authority after an election this year in which the country’s powerful military was accused of rigging dozens of races against the broadly popular PTI.
“If pushed through, it will achieve nothing more than deeper polarization and the strong likelihood of political chaos and violence,” Asad Iqbal Butt, chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said in a statement.
The government’s announcement came days after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that PTI was entitled to 23 unelected seats in parliament reserved for women and minorities. That decision stripped the governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of its two-thirds majority in Parliament, weakening an already
Greater Washington Weekday Minyanim Guide
6:15 am Young Israel Shomrai Emunah M-F
6:25 am Southeast Hebrew Cong., Knesset Yehoshua M-F
6:30 am Beth Sholom Congregation M-F
Beit Halevi (Sfardi) M, T
Chabad of Silver Spring M-F
Ohev Shalom Talmud Torah OLNEY M-F
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah S
YGW M, Th
6:35 am Ohr Hatorah M, Th
6:40 am YGW S, T, W, F
Magen David Sephardic Congregation M-Th
6:45 am Beit Halevi (Sfardi) S, T, W, F
Kemp Mill Synagogue M, Th
Ohr Hatorah T, W, F
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah M, Th
6:50 am Woodside Synagogue/Ahavas Torah M, Th
Silver Spring Jewish Center M-F
Chabad of Upper Montgomery County M-F
6:55 am Young Israel Shomrai Emunah T, W, F
7:00 am Kemp Mill Synagogue T, W, F
Southeast Hebrew Cong., Knesset Yehoshua S Silver Spring Jewish Center S
BETHESDA
Magen David Sephardic Congregation [S]
11215 Woodglen Dr, North Bethesda, MD 20852
GAITHERSBURG
Chabad of Upper Montgomery County [Ari] 11520 Darnestown Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
OLNEY
Ohev Shalom Talmud Torah (OSTT)
18320 Georgia Ave, Olney, MD 20832
Woodside Synagogue/Ahavas Torah T, W, F
Young Israel Ezras Israel of Potomac T,W,F
7:05 am Kesher Israel M, Th
7:15 am Kemp Mill Synagogue M, Th
Kesher Israel T, W, F
Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah/The National Synagogue M-F
Young Israel Shomrai Emunah [Ashk + S] 1132 Arcola Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20902
WASHINGTON
Chabad of DC [Ari]
2110 Leroy Pl. NW, Washington, DC 20008 Kesher Israel 2801 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20007
Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah/The National Synagogue 1600 Jonquil St NW, Washington, DC 20012
Yitz & Avigayil Pierce on the birth of a son
Rabbi Akiva Yisrael & Sara Tova Milleron on the birth of a son
Meir & Sarah Raskas on the Birth of a son
Chaim Baruch and Ayala Lefkowitz on the birth of a daughter
Yaakov & Aviva Gluck on the birth of a daughter
Want to see your simcha here? Email mazeltov@baltimorejewishhome.com or text 443-675-6507 to submit your simcha!
shacharis
The Week In News
fragile government that lacks mass popular support.
PTI, which won more seats than any other party in the election despite a crackdown on its candidates and supporters, has become a seemingly unstoppable force since Khan fell out with the military and was ousted in a vote of no confidence in 2022.
After his removal from office, Khan made a stunning political comeback and whipped up popular protests against the military, which he accused of orchestrating his ouster. He has stirred up a swell of anger at the generals’ longtime role in shaping the country’s politics from behind the scenes. He has also helped make Pakistan’s politics more polarized than ever, analysts say.
Khan, a cricket star-turned-populist politician, was imprisoned in August on what he claimed were trumped-up charges.
Over 8,000 Muslim Bosnian males were rounded up in the U.N. safe area of Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb military and police officials on July 11, 1995. In the days that followed, the captured Bosnians were murdered in mass shootings, after which authorities scattered the victims’ remains into several mass graves in an attempt to hide evidence of the crimes.
The massacre was carried out in the wake of the Bosnian War, which was triggered by the breakup of Yugosla-
via into six different countries. Since the perpetrators of the genocide, at the time, randomly distributed victims’ body parts throughout a number of mass graves, families of those massacred have had a challenging time finding all of their loved ones’ remains. Of those murdered, over 6,600 have been reburied in a memorial cemetery situated outside of Srebrenica, Bosnia, twenty-nine years later.
The incident has since been internationally recognized as a genocide – Europe’s only recognized genocide, in fact, since the Holocaust. But, as thousands of Bosnians commemorated the massacre last Thursday, many Bosnian Serbs still deny that the incident was a genocide but insist that it was only a “terrible crime.”
“The genocide in Srebrenica did not happen, and if it did, there would be no need to constantly impose this topic,” claimed Milorad Dodik, the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska entity.
Many Bosnian Serb leaders have denounced the United Nations General Assembly’s decision just weeks ago to declare July 11 an annual international day of commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. Those who oppose the designation have said that such actions only serve to represent Serbs at large as “genocidal people.”
“For a full 29 years, the policy of covering up and denying the genocide was carried out by those forces who designed and planned the genocide and who for years provided shelter to those suspected and accused of the most serious war crimes,” noted Hamdija Fejzic, the president of the Board of Directors of the Srebrenica Memorial Center.
“The failure to prevent this genocide is a burden we continue to bear,” said Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative. “Both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice have indisputably determined that this crime is genocide.”
After the killings, Radovan Karadzic, a Bosnian Serb political leader, and Ratko Mladic, a military commander, were convicted of genocide by The Hague. In total, around 50 Bosnian Serb officials were collectively sentenced to over 700 years in jail for carrying out the genocide.
“Tzipora worked with me to create a
Thank you Tzipora!”
ANONYMOUS CLIENT
"Tzipora was a pleasure to work with. She listened to my goals and challenges, and put together a workable game plan to achieve my goals. Highly recommend!”
ANONYMOUS CLIENT
The Week In News
Too Much Cocaine in Colombia
For decades, one industry has sustained the small, remote Colombian village of Cano Cabra: cocaine.
Those who live here rise early nearly every morning to pick coca leaf, scraping brittle branches, sometimes until their hands bleed. Later, they mix the leaves with gasoline and other chemicals to make chalky white bricks of coca paste.
But two years ago, the villagers said, something happened: The drug traffickers who buy the coca paste and turn it into cocaine stopped showing up. Suddenly, people who were already poor had no income.
Colombia, which produces more cocaine than any other nation, is facing tectonic shifts as a result of domestic and global forces reshaping the drug industry.
The changing dynamics have led to blocks of unsold coca paste piling up across Colombia. The purchase of the paste in more than half of the country’s coca-growing regions has dropped precipitously or disappeared completely, spurring a humanitarian crisis in many remote, impoverished communities.
The drug market had never seen “such a dramatic downturn,” said Felipe Tascón, an economist who has studied the illicit drug economy.
The upending of the cocaine industry is, in part, an unintended consequence of a peace deal eight years ago with the country’s largest armed group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The leftist group financed its war largely through cocaine and relied on thousands of farmers to provide the bright green coca plant – the
drug’s main ingredient.
But once the FARC exited the cocaine industry, it was replaced by smaller criminal groups pursuing a new economic model, said Leonardo Correa of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: buying large quantities of coca from a smaller number of farmers and limiting their operations to border regions where it is easier to move drugs out of the country.
While some experts say the transformation of the industry could lead coca plant growers to transition to legal ways of making a living, many worry that farmers could instead switch to other illicit activities.
At the Israeli public’s urging, the Israel Defense Forces launched an investigation into the tragic attack on the kibbutz, with the thorough and detailed probe led by former Gaza Division commander Maj. Gen. (res.) Mickey Edelstein. Last Thursday, the IDF released detailed findings from the investigation, which will likely be the first of many to come.
According to the investigation, the IDF “failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Be’eri” because the army previously had only prepared for small attacks or “single intrusions.” Additionally, the investigation determined that some IDF soldiers did not shield civilians from rocket attacks, as would have been appropriate. The probe also said that it was appropriate and “responsible” for a senior IDF officer to have authorized tank shellings at a Be’eri home where terrorists were keeping abductees – an order that caused the death of one or more Israelis.
The probe highlighted bravery from civilians, who were able to fend off Hamas terrorists for a while.
Be’eri Massacre Probe
On the horrific day of October 7, the Hamas terror organization perpetrated massacres in a number of communities in southern Israel. The most fatal attack of the day on a particular community was on Kibbutz Be’eri, where 101 civilians and 31 security officials were murdered. Another thirty people were abducted from the community, which was home to approximately 1,000 people. Eleven of the hostages from Kibbutz Be’eri have yet to be freed from terrorist hands in Gaza. In the kibbutz, 125 or more houses were damaged or decimated.
emergency response team’s deputy, Ilan Weiss, who also possessed a key, also tried to go to the armory but was murdered by Hamas, who kidnapped Weiss’ body, which still remains in Gaza. The kibbutz was thus without assault rifles and could only make use of personal weapons in fighting against the terrorists. After a few terrorists breached Be’eri’s entrance, the terror group broke through the fence with a bulldozer, allowing many more gunmen to enter the kibbutz.
Over 300 Palestinian terrorists stormed into Be’eri shortly after 6:30 a.m. on the morning of October 7. Israeli forces killed 100 or more terrorists in the community and detained eighteen live gunmen. At the time, rockets rained down on Israel, and Hamas terrorists attacked two Paga military post tanks, eliminating one of the tanks and killing officers, whose remains were later dragged into Gaza. The other tank tried to go after a number of terrorists at the Supernova music festival, but was attacked several times, and all its passengers, except for the driver, were murdered.
At 6:42 a.m., Hamas’ Nuseirat Battalion’s 2nd company deployed motorcycle-riding terrorists to Be’eri, with the slowest gunmen arriving at the Israeli community at 7:20 a.m.
Simultaneously, the first and second companies attacked the music festival. At around that time, Be’eri’s security team chief, Arik Kraunik, saw an initial group of Hamas motorcycles approaching the kibbutz and informed the IDF and the community’s civilians. Kraunik, having held the kibbutz’s armory keys, then attempted to call local security officials to the armory. After terrorists broke through the kibbutz’s main entrance, the gunmen murdered Kraunik after exchanging fire. The
At about 7:27 a.m., five police officials arrived at the kibbutz, but instantly left upon hearing the sounds of gunshots. At around that time, Hamas terrorists went door to door, killing all residents in sight and burning down buildings. Reservist general Yossi Bachar and a team of other armed civilians defended the kibbutz against Hamas, stopping the terrorist organization from reaching the center of the community. By the time 9:03 a.m. arrived, thirteen Air Force Shaldag unit officials reached Be’eri via helicopter. It wasn’t until approximately 1:30 p.m., though, that other IDF units began to join the elite Shaldag unit in fighting against Hamas. At the time, just twenty-six armed Israelis were at the kibbutz, fighting against over 300 terrorists, according to the investigation. After one Shaldag fighter was killed and another sustained serious wounds, the unit fled to the community’s entrance in an attempt to evacuate the injured. That decision was unprofessional and poorly made, as the team should have kept fighting in the kibbutz, the investigation concluded. At the kibbutz’s entrance, the IDF unit eliminated a number of Hamas gunmen. Later, it would go back to engage in combat at the kibbutz, and several other Shaldag officials soon joined them, including Maj. (res.) Yitzhar Hofman, who later fought in Gaza and was murdered in Gaza City earlier in 2024.
Several Palestinian noncombatants went to Be’eri and ransacked the community at 11:30 a.m. At 12:15 p.m., Hamas’ first and third companies came to Be’eri. Each of the thirty-two kidnapped civilians had been dragged into Gaza by 1 p.m., after which no more hostages were taken from the kibbutz. At this time, 99th Division commander Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram was selected by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi to coordinate the
The Week In News
troops. However, Hiram only reached the kibbutz at 4:15 p.m. or so.
Speed
Officials from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit tried to go to Be’eri but were postponed by nearby terrorists on the Route 232 road. At 1:30 p.m., Shaldag handled one side of Be’eri, while Sayeret Matkal handled the other. The two teams went through the kibbutz, looking for the two hundred or so terrorists who were still in the community at the time, as well as civilians who had been barricaded in their homes.
During the attack, there was just one case of friendly fire among IDF troops at the kibbutz, according to the probe, which said that soldiers were cautious to only shoot if directly fighting with gunmen in order to be sure not to kill any civilians.
From 1:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., the IDF and Hamas exchanged continuous fire. At the same time, a group of eight police officials tried to travel to the kibbutz’s western side via a car but were killed in a surprise attack by Hamas terrorists. From 2 to 3 p.m., initial civilian evacuations began, with the majority of residents having fled at 6 p.m. or so. Others were evacuated by the IDF from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on October 8.
During the massacre, Hamas captured seventeen residents, one of whom was already dead, and kept them at the home of Pessi Cohen. At 3:08 p.m., police were alerted of the hostage situation, but misunderstood and mistakenly thought that the abductees were being held at the dining hall of Be’eri, as opposed to Cohen’s house. When a terrorist at Cohen’s home, at 3:59 p.m., informed a higher-up in Gaza about the situation over the phone, the Israeli military intercepted the call. Eventually, officials realized where the hostages were being held and surrounded Cohen’s home. Out of the eight terrorists inside the house, one surrendered to the Israeli military, walking out of the house while using survivor Yasmin Porat as a human shield.
A first light tank shell was fired by Israeli officials close to the house at 5:33 p.m. A second shell was fired at the house’s pathway at 6:27 p.m., one minute after Gaza-based senior Hamas officials told the terrorists in the house to escape. At 6:32 p.m., the terrorists insisted that they would instead fight till their deaths. At 6:34 pm, a third shell was fired, mistakenly killing one hostage: sixty-eight year old Adi Da-
gan and injuring his seventy-year-old wife Hadas. Israeli forces fired a fourth shell at the roof in an effort to coerce the terrorists into releasing the hostages, according to the investigation. At 7:57 p.m., Israeli troops heard a long, loud series of gunshots from within the house, after which they no longer heard any sound from hostages. Thirteen hostages appeared to have been shot dead by the terrorists, while just one survived: Hadas Dagan.
Although many Hamas terrorists continued hiding in the community the next day, Kibbutz Be’eri was officially recaptured by the Israeli army on October 8.
108 Terrorists in UNRWA
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that at least 108 terrorist operatives are being employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In a letter dated July 4, the ministry asked the organization to terminate the staffers immediately.
Ambassador Amir Weissbrod wrote that the presence of Hamas terrorists in UNRWA has been a “recurring concern” for Israeli officials.
“However, the full scope of this unprecedented infiltration was unknown and became clear only after the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, in which, as you know, UNRWA employees actively participated,” Weissbrod said.
“In recent months Israel has discovered that hundreds of terrorists, members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have been employed by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip, some of them holding high-ranking positions in UNRWA or in Hamas.”
The ambassador added that the intent of his letter was to share “some additional information on this matter.” He identified the terrorists employed by UNRWA and included their military IDs as well.
The official added that the list con-
The Week In News
tains a “small fraction” of terrorist operatives employed by UNRWA and that the names of more employees will be sent in the future.
“Israel expects from you and your organization to immediately terminate the employment of any member of Hamas or PIJ… Their work in UNRWA poses a security risk for Israel and represents a breach of the principle of neutrality as was mentioned in Ms. Colonna’s report,” Weissbrod added.
The Israeli government has repeatedly released photographs, video and documents proving that Hamas terrorists have worked within the UNRWA. In January, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini announced that he had fired UNRWA staff members that were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.
However, Lazzarini has also recently pushed back against Israeli criticism of his organization. During a meeting at the U.N. in Geneva, he said that the UNRWA was “staggering under the weight of relentless attacks.”
“Israel has long been critical of the agency’s mandate. But it now seeks to end UNRWA’s operations, dismissing the agency’s status as a United Nations entity supported by an overwhelming majority of member states,” he said. “If we do not push back, other U.N. entities and international organizations will be next, further undermining our multilateral system.”
Israel Targets Hamas Military Chief
On Saturday, Israel struck a Hamas location in the Gaza Strip’s Al-Mawasi area, successfully killing Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafa’a Salameh. Although the military had been prepared to strike the location for weeks prior, Israel waited to launch the attack on the grounds that Hamas’ military chief, Muhammad Deif, might
appear at the targeted location as well.
According to Israeli officials, Deif, a friend of Salameh, did, in fact, appear at the location Israel had been monitoring. Thus, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s permission on Friday, the IDF launched an airstrike on the AlMawasi compound at 10 a.m., killing Salameh, who owned a villa in the area. However, whether Deif was also killed in the strike has yet to be confirmed, although there is strong evidence that he was killed in the strike.
Hamas claims that Deif is alive, but the IDF has said that the Hamas military chief, who was one of October 7’s main planners, was very likely killed in the strike. Some Israeli officials have noted that Hamas could be lying about Deif’s well-being. A day after the strike, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that it was “still too early to summarize the results of the attack.”
This was Israel’s eighth try at killing Deif, whom the Jewish state has been trying to eliminate since 2001. In two attempts on his life, Deif was wounded. If Saturday’s operation was successful, Deif would be the highest-ranked Hamas terrorist to be eliminated since the war began.
Although many Hamas leaders are based underground, Deif had to spend time aboveground due to medical issues from injuries he sustained in Israel’s past attempts to kill him. According to the Walla news site, Deif and Salameh felt safe at the compound, as they didn’t think Israel would find out that they were there and also because of the compound’s closeness to Palestinian refugee camps. Although Hamas claims that 90 Palestinians were killed in Saturday’s attack, the Jewish state has said that most of the people who died were part of Hamas.
and managed to squat down after the bullet hit his ear. Eventually, officials identified the gunman and killed him after he managed to get off a few more rounds.
Witnesses had noticed Thomas Matthew Crooks pacing outside the event’s metal detectors. Others saw him climbing to the roof of a building just 135 meters away from Trump with a ladder and then shouted at police that he had a gun.
The attempted assassination left Trump and two other men wounded. A former fire chief, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, was killed while protecting his family. He was married to his high school sweetheart and had two daughters.
The former president bent down after the shooting but then told Secret Service to “wait” while they tried to hustle him off the stage. At one point, Trump, with his face covered in blood, raised his fist in the air and mouthed to the crowd, “Fight, fight, fight.” Secret Service officers brought Trump to a waiting vehicle and whisked him off the grounds.
It was a Butler Township police officer who encountered the gunman on the roof before the shooting. The officer was looking for the suspicious person when another officer hoisted him up so he could grab the edge of the roof. The officer then dropped down to the ground, injuring his ankle. A sniper killed Crooks seconds after he fired toward the former president.
At least a dozen police officers and sheriff’s deputies were assisting the U.S. Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police with rally security.
Kephart, now a consulting expert on law enforcement event security.
President Joe Biden has ordered an independent investigation of the assassination attempt including security at the rally. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he has “full confidence” in the Secret Service’s leadership, but he conceded that the gunman never should have reached that deadly position.
Congressional hearings will commence on July 22 with the director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, set to testify. She’ll speak before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The FBI believes Crooks, who had bomb-making materials in the car he drove to the rally, acted alone with a gun purchased by his father. Crooks had bought 50 rounds of ammunition on the day of the attack.
Two days after surviving the attempted assassination, Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention’s opening night on Monday with a bandage over his right ear. He seemed subdued and introspective as the crowds cheered for him.
Richard Simmons Dies
Richard Simmons, the fitness guru who made exercise fun, died on Saturday at the age of 76, one day after his birthday.
Assassination Attempt
On Saturday, during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a 20-year-old gunman climbed to the top of a building in the surrounding area and shot at former President Donald Trump with an AR-style rifle. Thankfully, Trump was only grazed by the bullet
Stan Kephart, a former police chief who worked event security for two former presidents, said the shooting followed an “an absolute and abysmal failure” on the part of the Secret Service to protect Trump. The agency is ultimately responsible for the candidate’s safety, he added.
“You don’t get to blame other people. They are under your control,” said
Earlier this year, Simmons announced on Facebook he had been diagnosed with skin cancer after seeing a dermatologist about a “strange-looking bump” under his right eye. Simmons had basal cell carcinoma.
In an interview with People magazine last week, Simmons said he might blow out some candles for his birthday. “But the candle will probably be on a zucchini,” Simmons said. “You know, I’m a vegetarian.”
He also added he was doing well, say-
November 6, 2024 at 6 p.m.
Find your personal path to resilience, emotional wellness, and healing with Britt Frank, LSCSW, SEP, author of The Science of Stuck.
Beth Tfiloh Congregation
3300 Old Court Road Pikesville, MD 21208
The Week In News
ing: “I feel good! I am grateful that I’m here, that I am alive for another day. I’ll spend my birthday doing what I do every day, which is to help people.”
The fitness coach built a multimedia empire with “The Richard Simmons Show” and VHS exercise videos such as “Sweating With the Oldies.”
Born Milton Teagle Simmons in New Orleans in 1948, Simmons grew up in the French Quarter and sold pralines on the street. The city’s rich food heritage contributed to him becoming an overweight child and an overweight young adult. Simmons weighed almost 270 pounds when he graduated high school.
Simmons moved to L.A. and lost weight in his mid-20s, opening up an exercise studio called Slimmons. He continued to teach classes and host seminars there until 2013. His nationally syndicated series, “The Richard Simmons Show,” ran from 1984 to 1989 and won Daytime Emmys for best direction and best talk show.
65 20 million copies.
Vance for VP
On Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump announced his pick for VP: Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Trump announced his decision on Monday afternoon on his Truth Social platform, telling his followers that Vance was “the person best suited” for the role. Only moments earlier, Trump had shared the information with Vance himself.
“He just said, ‘Look, I think we gotta
as the GOP vice presidential nominee. “‘You can help me govern. You can help me win. You can help me in some of these Midwestern states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and so forth.’”
Vance may have been an unlikely pick for VP, but over the past few months, his name has been included in the mix of those Trump was considering as his running mate.
The relationship between the two blossomed in the spring and summer over joint appearances at campaign events and closed-door fundraisers in California, where Vance, a former venture capitalist, helped Trump connect with wealthy tech entrepreneurs – such as Vance’s close friend, prominent tech investor David Sacks.
Their final meeting before Monday’s decision took place at Trump’s Mara-Lago club on Saturday just hours before the former president traveled to Butler, Pennsylvania, for a rally that would end with an assassination
Among other names that Trump had been considering were North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both of whom had also met with the former president last week. Other people thought Trump should consider South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Trump spent the final 24 hours waffling over his pick, leaving even those in his inner circle guessing about his ultimate choice.
Trump also took his time in 2016 when he ultimately chose Mike Pence as his running mate.
This time around, Donald Trump Jr. and Steven Bannon both thought Vance would be the right person for the job. Vance also had the backing of Tucker Carlson, even as the conservative commentator’s former boss Fox News Corp. magnate Rupert Murdoch directly lobbied Trump to pick Burgum and his onetime Fox News primetime pal Sean Hannity campaigned for
Trump Jr. told CNN that he said to his father at the dinner, “Listen, I think
The Week In News
ecute the case against the Democrats. I think no one’s more articulate than that, and I think his story, his background, really helped us in a lot of the places that you’re going to need.”
It wasn’t long ago that Vance considered himself a “Never Trump guy.” In the early days of Trump’s ascent in the GOP, Vance, then best known as the “Hillbilly Elegy” author, was critical of the reality TV star-turned-politician. He said he was voting third party in 2016. But then Vance seemed to change his mind. He entered a contested primary for an open Ohio Senate seat as a vocal backer of the former president, who ultimately endorsed Vance over other conservative alternatives. Vance went on to win that 2022 primary and the general election.
Vance, 39, grew up in Jackson, Kentucky, and Middletown, Ohio. His mother struggled with drug addiction, and he was raised by his grandmother. He eventually graduated from Yale and is a gifted speaker, becoming an articulate messenger of the Trump agenda. He is also a former marine who served in Iraq.
Wild for Wawa
Wawa is really wonderful. In fact, Tyler Gyurisin goes wild for the store.
“I’ve been going to Wawa my whole life. I always start my day with a coffee. I usually get lunch from there...sometimes dinner,” Gyurisin, of Barnegat, New Jersey, said.
In 2021, Gyurisin started collecting his order receipts from the store.
“The collection just got bigger and bigger. Eventually, I was like, ‘Now I need to collect all of them.’ Now here we are,” said Gyurisin.
The Wawa enthusiast now has 1,000 slips – numbering from 0 to 999.
“I’ve been sitting in this collection
for a couple of months now. I had the motivation to lay them all out today,” Gyurisin said.
Once he knew he was getting close to his goal, he started going to the store two to three times a day and even asking his friends for help.
“I would start telling my friends, ‘Hey I need #212. If you find order #212 please send it my way,’” Gyurisin said.
From New Jersey to Pennsylvania and Orlando, he’s been all over. He said he doesn’t even want to think about how much money he’s spent at Wawa alone.
Wawa was impressed with the dedicated customer, saying, “This is the level of dedication we’re talking about.”
Sometimes, or in Gyurisin’s case every day, you just “Gottahava Wawa.”
“I get mac and cheese every single day. I get an iced latte every morning. Wawa is like a pretty standard part of my diet,” Gyurisin explained.
The next goal he is working towards is getting a photo in front of every single Wawa. He said this challenge actually started before the order slip challenge, but they keep on opening stores. According to Gyurisin, it will take a few years to accomplish his newest goal.
Eamonn Keaveney loves Ireland. In fact, he loves it so much, he biked it on a unicycle. The Irish enthusiast rode the entire length of Ireland, 308 miles, in just a few days.
The record-winning ride took 5 days, 5 hours and 23 minutes.
Keaveney told Guinness World Records the title for the fastest crossing of Ireland by unicycle appealed to him because it “seemed like a perfect mix of daunting and ridiculous.”
Keaveney, who previously earned the record for the world’s longest barefoot journey in 2016 and followed it up by climbing 10 mountains barefoot in 10 days, said he had never ridden a unicy-
cle until he started training for the title. He traveled about 12 hours each day of his attempt.
“It was sometimes hard toward the end of the day to force myself up onto the unicycle for those last few miles,” he admitted.
Keaveney said a swollen ankle toward the end of his trip made each turn of the pedals feel “like torture.”
Sounds like craic (which means fun in Irish)!
Swept Out to Sea
A Chinese woman, while swimming at the beach at Shimoda in Japan, was swept out to sea last Monday night. Unbelievably, the woman survived 37 hours in the Pacific Ocean before being rescued.
The Japanese coast guard had launched a search for the Chinese woman after her friend called and told them that she had disappeared while swimming off the coast of Japan. She had been wearing an inflatable swim ring, which kept her afloat during the ordeal.
The woman was spotted by a cargo ship early Wednesday morning, more than 50 miles away from where she was sucked in by ocean waves and many hours after she got lost.
The cargo ship asked a passing LPG tanker to help. Two of its crew members jumped into the sea and rescued the woman. She was airlifted by a coast guard helicopter to land.
Crew members of the tanker who helped in the rescue said that they had shouted to the woman not to give up as she bobbed up and down in waves that were about 6.5 feet high. Two of them jumped into the water and tied a rope around the woman, while other crew pulled her up to the tanker, they said.
One crew member said everyone was relieved the woman survived, even though she seemed to be exhausted.
Amazingly, despite her miraculous ordeal, the woman seemed to be dehydrated but in good health. After being examined in a hospital, she went back home.
Ride the wave.
Torah Thought
The Right Man in the Right Place
By Rabbi Zvi Teichman
G-d initially refuses to allow Bilaam to accede to Balak’s request that he curse the Jewish nation. Despite Balak’s incessant promises to shower him with glory and honor, Bilaam remains steadfast in his inability to go against the word of Hashem. Yet, in his response to Balak’s appeal, he reveals his true character and debased nature.
If Balak will give me ןתיב אלמ — his houseful, בהזו ףסכ — of silver and gold, I cannot transgress the word of Hashem. (חי בכ
In Bilaam raising the prospect of receiving financial rewards for his services, he discloses what he truly thirsts for, but is frustratedly prevented by G-d in obtaining his heart’s desire.
But if all he truly desires is wealth why does he mention silver in addition to gold, isn’t gold alone the most valuable and inclusive of all alloys?
Secondly, there seems to an emphasis on his getting hold of ‘his houseful’, Balak’s specific holdings. If Bilaam’s intent was meant merely to emphasize that no matter what volume of wealth he was offered he could not defy Hashem, why then did he need to allude to Balak’s personal ‘household’ valuable particularly?
I believe that in this very first utterance of Bilaam, he displayed the three character flaws endemic to him and his students.
Silver and gold aren’t simply valuable metals; they serve as the metaphor for a much deeper existential need.
The word for gold, בהז, is a contraction of the two words: בה הז, literally translating as ‘this give’. This represents wealth and the stature that is often associated with gold. Man innately desires recognition and when observing the ‘luster’ of gold instinctively cries out ‘please give me that!’
Silver and its Hebrew counterpart, ףסכ, is rooted in the notion of ‘longing’, as in the verse, הפסכנ — yearn, and indeed ישפנ התלכ — pine does my soul. This reflects on man’s want to get one’s desires — both needs and luxuries.
Gold, the Talmud relates, is characterized as יבישח — most prominent and coveted.
Silver on the other hand is termed יפירח — more circulated and accepted as barter, intimating its ability to obtain all the objects of one’s cravings
These two drives parallel the Mishna in Avos (5 22) description of Bilaam and his disciples as possessing a ההובג חור — an arrogant spirit, the constant need for adulation, recognition and honor, and הבחר שפנ — a broad soul, one who seeks to placate his every want and pleasure.
Bilaam’s Freudian emphasis on specifically the riches from the ‘house’ of Balak, display his third defect, that of הער ןיע — an evil eye, the greedy outlook that pines for a uniqueness to the exclusion of others, incapable of feeling fulfilled if other’s share that same wealth and glory.
The Mishna goes on to contrast these blemishes with the qualities of our forefather Avraham and his followers: הבוט ןיע — a good eye, הכומנ חור — a humble spirit, and finally, הלפש שפנ — a meek soul.
The traits of generosity, humility and self-control were the legacy of Avraham for all generations.
The Mishna then strangely goes on to posit a question: How are the disciples of our forefather Avraham different than the disciples of Bilaam? Didn’t we just starkly juxtapose the obvious distinction between them?
In truth, the Holy Baal Shem taught, both sets of students possess the identical attributes. The difference is where they implement them.
In the realm of the material, the cohorts of Bilaam in their quest for temporal respect, honor, and enjoyment, utilize these negative qualities to achieve their unsavory goals. It is in the domain of spir-
ituality, however, they suddenly discover a generous ‘good eye’ in being satisfied with their meager accomplishments, happy to see others excel. They convince themselves with ‘absolute humility’ that they are unworthy and undeserving of rising to heights of spiritual elevation, which is the lot of others. Finally they ‘accept their meek lot’, and pine not for the pleasure of spiritual excitement.
The converse is true of the adherents of Avraham, who enact a stingy ‘evil eye’ towards all that is spiritual, pining for a role in life that is uniquely theirs, as each one of us were brought onto this earth to make our special contribution, like no other, in promoting the honor of G-d. They ‘proudly’ view themselves as privileged to achieve ever greater closeness to G-d. Lastly, they have a ‘robust soul’, an unquenchable thirst for the pleasures that await those who devote themselves in service of G-d.
That is precisely what the Mishna answers to its original query. The students of Avraham ‘enjoy in this world and inherit the World to Come’, whereas the disciples of Bilaam ‘inherit Gehinnom and descend into the well of destruction’.
The traits are identical it all depends in which arena they are applied.
We must ask ourselves in all honesty, whose disciple are we?
Where do our ambitions, that define ourselves, lay?
Are we driven towards success in our spiritual lives as much as we are in our professional lives?
Might we be too complacent about our standing in, and contribution to, our community?
Do we hunger to grow in matters of the spirit or are we just ‘happy with our lot’?
Does our quest to experience new indulgences of the body match our thirst for knowledge in Torah and joy in Mitzvos?
Tough questions… Tough life… Tough choices...
The way we respond will determine who our true teacher is and how much we will enjoy both worlds.
It is only the disciples of our forefather Avraham who will ‘enjoy in this world and inherit the World to Come’!
You may reach the author at: Ravzt@ohelmoshebaltimore.com
PARSHA
OVERVIEW
The wicked Balak seeks help from Bilam to try and curse the Jewish people. Bilam travels to Balak and experiences the talking donkey. He delivers a few parables and foretells the End of Days. In an act of great heroism, Pinchas kills Kozbi and Zimri and stops the plague.
Quotable Quote “ ”
“To be a Jew is to join the journey of our people...”
- Rabbi Lord J. Sacks zt”l
GEMATRIA
The gematria (numerical value) of the phrase םע אלב ךלמ ןיא is 294, which is the same as the Hebrew words הדרפה and דרפי , words that have a connotation of being separate and not together. That’s what happens when there is no unifying nation and that’s what happen when there is no leader, a king, that brings everyone together.
Rabbi Ori Strum is the author of Ready. Set. Grow. (Mosaica Press).
His shiurim and other Jewish content can be found on Torah Anytime and Meaningful Minute. He also likes your feedback: rabbistrumo@gmail.com
TSorahparks
Pesukim - 104
Words - 1,455
Letters - 5,356
Mitzvos - 0
Thoughts in
QUICK VORT Chassidus
We see something incredible from our Parshah. When Balak saw how the Jews overcame Sichon and Og, he was scared of the Jews.
The commentaries explain that he was so scared, he didn’t even view himself as a king, which is why the Torah tells us Balak’s name without mention that he was king.
Chazal tell us: םע אלב ךלמ ןיא - there is no such thing as a king without a people. If Balak, indeed, did not consider himself a king, that means the Moavites at the time were not really considered to be a true םע (since they had no king!).
The Torah then says that “Moav was afraid of םעה, the Jewish nation!” Moav saw us - Klal Yisraelas a unified nation, with a King. There was nothing more scarier to them than that reality.
Let us appreciate our fellow brothers and sisters and see Hashem as our true King.
Why is it that there is an entire Parshah in the Torah named after a wicked person (Balak), a person who wished to eliminate the Jewish people?
The Alter Rebbe (Lubavitch) explains that “The wicked man will repent form his evil and turn his evil into day (Tanya, Perek 27).
Balak, as he is written in the Torah, represents the good that will eventually arise from people such as Balak (see Gutnick Chumash, intro to Balak).
Points to
Ponder
Bilam tried to curse the Jewish people, but instead (without even meaning to), he said several beautiful blessings regarding the Jewish people.
What message is there with this? Why would Hashem want us to hear our blessings through the mouth of someone so low, debased, and wicked?
What are we to learn from here?
Have a holy Shabbos!
Inspiration Everywhere
Parshas Balak on
Brick by Brick: Building an Ahavas Yisrael Mindset One Story at a Time is a collection of stories, most of them written by Jews who have had encounters with Jews unlike themselves that have been eye-opening and in some instances life-changing.
The underlying message of the book, as suggested by the title, is that through connection with and acts of kindness to our fellow Jews, however small, each of us can participate in hastening the arrival of the Geula, a period of peace, during which we will witness the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdash, an end to the persecutions we have experienced as Jews, and a restoration of our rightful place of honor among the nations.
Recent events make the message of the book more relevant than ever. When we started the project, during the Covid epidemic, we were especially concerned about the strife among Jews brought on by the resistance of certain groups to vaccinations and their refusal to take other precautions to curb the spread of the pandemic. As time went on, we were distressed by the divisiveness of Israelis over judicial reform, especially the increasingly ugly rhetoric and violent confrontations between protesters and the police.
Things changed radically following October 7. There was an enormous outpouring of achdus. Jews of every stripe rallied together in the wake of the horrific event. My daughter-in-law and I were eager to build on this momentum by spreading the message of our book.
Fast forward a few short months: we have seen a deterioration of that unity as Israeli politicians and citizens are once again at loggerheads over the course of the war. Increasingly large groups of protesters are demonstrating almost around the clock. The war cabinet has splintered because of diverse opinions over how the war should be conducted, vicious accusations are being made against elected officials,
Voice N tes
Achdus: If Not Us, Who? If Not Now, When?
By Joan Zlotnick
many of them public, and there are calls for early elections. All of this acrimony and divisiveness weakens us in the eyes of the world and makes our enemies rejoice and, moreover, feel more confident that they will achieve their goals.
As for American Jews, the erosion of strong support for Israel in the wake of October 7 has been disheartening and the spread of antisemitism alarming. Most astounding to some has been the realization of how deeply antisemitism is embedded in our universities.
As a retired professor of English at Brooklyn College, I have known this for over two decades. Early in my academic career, as organizer of the UJA Luncheons, I was able to recruit many secular Jews from my department to attend. As time went on, the numbers dwindled, until only one person signed up for the annual event: she was an Italian Catholic. Following the Sabarro suicide bombing in 2002, I was told by a Jewish colleague that the problem of terrorism could be quickly resolved if the Jews just picked up and moved somewhere else.
As unbelievable as it sounds, she was not alone in embracing this view. My last vote before I retired 12 years ago was against the promotion to full professor of
a Palestinian who was grossly unqualified but whom my radical colleagues were eager to promote. This would secure its standing as one of the most radical departments on campus. I was, as expected, the only faculty member in the department to cast a negative vote. Sadly, but predictably, it didn’t make a difference.
Moreover, with grandchildren on five college campuses — MIT, Sara Lawrence, University of Chicago, Yale and Columbia — some more antisemitic than others, but all antisemitic to one extent or another — I know from a different perspective how challenging it is for young Jewish students to deal with the threats they face on a daily basis. My grandson at Columbia, arguably the worst of these campuses, has been debating about whether or not to transfer out. The extent of hatred towards Israel and Jews and its perniciousness has been shocking to many who have had no affiliations with college campuses, but it has neither surprised nor shocked me.
What can we here in America do in view of the horrific events of the last few months in the Middle East and the unimaginable upsurge of antisemitism closer to home? We have upped our tzedakah, joined Tehillim groups, attended rallies,
collected and shipped food, clothing, and medication to those displaced from their homes or defending our homeland, and gone on missions to Israel to support our fellow Jews. Jewish philanthropists have stopped supporting many universities, the public outcry has forced a number of college presidents who have failed to protect their Jewish students out of office, and the number of applicants at many top universities has fallen precipitously.
I think there is something more we can do. It’s more abstract than any of the measures described above: it’s adopting the mindset of Ahavas Yisrael. It is this, we are told again and again, that will bring on the Geulah, which is something we desperately need now.
When the so-called civilized world questions our right to defend ourselves against our monstrous enemies, doubts the claim of the Jewish people to their homeland, pressures us to reward the vile and despicable acts of October 7, and urges us to show “restraint” in our response to the more recent attack by Iran; when we see before our very eyes antisemitism, described by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks as a sickness that never goes away, mutating, emerging in new forms, changing with the social, economic and political climate, it becomes clear that this is a plague we have not and seemingly cannot, despite every effort, bring to an end on our own. When we feel that never again is now, we have to make sure to bring Hashem in as our partner: doing what He has promised us will be the reward when we take seriously the obligation to love our fellow Jew.
This doesn’t mean that we stop doing everything possible to fight the scourge of hatred and violence with all the resources we have, but this is something additional we can do. If it was Sinas Chinam that brought about the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash and sent the Jews into exile, it is its opposite, the embrace of our fellow Jews, that will bring about the Geulah, and,
with it, the achievement of a goal that for millennia has been impossible for us to achieve on our own.
Little did I know when my daughterin-law approached me about publishing a book on Ahavas Yisrael how involved and passionate I would become on the subject. As the project got underway, I reached out to find contributors, edited and occasionally wrote stories told to me, and wrote two of my own. I was deeply moved by all the inspiring stories I heard from the contributors. I learned about unlikely encounters with Jews with different outlooks and lifestyles with whom they developed meaningful and sometimes deep connections. I learned not only about these encounters, but also about some amazing individuals and organizations dedicated to building bridges between Jews.
These stories moved me in a way that books or stories about the Gedolim do not. These were not about exalted figures whom we cannot imagine emulating, but, rather, about ordinary people like us. The contributors are themselves an eclectic group, professional and first-time authors, rabbis and laymen, religious and secular, Modern Orthodox, Conservative, black hat, Chassidim, Americans, and Israelis. Taken together, the pieces weave a tapestry of
different kinds of Jews and organizations, showing that, despite our differences, we are one people.
Some of these stories were paired together and presented under the rubric of Acts and Impacts. One of these, by Shelly Mohl, is about the founding and mission of the Yeshiva of Manhattan Beach, in Brooklyn, and the impact that school had on one of its pupils, a starving and desperate child,
wonderful rabbi brought enormous comfort and joy to my husband z”l — and to his fellow residents, their families, and me — when, no longer able to remain at home, my husband was living in a Cognitive Support Facility. Paired or not, these stories are all about people who cease to see Jews unlike themselves as “other,” which not only alters their perspective but, in some instances, also their lives.
years of planning that went into the event, which drew 90,000 Jews, accommodations were made to meet the needs of every person in attendance and make him or her feel like an important and valued member of the Jewish community.
At this dark time in our history, these stories uplift and inspire us. They teach us that there is something important we can do in addition to all our other efforts to bring a decisive victory to Israel and an end to the scourge of antisemitism. Through our own interactions with our fellow Jews, we can hasten the arrival of the Geulah. If not us, who? If not now, when?
who claims that her life was saved by the kind and loving acts of its administrators and faculty. One of the pieces I wrote, “The Power of Chabad,” was paired with a story by Rabbi Boruch Jacobson, who describes his upbringing and Chabad’s philosophy about reaching out to their fellow Jews. My story details the ways in which this
It was my daughter-in-law’s idea to include pieces about the efforts of particular individuals and organizations to build bridges between religious communities, and she put in endless hours pursuing this angle. One of these powerful stories detailed the backstory of the most recent Siyum HaShas at MetLife Stadium. In the
Joan Zlotnick is a retired professor of English at Brooklyn College. While most of her early publications have been scholarly, more recently she has written and lectured on the subject of caregiving and grief. These works include a column for Mishpacha Magazine; an enovel, Griefwriting (Amazon); and a memoir/ self-help book, Holding it Together: Surviving Caregiving and Loss (Tfutza). Her latest book is Brick by Brick: Building an Ahavas Yisrael Mindset One Story at a Time (Mosaica), a collection of stories she edited with her daughterin-law, Grunny Zlotnick. It is available online and in Jewish bookstores.
This week, Shabbos, the 14th of Tammuz, marks the 37th yahrtzeit of Moreinu HaRav HaGaon Rav Yitzchok Ruderman, zt”l, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Yisroel. What follows is an account of the Rosh HaYeshiva’s schedule in the Slabodka Yeshiva as well as how the Rosh Yeshiva was kidnapped as a bochur.
Newspapers abound with headlines of Russia attacking Ukraine. But there was another Russian takeover of Ukraine that occurred over 100 years ago in 1919. It was while the Slabodka Yeshiva was in exile in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchug.
1882 was the year that two things happened in in the surroundings of Kovno. The first thing that happened was that Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, had founded the Slabodka Yeshiva, wherein the study of Mussar became a prime focus. The second thing that happened was that construction began on the Kovno system of buttresses and fortresses that was ordered by decree of Tsar Alexander II three years earlier on July 7, 1879.
That year, in 1882, the Jewish res -
Headlines Halacha
Remembering Rav Ruderman, zt”l
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
idents of Slabodka did not realize that the construction of the Kovno forts would eventually lead to disaster. It would cause paranoid Tsarist Russia to force the Jews out of Slabodka and Kovno into exile in the First World War. It would lead them through a harrowing experience of wandering in exile, being jailed both by the Russians and the Germans and r”l many deaths.
But for those first 33 years, the Yeshiva in Slabodka accomplished the near impossible. It revitalized the Torah world, and took the place of Volozhin as one of the leading yeshivos in Europe. It opened up branches and influenced the other yeshivos in Lita to introduce a Mussar curriculum.
Rav Ruderman’s general schedule in Yeshiva was as follows:
In the summer, Shacharis took place at 7:00 AM, but in the winter, it took place at 8:00 AM. Morning seder began at 9 AM, and in the winter, it began at 9:30. First seder lasted until 2:30 PM. Second seder was between 4 PM and 8 PM, but in the winter, it changed from 4:15 to 9 PM. Mussar Seder was always between 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM. Night Seder was from
after Maariv until 11:00 PM.
On Shabbos, during Bain HaShmashos, there was a period of time set aside for cheshbon hanefesh on the entire week that had passed.
In the summer of 1914, war was about to erupt.
On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand one month earlier. Russia came to Serbia’s defense, and by August 4, Germany, France and Britain, along with their respective colonial empires, entered the war. In November, the Ottoman Empire, Germany and Austria formed the Central Powers. In April of 1915, Italy, Britain, France, Russia and Serbia formed the Allied Powers.
As bizarre as it may sound, Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas II, who were battling each other fiercely, were both grandsons of Queen Victoria of England (in the case of Nicholas II it was through his wife). They had sent letters to each other, each claiming their desire to avert war. But it was not to be.
The war that would kill 11 million people began a day later.
The Russian military authorities decided that the Jews were untrustworthy and could not reside next to the Kovno fortress. They were forced into exile. Worse yet, many of the yeshiva’s students and rebbeim were drafted into the Tsarist Russian army.
The Yeshiva and its students, including Rav Ruderman, scattered. At this time, the Alter of Slabodka was seeking treatment in Germany for a medical ailment. He was soon captured and jailed as an enemy alien by Germany on account of being a citizen of Russia. A young fifteen-year-old Rav Shach was the last one out of the Yeshiva building, not knowing where to go. Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, the Rosh Yeshiva, managed to relocate to the city of Rezekne in Eastern Latvia. Rezekne was located some 194 miles northeast of Kovno.
While in Rezekne, Rav Moshe Mordechai made every effort to reconvene the Yeshiva. He needed to raise vast sums of money to get the students and rebbeim released. He sent letters and telegrams. After consulting with the other members of the Yeshiva’s admin-
istration, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein decided to relocate the Yeshiva to Minsk about 170 miles from Kovno and further into Russia.
Minsk
Why was Minsk chosen? It was one train ride away, and many of the students either lived there or had found shelter there. Minsk had an established Torah community and would welcome the Yeshiva. Also, most of those whom Rav Moshe Mordechai had contacted expressed the desire to relocate there.
The relative calmness, however, did not last. Minsk was to become the frontline, once again of the battle between Russia and Germany. And Germany was using poison gas.
The Yeshiva administration decided to split the Yeshiva in two. One part, including the Alter, Rav Moshe Mordechai, and Rav Avrohom Grodinsky, went to Kremenchug in the Poltava Province, about 418 miles south from Minsk and a little more to the east. Rav Ruderman went with this group.
The other group, which constituted over 150 of the Yeshiva’s students, including Rav Yitzchok Isaac Sher, the Alter’s son-in-law, and Rav Dov Tzvi
Auto
Heller, was to remain in Minsk. Soon, however, those that remained in Minsk had to evacuate as well and joined with the other group in Kremenchug.
Most of the Jewish residents of Kremenchug at the time were devout Chabad chassidim. They had heard of the famed Yeshiva in Slabodka and went out to greet them when they heard of their arrival. Imagine their shock.
Rav Yaakov Ruderman, zt”l, the future Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, recalled this most dangerous time in his life in the introduction to the Avodas HaLevi. In Kremenchug, Rav Ruderman was kidnapped by a band of lowlifes at gunpoint. They demanded the sum of 10,000 rubles or they would take his life. He was taken to the home of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav
They demanded the sum of 10,000 rubles or they would take his life.
Chabad people, generally, do not shave their beards. With few exceptions, Slabodka talmidim did. It was part of the Alter’s philosophy of gadlus haadam Slabodka talmidim also dressed in straw hats and fashionable suits and ties. Eventually, however, the townspeople of Kremenchug acclimated quickly after seeing and conversing with the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein.
Moshe Mordechai Epstein, who did not have any money with him. As they were taking him out to kill him Rav Ruderman, Rav Epstein ran out and began yelling and screaming to draw a crowd. The ruffians turned to shoot but saw that their case was hopeless as a significant crowd had gathered. Rav Ruderman was then released unharmed. He later, of course, became the Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Ner Israel in Balti-
more and taught thousands of talmidim. Rav Ruderman arrived in the United States in 1931. The plan was to assume a position under his father-in-law, Rabbi Sheftel Kramer, zt”l, who was Menahel Ruchani of the Yeshiva of New Haven. In 1933, he became the rav of the Tiferes Yisroel Shul in Baltimore. It was there that he opened the Yeshiva, with the permission of the shul. Five talmidim from Cleveland joined him in Baltimore.
Rav Ruderman was one of five talmidim of the Alter who had planted the seeds of Torah in the United States. The five were: Rav Yitzchok Ruderman, of course, Rav Aharon Kotler, zt”l; Rav Yitzchok Hutner, zt”l; Rav Dovid Leibowitz, zt”l; and Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt”l, Rav Ruderman’s cousin.
Many of Rav Ruderman’s talmidim entered into chinuch positions across the nation. Today, the United States is a very different Torah world on account of this remarkable tzaddik and gaon. Yehi zichro baruch.
This article should be viewed as a halachic discussion and not practical advice. The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com.
Havdalah Zmanim
Shacharis
Neitz Beit Yaakov [Sefaradi] M-F
Ohel Yakov S-F
6:00 AM Shomrei Emunah Congregation M-F
6:10 AM Agudath Israel of Baltimore M, Th
6:15 AM Kol Torah M, TH
Mercaz Torah U'Tefillah M-F
Shearith Israel Congregation M, TH
The Adas: Chofetz Chaim Adas Bnei Israel M, TH
6:20 AM Agudah of Greenspring M, TH
Agudath Israel of Baltimore S, T, W, F
Arugas HaBosem (Rabbi Taub's) S-F
Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation M-F
Kehilath B'nai Torah M, TH
Pikesville Jewish CongregationM, TH
Shomrei Emunah Congregation S, M, TH
6:25 AM The Adas: Chofetz Chaim Adas Bnei Israel T, W, F
6:30 AM Agudah of Greenspring T, W, F
Chabad of Park Heights M-F
Darchei Tzedek M-F
Kehilath B'nai Torah T, W, F
Khal Bais Nosson M-F
Khal Ahavas Yisroel/ Tzemach Tzedek M-F
Kol Torah T, W, F
Mercaz Torah U'Tefillah M-F
Ohr Yisroel M-F
Pikesville Jewish CongregationT, W, F
Shearith Israel Congregation T, W, F
Shomrei Emunah Congregation T, W, F
6:35 AM Aish Kodesh (downstairs Minyan) M, TH
Ohel Moshe M, TH
6:40 AM Aish Kodesh (downstairs Minyan) T, W, F
Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation M, TH
6:45 AM B”H and Mesivta of Baltimore (Dirshu Minyan) S-F
Beth Abraham M, TH
Greenspring Sephardic Synagogue M-F
Mercaz Torah U'Tefillah S-F
Ner Tamid M-F
Ohel Moshe T, W, F
Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim M-F
6:50 AM Agudath Israel of Baltimore M, TH
Ahavat Shalom [Sefaradi] M, TH
Bais Medrash of Ranchleigh M, TH
Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Congregation T, W, F
Community Kollel Tiferes Moshe Aryeh M, TH
Derech Chaim M-F
Kol Torah M-F
Ohel Moshe S
Ohr Hamizrach [Sefaradi] M, TH
Shomrei Emunah Congregation M, TH
The Shul at the Lubavitch Center M, TH
6:55 AM Beth Abraham T, W, F
Kol Torah M, TH
7:00 AM Aish Kodesh (upstairs Minyan) M-F
Agudath Israel of Baltimore S, T, W, F
Ahavat Shalom [Sefaradi] T, W, F
Arugas HaBosem (Rabbi Taub's)S
Bais Medrash of Ranchleigh T, W, F
Community Kollel Tiferes Moshe Aryeh T, W, F Greenspring Sephardic Synagogue S
11:30 PM Agudath Israel of Baltimore (Sunday and Thursday) Mercaz Torah U’Tefillah
The Fast of Shivah Asar B’Tammuz Revealed
By Rav Daniel Glatstein
The Mishnah in Maseches Taanis lists five tragedies that occurred to our ancestors on Shivah Asar B’Tammuz and another five on Tishah B’Av. Shivah Asar B’Tammuz was the date on which Moshe Rabbeinu shattered the Luchos when he descended from Har Sinai and found the Jewish people worshiping the Eigel It was also the date on which Kohanim were no longer able to bring the korban tamid in the Beis HaMikdash and when the walls of the city of Yerushalayim were breached. On that date, Apostumos set a Sefer Torah on fire and erected an idol in the Beis HaMikdash.
Let’s begin by analyzing these tragic events and identifying when they actually occurred.
Breaking of the Luchos
The first of the list, nishtabru haLuchos, took place in the Midbar, shortly after the Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim. They were encamped around Har Sinai awaiting Moshe’s return when they succumbed to the pressures of Moshe’s absence and sinned with the Eigel HaZahav, the Golden Calf.
Cessation of the Korban Tamid
There are several opinions as to when the cessation of the korban tamid occurred. The Yerushalmi brings two viewpoints. Rav Shimon posits that it was during the time of Bayis Sheini, the Second Beis HaMikdash, when the Greeks rendered it impossible to continue to bring the daily sacrifice. Rav Levi agrees that it happened during the Second Beis HaMikdash era, but he is of the opinion that it was the Romans who stopped the korban tamid from being brought. The Rambam writes that the Bavliim, the Babylonians, stopped the korban tamid from being brought during the time of the First Beis HaMikdash. Rashi on Sefer Daniel (8:14) advances that the decree to
stop offering the korban tamid was the result of another edict issued by the Greek general, Apostumos.
The Walls of Yerushalayim Were Breached
The walls of Yerushalayim were breached on the seventeenth of Tammuz during the period leading up to the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash. There is a disagreement between the Talmud Bavli and Talmud Yerushalmi as to when the city wall was breached during the era of the First Beis HaMikdash. The Bavli, based on a pasuk in Yirmiyah, tells us that the walls were breached on the ninth day of Tammuz. The Yerushalmi states that they were breached on the same date as at the time of the Second Beis HaMikdash: on Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, the seventeenth of Tammuz. The Yerushalmi then explains that the pasuk in Yirmiyah is in error.
Tosafos wonders what the Yerushalmi means. After all, how can a pasuk in the Navi be wrong? Tosafos explains that there was great chaos during the period leading up to the destruction of the First Beis HaMikdash. The citizens of Yerushalayim were confused, and they lost track of the date. They mistakenly thought that the day on which the city walls were breached was the ninth of the month, when in fact it was the seventeenth. In recording the tragic events of the Churban, Yirmiyah HaNavi intentionally wanted to preserve this sense of confusion that was prevalent at that time. He deliberately wrote the wrong date in the pasuk to impress upon us the hardships of the Jewish people. They were so overwhelmed that they could not even keep track of the date.
Apostumos Burned a Sefer Torah
The Mishnah mentions Apostumos and the heinous acts he committed. Apostumos was a Greek general, and it was toward the beginning of the era of Bayis Sheini that he set a Sefer Torah ablaze.
Tiferes Yisrael comments that the Sefer Torah burned
by Apostumos was written by Ezra, and it was known as the authoritative text. Alternatively, Tiferes Yisrael offers that Apostumos actually tried to burn all Sifrei Torah.
An Idol
Was Erected
in the Beis HaMikdash
The Mishnah teaches us that this was a second nefarious act committed by Apostumos; namely, erecting an idol in the Heichal. Rashi, however, writes that this odious act was actually performed by King Menashe, during the First Beis HaMikdash era.
The shattering of the Luchos clearly occurred many years before any of the other events listed in the Mishnah. According to Rashi, the next event listed should be the atrocity of placing an idol in the Heichal, committed by King Menashe during the First Beis HaMikdash period. Why, then, is it listed last, after events that clearly happened during the Second Beis HaMikdash era?
According to the Bavli, the walls of Yerushalayim were breached only on the seventeenth of Tammuz in the days leading up to the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash, not the first. Why, then, does the Mishnah place this event prior to mentioning that Apostumos burned the Sefer Torah, which happened many years earlier?
Let us explore these five tragedies, and perhaps we will identify a common thread that unites them and thereby achieve a better understanding of the order in which the Mishnah lists them.
Why Did Bilaam Choose the Eigel?
Balak employed Bilaam to curse Klal Yisrael. Bilaam set out to identify a point of vulnerability that he could use to undermine the Jewish nation. The Torah tells us, “Bilaam saw that it was good in Hashem’s eyes to bless Israel, so he did not go as every other time toward divinations, but he set his face toward the Wilderness” (Bamidbar 24:1). Rashi advises us to utilize the interpretation of the Targum as we seek to understand the pasuk.
“And Bilaam saw that it was correct before Hashem to give Klal Yisrael a bracha, and he did not do what he ordinarily would have done, to seek counsel from the snakes, and instead he faced the Eigel that the Jewish people worshiped in the desert” (Targum Onkelos, ibid.).
Bilaam was unable to find a point of vulnerability at that time, so he opted instead to turn to the sin of the Eigel that had taken place many years prior. He sought to hone in on the sin of the Golden Calf in his quest to bring about the downfall of the Jewish people.
Why did he choose to utilize the Eigel as his point of attack against the Bnei Yisrael?
In Tehillim, chapter 106, David HaMelech relates various events that transpired while Klal Yisrael was in the Midbar. Included in this perek is a verse that references the Cheit HaEigel. “ They exchanged their Glory [i.e., Hashem] for the likeness of a grass-eating ox” (Tehillim 106:20).
Why does David HaMelech mention the ox’s diet? It would suffice for him to merely mention that the Bnei Yisrael sinned by directing their service to an ox rather than to the Ribbono Shel Olam. Why mention that the ox eats grass? The last two words of the pasuk seem superfluous.
The Arizal teaches that the soul of Bilaam’s father, Be’or, was somehow trapped in the Eigel. It was he who cried out, “Eila Elokecha Yisrael.” This gives us insight into Bilaam’s fascination with the Eigel, as his father’s soul was contained within it.
In the sefer Shaar HaGilgulim, the Arizal uncovers an incredible revelation. The wicked Bilaam had two sons, Yunus and Yumbrus. It was they who actually made the Eigel in the month of Tammuz. This further explains why Bilaam employed the Cheit HaEigel in his quest to destroy Klal Yisrael: His sons had been the creators of the Golden Calf, and it therefore held special meaning for him.
When Bilaam traveled with Balak’s messengers, the pasuk tells us: “He was riding on his she-donkey and his two young men were with him” (Bamidbar 22:22). Targum Yonasan ben Uziel is quick to point out who these two servants were: “He sat upon his donkey, and his two young men, Yunus and Yumbrus, were with him.”
The Arizal then explains why the pasuk in Tehillim references the diet of the ox. David HaMelech is not merely informing us of the eating habits of the ox and its choice of food. He is telling us the date the Eigel was created, when the sin of the Golden Calf occurred: It was on the day whose acronym spells eisav, grass: Shivah Asar B’Tammuz! That was the date on which the Eigel was created and worshipped.
Klal Yisrael is likened to a bride and Hashem to the groom. Har Sinai was the site of the wedding, the location where we married our Betrothed, Hashem. We were still at the chuppah when we were unfaithful to Hashem. We committed adultery with the Golden Calf during our wedding ceremony! This is one of the most disgraceful things imaginable — a bride who is unfaithful to her new husband while still under the wedding canopy.
The Historic Revelation of the Aruch LaNer
The Aruch LaNer presents to us a profound understanding of the Mishnah that lists the five tragic occurrences that transpired on the seventeenth of Tammuz.
The Mishnah is not merely providing a list of occurrences. Rather, it is teaching us a pattern, a progression
that takes place when Klal Yisrael experiences a downfall. We are being provided with an outline that demonstrates how we experience a yeridah. A five-step path is followed, as seen time and time again throughout our history.
Nishtabru HaLuchos — The Tablets Were Broken
The first step down the road of spiritual decline is nishtabru haLuchos. As long as Jews are engaged in the study of Torah, we are secure. Keviyus itim laTorah, setting fixed times to study Torah, protects us. Learning Torah keeps us from falling prey to the wiles of the yetzer hara; it keeps us from sinning and from pursuing our taivos
If Klal Yisrael were to collectively utilize these twenty-two days properly, maximizing them to their fullest, we can bring the Geulah.
If learning slackens and Torah is no longer the priority, it is likened to the breaking of the Luchos, and it is the first step of Klal Yisrael’s downward spiral.
Bateil HaTamid —
The Daily Offering Was No Longer Brought
We are required to follow certain routines and we have regular practices in which we engage. Regardless of how little Torah an individual learns on a given day, he still prays three times, puts on tallis and tefillin, and observes Shabbos and Yom Tov.
Next along the progression of decline is the abolishment of these routines that identify us as Jews. When the commitment to limud haTorah falters, the “tamid,” the daily avodah, begins to dissipate. It may start with someone brushing off davening Maariv, saying, “It’s only a reshus, not a chiyuv” (when, in fact, the Rishonim pasken that the Jewish people have accepted it as a chiyuv). Perhaps one may miss zman Krias Shema, at first once in a while, then with more frequency. Davening with a minyan begins to falter, and people may daven in shul only on Shabbos morning. This may progressively decline over time, until the individual is showing up only on Yamim Noraim or even only for Kol Nidrei — if at all. Failure to maintain the temidus, the consistency, of our avodas Hashem is the second rung on the downward spiral. It all started with disregarding limud haTorah; while this progression may take years and decades to evolve, this is the tragic manner in which Klal Yisrael falters. And it does not end there. Once the steadiness of our mitzvah performance is no longer present, Klal Yisrael is at risk of falling to the next step on the road to destruction.
Huvk’ah Ha’ir — The City Walls Were Breached Without Torah learning and without consistently per-
forming mitzvos, without the daily avodah, the neshama is open prey to the attack of the yetzer hara Koheles compares the neshama to an ir, city: “There was a small town with only a few inhabitants” (Koheles 9:14).
Now, the city, the neshama, is unfortified. The yetzer hara attacks, and it succeeds in causing rampant violation of Torah prohibitions. The walls of the proverbial city are breached in all areas, now leading to the complete destruction and conflagration of one’s Torah, the fourth step on the path of destruction.
Sreifas HaTorah — The Torah Scroll Was Burned
Limud haTorah became unimportant, consistently performing mitzvos was neglected, and aveiros were being committed. What follows is the total destruction of one’s Torah.
No longer present even in an incomplete form, the person’s Torah is now eradicated. There is no vestige of Torah left in him. Not a single mitzvah, not a single Torah commandment is observed. And still the yetzer hara is not content with this penultimate step downward.
He’emid Tzelem B’Heichal —
An Idol Was Erected in the Beis HaMikdash
The final step is the active introduction of idol worship into our holy places. Where there once were Torah and mitzvos, there is now a symbol of idolatry. The yetzer hara will not stop until one’s Torah is replaced by the unthinkable and there is an actual tzelem erected in the very places where Hashem’s Shechinah had resided. While in the past one may have had a “star of David” hanging around his neck, this final departure from Hashem ends with displaying the symbol of a foreign religion.
More than providing a list of historical happenings, the Mishnah is informing us of the progression with which we as a nation can fall away from the Ribbono Shel Olam. These are the five steps that can lead to the demise of the Jewish nation.
The Key to the Ingathering of the Exiles
From the onset of the Bein HaMetzarim, beginning with the seventeenth day of Tammuz through Tishah B’Av, these twenty-two days consist of 528 hours. The Bnei Yissaschar points out that this number is significant in that it is the gematria of the word maftei’ach, key.
This is no coincidence. This time period holds the key to our redemption. If Klal Yisrael were to collectively utilize these twenty-two days properly, maximizing them to their fullest, we can bring the Geulah
The Midrash tells us the secret to achieving the Final Redemption: Ein kol hagaluyos hallalu miskansos ela b’zechus Mishnayos, The exile we are in will be brought to an end only in the merit of learning Mishnayos. The Midrash finds its source in a pasuk in Hoshea: (Hoshea 8:10) “Although they pay tribute to the nations, now I will gather them.” The word yitnu can also be understood as a reference to Mishnayos, as a Mishnah is called Misnisin The ingathering of the exiles will take place in the merit of the study of Mishnayos. It is in the zechus of the Torah Sheb’al Peh that we will be redeemed.
The Bnei Yissaschar draws our attention to the number of perakim that are contained in the six sedarim of Mishnah, citing the Megaleh Amukos, Rav Nosson Nota Shapiro, who was the Rav in Cracow in the times of Taz and the
Bach. The Megaleh Amukos was zocheh to gilui Eliyahu; as it says on his gravestone, Eliyahu HaNavi would visit him, and they would speak face to face. The Megaleh Amukos notes that there are 528 perakim in Mishnah. Likewise, there are 528 hours in the Bein HaMetzarim, the time period that symbolizes the key to the Geulah, corresponding to the 528 perakim in Mishnah, which is the vehicle through which the Geulah will come.
The initiation of the process that ultimately led to the downfall of Klal Yisrael and the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash was the Cheit HaEigel, upon which Bilaam was trying to capitalize. This event precipitated the actual breaking of the Luchos, and it introduced shikchas haTorah to the world. As Chazal teach, “Had the Luchos not been broken, the Torah would never have been forgotten.”
The Bein HaMetzarim is therefore a time to rectify what happened in our past. It is time for increased Torah study when we intensify and strive to remember our learning in order to counter the process that ultimately led to the Churban and our being exiled.
There are 528 hours corresponding to the 528 perakim of the Mishnah, which are the key to bringing the Geulah
Rav Yeshaya Berlin (1719-1799) wrote haga’os on the mesores haShas. At the conclusion of Maseches Bikkurim, he writes that there are actually only 523 perakim in Mishnah, five fewer than the calculations of the Megaleh Amukos.
The Bnei Yissaschar explains that, in fact, there are five perakim that are not actual Mishnah; rather they are Baraisos or Tosefta. These have been added to the body of the Mishnah, but they are not Mishnayos proper. They are: the fourth perek of Bikkurim, the sixth perek of Pirkei Avos, and Tosefta on Pesachim, Kiddushin, and Sotah. Together with these perakim, we do arrive at a total of 528 perakim
The last five hours of the Bein HaMetzarim, after chatzos on Tishah B’Av, are when we rise from the floor and the stringencies of aveilus begin to lift. These final five hours of the Bein HaMetzarim correspond with the time when David HaMelech was born.
Symbolically, there are 523 hours from the onset of the Bein HaMetzarim until the birth of Moshiach ben David, after midday on Tishah B’Av. There are an equal number of perakim proper in the Mishnah. There are then five hours in the afternoon of Tishah B’Av that have more lenient levels of aveilus and the time when the mourning begins to lift. These correspond to the five perakim that are not Mishnayos proper.
Thus, the hours of the Bein HaMetzarim precisely correspond to the perakim contained in the Mishnah.
Hidden Messages in the Name Tammuz
Rav Nachman of Breslov writes that the letters of the name of the month of Tammuz, when rearranged, form an acronym for Zichru Toras Moshe — remember the Torah of Moshe.
We are instructed to recall the Torah specifically at this time of the year, during this month, because of the sheviras haLuchos, the breaking of the Tablets, that transpired in this month and which precipitated the forgetting of the Torah. As the anniversary of this tragic event approaches, we are cautioned to remember the Torah, to work on ensuring that the Torah we learn is engrained in our memories.
Rav Nachman then addresses why the month of Tammuz would be spelled chaseir, without the vav that would typically be present.
The dimension of the Luchos, the Tablets that Moshe Rabbeinu broke, were six tefachim cubed. The vav, which in gematria is six, was removed from the name Tammuz
There
are 528 hours
corresponding to the 528 perakim of the Mishnah, which are the key to bringing the Geulah.
as a symbolic gesture memorializing the fact that the Luchos, with their dimensions, which were vav-by-vav, were broken.
Rav Nachman then points out another acronym that Tammuz spells out: Zman Matan Toraseinu. This allusion seems misplaced, however, since the Torah was actually given to Klal Yisrael in the month of Sivan, not in Tammuz.
Rav Nachman explains that while the Torah was gifted to us on Shavuos, in the month of Sivan, the actual Luchos were not physically brought down by Moshe to be given to Klal Yisrael until the seventeenth of Tammuz. Hence, the actual giving of the physical Torah took place in Tammuz.
Chag L’Hashem Machar
When the patience of the Bnei Yisrael ran thin as they were awaiting Moshe’s return, they approached Aharon and asked him to manufacture a new deity for them to worship, since they had given up on Moshe ever returning. Aharon instructed them to bring him their wives’ jewelry. After the men had collected their own jewelry, the Eigel was created. Aharon then told the people to return the following day, for he was designating it as a holiday, as the pasuk states, “Aharon saw and built an altar before him. Aharon called out and said, ‘A festival for Hashem tomorrow!’” (Shemos 32:5).
The Chida expresses amazement at Aharon’s statement that the next day would be a holiday. They were worshiping a golden calf, violating one of the most stringent
aveiros in the Torah, and he calls for it a holiday? The Chida explains that we find the word machar, tomorrow, used to refer to a far-off date in the future, not literally the very next day. As an example, the Torah says, “If your child asks you tomorrow ” (Devarim 6:20). This pasuk refers to a future generation in which a child will ask his parent about the Exodus from Mitzrayim. Machar, therefore, is not limited to the very next day, and in fact, Aharon was not referring to the next day; rather, he was referring to the distant future, when at long last that date, Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, will be a holiday. When Moshiach comes and we are redeemed from this long and bitter exile, the seventeenth of Tammuz will no longer be a day of mourning — it will transform into a day of celebration.
“ Thus said Hashem, Master of Legions: The fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will be to the House of Yehudah for joy and gladness and for happy festivals. [Only] love truth and peace!” (Zechariah 8:19). Thus, l’asid lavo, Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, Tishah B’Av, Tzom Gedaliah, and Asarah B’Teves will all become days of celebration.
Standing in front of Klal Yisrael on the eve of Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, Aharon HaKohen was looking forward to the day when this metamorphosis will finally take place. He understood that the very next day would be tragic, as Klal Yisrael would worship the Eigel. But in the distant future, when we will finally merit the Geulah, it will be a chag, a festival.
The vehicle through which it will become a chag will be our utilization of the 528 hours to commit ourselves to the study of Torah Sheb’al Peh. These hours will become the maftei’ach haGeulah, the key to the Redemption. We will be able to rectify the first step of the downward spiral — nishtabru haLuchos and the resultant shikchas haTorah, the forgetting of one’s Torah learning.
The haftorah that always precedes the Bein HaMetzarim is the haftorah of Parshas Balak This haftorah contains the prophecy of the Navi Michah. The prophet states, “ The remnant of Yaakov will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from Hashem, like raindrops upon grass, which is not hoped for from man and not awaited from a human being” (Michah 5:6). The she’eiris Yaakov, the remnant of Yaakov, refers to the Jewish people, the small remnant who has survived the trials and tribulations of Jewish history. B’kerev amim rabim, we will be among the mighty nations. K’tal mei’eis Hashem, k’rivivim, like the dew that falls from Hashem, like the rain. This means that Hashem will send His heavenly rain; ein mayim ela Torah, there is no water other than the Torah. Hashem will send a great influence of Torah upon Shivah Asar B’Tammuz – eisev – and transform it into an eternal day of celebration.
May we all be zocheh to the fruition of the pesukim, “Tzom ha’re’viei v’tzom ha’chamishi v’tzom ha’shevii v’tzom ha’asiri yehiyeh l’beis Yehuda l’sasson u’l’simcha u’l’moadim tovim v’ha’emes v’ha’shalom ahavu,” and may we be zocheh to see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Aharon HaKohen, “chag l’Hashem machar.”
This article has been excerpted with permission from The Darkness and The Dawn by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein, published by ArtScroll.
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.
Self-care is a wide-reaching topic, one which impacts a great many people. It impacts all of us, come to think of it. Though some of us are able to address it organically, without much thought, for most of us, it’s not that simple. Taking proper care of yourself takes some planning and introspection. Whether you’re one of those people from the majority who’ve been in my office and had this conversation or not, know that you’re not the only person who struggles with implementing the supposed panacea of mental health care known as self-care.
As with many mental health-centric terms (think narcissist, abuse, and depressed, to name a few), self-care is one which has been at least partially co-opted by popular culture. People sometimes ignore responsibilities and make objectively silly decisions in the name of catering to this concept. This is not to say, of course, that real, authentic self-care is a bad thing. Quite the oppo -
Health & F tness Self-Care
What It Is, What It’s Not, and How to Make It Work
By Yeshaya Kraus, LCSW
site; it’s probably one of the most basic and important things you can practice. If long-term functioning as an effective member of society is on your agenda, doing this right has to be an integral part of your plan.
Let’s define what it is, why it’s important, and how it works.
We can use marriage as an analog. If someone wants to build and maintain a healthy relationship, it’s taken for granted that your spouse needs to feel like you have their back. He or she will need to both know and feel that in spite of whatever disagreements you have, differences of opinion, or relational drifts you may be experiencing, you are there. You and your caring are facts of life. The fact that you want the other to feel cared for is also a fact. Experiencing that knowledge on a visceral level helps you both get through the tough times, the times when you feel more distant.
Knowing that you’re cared for, and more importantly, feeling it, is what
keeps you going. It makes the relationship feel safe, makes you feel safe enough to invest in it further, and makes the relationship an environment in which you can grow. Though there are some aspects of what you would like to see in marriage that you’re able to compromise on, there are other hardline boundaries that you just can’t. In good relationships, those are respected. In less than healthy relationships, they’re not, and there are repercussions for it. It shows up in how the person whose boundary isn’t being respected engages in the relationship.
I find it interesting that while there’s generally tremendous focus on the relationships we have with others, we often ignore the one we have with ourselves. In marriage, it’s understood; there needs to be effort put into making each other feel cared for, or helping each other internalize the idea that “you are a top priority to me.” We get that; it’s important if we want to make it work. For
our relationship we have with ourselves, not so much. There’s often an emphasis on “hustle” in Western culture, on running ourselves ragged and prioritizing everything else above ourselves. The popular perception of self-care, which often suggests that one should drop everything in order to provide for oneself, is a pendular response to that idea.
Marriages need to be balanced, compassionate, and respectful in order to work. Our relationship with ourselves needs to be the same way. Here’s why. Imagine yourself as a large, complicated, and very delicate machine. It’s a system that makes you who you are and allows you to maintain your daily lifestyle. That includes your body, emotions, sense of spirituality, and anything else you can think of that you might have to push yourself to do. It expends energy in order to do the things it needs to do and needs to be maintained in order to work.
This is pretty simple when you’re, say,
a car. There’s only one type of fuel available, and there’s usually a clear indicator and a way to fill it up when it runs low. It’s low, you fill up, and it’s good.
What happens when your car is a bit more complicated? Maybe there’s some sort of mechanism that whenever you take the time to fill up the gas tank, the coolant level goes down. If that gets filled up, washer fluid decreases, and filling that up might deflate a tire slightly. The whole system is intertwined and interdependent. It’s real work to maintain enough of the important functionality the car needs in order to do what it’s supposed to do. It becomes an exercise in balance.
Bob doesn’t like going to work. He needs to, though, for obvious reasons. He’s got his mortgage, he’s making a
getting increasingly grumpier and hopelessly unpleasant to be around as time goes on, he’s discovered that in order to maintain the balance that he needs to keep the “car” running, he needs to take a week off every couple of months. He doesn’t get paid (he works on commission. He doesn’t want to talk about that, and we’ll respect his wishes), but he’s topping off several other systems when he does it. It’s a conscious decision based on an awareness of a specific need.
Self-care doesn’t have to be sweeping gestures like Bob’s week off. It can be smaller gestures, which acknowledge needing to feel a certain way on some level. One person I know decided to make a conscious effort to sit down and eat, using a non-disposable plate. “I feel more grounded, and it makes me feel
I’ve got you. You’re important to me and I want to give you what you need, to whatever degree I can without sacrificing too much of other important things.”
It’s not just about allowing yourself to take a week off or using real cutlery, either. Noticing that you need to initiate a difficult but crucial conversation about something that’s bothering you is self-care. So is enforcing a boundary that you don’t want trampled on. It’s difficult, and may lower some of the tanks in your emotional car, but it needs to be done in order to keep the car running.
This is very different from the pop culture understanding of self-care. General society might have you believe that self-care is about adding activities, buying things, or going places. That might be true for some. Going to the spa, or
ally need, that’s great. Go for it. It may not be the honest self-care you’re hoping for, though.
In a marriage, if your spouse says she’s bothered by the lack of connection, one would hope your reaction wouldn’t be to buy her mashed potatoes. That’s theoretically a good reaction to her saying that she’s hungry, but it won’t work if your response isn’t to the specific need. With a little patience, introspection, and self-awareness, we can learn to be aware of what we need as people, take care of ourselves properly, and help ourselves to be the most effective and balanced versions of ourselves possible.
Mental Health Corner
The Challenges of the Psychiatric Interview
By Rabbi Azriel Hauptman
health clinician. In order to develop a treatment plan, the psychiatrist will interview the client.
The initial interview may be a couple of hours long, and may be followed up by subsequent sessions. Once the psychiatrist has made a diagnosis, he or she will provide a treatment plan. Follow up visits may be as short as fifteen to twenty minutes, and are meant to check in with the client to see how the treatment plan is working and make any necessary adjustments.
that this may cause false memories. The client may withhold extremely relevant information because the client’s memory of that event has been blocked.
Secondary gain: It is not uncommon for the client to want a specific diagnosis. It can range from the desire to receive disability benefits to wanting to get attention for having an illness. This may lead to deliberate misinformation.
The uniqueness of a psychiatric diagnosis is the lack of medical tests. There are no blood tests, X-rays, or MRIs that can help you “see” what is causing the client’s suffering. Therefore, the main source of information comes from the reporting of the client and possibly family members or other individuals with the client’s written permission. This makes psychiatric diagnoses vulnerable to inaccurate reporting. There are several factors that may lead the client to misinform the psychiatrist
Shame may cause the important elements of their experiences. Individuals with trauma-related mental illness are especially prone to withholding information due to the mans, we like to find favor in other people’s eyes, especially when that person is one of authority, such as a doctor. The client might be afraid of being negatively judged and would : Our brains aregers, both physical and mental. In the world of emotions, our brains try to help us from the dangers of negative emotions relating to past experiences. Studies have shown
Psychiatrists are aware of these issues and try their best to overcome them. The psychiatrist will try to build a rapport with the client, so that the client will know that they will not be judged and will not feel shame. Additionally, the psychiatrist will gather as much other information as possible, including past psychiatric and medical history. Also, the psychiatrist may try to deduce from the client’s non-verbal messages as to what is really going on underneath the outer veneer. As time goes on, the psychiatrist and therapist (with the client’s written permission) may collaborate with each other which will provide a much broader picture.
Ultimately, psychiatry is an imperfect science, and a diagnosis might be adversely affected by misinformation. If you are seeing a psychiatrist, please remember that anything you withhold from a psychiatrist might result in an inappropriate treatment plan. As with many areas of life, honesty is the best policy.
This is a service of Relief Resources. Relief is an organization that provides mental health referrals, education, and support to the frum community. Rabbi Yisrael Slansky is director of the Baltimore branch of Relief. He can be contacted at 410-4488356 or at yslansky@reliefhelp.org
THE COLUMBIA GROUP PRESENTS:
To Raise a Laugh
Reading Between The Lines
It’s finally occurred to me why I’m not a multi-millionaire. And no, it’s not because I’m a writer and a teacher, which are two jobs that pay so little that doing both of them together actually makes you get paid less somehow. It’s because my work is never seen by non-Jews. And there are way more non-Jews than Jews out there, I’ve noticed. So many that instead of being called “Jews” and “non-Jews”, maybe it should be “Gentiles” and “non-Gentiles”. And the weird thing is that most of them don’t even know they’re Gentiles.
In case you have your own life, a few weeks ago I wrote about a moving violation I got for allegedly making an “unsafe” illegal left turn that everyone in town makes – including cops – but that I personally had never made before when nothing could technically have been unsafe anyway because everyone for a few blocks in every direction was stopped in traffic. Not that I’m sore.
But just because I regret what I may have done doesn’t mean that I don’t want to fight the ticket. According to what it says on the ticket, if I don’t fight it, it will cost me money, and I’ll lose points off my license. I don’t really care so much about the money, but no one wants to lose points.
Now the truth is that it’s 2 points, and these are the only 2 points I will have lost in my 20 years of driving so far, and points only really matter in the first place because they add up. If I lose 2 points every 20 years of driving, and New Jersey takes away a license after 12 points, then they’re probably going to take my license away when I’m 140. Although maybe they should take it away by then anyway. So I’m not so worried about the points either.
BUT if you get points deducted, your car insurance goes up, and you have to shell out more money. And yes, I just said that I’m not so worried about the money, but I am worried about that money. With ticket fines, the cops at least let you know how much the fine is up font, so you can brace for it. The insurance company can just make up a number, and that’s your number forever.
So the first thing my wife said was, “Maybe
you should call a lawyer.” So I made a mental note to do that, as soon as I got a chance, and the very next day, I got letters from a dozen law firms. I didn’t actually do anything to get these letters. I hadn’t called anyone. I don’t know if these lawyers are spying on the cops or spying on my house, or what. Is this legal?
I don’t trust these lawyers, because they’re all calling and offering to represent me, and none of them knows for sure that I’m innocent. I hadn’t told anyone why I thought I was innocent. Do they just assume that everyone is innocent? Everyone?
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you off.”
How do you know you can get me off?
“Don’t worry.”
What is your motivation to do a good job? So that in 20 years when I get another moving violation I’ll remember you and call you? You don’t have an easy-to-remember name! No law firm does. There’s no alliteration in law-firm names. (“I called the Ticket Tacklers!” “Yeah? I called the Lamdanim at Law!” “I called the Taanah Team!” “I called the Law Suits!)”
So I asked some friends what I should do, and a lot of people were saying that seeing as it’s so easy, I should go fight it myself. But I wasn’t sure I could. I’ve never fought anything in my life. I’m a people pleaser. I will say whatever seems like it will inconvenience people the least.
So I called a law firm that my wife had originally found for me to call, I think based on the fact that the name of the firm sounded Jewish. Though looking at these letters I got, the name of every firm sounds Jewish. Except for the postcard one. But they did advertise that they give free ten-minute phone consultations. So I asked them some hard-hitting questions, like, “Would there be a benefit to my hiring a lawyer?” and they answered objectively that yes, I should definitely hire a lawyer, and preferably them, in their unbiased opinion.
“We can get you off,” they said. Only they can get me off? What about all these other people who mailed me?
So I asked, “What’s your success rate?”
And they said, “We have a phenomenal success rate. Don’t even worry about it.”
So I said, “Okay. And what’s the success rate
By Mordechai Schmutter
of people who don’t use a lawyer?”
And they said, “Well, we obviously don’t have the stats for that. The people who don’t use a lawyer don’t call us afterward to tell us how it went. Everyone we know uses us.”
So I said, “Well, then what good are you? All you know are reasons I should hire you. Who can I call for unbiased opinions? Is there like a judge I can call?”
So I called my uncle, who’s in insurance. But not car insurance. That’s the official reason I called him, but he also strikes me as someone who may have experience with moving violations.
I asked him, “Do you think I could do this myself?”
And he said, “Of course you can. All you have to do is show up with an argument.”
So I said, “Listen, I can’t think on my feet. This lawyer that I just called was sure that he could get me off. Maybe it’s worth hiring him just to take some of the stress off me.”
So he said, “I’ll tell you what: Call them back and ask them if they’d stake their pay on it – in writing – that if they don’t get you off, you don’t have to pay them. And if they’re willing to do that, keep their number. And also send it to me.”
So I called the law firm back, and they said, “No way.”
And I asked, “Why? You said you’re sure!”
And they said, “We can’t do this for free!”
And I said, “I’m not asking you to. You’re going to get me off, and I’m going to pay you. You can do this!”
I think the fact that I asked that question in the first place made them nervous that this was going to be a harder case than usual. Though I don’t even know why they were scared. They’re lawyers; they could have agreed to what I said and then argued out of it later. Were they afraid I’d have my own lawyers read over their contract for loopholes so they couldn’t? If I have my own lawyer, why am I calling them?
Mordechai Schmutter is a freelance writer and a humor columnist for Hamodia and other magazines. He has also published eight books and does stand-up comedy. You can contact him at MSchmutter@gmail.com.
Forgotten Her es Decorated Israeli Heroes
By Avi Heiligman
It is quite common to see top military brass adorned with rows of medals and decorations on their uniforms. However, some militaries don’t give out decorations and medals all too often. Israel awards far fewer decorations and ribbons than other countries, but there are three medals that are currently issued to IDF personnel that display courage on the battlefield. The stories behind the recipients of the Medal of Valor, the Medal of Courage, and the Medal of Distinguished Service are history to be remembered.
One of the most intense battles on the southern front of the Yom Kippur War took place in the Sinai Peninsula north of the Great Bitter Lake. From October 15 to 17, 1973, Israeli forces, including armored units as well as the elite Paratroopers Brigade, battled two Egyptian divisions. Called the Battle of the Chinese Farm, the Israelis were victorious and opened up a route to the Suez Canal. The battle became known as one of the most bitter battles of the war as over 160 Israelis were killed in the fighting.
Four of the paratroopers cited for bravery in action were Captain Gideon Dvoretsky, Corporal Ofir Beit-Aria, Lieutenant Giora Shoham and Yehuda Hadad. Dvoretsky took command of a company in Ehud Barak’s battalion after the company commander was wounded. Eight tankers and paratroopers had been wounded and were left stranded. After a failed rescue attempt, Dvoretsky led another group in his armored personnel carrier (APC). This time, they were successful,
and the wounded were safely evacuated. A few days later, Dvoretsky, Beit-Aria and Shoham were killed by a direct hit from an Egyptian missile. For his actions in leading the rescue mission Dvoretsky was awarded the Medal of Courage.
Asher Porat was doctor who served on the front lines through several conflicts including the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, and the Yom Kippur War. Born in Paris, Porat’s family moved to Argentina when he was young. He began studying medicine in Buenos Aries and finished in Israel. Soon
their main target, Yasser Arafat. During the battle, 30 IDF soldiers were killed and close to 100 were injured. Tanks were caught in the open, and one of them was in an area that was being targeted by heavy enemy fire. The doctor that was attached to the unit abandoned his duties, and an armored force failed four times to reach the wounded soldiers. Porat with another soldier took a tank to get close to the area and then crawled under heavy fire to rescue two of the wounded Israelis. A third could not be rescued. He then put the two
Despite wounds on his hands and the landing gear not working properly, Yoeli made an emergency crash landing at Tel Nof Air Base.
after his move to Israel, he joined the IDF, took an officer’s course and became a military doctor. During the Six Day War, he was with the 60th Brigade, but he also treated wounded soldiers from other units as well. In 1968, Porat was the medical officer with the 7 th Brigade while there were performing missions during the War of Attrition.
The Battle of Karameh took place on March 21, 1968, between the IDF against the PLO and Jordan. The IDF destroyed the PLO camp of Karameh and took around 140 prisoners but failed to capture
soldiers in a tank and drove them to an evacuation station. Only one of the wounded soldiers survived his injuries, and Porat was also wounded in the rescue. For his actions in the rescue operation, Porat was awarded the Medal of Courage.
Aharon Yoeli was one of Israel’s first fighter pilots and was the first Israeli pilot to shoot down an enemy plane while flying a jet. Yoeli, a descendent of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, had taken Israel’s third pilot course in 1948 and soon was flying jet aircraft. He took command of
the 117 th Squadron that was operating British-built Gloucester Meteor jets. On October 31, 1956, a machine gun bullet penetrated his cockpit while he was flying over Egyptian territory. Shrapnel hit him in his hands, and despite wounds on his hands and the landing gear not working properly, Yoeli made an emergency crash landing at Tel Nof Air Base.
More than a year earlier, on September 1, 1955, Israeli warning systems picked up Egyptian aircraft that entered Israeli territory. Together with his wingman, Yoash Tzidon, Yoeli took off after the Egyptian de Havilland Vampire – another British-built jet fighter. Yoeli shot down two of the enemy planes but was prevented from going after the remaining two planes as they crossed back into Egyptian territory. Yoeli described how he shot down one of the planes: “I approached the right plane from behind and opened fire from a range of about 400 meters from four 20-millimeter cannons.” His award for the action was later upgraded to the Medal of Courage for his skill in shooting down the two enemy jets.
These are just some of the stories of the men who received medals fighting for Israel. Their hard work and dedication under the most difficult conditions make it history not to be forgotten.
Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.
Asher Porat
Giora Shoham
Aharon Yoeli
Political Crossfire
Owens is a Cautionary Tale About Platforming Ignorance
By Jonathan S. Tobin
There is a good argument to be made that the best way to deal with antisemites, and especially Holocaust deniers, is to ignore them. Since they seek publicity, denying them the attention they crave can be like depriving a fire of oxygen. But in the Internet age where the gatekeepers of public discourse no longer exist, the virtual public square is open to all, including the very lowest and worst actors. Try as we might, there is no ignoring someone who broadcasts open hate on platforms where they have several million followers. And even if such persons are kept off broadcast and cable outlets, anyone with a YouTube channel with millions of subscribers can never be effectively denied attention.
Still, editors of responsible publications and broadcast outlets are faced with a dilemma any time someone who is a public figure with a large audience,
even if they are entirely disreputable, says something outrageous and deeply offensive that is then spread to a mass audience. Should we note that dangerous and completely false statements are being spread to many millions of people? Or would it be better to simply refuse to dignify their vile screeds by taking the trouble to report and condemn them.
That, in a nutshell, is the problem of Candace Owens.
A Journey Toward Antisemitism
Owens’s latest bid for publicity involves her embrace of Holocaust denial in which she uses her popular videos and X posts to speak as if the horrors of Auschwitz, including the bestial medical experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele, is mere “propaganda.” On top of that, she
has the chutzpah to speak of the Germans as if they were the true victims of World War II and that the Allies who defeated Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime were the true axis of evil.
We can hope that this latest entry in an increasingly long list of antisemitic rants is the one that finally leads to a situation where she will, like some other hatemongers before her, sink into well-deserved obscurity where her mad utterances will draw no further notice from the general public.
Still, I think it’s important to note her journey from populist conservative talker to conspiracy theorist to fullblown lunatic Jew-hater. This story deserves to be understood not just because what she says is terrible – though it certainly is – but because Owens is a cautionary tale of how articulate, yet also utterly ignorant and completely unprincipled people can be platformed by
serious outlets without them having a full understanding of the sort of person they’re employing. It’s also a commentary on how once you start buying into conspiracy theories, the rabbit hole of antisemitism can become an irresistible temptation.
In examining her career, there is no foolproof way to ensure that credible people, especially journalists, public intellectuals and responsible activist groups, don’t wind up enabling the rise of such bad actors. And it is also true that the descent into extremism can happen just as easily on the left as on the right. We should also acknowledge that left-wing extremists currently have more influence on U.S. politics via their grip on the activist wing of the Democratic Party than antisemites like Owens have on the Republicans. Nevertheless, some things can be learned from her story that involve the need to be cau -
tious about platforming new voices, as well as acting quickly to shut them down once it becomes clear that they are not who everyone thought they were.
Playing Against Type
Owens became famous because she was fairly unique. In a political culture in which most African-Americans are very much on the left, she leaped to notoriety and then a large audience because she went against type as a powerful voice of black female conservatism. During the years of the Trump administration, she more or less came out of nowhere as a producer of conservative political videos before being hired by the conservative activist group Turning Point USA. From there, it was a quick ascent up the ladder of exposure as she was acclaimed at the age of 29 by The Washington Post as the new face of black conservatism.
From 2019 to 2021, she hosted a show on the PragerU website and YouTube channel that gave her access to a broad audience, which rightly looks to it for educational content and smart commentary. She then joined The Daily Wire, a highly successful conservative outlet founded by Jewish pundit Ben Shapiro, where she hosted another talk show from 2021 until she was finally (and belatedly) dismissed in March of this year for her antisemitic invective. Since then, she has gone out on her own, blasting out her opinions to 5 million followers on X and 2 million subscribers to her personal YouTube channel.
It’s hard to blame those who enabled her ascent since there was nothing antisemitic about her discourse in the first years of her public career. The fact that she had been a political liberal up until 2017 wasn’t disqualifying since many people have gone on political journeys from the left to the right with President Ronald Reagan being just the most prominent example. And there was no denying that she was a talented speaker who seemed to have the right combination of poise and combative spirit that endeared her to those who hired her and their audiences.
But it’s also true that Owens’s meteoric rise to popularity was something that would have been far more unlikely in the pre-Internet era of journalism. Nowadays anyone, including college students who know less about the world than those who might read or listen to their supposed insights, can parachute into journalism as pundits via blogs,
websites and podcasts without first having to learn their trade from the ground up as cub reporters or lower-level editors.
Parachuting Into Journalism
Perhaps it dates this writer by noting that one used to have to earn coveted slots as an opinion writer by laboring in the vineyards of journalism. We’re never going back to a world where a few elite gatekeepers in the field could decide who could be allowed to spout their opinions to mass audiences – and never should even if it were possible. The Internet has democratized journalism in ways that are destructive as well as ways that help nurture the sort of lively debate about the news and issues that might otherwise be dismissed by the powers that be.
cial media and other Internet outlets are bound to create a slippery slope by which partisans will seek to suppress their opponents.
But as Owens has again taught us, not everyone who decries the dead hand of liberal groupthink is a principled dissenter or honest observer. Antisemitic conspiracy theories are always the last refuge of media con artists.
Hucksters Work the System
The manner by which she slipped effortlessly from normal political discourse to defending rabid antisemites like Kanye West to attacks on Israel and mimicking Hamas propaganda to her current bout of Holocaust denial also illustrates the way hucksters like her can exploit partisan divisions to gain clicks and then a foothold for hate.
She uses her popular videos and X posts to speak as if the horrors of Auschwitz, including the bestial medical experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele, is mere “propaganda.”
However, the ease and speed by which Owens parlayed her ability to glibly speak about the issues by telling conservative readers, listeners and viewers what they wanted to hear without gaining experience in the field or serious study that could lend real weight and value to her opinions is troubling. It should offer some food for thought to anyone who controls platforms that can enable the unknown to become stars.
The urge to censor dissident opinions remains a great temptation for establishment thinkers. Writer Ben Weingarten correctly termed the way in which the Biden administration colluded with Silicon Valley, mainstream corporate media and even liberal Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League to silent dissent from conservatives or those who questioned Covid-19 policies on lockdowns, masks or vaccine mandates as the creation of a “censorship industrial complex.” As the evidence from those efforts showed, efforts to ban extremists, even the most hateful ones that all decent people deplore, from so -
her, even as her opinions diverged more and more from the conservative beliefs they espoused and her weakness for Jew-hatred became more noticeable. They should have booted her off their platform nearly two years ago, as some of us said at the time. Whether it was because they feared losing her followers or because it had already become a complicated business transaction, there she stayed until her post-Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and Jews forced their hand.
It’s hardly surprising that Owens has now gone completely off the deep end now that she’s no longer held accountable, even in theory, to other more responsible people. The same was true for Tucker Carlson, who kept his animus for Israel mostly under wraps while he was hosting the most popular show on cable news but unleashed it once he was fired by Fox News Channel last year and was relegated to a smaller but still significant viewership via his X account.
Having first established herself as a supporter of former President Donald Trump, and with the imprimatur of PragerU and Daily Wire behind her, it was all too easy for decent people to give her a pass when she first started demonstrating signs of extremism. In a media culture where “owning” one’s foes has become a paramount objective, anyone who can infuriate the other side is always initially assumed to be either trolling them for effect when they say outrageous things or are victims of groupthink and censorship when they get negative blowback. With Owens, there was also a tendency to see any criticism of her as evidence of the unfair way in which liberals always seek to smear blacks who choose to dissent from the leftist orthodoxy.
That’s how she got away with her defense of West, though her poor excuses for arguments demonstrated that she was woefully ignorant about the subject.
More to the point, having gifted her with a large audience, those who ran the Daily Wire seemed to be stuck with
We needn’t waste time refuting the lies Owens tells about the past or her falsehoods about being a victim of a corrupt establishment. Her decision to become a Holocaust denier puts her beyond the pale and should render her too toxic for anyone with a shred of credibility to bother defending. Much like crackpots like Nick Fuentes, who are called “groypers,” and Michelle Malkin, another former mainstream conservative pundit turned antisemitic fever swamp dweller, Owens is now likely to fade from view. We can only hope that from now on, only fellow extremists and antisemites like Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan will have anything to do with her.
Yet before she is rightly relegated to the dustbin of history where such hatemongers usually wind up, we do well to ponder just how easy it was for her to gain access to so many readers, listeners and viewers. Owens’s journey towards Jew-hatred isn’t unique to the right or to African-Americans. In the future, we should be wary of people with no track record of fully thought-out beliefs and whose only qualifications are their ability to talk fast, along with a particular ethnic or racial identity that makes them stand out. Those who initially applauded her stands should establish a policy of zero tolerance for hate that we would expect to be observed by those on the other end of the political spectrum. Failing to do that is a formula for disaster that will only produce more Holocaust deniers with a mass audience (JNS)
Centerfold
Riddle Me This
The following task involves several steps, but they are out of order. Arrange them so that a person who follows the steps exactly can perform the task:
A procedure is needed to change all the red traffic lights in a small town to green, and vice versa.
(Luckily there are no yellow lights in this town and also no lights that don’t work). Assume that you have a street map that shows the locations of all the lights.
a) If all lights on your map are marked “done,” skip the next six statements.
b) If the light is red, skip the next two statements.
c) Turn the light red.
d) Turn the light green.
e) On your map, mark the light you just changed as “done” and go back to the first statement.
f) Find a light that is not marked “done” on your map, and check whether it is red or green.
g) Skip the next statement.
h) End
h) End
e) On your map, mark the light you just changed as “done” and go back to the first statement.
d) Turn the light green.
g) Skip the next statement.
c) Turn the light red.
b) If the light is red, skip the next two statements.
f) Find a light that is not marked “done” on your map, and check whether it is red or green.
a) If all lights on your map are marked “done,” skip the next six statements.
The tasks should be put in the following order:
Answer
You Gotta Be Kidding!
A guy parks his bicycle outside the U.S. Capitol. Security comes to him and says, “You can’t park your bike here. Don’t you know that congressmen, senators, speaker, vice president, foreign dignitaries, and the President come here often?”
The guy replies, “Oh don’t worry, I chained my bike!”
Veepstakes Trivia
Upset that Trump didn’t consult with you before picking his running mate? Answer these questions to see whether you are an expert on the vice presidency.
1. Who did Trump pick as his 2024 running mate?
a. Marco Rubio
b. J.D. Vance
c. Doug Burgum
d. Senter F. Commish
2. Who is the only vice president in the 20th century who was elected to the presidency upon the completion of his vice presidential term?
a. Richard Nixon
b. Harry Truman
c. George W. Bush
d. Al Gore (please don’t pick this one...get over it!)
3. Which vice president was actually charged with murder?
a. Elbridge Gerry
b. John Calhoun
c. Aaron Burr
Answers:
1. B- I case you are wondering, he is 39 years old. Not bad, for a guy who has not yet celebrated his 40th birthday.
2. C
3. C- In a 1804 duel, Thomas Jefferson’s VP, Aaron Burr, shot and killed Alexander Hamilton. He was charged for murder in New Jersey and New York but was never brought to trial. Or as some same, AAWOON BUUWW (“Got Milk?!”).
4. A- John Breckinridge began serving at the age of 36 under President James Buchanan in 1857, just one year above the office’s age of eligibility. Just so you know, the oldest was Alben Barkley, who became Harry Truman’s veep in 1949 at the age of 71. (Because you really needed to know that.)
5. A- Vice President-elect Andrew Johnson arrived in Washington ill from typhoid fever. The night before his March 4, 1865 inauguration, he fortified himself with whiskey at a party hosted by his old friend, Secretary of the Senate John W. Forney.
d. Dick Cheney (please don’t pick this one...get over it!)
4. How old was the youngest vice president when he took the oath of office?
a. 34
b. 36
c. 40
d. 42
5. Which vice president took the oath of office while drunk as a skunk?
a. Andrew Johnson
b. Thomas A. Hendricks
c. Garret A. Hobar
d. James S. Sherman
6. Which U.S. president had three different vice presidents?
The next morning, hung over and confronting cold, wet, and windy weather, Johnson proceeded to the office of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, where he complained of weakness and asked for a tumbler of whiskey. Drinking it straight, he quickly consumed two more. Then, growing red in the face, Johnson entered the overcrowded and overheated Senate chamber. After Hamlin delivered a brief and stately valedictory, Johnson rose unsteadily to harangue the distinguished crowd about his humble origins and his triumph over the rebel aristocracy. In the shocked and silent audience, President Abraham Lincoln showed an expression of “unutterable sorrow,” while Senator Charles Sumner covered his face with his hands. Former Vice President Hamlin tugged vainly at Johnson’s coattails, trying to cut short his remarks. After Johnson finally quieted, took the oath of office, and kissed the Bible, he tried to swear in the new senators but became so confused that he had to turn the job over to a Senate clerk. (From senate.gov.)
6. C- President Franklin Roosevelt had John
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Abraham Lincoln
c. Franklin D. Roosevelt
d. Harry S. Truman
7. What word did Dan Quayle misspell while moderating an elementary school spelling bee when he was Vice President?
a. onomatopoeia
b. connoisseur
c. diphtheria
d. mnemonic
e. potato
8. Which state was Joe Biden senator of before becoming the VP?
a. Confusion
b. Delaware
c. Pennsylvania
d. Washington, D.C.
Nance Garner, Henry Wallace and Harry Truman as his vice presidents, but then he was elected to four terms.
7. E- He spelled it potatoe.
8. B- Delaware Wisdom Key
6-8 right: You are hereby granted a poli-sci degree! (Every wonder what it takes to get a degree in political science? “OK, class, today we are going to talk about whether Biden is doing a good job or not? Hmm… he pushed the nuke button instead of his alarm clock snooze button. What do you guys think; how will that affect his poll numbers?”
3-5 correct: You are right in the middle. Good but not great, you just need to have more time to read up on useless information. But then again, not everybody gets to do nothing all day...that job is reserved for veeps.
0-2 correct: Mr. Biden, it is time for you to remember that you used to be the senator of D-E-L-A-W-AR-E. At least get that one right.
Notable Quotes
“Say What?!”
I would ask that you refrain from spreading baseless conspiracies that Trump’s political opponents like the Clintons are behind this. It is dangerous and unsubstantiated, and the Clinton’s don’t miss.
- Tweet by Stephen L. Miller
It was a mistake to use the word. I didn’t say crosshairs. I meant bullseye – focus on it. Focus on what he’s doing. Focus on his policies.
– Pres. Biden when pressed by Lester Holt if he regrets tweeting last week that it is “time to put Trump in a bullseye”
Oh, I’ve heard from him.
- Ibid., when asked if after the assassination attempt he has spoken to the head of the Secret Service…who is a female
On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania with a rifle, but an American lion got up on his feet and he roared.
- Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) at the Republican National Convention
I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.
- Tweet by Elon Musk shortly after the assassination attempt
Over the weekend, Pres. Trump survived an assassination attempt. Democrats are so sympathetic that they agreed to only yell “Hitler” into his good ear.
– Greg Gutfeld, Fox News
In response to the Trump assassination attempt, MSNBC cancelled this morning’s episode of “Morning Joe.” Terrible idea – that will only encourage more assassination attempts. I’d shoot myself to cancel Joy Reid.
– Ibid.
Biden can’t get through a debate and a bullet can’t stop Donald Trump. It almost doesn’t matter who the Democrats put up now.
- Bill Maher
Trump is the luckiest [person] that has ever walked the face of this earth.
– Ibid.
Now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin!
- Pres. Biden introducing Ukraine’s President Zelensky at the NATO summit
Zelensky Having Trouble Chasing Out American Funding After Latest Check Was Written Out to “President Putin.”
- Tweet by Associated Free
Joe Biden has been making gaffes for 40 years. He made a couple of last night. He will probably continue to do so.
- Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler after Pres. Biden’s gaffe-filled NATO press conference during which he referred to his vice president as Vice President Trump
Biden’s Popularity Skyrockets After He Announces Trump Is His VP.
- Babylon Bee headline
Janet Yellen Reassures the Nation that Biden’s Dementia Is Transitory.
- Babylon Bee
I’m supposed to be dead. By luck or by G-d –many people are saying it’s by G-d – I’m still here.
- Trump in his first interview after the assassination attempt
I didn’t talk to Biden. I didn’t want to talk to him. My husband was a devout Republican, and he would not have wanted me to talk to him.
- Helen Comperatore, wife of Corey Comperatore who was killed at the Trump rally when hit by a stray bullet during the assassination attempt, explaining why she didn’t pick up Pres. Biden’s call
Drinking wine, eating dessert, and flirting with men with mustaches.
- Helen Denmark, of Alabama, when asked at her 108th birthday party how she stays young
Well, I feel all right – I’ll be here when I’m 110.
- Ibid.
O L-rd, our G-d, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, your eternal city, and for all the children of Abraham. We remember and pray for freedom for the hostages kidnapped and held so cruelly against their will. L-rd, please keep them in your sight and hasten the day of their freedom.
- The prayer said at the beginning of the Republican National Convention, as the thousands gathered in the arena stood in complete silence and concentration
That’s not the message we want to be sending right now. We want to tamp it down.
- CNN correspondent Jaime Gangel criticizing Trump for defiantly screaming, “Fight, fight, fight,” seconds after being shot
This is not a normal election where you want to win, and if you don’t, you cooperate and do the best you can for the country and hope to win the next time. This is something that is undermining our democracy. He must be stopped. He cannot be president!
- Rep. Nanci Pelosi (D-CA) on MSNBC on Friday, the day before the attempted assassination of Trump
Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation. He is a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He is literally a threat to everything America stands for.
- Tweet by Pres. Biden on June 28
I don’t know about you, but if I were a real gogetter, someone who cared for his country and I knew that there was a “genuine threat” to this country, to my freedom, I’d do everything I can to stop that threat… I might even kill it, especially if the Commander in Chief told me so and I was some lonely weirdo looking for an easy path to infamy.
- Greg Gutfeld, Fox News
Yesterday, Biden said that he is grateful that Trump is doing well and recovering. How could that be? How can you be grateful that a person who is a “genuine threat” to our country is doing well? After the attempted assassination of Hitler, did America send him a “Get well Mein Fuhrer” card?
– Ibid.
So, could it be that Joe was lying about how evil Trump is? Could it be that they were all lying? And it’s a lie said over and over again and led to an attempted assassination?
- Ibid.
Calling Trump “Hitler” made all actions against him morally required. If you had a time machine, who wouldn’t go back and take out Baby Hitler?... But you don’t need a time machine, you just need a media platform and a hope that among 300 million people you will reach the ones with more loose screws than a Boeing jetliner.
- Ibid.
The person who pulled the trigger is ultimately responsible for this heinous act, but make no mistake: Democrats identified the target.
- Michal Goodwin, New York Post
George Clooney, what a … hero this guy is, huh? Comes forward today — now, this guy threw a fundraiser, raised tens of millions, co-chair for Biden, three weeks ago. Today comes out, he’s like, “Guess what? The guy you saw in the debate, that vegetable, that’s …Biden, he’s a vegetable. He was a vegetable three weeks ago.” Acting like he’s doing some heroic thing.
- Dave Portnoy after George Clooney – who hosted a Biden fundraiser last month – wrote an op-ed in The New York Times calling on Biden to step down due to cognitive decline
George wrote a New York Times Op-Ed titled “I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee,” adding, “We also need a money guy, a safecracker, an acrobat and Brad Pitt.” It’s the plot of “Ocean’s 24: Amal’s Busy With Human Rights Stuff and I Got Bored.”
- Stephen Colbert
In my opinion, the shooter, he just handed Donald Trump the election. That is what I believe. Of course, I don’t know that as fact. Of course, things could change, but, in my opinion, he just handed Donald Trump the election.
– ESPN sports show host Stephen A. Smith
Ladies and gentlemen, you can’t buy — I’ve been in media for 30 years — you can’t buy a better photo than what Donald Trump has at this disposal as we speak. He goes to the ground. He’s got blood on his right. Looked like it got nicked, which is what he said. It pierced his ear. He gets up. He looks disheveled. [He was] clearly taken aback by what happened, and rightfully so. Blood trickling down his ear and the right side of his face. Surrounded by Secret Service agents. Raises his fist, cringing his face up. “Fight, fight, fight.” He says it three times. And while raising his fist, surrounded by Secret Service agents, the American flag is behind him. Ladies and gentlemen, you can’t buy a better photo than that if you’re a politician.
- Ibid.
School of Thought
We Made It
By Barbara Deutsch
It’s Erev Shabbat in Israel, and I am sitting in my front garden listening to the chirping birds, drinking coffee that I brewed from my new Nespresso machine. I joined a WhatsApp group called Natan’s that alerts serious coffee drinkers, black and no sugar, to Natan’s hours – he has the best coffee in our shechuna, and there are long lines of eager consumers.
Now that we are olim, I am determined to brew my own. “Mom, you live here now; you can’t be going out every day,” admonishes my Israeli daughter, Rachel.
From the moment we pulled up in our “Ralph the Driver” giant van to Newark Airport with our nine duffel bags, two pieces of hand luggage and two wheelies, the tears started rolling. We were warmly greeted at the entrance by a full complement of Nefesh B’Nefesh staff who organized our luggage and took down our important details. Everyone got a name tag and a blue NBN identifier for their bags. Standing with us were families, couples and singles all following their dreams.
Many of us exchanged contact information, and we hope to see each other on our post-aliyah Zoom on Sunday. NBN has a whole new team for that.
I couldn’t stop crying; I’m crying as I write this.
We checked in; they counted but did not weigh the bags. Four hundred dollars later – for three of the nine bags – we were ready and waiting to board the plane home. Even though we lived close to JFK Airport and always preferred that point of departure, our group left from Newark, which it turns out is more user-friendly and navigable.
There is a popular old New Yorker Magazine cover that depicts the mindset of a New Yorker. It is a picture of the East Coast, just New York City, and the West Coast, simply the Pacific Ocean. There is nothing in between. When we met our fellow Olim, I was somehow surprised that there were people from Baltimore, Chicago, Arizona and California. There were also a handful from towns in New Jersey.
There is a whole world of people out there waiting to make aliyah; we are not alone.
After the pleasant flight, the El Al stewardesses cried as we departed the plane, “We are so moved by your bravery to make this big change during a time of war; thank you,” they said.
Ironically, while clustered with our group waiting, I spotted a former student on the NBN greet staff. “Hi Mrs. Deutsch, mazal tov,” she said. My old life welcomes the new.
We were taken to Terminal 1, the old charter plane terminal, for processing. We learned there are no longer NBN charter flights as they are too expensive these days and at most there are group ones; ours had 62 people from age 79 to a new baby.
The whole new NBN Greet Staff along with two Israeli government officials took us through the bureaucracy of what it means to be a “real” Israeli; we got our identity card and our health care, Kupa –the two most important numbers that we will need for life in our new home.
Waiting for all of the paperwork to come through took about four hours and though exhausted, especially the kids asleep standing up, everyone was patient with a minimal amount of crying; everyone had waited a long time to find home and we were able to hold on for just a few minutes longer. Even the babies and small children understood that.
After our group was processed, we went back to Terminal 3 (the usual point of arrival and departure) to pick up our luggage and meet the waiting cabs that would take us to our destinations in Israel. My New York mindset could not understand why everyone was not going to Jerusalem.
Walking through the doors and into the arms of those singing and dancing as they anticipated our arrival and greeted our tired bodies but energized souls got the tears rolling again. Seeing our kids, grandkids, Chaya (a dear friend’s baby who is like family), a former student’s daughter who is the granddaughter of my beloved colleague Abie Wahrhaftig, a”h,
and Rachel, a former teacher colleague who has recently made aliyah, brought back memories, joy and more tears.
All my worlds colliding to bring me and Bob home; our life’s dream realized.
Since landing, we have been involved in the mundane and the boring of unpacking – which is so much more arduous than the packing – figuring out how the not enough space will expand like Noach’s Teva, the setting up of an Israeli phone number, finding that a lot of what we gave away is still needed and what we have kept may not be, and sleeping.
We have also fielded many offers of help, invitations for meals and a Shabbos invite from a childhood close friend for August 10. His busy retired life has no openings before then.
Our first official night we had a delicious dinner with our close “friend who is like family” beloved friend Anne. She, because of life’s complicated circumstances and similar to so many of our close friends, mostly lives here. When she and good friends like her are around, we will make time to be together.
The celebratory drinks were delicious. L’chaim!
We are not jetlagged, but we are exhausted.
We already miss the loved ones we left behind. They keep texting and checking in to see if we are managing and surviving. Thank you!
“Are you okay?” “You are so brave.” “We wish we could do it!” Over and over again, we hear these questions and comments.
We are okay. There is nothing brave about this, and if you really have a dream of making aliyah, do it. There will never be a “right” time if you let life and its roadblocks get in your way. We waited 50 years as we kept our eyes on the prize and waited for the opportunity to fulfill our dream.
Those 50 years were filled with building a wonderful family, in Israel, in America and Toronto. We will visit and so will they. We have both enjoyed satisfying years as educators, and we will find ways
to share our skills and knowledge in Israel. We will stay in touch with colleagues and students. Bob just got an email from an old student asking to connect and talk about his future.
We are open to all ideas. We are also available to help and support those who share our dream.
I still have to figure out how to handle living without a set schedule, getting dressed “fancy” every day, and what to do come September without a “real” job. Right now, it’s just a regular summer and my usual vacation.
Just as we have always enjoyed a large group of friends who are like family and friends who enhance our lives, we will not let go of the opportunity to have good times with them, to reconnect with friends here, and make new ones with common interests.
Best of all, we get to be a daily part of our children’s, grandchildren’s and future family’s lives.
We have a lot to figure out and learn. So far, it’s not been that hard but certainly it’s not easy. We did not walk away from what we have built and loved; we are walking towards what we think is the right place for Jews everywhere, not just New York.
Next week has a full calendar of “to dos” and dinner with friends old and new. I’ll keep you posted.
Mrs. Barbara Deutsch is currently the associate principal at HANC 609 and a longtime reflective educator, parent, grandparent, and new great-grandparent. Even after all these years, she still loves what she does and looks forward to working with kids every single day.
Dating Dialogue What Would You Do If…
Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters
Dear Navidaters,
I am dating a great guy (I’ll call him Avi), and things have been going well for the past month and a half. Recently, Avi was at an Airbnb with his family, and I was on the phone with him while he was leaving. I heard his mom telling him to do something in the background and he sounded rushed like he was in a hurry and I asked what he was doing. He told me that when his family stays at hotels or Airbnbs, his parents tell all the kids to gather up unused amenities – things like small shampoo bottles, hot cups, mini creamers, sugar packets, etc.
Behaviors like this completely go against what I stand for. Not only is something like that a pet peeve, but I find it to be considered stealing and a very low thing to do. I can no longer look at his family the same way. I even have been thinking that despite all the good I see in Avi it could be that our upbringing is too different.
Is this something I should bring up in conversation with him? Or is this something that just makes a statement that we just have very different value systems?
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.
The point of dating is to learn about one another, both similarities and differences, and to see if connection develops. Why would you not discuss values with him? Why would you just write him off because this is something that bothers you? Isn’t communicating with a dating partner a way to discover depth and get to know the person’s strengths, weaknesses, conflict management style, and middos?
What if Avi’s family feels that this is part of what you pay for? What if they discussed this with a rav? What if Avi feels it’s cheap to behave this way even if it may be halachically and legally OK?
There are many parts to a person’s and a family’s value system; writing off a person and a family because of this “indicator” may say something about you. Don’t sit in judgment on a family without exploring the issue with Avi and with others.
Learn to listen even as you disagree. Make sure that you learn to differentiate between class, decency, and halacha, even if you say goodbye to Avi. Learn skills and about yourself from this experience.
The Shadchan
Every human being on this earth grows up with a set of standards, personal thoughts and opinions based on the environment they grew up in. This applies to big things such as hashkafos and child raising and small things such as taking extra sugar packets from hotels. Even two people within the same home will process their upbringing differently. Some children born into a large and rowdy, low-class household will vow to grow up and become successful so they can give their own kids things they themselves never had. Others will say they had the perfect childhood and want to give their kids the same as they had.
There are two points I am making here: one is for you to acknowledge that any guy you end up with will have differences about his upbringing that go against the way you were raised. The other reason I mention this is to clarify that just because he was brought up this way does not necessarily mean he enjoys it and wants his home to be the same way. One of the reasons that making a shidduch is compared to the sea being split is this same concept. Just as it
Pulling It All Together
The Navidaters
Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists
Thank you for writing! To be completely upfront, I don’t have the answer to your last question. We all know people who almost seem to get a high from tiny bottles of lotion or free “anything”! And I can understand how someone’s excitement or intensity about free things or even taking things that don’t explicitly belong to them can
leave a gal (or guy) feeling some - what unattracted, as if this behavior is undignified or lacking some class. It’s one thing when it’s a friend doing it but what role would this play in a marriage?
I will, however, give you my opinion with regard to your first question. If you
goes against nature for a body of water to split into two, so too it goes against nature for two people brought up in two different worlds to agree to marry and merge lives.
I cannot tell you what to or not to be bothered by, but what I can say is you need to shift perspectives and talk to Avi. Even if your opinions differ about taking home mini shampoo bottles, you still might be bashert.
The Zaidy
Dr. Jeffrey Galler
Wait!
When I go to a hotel, I have always automatically assumed that all these amenities were always brand new. It never occurred to me that they might have been leftover by the previous occupant. I certainly do not want to touch shampoo bottles, hot cups, or sugar packets, even unused ones, that were touched by any previous guests!
My initial reaction to your letter was, “Aren’t leftover amenities thrown out when a guest checks out, and isn’t the cost of these amenities built into the price of the room rental?”
Personally, I don’t bother taking these disposables home with me, not for ethical reasons, but simply because I’d rather not stuff my suitcase with junk, especially stuff like shampoo bottles that can leak all over my clothes.
But I did some research for our readers. According to the general manager at
and Avi have a relationship that you value and you are considering moving forward with him, I strongly suggest you bring it up. Even if you do not want to move forward with him, I think honesty is kind. Bring up the concern in a very non-threatening way that is full of “I statements.”
“I feel uncomfortable bringing this up. In the name of honesty and communication, I need to let you know that when I
Claridge House Chicago, “These items are complimentary gifts meant for guests to enjoy, even if they are unopened.” Some hotels see it as a form of advertising, since these items often bear the hotel’s name.
Interestingly, I actually found a very specific, fairly definitive, online article from the Reader’s Digest that lists, “Things You Can and Cannot Take from Your Hotel Room.”
According to that article, among the items that hotels expect guests to take are: shampoos, soaps, conditioners, tea, coffee, paper, and pens. And, from highend hotels that provide fancier amenities: dry-cleaning bags, shoe-shine kits, travel-size sewing kits, toothbrushes, cotton swabs, and nail files.
By contrast, items that are NOT OK to take are: sheets, pillowcases, towels, robes, batteries from TV remotes, drinking glasses, non-disposable plates, utensils, and mugs, and decorative items like vases, artwork, figurines, and artificial flowers.
Now, granted that perhaps Airbnb rentals are different than hotel rooms. And, granted that everyone may have different opinions about what is, and what is not, OK to take, but ask yourselves: Is it halachically permissible to argue with what is written in the Reader’s Digest?!
overheard your family taking things from the room it made me a bit uncomfortable and here’s why. I grew up in a family that…. For me, I feel strange taking things…. How do you feel about what I’m saying?”
He may surprise you. It may not be that big of a deal. One step at a time. You’ve got this!
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 private practice at 123 Maple Avenue in Cedarhurst, NY. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 718-908-0512. Visit www.thenavidaters.com for more information. If you would like to submit a dating or relationship question to the panel anonymously, please email JenniferMannLCSW@gmail.com. You can follow The Navidaters on FB and Instagram for dating and relationship advice.
Michelle Mond
Life C ach
Is It Worth It?
By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS
Are you a golf or a tennis person? Wait, don’t tell me – neither! Or impress me with your athleticism and answer: both!
Maybe that’s great, but maybe that’s a bit too great.
Some people are out for the major commitment. Eighteen holes out on the course and goodbye to civilization. Hit and walk, hit and walk, and so the day goes by.
It’s relaxing and fun for some. They are far away from the rat race. Great!
But they’re also far away from the family – the kids and mate! Oy!
One can always take a different approach and throw the family on the golf cart and make a fun day for all. Maybe that’s not a golf player’s ideal day. But it’s great family bonding.
Again, some may opt for a compromise and only play nine holes. Or better yet, train the family to love golf, too.
Ultimately, it’s like this: one can be “single” and have all the time in the world to play golf, or one can be committed to someone and take all the time in the world to play golf. However, in that case, they’re being “single-minded” and not thinking enough about the repercussions to them and the others.
Golf is a game where you want to beat your last score. Well, guess what? So is life!
You don’t just hit the ball in golf and not worry where it lands. That can get you into hot water, major traps, or wandering in a confusing maze. You need to think before you act. That is the way to be successful out on the golf course.
Well, so, too, in the course of life. One must decide: do they want to wind up in hot water? Do they want to get caught in major traps? Or do they want to wonder around confused as to where they are and
their relationship stands?!
So before venturing out for the day, think about your last performance as a dedicated mate and parent and how you want it to look in the future.
Rivki Rosenwald is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist working with both couples and individuals and is a certified relationship counselor. Rivki is a co-founder and creator of an effective Parent Management of Adolescent Years Program. She can be contacted at 917-7052004 or at rivkirosenwald@gmail.com.
An Inch Away from Death
The History of U.S. Political Assassinations and the Effects They Had on Our Country
By ShloIme SchwArTz
This past Motzei Shabbos, those turning on their phones and radios after Havdala confronted a dramatic story, the likes of which had not been seen in America for over forty years.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, had faced an assassination attempt during a rally in the small town of Butler, Pennsylvania. The videos and images were shocking: Trump, mid-speech, grabbing at his ear and then sinking down to the stage, as shots rang out. It was clear very soon after the attempt that Trump had escaped without serious injury, but in the days that followed, preliminary investigations would prove just how close he had come to death.
In the aftermath, there were many burning questions: Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old shooter, and why did he try to kill Trump? How could a young man, with no military or significant firearms experience, evade the Secret Service and successfully get himself into a sniper’s position so close to the stage? How would this attempted assassination, a mere few days before the Republican National Convention, affect the ongoing presidential campaign?
For those old enough to remember, this moment and the uncertain atmosphere left in its wake, summoned dark memories of the turbulent ‘60s, where the assassinations of important and charismatic leaders became an almost commonplace feature of American life. However, political violence has been a part of our country’s history for far longer, stretching back through the centuries to the earliest years of the republic.
The first major assassination attempt was against President Andrew Jackson in 1835, less than sixty years after the country was founded. After that, there were two major eras of assassinations. The first began with Lincoln’s murder
in 1865 and ended with the attempt against Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, a 47-year era during which three sitting presidents were murdered and attempts were made against a leading presidential candidate. After several decades of relative calm, with a few unsuccessful attempts against various presidents, a second era began, stoking the flames of unrest that consumed the world in the second half of the 20th century.
current president, the effects of this attempt against Trump remain to be seen. However, it has fascinating parallels and connections to these incidents in the past. America is a grand modern experiment in self-governance and democracy, one whose results are still being discovered, but the more ancient art of violence still carries a sinister potency to alter the course of history.
President John F. Kennedy’s murder in Dallas in 1963 ushered in a new wave of political violence, taking the lives of some of the generation’s most influential leaders, including JFK’s younger brother Robert in 1968, while he was in a tight race to become the Democratic candidate for President.
Alabama Governor George Wallace was shot and paralyzed in 1972, and Gerald Ford faced two separate attempts against his life a mere 17 days apart in September of 1975. In 1978, California Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered while investigating the infamous cult at Jonestown, and finally in 1981, President Reagan was shot in the chest, suffering injuries that almost killed him.
Each of the above incidents left an indelible mark on American history. Obviously, the actual murder of a president creates a greater impact than a failed attempt; still, the ripple effects of any violence send significant shockwaves through the world of politics. In an already chaotic and fraught political atmosphere, with massive divisions in the Democrat Party and serious questions swirling about the mental and physical capacity of the
Lone WoLves, Madness and Murder
In the hours and days following the assassination attempt, very little information was released about the attacker, Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was twenty years old and from Bedford Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh. As of the time of this writing, his political affiliations, ideology, and specific motivations for shooting Trump remain unclear. He was a registered Republican but had also made a small donation to a liberal organization in 2022. His friends did not say much about him, other than that he was bullied in high school and that he failed to make the school’s shooting team because of his lack of proficiency with firearms. Beyond that, not much is known.
Even with the paucity of information available about Crooks, it is clear that he fits into a pattern with most other American political assassins, most of whom have acted alone for their own reasons. One notable exception to this was John Wilkes Booth, who collaborated with four other
Donald Trump, urging supporters to “fight,” moments after a gunman tried to kill him
Confederate sympathizers to eliminate the three most powerful members of the Union government. Historically, these disgruntled loners strike out because of ideology, a desire to be part of history, mental illness, or some combination of the above.
A
Richard Lawrence, the first would-be presidential assassin in U.S. history, who tried to kill Andrew Jackson, was known to be mentally unstable, suffering from delusions, and talking to himself in the streets. His delusions of grandeur were on full display during his trial, when he told the court, “It is for me, gentlemen, to pass judgment on you, and not you upon me.” He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was institutionalized for the rest of his life.
Charles Guiteau, who assassinated James A. Garfield in 1881, was an unstable individual, who had been kicked out of a cult in upstate New York and whose behavior was so alarming that close family members thought he was “possessed by Satan.” Guiteau was nominally a Republican, but ultimately ended up assassinating Garfield, a Republican president, because he felt that Garfield hadn’t appreciated his support.
Leon Czolgosz, who killed President McKinley in 1901, was much more motivated by politics. Although he was rebuffed from joining any of their groups due to suspicion that he was a spy, Czolgosz became caught up in the anarchist-socialist thinking of his time. Under the anarchist influence, he decided that McKinley deserved to die because the President was an enemy of the working man. Despite his lawyer’s best attempts to have him declared insane, Czolgosz remained adamant in his guilt and never wavered from his stated motivation, ultimately dying by execution in the electric chair.
As with everything relating to JFK’s assassination, the motivations of Lee Harvey Oswald remain unclear, shrouded by six decades worth of conjecture and conspiracy. In the brief time before he was shot by Jack Ruby, Oswald claimed to be innocent, but what is certain is that Oswald professed an interest in communism and had defected to the Soviet Union in 1959. Whether or not this ideological affiliation was what drove him to shoot Kennedy will never be known.
Later assassinations became much less about politics and much more about insanity and a desire for celebrity. Squeaky Fromme, an LSD-addled member of the Manson Family whose gun
jammed after attempting to shoot Gerald Ford, claimed she had merely wanted to discuss the preservation of California redwood trees with the President. During her trial, she hurled an apple at the prosecuting attorney and protested the trial as “a lack of respect for creatures and creation.”
John Hinckley, who shot President Reagan in 1981, had no stated political motivations; instead, he was hoping to impress a Hollywood actress he was infatuated with.
Trump has long had a reputation for pugnacity and toughness, but this moment showed another side to his character: a bravery and warriorlike resolve that even his staunchest critics would find difficult to deny.
These lurid tales only serve to underline the role of the President in the national psyche. Besides for his enormous political power, he is also seen as a cultural nexus, the center of the world’s attention, leading to him being targeted both by those who seek to change the world or those who, in their own twisted way, yearn to step into the spotlight.
s trength and syM pathy
As soon as it was clear that Trump had not been seriously injured, there was immediate discussion of how this attempt would affect the race. In the weeks leading up to the shooting, the main issue had been Biden’s frozen, mumbling and brain-fogged performance at the first presidential debate. Until that point, Biden’s cognitive decline
had been dismissed by the media as a right-wing talking point, but afterward, his fitness for the office became the central issue of the campaign. Although conservatives had been making the claim for years that President Biden was at best feeble and at worst fully senile, now there were many Democrats calling for Biden to step aside.
With the question of strength, energy and stamina playing such a major role in the election, it would seem that this assassination attempt will be an incredible boon for Trump. The images of him standing bloodied but unbowed under an American flag, pumping his fist and shouting “fight,” will be emblazoned on the American consciousness for generations to come. Trump has long had a reputation for pugnacity and toughness, but this moment showed another side to his character: a bravery and warrior-like resolve that even his staunchest critics would find difficult to deny. His contrast with Biden, already stark, will grow even greater.
Another effect that this might have will be changing people’s feelings towards Trump, something previously thought impossible. Trump is a notoriously polarizing figure, inspiring intense dedication from his supporters and equally intense hate from his detractors. After eight years, three presidential campaigns and never-ending media coverage, it’s hard to conceive of anyone not having their mind made up about Trump.
However, seeing a politician face violence humanizes them in the eyes of the populace and can make a big impact on their public perception. Ronald Reagan, who was also seen by many opponents as a right-wing extremist, gained something immeasurable after he was shot. As historian Del Wilber writes, “The shooting generated massive sympathy from the American public for Reagan, who spent 13 days in the hospital before returning to the White House. But it did something else – it built a bond between the president and the public. They had seen a president who acted with grace and courage. They would hear that he had cracked jokes with his doctors and nurses as they fought to save his life and sought to ease the anxiety of loved ones…. He was politically untouchable from that point on…. He became a mythic figure.”
secret service FaiLures
With any assassination attempt,
drawing of Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865
Leon Czolgosz, who shot President McKinley
successful or failed, there are always pressing questions about security and prevention. After the shooting last week, the country was shocked by the seeming incompetence and security lapses that allowed Crooks to fire at Trump, and those questions have still not been satisfactorily answered. This is another episode in the strange saga of presidential security, which has long been an oddly neglected area in American life.
Until President McKinley’s assassination in 1901, there was no formal government body designated to protect political leaders. The Secret Service had been founded by President Lincoln in 1865 but only as an entity meant to combat counterfeit currency. There were no highly trained federal agents protecting Lincoln the night he was shot in Ford’s Theater. His only protection was an unreliable Washington, D.C., police officer named John Parker, a man with a drinking problem who had once been found sleeping on a streetcar and claimed that he had been in there investigating “suspicious duck noises.”
The buffoonish Parker can be seen to represent the absurd and lackadaisical nature of presidential security. Until 1901, most presidents could walk around freely, with very few limitations or protocols meant to keep them secure. Even after the Secret Service was charged with the duty of protecting the president, there were still numerous glaring errors in their conduct. The Warren Commission that investigated the JFK shooting found that not enough agents were sent to protect the President and that many of the assigned agents neglected their responsibilities by staying up late drinking, leaving them woefully unprepared to prevent the violence or react to it properly. The Secret Service was praised for their quick response to Hinckley’s shooting, neutralizing the shooter and getting Reagan into the limo immediately. However, their failure to screen people on the sidewalk outside the hotel, and allowing them to get so close, was what led to the shooting in the first place.
It is clear that the Secret Service has an incredibly demanding job, protecting many current and former leaders, along with their family mem-
bers. However, their resources, practices and oversight are often lacking, an unacceptable state of affairs for something as important as presidential security.
In Zero Fall , a 2021 book about the agency, author Carol Leonnig warned that the current state of the Secret Service would lead to a disaster of the type that almost occurred last week, “[They have a] chronic, ridiculously large mission… Things were so bad in very recent years that agents were showing up to pick up a Cabinet member in their
Besides for his enormous political power, he is also seen as a cultural nexus, the center of the world’s attention, leading to him being targeted.
own personal car because the Secret Service’s fleet was too expensive to maintain… an intruder entered the White House grounds in 2017 and wandered around undetected for almost twenty minutes. The sensors, the cameras, the alarms [and] the radios didn’t work… This is supposed to be the most secure 18 acres in the world, and they just didn’t have the money to
fix those things… [the sources I spoke to] strongly believed that it was a matter of time before a president was shot on their watch… They’re worried that the agency increasingly is relying on luck. And it’s really a matter of time before somebody finds the right weakness and gets through.”
War & peace
Wars are won or lost by the wholesale slaughter of thousands, not by the killing of a solitary man. However, assassinations of leaders often play a massive role in whether wars start, end, or continue. It can be legitimately argued that the astonishing tidal wave of conflict in the 20th century, including the Cold War and all its associated proxy conflicts, as well as World Wars I and II, can all be traced back to the bullets fired by Gavrilo Princip at Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. That murder led the Austro-Hungarian Empire to declare war against Serbia, lighting the fuse on an explosive situation consisting of alliances, fervent nationalism and old grievances. Perhaps World War I would have occurred without Princip’s violent act; the nations involved had certainly been preparing for war for decades. Ultimately, however, it was his act that became that catalyst, pushing Europe over the brink and unleashing the unspeakable horror of The Great War.
From the end of the war in Vietnam until 9/11, armed conflict became less of an issue for American voters than it had been before. Although the War on Terror launched under President George W. Bush still continues in some form today, almost a quarter century later, it does not occupy the main focus of the public. Instead, it is America’s influence on the world stage, and the military aid it provides to allies, that has become a major topic of discussion. Europe trembles in the face of the ongoing vicious war between Russian and Ukraine, and Israel is battling Hamas while under constant threat of attack by its bloodthirsty neighbors. These two conflicts, along with aggressive behavior of countries like Iran, China, and North Korea, have made the threat of a worldwide armed conflict loom greater than it has in decades.
Beginning with his disastrous withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan,
A drawing of Richard Lawrence attempting to kill President Andrew Jackson
Sen. Robert Kennedy speaking following his victory in the primaries. Moments later, he was shot and killed
Biden’s bungled handling of domestic policy has been one of his weakest points. He has failed to defuse the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and has sent very mixed messages about the war against Hamas, alternating between full-fledged support and craven pandering to the radical pro-Hamas wing of his party. In contrast, Trump’s most effective campaign messages have emphasized the foreign policy successes of his first term and a promise to end the chaos unleashed by Biden’s weakness. As such, this election campaign will not only decide who gets to nominate Supreme Court justices or pass new healthcare laws. It may well decide whether the globe heads towards peace or all-out war. It seems shocking that one man with a gun would be able to have such a large impact on the course of world events, affecting the lives of millions and the fortunes of nations, but that is what we almost saw last week and what we have seen in the past.
influence they both had on the course of this decades-long war was eliminated by the violent interference of deranged gunmen.
One of the most popular and persistent conspiracy theories surrounding JFK is that he was assassinated because he opposed the escalation of the war against Communist proxies in Vietnam. A cabal of shadowy and hawkish forces, including the dreaded military-industrial complex, were too invested in the war to allow JFK to remain in power. The theory goes that they were rabidly anti-Communist, as well as greedy for the money to be made from a prolonged conflict in Vietnam, and would not allow the “dove” JFK to scuttle their plans and removed him via an assassination conspiracy.
killing of JFK’s younger brother, Robert. Like Trump, RFK was a popular candidate running on the promise of ending unpopular wars. By 1968, the war in Vietnam had dragged on for years, with no end in sight. The draft and protests against the war were tearing apart the country, fueled by massive social and political changes.
A war was the central motivation behind the first successful presidential assassination. John Wilkes Booth, a dedicated member of the Confederacy, was certainly out for revenge when he killed Lincoln. As a proud Southerner, Booth was furious at Lincoln as the leader who had slowly but surely pounded the South into submission, killing and injuring close to half a million of its soldiers and destroying its economic power. Booth killing Lincoln did not affect the outcome of the war, but it brought Andrew Johnson into the presidency, whose vision for postwar Reconstruction differed from Lincoln’s in significant ways. Ultimately, Johnson fell into conflict with his own party and was impeached, later being replaced at the top of the Republican ticket by Ulysses S. Grant. How Lincoln might have navigated this delicate period of rebuilding a nation shattered by war remains one of the most consequential “what-ifs?” in American history.
The Civil War was echoed a century later by the war in Vietnam, another conflict which pitted the country against itself, albeit ideologically and not militarily. Vietnam is bookended by a pair of assassinations: John F. Kennedy in 1963 and his younger brother, Robert, in 1968. The potential
This theory has many holes in it; although JFK was more open to negotiation than some of his more conservative Republican counterparts, it does not seem likely that he would have backed away entirely from the Communist threat in Vietnam. The U.S. had been involved in Vietnam since the mid-‘50s, and JFK actually escalated the military presence during his presidency. He sent Green Berets and helicopters to fight in 1961 and backed a military coup in November of 1963, the same month he was assassinated. While there is documented evidence of JFK and his cabinet discussing the systematic withdrawal of all U.S. forces, the reality of the situation changed completely with the attack at the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, and there is no real way to know what JFK’s reaction would have been, or if he even would have been president.
The attempt against Trump is far more reminiscent of the 1968
At the time of his assassination, Robert Kennedy was locked in a fierce battle with Vice President Hubert Humphrey to become the Democratic nominee for president. Much like today, the Democrat Party was divided into warring factions, and the surprise withdrawal of incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had only deepened the fractures within the party. Kennedy was the more “radical” candidate, who promised a focus on social justice and an avowed commitment to ending the war in Vietnam. Unlike with JFK, conjecture about RFK’s plans are far more clear-cut. Given the stalled nature of the war and its terrible cost to the country, it seems very likely that had he become president, RFK would have attempted to carry out his promise and end the war. Instead, the war dragged on, only ending five years later when President Nixon signed the Paris Peace accords. RFK’s legacy became, to paraphrase the eulogy given by his brother Ted, a figure remembered for dreaming of that which tragically never was and asking “why not?” He also left behind a stirring denouncement of violence, given in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and eerily presaging his own, a speech worth rereading in the aftermath of the violent attack on Donald Trump:
“This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity to speak briefly to you about this mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives…. What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr’s cause has ever been stilled by his assassin’s bullet. No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero, and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of the people.”
Secret Service agents swarming John Hinckley after he shot President Reagan
President Reagan, moments before he was shot
Parenting Pearls Why Are They Doing That?
By Sara Rayvych, MSEd
“Ihave no idea. He just yells for no reason.”
“She does this all the time, and it makes no sense.”
Watching children, it appears as if much of their behavior is illogical. They yell shamelessly, purposely get into trouble, or color all over themselves. No normal adult person would ever do any of these things. To parents, it can be quite confusing.
It’s also challenging to predict an un-
predictable person. It’s hard to go for a special outing if they may randomly tantrum. A child cannot enjoy a meal in a basic restaurant or simcha if they spontaneously throw ketchup.
It’s quite difficult to parent a child when you can’t figure out why they are doing any given behavior. Do you give a consequence, or do you ignore it? Do they need more attention or less? Knowing how to answer these questions is important in choosing the appropriate response.
The Basic Principle
For those that enjoy watching or reading about crime dramas, you know that an important step towards solving a crime is finding the motive. Who inherits in their place? Who was angry at them? With the recent increase in hate crimes (may Hashem watch over us), determining a motive is crucial to accurately prosecute a hate crime or religious discrimination suit.
Despite initial appearances, children usually have a reason for their actions. They have a motive and something that compels them to behave in a given way. Accepting this principle gives us an opportunity to put ourselves in their place and better understand why they are doing something. We can then use that knowledge to parent more accurately.
There are a few important points we need to remember. Their motive may not be logical to an adult mind, nor may it be the best method, but it still feels logical to that child. I’ve seen children insist on doing things their own way, certain they have the best method, yet everything still falls apart. Their brains are less developed, and they don’t think the same way we do. This different cognitive understanding is frustrating to work with but makes kids so innocent and fun.
Shame is a more mature emotion that develops as children grow. Young children will not feel embarrassed doing something that would mortify an adult. Toddlers may start to feel self-conscious if someone makes comments about them or laughs at them but will still not hesitate to loudly tantrum on the floor.
The Why
There are an unlimited number of reasons why a child may do something. Usually, the child benefits, even if it’s not the adult’s intention. For example, a child may purposely hit another child knowing they will be punished, but they still do it because they want the attention. For a child, negative attention (i.e., punishment) is still better than no attention.
Wanting attention is a major childhood need. Children will go to great lengths to be noticed. They will clean their rooms hoping for praise or smack the baby to get yelled at. The second example sounds illogical, but it’s surprising how many adults will ignore a well-behaved youngster and only interact with their child to punish them.
Ideally, parents should provide their child with healthy doses of love, attention and praise. This should be administered routinely – both when children are caught “being good” but also just so a child feels loved. It’s not spoiling a child to greet them warmly or play a game with them after camp. A big smile or warm hug speaks loudly. Positive attention should be considered normal emotional maintenance.
A child may scream and tantrum for hours if they know the parent will eventually crumble and give them what they want. It’s upsetting to hear a child scream, and it’s embarrassing when it happens in public. Giving into their demands to get them quiet appears to be the easiest route. Unfortunately, the child has now learned how effective this loud technique is, and they’ll be sure to do it again.
Many children get what they want through negative means. Often, parents will provide a child with anything to get them to stop whatever it is they’re doing. There are even cases of teens using their frumkeit as a means to manipulate their parents.
Practical Points
One article is insufficient to properly cover this topic, but we can still discuss some practical points that come from understanding a child’s motives.
Determining their motive clues you into some of their emotions. They may feel a lack of attention and use any means to obtain that coveted love. Perhaps they’re jealous of a sibling. Maybe they’re feeling insecure and pushing someone else down to feel falsely elevated.
Anticipate an unmet need. It’s better to provide a child with attention and not make them force it out of their parents. It’s preferable to feed a hungry child or give them a nap before they melt down. In this situation, a “need” is something that fulfills a basic emotional or physical need. Needs also include clean clothes for school or camp, toiletries and peer
socializing. It does not include the latest iPhone, brand name shoes, or flights to exotic locations.
Teach a child an acceptable way to get what they want. It’s helpful to provide them with the appropriate wording. “Mommy, I want to wear those socks today (not these).” “Can I please have a drink?” “Please read this to me.”
On the Positive Side
While we mostly discussed the negative means children may use to obtain what they desire, motivation is important and a positive emotion. Children study to get good grades. They work hard at their summer job to earn money. They daven nicely to get the prize (eventually they daven to connect to Hash-
Positive attention should be considered normal emotional maintenance.
We don’t want to inadvertently reinforce negative behaviors. It’s tempting to say, “Here, just take it, but stop screaming.” Unfortunately, that will only teach them that tantruming is an effective tool. When one child hits another, we tend to focus on rebuking the perpetrator, yet ignoring the injured party. If a child is hitting for attention, this only reinforces hitting as an effective means to obtain attention.
em). They act responsibly to get more privileges. Adults, too, are motivated to accomplish and push themselves further to gain a greater goal.
Motivation can also be an important parenting tool. We often quote Morah Sarah, a veteran kindergarten teacher. She would often say, “Every child has their price.” Every child has what motivates them and gives them that internal push to do what needs to be done. Star
charts and other positive reinforcement methods often rely on this part of human nature. Most children can be encouraged to do something that is challenging or necessary in exchange for “their price.” Work with a therapist to earn Playmobil. Babysit to earn money towards a new pair of shoes. Brush teeth nightly to earn a prize. Children can be encouraged and motivated to do what needs to be done – mitoch shelo lishma, ba lishma (from being motivated not for its own sake, they eventually become motivated for its own sake).
Rather than haphazard, children have a lot of intention behind their actions. By understanding what compels them to behave as they do, we can gain a better insight into their thought process and get to the root of the issue. We can also appreciate their ingenuity as they navigate a world so new to them.
Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rockaway. She can be contacted at RayvychHomeschool@gmail.com.
Zevy Seidel, 3
Note:
Hadassah Insel, 10
Y.W. 9
Esti Mainstain, 9
Chaya Leah Marizan, 6
Ahuva Insel
Chayala Glazer, 8
Chaya Nelkin, 8
Aryeh Kushner, 8
Ayala Insel, 12
Atara Erez, 4
Ariella Marizan, 3.5
Note: Not all submission have been published. Keep sending in your artwork for another chance to be featured!
Atara Ament, 9
Ayala, 4
Tziporah S., 8
Shira Berry, 6 Tova Stein, 4
Gitty, 4
Chedvah Mark
Elianna S., 4
Ahuva Abraham, 9
Yisroel Nelkin, 6
Eliana Kushner, 4
Eliyahu
Eli Rosenbloom, 5
Leah Seidel, 5
Riki Kleiner, 7
Sarah Weinberger, 4
Esther, 6
Ashira Hirsh, 9
Naftali Meister, 10
Eitan, 2
Yehuda Lipnitsky
Atara & Tehilla Wildman, 9
Adel Krohn, 10
Eli, 8
Dassadah, 5
In The K tchen
Smoky Tomato Soup (Meat)
Yield: About 3 quarts
By Naomi Nachman
I made this soup with my friend Chef Jordana Hirschel who adapted it from The Chef’s Garden (Avery, April 2021). This recipe has smoky notes from the kosher “bacon” and creamy notes from the parve milk. It was a huge hit when we made this together on Kosher.com.
Ingredients
◦ 1 pound beef fry
◦ 2 sweet large onions, finely diced
◦ 10 to 12 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
◦ ¼ cup all purpose flour
◦ 2 (28-ounce) cans plum tomatoes
◦ 1 quart chicken stock
◦ 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
◦ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
◦ 3 bay leaves, preferably fresh
◦ 8 sprigs fresh thyme
◦ 3 cups cashew milk
Preparation
1. Cook beef fry in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and fat is partially rendered, about 12 minutes.
2. Add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent, about eight minutes. Scatter flour over the onions and sauté, stirring to incorporate, for two minutes; reduce heat if flour starts to brown.
3. Add tomatoes, stock, salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, and cashew milk. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer over medium-low. Simmer for 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
4. Discard bay leaves and thyme. Let soup cool.
5. Working in batches, ladle soup into a blender and purée until smooth. (Alternatively, use an immersion blender.) Pass soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean saucepan. Taste and season with more salt as needed. Reheat, if desired. Soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week or frozen for up to two months.
Notes: Crisp up extra beef fry for garnish, if you would like.
Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.
