Baltimore Jewish Home - 9-10-15

Around the Community

The Baltimore Community Gives an “Hour of Appreciation” for Hatzalah

Jewish Community Football League

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‫ י״א תשרי‬- ‫כ״ו אלול‬

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24 . vol 2, #15

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Eggs

4

CONTENTS

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

COMMUNITY Around the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

JEWISH THOUGHT From Broken to Golden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 The Message of the Shofar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Expired! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 The Laws of Pruzbul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENT Centerfold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Notable Quotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

COVER STORY How They Lead Us in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Just a Spoonful of Honey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

LIFESTYLES Uncovering the Mysteries of Acne: The Path to Clear Skin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Kollel Chatzos Leaves No Stone Unturned. . . . . . . 36 A Sweet Setting for a Sweet New Year. . . . . . . . . . . 44 9 Ways to Grow Grass and Cut Lawn Care Costs . 46 Celebrating Yom Tov with Sweetness . . . . . . . . . . . 55 613 Seconds with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Artscroll Book Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

NEWS

Dear Readers, Being prepared for the coming of the Moshiach.

The mere thought overwhelms us.

When mentioned to us it either feels surreal or makes us feel like we’re negating our real emotions.

Yet, when it comes to preparing for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we don’t feel that way. Getting ready for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is viewed as a refresher’s course of who we really are. Our souls have gotten dusty and tired in the past year and we look forward to shaking it off and becoming revitalized.

What’s needed then is an attitude change in how we view ourselves and the world in its perfected state. Think of ourselves at kol Nidrei or Neilah.

Our souls shining bright as it’s crystal clear who we are and our eternal connection to the creator. This is the state of redemption. The outer layers fall away and the inner dimensions of ourselves come tangibly out in the open.

The truth though is that the coming of Moshiach is a mixture of the solemnness of the Yamim Noraim, the high holidays and the extreme joy of Purim. The depth of the spirit, and the physical expression of joy. Fasting like angels and celebrating as humans. For the times of Moshiach is the realization of the original intent in the world be-

ing created: the truth of G-ds existence being realized and experienced in the most physical of worlds.

Sounds out of the box? It’s happening already. The “outer shell” is falling away with it becoming ever clear of the perils in living a G-dless life. And the inner dimensions are becoming more revealed by the day with individuals in all societies acting in more charitable ways and promoting understanding amongst people.

Here in America one need only look at the, until recently, two unknown political figures who are drawing tens of thousands of people to their events.

We should know better than to support a campaign just because it promises change… but our fellow citizens can’t help it as they’re fed up with the dishonesty and selfishly motivated political class.

We all are. We want authentic humanity not a plastic cover. Not even if it feels good. Truth is what we’re after and we won’t settle until we have it.

Having it means the world has shaken off its cover, its self-created image, revealing the G-dly energy inside and G-d himself.

Let’s reveal our inner soul and the creator will surely reveal His. Wishing all of our readers a Gmar Tov,

Yaakov

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

Global News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 National News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Israel News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 That’s Odd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The Baltimore Jewish Home is an independent bi-weekly newspaper. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces­sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Baltimore Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The BJH contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

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Carlebach Selichos at Surburban Orthodox Very Inspiring All photos were captured by Uri Arnson Photography - www.uriarnson.com

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Pre-Yomim Noraim Shmuzz at Yeshiva Gedolah Ohr Hatorah from Horav Sheftel Neuberger In advance of the Yomim Noraim, Yeshiva Gedolah Ohr Hatorah was proud to host Horav Sheftel Neuberger, Menahel of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel on Wednesday, September 9, for a stirring shmuzz. Rav Neuberger came out special to give divrei hisorirus to the Ohr Hatorah talmidim in this auspicious time.

He quoted from the Rayah Mehemna, printed in many Machzorim before Tekias Shofar, regarding the lessons that can be learned from the story of Yaakov and Eisav as it pertains to the Yomim Noraim. The Shofar, our “Kol Kol Yaakov,” silences any prosecution against the Jewish People to the point

that the Ribbono Shel Olam won’t even let the Sattan be mikatreg, just as Yitzchok immediately exclaims “gam boruch yihyeh” upon learning of Yaakov’s true identity.

The theme continues into our

Yom Kippur avodah, where we have our own version of the three weapons, Tfillah, Milchama and Doron, to combat the Yetzer Horah. Eventually, just as the Sa’ir hamishtale’ach gets sent away, Eisav goes his own way to

Sai’ir while Yaakov goes to Sukkos to dwell with the Shechina.

In general, Rav Neuberger encouraged the bochurim to appreciate the many levels upon which every aspect of Torah can be learned. The profundity of the pesukim, and the depth to which we are all capable of stretching our Avodah, are time honored lessons that speak to each and every person on his own level.

Many bochurim and members of the Ohr Hatorah Hanhala took the opportunity to speak afterwards with Rabbi Neuberger about his shmuz and to get his brachos for the coming year.

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

Shomrei Emunah and Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion Joint Labor Day Yarchei Kallah in Ner Yisroel Photo Credit: Eli Greengart

Welcome Back to Yeshivas Kochav Yitzchok/Torah Institute of Baltimore

By Rabbi Daniel Skurnik, Director of Development

Each new school year brings much excitement as parents, school staff, and talmidim anticipate a wonderful year together.

It is a beautiful sight seeing friends and classmates smiling and laughing with each other while rebbeim, moros and teachers warmly greet past and new students. The sight of curious preschoolers walking into YKY/TI for the very first time is precious. The innate energy and great potential that lay within a school year and specifically within each individual child is truly

awesome and inspiring.

The milestones that will be reached this year are also a great source of excitement. Some talmidim will first learn the Alef Bais, while others will receive their first Gemara. Older students will participate in a blended-learning math curriculum, while younger students will learn how to read. Third graders will have the enthusiasm of learning out of a Mishnayus for the very first time, while seventh graders will experience the simcha of making their first siyum on a mesachta

of Gemara. BEZ”H this will be another very special year!

As Rosh Hashana approaches we beseech the RBS”O for a year full of success and accomplishment, healthy development, and a deepened sense of Ahavas Hashem and Ahavas Yisroel for each and every talmid. Chinuch is far more than just teaching; it’s about caring for and nurturing each and every child, enabling him to succeed in life. That is our dream, hope and prayer. Kesiva V’chasima Tova!

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Jewish Community Football League All photos were captured by Uri Arnson Photography - www.uriarnson.com

Following much anticipation, the fourth season of Baltimore’s “Jewish Community Football League” kicked off on Sunday, August 23rd at the Pikesville Middle School Fields on Seven Mile Lane. With eighty players (ranging in ages from early 20s to mid-40s) divided amongst eight teams, the league continues to provide a friendly, competitive, and athletic outlet for a large number of our community members. As in all previous years, the teams play almost every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM through the end of November.

The league this year is sponsored

by Northwest Refuse, a company that is widely referred to as the Baltimore community trash company. Their attention to detail, superb pricing, and unmatched service sets them apart from competitors. If you are paying for trash removal, NWR will reduce your cost and their team of experts will guide you through the process of ordering precisely what you need to get your job done.

The 2015 season’s eight teams are represented by the following sponsors: Early Steps Therapy, East Insurance Group, Elle Remodeling, Limited Goods, OK Uniform Company, Park Heights Roofing, Samuelson’s Diamonds, and Y and L Landscaping. In addition, the playoffs and championship are sponsored

by Wasserman and Lemberger.

The current standings are as follows: Team

To learn more about the league, check out their website: http:// www.leaguelineup.com/welcome. asp?url=jewishcommunityfootball&sid=283687172 For a recap of the excitement from the first week of the season, read on:

OK Uniform scored on their first 2 possessions of the second half with TD grabs by Duvie Krakauer and capable, dynamic WR, Josh Michel.

EST would add a score of their own on a pass from Moshe Afrah to David Pensack, set up by a Pensak interception, but it was too little too late as Josh Michel sealed the victory with an interception.

August 23rd

OK Uniform Company Early Steps Therapy

30 21

Park Heights Roofing Elle Remodeling

From the outset, one could tell it would be an uphill battle for Early Steps Therapy. The very first play from scrimmage was intercepted by OK Uniform’s tenacious and towering defensive lineman, Ari Moskowitz, setting up a TD pass by the cerebral Asher Sondhelm to his tall and athletic WR, Duvie Krakauer and a 6-0 lead for OK Uniform. A magnificent grab by OK Uniforms rugged, long-haired WR Jake Karasik for a long TD on the Haberdashers’ next drive increased their lead to 13-0.

In a rematch of the 2014 championship game, Chaim Finkelstein’s Green Machine (Park Heights Roofing) defeated Yoyo Strauss’ Black Magic (Elle Remodeling) in a thriller, 3431. The teams traded touchdowns all game, but PHR’s stop on 4th and goal from the one yard line with 30 seconds left sealed the win. The overall theme of the game was Strauss’ elusive running game and PHR’s stingy defense on numerous 4th down plays.

All-Star WR/CB Yaakov Spatz proved once again that age is just a number, as he caught a beautiful touchdown pass at the end of the first half and made an acrobatic defensive stop on a 4th and one late in the game. PHR WR, Josh Zaslow, caught two touchdown passes (including the game-winner) and played shutdown defense all day.

Newcomer Jason Mann and recently engaged Shmuel Moinzadeh also caught touchdown passes for PHR. In the highest scoring game of the day, PHR cemented their place atop the standings and are early contenders for the Wasserman and Lemberger Cup.

This time, however EST answered with a score of their own when QB Ross Mailman connected with Boruch Dollman to cut the lead to 12-6. After another OK Uniform TD, this time by nimble and scrappy WR Aharon Nachman, EST drove down the field but was intercepted at the goal-line, this time by Karasik.

Won

Lost

Tied

Pct.

OK Uniform Company

1

0

0

1.000

Park Heights Roofing

1

0

0

1.000

Y and L Landscaping

1

0

0

1.000

Samuelson’s Diamonds

1

0

0

1.000

Elle Remodeling

0

1

0

.000

Limited Goods

0

1

0

.000

Early Steps Therapy

0

1

0

.000

East Insurance Group

0

1

0

.000

On the very first play of the ensuing drive, the ferocious and resilient Eli Cohen tore through the line on a blitz and sacked the jovial, bespectacled Sondhelm for a safety. The Therapists would score once more in the half when Mailman connected with a wideopen David Pensak to cut OK’s halftime lead to 18-14.

This however, was

34 31

Y & L Landscaping East Insurance Group

as close as EST would come.

26 23

The opening game of the season came down to the wire between formidable opponents, Y & L Landscaping and East Insurance Group.

Y & L scored right out of the gate to go up 6-0 on a beautiful strike from QB Dan Gutman to WR Ari Pliskin.

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Be Included In the

‫היהי רצון‬

Of Maran Hagaon

Harav Chaim Kanievsky

‫יהי ר‬

Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, shlit”a,

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

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‫״יהי רצון״‬

‫בתוך‬ ‫בתוךרצון‬ ‫היהי‬

will pray on behalf of all the names of contributors relayed to him by Kupat Ha’ir throughout the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - in the Yehi Ratzon prayer recited upon completing sefer Tehillim

That they merit a

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"The greatest zechus one can do with one's money in anticipation of the Yom Hadin, is Tzedakah to Kupat Ha'ir"

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Around the It was slow goings early for the Insurers from the East, as reserve quarterback Yehuda Shuck took a few series to get in the groove. However, Shuck found his stride early in the second half and delivered a deep arcing TD to star WR, Menachem Khoshkerman.

With the second half coming to a close and Y & L clinging to a 3 point lead, both teams found themselves playing for the win. The Landscapers went for a long 4th down and goal conversion but were unable to punch it in the end zone, providing EIG one last chance to drive for the win.

With just over a minute left and East Insurance Group past midfield, Shuck attempted a long pass towards the endzone but was picked off by Y & L’s Khoshkerman representative, Michael Khoshkerman, essentially ending a well fought battle.

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

Samuelson’s Diamonds

20

Limited Goods

Community 18

Samuelson’s Diamonds and Limited Goods took the field for their Week One matchup and it quickly became apparent that one team – Limited Goods – was undermanned. By halftime, Samuelson’s Diamonds had stormed to a commanding 20-6 lead, and by all accounts the game looked over.

Samuelson’s Diamonds took the ball to start the second half, and after a beautifully executed first down play, was in the opposing team’s red zone, poised to add to its lead. But Limited Goods came up with a timely defensive stop and took the ball back on downs.

Starting with the next drive, Dovid Flamm, the quarterback for Limited Goods, rallied his players and began leading his team on a comeback.

On their first down play, Flamm found a receiver behind the safety

and connected for a long pass that set up a quick score, putting Limited Goods within striking distance.

With three minutes to play, Samuelson’s Diamonds had the ball on their own 20-yard line and was looking to close the game out; Limited Goods had other plans. After forcing Samuelson’s Diamonds into a fourth-andlong, they were forced to “punt”, giving Limited Goods one final shot at tying it up with 1:40 remaining.

Flamm methodically drove down field, connecting with TE Mendy Rauh over the middle for a large chunk of yards – a play they ran with much success throughout the morning. Then, with the end zone in sight, Flamm threw a short slant to Moshe Miller, their most able lineman, who had stealth-

ily lined up as a tight end, who then chugged his way into the end zone.

Limited Goods lined up for a twopoint conversion, which, if successful, would tie the game at 20 points apiece with only 00:43 seconds left to play. However, the try was unsuccessful, and Judah Fuld, the winning quarterback, ended the game on his bent knee as time expired – which is exactly how you draw it up.

This hard fought match ended as it should – with the fate of both teams resting on one final play, and 16 competitors congratulating each other on a job well done.

Harav Berl Povarsky Rosh Yeshiva Of Ponovezh And The Rebbe Of Chernobyl Davening At The Kosel Hamaaravi Last Week On Behalf Of Contributors To Kupat Hair

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Closing in on 100 Years of Quality Jewish Education in BaltimoreT.A. Alumni Gather Together for Inaugural Alumni Event

by Jonathan M. Lasson After dropping my boys off at T.A. on Labor Day, I informed them that I will be at T.A. later that morning to hear Rabbi Dovid Katz speak at the T.A. Alumni Associations’ inaugural event. T.A. has always been near and dear to my family as my boys are third generation beneficiaries of the quality Jewish and Secular education that T.A. has to offer. Beginning with my father, Dr. Morris Lasson, there is a tradition of educational excellence that gives me a sense of pride every time I walk through the doors of the Yeshiva.

Close to 75 alumni took time off to reconnect with friends and their beloved teacher, Rabbi Katz. The coordinators of the event, Rabbi Yanky Lefkovitz, Director of Development, Rabbi Yaakov Cohen, Executive Director, Shmuel Luxenburg, Yanky Statman, Gary Guttenberg, Dr. Kenneth Friedman, Chaim Finkelstein and Aryeh Malitzky all had the same impetus for this event and that was to “get alumni more connected with the school”.

Harry Rashbaum attended the event which was especially meaningful because Harry was in T.A.’s first graduating class of 1947. Harry reflected on the physical and spiritual growth of the school. “T.A. went from a row house to a beautiful building.

That was the physical growth. However, the spiritual growth occurred as young men went on to become great scholars which has done wonders for the Jewish community.”

Each table had several old yearbooks. On my table, I noticed the 1971 yearbook and read an article that Rabbi Katz wrote when he was a senior, called The Challenge. In that article, young David Katz discussed the challenges facing Jewish education. He concluded the article by saying “We must commit ourselves to the goal of restoring the spirit of true Yiddishkeit.

The hour is late.” This was and always has been the commitment of T.A. over the past 100 years.

The yearbook also contained a summary written by fellow students about young David Katz. In his bio, fellow students wrote, ‘David’s forte

Photo Credits: Jeff Cohn/Baltimorejewishlife.com

is history in which he is the schools recognized authority’. Indeed, many years later, Rabbi Katz has become one of the world’s leading authorities on topics pertaining to history and Jewish History in particular as evidenced by his increasingly popular Motzai Shabbos Lecture Series on Jewish History.

Rabbi Yehuda Lefkovitz, President of T.A., introduced the event by commenting on the word “Kulchem” which is in the first Posuk of this week’s Parsha-Nitzavim. He noted that according to Meforshim, the deeper meaning of the seemingly superfluous word is to look out for one another and to do one good deed that can tip the scales for all of K’lal Yisroel. “In this day and age”, Rabbi Lefkovitz noted, “we need a sense of oneness. An alumni event

Rabbi Katz noted that although T.A. officially started as Yeshivas Torah V’Yirah in 1917, most boys attended only until the sixth grade after which they would go to local public schools.

It was not until 1947 when T.A. graduated its first class that included Harry Rashbaum. Rabbi Katz spoke about the primary role in education which is developing long lasting connections with a Rebbe or a teacher. He pointed out Rabbi Yosef Rottenberg who had a ‘unique personality’ that endeared him to his Talmidim. “Those who made it were those who developed a connection and clicked with someone. That is called successful Chinuch”, said Rabbi Katz.

Rabbi Katz went on to discuss the importance of Bein Adam L’Makom and Bein Adam L’Chaveiro. He point-

helps achieve that task of bringing the Achdus that we need.” He concluded his remarks by marveling at the crowd with pride. “When I see the alumni, it gives me great Chizuk moving forward”.

Yanky Statman, representing the alumni and current alumnus of the year, then introduced Rabbi Katz.

ed out that Rosh Hashanah is more about the qualitative changes that we make as humans than the quantitative changes. Sometimes it is difficult to put aside our feelings for those who have wronged us but while we cannot always make it right, we can at Least try and make it a little better. Rabbi Katz told over how Lewis Strauss

who was a right hand man to President Eisenhower and the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) felt terrible that he could not help Jews out during the Holocaust. In an effort to assuage his guilt he implored Eisenhower not to discuss Israel’s secretive efforts to defend themselves by developing their own weapons. Eisenhower listened to his friend and Strauss felt comforted that he at least tried to make things a little better for his fellow Jews. The message is especially meaningful during a time in history where Jews are disenchanted with their Judaism where we all can do some things ‘a little better’ to achieve true Achdus.

Alumnus, Zevi Daniel remarked how wonderful it is to be able to reconnect with friends in such a meaningful way. The Alumni Association is planning on many more gatherings in the future. Mrs. Reva Gold who has been working as the school’s beloved secretary for 50 years became emotional when asked to speak about this event. “It’s very hard for me to put into words what I feel when I see all of the alumni gathered here. It makes me want to veint (cry)”, said Mrs. Gold and added “these were the best years of my life.”

Talmudical Academy of Baltimore continues to grow and the current facilities can no longer accommodate the 1000 plus children. Many of these children are children and grandchildren of T.A. alumni. The challenges that T.A. faces are wonderful challenges as the yeshiva moves past 100 years of dedicated excellence in education. Our alumni are involved and continue to help the yeshiva with its growth. We hope that this event will foster continued relations between the students, faculty and the Yeshiva.

May we all be Zocheh to a Kesiva V’Chasima Tova!

If you are an alumnus of Talmudical Academy of Baltimore and would like to be informed of upcoming events, please email Rabbi Yanky Lefkovitz at ynk@talmudicalacademy.org

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The Baltimore Community Gives an “Hour of Appreciation” for Hatzalah Issiac Draiman

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you, but if we need you we know we can count on you,” exclaimed the Rav. Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer who attended the event noted that “Hatzalah’s benefit to the community is immeasurable and it is incumbent upon all of us to assist them by any means possible.”

Hatzalah of Baltimore is an independent, non-profit volunteer organization

individuals who put their lives and the lives of their families on hold while they tend to the emergency (and in some cases non-emergency) medical needs of our growing, k’ah, Baltimore community.

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that, since 2007, has been providing emergency medical services to the citizens of Northwest Baltimore, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

They provide immediate emergency medical care during those few precious minutes where immediate and proper care can mean the difference between life and death.

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Community Responds to the Call to Action Eta Kushner

Other than social media-fueled parties or flash mobs featuring liquor and promising a good time, it is not often that any event, planned at practically the last-minute, attracts nearly 2,000 people. It is also not likely that such an event would be dignified and well organized. Yet this is what occurred on Tuesday, September 1st as an overflow crowd of nearly 2,000 packed the main sanctuary of Beth Tfiloh. AIPAC, with cooperation of many community leaders, rabbis and organizations across the religious spectrum sponsored and coordinated a massive anti-Iran Deal rally in an effort to send our elected officials a message: This is a bad deal that needs to be renegotiated.

Rabbi Mitchel Wohlberg, of Beth Tfiloh told the diverse crowd of Jews from across

Photo Credits: Eta Kushner and Frank Storch

the religious spectrum, “Israel is now facing the greatest danger to its existence since 1948.” He asked “how can we not raise our voices?” He compared those who do not participate in efforts to influence Congress to the brothers of Joseph who, after throwing him into the pit, sat down to eat lunch, ignoring his cries.

Other speakers included Michael Pregent. Executive Director of Veterans Against the Iran Deal and Howard Kohr, Chief Executive Officer of AIPAC. “We stand here today because our cause is just, noble and principled, “ said Mr. Pregent, who has an extensive U.S. army and intelligence background as well as expertise on Iranian influence. He said the Iranian regime has not changed in the last 36

years and that “there has not been one single moderating event.”

Noting the historical nature of this event, Mr. Kohr said, “It is not very often in Washington that we have debates which will have an impact not just within this country but also will affect other parts of the world, particularly in this case, the Middle East.” He said the consequences of the Iran agreement will be felt for generations.

“This deal hasn’t ended the danger, it has delayed it, at a great price,” said Mr. Kohr. “This deal is so deficient that almost any deal is better than this deal. It increases the likelihood of conflict because the outcome will destabilize the whole region.”

This rally was undoubtedly a community effort of major proportions. In addition to the organizing that AIPAC was responsible for, ensuring that the program took place and ran smoothly, community activist Frank Storch jumped into action. Since he had already been involved in several community efforts regarding this dangerous deal, he understood the urgency and critical need for the rally.

Mr. Storch said, “Many individuals, realized the significance of this event and

went out of their way to help get the word out as well as add to the safety of the community.” In a very short time, dropping other plans, Malka Frankel, of Malka Designs, and Mendel Rosenblat, of Speedy Graphic produced the flyer which was sponsored by the Chesed Fund and Project Ezra. Working late into the early morning hours flyers were distributed to 25 shuls so that all, including those attending early morning minyanim, would be aware of the rally and be encouraged to attend. Additionally, members of Chaverim and students from the Chananya Backer Memorial Institute were outside Beth Tfiloh directing traffic. This ensured all attendees were able to exit from Beth Tfiloh safely and efficiently. They were also equipped with walkie-talkies which gave them the ability to communicate with the security staff that AIPAC had brought to the event, if the need came up.

The Baltimore Community has much to be proud about in coming together at the last minute to show an immediate response to an issue that concerns us all.

19

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Ohr Chadash Academy Welcomes Students Back to School Photo Credit: BaltimoreJewishLife.com/Jeff Cohn

Monday morning marked a day of excitement all around Ohr Chadash – the students, the teachers, the staff and administration were all eager to see each other and meet new people for the start of the new school year.

The administration was hard at work over the summer and part of that time was spent planning an awesome welcome for the students. Board members were invited to join the teachers to come and welcome the kids as they were dropped off by their parents.

Live music and colorful archways greeted the students as they walked down the red carpet to begin the new year at OCA. The school theme this year is treasures - treasuring Torah, treasuring

time, treasuring friendships, and treasuring community.

Each student received a treasure chest filled with a special jewel that said, “You are treasured at OCA.” After the grand entrance, the preschool went to a “boohoo yahoo”

breakfast, where the parents and children ate together. There was excitement for their child to start preschool and “boohoo” of how much the par-

ents will miss them.

With a 50% increase in the student body, there was notably many more students coming into the building and it was wonderful to see returning students welcoming the new students.

OCA has a lot planned for its students and families this year, including a new elective program (where students can choose a class such as photography, gymnastics and baking), Ivrit program in the Early Childhood Center, and an enhanced middot program.

This is certainly a great start to jump into year number five for OCA.

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The Week Global What the Iran Deal Means to Iran

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Iranian leaders view the nuclear

deal signed by western powers as a “surrender” to Iran and as cementing the Islamic Republic’s status as a “superpower.”

An analysis by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) recently revealed the reaction of Iran’s leaders. Among the comments translated by MEMRI was a statement made by Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan at an armed forces general command ceremony on August 30, in which he bragged that Iran had forced the “surrender” of the world’s superpowers, led by the U.S. “Today, Iran has attained such status that the superpowers have surrendered to it, because of its majesty, its steadfastness, its resistance, and its unity. Despite their great pride, the regime of the arrogance [the West, led by the U.S.] sat humbly behind the negotiating table and obeyed the rights of the Iranian nation,” he said.

Just a week earlier, Iran’s Suw

& Be w st o te We rkm qua n w a li qu ill n ty ot be sh es a ip by t 10 %

In News preme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s official website published an ad welcoming the dominance of Iran as a regional hegemon. The poster, “The Iron Fist,” is meant to evoke a sense of Iran’s might and stubbornness following negotiations which grants Iran sanctions relief in exchange for only limited curbs on its nuclear program. The text accompanying the poster reads: “Those who leveled sanctions against us yesterday are dying today, because Iran has become the region’s foremost military power. The Islamic Republic of Iran has proven that it works diligently to defend itself. The entire nation unites as a solid fist, standing fast against the aggressors who lack all reason.”

The “fist” on the poster is comprised of military equipment, including missiles, jet, ships and tanks.

Neighboring countries are preparing for a flood in terrorism sponsored by a now-emboldened and cash-flush Tehran.

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The remains of several Holocaust victims were finally buried this week, seven decades later. A French medical school has kept jars and test tubes of the victims’ remains locked away for the past seventy years. Several hundred people gathered this week for a somber ceremony near the eastern French city of Strasbourg to pay respect to the victims, throwing earth on a single coffin holding the collective remains.

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ples, belonged to a few people. Only one has been definitively identified: Menachem Taffem, a Polish Jew deported to Auschwitz and gassed to death. They were among 86 people whose corpses were sent to the anatomy institute at the University of Strasbourg during World War II for the experiments of August Hirt, a notorious Nazi anatomy researcher.

Some remains were buried after the war, but a few were saved and even put on display, kept for legal and scientific purposes, according to French media reports. The origin of the remains were apparently forgotten until researcher Raphael Toledano, who has studied Strasbourg’s Nazi past, discovered a 1952 letter mentioning samples taken from the bodies of Holocaust victims and detailing how they were stored.

Last July, he and the institute’s director found a remaining jar and test tubes behind a glass cupboard in a locked room.

Strasbourg Chief Rabbi Rene Gutman led the ceremony which was attended by Strasbourg Mayor Roland Ries. The event at the Cronenbourg cemetery was aimed at closing a troubling chapter in the region’s history.

The remains, such as skin sam-

You can always count on Travel + Leisure to give you the lowdown on cities across the globe. Recently, they released their annual World’s Best Awards and readers were asked to rank 266 cities regarding their friendliness to tourists.

Representing the U.S. on the friendliest list is, of course, two Southern cities famous for their Southern charm and hospitality. Ireland also has a strong presence on the list, with three cities on the list, more than any

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The Week other country.

Where should tourists head to if they are looking for smiling faces?

Here are the world’s friendliest cities: 1. Galway, Ireland 2. Charleston, SC 3. Dublin, Ireland 4. Cork, Ireland 5. Siem Reap, Cambodia 6. Auckland, New Zealand 7. Melbourne, Australia 8. Sydney, Australia 9. Edinburgh, Scotland 10. Savannah, GA Embarrassingly, the U.S. dominates the list of unfriendly cities; in fact, six of the ten cities on this list are in the U.S. It’s time to brush up on our friendly skills, my friends. Here are the world’s least-friendly cities: 1. Moscow, Russia 2. Atlantic City, NJ 3. St. Petersburg, Russia 4. Marseille, France 5. Los Angeles, CA

6. New York City 7. Philadelphia, PA 8. Baltimore, MD 9. Las Vegas, NV 10. Cannes, France

Anti-Semitic Bank Card Issued

A major Norwegian bank has taken a lot of heat on social media this

In News week for issuing a credit card decorated with an anti-Semitic caricature on the front. DNB, which bills itself as “Norway’s largest financial services group,” said it was “very sorry” and has since cancelled the card and apologized.

The Israeli advocacy group Hallelu published a photo of the credit card on Facebook this week. The DNB card, belonging to Alexander Joseph Beckett, shows an ugly, large-nosed Jew wearing a black coat and a talis and smiling at a background of gold coins. “We looked at the case immediately, and found out that this was produced due to a system we have where clients can upload their own pictures and get them printed on their card,” explained Even Westerveld, the bank’s executive vice president for communications, in a letter to Hallelu made public by the organization.

Westerveld acknowledged the bank failed to spot the problematic imagery when the customer uploaded it. “We have, however, strict guidelines for what kind of pictures are allowed, and this control is manual.

Unfortunately, our manual control has failed in this particular case, and we are deeply sorry for that. This card should never have been printed.” He promised the bank would “contact the client, block the card and issue a new neutral card to the customer,” adding, “Please note that this is not a mass produced card, and the picture has been deleted from our system.”

a rehabilitation center in the month since the attack and are now confined to wheelchairs.

According to reports, two male attackers dressed in black knocked loudly on their door and claimed to be police officers. When Shmuel opened the door, the men charged in, pointing guns and hitting and kicking the elderly couple as they demanded their jewelry and other valuables. At one point, they tied them up and began ripping jewelry off Diana’s body. “They called us ‘dirty Jews’ and said: ‘You don’t need your jewelry anymore.

You’ve been wearing it for too long.

Now it’s all ours,’” Diana recalled.

“They wanted to chop off my finger because the rings didn’t come off fast enough,” she said.

Police have published descriptions of the attackers, but no suspects have yet been apprehended. The Blogs’ son Emmanuel publicized photos of his wounded parents and offered a 10,000 euro reward for information leading to the attackers’ capture. The figure has since grown by a few thousand euros as Dutch citizens shocked by the attack added their own money to the reward pool.

Dutch Police Hunt for Holocaust Survivors’ Attackers

In a statement, the Dutch Embassy in Israel said, “This is a shocking incident, a brutal robbery that extremely affected the victims. Dutch police is handling this case with the utmost seriousness, and is investigating it.

No suspects have been apprehended yet, so it’s difficult to make unequivocal statements about the motives. In general, it’s important to emphasize that everyone should feel safe in the Netherlands. We will not tolerate any incident of discrimination and anti-Semitism.”

The statement continued: “It af-

The vicious and brutal beating of an elderly Amsterdam Jewish couple is being investigated by Dutch police.

Diana Blog, 86, and her husband of 56 years, Shmuel, 87, are both Holocaust survivors. The attack on August 4th left Shmuel blind and with a broken thigh bone, and Diana suffering from “extreme pains.” Both have been in

25

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The Week fects Jewish communities first of all, but affects all of our lives, too. Fighting anti-Semitism is part of protecting the fundamental values of liberty and security for all. The Dutch government’s position has remained clear: We will not tolerate anti-Semitism in our society.”

Chevron Arab Saves Yeshiva Students after Wrong Turn

In News raeli forces thanked him for what he termed a “humanitarian act.” “That’s how everybody should behave,” he said. “We don’t have problems with the Israelis and we don’t want problems.”

Finland’s Israeli Island

Israel Israeli Radar Detector New and Improved The Israeli Defense Forces has come up with a new radar system to detect incoming mortar fire. The new radar was successfully tested recently and will improve the alert warning time for incoming projectiles by 7-8 seconds.

IDF Southern Command and security firms have already stationed the systems, which will probably start operating by the middle of next month.

Residents of communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip previously only had five seconds to find safe shelter when the mortar alert siren sounded. The new system gives people 12-13 seconds to run to a protected area.

During last summer’s Operation Protective Edge, the very short time period that the warning system gave people to seek cover resulted in the death of dozens of soldiers and civilians. Apart from the improved mortar alert system, Israel is also advancing an “obstacle program” around Gaza, part of which is a sophisticated fence surrounding the territory.

An extremely scary and potentially fatal wrong turn landed five American yeshiva students in the Arab-controlled section of Chevron last week.

The five young men were attacked by a mob that threw firebombs and rocks at them. Thankfully, a local Arab took them into his home, where they awaited rescue by the IDF. Forces from the Chevron District police and Judea and Samaria police, assisted by an IDF force, entered the neighborhood and rescued the boys.

Two of the young men are in moderate to light condition after they were sent to the hospital for a complete evaluation.

Photos from the scene show a pair of tefillin lying on the road, belonging to one of the victims who escaped during the attack. According to reports from emergency service ZAKA in Chevron/Kiryat Arba, a firebomb was hurled at their vehicle, which went up in flames.

Mr. Abu Hamdiyeh, the Arab man who saved them, told Israeli news outlets that he and his family had ushered the five frightened victims into their home and quickly closed the doors.

He said he gave them water and tried to calm them down and assured them they were safe, “though none of them spoke Arabic.”

Mr. Abu Hamdiyeh said his family sheltered the five for about 40 minutes until the Israeli forces arrived. Then, he said, both the tourists and the Is-

When I think of four Israelis getting together to buy a piece of property, I imagine there must be a new shwarma place opening up in Queens.

But meet these four friends who after becoming wealthy independently came together to buy an island in Finland. The price they paid? 450,000 euros. The goal? To build an Israeli colony on the island.

While property in the Holy Land is very scarce and very expensive, Finland has more than enough to go around. Aviad Scheibitz, Amir Weil, Moti Shemtovi and Asaf Giller hopped on the deal and now are starting their own “Israeli colony.”

Finland has more than 100,000 lakes and no less than 188,000 islands. There is a little over 5 million inhabitants who live comfortably in Finland on less than 340,000 square kilometers, with a huge supply of land and islands that one can buy for as little as 150,000 euros.

The purchase is the brainchild Aviad Scheibitz, 39, married and a father of two from Hararit, who came to Finland for the first time with his wife on their honeymoon. “We have both traveled a lot, so we were looking for a place neither of us visited before,” he says. “We fell in love with the country and stayed here for a month.

When we went back to Israel, I bought us an 80-dunam peninsula for a little over 200,000 euro, up north.”

Scheibitz says he made his money, millions in this case, by staring. “I find a spot at home and stare for hours, and

then come up with some patent, mostly in the field of plastics,” he explains with a smile. This is how he invented a patent for air-conditioners in cars, selling no less than 7.5 million units of them both in Israel and abroad. He recently sold his latest development to an international company for NIS 3.5 million. “I can’t say what it is because of copyright issues, but everyone uses it every day,” he reveals.

Amir Weil, 26, a bachelor from Tel Aviv who made an exit when he sold a startup of a search engine for social media, was not quite thinking about Finland, but he did have a dream about a quiet place. A dream, he says, that was born after doctors found a cancerous tumor in his body at the age of 21. “Before I got sick, I had a very intensive lifestyle: I was working in high-tech, created a very successful startup, and barely slept. But the Almighty sent me signs and I decided to switch from high-tech to real estate,” he says, and tells that alongside his work in real estate he also funds and directs the Et Laasot (A Time for Action), a non-profit that helps 250 children with disabilities.

Shared friends introduced Weil, who could not shake off that dream of a quiet pastoral place, to Scheibitz, and they each brought in their business partners: Scheibitz brought in his attorney Assaf Giller, 36, married and a father of three from Beit Eliezer, while Weil brought in Moti Shemtovi, 38, who resides in Miami and is Weil’s real estate business partner.

Getting to the Island is half the fun. In the winter, the frozen lake is crossed by snowmobile; in the summer, arrival at the island is only possible with a boat, and in the fall and spring – hovercrafts.

35% More Olim Came to the Holy Land this Year On the eve of the New Year, the population of the Jewish State numbers 8,412,000, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

Since last year, Israel’s population has increased by about 158,000 peo-

The Week

Controversy over Police Cars’ “In G-d We Trust” Decals

pening on officers across the country ... it’s time we get back to where we once were,” Garcia said. The Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund notes that eight officers have been shot and killed in the U.S. in the last month — and four died in the span of 10 days.

However, the group claims that the decals violate laws regarding illegal government endorsement of religion. Rebecca Markert, a senior staff

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National

ed to unveil the phrase on its cars in Childress, an agricultural community of some 6,100 people at the southern edge of the Texas Panhandle. Police Chief Adrian Garcia said he decided to add the decals in response to recent attacks on law enforcement personnel that have received widespread media attention. Recently, on August 28, a sheriff’s deputy was shot 15 times at a Houston gas station.

“I think with all the assaults hap-

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The Jewish population numbers at about 6.3 million people (74.9 percent), Arabs number about 1,746,000 (20.7 percent), and there are about 366,000 (4.4 percent) people who are non-Arab Christians and people who have no religion listed in the civil registry.

During the year of 5775, about 168,000 babies were born in Israel, and about 42,000 people died. About 32,000 immigrated to Israel, 28,000 of which are new olim. This is a 35 percent increase from the previous year. Most of the olim came from Ukraine (about 26 percent), France (25 percent), Russia (about 21 percent) and the United States (about nine percent).

The Central Bureau of Statistics forecasts that in 2025-2030, Israel’s population will surpass 10 million.

Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say religion is “very important” in their own lives, and another 26% say it is fairly important, according to a Gallup.com survey. However, when a police department in a Texas Bible Belt community placed large “In G-d We Trust” decals on its patrol vehicles in response to recent violence against law enforcement officers, a local watchdog group protested.

Earlier this month police decid-

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ple – a 1.9 percent increase, similar to previous years.

In News

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The Week attorney for the foundation, said the First Amendment prohibits government from establishing or even preferring a religion. The growing number of law enforcement agencies adding the phrase to vehicles amounts to a violation of separation of church and state, she asserted.

In Randolph County, Missouri, the sheriff, Mark Nichols, said he had the phrase added to his department’s fleet in July out of a sense of patriotism.

“It’s our nation’s motto and we want to be patriotic toward our country,” Nichols said.

However, in its letter to Nichols, the foundation said, “Statements about a god have no place on government-owned cars. Public officials should not use their government position and government property to promote their religious views.”

The letter cites the Pew Research Center that reveals that 23% of Americans identify as “nonreligious.”

But our dollar bills have the religious phrase emblazoned on them.

Charles Haynes, vice president of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute in Washington, D.C., explained “In G-d We Trust” began appearing on federal coins in the Civil War era, and in 1956 Congress approved it as the national motto.

Don’t expect the motto to disappear any time soon, Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for the Texas-based Liberty Institute, a law firm that specializes in issues of religious liberty, said. The U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have repeatedly allowed the phrase and other religious overtures as “part of the country’s history and heritage.”

Atlanta Airport is World’s Busiest If you thought that the lines in JFK Airport were bad, wait till you read this. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has topped Beijing International to retain the title of

“world’s busiest airport,” according to Airports Council International (ACI).

96 million passengers passed through the Atlanta airport in 2014, compared to 86 million who flew out through Beijing last year, according to the group that monitors worldwide airport traffic.

“Passenger traffic remained resilient in the face of the global uncertainties that beleaguered many economies in 2013 and 2014,” ACI World Director General Angela Gittens pointed out. “International tourism, in particular, was irrepressible in 2014 considering the geopolitical risks that have persisted in certain parts of the world, such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East,” she continued. “The Ebola outbreak also presented significant challenges to the aviation sector.

Notwithstanding, by and large, the international traveler in 2014 appears to have been immune to these potential dangers. Overall global passenger traffic grew at a rate of over 5 percent.

This is above the 4.3 percent average annual growth rate in passenger traffic from 2004 to 2014.”

The title of “world’s busiest airport” has become a coveted position that allows a city to brag about its attractiveness to visitors. Hartsfield-Jackson has been the passenger traffic titleholder since the 1990’s, although the airport group said this year Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport had more airplane takeoffs and landings. Los Angeles International Airport was the second busiest domestic airport – and fifth worldwide – in terms of passenger numbers with 70 million passengers. Chicago’s O’Hare was in third place domestically – seventh overall in the world – with 69 million.

In News Keeping Those Inheritance Dollars

Many lucky Americans inherit more than just their father’s nose or their mother’s cooking skills; each year millions of Americans receive a monetary inheritance from their parents or a close relative.

Experts predict that over the next few decades there will be over a trillion dollars being passed down to the next generation. However, a recent study indicates that the offspring is not really ready to handle all the inheritance that will come their way.

Research seems to indicate that many recipients quickly dispense or spend their payout.

One study found that one third of people who received an inheritance had negative savings within two years of the event. “The vast majority of people blew through it quickly,” said Jay Zagorsky, an economist and research scientist at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and author of the study, which was based on survey data from the Federal Reserve and a National Longitudinal Survey funded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unfortunately, many inheritors view this influx of money as “monopoly dollars” and struggle with budgeting and how to use their money wisely.

Susan Bradley, a certified financial planner and founder of the Sudden Money Institute in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl., recommends allowing a grieving period and a “decision-free zone” after the inheritance to avoid making any rushed or impulsive decisions. For each person this time period is different—for some it may be a year and others a few weeks.

Great Aunt Sally bequeathed you

a fortune? The next piece of advice for you is to make a list of priorities.

Experts strongly advise recipients to use their gift to secure a retirement account being that Americans need as much $1 million in retirement to live comfortably.

Another productive use for inheritance is to pay off any lingering debt.

If you have the cash, it is never worth paying the interest fees on money borrowed from credit card companies.

No Presidential Veto Needed for Iran Deal

On Tuesday the fight was over as three more Democrat senators pledged their support for the Iran nuclear deal.

Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal (CT), Gary Peters (MI) and Ron Wyden (OR) all announced their support this week.

President Obama now has the support of 41 senators, paving the way for a filibuster to prevent a vote on a Republican-backed resolution to keep sanctions against the Islamic Republic in place and reject the accord.

The senators’ decisions did not come without reservations.

“While this is not the agreement I would have accepted at the negotiating table, it is better than no deal at all,” Blumenthal asserted.

“This agreement with the duplicitous and untrustworthy Iranian regime falls short of what I had envisioned, however I have decided the alternatives are even more dangerous,” Wyden wrote.

Added Peters, “Despite my serious concerns with this agreement, I have unfortunately become convinced that we are faced with no viable alternative.”

The Week

The Link between Alzheimer’s and Weight Gain Enough research has been done to prove that being overweight poses several health risks at all ages. A recent study adds another health risk to the list of negative side effects of obesity.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health claim that a person’s weight in middle age can affect if and when they develop Alzheimer’s disease. The report, released last Tuesday, stated that being overweight or obese at age 50 can affect the onset of Alzheimer’s, even if it is not until years later. Among those who eventually got sick, more midlife pounds meant an earlier onset of disease.

“Maintaining a healthy BMI at midlife is likely to have long-lasting protective effects,” said Dr. Madhav Thambisetty of NIH’s National Institute on Aging, who led the study reported in the journal Molecular Psy-

That’s Odd A Couple of Crime This couple is perfectly in synch— in synch committing crimes, that is.

Officers received a tip that Joshua Watford was in a pawn shop last week. He had been convicted of driving under the influence but had failed to attend court-ordered classes. After

he was placed in a squad car by officers, the police car was stolen—by his wife. When a passing motorist began speaking to the officer, Amber Watford got behind the wheel and took off.

The squad launched a massive search for the lawbreaking duo, including a helicopter and a K-9, but the search was eventually called off. A tip helped cops find the couple—and the car, which had everything in it, including the handcuffs that were used on Joshua.

Amber and Joshua will now be sharing a new home—the county jail.

A Wasteful Café

This is real junk food.

Gabby Holmes and Natalie Crean are fed up with waste. The two women recently opened up the Real Junk Food Project in Liverpool.

So what’s on the menu? It depends. Waste food supplies are donated from grocers, caterers and supermarkets. They then work in a “Ready Steady Cook” creative style, deciding what to cook depending on what type of produce they’ve received for the day. Homemade hearty and healthy stews, soups, puddings, such as lemon curd, are often on the menu for which

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Congratulations to adults all across the U.S.—we have become a healthier nation. The national smoking rate has hit an all-time low.

New survey data, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last week, suggests that just 15.2% of American adults are now using cigarettes on a regular basis, almost 2% less than in 2014.

The basis for the findings are responses to the National Health Interview Survey, which the Census Bureau operates on behalf of the CDC. It is one of the most reliable tools the government has for measuring health habits and status. The data is not definitive yet, since it’s only based on January through March and technically the smoking rate can rise before the end of the year. It is important to note that it is common for people to quit in January, after making a New Year’s resolution, and then resume a

chiatry. No study has been done yet in order to determine if in fact staying fit and healthy can delay Alzheimer’s.

In the U.S. alone, approximately 5 million suffer from Alzheimer’s, a number medical experts expect to more than double by 2050. Generally, Alzheimer’s starts damaging the brain more than a decade before symptoms appear.

To explore obesity’s effects, Thambisetty’s team turned to the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, one of the longest-running projects to track what happens to healthy people as they get older. They checked the records of nearly 1,400 participants who had undergone regular cognitive testing every year or two for about 14 years; 142 of them developed Alzheimer’s. The researchers studied how much those Alzheimer’s patients weighed when they were 50 and still cognitively healthy. They tracked BMI—every step up on the BMI chart predicted that when Alzheimer’s eventually struck, it would be 6 ½ months sooner.

Among this group of Alzheimer’s patients, someone who had been obese – a BMI of 30 (the threshold for being overweight is a BMI of 25) – during middle age on average had their dementia strike about a year earlier than someone whose midlife BMI was 28, in the overweight range, Thambisetty explained.

“What’s good for your heart is good for your brain,” Heather Snyder of the Alzheimer’s Association noted.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Smoking Rates Hit Record Low

few months later.

“This result is absolutely exciting and maybe even astonishing, if this decrease holds up when we see data for the full year,” Kenneth Warner, a professor of health policy and management at the University of Michigan, related.

Warner, who is among the nation’s leading experts on tobacco and anti-smoking policy, explained: “With smoking responsible for 500,000 American deaths every year – onefifth of all deaths – every decrease in smoking prevalence of this magnitude will ultimately translate into many thousands of premature deaths being avoided. This is a great development for public health.”

Experts believe that the downward trend is partially due to raising taxes on cigarettes, spreading awareness regarding smoking’s related health risks, and encouraging the entertainment community to stop making smoking seem glamorous.

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On the other side, on Tuesday, Joe Manchin of West Virginia became the fourth Democratic Senator to announce his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran.

Manchin said he “could not ignore the fact that Iran, the country that will benefit most from sanctions being lifted, refuses to change its 36-year history of sponsoring terrorism.

“I cannot gamble our security, and that of our allies, on the hope that Iran will conduct themselves differently than it has for the last 36 years,” the senator added.

With the overwhelming number of senators now backing the deal, they will likely be able to kill the Republican resolution against the agreement directly in the Senate and save Obama from having to use his veto power.

In News

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The Week people pay what they feel, or what they can afford. Don’t have cash? Creative donations are accepted as well.

“I realized how much food rich economies waste after travelling round Asia and seeing how resourceful they were. It’s absurd that millions of people are starving and millions of food items end up in the bin,” Gabby said.

She hopes, though, that the café will be forced to close when food is no longer wasted and the restaurant won’t have donations pouring in. Until then, “so long as there’s waste, we’re trying to achieve some good out of the daily waste.”

The café is also a social hub for people to get together and enjoy each other’s company.

That’s a good thing—unless they’re just lounging about wasting time.

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Trimming off the Pounds

A good shave can make all the difference. In fact, it can actually make you lose weight.

Last week, a lost, overgrown sheep was found in Australia and was shorn for perhaps the first time, yielding 89 pounds (40 kilograms) of wool—and shedding almost half his body weight.

Chris, who was rescued by Canberra RSPCA, may just take home the Guinness World Records for the most wool sheared from a sheep in a single shearing. Currently, the record is held

by Big Ben, a New Zealand merino, who yielded 28.9 kilograms worth of

wool last year.

“He’s looking really good, he looks like a new man,” Tammy Ven Dange, chief executive of the Canberra RSPCA, said, as the now 44-kilogram (97-pound) sheep recovered at the Canberra animal refuge. “For one thing, he’s only half the weight he used to be.”

The shearing process was traumatic for Chris, as many of us can understand since we’re traumatized by just a trim of several inches. He was shorn under anesthetic because he was stressed by human company and because of the potential pain from the heavy fleece tearing skin as it fell away. Without the new haircut, though, Chris could have died from the cold and from infections that were trapped under the heavy fleece.

Champion shearer Ian Elkins said the sheep appeared to be in good condition after being separated from his huge fleece under anesthetic.

“I don’t reckon he’s been shorn before and I reckon he’d be 5 or 6 years old,” he noted. The fleece, though, was too long to be sold commercially.

Elkins hopes it will end up in a museum.

Australian merinos are bred for wool and are shorn annually, with fleeces averaging about 5 kilograms (11 pounds).

Hey Five Towners, I have the perfect diet for you—and don’t worry I’m not fleecing you out of any of your hard-earned money with this new plan!

The Sun-sational Diet

In News A new trend in Hong Kong has women cutting calories just by staring at the sun. The sun dieters are not just looking into the sky’s brightest star for a few minutes. These women are dedicated to their diets—they are gazing at the glaring rays for 44 minutes on a beach in Sam Ka Village. Supposedly, those who take part say looking into the light suppresses their appetites and their need for a normal diet. In fact, some individuals say they can go a whole day without eating – probably because they are suffering from heatstroke and temporary blindness which can make anyone lose their appetites.

The group of women arrive in the morning or early evening. They take off their shoes, put on sunglasses and set a timer on their phones. Standing in a line, they start their ritual of absorbing the sun, believing solar energy can replace calories.

“We practice sun-gazing as a substitute for eating. Some of us who have finished the therapy now eat less, and others don’t have to eat at all!” one sun dieter said.

Each dieter takes their time adjusting to the sun’s rays. Beginners look at the sun for just 10 seconds on the first day and add 10 seconds every day, reaching 44 minutes by the ninth month.

Although these women claim to lose weight, they may be losing something even more precious. Doctors warn that with the sub-tropical location of Hong Kong and the sea water bouncing back the sun’s rays, these people’s eyes and skin are at risk for cancer, cataracts and other diseases.

Anyone ever heard of Weight Watchers?

to live in an aviary in her $4 million East Hampton home. To make sure there was no confusion, Mandel made sure to list every bird by name: from Margie and Nicki to Zara and Zack 12.

Mandel’s stepson is named as trustee and he’ll be caring for lots of animals in the luxurious “ark.” The fund will also take care of a cat named Kiki and a rescue dog named Frosty.

Mandel ran a fundraising firm and amassed a $5.3 million fortune. She died in June at age 69. She was not the only (eccentric) millionaire to leave major money to her furry and feathery friends. In 2007, hotel magnate Leona Helmsley left $12 million to her dog, Trouble. A judge trimmed the bequest to $2 million.

Yes, the world is truly going to the (birds and the) dogs.

No Showers for 12 Years

A Feathery Trust

Speaking of diets, if trimming your hair isn’t working for you, perhaps the sun is the answer.

This summer $100,000 was bequeathed to a couple of birdbrains.

And we mean real birdbrains.

32 pet cockatiels received the windfall when Leslie Ann Mandel, a New York City millionaire, asked in her will to have the small parrots continue

Just because we shower every day doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Or is it?

David Whitlock has been questioning our society’s daily showering

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routine and has not showered for 12 years. Lest you think the elevator isn’t reaching all the way to the top, Mr. Whitlock is actually a MIT graduate and chemical engineer. He is part of a research group to determine the benefits of bacteria on the skin, which he says is compromised by the use of everyday moisturizers or body cleansers.

“No one did clinical trials on people taking showers every day. So what’s the basis for assuming that that is a healthy practice?” Whitlock asks.

He is working with a company called AOBiome, which uses natural bacteria found in the soil that eliminates odors and also creates benefits for the skin. They launched a product line of mists, shampoos and cleaners in July.

Jasmina Aganovic, AOBiome general manager of consumer products, said that while Whitlock’s personal hygiene philosophy is definitely interesting and “he does not smell,” the company is not recommending people skip showers altogether.

The company’s “Mother Dirt” line contain live Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria that cleans and eliminates odor without harming the beneficial bacteria of the skin, she said.

The products contain microorganisms found in soil, which consume the irritating components of sweat and transform them into benefits for the skin, she added.

Whitlock discovered the benefits of the bacteria and is working with the company’s research team to help develop the products that will give the best benefits for the skin, Aganovic said.

And in the meantime, he won’t be showering.

And I hope he won’t be in my shul this Rosh Hashana.

Barbie: the Best Car for College Think Barbies are only for the very young? Tara Monroe is still

playing with Barbies every day— and she’s in college.

After Tara was caught driving drunk in March, her dad took away the keys to her car and left her a bike to ride around campus. Undeterred, Tara managed to procure other wheels for herself—although they’re slightly smaller and much pinker.

The industrial engineering junior industriously bought herself a pink Barbie Jeep for $60 off Craigslist. The previous owner? A toddler by the name of Charlene.

Now Tara has a new set of wheels, which she named Charlene in honor of the former driver of the jeep.

“When we drove up to buy it, Charlene asked where the little one was to test drive it, to which I replied, ‘I am the little one,’” the twenty-year-old said.

Tara’s newest car runs on a 12volt battery with a maximum speed of 5mph. She’s not bothered by its snail’s pace. Buying the jeep “was the best decision I’ve made in college, yet.” It’s earned her celebrity status at her alma mater and at the University of Texas in Austin. “This is the best way I could have gotten my 15 minutes of fame.”

What about giving her friends rides? For now, it’s just Tara and her cherry coupe. “I usually make them [her friends] walk behind me like parents taking their kid out to play,” she related.

I thought college was supposed to prepare you for the real world.

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Your Health

by Shaindy Kelman of ShainDee Skin Clinic

cells, dirt, and makeup. These dead cells and dirt return to the active cells, making it a perfect place for bacteria to grow.

• Wash your makeup brushes at least once a month. Use liquid detergent and keep rinsing until the pigment comes off the brush and the water runs clear.

• Wipe your cell phone or your family phone with alcohol swaps so the bacteria does not build up on the device and then touch your face.

• Change your pillow case often.

• Sun tanning increases your risk of developing skin cancer and acne. Sun, heat, and humidity cause the glands to become overactive and produce more oils.

Other factors that help fight acne are living a healthy lifestyle, managing stress, and avoiding destructive behaviors like overindulgence in alcohol, drugs, and junk food. Dairy, wheat and foods high in sugar also feed acne. A number of clinical studies show the presence of hormones and other bioactive molecules in milk, meats, poultry, and chocolate effect acne. Skimmed milk was found to be worse then whole milk, therefore it is not the fats that cause the problem. It is believed the iodine content and allergic inflammation response to milk may cause the acne. High glycemic index foods increase insulin secretion in the body and trigger reactions that stimulate sebum secretion. Studies have revealed that children living in rural areas who consumed low fat, low carbohydrate foods and more fresh fruits and vegetables had less acne.

Like everything in life, moderation is the key. Try to eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, low fat protein, and cut down on processed foods high in preservatives and sugars. Drink lots of water and avoid all sodas, diet or regular.

Everyone reacts differently to foods, which makes treating acne through diet modification difficult.

Shaving can cause hair follicles to be irritated, which can cause painful pimples or cysts. My product line includes treatments that are specifically geared for men and targets acne caused by shaving. These include a medicated scrub and moisturizer that promote healthy hair-growth and allow for healthy shaving.

Rosacea is a skin condition that usually affects parts of the face such as the nose, cheeks and forehead. Symptoms include facial flushing, redness, small lumpy spots similar to acne, and tiny visible blood vessels. Symptoms may first appear in your early 20s but the more usual age is 30s-60s.

There are rare cases of children’s rosacea.

Women are more commonly affected than

men, however, the rare cases of male rosacea tend to be worse than the more frequent female rosacea. Some people find that certain things aggravate the skin and trigger flushing or exacerbate flushing. The most common things that worsen rosacea are stress and exposure to extreme temperature (excessive heat, sun, and spicy food.) People with rosacea often have sensitive skin.

It is therefore best to avoid using harsh cleansers that contain alcohol, abrasive exfoliants, perfumed skin care products and sunblocks or insect repellents. My product line includes gentle products that are free of irritants and soothe this skin condition.

I am passionate about helping people feel great about themselves, which often starts with feeling great about the face that you present to the world. I’d love to have the opportunity to work with you on helping you put your best face forward. My clients can attest to the effectiveness of my treatments. Come in and let’s work together to get your face clear and build your confidence up.

Client Testimonials: “Your treatments and products are a life saver-make that a face saver. Your treatments and the creams changed my face. I have tried lots of medication which left my skin dry and irritated and did not heal the acne. Your products are absolutely wonderful. Within a few days I noticed an improvement. By the second week, my skin was less red and the acne was drying without drying my skin.

Thank you for your help! I recommend your treatments and creams to anyone who has skin issues.” M. Shapir “I cannot say enough good things about Shaindy and her products. She was the first person after spending so much on products and even dermatologists who was able to clean up my acne and redness. She truly cares about her clients. Her prices are very good and she only recommends products that you need. I read something when I was getting a facial on her wall that says it all....’Come in as a stranger, leave as a friend.’ I cannot thank her enough for giving me back my confidence. I tell everyone that asks about Shaindy and her products.

She truly is a friend to everyone that steps through her door for help.” M. Abernethy.

“I had terrible acne that even medicine could not cure. After following Shaindee’s skincare regiments and a few treatments. my face looks completely different. I get compliments on how clear my face looks.

Thank you Shaindy!” Tova

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current, clay and sulfur based masks, which are proven to have a positive effect on clogged pores, and generally promote acne healing and scar prevention.

No matter what treatments we do in my studio, routine daily home care with the right products is key to getting and maintaining clear skin. Always wash off your makeup before you go to sleep. Night is when your body and skin regenerates and heals. While it is best to use a cleanser and a clean sponge to wash your face before bed every night, my product line includes a wonderful makeup remover that you can keep at to your bedside table with some cotton pads for the occasional night that you are too tired to wash your face.

Cleaning is essential but over-cleaning and using harsh products or too many products can make acne worse. It is essential to make sure that you are using the right product for your specific skin condition. I work with clients to ensure that the skin follicles are cleaned in a balanced way and ate kept at the right pH. Over-cleaning can result in an excess production of oil. Clean no more than twice a day with the right product for your skin. Some of my products include a foaming cleanser, pumice scrub with glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and benzyl peroxide. These help keep the follicles clean and bacteria in check. Apply a small amount, work into the skin for a few seconds and wash off with a warm, clean wash cloth or a paper towel. Rinse twice to remove all the product, dirt and the dead cells.

Touching, picking, and squeezing a pimple is the worst thing you can do to your skin. It causes inflammation, spreading the infection and results in a longer healing progress that could end in a scaring.

Spot treatment of individual pimples with drying lotions can help reduce swelling and speed healing. Products containing sulfur, tea tree oil, camphor, eucalyptus, resorcinol, and prescription medication can be just what your skin needs but can also cause dryness, which can throw your skin into a vicious cycle of over-drying and over-oil production. It is important that the skin stays hydrated and balanced with oilfree moisturizer throughout treatment.

Whether or not you are acne-prone, below are some general skin care tips for maintaining beautiful, healthy skin: • Only use non-comedogenic products in daily sun screen, foundation, and mineral powder, since these products sit on your skin all day.

• Do not exercise with makeup on your skin. As you workout, your pores release sweat, which mixes with your dead

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Acne is a frustrating, embarrassing skin condition that many of us have wrestled with, or continue to battle during formative, identity shaping years of our teens and many years beyond. The myth that acne clears up once we have survived the teens is somehow perpetuated and obviously misguided. The skin disease, involving the oil glands and hair follicles of the skin, is estimated to effect as many as 70 million people of all ages. Teenagers and women of all ages are the most prone to acne due to fluctuations in hormone levels.

A person’s self-esteem is deeply affected by the way they look. Studies show that people with acne suffer from social withdrawal, decreased self-esteem and confidence, poor body image, and feeing of depression, anger and frustration. 95% of acne sufferers said acne had an impact on their daily live. More than 40% had been bullied due to their skin condition and 20% reported that it was a factor in a relationship break down.

A few primary causes of acne include hereditary disposition, overproduction of sebaceous oil, bacteria, stress, hormonal imbalance, food intolerance, using the wrong skin care products or exercising with makeup.

While we cannot control genetics, there are lots of things that we can do to help heal the skin. As an esthetician, I’ve been taking care of sensitive skin, and treating acne and rosacea for over 20 years. It gives me great pleasure to see how happy my clients are when their skin is healed. I am able to educate individuals on their particular skin conditions and advise them on products that speed up healing and provide permanent positive results. Treatments take place in my studio and clients are then empowered with home-care products that I guarantee will provide great results.

I believe that it is always best to try a holistic, natural method before using prescribed antibiotics. In some cases, acne treatments and skin care products do not fully heal the acne and a combination of prescription antibiotics, (topical or internal) should be combined with treatment by an esthetician. The treatments can help the medicine reach the source of the problem, remove dead skin cells, and rejuvenate the surface, which prevents scars and enhances antibiotic performance. It is crucial to treat skin problems and not ignore them. Without treatment, the skin can develop dark spots and permanent scars.

Some of the treatments that I perform in my studio include deep cleansing facials, glycolic peels, gentle extractions, galvanic

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

Uncovering the Mysteries of Acne: The Path to Clear Skin

Kollel Chatzos

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Kollel Chatzos Leaves No Stone Unturned When It Comes To Finding Ways To Strengthen Torah And Zechusim

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

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Shoshana Bernstein

Strengthening the Torah of Kollel Chatzos and bringing zechusim and bracha to Klal Yisroel are the ultimate objectives for the administrators of Kollel Chatzos. It is for this reason that the women of Kollel Chatzos were recently lauded with a well deserved evening of chizuk and appreciation at a special event held in their honor.

Rabbi Nechemya Hoffman, Founder and Director of Kollel Chatzos, a nighttime Kollel with locations in Brooklyn, Monsey, Monroe and Meron, understands that a successful Kollel is dependent upon the support and chizuk of the Kollel members’ wives.

“In order for the women to be mechazek their husbands, they themselves need chizuk.

This is where the idea of this event came in.”

The wives from the three New York locations gathered at Blueberry Manor, a bucolic outdoor venue located on the water, just outside Monroe.

As the sun set, sixty women arrived

tranquil atmosphere set the tone for several amazing hours of chizuk and entertainment and the chance to recharge and connect with other women supporting their husbands in this ex-

to elegantly set tables, torch lighting, flowing fountains and a waterfall. The

ceptional life of Torah learning.

The program, meant to inspire and invigorate, did just that. Rebbetzin Bluming, Menaheles of bobov, Monsey spoke about the chashivus of supporting one’s husband in his Torah, quoting Rabbi Akiva who said about his wife: “My torah is her Torah”.

Mrs. Friedman, wife of the Monsey Rosh Kollel, shared her ideas and thoughts of chizuk, made stronger by her personal experience. Following a delectable dessert and the time for the many women to meet and mingle, Mrs. Weig inspired everyone as she recounted her life’s journey through illness.

The evening ended on a high note as the women formed their chairs into a circle and joined together for a rousing kumzitz. Accompanied by Mrs. Weig on the guitar, they poured their hearts out in song, a chorus of women proud to be unified in their commitment to living a very special life of

Torah.

The organizers of the event shared that the feedback was beyond their expectations and call after call came in thanking them for the chizuk it provided. “Being part of something so unique can sometimes be isolating”, explained one caller. “Getting to meet the other women and seeing that they are normal just like me was so important to me!” In fact, two weeks later, during a dinner held for the men, the women took the initiative to keep each other company on a conference call, proving that the event had accomplished what it set out to do- provide an opportunity for connection and support.

The evening marked the end of summer and as everyone headed faced the realities of the back to school season and the approaching Yomim Noraim, the Kollel Chatzos office was busy fielding incoming calls for people seeking zechusim for themselves and their families.

Mr. Avrochom Chaim Goldman, Administrator explains the increased interest in Kollel Chatzos partnerships stating, “There is something very comforting about knowing that your family is under the shemira and bracha of a talmid chochom who is learning and being mispallel on your behalf. This is true throughout the year, but especially so during Elul.”

As the hundreds of Kollel Chatzos partners daven for a good, healthy year they know that the tefillos and Torah of the illustrious Kollel members are accompanying them. May the entire Klal Yisroel be zoche to a year filled with bracha and a kesiva vachasima tova.

Become a Kollel Chatzos partner in time for Yom Kippur. Call today!

Phone: 1-855-Chatzos (242-8967) Main Office: 718-887-9114 Fax: 718-506-1051 Email: Mail@kollelchatzos.com www.1855chatzos.org

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Another Look

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Rabbi YY Rubinstein

I

As

where the fractures occurred. The astonishing thing is that an ordinary clay pot, which is hardly remarkable or especially pleasing to the eye, suddenly becomes so, precisely because it was broken and has now

walkway in glass cases was a display from a local museum. The cases were filled with clay pots, and intriguingly, all of them had been broken and repaired.

The Japanese art of Kintsukuroi (golden repair) takes broken dishes or pots and uses a lacquer mixed with solid gold powder to glue the shattered pieces back together.

The effect is quite simply amazing.

Veins of shining gold trace the place

been repaired. A craggy broken fissure now gleams, transforming a mundane household container into a work of art.

In fact, the more it has been repaired and consequently the more golden lines cover its surface, the more beautiful the object is.

One of the pieces had clearly suffered catastrophic damage. It must have fallen hard and received quite a blow to have been shattered in so many places. That pot was by far the most beautiful of all.

Last week I went to visit a family and spoke by phone to another that had suffered blows every bit as catastrophic as that pot.

We all want our children to be sitting shiva for us one day. Chas v’shalom, no one wants it to be the other way around. The phone call was to a mother who as a girl used to come to my shiurim in the UK. She had lost a little child in tragic circumstances and together with her heartbroken husband and family was sitting shiva. The words I planned to say were nothing compared to the ones I heard.

They were words of bitochon and deveikus to Hashem, even at a time when some might have felt that their

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relationship with Hashem was fractured beyond repair. Both the mother and father spent the whole conversation telling me how difficult it must have been for me to make that call and how much they appreciated that I had done so.

The visit was to another family whose child had coincidentally suffered an identical catastrophic accident as the first. The second child had somehow survived, but now needs constant medical care and attention.

The parents, who are good friends of ours, have transformed their home into a hospital while sharing the role of nurse and caregiver equally between them.

If their lives were busy in chinuch and rabbanus before the accident, they now had become doubly and triply demanding. Somehow they haven’t diminished their commitments to their kehilla and talmidim in any way that I can detect and they still manage to organize and give their little boy the demanding medical care he requires.

They too carry the scars of trauma and pain most of us would not even want to think about. But neither the scars nor the pain have loosened their attachment or love of Hashem. As we sat talking, you could almost imagine they were unaware of what a dramatic turn their world had taken. Both recounted recent advances in their efforts to spread Torah as well as the little signs of improvement they saw in their child. In the hour I spent with them, their home resembled Times Square as the doorbell and phone rang again and again and a constant stream of people arrived for advice, help or just popped by. Both parents told me of their gratitude to Hashem for everything He had given them.

I had approached both the shiva call and the visit with apprehension and worry. Finding the right words can help; the right words can heal.

The wrong words can take pain that is already almost unbearable and make it even worse.

Instead, as so often happens on such occasions, I found myself receiving chizuk instead of giving it.

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Rosh Hashana draws near and the last remaining moments of the year tick away, there is nothing more natural than thinking back. There will be pictures we can conjure up when we achieved much and helped others. There will be images of times we failed; when indeed we let ourselves down or let others we care about down too, sometimes badly. Often we feel so deflated we don’t believe we will ever recover or even deserve to.

One of the most striking pictures in

my mind is from February of this year.

I was standing on a walkway, which was taking me to collect my luggage at San Jose Airport. I was there to speak at the local shul’s annual dinner. Along the walls of the

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

remember when my youngest daughter was only eight years old.

She came home from school one day with the cheekiest smile on her face, literally bursting to tell me a joke she had just heard. I smiled back at her excitement and she began.

“There was an inflatable school with inflatable teachers and inflatable students. One day the principal called one of the boys into his office. The boy stood in front of the principal’s desk and he began, ‘Not only have you have let me and your teachers down, you have let all your friends down ... but worst of all you have let yourself down too!’”

For an eight year old it was not at all bad. I laughed, and she giggled and danced away to tell her joke to her mom, sister, and brothers.

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

From Broken to Golden

Despite the severity and depth of their wounds, both families believed with emunah sheleimah and without complaint that these events came solely from Hashem. They were in real pain, but they shone like pure gold.

Where

do Jews (as they so often do), get such strength at painful times like these, and why do such times bring them so close to Hashem?

It may be that strength comes from their parents and grandparents. It may be that it comes from their teachers and rebbes. Ultimately, though, it comes from Hashem Himself. It is He who inspires someone to hear words that help. It is ultimately Hashem who helps us start to put the pieces back together again so that the scars heal.

Despite the fact the scars are visible, they somehow make the people who carry them more precious and more beautiful for doing so.

If a process of recovery and renewed connection to Hashem can occur in people who have suffered such pain, it can certainly happen for those of us who are in pain because of bad choices we made during the last year. Those choices cause us to hear a voice inside our heads, which says,

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B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

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“Not only have you have let me and your teachers down, you have let all your friends down, and of course you have let yourself down too!” That voice tells you that the damage you have inflicted is beyond repair. It is essential to ignore that voice. It is lying to you.

Reb Shlomo Wolbe zt”l in Aleh Shor cites the Talmud Kiddushin 30b,

writes Rav Wolbe, “no matter how much damage a Jewish soul has suffered or inflicted on itself.” The treatment of putting the pieces back together can start even when Jews find themselves on the forty-ninth level of tumah, as we did in Mitzrayim.

The Talmud is full of stories of some of the greatest Jews of all time, Rabbi Akiva, Resh Lokesh, Reb

Despite the fact the scars are visible, they somehow make the people who carry them more precious and more beautiful for doing so. which says how the Torah provides the remedy and repair when we have let ourselves down and fractured our relationship with Hashem. “I created the yetzer hara, I created the Torah as the antidote.”

“That cure applies at every level,”

Elozor Ben Durdoi and others. All of them were once broken with a shattered connection to Hashem. When they started to remedy the fact that they had let Hashem, their teachers, their friends and, of course, themselves down ... they started to shine

and inspire others.

As Reb Sholomo Wolbe writes, and certainly the two families I spoke to last week showed, we can put our Jewish lives back together again, even when they are profoundly shattered either by tragedy or by our own tragic choices. If we try, Hashem will help us. Just ask Dovid HaMelech, Tehillim 147:3, “Hashem cures the brokenhearted.”

When we start to reattach ourselves, the astonishing thing is that an ordinary Jew, perhaps someone others would not consider special in any way, suddenly becomes special precisely because he or she was broken and is now repaired. Those who suffer major damage and overcome it turn themselves into particularly precious works of art. In fact, the more Jews repair their flaws, and consequently the more golden lines are visible, the more beautiful and precious those Jews become.

No Jew should feel embarrassed on Rosh HaShana to appear before Hashem knowing He sees the evidence of the damage we have suffered or inflicted on ourselves or others during the year. If we have used Elul to fix and repair the damage, we have turned ourselves into works of art and the damage is turned to gold. 

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

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Rena Zingmond gRay

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

Just a Spoonful of Honey

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

TJH Speaks with a Beekeeper to Learn More about Bees and the Sweetness of their Honey

GettinG Started

Each beekeeper has his own motivations for getting involved with the craft. Kelley’s might be deemed less premeditated than some. “It was a wild idea that I had,” he laughs. “It was just something I thought would be fun to do.” Retired after 30 years of military service, Kelley enjoys projects where he can work with his hands, like woodworking and planting trees and gardens. He figured that introducing bees on the scene could only promote his garden’s growth. “I looked at my wife and said, ‘Let’s get bees,’” continues Kelley. “She looked at me like, ‘Are you crazy?’” Ten years later, Kelley continues to keep busy with his bee-related activities, between tending to his home population and his responsibilities as president.

When Kelley first decided to pursue his beekeeping interest, he sought out a local bee-

keeping club, of which there are a surprising number. He attended the Georgia state meetings that are held twice a year, further deepening his involvement until he was eventually asked to become president of the GBA. As president Kelley is responsible for planning those fall and spring gatherings, speaking at club meetings and representing Georgia on a regional and national level at places like the American Bee Federation. The Federation oversees everything from honey production and import to beekeeping and education on the subject. Kelley is also on the National Education Board, planning and implementing ways to inform students around the country about the importance of their work.

“We [even] have a lobbyist force in D.C.,” adds Kelley.

It might sound surprising that so much attention is paid to bees and their product, but Kelley explains that it’s not only about honey. “[Honeybees are] a very important commodity,” he says. He continues that 1/3 of the food and organic material are made possible by the humble honeybee. Take farmers, for example. Farmers of any variety of produce will purchase honeybees to use to pollenate their crops.

“The honeybee increases his yield by 30%,” says Kelley.

The number of honey imports and exports are impressive themselves. “[According to the] 2014 the national honey report, if there are 318,000,000 people in America and everybody eats a pound and a half apiece on an annual basis, that means we need 477,000,000 pounds of honey to satisfy the demand,” Kelley says. “America, according to the report, produced 178,000,000 pounds of honey, and therefore the remainder of the balance…was imported into the United States.” Kelley advises shoppers to read honey labels carefully and beware of those with suspiciously low comparative prices. “We get a monthly report how much we should retail a pound of honey for,” says Kelley – currently $6.77 per pound on average. Most of the beekeepers base their prices on that number, keeping them within a certain range. Cheaper

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

With Rosh Hashana approaching, our minds once again turn to the familiar symbols through which we usher in the new year. Whether or not we have a preschooler at home, we think shofar, apples, and of course, sweet, golden honey. Perhaps we should prompt our minds to further contemplate the unique nature of this sticky substance in preparation for the holiday that spotlights it: its creation process and incredible amount of variety, as well as the dedication on the part of the humans and insects involved. We spoke with Mr. Clay Kelley, President of the Georgia Beekeepers Association (GBA), on the A-Z of beekeeping and honey production.

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

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honey prices may indicate a cheaper and lower-grade import.

iS BeekeepinG for You?

There is no required training to become a beekeeper, but, “you’re a fool if you don’t,” says Kelley. “There’s no law that requires you to do it other than the law of nature after you get stung so many times.” Kelley recommends potential beekeepers join a local club as he did when he first started. He suggests finding a beekeeping mentor as well.

Kelley cautions that beekeeping is not an area conducive to simply diving in.

Many clubs offer free beginners’ classes for interested parties, supplying information on things like the necessary hardware, where to obtain bees, and the cost breakdown.

“That’s how I did it,” continues Kelley. “I went to the club and I listened and talked to [people] and I learned.” One important piece of information a visitor might glean is that after hearing all that beekeeping entails, he’s changed his mind. “You may find out, you don’t want to do this,” Kelley explains, saving a person the investment and around $500, roughly the amount it costs to start a couple of hives. State and national level speakers come to the clubs from all over the country, sharing the latest news in the beekeeping world to help members stay up-to-date. Local talks cover topics relevant to the immediate area, such as which communities prohibit private beekeeping or the necessary adaptations to bee care based on the weather. Honey flow, the time when the area’s flowers are in bloom, also differs between regions.

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Life in the hive

Keeping bees appears to be a relatively low-maintenance endeavor.

Harvest time is the busy season, when beekeepers extract the honey and bottle it. “Probably about once a month you’d open the boxes and check on them,” says Kelley. “I just want to make sure they’re doing well and that the queen’s doing her job, and they’ve got honey to eat.”

The queen’s job, of course, is to populate the hive. After impregnated, she will lay about 2,000 eggs every day for the next 3-5 years.

In a hive of about 75,000 bees there will be about 500 drones. The drones’ single job in the hive is to mate with the queen. “They don’t have to forage for food, they don’t have to clean house, they don’t have to pull security. That’s the good news,” says Kelley. “The bad news is that they get one shot and then they die.”

The worker bees are the ones responsible for the aforementioned obligations and more. All female, they comprise the rest of the colony’s population. In their short lifespan of only six weeks, workers will tend

of the colony.

Each hive has an entrance through which the worker bees leave and return after foraging across their usual three-mile radius. Every bee is equipped with its own internal GPS, enabling it to return to the exact hive it left.

from nectar to nature’S perfect food

Worker bees have a “honey stomach.” The nectar they suck out of a flower comes out in the form of sucrose, which is very high in protein.

Enzymes in the honey stomach begin breaking down the substance into simple sugars fructose and glucose. Once back at the hive, the forager transfers the sugars to a house bee, who hold it in her bee stomach for her enzymes to work on it further, about 20 minutes or so. When she’s done, she regurgitates it (apologies to those in mid-bite) into a cell in the beehive. Another set of bees takes over, fanning the cell with their wings until the moisture content is 17.1%. Then the cell is capped off with a layer of wax – each cell is sealed individually – and the honey inside is “as perfect as it’s going to be,” says Kelley. Too much moisture will cause the honey to ferment and go bad. “Honey is nature’s perfect food,” says Kelley, “and properly stored it will never, ever, ever go bad.”

The reason bees make honey, says Kelley, is because they’re investing for the future. “They know that bloom isn’t going to last all year long,” says Kelley, and they plan accordingly. Honey, the bees’ source of sustenance, is produced in abundance to ensure that there’ll be plenty for the entire hive during the cold winter months. For this reason, it is important for beekeepers to leave some honey behind during harvest time. “The good beekeepers will leave about 40 pounds per box on the hive for them to eat in the winter,” Kelley explains.

Understandably, the bees tend to get a bit agitated at the removal of the product of their hard work. Beekeepers use smoker’s to calm the bees and mask the alarm pheromone that the guard bees emit. At this point it’s a very good idea to avoid being stung, since the bees on guard at the hive entrance will begin to make their move in protecting the colony. Emitting designated distress pheromones, the guard bees will attempt to sting the offender. The embedded stinger will act as a homing device, leading the other 20,000 bees right to it. “Most beekeepers know that if you get stung you scrape the stinger out right away so that you’re getting rid of that signal,” Kelley explains. And most beekeepers also remember to gear up in protective clothes and hats to prevent being stung in the first place.

honeY, honeY everYwhere

“There’s over 300 varieties of honey in America,” says Kelley. This is due to the vast number of possible flowers the nectar can come from.

Citrus, buckwheat, alfalfa, cotton and clover are just a few examples of different honey sources. As a general rule, the lighter the honey’s color, the milder its taste. Often large corporations will blend different honey varieties as well as pasteurize them to achieve a certain, predictable taste that appeals to consumers. Although it might taste familiar, this process robs the honey of its natural goodness.

Kelley recommends buying locally produced honey as opposed to honey made in other states or regions. It seems that consuming honey from your hometown can actually help boost your immune system and control seasonal allergies.

“If you get local allergies,” explains Kelley, “the purpose of eating the local honey is that you’re ingesting the pollen and the things like that that would normally make you sick.” By ingesting these allergens in small amounts, our bodies will actually build up a tolerance to them and allergy symptoms will be reduced. “Local wildflower honey –

“If there are 318,000,000 people in America and everybody eats a pound and a half apiece on an annual basis, that means

we need 477,000,000 pounds of honey to satisfy the demand.” to the nursery, clean house, build wax for honey making and storage, take care of the queen, guard the entrance, and forage for food. “It’s the ultimate in socialism,” says Kelley. As important a part as the queen plays, she doesn’t actually pose as any type of authority figure. No one does, in fact; all the efforts are made for the good of the colony. The only time a worker bee will sting, thus sacrificing its life, is in defense

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that’s the best for you,” says Kelley, based on the fact that it’s comprised of a wide array of plant pollens.

the vaniShinG honeY Bee

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

It’s a fact – the bee population is on the decline. Kelley attributes this depletion to many causes, one of which is the varroa mite, appearing in the United States relatively recently. The varroa mite attacks the honey bee; attaching to the bee’s body, it sucks out vital fluids, weakening the bee’s immune system. Another problem is the use of pesticides and weed killers. Pesticides, although targeted against pesky mosquitoes or other interfering insects, do not discriminate between those and the honey bees. Spraying during the BrinGinG Back the BeeS day, especially when flowers are In an effort to revitalize bee populations, Kelley is in bloom, almost guarantees that working on a project to bring bees to every state park in the bees will be doused with poiGeorgia. Optimally, he would educate the rangers about bee son. Kelley says that even spraying preservation who would in turn share their knowledge with the at night, when mosquitos are out anypublic. Since state parks are natural environments and free way, could spare the bees once the The beekeeper is pointing out the queen bee from insecticides, they would serve as ideal locales to prochemical dissipates in the morning mote bee growth. Beekeeping clubs will be matched up dew. The effects of neonicotinoids, a relatively new type of pesticide that attacks insects’ nervous systems, with their local parks, serving as a bridge between the knowledgeable, might only become apparent in subsequent generation of bees. It can in- passionate bee enthusiasts and park visitors.

In New York City, beekeeping is legal and often takes place on buildterfere with the bees’ internal GPS, causing them to lose the ability to find ing rooftops. The New York City Beekeepers Association’s upcoming their way home.

And weed removal? Certain weeds, such as dandelions, are the first promotion, “Honey Week,” will feature lectures and other events to fosblooming flower of the spring in most regions. “When you kill a lot of ter public awareness. Hopefully their efforts, combined with those of the wildflowers … [you’re] not realizing that you’re killing most of the bee-lovers around the country, will prevent the honeybees from further disappearing. backup food for the bees,” Kelley explains.

As we eat our apples and honey this Rosh Hashana, let’s remember Additionally, so much produce today has been genetically modified to kill insects who eat or interact with the crop. Kelley gives credit to Bayer our winged friends and do what we can to help them to keep buzzing. 

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

Corporation, a top GMO producer, who recently opened a “bee lab” in North Carolina to address the negative effects their products are having on bees. “What they’re trying to find out is, where’s the happy medium,” says Kelley. Another factor regarding the interaction of bees with various types of crops is what Kelley describes as “monocultures.” More and more farmers are growing only one type of crop, which means only one blooming period for the bees. After that time the bees have nowhere to forage. An area filled with a diverse mix of produce would lend the bees multiple opportunities to find food all summer long. The GBA has been working with the Georgia Farm Bureau as well as a couple of other agencies to ask them to leave windrows – rows between crops – for planting wildflowers. Kelley has sent the same plea to the highway department, requesting the addition of wildflowers to surrounding areas instead of mowing the landscape flat.

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These questions and many others are answered, thoroughly and clearly.

Guide to Bais Din includes Haskamos from Rav Asher Zelig Weiss, Shlita, renowned Av Bais Din, Yerushalayim, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, Rav Gedaliah Schwartz, Rav Yitzchok Berkowitz, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Henoch Friedman, Har Nof

To order your copy or get the Haskamos, introduction and Chapter one FREE from the author, simply email: guidetobaisdin@gmail.com Other seforim available from this author Eruv Manual - Halachos, materials, strategies and so much more, recommended by Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, $30 (incl. sh.)

Shulchan Baruch - An English language explanation of every s'if in Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat, simanim 1-74. Haskama, Rav Asher Weiss, Israel

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Included are Rav Hershel Schachter's essay written especially for Guide to Bais Din arguing against the use of to-anim, a clear explanation of the first 38 simanim of Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat, sample forms needed to file in various American batei din, and contact information for over 40 batei din.

The first printing of this 200-page sefer was sold out. Purchase the second, revised edition.

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Riddle!

Sam is talking to his lawyer in jail. They are very upset because the judge has refused to grant bail and the next hearing is in two months. At the end of the conversation Sam is allowed to leave the jail.

See answer on next page Why?

Chasing Chaos: Time to Brush up on Your English Pronunciations Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation.

I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.

I will keep you, Suzy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy.

Tear in eye, your dress will tear.

So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word, Sword and sward, retain and Britain.

(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)

Now I surely will not plague you With such words as plaque and ague.

But be careful how you speak: Say break and steak, but bleak and streak; Cloven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery, Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore, Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles, Exiles, similes, and reviles; Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far; One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel; Gertrude, German, wind and mind, Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet, Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.

Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mold like should and would.

Viscous, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward.

And your pronunciation’s OK When you correctly say croquet, Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamor

And enamor rhyme with hammer.

River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb, Doll and roll and some and home.

Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangor.

Souls but foul, haunt but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant, Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger, And then singer, ginger, linger, Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very, Nor does fury sound like bury.

Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.

Job, nob, transom, oath.

Though the differences seem little, We say actual but victual.

Refer does not rhyme with deafer.

Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.

Mint, pint, senate and sedate; Dull, bull, and George ate late.

Scenic, Arabic, Pacific, Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.

We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed, but vowed.

Mark the differences, moreover, Between mover, cover, clover; Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice; Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal, Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.

Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor.

Tour, but our and succor, four.

Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

Sea, idea, Korea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria.

Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.

Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion and battalion.

Sally with ally, yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.

Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.

Heron, granary, canary.

Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.

Phlegm, phlegmatic, glass, bass.

Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.

Ear, but earn and wear and tear Do not rhyme with here but ere.

Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen, Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk, Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)

Is a paling stout and spikey?

Won’t it make you lose your wits, Writing groats and saying grits?

It’s a dark abyss or tunnel: Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale, Islington and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough, Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?

Hiccough has the sound of cup.

My advice is to give up!

“The Chaos” is a poem which demonstrates the irregularity of English spelling and pronunciation, written by Gerard Nolst Trenité (18701946), also known under the pseudonym Charivarius. It first appeared in an appendix to the author’s 1920 textbook Drop Your Foreign Accent.

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Kidding!

Four nice Jewish women are sitting together at the senior citizens center. “My son,” says Mrs. Levi, “is a physicist and heads up a department at the university.”

Her friends nod approvingly.

“My son,” says Mrs. Greenberg, “is a doctor and is chief of surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital.”

“You must be so proud,” they say.

“My son,” says Mrs. Stern, “is the head of a law firm and president of the bar association.”

Again, everyone nods with approval.

“My son,” says Mrs. Cohen, “is a rabbi.”

“A rabbi?!” they exclaim. “What kind of career is that for a Jewish boy?”

3. All of the following were secretary Generals of the Un, accept for one. which one? a. Trygve Lie b. Boutros Boutros-Ghali c. U Thant

4. who gave the longest ever speech in the Un? a. Fidel Castro b. V.K. Krishna Menon c. Muammar Gaddafi d. Mikhail Gorbachev 5. which one of the following countries is the only one which is not on the Un Human rights Council? a. Cuba b. Saudi Arabia c. China d. Kenya e. Australia 6. what did russian leader nikita Khrushchev do during a speech at the Un in 1960, after the soviet Union was accused of colonialism? a. He threw a cup of water at his accuser b. He pounded the podium with his shoe c. He delivered his entire speech in a mocking monotone d. He cursed in Russian for 8 minutes straight Answers: 1. A- That’s why bathrooms have locks, Mr. Churchill.

2. C 3. F- No, U Thant is not a vanity license plate; Trygve Lie is not some psychological category for a non-truth; Ban Ki-Moon is not the name of some bouncy ride at Coney Island; Boutros Boutros-Ghali is not from some kindergarten rhyme in Ghana; and David Smith was never Secretary General of the UN. 4. In 1957, Defense Minister of India, V.K. Krishna Menon spoke for a marathon 7 hour 48 minutes in front of the UN Security Council on his country’s dispute with Pakistan over the city of Kashmir.

5. E 6. B wisdom Key: 5-6 Correct: You really know your stuff.

If you change your name to Plouboulous Plouboulousos, maybe you can become the next Secretary General of the UN. 3-4 Correct: You could never be a Secretary General, but you can be a UN Ambassador… which means you have to sit through 8 hour speeches about Kashmir. Booorrriiinngg!

0-3 Correct: Say “Boutros Boutros-Ghali” as fast as you can 10 times. Now, who is the Secretary General of the UN?.......Wrong! It’s Ban Ki-Moon. OK, bang your head against the wall while saying, “Ban Ki-Moon.” Repeat exercise until you get some of the questions right.

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2. which countries hold the five permanent seats in the Un security Council? a. Boro Park, Williamsburg, Lakewood, Monsey and The Five Towns b. France, USA, Canada, Germany, and England c. Russia, USA, France, China and England d. Mexico, Canada, USA, Japan, and China

d. Javier Pèrez de Cuèllar e. Ban Ki-moon f. David Smith

Answer to riddle: Sam is visiting his lawyer, who had been arrested and jailed.

1. while having a summit with winston Churchill, President roosevelt came up with the name “the United nations.” where were they when roosevelt informed him of the name that came to his mind? a. They were in the White House and Churchill was in the bath when FDR barged into the bathroom and informed him of the name he thought of b. They were birdwatching in Camp David c. They were flying to Moscow for a summit with Stalin d. They were in a motorcade on the way to a meeting where they were going to introduce the new world organization

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

United Nations Trivia

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A Sweet Setting for a Sweet New Year

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

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By Blimy Wassertheil

It’s

the time of year when summer gives way to fall and the cool breeze refreshes our body, mind, and soul. It’s the time of year for awakening, for renewal, for hischadshus. It’s the time of year replete with various simanim to put us in the right mode of welcoming in a wonderful new start. And what better way to set the Rosh Hashana table if not to depict this special time of year? Beautify your yom tov table with these sweet, personalized place settings, giving all your friends and family their own siman tov to usher in year 5776.

Honey

This

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is a simple, yet very “sweet” idea to place on everyone’s plate. Take a few honey sticks and gather them in a neat bundle. Tie them with a piece of pretty ribbon that complements the napkin color. To add additional color and interest, purchase honey sticks in various flavors.

Here’s

another simple one to give everyone the option of taking their own heaping helping of the sticky sweetness. Using pretty patterned paper, cut little strips or flags and attach it to small wooden honey sticks with some hot glue or tape. On each one, write the name of a family member or guest and place it on a pretty napkin on their plate.

If

you have some spare time, try this one for a beautiful and personal touch. Fill small glass jars with honey and cover them with a pretty piece of cloth. Tie a ribbon around the neck, attaching a pretty tag. Tags can be purchased, computer designed, or hand-lettered with a warm message for a sweet new year.

Pomegranates Try

Maximize

the beauty of this gorgeous fruit for a show-stopping place setting. Simply print or hand-letter cardstock with the names of your guests, and place it in the pomegranate’s crown. You may want to wash and/or buff the fruit for enhanced shine.

another idea using this pretty, red fruit. First, wash and dry it well to remove any wax from the outer peel. Then, using a gold Sharpie or a metallic ballpoint pen, write the names of all family members and friends. You may want to gather some inspiration by finding a pretty script or Hebrew font on a computer and copying it to the best of your artistic ability.

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Apples

This

Here’s

a spin on the pomegranate idea using a shiny red apple. Prepare little strips of cardstock with guests’ names. Wrap thin gold cord around the apple 4-5 times tying a bow in the back. Slip the nametag into the cord on the front of the apple.

one may take some work and needs to be done right before you set the table but it really sets the tone perfectly. Using very small apples, slice off the top. Cut out the core and insides of the bottom part and fill with honey. Cover with the top slice leaving it open just enough for the sweet surprise to be visible. 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

very simple and cute place setting will be perfect for a family full of little children and grandchildren—and it’s pretty enough for the grown-ups to enjoy, too. Using the template (below), cut red or green apples from hard cardstock. Slip the two pieces into each other at the center slits to make it stand. Write names on the leaf and place it on each plate.

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Real Estate 9 Ways to Grow Grass and Cut Lawn Care Costs

Submitted by: Ben Schwartz | Founder VacancyFillers.com If you grow it, you have to mow it. There’s no doubt that growing grass and maintaining your lawn can be costly. Routine lawn care activities like mowing, watering, and fertilizing can add up to hundreds spent each year just making your outdoor space greener – and this doesn’t include planting grass seed or laying sod!

Here is a few frugal tricks for cutting lawn care costs – and any plot or yard size can benefit.

1. Stop over watering your lawn!

An established lawn requires only 1 inch of water each week, whereas many people water double this amount. Grass is a neat little plant with roots that grow deep. The less you water your lawn the deeper the grass roots grow – costing you less in water use. To measure your water usage, buy a plastic watering gauge at your hardware store for about $5.

Place the gauge in the lawn and turn off the sprinklers when you have reached the target amount. Or, place a small bucket or ice cream pail under the sprinkler to catch the water and measure for free. You could save hundreds this summer by not sprinkling your cash over the greens.

tween 2 and 3 inches can save you up to 50 percent of the water consumed by a shorter 1 to-2 inch lawn. Keeping grass cut short causes the roots to grow shallow, which exposes them to drier soil at the surface, so the grass then requires more frequent watering.

A taller lawn also helps to crowd out weeds, saving you additional dollars on weed-busting maintenance costs.

4. Convert part of your lawn to a vegetable garden Adding green space around your home in the form of a lawn is attractive, but it’s also expensive when you consider the costs of growing grass over the savings gained from having your own vegetable garden. By converting a portion of your greenery to a small vegetable garden, you get more bang for your soil buck and can save money on your food budget. Besides, growing some salad tastes a whole lot better than eating grass.

2. Water early in the morning The best time to water your lawn is early in the morning when it’s cool out and before any winds kick up and carry your water away. By watering in the mornings instead of in the hot afternoons, you can reduce your water use because heat and evaporation are not diminishing your watering attempts.

5. Use vinegar and dish soap to kill weeds Herbicides can eat holes in your pocketbook while being hard on the environment. Skip expensive chemicals and cultivate your own weed-killing solution by mixing vinegar with a bit of food-safe dish soap. Just fill an old spray bottle and apply directly onto your weeds. This frugal and environmentally safe mixture kills most weeds and can be safely used anywhere near pets and children. For tougher weeds that don’t respond to vinegar and dish soap, a bit of digging is free and guaranteed to work.

3. Grow a taller lawn Growing your lawn to heights be-

6. Make your own fertilizer with compost

Skip spending good dollars on expensive synthetic and petroleum-based fertilizer each year by starting a compost. A properly maintained compost can break down waste from both your kitchen scraps and garden trimmings.

The compost from a single household can replace about $20 worth of synthetic fertilizer each year and will help keep chemicals off your lawn and out of your vegetable garden.

7. Sow grass seed and skip sod If you need an instant lawn it will cost you. Laying weed-free and pretty sod runs 30 to 40 times more than planting grass seed. So if you’ve got the time, opting for sowing grass seed will save you hundreds. The best time to plant is after the last frost in spring or late in the fall. Seeds will lay dormant over the winter, then be the first plants to sprout in the spring. Seeding grass is dirt cheap and easy – just sprinkle your grass seed onto your soil and rake it in so it’s just under the surface. er

8. Use a manual push lawn mow-

Save yourself lots of green by cutting your lawn with a manual push lawn mower instead of a gas-powered unit. Manual push lawn mowers slice the grass using the energy you provide and cost anywhere from $100 to $150 with virtually zero maintenance

costs. On the other hand, gas-powered lawn mowers (especially riding lawn mowers) are expensive to buy, cost big dollars to fuel, and may require a mechanic to service any breakdowns. Don’t get me started on the costs of lawn tractors, the annoyance of sourcing replacement lawn mower parts, or the impossibility of using an electric lawn mower in the middle of a farm. Sigh. As an added free bonus though, push lawn mowers are quiet, are non-polluting and give you a great workout. Now that’s a new way to find splendor in the grass.

9. Keep your lawn mower sharp You don’t need to be the sharpest knife in the drawer to know that dull lawn mower blades do not cut grass well. If you’re using a gas or electric mower, dull blades can increase energy use by 10 percent. To get your lawn mower blades sharp, get a sharpening stone for under $10 at most hardware stores and sharpen your lawn mower blades at least every other month. Just be sure to turn off or unplug your lawn mower before sharpening. Ouch!

Are you looking for a tenant for your vacancy? VacancyFillers.com can help! VacancyFillers.com uses their professional and simple systems, to quickly find quality tenants for landlords. Founded by Ben Schwartz in January of 2014 in response to the needs of landlords who lack the proper time and resources to find tenants by themselves, VacancyFillers.com has already assisted in the signing many leases for landlords just like yourself!

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A Parsha Thought

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The Message of the Shofar

Rabbi Shmuel Silber

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Meat

The Torah tells us very little when it comes to the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah. We are told about the sacrificial obligations and rites and yet there is no mention that it is a universal day of judgment. In fact the Torah does not even identify this sacred day as “Rosh Hashanah” (the beginning or “head” of the year) rather, refers to it as “Yom Teruah,” the day on which the Teruah is sounded. The Rabbis explain that the Torah is teaching us about the special mitzvah of the day – the Shofar. But what is the meaning of this mitzvah? What is the message contained in the powerful blasts of the Shofar? Why did God choose to anchor the identity of this scared and hallowed day in this particular obligation?

Rav Saadiah Gaon (882-942) explains that one of the reasons we sound the Shofar is to commemorate a miracle that occurred thousands of years ago in the city of Yericho (Jericho). When the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel under the leadership of Yehoshua (Joshua) they were faced with the immediate challenge of conquering the border city of Yericho. Yericho was surrounded by heavily fortified, tall walls and the only way to enter the Promised Land was through its gates. God commanded Yehoshua to circle the city; blow the Shofar and the city walls would crumble. Yehoshua did as commanded and miraculously the walls of Yericho fell (according to some commentaries the walls sank into the ground). On Rosh Hashanah we remember the miracle of the crumbling walls of Yericho.

While this is a beautiful idea, we are left to ponder; what is the connection between Rosh Hashanah and the crumbling walls of Yericho?

Rebbi Nachman of Breslov (17721810) explains that we each have some obstacle we feel is insurmountable; a challenge we cannot overcome. We each have our “life wall” that we simply cannot scale. More often than not – this is but an illusion.

As God demonstrated in Yericho even the strongest of walls can be brought

down, even the most grueling of challenges can be met. Rebbi Nachman explains that this is the meaning of Rav Saadiah Gaon’s statement – we blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah to remember the victory over Yericho, to remember that we have the ability to meet every life challenge head on, to bring down every wall that stands in our way. We may not immediately realize success, but we have the tools to begin the process.

This is why the Torah refers to this holy day as, Yom Teruah. This is the very essence of our new year. Rosh Hashanah is our opportunity to commit to bringing down the walls that have kept us from accomplishing, growing and becoming more. If the Shofar can bring down the walls of Yericho, it can give me the courage to demolish my walls as well.

Randy Pauch was Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. In August 2006, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and pursued aggressive treatment. However, by August 2007 he was told it had metastasized and his condition was terminal. On September 18, 2007, Dr. Pauch delivered a moving talk that was titled, “The Last Lecture.” He said, “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”

As we take leave of 5775 we are reminded of the times in life when we looked at the wall, felt overwhelmed by its height and turned around. In just a few days we begin anew. Let us allow the sounds the Shofar to fill our hearts and inspire us to aggressively overcome our obstacles, scale our walls and enjoy success in our life endeavors.

I wish each of you beautiful and sweet New Year. May we merit a year filled with holiness, happiness, peace and beautiful life accomplishment.

Good Shabbos and Kesiva V’Chasima Tova.

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It Could Have Happened To You Expired!

Rabbi Eli Scheller The life of a fundraiser is a challenging one. One of setting up meetings, rescheduling the meetings and then finding oneself in an awkward situation during those meetings. I was once visited by a friend, the Rabbinic head of an organization, and I observed as he would cajole, request, beseech, and use all manner of asking to meet with people of means. He told me the following tale.

He had been trying to track down a particular philanthropist from his home town, and the Rabbi encountered obstacles all along his path. As hard as he tried he was not able to get through to him. One day, he bumped into the gentleman at a bris. He decided to try his luck and asked the man of means if perhaps they can schedule a meeting

for some future time. Surprisingly, the philanthropist answered that he actually had a couple of extra minutes just after the bris and would be glad to meet at the Rabbi’s home. The Rabbi gulped. He was both excited and frightened. Excited, because after all this time chasing after the gentleman he was finally able to nail him down.

And frightened, because the Rebbetzin was out of town and he had no idea what the house might look like.

Five minutes later the two of them walked in the front door. The living room floor was basically presentable other than the assorted shoes that the Rabbi quickly kicked under the sofa. The Rabbi asked the potential benefactor to sit at the dining room table as he moved last night’s dinner

dishes off to the side. He walked towards the kitchen doorway and asked his guest what he might like to drink.

The philanthropist answered that any drink would do. The Rabbi checked the refrigerator and found only a nearly empty grape juice bottle. He thought quickly and moved on to the pantry. Nothing. How embarrassing to invite a prominent visitor into his unkempt home and then offer a drink when there was none. His last chance was to check the basement. With sweaty palms he opened the storage room cabinet and found a dusty sixpack of Diet Coke. He ran upstairs, found a nice glass and some ice, and walked back into the dining room. “I hope Diet Coke is OK,” he said as he offered it to his special guest. His guest nodded and the Rabbi’s pulse returned to normal. He poured a drink for the gentleman and prepared to make his pitch.

“Ptui! Phhhttthhh!” The wealthy gentleman had taken a sip of the Diet Coke and spat it right out! “What did you give me?” he asked the Rabbi.

“This stuff tastes horrible!” The Rabbi went to the kitchen and retrieved the Coke can. “It’s just Diet Coke,” he said. “I thought you said that would be OK.” The guest responded, “Please taste some, there’s something wrong with it. Perhaps you should write to the company.” The Rabbi took a sip of the drink and it tasted as horrible as advertised. “I’m so sorry. That’s all we have in the house.” The favorable impression the Rabbi hoped to make seemed now like a pipe dream.

After the meeting (which ended in a success) the Rabbi reflected on his awkward morning and wracked his brain to figure out what he had done wrong. How could a closed can of soda from a reputable company turn against him? He learned the answer from a colleague he ran into later that day. “Diet Coke?” the colleague said.

“That’s got artificial sweeteners in it.

Those chemicals expire and turn bitter several months after they’ve been put into the soda. You should have served him regular Coke. Natural sweeteners

last forever.” Indeed, the Rabbi went back and retrieved the dubious cans and discovered they had celebrated the third anniversary of their expiration date.

When I heard this story I had two thoughts. First, I’m glad I’m not a fundraiser. Second, you can have two products which both taste sweet. The difference between the two becomes clear with time. The natural sweetener lasts indefinitely, while the artificial one turns bitter over time.

The physical world is full of indulgences and delights which promise to sweeten a person’s life. Advertisers do their best to make this clear to us and they are all too aware of the pictures and keywords that will excite us.

What is unstated in the promotion is the expiration date. The new product or service might be thought of as the cat’s pajamas at first, but it will grow old and stale with time.

The Torah is compared to honey.

The Midrash in Shir Hashirim states, “Just like honey does not spoil, so too, the words of Torah do not lose their potency with time.” Honey is one of the only natural food products that never turns rancid. Its sweetness lasts forever. The Torah enhances our lives and provides a sense of fulfillment that never loses its flavor.

Perhaps when we begin the year by eating honey during Rosh Hashana we are demonstrating that we want a year of true and long lasting sweetness. A Sweetness which will inspire and not expire.

Shana Tova!

Rabbi Eli Scheller is the author of the popular series ‘A Minute Vort’ on the parsha. He produces inspirational videos which are featured on major Jewish websites. Rabbi Eli is a sought out motivational speaker and musician who captivates audiences of all kinds.

Currently he resides in Baltimore with his wife and their four children, where he teaches and inspires Jews through his program, The Chill. schellereli@ gmail.com

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

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THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

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How They Lead Us in Prayer… from Warsaw, Brazil, and Beyond

BY MALKY LOWINGER

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

Our

ba’alei tefillah are an integral element of our Yomim Nora’im tefillos. With their powerful voices, their heartfelt melodies, and their inspiring nusach, they arouse us to teshuvah and motivate us to daven with tremendous enthusiasm and passion. For many of us, they represent the key to our inspiration.

Who are these skilled, talented, intrepid chazzanim who lead the tefillos in our shuls? What’s involved in leading the prayers of a kehilla of Yidden? How does one prepare for this awesome responsibility?

As Rosh Hashana approaches, we salute our ba’alei tefillah who assume the daunting task of helping us focus our prayers heavenward. As they inspire their congregations that they serve, they themselves are able to soar to great heights.



A

thousand Jews currently live in Warsaw, and R’ Hershel Lieber, who lives in Boro Park, is determined to offer them an inspirational Yomim Nora’im davening. About a hundred and fifty attend evening prayers, he says, and less come during the day. “Except for a few families, it’s not a very observant community,” he explains. “But they want to come and connect and be a part of Jewish life.”

The shul in Warsaw, called the Nozyk Synagogue, is the only shul in the city that remained intact after World War II. “The Nazis used it as a stable,” R’ Hershel relates. Nevertheless, he adds: “You feel a sense of awe being in that building.”

R’ Hershel knows the area well, as he’s been traveling to Poland for the past thirty five years. Back in the old days, he traveled himself. “My wife stayed

home with the children,” he says, “and I went alone.

The hardest times were Rosh Hashana at night when I came home from shul and sat in my hotel room sharing the seudah with myself. That’s how it was in the early years. No community, no meals, no one to share it with.”

Things changed in the 1980s when the Lauder Foundation and others began to reignite Judaism in the area by offering summer camps and winter activities to the Polish youth. “It brought a level of understanding and knowledge about what yom tov and Shabbos are all about.”

R’ Hershel marks the passage of time by the sounds he hears behind him during the tefillos. “In the early years,” he explains, “I would hear the voices of the elderly people, the survivors who remembered the correct nusach and were able to keep up. Afterwards, when they started passing on, there was very little participation. Then, in the mid-‘90s I heard a strange new sound during shtilleh Shemoneh Esrei. It was the sound of people beating their chests during al chayt.” Due to the educational programs, the community became familiar with the correct procedure during davening. It marked a major difference in community participation in the prayers.

Today, R’ Hershel’s wife, Pesi, joins him in Warsaw for the Yomim Nora’im. They stay at a hotel located near the shul and eat the meals at the homes of a few families who are already observant. But he vividly remembers the days when they brought all their meals with them, sometimes warming up cans of food by placing them in a tub filled with hot water.

It takes tremendous mesiras nefesh to travel to Poland year after year to lead the davening, and Pesi says her husband does it purely for the mitzvah. Warsaw,

especially in the old days, wasn’t exactly a vacation resort. “The atmosphere in the city was very sad,” R’ Hershel recalls. “You couldn’t walk two steps without being reminded of what happened here to the Jews. It was like a heavy cloud laying on you.”

Today, he says, the situation is changed. “The shul has a joyous atmosphere. They sing along with me and many of them can read the machzor to a great extent.

Afterwards, everybody goes to tashlich together.”

R’ Hershel says the Shulchan Aruch stipulates which qualities are important for a ba’al tefillah to have. One is to be “merutzah l’kahal” which he says means to be close to his congregants and to be liked by them so that he can serve as their representative. Judging by the many close relationships he and his wife have formed over these many years, it certainly seems like R’ Hershel fulfills that requirement.



The

shul is 102 years old and is still going strong.

Shua Kessin, a popular singer/performer, leads the prayers at the Brothers of Israel Congregation in Long Branch, New Jersey. Several hundred congregants fill the longstanding synagogue for the High Holy Days.

This is Kessin’s second year as the ba’al tefillah at Brothers of Israel, although he did lead the davening previously in a Toronto shul. It’s a whole different experience, he explains. “No two congregations are ever the same,” he relates. “One must get a feel of the crowd and their background, of what moves them, and what tunes they are familiar with.”

Equally important, he says, is “knowing what will turn them off.” According to Shua, a chazzan “must al-

Originally

Shua Kessin at a concert

energy that comes with davening aloud and painting the text with the music that’s in your heart.”



A

Aryeh will be staying with his wife at the Allegria and will be enjoying yom tov meals at the homes of community members. He says many people who come for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are totally unfamiliar with the prayers, but nevertheless they are greatly inspired both by the tefillos and by his stories.

“One gentleman came over to me during kiddush last year,” he recalled. “He told me he was so inspired that he wants to become more connected. He asked if we could learn together. We started learning and today this incredibly generous man is one of the sponsors of this program.”

By and large, the people in this “beginner’s minyan” are not familiar with contemporary niggunim, so Aryeh has to reach back in history to find unconventional yet soulful tunes that they can connect with.

“I have to be creative, that’s for sure,” he says. “I’ll sometimes use the melodies of Simon and Garfunkel,

world class chazzan and internationally renowned tenor, Yanky Lemmer currently serves as the official cantor at the Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. About a thousand people daven at the synagogue over yom tov, with four hundred seats in the main minyan which Yanky leads.

Yanky has dabbled in chazzanus since his youth, but started davening for the amud since 2006 when he got married. He has previously served as chazzan in Englewood and New Rochelle.

“Accommodations are super important,” he says.

“And no matter how warm a community is, you still want to share at least some yom tov meals with family.”

The Lemmer family often joins the congregation for Shabbos in Manhattan, where they have a two bedroom suite in a nearby hotel. He credits his wife for undertaking the daunting task of arranging the meals.

“My eishes chayil cooks and bakes and packs and unpacks and warms and rewarms the seudot. So much so that we often invite guests over to our hotel. Recently

Rabbi Leiber in Warsaw on Motzei Yom Kippur

Cantor Lemmer

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B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

from Minneapolis, Aryeh Smith started singing with the Minnie Boys Choir and hasn’t stopped since. He’s davened in various places during yomim nora’im, including Houston, Baltimore, and Toronto.

He’s had his share of interesting experiences, including leading the prayers where half the congregants were carrying guns. (“At first I thought, ‘Are they all security guards?’ And then, I realized that hey, we’re in Texas!”) Then there was the time he had to rush through Neilah because the tenth person at the minyan was in a hurry to leave. (“I was racing against time while trying to maintain an inspirational flavor.”)

“There is a certain

such as ‘Sounds of Silence.’ They can sing along with that and then once they connect I can go on to more traditional niggunim.”

Aryeh says he runs around a lot before davening starts, trying to meet as many members of the congregation as he can. “When you have a personal connection to the chazzan,” he explains, “your tefillah gets better. You feel he’s thinking of you and that ultimately uplifts you.”

He will tell an inspirational story before Ne’ilah, to bring the intensity up a notch. “When I’m able to reach out and try my best to bring everyone else along with me, it really enhances my davening to such a high level.”

Says Aryeh, “For me, personally, the most awesome part of the tefillah is when the chazzan davens for himself at the beginning of Mussaf. You realize it’s all on your shoulders and you wonder, ‘How can I be worthy of this?’ Then you pray like crazy that you will be able to represent all of these people.”

When evening finally comes, Aryeh still can’t relax. “I’m on fire!” he says. “I’m so invigorated from making these amazing and meaningful connections and opening up people’s hearts. You can’t just go to sleep after that!”

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015



This year, Aryeh will be leading the davening at the Allegria Hotel in Long Beach. “It’s a massive kiruv opportunity,” he says, “with about five hundred people attending. It’s truly a privilege to lead the davening there, to speak and to introduce the tefillos to them.”

Aryeh, who recently married, lives in Far Rockaway which is not really far from Long Beach. But, he says, “when you go over that Atlantic Beach Bridge, it’s a whole different world.”

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

ways remember that he is representing a congregation.

He needs to find the perfect balance for that specific crowd. This takes art, talent, and open-mindedness.”

Shua brings his wife and children along with him to Long Branch for Rosh Hashana and says that their yom tov needs are well taken care of. “We usually end up staying by friends and we split up the meals at a few different homes.” On Yom Kippur, he comes alone.

As a chazzan, he says his greatest inspiration is hearing the voices of the congregation behind him joining him in prayer. “I am very much a ‘people chazzan,’” he explains, “and I try whenever I can— whether it’s with nusach or niggun—to get everyone involved in the singing.”

What’s the most inspiring part of the tefillah for Shua? He says it’s that moment during Shacharis, when he stands amongst the congregation. “As I utter the word Hamelech—that’s when I really get inspired.”

He is well aware that being a ba’al tefillah is not just about having a pretty voice. “One can have a stunning voice and still be boring,” he points out.

“It’s much more about the connection you have with your congregation and their tefillah. You really have to know them. If you shlep too long, this can sometimes aggravate them and then you may lose them. Instead, sing the songs they know and love. All you need is one good niggun, and the crowd and atmosphere is all yours.”

He adds that it’s important to be yourself during tefillah; to focus on the meaning of the words in your tefillah; to be kind and humble when receiving praise after davening. “And to always have in mind that it’s all l’shem Shomayim.”

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

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we had two young medical students over for a meal.

They could not stop thanking us for the Shabbos atmosphere of those few hours.”

He’s had his share of interesting experiences over the years. “One erev Yom Kippur,” he says, “we forgot to put the box of food for Seudas Hamafsekes in our trunk. We tried not to panic and instead we went to the closest A&P for some matzah and hummus. Let’s just say that year we fasted time and a half!”

Then there was the time they were put up in a barn.

A barn? “Well, almost. It was a building that used to be a barn house. It was poorly remodeled and we really had to rough it.”

Yanky prefers to focus on the tefillos of the day.

He says the most powerful prayer is Ne’ilah, because “an extra boost of adrenaline comes at that point.” He is captivated by the texts and the selichos of Ne’ilah “that give it a sense of fiery urgency.”

But he says all of his tefillos are greatly enhanced simply by having the zechus of leading others in prayer.

“There is a certain energy,” he says, “that comes with davening aloud and painting the text with the music that’s in your heart.”



For

the past six years, Shlomo Simcha has been leading the davening at Heichal Dovid in Lawrence, NY, (otherwise known as “The W”) under the leadership of Rav Mordechai Stern. But he’s served as a ba’al tefillah on Yomim Nora’im for 28 years and counting. “Ever since I was 18 years old.”

Shlomo lives in Toronto but says he is delighted to spend yom tov in Lawrence because he can bring along his family and enjoy the benefits of a warm and welcoming local community. “The hachnosas orchim,” he says, “is overwhelming. Our hosts give us an entire floor of their home, with plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms. The schedule of meals is lovingly prepared, including a map of how to get to each home. There are actually more invitations than there are yom tov meals, so those who can’t have us for a meal will find other ways to host such as inviting me for a swim afterwards to relieve my aching muscles.” Shlomo says he and his family have developed wonderful friendships in the community and enjoy sharing in each other’s simchas.

On Yom Kippur, he comes back to Lawrence by himself. At the end of the day, the congregation prepares a siyum hashas (which is divided amongst them during the year) and an inspirational kumzitz with

The welcome sign at the shul in Warsaw

Shlomo. “It’s hard to believe we do this after a whole day in shul,” he says. “But it’s become a tradition.”

Even when he davened in smaller communities, Shlomo says accommodations are usually not an issue as the local rav will host him. But he would leave his family behind (and bring along just his son). The rest of his family would enjoy yom tov meals at home by friends and neighbors.

“You realize it’s all on your shoulders and you wonder, ‘How can I be worthy of this?’”

Shlomo seriously prepares for the position of chazzan by taking a three-pronged approach. Spiritually, he increases his davening and learning before Rosh Hashana, focusing strongly on the meaning of the tefillos. Mentally, he goes through the machzor and reviews the nusach and niggunim, remembering what works well and what can be improved on. And vocally, he does short exercises, although he is careful to add that he doesn’t obsess over this.

The result is a powerful tefillah that is truly inspiring. For Shlomo himself, the most uplifting part of the tefillah is the Avodah of Yom Kippur. “Going through all the steps of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur with all the vivid descriptions really connects me to the past and the future. It brings the reality and awe of the day to life for me.”

Shlomo says a good ba’al tefillah certainly needs to have a good voice. But he also needs to know the nusach, to be sincere and to have lots of stamina to keep the level of energy high throughout the day.

“At the end of the day,” he says, “knowing that you have caused so many to be uplifted inspires you so much. You know it’s why Hashem gifted you with this ability.”

Selichos night at Chabad Itaim in Brazil



There’s

4,356 miles between Toronto and Brazil but that doesn’t deter Izzie Rosler from making the trip.

During most of the year, he is a mild mannered businessman living in Toronto. But on Yomim Nora’im, Izzie is transformed into a powerful ba’al tefillah leading the davening at Chabad Itaim in Sao Paulo Brazil.

Izzie, who has been davening in various locations for the past thirty eight years, connected to the community in Sao Paulo through his brother-in-law, who is the rabbi of the shul. “I visited him for a simcha and davened for his shul on Shabbos, and the rest is history.”

Thus has he been serving as the chazzan in Brazil for the past eight years.

Izzie is hosted by the rabbi during his stay. “I’m very well taken care of,” he says, “at the rabbi’s warm and inviting home. His yom tov tables are always full with at least 20-30 guests. It’s always a very festive and moving experience.”

Izzie prepares for yom tov by taking refresher voice lessons two months prior to Rosh Hashana. He also reviews and practices the davening in order to put himself in the proper state of mind. His family does not join him in Brazil (“It’s way too expensive!”). Instead, his wife spends yom tov with their married children.

Flying to South America can present its own set of challenges. “One year,” he remembers, “I arrived erev yom tov and the airport employees were on strike.

It was very unnerving. When we landed we were told that nobody could come in or out of the airport. I had no idea how I was going to make it to the shul before yom tov, which could sometimes be a three hour drive in heavy traffic.

“All of a sudden, an officer approached me and asked if I am Izzie Rosler. I said yes and he proceeded to escort me out of the terminal, instructing me to grab a cab. When I asked him why I was so privileged, he simply said, ‘This is Brazil, and for money anything is possible.’ I was astonished at his candor!”

Izzie believes that leading the davening requires a good voice, but that hardly completes the portrait. “I’d have to add that sincerity is an absolute must. These are some of the most significant tefillos of the year, and people are spending the day in shul davening for themselves and their families. They’re looking for a spiritual connection to G-d. They want to leave feeling uplifted and optimistic. They definitely react to sincerity in a very positive way.” 

The shul in Warsaw

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al

By MiRiaM Pasc

Dairy or Pareve Yields 2 pies, each 8-10 servings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

In the years that I’ve been developing and writing recipes, I’ve made a number that have been really popular, some of which you can find in this book. None, however, have been as iconic and popular as my Hot Gooey Caramel Pie. When trying to figure out why this recipe took off so well, I thought about how different this dessert is. While other recipes are exciting takes on familiar ideas and flavors, this one was so unusual and different that I didn’t even know what I was making at first. It started with some ingredients in my pantry that I wanted to use up, and ended with a dessert that I could barely even name — but that everyone raved about.

This pie has been made in numerous countries all over the world, graced many special-occasion tables, and enhanced many meals. And over and over again, fans have raved, “It’s just SO good.”

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

s s e n et e w S h it w v o T m o Y g in t a r b Cele

55

Ingredients 2 sticks (1 cup) butter or trans-fat-free margarine 8 oz. cream cheese or soy cream cheese 1½ cups brown sugar ¼ cup light corn syrup 2 eggs 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1½ cups flour 1 cup caramel chips 2 ready-made graham cracker pie crusts Vanilla ice cream, for serving, optional Caramel Sauce for serving, optional

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

e i P l e m a r a C Hot Gooey

Preparation Heat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of an electric mixer, on medium speed, cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Add brown sugar and corn syrup; beat until smooth and creamy.

Add eggs, baking soda, and vanilla, beating to combine after each addition.

Reduce mixer speed to low; add flour. Beat until combined. Stir in caramel chips.

Divide batter between pie crusts. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the center is just set (it will still be jiggly).

Serve warm with ice cream and caramel sauce (optional).

Note: As the name suggests, the pie is gooey— and it doesn’t cut into the neatest slices when warm. For a fancier presentation, make mini pies (see Variation) or serve it closer to room temperature, when it won’t be as gooey.

Variation: For neater serving, bake in mini graham cracker crusts or ramekins for 22-24 minutes.

Plan Ahead: This pie freezes well in an airtight container. Defrost and reheat before serving.

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

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65

Dairy or Pareve Yield about 3½ dozen Traditional tiramisu is a coffee-flavored dessert, noted for its ladyfingers soaked in espresso. I reinterpreted this fabulous dessert into cakey cookies, packed with coffee flavor and rolled in coffee-soaked ladyfinger crumbs.

Ingredients CRUMBS 1 cup coarse ladyfinger crumbs 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon brewed coffee (or ½ teaspoon instant coffee granule dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water)

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

COOKIE DOUGH ¾ cup oil 4 ounces cream cheese or soy cream cheese 1 cup brown sugar ½ cup sugar ¼ cup espresso or strong coffee (see Note) 1 egg 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 cups flour Preparation Preheat oven to 350°F. line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Prepare the crumbs: combine ladyfinger crumbs, brown sugar, and coffee in a small bowl. Stir until combined. Mixture should have the texture of damp sand.

Set aside.

Prepare the cookie dough: in the bowl of an electric mixer, on medium speed, beat together oil, cream cheese, and sugars until smooth.

Add espresso, egg, baking soda, salt, and vanilla.

Beat until smooth and creamy.

Reduce mixer speed to low; add flour, one cup at a time, beating after each addition, until combined.

Use a medium cookie scoop (or a heaping tablespoon) to portion out dough. Roll into balls; then roll in prepared ladyfinger crumbs until fully coated. Place onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until cookies are set.

Note: you can use 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in ¼ cup hot water instead of espresso.

Plan Ahead: These cookies freeze well in an airtight container or bag. They’re on the soft side, so handle with care when packing them. Defrost fully before serving.

s e i k o o C u s i Tiram

66

Dairy or Pareve Yield 12-14 (6-oz) trifles

Ingredients CHOCOLATE CRUMBS 1 cup flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ²⁄3 cup brown sugar ¹⁄3 cup oil

VANILLA CREAM 1 cup heavy whipping cream or nondairy whip topping ¹⁄3 cup powdered sugar

Note: Use canned pie filling, or use the filling for strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies (on page 118 in Something Sweet), using additional strawberries to replace the rhubarb.

Variation: Substitute a container of strawberry ice cream for the mousse to create an ice cream trifle.

Plan Ahead: These trifles freeze beautifully (see introduction)! Move them into the fridge for a couple of hours before serving to allow them to soften a bit.

Recipes from Something Sweet by Miriam Pascal, reproduced with permission from the copyright holders, ArtScroll/ Mesorah Publications

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

Preparation Prepare the chocolate crumbs: Preheat oven to 375°F. line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. combine all crumb ingredients in a bowl. Mix until combined and the texture of coarse crumbs. (I found it easiest to mix this with my fingers.)

Spread the crumbs in a single layer on prepared baking sheet; bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven; cool completely before assembling the trifles.

Prepare the strawberry mousse: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, on high speed, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Remove whipped cream to another bowl. There’s no need to wash the bowl before continuing. add pie filling, cream cheese, sour cream, and vanilla to mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed until combined and smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture until combined. Set aside.

Prepare the vanilla cream: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until combined. assembly: Place crumbs into a 6-ounce jar or cup, filling it about one-quarter full. Spoon or pipe strawberry mousse over crumbs, filling container a little more than three-quarters full. Pipe on vanilla cream, filling container almost to the top. Repeat with remaining jars.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

STRAWBERRY MOUSSE 1 cup heavy whipping cream or nondairy whip topping 1 cup strawberry pie filling, puréed 8 oz. cream cheese or soy cream cheese ¹⁄3 cup sour cream or soy sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup powdered sugar

s e l f i r T n a it l o p Nea

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

This recipe was created out of necessity. I needed a dessert recipe that looked pretty, traveled well, and could be made ahead and frozen when fully completed. This one fits all of those criteria. It freezes well, can be stored frozen and transported in a sealed jar, looks gorgeous, and tastes great. It was a hit, and surely will be a hit at your parties too!

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

72

Notable Notable Quotes

Quotes

Compiled by Nate Davis

Compiled by Nate Davis

“Say “Say What?” What?”

I saw that during a town hall in Miami this week, Jeb Bush attacked Donald Trump in both Spanish and English.

And later that night, Donald Trump responded in both English and much, much louder English.

– Jimmy Fallon

In an interview with CNN, former Vice President Dick Cheney said that he has no plans to endorse Donald Trump. When asked if he’d have a change of heart, Cheney was like, “Yes, every week.”

- Jimmy Fallon

Trump really signed the pledge with his own name, but take a look at this. He signed it in a Sharpie. Even when he writes, he still goes with the loudest pen possible.

– Ibid

Even Tom Brady is glad he belongs to a union. They had his back. And if Brady needs a union, we definitely need unions.

– President Obama at a union rally in Boston You know, a broken clock is right once a day.

- 2016 GOP candidate Rick Perry during an interview on Fox News

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

While he was in Alaska, President Obama stopped at a cafe and bought out all of their cinnamon rolls for his staff. The staff was like, “Thanks, Obama.” And the guy behind him in line was like, “Yeah, thanks Obama.”

- Jimmy Fallon

According to a new poll, Hillary Clinton has lost a third of her supporters in Iowa since May. There’s still debate as to whether she lost them or just deleted them from her database.

– Jimmy Fallon

El hombre no es conservador.

- GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, using Spanish in a Florida campaign stop to claim that rival Donald Trump is not a true conservative

You will not see the next 25 years.

- Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, talking about Israel during a speech, after President Obama obtained enough Congressional votes to pass their nuclear agreement

A judge overturned Tom Brady’s four-game suspension and will let him play in next week’s opening game. The judge said, “After careful consideration of the evidence from both parties, I rule in favor of my fantasy football team.”

– Jimmy Fallon

President Obama is taking over the White House’s official Instagram account this week to post pictures of his trip to Alaska.

Or to put it another way, President Obama is now your annoying friend on vacation.

– Jimmy Fallon I’m hot! I acknowledge that.

I’m mad! I’m angry!

- VP Joe Biden sounding like “candidate” Joe Biden during a speech in Pittsburgh

Take that, Bibi!

- Tweet by a PBS News anchor after President Obama secured enough votes to pass the Iran deal

I like Jeb. He’s a nice man.

But he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States.

- Donald Trump, responding to Bush’s Spanish comments about him

MORE QUOTES

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59

The president of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, resigned yesterday after a judge ruled to jail him because of a fraud scandal. But today, another judge overruled it, which means that next week Molina will be starting for the New England Patriots.

– Jimmy Fallon

What I had done was allowed, it was aboveboard. But in retrospect, as I look back at it now, even though it was allowed, I should have used two accounts—one for personal, one for workrelated emails. That was a mistake. I’m sorry about that. I take responsibility.

- Hillary Clinton, when asked about the emails in an interview with ABC News, last Tuesday, in a 180 degree change in strategy I wanted you to hear this directly from me: Yes, I should have used two email addresses ... Not doing so was a mistake. I’m sorry about it, and I take full responsibility. ... I know this is a complex story. I could have – and should have – done a better job answering questions earlier. I’m grateful for your support, and I’m not taking anything for granted.

– Email blast sent out by Hillary Clinton as the interview aired Just this week, it took three different interviews in four days for her to beg the puniest of pardons. By any objective measure, the Democratic presidential frontrunner has responded to her email scandal with deflection and deception, shredding her credibility while giving a skeptical public another reason not to trust the institutions of politics and government. An apology doesn’t fix that. An apology also doesn’t answer the scandal’s most important questions.

– Liberal columnist Ron Fournier, National Journal

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says that he thinks only 12 states will decide the presidential election. And if Trump wins, those 12 states will include shock, confusion, outrage, despair, denial, anger, bargaining and finally acceptance.

– Jimmy Fallon

I have not taken a shower in over 12 years. No one did clinical trials on people taking showers every day. So what’s the basis for assuming that that is a healthy practice?

- MIT graduate and chemical engineer David Whitlock, who is part of a research group to determine the benefits of bacteria on the skin

Hire someone to murder him.

- A Boston radio host’s response when asked by his co-host how to get Roger Goodell out of his job as NFL Commissioner

NBC just announced that President Obama will appear on an episode of “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” later this year. Yeah, I guess the episode features Obama roughing it on a golf course that hasn’t been mowed for a couple of days.

– Jimmy Fallon A lot of people are upset that our president is appearing on a reality show. A little over a year from now, we might have a president who hosted a reality show. So get used to it!

– Jimmy Kimmel The State Department just released another batch of Hillary’s e-mails from when she was Secretary of State.

In the e-mails, Hillary asked an aide what time “The Good Wife” was on, how to charge her iPad, and how to get WiFi. Hillary sounds less like the Secretary of State and more like my mom at a hotel.

– Jimmy Fallon

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

Today Donald Trump signed a loyalty pledge to the Republican Party saying that he would endorse for president whoever wins the Republican nomination and would not run as a thirdparty candidate as he has threatened to in the past.

And I’ll tell you something.

When Donald Trump makes a vow, he keeps it. Ask any of his wives, they will tell you.

– Jimmy Kimmel

What I did was allowed.

- Hillary Clinton’s response, last Monday, when asked by AP whether she wants to apologize for using a personal email server while Secretary of State

When you’re here, let’s speak American. I mean, let’s speak English.

– Sarah Palin on CNN, when asked about Jeb Bush addressing Hispanics in Spanish

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

There will be no more flip jokes about her private email server. There will be no rope lines to wall off crowds, which added to an impression of aloofness.

And there will be new efforts to bring spontaneity to a candidacy that sometimes seems wooden and overly cautious.

- Leaked portion of Hillary Clinton campaign memo, obtained by the New York Times, indicating that Hillary “plans” on being more “spontaneous” on the campaign trail

Trump is doing pretty well in the polls right now, and he’s pretty confident. Which may be why he’s said he doesn’t plan on running campaign ads that attack the other candidates. When asked who the ads would attack instead, he said, “Their mothers! It’s their fault those losers are here to begin with!”

– Jimmy Fallon

THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME

Donald Trump is facing criticism for refusing to name his favorite Bible verse. In Trump’s defense, it’s hard to be a fan of the Bible when three out of the seven deadly sins helped him get to where he is today. “Pride, greed and wrath have served me very well.”

– Jimmy Fallon

60

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61

The Halacha Corner Reviewed by Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz Av Bais Din of Baltimore Bais Din

By Rabbi Yosef Wagner Kollel Avodas Levi

Which obligations will sheviis cancel?

Sheviis is mishamet all loans even if a heter iska was written.2 It applies to items as well as money. For example sheviis will be mishamet borrowed food items like eggs where a new egg is given in place of the borrowed one.3 If a person sold an item to his friend, and the money wasn’t paid at the time of the sale, sheviis would be

Which obligations will sheviis not cancel?

Sheviis is not mishamet a pikadon (money deposited to be watched).9 A bank should write a pruzbul because the money given to a bank isn’t a pikadon, as they can lend out the money

1 Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat (“CM”) 67:1 2 Shulchan Aruch CM 67:3 and Shemitas Kisafim Vipruzbul by Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 203 3 Derech Emuna 9:2 by Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Items that are returned as is, such as a bike are not subject to sheviis.

4 Sema CM 67:27 and Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 160-163 5 Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 167 and pg 231 cites the position of Rav Elyashuv that a check is just permission to collect and therefore the money isn’t considered as paid.

6 Iggros Moshe 2:15 rules that a check is payment (tashlum) even if not yet deposited because it is illegal to cancel the check.

7 Shulchan Aruch CM 67: 15 8 Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 234-236 9 Rema 67:9

deposited to them.10 Sheviis is not mishamet a monetary obligation between two partners who do business together and owe each other money. The partners never lent each other money rather the money is viewed as a pikadon.11 Sheviis would not be mishamet a loan if the repayment is due after sheviis.12 ing

Practical Mechanics of Comply-

According to the Shulchan Aruch, a Bais Din chashuv (expert judges) is necessary to write a pruzbul.13 The Rema argues and holds that any three men will suffice.14 The Bais Din should be sitting while the lender should be standing.15 Some poskim are stringent that the judges should not be related to each other or the lender,16 while others are lenient.17 A pruzbul can be done at night according to most poskim18 and in any language.19 If the borrower doesn’t own or 10 Rav Tzvi Kohen 144-148. See Yichave Daas 4 64 who says that a bank only needs one pruzbul even if there are many owners.

11 Shulchan Aruch CM 67: 4 12 Shulchan Aruch CM 67:10. Kitzos Hachosen 67:4 says that if one lends money within thirty days of Rosh Hashana without stipulating when the money is to be paid back, sheviis would be mishamet. See Tumim 67:16 for explanation. Devar Avrahahm 1: 32:4 argues on Ketzos Hachoshen and brings proof from Yerushalmi.

13 Shulchan Aruch CM 67: 18. The necessity for a Bais Din chashuv is because they are canceling debts and making the loans null.

The Sephardim are accustomed to write the pruzbul in front of a Bais Din chashuv.

14 Rema says that one can be lenient nowadays that sheviis is only rabbinic.

15 Derech Emunah 9: 92 16 Derech Emunah 9: 94 17 Yechave Daas 4 64. The reason for this is because pruzbul isn’t a din (judgment) rather a kinyan (acquisition). See Rav Tzi Kohen 293-294 18 Yechave Daas 4 64. See Yisrael Vhazminim 77:3 who says this is a machlokes.

19 Derech Emuanuh 9: 92

rent land, the lender may have to give the borrower some of his land for the pruzbul to be valid. A Rav should be consulted.

Pruzbul Itself The following is the primary language of the pruzbul codified in the Shulchan Aruch.20 {}‫ {לט‬:‫זה גופו של פרוזבול‬ ‫מוסרני לכם פלוני ופלוני ופלוני‬ ‫הדיינים שבמקום פלוני שכל חוב‬ ‫שיש לי שאגבנו כל זמן שארצה‬ The Sema21 says that the text above should be said in front of the Bais Din, and the following should be the nusach (language) of the written (shtar) pruzbul: ‫במותב תלתא כחדא הוינא ואתא‬ ‫פלוני המלוה ואמר לפנינו מוסר־‬ ‫ וחותמין שלשתן‬,'‫ני לכם פלוני כו‬ ‫’למטה פלוני דיין ופלוני דיין כו‬, There are many different texts of pruzbuls, but they all contain the same main point.22 Additionally, if the lender cannot appear in front of Bais Din there is special text for such a pruzbul.23 Some poskim say one can appoint an agent to write a pruzbul.24 The date should be written on the pruzbul (not all pruzbuls have space for it so it should be written in).25 20 Shulchan Aruch CM 67:19 21 SMA 67: 39 22 Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 365-391 and Rav Reismans Hilchos Ribbis pg 374. Rav Moshe was accustomed to write the short pruzbul found in Shulchan Aruch CM. See Iggros Moshe CM 1:19 ‫יתבתכ השעמל ינאו‬ ‫ע"שו הנשמב שרופמש רצקה חסונ קר‬.

23 Piske Teshuva 67: 3. See Rav Reismans Hilchos Ribbis pg 375.

24 Yechave Daas 4: 64. Chazon Ish wrote a pruzbul through an agent (Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 297).

25 Derech Emuna 9: 119. Some rishonim say that if one doesn’t write the date on the pruzbul, it is invalid but Imrei Yaakov pg 278 on Chaye Adam (17) says one should put the date in the pruzbul lechatchila.

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

mishamet the financial obligation because the money owed to the seller becomes a loan if it is not paid at time of sale. This is only true if the money is due immediately after the sale.

Therefore, generally, when one sells something on credit, and the money is due before sheviis, sheviis would be mishamet.4 According to some opinions, if a buyer gave a seller a check for purchased goods, sheviis would be mishamet if the check wasn’t deposited before sheviis.5 Others argue that giving a check is equivalent to cash.6 According to the opinion that sheviis is mishamet, one would not be able to cash the check after sheviis (unless one wrote a pruzbul).

If one owes a worker money, sheviis is not mishamet the money owed.7 Some halachic authorities say that this is only referring to a worker who works for a certain employer, as opposed to a one time worker when the worker is generally paid right away.

However, if there is a set time when the worker is paid (like monthly etc) and the employer misses the payday, then sheviis would be mishamet.8 So too, sheviis would be mishamet all bills that were sent out like doctor bills.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

In the Torah (Parshas Reeh 15:19) it states, that after the seventh year (“sheviis”) many of ones financial obligations to ones fellow Jew are canceled (“mishamet”). The Torah warns a person not to abstain from lending money to his fellow Jew when the seventh year arrives in fear of not getting paid back. Sefer Hachinuch (Mitzvah 477) says that this mitzvah teaches the Jewish nation to be a giving people and to have trust in Hashem.

The Shulchan Aruch rules that cancellation of debts (“shemitas kesafim”) is still applicable today in all locations. The Rema says that this is the consensus of the rabbinical authorities (“poskim”).1 Therefore one may not collect loans after sheviis.

The sage Hillel created the concept of pruzbul because people were worried about lending money as they might not get paid back and in turn would violate a prohibition of the Torah of not lending money. The definition of the word pruzbul is enactment for the wealthy. The rational is that financial obligations are transferred to Bais Din (rabbinical court), and are not nullified by sheviis. If a pruzbul is written, sheviis will not cancel the loan as this document transfers the financial obligations to Bais Din.

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The Laws of Pruzbul

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

62

The Halacha Corner By when must pruzbul be written?

Sheviis cancels the loans at the end of the seventh year. A pruzbul should be written before26 Rosh Hashana after the seventh year.27 Most people are accustomed to write the pruzbul after hataras nedarim on Erev Rosh Hashana.28 If one lent money after he wrote his pruzbul he should specify that the money should be paid back after Rosh 26 If during bein hashmashos (dusk of right before Rosh Hashana) one remembers that he did not write a pruzbul, he should say in front of three people that he is moser his chovos (gives over his financial obligations) to them and he can collect whenever he wants.

Shaarim Mitzuyanim Bihalacha 181 says that one may do a mesira baal peh (verbal transfer of financial obligations) when one has no other option based upon Rema 67: 20.

27 Shulchan Aruch CM 67: 30. Some halachic authorities including Piskei Teshuva 67 5 (cites Tumim), Shulchan Aruch Harav Hilchos Halva 37 are stringent indifference for the Rosh who says that the pruzbul should be written at the beginning of the year, but most halachic authorities including Aruch Hashulchan 67:17 and Chazon Ish cited in Derech Emunah pg 328 footnote 28 assume the halacha is like the Shulchan Aruch and are not machmir for the Rosh at all. See Derech Emunah 9:25 for more on the opinion of the Rosh.

28 Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 308

Hashana or write another pruzbul.29 If the lender and borrower are in different time zones, one should be stringent and write the pruzbul before sheviis is over of the earlier time.30 Consequences of not preparing or losing a pruzbul If a person lost his pruzbul he is believed if he says he wrote a pruzbul.31 If one did not write a pruzbul he technically cannot collect anything which sheviis is mishamet.32 Therefore it is a good idea for everyone to write a pruzbul (even those people who think they don’t have any unpaid loans should write a pruzbul). If the borrower comes to pay the lender back and the lender didn’t write a pruzbul, the lender should say “mishamet ani.”33 29 Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 308 30 Rav Tzvi Kohen pg 315. Yisrael Vhazmanim 77: 3 says that everything goes after the time zone of the lender. Chazon Ovadia pg 80 says that the halacha follows the opinion to go after the time zone of the lender, but one should be stringent and write the pruzbul before the time zone of the borrower.

31 Shulchan Aruch CM 67: 32. Based on this one would not have to hold onto ones pruzbul once he wrote it. Chazon Ovadiah pg 79 says that one must hold onto to ones pruzbul until Rosh Hashana.

32 This seems to be the accepted practice but see Iggros Moshe CM 2:15.

33 This literally means I cancel. This

If the borrower says he still wants to informs the borrower that the lender didn’t write a pruzbul and the borrower does not have to pay the loan back.

pay, the borrower should say that he is returning the loan as a present.34 34

Shulchan Aruch CM 67: 36

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING OUT PRUZBUL

Below is a pruzbul that is filled out with the date for Erev Rosh Hashana this year. If one chooses to fill out the pruzbul earlier, the date must be adjusted.

The lender should read the part of the pruzbul that is in quotations in front of two male witnesses.

The lender should then write his name (the way he is called for the Torah) in the designated part of the pruzbul.

The witnesses should then sign their names (the way they are called to the Torah) and return the pruzbul to the borrower.

Please note that this pruzbul is acceptable for both Sfardim and Ashkenazim.

Cut here ----------------------------------------------------------‫שטר פרוזבול – לב”ד חשוב שבעיר‬ ‫ביום ראשון בשבת תשעה ועשרים יום לחדש אלול שנת חמשת אלפים ושבע מאות‬ ‫ושבעים וחמש לבריאת העולם למנין שאנו מנין כאן מתא באלטימאר במדינת מערילנד‬ (name of lender) _______________________ ‫בא‬ ‫ואמר לפנינו "הריני מוסר לדיינים של הבית דין דבאלטימאר הרב משה היינעמאן‬ ".‫והרב יעקב האפפער והרב מרדכי שוחטוביץ שכל חוב שיש לי שאגבנו כל זמן שארצה‬ .‫ועל כל זה באנו על החתום ביום כ"ט אלול תשע"ה לפ"ק‬ ‫נאום _______________________________עד‬ ‫נאום _______________________________עד‬

B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M

Artscroll Book Review A Machzor for Every Need: The ArtScroll “Machzor Shop” So who, and what, are you davening for, as we anticipate the coming new year on this Rosh Hashanah? The child next door, battling a difficult illness? Your beautiful, talented niece, still looking for her zivug after years of fruitless shidduchim? Your chavrusa, unemployed for more than a year? Or maybe you’re thinking more globally, of a world where no place seems to be safe from the scourge of terror? Of Iran, gleefully counting its newfound billions?

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ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd. wishes all of our readers, and all of Klal Yisrael, a kesivah v’chasimah tovah, and a happy and healthy new year.

63

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