Boro Park Buzz #151 Mar 17 2019

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Volume 6, Issue 151 March 17th 2019

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The Shmuz on the Parsha

Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier

Ours Is to Question Why…

Parshas Tzav “And Aharon and his sons carried out all the matters that HASHEM commanded through Moshe.” — Vayikra 8:36 After a long and detailed description of the avodah (service) to be done in the Mishkan, the parshah ends by telling us that “Aharon and his sons did as they were told.”

Rashi seems to be bothered by how obvious this statement is. Of course Aharon did what HASHEM told him to do! Why is it necessary to say so? Rashi explains that the Torah includes it as a statement of praise: Aharon and his sons didn’t veer off to the right or to the left.

This Rashi is difficult to understand.

It doesn’t seem like he answered his question. Of course, Aharon didn’t veer off to the left or the right. This was the avodah in the Mishkan that he was performing, and the directives came straight from

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HASHEM. Would he possibly think that he knew better than HASHEM how to perform the service? If that wasn’t reason enough, the Torah tells us repeatedly that the punishment for a Kohen who deviates from the avodah is death.

Imagine a man working with high voltage electrical equipment. He has been given clear safety instructions. Make sure the power is off before you switch on the transformer. Make sure that you are wearing protective gloves and that you are grounded. Wouldn’t we expect him to follow every nuance because of the danger involved?

So what type of praise is this? The answer to this question can be best understood with an example.

In the image of HASHEM There is a story told about an Englishman who visited a farm in Texas in the 1880’s. As he approached the ranch, he saw a cowboy herding the cows. He asked to see the cowboy’s boss. In doing so, he used an expression common in England then: “Is your master at home?”

The cowboy put both hands on his hips and proclaimed, “The son of a gun ain’t been born yet.”

This anecdote is illustrative of a very To advertise, call 718-513-9885

human trait: we don’t like to be bossed around. In fact, we hate it. I’ll gladly help you, I’ll do anything for you — but ask nicely. Boss me around and forget it. I’m out of here.

This isn’t just a quirk of human nature.

It’s a direct outgrowth of man’s inherent greatness.

Chazal explain that when the Torah writes that HASHEM created man in His image, it isn’t merely an expression. Man is both the reason for all of existence and the maintainer of it. Everything physical has a spiritual counterpart sustaining it.

HASHEM put man into the role of being the one who upholds the spiritual level of the world. His actions, deeds, and thoughts build upper worlds and sustain the lower worlds. Our eyes may not be attuned to it, but man is the maintainer of physicality. He is more significant than we can ever imagine, more important than anything we can envision. He is a little creator.

Bosses don’t like being bossed around While this greatness of soul allows man to reach dizzying heights, it also comes with a liability. It is very difficult for us to follow orders. Even when we know that they are right. Even when we

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know that they are good for us. Even when those orders are given by the greatest of all greats, by the Creator of the heavens and the earth. We don’t like taking orders.

This seems to be the answer to the question on Rashi.

Aharon was one of the greatest men who ever lived, and he had a high and lofty sprit. As such, it should have been very difficult for him to follow orders. For him, “doing as he was told” should have been very hard. Nevertheless, it wasn’t. He was exceedingly humble, so he was able to recognize his greatness and act in a bold and innovative manner when it was called for, yet accept that HASHEM was in charge. As great as he was, he was but a servant in front of his Master. He had overcome one of the paramount challenges to man — recognizing his greatness yet remaining humble.

Understanding this balance is critical for our growth. The Torah wasn’t given to robots, or for people to follow it blindly without understanding. We are expected to ask questions and delve into the reasoning behind things. We are obligated to strain our minds to the best of our ability in the process. And yet, we are expected to yield to the superior wisdom of our Creator and to humbly submit to His directives. Ours is to question why, and yet ours it to do or die.

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Loving Our Teens Unconditionally

by Emuna Braverman

A

lthough my kids are now older, I don’t think the trauma of those years of parenting teenagers ever leaves you. So I was still intrigued by an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “The Right Way for Parents to Question their Teenagers”.

What was their advice? “Younger adolescents, ages 13-14, report being less likely to disclose personal information to their parents if they seemed preoccupied, distrusting, dismissive or prone to emotional outbursts.” Really? On the other hand, “when parents were accessible and calm, gave good advice and offered reciprocal disclosures about their own lives, these teens reported being more apt to talk.” Is this a new and innovative idea?

Their basic conclusion, quoting Kenneth Ginsburg, co-founder of the Center for Parent and Teen Communication at CHOP, “the parents who know the most and who have the most influence over their child’s academics and behaviors aren’t the ones who ask lots of questions. They are often the ones who are the least reactive and who express warm, unconditional love and support.”

“Duh” is what I really want to say.

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But after some thought, I toned down my scorn because the reality is that even though most of us recognize these ideas to be true, and many of us may have reached this conclusion without the benefit of scientific research, the implementation of these strategies is where the difficulty lies.

And that’s why we need the reminder.

That’s why we need the affirmation that this approach works. Because it’s not instinctive. We tend to react emotionally, we tend to get frustrated, we tend to be critical, we tend to engage in power struggles. In other words, we tend to do all the wrong things, despite the evidence to the contrary. And despite what our own mind tells us.

Because so much is at stake. Because we may feel hurt. Because we may feel attacked. Because we may feel concerned.

Or frightened. Because we care so much.

Our children need to know that we are a safe place, a place where they can express themselves without fear of condemnation, where they can voice their own fears and anxieties and feel understood and reassured. This is a tall order for us parents. We have our own fears and anxieties. But, like it or not, someone has to be the adult in the room.

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put their own insecurities aside and be there for their children. It’s a tough job, but wittingly or not, it’s actually the one we signed up for.

The good news is that the same experts remind us that our adolescents do want us to set appropriate boundaries (yes the debate over the word “appropriate” may be the arena where all those aforementioned emotions come into play), they want us to communicate concerns and have high expectations. It’s the way we do it that counts. I think many of us have found the “I trust you; it’s the other drivers I don’t trust” technique to be an effective one (even if it bends the truth slightly!).

Our teenagers know how to push our buttons but we can’t allow them to be pushed. Keeping our relationship healthy and vibrant and creating an atmosphere where they feel comfortable talking to us is so much more important than asserting our authority. I’m not saying it’s easy – we have many other demands or our lives and their behavior doesn’t always make us feel warm and cozy towards them. But it’s what we’ve got to do.

It may be what we already know, but it’s acting upon what we know that will define us – and our relationship with our children – for years to come.

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How to open the lines of communication with your teenaged kids.

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Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel

Renaissance Man

by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller

An advisor to kings, Rabbi Don Yitzchak Abarbanel dedicated his life to helping Jews in Europe.

I

n the late Middle Ages, the learned members of the Jewish Abarbanel family emerged as advisors to kings and princes. As the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance, one scion of the Abarbanel family – Rabbi Don Yitzchak Abarbanel – emerged as a true Renaissance man. Scholar, religious leader, philanthropist, diplomat, banker and royal advisor, few figures in European history can match Rabbi Yitzchak’s erudition and greatness – and his concern for his fellow Jews.

Rabbi Yitzchak’s father, Rabbi Judah Abarbanel, was an advisor to a local Spanish ruler, King Henry, who ruled in the city of Castile. King Henry relied heavily on Judah’s good advice and resisted calls by Catholic leaders to persecute the Jews in his kingdom. But the relative peace of that region’s Spanish Jews was shattered when a charismatic populist emerged, preaching hatred against Jews.

Ferrand Martinez, a local monk and royal confessor, hated Spain’s Jews and

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lost no time in fanning the flames of hatred in his fellow Christians. He would preach against Jews, then lead a mob from town to town, attacking Jewish quarters, breaking into synagogues, and threatening to kill Jews unless they converted on the spot. Seville, Cordova, Toledo and many smaller towns were all attacked by Martinez’s mobs, and the region began to empty of its Jews.

Rabbi Judah Abarbanel fled along with many of his compatriots, settling in neighboring Portugal where his innate talents once again caught the eye of the local royal rulers. Judah became a favorite advisor to King Alfonso V of Portugal. Wealthy and secure at last, he was able to provide a solid education for his brilliant young son Yitzchak.

Yitzchak mastered many languages with ease and excelled in Jewish studies and philosophy. He began to write books about some of the most fundamental questions in Jewish thought, addressing issues such as the nature of prophecy.

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He a l s o composed commentaries on the Torah.

Yitzchak became a rabbi like his father.

Eventually, he was forced to abandon his full-time studies when King Alfonso demanded he join his father in working for the royal family and appointed Yitzchak treasurer of the royal court of Portugal.

In the Royal Court of Portugal Rabbi Yitzchak advised the king well and helped Portugal grow in importance and prestige. He never forgot his Jewish brethren and was always on the outlook for ways to ease the many burdens placed on the Jewish community in what was often a harsh, Catholic land. In 1471, when King

Alfonso captured a town in Morocco, he placed the town’s 250 up for sale as slaves. Rabbi Yitzchak sprang into action. He knew it would be impossible to change the king’s mind about the sale, so he offered his own money and raised additional funds among Portugal’s Jews to purchase the slaves himself and then free them. For two years afterwards, Rabbi Yitzchak personally supported these 250 Moroccan Jews, until they’d learned to speak Portuguese and had settled into jobs and occupations.

When King Alfonso died in 1481, Portugal became markedly less tolerant of Jews. The old king’s son, King John II, accused many of his father’s old advisors of plotting against him. He summoned a host of advisors and ministers to his palace, including Rabbi Yitzchak. Rabbi Yitzchak was on his way to meet the new king when a friendly informer stopped him with horrifying news: as each royal advisor approached the palace, they were seized and then beheaded. Rabbi Yitzchak lost no time, turning around on the spot and trying to flee with his wife and children to Spain.

Torah Commentary

The family settled in Toledo.

There, the uprooted family found themselves bereft, penniless and without connections. Rabbi Yitzchak started working for a Jewish banking company and spent his free time writing commentaries on the Torah. These beautiful, insightful works continue to be studied widely today.

Rabbi Hersh Goldwurm zt”l explained the enduring nature of Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel’s appeal: “Abarbanel’s literary output was voluminous and multi-faceted…

Abarbanel is unique among Jewish Bible commentators in that he does not hesitate to quote the comments of Christian exegetes such as Jerome, Nicholas de Lyre, and others, sometimes even accepting their views. A striking feature of Abarbanel’s works...is their comprehensiveness. One can

Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel desperately worked to make his communities a safer, better place for Europe’s battered, persecuted Jews.

expect to find in them, on any topic, a comprehensive digest of...views.”

(Quoted in The Early Acharonim, compiled and edited by Rabbi Hersh Goldwurm. Mesorah Publications Ltd.: 2008.)

The Abarbanels’ peaceful life in Toledo came to an end in the year 1484, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain commanded Rabbi Yitzchak to become their royal treasurer, reprising the career he’d once performed with distinction in Portugal.

Rabbi Yitzchak could hardly refuse a royal order but he might have had a secondary reason to comply. The feared Spanish priest Tomas de Torquemada was now head of the Inquisition in Spain and he was leading the charge to root out secret Jews who’d pledged loyalty to the Catholic Church out of fear, but who retained a Jewish lifestyle in secret.

These secret Jews were subject to horrific torture and murder. Historians speculate that Rabbi Yitzchak thought that by becoming close to Spain’s royal rulers, he might use his influence to blunt the harshest decrees and laws against Jews.

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Ferdinand and Isabella

While Rabbi Yitzchak did become a vital advisor to Ferdinand and Isabella, they were ardent supporters of the Inquisition and seem to have had personal antipathy to Jews. Rabbi Yitzchak served as Queen Isabella’s personal financial agent and raised the money that she and Ferdinand needed to capture the city of Grenada and complete the unification of Spain as a single, Christian country under their rule. Instead of being grateful for his role in their victory, Ferdinand and Isabella turned on Rabbi Yitzchak and the rest of Spain’s Jews. They issued a decree: in 1492, only Christians would be allowed to reside in Spain. Any Jews who refused to convert would be forced to leave.

Rabbi Yitzchak pleaded with the royal couple to avert this decree, to no avail. He offered to raise vast sums of money for the royal court if only the Jews could stay. Ferdinand and Isabella were unmoved. They told Rabbi Yitzchak that if he converted to Christianity he could remain and keep his position in the royal court. Rabbi Yitzchak told them that was impossible.

On the solemn Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av in the Jewish year 5252 (July 30, 1492), Rabbi Yitzchak and his family joined tens of thousands of other Spanish Jews at the nation’s ports, crowding onto ships to take them away from Spain. Many of these desperate refugees were taken advantage of, sold into slavery or even thrown overboard by unscrupulous ship captains. Rabbi Yitzchak and his family managed to make it to the town of Naples.

When King Ferdinand heard that Spanish Jews were landing in that Italian city, he sent word to the local king of Naples (also named Ferdinand) demanding he deny Jews entry. King Ferdinand of Naples refused to be cowed, and allowed the Jews to settle in his domain. Rabbi Yitzchak had hoped to work full time on writing his Torah commentaries again, but the king of

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No Rest He became treasurer and royal advisor to King Ferdinand of Naples, as well as his son, King Alfonso II, when he succeeded his father in 1494. Rabbi Yitzchak’s travails were not over. In 1495, Naples fell to France and King Alfonso II fled to the Mediterranean island of Sicily. Rabbi Yitzchak and his family went with the deposed king, continuing to serve him in exile.

He was by now in late middle age but his wanderings never ceased. When King Alfonso II died, Rabbi Yitzchak moved to the Mediterranean island of Corfu where he lived in poverty, writing and studying and working on his voluminous writings. He moved back to Naples, then later to Venice where the city elders invited him to

King Alfonso appointed Yitzchak treasurer of the royal court of Portugal. become a government official. Ever the dazzling statesman, Rabbi Yitzchak eventually rose to become one of the rulers of the Venetian Republic. He died in 1509, a celebrated and famous

Venetian. Leading members of Venice’s government attended his funeral, in the Italian town of Padua, which was then home to a large Jewish population and contained a Jewish cemetery.

In his commentary on the famous Biblical story when Jacob confronts his brother Esau (who has vowed to kill him), the Abarbanel noted that Jacob feared Esau and “his fear was like that of a real hero who, going to battle, is afraid of death and senses the danger, but out of noble motives scorns life and chooses a brave death…” (Quoted in New Studies in Bereshit by Nehama Leibowitz). This nuanced description of our patriarch Jacob’s feelings might reflect the dramatic realities of Rabbi Yitzchak’s life as well. Time and again, he faced danger and the threat of death. Yet throughout his long life, Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel went into battle, immersing himself in public life, desperately working to make his communities a safer, better place for Europe’s battered, persecuted Jews.

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lhan Omar, the Benjamins and Purim Today

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

The Purim story’s warning of enemies who seek our destruction assumes such powerful relevance today.

G

eorge Elliott is credited with saying, “History repeats itself.” Mark Twain sharply improved on it with his observation that “history doesn’t repeat itself – but it does rhyme.” No matter how much things may change, one constant always remains: the Hamans of the world, the Jew haters who seek “to destroy, to murder and to bring to an end all Jews, from young to old”, are somehow forever with us.

It was foretold in the Torah. In the first battle against Amalek, prototype of the anti-Semite throughout the ages, we are informed that although the Jews won the fight, Joshua only “weakened” our enemy. Amalek survived. He continues to plague us in many disguises – masks which have become part of Purim ritual to remind us that people often conceal their true intentions under the guise of noble

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goals even as they plot the genocide of our people.

What happened in Shushan is the story of our people throughout the ages. It isn’t just ancient Persia, the persecutions and the pogroms of the Middle Ages or even the Holocaust of the 20 th century.

Tragically it is the story once again of our own times. Not only Persia/Iran but sophisticated France, cultured England, educated Europe and the rest of the “civilized world” are again proving the truth of Elie Wiesel’s insight that “the only thing we have learned from history is that we do not learn anything from history.”

As we recall the Purim story once again, its warning of enemies who seek our destruction assumes such powerful relevance even here in the United States today.

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the Jews in Persia of old. When King Achashverosh celebrated his ascent to the throne he threw a huge party to which all were invited. Jews were welcome guests. The drinking was in accord with people’s different faiths. In retrospect, a bill decrying hatred against any and all minority groups would almost certainly have passed in the Persian Congress. Yet it only took a short while for Haman to turn his strategy of genocide into national policy.

What was the key to Haman’s success?

His speech is recorded in the Megillah: And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and separate among the peoples throughout all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws differ from [those of] every people, and they do not keep the king’s laws; it is [therefore] of no use for the king to let them be (Book of Esther 3:8).

Mordechai and Esther are the heroes of the Purim story because they refused to cower before those who sought to destroy our people.

They spoke out against their Haman with all of their strength

The Jews have dual loyalty!

That is their crime. Ilhan Omar didn’t invent the brilliant lie.

It’s always been Amalek’s secret weapon. Hitler knew it. Stalin knew it. Read the Torah on the way in which Pharaoh was able to turn the Egyptians against the Hebrews – the same Egyptians who had been saved by the wisdom of Joseph – and you will find the similar strategy: “ He said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we are. Get ready, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they increase, and a war befall us, and they join our enemies and wage war against us and depart from the land’” (Exodus 2:9 – 10).

Winston Churchill famously said, “A lie gets halfway around the world before truth puts on its boots.” The lie of Jewish dual loyalty is perpetuated by the Hamans of history even as Jews wherever they reside prove the truth of the promise given by G-d to Abraham that “I will bless those who bless you.”

Purim, happily, is not merely the story of anti-Semitism; it is the biblical record of a major victory over a nefarious anti-Semite. And perhaps the most ironic part of the story is a truth made famous these past few weeks by a contemporary Jew hater.

Ilhan Omar is right; “It’s all about the Benjamins.”

For Omar “the Benjamins” – a reference to American hundreddollar bills – was her despicable insinuation that Jews, as the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion long ago put it, control the world behind the scenes with their money.

For the Book of Esther, “the Benjamin” was revealing to us at the outset that Mordechai was “Ish Yemini”, from the tribe of Benjamin. And why was that so significant? The rabbis explain that was the reason Mordechai was able to counter Haman’s libel and to demonstrate to us throughout the ages how best to overcome our enemies.

While others bowed down to Haman, Mordechai refused. It was a trait he inherited genetically. The rabbis tell us that when Jacob met with his brother Esau he bowed down to him. According to some commentaries, it was a sin for which he would be held accountable. And 11 of Jacob’s sons bowed down as well. Only Benjamin, who was not yet born, did not bow. And so Mordechai, a direct descendent of Benjamin, maintained the tradition of his ancestor.

The man who would not bow down to an enemy in humble submission is the one who encouraged Esther to similarly stand proudly and firmly, without embarrassment or fear, and speak up on behalf of our people. “Who knows,” he told her, “if not for a time such as this have you been placed in this position of rulership.”

Mordechai and Esther are the heroes of the Purim story because they refused to cower before those who sought to destroy our people.

They spoke out against their Haman with all of their strength.

It’s all about the Benjamins and those who refuse to remain silent when enemies again plot “the final solution” for Israel and for our people.

Maybe it isn’t a coincidence that all this is happening at the very time Jews around the world are celebrating Purim. History records not only the recurring story of antiSemites and anti-Semitism. It also confirms the Divine intervention that has invariably assured our survival. And this miracle – in the one biblical book in which G-d’s name isn’t mentioned even once – is a miracle we desperately need today: The miracle of Jews, aware of the threat to their survival, who put aside their differences, united in the face of a common enemy, and collectively recognize that it must’ve been for “a time such as this” that we are given the opportunity to partner with G-d.

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Age of the Universe: One Approach

by Daniel Friedmann

Is the universe 13.8 billion years old or 5,779 years old?

I

s the universe 13.8 billion years old as scientists say, or 6,000 years old, as many interpreters of Genesis say?

Scientists look at the cosmos; they measure something that they assume came about naturally and try to determine its age. Let’s take an example.

We look at the sun, and we can measure with satellites exactly how much hydrogen and helium are in the sun today. We also know – assuming that everything came about naturally – how much hydrogen and helium were present at the very beginning of the universe. Finally, we understand the nuclear reaction that converts hydrogen into helium, which is what the sun is doing, so we can tell how long it takes for a certain amount of hydrogen

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to change into helium. Therefore, if we know how much hydrogen there was at the beginning, how much hydrogen there is now, and how long it takes to convert that much hydrogen into helium, we can calculate that to have today’s ratios of hydrogen and helium, the sun had to burn for 4.5 billion years.1 Other methods are used in other areas of science, but they are all similar: you assume everything happens naturally, you measure something, and you calculate to see how long it would take for that change to have happened.

Now in Torah, it’s a very different story. In Torah, the timeline is clear: we have the six days of Creation, followed by 5,779 years as of 2019 – because Rosh To advertise, call 718-513-9885

Hashanah, Adam’s birthday, was Day 6, and from Day 6 to today, we count using the Jewish calendar.

But the Torah assumption is not that things started from the beginning. The Torah says very clearly that things are made ready to use – in their final form.

That’s what “and it was good” in Genesis means – it was ready for us to use.

For example, Adam was not made as a little fetus. He was made as a 20-yearold, as the Midrash2 tells us, and it is clear from Genesis that he was a grown person, that he could make decisions and sin and so on.

The trees in the Garden of Eden were made such that if Adam had cut one down, he could have counted the rings and found,

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sun. And if you make that assumption, the result is correct; the parameter would take that long to appear. But Torah is saying no, everything was made ready to use.

This means the scientific measurement is right, the Torah description is right, and the universe is 6,000 years old,4 it’s just that we’re measuring things that would lead you to believe it is billions of years old.

This article is part of a new series of short articles on Torah and science, two ways to study G-d’s creation. For an indepth view, read the author’s book The Genesis One Code.

Now in Torah, it’s a very different story.

In Torah, the timeline is clear: we have the six days of Creation, followed

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say, 100 rings that made the tree look like it was 100 years old. But it wasn’t, because it had just been made, ready to use.

In a similar manner, when the sun was made on Day 4, it was ready to use, meaning it had the current composition of hydrogen and helium Everything was made ready to use and just appears to be old because it was created to look that way.3 So what we have here is science assuming that everything happened naturally from some beginning and measuring not the age, but some parameter that would take that long to appear – like the amount of hydrogen and helium in the

HAD ENOUGH?

By: Dr. Ofir Isaac PT, MS, DPT

ENOUGH Cortisone Injections, Gel Shots, Orthopedic Consults and MRI’s?

ENOUGH popping ibuprofen like candy just to get make it through your daily activities?

ENOUGH worrying that you’ll never be able to stay active with your child or chase after your grandchild fearing your joint or muscle pain will act up and cripple you again?

BEFORE YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING YOU LOVE IN YOUR LIFE Just because “everyone” says there’s no solution but surgery or resting the joint forever…

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4 KEEP EXERCISING WITH BONE ON BONE ARTHRITIS OR ROTATOR CUFF TEARS… Because you are not your MRI or XRAY findings, You are a connected body of tissues that need real healing, and you need this treatment no matter what your doctor said to scare you into surgery…

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Surprising Purim Recipes

by Elizabeth Kurtz

Spice things up with these creative, yummy dishes.

Purim is a time to spice things up and entertain in a more festive or creative way. I like to serve creative dishes that don’t usually fall into my traditional menus. I also love using special ingredients and flavor combinations that guests love but cannot always identify. These recipes will both delight and surprise everyone. Happy Purim!

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Lamb Hand Pies Lamb Hand PiesServes 4, doubles well, if preferred use ground beef 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 3 tablespoons dried currants 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon tomato paste ¾ teaspoon ground cumin ¾ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric ½ pound ground lamb 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes ⅓ cup frozen peas 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley Store Bought or Homemade Pie Dough or puff pastry squares All-purpose flour (for surface) 1 large egg, beaten to blend Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bring vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Add currants; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high.

Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until browned and softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomato paste, cumin, ginger, cardamom, and turmeric and cook until fragrant and sticky, about 1 minute. Add lamb and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Stir in peas; cook until bright green, about 5 minutes. Drain reserved currants and add to lamb along with parsley. Let cool.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 12” squares.

Cut each into 4 squares; transfer to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Spoon filling onto one side of squares, leaving ½” border. Brush edges with egg and fold dough over filling. Press to seal; crimp with a fork. Cut a few vents in tops; brush with egg. Bake until pies are golden brown, 30–35 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Do Ahead: Filling can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

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Spiced Chickpea Soup Spiced Chickpea SoupServes 8 – 10 The soup pictured has a bit of Sriracha (spicy red sauce) swirled into the soup, giving it a redder appearance. Without the sauce, the soup is whiter in color.

3 tablespoons canola oil ½ cup diced onion 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon garam masala (spice mixture available in major markets) 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes ½ cup apple juice 1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock ½ cup cilantro ½ teaspoon kosher salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper Garnish, if desired drizzle with chili oil or S’rirachi sauce, chickpeas, paprika or chopped tomatoes Heat an 8 – 10 quart soup pot over medium heat. Add oil, then onions and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, garam masala and ginger, and stir for 1 – 2 minutes. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, apple juice, coconut milk and stock. Bring soup to a boil, then lower to simmer and cook, uncovered for 8 – 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add cilantro. With an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. Add salt and pepper. If too thick, add some additional stock.

Serve warm. Drizzle with garnish, if desired.

This soup freezes well.

To make homemade garam masala: 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 ½ teaspoons coriander 1 ½ teaspoons cardamom 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon nutmeg

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Tiramisu Parfaits Tiramisu ParfaitsServes 10 1 store-bought or homemade pound cake, cut into 1-inch pieces Espresso Syrup 1 cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso ¼ cup sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Cream Layer 6 egg yolks ¾ cup sugar 1 tablespoon water 1 ¾ cup tofutti cream cheese or mascarpone cheese 3 tablespoons dark rum 1 cup pareve whipping cream or whipping cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Garnish Ground cinnamon or cinnamon sticks Cocoa powder Equipment 10 shot glasses or demitasse cups For the espresso syrup: In a small bowl, combine espresso and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stir in vanilla and set syrup aside.

For the cream layer: In a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and water. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water, and continue to whisk constantly, until mixture thickens and is hot to touch, about 7 minutes. Immediately scrape mixture into cold bowl. Cover and refrigerate mixture until cooled, 15 minutes.

In a bowl of electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in cooled egg yolk mixture and rum and mix until fully blended.

In a separate bowl of electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat cram and vanilla at high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold into cream cheese mixture.

To assemble: Place one piece of cake into bottom of shot glasses and brush generously with espresso syrup. Top with layer of cream. Add another piece of cake, brush generously with espresso syrup and more cream. Continue until glass is full, ending with cream on top. Top with a dusting of cinnamon and cocoa powder.

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Delight and excite with a Shaloch Manos tray they'll keep.

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Illustrated by Chana Eisenstein

The Ibn Ezra agreed to be the Rambam’s guest…

Rav Avrohom refuses to accept tzedakah. However, if he finds money lying on the ground, he will certainly take that… I will scatter coins on the ground on the path leading to the beis medrash right before he leaves.

That way he will be helped.

From here I’ll be able to observe him taking the money.

This is truly difficult…

Rebbe, it’s time for you to leave to the palace.

Ah, in a few minutes he’ll pass by.

He didn’t even notice the money I’ve prepared for him!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY KIDALINGO MAGAZINE:

Illustrated by Chana Eisenstein What happened to you? Why are you walking around with closed eyes? Is something the matter with your eyes?

No. My eyesight is perfect, boruch Hashem.

So why were you walking with your eyes closed?

This morning I mused, “Why should I lament my poverty?" Hashem granted me so many gifts! Like my eyesight, for example!

To be able to appreciate the enormous good Hashem has bestowed upon me that I have healthy eyesight, I decided to walk through the small, narrow street with my eyes shut, like a blind person. That way I will be able to value the great chessed that I can see with my eyes.

Hashem leads a person according to his desires! You didn’t want to be the beneficiary of gifts, so Hashem guided you so that you shouldn’t notice the money….

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Illustrated by Chana Eisenstein

Several days later, the Ibn Ezra is still a guest at the Rambam’s home…

My eyes have started burning terribly. I cannot see properly and my eyes are tearing. I will ask the Rambam to examine my eyes.

Bring him to the goat barn at once! Lock the door so that he shouldn’t be able to leave!

Many hours have already gone by and I am still imprisoned in here.

Why? What have I done wrong?

What will be?

Hashem, hear my cry! Take me out of here!

What did I do to deserve to be locked up with the goats? The Rambam has certainly seen with ruach hakodesh that I have committed some terrible aveirah and is therefore punishing me this way.

What have I done that you have imprisoned me in here?

I beg forgiveness from you, but I simply had no choice.

Let me inquire first how your eyes feel.

Ah, I wasn’t concentrating, but the truth is, the burning sensation has completely vanished and my eyesight has greatly improved.

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Illustrated by Chana Eisenstein Boruch Rofei cholim! Your eyes have healed completely!

How did that occur?

Does the air of a goat barn heal eyes?

Now that you have seen how you were healed, I beg of you to forgive me for the pain I have caused you.

Not the goats, but your tears! I realized that the only cure for your eyes was to cry for many hours. I had no other way to cause you to cry…

And Hashem should help you that you should never again experience any pain or illness.

After a short time, the two Torah giants parted. The Ibn Ezra traveled to other countries, but the Rambam remained in Egypt. However, their holy seforim continue to grace the shelves of every Jewish home.

The poems of the holy Ibn Ezra are sung every Shabbos and Yom Tov, including the famous and beautiful poem “Tzamah lecha nafshi.”

To be continued...

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