Flatbush Buzz #138 October 14 2018

n Flatbush/Marine Park Editio

Brooklyn’s only Door to Door Magazine Flatbush - Marine Park - Boro Park - Williamsburg

Bringing you the Buzz! on Savings & Events

Volume 6, Issue 138 October 14th 2018

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The Shmuz on the Parsha

Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier

Parshas Lech Lichah

The Five Star Hotel Called Life “After these matters, HASHEM appeared to Avram in a dream and said, “Do not fear, Avram. I will guard you. Your reward is great.” Bereishis 16:1

W

hen Avrohom Avinu was informed that his nephew, Lot, was captured, against all odds and in a most courageous manner, he waged war against the combined armies of the four kings. Miraculously, he was victorious and freed Lot. After these events, HASHEM appeared to Avrohom and said, “Do not fear; your reward is great.” Rashi explains that Avrohom was afraid that since this great miracle had been done for him, he had used up all of his merits and had no reward waiting for him in the World to Come. HASHEM allayed those fears by saying, “Everything that I have done for you will not cost you. Do not fear; your reward is great.”

This Rashi is very difficult to understand. How is it possible that a man as great Avrohom could have thought that he used up all of his reward? After years and years of serving HASHEM, surely the reward waiting for him was phenomenal.

The answer to this is based on viewing life from a different vantage point.

Sedona, Arizona. This is the ultimate Pesach extravaganza. No expense is spared; the guests are showered with every imaginable luxury and amenity. A five-star hotel, French chefs, an 18-hole golf course on premises – the best of the best. You graciously accept and are ready to have the time of your life. But as it turns out, by the time Pesach comes around, things at work aren’t going well, and lately you’ve been fighting with your wife, as a result, you’re in the worst mood you’ve ever been in. For the nine days that you are there, you barely leave your hotel room.

When the vacation is over, your father-in-law approaches the hotel manager, and says, “My son-in-law hardly ate the entire time he was here. He didn’t come to a single gala Kiddush. He didn’t use the golf course. Not once did he step foot in the spa. Normally, I am not the type to complain. But I just can’t see paying the regular rate, so I’ve decided to pay half the bill, and expect you to waive the other half.”

How do you think the hotel representative would respond?

Pesach in Arizona

Earth: A Five Star Hotel

Imagine that your father-in-law invites you to join him for Pesach in

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This planet that we occupy is a fivestar hotel. We have every imaginable

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pleasure and amenity available to us. We enjoy majestic sights and experiences that constantly surround us. From magnificent floral scenes to exotic sea life, from the glory of the night sky to the clear aqua green of the ocean, from a flower in bloom to the plumage of a jungle parrot, all of the pomp and ceremony of a sunrise – a world created in Technicolor.

And more than that, we were given the tools with which to enjoy it. We have legs with which to walk and hands with which to hold. We have ears, a tongue, a nose, and fingers that bring us an astounding array of pleasures from the world around us. We have foods that explode with a burst of different flavors, aromas, textures, and colors. We are surrounded by untold pleasures and riches.

But more than anything, we have been granted the extraordinary privilege called life. We were given this golden opportunity to shape ourselves into what we can be for eternity. Is there any way to measure the value of life? Is it worth a million dollars? Ten million? A hundred billion? Is it even possible to put a value on our existence?

Whether we recognize it for its extraordinary value or not, we are the recipients of an unfathomable amount of

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good. And as such, we owe. From the moment that we are born, the clock starts ticking and the debt begins. For every breath that we breathe, for every pleasure we enjoy, for every moment of our being, the bill increases. We owe our Creator for that which He has given us.

No Free Lunch

Somehow, we assume that all of the pleasures of this world are free – on the house. I certainly won’t be charged for them.

However, the Chovos Ha’Levovos explains that in reality, we do owe for them. They were given to us by HASHEM, and as a result we owe for them.

For this reason, Avrohom was afraid. He made a calculation based on what he received from HASHEM versus what he had given in return, and he came out only slightly ahead. “Now that HASHEM has brought this great miracle for me,” he thought, “what possible reward do I have left? Surely it has been all used up, and there is nothing left for me in the World to Come.”

Avrohom Avinu wasn’t out of touch with reality. Quite the opposite, he was highly attuned to a part of the calculation that we rarely think about—we are not entitled to anything.

HASHEM didn’t have to create us. HASHEM isn’t obligated to shower us with good. Everything that HASHEM gives to us is because He is wants to share of His good with us. Because of this, we owe a debt to HASHEM that can never be repaid.

This perspective should be a major driving force in our serving HASHEM – prompting us to attempt as much as we can to pay back the astounding good that HASHEM constantly bestows upon us.

Rabbi Shafier is the founder of the Shmuz.com – The Shmuz is an engaging, motivating shiur that deals with real life issues.

All of the Shmuzin are available free of charge at www. theShmuz.com or on the Shmuz App for iphone or Android.

Simply text the word “TheShmuz” to the number 313131 and a link will be sent to your phone to download the App.

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A Brief History of Kugel

by Yonah Levi

When it comes to food, few things sound more Jewish than kugel.

W

hen it comes to food, few things sound more Jewish than kugel. It is a side-dish staple of Jewish cuisine and a seudah stalwart but it surprisingly receives little fanfare and often is taken for granted. For many shoppers and meal-makers, kugel is an after-thought, a last-minute supplement just in case the brisket is a catastrophe, the schnitzel is a calamity and the tzimmes is a tragedy. In many ways, kugel is sort of like the friend you invite for a Shabbos meal at the last second but who winds up being the life of the party and stealing the show. In this regard, kugel might be the most underrated and underappreciated aspect of Jewish cuisine.

Many scholars agree that the term “kugel” is a Yiddish term deriving from the German word for ball or globe.

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Apparently, the German version of kugel was spherical in shape but the kugel moniker stuck despite the fact that nowadays most kugels are square or rectangular. By the way, you will not find triangular kugels because that shape is reserved for hamantaschen. You also will not find parallelogram-shaped kugels because you will not find parallelogramshaped tins.

According to some scholars, the kugel of today can be traced back to a dish eaten during Talmudic times known as pashtida, which featured two layers (top and bottom) of dough with a filling.

Some argue that the pashtida, which is mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch (168:17), represented the manna and dew that fell from the sky during the Jews’ forty years in the desert. One could argue that the pashtida sounds more like a knish but

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most folks will not talk about the knish in this regard because, as they say, you really shouldn’t knish and tell.

Kugel, a/k/a/ the kosher casserole, comes in many varieties, the most popular being potato, noodle, broccoli and spinach. Within these broad categories are more exotic versions like sweet potato kugel and salt & pepper kugel.

Technically, there are no limits to creating different flavors of kugel but at your local supermarket you are unlikely to find kale kugel, kumquat kugel or curry kugel.

Within the noodle category are several types including lokshen and Yerushalmi.

The word “lokshen” actually is Yiddish for noodle and lokshen kugel typically is associated with a sweet noodle kugel featuring raisins, nuts and cinnamon. As many rabbis will tell you, if you gossip pejoratively about someone else’s noodle

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kugel, you may be guilty of speaking lokshen hara.

Yerushalmi kugel, a mash-up of sweet noodle and salt & pepper kugel, has a story behind it. In the 18th century disciples of the Vilna Gaon flocked to Israel and brought with them their own distinctive Eastern European culture including cuisine.

Along the way, they concocted a special version of noodle kugel with caramelized sugar that eventually became known as Kugel Yerushalmi or Yerushalmi Kugel. Yes, had these Chasidim wound up in Tel Aviv, the dish probably would have been called Tel Avivi Kugel, which reminds me of a really bad joke: How much did they Tel Aviv? Eilat.

Beyond the broad kugel categories mentioned above, you will find some outliers including challah kugel which, as the name suggests, is made using an actual challah. Such a hybrid sounds decent and certainly less alarming that other possible culinary combos like chopped liver soufflé or gefilte fish cake.

It is interesting that while salt & pepper noodle kugel remains relatively popular, other combo flavoring is not. For instance, good luck finding lemon & lime kugel, ketchup & mustard kugel or peanut butter & jelly kugel. You also will not find Sephardi & Ashkenazi kugel, but mostly because the two cannot agree on whether the kugel should be served standing upright (Sephardic) or lying down on its back (Ashkenazic).

For the record, not all Jews refer to kugel as kugel. Some Jews, particularly those from Poland and the Ukraine, refer to it as “kigel.” That can be sort of confusing when placing an order at the deli counter: Customer: Excuse me, do you have any kigel?

Store Manager: No, we don’t have kichel here. Try the bakery.

Customer: No, not kichel. Do you have kigels!

Store Manager: No, I don’t have the giggles. What was so funny

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It is interesting that while salt & pepper noodle kugel remains relatively popular, other combo flavoring is not.

For instance, good luck finding lemon & lime kugel, ketchup & mustard kugel or peanut butter & jelly kugel. anyway?

Customer: No, not giggles.

Kigel!!!

Store Manager: No, we don’t have kigel. But would you like to try some kugel instead?

Customer: Oy vey.

Final thought: Some people contend that kugel is like pizza, bread and the Earth’s top layer because each is only as good . . . as its crust.

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“The Angel”: Secret Mossad Spy, or Cunning Double-agent?

One of the greatest suspense thrillers of all-time. And it’s true.

E

mblematic of the topsy-turvy Middle East is the story of Ashraf Marwan: son-in-law of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser; trusted advisor to Anwar Sadat; and spy for the Israeli Mossad... or perhaps a secret doubleagent acting on behalf of his native Egypt.

It all comes to life in the new Netflix film, The Angel, a suspense thriller that culminates with Marwan's death under mysterious circumstances in London.

To make sense of this harrowing tale of intrigue, Aish.com spoke to Dr. Ahron Bregman, the Israeli closest to Marwan, who in 2002 first revealed the identity of the celebrated spy.

Premier Mossad Spy Our story begins in 1966, when 21-year-

14

old Marwan married the daughter of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, an anti-Israel tyrant who, on the eve of the 1967 war, promised “the destruction of Israel."

Nasser strongly disapproved of the marriage, since Marwan had no particular social, political, military or business pedigree. As a result, Marwan felt both humiliated by his father-in-law and estranged from the Egyptian power center - planting the seeds of his spy career.

One day in the late 1960s, the Israeli embassy in London received a call from Marwan offering his services as a spy. As proof of his credentials, Marwan produced the protocols of secret Soviet-Egyptian arms talks. Convinced of his sincerity, the Mossad accepted his offer and assigned him the codename, "The Angel."

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Anwar Sadat brought Marwan into his inner circle, as a way to demonstrate the support of Nasser’s family. In this role, Marwan gained unparalleled access to his nation’s top secrets – including detailed Egyptian military activities and accounts of Sadat’s private conversations with Arab leaders.

Marwan had a variety of possible motivations: Becoming a spy accorded him the status of conversing directly with Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Henry Kissinger, et al.

Marwan may have also been motivated by money, as the Mossad paid hefty fees for access to secret Egyptian war plans.

Indeed, Marwan parlayed those fees into a $3 billion business empire.

Double-Agent?

Marwan became an invaluable asset to

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Israel in 1973, when Sadat (in conjunction with Assad of Syria) prepared to launch another major military assault on Israel.

Marwan’s warning reportedly allowed the Israelis to prepare for the "surprise attack," thus preventing thousands more Israeli casualties and loss of territory including the strategic Golan Heights.

But here's where things get complicated: While Marwan was ostensibly a spy who helped Israel, many believe he was a cunning double-agent who duped Israel, deliberately providing inaccurate information about Egypt’s war plans.

This theory has credibility.

Prior to the 1973 war, Marwan issued two false alarms of an imminent Egyptian invasion, resulting in costly mobilizations of IDF reserve forces. This eroded Israeli fear of an Arab attack, so when Marwan warned again on the eve of Yom Kippur, the IDF was slow to react, as some in the Israeli security establishment dismissed him as "the boy who cried wolf."

Hinting more to the double-agent

16

theory, the Netflix film includes a scene of Marwan listening to a lecture about "Garbo," the Spanish double-agent who deceived the Nazis regarding the D-Day

invasion. Indeed, Egyptian officials over the years, including former President Hosni Mubarak, have praised Marwan for “carrying out patriotic acts... which it is not yet time to reveal."

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The Big Reveal

Following Sadat’s assassination in 1981, Marwan left Egypt and began a lucrative business career in London.

Things were relatively quiet until 1999, when Dr. Ahron Bregman, a historian and journalist who teaches war studies at King's College in London, came into the picture. After three years of investigative journalism, Bregman published a book revealing Marwan as the legendary Mossad super-spy.

Marwan flatly denied Bregman's claim, calling it a “stupid detective story.” But when the revelation was published in the Egyptian media, Marwan called Bregman asking to meet.

Marwan initially suggested they meet at the Dorchester Hotel, but Bregman was fearful it was a set-up – given that was the site of the attempted assassination of Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov in 1982, which sparked the first Lebanon War.

Instead, they met at London's Intercontinental Hotel, and Bregman tells Aish.com: "I was extremely nervous, because Marwan was the legendary and dangerous spy. I thought he might try to kill me."

When they sat and spoke, however, Bregman had a change of heart. "I encountered Marwan's humanity. History didn't matter any longer."

As they established a personal connection, Bregman regretted revealing the identity of this legendary spy. "It was a huge scoop and I couldn't resist the temptation to follow the most primitive journalistic instincts," he says. "But I complicated an already tricky situation.

It was an impulse I should have resisted."

Bregman says that he and Marwan "would meet quite frequently and became close friends. In some conversations, Marwan would pour his heart out.

He couldn’t talk about his spy career with anyone else, not even his wife or kids. He was very well-connected, but very lonely.

Ironically, I was the only person he could speak openly with – the very person who exposed him."

Death by Balcony Meanwhile in Israel, rival intelligence

18

agencies were battling over who was the main culprit in Israel’s failure to preempt the Yom Kippur War. Part and parcel of this debate was whether Marwan’s loyalties lay primarily with Israel or Egypt.

Zvi Zamir, head of the Mossad and who was Marwan's personal handler in 1973, claimed that Marwan was loyal to Israel. Eli Zeira, head of IDF Intelligence during the Yom Kippur War, subscribed to the double-agent theory.

The dispute ended in legal arbitration and in 2007 Bregman was called to testify. The judge issued a conclusion that Marwan was loyal to Israel – a verdict that was then leaked and published online.

At this turn of events, Marwan called Bregman in a panic, leaving multiple voice messages. They scheduled an appointment to meet the next day, but Marwan failed to appear. That morning, he had fallen from the fifth-floor balcony of his luxury apartment in London. Ashraf Marwan, superspy, was dead at age 63.

Who did it? Was it assassination? Or suicide?

One theory is that Marwan was a genuine spy for Israel, and the vengeful Egyptians killed him. Yet to save face for having been infiltrated at the highest level by a Mossad spy, Egyptian officials gave Marwan a funeral befitting a national hero.

L e n d i n g credibility to this theory, "death by high balcony" is an assassination method used multiple times previously by the Egyptian intelligence agency operating in London.

B r e g m a n suggests a plausible alternate theory: "Marwan committed suicide. He was not physically well, having undergone heart operations.

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decided to end his life. But he didn't want to shame his family, so he faked the suicide and wove me into his 'death story.' If that sounds fanciful, remember that for a very clever master spy, it makes perfect sense."

Questions and Conclusions Bregman is consumed by regret over his exposing of Marwan as a "tragic, huge mistake.”

As an act of repentance, in 2016 Bregman published The Spy Who Fell to Earth: My Relationship with the Secret Agent Who Rocked the Middle East.

The jury is still out whether Marwan’s contribution was mostly helpful or harmful to Israel, since his key warning was delivered only hours before the outbreak of the war. IDF General Shlomo Gazit said: "The damage he caused was terrible. If we hadn’t used Marwan, the State of Israel... would have prepared for the war a week earlier when news began to arrive about what was happening in Egypt. But they said that if Marwan didn’t tell us about it, it wasn’t serious."

Bregman has reached his own conclusion: "I don't think he ever became an 'official' double-agent. But I do think at the critical moment of truth before the war, he asked himself, ‘Am I Israeli or Egyptian?’ His conclusion was loyalty to

his people and his country – and he misled Israel."

Which side of the conflict was Marwan ultimately loyal to? And who caused his death? It is characteristic of Marwan to keep us guessing about his motivations.

These controversial questions will likely never be answered.

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Invitations & Party-Planning Enter the Digital Age By: Yosef Kaitz

The glass breaks and the music plays and the crowd surges forward to say mazel tov to the chassan and kallah. The bar mitzvah bachur finishes his drasha to the acclaim of the guests. Simchas are supposed to be happy occasions, and we wait for the beautiful highlights and emotions.

But the actual experience can be nerve-wracking and frustrating, when you’re juggling the tasks needed to get the simcha off the ground: inviting guests, seating them, and making sure you’ll thank them afterwards.

You need to worry about getting your text to a print shop. If you’re addressing your envelopes, you’ll need to figure out how to align labels on your printer. (How many misprinted sheets have you thrown out?)

You need to deal with the hassles of mailing them: stamping them, licking envelopes, getting piles of invitations to the post office.

But you’re not done.

The invitations slowly travel by snail mail to your guests. Hopefully, they’ll receive them, open them, and maybe remember to send back RSVP cards. Those make their way through the postal system. And then comes the mind-numbing chore of opening each envelope and marking down the guests’ choices.

After that, you’ll get out your seating chart, find your list of attendees, and start determining, painstakingly, where everyone goes.

Sometimes it feels like the process hasn’t advanced much since the day of the horse-drawn mail wagon.

But in fact, today it’s possible to get everything you need done easily, all in one place, with the new innovative service Elegant Evitations.

Your guest list gets entered online, using a simple interface.

You send out the invitations, not at the post office, but by pressing Enter on your keyboard, with a choice of numerous uniquely designed and editable invitations.

Your guests will receive their invitations immediately, and they can’t misplace them. And RSVPing is easy for them; they do it from their computers.

That guest list isn’t just the basis for the electronic invitations.

Elegant Evitations lets you arrange your seating charts, create

20

place cards, and generate thank-you cards for gifts with just the click of a button. You won’t juggle reams of papers and numerous lists; everything is online. No one is left out, forgotten, or hurt because they haven’t received an invitation, a place setting, or a thank you card.

That also means your event is a pleasure for guests. Rather than see a pile of invitations on their kitchen table, they can receive and review your invitation with no hassle. They never lose invitations, which are always available electronically.

They won’t forget to attend or where the event will be taking place.

Elegant Evitations provides an online gift reg-

istry, so that when they RSVP, they can instantly choose the gift they will be giving to the chasan and kallah. That makes the gift-giving easy for guests and means that the chasan and kallah will likely receive more gifts from those who would like to give but might not attend.

With standard invitations for a moderate-sized wedding costing at least $2,000 and likely much more, the savings using Elegant Evitations is substantial. You can have elegant and exclusive designs that only expensive printed invitations would supply, but with all the control printed invitations never can.

Low cost also means that you can use the elegance and custom features of Elegant Evitations for smaller events, like bar and bat mitzvahs, baby birth events, and engagements, to create a smoother experience and better gift registry.

For those who can’t leave print entirely behind,

Elegant Evitations has several options. When you want to use print invitations for all guests, our RSVP service allows you to utilize the digital enhancements of Elegant Evitations, like seating chart creation, place card automation, and thank you card production, to make everything happen easily and the way you want it and also save money. Because the RSVPing happens online, there’s no wait for return cards to come back.

You’ll immediately know who is coming, and your seating charts and place cards can be generated from that list.

Furthermore, if most of your guests can receive digital invitations but you have a few who require a paper invitation, we can print them for you.

The modern age has arrived, and it will make your simcha a truly happy one.

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Trancoso’s Hidden Jews

by Michael Freund

More than five centuries after Portugal’s Jews were compelled to convert to Catholicism, the Torah has finally returned to Trancoso.

S

lowly but energetically, the festive procession made its way through the narrow and winding alleyways of the ancient Portuguese town.

The sounds of buoyant Hebrew song cascaded off the cool stone walls, prompting residents to open their windows and stare inquisitively at the unfamiliar sight, as dozens of people from across the country danced and clapped in a rousing surge of emotion.

Dancing with a Sefer Torah in Trancoso, PortugulAmong the participants, who were all swept away in the moment, many a moist eye could be seen glistening in the midday sun at this remarkable and most unexpected turn of events.

More than five centuries after Portugal’s Jews were compelled to convert to Catholicism, the Torah has finally returned to Trancoso.

In a moving ceremony organized with the local municipality this past Sunday, Shavei Israel, the organization I founded and chair, arranged for the dedication of a Torah scroll to inaugurate the village’s new Jewish cultural and religious center.

It will serve the large numbers of B’nai Anusim (people whose Iberian Jewish ancestors were forcibly converted to Catholicism in the 14th and 15th centuries

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and whom historians refer to by the derogatory term “Marranos”) who reside in the area.

The facility, named the Isaac Cardoso Center for Jewish Interpretation, is named after a 17thcentury Trancoso-born physician and philosopher who came from a family of B’nai Anusim. Cardoso later moved to Spain with his family and then fled to Venice to escape the Inquisition, where he and his brother Miguel publicly embraced Judaism.

He went on to publish a number of important works on philosophy, medicine and theology, including a daring treatise in 1679 titled The Excellence of the Hebrews, which defended Judaism and the Jewish people from various medieval stereotypes such as ritual murder accusations and the blood libel.

The initiative for the center came from Trancoso’s mayor, Julio Sarmento, who invested more than $1.5 million in erecting the modern structure, which will include an exhibition about the Jewish history of Portugal and the renewal of Jewish life in the region in recent years.

At Sarmento’s insistence, the building To advertise, call 718-513-9885

also contains a new synagogue, Beit Mayim Hayim, “the House of Living Waters,” whose name was suggested by Rabbi Raphael Weinberg of Jerusalem, the first rabbi to visit Trancoso.

Near the entrance to the synagogue is a memorial wall filled with the names of B’nai Anusim who were tried and punished by the Inquisition for secretly practicing Judaism, including some who were publicly burned at the stake in the 18th century, nearly three centuries after their ancestors had been dragged to the baptismal font.

Located in the Guarda district in Portugal’s northeastern interior, the charming village of Trancoso was home to a flourishing Jewish community prior to the expulsion and forced conversion of Portugal’s Jews in 1497.

A local journalist and historian, Jose

Levy Domingos, who has spent decades lovingly recording and preserving the town’s Jewish past, has discovered well over one hundred stone etchings and other physical traces of that bygone era in Trancoso’s old Jewish quarter, some of which are poignant and emotive.

On typical Jewish homes, for example, the windows were laid out in a decidedly asymmetrical fashion, at varying heights and lengths, creating a sense of architectural imperfection and inadequacy.

Domingos explains that this was done intentionally because the Jews wanted to underline that only the Temple which once stood in Jerusalem embodied perfection.

Many of the medieval homes have crosses engraved adjacent to the entrance as an ostensible statement of piety. Fearful of running afoul of the watchful eyes of the inquisition, Trancoso’s B’nai Anusim also engaged in this practice, albeit with a twist.

Domingos points out that at the bottom of the etching, they added what appear to be three prongs, as if holding up the cross. But to Jewish eyes, it is clear what their real intention was as the three spokes clearly form an inverted “Shin,” the Hebrew letter that is often used to denote one of the Divine names.

This was how Trancoso’s hidden Jews sought to cling to their heritage, subtly indicating that they had not forgotten, nor abandoned, the faith of their forefathers.

It is in memory of their tenacity that we gathered dozens of their descendants, all of them Portuguese B’nai Anusim, to take part in the ceremony this past Sunday. Symbolically, we began the procession with the Torah facing a large and imposing cathedral in the very same public square where the Inquisition had once tormented Trancoso’s hidden Jews.

Speaking to the assembled crowd, my voice cracked with emotion as I pointed at the basilica and told the B’nai Anusim, “we are here today because your forefathers To advertise, call 718-513-9885

did not surrender to those who sought to force them to abandon their faith. They bravely and stubbornly clung to their Jewishness in secret, risking everything.

Let us all take inspiration from their example.”

As we neared the synagogue, I noticed a young man, one of the B’nai Anusim from a nearby village, looking longingly at the Torah, but seemingly shying away from it at the same time. Taking the scroll, I went over to him and offered it to him to hold.

He hesitated for a moment, the surprise on his face giving way to joy as he lovingly embraced it and danced it towards its destination.

It was, I later discovered, the first time since his ancestors had converted to Catholicism in1497 that he or anyone else in his family had ever held a Torah in their arms, as far as he knew.

And then I understood as clearly as I have ever felt before: the Jewish spark cannot be extinguished.

We truly are the immortal nation.

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Greetings from the Land of Israel!

Subject:

With HaShem’s help, we s tand upon the threshold of the printing of

“Responsa of the Medrash”

a new sefer containing 1,985 ques tions and answers culled from all of Medrash Rabbah, and thus spanning the entire Chumash!

To date, the sefer’s author has printed four seforim, several editions of each one.

All four have been warmly accepted in the world of the yeshivot and by all s treams of Torahfaithful Jewry. In addition, talmudei Torah continue to purchase many copies, in order to award them as prizes to s tudents.

The names of these seforim: 1. Ahavas Torah (Love of the Torah) 2. Anava V’Shalom (Humility & Peace) 3. Shinun HaParashah (Review of the Weekly Torah Portion) 4. Va’Yipallel Pinchas (And Pinchas Prayed) 5. Michalkail Chaim (He Sustains Life).

Thousands learn these seforim and are greatly propelled forward in Torah, fear of Heaven, and refinement of character. As a result of the new sefer, too, in which, in exchange for donations of one thousand shekels, donors will see printed in the sefer a dedication to one of their friends or loved ones, readers will surely be drawn upwards in wisdom and kedusha.

All who would like to join this project and be a partner in the extremely important mitzvah that is entailed in it (See the sefer, “Pela Yo-aitz” – the Subject of “Dfus” i.e. “Printing” – and so, too, Part Two of the sefer, “Shmiras HaLashon,” about how marvelous is the mitzvah of helping to print sifrei kodesh) are asked to provide the needed information (name, date of death, if relevant) as soon as possible, so we can print the dedication and memorialize the departed friend, spouse or relative. So, too, dedications can be for the sake of someone who has not yet found his shidduch, or, for example, for the sake of gaining a good livelihood, or for the cure and recovery of someone who is ill.

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Chicken

Confidential: Great Easy-to-Make Recipes Including cashew chicken and beerbattered chicken strips with potato waffles.

Potato Waffles and Beer-Battered Chicken Strips with Truffle Garlic Aioli Recipe By Ruchele Honig Ingredients Potato Waffles: 1 medium onion, grated 4 eggs 1/2 cup oil salt, to taste pepper, to taste 5 potatoes, grated Truffle Garlic Aioli: 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons truffle oil 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon sea salt 2 cloves garlic, minced Chicken: 1 and 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless

chicken breast, cut into finger-sized strips 1 and 1/2 cups flour 1 and 1/2 cups beer 1 egg Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste Paprika, to taste

Grease a waffle iron. Place mixture in iron and bake until crispy.

For the Truffle Garlic Aioli: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Makes 4 servings.

To Coat and Fry the Chicken Strips: Whisk together beer, egg, and spices. Dip chicken strips in the beer mixture and shake off the excess.

Coat each strip with flour. Fry the strips.

To Prepare the Potato Waffles: Mix together all ingredients.

Drain the liquid.

Chicken and Mushrooms 2 tablespoons mirin

Recipe By Michal Frischman Ingredients

To Prepare the Chicken:

Chicken:

In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Brown mushrooms in a large frying pan sprayed with cooking spray, and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the frying pan and set aside. Combine flour, garlic powder, ginger, and half a teaspoon of salt, and toss with the chicken in a large resealable plastic bag until the chicken is coated. Using the same frying pan, add about one tablespoon of oil and cook the chicken in batches until all sides are browned and they’re cooked through. You may need more oil midway. Once all the chicken is done, put all the chicken back into the pan, add the mushrooms back in, and pour in the sauce. Let the sauce come to a bubble and thicken, about five minutes.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-in. (2- and- 1/2cm.) pieces 6 ounces (170 grams) cremini mushrooms, halved salt, to taste pepper, to taste 1/2 cup flour 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon ground ginger canola oil, for frying Sauce:

Variation: 4-6 cloves garlic, crushed 4 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

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You can substitute cooking sherry for the mirin.

Makes 6 servings.

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Cashew Chicken Recipe By Raizy Fried

These are great served over fluffy white rice.

Ingredients

Stir together soy sauce, apple juice, and cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl until the cornstarch is dissolved. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add vegetable oil and garlic and cook for about half a minute. Add marinated chicken cubs and stir-fry for about two minutes, until chicken is no longer pink on the outside (although not fully cooked). Add the onions and peppers and stir-fry until fragrant, about two minutes. Pour in your prepared sauce and stir to coat the chicken fully. Let cook for about four minutes over medium heat to thicken and allow the chicken to cook through fully. Season with salt and pepper, and then stir in the cashews and serve.

Main Ingredients: 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon apple juice 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, diced salt, to taste pepper, to taste 1/2 cup cashews, salted and roasted Sauce: 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon apple juice 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon chili sauce

Note: In this recipe, I substituted the ideal Chinese rice wine with apple juice. Although rice wine will definitely result in a more authentic version of the dish, I wanted to use ingredients that are simpler to get your hands on. You can certainly use an equal quantity of Chinese rice wine in place of the apple juice, if you have it.

Makes 4 serving.

To Prepare the Chicken:

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