Jewish Action Winter 2023

Winter 5784/2023

Vol. 84, No. 2

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THE UNITY

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66 Winter 2023/5784 | Vol. 84, No. 2

INSIDE

44 19

FEATURES

19 44 49 61 66 73

COVER STORY THE UNITY OF A NATION Stories of chesed and ahavat Yisrael during the initial weeks of the war SPEAKING WITH IDF COLONEL GOLAN VACH Interview by Toby Klein Greenwald

ALIYAH IN PURSUIT OF A DREAM: THE NORTH AMERICAN YOUTH ALIYAH MOVEMENT

By Aviva Engel ISRAEL AT WAR: HOW YOUNG OLIM ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

By Batsheva Moskowitz

Q&A UP CLOSE WITH RIVKA RAVITZ Editor-in-chief Nechama Carmel speaks with the former chief of staff to Israel’s tenth president A WORLD GONE MAD

By Rivka Ravitz

74

REVIEW ESSAY Hamadrikh: The New Handbook of Jewish Life

By David Olivestone

DEPARTMENTS

02 06 10 16 78 80

LETTERS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE War and Passion

By Mitchel R. Aeder FROM THE DESK OF RABBI MOSHE HAUER Eternal Nation, Eternal Truths MENTSCH MANAGEMENT The Pause to Refresh: Organizational Decision-Making in Crisis Mode

By Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph IN FOCUS The Spirit of Act III

By Rebbetzin Judi Steinig LEGAL-EASE What’s the Truth About . . . Asarah B’Tevet Falling on Shabbat?

By Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky

84 86 90 94 100 102 104

KOSHERKOPY The Kashrut of Bread: All You Knead to Know THE CHEF’S TABLE Those Were the Nights of Chanukah

By Naomi Ross NEW FROM OU PRESS BOOKS Medical Halachah Annual: The Pandemic and Its Implications Edited by Edward Lebovics, MD Reviewed by Daniel Eisenberg, MD Insights and Attitudes: Torah Essays on Fundamental Halachic and Hashkafic Issues

By Rav Hershel Schachter and Rav Mayer Twersky Reviewed by Rabbi Benjamin G. Kelsen Reviews in Brief

By Rabbi Gil Student LASTING IMPRESSIONS Poland Is the Past

By David Olivestone

Cover: Andreia Brunstein-Schwartz

Jewish Action is published by the Orthodox Union • 40 Rector Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10006, 212.563.4000. Printed Quarterly—Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, plus Special Passover issue. ISSN No. 0447-7049. Subscription: $16.00 per year; Canada, $20.00; Overseas, $60.00. Periodical's postage paid at New York, NY, and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Jewish Action, 40 Rector Street, New York, NY 10006.

Jewish Action seeks to provide a forum for a diversity of legitimate opinions within the spectrum of Orthodox Judaism.

Therefore, opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policy or opinion of the Orthodox Union.

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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LETTERS

SELF-ESTEEM AND SPIRITUALITY THE MAGAZINE OF THE ORTHODOX UNION jewishaction.com

THE MAGAZINE OF THEinORTHODOX UNION Editor Chief Nechama Carmel jewishaction.com carmeln@ou.org

Editor in Chief Associate Editors

Nechama Carmel Moskowitz Sara Goldberg • Batsheva carmeln@ou.org

Rabbinic Advisor

Assistant Editor Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz Sara Olson

Book Editor Literary Editor Emeritus Rabbi Gil Student

Matis Greenblatt

Contributing Editors

Book• Editor Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein Moishe Bane • Dr. Judith Bleich Gil Student Rabbi EmanuelRabbi Feldman • Rabbi Dr. Hillel Goldberg Rabbi Sol Roth • Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter Contributing Editors Rabbi Berel Wein Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein • Dr. Judith Bleich Editorial Committee Rabbi Emanuel Feldman • Rabbi Hillel Goldberg Moishe Bane • Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin Deborah Chames Cohen Rabbi Sol Roth • Rabbi Jacob• J. Schacter Rabbi BinyaminRabbi Ehrenkranz • Rabbi Yaakov Glasser Berel Wein Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer • David Olivestone Gerald M. Editorial SchreckCommittee • Dr. Rosalyn Sherman Rebbetzin Dr. Adina Shmidman • RabbiEhrenkranz Gil Student Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin • Rabbi Binyamin Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer • David Olivestone Gerald M. Schreck • Rabbi Gil Student Copy Editor Rabbi Dr. Hindy Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Mandel DesignDesign 14Minds Andréia Brunstein-Schwartz

Your symposium on spirituality (“In Search of Spirituality,” [fall 2023]) highlighted a variety of considerations regarding the topic. I would like to suggest one more.

Perhaps we struggle today to find Hashem because we are struggling to find and appreciate ourselves. We live in a world where depression, anxiety and low self-esteem run rampant. But when one is energized and inspired by his own unique potential, there is a natural expansiveness that seeks to include G-d and to understand one's relationship with Him. Internalizing the truths below has created an inspiring pathway of deep spirituality for me: • I am the daughter of Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah.

• I am the source of unbelievable potential.

• I am an eved Hashem. My incredible potential comes from that relationship, so I will make my actions today consistent with that relationship.

• I see the Divine within me, and I will spend my day revealing it.

• I have everything I need, a fact that makes me tremendously grateful.

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ORTHODOX UNION ORTHODOX UNION President President Mark (Moishe) Bane Mitchel R. Aeder

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Dr. Miriam Banarer Pediatric hospitalist Dallas, Texas THE SINGLEHOOD EXPERIENCE Thank you for your well-researched and well-presented article about the relationship between singles and our communities (“Singlehood: Are We Missing the Mark?” [fall 2023]). I have a few more suggestions to add: • Provide support for ba’alei teshuvah who have returned from yeshivah, and are striving to restart their careers and shidduchim on their own.

• Start a hotline for singles in shidduchim to navigate issues of dating.

• Offer resources for singles to build their community involvement, such as volunteer projects, mentoring services to help singles and pastoral education for synagogue and community rabbis about this life stage.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

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Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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I read with both interest and empathy the cover story on singles. I’d like to suggest another important aspect— namely, that we not pigeonhole single men and women based on backgrounds and hashkafot. Did our ancestors have shidduch résumés, with a photo and a profile that defined them with a few choice details? Many happily married couples have indeed said that “on paper” their shidduch would never have worked.

Ultimately, we must all remember that despite any shortcomings in our shidduch “system,” nothing stands in the way of the ultimate Shadchan, and if His will is to bring two people together, they will meet no matter the circumstances.

Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili Toronto, Canada Kudos to the OU for its multi-year study of the challenges of singlehood and for the accompanying article in Jewish Action, as well as for hosting a panel discussion on the topic. While there were important findings and recommendations that resulted from the study, I feel there are some weaknesses in the presentation.

Firstly, the study never defines what it means by “single Orthodox men and women.” Does the study include all age groups? All categories of “single” (i.e, never-married, divorced, widowed)? What was the makeup of the 2,300 singles who were surveyed? To which singles’ audience are the recommendations intended? As I’m sure the study team recognizes, there are vast differences between the needs of younger versus older singles versus never-married singles versus single parents. I didn’t see any of these distinctions addressed in the actual study, the Jewish Action article or the subsequent discussion on singles.

Secondly, I don’t recall seeing suggestions as to what singles can do to improve their experience and their connection to the community. In my experience, many shuls and communities are not purposefully ignoring singles, they are just not sure what is needed. Often singles need to be their own advocates.

Singles—speak to your rabbis and shul/community leaders. Let them know, constructively and respectfully, how you are feeling and what they can do to improve the situation for singles. There are also benefits to the shul and communities by having a more active group of singles involved in activities.

Lastly, I’d like to give a shout-out to Rabbi Yisrael Motzen, special assistant to the OU executive vice presidents and the rav of my shul, Ner Tamid in Baltimore, for being a shining example of how to create a seamless experience for singles in our community.

Sonny Taragin Baltimore, Maryland

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

When I was young and single, weddings were a great place to meet potential mates. Each singles table would usually be a mix of the kallah’s and the chatan’s friends. The happy new couple would carefully try to seat together friends who they thought might be compatible. Even if no specific couples at the table were appropriate for one another, someone might think of a possible match (“You like modern art? My roommate likes modern art!”) and make an introduction.

Nowadays, singles are seated at opposite sides of the room, often behind mechitzot. How are singles supposed to meet and marry if they aren’t allowed to speak with one another?

We are putting up both metaphorical and physical barriers to singles meeting in what should be one of the most natural environments for mixing and making connections. And then we bemoan the fact that singles have no way to meet!

If we want to help those who have not yet found their bashert, they need to be allowed to talk to each other. Seat them at the same table, and see what happens!

Elka Tovah Davidoff Malden, Massachusetts

CORRECTION: In “In Search of Spirituality,” in the fall 2023 issue, we incorrectly noted that Rabbi Marc Angel serves as rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan; in fact, he is rabbi emeritus of the congregation and currently serves as director of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

This magazine contains divrei Torah and should therefore be disposed of respectfully by either double-wrapping prior to disposal or placing in a recycling bin.

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Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

WAR AND PASSION

By Mitchel R. Aeder

I

am writing this message three weeks after the Simchas Torah massacre in Israel. The IDF has been bombing Gaza daily, and a ground invasion just commenced. We are all praying fervently for a successful military campaign against Hamas and the safe return of every single one of the hostages. By the time this magazine is distributed, we hope to have joined the hostages and their families at a huge seudas hoda’ah, b’siyata d’Shmaya.

The past three weeks have been emotional, devastating, exhausting—and often inspiring. Personally, I have been inspired by the national, institutional and personal mobilization following the massacre, by the intensity of tefillah and by the passionate sense of family.

1. MOBILIZATION I commute to work via the New York City subway. Occasionally, a fight will Mitchel R. Aeder is president of the Orthodox Union.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

break out or a deranged person will act in a threatening manner. When this happens, people instinctively move away and don’t get involved.1 In contrast, videos of terrorist attacks in Israel unfailingly show by-standers and strangers running toward the person with the gun or knife or vehicle. After Simchas Torah, this happened on a national level. Some 350,000 reservists were called up, the largest mobilization in the country’s history; yet another 100,000, many of whom had been traveling or working in Thailand, the US, South America and almost everywhere in between, volunteered for military duty.

What other people runs toward a war?

I witnessed the same phenomenon on an organizational level. Following the massacre, the response of the OU in Israel was instantaneous. The leadership team under Rabbi Avi Berman, executive director of OU Israel, met early on the morning of October 8.

Most of them were in shock, some had been unable to reach friends and family in the south, virtually all had a spouse or child or grandchild who had been called by the military. Yet there they were, planning a course of action with the first focus being locating and assisting OU staff and program participants, many of whom live in the Sderot region. Over 150 members of our staff were called to military duty; their shoes needed to be filled, their families needed to be cared for. The commitment, professionalism and gevurah of the team were breathtaking.

By Monday, our OU-JLIC and NCSY teams in Israel had commenced roundthe-clock grassroots activities to assist evacuees, soldiers’ families and others; they are now coordinating the efforts of over 1,000 volunteers. Food preparation

and delivery, transportation, babysitting, job placement, shivah visits, clothing procurement and much more. All while dealing with personal challenges and trauma.

Our US team showed similar alacrity.

A statement was drafted and issued on Motzaei Simchas Torah. The next day we held two chizuk calls, with thousands of stunned participants. Our PR and advocacy departments and many of our programs pivoted2 immediately toward Israel-related goals.

Finally, the mobilization on a personal, grassroots level was staggering. Literally hundreds of pop-up enterprises were formed within days in Israel and the US (and elsewhere) to fund, feed, house, supply and comfort Israeli soldiers and their families, evacuees, mourners and families of hostages. Some of the efforts may have been overlapping, but the enterprise, generosity and passion were awe-inspiring. Here is one of countless examples of people whose lives became dedicated overnight to chesed: On the day after Simchas Torah, a WhatsApp message seeking foreign doctors to volunteer in Israel went viral. Yigal Marcus, an investment advisor (and chairman of NCSY Israel) was named as the contact person in the message.

Within days, the Marcus home became a command center that was working to get over 7,000 (!) volunteer physicians credentialed with the Israeli Health Department. Yigal’s sister Eliana Aaron, who is a nurse practitioner and founder of EMA Care, a medical management and health advocacy company in Israel, is working with Israel’s Ministry of Health and the Israel Medical Association to provide hundreds of volunteers to hospitals and nursing homes whose staffs were depleted by the war.

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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At the same time, there is a silver lining: many of us have newly internalized that our security ultimately depends solely on Hashem. Millions of chapters of Tehillim have been recited. Prayer has taken on a new urgency.

2. EXPERIENCING TERROR These weeks have been traumatic for every Jew. Those who experienced the attacks on October 7, those who fought off the terrorists and those who treated the wounded, witnessed and experienced unspeakable horrors. The rest of us feel the pain of the victims and the hostages and their families vicariously, but in a personal way.

Every Israeli has heard the sound of missiles overhead, the booms, the sirens. Everyone has run into a bomb shelter or fallen to the ground on the side of the road. No one is more than two degrees of separation from someone who was killed or taken captive or sent to the front lines or evacuated from their homes. Children have been separated from their fathers who ran to the front. The threat of a multi-front war is present. There is fear and uncertainty. And terror.

It took a few days, but Jews outside of Israel also have also been subject to fear and trepidation. Anti-Israel and antisemitic rallies have turned aggressive, and threats of violence on university campuses and elsewhere have left Jews shaken. The sense of physical security that prevailed only a month ago has largely dissipated as Jewhaters around the world have become emboldened to show their true colors.3 This is a new reality for most of us.

Israelis are accustomed to a degree of fear and insecurity (more or less, depending on where they live), but last month increased the general anxiety to a level not seen at least since the intifada of 2000-2005. For those of us in the US, our sense of security was shattered by hordes of people supporting Hamas and openly screaming “gas the Jews.” The genie is 8

JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

out of the bottle. Whether on college campuses or in our Orthodox enclaves, we are left to wonder which of our neighbors is hostile and dangerous. We will take new precautions, but the fear will not dissipate quickly.

At the same time, there is a silver lining: many of us have newly internalized that our security ultimately depends solely on Hashem. Millions of chapters of Tehillim have been recited.

Prayer has taken on a new urgency.

3. FAMILY In the summer issue of Jewish Action, I argued that very little separates American Orthodox Jews across the entire religious/cultural spectrum when it comes to Israel. Never has that been clearer than in the unified response to the pogrom. Every one of us was shocked and in mourning. And we responded. We gave money, we bought and shipped ceramic vests, we tied tzitzis, we made our apartments in Israel available to evacuees. We recited Tehillim. Yeshivos cancelled bein ha’zemanim and began the winter zeman a week early. We were glued to the news. Some recited the Mi Sheberach for Israeli soldiers for the first time. Everyone was engaged and took this personally, whether or not we have relatives in Israel, whether or not we call ourselves Zionists, whether the victims were dati or chiloni. We profoundly felt, and feel, a sense of family.

How does one define family? A devastating story: the parents and sisters of Ariel Zohar were murdered in Kibbutz Nir Oz; it was reported that Ariel requested that someone retrieve his father’s tefillin in time for his upcoming bar mitzvah. A heartwarming story: a group of

thirteen-year-old boys in Lakewood, New Jersey, were so moved upon hearing about Ariel that they tracked him down in order to grieve with him and to wish him mazel tov on his bar mitzvah. Nir Oz and Lakewood are on opposite sides of the world. And yet.

Last week, I visited many evacuees from Israel’s south who are being housed in hotels. Their stories of loss and survival were bone chilling. But they were desperate to tell the stories and overwhelmingly grateful that Jews from abroad wanted to listen. They wanted and received many hugs—hugs from strangers who are family. I met an extraordinary woman named Smadar who was evacuated from Ashkelon to a hotel in Tel Aviv and immediately became a volunteer. She did not have the appearance of a religious person, but she gave us a shiur on faith and bitachon that left me speechless. And devastated. And inspired.

May Hashem strengthen, support, protect and redeem all of us—soldiers, leaders, captives, widows, orphans and all of their families, near and far.

Notes 1. An exception occurred this past May when a passenger choked a homeless man to death who was threatening people on the subway. Perhaps not surprisingly, public sympathy was evenly split between the aggressor and the good Samaritan (who was indicted!).

2. The word of the month is “pivot,” as the situation in Israel has caused so many to shift priorities.

3. In her must-read book, People Love Dead Jews, Dara Horn anticipated much of the current reaction: initial sympathy for the massacred Jews, followed quickly by outrage that the living Jews (in the IDF) are fighting back.

The

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FROM THE DESK OF RABBI MOSHE HAUER

Eternal Nation, Eternal Truths and uplifting homilies. It requires identifying basic principles that underlie the Torah as a whole. Let us consider three of those ideas.

1. Why does the world not get it?

By Rabbi Moshe Hauer

B

lessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the Universe, Who chose us from amongst the nations and gave us His Torah. Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah.

These blessings must be made before we study “Masechet Milchemet Simchat Torah,” the bewildering topic of the Simchat Torah War and the upheaval that has since gripped our world. We must study the war through the prism of G-d’s Torah, including the narrative sections that deliver perspective and understanding of world events and our own history. The gift of Torah that was celebrated on Simchat Torah provides us with the needed framing to sort through and rise above the jumble of confusing thoughts and feelings that have engulfed us since. This task will not be achieved by inspiring vertlach, micro-ideas that make for elegant Rabbi Moshe Hauer is executive vice president of the Orthodox Union.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

The distortion of the narrative around Israel has been downright maddening.

World leaders take Israel to task for defending itself from a barbaric enemy, the media obsess over Israel’s obligation to protect civilians while providing hostage takers with a free pass, and all cite “context” to push forward visions for the future that ignore past and present. A fleeting moment of moral clarity in the wake of the horrors of October 7 quickly gave way to equivocation and self-righteous lectures on humanitarianism. We are shocked and infuriated by this, but we should not be.

G-d chose us from the nations and gave the Torah exclusively to us.

“He shared His word with Jacob, His statutes and judgments with Israel. He did not do this for any other nation and did not inform them of His judgments.”1 While instinctively we may imagine the restriction placed on sharing Torah with the world as limited to the intricacies of those mitzvot reserved for Jews, it applies no less to the profound lessons of the Torah’s equally revelatory historic narrative. As Rashi2 taught us in his introduction to the Torah narrative: Rabbi Isaac said: “The Torah which is the law book of Israel should have commenced with the verse (Exodus 12:2): ‘This month shall be unto you the first of the months,’ which is the first commandment given to Israel.

What is the reason that it commences with the account of the Creation?

Because of the thought expressed in the text (Psalms 111:6): ‘Ko’ach ma’asav higid l’amo, He declared to His people the strength of His works (i.e., He gave an account of the work of Creation), in order that He might give them the heritage of the nations.’

For should the peoples of the world say to Israel, ‘You are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan,’ Israel may reply to them, ‘All the earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whom He pleased. When He chose, He gave it to them, and when He chose, He took it from them and gave it to us.’”

The nations will accuse us, yet G-d’s response is directed not at them but at us, higid l’amo. They are not students of Torah and therefore are not expected to understand the G-d of history. The initial flash of moral clarity following Simchat Torah could be grasped by anyone, as those acts of brutal horror violated the basic standards that G-d taught the entire world, the Sheva Mitzvot Bnei Noach (the Seven Noahide Laws). But only the Jewish people were taught the next-step view of the broader context of history and how to properly perceive world events. Our task is therefore to double down on that Torah of Bereishit, to immerse ourselves in the knowledge of the G-d of Creation and the mission with which He tasked mankind and ultimately focused on His Chosen People. We need to constantly reflect on the ramifications of how that choice has advanced our national history, including both our privileges and our obligations. We must cast aside

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our blinding fury at the world’s failure to understand this Torah of history and focus instead on deepening our own understanding of that Torah and how it must guide us.

Core Principle I: Ko’ach ma’asav higid l’amo: Replace fury with study.

The Torah is the source for both our values and our story, such that a genuine understanding of world events as they impact the Jewish people relies on the gift of revelation that G-d granted us when He gave us His Torah. As is the case with every aspect of Torah, this perspective is not selfevident. Yagata umatzata ta’amin.3 It is especially in the areas of Torah on which our emunah, our very faith, depends that we must work to discover, comprehend and claim it for ourselves.

We must not expect that the world at large will simply “get it.”

of the journeys of the Patriarchs, the digging of the wells and other events. While one may consider them unnecessary and of no useful purpose, in truth they all serve as a lesson for the future: when an event happens to any one of the three Patriarchs, that which is decreed to happen to his children can be understood.

The Jews’ strategy for Ma’aseh Avot siman l’banim. The success in battle student of the Torah of Bereishit who has absorbed the revelation of is simply this: G-d in history will never speak of the “unprecedented.” That student invoke “never again” solely as an We fight for each will expression of fierce commitment to repeating historic mistakes but other and not avoid never as a prediction or as a gallant of invincibility. with each other. claim Core Principle II: Ma’aseh Avot

siman l’banim:6 Nothing in Jewish history is unprecedented.

2. Was this attack really unprecedented?

Two weeks after Simchat Torah, I had the privilege to visit with a group of IDF rabbis who were charged with the task of bringing the remains of the murdered to proper Jewish burial.

This group of approximately thirty seasoned Torah scholars had spent the previous weeks witnessing and tending to the unimaginable as they handled and buried the remains of more than 1,000 Jews brutally killed in a single day. They saw with their own eyes and felt with their hands the cruelty, barbarism and sadism of Hamas. The trauma of that experience is inconceivable, yet as we sat together, they were composed and focused.

It was immediately apparent that to these outstanding individuals, our national story is not an abstraction.

As they cared for the remains of those brutally massacred, they were holding Jewish history in their hands, damim b’damim nagu.4 The brutalized corpses they were handling were shockingly familiar and recognizable to them. The charred remains they were tenderly wrapping in cloth were the victims of the Churban and the Crusades, of 12

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Chmielnicki and the Cossacks, and, of course, the Nazis.

They understood that what they were experiencing was part of the history of netzach Yisrael, the eternal Jewish people who had traveled this road before and were continuing nevertheless on their mission forward.

This knowledge helped them absorb and integrate the horrors they were seeing within their personal identity and sense of national mission.

Ramban5 considered the entire Book of Bereishit—not just its first chapter— as the extended story of Creation, with the Biblical narrative establishing and foretelling the recurring patterns of history for all time: I will tell you a principle by which you will understand all the coming portions of Scripture concerning Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is indeed a great matter which our rabbis mentioned briefly, saying: “Whatever has happened to the Patriarchs is a sign to the children.”

It is for this reason that the verses narrate at great length the account

Jewish history necessarily repeats itself, following Biblical patterns. We must study that history to correctly understand our experiences and place them in their broader context. We are never traveling in uncharted waters. We have been here before.

3. What are we fighting for?

Shortly after the outbreak of this horrible war, the seventh floor of an office tower in Tel Aviv was transformed into an operations center for efforts to rescue the hostages.

In one room one could find piles of freshly printed posters with images of the captives to be used for public awareness campaigns. In another, political and diplomatic strategists huddled together, exploring new strategic avenues for negotiating the freedom of the hostages, while in another, a hi-tech team scoured film footage for additional information on their whereabouts. In yet another larger room, family members milled about, finding company and some comfort in each other while awaiting news and opportunities to do something—anything—to advance the cause of their captured loved ones.

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Volunteers from across the religious and political spectrum came to visit, to feed and to embrace the families.

That office suite radiated intense energy, tragedy and, at the same time, beauty. It served as a perfect illustration of the Jewish credo of the battlefield and of life itself: Avraham heard that his brother had been taken captive and he went to war for his freedom. The first war waged by a Jew serves as the paradigm for all the wars we have had to wage throughout our history. Securing and preserving life is our objective in battle and, as in the case of Avraham, is our mission on the home front, driving a nurturing culture of kindness and care. It defines the ethos of the Israeli army, which operates with the singular goal of saving lives while doing everything possible to minimize civilian casualties, and it is the spirit of Am Yisrael that has rallied around all those affected by this war: hostages and soldiers, the wounded and the murdered, the uprooted and the traumatized, and—in every case— their families.

A story has circulated about a Chareidi man and a group of his friends who arrived at an army base, bringing fresh warm meals for the soldiers. While the Chareidi man was serving a soldier, the chayal asked: “Eich korim lecha?” “What is your name?” He responded, “Korim li Am Yisrael,” “My name is Am Yisrael.”

That endearing response says it all and encapsulates the ray of light in the dense darkness of this period, the fusion of battlefield, home front and the entire Jewish world in an overwhelming blitz of ahavat Yisrael, pushing back on the shocking level of internal discord that had been plaguing our people for the previous nine months.

The Jews’ strategy for success in battle crafted for us by Avraham Avinu is simply this: We fight for each other and not with each other.

Ma’aseh Avot siman l’banim. That has always been the winning strategy. It is as true now as it has been throughout history. The Midrash7 teaches that the four kings against whom Avraham 14

JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

waged war were representative of the four kingdoms that constitute the span of Jewish history. Our battles with them needed to be approached exactly as that original battle was fought by Avraham. What could drive Avraham—the paragon of chesed whose kindness was extended to every wandering stranger, who prayed to G-d to spare the evil city of Sodom—to go to war? Avraham, who treasured life and giving, waged war to save life, not to destroy. He went to battle to rescue Lot, to sanctify Hashem’s Name by standing up in defense of the oppressed.8 That is what drove him to battle and that is what made him successful. We, too, will win battles and wars only when we are driven by care and concern for others.

That is how Moshe emerged as the leader to triumph over Egypt.

Whereas Pharaoh sought to kill Jewish babies, the Jewish midwives—Moshe’s mother and sister—risked their lives to save them. Moshe was a defender of people, emerging as an individual to save an afflicted Jew and Midianite, and ultimately tasked as a leader with saving the entire nation. He destroyed Egypt—he had to destroy Egypt—to save the Jews the Egyptians were intent on destroying. The current conflict with Hamas is a replay of this recurrent conflict, a battle of life against death.

More than a war over sovereignty or territory, it is a basic clash of cultures and values. And the values we fight hardest for are care and life.

Core Principle III: Vayishma Avram ki nishbah achiv:9 We fight for each other and not with each other.

“Avram heard that his brother had been taken captive.” Compassion is the driver of all true Jewish warriors, the descendants of Avraham. We must be unconditionally loyal and committed to each other. Lot was not literally Avraham’s brother, and his move to Sodom demonstrated his choice to reject Avraham’s value system. None of that mattered.

Avraham went to war to gain Lot’s freedom. That is the paradigm for

all the wars we have needed to wage throughout our history and is the strategy for success in our every battle.

The Sages taught: A potential convert who comes to a court to convert during this time when the Jews are in exile, the judges of the court say to him: “What did you see that motivated you to come to convert? Don’t you know that the Jewish people at the present time are anguished, suppressed, despised and harassed, and hardships are frequently visited upon them?” If he says: “I know, and although I am unworthy of joining the Jewish people and sharing in their sorrow, I nevertheless desire to do so,” they accept him immediately.10 This is the story of the Jewish people. It is punctuated with tragedy.

We have been insulated from it for a while, but as Mashiach has not yet come, we were reminded with a jolt that this remains our story.

Yet, since the day of that horrific tragedy, we have been reminded as well of the privilege of belonging to this remarkable nation. Watching how Jews everywhere awoke to fight death with life and cruelty with kindness, we recognize that while our story is filled with sorrow it is defined even more by meaning and purpose. We are so grateful to be a part of it.

Blessed are You, Hashem, King of the Universe, Who gave us a Torah of truth and implanted eternity within us. Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah.

Notes 1. Tehillim 147.

2. Bereishit 1:1.

3. Megillah 6b.

4. Hosheia 4:2.

5. Quote is from Ramban’s commentary to Bereishit 12:6. Note, as well, his introduction to Shemot.

6. Bereishit Rabbah 48:7.

7. Bereishit Rabbah 42:4.

8. Bereishit Rabbah 43:2, Yefeh To’ar.

9. Bereishit 14:14.

10. Yevamot 47a.

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The Pause to Refresh: Organizational Decision-Making in Crisis Mode

By Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph

T

he only way to describe how I felt at the moment I heard about the horrific news emerging from Israel was chalishut hada’at, loosely translated as a weakened spirit. I wanted to get on the plane and make it all better. With more than 50 percent of our team in Israel being called up to the front lines, couldn’t I be more helpful on the ground in our home state? “I just want to be useful,” I wrote to a colleague. “You are being useful!” he replied, decrying me for not appreciating the role I can play where I am. At the same time, several WhatsApp chats sent me the following unattributed message:

Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph is executive vice president/chief operating officer of the OU.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

While many people have been drafted to the army to defend Eretz Yisrael, in truth, we have all been called up. We just have to figure out which division we belong to. Are we among those driving tanks at the border of Gaza to protect our people, or are we in the Prayer Division, focusing on the koach of tefillah? There are so many divisions, including the Ahavat Yisrael Division, the Tzedakah Division and the Torah Learning Division, to name a few. I encourage each of us to identify the division in which we can be most useful during this difficult time.

The combination of a good chaver shaking me by the lapels, together with these WhatsApped words of chizuk, helped to refocus me on my role, on finding my army division, my specific responsibility at this time.

Ken Robinson, in his seminal work The Element, reminds us that we all have certain talents and passions, and when we understand where they meet, i.e., our particular element, we can lead our most meaningful lives. The Japanese have a word for this: ikigai; and the French: raison d’etre. Famed football coach Bill Belichick would remind his players to “do your job.” And we have a word for it as well: tafkid.

So what exactly was my tafkid at this time? To facilitate the decision-making needed to best guide our community at the OU to be of utmost strategic help.

Chazal refer to Sefer Bereishit as Sefer HaYashar, the Book of the Upright.

Why specifically this term? In Avodah Zarah 25a, Rabbi Yochanan explains that it refers to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, based on Bilam’s wish to die as they did, “mot yesharim,” “death of the upright” (Bamidbar 23:10).

But in his introduction to Bereishit,

the Netziv suggests that the singular “yashar” may actually derive from the shirah in Parashat Ha’azinu (Devarim 32:4), which states: “Tzaddik v’yashar Hu,” “Just and upright is He,” referring to Hashem Himself, specifically as a means to justifying Divine judgment.

Hashem is yashar: His ways are yashar—aligned with His mission even when we are struck by tragedy, by war, by crisis. Our role then, even at times such as these, is to allow for reaction and pivot while remaining steadfast and strategic, aligned with mission.

My first step was actually . . . to stop.

To pause. And to hit refresh.

There is a famous advertisement from, literally, a hundred years ago (1923), for Coke when it first started to become popular. It urged people to take a break with a Coca-Cola because it was the “pause that refreshes.”

Echoing the same concept, and in an attempt to take a bit of a deeper breath, we gathered a small team to discuss a vision for our path forward at the OU. In preparation, I put together a memo and encouraged all of us to sit and think through how to move forward amidst all the noise, conversations and suggestions.

I suggested we do our research, compose a few different lists and then regroup to make some decisions.

With a bit more structure and organization, we were able to come up with strategic areas to focus on; align and concentrate our fundraising efforts; establish a running list of ideas we are constantly receiving from across the organization; and even begin planning for “the day after.” Our desire was to mobilize at this time of acute challenge, while also thinking long term (such as writing a piece in October that comes out in December!).

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We have all been called up. We have shown up for battle in our own way, doing what we can from wherever we are, with our specific talents and passions . . .

How do we make decisions in that environment? By outlining our goals, establishing core strategies, staying in

touch with the boots on the ground, empowering action, and standing up for what we believe in, for what we do as an organization. Some of our quick reactions led to our recognition of the importance of grassroots efforts from various corners: entrepreneurial board members, active students on our various JLIC Israel campuses and their motivating directors (see the article on page 61 for an overview), OU Israel staff with family members—or themselves— being called up, and on and on. We endeavored to capture the energy, without quashing it, and channel it in the most helpful directions.

Next we focused our attention on our core populations, such as the 6,000 teens in our youth programs, Makom Balev and Orayta; and the Anglo communities engaged through our Israel Center, JLIC, NCSY and Yachad.

And of course, our own staff in Israel to whom we provided counseling support as well as vouchers for those

who needed to be evacuated.

We also endeavored to provide inspiration for those in Israel and America via chizuk calls, NCSY’s Adopt a Soldier program, and the Women’s Initiative’s Tehillim program.

We continued our advocacy with government leadership, especially for the security of our institutions—shuls, schools and campuses. Finally, we started to plan for what we hoped would come soon: the day after.

As this article goes to print, we don’t know what the outcome will be nor whether these directions will develop, evolve or stop. But we daven for the situation to improve, and with our approach we stand ready to help in any way we can. We have all been called up. We have shown up for battle in our own way, doing what we can from wherever we are, with our specific talents and passions, working through our element to drive toward the zeman haGeulah, sheyavo.

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OF A NATION As we go to press in late October, three weeks into Israel’s war, the outpouring of chesed, ahavat Yisrael and achdut from Jews across the spectrum in Israel, in the US and across the world over is staggering. Working against a tight deadline, our editors were concerned: how can we capture the endless and ongoing stream of chesed—the Chassidic-owned real estate company that housed evacuees from the South for free; the army of volunteers, secular and religious, providing everything from baby formula to mental health counseling; the singers and musicians providing entertainment to soldiers and evacuees, and on and on? We concluded that while we cannot convey even a fraction of the enormous ahavat Yisrael we are witnessing every hour of every day, we can focus on individuals—each individual story representing hundreds and perhaps thousands of others.

Mi K’amcha Yisrael!

Above: Young Jewish men dance and sing as they wave the Israeli flag near Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, during the Israeli war with Gaza. Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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OC TOBER

1

On the Frontlines of Chesed: A Diary

By Tania Hammer “For I desire chesed, not sacrifice; devotion to G-d, rather than burnt offerings” (Hoshea 6:6).

Shabbat/Simchat Torah | October 7, 2023 At 6:30 am a siren goes off. I’ve heard only one siren in my seven years in Jerusalem. Another siren at 8:30. I am alone.

I knock on a neighbor’s door. She who knows everything.

She has tears in her eyes. Hamas has infiltrated the South.

Billion-dollar fences to protect our fifty communities on the Gaza border are in smithereens.

More sirens.

Mutilations, Be’eri, Nachal Oz, rave, ashen homes, Alumim, decapitations, government, murders, Hamas. Words and sirens swirling in my head as I hide in the mamad, the secure room. Another siren. Another. Another.

Twelve in all.

By Motzaei Shabbat we are facing another Jewish catastrophe. 300,000 are mobilized, and we are at war.

Tania Hammer became a community activist in New York. When she made aliyah seven years ago, she got involved in helping olim chadashim, as evidenced by her extra-large Shabbat tables filled with single men and women from all over the world.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

Sunday, October 8 Day 1:

It’s an effort to absorb the shock.

I tell my best friend that I want to do something. I like to focus on the living. The IDF is mobilizing soldiers. My best friend and I are mobilizing chesed!

We decide to pack essentials to start the soldiers off. We go to a pharmacy warehouse and think fifty soaps, shampoos, toothbrushes and toothpaste, wet wipes and protein bars will do the trick. “Let’s get a hundred and see how it goes,” my friend says.

We unload everything into my sukkah that I bid farewell to just the day before, and I tell a couple of online groups that I am collecting essentials for our soldiers. If they want to help, they should come. Within an hour, I receive contributions worth $1,200 from people who want to be part of our “Packages of Love.”

8 pm: We have over 1,000 Packages of Love. One hundred bags have turned into 1,000, with hundreds of volunteers coming in and out of my house, my garden, the sukkah. Coming together to help in any capacity. People spend over $5,000 replenishing supplies. Toilet paper, BandAids, hairbands and more wet wipes.

A new idea: Rami Levi, the large chain store, has bright pink shopping bags. We are going to use them for packages for the women soldiers. Israel is the only country that conscripts women.

They need special items, and they’re going to have them in pink.

People tell me I “saved them” today; they were in crisis looking at the terrible footage, and I provided them with something positive. We deliver the packages to the lone soldier stations for them to distribute.

Monday, October 9 | Day 2: Supplies arrive at my doorstep late at night and early morning. Volunteers come and contribute their time and money; people I haven’t seen in a decade are here to help. Some of them bring their children, who have no school; so we give them paper and colored pens, and they write notes to our men and women in uniform.

We are more organized; we have a system going. And then it starts raining.

So we move to the building foyer. In this building, they’re always making a fuss about respecting public places; no one complains this time.

We crank up the music. The volunteers are having a great time— men, women and children happy to be helping, doing, feeling like they have a purpose.

Two volunteers ask if I want my sukkah taken down; well, they don’t have to ask twice!

Someone sends me a picture of soldiers holding my packages. My heart sings.

I consider taking a day off the following day, but morale is low so I’m redoubling efforts to continue making volunteers and soldiers happy.

I am in Rami Levi again; Arabs are joking around with Jews, workers and

customers alike. This is one of the few Rami Levis with enough workers, because at this location most of the workers are Arabs. I tell everyone my shopping cart is for the soldiers.

Even the Arabs bless me. “My son is fighting for Israel in Gaza now, pray for him too.” I show the Arab cashier the packages we made, and she tears up.

“Your son will get a package too,” I tell her. She gives me a hug. 1,000 Packages of Love.

Just when I thought not an extra person could fit in my home, more people come to volunteer. People feel good doing good.

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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Tuesday, October 10 | Day 3: We are setting up tables, preparing for the volunteers to begin. Even when it’s quiet, our thoughts are with our soldiers. British “blokes” come with thirty bagels for lunch—coincidentally, Holy Bagel arrives with meals for all of us from a volunteer who came yesterday and wants to treat us!

I go outside to see how things are doing and find men of all ages bagging items—some are doctors and lawyers visiting for the yamim tovim from New York, “stuck” here till they can get a flight out. A neighbor from an adjacent building arrives. She sees what is happening from her porch and wants to volunteer. Amazed at my production line, two women who were visiting their grandmother upstairs make donations.

An old crotchety neighbor also donates to the cause; her aide comes along.

Volunteers come and go between funerals and shivah houses and blood drives. One is going to an “emergency” wedding. The couple was supposed to get married next month, but the groom was told he has to draft unless he gets married now. So he is. His wedding was supposed to be celebrated with more

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

than 300 people in a fabulous venue.

Instead there were fifty people who were served challah rolls and dips.

We have a steady flow of shoppers going out to stores and spending profusely on supplies; people from all over the world are donating. But what makes me happiest is pictures of soldiers with our packages. May they all come home safely.

Wednesday, October 11 | Day 4: Just when I thought not an extra person could fit in my home, more people come to volunteer. People feel good doing good. We are having a debriefing with my volunteer leaders about why this was such a huge success, but I think I’ve had enough for now. I want my house back! A day of over 2,000 packages.

The exhaustion I feel is unlike any I have experienced. This project was for the soldiers, for their families, for our people and for the world. It was as much about the 500+ volunteers who came with tears and left with joy as it was about our soldiers who needed things.

Whether people came with toiletries or a huge donation, whether they stayed

for half an hour or came every day, this project grew wings.

Four days.

Over 5,000 Packages of Love, over $25,000 donated, over 500 volunteers in my house.

On Thursday, October 12, I reclaim my house and tidy and clean while listening to music. On Friday, I allow myself to cry. I go shopping on my local street. I go to every shop and spend money there because I want to support my local businesses. I go to my newspaper shop, and the proprietor’s son who helps him on Fridays is there, and I tear up. He might be drafted next week, but for now he gets another Shabbat with his family. What a gift.

Shabbat shalom to all of Jerusalem.

We will light another candle for the precious kidnapped souls in Gaza. We are at war, but these first five days on the front lines of chesed fill me with a bit of peace. 1,400 dead, more than 5,000 wounded, more than 200 hostages in Gaza.

“Be strong and resolute; do not be terrified or dismayed, for Hashem, your G-d, is with you wherever you go” (Yehoshua 1:9).

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2 A Shield for the Soldiers

By Haddie (Hadassah) Davidov As told to Carol Ungar

W

hen we first heard about the massacre, my roommates and I went to the Lone Soldier Center (established in memory of Michael Levine) in downtown Jerusalem, responding to a message they had sent out asking for supplies. We brought over shampoo bottles, granola bars and containers of instant soup. It seemed like they already had a lot of these items. “Is there anything else you need?” we asked.

“We don’t know what you have access to,” they said, “but our men are asking for tzitzit.”

We started fundraising.

We connected with Lt. Colonel Rabbi Yedidya Atlas of the IDF Central Command who manufactures specially prepared tzitzit for the IDF; soldiers going into combat need to wear olivegreen undershirt tzitzit to match their uniform camouflage in the

field. We raise the money, and Rabbi Atlas sends the tzitzit to soldiers on the front line.

Every day, we get messages from soldiers who thank us. The tzitzit, they say, gives them a lot of chizuk.

One soldier told us that his tzitzit reminds him that Hashem is in all four corners of the world protecting him. The soldiers see their tzitziyot as their shields and as a tangible demonstration of their trust in Hashem.

What is especially moving is that some of the requests we have been getting are from men with tattoos up their arms, men who don’t wear a kippah or put on tefillin—but they want tzitzit.

This project has taken over our lives. When we got this off the ground, we were sleeping four hours a night. We’ve allocated all of our free time to this. It’s what needs to be done right now.

. . . some of the requests we get are from men with tattoos up their arms, men who don’t wear a kippah or put on tefillin—but they want tzitzit.

Carol Ungar is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action. She leads memoir workshops and is the author of several biographies for Jewish children.

Haddie (Hadassah) Davidov is a twenty-eight-year-old former Torontonian. A kindergarten teacher, she lives in an apartment in Jerusalem with three roommates. Together they are the force behind The Tzitzit Fund, a grassroots organization that supplies tzitzit to IDF soldiers.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

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3 This Is Unity

By Batsheva Moskowitz

I

t’s half an hour after Shabbat has ended—a week after the war in Israel began. It’s raining outside as I walk into a busy Terminal 4 at JFK Airport. I’ve never been to the airport without having a plane to catch, but I am here now to help load hundreds of supplies for soldiers onto a flight to Israel.

In the center of the terminal, over fifty cardboard boxes are stacked on top of each other, creating a wall in the heart of the commotion. Next to them are piles and piles of duffel bags and a diverse group of Jews. I spot my father among a sprinkling of kippahwearing men. Parents and teens—some of whom are my neighbors from my hometown of West Hempstead, New York—stand around dozens of black and bright blue duffel bags stuffed with toothpaste, T-shirts, underwear, duct tape, headlamps and socks.

The boxes, filled with $50,000 worth of tourniquets, restrict my view. Bearded Israelis exchange instructions in Hebrew. A heavyset

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

man with reddish hair speaks with airport security as if he’s in charge.

I remember how different things were a week ago. ******* It’s Motzaei Chag. I turn on my phone. I heard about the war during Simchat Torah, but I don’t know too many details. We know things are bad, but we don’t know how bad.

My friend from London has come for Sukkot.

Her friend, who lives on a kibbutz in the South, has been taken hostage by Hamas.

A girl from my hometown who was home from the IDF for Sukkot is told to stay in the US. Her entire unit has been killed. Don’t come back, they tell her. There’s nothing for you here.

Another friend’s classmate, a chayal, has been killed. I find out on an Instagram post.

I read every news site possible.

I cry.

I feel numb.

I must do something.

On Tuesday, I see a Facebook post: friends from West Hempstead are collecting supplies for Israeli soldiers.

On Wednesday, I plan a donation drive with friends from my community on the Upper West Side. I post a flyer advertising the drive on Instagram and send it to other accounts to spread the word.

A few hours later, we are ready, but we don’t know what to expect.

A young woman arrives at our Upper West Side apartment. She tells us she came from Brooklyn as she unloads a backpack and a large shopping bag full of men’s socks and deodorant. Watching her, I am reminded of Mary Poppins’ bag—the more items she takes out of the bag, the more there seem to be.

A short man with a kippah and a shy smile enters. Friends from the neighborhood come in and out, donating T-shirts, chargers and headlamps. Some stay to talk.

Photo: Dave Sanders/New York Times/Redux

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

27

A non-religious graduate school student peeks his head through the door; like many others, he’s heard about the donation drive through Instagram. He empties a large backpack full of T-shirts and towels.

He’s disturbed by his fellow students’ responses to the war. “They don’t realize,” he says. “Hamas would kill them all if they got near them.”

By the end of the evening, we’ve collected hundreds of dollars’ worth of supplies, enough to fill four-anda-half large duffel bags. Some duffels are shuttled off to JFK that very night.

Together with a friend, I lug the rest to West Hempstead, where we will spend Shabbat.

On Friday afternoon before Shabbat, Rabbi Elon Soniker of Congregation Anshei Shalom in West

Hempstead sends out an alert: fifty soldiers need homes for Shabbat— their flight has been canceled. Within half an hour, enough places are arranged to house a hundred soldiers.

The owner of the local kosher Chinese restaurant runs back to the restaurant to begin preparing Shabbat food for the soldiers.

Soon we find out it was all a miscommunication. But we know what the community is capable of.

Shabbat ends. We are ready to send supplies on the next flight to Tel Aviv leaving in a few hours. My family and I arrive at our neighbor’s house to pick up bags for the flight.

Inside, the house is a flurry of motion. Someone sits on the floor with duct tape and a Sharpie marker, labeling duffel bags. Havdalah is made for those who haven’t heard it. A CEO of a marketing company from West Orange introduces himself before disappearing off to JFK. His pickup truck is loaded with duffel bags. A man he’s just met from Silver Spring accompanies him.

At the airport, my father buys luggage carts until his credit card declines the payment, assuming it is fraud. A group of heavily geared police officers appear in the terminal lobby. We are here for you; they tell my father. They have come to help guard the dozens of duffel bags.

Chassidic yeshivah students on their way to Israel approach us, speaking in rapid-fire Hebrew. Are these for the chayalim? We want to help!

Chiloni Israelis, Modern Orthodox Americans wearing knit kippot, traditional Sephardim—Jews of all kinds run in and out of the terminal, as more cars filled with duffel bags

arrive. We are told there may not be room on the plane.

Late that evening, I catch a ride back to West Hempstead with a neighbor. The next morning, pictures and videos of the soldiers unloading our black and bright blue duffel bags prove they have received it all.

As I write these words, two weeks into the war, no one knows when this will end. But we do know these efforts will not stop until it does.

This is unity.

...fifty soldiers need homes for Shabbat—their flight has been canceled. Within half an hour, enough places are arranged to house a hundred soldiers.

T th

Y h

Jo Photo: Dave Sanders/New York Times/Redux

Batsheva Moskowitz is an associate editor at Jewish Action.

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4 The Blessings of Zoom School

By Merri Ukraincik

A

zi Cutter of Modi’in describes the current atmosphere in Israel as “a combination of the Corona pandemic and the aftermath of 9/11.” The isolation. The fear and uncertainty.

“We’re scared,” he says. “We sleep either in our safe rooms or near them in case there are sirens. And we all have family and friends on active army duty. It’s impossible for our children not to overhear adult conversations

Merri Ukraincik has written for Tablet, the Lehrhaus, the Forward and other publications, including Jewish Action. She is the author of I Live. Send Help, a history of the Joint Distribution Committee.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

about what’s happening. They are traumatized.”

With schools closed, Israeli children also have very little to do. When Jews in the States began asking how they could help, Cutter saw a chance to fill some of that free time while providing a sense of normalcy for them.

He and his wife Jessica and their four children made aliyah from Long Beach, New York, in 2018, but still have a connection with Hebrew

Academy of Long Beach (HALB). So Azi contacted Richard Altabe, the school’s Lower Division principal, about setting up a Zoom class for English-speaking kids in Modi’in.

Within hours, HALB was ready to go. Altabe recalls, “Our teachers were on board. We were primed because of Covid. We just had to dust off the equipment.”

Jessica partnered with the family’s shul in Modi’in—Kehillat Shaarei

Midway through their first session, the girls disappeared from the screen . . . Hearing sirens, the girls had raced to their shelters.

Yonah Menachem (KSYM)—to reach out to local parents. She now manages the logistics with the school for the approximately thirty-five community students in second to fifth grade taking part (as of this writing). Afternoon timing in Israel gives them access to HALB’s daily morning limudei kodesh classes.

From the first Zoom session, the two groups of students bonded. As Azi envisioned, “They can be mechazek

one another” at such a difficult time.

Rabbi Moshe Steinberg, who teaches a fifth grade Mishnah class, agrees.

“It’s like we are with them in Israel, learning together. The boys are getting to know one another. It’s having a really meaningful impact on all of us.”

“HALB kids now have a better sense of what life is like for their peers in Israel, while the kids in Modi’in can experience being back in a regular yeshivah classroom,” Altabe reflects.

The point hit home when midway through their first session on October 16, the girls disappeared from the screen. The morot wondered what happened, concerned that their new students had perhaps lost interest. But that wasn’t the reason. Hearing sirens, the girls had raced to their shelters.

Approximately thirty-five Modi’in students in second to fifth grade have been taking limudei kodesh classes virtually with students at the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach in New York.

From the first Zoom session, the two groups of students bonded.

Courtesy of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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5 Women Bridging the Gap

By Toby Klein Greenwald

A

Toby Klein Greenwald, a regular contributor to Jewish Action, is a journalist, playwright, poet and teacher and the artistic director of a number of theater companies.

She is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Atara—the Association for Torah and the Arts.

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fter the destruction of Gush Katif in 2005, most of the residents of Atzmona were relocated by the Israeli government to what used to be Kibbutz Shomria, located in the northeast Negev. There had been only eleven families left in the original kibbutz, and they were compensated and relocated. Technically, Shomria is still called a “kibbutz.” They have a cowshed, olive grove, vineyard and fields in which they grow other things, but daily life is more similar to a yishuv kehilati, a community village.

Our daughter Naama’s family, who had lived in Atzmona, was among those who relocated to Shomria.

Shomria is a deeply religious community. The families who settle there, just as in the original Atzmona, agree that there will be no televisions or secular newspapers in their homes.

Most of the men are graduates of yeshivot; they also go to the army, and many of them, including Naama’s husband, are officers. Their neighbor, Col. Jonathan Steinberg, forty-two, commander of the Nahal Brigade, was one of the first soldiers to fall in battle on the black Shabbat of Simchat Torah.

In the week the war began, soldiers were stationed at Kibbutz Dvir, about a ten-minute drive from Shomria.

The women of the kibbutz, which is a member of the secular Hashomer Hatzair movement, contacted the women of Shomria and asked for their help in preparing meals for the soldiers, as some of their kitchens aren’t kosher. Together the women created a WhatsApp group to help organize the project.

Naama describes how supportive they were of each other, with total collaboration for the benefit of the soldiers.

She shared with me what one of the women of Dvir wrote to her in the midst of things:

In the place the soldiers are sleeping in, there is a safe room, and we took care of [providing] mattresses, sheets, pillows and blankets and are helping with the laundry.

The building also has a house of prayer [shul] and we made the connection with the person in Dvir who is responsible for it, and he opened it so the soldiers could use it.

We are not happy that these are the circumstances, but we are happy to be able to work together in friendship.

There is no doubt that this war gave birth to a new level of love and connection and a feeling of shared responsibility between all parts of our people.

To which Naama replied:

And later, in the wake of the successful partnership, she wrote: Dear women and men in this group, I want to say a personal thank you to each and every one of you, from all of us. I also draw great strength from doing something active, something good that is under our control.

In my mind’s eye, I imagine a great and festive evening when we will meet, after this cursed war ends, and we will further actualize this good neighborliness and shared humanity.

It gives me hope.

A personal thank you for an island of sanity during these difficult days.

Hagar

What you wrote is so moving, Hagar. There is no doubt that this war gave birth to a new level of love and connection and a feeling of shared responsibility between all parts of our people.

May we know how to continue to grow from this, with G-d’s help, and may we only hear good tidings from now on!

Naama

“Dvir” is one of the names of the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem. May this sisterly love be a foreshadowing of the love in Am Yisrael that will herald the rebuilding of the Temple, speedily in our day.

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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6 Delivering Chizuk

By Bentzi Goldman As told to Carol Ungar

I

Soldiers receiving deliveries of much-needed supplies.

Most nights I only get to bed at 2 am, but if a call comes in at 3 am, I’ll wake up and get whatever is needed.

Bentzi Goldman, twenty years old, lives in Kiryat Yearim.

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own a delivery company. When the war broke out, I asked my friends in the army what they needed—because of the war, I wasn’t working much. My friends and I loaded up my minivans with supplies and drove out to the bases.

Meanwhile, the requests kept pouring in from soldiers and parents of soldiers. We began driving to bases all over the country.

You can’t imagine what we feel like when the soldiers smile and thank us for the supplies.

I still run the delivery company, but most of my time is dedicated to the soldiers right now. Some days I leave my home at 8 am and return at 6 am the next morning. Most nights I only get to bed at 2 am, but if a call comes in at 3 am, I’ll wake up and get whatever is needed. Here in Jerusalem, you can sometimes forget that we are in the middle of a war, but when you travel the country as I do and see cars flipped over and riddled with bullets, you realize what is going on.

I do this with missiles flying over my head . . . It’s wild.

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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7 From Toothbrushes to Tourniquets

By Batsheva Moskowitz

N

ever in their “wildest dreams” did Shelley and Ariel Serber expect their living room to be converted into a distribution center for the IDF. Since the start of the Iron Swords War, the Serbers’ home in West Hempstead, New York—now referred to as the “machal or war room” among the team of Israelis Ariel assembled— has been bustling with neighbors, friends and men and women from communities nearby donating, organizing and packing supplies for the IDF. The floor of their living room is covered with piles of duffel bags and supplies: hundreds of men’s socks and packages of black T-shirts piled high on the couch, bath towels stuffed in bins, paper bags filled with batteries and chargers, boxes of wipes, dozens of snack bags and on and on.

Two weeks into the war, the family of three has facilitated the donation and delivery of some 250 duffel bags carrying tens of thousands of pounds of supplies. But the operation was born on a much smaller scale: a trip to Costco.

“On the Monday after Simchat Torah, Shelley and I felt helpless, upset, emotional,” says Ariel, a financial advisor who works with Israeli startups. “I reached out to friends in the Israeli tech and venture capital industries to see how we could support them.” Ariel’s friend, a reservist flying back to Israel later that day, requested a ride to Costco to buy supplies for his unit. Ariel mentioned to Shelley what his friend was doing, and she hit the ground running.

“What does he need? For how many people? He doesn’t need to buy this for his unit himself. I can raise the money. How many duffel bags?” Ariel recalls Shelley telling him. “It just truly exploded in the best possible way from there,” says Shelley.

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On that first day, Shelley and Ariel began posting on Facebook and WhatsApp groups, requesting items ranging from protein bars to socks. “Word [got] out quickly”; supplies began streaming in from Jews residing in neighboring communities, including Oceanside, Roslyn and the

Hamptons, as well as Manhattan and West Orange, New Jersey.

That first Monday night, Shelley pulled into JFK Airport with a car packed with twelve duffel bags of supplies. As she walked into the terminal, Shelley said she found “chayalim sitting on the floor of the terminal waiting for their flights. She said, ‘Hey guys, I need some help.’ And they jumped up. There were probably five or six of them. They just pulled everything out of the car.”

The young men, wearing sweatshirts and jeans, were Israelis traveling in America who had been called back to the army. One of the men had arrived in the US three days prior, only to turn right back around. “They were saying, ‘What is this stuff? Where is it from?’ I told them, ‘Everything has been donated,’” says Shelley. “The duffel bags are the community kids’ camp duffel bags that their parents pulled out of their basements and attics. The chayalim were completely blown away . . . They looked at me and asked, ‘Can we take it?’ I said, ‘Can you take it? It’s for you!’”

The chayalim, who would be traveling “directly from Ben Gurion to the front lines” opened the bags and “handpicked what they wanted for themselves and their units.” They returned to their bases equipped with the bags of supplies. “I worry about them,” says Shelley, “and my heart skips a beat when I see an ‘in memory of ’ post.”

Since then, Shelley and Ariel have created an efficient system and established distinct roles for themselves. Shelley acts as the community liaison, collecting and organizing supplies. Knowledge of the Serbers’ initiative has spread to communities across Long Island, and Jews from neighboring towns

6.1 OpenDor’s Subbrands

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

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For those looking for answers to difficult questions, and for a comprehensive understanding of all things Israel and Jewish, OpenDor Media’s videos, podcasts, and articles across media platforms ensure the presence of a strong and credible voice at a time when we need it more than ever.

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Hi, I noticed your name on one of the duffle bags we received.

What a great feeling it filled us to know that the whole Jewish nation is standing behind us.

We, on our side, promise to do our best.

On behalf of my platoon, I thank you and your great community for doing your best.

Please share [with] your community.

06:13

Tani Feldman, a seventeen-year-old from West Hempstead, New York, gave his camp duffel bag to the Serbers’ community-wide effort to ship supplies to the IDF. The next day on a base in Israel, a chayal, noticing a phone number on the bag, sent Feldman a text thanking him and the community for their efforts. The text was received at 6:13 pm. Courtesy of Shelley Serber

We’ve gone from toothbrushes and toothpaste to life-saving equipment. consistently come in and out of their home with donations. Several of their friends and neighbors have offered their garages to store duffel bags or supplies.

Ariel is tasked with ensuring the constant inflow of supplies gets to the right place. A few hours before a flight, he is informed which supplies are needed on each flight. A group of volunteer drivers from the community take duffel bags from one garage, fill them with supplies stored in another garage and deliver them to the airport.

“The supplies are all organized in different crates so the packers can take what they need from the crates and fill the bags,” says Ariel. “Once it gets 38

JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

to Israel, we have people there who go back and forth between the airport and the various units.” Ariel works with El Al Airlines and his Israeli contacts to ensure that the items are getting to the bases.

There has been incredible support for the Serbers; the entire community has come together to help the chayalim and in the process, are making sure the Serbers have what they need. “We’ve had people beg to come and help,” says Shelley. One family is on garbage duty; they come to the Serbers’ house every few days to flatten and dispose of all the empty cardboard boxes that once contained supplies. “I have a friend who messages me at four or five o’clock

every day to make sure we have some sort of plan for dinner,” says Shelley.

While the idea for the operation began small, “we’ve gone from toothbrushes and toothpaste to lifesaving equipment,” says Shelley. As of this writing in late October, the Serbers have facilitated the shipment of 6,500 tourniquets, worth tens of thousands of dollars.

“I admit we are exhausted to the bone,” says Shelley. “We haven’t slept much. But when we get the photos of chayalim holding the items that were on our living room floor two days earlier, it feels incredible. We have a saying: ‘can’t stop, won’t stop . . . We just keep pushing.’”

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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8 Making Aliyah in a Time of War

By Steve Lipman

A Ben Katz and his wife Michele joined twentythree other Americans who made aliyah during the second week of the war.

Courtesy of Nefesh B’Nefesh/Yonit Schiller

Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.

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Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.

JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

s soon as Simchat Torah ended in Cleveland and Ben Katz turned on his computer, he read a series of email messages and texts. One addressed an immediate concern of his—his aliyah scheduled for the following week. The longtime Cleveland resident, who had been planning the move for more than a year, discovered his flight was still on— despite the war in Gaza.

Katz thought, time to finish packing.

A few other email messages would change his packing plans.

Notes from a nephew and a soonto-be-son-in-law who serve in the Israeli army listed items soldiers needed; many of them had left home on short notice the day after the war broke out.

If he and his wife were still planning to come, could they help?

Immediately, Katz said yes. He and his wife Michele ended up filling two large duffel bags stuffed with supplies the soldiers needed.

With headlines describing the increasingly dire situation in Israel, Hamas rockets raining down on southern Israel from Gaza, and Hezbollah missiles from southern Lebanon falling on northern Israel, did Katz have second thoughts about going forward with his aliyah plans?

Yes, he says— “second, third, fourth and fifth thoughts. Many times.”

But he and Michele went anyway.

While there have been postponements of current aliyah plans among North Americans, according to Nefesh B’Nefesh, as of this writing in mid-October, there have been no cancellations. Many potential olim are waiting to see how things develop further in order to gauge when to come. Nefesh B’Nefesh is “grateful that El Al is flying and enabling anyone who has booked on their flights to continue with their aliyah plans.”

“It is incredibly moving to welcome olim who, despite the extremely tragic times, are continuing to fulfill their dreams of moving to Israel, sending an unmistakable message: Am Yisrael Chai,” says Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh.

Katz says he had never considered making aliyah until he found himself in Israel during the Covid pandemic for a two-week trip—for a daughter’s wedding in Netanya—that stretched into three-and-a-half months. “I realized I could live there,” Katz says. He and his wife made new friends in Netanya and fell in love with the country, especially with coastal Netanya, where they will live in a rental until the apartment they bought there will be ready.

Katz, who sold his business a few years ago and has worked as

We have been in and out of Israel many times, and it was never the right time or the right circumstances to make aliyah. Now is the right time.

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The couple joined twenty-three other olim who made aliyah on Wednesday, October 19, during the second week of the war. El Al flights from New York, Los Angeles, and Miami landed at Ben Gurion Airport bringing the olim to their new home.

“You don’t just go when it’s safe and pretty,” Katz asserts.

“We have been in and out of Israel many times, and it was never the right time or the right circumstances to make aliyah. Now is the right time.”

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Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

41

OU Uniting to Help Our Community in Crisis

A

lmost immediately upon learning of the horrific massacre on Simchat Torah, the OU in Israel and America have been working around the clock to organize efforts to help our brothers and sisters in Israel. In the first two weeks of the war, the OU raised more than $2 million in order to provide much-needed aid to individuals and families severely impacted by the war. While our efforts have been broad across our many departments, we have been especially focused on the following four areas: 1. OU ISRAEL STAFF Many OU Israel staff members live and work in Sderot and surrounding areas. Well over 150 members of

our staff, including employees of JLIC and NCSY, were called up to active military duty. We have been working with the affected families to address their immediate material and emotional needs.

2. ACTION OU Israel has been providing vouchers for evacuated families for necessities such as food, clothing, baby items and toiletries; offering crisis support including a Hebrew-language hotline for those suffering from trauma and anxiety; and delivering meals and other essentials to soldiers. A few weeks into the war, the Karasick Synagogue Initiatives department led a mission to Israel to offer support to our Israeli brothers and

sisters. Comprised of rabbis and lay leaders from across the US, the group visited with bereaved families, families of hostages, and members of displaced communities to share a message of achdut.

In November, the OU urged thousands of its constituents to show solidary with Israel and join the Rally for Israel in Washington, DC. 3. CHIZUK The OU and our many programmatic departments have convened numerous in-person and virtual gatherings to hear words of chizuk and consolation and to recite Tehillim. Thousands have joined NCSY’s Adopt a Soldier and Shemirah Project, campaigns to do mitzvot, pray or learn Torah as a zechut for soldiers and for Am Yisrael.

4. ADVOCACY OU Advocacy has been in constant contact with national leaders to galvanize support for Israel and combat the surge of antisemitism in the U.S. Since the outbreak of the war, OUA leaders have met with President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of

At a recent Israel mission organized by the OU’s Karasick Synagogue Initiatives department, forty-two rabbis and lay leaders, representing a broad spectrum of Orthodox communities, spent three jam-packed days visiting the bereaved and wounded as well as displaced citizens and chayalim.

Information is as of early November.

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

New York Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris announced a push to double security funding from $45 million to $90 million. Pictured, a group of interfaith school and community leaders at the press conference where the announcement was made. Seen here, Managing Director, OU Public Affairs Maury Litwack (middle row, left) and Executive Director, Teach NYS Sydney Altfield (bottom row, second from right). Majority Leader Gianaris is standing in the middle row, second from left.

Education Miguel Cardona, Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. In these meetings, we have reinforced the Administration’s support for Israel and discussed specific steps the government must take to protect our community and thwart antisemites.

OU Advocacy is working with Congress to have an emergency allocation of $200 million for federal security grants for shuls and schools. OUA also worked with the House Committee on Education to hold a hearing on the rise of college campus antisemitism at which Rabbi Moshe Hauer, OU executive vice president, testified.

Making security a priority, OU Teach Coalition has launched Project Protect, a security-focused initiative that builds on a decade of experience securing and implementing government funding to protect our Jewish institutions.

This year, alongside OU advocacy, Project Protect has pledged to advocate for $1 billion nationally in security funding for at-risk nonprofits, ensuring our yeshivas and day schools can continue to educate our children in a safe, secure environment, and allow Jewish life in America to continue to thrive.

The OU, in partnership with other organizations and toy companies, donated 35,000 toys to Israeli children in need. Our team of over 600 volunteers, organized by JLIC Israel, has been distributing toys to displaced children and responding to the needs of evacuees as well as soldiers and their families.

A team of over 600 volunteers, organized by JLIC Israel within twenty-four hours of Hamas’ attack, has been anticipating and responding to the needs of soldiers and their families, evacuees, mourners and countless others.

Our brothers and sisters in Israel need your urgent support.

Even when the war is done, there will be much to repair.

Donate today at ou.org/israelcrisis.

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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Colonel Golan Vach heads the IDF’s famed National Rescue Unit of the Home Command Front, which has assisted in some of the most difficult disaster rescues and humanitarian aid missions around the world. Despite being a veteran commander, he was overwhelmed by what he saw in the aftermath of the Simchat Torah massacres.

Photo: Marco Bello/Reuters Pictures

Speaking with IDF Colonel Golan Vach Interview by Toby Klein Greenwald

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“We evacuated bodies, but we saw the spirit of the Jewish people.”

Colonel Golan Vach, who lives in Beit Rimon, a kibbutz in the lower Galil, heads the IDF’s famed National Rescue Unit of the Home Front Command, which has assisted in some of the most difficult disaster rescues and humanitarian aid missions around the world. The unit operates search and rescue missions, aiding in rescue and recovery from terror attacks, floods, earthquakes and other disasters.

Israel has a long track record of lending its expertise in disaster relief and rescue efforts on the international stage.

Col. Vach has been deployed on numerous rescue missions, most recently to Surfside, Florida, when a condo building collapsed and to Turkey following an earthquake that claimed thousands of lives.

A thirty-five-year veteran of the IDF, Col. Vach, wearing army fatigues and a yarmulke, sums up his unit’s role simply: “What we do is save lives.” Despite his varied experience in working in disaster zones, he was overwhelmed by what he saw in the aftermath of the Simchat Torah massacre. In the interview that follows, conducted only two weeks into the war in early October, he shares his initial thoughts and feelings.

Toby Klein Greenwald: Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to be the commander of the National Rescue Unit.

Col. Golan Vach: I was born and raised in Kiryat Arba and attended Yeshivat Or Etzion, a military high school. So I’ve been in uniform since the age of fourteen—that’s thirty-five years. I was in the pre-military mechinah of the yeshivah for two years and then joined the paratroopers, ultimately serving as commander of Maglan [the elite commando unit within the paratroopers].

Subsequently, I served in the Givati Brigade, which is responsible for executing missions and performing regular operations to maintain the security of Israel’s South. In 2009, I transferred to the Home Front Command, where I established the Search and Rescue Battalion.

Toby Klein Greenwald, a regular contributor to Jewish Action, is a journalist, playwright, poet, teacher and the artistic director of a number of theater companies. She is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Atara—the Association for Torah and the Arts.

Today you have more than 300,000 soldiers being propelled and carried by the 7 million Jewish citizens of Israel as well as by Jews around the world.

Greenwald: Where did you receive your rescue training?

Col. Vach: In 2009, after being in combat units for seventeen years, I was asked to lead a new search and rescue unit intended for use during emergencies in Israel and to assist with international catastrophes as well. When I switched to Search and Rescue, I needed training. While I did get some training from the instructors in the Home Front Command, the majority of my training was from two other sources: I learned a lot from the soldiers and colleagues in my unit—all of whom are experts in their fields, whether they are engineers, technicians or other specialists. Secondly, I learned from experience. I assisted in many, many disaster rescue missions in Israel and overseas. With each experience I had, I tried to learn how to be a better rescuer and commander and how to improve the capabilities of the unit.

I believe our Rescue Unit is the best such unit in the world.

In 2010, we went to Haiti after it experienced a tremendous earthquake. Since then, our unit has been saving lives and making a kiddush Hashem in Mexico, Albania, the Philippines as well as in other places around the world.

Until 2013, I was the commander of the Rescue Unit at the training base in Zikim, one of the sites attacked on October 7. I visited the base the week after the attack just to give the soldiers a hug.

Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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Greenwald: You have seen so many disaster sites. Only a few months ago, you participated in Israel’s rescue mission to help locate survivors and provide aid after the earthquake in southern Turkey. What was different about the devastation you saw in the wake of the Hamas attack?

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JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

Col. Vach: First of all, this was not a natural disaster. It was a man-made disaster, if you can call them men. Secondly, I have seen many terror attacks during my service in the IDF, but the scale, the amount of casualties, the brutality of the slaughter, was so broad, so cruel, so inexplicable that even now, as I speak to you, I’m not sure I understand all the parameters. I’m not sure I can even explain exactly what I saw. It is incomprehensible.

The first site we went to was the site of the Supernova outdoor music festival, next to Kibbutz Re’im, where more than 260 people were massacred. That night was the longest and the toughest; it was the most terrifying night I have ever experienced. The terrorists had set cars on fire—and they were still on fire when we got there. It was surreal. Just that morning we were celebrating Simchat Torah, and that night we found ourselves walking among fires and extracting the remains of dozens of young people.

Subsequently, we went through the kibbutzim: Be’eri and Kfar Aza. I will not go into details. I will just say that this was a barbaric massacre.

I do, however, want to make an important point: The soldiers, volunteer security teams of the kibbutzim (Kitat Konenut), police officers and even ordinary civilians stormed into the fire, some of them without ammunition, to stop the terrorists with their bare hands. I saw emergency squads with their pistols emptied out. I saw heroism at the highest level.

As terrible as this slaughter was, these heroic individuals prevented an even greater catastrophe—the terrorists intended to go to Kiryat Gat, a city that is more than forty kilometers (around twenty-five miles) from Otef Aza. [Otef Aza refers to the populated areas of Israel that are within 4.3 miles of the Gaza Strip border. The region is populated by 70,000 Israeli citizens.]

I cannot imagine what would have happened had they advanced to Kiryat Gat. The extraordinary level of heroism comforted me in some way because I am a soldier, and I was part of a system that failed in its primary mission to protect the residents of the kibbutzim. And I saw all the marks of this failure. It also comforted me to see that the IDF bounced back very quickly.

With the help of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the IDF took control of twenty-two bases and kibbutzim in twenty-four hours. This could not have happened without the expertise and, even more so, the courage of many IDF soldiers. This was also a unique situation as there was no real coordination. Regaining control of the kibbutzim involved individual soldiers and commanders making spur-of-the moment decisions in a totally unfamiliar and unanticipated situation, and sometimes in opposition to the orders they got. They followed their instincts, and they charged into the storm. We lost so many soldiers, but the IDF was successful in ending the attack.

The Kutz family believed in good neighborly relations with the Palestinians, and every weekend, they flew kites in the direction of Gaza as a sign of good neighborliness, trying to show that the borders cannot divide us. They were the first to be killed. Ofir Libstein, the mayor, had a dream to establish a joint Palestinian-Israeli industrial zone between Kfar Aza and Gaza. He was part of the volunteer security team, and he, too, was slaughtered.

Greenwald: What are some of the challenges of dealing with this disaster site that are different from other sites you’ve dealt with?

A thirty-five-year veteran of the IDF, Colonel Vach, wearing army fatigues and sporting a yarmulke, sums up his unit’s role simply: “What we do is save lives.” Photo: REUTERS/Washington Alves

Greenwald: In some of the news reports, you are quoted as saying that it was an inside job. Can you explain that?

Col. Vach: Hamas had internal intelligence from Arabs who worked in the kibbutzim. This is not an assumption. It’s a fact.

I heard this from their employers. The residents of Gaza knew the names of the families, where they lived, where they hid their jewelry, where the mayor of the Sha’ar HaNegev Council, Ofir Libstein—one of the first to be killed—lived, where the kibbutz armory was located . . . They knew all the entrances of the army bases. They knew which unit was inside each base.

They knew everything.

There is no question they got internal information from traitors inside.

Greenwald: How do you think this massacre will impact the country politically?

Col. Vach: Right now, in Israel, there is no left and no right.

No more.

The Kutz family was murdered—all five of them. An entire family wiped out. I found them.

Col. Vach: This was not an attack against the IDF. It was not an attack against the State of Israel. It was an attack against the Jews. It was pure hatred of Jews and Judaism.

They didn’t differentiate between men, women, babies or the elderly. They intended to humiliate, to eliminate and to cause psychological horror. Their objective was to horrify Israeli society and the Jewish nation worldwide.

But they achieved the opposite—the exact opposite. In fact, they succeeded in uniting the entire Jewish nation worldwide.

Today you have more than 300,000 soldiers being propelled and carried by the 7 million Jewish citizens of Israel as well as by those Jews around the world who want only one thing—to demolish [Hamas], to win, to beat this evil.

Greenwald: What do you think Israel will learn from this?

Col. Vach: It’s too early to predict the long-term effect of this massacre. I can only discuss the short term. What do we need to do now? We need to provide the citizens of the kibbutzim, of Sderot, of Ofakim, with real protection.

We cannot expect the residents of Otef Aza to return to their homes without eradicating the evil that emanated from Hamas over the years. And there is no chance they will return to their homes without proper protection.

Real protection means that Hamas cannot remain an entity that can threaten any Jew in any manner. The answer is not protecting ourselves with safe rooms and shelters.

With the help of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, we must clear the region of this kind of threat if we want to provide our citizens with the security that we could not give them this past Simchat Torah.

I’d like to share a story. It was the fourth day of the mission to recover bodies last week; it was also my forty-ninth birthday. We were driving back to our base, and, after having carried out more than two hundred and fifty dead Jews from the fire and destruction, I felt it was the saddest birthday of my life. Just before the sun set, I asked a small wish of Hakadosh Baruch Hu: I asked for Am Yisrael to win.

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The soldiers, volunteer security teams of the kibbutzim, police officers, and even ordinary civilians stormed into the fire, some of them without ammunition, to stop the terrorists with their bare hands. . . . I saw heroism at the highest level. from the right side of the road. We charged at them. One member of our group was wounded, but we killed both Hamas gunmen.

Standing next to the two terrorist beasts we had just killed, I felt a small, small sense of victory. I thanked Hakadosh Baruch Hu that I was granted the opportunity to revert back to being a soldier, not a body carrier, for a few minutes.

Greenwald: Is there something you want to say to our readers, most of whom are North American Orthodox Jews?

Col. Vach: Yes, I want to tell American Jewry that in spite of everything, your place is in Israel. And if you think that what happened is a good reason for you to stay in America, you are deeply, deeply wrong.

Greenwald: In your experience, how do people recover from such devastation? What does it take?

Col. Vach: First of all, by remaining united. The community should stay together. All the kibbutz members who’ve been relocated from Otef Aza should stick together and not be fragmented. Secondly, by doing things to advance the situation on a practical level. Do not wallow in grief and blame; instead, do things, be proactive. Thirdly, the recovery depends on how Hakadosh Baruch Hu will guide Medinat Yisrael and the IDF—what Gaza will look like, and what the future will be.

Greenwald: If we eradicate Hamas, what do you foresee going forward? Will the communities be rebuilt?

Col. Vach: It depends. I would not automatically say yes. It depends on what Gaza will look like. If Hamas is stripped of its ability to attack again, then we can return to the place and rebuild.

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Greenwald: How do you, as a religious Jew, cope with the trauma you see up close? And what is your closing message to our readers?

Col. Vach: I am not the first Jew to witness such a tremendous chillul Hashem. Seeing the devastated sites, I walked among the flames and I said, “To see Jews in the land of the Jews under the protection of the IDF being killed like this—this is just a chillul Hashem, a desecration of G-d’s name.” That was my feeling during the past few days, but at the same time I felt that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is directing us to a certain point, to a place of our unification.

How many people have I heard say over the past two years, “We need a real war right now to remind us who we are”? Prior to the Hamas massacre, we felt that the fight between the political parties regarding judicial reform was so important. But it was so toxic, so wrong. And we couldn’t stop it. The negative energy and bad feelings among Am Yisrael was beyond our ability to fix.

I won’t speak on behalf of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but this massacre was an external reminder of who we are. While I was looking at the devastation and searching for human remains among the destruction, I felt that I was standing in the lowest place on Earth. At the same time, I felt that I was part of a nation that will attain the loftiest heights. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is expecting us to grow. Yisrael is compared to the stars of the heavens and the sand of the sea.

I participated in the delegation to Turkey after their earthquake. I saw the Israeli flag there, as we proudly represented the Jewish State. I’ve received medals from various presidents around the world for my rescue work.

They have all told me that Israel is the most advanced and beautiful country in the world.

When we soldiers were tasked with carrying out the burnt remains of young people from the music festival, the bodies were lovingly handled by the wonderful Chareidi volunteers of the chevra kadisha; no one was willing to go to such a place, but they did. That’s the people of Israel.

I’m so sorry that we needed this reminder. But I felt Hakadosh Baruch Hu even in these places. I never felt abandoned. So while I felt I was at a very low point last week, I know what we, the Jewish people, are capable of. And I know that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is guiding us and that He loves us.

ALIYAH

In Pursuit of a Dream: The North American Youth Aliyah Movement

By Aviva Engel

While the article that follows on young North American olim was written well before the onset of the war, aliyah is continuing despite the challenges in Israel. Especially at this time, we felt it was important to highlight aliyah and the commitment of the Jewish people to living in Israel.

Photo: Zvi Fermaglich

Despite a tight deadline, we went back to some of the young people quoted in this article to find out how they were coping with the war.

(See page 61 for their responses.)

Remarkably, for many young North American olim, the war has only deepened their desire to live in and contribute to the Jewish homeland.

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ch Photo: Zvi Fermagli

“I

t’s not easy to tell your parents, ‘I love you, and I’m moving across the world,” says Nili Fischer.

Twenty-year-old Fischer of Denver, Colorado, decided to remain in Israel to attend college after spending a year at Midreshet HaRova, a Religious Zionist seminary in Jerusalem’s Old City. But despite her parents’ wholehearted backing, Fischer still has moments where she feels regret and even guilt about leaving others behind. “My family and friends are also Zionistic, but it’s hard for me to hear them occasionally say, ‘You left us.’ And they’re right. I did.”

Now in year two of a three-year English language program at Reichman University in Herzliya pursuing a bachelor’s in communications, Fischer is among a growing number of Jewish North American young adults who are choosing to pursue higher education in Israel and then settle there.

It’s a trend that’s a decade—some say longer—in the making and has spurred the growth of the vibrant, dynamic communities of Givat Shmuel, Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Jerusalem and Haifa, bringing New York’s Upper West Side feel to the Middle East.

Aviva Engel is a staff writer at the OU and an award-winning freelance journalist living in Jerusalem.

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“There’s a snowball effect,” says Rabbi Ilan Haber, OU chief strategy officer and former international director of the OU’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), which serves as a critical home away from home for Modern Orthodox students on thirtytwo campuses in Israel, Canada and the United States. “Ten years ago, there weren’t many people coming or staying here for university. Now it’s more common. People feel they have a formal support system and network as more of their friends choose to stay in Israel in general—not just to attend university but to build their lives here.”

“The diverse people, the great weather and the flavors of Israeli society combine to create an overall excellent quality of life that is causing more and more North American young professionals, before or after university, to make Israel the place to launch their careers,” explains Marc Rosenberg, Nefesh B’Nefesh vice president of Diaspora Partnerships.

According to Nefesh B’Nefesh, the number of olim in their twenties and thirties who made aliyah from within Israel (that is, after completing a gap year in the country or serving in the IDF) has risen dramatically in recent

Above: Nili Fischer, an undergraduate at Reichman University in Herzliya, is among a growing number of Jewish North American young adults who are choosing to pursue higher education in Israel and then settle there. Courtesy of Nili Fischer

People need to understand that [making aliyah] is often difficult. It’s not about strolling in Machane Yehuda . . . it’s real life, and it can be challenging. years. In 2021–2022, 630 olim in this age group made aliyah from within Israel. In 2019–2020, 739 olim in this age group made aliyah from within Israel.

Compared to a decade earlier, the numbers have more than doubled: in 2009, for example, only 286 olim in their twenties and thirties made aliyah from within Israel.

“An estimated 10 percent of North American Modern Orthodox day school students are coming to Israel for college,” says Rabbi Jonathan Shulman, associate director of JLIC and director of JLIC Israel. “Every year, more and

more students are coming; the Modern Orthodox yeshivas and seminaries in Israel often report that at least 15 to 20 percent of their graduates end up going to college in Israel,” says Rabbi Shulman, who is charged with tending to the social and religious needs of these emerging populations. “If they’re coming, we want to be there for them.”

A COURAGEOUS CHOICE For young adults, the choice to pursue higher education and subsequently make Israel their home is a courageous one.

Fischer admits moving was challenging; she would have loved to have had her parents nearby for help when moving to her apartment in Herzliya. She was apprehensive about starting school and about not yet having a support system of friends.

“Moving into life on my own,” she says, was one of the scariest things

Jordan Landes has been living in Israel since completing his gap year.

Photo: Shmuel Rosenberg

she’s ever done. Yet once she joined the “incredible community of Herzliya,” and started attending an “Americanstyle” JLIC program with Anglos, she began meeting peers from different cultures and making new friends who share her values.

“When you live in Israel without your family, your friends become your family,” notes Fischer. “If I’m having a hard day, I just want to go home to my three amazing roommates who are more like my sisters. Adjusting to friends being family has definitely been a challenge—but it’s something that’s made me appreciate my friends that much more.”

Other young Anglos express similar challenges. Jordan Landes decided to stay in Israel shortly after completing his gap year at Yeshivat Shaalvim. “I felt that if I returned to the States, I probably wouldn’t come back,” says Landes, who is originally from Boca Raton, Florida.

“Even though it’s a tough decision to make at eighteen, looking back it was certainly the right decision,” says the now twenty-three-year-old who has since graduated from Reichman University with a BA in communications and a minor in business administration.

“I’m living the dream.”

Despite his relatively smooth integration into Israeli society— Landes is a successful investment relations analyst—he doesn’t sugarcoat the oleh experience. “People need to understand that [making aliyah] is often difficult. It’s not about strolling in Machane Yehuda . . . it’s real life, and it can be challenging.” There is certainly the feeling of being an immigrant, he says. A great-great grandson of Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, chief rabbi of Jerusalem from 1936 until 1960, Landes recalls that even fairly simple tasks in the States, such as opening a bank account or getting a Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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aglich Photo: Zvi Ferm

Photo: Kruter Photography

driver’s license, can be arduous due to the language barrier and bureaucracy.

Students need to be able to figure out the health care system, how to negotiate with their landlord, how to find a job upon graduating—all in a different language.

“You are forced to grow up a little faster,” says Meital Wiederhorn, a graduate of SAR Academy in Riverdale, New York, who is majoring in psychology at Reichman University.

What helped Landes acclimate?

“The most important thing,” he says, echoing Fischer, is “having a core group of like-minded friends. The Herzliya Anglo community started out as my community on campus. As they get married and start having children, they’ve become my community in Israel.”

Founded seven years ago as the first JLIC campus in Israel, JLIC at Herzliya, a program in partnership with World Mizrachi, now offers a thriving Jewish life both on and off campus, catering to 500 students, alumni, professionals, married couples, singles, soldiers, Bnot Sherut, young people right out of yeshivah or seminary and others who never attended yeshivah or seminary.

Currently, JLIC engages 2,225 young adults in Israel by offering a religious framework on campuses including Reichman University, Bar-Ilan 52

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University, Tel Aviv University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and most recently, Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev and Machon Tal).

“This community gave me friends, a place to start off, an English-speaking environment; it helped me build a successful life as an immigrant in this country,” says Landes.

“It’s a really special community,” agrees Wiederhorn.

Of course, even with a strong Anglo peer group, students must learn how to navigate the language challenges.

While ulpan lessons and a background in Hebrew are helpful, many experience difficulty mastering subtle nuances, expressions and generally communicating with Israelis.

“I came in as a new immigrant, alone, to a degree program that is entirely in Hebrew,” says twentyfive-year-old Yitzi Rothschild, who spent eighteen months in an IDF combat engineering unit as part of a hesder yeshivah program and recently graduated from Bar-Ilan University’s (BIU) special education and Tanach programs. “Academic Hebrew is different from social Hebrew. There was only one other Anglo in my program, who wasn’t

in all of my classes, so I didn’t have peers to speak to in English. I had to adapt to the people around me and ergTzahal, the culture.otWhen I served Rosenbin Ph o: Shmuel only guys were on my base, so I spoke Hebrew in masculine tense; once I got to university, I would address the girls in the masculine [form], and everyone would laugh. In the process of developing your Hebrew, you make a ton of mistakes, and you just have to accept it and learn and grow.”

The diverse array of opportunities available for young people, while positive, also impacts the ways they will acclimate. “There are so many different things people can do—they can go to a yeshivah, or to the army, to Sherut Leumi [National Service] or to college,” says Landes.

Even before they decide to pursue higher education in Israel, many young North Americans feel an intense desire to contribute to Eretz Yisrael by volunteering for the IDF or by doing Sherut Leumi. According to Nefesh B’Nefesh, more than 900 North Americans serve in the IDF at any time. Approximately 220 lone Bnot Sherut (those without family in Israel) serve the country annually.

“Everyone who comes here has different challenges; it depends on what they choose to do,” says Landes.

©2

A Chanukah Tradition Since 1882

© 2023 Lactalis Heritage Dairy

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JLIC Mizrachi at Reichman University in Herzliya (university campus pictured above) was founded seven years ago as the first JLIC campus in Israel. Today it offers a thriving Jewish life both on and off campus, catering to 500 students, alumni, professionals, married couples, singles, soldiers, Bnot Sherut, young people right out of yeshivah or seminary and others who never attended yeshivah or seminary.

to attend BIU. Today, he is The country’s tech boom . . . has made the Shmuel very happy to be part of the “incredibly JLIC Mizrachi community in country a highly attractive place to work, warm” Givat Shmuel filled with different kinds of people from “arba kanfot ha’Aretz [the especially to young people. There is real four corners of the globe]” including “plenty of Anglos.” opportunity here, not only to get jobs but Other students come for pragmatic reasons. Olim are entitled to receive tuition reimbursement for higher to thrive and grow in one’s career. education through the Ministry of

BEHIND THE PHENOMENON Why are so many North American day school graduates choosing to pursue higher education in Israel?

Not surprisingly, for a large majority of young olim, especially those who attended Modern Orthodox day schools with a strong commitment to Religious Zionism, the choice is ideological.

Rothschild, for example, was inspired to make aliyah after attending 54

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Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Hakotel. A native of Teaneck, New Jersey, he spent fourand-a-half years at Hakotel’s hesder program. “The yeshivah strengthened my love for the Land of Israel,” he reflects. “Being in the army, training and protecting Israel’s citizens, I fell more and more in love with the country, and I wanted to stay and build a life here.” Upon his release from the IDF, Rothschild returned to Hakotel to serve as a madrich for an additional year before making the move to Givat

Aliyah and Integration’s Student Authority as part of their benefits package. Thus the majority of undergraduate programs at Israeli universities are fully covered by the Student Authority for olim, except for a few private programs. However, even private programs are significantly cheaper than in the States, averaging about $15,500 a year. Additionally, a tuition benefit for olim reduces the cost of private programs by a few thousand dollars. In 2021–22, 1,352 olim received tuition assistance from the Ministry of Aliyah’s Student Authority.

JLIC students participating in a Torah

“Annual tuition in an American private university was about $35,000 eight years ago,” says Rabbi Shlomo Anapolle, international program director of Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT). “Today it’s more like $55,000. If you’re attending an Ivy League university, you’re looking at accumulating between $80,000 to $100,000 annually in student debt, which is beyond crazy for students who are not going to be making more than $80,000 annually at a regular business job with a four-year degree. We’re talking about the cost-benefit analysis here.” JCT, with about 5,000 students in total, spanning men’s (Machon Lev) and women’s campuses (Machon Tal), has the greatest percentage of student olim in the country, with 21 percent of the student body born outside of Israel.

With the help of philanthropist David Magerman, JLIC is partnering with JCT to open programs for both the men’s and women’s campuses.

Some Israeli universities have created partnerships with universities in the US, enabling students to benefit from their exposure to Israel’s people, language and culture.

“Tel Aviv University [TAU] has a four-year dual-degree program with Columbia University,” says Maureen

Meyer Adiri, director of TAU’s Lowy International School. “This is increasingly attractive because Americans can graduate with an Ivy League degree but spend two years in the vibrant, open setting of Tel Aviv and then two years in New York.”

For some students, however, the rising anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric on American campuses is reason enough to seek out Israeli universities for higher education.

[With the onset of the war and the horrifying rise of antisemitism on campuses across the United States, an even greater number of American Jewish students are likely to find Israeli universities more appealing.]

Then, of course, the country’s tech boom should not be underestimated.

It has made the country a “highly attractive place to work, especially to young people,” says Rabbi Haber.

“There is real opportunity here, not only to get jobs but to thrive and grow in one’s career.” Indeed, Landes got the “tech bug” while in college and currently works at Vintage Investment Partners, a private firm in Herzliya.

He notes the “plethora of different opportunities in Israel. Israel is a startup nation in every way.”

class. Photo: Shumel Rosenberg

CREATING A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY On the Reichman University campus, Friday night davening used to take place in one of the smaller classrooms.

Currently, it’s located in one of the biggest lecture halls on campus.

Religious life is thriving at the university with an array of shiurim, lunch ‘n’ learns, guest speakers, programs for the chagim and so much more.

But this wasn’t always the case.

Back in 2016, a couple of students attending IDC (Reichman University was formerly IDC, the Interdisciplinary Center) approached Rabbi Jonathan Shulman, who had recently returned to Israel after having served as the JLIC campus rabbi at the University of Pennsylvania. They had a serious concern. “Had we gone to Brandeis or Maryland, we would have six Shabbat dinners to choose from,” they said.

“Here we are in IDC in Israel, and we are sitting in our pajamas on Friday night alone in our apartments with nowhere to go.”

That conversation marked a turning point.

Rabbi Shulman did some research and discovered that there were hundreds of North American day school graduates Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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This community gave me friends, a place to start off, an English-speaking environment; it helped me build a successful life as an immigrant in this country. in IDC with no religious support whatsoever. “You would think going to Israel for college you would thrive religiously . . . but that’s not what I was finding,” he said.

A few months later, in the fall of 2017, the first JLIC campus in Israel was launched on the IDC campus (today known as JLIC Mizrachi). A young rabbinic couple was hired, and they started advertising Friday night minyan on campus. They had no idea what to expect. The first minyan drew between forty and fifty people. By the end of that year, the minyan had more than a hundred.

“We started getting requests from other colleges,” says Rabbi Shulman.

“The same basic story was happening all over Israel—North American day school graduates on college campuses with no religious structure.”

In 2019, JLIC, in partnership with World Mizrachi, came to BIU in Givat Shmuel. Previously, there were one or two shiurim offered to English-speaking students on campus. Once Rabbi Tzvi Wohlgelernter, director of JLIC Mizrachi at BIU, came on the scene, an entire beit midrash program geared for Anglos was built. With BIU serving as a partner, religious programming on campus blossomed, and Rabbi Tzvi and Tali Wohlgelernter were recently joined by another couple, Rabbi Uri and Abby Lorkis. The Wohlgelernters serve the dynamic and growing student community in Givat Shmuel, and the Lorkises serve the needs of first- and second-year students on campus.

One of the main reasons Dalia Katz, twenty-two, from New Rochelle, New York, chose to attend BIU was 56

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because she knew the Givat Shmuel community was a vibrant one. “It’s even better because of JLIC Mizrachi, which offers resources, learning sessions and different events both during the week and on Shabbat,” says the SAR Academy graduate who recently got married. Currently in her third year of a Hebrew-language program majoring in sociology and anthropology, Katz appreciates the diversity of the community “with people stemming from various backgrounds.”

“These are great, ideologically driven day school graduates coming to Israel for school . . . Why should they have less of a religious life on campus than students have in the States?” asks Rabbi Shulman.

Historically, TAU, the world’s largest Jewish university, with over 30,000 Jewish students, was viewed as not easily accessible to religious Anglo students, says Rabbi Shulman. But in 2022, TAU International recognized the value of supporting religious students and sought the help of JLIC. With the support of the Katz family from Englewood, New Jersey, JLIC is strengthening religious life for Anglos at TAU by offering weekly Shabbat services and programming, ongoing shiurim and much more.

JLIC worked on obtaining funding, hired a rabbinic couple and rented a house off campus in one of the most expensive locations in Israel, near the university. The couple hung up a sign-up sheet publicizing a Friday night dinner. They didn’t have high hopes. But students began signing up in droves. Once there were eighty signups, they had to start turning people away. Currently, the M.D. Katz OU-

JLIC program at TAU, in memory of Dr. Mordecai (Morty) Katz, z”l, serves the religious needs of hundreds of Englishspeaking students at TAU. It is important to note, says Rabbi Haber, that while universities like TAU and Hebrew University are in Israel, they are secular, not religious, universities. Students at a secular university—in Israel or in the States— are forced to consider their values and priorities. “Going to university in Israel doesn’t mean one will automatically go to minyan and be shomer Shabbat, or that Jewish studies courses will be taught from a Torah perspective. Even though the challenges are significantly less than what you would find at a secular university in America, students who want to live by religious values still need to make an active decision to do so.”

As for now, the trend does not seem to be slowing down any time soon. North American students are continuing to attend colleges throughout Israel, and many of them ultimately decide to make Israel their permanent home.

Fischer wasn’t sure she wanted to make aliyah—until recently. Over the past year, she became very involved with JLIC on campus, which helped her ease into her new life. This fall, she made aliyah. Fischer, who now serves as president of JLIC Mizrachi at Reichman University, has acclimated so well that “making aliyah feels like a formality.”

Her advice for her peers considering making the move: “Making aliyah is not for everyone,” she says. “Having said that, if you want to make aliyah, it’s much easier to do so when you are young; it just makes sense.”

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Aviva Lakser’s Story As told to Aviva Engel

I

’m twenty-one now and living in Israel.

I grew up in Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. My family was always very involved in Bnei Akiva; my dad was on the parent committee, my sisters and I went to Bnei Akiva on Shabbat, and I spent summers at Camp Moshava. The Zionist values I acquired in both of those places reinforced the values that had already been imparted by my parents and school.

Bnot Sherut and Israeli shlichim have always contributed to our community and still do. As a child and teenager, I was highly influenced by their love of Israel.

The summer after I finished seventh grade, I went to Israel for the first time.

My grandparents took me for a visit in honor of my bat mitzvah; it was very important to them that their grandchildren experience Israel.

I recall being very emotional at the airport when I saw the El Al plane, and being captivated by the fact that the crew was speaking Hebrew. On my very first day in Israel, I felt a strong sense of Jewish identity and belonging. I knew then and there that Israel was where I wanted to be and that I would end up living here.

The following summer, instead of going to sleepaway camp, I chose to spend five weeks in Israel at my aunt’s house.

I graduated high school in 2019, and that summer, before leaving for Midreshet Torah v’Avodah (MTVA), a Religious Zionist seminary, I started my application for aliyah. As I had planned to do Sherut Leumi following seminary, it made sense to make aliyah while I was already in Israel.

My parents were very supportive and everyone outside my family knew for years about my plan to make aliyah— it was the one thing I never stopped talking about!

I made aliyah in February 2020, on the same day as two other girls from MTVA. I chose to do Sherut Leumi because it was

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very important for me to feel that I was contributing to the country. When you make aliyah, you receive many benefits; I wanted to give back to the country and to be held to the same standard as citizens born in Israel.

Three weeks after making aliyah, Covid hit. The seminary went online and I wasn’t able to see my friends for months.

I moved in with a cousin for five months.

I really didn’t know what to do. But I was determined to pursue my plan to live in Israel.

For the first of my two years as a Bat Sherut, I had initially intended to work as a guide at Machon HaMikdash’s Holy Temple Museum in the Old City, which features keilim and other items that will be used for the third Beit Hamikdash.

Unfortunately after I completed a summer course, the museum shut down for many months due to Covid, and I had to switch paths.

It was meant to be. I ended up working at an elementary school in East Talpiyot, and my experience there guided me to my current studies. My role was to support young olim in grades third through fifth as they acclimated to the Israeli environment and school system.

Seeing these kids trying to cope with the transition of being immigrants, and observing how complicated the systems are in Israel led me to envision a future working in community advocacy, such as helping olim or supporting Bnot Sherut.

I spent my second year of Sherut Leumi at Nefesh B’Nefesh, assisting in various departments and helping with the annual MedEx conference, which enables medical and other professionals to convert their licenses to Israeli ones. After talking about aliyah for years and finally making the move, working at Nefesh B’Nefesh presented the ideal opportunity for me to give back to the organization that had done so much for me.

I was a lone Bat Sherut as my parents don’t live in Israel. Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Ori program for lone Bnot Sherut was very supportive during my service.

Despite the setbacks resulting from Covid, I believe things worked out for me in the best way possible. I became more independent and responsible. I think the hardships we experience make us who we are.

Today I’m in my second year of a threeyear program at Bar-llan University’s School of Social Work. The program is entirely in Hebrew; I know understanding Hebrew well is critical for me if I plan to work in this field in Israel. I’m not fluent, and I don’t always understand 100 percent of what the teachers are saying, but I marvel at how remarkable it is to be studying in a language that is thousands of years old—this would never have been possible a hundred years ago!

I live in Givat Shmuel with an amazing community of friends. I attend shiurim often at JLIC Mizrachi, and I’m really grateful for the religious and social support programs it offers. I appreciate incorporating Torah learning into my day, and I also get Judaic studies credits toward my degree, which is a wonderful bonus.

I’m an idealist, especially when it comes to aliyah. Of course, realistically, there are elements that are hard, like moving to a new country, dealing with the bureaucracy, having to adjust to a different lifestyle and being without close family. Living here takes humility.

There is something very down to earth about life here; things are not as fancy or flashy. True, we don’t have Trader Joe’s spices, and there may not be room on the street to park your minivan. At the same time, life is so much richer and more wholesome here in so many ways. It’s the beautiful experiences that make living here so worthwhile.

Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90

Coping with War

By Batsheva Moskowitz

D

espite the current war, Aviva Lakser has not regretted making aliyah “even for a second.” She says if she wasn’t in Israel, she “would have felt more lost and less connected. This is home.”

Although not directly affected by the Hamas attack on October 7, Lakser and her peers are still impacted by the

ongoing rockets and the horrifying stories that emerged in the first few weeks of the war. Nevertheless, they continue to feel hope: “I know that we are in good hands: G-d’s hands, through the army,” says Lakser.

The most difficult aspect of the start of the war, Lakser recalls, was not being

able to assure her family, who live in America, that she was okay until chag concluded in America a day and a half later. While her parents also feel the “utter disbelief, pain and the heartbreak,” this has only strengthened their plans to make aliyah in the near future.

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How ISRAEL AT WAR

Young Olim Are

Making a Difference As soon as the war began, communities of young olim across the country began volunteering and supporting Israel in remarkable ways. As we go to press at the end of October, we take a closer look at their initial response.

By Batsheva Moskowitz

Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90 Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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Soldiers from the JLIC Mizrachi Herzliya community receive donations from their community.

M

ost young Anglo olim expect that moving to a country without close family will be hard. They realize contending with Israel’s bureaucracy will be challenging.

But they likely do not anticipate having to scramble to a shelter in ninety seconds, watching dozens of their friends get called up suddenly for reserve duty, or being called up themselves.

“To think that the people we sit next to in shul, the people we take classes with, the people we work with, are suddenly not in those day-to-day situations but are now fighting for their lives and our lives—it’s unimaginable,” says Jordan Landes, a twenty-threeyear-old professional originally from Boca Raton, Florida, who has lived in Herzliya for the past few years.

Being far from family during a time of war presents its own challenges.

Batsheva Moskowitz is an associate editor at Jewish Action.

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“All our families are nervous about us. They don’t exactly know what it looks like here, and they’re scared,” says Landes. “What’s affecting me, and most people like me who are home and safe and have shelter [in Israel], is the thought of our friends who are out there fighting; we don’t know when we will see them again.”

As this issue goes to press in late October, the war is raging with no end in sight. “The biggest challenge right now is the uncertainty. There is no telling when this war will end. When there is a barrage of rockets, we don’t know if it’ll last for hours or for ten seconds. We’re scared. If you’ve been in Israel for a while, you unfortunately get used to things like this, although I will say that what’s going on right now is unparalleled by any other attack on Israel [in the past few decades],” says Landes, who remained in Israel after completing his gap year at Yeshivat Shaalvim. “This type of vicious attack— where terrorists openly came into the country and committed unspeakable

acts—has never happened before.”

Incredibly, despite the fear and anxiety, the war has only strengthened the commitment of many young North American olim. Right after Sukkot, even with limited access to flights back to Israel, “quite a few of these olim who went back home to the States for the chag were eager to come back,” says Rabbi Ilan Haber, OU chief strategy officer and former international director of the OU’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC). “I think [war] sometimes activates something in people’s neshamot . . . if anything, it will make more people want to make aliyah.”

Many young olim who are not serving in the IDF have responded to the war by volunteering and supporting Israel in remarkable ways. Pivoting from its typical programming and activities, JLIC communities in Israel, in five major hubs—Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Herzliya, Haifa and Givat Shmuel— shifted to focus on supporting the war effort. “We’re trying to give people a

sense that they’re not alone,” says Rabbi Jonathan Shulman, associate director of JLIC and director of JLIC Israel.

As soon as the war began, JLIC communities and young olim across the country began supporting soldiers as well as displaced families from the South. They delivered food and supplies to soldiers on dozens of bases across the country and set up children’s camps, offered free babysitting, ran clothing drives and cooked meals for displaced families. In a single day, JLIC Jerusalem packed 2,000 meals for families in Ashkelon, and Rabbi Shulman estimates that in the first week of the war, JLIC Tel Aviv (JLIC’s first community of young professionals) had at least 500 volunteers daily. During that first week, they received a request for sleeping bags for soldiers on a base near Jerusalem. The request was made one evening at 11:30 pm. By 1:30 am, thirty sleeping bags were delivered to the base.

One soldier from the Herzliya community, who was called up to serve in the Givati Brigade that protects Israel’s southern border, sent the following WhatsApp to his friends: “Herzliya—you guys are literally not normal. It’s normal to care about chayalim and daven for their safety. What’s not normal is that you guys make it your business to be thinking of us 24/7. . . . My unit is ecstatic right now; they can’t wrap their minds around the fact that not my family, but my community, came all the way here to make sure we are a bit more prepared and a bit happier. [I] cannot wait to thank each and every one of you in person!”

Young olim who have not been called up are being supported too.

Psychologists have come to JLIC communities to help students cope, and activities such as support groups, challah bakes and community dinners provide daily emotional support.

The request was made one evening at 11:30 pm. By 1:30 am, thirty sleeping bags were delivered to the base.

The Sound of Sirens

By Jordan Landes As told to Batsheva Moskowitz

W

e woke to the sound of sirens at 6:30 am on Shabbat/Simchat Torah morning in Herzliya. In shul, everyone was talking about the sirens, but it wasn’t until people started being called up for miluim (reserve duty) that we knew something was up. Only after Shabbat did we realize the extent of what was going on and how serious it really was.

I said goodbye to my friends who were being called up, not knowing when I would see them again. I still don’t know. I might see them, b’ezrat Hashem, at the end of the week or I might not see them for three months. I really have no idea.

While our friends are fighting to defend our country, we are busy sending carloads of supplies every day to bases all around the North and South of Israel to make sure they have what they need.

Rabbi Noam and Shiffy Friedman, the rabbinic JLIC Mizrachi couple here in Herzliya, have done an unbelievable job assembling group chats and committees to work on different initiatives, from cooking food to going to stores around the country in search of very specific gear for soldiers—such as certain types of flashlights and headgear that they require. Everyone is pitching in.

Some people are buying supplies, others are organizing them. Still others drive to the bases to deliver the supplies to the soldiers.

Young olim, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, from North America, England, France and other parts of the world are dedicating their time, some working around the clock. At the same time, we are trying to uplift each other by helping out as well as by sending our support to the chayalim.

Passion is what gets you here, but it’s the love of where you are that keeps you here—loving the people in Israel and realizing that you’re a part of something that is much bigger than yourself.

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Continued from page 63

Many students have found volunteering therapeutic. “You need to get up with a purpose so you don’t fall into the oceanic abyss of the war,” says Rabbi Shulman. Which is, essentially, what these young olim are doing. There has been, in Rabbi Shulman’s words, a “total mobilization of these communities.”

“It’s an amazing time to be here.

It’s a scary time too, but I keep myself busy,” says Nili Fischer, originally from Denver, Colorado, who currently lives in Herzliya. “It helps me when my focus is our chayalim and the people in the South.”

While young olim are doing their best to cope with the challenges of war, their conviction to support and protect their nation seems stronger than ever. Many feel especially proud to be in Israel at a time where an inconceivable war is bringing a divided nation back together again.

“Now more than ever, I am proud to be a Herzliyan,” says Fischer.

Volunteers from JLIC’s community in Tel Aviv collect fruit and vegetables to bring to soldiers.

Courtesy of JLIC Tel Aviv

Volunteers from the JLIC community in Jerusalem run a camp for twenty displaced children from the South.

Seen here, children write letters of encouragement to IDF soldiers.

Courtesy of JLIC Jerusalem

About forty of the Reichman University Mobilizing for Chesed community’s students were called up

By Steve Lipman

B

y the time they arrived in shul on Shabbat/Simchat Torah morning, Rabbi Noam and Shifra Friedman, the JLIC Mizrachi educators at Reichman University in Herzliya, knew something unusual was taking place.

First, there were the sirens.

Then there was the religious soldier who told Rabbi Friedman during davening that he would have to excuse himself from the prayer service to take part in a Zoom meeting to get call-up orders for his unit that was being mobilized.

Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to Jewish Action.

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immediately; many of the reserves being called up were lone soldiers from overseas.

In the first days after the start of the war, the Friedmans took on a wide variety of new duties—determining the physical needs of soldiers, especially those with a connection to Reichman University, at bases throughout the country; locating, buying and delivering equipment, which required them and their cadre of volunteers to drive thousands of kilometers; opening their home to students and organizing several kumzitzes and Tehillim groups.

The fall semester at Reichman University, which was to start the week after the chagim were over, was indefinitely postponed, a recognition of the country’s suddenly highest priorities.

The students now had free time on their hands. “It wasn’t just us,” said Shifra in a telephone interview at the start of the war’s second week. Many of the young men and women offered their time. They drove their own cars, or borrowed friends’ cars, to transport soldiers, equipment and fresh meals or pizzas to the IDF bases.

One of the most noteworthy requests the couple received, from a soldier already at his base, was for seventy green waterresistant rain jackets, Shifra said. The weather was changing in early October and rain was in the air; the soldiers would be needing this article of clothing.

Where do you find so many green rain jackets on such short notice?

The Friedmans’ circle of volunteers knew. They drove to many stores, and found the required amount of jackets.

“By the next morning,” Shifra says, “the jackets were at the base.”

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Q&A

UP CLOSE WITH

Rivka Ravitz Jewish Action Editor-in-Chief Nechama Carmel speaks with the former chief of staff to Israel’s tenth president.

Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90

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R

ivka Ravitz, the former chief of staff to Reuven Rivlin, the tenth president of Israel, has served as a government administrator and advisor, researcher and author for nearly twenty years. Currently, Rivka, a Chareidi mother of twelve, is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and is pursuing a PhD in public policy at the University of Haifa. JPPI, established by the Jewish Agency, is an independent center of thought and planning focused on shaping policy for the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora.

Rivka first entered politics in 1996 as an eighteen year old, when her father-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Ravitz of the Degel HaTorah party, was appointed to chair the Knesset’s Finance Committee and asked her to work for him. In 1999, she began working as Reuven Rivlin’s parliamentary assistant.

A trailblazer, Rivka entered politics at a time when it was rare for a Chareidi woman to do so. (Today it is a bit more common, though still, she says, not common enough.) She ran many of Rivlin’s campaigns, including successful campaigns for his election as speaker of the Knesset in 2003 and 2009, and his election as president of the State of Israel in 2014. She was appointed his chief of staff in 2014 and served in that position until 2021. Among her many duties as chief of staff, she organized foreign delegations to host countries across the globe, worked closely with foreign governments and officials and coordinated national projects seeking to improve the position of minority groups in Israeli society.

Rivka holds a BA degree in management and computer science, as well as an MA in management and information systems and an MA in public administration and political science. Rivka is married to Yitzchak Ravitz, the mayor of Telz-Stone, where they live with their children.

Nechama Carmel: Your career in politics is fascinating, especially because you are a member of the Chareidi community. Can you tell us about your career path?

Rivka Ravitz: My career in politics began as a way to make a living. I was eighteen when my father-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Ravitz of the Degel HaTorah party, asked me to work for him in the Knesset. I had trained to be an English teacher, which was my dream job. But he convinced me to take the job in his office. I didn’t have the right skills. I ended up taking home documents every day and studying them all night long so I could come prepared for the meetings in the morning. Two years later, a new law was passed in the Knesset that banned Knesset members from hiring firstdegree relatives. I had to find a new job. I found one working with Reuven Rivlin as a parliamentary assistant. Eventually, I worked my way up to become his chief of staff.

I loved my various jobs in politics despite the fact that it was not an easy environment for me as a Chareidi woman.

When you work in a secular office and you are the sole religious person, people assume you are a rebbetzin. My

In general, to be successful as a working mother, you need to be efficient. . . . Don’t waste your time and brainpower on things someone else can do.

colleagues started asking questions, many of which I could not answer. Often I would call my rabbi for guidance. Once, a secular colleague whose husband is traditional pulled me aside. A two-day yom tov, which is unusual in Israel, was coming up. She asked me if there are a few minutes between the first and second day of yom tov because she needed time to drive back home from her parents’ home to her apartment. How was I to explain to her that “no, there’s no time to drive back home, it’s one yom tov?!”

There were other challenges as well. When I took on the role of chief of staff, I was thirty-seven years old and had just given birth to my eleventh child. Some of the staff members I supervised were high-level government officials who were twenty years older than I was. Truthfully, there were times I felt like quitting. Some days were really hard; I felt I didn’t have the stamina to continue. I was responsible for overseeing a very large staff—sixty or seventy people—and whenever there was friction between staff members or a complaint, it landed at my door.

At times, I felt like just going back home and raising my children like any other mother. Then I started getting phone calls from young seminary girls—eighteen- or twentyWinter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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One of Rivka Ravitz’s challenging career moments occurred during her meeting with the Pope in 2018 (Ravitz is third to the left from the Pope).

Photo: WENN US/Alamy Stock Photo

year-olds who had recently joined the workforce and were seeking advice on how to negotiate the secular world while maintaining their religious principles. Inadvertently, I had become a role model to these young women. I realized then that I couldn’t give up.

Carmel: How did you explain Chareidim to your secular colleagues?

Ravitz: I explained to them that the word Chareidi means to be afraid of change. Being a traditional Jew means keeping the traditions. I would tell them that my grandmother looked exactly like her grandmother and her grandmother exactly as her grandmother before that. We are averse to change because once you start making changes—even small ones—you don’t know where you’ll end up.

Carmel: Do you think you had an impact on your secular colleagues?

Ravitz: Even if I didn’t change [their secular outlook], I changed their perception of Orthodox people. Getting to know someone on a personal level helps to change one’s point of view. I showed them that Chareidim are normal, 68

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loving people with families and similar challenges . . . I humanized Chareidim for them.

Carmel: What were the most difficult moments for you in your career?

Ravitz: Every time I had to go back to work after giving birth, it was very difficult. After each child was born, the thought would enter my mind: Maybe I should just stay home and give up my career.

That was one kind of challenge. There were other challenges too.

There was the time President Rivlin was invited to meet the Pope. The Israeli government needed Rivlin to make a certain request of the Pope regarding a political situation.

When our delegation arrived in Italy, Israel’s ambassadors to Rome and to the Vatican came to our hotel and started prepping us; there were some very strict protocols, so they let us know what to expect and how to act. “Each one of you will be escorted by a high-ranking cardinal,” stated one of the ambassadors. “You will then shake hands with the Pope and he’ll give you a small gift.”

At this point I interrupted him and said, “I’m a religious woman. I took upon myself a chumrah [stringency]—I don’t shake hands with men. Please tell the Pope’s entourage so he can be prepared.” “No problem, I’ll do that,” the ambassador replied.

The next morning, as we prepared to leave to the Vatican,

He [the Pope] put out his hand, and I quickly blurted, ‘I’m a religious woman and I don’t shake hands with men.’

While every other member of the delegation had a hasty one- or two-second meeting with the Pope, I ended up having a five-minute conversation. the ambassador told me, “Rivka, I’m sorry. I forgot. I didn’t tell them. So please call your rav and just ask for a heter [leniency] for this one time to shake hands with men.” But I didn’t want to do that. So as I walked through the long corridors before meeting the Pope, I grew increasingly anxious about how things would turn out. It didn’t help that my colleagues were concerned as well. “Rivka,” they told me, “be careful. You could be responsible for ruining a very important meeting.” When the Pope appeared, I was second in line to greet him. He put out his hand, and I quickly blurted, “I’m a religious woman and I don’t shake hands with men.” “Oh really?” he said. “Are there people who observe that?” And I said, “Yes. There are.”

While every other member of the delegation had a hasty one- or two-second meeting with the Pope, I ended up having a five-minute conversation with him, in which I explained to him that in Jerusalem there is a large Chareidi community that adheres to strict religious principles including separation of the genders. I think our conversation warmed the atmosphere, and baruch Hashem, President Rivlin’s meeting with the Pope went well.

Just as I was concluding my conversation with the Pope, someone captured the moment on camera. By the time I arrived back in Israel, I had some 700 calls on my phone.

The photo had gone viral; I was getting calls from journalists around the world.

Carmel: Can you share any other memorable stories of meetings with world leaders?

Ravitz: In 2021, President Rivlin was invited to meet with President Joe Biden. The meeting was supposed to be just between the two of them, but when the door opened and the US president ushered President Rivlin in, he whispered to me, “Rivka, come with me.” I was more than happy to oblige.

I found myself in the Oval Office; it was just the three of us. When President Rivlin introduced me, the US president

stuck out his hand to shake mine and President Rivlin said, “No, no, Rivka doesn’t shake hands with men. And guess how many children she has? She has twelve children.” President Biden turned to me, obviously impressed, and said, “I have to bow to a mother of twelve.” And he went down on his knees.

(That photo went viral as well!)

He then took a photo of his mother from the shelf and showed it to us. I thought to myself: Even the most powerful man in the world has a picture of his mother in his office.

Carmel: Now that your career has taken a different turn, tell us about your research at the JPPI focusing on Chareidi women.

Ravitz: Part of my research at the JPPI is geared toward empowering Chareidi women in the workforce. Traditionally, women in the Chareidi community were primarily focused on raising their children, but in many Chareidi homes, husbands have dedicated themselves to Torah study full time and the women have become the main breadwinners. Work for Chareidi women is therefore often seen as a necessity, rather than a means of self-fulfillment or professional growth. While 83 percent of Chareidi women are employed, their average hourly wage is lower than that of non-Orthodox Jewish women. Chareidi women are generally out of the house from eight in the morning until four or five in the afternoon. Why should they earn so little?

In 2018, a survey by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics indicated that these wage gaps are significantly narrowed for those who have attended academic programs. But as of 2020, only 15 percent of Chareidi women held academic degrees compared to 28 percent of all Jewish women in the same age range. Many Chareidi women want to increase their salaries and advance their careers.

How can they pursue higher education and secure higherquality employment without compromising their lifestyles?

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President Biden turned to me, obviously impressed, and said, “I have to bow to a mother of twelve.”

And he went down on his knees.

Chareidi male employment due to their low employment rates. The government has not adequately addressed the needs of Chareidi women. It’s time for a shift in government policy to address this imbalance by providing greater support and opportunities for Chareidi women in education and employment.

A Chareidi woman can do whatever her heart desires, including obtaining a PhD in public policy at the University of Haifa.

This photo of President Biden kneeling before Ravitz after being told she is a mother of twelve went viral. Photo: Haim Zach/GPO via AP

Carmel: Is there any project, past or present, that you’re really proud of and that you feel has significantly impacted your community?

Carmel: I think all readers will want to know the answer to this question: How do you do it? How did you manage such a demanding career while raising twelve children?

Ravitz: Fourteen years ago, I took an evening job teaching computer science to seminary girls. Currently, I teach in a few seminaries. Some of the girls are already working, but most are preparing to enter the workforce. The classes take place from 8:00 to 10:00 pm. I put my children to sleep and run out to teach because I love it. I don’t even take a salary. I really enjoy connecting with these young girls as they prepare to make these significant life-altering decisions. It feels like my avodat Hashem.

I also enjoy volunteering in a local women’s jail. When I was working with President Rivlin—the president of Israel has the power to pardon prisoners—we would hear really heartbreaking stories. I told myself that when I left his office, I would make sure to visit some of those prisoners. So I go there once a week and deliver a shiur on the weekly parashah, after which I stay for an hour or two to talk with the women.

Ravitz: I got a lot of help from my family. My mother, who has ten children herself, was very supportive. She never worked outside of the house, and she helped me raise my children. In fact, at one point, we had our babies together.

She had her tenth child two weeks after I had my oldest child.

In terms of sacrifice, I worked very hard over the years, and, of course, my children had less of me. But my husband and I decided early on that we didn’t want to leave our children with babysitters. Obviously, there were times when we needed to, but on a regular basis, we didn’t. My husband, too, has a very demanding career as he is the mayor of Telz-Stone. At the beginning of every week, we’d take out our work schedules and we would each pick two or three days when we would come home early—at 4 or 5:00 in the afternoon when the kids came home from school. We tried to arrange our schedules so that one of us would be home at those crucial hours to help with homework and to serve

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the children a hot meal. If, for example, it was my husband’s day to be home at four in the afternoon, I would stay in the office until seven or eight at night, and then when I returned home, he would go back to the office. And the same would happen in reverse.

Carmel: What advice would you offer working mothers?

Ravitz: The best advice I can give is to manage your time well. You can’t waste your time and be successful. When I was raising young children and working such a full workload, I didn’t read a book—this lasted years!—and I love reading. I knew I would lose myself in a book and waste time.

I generally make three lists: a list of what’s important to finish today, a list of what can wait for tomorrow, and a list of what can wait until the following week. I find that it’s crucial for me to stop in the middle of the day and read the three lists. If I don’t read the lists, they aren’t effective.

Delegating tasks is also very important: whether it is to your staff, your children and even your husband. Someone else can wash your dishes. But there are certain things that only you can do—such as spending time with your children. Don’t waste your time and brainpower on things that someone else can do.

In general, to be successful as a working mother, you need to be efficient. I wake up around 5 o’clock in the morning; I go to sleep early, at around 10 or 11. Sleeping a sufficient amount of time is vital as well. I find myself more productive in the morning—the work I can get done in the early morning takes me one-third of the time it would take if I did it in the evening. But you have to know yourself and the hours that work for you.

These days, people waste a lot of time on their phones and on social media. But you can’t be successful if you don’t utilize your time productively.

Women with careers need to remember to make time for their children and their husbands. I recommend shutting your phone completely whenever you are with your children. Take out the battery for two hours. Look your children in the eye and talk to them. Mothers have a powerful influence on their children. Career is important, and I’m not opposed to women having careers obviously, but just remember: a mother is irreplaceable.

Carmel: What advice would you give to young Chareidi women who are interested in pursuing a career path along the lines of what you did?

Ravitz: I would say it’s not easy. The Israeli parliament works late hours, sometimes all night. During budget season, we would go without sleep for days on end. You have to be willing to work hard and devote a lot of time. It’s not always suitable for women who are raising young children.

Carmel: How would one know if she’s suitable?

Ravitz: If you want it, you are suitable.

Carmel: Are there more Chareidi women in politics now than there were when you first started?

Ravitz: There are many more, but certainly there aren’t enough Chareidi women in high positions. Even some of the Chareidi Knesset members choose secular chiefs of staffs, which I think is disappointing. Today there are enough Chareidim, men and women, with PhDs, who are qualified for the position. At the end of the day, only a Chareidi can truly understand the needs of his own community.

Carmel: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the Chareidi community in Israel today?

Ravitz: The biggest challenge is the Chareidi community becoming almost 50 percent of the population in the near future. If you look at the number of first-grade children in

A Chareidi woman can do whatever her heart desires, including obtaining a PhD in public policy at the University of Haifa.

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the country today, Chareidi children constitute almost 50 percent. That means that we need to be prepared. Chareidim need to get training and education if they are going to be the majority of the country.

Carmel: A final question: Who influenced you to become the woman you are?

Ravitz: My Bubbe, my mother’s mother, had a tremendous influence on me. She was born in Jerusalem between the two world wars. Food was so scarce that children were dying of starvation. So her father left for the United States to try to earn a living. After two years, he sent tickets for his wife and children. My Bubbe was four years old when her mother took them on a three-month voyage by boat to America.

My great-grandmother didn’t let them eat anything fleishig during the trip because the meat wasn’t kosher. Bubbe became a student of Rebbetzin Vichna Kaplan [a student of Sarah Schenirer who brought the Bais Yaakov movement to America], and later became a teacher.

She was always learning; you could always find a Chumash open before her. She had strong principles and she stood up for them. She taught me about standing up for your values and beliefs, and I try to teach that to my children.

The biggest challenge is the Chareidi community becoming almost 50 percent of the population in the near future. . . .

Chareidim need to get training and education if they are going to be the majority of the country.

Ravitz walks with President Rivlin as he converses with Prince William. Courtesy of the Israel Government Press Office 72

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A World Gone Mad

By Rivka Ravitz

Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

L

ast Shabbat I got up early, wanting to say the special prayers for Simchat Torah before the children woke up. I went up to the roof, because our sukkah was on the balcony, blocking the view of the sun rising over the Jerusalem hills. After about an hour, the rumble of explosions could be heard.

We always hear the Iron Dome’s rocket interceptions, but this explosion seemed especially massive, and I was scared.

I went back down to the house and woke up my husband [he serves as the mayor of Telz-Stone]. As it was Shabbat, he hurried over to the town’s security officer. Between air-raid sirens, as the children peeked out of the windows, they shouted, “Mom, I saw Dad. He’s riding in the security officer’s car.” My first thought: If the rabbi permitted him to ride in a car on Shabbat, something horrible must have happened. I didn’t put down my book of Psalms the whole day.

The kids and I had the holiday meals alone. Between meals my husband came in briefly with the Home Front regional commanders. They said they weren’t hungry, but when I filled their plates with cholent and meat, they wiped them clean pretty quickly. It was only at this point that I began to comprehend the magnitude of the horror. In shock, I failed to notice that my four year old was sitting in a corner of the room listening, eyes wide with horror, to the accounts of how little children, entire families and even the elderly had been kidnapped. Since then, he won’t go into the bathroom alone, afraid that terrorists might pop out of a tunnel and abduct him.

I’m writing this three days after we heard the explosion—my husband hasn’t been home much since. He spends his time shuttling between the local council office and the town command post.

There were many seniors alone and in need of help; many families whose fathers went off on reserve duty. The local health clinic wasn’t secure, and it took almost an entire day just to take care of that. Mobilizing a rapid response team and dealing with a lack of weapons (a matter ultimately addressed by an American philanthropist) consumed many long hours as well. And so, like many other Israeli mothers, I took my kids in and out of the fortified “safe room,” where the frightened children of my Chareidi community shelter together, well-aware of the tragedy that has befallen us, waiting for the booms of Iron Dome interceptions.

In between sirens, I’ve cooked large pots of food and passed them on to my good friend Rachel. She divides the food into portions and transports them to places where soldiers long for hot meals because the speed of the call-up left them with only battlefield rations. Her two-story house in a Chareidi suburb of Jerusalem looks like an army kitchen.

All my friends in a Chareidi WhatsApp group are looking for ways to contribute.

Some pack meals for the front lines; some are fundraising, and when a few hundred shekels have accumulated, they go out to buy clothing and toiletries for soldiers who’ve sent notifications about the things they lack. Every few hours a lively discussion develops in the group on the issue of Chareidi IDF conscription.

My children sit and study and recite Psalms non-stop for the success of the soldiers and the speedy release of those being held captive. The central yeshivah cut its bein hazemanim vacation short and all have returned today to the Torah halls, with faith in the protection and deliverance that the Torah affords.

Yesterday I got a WhatsApp message

from a friend, someone I first met at the palace of the king of Spain, during a state visit. He asked how I was. In response, I sent him a video of us, fourteen people, in our tiny safe room, dancing to the strains of Ani Ma’amin—“I Believe”—my four year old on my shoulders. Whenever a siren sounds, we dance so he won’t hear it, or the echoes of the explosions, that shake the house.

“My G-d,” my friend messaged me back. “The world’s gone mad.”

Adapted from a blog posting that appeared in the Times of Israel on October 12, 2023.

Whenever a siren sounds, we dance so he won’t hear it, or the echoes of the explosions, that shake the house.

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REVIEW ESSAY

Hamadrikh: The New Handbook of Jewish Life Some eighty-plus years after it first appeared, Hamadrikh, in a new edition, aims at addressing the ever-changing needs of the American rabbinate.

By David Olivestone

T

he little black book could be seen in the hands of generations of Orthodox rabbis as they circumcised, bar mitzvahed, married and buried their congregants.

Compiled by Rabbi Hyman E. Goldin in 1939, it was titled Hamadrikh: The Rabbis’ Guide, and was described as A Manual of Jewish Religious Rituals, Ceremonials and Customs. It included all the required

David Olivestone, a member of the Jewish Action editorial committee, is the editor and translator of The NCSY Bencher.

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tefillot and texts for every lifecycle event and ceremony in Jewish family life, together with explanations of the halachah and extensive quotations from rabbinic sources.

With nothing similar ever having been written, it found a ready market and sold many thousands of copies.

Recently, some eighty-plus years after it first appeared, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) turned to Rabbi Hyman Goldin’s grandson, Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Ahavath Torah of Englewood, New Jersey, and Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky of Congregation KINS in Chicago, Illinois, to compile a new Hamadrikh, “to address the

ever-changing needs of the American rabbinate.” Sub-titled The RCA Lifecycle Guide, it has been produced with their customary flair by Koren Publishers Jerusalem.

Rabbi Hyman E. Goldin (18811971), a talmudic scholar and educator who was also an attorney, was born in Lithuania and came to the US in 1900. He was the author of over fifty books on Jewish law and tradition such as The Jewish Woman and Her Home, The Jew and His

Above: All four editions of Hamadrikh: The RCA Lifecycle Guide. From right: 1939, 1956, 1995 and 2023.

Duties, the Code of Jewish Law (an annotated translation of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch) and many other works on mishnah, midrash and the Hebrew language. He also wrote books for children and, as a prison chaplain, he enlisted the help of two convicts to compile and publish a Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo.

According to his grandson Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, “He was a renaissance man. He dedicated his life to educating the English-speaking Jewish community about their traditions, and his books were the only such works at the time.”

The purpose of the Hamadrikh, Rabbi Hyman Goldin wrote, was to “give the rabbi, or anyone officiating at a Jewish ceremony or ritual, a concise and practical aid that will facilitate the task of officiating.” Beginning with engagement, betrothal and “the nuptial ceremony,” it continued with brit milah, bar mitzvah and the dedication of a new home or a synagogue, through visiting the sick, the deathbed confession and detailed laws of burial and mourning. All this was followed by source material for sermons in Hebrew and in English translation, the exact wording for various halachic documents and a list of the correct Hebrew spelling of first names for men and for women, which are essential for ketubot (marriage certificates) and for gittin (divorce documents).

Rabbi Goldin revised his handbook and published a new edition in 1956.

But the succeeding generations brought more changes to Jewish life, and in 1995 another revised edition by Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka was published under the aegis of the RCA. “Times have changed,” wrote Rabbi Bulka in his introduction, citing “new realities . . . such as having a celebration to name a girl, bat mitzvah and adoption, among others.”

Pointing out that “so many halachic guides are available today,” Rabbi Bulka decided to omit the extensive halachic sources quoted in the Rabbi Goldin volume, with a view to producing a “more compact and more focused” book.

At the outset of the most recent revision, the intention was to have Rabbi Bulka as a co-editor. Rabbis

. . . the new Hamadrikh is likely to become one of the most thumbed books in [a rabbi’s] library, as there is almost no significant moment in Jewish life that this handbook does not touch.

Goldin and Matanky met with him at an early stage of their planning, but sadly his illness and subsequent passing away forestalled that possibility.

Rabbi Matanky had long believed that a new Hamadrikh was needed as both the rabbis and the laymen of our day are more focused on the details of observance and of synagogue life than those of previous generations.

“Once the RCA became committed to it,” he says, “I turned to my good friend and colleague, Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, to be my partner in this endeavor.” For Rabbi Goldin, it immediately struck a chord. “My grandfather was always an inspiration to me,” he reflects. “To have something where I was continuing his legacy was very meaningful.”

The two rabbis approached their task with their many decades of experience in the rabbinical trenches, as they like to express it. The process took them about two years from the time they actually started work. But first they sent out questionnaires to RCAmember rabbanim asking what they would like to see in Hamadrikh that wasn’t in the previous edition.

They decided on two major changes.

The first was to restore the halachic material that Rabbi Bulka had left out, rewriting and augmenting it with quotations from more recent responsa.

“There are occasions,” says Rabbi Matanky, “where the officiating rabbi finds himself faced with complicated situations and he needs to have the sources at hand to quickly find the answer.”

It certainly would not be appropriate

Rabbi Hyman Goldin (1881-1971) compiled the first edition of Hamadrikh in 1939, selling many thousand s of copies.

for him pull out his smartphone and start searching.

But it’s fascinating to contrast the likely motives for the inclusion of these extensive halachic sources in the original Hamadrikh and for their reappearance in the latest edition. No doubt what was in the mind of Rabbi Hyman E. Goldin when he compiled his Hamadrikh was that the “officiants,” and even some of the rabbis of his generation, lacked a deep knowledge of halachah. Also, many of them were recent immigrants, unfamiliar with the customs of American synagogue life.

Hamadrikh guided them to safe ground and probably saved them from many an embarrassing faux pas.

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Societal norms, both in the Jewish world and in the world at large, have changed since Rabbi Hyman E. Goldin published the first edition of Hamadrikh in 1939, and they continue to evolve.

In the twenty-first century, however, shuls are led by rabbanim with years of yeshivah education and are full of learned laymen who are themselves deeply knowledgeable of rabbinic literature. “The rav today,” Rabbi Shmuel Goldin points out, “has to be able to respond to halachic questions and challenges from his balabatim as to why he is doing something—let’s say at a wedding—in a certain way.”

The new Hamadrikh gives him all the sources he needs at his fingertips.

The second change reflects what the authors perceive as a shift in the priority rabbis give to the many roles they play in their congregants’ lives.

According to Rabbi Matanky, “Today’s rabbanim tend to devote far more time to preparing and teaching shiurim and answering halachic questions than to the pastoral side of their work.” Accordingly, they may not be sufficiently sensitive to some of the pitfalls that might confront them.

Based on their own extensive rabbinic experience, the authors added introductions to each lifecycle ceremony. Under the heading “The Rabbinic Road,” they suggest how the communal rabbi should prepare himself for these occasions. “These are not things you necessarily learn in rabbinic training,” says Rabbi Goldin.

As an example, he cites meeting with family members right before the funeral of a loved one who has died in very tragic circumstances. His advice is to begin the meeting in an emotionally neutral area by reviewing the relevant halachot with them. “You tell them, ‘Here’s what’s going to be happening over the next day, the next few days,’ 76

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and that’s the way to break the ice, because you’re giving them structure.”

Then it becomes easier for the rabbi to ask for the emotionally laden personal information he may need for his eulogy.

Even a happy occasion, such as choosing the name of a newborn baby, has the potential to cause serious rifts in families, and “as much as he would like to avoid being drawn into intrafamily dynamics,” the rabbi may be asked for his opinion. Citing specific areas of possible conflict, Rabbis Goldin and Matanky counsel the rabbi to be “gentle but firm” in guiding the parents towards “traditionally preferred decisions.”

Each rabbi’s copy of the new Hamadrikh is likely to become one of the most-thumbed books in his library, as there is almost no significant moment in Jewish life that this handbook does not touch. Other updates include ceremonies for the dedication of a new home and also of a sefer Torah, a joyous celebration which has become more widespread in recent years. There is also a more extensive text to celebrate the birth and naming of a baby girl, although some may be surprised that a ceremony for a bat mitzvah was not included in this edition.

The entire halachic text was reviewed

by Rabbi Hershel Schachter, rosh kollel at Yeshiva University/RIETS and senior posek for OU Kosher, and some details were rephrased based on his recommendations. While there may be slight differences in minhag from one community to another, the observances, ceremonies and halachot set out here are all based on customary Ashkenazic

practice and do not reflect Sephardic or Israeli minhagim. The editors were well aware of this. But on a practical level, the inclusion of all the possible variants in this edition would probably have made the book too bulky to hold. A Sephardic edition and a translation into Ivrit remain possibilities.

Societal norms, both in the Jewish world and in the world at large, have changed since Rabbi Hyman E. Goldin published the first edition of Hamadrikh in 1939, and they continue to evolve. The ceremonial formality that was de rigueur then was way out of date when Rabbi Bulka edited his revised edition in the 1990s, and some language that was acceptable at the end of the twentieth century may even cause offense today. Lifestyles have changed, synagogues offer many more and varied services, and the internet has made everyone an expert on every subject.

Yet the core content of every edition of the Hamadrikh remains the text of our lifecycle ceremonies, which obviously do not change. As such, its pages do not reflect any cultural or societal transformations at first glance. It’s in the halachic presentations and the down-toearth advice given by its current editors that contemporary realities become evident. These days, shul members expect a lot more from their rabbis, and hopefully the new Hamadrikh will help them continue to succeed.

Rabbi Matanky says he feels great satisfaction in having brought this work to fruition. For Rabbi Goldin, it’s more personal. “I think my grandfather would be proud,” he says, “and that makes me smile.”

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IN FOCUS

The Spirit of Act III

By Rebbetzin Judi Steinig

P

re-1A students (including the four Steinig kids!) adored Rebbetzin Chana Gorelick, a”h (the widow of Rabbi Yerucham Gorelick, zt”l, a rosh yeshivah at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary), their morah at Beth Jacob-Beth Miriam School in the Bronx, where my husband, Rabbi Sholom Steinig, served as the menahel.

Teaching was never just her job—it was her life. Each year for Shavuos, she would create Aseres Hadibros crowns with her five-year-old students. In 1999, after the crowns were done, she returned home and, unfortunately, passed away.

She was in her mid-eighties. She never retired, she never had an Act III. Baruch Hashem, I have always been fortunate to be involved in very meaningful professional work.

As senior director of Community Projects and Partnerships at the OU, I coordinate the Communal Growth Initiative, which provides assistance to communities aspiring to grow, as well as the SPIRIT (Stimulating Program Initiative for Retirees that Inspires Rebbetzin Judi Steinig is the senior director of the OU’s Community Projects and Partnerships.

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Thought) program, which attracts the over-sixty demographic, including retirees, not-yet-retirees, baby boomers, empty-nesters, sandwich generation parents and seniors. Outside of my OU work, I teach online through Bellevue University. With my current schedule, I have very little downtime.

Through my jobs, I’ve had amazing experiences and met phenomenal people. My work is invigorating and keeps me young. For now, I have no plans to retire. I’m too busy!

However, I sometimes think about the possibilities. Very few people are like Rebbetzin Gorelick. Most don’t want to work forever. They would rather have the freedom to pursue interests they previously had no time for. “How do you know when to retire?” I asked a neighbor, a newly retired teacher, who was downsizing to a smaller home. She told me, “If you have to ask, you’re not ready.”

But some retire with no plans at all. A friend recently stopped working before she was ready because her employer was no longer permitting remote work, and she didn’t want to be back in the office full time. She hadn’t anticipated retirement and is now struggling to figure out her next steps. On the other hand, our cousin, Mollie Fisch, who was a pharmacist, currently spends her days learning and teaching, and loves retirement. (See this profile of Mollie that appeared in the fall 2019 issue of Jewish Action: https://www.jewishaction. com/religion/inspiration/afterretirement-a-new-stage-a-new-chaptera-new-life/.)

Whenever anybody retires, it’s critical to have something of value and significance to fill the void. Plans must be made—financial, emotional, mental and physical—long before retirement is on the horizon.

That’s the concept behind our SPIRIT Initiative. The program, which moved to Zoom during the pandemic, provides weekly inspiration and insights on topics including Jewish history, resilience, aliyah, relationships, halachah, nutrition, finance and so much more.

It’s important to remember that

people don’t stop living just because they stop working. That is SPIRIT’s focus (www.ou.org/SPIRIT). Our 7,800 participants are skilled professionals and highly educated. Almost all have college degrees—40 percent have earned a master’s degree and 20 percent hold doctorates—and need ongoing intellectual stimulation. For those who are not quite at that stage of life, SPIRIT enables them to start thinking about their future reality. There’s a lot to look forward to. There’s also much to be done in preparation.

I know from working in the Jewish communal world that finding volunteers isn’t easy. Both men and women have the chance to give back when they retire, to share their skills and experience. Some people need a little time to decompress at first—to sit by the pool, to do some traveling—after decades of long hours and hard work. Then they should get busy, which is the healthiest way to approach aging.

My parents were tremendous role models. They were both dedicated government employees and active volunteers in their community. When they retired, my mother had time for her artistic passion for crewel embroidery (which she also taught), needlepoint and painting, all of which she excelled in. My father enjoyed woodworking and became an officer in his local Jewish War Veterans chapter. He took pride in being a minyannaire (attendee at the daily minyan) and drove others to shul well into his nineties. Their retirement was a marvelous Act III. In truth, the road of retirement is like the rest of life; it can be a truly satisfying spiritual journey. But it’s important to be self-aware, to identify one’s goals, wants, needs, skills and limitations, and move forward to make the most of this opportunity.

I’m not sure what my Act III will look like, and I’m not ready yet, but whatever it is, I hope, im yirtzeh Hashem, to make it a positive, meaningful and fulfilling experience.

Interested in SPIRIT? Visit us at www.ou.org/spirit/.

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LEGAL-EASE

WHAT’S THE TRUTH ABOUT...

ASARAH B’TEVET FALLING ON SHABBAT?

By Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky

MISCONCEPTION: If the tenth of Tevet (Asarah B’Tevet) would fall on Shabbat, it would be observed as a fast even on Shabbat.

FACT: An important early authority, the fourteenth-century Spanish posek Rabbi David Abudraham, indeed says that Asarah B’Tevet would theoretically be observed on Shabbat. But most other authorities, from Rashi to the Shulchan Aruch, disagree, and the halachah is that it would be rescheduled like any other fast. Under our current fixed calendar, Asarah B’Tevet is unique among fast days in that it cannot fall on Shabbat, but it can fall on Friday; when it does (like this year—December 22, 2023), the fast is fully observed until its usual time and is broken at the Friday evening meal after dark.

Background: There are six standard fasts on the Jewish calendar, of which four relate to the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and other national tragedies.1 These four are based on Zechariah 8:19, in which they are described as the fast of the fourth [month], the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth.

The fast of the fourth is Shivah Asar B’Tammuz on account of, among other tragedies, Jerusalem’s walls being breached.2 The fast of the fifth is Tishah B’Av, in mourning of, among other major calamities, the burning of Jerusalem and the destruction of both the first and second Batei Mikdash.3 The fast of the

Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky is a professor of neuroscience at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

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seventh is Tzom Gedaliah on the third of Tishrei, observed due to the murder of Gedaliah ben Achikam (recounted in Melachim II 25:22–26 and Yirmiyahu 41), the final straw in the Babylonian exile. The fast of the tenth is Asarah B’Tevet,4 on account of the initiation of the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians under King Nevuchadnetzar II, which lasted over two years until they finally breached the walls and eventually conflagrated the city and Beit Hamikdash.5 The current fixed calendar has specific rules regarding which days of the week holidays and fasts can occur.

With regard to the four fasts noted in Zechariah, three of them can fall on Shabbat. When Rosh Hashanah is on Thursday–Friday (a threeday yom tov even in Israel, which occurs 31.89 percent of years),6 Tzom Gedaliah is on Shabbat. Shivah Asar B’Tammuz and Tishah B’Av (which are always the same day of the week)

can be on Shabbat (28.03 percent of years). When these fast days occur on Shabbat, the fast is pushed off and observed on Sunday (Mishnah Megillah 1:3 [5a]).7 Additionally, of these four, three can never fall on Friday. The fasts of Tammuz and Av can never fall on Monday, Wednesday or Friday, and Tzom Gedaliah can never fall on Sunday, Tuesday or Friday.8 Asarah B’Tevet is unique in two ways: it is the only fast that can fall on Friday and it is the only fast that cannot fall on Shabbat.

The dates on which fast days may and may not occur are due to the current fixed calendar. But what if we returned to a calendar based on the testimony of witnesses and Asarah B’Tevet did fall on Shabbat?

The Abudraham made a remarkable statement. In comparing the various fasts, he observed (Sefer Abudraham, Seder Tefillot Hata’aniot, 23:13, p. 357 in 5775 ed.) that when any of the other fasts fall on Shabbat, they are postponed, but Asarah B’Tevet (which he does note cannot currently fall on Shabbat) would not be deferred if it fell on Shabbat. He says this is indicated by the phrase in Yechezkel 24:2 describing the initiation of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem as “b’etzem hayom hazeh—this selfsame day.” This indicates that the fast must be that very day, similar to the verses concerning Yom Kippur in which that phrase is also used (Vayikra 23:29).9 The Abudraham does not provide a source for this radical assertion, but about 200 years later, in 1564, Rabbi Yissachar ben Mordechai ibn Sussan

in Tzefat published his Tikun Yissachar about the Jewish calendar and made the same claim (p. 28a) about theoretically observing Asarah B’Tevet on Shabbat. Rabbi ibn Sussan quoted Teshuvot HaGeonim as his source; unfortunately, no such Teshuvot HaGeonim is known today.10 This is a radical assertion, because in general it is forbidden to fast on Shabbat, even a partial fast (Shulchan Aruch, OC 288:1; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 77:20).11 There is an opinion that it is Biblically forbidden to fast on Shabbat (Biur Halachah 288:assur).

But there are exceptions. Under certain conditions, one can undertake a ta’anit chalom, a fast because of a bad dream, on Shabbat (Rambam, Ta’anit 1:12; Shulchan Aruch, OC 288:4–5), although as a consequence of fasting on Shabbat, a fast to repent for violating oneg Shabbat must then be observed.

Not everyone agrees with the assertion of the Abudraham. The Tur

(OC 550) makes a blanket statement that if any of the four fasts fall on Shabbat, it is postponed until Sunday.

Commenting on this, the Beit Yosef, a contemporary of Rabbi ibn Sussan, quotes the Abudraham and then says he does not know the source of the Abudraham’s claim. The Beit Yosef then quotes Rashi’s comment on the Talmudic statement that when Tishah B’Av falls on Shabbat it is postponed— Rashi extrapolates that the same is true for Shivah Asar B’Tammuz and Asarah B’Tevet (Megillah 5a, s.v. aval).12 The Beit Yosef also quotes the Rambam (Ta’anit 5:5), who says that if any of the four fasts fall on Shabbat, it is delayed. Thus, Rashi and Rambam both explicitly reject the assertion of the Abudraham. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 550:3) and Aruch Hashulchan (OC 549:2) rule like them, and that seems to be the halachah—if any of the four fasts fall on Shabbat, even Asarah B’Tevet, it is pushed off.

While the Abudraham’s position is

rejected as normative halachah, it led to various interesting explanations over the years.13 The Chatam Sofer suggests that Asarah B’Tevet is the most severe of the fasts because it commemorates the commencement of the tragedies, and in all subsequent years on that day G-d decides whether to bring the Redemption. Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeschutz says that the original Asarah B’Tevet was on Shabbat. Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk (Chiddushei HaGrach, Rosh Hashanah 18b, p. 91 in 5768 ed.) says that Zechariah 8:19, which details the fasts, describes them by a specific month, not a specific date; thus, the day within the month to fast is flexible so the fast can be postponed.14 Regarding Tevet, there is an additional verse in Yechezkel that pins it to a specific date, which might not be changeable even if it is Shabbat.

As noted, Asarah B’Tevet is the only fast that can fall on Friday15 (20.1 percent of the time), as it does this year

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(Dec. 22, 2023/5784) and again next year (January 10, 2025/5785). It will not land on Friday again until December 22, 2034/5795.16 As a general statement, when Asarah B’Tevet is on Friday, the liturgy17 for Ashkenazim is the same as a regular fast: Kriat HaTorah in Shacharit and Minchah (Shemot 32:11–14 and Shemot 34:1–10), Selichot in the morning, Haftarah (Yeshayahu 55:6–56:8)18 at Minchah, and reciting Aneinu in the Amidah; but there is no Tachanun or Avinu Malkeinu at Minchah (Rema, OC 550:3 and 566:1; Magen Avraham 550:6; Mishnah Berurah 550:11 and 566:5).19 What about the fasting itself? On a regular Friday, one may not eat a large meal so as to enter Shabbat with an appetite (Shulchan Aruch, OC 249:2).

On the other hand, except for pious people who fast every Friday (Tur, OC 249; Shulchan Aruch, OC 249:3), it is inappropriate to fast on Friday (Mishnah Berurah 249:18) as one then enters Shabbat in a famished state. For example, when a minor, non-tragedyrelated fast such as Ta’anit Esther or Ta’anit Bechorot falls on Shabbat, it is moved earlier, and once it is being moved it is moved back to Thursday to avoid fasting on Friday.20 Because of these considerations, there is a lengthy discussion in the Gemara (Eruvin 40b–41a) about how to conduct fasts on a Friday, which concludes with the halachah that one may fast and complete the fast. Among the Rishonim, there are two ways to understand the question under discussion—may the fast be completed until nightfall (tzeit hakochavim) or must the fast be completed until nightfall (Beit Yosef, OC 249)? The halachah follows the latter interpretation that the fast must be completed. Although the Mishnah Berurah cites an opinion that the fast of Asarah B’Tevet should end before dark (249:21), the Rema (OC 249:4), Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (121:6), Aruch Hashulchan (OC 249:10), Yechaveh Da’at (1:80; he says it is about fifteen minutes after sunset), and others21 rule that for a public fast, such as Asarah B’Tevet, one must fast until dark (tzeit hakochavim).

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Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, in a beautiful analysis,22 asks an obvious question about Asarah B’Tevet: “Of all the fasts that appear in Tanakh, that of the Tenth of Tevet is, in terms of our consciousness of the destruction, the weakest. When we think of the Ninth of Av, we envision the Temple in flames; . . . . But all that happened on the Tenth of Tevet was that the King of Babylonia laid siege to Jerusalem. For some time, life continued more or less in its normal fashion. . . .” He explains that: “. . . after the destruction, we must trace its sources and mark its stages; we must look backward to events that are not earth-shattering and perceive how the seeds of the destruction on the Ninth of Av were planted on the Tenth of Tevet. . . .” He concludes: “This is the point that is unique to the Tenth of Tevet. Specifically that which does not seem so terrible, that which ‘we can live with’—that is what requires rectification on the Tenth of Tevet. . . . I do not know whether, on the Tenth of Tevet, the tragedy of the Ninth of Av could have been avoided; not everything is in man’s hands. But at the very least, there may have been a chance to avert the tragic conclusion. If not on the national level then at least on the personal level, each individual by means of his repentance on the ‘fast of the tenth month’ can turn the ‘fast of the fourth month’ and the ‘fast of the fifth month’ into days of joy and celebration.”

Asarah B’Tevet was the beginning of the end; it was the first domino to fall in what would be a long, drawn-out domino effect. The momentousness of the day can only be discerned in hindsight, looking backward in time from where it eventually led. Using a modern analogy, in chaos theory, the butterfly effect shows how small perturbations can lead to significantly divergent results further along in time.

A message of Asarah B’Tevet is that one should not be complacent because things are still tolerable; the course of the ship should be righted while there is still time.

In the present, Asarah B’Tevet cannot fall on Shabbat, and thus the discussion is theoretical. As for the future? The Rambam concludes the

Laws of Fasts (Hilchot Ta’aniyot 5:19) by stating, based on Zechariah 8:19, that in the future all the fasts will be abolished, and more than that, they will be transformed into holidays and days of rejoicing and happiness.

Thus, Asarah B’Tevet will never be fasted on Shabbat—may it and all the fasts become holidays speedily in our day.

Notes 1. The other two fasts are Yom Kippur and Ta’anit Esther.

2. Mishnah Ta’anit 4:6 and Rosh Hashanah 18b. Note that for the first Beit Hamikdash, the breach of the walls of Jerusalem occurred on the ninth of Tammuz (Melachim II 25:3–4; Yirmiyahu 39:2; Yirmiyahu 52:6–7). See Ta’anit 28b for the shift of the fast from the ninth to the seventeenth. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 549:2) explains that the fast is on the seventeenth because the second destruction was more extreme. Be’er Heteiv (OC 549:3) says the pious actually fast on both the ninth and seventeenth, but the rabbis did not want to impose two fasts on the general public. He also quotes the Yerushalmi’s fantastic statement that even in the First Temple, the walls of Jerusalem were breached on the seventeenth, but because of the troubles, the wrong date was recorded!

3. One verse (Yirmiyahu 52:12–13) says Churban Bayit Rishon occurred on the tenth of Av, while another verse (Melachim II 25:8–9) says it was on the seventh of Av. The Gemara (Ta’anit 29a) explains that on the seventh of Av, the Babylonians entered and began defiling the Beit Hamikdash, and this continued until the ninth; toward evening on the ninth, they set fire to the Temple, and it burned through the night and into the tenth day.

4. In addition to the fast on Asarah B’Tevet, the Shulchan Aruch (OC 580:2) mentions that the eighth and ninth of Tevet were also customarily observed as fast days, the eighth because that is when the Torah was translated into Greek, and the ninth for an unknown reason. Others explain that the ninth of Tevet was observed as a fast day because Ezra HaSofer died (Taz, OC 580:1) or because Queen Esther was taken to Achashveirosh on that day (Rema, Mechir Yayin, 2:16). See Sid Leiman, “The Scroll of Fasts: The Ninth of Tebeth,” Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 74, no. 2 (October 1983): 174–95.

5. See Melachim II 25:1, Yirmiyahu 52:4, Yechezkel 24:1–2. Yechezkel’s wife died the evening of Asarah B’Tevet (24:15–19).

6. Thanks to Rabbi Phil Chernofsky, the former longtime editor of the OU Israel Center’s Torah Tidbits, for the statistics.

7. Yom Kippur and Ta’anit Esther can also fall on Shabbat. Yom Kippur, the only Biblical fast of the six, is observed on Shabbat. Ta’anit Esther, which does not commemorate tragedy and is followed by Purim, is advanced to Thursday when it falls on Shabbat.

8. Yom Kippur and Ta’anit Esther also cannot fall on Friday. Neither of them can fall on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday.

The rule that Yom Kippur cannot fall on Sunday and Friday is actually one of the foundation stones of the fixed calendar.

This is because Chazal were wary of having two back-to-back days, Yom Kippur and Shabbat, on which all melachah is absolutely forbidden.

9. Tosefet Berachah (Vayikra 23:29) thinks that the “B’etzem hayom hazeh” in Yechezkel is more similar to its use regarding Noach (Bereishit 7:13) or Avraham (Bereishit 17:23), in that it narrative context, rather than a command as it is with Yom Kippur. Professor Daniel Sperber (Bekhol Derakhekha Daehu 30 [5775]:148-153) insightfully notes that in that verse in Yechezkel, the phrase actually appears twice, the first as a command and the second as narrative.

10. Because Rabbi ibn Sussan did not mention the Abudraham and cited an

unknown Teshuvot HaGeonim, it is possible that he was actually referring to the Abudraham with that title. Or it is possible there was such a responsum, and that would answer the Beit Yosef ’s puzzlement as to the source for the Abudraham.

11. It is because of this that the Magen Avraham (584:4) says that when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat (as it did this year and will again four times in the next ten years), davening should not extend past halachic noon.

12. Interestingly, the Gemara does not discuss Asarah B’Tevet falling on Shabbat, something that was possible prior to the fixed calendar, an indication against the Abudraham. It does discuss, for example, Tishah B’Av on Friday (Eruvin 41a).

13. The three citations in this section are found in Bekhol Derakhekha Daehu 30 (5775): 148–53.

14. This idea is also found in the Minchat Chinuch (mitzvah 301), where, contrary to Rabbi Chaim Brisker, he applies it to Tevet.

15. Unlike all other fasts, there are only two days on which Asarah B’Tevet cannot fall: Monday and Shabbat. (The rarest day of the week for Asarah B’Tevet is Wednesday, which will not occur again until 2051/5812 and then 2078/5839, and occurs a mere 5.87 percent of the time.)

16. It last occurred in 2020/5781, and before that in 2013/5774. As noted, it is actually not that rare, but people often

perceive it as such, and thus every time it happens there is excitement.

17. Except for Tishah B’Av and Yom Kippur, showering is permitted on the other fasts. Although there are those who recommend observing the other prohibitions, such as not showering, on the other fasts (Mishnah Berurah 580:6; Sha’ar Ha’tziyun 550:8–9), even they permit hot showers on a Friday Asarah B’Tevet because of kavod Shabbat (Mishnah Berurah 580:6).

18. Because of the Torah Reading and Haftarah (and in Israel, Birkat Kohanim), Minchah should be started earlier than on a regular Friday.

19. Asarah B’Tevet is also observed as the yahrtzeit for those killed in the Holocaust who have no known yahrtzeit. The special Kel Maleh Rachamim memorial prayer should be said in the morning after the Kriat HaTorah as usual.

20. In discussing this halachah about Ta’anit Esther, the Midrash Tanchuma (Bereishit:4; 5b in 5738 ed.) says that the fast may not be on Friday as that would infringe on preparation for kavod Shabbat and “kavod Shabbat is preferable to 1,000 fasts.”

21. See Yabia Omer 6:OC:31 for an elaboration of all of the sources.

22. https://www.etzion.org.il/en/holidays/ asara-betevet/yom-hakaddish-hakelalizikhron-churban.

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KOSHERKOPY

The Kashrut of Bread: All You Knead to Know Q A

Why did Chazal forbid making bread that is dairy or meat?

As a general rule, bread must be pareve. The Gemara states four times that one should not knead dough with milk. If dough with milk was baked, it may not be consumed.

The same restriction applies to baking fleishig bread. (Therefore, the Gemara rules that an oven used for baking bread should not be greased with animal fat.)

Chazal instituted this gezeirah (decree) lest one not know the status of the bread and accidentally consume it with meat or dairy. The Pri Megadim (Sifsei Da’as 97:1) writes that even if milk was accidentally added to the dough, or the individual baking the bread was unfamiliar with this prohibition, the bread may not be consumed.

Furthermore, the Chasam Sofer writes (Teshuvos Chasam Sofer, YD 107) that the bread is forbidden even if baked by a non-Jew.

Q A

Are there any circumstances when it is permissible to eat dairy or meat bread?

The Gemara (Pesachim 36a) relates that Rabbi Yehoshua asked his son to bake dairy bread for him. The Gemara then raises the question: How can this be? Isn’t dairy bread prohibited? The Gemara responds that it was baked “k’ein tura,” which is permissible. There is a disagreement among Rishonim as to the definition of the words “k’ein tura.” Rashi translates the phrase as “the eye of an ox.”

According to this understanding, it is permissible to bake a small amount of dairy bread, the size of the eye of an ox,

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since it will be eaten in one sitting and one will not forget that it is dairy and eat it at a meat meal. (If a large amount of bread was made, one may not salvage a small portion since the entire batch was baked in violation of the halachah.) According to the Rif, “k’ein tura” means “like the shape of an ox.”

In other words, it is permissible to bake dairy bread as long as it has an unusual shape that will remind the baker that it is dairy. The Shulchan Aruch (YD 97:1) rules that both explanations are correct.

One may either bake a small quantity of dairy bread or bake it in a distinct and unusual shape. The Rema notes that it was customary to bake a small amount of dairy bread with a unique shape in honor of the first day of Shavuos.

Q

The Shulchan Aruch writes that it is permissible to bake “a small amount” of milchig or fleishig bread. What is considered a small amount?

A

The Pri Megadim (Sifsei Da’as 97:1) writes that the size of “a small amount” is a matter of dispute between the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema. The wording of the Shulchan Aruch implies that it is only considered a small amount if it will be completely consumed in one meal. However, in his sefer Toras Chatas, the Rema writes that a small amount of bread is a quantity that will be eaten in one day. In general, those of Sephardic descent follow the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch, while those of Ashkenazic descent follow the Rema.

The Aruch Hashulchan (YD 97:4) notes that “a small amount” is based on the size of the family, and one may bake a small amount for each family member.

Q A

Does the prohibition of Chazal to not bake dairy bread apply to any other food?

The Tzemach Tzedek (siman 80) writes that it is forbidden to produce dairy wine. He explains that just as Chazal forbade dairy bread because bread is a staple food commonly eaten at every meal, the same applies to wine. In addition, the potential for mistakenly consuming dairy wine at a meat meal is greater than for bread, as bread only stays fresh for a few days, while wine lasts for years.

Q

Does the prohibition of dairy bread apply to pastries such as dairy cake or cookies?

A

The sixteenth-century halachic authority Maharit (YD 2:18) was asked whether a baker may sell fleishig pastries (pas haba’ah b’kisnin) if he informs each customer that it is fleishig. The Maharit did not allow it, because he was concerned that the baker might forget to alert the customer. Nonetheless, the Maharit concluded that the prohibition of baking dairy or meat bread does not apply to sweet cakes or fruit-filled pastries for the following reason: As mentioned above, Chazal enacted a gezeirah forbidding dairy bread in order to avoid confusion. There is a general halachic principle that a gezeirah is enacted to prevent Biblical violations, but not to prevent the violation of rabbinic restrictions. (The Talmud explains that enacting a gezeirah to prevent violation of a rabbinic decree would be a gezeirah l’gezeirah,

an enactment upon an enactment, since most rabbinic restrictions are preventive measures in the first place.)

In the case of dairy bread, the rabbis were concerned that a person might accidentally eat dairy bread with meat, which could potentially be a violation of Biblical law. Cakes and cookies, on the other hand, are typically not eaten with meat, but rather at the end of a meal as a dessert. If a person erred and ate a dairy cookie or slice of cake after meat, the violation would be rabbinic.

As such, the rabbis did not enact a gezeirah against eating dairy cakes or cookies.

The Crust of the Matter

Q

I have noticed that the OU certifies commercially sold pizza crusts that are dairy. Why is it permissible for one to eat a dairy pizza crust?

A

The Maharit (YD 2:18) writes that one may not sell dairy bread in a bakery even if the bread has a unique shape, because a consumer who is not from the area might think the shape is standard for bread in that city. One might therefore assume that commercial dairy pizza crust is prohibited despite its unique shape.

However, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who was the OU’s senior halachic consultant, maintained that pizza crust is universally recognizable and it is common knowledge that pizza crust is intended for use with cheese. Hence, it is reasonable to assume that the consumer will realize the dough might be dairy.

Q A

Does the prohibition of dairy bread apply to dairy crackers?

have an OU-D logo if the product is dairy. (While one might assume that an OU-D logo on the packaging would suffice as a marker, as it would satisfy the requirement of being made in a “unique shape,” it is not halachically acceptable, since the marker is external to the actual bread.)

Q A

Why does the OU certify dairy English muffins?

For many years, the distinctive look of the English muffin was considered an identifiable mark that the product was dairy. Today that is no longer the case, as pareve English muffins have become common.

However, the OU continues to certify English muffins because the percentage of dairy in the muffin is batel b’shishim (nullified in 60 parts).

In truth, the Tzemach Tzedek (siman 80) writes that a Jew may not add even a single drop of milk to his bread. He considered adding a small amount of milk to bread tantamount to adding a drop of milk to meat, since it is likely the bread will be consumed with meat.

Intentionally creating a situation of bitul b’shishim is not permissible. This is known as ein mevatlin issur lechatchilah (one may not intentionally create a situation of bitul). Nonetheless, many posekim disagree with the Tzemach Tzedek, including the Pischei Teshuvah (Yoreh De’ah 97:6), Nachalas Tzvi (ibid.), Magen Avraham (447:45) and Kenesses Hagedolah, provided there is no intent to eat the final product with meat. The OU relies on the authorities who are lenient and certifies English muffins that contain a small amount of milk. That said, the OU requires an OU-D logo on

the label of English muffins that are baked with milk. As a matter of policy, any OUcertified product that contains milk, even if batel, must be labeled OU-D.

Q

I baked bread in my oven at the same time as meat. The meat was dry without gravy. Can the bread be eaten at all? Can it be eaten with dairy?

A

The Gemara (Pesachim 30a) teaches that one is not permitted to bake fleishig bread because one might accidentally eat it with dairy. (If one did bake fleishig bread, it may not be eaten, even with pareve or meat foods.)

However, in this case, the bread was baked in the same oven but did not touch the meat. The only concern is that the bread might have absorbed the meat’s aroma (reicha). Halachah views aroma as an intangible, and it is nullified in the bread. The Rema (YD 108:1), however, writes that it is nonetheless better not to eat this bread with dairy because it is preferable not to rely on the nullification of the meat aroma; however, if no other bread is available, the Rema writes, this bread may be served with dairy.

This article has been adapted from OU Kosher’s Halacha Yomis, a halachah email sent out each weekday and dedicated in the memory of Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, former OU Kosher halachic consultant. Special thanks to Rabbi Yaakov Luban, OU Kosher executive rabbinic coordinator; Rabbi Eli Gersten, recorder of OU Kosher pesak and policy; and Rabbi Yisroel Bendelstein, OU Kosher rabbinic coordinator, for help in preparing this article.

Readers can send kashrut questions to be featured in this column to ja@ou.org. Sign up to receive Halacha Yomis in your inbox here: https://oukosher.org/halacha-yomis-email/.

No. Rabbi Belsky explained that cake is not included in the gezeirah against baking and consuming dairy bread, because cake is not bread. The OU certifies dairy crackers because there is minimal concern of accidentally consuming dairy crackers at a meat meal or vice versa. It is well known that crackers come in dairy and pareve varieties, and the consumer can easily ascertain the status of the cracker by examining the packaging, which will Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

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THE CHEF’S TABLE

Those Were the Nights of Chanukah

By Naomi Ross

T

here is something special about the casual nature of a Chanukah party: family time by the glow of the menorah, lively music in the background—the relaxed feeling of a weeknight get-together. Party food that is totally different than the formal fare that regularly graces our Shabbat tables is also part of the draw. I relish the opportunity to make special dairy recipes I don’t often get the opportunity to showcase. Freshly fried foods, rich melty cheesy dishes and items that are best served right away are a treat to cook, but even more fun to eat! It’s a time to be in the moment of the light and joy of the holiday and to appreciate the miracles around you. And like all holiday splurges, the diet starts next week.

Roasted Beet, Pear & Goat Cheese Medallion Salad Yields 6–8 appetizers or 10–12 mini salads Dressing yields about ½ cup Fried goat cheese rounds are a special touch in this salad of contrasts. All of the other salad components can be prepared ahead.

Naomi Ross is a cooking instructor and food writer based in Woodmere, New York. She teaches classes throughout the country and writes articles connecting delicious cooking and Jewish inspiration. Her first cookbook, The Giving Table, was recently released.

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Salad 3 beets, scrubbed and ends trimmed (or can use vacuum-sealed roasted beets) 2-3 teaspoons olive oil Kosher salt to taste 4-5 ounces goat cheese 1 egg, beaten 1 cup bread or panko crumbs ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ½ cup canola oil 1 (6-ounce) bag baby spinach or mixed field greens 1 Anjou pear, halved, cored and sliced thinly crosswise ½ red onion, minced ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped Lemon-Honey Dressing 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon honey ½ teaspoon Kosher salt ¼ teaspoon thyme Freshly ground black pepper 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Preheat oven to 400°F. Layer two large pieces of tin foil, one on top of the other; place beets in the center. Drizzle oil over the tops and sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Gather the tin foil around the beets and close to form a tightly sealed pouch.

Place pouch on a baking sheet and roast for at least 1 hour, or until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork. When tender, remove from oven and cool.

Once cool, gently slip off (or scrape away) the skins from beets. Halve and cut beets into ½-inch slices. Set aside.

Using unflavored floss, gently cut thin slices of goat cheese (approximately 1/3” thick) by holding the floss ends in each hand and pulling downwards through

the goat cheese. Carefully dredge each slice in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs seasoned with salt and pepper. Transfer breaded cheese rounds to parchment or waxed paper; refrigerate until ready to fry.

Heat canola oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot and shimmering, fry cheese rounds until golden brown, turning once—about 30-60 seconds per side. Use a slotted spatula to transfer to a rack to drain.

Combine all dressing ingredients except oil in a small mixing bowl.

Whisk to blend. Continue to whisk while slowly pouring in a stream of oil. Whisk until well-blended and emulsified. Season to taste with more salt and pepper as needed.

Toss baby spinach leaves in a large bowl with about half of the Lemon-Honey Dressing until lightly coated. Divide greens amongst salad plates; arrange sliced beets and pears in an alternating pattern around the perimeter of the leaves. Add a sprinkling of minced red onion; drizzle a little more dressing over salad if needed. Place 1-2 goat cheese rounds in the center of the beets and pears.

Garnish with a sprinkling of nuts.

Season to taste with a few grinds of black pepper and serve immediately.

Chef ’s Notes: • If you need to prepare the fried goat cheese rounds in advance, refresh uncovered in a single layer in a 350°F oven for 5-8 minutes before serving.

• Dressing can be prepared up to 5 days ahead.

• Beets can be prepared up to 3 days in advance.

Baked Brie En Croute with Pears & Cranberry Photos: Baila Gluck

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Parmesan-Herb Twists

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Parmesan-Herb Twists Yields 18 strips Flaky and cheesy, these pastries are a fun accompaniment on any dairy buffet table.

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from half 17.3-ounce box), thawed 1 large egg, beaten ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon dried basil ¾ teaspoon dried oregano ¼ teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 16 x 12-inch rectangle.

Using the tip of a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut in half lengthwise. Brush both halves with egg wash.

Sprinkle half evenly with cheese, herbs and spices. Cover with remaining pastry half (egg-washed side down); press lightly to adhere.

Run a rolling pin over dough to seal or use fingertips to crimp edges.

Cut dough crosswise into 18 strips (each about 6-inches long and ½-inch wide). Transfer strips to prepared baking sheet; twist each strip, pressing down on ends to adhere them to the sheet. Bake until twists are puffed and golden, 12-14 minutes.

Baked Brie En Croute with Pears & Cranberry Yields 4–6 servings Encased and baked in rich puff pastry, this baked brie is studded with roasted pears, cranberry and toasted pecans.

Serve with toast, crackers or all by itself for an elegant starter—easy and delish!

1 pear, peeled, cored and diced small 1 tablespoon olive oil Freshly ground black pepper ¼ teaspoon thyme 2-3 teaspoons honey 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed 1 round brie cheese 1/3 cup whole cranberry sauce ¼ cup chopped, toasted pecans 1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with heavy duty foil or parchment paper.

Toss pears with oil, pepper, thyme and honey. Spread out on one baking sheet to an even layer. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Remove from oven; cool slightly.

Meanwhile, unroll pastry dough and place brie in the center of the pastry.

Trim dough corners with a pastry wheel or the tip of a sharp knife to form a circle (its border should extend about 3-4 inches from the brie).

Transfer pears to a mixing bowl and combine with cranberry sauce and pecans. Top brie with a generous helping of the mixture (you will have some extra).

Brush border of pastry with egg wash. Gather and stretch pastry up and over the brie, folding and sealing dough together well on top.

Place sealed pastry on remaining prepared baking sheet; brush with egg wash. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Chef ’s Note: Twine can also be used for sealing up the pastry around the brie.

Coffee-Cream Sufganiyot Yields approx. 18–20 small doughnuts or 12–14 large doughnuts A fry thermometer is invaluable to ensure oil is at the right temperature.

Too hot, and the doughnut will be burnt on the outside, raw on the inside. Too cold, and the doughnut will be greasy.

Sufganiyot 1 cup lukewarm whole milk 1 envelope dry active yeast (2½ teaspoons) 1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons sugar 4 cups white bread flour, plus more for dusting/kneading, as needed 1 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs, beaten 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Vegetable or canola oil, for frying Cinnamon and sugar, for rolling doughnuts Coffee-Cream Filling 2 cups whipping cream 2 tablespoons sugar 2-3 teaspoons coffee flavored liqueur

In the bowl of a mixer or large mixing bowl, combine the warm milk, yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Mix until dissolved. Set aside until foamy, about 5-10 minutes.

In a separate large mixing bowl, combine flour, remaining sugar and salt and set aside. Add the beaten eggs and melted butter to the yeast mixture.

Gradually add the flour mixture, continually incorporating the flour after each addition until the mixture comes away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. Kneading can be done in a mixer with a dough hook; if kneading by hand, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic—it should be a soft, slightly sticky dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Punch down the risen dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.

Use a floured rolling pin to roll out dough to ½-inch thickness. Cut out 3-inch rounds with a lightly floured biscuit cutter or a glass. Re-roll the scraps to create more rounds. Place the doughnuts onto a lightly floured baking sheet; cover lightly with a towel. Let rise about 30-40 minutes.

Fill a large heavy pot with vegetable or canola oil—about 3 inches deep.

Heat pot over medium-high heat until oil reaches 360°F. Carefully drop the risen doughnuts into the hot oil, a few at a time, until golden and puffed, turning once, about 2-3 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Roll warm doughnuts in a mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

Using electric beaters, beat whipping cream in a large mixing bowl with sugar and liqueur until stiff peaks form.

Transfer to a pastry bag; set aside.

Insert the blade of a small sharp knife into the side of each doughnut about ¾ of the way to create a space for the filling. Insert the tip of the filled pastry bag into the prepared slit and squeeze until center of doughnut bulges slightly.

Repeat with remaining doughnuts.

Chef ’s Note: Doughnuts can be filled up to 3 hours before serving. Let stand at room temperature until serving time.

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OU PRESS: YEAR IN REVIEW The Return to Zion: Addresses on Religious Zionism and American Orthodoxy—The Karasick Family Edition

By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Translated by Shaul SeidlerFeller; edited by Joel B. Wolowelsky and Simon Posner

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik was the Torah giant of the last century long affiliated with Religious Zionism. His addresses at major Religious Zionist conferences were the high point of these gatherings. The Rav mesmerized his audience with his perceptive observations on the state of American and Israeli Jewry, as well as the nature of Religious Zionism. This book contains ten of those discourses, translated from Yiddish and delivered by the Rav between 1939 and 1958—against the backdrop of the Holocaust and the newly emerging State of Israel. These addresses from one of the most tumultuous periods in Jewish history powerfully depict the unending drama of Jewish destiny.

Perpetuating the Masorah: Halakhic, Ethical, and Experiential Dimensions—Essays in Memory of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

By Rabbi Yitzhak (Isadore) Twersky, The Talner Rebbe, z”l Edited by Carmi Horowitz and Dovid Shapiro

Rabbi Dr. Yitzhak (Isadore) Twersky was a uniquely multifaceted Torah scholar and devoted son-in-law and disciple of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Perpetuating the Masorah is a collection of essays on aggadic, halachic, ethical and spiritual themes dedicated in memory of Rabbi Twersky’s father-in-law. Some of the issues addressed in this volume include: the teaching of Torah and its goals; becoming a Torah scholar; the prerogatives of Torah scholars and their responsibilities and 90

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obligations; the qualities of teachers and students of Torah; and the uniqueness of Jewish tradition. This volume adds one more dimension to the legacy of this great teacher who so harmoniously integrated intellectual sophistication with religious sensitivity and experiential intensity.

The Rav on Tefillah: An Anthology of Teachings

by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Jewish Prayer—The Levovitz Edition Edited and annotated by Rabbi Dr. Jay Goldmintz

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s teachings, particularly in the area of Jewish prayer, have had a profound impact on the Jewish community.

In The Rav on Tefillah, veteran educator Rabbi Dr. Jay Goldmintz, a pioneer in the teaching of Jewish prayer, has collated teachings of the Rav according to the sequence of the siddur, but without the space constraints of a siddur commentary.

In his overview, Rabbi Goldmintz presents the central themes to which the Rav returns throughout his teachings in his approach to tefillah. This work will help readers understand both the particulars of prayer and its overall structure to achieve the goal of prayer—worship of the heart.

Masters of the Word: Traditional Jewish Bible Commentary from the Twelfth through Fourteenth Centuries (Volume III)

By Rabbi Yonatan Kolatch

Not just another “parashah book,” Masters of the Word is an in-depth exploration of the rich world of traditional Jewish Bible commentary.

This pioneering work addresses such questions as: How did the era

and its spirit affect the commentator, and how did he influence his times? What were his goals?

What kinds of textual problems did he deal with? These issues and many more are addressed clearly and comprehensively. This volume discusses five central commentators: Rambam, Radak, Ramban, Rabbeinu Bachya and Ralbag. Masters of the Word is for anyone interested in Biblical commentary or the history of Jewish ideas or is looking for an unconventional but highly informative book with which to study the parashah.

Torah United: Teachings on the Weekly Parashah from Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and the Chassidic Masters— The Wintman Family Edition

By Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

This remarkable two-volume work provides new insights on the weekly parashah from different vantage points. For each parashah, Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider has crafted three separate essays, each based on the thought of one of the following: Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and the Chassidic masters. Each essay contains Rabbi Goldscheider’s in-depth analysis and perceptive discussion of the distinctive approaches of Rav Kook, Rav Soloveitchik and the Chassidic masters, providing the reader with a rare experience of Torah study.

Rabbi Goldscheider’s underlying philosophical approach is that this synthesis of thought is the proper and correct way to study. These volumes unite the Torah by weaving together three diverse strands of thought into a beautiful tapestry.

Members of the OU Benefactor Circle lead through philanthropy. We thank them all—those whose names appear as well as those choosing to remain anonymous—for their commitment.

To learn more about the OU Benefactor Circle or to become a member, please call Jeff Korbman at 973.650.8899 or email korbmanj@ou.org. *Donors are recognized based on date of donation payment

AMBASSADOR $1,000,000 + DRS. FELIX AND MIRIAM GLAUBACH BECKY AND AVI KATZ THE KOHELET FOUNDATION DAVID AND DEBRA MAGERMAN THE MARCUS FOUNDATION INC. IN MEMORY OF ANNE SAMSON A”H

GUARDIAN $100,000 - $999,999 IN MEMORY OF AHARON BEN YAAKOV SHALOM AND LEAH BAS YITZHAK SUE AND BILL AUERBACH MARK (MOISHE) AND JOANNE BANE NEIL AND SHERRY COHEN CRAIN-MALING FOUNDATION: WWW.CRAINMALING.ORG DAHAN FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES ROBERT AND MICHELLE DIENER GERSHON AND AVIVA DISTENFELD MITCHELL AND ANNETTE EICHEN EISENREICH FAMILY FOUNDATION MR. AND MRS. JACK FEINTUCH FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS, GREATER PHILADELPHIA GEORGE AND MARTHA RICH FOUNDATION ELLIOT P. AND DEBORAH GIBBER ALAN AND BARBARA GINDI DAILYGIVING.ORG AMIR AND STACEY GOLDMAN THE GUSTAVE AND CAROL JACOBS CENTER FOR KASHRUT EDUCATION MORDECAI Z”L AND MONIQUE KATZ DR. SHMUEL AND EVELYN KATZ J KOHN FAMILY THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO MICHAEL AND ANDREA LEVEN MAYBERG FOUNDATION MOSAIC UNITED YEHUDA AND ANNE NEUBERGER RAPHAEL AND RIVKA EGOZI NISSEL OLAMI LAUNCH AARON AND AHUVA ORLOFSKY

RALLA KLEPAK FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION IN THE PERFORMING ARTS ERIC AND GALE A”H ROTHNER JOE AND JESSICA SCHWARTZ GENIE AND STEVE SAVITSKY MARK AND BARBARA SILBER MORIS AND LILLIAN TABACINIC UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK

FOUNDER $50,000 - $99,999 RAANAN AND NICOLE AGUS LEWIS AND LAURI BARBANEL YALE AND ANN BARON PHIL AND CONNIE BEINHAKER DANIEL AND RAZIE BENEDICT HILLEL AND CHARLOTTE A”H BRACHFELD THE CAYRE FAMILY CHICAGO CHESED FUND COMBINED JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES CROSS RIVER BANK THE CONDUIT FOUNDATION GRANT AND JENNIFER DINNER YISROEL EPSTEIN BRETT AND ALANA FINE MENASHE AND JAMIE FRANK EZRA AND RACHELI FRIEDBERG BENTZION FRIEDMAN THE GEORGE WEINBERGER MUSIC PROGRAM JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN EVE GORDON-RAMEK DR. EPHRAIM AND RITA GREENFIELD SHAUL AND TAMMY GREENWALD MOSHE AND TIRA GUBIN KLEIN, JAFFA, AND HALPERN FAMILIES THE HIDDEN SPARKS FUND LIOR AND JANET HOD ED AND ROBYN HOFFMAN CATERING TZIPPY (FAYE) HOLAND, BRIDGE OF LOVE FOUNDATION DR. ALLAN AND SANDY JACOB JEWISH FEDERATION OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY HOWARD AND DEBBIE JONAS NATALIE AND DAVIDI JONAS AARON AND TOBI KELLER EDWARD AND INNA KHOLODENKO LAIZER AND JESSICA KORNWASSER MARC LEVINE

DANIEL AND ELANA LOWY IRIS AND SHALOM MAIDENBAUM CHUCK AND ALLEGRA MAMIYE AZI AND RACHEL MANDEL EZRA AND LAUREN MERKIN DAVID MESSER EITAN AND DEBRA MILGRAM GABRIEL AND BETH NECHAMKIN GIL AND SHANI ORBACH DANIEL AND LEYLA POSNER IAN AND CAROL RATNER DAVID AND ADEENA ROSEN HENRY AND VIVIAN ROSENBERG YOSSI AND SIMI ROSENGARTEN MOSHE AND HELEN SASSOVER MICHAEL SHABSELS THE SHAMAH FAMILY THE STAENBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION MICHAEL AND CAROL STAENBERG DANIEL AND ELLIE STONE ALAN A”H AND INA TAFFET THE WALDER FOUNDATION JEFFREY AND SHARONA WEINBERG MICHAEL AND ARIANNE WEINBERGER DAVID AND GILA WEINSTEIN THE WEISS FAMILY, CLEVELAND, OHIO MR. JERRY AND MRS. SARA WOLASKY MEREDITH AND KENNY YAGER BEN ZUSSMAN DAVID AND BECKY ZWILLINGER

BUILDER $25,000 - $49,999 EMANUEL AND HELEN ADLER ARI AND REBECCA ADLERSTEIN LITA AND MITCHEL R. AEDER SCOTT AND SALLY ALPERT LIOR AND DRORA ARUSSY DAVID AND NATALIE BATALION SABY AND ROSI A”H BEHAR BRIAN AND DAFNA BERMAN JUDI AND JASON BERMAN THE CHARLES CRANE FAMILY FOUNDATION VIVIAN AND DANIEL CHILL ARI AND ERIKA COHEN FRANKI COHEN CONTRA COSTA JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER SHIMON AND CHAYA ECKSTEIN

JEFFREY AND SHIRA EISENBERG ROBERT EISENBERG BARI AND DANIEL ERBER ARIELA AND BENITO ESQUENAZI IN HONOR OF THE MENDEL BALK YACHAD COMMUNITY CENTER KENNETH FINK MORRIS FINKELSTEIN MURRAY AND FRIMMIT FORMAN SHEARA FREDMAN GERALD AND MIRIAM FRIEDKIN HERSHEY FRIEDMAN HOWARD TZVI AND CHAYA FRIEDMAN RAYMOND AND ELIZABETH GINDI JERRY AND ANNE GONTOWNIK AARON AND MICHAL GORIN HARVEY GREENSTEIN ROBYN AND SHUKIE GROSSMAN THE GRYFE FAMILY ESTATE OF ALLEN HABELSON JAMES AND AMY A”H HABER JACK HADDAD ROBERT AND DEBRA HARTMAN J. SAMUEL HARWIT AND MANYA HARWIT-AVIV CHARITABLE TRUST THE HELEN AND IRVING SPAT FOUNDATION STEVEN HELLER LANCE AND RIVKIE HIRT ADAM AND SARAH HOFSTETTER DAVID AND LORRAINE HOPPENSTEIN CHARITABLE FUND OF THE DALLAS JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ALISSA AND SHIMMIE HORN MICHAEL AND BATYA JACOB JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER ATLANTA CHAIM AND SURI KAHN MICHAEL AND JUDY KAISER BENYAMIN AND ESTI KAMINETZKY GEORGE AND DENISE KARASICK RABBI MARK AND LINDA KARASICK JACK ALBERT KASSIN MICHAEL AND ELISSA KATZ NANCY I. KLEIN JONATHAN AND MINDY KOLATCH LAWRENCE AND EVELYN KRAUT ALBERT LABOZ BRUCE AND CHERYL LEON HOWARD AND ELAYNE LEVKOWITZ SHLOMO AND RACHELI LOBELL M.B. GLASSMAN FOUNDATION LYNN AND JOEL MAEL

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ELLIOTT AND CHAVI MANDELBAUM MRS. FEGI MAUER THE OVED FAMILY ALLEN AND MIRIAM PFEIFFER DRS. NATHAN AND RACHEL RABINOVITCH JASON AND SHANI REITBERGER ALEXANDER AND RACHEL RINDNER STEVEN AND RUTHY ROSENBERG KAREN AND SHAWN ROSENTHAL RABBI DANIEL AND ELISHEVA RUBENSTEIN SAMIS FOUNDATION ROBERT AND TAMAR SCHARF DR. JOSEF SCHENKER JONATHAN AND BRIGITTE SCHOEN ELCHONON SCHWARTZ NATHAN AND LOUISE SCHWARTZ TZEDAKA FUND YAAKOV AND SARI SHEINFELD BONNY SILVER AND FAMILY MEYER AND BAILA SILVERBERG STEPHANIE AND DAVID SOKOL AVI AND DEENA STEIN JEREMY AND MERYL STRAUSS DAVID AND RANDI SULTAN ADAM AND TALI TANTLEFF TRAVEL INSURANCE ISRAEL MARC AND MINDY UTAY ARI AND CAROLINE WEISMAN MOSHE AND DR. ILANA WERTENTEIL JOYCE AND JEREMY WERTHEIMER HOWARD AND BATIA WIESENFELD ESTHER AND JERRY WILLIAMS SHIMON AND HENNIE WOLF DANIEL AND ALICIA YACOBY DRS. YECHIEL AND SURI ZAGELBAUM

VISIONARY $18,000 - $24,999 DANIEL AND LIORA ADLER ART HARRIS FOUNDATION ISAAC ASH EZRA AND ISAAC ASHKENAZI DR. MOSHE AND BRYNDIE BENARROCH DAVID AND SHIRA BERKOWITZ MAX AND ELANA BERLIN DENNIS AND DEBRA BERMAN ANDREA BIER THE BLACKMAN FOUNDATION STEVEN AND DANIELE BLEIER DENISE NEIDITCH BREGER JULIE AND PAUL CANDAU DRS. BENJAMIN AND ESTHER CHOUAKE TZIPPY AND DANIEL COHEN HAIM AND BARBARA DABAH ELI AND CHASI DAVIS PETER AND LORI DEUTSCH ALAN AND JUDI EISENMAN DAVID AND DEVORA ELKOUBY LINDA AND MICHAEL ELMAN ALAN AND RACHEL ENGEL EMT ACTION FUND JEFFREY AND SHARON FISHMAN JOSHUA AND SHIFRA FOX BEN J. AND DORIT GENET SETH GERSZBERG DON AND MARINA GHERMEZIAN ARTHUR AND JUDITH GOLDBERG JOSH GOLDBERG MARK GOLDBERG NELSON AND ESTHER GOODMAN DAVID AND SHIRA GREENBERG DR. ALAN AND MIRIAM GREENSPAN ADAM AND CLAUDINE GROSSMAN MARC AND RUKI HALPERT DAVID AND CHAYA TOVA HARTMAN THE HERBERT SMILOWITZ FOUNDATION JAMES AND CAROL HERSCOT JOAN AND PETER HOFFMAN DAVID AND MICHAL KAHAN RANON AND STACY KENT JONATHAN KIER ETTA BRANDMAN KLARISTENFELD AND HARRY KLARISTENFELD DAVID AND SARA KNEE DANA AND JEFFREY KORBMAN MARC AND RENA KWESTEL

92

MEYER AND SHEILA LAST VIVIAN AND DAVID LUCHINS DR. RALPH AND JUDITH MARCUS YIGAL AND CARYN MARCUS FRANCES MAUER MICHAEL AND ALIZA MERMELSTEIN DANIEL AND ELANA MILLER DANIEL AND JESSICA MINKOFF MARTIN AND ELIZABETH NACHIMSON AVI AND DEBRA NAIDER CAL AND JANINE NATHAN ELI AND TALIA NEUBERG STEVEN AND MARTINE NEWMAN ISABELLE AND DAVID NOVAK HENRY AND MINDY ORLINSKY HILLEL AND AMANDA PARNESS DAVID AND ELANA POLLACK NAFTOLI AND DEBBIE PORTNOY JONATHAN AND ANNE RAND JONA AND RACHEL RECHNITZ JAMES AND LOREN ROSENZWEIG YECHIEL AND NOMI ROTBLAT DAVID AND DIANA SAFIER LISA AND JONATHAN SCHECHTER MENACHEM AND RENA SCHNAIDMAN ARIANE AND MARK SCHNEIDER ROBERT AND ERICA SCHWARTZ SHARON SHAPIRO JEREMY AND DAHLIA SIMONS MICHAEL AND JESSICA SINGER EDDIE SITT BARRY AND JOY SKLAR DANIEL AND DIANA SRAGOWICZ DAVID J. AND RUTH TOBIN GARY AND MALKE TORGOW LIZZY AND JOSH TRUMP KIRILL AND MARY VOROBEYCHIK SAMUEL AND TAMI WALD GEORGE AND JONI WHITE JEFFREY AND RITA WILDER ALAN AND DENISE WILDES ZEVY AND SARA WOLMAN BEN PORAT YOSEF ATTA AND HENRY ZIELENIEC

PARTNER $10,000 - $17,999 ORA AND MAURY AARON ALISA ABECASSIS CHANAN BEN-ABRAHAM JASON AND LISA ABLIN AVI ADELSBERG THE ADELSBERG FAMILY AEG CONTRACTING, INC. RABBI SHLOMO AND MIRIAM APPEL HYMAN A”H AND ANN ARBESFELD ERIC AND JOYCE AUSTEIN RALPH AZRAK RACHEL AND AVRUMI BAK BALANOFF FOUNDATION JOSEPH BAMBERGER JONATHAN AND BETH BENNETT SAMUEL AND DEBORAH BERAN MAYER AND LISA BERG ASHLEY AND LISA BERMAN MRS. ROCHEL LEAH BERNSTEIN RABBI JULIUS AND DOROTHY BERMAN SION AND LORRAINE BETESH YEHUDA AND FAIGE BIENSTOCK TOMER AND JENNIFER BITTON GEORGE AND HARRIET BLANK MAXX AND LIRAZ BLANK HARVEY AND JUDY BLITZ ZEV AND VIVIAN BLUMENFRUCHT IAN AND SARAH BOCZKO MICHAEL AND DARLENE BOKOR YOSSI AND DALIA BRANDMAN MR. LUDWIG BRAVMANN THE BROOKLINE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION JOSHUA AND AMY BUCHSBAYEW BARRY AND ELLEN CARRON VANESSA AND RAYMOND CHALME URIEL AND YAEL COHEN EDUARDO COJAB JOHN DAVISON

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YECHIEL AND NECHIE EISENSTADT ELKON FAMILY FOUNDATION LEON ELMALEH SAUL AND TOBY FELDBERG DR. RINA AND NAHUM FELMAN DR. CHARLES AND VICTORIA FRANKEL NATALIO AND ANNE FRIDMAN NATHAN AND BETH FRUCHTER PAUL AND DIANE GALLANT ANDRES AND KARINA GELRUD PIERRE AND REYNA GENTIN ISAAC GINDI BRIAN AND GILA GLUCK YOEL AND YEHUDIT GOLDBERG JOSEPH AND LAURA GOLDMAN YONATAN AND BELLENE GONTOWNIK RABBI DANIEL AND JUDITH GOODMAN TOMAS AND AVIVA GORNY ELISHA AND DANIELLA GRAFF RABBI MICAH AND RIVKIE GREENLAND PHILIP AND AVIVA GREENLAND SETH AND ORIT GRIBETZ DR. DANIEL AND TSIPORA GURELL ABE AND RONIT GUTNICKI DR. BARRY AND SHIRA HAHN SALOMON HARARI THE HARARY FAMILY RABBI MOSHE AND MINDI HAUER CHAIM AND ARIELLA HERMAN RALPH AND JUDY HERZKA YISROEL AND SHIRA HOCHBERG HOWARD HOFFMAN AND SONS FOUNDATION ISAAC H. TAYLOR ENDOWMENT FUND RABBI MOSHE AND DEVORA ISENBERG JOSHUA JACOBS THE JACOBY FAMILY JEWISH COMMUNITY FEDERATION OF RICHMOND JEWISH FEDERATION IN THE HEART OF NEW JERSEY JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HOUSTON DR. JULIE AND RABBI DR. JOSH JOSEPH THE JOSEPH FAMILY FOUNDATION RUTHY AND AARON JUNGREIS DR. BERNARD AND MELANIE KAMINETSKY JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER KANSAS CITY MORRIS AND SONDRA KAPLAN ARI AND SHARI KATZ DANIEL J. AND CAROLINE R. KATZ YITZY AND GILA KATZ JOSEPH AND ESTHER KAZARNOVSKY KARMELA A”H AND JERRY KLASNER ROBIN AND BRAD KLATT GARY KLEIN MICHAEL AND JULIE KLEIN MICHAEL AND NAOMI KLEIN AVI AND RAVITAL KORN MARTIN AND SARAH KORNBLUM SCOTT AND AVIVA KRIEGER JOSH AND DANIELLA KUHL ALAIN KUPPERMANN KIM AND JONATHAN KUSHNER CHANA AND JOSH KUTIN PHILIP AND JENNIFER LANDAU IRA AND SARA LANDSMAN AARON AND PAMELA LAUCHHEIMER JONATHAN AND SHARI LAUER SHLOIMY AND YITA LAZAR ERAN AND ORIT LEIB MARSHALL AND DOREEN LERNER DANIEL LEWIS RICHARD AND LEORA LINHART ELLIOT LITTOFF JOSEF LOEFFLER EVAN AND EVI MAKOVSKY DR. LOUIS AND CHANIE MALCMACHER SHIMON MARGOLINE ATERET MARJSN ALEX MARKOWITZ MOSES AND MARGA MARX YAACOV AND ESTHER MASHIACH MORRIS AND CAROLINE MASSEL LEONARD AND MARGARET MATANKY PINCHAS AND MICHAL MIKHLI STEPHEN AND EVE MILSTEIN STEVE AND MALKA MIRETZKY

NOAH AND SUZANNE MISHKIN ALEXANDER AND YOCHEVED MITCHELL MARCUS AND AIMEE MIZRACHI SAMUEL AND DEBBIE MOED ELLIOT AND AVA MOSKOWITZ DR. ZEV AND SUSAN MUNK ELIZABETH AND MICHAEL MUSCHEL AVISHAI AND ELISHEVA NEUMAN NORMAN SHULEVITZ FOUNDATION BERNICE NOVICK RONIE AND JULIE OVADIA ALIZA AND MICHAEL PILEVSKY MICHAEL PINEWSKI ISRAEL AND NECHAMA POLAK MOSHE AND YAFFA POPACK YITZIE AND NANCY PRETTER DR. STEVEN AND BELINDA RAIKIN CHAIM ZVI AND RIKKI RAJCHENBACH DR. AZRIEL AND ILANA RAUZMAN BARRY AND HARRIET RAY JORDAN AND SARA REIFER LAWRENCE REIN ELI REINHARD MEL AND KAREN ROM DEBBIE ROSALIMSKY MALKI AND J. PHILIP ROSEN MARC AND ALISSA ROSSMAN EILEEN RUBY ALLEN AND ESTHER SAMSON JUDAH AND BAYLA SAMTER STEPHEN AND JESSICA SAMUEL TAMMI AND BENNETT SCHACHTER GEORGE AND IRINA SCHAEFFER KENNY AND NAOMI SCHIFF JAY AND JEANIE SCHOTTENSTEIN DANIEL AND DEBBIE SCHWARTZ DANIEL AND RENA SCHWARTZ MAURICIO AND JOAN SCHWARZ HESHE AND HARRIET SEIF ANDREW AND STEPHANI SEROTTA DAVID SHABSELS ASHER AND CHERYL SHAFRAN JOSEPH SHAMIE BENJAMIN AND MOR SHAPIRO MOISHE AND DEENA SIEBZENER HELEN AND GERALD SILVER IVAN AND MARILYN SOCLOF JARED AND ALIZA SOLOMON MICHAEL AND FRAN SOSNOWIK JONATHAN AND ANAT STEIN JACK S. AND LANNA STERENFELD TODD AND RAPHAELA STERN TOM STERN MARVIN AND DEBRA STERNBERG DANIEL AND MIRA STOKAR ELLIOT AND LAURIE SUTTON SAM AND NANCY SUTTON MARILYN RABHAN SWEDARSKY AND DR. ROBERT SWEDARSKY JOSHUA AND BETH SYDNEY MORRIS AND RACHEL TABUSH DR. AND MRS. SHIMMY TENNENBAUM ARIEL TOURS TAL TOURS JULIUS AND STEPHANIE TRUMP DANIEL TURKEL DANIEL AND ZAHAVAH URETSKY IRA WALDBAUM FAMILY FOUNDATION STEPHEN AND MIRIAM WALLACH THE JOSEPH LEROY AND ANN C. WARNER FUND BARBARA AND HOWARD WEINER THE WEININGER FOUNDATION INC. ADAM AND JODI WEINSTEIN DR. YOSSI AND ILANA WEINSTEIN ADAM AND AVA WEISSTUCH ELI AND RHONA WILAMOWSKY DANIELLE AND JEFFREY WILD RABBI SHABSAI AND DEBBIE WOLFE JAY AND DEBORAH ZACHTER LEON ZEKARIA ALAN AND LORI ZEKELMAN URI AND EFFIE ZISBLATT

PATRON $5,000 - $9,999 LEON AND SOFIA ACHAR CRAIG AND YAEL ACKERMANN ADM/ROI DR. LISA AIKEN MICHAEL AINGORN ANDREW ALBSTEIN ALLEN AND DEANNA ALEVY MICHAEL AND DEBBIE ALPERT JEREMY AND REBECCA AMSTER YAKIRA AND JEREMY APFEL ARIEL TOURS, INC. CHAYA ARON JACK AND REGINE ASHKENAZIE PROF MICHAEL AND DR DAPHNA ATAR RICHARD AND SHARON AUMAN DAVID AZAR BRYAN BADZIN MARTIN AND MAYANN BAUMRIND SHAEL AND JOAN BELLOWS AVRAHAM YI AND LILLIAN BERGER DR. AND MRS. YITZHAK AND ELLEN BERGER BETZALEL BERKMAN ARI BERKOWITZ BARRY AND ERICA BERKOWITZ BENJAMIN AND ELIZABETH BERMAN YVONNE BERMAN JOEL AND DINA BESS CAROL LASEK AND HOWARD BIENENFELD HADASSAH AND MARVIN BIENENFELD MOSHE BLACKSTEIN YEHUDA AND RONI BLINDER DAVID AND TRUDI BLOOM MICHAEL S. BLOOM BEN AND TAMAR BLUMENTHAL DORIS BLUMKIN AND MARK BLUMKIN Z”L KENNY BODENSTEIN SANDY AND SHOSHANA BODZIN ENID AND HAROLD H. BOXER ENDOWMENT DAVID AND RENEE BRAHA AVRUMI AND SARAH BRAM LEE AND ALIZA BRAVERMAN DAVID AND NANCY BRENT MICHAEL AND ALLISON BROMBERG YISHAI AND BLUMA BRONER YONAH AND SONYA BUDD EDDIE CHABBOTT IRWIN AND ROBERTA CHAFETZ LARRY AND RACHEL CHAFETZ DANIEL AND DEVORAH CHEFITZ ADAM AND ILANA CHILL GOBBIE AND SHAYNA COHN YONI AND TZIVIA COHEN ETHAN AND AMY COREY RICK AND MARCY CORNFELD MEIR AND BATYA COSIOL DAVID AND MARILYN CUTLER DAVID AND INEZ MYERS FOUNDATION MELVIN DAVID DEN LABOR LAW CHARLES AND NAOMI RUTH DEUTSCH SARI AND SHLOMO DRAZIN ROBERT AND SHELLEY DUBIN DR. CARYN BORGER AND MARK DUNEC YOSSI EISENBERGER GARY AND KAREN EISENBERG CHESKY AND TALIA EISENBERGER RINA AND RABBI DOV EMERSON EMT ACTION FUND BINAH AND DANNY ENGLANDER MARC AND PATRICIA EPSTEIN EXIT MOLD & LEAD BERNARD FARBER MELVIN FARBER SETH AND ZAHAVA FARBMAN PAUL AND LORRAINE FEIN STEVEN FEINTUCH DAVID AND JAMIE FEIT DENNIS AND AMY FEIT JOSEPH AND DANA FELDMAN RABBI DAVE AND CHERYL FELSENTHAL ALEX FENIGSTEIN MARTIN AND LEORA FINEBERG ARYEH AND DORIT FISCHER DAVID FISHEL JONATHAN AND KIM FISHMAN JOSEPH AND RACHEL FOX DOVID AND ADINA FRANKEL DR. BEN AND CARA FREEDMAN JEEREMY AND DANA FRENKEL ISAAC FREWA CHAIM FRIEDMAN MARK AND CHERYL FRIEDMAN

NEIL AND ILANA FRIEDMAN AKIVA AND MIMI FRIEND DR. STAN AND MARLA FROHLINGER JOEY GABAY MORDECHAI AND ZIPPORAH GASNER SHAI AND TOVA GERSON DAVID AND RACHEL GERSTLEY RISA AND ZEV GEWURZ ELI AND SHOSHANA GHOORI ROBERT AND LEAH GLADSTEIN STEVEN AND DEBRA GLANZ ARI AND ABIGAIL GLASS LENNY AND ESTELLE GLASS RICK AND YVONNE GOLDBERG MR. AND MRS. ERNIE GOLDBERGER EVAN AND REBECCA GOLDENBERG ZVI GOLDMAN ELISHEVA AND SIMCHA GOLDSTEIN EZRA AND LILY GONTOWNIK DR. SUSAN GRAYSEN AND FAMILY ROBERT AND GLADYS GREENBERG FREDA GREENBAUM ARYEH AND GOLDIE GROSS MERIDIAN CAPITAL GROUP ARIEL AND ALETA GRUNBERG CHERYL HAAS MICHAEL HADDAD STEVEN AND JODI HALPER HC STAFFING AND PAYROLL SOLUTIONS SETH AND ELISHEVA HELLER ANDREW AND TERRI HERENSTEIN CHANI AND DANIEL HERRMANN DOV AND LAURA HERTZ CATHY AND DAVID HOFFMAN NORMA HOLZER DOV AND SARAH HOROWITZ DR. SHALOM AND LORI HUBERFELD DR. DAVID AND BARBARA HURWITZ JON HUREWITZ JAY AND YAEL IDLER MARTINE IRMAN IN HONOR OF DR. WEINSTOCK MOSHE AND DEVORA ISENBERG DANIEL JACOB MOTTY AND HADASSA JACOBOWITZ HARRY AND TERRY JACOBS VLADIMIR JAFFE STANLEY AND PHYLLIS JASPAN ALAN AND LISA JEMAL NAPHTALI JOSEPH JOSHUA AND ELANA KAHANE LEORA KAMINER MICHAE KAPLAN JACOB KARMEL STUART KARON AND DR. JODI WENGER AARON AND JILL KATZ KEVIN KATZ LANCE KATZ PHILIPPE AND ESTHER KATZ SAMUEL KATZ STUART AND CAROL KATZ JORDAN AND NICOLE KAVANA BENJAMIN KELLOGG DANIEL AND IRIT KERSTEIN DOV AND AMY KESSELMAN AVIGDOR KESSLER ARYEH AND ARIELLE KIEFFER JEFFREY AND LAURIE KILIMNICK ELLI AND ASHLET KLAPPER JOSHUA AND HENNA KLARFELD RICHARD AND SUSAN KOFKOFF ALLEN KOSS HARRY KOTLER DAVID AND DEBORAH KRAMER RACHEL KRAUT MARCEL AND ESTHER KREMER STEVEN AND DANIELLE KUPFERMAN JACOB AND EDYTHE KUPIETZKY OPHIR AND SHARRON JOAN LAIZEROVICH BENZION LASKER ARMAND AND ESTHER LASKY ADAM AND DANIA LAUER PINCHUS AND DEBORAH SCHICK LAUFER ARYEH AND ELANA LEBOWITZ IN MEMORY OF JUDY LEFKOVITS JOSHUA AND ERICA LEGUM MARK AND ETA LEVENSON ADAM LEWIS GAYLE LEWIS JASON AND MIRIAM LIEBER JEFF AND MERIE LIEBESMAN HYLTON AND LEAH LIGHTMAN SAM AND RITA LIPSHITZ MORDECHAI AND PENINA LIPTON MAURY AND ELINOR LITWACK MICHAEL AND LESLIE LITWACK

CHAIM AND BARA LOEWENTHAL EDWARD LOWY JEREMY AND TAMAR LUSTMAN AVI AND TOVA LUTZ TERRY AND HOLLY MAGADY LAWRENCE AND MILAGRO MAGID NOAH AND ARINN MAKOVSKY ADRIA AND JEFFREY MANDEL DAVID MANDEL JOSEPH AND MERYL MARK SHARI AND YAAKOV MARKOVITZ AARON AND LISA MARTIN SHMUEL AND TALIA MASHIACH MOISES MEICHOR TZACHI AND ELISHEVA MEISEL BENAY AND IRA MEISELS ADAM AND FRANCINE MERMELSTEIN AVRAHAM METTA LEONARD AND BEVERLY MEZEI GEOFFREY AND YARDENA MILLER YALE AND GAIL MILLER YOSEF AND SARAH MILLER MICHAEL AND ARIELLA MILOBSKY STUART AND SARAH MILSTEIN ETAN AND VALERIE MIRWIS AND FAMILY DR. DANIEL AND STEPHANIE MISHKIN MARSHALL AND JEAN MIZRAHI DAVID AND JILL MOGIL HARRY AND ROBIN MORTKOWITZ SHARONA AND IRWIN NACHIMSON MICHAEL AND MICHELLE NACHMANI SHULAMIS NADLER DANIEL AND ANNE NAGEL RABBI YAAKOV AND SARA NAGEL JONATHAN AND MINDY NEISS HARRY AND DORIT NELSON ADAM NESENOFF ZACHARY NEUGUT JAY AND PAULA NOVETSKY TERRY AND GAIL NOVETSKY MICHAEL AND NAOMI NUDELL JONATHAN NUSZEN JONATHAN AND DINA OHEBSHALOM LESLIE AND JOSH OSTRIN AND FAMILY PROF. MARTIN PATT DENA AND SETH PILEVSKY YAKOV AND FRUMIE POLATSEK ISAAC AND BONNIE POLLAK MR. AND MRS. DAVID PORUSH RICHARD AND ORA RABINOVICH DAVID RABINOWITZ MEIR AND SARA RASKAS MICHAEL AND ARIANNE RAUCHMAN GEORGIA RAVITZ REGALS FOUNDATION YARON AND LISA REICH DRS. CRAIG AND JACKIE REISS LONNIE RICHARDSON GAIL AND BINYAMIN RIEDER RALPH AND LEAH RIEDER DR. JAY AND MARJORIE ROBINOW ARNOLD AND FRANCINE ROCHWARGER NATHANIEL AND DEVORA ROGOFF DAVID AND LINDI ROSEN DONNY AND ARIELLE ROSENBERG DAVID ROSENGARTEN DR. HOWARD AND BRENDA ROSENTHAL YITZHOK AND TAMAR ROSENTHAL YECHIEL AND MARGO ROSMAN ELI AND RACHELI ROTH ROBBIE AND HELENE ROTHENBERG HENRY AND GOLDA REENA ROTHMAN JOSHUA AND LISA ROTHSTEIN MICHAEL AND SELINA ROVINSKY RICHARD RUBENSTEIN IDELLE RUDMAN ZVI AND SHARONNE RUDMAN LARRY AND SHELLY RUSSAK MILTON AND SHIRLEY SABIN KENNETH AND MINDY SAIBEL MARVIN AND ROZ SAMUELS SAPPHIRE WEALTH ADVISORY GROUP ROBERT AND ANNETTE SATRAN TOBY MACY SCHAFFER ROBERT AND ANDREA SCHECHTER BRADLEY AND JUDITH SCHER RONNIE AND SANDRA SCHIFF YANIV AND MICHAL SCHILLER STEVEN AND RHONDA SCHOTTENSTEIN PHIL AND FRANCINE SCHWARTZ RACHEL SCHWARTZ SHLOMO AND GITTY SCHWARTZ ARI AND ATARA SEGAL DOVID AND ZISI SEITLER SCOTT AND JAMIE SELIGSOHN ARI AND SHOSHANA SHABAT

RALPH AND SARAH SHAMAH LOUIS SHAMIE HOWARD AND ALISSA SHAMS MICHAEL AND TALI SHAPIRO SHEFA BRACHA FUND TAMAR AND AARON SHEFFEY NEIL SHORE TZVI SIMPSON BARRY AND JOY SKLAR CLOIN AND WENDY LOVELL SMITH IRIS SMITH KERRI AND JEFFREY SNOW FAMILY FOUNDATION BARRY AND JODIE SOBEL GABRIEL AND SARA SOLOMON S. JAN AND MARSHA SPECTOR JONATHAN AND DODI SPIELMAN RUTH BRANDT SPITZER KALMAN AND ALIZA STAIMAN GARY AND NAOMI STEIN ESTATE OF MELVIN AND MIRELE STEINIG RACHELLE AND ZEV STERN AARON AND ARIELLA STRASSMAN DANIEL AND JOYCE STRAUS MOSHAEL AND ZAHAVA STRAUS TED AND LINDA STRUHL ABRAHAM SULTAN JOSH SULTAN MICHAEL SWIECA TAMPA JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS AND FEDERATION JONATHAN AND RACHEL TIGER SAM AND TZIPI TRAMIEL SHLOMO AND RONNI TROODLER SHULI AND MARC TROPP ALAN AND RACHELLE TSAROVSKY ELIANA VIDAN EPHRAIM AND AVIVA VILENSKI DANNY AND TIRTZA VIZEL JONATHAN AND AMY VOGEL AARON MOISHE AND RIVKA WEBER IN MEMORY OF DOVID BEN REB YOSEF WEINBERG A”H AVRUM AND D’VORAH WEINFELD TOVA AND HOWARD WEISER LYLE WEISMAN RICHARD AND DIANE WEINBERG ARYEH AND YAEL WIELGUS JONATHAN AND LISA WINTNER DAVID AND NATALIE WOLF CHARLES WOLOFSKY JONATHAN ZAR CHERYL AND MARC ZEFFREN MARK AND JESSICA ZITTER MORDECHAI AND HENNY ZOLTY DANNY AND DAWN ZOUBER SETH ZWILLENBERG

List is updated regularly. We apologize for any omissions. If you wish to be acknowledged, please contact Jeff Korbman at korbmanj@ou.org.

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BOOKS

MEDICAL HALACHAH ANNUAL, VOLUME 1: THE PANDEMIC AND ITS IMPLICATIONS Edited by Edward Lebovics, MD Mosaica Press, Touro University and New York Medical College Beit Shemesh, 2023 165 pages Reviewed by Daniel Eisenberg, MD

S

ome events are too large to be evaluated while being experienced in real time. Maybe because the way the individual experiences the event is insular.

Perhaps only time and the addition of the experiences of others, combined with greater communal and societal data, can give insight into the true nature and repercussions of the event.

The Coronavirus pandemic, arguably the single most impactful event of the last century, is one of those occurrences. Covid upended both the world at large and the individual lives of people worldwide.

Covid has been approached and dissected from many angles, most of them secular. Medical Halachah Annual, Volume 1: The Pandemic and Its Implications, published by Touro University and New York Medical College, is a concise work that presents a halachic approach to some of the ethical pandemic-related questions dealt with by the secular world. The book is divided into two main sections: “Issues in the Clinic and Hospital” and “Issues in the Community.” With a

Dr. Daniel Eisenberg is a practicing radiologist in Philadelphia and has been writing and lecturing internationally on Jewish medical ethics topics for over thirty years. He is the author of the soon-to-be-published three-volume set: Judaism and Ethics: Exploring the Traditional Jewish Perspective on Contemporary Medical Issues.

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few exceptions, the first section does not discuss the pandemic itself, but rather the fundamental issues it raised and how halachah approaches them.

Each chapter was written by an expert on that particular topic. The book is a mix of many styles, some rigorously mathematical, some explanatory/ procedural, and some descriptive of the social context in which Covid arose and how it was dealt with.

The first chapter, by Rabbi Mayer Twersky, a rosh yeshivah at Yeshiva University, addresses risk assessment in halachah. The chapter includes an esoteric analysis of why a risk of precisely 1 in 1,000 (0.1%) represents a risk to life “and completely supersedes Shabbos,” while a risk of 1 in 1,001 does not—an intellectual exercise in attempting to translate what appears to be a somewhat random cutoff point into a distinct and logical inflection point. After establishing this methodology, he analyzes the theoretical underpinnings of how major posekim have applied these concepts to determining halachic risk and how the concepts of vadai sakanah (a definite risk) and safek sakanah (a questionable risk) are applied to individual risk. He then examines the repercussions of these concepts on communal risk.

The book then presents three chapters explaining how halachic concepts were used to inform the management of several specific pandemic-related medical conditions.

In “The Management of Profound Multi-Organ Failure,” Rabbi Professor Avraham Steinberg, MD, a world expert on Jewish medical ethics, briefly discusses a halachic approach to medical futility by explaining how Jewish law approaches this subject. He first defines several halachic terms, such as gosses (“the dying patient”), chayei sha’ah (“temporary life”), and tereifah (“non-viable”), and then explains the difficulty of applying them to specific medical conditions. Nevertheless, he presents a concise, practical guide to applying these halachic concepts to the realities of modern medicine.

Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz, the author of Dangerous Disease and Dangerous Therapy in Jewish Medical Ethics, brings his expertise to bear in a succinct and carefully organized presentation of the application of Jewish law to allocating scarce resources.

This section is rounded out by a lengthier, more medically technical essay, “Adult ECMO and Mechanical Circulatory Support,” by Dr. Jonah (Yona) Rubin and Rabbi Dr. Jason Wiener, on one of the more esoteric areas of medical therapy used during the pandemic. ECMO is a risky but at times lifesaving treatment for patients who cannot breathe and sometimes cannot maintain adequate blood circulation. Having written an essay on the halachic issues related to ECMO for an international ECMO conference in 2013, I found this subject particularly fascinating. The chapter deals with the ethical and medical difficulties of applying halachah to an area of medical uncertainty that is available to only a small number of patients, has a questionable benefit-to-risk ratio and may place the physician in an untenable ethical position regarding the continuation of the treatment if the patient does not respond and improve.

Most interesting is the section of the

Gifts that En-LIGHT-en

The Light That Unites: A Chanukah Companion

Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider’s engaging illumination of this beloved holiday, accompanied by Aitana Perlmutter’s original artwork, offers a teaching for each candle of Chanukah and a new appreciation for the light of Chanukah’s message.

Torah United: Teachings on the Weekly Parashah from Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and the Chassidic Masters The Wintman Family Edition

This remarkable work by Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider contains three essays on each parashah, presenting the intellectual brilliance of Rav Soloveitchik, the spiritual depths of Rav Kook, and the passionate devotion of the Chassidic Masters, weaving together three diverse strands of thought into a beautiful tapestry.

The Return to Zion: Addresses on Religious Zionism and American Orthodoxy The Karasick Family Edition

Ten addresses delivered between 1939 and 1958 by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik at American Religious Zionist conventions, translated from Yiddish. These stirring and profound words from one of most challenging periods in Jewish history are timeless and powerful messages of the unending drama of Jewish destiny.

Masters of the Word: Traditional Jewish Bible Commentary from the Twelfth through Fourteenth Centuries Volume III

An in-depth exploration of the rich world of Bible commentary, which analyzes the unique method and style of each commentator in historical context. In this volume, Rabbi Yonatan Kolatch discusses the lives and works of Rambam, Radak, Ramban, Rabbenu Bachya, and Ralbag.

Bridging Traditions: Demystifying Differences Between Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews

Order Today OUPress.org Books of Jewish thought and prayer that educate, inspire, enrich and enlighten.

Rabbi Haim Jachter applies his wide-ranging expertise to explicating an encyclopedic array of divergences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic halachic practice. With this work, Jews of all origins can understand their own practices and appreciate those of their brethren.

The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History, and Rabbinic Literature

In this innovative and remarkably erudite volume, Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman examines the unique history and relationship of Judaism and medicine throughout the centuries. In the words of one reviewer, this is “an outstanding work that towers above others in this genre.”

book dealing with decision-making on the part of the patient or potential patient, and the realities of evaluating medical information gleaned from multiple sources. Must one listen to his doctor? Must one follow established medical care? There is a standard of care in medicine that is both legally recognized and generally considered to be the prudent course. But there are always dissenting opinions, sometimes by conventional healthcare providers and sometimes by “alternative” medicine advocates. Does halachah circumscribe the permitted healthcare decisions of a patient based on the obligation to guard one’s health?

One of the book’s lengthiest chapters, “Halacha’s View of the Requirement to Follow the Established Standard of Care,” written by Rabbi Moshe Rotberg, a leading expert on halachot concerning end-of-life and medical emergencies, begins by discussing the level of trust that halachah grants the medical community to determine proper practice, and when doctors should be trusted. The author then explores questions that were hotly debated during the pandemic, such as whether all suggestions and opinions are “created equal” and whether one must follow the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and WHO (World Health Organization) recommendations. He addresses topics such as the layman’s requirement to adhere to medical and safety guidelines; whether the halachic concept of shomer peta’im Hashem (Hashem’s promise to watch over those who live their lives normally, not worrying about the small dangers that lurk in activities of daily living) mitigates the need to follow certain health guidelines; and what the proper course is when medicine and science contradict the Gemara’s statements of reality. He ends with a short description of how great rabbis dealt with cholera pandemics in earlier times.

While the above questions are engaging and the topics interesting, they have been explored before. One chapter, written by Rabbi Baruch Fogel, campus rabbi at Touro Law School, asks a provocative question that is rarely discussed and which I 96

JEWISH ACTION Winter 5784/2023

find fresh and new, despite my having decades of experience learning and teaching Jewish medical halachah and ethics: What is the proper approach to medical uncertainty in halachah? While the previous chapter posits a known standard of care, the

Rabbi Mordechai Willig . . . offers a “memoir” of his role in the Jewish communal pandemic timeline, including the hard choices that motivated the closing of Jewish communal institutions and the real-time process of balancing medical, rabbinic and public opinion. pandemic presented a different reality.

In normal circumstances, once an accurate diagnosis is made, a physician determines which known and proven treatments will work best for a given patient and provides that treatment.

But what if there is no standard of care?

Such was the case at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, as the book correctly states: In the earliest stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, uncertainty reigned.

With the number of infected patients increasing daily and the mortality rate rising, there was a desperate search for effective

therapies. Researchers and physicians suggested experimenting with various approaches in the hope that something—anything—would help stem the upward mortality rate.

Rabbi Fogel then asks several fundamental questions that had been dealt with in halachic medical ethics discussions but had to be applied in the new reality of Covid. For instance, is it appropriate to experiment with a therapy without the benefit of a properly designed trial? He argues: Without a properly designed clinical trial, it is nearly impossible to conclude whether a particular therapy was the true cause of a patient’s recovery. Stated differently, from a halachic standpoint, is it correct to experiment on the limited number of sick patients in the present, or should an experimental treatment only be offered in the context of an established clinical trial that will (potentially) produce conclusive results for the future?

As Rabbi Fogel puts it, “Does my obligation to the patients that are currently in front of me outweigh my obligation to the eventual higher number of patients that will present in the future?” He then deals with the question of when to accept the results of trials that do not show efficacy of the proposed treatment despite some anecdotal reports of success. He ends with a discussion on who, according to halachah, is deemed reliable to offer an opinion in times of medical uncertainty.

As he states, “Not every opinion is equal when it comes to medical decisions.”

As stated above, the second section of the book focuses on communal and social issues. An excellent chapter

by Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky, rosh yeshivah of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington, evaluates “the roles of medical expertise and rabbanim in the pandemic.” The essay lays down the axiom that halachah takes precedence over any other considerations, and then evaluates the appropriate role of scientific and rabbinic input in medical questions. The beauty of the essay is Rabbi Lopiansky’s ability to delineate the various levels of certainty in science and pesak halachah and how each

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From the author of award-winning A Guide to the Complex, in Ethics of Our Fighters, Rabbi Shlomo Brody tells the story of these political dilemmas and moral debates. It draws from the pivotal historical moments of the last one hundred years to weave together the most important writings of contemporary ethicists with the insights of the greatest rabbinic scholars.

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category is given a different weight. He then delves into expert opinion versus outlier opinions, reliability, and the role of both the doctor and posek in medical decision-making.

Rabbi Mordechai Willig a rosh yeshivah and rosh kollel at Yeshiva University, offers a “memoir” of his role in the Jewish communal pandemic timeline, including the hard choices that motivated the closing of Jewish communal institutions and the real-time process of balancing medical, rabbinic and public opinion. I found it fascinating to read about decisions that were made contrary to the better judgment of the rabbis to appease the public and avoid worse outcomes.

A short halachic interlude follows, written by Rabbi Yossi Sprung and medical student Judah Eisenman, entitled “Dishonest Acquisition of Potentially Lifesaving Care,” which discusses issues of obtaining medical care at the expense of others. Rabbi Zvi Ryzman then offers an extensive and stimulating essay on vaccination against Covid, which discusses multiple philosophical, halachic and practical issues that lead to a vigorously presented case for the obligation to vaccinate both adults and children. Some of the most thought-provoking and controversial questions raised involve the vaccination of children: May a child demand to be vaccinated against his parents’ wishes?

May institutions, such as schools and shuls, require children to be vaccinated even over the parents’ objections? May doctors vaccinate children without parental consent or against parental wishes? And lastly, may one parent insist on vaccinating his child if the other parent objects?

The second-to-last chapter is a fitting follow-up to Rabbi Ryzman’s article. Dr. Sarah Becker offers an enlightening essay on vaccine hesitancy in the Orthodox Jewish community, despite the evidence of vaccine safety and nearly universal medical advocacy of vaccination, and efforts to increase vaccination acceptance in segments of the Orthodox community that were reticent to vaccinate. She demonstrates the importance of dealing with the true motivations of those hesitant to vaccinate (particularly their children) and understanding where people are coming from, not where we presume they are coming from. She explains how educating certain segments of the community with material relatable to its members led to increased vaccination rates.

The last chapter, labeled a “Special Jewish Historical Feature,” discusses the horrendous results of the Jews being blamed for the Black Death outbreak that decimated Europe in the fourteenth century. In their chapter “Othering the Jews during the Calamitous Black Death of the 14th century and the COVID-19 Pandemic of the 21st Century,” while mostly laying out the history of terrible persecution of the Jews, Margot Lurie and Dr. Edward C. Halperin discuss the twenty-first-century parallels of “othering” minority groups during the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

Overall, Medical Halachah Annual: The Pandemic and Its Implications is a stimulating mix of academic medical information for physicians and other healthcare workers, along with halachic insights into medical ethics issues and their effect on individuals and communities. The book raises thoughtprovoking questions for healthcare professionals and the people they treat. It will be interesting to see the topics dealt with in what I presume will be volume 2.

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Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation

1. Publication Title: Jewish Action. 2. Publication No. 005-239. 3. Filing Date: September 30, 2023. 4. Issue Frequency: Quarterly and Passover. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: Five. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $16.00. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: Orthodox Union, 40 Rector Street, 4th Floor, NY, NY, 10006.

Contact Person: Anthony Lugo. Telephone: 212.613.8163. 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: Same. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor: Publisher: Orthodox Union, 40 Rector Street, 4th Floor, NY, NY, 10006. Editor: Nechama Carmel, same address; Managing Editor: Maury Litwack, same address. 10. Owner: Orthodox Union, 40 Rector Street, 4th Floor, NY, NY, 10006. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds: None. 12. Tax Status (For completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at nonprofit rates): The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 months. 13. Publication Title: Jewish Action. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: October 2023.

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Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months

No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date

a. Total No. Copies (Net Press Run) b. Paid and/or Requested Circulation

42,500

40,000

(1) Paid/Requested Outside-Country Mail Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541 (2) Paid In-Country Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541 (3) Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution (4) Other Classes Paid Through the USPS c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation [Sum of 15b. (1), (2), (3), and (4)]

40,527

38,349

0

0

0

0

100

100

40,627

38,449

0

0

0 0

0 0

200 200

200 200

40,827

38,649

d. Free Distribution by Mail (1) Outside Country as Stated on Form 3541 (2) In-Country as Stated on Form 3541 (3) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS (4) Free Distribution Outside the Mail e. Total Free Distribution [Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4) f. Total Distribution [Sum of 15c. And 15e.) g. Copies Not Distributed h. Total [Sum of 15f. And g.] i. Percent Paid [15c. divided by 15f. times 100]

100

100

40,927

38,749

99%

99%

16. Electronic Copy Circulation

Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months

No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date

a. Paid Electronic Copies

0

0

b. Total Paid Print Copies (Line 15c) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a)

40,627

38,449

c. Total Print Distribution (Line 15f) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a)

40,827

38,649

d. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c x 100)

99%

99%

I certify that 50% of all my distributed copies (electronic and print) are paid above a nominal price.

17. Publication of Statement of Ownership required. Will be printed in the Winter 2023 issue of this publication. 17. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner: Anthony Lugo, Production Manager. Date: October 1, 2023.

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INSIGHTS and ATTITUDES:

Torah Essays on Fundamental Halachic and Hashkafic Issues

T

here is no doubt that Torahobservant Jews today who strive to lead lives dedicated to the service of the Ribbono Shel Olam face unique struggles and challenges that our ancestors could not have imagined.

There is no historical precedent for the increasing intrusion of technology into our lives and the ease with which negative, foreign attitudes and values infiltrate our homes. Their influence and the damage they can cause must not be underestimated. Yet, on a fundamental level, the tension between contemporary culture and Judaism is not new. Throughout the generations, our gedolim wrestled with this challenge and found ways to address the difficult issues of their day and to present viable Torah approaches to the community.

The pressing nature of this conflict is a recurring theme in many of the shiurim and writings of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l, (the Rav) as he provided guidance in this area to his many students and to the broader community who looked to him for inspiration. The community has been very fortunate that since the time the Rav withdrew from public activity, we have had two great heirs to his legacy, two incredibly strong links in the chain of mesorah, to continue to teach and guide us.

Rabbi Hershel Schachter and Rabbi Mayer Twersky are leading students of the Rav, each in his own way. Rabbi Rabbi Benjamin G. Kelsen, Esq., practices law and is engaged in a variety of Jewish communal and political issues on local and national levels.

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By Rav Hershel Schachter and Rav Mayer Twersky Menucha Publishers New York, 2022 395 pages Reviewed by Rabbi Benjamin G. Kelsen Schachter was a close student of the Rav who rose to the position of rosh yeshivah and rosh kollel at Yeshiva University (YU). He sat at the Rav’s feet in yeshivah for many years and has long served as the leading halachic decisor to hundreds, if not thousands, of rabbis around the world. Rabbi Twersky, the Rav’s grandson, was also his longtime private study partner. Having served as a rosh yeshivah at YU for decades, Rabbi Twersky plays a role as a prominent Torah guide on contemporary issues. He is the amalgam of the Litvish royal house of Brisk and the Chassidic Twersky dynasty, and the

personification of the “Halakhic Man” described by Rabbi Soloveitchik. Both of these gedolim bring compassion, understanding, warmth and laser-like focus to analyze all questions with an uncompromising adherence to halachah and mesorah.

For over twenty years, Rabbi Judah Diament has been publishing weekly divrei Torah by Rabbi Schachter, Rabbi Twersky and a few other leading Torah scholars on his TorahWeb website.

These essays cover timely issues, often ripped from the headlines of communal controversy. A compilation of hundreds of essays written for TorahWeb, Insights and Attitudes: Torah Essays on Fundamental Halachic and Hashkafic Issues is an important addition to modern Torah literature.

Written in a clear and eloquent manner, the essays examine and transmit a Torah perspective on many of the contemporary challenges faced by the Torah community.

Most of the divrei Torah were written in connection to a specific parashah and are organized as such.

The last section of the book, entitled “Torah Guidance,” contains essays written to provide direction regarding pressing contemporary issues with no connection to any specific parashah.

A topical index at the end of the book is helpful to readers who want to find essays on specific topics.

Included in the topics covered

by Rabbi Schachter is the role of innovation in the piskei halachah of batei din, particularly when addressing the application of halachah to modern questions. In recent years, there have been more than a few attempts to introduce new religious

practices and attitudes into the Orthodox community by individuals with apparent proficiency in reading Jewish and rabbinic texts. Frequently, the individuals who promulgate these radical ideas cite many sources in support of their position and seem to make a great deal of sense. But the question remains: Are these ideas within the parameters of the mesorah? Rabbi Schachter offers a careful, analytical and objective analysis of the issues before arriving at a conclusion. Despite his sober analyses, he does not mince words and expresses his opinion candidly. For example, regarding the freeing of agunot by issuing wholesale marriage annulments, Rabbi Schachter explains why it constitutes “making a farce of the Halacha.” Regarding another controversial topic, Rabbi Schachter explains at length why we do not change centuries-old customs, particularly when the underlying reason to do so consists of a rebellion against the mesorah.

Rabbi Schachter offers his views on a range of contemporary halachic issues, including the obligation to pay taxes, the permissibility of calling the police on a Jew who poses a danger to others, and how many days of yom tov a Diaspora Jew must observe when visiting Israel.

Rabbi Twersky, in one essay, discusses the preciousness of time and offers suggestions on how we as a community can implement changes that minimize the wasting of time.

In another essay, Rabbi Twersky notes that the frequently discussed challenges we face, particularly in our religious lives, are not a new phenomenon. Rather they always existed. Sefer Devarim, in particular, offers guidance on how to respond to spiritual setbacks.

Ramban introduces the Book of Devarim by saying that one of Moshe's goals in this sefer is to teach the Jewish people that Hashem’s mercy and forgiveness are the medicine for spiritual failures. Belief in Hashem and His belief in us instill self-confidence. We can move forward because Hashem has anticipated the possibility of failure and prepared for that moment with Divine mercy and forgiveness. We can do teshuvah, we can improve and succeed because we love Hashem and will persevere even when things appear challenging.

Other timely topics examined in this compendium are confronting materialism, maintaining Jewish pride and proper conduct in the workplace, the role and use of prayer, and seeking hashgachah pratit, Divine Providence, in everyday life.

If there is a flaw with this work, it is that it is too short. Those who consider themselves talmidim of Rabbi Schachter and Rabbi Twersky will thirst for more.

Additionally, some of the topics discussed require more elaboration to be fully understood and appreciated.

However, this presentation by two of our most gifted teachers provides a wonderful overview of very timely and important issues that affect us communally and personally.

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www.oukosher.org Winter 5784/2023 JEWISH ACTION

101

Reviews in Brief

By Rabbi Gil Student YEDIAS HATORAH STEP

BY STEP: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO RETAINING YOUR LEARNING

By Rabbi Dovid Schoonmaker Shapell’s/Feldheim Publishers New York, 2022 109 pages

S

ome people are blessed with exceptional memories. The rest of us struggle to remember what we ate for breakfast, much less what we learned six months ago. However, to some degree, memory is like a muscle that can be strengthened through training and regular exercise. In this short but powerful book, Rabbi Dovid Schoonmaker, rosh yeshivah of Darche Noam (Shapell’s) in Jerusalem, offers clear and specific advice on how to improve your ability to remember the Torah you learn. While the book revolves around the study of Gemara, it can be applied to any area of Torah.

Rabbi Schoonmaker’s technique involves four steps, which I am somewhat adapting for purposes of this review. First, learn with clarity so you understand the material you want to remember. Then, write summaries of the material. Third,

Rabbi Gil Student writes frequently on Jewish issues and runs Torahmusings.com. He is a member of the Jewish Action Editorial Board.

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create simanim—acronyms or other clever wordplays to link concepts. And finally, review your summaries and simanim on a regular basis.

Zichru, for example, is a program that follows this method through the Daf Yomi cycle. On every daf of Gemara, Zichru provides a summary of three points to remember. Then it presents a story and a picture connecting the four pieces of information you want to remember (the daf number and the three points).

Participants in the program review the pictures and stories many times across weeks and months, thereby accumulating a memory of hundreds of pages of Gemara.

In this important book, Rabbi Schoonmaker teaches readers how to adapt this technique to their own personal schedules and selected Torah texts. Along the way, he offers additional important advice, such as choosing to learn the areas you naturally remember best, and teaching something to help you remember it better. Most importantly, unless you have an exceptional memory, you must

It is rare to find a new phenomenon about which halachah has nothing to say.

learn with intentionality. If you take the basic steps in the book to consider how you can improve your memory, and you follow through and continue to review the material, you can vastly expand your Torah knowledge.

THE HALACHIC HAIRCUTTING HANDBOOK: A BREAKTHROUGH EXPOSURE OF AN OBSCURE MITZVAH (Second Edition)

By Rabbi Chaim and Binyamin Jachter Kol Torah, 2023 107 pages

O

ver the past few years, a plethora of books and articles—most of them sent to my house without my permission by an enthusiastic opponent of shaving—have been published that argue that halachah forbids men from shaving their beards. Kabbalah in general, and Chassidic thought in particular, emphasize the spiritual importance of a man’s beard. For this mystical reason, many men never trim their facial hair at all. However, the current argument claims that it is forbidden to shave for halachic, not mystical, reasons.

This is puzzling to many because common practice in the yeshivah community for at least a century is that beards are for married men.

The yeshivah in Slabodka required single men to remove their facial hair unless they came from Chassidic families. Even after the advent of

After showing their evidence to a number of leading rabbis and posekim, the unanimous conclusion is that these electric shavers are permissible. the electric shaver, this common practice continued for decades. Most yeshivot now allow for more personal autonomy on such issues, but the clean shaven look is still standard.

The current would-be debate revolves around the permissibility of electric shavers. In a short but powerful book, Rabbi Chaim and Binyamin Jachter review the debate among posekim whether use of an electric shaver constitutes a violation of the prohibition to shave with a razor (Vayikra 19:27). One aspect of the debate is whether the Talmud allows shaving with scissors. Another aspect is which, if any, electric shavers operate like scissors. Those who permit shaving with scissors would allow an electric shaver that functions in a scissor-like manner. In a surprising breakthrough, Rabbi Jachter and Binyamin Jachter spoke with engineers and examined videos of shaver tests to clarify exactly how they function.

Their unequivocal conclusion is that facial skin does not provide enough resistance for an electric shaver to cut against. Rather, all electric shavers function like scissors.

After showing their evidence to a number of leading rabbis and posekim, the unanimous conclusion is that these electric shavers are permissible.

The authors conclude that almost all electric shavers are permissible and add that while they use the word “almost,” they are not aware of any electric shaver that is forbidden. This does not mean that men must shave their beards or that there is no room

to choose to be strict regarding the opinion that shaving with a scissor is forbidden. However, the authors emphatically demonstrate that there is ample room to permit using any electric shaver currently on the market.

DNA IN HALAKHAH

By Rabbi J. David Bleich Ktav Publishing New York, 2021 296 pages

I

t is rare to find a new phenomenon about which halachah has nothing to say.

Some would say that no such phenomenon exists. However, it requires great skill and creativity to find the right halachic category from the agrarian lives of the Talmudic rabbis and apply it to new inventions. As technology develops in leaps and bounds, scholars put forth initial, tentative analyses based on classical sources that are then subject to debate. Often, the dust eventually settles, and a consensus arises that serves as a baseline approach for future generations. This happened with the printing press and continued throughout the generations. The rapidly developing technology of our times is no different.

For over half a century, in his plentiful articles and books, Rabbi J. David Bleich has been at the forefront of reviewing and critiquing the initial scholarly attempts to halachically evaluate new inventions and phenomena. With legendary erudition, Rabbi Bleich breaks down new questions into component parts and categorizes the different approaches found in contemporary halachic literature. Along the way, he critiques the different views and offers support where he believes appropriate. His important book, DNA in Halakhah, follows that familiar approach.

DNA testing seems like a scientifically decisive proof, and therefore, it should presumably be embraced by religious decisors and courts. In many ways, DNA should be treated like fingerprint and bloodtype evidence. However, as Rabbi Bleich shows through his survey of the science and methodology of DNA testing, it really only constitutes circumstantial evidence of a high probability. There likely is no one with the same DNA as you, but that is not definite, because biological anomalies occur, even if only rarely. That is aside from potential laboratory errors. Is a DNA match a rov (majority), an umdena (presumption), an anan sahadei (testimony) or something else? What happens when you have evidence or presumptions pointing in the other direction?

These are among the most difficult topics in halachah. The complexity of each concept multiplies dizzyingly, as different analyses are offered in the halachic literature throughout the ages.

Rabbi Bleich takes readers through the discussions in classical literature, as well as the decisions of contemporary decisors and religious courts, as he explores the evidentiary power of DNA in cases relating to paternity, agunot, mamzerut, kohen genes and much more. With his characteristic clarity and organization, Rabbi Bleich offers readers a window into the cutting edge of halachic decisionmaking.

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LASTING IMPRESSIONS

Poland Is the Past

By David Olivestone

S

oon after Ceil and I were married, we spent a few days with her parents in their home in Monsey, New York. I was then the editor of the late, lamented Hebrew Publishing Company, and I had brought a manuscript with me to work on.

Looking over my shoulder, my fatherin-law, Josef Weinberg, a”h, asked what the book was about and I explained that it was an anthology of eyewitness accounts of the Shoah. My father-in-law, a survivor of Auschwitz with a number on his arm, sat down and asked me to show him some of it. With Ceil hovering nearby, he then started telling me about some of his own horrific experiences as a teenage slave laborer, stories which, in common with most survivors, he had never related to his own children.

Years later, our eldest son Naftali signed up to take part in the annual March of the Living, in which Jewish students, adults and survivors from all over the world walk defiantly from Auschwitz to Birkenau. When my father-in-law heard this, he was incensed. “No Jew should step foot in that accursed Poland,” he insisted, “and certainly not spend even one cent there.” Yet when Naftali returned home and told his grandfather how much he had learned about the Shoah, and how the experience had touched the souls even of those teens who previously had little Jewish content in their lives, he was somewhat mollified.

My own father also came from a family that lived in Poland for many centuries, although thankfully he and my grandparents left there before the First World War. After extensive genealogical research into the lineage of David Olivestone and his wife Ceil made aliyah to Jerusalem in 2013.

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the Oliwensteins—which was the family name my father was born with—we produced a 750-page book tracing our ancestry, with over 1,000 profiles of Oliwensteins through the generations to the present day.

The subject of one of those profiles became the focus of a remarkable chesed shel emet project, led by my brother Cedric.

Rabbi Benzion Oliwenstein, our great-great uncle, was born around 1830, likely in Warsaw. He was a teacher of Talmud who in 1892 moved to the city of Czestochowa (Yiddish: Tchenstochov) in southern Poland, to serve as a dayan.

As we learned more about him and became more involved with his story, we began to refer to him fondly as Uncle Ben. His wife and children had all passed away before his move to Czestochowa and so, when he himself died in 1908, he was the only family member to be buried in the Jewish cemetery there. On a trip to Poland, my brother visited his kever and was considerably bothered by the fact that, while the rest of our Polish ancestors were buried in Warsaw’s welltended Okopowa cemetery, Uncle Ben was all alone in that forlorn, neglected cemetery in Czestochowa.

With the encouragement of his rav, Cedric started on what proved to be a seven-year saga of bureaucratic twists and turns involving a seemingly unending stream of documents, forms, affidavits, permits and powers of attorney, in order to be able to exhume Uncle Ben’s remains and to bring them to Jerusalem for reburial.

Along the way, he ran into many frustrating roadblocks, such as when the local authorities in Czestochowa would not grant permission to open the grave without the approval of the owner of the cemetery, which in theory was the local Jewish community. But it was no secret that the Jewish community in

Czestochowa had ceased to exist many years previously. The leaders of the nearby Katowice community refused to give their approval as that might mean acknowledging responsibility for the upkeep of the cemetery, which they made abundantly clear they would not do.

Eventually, the local authorities agreed to grant permission. But the Israel consulate in Warsaw still had to issue an import permit for the remains to be brought into Israel. The clerk at the consulate, whom Cedric described as having no personality and no sense of humor, quizzed him on the specific circumstances of Uncle Ben’s death, despite it having happened over a century previously. He asked for the name of the doctor who signed the death certificate and the cause of death. Cedric suggested that perhaps he was called Dr. Cohen and decided that Uncle Ben had died of a heart attack, which seemed to be satisfactory answers.

Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Shudrich, arranged for members of the Warsaw chevra kadisha to be present at the exhumation. Although we were told that it was extremely unlikely that anything would be found in a grave that was more than a century old, very nearly 100 percent of Uncle Ben’s skeleton was retrieved.

Two days later—110 years after Uncle Ben had been buried in Poland—his remains were reverently covered with the soil of Jerusalem on Har HaMenuchot, in the presence of a group of family and friends.

For us, Poland is the past; Jerusalem is both the present and the future.

Despite the barbaric October 7 attacks that so heinously echoed the horrors my father-in-law witnessed at the hands of the Nazis, and the painful war which inevitably followed, we have no doubt as to where Uncle Ben would prefer to be.

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