Five Towns Jewish Home 4.3.23

Dear Readers,

Did you ever look through albums of your younger years with your kids? They love looking at the pictures and seeing how people looked years ago. They love hearing the anecdotes and the stories of what was taking place. And even more than that, kids can hear – again and again and again – the same stories of your youth. “Tell me the one about how you fell off the stage!” or “Tell us about how Savta went to the hospital and then you were born in a snowstorm.” They even remember the details and remind you if you forget one during your most recent retelling.

For children, these stories are a connection to your past. They’re a way to go back into your younger years and “relive” those days with you. They’re a means to get to know their parents and grandparents even better and a way to learn more about where they come from.

When I try to explain why we celebrate Pesach to those who are unaffiliated, it sort of sounds a bit funny. We “relive” the Exodus from Egypt that occurred more than 3,000 years ago and remind ourselves about the bondage and our passage to freedom. It sounds strange to them because they don’t understand Judaism. But if they understood how fundamental the past and our mesorah is to our way of life, they would be able to comprehend why we reexperience Yetzias Mitzrayim and why it’s the highlight of our year.

Our nation was formed and forged in the Kur HaBarzel, the smelting pot of Egypt. We endured unimaginable torture and pain. We were beaten, we were whipped, we submitted to backbreaking labor. Our children were slaugh-

tered and drowned and buried within walls. We worked to only see the fruits of our labor sucked into the ground. And it is from this suffocating environment that we were told of our future freedom and cried out to Hashem and were saved.

And from that birthed a nation.

There is no way to comprehend the enormity and the secret of the Jewish nation that has survived millennia if we do not actively remember and relive the kiln in which we were formed.

When we left Mitzrayim, we walked out with our families – men, women, and children, grandparents and grandchildren, daughters and sons. The Torah makes sure to tell us that all of us left Egypt, helping us to be able to see ourselves leaving with the matzos on our backs.

And from that time on, from the moment we became a nation, we made sure to include our children in everything that we do. We work to share our mesorah with the next generation so that they can be part of the chain of what Yiddishkeit is about. And on Pesach, we are charged with passing down the story of the forming of our nation to our children. It’s our responsibility to teach them about our history, what happened in Mitzrayim, the miracle of our yetzia, and our special relationship with our Creator.

We include details and share stories, and we relive the night together. This way, our children can better understand from where they came so that they, too, can pass along this treasured mesorah to the next generation.

Wishing you a chag kosher v’sameach, Shoshana

Yitzy Halpern,

PUBLISHER publisher@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Yosef Feinerman, MANAGING EDITOR ads@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Shoshana Soroka, EDITOR editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Nate Davis

Editorial Assistant

Nechama Wein

Copy Editor

Rachel Bergida

Shana Brecher

Lani White

Design & Production

Gabe Solomon

Distribution & Logistics

P.O. BOX 266

Lawrence, NY 11559

Phone | 516-734-0858

Fax | 516-734-0857

Classified Deadline: Monday 5:00PM classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com

text 443-929-4003

PAYMENT VIA CREDIT CARD MUST BE SUBMITTED ALONG WITH CLASSIFIED ADS

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

Wednesday, April 5

Candle Lighting: 7:07 pm

Thursday, April 6

Candle Lighting After: 8:07 pm

Friday, April 7

Candle Lighting: 7:09 pm

Shabbos Ends: 8:09 pm

Rabbeinu Tam: 8:39 pm

Pesach Zemanim

Scattered Thunder Storms Showers Showers Partly Cloudy

Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy

Dear Editor, When I was young, we had lady fingers and macaroons, and Pesach was just fine. Now there are fancy shmancy cakes and even fagels (fake bagels). I mean if that’s what you guys need in order to enjoy Yom To, have at it. But what do you need it for? Would it be such a big deal not to eat a bagel for a week? I mean, I enjoy a bagel as much as anyone, but I don’t need one every week! For at least one week a year, I’m good to go with coconut macaroons. The lady fingers, I admit, are a bit of a stretch but that’s what makes Pesach memorable.

Anyways, I hope all your readers have a great Yom Tov, fagels, fizza and all!

Yona Rubin

Dear Editor, Pesach is a time of freedom, and we certainly need Moshiach. Although it’s not our job to interpret current events, what’s going on out there is pretty strange.

In American, a former President is being prosecuted in an absolute political witch-hunt. Before you accuse me of being MAGA blah blah blah, I’m not really a fan of Trump but it’s hard to imagine that after six years of Congressional and independent counsel investigations, Alvin Braggs is the one that finally nailed it. Alvin Braggs is the idiot prosecutor who pretty much announced when he took office that he hates police and that his job would be to defend criminals. And he has done just that – New York City has become a dangerous sewer under his watch. Anyone with a half of a brain would know that it’s not a good idea for a prosecutor

to tell criminals that they have free reign. And this is the idiot that finally is nailing Trump? Not a chance in France! As they say, you can indict a ham sandwich. There will never be a conviction, but as Union boss Ray Donovan once said after being acquitted by a jury, “Now tell me where to go to get my reputation back?!” The point isn’t to convict Trump but to humiliate him and make him look like a criminal. Don’t think for a second that Biden did not give his approval for this. Bragg is an opportunist, and he is not going to anger the party higher-ups by doing something that they wouldn’t want him to do. So Biden approves of this. When the law is used to harass your political adversaries, we are entering a dangerous place.

In Israel, things are no better. For the past 20 years, the left has not been really able to get a foothold, but now they figured out that if they are willing to destroy the country, they can get whatever they want. It’s an incredible thing – Meretz, which is the hard-left self-hating Jew party in Israel – did not even get one seat in the Knesset, but most of the Supreme Court are Meretzniks! Of course, they don’t want judicial reform, which would take away their ultimate control over everything in Israel. So what do they do? They have their goons terrorize the country, leaving no choice but for those with sounder minds to say that we can’t risk the country being torn apart. Ironically, these are the same people who thumb their noses every time the Chareidim have a demonstration.

And Europe is no better, but that we

Continued on page 16

knew for a long time. So as we sit by the Seder, we should think about the state of the world and how we really need Moshiach.

Aryeh Freilech

Dear Editor,

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has changed felonies to misdemeanors and increased crime in NYC. By indicting former President Trump, he has turned a misdemeanor into a felony. Our nation is broken, and the vultures will start to circle around us. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are licking their lips in anticipation of further chaos.

Sincerely,

Wendy Penner Great Neck, NY

Dear Editor,

This week, I read a letter written by one of your readers and had to write in after reading it.

She wrote about seeing a high school girl in a clothing store and how the girl was saying that she was off from school for two weeks and was so bored and was just shopping all day because there was nothing to do at home.

I can’t say I was shocked to read the letter. In fact, when you walk down Cen-

tral Avenue these days, you are bombarded by packs of girls who are either shopping or eating in coffee shops or restaurants. These girls really don’t have anything to do. Their cleaning girls are doing all the cleaning in their homes; their mothers may or may not be cooking, but many of them are heading out of town for Pesach and their only focus is getting the right clothes.

Yes, this is a generalization. There are many families that stay home and many wonderful young girls who help their mothers. But I cannot agree more with the person who wrote in that something has to be changed in the school calendar. No one needs their kids home for two weeks before yom tov. Even if these kids work “so hard” during the school year, they don’t need two weeks off before a 10day yom tov. These kids are out of school for almost a month!

The way I see it, we are giving our kids a very strong message: school is not a priority; shopping is. We are telling them very clearly that they should be spending their time spending money and buying clothes. After all, we live in the Five Towns. Do we expect them, on their very long off time, to just be going to the library all day?

My concern is for the future genera-

tions. As schools are (partly) responsible for our children’s chinuch, are we raising young women whose values are in line with wholesome Yiddishkeit? Or are these young women going to be mothers who shop all day, concerned with making sure that every headband and sock is matching their three-year-old’s t-shirt?

As parents, we can try our hardest to impart the right values, but if schools aren’t helping us with this issue by giving these girls too much time to do “nothing,” then we are fighting a losing battle. And the ones who really end up losing out will, chas v’shalom, be the future generations. Sincerely,

A Reader

Dear Editor,

The only way to help diminish the flames of vitriol and hate is to throw the waters of love and understanding on them.

I applaud the workings of Be A Mensch. By going into communities and showing them that charedim are not pariahs; we are not horrible people; we have emotions, struggles, challenges, joys, hobbies just like them, we can help to bring Jews of all affiliations to come closer.

We are frightened by those we don’t know. But we can love those who we know.

We can all do this work on our own in our own way. If you see someone who may not be affiliated with Yiddishkeit at the grocery or library, say hello. Wish them a good day. Give them a smile. Show them that frum people are nice and warm and loving.

May the work on this wonderful organization help to bring Jews closer together, and may our nation see the good within each other.

Avi Rosenberg

Dear Editor,

This is in response to the reader who laments the amount of time off our high school girls have before Pesach.

I am the mother of a high school girl, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that this time off is a much needed break. Since you don’t yet have a daughter this age you are not privy to the abundant amount of work that these girls are assigned. Every night, there is another major exam to study for and this does not include all other obligations such as chessed, extra-curriculars, and the occasional babysitting job.

The problem is not the school calendar but rather the idea that girls this age need to be constantly occupied. Growing

up, I did not always have to be entertained. If I was bored, I kept it to myself and found something to do. I am fortunate to have daughters who understand this concept and have learned to cherish their downtime. I work locally and have seen the streets of Cedarhurst fill up with teenage girls doing their pre-Yom Tov “shopping,” so I do acknowledge that there is a problem here. But again, this time off is, in fact, necessary and healthy, and it is certainly something the girls can and should look forward to.

A Five Towns Mom of a High School Girl

Dear Editor,

Rabbi Yaakov Harari and Harvard-educated David Sacks each point out an idea that frames what to extrapolate from the Seder.

Sacks, in the name of Rav Shlomo Carlebach, relays that the greatest son at the Seder is the She’eino Yodea Lishol How can that be? It’s because the one who is in such awe of G-d for enabling him to breathe, walk and even succeed and on top of that for miraculously being freed from slavery is unable to talk. The pure miracle of what is, of nature, is breathtaking and strips the ability to try to say anything, as the wonderment is above words.

Rabbi Harari focuses on the stanza, “Mitchila ovdei avodah zara,” emphasizing that in the beginning we were slaves to certain practices, and ultimately in the end, G-d brought us close to Him. This area of the haggadah focuses on the unbelievable hardship that we had to go through in order to rid ourselves of our lackings.

As Chazal say, Mitzrayim was a kur habarzel, a fiery furnace that purified us. Life is about work. Work brings growth and purification. When we work on ourselves to the limit, G-d pulls us close to Him. Understandably, the Rasha asks why we are so infatuated with work. The clear answer is that the one who fails in life is the one who doesn’t put in his full effort.

These two tracks are really the ways to come close to G-d. As Avraham, one must look at nature and see the Creator, whereby the Creator will pull the person even closer. Nature delivers awe, astonishment, and speechlessness.

The second is through working in Torah and on oneself. Burning out one’s impurities with the furnace of Torah and fierce introspection will pave the path to closeness to G-d. And as with the lover of nature, in this case, too, G-d will pull the person closer.

Steven Genack

Finland on the Way to NATO

Indonesia Can’t Host World Cup

Finland crossed the final hurdle in gaining acceptance to NATO on Thursday when Turkey’s parliament ratified Finland’s application to join the Western military alliance.

All 276 lawmakers present voted in favor of Finland’s bid, days after Hungary’s parliament also endorsed Helsinki’s accession.

“This will make the whole NATO family stronger & safer,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter in welcoming Turkey’s action.

Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Finland and Sweden abandoned their decades-long policy of nonalignment and applied to join the alliance.

Full unanimity is required to admit new members into the 30-member alliance. Turkey and Hungary were the last two NATO members to ratify Finland’s accession.

Sweden, though, has been left hanging, as Turkey and Hungary are holding out on giving the Swiss their green light.

Turkey’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient toward groups it deems to be terrorist organizations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.

Hungary’s government contends that some Swedish politicians have made derisive statements about the condition of Hungary’s democracy and played an active role in ensuring that billions in European Union funds were frozen over alleged rule-of-law and democracy violations.

The accession of Finland, which has an 832-mile border with Russia, has geographic and political importance for NATO.

Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights for the Under-20 World Cup only eight weeks before the start of the tournament after crowds protested the right of Israel to participate.

FIFA said Indonesia was removed from staging the 24-team tournament scheduled to start on May 20 “due to the current circumstances” without specifying details.

A total of 24 teams are scheduled to play in the youth tournament across six Indonesian cities from May 20 to June 11. Israel has qualified for the first time. One regional Indonesian leader refused to host matches if Israel took part.

Indonesia, a Muslim majority nation of more than 270 million people, does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel and supports the cause of the Palestinians.

Anti-Israeli sentiment runs high among conservative Muslims in Indonesia, and earlier this month, protesters marched in the capital Jakarta demanding the government ban Israel from playing in the tournament.

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appealed to the public in a televised address on Monday, reiterating Indonesia’s support for the Palestinians but also stressing the country must follow FIFA regulations, according to state news agency Antara.

“Do not link sports issues with political affairs,” he reportedly said.

PSSI president Erick Thohir said he pleaded Indonesia’s case to FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Wednesday, which included showing him a letter from the Indonesian president.

“I have tried my best. We must accept FIFA’s decision to cancel the holding of the event that we are both looking forward to,” Thohir said in the statement. “Because we are members and FIFA considers that the current situation cannot be continued, we must submit.”

Argentina, which did not qualify for the tournament, is reportedly interested in hosting.

The Indonesian soccer federation could be further disciplined by FIFA. A suspension could remove Indonesia from Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The continental qualifiers start in October.

A 69-Hour Work Week?

South Korea is known for its dedicated work effort, with many workers vying to work long hours to get ahead.

Currently, the country allows a maximum of 52 hours of work a week (40 hours plus 12 hours of overtime). Earlier this month, the conservative government

of President Yoon Suk Yeol proposed expanding those hours to 69 hours, or an average of slightly over 9.85 hours a day, seven days a week.

Yoon says the increased hours would give employees the option to work longer if they wish. He also wants to alleviate the employment burdens on the mom-andpop businesses that represent the bottom rung of this top-heavy economy: restaurants, educational “cram” schools, convenience stores, taxi services, and the like.

The 52-hour cap on the workweek was put into place just a few years ago by President Moon Jae-in, whose opposition Democratic Party of Korea still controls the National Assembly.

“The age of growth by squeezing the people is now over,” thundered DPK leader Lee Jae-myung, who favors a 4½-day week.

Labor unions aren’t too happy with Yoon’s proposal. After facing backlash, Yoon asked the Labor Ministry to consider the views of millennials as it weighed how to implement the change.

The plan remains on the table. Labor Ministry officials say they are tweaking the bill with the aim of presenting a final draft on April 12.

Only then will it be ready for the Assembly.

South Korea’s work ethic has made the country what it is today. The Korean War left the nation devastated, but its people worked hard to lift it out of agrarian poverty.

With government and business owners promoting a militaristic, ambitious, work-to-the-limit mindset, South Koreans forged what many consider an economic miracle, now ranked as the 13th largest economy in the world.

Today, it boasts global megabrands such as Samsung and Hyundai, sparkling high-tech infrastructure, and a globally admired popular culture.

Bolsonaro Returns to Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro, the former rightwing president of Brazil, returned home Thursday morning after a three-month self-imposed exile in the United States following his defeat last year in an election that tested the stability of one of the world’s biggest democracies.

He returns to a series of investigations and could face arrest if charged over his role in spreading baseless claims that Brazil’s election system was vulnerable to fraud — despite reviews by independent security experts showing otherwise — and that the left was bent on stealing the vote.

In January, Brazil’s Supreme Court said it would investigate Bolsonaro for inspiring the far-right mob that invaded and ransacked the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices on January 8, underscoring that the former president could soon face legal consequences for an extremist movement he helped build.

Not long after his arrival Thursday, in his first interview with a news outlet back in Brazil, Bolsonaro defended his supporters and echoed a new theory that has gained traction with his allies despite lacking evidence, suggesting that acts of violence during the January riots were not perpetrated by his followers.

“This movement was peaceful on their part,” he told a conservative news channel, Jovem Pan. “Our people didn’t do, in my view, anything against the law.”

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in relation to the January riot and has defended himself in other investigations into his conduct.

The political climate in Brazil has been tense since Bolsonaro’s departure. Bolsonaro has been critical of the current leftist administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula.

Although the chair of Lula’s Workers’ Party, congresswoman Gleisi Hoffman, released a video mocking Bolsonaro’s return — inviting him “to see how the country has improved in his absence” — Lula himself did not immediately comment on it.

During his time in the United States, which he largely spent in Florida, Bolsonaro met with conservative activists and pundits, appearing at various events from the Conservative Political Action Conference to the opening of a burger restaurant.

At the airport in Brasília on Thursday morning, dozens of supporters gathered to greet Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro’s motorcade then took him to his Liberal Party headquarters, where he met with high-ranking right-wing politicians.

He received a warm welcome there from his colleagues and former Cabinet ministers, who chanted, “The captain is back.” (© The New York Times)

Taiwan’s President Visits the U.S.

Tsai’s U.S. transit could lead to a “serious” confrontation in the U.S.-China relationship and have a “severe impact” on their ties, China’s charge d’affaires Xu Xueyuan told reporters in Washington.

“What the U.S. has done seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xu said, adding that the U.S. should bear “all consequences.”

When Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ingwen, stepped foot on U.S. soil on Wednesday, Chinese authorities were enraged.

By coming to New York, Tsai said that the relationship between Taiwan and the U.S. “has never been closer.”

Taiwan faced “tremendous challenges,” Tsai acknowledged. “We know that we are stronger when we stand together in solidarity with fellow democracies. Taiwan cannot be isolated and we do not take friendship for granted.”

Her visit comes at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China and has sparked sharp condemnation from Beijing – which claims democratic Taiwan as its territory, despite never having controlled it.

Beijing launched extensive, days-long military exercises around the island last August, following a visit from then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei. Pelosi was the highest ranked American official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and the trip sparked accusations from Beijing that the U.S. was changing the nature of its relationship with Taiwan – a claim U.S. officials have repeatedly refuted.

The U.S. is bound by law to sell arms to Taiwan for its self-defense, though it ended its formal diplomatic relationship with Taipei in 1979 when it recognized the government in Beijing.

Because of the unofficial relationship the U.S. has with Taiwan, Tsai’s transit is not characterized as an official visit in order to keep the U.S. within the longstanding “One China” policy.

Under the “One China” policy, the U.S. acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China but has never

officially recognized Beijing’s claim to the island of 23 million.

Tsai had previously transited the U.S. six times while president.

Tsai’s U.S. current trip is part of a broader international trip featuring state visits to two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Guatemala and Belize, before transiting in Los Angeles for her April 7 return to Taiwan. Guatemala and Belize are part of a handful of nations maintaining diplomatic relations with Taipei. That number shrunk to 13 last weekend, when Honduras formally established diplomatic ties with China and severed them with Taiwan.

Beijing does not have diplomatic relations with countries that recognize Taipei.

Pablo Escobar’s Hippos

Colombia said recently that it was making progress on the transfer of 70 hippos to overseas sanctuaries – but it’s not cheap to move the large animals previously owned by drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The cocaine baron brought four of

the African beasts to Colombia in the late 1980s. But after his death in 1993, the socalled “cocaine hippos” were left to roam freely in a hot, marshy area of Antioquia department. Now, there are about 150 of the animals.

life-saving measure.

The hippos are a nuisance. They have no natural predators and consume enormous amounts of grassland and produce significant waste.

Russia Arrests WSJ Reporter

American side to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret.”

The Journal “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” the newspaper said. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”

As the war in Ukraine continues, Russia has implemented numerous crackdowns on opposition activists and journalists.

Authorities said they plan to capture and move nearly half of the hippopotamuses in the coming months, with 10 bound for the Ostok Sanctuary in northern Mexico and 60 destined for a facility in India.

“The whole operation should cost around $3.5 million,” Ernesto Zazueta, owner of the Ostok Sanctuary, said.

He is hoping to lure the animals into pens with bait, so they can be confined while they do the transfer.

The environment ministry declared the hippos an invasive species last year, which opened the door to an eventual cull. The hippo transfer plan is seen as a

Russia’s security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal last week on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War.

Evan Gershkovich, 31, was detained in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city. Russia’s Federal Security Service accused him of trying to obtain classified information.

The FSB alleged that Gershkovich “was acting on instructions from the

Last week, a Russian court convicted a father for social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. His 13-year-old daughter was sent to an orphanage.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Daniloff was released without charge 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s United Nations mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.

Gershkovich, who covers Russia, Ukraine, and other ex-Soviet nations as

a correspondent in the Journal’s Moscow bureau, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage. Prominent lawyers noted that past investigations into espionage cases took a year to 18 months, during which time he may have little contact with the outside world.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It is not about a suspicion – it is about the fact that he was caught red-handed.”

Gershkovich’s last report from Moscow, published a few days before his arrest, focused on the Russian economy’s slowdown amid Western sanctions imposed after Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year.

A Talking Plant

and that these sounds contain information — for example about water scarcity or injury. We assume that in nature the sounds emitted by plants are detected by creatures nearby, such as bats, rodents, various insects, and possibly also other plants that can hear the high frequencies and derive relevant information.

“We believe that humans can also utilize this information, given the right tools — such as sensors that tell growers when plants need watering.”

She quipped, “Apparently, an idyllic field of flowers can be a rather noisy place. It’s just that we can’t hear the sounds.”

The research team recorded ultrasonic sounds – above the limit of human hearing – emitted by tomato and tobacco plants that had been deprived of water, suffered a cut to the stem, or been left alone (as a control group).

Prof. Yossi Yovel, head of the School of Neuroscience and a faculty member at the School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, has been recording the sounds of bats, which also operate within this frequency range. He joined Hadany in the study.

Hadany noted, “Unstressed plants emitted less than one sound per hour, on average, while the stressed plants – both dehydrated and injured – emitted dozens of sounds every hour.”

If you think your marror has been talking to you, you may not be wrong.

Scientists in Israel are saying that they have discovered “words” that plants have been “saying” and go so far as to say that different plant species speak different “languages.”

Scientists already know that plants communicate in a variety of ways when they are stressed. They might change physically (by wilting or changing leaf color), become bitter to the taste (to deter herbivores), or emit smells (volatile organic compounds) to tell other members of the family that they are under attack, for example by insects.

According to the study published in the journal Cell, plants “talk” in clicks, which sound a bit like popcorn popping. The sounds are emitted at a volume similar to human speech, but at high frequencies, beyond the hearing range of humans.

Prof. Lilach Hadany, from the university’s School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, who co-led the study, said, “We resolved a very old scientific controversy. We proved that plants do emit sounds!”

She added, “Our findings suggest that the world around us is full of plant sounds

Ehud Barak Wants to Bring Down Gov’t

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak revealed his strategy for a “counter-revolution” to bring down the Netanyahu government, speaking in an address to Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a London-based think tank, on Monday.

Barak, a supporter of the anti-judicial reform protests which have roiled Israel and led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call for a temporary halt to the legislation, said he was sure his side would win “because I know our people, and we have even empirical evidence for this.”

He referred to the U.S. research of Professor Erica Chenoweth and political

scientist Maria J. Stephan, who co-authored a 2012 book, “Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict.”

Barak said the two researchers looked at hundreds of civil protests from 1900 to 2006, and “they found a common denominator”—protests that succeeded included 3.5% of the population, or roughly 8% of the adult population, and “tenaciously and persistently” kept up the protests, boycotts, and civil disobedience.

“At the end, the government either falls or capitulates,” Barak said. “We already crossed this number in less than three months, so we are heading in the right direction.”

Barak said Israel’s government is acting “in a blatantly illegitimate manner,” and is trying to make Israel “basically a dictatorship or a non-democratic kind of entity.” (JNS)

Ramming Incident

in the West Bank near Beit Umar. The terrorist who perpetrated the attack was shot and killed at the scene.

One of the soldiers was in serious condition and had to be transported to Shaare Zedek for surgery.

The terrorist, Mohammed Baradeya, 23, was from Kfar Zurif and was an officer in the Palestinian Authority’s security.

“Terror Attack” in Old City

On Saturday evening, three IDF soldiers were injured in a ramming attack

On Shabbos, police officers said that a 26-year-old man grabbed the gun from a police officer and fired it twice before he was shot dead in the Old City. Police are calling it a “terror attack.”

Mohammed Elasibi was a resident of the Bedouin town of Hura in southern Israel.

There seems to be no footage of the incident.

“I was checking the suspect, I asked him where he was from and asked him to leave as the area was closed at that time,” an officer identified only as “Mem,” the first initial of his name, said. “He argued with me, and I took him toward the exit. At a certain point, the attacker turned to me, grabbed my gun and managed to fire a few bullets toward [Border Police] officers. I managed to take control of him within seconds, to get the weapon out of his hands, and I neutralized him along with the second policeman with me.”

His partner “Yud” recounted, “I felt our lives were in real danger. If I hadn’t tackled him, shot him and neutralized him, he would have shot me, my partner and the Border Police cops.”

A Border Police officer, “Lamed,” backed up their testimony, saying the suspect “aimed the gun at my head” and that she hid behind a cement pillar as he fired.

Elasibi’s family had earlier called for the release of video footage of the shooting near the Chain Gate, an entrance to the Temple Mount holy site.

“We know that every meter in the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem is recorded and the police are supposed to be equipped with cameras,” Fahad Elasibi

told Haaretz, questioning why the footage has not been released.

The head of the Ra’am party Mansour Abbas also demanded the immediate release of the footage: “I don’t believe the police version that there is no documentation from the security cameras. There is an attempt to cover up and hide the truth.”

Robert Kraft Hopes to Combat Antisemitism

Jewish Hate” campaign to combat antisemitism.

The 81-year-old owner of the New England Patriots hopes to raise awareness nationwide about soaring incidents of antisemitism online and in person. The campaign will feature emotive ads to be introduced by stars of top television shows.

Kraft was wearing a small, blue square pin on the lapel of his jacket when he announced the program.

“This little blue square represents the Jewish population in the United States –2.4 percent,” said Kraft, who was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, in an observant Orthodox Jewish family. “But we’re the victims of 55% of the hate crimes in this country.”

The ads are intended to evoke emotions in non-Jewish Americans, said Matthew Berger, the foundation’s executive director. One of the ads, set to premiere Monday, shows a non-Jewish neighbor painting over a garage door vandalized with the Nazi swastika and the words “No Jews,” concluding with the message: “Hate only wins if you let it.”

choir tag him with their version of his worship song. He sings along with the choir as these words pop up on screen: “Voices of support are louder than words of hate.”

Just last week, the Anti-Defamation League released a report that showed that antisemitic incidents in the United States rose 36% in 2022. The report tracked 3,697 incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault aimed at Jewish people and communities last year. It’s the third time in five years that the annual total has been the highest ever recorded since the group began collecting data in 1979.

The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, based at California State University, San Bernardino, reported last week that Jews were the most targeted of all U.S. religious groups in 2022 in 21 major cities, accounting for 78% of religious hate crimes.

stands on,” Kraft said. “In my lifetime, I have never seen the way things are right now with this hatred against Jews.”

Whale Going Home

On Monday, billionaire Robert Kraft spearheaded a $25 million “Stand Up to

Another ad focuses on online hate: A Jewish teen is shown crestfallen as he is trolled after posting a video of his bar mitzvah. Soon after, he sees a Harlem

In October, Kraft’s foundation aired a 30-second ad during a Patriots-Jets game urging the public to speak out against antisemitism. That ad came after antisemitic comments made by the music mogul formerly known as Kanye West and basketball star Kyrie Irving’s support for an antisemitic film.

“The rise of antisemitism, to me, is the real breakdown of what this society

It’s been five decades but Lolita is now going back home. The 5,000-pound killer whale had been spending her days at Miami Seaquarium, where she used to be the star performer in the shows.

Now 57, Lolita retired last spring, and animal activists have been calling for her release back into the wild.

Officials announced “historic” plans on Thursday to transfer the animal back to “home waters” in the Pacific Northwest.

Although releasing Lolita from captivity will involve a number of hurdles, like re-training the animal to hunt and physically moving her across the country,

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that completing the transfer largely depends on the health of the aging whale.

“To all of you who care, we want to thank you for your care and concern of Loki,” Cava said. “The most important thing is Toki’s long-term wellbeing, and together, guided by the experts, we will continue to do what’s best for her.”

The proposed plan will likely be expensive – between $15 to $20 million –and could take up to two years. It involves creating a sequestered area, with netting, in the ocean off the coast of Washington and moving Lolita there along with two dolphins that currently live with the orca in captivity. Hired trainers would then be tasked with teaching the whale how to fend for herself. She doesn’t know how to catch fish since she’s been in captivity for so long.

“Today, March 30th, for the first time ever, a private company with marine mammals under human care, and a non-profit animal welfare organization, executed a binding agreement with one goal: return the beloved Lolita to her home waters,” the Seaquarium wrote in a separate statement.

Trump Indicted

candidate for President, has never happened before,” he said.

The case brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, is far from a sure bet. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., and federal prosecutors each passed on charging Trump in a stand-alone case related to the hush money. If the case goes to trial, a conviction would almost certainly require a jury to credit the testimony of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who has faced his own legal troubles and pleaded guilty to an array of federal felonies in 2018. Among them was a campaign-finance offense for the payment, as well as charges of lying to a bank and to Congress.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary chairman, tweeted one word after the indictment was made public: “Outrageous.”

In a tweet, Sen. Ted Cruz said, “The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds. The ‘substance’ of this political persecution is utter garbage. This is completely unprecedented and is a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.”

Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, also called the indictment “outrageous.”

“The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents,” he tweeted.

Coffee Moves You

On Thursday, the grand jury voted to indict the 45th President of the United States. Donald Trump was indicted in New York in his alleged role in paying hush money to an acquaintance.

In New York, judges routinely keep charges under wraps until defendants make their initial appearance in court. Trump is likely to surrender and appear for his arraignment on Tuesday, said Susan Necheles, one of his lawyers.

Necheles and fellow Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said, “He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in Court.”

Trump said that Democrats had “done the unthinkable: indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference.”

“Weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican

If you enjoy a cup or two of java, you know that coffee may help to get you through the day.

Now, a new study published last week in The New England Journal of Medicine has found that coffee can be a great – and not-so-great – beverage for you to consume.

“The big picture finding is that there isn’t just one single health-related consequence of consuming coffee, but that the reality is more complicated than that,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Researchers found that coffee helps

people to move more, but also keeps them from sleeping. Additionally, it may put people at higher risk for one type of heart palpitation.

To get a better idea of coffee’s immediate health effects, the authors recruited 100 healthy adults who were age 39 on average and from the San Francisco area. They equipped the participants with Fitbits to track their steps and sleep, continuous blood glucose monitors, and electrocardiogram devices that tracked their heart rhythms. Each participant was randomly assigned to drink as much coffee as they wanted for two days, then abstain for two days, repeating that cycle over a two-week period.

On the days that people were allowed to drink their coffee, participants got an average of 1,058 more steps than they did on abstention days, the authors found. But those steps came with a price – with participants getting 36 fewer minutes of shut-eye. The more coffee they drank, the more physical activity and the less sleep they got.

Coffee seemed to affect the heart, too. Researchers found no evidence of a significant relationship between coffee consumption and premature atrial contractions, which are “very common, early heartbeats that we all experience arising from the top chambers of the heart,” Marcus said. They can feel like a flutter or skipped beat in your chest.

But drinking more than one cup per day resulted in about a 50% higher incidence of premature ventricular contractions, or PVCs, compared with days of no coffee intake.

These heartbeats arise from the lower chambers of the heart, and they can also feel like a skipped beat or heart palpitations.

Despite the findings, it’s important to remember that this study was conducted with a small group of healthy volunteers for just a short time. There’s no real concern about drinking coffee –unless you find your heart racing after sipping your morning cup of joe.

Interestingly, scientists have noted that some people are “slow metabolizers” of coffee. For those people, coffee may make them more anxious and may affect their sleep patterns. Other people metabolize coffee faster and won’t see that their jolt of caffeine has any interference with their sleep.

Disney Evades DeSantis

Over the past two months, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has repeatedly declared victory in his yearlong effort to restrict the autonomy of Disney World, the state’s largest employer. “There’s a new sheriff in town,” he said numerous times, including at a news conference last month on Disney property, hours before appointing a new, hand-picked oversight board.

Nobody seemed to have paid attention, however, to an important detail: Disney had been simultaneously maneuvering to restrict the governor’s effort. In early February — at a public meeting held by the previous, Disney-controlled oversight board — the company pushed through a development agreement that would limit the new board’s power for decades to come.

And now, the governor’s appointees, having belatedly discovered the action, are none too pleased. “It completely circumvents the authority of the board to govern,” Brian Aungst Jr., a member of the new council, said last Wednesday at the group’s second meeting. “We’re going to have to deal with it and correct it.”

DeSantis has not weighed in personally, but a spokesperson, Taryn Fenske, said in a statement that the new board had retained multiple legal firms “to conduct audits and investigate Disney’s past behavior.” Fenske added that the administration expected that the “last-ditch effort” by Disney would be found “void as a matter of law.”

Disney disagreed.

“All agreements signed between Disney and the district were appropriate and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine law,” Disney said in a statement.

The upshot: The fight between Disney and Florida Republicans seems far from over.

The sparring started a year ago, when DeSantis asked Florida lawmakers to terminate self-governing privileges that Disney World had held since 1967. The privileges, formally called a special tax district, effectively allow the company to

44 self-govern its 25,000-acre theme park complex as a de facto county, controlling fire protection, policing, road maintenance — and, crucially, development planning.

The move was widely seen as retaliation for Disney’s opposition to a new state education law. Among many things, the law prohibits discussion about gender identity through the third grade in Florida classrooms and limits it for older students. (© The New York Times)

Fiona and Ian are Retiring

Fiona and Ian have been retired as names for Atlantic tropical cyclones following two deadly and destructive storms last year, the World Meteorological Organization has announced. Fiona swept through the Caribbean and then north up to Canada, while Ian hit parts of Cuba before devastating sections of Florida.

The WMO uses a rotating list of alphabetical names for tropical cyclones that get repeated every six years. In the future, Ian’s former spot will be replaced with Idris and Fiona will be replaced with Farrah.

Hurricane Fiona ripped through Puerto Rico in September 2022, killing at least three people and plunging the territory into the dark. It then rampaged through the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos before strengthening to a Category 4 storm and heading for Bermuda.

Black Hawk Helicopter Crash

Nine servicemembers lost their lives last week when two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a training session near the Fort Campbell military base in Kentucky.

The two helicopters were from the 101st Airborne Division, Army officials confirmed.

They were flying in a “multi-ship formation under night vision goggles” when the crash occurred, officials said.

LA Politician was Corrupt

The storm’s path then took it to Canada, where it became the costliest extreme weather event ever in Atlantic Canada, according to WMO. All told, the storm was responsible for 29 deaths.

A few weeks later, in October, Hurricane Ian struck both Cuba and Florida as a Category 4 hurricane. More than 100 people were killed in Florida, making the storm the third-deadliest to hit the U.S. mainland and, according to the WMO, the costliest in Florida’s history.

Officials have confirmed that they have started the process of notifying the victims' families.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said it’s a “tough and tragic day” for Kentucky, Fort Campbell, and the 101st Airborne Division.

He added, “We are blessed to live in the freest country on Planet Earth, but must remember that freedom relies on those willing to serve.”

An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter can reach a maximum speed of 223 miles per hour and can carry between eight to 12 troops.

Former Democratic City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, a longtime Los Angeles politician, was convicted on Thursday on federal corruption charges. Prosecutors said he promised to help steer a multimillion-dollar government contract to the University of Southern California if his son got a scholarship and a teaching job at the college.

He was found guilty of seven felonies, including conspiracy, bribery and fraud.

Ridley-Thomas was a former legislator and county supervisor and had been involved in politics for many decades.

Marilyn Flynn, who was dean of USC’s School of Social Work from 1997 to 2018, pleaded guilty last year to one count of bribery in the case. Prosecutors said that as part of the plot, she concocted

a scheme to funnel $100,000 that RidleyThomas provided from campaign funds through the university to a nonprofit run by his son.

Mark Ridley-Thomas, then a county supervisor, offered to support county contracts for USC’s School of Social Work that could potentially bring the institution millions of dollars in new revenue in return for helping his son, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, according to prosecutors. At the time, the school had a multimil-

lion-dollar budget deficit.

Sebastian Ridley-Thomas was a state assemblyman who resigned the last day of 2017 while facing allegations of inappropriate behavor. The $100,000 went to his organization, known as the Policy, Research & Practice Initiative, prosecutors said.

The son later received a $26,000 graduate scholarship for 2018 and was offered a paid teaching position with a $50,000 salary, even though being a student and a teacher would violate school

policy, authorities said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a longtime friend and political ally, called the verdict a “sad day for Los Angeles.”

were searching for a slower pace of life.

Now, according to new data, that trend is slowing, as big cities lost fewer residents last year with help from more immigrants moving in and fewer people dying.

Big Cities Losing Less People

During the pandemic, hoards of people left the big cities as they wanted to live unencumbered by pandemic rules and

The suburbs of big cities and small and medium-size metropolitan areas continued to claim most of the country’s growth, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of population estimates released on Thursday for the year that ended June 30. Rural areas and small towns collectively remained nearly flat.

The New York metro area, the nation’s most populated, saw its population decline 0.8% in the most recent year’s data. The second- and third-biggest metro areas, Los Angeles and Chicago, saw similar percentage declines.

While suburbs grew collectively, some suburban counties in the biggest areas shrank, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Ten of the country’s 25 largest metropolitan areas lost population during the one-year period. The gainers were all in the South or West, with the exception of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which recorded a small gain after losing residents the year before.

Collectively, the populations of suburban counties and small and midsize cities increased 0.7% during the year. The search for more affordable housing is attracting many to these areas.

New York City’s population has fallen more than 400,000 in the most recent two years, to 8.34 million, even as Manhattan swung from a 99,000 loss the first year of the pandemic to a 17,000 gain in the most recent year available.

Seven of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas are in Florida. The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in central Florida, saw the fastest pace at 7.5% and is now home to almost 145,000 people.

Arkansas Sues Social Media

The state of Arkansas has sued TikTok, its parent ByteDance, and Facebook-parent Meta over claims the companies’ products are harmful to users.

All three lawsuits claim the compa -

nies have violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seek millions in potential fines.

The complaints come amid mounting pressure in Washington on TikTok for its ties to China and as states have grown more aggressive in suing tech companies broadly, particularly on mental health claims. Suits by school districts or county officials in California, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington state have targeted multiple social media platforms over addiction allegations.

The suit against Meta particularly zeroes in on the company’s impact to young users’ mental health, alleging that Meta’s implementation of like buttons, photo tagging, an unending news feed and other features are addictive and “intended to manipulate users’ brains by triggering the release of dopamine.”

The other suits, both naming ByteDance and TikTok as defendants, target TikTok’s alleged shortcomings in content moderation and also reiterate claims about TikTok’s alleged threat to U.S. national security.

The first suit alleges that TikTok has misled users by identifying its app as suitable for teens on app stores because of the “abundant” presence of content showing profanity, substance use, and other inappropriate content. The suit further alleges that TikTok’s Chinese sister app, Douyin, does not make such content available within China.

“TikTok poses known risks to young teens that TikTok’s parent company itself finds inappropriate for Chinese users who are the same age,” the complaint said. “Yet TikTok pushes salacious and other mature content to all young U.S. users age 13 and up.”

In a statement announcing the lawsuits, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the suits reflect a “failed status quo.”

“We have to hold Big Tech companies accountable for pushing addictive platforms on our kids and exposing them to a world of inappropriate, damaging content,” Sanders said. “These actions are a long time coming. We have watched over the past decade as one social media company after another has exploited our kids for profit and escaped government oversight.”

A Terrible Trio

Last week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers that China, Russia, and Iran would be a problem for the U.S. “for

many years to come” as the three are working more closely together.

Services Committee alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Milley noted that Russia and China are “getting closer together.”

“I wouldn’t call it a true full alliance in the real meaning of that word, but we are seeing them moving closer together, and that’s troublesome,” Milley said. “And then … Iran is the third. So those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years to come I think, especially Russia and

China because of their capability.”

The U.S. continues to help fund Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion, which Milley asserts is “in and of itself is a war crime.” Tensions with China rose recently following a suspected Chinese spy balloon’s travel over the continental U.S. It was ultimately shot down by the U.S. military off the eastern coast of the country.

Iran has also been keeping the U.S. busy. A week or so ago, the Unit -

Speaking before the House Armed

ed States launched retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed groups in Syria, after a suspected Iranian drone struck a facility housing U.S. personnel, killing an American contractor and injuring five service members.

There’s also a fear of a nuclear threat from Tehran. Milley warned during a hearing on Tuesday that Iran could “produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks,” and ultimately create a nuclear weapon

within “several months thereafter.”

“The United States military has developed multiple options for our national leadership to consider if or when Iran decides to develop a nuclear weapon,” he said.

But he added on Wednesday that China and Russia specifically have “the means to threaten our interests and our way of life” and mark the first time that the United States is “facing two major nuclear powers.”

The Longest Bus Ride

Indian expedition company thinks that many people will find the thought of spending 56 days on a bus appealing.

We know that that title may sound like the name of a horror movie, but an

Adventures Overland is launching the “world’s longest bus journey,” set to depart in the summer. Thirty lucky passengers will be spending eight weeks together traversing 22 countries – from Istanbul, Turkey, through the Balkans, eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and western Europe, and finally ending up in London.

Along the way, they’ll enjoy a ferry crossing on the Gulf of Finland and a visit to the North Cape (or Nordkapp), the northernmost point in continental Europe, and a cruise along the Norwegian Fjords.

The price? Around $24K, but that includes a daily breakfast and 30 lunches and dinners along with hotel stays.

The bus ride will cover around 12,000 kilometers – much more than the current longest bus ride in the world. That record runs for 6,200 kilometers and connects Peru’s Lima to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Better book fast. The tour is scheduled to leave Istanbul on August 7 and arrive in London on October 1. We’re opting to stay home.

Surf’s Up

If you don’t surf, you have no excuse. That’s because Seiichi Sano is turning 90 this year and he’s still riding the waves. That’s not all that the senior citizen is doing. When he turned 80, he climbed Mt. Fuji, Japan’s highest peak. Looking for another adventure, he turned to surfing.

Sano has a big birthday coming up, and after being recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest male to surf,

he’s ready for other tests.

“Maybe I’ll try bouldering,” he said, suggesting he might do it first in a gym. “Outside it might be a bit dangerous.”

Bungee-jumping is “too scary” for the fearless man.

Still, he loves the waves.

“I think it would be interesting to try to surf until I’m 100,” Sano said. “I think I take better care of myself when I have goals like this. Even now, I take better care of myself than I did before.”

Sano was inspired to take up surfing by an employee at his local bank, who was always tan and didn’t look like a typical banker. His secret, he said, was surfing. So Sano followed up and found a teacher.

“I don’t consider myself an old man,” he shared. “I have never thought of myself as an old person. I always feel that I can still move forward. I can still do it. I can still enjoy it.”

Sano is not looking for perfection when surfing. He’s doing it for fun.

“I can only say that I just enjoy myself and do what I want without stressing out,” he said. “So if you try to be too good at it, or think that you have to do it this way or that way, I think you lose the fun.

“I enjoy being swept up in the wave,” he added. “I am not a good surfer. So I call myself a ‘small-wave surfer’ — out of

respect for those who surf well.”

Sano still runs a business that supplies timber to construction companies, and still works 9-to-5 at the job. Surfing is a stress reliever for the busy man.

“People often say that surfing is life itself,” he said. “If I describe it in one word, I think it really applies to me right now.” Dude!

Boy in the Tent

Woosey was 10 years old when he started his “Boy in the Tent” project in the yard of his home on March 28, 2020. Last Tuesday, on March 28, 2023, exactly three years later, he spent his last night outdoors.

Woosey started the project as a fundraiser for North Devon Hospice, the facility that cared for his neighbor, Rick Abbot, who died of cancer in 2020.

“Before my neighbor died of cancer, he gave me a tent and told me to ‘have an adventure,’” Woosey told Guinness World Records.

Woosey, whose nights in the tent were chronicled on social media, raised more than $860,000 with his project, earning the world record for most money raised by camping (individual).

crazy that it has got so much attention, but I hope it makes people see that children are capable of a lot more than people think.”

We hope he’ll be content when he’s not sleeping in a tent.

A Wig That Wows

Max Woosey’s back must really hurt. The young British boy has been sleeping in a tent in his family’s yard for three years.

But it’s not for naught. The teen raised more than $860,000 for a hospice and wound up breaking a Guinness World Record for his back-breaking efforts.

He also earned fame and notoriety. His social media popularity during the project led to him being allowed to pitch his tent to spend nights in locations including the London Zoo, the garden at No. 10 Downing Street, and the Twickenham Rugby Grounds.

“I have had the best three years of my life. I have met some amazing people and had brilliant experiences. I don’t think I would change anything,” he said. “I only set out to have an adventure and raise £100 [$123.09]. It is

This wig is truly head-turning. An Australian recently broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s widest wig.

Dani Reynolds created the hairy monstrosity out of bike helmet, PVC pipe, pool noodles, cable ties and aluminum rods. The result? A sheitel that measures eight feet and six inches wide. And we won’t ask how much her sheitelmacher charges for a wash and blow.

Around the Community

Mesivta Shaarei Chaim Hachnosas Sefer Torah

Mesivta Shaarei Chaim of Far Rockaway celebrated its first Hachnosas Sefer Torah on a

beautiful Sunday afternoon. The Sefer Torah was dedicated by Mr. and Mrs. Max Perlstein as a zechus refuah shelai-

ma for Mordechai Dovid ben Chaya Sara Mindel and l’zecher nishmas Hagaon Rav Refoel Shmuelevitz, zt”l. The kesivas

osiyos took place in the Moseson home and the procession continued down Caffrey Avenue to Mesivta Shaarei Chaim.

Last week, the alumni of Netzach HaTorah visited the Mesivta as they returned from Eretz Yisrael for Pesach. The talmidim, both current and past, were excited to see each other. Netzach is proud of the growth of the talmidim and excited to welcome them back to their home away from home!

In preparation for Pesach, YOSS talmidim assisted the JCCRP packing food boxes for needy families in the community

Rav Elya Brudny inspired the talmidim of Mesivta Chaim Shlomo’s Yeshiva Darchei Torah with a shmuess on inyanei Pesach

Rav Dovid Frischman’s seventh grade talmidim of Yeshiva Darchei Torah made a special trip to Brooklyn to visit and be inspired by Rav Yisroel Reisman, the rosh yeshiva of Torah Vodaath

Central Goes to Washington

This past week, eight Central students took a trip to Washington, D.C., to learn by doing. The trip, made in conjunction with Yeshiva University’s Political Action Club (YUPAC), served as a primer to lawmaking from the lobbyist’s perspective.

Juniors Samantha Burger, Aviva Kessock, Simona Pitterman, Meira Schuck, Tiferet Tuchman, and Channah Yurovsky, and seniors Leba Fass and Leba Weissman made the journey to the Capitol, accompanied by Central History teacher Mr. Richard Isaacs. Mr. Isaacs spoke to the importance of the trip to Washington: “I think the students learn how to advocate and even lobby for causes that are dear to them,” said Mr. Isaacs. “Specifically, they learn to lobby on behalf of Israel. But they also learn how to lobby members of Congress.”

During an appointment at Capitol Hill, Central students spotted Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.

“We went to different lobbying appointments, talking with different congressmen about supporting Israel,” said Leba Weissman. “It was a great experience. We also spoke with Senator Cruz, which was very cool.”

Additionally, students visited the headquarters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to learn more about AIPAC’s work promoting a strong relationship between the United States and Israel, and particularly about the group’s lobbying efforts with Congress.

The yeladim at HANC ECC made magnificent projects for Pesach including interactive Haggadahs, tie-dye matzah covers and pillowcases, beautiful Seder plates, and inspector hats for when searching for chametz.

Making Pesach Meaningful and Engaging for Small Children

Insights from HAFTR Early Childhood

It’s never too early to start building a love of and connection to Yiddishkeit among children. While Pesach is a favorite holiday among many, it may pose challenges to those with little ones. How can we help them connect to Pesach? How do we keep them engaged in the Seder?

HAFTR’s Early Childhood Director Cyndy Goldberg and Assistant Director Hannah Lippman have some helpful insights and tips. Engagement in the holiday is a partnership between home and school. In HAFTR, students learn all about the holiday in class while participating in fun Pesach activities. This year, Early Childhood students learned about Pesach through creating their own matzah trays, Haggadahs, Afikoman bags, and frogs. They will be learning about the process of making matzah, and they will participate in a model seder with their HAFTR family. Through music and art, in English and in Ivrit, the children know the chag through and through.

Hannah Lippman emphasizes that it’s important that this learning and excitement around the holiday continues to be fostered at home and at the Seder table. Her tip for parents is: “Students have been well prepared in school and they are excited to share what they have learned. Ask them questions, and let them show off their knowledge of Pesach!”

Cyndy Goldberg has some practical tips for running the Seder in an effective way for Early Childhood students. Her top six suggestions:

1) Make some “Matzah Tickets” before Pesach. Use them during the seder to reward your child for saying the Ma Nishtana, behaving at the seder table, and contributing stories to the sed-

er. During Chol Hamoed, you can redeem those tickets for a prize that you and your child choose together.

2) Keep the Karpas Coming. Hungry tummies make for cranky children so give them a little extra serving of the Karpas to hold them up.

3) Don’t Passover the Books. There are so many great titles out there to keep your child busy during the Seder! Some of Cyndy’s favorites are “Who Will Ask the 4 Questions?” and “The Mouse in the Matzah Factory.”

4) Take a few “Plague Breaks.” As you are reciting the Ten Makot, take some movement breaks. Have your child hop around like a frog when it comes to Tzefardea. Run around like the wild beasts when it comes to Arov. Get the wiggles out!

5) Make the search for the Afikoman a team effort. This makes it a fun activity for young children.

6) Highlight the generations. The true purpose of the Seder is to pass down the Pesach story from one generation to the next. But why stop there? Ask the great-grandparents and grandparents seated at your table to share some stories about Seders past.

HAFTR would like to wish everyone a wonderful and meaningful Pesach! Chag kasher v’sameach!

HANC Team Shalva Participates in Jerusalem Marathon

On Wednesday, March 16, a dedicated group of ten HANC High School students traveled to Israel to participate in the Jerusalem Marathon.

Shalva, an organization for special needs children in Israel, has a team in the Jerusalem Marathon, and this year, the amazing group of motivated HANC students, chaperoned by Director of Student Life, Rabbi Daniel Mezei and his wife, Penina, raised over $34K for Shalva.

The team arrived in Israel on Thursday afternoon. After an interesting tour of the Shalva Center, the team headed to the hotel, followed by a meaningful visit to the Kotel. After a good night’s sleep, the students were excited for marathon day and had the opportunity to choose between the half marathon, 5k, or the 10km race.

After a long and exhausting run, the students enjoyed a victory party and then went off to Machane Yehuda for some Erev Shabbat shopping. The students spent a restful and memorable Shabbat in a hotel in Bayit Vegan. One of the highlights of their Shabbat was sharing the hotel space with the Paley family

who were celebrating a shalom zachor for their newly born son just a few short weeks after losing two young children to a terrorist car ramming at a bus stop in Yerushalayim. The HANC students spoke, sang and danced, bringing joy and nechama to a family so in need of consolation.

On Sunday, the students went on a whirlwind tour including; vatikin at the Kotel, jeeping in Midbar Yehuda, and a visit to the kever of Harav Ovadya Yosef. They then went on to the Gush where they viewed a moving multimedia presentation in Gush Etzyon depicting the story of the heroic men and women who gave their lives to protect the communities of the Etzion Bloc. For the last leg of the trip, the HANC team davened at Kever Rachel and had dinner at Mifgash Ha’esh where the students shared divrei Torah and inspirational thoughts about their Israel/Shalva experience.

While the lives of the Shalva children have been enriched by HANCs financial support, HANC’s students have been equally enriched through this meaningful experience.

North Shore Hebrew Academy High School Boys Basketball Team’s Undefeated Season

By Rachel Sales

The North Shore Hebrew Academy High School Boys Basketball team slam dunked their season, winning 14 games and clinching the Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Athletic League for the championship for the first time since 2014. The team was undefeated this season and was seeded third in the country ahead of the Yeshiva University Red Sarachek national tournament last weekend.

A special congratulations to Junior Ben Abizadeh, who was named MVP in the Regional Championship game, and David Orbach, who was season MVP.

Coach Shalom Babayev, who is coaching his first year at NSHAHS, said the secret to the team’s success is carefully preparing for each game, rather than thinking about their undefeated season.

“It’s about looking at the tree, rather than the forest,” he said. “We did our best to prepare for each game individually, and we didn’t get caught up in thinking about our record.”

“Over the past couple of years, we’ve been building a strong core of really talented kids, and this year, everything just clicked,” said Billy Muir, the NSHAHS Athletics Director since 2019. In fact, the JV boys basketball team won the championship last year.

Babayev said that the team had a lot of challenges with injuries early in the season, forcing each of their key players to miss multiple games. But the injuries forced the team to gel together as a unit and rely on each other. A tournament loss

at the HAFTR tournament mid-season was also a wake-up call and allowed the team to learn from their mistakes, Muir said.

“Many times over the season, they got off to an early lead, but then the other team would slowly catch up to them as the game went on,” said Muir. “Sometimes, that kind of pressure can make a team turn against each other, or freeze and get into their heads too much. But one of the things that really set the team apart is that when things became dicey, they really worked together to protect their lead.”

He also credits Babayev with being a great role model for the players, by showing up early to pray with the team before games and building community in various ways.

Champions again

This is the first time NSHAHS has won the boys basketball championship since 2014.

Babayev said the students’ dedication helped them become a championship team both on and off the court.

“I always tell them, we represent three things — the name on front of your jersey, which is NSHAHS, the name on back of your jersey, which is your family, and the kippah on your head, which is for Hashem, who runs everything and makes sure that everything goes according to plan,” Babayev said. “The most important thing for students to keep in mind is that this is greater than their basketball career — it’s about holding ourselves to a higher value.”

Long Island History Day

SHS Honor Society Induction

Last week, Shulamith High School proudly held its annual Honor Society Induction, adding almost 40 new students to the ranks of this illustrious organization. Requirements for acceptance include academic grades, additional chessed hours above the standard quota, peer tutoring responsibilities, consistently positive investment in learning, and participation in a variety of school activities. The students who qualified proudly embody the full range of qualities SHS hopes to impart to its students.

On Sunday, March 26, 2023, forty students from the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach participated in the Long Island History Day competition at Hofstra University. For the past five months, under the guidance of their social studies teacher Ms. Kristen Waterman, the students created documentaries, websites, and museum exhibits on topics related to the national theme, Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas. The students researched topics from as far back in history as World War I and as recent as the 1970s. They competed with public and private school students from all over Long Island. This year, HALB received a special award and has one project advancing to New York State History Day. New York State History Day will take place on Monday April

24, 2023 in Oneonta NY. This years’ winners were:

Advancing to NY State: First Place Junior Group Exhibit: Daniel Ellsberg: Pioneering the First Amendment

Miri Berman, Arielle Katz, Mikaela Kleiman, Sara Ostreicher, Rachel Zimmerman

Special Award: Richard Marks Award for Outstanding Junior Entry on New York History: Building the American Dream: William Levitt & the Suburban Frontier

Moshe Broder, Rafi Croog, Yoni Epstein, Eitan Summers, Jacob Torczyner

Congratulations to the winners and all who participated.

To open the program, Dr. Dora Haar, Honor Society Chair, quoted Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ understanding of why the Torah dedicates so many parshiyos to the construction of the Mishkan, when, in fact, the Mishkan existed for a relatively short period of our national history. He explains that the Torah begins with the creation of the world, Hashem’s home for us, and the second sefer of the Torah, Sefer Shemos, ends with Bnei Yisrael building a home for Hashem. These parallel narratives of creation juxtapose the kodesh and chol with which we need to guide our lives. There is a time and place to construct and create within our world of physicality, but the Mishkan and the mitzvah of Shabbos represent a time and place to refrain from worldly matters and commit ourselves only to holiness. Dr. Haar illustrated the students’ commitment to this idea, through their dedication to their schoolwork and personal accomplishments, while also devoting themselves to chessed, peer tutoring, and myriad forms of personal growth.

Senior Rachel Enayatian was chosen

to speak on behalf of all inductees. She began by graciously acknowledging the parents, teachers, mentors, and fellow students who have encouraged and enabled the inductees to achieve their great accomplishments. She then quoted Shlomo Hamelech’s message in Koheles, who after a lifetime full of achievement and success, emphasized the essentiality of effort above all else. He taught that whatever you set out to accomplish, you must invest in with all your might, for total dedication to your goals is a habit more powerful than the knowledge you learn along the way.

Mrs. Sara Munk, principal, echoed Rachel’s message of going all in for whatever you set out to accomplish. Citing Kobe Bryant’s ability to sense if the height of a basketball hoop was a quarter of an inch off, she drove home the message that only through focus and commitment to a goal can such a level of expertise be achieved.

With great pride, we congratulate our inductees who have in fact shown their drive for excellence, and exemplify the balance of kodesh and chol, personal and communal responsibility, and scholastic and well-rounded achievement that are synonymous with SHS.

Shulamith elementary students are all ready for Pesach

Who Should Represent Us?

by Shmuli Rosenberg

Traveling to Eretz Yisrael always carries with it unique feelings. As put eloquently by the taxi driver who drove me from my hotel to the airport for my return flight to the U.S.A., “You’re not going home. You’re going to America. Eretz Yisrael is home!”

One morning at breakfast, the guest who previously sat at my table thoughtfully left that morning’s copy of Yisrael Hayom. Having never read Israeli news from a genuine printed Israeli newspaper in Israel, and the fact that in America it was still in the middle of the night so I wasn’t getting any emails, I decided to indulge myself and skim through the articles when I came across an article discussing judicial reform. I don’t want to get into the politics of judicial reform, but one thing that jumped out at me is how the reporter employed the opinion of Yahadut Hatefutsot, World Jewry, as a reason to oppose judicial reform.

But what the reporter wrote in no way represented my views and those of most people I know.

Until that point, I would have thought, why should I, a frum Jew living in America, get involved in the views and takes on Israeli politics that on the surface seem like they don’t affect me? I didn’t realize that my opinion is being utilized as one of the main arguments in Israel for points of view that not only do not represent mine but are often the antithesis of Torah.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know the organization Eretz Hakodesh, whose innovative work lies in gaining influence in the Mos-

dos Haleumiim, Israel’s National institutions and agencies, in order to stand up and protect Torah values and to represent the real view of Yahadut Hatefutsot. For those of you who are not yet familiar with them, these institutions carry astronomical budgets and have a huge influence on Israeli society and policies.

I understand that I have not conducted a scientific poll on this, but I would assume that the average American frum Jew likely travels to Israel at least once every few years and has or had multiple children learning in Yeshivos, seminaries, or kollelim and thereby has probably invested a hundred thousand dollars or more in the Israeli economy within three to five years. Many American frum Jews have purchased apartments in Israel. There are many more of us who are invested significantly more than that as well.

We are the ones who fill the flights to Israel. We are the ones who frequent the mekomos hakedoshim. We are the ones who fill the Kosel plaza at a Friday night davening. We are the ones singing in unison on Tisha B’av at the Kosel. We are the ones who come hundreds and thousands strong for Birchas Kohanim. We’re the ones going to Kever Rochel. We’re the ones at Mearas Hamachpela. And we fill Meron on Lag Baomer.

And more importantly, we are the ones who cry, saying countless kapitlach of tehillim upon every Red Alert we see on our phones or the news or an attack, r”l.

We’re the ones invested in the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael and in maintaining a Torah true environment, yet we’re still misrepresented over and over again.

Even today, weeks later, in an Arutz

Sheva article, we are once again being misrepresented. The President & CEO of Jewish Federations of North America claims that “the importance of holding open dialogue ... and in conveying the far-reaching consequences that a dramatic change to the Israeli system of governance will have on the North American Jewish community and in broader society.” This obviously is not a representation of the Torah community. Which North American Jewish community is he referring to? Not one of ours.

In another recent article on Religious News, discussing maintaining the kedushas haKosel, the CEO of the Conservative movement said that “the government has bowed to religious extremists and threats of violence instead of taking up a leadership position on behalf of the entire Jewish people around the world.” Who gave the Conservative movement the right to speak on behalf of the entire Jewish people?

These are just some examples. The same trend has been seen throughout the numerous Israeli governments and press with regard to kashrus, Shabbos, geirus, the grandfather clause in the Law of Return, and many other issues critical to preserving the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael.

How do we want the Kosel to look next time we are in Eretz Yisrael? How would we like those places that we visit and provide us the inspiration that stays with us for months to be like the next time we visit? How do we want our views to be represented?

In 2020, the Reform movement touted that, “in short, the WZO elections in the United States is crucial for the growth

and influence of the Reform Movement in Israel and around the world.” They began their pitch to potential voters by writing, “Want to help Progressive Judaism increase its political clout in Israel?”

We’re smart people. If this means so much to them, doesn’t that tell us something? Do we want them to achieve their goal? Or do we want Torah Judaism to increase its clout, and minimize the growth and influence of the liberal movements?

There is a great risk if we continue to allow ourselves to be misrepresented day after day, issue after issue. This is why this cause was and is so important to Gedolei Yisrael, and this is why it is so important to the liberal movements that our voices aren’t heard.

We cannot complain about being misrepresented unless we do our part to be represented properly. The Israeli public, the Israeli government, and the entire world need to know that we are the Yahadut Hatefutsot who are truly invested and care about Eretz Yisrael and have a voice, and we need to ensure that that voice of Torah, mesorah, and Torah true Yiddishkeit is heard.

How do we do so?

Eretz Hakodesh is already on the case, working on our behalf, ensuring we are properly represented. We need to support them, vote for them, and spread the word. I want Eretz Yisrael to remain Eretz Hakodesh.

Rosenberg is the CEO of fwd/ NYC a boutique marketing, PR, and strategic consulting firm, working with many of today’s leading organizations and corporations.

Shmuli

JSL Championship Recap

Last week, the JSL 2023 Winter season by FM Home Loans concluded with some incredible championship hockey games, including one for the ages!

2nd/3rd: The #6 seeded MoldPro faced off against the #2 seeded JNT in what was possibly the greatest game in JSL history. JNT repeatedly took the lead, but MoldPro kept up the fight and continued to tie it up. With just three minutes left on the clock and JNT leading 3-2, Shmuel Kunstler of MoldPro, who had been exceptional all season, tied the game up! With less than a minute remaining, JNT fired some incredible shots on net, but Tani Polansky heroically stopped them from finding the back of the net, sending the game into overtime. The game eventually went into an epic seven-round shootout, with neither team able to clinch the win until the seventh round, when JNT scored and Shlomo

Greenspan made an incredible save to secure the championship victory for JNT!

4th/5th: Town Appliance, who was undefeated in the regular season, held the lead the entire game. They were leading 6-4 with just over a minute remaining in the game when 925 Sterling scored to cut the deficit to one. But team MVP Benji Somerstien sealed the deal for

Town Appliance by scoring an empty netter with just 58 seconds left on the clock. Zac Grauman was awarded the MVP for his impressive performance as a goalie & Coach Menachem Somerstein received his 2nd JSL Championship Trophy!

In the 6th-8th place game, BayRock Insurance put on an all-around incredible performance, jumping out to an early

3-0 lead and never looking back. They kept the offensive powerhouse JNT team at bay with an exceptional performance from Raphael “The Wall” Klein. Cheskel Salomon, the season’s leading goal scorer, managed to get a goal late in the third period, but it wasn’t enough. Coach Yitzi Kohn took home his third JSL Championship Trophy!

SKA/Lev Chana Makkot Program

SKA ninth graders and Lev Chana pre-schoolers came together for the SKA/Lev Chana Makkot Program, one of the most popular student activities of the year! The SKA auditorium was filled with the happy voices of teens and tots on Monday, March 27, as the two groups sat on the floor in animated discussion.

The SKA freshmen had prepared containers filled with engaging makkot rep -

Did you know?

resentations and an illustrated booklet which they used to explain the Ten Makkot which would be talked about at the Seder. The pre-schoolers listened with eager anticipation as the SKA students explained each plague and the sequence of the Seder, using adorable props to demonstrate.

It was hard to tell which group was more delighted with the program!

Potatoes were the first vegetable to be grown in space.

A view of Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s main beis hamedrash on the last day of the zman

HAFTR High School Robotics Team Takes First Place in CIJE Tournament

HAFTR High School and Middle School robotics teams headed to the Fort Washington Armory on Tuesday, March 28, to compete in a CIJE (Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education) Robotics Tournament. Each team came prepared with a unique robot that they had designed, built, and coded prior to the competition. At the tournament, they used their robots to battle it out with yeshivot from across the country.

HAFTR High School won first place and third place in the competition! The teams’ creativity, innovation, and teamwork in preparation for the event resulted in remarkable success.

HAFTR has worked hard to develop their cutting-edge STEM program across all grade levels and divisions. Students first begin engaging in STEM-related activities in the Early Childhood program and Lower School. By Middle School, students are gaining expertise with coding in multiple languages across multiple platforms and are actively engaged in using their knowledge to solve practical problems. HAFTR students not only learn STEM skills, but they practice applying them to real world situations. For this year’s Middle School STEM summit,

students used their critical thinking, teamwork, coding, and design skills to create their own escape rooms.

The HAFTR High School Robotics Teams’ success in the recent CIJE Tournament is a testament to the effectiveness of HAFTR’s approach to STEM and fostering STEM from such a young age. It is beautiful to see how students’ STEMS skills successfully grow from simple activities in Early Childhood to winning National STEM competitions in High School.

Moshe Bender, a talmid at Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s Beis Medrash Heichal Dovid, presented maggid shiur Rav Pinchos Wachsman with the new sefer “Perashav BaYam,” featuring many years of Shiur Klali delivered by Rav Wachsman on iyanei Pesach. Moshe and a group of fellow talmidim compiled and edited the impressive sefer.

A Community of Reading A “Little Library” in Andrew J. Parise Park

On March 29, the Village of Cedarhurst came together to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Hindi Krinsky and celebrate “Hindi’s Libraries,” the organization created in her memory by her husband, David Karnafogel, and her colleague, Leslie Gang. The event took place in Andrew J. Parise Park, where a new Little Free Library was unveiled in honor of Dr. Krinsky’s dedication to education and literacy.

The beautiful day was a fitting backdrop for the occasion, as family, friends, and elected officials gathered to see the new library and hear about Dr. Krinsky’s passion.

Dr. Krinsky was a beloved HAFTR High School teacher and mother of five who tragically passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 32. She was an inspiring educator and a dedicat-

ed advocate for children’s education and literacy. Her commitment to education and passion for reading and literature inspired the creation of Hindi’s Libraries, which has donated over 400,000 new and gently used children’s books to over 750 recipients worldwide since its founding in 2019.

The library at Andrew J. Parise Park is a poignant tribute to Dr. Krinsky’s legacy, providing a collection of children’s books for the community to enjoy.

“Whether you’re a young reader or young at heart, we invite you to take a book from the library and enjoy reading it in the park or at home,” said David.

Dr. Hindi Krinsky’s legacy lives on through this library, inspiring a love of learning and the joy of reading in children and adults alike.

Shulamith ECC wishes everyone a chag kasher v’sameach

The Gesher students really got into the Pesach spirit by participating in their very own mock Sedarim last week

Kindergarten talmidim of Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s Harriet Keilson Early Childhood Center getting ready for the Pesach Seder

Rabbi Usher Jungreis and his Pre-1A talmidim in Yeshiva Ketana of Queens made a model Seder to prepare for Pesach

Photo by Naftoli Goldgrab

Leslie Gang and Dovid Kanarfogel of Hindi’s Libraries with Cedarhurst Mayor Benjamin Weinstock and Cedarhurst Trustee Israel Wasser

HANC Middle School Wins Middle School Hockey Championship

The Hebrew Academy of Nassau County opened in 1953. Over the last 70 years, the school has undergone tremendous growth and many awesome occasions. One of the major milestones in our history was when we opened a separate Middle School. This occurred for the 2002-03 school year. Before that, the school operated as Junior High School and Senior High School with one set of administrators. One of the things that happened in that first year under the direction of principal Rabbi Peretz Hochbaum was the launching of the HANC Middle School Hockey team. Over the last two decades, the team had a lot of success. In fact, it went to the championship on many occasions, including the last three in a row. Unfortunately, each time the team made it they lost. Often, the loss was in an excruciating manner. Year after year, hard work would not pay off as the team would never be able to achieve their elusive goal (pun intended) of an illustrious championship. That would all change in the 2223 season.

On March 22, HALB played YDE in the other semifinal match. HALB came out on top, and the final two teams were set. It would once again be HANC vs. HALB. The game was set for Monday night, March 27, at 7:30. The location was HAFTR High School. For HANC, they were facing the same opponent, in the same place, that they lost in the last championship.

At the end of two periods of play, the score was tied. In the third period, back and forth action but no goals and the first

overtime the same. Now, it was time for the second overtime. With 8:09 left in the second overtime, there was a faceoff in HANC’s offensive zone. Judah Weitzman took the faceoff and won it over sending it straight to Mo Akerman. Akerman controlled the pass and shot it right into the net.

It had actually happened! The HANC Hurricanes won their first ever Middle School Hockey Championship. HANC was stunned, and the fans rushed the court. There was pandemonium in Lawrence. The HANC crowd was jubilant. Goalie Itai Holtzman was finally able to take a rest after some unbelievable saves. All of the team members deserve recognition., as this win was a perfect example of a true team effort. For Rabbi Harris, it was a flawless celebration 15 years in the making with HANC Hockey, four as a player and 11 as a coach.

A big thank you to Eric Gellman, League Commissioner. A big thank you as well to HAFTR for hosting the championship and livestreaming it.

Congratulations to all of the team members: Avi Hackel, Matis Kahn, Ari Zarzhevsky, Isaac Silbiger, Judah Weitzman, Josh Seewald, Mo Akerman, Simon Steinberg, Itai Holtzman, Noah Ehrenhaus, Harry Ritter, Yedidya Lubner, Jeremy Zeitlin, Leo Maryles, Eliad Holtzman, Jonah Rosman, Noam Koegel, Jacob Schoenfeld, Nate Weissman, Charlie Goldstein, Daniel Wasser, Rafi Calm, Jesse Grysman, Zachary Weitzman, and, of course, Coach Rabbi Mordechai Harris.

Mr Ronnie Adjimi, CEO of Adjimi Apparel Group, spoke at Yeshiva Kol Torah about his experiences and the distancing ourselves of technology

The talmidim at Yeshiva Kol Torah enjoyed a trip to Five Towns mini golf and batting cages before Pesach bein hazmanim

Annie at Central

Pass by the Central cafe at 5:00 PM on a weekday, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll see a dance scene in full swing or the Central choir clustered around the piano, practicing scales. It’s spring musical season, and this year’s feature was the classic musical Annie. The show, staged on Thursday, March 30, was a change of pace from last year’s successful production of Shrek and a welcome challenge for Central’s vibrant arts community. The titular role of Annie was played by senior Shayna Sprung, with senior Perri Sterman as Daddy Warbucks and senior Abby Harris as Miss Hannigan.

The first full dress rehearsal was this past Sunday, March 26, and gave the cast and crew a chance to work as a team to develop the show, helping one another to practice scenes and learn cues.

Sunday also allowed the cast to immerse themselves in their roles — in Abby Harris’s case, stepping into the shoes of beloved villain Miss Hannigan.

“Everyone knows their character,” Abby said. “Any time I’m in a bad mood, I can just be Miss Hannigan. It’s very practical. I just walk in and say, ‘All right, orphans, let’s go!’”

The cast and crew took creative license in a few ways. Initially, Central made the set truly its own, with students from all classes coming together to make big, splashy backgrounds depicting the story’s frenetic New York City setting. To all accounts, the show was better for it, and rousing renditions of “It’s the HardKnock Life” and “Tomorrow” brought the house down.

The cast dedicated this year’s production in loving memory of Adira Koffsky, A”H (‘22), who played a pivotal role in Central’s arts community and in last year’s musical production. With over 200 people in attendance, the show was a smashing success! Thank you to play director, and Central alumna, Rachel Sterman Rosenbaum (‘10)!

At Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s Chinese Auction for the fourth and fifth grade’s Grand Bechina on Sefer Shemos

HANC High School Places 2nd in the CIJE Robotics Competition 2023

QJCC Executive Director to Serve on

Borough President’s Queens General Assembly

Rabbi Mayer Waxman, a 26-year Queens resident serving in his second year as Executive Director of the Queens Jewish Community Council, has been appointed to serve on the Borough President’s General Assembly.

Borough President Donovan Richards Jr.’s Queens General Assembly (QGA) is an intercultural dialogue project promoting greater respect and appreciation of diversity at the borough level. Appointed delegates, alumni, and advisors engage in dialogue to find commonalities and also to address challenging topics. They participate in community action projects with the aim of breaking down silos between groups. By networking with each other, they develop working relationships, build lasting friendships, and stand in solidarity against bias, discrimination, and hate crimes. The Queens GA is the only initiative of its kind operating

out of a Borough President’s office. Its mission is a priority for the most diverse county in the United States.

Borough President Richards launched the 2023 session of the QGA with an installation ceremony on Zoom. He welcomed 24 new Delegates and 15 new Alumni, and he welcomed back longtime Alumni and Advisors. This year has special significance for the QGA, since the initiative is marking its 20th anniversary.

By Rachel Cohen

On March 28, 2023, HANC High School’s four robotics teams traveled to the Big Apple – New York City –to compete in the CIJE Robotics Competition. CIJE, the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education, held the same competition earlier this year among over 50 schools. At the previous event, HANC competed as well and came away as semifinalists.

As HANC began the trek to the city, the excitement and suspense was building. When they arrived, they were led to a table where the four teams could place their robots and make any last-minute changes necessary. While they waited for their assigned matches to begin, they were able to stop by a military recruitment booth and attempt pull-ups for a free army water bottle or bracelet.

As the matches took place, cheers and claps could be heard for the HANC team, as well as some consolation. It was chaotic, no doubt, but it was all a unified voice of support for our students and the team!

After several rounds, one HANC team composed of only sophomores advanced to the playoffs, pitted against TABC High School. By the end of the day, HANC had come away with a second place banner and trophy. This was an amazing placement for HANC given the incredibly difficult competition.

We want to extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the members of that team, as well as the other students in the engineering class for their hard work and dedication. We would also be remiss if we did not offer an especially cheerful thank you to the faculty advisor for the team, Professor Amrit Singh.

Pesach comes alive at Siach Yitzchok

YCQ Students Give Back in Day of Chesed Before Pesach

Yeshiva of Central Queens (YCQ) students had the opportunity to spend the day giving back to the community and doing chesed. With Pesach rapidly approaching, Junior High School students gave their time and effort to help bring joy and connect with others.

Grade 6 students visited local Assisted Living and Nursing Home facilities. The boys bonded with residents at Margret Teitz while the girls traveled to Boulevard ALP. Students spent time conversing and getting to know the residents, who were extremely appreciative of the company.

Rabbi Daniel Rosenfelt, Junior High School rebbe and rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, noted that he was extremely impressed with the students and how quickly they were able to form a meaningful connection with the residents.

One of the residents was an Israeli Air Force veteran from the War of Independence and asked students to sing Hatikvah, and they happily obliged. Students also led Model Sedarim for those

attending, with divrei Torah and familiar Pesach songs.

Meanwhile, Grade 7 girls ventured to Masbia Soup Kitchen to help prepare food for those in need. They peeled vegetables and packed boxes to help those who need food for Pesach and the rest of the year. They truly brought to life the words of the Haggadah with their chesed. As we say during the Seder, “Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichol, kol ditzrich yeitei v’yifsach,” “All those who are hungry, let them enter and eat. All who are in need, let them come celebrate Pesach.”

Grade 7 boys hosted residents of Ohel’s DayHab program for a Model Seder at YCQ. Students introduced each part of the Seder with words of Torah and sang songs. Their efforts helped prepare everyone for the holiday and bring in the Pesach spirit.

Grade 8’s opportunity for chesed also took place at YCQ. Boys and girls each participated in an important and meaningful sensitivity training led by Yachad. The training provided students with

“hands-on experiences that effectively conveyed the challenges that people with special needs face, allowing main-stream participants to better understand their peers with disabilities.”

Students also packaged care packages for local Yachad members to help them celebrate Pesach. They wrote special messages to include in the boxes, and the boys had the special opportunity to cre-

Did you know?

Potatoes are 80% water.

ate the packages alongside students from Yachad’s IVDU school.

CAHAL in BBY Prepares for Pesach YSZ Prepares For Pesach

Morah Fraydie Sauber’s 2nd/3rd grade CAHAL class at Bnos Bais Yaakov is having a great time creating and learning from their Hagaddahs and getting ready for Pesach.

CAHAL is accepting applications for the 2023-24 school year. We provide

small classes with a 4:1 student to teacher ratio for children with various learning challenges. The separate girls and boys classes are housed in the community yeshivas and Bais Yaakovs. For information, visit our website, www.cahal.org or call 516-295-3666.

What has become an annual tradition in Yeshiva Sha’arei Zion, the eighth grade boys and fathers, joined by their rebbeim and hanhalah, baked matzot for Pesach. Under the supervision and guidance of the Hor-

nesteiple Rebbe of Flatbush, our talmidim and fathers not only learned the intricate aspects of matzah baking, but they also were able to bake and take home their own kosher l’Pesach matzot.

Budding Activists

HALB seventh and eighth graders had the unique opportunity to lobby Assemblywoman Stacey Amato from Queens. Their TeachNYS sponsored lobbying day had been canceled due to snow two weeks ago and the Assemblywoman agreed to meet the children over Zoom!

Shaar Lev Prepares for Pesach

Model Seder at Mercaz

This month, Shaar Lev students were busy preparing for Pesach! They created differentiated haggadahs based on their ages and abilities so that every child has a place at the Seder table. Shaar Lev is committed to providing local community children with

learning needs, who attend public school, the opportunity to access a real Yeshiva education. Thank you to our dedicated staff and to ARTrageous! RVC for your help with the beautiful washing bowls the students created!

Mercaz Academy in Plainview hosted three model seders on Wednesday, and students had a wonderful time participating in these practice runs for the upcoming holiday.

Kindergarten and the first, second, and third grades held their model seder together in the cafeteria. This seder featured a giant-sized k’arah (seder plate) in the center of the room! Students enjoyed following the seder with master of ceremonies Morah Chaya Hecht, who kept things moving with her energetic brand of fun. Second graders were prepared with information cards about the steps of the seder to share with the group, and everyone had a wonderful time dipping, asking, and eating. There was even a hunt for the (cardboard) afikomen!

Although Nursery Bet used an ordinary seder plate, they had giant-sized fun with their model seder. Morah Jo Mlotok led them through songs, dipping, Mah Nishtanah (The Four Questions), and delicious egg matzah. They opened their classroom door for Eliyahu HaNavi, too.

Nursery Aleph also held a model sed-

er conducted by Morah Alyssa Silberman. They familiarized themselves with the tastes and textures of the seder by dipping cucumber spears into salt water, sipping grape juice, and taking cautious swipes at the horseradish. This group loved the egg matzah best of all.

In all model seders, due to Mercaz Academy’s nut-free policies, the part of charoset was played by applesauce.

Rabbi Dov Schreier, Rabbinic Coordinater of OU Kashrus, spoke at the YOSS Mechina to the 8th grade talmidim. Rabbi Schreier gave the students a behind-the-scenes understanding of kashrus, signifying the importance of being an educated consumer of kashrus when going food shopping.

Rabbi Moishe Waxman’s CAHAL 3-4 Class at Yeshiva of South Shore celebrated the completion of their own beautifully printed Haggadahs that they will use at their Sedorim on Pesach

CIJE Robotics Competition

45teams from nine schools competed in the Robotics Competition of CIJE (The Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education) held this year at Yeshiva Darchei Torah. Darchei fielded four teams – from

the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades — who performed exceptionally well. After the competition, Rav Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva, addressed the students from Boston and Baltimore.

Lev Chana students are all ready for Pesach. Each class had their own model seder to prepare for the Seder with their families

National Day at YOSS

Did you know that there is a national basketball day, a national oatmeal day, or a national grandparents’ day? Boys in Mrs. Gross’s second grade class at YOSS are National Day experts. Every day, a student gets to introduce the National Day theme. The class has discussions about the theme, which is a prompt for their daily journal. Topics range from favorite sports, popular foods, businesses, animals and more! The students love thinking creatively about what the day’s theme means to them. Mrs. Gross is so proud of the incredible journal entries the boys have written and everyone in the class enjoys hearing their creative stories. The boys come into class excited to know what

the new national day is and can’t wait to write about it.

It may not be National, but every day is a writing day at YOSS!

Record-Setting Pesach Food Distribution By Tov V’Chesed

The massive Pesach distributions by Tov V’Chesed in Israel are no longer news. The efforts of the organization, led by the renowned man of chesed Rabbi Yakov Eliezer Shisha, have become part of the yom tov season. Poor families, and more specifically those who have lost a father, have come to rely on the group’s support in the manner that we rely on our local supermarket to sell us food and Pesach essentials.

And yet it is sometimes important to take a step back to acknowledge what Tov V’Chesed has made routine. More than ten thousand families, totaling close to 100,000 people, will be sitting down to a Seder and enjoy seudos with their family, due to a complex weeks-long operation which ensured that simchas yom tov reaches every corner of the Holy Land!

This year, with global inflation and financial slowdowns impacting families

across the globe, a growing number of recipients desperately reached out in need of assistance.

“Not an hour went by where we didn’t receive heartbreaking calls from families begging to please be added to our lists,” said Rabbi Shisha. “How can you say no to a Yid in such a matzav?” he rhetorically asked.

Dignity Above All

Indeed, they didn’t. After weeks of preparation, the week before Pesach saw a couple of streets blocked off as trailers of food were delivered to Tov V’Chesed headquarters. Hundreds of staff and volunteers worked around the clock to organize all products so that they would soon be ready for shipping all across Israel.

As distribution day arrived, dozens of trucks and vans lined up, ready to be loaded with pallets of food that would be delivered to the doorsteps of the needy.

Tov V’Chesed has long made it its mission to ensure that the dignity of every family is protected, which is why recipients are not asked to pick up their food and drag it through the streets. Every order is dropped off at their door, the way a traditional grocery order would be.

In their delivery, each of the 10,000+ assisted families received between 6-9 food boxes to help bring simchas yom tov to their table with peace of mind. Produce, fish, chicken, matzah, grape juice, pantry essentials and much more quickly filled their homes, enough to serve young and old throughout the season.

Clothed in Style

In recent years, the organization’s Buneinu and Bnoseinu programs for yesomim and yesomos have expanded to provide children with new clothing so that they’re not left behind during the festive seasons.

Orphans in the program were provided with a credit card loaded with funds totaling between 1,000-2,000 shekels to purchase new clothing and shoes in honor of yom tov. Many of these families live in such poverty and shame that the children would otherwise wear torn, ragged clothing, and this support uplifts them in an impactful and long-lasting manner.

“The feedback we receive is tremendous and overwhelming,” Rabbi Shisha shared. “But I always respond with the same thing: the credit isn’t ours, it belongs to the generous members of Acheinu Bnei Yisroel who see and hear the pain of almanos, yesomim and the poor, and step up to ensure that every Yid can have a part in this Zman Cheiruseinu!

To donate, go to www.tovvchesed.com or call 845-517-0656.

Touro’s New York Medical College Celebrates Match Day 2023 with 99% Match

Rate

Last week, the Class of 2023 at Touro University’s New York Medical College (NYMC) School of Medicine gathered on campus with family and friends for the culmination of years of hard work – the annual Match Day celebration. Along with graduating medical students across the nation, NYMC seniors learned where they were matched to medical residency programs and will continue their training for the next several years in their chosen specialties. Conducted annually by the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), the Match uses a computer algorithm to match the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency programs, to fill the available training positions at U.S. teaching hospitals.

Ninety-nine percent of the Class of 2023 successfully matched, and students will go on to train in 25 states at 103 different institutions, including several NYMC major clinical affiliated sites, Westchester Medical Center and NYC

Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan as well as clinical affiliated sites, NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, and Lenox Hill Hospital. NYMC students also matched at academic medical centers across the country, including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland clinic, NYU, John Hopkins, Columbia, Weil Cornell, UCLA, Yale and Beth Israel-Deaconess of the Harvard Medical School.

The top career choices for the Class of 2023 were internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, general surgery, anesthesiology, radiology, obstetrics and gynecology and neurology.

Shomer Shabbos Residency Matches

NYMC partners with its clinical sites in founding and promoting Shomer Shabbos medical residency training slots, which accommodate Shabbos observance while prioritizing patient care.

“New York Medical College and Touro University are proud to offer the largest number and variety of Shomer Shabbos

medical and dental residency training opportunities in the United States. I am always pleased, on Match Day, to see students avail themselves of this option for their training,” said Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and CEO of NYMC.

Four students from NYMC’s Class of 2023 matched to Shomer Shabbos residencies, in internal medicine and pediatrics.

Rachelli Topp is thrilled with her Shomer Shabbos residency position in internal medicine at Westchester Medical Center. Before medical school, Rachelli attended Stern College for Women. She is originally from New York and Los Angeles and is the daughter of Rabbi Kalman and Dr. Jordana Topp. “I really enjoyed medical school and specifically the Jewish experience I had on campus at NYMC. The excellent education was enhanced by Shabbatons, minyanim, shiurim, halachic guidance and kosher food. I was fortunate to never have to work on Shabbos in medical school, and this inspired me to seek out and prioritize a Shomer Shabbos residency.”

Yoel Novograd, a Baltimore native who attended Ner Israel Rabbinical College, is very grateful for his internal medicine residency match in the Shomer

4th year med students Dafna Somogyi and Rachelli Topp who both matched to Shomer Shabbos residencies in Internal Medicine at Westchester Medical Center

Shabbos slot at Temple University. “One of the reasons I chose New York Medical College was because of its affiliation with Touro and the sensitivity to Jewish observance. I never had to worry about missing class over Yomim Tovim. When I applied for my residency, one of the major factors I considered was whether a program was Shomer Shabbos. My ultimate goal is to obtain a cardiology fellowship, and I’m thrilled that I matched to a program that is strong and will help me achieve my career goals, and at the same time, I won’t have to be concerned about working on Shabbos or Yom Tov,” said Novograd.

Cedarhurst Elections

The Village of Cedarhurst is pleased to announce the re-election of Mayor Benjamin Weinstock and Trustees Ari Brown and Israel “Izzy” Wasser. Although they ran unopposed, there were write-in campaigns for the election.

Mayor Benjamin Weinstock, who previously served as a trustee for 21 years, is starting his third term in office as Mayor. He has worked tirelessly serving the Village and its residents and is committed to continuing to do so in the coming years.

Trustee Ari Brown was also re-elected, having served on the Board since 2001. In addition to his role as Trustee, Brown also serves as the Village’s Deputy Mayor. He is also an NYS Assemblyman and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role.

Trustee Israel “Izzy” Wasser, who was first elected to the Board in 2015, has

been re-elected and remains dedicated to serving the residents of Cedarhurst. With his exceptional management skills, Wasser has led efforts to improve the Village’s infrastructure, contributing to a better quality of life for residents.

The Village of Cedarhurst is proud to have Mayor Weinstock and Trustees Brown and Wasser continuing to lead the community for another term. The Mayor and the Board are dedicated to making Cedarhurst an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.

North Shore Hebrew Academy Students Go The Distance for Shalva

by Rachel Sales

Jerusalem’s hills are breathtaking, which eighteen North Shore Hebrew Academy High School students now know better than most after experiencing them during Jerusalem’s annual marathon.

This March, NSHAHS sent their eighth group of runners to Israel as part of a fundraiser for Shalva, an Israeli organization for children with special needs.

“This is an incredible organization, and supporting it presents a wonderful opportunity to come to Israel with the students,” said Debra Gold, NSHAHS’s former Director of Student Life, who has organized the trip for NSHAHS each year. “Shalva touches the hearts of so many.”

More than 1,500 purple-shirted runners from around the world support Shalva in the Jerusalem race each year, turning the streets of the capital into a sea of purple joggers. The day of the race, participants joined Shalva children for an 800-meter community fun run to celebrate the weekend. They then proceeded

to the “start” line of the marathon.

“I always tell the students, this race isn’t about beating a certain time,” said Ms. Gold. “It’s about being a part of something — feeling your endorphins pumping as you round a corner in the Old City, seeing NSHA alumni cheering us on, running the streets of Jerusalem alongside thousands of people who came from all over Israel and the world, and, of course, supporting a fantastic organization.”

Shalva’s marathon weekend extravaganza is one of their major fundraisers. Each runner commits to raising at least $3,400 for the organization, though some NSHA students have raised over $10,000 in the past.

Eight years ago, NSHAHS was among the first schools to bring students on an organized trip to Jerusalem for the race weekend, and now it is a tradition among many of the yeshivot in the New York area. Students fly in on Thursday morning, spend a day getting to know Shalva kids, run their race on Friday morning, enjoy a meaningful Shabbat and melaveh malka with Shalva, and head home on

Sunday night.

“You don’t even have time for jet lag,” said Ms. Gold, who worked at NSHA for eighteen years. Prior to joining the administration team, Ms. Gold was a physical education teacher, and she continues to be a lifelong runner.

NSHAHS’s long-standing commitment to Shalva means they feel like “mishpacha,” or family, said Fran Cohen, the Shalva coordinator for race participants. “This experience reinforces the

importance of empathy, understanding, and inclusiveness towards people with disabilities,” she said.

She praised the “unwavering commitment” of NSHAHS students, alumni, and chaperones who have made a long-term commitment to take part in the race each year.

“The children at Shalva have already started their countdown to March 8th, 2024, when they will once again reunite with Team NSHAHS,” she said.

1000 Amudim of Gemara?

YOSS 6th Grade Reaches Herculean Goal!

Can a class of twenty-four sixth graders review over 1,000 amudim of gemara over six Shabbosim?

Rabbi Gershon Greenberg, sixth grade rebbe at YOSS, wasn’t sure. In fact, he didn’t think that the boys could do it.

But the challenge was born at a Shabbos kiddush, where he met a rebbi from a Sephardic yeshiva. Rabbi Greenberg asked him to share something interesting that he does with his class. The rebbe described the “Torascha B’phinu” program, which incentives young boys to review what they learned many times. He listened and decided to adapt a similar program for his class at YOSS.

They started by learning a “retzufos seder” – non-stop learning. As a class, the boys reached 20 minutes of non-stop chazarah! Rabbi Greenberg was so impressed that he called the menahel, Rabbi Davidowitz, in the middle of the learning to see what was happening. Rabbi David-

owitz, too, was truly impressed!

Now that the boys proved that they could review their Gemara – and enjoy every (non-stop) minute, they moved on to step two – the Shabbos chazarah program. Over Shabbos, every talmid committed to dedicating at least twenty minutes to reviewing several amudim of Gemara. After the first Shabbos, the class reviewed “only” “101” amudim. Rabbi Greenberg was worried. Would they be able to hit 1,000? It didn’t look good.

However, the talmidim came through, and after six Shabbasos the class reviewed a cumulative whopping 1,091 amudim of Gemara! What an accomplishment! The singing and dancing back in yeshiva when they reached beyond their goal was extremely special!

To recognize and give chizuk for their incredible accomplishments, our Rabbi Greenberg took his class to Brooklyn to visit Harav Binyomin Cohen, shlit”a, Rav of Khal Talmidei Hayeshivos in Flatbush

and Rosh Kollel in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. The visit was inspirational and invigorating. He shared with the boys how the true path to Torah growth is only through hard work, and of course – chazarah! He told them that the deeper one delves into Torah, the closer he becomes to Hashem.

He also showed the boys how the number system in the Torah begins with the letter “Aleph” (which equals 1) and

ends with “Eleph” (1,000) which is really the letter “Aleph.” This teaches us that when you reach a goal, you must start again!

Chazarah, chazarah, and more chazarah!

The entire YOSS hanhalah, along with their rebbe, Rabbi Greenberg, are looking forward to reaching even higher goals in the near future!

Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance Endorses

Melinda Katz

On Friday, District Attorney Melinda Katz received the endorsement of The Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance, a local Jewish organization with deep roots in the community. The Alliance and the communities they represent are making their voices heard loud and clear that Melinda Katz is the only choice to keep our Jewish families and all families safe in Queens County.

“It is an honor to receive the endorsement of The Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance, a group I have worked with for many years and consider to be excellent partners in government,” said District Attorney Melinda Katz. “My office has cracked down on acts of antisemitism and has made it clear that antisemitic attacks will not be tolerated in Queens County. And we’ve worked hard to get guns off the streets and prosecute those who terrorize any Queens community. I look forward to building on our immense progress as we keep working to keep our families safe.”

“With acts of antisemitism on the rise, we need a District Attorney who takes these heinous crimes seriously,” said Rabbi Baruch Rothman. “District Attorney Melinda Katz not only takes these crimes seriously, but has shown a determination to prosecute criminals who target the Jewish community. We’re proud to stand with her today and en-

dorse her candidacy for re-election.”

“District Attorney Melinda Katz is a partner to our organization and our community, keeping us safe and enriching our neighborhoods,” said former Assembly Member Phil Goldfeder. “DA Katz has prosecuted crime wherever it targets Queens families – taking on gangs, getting illegal guns off the streets, and putting away those who would give our families any reason to live in fear. There is no doubt that DA Katz has earned four more years, and we’ll do everything in our power to see to it that she wins in June and again in November.”

“We need leaders who care about our community and its unique needs, and in Melinda Katz we have found that leader,” said Richard Altabe. “Throughout her career, Melinda Katz has shown a serious commitment to our Jewish community, both as District Attorney and in her previous positions serving Queens families. We are endorsing DA Katz because she is the best choice to keep us safe over the next four years.”

“Whether it’s been in taking on burglaries, gangs, larceny, or hate crimes, District Attorney Katz has been a steady hand prosecuting criminals and making our communities safer as a result,“ said Elkanah Adelman. “We are proud to endorse Melinda Katz, the best choice to keep Queens safe.”

Potatoes are still “alive” when you buy them, which is why they can sprout while in your pantry.

Meet Me at the Zoo

» You know why fish are so thin? They eat fish.

- Jerry Seinfeld

» Size isn’t everything. The whale is endangered, while the ant continues to do just fine. - Bill Vaughan

» I admit opening an alligator petting zoo was not the best idea, but I told the kids to be careful so there’s plenty of blame to go around. - John Lyon

» My favorite animal is steak. - Fran Lebowitz

» One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know. - Groucho Marx

» I ran like a cheetah – well, like a cheetah that smoked too much. - John

Green

» It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep, than a sheep at the head of an army of lions.

- Daniel Defoe

Riddle Me This

A pet shop owner had a parrot with a sign on its cage that said, “Parrot repeats everything it hears.” A man bought the parrot and for three weeks he spoke to it, but it didn’t repeat anything. He returned the parrot, but the shopkeeper said he never lied about the parrot’s speaking abilities. How can this be?

» I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I’ve ever met.

- Herb Caen

» Basically, I believe the world is a jungle, and if it’s not a bit of a jungle in the home, a child cannot possibly be fit to enter the outside world. - Bette Davis

» I’d hate to be a giraffe with a sore throat.

- Mitch Hedberg

» To me, fast food is when a cheetah eats an antelope.

- George Carlin

You Gotta Be Kidding Me!

A team of little animals and a team of big animals had a football game. During the first half of the game, the big animals were winning. But during the second half, a centipede scored so many touchdowns that the little animals won the game.

When the game was over, the chipmunk asked the centipede, “Where were you during the first half?”

Answer: The parrot was deaf.

The insect replied, “Putting on my shoes!”

Animal Trivia

1. Jonathan the tortoise is the oldest known animal alive. How old is he?

a. 87

b. 102

c. 114

d. 190

2. Which animal has the highest blood pressure?

a. Giraffes

b. Monkeys

c. Tigers

d. Cheetahs

3. How large is the largest ant colony in the world?

a. 4,500 miles

b. 3,700 miles

c. 42 miles

d. 1 mile

4. What distance can a lion’s roar be heard from?

a. 20 meters

b. ½ mile

c. 5 miles

d. 14 miles

5. What is the average weight of a male Asian elephant?

a. 5,000 pounds

b. 11,500 pounds

c. 20,000 pounds

d. 150,000 pounds

6. Which animal has three hearts?

a. Elephants

b. Cheetahs

c. Octopuses

d. Blue whales

Answers

1. D - Jonathan lives on a plantation island

off the coast of Africa. There is no sign of the 440-pound turtle slowing down, according to his team of caretakers. Who ever said obesity is bad for longevity?

2. A - A giraffe’s blood pressure can reach 300/180 millimeters; that’s double a human’s blood pressure. I guess standing around in the zoo while everyone takes selfies with you could cause a lot of stress.

3. B - The colony extends from norther Italy through Spain. Ants from one end of the colony are able to recognize ants from the other end. To think that you don’t even know the person two bungalows away from you…

4. C - The purpose of the lion’s roar is not just to communicate with other members of their pride, but also to warn lions outside their pride that the territory is already occupied. Seems like it would be easier to write “Reserved” on a paper and put it on a chair at the beginning of their territory. Nobody would enter then. Ever try sitting in one of those chairs that say reserved? Never a good idea!

5. B - 11,500 pounds is small compared to African elephants which can weigh up to 24,000. Definitely double XL.

6. C - Yes, it is octopuses not octupai. Not only do octopuses have 3 hearts, they are also really smart. They have very large brains and are capable of learning how to use some tools. They also have an uncanny ability to escape from cages. Hmm…what’s that tingling on your toes?

Wisdom key

5-6 correct: You are an octopus!

2-4 correct: The animal in the middle of the pack is always the safest.

0-1 correct: You need to hang out with your fellow octupai a little more!

Torah Thought

Pesach

By Rabbi Berel Wein

The holiday of Pesach represents many basic values in Jewish life. Foremost, naturally, is that of liberty and freedom from oppression, slavery, and domination by others. The holiday is described as being the holiday of our freedom. But there is another basic idea and value that underlies the commemoration of our exodus from Egypt and the beginning of our freedom. That value is the human capacity to believe and keep faith with an ideal that has not yet been realized and that is yet to be exploited.

In the retelling of the story of the Exodus, the Bible mentions several times in the narrative of the description of the redemption from Egyptian bondage the fact

that people believed that they would be freed and that Moshe would be the one who would be able to lead them from bondage to freedom. It was this belief that fueled the entire narrative of freedom and brought about the eventual triumph over Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation.

No matter how much lip service we pay to the idea of faith and belief, we always have a tendency to underplay its importance in shaping human events, both individual and communal. But faith, literally, does have the power to move and change the course of human history and personal existence.

The L-rd may have performed untold miracles in order to extract the Jewish

people from under the yoke of Egyptian bondage, but none of this would’ve been successful had the people not believed it would be successful and that they would achieve their freedom.

One of the great ideas in Judaism, especially emphasized in the teachings of the great chassidic master Rabbi Zadok HaKohein of Lublin, is that within events that appear to be negative and tragic, such as the enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt, there are the seeds of redemption and hope.

Even though there are tragedies such as the destruction of millions of Jews in Egypt, at the time of Moses, the inner soul

were, essentially, “Do not dare to say that this is our final road.” It is this faith that overwrites all obstacles and situations of anguish and despair.

The holiday of Pesach always represents a soaring sense of optimism and a deeply abiding faith in the Jewish future and in the redemptive powers of heaven that will be exhibited in the coming of the messianic era.

The matzah that we eat is called, in Jewish tradition, by its Aramaic phrase – the bread of faith. Matzah is potential bread, but it is not yet risen. It appears to be doomed to be flat and crunchy, without much taste or substance. However, we are

of the Jew had faith that better times would arrive and that the redemption from slavery would actually occur. That path is the definition of faith and belief in Jewish life throughout Jewish history.

No matter how difficult and oppressive the situation appeared to be, already hidden within it were the solutions to the problem and the redemption from bondage.

An expression of this is to be found in the song attributed to the Jewish partisans in World War II who hid in the forests of Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, from where they continued to harass the Nazi beast. They created a thousand pinpricks that collectively hampered the operations of the German army on the Eastern front. The words to their song in Yiddish

aware of the potential contained within that matzah. Jews believe in the power and potential of it to rise and become the fluffy and the most delicious breads and pastry. We celebrate while the matzah is still in its flattened state. The commandment is to eat it in its raw state so that we can sense the power of its potential, when we will be allowed to eat it after being fully risen and tasty.

Our entire fulfillment of the commandment of eating matzah on Pesach is to reinforce our innate sense of belief and faith in the future and in our ability to realize our individual and national potential. Belief eventually leads to action, and action leads to redemption.

Chag

sameach.

The holiday of Pesach always represents a soaring sense of optimism and a deeply abiding faith in the Jewish future

We know (Brachos 12a) that “everything follows the conclusion.” For instance, the way one says Shema at the conclusion of the day demonstrates the quality of the entire day. Shabbos, the final day of the week, defines the preceding week, and the quality of one’s Neilah, the prayer which concludes the year, is reflective of the entire year. We must therefore understand why the Seder concludes with the songs “Echad Mi Yodea, Who Knows One,” and “Chad Gadya, One Kid.” With all of the important prayers and teachings of the Seder, why do these songs define the nature of spiritual goals of the entire Seder?

Most of us are familiar with Rashi and the Rashbam’s explanation (on Pesachim 99b, quoting the Yerushalmi Pesachim 10:1) of the significance of the four cups of wine. They correspond to the four expressions of redemption found in the Torah (Shmos 6:6-7), “V’hotzeisi, And I will take out,” “V’hitzalti, And I will save,” “V’ga’alti, And I will redeem,” and “V’lakachti, And I will take out.” However, few people are aware of Rashi’s other explanation (on Pesachim 108a) that three of the four cups correspond to the three times the word “kos, cup,” is used in the dream Pharaoh’s butler related to Yosef Hatzaddik (Bereishis 40:9-11), and the fourth cup is the cup we generally use during Birchas Hamazon. We must now understand why Chazal saw a connection between the butler’s dream and the Seder. What caused the chain of events that ultimately led to the Jewish people’s descent into Egypt, the Egyptians’ enslavement of them, and Hashem’s ultimate redemption of the Jewish people years later?

Ultimately, it all came down to one fly (Rashi on Bereishis 40:1, Shmos Raba 88:2). The moment that fly decided to go

Pesach One Kid

By Rav Moshe Weinberger

Adapted for publication by Binyomin

Wolf

swimming in Pharaoh’s wine cup, it set a remarkable chain of events into motion. If the fly had not landed in Pharaoh’s cup, the butler would not have been imprisoned. If the butler had not been imprisoned, Yosef never would have interpreted his dream. If Yosef never interpreted the butler’s dream, he never would have told Pharaoh about Yosef’s ability to interpret dreams. If he never told Pharaoh about Yosef’s ability to interpret dreams, Yosef would never have been released from prison to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. If Yosef never interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, he never would have become viceroy. If Yosef never became viceroy, Egypt never would have been saved from the famine. If Egypt was not saved from the famine, Yosef’s brothers never would have heard that there was food in Egypt, and they never would have gone down to Egypt and eventually moved there. They never would have been enslaved and would not have required redemption. The Jewish people’s exile and redemption were root-

ed in the decisions of that one fly!

When a Jew drinks the four cups at the Seder in remembrance of the four expressions of redemption, he may think that the entire redemption began when Moshe came to Pharaoh asking him to let the Jews go and Hashem’s providence in smiting Egypt with the Ten Plagues. Rashi, however, teaches us something much deeper. The foundation of our emunah is our statement, “I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, may His name be blessed, creates and rules all creatures and He alone did, does, and will do every act that is done.” As Hashem says repeatedly (see, e.g., Shmos 6:7), the purpose of the redemption was “And you shall know that I am Hashem your G-d.” The purpose of the Seder is therefore to internalize the knowledge that Hashem is G-d over every detail of creation and every event from the beginning of time until today, including the actions of even the smallest insect.

This knowledge is the meaning of “Echad Mi Yodea, Who Knows One.” We

see how Hashem orchestrated every detail of our exile and redemption and with this knowledge we recognize that “I know One. G-d is One in Heaven and Earth.” This knowledge of Hashem’s mastery over every detail of Creation is the polar opposite of concept that “knowledge” was in exile in Egypt. That is why the song “Who knows One” is the conclusion of the Seder. The knowledge of Hashem’s oneness is the focal point of the Seder experience. After each number in the song, it always comes back to “G-d is one is in Heaven and Earth.” In history and in life, we move way beyond the number thirteen. It’s so easy to forget the way back to One. We say in the Haggadah that Lavan tried to uproot everything by switching Rochel and Leah. If Yaakov would have married Rochel, then Yosef would have been the firstborn and thereby, would have been entitled to a double portion of the inheritance and the brothers would not have had any reason to be jealous of him and they never would have set the events into motion which ultimately caused their descent into Egypt. But in the end, Lavan’s plan led not only to our exile, but also our redemption because Hashem engineers every detail of creation according to His plan.

Rav Areye Leib Tzintz, of Plotzk, zt”l, in his commentary on the Haggadah, Birkas Hashir, writes that the “Chad Gadya, One Kid,” is Yosef Hatzadik. The word g’di has the numerical value of 17, which was Yosef’s age when he was sold down into Egypt. In addition, Yosef’s brothers slaughtered a goat and dipped Yosef’s coat into its blood. He also explains that the line “that father bought for two zuzim,” applies to Yosef as well. Yaakov bought Yosef a Kesones Pasim, a many-colored coat, which the Gemara (Shabbos 10b) says cost two sela’im, the equivalent of

two zuzim. He goes on to explain how the cat that ate the goat, the dog that bit the cat, etc. correspond to all of the various trials that Yosef endured until he was freed and became viceroy over Egypt. When we sing “Chad Gadya, One Kid,” we demonstrate our belief that Hashem orchestrated every detail of the events that ultimately led to our exile and redemption from Egypt.

In the Seder, we say, “Blessed are You Hashem, G-d of the world, who redeemed us and redeemed our forefathers from Egypt and brought us to this night to eat matzah and marror...” In that one blessing, thousands of years separate Hashem’s redemption of our forefathers and our own personal Seder nights. Yet with these words, we demonstrate our faith that throughout those thousands of years, Hashem has engineered every detail of every element of our exile and redemption. Hashem watches over every step and decrees the flight path of every fly. Through the Seder, we affirm our faith in Hashem’s providence over every detail of creation.

The message of the Seder is that we must know with certainty that everything that happens is part of Hashem’s plan. That is true not only for Yosef Hatzad-

dik and our great-great-grandparents in Egypt. This is true even today. Only Hashem rules the world and nothing can change that.

One of the closest chassidim of the Sar Shalom of Belz, zy”a, was Reb Shmuel Kaminka. The Sar Shalom always greeted Reb Shmuel very warmly. One year on erev Pesach, Reb Shmuel came but the Sar Shalom looked despondent and barely

he took a walk during the second Seder to hear how simple Jews made Seder. At one home, he heard a lesson told over by a simple Jew to his wife at their Seder on the words from the Haggadah: “And it is this that has stood for our forefathers and for us, for not only one has stood up against us to destroy us, but in every generation, they rise up against us to destroy us and the Holy One Blessed by He saves

instead of a chof, which would mean “to pray for us” (see Shmos 33:11). He therefore explained that in each generation, the tzaddikim rise up to pray for us. For example, he said, the Sar Shalom of Belz davens for the Jewish people that they should be saved from all of their troubles. But, he explained, the Haggadah continues, “Hashem should save us from their hands,” from the tzaddikim. We pray that we should no longer need the prayers of the tzaddikim but that Hashem Himself should save us without the need for their intervention. That is what it means that we ask that we be saved from the hands of the tzaddikim.

acknowledged Reb Shmuel’s arrival. Reb Shmuel learned from the other chassidim that the Sar Shalom was brokenhearted by the endless stream of Jews coming to him before yom tov with all of their problems, pain, and sorrow. The more who came to ask the Sar Shalom to daven for them, the sadder he became at the trouble faced by the Jewish people.

In order to cheer the Rebbe up, Reb Shmuel came over to him and told him the following story. He said that one year,

us from them.” He told his wife that the meaning of the prayer is that the tzaddikim of each generation daven for the Jewish community but that Hashem should save us so that we no longer require their prayers. His wife asked him how he sees that in the Haggadah.

He explained to his wife that the Haggadah says, “In every generation, they rise up to pray for us.” Instead of translating l’chaloseinu as “to destroy us,” he read it as if it were spelled with a ches,

Hearing this story, the Sar Shalom smiled, thus enabling Reb Shmuel to cheer his Rebbe up a little bit. May all of us merit to internalize the deep message of Hashem’s providence in “Echad Mi Yodea, Who Knows One,” and “Chad Gadya, One Kid,” with the ultimate revelation of Hashem’s oneness and providence with the coming of Moshiach soon in our days.

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

The Jewish people’s exile and redemption were rooted in the decisions of that one fly.

Jewish Thought

Freedom To What End?

By Rav Yaakov Feitman

Mah nishtana –Why is this night different than all other nights? Everyone knows this question and the four which grow out of it. The question-and-answer pattern is ordained by the Gemara (Pesachim 116a) but the next question is “why?” There are two other yomim tovim in the classic Shalosh Regalim, and we don’t engage in questioning. Even other major Jewish calendar days such as Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Tishah B’Av don’t require inquiries or dialogue. So why only Pesach?

My rebbe, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, zt”l, answers (Pachad Yitzchok Pesach 17:46; 47:6) that the question-answer format mirrors the Exodus itself. We know (Pesachim 116a) that the Haggadah is structured by the concept of “beginning with the lowly and ending with the praise.” Since there is a disagreement in the Gemara about the details of this pattern, we do it in two ways, the physical and the spiritual. The physical bondage is mentioned in the section known as “Avadim Hayinu – we were slaves.” The spiritual is recounted beginning with the words, “In the beginning, our forefathers worshipped idols.” In each case, we not only recite words but we are enjoined to relive and attempt to re-experience the process and change we went through over three thousand years ago. The Rosh Yeshiva demonstrates that questions and answers themselves – regardless of the content –mirror the transition from one stage to another. In other words, a question represents a period of darkness; an answer is a bolt of light.

Now we know that the Four Questions and by extension, all the other queries –kashos and terutzim – which are raised and resolved at the Seder are part of the process, not just a “PowerPoint presentation” at a business meeting. Each of us at the Seder is living through moments of darkness and doubt, questioning and probing, stretching, growing and maturing in our faith. The Zohar Hakadosh, echoed in the writings of the Arizal and his talmidim, teach that in Egypt, our Voice itself was in exile. We cried out to

Hashem, but we didn’t actually daven the way we do today. Thus, the pasuk (Shemos 2:23) describes the various stages of our communications: “We groaned…cried out…[had an] outcry and moaned.” The Mekubalim see this process as the nation going from inarticulate to finally “finding our voice.”

We all know that the pinnacle of this process was the singing of the Shira on the seventh day of Pesach. For this very brief moment, each of us experienced prophesy and – so to speak – “saw Hashem.” However, while apparently this lofty level could not last, we are able to annually travel through the same spiritual levels as our ancestors on this special day.

I believe that this year, more than most, we can gain a special power from this annual journey. The Torah (Shemos 12:42) states that the night of Pesach is shimurim, “a protection for all the Children of Israel for their generations.” We are living through a period of an alarming increase in anti-Semitic acts. We will all recite in the Haggadah that “in every generation they arise to attempt to annihilate us.” The Ramban, in his commentary upon the word shimurim, explains that it does not just mean that G-d will rescue us. It means that this night was designated and guarded by Hashem Himself to sanctify us to perform mitzvos for Him. Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzato (Derech Hashem 4:7) adds that every year, all the tikkunim

(rectifications) which we gained at Yetzias Mitzrayim return to us once again. Thus, we should take heart and solace that Hashem is once again protecting us personally. The Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh explains that when we engage in telling the story and reliving both the negatives and the positives, we are granted the same assurances of Divine salvation.

Now, let no one think that we should let up our guard or become unaware of the constant threats and provocations. However, what Pesach should give us is a healthy dose of serenity and tranquility. Our Father in Heaven is still with us and always will be. Many of our enemies have reached the dust-heap of history but we are here to tell the tale. Much more importantly, we have maintained our relationship with Hashem through the centuries and millennia. Sadly, not enough of our brethren take advantage of this amazing annual gift. Most of those now demonstrating in the streets of Tel Aviv are clueless about this power we have. We would all be less worried about our enemies from without if we realized that on Pesach we have practically conquered those within us.

The Gerrer Rebbes all used to point out that in general there are two factors withholding our spiritual progress. One is the “leavening in the dough,” referring to the Yetzer Hara, and the other is the nations who are anti-Semitic. It is on Pesach that

we have both under control for we burn that leaven and we have begun the process of geulah – redemption.

Indeed, the Sefas Emes often reminds us that we were not freed from slavery to Paroh to become free from service to the Creator. On the contrary, we went from being slaves to Paroh to join the service of Hashem. As the slaves freed by Abraham Lincoln sadly discovered, an Emancipation Proclamation is meaningless if you have nowhere to go, no new purpose in life, and are yearning for the “good days on the plantation.” The Eruv Rav tried to make us feel like those slaves, but we went right on to Sinai knowing that when we leave Egypt, “We will serve Hashem on this mountain.” For this reason, we immediately begin counting Sefirah until Matan Torah so we will always remember why we were liberated. It was not just “from.” It was “to.”

Finally, we know from many sources (see Rav Dovid Cohen, Rosh Yeshivas Chevron, Zeman Cheiruseinu, page 15) that Yetzias Mitzrayim constituted the birth of Klal Yisrael. Thus, Krias Yam Suf was the birth canal, representing our first moments as a nation. This is also stated clearly in the Haggadah, “Vayehi sham l’goy – There we became a nation.” One might well ask, Why didn’t Hashem make us a nation in Eretz Yisrael when we already had a Bais Hamikdash? Why create us in the horrible crucible of iniquity and depravity which was ancient Egypt?

The answers to all these questions are the same. Hashem wanted to enable us to survive all the future exiles both physically and spiritually. This we have done in every generation. We must now use that power to lift ourselves up to where we were when we sang at the Yam Suf and received the Torah. If we try just a bit harder to do that, we will hopefully achieve the ultimate goal of “we were freed in Nisan, and we are destined to achieve salvation in Nisan once again. B’meheirah b’yameinu!

Rav Yaakov Feitman is the rav of Kehillas Bias Yehudah Tzvi in Cedarhurst, NY

The Message of the Madness

By RaBBi Daniel GlaTsTein

Rav Yechezkel Landau, known as the Noda B’Yehudah, was one of the most exceptional personalities of the 18th century (1714-1794), a descendent of Rashi, Maharal, and the Rebbe, Rav Heschel of Cracow. His talmid, the Teshuvah MeiAhavah, writes that he was the tallest man in the generation. The Teshuvah MeiAhavah writes that his thumb alone was double the length of anyone else’s thumb, and as outstanding as his physical stature was, even greater was his spiritual stature. The Chasam Sofer writes about him that he was “rabbinic leader of the generation … heart of the Jewish people … captain of the ship.”

One night after Maariv, as Rav Yechezkel was returning home, he happened to see a young Christian boy in tattered clothing, who was apparently lost in the Jewish Quarter. The boy was holding empty baskets and he was crying. Rav Yechezkel felt compassion for the child. He approached him and asked, “Can I help you? What are you doing here in the Jewish Quarter and why are you crying?”

The child broke into a torrent of tears. He told his story amid sobs.

“I am an orphan. I lost my mother, and my father is a baker and is now married to a witch of a woman. My stepmother is very cruel. Early each morning, she loads up my baskets with loaves and loaves of bread, and I have to make sure to sell all the bread. If I didn’t sell it all, when I return, this woman brutally beats me.

“The way the day began, it seemed that it was going to be a great day. A little after midday, I had already sold all the bread and had the rest of the day to rest and play. As the day was coming to an end and I was preparing to return home, I checked my pockets for the thirty coins that I had earned by my sales.”

The child again started to cry bitter tears.

“The coins were gone — they must have been stolen or lost. If I return empty-handed, she is going to beat me like a horse. I haven’t eaten all day, and now I’m just wandering around because I am afraid to go home.”

Rav Yechezkel had pity on this orphan Christian boy. He brought him into his house and fed him. When the child had eaten, Rav Yechezkel gave the child thirty coins to replace the missing money. The child returned home, relieved and overjoyed.

Many years passed, and the Rav of Prague, Rav Ye-

chezkel Landau, was already very advanced in age. It was the night of Shevi’i Shel Pesach after the Yom Tov seudah, and Rav Yechezkel’s family was long asleep. In the dead of night, when only Rav Yechezkel was awake, learning in his sefarim library, he suddenly heard a pitter-patter of footsteps approaching the house, then a very soft knock on the door. The door was pushed open, and he saw a big burly man standing in the doorway. Rav Yechezkel looked at the man and called out, “Who are you? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

The man looked around and whispered, “Rabbi, you don’t recognize me, but I know you — I’m the Christian boy that you helped years ago. You fed me, you comforted me, and you even gave me money and spared me from being beaten. I have come to repay your kindness.

“You know that the Christians of Prague bitterly hate the Jews. Last night, in my father’s house, he gathered all the bakers of Prague, and at the behest of my wicked stepmother, they plotted to kill all of the Jews of Prague. They are all aware that tomorrow night, after nightfall, all of the Jews will hurry to eat bread, and they will rush to buy from the non-Jewish bakers.” The man continued, “They have all secretly agreed to put a deadly poison in all the bread, and they are eagerly awaiting killing the Jews of Prague in one night.

“If anyone finds out that I told you, they will kill me and frame the Jews for my death. So, Rabbi, I trust that you won’t let anyone know that I told you.”

With that, the man disappeared into the night.

The Rav was left shaken, with a look of death on his face. He sat for hour after hour, pondering the best course of action. It would be perilous to tell anyone what he heard, but how could he spare the Jews of Prague?

And then, like a flash of lightning, the Noda B’Yehudah was struck with a stunning idea.

The next day, the Rav ordered that on Acharon Shel Pesach, all of the shtieblach and batei midrash would be closed, and on that day, everyone should daven in the city’s main Beis HaKnesses. Shacharis would be followed by a major address from the Noda B’Yehudah.

The city of Prague was buzzing. They knew there

must be some extraordinary news affecting the Jewish people if the Noda B’Yehudah had all of the shuls closed so he could deliver a derashah to all the residents of the city. Sure enough, on Acharon Shel Pesach, the main shul was filled to capacity, and the Noda B’Yehudah rose to speak.

“Rabbosai, we know that as the generations go by, to our dismay, Torah knowledge weakens, the mind declines, the hearts are clouded, and even the Torah leaders are prone to error. I am embarrassed to notify you, and it is with great trepidation that I must admit that I erred. Even though our knowledge of the calendar is proficient, nevertheless, after reexamining the way I and my Beis Din set up this year’s calendar, we made a very terrible mistake that almost caused the residents of Prague to eat chametz. Our calendar is off by one day — we began Pesach one day too early. Pesach really started a day later.

“And therefore, please know that today is not Acharon Shel Pesach, it is Shevi’i Shel Pesach, and it is strictly forbidden to eat chametz tomorrow until after nightfall.”

The city of Prague was stunned that such a mistake happened, but they all had the utmost respect and admiration for their Rav, Rav Yechezkel Landau, and they faithfully abided by the psak of their Rav.

Amazingly, that year, the Jews of Prague celebrated Pesach for nine days. The bakers of the city of Prague could not understand why none of the Jews were coming to buy bread following the eighth day of Pesach. The Noda B’Yehudah asked the police to test the bread on their dogs, and sure enough, their dogs keeled over immediately. The bakers were apprehended, and the residents of Prague were saved.

a History of Blood libels

As we prepare for Pesach, we are excited for the Yom Tov, we eagerly anticipate the Sedarim and all of the mitzvos of the night. We’ve been preparing for weeks; the Seder is the highlight of the year. And we’ll make the bracha, “She’hecheyanu v’kimanu v’higiyanu la’zman hazeh” with great kavanah, that the Ribbono Shel Olam has sustained us and kept us alive to reach another Pesach.

But throughout our history, Pesach was not always the

joyous time that it is for us. In fact, throughout history, there have been many a Pesach that were prepared for and anticipated with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we always look forward to Pesach, our Festival of Freedom; however, often there was also great apprehension, terror, and panic. Not only because of incidents like that which occurred in the times of the Noda B’Yehudah, but primarily because of what we all know as the infamous blood libels in which the Jews were accused of kidnapping Christian children, killing them, and using their blood in Jewish rituals.

The first instance of accused ritual murder, or blood libel, took place in 1144, fabricated and instigated by a Jewish apostate, the monk Theobald of Cambridge in Norwich.

Two years after the first blood libel, the Second Crusade began, and blood libels became prime ammunition to fuel the devastation of Jewish communities during that period.

During the 13th century, starting in 1264, libels spread to England. In 1291, Jews were legally banned from living in England; they were not permitted to return until the times of Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century.

In the city of Prague in 1389, on Acharon Shel Pesach, thousands of Yidden were massacred because of libels.

Blood libels are not germane only to the Christian world; there were blood libels in the Arab world as well.

Rebbi Klonimus Baal HaNeis, who is buried on Har HaZeisim, in the valley near the kever of Zechariah, saved the Jews of Yerushalayim from a blood libel.

Toward the end of the Middle Ages, the blood libel spread to many countries. In Turkey, Egypt, Syria — even in Chevron — there were libels. It knew no boundaries, and soon all the Arab lands learned well from their Christian counterparts.

Belief in blood libels became one of the fundamental tenets of Christianity; they became part and parcel of the very fabric of the religion.

Blood libels have been the most common and frequently occurring Jewish tragedies. Scholars estimate that between 1880 and 1900, there were over one hundred instances of the blood libel against European Jews. Historians write definitively that there is no city in all of Russia, Poland, and Lithuania that did not suffer from these terrible accusations.

Aside from the importance of knowing about the blood libels due to their historical significance, they have had a number of halachic ramifications in regard to the Seder and the observance of its details.

We know that we have an obligation to drink the four cups of wine on the night of the Seder. The Shulchan Aruch writes, “There is a mitzvah to try to use red wine,” and the Rama adds, “unless the white wine is superior.”

The Taz, however, comments, “Nowadays, we refrain from using red wine because of blood libels.”

The Mishnah Berurah, written in the 20th century, echoes the words of the Taz: “In areas where libels are likely, we refrain from drinking red wine.”

Of course, Maggid begins with the declaration of “Ha lachma anyah,” where we call out, “Kol dichfin yeisei v’yeichol,” all who are hungry, come and eat; what a seemingly empty offer. With the doors locked and bolted, certainly no one on the outside can even hear this declaration!

The ancient custom to keep the doors open for the entire Seder would explain the sincere nature the offer is

really meant to be. However, out of fear of Passover raids from Christians looking to avenge the murder of their children, this custom had to be abandoned, but we were determined to do the best that we could, so at least we open the door for a very short period after drinking the third cup of wine.

Remarkably, the sefer Heichal L’Divrei Chazal U’Pisgamehem, by Rav Shimshon Vertheimer, has the words, “Shefoch ahavascha el ha’goyim,” which was actually a nusach that many Haggados had in the Middle Ages. This sentence means “shower your love on the nations”; out of fear of blood libels, many communities would open their doors during the Seder, and to protect their lives, they would read these words from their Haggados.

We Perpetrated the Very First Blood libel

Rav Elchonon Wasserman asks a very daring and bold question: Why does Hashem make this happen? What did we do wrong? Especially since, says Rav Elchonon, we have a general rule that any lie that is not based on a kernel of truth cannot be sustained and has no kiyum. This terrible accusation of blood libels is not based on even a semblance of truth. We salt our meat to get out every vestige of blood; when we crack open an egg and find a blood spot in it, we discard the egg. The one people who are so much farther away from this type of behavior than anyone else are Klal Yisrael. And yet, this insane lie of

and harsh punishment.

Recently, I discovered that Rav Chaim Palagi had preceded Rav Elchonon in providing the reason for the tragedies of the blood libels. In his sefer Derachav L’Moshe, which he wrote as a tribute to Sir Moses Montefiore for his historic rescue of the Jewish community of Damascus in 1893, Rav Chaim Palagi chronicles many of the blood libels that have occurred throughout the ages. He then attributes the blood libels to the sin of mechiras Yosef.

And one may ask: Is it indeed true that the sin of mechiras Yosef is of such severity that every generation bears responsibility for that iniquity? We know that to be the case with the Cheit Ha’eigel, concerning which Hashem (Shemos 32:34) says, “On the day that I make My account, I shall bring their sin to account against them.” Every time the Ribbono Shel Olam metes out punishment to Klal Yisrael, there is always some element of punishment from the sin of the Eigel. But is the sin of mechiras Yosef of the same nature?

Indeed, Rav Meir Simcha of D’vinsk writes in the Meshech Chochmah that mechiras Yosef is the counterpart of the Cheit Ha’eigel. Whenever Klal Yisrael sins bein adam laMakom, Hashem visits upon them punishment from the Cheit Ha’eigel; whenever Jews sin bein adam lachaveiro, Hashem visits upon them punishment for the mechiras Yosef. The Cheit Ha’eigel and the sin of mechiras Yosef are the two progenitors of sin. That is why on Yom Kippur we conclude the main body of Shemoneh Esrei with the words, “Ki atah salchan l’Yisroel.” When did Hashem give selichah, forgiveness, to Klal Yisrael? It was at the Cheit Ha’eigel, when Hashem said (Bamidbar 14:20), “Salachti k’divra’echa” to Klal Yisrael, who had said, “Eilah Elokecha Yisroel,” when they made the Eigel (Shemos 32:4). The liturgy in Shemoneh Esrei concludes, “U’machalan l’shivtei Yeshurun.” To whom does Hashem give mechilah? It is to the shivtei Yeshurun, the Shevatim who sold Yosef.

This is the landmark chiddush of Rav Elchonon Wasserman and Rav Chaim Palagi. Blood libels are a punishment for selling Yosef.

blood libels is the most oft-repeated lie in the history of mankind. Says Rav Elchonon, this is one of the mysteries of Hashem’s providence.

Rav Elchonon continues: “It is clear, then, that since God is a Dayan Emes, a just Judge, we must say that this punishment has been meted out to the Jewish people, measure for measure, for some sin that we must have committed.”

And now Rav Elchonon says one of the most frightening comments I have ever come across, and he prefaces it by saying, “If I weren’t so unworthy to make such an assertion, I would say, that it corresponds to the sin of dipping the Kesones Pasim, the cloak, in blood.” Says Rav Elchonon, “And if I have erred, G-d forgive me.”

Rav Elchonon Wasserman states, we sold our brother Yosef, and to fool our father into thinking that Yosef was ripped apart by a wild animal, we took his Kesones Pasim and we dipped it in blood. We fooled our father. It was sheker, an absolute lie. It was the very first blood libel. We committed the very first blood libel. We invented the blood libel. Why? Because we couldn’t get along with our own brother. And therefore, says Rav Elchonon, because we fooled our father with this lie, in every generation we are punished middah k’neged middah with this terrible

Why Pesach Time?

Rav Matisyahu Salomon, the Mashgiach of Beth Medrash Govoha, asks an even more daring and courageous question. We understand that blood libels are an atonement for mechiras Yosef, but let’s think about the timing. Why does it always seem to happen around Pesach time?

And with this we come to a most powerful aspect of the Pesach Seder. In our minds, the Seder focuses on two things: (1) the shibbud, bondage, and the bitterness of Mitzrayim, which are represented by the maror, and (2) the geulah, redemption, and the cheirus, freedom, which are represented by the matzah. And yet, there is one aspect of the Egypt experience that seems to be forgotten, and that is — how did we arrive in Egypt in the first place? What was the primary cause, what was the foremost sin that caused us to go into galus? And even the most initiated and uneducated Jew knows that the most direct cause that brought us down to Mitzrayim was the sin of mechiras Yosef. We sold Yosef to Mitzrayim. Then there was a hunger in Canaan, and we needed food. The brothers regretted what they did. They went to look for Yosef. Lo and behold (Bereishis 45:3), he reveals himself: “Ani Yosef.” Yaakov and his sons move to Mitzrayim. That’s how

scholars estimate that between 1880 and 1900, there were over one hundred instances of the blood libel against european Jews.

we ended up in Mitzrayim: because we sold Yosef; because we couldn’t get along with our brother.

Now, the question is, we spend so much time at the Seder discussing our freedom from Mitzrayim, and we symbolize that by eating the matzah; we spend so much time speaking about the bondage, symbolized by the maror; so why don’t we do anything to symbolize the third aspect of the experience: how we got there in the first place?

Upon further examination, we will see that, in fact, there are a number of ways we do symbolize how we ended up in Mitzrayim.

What is the reason that we eat the karpas? The Mishnah Berurah brings down the well-known reason that karpas stands for samech parach, that 600,000 Jews were enslaved in backbreaking labor. But Rabbeinu Manoach, a Rishon and one of the commentaries on the Rambam, explains that at the Seder, you can’t just remember the freedom, you can’t just remember the bondage, you also have to remember how we got to Mitzrayim in the first place. Says Rabbeinu Manoach, “We eat karpas to remember to commemorate the multi-colored tunic that Yaakov made for Yosef, that because of it, matters transpired, and we ended up in Mitzrayim.”

But what does the word karpas have to do with Pasim? They only share two letters, the pey and the samach?

Take a look at Rashi on the words Kisones Pasim (Bereishis 37:3). Says Rashi: “What does Pasim mean? It means woolen garments, like the word karpas in Megillas Esther; so we see that the word karpas refers specifically to woolen garments like those of Yosef.”

Adds the Ben Ish Chai, the letters “kar” are derived from machar, sold, referring to mechiras Yosef, and the letters “pas” are derived from the word Pasim, a woolen garment. And we dip the karpas in saltwater to signify why we went down to Mitzrayim in the first place — because we sold Yosef and dipped his cloak in blood.

The She’eilos U’Teshuvos Maharshal, cited by the Acharonim, writes that when it comes time to eat the afikoman, you should sling it over your shoulder, walk four amos, and say: “This is how our ancestors left Mitzrayim, with their burdens slung over their shoulders.”

Asks Rav Shlomo Kluger in his Haggadah, Yerias Shlomo: Is it really significant if that is how our forefathers left Mitzrayim; do we have to replicate every last thing that they happened to do? Just because they happened to eat the korban Pesach a certain way in those days, do we have an obligation to eat the korban Pesach; i.e., the afikoman, in the exact same way?

Says Rav Kluger, take a look at the Gemara that brings a Baraisa, saying: “We are taught: Every individual would take the korban Pesach, put it in its hide, and sling it over his shoulders.”

Rav Ilish said: How would they do this? Tayaus

What does tayaus mean?

Says Rashi, “Like Arab merchants.” Why would you carry the korban Pesach like Arab

merchants? Rav Shlomo Kluger says that this Gemara had always been a mystery to him. Then, says Rav Shlomo Kluger, Hashem opened my eyes, and I realized that on the night of the Seder we commemorate the freedom, we commemorate the bondage, so why don’t we do anything to commemorate how we ended up in Mitzrayim, with the sale of Yosef ? And therefore, our Chachamim remind us, remember when you sold Yosef, “They [the brothers] saw, behold! — a caravan of Yishmaelim was coming (Bereishis 37:25), “and they sold Yosef to the Yishmaelim” (ibid. v. 28) Therefore, Chazal say, when you take your afikoman, your korban Pesach, remember how you ended up in Mitzrayim in the first place — because you sold Yosef to a caravan of Yishmaelim.

Here, the night of Pesach, we don’t ignore how we ended up in Mitzrayim; rather, we make sure to remember the sinas chinam that we felt for Yosef that caused us to descend to Egypt. We carry the afikoman like a caravan of Yishmaelim, and we dip the karpas in the saltwater to remember the dipping of the Kesones Pasim

Rav Eliezer Ashkenazi in the Haggadah Maaseh Hashem notes that in the Mah Nishtanah we point out that the night of Pesach we dip twice; what is the significance of these two dippings? One to commemorate the dipping that brought us down to Mitzrayim, and one to commemorate the dipping that took us out.

The first dipping commemorates the dipping of hatred, the dipping of brothers who couldn’t get along and dipped Yosef’s tunic in blood; and one dipping represents that Bnei Yisrael finally united, and they said, enough is enough, enough of the hatred, enough of the sinas chinam, and they came together in one group, and they dipped the bundle of hyssop into the blood of the korban Pesach. The bundle of hyssop signified the unity Klal Yisrael displayed in order to be able to rectify what had brought them to Mitzrayim in the first place: the selling of Yosef.

Rav Matisyahu Salomon expresses an absolutely bone-chilling thought. Therefore, on the night of Pesach, as we dip the karpas, as we carry the afikoman on our shoulders, we remember that it was the hatred that we had for our brother that drew us into the predicament to begin with. We all know that we are in galus today and we have no Beis HaMikdash for the same reason — sinas chinam; it is the time of the year that we have to finally rectify once and for all the sin of mechiras Yosef. If we don’t take advantage of the karpas and the afikoman to awaken our thoughts to engender a love for our fellow brothers, then we reawaken that sin of mechiras Yosef. And, Rav Matisyahu continues, that is why historically the blood libels have always taken place during the time of Pesach — the time we are granted to rectify the sin of mechiras Yosef, just as in the end Yosef’s brothers came to the recognition, “kulanu bnei ish echad ” (Bereishis 42:13).

To Be Reunited

Perhaps the most well-known of all the blood libels, which became known as “The Trial of the Century,” was

the case of Mendel Beilis, the defendant in the notorious 1913 blood libel in Kiev. To me, it is very eerie that one of the critical points of discussion in the trial was a Gemara that comments on the pasuk (Bamidbar 19:14), “This is the teaching regarding adam [a man] who would die in a tent.” Says the Gemara: “Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai would say … only a Jew is called ‘adam’ [a man], non-Jews are not called ‘adam.’” There was great fear that the prosecutor in the Beilis Trial would cite this Gemara as proof that Jews are virulent supremacists who think that members of other religions are subhuman and may be murdered.

Beilis’s advocate, Rabbi Maza, conferred with the illustrious Rav of Galina, Rav Meir Shapiro, who would later establish the yeshivah of Lublin. Rav Meir Shapiro advised Rabbi Maza as follows, “Tell the court to consider what would happen if an Italian man were to be arrested and tried in court. Would all the other Italians congregate and pray for his safety? Certainly not! What about if a Frenchman was on trial; would all of his countrymen pray for his safety or would they go about their business?

“The Jewish people are unique. One Jew is arrested and put on trial, and Jews worldwide are concerned for his safety. That,” says Rav Meir Shapiro, “is what the Gemara means. There are many ways in Hebrew to say person, and all those ways have a plural. For instance, ish/anashim, gever/gevarim. There is one exception. There is no plural for the word adam. That is exactly why only the Jewish people are called adam. Only the Jewish people are one entity, we are united, and only we can collectively be called an adam

“Tell the judge — tell the court,” said Rav Meir Shapiro, “that only Klal Yisrael are one entity; the nations of the world are just a collection of individuals.”

Isn’t it eerie, isn’t it ironic, that this is the lesson that emerged from the blood libels, because as we have learned, in fact, the blood libel is the reminder that perhaps we are not fulfilling our role of “atam keru’im adam,” we are not adequately displaying that we are one unified nation.

Of all the subjects of Sefer Bereishis, the story of Yosef — his descent to Egypt, his imprisonment, and his ultimate reunion with his brothers and father — occupies the most space. This is because the hatred between the Shevatim and Yosef is the most relevant subject for the Jewish people. It caused the sale of Yosef, it was the cause of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, and it is the cause of untold suffering for the Jews throughout our history. When this sin is corrected, only then will our suffering end, and we will all rejoice together with the building of the Third Beis HaMikdash.

Rabbi Daniel Glatstein is the Mara D’asra of Kehilas Tiferes Mordechai in Cedarhurst, NY, and author of numerous seforim in Lashon Hakodesh and in English for ArtScroll. He is an international lecturer and maggid shiur. His thousands of recorded shiurim are available on Torahanytime.com, podcast, his website rabbidg.com, and other venues.

This article has been excerpted from Rav Daniel Glatstein on the Haggadah: Revolutionary Insights into the Haggadah, the Exodus, and the Final Redemption, by Rav Daniel Glatstein, published by ArtScroll/Mesorah.

Rabbi Daniel Glatstein is the Mara D’asra of Kehilas Tiferes Mordechai in Cedarhurst, NY, and author of numerous seforim in Lashon Hakodesh and in English for ArtScroll. He is an international lecturer and maggid shiur. His thousands of recorded shiurim are available on Torahanytime.com, podcast, his website rabbidg.com, and other venues.

The Nuanced Taste of Freedom

By Rabbi Benny Berlin

At the Seder, there are several mitzvot required for us to fulfill our obligation for remembering Yetzias Mitzraim. The most pressing that comes to mind include the D’Oraysa commandments to eat matzah and share the story with our children, as well as the D’Rabbanan commandments of reclining and drinking four cups of wine. There is another mitzvah, however, which does not fit so neatly into either category of D’Oraysa or D’Rabbanan, and the significance behind this commandment – as well as its murky status – sheds tremendous insight into the objective of the Seder night as a whole: the commandment to eat marror.

Eating marror, as many might know, is a Mitzvah D’Rabbanan. It was uniquely relegated to this status from being a mitzvah D’Oraysa after the Churban Beis HaMikdash. To fully appreciate its change in status, it is helpful to consider the mitzvah in the context of Torah tradition more broadly.

The commandment of eating marror is intended to evoke feelings of bitterness, reminding us of how miserable the Egyptians made our lives. While this logic seems straightforward on the surface, with some deeper thought we realize that the act of eating to commemorate tragedy is unlike any other in the Jewish tradition. While, conversely, there seem to be endless obligations in Judaism to partake in festive eating (with kiddush wine, challah, and the Purim seudah, just to name a few), all other sad events on the calendar are commemorated by abstaining from food. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find another example within Jewish tradition where bitter food is eaten to evoke tragedy. Such a realization might leave one wondering why we do not also fast to remember slavery instead of consuming the bitter herb on Seder night.

The answer to such a question can be found when we consider why we are being asked to commemorate our tragic past.

This reason can be found when we look carefully at the intention behind the mitzvah when it was D’Oraysa. In the time of the Beis HaMikdash, marror was supposed to be eaten in conjunction with the Korban Pesach, similar to a condiment.

The Ohr HaChaim explains that the central and complementary commandment to eat Korban Pesach is symbolic of our

to explain that we eat marror because its bitterness expands upon the savory taste of Korban Pesach, providing us with a greater depth of flavor and nuance.

Throughout our lives, we will all inevitably experience times of difficulty and welcome times of happiness. Whenever a person experiences difficulty, the good times feel sweeter. In the case of

pleasantness, and then by comparison experiencing the good and appreciating it more as a result of the comparison. It is the old story of love feeling stronger after experiencing hate and relief feeling all the more intense after enduring fear.

The marror, therefore, is not being used to commemorate tragedy per se, but rather provides us with greater understanding and appreciation for identifying freedom and experiencing the complexity of emotion that accompanies it.

We still have a commandment, D’Rabbanan, to eat marror, and this is not for nothing. We are eating something purely bitter to remind us of enslavement without the accompanied food that represents our freedom. As we experience this bitterness of enslavement in Egypt, we should be reminded that the absence of the Korban Pesach shows that in our current state, we are not really free.

The true purpose of eating marror, therefore, is not just to remember the hardships of the past, but also to reflect on our current reality – galus. As long as we remain in exile, we do not have the ability to follow fully in Hashem’s path and our collective judgment becomes increasingly clouded. The Pesach Seder does not just then serve as a reminder of where we came from, but more importantly, where we are now and where we should aim to be headed.

freedom from Egypt, which includes our capacity to follow the ways of Hashem and the Torah.

Taking a step back, if freedom is the unhindered ability to follow in G-d’s path, then slavery is being fully precluded from doing so. This circles back to the objective behind eating marror and of the Seder more broadly. The Ohr HaChaim goes on

Bnei Yisrael, a food that reminds them of their freedom, Korban Pesach, is therefore made all the sweeter – both physically and mentally – when contrasted with the bitterness of the tragedy from which they escaped.

The Sfas Emes also adds that the definition of hoda’ah – gratitude – comes from seeing or experiencing pain or un-

This Pesach, may we feel as if we are on the cusp of the ultimate Geulah and pray fervently for its arrival. Let the return be sweeter because of all these years in galus that we could not experience true freedom at home in our own land with the Beis HaMikdash rebuilt, Korban Pesach and all.

Rabbi Benny Berlin is the rabbi of BACH Jewish Center located in Long Beach, New York. For more information,

bachlongbeach.com

Korban Pesach is therefore made all the sweeter – both physically and mentally –when contrasted with the bitterness of the tragedy from which they escaped.

Seder Night can be summed up in two words: hakarat hatov, expressing appreciation. Perhaps that is why in the Haggadah, when we cite pesukim related to Yetzi’at Mitzrayim, we refer to pesukim in Parshat Ki Tavo that are recited during the ceremony of Mikra Bikkurim (offering of the first fruits) rather than from Shemot, where the description of the story is recorded originally. Bringing bikkurim exemplifies one’s gratitude to Hashem for having provided produce. Retelling the story of Yetzi’at Mitzrayim is also an example of expressing gratitude to Hashem, which is what we are to do this evening.

Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein once observed a certain rosh yeshiva standing outside of a hospital, looking up at a sign containing names of all the different wards. He was mumbling to himself. Rav Zilberstein asked what he was doing. The rosh yeshiva replied: “When I come to the hospital, I look at all the signs, and I thank Hashem for my health and for keeping me out of the cardiology ward, the oncology ward, the emergency room, and all the other departments of the hospital.”

So often, we don’t focus on gratitude. We just live our lives and go through our daily routine. Only when there is a problem and we lose something, do we start to appreciate what we had. Pesach is about recognizing what Hashem does for us even while we have everything.

At the Seder, it would be a meaningful exercise to go around the table and have each participant state something for which they are thankful. Health, special talent, being together, milestones achieved, because that’s what this night is all about: gratitude and appreciation.

The Source of Hakarat Hatov

“And Hashem said unto Moshe: ‘Tell Aharon: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, and over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may turn into blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even inside vessels of wood and of stone.’” (Shemot 7:19)

Hashem commanded Moshe to tell Aharon to initiate the plague of blood. Rashi explains that the reason Moshe didn’t bring the first three plagues is because of the hakarat hatov he had for the water and earth which had protected him when he was an infant! The water

protected Moshe when his mother left him in a basket in the Nile, and the earth covered up the corpse of the Egyptian he had killed as an adult. Hitting the water or earth to bring about a plague wouldn’t have been an appropriate display of hakarat hatov on Moshe’s part.

Rabbi Bernard Weinberger, in his sefer Shemen HaTov – Al HaMo’adim (p. 268), asks a simple question based on a Gemara in Bava Kama (92b). The Gemara cites the source for gratitude as being from a pasuk in Parshat Ki Tetzeh: “Do not despise the Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land” (Devarim 23:8). In other words, we owe the Egyptians hakarat hatov because they hosted us.

The Shemen HaTov cites the Hatam Sofer, who asks why the Gemara uses the pasuk in Parshat Ki Tetzeh as the source for hakarat hatov and not these pesukim in Shemot, which are much earlier in the Torah, where Moshe displayed hakarat hatov to the water and earth. The Hatam Sofer answers that Chazal chose this pasuk because the Egyptians seem the least likely to have deserved any hakarat hatov. They enslaved us! They threw our babies into the Nile! Yet despite all that, we still owe them hakarat hatov because they did do something about which we could be minutely positive.

A Jew finds something to be grateful for even in a situation that seems completely terrible. Even though the Egyptians were wicked, we can’t disregard the tiny amount of good they gave us. We have to find the good within the bad. Most things in life are multifaceted; therefore, we can’t define any one event by just one aspect of it. Even in Egypt, we can find a small bit of positivity.

Further, in a situation in which we fail to find the good, we have to fall back on our belief that all is from HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We believe that Hashem has a divine plan; therefore, all that happens is for our best.

That is why hakarat hatov is learned from the

pasuk in Devarim and not from Shemot. We are taught about this middah specifically in a place where there doesn’t appear to be anything good or deserving of hakarat hatov. It’s easy to feel hakarat hatov in a situation where the tov is obvious; it’s a much greater level to feel appreciation in the darkest times.

The Shemen HaTov adds at the beginning of Parshat Emor that perhaps the words of Chazal, lehazhir gedolim al ketanim – “To admonish the older about the minors” – refers to taking care to not look at the big picture alone, but to also recognize the small details and see all the different levels of each experience.

Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl points out that an underlying theme of the first five parshiot of the book of Shemot is hakarat hatov, that is, “gratitude and acknowledgment of a benefactor” (Sihot Al Sefer Shemot, p. 13). Sometimes it can be very hard to recognize and acknowledge all the good that has been bestowed upon us. We often have great excuses to justify why we don’t owe any debt of gratitude to someone who has been kind to us. “They owed me.” “I paid for it.” “It was not big deal for them.” “It wasn’t even that helpful.” “I didn’t ask for help.” “They had ulterior motives.” These are just a few of the ways a person can justify a lack of gratitude.

Nevertheless, hakarat hatov is one of the cornerstones of our faith, and we witness it in several dimensions in the beginning of the book of Shemot.

First, we are introduced to the middah of kefui tova – the “denial of goodness” that Pharaoh exhibited. The

Torah says: “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yosef” (Shemot 1:8).

Whether or not it was the same Pharaoh who had ruled during the time of Yosef, this ruler was extraordinarily ungrateful to Yosef, who had saved the country in its time of distress.

This attribute of kefui tova toward people ultimately leads to having the middha of kefui tova toward Hashem. Soon after Pharaoh rejected the goodness of Yosef and his people, he said: “Who is Hashem that I should heed His voice to let Israel out?” (Shemot 5:2).

In contrast to Pharaoh, the middah of hakarat hatov is exemplified many times by Moshe Rabbeinu. From the first plague, we learn of Moshe’s strong middah of recognizing the good done to him when he refrained from striking the water or the land because the dirt and the water had previously saved him. Moshe was saved by the water as a baby when he was placed in a basket on the Nile. He was saved by the earth when it covered the Egyptian guard he killed for striking a Jewish slave. Further, the Torah notes the reward dogs received because they did not bark when we left Egypt. G-d commands us to throw them dead animal carcasses for

their benefit. “You shall not eat dead animals lying in the field; rather, you shall cast it to the dogs.” (Shemot 22:30)

There’s further complexity to this concept of hakarat hatov. One can understand that it behooves us to show appreciation to a person who provided us with a benefit, but water and soil are inanimate objects. The water

Rav Nebenzahl explains that we offer thanks not because the provider needs the appreciation, but rather, because the recipient ought to recognize his dependency on the assistance of another. The Hebrew word for thanks, hodaya, is also the word for “admission,” that is, the confession of having a debt. One who gives thanks expresses their dependency on others.

Perhaps this is why it is difficult to say thank you. The same theme can be found in the Sefer HaHinuch, which explains (mitzva 33 , Kibbud Av Va’Eim): “When this trait becomes engrained in a person, it will lead one to recognize the good that Hashem has bestowed upon all.”

Showing appreciation to others leads one to appreciate all that Hashem has provided to him.

and soil that Moshe refrained from striking were not even the same water and soil that rescued him! Water flows continually, and the earth that hid the body of the Egyptian killed by Moshe was not the same earth that he would have had to hit. Similarly, the dogs that we feed with our non-kosher carcasses are not the same dogs that remained silent when we left Egypt. Why must we show them hakarat hatov?

Rav Nebenzahl cites a story about Rabbi Yisrael Zev Gustman, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Netzah Yisrael. Rabbi Gustman, at the age of eighteen, served on the beit din of Rabbi Hayim Ozer Grodzinski in Vilna. During the Holocaust, Rabbi Gustman hid in the bushes and forests to avoid the Nazis. Years later, he was seen watering the plants at his yeshiva in Jerusalem. When asked why he was doing this trivial task, he responded that it was his way of showing his appreciation to the bushes that saved his life in Vilna. Even though those were not the same bushes, he felt obligated to express his appreciation to the same species, even in a different geography, thus exemplifying the middah of hakarat hatov.

Pesach is about recognizing what Hashem does for us even while we have everything.

This article has been excerpted from the Shalom Rav Haggada by Rabbi Shalom Rosner, published by Maggid Books, an imprint of Koren Publishers.

Buy Palestinian Matzot!

By Larry Domnitch

“Buy Palestinian matzot!” was a call to support Zion back in the days of the British Mandate.

On April 28, 1926, a headline for a Jewish Telegraphic Agency story read, “Arrangements are Made to Sell Palestine Matzos in the United States.” It was part of an effort to further expand the growing Palestinian Matzah industry.

Palestine is a name of the land; it is not a nation. It is a title that has been often used for well over two thousand years. During the Ottoman period (15171917) and subsequent post-World War I British Mandatory rule, the inhabitants of Palestine – whether Jews, Christians, or Muslims – were often known as Palestinians.

Palestine matzos! Those are matzot from the land of Israel, produced by Zionist industry. Purchasing products of the land, whether it was wine, honey, or oranges or whatever, were Palestinian products in name and supportive of the Zionist movement in Mandatory Palestine. In 1926, a greater push was made to sell Palestinian matzot to Jews worldwide.

It was a time when there was a wave of Jewish immigrants. Sixty-seven-thousand Jews had arrived very

recently from Poland. More vibrant industries were needed to provide jobs supporting the Yishuv, the Jewish community of Palestine.

Samuel Aaronson was a United States representative of the Palestine Flour Mills, which was owned by Brit-

chasing Palestinian matzot, suggesting that “Jews here (in America) buy a percentage of their Palestine matzos with their other matzos.” This would be accomplished with the cooperation of the Manischewitz brothers who were known distributors of kosher products.

Other companies became distributors of matzah as well. Yehudah Itim of the Haifa Chamber of commerce negotiated the sale of 100,000 pounds of matzot from the Flour Company of Haifa to Julius Horowitz, of the New York Mizrach Wine Company. With the agreement reached, Horowitz formed Mizrach Matzo Company.

A week before Passover that year, an appeal by Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of the Palestine Mandate, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, urged rabbis around the world to have their congregants purchase matzot from the land of Israel. Rav Kook stressed that their manufacture would provide more employment for the Yishuv.

ish philanthropist Edmund Rothschild, who was a strong backer of many Zionist enterprises. Aaronsohn was a sibling of Sarah Aaronsohn, a founder and heroine of the World War I pro-British spy ring NILI, which daringly assisted the British military campaign in Palestine, and NILI co-founders, the agronomist Aaron Aaronsohn and Alexander Aaronsohn. He called for support for pur -

On February 11, 1927, the negotiations in America progressed. Samuel Aaronsohn expressed hope that as many as 600,000 families might purchase matzot. The flour mill was a six-story building with two-hundred workers. Its current output was 20,000 pounds per day. There was the expectation that with more American Jewish interest, production would dramatically increase.

And so it happened, Palestinian matzot adorned Jewish holiday tables throughout America, and around the world. It was a means of observing the holiday and showing support for Palestinian Jewry and the return to Zion.

Larry Domnitch is the author of The Impact of World War One on the Jewish People by Urim Publications. He lives in Efrat.

Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook

urged rabbis around the world to have their congregants purchase matzot from the land of Israel.

R’ Abraham Isaac Kook and R’ Moses Zevulun Margolies mixing flour from Jerusalem for the baking of matzah, 1925

Baking matzah in Haifa during the time of British rule

Stories for the Seder

The Four Sons

Tam: What Does Hashem Yisbarach Think of Us?

Pesach with Rav Belsky

from Rav Chaim Yisroel Belsky, compiled by Rabbi Dovid

Abramowitz

Every once in a while, I relate this incident involving one of the great tzaddikim:

A chassid was traveling to be with his rebbe for the Seder. Along the way, something happened — the wagon axle broke, or something similar — and the chassid was stuck in some small village for Pesach. He ended up staying with a simple Jew and was his guest at the Seder. The Jew was religious and pious but not learned.

This simple Jew was reciting the Haggadah, and when he reached the arbaah banim and said, “Tam, mah hu omer,” he began crying and couldn’t stop. He said over and over again, “Tam, mah hu omer?” Afterward, he continued simply reading and translating the Haggadah for his family, and that was it.

After Yom Tov the chassid finally managed to get to his rebbe. The rebbe asked him, “Nu, what did you see in the village?”

The chassid replied that he had seen nothing beneficial and described his great sorrow at wasting his time being surrounded by people so devoid of learning.

The rebbe asked, “You saw absolutely nothing?”

The chassid replied that he had seen something, but it was very foolish. When the host said, “Tam, mah hu omer,” he was crying. Why should he cry at that point?

Then the tzaddik told him that the man meant something else entirely. Tam in Russian means there. (Actually, it is also the same word in Targum We say hasam in Hebrew, but the Talmud Yerushalmi, writing in Targum, leaves out the hei and writes tam, which means over there.) So Tam, mah hu omer means, “Over there, what are they saying?” What are they saying about us up in Heaven? We say all kinds of good and nice things, but what does Hakadosh Baruch Hu say about us? We are trying to do the mitzvos, but do we really make the grade?

I sometimes compare that with a Litvishe story.

One Yom Kippur, after davening a long Shemoneh Esrei, the Mirrer mashgiach, Rav Yerucham Levovitz, went off to a corner and buried his head in his hands. He was heard weeping and saying something over and over, but no one could make out the words. Someone went close enough to hear without making his presence felt. Rav Yerucham was repeating the words of the pasuk, “Ulai yemusheini avi v’hayisi v’einav kimsatei’a” (Bereishis 27:12), which means, Perhaps my Father will feel me and I shall be as an imposter in his eyes. You have to know, Tam, mah hu omer — What does the Ribbono Shel Olam say about us?

Seder Sensitivity

At the Maggid’s Seder

by Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn

Rav Sholom Schwadron zt”l, the Maggid of Yerushalayim, was a deeply sensitive man who understood the pain and the anguish of orphans and widows. He was only seven years old when his father, Reb Yitzchok, died in 1920. He never forgot his loneliness or the isolation of his mother, Freida Leah.

When he was 60, Reb Sholom gave his orphaned nephew a sefer as a bar mitzvah gift. He concluded his inscription, “Kamoni kamocha, I am as you are [an orphan].” This was 53 years after he had lost his father.

I recall one particular Pesach Seder we shared with Reb Sholom a few years after my father passed away. That year, the first Seder was on Motza’ei Shabbos. It is forbidden to prepare on Shabbos for the following evening, so the Seder started very late, since all the preparations began only after nightfall.

As an Israeli, Reb Sholom celebrated only one Seder. That night would be his only opportunity to fulfill the Seder mitzvos. Reb Sholom was very punctilious in his mitzvah observance, so he was extremely careful every year to eat the Afikoman before chatzos (halachic midnight).

At the Seder, it is customary and praiseworthy for participants to discuss divrei Torah (Torah thoughts) on the Haggadah. Children look forward to repeating that which they have learned in school — and rightfully so, as much of the Seder is primarily geared for them. All the younger children recite the Mah Nishtanah, there are songs to be sung, customs to be followed, recitations to be said, and food to be eaten. It is a time when parents and grandparents reap the rewards of their investment in their children’s education.

This all takes time, and I knew that if we were to continue at the pace we were keeping, we would eat the Afikoman well after chatzos. I therefore tried to rush things along. Reb Sholom realized what I was doing and said to me softly but sternly in Yiddish, “Eil zich nisht, Don’t rush!”

I tried to explain my intention to him, but he wouldn’t let me talk. He just motioned with his finger that I continue with no changes. A while later, I tried a second time to move things along more quickly, and once again he rebuked me. By the time we ate the Afikoman, it was after chatzos, and I was upset. I knew he had never violated this precept before, and I blamed myself.

After the Seder, when he and I were alone in the dining room reciting Shir HaShirim, I apologized for having caused him to eat the Afikoman so late. He responded, “Your mother waits all year for all her children to gather together for the Seder. Her biggest nachas is to hear them exchange divrei Torah and to see her grandchildren participate in the Seder. What right do I have to rush her Seder? Causing pain to a widow is a d’Oraisa (Biblical prohibition); eating the Afikoman after chatzos is a d’Rabbanan!” (a Rabbinic, and thus a lesser, violation).

And then he added a sentence that we should always ask ourselves before we act, “Where are your priorities?”

The great Maggid of Jerusalem often cited and lived by the credo of the verse: “V’lev almanah arnin – I would bring joyous song to the widow’s heart ” (Iyov 29:13). I can never forget that night’s practical application.

Perfect Solution

Rav Chaim Kanievsky Haggadah

compiled by Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Shteinman, adapted by Rabbi Dovid Hollander

Afamily was fighting bitterly about where to go for the Pesach Seder. The husband insisted that they go to his parents, and the wife was adamant that they go to hers. Someone suggested that the couple consult with Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky – as she had much experience dealing with many different life situations — and do whatever she advised.

After the rebbetzin heard both sides of the issue, she came up with an idea that appealed to both parties: she invited them to her house for the Seder! The couple accepted the rebbetzin’s offer and joined the Kanievskys for the Seder, thus restoring domestic harmony.

Fulfilled by Waiting

The Chazon Ish Haggadah

compiled by Rabbi Asher Bergman, adapted by Rabbi David Oratz and E. van Handel

On this night — we all recline.

One week before Pesach, a young scholar passed away in Yerushalayim, leaving a widow and seven orphans. The rosh yeshivah of Ruzhin, Rav Yehoshua Heschel Brim, supplied the family with all their holiday needs and even arranged for a young man to conduct the Seder for them. Before departing for shul on Erev Yom Tov, Rav Brim told his family that he would come home late. He planned to stop at the widow’s house after Maariv to help with last-minute preparations for the Seder. Rav Brim found the atmosphere in the widow’s house mournful. The young man who was to conduct the Seder had inexplicably failed to appear. Without hesitating, the rosh yeshivah proclaimed, “Kadeish.” Joyously, he led the entire Seder, ate the festival meal with them, and sang the familiar melodies.

Half an hour before midnight, Rav Brim entered his own home, where his family was waiting for him to conduct their Seder. He immediately began Kadeish again. This time, he rushed through the Haggadah; the Afikoman had to be eaten before chatzos! Only after the Afikoman was eaten did Rav Brim apologize for the delay.

“True,” said one of the family members, “you did a great act of kindness for the widow, but your family, too, needed a Seder!”

Rav Brim explained by telling the following story.

“As a bachur, I frequented the home of the Chazon Ish. Once, he told my

friend and me, ‘Reuven has reached marriageable age. You must help him find a wife.’ The words of the Chazon Ish were sacred to us. We made the necessary efforts and were successful. When we reported to the Chazon Ish, he said, ‘I would like to be present for the signing of the tena’im, but since my time is very limited, please come get me when the ceremony is about to begin.’ When we came for him, he was sitting in his study with a couple. They were reading a list of items and asking which ones were preferable, and how and where to obtain each item. He answered all their questions patiently. For an hour and a quarter, we waited outside the open door. The Chazon Ish saw us but continued the conversation. Finally, the consultation ended. The couple rose, and the Chazon Ish escorted them out and bid them farewell.

As soon as they had left his home, the Chazon Ish quickly donned his hat and we hurried to the tena’im.

“You are surely wondering,” he said, “why I kept you and all of Reuven’s guests waiting.

“The couple with whom I was speaking are Holocaust survivors. They had told me that they had no source of income, and I advised them to open a store. Now they came to consult me about how to run it and what merchandise to buy.

“I could not help them financially, since I have no money. I was therefore obligated to assist them with advice, which is also a great mitzvah.

“This mitzvah was incumbent on you and Reuven’s other guests no less than on me. I fulfilled the mitzvah by advising them, and all of you fulfilled it by waiting for me.”

Rav Brim concluded: “Each of us was obligated to gladden the widow and orphans. I fulfilled the mitzvah by conducting the Seder, and you fulfilled it by waiting for me.”

Gratitude is Most Important

The Rav Shach Haggadah

from Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach, compiled by Rabbi Asher Bergman, adapted by Rabbi Yaakov Blinder

Had not the Holy One, Blessed is Be taken our fathers out from Egypt, then we, our children and our children’s children would have remained subservient to Pharaoh.

This statement seems rather unlikely. The Pharaohs have not ruled Egypt for centuries. So utterly forgotten by history is the Pharaoh of the Exodus that no one even knows his true identity with certainty. Surely, over the millennia, the Jewish people would have shaken off the yoke of slavery under natural historical circumstances, even if not for the Exodus. There aren’t even any slaves anywhere in the world anymore!

The answer to this question, said Rav Shach in the name of the great rabbis of the Mussar Movement, is that if Hashem had not taken us out of Egypt, but we would have gained our freedom through some political or natural process, taking advantage of Pharaoh’s magnanimity, we might not have remained enslaved to Pharaoh, but we would have been subservient to him — that is, we would have been beholden to him with a debt of gratitude, which would remain an encumbrance upon us for all time. There is no greater responsibility than the indebtedness owed to a benefactor for his kindness.

Rav Shach himself exemplified this trait in his personal life, as the fol-

lowing anecdotes illustrate.

In 5749 (1989), Rav Shach founded a new party called Degel Hatorah, which split away from the old, established party called Agudas Yisrael. As the new party prepared itself to enter the political fray and participate in Knesset elections, Rav Shach was greatly concerned that it should not fail in its attempts to gain a foothold in Israeli politics. Such a debacle would bring about a chillul Hashem in the eyes of the general public, since so many Torah leaders had thrown their weight behind it. Anything less than two seats in the Knesset, Rav Shach felt, would constitute a failure at the polls. He invested a great amount of time, effort, and emotional energy into the nascent party, which, as it turned out, did achieve a second Knesset seat, but by only a handful of votes.

At that time, an individual who was the head of an organization of English-speaking olim (immigrants to Israel) went to Rav Shach with the following question. Their organization had received extensive assistance in several matters from a senior party activist of Agudas Yisrael. How, then, does Rav Shach instruct them to vote? Rav Shach knew very well — and he never missed an opportunity to stress to others — that the fate of Degel Hatorah depended on every single vote it could muster. Yet, despite his tremendous dedication to this cause, he told the representative of the olim organization, “Gratitude is the most important of traits! If your organization received assistance from Agudas Yisrael, you must vote for them!”

For many years, Rav Shach used to visit an elderly woman in Ramat Gan and inquire after her welfare, offering to help her in whatever way he could. Rav Shach explained the background to his connection with this woman:

“When I was a child, we lived in a little village called Vovoilnik. My mother had the practice of spending the entire Yom Kippur in shul davening, straight from Kol Nidrei until Ne’ilah. One year, when I was about 5 years old, I was playing outside, when a band of Gypsies came along and snatched me, pulling me into their wagon as they continued to ride along. It so happened that several girls saw what had happened and began to run after the wagon, crying, ‘Stop! Thief!’ The Gypsies became frightened and threw their ‘catch’ out of the wagon. Thus, I was saved from being kidnapped and from who knows what other forms of calamity. This woman living in Ramat Gan is one of those girls from Vovoilnik!”

Many decades had passed since that incident. Rav Shach had gone on to study in Ponevezh, in Slabodka, Slutsk, Kletzk, Luninetz, Novoardok and Vilna. He had moved to Eretz Yisroel and lived in Yerushalayim and then in Bnei Brak. But he never forgot his debt of gratitude to that woman!

Old and New

The Sephardic Heritage Haggadah

By Rabbi Eli Mansour and Rabbi David Sutton

Initially, our fathers were idol worshippers.

There is a powerful story about Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor of Kovna that sheds an interesting light on this passage in the Haggadah.

Rav Spektor was beloved by all Jews. Even the maskilim (the so-called enlightened Jews, most of whom had forsaken their precious heritage) admired him and thought that he was one of them, because in his rabbinical response, he seemed to them to have found leniencies in certain areas of halachah.

Once, when Rav Spektor was returning from a railroad journey to St.

Petersburg, he stopped at the Vilna station on his way back to Kovna. Many people came to the station to greet him. One of the maskilim, who had been on the train but had not as yet seen Rav Spektor, became intensely curious as to the reason for the large crowd of well-wishers, and he was told that they had come out to greet Rav Yitzchak Elchanan of Kovna. At that point, the maskil wanted to meet the rav himself, and upon his being pointed out to him, the man saw a venerable chacham with a long beard and peyos, wearing a talis and tefillin

The maskil could not disguise his disappointment. He said, “Rabbi, we used to praise you as being one of us, one of the progressive elements, a member of the new generation. But now I see that you are from the old generation!”

Rav Spektor smiled as he answered, “No, it is just the opposite of what you are saying: I am from the new generation – and you are from the old generation! After all, we say in the Haggadah, ‘Originally, our fathers were idol worshipers.’ That is the old way, the way you maskilim practice your religion [by revering the ‘gods’ of the secular world around you]. However, the way I practice my religion is the new way — G-d’s way!”

Tears Over the Seder

Food for Thought Volume 2

by Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger

Afew days before Pesach , Rav Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, the Sanz-Klausenburger Rebbe, was hospitalized with a serious virus. On Erev Pesach, the physicians examined him and decided that he has to stay in the hospital for the Seder night. They added that due to the seriousness of his condition, no one, not even close family members, would be able to be with him.

While accepting the doctors’ decision, the rebbe broke down crying. He was seemingly devastated by what he had been told.

Toward the end of the month of Nissan, the rebbe was finally discharged and allowed to return home. At that moment, the rebbe explained why he had cried several weeks earlier. The

rebbe endured unspeakable tragedies in his life. His strength and fortitude were the things of legend. His faith was indestructible and his resilience rock-solid. Why had he suddenly broken down in the hospital?

“From the time I was born,” the rebbe explained, “I can honestly say that there has not been one tzarah that I have not endured, but I never cried or paid attention to my troubles. I was always concerned that someone might think that I may have even a tiny complaint against HaKadosh Baruch Hu, chas veshalom. I accepted everything with love.

“But when the doctors told me that I will have to remain in the hospital for the leil haSeder, I cried, because I saw the pain on the faces of my wife and my children. I saw their pain of not being able to be together for the Seder.

“It was my pain over their pain that caused me to cry.”

The rebbe’s close attendant, Rav Yosef Binyomin Williger, upon telling this story, would note that the rebbe was orphaned at a young age and went through the Holocaust, during which he lost his first wife and eleven children. Yet he never cried. He only cried when others were suffering and he felt their pain along with them.

All stories reprinted with permission from ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications.

Delving into the Daf Is Olam Haba for Sale?

By Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

Afew years ago, a Jewish individual put his portion of Olam Haba, the World to Come, up for auction on eBay. The bidding started in the morning at 99 cents and had jumped to $100,000 by the afternoon. (Before the bidding ended, eBay removed the item due to rules that items sold on eBay must be “tangible.”) The seller claimed that his spot in the World to Come is secure because he has not and will not commit any sins that would cause him to forfeit his portion. Of course, the very act of selling Olam Haba may be a reason for its forfeiture, but more on that later.

Is there any validity to a sale of one’s portion in Olam Haba?

The Gemara states that a kohen may not trade his edible share in a korban for a different kohen’s edible share in a minchah offering. The Tosfos Yeshanim comments that although trading is forbidden, the kohen may nevertheless sell his share in a particular sacrifice. This is true despite the fact that eating a portion of a korban is a mitzvah. Although it is not advisable to sell one’s opportunity to fulfill a mitzvah, he may do so, according to the Tosfos Yeshanim. However, the Shiltei Gibborim says that one may not sell the reward one earned from doing a mitzvah.

The Gemara in Sotah 21a says: What do we learn from “Boz yavuzu lo” (they will scorn him)? Ula says that this verse does not refer to Shimon who was known as the brother of Azaryah, because his brother supported him. Nor does the verse refer to Rebbe Yochanan, who was supported by the nasi. Rather, it refers to Hillel and Shevna. Hillel and Shevna were brothers; Hillel engaged in Torah, Shevna in business. After they

were both successful in their pursuits, Shevna suggested to his brother, “Let us be partners and split our profits. You can have half of my estate, and you give me half of your reward for studying Torah.” A voice emanated from Heaven, “If a man would give all his wealth for love (Torah learning), they will scorn him.”

The Gemara seems to be suggesting that Shevna be scorned for attempting to share in Hillel’s reward for Torah study. Yet, the Gemara implies that Azaryah and the nasi justly deserve a portion of Shimon and Rebbe Yochanan’s Torah study, respectively. What is the difference?

The Meiri explains that Azaryah enabled his brother to dedicate himself to Torah study. Shimon did not have to worry about earning a living. He knew that his family’s finances were taken care of. Likewise, Rebbe Yochanan was able to fully submerge himself in

the pursuit of Torah without the need to worry about life’s necessities. The nasi facilitated this. Hillel, on the other hand, studied Torah in abject poverty. He earned a meager living. On top of this, half of his daily wages went to pay the entrance fee to the beis midrash. The day he couldn’t even afford the entrance fee, he risked his life by attempting to listen to the Torah discourses from the skylight of the beis midrash in the midst of a snowstorm. Yet, Hillel persevered and became a great scholar. Shevna assumed that he could come at this late stage, after Hillel suffered such terrible living conditions, and simply write a check and acquire half of Hillel’s hard-earned reward. The Gemara says that for even assuming such a deal was possible, Shevna deserves scorn.

The Tashbetz differs from the above explanation. He explains that the determinant is simply a matter of tim -

ing. Even if Hillel did not suffer from abject poverty, Shevna could not have purchased his reward. The only way to share in the reward of Torah is to enable someone to learn Torah in the first place. Through their support, the nasi and Azaryah enabled uninterrupted Torah learning. If the nasi and Azaryah would have come after the fact and offered Shimon and Rebbe Yochanan money for some of their reward, that deal would be invalid.

The Rema rules in accordance with this last explanation. A scholar can only take money to enable him to learn. He cannot take money for what he has already learned. One cannot sell a portion in Olam Haba that he has already earned. The sale on eBay would be invalid.

There is a famous story about the Vilna Gaon. One year, there was a severe shortage of esrogim in Eastern Europe. A search committee was dispatched to scour Europe on a quest for an esrog for the Vilna Gaon. Finally, in one town, they found success. A man had an exquisite esrog and was willing to part with it for a price. “I will sell it to you on one condition,” the man said. “The reward in Olam Haba that the Vilna Gaon earns in performing this mitzvah must go to me.” They returned to Vilna, barely in time for Sukkos and marched straight to the home of the Vilna Gaon. The Gaon was ecstatic to see the esrog, but they were trembling. They nervously said, “Forgive us, Rebbe. In order to acquire this esrog, we were forced to agree on your behalf that you would give this man all of the Olam Haba that you earn doing this mitzvah.”

The Vilna Gaon joyously responded, “That’s perfectly acceptable! All my life

I never had a chance to fulfill a mitzvah and receive no reward, and now I have such a chance! I now have the opportunity to perform the mitzvah of esrog purely out of love!”

Was the Vilna Gaon able to give away his Olam Haba earned from the mitzvah of esrog? Initially, one might assume that the deal presents no issue with the Gemara in Sotah. After all, the Tashbetz explained that it is a matter of timing. The man with the esrog enabled the Vilna Gaon to perform the mitzvah. This is analogous to Azaryah and the nasi enabling a scholar to learn Torah. However, from HaRav Shlomo Kluger we see otherwise.

Rav Shlomo Kluger says that the Heavenly proclamation that decreed that one cannot sell his Olam Haba needs no explanation. Nevertheless, he writes that the explanation is quite simple. The reward in the World to Come for people who learn Torah and perform mitzvos is not analogous to workers who earn their wages. In truth, Hashem does not owe us wages for performing mitzvos. Suppose Reuven, a magnanimous philanthropist, had pity on poor Shimon and bought him a really extravagant gift: a new house. Shimon

was overjoyed at the lavish gift. Reuven, though, needed help putting up a mezuzah in his own home and asked Shimon for assistance. Shimon went to his benefactor’s home to put up the mezuzah. Do you think Shimon would give Reuven a bill for his services? Reuven just gave Shimon a house!

the recipient of a gift tell the giver, “I demand you give the gift to this other person?” Surely not. The gift belongs to the giver, and he alone can decide to whom it will be delivered. So, too, reward in Olam Haba is a gift and can’t be sold. Hence, according to this explanation, if someone enables someone to

Rabbeinu Yerucham, based on the above, writes that one cannot sell reward that he has already “earned” for learning Torah. Yet, if he attempts to sell his reward, even though the sale will be void, it is logical that he loses his reward. If he disgraces Hashem’s reward to the degree that he thinks it can be valued with mere money, that itself is a reason to lose his reward.

Hashem provides a person with a house and a mezuzah. Can we expect reward for merely putting the mezuzah up? Yet Hashem magnanimously rewards us. Rav Shlomo Kluger explains that reward for mitzvos is a gift that Hashem gives us. We are the recipients of so much of Hashem’s chessed that we have no right to demand wages for following any of the mitzvos. Still, Hashem chooses to reward us as a gift. Since the reward is only a gift, it can’t be sold. Can

do a mitzvah, Hashem decrees that he will give both parties a reward as a gift. Can one individual make a deal that the other individual gets the entire reward? Seemingly not. We cannot make deals that “obligate” Hashem how He should distribute reward. If so, Rav Chaim Kanievsky was asked, “How could the Gra promise all his reward to another individual? Can we make the same deal if necessary?” Rav Chaim responded, “We don’t decide halacha based on a

On the flip side, the Maharit writes that even if someone used a large sum of money to buy someone else’s reward, the sale isn’t valid. Yet the very fact that the buyer was willing to expend a large amount of money for Olam Haba is itself deserving of reward. If the bid on eBay for $100,000 was a real bid, then, according to the Maharit, that bidder will be rewarded.

Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow is a rebbe at Yeshiva Ateres Shimon in Far Rockaway. In addition, Rabbi Sebrow leads a daf yomi chaburah at Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead, NY. He can be contacted at ASebrow@gmail.com.

Reward in Olam Haba is a gift and can’t be sold.

My Israel Home Unfulfilled Expectations

By Gedaliah Borvick

We often dedicate articles to former world leaders who supported the establishment of the State of Israel. The street signs bearing their names serve as an eternal legacy to their bond of friendship with the Jewish nation. Accordingly, many former British leaders, such as Lloyd George, Josiah Wedgewood, and Colonel John Henry Patterson, have streets in Jerusalem’s elegant German Colony named after them.

Why is Winston Churchill, regarded as one of the greatest global leaders of the 20th century, who was sympathetic to the Jewish plight and drawn to the idealistic vision of restoring Jews to their ancient homeland, treated as an afterthought, with only a small road in Netanya and a street bordering Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus named after him?

From early in his political career, Winston Churchill was friendly and genuinely sympathetic to Jewish causes, both domestically and globally. In addition, Churchill viewed the Zionists as kindred spirits and collaborators in the great mission to civilize the world – his preeminent objective – and he remained forever a Zionist at heart. However, Churchill’s actions did not usually

match his rhetoric.

In 1921, as colonial secretary responsible for British Mandate Palestine, Churchill made strong pro-Zionist pronouncements and rejected Arab demands to renounce the Balfour Declaration. Yet, he endorsed limiting Jewish immigration and declined to make achieving a Jewish majority an official

While serving as Great Britain’s prime minister during World War II, Churchill was mindful to never jeopardize the war effort for Jewish causes. Thus, despite his opposition to the nefarious 1939 White Paper which impeded Jewish immigration, he neither rescinded nor amended it, which would have saved minimally hundreds of

ter has to answer to the demands of the nation. Consequently, during his years not in the top post, Churchill was free to speak his mind in the face of rampant antisemitism prevalent in the government and among the masses.

Ultimately, Churchill’s top priorities were his country and his career. Zionism, though a just cause in his eyes, did not advance his career – and possibly hindered it – and was therefore relegated to the bottom of his action items. However, Churchill’s rejection of antisemitism and support for the Zionist cause, in a time period when both were uncommon, generated excitement and anticipation in Jewish circles. These unfulfilled expectations led to the Jews’ disillusionment in one of the most remarkable figures of the last century.

goal, despite the British Mandate’s stated goals of helping to achieve a Jewish homeland. By choosing Arab appeasement, Churchill lost the opportunity to further the Zionist aims which he espoused. Consequently, he unwittingly set the stage for Britain to shut the doors to Palestine in the 1930s, when the Jews desperately needed a haven to escape Hitler’s murderous policies.

thousands of Jews from death; he did not bomb the concentration camps or the rail lines leading to them; and he did not keep his promise of committing Britain to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine once the war ended.

In actuality, Winston Churchill was a more vocal supporter of Zionism when he did not reside at 10 Downing Street, which made sense, as the prime minis -

The primary source for this article was Michael Makovsky’s “Churchill’s Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft.

Gedaliah Borvick is the founder of My Israel Home (www.myisraelhome.com), a real estate agency focused on helping people from abroad buy and sell homes in Israel. To sign up for his monthly market updates, contact him at gborvick@gmail.com.

Churchill visiting Jerusalem in 1921

Churchill with Herbert Samuel planting a tree on the future site of Hebrew University, March 1921

By choosing Arab appeasement, Churchill lost the opportunity to further the Zionist aims which he espoused.

Wyoming and the Dakotas

Part II

By Hershel Lieber

On Sunday, by eight in the morning, we were already on the road, heading to Mount Rushmore. This massive National Memorial is a sculpture carved into a mountain peak of the Black Hills National Forest depicting four of the most prominent United States presidents. The sixty-foot-high portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jeffer -

son, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt was completed in 1941. Over the years, this South Dakota icon has become one of the most visited attractions in the nation.

We were enthusiastic about seeing this granite masterpiece but had no idea of how overwhelmed we would be as we gazed at its majesty and contemplated the larger-than-life personalities that were portrayed. We took loads of photos from every angle and spent a good two hours at this historic site.

Next on the agenda was a drive along the Needles Highway. This fourteen-mile road passes through pine and spruce forests with meadows surrounded by birch and aspen. The needlelike granite formations pierce the blue sky, and the narrow tunnels make for great photo ops. This was followed by a two-hour Safari jeep tour through a wildlife loop within the habitat of herds of bison and longhorn antelopes. We had a great guide whose narrative added much to this excursion.

We left our cabin on Monday morning heading towards Rapid City. We made two stops; both which were extremely en-

joyable and entertaining. Bear Country is a zoo-like park replete with many animal species but focusing on its large bear population. The animals are in open areas created to mimic their natural environment. This stop was followed by Reptile Gardens, which had a collection of birds and reptiles within a stunning botanical garden setting.

In the late afternoon, we arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota, and walked the city center streets where buildings and stores exude an atmosphere of the early 1900s. Rapid City is known for the forty-three life-size bronze statues of American presidents placed along the downtown streets. Pesi was poking fun at me as I tried to capture them all on my camera!

Tuesday morning’s plans included a full six hours of driving to Bismarck, North Dakota, with a short stop in Pierre, South Dakota’s capital. Going from one destination to another can range from breathtaking to extremely boring, and on that day, boredom was going to reign. We set out resigned at our fate, hoping to make the best by listening to CD lectures

and music and by making good old conversation between us. About an hour into our drive, we passed a sign indicating that we were approaching the Badlands National Park. We did not have this on our itinerary, but immediately decided that although this will delay our arrival for at least two hours, we should stop to see it. What a great decision! The thirtynine-mile Badlands Loop Road took us to all the great overlooks including Yellow Mounds and Pinnacles. The rugged beauty of these fossil-rich towering cliffs are truly awe inspiring. Canyons and ravines add form to the eroded topography, and patches of prairie grass add a hint of bright color to the muted shades of the rocky layers. It would have been a great loss if we would not have made this stopover.

Two and a half hours later, we were touring the State Capitol Building in Pierre, and three and a half hours later we arrived in Bismarck. We settled in for the night, tired but with a great feeling of satisfaction that we had stopped at the Badlands.

The next morning, we visited Bis-

At Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

Granite formations along Needles Highway

marck’s Heritage Center, truly a wonderful museum, followed by a tour of North Dakota’s State Capitol Building. Before leaving for Fargo, we stopped at a supermarket, and I was approached by a woman who noticed my yarmulke. She “bageled” us to tell us that she, too, was Jewish. Upon inquiring, she told us that she was married to a very prominent Indian chief but is not at liberty to say his name as he is too well-known.

Three and half hours later, we arrived in Fargo. After checking in, we still managed to visit a restored village called Bonanza that existed from 1870-1920. The exhibits were interesting and educational. There was even a plaque honoring North Dakota’s early Jewish community. It is hard to believe that there were over fifty Jewish settlements with 1,200 farms back then! Their leader was Rabbi Benjamin Papermaster, who arrived in 1891 and served until 1934.

Thursday we were back on the road traveling towards South Dakota. We stopped in Watertown to see a collection of 150 pieces of art by the famous painter Terry Redlin. He is most famous for his outdoor themes and wildlife scenes often pictured at twilight. We then drove to Brookings and visited the University’s Art Museum and the McCrory Gardens, which was really so lovely and peaceful.

On Friday, we prepared a short itinerary before we headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where we would stay for Shabbos. We were only an hour’s distance away, so we made a stop at the Pipestone National Monument. The natural reddish pipestone was used in sacred ceremonies by the local Indian tribes. The stone is relatively pliable but is buried about fifteen inches deep in the hard quartzite and not easy to quarry. We watched a craftsman form pipes from the stone and took a ninety-minute guided tour of the area. We then drove south into Sioux Falls. We checked into our motel, shopped at Walmart, bought toys for the Chabad shluchim’s children, showered, and dressed for Shabbos.

South Dakota was the last of the fifty states that Chabad established a presence.

After the meal, we walked back to our motel for our Shabbos nap and ate Shalosh

The Sioux Falls Chabad Center was started in November of 2016 and is headed by Rabbi Mendel and Rebbetzin Mussie Alperowitz. We had previously contacted Rav Mendel about spending our Shabbos with them, and they welcomed us with open arms. They recommended a nearby motel about a twenty-minute walk from their home. The shul that they established was at the time in their house, as were the Shabbos meals. Since this shul was still in its initial stage, having a minyan was not yet a given. That Shabbos we did not achieve that goal, but the davening was nevertheless spirited. Rav Mendel and Mussie were joined by one more family other than us. The seudah was fantastic! The cuisine was plentiful and delicious, the divrei Torah were meaningful, and the lively conversation well overshadowed the Lubavitch-style lack of zemiros.

On Shabbos morning, we davened Shacharis at the motel and then walked over to Chabad to finish our tefillos. We were their only guests that day, which allowed us to enjoy a very long conversation at the seudah. They told us about their lives and backgrounds. They related to us about their search for a shelichus city and how Sioux Falls became their mission. We, in turn, told them about our lives and our connection with baalei teshuva in Poland and Russia. We played Jewish geography regarding the many Chabad shluchim we met over the years during our travels.

Seudos in our room. After Shabbos, we ate a light Melave Malke and made plans for the next two days before going to sleep.

On Sunday, we toured all the city’s sights and attractions. Our first stop was Sioux Falls Park, where the Big Sioux River flows over layers of rocks and boulders, creating a series of picturesque waterfalls. We took a narrated trolley tour of the downtown area. Then we visited the Courthouse Museum and walked around the neighborhood viewing its Victorian houses and mansions. We also walked the length of Philip Street which was lined with dozens of modern art sculptures. In the afternoon, we went to a disappointing butterfly house and aquarium. On the way back, a torrential rain flooded the streets. We drove down one block and suddenly our car was enveloped with overflowing rainwater that nearly reached the car

Upon inquiring, she told us that she was married to a very prominent Indian chief but is not at liberty to say his name as he is too well-known.

Pesi at Sioux Falls Park Herds of bison along the Wildlife Loop

With Sioux Falls Chabad Rav Mendel and Mussie Alperowitz and their children

windows. We slowly backed up into a mall which had a higher elevation and waited for the waters to recede.

On Monday, we drove to Mitchell to see the Corn Palace. The building is used for exhibitions, shows, banquets, graduation ceremonies, and basketball tournaments. The main feature was the dozen or so murals that are on the Moorish-styled building’s exterior. These ever-changing murals are made from corn kernels which grow in a variety of colors. Other grains and grasses such as wild oats, rye, wheat, and straw are also used in these unique creations.

Later that day, we went to the Dakota

Discovery Museum, whose exhibits portray the stories of the people who came to settle the Northern Plains. They have a section in the museum which relates the history of Jews in the Dakotas. The Holocaust Remembrance Room tells this tragic episode in the form of photos and short biographies of local survivors. We had a nice conversation with the museum’s director Rod Brown.

We still had a few hours on Tuesday morning before leaving to the airport to head back home. We strolled the Japanese Gardens and revisited Sioux Falls Park with its rocks and waterfalls.

This trip held so many different fea-

tures, and we gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about these states. There were moments of genuine pleasure

and periods of spiritual fulfillment. It was a “great trip,” and its memories should last for many future years.

Hershel Lieber has been involved in kiruv activities for over 30 years. As a founding member of the Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel he has traveled with his wife, Pesi, to the Soviet Union during the harsh years of the Communist regimes to advance Yiddishkeit. He has spearheaded a yeshiva in the city of Kishinev that had 12 successful years with many students making Torah their way of life. In Poland, he lectured in the summers at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation camp for nearly 30 years. He still travels to Warsaw every year – since 1979 – to be the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the Jews there. Together with Pesi, he organized and led trips to Europe on behalf of Gateways and Aish Hatorah for college students finding their paths to Jewish identity. His passion for travel has taken them to many interesting places and afforded them unique experiences. Their open home gave them opportunities to meet and develop relationships with a variety of people. Hershel’s column will appear in The Jewish Home on a bi-weekly basis.

Murals made from corn seeds at the Corn Palace Badlands National Park Miles of Sunflower fields in North Dakota

Holding Hands, Healing Hearts The Life of a Chaplain

By Malkie SchulMan

“In the prime of his life,” Chaplain Rabbi Mendy Coën, director-general of the USCC (United States Chaplain Corps) shares, “my 56-year-old father-in-law, a pillar of the community, died of cancer. There was 90 days between his diagnosis and his passing. That shook me up.”

It was after his father-in-law’s untimely death that Mendy decided to enter the field of hospital chaplaincy. He began working in Kings County, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Florida hospitals as well as other segments of the New York healthcare system, often aiding seniors at rehabilitation centers and nursing homes.

Unfortunately, Mendy is no stranger to heartbreak.

“I have used the chevra Kadisha three times for my own children,” he explains.

Nevertheless, Mendy has turned his stories of personal tragedy into hope and healing for our community and the larger world community.

Mendy claims his goal as a chaplain has always been “to do what I can to emotionally support people through pain.” But it was not until Covid hit, when Mendy was busy constantly attending funerals of people he knew that his idea for furthering the outreach of chaplains took root.

When Mendy was the only one attending the funeral and the only other car was the hearse, that’s when he had his breakthrough and realized something had to change. At that time, he continues, no one was allowed in the hospitals.

“I was one of the only guys with a badge going into the hospital providing information to patients. The New York State government had taken over security, and no other organization was allowed to be active. There wasn’t one agency that you could rely on with consistency to be deployed to trauma events or emergencies,” he recalls.

So, at the time the world was falling apart, Mendy reached out to attorneys, professors, cur riculum developers, mental health workers, and scientists to assist him with his vision for the type of chaplain training he sought to offer to the wider public. Until then, though there were chaplains in healthcare settings, the bulk of chaplaincy consisted mostly of male army chaplains servicing U.S. army soldiers. Mendy’s dream included men and women of all backgrounds and religions to service all parts of the world community.

Within a few months, he put together his chaplain training manifesto, submitted and incorporated with the state department.

“On December 11, 2020, while I was fighting for my own life in the hospital with Covid, I received approval from the state department,” he says. “In January of 2021, we held our first training, and today, two years later, we’ve trained over 500 chaplains.”

A Ministry of Presence

Contrary to common misperception, the United States Chaplain Corps is a private organization, not a federal government program.

“The goal and mission of our training is to teach chaplains how to diffuse pain and ease tension by means of language, psychology, and emotional support,” explains Mendy. “This means to find ways to ease the suffering individual’s pain – it may be little ways, little gestures or what is called in chaplaincy ‘ministry of presence.’ The idea is that you can support someone just by being quiet in an active listening mode. Learning to simply listen attentively without jumping in with words of any kind is the ministry of presence. This is not easy to do in today’s world of beeping cellphones.

“Studies show,” Mendy shares, “that people are interrupted 1,400 times a day on average! We are unable to focus and pay attention for than a few seconds. It’s hard to listen in this kind of world.”

Nonetheless, this is USCC’s aim: to take individuals of both genders, train them properly in social and emotional intelligence, and then bring them back as chaplains to the community – working in schools nursing home, hospital, YMCA, prison, disaster site, etc. settings. These individuals are the first responders, healthcare chaplains, and chaplains who provide support to police, firefighters, youth, seniors and people in the workplace.

There is a rigorous process to see if the applicant is suited to chaplaincy, continues Mendy. It’s not an easy field, although it’s extremely rewarding for the right individual. The appropriate candidate has to be emotionally and psychologically healthy. If someone doesn’t have his or her life together, then how can they be of service to others, especially to be a first responder chaplain, which is the “navy seals” of the chaplains?

USCC’s first responders are trained in the use of PSA – psychological first aid (as opposed to medical first aid). One of the most important skills (if not, the most important skill) Mendy stresses to his chaplains is the ability to be emotionally present in the face of severe trauma.

In addition to the emotional support USCC offers, they’ve also built up a premiere medical referral system through recruiting members from different medical referral organizations with varied areas of medical knowledge and backgrounds. Because of the diverse sources of information, within two or three hours, Mendy claims, USCC can come up with a list of top doctors around the world for any diagnosis. USCC will also help to expedite appointments.

“We save lives like this every day,” Mendy shares. Today, the USCC also boasts a women’s division. Part of this separate program includes a women’s only monthly Zoom call. Guest speakers of many different professions – from top executives in the fashion industry to parenting experts – are brought in to talk about their areas of expertise. Recently, Deborah Lipstadt, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, with the rank of Ambassador, spoke for the female chaplains. As she explained to the chaplain who invited her, “I agreed to speak with you because I remember how the chaplains were there for us when my mother passed away.”

The women’s division is comprised of 150 women ages 20-75 years old, 80 of whom are Orthodox Jews. These women also work or have worked in a variety of professions. One of the members is a State supreme court justice.

“Personally,” maintains Mendy, “I think women do better work than men in this field because a great part of chaplaincy has to do with emotional intelligence. Women’s EI [emotional intelligence] is usually more highly developed than a man’s EI. Women go much further and quicker in this line of work.”

Rachel Weingarten, a lifestyle writer, weekly style columnist, award-winning author, and co-founder of the RWR network (a national nonprofit organization that advocates for the vulnerable through education, outreach and resources), joined the USCC as a volunteer chaplain in 2022 .

“I’d always been looking for another angle from which to help people,” says Rachel. “As a child and grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I was raised to help people, but it was during the pandemic that I was feeling especially helpless. There were so many people in need, but we were all isolated while in lockdown and it was hard to connect.”

Rachel explains that she wanted to be able to help from a position of authority, without being intimidating.

“When I realized I could be a chaplain, something clicked, and a beautiful light went on inside me. This was my answer.”

The Often Heartbreaking Work

Being a chaplain often means facing heartbreaking situations. The chaplain has to be emotionally and psychologically strong to be able to deal with the harrowing situations he or she is confronted with.

Mendy brings up the Champlain Tower, Surfside, Florida, disaster of 2021. In twelve seconds, a 12-story building collapsed, killing 99 people. USCC deployed thirty chaplains to work with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the IDF (Israel Defense Force) to provide care both for the families of the victims and for the rescuers.

“Every day, rescuers were recovering remains of the individuals who had tragically died when the building collapsed. After a 40-minute shift, sifting through the rubble for bodies, some of the rescuers became traumatized,” Mendy maintains. “Our job was to emotionally prepare the rescuers to go back home to their families with peace of mind so they could return in the morning to continue their search efforts.”

Mendy describes the mayhem at the scene when he first got there.

“I heard the first responders say that when they arrived at the disaster scene, they had no idea where to start, what stone to turn over until Golan Vach, the commander in the IDF’s Search and Rescue Brigade, led his unit of ten in to assist them.” The IDF with their search and rescue expertise showed the American rescuers where to start digging on the “pile.” First, however, they required intelligence information. They requested extensive floor plans of the building detailing where each apartment was located, where the bedrooms were, the living rooms, where the beds were, so they could simulate how it would have fallen. Once this information was transmitted to their devices, they knew where to dig.

One of the many tragic situations Mendy was concerned with at the Surfside disaster involved the story of a family of five that was missing – two grandparents and three children. In the beginning of the search, the

rescuers had only recovered the daughter’s remains. At that point, shares Mendy, a social worker approached and asked him if he was a rabbi. After replying in the affirmative, she said that the extended family of the daughter had flown in from their country and wished to speak with him. The daughter explained that the family (who was traditional) had asked their rabbi in their home country if they could wait until the bodies of the whole family that had perished were recovered and do one big funeral for all of them before they buried the young girl. The rabbi responded, no, the daughter’s funeral should be done immediately. Half the family agreed, and the other half did not. They were calling Mendy in to weigh in on his rabbinic opinion.

“I knew I was entering a horrifically challenging situation,” Mendy shares. “So first I went into a corner and prayed to G-d for the right words to say and then I walked into the room. It was surreal – people crying, others looking like they were in a trance. I just began to talk.”

body buried in the earth. Once that happens, the soul is appeased and is willing to surrender and move on. One more thing, he added, is that Kaddish cannot be said until the body is buried and Kaddish, too, is a prayer that appeases the soul.

“So now you have a choice,” he told them, “either do what’s good for the soul or what’s good for you.

“After I said that, I left.” Mendy heard later that on the following morning, the family buried the deceased daughter.

The Many Faces of Chaplaincy

While a chaplain has one general mission, providing emotional, physical, mental, or psychological support for those in need, this mission can cover a wide range of services for a wide range of populations. When there are disasters like, for example, a category 5 hurricane, the government agency, FEMA, will call upon the USCC to send individuals skilled in disaster grief work. But not all chaplains go in for that kind of chaplaincy.

“Part of what I do as a chaplain,” shares Rachel, “is art therapy, often with Holocaust survivors and second-generation survivors. Sometimes, as we create paintings together, small snippets of a person’s crisis of faith will emerge.”

Rachel will try to help her clients through their crises in a gentle, relaxed manner. “The entire country is going through a crisis of faith,” Rachel maintains. “Chaplains are needed now more than ever. If people stop finding solace in their houses of worship, then at least let them find comfort and a sense of connection with a chaplain.”

Mendy explained to the grieving family that in our Torah we have the story of our forefather, Jacob, who died in Egypt. The people cried for 30 days for him before he was buried. So, there is a precedent from the Torah to not bury someone right away. Also, we learn that when a person dies in an untimely, tragic event, the soul is agitated and is not ready to depart. However, he continued, we also know that before the soul can find any peace and move on to the higher realm, it has to see its

An important point to understand is that chaplains don’t proselytize, no matter what their faith. Also, they can work across religious denominations. While most chaplains will refer their clients to a chaplain of their own religion if they are experiencing a crisis of faith, Rachel maintains that a good chaplain can help someone even out of their religion. For example, she shares, “I was working with someone raised as a Catholic whose mother was still very observant; she had asked her daughter to pray for her. My client did not believe in the Catholic religion and discussed her dilemma with me even though she knew I was Jewish. I encouraged her to support her mother’s faith as best as she could without offering her own opinions. ‘She’s going through painful treatments,’ I said, ‘if you mock her faith, what does she have left?’

“I know how my faith has gotten me through my own crises. I share that with people. I didn’t tell her to pray to the Catholic saints, I just encouraged her to let her mom believe that her faith could help her heal. This was a turning point for her.”

When someone is going through a family emergency, often the responsibility will fall on one family member to be the final decision maker. Many times, the person feels very alone making these life-altering decisions. A chaplain is an authority figure that can be there not to make the decisions for them but to be there with them as they make these critical decisions.

“It’s humbling to do that for other people,” Rachel acknowledges.

Chaplains are also liaisons connecting with various communities to remind them that chaplains are available to assist should the need arise.

“Some people are not comfortable going to their rab -

“I’m there as a life preserver; my job is to be there for them to hold onto.”

David Egert, right, delivering supplies

Mendy speaking at a recent chaplain graduating ceremony

bis,” shares Rachel, “perhaps they feel they might be judged in some way. There are times when they might feel more comfortable going to a chaplain.”

Dovid Egert, U.S. army and USCC chaplain (who also has rabbinical ordination), works full-time for the United States Army. He stresses that he is available to help anyone from any faith that needs counseling.

“I am a rabbi to some, but a chaplain to all,” he asserts.

As a chaplain, Dovid recalls the time a soldier was so down, he was contemplating taking his own life. “After talking to him for three hours, he felt better, and, today he’s doing very well.”

Of course, as a Jewish chaplain, Dovid organizes the Shabbat services, oneg Shabbat, holiday events and meals and is the logical address for any Jewish faith questions.

“There was a soldier in my unit,” Dovid shares, “that I used to chat with a lot about Judaism. He was secular and never thought too much about religion. Today, he’s enrolled in a yeshiva.”

Dovid also recalls the trust he gained from one of his soldiers who was engaged to a non-Jew. After a number of heart-to-heart conversations, the soldier broke his engagement and is now married to a Jew. Recently, Dovid brought down a mohel to the base to perform a bris on the soldier’s first-born son.

Dovid also shares his experience with a Muslim soldier who would come once a week to schmooze with him.

“He felt comfortable talking to me, he said, because Judaism was the closest to Islam. He ended up bringing four Jewish soldiers from his unit to our Jewish Shabbat and holiday services. They come pretty often now.”

Rachel shares her different roles as chaplain. “Often, I feel like I’m called on to be a representative for the Jewish people,” she says.

Through working with people of all faiths, Rachel shows by her actions that a Jewish person is not what the media often chooses to portray. For instance, a few weeks ago, an ny PD officer was shot and killed. “I’d never gone to a Muslim funeral, but I did then, proudly wearing my Magen David.” Rachel maintains that she wanted to prove that even though we are from different communities, we can support one another.

“My hope was to create that bond between our faiths and to show that I was there to support them through their grief, an emotion that’s so universal.”

Chaplains are also there on a very practical level.

“We often have the ability to cut through the red tape and get things done where the average citizen can’t or might not be able to at a given moment,” explains Rachel.

“A grandmother called and told me that her fouryear-old grandson had a heart attack. Because of his critical condition, a very limited number of people were okayed to visit him in the ICU because of hospital regulations. The mother of the child was at home with a newborn, and the four-year-old had no one in the hospital with him. I was able to tap into my network and reach out to the hospital chaplain. Within 15 minutes, the grandmother was in the hospital room with her grandchild.”

The big question many ask about this kind of service to humanity is how is it possible to be there for someone in their intense pain and not let it get you down? Dovid explains what works for him.

“I take myself out of the picture. I understand that this is not my life; it’s happening to someone else. I’m there as a life preserver; my job is to be there for them

she’s still too mired in that loss.”

Rachel says the survivor gets dressed up, especially when she knows she’s coming.

“Sometimes, I’ll tell her jokes to make her laugh, whatever she needs.”

Inspiration and Takeaway

Often, Mendy shares, he gains inspiration from the individuals he counsels. In the Surfside tragedy, there was a couple that lost their pregnant daughter. The mother was so devastated, she wanted her life to end.

“I was there doing whatever I could to emotionally support them for the next three weeks until after the burial. After the funeral, the father and his son came over to me and said, ‘We want to learn how to do what you did for us. Can you teach us?’ Today, they are chaplains in Los Angeles.”

Rachel shares that last year her mother became an honorary chaplain and her sister later became a chaplain as well. “It means so much to us as a family descended from Holocaust survivors to be able to give back to our communities and do for others. And it was so meaningful to me when my sister and mother joined as well.”

to hold onto. I can only do that if, like a life preserver, I keep floating. “

Some chaplains keep themselves from getting dragged under through setting limits on how long they’ll spend talking to someone at a time or through sharing the painful details of what they’ve heard with other trained professionals. Rachel says that she takes the life-affirming part of the conversations with her.

“It doesn’t mean my clients’ pain evaporates when I leave, but it allows me to process it in a different way so I don’t get dragged down. For example, I volunteer at the Boro Park y at Club nissim – a group comprised of Holocaust survivors – everyone a miracle. One of the women survived a series of concentration camps and later lost her son on 9/11. When I come to the Y, I look for her. I’ll try to sit with her and hold her hand and listen while she talks to me about her son. I knew him briefly so I’m able to comfort her in a different way while sharing my own memories of him.

“As a chaplain, I can listen to her grief, as opposed to her family who at this point worry that

A special advantage to being a chaplain, Mendy explains, is that while some secular people are threatened by the idea of talking to a rabbi/priest/imam, they feel no pressure speaking of spiritual matters to a chaplain. Because of this, there is more leeway to impact these individuals spiritually.

Mendy shares a heartrending story of a non-religious man at Surfside whose daughter’s body was not recovered all at once. The father agreed to bury the body parts of his daughter that were recovered but insisted on cremating the rest of the body when it would be found. Mendy had the unenviable task of explaining to the distraught father why, according to Judaism, cremation was not acceptable. The result: a kosher funeral was held for this man’s daughter.

Rachel sees the beauty in her role as a chaplain.

“I am here to help people understand their own value.,” she explains. “As a chaplain, I try to always remind people of their worth and humanity, even when going through the most awful situations. I remind them that they are more than the worst part of their life. When I sit with them through their darkest moments, I am saying to them, not only am I here with you to help you get through this but to let you know that I see you beyond your emergency.”

“When I realized I could be a chaplain, something clicked, and a beautiful light went on inside me. This was my answer.”

A chaplain providing succor during the Surfside tragedy

David Egert, left

Chol Hamoed Places to Go, Things to Do

Pesach comes out as trees are beginning to blossom and the sun starts to peek through the clouds. We hope to have balmy temperatures as we celebrate Chag HaAviv, but remember that nothing warms you up more than enjoying quality time together. Take advantage and spend time with the family during chol hamoed – indoors or outdoors.

TJH has compiled a list of ideas, activities, and places to go for you to enjoy. Make sure to pack enough food (macaroons, matzah, and marshmallows!) and music for the road and have fun!

Zoos and Farms

Queens County Farm Museum

73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park, NY 11004 718-347-3276

White Post Farms

250 Old County Road, Melville, NY 11747 631-351-9373

New York Aquarium

Surf Avenue & West 8th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11224 718-265-FISH

Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center 431 East Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901 631-208-9200

Prospect Park Zoo

450 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 718-399-7339

Queens Zoo

53-51 111th Street, Flushing, NY 11368 718-271-1500

Central Park Zoo

64th Street & 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10065

212-861-6030

Green Meadows Farm

73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park, NY 11002 718-470-0224

Green Meadows Farm Brooklyn

At the Aviator Sports Center

3159 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234 718-470-0278

Bronx Zoo

2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10460 718-220-5103

Long Island Game Farm

489 Chapman Boulevard, Manorville, NY 11949 631-873-6644

Scenic Attractions

Central Park

Boating, biking, the Great Lawn, model-boat sailing, carriage rides, carousel

Between 5th & 8th Avenues and 59th & 106th Streets, New York, NY 212-360-3444

Bryant Park

6th Avenue, between W 40-42 Street, New York, NY 10018 212-768-4242

New York Highline

Gansevoort St. to West 30 St. between Washington St. and 11 Ave., New York, NY 212-500-6035

Brooklyn Bridge Park

1 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 718-222-9939

Little Island Floating Park Pier 55 in Hudson River Park West 13 Street, New York, NY 10014

Fort Tyron Park

Riverside Drive to Broadway, W 192 Street to Dyckman Street, New York, NY

New York Circle Line

Pier 83, West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036

Pier 16, South Street Seaport, New York, NY 10038 212-563-3200

Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island

Ferries from Battery Park, NY 1 Battery Place, New York, NY 10004 212-363-3200

Jamaica Bay Riding Academy

7000 Shore Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11234 718-531-8949

Old Westbury Gardens

71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568 516-333-0048

Sands Point Preserve

127 Middle Neck Road, Sands Point, New York 11050 516-571-7901

Great Neck Steppingstone Park

38 Stepping Stone Lane, Great Neck, NY 11021 516-487-9228

Sagamore Hill

20 Sagamore Hill Road, Oyster Bay, NY 11771 516-922-4788

South Street Seaport 89 South St., New York, NY 10038 212-732-7678

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens 900 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 718-623-7200

Brooklyn Heights Promenade Downtown Brooklyn—

Remsen Street to Orange Street along the East River

The New York Botanical Garden

2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10458 718-817-8700

Wave Hill Public Gardens 675 W 252 St, Bronx, NY 10471 718-549-3200

Union Square Greenmarket

Union Square West, New York, NY 10003 212-788-7476

Historic Richmond Town 441 Clarke Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10306 718-351-1611

Bear Mountain State Park Route 9W North, Bear Mountain, NY 10911 845-786-2701

The Amish Village 199 Hartman Bridge Road, Ronks, PA 17572 717-687-8511

Mystic Seaport

75 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355 888-973-2767

Amusement Parks

Six Flags Great Adventure

1 Six Flags Boulevard, Jackson, NJ 08527 201-862-0250

Hersheypark

100 W. Hersheypark Drive, Hershey, PA 17033 717-534-3900

Adventureland

2245 Broad Hollow Road (RT 110), Farmingdale, NY 11735 631-694-6868

Adventurer’s

1824 Shore Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11214 718-975-2748

Luna Park Coney Island 1000 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224 718-373-5862

Bayville Adventure Park 8 Bayville Ave, Bayville, NY 11709 516-624-7433

Sahara Sam’s Oasis and Water Park & Diggerland 535 N Route 73, West Berlin, NJ 08091 856-767-7580

Bronx Zoo Treetop Adventure Climb and Zipline Bronx River Parkway at Boston Road, Bronx, NY 10460 347-308-9028

Indoor Fun Parks

Legoland Discovery Center Westchester 39 Fitzgerald Street, Yonkers, NY 10701 844-740-9223

Fun Fuzion at New Roc City 19 Lecount Place, New Rochelle, NY 10801 914-637-7575

Fun Station USA

3555 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10314 718-370-0077

The Funplex 3320-24 NJ-38, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 856-273-9666

Laser Bounce 80-28 Cooper Avenue, Glendale, NY 11385 347-599-1919

Laser Bounce 2710 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, NY 11756 516-342-1330

RPM Raceway Go-Karting 40 Daniel St, Farmingdale, NY 11735

631-752-7223

RPM Raceway Go-Karting 99 Caven Point Rd, Jersey City, NJ 07305 201-333-7223

One World Observatory

One World Trade Center, 117 West Street, New York, NY 10007

844-OWO-1776

Chelsea Piers

Hudson River—Piers 59-62—New York, NY 212-336-6800

Edge at Hudson Yards 30 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001 332-204-8500

Woodmere Lanes 948 Broadway, Woodmere, NY 11598 516-374-9870

Funfest Bowling 6161 Strickland Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234 718-763-6800

Chuck E. Cheese 162 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, NY 11550 516-483-3166

Kids N Shape

162-26 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, NY 11414 866-567-1989

Beat the Bomb 255 Water St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 917-983-1115

Brooklyn Boulders 23-10 41 Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 718-482-7078

MetroRock Brooklyn 321 Starr Street, Brooklyn, NY 11237 929-500-7625

High Exposure Rock Climbing 266 Union St, Northvale, NJ 07647 201-768-8600

Thrillz High Flying Adventure Park 5 Prindle Ln, Danbury, CT 06811 203-942-2585

Long Island Adventure Park 75 Colonial Springs Rd, Gate #3, Wheatley Heights, NY 11798 631-983-3844

Trapeze School NY 467 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206 212-242-8769

Trapeze School NY

353 West St, New York, NY 10014 212-242-8769

Urban Air 4422 2nd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232 347-732-5438

Skyzone Trampoline Park 33 Lecount Place, New Rochelle, NY 10801 914-740-8272

Skyzone Trampoline Park 111 Rodeo Drive, Deer Park, NY 11717 631-392-2600

Rockin’ Jump Trampoline Park 241 Market Street, Yonkers, NY 10710 914-510-9119

Launch Trampoline Park 163-50 Cross Bay Blvd, Howard Beach, NY 11414 718-593-4204

iFLY

849 Ridge Hill Blvd, Yonkers, NY 10710 914-449-4359

Glow Golf Roosevelt Field Mall, Garden City, NY 11530 516-747-3682

Smith Point Archery 215 E Main Street, Patchogue, NY 11772 631-289-3399

VR World NYC

8 East 34 Street, New York, NY 10016 646-515-0868

Dave & Busters

395 Gateway Dr, Brooklyn, NY 11239 718-368-6100

Dave & Busters

1 Sunrise Mall, Massapequa, NY 11758 516-809-8514

Dave & Busters

1504 Old Country Road, Westbury, NY 11590 516-542-8501

Skating

Iceland Long Island 3345 Hillside Avenue, New Hyde Park, NY 11040 516-746-1100

City Ice Pavilion 47-32 32 Place, Long Island City, NY 11101 718-706-6667

Long Beach Ice Arena 150 W Bay Dr, Long Beach, NY 11561 516-705-7385

Lefrak Center Ice Skating 171 East Drive, Brooklyn, NY 11225 718-462-0010

Something Different

Puppetworks 338 Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, NY 11215 718-965-3391

Make It Too 86 Cedarhurst Ave, Cedarhurst, NY 11516 516-341-7660

Build a Bear Roosevelt Field Mall 630 Old Country Road, Garden City, NY 11530 516-248-0027

Sloomoo Institute: Slime Museum 475 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 Sloomooinstitute.com

Artrageous Studio

5 N Village Ave, Rockville Centre, NY 11570 516-255-5255

Once Upon a Dish

659 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530

516-742-6030

Baked in Brooklyn

242 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11249

718-384-2300

Brooklyn Clay Industries

62 5th St, Suite 306, Brooklyn, NY 11205

301-395-0143

Color Me Mine

123 Baxter St, New York, NY 10013 212-374-1710

La Mano Pottery

110 West 26 Street, New York, NY 10001 212-627-9450

Casa de Spin

81 Grand Avenue, Massapequa, NY 11758

516-654-7746

Taro’s Origami Studio

95 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215

718-360-5435

Bury the Hatchet

25 Noble Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222

917-243-9696

2BA Pilot Flight Lessons

9100 Republic Airport, Farmingdale, NY 11735

516-662-8887

Museums

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

Pier 86, 12th Avenue and 46th Street

212-245-0072

9/11 Memorial and Museum

200 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10006

212-266-5211

Jewish Museum

1109 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128

212-423-3200

Museum of Jewish Heritage 36 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10280 646-437-4202

Living Torah Museum 1603 41 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11218 718-851-3215

Long Island Children’s Museum

11 Davis Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 516-224-5800

Skyscape 928 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10019 212-549-1941

Museum of Illusions

77 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10014 212-645-3230

National Museum of Mathematics

11 East 26 Street, New York, NY 10010 212-542-0566

Brooklyn Children’s Museum 145 Brooklyn Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11213 718-735-4400

Jewish Children’s Museum

792 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11213 718-467-0600

Children’s Museum of Manhattan 212 W 83rd St, New York, NY 10024 212-721-1234

NYC Fire Museum

278 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013 212-691-1303

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024 212-769-5100

Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10028 800-662-3397

Frick Collection

1 E 70 St., New York, NY 10021 212-288-0700

Lower East Side Tenement Museum 103 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002 877-975-3786

The Skyscraper Museum

39 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10280 212-945-6324

CitiField Non-Game Day Tours

41 Seaver Wy, Queens, NY 11368 718-803-4097

Yankee Stadium Tours

1 E 161 Street, Bronx, NY 10451 646-977-8687

Vanderbilt Museum & Planetarium

180 Little Neck Road, Centerport, NY 11721 631-854-5579

Liberty Science Center Liberty State Park, 222 Jersey City Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07305 201-200-1000

Crayola Experience 30 Centre Square, Easton, PA 18042 1-866-875-5263

The Franklin Institute 222 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-448-1200

Please Touch Museum

4231 Avenue of the Republic (formerly North Concourse Drive), Philadelphia, PA 19131 215-581-3181

Imagine That! Children’s Museum

4 Vreeland Road, Florham Park, N.J. 07932 973-966-8000

TJH assumes no responsibility for the kashrus, atmosphere, safety, or accuracy of any event or attraction listed here. Please call before you go. Some places require reservations, are limited in capacity, and have other restrictions in place. Have a great time!

What Would You Do If…

Thank you so much for your wonderful column. I look forward to reading it every week and the discussions that ensue after around my Shabbos table with family and friends. Thank you in advance for reading my email, and I hope this can get published.

Navidaters,

DearI started dating David* a few months ago. Things are going really well. Recently, I’ve begun introducing him to my friends and hanging out somewhat on Shabbos or going to lunch on Sunday in a group of friends. My best friend has been acting in a way that I can only call “strange.” It makes me and David very uncomfortable. She is flirtatious and shows off and dominates conversation. She becomes all silly and giggly. David recently told me that she private-messaged him on social media saying she’s so happy for the both of us and is looking forward to spending time with both of us, as a couple.

My question is not about David. David is kindness and compassion, and he always does the right thing. He is boundaried and just wants me to feel comfortable. He also feels uncomfortable around my friend.

I told my friend in a nice way that the way she is acting around David makes David uncomfortable; pointing out examples of the things she does. I told her that I want to continue our friendship, but I need her to stop being so flirtatious and inappropriate. She accused me of being jealous and irrational. I felt like I was losing my mind.

A few days later, after radio silence between us, she reached out to David and told him what I said and warned him about me. I guess I am reaching out for chizuk and a little advice even about how to move forward. I see that she can’t be in my life. I am so shaken up. She is also starting a smear campaign about me amongst our friend group. I am getting phone calls left and right from both concerned friends who are in my corner and also from friends who are telling me I’m crazy and that our friend would never do anything to compromise my relationship. I have never been in such a situation. Any thoughts, feedback, well wishes would be so appreciated. I keep wondering if it’s me. Maybe I am too sensitive. Then I realize that the way she has been carrying herself is actually inappropriate. I can’t believe this is happening. She is a bridesmaid at my wedding, and I haven’t taken back the invitation yet.

Thank you for listening and I look forward to your responses.

-Atara*

Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters

The Rebbetzin

Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

Atara, if everything you are saying is true, your best friend is out of line, immature, and probably jealous. If you and David are fine, secure in your relationship, and have boundaries, this is her problem.

Avoid further drama. Don’t talk about it at all. This is not high school. Tell your friends politely that David and you are fine. She will be a bridesmaid. Take the higher moral ground.

You will have to mourn the relationship you thought you had. That may be hard now as you are moving closer to your marriage and have many things on your mind. You may want to see a therapist about this for a session or two for help with closure with dignity and understanding.

Make sure to keep your relationship with David strong and healthy. Mazal tov.

The Shadchan

Michelle Mond

Wow, what a difficult predicament.

I’m so sorry you’re going through

this. Friend breakups and the pain that goes with it can sometimes be just as hard as relationship breakups. The feelings you might be feeling now are:

Confusion: Why is she doing this? Is she really doing something wrong, or is it just me? Why would she act this way?

Self-Doubt: If only I was less sensitive, maybe this would all blow over.

Discomfort and Feeling Unsafe: She knows so much about me and now is no longer “in my corner” and even worse, smearing me, what else is she capable of? What is coming next?

The good news is you are thankfully engaged to an amazing man who is sensitive, kind, and is completely understanding the situation properly. Your friend is likely jealous and a severe attention seeker who has found a new target. My advice to you is from now to stay as far away from her as you can. People like this get a thrill of sabotaging people’s relationships. They find passive aggressive ways to make you feel like the crazy one when they are the one acting inappropriately.

My hope as you navigate your newly distanced and monotonous relationship with her is that she will back out of bridesmaid position on her own. She will also likely soon find a new target, as attention seekers usually do. The examples you gave in your letter make it very obvious that this friend has been inappropriate, and your true and intelligent friends will acknowledge this and

Pulling It All Together

The Navidaters

Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

D ear Atara, Thank you for writing to the panel! And thank you again for your kind words. It is so heartwarming to know that you have invited us into your home and that the column sparks lively

discussion.

It sounds like you are with a super healthy, boundaried guy, and I am thrilled for you! Da - vid and you

side with you.

So sorry you’re dealing with such a stressful time right before Pesach. Hatzlacha with this and chag sameach!

The Zaidy

Dr. Jeffrey Galler

My father, a”h, always used to advise, “When two people throw mud at each other, they both end up looking dirty.”

My very, very strong advice is that this is the moment for you to refrain from negativity, and, instead, carry yourself like a queen who is above it all.

Do not get into a mudslinging contest with your friend. You should not be explaining to anyone, and certainly not texting, what happened between you and your friend. Anything you say or write will be repeated, re-texted, analyzed, reinterpreted, misinterpreted, and used to escalate the conflict.

When someone asks about the situation, simply respond with, “Even the closest of friends can have disagreements. I would rather not discuss it. I’m looking forward to my friend being a bridesmaid at the wedding.” If necessary, repeat the same sentence, and nothing more.

Ask your chosson to respond similarly. If your friend contacts him, he can

say, “I know that you and Atara have been great friends, and she’s looking forward to having you as a bridesmaid at the wedding.” Again, if necessary, he can repeat the same sentence and not say anything else.

Finally, if your friend reaches out to you, do not dwell on the past. Instead, simply say nothing more than, “Let’s put it behind us. I’m looking forward to my friend being a bridesmaid at the wedding.”

As Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) once wrote, “Don’t wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.” Don’t get into a quarrel with an irrational person. Win or lose, you bring yourself down to her level.

are handling this situation with dignity and grace, and you are working together as a couple to deal with what I can only describe as a major stressor. What you are describing is absolutely toxic behavior on the part of your “friend.” She has attempted to gaslight you by telling you that you are “jealous and irrational.” Oh, Atara, there is

nothing jealous or irrational about your spot-on intuition. When a person with a personality disorder is accusing you of something, it is usually their confession. Not one to diagnose from afar, your friend’s behavior points to some sort of issue within her personality. I believe she may be so deeply jealous of you and your relationship that she is unaware

They find passive aggressive ways to make you feel like the crazy one when they are the one acting inappropriately.

that her actions are so obviously deeply disturbing.

Some men and women feel threatened when a good friend gets into a relationship. They cannot tolerate the thought of losing the friendship and/or your very happiness and so they begin to sabotage through manipulation, passive aggressive behaviors, controlling behaviors, and inappropriate interactions with your beloved...all in the name of “friendship.”

The smear campaign she has started is typical narcissistic behavior. You called her out on her behavior, and she cannot tolerate being “seen,” so she must drag your name through the mud

and make you look like the bad guy, the crazy one, or the jealous and irrational one. You told her what is bothering you and asked her to stop. A healthy friend would have felt remorse and shame at her behavior. (A healthy friend wouldn’t have been so inappropriate to begin with.) She would have felt bad. A difficult friend gets angry at you when you tell her how you feel.

Unfortunately, with such people, the only thing you can do is have a giant boundary. Keep far away from her. She is dangerous. There is nothing you can do about her smear campaign other than ask someone to intervene to try and speak some sense into her. Do not

hold your breath. This is a devastating situation to be in, and I’m so sorry this is happening to you. It’s confusing, and it’s so hurtful. I believe that these situations are more common than we realize. It seems like your friend is incredibly codependent and/or obsessed with you. She either just can’t stand your happiness and she was trying to be a third wheel to remain relevant in your life and/or she was going to make a move on David. I hope she finds the help she needs so she can find her own happiness and that she doesn’t go on to attempt to destroy other peoples’ happiness.

You and David handled this like

pros! The silver lining in this cloud is that she showed her true colors now and she won’t be in your wedding photos. Wishing you all the best!

Sincerely, -Jennifer

School of Thought

By Etti Siegel

Q:Dear Etti, I am nervous about the long yom tov break. Don’t get me wrong. I love Pesach. I love my family. But I do not like the days before Pesach when my kids have no structure. I do not enjoy the long yom tov afternoons when they have nothing to do. I do not like the fact that my kids are often complaining about boredom. They are used to being so busy in school! Any advice?

-Predicting a Headache

A:Dear Predicting, My advice to you is the same advice I tell every teacher I work with: be proactive.

So often, we are reactive. We respond to situations. We come up with solutions. That is more taxing than being proactive in the first place!

You know your children will, at times, be bored. This is predictable for your children. So now figure out what you can do to prevent that boredom.

For before Pesach:

Have your children sit down and make up a schedule. Remind them to put in davening. Make sure they have options to put in their schedule. Are other children around? Can you arrange a playdate? Other children are also bored! Maybe the kids can play at your house part of the time and at the friend’s house part of the time. (The other mother might not be open to having friends over so close to Pesach, so have them at your house. It is worth the built-in entertainment!)

Have supplies available and know where you are letting them use those supplies. Girls need coloring supplies and space. Boys might need building areas. Let them tell you what they need, within your limits.

Playing school is fun and familiar. Set up the turn-taking procedures – who gets to be morah or rebbe first? Does everyone have to stay in the game the whole time? Many children quit when it is not their turn anymore. What do they get if they all treat each other well? Don’t expect them to figure out how to be fair on their own. Print out coloring sheets, fun sheets…

Have the older children (even children as young as 3rd or 4th grade could) plan a pre-Pesach day camp for your younger ones. It is even more fun to have a neighbor or two. (Makes it more official.) Don’t let the camp last more than a few hours; running a camp is hard work. Make

sure they allow free play and have books prepared for read alouds. Be sure to provide your campers and staff with snacks. Have chometz lunches (sent by parents) eaten outside. Build in clean-up time. Remind your children that little kids know a lot of Pesach songs that they can sing. Have music for them to dance and freeze-dance to.

Plan for Pesach:

Can your children be encouraged to rest erev Pesach? On the first day of Pesach before the next late night? The promise of a chocolate snack or chocolate bar is usually enough to have children stay in bed for a while. Make sure your expectations are clear. You should not retroactively decide who deserves a treat and who doesn’t based on length spent in bed if you didn’t make it clear beforehand.

Can you buy or borrow books that your kids have not yet read?

Can you buy or borrow (or trade) a few games that are new to your children that would engage them for a few hours?

Are there albums (remember those?) that you can take out for Pesach and tell the stories each picture alludes to? Children not only love the backstory, they enjoy that it is YOUR backstory. Even if they have heard the stories before, they are usually interested in hearing them again.

Remember, food is crucial. Hungry children are irritated children. Make sure to have mini meals planned around all the late and big meals that we eat. Have snacks.

Remember, food is important, it actually helps boredom! People snack as one way to keep busy. Have vegetables and melon cut up and available. Put out toothpicks to make eating the fruits and veggies more fun.

Try to arrange some playdates. Encourage your older children to make plans. The sedarim make people tired, but late afternoon is a good time to be with friends. (Try to be around if you are hosting your child and a friend. Children who are off schedule are often dysregulated, and tempers can flare.)

I know you will be tired as well. Remember to have age-appropriate expectations. Being upset that children don’t give you time to rest might be expecting more than they can deliver, leading you to get upset. Asking for help from children who are not going to sleep at their regular bedtime might be asking for too much.

Being proactive and clear with your expectations works in the classroom. It can work for you, too!

A meme going around quips, “They will remember our mood more than they will remember your food.” I think I would add, “They will remember our mood more than they will remember anything else.” My friend Anita shared a great line with me, “Be present where your feet are.”

Have a wonderful Pesach and Pesach break. Enjoy how much your children know and try to listen when they share. They want to be seen and heard, especially during this busy time.

Chag kasher v’sameach, - Etti

Figure out what you can do to prevent that boredom.

Mrs. Etti Siegel holds an MS in Teaching and Learning/Educational Leadership and brings sound teaching advice to her audiences culled from her over 35 years of teaching and administrative experience. She is an Adjunct at the College of Mount Saint Vincent/Sara Shenirer. She is a coach and educational consultant for Catapult Learning, is a sought-after mentor and workshop presenter around the country, and a popular presenter for Sayan (a teacher-mentoring program), Hidden Sparks, and the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools. She is a frequent contributor to Hamechanech Magazine and The Journal for Jewish Day School leaders. She will be answering your education-based questions and writing articles weekly for The Jewish Home. Mrs. Siegel can be reached at ettisiegel@gmail.com.

Our ancestors left Mitzrayim in such a hurry that the dough had to bake on their backs. There are many questions asked and divrei Torah written, but for this article we can suffice with remembering that it was a humble bread. In fact, matzah is called lechem oni (“bread of the poor”) because of its simplicity. Today, many note the irony of the current price point for a poor man’s bread but, despite that, it’s still made from the same, simple ingredients of generations past.

That first Pesach Seder featured a lamb that had been tied to a bedpost for four days. A few of my little ones have gotten hopeful we’d permit them to sleep with a baby sheep beside them; sadly, we’ve never agreed. Other foods may have been served, but it’s clear that the main event was simply a roasted sheep.

Housing was simple in Egypt (no indoor plumbing) but was followed by dwelling in the ananei hakavod (“Clouds of Glory”). Our houses are far larger and more sophisticated than our humble Egyptian abodes, but they can’t beat the clouds.

Parenting Pearls

Simply Pesach

By Sara Rayvych, MSEd

Today, we still eat matzah made the traditional way, while hoping for the return of the Beis Hamikdash and Korban Pesach. Along with our matzah, we serve four course meals, each containing multiple dishes. We spend hours preparing menus, shopping, and, finally, cooking.

Days and weeks are spent preparing our homes. The poor nooks and crannies never knew what hit them. Our main floor alone likely contains more square footage (amos?) than their ancient Egyptian counterparts. What may have been a simple task centuries ago has become far more complex.

Appliances have taken kashering to a new level. What was formerly simple metal and wooden utensils has morphed into complex electronics that disintegrate if you look at them wrongly.

Despite these increased challenges, Pesach doesn’t need to be the feared event many view it as. Pesach has become a truly misunderstood yom tov. I’ve heard of the lengths people go “for Pesach” – none of which is halachically mandated. They spend hundreds they can’t spare, on cleaning help they don’t

need, to have someone do unnecessary tasks. It’s not just insanity, it’s truly sad.

Simplifying Pesach down to a more basic level may ultimately enhance the yom tov for all of us. Simpler menus, easier recipes, and halacha-only based preparations can remove some of the tears and dread.

Shalom Among the Family

It’s wonderful spending Pesach with family, and it’s time that families treasure together. This increased togetherness can also lead to greater tension. It can be helpful to address potential concerns in advance and create boundaries, as needed. Each family has their own unique dynamic, but I’d like to briefly mention a few potential areas of strife.

The host family puts a lot of effort into preparing meals and housing for a larger than usual crowd. Everyone can assist with serving and clean-up. When meal assignments are set up before yom tov – preferably on paper – meals run smoother as everyone knows their jobs. It also prevents the inevitable resentment when one person is doing most of

the work while others don’t do their fair share.

It’s generally understood that families like to relax on yom tov, and adults enjoy a good nap. It’s best when appropriate arrangements are clarified in advance over who will be watching the kids at different times. Too often, one parent rests daily while the other is on constant baby duty. Alternatively, the babysitting falls on to the shoulders of a teen, an unmarried young woman, or someone else who feels unduly burdened with a responsibility that isn’t theirs.

With a little prior planning, the kids can be supervised, and everyone can have some time for menuchas yom tov. There are many options, and what works best depends on your family’s needs. Ideas include mom and dad taking shifts, parents from each family unit taking turns watching all the families’ kids (hectic during your shift but you’re on-call less frequently), or hiring (ask your rav for relevant halachos) a teen or young adult in the family to help. If your unmarried sibling (or child) helps out a lot over yom tov without charge, please

get them a gift anyway. It doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive, but appreciation goes a long way towards avoiding resentment. I stress this point because I’ve heard many singles and couples without children complain they get everything dumped on them.

In general, “please,” “thank you,” and generous compliments can go a long way. Just showing mutual respect and understanding is usually appreciated, as is compromise and open but gentle communication.

We need to maintain shalom within ourselves. There’s a lot to do and too few hours to do everything. We tend to go into yom tov with high expectations that often are impossible to meet. Let’s be gentle on ourselves throughout this time period.

Pesach Travelers

There are many who travel for yom tov, similar to our ancestors who left for the first Pesach. While many will be leaving for fancy destinations such as their in-laws, others will pursue more humble locations such as Orlando, Cancun, and Greece.

Personally, I’ve found it helpful to

pack for little ones based on the day, not individually for each child. I group the clothing according to each time I’ll be dressing them and not a separate bag per little one. When it’s time to dress, I just pull out the appropriate bag and everyone’s clothing – along with socks and other relevant items – are all together. I’ve found packing cubes are good for this but large Ziplock or similar bags

You may want to keep this item nearby throughout yom tov as young children can periodically need something to soothe them when they’re ready for a meltdown.

Babies and young children, in particular, can be nervous around crowds and people they don’t know. It can be beneficial to hold your child or stay near them as they acclimate to their new lo -

hurt feelings if you let family know beforehand that your little one may need some time to adjust before you hand them over. As always, know where your children are and who they’re with. Basic safety never goes on vacation.

We all have trouble feeling our best when we’re off-schedule; children are no exception. Preparing for the eventual “off” behaviors and accepting that a child may have trouble behaving appropriately with the yom tov schedule eases some of the expectations we adults have and prevents some of the inevitable frustrations when we see that temper tantrum coming.

will do the job just as well (removing the air will help with saving space). It can be helpful to have something familiar and calming for young children who are away from their homes and familiar surroundings. It may be a beloved toy or blanket. It can even be a soothing activity or simple card game. Having something quick and easy to calm, redirect, and refocus a child can help ease them into a new situation.

cation. Be prepared for some clinginess or tears.

Relatives will naturally want to hold the baby or hug their adorable, young cousin. It doesn’t matter how close you feel to that family member – if your child doesn’t know them, then your child won’t feel safe with them right away. Watch your child for cues to see when they’re ready to go and meet their excited relatives. It can help prevent

Pesach is truly a unique yom tov and creates lifelong memories. Shared with family and friends, the time period takes on new meaning. Let’s go into Pesach with whatever calm, simplicity, and emotional preparedness we can.

Wishing you a chag kasher v’sameach.

Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rockaway. She can be contacted at Rayvych Homeschool@gmail.com.

Let’s be gentle on ourselves throughout this time period.

From Despair to Great Joy

By David Elazar Simai M.D.

As we near the holiday of Passover, I wanted to share with you some of my experiences in the practice of pediatrics. I will present two situations that I encountered at my office and demonstrate to you what they share in common and how a simple resolution can change your children’s lives.

1. Shmuel is a healthy, very athletic 8-year-old boy who is a very picky eater. He came in with his mom for a well visit. His parents invested a tremendous amount of effort in trying to treat his dysfunctional eating. They went to a medical center in Manhattan that suggested that Shmuel suffers from ARFID, an eating disorder. They spent a large sum of money on therapies in the Manhattan Center and at a local psychologist as well. But much to their disappointment, Shmuel has not shown any improvement, and they totally gave up. His mom tells me during the visit in front of Shmuel: “My Shmuel will never eat normal foods.”

2. Nora is a 2-year-old toddler with her mother in for her well exam. Her mom conveys to me that Nora has gradually stopped eating regular table foods. Her mom is very nervous because Nora strongly rejects all the dinner choices. Nora seems to be developing nicely but is quite a stubborn toddler. When I ask her mom, “What does Nora like to eat?” her mom replies that she drinks milk and eats yogurts.

I will start with my reply to Nora’s mother. I explained to Nora’s mother that Nora has a common, natural gravitation to eating dairy foods. After all, as an infant, the majority of nutrition for our children comes from breast milk or infant formulas that contain cow’s milk. Parents will notice that at about nine months, their infants start rejecting large amounts of formula when offered. They all of a sudden don’t finish their formula bottles. I try to prepare the parents for this stage and explain that milk

and dairy products prevent our bodies from absorbing iron.

It so happens that we are born with large iron stores in our liver. Those iron stores slowly get depleted, and at the age of 9 months, our bodies are starved for iron. Pediatricians routinely screen infants for anemia at 9 months for this reason.

G-d has programmed our bodies to reject milk at precisely the age when milk starts to negatively impact our body. Instead of drinking a milk-based formula or nursing for 100% of their nutrition, our infants now need iron-rich foods. Those foods include (in order of descending iron potential) liver, red meat, chicken, red beans, and beets.

My suggestion to Nora’s mother was to stop offering yogurt as a dinner replacement. I asked her mother to stay calm, not to coerce Nora to eat her chicken that night for dinner, and to make sure that the fridge is free of yogurt. I prepared the mother for the possibility that Nora may throw a tantrum, cry, and possibly go to bed hungry that night.

I asked her mother to show sympathy if Nora is upset, but not to give in to the yogurt request.

I shared with her that when one of

my kids was 3 years old, he refused to eat chicken for dinner and demanded his favorite yogurt. My wife and I noticed that he didn’t have an appetite lately. He had been refusing to eat chicken or meat for a few weeks. My son threatened that if not given his yogurt he would go to bed hungry. And so he did. I admit that it was heartbreaking to hear and see, but I knew that giving in was not an option.

My son did go to bed hungry that night but woke up with a great appetite; he had not one but two eggs for breakfast. The best news was that the next time we offered him chicken, he gobbled down not one but four drumsticks.

I asked Nora’s mom to let me know how long it took to train Nora to eat normally. And I added that it may take up to two weeks. But I was totally wrong. This is the text I received from the mother…

“Hello good day Dr. Simai. This is….

“I just wanted you to know that Nora started eating Wednesday evening after we went home from your office, and she has been eating regularly. She is grabbing food now. You were right!!! Thank you. Thank you so very much. I appreciate your advice. It worked! G-d bless you and your family.”

What I learned from this feedback is

that, as parents, we have the power to change our kids in literally one moment with one simple resolution. And that decision has very little to do with our kids. It has to do with ourselves. As parents, we simply have to decide that our kids are simply not dysfunctional. Luckily, Nora, my son, and dozens of toddlers I have interacted with had success with this approach.

When I heard the mother say her 8-year-old will never eat normally, I felt like crying for the child and for the parents who lost faith in him. The boy had been having low self-esteem in his eating habits and now thinks that his fate is sealed.

I asked Shmuel’s mother to come to my consultation room. I told her that she is a wonderful mom. I was impressed by her dedication to her son. She did not spare any effort or funds for his health. But at this point, I asked her to try this approach: Whenever her son struggles and shows frustration about food, she should smile and tell him that she also ate exactly the same way when she was a teenager.

I walked back into the room and told Shmuel: I have some good news for you. You are totally normal. You will see that as your body changes, so, too, will your taste buds. I remember growing up and just looking at salad would make me nauseous, but now, I crave salad! “Shmuel, I promise you that you will be the same. You will start craving foods that you never liked before.”

This past week, Shmuel, a handsome, athletic teenager walked into my office. When I entered the room, I smiled at him, patted him on the back, and asked him how he was feeling. He replied, “I have a cold,” but his face was beaming. I asked him: “What do you eat these days?” His smile exploded when he heard this!

“Doctor, I eat steak three times a

week, I started eating omelets, and now I mix milk into my cereal!”

What I learned from being a father and a physician is the message I would like to share with you today. Rather than labeling our toddlers “picky” and giving up, we should approach our toddlers with confidence and trust. We should give them the opportunity to succeed not by giving in to their demands but by constantly instilling in them the notion that they will be successful.

When parents use this approach with their toddlers, their issues seem to dissipate within days. And if we have not realized the power of our words and are now facing a teenager, it’s not too late. It may take a few months or even years until that teenager changes, but his chance to succeed is through you! You possess the power to make him flourish, advance, and conquer his challenge.

sponsibility I have for my children, to make sure that I never harm them by saying any words that may hurt, scar, discourage, or prevent them from accomplishing what they could fulfill in their lifetime.

We are standing today on the Eve of Passover, the time of our cheirus , our Freedom. Let’s all grant our kids the freedom to succeed, without any negative feelings, labels, and fears. Let’s open a new chapter of positiveness, trust, hope, and buoyancy and cheer them on to conquer new heights.

We end the Maggid portion of the Haggadah with one key message: Thanking Hashem for transforming our lives. From darkness to a great light. The Haggadah is recited to remind us that no matter how grim and dark our situation may be, we have to believe that it could all change overnight.

And of course, this approach can be used with any challenge your child faces. If your face doesn’t show despair but rather hope, optimism and confidence, your child will prosper!

Let me leave you with one more story. When one of my sons was approximately 10 years old, he would ask for the gravy to be on the opposite side of the plate from the rice. One Friday night, I mistakenly mixed the gravy on his rice. He noticed it and was upset. I immediately apologized and said that I would gladly take his portion and give him a new plate. I added, “I want you to know that you are totally normal. In fact, you are eating much better than I did at your age. You will see that soon enough you won’t mind the gravy on your rice.”

Just a few months later, my son asked me to give him his portion on Friday night. This time, he smiled and added, “You can pour the gravy on the rice – and thank you for believing in me, Abba.”

I get teary when I think about my son’s sweet words. It is not just about being picky. It is about the feeling of re -

It is appropriate for all of us as well to utilize this spirit of freedom and liberation and remove the negative feelings or labels we have given our children. Let’s approach our children with a fresh, optimistic attitude and take them from sorrow to joy and from darkness to a great light!

Wishing you the best of health, true freedom and a chag kosher v’sameach.

Dr. Simai has been a general pediatrician with a private practice in Cedarhurst since 2005. He is a graduate of Mesivta Chofetz Chaim - Queens High School, Yeshiva University and SUNY Downstate Medical School. He completed his Pediatric Residency at LIJ-Schneider Children’s Hospital. For comments, please email drsimaipediatrics@ gmail.com.

The above-mentioned information is not intended to diagnose any specific disease. Always consult your personal physician before diagnosing or treating yourself or your child.

We should give them the opportunity to succeed not by giving in to their demands but by constantly instilling in them the notion that they will be successful.

A Perfect Plan for Pesach

By Aliza Beer MS, RD, CDN

With the imminent approach of Pesach, it is important to begin planning the menu and preparing the kitchen for the eight day holiday. Pesach can be a challenging time for maintaining health goals with the two Sedarim and customs surrounding abstaining from certain foods. Planning properly for the yom tov through meal prepping, portion control, maintaining physical activity and hydration, as well as making deliberate and mindful choices at snacks and meals will enable you to remain healthy and enjoy the chag.

Matzah: During Pesach, it is prohibited to eat chametz (grains that have risen). This includes wheat, oats, rye, barley and spelt, as well as leavening agents like yeast and sourdough. Additionally, Ashkenazi Jews refrain from consuming kitniyot, which are a family of foods that include rice, corn, millet, and legumes. It is also traditional to consume matzah, unleavened bread. During the Sedarim, matzah is required, but on the remaining days, try to keep consumption to a mini-

mum. Indulging in too much matzah can also increase your likelihood of developing constipation, due to its lack of fiber content. Keeping matzah to a minimum and maintaining exercise as well as keeping hydrated will encourage healthy bowel movements.

When selecting matzah, be sure to read the nutrition facts label. Wholewheat matzah, for example, contains more fiber and will aid in digestion. Additionally, one round shmurah matzah is two serving sizes of carbohydrates. Since matzah is a carbohydrate, be sure to pair this with other non-carbohydrate foods to make sure you are getting enough protein, vitamins, and minerals with your meals. When consuming matzah in a meal, make it your only carb for the meal. In other words, your sides should not be potatoes but rather roasted or grilled vegetables like burnt broccoli, cauliflower rice, zoodles, mushrooms, peppers, etc., and salads.

Sedarim: In addition to matzah, it is traditional to consume four cups of wine

or grape juice during each Seder. When selecting wine, choose one that is lower in alcohol content because alcohol is metabolized as a fat and slows down the metabolism. Since grape juice is naturally high in sugar (even unsweetened varieties are about 150 calories and 36 grams of sugar in one cup!), select a grape juice with a lower sugar content to limit consumption of additional unnecessary sugar. It is vital to avoid going into the Seder hungry as this will make you more inclined to overindulge at this very late meal and go to sleep on a full stomach. Consume a small meal prior to the Seder in the late afternoon, such as a protein and veggie or a hearty soup (yogurt with fruit, eggs/tuna with salad, or chicken soup with veggies and chicken are a few examples). This will help keep you satiated and will maintain your blood sugar levels, so you won’t feel the need to eat an overly large meal when it is finally time to eat.

When eating the Seder meal, it is also important to eat slowly and to chew the food thoroughly. This is a habit you

should try to adopt whenever you eat. Consuming food slowly enables your brain to register that your stomach is full and prevent overconsumption. Additionally, maintaining hydration and drinking fluid regularly with the meal will help the food to expand in your stomach and also increase satiety. A good tip is to drink a glass of water before each meal, including the Sedarim, for the water will act as an appetite suppressant and you will end up eating less at the meal. Having a hot beverage such as tea after the meal will also help to settle your stomach prior to going to sleep and also encourage satiety. Since tea is hot, people typically drink it more slowly, allowing one time to consider if they are actually still hungry before indulging in dessert.

Pesach Programs: When going away to a Pesach program, it is important to be mindful about how much you are consuming. Hotels will typically offer a large variety of food and an endless amount throughout the day and night. Try to refrain from consuming additional

Wishing Everyone A Happy Pesach

Bruce A. Blakeman County Executive Nassau County

snacks and extra meals. Stick to your regular routine of three meals and a couple of snacks. Don’t eat at the barbecue by the pool at 3pm when you just had lunch at 1pm. Consuming endless amounts of food throughout the day will result in weight gain. Fruit, dark chocolate, and nuts are good snacks to keep in your room if you get hungry throughout the day.

During meals, it is important to consume lean protein such as chicken, fish or egg whites as well as vegetables and limit large volumes of starch. Hotel programs will always offer vegetables and salads. Ask your server to have a salad prepared and waiting for you at your table for each served sit-down meal. This way, you will munch on the salad instead of the matzah while waiting for your meal.

Most programs will serve a tremendous amount of red meats. Red meat, including beef, lamb and veal, has 2-3 times more calories and fat than chicken. Keep your red meat consumption to no more than once a day during the chag days. While there are many large meals over Pesach, try not to consume a fivecourse meal every day. Don’t always eat the appetizer and the main; it is simply too much food.

Everyone, Everywhere: Designate

a day when you want to indulge in dessert. This should not be every day, and if you are going to mindfully indulge, do it earlier in the day rather than late at night when you are about to go to sleep. This will enable your body to properly digest

will feel satiety and this will prevent overconsumption.

Lastly, just because it’s there, doesn’t mean you have to eat it. There are 10 yom tov meals, you should not be “tasting” every dish at every meal. Choose your fa-

will help burn off the inevitable extra calories and will be good for maintaining regularity of the bowels.

it and keep your blood sugar under control. While eating, it is also important to sit down properly at the table and portion out your meal. When one eats standing up, either in the kitchen or at the buffet, it doesn’t register in your brain that you are actually eating and can lead to blindly grazing. Forcing yourself to only eat sitting down will help you to consume a normal quantity of food and help your body to register that you are eating; you

vorite foods and keep your meals to one plate meals and avoid the taking of second helpings.

Exercise: Incorporate physical activity into every single day, whether its chag or chol hamoed. Never underestimate walking – it’s a phenomenal exercise! If you are in a cold/rainy climate, then try to walk up/down steps, do jumping jacks, jump rope, and use online exercise videos over the days of chol hamoed. Exercise

Although there is a lot to consider during Pesach, with all the meals, eliminating foods and traveling, it is important to plan and be mindful of the food choices you make during the chag. Planning adequately through preparing salads, being mindful about your food choices as well as consuming fluids regularly and engaging in physical activity will enable you to remain healthy over Pesach. The goal is not to lose weight over Pesach, but to do your very best to maintain a healthy weight, or at the very least, to minimize a gain. Gaining 5-10 pounds over 8 days is incredibly unhealthy and unnecessary. As with everything else in life, moderation – not deprivation – is the key to a successful and wonderful yom tov!

Aliza Beer is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutrition. She has a private practice in Cedarhurst, NY. Patients’ success has been featured on the Dr. Oz show. Aliza can be reached at alizabeer@gmail.com, and you can follow her on Instagram at @alizabeer

It is vital to avoid going into the Seder hungry as this will make you more inclined to overindulge at this very late meal and go to sleep on a full stomach.

Assemblywoman Stacey

In The K tchen

Chinese Chicken

By Naomi Nachman

Ingredients

◦ 2 lbs. chicken pargiyot, cut into bite-size pieces

◦ 1 cup potato starch

◦ 1 tsp salt

◦ 1 tsp garlic powder

◦ Pepper, to taste

Sauce

◦ 1 cup ketchup

◦ ½ cup honey

◦ 4 TBS imitation soy sauce

◦ 4 TBS honey

◦ 2 cloves crushed garlic

◦ 1 teaspoon salt

◦ Sriracha sauce, to taste (optional)

Preparation

Mix potato starch with spices. Coat chicken in potato starch. Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. On medium-high heat, heat oil in a large sauté pan. Working in batches, brown chicken on all sides. Set aside. Once chicken is done, pour out any excess oil from the pan. Reduce heat to medium-low.

Add chicken back into the large pan and pour sauce over chicken, making sure to coat chicken well. Cook on low for 15 minutes.

Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.

I have been making this for my family for years on Pesach.

It is one of the dishes they expect to see on my menu. I serve it with cauliflower rice stir fry (see my Pesach cookbook

Perfect For Pesach published by Artscroll). I often serve it erev yom tov when one avoids eating a matzah meal to tide everyone over before the long night of Seder ahead.

Mind Y ur Business

Isaac Bardos: Energizing Your Business

This column features business insights from a recent “Mind Your Business with Yitzchok Saftlas” radio show. The weekly “Mind Your Business” show –broadcasting since 2015 – features interviews with Fortune 500 executives, business leaders and marketing gurus. Prominent guests include John Sculley, former CEO of Apple and Pepsi; Dick Schulze, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Best Buy; and Beth Comstock, former Vice Chair of GE; among over 400+ senior-level executives and business celebrities. Yitzchok Saftlas, president of Bottom Line Marketing Group, hosts the weekly “Mind Your Business” show, which airs at 10pm every Sunday night on 710 WOR and throughout America on the iHeartRadio Network.

On a recent 710 WOR “Mind Your Business” broadcast, Yitzchok Saftlas (YS) spoke with guest Isaac Bardos (IB), CEO of Scaling to Freedom.

YS: Isaac, what topics do you touch on when helping businesses?

IB: A huge part of your ability to succeed as a businessowner is in your energy. It’s your number one greatest resource. A day that a person feels like they don’t have that energy is going to be very different than one where they do feel like they’re full of energy, charged, confident, and feeling alive. On that sec -

ond day, anything’s possible. There’s no challenge that they can’t overcome, because they know they have the energy to really overcome whatever it takes. Energy is what creates more of something else. So, any creation, any problem solving, always starts with “what’s your level of energy?” Any challenge, whether it’s an employee, the marketplace, or a client or customer, that gives you a certain level of resistance requires a certain amount of energy. If you don’t have enough energy to overcome that, then that situation will always stress you out and weigh you down.

It’s all about getting into a physical and emotional state where you feel unstoppable, where you know with ab -

solute certainty, that no matter what is going to show up that day, you will overcome it.

There’s also what I call H.I.L.A. (high intention, low attachment), which means going in with the energy knowing there’s such a clear intention about exactly what you’re going to do. And with that very clear, confident intention, you’re not even paying attention to the doubts, the fears, the what ifs, etc. Being smart about calculated and strategic risk, but also looking at it from a place of “this is going to work out.” But there’s also low attachment to exactly how it’s going to work out. Because when you’re clear about the destination, but you’re flexible with the route to get there, it

becomes a lot less stressful. The reason traffic can be stressful is because we think, “This is the route I’m supposed to take. This is the time I’m supposed to be there.” But really, if the destination is 10:00, and then there’s a traffic jam or a detour and you’re going to get there late, when you have the right energy, then you can overcome whatever obstacle shows up. Because it doesn’t control you now.

That’s one of the foundational pieces. Getting people in a state where they really do feel unstoppable. Where there’s excitement and joy, knowing in their heart that they will succeed. There’s a high level of intention with that vision that’s in front of mind for them. But

there’s also low attachment to trying to make things happen the way that they think, which is where micromanaging, stress, and conflict come in.

As a business coach, how do you approach touching on difficult subjects with clients?

In larger companies, where there’s partners or multiple leaders, one of the reasons they bring me in is to be the guy that can have the very difficult conversations. Instead of that, what I do is I teach them how to have the difficult conversations. The old saying is “give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime.” But if you teach him how to fish and teach him the skill of how to teach other men, then you’ll teach him how to support a village. So, for a leader of a company, you want to teach them how to teach others, to be leaders. And very often, someone in that position is concerned about maintaining their position. There are people that even the CEO has to answer to, and everyone has different expectations and pressures.

The approach I bring to the table is that I’m willing to say something that’s more honest and direct than some other people have been willing to say to them because I truly believe that the truth will set you free. Very often, one of the reasons why people are stuck in certain business situations is because they’re not fully honest about what is the real truth about the situation. As individuals, we never see the full truth. We see our side of the truth. So, when I walk into a company and there’s an issue between people, there’s always three sides of the story. There’s their side, the other’s side, and the true side. I work with the leader to, first of all, be able to see what’s the real truth. And if it seems that the problem is with a particular person, it’s not that the person is problematic, it’s that there’s a perspective or a process that’s problematic. You never demonize the individual. You help focus in on what specifically the issue is. Then you help the person disconnect from that being their issue because they see it, “this is my process.” They’re very proud of it. They’re always going to defend it because they think that their value or authority is on the line when you’re trying to take that away from them. Have them look at it as if you’re just putting it in the middle of the table. Like a poker game, you put the cards on the table and say, “Let’s now look at this

in an objective way.” Because if it’s not yours, it’s just an idea, then you’re willing to look at it in a way where you’re willing to let go of or modify it, to take other people’s perspectives.

Another important thing is helping leaders be able to say, “What if I let go of this or give in and something goes wrong,” for whatever reason they’re fearing. Really walk them down that path because when there’s a conflict or stress, if we walk down the path of where that stress is going, it’ll show me your greatest fears. And once I can see your greatest fears, I’m going to know the foundational ways that you’re mak-

upon the foundation of how we see the world. Understanding our inner world, of our beliefs and thoughts, the emotional DNA behind why we’re doing what we’re doing, helps us become aware of ourselves and for the people we’re working with. Inside Mindset Mastery is also motivating employees, creating accountability, and having the confidence to do things. Most entrepreneurs grew up in a system that believes that you need to have years of experience under your belt, or a degree, for you to be confident that you can do something. But that’s totally false. Everything that you’re doing now, at one point you had

can’t both be true. And at that moment, they’re at the cusp of a breakthrough. If someone’s agitated, the second step, about something because you’ve brought it up and disturbed them, they’re ready to buy whatever solution you have to offer them. It’s not manipulative, all you’re doing is highlighting what’s not working, which brings you to solve, the third step.

The fourth pillar is the processes, people, and productivity. Once you have the mindset that you need and the customers coming in, then you have the sales system set up. There’s an art to marketing, but there’s a science to sales. Once those things are set up, you need the operations to be able to deliver on those sales. To deliver the process, product, or service, and onboard those clients in a way that then is serving your ability to move to pillar number five.

ing almost all decisions that are creating that stress for you and the domino effect for everyone else in your company. We want to be able to release that fear, but we can’t release it if we’re not aware of what it is.

Very often, when a business is struggling from the leadership side, it’s because there’s a mindset of belief the person is not even fully aware of, and they’re acting right now on emergency brakes, slowing them down from being able to see another perspective. There’s a fear of “what if it doesn’t work out?” They’re already seeing the eventual outcome in their mind. So, it’s not the strategy they need to change. It’s the way that they’re approaching the strategy. It’s never the person that’s wrong. It’s just the process or approach that’s not serving them. They didn’t wake up at 18 years old as a CEO. We’re talking with someone who worked their way there. They feel it was earned. And it was earned. But what was working for them up until now, if it’s no longer serving them, then it’s actually hurting them. Helping them be able to see that continuing down that same path is actually self-sabotaging is one of the easiest ways for people to realize, “I don’t want to keep shooting myself in the foot.”

Could you explain the Five Pillars To Success?

The first pillar is Mindset Mastery. Every decision that we make is all based

to have never done it before. The very first major thing that any person does is learning how to walk. Well, you had zero competence when you first took those steps. If people needed competence in walking, they would never walk. But, thank G-d, around 90% of the world knows how to walk. Because even when they didn’t, they were confident they could do it. Giving leaders the confidence to realize, “who says you can’t?” is Mindset Mastery.

The second pillar is Marketing Mastery. Once you’re clear about what you’re going to your market, you must understand exactly how to communicate that to attract the attention of relevant and interested people. Then, you need to bring them from cold to sold. It’s not just getting their attention. It’s getting their attention with the intention to work together, then moving them down that marketing funnel.

Pillar number three is what we call “Sales D.A.S.” “Das” is the Hebrew word for knowledge or wisdom. In this case, D.A.S. stands for Disturb, Agitate, and Solve. Disturb is the first step of a sale. People have to be dissatisfied with the status quo. At that point, they hit a threshold where they’re no longer willing to keep things the way that they’re going. There’s a necessity, a hunger, a drive. If someone’s really frustrated or confused, it’s actually a great moment. Because confusion means that there are two different things that they’re trying to believe at the same time that

The fifth pillar is Scaling Systems. Most small businessowners don’t know their numbers. Knowing what your numbers are gives you a pulse that allows you to understand the health of your business. If you go to a sports game and there’s no scoreboard, you don’t know how many innings or outs there are. You don’t know who’s on what base. You don’t know how many runs have been scored. It’s like there’s no skin in the game because you can’t even participate in it. Part of the drive comes from knowing those numbers. Just like the crowd goes crazy when the numbers on the scoreboard are really close. Can we make it? Can we not? Those numbers are very often what determine how scalable the company is versus if it’s just in survival mode.

“No matter what is going to show up that day, you will overcome it.”

Notable Quotes

“Say What?!”

The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law. No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence. Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.

- Tweet by Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responding to Trump’s indictment

Stalinist Pelosi. Prove innocent? It’s innocent until proven guilty, moron. Or at least used to be.

– Response by Mark Levin

Old dudes are eating Jell-O; everyone is talking about how great they are. I don’t really need to be there for that. That’s an hour and a half twice a week that I can get back.

- Sen. Krysten Sinema (Ind-AZ) talking about how she doesn’t miss going to the Democrat Senator weekly lunches since she left the Democrat Party and became an Independent

Trump and a number of his allies have been using dog-whistle attacks, antisemitic attacks against — when they attack D.A. Alvin Bragg by saying that he is backed by George Soros, who is Jewish.

- CNN political analyst Laura Barrón-López, even though George Soros admitted to working for the Nazis and stated on “60 Minutes” that his job was to confiscate property from Jews

New Yorkers know I’m bleeding blue and orange — the Mets represent an incredible spirit, history and institution and are of tremendous value to New Yorkers. However, Citibank’s practices do not represent the values of the Mets or our city, and we must make better demands. If Citi refuses to end their toxic relationship with the fossil fuel industry, the Mets should end their partnership with Citi.

- City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams at a press conference pushing the Mets to rename their stadium over climate change concerns

I can’t teach my kids to love the Mets if I’m also teaching them about climate change. The Mets are contributing to polluting the planet by partnering with Citi.

- Lucas Sanchez, co-executive director of New York Communities for Change

We are in the midst of an important debate; we will get past it. You will celebrate Passover. On Seder night, you will sit with your families. You will argue a little, not too much, you will reach agreements. This is our goal, to reach agreements.

- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the annual pre-Passover gathering

Me? I’m young! Age is not something I’m interested in. There are people who are forever young, amazed by everything, and then there are people who don’t care about anything and never loved anything.

- Pianist Colette Maze of Paris, age 108, talking to a local news outlet about her new album aptly titled: “108 Years of Piano”

It’s the epitome of the abuse of prosecutorial power to bring a case that would not be brought against anyone else. They are going after the man, not a crime.

– William Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general before having a falling-out with Trump and resigning

I think the impetus is really to help Trump get the nomination, focus the attention on him for two years, have this thing swirling around.

- Ibid.

Democrats Vow To Arrest As Many Political Opponents as it Takes to Defeat Fascism

- Satirical headline in the Babylon Bee

Any first-year student could win this case if the name wasn’t Donald Trump and if it wasn’t in Manhattan.

- Alan

Dershowitz,

on Fox News

I would try to move it to Staten Island or some upstate venue. But could you imagine a judge or a juror coming home to their wife and family and friends and saying, “I’m the man, I’m the woman who let Donald Trump off.” Nobody would ever speak to them again … There’s no possibility he can get a fair trial in Manhattan.

- Ibid.

Well then, I doubt that. No, I’m joking. I have no idea.

-

That is totally beneath the dignity of the office of the presidency of the United States. This is a guy, this is an office, that has the responsibility of leading this country — children are dead!

- Sen. Josh Hawley, in response

The fact that so many Americans have a firearm within reach but never committed violence tells you that guns are not the problem.

– Tucker Carlson, Fox News

Most people in this country can be trusted with an AR-15 just as we can be trusted with cars and light aircraft and electricity and baseball bats and insecticide and chainsaws and pruning shears and countless other objects that could easily double as weapons.

- Ibid.

President Joe Biden being funny when asked by a reporter if he agrees with Republican Senator Josh Hawley’s assessment that the Tennessee elementary school attack – in which three teachers and three children were killed – was a hate crime

I believe that $5 million in reparations is too little for the work that foundational Black Americans have done for this country and as well for other countries. I believe that $7.6 million is a number that can be used very wisely in our foundational Black American communities.

- An “activist” addressing the California Reparations Task Force last week, rejecting his fellow “activists’” calls for a measly $5 million in reparations to every black person

DeSantis is what they call a dweeb. And Trump is the one who needs to get the nomination, because then the Democrats will win. He’s a two-time loser already. Hellooooo! Loser!

- The “highly intelligent” Joy Behar on “The View”

I understand that there’s glitches in the app. That is something that we’re always looking at, something that we’re always wanting to make sure that we fix and deal with the issues because we want to make it easier for migrants to apply and to go through this process.

- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre talking about an app for migrants to use to seek asylum

Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decision by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.

- Tweet by Prime Minister Netanyahu in response to Pres. Joe Biden saying that Israel “cannot continue” down the road of judicial reform

Our politicians are awful people. We can’t ask these politicians nothing. Those people are awful people. Democrats and Republicans — they’re all crooks.

- Former NBA player and current analyst Charles Barkley in response to the president of the NCAA saying that he wants help from Washington, D.C., to create a profitable system for the players

Today, I applaud China for stepping up. Excuse me, I applaud Canada.

- Pres. Joe Biden while visiting Canada this week

If you can be a millionaire, why can’t Mr. Schultz and other CEOs be millionaires and be honest too?

He’s demonizing all CEOs for being millionaires. He talks about equality. And here’s a guy that has been nothing but in public office. He draws a pension from being a mayor, a lifelong pension, to the point to where when he passes away, his wife’s able to get the full pension too, every month. He’s been in office up here for 27, 28 years. And since that time, he’s been able to accumulate a wealth of over $8 million.

- Ibid., on Fox News after the hearing

His wife’s a social worker, a professional social worker. So the last time I checked, both of them have done nothing but made money off of taxpayers, which is perfectly okay… But his hypocrisy runs wild. And he demonizes people.

- Ibid.

I think it would be interesting to try to surf until I’m 100. I think I take better care of myself when I have goals like this.

- Seiichi Sano of Japan who at 89 has the World Record for being the world’s oldest surfer

I don’t consider myself an old man. I have never thought of myself as an old person. I always feel that I can still move forward. I can still do it. I can still enjoy it.

- Ibid.

- Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Ok) talking to Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind/Socialist-VT) at a Senate hearing featuring Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, after Sanders did his regular act of excoriating wealthy people

Israel was rocked by the news on Thursday that the U.S. State Department had ordered NASA scientist Dr. Amber Straughn to cancel her participation in the Israel Physical Society’s annual meeting. The news came following Straughn’s posting on Twitter that her “travel authorization was revoked” on Wednesday.

The State Department’s move, which gives the appearance of an official boycott, would be stunning under any circumstance. But it is all the more alarming coming on the heels of U.S. President Joe Biden’s shocking remarks in relation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s efforts to place minimal limits on the Supreme Court’s currently limitless powers.

In apparently off-the-cuff remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Biden said curtly: “Like many strong supporters of Israel, I am very concerned, and I’m concerned that they get this [judicial reform] straight. They cannot continue down this road. Hopefully, the prime minister will act in a way that he’s going to try to work out some genuine compromise. But that remains to be seen.”

Then, after interfering in Israel’s

A New Phase in U.S.-Israel Relations

By Caroline Glick

domestic affairs, Biden added: “We’re not interfering. They know my position. They know America’s position. They know the American Jewish position.”

When in a follow-up a reporter asked Biden if he would invite Netanyahu to the White House, the president’s response was immediate and unhesitating.

“No, not in the near term.”

Even before the State Department ordered Straughn to cancel her trip, it was abundantly clear that Biden’s statement wasn’t a fluke. And it wasn’t about Netanyahu. Despite the occasional compliments that Biden and his advisers showered on Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, the administration’s policies were not more pro-Israel when they were in power. Notwithstanding the failure of the administration’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran last year, the Biden administration remained committed to its policy of appeasing Iran and facilitating its nuclear advancement, despite the previous government’s expressed opposition.

The Biden administration’s single-minded commitment to its proIran policy was most unmistakable in the strong-arm tactics it used to force Lapid to agree to a gas deal with Hez -

bollah-controlled Lebanon on the eve of the Nov. 1 elections. Under the terms of the deal, in exchange for absolutely nothing, Israel was required to cede its sovereign waters and economic waters, and a natural-gas deposit to Lebanon.

The deal gave Iran’s Lebanese proxy a cash windfall and a foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean. When Israel tried to draw out negotiations, Biden publicly hectored Lapid to close a deal. He refused to speak with Lapid on the phone for months and only did so after Lapid capitulated to Hezbollah demands—transmitted by the U.S. interlocutors.

Then there are the Palestinians. Throughout the previous government’s time in office, the Biden administration was open about its rejection of Israel’s national and legal rights in Judea and Samaria, and Jerusalem. They sided with illegal Arab squatters and their supporters as they rioted against their Jewish landlords and Jewish neighbors in Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood in Jerusalem. They opposed Israel’s counterterror operations and opened an FBI investigation against soldiers and officers in the Israel Defense Forces.

The administration subverted the Abraham Accords by compelling Israel to accept the Palestinians in the Abraham Accord summits. Palestinian participation transformed what had been a working alliance against Iran into a pileon against Israel—orchestrated and led by the State Department.

As for Democrats in Congress, they drew out the approval process of supplemental Iron Dome missiles following “Operation Guardian of the Walls,” making clear that Democrat-controlled congresses cannot be expected to automatically approve military aid to Israel.

All of this happened while the Israeli left was in power.

One of the notable aspects of Biden’s remarks on Tuesday is that the day before, Netanyahu already shelved his government’s judicial reform bill and opted to negotiate with opposition leaders to see if it is possible to reach a compromise package acceptable to a broader majority.v Biden’s decision to escalate his rhetoric after Netanyahu had agreed to Biden’s position indicates that the administration was less interested in blocking judicial reform than in destabilizing Netanyahu’s government.

The administration’s statements and actions this week, coupled with its overall policies towards Israel since entering office, indicate that Israel has reached a new phase in its relationship with America.

Until now, Israel had a strategic alliance with the United States. Now as a decade of polling has shown, Israel is viewed with hostility by some Americans and it is strongly supported by other Americans. The most recent poll of U.S. support by Gallup makes the point explicitly.

The poll showed that overall, most Americans are more supportive of Israel than of the Palestinians. But for the first time, 49% of Democrats are more sympathetic towards the Palestinians than towards Israel. A total of 38% of Democrats are more sympathetic towards Israel. Among Republicans, 78% are more supportive of Israel, and a mere 11% are more sympathetic to the Palestinians. Independents are likewise more supportive of Israel than the Palestinians but by a smaller margin.

All the same, the Democrats are one of two parties. And currently, they are more supportive of the Palestinians than of Israel, and that preference is reflected in administration and congressional policies and actions.

A Different, Deeper Understanding of American Society

How is Israel supposed to handle this new relationship?

The first place to look for answers is in the past. In the 1950s and 1960s, France was Israel’s closest ally. But following France’s withdrawal from Algeria, then-French President Charles de Gaulle turned towards the Arabs and against Israel.

Two things are different about Israel’s current crisis with the United States and the fracture of its relations with France. First, de Gaulle was at the height of his power and popularity when he turned his back on Israel. So when he abandoned Israel, he took France with him. This isn’t the case with Biden and America.

Following Biden’s remarks, some Israeli commenters argued that Biden is likely the last Democrat President who will define himself as a Zionist. If current trends continue, no future Democrat president will risk expressing support for Israel.

The truth is more complicated. For

the past 20 years, progressives have built a creed predicated on identity politics. They wove together a coalition of predetermined victim groups tied to one another though the concept of “intersectionality.” Intersectionality asserts that all “victim” groups are automatically aligned. The Palestinians had long been allied with some of the designated victim groups—first and foremost, black nationalists tied to Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. Using its existing alliances, pro-Palestinian activists lobbied to be included in the intersectional alliance. Their success was not a foregone conclusion. But so far, it has been wildly successful and has been instrumental in undermining support for Israel and the

past three months. Progressive Jewish groups are increasingly willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anti-Zionists and BDS activists.

All the same, most American Jews are supportive of Israel, regardless of who is in power. They do not support the administration’s pro-Iran policies or its pro-Palestinian bias. Israel needs to stand with and empower this majority. It must stand with them as they defend themselves and their right to support Israel on campuses, in their workplaces and in their communities.

As for Israel’s relationship with the administration itself, it is fairly clear that Israel needs to recalibrate its strategic posture. It is impossible to know

sues that require continuous, high-intensity cooperation.

Building Interest-Based Partnerships With Other Nations

This brings us to the second difference between the new phase we have entered in U.S.-Israel ties and de Gaulle’s breach of Franco-Israeli ties in the 1960s. When the French leader turned on Israel, Israel had the United States more or less at the ready, willing to replace France as Israel’s superpower ally. Today, Israel has no alternative waiting in the wings.

But it may not need one. Israel is much more powerful today than it was in the 1960s. It doesn’t need a protector; it needs partners. Beginning in 2013, Netanyahu began a process of building interest-based partnerships with nations across the region and across the world. These relationships with states in the region and worldwide already form the nucleus of a strategic posture that can secure Israel’s position.

position of Jews in the progressive camp and the Democrat Party.

To change the situation, Israel needs to work assiduously to fray the unanimity of hostility among members of the progressive alliance. This won’t be easy. The work requires a different, deeper understanding of American society than most Israelis possess. But it is doable. Israel can make inroads within the African-American community and the Latino and Asian communities. It can rebuild its longstanding relationships with labor unions, and high-tech, and financial-sector professional associations, among others.

Beyond that, Israel needs to maintain and shore up its ties with the people and sectors of American society who support it. This includes evangelical Christians, Catholics and other conservative groups.

The most astounding claim Biden made in his Tuesday diatribe was that his views are shared by American Jews. Certainly, some American Jewish groups oppose the Israeli right. U.S. Jewish groups One Voice and the New Israel Fund, among others, reportedly financed a significant chunk of the left’s anti-government campaign for the

whether the Biden administration will want to negotiate another long-term military aid agreement, and it is also unclear whether Israel is better or worse off maintaining its position as a recipient of U.S. military aid.

Israel may be better off paying for U.S. military platforms out of its own pocket and transforming its relationship from that of a client into one of a partner in defense technology development. On March 13, the U.S. Air Force conducted another unsuccessful test of one of the two hypersonic missiles it is developing. Washington may or may not want Israel’s help with its hypersonic missile program, which is lagging far behind China and Russia’s programs. But Israel is probably the only U.S. ally capable of helping. Certainly, under the present circumstances, Israel’s relationship with the United States will be more secure if it is based on collaboration in areas of mutual interest rather than dependence.

With the U.S. position on issues of critical importance to Israel—first and foremost, Iran and the Palestinians, changing completely depending on the president’s partisan affiliation— Israel needs to stop relying on America on is -

Biden’s statement on Tuesday was roundly applauded by Israeli leftists hell-bent on overthrowing Netanyahu’s government. They would do well to think this through. Sure, Biden has issues with Netanyahu. But the policies Biden pursues vis-à-vis Iran and the Palestinians work to Israel’s strategic disadvantage regardless of who is in power, as his strong-arming of Lapid on the Hezbollah gas deal made clear.

Biden is not de Gaulle, in stature or in influence. American support for Israel is diminishing in some quarters. Still, it remains strong overall. Much can be done to change the situation for the better. And Israel is a powerful, wealthy nation with viable alternatives to strategic dependence on the United States.

This has been a bad week for Israel-U.S. relations, but it isn’t cause for despair. Rather, it is cause for a sober-minded reassessment and rearrangement of Israel’s relations with America to bring them in line with current realities. (JNS)

Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing editor of Jewish News Syndicate and the host of the Caroline Glick Show on JNS. Glick is also the diplomatic commentator for Israel’s Channel 14, as well as a columnist at Newsweek. Glick is the senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington and a lecturer at Israel’s College of Statesmanship.

Biden’s decision to escalate his rhetoric after Netanyahu had agreed to Biden’s position indicates that the administration was less interested in blocking judicial reform than in destabilizing Netanyahu’s government.

The “Heroic” Hercules Military Aircraft

By Avi Heiligman

In addition to fighters and bombers, air forces across the globe operate numerous types of other aircraft. A military transport aircraft, sometimes called an airlifter, is designed to move large groups of service members as well as cargo and support ongoing operations. They could be configured to perform other tasks. In the case of the C-130 Hercules, that includes a wide array of missions. Over 40 variants of the Hercules have been produced and are used by air forces and other units worldwide. The capabilities and long history have made the C-130 Hercules an indispensable asset for close to 70 years.

Transports from World War II and the Korean War had proven their worth in battle but were far from adequate in terms of the number of troops and cargo they could carry. The air force wanted a plane that could carry at least 92 passengers and had a longer range. Lockheed submitted its design for the C-130, and it made its first flight in 1954. It was named the Hercules, and its specifications were above and beyond anything the air force had ever seen. A crew of five

mans the four-bladed propeller turboprop aircraft that has a wingspan of 132 feet and a payload capacity of 42,000 pounds. There is enough room on board for 92 passengers, 64 fully equipped airborne troops, or 74 litter patients with a medical team. It could carry several pallets of cargo, at least two Humvees, or armored personnel carriers.

A C-130 can reach speeds of 336 MPH, has a range of over 2,000 miles, and when empty has a ceiling of 33,000 feet. It holds the record for the largest and heaviest plane to take off and land from an aircraft carrier, achieving the record in 1963. A KC-130F made 21 takeoffs and landings from the USS Forrestal (CVA-59) flown by Lt. James Flatley III and his copilot, Lt. Cmdr. W.W. Stovall.

Over the years, the C-130 had been given significant upgrades such as a modern avionics system with weather and navigational radar. In addition to its original capabilities of troop, cargo and medavac operations, the Hercules can be designed as a gunship (AC-130), aerial refueling tanker (KC-130), and conduct

missions such as intelligence gathering, search and rescue, maritime patrol, weather reconnaissance, surveillance, and aerial firefighting. Over 2,500 of different variants have been produced, and it has seen action across the globe in both wartime and civilian uses.

While most C-130 planes are not armed, the AC-130 Spectre gunship plays a very different role. During the Vietnam War, a plane for close air support was needed to replace aging gunships, and the specifications included longer range and capacity for large amounts of weapons. A C-130 was modified to include night vision technology, a fire-control computer, and an array of miniguns, cannons and other weapons. AC-130 gunships began arriving in combat zones in 1967, and a year later, a squadron of the planes was formed. They were active for the duration of the war and destroyed thousands of enemy vehicles while providing vital close air support for troops on the ground.

Operation Urgent Fury took place in 1983. In response to the political unrest in the island nation, the U.S. sent

a force of 7,300 troops at the request of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and to rescue 600 medical students stranded by the fighting. A group of Navy SEALs was sent to rescue Governor General Paul Scoon, but during the mission, one of their helicopters had to be abandoned after receiving heavy damage. Still, they proceeded into the mansion and secured Scoon and his family. Soon, their only radio ran out of power, and they had to use the landline inside the house to call in fire support on the advancing enemy. That fire support came from an AC-130 gunship way above in the night sky. AC-130 Spectre planes also provided air support at the Point Salinas Airfield, and the crew of one plane earned medals for the mission.

AC-130 gunships were very active during the War in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Working with Special Forces on the ground, the gunships were used to direct fire on known Taliban hotspots. They flew over a prison riot in November 2001 at a prison-fort in Northern Afghanistan and were called upon to fire when

things were really getting out of hand. In September 2019, the crew of an AC130J Ghostrider, call sign Shadow 71, were credited with saving the lives of 88 Special Forces members. They were on scene for two hours firing non-stop at enemy combatants in Afghanistan. Nine crewmembers received medals for their actions, including five who were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Air Forces across the globe operate C-130 planes, including the Israeli Air Force. The IAF have three different ver -

sions of the plane, including the KC-130 for aerial refueling, the C-130 J for tactical airlift, and C-130E/H for transport and search and rescue. The first models were delivered to Israel in the 1970s and took part in the 1976 rescue of hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. An Air France airliner had been hijacked by Palestinian terrorists, and 106 hostages were being held at the Entebbe Airport. Seyeret Matkal commandos were led by Yoni Netanyahu, who became the only Israeli military casualty during the raid.

At midnight on July 4, 1976, the lead Hercules C-130 transport plane landed at Entebbe Airport with 29 soldiers on board. There were three other C-130 planes that participated in the successful rescue. The flight was long from Israel, and the planes had to stop in Kenya for refueling on their way back to Israel.

Currently, the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is in production with over 500 planes already in service. The C-130 is the longest continuously produced military plane in the world, and

there are no real plans to retire it from service anytime soon. For close to 70 years, the C-130 has provided a valuable service to air forces globally and is continually receiving upgrades to be a go-to multi-purpose aircraft for years to come.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

Flying over Afghanistan

A Hercules plane taking off during a reenactment of the Entebbe Operation

Classifieds

SERVICES SERVICES

PEACEFUL PRESENCE STUDIO

Men’s private yoga, Licensed Massage & Holistic Health Guidance

436 Central Ave, Cedarhurst Info. & free video training

www.peacefulpresence.com

516-371-3715

GERBER MOVING FULL SERVICE MOVING

Packing Moving Supplies

Local Long Distance Licensed Insured

1000’S Of Happy Customers

Call Shalom 347-276-7422

HANDYMAN AVAILABLE

For big or small jobs, Sheetrock, carpentry, painting, electrical, plumbing, install & repair appliances

Call Ephraim at 347-593-4691

VACUUM SALES AND REPAIR

All areas call Max Flam 718-444-4904

MANAGEMENT STAFF WILL ASSIST you with: * Obtaining Medicaid and Pooled Income Trust

* In-home Assessments, Individual and Family Counseling

* Securing reliable home care assistance

* Case and Care Management services

Dr. S. Sasson, DSW, LCSW (718) 544- 0870 or (646) 284-6242

HAIR COURSE:

Learn how to wash & style hair & wigs. Hair and wig cutting, wedding styling Private lessons or in a group Call Chaya 718-715-9009

ZEVIZZ WOODTURNING JUDAICA

Challah knifes, batei mezuzah, besamim holder, kiddish cups, havdalah candle holders, yad for sefer torah, pens, stenders, bowls and more  952-356-2228

SERVICES

LOOKING FOR PRIVATE PAY CLIENTS  NPhomecare Service

Food prep meals, light house cleaning and laundry. Grocery shopping. Hospital visit. Be Padiatist. Physical Therapist. Educational therapist Maintains your Independence in the comfort of your own home

Tel: 718 912 6425

Tel: 917 972 1428

Email: npersaud2022@gmail.com

HOUSES FOR SALE

WOODMERE - OLD WOODMERE

3 bedroom 2 full bathroomsSD# 14 Features LG living room with fireplace, den, large dining room, kitchen and dinette area, high ceilings, hardwood floors, primary bedroom plus sitting area plus 2 additional bedrooms, full basement, alarm, sprinkler, close to all. $759K Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-845 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HOUSES FOR SALE

DON’T GET STUCK WITH A TWO STORY HOUSE YA KNOW, IT’S ONE STORY BEFORE YOU BUY IT BUT A SECOND STORY AFTER YOU OWN IT!

Call Dov Herman

For An Accurate Unbiased Home Inspection Infrared - Termite Inspection Full Report All Included NYC 718-INSPECT

Long Island 516-INSPECT www.nyinspect.com

WOODMERE

Charming Colonial on beautiful tree lined street in the heart of Old Woodmere. Home features 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, kitchen, dining area, living room, full basement. Relatively new heating system + hot water tank. Large & beautiful backyard. Great for entertaining. Close to all. $676K Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE NEW TO THE MARKET

HOUSES FOR SALE HOUSES FOR SALE HOUSES FOR SALE

CAN’T AFFORD YOUR PROPERTY TAXES? MORTGAGE?

Must sell for any reason? Call for FREE Consultation. Call now 212-470-3856 Cash buyers available!

WOODMERE NEW TO THE MARKET

Move Right into This Lovely Home, Totally Renovated Kitchen, SS Appliances, Quartz Countertops, Glass Backsplash, 10Ft Center Island, 2 Sinks, MBR W/Full Bath on The First Floor & 2 Additional Bedrooms + Full Bath. 7 New Split Systems, Hardwood Floors, New Recessed Lighting

Throughout, New Full Finished Basement W/Cedar Closet, Close to the Railroad, Shopping, Restaurants & Houses of Worship. $999K

Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@ bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

Spacious 5 bedroom 4 bathroom split level in Saddle Ridge Estates Well maintained home home , renovated eat –in-kitchen , formal living room and dining room, den, central air conditioning, hardwood floors, high hats, master bedroom with a custom bathroom and Jacuzzi tub, close to all $995k Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HEWLETT

Luxurious Exquisite 6 bedrooms, 6.5 bath home situated on approximate 1.8 acre property in prestigious Hewlett Bay Park. Formal Living room and dining room, library, chefs Eat-in Kitchen, extraordinary great room leads out to veranda. large Gunite built-in pool + pool house with full bath, large slate patio, impressive sprawling property, school district #14 Hewlett-Woodmere. Close to all. P.O.R. Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

LAWRENCE

Stunning One of a Kind Mid Century Modern 6 Bedroom, 6.5 Bath, Contemporary Ranch. Resort Style Home on Over an Acre of Property in Back Lawrence. Incredible Views, Regulation Size Tennis Court - Deco Turf. IG-Gunite Pool, Low Taxes, 5318 sq. ft. of Main Floor Living Space. Plus 5000 sq. ft. Basement With Very High Ceilings. Call Mark 516-298-8457 for more details Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@ bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE: NEW TO THE MARKET

Well maintained 4 bedroom home on a cul-de-sac in Old Woodmere SD#14. Features central air conditioning, gas heat, eat -in -kitchen with stainless steel appliances, very spacious den, 2 car garage, hardwood floors, high hats, magnificent yard with an in-ground saltwater pool, close to the railroad, shopping and houses of worship. Call for a private showing. Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HOUSES FOR SALE

NORTH WOODMERE JUST LISTED Move Right Into This Beautifully Maintained and Updated Three Bedroom, 2.5 Baths Large Split Situated on an Oversized Park-like Lot Overlooking the Pond. Home Features naturally bright lit rooms with a Ground Level Den Leading to Patio, With Another Lower Level With Partially Finished Basement. Hardwood Floors Throughout Updated Kitchen With Granite Counters in School District 14 and Close to all Houses of Worship. $949k Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

New to the market move right in 8 bedrooms 3 full bathrooms on a lot size 57x112. prime location features eat in kitchen with 2 sinks, new stainless steel appliances, gas heat, hardwood floors, possible mother daughter with permits, close to the railroad, shopping and houses of worship. Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HOUSES FOR SALE HOUSES FOR SALE HOUSES FOR SALE APT. FOR RENT WOODMERE

CEDARHURST HOUSE FOR SALE BY OWNER

In the heart of Cedarhurst (Close to Woodmere , Lirr & Cedarhurst Park)

EIK Kosher Kitchen/ Dr/Lr/Family Room/ Playroom/ 4 Bedrooms, 3 Full Baths/ Basement: 2 Bedrooms, 1 Full Bath, Kitchenette, Separate Entrance Asking $1.3m Whatsapp Text Only: 845-213-0002

No Brokers

HEWLETT BAY PARK

Six bedroom home in highly desirable Hewlett Bay Park on 3/4 of an acre with an inground gunite pool and tennis court, en-Suite bathrooms and bedrooms on both floors, 1st floor Master Suite with steam shower and Jacuzzi tub, Eat-in Kitchen, with SS appliances, 2 sinks, 2 dishwashers, double oven, formal living room, formal dining room, den with fireplace. Close to railroad, shopping, and houses of worship. SD#14. Great house for entertaining. Park-like Property. P.O.R.

Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

Spectacular 5 bedroom, 5 bath

renovated home in SD#14 with in-ground pool & pool house, lot size 111 x 107. Formal living room & dining room, magnificent kitchen with SS appli-ances, tremendous den with fireplace and 4 skylights, vaulted ceiling, LED lighting, master suite, new CAC, new roof. Outside totally redone with Stone and Stucco. Backyard with new pavers, park-like property, sandbox, great home for entertaining. Close to all.

Mark Lipner Associate Broker

Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

CEDARHURST

New to the market! Move right into this magnificent home with a state of the art kitchen with 2 sinks, 2 dishwashers, 2 microwaves, double oven, stainless steel appliances, large island radiant heat, master bedroom suite on the 1st floor with 2 additional bedrooms and bathroom, main floor family room, upstairs has an additional 2 bedrooms and a full bathroom, parl-like property close to all. Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@ bhhslaffey.com

NORTH WOODMERE

For sale by owner. Beautiful, spacious hi ranch with 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, D/R, L/R, kitchen, and large den. 2 zone gas heat, central a/c, hardwood floors. Possible mother/ daughter or home office with separate entrance. Low taxes, no Sandy damage. Walk to shul. Call or text 516.413.4218

WOODMERE

Charming Colonial on beautiful tree lined street in the heart of Old Woodmere. Home features 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, kitchen, dining area, living room, full basement. Relatively new heating system + hot water tank. Large & beautiful backyard. Great for entertaining. Close to all. Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

Beautiful, brick, colonial boasting 5 bdr 3.5 Bth in pristine condition. Excellent location, near all! Move right in! RCUSA 516-512-9626

HEWLETT BAY PARK

Prestigious Center-Hall Colonial in Hewlett Bay Park, Set Back on Private Property. This Stately Home Features a Grand Entry Foyer, Formal Living Room, Formal Dining Room, Chef’s Kitchen, Large Den, Master Bedroom suite with Sitting Room + 2 Baths (His & Hers) and Loft and Additional 3 Bedrooms + Bonus Rooms. Exquisitely Manicured Park-like property. Award Winning School District #14. Too Many Features To List. Will Not Last!

P.O.R. Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

FOR SALE BY OWNER

Recent new construction in the heart of Far Rockaway, off Reads

14 bedrooms (2 Master suites)

8.5 Bathrooms

Gourmet eat in kitchen Walk in Pantry

2 Offices and Study

2 Laundry Areas

Large deck with custom Pergola

Full Basement with private guest area

Huge backyard

POR, POF required Email House4SaleFR@gmail.com

FAR ROCKAWAY REDUCED!

Moller Realty Group

Corner Lot for Sale. 40x100. Approved Plans. Legal 2 Family. Asking $499k *Adjacent lot with existing legal 2 also available Both lots Asking 1.4m

Motivated Seller Call or Text 516-506-3347

WOODMERE

Move right in. 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms split level. Features eat-in-kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, formal living room and dining room, main floor family room with fireplace, 2 master bedrooms with full bathrooms, central a/c, gas, heat, hardwood floors, recessed lighting, cedar closet, sauna, generator and much more. $1,115,000.

Mark Lipner Associate Broker

Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

Move Right In. Renovated 8 Bedroom

Colonial, Prime Location in SD#14Old Woodmere. Smart Home, Camera System, New CAC System, AG Pool, Large Eat-in Kitchen with Pantry. Finished Basement. Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HOUSE FOR RENT

WOODMERE HOUSE RENTAL

Lovely Split Level on Quiet Residential Tree Lined Street. Huge Park-like Property. Four Bedrooms, Two Full Baths, deck & playroom. Close to all.

Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

Big fully renovated, spacious 4bedroom 2 full bath split level.2 car garage +driveway. Backyard on water SD#14. W&D. Tons of storage space. 917-324-9292

APT FOR RENT

2 bedroom spacious apartment fully renovated. Separate entrance & utilities. Water view, walking to shul & shopping. On the lake.  347-517-3552

CEDARHURST MOVE RIGHT IN.

Totally Updated One Bedroom Townhouse Apartment on the First Floor. Featuring 1.5 Bathrooms, Central Air Conditioning, Washer/ Dryer in the Unit, Kitchen With SS Appliances, Hardwood Floors, and Recessed Lighting. Freshly Painted. Super on Premises. Underground Parking is $95/month. This spacious rental is managed by a responsible landlord. Great Courtyard. Close to the Railroad, Shopping, Restaurants, Post Office, Cedarhurst Park + Houses of Worship. NO BROKERS FEE Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

LAWRENCE

Spacious 2BR, 2 Full Bath Apt with an enclosed terrace in the heart of Lawrence. Well maintained & manicured building. New hardwood floors, updated Eat-in Kitchen with gas stove. warming draw, dishwasher & microwave. New windows on the enclosed terrace & one of the bedrooms. 3 New A/C Units & New Refrigerator. Close to shopping, transportation, library, schools, and houses of worship. $339K

284CENTRAL AVE B-5 Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-2988457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

CEDARHURST

Move Right In. Totally updated 2BR, 2 Bath, Apt. on the 1st Floor. Private Entrance, CAC, W/D in Unit, Kitchen with SS Appliances, Hardwood Floors, Recessed Lighting, Freshly Painted, Great Courtyard, Parking $95/Mo. Close to Railroad, Shopping, Restaurants, Cedarhurst Park + Houses of Worship NO BROKERS FEE Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457

mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

APT./COOP/CONDO SALE HELP WANTED APT./COOP/CONDO SALE APT./COOP/CONDO SALE

WOODSBURGH

Magnificent 2K Sq. Ft. Co-Op. 3Br/2Bth, Eik, Lr, Dr, W/D In Unit, Gar, 2 Stor Units, Elev, Near All $775K 516-846-1032 No Brokers

LAWRENCE

One Bedroom Renovated Apartment In Prime Lawrence. Efficiency Kitchen, Renovated Bathroom. Sunken LR, Dining Room, Close to All, Transportation, Shopping, Worship. $275k Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@ bhhslaffey.com

LAWRENCE

Spacious 2BR, 2 Full Bath Apt with an enclosed terrace in the heart of Lawrence. Well maintained & manicured building. New hardwood floors, updated Eat-in Kitchen with gas stove. warming draw, dishwasher & microwave. New windows on the enclosed terrace & one of the bedrooms. 3 New A/C Units & New Refrigerator. Close to shopping, transportation, library, schools, and houses of worship. $339K Mark Lipner

Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HEWLETT

3 bedroom 2 bath co-op with central air conditioning, terrace, washer dryer, hardwood floors, recessed lighting, magnificent kitchens, ss appliances, l/r, d/r, close to the railroad, shopping, and houses of worship. $319k

1201 EAST BROADWAY H-23Mark

Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HEWLETT

Totally renovated 1 and 2 Bedroom, Apartments with washer/dryer, kitchen with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances. Recessed lighting, hardwood floors, storage in basement. Close to RR, shopping, and houses of worship. Mark Lipner

Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

HEWLETT

Hewlett House 1 Bedroom Co-op. Unit Includes 1 Parking Spot + Storage Unit, W/D Outside of Unit. Close to Shopping, Schools, Houses of Worship, Restaurants + Parks. Prime Location in the Heart of Hewlett. $109k Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

LAWRENCE JUST LISTED

This amazing two-bedroom two full bathroom condo Features a luxurious lifestyle in the beautiful city of Lawrence. What more could you ask for? The building has a 24-hour doorman and elevator access, with a social room, library, washer/dryer inside the unit, and terrace. Plus, the added benefit of having a live-in super to ensure maximum safety and security! And don’t forget about your new kitchen complete with a gas stove, refrigerator, microwave, and even two dishwashers! The living room and dining room are spacious and have recessed lighting installed throughout. Both bedrooms feature lots of closet space for storage. To top it off, there’s even garage parking available to make your life just that much easier! Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity. Please call for a private showing Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-2988457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

CEDARHURST

1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, totally renovated private entrance , central air conditioning, hardwood floors, washer/dryer, garage parking, dishwasher, recessed lighting, private playground, close to railroad, park, shopping and houses of worship. Call for more details

Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457  mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

1 bedroom apartment, elevator building, eat-in kitchen, full bath, hardwood floors, plenty of closet space. Ceiling fan in bedroom & kitchen, laundry room in the basement. Close to the railroad, shopping, and houses of worship

$168k Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

Totally renovated bright and sunny 1 bedroom corner unit apartment with a washer/dryer. Features quartz countertops, ss appliances, recessed lighting, bathroom with chrome fixtures, close to the railroads, shopping and houses of worship. Call for details Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com

WOODMERE

Move right in!! 2 Bedroom Apartment, Elevator Bldg in SD #14, Pre War Bldg, Pet Friendly, Laundry Room in Basement, Wood Floors, New Windows, Corner Apartment, Beautiful Renovated Kitchen w/SS Appliances, 3 A/C Units, Close to RR, Shopping & Houses of Worship. A must-see! $199k

BOOKKEEPER

Excellent growth potential, Frum environment, Excellent salary & benefits. Email resume to: resumetfs1@gmail.com

REBBEIM TEACHERS & ASSISTANTS

CAHAL is hiring Special Ed Rebbeim, Teachers and Assistant Teachers for 2023-24 school year. AM or PM, FT or PT. E-mail resume to shira@cahal.org or call 516-295-3666 for information.

SEEKING ELA TEACHER

Immediate opening. ELA teaching position for Gr. 5. Mon.-Thurs., afternoon hours. Far Rockaway/5T area. Competitive salary, warm, supportive environment. All teaching materials provided. Teachersearch11@gmail.com.

Classifieds

HELP WANTED HELP WANTED HELP WANTED

A YESHIVA IN QUEENS

is looking for an experienced part/ full time secretary, 2-year-old morah, kindergarten morah, kindergarten morah assistant and Pre-1A English teacher for the 2022-2023 school year. Nice and timely pay. Please email resume to mshelt613@gmail.com or call/text 718-971-9799.

MDS REGIONAL NURSE:

5 Towns area Nursing Home management office seeking a Regional/Corporate level MDS Nurse to work in our office. Must be an RN. Regional experience preferred. 2-3 years MDS experience with good computer skills required. Position is Full Time but Part Time can be considered. Great Shomer Shabbos environment with some remote options as well. Email: officejob2019@gmail.com

LOOKING FOR A DRIVER

Business looking for someone that has a large van or sprinter that can work a full day on Wednesdays on a weekly basis throughout the year in Brooklyn. Please do not call if you do not have a large van or a sprinter 347.992.7411

DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT

A multi-tasker needed for general office work. The ideal candidate is someone who is detail-oriented, responsible, and can take ownership. Looking for someone who is eager to learn, and expand his/her skill set while possessing the ability to work independently and as part of a team. Experience with Excel required. Five Towns location. In-office position only, not remote. Please send resume to 5tpart.timecareer@gmail.com

IMMEDIATE OPENING

ELA teaching position for Gr. 5. Mon.-Thurs., afternoon hours. Far Rockaway/5T area. Competitive salary, warm supportive environment. Teachersearch11@gmail.com

HELP WANTED

5 TOWNS BOYS YESHIVA

Seeking Elem Gen Ed Teachers

Excellent working environment and pay. Only lic/exp need apply. Email resume to yeshivalooking@gmail.com

In 1935, Americans were mired in the depths of the Great Depression. Gross domestic product had shrunk from $103.6 billion in 1929 to $73.3 billion. Unemployment stood at a horrendous 20.1%. Even the suicide rate was higher during those dark years. And on February 6th of that year, the Parker Brothers company started selling an escape from all that misery: a family-friendly board game that anyone could afford, called Monopoly.

When most of us picture the Monopoly board, we see the familiar rows of streets, named after those in Atlantic City: Boardwalk, Park Place, and all the rest. (Some contrarian always says that lowly Baltic Avenue, priced at just 60$, is their favorite. That someone always goes bankrupt first.) Some players prefer “Chance,” “Community Chest,” or taking a ride on the Reading Railroad. And if someone tells you their favorite squares are the Luxury Tax (pay $75) or Income Tax (pay $200 or 10%), you give them a funny look and wonder what went wrong in their childhood.

But how many of you know that Monopoly was originally created back in 1903 to illustrate a theory about taxes?

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie was a stenographer, writer, comedienne, actress,

Monopoly Money

By Allan Rolnick, CPA

and engineer. In 1903, she patented The Landlord’s Game to reveal the evils of “land monopolism” — basically, profiting from the rent you can charge for the use of land. (Evil, right?) Her solution was the philosopher Henry George’s “single-tax” theory, which holds that people should

sound downright Marxist to contemporary ears. But economists argue that a land-value tax is more efficient than income or sales taxes because it doesn’t reduce productivity. Adam Smith advocated for a land-value tax in The Wealth of Nations. And Milton Friedman, certainly

the time the game debuted. The Revenue Act of 1935 applied a special 75% rate on income above $5 million, although just one lucky winner — Standard Oil heir John D. Rockefeller, Jr. — actually paid it.

(As high as Roosevelt’s Depression-era taxes sound to us today, he wanted to go even further after Pearl Harbor. He argued in 1942 that in a time of such grave national danger, “no American citizen ought to have a net income, after he has paid his taxes, of more than $25,000 a year” — about $350,000 in today’s dollars. Roosevelt’s simple solution? A 100% top rate on anything above that amount!)

Today, of course, “Monopoly money” has become synonymous with worthless paper. And paying your taxes is about as fun as landing on Boardwalk, with a hotel! But paying less is no game. It takes careful work and planning. So make sure you have a plan when you’re ready to play — and do not pass Go before you do!

own the fruit of their own labor, but that land and natural resources should be shared equally by everyone. George believed that taxing land value is the fairest form of tax, and a properly-administered land-value tax can help society reduce taxes on labor or other investments.

“Georgism,” as it’s now called, may

nobody’s idea of a commie pinko, called it the “least bad tax” that government can impose.

Ironically, Monopoly’s “income” tax — 10% of your assets, capped at $200 — isn’t an income tax at all. It’s a wealth tax. And it takes the exact opposite approach of the president occupying the White House at

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 years in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

He argued in 1942 that in a time of such grave national danger, “no American citizen ought to have a net income, after he has paid his taxes, of more than $25,000 a year” – about $350,000 in today’s dollars.

Passover Should Definitely Not Be Passed Over

By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS

Pass it up, pass it out, pass it here. But don’t pass it over!

Except eight days a year! We should definitely do Passover!

Why? Because G-d did so for us… Passed over our humble abodes. And kept our oldest children alive.

It certainly was a gift! We love all our kids and want to keep them close – except when they drive us crazy, but that’s for another time.

G-d kept us whole.

G-d made the Egyptians so busy with their own problems they no longer wanted to be busy with us.

The gift of Passover is realizing that G-d put power back in our hands. We were no longer serving another nation. We were on our own.

We were not exactly taken out and directed to the palatial Taj Mahal, but that was another lesson learned.

It’s not about where you are. It’s how you are and how you think.

And just getting the freedom to think

was a major turnaround. Just getting back in control of time.

In Egypt, the Jews were kept busy every second of the day. Their minds had no strength to focus.

On each Shabbos, we stop, we focus, we think and appreciate where we are at.

Well, maybe, because we can be!

Time is something we didn’t control when enslaved. But, now we can control it. We can take time to see all that affected us and brought us to this moment.

First, we do the detailed cleaning, scrubbing, cooking, shopping – especially

steeped in physical tedium but alive with freeing thoughts.

Then, at the Seder, we go through, in living color, all the many acts and feats that G-d did for us to bring us out of there and to a better way of living.

And why? You’ve got it! Because thanks to those acts, we can! We’ve got the freedom to do so and the time to do it as well.

So don’t pass on a single opportunity to take in all we went through to get here and where the freedom to think healthy thoughts can take us. Enjoy. Live it up!

Passover should definitely not be passed over!

At the Seder, we do the same thing. We stop and appreciate all we went through to get here. We share it with our kids, and we share it with others who join us.

We don’t pass over anything. We take time to remember it all. We drink and celebrate and even simultaneously mourn the suffering of others.

We are actually inundated with detail.

the difficult task of shopping for shmura matzah that isn’t mortar-like in and of itself.

That preparation actually starts to feel like the old enslavement!

Except, wait! A real part of that we should simultaneously be doing is an inner search of who we are and what we would like to work toward. Not just

Rivki Rosenwald is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist working with both couples and individuals and is a certified relationship counselor. Rivki is a co-founder and creator of an effective Parent Management of Adolescent Years Program. She can be contacted at 917705-2004 or at rivkirosenwald@gmail.com.

That preparation actually starts to feel like the old enslavement!