I’m in Israel this week, and the blue and white flags are flapping in the wind, heralding a monumental birthday for the Jewish State.
But I’m not here for pleasure, even though being in the Holy Land is always a pleasure. I’m here as a delegate to the World Zionist Congress.
Some of you may remember that I wrote about the World Zionist Congress a few years ago, when elections were taking place. They occur every five years, and those delegates elected to the Congress then gather in Jerusalem to meet at the Congress a few months after elections. The Congress was slated to take place in the fall of 2020; the pandemic moved it online. Now, a few years later, those delegates elected to the Congress in the last election are finally meeting in person.
The Congress starts tomorrow. I’m excited and apprehensive about meeting my fellow delegates. These members are delegates from all around the world who represent world Jewry in their love for the land of Israel. But I know that not all delegates share my viewpoints and my values. In fact, that was what spurred me to join the Congress.
Four years ago, Rabbi Pesach Lerner called me. I remember that it was a Friday, and I was busy with Shabbos preparations. Rabbi Lerner spoke about his desire to form a charedi slate in the World Zionist Congress. He expressed the need for charedim to be included in this initiative and asked if I would join.
Truthfully, although I nodded thoughtfully into the phone as he spoke, I wasn’t truly grasping the import of his words. Slates? Zionists? Congress? But
I had worked with Rabbi Lerner before, and I knew that his love for his fellow Jews and his insight and energy were what made him a dreamer who brought his dreams to reality. If he believed in this initiative, then I was in.
I soon realized, as the slate began to form, that Eretz Hakodesh – as it is called – was needed more
than ever.
Eretz Hakodesh brought in the third-most votes in that election. (Reform received the most votes.) Rabbi Lerner and the EHK group galvanized the community to help them understand how important it was for charedim to be represented at the World Zionist Congress. Some people may have balked at the term “Zionist”; after all, Zionists in the early days were not necessarily benevolent towards Orthodox Jews. But as frum Jews, we are, perhaps, the most Zionistic of them all. Every time we daven a Shemoneh Esrei, we speak about our yearning for the land. We send our teenagers to study there for a year – or two, or three, or more. We vacation there; we spend yomim tovim there. Regardless of where we live, our hearts are in the East.
Being elected to the Congress means that EHK also has sway on board seats in many key organizations in Israel. That means that representatives of EHK have a say in where millions of dollars of funds should be going in certain institutions in Israel. In just a few years, EHK has managed to insist on funding for certain charedi projects. Your children learning in seminaries and yeshivos have benefitted greatly from having EHK in the Congress. So have your brothers and sisters living in the Holy Land. And so have you, if you value the kedushah of the land we call Home.
I, for one, am here to proudly represent EHK and the charedi community at this year’s Congress. Now, more than ever, the charedi community needs to be vocal about its commitment to Torah values. With the woke culture – in Israel and around the world –threatening the very fundamentals of our lives, the charedi community is charged with insisting on Eretz Yisroel remaining Eretz Hakedosha.
Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana
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Friday, April 21
Parshas Tazria/Metzorah
Candle Lighting: 7:22 pm
Shabbos Ends: 8:25 pm
Rabbeinu Tam: 8:54 pm
This week, we commemorate Yom Ha’Shoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day. Living in a time with so many privileges, “rights,” and even a homeland called Israel can make one forget the past, even while factually reminiscing about it. I recently had the privilege of reading a historical, human account of a young woman who lived during those horrible times. Like many thousands of boys and girls her age, she grew up in an incredibly unstable and tragic time. The most shocking part of her writings was the clear portrayal of her struggles being so in unison with the timeless creation called human nature. She strove to be her own individual. Many viewed her and treated her differently, but her individuality is the reason why we all know her name today. Her name was Anne Frank.
Anne Frank is a name that most people know of. Many even know her story. The bravery of a 13-year-old young adult to this day is so incredibly astounding. It really is a loss that she never got to live a full life, but the journal that made her “live after she dies,” in her words, shows humanity at its worst but also at its best. We, of course, don’t have the challenges of the Holocaust, nor do we have anything comparable to that, thank G-d, but the humanity that Anne showed in her diary is not only a lesson that people should analyze and perhaps apply, but also a testament to our humanity. Anne Frank didn’t only write a historical account; she also wrote an exact and beautiful portrayal of the challenges of life.
Anne grew up in a life of privilege. Anne grew up like any German-Dutch
family. Anne had friends, birthdays, food, clothing, hobbies, and all the things of a normal life. The only “abnormal” thing was that she was Jewish. Is Anne Frank just a story and a historical figure? I think not, because in our own ways and forms, we are all Anne Frank. We all have challenges in response to the different parts of life, people of life, or even our relationship with ourselves.
Anne Frank entered the Secret Annexe as a normal 13-year-old teenage girl; she grew in two years into a 15-year-old woman. She tackled human issues with relationships with others and oneself that some people never even think about in life. She grew in the words of the author Stephen Covey, from being dependent to independent to interdependent. She physically lived a short life, but she “lives after she dies” nevertheless.
Donny Simcha GuttmanDear Editor,
I am writing in regards to the topic of being a mensch. I am happy to hear that efforts are in place to present the wonderful people that we are in a good light. Mr. Rosenberg correctly stated that we can all do this work in our own way. He mentions greeting those who may not be affiliated with Yiddishkeit with a smile and a kind word.
I support that attitude very strongly. However, I always believed that in order to be a Torah Jew, one should naturally have kindness, respect, and consideration towards all other people. Our community is well-known for great acts of chessed. However, in my daily
Continued on page 10
encounters, I feel that the small acts of kindness and respect that should be an integral part of being a Torah Jew are forgotten by most. It is sad to think that a Torah Jew needs to be instructed to act like a mensch to others whether they are affiliated with Yiddishkeit or not. It should be natural to glance behind yourself when walking through a doorway to see if somebody is behind you rather than letting the door slam in another person’s face. It should be natural to be onsiderate to other shoppers in a store. It should be natural to smile and offer assistance to another who needs it. It should be natural to greet a checkout person and ask them how their day is going instead of ignoring that person and continuing phone conversations. It should be natural to offer help to an individual who is older than you are with packing bags into a car. It should be natural to be a courteous driver. I could go on for hours on this topic.
In my opinion, to be a Torah Jew one needs to pay attention to all those around them in every setting. Everybody is busy and everybody is rushing, but just as it is healthy in life to “stop and smell the roses, ” it is also healthy and a great “Kiddush Hashem” to stop and think of the other individuals who are around you. We (and I include myself) must all continue to try harder and do better, to make kindness and respect a priority and a natural demeanor in our daily life.
A Torah Jew should always be a mensch.
Leba Sonneberg
Dear Editor, Trump was recently interviewed by Tucker Carlson. Trump told Tucker that
many people ask him what he views to be the greatest current threat to this country. They ask China, North Korea, Russia? He told Tucker that the greatest threat is from “within.” The country from the inside is deteriorating, a personification of the liberal media, lawless lawmakers, and disintegrating values.
Passover has just concluded, but part of the people who were redeemed, namely the Egyptian magicians and sorcerers, more well-known as the Eiruv Rav, continue to plague the Jewish people from “within.”
Moshe, against G-d’s advice, took them out only to later have to set up a Yitro-advised court system to judge their class-action lawsuit demanding that their money be returned. That’s not gratitude or behavior of value.
Every generation is plagued by the Eiruv Rav, Jews from within. We see them in Israel, those that detest Torah values. Eisav and Yishmael have sound competitors to see our end.
There’s an old maxim that when you see a problem look inside. Perhaps it can be suggested that in Egypt those who would become the Eiruv Rav were not slaves. They never had the opportunity to be refined. Maybe that was their undoing, and this remnant still remains.
At least we can take the message that with inner work comes refinement and the more we refine ourselves, the greater righteousness we bring into the world to tip the scales.
Steven GenackDear Editor,
Lawrence teachers are taking to the streets this weekend in protest. Amidst all the noise, waving signs and snarled traffic, we don’t blame community members for wondering: What’s this all about?
Simply put, this dispute is about ba-
sic fairness. Lawrence teachers and their union are looking to protect their students by maintaining a cap on class sizes. Teachers want to protect their families, too, through a new labor agreement that respects the challenges and demands of teaching in an increasingly stressful environment.
For 12 years, the more than 200 teachers, social workers, speech teachers and others who make up the Lawrence Teachers’ Association have been working under the terms of an expired labor agreement – about the only thing that has prevented the Board of Education from gutting caps on class sizes that protect students.
In Lawrence, more than 80 percent of our district’s 2,300 students are students of color. A vast majority are economically disadvantaged and qualify for a free- or reduced-price lunch. And roughly one-fifth of the student body is made up of English language learners or are students with special needs. Smaller class sizes mean teachers can provide every student with more focused, individualized learning. Study after study has shown this.
Eliminating the agreed-upon class size cap, as the Board of Education has proposed, will hurt Lawrence students.
It will severely impact their ability to go on to college, get a job and succeed in life. We won’t allow it.
Similarly, we will not allow our members’ families to continue to be hurt because the Board refuses to treat its teachers fairly.
Since the last labor agreement expired in 2011, Lawrence teachers have seen their pay plummet to among the lowest in Nassau County. We’ve been willing to forgo pay increases to protect students’ learning conditions, but our patience ran out long ago. Enough is enough.
It is time to protect the students of Lawrence. It is time to treat Lawrence’s teachers with the respect they deserve as professionals. And it is time for the Board of Education and district administration to collaborate on a fair agreement for all and negotiate in good faith. After 12 years, to do anything less is an abdication of duty and the oath they swore upon being elected.
Rachel Kreiss Special Education Teacher, Lawrence School District President of the Lawrence Teachers’ Association
In February, separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region kidnapped New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens. This week, a spokesperson for The West Papua National Liberation Army said that its soldiers attacked two Indonesian military posts in the Yal and Mugi districts in Nduga Regency over the weekend, killing at least 13 Indonesian military and police officials.
The rebels also said that nine Indonesian soldiers were executed on Sunday after being captured in the Yal district.
The rebels said the attack on the Yal military post was “revenge” for an Indonesian military operation in the area in late March, when troops killed a pregnant woman and two rebel fighters, an attack that the military denies.
The rebel group said they’d proposed peace negotiations with the New Zealand and Indonesian governments, but for two months their letters had been ignored.
According to the rebels, New Zealand and the UN have an “obligation to urge the Indonesian Government to stop military operations.”
Mehrtens was captured in February after landing a commercial Susi Air charter flight at the remote Paro Airport in Nduga regency.
The Indonesian military maintains a heavy and controversial presence in Papua, which came under Jakarta’s control following a widely disputed 1969 vote overseen by the United Nations. Unrest in the impoverished but resource-rich region has escalated in recent years as separatist fighters demand independence.
On Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had to abandon a speech he was making when a man threw a small explosive device toward him. This week, police raided the home of the perpetrator as the leader attempts to assuage concerns of security for global dignitaries who are expected in the country for G7 meetings next month.
The attack came less than a year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died after being shot at a political rally by a man using a homemade gun in an assassination that rocked Japan and sparked criticism over whether enough security was in place.
Investigators probing Saturday’s attack searched the home of the alleged suspect, 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura.
On Sunday, Kishida said he called to thank the local fisherman’s association in Wakayama, who helped secure the suspect before he was apprehended by police.
“Japan as a whole must strive to provide maximum security during the dates of the summit (in Hiroshima next month) and other gatherings of dignitaries from around the world,” Kishida said on Sunday.
His comments came as G7 foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, began three days of talks in the central Japanese town of Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture.
es erupted in Sudan erupted between army units loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is deputy head of the council, on Saturday.
The rival factions have rejected calls for a ceasefire and intensified their battle for control of the vast and strategically important country as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict gather momentum.
Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said that the EU ambassador in Khartoum had been assaulted at his residency, calling the attack “a gross violation of the Vienna Convention,” which is supposed to guarantee the protection of diplomatic premises.
US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said that the Biden administration had been in contact with both sides urging an immediate unconditional ceasefire, but the call went unheeded.
Burhan raised the stakes in the violence still further on Monday, ordering the dissolution of the RSF, which he called a “rebellious group”. For his part, Dagalo called Burhan “a radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air.”
UN chief António Guterres urged a return to calm, saying an already precarious humanitarian situation was now catastrophic.
For now, much of the violence is centered around Khartoum. Still, aid workers in remote parts of Sudan also reported tensions or violence. One based in on the eastern border with Ethiopia described the regular army overwhelming a small RSF contingent and seizing their base amid sporadic shooting. Officials also reported fighting in the east, including the provinces of Kassala and El Gadaref.
The conflict threatens to plunge one of Africa’s biggest and most strategically important countries into chaos. Analysts say only pressure from “heavyweight” intermediaries will have a chance of ending the fighting.
The roots of the conflict lie in the divide-and-rule strategy pursued by the veteran Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who took power in 1989. The RSF was drawn from the feared Janjaweed militia accused of genocide in Darfur and acted as a counterweight to the regular army, whose loyalty Bashir doubted.
The two forces joined to oust Bashir in 2019 after months of mass popular protests, but relations between them remained tense. Many analysts and dip-
lomats in Khartoum predicted a violent contest after a military coup in October 2021 that derailed a gradual transition to civilian rule.
Sudan is in a deep economic crisis, with soaring inflation and massive unemployment. Khalid Omar, a spokesperson for the pro-democracy bloc that negotiated with the generals in recent months, warned that the conflict could lead to war and the country’s collapse.
Mehr News.
Despite the convictions, the sentence was dismissed as a “sham ruling” by victims’ families who say Iranian authorities have failed to prosecute those ultimately responsible for the disaster.
The main defendant in the trial was the unnamed commander of the Tor M1 surface-to-air missile defense system that shot down the plane, killing all 176 people on board. The commander was sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to Mehr.
The Boeing 737 flight departed from Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran on January 8, 2020, and was headed to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv when it was hit by anti-aircraft missiles shortly after takeoff.
Days after the downing, Iranian authorities admitted that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force shot the plane down by mistake after it was misidentified as a cruise missile by an air defense operator.
Ten members of the Iranian military were convicted in Tehran on Sunday for their involvement in the shooting down of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 in 2020, according to Iran’s semi-official
In the Tehran court’s final verdict on Sunday, it said the passenger plane was shot down by “human error.” The commander fired missiles at the civilian aircraft twice, “contrary to the order of the command post and other instructions,” the court said, according
The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, an international group seeking justice for those killed, condemned the “sham ruling,” noting that sessions were held in private without victims’ families present.
The group considers the case still open, and is demanding the dispute be considered by the International Court of Justice.
Among the victims of the crash were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three Britons.
inent critic of President Vladimir Putin, to 25 years in a high-security penal colony after convicting him of treason over his criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an unusually harsh sentence that drew international condemnation.
Kara-Murza’s supporters said the length of the sentence evoked memories of Josef Stalin’s terror, and the verdict will likely send a chilling message to remaining anti-Kremlin activists in Russia and beyond as the Kremlin continues to clamp down on dissent over the war in Ukraine.
Many Russian political activists have been prosecuted since the invasion, including Ilya Yashin, who was sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison last year on charges of “spreading false information” about Russia’s war in Ukraine — but Kara-Murza’s sentence was the longest yet.
“It is a terrifying but also very high assessment of his work as a politician and a citizen,” Maria Eismont, one of Kara-Murza’s lawyers, said outside the court, according to Sota, a Russian news outlet. She said the verdict would be appealed.
what is this, what is happening,” she told Sota.
An activist, historian and journalist, Kara-Murza, 41, has for years been one of the most uncompromising voices against Putin and had long drawn the Kremlin’s ire.
Shortly after Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Kara-Murza, who contributes to the opinion section of the Washington Post, gave a number of speeches in the United States and Europe strongly condemning the invasion.
During pretrial detention, Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dual national, said that he had been denied the right to call his family and his health began to deteriorate rapidly.
In his final address to the court before the verdict last week, Kara-Murza likened the current climate in Russia to the terror of the Stalin era.
The Moscow City Court on Monday sentenced Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prom-
Kara-Murza’s mother, Yelena Gordon, told Sota after the hearing that she felt like “she woke up in a Kafka novel.”
“We live in 2023, in the 21st century,
“The day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate,” he told a Moscow courtroom. “When black will be called black, and white will be called white; when at the official level, it will be recognized that two times two is still four; when a war will be called a war, and a usurper a usurper.” (© The New York Times)
According to UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Islamic State has been targeting truffle hunters in the Syrian desert. The group noted that “31 people, including 12 pro-regime fighters were killed while collecting truffles in the desert east of [the central city] Hama.”
Truffle hunting used to be a lucrative cherished pastime. Now, it’s become dangerous to collect the delectable fare.
The Syrian desert is renowned for producing some of the best truffles in the world. Larger, milder in taste and less expensive than their European cousins, Middle Eastern truffles as they are commonly known are nevertheless still a way for Syrians to make some much needed
cash. The truffle hunting season in the Middle East is small – from February to April.
“Authorities frequently warn against the high-risk practice,” said The Telegraph, but a truffle hunter can fetch up to three million lira a day, roughly $400. “For Syrians, who make a salary of about $35 a month on average, it’s a bounty worth pursuing,” added the Robb Report. In Syria, 90 percent of the country lives below the poverty line. More than
50 percent have trouble putting food on their table.
“A bumper crop and high price of truffles this year have made it especially tempting for the hunters,” The New York Times noted. “Now, instead of venturing out into the desert with their families, truffle hunters are taking rifles and first aid kits,” the paper reported.
Since the season began two months ago, at least 230 people – most of them civilians – have been killed in attacks
targeting hunters or by landmines left by extremists.
In one incident alone this year, IS fighters kidnapped 75 truffle hunters near the ancient city of Palmyra, followed a few days later by an attack on another group that left over 60 dead.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, many of the truffle hunters targeted worked for local businessmen close to the Syrian military and pro-government militias, which may have
prompted IS to target them, the monitoring group claimed.
“In Europe, truffle hunting is a prized sport,” Robb Report noted. “In Syria, it’s a potential death sentence.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived to the Brazilian capital Monday as Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushes a diplomatic approach for peace in Ukraine. The meeting between Lavrov and his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira was set in March, when they held a bilateral at the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in New Delhi.
Lula has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace. On Sunday, he told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations – both Russia and Ukraine – had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop “stimulating” the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, rejected.
“Would you offer a Crimea-sized part of Brazil…just for tranquility’s sake? Then we’ll talk!” Belgium’s former prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, said on Twitter earlier this month.
As part of his effort to end hostilities, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.
Russia, of course, is appreciating Lula’s rhetoric.
Earlier this month, Celso Amorim, a special advisor to Brazil’s presidency and former foreign minister, took a discreet trip to Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin.
After visiting Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In an article published on the website of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Pau-
lo and Mexican magazine Buzos, Lavrov noted that Russia favored strengthening cooperation with Latin American countries “on the basis of mutual support, solidarity and consideration of each other’s interests ... in the spirit of strategic partnership.”
Lavrov has repeatedly stressed that Moscow’s ties with countries such as Brazil are crucial to the foundation of a multipolar world order, which does away with what he described as “the West’s monopoly on shaping the framework of international life” in a speech to the lower house of Russian parliament in February. In his article, published Thursday, he described the “increasingly prominent role in the multipolar world order” played by Latin American states.
The European Union has criticized bans by Poland and Hungary on imports of Ukrainian grain and other foods over the weekend, saying the unilateral moves were “unacceptable.”
The bloc, of which Poland and Hun-
gary are member states, lifted tariffs on Ukrainian grain last year to help transport it to the rest of the world amid Russia’s invasion, but the exports have led to a glut of produce in Europe. As a result, farmers in Poland, Hungary and other nations have seen their incomes plummet.
opment and technology minister, Waldemar Buda, said in a tweet on Sunday that the measure would also prevent the transit of Ukrainian products through Poland.
A spokesperson for the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, said in an email on Sunday that such a trade policy was a matter of “EU exclusive competence,” meaning that only the bloc could adopt legally binding decisions. “Unilateral actions are not acceptable,” the statement said.
Hungary’s agriculture minister said on Saturday that “in the absence of meaningful EU measures,” his country would follow Poland in restricting Ukrainian grain imports until the end of June, according to Hungarian news reports. The announcement came after Poland reached a deal with Ukraine on Friday to strictly limit and, for a time, halt Ukrainian grain deliveries to Poland.
That deal was expected to affect Ukrainian grain, wheat, corn, and some other produce, but on Saturday, Poland expanded it to include dozens of other types of food. Poland’s economic devel-
As Ukraine faced pushback on its grain exports, on the battlefield over the weekend, the Russian assault remained focused on the eastern front near the towns of Lyman and Bakhmut, according to a statement from the Ukrainian army’s general staff on Sunday.
“The battles for the city of Bakhmut do not stop,” the statement said.
Attention is also increasingly turning to the war’s southern front, where Russian forces hold a belt of land along the Sea of Azov in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Donetsk regions. In recent weeks, Russia has been building up its troop numbers, planting land mines and erecting defensive barriers along a front line east of the Dnieper River in the expectation that Ukraine could launch a counteroffensive there. (© The New York Times)
For years, Saudi Arabia has had a cold relationship with the terror group Hamas, even arresting many people with connection to the group. But now, things are changing.
This week, a senior delegation representing the jihadist group was set to visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to multiple Arabic media reports. The devel-
opment in warming relations is concerning for Israel, as the Jewish state hopes to forge ties with the Middle Eastern power. On Monday, it was reported that the delegation did not receive the proper visas and that their trip was postponed for now.
Just recently, Saudi Arabia connected with its foe, Iran. Now, Riyadh is set to host a high-level delegation including Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, his deputy Saleh al-Arouri, and the head
of the group abroad, Khaled Mashaal.
Once in the kingdom, the delegation was supposed to pay a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca and try to mend Hamas’s relationship with Riyadh, which has been frosty since 2007, when the terror group overthrew the Palestinian Authority and took over Gaza in a bloody coup. Saudi leaders had blamed Hamas for the failure of attempts at reconciliation between it and the PA’s Fatah party.
In 2019, Saudi authorities arrested dozens of Hamas-linked operatives, saying they were threatening the kingdom’s rule.
But lately, Hamas leaders have been reaching out to the leaders of the kingdom, and Saudi Arabia has seemed to accept the overtures, releasing many of those detainees.
The new warming ties are a blow to Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prioritized including the kingdom in
the iconic 2020 Abraham Accords upon his return to office in December, but Riyadh and other Muslim nations have become reluctant to openly advance a deal due to spiking Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
A plan brokered by Washington to schedule direct flights from Tel Aviv to Mecca, allowing Israel’s Muslim citizens to more easily take part in the sacred Hajj pilgrimage, is unlikely to be finalized, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Israel had seen the kingdom as an ally against shared-enemy Iran. Now, with a relationship officially in the works between Riyadh and Tehran, Israel cannot rely on that connection.
At the start of 2022, there were a total of 15.3 million Jews in the world, 7 million of whom, roughly 46% of all Jews worldwide, resided in Israel, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics revealed on Sunday.
In 1939, on the eve of World War II, Jews numbered 16.6 million, and 449,000 (3%) resided in the Land of Israel. Just under 10 years later, in 1948, the world’s Jewish population had diminished to 11.5 million; of them, 650,000 (6%) lived in Israel.
Among Diaspora Jews, about 6 million live in the United States, 442,000 in France, 392,000 in Canada, 292,000 in Britain, 173,000 in Argentina, 145,000 in Russia, 118,000 in Germany, and another 118,000 in Australia, according to the report.
Ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began on the evening of April 17, the CBS also revealed that 147,199 Holocaust survivors or victims of antisemitic actions during the Holocaust are currently living in Israel.
Of those survivors, 61% are women and 39% are men.
A small number, 4.5%, immigrated to Israel before the establishment of the state, between 1933 to 1947; 31.7% immigrated during the large aliyah wave following the state’s establishment (1948 to 1951); 29.7% immigrated between
1952 and 1989; and 34.1% came since the 1990s, during the wave of aliyah from the former Soviet Union.
In a 2021 survey, 87% of Israel’s survivors said they were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their lives, similar to the 88% of Jews and others above the age of 75. However, 17.3% of Holocaust survivors said they felt lonely often, compared to 12.6% of Jews and others 75 and older.
(JNS)
“The Iranian and Jewish people have ancient bonds dating back to Cyrus the Great and Queen Esther,” Pahlavi said in a statement on Sunday. “As the children of Cyrus, the Iranian people aspire to have a government that honors his legacy of upholding human rights and respecting religious and cultural diversity, including through the restoration of peaceful and friendly relations with Israel and Iran’s other neighbors in the region,” he added.
Israel and Iran maintained close ties — particularly on energy and security — during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in a popular 1979 uprising led by Islamist clerics. Since then, Israel and Iran have become bitter enemies, with Iranian leaders regularly calling for the destruction of the Jewish State and backing terror groups committed to this goal.
Pahlavi left Iran at age 17 for military flight school in the U.S., just before his cancer-stricken father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned the throne for exile.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah of Iran who had been overthrown by the Islamic Revolution, arrived in Israel on Monday.
“We are very happy to be here and are dedicated to working toward the peaceful and prosperous future that the people of our region deserve,” Reza Pahlavi wrote on Twitter, after arriving in Israel with his wife.
“From the children of Cyrus, to the children of Israel, we will build this future together, in friendship.”
He took part in an official ceremony for Yom HaShoah at Yad Vashem.
“As author Elie Wiesel said, without memory there is no hope,” Pahlavi tweeted.
Before coming to the Holy Land, Pahlavi said his visit will focus on Israeli water technology and renewing ties.
Pahlavi, who still resides in the U.S., has called for a peaceful revolution in Iran that would replace clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, enshrine human rights, and modernize its state-run economy.
Rabbi Leo Dee has suffered unfathomable pain as he lost his wife and two daughters in a terror attack on Pesach.
Lucy Dee, 48, and her daughters Maia Dee, 20, and Rina Dee, 15, were killed after Palestinian terrorists opened fire at the car they were in as they drove through the northern Jordan Valley on April 7. The daughters were declared dead at the scene, while Lucy was rushed to a hos-
pital in critical condition but died three days later.
As of now, the murderers have not yet been arrested.
The Dee family had immigrated to Israel nine years ago from the UK. They have dual citizenship.
On Sunday, Rabbi Dee told the media that he bears no hatred towards those who slaughtered his loved ones.
“I have no hatred towards the…terrorists,” he told Channel 12. “I obviously would like them to be captured and to be treated with full justice that they deserve, but mostly to stop them from doing anything like this ever again.”
He added, “Nothing is going to bring back our beloved Lucy, Maia, and Rena.”
The family had been on the road from Efrat to Tiverya for vacation when the attack occurred. They had taken two cars. Leo had been in a separate car with his son and two other daughters.
“My focus is very much on the future, for us and for [the people] of Israel,” he said.
“I’ve had some Palestinian friends of mine from neighboring villages who have left messages in tears, because I’ve known them for many years, they’ve known Lucy, they’ve known the girls,” Leo said, explaining how he developed friendships with builders and gardeners whom he employed to work on his home.
“We’ve spent a lot of time together. Because I never got any guards, I don’t have a gun, and I would spend the day working from home while they came, and we would end up chatting, having coffee, talking about their kids, talking about our kids. We trusted them, I trusted them completely with the family. I still do, more so than any other people I know.
“When I spoke to one of my friends recently, he said ‘Look, we love you,'” Dee said, adding that he believed a majority of Palestinians were “decent people.”
He related that when he met Prime Minister Netanyahu, he spoke about uniting the Jewish nation.
“I really just stressed to him the value of bringing the Jewish people together, which is really through love, and embracing people, and looking at the good,” Dee said. “I don’t know why we have to focus on things that push and pull us apart, because we can focus on the things that different segments of the populations are achieving.”
Shas Knesset member Moshe Arbel will replace party leader Aryeh Deri as health and interior minister.
The move comes after Deri was removed from the posts in January by Israel’s Supreme Court.
Arbel had filled the positions temporarily, but as there is a three-month time limit on temporary assignments, the government was compelled to make Arbel’s appointments permanent, according to Kan News
However, the Shas Party said on Monday that it would “act as soon as possible to pass the law required to correct the injustice, and to appoint Rabbi Aryeh Deri as minister,” referring to a bill that passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum on March 20.
Amendment 16 to Basic Law: The Government prohibits all courts, including the Supreme Court, from ruling on the legality of government ministerial appointments. It was passed by a vote of 63 to 55.
The proposed legislation would allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restore Deri to his previous roles, after having been forced to fire him on January 22 after the court ruled that Deri’s appointment was “unreasonable in the extreme” due to a prior tax fraud conviction.
The Supreme Court ruling came despite a Knesset amendment passed in December specifying that a ban on persons serving as ministers for seven years if convicted of a criminal offense applies only to those serving active jail sentences. Deri was handed a suspended jail sentence as part of a plea bargain last February.
Deri was also dismissed from his role as vice prime minister following the ruling.
“The Supreme Court threw into the trash the votes of 400,000 voters,” the Shas Party said in a statement at the time of the court’s decision. (JNS)
“The only driver for our rating action last Friday were the events around the government’s plans for judicial changes [which] have shown us that, in Israel, you can have a government that is willing to take pretty significant risks with economic and social stability,” said Muehlbronner. “With Israel, our main concern is the executive pushing through important changes to the institutional setup of the country at such a speed, and without any dialogue really, for us is not a sign of strong institutions.”
“We think those [divisions] run deeper than the judicial changes,” she warned. “They have a lot to do with the demographic composition in Israel and the highly unequal income distribution.”
On Sunday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the Moody’s downgrade was “no big drama,” reiterating his claim that the planned judicial changes will be good for the economy and any damage would be a result of the “campaigns of lies” against the overhaul.
never forgot that city. He started a large family, and as an older man, began working at the Western Wall (Kotel), as Netanyahu told it, speaking at the state opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2023 at Yad Vashem on April 17.
Recently, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Israel’s economic outlook from positive to stable, citing a “deterioration of Israel’s governance.”
On Monday, the service said that the key trigger for the decrease was concern that the planned changes to the country’s legal system would threaten the independence of the judiciary.
Speaking at a webinar after Friday’s outlook downgrade, Moody’s Senior Vice President Kathrin Muehlbronner explained that the credit agency assesses a country’s strength of executive and legislative institutions, the strength of its civil society and the judiciary, and how effective they are.
She added, “Having a strong and independent judiciary is important everywhere, but even more so in a system like Israel, where there are really only two branches of government, the executive and the judiciary,” she emphasized. “Other checks and balances that exist in other countries are relatively weak in Israel.”
Muehlbronner added that she was “impressed” with the protests rocking the country.
“Their protests have brought the government to change its position and stop the bill for some time,” she said.
Still, she said that the protests have exposed “deep divisions” in Israeli society and cautioned that the rating agency expects social and political risks to remain elevated for quite some time.
“I don’t think economists are great experts in constitutional, judicial law; they don’t hold a doctorate on governmental structure in Israel,” Smotrich said. “The responsibility of Israel’s economy lies on my shoulders, not on Moody’s shoulders.”
Moody’s reaffirmed Israel’s A1 credit rating backed by “strong economic growth and improving fiscal strength.”
In 2022, Israel posted the first budget surplus in 35 years of 0.6% of GDP as state revenues rose 4.8% to NIS 468.5 billion and exceeded total expenditure of NIS 458.8 billion. For this year, the Finance Ministry targets budget deficits of 0.9% in 2023 and 0.8% of GDP in 2024.
“That was the greatest victory over the Nazis,” Netanyahu said. Working every day at the Kotel, the man, who passed away at 95 a year-and-a-half ago, felt there was a great turn from Holocaust to rebirth and resurrection.
“A true symbol of our triumph over our enemies,” said Netanyahu.
The scars of the pain of the Holocaust remain forever, he continued. But he also said to the survivors: “You chose life. You believed in good. You helped others.” Many started large families, he noted.
“The height of this victory is the independence of our 75-year-old country. Israel is a vibrant, free, democratic country, with so many achievements,” he said.
But past victories don’t guarantee future ones, and there is a “relentless battle against those who seek to kill us,” Netanyahu cautioned. He said Israel must not allow a nuclear Iran and must fight its terrorist proxies all around.
“Our enemies,” he stated, “will find us standing shoulder to shoulder together.” (JNS)
A Hungarian Jew, whose whole family was killed in the Holocaust, was sent to various concentration camps. At Mauthausen in Austria, an SS officer would wake him and other prisoners up every day.
“‘You dream of Jerusalem?’ the officer would yell at them. ‘You will never get to see Jerusalem. You will only see Jerusalem only through chimneys of the furnaces,’” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Yom HaShoah this week.
But the Jewish man never gave up, survived the Holocaust, and moved to Israel. He didn’t live in Jerusalem, but he
Did you know?
Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping were arrested this week by the FBI for operating an “undeclared police station” in
Some say that pretzels were created by monks in a monastery in the year 610.
New York City. Prosecutors say the duo were Chinese agents who worked with dozens of others to silence and harass dissidents within the United States.
Both men are U.S. citizens and have been charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and obstructing justice.
The Justice Department also announced charges against 44 officers of the national police of the People’s Republic of China with harassing Chinese nationals in the U.S. critical of the Chinese government.
All 44 are believed to live in China and remain at large, according to Justice Department. The officers were part of an effort by the Chinese government called the “912 Special Project Working Group” to influence global perceptions of the People’s Republic of China, or PRC.
The agents allegedly used social media to post favorably about the PRC and to attack their “perceived adversaries,” including the United States and Chinese pro-democracy activists around the world, the Justice Department said. The illegal police operation in Chinatown is the “first known overseas police station in the United States” set up on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Public
Security, or MPS, the Justice Department said.
The agents were allegedly directed by the MPS to create and maintain accounts that looked like they were run by American citizens. Topics of their propaganda machine include U.S. foreign policy, human rights issues in Hong Kong, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Covid-19 and racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, according to prosecutors.
“The PRC, through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement. “The PRC’s actions go far beyond the bounds of acceptable nation-state conduct. We will resolutely defend the freedoms of all those living in our country from the threat of authoritarian repression.”
According to court documents, the secret police station was set up in early 2022 to identify, track and intimidate Chinese dissidents within the United States.
During an interview with the FBI, Lu said that he had established the office, which he called an “oversees ser -
vice center,” to help Chinese nationals living in the United States “renew Chinese government documents.” Lu told investigators during the interview that Chen acted as the primary point of contact with officials back in China.
dancing on cars in Millennium Park.
The groups were seen running around, jumping on cars and CTA buses and weaving in and out of oncoming traffic. At one point, a bus driver was physically assaulted.
Two teenagers were shot near Michigan and Wabash avenues. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the arm, and a 17-yearold boy was shot in the leg.
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson called the chaos “unacceptable,” but went on to say, “it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.” Mayor Lori Lightfoot also responded to the violence.
Scores of youth in Chicago went wild over the weekend, disrupting traffic and
“We have taken steps, and will take steps to address these teen trends. It’s not the first time that we’ve addressed these issues, but our young people have an opportunity and a right to enjoy the entirety of our city, but they have to do it in a way that is respectful for people and property. And we did address that over the week-
Until the 1930s, all pretzels were handmade.
end, and we will continue to address it,” Lightfoot said.
Fifteen people were arrested in the melee.
Although police generally are prepared for these types of incidents, it seems like this one caught them off-guard.
Kelly Hoxie said he had more than 100 patrons dining inside Remington’s across from Millennium Park. They shut down the patio as the crowd began to take over and called 911 four times.
“You couldn’t leave the restaurant, or enter the restaurant,” Hoxie said. “A couple of other people who I know happened to be off duty, heard it over the radio, so they came. They helped me bring people into the restaurant, out of the restaurant, walked people down to their cars, to the train station, to the hotels.”
The weekend’s violence wasn’t just in the Loop. Similar problems took place at 31st Street Beach, and also ended in violence. A 14-year-old boy was shot in his thigh.
Illinois State Rep. Kam Buckner noted, “I think it was frightening. When you look at the video of what we saw in this city, specifically, where young people are, we’ve got a problem on our hands. So, we’ve got to find a way to address this,” Buckner said.
program, dubbed Inside Safe that offers homeless people motel rooms and a path to permanent housing with services, has over 1,000 enrollees so far, she said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to deliver 500 units of temporary housing to the city, while the Biden administration has sent the city and county more than $200 million for homeless programs, she added.
a third have serious mental illnesses. Homeless deaths average five a day.
The City of Angels is now hoping to quell its homeless problem with money –lots of money.
Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, who was elected in November after promising to take on the city’s out-of-control homeless crisis, announced this week that she would recommend spending what she called a record $1.3 billion next year to get unhoused people into shelter and treatment programs.
The money will be used partly to buy hotels and motels that can be converted into housing the homeless.
Bass added that the budget also would include funds for substance abuse treatment beds for the unhoused, but she did not specify how many. And her signature
“After years of frustration ... we can see a clearer path to a new Los Angeles,” Bass said, speaking inside the ornate City Council chambers. And “we have finally dispelled the myth that people do not want to come inside. They do.”
This is not the first time that Los Angeles has thrown money at its homeless problem.
The city has expanded spending on homeless programs for years – then-Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a budget in 2021 with nearly $1 billion in homeless spending – but the unhoused population has continued to increase. Bass’ challenge is in plain sight in just about any neighborhood: homeless people living in trashstrewn encampments or rusty RVs along streets, below underpasses and clustered around freeway exits.
About half the homeless population –totaling over 40,000 citywide – struggles with drug or alcohol addiction, and about
New York City’s 1 million public school students could lunch on “cheesy garlic pizza,” green beans, and salad on Monday. But not roast beef.
Patients at New York City’s public hospitals might dine on paella — seafood not included — or a Moroccan root vegetable tagine.
In New York City-run facilities, meat is increasingly missing from the menu.
Mayor Eric Adams on Monday vowed to reduce emissions tied to city food procurements by 33% by 2030, unveiling data showing that in New York City, food consumption rivals transportation as a source of planet-warming gases.
Every year, New York City spends roughly $300 million buying food — for public school students, for detainees on Rikers Island, and for patients admitted to its 11 public hospitals. The city estimates that its food purchases produce as much carbon as the annual exhaust from more than 70,000 gas-fueled cars. In 2021, during the last year of Bill de Blasio’s mayoralty, the city committed to cutting its food-related emissions by 25% by 2030.
Monday’s announcement increased that commitment to 33%.
“It is easy to talk about emissions that are coming from vehicles and how it impacts our carbon footprint, it is easy to talk about the emissions that’s coming from buildings and how it impacts our environment,” Adams said, standing next to a chef in a toque at a city hospital kitchen. “But we now have to talk about beef. And I don’t know if people are really ready for this conversation.”
The announcement is the latest development in Adams’ long-standing interest in vegetarianism, but it also represents an unusually frank admission from a national political leader that Americans will have to eat differently if they want to rein in climate change.
The city for the first time released a new measure of New York City’s carbon footprint that incorporates the greenhouse emissions created by the consumption and production of food. It found that food rivals transportation in the size of its carbon footprint — at 20% of the city’s emissions, it trails just behind transportation, at 22%. New York buildings produce 34% of the city’s.
Adams, a self-described vegan who sometimes eats fish, has long cast his plant-based diet as essential to healthy living.
“I always say we have two mothers: One gave birth to us, the other sustains us, and we have been destroying the one that sustains us based on the food that we have been consuming,” Adams said on Monday.
New York City schools already abstain from serving meat on Mondays and Fridays. Its public hospitals have made vegetarian dishes the default option, though patients who want meat can still get it. Adams’ announcement this week suggests the city will be serving even less beef at its facilities in the coming years, though it has yet to specify specific reduction targets. (© The New York Times)
Twenty-one-year-old Jack Teixeira was behind the leaking of classified documents that had been posted online. The member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested by the FBI on Thursday.
The leaked documents posted to social media included detailed intelligence assessments of allies and adver -
saries alike, including on the state of the war in Ukraine and the challenges Kyiv and Moscow face as the war appears stuck in a stalemate.
The search for the suspect began with thousands of people who had access to the documents, but investigators were able to quickly narrow the search to potential members of the chat group with evidence collected in the days immediately following the discovery of classified documents online by
U.S. officials.
Teixeira was under surveillance for at least a couple of days prior to his arrest by the FBI on Thursday.
Teixeira is an enlisted airman at the Massachusetts Air National Guard, according to details from his service record released by the Air Force last week. He joined the service in September 2019, and his official job is Cyber Transport Systems journeyman. According to the Air Force, Cyber Trans -
port Systems specialists are tasked with making sure the service’s “vast, global communications network” is “operating properly.”
London dropped to fourth place on this year’s list with 258,000 resident high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), followed by city-state Singapore with 240,100.
Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Sydney round out the top 10 wealthiest cities globally, according to the report.
Two things: P7. That’s it.
P7 is now the most expensive plate around. It smashed the previous record that Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri snagged when he bought a license plate 52.2 million dirhams ($14.2 million) in February 2008 at an auction organized by the same company.
mation about the origins of the solar system.
But not everyone gets the prize. The $25,000 reward is for the first meteorite piece found that weighs 2.2 pounds or more. Still, the museum would be willing to pay for any specimen “irrespective of its size.”
On Wednesday, The Washington Post first reported that the person behind the leak worked on a military base and posted sensitive national security secrets in an online group of acquaintances. The leaker was described in the Post story as a lonely young man and gun enthusiast who was part of a chatroom of about two dozen people on Discord – a social media platform popular with video gamers – that shared a love of guns and military gear, according to a friend of the alleged leaker the Post interviewed who was also part of the group.
“Traditional wealth magnets such as Monaco and Dubai have also experienced especially strong millionaire growth over the past decade,” Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, said.
“The average wealth of a person living in Monaco exceeds $10 million, making it the top-ranked city on a wealth per capita basis.
“Dubai is another established international wealth center, with its low tax rates making it a magnet for migrating millionaires from all over the world. Approximately 3,500 HNWIs moved to the city in 2022 alone.”
The world’s ultra-wealthy shed a combined $10 trillion, or 10 percent, from their net worth in 2022, driven by the triple “shock” of global economic uncertainty, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, a March report by property consultancy Knight Frank said.
New York is also home to the most centimillionaires — people with a net worth of $100 million or more in investable assets — in the world at 724, followed by the San Francisco Bay Area with 629, and Los Angeles at 480, the Henley & Partners research found.
However, San Francisco Bay Area is home to the most billionaires globally at 63, followed by New York City with 58 and Beijing at 43.
Dubai hosts 68,400 millionaires, 206 centimillionaires and 15 billionaires, according to the report. Abu Dhabi is home to 24,200 millionaires, 68 centimillionaires and four billionaires.
The charity was organized to raise funds for One Billion Meals, a program run by the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the UAE to help those during the month of Ramadan.
P7 was not the only plate to be sold at the auction. Another one sold for around $800,000, while $38,000 was the price that went for another.
Overall, the auction raised more than $19 million for charity.
It was a smashing success.
“Finding meteorites in woods of Maine. It’s not the simplest of the environments,” Pitt noted.
Finding a piece of space is not easy. Only eight to ten meteorites are recovered each year out of hundreds of fireballs seen falling to Earth.
According to Pitt, meteorites may be easy to spot. The outside would likely be blackened — after being toasted by the heat as it plummeted through Earth’s atmosphere — while the inside would likely be a different color. It may also contain iron and therefore be attracted to a magnet.
Gotta shoot for the stars.
Want to know where most millionaires call their home? Welcome to the Big Apple.
According to a new report, New York City is home to the world’s highest concentration of resident millionaires, with 340,000 of the wealthiest calling the city their home.
Tokyo and San Francisco Bay Area are ranked second and third, with resident millionaire populations of 290,300 and 285,000, respectively, according to Henley & Partners, which tracks private wealth and investment migration trends worldwide, and global wealth intelligence provider New World Wealth.
When you own a car that’s fancier than any other in the neighborhood, you’ve got to have an over-the-top license plate to match.
Recently, a license plate sold for a jaw-dropping 55 million dirhams ($15 million) at a charity auction in Dubai, fetching what organizers Emirates Auction say is a world record price.
What does it say on this piece of art?
Looking for some cool cash that is truly out of this world? A museum in Maine is offering $25,000 for the remains of a space rock that streaked across the sky last week before landing near the border between the United States and Canada.
The fireball, which was visible in broad daylight and created a sonic boom, was detected by radar, allowing NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Lab to calculate the “strewn field” — where fragments of the meteor might be found — near Calais, Maine.
Darryl Pitt, head of the meteorite division at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum, wants to study any fragments of the meteorite, which, depending on the type, could contain valuable infor -
Paper airplanes are not just about paper and sharp creases. There’s a real science to crafting the best aircraft out of paper.
Recently, the world record for the farthest flight by paper airplane was broken by three aerospace engineers with a paper aircraft that flew a grand total of 289 feet, 9 inches, nearly the length of an American football field.
They beat the previous record of 252 feet, 7 inches (77 meters) achieved on April 2022 by a trio in South Korea. Prior to that, the record had not been broken in over a decade.
“It really put things on the map and it’s a really proud moment for family and friends,” said Dillon Ruble, a systems engineer at Boeing and now paper airplane record holder. ”It’s a good tie in to aerospace and thinking along the lines of designing and creating prototypes.”
Ruble worked alongside Garrett Jensen, a strength engineer also with
Boeing, and aerospace engineer Nathaniel Erickson. The trio are recent graduates who studied aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
This was real work. The feat required months of effort, as the team put in nearly 500 hours of studying origami and aerodynamics to create and test multiple prototypes. The engineers put their final design to the test on Decem -
ber 2, 2022, in Crown Point, Indiana, where the record was achieved on Ruble’s third throw.
“We hope this record stands for quite a while — 290 feet (88 meters) is unreal,” Jensen said in the release. “That’s 14 to 15 feet (4.2 to 4.6 meters) over the farthest throw we ever did. It took a lot of planning and a lot of skill to beat the previous record.”
In order to come up with the best airplane, the three looked at hypersonic
aircraft for inspiration.
They also needed to practice to make sure they have the best technique in throwing the paper flying object.
For those looking for some tips, “We found the optimal angle is about 40 degrees off the ground. Once you’re aiming that high, you throw as hard as possible. That gives us our best distance,” Jensen said. “It took simulations to figure that out. I didn’t think we could get useful data from a simulation on a
paper airplane. Turns out, we could.” Fasten your seatbelts.
After more than 500 days underground, Beatriz Flamini finally emerged from her cave on Friday.
The Spanish extreme athlete and mountain climber had entered a cave in Grenada on November 21, 2021 with the goal of learning about the effects of solitude and deprivation on the human mind and body.
Now, she says that her experience all alone was wonderful.
Flamini was monitored from afar by a team of scientists from the universities of Almeria, Granada and Murcia. With no contact with the outside world, she lost count of how many days she was underground after around two months. Surrounded by the dark walls, Flamini passed the time during her stay in cave by reading – she read more than 60 books during her time underground – writing, drawing, exercising, and knitting.
“For me, at least, as an elite extreme sportswoman, the most important thing is being very clear and consistent about what you think and what you feel and what you say,” Flamini told a news conference after exiting the cave. “It’s true that there were some difficult moments, but there were also some very beautiful moments – and I had both as I lived up to my commitment to living in a cave for 500 days.”
Two cameras documented her time underground for an upcoming documentary about the project. Flamini would drop off the recordings at a dropoff point underground, and her support team would leave her food and other necessities.
After emerging in the sunlight, Flamini told reporters that all she wants to do is to take a shower.
Another incredible milestone was reached in Netzach HaTorah upon the completion of another year of their Phone Incentive Program. In this unique and trailblazing program, the talmidim have spent the past 26 weeks committed to participating in a program that seeks to meet the present day challenges of phones, technology, and social media. After weeks of chizuk and commitment to the program, the in-
crease in both the quality and quantity of the talmidim’s learning is readily apparent. The talmidim expressed feeling truly free and healthy as they committed to the program.
Upon the completion of the phone program, the talmidim and Rabbeim travelled to Orlando to spend a well-deserved three days together. With some last minute surprises as half the boy’s flights were canceled/delayed, the talmi-
dim showed maturity, resiliency, and patience while they made their way safely to the beautiful accommodations in Orlando. They enjoyed boating, tubing, amusement parks, Aqua Park Ski School, swimming, BBQ, fun night activities and a very inspiring banquet and kumzits in a local Orlando restaurant to celebrate their special accomplishments! The trip was filled with excitement and purpose giving the talmidim the feelings of con-
trol and success, both of which came after six long months of mesiras nefesh. They grew in yiras Shomayim and experienced a strong sense of meaning in a world that can be devoid of ambition and aspiration.
The Mesivta looks forward to the talmidim taking these accomplishments and building off of them into the future as they prepare to enter into the next phase of their lives.
Pesach is a time of joy and celebration for many families, but for those impacted by illness, trauma, or loss, it can be a difficult and challenging time. Fortunately, Chai Lifeline is there to offer support and make yom tov a little bit easier for families in need. From family programming and financial assistance to meal deliveries and car cleanings, Chai Lifeline regions across the country helped alleviate stress and elevate the holiday for thousands of families.
Pre-Pesach activities, designed to keep children entertained and provide services to families, like haircuts, and car and house cleanings, were offered across Chai Lifeline’s regions in New York, New Jersey, West Coast, Southeast, Midwest, and the Mid-Atlantic. “Seder in a Box” and Pesach meals were delivered to hospitals and homes. Financial assistance, through the Evan Levy z”l Fund, and afikomen gift cards brought relief to families and smiles to children’s faces.
One parent noted that Chai Lifeline’s “support means so much to us during this challenging time. Your gift has lifted a great burden off our shoulders and will go a long way in helping us focus on our son’s recovery without worrying about the financial strain.”
Rabbi Mordechai Gobioff, MSW, National Director of Client Services, said that “the focus of Chai Lifeline during the busy yom tov season is to make
sure every Chai Lifeline family can sit down to the Seder with a sense of menucha through the various support services, programs, and individualized assistance.” That support continued over Chol HaMoed with a special outing for New York area families at Sportime USA, giving parents a chance to relax as their children bounced, jumped and connected with peers.
One parent from Maryland shared how, “All these programs and services are tremendously helpful, and they make a huge difference in our lives. We could not imagine what Pesach – and all that it requires – would be like without Chai Lifeline supporting us along the way. Thank you so much!”
By Laura Allen
The Masbia Soup Kitchen Network serves kosher food to the needy free of charge throughout the year, with dignity and respect. Every year, during the Passover season, Masbia experiences an increase in demand, and this year, with the cost of food still at a historical high, the challenge is even greater.
In the two weeks leading up to the Passover holiday, Masbia added more pick-up appointments to its digital breadline and sent out thousands of raw food packages to people’s homes through a partnership with DoorDash. It is estimated that 50,000 people received food from Masbia this Passover season, with the logistics and planning for such an undertaking having actually begun months ahead of time.
In addition to kosher-for-Passover raw food packages, Masbia was open for meals. At the Queens location, people were able to pick up meals to-go. The Flatbush and Boro Park locations were open and serving in-house, communal meals for the entire eight days, including the Seders. This year marked the first time the Flatbush location was open in this capacity, allowing Masbia to feed even more people during what is a challenging time for many to access ready-toeat, kosher-for-Passover food.
“While many have a list of who will sit at their Passover tables or an invitation to sit at someone else’s, not everyone is so lucky. There are people who weren’t invited by anyone at all to join their Seder. There are others who are physically unable to prepare their own Seder. To fill this gap, Masbia was open for communal, in-house, Passover Seders,” said Rabbi Mendel Teitelbaum, the Maschgiach at Masbia of Boro Park who also led the Seders. “By the way, at the second Seder, we had NYC Comptroller Brad Lander join us as a guest,” he added.
“While the Seders are very important, the days of Chol Ha’Moed are even busier because those who do manage to get invited to a Seder don’t get invited for Chol Ha’Moed meals, so we get way more guests on Chol Ha’Moed,” said David Spira, Maschgiach at Masbia of Flatbush. “With that being said, we had so many
people sign up at the last minute or show up without having RSVP’d on the first days, that we used up almost all the food we prepared for eight days in three days. We started cooking from scratch on Chol Ha’Moed,” he continued.
“The guests were very appreciative,” said Rabbi Teitelbaum. “They constantly kept saying ‘Thank you’ and expressed excitement as each course was brought out.”
People who received deliveries also expressed their great appreciation. Here is an e-mail sent to Masbia from one such recipient: “Hi, I am a recipient of the blue bags, and I would like to say thank you!!! The bags really help make a dent in our grocery bill throughout the year, and especially now, Pesach time, they are giving us so much to help us get through Yom Tov! Thank you so much for organizing this, and especially for the discreet and respectful manner in which you deliver the items. May Hashem give you hatzlacha to keep on helping out people. Have a great Yom Tov.”
The reference to the blue bags is that most of the time, Masbia sends items via DoorDash in jumbo blue bags that work well with their 25-pound limit. Each family received multiple bags in the leadup to Passover based on their family size.
“The challenge is big, but so are the hearts of our donors,” said Alexander Rapaport, Executive Director of Masbia. “We could not have done it without the generous support of thousands of donors,” he added.
In addition to being open in Flatbush for in-house meals for the first time, this year’s Passover effort also had a special element in that some of the newly-ar-
rived asylum seekers helped out at the Masbia Food Reserve Depot through a partnership with La Colmena. The asylum seekers broke down hundreds of pallets and bins of produce into those aforementioned blue bags.
Masbia’s work goes on all year round, and while the Passover season is behind us, food insecurity is an ongoing issue
that Masbia is trying to tackle. Next Monday is the yahrtzeit of Kerestir Rebbe, Rabbi Yeshayah (Ben Reb Moshe) Steiner, zt”l, known as Reb Shielleh Keretirer, who was known for his holy work in providing for the hungry. In his memory, you can join Masbia in feeding the needy by visiting masbia.org.
Introducing “Empowered Moms: You Can Do This!” a dynamic and empowering lecture series designed exclusively for single moms who aspire to achieve success in the world of business. Led by experienced entrepreneurs and business experts, this engaging series aims to equip single moms with the knowledge, skills, and strategies needed to thrive in the competitive business landscape.
Throughout the lecture series, single moms will be inspired by real-life success stories of women who have built thriving
businesses from the ground up. They will learn practical tips and techniques to launch and grow their own businesses, including market research, financial management, marketing and branding, sales strategies, and more. The lectures will also cover topics such as time management, work-life balance, and building a strong support system, tailored specifically for single moms who face unique challenges in balancing their business endeavors with their responsibilities as a single parent.
The “Empowered Moms: You Can Do
This” lecture series is more than just a traditional lecture format. It includes interactive discussions, group activities, and Q&A sessions to encourage participation and foster a collaborative learning environment. Single moms will also have the opportunity to network with other like-minded individuals, build meaningful connections, and gain support from a community of fellow single moms who share similar aspirations and challenges. This lecture series is not just about business knowledge, but also about empowering single moms to unlock their full
On Tuesday, April 18, students and teachers of Shulamith School for Girls gathered for a meaningful Yom HaShoah program.
The Shulamith eighth grade presented a Holocaust exhibit outlining the stages of the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews. The middle school students visited the exhibit, learning about the history and impact of the Shoah.
The girls were also privileged to hear from Holocaust survivors, Mr. Norbert Strauss and Mrs. Ruchie Gross, who spoke about their experience in the Shoah, sharing stories of both the brutality
of the Nazis and of the miracle of their own survival.
The culmination of this year’s commemoration was an address by Rabbi Yechiel Spero, who spoke about Emunah and Kiddush Hashem. He shared details of his own grandmother’s experience in the concentration camp and her resolute belief that Hashem would help her survive.
The incredible emunat Hashem the girls witnessed from the survivors in the face of the unspeakable will resonate for years to come.
Children at Shulamith ECC are learning about brachot and squeezing grapes to make their own grape juice
potential, build confidence, and create a bright future for themselves and their families through successful entrepreneurship. Join us and embark on an exciting journey towards business success and personal fulfillment!
The upcoming lecture will take place on Sunday, April 23 at 10:30-12:30 at Yismach Moshe, 1034 Broadway in Woodmere. Snacks will be served. Please contact Esther Miller at esther@jccrp.org for more information about the event and to receive the QR code to sign up and receive a swag bag.
After learning in-depth about emunah and bitachon, talmidim in Yeshiva Ateres Eitz Chaim had the opportunity to make the once-a-year-bracha of Birchas Ha’ilanos on blossoming fruit trees, which highlights how nothing in this world is lacking because of Hashem’s kindness.
Who are Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Charles Schwab, Sir Richard Branson, Steven Spielberg, Winston Churchill? With resilience and intellect, they succeeded, which is not easy with a language-based learning disability (LBLD).
Most of school learning is through language. If a child is faced with challenges learning via language, being taught by educators, who are skilled, with techniques that are research proven, and who have devotion to ensuring each learner is successful is essential. Approximately one out of every 59 children in the U.S. has some form of LBLD, which includes dyslexia. Too many of those children, despite being very smart and wanting to learn, fall behind when they are not taught in the ways in which they can learn and within groups of like learners.
A group of dedicated community leaders has joined forces with a team of highly skilled, experienced, widely recognized professionals in the world of LBLD to create the school for the children of Brooklyn, Queens, Far Rockaway, and the Five Towns, who struggle to learn, so they can remain a part of their communities. TAL Academy will be in Belle Harbor, NY. Usher, a member of the TAL Board of Trustees, explained, “Belle Harbor makes sense. It is central.”
TAL Academy’s mission is to serve a specific population of children who meet a clearly defined learning profile. Students with LBLD have difficulty processing, comprehending, and using language. They commonly struggle with listening, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, math, organization, attention, memory, social skills, perseverance, and self-regulation. However, a teaching style that is specialized and structured enables stu-
dents with LBLD to succeed. This profile does not include children identified as having an autism spectrum disorder, primary emotional problems, or intellectual challenges. Like all learners, children with such learning challenges require specifically focused, specialized teaching to meet their particular needs.
Each member of the founding team is exceptional. Mrs. Taib, principal of TAL, has over 30 years of experience in both general and special education. Most recently, she served as the Director of Student Support Service at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls in Hewlett, NY. Mrs. Taib’s goal for TAL is crystal clear. “If we can reach these children at young ages, we have the ability to change the trajectory of their lives, which is so very powerful.” She continues, “Too many of our children with LBLD, despite having average to above-average intelligence, move through school year after year feeling that the academic expectations are beyond their reach. The toll this takes on their self-esteem is enormous, when, in fact, academic achievement is not beyond their reach. They just need to learn differently using an explicit multisensory approach within an immersive language-rich environment, and they can succeed. Many of our students will eventually return to their neighborhood schools with the solid foundation of skills necessary for learning in both Limudei Kodesh and Limudei Chol, but even more importantly, with confidence in their own abilities.”
Dr. Soifer has over 50 years of experience as a clinician, teacher trainer, and presenter, locally, nationally, and internationally, as well as being an author, and
member of the Windward, Eagle Hill, and Gateway School communities. Her program Classroom Language Dynamics: Effective Teaching Model© is used in mainstream and special education schools.
Mrs. Bracha Kresch, the current Hebrew supervisor at HALB, will be overseeing the Hebrew reading curriculum. A highly regarded Hebrew language kria specialist, her program, KriativeSolutions, is an innovative and successfully proven Hebrew reading program.
Rabbi Aryeh Dachs, who has built an array of programs for young people throughout the Five Towns and Far Rockaway, joined TAL Academy as Executive Director. His experience as an administrator is proven and adds to the exceptional nature of TAL Academy.
Mrs. Taib, Dr. Soifer, and Mrs. Kresch have coordinated an interdisciplinary team of special educators, rabbis, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, guidance counselors, physical education teachers, as well as music and art teachers to create a school of the highest quality for children with clearly defined learning needs, who will acquire secular and Judaic studies knowledge –in their own communities!
TAL Academy will open in September with boys and girls in grades two through four. It will grow to become a full elementary school serving children with LBLD in grades one through eight, with the goal of empowering learners so that they may be able to return to their neighborhood schools having learned how to learn!
For more information, please visit TALacademy.org or call (516) 218-1189.
Camp Simcha, Chai Lifeline’s flagship summer program for children and teens with cancer, disabilities, and other serious illnesses, is proud to announce its selection as one of the top 500 summer camps in the United States, according to Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group’s “America’s Best Summer Camps 2023.”
Located on a beautiful 125-acre campus in Glen Spey, NY, Camp Simcha provides a safe, nurturing, and fun-filled environment tailored to the unique medical and physical needs of its campers. The camp’s inclusion on Newsweek’s list signifies its outstanding reputation for offering unparalleled support and care to children facing challenging circumstances.
The Newsweek ranking is based on a variety of criteria, including a comprehensive survey of more than 15,000 parents. Camp Simcha is among the 483 camps on the list that have earned the
esteemed ACA accreditation, demonstrating its dedication to maintaining high standards in safety, programming, and overall quality, as well as its commitment to bringing joy and hope to the lives of children with serious illnesses.
“We are honored to be recognized as one of America’s best summer camps,” said Nachman Maimon, Director of Camp Simcha. “This recognition is a testament to the tireless efforts and unwavering dedication of the entire Simcha team to providing our campers with a unique and unforgettable experience.”
Camp Simcha offers a variety of programs designed to cater to the diverse interests and needs of its medically complex campers. From adaptive sports and outdoor adventures to music therapy and creative arts, campers can enjoy a summer filled with growth, friendships, and unforgettable memories in a medically supervised environment.
Safely disposing of all unused and expired prescription drugs and over-the-counter-medications reduces access for youth – and everyone else – to dangerous drugs. Drive-thru and drop off prescription and overthe-counter medications at Hatzalah of the Rockaways and Nassau County
on Sunday, April 23 from 10 am-2 pm at 724 West Broadway in Woodmere at our second annual community drop off event.
The Saving Lives Five Towns Drug and Alcohol Coalition, under the auspices of the Marion and Aaron Gural JCC, together with its Coalition Part-
ners Hatzalah of the Rockaways and Nassau County, Northwell Health, Nassau County Police Department, Tempo Group and others, have come together to keep our kids safe. Last year, our Drop Off program was a huge success, and we hope this year will be even bigger. Take advantage of this easy op -
portunity to safely dispose of all your unused and outdated drugs and medications keeping them out of hands that might misuse them – intentionally or accidentally.
Join us this Sunday and help us Save Lives!
For the first time in its storied history, Times Square will be home to a flagship university campus as Touro University opens its new Cross River Campus at 3 Times Square. Nearly 3,000 students and staff will call the new campus home.
Touro created the unified campus to house its College of Pharmacy (TCOP), New York School of Career & Applied Studies (NYSCAS), Graduate School of Business (GSB), Graduate School of Education (GSE), Graduate School of Jewish Studies (GSJS), Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) and Graduate School of Technology (GST). The 11-floor vertical campus includes a student center, fully automated kosher dining area, a fullscale in-store pharmacy as well as state of the art classrooms, research labs and some administrative offices.
To commemorate this momentous achievement, Touro leadership, along with key stakeholders and supporters, gathered on Monday, April 17.
“Today is truly a glorious day for
Touro University. After a half century of growth and service to humanity, Touro has arrived at the crossroads of the world- Times Square, New York City. We couldn’t be happier to be here,” said Rabbi Moshe D. Krupka, Touro Executive Vice President.
In introducing Touro President Dr. Alan Kadish, Rabbi Krupka shared that Touro’s arrival at their long-awaited new home “began with a dream that our president had a bit more than a decade ago. Like any great leader, he was tenacious in pursuing that dream, and he brought us to this moment as an institution that is strong academically, socially and financially.”
“The grand opening of our Cross River Campus marks a new and exciting chapter of Touro’s storied history in New York City, and we thank all of those who have accompanied us in turning that page. Even though we have campuses located across the United States and abroad, New York has always been our epicenter and we are elated to have planted our flag right here,” said Dr. Alan
Kadish, President of Touro University. “Several years ago, while New York City’s economy was suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Touro’s leadership never stopped looking ahead. We believed in the resilience of New Yorkers… we believed in the dedication of our students…and we believed in the future.
As the nation’s largest non-profit institution of higher and professional education under Jewish auspices, Touro demonstrated its beliefs and positive outlook with a major investment—an investment in our students, an investment in our institution, and an investment in New York. Behind me are the first dividends of our investment – this beautiful, new, stateof-the-art 300,000 square-foot campus.”
3 Times Square, originally developed by Rudin as the North American headquarters for Reuters Group PLC in the early 2000s, recently underwent capital improvements, including the creation of a new, glass-walled triple-height lobby and a sculptural façade screen designed to diffuse the light of Times Square. The building is easily accessible to Grand
Did you know?
Central, Port Authority and Penn Station, providing an ideal campus for commuting faculty and students.
“Touro University is one of our most cherished educational institutions. Their bold decision to create a flagship campus at 3 Times Square is the embodiment of New York’s ability to thrive through constant reinvention and adaptation,” said Bill Rudin, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rudin. “Touro’s daily flow of students, faculty and staff through Times Square has already injected an added sense of vitality to the neighborhood.”
“Higher education has been a steppingstone for so many young people in our city, and with this incredible new campus, New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs will have access to the state-ofthe-art classrooms, research labs, and more,” shared New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a statement. “Congratulations to Touro University on their brand-new Cross River Campus right in the heart of Manhattan. This campus is going to bring new energy to the Midtown community.”
Some say that the word “pretzel” comes from a Latin word that means “little arms.”
The Orthodox Union (OU), the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, is pleased to welcome Joel Mael of Lawrence, N.Y. to the OU’s Board of Directors. Mael is among 14 new OU Board Members from across the U.S. and Canada elected to a two-year term.
Mael co-founded Tallwood Associates, an investment and merchant banking firm. He previously served as Deputy Mayor of Lawrence and as Vice Chairman of the Miami Marlins. His communal involvements include being a member of the Yeshiva College Board; serving as a commission member for the OU’s Cen-
ter for Communal Research department; being involved in the OU’s Community Projects and Partnerships department; being a Board Member of the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst (YILC); and being on the selection committee for Advancing Jewish Athletics.
The OU Board is responsible for de-
termining the OU’s mission and vision; ensuring strong fiduciary oversight and financial management; fundraising and resource development; and monitoring and assessing the OU’s programs and services. Board members also serve as advisors to the OU’s various departments.
While Hamaspik’s services are primarily geared towards individuals with developmental disabilities and clients with mental health challenges, another big focus of theirs is to support the heroic caregivers and family members who never stop giving to and loving their child or sibling enrolled in services. To that end, each client and their entire family was treated to an unforgettable day at the Nickelodeon amusement park in American Dream Mall this Chol Hamoed Pesach. Many Five Towns clients were in attendance to join the fun.
The theme of the event was “Making Dreams Together,” and each detail was planned with great care to accommodate the needs of every single guest. Guests enjoyed a packed schedule of concerts, a magic show, and a science show. They got to experience thrilling park rides as they mingled with clowns and other entertainers who were walking around, delighting visitors. A lavish food court was set up with cheese snacks, kosher l’Pesach baked goods, juices, fruit, cheeses, and more. As a special bonus, guests visited
the exclusive Hamaspik Gift Shop in the mall, where each person received his or her own gift bag, making each sibling feel special and valued.
The smiles on the faces of clients, siblings, and parents were testament to the joy that everyone felt at American Dream Mall that day. For the parents and siblings of Hamaspik clients who never stop giving and caring, this was a well-deserved treat that Hamaspik felt privileged to provide.
Commemorating Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Orthodox Union’s Southern NCSY youth movement has brought its Hate Ends Now Cattle Car: Stepping in and Out of Darkness exhibit to Times Square.
Hundreds of high school students from the New York metropolitan area had the opportunity to tour the interactive exhibit, as did a host of survivors, educators, and dignitaries who attended an evening event at the site.
Uniquely housed in a traveling replica of a WWII-era cattle car similar to those used by the Nazis to transport Jews and other targeted groups to concentration and death camps, The Cattle Car: Stepping in and Out of Darkness includes a powerfully immersive multimedia presentation where visitors watch a movie projected in 360 degrees onto the walls around them helping them to understand the harrowing experiences of those
crammed into similar rail cars around 80 years ago.
As visitors progress through the cattle car, they are exposed to the different phases of unimaginable atrocities that took place during the Holocaust. They hear the recorded testimonies of survivors Hedy Bohm and Nate Leipciger who share their own experiences being transported in a cattle car resembling the one that the visitors are standing in. The exhibit’s conclusion ties in present-day footage and images of intolerance and hatred, drawing attention to current issues humanity faces.
An artifact exhibit showcased outside of the cattle car provides added visuals to the overall educational experience.
“Times Square is nicknamed the Crossroads of the World, so there is no more powerful place to showcase the Hate Ends Now tour, particularly at a time in our country when antisemitism and hate in all its forms is on the rise,” said Southern NCSY Executive Director
Todd Cohn. “Hundreds of thousands of people walk through Times Square each day. Our hope is to inspire those who see this exhibit and particularly the high school students who visited on the need for tolerance by helping them fully understand the history of the atrocities committed in service of hate.”
Following Times Square, the exhibit will travel to Massachusetts where it will visit Salem State University, Harvard University, Newton’s War Memorial, and Jewish community centers and high schools.
With each passing year, as fewer Holocaust survivors remain to tell their stories, this generation of young adults is becoming increasingly dependent on memoirs to learn the horrors experienced by their ancestors. To that end, this year, Shulamith High School chose to incorporate Yom Hashoah into its annual Book Day. Book Day is a fully immersive shared reading experience, where the full school reads a particular book in preparation, and a day of related programming and analysis brings its themes and lessons to life. This year’s choice, The Redhead of Auschwitz, provided exposure to the narrative of Rosie Greenstein, an indomitable young woman whose granddaughter has made it her mission to ensure the details and atrocities are never forgotten.
After Rabbi Heshy Blumstein recited Tehillim and the Kel Malei at the opening tekes, Nechama Birnbaum, granddaughter of the Redhead of Auschwitz and author of the memoir, shared essential takeaway messages from her grandmother’s story. She stressed her grandmother’s
faith in her survival and commitment to maintaining whatever dignity she could control, including sneaking to the bathhouse to wash up at night, switching lines to be tattooed with neater numbers, and her constant refrain, “I’m going home from here.” She spoke of Klal Yisrael’s inherent nature to believe in and take action towards the impossible, a trait passed down from Avraham Avinu who began counting the stars at Hashem’s command, knowing full well it was a job a human being couldn’t complete. And she shared the feeling of hope and rebirth her grandmother experienced during liberation, as she emerged from her underground bunker where she had essentially been buried alive and saw the beautiful colors of wildflowers growing above where she had been imprisoned. That sentiment of “matzmiach yeshua,” that a seed which had been seemingly destroyed and buried in the earth could blossom and bloom once again, invigorated her to begin anew as news of the horrors spread. The program continued with an SHS Remembers Museum, walls draped with
names and stories of individual victims of the Shoah, a timeline of Rosie’s story, and myriad quotes, ideas, graphics, and prompts related to the Holocaust. Each group of students took time to browse the museum, after which they sat, reflected and debriefed the feelings it evoked. Each grade then worked in small groups to prepare bouquets of flowers that will soon be delivered to Holocaust survivors, giving students an opportunity to meet them and connect in person. Thank you to Jerusalem Florist for contributing to this project and helping us honor our
survivors in this manner. During the next segment of the day, SHS faculty delivered related sessions, drawing on the themes of hope, tefillah, resilience, and remembrance.
At the end of the program, Mr. Norbert Strauss honored us by sharing his story of survival through the war. He spoke of his parents’ sacrifice to raise their children in an antisemitic culture and later when trying to escape. After hearing of his experience and the message he hopes we take away, the day concluded with uplifting songs of achdus and emunah.
Without question, one of the greatest inventions in the history of humanity is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.– Dave Barry
You better cut the pizza in four pieces, because I’m not hungry enough to eat six. -
Yogi BerraUnless you are a pizza, the answer is yes. I can live without you.- Bill Murray
I’d rather have leftover pizza than leftover feelings. – Sarah Burgess
Every pizza is a personal pizza if you try hard and believe in yourself. – Bill Murray
Anyone who says that money cannot buy happiness has clearly never spent their money on pizza. – Andrew W.K.
I love pizza, meaning: even when I’m in the middle of eating pizza, I wish I were eating pizza.– Jandy Nelson
Any pizza can be personal if you cry while eating it. – Aparna Nancherla
What does a pizza wear to smell good?
Answer: Calzogne
A turkey sandwich walks into a bar and the bartender yells out, “Hey! We don’t serve turkey sandwiches here.”
The turkey sandwich replies, “That’s OK. I just wanted a drink.” ***
A guy wakes up in a hospital room alone. His bedside phone rings and the doctor on the other end tells him: “I have really bad news. We ordered several tests and got the results back this morning. I’m afraid you have avian flu, Ebola, and numerous other contagious diseases.”
Stunned, the man asks “Well, what’s next!? What are you going to do?”
The doc replies, “Well, for starters, we’re putting you on a strict diet of only pizza.”
The patient asks, “Will that really help me, Doctor?”
“No”, the doctor responds. “But it’s all we can fit under the door.”
1. Wild Woody’s Chill and Grill, in Roseville, Michigan, achieved the Guinness World Record in 2005 for making the largest sandwich ever. How much did their sandwich weigh?
a. 147 pounds
b. 480 pounds
c. 2,040 pounds
d. 5,440 pounds
2. Why was pre-sliced bread banned in the U.S. in January 1943?
a. There was a salmonella outbreak.
b. The government wanted people to eat less carbohydrates because a study came out that it’s better to eat protein.
c. The government wanted to preserve wax paper and the steel used in slicing machines for the World War II effort.
d. The bread slicing union was on strike because they wanted higher wages, so the ban was meant to take away the sting of the strike.
3. Where does the term “baker’s dozen” come from?
a. In medieval England, bread was sold by weight and bakers who were caught cheating their customers were flogged. Therefore, bakers would throw
in an extra piece of bread so that they don’t take a whipping.
b. Bakers are often considered to be bad at math, hence when a baker counts a dozen, there are oftentimes 13.
c. When Napoleon took over France, he declared that as a sign of his victory, every baker had to give an extra loaf of bread to their customers for the first year of his rule.
d. A term for a good baker is someone who has six fingers on each hand, hence baker’s dozen.
4. Who invented the sandwich?
a. Thomas Edison invented it when his mother wanted him to eat a chicken cutlet and he was busy chasing lightning outside. He grabbed the chicken cutlet with two pieces of bread and ran outside.
b. Benjamin Franklin used to keep a piece of bread in each of his front vest pockets and would eat them along with whatever was being served to him.
c. English statesman, John
Montagu (1718-1792), who was known as the 4th Earl of Sandwich, named after a town in England, started the fashion of eating beef between two pieces of bread.
d. I don’t know who invented it, but I certainly perfected it!
5. How much bread does the average American consume each year (I said “average,” not you!)?
a. 2 pounds
b. 17 pounds
c. 53 pounds
d. 240 pounds
6. What is the end piece of bread called?
a. The end piece
b. The heel
c. Crusty piece
d. Reject piece
Answers:
Wisdom Key:
5-6 correct: You are hereby given the distinguished title of Earl of Sandwich the 5th.
2-4 correct: You are a bit crusty, I mean, rusty.
0-1 correct: You are suffering from carbohydrates brain fog.
The laws regarding ritual purity and the metaphysical disease of tzoraat, which, by the way, is not the medically recognized disease of leprosy, affect three categories of human life and society: the human body, clothing and houses. These three areas of human societal existence are the basic building blocks of civilization and society generally. They are the most vital and at the same time the most vulnerable areas of our ex-
istence. And it is apparent that the Torah wishes us to be aware of this fact. Health of body is a necessary precedent to most cases of human accomplishment. Not many of us are able to rise over illness, pain, and/or chronic discomfort on a regular and permanent basis. Medical science recognizes that our mood and our mind affect our physical state of wellbeing. The Torah injects into this insight that our soul also has such an effect as well.
The rabbis specifically found that the distress caused to one’s soul by evil speech, slander and defamation reflects itself physically in the disease of tzoraat In biblical times, hurting other human beings by the intemperate use if one’s tongue had clear physical consequences that served as a warning of the displeasure of one’s soul at such behavior. The
the distress of the soul over its use for essentially negative purposes. And in biblical times, the angst of the soul translated itself into tzoraat that affected clothing directly.
And finally, tzoraat was able to invade the physical structure of one’s dwelling place. One is entitled to live in a comfortable and attractive home. All of the
human body is our mainstay. It is also the most fragile and vulnerable to decay and discomfort. It is only logical that it is in this area of our existence that the possibility of tzoraat lurks and lingers.
Clothing represents our outer representation of ourselves to the society around us. Originally, as described in the Torah itself, clothing was meant to shelter us from the elements and to provide us with a sense of privacy and modesty in covering our nakedness. As humanity evolved and developed, clothing became a statement of personality and even of the mental and spiritual nature of the person.
Clothing also became an instrument of hubris, competitiveness and even of lewdness. It also became vulnerable to
amenities of modern life are permitted to us. But the Psalmist warned us that we should be careful not to make our homes our “graves.” Homes, by their very nature, are temporary and transient places.
Our father Avraham described himself as a wandering itinerant on this earth. Again, as in all areas of human life, the Torah demands of us perspective and common sense when dealing with our homes. We gawk with wonder when visiting palaces and mansions of the rich and famous, yet our inner self tells us that this really is not the way that we wish to live.
The vulnerability of homes and houses to tzoraat is obvious to all.
In Jewish life, less is more. Shabbat shalom.
The human body is our mainstay. It is also the most fragile and vulnerable to decay and discomfort.
We must understand why the metzorah , one afflicted with the skin condition called tzara’as, is treated so much more harshly than any other impure person. The Torah says, “He shall dwell alone, he shall reside outside the camp” (Vayikra 13:46). He must not only stay away from the Mishkan and the camp of the levi’im but must also stay away from any Jewish settlement. He must even stay away from other impure individuals! Why is the metzorah treated even more severely than one who has come into contact with a dead body, whose impurity is even stronger? Why does the metzorah have no place in any Jewish community?
We can begin to understand this by studying a teaching of the Sfas Emes based on the Zohar in Parshas Tazria (46b):
Just like a person is punished for evil speech, so, too, he is punished for failing to use positive speech in which he could have engaged but did not do so. [This is] because he has damaged his spirit of speech which was given to him in order for him to speak elevated [words
of prayer] and lower [words of kindness to other people], all with holiness. How much the more so if the nation is going in a crooked path and he has the ability to speak with them and rebuke them, but he is silent and does not speak. The following verse applies to him (Tehillim 39:3): “I was mute with silence. I held my peace. I had no comfort, and my pain was stirred up.”
The Sfas Emes explains, based on this quote from the Zohar, that Hashem sends a person tzara’as not only for misusing his power of speech but also for his failure to use his power of speech for the good, by speaking words of guidance and encouragement to other people. Such a person makes himself mute and cuts himself off from others.
The Sfas Emes also explains that in order to rectify the words the metzorah should not have said, as well as the good words he left unsaid, he must bring two live, pure birds to the Mishkan (Vayikra 14:4). The kohein slaughters one bird and sets the other one free (ibid. 5, 7). Rashi explains that the metzorah offers birds because it is the nature of birds to chirp
and chatter, and the metzorah must atone for his inappropriate chatter.
But the Sfas Emes takes this idea a step further and teaches that the slaughtered bird corresponds to the inappropriate chatter which we must eliminate from our lives. We must slaughter words of gossip and idle criticism. We must slaughter the habit of speaking in shul. We must slaughter hurtful words toward those in our family, subordinates at work, and friends.
And the live bird, which is set free, corresponds to the words of kindness, prayer, Torah, and encouragement that the metzorah had bottled up inside but which he should have set free, lest he find himself at the end of his days looking back on a life of “I was mute with silence…” Rather, if one sees another person who could use some encouragement, who would feel more connected to Yiddishkeit if he heard a Torah idea, or if one is tired but his or her spouse could use a kind word, one should let those positive words fly. He must give them free expression and not hold them back.
It is very easy to make a mistake and
think that slaughtering negative speech means that one should be silent. Many people believe that the Chofetz Chaim , zt”l, who wrote the classic sefer on the laws of lashon hara, must have been a very quiet person. After all, when one has learned all of the halachos, it is hard to imagine what he is permitted to speak about! But the Sfas Emes teaches us that the opposite is the case. We must empty our mouths of negative, hurtful speech in order to make room for the mouth’s true purpose, as a vessel for words of prayer, Torah, and encouragement. I have met people who have seen the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, and they have testified, as is often quoted in seforim, that the Chofetz Chaim was a very gregarious person. He was very friendly and enjoyed talking with people. Slaughtering bad speech does not mean being silent. To the contrary, by emptying our mouths from the bad, we make room for the good.
The word for the skin affliction of tzara’as in Aramaic according to Targum Unkolus and the Zohar is segiro, which literally means “closed off.” The seforim hakedoshim explain that the es -
sence of a person is expressed through his power of speech. That is why when G-d breathed into Adam’s nostrils “the breath of life.” Onkolus translates that phrase as “a speaking spirit” (Bereishis 2:7). The pasuk also says, “My soul went out with his speech” (Shir Hashirim 5:6). The soul is expressed through speech. As long as a person’s soul is closed off behind the iron curtain of the body’s and the evil inclination’s rule, it is extremely difficult to speak words of Torah, prayer, generosity, and kindness. Such words are like maror in the person’s mouth. The good inside the person’s soul is “closed off” and finds no expression. His words of kindness and encouragement are not set free. All such a person can say are forbidden words of smallness, nonsense, negativity, and cynicism.
The seforim hakedoshim teach that the essence of the Egyptian experience was that speech was in exile. That is why it was only after the king of Egypt died did the pasuk say, “The Jewish people groaned from the labor and cried out, and their cry ascended to G-d from the labor” (Shmos 2:23). The word for Pharaoh has the same letters as peh rah, evil mouth. That is because the essential point of Egypt was to use speech, which is meant
to express the pinnacle of what makes us human, for evil. When Pharaoh died, our mouths began to open up in prayer. That was when our “cry ascending to G-d.”
That is also why, when we celebrate our redemption from Egypt, we call the holiday Pesach, which is a contraction of the words peh sach, “a mouth that talks.” And the matzah we eat is called lechem
desires and the evil inclination to limit our soul’s expression through positive speech, we feel the truth of Dovid Hamelech’s words: “Take my soul out of confinement in order that it give thanks to Your Name” (Tehillim 142:8). Freeing up the soul to speak words of holiness, kindness and encouragement allows it to express its true essence.
places for productive and mutually beneficial transactions between Jews. In the marketplace, one person takes note of another and offers words of encouragement and constructive advice. But by closing himself off with selfishness, negativity and jealousy, the metzorah has separated himself from the essence of what a Jewish community is. That is why the only type of ritually impure person who must completely separate from the community is the metzorah. His way of life is diametrically opposed to the Jewish camp.
oni, “the bread of affliction.” But the word for affliction also means “answer.” Accordingly, Chazal derive from the phrase lechem oni that matzah is a “bread over which we answer many things” (Pesachim 115b). On Pesach, when we leave the place of the exile of speech, our mouths open up and we spend the whole night speaking words of holiness and faith.
When we refuse to allow our bodily
We can now understand why the Torah is so strict with a metzorah, decreeing that he must completely seclude himself outside of any Jewish community. What is the nature of a Jewish community? It is made up of shuls, houses of Torah study, and marketplaces. All of these are venues for the proper use of speech. We use shuls for prayer, houses of study to expound on the meaning of the Torah, and market-
We see from the foregoing that it is not enough to slaughter negative speech. We must set the live, pure bird free by expressing words of prayer, Torah, love, encouragement, and support for those around us. That way, we allow our soul to truly express itself and we redeem the power of speech from exile. May we merit to see the fulfillment of Dovid Hamelech’s prayer, “Take my soul out of confinement in order that it give thanks to Your Name” so that we can see be part of the Jewish people in the fullest sense.
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.
Freeing up the soul to speak words of holiness, kindness and encouragement allows it to express its true essence.
By Rabbi Shmuel Reichman
Imagine you are on a train, traveling toward your destination. You look to your right and see a fellow passenger. Attempting to be friendly, you ask him where he’s heading. He shrugs his shoulders and says, “I don’t know.” Confused, you ask again. He repeats, “I’m just riding the train. I don’t know where I’m going.” At this point, you begin to wonder if this guy is out of his mind. Who goes on a train without a destination in mind?
However, if you ask the average person on the street the same question, “Where are you going in life? What’s your ultimate destination?” they will probably give you a similar answer. They’ll shrug and say, “I don’t know.” Now, if the absence of a defined destination for something as simple as a train ride is so clearly absurd, how can we fail to treat life in the same manner? Life, the most important journey we take, must surely require a clearly defined and meaningful destination.
The key to approaching this topic lies within the concept of Shabbos. And as Shabbos occupies one-seventh of our lives, and much of Judaism centers around its observance, let us delve into its inner meaning in order to gain a deeper understanding of this unique and beautiful day.
It is striking to consider how fundamental and central Shabbos is in Jewish thought and practice. Shabbos is included amongst the Aseres Hadibros, the Ten Commandments, which are viewed not only as uniquely important but as the root categories that contain all the other mitzvos (Rashi, Shemos 24:12). Furthermore, the punishment for desecrating Shabbos is not just death but skilah (stoning), which, according to most opinions, is the most severe of the four death penalties. When we consider whether or not
someone is an observant Jew, we usually ask whether he or she is “shomer Shabbos,” Sabbath observant. Why is this the defining feature of religious observance? What makes Shabbos a root mitzvah, why is its punishment so severe, and why do we see it as the measuring stick for all of Torah observance? What is the secret of Shabbos?
Usually, when we have a specific time of kedushah, a holy point in time, there is a unique positive act that we associate with it. On Rosh Hashana, we blow shofar; on Sukkos, we sit in the sukkah and shake the lulav; on Chanukah, we light the menorah; on Purim, we read the Megillah; on Pesach, we have the Seder; and on Shavuos, we learn Torah. On Shabbos, though, we tend to think less about what we are meant to be doing and more about what we are not allowed to do. The issur melachah , the prohibition against creative work on Shabbos, dominates
our focus. We can easily fall into the trap of associating Shabbos with only restrictions, leading to an unfortunately negative connotation. These prohibitions can take over the day, leaving us feeling restricted, limited, or even trapped.
In an enigmatically cryptic manner, the Gemara (Berachos 57a) compares Shabbos to Olam Haba. The exact terminology is that Shabbos is “me’ein Olam Haba,” a taste of the World to Come. Once again, we are left to wonder: What is the deeper meaning of Shabbos?
In order to answer these questions, we must first understand the natures of Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba and their unique relationship:
• Olam Hazeh, the world we live in, is the place of process. In this world, you choose who you will become; you have the ability to build, mold, and create
yourself. Every single day presents you a new opportunity to become greater than you were the day before. This world is therefore the place of movement and becoming, where we progress along our personal path of change and growth.
• Olam Haba, in contrast, is the place of being, where you experience everything you have built in this life. No longer can we move or become, no longer can we build. Rather, we experience a static world, lacking both movement and process, where we enjoy everything we created during our lives in this world.
The joy of this world is the ability to grow, to learn, and to become. The pain is that it is limited; we are only in this world for a short amount of time before we leave. The joy of the World to Come is the ecstatic pleasure of experiencing everything we have built during our lifetime. The pain is that it’s only that and nothing more. All the potential we failed to actualize will remain eternally so: potential.
This can be compared to a person who is given a pile of clay and one hour to mold it. During that hour, he can create anything he wants and impress any form he desires into the clay. After the hour, the clay is placed into the kiln, and whatever form he created during that hour will remain forever. So, too, we receive a lifetime in this world to mold ourselves. During our time here, we have the free will to create ourselves, to grow. Once we leave this world, we remain forever as the being that we created.
It is essential to understand that the reward in the World to Come is not merely an external reward, as in some “treat” given to you in exchange for the good deeds you performed. Rather, the reward is you, the consciousness and self that you created during your lifetime. As the Ramchal and the Nefesh Hachaim explain, when you die, your mind and consciousness are peeled away from your physical body, almost like taking off a coat, and you exist eternally as the essential being that you have created. (In truth, there is movement and process in Olam Haba as well, albeit a very different type; it is a growth based on expanding everything you began building during your lifetime.)
The weekdays are an experience of this world, a time to physically create, build, and grow. Shabbos is more than just a day of rest; it’s a taste of Olam Haba. On Shabbos, we cease creative physical activity and experience what it
means to simply exist. This is the spiritual parallel to our transition from this world to the next. In this world, we have the chance to grow and build; in the next, we cease our creative activity and experience everything we have built. Shabbos is the ultimate reminder that our lives have an end point and that the result is only as great as every bit of effort that we have invested into building it. On Shabbos, we reflect on what we have built and become — both in the preceding week and in our entire life leading up to this point.
the muktzah object is somehow removed from the table over the course of Shabbos. Conversely, if a muktzah object is placed on a table once Shabbos has already begun, the table does not become muktzah. Whatever the status of the table is when Shabbos enters remains its status throughout Shabbos. Why?
Shabbos is compared to Olam Haba, and once you enter Olam Haba, your status becomes static, unchanging. So too, an object that takes on a muktzah status at the outset of Shabbos retains
erything you have built — the person you have created.
The second step is to take a reflective step outside of yourself and to view yourself objectively from an outside perspective. We need to have the courage to go into a room, alone, and ask ourselves the important questions: “Who am I? What drives me? What makes me unique? What are my talents? What are my passions? What can I contribute to the Jewish People and the world as a whole?” But, most importantly, “How am I doing in life? Am I achieving my goals? Is there anything that needs more work, more attention?”
This is why, despite the fact that we may pause our physical growth on Shabbos, we don’t stop our spiritual growth; in fact, we place special emphasis on it. This is because the experience of Olam Haba that we taste on Shabbos should compel us to take full advantage of this world and to further build, develop, and grow. Shabbos is the reminder that one day we will no longer have the opportunity to take advantage of this world, and thus our response should be to redouble our conviction to do so. We can then enter the next week rejuvenated and inspired to become even more.
This is also why the Gemara in Berachos specifically says that Shabbos is one-sixtieth of Olam Haba. In halacha, if something is less than one-sixtieth it has no taste. This is why the halacha of bittul (nullification) applies to that which is less than one-sixtieth. By stating that Shabbos is one-sixtieth of Olam Haba, the Gemara is explaining that Shabbos is just enough of a taste of Olam Haba so that it is not nullified, but not more than that. It is a glimpse of another dimension, the faintest taste of the World to Come. This is the ultimate oneg Shabbos, the pleasure of experiencing a taste of Olam Haba.
This profound understanding of Shabbos sheds a new light on many of the halachos and characteristics of Shabbos. If a muktzah object (an object that cannot be used on Shabbos) is resting on a table at the time that Shabbos enters, the halacha is that the entire table takes on a muktzah status. This is true even if
its halachic status throughout Shabbos, remaining static and unchanged — parallel to Olam Haba.
It is all too easy to lose focus of the bigger picture, of what is truly important in life. Many people are stuck in an endless cycle of work, eat, sleep, repeat. Life becomes about weekends and vacations, and the purpose of life is simply to get by. However, this is not what we were created for. Each and every one of us has the potential for greatness, and our job in this world is to find our unique greatness and bring it to life.
Businesses hold regular meetings to discuss their goals and progress, and athletes build specific training programs to ensure maximum performance. Both constantly track their progress and adjust themselves when necessary to ensure that they continue progressing toward their target. Yet, when it comes to the important things in life, such as our life’s purpose, our family, and our spiritual growth, how often do we create concrete goals? How often do we sit down and measure our progress, recalibrating as necessary to achieve our goals? Shabbos is the time to focus on destination, to ask ourselves: “Where am I going in life? What are my goals? What am I trying to accomplish?”
Shabbos is an opportunity to solidify past growth and propel ourselves toward future greatness. The first step to achieving this is looking back at everything you have become until now and enjoying ev-
The last step is to redirect and recalibrate. Just as a GPS recalibrates when you veer off course, Shabbos is the time to do the same for our life trajectory. Our lives are built through the decisions we make, and Shabbos provides us with the ideal opportunity to make the decision to become more. Every decision we’ve ever made in our lives has led you to this very moment, and any decision we make going forward can forever alter our lives for the better. Shabbos is when we regain perspective on who we are, where we are headed, and what decisions we must make to become our best and truest selves.
May we be inspired to fully experience Shabbos, a taste of Olam Haba, and use this taste of destination to unlock our true greatness.
Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is the author of the bestselling book, “The Journey to Your Ultimate Self,” which serves as an inspiring gateway into deeper Jewish thought. He is an educator and speaker who has lectured internationally on topics of Torah thought, Jewish medical ethics, psychology, and leadership. He is also the founder and CEO of Self-Mastery Academy, the transformative online self-development course based on the principles of high-performance psychology and Torah.
After obtaining his BA from Yeshiva University, he received Semicha from Yeshiva University’s RIETS, a master’s degree in education from Azrieli Graduate School, and a master’s degree in Jewish Thought from Bernard Revel Graduate School. He then spent a year studying at Harvard as an Ivy Plus Scholar. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife and son where he is pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago.
To invite Rabbi Reichman to speak in your community or to enjoy more of his deep and inspiring content, visit his website: Shmuel Reichman.com.
Life, the most important journey we take, must surely require a clearly defined and meaningful destination.
HaRav HaGaon Avrohom Kanarek, zt”l, of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim in Yerushalayim taught Torah for many years in a humble and unassuming way. He shied away from kavod. Once, on Simchas Torah, the bochurim tried to dance around him. He ran away so quickly, that no one would have guessed that he was already in his seventies.
He made time for any young bochur who asked him for a private seder. For one stretch of time, my slot was Tuesdays during the dinner hour. The following year, we learned together on Friday mornings.
He delivered his daily Gemara shiur but shied away from speaking to the entire Yeshiva. In the two years I studied in Yerushalayim, I only recall him speaking to the entire Yeshiva twice. Once was at a seudas hodah for someone that survived cancer. The only other occasion that I recall was on the yahrtzeit of his father. He spoke about a Gemara in Sotah (34b).
The Gemara in Sotah expounds the pasuk in Parashas Shelach (14:24), “As for my servant Kalev, because he had ‘ruach acheres,’ I shall bring him to the land to which he came and his offspring shall inherit it.” The Gemara understands the
words “to which he came” to mean that he went alone to Hebron to pray that Hashem should save him from the plot of the spies. That is why he was ultimately rewarded with Hebron as part of his inheritance. The simple understanding of “ruach acheres” means that he withstood the pressure of conforming to the other spies. He stood against the tide. For having the courage and wherewithal to stand apart from them, he was rewarded.
Rav Kanarek explained how the above drashah had great significance to him. He was born in Leipzig, a bustling city with much commerce. In 1933, there were 11,564 Jews living there. Rav Kanarek’s father decided to send his boys off to learn in yeshiva. He faced derision from his neighbors. “Why would you want your boys to be hockers?” he was told. Yet their father ignored their scorn because he wanted his children to have a well-grounded Torah education. He stood strong in face of all the peer pressure.
Looking back years later, Rav Kanarek credits the courage of his father for saving their lives. The decision to send them to yeshiva had an unintended consequence for the young boys. They were able to escape the terrors of the Holocaust by
fleeing with the Mirrer Yeshiva to China and Japan. Perhaps it was the merit of the stubbornness of their father that assured their survival. If they had instead immediately went to work in the family business without learning in yeshiva first, they might have been deported – which was, sadly, the fate of the Jews who remained in Leipzig.
Rashi on Chumash explains the words ruach acheres to mean that Kalev had two ruchos, one in his heart and one in his mouth. Kalev knew the spies’ evil plot and conceived a plan to foil it. He spoke with the spies all through their travels in a manner suggesting he was in on their conspiracy. Kalev did this so they would give him a chance to speak to B’nei Yisrael after they had relayed their evil report. In his heart, however, he always disagreed with them. For this ruach acheres, he merited to enter Eretz Yisrael and be able to give the land to his sons as an inheritance. He was thereby guaranteed by Hashem that he was going to live at least another 40 years. (He was 40 at the time that he spied.)
Why did he merit this? According to Rashi, the pasuk doesn’t say he merited it simply because he did not join in with the plot of the spies. Rather, he merited it for
performing his trick of saying one thing and believing another.
Rav Avrohom Trop, zt”l (the son of R’ Naftali Trop), asks, what is so significant about this feat? People everywhere follow this practice daily! They say one thing and really believe something else. The opposite is actually a feat – to be brutally honest and not deceive deserves accolades. What is the significance of being an artist of deception?
Rav Trop answered that Kalev’s greatness was that his heart remained pure and unaffected by his negative speech. It is extremely difficult to talk negatively and not have the words have some effect on one’s soul. Kalev performed a tremendous feat – he was able to temporarily speak against Eretz Yisrael while his love for the Promised Land remained intact. To accomplish this, presumably, he constantly had to give himself chizuk to remain unaffected. This is why he was deserving of reward.
By Harav Rafi Kadosh
Translated by Doni Cohen
G-d so strongly expresses his love of converts in the Torah because they chose, of free will, to become Jews – Jews by choice. No one ever asked me whether I wanted to be a Jew or not; I was born a Jew; I never made a choice. In contrast, a non-Jew who chooses to embrace Judaism and become a fully practicing Jew does so completely by free will, solely by his choice and his choice alone. He has the option to continue to live life as is, but he chooses otherwise.
Just as there are Jews by choice, there are “Israelis by Choice.” Most Israelis today were born in Israel. No one asked them where they wish to be born and raised. In contrast, there are Jews who were born and raised in the Diaspora and choose to become Israeli. They chose to join “the Nation of Zion” and to make their destiny and the destiny of this nation one common destiny.
Many of these “Israelis by Choice” came from strong, wonderful communities abroad, communities with rich Jewish heritage, including established shuls, excellent jewish educational institutions, a broad range of kosher dining establishments, mikvaot, an eruv and countless yeshivot.
Some of these places have reached the pinnacle of Jewish life – one can order strictly kosher sushi on a cellphone that app will arrive at your location within minutes!
However, during the Mussaf davening on this holiday, Jews both in Israel and abroad said: “Because of our sins we were exiled from our Land.” Unfortunately, many of our people have become extremely entrenched in the exile and have forgotten the cause of this exile: “our sins.”
Some have even turned it into an ideal and are still there “gathering the sparks” in the Diaspora. But the majority of our brethren abroad are simply not hearing the knock on their door. As early as 1956, Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveichik, zt”l, used the notion of “My Beloved is Knocking” as the allegory for the concept of “Zionism.” Almost 70 years have passed since then, and the Beloved continues to knock.
“I sleep, but my heart is awake.
Hark! My beloved is knocking:
Open for me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is full of dew, my locks with the drops of the night.”
“I have taken off my tunic; how can I put it on?
I have bathed my feet; how can I soil them?”
-Shir Hashirim Chapter 5
When there is a “knock on the door in the middle of the night,” it is difficult to get out of bed to answer. It is warm, cozy, and safe in bed. There are countless reasons to roll over and just go back to sleep. “When the L-rd returns the returnees to Zion, we shall be like dreamers.” (Tehillim Chapter 126). Surely the knock is meant for someone else – not for us.
But there are those who heard the knock and understood that it was meant for them. These are Israelis by choice. These are Jews who chose to make Aliyah despite the ease of simply continuing to live their good and comfortable lives in the Diaspora. They chose to make Aliyah because it is the right thing to do as a true Jew.
Leo Dee and his wonderful wife Lucy (Hy”d), the parents of Maia and Rina (Hy”d) made the decision to be Israelis by choice. They could have stayed in England with their beautiful family and lived an easy comfortable life, be members of their lovely community and send periodic donations to Israeli causes. But they chose
otherwise, to make Aliyah to Israel and to live in Efrat, because they heard the knock of their beloved and heeded the call.
They chose to come here to Israel, because it is here and only here that we are in the midst of the most important and significant events of the last 2,000 years of Jewish history. They chose to come here, and write here, the chapters of the beginning of the Geulah (redemption), instead of staying there and writing there, the last chapters of the Galut (exile).
Faced with the difficult events of the last several weeks, we must remember that the trials and tribulations we are experiencing now are those of the Geulah. We shall always prefer the major challenges of the Geulah over those of the Galut. And from here, we call on all of our brothers and sisters from everywhere in the Galut: Come and be “Israelis by choice.” We want you here and we need you here.
Listen to the knock of the Beloved. It is intended for you.
Chag sameach.
For over a decade, Luc Zbinden, a Swiss national, unsuccessfully tried to earn his late grandfather Paul the title of “Righteous Among the Nations.” There is no disputing the facts that his grandfather, Paul Zbinden, a priest, saved Jews during World War II; there is overwhelming evidence which supports this. Unfortunately for Luc, by the time he unearthed the facts, there were too few survivors alive to satisfy the strict requirements of Yad Vashem.
A man of unremitting indefatigability, Luc views this particular failure not as an obstacle but as an opportunity to find as large an audience as possible, to teach and to educate. He is driven by the need to spread his grandfather’s story. Promulgating his message has been the central focus of his life over the last few years.
Luc has made several trips to Israel to tell the story to as many people as possible. Recently, he spent three months here. Traveling the country, he lectured, mainly at schools, from the north to the south, educating students and teachers alike. His story was covered by a few newspapers, as well as a television magazine.
I met Luc when he came to our school to give a series of lectures.
Before this period in his life, Luc had no intention of spending his valuable time traveling the world. He was a high school teacher looking forward to a quiet retiring.
One day, he was rummaging in his family attic when by chance he discovered a green notebook that had belonged to his grandfather. Curious about its meticulous notes of dates and names, he showed it to his family. Quite off-handedly he was informed that the notebook had belonged to his grandfather, Paul, who had kept a diary of his war years. The notebook con-
tained evidence of him risking his life to save Jews.
The diary was a revelation to Luc. He was a Swiss national who had had little, if any, interaction with Jews in his life. He was aware of the horrors of the war, but his interest in the fate of the Jews had been fleeting.
The first piece of the puzzle Luc put together was how his grandfather had come to be in France during the war. He discovered that during the 1920s, his grandfather had moved to France together with his family, where he ran a small Evangelical church in the village of SaintJean-du-Gard.
Luc is naturally restless. He’s like a gumshoe looking for clues. From the diary, he was able to locate the widow of one of the souls his grandfather had saved. His name was Peter Heller, and it was through Heller’s widow that Luc was able to put many pieces together. It did not take him long to realize his grandfather had acted as an angel of mercy.
Scouring every page of the diary, Luc discovered and tracked down more of the Jews his grandfather had saved.
Since 2010, Paul has turned his grandfather’s secret work during World War II into his own. He has become an almost integral part of the story as his grandfather. He made connections with Mikve Israel French School in Holon, who made a short movie about his grandfather that won recognition from Yad Vashem.
We are not talking about thousands or hundreds of Jews who were saved by Paul. The number is more than a handful, but certainly enough to give rise to generations of Jews who would otherwise have ended up in the pyres of Europe.
Luc began his journey in Vermont
where he met Peter Heller’s widow. Peter had been protected during the war by Paul. Heller came from a distinguished family. He became a successful artist. During the war, his cousin Albert Einstein wrote letters of recommendation for him.
Peter Heller’s immediate family had moved to France in 1934 after the Nazis increasing restriction on German Jewry. They were able to escape due to a Nazi misreading of their name as Hellen, not Heller, which led them to believe they were of Greek descent.
The larger Heller family in Germany suffered a predictable fate; they were sent to Drancey in Paris before being banished to Auschwitz.
Paul Zbinden saved Jewish children like Peter Heller by bringing them into his parish. He kept them safe by using his church as a protection.
There were times when he was forced to take them on dangerous train trips. On more than one occasion, he hid these tiny toddlers under train carriages when the Nazis were raking the area looking for Jews.
Nothing caused him to waver from his goal of saving Jews. He was a humble man who never considered his actions as heroic. His altruism was never bound with self-glory. He never sought nor was he accustomed to seeking thanks from anybody.
For Paul Zbinden, there was no need to find reasons to save these Jewish children. One researcher summed it up best when he wrote that when Paul Zbinden spoke about his actions during the war, “he would repeat his mantra over and over again, ‘I did what everyone should do.’”
When Luc visited our school, we sat and spoke together for an hour. He is still
a man in search of answers that give him little rest. It’s not that he doesn’t accept his grandfather’s rationale, rather as an historian, he craves historical context.
Luc’s understanding of his grandfather’s journey might have been easier had he been able to follow the story chronologically. This wasn’t the case, however. Instead, he had to tug at the disparate threads that, to this day, appear to sway before him like a frayed blanket he oftentimes cannot grasp.
In understanding his grandfather’s motivation, Luc describes how many of the people who populated that area of southern France were descendants of Christians who had been persecuted and killed by Louis XIV. The descendants of these surviving Christians well understood how the Jews felt when the Nazis came looking for them. They never forgot their own suffering.
Luc’s affinity with the Jewish nation can be summed up by a phrase he often uses. “Your people are my people,” he says with a conviction convincing enough for one to understand that, given the chance, he, too, would take the same course of action as his grandfather.
When asked if he’d spoken to Yad Vashem in the hope of recognizing his grandfather as a Righteous Gentile, he replied that his request had been turned down due to a dearth of survivors who could testify to Paul Zbinden’s bravery during the war.
We are blessed that Luc has never succumbed to defeat in his quest for the truth.
“The enemy were the British,” Micha Netzer says emphatically.
The British? Not the Arabs? Of course, the British. Micha is surprised I don’t remember.
When Micha was growing up, the Jewish-Arab conflict, which has dominated the region for most of the last century, was relatively young – and secondary. Jews of Micha’s generation weren’t interested in defending Israel – they had to create the country from scratch.
Micha is so clearly a product of his generation. He even looks a bit like David Ben-Gurion, the country’s founder and first prime minister, with a broad forehead, fluffy white hair around his ears, and a prominent bald patch. He speaks Hebrew clearly, precisely, and in a sonorous voice. For him, speaking Hebrew isn’t an afterthought. He clearly loves the language and has a deep respect for what it means to be a Jew, speaking his ancestral language in his ancestral homeland. It’s a wonderful, rich, profound Hebrew no one knows how to speak anymore.
When I was growing up, it was beyond obvious that the land of Israel is always open to Jewish Aliya and that we have a pretty powerful army keeping us relatively safe. But that wasn’t the place Micha grew up in. He and his generation created that Israel we know today.
When he was a young man, the Jews in the land of Israel were the underdogs. They had to hide their rusty, inadequate weapons from the British authorities, who would confiscate them whenever they could (while often allowing the Arabs to keep their illegal firearms.) And in response to Arab violence in the 1930s, the British placed strict limits on the number of Jewish immigrants they would allow in. As a result, many thousands of Jews who survived the horrors of the Holocaust had to make their way to Eretz Yisrael illegally. Whenever their immigrant ships were intercepted, the British would tow them to Cyprus and incarcerate the would-be immigrants on the island.
Even when the ships weren’t intercepted, there was always a possibility that the Jewish refugees would be shipped back to Cyprus as soon as they landed in the Holy Land. Micha recalls a time when he and his friends saved a group of fresh immigrants from just that fate. Their ship had successfully eluded the British, but local Jewish leaders were concerned that the immigrants would not have enough time to disembark and disappear before British troops were alerted and arrived on scene. They sent Micha and his friends to help. Indeed, by the time the British paratroopers,
whom Micha and his friends used to describe as kalaniyot (poppies) – a snide nickname derived from the paratroopers’ red berets – the immigrants were still stranded on the beach. However, Micha and his friends had intermingled so thoroughly with the immigrants, exchanging clothing, teaching them basic Hebrew including answers to “what is your name” and “where are you from,” as well as old kibbutznik songs and dances, that the Jews, both those of Palestine and those from Europe, were an indistinguishable mass. The British could not separate the illegals from the legals, and so eventually they decided to let many of them go. For Micha, the memory is an amusing one. He laughs when he recalls that he missed a free trip to Cyprus; his friend, who was mistaken for an immigrant, was hauled off to the island before authorities realized their mistake and returned him to the shores of Palestine.
As a teenager, Micha joined the youth branch of the Haganah – the largest Jewish paramilitary organization in Palestine. He trained with his friends for the day – when, after so many years, Jews would finally be called upon to protect their own state once again. His childhood in Palestine taught him that the British were the ones who stood between Jews and Jewish sovereignty; and so, Micha wanted to participate in ridding the Land of them. The view of the British as the enemy was the reason that in Palestine, unlike many countries colonized by the British, the locals did not ape British mannerisms, dress, or language. In fact, a Jew speaking English was regarded as unpatriotic.
Back then, the culture was very different from what we’re used to today. Jews like Micha identified as Palestinian, since they were born in what was then known as Palestine. Many studied Arabic so they could communicate more easily with their Arab neighbors. Some adopted Arab mannerisms and headgear and drank their morning coffee with their Arab friends. Their Arab counterparts did not identify as Palestinian but rather as Arabs, Moslems, Southern Syrians, or members of a particular tribe or village. These cultures and identities would drastically change over the next fifty years: Micha would learn English for his job as an air force technician. Years of conflict have driven Israeli Jewish and Arab culture firmly apart; and two new identities would emerge – that of the Israeli, and another one re-defined, that of the Palestinian.
Israel officially declared its independence on the fifth of Iyar, May 14, 1948. Micha remembers a story that circulated at the time, that Ben-Gurion had stayed up the entire night before, pleading, arguing, and convincing hesitant delegates to vote in favor of declaring Independence. Ben-Gurion’s obstinate persistence finally paid off when, in the early hours of dawn, one member flipped. Ben-Gurion had the numbers, and so proceeded to read the-now famous Declaration. An eighteen-yearold at the time, Micha (like many of his friends) regarded the Declaration with the healthy disgust many people reserve for politicians. They believed that it was useless until proven otherwise – and since politicians were behind it all, it was safe to assume that it might even be harmful. Because what did the Declaration actually do? It did not magically create a government or governing system, an army or a stable economy. It certainly did not make the Arabs any less hostile. For Micha Netzer, the Declaration was just a bit of fancy prose; the Jews would have had to continue their bloody, desperate struggle for existence regardless. To this day, Micha describes the declaration as “the jabbering of politicians.”
Micha, as he is known to friends and family, was born Michael to parents Rivka and Haim Netzer. They lived in the then-young community of Rehovot, which his maternal grandfather had helped found. When the War of Independence broke out, Micha drafted to the newly-formed Israel Defense Forces, along with the friends who had trained with him in the Haganah Youth. According to Micha, the term “War of Independence” is misleading: independence had already been won – from the British who controlled Palestine. The Declaration announced the Jews’ victory. The war that
was about to begin wasn’t a war to free the land from a foreign occupier: it was a civil war between the two peoples of the newly-independent territory, a war that would culminate in the founding of a Jewish State.
But while the British had officially exited the arena, packing away their troops and armaments, they had also left behind them a grim legacy: two well-trained, well-equipped Arab armies. Prior to independence, Britain had controlled both Egypt and Transjordan (today’s Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.) As a result, both the Egyptian army and the Jordanian Legion were trained and equipped by the British. The Jordanians still had some experienced British mercenaries working for them at the time.
When Micha arrived at the recruiting office, he saw his former commander in the Haganah’s youth branch seated behind the recruiter’s desk. “What can you do?” the man asked Micha. “What you taught me to do,” Micha replied. He could crawl swiftly over sand dunes. He was familiar with guns: he could assemble and dissemble them in the dark. But that didn’t mean that Micha knew how to use firearms: he had learned neither to aim nor to fire. The Haganah didn’t have enough ammunition to waste on training its youth members. So, along with other raw recruits, Micha was sent to train for six weeks before joining the front as part of the Givati Brigade.
Before Micha can get into the details of all the battles he participated in, I ask him to answer a much more fundamental question: what motivated him and his friends to fight? When Israel’s War of Independence began, it looked as if the odds were stacked pretty heavily against the Jews. Why did Micha and his friends opt to fight rather than try to find a way out?
My question puzzles Micha. He tells me he grew up dreaming of a Jewish State: his parents always spoke of it and his schoolteachers kept mentioning it. From his point of view, it was reality, a dream on the verge of coming true – it was evident Independence was a
necessary and inevitable stage of the Jewish story. It just had to materialize.
I tell Micha a story can’t be enough to win a war. But Micha insists the story of the Jewish nation is what gave him strength, that a story is enough to win a war. That’s how it was.
Micha’s generation fulfilled the dreams and prayers of almost forty generations of Jews. Their actions achieved more for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel than those of any other generation in recent memory. They lived in an age of great change and flux, which meant that the impact of everything they did was magnified to such an extent that it often impacts us to this very day. Their age was one in which a few dozen soldiers could decide the fate of a district, where a few guns at the right
place and in the right time could make or break a nation. The same applies to the mistakes they made. The actors of that age were definitely human and therefore made some poor choices, which history has magnified, along with their many achievements.
I ask Micha to tell me about one of the most infamous episodes of Israel’s pre-state story, known to history as the “Saison” – short for the French “la saison de chasse,” or the hunting season. During the months of the Saison, members of the Haganah hunted down, kidnapped, tortured, and betrayed to the British members of two rival Jewish undergrounds, the Irgun and Lehi. It was, quite literally, open season for hunting those Jews.
The Haganah made the decision to launch the Saison under the most difficult of times – the closing months of World War II. The Haganah’s policy throughout the war had been to support the British in their fight against the Germans, both because the Haganah believed the Germans were by far the worst enemy and because they hoped that the British would agree to form a Palestinian-Jewish military brigade, whose soldiers could then gain useful combat experience under some of the world’s best officers. The Irgun and Lehi took a different approach: Lehi refused to cooperate with the British altogether; and the Irgun joined it in taking up arms against the British in protest of Britain enforcing its stringent migration quotas against Jews – but only in 1944, when it was clear that Germany was going to lose regardless of what a handful of Jewish guerillas chose to do in Palestine. The British refused to create the Haganah’s Jewish brigade as long as Jews were attacking them, so Haganah pressured the Irgun and Lehi to cease their attacks. The Haganah’s efforts were peaceful at first, but they soon escalated.
In November 1944, two Lehi gunmen assassinated Lord Moyne, the British Minister-Resident for the Middle East. Moyne wasn’t particularly anti-Jewish: while he was zealous in enforcing the strict quotas that Britain imposed on Jewish migration after the Arab revolt in the
The war that was about to begin wasn’t a war to free the land from a foreign occupier: it was a civil war between the two peoples of the newly-independent territory, a war that would culminate in the founding of a Jewish State.Micha with friends assisting immigrants into the country, 1947 The Exodus docked in Haifa, 1947
1930s, there is some evidence that he did support the creation of a Jewish state. The Lehi assassins hoped to create a splash, and they did – but not in the way they had hoped. The assassination infuriated the British and disgusted the Haganah, who were now terrified of British retribution. And the Haganah was particularly vulnerable to British retribution. The Haganah was a semi-recognized paramilitary – unlike the Irgun and Lehi, which were underground organizations – which meant that the British knew enough about the Haganah that they could smash it easily if they chose.
The result was the three-month Saison. Ironically, Lehi, whose actions triggered the Saison, escaped almost unscathed – probably because one of its leaders agreed to cease its anti-British attacks, and perhaps also because they threatened to fight back against the Haganah’s brutality and betrayals. The main victims were thus the Irgun members. They refused to fight back against their Haganah tormenters, staying true to their principle of never drawing a trigger against their fellow Jews. The Saison was terribly unpopular, even at the time; and public opinion soon forced the Haganah to back off after just thirteen violent weeks of “hunting.”
Naturally, Micha is reluctant to discuss the Saison. He’s clearly uncomfortable with what happened, but he finally agrees to share some of his experiences.
“I won’t mention any names,” he says. “In the many years that followed, one of the people involved became the Commander-in-Chief and another became a general.”
He tells me that, together with a friend, a fellow Haganah member, he often visited teens belonging to the “wrong” youth groups and beat them up. One such misguided youth was the brother of a fellow Haganah comrade. The two friends arrived at his home and began beating him up in front of his mother who screamed at them to “stop, stop, stop, he is the wrong boy, he’s the one in the Haganah – you’re looking for his brother!”
Micha abruptly stops speaking. I ask what happened next.
“We left,” he says, and then mentions, almost as an
aside, that he and his friend found other youths to beat up. He doesn’t say whether they ever returned to that house.
I don’t hide my horror and disgust, and Micha responds to my expression slowly: “That’s how it was in those days. They told us those others were the enemies. We believed them. That’s how it was.” He states that there was deep hatred towards the other organizations.
Palestinian Jews so bitterly. The same is true regarding the racial and cultural divisions between Ashkenazi and Sephardi, or between the native-born Sabras and the new Olim. You are all in it together.
He does not explain who those “they” were, the “they” who told him and his friends what to believe. He does not explain why he and his friends believed them. He wants to talk about the British again.
“It helps when you don’t stop to think,” Micha says with a wry smile, referring to a second motivation to fight.
The newly-formed IDF included members from all three pre-state freedom-fighter organizations, and its soldiers were kept busy fighting the armies of five Arab states, as well as local Arab villagers. The soldiers did not have time to dwell on old rivalries.
“There was suspicion, initially,” Micha admits, but he says that it quickly dissipated. After the first battle, when you fight shoulder to shoulder with the “other” against the same enemy, each of you relying on the other to cover his back, you realize you’re all in it together. Your political differences no longer matter. You don’t have time or energy for the ideological arguments that divided the
I wonder if that wonderful camaraderie lasted after the war. Micha says it did. I find it interesting, since much of the divisiveness and anger in contemporary Israeli society are rooted in grievances, both real and imaginary, that allegedly occurred during Israel’s early days. It’s not surprising that Micha doesn’t recall them – he’s focused on the big picture: the founding of an independent Jewish state. My generation, which takes that huge accomplishment for granted, has the leisure to reflect on the victims of those early days, and on what could, and should, have been done differently. I think of the fresh Yemeni Olim, who arrived in Israel only to be sprayed with DDT. The immigration officials who sprayed them weren’t evil – they wanted to kill off whatever germs those immigrants might’ve been carrying from their impoverished, not-too-sanitary homeland. In short, those officials were both well-meaning and also ignorant. But being treated like disease-ridden fleabags rankled and contributed to many Yemenis’ fury at the state’s mostly-Ashkenazi ruling class, anger which plays a huge role in Israeli politics to this very day.
Then there’s the equally sad, but not nearly as innocent story of the treatment of Irgun veterans. Their most talented officers almost never secured a senior post in the IDF – those roles were reserved for Haganah veterans and their disciples, many of whom weren’t nearly as talented as the Irgun veterans whom they went on to command. Some Irgun veterans were even forced out of the job market for having the wrong political views; as a result, they were compelled to emigrate from the country they fought to create just so they could survive economically.
I mention some of those stories to Micha. From his descriptions of himself, it seems he was not passionate about the party politics of the day; he simply wanted to fight for his country, and part of being a good soldier involved obeying orders – even when some of those
Micha’s generation fulfilled the dreams and prayers of almost forty generations of Jews.Micha following his first training exercise in the IDF Members of the Givati Brigade During the Battle of Tel Arish
were political. But he doesn’t focus on the latter aspect. Instead, he repeats that the camaraderie between the individual soldiers did indeed persist, despite their diverse politics and circumstances.
Micha also reminds me that, while many of today’s sectarian divisions and labels can be traced to Israel’s early days, those divisions weren’t around when the state was founded. For instance, he tells me that back then many chareidim both studied Torah and served in the military; that labels which describe segments of contemporary Israeli society, such as “Religious,” “Religious-Lite,” “Religious Zionist,” and “Torani-Religious Zionist” did not exist back then.
Micha relates how, growing up in the community of Rehovot, he and his father would attend synagogue every Shabbat. No one in Rehovot worked on Shabbat; the founders of the community decided they would honor “the religion of The People of Israel.” Then, after prayers, Micha, his father, and other Rehovot men and youths would leap onto Haganah jeeps that collected people for military training.
“Today, I drive on Shabbat,” he admits. “I fast on Yom Kippur. You won’t find a speck of chametz in my house during Pesach. I can’t stand it if someone says anything derogatory about religion in my presence. Now you tell me – am I religious or not?”
After describing the culture he grew up in, Micha shares some of his experiences from the War of Independence. He gives me a blow-by-blow account of how some of the battles were fought: where his Givati Brigade positioned itself relative to the enemy, what tactics were used, and how the outcome of each specific battle impacted the fate of the war.
He also tells me about Faigele. Faigele, born Eliezer, was a Holocaust survivor from Europe. Faigele arrived in Rehovot after World War II and was soon serving his new community, first as a fireman and later, when war broke out with the Arabs, as a soldier in Micha’s Givati Brigade. Micha and Faigele crawled through muddy ditches together, supped together by the campfire, and faced the enemy shoulder-to-shoulder. As he speaks, Mi-
cha moves his right hand slightly, motioning to an area parallel to his chest, slightly to his right. It was just about there, during the battle of Tel Arish, that Faigele stood when he was shot and killed. They’d known each other for just two months.
I think of Micha as he must have been at that time – eighteen years old, young, vigorous, fighting for his life, his friend shot dead by his side in a war that killed
cattle rancher and begged him to supply the troops with fresh milk on a daily basis. The most the officer could offer in return was his own guarantee that the state of Israel would repay the farmer sometime in the future. The farmer was as patriotic as the soldiers, willing to provision them even on the basis of such a dodgy promise. He faithfully provided the unit with milk until his property was destroyed by Egyptian bombs. Micha’s commander struck a similar deal with a nearby baker. Both the farmer and the baker were indeed paid when the Israeli lira was minted.
Later, Micha emails me, telling me he forgot to mention one thing about the atmosphere of those times: “In one of our difficult battles, Ibdis, near Negba, the Minister of Defense visited. He said: ‘I see the sparse unit, but the spirit fills the holes in the ranks. This spirit is Givati.’”
a staggering one-percent of the entire Jewish population in Palestine. I ask him what it felt like.
“It was hard,” Micha says.
He won’t say more.
In fact, the battle of Tel Arish was one of the Givati Brigade’s nastiest battles. The brigade was devastated, both physically and emotionally, but as their commander pointed out, they had to learn how to lose a battle every so often if they were to win the war.
But the actual fighting wasn’t the only obstacle that Micha and his unit had to overcome in 1948. Running a war is expensive, and the army was out of money. The Palestine pound, once backed by the most powerful empire the world has seen in our era, was now essentially worthless. The army could still offer to pay for supplies in Palestine pounds, but no merchant in his right mind would agree to exchange his good produce for bad money. In desperation, Micha’s commander visited a local
Only one year after the Declaration was made, when the State celebrated its first birthday, did the new reality finally seep in: “That’s when I understood. We had a State!” Even after all these years, I hear excitement-bordering-on-awe in his voice.
After completing his army service, Micha worked as an air force technician. He continued volunteering in reserves until age sixty-five. Upon retirement, he volunteered for twenty years locating missing persons. Today, he’s ninety-three years old, is married to Ofra, and has three children, ten grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
While Micha is aware of the widespread feeling among many non-religious Israelis today that there is no real justification for the State and for Jews to be in Israel, he remarks that he believes people are merely confused. Even in the face of Israeli’s polarized society, Micha remains optimistic. He loves to share stories of his experiences in Givati Brigade during the war – well, not the War of Independence, but the war of founding of the state, komemiyut, as he would say.
It was just about there, during the battle of Tel Arish, that Faigele stood when he was shot and killed. They’d known each other for just two months.A Wanted poster of Irgun and Lechi members. Menachem Begin is on the top left Ben-Gurion reading the Declaration, May 1948 David Ben-Gurion in Haifa port as the British hand over control, June 1948
Thank you for your insightful column. I was wondering if you could answer my question. I’m kind of hoping my parents will read it – ha, ha.
I noticed a young woman at our Pesach program. She seemed like my type. I am 26 years old and have been dating for 5 years and by now I know what works. Her family seemed close, she was put together, I found her to be attractive, she was reading a lot in the lobby (I am also an avid reader). A couple of times I noticed her looking at me. I am trying to have my mother get the shidduch redt, but she won’t do it. She said she met the parents over yom tov and they are “not our type.” I know what she’s saying. My family is very in-rown and are a typical frum, yeshiva family, balabatish. This family was from out-of-town, her father was wearing a knitted yarmulka and no hat, the sibs were all over the place in terms of hashkafa. These things mean nothing to me, but to my family, it means everything.
Basically, I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place and would love to hear the insights of the panelists.
Thank you!
-Eli G
Perhaps now is the time to start becoming more active in your own shidduch quest. You know what works and seem ready to branch out. You would like to go out with the girl you noticed at the Pesach program and are being deliberate about it as well as taking the initiative. You are 26 years old, and you are taking advantage of opportunities to expand your circle of possible candidates.
Consider talking to both parents about this general topic of taking initiative and that it’s time. Think through it beforehand and have a few conversations about ways to meet people and new venues. Then proceed to get someone to fix the two of you up. This way, you are open and respectful as well as more independent. You can consider telling your parents you may
ask them to check out some candidates going forward.
Dear Eli, One of the hardest things about being an adult child is receiving judgment from parents; regardless of your relationship with them, or whether they’re right or wrong. Anxiety creeps in when we decide to do something against the grain. At the same time, you are your own amazing, unique person. This is your life to live and your decisions to make.
If there were true deep issues which were turning your parents off, I would have a different answer to your question. However, this is not the case. You must take charge of your own shidduchim while being kind to your parents. Sit down with
Dear Eli, Thank you for writing into the panel. You are truly caught between a rock and a hard place. You met a woman who you are interested in getting to know and felt you may have a potential connection with and due to circumstances beyond your and her control it seems as though this match may not happen. These situations are enormously frustrating for those affected. And painful to learn about for those not directly affected. My heart goes out to you. You wrote that you hope your parents read this column. I am writing this column keeping in mind that your parents may indeed read it and other parents who feel similarly to yours may read it as well.
There is no exact science to matters of the heart, and I am sure there will be many who will disagree with what is my opinion. Outside the realm of shidduchim in the world of human development, individuation from family of origin and becoming a full-fledged adult, parents often struggle with “allowing” their adult children to become who they are and making their own grown-up choices for their own grown-up lives. Those parents who give their children the respect of trusting them and believing in them and their choices more often than not enjoy a mutually satisfying closeness with their adult children. Parents who be-
them levelheadedly and inform them of your decision. Notice I used the word “inform” because this is not a discussion in which they can change your mind. You are 26 years old and a capable man with his own preferences, wants, and needs.
Many families have machatanim who are different from them, so from that standpoint you should not be worried. Your parents will eventually come around, but in the meantime, make sure you have a mentor to discuss this shidduch with.
Dr. Jeffrey Galler
Has our world gone crazy? Have some strange, alien entities hijacked our religion?
Consider the following: We have two frum families attending a kosher Pesach program. We have a young man who has dated, without success, for five years. We have a young man and a young woman who might already be attracted to each other and have common interests.
But, oh, horrors! He’s from a black hat family, and she’s from a knitted yarmulka family!
So, Eli, what should you do?
lieve they have the right to tell their grown adult children what to do (whether because they are still writing checks or not) often experience tumultuous relationships with adult children. Everyone needs space to discover and explore who they are, hopefully with the encouragement and gentle, appropriate guidance from parents. And adult children often struggle with making choices that may not please their parents.
I would encourage your parents to have an open mind and begin to look into this young woman. People should be considered based on their own merit. It should also be noted that you are a 26-year-old grown man who, in the opinion of many people, should have some sort of say in your dating life. You are a grown-up.
“Otherness” can make people uncomfortable, especially in tight-knit commu-
You seem to be fixated on needing your mother to set up this date. If so, then you may wish to speak with someone whom your mom respects. Ask a local rabbi to intervene with your mother on your behalf, perhaps?
But, Eli, you are a 26-year-old adult. There’s nothing to stop you from proceeding on your own behalf. For example, you might consider asking one of the Pesach program organizers to make inquiries for you with the girl’s family.
In any event, I wonder: Would the world, as we know it, have come to an end, if Eli could have walked over to the girl in the hotel lobby, and said, “Hi. My name’s Eli. What are you reading?”
Perhaps it’s time for our tribe to realize that some of our contemporary dating rituals are outdated and absurd.
(I’ve reached that age where my brain goes from, “You probably shouldn’t write that,” to, “Why not? Let’s see what happens.”)
nities because of the real fear one will be rejected by friends, family and community. I’m not going to give my opinions of exclusivity and judgment within certain frum communities. Suffice it to say it is real, and it impacts those in it and those Jews outside of it.
Your parents may never change their views. (I hope they do, but we need to be realistic that it may never happen.) The question is, what will you do? And when does what they want for you take a back seat to what you want for yourself? Where exactly is the line drawn between respecting our parents and going after what we want?
Just some food for thought…
Sincerely, Jennifer
Everyone needs space to discover and explore who they are.
This letter came in months ago, and I just never ended up publishing it. The letter writer, however, did get my response and was appreciative. I can now share the letter and the follow-up to the original letter with you!
Q:Dear Etti, My 5th grader keeps getting sent out of class for talking. The principal and teacher have labeled her a troublemaker. This is really upsetting because she never had this problem before, she doesn’t even know why she is being sent out as she says other kids are talking and she is the only one being punished, and the afternoon teacher is more laid back and having no issues with her. The teacher is new, my child is bright and bored, and I am not getting anywhere with my phone calls to the school. I actually think my child should be pulled out for enrichment.
Any and all advice would be appreciated.
-Mother of a Bored and Bright Kid
A:Dear Mother of Bored and Bright, I hear your frustration. You feel your child is being unfairly targeted and that she is just bright and bored in class.
Let me paint the picture from the other side of the desk.
The teacher is new, and having never taught before, is trying her best. Your daughter, who is bright and bored, is talking and distracting. The teacher cannot discipline the weaker students because they are just being swept along, but your daughter can and should be able to control herself.
Does that sound harsh? It is.
But at the same time, no matter how unfair the matter is, your daughter is fortunate to be in this situation right now. At a young age, she is bright enough to learn that not every task is stimulating, not every day is interesting. And she is old enough to be able to deal with that reality, with your help and support, which will help her become a stronger and better equipped adult.
Life is full of days that are boring at work and unstimulating at home. Our job is to help her become comfortable with inner quiet and acceptance of less than perfect situations.
We know she is doing well in the afternoon, so it is just the morning hours she is struggling with.
Have a frank conversation with her about the realities of life (not about the ineptness of her new teacher) and ask her what would motivate her to sit quietly and not talk, even if others are talking. Ask her if she can keep a personal reflection chart that she self-marks, that you will honor if the school agrees that her behavior matches the chart she is self-marking. (You won’t have to call the school; you will just see if the complaints continue!)
So much of the morning is davening and Chumash/ Navi; brainstorm with her so she knows what she can do if the teacher is repeating information and she understood the lesson already. Ask her to look for shorashim that keep appearing in all three, challenge herself to check what Rashi says in a pasuk, and remind her that she must keep up with all classwork to rate herself excellent for the day.
Help her learn tolerance and help her understand that the teacher might expect more from her because she is bright and she can do better.
There is so much to be learned from dealing with people with whom we don’t “click.” These are the situations that turn children into problem solvers. Unless the teacher is mean, abusive, or causing a loss of learning that can never be regained, swooping in the speak to the school and demand changes rarely helps, and according to much research, actually hurt. Resilience must be learned, and if Mommy or Daddy are always fixing everything, a child grows up without coping skills. Get tutoring help if you
are worried, but if your daughter is as smart as you say, she will be fine. Role play, script conversations, and help your daughter manage her own life.
The class might not be as boring as your daughter describes. The teacher might not be as inept as the situation seems. Give the situation a chance to discover your daughter has inner resources that will help her learn to deal with life when it does not go the way she wants it to.
Don’t forget to show your daughter how you feel with actions, like sending in a Chanukah gift to the teacher and principal, thanking them for all the hard work they do.
Hatzlacha, -Etti
Dear Etti,
Just a quick note of thanks. My daughter and I had a long talk, and she has been behaving much better in school. I even got a compliment from the principal about her turn-around. My daughter admits that now that she is committed to listening, the teacher is not as boring as she thought, and when she is, she has the ideas we came up with to think about instead. Obviously, she is more positive overall, and I enjoy the lessened negativity. And I love that I didn’t have to call the school and create a matzav! The gifts were a smart touch. My daughter felt important and happy giving them. We followed up with personal mishloach manos as well.
Thanks again.
-Mother of Learning to Deal with Boredom Better
Our job is to help her become comfortable with inner quiet and acceptance of less than perfect situations.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.
Years ago, we were greeted with birthday balloons as we entered the dining room for the Seder. My husband challenged us to figure out whose birthday we were celebrating. The children were confused and assumed it must be one of the adults. Knowing my husband, I quickly realized there was more to his “prank,” and I correctly guessed it was to celebrate the birth of our nation.
We just celebrated Pesach. It was a time of miracles and the beginning of our peoplehood. It’s difficult to explain to outsiders what being “Jewish” means. How do you explain that someone can be halachically Jewish yet not practicing, while practicing but not halachically accepted? It’s rather confusing because being Jewish isn’t just a religion, it’s a nation, too.
There is tremendous strength in being part of this nation. We are uniquely united, and few outsiders can appreciate the way we support each other. Like family, we may have our differences and squabbles, but ultimately, we stand together and help in a time of need.
Many of us recall Superstorm Sandy that disrupted the lives of many of our community ten years ago. Living near the ocean, in Zone A, we were no exception. It was reported that our block had enough water in our street to reach six feet high. Even after the ocean receded, the water in our basements served as silent testimony. As a friend joked, it was only fair that after all the times we’ve visited the ocean, the ocean decided to visit us.
There was a panic to leave with many unsure what to do. Being 36 weeks pregnant, we evacuated early but there were buses available to transport families on Shabbos – the final deadline to leave.
It was depressing walking down the streets after the storm, seeing the desolation as families left. Curbs were filled with the contents of homes that had been flooded and damaged. Once valued possessions
were now discarded. The sanitation department brought special vehicles that scooped up the garbage as it was too much for the workers to do by hand.
In the face of much darkness came flickers of light. As homes were rendered useless, others opened their own. When we couldn’t cook, others provided our meals. It was an amazing showing of support, and I wouldn’t even attempt to thank everyone that was involved since I would certainly miss many of them.
Chabad of The Five Towns and Yeshiva Shor Yo’shuv were among those that provided free meals to all who needed, as well as clothing and other necessities. Doctors volunteered their services, social workers were on-site, and even professional clowns came to entertain the children. Achiezer provided up-to-date information and assistance. The community opened its doors – and hearts – wide.
Our home was ultimately unlivable without power and heat. Initially, we had tried staying home, using candles for light at night, but it was unsustainable. It was too cold at night for the children, and during the day it was upsetting for the children to be bundled up and shivering.
Many opened their homes, and we, too, looked for a place to stay. While it took the city weeks to realize many were without living quarters, it took us minutes to find housing among our brethren.
While Rabbi Bruce and Rachel Ginsburg have known our family for years, it was still a tremendous surprise when they opened their home to us for an indefinite period of time. Their quiet abode was soon taken over by children that were out-ofsorts from being displaced and an exhausted mother who was due to give birth any day (my husband joined, too, but he was less frightening). They smiled at us no matter what we (inadvertently) threw at them.
Many were standing before their kehillot to raise money, clothing and bring
awareness to the needs of those who lost so much. It was definitely chizuk to see how the Jewish community cared. As meaningful as those gestures were, it occurred to me how much harder it is to personally take the step of inviting one of those families into your home. I could only imagine what a lesson it was to the Ginsburgs’ congregants to see how they didn’t just talk about the needs of others but personally provided them.
We are ten years after the storm, and I still haven’t found the right words to say “thank you for not leaving us homeless.”
Wanting to give our hosts a break, we went away for Shabbos. Total strangers were willing to host us and the many other families in need, people they haven’t seen since Har Sinai. We spent a wonderful Shabbos in Brooklyn with a family that opened their home to us. They had a house full of boys, and ours were thrilled to join the fun. After the mess a rambunctious group of boys can make, maybe it was better I couldn’t see the floor below my abdomen.
The next Shabbos I was even closer to my due date, and we needed to stay local. Again, the community found a Shabbos shidduch for us. I was given the name “Levy” in Woodmere. Levy is a common name, and it didn’t mean anything to me, but it certainly was well known by others. “Oh, you’re so lucky, you’re going to have an amazing time.” “They’re such a special family. You’re going to have a wonderful Shabbos.”
Being a shy person, I was nervous walking into the home of total strangers, and I didn’t know what to expect. Mrs. Chava Willig Levy, a”h, greeted us warmly and did all she could to make us feel comfortable. We had a special Shabbos with her, her
husband Michael, and their family that we will always remember. We learned so much from them and we came away with a new perspective that we so desperately needed during a challenging time.
Like the rest of the community, I was saddened to hear of her passing over Pesach. My family will always treasure that we had the chance to meet her – even if only once – and we are grateful to Hashem for giving us this opportunity.
Being a part of the Jewish Nation is to have a share in greatness. It’s to know that you’re never truly alone and your community will be there for you. We are ordinary people that together do extraordinary accomplishments.
Our nation is blessed with so many incredible individuals. We recently lost someone who is irreplaceable, but we still have the opportunity to introduce our children to the amazing people in our community that will inspire them.
Our children should know they are a part of something greater, and they have their extended family to rely on. Our children should recognize they are an integral part of our greater whole. Our children should remember that they, too, can do extraordinary things that will make a difference in the lives of others.
We’ve already started counting down until we will once again receive the Torah together, uniting us in our purpose. May our kehillos continue to be united in truth and ahavas Yisroel.
By Aliza Beer MS, RD, CDN
Post-Pesach, it is common for our bodies to feel off balance after eight days of matzah, two sedarim, and an abundance of food. Getting back into a steady dietary and exercise routine is critical to maintaining or achieving health goals. Meal prepping, consuming sufficient protein at mealtimes and snack times, drinking enough fluid, and performing regular physical activity are the keys to success. With the spring months upon us this is a good time to pause and consider how you would like to proceed. We have just finished Pesach and the house is bare, so it is up to you to restock your kitchen in a way that will support your goals!
During Pesach, a lack of physical activity and regular intake of matzah can result in irregular bowl movements. Consuming a diet high in fiber can help to alleviate constipation. Fiber can be found in fruits and vegetables and whole-grains, as well as beans and lentils. Adding ground flaxseeds to your breakfast yogurt and leaving the skin on your fruit and veg-
etables are small acts that will increase your fiber intake. While fiber is important for your bowl, it can also help to improve cholesterol levels so including enough in your diet is critical; try to aim for 25-30g fiber daily.
Caffeine can perform as both a laxative and an appetite suppressant. Drinking a few cups of coffee (up to 2-3 8oz cups) can help to stimulate bowel movements and regulate your appetite, to enable you to remain satiated for longer. When drinking coffee, try to avoid adding lots of sweetener or sugar. Black coffee is best, such as a black Americano or espresso. If you enjoy lattes, opt for a plant-based alternative such as almond milk, which is lower in calories and sugar than skim milk. Whole-milk and coconut milk contain more saturated fat and so should be consumed in moderation. Additionally, if you would like sweetness, first try adding something like fresh vanilla or cinnamon. If that’s not sweet enough, use stevia or monk fruit sweetener in moderation.
Drinking extra fluid is also critical in order to soften your stools and maintain optimal health. The average person
should be consuming 8-10 cups of water daily. When constipated, increase this number by 2-4 cups of water a day.
Lastly, physical activity is not only important for your cardiovascular health but can strengthen the muscles in your bowel to regulate movement. Try to sit less and engage in more physical activity! Even small movements such as going for a short walk or setting a timer and walking around the room for a few minutes to stretch your legs during work will increase your physical activity.
When shopping for the week, it is critical to purchase sufficient food and meal options that can be kept in the freezer and brought out when you do not feel like cooking or preparing food. Adding these additional foods to your basket will be a lifesaver when you are working late or do not have enough time to make it to the supermarket. Why not keep salmon in your freezer or frozen veggies or a healthy quiche that may be easily defrosted for a quick and easy meal?
In addition to keeping raw and pre-
cooked food in your freezer, meal prepping is a great way to ensure that you make healthy dietary choices throughout the week, and this will be helpful towards your goals. Try to prepare a salad with your favorite vegetables and keep protein pre-portioned in the fridge that may be quickly warmed and combined for a convenient meal. Having healthy foods that are easily accessible in the kitchen will guarantee you are making the best choices for your health goals. When restocking your kitchen post-Pesach, try to avoid purchasing a great deal of baked goods or processed foods. Instead, consider healthier options like Greek yogurt with seeds, low-fat cottage cheese, a variety of fruits and vegetables (both fresh and frozen), and whole grain breads/crackers.
Snacking is normal, but often associated with junky, high sugar/high fat foods, so make sure your snacks are nutritiously dense. When consuming a snack, try to include protein. A low-fat Greek yogurt with berries, carrots with hummus, or a smoothie made with frozen fruit, vegetables, and almond butter are
great snack ideas. Including protein in your snacks will help prevent your blood sugar from spiking and improve satiety. Additionally, try to consume fluid with your snacks to increase satiety and optimize your hydration level. If it is cold out, why not try a hot cup of tea or hot water with an herbal blend? Because tea is hot, it needs to be consumed slowly, and this will also enable you time to consider if you are actually hungry or just thirsty. Additionally, hot beverages will make you feel fuller than cold.
Avoid/minimize re-stocking the house with processed snacks such as baked goods and chips. Healthier alternatives would be whole-grain granola bars and popcorn. By refraining from purchasing snack options that are less healthy, you are less likely to reach for these in the house as they simply will not be there.
It is important to perform physical activity regularly to keep your bones strong as well as for your cardiovascular health. The American Heart Association recommends that individuals perform at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity weekly or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity or a combination of
both, and this should preferably be spread throughout the week. Additionally, muscle strengthening activity, such as weight training, should be performed at least two days per week. Examples of moderate activity include speed walking, a light jog or swimming. Call up a friend and go for a walk or listen to a podcast. Exercise does not have to be taxing – make it fun and make it work for you! Vigorous activity
and sitting less is critical for your health. Why not try walking to the subway instead of taking the bus or using the stairs instead of the escalator? Small decisions such as these will only increase the activity in your week.
When shopping for the week, be sure to read the nutrition facts label on food
limit consumption of foods that are high in these fats such as processed foods, red meat, baked goods, and chips. Focus on foods that are high in omega-3 saturated fats such as fish, chia seeds and healthy plant oils (olive and avocado oil). These help to increase your good cholesterol, which will thereby improve your health.
may include tennis, running or Zumba. There are plenty of ways to exercise without a fancy gym membership including at home workouts, a fitness class or going outside for a run or walk now that the weather is getting nicer.
While it may not be possible for some to meet these recommendations, building in consistent exercise into your schedule
items. Try choosing products that are low in trans and saturated fat as well as added sugar and salt. Nut-butter contains sodium naturally, so why choose the tub with added salt and sugar? Check the label to ensure that this has not been added. Saturated fat can increase cholesterol levels, while trans-fat not only raises bad cholesterol but lowers good cholesterol. Try to
While the idea of being “healthy,” may seem out of reach or unsustainable, implementing small actions into your daily routine such as keeping a salad in your fridge, taking the stairs, and keeping some frozen vegetables in the freezer all contribute towards a healthy lifestyle. It is important to figure out what works for you to ensure your goals are both achievable and sustainable. Consistency will be the key to your suvccess. There is no need to feel guilty when you deviate from your goals, since there are a plethora of ways to get yourself back on track and to live a healthy and meaningful life.
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
Having healthy foods that are easily accessible in the kitchen will guarantee you are making the best choices for your health goals.
There’s a saying in technology that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I suppose this stems from the complex parts in products that trying to fix something or improve upon a working appliance may cause irreparable damage. In other words, leave well enough alone.
This morning, our plumber came to fix our kitchen faucet because it was clearly broken. Not totally broken as in “not working at all and water fails to flow out of it,” but broken as in the arm of the faucet is stuck in its socket and fails to twist and turn, making maneuvering the faucet very difficult.
I admit I pushed off calling the plumber because hey, we did have hot and cold running water and who knows what he’ll discover upon taking it apart? And who knows how much it will cost? In the end, I called him because of the dripping bathtub upstairs, and while I had him here, I asked him about the kitchen sink.
“Ohhh, very bad. Maybe needs oil,” he declared after examining the specimen. “Maybe rusty. Maybe needs clean…maybe new one,” was the diagnosis.
I pressed further: “So is it a big job?”
“I don’t know – have to check. Maybe need new one.”
Welcome to the Scientific Method of fixing technology. You try various things until the appliance is working. In the end, you may or may not know what caused it, but who cares? It works, and you watch that it doesn’t happen again. That’s not very conducive to long term usage, but no -
test or other clinical assessment that an infection is the problem?
At the company where I work, the IT treats the computer systems differently than the doctors treat the patients. I work in hospice and palliative care, and when a patient is having pain, the doctors will prescribe a pill.
However, when my computer was
a human the doctors address the pain. I feel bad for computers and appliances because with them it’s all about pressing buttons randomly, deleting and deactivating tools until the machine or software works. No investigation into the why or the how.
Press some buttons. Hold your breath, and if it works, rejoice. If not, hack on.
I guess it’s the equivalent of a doctor or nurse poking around for a vein. And to that I say, please be gentle with your technology. They may break down a lot, but we need them a lot and they really make our lives better. When they work.
body asked me when designing therapy for appliances.
The medical model on humans, by contrast, is first find the problem and then treat the problem. What doctor worth his or her diploma would prescribe medication for an infection without being reasonably sure through a culture, blood
down, they tried changing passwords, usernames, logging in and out, deactivating plugins, and various other trial and error techniques. In the end, the system came back up and when I asked what was wrong, the reply was “doesn’t matter.”
All I can say is I’m happy I’m a human and not a computer because at least with
Technology and people. Be nice to them both because while one has feelings (humans), the other may not have feelings but the person behind that keyboard does. Be nice and gentle with him or her as well.
Press some buttons. Hold your breath, and if it works, rejoice. If not, hack on.
Some restaurants are just restaurants. You sit down, look at the menu, order, eat, pay, and go home. Other restaurants offer things in addition to the food. Ambiance is usually the first great step that sets a place above the standard of a normal eatery. Yet there is another level that truly sets a place apart from the majority of dining options: Experience. The adding of something to your meal that makes it more than just a meal.
Tabernacle offers items on their menu that you’ll remember ordering for years to come. Some of the menu consists of food that arrives at your table and wows you with its flavor and plating, but it’s the items that are more experiential that stand out on a menu that has a lot to offer.
“We owe it to our guests to give them a vibrant experience and to keep striving to make sure they’re having a great time every time they come out,” said Josh Goldstein, Tabernacle’s director of operations. “Every guest matters, and we want them to all walk away feeling like a VIP.”
When I was invited to Tabernacle, I was impressed with the ambiance and character that are apparent the moment that you walk in the door. The restaurant is full of cool features from booths that look like giant wine barrels to the several visible full-size wine coolers along the walls on the balcony seating area. But that extra feeling that something special is happening is what places Tabernacle in the top tier of kosher establishments.
If you’d like to start with a drink, the Holy Smokes cocktail is smoked at your table with real cherry wood and a kitchen torch. Or you can have a deliciously vibrant Caesar salad made tableside as your waiter explains its origin story. Your server can also have a burner brought to your table by the mashgiach so that they can
help you with the Hot Pot, a do-it-yourself noodle bowl.
Don’t worry – they have experience pieces that are more carnivorous as well. If you order the Duck à l’Orange (limit of around a half dozen per night), they will first show you the whole bird when it’s done before carving it in the kitchen and returning it to you sliced with crepes and sauces for you to assemble as you wish. Unlike the duck, the Bone-In Ribeye for Two is brought to your table raw at first so you can gain a true appreciation for the before-and-after of your steak. Tabernacle also offers a Chateaubriand that is stuffed with truffles and sliced tableside so the patron can appreciate the skill that goes into perfectly serving such a large cut of beef.
Order the fondue for dessert, and you’ll be treated to a cauldron of chocolate suspended over candles and served with a vast amount of options for dipping.
The more regularly plated items shouldn’t be underestimated. The Tuna Tartare is served atop avocado with a ponzu sauce and lavash. Taking a bit of avocado and tuna on a piece of lavash creates an tantalizing bite with a balance of both flavors and textures. Korean Fried Chicken is the most popular appetizer on the menu, and with good reason. A dish that they’ve perfected over time, the delightfully crispy chicken has a wonderful combination of sweetness and spiciness that anybody who loves gochujang can’t afford to miss. A new addition to the menu, the Grilled Baby Lamb Chops are made with a classic combination of pistachios and red wine. The interplay of the different textures is quite an accomplishment by Tabernacle’s new chef.
“My goal wasn’t just to make great kosher food, but for this to be a great restau-
rant on every level,” Executive Chef Jamal Bland said. “The vision for the food here is to consistently push the boundaries by using modern classics with a twist.”
A two-time competitor on the Food Network’s Chopped, Bland is making some interesting strides with some new items.
One of these is his Peppercrust Filet Mignon. Not only does he toast the pepper so as to be able to use a greater volume of crusting without as strong of a bite, he lightens the dish with a hollandaise sauce. Making a version without butter proved difficult until Bland decided to thicken the sauce using bone marrow. A more standard technique is used to make the Herb Roasted Mushrooms as a fabulous cashew cream will convince most diners that the sauce must be dairy.
I’d be remiss not to mention the Grilled Veal Chop as one of Tabernacle’s signature items that has withstood their seasonal menu changes. This decadent combination of veal and potatoes may be the perfect thing to order for the guest who craves
something special yet classic.
Tabernacle is an exquisite destination for any kind of night from a fancy date to a truly magnificent celebration. With an extensive wine list (Tabernacle Winery is a sister operation), specialty house cocktails, and even the option to saber champagne for a special occasion, the drinks stand up to the reputation of the food.
Just remember to savor the experience.
Shallot Dressing
◦ 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
◦ ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
◦ 1 small shallot
◦ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
◦ ¾ cup olive oil
◦ Salt, to taste
◦ Pepper, to taste
Salad
◦ 1 head Boston, soft butter, or romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
◦ 2 (6-ounce) cans tuna packed in oil, drained and broken into chunks
◦ ½ cup Niçoise olives, or your favorite olives
◦ 8 mini potatoes, boiled until fork tender, quartered
◦ 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
◦ 4 plum tomatoes, cut into four wedges
◦ 2 radishes, thinly sliced
1. Prepare the dressing: Place vinegar, mustard, shallot, and tarragon into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Process until smooth.
2. With the machine still running, slowly add oil in a slow, steady stream to incorporate it into the dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Prepare the salad: Line a platter with lettuce, top with tuna, olives, and potatoes. Arrange egg and tomato wedges around platter. Drizzle with shallot dressing; top with sliced radishes.
Cook’s Tip: To really elevate the salad, use fresh seared tuna instead of canned. Season a ½-inch-thick tuna steak on all sides with salt and pepper. Sear in a tablespoon of hot oil for two minutes per side; it will still be pink in the middle. Cut into slices and arrange on platter in place of the canned tuna.
The first time I had Tuna Nicoise Salad was when I was in Israel for seminary, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since. This is a great seudah shlishit salad because it’s a full meal in a bowl. You can serve this on one big platter or individually plated as an appetizer.
O
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ML: When an idea or a strategy is foisted upon people who didn’t have a hand in creating it, they look upon that new thing as an invading virus to the body. They start to push it away. “It wasn’t made here. It must be awful.” So, I try to get people involved in the creation or implementation of the idea as much as possible. In general, if people feel that they had a hand in the creation of something, or a hand in making something work, then they’ll want to see it work
because it reflects on them.
Another thing that I do is that when I come up with an idea, or we come up with an idea together, I’ll often say, “Just as a thought experiment, let’s pretend that this is definitely going to work. How will we go out there and make it work? What are we going to be doing?” Or I’ll give my client homework about taking the idea and making it work. I’ll tell them, “I don’t want you to think about the negatives. I don’t want you to think about any hesitancies or anything. Your job is to go make it work. So, how are you going to do that?” You want people to feel they had a hand in it, and you want them to focus on making it work rather than have doubts.
How can someone inspire their brain to think up the next big idea?
To try to think up a really big idea is daunting for anyone, especially one that
you’re going to be basing your career or your business on. So, often what I do in getting clients to think about big ideas is to first try to calm them down. For example, I’ll tell them, “If we had a really great idea, we’d be implementing it now. But we don’t.
So, rather than thinking about great ideas, which are answers and solutions, let’s first brainstorm every possible question that we have about the situation. These are questions about what your business is. What are you selling? What are your products or services? What’s your supply chain? Who are your customers? What are your customers interested in? There’s no question, big or small, that’s off limits.” I’ll give them around 10-15 minutes and have them start shouting out questions that interest them. We’re not writing these questions down. It’s not that you’re going to have to answer these questions. Because if you had to answer the questions, that would be work.
his 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.And you don’t want to give yourself work. It would hold you back if you felt you had to answer every question. It’s more about warming up and getting you to look at every part of the situation in a relaxed way. Because I find when people are trying to solve a problem or think up a new idea, they often don’t look at certain parts of the situation, because they’re scared they won’t have an answer. They blind themselves to that part of the situation. And I don’t want that. So, I say to them, “Let’s brainstorm every possible question about every single part of the situation. If you come across a question or two that interests you, you can write it down.” It’s about warming them up and looking at the entire thing in its entirety.
That’s very true. When someone is pressed to think of an idea, it’s so important to take a deep breath and relax.
That kind of pressure doesn’t stimulate creative thinking.
Asking people to be creative from a standstill is super difficult. Maybe they haven’t been creative lately, they don’t have any tools or understand how to be creative. So, you want the idea factory warmed up before you go into the brainstorm, so that people are creative in there. One of the things I preach to clients is about creating a “thinking campaign” ahead of time. You sit there on your own before the brainstorming meeting, and you just think about what the project is, and who’s involved, and you journal about it to yourself. We don’t like to think up new ideas. We say that we do, but we really don’t, because it’s difficult to do and the new idea may be unlike what we’ve done before. So, it’s important that you give yourself exercises that are super simple to follow. As long as you follow that, you’ll come up with new ideas. If there’s too much complexity, you won’t do it, or you’ll do it badly. It’ll shut you down. So, the exercises I give people in brainstorming sessions are things like, “Tell me everything we know about the situation that might be surprising to hear.” Another question might be, “Tell me everything obvious about this situation.” I think that comes from the world of Gestalt therapy. If people are stuck, it’s probably because they’re trying to be too clever. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with people on and asked them to just tell me what’s obvious, and they’ll say, “Are you sure that I’m not being too simple here?” But I tell them to keep going. And they continue to list what’s obvious and factual, and will suddenly say, “Wait a minute, that gives me an idea.” Because they’re immersing themselves in the situation, but not in a way that’s tensing them up. It’s relaxing them.
Another way I go about doing this is I say, “If we could have come up with good ideas, we would have already. Why don’t we just think about bad ideas? Or boring ideas?” So rather than saying, “Be creative,” I’m saying, “Tell me all the boring ideas.” But you’re actually being creative when coming up with the boring ideas.
Could you share an experience from working as a business consultant?
A bunch of years ago, Lisa McLeod, a client whom I adore, came to me. She had been at Procter and Gamble and was now training companies on other people’s sales methodologies. And so, in speaking to Lisa, not only was she brilliant and impassioned, but she cared deeply about the world. She was talking about Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, about higher ideals.
She also said, “One thing that I want to do is to restore the nobility to the sales pro-
cess.” And that really struck me. We spoke over the course of a couple of days, and I said to her, “Lisa, you’re not a sales trainer anymore. You’re a consultant. You’re an expert to sales executives. And you don’t train them on other people’s methodology, you train them on your methodology. That idea of selling with noble purpose, that’s your methodology. This idea that organizations that focus exclusively on the numbers always suffer, and organizations that focus on higher ideals excel.” And so, Lisa went and wrote the books “Selling with Noble Purpose” and “Leading with Noble Purpose.” Suddenly, everything started taking off for her because it was around the right idea.
lead with everything at once. Because if you do, you’re asking the marketplace to make meaning out of your life and your company. And the people in the marketplace are already trying to make meaning out of their own lives. They have no interest in helping you make meaning out of your life.
For companies and executives that are all about ROI, how do you communicate to them that building that success is a process and narrative that has to be built?
This may seem kind of prosaic and ordinary, but I show them lots of before and afters. Often, people just want to talk about the after. But if I don’t know what
efited the world and individual consumers, you’ve got to have a “before” picture and an “after” picture for everything that you’re talking about. It’s not a glamorous tactic, but if something is standing in the way of you selling, that might be it.
What’s one last tip you could share to inspire people to be creative in their lives?
Often, what your differentiation or positioning should be is something you’re already doing. You just have it in the wrong spot. You’re not leading with it. People make snap judgments about who you are, what you’re selling, why you do what you do, and how it could benefit them. You need to lead with something that breaks people’s icy indifference. It doesn’t have to be the totality of who you are, but you lead with that to get your foot in the door. Something that’s true to who you are, and that people out in the marketplace will talk about. Once they’re interested in speaking with you, then you can bring all the other cool stuff that you have behind there. But you can’t
the before was, then I don’t know what the growth was. So, it is essential that in talking about how your business has ben-
In thinking about how you might be different in your business, there’s a technique that I didn’t create, but I’ve used for decades. It’s an elevator speech technique called “you know how when.” For anyone reading, I want you to think of different customers that you’ve had. And in order to find your differentiation, just describe them, without mentioning them by name. Something like, “What do you do for a living? Well, you know how when a person will have this problem,” and then you talk about the problem or so at great length. And you keep on doing that for different customers. “You know how when” and you describe their situation in an informal way. You do it over and over again, describing different people. Your differentiation may appear in describing these different customers. I’ve had it happen many times.
You want people to feel they had a hand in it, and you want them to focus on making it work rather than have doubts.
In all likelihood, the young people shown on your video probably have never felt the firm hand of a father or the loving hand of a mother. Put another way, if you’re a parent, you stop loving your kid. Your kid’s not going to stop loving you. Your kid’s going to stop loving himself. But I don’t know how government can make parents support their children.
Most civilized societies are based on free will and responsibility. It doesn’t matter where you are in life. It doesn’t matter what someone’s done to you or may have done to you. You are responsible for your actions.
- Ibid.
This afternoon, the FBI arrested a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman in connection with the leaking of classified documents that were posted online. The leaker is described as a lonely young man who is part of a chatroom group that shares a love of guns and military gear. You know how sometimes — you know you find yourself going, “It’s always who you least suspect, isn’t it?” This isn’t one of those times.
— James CordenHe posted some of the documents in a chatroom for gamers, and I don’t even know how this works. Does someone like write, “Hey guys, how do I win in Fortnite?” and you respond like, “I don’t know, but here’s some satellite images of Ukraine.”
— Ibid.
When you have these woke, race-baiting mayors and district attorneys who say, well, nobody’s responsible, it’s all society’s fault, all that is going to do is lead to a decay of America. And, you know…elect the clown expect the circus.
– Ibid.
There’s nothing – and I mean this from the bottom of my heart – there’s nothing our nations can’t achieve if we do it together. I really mean it. So, thank you all. G-d bless you all. And let’s go — let’s go la – lick the world. Let’s get it done. Thank you.
- Pres. Biden, ending his speech at a banquet in Ireland
Biden is a proud Irish American. He’s planning to visit relatives over there from the Blewitt family — that’s his family’s name — and I really hope the visit goes well, because if Biden blows it with the Blewitts, Fox News is going to have a field day tomorrow.
— Jimmy Kimmel
It’s worrying that taxpayer dollars are being used for a public official to stand at a podium to boast about killing these small, sensitive animals.
- A representative for PETA responding to New York City announcing the appointment of a rat czar, charged with fighting the City’s rat infestation
Maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks. Someone even said like, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows? I mean, I just think that the possibilities are endless.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been feuding with Disney World over its woke ideology, talking about ideas for development in the vicinity of the world famous amusement park
You’re a Jewish New Yorker; I called your office numerous times. I called Mr. Schumer’s office— another Jewish New Yorker— numerous times. No one called us back. Neither one of you came out with a statement on my son’s incident.
- Barry Borgen, whose son was viciously attacked in an antisemitic hate crime in 2021, confronting Rep. Jerry Nadler at a House Judiciary Committee hearing that took place in New York City this week
Here in New York, we can’t get guns. The criminals walk around shooting people, can get guns non-stop; it’s unbelievable. A gun charge comes to Mr. Bragg, misdemeanor, no problem, walk the streets. I will not set foot in Manhattan. - Ibid.
We try to get people tools in order to help them put the phone down.Because my philosophy is, if you’re looking at the phone more than you’re looking in somebody’s eyes, you’re doing the wrong thing.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook in a recent interview
So many legal scholars & pundits have viewed my lawsuit against lying, convicted felon, Michael Cohen, a disbarred lawyer, as being meritorious – a very good one. Some have stated, “It’s about time!’” Slovenly, Lethargic Coward, Bill Barr, who didn’t have the “guts” to fight election fraud, & more, because he was afraid he was going to be impeached by the Radical Left Lunatics – The Democrats – disagrees. Barr is a Globalist RINO spokesman for Fox & the WSJ. He is a Stone Cold LOSER.
- Trump, bashing his former attorney general William Barr, in a social media post
Individuals more easily disgusted by body odors are also more prone to having negative attitudes towards refugees.
- From a recent study by Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, finding that people who don’t like the smell of body odor may be xenophobic
By David Ignatius
Hope is not a strategy, as pragmatic military analysts often observe. But still, Ukraine’s will to win – its determination to expel Russian invaders from its territory at whatever cost – might be the X-factor in the decisive season of conflict ahead.
Nearly two months have passed since U.S. intelligence analysts assessed that the war in Ukraine was locked in a “grinding campaign of attrition” and was “likely heading toward a stalemate,” according to one of the scores of documents allegedly leaked by Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira.
So, what’s the order of battle, on the eve of Ukraine’s planned spring counteroffensive to break the impasse and drive back the Russians? Rather than depend on older assessments from the leaked documents, I spoke Thursday with several senior U.S. officials who follow the war closely. This account is based on their comments.
Little has changed to alter the basic picture, officials told me.
The good news for Ukraine is that Russia’s planned winter offensive has failed to take much ground. The Russians have lost thousands of soldiers in an attempt to seize Bakhmut and control the surrounding Donbas region. They have gained control of 70 to 80 percent of Bakhmut, but the Ukrainians have held on at a terrible cost, avoiding a symbolic defeat.
U.S. officials have argued for months that Ukrainian forces should retreat to higher ground west of Bakhmut, which they could defend more easily. But the Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, chose to stand and fight. As in the first days of the war, a Ukrainian
campaign buoyed more by hope than military logic did better than the Pentagon expected.
Bakhmut has been a “meat grinder,” according to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch who controls the Wagner Group militia, whose convict-troops have spilled rivers of blood there. Prigozhin wrote in a Telegram post on Friday: “Bakhmut is extremely beneficial for us, [as] we grind the Ukrainian army there and restrain their movement.” But a further Russian breakthrough remains, “to put it mildly, not very likely.”
The “special military operation,” as Russia calls its Ukraine invasion, “will solve many of [its] tasks” by holding current territory, “plus or minus a couple of tens of kilometers,” Prigozhin said. This continuing stalemate apparently would satisfy Russian hopes for a limited victory. Prigozhin’s dark salutation: “See you at Bakhmut.”
Russia keeps feeding the grinder. They resupply their lines around Bakhmut as fast as they lose people, one U.S. official said. But he cautioned that some mem-
bers of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle know that this protracted campaign is folly and that resistance to Putin inside Russia is slowly growing.
“Many of those who supported the special operation yesterday are now in doubt or categorically against what is happening,” Prigozhin noted.
An example of this internal dissent was in evidence on a phone call that was leaked last month, in which two prominent Russians denounced the country’s leaders as “stupid cockroaches” who are “dragging their country downwards” and “destroying its future.” According to Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “rage and despair” are increasingly widespread among the Russian elite.
A startling sign of this ferment was the defection in October of Gleb Karakulov, a member of Putin’s Kremlin palace guard known as the Federal Protective Service, or FSO. “Our president has become a war criminal. It is time to end this war and stop being silent,” Karakulov said after fleeing to Turkey from Kazakh-
stan, where he had accompanied Putin on a trip. Until he defected, Karakulov had been responsible for Putin’s communications security and had made more than 180 trips with him.
What’s the Ukrainian combat goal? To break out of the Donbas stalemate, Zelensky has been planning a counteroffensive that would use new tanks and other mobile vehicles, protected by air-defense equipment and backed by recently recruited and trained troops. The aim is a fast-moving combined-arms campaign that would punch through heavily fortified Russian lines in the east and south.
U.S. officials recognize the obstacles that Ukraine faces in this ambitious plan. Officials still concur with a February assessment: that “enduring Ukrainian deficiencies in training and munitions supplies probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive,” and that the most likely outcome remains only modest territorial gains.
But the Ukrainians have accomplished combat miracles before, and U.S. officials share the hope it can happen again. “Based on rehearsals and war games, they do have a chance of success,” says one senior Pentagon official.
As Ukraine steps toward the moment of decision, the United States must be certain it has given them all the tools they need to succeed. President Joe Biden doesn’t want to start World War III, but he will look back with regret if the United States and its allies leave any weapons or ammunition on the sidelines that could responsibly be used in this conflict. Whatever Biden might wish later he had done if things go badly, he should do now.
By Marc A. Thiessen
Here are some truly frightening poll numbers: According to CNN, only 37 percent of Americans think that Donald Trump broke the law with his alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, while 76 percent think that politics played a role in the decision to bring charges against him. Yet a 60 percent majority approves of his indictment.
Among independents, the numbers are even more stark: Only 31 percent say Trump’s actions were illegal, and 76 percent believe politics played a role in the decision to prosecute him in New York. Yet 62 percent approve of it.
Think of what that means: These Americans, including a clear majority of the independent voters who will likely choose the next president, believe that Trump committed no crime, and that the justice system is being weaponized against him – and they are perfectly fine with it.
Even if you hate Trump, that is terrifying.
Trump’s critics believe he represents an existential threat to our democratic institutions. Well, the institution that is the critical foundation of our entire democracy is the rule of law. Yet some on the left are perfectly willing to undermine the rule of law with a political prosecution, clearly to stop him from winning back the White House. By using Trump’s serial breaking of our democratic norms to justify this unprecedented norm-breaking, his opponents become exactly what they condemn. They seem willing to burn down our system to save it. This poses as great
a threat to our democracy as anything they fear Trump might do if he were to regain power.
But scary as these poll numbers are for our democracy, they should also be a wake-up call for Republicans. Because if you wanted proof that Trump has made himself irreparably toxic with swing voters who will choose the next president, this is it.
Trump’s indictment is creating a rallying effect around the former president. On March 30, the day his indictment was announced, 46 percent of GOP primary voters supported Trump, according to the RealClearPolitics average; since the indictment, Trump’s support has increased to around 52 percent. Meanwhile, during that same period, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has dropped from 30 to 25 percent in the RCP average. So, the gap between
Trump and his closest rival has nearly doubled, from 16 to 27 percentage points. Before charges were handed up, a majority of Republican primary voters said they wanted someone else as their party’s standard-bearer. Now a majority backs Trump.
The problem is Republican primary voters will not decide the next election. There is every reason to expect that, once again, the outcome will be determined by a few hundred thousand voters in a handful of swing states. And those voters disproportionately dislike Trump. According to a new NPR-Marist poll, only 37 percent of independents approve of Trump, and 64 percent don’t want Trump to be president again. These voters don’t want to see Trump reelected; they want to see him prosecuted.
Why? Because for these voters,
“MAGA” no longer means all the great Trump policies that a majority of Americans approved of while he was in office. It means election denial, the refusal to preside over a peaceful transition, and a relentless campaign of political revenge against those who refused to back his false stolen election claims.
If Trump had spent the past two years reminding those voters of his accomplishments in office – the first comprehensive tax reform in three decades, low inflation, rising wages, energy independence, securing the border with Mexico, destroying the Islamic State caliphate, taking out Iran’s terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani, four Arab-Israeli peace treaties, Operation Warp Speed (the list goes on) – and comparing his record to the serial disasters President Biden has unleashed, he’d be cruising to a historic comeback victory.
Instead, Trump has spent the past two years pursuing personal grievances and alienating the very people he needs to win back the presidency – so much so that many are willing to see him prosecuted for a crime they believe he did not commit. It is nothing new to see the left breaking norms to go after Trump. What is new is seeing how many Americans seem willing to go along with it to prevent Trump from reaching the Oval Office again. That’s a message Republicans should pause to absorb before they make Trump their nominee in 2024.
James J. Angleton, the CIA counterintelligence chief who was a walking definition of the word “eccentric,” once confided to me that it didn’t matter whether a spy was a double agent or a triple agent, as long as you knew the difference.
I was 29 years old at the time, recently assigned to cover intelligence for the Wall Street Journal, and frankly, I had no idea what Angleton was talking about. But his meaning becomes slightly clearer as we consider the recent leaks of U.S. military intelligence regarding the Ukraine war.
Were these documents disclosed by the Russians to expose Ukrainian weakness and shatter morale, as seems most likely to the analysts I contacted? Or were they actually disseminated by Ukraine, as some Russian bloggers appear to believe, in a plot to make the Kremlin think that Ukraine is weak and thereby disguise its true strengths in advance of a planned spring counteroffensive?
We’re in Angleton’s “wilderness of mirrors” here. What matters, as he observed, is that you know what’s accurate and what is a manipulated reflection. Though a few documents appear to have been doctored, an administration official told me Monday: “We’re still examining them, but at first glance, this appears to be real.”
Intelligence is always about what philosophers call epistemology – the study of how we know what we know. But let’s try to focus on facts, by examining some baseline themes in the documents that accord with information from other sources. By restricting ourselves to this subset of information supported by collateral evidence, we can make out some basic themes.
First, Ukraine is facing a severe shortage of air defense weapons that could cost it the war. We knew it had a problem from last week’s announcement that the Unit-
ed States was rushing an additional $2.6 billion in air defense systems and other weapons. The new package includes ammunition for Patriot and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, missile batteries; nine gun trucks and 10 anti-drone laser systems; new air surveillance radars, antiaircraft ammunition and Grad rockets.
The raw numbers about the air defense shortage recorded in a Feb. 23 document are scary. Ukraine depends on Soviet-era SA-10s and SA-11s for 89% of its air defense over 20,000 feet. At current firing rates, the document predicted, the SA-11s would be depleted by March 31 and the SA-10s by May 2. Other systems “are unable to match the Russian volume” of attacks, and the shortage is so severe that “multiple mitigating options must be simultaneously pursued.”
If Ukraine can’t fill this gap, Russia could finally have the “air superiority” to attack Ukrainian ground targets at will, the document notes. That means Ukraine might not be able to mass ground forces for its counteroffensive or protect its cities.
Second, the West’s “arsenal of democracy” isn’t close to matching Ukraine’s needs. In theory, logistics should be Ukraine’s great advantage against a Russia facing what were supposed to be “crippling” sanctions. But there’s a bad mismatch between Ukraine’s expenditure of missiles and ammunition and the West’s supplies. Partly that’s a result of the Ukrainians firing too much ammunition, but the documents describe desperate efforts to persuade nations such as South Korea and Israel to sell lethal weapons to Ukraine.
This ought to be the trump card for the United States. In World War II, the United States converted manufacturing plants across the country to make tanks, planes, and aircraft carriers that simply overwhelmed Japan and Germany. No similar mobilization has taken place this time. Why not? Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met several times with defense contractors, but why hasn’t President Joe Biden appointed the equivalent of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s War Production Board?
Third, the Biden administration has
been more risk averse than some allies – and more than seems necessary. One of the documents says that Britain and France have sent crewed electronic warfare planes over the Black Sea while the United States has sent only drones. Why? The answer is that we don’t want a direct confrontation with Russia, like the one the documents say took place in September, when the Russians nearly shot down a British RC-135.
The administration’s caution is sensible. But are Biden and Austin being too cautious? International law allows surveillance planes to fly 12 miles off the coast. Yet one of the documents draws a wider 50-mile limit around Crimea, describing it as a “SECDEF Directed Standoff.” Pentagon officials evidently decided that the intelligence gained from flying closer wasn’t worth the risk. But they should explain why to the public.
Finally, journalists have been hearing privately for many months from top U.S. officials that they believe this conflict is at a deadly impasse, with heavy casualties depleting both sides. The documents provide a more explicit snapshot. A Feb. 23 analysis described a “grinding campaign of attrition” that “is likely heading toward a stalemate.”
Ukraine is betting that a spring counteroffensive can reverse these trends. The administration backs that gamble, too. “Much will depend on the fighting in the spring as to how much longer the war lasts,” the administration official told me.
“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies,” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously said in 1943. But the Ukraine intelligence documents appear to be largely accurate, and they tell a chilling story.
The name “Bermuda” conjures up a variety of images. Tourists think of it as a tropical vacation site. Scientists ponder the disappearance of ships in the Bermuda Triangle. But for those concerned with the history of the Holocaust, Bermuda is remembered as the site of a notorious U.S.-British conference, eighty years ago this week, that was organized for the ostensible purpose of rescuing Jews from Hitler, but instead abandoned them.
In early 1943, following the Allies’ verification of the Nazi genocide, some British parliament members and church leaders began pressing for rescue action. To appease the growing clamor, the Churchill and Roosevelt administrations announced they would hold a conference to address the crisis.
The island of Bermuda was chosen for the gathering. Nahum Goldmann, cochairman of the World Jewish Congress, suspected the remote setting was selected so “it will take place practically in secret, without pressure of public opinion.” Jewish organizations asked permission to send representatives to the conference; their request was rejected. They sent the State Department a list of proposals for rescue action; the memo was ignored. Jewish congressmen met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to suggest rescue steps, “but the answer to all of [our] suggestions was ‘No’,” according to Congressman Daniel Ellison (R-Maryland).
American Jewish groups were alarmed that U.S. Congressman Sol Bloom (D-New York) was chosen as a member of the American delegation to Bermuda. Bloom was a staunch defender of FDR’s harsh policy toward Jewish refugees; Jewish leaders feared Bloom would serve as “an alibi” for the administration’s claim that rescue was impossible. Assistant Secretary of State
Breckinridge Long wrote in his diary that he chose Bloom because the congressman was “easy to handle” and “terribly ambitious for publicity.”
The Bermuda gathering opened on April 19, 1943, which coincided with the first night of Passover and the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto revolt against the Nazis. The British and U.S. governments decided beforehand that in their discussions, there would be no emphasis on the plight of the Jews, nor would they adopt any policies that would benefit Jews in particular.
Nearly every rescue idea that was raised was shot down. The U.S. refused to use trans-Atlantic ships to transport refugees not even troop supply ships that were returning from Europe empty. The Roosevelt administration also rejected any increase in the admission of refugees to the United States.
The British delegates refused to discuss Palestine as a possible haven, because of Arab opposition. They also rejected negotiating with the Nazis to release Jews, on the grounds that “many of the potential refugees are empty mouths for which Hitler has no use.” Their release “would be relieving Hitler of an obligation to take care of these useless people,” a senior British official asserted.
The delegates also dismissed the idea of shipping food to starving Jews as a violation of the Allied blockade of Axis Europe, even though Allied leaders previously made an exception for German-occupied Greece and sent food there.
In the end, the Bermuda conferees spent a large amount of time on very smallscale steps, such as evacuating 5,000 Jewish refugees from Spain (who were not in immediate danger) to the Libyan region of Cyrenaica.
After twelve days of basking in the tropical sunshine, the delegates adjourned without achieving anything of significance. The two governments kept the proceedings of the conference secret rather than admit
The failure of the Bermuda conference provoked the first serious public criticism of U.S. refugee policy. A large advertisement in the New York Times, sponsored by the rescue advocates known as the Bergson Group, was headlined, “To 5,000,000 Jews in the Nazi Death-Trap, Bermuda was a Cruel Mockery.”
Rep. Emanuel Celler (D-New York) charged that the delegates in Bermuda had engaged in “diplomatic tight-rope walking,” at a time when “thousands of Jews are being killed daily.” In a slap at Congressman Bloom, Rep. Celler characterized the conference as “a bloomin’ fiasco.”
The editors of The New Republic charged that Bermuda revealed “the bitter truth” that the U.S. and Great Britain were unwilling to aid “these potential refugees from murder.… If the Anglo-Saxon nations continue on their present course, we shall have connived with Hitler in one of the most terrible episodes of history.”
Bermuda galvanized some mainstream Jewish leaders to speak out more forcefully for rescue. Dr. Israel Goldstein, president of the Synagogue Council of America, charged that “the victims are not being rescued because the democracies do not want them, and the job of the Bermuda conference apparently was not to rescue victims of Nazi terror but to rescue our State Department and the British Foreign Office from possible embarrassment.”
Even the chief British delegate to Bermuda, Richard Law, later acknowledged that Bermuda was a “façade for inaction.”
Historians have come to view the Bermuda conference as one of the era’s most vivid demonstrations of the Roosevelt administration’s abandonment of the Jews. The many books and films about America’s response to the Nazi genocide devote ample space to the Bermuda failure – with the notable exception of the recent Ken Burns
documentary, “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” which for some reason never mentioned Bermuda at all. Perhaps one day, some interviewer will ask him about that.
The day the Bermuda conference concluded, April 30, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency published an extraordinary eyewitness account of Nazi atrocities against Jews in the Polish city of Lvov.
A 40-year-old bank clerk named Arthur Rotenstroikin described how he and other Jews in Lvov were “lined up and machine gunned,” but “I fainted and fell to the ground before a bullet hit me and thus escaped death.” Late that night, he “crawled from the mound of dead and returned home.”
Rotenstroikin recounted a wide range of Nazi outrages in Lvov, from young Jewish boys “forced to beat their parents,” to Rosh Hashana worshippers compelled to spread Torah scrolls on the ground “and dance upon them.” He also detailed the mass murder process: executions of tens of thousands of Jews in a nearby forest where “the cries of the victims could be heard for miles,” and mass deportations to the Belzec death camp.
Within a year, “only 10,000 Jews were left of [Lvov’s] original Jewish population of 160,000,” Rosenstroikin reported. Among the murdered were his own wife and two-year-old child. His harrowing testimony offered a heartbreaking eyewitness counterpoint to the Allies’ farce of a conference in Bermuda.
It takes many types of units to form an army. With the influx of soldiers during World War II, the United States military was able to create units that were disbanded shortly after the war. The Coast Artillery Corps had been around since 1901 and were in charge of the coastal and harbor defenses as well anti-aircraft defense of the United States. Their ranks were bolstered during World War I, and several regiments were sent to fight in Europe. Much of the corps was disbanded after the war, but its numbers went up again during World War II. One of their members was a Jewish officer from Chicago who went above and beyond while deployed to fight the Nazis in France.
Coast Artillery units were present at Pearl Harbor but were mainly in position to stop enemy ships from entering the harbor. To that end, Japanese midget subs were stopped from creating too much havoc on December 7, 1941, and the damage that did occur came from the sky. Three-hundred-fifty Japanese carrier-based aircraft and anti-aircraft units, including those from the Coast Artillery, were largely ineffective against the air attack. There were large turret and mortar weapons on Corregidor and other American installations in the Philippines but these Coast Artillery pieces were undermanned and quickly knocked out during
the Japanese invasion.
Despite the setbacks early in the war, the Coast Artillery grew in numbers as well their capabilities. Their anti-aircraft and weapons units received upgraded weapons, and better candidates – younger and more physically fit – were recruited to bolster their ranks. Additionally, battalions were created for separate units including for guns, searchlights, automatic weapons, and barrage balloons. The 41 st Field Artillery was a railway regiment and was known as the “Rail Gunners.” Coast Artillery paved the way for more effective anti-aircraft units in the military and was soon able to send these soldiers to hotspots all over the world.
The 463 rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons) was formed in September 1942 and later designated as the 463rd Anti-Aircraft (Automatic Weapons) Battalion. They landed in France a week after D-Day in June 1944 and fought in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe Campaigns.
Lieutenant Albert A. Alop was a Jewish soldier from Chicago and served with Battery D from the 463 rd Anti-Aircraft (AW) Battalion. While at Camp Haan in Riverside, California, Alop came to the rescue of six airmen after their B-24 Liberator bomber crashed after takeoff.
Alop received the Soldier’s Medal for heroism in a life threatening situation in a non-combat environment.
Following the landings on D-Day on the beaches at Normandy, France, it took several weeks for the Allies to complete Operation Overlord and break the German defenses. The Third Army under General George Patton crossed the Seine River at Mantes-Gassicourt on August 18. This was the first bridgehead over the river, and subsequent offensives allowed the Allies to liberate Paris. During the crossing, forty-three German planes were shot down by American anti-aircraft batteries.
On August 23, Lieutenant Alop was in the vicinity of Mantes-Gassicourt and was headed toward a forward gun position. On the way, he established contact with an infantry platoon that was fighting back a determined Nazi counteroffensive. Despite the risks, Alop continued to the gun position and discovered it was being attacked by heavy machine gun fire. He noticed that other German forces were digging positions to place anti-aircraft guns.
Quickly summarizing the situation as desperate, Alop ran towards American tanks and told the tank commander to reroute so they would be in a better position to attack the Nazis. It was at this point that he returned to the forward gun
position, armed only with a carbine, and attacked the German anti-tank position. After knocking it out of action, he proceeded to wipe out an enemy machine gun emplacement. The Nazis were thrown into disarray and began running away. American tanks fired at them and with Alop’s directions were effective in neutralizing the entire contingent of enemy soldiers that tried to get away. There were still some Germans that were hiding, and Alop went from foxhole to foxhole shooting at the Nazis who refused to surrender. In total, with the help of the tanks, Alop killed or wounded more than 100 Nazis and 30 more were captured. Additionally, a number of machine guns and anti-tank weapons were captured by Alop.
Lieutenant Alop was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions against the Germans in France. He was also wounded in action and awarded the Purple Heart. Alop was one many of the heroes who were vital in the victorious campaign to drive the Nazis out of France and within a year had freed the rest of Europe.
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$949k Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-298-8457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com
FOR SALE in Far Rockaway
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
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
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. OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY APRIL 23 1:00-2:30pm 58 CENTRE ST
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 appliances, 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.
OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY APRIL 23 3:00-4:30PM 562 SUNSET DR Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516298-8457 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. OPEN HOUSE
SUNDAY, APRIL 23 • 11:00-12:30PM
480 ARLINGTON RD Mark Lipner
Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-2988457 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
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
Brokers
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
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
WOODMERE
Beautiful, brick, colonial boasting 5 bdr 3.5 Bth in pristine condition. Excellent location, near all! Move right in! RCUSA 516-512-9626
RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL
Furnished 1br deeded 52 sqm holiday apartment at Kfar Maccabiah Hotel. 20 mins to central TLV, 24/7 Front desk, 3 pools, full gym, parking. 6 months annual usage. Priced to sell at NIS 950,000. Contact Carol at 646-6454935 or carolinalevine@gmail.com
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 284 CENTRAL 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
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
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
Classic Center Hall, with Lg Main level Den and EIK, Master Suite plus 2 Bdrms, 3 New Baths plus Finished Basement. Beautiful fenced yard with Deck and Summer Kitchen plus Pro Inground Basket
Basement with 10 ft Ceilings Huge Playrm 2 Bdrms and Bth laundry Rm storage, Beautiful Manicured Garden.
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
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
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
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
Doorman and Shabbos elevator building.
First floor Beautiful Sunny and Spacious 1BR, 1BA with seperate LR/DR and Renovated Kitchen.
Lots of closets and storage. Parking available, close to LIRR.
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
FAR ROCKAWAY
PRESCHOOL TEACHERS AND ASSISTANTS needed for 2023-2024 school year!
JELC Preschool of Merrick is opening more classrooms and seeks highly motivated, creative, and loving teachers & assistant teachers for the upcoming 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR. Infant, toddler, nursery and pre-k positions available! Competitive salary and warm working environment. For more info, call Gayle at: 516-833-3057 ext 110 or e-mail resume to admissions@jewishelc.org or WhatsApp 516-236-2239
HEWLETT
Spacious and Sundrenched 1st Floor 2 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath Unit In The Incredibly Maintained Garden Town. Updated kitchen with Granite Countertops and Gleaming Hardwood Floors Throughout With A Private Washer/Dryer. Best Views from Every Window And The Large Terrace Facing The Beautifully Landscaped Courtyard. Indoor Parking Available As Well And An I Adjacent Municipal Lot. Convenient To The LIRR, Shops & Restaurants. Maintenance includes all your taxes, heat and water. No more shoveling or gardening for you reduced to $185k Mark Lipner Associate Broker Berkshire Hathaway Laffey International 516-2988457 mlipner@bhhslaffey.com
LARGE NOT FOR PROFIT
Organization Looking for Controller Manage the monthly financial close, including reconciliations of revenue and expense accounts, investment activities, fixed assets, accruals, ongoing variance, payroll, and benefits analysis. Manage and comply with all local, state, and federal government accounting and reporting requirements. Salary range $120k-$160k
Respond to Jobs@hcsny.org
SEEKING ELA TEACHER
Chaya Moller516-506-3347
2 BDRM apt in Bright 2-bedroom apartment; 2nd floor-Eat-in kitchen; washer/dryer hook-up. Private entrance; On Sage Street, parking available-Near main Shuls & LIRR $2100/month includes heat & water. For more information call (718) 327-4386.
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.
NECHAMA IS A HIGH FUNCTIONING
24 Year Old Female that lives in Far Rockaway near Dinsmore Ave, who has experience working with children, is looking for a frum young mother, who lives in Far Rockaway area to provide Com Hab and/or Respite Services for her, in order for this individual to learn how to manage a household i.e., learning cooking skills, organizational skills etc… This individual is available from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm Monday through Thursday, including Sundays.
Jobs@hcsny.org
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.
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
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
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
IMMEDIATE OPENING
ELA teaching position for Gr. 5. Mon.-Thurs., afternoon hours. Far Rockaway/5T area. Competitive salary, warm supportive environment. Teachersearch11@gmail.com
BOOKKEEPER
Excellent growth potential, Frum environment, Excellent salary & benefits. Email resume to: resumetfs1@gmail.com
When you were young, mom said, “It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.” But now the rules are different. Now, it’s all fun and games until somebody winds up in rehab, as many actors’ and actresses’ lives are upended by various addictions and vices. As one famous singer said, “No, no, no,” and now she’s no longer with us.
Rehab is a tax-deductible medical expense if the costs of treatment, along with the rest of your medical expenses, are over 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. You can use Health Savings Account funds or a medical expense reimbursement plan to cover it. But now there’s a new kind of rehab with expensive options that might not pass IRS muster. Last month, Business Insider published a story on high-end crypto rehab centers, where a week’s stay can run 100,000 $.
You probably didn’t even know crypto trading was an addiction. But some therapists consider it a form of gambling addiction if it meets six tests. Those include salience (it’s the most important thing in the trader’s life); conflict; withdrawal (they experience withdrawal symptoms if they can’t trade); mood modification; tolerance; and relapse.
Crypto trading never stops – it’s available 24/7/365. And addicts can chase the dragon from any place in the world with a cellphone or Wi-Fi signal.
Castle Craig Hospital in Scotland launched the first crypto rehab program in 2018. Since then, similar programs have popped up across the world. (It’s just a matter of time before Dr. Phil joins the bandwagon.) And crypto bros, who flaunt the mansions, Bentleys, and
24-7 nursing staff, four clinical support staff, and eight 5-star Thai hospitality staff members.”
• The Balance operates ten luxury rehab programs in Mallorca, Zurich, and London. The average patient is a male entrepreneur, age 30-45, who pays $192,000 -$320,000 for a fourweek program that includes a personal manager, a chef, and 70 different therapists. (70!)
they’re deductible, but not if they’re lavish or extravagant. If you and your trading partners are celebrating a big score, you’re welcome to take your business discussion to dinner. But the two-buck Chuck drinkers at the IRS will happily disallow your $2,000 bottle of 1989 Mouton Rothschild. When does a villa on Lake Geneva become lavish or extravagant? Does Uncle Sam really need to subsidize a separate suite for your 24-hour therapist? And most important, can you pay for your crypto rehab treatment with crypto?
Healthcare currently swallows over 18% of our economy, and that number grows higher every year. Smart tax planning can make it more affordable. And it’s hard to make anything when you’re tucked away in rehab, even if you’re surrounded by 70 therapists. Just let us know how we can help!
jeroboams of Cristal they buy with their gains, don’t seem interested in back-tonature programs that could keep costs down:
• The Diamond operates a $25,000 month-long program out of 15 rooms overlooking the Andaman Sea in Phuket, Thailand. Patients enjoy “five clinical psychologists, four clinical addiction counselors, one psychiatrist,
• Finally, Paracelsus Recovery offers a four-week program, starting at $100,000/week, out of four properties on Lake Geneva with a “private chef and maid, a private client suite within the residence, and a separate suite for a 24hour live-in therapist.”
Here’s the problem. Whatever it is you’re deducting has to be reasonable. Take business meals and entertainment:
You probably didn’t even know crypto trading was an addiction.
Yes, I know. I did, too… Ate way too much, and ate too many matzahs.
It’s just not like years ago, when there was nothing to eat. There’s actually too much to eat!
It’s even hard to be excited about eating chametz again after Pesach ends. What did we miss, after all?!
Except, of course, kids struggle if they like real pasta instead of glop. And M&M’s in their yogurt.
Well, I guess, if you’re a rice relisher
The truth is that Pesach leads to a long period of waiting. Waiting for Rosh Chodesh so we can go to a wedding, or Lag B’Omer to go to another wedding, or ultimately Shavuos so we can eat cheesecake without the guilt. (It’s almost a requirement of the holiday!)
And we also get to stay up really, really late with no one telling us to go to sleep. Wait, that was only exciting when we were about 10!
What it is that we enthusiastically get to stay up to do is to appreciate the wisdom of the Torah.
makes every minute worthwhile. Every precious day has value. Whether you’re leaving one holiday or heading into the next, it isn’t just those times alone that have meaning but every moment that leads away from or up to them.
Every precious thing has value –maybe even some overeating – when you are doing it with meaning.
So eat, drink and be merry for a Purpose, and life will be the gift that it is meant to be.
or a corn on the cob addict you might have missed something.
But, even that one can be preempted if you opt for the right spouse.
So what are we getting excited about now that Passover is in the past?
Forty-nine days of long beards and acapella.
And why is that exciting? Because we’re all running around here trying to figure it all out. There’s lots going on, that’s true, but toward what end?!
And that’s where the Torah comes in. When you eat, it’s with a purpose. When you talk, it’s with a purpose. When you enjoy, it’s with a purpose. And that
