Five Towns Jewish Home 12.12.24

Dear Readers,

If you’re going to read one article in this week’s TJH – and there are so many amazing options – I would suggest you start with this week’s Voice Notes, “Silhouette.”

The mother in the piece is not angry; she’s sad. Her heart is broken for her child, Shaina, who has been left out of the system, who has been cast away by the other girls. But she’s not railing against the system; she’s not angry at Shaina’s classmates. She’s distraught and disappointed, grieving for the girl her daughter once was.

It’s a poignant piece, raw in its sorrow and sincerity.

But you also feel the strength of this mother. The fortitude she needs to have to remain a source of support for her daughter. The power she needs to exude to ensure that if her daughter needs someone to fall back on, she will be her rock of support. The love she feels that is so deep, so profound, so unbreakable.

I am sure that, in many ways, every mother shares some of those traits. Thankfully, most parents’ children don’t have the same struggles as Shaina. But on a smaller scale, every child has their struggles and their challenges. It is up to us – the parents, the mothers, the fathers –to be their support and their cheerleaders, unwavering in our devotion to them.

There was a snippet that I read in a book

recently that stuck with me. The person –who was not Jewish – took the phrase “Eretz zavas chalav u’devash, land flowing with milk and honey,” to describe the nurturing that a mother has for her children.

There are two aspects to how a mother can interact with and care for her children. Firstly, every child needs their “milk.” They need their basic needs met: food, shelter, clean clothes, an organized house. Those are the basic requirements that you need to provide your child to ensure a healthy childhood.

But there’s also the “honey.” This is the attitude you give over when you are giving them their basic requirements. It’s a feeling of a love for life, the happiness of being alive, the gratitude for all that you have. When you share that attitude with your kids, when you mix that “honey” into the “milk” that you provide for them, you are helping to raise happy, loving children.

As parents, we all live such busy lives (especially at this time of year, with PTAs and simchos and Chanukah on the horizon). But if we try to remember to slip some “honey” into the “milk” that we serve to our children each day, we will be giving our children the right ingredients to live successful, uplifting lives.

Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana

Yitzy Halpern, PUBLISHER publisher@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Yosef Feinerman, MANAGING EDITOR ads@fivetownsjewishhome.com

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Dear Editor,

As Chanukah approaches, I think of the many families in our community who are struggling. They are struggling with basic needs – and with trying to fulfill the needs/demands of their children who see what other children are getting and also want the latest toy/gadget/clothing, etc.

We can’t blame the children –children will always want the newest, shiniest things that they see is “cool” or “fun” or “in.”

But perhaps, as a community, we can try to work on not “upping the ante” with the presents that we give our children during this time.

Chanukah is not about presents. I know that cliché, but it’s true. The real joy of Chanukah is the realization of Hashem’s presence in our everyday lives. It comes from togetherness and closeness with our families and with Hashem.

But it doesn’t come from tangible things.

Perhaps this year, when your children ask for the most extravagant prizes, even if you can afford it and have the money, explain to your children that you’re not buying them the over-the-top toy not because you don’t have the funds; you’re not buying it because you don’t want our community to be entrenched in the materialism that has seeped into our world. Choose something a bit less flashy – show your child what you truly

value – and along the way, help to make our community whose values are less on materialism and more on thinking of others.

I think it will make a huge impression on them.

Sincerely, A Reader

Dear Editor,

I learned quite a few things from your article on Aleeza Ben Shalom. First of all, it’s great to hear more about someone’s life than what you can see on a screen. She seems like an energetic, powerful, full-of-life person – and that also comes across in the article.

So many times, when we think of a “shadchan,” we picture them setting up people who are both frum. But a lot of what Aleeza does (certainly on the show) is ensuring that Jewish people – whether they are frum or not – marry other people from the Chosen Nation. What a zechus! We sometimes forget about our non-frum brothers and sisters or we lament why people married “out.” But if we spend a little bit of time with our non-frum colleagues, etc. and help them to meet other Jewish people, perhaps we can help to perpetuate the beauty of our nation by creating more Jewish homes.

I also appreciated Aleeza’s advice in

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that people should stay true to themselves while putting their best foot forward. There’s no need to change who you are in order to date, although you do want to make sure to make the best impression and not turn people off. It’s such an important idea.

And most importantly, and perhaps the best advice: to look into your past and see if there’s a possible match there. So many times, people think back on their lives or their dating lives and can consider people who they may have connected with – and who may be a good fit for them now… it doesn’t hurt to look past in order to move forward!

May Aleeza inspire others to help people build their Jewish homes soon.

Adina Reiss

Dear Editor,

When I picked up this week’s edition of your paper, I assumed that news of Omer Neutra’s confirmed murder would have warranted front page coverage, but it did not. So I searched for the article, what I found began at the bottom corner of page 30 in the midst of your The

Week In News Global section. I was disappointed that you did not feel Omer and his family warranted an article with a byline or a mention on the cover and not hidden among other global news. Omer was a Lone Solider, an American, a New Yorker, a Long Islander, a Nassau County resident! How much more relevant and relatable can it get??? His family deserves more than a footnote and so do your readers who felt this tragic loss very deeply.

Shelley Spielman

Dear Editor,

Rabbi Duvi BenSoussan presents a profound chiddush on the way we should learn in today’s times. He notes that we live in acharit hayamim, the end of days, waiting to herald in Moshiach. To mimic this environment, we should penetrate the “acharit,” the end, and depth of the sugya, the Gemara we are involved in. Such effort symbolizes our commitment to reach the depths of truth in the Torah, the highest achievement possible, as Yaakov was the bechor, the choicest of the Avot, and he stood for truth, unrelenting Torah study and the end of galus. Steven Genack

Syria’s New Leader

It took just 11 days for Syrian rebels to make their way to Damascus, overthrowing the 50-year Assad family rule and forcing President Bashar Assad to flee to Moscow. Abu Mohammed alGolani is the rebel leader who led to the toppling of the regime. He supposedly has renounced ties with al-Qaeda and says that he is a champion of pluralism and tolerance.

Al-Golani has recently dropped his nom de guerre and began referring to himself by his real name, Ahmad alSharaa.

So far, people around the world are holding their breaths to see what Syria will look like in the coming months.

Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad’s state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility that Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix.

The 42-year-old al-Golani — labeled a terrorist by the United States, which has offered $10 million for information leading to his capture — has not appeared publicly since Damascus fell early Sunday. He is the leader of the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, which helped to bring down Assad.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham means the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant — a region that is historically seen as encompassing today’s Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

For years, al-Golani worked to consolidate power, while bottled up in the province of Idlib in Syria’s northwest corner as Assad’s Iranian- and Russianbacked rule over much of the country appeared solid. He worked to eliminate

competitors and built ties with various tribes and other groups.

Along the way, al-Golani shed his garb as a hardline Islamist guerrilla and put on suits for press interviews, talking of building state institutions and decentralizing power to reflect Syria’s diversity.

“Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said in an interview with CNN last week, offering the possibility HTS would eventually be dissolved after Assad falls.

“Don’t judge by words, but by actions,” he said.

But many are skeptical that the snake has truly shed its skin.

Al-Golani’s ties to al-Qaeda stretch back to 2003, when he joined extremists battling U.S. troops in Iraq. The Syrian native was detained by the U.S. military but remained in Iraq. Al-Golani’s prominence grew when Islamic State of Iraq leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sent him to Syria to establish a branch of alQaeda called the Nusra Front. The United States labeled the new group as a terrorist organization. That designation still remains in place; the U.S. government has put a $10 million bounty on him.

Al-Golani’s public image was a journey. Back in 2014, when he was interviewed, he kept his face covered, telling a reporter for Qatari network AlJazeera that he rejected political talks in Geneva to end the conflict. He said his goal was to see Syria ruled under Islamic law and made clear that there was no room for the country’s Alawite, Shiite, Druze and Christian minorities.

In 2016, al-Golani revealed his face to the public for the first time in a video message that announced his group was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham –the Syria Conquest Front – and cutting its ties to al-Qaeda. He was wearing military garb and a turban in that interview.

Years later, he began to publicly call for religious tolerance and pluralism –and started wearing suits.

In 2021, al-Golani had his first interview with an American journalist on PBS. Wearing a blazer, with his short hair gelled back, the now more soft-spoken HTS leader said that his group posed no threat to the West and that sanctions imposed against it were unjust.

“Yes, we have criticized Western policies,” he said. “But to wage a war against the United States or Europe from Syria, that’s not true. We didn’t say we wanted to fight.”

Time will tell if the leopard has truly changed its spots.

More Chaos in Myanmar

The Arakan Army, one of Myanmar’s strongest ethnic armed groups, has claimed victory in capturing the last military outpost in the town of Maungdaw. This gives them full control of Myanmar’s 271-kilometer border with Bangladesh, marking a significant step in their fight for autonomy in Rakhine State. This latest win solidifies the group’s control over northern Rakhine and strengthens their bid for self-rule. Rakhine has become a critical area in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, where ethnic minority groups and pro-democracy forces are battling the military regime. The military seized power in 2021 after overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, announced that their

forces captured the Maungdaw outpost on Sunday. The commander of the outpost, Brigadier General Thurein Tun, was reportedly captured while trying to flee.

Since mid-2023, the Arakan Army has intensified its campaign, capturing key towns such as Paletwa and Buthidaung. The group now controls 11 of Rakhine’s 17 townships and parts of neighboring Chin State. Ann, a town with a vital military headquarters, appears close to falling under their control as well.

The Arakan Army stated on Friday that it had taken over 30 military outposts, except for the western command center, which oversees Rakhine, parts of Chin State, and territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal.

This escalation raises concerns about renewed violence against the Muslim Rohingya minority. In 2017, over 740,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh after violent crackdowns. The Arakan Army denies targeting Rohingya civilians, but reports suggest otherwise. Witnesses and media have accused the group of displacing Rohingya communities, setting homes on fire, and attacking civilians during recent battles in Maungdaw and Buthidaung.

The Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations but face widespread discrimination and are often denied citizenship. The Arakan Army also

accused local Muslims of aiding the military and has restricted movement across the Naf River, which forms part of the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

The Arakan Army is part of a broader ethnic alliance that is also gaining ground in northeastern Myanmar, along the border with China, adding to the pressure on the country’s military government. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military (Tatmadaw) ousted the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February 2021. This move sparked widespread protests and a nationwide resistance movement. Myanmar is home to over 20 ethnic armed groups, many of which have been fighting for autonomy or independence for decades. The Arakan Army (AA) is one of the most powerful and influential among them.

Less Work, More Kids

The Japanese government is concerned about declining population rates. As such, the government of Tokyo announced that the city will implement a four-day workweek for government employees next year to encourage young people to get married and start families.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said that employees of the metropolitan government would be allowed to take three days off every week, starting in April, to help working mothers and boost record-low fertility rates.

“Now is the time for Tokyo to take the initiative to protect and enhance the lives, livelihoods and economy of our people during these challenging times for the nation,” Koike said last week.

The city will also give paternity leave to fathers and will allow parents of elementary school first through thirdgraders to trade part of their salaries to leave work early

“We will review work styles ... with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or childcare,” Koike added.

Last year, only 727,277 births were recorded in Japan, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, as more women are forced to choose between

careers and families. Sociologists have noted that the high cost of living in Japan and the country’s demanding work culture may be causes of the low birth rate.

Japan has a record-low birthrate of 1.2, which relates to the number of children a woman has in her lifetime. It takes a fertility rate of 2.1 for a population to remain stable.

Gangs Ravage Haiti

Gangs in Haiti have crossed a “red line,” Haiti’s government said after the gangs allegedly killed more than 180 people over the weekend. A gang leader had supposedly blamed voodoo adherents for his child’s grave illness, which led to the mass carnage.

A statement by the Haiti Prime Minister’s office accused gang leader Micanor “Mikanò” Altès and associates of carrying out the massacre on December 6 and 7, in impoverished Cité Soleil, in Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince.

Micanor ordered the killing of elderly residents in the Wharf Jérémie area over suspicions that witchcraft had made his child sick.

“The massacre was triggered by the severe illness of his child. Micanor sought advice from a voodoo priest (‘bókò’) who accused elderly people in the area of practicing witchcraft and harming the child,” Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) said.

Voodoo is widely practiced in parts of Haitian society.

“On Friday, December 6, Micanor shot and killed at least sixty (60) elderly individuals. On Saturday, December 7, he and his group killed at least fifty (50) more using machetes and knives. Despite his actions, his ill child passed away,” it added.

Gang members had targeted the elderly and those who practice voodoo and left their bodies in the streets.

At least 184 people were killed in the massacre, including an estimated 127 elderly men and women, the United Nations said.

“These latest killings bring the death toll just this year in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 people,” Human Rights Chief

Since the massacre, Wharf Jérémie remains “under an informal siege” with elderly residents and voodoo adherents still targeted by the broader Haitian gang alliance Viv Ansamn, according to RNDDH.

Haiti’s transitional government has promised to find and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“A red line has been crossed, and the State will mobilize all its forces to track down and annihilate these criminals,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

For the past year, gangs in association with Viv Ansamn have been ravaging Portau-Prince, attacking state institutions including prisons, police stations and the city’s international airport, and forcing hundreds of thousands of Haitian civilians to flee their homes.

A multinational policing force was sent to Haiti over the summer, but Portau-Prince is still reeling from the violence.

S. Korean Pres. Can’t Leave

Last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed martial law on his

nation, which was shocked by the decree.

But overnight last Tuesday, parliament members forced their way past nearly 300 troops deployed outside the National Assembly building and unanimously voted to block Yoon’s order, which the president was legally bound to obey – effectively reversing the president’s unilateral order.

On Saturday, Yoon survived an impeachment vote in parliament. Since then, South Korean authorities have imposed an overseas travel ban on Yoon as prosecutors weigh possible insurrection charges against him.

His party has said they will seek Yoon’s resignation and urged the president to be suspended from duties to protect the country from “grave danger.”

Members of the National Assembly failed to garner the two-thirds of the vote necessary to impeach the president, with the Democratic Party and five small

opposition parties having only 192 seats, supported by three seats from Yoon’s party, PPP, when 200 out of 300 votes were necessary.

Yoon has 2½ years until his term is up. To impeach him, the opposition groups must convince a few more PPP members to rebel against Yoon.

South Korea last was under martial law decades ago but is still deeply scarred from its brutality.

On Saturday, Yoon apologized to the nation in his first public comments since his abortive attempt to impose martial law, acknowledging that he “caused anxiety and inconvenience” to South Korean citizens.

“This emergency martial law declaration stemmed from my desperation as the ultimate responsible party for state affairs,” Yoon said in a twominute address.

The decision by the police to impose the travel ban on Yoon comes as a commander of South Korea’s special forces apologized for ordering his troops to storm parliament last week after martial law was declared, saying he placed them in “grave danger.”

Col. Kim Hyun-tae, commander of South Korea’s 707 Special Task Force, described himself to reporters at a

Monday briefing as an “incompetent and irresponsible commander” when he authorized troops to storm the National Assembly during Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law.

“I ordered the deployment to the National Assembly. As the on-site commander for the 197 troops involved, I was the first to arrive by a helicopter. I instructed them to seal the building, engage in physical confrontations at the front and rear gates, break windows, and enter the premises,” he said.

“If such orders had been given in combat, everyone would have died,” he added. “These troops are the most tragic victims of this situation. They are not guilty. Their only fault lies in following the orders of an incompetent commander. Please forgive them.”

Kim also blamed the country’s former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun for “exploiting” soldiers during the chaotic night.

Thousands of Syrian Prisoners Released

It took just ten days for Syrian rebels to bring an end to the Assad family’s 50-

year rule. As the insurgents rolled into Damascus, they broke into prisons and security facilities, freeing thousands of political prisoners. Many of those who had been detained were among the tens of thousands of people who disappeared since the civil war began in 2011.

Syria’s prisons were infamous for their widespread torture. Secret executions were carried out at more than two dozen facilities run by Syrian intelligence, as well as at other sites.

In 2013, a Syrian military defector, known as “Caesar,” smuggled out over 53,000 photographs that human rights groups say showed clear evidence of rampant torture along with disease and starvation in Syria’s prison facilities.

Assad used the prisons not just to hide his opponents away; he used them to instill fear in those whom he allowed to stay free.

Just north of Damascus, in the

Saydnaya military prison known as the “human slaughterhouse,” women detainees, some with their children, screamed as men broke the locks off their cell doors in the early hours Sunday as insurgents entered the city. Amnesty International and other groups say that dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, estimating that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016.

“Don’t be afraid … Bashar Assad has fallen! Why are you afraid?” said one of the rebels as he tried to rush streams of women out of their jam-packed tiny cells.

In Saydnaya, scores of people crowded into the prison searching for relatives or for information about their loved ones. Many were racing to locate the hidden underground wing – which they called the “red wing” – amid fears prisoners were starving without food and asphyxiating from lack of air.

The prison was seemingly built to induce a sense of placeless-ness. At its center is a spiral staircase that from the ground floor appears endless. The staircase is ringed by metal bars and, beyond them, large identical vault doors, through which lie the facility’s three wings. Each wing specialized in different forms of torture. There were no windows.

Guards ensured only silence from the prisoners.

Tens of thousands of detainees have so far been freed, said Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based pro-opposition war monitor.

Over the past 10 days, insurgents freed prisoners in scores of cities including Aleppo, Homs, and Hama as well as Damascus.

Arsonists Damage Melbourne Synagogue

On Friday, two masked thugs set fire to Adass Israel synagogue, a Jewish place of worship in Melbourne, Australia, destroying the insides of the building.

The act of arson was committed at around 4:10 a.m., according to a witness quoted by Victoria Police Detective Inspector Chris Murray. In response to the fire, 60 firefighters and 17 fire trucks arrived at the synagogue, which had been “engulfed in flames,” according to Murray.

“We believe it was deliberate. We believe it has been targeted. What we don’t know is why,” said Murray.

No motive has been officially determined by authorities. However, Prime Minister Antony Albanese pointed towards antisemitism as the culprit, condemning the synagogue attack as “an act of antisemitism by definition,” for which he and Australia have “zero tolerance.”

Currently, authorities do not have enough proof to determine whether the arson was an act of terrorism. The two arsonists have yet to be caught, though police are searching for them. In the meanwhile, police have increased security around synagogues and Jewish schools, according to reports.

Two congregants were at the synagogue during the attack. Neither of them were seriously injured, though one’s hand was burned. The synagogue’s “inside is completely gutted,” said synagogue board member Benjamin Klein, adding that the fire destroyed holy books and furniture. Nonetheless, he said the community

would “rebuild” the synagogue, which was built by Holocaust survivors.

Victoria State Premier Jacinta Allan said the country would give the community $64,300 (100,000 Australian dollars) to rebuild the synagogue.

On Monday, the government announced the launch of an antisemitism task force known as Abalight.

“Special Operation Abalight will be an agile and experienced squad of counterterrorism investigators who will focus on threats, violence, and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community and parliamentarians,” the head of the Australian Federal Police Reece Kershaw explained. “In essence, they will be a flying squad to deploy nationally to incidents.”

Since October 7, antisemitic attacks in Australia have quadrupled. The attack on the Adass Israel synagogue is the third antisemitic attack in Australia this year, following the vandalism of a Jewish MP’s office in Melbourne in June and antisemitic graffiti daubed on cars in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, an area with a high Jewish population, last month.

Romania Arrests London Stabbers

On March 29, two Romanian men stabbed Pouria Zeraati, an Iranian journalist and show host, in London. Last Wednesday, the assailants were arrested in Romania.

The stabbers, named as 19-year-old Nandito Badea and 23-year-old George Stana, await extradition to Britain in the next thirty days. Authorities suspect that they worked on behalf of Iran to intimidate Zeraati and other journalists who are critical of the Iranian regime.

The assailants face charges of attacking “with intent to cause grievous bodily harm,” according to Helen Flanigan, acting commander of the Counter Terrorism Command. Zeraati recounted in an interview with the Washington Post that one of the attackers held up his arms and the other stabbed Zeraati’s thigh with a knife, indicating that they intended not to kill but to wound him as a means of intimidating Iran International-affiliated

“Hope justice will be served,” Zeraati said of the arrests. “And hope this leads to major changes in policymaking toward the transnational repression threat in the UK and the [European Union].”

After the attack, the assailants fled England on a flight out of Heathrow Airport. Their whereabouts were unknown until last week.

According to reports, a third person, a getaway driver, was involved in the stabbing. Though he was initially arrested, authorities quickly released them.

In the U.K., the case was investigated by the Counter Terrorism Command “due to the victim being a journalist at a Persian-language media organization based in the UK and previous threats” against Zeraati and others.

Imran Khan

Indicted – Again

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan incited his supporters to attack military and government installations on May 9, 2023, according to an indictment issued last Thursday by a Pakistani court in the city of Rawalpindi.

Khan, a now-imprisoned opposition leader, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Others in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were also indicted. They face up to life in prison, as per anti-terrorism laws.

Khan is at the center of over 150 criminal cases, all of which his party says are politically motivated.

Parliament opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan was separately indicted and arrested for inciting violence on November 26, 2024.

During the May 2023 insurrection, thousands of rioters stormed the army’s headquarters, invaded an air base in the Punjab province city of Mianwali, and burned down a building that hosted Pakistan’s state-run radio program.

On November 26, thousands of Khan’s supporters marched into Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, despite a police lockdown. There, they fought with police officers, who defeated the rebels

with tear gas and batons. According to Khan, security forces killed a dozen of his supporters at the capital, a claim the government denies. Six people died in the riots, according to the government, but none of them supported PTI.

The march in November was led by Bushra Bibi, the wife of Khan, whom officials are seeking to arrest.

On X, Khan made two demands: First, that senior PTI party officials assemble a five-member team to demand talks with Pakistani military leaders regarding releasing those deemed to be political prisoners. And second, that a judicial commission be formed to investigate the incidents on May 9, 2023, and November 26. If both conditions are not met, Khan has threatened to launch disobedience by requesting that Pakistanis living abroad should send less money to Pakistan in remittances.

7, Israel has repeatedly found Hamas terrorists stationed in school buildings.

On many occasions, Israel notified UNRWA that some of its employers were members of Hamas, but the warnings went unheeded. According to the Jewish state, around 10% of UNRWA’s members are associated with terrorist organizations, a statistic the agency denies. Many UNRWA members played a part in the Hamas massacre on October 7.

The Knesset on November 1 banned UNRWA from operating in Israel starting in early 2025.

In response to the reports, UNRWA’s commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said that it was “extraordinarily interesting” that Israel chose to send the documents to The New York Times instead of the United Nations.

The United Nations established UNRWA in 1949 to treat and teach Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, and countries like Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

Billionaire Boom

UNRWA’s Ties to Hamas

According to documents provided by Israel to The New York Times, 24 educators, mostly principals or deputy principals, working for 24 separate UNRWA schools, are members of Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Around half of those people possess Hamas or PIJ-provided weapons such as assault rifles and hand grenades or partake in the terror group’s training exercises. For example, the Times interviewed Gaza residents who noted that one UNRWA teacher was “regularly seen after hours in Hamas fatigues carrying a Kalashnikov.”

The documents also showed how prevalent Hamas tunnels are in UNRWA schools. Israel’s report quoted internal Hamas documents that declared schools and civilian areas as “the best obstacles to protect the resistance,” referencing two schools where the terror group hid weapons. Since the war began on October

2024 was a good year for six Israelis, as they became part of a hallowed club of those with a personal wealth of at least a billion dollars. Their combined personal wealth grew by 18% to $86 billion, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report.

Billionaires worldwide fared well, but those in the United States saw the biggest gains, amassing $5.8 trillion—40% of global billionaire wealth. The U.S. gained 101 new billionaires this year, an 11.2% increase, while only 20 individuals lost their billionaire status.

South America also did well this year. Brazil added 19 new billionaires, raising its total to 60, with a combined fortune of $154.9 billion. Across Central and South America, billionaire wealth grew by 20.8% to $411.4 billion as the number of billionaires on the continent increased from 74 to 92.

Those in China and Hong Kong didn’t fare as well. Billionaire wealth dropped there 16.8% to $1.8 trillion, with the number of billionaires falling from 588 to 501. Meanwhile, India experienced a 42.1% surge in billionaire wealth, reaching

$905.6 billion, with its billionaire count rising from 153 to 185.

In Western Europe, billionaire wealth increased by 16% to $2.7 trillion, driven by a 23.8% rise in the Swiss billionaire community. The region now boasts 495 billionaires, up from 456 last year.

In Africa and the Middle East, billionaire wealth rose 39.5% to $138.7 billion, with 18 new individuals joining the ranks.

Globally, 268 people became

billionaires for the first time in 2024, with 60% of them identified as entrepreneurs—a shift from 2023, when most new billionaires inherited their fortunes.

Elon Musk is the world’s richest person, with a worth of $355.22 billion, followed by Jeff Bezos ($239.9 billion), Larry Ellison ($234.7 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($212.06 billion), and Bernard Arnault and family ($173.07 billion).

the Israeli army temporarily took over the demilitarized Golan Heights buffer zone on the Israel-Syria border.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision to do so was made in light of the fact that Israel’s 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria had concluded with the regime change.

“We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” said Netanyahu, declaring the fall of Assad’s government a “historic day in the Middle East.”

“The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers,” the premier said, adding that Israel would “send a hand to peace” to those who desire peace with the Jewish state. “If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel.”

The buffer zone that Israel has taken over was a sort of “no-man’s land” over the past few years.

Netanyahu added that the IDF’s seizure of the buffer zone was a “temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.” In the meanwhile, the Israeli military has deployed troops to the Golan Heights, which it annexed in 1981, concerned about the possibility of Syria joining the war against Israel. The Jewish state also fears that the wrong people will take hold of the chemical weapons that Bashar alAssad ostensibly has.

Eyal Ofer is the richest Israeli, with a worth of $26.58 billion.

Israel

in Control of Golan Heights Buffer Zone

After rebels took over Syria, ousting President Bashar al-Assad from power,

Early Sunday morning, the 13-year Syrian civil war ended with rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)’s entrance into Damascus, after which its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani proclaimed Syria to be “free.”

300 Strikes Against Syria

In an effort to ensure weapons don’t fall into hostile hands, Israel pounded Syrian army bases on Tuesday, decimating military installations and airbases across Syria. Helicopters and

jets were destroyed, as well as Republican Guard assets in and around Damascus.

The rough tally of 200 raids overnight had left nothing of the Syrian army’s assets.

The Israeli Air Force has carried out over 300 airstrikes in Syria since the collapse of the regime, destroying advanced weapons and other capabilities.

Strikes reportedly carried out by Israel in Damascus’s Barzeh area completely destroyed a defense ministry research center. Back in 2018, Western countries, including the United States, struck the facility, saying it was related to Syria’s “chemical weapons infrastructure.”

Israel’s navy also carried out a largescale operation on Monday night to destroy the former regime’s naval fleet.

Israel said its airstrikes would carry on for days, but told the UN Security Council that it was not intervening in Syria’s conflict. It said it had taken “limited and temporary measures” solely to protect its security.

The Jewish state denied that it is sending in forces into Syria beyond the buffer zone.

The rebel groups that have taken over the country since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in a lightning two-week raid are associated with al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups. As such, Israel, a neighbor of Syria, is working to ensure that these terror groups do not have access to military apparatuses that they could use against their enemies and against Israel.

The civil war in Syria had been raging since 2011.

4 Killed in Lebanon

On Sunday, four Israeli reservists were killed in southern Lebanon in what the army is calling an “operational accident,” when munitions in a Hezbollah tunnel they were in exploded.

The four men were all serving with the 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade’s 9263rd Battalion when they were killed in the blast, while searching for weapons in the Labbouneh area of southern Lebanon. Their bodies were trapped inside a destroyed tunnel for hours, until rescuers could reach them.

The four heroes were named as

Maj. (res.) Evgeny Zinershain, 43, from Zichron Yaakov; Cpt. (res.) Sagi Ya’akov Rubinshtein, 31, from Kibbutz Lavi; Master Sgt. (res.) Binyamin Destaw Negose, 28, from Beit Shemesh; and Sgt. First Class. (res.) Erez Ben Efraim, 25, from Ramat Gan.

Zinershain was a company commander, and Rubinshtein was a platoon commander.

While carrying out searches in the Labbouneh area on Sunday afternoon, troops found the entrance to a Hezbollah tunnel where weapons were apparently being stored. They entered the tunnel, and a large explosion occurred, which, in turn, caused the Hezbollah weapon stockpile to detonate, bringing the walls and ceiling of the underground passage down on top of the troops. The collapse trapped the four soldiers; rescue operations to extract their bodies took some 12 hours.

It’s possible that the initial blast was likely caused by explosives previously left behind by other Israeli forces who had operated there, which were unknown to the soldiers who entered the tunnel.

Sadly, 80 soldiers have been killed on the northern front since the beginning of the war.

Last month, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire. Under the terms of the ceasefire, the IDF has 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where troops have been operating since October to drive Hezbollah from the border region. Israel will then cede responsibility for the area to the Lebanese army.

But the Israeli army has still been carrying on strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah terrorists and weapons depots that it says are violating the ceasefire’s terms.

On Sunday, the military said troops operating elsewhere in the western sector of southern Lebanon located and decommissioned several rocket launchers aimed at Israel. The soldiers also found and destroyed mortars, dozens of rockets, ammunition crates and assault rifles, according to the IDF.

More Pain

Three soldiers were killed and 12 others were wounded in Jabalia in the

42 northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces announced, amid the ongoing war against Hamas.

The slain troops were named as Staff Sgt. Ido Zano, 20, a combat medic with the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Yehud-Monosson; Staff Sgt. Barak Daniel Halpern, 19, a squad commander in the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Kiryat Ono; and Sgt. Omri Cohen, 19, of the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Ashdod.

Those who were wounded included a Givati reservist and a member of the Artillery Corps’ Sky Riders Unit who were in serious condition.

The troops had been getting ready to head out of the Strip for a furlough. They were boarding a lightly armored truck used to transport troops when Hamas terrorists launched anti-tank projectiles and opened fire at them.

So far, the military estimates that it has killed at least 1,750 terrorists during the recent operation that was launched in September, while another 1,300 have been detained and around 90,000 civilians evacuated from the area.

Thirty-four IDF soldiers have been killed so far in the operation.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 44,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists. Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle as of November and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

On Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had killed in an air strike 10 Hamas terrorists responsible for the deaths of Ido, Barak Daniel, and Omri the day before.

2,000 Terrorists Used in Terror Drill

Months before the October 7, 2023, massacre, Hamas gathered 2,000 terrorists from its elite Nukhba force to simulate a surprise attack on Israel,

according to a report by Channel 12.

According to the report, fighters were scrambled to various designated gathering points, mostly in mosques, to simulate preparations for an invasion of Israeli communities across the Gaza border.

Israel only became aware of the drill months later through documents seized in Gaza during the subsequent war and through interrogations of captured Nukhba fighters.

It was one of the many indications that Israeli intelligence either missed or ignored that the terror group was planning to invade the country.

Following the terror exercise, a narrow panel of Hamas’s highest military council met to assess the drill, the report said. Among those who participated in the meeting — documents from which were found by Israeli troops in a Hamas bunker during the war — were Muhammad Deif, then commander of the group’s military wing, and Yahya Sinwar, then its Gaza chief.

The terror panel concluded that the drill was a success, particularly because the terrorists managed to evade Israel’s observations.

Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages in the most brutal way. In the 14 months since the war broke out, multiple investigations have noted intelligence officers’ awareness of some Hamas exercises simulating an invasion, which led to warnings that were ignored by intelligence higher-ups, who believed the terror group was grandstanding and uninterested in conflict.

A dossier compiled by the IDF’s Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 less than three weeks before October 7 warned that Hamas was training for a large-scale invasion of Israel, during which hostages would be taken en masse.

In addition, an email sent to intelligence officials in the IDF’s Gaza Division just days before the attack reportedly warned that an invasion was imminent, citing Hamas exercises in the Strip.

LA Times’ Bias Checker

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, recently unveiled an AI “bias meter” that could be found on the paper’s news articles, giving readers “both sides” of a story.

“Somebody could understand as they read it that the source of the article has some level of bias,” Soon-Shiong said. “And what we need to do is not have what we call confirmation bias, and then that story automatically, the reader can press a button and get both sides of that exact same story based on that story and then give comments.”

Soon-Shiong added that the news outlet’s failure to distinguish between news and opinion “could be the downfall of what now people call mainstream media.”

The move was condemned by some, including the union that represents hundreds of LA Times newsroom staff. They noted that Soon-Shiong had “publicly suggested his staff harbors bias, without offering evidence or examples.”

“Our members — and all Times staffers — abide by a strict set of ethics guidelines, which call for fairness, precision, transparency, vigilance against bias, and an earnest search to understand all sides of an issue,” stated the Los Angeles Times Guild. “Those longstanding principles will continue guiding our work.”

One opinion columnist, in particular, left the Times due to Soon-Shiong’s scrapping of the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris and insistence on embracing conservative viewpoints.

“My resignation is a protest and visceral reaction against the conduct of the paper’s owner, Dr. Patrick SoonShiong. Soon-Shiong has made several moves to force the paper, over the forceful objections of his staff, into a

posture more sympathetic to Donald Trump,” wrote Harry Litman. “Given the existential stakes for our democracy that I believe Trump’s second term poses, and the evidence that Soon-Shiong is currying favor with the President-elect, they are repugnant and dangerous.”

An assistant editorial page editor, Kerry Cavanaugh also resigned, as the Times’ owner seeks to remake the newspaper’s editorial board. Soon-Shiong has said he wants to hire more right-wing and centrist individuals to balance the political views on the editorial board.

Daniel Penny Not Guilty

In a case that riveted that nation, Daniel Penny, a former Marine, recently went on trial in Manhattan for the death of Jordan Neely on May 1, 2023. Penny

had held Neely down on the floor of a subway car when the black man – who was homeless and had a history of mental illness – began to threaten passengers and frighten them. Neely subsequently died.

This week, Penny was acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide, with jurors deciding that Penny’s actions were not criminal. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed last week.

After the forewoman announced the verdict, the courtroom erupted, with some people cheering the outcome and others responding with anger.

The jurors had spent more than three days trying to come to a unanimous decision on whether Penny, 26, was guilty of manslaughter — a higher charge — in the death of Neely, 30. On Friday, the jurors sent two notes to the judge overseeing the trial saying that they were deadlocked.

Penny, 26, served four years in the Marines and went on to study architecture. Neely, 30, struggled with mental illness after his mother died; her boyfriend was convicted of killing her. He subsequently was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, was repeatedly hospitalized, and used the

synthetic cannabinoid K2 and realized it negatively affected his thinking and behavior, according to medical records seen at the trial. The drug was in his system when he died.

Murdoch Can’t Change Family Trust

A Nevada commissioner ruled resoundingly against Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to change his family’s trust to consolidate his eldest son Lachlan’s control of his media empire and lock in Fox News’ right-wing editorial slant, according to a sealed court document obtained by The New York Times.

The commissioner, Edmund J. Gorman Jr., concluded in a decision filed Saturday that the father and son, who is the head of Fox News and News Corp., had acted in “bad faith” in their effort to amend the irrevocable trust, which divides control of the company equally among Murdoch’s four oldest children — Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence — after his death.

A lawyer for Rupert Murdoch, Adam Streisand, said Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch were disappointed with the ruling and intended to appeal.

In a statement, James, Elisabeth and Prudence said: “We welcome Commissioner Gorman’s decision and hope that we can move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members.”

The battle over the family trust is not about money — Rupert Murdoch is not seeking to diminish any of his children’s financial stakes in the company — but rather about future control of the world’s most powerful conservative media empire, which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

Rupert Murdoch, now 93, has long intended to bequeath the media conglomerates to his children. But he is also determined to preserve the rightwing bent of his empire.

James and Elisabeth are both known to have less conservative political views

than their father or brother. In seeking to consolidate Lachlan’s control, Murdoch has argued that maintaining the political bent of his outlets — and stripping the voting power of three of his children — is in the financial interest of all his beneficiaries.

The commissioner’s ruling is not the final word in the case. The commissioner acts as a “special master” who weighs the testimony and evidence and submits a recommended resolution to the probate court. It falls to a district judge to ratify or reject that recommendation. Even then, the losing party is free to challenge the determination. (© The New York Times)

The Importance of Alone Time

A new study by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine indicates that 46% of Americans admit to having less “alone time” during the holidays, with 56% of U.S. adults maintaining that alone time is important for one’s mental health.

“We have a lot of input, demands and stress in general that is elevated during the holidays, so it is extra important to be attentive to your need for alone time,” explained survey developer and reviewer Sophie Lazarus, a clinical psychologist at Ohio State’s psychiatry and behavioral health department.

As with most times, the benefits of alone time differ from person to person. Some need some time to be physically away from others, while some may need a way to disconnect while by themselves, says Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a California State University Emerita Professor of psychology and licensed clinical psychologist.

To some people, alone time is energizing; to others, it’s exhausting. According to the survey, 36% of respondents reported feeling more irritable when they didn’t have enough alone time. Generally, it’s important to balance alone time with time spent with others.

During the holidays, it may be hard to briefly distance oneself from family and friends, but there are ways of being

by yourself without insulting others. For example, you could take a walk, run an errand by yourself, or wake up before everyone else to enjoy time on your own.

CEO Killer Arrested

The tipster’s call to local police came in shortly after 9 a.m. Monday from a McDonald’s in western Pennsylvania. The caller said that a customer there

looked like the man in photos shared by New York authorities who were searching for a suspect in the brazen killing of a health insurance executive in Manhattan last week.

When officers arrived at the McDonald’s, on an anonymous, four-lane stretch of road in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that is dotted with chain stores and fastfood restaurants, they approached the customer, Luigi Mangione.

“He was sitting there eating,”

The officers found that he had several telltale items that might tie him to the killing of the executive, Brian Thompson — a crime that has riveted the nation and has exposed Americans’ deep-seated anger toward the U.S. health insurance industry.

Mangione, officials said, had a gun and a silencer similar to the ones used in Wednesday’s shooting and a fake driver’s license that matched one used by the man suspected of killing Thompson. He also carried with him a three-page handwritten manifesto condemning the health care industry for putting profits over patients.

“These parasites had it coming,” it said, according to a senior law enforcement official who saw the document. “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.”

The Altoona police arrested Mangione, 26, on gun charges and said he was being questioned about the murder of Thompson, CEO of the insurance giant UnitedHealthcare.

Mayor Eric Adams of New York, speaking at the news conference, called Mangione a “strong person of interest” in the killing. New York City officers and Manhattan prosecutors were among those questioning Mangione in Altoona.

So it was that the search for the killer of Thompson came to at least a temporary halt 300 miles from the sidewalk where it had occurred. (© The New York Times)

Judge: Naval Academy Should Accept Based on Race

Joseph E. Kenny, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, said at a news conference.

Mangione was wearing a blue surgical mask and had a laptop. One of the officers asked him to pull down the mask and then asked whether he had been to New York recently, according to a criminal complaint.

At that point, the police say in the complaint, Mangione “became quiet and started to shake.”

Students for Fair Admissions, the anti-affirmative action group that in

2023 successfully ended Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s raceconscious admission system after the case was brought to the Supreme Court, sued the U.S. Naval Academy in an effort to stop the school’s affirmative action program.

On Friday, a federal judge dismissed the case, saying that the U.S. Naval Academy has a valid reason to consider its prospective students’ race and ethnicity, as military diversity is important for national security.

Citing a U.S. Senate Committee study that shows an underrepresentation of minorities in the army, U.S. Senior District Judge Richard D. Bennett of Maryland maintained that race-conscious admissions is important for non-civilian schools.

Fifty-two percent of enlisted Navy service members are part of a minority. Out of the Navy’s 218 admirals, only around 17 were of color, as of 2020.

“America’s enemies do not fight differently based on the race of the commanding officer opposing them, sailors must follow orders without regard to the skin color of those giving them, and battlefield realities apply equally to all sailors regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin,” the anti-affirmative action organization argued. “To that end, President Truman desegregated the military well before other institutions followed suit.”

Along with Students for Fair Admissions, two anonymous academy applicants joined the lawsuit, claiming that they were rejected because their seats were instead given to minorities. The organizations say they will take this case to the Supreme Court if they have to.

Mystery Donor

James Patterson is a celebrated author of scores of thrillers and mysteries. This year, the writer has generously given hundreds of dollars in holiday bonuses to booksellers across the country.

Around 600 booksellers will receive the $500 holiday bonus. Patterson has been donating this award to independent store employees since 2015.

“Booksellers save lives. Period,”

Patterson said in a statement, “I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them and all their hard work this holiday season.”

The winners were nominated by coworkers and customers, among others. Patterson chose the winners from thousands of applications.

“We appreciate Mr. Patterson’s financial generosity as well as his generosity of spirit. We all continue to be awed by, and grateful for, Mr. Patterson’s continuing support of independent booksellers,” Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, said in a statement. “It means everything to have him recognize and reward the valuable role booksellers play in the industry.”

Along with his gifts to booksellers, Patterson has given millions of dollars to schools, libraries and literacy programs.

In 2015, the National Book Foundation presented him an honorary National Book Award — the Literarian Award — for “outstanding service to the American literary community.”

Patterson’s books have sold more than 425 million copies, and he was the first person to sell one million e-books In 2016, Patterson topped Forbes’s list of highest-paid authors for the third consecutive year, with an income of $95 million. His total income over a decade is estimated at $700 million.

EPA Bans TCE Chemical

On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency completely banned the use of trichloroethylene (TCE), a degreasing substance used often in products for furniture care and auto repair, and placed limitations on the use of perc (perchloroethylene and PCE), banning the solvent, which is widely used for dry cleaning and auto repair, for consumer uses and in many commercial uses.

“Both of these chemicals have caused too much harm for too long, despite the existence of safer alternatives,” Earthjustice’s senior attorney Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz.

The EPA’s findings concluded in 2023

that both chemicals are very dangerous for humans and the environment. Beyond its role as an environmental pollutant, perc is poisonous for the nervous and reproductive system. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and other organizations have branded perc, which can biodegrade into TCE, likely human carcinogenic.

TCE, on the other hand, is linked to several cancers, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, and kidney and liver cancer. It also has been shown to negatively impact the human nervous, immune, and reproductive systems.

“The only thing that we could do to really address the risks of this incredibly dangerous chemical was to ban it because there was no way to keep people and the environment safe from its effects,” said Michal Freedhoff, an EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, noting how the ban will save many people, including employees, customers, and residents from danger.

Children have been documented as having contracted cancer after drinking water contaminated with TCE. Its ban will “end a century of it causing cancer,” said Ray Dorsey, a University of Rochester neurology professor, who studied the connections between exposure to TCE and Parkinson’s.

TCE’s use will be banned within a year, except in electric vehicle batteries, aircraft and medical device cleaning, and manufacturing refrigerants, where the ban will take effect later.

Perc can also easily contaminate soil and groundwater through spills. Companies will have two-and-a-half years to phase out their use of perc in consumer products and many industrial and commercial workplaces. Dry cleaners have ten years to stop using the chemical, but perc may only be used in newlypurchased dry-cleaning machines for the next six months.

New Orleans Bans Confetti

New Orleans may be known for its wild parties, but the celebrations will be a little less exciting moving forward as the city is banning the release of metallic balloons and shiny confetti. The city council says that Mylar balloons and other objects coated in metal or “conductive materials” are disruptive to the city’s electrical system. Buying the balloons is still allowed; you just can’t release them in the air.

Over the summer, a cluster of metallic balloons triggered a widespread power outage in Orleans Parish after coming into contact with a power line. The brief outage caused the city’s water pumps to be “tripped offline,” according to area energy provider Entergy, leading to a disruption of the city’s water treatment plant and even causing serious injury to a Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans employee.

“For almost a 24-hour period, the world thought our water supply could be knocked out by a Mylar balloon,” Council Member JP Morell said in August.

Council Member Joseph Giarrusso began pushing this summer for the ban on metallic balloon releases in New Orleans to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

“We simply cannot afford to have power outages and hurt ourselves unnecessarily,” Giarrusso told city council in a meeting last month. “And unfortunately, Mylar balloons, those foil balloons, conduct electricity, they cause power outages, and they make things unsafe for residents and harder for us to live here.”

This phenomenon does not just occur in New Orleans; other states have reported similar problems.

“I actually spoke to a former state senator who told me that in another part of the state, somebody had fired a (metallic) confetti cannon at a power line and the electricity arced back to the float and almost caught the float on fire,” Giarrusso noted.

In July, the city council passed an ordinance that included a ban on confetti cannons and confetti at parades.

Army Deserter on the Run for 16 Years

After 16 years on the run, a military deserter turned himself in to U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Port of Buffalo, Rainbow Bridge border crossing, last week. The unidentified 38-year-old turned himself in on Tuesday after encountering

50 CBP officers on the crossing’s pedestrian walkway.

“The traveler claimed to be ‘turning himself in’ for military desertion,” the agency said. “The traveler was escorted to secondary inspection for verification.”

Officers verified the man’s identity during a secondary inspection and found that he had an active National Crime Information Center U.S. Army warrant for Military Desertion. His name has not been released.

“Our officers work diligently to screen all travelers entering the United States,” Area Port Director Gaetano Cordone said. “We work closely with several law enforcement agencies to help capture fugitives and ensure they are held accountable for their actions.”

The man was taken into custody and turned over to the U.S. Army from the Fort Liberty, North Carolina Provost Marshal’s Office.

No Place Like Home

Here’s one thing we know: these shoes are not made for walking.

Judy Garland’s famous ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” made history over the weekend when they were sold at auction for a whopping $28 million.

The pair – one of four surviving pairs Garland wore in the film – is the most valuable movie memorabilia ever sold at auction, according to a news release from Heritage Auctions.

“There is simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other piece of Hollywood memorabilia,” Heritage Auctions

Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in the release. “The breathtaking result reflects just how important movies and movie memorabilia are to our culture and to collectors.”

With auction house commissions, the slippers’ total price was a staggering $32.5 million, nearly 11 times what the auction house says was their pre-auction estimate of $3 million.

“At $32.5 million, the slippers are the most valuable cinema treasures in the world, and they helped make this the most successful entertainment auction ever held,” according to Robert Wilonsky, vice president for public relations at Heritage Auctions.

Other pairs have been auctioned before, but none sold for nearly as much as the ones sold on Saturday.

In 2000, one pair of ruby slippers from the movie was auctioned off for $666,000. Years later, director Steven Spielberg and actor Leonardo DiCaprio bought a different pair for $2 million and donated them to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

The slippers sold over the weekend had been lent by collector Michael Shaw to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, but were stolen from the museum in 2005. They were recovered in 2018 during a sting operation in Minneapolis.

Other items from the iconic movie were sold during Saturday’s auction, including a hat belonging to the Wicked Witch character (more than $2 million); the screen door ($37,500) from Dorothy’s Kansas home; the MGM contract signed by the “Over the Rainbow” songwriters ($23,125); and Judy Garland’s “Dorothy Gale” wig ($30,000) she used in the first week of shooting.

The shoes are among the most beloved artifacts from the iconic 1939 movie.

The slippers “were much more than just a piece of Hollywood memorabilia, much more than a valuable piece of industry history,” said Rhys Thomas, the author of “The Ruby Slippers of Oz.” “They transcended Hollywood, to the point where they represented the powerful image of innocence to all America,” he said.

These are big shoes to fill.

A Good Egg

Listen carefully. This is no yolk.

The world’s oldest known wild bird has laid an egg at the ripe age of about 74, her first in four years, according to U.S. wildlife officials, who are not known to be egg-aggerating.

The long-winged seabird named Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge at the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago and laid what experts estimate may be her 60th egg, the Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said in a Facebook post last week.

Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, had returned to the atoll in the Pacific Ocean to lay and hatch eggs since 2006. Laysan albatrosses mate for life and lay one egg per year. But Akeakamai has not been seen for several years, and Wisdom began interacting with another male when she returned last week. Now, it seems, she is coming out of her shell.

“We are optimistic that the egg will hatch,” Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge said in a statement. Every year, millions of seabirds return to the refuge to nest and raise their young.

So egg-citing.

Albatross parents take turns incubating an egg for about two months. Chicks fly out to sea about five to six months after hatching. They spend most of their lives flying over the ocean and feeding on squid and fish eggs.

The typical lifespan of a Laysan albatross is 68 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which makes Wisdom pretty old.

We have great egg-pectations for this one.

Play on Words

No habla Espanol. Speaking Spanish isn’t always a requirement for winning championships, but in this case, it could have helped.

Nigel Richards, a man from New

Zealand, recently won the Spanish world Scrabble championship in Spain. The catch? Richards does not speak Spanish.

The winner only lost one game out of 24 at the championship, and began memorizing the language’s Scrabble list just a year ago.

“He can’t understand why other people can’t just do the same thing,” Liz Fagerlund, Richards’ friend, said. “He can look at a block of words together and once they go into his brain as a picture he can just recall that very easily.”

In second place was defending champion Benjamín Olaizola of Argentina, who won 18 of his games -–and does speak Spanish.

Richards is no stranger to foreign language competitions. In 2015, he became the French language Scrabble world champion, despite not speaking French, after studying the word list for nine weeks. He took the French title again in 2018.

Recognized in international Scrabble over his three-decade career as the greatest player of all time, Richards’ Spanish language victory was notable even by his standards, other players said. Forced to adjust his gameplay to compensate for different tile values in English and Spanish Scrabble, Richards also had to contend with thousands of additional seven, eight and nine letter words in the Spanish language -– which demand a different strategy.

Richards is a legend in the Scrabble competition community. He was the first player ever to hold the world, U.S. and British titles simultaneously -– despite having to “forget” 40,000 English words that do not appear in the American Scrabble word list to triumph in the U.S.

The Scrabble king’s mother once told a newspaper that Richards wasn’t the sharpest student when he was growing up. He did not excel at English in school, never attended university, and took a mathematical approach to the game rather than a linguistic one.

“I don’t think he’s ever read a book, apart from the dictionary,” she said in 2010.

What motivates Richards, who now lives in Malaysia, is a mystery because he never speaks to reporters.

“I get lots of requests from journalists wanting to interview him and he’s not interested,” Fagerlund said. “He doesn’t understand what all the hoo-ha is about.”

We’re at a loss for words.

Around the Community

Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah Dor L’Dor Event

eshiva Nishmas Hatorah hosted its Dor L’Dor Event, bringing fathers, grandfathers, and sons to -

gether for a morning of inspiration and learning. Highlights included a speech by 12th grader Avi Bleiberg and a shiur

by Rabbi Moshe Brody on taking supplements on Shabbos. The event celebrated Torah’s role in uniting generations.

Around the Community

Northeast Region for AIPAC)

Chanukah Experiments with Tevah V’Torah

This week in HAFTR Early Childhood, Morah Alana from Tevah V’Torah transformed her classroom into a Chanukah world of wonder. The room was filled with Chanukah books, a new felt board with different Chanukah items for the children to move around, and Chanukah-themed sensory bins filled with rice, funnels, menorahs, and more!

Morah Alana’s room is all about hands-on projects and centers for the children to explore. After playing in the different centers around the room, the children did a science experiment with oil and water. They learned how olive oil

Bee

Last week, YCQ students participated in a thrilling Spelling Bee. The special event was a celebration of skill and determination, leaving the students buzzing with pride.

is made and were given oil and water to place in a jar and mix together. But they quickly noticed that the water and oil weren’t mixing! Morah Alana then had the children add in Alka-Seltzer, which made the oil and water bubble up, and mix! We added a new term to our Science Word Bank, “chemical reaction.” Morah Alana taught us that some things cannot mix, but we can try to add something new, which can lead to a new chemical reaction. The children were amazed to see what happened when they added their mixtures and couldn’t wait to go home to share it with their families!

Buzzes After Spectacular

In exciting grade-level competitions, students in Grades 3-8 showcased their spelling talents. Congratulations to Eliana Fazylov (Grade 3), Eliezer Shamalov (Grade 4), Ethan Ben-Shushan (Grade 5), Yarden Wortzel (Grade 6), Noah Rachmanov (Grade 7), and Tamar Cohen (Grade 8) who were crowned champions of their grades. A special congratulations to Ethan Ben-Shushan and Noach Rachamanov for taking home the Elementary School and Junior High School crowns respectively. The champions will receive a framed piece of artwork designed by Abigail Abayev, whose design was selected from over 65 student submissions. A special thank you

At the Annual Met Council Benefit recognizing leadership in supporting their causes. From left to right: Pesach Osina (senior aide to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams), NYPD Chief Richard Taylor, Council Member Lynn Schulman, Joel Eisdorfer, and Jason Koppel (Director,

Yeshiva Darchei Torah talmidim enjoy their new art class

to Ms. Paula Ambagtsheer, the Director of K-8 General Studies Curriculum & Instruction and JHS ELA teacher, for organizing such an incredible event!

YOSS Mechina innovators tinkered with breadboards, motors, batteries, wires, and fans to build a breadboard race car

Around the Community

HAFTR HS Visits the Israel Chesed Center

HAFTR High School students recently came together at the Israel Chesed Center in Hewlett for an impactful afternoon of chesed and advocacy, demonstrating their unwavering support for Israel and its defenders.

The students, who are members of HAFTR High School’s Israel Action Committee, joined with students from other yeshiva high schools to participate in meaningful activities, including packing hand warmers and writing heartfelt letters to chayalim on the front lines. These small acts of kindness were imbued with a powerful message of gratitude and solidarity, reminding Israel’s soldiers that they are not alone.

The day included a presentation by Mrs. Fayge Feder, founder of Pens for Swords, who inspired students to advocate for Israel and combat antisemitism in meaningful ways. Her message highlighted the vital role of high school students in shaping the future of Jewish advocacy.

Mr. Elie Hirt, Israel Action Committee faculty advisor, and Morah Sharona Fiskus joined the HAFTR students for this important chesed opportunity.

Did you know?

Mr. Hirt noted that all the participants gained insight into the incredible work of the Israel Chesed Center, which has mobilized countless initiatives to support the Jewish community since the war began.

This meaningful program left HAFTR students feeling empowered and united, reaffirming their commitment to stand with Israel during this critical time.

The Pacific Ocean borders more than 50 countries.

Getting it “Write”

The fortunate Pre-1A talmidos of the Ganger Early Childhood Division of TAG are learning the

right

Chanukah is Coming

The students at Lev Chana are getting ready for Chanukah with special themed activities like Spin Art with dreidels and making their own menorahs!

Ezra Academy Launches Mishmar Night

Ezra Academy reached a significant milestone on Thursday night, hosting its inaugural Mishmar program—a Torah learning initiative that drew over 30 boys. This voluntary gathering showcased the students’ deep commitment to spiritual growth, as they willingly sacrificed their evening to engage in Torah study.

The program, led by the dedicated Rabbi Yehoshua, began with a warm and inviting catered dinner. The boys conversed and bonded over delicious food, creating an atmosphere of unity and excitement. Following the meal, Rabbi Yehoshua guided the group through an inspiring Torah discussion, setting the stage for deeper learning. The evening

concluded with the boys breaking into chavruta-style learning groups, where they delved into Torah topics in pairs, fostering meaningful dialogue and personal connection to the texts.

Rabbi Yehoshua expressed his pride in the boys’ willingness to prioritize Torah learning. “The choice they made to come tonight speaks volumes about their dedication and values,” he said. “This was more than a program—it was a powerful statement of who they are and what they stand for.”

The evening’s success was bolstered by the enthusiastic support and leadership of Ezra Academy’s senior boys. Emanuel Abramchayev, Daniel Murdakhayev, and Ben Khaimov played pivotal

roles in promoting the program, bringing energy and excitement that inspired their peers to attend. Their leadership ensured the event’s warm and dynamic atmosphere.

A special thank you also goes to Ethan Pinchasov and Ethan Niazoff, whose hard work in setting up the event made the seamless execution possible. Their contributions behind the scenes were instrumental in creating an environment that encouraged both learning and connection.

Ezra Academy’s first Mishmar was more than a memorable evening—it was a reflection of the school’s vibrant community and a powerful demonstration of its students’ dedication to Torah learning.

way to write their ABCs with Morah Dena Isaacs. This week’s featured letter was “I.”

Preparing for Chanukah at Special Children’s Center

The Special Children’s Center enjoys getting into the Chanukah spirit! Frying fresh doughnuts,

dreidel spinning contest and Chanukah cupcake wars are just some of our Chanukah related activities to feel Chanukah

approaching. A huge thank you to Mayor Sam Nahmias of Lawrence for coming to check out our new building and meet our

Rambam Mesivta Junior Wins at Model Chinuch League

The Model Chinuch League, now in its second year, recently held an event at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in New Jersey. The league was founded under the guidance of Rambam Mesivta’s Principal, Mr. Hillel Goldman, with the goal of inspiring students to pursue careers in chinuch and teaching to address the growing gap of young professionals not entering the field. The league provides students with a glimpse into the challenges and rewards of a teaching career and a life in chinuch.

The first event took place last year at Rambam Mesivta, followed by the second event at Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central). Special thanks go to Mrs. Bracha Rutner, Head of School at Central, for her instrumental role in helping to launch the league. Gratitude is also extended to Ma’ayanot, with a special shoutout to Mrs. Miriam Schwartz, Director of Programming, for her help in organizing this year’s first Model Chinuch League Tournament.

To participate in the tournament, students were tasked with creating a 10-minute lesson on one of three Torah portions: Parshat Vayeira, Parshat Chayei Sara, or Parshat Toldot. The lesson needed to be designed for a high school audience and include some form of boardwork (e.g., Smartboard, slides, or blackboard). It also had to feature an

engaging hook, sources from the Meforshim, a takeaway for the Shabbat table, and interactive elements to encourage student participation.

Every Model Chinuch League event features a Guest of Honor who has dedicated his/her life to education. The Model Chinuch League presents the “Guest of Honor” with an award and the student/ teachers are treated to words of chizuk and inspiration during a Guest of Honor Address. This year’s Guest of Honor was Mrs. Cindy Zucker, Principal of the Middle School Girls Division at Rosenbaum Yeshiva New Jersey. Mrs. Zucker has dedicated her career to inspiring students to live lives rooted in Torah, Israel, and excellence.

After giving two presentations, the student-teachers were excited to see the

results, however, while the plaques were of the highest quality, everyone involved in the Model Chinuch League has an eye toward loftier goals and the overall more important mission of educating the future of Klal Yisrael. Congratulations though to Suri Seplowitz, of Ma’ayanot, for winning Best Presentation and to Lana Bahn of Central for coming away with Best Lesson. Ma’ayanot’s Leah Berzidah was named Best Teacher, with Jacob Gordon of Rambam earning the Most Outstanding Award.

Jacob Gordon focused his lesson on the characters of Yaakov and Eisav, examining their differing paths through the lens of the text and discussing the theme of brotherhood. He explored how two brothers could end up so differently and the lessons we can learn from

awesome staff and kids!

their story. His colorful Smart Board work was on full display, augmenting his points, as he took the audience on a new journey towards a greater understanding of what it means to be a brother.

In addition to the event, participants enjoyed pizza and received swag. Newcomers received sweatshirts, returning members got polo shirts or long-sleeve tees. Participating schools included Central, Ezra Academy, Frisch, Ma’ayanot, and Rambam Mesivta. In the past, the Model Chinuch League has also had students participating from HANC and SAR.

The students are already eagerly anticipating the next event with even more learning and teaching!

Chumash Play at HALB

The second grade boys had their Chumash play on Sunday. The boys did an incredible job and are so excited to learn from inside their very own Chumashim!

ICT

Celebrating Rashi at HALB

The third grade girls at HALB had a great time at their Rashi party. They made keychains with their names written in Rashi letters, heard a dvar torah from Mr. Altabe, and enjoyed delicious bagels.

planning at HALB Happy 6th birthday, Farha Solomon!

YOSS Third Graders Become Text Detectives

Mrs. Mayer’s third graders at Yeshiva of South Shore are donning their detective hats and solving mysteries — not with magnifying glasses, but with nonfiction books! These young “text detectives” are learning to crack the code of text features, using everything from bold print and captions to graphs and indexes to uncover important information.

Imagine...a Stronger Future for Jewish Education

Sarah and her husband worked tirelessly to ensure their children received a Jewish education, proudly sending them to Jewish day schools from kindergarten through 12th grade in Los Angeles, where they live. But this commitment came at an immense cost. Sarah and her husband poured their savings into tuition, never able to save enough for a home of their own. The financial strain was overwhelming.

As Sarah explained, “Because of day school tuition costs for four kids, we were not able to save any money. That is the truth. And unfortunately, I know so many people who are in that position.”

Meanwhile, across the country, a family of five in Teaneck, NJ, recently left the public school system for Jewish day school.

A day school graduate herself, Eva witnessed the financial strain that Jewish day school tuition put on her parents growing up, and it left a big impression on her. So, while she felt a strong connection to her Judaism, she did not want that same struggle for her family and opted for a public school education for her children.

However, after October 7, Eva began to realize that her children were missing something important — the opportunity to connect with their Jewish identity in a meaningful way at school.

As she shared, “It was a wake-up call to realize that the further my children got into the system, the more disconnected they might feel from their heritage.”

Thankfully, Eva and her husband found an option for a Jewish education that was right for them – Tenafly Chabad

Academy – a member school of Teach NJ, that was able to work with the family to ensure it was affordable for them.

Just a few months since making the change, Eva is thrilled, “They just have so much more joy when I pick them up. My kids are surprising each other with knowing the same songs around the Jewish holidays. It is bringing me joy that I didn’t even realize I was missing.”

Teach Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for equitable funding for Yeshivas and Jewish Day schools, is working to ensure that Eva’s story, not Sarah’s, is the future for families. By fighting for critical legislation including tax credit scholarships and funding for our schools, they are helping create a reality where ALL Jewish children in this country can have access to a Jewish education, without heavy sacrifice or burden on their families.

This month, as a part of its Imagine campaign, you have the opportunity to help build that future – by supporting Teach Coalition and its efforts to make safe, affordable, quality Jewish education accessible for all. And through the month of December, all donations will have a 2X match thanks to a generous donor.

Jewish continuity in this country is more critical than ever before – and the best way to ensure our future is by providing a strong Jewish education for our children.

As Orite Rubenstein, Principal of the Tenafly Chabad Academy, expressed, “Can you imagine how much stronger Am Yisroel would be if all of our children received a Jewish education?”

“Text features are like clues that help us understand the story better,” said Mrs. Mayer’s class. “When you know where to look, you can find hidden treasures of knowledge!”

The students are learning to spot and use different text features like headings, subheadings, captions, maps, and glossaries, all of which help them find answers quickly in nonfiction texts. By practicing these skills, they’re becoming more independent readers and critical thinkers, able to gather facts and make sense of complex information.

Using text features is like having a secret map to the information! As part of their detective training, students are working through exciting activities where they decode information and answer questions. With each new clue they uncover, their confidence grows, and they’re ready to tackle any nonfiction mystery that comes their way!

Thanks to these budding text detectives, the classroom is full of excitement and discovery — proving that with the right tools, every book is an adventure waiting to be solved!

Special Speaker at MTA’s Business and Entrepreneurship Class

Ms. Felsman’s B&E class at MTA had the privilege of hearing from bestselling author and financier Ed Hajim. The talmidim learned about how passion, trust and partnership build the strongest businesses. Ed’s personal story is riveting. His father was a Syrian immigrant-turned-Wall St. tycoon. Ed has held senior management positions with Wall St. firm Lehman Brothers, Furman Selz and Capital Group.

Ed’s bestseller, “The Island of the Four P’s,” has received international

acclaim. His four P’s focus on Passion, Principles, Partners, Plans – all as they relate to “the buckets of life”: Self, Family, Work & Community. Ed is the recipient of the innovation award from the Kellog School of Management at Northwestern University.

His book is written as a fable, a story. Its depth in meaning articulates how one should prepare for their future. The fable highlights the quest of a young man and how he addresses challenges while remaining true to his values and ideals.

Rabbi Naftali Miller of Agudath Israel of America and Chasdei Lev addressing the Yeshiva Darchei Torah middle school talmidim on their current middah focus, hakoras hatov

Exclusive & Affordable: Discover a New Jerusalem Community

This is your golden opportunity to be part of a brand-new community on the outskirts of New Katamon with the light rail outside your door. Tivuch Shelly is proud to serve as its exclusive seller, and you can now benefit from pre-sale prices! This project isn’t just about brick and mortar; it’s about reimagining life in Jerusalem. Its innovative design transforms apartments into proper homes that accommodate traditional family life. The buildings offer community-focused features such as a shul and gym at unbeatable prices. This location is set to become the new center of Jerusalem! We know the next big thing when we see it and this project will transform Jerusalem!

Architect with a Vision: Nissim’s Journey

At the heart of this transformation is Nissim, the project’s architect. In his distinguished career in the Israeli Defense Forces, Nissim redefines military infrastructure standards to meet soldiers’

needs. His innovative approach elevated the quality of facilities with significant cost savings, setting a new benchmark for excellence. Therefore, it was a natural progression for Nissim to bring his skills into the private sector, where he now uses his expertise to create housing projects that redefine modern living. He integrates practical functionality with thoughtful design, ensuring that every apartment isn’t just a structure but a HOME that fosters the flow of family life.

“Success breeds success, and Nissim’s achievements in both the army and private sector are a testament to that.”

The building company behind this project is no stranger to ambitious developments with a robust portfolio throughout Israel. Their mission is clear: to create homes, not just housing. This project exemplifies this with features designed to enrich the lives of its residents, including apartment layouts that accommodate traditional living. The building features a gym, residents’

Generations Join at HANC ECC

The Nursery Bet children in the HANC Early Childhood Center in West Hempstead provided a great deal of light and happiness to some very special guests this week. As the doors opened, a stream of eager grandparents filled the auditorium, and they could not wait to see and spend time with their adorable grandchildren in school. The program began with greetings from Rabbi Ouriel Hazan, Director of HANC’s West Hempstead campuses, and Mrs. Trudy Rubinstein, Director of the Early Childhood Center. Delighting the audience with a medley of songs in English

and Hebrew about how much they love and appreciate their grandparents, and accompanied by the ECC music teacher, Morah Kayli, the children’s sweet voices warmed everyone’s heart. After the performance, the children joined their grandparents at the festive tables, and together they created a very meaningful project. The children presented their grandparents with a tree that they previously created by hand painting the trunk and branches, and together they attached photographs of their grandparents, parents and siblings. Together, they added leaves to the tree and created a beautiful

club, family care center, and café— luxurious amenities designed to foster community connection. There is also a synagogue with an Anglo rabbi who has served in many big cities throughout the USA and Canada. We are proud that his lifelong Aliyah dream will be met in this community. Furthermore, Nissim understands that many residents will work remotely so he designed a communal workspace for those who work remotely to use for meetings and a quiet place to work. No design detail was left undone!

“These apartments are tailor-made to fit the custom needs of our new Jerusalem residents.”

As Israel’s population is expected to double in the coming years, this community will balance the needs of its residents and the influx of new buyers. This state-of-the-art project is a testament to Jerusalem’s commitment to accommodate your dream of living in Jerusalem without compromising

Jerusalem’s precious green spaces, making it a win-win for all!

Thanks to visionary leaders like Nissim and the commitment of experienced builders, the city is transforming into one of the most innovative modern urban centers globally. This project is a shining example of what’s possible when tradition and innovation meet. Tivuch Shelly proudly supports this project, having already brought on a Rabbi and sales are underway, and is honored to play a key role in Jerusalem’s growth and development.

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With offices in America and Israel, we’re available 24/7 to assist you in finding your perfect home in one of Israel’s exceptional communities!

background depicting their family. This impactful project, created together by two and even some three generations, served as a keepsake gift for all the special guests. In addition, all of the guests received a beautiful picture frame decorated by their grandchild, HANC “Midor L’Dor” (Generation to Generation) tote bag filled with chocolate Hershey’s “Hugs and Kisses” and a “Proud HANC Grandparent” magnet as an additional gift from this memorable shared experience. At the conclusion of the event, the crowd was treated to a delicious collation, including drinks, fruit platters,

bagels and spreads and cupcakes for the children and pastries for the adults. As the families mingled, they were also able to take a photograph with their grandchild in the HANC photo booth. The joyfulness that was evident on the faces of all who attended created such light and happiness in the room. The children were so pleased to have their grandparents in school with them and to share this precious moment together. As Morah Trudy added, this is a day that everyone will surely remember!

Artist of the Month at Gan Chamesh

In our Artist of the Month program at Gan Chamesh, the children learned about the artist Piet Mondrian whose artwork is characterized by straight lines and primary colors. The children created their own Mondrian inspired designs which imitate the Gan Chamesh logo that was also inspired by Mondrian’s style.

Mercaz Academy Hacks Chanukah at the CIJE Chanukah Pinball Hackathon

Mercaz Academy sixth graders helped transform the gym at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School into a dazzling Chanukah-themed arcade of Jewish ingenuity at the CIJE Chanukah Pinball Hackathon. Fielding four teams of sixth graders, Mercaz Academy joined other schools from Long Island and Westchester for preparatory workshops. These included workshops on storyboarding and game design; game elements like bumpers, ramps, and pits; and how to add light, sound, and motion with electronic circuitry.

After spending the morning on preparation, the teams had two hours to come up with ideas and bring them to life. Students bustled to and fro, sketching designs, hot-gluing ramps and chanukiot, and introducing circuitry to make bumpers spin, flash, and dance. Two Mercaz teams incorporated spinning dreidels into their games; one team painstakingly bedazzled their pinball machine in an illustration of Chanukah’s status as the Festival of Lights. Mercaz

Academy’s Director of Technology, Mrs. Lynda Last, arranged and chaperoned the trip, and she reported that the sixth graders were so absorbed in their projects that she had difficulty getting them to stop long enough to eat.

When the two hours were complete, students were free to move from station to station, playing each other’s games and voting on the best machines. Mercaz Academy pinball machines received many compliments from students and from CIJE advisors on the floor, and the Mercaz sixth graders enjoyed meeting fellow engineering enthusiasts from the other schools and playing pinball.

Mercaz Academy teams brought their pinball machines back to the campus in Plainview, where younger students await the arrival of Chanukah for their opportunity to play them and seize their chance at pinball wizardry.

The Mercaz Hackathon participants agreed that it was a festive celebration of creativity, engineering, Jewish heritage, and the incredible potential of sixthgrade minds.

BYAM High School: A Student-Centered School with a Scholastic Heart

By Sarah Shaver

If you were to ask a student at Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam High School what the first thing that comes to her mind when thinking about BYAM High School is, she would gush and excitedly say the strong academics and close-knit atmosphere. It is one thing to hear this exclamation once or twice, but when BYAM High School students declare time and time again that their school is both academically challenging and inviting, one can see there is something truly special happening inside the halls there. Under the leadership of Mrs. Ruchie Sokoloff, BYAM High School is a place where every student’s academic goals are met and strengths are utilized. Whether it is in the classroom, in leadership positions, or performing in the school production, BYAM High School’s core mission of a world-class Bais Yaakov education with fun and exciting extracurricular activities is met.

When an eighth grader decides which high school to attend, many factors and considerations come into play. Many students look for strong academics, devoted teachers, unique extracurricular activities, and a supportive environment. Not only does BYAM High School have those qualities and more, but it is also a place where each student can find the

place where she best thrives. Every BYAM High School student is an integral piece of the school whose voice is supported and celebrated. Students feel and understand they are an invaluable piece of the tapestry that makes up the school.

Chani, a tenth grader at BYAM High School, could not have said it better. When asked why she chose to attend BYAM High School, she shared, “I chose to come here because I knew the class sizes were small, the courses were rigorous, yet exciting, and that every student feels included. Mrs. Sokoloff and the teachers make you feel happy that you are there.” When students feel they are an essential part of the school community, they will strive to do the best they can in and outside of the classroom. Students know their classes, extracurricular activities, and trips are all crafted and planned to create a balance of strong academics while maintaining a gratifying and calm atmosphere.

Due to small class sizes, each student feels her voice is essential to class discussions and activities. Whether it is a class on Megillas Esther, chemistry, or global history, students know their input is valued and appreciated. The teachers at BYAM High School develop and foster close bonds with their students that help them in the classroom and beyond.

Daniella, an eleventh grader, shares, “We have the best teachers here. The teachers

are incredible and so understanding. They are so accommodating whenever I have a question and want to ask for their help after class. The classes here are academically challenging and are taught by passionate and devoted teachers.” Students at BYAM High School feel their teachers know them well and care about their well-being academically, religiously, and socially. The teachers at BYAM High School serve as role models to their students and create longlasting and impactful relationships with them.

Limudei Kodesh and general studies classes are imbued with ideas of Hashem’s presence, and that every subject is interconnected with the principles of the Torah. Students are also encouraged to look for opportunities to help their friends and the greater community outside of the classroom. Every facet of BYAM High School, whether it is the classes, the trips, or chesed opportunities, revolves around this cornerstone. By just walking through the halls, an observer can see juniors helping freshmen, and freshmen working alongside sophomores. BYAM High School prides itself on its unity, which brings about

wonderful friendships among the students. Eliana, a freshman, shares how much she feels taken care of at BYAM High School and that students from all grades are friends with one another.

When speaking about their appreciation for BYAM, students in the eleventh grade shared with a smile that Mrs. Sokoloff refers to them as the ambassadors of the school. The juniors take pride in this role and feel empowered to serve as role models for the younger grades while continuing to cultivate what makes BYAM High School the unique school that it is. Eleventh grade students also have the exciting opportunity to take numerous classes for college credit through the Sara Schenirer Institute. This connects back to BYAM High School’s mission of fostering students’ academic goals and future aspirations.

BYAM High School’s student-centered mission allows students to flourish in a caring, academically driven, and Torahfilled environment.

For more information or to apply for our high school, please contact us at hsoffice@baisyaakovam.org.

Rabbi Meyer Fendel: A Visionary Legacy of Torah, Community, and HANC

It is nearly impossible to capture the multifaceted legacy of Rabbi Meyer Fendel in a single article. He was a man who harmonized seemingly disparate worlds—Olam Hayeshivot with Tziyonut, the Mussar Movement with the teachings of Rav Kook, classical yeshiva study with contemporary educational practices, and dreaming with relentless hard work. Yet, as I reflect on his impact while sitting in the very chair he once occupied as the founding Principal of the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC), I feel compelled to share his extraordinary story.

Founded in 1953, HANC remains a premier yeshiva day school and is now on the verge of its greatest expansion in more than 70 years. What is remarkable, however, is how Rabbi Fendel’s legacy continues to shape each campus. In the high school, for example, pictures of Rav Kook adorn the walls, reflecting Rabbi Fendel’s passion for Tziyonut and the profound influence Rav Kook had on him. His dedication to tikkun hamiddot and the Mussar Movement is woven into every student’s experience. Most significantly, his belief in embracing all segments of Jewish life—a cornerstone of his founding vision—remains evident in HANC’s steadfast devotion to ahavat

Rabbi Fendel was a visionary with unshakable principles and determination. His book, Nine Men Wanted for a Minyan, recounts the extraordinary journey of founding HANC and the Young Israel of West Hempstead—two institutions that have become pillars of Torah life.

At a time when Nassau County lacked formal Jewish educational institutions, Rabbi Fendel dared to envision a thriving Torah-observant community. Guided by Torah U’Mesorah and figures like Mr. Mendelovich (whose grandchildren attended HANC!), he turned that vision into reality.

Rabbi Fendel’s commitment to building on a foundation of Torah, halacha, and academic excellence was exemplary. His decisions, though often difficult, ensured that HANC’s core values would remain intact. One striking anecdote highlights his courage: at a public discourse following the Six Day War, Rabbi Fendel challenged Rav Yitzchak Hutner downplaying the miraculous nature of the war. Despite pressure to stay silent, Rabbi Fendel stood firm, though Rav Hutner later privately explained that his approach was guided by pragmatic concerns rather than ideology.

Rabbi Fendel’s educational and pedagogical leadership were legendary.

His colleagues, such as Rabbi Shaye Schonbrun, former General Studies Principal at HANC High School, described HANC under Rabbi Fendel as “an educational utopia, an ideal place to learn and work.” He founded Camp Nevei Ashdod, earning the praise of Rav Ovadiah Yosef, and was a pioneer in educational innovation, using candidcamera techniques to teach ethics. He also was instrumental in the founding of Midmo – the seminary formerly known as Midreshet Moriah (where my oldest sister Bonnie attended for the simple reason that Rabbi Fendel was involved!) and fulfilled his own dream of making Aliyah in the mid-1980s.

Although I grew up in West Hempstead and attended HANC at a time when Rabbi Fendel’s daily presence was less frequent, his impact—and that of his eshet chayil, Goldie, a”h—was deeply felt. One story from my mother encapsulates their profound empathy and care. When my parents moved to West Hempstead, Rabbi Fendel was no longer the mora d’atra of Young Israel, and my family was not yet part of the HANC community. Shortly after, my maternal grandparents tragically passed away and shiva was curtailed by Yom Tov. For years afterward, Goldie and Rabbi Fendel called my mother every Erev Shabbat to check on her—a simple, but profound

gesture that left an indelible mark.

In a world often marked by division, Rabbi Fendel modeled a harmonious and integrated religious life, drawing from diverse influences to serve as a guide and inspiration to a wide spectrum of Jews. His leadership leaves a legacy and responsibility on HANC, a yeshiva known for its aspirational academics, warmth, commitment to community, passion for Eretz Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael and unwavering ahavat Yisrael.

Rabbi Fendel’s legacy is not only reflected in the institutions he built but also in his family, who continue his work in Eretz Yisrael. His children lead Torah institutions and embody the ideals of Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Chassadim that he instilled as both their father and their principal at HANC.

Rabbi Meyer Fendel was a dreamer who built communities, institutions, and souls. His vision, principles, and compassion leave an enduring legacy that will continue to inspire for generations to come.

Yehi zichro baruch.

Rabbi Eli Slomnicki is the Menahel/ Principal of HANC High School and an alumnus of HANC, Class of 1997.

Founding Principal Rabbi Meyer Fendel, z”l, and Dean Emeritus Rabbi Moshe Gottesman, z”l

Local Chesed Organizations Making a Difference 6,000 Miles Away

In the shadow of October 7, a remarkable story of human connection unfolded. IDF soldiers called into battle, many without the most basic equipment, were outfitted through the donations of tens of thousands of Diaspora Jews. Hundreds of aid groups sprang to life, led by Jews across the world with hearts burning with solidarity with Israel’s defenders. But as weeks turned into months of unrelenting conflict, most faded away — leaving behind a gaping need for life-saving equipment.

Today, only a few dedicated organizations remain in operation, and have become a lifeline for kitot konnenut (security response teams) and soldiers. When a soldier receives a pair of boots that keep his feet dry, or a protective vest that shields him from harm, it’s more than gear — it’s a promise. A promise that says, “we will always be here to help you.”

The numbers tell a powerful story. These startup organizations have galvanized communities and delivered as promised. The 5 Towns-based Israel

Chesed Center and Bergen County’s BC Lev Echad have delivered over 23,000 duffel bags filled with essential equipment and distributed over 500 drones and more than $20 million of aid for soldiers, displaced families and others impacted by the war. Boots for Israel, an initiative of the Young Israel of Holliswood (Queens) has supplied over 70,000 pairs of boots for chayalim. Lev LaChayal and Unit 11741 have distributed over 5,000 helmets and vests, and as a group, these partners have provided cutting-edge security technology like night-vision gear that can mean the difference between life and death. Israel Magen Fund has distributed equipment and gear of every sort all over Israel, from Gaza to the Lebanon border, while also supporting families of chayalim. Since they are all 100% volunteer run, every single dollar raised is used for the mission - protecting those who are protecting us. They don’t host any paid fundraisers or employ executive teams; they have no marketing budgets,

no massive ad campaigns, no fancy swag, no rent. Their uniqueness is that they have zero overhead. And they say “yes” to almost every request.

This isn’t just logistics. This is love in action.

Every donation is a lifeline. Every contribution is a shield. When you support our chayalim, you’re not just

giving equipment — you’re giving protection, hope, and a fighting chance. When it comes to protecting Israel’s defenders, every single piece of gear tells a story of survival, of courage, and unwavering commitment.

Join us. Volunteer. Host an event. Adopt a chayal or an IDF unit. Help protect those who protect us.

Written on the wall of a house in Gaza

HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, Shlita, Pens Letter Urging Klal Yisrael to Learn Masechta Eiruvin with the Amud HaYomi Program

By Chaim Gold

Excitement is mounting. Tens of thousands of Amud HaYomi learners the world over are preparing to make a momentous siyum, a siyum on one of the most important masechtos in Shas, Masechta Shabbos

For many months, Amud HaYomi learners have been learning the masechta, amud by amud, with chazaros, and many have been taking monthly tests on it as well. Among the test takers, many have been tested on Tosafos and the primary meforshim in addition to Gemara and Rashi! Now, siyumim are being held in major Jewish centers around the world.

Moreover, one of the venerated senior Gedolei Hador, HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka, has issued an unprecedented letter urging Klal Yisrael to join the Amud HaYomi program for Masechta Eiruvin which the Amud HaYomi will begin on Thursday, 25 Kislev/December 26.

Rav Landau’s Clarion Call

In his seminal letter, which the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Landau, took pains to write in his own handwriting, he writes about the unique opportunity awaiting Klal Yisrael: How important and necessary it is for people to learn the entire Maseches Eruvin in order, according to the schedule of the Amud Yomi. Even for those who learned and toiled in this masechta, it is important that they also learn it and join in this public limud. Simultaneously, the publication of booklets of chiddushim and halachos that have been produced and will be produced following the schedule of the limud is very important, “and may Torah become great and be glorified.”

With a faithful bracha, Dov Landau

Motza’ei Shabbos Kodesh Parashas Toldos

The first day of Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5785

Rav Landau’s clarion call to Klal Yisrael has been making waves and, since its release, numerous night kollelim have joined the Amud HaYomi and undertaken the limud for night seder.

Dirshu has also seen a remarkable spike in enrollment that will continue to rise as a result of the major siyumim being held.

A Series of Siyumim

The first siyum is the major one in England where some seven thousand people at the Cooper Box Arena in London are gathering to celebrate Klal Yisrael’s great milestone together with many Gedolei Hador who have come from far and wide to participate in the siyum.

Notably, the venerated senior Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Meir Tzvi Bergman, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Rashbi and a son-in-law of Maran HaGaon HaRav Elazar Menachem Man Shach, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivas Ponovezh.

HaGaon HaRav Shimon Galei, shlita, the great gaon, mashpia and mekubal from Bnei Brak, will be coming especially for the event, along with the posek, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, shlita, Av Beis Din Shaarei Horaah, HaGaon HaRav Nissan Kaplan, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Daas Aharon and HaGaon HaRav Shimon Spitzer, shlita, one of the most sought-after speakers.

Gedolim from Europe will include HaGaon HaRav Aharon Shiff, shlita, Rav of the Machzikei Hadas Kehillah in Antwerp, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of London, and HaGaon HaRav Tzvi Elimelech Padwa, shlita, Rav of Khal Agudas Achim of Zurich, Switzerland.

The Nasi of Dirshu Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, will also be coming from Toronto to attend and address the event.

Like all major Dirshu events, the siyum in England will feature the uplifting, soul-stirring music of the Malchus Choir, a symphony orchestra led by Reb Mona Rosenblum and worldrenowned, inspiring singers such as Zanvil Weinberger, Baruch Levin, Motti Steinmetz, and Hershey Weinberger.

In addition to the siyum in London, on 27 Kislev/December 28, Motzoei Shabbos Chanukah, a milestone Amud HaYomi Siyum on Masechta Shabbos and the haschala on Masechta Eiruvin will be held in Paris, France.

France has become one of the major world centers of Lomdei Dirshu with thousands of French Jews, Sefardim and Ashkenazim participating in Dirshu’s myriad programs. That siyum will be held at the Chaya Mushka Hall, in the 19th District of Paris.

Last but certainly not least, there will be a gala Amud HaYomi Siyum in America with the participation of many Gedolei Hador. The siyum will be held on Motzei Shabbos Parshas Vayigash, 4 Teves/ January 4, at the New Ballroom. The siyum promises to serve as a tremendous source of chizuk haTorah “Akin to Learning Kol HaTorah Kulo!”

In the year since its inception, the Amud HaYomi has catapulted to one of Dirshu’s most popular limudim. Rav Yaakov Meir Stern, Dayan of Zichron Meir and a talmid muvhak of Rav Shmuel Wosner, highlighted three distinct reasons for its great success. First, when learning Amud HaYomi, there is built-in time for chazarah. Second, for those who find the Daf HaYomi too much, the Amud HaYomi provides a chelek in every part

of Torah and third, bnei haYeshivos who are accustomed to learning at a slower pace, can afford the time to look into meforshim.

Perhaps HaGaon HaRav Hillel David, shlita, Rav of Kehillas Yeshiva Shaarei Torah and Yoshev Rosh of the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah Umesorah, put it best when he said, “An amud is not just half a daf, it is an AMUD! In a way, there is much more in an amud than in a blatt Gemara. When one is limited to learning one amud per day, he has a chance to truly understand the concepts and the lomdus inherent in the Gemara. There is no amud throughout Shas upon which one cannot say an entire shiur. No one should worry that by learning the Amud HaYomi he will be learning less. In truth, he is learning much more! If you utilize the Amud HaYomi to understand the amud, to look at a Tosafos or Maharsha to truly grasp the concepts, I can tell you that every amud in Shas will be akin to learning kol haTorah kulo! When one learns the amud well and reviews it, it is a different amud.”

As the Amud HaYomi is set to embark on Masechta Eiruvin this coming Thursday, 25 Kislev/December 26, now is the time to join.

If you haven’t yet joined the Amud HaYomi, the time is ripe for you to get a kinyan in one of the most important masechtos in Shas. It is not for nothing that the venerated gaon HaRav Dov Landau has written a letter urging participation. Don’t think too much. Just join!

To join Amud HaYomi, please contact Dirshu at info@dirshunj.org or at 1-888-5Dirshu.

HaRav Hillel David addressing the Dirshu World Siyum, Cure Arena, 2022

Hanhalas Dirshu meeting with HaRav Dov Landau in his home

Shulamith

Travels the World

As part of Shulamith’s “Travel the World” theme this year, the Shulamith student council brought us on our next flight to the country of Greece! To enlighten our middle school students about the country and the Jewish History, the student council shared a slideshow and brought Mr. Mordy Ishakis, who hails from Ioannina, Greece, to speak to the students. He described a basic history of Greek Jews and their community origins going back 2,000 years. The students and faculty alike were enthralled by Mr. Ishakis’s

presentation and were thankful to be informed about another ancient community of Europe.

JSL Fall: Week 10 Recap

It was the JSL playoffs, brought to you by FM Home Loans, and the tension was palpable, with some unbelievable finishes that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. The boys also received special keychains, courtesy of Smash House, adding a little extra flair to the excitement. The semi-finals continue this Sunday, with the hockey championships then wrapping up the fall season on Monday night.

JSL Juniors Recap

K/P Hockey: In an overtime thriller, Growtha achieved their first win of the season, defeating Smash House 8-7 in a nail-biting playoff match. The game was a true rollercoaster: down 5-1, Growtha mounted a furious comeback, tying the game and eventually surging ahead with a 7-5 lead. But Smash House wasn’t about to crumble—they scored twice in the final two minutes to force overtime. After a scoreless extra period, the stage was set for a dramatic shootout, where Growtha held their nerve to score the decisive goal. A true testament to heart, resilience, and the never-say-die spirit of Growtha! Bright Futures was all smiles in their 8-5 victory over Gerber Bedding. Eliyahu Samuel played the

From Modi’in to HALB

Last year, when the schools in Israel were closed after October 7th, students from Modi’in joined HALB classes via Zoom. Even when the yeshivot reopened, a boy named Gavriel requested to continue joining Rabbi Werner’s class after his school day in Israel ended. Last week, Gavriel visited HALB and got the chance to see his Rebbe and meet his HALB friends in person!

role of the shining star, scoring 4 goals and adding 2 assists to lead his team to a commanding win.5Towns Landscaping edged out Posh Home + Bath 5-4, thanks to a stellar hat trick by Moshe Obadia.

SR Whee cruised to an 8-2 victory over 5 Towns Central, with Dovy Perl’s 5-goal performance leading the charge. Yehuda Stark’s offensive aggression, Daniel Rekant’s solid goalie work with 4 stops, Mo Platcheck’s defensive prowess, and Yoel Ngelberg and Yackov Rosenberg’s contributions (2 and 3 goals, respectively) rounded out a well-rounded team win.

K/P Soccer: Maidenbaum took down Future Care Consultants 11-2, with Aryeh Steigman playing outstanding defense to keep their opponents at bay. Hewlett Auto Body claimed a win over Better Image Contracting by forfeit.

Hockey

1st Division: Simcha Day Camp took a dominant 8-2 win over John’s Automotive, with Yaakov Mermelstein leading the way with incredible offensive play. Town Appliance beat Wolf Phone Repairs 9-5, with Yechiel’s stellar saves proving to be the difference.

2nd/3rd Division: Newman Dental pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat S.I.N.G. Entertainment 6-5. After

trailing 4-1, Newman Dental mounted a fierce rally to tie it up at 5-5, thanks to Asher Krigsman’s clutch goal. Then, with just 2 minutes left, he scored again to secure the win and send Newman Dental to the next round. Smash House eked out a 4-3 win over SR Whee, with Ezra and Asher Grabie putting in some dazzling plays and Akiva Greenspan firing in 4 goals to power the victory.

4th/5th Division: Smash House took down Bluebird Insurance 6-1, with Shlomo Greenspan’s incredible diving saves and near-shutout performance

standing out as the highlight. Russo’s Pharmacy delivered a dominant 13-3 victory over Target Exterminating, with Joseph Beren contributing 4 assists in the lopsided win.

6th/8th Division: Wieder Orthodontics flashed their brilliance in a tough 6-4 win over Tikva Fire, with Meir Fireworker leading the charge by scoring 4 goals and adding an assist in the hard-fought victory. NY Custom Closets triumphed 5-4 over Extreme Vent Cleaning in a thriller. Tied 4-4 with the clock ticking down, Tzvi Maltz knocked in the game-winning goal to secure Custom Closets a spot in the championship.

Men’s Basketball Max Orlofsky was money from deep in the first half, leading SR Whee to a decisive victory behind his 5 3’s. Alon Jakubowitz dunked twice in-game and put on a block party in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, Aryeh Fuchs lit it up in the second half of his game, powering Maidenbaum to a hard-earned 3-point win. In the primetime matchup of the week, Growtha continued their dominant season with a commanding win over Effie Hoffman, Yitzi Wieder, and company, proving once again that they’re a team to watch this season as we near the playoffs.

FlexTime Law Program at Touro University Offers Working Students a Path to Success

Adel Eichorn earned her degree in history because she loved the subject. When it came time to get a job, however, the market was not flooded with offers. Taking a turn for the practical, she took a paralegal course and began working at a law office in the real estate department. Fast forward five years and Eichorn found herself wishing for a more stimulating career. When her boss suggested law school, she didn’t see a way to do it with young children at home, a part-time job and a house undergoing construction. That is until she heard about Touro Law’s FlexTime JD program.

“For years, I was telling myself that I could do what the attorneys were doing at my firm, and it frustrated me. I thought about going to law school at night but nixed that idea because I realized I would never see my kids, with them being in school during the day and me attending school at night,” said Eichorn. “With

Touro Law’s Flex JD, I do my reading and writing on my own time, log on to Zoom once a week and attend in-person classes all day on Sunday. With a supportive husband and professors that bend over backwards to accommodate my schedule, this is very doable. While I’m working really hard, it’s challenging without being overwhelming and I’m building my own future.”

Touro Law’s hybrid FlexTime JD program is now offered at Touro’s new, state-of-the-art Cross River Campus at 3 Times Square in New York City, in addition to the Central Islip campus in Suffolk County on Long Island. Designed for law students with work, family and/ or religious obligations that prevent them from attending law school fulltime, the first NYC FlexTime JD class has attracted paralegals, accountants, compliance professionals and others in real estate, healthcare and business who seek to advance their careers with a law degree. Like Eichorn, ninety-five percent

of admitted students receive generous scholarships to Touro Law and the FlexTime JD program can be completed in four years or less.

FlexTime students attend in-person classes only on Sundays and complete the balance of this coursework on an asynchronous schedule throughout the week. Students in Touro’s FlexTime program are eligible to sit for the New York State Bar Exam and the program is fully accredited by the American Bar Association. Recent graduates of Touro’s LI-based FlexTime program are employed as judicial law clerks and associates at law firms.

A Way Forward for NonTraditional Students

“The new program at Touro’s Times Square campus welcomes women who have left the workforce to raise families, young men in Kollel who have earned their Bachelor’s in Talmudic Law (BTL) and other non-traditional students,” said Jim Montes, Assistant Dean of Career & Professional Development. “Situated in the heart of New York City, the FlexTime Program at the Manhattan branch of Touro Law is leveraging its location at the epicenter of the world’s largest and most sophisticated legal market. A board of advisors composed of distinguished jurists and practitioners is working to offer interactive opportunities and pro bono activities and will serve as mentors to students, enhancing their career opportunities.”

The only accredited law degree program with in-person requirements exclusively on Sundays, FlexTime also fully integrates students into the fabric of Touro Law Center. FlexTime students have the opportunity to become involved in every aspect of law school life including clinics, pro bono activities, student organizations and honor societies including Law Review, Moot Court and Trial Advocacy Practice Society.

A World of Possibilities

Clara Chaya Epstein took another route to the FlexTime JD program. After a 10+ year career teaching high school Jewish studies, Epstein developed a passion for advocating for others, just as she had done for her students. Her interest in the law deepened after hearing

a motivational talk by Judge Ruchie Freier who spoke about balancing a legal career with a Jewish lifestyle while raising small children. Inspired by Freier’s story, Epstein gained the confidence to pursue the law herself, completing her undergraduate degree online and transitioning to a role as a paralegal. However, researching law schools made her realize how difficult it would be to juggle work, raising four children, and attending classes.

For a time, law school seemed impossible—until Epstein discovered Touro Law’s FlexTime JD program. “It felt too good to be true,” she said. “But I can happily say it works perfectly for my life right now. The program offers flexibility to complete the work on my schedule without compromising on a rigorous learning experience. It’s hard work, but I’m grateful because it’s preparing me for the challenges of being an attorney. And Touro is closed for the Jewish holidays, so I’m covered on that front too.”

“I love the professors—they’re knowledgeable, approachable, and truly invested in helping us grow,” Epstein added. “They challenge us to think critically and support us every step of the way. These relationships I’m building are fundamental to my future profession.” Looking ahead, Epstein sees herself in the courtroom, possibly as a trial lawyer, combining her teaching background with her passion for advocacy.

For Eichorn, Epstein and their classmates at Touro Law, a world of possibilities has opened up. To learn more visit www.tourolaw.edu/flexjd or contact David Siegel at dsiegel6@touro.edu.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin attended the American Jewish Committee of Long Island’s 54th Annual Meeting, serving on the panel for the organization’s Municipal Leaders Against Antisemitism

Remembering R’ Menachem Wiederman, z”l.

R’ Menachem Wiederman, z”l, tragically passed away on November 11. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and baal chesed. Originally from Flatbush, he was widely admired for his warmth, kindness, and dedication to all.

Menachem was a member of Shomrim and Flatbush Hatzalah for over 27 years. He served as gabbai at Khal Derech Emunah D’Vien where he davened. In recent years, he moved with his wife Toby to Toms River, where he brought his unique energy and dedication to the Toms River kehilla, serving as gabbai at Khal Zichron Yechezkel. Menachem initiated the night seder and shiurim with his rav, Rabbi Moshe Rotberg. He was the shul’s candy man and was loved by the many children who would pick up a candy from a smiling and welcoming Menachem on Shabbos. Menachem’s dedication to his shul and community knew no bounds. Menachem and his wife Toby hosted hundreds of guests throughout the years. Their home was open to everyone at all times.

R’ Menachem was especially cherished by his grandchildren, who looked forward to his genuine care and to the personal attention that he gave to each of them. Menachem enjoyed playing games, going on walks, and reading stories with his grandchildren.

MAY Hears Chizuk from Rabbi Oelbaum

In recognition of 100% participation in the new MAY Tech Program, Rabbi Lorbert’s ninth grade shiur at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov was zocheh to hear divrei chizuk from Rav Noach Isaac Oelbaum, shlit”a, noted posek, Rav of Kahal

Nachlas Yitzchok and mechaber sifrei Minchas Chein. Following their audience with Rav Oelbaum, the shiur enjoyed indoor beach volleyball at Endless Summer in Oceanside and a delicious lunch at Crave in Woodmere.

Lechu V’Nelcha Shabbaton

Seminary is over. Now what? Graduating seminary is a tremendous milestone in a girl’s life. As the seminary graduate transitions from teenagerhood into adulthood, she anticipates moving onto the next stage in life, taking all that she’s learned and gained in school and seminary. She looks forward to building a home of her own founded on the ideals and hashkafos she’s absorbed. The waiting time in between can sometimes turn lonely and long, as sadly the idealism and passion she once harbored slowly dissipate.

R’ Menachem’s presence was a source of joy and strength for many, always ready with a warm smile and a helping hand for those in need. There was never not enough time for Menachem to call, visit or embrace others experiencing a personal struggle. He was a tzaddik in middos and was constantly learning and strengthening his emunah and bitachon in Hashem.

His love for Torah and his steadfast dedication to others left a lasting impact on all who knew him. His absence creates an immense void that will be profoundly felt by his family, friends and all who knew him and loved him. Yehi zichro baruch.

That’s where Lechu V’nelcha comes in. With organized weekly shiurim, geared for the post-seminary girl, Lechu V’nelcha enables girls to maintain what they’ve gained in their formative years and use these years as an opportunity for further growth and self-development. In addition, the weekly shiur provides the post-seminary girl with a rich social life and the chance to make new friends, transforming what could be a somewhat lonely period into a time filled with friends and laughter. With LVN branches in cities across the globe, LVN touches and enriches the lives of so many.

And then there’s the Lechu V’nelcha Shabbaton. Girls from all over the world gather to spend an uplifting Shabbos. The Shabbaton provides post-seminary girls with the unique opportunity of spending a Shabbos with like-minded girls in the same stage who, although from diverse backgrounds, share the same goals.

Lechu V’nelcha will be hosting its 36th bi-annual Shabbaton Shabbos Parshas Vayeishev. With attending rabbonim including Rav Todros Miller from Gateshead, Rav Nechemia Grama, Rav David Greenblatt, and Rav Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, as well as speakers and presenters such as Mrs. Batya Fhima, Rebbetzin Dinah Fink, Mrs. Debbie Greenblatt, Mrs. Slovie Jungreis-Wolf, Rebbetzin Rochel Lubin, and Mrs. Leah Rubashkin, the Shabbaton

is sure to be of superb depth and quality. The program will include concurrent shiurim, workshops, question and answer sessions, as well as the opportunity to meet with speakers one-on-one.

The Motzei Shabbos program will include entertainment and humor by Marion Fine and a beautiful kumzitz lead by the talented Malky Giniger. The Shabbaton promises to be an experience that no girl would want to miss.

For girls who’ve experienced an LVN Shabbaton, coming back is like coming home. Upon entering, those attending for the first time, are immediately enthralled by the aura of majesty and tranquility. The beauty of the ambiance is just a reflection of the true beauty of what takes place at an LVN Shabbaton. Brilliant shiurim as well as practical and thoughtprovoking workshops from choshuve rabbonim and sought-after speakers transform the Shabbos into anotherworldly experience. Truly m’ein Olam Haba. Additionally, having a variety of speakers, the Shabbaton caters to the varying interests of the many girls present and gifts each one with the opportunity to get in touch with her best self. Every girl experiences the feeling that no effort was spared to ensure she can have the most uplifting Shabbos possible.

The care and precision with which the program is planned, and the attention attended to every detail, are apparent in the elevating experience the Shabbaton proves to be. A girl who attends an LVN Shabbaton leaves feeling rejuvenated, refreshed, and deeply inspired.

She is ready to face the humdrum of routine with renewed optimism and vigor. She is her happiest, healthiest, most empowered self. We would love for the Far Rockaway/Five Towns branch to join!

For more information or to sign up for the 36th Lechu V’nelcha Shabbaton, please visit lechuvnelcha.org or email event@lechuvnelcha.org.

Talmidim at AEC Enjoy Top Golf

This Rosh Chodesh Kislev, talmidim at Yeshiva Ateres Eitz Chaim came together for an exciting and meaningful outing to Top Golf, a unique venue that combines the thrill of sports with the joy of achdus.

The day began with a special Rosh Chodesh davening, followed by delicious sufganiyot (doughnuts) and shiur. Talmidim and rabbeim drove to Top Golf, which gave everyone an opportunity to relax, enjoy each other’s company and

connect outside of shiur in a fun and relaxing environment. The memories made during this awesome Rosh Chodesh trip will be a constant reminder to every Rosh Chodesh, that Rosh Chodesh is a time for “hischadshus,” renewal – renewal in our growth, friendships and commitment to Yiddishkeit.

YUHSG Students Bring Aid to North Carolina

Chesed is a significant aspect of student life at the Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central). Over ten service-driven clubs now exist at Central, and throughout the years, students have made countless mission trips both locally and internationally to bring aid to those who need it most. Last week, a group of Central students traveled to southern Appalachia to help with Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Asheville, North Carolina. Flooding from the September hurricane proved catastrophic for much of western North Carolina. Central students were deeply motivated to visit this part of the country and lend help where they could. The group was led by Judaic Studies faculty member and YUHSG Programming Director, Mrs. Yael Axelrod.

“The mission to Asheville, North Carolina was an experience unlike anything our students have experienced,” Mrs. Axelrod said. “They participated in hands-on hurricane relief, cleaning out and breaking down a house devastated by Hurricane Helene. They learned to use tools they never used before, found strength within them that they didn’t know they had to carry and dispose of

heavy items, and worked as a team to get the job done. Most importantly, they got to know Linda, the owner of the house they worked on, listening to her stories and memories, and providing comfort to her at a difficult time.”

The group included sophomores Nilli Aharon and Emma Katz, as well as juniors Shayna Baumohl, Orli Fish, Eliana Gomberg, Ellie Gross, Shalhevet Koenigsberg, Gabrielle Kornblum, Dina Milchman, and Noa Shuval. The trip was part of an initiative supported by the Orthodox Union Relief Missions.

“I was excited to help people who were majorly affected by Hurricane Helene,” junior Gabrielle Kornblum said. “It’s important to help others. New Yorkers have been lucky because we haven’t been affected by any recent storms, but we have to be aware of those who have been and try to help them out.”

Junior Eliana Gomberg agreed: “It felt good to be able to help make someone’s house back into their home,” she said. The best part of the trip: the meaningful bond the students formed with homeowner Linda.

“What another wonderful, sweet, kind, giving, caring group of young peo -

A special thank you to Grandview Brokerage for sponsoring this amazing Rosh Chodesh outing.

ple you blessed me with!” Linda said. “They bring light back where it has been taken from my life, and fill each day I spend with them with delight. At the end of each day, I’m filled with their love and bright smiles.”

The entire month of December is Chesed Month at YUHSG. Other service initiatives that have taken place this year include trips to JCCRP’s Holocaust Survivor Food Distribution, as well as grade-wide initiatives to work with Ivdu, Masbia, Bobbie’s Place, the IDF Chesed Center, Yad Lead, and Shorefront JCC.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, YUHSG Associate Principal, Ms. Leah Moskovich, and Dean of Students, Mrs. Aliza Gewirtz, traveled to Israel for a week of chesed work with Central alumnae currently living and studying abroad.

“Our focus for this trip was reuniting through chesed—giving back to our brothers and sisters in Israel, especially during the season of Thanksgiving,” Ms. Moskovich said. “It was a chance for our alumnae to come together and give back in meaningful ways.”

The Nursery class at Shulamith ECC squeezed olives to make olive oil in preparation for Chanukah

Run for Amudim 2025: Running for their lives. Changing their story.

On February 2, 2025, as the sun rises over Miami, more than 25,000 runners from every corner of the world will take on the annual Miami Marathon. For some, it’s a personal goal; for others, it’s a chance to push their limits. For a special group running with Amudim, it’s a race that symbolizes hope, resilience, and the chance to rewrite lives.

This year’s #Run4Amudim campaign, themed “Run for Their Lives: Change Their Story,” speaks directly to the urgency felt by those Amudim supports. For individuals grappling with addiction, abuse, and mental health challenges, life itself can feel like an endless marathon—a race against obstacles that seem insurmountable. Amudim exists to change that narrative, stepping in as a lifeline, empowering people to envision and achieve futures they once believed were out of reach.

Running to Rewrite Lives

The Run4Amudim runners bring powerful stories and a shared commitment to the track this year, uniting to raise both awareness and funds. Each runner laces up not just for the physical challenge, but to stand with those facing emotional and psychological battles.

“When you run for Amudim,” says CEO Rabbi Zvi Gluck, “you’re not just joining a race. You’re becoming part of a team that’s rewriting lives.”

Take Dini, who runs in honor of her sister Malky, who lost her battle with addiction. Through Amudim’s platform, Dini has transformed her grief into action, creating a legacy that helps others avoid a similar fate. She’s found a way to turn tragedy into purpose, and in her words, “Every step I take is a step toward giving others the chance that Malky never had.”

A Team for Every Story

Amudim’s campaign this year is joined by unique teams, each with a

powerful purpose and a story to share. These teams are more than groups of runners; they are communities dedicated to raising awareness, breaking stigmas, and providing support. Together, they illustrate that no one should ever have to face hardship alone.

For Team Run to Remember, every step taken is dedicated to loved ones lost too soon. “We are a group united by love, loss, and the enduring strength of memories,” shares a team member. Running with purpose, this team turns grief into resilience, honoring the lives of those they’ve lost and carrying forward their spirit. Their journey isn’t about finishing a race; it’s about keeping those memories alive, drawing strength from shared stories, laughter, and cherished moments. They run not only to remember but to inspire others to embrace and honor life’s precious connections.

Team Hope embodies optimism and resilience, aiming to show others that they are never alone. “Our mission at Team Hope is to spread our butterfly wings wide enough to show our brothers and sisters that they are never alone,” explains a team leader. Running with the metaphor of the butterfly, this team is committed to providing hope and support for those in dark times, reminding them that peace and healing are possible. Through each mile, Team Hope members challenge their physical and mental limits while empowering others to embrace their struggles and find strength in community.

Led by Yanky and Shulem Lemmer, Team Lemmer is running with a powerful purpose: to break the cycles of trauma and abuse that impact so many in the community. “Amudim is an incredible organization that helps people rebuild and thrive during their toughest times,” Yanky shares. For Team Lemmer, running with Amudim is about making noise, raising funds, and ensuring no one

has to face their struggles alone. “This event is about coming together, having fun, and making a real difference,” says Yanky. Team Lemmer invites others to join or support them in this mission, to create a stronger community and help Amudim continue its vital work.

Led by mental health advocate Alyssa Goldwater, Team Worth It is on a mission to break down stigmas surrounding mental health, eating disorders, and neurodivergence. “Amudim and I have the same mission,” Alyssa shares, “ensuring that people do not have to suffer alone.” Alyssa, who openly shares her own recovery journey, runs to create a world where mental health challenges aren’t a source of shame. “I recover loudly so others don’t have to suffer in silence,” she says. Team Worth It reminds everyone that mental health is a part of life, and with support, everyone has the potential to live fully.

The all-women Team Missfit joins Amudim’s mission with a drive to empower women in all aspects of life. As a community grounded in fitness and self-empowerment, they recognize that mental and physical strength go hand in hand.

For the runners of #Run4Amudim, this journey goes beyond the physical challenge. It’s about bringing healing to others, as well as to themselves. As the marathon runner and mental health advocate Beatie Deutsch, another team leader, explains, “Running and mental health are so clearly connected. The mental benefits that come with a good run are unbelievable, and running has helped me on my own path.” For Beatie and countless others, running with Amudim isn’t just a race; it’s a movement for resilience, hope, and healing.

From Couch Potatoes to Marathoners

Run4Amudim is a call to everyone,

whether you’re a marathoner or just someone who wants to make a difference. This campaign isn’t just about personal fitness; it’s about personal commitment. “Whether you’re a self-proclaimed couch potato or a seasoned runner, every step you take is part of something bigger,” Gluck emphasizes. “We welcome everyone who wants to help create a world where everyone, regardless of their challenges, can get to the finish line.”

For Amudim’s team, the journey leading up to race day is transformative. Group chats buzz with messages of encouragement, stories of struggles overcome, and a shared goal: to be the lifeline for those in crisis. As runners train and fundraise together, they’re reminded that this isn’t just a race, but a movement that touches lives far beyond Miami.

A Finish Line for All

On February 2, 2025, these runners will cross the finish line as champions of resilience, perseverance, and compassion. They run not just to finish a marathon but to make a real, lasting impact on the lives of others. They run to create a world where everyone, no matter their challenges, can find strength, support, and healing.

Join us this year for #Run4Amudim, and be part of a community dedicated to running for the lives and changing the stories of those who need it. When we run together, we’re unstoppable.

The Run begins with an incredible and transformative Shabbos experience, hosted at the Hilton Aventura in Florida. Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz will be joining for the Shabbos, as well as Beatie Deutsch and Shulem Lemmer. Exceptional cuisine provided by Executive Caterers and Dunwell Pizza.

Register by December 31st to join the run and the shabbos!

Run4Amudim.com

The first graders at HALB enjoyed independent reading by the fire

BACH Jewish Center Fetes Long Beach Firefighters

On Thanksgiving morning, the BACH Jewish Center hosted a special program to honor the dedicated members of the Long Beach Fire Department. The event, aimed at recognizing the sacrifices and service of these local heroes, featured a heartfelt tribute when Jewish firefighter Sam Pinto was called to the Torah for an aliyah on behalf of his colleagues and the department. Following Shacharis, synagogue members, firefighters, and their families gathered in the social hall to share a meal of fresh bagels and more.

This program is part of an ongoing initiative by the BACH Jewish Center to

celebrate and acknowledge the efforts of Long Beach’s local heroes. It served as a meaningful way to express gratitude for the collective commitment of the entire fire department, whose members risk their lives to safeguard members of the community and their Long Beach neighbors.

“Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the blessings in our lives, and today, we also took a moment to recognize the brave men and women who keep us safe,” said the BACH’s Rabbi Benny Berlin, who also serves as chaplain for the Long Beach Police Department. “The Long Beach Fire Department exemplifies dedi-

HAFTR’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program

HAFTR recently concluded its dynamic and meaningful Bar/Bat Mitzvah education program, designed to prepare students to become thoughtful, respectful, and joyful participants in these milestone celebrations. The two-part series combined hands-on workshops, impactful chesed projects, and a Mock Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony to teach the values of Jewish tradition, celebration, and community.

The program began with an engaging workshop where students and their special guests explored the deeper sig-

nificance of mitzvot connected to bar and bat mitzvahs. Together, they examined texts highlighting their growing roles in the Jewish world and practiced the essential skill of simcha dancing. As part of their learning, the girls participated in a chesed project, crafting bracelets for Israeli girls celebrating their Bat Mitzvahs. Meanwhile, the boys pledged their tzedakah money from davening to a sefer Torah being written in memory of Ori Danino, HY”D.

The second part of the program brought students to Congregation Beth

cation and selflessness, and it’s an honor to thank them in such a heartfelt way.”

“It’s important that we take time to recognize those who serve the greater good—whether in law enforcement, the fire department, or other essential services. By honoring our local heroes, we hope to show them how much they are appreciated—not just on Thanksgiving, but every day,” he continued.

The event served as a poignant reminder of the crucial role that first responders play in the fabric of Long Beach, underscoring the city’s spirit of unity, where neighbors come together to support one another, especially during

times of challenge and celebration.

Sam Pinto is a 22-year veteran of the Long Beach Fire Department who has served as a full-time firefighter for the past 18 years. Long Beach’s sole Jewish professional firefighter, he was deeply moved by his being called to the Torah, which served as a powerful symbol of gratitude for the entire fire department.

“It’s a true honor to represent my colleagues today,” said Pinto. “Having the community come together to recognize our work is incredibly humbling. It is moments like these that make the difficult work we do even more meaningful.”

Sholom for a Mock Bar/Bat Mitzvah, where they learned about etiquette and appreciation for the ceremonies they will attend. Lessons included everything from waiting patiently to give or receive a Mazel Tov, using a coat check, writing thoughtful notes, and listening attentively to speeches by family and Rabbis. Principal Josh Gold inspired students by saying, “We want to teach you how to elevate, not detract from the simcha.”

Students put their new skills into action during a joyful mock celebration, complete with spirited dancing and

heartfelt moments. Throughout the program, the focus remained on instilling respect, kindness, and an understanding of how to contribute to the joy of every celebration.

“This program helps our students recognize the role they can play in creating meaningful and memorable simchas for themselves and others,” said Assistant Principal Yali Werzberger. With this initiative, HAFTR continues to nurture responsible, culturally aware individuals who honor the beauty of Jewish tradition.

Around the Community

My Extended Family: A Lifeline for Our Torah Community’s Most Vulnerable

In a world increasingly defined by fragmentation—of families, of communities, of relationships—it is perhaps the kinderlach who bear the heaviest burden of our broken ties. Divorce, once a quietly stigmatized phenomenon in the frum velt, has become more common, casting long shadows over the landscapes of young lives. While we might hesitate to weigh one form of childhood loss against another—the death of a parent versus the dissolution of the nuclear family —there is no denying the profound ache of instability that comes with being caught between worlds. This is where My Extended Family, a vital organization within our Torah community, has stepped into the breach. Founded more than a decade ago by Rabbi Yosef Vigler, My Extended Family is not merely a safety net but a lifeline for children aged 6 to 13 navigating the challenges of familial disruption. Today, the organization supports over 700 children with a growing community of alumni carrying its lessons of resilience and healing into their own lives and homes. Yet as divorce rates rise, even within the Torah community, where marriage is held as a sacred bond, the need for this work grows increasingly urgent.

The impetus for My Extended Family is rooted in an observation that is both searing and straightforward: Children are not untouched by the emotional economies of their parents. In fact, they are often the unintended currency. As Rabbi Vigler noted in an interview with the popular podcast, Meaningful People,

“The people who are supposed to love and care for you are instead using you as an object of their differences.” The emotional toll this “pawning” takes on a young neshama can linger far beyond childhood, influencing their ability to build healthy relationships and lead fulfilling lives according to Torah values.

At its core, My Extended Family seeks to counterbalance this instability by offering children a structured, nurturing environment. Through mentorship, programs, and resources, it creates a space where children feel supported, valued, and free from the burdens and deficits of their parents’ conflicts. But this crucial work cannot succeed without the involvement of the broader Torah community, especially its michanchim and mechanchos. Our yeshivos and girls’ schools are often the places where a child’s inner turmoil first becomes visible—manifesting in academic struggles, behavioral changes, or emotional withdrawal.

But this crucial work cannot succeed without the involvement of the broader Torah community, especially its mechanchim and mechanchos. Our yeshivos and girls’ schools are often the places where a child’s inner turmoil first becomes visible—manifesting in academic struggles, behavioral changes, or emotional withdrawal.

To address this pressing need, My Extended Family is hosting a pivotal Melava Malka titled, “What I Wish My Rebbe Knew.” Scheduled for this Motzei Shabbes, December 14, at Bais Tefila of Inwood, this event will gather rabbanim,

educators and communal leaders to discuss how best to support students facing these challenges. The evening will feature Rabbi Eytan Feiner of The White Shul, Dr. Norman Blumenthal, Director of Trauma, Bereavement, and Crisis Intervention at Ohel, and Rabbi Vigler. Together, they will share insights on how to approach these sensitive situations with wisdom and compassion, guided by Torah principles.

The title of the event, “What I Wish My Rebbe or Morah Knew,” is a poignant reminder that every child carries a world of unspoken struggles. It serves as a heartfelt plea to our educators to look beyond the surface—to recognize the enormous battles their students may be fighting outside the classroom and to respond with understanding and empathy. It is a call to embrace their role not only as transmitters of Torah knowledge but as guides and nurturers of the whole child.

For those involved in chinuch, attending this Melava Malka is not just an opportunity; it is a responsibility. Admission is free, but the tools and insights gained may prove invaluable in ensuring that every Yiddish kind in their care can thrive, both in their Torah learning and in their emotional and spiritual well-being. The work of My Extended Family is a profound expression of chessed and ahavas Yisrael. It reminds us of a fundamental truth: kol Yisrael areivim – the Torah community is not simply a collection of individuals but a tapestry of shared responsibility. Caring for our most vulnerable children—those caught in the crosswinds of adult decisions—is not merely an act of chessed. It is an act of tikkun, a restoration of harmony to lives and families that have been disrupted. And through this avodas hakodesh, we can hope to bring healing, stability, and shalom bayis to our children, to their futures, and to the wider Torah world.

At Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Mrs. Rothman’s fourth graders learning about magnetic force in the Yeshiva’s CIJE Science Laboratory

Big Sisters, Bigger Hearts: Five Towns’ TAG Teens Shine Meet the fifty awesome 11th grade students from TAG, who volunteer weekly as “Big Sisters” at My Extended Family’s after-school program in the Five Towns. By helping with homework, sharing dinner, and doing crafts, they provide girls from single-parent homes with a safe and supportive environment, helping each child feel valued, secure, and connected. Kol hakavod girls!

Big Brothers Yosef Yosipov and Dovid Koschitzki help their Little Brothers stay on track and feel supported

Partnership with MTA Talmidim and Whitwell Middle School

In 1998, Whitwell Middle School began an afterschool Holocaust education program. When one of the students asked what the number 6 million looks like, the paper clips project was born. Many of us have seen the documentary that tells the amazing story of how this small town in Tennessee became the seat of Holocaust education for many in Tennessee and beyond.

Twenty-five years later, we are pleased to be partnering with this unique Holocaust education program and expand their museum offerings to include the ability to meet our Jewish students and ask us questions about Jewish culture, tradition and experience. The joint venture with MTA is beginning with a pen-pal exchange so that the MTA eighth grade docents can get to know our stu-

dent volunteers and can ask their own questions before we become part of the exhibit.

Stay tuned for the next stage of the project!

HAFTR Spreads Chanukah Joy Through Chessed

Chanukah is a time of light and joy, and HAFTR Lower School students embraced the holiday spirit with a beautiful chesed project. In a meaningful act of kindness, students filled toy dreidels with sweets to be gifted to children at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center.

Through this heartwarming initiative, our students learned the importance of bringing smiles to others, especially during the holiday season. These small, thoughtful packages will undoubtedly brighten the days of children spending Chanukah away from home.

We are so proud of our students for spreading the light of Chanukah and embodying the true spirit of the holiday!

Mesivta Ateres Yaakov Shines at Prestigious CIJE and Shark Tank Competitions

Three talented Mesivta Ateres Yaakov students, Rafi Klahr, Yehuda Orbach, and Avi Traube, represented their Yeshiva at the recent CIJE Tank competition. Under the expert guidance of MAY engineering instructor, Mr. Pinchas Fiber, the team showcased exceptional creativity and engineering prowess.

The group’s groundbreaking invention, a Shabbos-compliant alarm clock, was a standout at the annual CIJE competition last year. This device allows Shabbos-observant users to set an alarm on Shabbos, addressing a longstanding

challenge while enhancing quality of life. The Shabbos Alarm Clock not only secured first place at last year’s competition, but also earned them a coveted spot in this year’s CIJE Shark Tank competition. This Shark Tank event, held last week, featured only 12 top inventions from among hundreds across the nation.

Mr. Fiber praised his students’ determination and ingenuity.

“It’s incredible to see the talent and commitment these young men bring to their work. Rafi, Yehuda and Avi represent the best of MAY, and their achievements inspire us all.”

Be My Guest Kislev Updates

By Chaya Feldstein

“It’s an honor and a privilege,” words that echo in my head. Rabbi Yehoshua Kalish, zt”l, always made me feel so comfortable as a guest in their home many Shabbos and Yom Tov meals. Be My Guest hopes to perpetuate that memory.

Last week Tuesday night at the White Shul’s pre-Chanukah boutique, Be My Guest hosted a booth to publicize what we do. Those who signed up were entered to a raffle to win a free sourdough by Ester. When people learned that it was about awareness and sensitivity –to think of the people that they already know who may be alone – the response was quite enthusiastic! People who find themselves alone and in the position of

guest don’t appreciate a “cold” call. They very much enjoy it when someone they know reaches out.

We are gearing up for Chanukah. “Who will light up your table this Chanukah?” Is there anyone you may know who you sit near in shul, a colleague at work, a relative or someone in your neighborhood that you can reach out to for a dinner on one of the 8 days of Chanukah?

Inclusiveness is the name of the game! It’s the little things, like the small flask of oil that lasted for all 8 days…those make a difference more than imaginable!

Inclusiveness also means that if you are buying your children or family gifts and giving it out in front of your guests, it would make the guest feel so good if they were gifted something too. It’s the small things….

We were so looking forward to have Rabbi Krohn speak on January 6 at the White Shul. We wish him a complete refuah. In the meantime, we asked Rabbi Daniel Kalish to address the audience b’ezras Hashem on January 6 at 8:15 pm, in the White Shul, “Caring and Sensitivity, An Aspect to Hachnosos Orchim.” Please stay tuned for details and updates. In the meantime, A freilechen Chanukah!

Exploring Halachic Dilemmas of War and Terror

By Zvi Ryzman

In his recently released book, Exploring Halachic Dilemmas of War and Terror, Zvi Ryzman examines the complex question of desecrating Shabbos to address a potential future life-threatening situation in situations of war and terror. Here, he explores a related issue: if one violated Shabbos to save a life, is it permissible for him to return home if doing so would involve further chillul Shabbos?

The Mishnah (Eruvin 4:3) states: One who went out [of the techum] when it was permissible (such as to testify about the new moon, or to save people from an approaching army or from a river, or to aid a woman in childbirth), and they told him that it was already completed (meaning that Beis Din already sanctified the month, or the people were already spared from the danger, or the woman already gave birth, and thus there is no need to continue on his way, and now he is outside his techum and therefore, according to the letter of the law, he may move only within four cubits and is forbidden to go back to his original place); [nevertheless, Rabban Gamliel instituted that] he may go two thousand cubits in any direction... All those who go out to save [a life] may return to their places of origin.

Rambam codifies this as halachah (Hil. Shabbos 27:17): If one went out with

permission, and while he was already on his way, they told him that what he was sent out to do was already done, he has two thousand cubits in every direction. And if part of the area from which he left with permission overlaps into the two thousand cubits that he now has from his current location, he may return to his place of origin as if he had not left. And whoever goes out to save Jews from gentiles, from the river, or from a fallen building has two thousand cubits in all directions from his destination. But if the local gentiles are menacing, and [the Jews] are afraid to stay for Shabbos in the place of rescue, they are permitted to go back to their place of origin on Shabbos, with their weapons.

This is also codified in Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 407:3). The reason for this special allowance to return home is mentioned in Rambam elsewhere (Hil. Shabbos 2:23), “in order not to deter them in the future [since they would hesitate to go on a future rescue mission if they would be stranded for the rest of Shabbos].”

Based on this consideration, Igros Moshe (Orach Chaim 4:80) permits Hatzalah members who drive in response to a life-saving call on Shabbos to return to their homes on Shabbos, even at the cost of additional chillul Shabbos, “in order not to deter them in the future.”

Kehillos Yaakov (cited in Orchos Rabbeinu, Vol. 1, p. 45) also ruled: “…in

the name of Chazon Ish, that we cannot forbid a doctor who travels to a patient on Shabbos to return to his home by car, so as not to deter him in the future from traveling to a patient on Shabbos.”

R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, however, discussing at length (Minchas Shlomo 1:8) whether a doctor called to care for a sick patient may violate Shabbos to return home, writes:

Although to our great pain, there are many doctors who will treat this lightly, and for whom we have a real concern that they may abstain from saving a choleh if they will be unable to return by car to their homes, nevertheless, we do not have the power to permit Torah prohibitions on this basis. We find in Chasam Sofer (Choshen Mishpat §194) only an allowance for a doctor to be brought home by a gentile, for this reason, that if we did not allow it, the doctor may abstain from going the next time. Nevertheless, the elder has already ruled…but at the very least, let us not add onto this and permit even melachah d’Oraisa.

Now it would seem that the heter to return home after saving a life — even if this involves chillul Shabbos — is based upon the concern of a sakanas nefashos in the future, and we may therefore desecrate Shabbos even now. Based on what we have seen, the poskim disagree whether a concern for a future sakanas nefashos permits only Rabbinic violations but not Biblical violations.

The heter to take pictures of terror on Shabbos out of concern for the terrorist’s future actions would be subject to this dispute — and according to R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, would be permitted only if does not involve a Biblical violation.

Reprinted from Exploring Halachic Dilemmas of War and Terror by Zvi Ryzman with permission from the copyright holder, ArtScroll Mesorah Publications.

YOUR UPGRADED SUMMER EXPERIENCE in Israel in Israel

Join us for an unforgettable summer in the heart of Eretz Yisrael! For the Bais Yaakov girl entering 9th-12th grade who is looking for the experience of her lifetime in Eretz Hakodesh, our uplifting staff and upbeat trips and activities will keep you inspired and help you build friendships that last a lifetime. Unwind in comfort at the upscale D-Hotel in Ma’ale Adumim after each exciting and fun-filled day.

JULY 2 - JULY 28 This is a summer experience you won’t want to miss!

The bravest thing I’ve ever seen was a child, my child, walking into the school building full of friends she’ll never make, books she’ll never read, and goals she’ll never reach. As she walks in through the doors of the school, they swallow her up, her shoulders set back hands on the knapsack strings, head down, determined to have a good day. And yet, as unhappy as she is, she wakes up each morning and walks into a school that won’t accept her, wearing a uniform she’s not committed to, and carrying a heavy heart of the “I’m not good enough, normal enough” mantra. And when she comes home, there is a wrinkle of worry on her sweet face. She says what she hears: “I am dumb, I am weird, and I have no friends.”

The older she gets, the more heartbreaking it becomes. This year, she did not get accepted to high school. She knows that her marks are too low, that she will never catch up to girls her age, that she is different, ad that life is hard. She struggles making friends, and the ones that she has are dropping her slowly. Her heart is pure and innocent, and she doesn’t understand why life is so unfair and bitter.

When Shaina was young, I envisioned

Voice N tes

Silhouettes

By Anonymous

a good life for her. I sent her to the best school. I made her the greatest birthday parties. I dressed her well so she could belong. I spent time with her, took her on trips, and supervised playdates, making sure that her friends had the best time ensuring a possible comeback.

And yet, all of that doesn’t matter anymore. It feels like she is in a per -

so sweet and innocent. She is a gullible child, one who seems to be stuck at a young age where things have to be explained and simplified for her. She tries so hard to hold onto her friends, to act cute and dress cool, to be accepted in a world cruel enough to reject her and her endless will to participate in it. And all I can do is watch this and keep telling her

And when she comes home, there is a wrinkle of worry on her sweet face. She says what she hears: “I am dumb, I am weird, and I have no friends.”

manent state of bitterness and anger. I rarely see a smile on her serious and worried face anymore. She is unhappy. It seems to me that she forgot the days when she was young and carefree. Like she doesn’t remember smiling and having a good time.

Shaina has a piece of my heart, and I love her so much that it hurts. She is

how much I love her and how amazing she really is. But even that, she dismisses as untruth, as the people around her prove her otherwise over and over again. Each child is a special, unique experience, but not every child will find her place. The future seems too far to count on when you watch your child suffer daily. When she tells me she can’t do it

anymore, who do you turn to for help? A menaheles who is under the stress of running a school and has to bow down to policies and politics? A rav who is in charge of a shul but has never met Shaina? A close friend who throws out ideas at you like a firing squad, expecting you to take them and use them and when you don’t she looks at you as if you are a bad mom?

I question myself all the time. I get judged all the time. But no one has ever walked in my shoes to know what it really is like to be Shaina’s mother. The only other person who understands me is my husband, and he struggles raising her, too. Sometimes we look at each other in fear after another explosion, another meltdown, and another disappointment that Shaina encounters – afraid because we don’t have the answers to our daughter’s cries for help.

So here I stand, the ever-heartbroken parent, praying for a reprieve from the constant pain that I carry for Shaina. I love her so much, and yet I’m so powerless. I love her so much, but my belief in the humankind has dwindled. I feel more isolated than ever. So picture us as a silhouette, me with my arm around Shaina, staring at the galaxies of stars, hoping to someday be a part of your world.

TJH Centerfold

From Syria to Moscow

Now that former Syrian strongman Hafez al-Assad has fled to Russia, here are some things that will take some getting used to:

His gold-plated bathroom in Damascus is now a shared toilet down the hall, with graffiti that says, “Long live Lenin!”

In Syria, he covered his face to avoid sandstorms; in Moscow, he will have to cover his face to avoid frostbite.

His entourage of elite guards is now one guy named Sergei, who smells like pickles and vodka and wears an ill fitted t-shirt that has a wear-andtear hole to the left of the belly button area.

His armored motorcade has been downgraded to a 1982 Pinto with no brakes, held together by duct tape.

Forget lamb feasts—now he’s staring at cold, quivering meat jelly, trying to figure out if it’s dessert or a dare.

You Gotta Be Kidding Me

He used to fly private jets; now he’s crammed into a bus that smells like wet socks, with a driver named Oleg who’s blasting ‘90s techno and asking, “You like Putin, yes?”

In Syria, he fought warlords. In Moscow, he’s battling old babushkas who body-check him for the last cabbage at the market.

In Syria, if he angered Putin, he didn’t get his shipment of weapons. In Moscow, if he angers Putin, he will decide to jump out of the 16th story window.

In Syrian, Assad had to figure out how to run a country. In Russia, he has to figure out how to get from “Кузьминки” to “Кропоткинская” without ending up in Siberia.

Stalin’s ghost appears to Putin in a dream, and Putin asks for his help running the country. Stalin says, “Throw all your detractors out of windows and then paint the inside of the Kremlin blue.”

“Why blue?” Putin asks.

“Ahh!” says Stalin. “I knew you wouldn’t ask me about the first part.”

Welcome to Russia Triva

Now that Assad has taken up residence in Mother Russia, it’s time for him to brush up on his knowledge of his new homeland. (Yes, he’s a TJH reader…long story.)

1. In the past three years, how many of Putin’s adversaries mysteriously died by falling out of windows?

a. 2

b. 4

c. 7

d. 12

2. The constitution of the USSR declared that the responsibility of all citizens was the following:

a. To love the motherland

b. To drink vodka like a fish

c. Live life to the fullest

d. Labor

3. The official residence of the Russian president is the Kremlin in Moscow. What does “Kremlin” mean?

a. Fortress

b. The Best

c. Headquarters

d. Pinnacle

4. The Russian Federation was established following the disbanding of the Soviet Union. Who was the Federation’s first president?

a. Smirinoff Wodka

b. Viktor Chernomyrdin

c. Boris Yeltsin

d. Mikhail Gorbachev

5. Russia does not share a border with which of the following countries:

a. China

b. South Korea

c. Mongolia

d. Poland

6. Who was in charge of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

a. Khrushchev

b. Gorbachev

c. Brezhnev

d. Stalin

7. What did Putin work as in the 1980s?

a. Moscow banker

b. Doctor

c. KGB spy

d. Ski instructor

8. What did Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev do at the 1960 U.N. Assembly meeting?

a. He refused to shake President Eisenhower’s hand

b. He took out a bottle of vodka and made a toast

c. He took off his shoe during his speech and started banging it on the lectern

d. He brought his daughter up to the lectern and had her stand by his side during his speech

9. What was Sputnik 1?

a. The name of the Russian warship that came within 15 miles of Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

b. The world’s first artificial satellite launched by the USSR in 1957, resulting in the U.S. vs. USSR space race.

c. The name of a jail created by Stalin.

d. The title of the USSR Constitution.

Answers:

1-D

2-D

3-A

4-C

5-B

6-A

7-C

8-C 9-B

Wisdom Key:

6-9 correct: Mr. Assad, seems like you read up on your new home country!

3-5 correct: Unless you live in the Ukraine (in which case, the USSR is a bit too close for comfort), it’s okay that you are only moderately educated on the great bastion of Communism.

0-2 correct: как вам не стыдно

(Just in case you don’t speak Russian, it means “shame on you.”) Stay away from windows!

Torah Thought

Parshas Vayishlach

By Rabbi Berel Wein

The struggle with Eisav’s angel, as described in the parsha, represents a spiritual and intellectual fight, a contest of ideas, beliefs and debate. The meeting with the physical Eisav in turn represents the struggle of the Jewish people to simply stay alive in a bigoted, cruel, and nearly fatal environment.

Yaakov does not escape unscathed

from either confrontation. He is crippled physically and somewhat impoverished financially. Eisav’s “evil eye” gazes upon his children and Yaakov is relieved to escape alive, even if damaged in body and purse, separating himself from Eisav physically and from his civilization and worldview.

The scenario is pretty much set for the long dance of Jewish history, with

the Jews always attempting to survive in a constantly challenging and brutal society governed by Eisav. The rabbis of Midrash discussed the possibilities of coexistence and even cooperation with Eisav. Though this debate did not result in any permanent or convincing conclusion, the opinion of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai that Eisav’s hatred of Yaakov is completely irrational and implacable seems to be borne out by history, past and present. The antisemitism in to -

what philosophy or culture he now advocates. We limp today from this attack on Jewish values and Torah study and practice.

Jewish parents in America sue school boards for antisemitic attitudes, policies and behavior. Yet they would not dream of sending their children to a Jewish school or giving them an intensive Jewish education. The lawsuit is the indicator of the limp inflicted upon us by Eisav’s cultural angel.

The angel of Eisav changes his program from time to time, but he is always opposed to Torah and moral behavior.

day’s seemingly enlightened world is so pervasive as to be frightening. And we seem to be powerless to do anything about it.

As is painfully obvious to all, these struggles for continued Jewish existence are ongoing and seemingly unending. All of the foreign ideas and current fads of Western society stand almost unanimously opposed to Torah values and traditional lifestyle. The angel of Eisav changes his program from time to time, but he is always opposed to Torah and moral behavior. He wavers from totalitarian extreme conservatism to wild liberalism but always is able to wound the Jewish psyche and body no matter

All agree that Europe is currently a lost continent as far as Jews are concerned. The question most asked of travel agents by Jews today is “Can I wear a kippah on the street there?” Billions of dollars of Jewish treasure pillaged during World War II and immediately thereafter still lie in the hands of Eisav. And yet we certainly would be satisfied if the world just let us alone but that seems to be a forlorn hope. So our struggle continues, but the L-rd’s promise to us that we will somehow prevail remains valid and true. And that is our hope for continuing on as loyal and steadfast Jews.

Shabbat shalom.

We gain a remarkable perspective on how to see the Torah’s eternal relevance in our lives from a remark by Rav Shmuel ben Meir, Rashi’s grandson, known as the Rashbam, zt”l. The Rashbam writes in his introduction to Parshas Vayeishev, “Rebbeinu Shlomo [Rashi], my mother’s father, who illuminates the eyes of the exile and who explains all of Tanach, was very careful to explain the simple meaning of the pasukim. I, Shmuel ben Meir, the grandson, also intend, with him and before him [to explain according to the simple meaning]. And he conceded to me that if he had time, he would have necessarily offered other explanations according to the explanations which renew themselves every day.”

The Rashbam’s words are astounding. New understandings of the Torah make themselves known constantly. The Torah always reveals itself in new ways we would never have been able to understand in earlier times and places. It only reveals its new depths when the proper time comes from such revelation.

For example, anyone who has ever studied the seforim of Rav Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, Hy”d, the Aish Kodesh, is astounded by the way he explains pasukim in light of the horrendous suffering he and his chassidim faced during the valley of tears that was the Holocaust. It is clear that only a sanctified heart and soul enduring such unspeakable suffering at that time and place could have explained the Torah the way he did.

Another example of this was a conversation that took place between a survivor of the Holocaust and the Pshevorker Rebbe of Antwerp, Reb Itzikel, zy”a The chassid asked, “There are two lines in the Avinu Malkeinu that seem to echo

From the Fire

Parsahas Vayishlach The Hands of Eisav

By Rav Moshe Weinberger

Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

the same sentiment: ‘Our Father, our King, act for the sake of those who were murdered for Your Holy Name,’ followed by ‘Our Father, our King, act for the sake of those slaughtered for Your Oneness.’

What is the difference between those who are murdered ‘for Your holy Name’ and those who are ‘slaughtered for Your Oneness?’”

The survivor asked if he might suggest his own answer, and the Rebbe assented.

“The Nazis marched into my town and rounded up the Jews, approximately a hundred men, and lined them up side by side, at the river’s edge. Then one of the Nazis lifted his machine gun and began to shoot, starting from the right side. All the Jews raised their voices at once and cried out, “Shema Yisroel!” The ones on the right side were unable to complete Shema, while those on the left managed to say all the words before falling into the river. Those on the right side were murdered by the word ‘Hashem,’ His holy Name, while those on the left, who managed to finish the phrase, were slaugh -

tered after reciting the word ‘Echad,’ His Oneness. That is the difference between those who are killed ‘for Your Holy Name’ and those who were killed ‘for your Oneness.’”

Only a Yid who survived the Holocaust, the worst nightmare in our history, could have explained the words of davening in this way.

Everything that happens in the world becomes part of the lens through which the human mind delves into the Torah. That explanation then becomes part of the way the eternal Torah communicates its message according to the unique character and experiences of each Jewish community, wherever they live and in whatever age. Chazal say, “The Holy One looked into the Torah and created the world” (Zohar 161a). Because the Torah is the “blueprint” for the world, the way the world exists at every time and place is a manifestation of some nuance of the Torah’s truth. So when we look to see the Torah’s message for us in our own unique circumstances, we actually reveal an as -

pect of the Torah’s light that only first became discernable right now.

From the Hands of My Brother, from the Hands of Eisav

Let us see how to understand Yaakov’s tefillah in light of our own circumstances today. The Zohar (139a) quotes the pasuk (Bereishis 32:12), “Please save me from the hands of my brother, from the hands of Eisav, for I am afraid of him, that he may strike me [and] a mother with children.” It explains, “We see from here that when one prays, he must explain his words clearly. ‘Please save me…’ If you will say that this means ‘Please save me from Lavan,’ [the pasuk continues,] ‘from the hands of my brother.’ And if you will say this means ‘from other relatives’ who are also called ‘brothers,’ [the pasuk continues,] ‘from the hands of Eisav.’”

Hashem built all of world history into the Torah. Yaakov’s tefillah to be saved from his brother is the eternal prayer for our salvation from Eisav’s threats throughout our continuing struggle against Eisav even now.

Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l, also known as the Beis HaLevi, explains that Eisav, the progenitor of the Western world, attempts to destroy us in two very different ways. Through most of history, Christianity attacked us with evil decrees, forced conversions, wars, inquisitions, expulsions, and physical annihilation. These are “the hands of Eisav.” The second method employed by Eisav is an attempt to induce us to abandon our faith by acting like a good and caring friend, as Eisav personally attempted to do when he said to Yaakov (Bereishis 33:12), “Let me go along together with you.” These are “the hands of my brother.”

This is similar to the way Reb Elazar

explains the Torah’s description of the Jewish slaves’ work in Egypt as “b’farach, backbreaking” (Shemos 1:13). He says that “b’farach, backbreaking” is a contraction of the words, “peh rach, soft mouth.” In other words, Pharaoh enslaved the Jews by first speaking softly with them, pretending to be their friends. He thus lulled them into letting their guards down and volunteering to work to fulfill their civic duties. It only became apparent afterward that he had manipulated them into slavery.

This is why Yaakov Avinu asked Hashem, “Please save me from the hands of my brother” and also “from the hands of Eisav.” He was davening that Hashem save him not only from Eisav’s attempt to kill him, i.e., “the hands of Eisav.” He also asked to be saved from “the hands of my brother,” which can be even more insidious.

It is known that shortly before the death of the tzaddik Reb Menachem Mendel of Visheve, zy”a, of Vizhnitz, in 1939, the Nazis were already a looming presence in Romania, which ultimately allied itself with Nazi Germany. Reb Mendeleh was the son of the Ahavas Yisroel of Vizhnitz, zy”a, and was known as a great genius. Before the war, he led a yeshiva with 400 students, many of whom moved to Eretz Yisroel. The Rebbe was in in the city of Khust on Parshas Vayishlach when he taught at seudah shlishis that Yaakov Avinu saw what would happen at the end of days, when he davened, “Please save me from the hands of my brother, from the hands of Eisav.” He saw that the Jews would be squeezed between the Nazis on one side and the Russians on the other.

Reb Mendeleh explained that the Nazis say openly that they want to wipe us out. “But,” he said, “the Russians closed the shuls, yeshivos, and mikvahs thirty years ago!” Yaakov therefore davened for us, “Please save me from the hands of my brother.” This refers to the Russians who act like brothers and call themselves our “comrades.” But Yaakov Avinu also davened for our salvation from the Germans when he said, “from the hands of Eisav,” i.e., from those who make no secret of the fact that they are trying to destroy us.

Reb Mendeleh then explained the continuation of Yaakov’s tefillah, “…for I am afraid of him, that he may strike me [and] a mother with children.” When Yaakov said, “I am, anochi, afraid of him,” he was referring to Russia, which worked to extinguish any Jewish spark and make us forget that “I am, anochi, the L-rd your G-d.” But Yaakov was also saying that he was afraid of the Germans, who “strike me [and] a mother with children.” Reb

Mendeleh was then quiet for a moment before continuing, “Who knows who will be left? Perhaps one in a city or two in a family... Whoever can should try to escape to Eretz Yisroel or to America.” Because of his great influence on his students, many

operandi was not the sword. Rather, it was an attempt to reach out to us in “friendship” to induce us to abandon Hashem in favor of Greek religion and culture.

The Megaleh Amukos, zt”l, explains the following tefillah by Dovid HaMel-

The Torah always reveals itself in new ways we would never have been able to understand in earlier times and places.

of them were saved. Reb Mendeleh’s students later moved his burial place to Eretz Yisroel in 1964.

Yaakov’s Tefillah for Us

What does Yaakov Avinu’s tefillah in the Torah, whose meaning renews itself for us every day, mean now? In this golden exile in the Western world, “Please save me from the hands of my brother,” no doubt refers to the Western world, whose welcoming approach threatens to cause us to forget the true “I” – “I am the L-rd your G-d.” Eisav has never felt more welcoming than he does right now. They are no longer persecuting or killing us. They are no longer throwing us into gas chambers. Just the opposite. They embrace us, offering us every delicacy and luxury, killing us softly with their song. The sweet embrace of college life, the street, workaholism, and the Internet snuff out so many Jewish souls.

The Gemara (Sanhedrin 98a) says that Moshiach will come like a poor man riding on a donkey, chamor. The Maharal, zt”l, explains, based on the fact that the Hebrew word for physicality, chamriyos, shares the same root as the word for donkey, that Moshiach riding on a donkey means that he “rides” – exerts control over – physicality. At this time in history, we are meant to harness and ride physicality, enlisting it to assist us in our Divine service. But in the hands of Eisav, physicality is riding us. We are its servants, snapping to attention at every peep and buzz emitted by our phones. These are “the hands of my brother” from which we ask to be saved today.

Chazal teach that in the last chapter in the Roman exile, Yishmael will take over “the hands of Eisav.” They plot to destroy us every single day. These are the forces we must call out by name in our tefillos. Chanukah is the time of “the hands of my brother.” The Greeks’ primary modus

ech (Tehillim 118:7) in a remarkable way, “Hashem is for me with my friends and I shall see my enemies.” Dovid is asking Hashem, “Master of the World, if I have enemies who masquerade as my friends, please help me recognize who they truly are so that ‘I shall see my enemies.’” At least by recognizing the pleasant culture of the Western world as a form of anesthesia, numbing us to feelings of Yiddishkeit, we will not let our guard down. Instead, we will vigilantly ride and utilize the physicality at our disposal for our Divine

service and not be ridden by it.

We need Moshiach so much right now. The descendants of Yishmael are killing Jews all over the world. And we are bleeding on the inside as well. I once met with a nice yeshiva bochur who attends yeshiva every day, studies Torah, goes to shiurim, and even enjoys his shiurim. But he no longer keeps most of the mitzvos. I asked him whether he still puts on tefillin, and he responded that he does so perhaps once per week. I asked him how he can go to shiurim and study Torah without keeping the mitzvos and he merely shrugged and responded, “I do enjoy the shiurim. I have good rebbeim. I just don’t feel the rest.”

The “hands of my brother” are sapping the feeling from our souls. We need Moshiach to once again cause us to regain mastery over physicality. We therefore beg Hashem to save us from the enticing “hands of my brother” as well as the fearsome “hands of Eisav” through the arrival of the complete redemption, may it come soon in our days!

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

Think. Feel.Grow.

Deeper Into the Journey

By Rabbi Shmuel Reichman

In our previous article, we began exploring the deep and inspiring ideas relating the importance of the Jewish people’s journey through the Midbar. After all, the Torah doesn’t waste a single word; every word has infinite meaning. Thus, if the Torah went out of its way to mention every single place that Klal Yisrael encamped along their long journey through the Midbar, there must be a fundamental message that the Torah is trying to teach us. We began our discussion by emphasizing the importance of each step in any journey. Every single step creates ripples throughout every aspect of our lives; every thought, word, action, and decision has infinite, cosmic reverberations and repercussions.

We will now take our discussion to the next level, starting with developing an understanding of the fundamental purpose and importance of a goal.

The Purpose of the Goal

In essence, the goal is necessary, but its importance lies only in how it allows you to journey toward greatness. Every goal is only temporary, for whenever you accomplish it, you will almost immediate-

ly create a new one. There are even times when we realize that our goal was not even possible or appropriate to begin with, but it still helped us progress in the right direction. The greatest joy does not come from arriving at our goals but from the journey itself — the striving itself, the process of progress, and the continued elevation of our existential self.

The Ramban quotes the claims of the fools who challenge the worth of pursuing truth. After all, if we will never reach absolute truth, as it transcends our limited minds, what then is the point in pursuing wisdom? Better not to journey at all.

The Ramban responds with a profound insight: The goal is not to reach absolute truth, as this is impossible. The goal is to endlessly strive along the winding path toward truth, getting ever closer, even if the ultimate endpoint remains elusive. Every single step we take is progress, and this is the goal of life — an endless journey, but one in which we enjoy every single stage of growth and evolution. (In a deeper sense, many understand Olam Haba as another stage of growth and self-expansion. We will never be “finished” with our purpose of ex-

isting. There are simply different stages of this process, but at our very core, we will journey forever.) This provides an additional explanation for why the Torah describes Klal Yisrael’s journey in such detail; the journey itself is infinitely important.

This is why all the encampments are listed in the Torah. The Jewish people were on a spiritual journey, and every step along the way was essential to that journey. It wasn’t only about arriving at Eretz Yisrael; it was about growing through every step of the journey, every step of the process.

The Personal Megillah

A worthwhile journey often includes a long winding path, twisting and turning in all directions, leading you on a seemingly endless quest. Then, at the very last moment, there can be a sudden revelation that retroactively changes your perspective on the entire journey! Like a twist ending in a great story, the last turn can change the way you perceive the entire quest. This is the nature of the final geulah (redemption). When Mashiach comes, we will suddenly see how all of history was leading us toward our ultimate destination. This is why

the end of days is compared to laughter. One laughs when there is a sudden change and the destination one thought they were heading toward suddenly shifts into something completely unexpected.

(Yitzchak’s name means “laughter,” and he is associated with Mashiach. His birth should have been an impossibility, as his mother, Sarah Imeinu, was barren. When Avraham and Sarah heard the news of Yitzchak’s future birth, they both laughed, as this news was the complete opposite of their natural expectations. The story of Yosef and the brothers is another example of this spiritual concept. Yosef puts the brothers through trials and tribulations, causing the brothers tremendous hardship and confusion. Yosef’s sudden revelation of “Ani Yosef, ha’od avi chai — I am Yosef, is my father still alive?” creates a sudden retroactive revelation, a twist that creates a subjective reframing of the entire story in the eyes of the brothers.)

The same is true in our own lives. Sometimes, only by looking back and putting all the scattered pieces together can we finally see the beauty and hashgachah in events that occurred throughout

our lives. Any individual moment of your life might seem meaningless, but held in context of your entire life, this moment suddenly shines with infinite brilliance; it’s now seen as fundamental and deeply meaningful. As we have mentioned before, this is why the baalei machshavah suggest writing your own personal “megillah,” keeping an account of events, experiences, and choices that occur throughout your life. Megillas Esther contains no open miracle, but when you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, and read them in order, you clearly see the yad Hashem (hand of G-d), how all the seemingly random events fit together so perfectly to create the hidden miracle of Purim. The word “megillah” (scroll) shares the same root as the words le’galgel (to roll) and me’galeh (to reveal). When we roll through the scroll of the megillah, we reveal the presence and hashgachah of Hashem.

The same is true for our own personal story. Each individual event or experience may seem insignificant and happenstance, but if we put all the pieces together, connecting the dots between the seemingly random events, we begin to see the magic manifest in our own personal megillah. We can suddenly see the turning points in our lives; we retroactively perceive the life-changing decisions and events that until now seemed meaningless and random. Whether it was choosing a specific school, meeting a friend or spouse at a specific time, or visiting a certain place when we did, our past becomes a masterpiece, ready for us to admire and appreciate. On a larger scale, only by seeing all the various stages and details of Klal Yisrael’s journey in the Midbar could we appreciate the bigger story that was taking place.

There is another layer to this idea as well. Very often, we set out in life with grand goals and a vivid vision for our future. Many years later, when recalling that vision, we realize that we ended up somewhere drastically different than we had originally intended. This is the beauty of a spiritual journey. We set out with tremendous hishtadlus, hoping that our goals are rooted in the pursuit of a higher truth, a higher purpose. But simultaneously, we must have a deep sense of bitachon that wherever we end up is the ratzon Hashem (We do not put in a measure of hishtadlus and a measure of bitachon; we embark with one hundred percent hishtadlus and one hundred percent bitachon as well. In retrospect, we can look back and see how different Hashem’s plans were from our original ones, but in the now, we must devote all our energy into achieving the greatness that we currently believe is our true purpose.)

Humanity as Journeyers

Until now, we have shown the beauty and depth of the spiritual journey, but we have not yet reached the essence of what it means for mankind to journey. There is a profound truth within the concept of journeying that touches on the very root

the malachim accept Hashem’s will to give the Torah to the Jewish People, even giving Moshe spiritual gifts, and Moshe is able to descend with the Torah.

What is the meaning of this cryptic passage? Moshe’s claim for why the Jewish People are deserving of the Torah fo -

Sometimes, only by looking back and putting all the scattered pieces together can we finally see the beauty and hashgachah in events that occurred throughout our lives.

of what it means to be human. As humans, we don’t simply journey; we are journeyers, we are becomers. Our very essence is to become, to expand, to evolve, and to transcend our limitations. Our tzelem Elokim — the spark of G-dliness within us — does not grant us innate perfection but rather gives us the innate ability to become perfect.

The Gemara (Shabbos 88b) describes Moshe Rabbeinu’s journey as he ascended Har Sinai to receive the Torah. Upon his arrival on top, the malachim began complaining to Hashem, claiming that man has no right to receive the Torah. The malachim believed that they were far superior to mortal beings and the Torah should therefore remain with them. After all, human beings are lowly and fallible and will only desecrate it. Hashem tells Moshe to respond to these claims. Moshe is initially too scared to respond to the malachim and tells Hashem that he is “afraid that they will burn him alive.” Rav Tzadok (Sichas Malachei Ha’shareis, perek 2) explains that malachim are perfect, without any limitation or sin, so Moshe felt unworthy to respond to their claims. Hashem therefore tells Moshe to grasp on to the Kisei Hakavod (Divine Throne) and respond. Moshe proceeds to do so, asking: “What is written in the Torah?” Hashem tells Moshe the Aseres Hadibros, including: “I am Hashem your G-d who took you out of Mitzrayim…don’t serve idols…keep Shabbos…honor your parents…don’t kill… and don’t be jealous.” Moshe then turns to the malachim and asks: “Did Hashem take you out of Mitzrayim? Do you struggle with a desire to worship idols? Do you perform melachah during the week, that you must desist from it on Shabbos? Do you have parents? Do you have a yetzer hara? Do you get jealous?” At this point,

cuses on the weaknesses and challenges of human beings, not their perfection. We are limited, imperfect beings with a yetzer hara, prone to mistakes and jealousy. Why is this a mark in our favor? The simple answer to this question is that Moshe wasn’t trying to show humanity’s greatness; he was only trying to clarify why human beings needed the guidance of Torah and how the Torah was more applicable to the Jewish People than malachim

There is, however, a much deeper layer here, and in our next article we will try to explore it and take our discussion to the next level.

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: ShmuelReichman.com.

Delving into the Daf

A Sea-rious Story

By Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

The following is a dramatized version of a true story.

Over time, the populace of a certain town noticed that there was something fishy about the price of fish. It kept floating higher, not the typical ebb and flow. Fish is the o-fish-al appetizer of Shabbos. Therefore, the Shabbos shoppers began to loudly carp about the exorbitant prices.

The customers crammed into the Tzemach Tzedek’s house like sardines. They complained that they are at the mercy of fishmongers – hook, line, and sinker. They should not need to seek out a loan shark to afford basic Shabbos staples!

The fish purveyors, for their part, quoted a Ri Migash in Bava Basra. Chazal protected fish sellers. Indeed, they said other fishmongers are not allowed to come down the pike and sell in their pond. The customers retorted that the argument was a red herring. There, the sellers set a reasonable price. In this town, the fish sellers raised the prices off the scales.

The rabbi said that he needed to mullet over for a bit.

The rabbi pointed to a Mishna quoted in Bava Basra (166a). There was a time when birds used for korbanos became exceedingly expensive. Each pair of birds sold for a gold dinar, which at that time represented about a month’s salary for the average person. Women who had recently given birth could hardly afford to purchase birds for the korbanos they were required to bring.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel cried fowl and hatched a plan. “I will not sleep tonight until the price drops dramatically.”

He went to the beis midrash and declared that any woman who hitherto would have brought five pairs of birds is now free as a bird to bring just one; she may bring the others if she so chooses.

The bird purveyors’ feathers were significantly ruffled. The price of the birds swooned dramatically – to a hundredth of the original price. According to Rashi

in Kerisus, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel instituted an emergency, limited-time measure to bring down the cost of the birds. He felt that b’nos Yisrael were being taken advantage of financially and were not getting proper tweetment. Perhaps some would chicken out of buying their korbanos. After the temporary measure, however, they were able to wing it. We can conclude that the rabbis sometimes saw fit to intervene and lower the bill; they didn’t duck the issue. However, was that measure only for the birds, or can it be parroted for fish as well? The Tzemach Tzedek (the Rishon) pointed out that Jews had the halibut of buying fish for Shabbos. Fish purveyors cod raise the prices without suffering a drop-off in sales. He agreed that the sharp increase in fish prices was not a fluke. A temporary ban on all fish purchases was in order, including fish for Shabbos. This would help the Jews who were flounder -

ing and cause the prices to sink.

Others who wanted their Shabbos fish protested. They referred to the Gemara in Beitzah (16a) that says that the money one spends on Shabbos and yom tov is not deducted from one’s yearly allotment. So, they reasoned, what difference does it make if the fish is expensive? Since they are buying it for Shabbos, their money will be returned to them in one way or another through Divine intervention, and they will remain afloat. There’s no need to crab about it.

Still, Tzemach Tzedek ruled that a boycott was in order. Just as Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel curtailed the offering of korbanos, we may temporarily curtail the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos. This would be true even if eating fish on Shabbos is a mitzvah d’Oraysa, as some argue (see such an opinion in the Shulchan Aruch HaRav). However, for halachah l’maaseh, we hold that eat-

ing fish is just one manifestation of the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos. One can also fulfill the biblical mitzvah of oneg Shabbos with other dishes. So a boycott is undoubtedly in order to bring the price of fish down.

Regarding the argument that the money spent on Shabbos will be returned, Tzemach Tzedek said that it is fine and good for people with the money to lay out. However, a poor person who does not have the money to spend now will not be able to buy the fish, even though there is a guarantee that the funds will be returned to him later. The fish sellers were being shellfish and harming these poor people. For their sake, he had to institute the boycott. One interesting point that can be made from the above story is that the Tzemach Tzedek agreed that one should continue buying fancy food for Shabbos even if it is now above one’s means. That money will be returned to him somehow that year. R’ Reuven Feinstein, shlita, concurred. A Shabbos food that suddenly becomes expensive may continue to be purchased without suffering any net loss in his income that year. The fish in the story started as affordable but was then subject to the whims and manipulations of the merchants.

One note: There is no way to tell how each individual’s Shabbos expenditures will be repaid. The individual may be saved from losing his wallet. There may have been a decree that he should sell six cars in one week, and now he will sell seven. But one way or the other, Hashem will pay him back for the money he spends to honor Shabbos. That’s a great net result.

Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow is a rebbe at Yeshiva Ateres Shimon in Far Rockaway. In addition, Rabbi Sebrow leads a daf yomi chaburah at Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead, NY. He can be contacted at ASebrow@ gmail.com.

Headlines Halacha

Rabbi Meyer Fendel, zt”l An Appreciation

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

There are tens of thousands of former talmidim of Rabbi Meyer Fendel who will be mourning this remarkable man who passed away over this weekend.

It was 1952 and Long Island, New York, had no Jewish school. It had a burgeoning Jewish community, but no Torah education whatsoever.

It was something that a young Rabbi Meyer Fendel wished to rectify.

And with a handful of families and just 30 children, Rabbi Fendel founded HANC, Hebrew Academy of Nassau County.

An old, three-story house in West Hempstead, known as the “Oppenheim Collins Estate,” was the chosen location to launch this ambitious educational venture. Despite the lack of funding for renovations, this 75-year-old property was transformed with unwavering determination. The living room and bedrooms were converted into vibrant classrooms, and Rabbi Fendel selflessly stepped up as the principal, forgoing any remuneration.

Into this historic setting, the first teacher, Anne Abelow, arrived, bringing her passion for educating young minds. She taught first grade in both Hebrew and English, her commitment shining through every lesson. Alongside her, an untiring secretary named Ruth Provda managed the endless paperwork, acting as nurse, den mother, and confidant to the eager children.

And so, in 1952, the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) was born, taking root in this old “haunted house,” as it was once called. For four years, the fledgling institution made do with the limited space, until a new wing was built in 1956 to expand the growing school. The names of the key contributors and those present at the groundbreaking ceremony are now inscribed on a large parchment, a testament to the pioneering spirit that gave rise to this educational haven.

Rabbi Fendel’s pivotal role in conceiving, founding, and shepherding the growth of HANC over many years has left an indelible mark. Through his dedication and that of the early pioneers, they were able to plant the seeds of a vibrant Jewish educational institution that continues to thrive and transform young lives to this day.

His warm and loving smile opened up hearts, and slowly but surely, he built the school. He met with parents individually, and they could not say no because he was so very genuine. Today, many of New York’s Orthodox doctors were edu-

terward, he became involved with Torah U’Mesorah and was one of those remarkable individuals that lived and breathed chinuch.

In 1971, Rabbi Fendel conceived the “New Opportunities Program” which is still in existence 53 years later which allowed students with little or no Judaic background to attend a Jewish day school while receiving an excellent general studies education.

Rabbi Moshe Gottesman, a”h, who took over for Rabbi Fendel at HANC, described Rabbi Fendel as the type of person who would spare no effort in ensuring that

The living room and bedrooms were converted into vibrant classrooms, and Rabbi Fendel selflessly stepped up as the principal, forgoing any remuneration.

cated at HANC. Indeed, Nassau County’s Department of Health is run by a HANC graduate as well.

Rabbi Meyer’s father, Rabbi Zalman Hillel Fendel, was from Lithuania and married a Dershowitz. Reb Zalman Hillel worked very hard all day, but when he arrived home at night, the first thing he did was open up a Gemara and learned for several hours. He was so exhausted that his family had to lift him up to get him to bed. This left an incredible impression on the family, and both he and his brother Reb Zechariah, zt”l, went into chinuch and kiruv and writing seforim.

Rabbi Fendel had studied under Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, zt”l, in Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in the 1940s. Af-

the Torah wherein there is no mention of Eretz Israel.”

He further wrote that “only in the land of Israel can one achieve the lofty purity of thought and action (avira de Eretz Yisrael machkim). To the believing Jew, this extraordinary emphasis on Eretz Israel should be a paramount reason for wanting to attach himself to the land. The Meshech Chochma concludes with this amazing statement: From the time that Jerusalem and Zion were chosen, David in his psalms, Isaiah in his visions, Jeremiah in his admonishments, and Yechezkel in his parables did not cease to extol the mitzvah of living and settling the land.”

Rabbi Meyer, of blessed memory, is also the father of journalist and author Hillel Fendel, a resident of Beit El, a writer for many years for Arutz Sheva - Israel National News. His other son, Rabbi David Fendel, is head of the Sderot yeshiva.

every Jewish child would receive a Torah education. Tuition was never a stumbling block to enable a child to enter HANC’s doorways under his leadership.

When Rabbi Fendel ultimately moved to Eretz Yisroel, he brought a number of people with him on aliyah. There are numerous people in Lakewood who were his talmidim.

Rabbi Meyer Fendel, although a follower of the Mizrachi movement, kept a strong shaychus with Rav Scheinberg, zt”l. He lived in Har Nof, Yerushalayim.

Eretz Yisroel was always on his lips and mind. He once wrote: “The Torah is replete with references to Eretz Israel, so much so, that the great sage Rav Meyer Simcha HaCohen, author of the Meshech Chokhma writes: There is no Sedra in

Arutz Sheva reports that after Rabbi Meyer’s immigration to Israel, he taught at the Ora Institute and the Moriah Seminary for foreign students. Additionally, he established a summer camp for Diaspora girls, changing their lives and their attitude towards Israel and Torah. “In summer, you can achieve what you learn in a whole year – an educational innovation he brought here to Israel.”

Rabbi Meyer Fendel, zt”l, was a true hero in Klal Yisroel that created thousands of frum homes – facts on the ground. He changed the face of New York’s Jewish community.

Yehi zichro baruch.

After a very busy and rewarding career, a routine that started my day before 5:00 AM (sleeping late was 7:00 AM), family and friends were worried that I would be bored and in constant search of ways to fill my days.

No worries, though I continue to be the same lunatic; I still start before 7:00 AM to a day packed with adventure beckoning. In Jerusalem, there are always interesting people to meet, something interesting to do or places to go.

At some point, everyone you knew or know is or will be here.

I just signed up for a free concert series, plan to see “Wicked” in Cinema City right near our house, have been attending a Motzei Shabbos timely lecture series with the brilliant and scholarly Rabbi Berel Wein on European Jewry in the period before World War I, hoping to go south this week with Chabad of Katamon to a BBQ for soldiers, finished my first very novice papercut, and eaten multiples of delicious food with visiting dear friends.

We are hosting our second Shabbos meal for old and new friends who have graciously accepted us into this new community; whoever you meet offers a welcoming invite.

We layer the highlights between multiple shiurim, Rosh Chodesh celebrations (three this week), self-care, shuk shopping, gym schedule, etc., and there are always doctor appointments. We are still working on initial tests and visits to create our medical history. Please note, the Israeli medical system can be complicated and confusing yet has very good doctors and, with the right primary one, excellent service.

Meredith, our doctor daughter, reviews everything.

Ulpan – oy Ulpan! Shmuel, the Ulpan guru on conversational Hebrew, began a series of round robin conversations; we had to share a short description of ourselves speaking Hebrew. When I told him that I have been in Israel since July, he complimented my language skills; little does he know that I spent over 50 years

School of Thought

Getting the Hang of It

By Barbara Deutsch

in Yeshiva education. I am not really sure if that experience hurt or helped my language acquisition.

I am determined to speak Hebrew when interacting with shopkeepers; most encourage me to switch to English. But the ones I frequent most often let me stumble out the words and take the time to patiently correct my grammar.

As a professional, I strongly believed that good grooming was an integral part of leadership: neat hair, manicured nails and always funky business casual.

In Israel, not wanting to be tied down to so much nail maintenance, I got my first, second and last gel manicure; my pampered nails could not handle the gel process and are just now, after months of cracking and peeling, starting to recover. I have also become best friends with my Israeli manicurist Sigal; she speaks to me in English as I respond in fractured grammar.

The manicure takes longer (time, I have), and we laugh a lot.

Getting a haircut is a whole other story. From childhood, I have gotten feedback about my hair, mostly unsolicited, about the texture, the length, the cut, and now the color, I am recognized as the lady with the silver hair. In any room or picture, I’m easy to find. It’s not always a good thing.

When I was a little girl, I had long

lustrous curls. When my mom gave birth to my new brother Sydney, Dad, a loving father but completely out of his element with hair care, got frustrated with the curly tangles and marched me straight to the barber. Goodbye, curls. It has been straight evermore.

Mom was not happy; she frequently reminded him of the curls.

From sixth to eighth grade, now called Middle School, the girls in my Bais Yaakov named for a visionary in yeshiva education for girls, Rav Meir Levy, girls from good families, were far from best behaved. We had to sit for long hours on the same rock-hard wooden desks in a dungeon-like room; not all of our teachers were up to the task of being interesting or in control. This was solved by creating alternative and outlandish projects to engage us.

Over the course of three years, the girl who sat behind me slowly trimmed my hair from mid-back to shoulder length. It took a lot of patience and a sharp pair of scissors, but no one noticed until she nicked my ear.

As a result, I started wearing my hair very short.

When I went to Hunter College in the city of fabulous and expensive salons, I would sell my textbooks to afford haircuts at the very famous Vidal Sassoon, an edgy, fun place. I had these cool “v”s

and “w”s carved into the back. To this day, if I get a good haircut, I just need to wash it with a cheap shampoo and shake it in a towel; I don’t own a comb or hair dryer.

Finding a guy to cut my hair in Jerusalem has been a challenge. I had worked with two fabulous hairdressers for over 50 years in America: Daloign for twenty years and Rodney, longer; I will schedule one when I visit my family and doctors. In the last five months I have cycled through three different hair cutters and continue to research some more. I am often called upon for advice. I am far from expert; for me, it boils down to a few recommendations:

Learn how to speak Hebrew before you come. There are so many Zoom and in-person options available. Knowing the language will help navigate the healthcare system, clarify the government documents, and make bus travel easier.

Understand that whatever you do in this land filled with bureaucracy will have to be done at least twice; enough said.

Savlanut. Savlanut and strongly saying, “Rega” with an outstretched pointed finger helps you manage the fallout. When desperate, cry.

There is no shortcut to creating value and meaning during any stage in life; you have to be determined to work hard at making the best of what you have been given. Hashem put you here, and He is in charge.

Bad haircut notwithstanding, there is no place like a Jerusalem home.

Keep praying for the wounded soldiers, the return of the hostages and the end of the war.

Barbara Deutsch is the former associate principal at HANC, middle school principal at Kushner, and Dean of Students at Yeshiva of Flatbush. A not-retired educator, she is trying to figure out life in Israel through reflections on navigating the dream of aliyah as a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend.

Everything in this article is factual except that all the names of people and places have been changed to protect the privacy of the children who are at its heart

In his novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck discerned a key difference between men and women: “‘Women can change better’n a man,’ Ma said soothingly. ‘Woman got all her life in her arms. Man got it all in his head,’” he wrote. This might be a generalization, but it is accurate when describing Dalia and Dvir Efrati.

It is a late October morning and the early-fall Mediterranean mornings of sun and warmth are a lingering remnant of the summer passed. Dalia meets us at the door and leads us to the garden. We’re at their temporary home in Gvaot Eden, a burgeoning community nestled in a valley located between Beit Shemesh and Gush Etzion. Dvir has just been called back by the army. He’s running around getting ready to travel up to the northern border. Dalia doesn’t know for how long. He’s promised to sit with us for a few minutes before he leaves. Indoors, their two children, Netanel and Hila, are having therapy, and Dalia

Israel Today

For the Efratis, Being Transparent Isn’t an Option

By Rafi Sackville

doesn’t want them disturbed. Netanel and Hila are six-year-old twins with severe cerebral palsy and quadriplegia.

We catch a glimpse of the therapist at work. Her apparatus consists of a rolling stand upon which sits a specially designed computer. The therapist is not alone. Hovering busily around the kitchen are three foreign workers whose job it is to assist the family in dealing with Netanel and Hila.

Dalia is a vibrant 37-year-old. Her smile is constant and made more prominent by her round eyes that hide years of struggle. They don’t look pained or tired or beaten; rather, they exude hope, love and, above all, joy.

Occasionally, when discussing the pain of the last six years, her eyes appear to lock onto a memory, open wider, and then slowly close as if she is attempting to keep the pain at bay. The burden of raising children like Netanel and Hila has been perpetual throughout her thirties. It might go a long way in defining her, but to all intents and purposes, one could never guess the weight of her load.

Not being able to verbally communicate does not mean the twins cannot convey their needs. According to her parents and therapists, Netanel can communicate

using the computer program the clinician was running. He does this by identifying images, and now letters, on the screen. His muscles have been affected, not his intelligence.

Although not as cognitively adept as her brother, Hila understands the world around her. For example, when Dalia says she’s going out, Hila will begin to cry.

Netanel’s smile connotes yes. If he scrunches up his mouth, no. If Hila wants to say yes, she pokes out her tongue.

“When I ask her if she wants to eat, she’ll do that. She always pokes out her tongue when I ask because she loves eating,” laughs Dalia.

The struggles of families raising children with severe disabilities are oftentimes greatly misunderstood to outsiders. What isn’t clear to the naked eye is how family members have to learn to adjust and cope with personal challenges they never expected nor wanted. Some suppress their feelings; others wear theirs on their sleeves.

Dalia describes their emotions after the initial diagnosis, “We felt as if we’d been run over by a truck. Dvir reacted like the ‘go-to’ man he is. ‘Let’s work with them, let’s help them get better,’ he’d say to me.

And me? I was worried beyond belief. I felt as if my world was ending.”

Six years after the birth of Yaeli, their first child, Dalia and Dvir turned to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to fulfill their dream of having more children. Dalia conceived and soon discovered she was carrying triplets. During the pregnancy, she not only lost one of the fetuses but developed an ovarian cyst which burst in the thirtieth week. The doctors initially wanted to extend Dalia’s pregnancy to term. Twice, she underwent surgery during which she lost a great deal of blood. This may have caused a loss of oxygen to the remaining fetuses.

Soon after the birth of the twins, Dalia developed a huge lump on her head. She says it turned her into a zombie. Refusing outside help, she looked after the kids herself. “I claim that growth on my head saved me,” says Dalia. The doctor says it was positioned directly over the part of the brain that controls emotions. “Becoming a robot allowed me to cope better even though I developed a deep depression.”

All through this she continued her professional work as a clinical researcher.

“I still don’t know how I survived,” she adds.

Dvir eventually joins us. If Dalia hides

her pain, Dvir fights his. If she is all smiles, his default face shows an uncanny resolve to never surrender to his children’s condition. He is no fool. He is fully aware that his plans to “fix” his children are Sisyphean. Yet this in no way diminishes his fierce determination to never stop trying.

Dalia wants to convey just how much of a different kind of effort Dvir has made since Netanel and Hila were born.

“He stopped working for a few years. He would take them back and forth to school. He would travel once a week to Haifa to a specific physiotherapist. He built them a slide, and bought a Gymboree, and he read book after book in order to discover ways to help them improve. He invested all his time into trying to make their lives better.”

“We never really understood just how bad their situation was. Regardless of what we’d do, our efforts were to little avail. It took us years to understand this. It wasn’t until the lump on my head was removed in January 2023 that I returned to my former self.”

I turn to Dvir and ask him if his approach to the kids is because he can’t react or think otherwise. Or is his hope illusory?

“What’s the difference?” he answers with a wry smile. “The two approaches are the same to me. Right after they were born, I realized my attitude to life was being challenged. The more I comprehended the kids’ predicament, the more I had to worry about the future.”

“On the one hand, I threw myself into totally caring for them. I saw and still see their beautiful souls. From the start, I knew I had to help them.”

Dvir speaks without irony. It’s apparent he summed up their predicament years ago and has not once wavered in his approach or belief in what he’s doing.

“I left my job. I worked ten years in the Israel Air Force, in aeronautics, in research and development. At the age of 35, I was going places.”

To which Dalia adds, “He didn’t have to verbalize what he was thinking. He understood right from the start just what we were in for. He’s a man of faith and acts accordingly. I’m more practical.”

When asked about their family and friends and their contribution to the cause, Dalia and Dvir look at one another and shrug their shoulders. What is left unsaid is understood to mean that over the last six years this young couple has been fighting their battles alone.

Rather than living in a world of “me,” Dalia and Dvir have sublimated their egos to the point of total submission. Theirs are worlds of giving, but also taking as much as they can if only for the purpose of giving to

Netanel and Hila.

It remains a mystery just where this strength comes from. Suffice it to say the human level for absolute tolerance can only be put to the test under duress. Dalia and Dvir have passed with flying colors. Yet it begs the most difficult of questions to ask them, and this writer did apologize before doing so: Did they ever consid-

pared to help me get them accepted. She was simply fulfilling her role.”

It’s at this point that Yaeli, now 12 years old, steps outside. A lot of Dalia and Dvir’s magic has rubbed off on Yaeli. She has a presence about her beyond her years. Despite the family predicament, she is confident, happy, intelligent and mature.

Theirs are worlds of giving, but also taking as much as they can if only for the purpose of giving to Netanel and Hila.

er enrolling their children in an institution to be cared for by others around the clock?

This evokes an emotional outburst from Dalia. “There isn’t a chance in the world of that happening! Over my dead body!

“What do I care if, despite praying that one day they’ll say Aba or Ima, they don’t? I care for their happiness. We’re their parents. Our lives have been upended. Yet that doesn’t stop us from doing what we do.”

Dalia then explains that the family is going to be moving again. They have found a school for the twins in Kfar Saba.

“I bought a house in Hadera,” says Dvir. “He did. I had nothing to do with it. I haven’t even seen it yet. I fought to get them into a school in Beit Shemesh. Then I did the same again in Kfar Saba. I go to war for my children. If it’s helpers, therapies, eye exams, the dentist every six months, orthopedics or leg fittings once a year, I deal with it all.”

Dvir reminds Dalia of a meeting they had at an acclaimed child development center in the Greater Tel Aviv area and the school it operates – the school that Netanel and Hila will be attending.

“I broke down in tears. Dvir was shocked. I said to him that all I ever do is fight for my children’s rights. I’m at war every single day. Did I ever ask for anything too much?”

She adds, “My sisters have normal children. They choose where to live and send their kids to school in the area. By us, the reverse is the norm. First, the school, then the neighborhood.

“It’s as if we’re transparent. People don’t see us. They look through us. I was speaking to a social worker who told me how hard it is to get kids into that special school. That’s all she did. She wasn’t pre-

Earlier in the interview, Dalia expressed guilt for being less of a mother to Yaeli.

“I cooked and cleaned for her. I did everything that needed to be done, but not as a mother, rather as a robot. I should have held, hugged and kissed her more,” she laments.

Yet Yaeli shows no signs of having been affected. She literally bubbles with happi-

ness. Asked if she brings friends home to play, she laughs and answers “Of course! All my friends know about Netanel and Hila. I don’t hide anything from them. They play with them.”

More than anything else, Yaeli would love to have more brothers and sisters to play with. Having said that, she quips that she wouldn’t be the person she is today were it not for Netanel and Hila.

Dalia, Dvir and Yaeli are plowing through life trying to navigate their way through the labyrinth of bureaucracy, the financial challenges and the toll it continues to take on their souls.

Carrying the heavy load of her life in her hands, Dalia has succeeded in making the world a better place for her family. Dvir, meanwhile, forges forward with more plans of making Netanel and Hila better.

As we are leaving, he has drawn back the cover of the pool to where he is carrying Netanel. The army is going to have to wait a little while longer for him to make it up to the border. The last sounds we hear are the splashing of water and Dvir’s encouraging words to his beloved son.

Rafi Sackville, formerly from Cedarhurst, teaches in Yeshivat Horev in Yerushalayim.

The King of Memes, Kalahari & Camelback, and Kokosh & Babka

The Many Dimensions of Ari Dicker

By TJH S Taff

There’s no one quite like Ari Dicker. A man of many dimensions, Ari hosts community midwinter trips and has a popular WhatsApp status. Last week, TJH spoke with Ari and discussed his trips and his love of memes, biking, and kokosh and babka, among other topics.

TJH: Let’s get into your background. How did you get started organizing midwinter trips for the community?

Ari Dicker: It was 2016. My wife and I were a young couple living in Far Rockaway looking to get away for yeshiva midwinter break. It was the first year that Camelback opened up a full resort with a waterpark. So I got a few families together from Rabbi Stein’s shul and made a group to ensure we had a minyan. I made a WhatsApp chat for minyan purposes, and many people we met there joined us. That first year, we just had 19 nights booked. I saved those people’s numbers and made another group the next year for forty families. Year after year I did this, and it just snowballed into this big group. The low rates and concessions (free conference space to daven, no extra charges for larger families) we secured that first year the hotel just kept copy/pasting because we kept growing.

And now, this isn’t just a side hustle for me anymore. It’s a mission. And the mission is to give people a good and affordable option. Keyword good and keyword affordable. I’m sure there are cheaper places to go that aren’t nice. And there are nicer places to go that aren’t as affordable. I want to keep it as affordable as possible. The day it becomes unaffordable, then it’s just not on-brand for me. And if I start cutting corners with the quality of what I’m offering, the whole thing is going to fail. The people who go on my trips are not going to be okay with substandard stuff. They’re not going to be okay with a trip that’s not actually good. So, let me give you an example of what we offer. We have a trip to Kalahari. It’s one of the best water parks in the country. The fact that we’re able to offer a trip to the second biggest water park in North America for what comes out to be $20 a day per person is insane. Other waterparks charge $100+ a day. I wouldn’t spend $900 to take my

family for a day to the water park. We get to go to Kalahari, and we get the same thing for a fraction of the price. So, that’s what I mean: What we’re offering is really high quality, and the price point is still ridiculously low.

It’s the same thing with Camelback. You get two days of activities, one in waterpark, one on the slopes, for as low as $35 per person per day. And both come with nice overnight accommodations. It’s cheaper than local day trips!

You work with two hotels now: Camelback and Kalahari. How many people tend to go on those two programs, and what types of people do you cater to?

More people go to Kalahari just because it’s the more affordable option, but you’re getting more out of the experience at Camelback. This past year, we had around 650 rooms booked in

Kalahari and about 300 in Camelback. So, all in all, we hit around 1,000 between the two. At our peak in Camelback, we had around 460 nights booked over the yeshiva midwinter break.

There are really three kinds of people that I cater to. My primary customers are regular, middle class, hardworking Jewish families (when I say middle class, I mean Jewish middle class – not American middle class – who are professionals that want something nice for their families. The second is people who will just pick the cheapest room possible – the people who can’t afford to do anything else. Very often this comes out to the be most affordable option for entertaining your kids. And the third is people in corporate America. For example, if you’re a lawyer or accountant at a big Manhattan firm, you can’t take off for Sukkos and Pesach and all the Jewish holidays, have a few sick days, and take off for yeshiva midwinter break. So, I do get a lot of people in corporate or hospital settings who can’t take a five-day vacation. It’s great for them because they’ll go on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Sunday, they’re not working. And so, it’ll only cost them two days off.

How much time do you spend organizing the trips and answering people’s questions?

Up until this year, the whole process was mostly copy-paste. I would answer questions here and there. But then it reached a point where it got a little bit out of control because I was answering too many of the same questions and spending a lot of time on it. So, I decided to make a website with all the information. You can find practically all the answers to your questions on yeshivamidwinter.com

Last year, you had an amazing initiative where some people got together and helped to sponsor other people’s vacations. How did that work?

That was inspired by one person. It wasn’t anything official. This guy just reached out to me and said, “Hey, here’s $1,500. Find me some families that can’t afford to go away, and let’s help them out.”

sor a family.” And that whole initiative snowballed over the last two years, and we were able to send 30-40 families on a nice two-day vacation, who otherwise would have been stuck home due to financial reasons. We made it more legit and now run it through the Davis Memorial Fund so it is tax deductible. We call it the “No Jew Will Be Left Behind Initiative.” The idea behind it is, if you can afford a big, expensive, beautiful vacation, good for you. Have fun and enjoy. But also “take a family along with you” and sponsor them to make sure they’re not stuck home. These trips I make are so cheap. If a family can’t even afford a $250-300 for a two-day getaway, can you imagine how badly they could probably use some nice, enjoyable family time?

When I post about the sponsorship opportunities, I realize that Tomchei Shabbos is a bigger priority than this. I realize that there are yeshivas that aren’t making payroll. There are bigger priorities that we have as a community than sending people away for midwinter break. With that being said, this is just a matter of helping families feel normal. Everyone’s going away. And it’s become the norm to go away and do something. There are kids who don’t feel normal if they can’t go away, and it’s just a nice chessed.

How did you find families who would appreciate a free vacation?

I reached out to a few rabbanim, school principals/administrators and great organizations like JCCRP who deal with the community’s most vulnerable families. And that was the one thing that really hit me hard: I was talking to one of the high school principals at Shulamith, and she told me, “There are girls who don’t show up to school the day after midwinter because their parents can’t afford to go away. They didn’t go anywhere for vacation, and they’re too embarrassed about this because, at recess, everyone’s going to ask them, ‘So, what did you do? Where did you go?’” They’re so embarrassed that they literally miss an extra day of school to not have to answer those questions!

“My job is like a TV show, and every day, I get a new episode: someone’s doing something nice, someone’s doing something crazy, someone’s doing something beautiful, someone brings in an interesting food.”

So, on my status, I posted about it: “Hey everyone. Look at this nice thing that this person did.” And the next thing I knew, 20, 30 people started piling on, messaging me, “Hey, I’ll spon-

Food is a central part of the Jewish lifestyle. Anywhere we go, we take along tons of food with us. How do people get kosher food on your trips?

Okay, so the problem is that kosher food costs a ton of money. And what I don’t want is for my trips to become a “program.” Once

I start including food and making it a full-service program, I’m going to price out half the community.

But what I do is I arrange for kosher food delivery. And this past year, it was a smashing success. During the peak two nights of the trip, I convinced Chickies to bring the Chickies truck. Now, everyone can choose how they get their food. If you want to do your own thing, do your own thing. You want to cook on a Betty Crocker? You have that option. You want to treat your family to Holy Schnitzel or Chickies one night? You could do that as well. So, I try to offer as many options as possible, while, at the same time, keeping the costs down.

Quick question about Bike4Chai. When did you get involved? How many times have you biked for it? How many miles? And how do you train for the race?

In 2015, I was almost 300 pounds. And that year, all my friends were biking for Bike4Chai, and I was inspired. I said, “You know what? I’m

going to do the race next year.” I trained the whole winter, I lost 60, 70 pounds, and I did it all through cycling.

I’d like to give a shoutout to the Five Towns Riders. The chevra is a really welcoming, friendly, and encouraging cycling community. They’re serious riders, and there are guys who will help you every step of the way, encourage you, and give you direction. If you’re considering taking on the sport, there is an excellent support system here that other communities don’t have.

Personally, I ride for many hours each Sunday morning – somewhere between 50 and 100 miles. And then, on Fridays, I ride to and from work, so I get another 70 miles like that. And then, in the middle of the week, I’ll get another ride in.

That’s amazing! Another facet of Ari Dicker is the memes. You’ve been famously crowned “The Meme King” or now as the “Memeologist.” How did you get involved in that, and how do you get your memes?

I like comedy, and I like laughing. I’m a funny guy, and I have good taste in these things.

It really started during Covid, when there was a lot of funny content being posted. And basically, I curated it all and posted all the good stuff on my WhatsApp status. During Covid, people started messaging me, “Hey, Ari. Every day, with the pandemic, things are crazy in my house. But at the end of the day, my wife and I sit down, and we see what you post throughout the day, and we

just end our day off on a positive, funny note, and that’s really helping us.”

My average WhatsApp status view count is around 2,000+, but I think my count is actually much higher than that because it’s not just one person viewing the status per phone. Parents often tell me that their kids are always asking to take their phones to look at my status. Everyone in the family passes the phone around, so I imagine the view count would actually be much higher.

One day, my mortgage broker told me, “Ari, you’re not just posting funny content. It’s a fine art. You’re a scientist. You’re like a memeologist.” And I decided to stick with that title.

Wow. You’re also passionate about babka. How did that start?

Babka is more bready and is given time to rise.

Between trips, and memes, and babkas, you have a lot going on. Can you tell us a little bit about your family and job?

We, baruch Hashem, have seven children, including two little identical twins. We moved to North Woodmere a few years ago.

No question about it: I am a hopeless foodie. And one of my favorite things is kokosh and babka. When I started working in Williamsburg, which is like the “Mecca” of kosher bakeries, I went through all of them, tasting and rating them on the status. I, not so humbly, call myself the world’s leading expert in all things kokosh and babka. Last week, a random status follower messaged me and said, “Ari, I think this is a babka you need to taste. Where can I drop it off?” He was coming to the Five Towns for Shabbos and thought I’d appreciate it. Or I’ll get a message from someone, “Hey, my wife started selling kokosh out of the house. We’d love your review.” And it just became a thing: kokosh and babka.

It must be difficult to give bad food reviews since it could harm someone’s business. How do you make sure it’s not lashon hara?

My rule is: If I like it, I post about it. If I don’t like it, I won’t post about it. I don’t do bad reviews. I only post things that I truly think are good. And it doesn’t matter how much you pay me. I’m not going to post if I don’t actually stand by it.

I have a very important question: what’s the difference between kokosh and babka?

Kokosh is denser. The dough doesn’t rise as much.

As for my job, I have an outpatient physical therapy office in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And you know, I love working in Williamsburg. My job is like a TV show, and every day, I get a new episode: someone’s doing something nice, someone’s doing something crazy, someone’s doing something beautiful, someone brings in an interesting food. Williamsburg can be quite an interesting place.

And I love them, and they love me. So, it’s a good shidduch. In that area, a professional with a vaarm personality will get you very far.

Do you have a closing message for our readers?

Help get the word out about our trips. Keeping the group size big helps us keep the rates low. If I had to spend a lot on a whole big media campaign, it would make the groups cost more. So when you see the groups posted, help spread the message. Even if you’re not joining us this time, you never know when you’re gonna need a good local option for midwinter break or chol hamoed. If we crowd-source this, we keep it affordable. We need to keep good family time affordable – the community needs it. And we also do some nice chessed along the way. My dream is to one day be able to make these trips a self-sustaining, welloiled machine that I could hand off to somebody else. For my kids, these trips have become regular, but eventually, my kids are going to want to do something else. But for now, they’re happy. For now, it’s our annual ski trip, and they have fun. And what it really comes down to is how easy of a trip this is. The parents can park themselves in one spot (like the water park), and the kids can roam around all day. In addition to being affordable, it’s a very easy option, especially for big families.

Nation

Rabbi Berel Wein Why Does the World Hate Us?

By Eliyahu RosEnBERg

Rabbi Berel Wein was raised in a world much different than our own. Born in 1934, he grew up in a Chicago neighborhood where, out of his 100 friends, he was the only religious Jew.

During his childhood, Rabbi Wein witnessed the state of Israel’s miraculous establishment. He experienced the birth of the American kashrus system.

In His Words…

And Jewish communities in the United States blossomed before his very eyes. But if you would have given young Rabbi Wein a glimpse into the incredible future of American and Israeli Jewry, he would never have believed you.

Though he watched the Jewish nation rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the Holocaust, Rabbi Wein couldn’t imagine a future where millions of Jews

Jewish history tells us who we are. if you don’t know who you are, then you have troubles in the world. What’s your identity? Why are you Jewish? What makes you special? if you don’t know the story, you don’t know where you fit in. a nd that’s the description of a misfit.

Being special carries burdens, but it carries great rewards. a nd therefore, every Jew has to feel that he or she is special.

Without the l and of israel, Jewish history makes no sense whatsoever.

Most of the time, hatred comes to those who are telling the truth.

Be Jewish. Be proud. We have a purpose in being in this world. Don’t worry about being relevant. Be eternal.

would call the United States and Israel home, where generations of Torah-observant Yidden could prosper. In fact, at the time, even working as an Orthodox rabbi in the U.S. was, practically speaking, a fever dream.

“I started out as a lawyer in Chicago because I felt that there was no future in the Orthodox rabbinate in America,” recalls Rabbi Wein.

Thus, for nearly a decade, he worked as a lawyer—an experience that was valuable to him but painfully unfulfilling. When Rabbi Wein would look at himself in the mirror, he would see a rabbi, not a lawyer. He wasn’t being true to himself. In his words, he was, “to put it mildly, not happy” with his career. If not for his wife’s encouragement, he might have never made the jump to his dream job.

“When I became a rabbi, my wife said, ‘Now, you’ll be happy. I’ll be happy. The children will be happy.’ She was right,” Rabbi Wein recounts. “The first year that I was a rabbi, my salary was less than the income tax I paid for the last year I was a lawyer. But I never looked back.”

According to Rabbi Wein, being a rabbi entails much more than knowing books. It’s an art. You have to know how to deal with people – a skill he learned as a lawyer. A rabbi isn’t just a Torah expert. He’s also a leader.

Rabbi Wein is one of the wisest and most prolific voices on Jewish history – another important part of his job. To lead and inspire, a rabbi must also be a historian because without knowing our nation’s history, one cannot possibly understand what it even means to be a Jew.

“Jewish history tells us who we are. If you don’t know who you are, then you have troubles in the world,” shares Rabbi Wein. “What’s your identity? Why are you Jewish? What makes you special? If you don’t know the story, you don’t know where you fit in. And that’s the description of a misfit. So, Jewish history teaches somebody who’s born in San Diego that it didn’t all begin in San Diego but that there’s a long story here. Jewish history teaches us that we are all actors in the play. We’re all the participants. If you don’t know your history, it’s very hard to be proud of being Jewish.”

It’s thanks to his historical background that Rabbi Wein understands the world so well. Rabbi Wein is, of course, thankful that the Jewish nation has come so far since the Holocaust. But we can’t get too comfortable.

Since October 7, the world has seen a surge in antisemitism: from the streets of major cities to college campuses. After the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, you’d think the world would be sympathetic. And yet, far too many people tried to kick the Jewish people when they were down. But why? Why does much of the world hate us?

Indeed, we can’t make sense of the present until we delve into the past.

The first pasuk in the Torah is “Bereishis bara Elokim es hashamayim v’es ha’aretz,” in the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the Earth.

Rashi, quoting Rabbi Yitzchak, asks the following question on that verse: Why does the Torah start with the Creation

story? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the Torah to begin with the first mitzvah Hashem gave to Klal Yisrael?

The answer is almost ironic, considering the current narrative surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rashi answers: The Torah starts with the Creation story to demonstrate that the world is owned not by the nations of the world but by G-d, the Creator of the world. And as such, Hashem has the right to give the lands to anyone He wants.

Why was it important for G-d to show He could distribute the lands of the world to any nations He pleases? Rashi answers: “If the people of the world say to Israel, ‘You are robbers because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of Canaan,’ Israel may reply to them, ‘All the earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whom He pleased. When He willed, He gave it to them, and when He willed, He took it from them and gave it to us.’”

Today, antisemites scream their lungs out about how the Jews supposedly stole Palestinian land. But even if that were true, it wasn’t the Jews who took the land—it was Hashem, the Owner of the world, Who decided it was time for our nation to have sovereignty over Israel again. As David Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli prime minister, declared (despite being non-religious): The Bible is our nation’s deed to the Land of Israel.

“Without the Land of Israel, Jewish history makes no sense whatsoever. Therefore, Rashi puts it in the forefront immediately,” explains Rabbi Wein. “When Hashem created the world, and He divided the world amongst the people who would live in it over all the centuries, He gave the Land of Israel to the Jewish people. And through their development in the Land of Israel, they would be a blessing for all of humankind.”

Antisemites and misguided folk claim that Israel originally belonged to the Arabs. But, as Rabbi Wein explains, that isn’t true—even if you take the Bible out of the equation.

“In a practical sense, if you think about it, there’s no nation that exists in the world today that’s on territory that belonged to its ancestors centuries ago,”

Rabbi Wein says. “The Muslim Arabs also immigrated to the land. In the 1930s, for every Jew that entered the Land of Israel under the British Mandate, two Arabs entered. So, those living in Tulkarm or in Jenin have no more right to the land than the Jews who live in Tel Aviv. Because, anyway, 100 or 200 years ago, their family came as immigrants. And what shall we say about the United States? Or the United Kingdom, or all of Europe, or the Russians? So, that’s the first Rashi: That the world is a cauldron that keeps on changing, and the L-rd has divided the lands amongst nations.”

Why did G-d give Israel to the Jews?

No one can answer that question. As Rabbi Wein says, “One of the basic ideas of Judaism is that you cannot ask ‘why.’ You can ask what, when, how, and who.” But as limited human beings, we can’t wrap our minds around why Hashem does what He does. That’s beyond our intellectual capabilities. But what we do know is that our journey has been marked by a never-ending sequence of miracles.

“The longevity and survival of the Jewish people throughout all the ages is testimony to the fact that we are special,” declares Rabbi Wein. “The Land of Israel was given to the people of Israel. Now, the people of Israel have earned it. They’ve developed it. They’ve fought for it. They’ve died for it. They’ve treasured it. The story of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel is the greatest comeback story in all of human history. We were 1,800 years away from any sovereignty in the land, and yet we came back, and we felt that we never left.”

According to Rabbi Wein, in 1946, a Jew couldn’t even raise their head in public. The idea of Jews returning en masse to Israel was a fantasy. Yet, a short two years later, the world witnessed the miraculous revival of the Jewish people. After the Holocaust, we returned to the Land of Israel—a miracle many fail to fully appreciate. And still today, we continue to take for granted G-d’s protection of Israel. Few people recognize the daily miracles that Hashem performs for the Jewish state. Case in point: Iran shot hundreds of missiles at Eretz Yisrael,

and the Israeli military intercepted all of them. That’s a big deal.

Well, you can scream historical facts at antisemites until you’re blue in the face, but that would be all for naught.

“You’ll never prove to the antisemites that we’re entitled to anything—that we’re even entitled to live,” Rabbi Wein exclaims. “The whole theory of antisemitism is that the Jewish people have no entitlements. So, it would be foolish for us to think that they would agree that we’re entitled to the Land of Israel.”

Rabbi Wein has written many books on a variety of topics. His latest work delves into the history of antisemitism— from the enemies of Avraham Avinu to the pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University. Though the world has drastically changed since our forefathers walked the earth, anti-Jewish rhetoric has remained the same for millennia, explains Rabbi Wein: The Jews are too unique. Not unique enough. Too moral. Too immoral. Talented. Untalented. Cunningly smart. Pathetically stupid. Wealthy. Poor. Colonialists. Slaves. Deep state overlords. Powerless freaks.

We can’t win. One antisemite tells us to go back to Israel. Another insists we have no right to it.

For millennia, our nation has been the scapegoat for just about everything. In Egypt, Pharaoh accused us of being disloyal, lazy, and too numerous. During the Black Plague and the Crusades, they charged us with killing Yashka, poisoning the wells, and murdering children for their blood. Later, the Nazis blamed us for destroying Germany’s economy, ruining their war effort, and poisoning the country with disease, communism, and immorality.

And today, as the 80-year-old Shoah fades away from mankind’s memory, the world finds itself falling into the same despicable trap once again. Tragically, it’s becoming socially acceptable to accuse the Jewish people of perpetrating a modern-day Holocaust. It’s almost okay to entertain the idea of taking the Jews’ homeland away from them. We live in a world where a free, democratic nation is deemed the oppressor, and the terrorist states are the victims. How is that possible?

The title of this article is: “Why Does the World Hate Us?” And that’s a good question. Beyond the excuses, why are we the world’s favorite scapegoat?

“The Jews are singled out because we’re always the naysayers in history,” explains Rabbi Wein. “Most of the time, hatred comes to those who are telling the truth. That’s why totalitarian societies are based on destroying those who tell the truth because the truth unmasks the evil that drives people.”

Our insistence on rejecting lies manifests in several ways. We refuse to accept the majority’s faiths, we’re cautious about much of gentile culture, and we see the world through a rational but, perhaps, less favorable lens than others do.

“The basic difference is a simple one. The secular society generally believes that people are born good. If you leave them alone, they’ll always do good. And the reason they do bad is because of external forces: poverty, childhood, etc. That’s what makes a criminal, but the basic idea is a criminal is good,” shares Rabbi Wein. “Judaism says that, basically, people are bad. People are created evil. Ki yetzer lev ha’adam rah minura—that unless you educate, discipline, and create a better system of behavior, ish es re’ehu chaim b’lao, one person will swallow the next. You’re telling me that Hitler and 50 million Germans were basically good? Or that Stalin and Mao killed 80 million people, but they’re basically good? I don’t believe that. They’re examples of what people are if there is no discipline, if there is no education. If you leave it to human beings alone, this is what you get. You get Putin. You get Xi.

“I think that’s one of the basic lessons here, and I think it’s one of the basic fallacies of Western society.”

Though every Jew’s neshama is a part of Hashem, we are not, if left to our own devices, completely moral creatures. That’s why, to reject the evil inclination and live lives of discipline and righteousness, we need 613 mitzvot to help guide us in the right way.

***

Antisemitism is also rooted in jealousy. Today’s society is vehemently opposed to the idea of one nation being “special.”

It’s a concept many deem racist. Instead, much of society misguidedly pushes conformity under the guise of unity. But in the real world, people can’t truly conform. Everyone has their own strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and goals.

Rabbi Wein concedes that some Jewish communities promote a system of conformity wherein everyone must dress, vote, and act the same. However, the amazing thing about our religion, he adds, “is that Judaism is so fractured that it’s hard to get conformity. As long as the Chassidim have fifty different Rebbes, it can work. In the yeshiva world, if there were only

one yeshiva, you’d have a problem. But because there’s so many, there’s room for everybody.”

That’s why Hashem gave the nation of Israel twelve tribes—because we were never meant to be the same as one another. Rather, G-d intended for us to be different and respect our differences.

“Being special carries burdens, but it carries great rewards. And therefore, every Jew has to feel that he or she is special. If you feel that you’re special and you have a sense of pride and a purpose, it becomes a hallmark of your personality,” Rabbi Wein explains. “Human nature is that certain people have certain talents and therefore have certain rewards. So, the Jewish people are special. We have a

certain talent, a certain morality. That’s why G-d told Avraham that through you, everybody will be blessed. We bring blessings to the world.”

According to Rabbi Wein, the most corrupt ideology of today is secularism, which he says is “the belief that man has all the solutions and that there is no moral compass except for what human beings decide to be moral.” The Jewish nation rejects that belief. We believe that it is only in G-d’s power to choose what is right and wrong; that without Hashem, we have nothing.

Yet, the society of today progressively does away with social rules that mankind has kept since the beginning of time. Logic is eroding away. Everything is be -

coming progressively subjective—subject to change at the snap of society’s fingers. But while the world may evolve through different phases, true Judaism will always remain the same because Yiddishkeit is based on principles that never change. The Torah, its commandments, and its followers are eternal. And when something is truly perfect, it doesn’t need to evolve. And perhaps that’s what angers antisemites most of all: the Jewish people refuse to get swept up in the tides of change.

Rabbi Berel Wein’s closing message is a powerful mandate: “Be Jewish. Be proud. We have a purpose in being in this world. Don’t worry about being relevant. Be eternal.”

This article is based on a podcast, “Inspiration For the Nation,” hosted by Yaakov Langer. To catch more of this conversation, you can watch it on LivingLchaim. com or YouTube.com/LivingLchaim or listen wherever you listen to podcasts (just search for “Inspiration For The Nation”) or call our free hotline: 605-477-2100.

Dating Dialogue What Would You Do If…

Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters

Dear Navidaters,

Thank you so much for taking my question. I hope it is able to be answered soon...

I’ve been there for a while, I’m 32 years old, and have a group of incredible friends. We are each other’s lifelines; we travel together and are there for each other throughout the many challenges of dating. I’m dating a guy seriously now, and he recently brought up engagement. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am, but at the same time how guilty I feel. To leave my friends behind and start a new life seems like the biggest slap in the face I can do to them. We have always talked about certain friends who got married and then left us in the lurch, basically forgetting we exist. I know I won’t be that person, but based on our past conversations, I know how they will feel and they will feel like I left them behind. Is there anything I can do to make this easier?

The Panel

Dear Readers,

We want to offer YOU an opportunity to be part of the discussion! Please email us at MichelleMondShadchan@gmail.com, subject line “reader’s response,” if you would like to participate in the new “A Reader’s Response” columnist spot. We will send you a question and publish your answer in an upcoming Navidaters edition. Looking forward!

Michelle, the “Shadchan”

The Rebbetzin

Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

Y our young man is lucky to finding such a considerate young woman to marry who values relationships. To answer your question, there are certainly ways to maintain your relationships with your friends as you journey towards marriage. Obviously, you will include your friends in your news before it becomes public and stay in touch with them weekly. Calling and having a conversation, even if it is not long, is very different than leaving voice notes and sending texts. Keep the relationship going through in-person monthly meetups if possible such as a walk, coffee date, exercise session together, etc. It’s always easier to build habits based on other routines. For example, every time you_____, call friend one. Every time you do ______ call friend two, for example. Don’t talk about your time constraints when you connect – just get into things and enjoy your time together with laughter, sharing, and confidences.

At some point during your engagement period, have a conversation about this subject. You may want to use the phrase “making room in our relationship for my chosson is going to take adjustment” or similar phraseology. Acknowledge the change and reassure your friends you will do your best to keep up the relationship as you invest in your marriage and new life. Try to be smart about the timing. Things will readjust again after you are settled in your marriage, location, and with the new circle of his friends.

Inviting all the friends together regularly, every couple of months, is a practice that some people find helpful. They get to see their friends and facilitate matches even if they don’t spend significant one-on-one time together.

The Shadchan

Michelle Mond

I’m so thrilled for you that you are beginning the next stage! Please know that your feelings are extremely valid and something that is very common. It’s essential to understand that life inevitably moves people in different directions. True friendships adapt and thrive throughout the many twists and turns of life, so long as your friendships have not been completely surrounding the pain of being single, which is commonly considered trauma bonding. So long as your friendships have been deeply rooted, I am not worried that you will be able to keep them going strong throughout your marriage.

The biggest piece of advice I have for you is: don’t make things weird! Your friends will pick up on your energy, so you really set the stage here. We all know those friends who have gotten married and fell off the face of the planet, forgetting their single friends. One of your biggest fears is to become one of them; this just proves what a devoted friend you are. Although you will be busy during engagement, still make time to hang out with them and have DMCs just like the old times. Have them help you with wedding planning. They can come with you to pick out flowers,

a dress, etc. Ask your chosson who his good friends are and try to set your friends up with them.

Once you’re married, you can invite them for meals but make sure the energy is positive and upbeat. A single who is invited as a guest to a married friend can smell a pity-invite from a mile away. Keep things as normal and regular as possible, making time to speak on the phone and to chat on WhatsApp. You can still be there for them and give sage advice, when applicable. Iy”H, this will be the beginning of your whole friend group moving to the next stage soon!

The Zaidy

Dr. Jeffrey Galler

When singles are blessed with a loyal group of friends, with whom

Moving into a new chapter doesn’t mean abandoning the people you love.

they can confide and share adventures and misadventures, it can be a blessing but also can be a detriment.

It’s a blessing to have supportive, nonjudgmental friends who help you navigate life’s ups and downs.

It’s possibly a negative, however, when someone feels so secure and content in this group that it takes extra ef-

fort to overcome a comfortable inertia and end one phase of life and embark upon the next phase.

The simple response to your letter is that it is true that for you and your friends, things will never be the same.

You will no longer join your friends in heated discussions about whether Ruchie should, or should not, wear that green dress for her second date with Eric. And, your friends will certainly miss your input when they analyze what Eric really, really, actually meant when he said, “I think you look lovely tonight.”

It’s like the last day of summer camp or the post-graduation party, where everyone promises to remain best friends forever. However, in the normal course of events, most friendships change after geographic or situational dislocation.

You will probably always remain friends with the girls in your group (you will need bridesmaids, of course), but they will probably be mostly somewhat

more superficial relationships.

If you’re lucky, a select few of you will remain “besties” forever. (My wife’s two best friends from high school, known as “The Triplets,” are still very close friends today.)

Remember that these friendships aren’t ending. They are simply evolving. Embrace and enjoy this new phase in your life.

Reader’s response:

Dr. Racheli Yudin, EdD

Elementary Public School Principal Wife

Stepmom Mommy

Iwant to start by acknowledging that you are already one step ahead if you are thinking about your fellow singles

Pulling It All Together

The Navidaters

Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

Thank you for sharing your question with such vulnerability. It sounds like you’re navigating an incredibly exciting yet emotionally complex time in your life. First, I want to take a moment to validate the joy and excitement of being in a loving relationship and considering engagement. That is such a beautiful milestone, and you deserve to experience it fully and unapologetically. At the same time, the guilt and worry you’re feeling about your friends speak volumes about how much you value them

and the deep con - nection you share. It’s clear they mean so much to you.

It’s normal to feel a mix of emotions when life changes—especially changes that may shift the dynamics in close relationships. Your guilt shows how deeply you care, but it’s also important to recognize that moving into a new chapter doesn’t mean abandoning the people you love. You’re allowed to grow and change while still nurturing those

during your time of much anticipated and much deserved simcha.

Two things can be true at once. You are allowed to feel immense joy while also holding space and being sensitive to your dear friends. When I got engaged at 39, I actually had to work through this exact same emotional experience with a therapist. I was overwhelmed by this feeling of guilt. After years of working on staying positive as a single, educated, career driven woman with so much to offer outside of my marital status, I suddenly felt like a traitor. What you’re feeling is so valid and so real.

I think the answer here is remaining in tune to these feelings and sensitivities. Additionally, just like you are filled with mixed emotions, it’s OK for your friends to be filled with a variety of feelings. You are going to be the one to set the tone. Let your friends know they matter. Carve out time for your friendships even when life gets busy. Be OK if a friend withdraws or sets new boundaries but be ready with open

friendships in meaningful ways.

When the time feels right, I would encourage you to have an open and heartfelt conversation with your friends. Acknowledge your awareness of how much your friendship means to all of you and share your intention to keep those bonds strong, even as your life evolves. You might say something like:

“I love you all so much, and I want to share something that’s really exciting but also a little emotional for me. [Partner’s name] and I are talking about getting engaged, and while I’m over the moon about this, I’ve also been thinking a lot about us—about how much you all mean to me and how deeply I value our friendship. I know life might look a little different as I step into this new chapter, but I want you to know how committed

arms for their return. Let your chosson know how important your friendships are so that he can encourage you on this journey.

It’s going to take time for everybody to adjust to this new normal, but with your self-awareness, I am confident that you will navigate this with grace. Wishing you a hearty mazal tov and may you all have the zechus to dance at each other’s simchas.

I am to staying connected and making sure you all remain such a big part of my life. You’ve been my rock, and I hope you know that will never change.”

This kind of honest and compassionate communication can help ease their worries and reinforce the security of your bond. It also allows you to stay true to yourself and your journey while extending understanding and sensitivity to your friends.

Finally, be kind to yourself. Change can be uncomfortable, but it’s also a natural and healthy part of life. You can love and honor your friendships while also stepping forward into the exciting new life you’re building. You deserve both.

Sincerely, Jennifer A single who is invited as a guest to a married friend can smell a pity-invite from a mile away.

Health & F tness

Unlocking the Secrets of Sleep An Integrative Approach to Restful Nights

By Rivka Kramer, PMHNP-BC

We all know that feeling: the clock ticks past midnight, and you’re still wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Your mind races with endless thoughts, your body is restless, and sleep seems like an impossible dream. It’s a universal struggle. You may feel stuck in a vicious cycle of sleepless nights and extremely tiresome days. Sleep disturbances, whether it’s tossing and turning, waking up in the middle of the night, or feeling like you’ve been hit by a bus in the morning, are some of the most common complaints I hear as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. But here’s the good news: we can help.

What if I told you that sleep isn’t just about “popping a pill” or hoping for the best? There’s a way to approach sleep that is practical and comprehensive— what we call an “integrative approach.” Think of it as a toolkit filled with the best of both worlds: modern medicine and ancient wisdom. Ready to dive into the art of better sleep? Let’s go!

The Sleep Struggle: More Common Than You Think

It’s no secret that sleep is a cornerstone of good health. When we sleep well, we feel energized, focused, and generally like we can conquer the day. But when sleep eludes us, we feel like walking zombies, our mood tanks, and our ability to function takes a nosedive. It is imperative to rule out any potential underlying medical condition that may be affecting our sleep patterns. There are several culprits that might be keeping you up at night:

• Insomnia: You’re exhausted, but your brain just won’t turn off.

• Sleep Apnea: You wake up gasping for air, leaving you feeling like you haven’t slept at all.

• Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS): Those twitching legs that prevent you from lying still long enough to fall asleep.

• Circadian Rhythm Disorders: Your internal body clock is out of sync with your schedule.

But here’s the thing: sleep disorders are not just an annoyance—they’re a big deal . Studies show that chronic sleep problems are linked to a range of health issues, from depression and anxiety to heart disease and diabetes. So, how do we fix it? Well, it’s time to think beyond the traditional “quick fix” of medication. What if we could approach sleep in a way that tackles the root causes—and doesn’t just mask the symptoms?

The Traditional Approach: The Meds (But Don’t Rely Solely on Them)

For many, the go-to solution when sleep problems strike is medication. And yes, sometimes, a good sleeping pill can help—whether it’s a sedative or a sedating antidepressant, it can be a lifesaver in the short term. But here’s the catch: relying solely on meds can lead to tolerance, dependency, and side effects that nobody wants to deal with.

Take Sarah, for example: She came to me after months of relying on sleeping pills to get through the night. While they helped her fall asleep initially, she

was finding that she needed more and more of the medication to get the same effect. Her quality of sleep wasn’t improving, and she felt groggy and foggy the next day. That’s when we decided to step back and rethink her approach to sleep. Spoiler alert: it worked! But how?

The Integrative Approach: Sleep

Here’s where things get exciting: An integrative approach is all about combining conventional treatments with complementary therapies. Instead of just focusing on what is wrong with sleep, we take a step back and ask: Why is your sleep off in the first place? Is it stress, anxiety, poor habits, or something else? By addressing these underlying factors, we can create a personalized plan that sets you up for long-term success.

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. thinking, “I have to fall asleep now or I’m going to be a mess tomorrow!” you’re not alone. This kind of anxiety around sleep is incredibly common—and it actually makes insomnia worse. Enter CBT-I, or Cog-

nitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. This evidence-based therapy helps you reframe the negative thoughts and behaviors that keep you up at night. Mayo Clinic is offering a series of CBT-I virtual interactive modules that can empower you to be your own coach by addressing thoughts and behaviors that may be interfering with sleep. According to sleep specialists, also known as somnologists, CBT-I is the preferred first line treatment in chronic insomnia disorder. I had a patient named Mark, who was convinced he couldn’t sleep without a glass of wine. He’d drink a little too much, and of course, the sleep would come, but it was fragmented and poor quality. After a few CBT-I sessions, he realized that the anxiety around “not sleeping” was a huge part of his problem. We worked on creating a bedtime routine that didn’t involve wine but instead focused on relaxation and resetting his expectations around sleep. Before long, he was getting better rest – without the hangover.

CBT-I is not a quick fix, either. As with anything new, it requires consistent effort and patience.

2. Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques

We all know stress is a major sleep thief, right? When your mind is buzzing with worries, falling asleep feels like an Olympic sport. Enter mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Imagine if, instead of spiraling into anxiety, you could just let go and relax your mind and body. That’s what mindfulness offers –teaching you to focus on the present moment and release the stress that builds up throughout the day.

Let’s talk about Jenny for a moment. Jenny was a busy mom, a full-time professional, and a chronic insomniac. Her mind was always racing, and the idea of sitting still to meditate sounded impossible. But after we started with

short 5-minute mindfulness exercises and deep breathing before bed, she found herself falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer. It wasn’t magic; it was simply teaching her brain to stop spinning before sleep.

3. Food for Thought: Nutrition and Sleep

What you eat and when you eat can make a world of difference in how well you sleep. Sure, that late-night pizza might taste delicious, but it’s not doing your sleep cycle any favors. Instead, focus on foods that help regulate your sleep-wake cycle. Think of magnesium-rich snacks (like almonds or spinach).

alone. But good sleep hygiene is a game changer. Creating a sleep-friendly environment and establishing a consistent routine is key to improving your sleep.

Meet Paul: A self-proclaimed “night owl,” Paul had a habit of staying up late working in his home office. We worked together to create a wind-down ritual that involved no screens for an hour before bed, dimming the lights, and taking a warm bath. Within a few weeks, Paul found that not only was he falling asleep faster, but his sleep was deeper, and he was waking up feeling refreshed.

6. Move Your Body, Sleep Better

Regular physical activity can help reduce stress and improve sleep quali-

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. thinking, “I have to fall asleep now or I’m going to be a mess tomorrow!” you’re not alone.

Rachel, a client of mine, had a habit of snacking on chocolate and caffeine late in the evening. After talking about the impact of sugar and caffeine on her sleep, we swapped out those late-night indulgences for a calming cup of chamomile tea. She noticed a drastic improvement in both the quality and duration of her sleep.

4. Herbal Helpers: Nature’s Sleep Aids

Certain herbs like valerian root, chamomile, and lavender have been used for centuries to support relaxation and sleep. Melatonin, a natural hormone, can also be helpful, especially for those with circadian rhythm disruptions like jet lag or shift work.

A word of caution though: Herbs and supplements can be potent, so always talk to your provider before trying something new. A good rule of thumb? Think of herbs and supplements like medication. They can carry their own interactions, side effects and considerations.

5. Sleep Hygiene: Your New Bedtime Ritual

If you’ve been living life like a night owl—checking emails in bed, binge-watching shows until the wee hours, and sleeping in a room that could be mistaken for a mini-fridge—you’re not

ty. Just remember, don’t plan a high-intensity workout right before bed. Gentle movement, like yoga or a walk, can prepare your body for a restful night’s sleep.

Sleep Is a Journey, Not a Quick Fix

At the end of the day, good sleep isn’t something you can just force. It’s a journey – one that requires patience, consistency, and a little bit of trial and error. The integrative approach to sleep treatment gives you a toolkit of strategies that work together to help you sleep better, feel better, and live better.

So, the next time you find yourself staring at the ceiling in frustration, remember this: you’re not alone, and there are plenty of ways to restore your sleep. By addressing the whole person – body, mind, and environment – you can unlock the secret to the deep, restorative sleep you’ve been craving.

Rivka Kramer is a Board Certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. She has an Integrative psychiatric private practice based in Cedarhurst, NY. She serves as a member of the board of JANPPA, the Jewish American Nurse Practitioner Psychiatric Association. She can be reached at 516-945-9443.

Parenting Pearls Channeling Their Potential

By Sara Rayvych, MSEd

Children are adorable, and they do many crazy things. Unfortunately, some of their antics can be inappropriate or disruptive to the rest of the family. The list is endless, and many of these unfortunate actions are simply children learning what is – and isn’t – correct behavior. Other behaviors are more particular to that individual youngster and are connected to their personality.

Children are their own people, and it’s incredible how they have their own unique personalities from the youngest of ages. Mothers will tell you how differently their children behaved in-utero, even before they were exposed to other people. Many suggested that my toddler was very active because she had older brothers. I reassured each of them that she was doing full gymnastics during the pregnancy. Rather than kicks and punches, she was doing somersaults and flips. Her activity level was just a part of her and another way that made her special.

Unfamiliar with larger families, I’ve heard many people speak with the assumption that siblings must be very similar and lack their own personalities. While there are definitely certain traits that run in families, siblings are often so different you can barely believe they came from the same home.

As our children grow, we get to see

more and more of their personalities emerge. One of the many joys of parenthood is seeing how our children – all gifts from Hashem – become their unique selves and add their talents to the world.

Along with this joy comes the important role of channeling their traits and helping them learn to act appropriately. Kids are not born knowing how to be menschen. It takes years of guidance and love to mold that sweet, innocent baby into a Torah Jew.

In addition to all the usual things parents need to teach their child, we also have to guide them with their unique personality traits. A naturally calmer child is different than a more active one, and each requires a different method. There are 70 paths to Torah, and each shevet had their own path in kriyas Yam Suf. Our goal is not to make each child a carbon copy of the other or shove every child into some preconceived mold. Each child comes into the world with their own life’s purpose, and they need the gifts that Hashem gave exclusively to them to assist in completing this tafkid. Our goal is not to break a child to fit our ideal; it’s to guide our child in using their talents properly.

are used. Being organized is usually a good thing, but yelling at others for any perceived mess is not proper use of this trait. Caring for those in need and giving tzedaka is beautiful, but a person can’t give their last penny and leave their own family hungry. Temperament, leadership, impulse control and being an introvert/extrovert are only a few of the many traits we need to train our child to use properly.

Similar to adults, children, too, come with a variety of middos, and we need to channel those natural tendencies towards a productive direction. Often, the most prominent middah a child possesses can pose a real challenge for a parent. The highly active child can move non-stop and get into trouble. The child always seeking justice and fairness can forget to act with kindness and compassion.

It’s important to reiterate that it’s not our job to “break” a child or try to make them into someone they are not – even if we think a different personality is ideal. It is our role to guide our child and teach them how to use their natural attributes properly in their avodas Hashem – chanoch l’naar al pi darko.

This is challenging for a few reasons. The first and more subtle reason can be parental ego. All parents have – or should have – goals and dreams for their

child. This is natural and healthy. We want to see our children accomplished, happy and living a life that brings nachas to us and Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The difficulty comes up if we have a narrow definition of “accomplished.” There are many jokes about “my child, the doctor,” but there is often truth behind humor. If all a parent wants is for their child to be a doctor (or anything else), then no matter how accomplished and successful their child is as a lawyer, teacher or accountant, they will still feel their child has failed them. For example, even a child that becomes a wonderful husband, loving father and learns hours each day will feel like a failure to a parent that only wanted a rosh yeshiva.

No matter how worthy our hopes are, we can’t pressure and force a child if it doesn’t match their nature. It’s important to clarify this point since I don’t want to give the impression that Torah and mitzvos are optional, chas v’shalom Every child has within them the ability to be an oveid Hashem – the question is only which of the 70 paths they will choose. Many of the Jewish community’s greatest organizations were started by those who thought and acted out of the box. Sadly, some of these individuals were considered disappointments to their parents and teachers. The prob -

lem arises when we have a narrow expectation for a child. Mentally focusing on a more realistic ideal – and being b’simcha in it – may help in this area. Parents can easily see successful individuals throughout our community that have made a positive impact even – or especially – if they didn’t fit a particular mold.

Another challenge to educating a child within their nature is a bit more obvious. If the child is quieter, milder

center of attention can perform in a play, lead davening (or lein), or run a group at shul or for local children.

A surprisingly simple, but useful, tool with young children is to distract or redirect them. They can often be separated from the most intense situation by simply giving them somewhere else to look. It won’t work every time, but it works frequently enough to be kept in your toolbox. This is general advice and not specific to this topic, but it can be

Our goal is not to break a child to fit our ideal; it’s to guide our child in using their talents properly.

and obedient, then we have fewer issues, but children with other traits can be very hard to raise. The child that is very active or can’t focus, has to have things done a specific way, or is higher maintenance can be very difficult to handle.

Solution Minded

There are many potential solutions. I will give some general ideas, but it’s difficult to give exact advice in this area. Your child’s teacher or another person that knows them well can give more targeted suggestions.

We should not encourage negative behaviors. We can’t let a child hit and then say, “They have a more aggressive nature that we’re encouraging.” We don’t buy a child everything they ask for thinking, “They’re more sensitive, and we can’t say no to them.”

Negative temperamental behaviors can often be tamed or channeled. Taming a middah means helping a child to control their behavior, while channeling it encourages a child to use it in a different, more productive way. Neither of these involve breaking or destroying a child – we are redirecting their behavior. For example, taming aggression could involve teaching a child techniques to control their anger and calm themselves down. Channeling a middah may mean helping an active child use their energy in healthy play or accomplishing a task. A teacher used to give a child with busy hands the classroom’s small sefer Torah to hold since it required both hands to balance. A child that likes to be at the

one way to handle a challenging middah until the child is old enough to learn to tame or channel it.

There are many stories of real-life examples of individuals that have positively used a variety of personality traits. Children may appreciate hearing these stories and examples of people like themselves that have made a positive difference. There is no need to mention a child’s negative characteristics to do this. “Sweetie, would you like to hear this amazing story I read today?” is sufficient. There’s no need to elaborate, “Guess what, I heard a story today about a kid just like you that was nasty to others but still turned out OK.”

It’s important to remember that many temperaments which are challenging in childhood can be used appropriately in adulthood. For example, some of the most accomplished women I know have ADHD and can credit their success to their activity level. This can be chizuk to parents.

Only the Borei Olam could make millions of people – each different from the other. Every child is a unique gift from Hashem, and it’s a zechus to raise and mold one of these treasures. May Hashem give us the guidance to do justice to His creations.

Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rockaway. She can be contacted at RayvychHomeschool@gmail.com.

School of Thought

By Etti Siegel

Q:Dear Etti,

My son is polite, follows the rules, raises his hand in class, and can be a little socially awkward. He has been mentioning that he doesn’t get called on very much and seems to be mostly overlooked in school. I had the same issue with my daughter, but she found another more quiet child and they have supported each other for years.

I would think that my children would be a teacher’s dream, but the more disruptive and loud children seem to get the attention and rewards and my children seem forgotten.

It is probably my fault because I am an introvert –I feel bad for my children because everyone likes to be noticed.

-Overlooked

A:Dear Teachers,

Dear Mom of Overlooked, I hear you. And that is why I am going to address this letter to teachers, instead of you.

There are children in our classroom who go unnoticed. I understand why! The children who demand attention by calling out or misbehaving are the children who demand our focus because we need to make sure they do not destroy the class decorum by any means necessary. We have charts with them or special signals… we do what we can to keep them regulated so that we can teach.

The problem is that no children deserve to be furniture in our classroom.

Some children seem to want to be ignored. Their body language practically screams, “Leave me alone!” When these children whisper or shrug when we call on them, it seems to make sense to call on the next student and keep the curriculum moving.

But no child deserves to be invisible. Even if a child is painfully shy, we are obligated to make each child feel noticed and worthy of attention.

Here are some tips to remember each day as you teach:

No Opt Out (from Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lamov): If a student does not know the answer or has the wrong answer, show it is not a big deal, BUT call on another student to answer that question and call on your student AGAIN so they can answer the question correctly. Let them leave with the right answer! When done matter-of-factly, in a positive tone, teachers report more listening and happier students.

Cold Call: Waiting for hands limits who is involved in the lesson. Randomly call on anyone! For easy answers,

this keeps the momentum going in the classroom and brings a higher energy. Use popsicle sticks, index cards, or follow a pattern in your head. Everyone should have a chance to be called on. If you call on a child who does not the answer, that’s okay. Go right back to No opt Out!

Warm Call: Give a shout out to a few students so they know they will be called on and have a chance to prepare themselves. “Sara, I’m calling on you for #1; Malka, I’m calling on you for #2; Shevy, I’m calling on you for #3.”

The problem is that no children deserve to be furniture in our classroom.

A particularly shy student might need a phone call the night before to practice an answer so they don’t freeze up in class.

Some teachers tell me, “I say hello to every student by attendance!” While sweet, there is no child that feels noticed because a teacher mentioned their name in a rote call, even when they add a smile or a nice word. I prefer teachers stop taking formal attendance at this point of the year and just write down who is absent and focus on noticing the individual students where and when it matters.

I remember responding to a neighborhood chat asking if anyone could pick up a high school girl in Brooklyn to bring her back to Queens. That was exactly my route, so I volunteered. We had a nice chat as I drove, but one comment she made still rings in my head. “This year I am trying to be the worst misbehaved in my class,” she announced. “It is time I got some attention. The girls who make trouble are the ones who get noticed, and when they are good, they get rewarded. I am always good, and I get ignored.”

“How is that going for you?” I asked, genuinely interested in this experiment.

“Terrible,” she replied. “It turns out that I am terrible at being bad.”

Rule followers deserve to be rewarded. They deserve recognition. They deserve to be lauded!

Another reason for an invisible child can be shyness.

Shyness needs to be worked with in a safe and gentle way. If, in our safe classrooms, we have as many opportunities as possible for children to present their writing or work to the class, starting in younger grades when they have less inhibitions, then we can help build children’s self-esteem. We can read children’s work if they don’t want to read it themselves, allowing them to bask in the recognition in a safer manner.

When asking students a critical thinking question, give opportunities for children to write their thoughts on an index card to then read it instead of having to answer “off-the-top-of-their-heads,” and see confidence build. According to the National Social Anxiety Center, 40% of people are genuinely afraid of speaking in public. It is a real fear.

Studies also show that children trust teachers who seem to genuinely like them and care about them.

Putting the two together means we have a lot of power to help our students!

Dear Parents, especially Mom of Overlooked,

If you make it clear that you value and enjoy your child, it will go a long way to making sure your child grows up to be a self-assured, strong adult. You might need to send them to an after-school or Sunday program that hones his/her talents or find a way for your child to be celebrated (helping a mom with a new baby down the block who will have endless thanks for an extra pair of hands or be a homework helper).

The fact that you call yourself introverted means that you may also struggle to express yourself, so plan to give at least three well-placed praises or compliments to each of your children each day. Watch them develop an inner glow as they internalize your messages.

It takes a village to raise a child, and we are a very hard-working and caring village!

Thanks for sharing.

Etti

Fd for Thought Bonito 47

IBy Nati Burnside

s Bonito 47 a new restaurant?

That really depends on your definition of “new,” I guess. The name is somewhat new – it used to be just “Bonito.” The location is new, because it used to be on 17th Street. The menu is new…mostly.

What isn’t new is the quality (still high) and the chef (Joshua Kessler).

While Bonito 47 is more of a steakhouse compared to the shared plates concept of Bonito, the appetizers are still designed to be sharable. The other notable change is that the space is larger, with three areas (main dining room, bar area, private dining room) available for seating. But the most interesting part of the menu is the new Chef’s Tasting.

Not many restaurants offer a chef’s tasting that is always available to whoever walks in the door. Many places will put something together for you if you call in advance, but Kessler (also the chef at Barnea Bistro, a 15-minute walk to the east) wants the concept to become more widely available in the high-end kosher world.

“I chose to create a chef’s tasting menu to showcase my personal creativity, highlight seasonal ingredients, and craft an immersive experience for my guests,” said Kessler of the new addition to his menu. “Tasting menus invite diners to ‘trust the chef,’ fostering a shared sense of vulnerability between us. I deeply value the opportunity to create and share these meaningful moments.”

When I was invited to check out the new Bonito 47, I got a feel for what ordering the tasting menu was like. There was a real anticipation of not knowing what was going to come next. Not only that, but there is a certain excitement in trying something that you might not have ordered on your own. It’s like asking a bartender to pick something for you, but on a grander scale. (Bonito 47 has a bar with extensive options if that’s something that interests you.)

For instance, the first course was the soup of the day. Sometimes I fail to even ask what the soup of the day is. But here

I was treated to Exotic Mushroom Truffle Soup that was maybe the best soup I’ve ever tasted. Slightly thinner than a purée, the blend of mushrooms provided a deep earthy flavor that was compounded by the classic pairing of the truffle oil. Also of note was the heated bowl the soup came in, which kept it piping hot for several minutes.

Some of the courses came directly from the menu, others were slight alterations of menu items, and there even those that were totally off menu. I was happy to see the Short Rib Ravioli included in my tasting as I might have ordered it regardless. The cashew cream sauce and oyster mushrooms gave a distinct feeling of an actual dairy base.

As somebody who prefers things on the spicier side, I was thrilled to get the Crispy Moroccan Cigars, but with an extra kick. On the menu, the filling is a braised short rib and the dipping sauce is a garlic aioli, but the tasting menu provided me with chorizo filling and a chipotle aioli, both welcome alterations.

A palate cleanser of sorbet preceded the main course, the Entrecôte. Not only was this a premium piece of meat with the dry aging process (30 days) bringing out the flavor, but the pomme purée and bok choy were nice additions to the plate with different textures to go along with the meat.

After all this, dessert might have somehow been the highlight. My mother, a”h, used to say that if it doesn’t have chocolate, it’s not actually dessert. Let me tell you, the Chocolate Mousse Cannoli had plenty of chocolate. Not only was there ample chocolate mousse coming out of both sides of each of the two cannolis (artfully displayed vertically), the chocolate sauce on the plate (with candied pecans) was there to glue everything down, and there was a chocolate roll to eat as well. And yet, the best part was what looked to be a giant version of a Ferrero Rocher. It was about the size of a baseball, the outer layer was a thick chocolate with pieces of hazelnut, and the inside was full of vanilla ice cream. Without question,

I’d recommend people coming here just for dessert if they are in Midtown.

Obviously, the tasting menu isn’t for everyone. Maybe you don’t like surprises. Maybe you have your heart set on something specific from the menu. Maybe you want to focus on the vast variety of sushi options the restaurant has to offer. Whatever the reason, I’m here to help with that as well.

As for the sushi, Bonito 47 offers an omakase service in addition to many other options. So feel free to leave it up to the sushi chef instead of Kessler if that sounds more like your style. If you’re just going to order one thing, try the Tuna Ruby Roll. The seared spicy tuna combines well with the torched glaze and tempura flakes for a nice punch and texture pairing. If you want something slightly less typical, Bonito 47

even has a few hand rolls to choose from (I’d recommend the Toro Scallion).

Personally, I would never step foot in Bonito (past or present) without ordering their signature Papas Con Pato. Making the transition over from the previous location, this combination of roasted potatoes, duck confit, and a poached egg is famous for a reason. Split it or don’t, just make sure it hits your table one way or another. If poached eggs are your thing, I have good news. While there are a handful of steaks to choose from on the menu, the Steak and Eggs is the least traditional. The sliced hanger steak comes with a great sear so there’s a crisp outside to go with the runny egg and the leafy salad on the plate. Mixed together, they yield a bite you won’t soon forget.

So whether or not Bonito is a familiar name, go make yourself familiar with the place. You’ll be glad you did.

Meat - Steakhouse - Waiter Service 114 West 47th Street, New York, NY 10010 (212)-209-8822 BonitoNYC.com Orthodox Union (OU)

In The K tchen

Sausage and Peppers Sheet Pan Dinner

By Naomi Nachman

Ingredients

◦ 12 hot dogs or sausages, cut into bite-size pieces

◦ 6 bell peppers, any color, sliced into thin strips

◦ 1 medium red onion, sliced into strips

◦ 3 tablespoons canola oil

◦ 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

◦ ½ cup beer

◦ ½ teaspoon dried oregano

◦ ½ teaspoon dried basil

◦ ½ teaspoon garlic powder

◦ ½ teaspoon salt

◦ ½ teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Spread the sausage, bell peppers, and onions on a 12 x 17 baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, vinegar and beer. Sprinkle with dried oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper over everything.

Bake for 40 minutes, uncovered.

Serving suggestions: Serve with rice. It also makes a great filling in a sandwich.

Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/ New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet. com or at (516) 295-9669.

Mind Y ur Business Dealing With Failure

This column features business insights from a recent “Mind Your Business with Yitzchok Saftlas” radio show. The weekly “Mind Your Business” show – broadcasting since 2015 –features interviews with Fortune 500 executives, business leaders and marketing gurus. Prominent guests include John Sculley, former CEO of Apple and Pepsi; Dick Schulze, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Best Buy; and Beth Comstock, former Vice Chair of GE; among over 400+ senior-level executives and business celebrities. Yitzchok Saftlas, president of Bottom Line Marketing Group, hosts the

weekly “Mind Your Business” show, which airs at 10pm every Sunday night on 710 WOR and throughout America on the iHeartRadio Network.

Since 2015, Yitzchok Saftlas has been speaking with leading industry experts on the “Mind Your Business” show, sharing insightful business and marketing strategies.

In this article, we explore tips from 5 industry leaders on how they turn failures into stepping stones for success.

Embracing SE tback S

marc b odner, Executive c hairperson at L& r Distributors

What’s better than setbacks? Setbacks are the drivers of learning. We generally don’t learn from our successes, but we do learn from our failures. With each setback you encounter, ask yourself, “How do I make my learning greater than the setback?” I’m a big fan of sharing failures and the things you learned. Every person that you can spread those lessons to allows you to monetize the setback. Setbacks are going to happen, they’re natural. It doesn’t help to get upset and go into a rage. In life, there are winners and learners. You can convert any negative loss into a positive thing simply by learning from it. You just have to be willing to learn.

t h E mo

S t Va LuabLE c oLLE gE

a be breuer, cE o of John to g o

Unless you don’t need an actual degree, to become an accountant, doctor, lawyer, etc., you do not need to go to college to be successful, because at the end of the day, if you just want to get the education a college is going to give you, you can find it all on YouTube and all the other million places where you can get educated for free. Just start asking questions, reading books, and you can learn all these amazing things. Many of the credits that you are getting in college ultimately have zero to do with anything you’re actually going to do in life. But, if you want to get straight to work, make a business plan, and work very hard to get things going, recognize that you don’t know everything and start educating yourself in the field you want to enter.

The only college I ever attended was a college called “the real world,” and it cost me around $45 million. Because in my first half of life, I was making many stupid business moves. I was gutsy and knew enough to initially make $45 million without any money to start with. And when I lost it all, I realized all of the things I’d done wrong. That was a very valuable lesson, and I was able to build myself back up from there.

In the end, the most important education comes from real-life experiences and the lessons learned along the way.

The only college I ever attended was a college called ‘the real world,’ and it cost me around $45 million.

Pa SSion Pr EVai LS

maury Litwack, managing Director at the o rthodox union and Founder of teach c oalition

I think there are two ideas that drive me. One is the assumption that there is a mediocrity out there. The other is the idea that there are people who are smarter or better than me that have already tried and failed, and if they couldn’t do it, how could I?

I read all about the Wright brothers and it was so motivating. Because the Wright brothers, at the time, I think, spent $1,000, all in. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian and the government were investing in a project where they spent 5-10 times that amount of money. And the Wright brothers were told by people, “You’re never going to be successful. You guys are just some bicycle repairmen in Ohio.” And meanwhile, the Smithsonian is out there. They’re hustling. They’re working – a huge team. The Wright brothers are working on it in their spare time. The Smithsonian team is more educated, better financed, more of a team. But the Wright brothers were first in flight. What’s the difference between those two? I think the difference is the passion. And I also think it was the Wright brothers ignoring the noise, ignoring the apathy, ignoring all those things, and just going forward.

Pr EPar E & Pi Vot

b enny i mani, Founder and cE o of m i m i’s Sweets

In 2001, I opened my own jewelry business, which is still operating and is my main business. But I grew up in Iraq where there was never 100% certainty of what’s going to happen tomorrow. So, I had to try not to put all my eggs in one basket. What’s going to happen tomorrow if that business goes down? I had a good friend that had a very good candy store. I used to stop there every Sunday to chit-chat. He told me, “Listen, let’s open up a chocolate business.” I agreed and before we knew it, we were at a machinery warehouse. But after four years, I realized that the chocolate business is very difficult with a lot of competition. Meanwhile, I was looking for another thing to bring in to strengthen the business because I saw it wasn’t doing well. I found this company, Fini, one of the finest European candy making companies. It took me about a year and a half to create a contract to make kosher products with them exclusively. We started our first production which was not as successful as we thought it would be. After four years, I decided I needed to shut down the chocolate business because the business model was not right. So, I started MiMi’s Sweets, growing it and learning from all my past mistakes. What we did at the chocolate business was wrong, so I tried to do the opposite. Thank God, it proved itself right and we were successful.

Fai Lur E Sha PES L E a DE r S

bill g eorge, Former c hair and cE o of medtronic

When things don’t go your way, that’s where you learn. That’s the greatest learning opportunity. We are all going to get knocked down in life. But you’ve got to pick yourself up off the ground and come back. I think that’s the key. So, I encourage leaders to get out and take risks. You might fail, but you’ll be a much better leader if you can do that. If you try to be Mr. or Ms. Perfect, it’s simply not going to work. You will learn from these failures and come back really strong. Just look at Steve Jobs, one of the greatest inventors of the former era. He got fired, then actually went out and processed for 5-6 years. He started a company called NeXT, worked at Pixar, and he learned a lot about himself. When he came back, he was a much better leader because he had failed before he learned about himself.

Notable Quotes

“Say

What?!”

It’s over for Obama. The spell is broken. Donald Trump broke him, Biden, Harris, the Bushes, the Clintons and the Cheneys.

- Miranda Devine, New York Post

It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada. I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all! DJT.

- Trump on Truth Social, after a meeting during which he told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that if his only way of keeping Canada solvent is to rip off the U.S., Canada should just become the 51st state

I do believe in the sanctity of life, and I think that’s why I felt, along with so many other Americans, joy, unfortunately. Maybe not joy but certainly not empathy.

- Former Washington Post and New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz in an interview with Piers Morgan celebrating the murder of the CEO of United Healthcare, who was a 50-year-old father, son, brother and spouse

According to a Charles Schwab survey, Americans believe it takes $2.5 million in net worth to be considered wealthy – up from $2.2 million just two years ago in 2022. Even financial security feels out of reach for some, with the average person saying they’d need $778,000 just to feel comfortable.

- Yahoo! Finance

I’m actually very optimistic this time around.

- Jeff Bezos talking about the pending Trump presidency in an interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit 2024

What I’ve seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time and more settled. You’ve probably grown in the last eight years. He has, too.

- ibid.

He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. And my point of view, if I can help him do that, I’m going to help him because we do have too much regulation in this country.

– ibid.

By the way, all of our problems, all of our economic problems, like if you look at the deficit and the national debt, and how gigantic it is as a portion of GDP — these are real problems, and they’re real long-term problems — and the way you get out of them is by outgrowing them. You’re going to solve the problem of the national debt by making it a smaller percentage of GDP, not by shrinking the national debt, but by growing the GDP. You have to grow the denominator. That means you have to grow GDP at 3%, 4%, 5% a year, and let the national debt grow slower than that. If you can do that, this is a very manageable problem.

- ibid.

All they know [young liberals] is that a lot more Palestinians have been killed than Israelis. And I tell them what Arafat walked away from, and they, like, can’t believe it. [Arafat] walked away from a Palestinian state, with a capital in East Jerusalem, 96% of the West Bank, 4% of Israel to make up for the 4% of the West Bank to be annexed for Israeli settlements.

- Bill Clinton, at The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2024

I go through all the stuff that was in the deal, and they, like – it’s not on their radar screen, they can’t even imagine that happened.

- ibid.

I tell them, you know, the first and most famous victim of an attempt to get the Palestinians a state was prime minister Rabin, whom I think I loved as much as I ever loved another man.

- iIbid.

You walk away from these once-in-a-lifetime peace opportunities, and you can’t complain 25 years later when the doors weren’t all still open, and all the possibilities weren’t still there. You can’t do it.

- ibid.

She couldn’t have been nicer... We had a very nice conversation.

- Trump talking about sitting with Jill Biden at the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral this weekend

It’s just a firm shake. He understands that. It’s just a firm shake.

- Trump talking about his now infamous handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron

Donald Trump and Jill Biden shared a photo-op at the Notre Dame Cathedral over the weekend. Good to see that there are no hard feelings between the incoming president and the current president.

– Tyrus, filling in for Greg Gutfeld on the Fox’s late night show

I grew up with matzah with peanut butter as my favorite snack, and every Passover, my family and I made matzah pizza together.

- Brigham Young University’s Jake Retzlaff, the first Jewish quarterback in the program’s history, upon the announcement that he signed a sponsorship with kosher food company Manischewitz

At Chanukah time, our tradition was making potato latkes. Now, at BYU, I’m able to share these traditions with my teammates. This partnership is about more than football — it’s about creating connections and celebrating Jewish pride in ways I never expected.

- ibid.

Thank you, Daniel, for serving your country and for protecting the many passengers whose lives were threatened by this violent and deranged individual.

- Golf legend Phil Mickelson tweeting about Daniel Penny, while the New York jury was deliberating whether he should go to jail for stepping up and protecting fellow passengers from a deranged lunatic who ended up dying at the scene due to being restrained by Penny

I’m not a confrontational person... This type of [interview] is very uncomfortable. All this attention and limelight is very uncomfortable. I would prefer without it. I didn’t want any type of attention or praise or. And I still don’t.

– Subway hero Daniel Penny in a Fox News interview after his acquittal for the death of the deranged psycho that was threatening to kill people on a subway

The guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself.

- ibid.

I’ll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed.

- ibid.

People want to jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud, how about we do the same when they attempt to oppress us? Just like everybody else seeks justice on their own. Just like everybody else has vigilantes. We need some black vigilantes.

- Walter “Hawk” Newsome, a BLM leader who describes himself as Jordan Neely’s uncle and was in the courtroom every day of the trial, after the acquittal

Biden Cancels Aid to Syria After Finding Out Some Needy Americans Live There

- Babylon Bee headline

Juan Soto Retires From Professional Baseball to Play For The New York Mets

- ibid.

He directed the FBI to invade my private home… And then when I was shot in the ear, he said, “Oh, maybe it was shrapnel.” Where’s the shrapnel coming from? Is it coming from heaven? I don’t think so.

- Trump when asked on Meet the Press if he is going to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray

Success

will be through success.

– ibid., when asked if he is going to prosecute Biden and all of those that have tried to throw him in jail over the past four years

Political Crossfire

After Assad, Much Promise — and Risk and Uncertainty

With the sudden collapse of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s proxy empire in the Middle East has been devastated – in Gaza, Lebanon and now Syria. But filling the resulting power vacuum across the Middle East with stable governance will be an urgent and complex challenge.

The worm turns: Just 14 months ago, Israel was terrorized and reeling after Hamas fighters surged across the Gaza fence. Now, Israel’s enemies across the region are dead or in flight. It has been a convulsive process, rich with promise but perhaps carrying a toxin of regional instability and turmoil.

Assad fled Damascus for Moscow on Sunday, leaving his capital to the control of a Turkish-backed jihadist insurgency called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Arab sources told me Sunday that HTS was securing Syria’s intelligence headquarters in Damascus and trying to contain violence in the capital. But with thousands of Syrians suddenly freed from years in Assad’s torture prisons, there will be a yearning for revenge.

Arab regional powers are attempting to steady the transition. Led by the United Arab Emirates, they had been trying to persuade Assad for months to break from Iran and rejoin the Arab fold. Assad hesitated too long and was ultimately abandoned by his erstwhile allies. “In the end, the Syrian military didn’t fight, and Iran and Russia didn’t show up,” noted a former CIA officer with extensive experience in the region.

“At long last, the Assad regime has fallen,” President Joe Biden said Sunday. For the United States, the ouster of a despot backed by Moscow and Tehran is “a huge strategic move of the needle in the right direction,” as one administration official put it. The United States has been seeking Assad’s replacement, through overt and covert means, since 2011. Still, as Biden rightly cautioned, it brings “a moment of

By David Ignatius

risk and uncertainty” for the region.

The chaos in Damascus on Sunday was eased by HTS’s decision to allow the current Syrian prime minister to operate an interim government, with HTS protection, a senior Biden administration official told me. The group has said it intends to maintain current government administrative institutions, including the army. That would certainly ease the transition.

Qatar, which has long been a covert backer of HTS, appeared to be leading the Arab effort to create a transitional government under United Nations sponsorship. A Qatari statement Sunday underscored “the necessity of preserving national institutions and the unity of the state to prevent it from descending into chaos.”

The Qataris urged implementation of years-old U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for a new Syrian government that would include members of the regime and the opposition. But for the moment, Syria is a violent mosaic, with Turkish-backed groups controlling western Syria all the way to Damascus, a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia controlling the northeast and Jordanian-supported militias dominant in the south.

The United States and Russia will

doubtless play a diplomatic role in shaping a future Syria, but it’s the regional players that will be decisive. “There was a time when great powers would sort out what happens next. No more. For better or worse, this is now up to Israel, Turkey, the Saudis, the UAE and Jordan,” noted the former CIA official.

President-elect Donald Trump underlined his lack of interest in an American role in Syria in a social media post Saturday, which stressed: “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. … DO NOT GET INVOLVED!” In a post Sunday, Trump suggested that after abandoning Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin should negotiate an end to the carnage in Ukraine. Trump wrote: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!”

The 10-day transformation in Syria has echoes of three other events, each carrying its own lesson. First, the speed of Assad’s demise recalls the collapse of the U.S.backed government in Afghanistan. The fall of Kabul happened just nine days after the loss of the first provincial capital to the Taliban. When an army feels abandoned and demoralized – by the United States in Afghanistan and Russia and Iran in Syria – it slides into a free fall.

A second analogy is to Hamas’s rapid thrust across the Gaza fence and its success storming nearby Israeli kibbutzim and military bases on Oct. 7, 2023. Like Hamas, HTS was well-trained and well-equipped, with rapid-assault capabilities that defenders never imagined. Turkey obviously played a big role in Syria, as did Qatar with its long-standing ties to HTS leadership.

A third parallel is Iraq, which shows the chaos that can follow regime change. When the United States toppled Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in 2003, it set off rumbles of ethnic and regional conflict that continue to this day. Similarly, Israel has crushed the military power of Hamas in Gaza. But that enclave is now a lawless region of bandits and gangs, without a hint of stable governance.

One ominous fact is that since the Syrian uprising began in 2011, jihadist groups have been the strongest military faction. I learned their power in the opposition firsthand in October 2012, when I smuggled myself into Syria to report on the early days of the uprising that finally triumphed Sunday.

A nominally pro-Western opposition militia was battling Assad’s army the day I reached Aleppo. With shells raining down a few hundreds yards away, I asked one of the secular leaders whether the potent al-Qaeda offshoot known as the al-Nusra Front was fighting alongside his forces. Of course, he said, pointing to their headquarters a block away. “They’re the best fighters.”

HTS, leading the battle that just toppled Assad, is a descendant of the group I glimpsed 12 years ago. As a senior administration official told me Sunday, along with the White House’s exhilaration over Assad’s demise, there’s a recognition that “we have a counterterrorism problem.”

In the Middle East, there is no silver lining that does not have a cloud.

Political Crossfire

Revolutions Swept the Middle East in 2011. Will Syria’s End Differently?

By Patrick Kingsley

When protesters started trying in 2011 to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, they were part of a cascade of revolutions, known as the Arab Spring, that aimed to oust authoritarian leaders across the Middle East.

While opposition groups elsewhere experienced swift success, the Syrian revolution devolved into a 13-year civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and carved the country into competing fiefs.

Assad’s stunning fall finally allows Syrians to feel the joy that their counterparts experienced more than a decade ago in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen — the four Arab countries where dictators were toppled far more quickly.

Yet while those four states provided a template for revolutionary success, their trajectories since the Arab Spring also constitute a warning.

In Egypt and Tunisia, new strongmen eventually rose to power, crushing efforts to build pluralist democracies. In Libya and Yemen, rival militias jockeyed for control, leading to civil war and the partition of both countries.

“The people who have survived the last 13 years deserve to enjoy the moment before they worry about the future,” said Alistair Burt, a former minister in the British government who helped spearhead its Mideast policy during the Arab Spring.

“At the same time, we all know the experience of the region since 2011,” Burt said. “We want to hope for the best, but we prepare for something worse.”

The dynamics in Syria make for a particularly fraught transition of power. The Islamist rebel alliance that led the rapid advance on Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is one of several rival opposition groups that must now agree on how to run Syria in the post-Assad era.

While Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is now the most influential group in Syria, it is competing for influence with another Turkey-backed group based in northern Syr-

ia, as well as a secular Kurdish-led alliance in eastern Syria that is supported by the United States. And southern Syria is dominated by local rebel groups, including militias led by the Druse minority, an offshoot of Islam.

Once affiliated with al-Qaida, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has tried to present itself as a moderate movement that seeks to preserve the rights of Syria’s many minorities, including its Christians, Druse and Alawites, the Shiite sect that formed Assad’s base.

Unless the group, which the United States has designated as a terrorist group, makes good on that promise, analysts say, it could end up prolonging the civil war: Militias from different minorities often feel obliged to defend their areas from the new central government.

“You can’t tell people that they’re safe: They have to believe it,” Burt said. “That’s why the conduct of HTS — and all those with guns at the moment in the liberated cities — is so important.”

Foreign powers such as Iran, Turkey, Russia and the United States, which support different sides in the conflict, are expected to push to retain influence in the new era, potentially prolonging Syria’s internal disputes.

The role and intentions of Assad’s

former generals and security chiefs also remain unclear. They could yet prove decisive in any new power play, as their counterparts did in the countries where leaders were toppled in 2011-12.

After the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in 2011, the military leadership still controlled the pace of the political transition. After allowing elections, the military later took back power in a popular coup in 2013, ousting Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president. Morsi had himself angered many Egyptians through heavy-handed governance, leading some to lose faith in the democratic process.

Elections were also held in Libya after the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, but the country has been partitioned since civil war broke out three years later.

In Yemen, the departure of Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012 was also followed by a civil war, which allowed the Houthis, an Iran-backed movement, to seize the capital.

For years, Tunisia was the most successful of the Arab Spring countries, holding several elections after the downfall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. But Tunisia returned to a form of one-man rule in 2021, when President Kais Saied removed checks on his power and began to restrict the media, weaken the judiciary and exert greater control over the electoral authorities.

Given the complexity of Syria’s internal dynamics, some think that Assad’s departure is more likely to widen the rifts left by the country’s 13-year war than heal them.

But other analysts say that it is precisely because of their wartime experience that Syrians may be able to achieve what their counterparts in Egypt and elsewhere could not.

A side effect of suffering for so many years is that Syrians have had far longer to prepare for this moment and consider how to navigate a post-Assad transition, according to Sanam Vakil, head of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, a London-based research institute.

That is “what distinguishes this moment for Syria,” she said. “There’s also been a lot of learning, there’s been mobilizing, there’s been activism.”

For now, though, many Syrians say they want to enjoy the euphoria of Assad’s departure.

Assad oversaw a cruel government that threw hundreds of thousands of opponents into dirty, overcrowded prisons, where thousands were tortured and killed. Assad’s forces dropped thousands of barrel bombs on his own citizens and gassed some of them with chemical weapons.

His refusal to relinquish power in 2011 led to a bloody civil war that displaced millions of people, destroyed much of the country and led to the rise of terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State group.

“No matter what comes next, it won’t be worse than Bashar al-Assad’s regime,” said Hashem Alsouki, a Syrian former civil servant detained and tortured early in the war who later sought safety with his family in Europe.

“Yes, there is concern for the future,” Alsouki added in a telephone interview. “At the same time, I have faith that we will overcome this stage. Because the Syrian people have learned a lot in these 13 years.”

Israel Today Trump Should Trust His Instincts and Ignore the Syria “Experts”

By Jonathan S. Tobin

It didn’t take long after the swift fall of the Assad regime in Syria for the members of America’s foreign-policy establishment to speak up in favor of their default position on just about every distant conflict: support for various sorts of American intervention and a generous supply of aid to right the wrongs of the world. Along with that reflexive desire to mess around in distant, complex and confusing disputes, the supposedly smart people were equally quick to express disdain for President-elect Donald Trump’s equally predictable response to developments in Syria.

Trump’s immediate reaction was to write on his Truth Social platform that, among other things, America’s response should be (in all caps for emphasis) to: “HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”

So, who are you going to trust? The credentialed elites who have spent their lives studying and spouting opinions on the Middle East and guiding America to disaster after disaster or a real estate mogul/reality-TV star turned populist politician?

Despite the supposed great learning of the “expert” class and all of Trump’s shortcomings, the incoming president is the one who is in the right here. Though it would be impossible for the United States to be entirely disconnected from events in Syria, his instincts here are both wise and based on a better understanding of the events of the last quarter century of history than most of those who have been advising American leaders in the past.

How Assad Fell

The surprising collapse of Syria’s brutal authoritarian government is the

direct result of Israel’s defeat of the Assad clan’s main ally, Iran. Tehran thought the seven-front war launched against the Jewish state by its terrorist proxies on Oct. 7, 2023, would fundamentally alter the balance of power in the region. But the setbacks dealt by Israel to Hamas in Gaza—and then against Hezbollah in Lebanon in the last few months—achieved that result but not in the way the Islamist regime intended.

Bashar Assad and his minority Alawite regime survived 13 years of civil war because his Iranian and Russian allies were able to use their considerable military power to defeat his Sunni Arab opponents and massacre large numbers of civilians. The war they waged cost the lives of more than 500,000 people and displaced half of the nation’s population with an estimated 6.7 million refugees forced to flee their homes.

But with Russia distracted by its war in Ukraine and Hezbollah weakened by Israel to the point where it lost its ability to defend Iranian interests, the Syrian rebels were able to turn the tide of a war that most of the world thought had ended years ago. With what may well have been considerable help from the Islamist government of Turkey, which has been meddling in Syria for years, the jihadist forces opposing Assad launched an offensive that the former dictator’s army couldn’t stop. Iran cut its losses and withdrew from Syria, and the result is that a coalition of rebels is now in charge in Damascus.

This is a clear defeat for both Iran and Russia—and that is something for Americans to cheer. But what follows this is unclear. The main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is largely made up of former terrorists once associated with ISIS and Al-Qaeda. In a

bid for foreign help, for the last several years, they have been trying to convince Western nations that they have turned over a new leaf and are no longer Islamist extremists. That’s highly doubtful, and their intentions toward Kurdish forces in Northern Syria remain unclear. The Kurds were allied with the West during the fight against ISIS and a small force of U.S. troops is still based there.

Israel occupied Syrian territory around the Golan Heights (including the summit of Mount Hermon) to forestall any effort by Syrian jihadis to attack the Jewish state. And when one considers that the competing interests of Turkey, Iran and any remaining Russian forces still in the country are still in the mix, the current stalemate makes for a volatile and potentially dangerous situation. In particular, how Iran reacts to a new reality where it has clearly lost its bid for regional hegemony ought to worry the entire world. It might decide to accelerate its nuclear program and seek to declare itself a nuclear power so as to save face after the debacles in Lebanon and Syria, as well as to deter any effort to topple the Islamist tyranny that has ruled Iran since 1979.

The Establishment Demands Intervention

In theory, this could be an opportunity for Syria to rid itself not just of a minority dictatorship but become a less repressive country where people no longer fear for their lives. Indeed, the understandable happiness about Assad’s fall has led some, like Washington Post pundit Josh Rogin to proclaim that “Syria is free. Now it’s time to help.” The editorial board of the Post doubled down on that position with a piece explaining, “Why the U.S. needs to help build a new Syria.”

Both of those positions were a clear rebuke to Trump and his “America First” mindset. So, too, was the response of New York Times columnist and longtime self-proclaimed Middle East “expert” Thomas Friedman. The inveterate Israel-basher poured scorn on Trump’s position that America ought to stay out of the Middle East. According to Friedman, Trump is obligated to prevent a nuclear Iran by attempting a rapprochement with Tehran and appease it in much the same manner as former President Barack Obama’s dangerous 2015 nuclear deal. Nor was it only liberal outlets who were criticizing Trump. At his The

Editors site, Ira Stoll wrote, “Trump Botches First Foreign Crisis as President-Elect.” He quoted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), arguing that the United States was obligated to remain in Syria to fight ISIS, to ensure that Assad’s chemical weapons don’t fall into the wrong hands and to back up the Kurds against any possible attack on them by a HTS regime in Damascus.

Assuming that Trump intended to follow the Biden administration’s policy of letting Iran’s Houthi terrorist allies interdict international shipping in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, as well as to stop Israel from defending its interests in the region, Stoll seems to believe that the new administration will be entirely isolationist.

To shame Trump, he even quoted President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech in which JFK articulated America’s Cold War pledge: “Let every

quick work of defeating them. Similarly, he backed Israel’s efforts to defend itself (including recognizing its annexation of the Golan) and turned the screws on Iran with tough sanctions and targeting its terrorists.

The Blunders of Bush, Obama and Biden

Staying out of Syria doesn’t mean ignoring it, and Trump is clearly willing and able to defend American interests and allies when they are threatened in a way that the feckless Biden administration was not.

However, unlike the foreign-policy establishment, including both its liberal wing and the ancien regime Republicans still stuck in the mindset of the failed administration of President George W. Bush, Trump has no illusions about jihadi-ruled Damascus now being “free” or the rise of a “new” Syria that

Anyone who thinks that Trump will let Islamists in Syria run amuck in the region the way Iran’s allies have done in the past wasn’t paying attention during his first term.

nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

The problem with these positions is not just that they mischaracterize Trump’s intentions and likely course of action. It also reflects a foolish inability to learn a basic lesson from America’s misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq—not to mention Cold War mistakes like Vietnam that followed JFK’s “bear any burden” promise—that the president-elect has absorbed yet allegedly smarter people criticizing him seem unable to grasp.

Anyone who thinks that Trump will let Islamists in Syria run amuck in the region the way Iran’s allies have done in the past wasn’t paying attention during his first term. While Obama was too interested in appeasing Iran to prevent ISIS from establishing its “caliphate” in much of Syria and Iraq, it was Trump who unleashed the American military on the terrorists and made relatively

would be indifferent if the Kurds were threatened. But the idea that America is obligated to send more troops or commit itself to joining in a new round of civil war there that would likely be presented to the public as a rescue mission is equally mistaken.

The problem with past American policies towards Syria was not a failure to intervene in the civil war. It was that Obama did not articulate American interests in a way that would contain it and the flood of refugees from the conflict, many of whom made their way to Europe (creating new problems on that continent). By declaring that Assad’s using chemical weapons on his own people crossed a “red line” and then refusing to enforce it when that line was crossed, Obama set the pattern for American humiliation in the region. That was compounded by his indifference to the Russian and Iranian interventions there that followed his “red line” fiasco.

will become a partner for the democratic West.

America cannot fix Syria or remake it in its own image any more than it could do the same in Afghanistan or Iraq. Neither an American military expeditionary force nor an army of social workers and teachers is likely to transform it into a Jeffersonian democracy or anything other than another Arab/Muslim state with very different values and goals than those of the West. The best to hope for is an authoritarian regime that isn’t dedicated to war with Israel and the West or has a goal of spreading the jihadist virus to other nations in the region, especially those with relatively moderate governments that fear Iran and want peace or at least no conflict with the Jewish state or the West.

It is highly unlikely that Washington can bribe HTS to behave; still, the United States can contain it and, as is always the case with Trump, be ready to threaten its leaders to confine their activities to their own borders. That doesn’t necessarily mean the new administration

These are mistakes Trump doesn’t plan to repeat. The idea that he can solve the problems of the region with a new round of appeasement of Iran or by pressuring Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians or any of its other enemies is also going to be a non-starter in an administration packed with friends of the Jewish state. The Trump 2.0 administration also understands that involving the United States in a new Middle Eastern quagmire like that authored by George W. Bush is also out of the question.

Staying out of Syria isn’t isolationism. It’s common sense. The same is true for a reluctance to engage in futile attempts to engage in nation-building in a place where the leading factions—and most of the people—don’t share Western values. Trump has shown himself capable of grasping that American foreign policy should mix strength and a willingness to strike enemies with a rational fear of being sucked into unwinnable conflicts and assistance projects that are doomed to failure.

As he showed when he ignored the experts who warned him not to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Trump should be guided by his allergy to advice from establishment figures who have been wrong about everything for a generation. Rather than mock or bash his stand on Syria, sensible observers should be cheering it.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate).

Political Crossfire A Coup Attempt in the Shadow of Oct. 7

By Caroline B. Glick

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet security, and Mossad chief David Barnea at a flag laying ceremony, May 2024

This week, Channel 11’s journalist Ayala Hasson broadcast a two-part exposé on the Israel Defense Forces’ self-investigation of the massacre at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, which took place a kilometer from the Gaza Strip. Hasson’s reports reinforced the fact that the IDF and Shin Bet top brass are to blame for Hamas’s successful day of genocide.

A total of 364 people were brutally murdered at the Nova music festival and along avenues of escape. Thirty-nine were taken hostage. The rave opened on Oct. 5 with 3,800 revelers.

According to earlier investigative reports, the IDF intercepted Hamas’s invasion plans a year before Oct. 7. They received multiple, rapidly escalating warnings of the impending invasion from a variety of sources in the Southern Command in the months, weeks and days prior to that day. Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet director

Ronen Bar did not share the warnings or Hamas’s intercepted invasion plans with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Instead, they repeatedly briefed him that Hamas was deterred, and Israel simply needed to provide it with more cash from Qatar and more work permits for Gazans in Israel to keep the terrorist regime fat, happy and deterred.

On Oct. 10, we learned that on the night between Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, Halevi, Bar, Southern Command Chief Maj. General Yaron Finkleman, Operations Directorate Chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk and Haliva’s assistant (Haliva was on vacation and not answering his phone) held two telephone consultations, at midnight and 4 a.m., when they discussed multiplying indications that Hamas was about to carry out its invasion, slaughter and kidnapping plan. They chose to do nothing, told no one and agreed to meet again at 8 a.m. Hamas invaded at 6:30.

Hasson’s reported excerpts from two-

and-a-half hours of recordings of a conversation between Halevi’s representative Brig. Gen. Ido Mizrahi and police commanders in the Southern District. Halevi appointed Mizrahi to conduct the IDF’s inquiry into the slaughter at Nova.

The police were the heroes of the festival. By declaring that Israel was under invasion at 6:30, Southern District Commander Superintendent Amir Cohen precipitated the Ofakim police station commander’s order to disperse the concert-goers. That decision is credited with saving the lives of 90% of the party’s attendees. According to Mizrahi, about 200 people were at the party site when the Palestinian assault, murder and kidnapping gangs arrived a bit after 9 a.m.

Forty policemen and women died staving off the invading Palestinian terrorists from the Nova festival. IDF forces didn’t show up until after the massacre was over and the 39 hostages had been taken to Gaza. All the same, Mizrahi tried to shift

the blame for the mass slaughter from the IDF onto the police, asking why there were still 200 people at the party site at 9.

Surprised, the police explained that they couldn’t enforce the order because they were busy fighting Hamas since the IDF didn’t arrive.

Mizrahi disclosed to Cohen and his officers for the first time that on nighttime telephone calls, Bar, Halevi and their associates discussed the Nova festival but opted to do nothing. The police officers noted that had they known this at 4 a.m., the slaughter would have been prevented.

Plugging the Leaks

Hasson’s reports were a grim reminder of the IDF General Staff and the Shin Bet director’s unforgivable and arguably criminal dereliction of duty in everything related to the events of Oct. 7. They were the only ones with knowledge of Hamas’s preparations to invade. They were the only ones who knew that Hamas was tak-

ing concrete steps to invade in the hours before the invasion. And they told no one and did nothing.

Since Oct. 7, Halevi and Bar—and their equally culpable subordinates—have tried to deflect the blame onto Netanyahu by insisting that the reason they were unprepared was because of the prime minister’s longstanding policy of containing Hamas. But this claim is nonsensical given that Netanyahu based his policies on false information they provided him.

Their efforts to avoid accepting responsibility for their cataclysmic failures—and to deflect the blame onto Netanyahu whom they kept in the dark—has brought us to Israel’s current state, where by the looks of things, Halevi, Bar, their comrades in the legal system (led by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara) and the justices of the Supreme Court are engaged in an all-out effort to oust Netanyahu from power as quickly as possible.

Their efforts have been ongoing since the start of the war. The generals have all but openly accused Netanyahu of blocking a hostage deal. This comes despite the fact that they have known all along that Hamas has never been willing to free the hostages, whom it rightly views as its life-insurance policy. Halevi, Bar and their subordinates are assumed to be behind nearly all of the leaks to the media related to Israel’s internal discussions regarding the hostage talks. Those leaks have repeatedly been used by Hamas to justify their consistent refusal to make a deal.

The generals are likewise fingered as the most likely sources of real-time leaks from cabinet meetings, geared towards scuttling Netanyahu’s plans to advance military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. They have cooperated under the shadow of the Biden administration to subvert Netanyahu’s orders.

The leaks from the cabinet meetings are all felonies. Yet, despite Netanyahu’s repeated requests that criminal probes be opened to find the leakers, Baharav-Miara has refused.

Her visible determination to enable the subversion of normal workings of government by refusing to investigate the leaks is prima facie illegal. All the same, this is her policy.

In shocking contrast to her consistent protection of anti-government leakers, over the past six weeks, Baharav-Miara has been at the center of a bold-faced effort to criminalize any IDF officer, police officer or public servant who provides Netanyahu and his ministers with information that the IDF and Shin Bet are determined to hide from them, as they hid

Hamas’s pre-Oct. 7 invasion plans from Israel’s elected leaders; or advance ministerial policies that Bar, Halevi and Baharav-Miara oppose.

Six weeks ago, Shin Bet officers staged dramatic bedroom arrests of two military intelligence officers and an intelligence NCO, dragging them out of their homes in the middle of the night. They also brutally arrested Eli Feldstein, a military affairs spokesman in the Prime Minister’s Office. The two officers were later released, but despite three orders from magistrates and district courts to release Feldstein and the NCO, acting on appeals from Baharav-Miara’s prosecutors, the Supreme Court has kept them behind bars. The NCO is accused of transferring classified information to Feldstein in a manner that endangers national security. Feldstein is accused of leaking classified information

from receiving the information undermines his ability to understand the nature of the enemy. It also prevents him from developing a strategy to effectively combat hostile actors that the IDF, Shin Bet and Biden administration have been keen to shield from public scrutiny.

Feldstein and the NCO were denied communication with their attorneys for several weeks. Their families attest that the men have been treated as terrorists and are in psychological and physical distress. Both have also been subjected to massive pressure to incriminate Netanyahu.

Rupture Among LawEnforcement Agencies

The public persecution of Feldstein and the NCO serves two ends. First, it seeks to criminalize Netanyahu, and second, it aims to deter other intelligence officers

On nighttime telephone calls, Bar, Halevi and their associates discussed the Nova festival but opted to do nothing.

to Germany’s Bild newspaper in a manner that endangers national security. The cover story is that the NCO gave Feldstein a Hamas document showing that the terror group is unwilling to make a hostage deal under any conditions and is using Netanyahu’s political opposition to blame the premier for the absence of a deal.

This week, attorney Uri Korb, who represents the NCO, explained the actual story. Several months ago, a group of intelligence officers and NCOs were concerned because Haliva, his replacement Maj. Gen. Yossi Binder, Bar and Halevi were deliberately blocking information from Netanyahu that the officers and NCOs considered essential to the premier’s ability to make decisions related to the war. The NCO transferred this information to Feldstein to be delivered to Netanyahu. The Bild story was just one of many documents the IDF and Shin Bet were hiding from the premier. From the prosecution’s court declarations against Feldstein and the NCO, we learned last week that the NCO provided Feldstein with information about a state actor’s collusion with Hamas in perpetrating Oct. 7. The name of the state entity is blacked out in the document. But the most reasonable interpretation of the text is that it refers either to the Palestinian Authority or Egypt. In both cases, blocking Netanyahu

Security Itamar Ben-Gvir in exchange for not prosecuting Jewish Israelis.

In recent testimony before the Knesset, Muallem told lawmakers that most complaints filed by Palestinians and anarchists in Judea and Samaria against Israeli Jews are frivolous. Until Muallem took over the unit, its officers served as rubber stamps for the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division’s accusation against Jews.

The self-evident political nature of the two senior officers’ arrests and interrogations has caused a rupture of relations between the police and prison service on the one hand, and the attorney general and the Shin Bet on the other. As in the case of Feldstein and the NCO, Yaakobi and Muallem’s arrests serve a twofold goal.

First, the purpose is to intimidate police officers not to work with Ben-Gvir. Second, Muallem and Yaakobi are being pressured to incriminate the security minister. Last month, Baharav-Miara unsuccessfully tried to coerce Netanyahu to fire Ben-Gvir. Under extra-legal Supreme Court guidelines, if she indicts Ben-Gvir, then Netanyahu will be required to fire him. Baharav-Miara and her colleagues are convinced that if he is fired, Ben-Gvir will pull his party out of the governing coalition and precipitate its overthrow.

This brings us back to Oct. 7.

from providing the prime minister with critical information about the war.

In response to the two men’s plight, the Knesset is advancing a bill that would provide immunity for whistle-blowers who share classified information with the prime minister. In an act of gross insubordination, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari harshly criticized the bill in a press conference on Wednesday night.

The legal system, IDF General Staff and Shin Bet’s joint abuse of Feldstein and the NCO has exposed Israel’s three ruling institutions to harsh criticism for their political subversion. But they don’t care. Far from standing down, last week they upped the ante precipitously.

Last Monday, the Shin Bet arrested Koby Yaakobi, head of the Israeli Prison Service, at gunpoint. They similarly arrested Avishai Muallem, deputy superintendent and the head of the Serious Crimes Unit in the Samaria and Judea District. Yaakobi is suspected of informing Muallem that he was under investigation. Muallem is suspected of refusing to open investigations against Jewish Israelis in Judea and Samaria that the Shin Bet’s “Jewish Division” has fingered as terror suspects. The Shin Bet accuses Muallem of seeking a bribe in the form of a promotion from Minister of National

Bar, Halevi and the political left have demanded the formation of a commission of inquiry to be controlled by the Supreme Court. The government seeks the establishment of a public commission of inquiry whose members will be chosen in equal numbers by the coalition and the opposition. A judicial commission of inquiry will be chosen by radical leftist Yitzhak Amit, acting president of the Supreme Court. He is expected to appoint commission members who will protect the IDF and Shin Bet from scrutiny and place all the blame for their failure on Netanyahu.

If Netanyahu’s government falls and the left is able to form an alternate government in the existing Knesset, that successor government would pass a law authorizing a commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 invasion to be appointed by Amit.

As the days and weeks pass and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration draws nearer, Israel’s ruling class is becoming desperate to oust Netanyahu from power. They fear that without Biden supporting their efforts and with Trump determined to rout out their American administrative state counterparts, they will lose their grip on unchecked power. Muallem, Yaakobi, Feldstein and the NCO have become victims of their desperation. (JNS)

Jewish History

“The Abandonment of the Jews” at 40 A Book That Saved Lives

by Rafael Medoff

This month marks the fortieth anniversary of the publication of David S. Wyman’s The Abandonment of the Jews, a book that changed the way we think about our nation’s history—and also saved lives. That is a rare achievement.

Wyman (1929-2018), a Harvard-trained historian and grandson of two Protestant ministers, did not set out to write about the Holocaust. But he was puzzled by the reluctance of other scholars to confront the question of how America responded to the Nazi genocide, so he decided to explore it himself. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust 1941-1945 was published by Pantheon in November 1984.

Prof. Wyman often spoke about how difficult it was for him, as a Christian, to find himself face to face with evidence of the meager response by American Christians, including our elected leaders, to news of the Holocaust. Sometimes he “cried for days” and had to take a break from his research. He said he “had been brought up with the belief that at the heart of Christianity is the precept that, when people need help, you should provide it.”

Prior to the publication of The Abandonment of the Jews , the widespread assumption among the American public was that there was little or nothing the Roosevelt administration could have done to save Jews from the Holocaust.

Prof. Wyman’s meticulous research demonstrated that there were many ways the U.S. could have aided European Jewish refugees, without interfering with the war effort or undermining America’s immigration laws. He documented how President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his State Department suppressed news about the Holocaust and ignored opportunities to rescue refugees. He exposed how U.S. planes struck within a few miles of the Auschwitz gas chambers—yet failed to bomb the railways

and bridges leading to the camp, or the mass-murder machinery itself.

The Abandonment of the Jews quickly rose to The New York Times best-seller list, and reviewers were nearly unanimous in their acclaim. “We will not see a better book on this subject in our lifetime,” Prof. Leonard Dinnerstein concluded. Prof. Hasia Diner wrote that that Abandonment “systematically demolishes often repeated excuses for inaction.”

The Abandonment of the Jews won numerous prizes, went through seven hardcover printings and multiple paperback editions, and was translated into German, French, Hebrew, and Polish.

Most remarkably, the book also played a key role in the rescue of Jews from Ethiopia in 1985.

A secret agreement between Israel and Sudan in 1984 had enabled Israel to begin airlifting tens of thousands of Jews from an area along the Ethiopian-Sudanese border. But an overly eager American Jewish journalist rushed to publish the scoop, prompting Sudan to suddenly halt the airlifts in January 1985. That left some 800 Ethiopian Jewish refugees stranded at the border.

A team of Jewish activists, including Los Angeles Jewish publisher Phil Blaz-

er and Nate Shapiro of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews, flew to Washington to seek U.S. intervention. In meetings with members of Congress and Vice President George H. W. Bush, they distributed copies of The Abandonment of the Jews and pleaded with them not to repeat the indifference of the Roosevelt years.

Senators Alan Cranston (D-California) and Rudy Boschwitz (R-Minnesota) and Congressmen Stephen Solarz (D-New York) and John Miller (R-Washington) spearheaded the bipartisan effort to press the Reagan-Bush administration for action.

Learning that Vice President Bush was scheduled to visit Sudan on diplomatic business shortly, Rep. Miller went to see him. Citing The Abandonment of the Jews, Miller told Bush “that this was a chance to write a very different history than the history of America’s response to the Holocaust.” Sudan might refuse to let the Israelis land on its soil, “but Sudan would not be able to say no to the United States–if our government insisted,” Miller argued.

On March 22, 1985, shortly after Bush’s meetings in Sudan, a fleet of U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules transport planes airlifted the 800 refugees from

Sudan to Israel. The vice president subsequently sent Prof. Wyman a handwritten note of thanks and made a point of saying in a speech afterwards, “Never again will the cries of abandoned Jews go unheard by the United States government.”

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, who at the time was the Washington correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, wrote: “Today’s direct and very active cooperation by the U.S. government in helping to rescue Ethiopian Jews is in marked contrast to the documented abandonment of European Jewish refugees before and during World War II…[which has been] well-documented in David S. Wyman’s recently published book, The Abandonment of the Jews.”

In 2008, Prof. Wyman visited an Israeli air force base, where he met Major-General Amir Eshel, who was involved in the 1985 airlift operation, and Moshe Gadaf and Ami Farradah, who, as eight-year-olds, were among the Ethiopian Jewish children who were rescued. Wyman described meeting them as one of the most moving experiences of his life.

Forty years later, The Abandonment of the Jews remains the definitive study of America’s response to the Nazi genocide. A handful of polemicists and pundits have tried to excuse FDR’s Holocaust record, but additional research in the field in recent years has only reconfirmed Prof. Wyman’s original conclusion: President Roosevelt, “the era’s most prominent symbol of humanitarianism, turned away from one of history’s most compelling moral challenges.”

Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about Jewish history and the Holocaust. His latest is Cartoonists Against Racism: The Secret Jewish War on Bigotry, coauthored with Craig Yoe.

Forgotten Her es

Jewish Heroes at the Battle of the Bulge

By Avi Heiligman

at the Battle of the Bulge

Military intelligence failures were a prominent feature during World War II. These range from Germany underestimating the Russia military might during Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front to America failing to pick up the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Additionally, there were misses by espionage units, including the Germans being duped by spies that were caught and feeding them false or useless information.

One the most colossal intelligence failure of the war was the German lastditch attack in the Ardennes region in December 1944. The attack completely shook the Allied armies as the Germans relied on bad weather, the Allied supply chain that was spread out thinly in the area, and the element of surprise. Called the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies were able to finally stop the German advance and by early 1945 had reversed the German gains. Many heroic stories of courage and valor emerged from the bitter fighting with only some gaining media attention.

The battle was very chaotic for the Allies and was especially tough for Robert Sabetay and the 90 th Division.

Sabetay was a Jewish soldier from Des Moines, Iowa, and landed at Normandy with the 773rd Field Artillery Battalion.

After the fierce Battle of Metz, Sabetay was transferred to 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division that was

at the enemy. He was immediately told to use his radio to call in for fire support on enemy guns. A few days later, he was wounded by shrapnel from a panzer shell, but there was no medic available to dress his wound. Instead, he kept on

The highest ranking American in Bastogne, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, answered the surrender call with one word: “Nuts!”

tasked to stop the German advance. He first saw action on December 24 and on that day alone participated in five battles. During one firefight that day, he chased after a German with a pistol and ran into a house. The German shot bullets in a circular pattern through a door but missed Sabetay. Soon the German ran off into German lines while Sabetay joined a group of American GIs shooting

fighting in the below-zero weather and later was awarded the Purple Heart.

The 84th Division, known as the Railsplitters, was another unit sent to fight the Germans during the battles. As with the other divisions, field artillery was particularly vital to front line troops as air support could not be counted on due to inclement weather. In addition to battling the Germans, the units also strug-

gled with the snow, sleet, fog and rain. One of their officers in the 325 th Field Artillery, 84th Division was a Jewish officer who had graduated from West Point. Herbert I. Stern was born in Baltimore and was a major when the Battle of the Bulge began. The commanding officer of his battalion was reassigned so Stern led the unit during the battle. They had just trained in using a newly introduced fuze that would burst the shell 60 feet above the ground. This fuze, called a VT fuze, was used by Stern’s battalion to great effect on German lines.

Stern’s artillery battalion was in direct support of the 333rd Infantry Regiment. The first night they had reached the front lines, a local woman screamed that Germans were in the area. Stern quickly moved his battalion to an area where they would be infantry support and they would be able to fire accurately. Stern left the safety of his command post and found a crossroads that he felt the Germans would use in their advance. He was right in his assessment, and a dozen American units were able halt the German force trying to penetrate their lines. This action was credited as the turning point in the battle, and

Robert Sabetay

Soldiers

Stern was awarded the Silver Star. As of the writing of this article, Herbert Stern is 105 years old and is the oldest living graduate of West Point.

The Supreme Allied High Commander in Europe, General Dwight Eisenhower, realized that time was of essence and rushed 250,000 soldiers and 50,000 vehicles to stop the Germans from advancing too far. Of the units sent in to fight, the 101 st Airborne is probably the most well known as their stand at Bastogne became world famous.

Known as the Screaming Eagles, they were sent to the important crossroads along with elements of the 10th Armored Division. Despite being surrounded by five German divisions, they held out even though they had high casualties and were low on supplies and ammunition. On December 21, the Germans demanded the surrender of the besieged Americans whom they thought were about to collapse. The highest ranking American in Bastogne, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, answered the

surrender call with one word: “Nuts!”

Five days later, General Patton’s Third Army reached Bastogne from the South and ended the siege.

While the Battle of the Bulge scared the Allied high command, it was individual soldiers like Sabetay and Stern that proved vital in holding the lines. Units like the 10st Airborne and the 10th Armored were hailed as heroes. The losses in men and material for the Germans were so high that they were not replaceable, and it was a matter of just a

few months before the Third Reich surrendered. As we approach 80 years since the battle, it is important to remember the bravery of the soldiers and units that stopped the Nazis in their last-ditch offensive on the Western Front.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

Herbert Stern

American soldiers heading to cut off German troops

Soldiers in the “Railsplitters” unit

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