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— See page 5, 62 & 63 —

Around the Community

THEJEWISHHOME A PUBLICATION OF THE FIVE TOWNS & QUEENS COMMUNITY april 18- April 24, 2013 | Distributed

Weekly

In The Five Towns, Queens & Brooklyn

Life in North Korea In the Kitch en

Rabbi Shalom Hammer of the IDF Visits Yeshiva Har Torah

Page 46

Eat Like an

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Israeli Ton i

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Commanding Officer of the 101st Precinct Praises the Accomplishments of the Rockaway Citizens Safety Patrol

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Page 42

Learn & Live: Learning Halachos is Fun! Page 43

Thousands Commemorate the 20th Yahrtzeit of the Rav

Page 44

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Page 74

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To eat like an Israeli, see page 88

Preparation Blend all ing redients in smooth cons food proces g istency. sor; water as needed until it reaches a

HANC High School Boys’ Torah Bowl Team Wins League Championship Page 64

— See page 16—

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>>Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 >>Community Readers’ Poll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Community Happenings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

>> News Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Odd-but-True Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Cover Story: Life in North Korea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

>> Israel Israel News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

>> People Ledo Road: The Little Road that Could . . . . . . . . . 102 A World After This: The Story of Lola Lieber . . . . 106

>>Parsha The Shmuz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

>> Jewish Thought Spectators at the Human Race,

by Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Ask the Rabbi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

7

Dear Readers, Just days ago, we heard the shocking news of the bombing that took place in Boston. An act of terrorism on American soil is alarming, but what made it even more upsetting was the fact that it took place at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon, just like the New York Marathon, is an event that raises us above our biases. It equates people from all walks of life and all cultures. One person may be living in a cosmopolitan city, another may be living in a third-world country. But in that race, they are just two people running towards the finish line.

Hundreds line the streets to cheer those who are pushing their limits, who are rising above their own constraints. I think that’s what makes it so exciting to watch. There are thousands of runners, each racing on their own course, pushing themselves. Although they are running against other, they are also essentially running against themselves to see how fast or how far they can go. They are united in their mission, in their race to win for themselves.

And that is what hurts so much. To see how someone can be so hateful and not see the beauty in the Boston Marathon. To see how someone could take something so beautiful, something that united so many with their myriad differences, and smash it with their hate. I only hope that those who perpetrated this devastating act will be swiftly brought to justice and those who were unfortunately hurt or had relatives who were killed in this tragedy be able to find true comfort soon.

In this issue, Susan Schwamm writes about the evil emanating from North Korea. Every week we hear reports in the news of North Korea’s nuclear program and their desire to blow up the Western world. It’s hard to know what’s going on in that country. Almost all of the information that comes out of North Korea is monitored and produced by its government, and the North Korean government is hard to rely on for accurate information. The whole country seems to be in a trance, idolizing their leaders and submitting to their commands.

It is known that terrible atrocities occur in North Korea on a daily basis. Public executions, concentration camps, poverty, hunger and oppression are common in that part of the peninsula. A few months ago, I read the book Escape from Camp 14, written by Shin Dong-hyuk, the only prisoner known to have escaped from the concentration camp known as Camp 14. I was shaken when I read his account because the world he lived in was a world so completely different from what we know. In his world, mothers and children do not feel love towards each other, and hunger is a constant companion. In his world, children are forced to perform backbreaking labor and forced to watch the execution of other prisoners. In his world, death and pain are not viewed as tragic, they are viewed as a normal part of life. And why? Because someone in his family committed a “sin” against the regime. The prisoners are resigned to their fate and understand that they are meant to suffer. There is no anger towards the government. They feel that they are only getting what they deserve.

I know that it is sometimes hard to read about the evil that goes on around the world, but it is important that we feel the pain that others are suffering.

Even though we don’t have the means now to relieve that pain, perhaps just knowing what is going on and feeling for them is a symbol of the yearning we have that sometime soon they will be free.

>>Parenting

We hope you enjoy reading this issue of TJH on the long Shabbbos afternoon. As always, we love to hear from our readers. Feel free to reach out to me at editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

Scooting vs. Crawling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Wishing you and your family a wonderful week,

Social Smarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Shoshana

>>Health

Yitzy Halpern

Chocolate Therapy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

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classifieds@fivetowns jewishhome.com 443-929-4003

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>> Food & Leisure Recipes: The Aussie Gourmet: Eat Like an Israeli. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Recipes: Boston Cream Pies,

by Chef Shaul Silverstein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Travel: Montana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Weekly Weather

Restaurant Review: Chagall Bistro . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Room for Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Ask the Attorney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

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Recipes: Shalosh Seudos with Sophistication. . . . 88

>> Lifestyles

Editor

fri. sat. sun. mon. tues. wed. thurs.

April 19 April 20 April 21 April 22 April 23 April 24 April 25

Has Spring Sprung? by Rivki Rosenwald. . . . . . . .118

>> Humor Centerfold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

>> Art From My Private Art Collection: What Is It About Art That Needs Explaining? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

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>> Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

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

T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

Contents

T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013, 2013

8

Letters to Dear Editor, Just a short note to express my delight and satisfaction over the recent essay by Joe Bobker.

Both as a teacher and as a writer I find his work to be of excellent quality.

Accordingly, when possible, please send me a pdf of this work for use with my students.

Thanks, Alan Jay Gerber The Kosher Bookworm

Dear Editor, In her article discussing the differences between psychotherapists, Dr. Deb Hirschhorn seems to make some inaccurate statements. For example, she states in the second column that psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers and marriage & family specialists are “distinct” professions, each with its own “educational programs, degrees [and] philosophy.”

In the fourth column she states that marriage & family therapists can get a PhD or PsyD. Since a PsyD, or doctorate in psychology, is quite clearly a degree that is only available to psychologists, this would seem to contradict her earlier statement of the two being distinct since it quite clearly indicates that marriage & family therapists are psychologists.

She also states that while a PhD and PsyD are both doctorates, the PsyD does not require a dissertation. That is incorrect. While some programs may allow PsyD candidates to use a smaller data set than PhD candidates (which means that the results are not viable for publishing), the fact is that all doctoral candidates are required to do a thesis that has the same structure and procedures, including a hypothesis, a review of the current literature on the subject,

an experiment designed to test the hypothesis, the collection and analysis of data, and a summary. PsyD candidates are required to defend their theses in front of a committee just as PhD candidates do, and I personally know of PsyD candidates whose theses have been published or who have received grants to continue the work started in their dissertations.

It would be more accurate to describe marriage & family therapy as a modality of treatment instead of as a distinct profession, just as psychoanalysis and cognitive/behavior therapy are two different forms of individual therapy. While some programs train more in one modality than another, any psychotherapist can be trained to work in that modality. Nor is it accurate to say that the other psychotherapists are trained to see the situation only in one way, or only to work in a certain manner with only this or that member of a family.

Many psychotherapists are trained to use more than one modality of treatment, and most choose to integrate what they find more effective in their daily practices. Even if a psychothera-

the Editor pist’s school worked primarily in one modality, the majority of practitioners seek postgraduate training to improve and expand their treatment options. Dr. Hirschhorn seems to be pigeon-holing other therapists in the same manner that she describes the psychiatrist moderator doing to marriage & family therapists, and that is unfortunate.

Any person seeking help from a psychotherapist should feel free to ask how that psychotherapist perceives the problem and what the process of treatment will involve. One should not be overly impressed by the diplomas on a therapist’s wall, or even by a psychotherapist’s record of public appearances. If a person does not feel a good working relationship developing in time, or if he/she feels pressured by the psychotherapist to believe in a treat-

ment program which does not seem to make sense, that person should bring up those objections to the psychotherapist, and, depending on the reaction, consider moving on to work with someone else. There is no one treatment that fits everyone, and in a good therapeutic interaction the patient is a working partner, and not a just the passive recipient of care as is seen in the medicinal model.

Sincerely, Arthur Toporovsky, MA

Dr. Deb Responds: My thanks to Mr. Toporovsky for careful reading of my article and for keeping me informed of some of the newer events in the psychology field regarding doctoral degrees and their

Readers Poll Compiled by Jannah Eichenbaum

We’d Like to Hear From You Please send all correspondence to:

editor@ fivetownsjewishhome.com.

Are you a Daredevil?

Would you go skydiving?

Yes 28% No 72%

Views expressed on the Letters to the Editor page do not necessarily reflect the views of The Jewish Home.

Please send all correspondence to editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

Would you fly in a hot air balloon?

Yes 57% No 43%

requirements. (The equivalent of the Psy.D for MFTs would be DMFT; my error.) Also wonderful is that he and I are on the same page that a client should be comfortable with the therapist before starting on working together.

Marriage and Family Therapy is actually a distinct field and not a modality within Psychology. Here is why: MFT, originating in anthropology, does not want to fix problems. People who visit for therapy are not considered patients, but clients; the visits do not entail treatment but collaboration. MFT does not embrace a “disease” model and is nonnormative. This last piece is important.

It means that although MFTs must be able to give diagnoses for insurance reimbursement purposes, in figuring out how to help someone, we don’t believe that people actually “have” disorders.

Rather, we acknowledge that if the culture is bothered by a set of behaviors, it has the freedom to label those behaviors but we don’t see the label as causative; the labeling process is a convention and does not reflect something inside the individual. This conceptualization took all of us the first year of doctoral studies to understand; it was a paradigm shift for us. The result when working with an MFT is that it would be less likely for one member of a family to be labeled as the identified patient since how everyone responds to everyone else in the family is just as important as the difficult behaviors that one member may exhibit. An MFT working with such a family would be looking to see how to put differences and difficulties in the best light for all members so that family goals could be achieved.

When working on the dissertation,

qualitative analysis rather than quantitative analysis is used. Generalizations can’t be made from qualitative research but what it lacks in volume (number of subjects) it makes up in depth of information. New understandings of a discipline may arise out of this approach to research and may serve as the basis for quantitative work by others later on.

Dear Editor, Kudos for publishing the very important and informative article about psychotherapy and family therapy in last week’s edition. As a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), I would like to expound on the work that we do. I want to reiterate that MFTs are not social workers. Although social workers can be family therapists, MFT is a separate field that has its own unique Masters level training and licensure.

Dr. Deb very correctly stated that MFTs do not look at an individual as “sick” or diseased, but rather look at what is going on in their relationships to identify sources of struggle. We operate on the idea that the actions of one member of a family will impact the way another family member behaves, which will then impact the first member in a continuous pattern. When these interactions are negative, families or couples need help to change the way they relate with each other. MFTs treat individuals as well as couples and families, while working from the framework of relationships. The one drawback to this for consumers is that because MFTs do not diagnose individuals, it is a lot more difficult to be accepted on insurance panels, which means a client would

the Editor most likely need to pay out of pocket (although this is slowly changing).

Another important piece of the work that MFTs do is treating problems with intimacy in marriage. An MFT can be a good place to start when dealing with these issues. Some MFTs continue to receive education in this area and will be able to provide intensive treatment. It is important however, to ensure to check a therapist’s level of training and expertise in this and any area to ensure that you are getting someone who can work with your particular issue.

I hope that through the continued discussion and understanding of mental health treatment we can slowly begin to diminish the level of stigma associated with it.

Sincerely, Shifra Schnair, M.A. MFT

Dear Editor, This past Friday, I went shopping at a local supermarket and upon entering, noticed a piece of paper on the floor with what looked like Hebrew lettering. Upon closer examination, I was shocked to see that this small pamphlet with some form of advertising contained the full text of Krias Shma al Hamitta, including the name of Hashem spelled fully and clearly throughout. It had fallen out of a newspaper lying close at hand. The newspaper in question, a prominent and widely distributed newspaper, had included this pamphlet as part of a few removable pieces inserted within. I note that this is a prominent newspaper not to chas v’shalom shame or embarrass them but to make a point, that the problem

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is becoming widespread and has and will continue if not checked to cause many to sin. I don’t know much about the way newspapers are distributed and how these pamphlets came to be in this particular newspaper but someone, and again it may not have been the newspaper itself, erred gravely. This was not so much an oversight but rather it would seem that there was a blatant disregard for the halachos of Lo Sason Kein L’Shem Elokaycheim which includes the issur of the erasing of Hashems’s name and all the halachos pertaining to what is commonly known as shaimos.

This is unfortunately becoming a serious problem amongst newspapers and magazines printed for the Jewish community. Many times, articles and advertisements for Jewish products (specifically the ads for seforim), contain pesukim, words of Torah and sometime even the Shem Hashem. These newspapers and magazines are very often taken into the bathroom, left on the floor, and thrown into the garbage without any thought.

Without sounding melodramatic, this is quickly becoming a tragedy of epic proportions, one that many people involved in the printing and production of these newspapers don’t seem to be aware of. It is the responsibility of each and every frum newspaper and its respective staff to make readers aware of the issue and to make certain that any Torah words are dealt with in the proper manner. This may include putting a blurb on the cover mentioning the fact that the paper may contain shaimos, printing any Torah words on a few specific pages making them easier to be removed and put in shaimos, and last and most importantly making absolutely certain that the name of Hashem is NEVER printed in any advertisement.

There is not enough space here for me to go into these halachos at length but please know that throwing out newspapers that contain even just a few words of Divrei Torah is very problematic. For a more complete understanding of the laws of shaimos, I recommend heading over to www.shaimos.org/guidelines. htm. (I am in no way affiliated with the site.) It behooves us all, newspapers and consumers alike, to look into this matter closely and make every effort to see this problem corrected. In the merit of our taking upon ourselves to be more careful in this area and to respect the holy Torah and the name of Hashem, may we be zoche to see Moshiach tzidkeynu bimheira.

Sincerely, YL

T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

Letters to

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Global Putin Makes Less Than His Spokesman

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Vladimir Putin is earning a nice salary, and so is the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev. What’s funny is that they are each making less than their spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. A newly released list has made public official salaries of those in high office. The president and prime minister of Russia each make around 5.7 million rubles ($183,000) while Peskov and his wife pull in a combined 11.1 million rubles.

The highest earner in the list was First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, one of Russia’s richest state officials and the government’s point man on the economy. He declared a family income of 448.4 million rubles ($14.4 million) for 2012, around half of which was earned by his wife, according to data published on the Kremlin website.

Income declarations are a new obligation for Russian officials, which only began last year, when Shuvalov’s large income raised eyebrows and forced him to make clear none of his interests infringe Russian law.

For some reason I have a feeling that if Putin was not happy with his salary, he would somehow manage to have it increased.

Less Than Smooth Landing in Bali “Missing your connection” took on a whole new meaning this week when a passenger jet skidded off the runway into the ocean while attempting to land on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday.

“The aircraft was from Bandung, West Java, and about to land in Bali Ngurah Rai Airport but it probably

“There was no sign at all it would fall but then suddenly it dropped into the water,” passenger Tantri Widiastuti, 60, recalled. “I saw holes in the floor of the plane ... we were evacuated quickly.”

An investigation is underway, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to the site.

Argentinian President Not Welcome at Thatcher’s Funeral Britain did not invite Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to Margaret Thatcher’s funeral this week in a snub likely to deepen a long-running diplomatic dispute over the Falkland Islands.

Thatcher, 87, led Britain at the time of the 1982 Falklands War and ordered her armed forces to repel an Argentine invasion of the contested South Atlantic archipelago which Argentina calls Las Malvinas. Just over 30 years later, memories of the conflict remain raw and Fernandez has mounted a campaign to renegotiate the islands’ sovereignty, lobbying Pope Francis on the issue and rejecting a referendum last month in which Falkland residents voted to remain a British Overseas Territory.

A government source revealed that every country which Britain enjoys “normal” diplomatic relations was being invited to Wednesday’s funeral, but Continued on page 14

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J O U R N A L

A D

D E A D L I N E :

M AY

6 ,

2 0 1 3

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T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

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al ixyile wicvl rexf x y n e` g d

l"wevf

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The Week Thatcher’s family had objected to Fernandez attending. “It’s about adhering to her family’s wishes,” a source said.

A government spokesman said Argentina’s ambassador to Britain would be invited, and that was in keeping with protocol.

Thatcher’s children, Mark and Carol, said they felt it would be “inappropriate” for anyone from Argentina to be there after government officials floated the idea.

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman brushed off the apparent snub. “It does not matter to me to be invited to a place where I don’t want to go,” he told a local radio station. “It is another provocation. The woman died; let the family mourn her in peace.”

Prime Minister David Cameron’s office made it clear on Thursday that invitations will be sent far and wide.

“Around 200 states, territories and international organizations are being invited to send an official representative to the funeral service,” a spokesman said. “We have invited those countries and institutions with whom we have normal diplomatic relations.”

Members of parliament from Thatcher’s ruling Conservative party have hailed Britain’s victory in the Falklands War as one of her greatest achievements and her funeral is expected to follow a Falklands theme. More than 700 armed forces personnel will take part in the ceremony and the 10 coffin bearers will be drawn from regiments and units that played a pivotal role in the conflict.

The war boosted Thatcher’s flagging political fortunes at the time and cemented her image as a patriotic defender of what was left of Britain’s Empire, helping her win a landslide victory at a general election in 1983.

President of Egyptian Jewish Community Dies Carmen Weinstein, the longtime president of the Jewish community of Cairo, died in her home in Zamalek this week. She had been suffering severely from blood clots in her legs, and had been warned by doctors to desist from physical activity. But Weinstein, 82, kept up her community activities to the very end, and on Friday had been in Maadi to inspect renovation works at the Maadi Synagogue.

Nadia S. Haroun, a member of the Egyptian Jewish community, said in an interview, “This is a big loss for us.”

In News Haroun added that there would be a meeting as soon as possible to choose a new leader.

Asked if there is a chance the community could break up and that people would leave the country, especially considering the political situation, Haroun responded that this is not the time to leave. “This is our country and we have lived through four wars so why should we leave now? What can happen to us that has not already happened?”

Zvi Mazel, who served as Israel’s sixth ambassador to Egypt, and his wife, Michelle, knew Weinstein well. Mazel remembers that he had met her for the first time in 1980 while he was working at the embassy in Egypt. “She was loyal to the community even though it was very small and she was under pressure from the Egyptian security, she managed all the holidays,” he said. “She was a frequent guest at my place as ambassador and was invited to every reception that the embassy held.”

Michelle Mazel, a writer, was in frequent contact with Weinstein until she passed away. She recalled how “[Weinstein] was a staunch defender of the community and insisted on holding the seder even though the doctors told her not to” for health reasons, adding that “she never thought about leaving; she felt very deeply Egyptian, even though that may be hard to understand.”

When Weinstein’s mother, Esther, died, Carmen took over the leadership of the community during difficult times.

“There were no men in the community, only women, and there was only a minyan if there were foreigners or tourists present,” Michelle said. “This is a very sad day for the Egyptian Jewish community.”

Last month, Weinstein organized the community seder that was held at the Sha’ar Hashamayim Synagogue and was conducted by Rabbi Marc Alfassi, who came especially from France, just as he had come for Rosh Hashana to conduct services for the community.

Continued on page 18

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The Week Alfassi traveled to Cairo again to conduct Weinstein’s funeral, which was attended by Ambassador to Egypt Yaakov Amitai.

Russia Bans 18 Americans in Retaliation This week, Russia banned eighteen Americans from entering the country in response to Washington imposing sanctions on eighteen Russians for alleged human rights violations.

The list released by the Foreign Ministry includes John Yoo, a former U.S. Justice Department official who wrote legal memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques; David Addington, the chief of staff for former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney; and two former commanders of the Guantanamo Bay detention center: retired Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller and Adm. Jeffrey Harbeson.

The move came a day after the U.S.

announced its sanctions under the Magnitsky Law, named for Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was arrested in 2008 for tax evasion after accusing Russian police officials of stealing $230 million in tax rebates. He died in prison the next year, allegedly after being beaten and denied medical treatment.

The U.S. State Department released a statement on Saturday in response to Russia’s latest decision. “As we’ve said many times before, the right response

by Russia to the international outcry over Sergey Magnitsky’s death would be to conduct a proper investigation and hold those responsible for his death accountable, rather than engage in tit-fortat retaliation,” the statement read.

Neither Washington nor Moscow put high-ranking or politically prominent figures on their lists, perhaps aiming to limit the effect on U.S.-Russian relations that have deteriorated, despite President Barack Obama’s initiative to “reset” relations with Moscow. “I think that both sides showed a definite restraint because in Washington and in Moscow there were hotheads demanding to inflate the list to an unthinkable

In News size,” said parliament member Vyacheslav Nikonov, who focuses on foreign affairs.

The Magnitsky law infuriated Russian authorities, and parliament quickly passed a retaliatory measure that banned Americans from adopting Russian children. Russia also has banned U.S. funding for any non-governmental organization deemed to be engaging in politics.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is quoted as saying there also is a “closed part” of the list of banned Americans and that the U.S. knows of its existence. The U.S. law in turn allows the administration to compile a separate classified list of Russian officials subject to visa bans.

The public U.S. list includes Artem Kuznetsov and Pavel Karpov, two Russian Interior Ministry officers who put Magnitsky behind bars after he accused them of stealing $230 million from the state. Two tax officials the lawyer accused of approving the fraudulent tax refunds, and several other Interior Ministry officials accused of persecuting Magnitsky also were on the list. Absent were senior officials from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s entourage whom some human rights advocates had hoped to see sanctioned.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement that the U.S. sanctions struck “a strong blow to bilateral relations and joint trust.”

Also on Russia’s list are fourteen Americans whom Russia says violated the rights of Russians abroad. It does not give specifics of the alleged violations, but includes several current or former federal prosecutors involved in the case of Viktor Bout, the Russian arms merchant sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison for selling weapons to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group.

A federal judge, one FBI agent and four U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents are also on the list. Some of them were involved in the case of Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted for drug smuggling.

Greece Unemployment Reaches Record High In December of 2012, many thought that the financial problems of Greece would soon be a thing of the past when unemployment rates dropped in the year’s last quarter. However, those

hopes proved to be premature as new numbers are being released for 2013.

January’s unemployment rate jumped 1.5% to a record high of 27.2%. More importantly, the number of employed people in Greece, which dropped to a new record low of 3,617,771 compared to 3,888,400 a year ago (and down 11,653 from December), is now nearly as much as the entire inactive population at 3,346,423 and far below the ranks of the unemployed (1,348,694 – an all-time high as well) and inactive.

Spread by gender, the unemployment rate for males was 23.9%, while a record 31.4% of eligible women had no job in January. Finally, youth unemployment once again hit a record high 59.3% in January, even as unemployment among those ages 65-74 has soared from 0.9% in 2008 to 6.9% in 2013.

Al-Qaeda Leader Slams Saudi Arabia

Al-Qaeda’s deputy leader in Yemen has released an audio recording blasting Saudi Arabia’s policy of allowing the U.S. to launch deadly drone strikes from bases in the kingdom. Saeed alShihri called on Saudis to revolt against the ruling family in the new message.

His statement appeared to back up al-Qaeda denials this week that he was killed in a drone attack. The Saudi national was reportedly killed by a U.S. drone strike earlier this year, based on alleged Saudi intelligence.

In the 14-minute audio recording,

al-Shihri accused the al-Saud ruling family of betraying Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula, which is home to Islam’s holiest site in the city of Mecca.

“They made it permissible with their bases and forces that planes launch to kill people of faith in Yemen,” he said of Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen to the north. “Instead of spending money to fight poverty and unemployment and help Muslims defend themselves against enemies, it is spent to fight Muslims in every place,” he said, referring to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil revenues.

Washington considers the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda, known as “al-Qaeda in The Arabian Peninsula,” as the most dangerous and active of the group’s offshoots. The United States has expanded its use of drone strikes in Yemen from bases around the region, including from inside Saudi Arabia.

Among the most high-profile cases of killings by U.S. drones were those of U.S. citizens Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, who used their Englishlanguage skills to try and recruit fighters in the West.

“Going Green” Gets Greener

A new housing complex just completed in Hamburg, Germany, is definitely not the first residential building to produce every bit of energy it uses, but the newly completed lime green box is, in fact, the very first to owe its net-zero status to the growth of live algae.

The structure, known as BIK, is armored in panels designed to nurture algae growth with water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide pumping inside each of the building’s 129 “bioreactors.” As the sun shines, the algae photosynthesizes and grows until there’s enough biomass

In News for the structure’s mechanics to convert the residue into energy. The algae system, supplemented by solar panels and ultra-insulating architecture designed to keep indoor temperatures comfortable without using any energy at all, means the creators of BIK can loudly boast of the building’s complete energy independence.

The panels also provide internal shade and temperature regulation in the warm seasons. The sunnier it is, the more algae grows, which in turn makes the panels darker and the interior temperature cooler.

Though Jan Wurm, a research leader in charge of the design, said in a press release that the algae system could very well “become a sustainable solution for energy production in urban areas,” he also notes that “the companies haven’t said how well the building will perform in winter (algae doesn’t grow without light) or how much it might cost.”

So it will probably be a while before we’re outfitting every home with algaepacked bioreactors.

Hope all that algae doesn’t turn the tenants green…

A Lamborghini for Cops

You might want to think twice before speeding in Dubai from now on.

The country, known for its wealth built off the back of the oil industry, now boasts very high revenues from its tourism, real estate, and financial services.

All that cash floating around evidently means lawbreakers tend to drive expensive and fast cars. So in response, the Dubai Police Department added an even faster car to its fleet – a 700-hp Lamborghini Aventador.

News surfaced of the acquirement on Twitter, with tweets stating “Only in Dubai” and “Officer, please cuff me in the Aventador and throw away the keys.” Additional sports cars are set to join the fleet too, with machines being designed according to police specifications in an effort to “facilitate policing

T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

The Week

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The Week on highways.”

Here in the U.S., we now focus on fuel efficiency from our cop cars rather than brute strength; philosophies between the two countries couldn’t differ more wildly. A recent study of several Ontario, Canada-based police departments found the “average police car spends two-thirds of a 10-hour shift idling.” That translates to more than six gallons of fuel wasted over two shifts each day. Imagine how much fuel the Aventador will burn. Luckily, Dubai has plenty of its own oil to burn.

No word on which lucky Dubai cop gets to drive the superfast car, or if they require special driver training. But I’m sure enrolment at the local police academy has gone up.

Portugal Votes to Grant Citizenship to Jews Expelled by Inquisition The parliament of Portugal is scheduled to vote on whether to naturalize

descendants of 16th-century Jews who fled the country because of religious persecution. The motion is set to be brought to a first reading by Portugal’s Socialist Party and is expected to pass, as it has the support of the ruling Social Democratic Party. Together the parties hold 80 percent of the Portuguese parliament’s 230 seats.

Jose Oulman Carp is the president of Portugal’s Jewish community. Carp called the motion “a huge development” and explained it proposes to give Portuguese citizenship to descendants of the Portuguese Inquisition, which began in 1536 and resulted in the expulsion of tens of thousands of people and the forced conversion into Christianity of countless others.

In News At the time, Portugal had a Jewish population of about 400,000, many of them refugees from neighboring Spain, where the Inquisition started in 1492.

Spanish lawmakers are said to be drafting a similar motion.

“There is no way of knowing for certain how many people would become eligible for Portuguese citizenship if the law passes, and there is no bureaucratic system yet for vetting applications – all of that will have to come later,” said Carp, who has lobbied for the bill for several years.

Carp is hoping the measure will help attract new members to the country’s Jewish community of 1,000 to 1,500.

The community would be involved in reviewing applications, he said. Many Portuguese refugees of the Inquisition settled in Turkey. Popular support for the motion stems from a desire to “make amends” for a dark historical chapter in Portugal – a country that Carp describes as being “virtually” free of anti-Semitism. Some also hope the law would attract investments by Jews seeking to settle in Portugal, which has one of the European Union’s most vulnerable economies.

tled “Our Mothers, Our Fathers,” aired at the end of March. It focused on the fate of five Germans during World War II. In one scene, a group of Polish fighters allows a concentration camp bound train to carry on when they realize the passengers are Jews. In another, a Polish character says, “We drown Jews like rats.”

The station that produced the miniseries stated in response that there was no attempt to distort history or make light of Germany’s blame for World War II. The series’ producer, Nico Hofmann, said, “The scenes are based on historical data. There was no intention to insult the Poles.”

Perhaps they all are to blame.

Cruise Company Pays Hefty Fine for Costa Concordia Disaster

Germany and Poland Try to Pass Each Other the Buck It seems that Poland and Germany are at war with each other over who is to blame for the Holocaust. A Polish magazine this week created the uproar after its cover photo featured Germany’s Angela Merkel dressed in a concentration camp prisoner’s uniform.

“Distorting History: How the Germans Managed to Turn Themselves into World War II’s victims,” read the cover of the Uwazam Rze weekly. The weekly’s cover followed general outrage in Poland over a new German historical miniseries, which depicted Polish resistance fighters as indifferent to Jewish suffering during the war.

On Wednesday, the German Der Spiegel reported the cover as the latest in the long-running verbal dispute between Germany and Poland regarding the blame for the war.

While Germany disapproved of the weekly’s “bad taste,” Poles accused their German neighbors of falsifying historical facts and turning the war’s victims into its perpetrators.

The three-episode miniseries, enti-

Costa Cruises, the unit of Carnival Corp that owned and operated the capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia, has accepted a $1.31 million fine to settle potential criminal charges concerning last year’s deadly accident off the coast of Italy, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.

Costa Cruises had been under investigation as the employer of the crew of the Concordia when it hit a rock off Tuscany in January last year, killing 32 people.

The prosecution is satisfied with the ruling by the preliminary court judge, Valeria Montesarchio, and will not appeal, prosecution sources said, adding that the fine was close to the maximum allowed by law.

The settlement means Costa will not face a criminal trial and ends its potential liability with the state of Italy, but not private lawsuits brought by passengers or crew, the prosecution sources said. “This is a balanced decision,” Costa Cruises’ lawyer, Marco De Luca, said after the ruling. “It is the most reasonable solution.”

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The Week Captain Francesco Schettino remains accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship, which was carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew, and could face up to 20 years in jail. Schettino steered the ship close to shore in a maneuver known as a “salute,” striking a rock that tore a gash in its hull. The 950-foot-long Concordia came to rest on its side, half submerged, where it now rests awaiting salvage.

Five other members of the crew including Schettino’s first officer and three members of a crisis unit set up by Costa to handle the accident, also face indictment and trial.

Israel Don’t Let This Killer Go Free On March 13, 1997, Ahmed Musa

Dakamsa, a Jordanian soldier, opened fire on a group of schoolgirls in Beit Shemesh. The 7th and 8th graders, from the Amit religious school were on an annual field trip to the “Peace Island” park at Naharayim. The park, established in 1994, is located just inside the Jordanian side of the border between Israel and Jordan. It was established after both countries signed a peace treaty in the wake of the Oslo Accords.

Dakamsa fired two full magazines of bullets before his weapon jammed and other soldiers overpowered him.

He murdered seven innocent girls and he wounded six others. Following the murders, Jordan’s King Hussein visited Beit Shemesh to personally apologize to the victim’s families.

Now, the families of the murdered girls have asked the public to assist them in preventing the release of Dakamsa. An internet petition is calling upon Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take action to prevent the release of the terrorist.

A total of 110 out of 150 members of the lower house of Jordan’s parliament signed a petition to free Ahmed Musa

In News Dakamsa, who is serving a life sentence for the multiple murders in a Jordanian jail. The Jordanian justice minister, too, has voiced support for releasing Dakamsa, calling him “a hero.”

Hawking to Visit the Holy Land

Israel is expecting a celebrity visitor. No, it’s not an American politician trying to save the day (thankfully). It’s British theoretical physicist Stephen

Hawking. He will be visiting Israel this summer as part of the President’s Conference, “Facing Tomorrow.”

Hawking suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease; he is wheelchairbound. This will be his first journey since his 2006 visit, when he was invited by the British Embassy to tour and meet with local scientists.

Hawking, the head of the Practical Mathematics and Physics Department of Cambridge University who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from United States President Barack Obama in 2009, is best known for penning the book, A Briefer History of Time, which talks about life since the Big Bang.

“Facing Tomorrow,” the fifth Israeli Presidential Conference under the auspices of President Shimon Peres, is planned to begin June 18 until the 20th in Jerusalem. The conference will look toward the future and analyze, predict, and discuss the central issues that are expected to heavily influence the face of our future: geopolitics, economics, society, environment, culture, identity, education, new media, and more

Hawking is brilliant but does not believe in G-d. Perhaps a visit to Israel will bring him closer to seeing the Creator.

Turkey’s Prime Minister’s Son Continues to Trade with Israel Turkish Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son, Ahmet Burak Erdogan, is the owner of the MB Shipping company, which holds two cargo vessels. One of the two, Safran-1, has sailed between Turkish and Israeli ports several times, transferring goods back and forth in the past three years even as Ankara and Jerusalem have grown more distant.

The ship, which is 95 meters (312 feet) long, last docked at the Ashdod Port on January 12 – about three months before the end of the crisis between the countries.

An assistant to the chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Erdogan’s main opposition in the Grand National Assembly, slammed the Turkish prime minister over his “hypocrisy.” Fellow opposition members directed a series of questions at Erdogan: “Has your son been exempted from the trade embargo against Israel? Is it ethical? What share of the volume of trade with Israel did the ship owned by your son take?”

Turkey has never directly declared a trade embargo against Israel even at the height of the diplomatic crisis. Erdogan did in fact announce that he was suspending economic ties with Israel, but later clarified that he had only referred to defense-related trade.

Erdogan supporters claim that throughout the conflict, trade ties between the two countries thrived, reaching an all-time high of $4 billion, a 30% increase.

Fayyad Resigns Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad resigned on Saturday, leaving the Palestinians without one of their most reasonable and well-respected representatives.

A statement from the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, said President Mahmoud Abbas met with Fayyad late in the day and accepted his resignation, thanking him for his time served.

According to the statement, Abbas requested that Fayyad continue to serve until he can arrange a new government.

Abbas is expected to name a new prime minister within days.

Abbas and Fayyad have been entangled in an increasingly unpleasant disagreement over the extent of the prime minister’s authority. Fayyad offered his resignation on Thursday, but Abbas failed to respond to Fayyad’s offer until Saturday.

This shouldn’t have come as a shock since Fayyad and Abbas’ relationship has been strained for a while. Reportedly, the prime minister mentioned to Abbas last year that he wanted to quit.

Fayyad is a Western-trained economist and is well respected in international communities; many expected him to play a key role in U.S. efforts to revive peace talks. He will be difficult to replace in that respect.

In News Israel, Australia Join Forces A team of Australian energy and water officials will be making their way to Israel this spring. Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom and Australian Ambassador Andrea Faulkner agreed to this arrangement at a meeting in the minister’s Tel Aviv office on Tuesday morning. The project is intended to promote cooperation on energy and water issues between the ministry and the Australian government, as well as relevant Australian firms.

Shalom and Faulkner discussed issues related to Israel’s natural gas

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he plans to announce a series of measures to boost the West Bank economy in the coming days. Fayyad, a former official at the International Monetary Fund with expertise in development, would be key to overseeing such projects.

The politician had been prime minister of the Palestinian Authority since mid-2007. He led the self-rule government that administers roughly 40 percent of the Israeli-controlled West Bank. He primarily focused his efforts on developing the foundations of an independent Palestinian state. Fayyad built roads and schools with hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid. However, with the Palestinian Authority plagued by a financial crisis, Fayyad has been publicly criticized for the cash-strapped government’s failure to pay the salaries of teachers and civil servants on time.

“Prime Minister Fayyad has been a strong partner to the international community and a leader in promoting economic growth, state-building, and security for the Palestinian people,” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said Saturday. “We look to all Palestinian leaders to support these efforts.”

discoveries in Tamar and primarily in Leviathan, where the Australian firm Woodside holds a conditional permit for a chunk of the reservoir.

The two leaders also discussed the Jordan River Rehabilitation Project, which Shalom promotes as regional cooperation minister. The purpose of the project is to promote peace by rehabilitating the polluted river and its banks – shared by Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

To date, the Regional Cooperation Ministry has invested about NIS 1 million (around $275K) in preparing a comprehensive plan for transforming the Jordan River into a cleaner and more tourist-friendly environment. Faulkner mentioned that the Australian government has expressed interest in joining the project as a partner, pending the submission of the comprehensive plan.

Shalom told Faulkner that he would be glad to help Australia bring its members in and assist in expanding their operations in Israel. When the delegation arrives this June, it will meet with senior officials from the energy and water ministry.

Continued on page 26

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The Week

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Annual t s Breakfa

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Rabbi Yonason Martin Founder and Director of Hakshiva

180 Harborview North Lawrence, N.Y. Sunday morning, April 21st 9:30 AM Hakshiva is saving the lives of teenagers at risk through its unique and innovative programs. As more families struggle with the challenges of aliyah, Hakshiva’s preventive mentoring and family support programs provide children, and their parents, with the support necessary to succeed.

Dov Lebovic Louis Greenspan Naftali Blinder Aaron Felder Dov Singer Rabbi Yehoshua Kalish

Rabbi Yehoshua Kalish

T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

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The Week Israel to Launch 24/7 News Channel Israel doesn’t yet have a news network station to compete with the likes of CNN, BBC, or Al Jazeera but that all may change this summer. The project, i24news, is funded by a private investor so it will not be forced to rely on government funding or donations. It will be based in Jaffa Port near Tel Aviv and the 24 hour global network will broadcast worldwide in English, French, and Arabic.

This is an opportunity for Israel to present its perspectives to a global audience. The channel said in a statement they intend to “broadcast news from the heart of Middle East.”

They explained, “The letter ‘i’ was chosen as representing several of the topics and values that will guide the channel: international, information, independent, individual, innovation, interactive, etc. The number 24, of course, stands for a 24/7 broadcast.”

Live news reports will run daily from 6 a.m. to midnight and taped programming during the overnight hours.

The channel will use sophisticated technology, will have applications for cell phones, video on demand, and a website. The current staff of 45 is expected to grow to about 150.

In News limbs and suffered deep cuts when the bombs went off.

National Tragedy in Boston It was supposed to be a beautiful day in Boston. 24,662 people were running in the 117th edition of the Boston Marathon. After 2 hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia finished the race and was declared the winner. Rita Jeptoo finished the race in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds and was declared the winner in the women’s race.

The race started with 26 seconds of silence in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. But it ended in even more sorrow.

Just before 3pm, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the race, killing at least three and injuring at least 176 people. Several of those injured lost

Details are still emerging, but it is known now that at least one of the bombs was made from a pressure cooker and set with a timer. The bombs were placed in a knapsack or duffel bag to conceal their contents. One of the explosives contained shards of metal and ball bearings, and another contained nails to maximize injuries.

These types of bombs have been used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan but authorities have not confirmed if the bombings were part of a domestic or international terrorist plot. “This will be a worldwide investigation,” Special

Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office Richard DesLauriers said at a Tuesday morning news conference, adding that investigators will go “wherever the leads take us.” “We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the suspects responsible for this despicable crime,” he added.

The severity of the injuries are substantial. At Massachusetts General Hospital, Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency services, said: “This is something I’ve never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war.”

Eyewitnesses reported seeing victims with lost limbs. A spectator grimly revealed, “Somebody’s leg flew by my head. I gave my belt to stop the blood.”

Other people reported seeing people with lots of blood in a daze. Some said they saw many with no limbs.

One of those killed in the blast was Martin Richard, 8, who was standing by the finish line with his family. Martin’s mother, Denise, suffered a brain injury and his 6-year-old sister reportedly lost a leg. The Richard family was the “all American family,” and now they are Continued on page 30

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years

Spotlight on YeShiva advocacY: •

late-dismissal busing for children in yeshivos and day schools in new York city

•

increased funding for yeshivos in the new York State budget

•

Worked with the USda to modify dietary guidelines for the federal school lunch program to allow for kosher observance

•

president obama’s school safety plan will address anti-semitic threats targeted at Jewish schools

•

house of Representatives vote made it illegal for FeMa to deny disaster relief to shuls and yeshivos simply because they're religious institutions

•

Secured $100,000 grant from private foundation for shuls and schools ravaged by Superstorm Sandy

•

Successfully advocated to have new York city department of education reverse refusal of Summer 2012 placement upstate for special needs children.

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on behalf of yeshiva students and their families.

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SUndaY, MaY 5, 2013

Honoring

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The Week crushed by tragedy. Martin loved to ride his bike and play basketball. Sadly, his life was snuffed out with this devastating attack.

Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Protest Prison guards and prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had a clash last Saturday. After months of increased tension, the military closed a communal section of the facility and moved its inmates into single cells.

The violence exploded during an early morning raid that military officials said was necessary because prisoners had covered up security cameras and windows as part of a week-long protest and hunger strike over their indefinite confinement and conditions at the U.S. base in Cuba.

The military reports that 43 prisoners were classified as hunger strikers under a definition that includes missing nine consecutive meals. Lawyers for prisoners have insisted the strike is much more widespread and say almost all of the men are refusing to eat.

Prisoners attacked guards with makeshift weapons that included broomsticks and mop handles as they tried to move them out of a communal wing of the section known as Camp 6.

Military spokesman Navy Captain Robert Durand said that guards were forced to respond by firing four “lessthan-lethal rounds.” There were no serious injuries from the gunfire. Army Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for Miamibased U.S. Southern Command which oversees the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba, said, “I know for sure that one detainee was hit but the injuries were minor, just some bruises.”

Camp 6 was a section of the camp reserved for detainees who followed prison rules. In exchange, they were allowed to share meals and pray together, have nearly round-the-clock recreation time as well as access to satellite TV, computer games and classes. It held a majority of the 166 prisoners at the base before the hunger strike began, but the military said the number was down to fewer than 70 by Saturday.

Durand said, “For now, housing detainees in individual cells will enable us to observe them more closely.”

“This is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing,” Carlos Warner, a federal public defender in Ohio, said of

the decision to move prisoners into single cells instead of negotiating an end to the strike. “The military is escalating the conflict.”

It’s hard to feel bad for prisoners who have allegedly committed crimes against the state and are watching satellite TV and playing computer games on taxpayers’ backs.

In News of New York City this year. He was forced to resign in 2011 after a public scandal.

Weiner spoke of his hopes and dreams with the New York Times Magazine. He says he wants a “second chance” from voters and calls the upcoming mayoral race a case of “now or maybe never for me.”

Invasion of the Snails Florida residents may soon be battling a slimy pest. The giant African land snail is starting to call South Florida its home and it’s not just a slimy nuisance. The mollusk can grow to the size of a rat, eat through stucco and cause tires to shred with its sharp, broken shells.

Obamas Won’t Go Hungry President Obama may not be able to get his favorite dishes cooked at the White House in the next few weeks.

Assistant White House chef Sam Kass, who cooks weekly for the President and the First Family, announced last week that he is going to be furloughed due to federal budget cuts. Kass is also involved in the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative to combat childhood obesity across the nation. He related that the program will not be subject to cuts, but, he said, “We’re being furloughed.”

Kass joined the White House staff during Obama’s first term in office and he was essential in the creation of the vegetable garden on the South Lawn that has provided more than 3,000 pounds of homegrown produce for meals at the White House. When Kass leaves his post, the Obamas won’t go hungry. The White House has an executive chef and four assistant chefs, although it is unclear whether the other chefs will be affected as well.

Let’s hope they know how to make some good, ol’ mac ‘n cheese.

Weiner Wants a Second Chance Former Congressman Anthony Weiner is considering a run for mayor

“I don’t have this burning, overriding desire to go out and run for office,” Weiner said in the interview. “It’s not the single animating force in my life as it was for quite some time. But I do recognize, to some degree, it’s now or maybe never for me, in terms of running for something. I’m trying to gauge not only what’s right and what feels comfortable right this second, but I’m also thinking, how will I feel in a year or two years or five years? Is this the time that I should be doing it? And then there’s the other side of the coin, which is ... am I still the same person who I thought would make a good mayor?”

Weiner added, “I want to ask people to give me a second chance. I do want to have that conversation with people whom I let down and with people who put their faith in me and who wanted to support me. I think to some degree I do want to say to them, ‘Give me another chance.’”

Rumor has it that Weiner spent $100,000 polling New York City voters about whether they would accept him again.

Weiner is married to Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She says she has forgiven her husband and insists he is a changed man. They have since had a son, Jordan.

Weiner says he has no exact timeline for when he’ll make a final decision about his possible mayoral run. If he does run, he will enter as a financial front-runner, thanks to more than $4 million he raised for a possible mayoral bid in 2009.

Do you believe in second chances?

Each week, more than a 1,000 of these pests are caught in Miami-Dade— that’s 117,000 in total since the snail was first spotted by a homeowner in September 2011. And they’ll be poking their heads out more as the snails emerge from underground at the start of the raining season.

Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said, “It becomes a slick mess,” with their slime coating walls and pavement. Experts gathered last week in Gainesville, Florida, for a Giant African Land Snail Science Symposium to seek the best ways to eradicate the mollusks, including use of a stronger bait approved recently by the federal government.

As of now, authorities do not know how the species came to Florida. The last known invasion to the state occurred in 1966 when a boy returning from vacation in Hawaii brought back three of them, possibly in his jacket pockets. His grandmother released them in her garden and the population of the snails grew to 17,000 in the next seven years. It took ten years and $1 million to get rid of the slimy pests.

Be careful where you walk.

Obamas Made $608K in 2012 From the desk of the White House accountant: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama paid $112,214 in federal income taxes for 2012 on adjusted gross income of $608,611, an effective rate of 18.4%.

The First Family’s adjusted gross income (the amount after certain deductions and exemptions) was down from $789,674 in 2011, when they paid total

federal taxes of $162,074, an effective rate of 20.5%.

The decline was due primarily to falling royalties from sales of books Mr. Obama has written, according to tax returns released Friday. The president’s book-related earnings peaked in 2009 when he garnered about $5.6 million from two publications, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams From My Father.

The profits for 2012 are just under $274,000.

In 2012, the Obamas paid $29,450 in state income tax to Illinois. The couple gave $150,034, about 24.6% of their adjusted gross income, to 33 different charities last year. The largest reported gift was $103,871 to the Fisher House Foundation, which provides free housing to family members of injured veterans. They also made donations to the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, and the National Congress of Black Women. The Obamas also made a $5,000 pledge to a foundation set up to benefit the family of Bruce St. Laurent, a motorcycle police officer in Jupiter, Florida, who was killed while serving in the president’s motorcade in September, 2012. In both years, the Obamas made a $5,000 contribution to Sidwell Friends School, the exclusive private school attended by their two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden reported adjusted gross income of $385,072 in 2012, the White House said. They paid $87,851 in total federal income tax for 2012, a further $13,531 in Delaware income tax and $3,593 in Virginia income tax.

The Bidens gave $7,190 to charity in 2012. The Bidens also listed donations of clothing, books, kitchenware, glassware, bicycles, toys, pottery and kitchenware to Goodwill and furniture and exercise equipment to The Ministry of Caring.

This release comes as Obama continues to push higher taxes on the wealthy. The president’s proposed bud-

get would raise about $1 trillion in new tax revenue over the next decade.

Slow Down — You’re on Candid Camera, or Not We’re being tricked…and it’s working.

The City of Laurel in Maryland installed two fake cameras this week.

The two decoy boxes look identical to real traffic cameras with police logos, except there is no actual camera inside.

“Is it a camera or is it not a camera?” says Laurel City Police Chief Richard McLaughlin. “I think the desired effect is basically just to slow drivers down and ensure compliance versus issuing citations. These cameras are a way of showing it’s not about the money.”

Laurel’s speed camera program has been in existence since December 2010. There are currently six real cameras within the city’s five mile radius.

“I think they’re a great tool. You don’t know if it’s a decoy or there’s a camera in there, so hopefully it’ll get people to slow down,” says Laurel Mayor Craig Moe. McLaughlin though of the idea earlier in the year and suggested it to the mayor. They negotiated a price with their vendor over the last six weeks and agreed to pay about $2,500 for an empty box.

“When I went to our vendor, Brekford, they laughed at me and said, ‘Is this really what you want to do?’” says McLaughlin.

“Is it trickery? Sure,

In News you can qualify it however you want to qualify it. But if you don’t speed, you don’t have anything to worry about. Be in compliance,” he says.

Joe Biden Rents Cottage to Secret Service In case you’re wondering how Vice President Joe Biden makes a living…

Eclipse

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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The Week he’s a landlord.

Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, earned $26,400 in 2012 by renting a cottage on the property of their Delaware home to the Secret Service. They pocketed $17,944 of that rental money.

The arrangement under which the vice president charged the Secret Service personnel for staying on his Delaware property was first reported by The Washington Times in 2011.

The 2012 payouts were part of the $385,072 in adjusted gross income the Bidens reported to the IRS in 2012, according to their 2012 tax returns.

Drivers also don’t realize that the speed cameras can only ticket drivers from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. Drivers will often slow down in front of cameras on the weekend, unaware that cameras cannot issue tickets.

Moral of the story: play it safe and slow down.

That’s Odd A Town Underground Last week, Kansas City police and local officials cleared out a complex of elaborate tunnels and holes that housed some homeless people near East Bottoms, Kansas. The system of passageways went many feet underground and there is evidence that many people, including young children, called these tunnels their home.

“One of the tunnels probably went 20 to 25 feet underground towards the back and veered off in another direction about six feet or so, and there was some bedding and some candles,” said Officer Jason Cooley, community interaction officer for the East Patrol. “It was kind of in a little hill and probably four feet beneath the surface.”

Many of the tunnels were concealed, some with wood stacked around it, others packed with bare earth. Fresh air was brought in through PVC pipes for the inhabitants. Of most concern was

the pile of recently soiled diapers that was discovered, indicating that young children were living in these labyrinths.

Before clearing out and filling in the tunnels, police and volunteers visited the camps to advise residents to clear out the area. After repeated visits, they only encountered four people, although it was clear that many others considered these tunnels their home.

It takes the phrase, “living in a hole in the ground,” to a whole new level.

Walmart Employee Returns $20K

Shopping in Walmart can make people happy.

Bismark Mensah, 32, is an employee at the Walmart in Federal Way, Washington. His hourly salary is $9.19 so imagine his shock when he stumbled upon an envelope with $20,000 inside.

Upon discovering the cash, Mensah ran after the couple who dropped it, hoping to catch them before they left the parking lot. After he returned the envelope to Wisdom, “She was like, ‘Wow! Tears are coming out,” Mensah said. The grateful owner tried to offer him a reward but he refused. Wisdom said she called Walmart twice to make sure management was aware of Mensah’s honesty.

Reportedly, the money was for a down payment on a house. The couple had cash because they didn’t want to wait for a personal check to clear.

Mensah, who emigrated from Ghana in 2012, had been assisting the couple with loading their purchases into their car. After they began to drive off, he saw the envelope in the cart, its clear address window revealing its contents.

When asked if he was tempted to keep it, Mensah answered, “My conscience wouldn’t allow it,” he told the Seattle Times. “I couldn’t even drive home if I did that.”

Mensah was recently rewarded with

In News Wal-Mart’s national 2013 “Integrity in Action Award” for his honest and altruistic act.

While this may seem like rare act of kindness, there has been several similar incidents recently. Last year, an Austrian bus driver returned a bag with over $510,000 inside. This past February, a casino worker came across $10,000 in a restroom and turned it in immediately.

There are a lot of good people in the world.

Babies of Blind Mothers Excel in Vision Test

New research suggest that babies born to blind mothers have better visual attention and memory than their counterparts with parents who can see.

The findings, published on April 9 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that blind parents’ inability to respond to gaze and eye contact doesn’t negatively affect their babies’ development. In fact, the need to rapidly switch between communicating with blind parents and the seeing world may actually enhance development by boosting visual attention.

“The babies are very flexible, and they can easily adapt to the different modes of communication,” said study co-author Atsushi Senju, a developmental cognitive neuroscientist at Birkbeck, University of London.

Previous studies have concluded that children with autism make less eye contact and children in orphanages, who get little eye contact or social interaction, also show development problems.

Based on these findings, Senju and his colleagues wondered how the lack of eye contact and gazing from blind parents affected their seeing children. Although blind people may not be able to make intentional eye contact, they still interact socially through sound, touch, and conversation.

To determine results for this study, researchers divided a sample of babies into two groups: five babies with a blind mother and a sighted or partiallysighted father and 51 babies with two seeing parents. The researchers then showed the two groups a video of people and compared the gaze of the babies of blind mothers to that of the babies with seeing parents. They evaluated the babies twice: once between 6 months and 10-months-old, and again when the children were between 12 months and 15-months-old. Then, they assessed the babies’ brain development between ages 2 and 4.

Throughout the study, the babies of blind mothers were able to follow a person’s gaze and look at faces just as well as those whose mothers didn’t have visual problems. Furthermore, in tests of their visual attention and memory, the babies of blind mothers actually performed better than their peers at all-time points.

“We were totally puzzled to find it,” Senju revealed.

The team studied previous literature and discovered that bilingual babies show a similar trend in increased visual attention leading the team to wonder whether switching between sighted and blind caregivers could provide the same mental boost as switching between different spoken languages.

The study proves that humans are pre-wired to seek out social interactions, especially with their caregivers.

“One of the most striking and endearing findings in this paper is that the babies of blind mothers significantly increased their attention-getting vocalizations to the mother over and above that shown by babies of sighted parents,” Metlzoff said. “They crave maternal social attention and switch modalities and produce auditory events that will get the mom’s attention. Brilliant!”

This is just another proof of Hashem’s wonderful world!

Home Sweet Shipping Container As real estate suffers nationally, New York City housing prices don’t seem to be declining. The average home price in the five boroughs is a staggering $786,000 along with extremely high property tax. One Brooklyn couple that lives paycheck to paycheck just like many other New Yorkers was determined to find a solution. They built

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The Week themselves a stacked six shipping container home on a 20-by-40-foot plot of land on Keap Street. Yes, they used shipping containers, making it the first shipping container home in NYC. It cost them about $400,000 to build, about $100,000 of that was due to interest that built up due to delays, while only $9,000 went toward the cost of the six containers.

Michele Bertomen and David Boyle got the containers from the Port of Newark in New Jersey, and the structure was put up in just three hours. Considering Boyle is a contractor and Bertomen is an architect, their professions certainly helped them with the planning and construction. The couple now has a 1,600-square-foot home that consists of a rooftop deck, a bedroom suite, a balcony, a kitchen space, three bathrooms, a spiral staircase, and a pulley system, among other rooms and features.

Considering it’s the first home of its kind in NYC, the couple and the DOB had to work together to figure out plans and requirements, which meant that both sides had to meet every couple of weeks. After sorting out some bumps along the road, the couple finally got their move-in date.

They intended for the space to be a bit larger but the Department of Buildings (DOB) stated that the couple’s backyard wasn’t large enough to count as an open space, and therefore they were forced to shrink the structure.

I hope they purchased the materials

from companies with free return shipping.

A World Record Backflip Doing a backflip while skiing is no easy feat. Thirty people doing a backflip together while skiing is really no easy feat. But thirty people doing a backflip together while skiing and holding hands—well, that just may be a world record.

On Sunday, mogul freestyle skiing World Cup champion Mikael Kingsbury organized 29 of his friends to perform the largest backward somersault ever.

It took place at Mont Saint-Sauveur ski resort in Quebec.

“Mikael had this idea a month or so ago and created a Facebook group where he invited the people he knew that could do a backflip easily enough to be confident doing it holding hands,” another skier, Jerome Berneche, explained. “When he saw there was interest, he contacted the mountain [resort] to see if they could build us a jump wide enough and close a part of a slope for a day. They were kind enough to help us with this idea and made it happen.”

Obviously, Kingsbury was among the jumpers, along with current or former members of the Canadian freestyle skiing team. After a little practice, the group was able to perform the simulta-

In News neous backflip.

“We were pretty stoked,” Berneche said. “I don’t think anybody really expected it to work that well. We went for lunch [and] got a big poutine [typical Canadian dish] to celebrate.”

It certainly is something to celebrate. I can’t even ski in a straight line.

See you on the bunny slopes.

The Tragedy of Texting

Alexander Heit’s short life ended on April 3 in a tragic accident. The 22-year-old University of Northern Colorado student drifted into oncoming traffic, jerked the steering wheel, and went off the road, crashing his car. Police suspect that the young driver was texting while driving based on a midsentence text discovered on his iPhone at the crash scene.

Heit was responding to a friend by typing, “Sounds good my man, seeya soon, ill tw” seconds before the fatal

crash. Witnesses told police that Heit appeared to have his head down when he began drifting into the oncoming lane in the outskirts of Greeley, where the University of Northern Colorado is located.

According to police, an oncoming driver slowed and moved over just before Heit looked up and jerked the steering wheel. Police say the Colorado native had a spotless driving record and was not speeding at the time of the accident.

Heit’s parents chose to release a photo of their son’s iPhone displaying the text cut off in hope the that it will serve as a strong lesson to drivers.

They are hoping the photo of the mundane text will serve as a harsh reminder to drivers.

“In a split second you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you,” Sharon Heit, the boy’s mother, said.

This should serve as a powerful lesson to all.

The Art of Walmart Walmart has everything from lawn mowers to diapers. In many small towns, it is the go-to-store for almost anything and everything except fine art. But that doesn’t stop it from being the backdrop to paintings.

Artist Brendan O’Connell turns the Walmart shopping experience into art. His largest canvases sell for about $40,000. His images often feature the colorful displays, blue-vested employees, and shoppers. O’Connell is drawn towards subjects interacting with their environment and he felt that Walmart is an ideal setting to analyze shoppers.

You’re probably imagining the American painter perched smack in middle of Aisle 8 with his easel and pallet… but that’s not exactly how his paintings

come to life. In 2003, he began traveling the country and taking photographs of happenings in Walmart stores and then recreating the images in his studio.

“I was struck by the notion of capturing everyday American life,” he told The Boston Globe. “Walmart has replaced the church as the place where people congregate.”

In some paintings, O’Connell focuses on the abstract shapes and colors formed by dozens of cans or bottles, all lined up in columns and rows. It’s hard to make out exact brand names, but as seen in the painting, “Fiber and Ketchup,” the shapes, colors, and label designs are so familiar to us that the products are instantly recognizable.

Initially ,the artist was asked to leave several Walmart locations since a man snapping pictures of shoppers and cans of beans seems rather strange. Once store managers were informed of the man’s artistic intentions he was welcomed into stores and some stores accommodate his work and supply a forklift for panoramic shots.

The company actually purchased a painting of the original Walmart store in Arkansas.

“My last two favorite paintings came from photos that people sent me as opposed to ones I took, which I love because I’ve been in more Walmarts than anybody I know who doesn’t work for the company. So you start to get a familiarity blindness, where if somebody goes in and just thinks of it in an artful way, they’re going to come up with something more interesting just from the freshness of it,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell turned his gift to giving by founding Everyartist.me, a venture that helps nurture the creativity in children. Last year, Everyartist.me helped more than 8,000 elementary school children fill a football field with their art.

O’Connell admits that he has discussed a possible collaboration with Walmart. He would set up a studio inside a store and take a picture of a scene or interaction and begin transferring the image to canvas right there, turning an everyday ritual into fine art. Shoppers can watch the entire process and perhaps have an opportunity to be a subject of a painting, and possibly buy the painting which will have a more Walmart-like price tag.

Buying art in Walmart featuring Walmart—that would definitely be something I’d like to hang in my living room.

$40K Win: Happy; $40 Million Win: Ecstatic!

When grandma Maria Carreiro checked her lottery ticket, she was shocked that all the numbers matched!

The lucky winner showed her Lottery Max ticket to her daughter who just couldn’t believe that she had won $40,000.

When Carreiro’s daughter went online to check the incredible win, she discovered that her mother had won but she has misread the amount. The winning amount actually contained a couple of more zeros and she had won $40 million.

Carreiro, 51, is a former factory worker who now looks after her five grandchildren. “I couldn’t believe it. I was shaking and just couldn’t believe that it was real. We were all excited when we thought it was only in the thousands but then in disbelief when we discovered I was a millionaire!” Carreiro said at an April 8 press conference of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, where she accepted an oversized check for her prize money.

Carreiro was elated as she spoke at the press conference. “Thank you, L-rd! Thank you, L-rd!” she cried, while doing a happy dance and blowing kisses into the air.

Carreiro had been playing the lottery for years but always used her three children’s birthdays as the numbers. This time, she decided to let the computer choose the numbers for her.

“It still hasn’t sunk in,” her daugh-

In News ter said, breaking down. “My dad works so hard and we’ve been struggling so much.”

“The first thing I’m going to do is look for a nice big new house. And then I’m going to pamper myself – buy new clothes for myself and my husband and buy things for my kids that I couldn’t buy before,” the lucky winer said. “Now it’s time to relax together with my husband. We never had a honeymoon, 30 years ago, so now it’s time. We’re going to Hawaii.”

As if this news couldn’t get any better—just so you know, Canadian citizens are not required to pay taxes on lottery winnings.

Addicted to Pasta Ramenstyle noodles, a staple in the pantry of broke college students, has been the mainstay of one teenager’s diet for the past 13 years. Georgi Readman, 18, of the Isle of Wight, U.K., refuses to eat anything but Ramen-style noodles.

Continued on page 38

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The Week

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The Week Ramen-style noodles are cheap, contain high amounts of fat, saturated fat, and sodium. One package typically has 400 calories and 20 grams of fat.

She refuses to eat fruit or vegetables.

The teenager is 5’3’’ and weighs 98 pounds.

Readman said she became addicted to the noodles when she was just fiveyears-old and her mother still buys her

packages by the dozens. She says that the thought of eating anything else makes her sick.

“I hate the texture of fruit and vegetables,” she said. “I can’t go to my friends for dinner or go out for meals because I don’t want them to see me freak out if the side salad touches the stuff I eat. Mum goes to the supermarket and brings back as many packets as

In News she can afford. I always fancy noodles and could easily eat two packets at once. I’ve even eaten them dry and uncooked before!”

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that 78 percent of picky eating habits can be attributed to genetics and only 22 percent are caused by environmental factors.

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Nobel Prize Medal Bought for $2M

The Nobel Prize was for sale.

The Nobel Prize medal that Francis Crick won for his role in a historic DNA discovery was sold on Thursday for more than $2 million to a Shanghai biotech executive who plans to use it to promote science in China. It is unusual for a Nobel Prize to be sold.

A letter that Crick wrote to his son in 1953, in which the scientist sketched out the DNA molecule’s double-helix structure weeks before the discovery was revealed publicly, was auctioned off for $6 million. The purchaser of that letter has remained anonymous, but the 23-carat gold medal along with its diploma was purchased by Jack Wang, who heads a Shanghai-based biomedical venture called Biomobie. Wang put in the top offer of $1.9 million at the end of a enthusiastic round of bidding. The traditional buyer’s premium boosted the total price to $2,270,500.

Crick’s family attended the auction including his son, Michael, whose letter was sold at Christie’s the day before.

“This is a good week for you guys, eh?”

Kathleen Guzman, the auctioneer at Heritage Auctions, joked after the bidding for the medal ended.

Prior to the sale, Michael Crick announced that 20% of the proceeds will be donated to the Francis Crick Institute in London which is scheduled to open in 2015. The remainder will be divided among Francis Crick’s heirs.

Wang also purchased the canceled check that Crick received as his monetary share of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology back in 1962, for a total price of $77,675.

It seems like Wang is obsessed with Dr. Crick. Perhaps it’s in his genes.

39

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Community

Captain Kevin Maloney, Commanding Officer of the 101st Precinct, Praises the Accomplishments of the Rockaway Citizens Safety Patrol and the Resolve of its Members

BY: Elkanah Adelman, Night Patrol Coordinator, RCSP Before Passover, the Rockaway Citizens Safety Patrol (RCSP) held one of its regular training sessions. Since the RCSP had a very successful month, it was only appropriate to celebrate its recent accomplishments. The celebration was in the form of a light dinner, catered by XLCR Kosher Catering, to conclude the meeting. It was a great opportunity for Far Rockaway units and Bayswater units to meet up, share successes, and celebrate each other’s accomplishments.

Captain Kevin Maloney, Commanding Officer of the 101st Precinct of the NYPD, made a surprise guest appearance with his newly appointed Executive Officer, Captain Gulatta and Community Affairs Officer Kevin Campbell, a Far Rockaway icon. Captain Maloney spoke to the members about how valuable the work they do really is for the community. He personally credited the four arrests made this past month to the hard working and devoted members of the patrol.

Captain Maloney described the patrol as an added set of eyes and ears that picks up on “petty” crimes. Since Captain Maloney came to the 101st precinct, he has been charged with dealing with jobs such as policing four housing projects, gun violence, and gang activity. Captain Maloney was impressed

After Captain Maloney’s speech, the RCSP paid tribute to Senior Member Shmuel Kassover for his tireless efforts gathering photo evidence for just about all crimes that take place. Although he himself is assigned to the Far Rockaway Sector, his video work is extended to Bayswater as well. Shmuel makes himself personally accountable to oversee any case that he is involved with until an arrest is made.

The RCSP would like to thank the Young Israel of Far Rockaway for allowing the use of their gym for this meeting. with the Night Patrol Division and the Security Alerts Division of the RCSP. Night patrol units in both the Far Rockaway and Bayswater sectors ride around seven nights a week with amber lights while it is dark and there is still pedestrian traffic on the streets. They keep an eye out and ensure the safety these pedestrians and the residents of the community. Residents are made to feel safe by this visual presence. It also serves as a means of communication to would-be criminals. If you want to commit crime, do it out of the 11691 zip code.

The Security Alerts Department of the RCSP is essentially a go-between the community and the precinct. Security alerts are regularly sent out to about 300 people who have signed up to re-

ceive such communications. In turn, citizens can alert the RCSP of their individual security concerns. The Security Alerts Department evaluates these concerns, relays them to the police if needed, and helps citizens navigate their way through the system in order to communicate better with the police department. Families who are going on vacation or away for a holiday can send a simple email to the RCSP stating where they live and how long they would be gone. The RCSP would then have patrols keep a specific eye out on that house. To receive security alerts or to request help or guidance from the RCSP, email a specific request along with your name and most often checked email address to securityalerts@rockawaypatrol.org.

If you should ever need to call for the assistance, know and understand that the RCSP works very closely with law enforcement in cleaning up our streets and keeping them safe. Call the RCSP’s live 24 hour hotline as needed: (917) RCSP-306 [numerically: (917) 727-7306].

HELP US HELP YOU: In order for the RCSP to continue to serve the vitally needed functions described above, it needs your support. To donate money to the RCSP follow one of the following three methods: 1) Go to fidelipay.com/RCSP and follow the steps from there.

2) Call (917) 727-7306 to arrange for an RCSP unit to pick up your donation from your house.

Young Israel of West Hempstead’s Sisterhood Holds its 6th Annual Starter, Salad, Sides and Sweets Sampler The Young Israel of West Hempstead’s (YIWH) Sisterhood announces its 6th annual Starter, Salad, Sides and Sweets Sampler on Tuesday, April 23rd at 7:30 at the home of Meryl and Jeremy Strauss. The Sampler is one of the Sisterhood’s most popular events. The women enjoy tasting one another’s new recipes, schmoozing with friends, and

listening to words of Torah from a fabulous speaker with the proceeds going to Rabbi Kelemer’s Tzedakah fund.

These mothers, grandmothers and working women enjoy a night out eating local delicacies while catching up with friends. The event will begin with the women of the West Hempstead community presenting their best dishes

for all to sample. After the sampling all of the attendees will hear from Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner, the Menaheles of Machon Basya Rochel, who will be speaking on the topic “Made me According to His Will: Doing His Will.”

After the lecture, the women will taste desserts made by their friends. The organizers of the event will be giving out

a cookbook of all of the night’s recipes to all of the attendees so that they can make some of their new favorite dishes.

Suggested donation is $36. Women from outside of West Hempstead are invited to join in this event. For more information, please email sisterhood@ yiwh.org.

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Community

Learn & Live: Learning Halachos is Fun! “What bracha do we make on granola bars?” “What exactly is winnowing?”

“What does all this have to do with me?” Enter Learn and Live, the newest Sunday program that has boys in grades 3-5 learning a variety of halachos in an interactive, fun, and exciting way.

“Learn and live is not just another hour of class, it’s hands-on and entertaining,” explains R’ Daniel Waldman, organizer of Learn & Live. “The boys learn about different mitzvos and halachos in a way that is exciting and that they can really relate to.”

Learn & Live is a Sunday program that was launched a year ago by R’ Daniel Waldman, after he was asked to start some sort of program for boys

by Rabbi Mordechai Groner.

R’ Waldman had been running programs for boys in the sixth to eighth grades for several years under Ashreinu, so it was only natural for him to get involved in this as well. They spoke together and came up with this idea. “I consulted with Rabbi Appelbaum, of Yeshiva

Darchei Torah , who runs several programs in Brooklyn, and he loved the idea and encouraged it along, giving me different ideas for putting together a solid program,” says R’ Waldman. “I wanted something that would attract boys and would keep them coming week after week, but we needed it to be something with meaning, as well.” The title “Learn & Live” was catchy and the program was underway.

Each week starts off with a dinner of pizza and soda for the boys, so that they’re ready to learn and live!

The program commenced

last year on the topic of brachos. Each week different local rebbeim as well

magnificent slide show presentation demonstrating the beauty of Shabbos

as some guests, focused on a different aspect of brachos in a fun and exciting way. Rabbi Yehuda Deutsch, third grade rebbe, brought in a platter of different fruits one week and taught the boys about the order in which fruits should be eaten—of course, everyone got a taste as well! Rabbi Yitzy Erps, master storyteller, told the boys an exciting story to get them all involved and excited in the program. They baked challah another week while learning the halachos of hafrashas challah—yum!

The program ended with a fantastic live game show on brachos by R’ Yisroel Erps.

This year’s program focuses on the 39 melachos of Shabbos. Rabbi Maimon Elbaz started off with a

and going through each of the 39 melachos of Shabbos briefly. Each subsequent week, the boys learned the source of the melacha as well as how it applies to Shabbos. They made fresh

squeezed orange juice to learn about the halacha of “dosh.” They had a wonderful time sorting socks and jelly bellies while learning the halachos of “borer.” One week, the rebbe brought in stalks of wheat and had the boys remove the kernels to teach the boys about “zorea.” Each boy comes away with something without even realizing that he’s learning because it is so much fun!

“Learn and live is the best because everything is hands­­­-

on and practical,” according to Pinchas Hirsch and Bentzi Waldman (5th grade).

“Even during the Super Bowl, lots of boys showed up to L&L,” commented Zevi and Yitzchok Klein (5th grade and 4th grade). When asked about L&L, Rabbi Yehudah Deutsch said, “One can’t compare the difference between teaching in such an informal, handson, interactive setting. The shiurim are given in a highly engaging manner and the boys walk away living the halacha that they just learned. As a presenter, I find it very gratifying.” Rabbi Yitzy Erps is impressed as well, “As I was talking about certain melachos during my story, I saw that the boys really seemed to understand them.” And to top it all off, “The stories are very good and memorable!” say Yitzi Waldman and Simcha Zelig Witkin (3rd grade).

Other guests and rebbeim include: Rabbi Maimon Elbaz, Rabbi Avraham Klein, Rabbi Nachum Dinowitz, Rabbi Dovid Frischman, Rabbi Yoni Posnick and more.

The plan is to continue through the 39 melachos of Shabbos, spending about a week per halacha. Future topics will include: tzitzis (with the boys making their own pairs of tzitzis), tefillin, mezuzah, halachos related to the yomim tovim, etc.

There is a five dollar charge per week for each boy that attends. However, this does not nearly cover the costs of the program. The program is made possible by the support of generous donors and sponsorship opportunities are available.

For more information about the program or sponsorship opportunities, please contact R’ Daniel Waldman at 917-202-4056 or Danielwaldman@ gmail.com.

43 T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

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Yeshiva University Commemorates 20th Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik Thousands Take Part in Day of Learning and Reflection On April 14, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Rabbinical Theological Seminary (RIETS) and Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) commemorated the 20th yahrtzeit of “the Rav,” Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l, Torah luminary and YU Rosh Yeshiva, with a full-day learning program that took place in the Lamport Auditorium on YU’s Wilf Campus. Thousands attended in-person or followed the event online to gain insight into the Rav’s life and legacy through lectures, discussions and presentations given by his family and closest students.

“I experience a sense of déjà vu standing in this room today, for in this very room we waited with baited breath for the Rav to enter and deliver his famous shiurim on his father’s yahrtzeit each year,” said Rabbi Joel Schreiber, Chairman of the RIETS Board of

Trustees, in his opening remarks to the participants. “In this room thousands of men and women had their hearts, minds and souls lifted to unimaginable heights by the Rav.” The program kicked off with “Multiple Faces of the Rav,” a panel that brought together Rabbi Soloveitchik’s daughter, Dr. Atarah Twersky, and several students of the Rav, including Rabbi Herschel Schachter, RIETS Rosh Yeshiva; Dr. David Shatz, YU professor of philosophy; and Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of the CJF, to examine the many and varied roles played by the Rav during his lifetime.

Speaking about her father’s

early career, after he arrived as a young man in Boston with limited English

skills, no rabbinic experience and no knowledge of the American Jewish

Dr. Atarah Twersky

community, Twersky noted, “Many people—including my father himself—would later refer to the Rav as a melamed. While I would call him this, too, if I had to find one word or phrase to describe him, it would be baal emunah – my father was a man of faith, and

his faith inspired his role as a teacher.”

While Schachter and Shatz explored the depth and reach of the Rav’s philosophy, Brander, who served as his shamesh, touched on a more uncommon theme: the ideals of chessed Rabbi Soloveitchik inherited from his grandfather, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk. “When people think of Rav Soloveitchik, they describe his brilliance,” Brander said. “The Rav not only inherited Reb Chaim’s intellect, he had internalized Reb Chaim’s ideals of chessed.

He truly felt the pain of others and was happiest when he could solve their dilemmas, pained when he could not, sleepless and steadfast when he had the opportunity to marshal his intellectual arsenal to help another human being.”

Brander added: “There is no Jewish community in the world that has not been touched by the Rav, his students or his writings.”

Rabbi Mayer Twersky, RIETS Rosh Yeshiva and grandson of the Rav, delivered the day’s keynote lecture, “Meso-

Working Our Middos Muscles The possuk says (Kedoshim 19:18) “lo sikom v’lo sitar es binei amecha,” You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the members of your people. The Yerushalmi (Nedarim chapter 9, halachah 4) asks how it is possible not to take revenge. It answers by explaining that if one was cutting meat and cut his hand, would the hand that got hurt attack the other hand? When Klal Yisroel views itself as one body, one nation, then we can understand how it is possible not to take revenge, because taking revenge would just be harming ourselves.

Very often when we are hurt or insulted the desire to lash out and hurt back at the one who inflicted the pain is very strong. We tend to think in terms of “he hurt me” and that “he” and “me” are two separate entities instead of recognizing that “he” and “me” are part of the same whole. Applying this idea to very painful situations in our life requires a tremendous amount of work. However, applying it to the “small things” that occur on an almost daily basis is very doable and can have a tremendous positive impact on our interpersonal relationship, especially with those between us and our spouse.

Most relationships have the occa-

sional hurtful comment or action. We are taught that working on our midos is similar to building muscle. By repeatedly working on ourselves we strengthen our “midos muscles” and slowly, day by day become a better person. These small occasional hurtful comments and actions are the perfect training ground for us to build our “midos muscles.” At the time of a hurtful incident one should try to remember this person is a part of me, and if I hurt them back I am hurting myself. Then one should try to honestly let the comment or action go without internalizing it and without hurting back.

By remembering that our spouse, each member of our family and community, and the entire Jewish nation is part of one whole and treating them as such we can build on and improve our relationships.

Five Towns Marriage Initiative provides educational programs, workshops and referrals to top marriage therapists.

FTMI will help offset counseling costs when necessary and also runs an anonymous shalom bayis hotline for the entire community Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 10:00-11:00 p.m.

For the hotline or more information, call 516-430-5280 or email dsgarry@ msn.com

NEWS

Community

Rabbi Mayer Twersky, RIETS Rosh Yeshiva and grandson of the Rav, deliver

rah & Modernity: The Role of the Rav.” Discussing the interaction of Western ideals and the Rav’s hashkafa, Twersky argued that his self-identification as a teacher of Torah provided Rabbi Soloveitchik with the means to reconcile any conflict arising between the two—

without compromising on his religious beliefs.

“Torah is not always in sync with the tempo of the times,” Twersky said.

“The force of the Rav’s majestic, charismatic personality, his brilliant shiurim and his projection of the vitality and multidimensionality of halakha, the confidence which he represented and radiated in our mesorah [tradition], all distilled the message of this melamed par excellence into a simple phrase well known to all of us and a message that his and our generation very much needs to hear: ‘Moshe emes v’soraso emes– Moses is true and his Torah is the truth.’”

“Events like these make me realize how much I would have learned from the Rav himself,” said Leba Winter, a recent graduate of Stern College for Women. “His philosophy really emphasizes the idea of time and Torah having a sense of direction, carrying messages from the past to the way we live our lives today.”

45 T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

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Rabbi Shalom Hammer of the IDF Visits Yeshiva Har Torah In preparation for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut, YHT had the pleasure of hosting Rabbi Shalom Hammer. The students sat spellbound as Rabbi Hammer related his experiences serving as a Rabbi in the IDF. Rabbi Hammer has lectured in the IDF and in Machane Meshutaf, which offers inspiring

lectures on Jewish Identity to soldiers.

He has also authored three books, is a contributing writer for the Jerusalem Post, and is a renowned guest lecturer for communities throughout the Diaspora, including the United States, Unit-

ed Kingdom, South Africa and Australia. Rabbi Hammer’s inspirational talk to the students of YHT left them motivated to increase their Torah learning and mitzvot and fostered an even deeper connection to Eretz Yisrael.

The Courage To Stand For Justice Pamela Geller was victorious in her quest for the right to speak in Great Neck when she was heroically invited

by Chabad Rabbi Yosef Geisinsky, after pressure was successfully exerted on another Great Neck synagogue to cancel her scheduled appearance.

Geller is flanked by Dr. Paul Brody (holding flags), who was one of the key organizers of the event. Not lost on these activists is the famous painting behind them, of five of the great Rebbes of Chabad Lubavitch, standing side by side, who impacted myriad events in Jewish history.

Photo credit: Pamela Hall

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HANC Plainview Remembers The Holocaust In A Unique Way On the eve of Wednesday, April 10, 2013 the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) hosted a unique Yom HaShoah V’HaGevurah Program. Architect Stephen Schwartz of Building Blocks Workshops came to build the Warsaw Ghetto out of Lego with our students, their parents and grandparents.

The building of the ghetto was followed by an informative walk through the model. The beautiful sight of families

working together to recreate the ghetto is the ultimate revival for the Jewish people in the wake of the Holocaust. In classic HANC style, the program blended Jewish history with lessons from our past while strengthening intra and inter family bonds.

This hands-on, meaningful program is surely a memory the children will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Desperate Need Of Kidney – Type B Or O Efrat Klein is a 25-year-old single Israeli citizen who is suffering from kidney failure and desperately needs a kidney transplant as soon as possible. She can only receive a kidney from a live donor and has been waiting for one for the past two years, separated from her family at home. Efrat’s mother, Anat, who is here with her, missed her other daughter’s wedding because she cannot leave Efrat’s side. Efrat cannot survive long-term without a transplant and must

be on dialysis every four hours.

If you have type B or type O blood, and meet certain other specific criteria, you will be a potential donor.

Whether or not you are a possible donor, please help us spread the word about Efrat’s situation.

For additional information, contact Renewal at: R453@renewal.org or (718) 431-9831, ext. 311 (patient reference #R453)

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Dirshu’s Kinyan Shas Test Puts 1,488 on the Path to Shas

By Chaim Gold To see the face of HaGaon HaRav Yeruchem Olshin, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Bais Medrash Govoha, was to see a combination of amazement, simcha and ahavas haTorah. The Rosh Yeshiva expressed his amazement upon entering the Lakewood Cheder Dining Room, Dirshu’s testing site in Lakewood, and observing the tables upon tables of talmidei chachomim taking the Kinyan Shas test!

Kinyan Shas is perhaps Dirshu’s most demanding program because it is the program that produces and encourages people to become true “Shas Yidden” – people who literally have Shas at their fingertips. Dirshu has numerous programs including its most popular monthly Kinyan Torah Daf Yomi tests.

The bi-annual Kinyan Shas test is a cumulative one, on all that has been learned from Brachos until where the Daf Yomi is holding at the time of the test.

A Test on 240 Blatt and Double that in Six Months?! How?!

As I walked up and down the rows watching people engrossed in the 16 page test, I was amazed. How did they do it? How were they able to take a cumulative test on all 240 blatt that the Daf Yomi has learned since the beginning of this machzor? How would they be able to take a test on double that amount in 6 months?

Then I met Rabbi Moshe Fisher, one of the individuals taking the test. I asked him, “Reb Moshe, how do you do it?”

He replied, “I started taking Dirshu’s monthly tests more than 8 years ago. I have learned from Dirshu that one must always be a mosif v’holeich, not to be complacent and be content with doing the same thing over again, but to add.

Since Brachos, with tremendous siyatta d’shmaya, I have been learning the Daf with Tosafos and taking Dirshu’s monthly tests on that. In addition, I decided to add Kinyan Shas – the cumulative test too.”

“How were you able to review that much?” I asked.

He responded, “I don’t know! Truthfully, during the entire month running up to the test, I snatched every minute I could, to learn. Even when we were travelling, my wife would drive and I would try to chazer. I knew that if I didn’t chazer a minimum of 20 blatt daily I would not make it. Dirshu has literally transformed my life into a life of being mosef

v’holeich, building upon accomplishments to strive to achieve increasingly more yedias haTorah.”

A Kibbutz Galiyos of Shas Yidden!

The numbers of people who took the Kinyan Shas cumulative test worldwide is simply mindboggling. Nearly 1,500 people in Eretz Yisroel, Europe and America took this first Kinyan Shas test. Each test taker is a remarkable, dedicated talmid chochom who has in-

cinating story that he personally heard from Rav Chaim Sarna, zt”l, former Rosh Yeshiva of the Chevron Yeshiva.

“Rav Sarna related that when he was a young bochur learning in the Lomza Yeshiva in Petach Tikva, he remembered that after the Rosh Yeshiva finished delivering his shiur, there was one bochur who would get up after the shiur, stand in a corner and begin reviewing the entire shiur by heart. Some bochurim viewed his conduct as a bit strange but

We knew that Dirshu was creating the next generation of Shas Yidden, but we still did not envision such a massive crowd vested his lifeblood in limud haTorah.

They represent the entire cross-section of Klal Yisroel: a virtual kibbutz galiyos of Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Yeshivish, Chassidish, Baalei Battim and Kollel Yungeleit, all on the trajectory to becoming true Shas Yidden with Shas on their fingertips!

In his remarks made at the Dirshu testing site in Lakewood, Rav Yeruchem Olshin related in the name of the Chassid Yaavetz that the famed Mishna in Pirkei Avos that states, “L’fum tzaarah agrah – the reward a person gets is dependent on the amount of effort the person invests” – refers primarily to the reward for chazarah, review. As the Chassid Yaavetz explains, it is much more difficult to review than to learn things from scratch.

Rav Yeruchem then went on to say that the mourning period during Sefirah is due to the fact that the talmidim of Rabi Akiva, who were great talmidei chachomim, did not display proper honor for each other. They did not honor talmidei chachomim. When so many people learn and review Torah, when so many people dedicate themselves to chazering so much in order to become bekiim in Shas, that shows the greatest possible honor for Torah. “This, in and of itself, is a tikkun for the lack of kavod talmidei chachomim which is in essence a deficiency in kavod haTorah and chashivus of Torah, which is the essence of the aveilus of Sefirah,” the Rosh Yeshiva said.

HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, Shlita and the Power of Chazarah Rav Yeruchem continued with a fas-

that bochur took no notice. The name of that bochur was Chaim Kanievsky! That is the power of chazarah!” thundered the Rosh Yeshiva. “Those bochurim may have thought it strange but no one knows who they are today! Rav Chaim, however, became a Gadol Hador!”

A Successful Organization’s Greatest Wish…

To Not Have Enough!

In Boro Park, the test was held at the large Spinka Bais Medrash. Already half an hour before the test was scheduled to begin, a steady stream of test takers began to arrive. That stream soon swelled as more and more people packed the bais medrash. Rabbi Meyer Rottenberg, Dirshu’s Boro Park representative, related, “The problem we had is one that I wish for every successful organization – we ran out of tests! We knew that Dirshu was creating the next generation of Shas Yidden, but we still did not envision such a massive crowd coming to take a three to four hour test on 240 blatt of Brachos, Shabbos and Eiruvin. One test taker was actually happy to hear that he would have to wait 5 minutes until more tests would arrive. “I want to chazer just a bit more!” he said.

In fact, a poignant moment at the test was the entry of the Kosover Rebbe, HaGaon HaRav Shraga Hager, shlita, who felt compelled to stop in for a minute. He peered at the tables upon tables of talmidei chachomim totally immersed in the test and shook his head in awe. Upon perusing the test, the Rebbe marveled at the accomplishments of the Dirshu test takers.

There were numerous other sites in North America, including Williamsburg, Flatbush, Monsey, New Square, Toronto, Montreal, Cleveland, Staten Island and The Five Towns.

“Dirshu is Bringing Beit Shemesh to a Standstill!”

Perhaps one of the most moving stories offering insight into how undertaking Kinyan Shas transforms one’s life was told by Rabbi Yitzchok Levin, a yungerman from Beit Shemesh who already finished Shas in Dirshu’s last machzor and is now being tested on Shas with Tosafos!

Rabbi Levin stopped Rabbi Avigdor Berenstein, a senior member of Dirshu’s hanhalah, and related, “The month of Nissan was extremely busy. I had to chazer for the Kinyan Shas test while preparing for Pesach. I was so busy learning that I decided to avail myself of a service whereby for a fee, one can submit one’s shopping order to a yungerman who then purchases everything on the list and delivers it to your house. Using this service would afford me a few extra hours of needed time for chazarah.

When I called this person he replied, ‘I am so sorry but I am not working now.’

When I asked him why, he answered sheepishly, ‘I am part of Kinyan Shas and I am too busy preparing for the test to take on extra work…’”

Rabbi Levin continued, “This week my son came home from cheder and together with his parsha sheet I found a note from his Rebbi. ‘Please excuse me for not sending extra material this week. I was busy preparing for my Kinyan Shas test and did not have time for any extra-curricular activities.’” Rabbi Levin quipped, “Dirshu is bringing Beit Shemesh to a standstill!!”

In truth, Dirshu is not only impacting Beit Shemesh, rather it is transforming lives across the world. As Rabbi Moshe Fisher of Lakewood eloquently explained when I asked him how he managed to remember so much, “It becomes part of your life. Every time I say kriyas Shema at night, I think of the Gemaras about kriyas Shema. Every time something comes up on Shabbos, I think of the related sugya in Shabbos...Once you are into Dirshu, it is hard to be meisiach daas—to take one’s mind off of Shas.

You simply become attached!”

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Dr. Tabick: Healing Many All Over the World Dr. Tabick has been helping people find their way to wellness since 1994. Teaching hundreds of doctors the methods of Specific Chiropractic,

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practitioners of “Brainstem Specific” chiropractic in the world. His clinical experience includes caring for over 8,000 patients including over 185,000 patients visits. He has received several honors throughout his professional service. Recently, Dr. Tabick was honored by the Rivkah Laufer Bikur Cholim. This prestigious award Doctor of the Year award was presented “with great admiration” to Dr. Tabick to honor his “true compassion and kindness” and states that he is “someone who day by day utilizes his intelligence and skill to help so many.” “His talent and good judgment lighten the burden of those in need.”

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Yeshiva University HS (Central) Seniors from Long Island Participate in Unique Holocaust Project, “Names Not Numbers” The dramatic screening of “Names, Not Numbers©” at Yeshiva University High School for Girls in Holliswood, Queens, took place two days after Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day). The school was named after Samuel H. Wang, an ardent Zionist, who used his ships to transport necessary goods as early as pre-State Israel. He lived in Kings Point, Long Island with his wife Gloria and their family, and passed away many years ago.

Over 250 people attended Central’s 12th grade Holocaust Memorial film documentary project—“Names, Not Numbers.” 32 seniors were privileged to interview and film eight survivors: Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, a participant in the Kindertransport; Professor Carla Beeber, a member of the famed Finzi-Contini family; Mrs. Fay Brandwein who fled the Brody ghetto; Rabbi Chaim Schwartzblatt, a partisan; Mrs. Alice Bodner and Mrs. Chaya Rubin, survivors of Auschwitz; Mrs. Margot Zarny, who was hidden in a convent and Mrs. Lyuba Abramovitch, a partisan.

It is now, after this memorable event,

that the YUHSG students and that night’s audience have the sacred mission of passing down these stories to future generations.

“Names, Not Numbers” (NNN) is a copyrighted oral history film project and curriculum created by Yeshiva University High Schools’ Tova Fish-Rosenberg. The curriculum, transforms traditional history lessons into a lively, interactive, nontraditional program that involves individuals who Auschwitz survivor Alice Bodner (to right of placard) was interviewed by Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High have actually lived through School (Central) Seniors from Long island (L-R) Chana Setareh-Shenas of Roslyn, Limor Brody of Great Neck, Elizabeth Snyder of Cedarhurst, and Ilana Spirgel of Great Neck (2nd from right on placard) for “Names, Not the history being taught. Stu- Numbers” project. Mrs. Tova Fish-Rosenberg, Project Creator ,is at right. Rabbi Daniel Mayer (back row left, on dents acquire documentary placard) was the faculty cordinator for the project. filmmaking skills, interview and film eyewitnesses, and da, with more than 1,500 Middle School and Yeshiva Har Torah in Queens, SAR ultimately create a Holocaust oral his- and High School Yeshiva students inter- in Riverdale, HAFTR in the Five Towns, tory film documentary that will be- viewing more than 300 Holocaust sur- Hillel Torah in Chicago, Emery Weiner come a permanent part of the National vivors. Besides YUHSG, other schools School in Houston, Margolin Yeshiva in Library of Israel, Yad Vashem and Ye- who participated in NNN include Ye- Memphis and Netivot Ha’Torah in Toshiva University’s Gottesman Library. shiva University High School for Boys ronto.

“Names, Not Numbers” has been pro- in Manhattan, Moriah Day School in duced 40 times over the last decade Englewood, Yeshiva Central Queens throughout the United States and Cana-

How Strong is Your Support for Israel?

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

If you had to give yourself a letter grade, what would it be? How would you measure the quality of your support?

Do you visit Israel often? Do you support Israeli causes? Do you sign petitions supporting Israel?

That’s a good starting point. But let’s get a little more sophisticated…

Have you ever ventured outside your comfort zone to advocate on behalf of Israel? Have you encouraged others to support Israeli causes? Have you contributed towards the support of the IDF soldiers who bravely protect our Homeland?

Let’s take it even a step further: Would you visit Israel’s vulnerable communities, the so-called “disputed” territories, to show local residents your support? Have you ever stepped foot in a real bomb shelter to see and feel firsthand the terrifying realities that many Israelis face on a constant basis?

These are some important questions to answer.

Let’s face it: today, in 2013, Israel

faces some of the most frightening threats that it has faced since its founding – existential threats from Iran, military threats from its neighbors and political threats from the international community.

The country, its communities and residents need our support more than ever!

So no matter how you answered the questions above, now is the time for all of us to put in extra effort to improve our grade.

Where do you start? With so many options available to support Israel, it can be difficult to decide where your help will make the most difference or where your money can actually make a real impact on the larger picture.

If you want one surefire way to give the most meaningful contribution of time or resources, find the people or organizations that help the modern day pioneers of Israel – the men and women who valiantly choose to live their lives and raise their families in the vulnerable communities of YESHA – the Hebrew acronym for the areas of Judea and Samaria and what once were beautiful

communities in Gaza.

These are the unsung heroes that are literally transforming the facts on the ground, populating the land that has been ours for millennia, yet constantly at-risk to being forfeited to concessions and withdrawals.

We need to do everything we can to show our support and help these 360,000+ residents in any way that we can. Whether they need basic amenities to help their community flourish or sophisticated security and emergency medical equipment to keep their families safe, it is our responsibility to come to their aid.

They are courageously standing on the front lines on behalf of you, your family and the rest of the Jewish people.

At the forefront of this effort is One Israel Fund (oneisraelfund.org). For nearly two decades, One Israel Fund has provided a variety of humanitarian needs, including crucial security systems, to keep towns and villages safe.

You may not realize it, but regardless

of what you may hear about ceasefires and lulls in fighting, terrorists continue to plan attacks on Jewish towns – especially those in Judea and Samaria – unabated. Incidents are occurring almost on a daily basis, but few of us are even aware of it.

You see, while the media is heralding presidential visits and restarting failed peace talks, below the surface there is a daily threat that continues to menace so many Israelis – the threat of homegrown terrorism.

The threat is real and frightening to the brave families who live in harm’s way, but One Israel Fund is at the forefront, on the ground, making a massive impact in the area.

If there is one thing you do today to increase your support of Israel and improve your grade, make a donation to One Israel Fund. Their 19th Annual Dinner is taking place next week and it is our opportunity to do something tangible and meaningful on behalf of our beloved homeland. You can participate online at oneisraelfund.org or by calling their office at 516.239.9202.

Photo credit: Danielle Snyder

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Happiness Lives in these Halls It hits you as soon as you enter the building and it sinks in as you spend some time walking around: there is something really special about this school.

If you ask any parent, they’ll surely agree. There is truly something special about Bnos Malka Academy of Queens.

You can see it on the faces of first grade girls listening raptly as their Morah tells a parsha story. You can see it in the interactions between 7th grade students working in groups on a major project. You can even hear it in the voices of enthusiastic teachers who create new excitement for learning in their classrooms every day.

As one person aptly described Bnos Malka, “It is clear that happiness lives in these halls.”

In honor of BMA’s 17th anniversary, this year’s annual dinner on April 30th will honor a number of very worthy in-

dividuals in our community who have devoted much time and resources to the school throughout the years. The theme, “Chinuch for Generations,” clearly describes the value that Bnos Malka places on its sacred task of educating our children.

This year’s honorees are: Mr. Mark and Mrs. Stephanie Kirschner Guests of Honor Rabbi Bentzion and Mrs. Rachel Chait Parents of the Year Mrs. Ayelet Goldberg Eishes Chayil Award Professor Robert Leder Educator of the Year To take part in this crucial campaign, contact the school at (718) 268BNOS or dinner@bnosmalka.org. You can also contribute online at BnosMalka.org.

Sweatin’ for Friendship Circle

by Mordy Sternman This summer I plan to bike across the country with “Bike4Friendship.”

You may have heard of the wonderful organization, “The Friendship Circle,” an organization staffed by volunteers, under the auspices of Chabad. The Friendship Circle puts smiles on the faces of children with special needs. Some of the programs that The Friendship Circle runs are the Sunday Circle, Shabbat Parties, Judaica Circle, and many other special events like carnivals, trips, winter break camp and holiday programs.

It is absolutely outstanding how the Friendship Circle and their teenage volunteers are making children with special needs happier and happier with every one of their programs, in the Five Towns and all across the United States. I have a special appreciation for The Friendship Circle because my sister, who has special needs and experiences seizures, benefits from a lot of their programs.

These programs have made my sister’s days exponentially more exciting.

Most of my 12th grade friends at DRS Yeshiva are into the popular sports teenagers love; basketball, baseball, and hockey. The sport I spend most of my time doing is biking. Cycling has been a passion of mine throughout all of high school. The combination of exercise, thrill, and rush of excitement has made cycling a great before and after school outlet for me.

Sweat rolls down my neck as the

Mordy with his sister

70th mile ends. Keep on pushing. Keep on biking. The goal for today’s training is 90 miles, and the pedaling won’t stop until that has been reached. The motivation is born from the knowledge of what I am training for: A cross-country bike tour to benefit The Friendship Circle.

On Bike4Friendship we will be bike approximately 3,300 miles with an average of 80 miles a day. I’ll be staying in Friendship Circle locations and raising awareness throughout the entire United States. To go on this adventure, which means so much to me, I must raise $5,000 for The Friendship Circle.

Please contribute what you can towards this wonderful cause. Every cent donated will go towards making the lives of special needs children, like my sister, so much more meaningful and joyous.

Read my story or sponsor a mile at www.sponsor.bike4friendship.org/ mordy. Everything counts.

NEWS

Community In the Heart of Cedarhurst: A Jewelry Line for the Times

ELIEST, a family owned company since 1998 based in the heart of our community, has over 25 years of experience in the jewelry industry. As the economy has toughened, the nature of gold has changed, and the all-around concept of spending a fortune on a luxury item has stopped. ELIEST has tweaked and changed their outlook on production to accommodate to the new times, creating the same gorgeous jewelry in the finest care. Instead of obligating the average customer to spend too much, or not have a piece of jewelry at all, they made their casted pieces of jewelry in the finest sterling silver. To ensure the look of the jewelry does not change, they layer their line in a thick platinum finish or 18kt gold. ELIEST uses a very high quality of lab created stones and semiprecious stones, also ensuring the best quality of jewelry, without compromising the most beautiful look of jewelry there is out there on the market.

Those customers that have already had the experience with purchasing a piece of jewelry from ELIEST will vouch that they have stood behind their quality guarantee policy. All merchandise from men’s, ladies’, and children’s products, are all made with pride and stand with a seal of quality, which ELIEST provides. The look and quality almost make you wonder which is real and which is not. All must see to believe what is an unbelievable piece of jewelry. Definitely worth a visit—you will not be sorry.

Now conveniently located in the heart of our shopping area, ELIEST will be a great source for gift items for anyone.

403 Central Avenue, Cedarhurst N.Y. 11516, (516) 218-2626. Mon-Wed 10-6, Call for late evening hours, happily accommodating Thurs 10-8, Fri 10- 4, Sun 11-6

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Lander College for Men Hosts 200 Students for Yeshiva Science Olympiad Approximately 200 students from 13 Jewish high schools around the TriState area participated in the annual Jewish Education Project-Lander College Yeshiva Science Olympiad. The team from Torah Academy of Bergen County won first place in the competition with the highest aggregate score in 12 events, with Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy (SAR), Ramaz and North Shore Hebrew Academy rounding out the top four spots.

Fifteen students from grades 9 through 12 from each of the participating schools competed in at least one event, which tested various aspects of biology, chemistry, earth science and physics, as well as applications of engineering and technology. Schools were required to send at least two faculty coaches to the Olympiad to supervise students and serve as judges.

“It is imperative that we as an Orthodox community nourish the minds and vast potential of our most gifted students,” said Dr. Moshe Sokol, dean of the Lander College for Men (LCM) in Kew Gardens Hills where the Olympiad took place. “One of these young men or women may change the world with their scientific insight.”

Some events required students to prepare projects in the weeks leading up to the competition. For example, one of the challenges, the “Gravity Vehicle,” called for teams to build a small vehicle that used gravitational energy as its sole

Approximately 200 students from 13 Jewish high schools around the Tri-State area participated in the annual Jewish Education Project-Lander College Yeshiva Science Olympiad.

means of movement. On the day of the Olympiad, the vehicle was placed on a ramp that was to be released and travel a distance unknown to the students until the start of the event. The teams had to adjust the vehicle’s breaking mechanism so that it could reach the target point and predict, as close as they were able, how quickly it would get there.

“We are delighted to enable these students in the competition by sharing

our state-of-the art laboratories, equipment and classrooms for this annual event,” said Dr. Ann E. Shinnar, an associate professor of chemistry at LCM, who coordinated the event with the Yeshiva League’s director for the Science Olympiad, Linda Padwa of Stony Brook University. “Linda said that she overheard one of the students say that the best part was being around so many other kids who are excited about sci-

ence. More than awards and accolades, that’s exactly what we want students to take home from this competition.”

Other events, such as the “Circuit Lab,” consisted of a written exam with questions related to electrical circuitry, and another portion testing hands-on knowledge of the subject. The “Write It/Do It” event called for participants to work in tandem with their teammates. One of the two team members was shown an object made of wire, pipe cleaners and assorted other trinkets, and then was required to write instructions on how to build the object from scratch.

Without the benefit of seeing the object or speaking with his or her partner, a second teammate was then provided with the instructions—as well as raw materials—and told to reconstruct the original.

Subjects such as earth science, biology, environmental science and others were tested at the Olympiad, as well.

Although the national and regional organizations usually hold their Science Olympiads on a Saturday, LCM holds a nationally sanctioned competition on a Sunday to allow Sabbath-observing students to participate. LCM provides the space, custodial staff, faculty and student volunteers to assist with the different events. This was the third year that LCM has collaborated with the Jewish Education Project to host the Olympiad.

First National Business Conference for Observant Jewish Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals The Jewish Woman Entrepreneur (The JWE) announces the first national business conference for current and future observant Jewish women entrepreneurs and professionals, to be held on Sunday May 5th, at The Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ. The conference will be an unprecedented learning experience. Participants will hear from established women business owners and professionals on a variety of business-related topics essential to ensure success. The conference will also address the unique challenges that observant women face in the workplace, such as Sabbath and holiday work conflicts, observing kosher dietary laws,

maintaining their religious integrity, and often balancing large families.

Some of the sessions include: the formation of legal entities, managing employees, marketing, raising capital, speaking effectively, financial planning and more. With 18 sessions and a work-life balance panel scheduled, participants will fill their day learning from the personal experiences and triumphs of an exceptional line-up of successful Jewish women.

Participants will also have the opportunity to create strategic partnerships and network in the scheduled JWE networking session. The conference is a collaborative effort intended

to be empowering and educational for a wide spectrum of observant women.

For more details visit: TheJwe.com.

The event will be catered by Elite Caterers under the kosher supervision of the KAJ. Why The JWE? The Jewish Woman Entrepreneur (The JWE) is a national educational nonprofit that supports observant Jewish women as they launch and grow successful businesses and careers. The JWE helps these women achieve their business goals by offering access to business education, professional training, seminars, and mentoring. Our programs are tailored to meet our mem-

ber’s religious and social needs, with a focus on Jewish values and community leadership.

The JWE is already making strides in revolutionizing the way observant women do business, by offering small local workshops and seminars on a variety of important business related topics. The JWE also has a live mentoring program and provides a comprehensive and interactive online business resource for Jewish women entrepreneurs and professionals: www.thejwe.com Organizational membership is free.

Commemorating Yom Hashoah at HAFTR Middle School

On Monday, HAFTR Middle School assembled to remember the martyrs and victims of the Holocaust. Mrs. Einat Rabinovich, Yael Barak and Rabbi Yitzie Klapper coordinated a poignant and

meaningful program. Student representatives read appropriate Holocaust readings, Rabbi Kupchik recited the “Kayl Maleh Rachamim” and Rabbi Siff recited a special Yizkor prayer composed in memory of the six million Jews who perished during the Shoah. As individ-

ual students read passages reflecting on the loss of invaluable Jewish lives, selected teachers and staff members lit the Yahrzeit candles. Everyone was asked to join in with the choir in a rendition of “Eli, Eli, Sheloh Yigamare L’olam” the song composed by Chanah Senesh.

In Mrs. Prezelmeyer’s sixth grade class, the students composed poems dedicated to the 3 million children who died during the Holocaust. Here is one of the outstanding poems written:

Gas Chambers By: Naomi Butler and Mikayla Zion

Seeing that I’m next in line, I feel something crawling up my spine.

I can see my mother from a distance, I wish she was here to be my assistance.

Inside, I can see a big shower, The faucets look very sour.

As I see the door close, Mist comes out of every hose.

I feel very dizzy, Goodbye, my name is Lizzy

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HANC Commemorates Yom Hazikaron Students at HANC’s Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School in West Hempstead commemorated Yom Hazikaron with a moment of silence as all the students heard a recording of the Israeli siren over the loudspeaker.

Students in in 4th-6th grade 2nd continued their remembrance with a moving and personal program lead by Morah Dafna Berman. Morah Dafna shared the story of a friend of hers, Avi Fischer, who fought in Lebanon in 1993.

Avi was born in Brooklyn in 1971, and made aliyah with his family when he was three years old. When Avi was 18 years old, he postponed his army service for one year so that he could study at Yeshivat HaRav Kook to enhance his Torah knowledge and to learn how to incorporate Torah into his upcoming army life. After a year of learning in yeshiva, Avi joined the Israeli Army and in 1992 he became an officer in the Bomb Disposal Unit. Avi’s hand was severely injured while taking apart a bomb, but he insisted on going back to the army to continue to serve and protect the Jewish people. While serving in the army, Avi always made sure to find time to study Torah. And no matter how difficult the situation around them was, Avi loved joking around and he was always happy and smiling.

On August 19, 1993, Israeli soldiers walked into a booby trap in Lebanon; seven soldiers were killed and 2 were wounded. Avi was just about to leave Lebanon and head home to celebrate his best friend’s wedding when the news came in that in order to evacuate the dead and wounded soldiers, they needed someone from the Bomb Disposal Unit. As the highest ranking offi-

cer in Lebanon that day, Avi was called back to lead the unit. Avi was sure that he would still make it home in time for the wedding and he sent home a message to his parents that he was running late and that they should bring his wedding clothes to the hall. But at 7:00pm that night, another mine exploded and Avi was seriously injured. En route to the hospital Avi asked that the medics tell his parents and sisters that he loved them and that they should always keep smiling. Avi died at 3:00am the next morning. Avi was 22-years-old and had a bright future ahead of him but he died protecting the State of Israel and the Jewish People. Morah Dafna emphasized to the students how important it is for us to appreciate and remember the sacrifices of all the soldiers who put their lives on the line so that Jews around the world and in Israel can live in peace. Morah Dafna also reminded the students that without the brave sacrifices of the Israeli soldiers remembered on Yom Hazikaron, we could not be celebrating Yom HaHatzmaut.

The program concluded with candle lighting by students whose parents and grandparents fought in Israeli wars and with the recitation of the Kel Malei and the singing of HaTikvah.

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Around the Community MVP Basketball All Star Day

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On Sunday, April 14, MVP Basketball hosted its 5TH Annual Boys All Star day. The day-long program featured 3 All Star Games (8th grade, JV and Varsity). The teams were comprised of players from Yeshivas throughout the metro area (including Long Island, the 5 boroughs and New Jersey) as selected by their respective coaches. Each of the participants received MVP All Star t-shirts. The teams were coached by coaches from the Yeshiva league.

The games were extremely competitive and some came down to the last possession. At halftime of each game, there was the MVP 3 Point Shootout which featured 3 point “specialists” as selected by their respective coaches, who competed against each other. Each winner received an MVP 3 Point Shootout trophy. 2 MVPs from each All Star

Game (one from the winning team and one from the losing team) were awarded MVP trophies as well. The games were attended by many spectators including friends, families and teammates.

This event is the kickoff for MVP Basketball Camp 2013. Now entering its 5th successful year, MVP Basketball Camp is the premier Jewish Basketball Camp taking place in the magnificent setting of Camp Seneca Lake at the end of August (8/18 - 8/22). For more information and to be part of MVP, please contact Judah Rhine (516-7072638, gefen18@aol.com) or Irv Bader (718-261-2267, info@senecalake. com) or visit www.senecalake.com and click on the MVP link.

MVP BASKETBALL CAMP Where each player can be an MVP.

HAFTR Alumna Speaks to Students about IDF Experiences HAFTR High School seniors were honored to hear Leor Bareli, a HAFTR alumna, speak to them about her experiences in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Despite receiving a full scholarship to attend a prestigious university in the United States, Leor chose the road less travelled, and made aliya by herself and volunteered to join the IDF. She serves as a commander in the elite “Search and Rescue” unit of the IDF. She took time out of her busy schedule on her three week furlough from the army to visit her high school, and inspired the seniors with her dedication

and service to the Jewish State. She mentioned that she has no regrets and feels that she is doing something very positive and meaningful to her people and the Jewish homeland. Her service as a religious Jewish female is important, because it illustrates the importance of following one’s Zionist convictions and not always relying on others to take action. She reminded the seniors that we can travel, study, and live at peace in Israel because young boys and girls give the best years of their lives, and sometimes even their very lives, to keep the Zionist dream alive.

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Six to Be Honored for Their Avodas Hakodesh At Upcoming Agudath Israel Dinner Helping Yidden in need is the very shul’s liaison for the rebuilding efforts. lifeblood of Rabbi Binyomin Babad. But his askanus did not begin there. He Rabbi Babad serves as the director of is a charter member of the Agudath IsRelief Resources, an organization that rael Far Rockaway/Five Towns steering provides mental health referrals to the committee, and has been active in planTorah community. He also served as ning numerous important events in the the founding director of Agudath Is- area including three annual breakfasts rael’s PCS-Professional with the New York State Career Services, which Senate Majority Leader, has helped thousands to Dean Skelos. find a parnossah. Rabbi A long-time resident of Babad is a long-time Toronto, Canada and a mismember of the Lakewood pallel at the Agudath Israel Torah community and of Toronto, Zvi Richman has served on Agudath has helped spearhead many Israel’s Vaad Hanhala for of Agudath Israel’s efforts more than a decade. on behalf of the Toronto Rabbi Binyomin Babad The issue of “teens at community. He was heavrisk” has been high on the agenda of our ily involved in setting up the city-wide community and a topic of discussion at Vaad Hatzedakos and founding the Bais many Agudath Israel conventions. Help- Yaakov Elementary School and Yeshiva ing these holy Jewish neshamos return Yesodei HaTorah tuition committees. He to the Torah way of life has been a top also served as a senior member of the priority. “Our Place,” which employs a Bais Yaakov Board. Reb Zvi currently multifaceted approach to counseling and resides in Monsey, where he continues rehabilitation in guiding troubled Jewish his close association and involvement youth, has been at the forefront of this with Agudath Israel. movement. And Rafi Hassan has been Each of these men will be honored a key part of this effort. In addition to with an Avodas Hakodesh award at the his deep involvement in Hatzolah, he upcoming 91st Annual Dinner of Aguspends an extraordinary dath Israel of America on amount of time and enSunday, May 5, 2013 at ergy in ensuring the sucthe Hilton New York. cess of “Our Place.” Mr. In addition, the orgaHassan is a prominent nization will present its member of the Flatbush Wolf K. Friedman Leadcommunity and davens ership Award to Rabbi at Congregation Torah Eli David of the Beit YoU’Tefilah, Rabbi Alster’s sef Torah Center, a leadMr. Rafi Hassan shul. ing figure in the growThere are askanim and there are ing Sephardic community of Flatbush. askanim. Meir Kagan, a highly respected Rabbi David dedicates his life to helpmember of the Gerer community, is truly ing other people learn Torah and grow an askan’s askan. He is deeply involved spiritually. Indeed Rabbi David, a Daf in many of the key Gerer institutions. Yomi Maggid Shiur himself, was pivotal The Gerer Bikur Cholim, Ichud Mosdos and highly successful in bringing many Gur and Bais Yaakov D’Chasidei Gur members of the Sephardic community are only some of the many institutions to participate in the Siyum Hashas this to which Meir devotes a tremendous past year.

A special Public Service Award will amount of time and energy. He is also a valued member of Agudath Israel’s Vaad be presented to Assemblyman Gary Schaer, of Passaic New Jersey, a truly Hanhala.

We are all aware of the tremendous devoted public servant who is particulardamage that Hurricane Sandy inflict- ly responsive to the needs of the Jewish ed on the communities of Bayswater, community. He has worked closely with Far Rockaway, Lawrence and the Five Agudath Israel of New Jersey in advoTowns. During these difficult times cating unceasingly for increased funding many concerned community members for hard pressed yeshivos and communistood up to help. Yaakov Paneth is one ty organizations, and has taken a strong of them. Vice president of Agudath Is- stance on protecting Orthodox Jewish rael of Long Island, he served as the religious rights. All of his efforts are ac-

Zwiebel, Executive Vice complished with his tradePresident of Agudath Ismark warmth and genuine rael of America. “The concern for each and every Agudath Israel dinner member of the community. gives us the opportunity In addition to these to recognize some of the Avodas Hakodesh awards, most outstanding of such Agudath Israel will honor Yidden.” three other distinguished While reservations community leaders with R’ Yaakov Paneth for the upcoming dinner the organization’s major are pouring in at a rapid awards: Mordechai Friedpace, Agudath Israel Executive Direcman will receive the Rabbi Moshe Sherer Memorial Award, Rabbi Ronald tor Rabbi Labish Becker is still actively Greenwald will be presented with the encouraging members of the commuHagaon Rav Aharon Kotler Memorial nity to join in the gathering. “The more Award; and Aron Tessler will receive the who participate in the Agudah’s annual Moreinu Yaakov Rosenheim Memorial dinner,” he says, noting that elected ofAward. The Reb Elimelech Tress Trib- ficials and other notables will, as always, ute will be presented in memory of Reb be in attendance, “the greater the impact of our ko’ach ho’rabim – to the benefit Yosef Friedenson z”l.

“As a community, we owe an enor- of our mosdos, our concerns, our rights mous debt to the many Yidden who go and our interests.” about their daily lives concerned not only Those interested in making reservaabout themselves but about Klal Yisroel tions, he adds, can contact the dinner ofand its needs,” says Rabbi Chaim Dovid fice at: 212 797-8177.

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HANC High School Boys’ Torah Bowl Team Wins League Championship Mazal Tov to the HANC HANC was down by 1 point with High School Boys’ Torah Bowl a score of TABC 57 to HANC 56.

Team on becoming the High The tension was palpable as the School Yeshiva League Champiteam held their buzzers tightly ons 2012-2013! for that last question to determine On Tuesday, April 9, HANC who will be crowned League High School’s Boys’ Torah Bowl Champions. HANC Freshman, team proved to be unbeatable— Ari Levine, answered the queswinning the title, despite fierce tion correctly, giving the team competition. the winning score of 60. HANC’s The HANC boys won their Principal, Rabbi Sholomo Adellast ten games to clinch a first man, spoke of the team’s victory, place seed in the playoffs.

“We are so proud of the accomHAFTR and Flatbush were deplishments of our Torah Bowl feated in the first and second team. Their hatmadah, in limmud rounds on March 12, forcing HaTorah (perseverance in Torah a faceoff between HANC and study), sense of purpose, and NSHA. HANC defeated NSHA achdut (unity) have served as an scoring 17-3, for an outstandinspiration for our entire school.

The Winning Team Players (L-R) Torah Bowl Commissioner Rabbi Wolofsky, Jeremy Livi, Sender Gross, Adam Livi, Shlomo Amsellem, Team ing victory, making the team the Mazal tov and yasher koach!”

Coach, Rabbi Shimon Chrein, Matthew Rosenberg, Gideon Pollack, Michael Nassimi, David Schwartzman, Alex Eastern Division Champions.

The team celebrated their win Maryles, Ari Levine, Daniel Albert, Jonathan Livi, Aaron Levian- Not shown: Jason Brafman The momentum did not stop however; the achdut and hard there! On April 9, the boys travfour-way battle between the teams was with 35 points with HANC trailing by work from all four teams made eled to New Jersey to play the other one of the most intense championships 8 points, DRS by 20, and Ma’or by the championship match an even more Division Champions: Ma’or, DRS, and ever played,” said Torah Bowl Com- 11. The game intensified when HANC memorable one.

TABC for the League Championship missioner, Rabbi Wolofsky. By the end caught up to TABC and took the lead Title at Shalom Torah Academy. “The of the third quarter, TABC had the lead 46-45. By the last question of the match,

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Renowned Speaker and Holocaust Survivor Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis Speaks to HANC High School to Commemorate Yom HaShoah

By Leah Scher

On Monday, April 8, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis stole the hearts and minds of all the HANC High School students and faculty as she discussed her experience in the Holocaust and relayed her valuable message for the next generations. For the past few decades, she has spent her life traveling the world and speaking to various groups of people about her traumatic experience and struggle for survival in an attempt to impart the powerful lesson she learned.

Her message is: wake up, and never forget. The generation that lived through the tragedy of the Holocaust is gradually dying out, and our generation is slowly

beginning to forget. Rebbetzin Jungreis, being among the very small number of remaining survivors, weaved this powerful idea in and out of her speech with the hopes that we will always remember and preserve the legacy by living our lives as proud and devoted Jews.

Since Rebbetzin Jungreis moved to America, she has devoted her life to fighting a spiritual Holocaust among Jews around the world. She founded the organization Hineni and authored mul-

tiple books, such as Life is a Test, Jewish Soul on Fire, and The Committed Life.

Her message lives on in her works and lectures that speak directly from her heart.

It is our responsibility to internalize this crucial lesson and pass on the memories of those who suffered to the future generations, lest they have died in vain.

Like Rebbetzin Jungreis says, we must never forget, and surely the HANC students, in addition to everyone else she has spoken to, will never forget.

A special thank you to Mark and Chani Scheiner for sponsoring the program.

Autism Awareness, Camp S’dei Chemed Style!

By Dovid Teitelbaum, Director, Camp Sdei Chemed International The Autism Society has labeled April as National Autism Awareness Month. The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity for everyone to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community.

They say there is no cure for autism but I’m not convinced that’s true. It might not be found in the sciences or medical field but it exists in how we treat one another. Before even the diagnoses of autism, 2000 years ago Chazal chose this same time of the year, the days of Sefira, as “treating your fellow man awareness time.” But awareness for us religious Jews goes beyond wearing a ribbon or a bumper sticker. For us it means something completely different—it’s about changing ourselves, not the child with autism.

This past summer, my campers and I got to experience something other campers don’t. We got to spend part of our summer with Josh*. Josh is a very bright and likable boy yet socially different than others. Watching my campers interact with him was a truly heartwarming experience. From his expressions during camp, I know he had a great time, yet I’m unsure who gained more from this experience, Josh or the rest of my campers. Below is a beautiful letter from his mom that I would like to share now during Autism Awareness Month.

Dear Readers, The purpose of Autism Awareness

month is to heighten the awareness of the public about the issues surrounding those who live with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). ASD’s manifest themselves as a spectrum of skills, abilities and disabilities. As the parent of a teenage boy who has a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, I am well aware of the assumptions people make about my child. I have seen the slights of his peers, the exclusion and the fact that many people assume that he is, his disability. When he was first diagnosed, my husband said, “We don’t spell his name ASD.” Unfortunately, we don’t always see that others feel that way. Our experience is that most people hear “ASD” and then proceed to assume all sorts of things. We don’t go out of our ways to tell people his diagnosis, but we find that in situations around school or camp, we need to disclose his diagnosis and be able to let people know what to expect and how to best be able to enjoy having him as a part of a program.

When we first contacted Camp Sdei Chemed International, we spoke to Dovid and even before submitting an application, let him know about our son. He was not at all put off by the ASD diagnosis and he listened, asked some questions and then said that he did not think it would be a problem and that we should apply as any other camper. We knew he would also check references and made a point to give ref-

erences who would be honest and also be able to answer questions accurately.

Our son did have a lot of prior camping experience, and he had also been to Israel before. We knew he was a great kid and that he had always done well at camp. We hoped that Dovid would not have any preconceived notions about people on the ASD spectrum.

Our son was accepted to camp and as it turned out, he ended up joining camp once it was well in progress. We arrived at ten pm and I was struck by how enthusiastically Dovid was able to enlist a volunteer to show our boy around and get him settled.

I gave camp my Israeli cell phone number and asked that they call if they had any questions.

No one ever did call. They wanted to see for themselves how he was and judge for themselves. Three days later, I called Dovid to make sure all was well, and he assured me that I had a great kid and he was fitting in very well! I barely heard from my son at camp and on the free day from camp, I took him and some friends into Jerusalem for the day. They were all happy and well-adjusted and it was so nice to see him accepted and one of the gang. The camaraderie in the group was amazing!

It amazed me because not only was his ASD a complete non-issue, but also because he joined already in progress and I thought that even in the situation of an average late joiner, there could be

issues, but there just weren’t.

At camp, he did things he didn’t normally do—hiking Har Sedom stands out in my mind as being something that he found very difficult but with support from staff and his peers, he felt so accomplished when he was done.

He particularly enjoyed the scuba diving in Eilat, Kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel and Shabbat in the Old City. He would love to go back for the whole trip someday, and I would not even think twice about allowing him to.

I am grateful that Dovid saw our child, instead of his diagnosis. With no preconceived notions, my child was able to enjoy a spectacular camp in Israel, and have the opportunity to show others that Autism Spectrum disorder is not a reason to stop someone from having the experience of a lifetime!

Josh’s Mom After I accepted Josh into camp, many people asked me if I was worried that other boys might not treat him well and why I didn’t seem concerned about it. I don’t think I wasn’t concerned, as much as I believed the answer doesn’t lie in our children not facing the challenge. They need to learn how to treat other boys, and that’s our job as mechanchim. It’s the child that is unwilling to be kind to others that should be dealt with and not the other way around. * Name changed for article

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Hakshiva: Connecting Us with Our Friends and Family in Eretz Yisroel In the past six years, hundreds of people in the Five Towns have had the opportunity of supporting a unique organization called Hakshiva. This project was founded and developed by Rabbi Yonason Martin, who grew up here in the Five Towns. Rabbi Yonason Martin was brought up in a home of community involvement. His father, Rabbi Daniel Martin, has been giving the daf yomi shiur in the Young Israel of Far Rockaway for many years and also substitutes for Rabbi Kalish at the Sharray Tefilla daf yomi. The continuous dedication to the daf above all other concerns is an example of the dedication necessary to be active in the community. His mother, Mrs. Rachel Martin, has been continuously active in community chesed projects such as the Davis Memorial Fund and countless private chesed projects as well. In addition, Rabbi Martin’s fatherin-law, Rabbi Doniel Nekritz, and his Rebbetzin have been role models of mechanechim and modeled the warmth that has had an impact on many talmidim.

Rabbi Martin also credits the inspi-

ration and guidance of his teachers and Rebbeim in Yeshiva Far Rockaway. The Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yechiel Perr, has been a loving source of guidance and support, a role model of taking on one’s shoulders tremendous responsibility despite the difficulties.

Of all his Rebbeim, Rabbi Yehoshua Kalish has been a personal mentor and role model, a rebbe as close as a father. Rabbi Kalish was also one of the driving forces behind rallying the Five Towns to support Hakshiva.

Rabbi Zev Brown, President of Hakshiva, in the U.S. says, “Most people in the Five Towns feel connected to Eretz Yisrael in many ways. We go there for inspiration, for uplifting yomim tovim and almost all of our children spend time studying in a yeshiva or seminary in Eretz Yisorel, and many of them end of staying and living there. On some level, we all connect to Eretz Yisroel as our homeland and we anxiously follow the news on some level whether it concerns the security situation or the political situation. We do this because we care about Eretz Yisroel as a part of

the Jewish nation but also because we all know people who have made Aliyah and are directly affected by what goes on there. Supporting Hakshiva is our responsibility to support a cause in Eretz Yisroel that will directly impact our friends, neighbors and family who have made aliyah.”

Hakshiva is a non-profit, full-service organization committed to helping parents, children, and families to build healthy, successful, joyous lives. Hakshiva’s services are open to everyone in the Ramat Beit Shemesh community, but are primarily geared towards Eng-

lish speakers. The primary purpose is to help prevent kids from falling through the cracks, by providing mentors, tutors, helping parents target appropriate school placement, and offering subsidized counseling with qualified therapists. In addition, there are many programs for teens in distress including supervised drop-in centers and group programming. This unique model takes a wide range of services and gathers them under one roof so that parents and kids have a one-stop shop that can meet all their diverse needs.

This Sunday, Hakshiva will be having its sixth annual breakfast at the home of Dov and Esther Lebovic at 180 Harborview North, with the attendance of local Rabbonim and community leaders. The breakfast will be an opportunity to hear stories and understand on a first-hand basis what the experience of raising children in Eretz Yisroel is like.

Your participation in this event will be a meaningful statement of our connection to Eretz Yisroel and our friends and family who live there.

Machon Basya Rochel: Women’s Adult Education Spring Semester Machon Basya Rochel Seminary in Lawrence, N.Y. is considered to be one of the premier girls seminaries in the United States. Under the leadership of Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner, in only three short years, the student enrollment in the seminary has grown to over 40 girls.

Over the past three years, the seminary had opened its doors to adult women in the community through its regular Yom Iyun programming and is continuing their regular weekly programming to meet the demand for adult women to have the opportunity to have a mini seminary experience. This semester, Machon Basya Rochel will be offering adult women’s education featuring an eclectic group of dynamic presenters.

Women can sign up for any one of four textual collegiate level courses and as well as wellness program focusing on positivity and well-being.

Courses include, Igeres Haramban, taught by Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner and will explore how the Ramban’s timeless letter to his son is a personal message to us all and impacts every aspect of our lives.

The Kings and the Prophets: Jewish

Monarchy in Melachim will be taught

by Mrs. Vivienne Frank. Participants will uncover lessons for daily life in the text of the Tanach. The goal of this course is to study the personalities and events in Melachim with the guidance of the classical meforshim – Rashi, Metzudos, Radak, and the Medrashim –in order to uncover the lessons that are relevant to the lives of Jewish women today.

Rounding out the women’s adult Torah education program is Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein’s Perkei Avos, Walking in Wisdoms Footsteps. This lecture series analyzes the commentary of the Alshich HaKodesh to discover the wisdom and advice of some of the greatest minds of Klal Yisroel. It uncovers the transmission process by which the Torah comes to us today, essential, relevant and vibrant. Special emphasis will be placed in applying the timeless insights of the Talmud’s giants to our own time’s struggles and challenges.

Machon Basya Rochel has partnered with DARCO COACHING under the leadership of certified life coach Mrs. Miryam Werdyger, to bring the Life Skills Program to the Five Towns. Par-

ticipants will learn, practice and apply the art of life skills to become confident and adept in managing life’s daily challenges.

Machon Basya Rochel is committed to providing excellent learning opportunities for women of all ages. For more information about the courses and registration fees, please call 516-362-5000 or email info@mbrseminary.org.

MBR Partners with Tiferes Machon Basya Rochel is pleased to announce its partnership with the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation’s

Tiferes program. Through Tiferes, MBR will be offering monthly inspirational DVD shiurim by renowned speakers on timely topics pertaining to Jewish women. This months presentation will feature Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein and Mrs. Shifra Rabenstein speaking on the topic of Trials and Triumphs: I Did Not Ask for This. There will be two showings: Sunday April 21st at 10:00am and Monday April 22nd at 8:30 pm. This program is sponsored by Henya Storch in honor of her mother Feige bas Freidel Schoenwetter.

NY NCSY 7th Annual Men’s Basketball Tournament Please join the Jewish communities of Long Island, Westchester, and the Five Boroughs in supporting NY NCSY on Sunday, April 21st, 2013. This competitive basketball tournament features both 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 players. From 9 am - 12 pm teams play throughout gyms in the Five Towns area and come together for the Sweet Sixteen, Final Four, and Championship Games at 1 pm at Law-

rence High School, 2 Reilly Road. Join us for a competitive basketball tournament, children’s entertainment, and a raffle for 2 round trip tickets to Israel!

It’s fun for the whole family and a great cause to support!

For more information, please visit www.ncsybasketball.com or call (516) 569-6279.

67 T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013

Around the

LOCAL

T h e J e w iTsHhE JHEoW m eI SnH HAOPM R IEL n1 8M, AY 2013, 2 4 , 2013 2012

78 68

You Gotta be

Riddle

Kidding!

Submitted by Chani Herzog

The owner of a small New York sandwich deli was being questioned by an IRS agent about his tax return. He had reported a net profit of $80,000 for the year.

“Why don’t you people leave me alone?” the deli owner said. “I work like a dog, everyone in my family helps out, the place is only closed three days a year.

And you want to know how I made $80,000?”

“It’s not your income that bothers us,” the agent said. “It’s these travel deductions. You listed six trips to Florida for you and your wife.”

“Oh, that,” the owner said smiling. “It is a legitimate business expense because we also deliver.” ******

Submitted by Yoni Cohen A cowboy rode into town on Friday, stayed three days, and rode out again on Friday. How did he do that?

Answer on next page

A man walked into the tax collector’s office and sat down and smiled at everyone.

“May I help you?” asked the clerk in charge.

“No,” replied the man. “I just wanted to meet the people I have been working for all these years.”

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

- Winston Churchill

“The difference between death and taxes is death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.”

- Will Rogers

“Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

- Benjamin Franklin

“It’s income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta.”

- Dave Barry

“The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.”

- Albert Einstein “The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf.”

- Will Rogers “Like mothers, taxes are often misunderstood, but seldom forgotten.”

- Lord Bramwell “If you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don’t teach him to subtract - teach him to deduct.”

- Fran Lebowitz “America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation.”

- Dr. Laurence J. Peter

“Taxation with representation ain’t so hot either.”

- Gerald Barzan “They can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.”

- Al Capone “If you get up early, work late, and pay your taxes, you will get ahead – if you strike oil.”

- J. Paul Getty “The only difference between a tax man

and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.”

- Mark Twain “Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.”

- Herman Wouk “Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors . . . and miss.”

- Robert A. Heinlein

69 79

Answers: 1. H-obviously!

2. B- The other 6 states with no income tax are Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Washington (state, not D.C. obviously, which has that whole “taxation without representation” shtick that they cry about all day).

3. C- In 1862, in order to support the Civil War effort, Congress enacted the nation’s first income tax law. Good job Confederates...way to go!

4. D 5. 5. A-The sale of illegal drugs is taxable in North Carolina. Of course, the drug dealers wouldn’t report the income if it meant that they would be busted for the sale.

So, the way it is set up is that the dealer would go to the authorities — anonymously, of course — and pay a tax based on the weight and the type of drugs he was

very hard for them , hopefully the federal income tax helps us line their pockets well enough to reward them for all of their hard work. b. To fund bridge and tunnel projects c. To fund the Civil War d. To fund World War I

b. 56,000 c. 73,000 d. 114,000

4. The FBI employs 36,000 people. How many people are employed by the IRS? a. 12,000

5. If someone sells illegal drugs in North Carolina is he obligated to pay tax on it? a. Yes b. No 6. Approximately how many words is the U.S. Tax Code? a. 300,000 b. 700,000 c. 1.2 million d. 4 million

holding. He would be given a tax stamp, not unlike the tax stickers on cigarette packs. The dealer could then place the stamp on the drugs he is selling. Needless to say, the drug dealers “for some odd reason” don’t comply.

(Come to think of it, the lawmaker who thought of this plan may have been their clients.)

6. 6. D- Maybe as a punishment every politician in Washington should have to read all 4 million words Form AK75-42(b)6(b)b(6)6(b)7137S(5)A (Short form: Answer Key) 5-6 correct: You know way too much.

You know what they say about people who cheat at TJH trivia?

They probably cheat on their taxes as well. Who is that knocking on your door?

2-4 correct: You are a “50 percenter,” like the rest of us tax payers in NY. 0-2 correct: You know nothing about taxes, you probably never paid them. Hey, you should run for office; you have the right resume.

Fraud Warning!

WARNING! PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS SERIOUS! If you get an envelope from a company called the Internal Revenue Service, DO NOT OPEN IT! This group operates a scam around this time every year. Their letter claims that you owe them money, which they will take and use to pay for the operation of essential functions of the United States government. This is untrue! The money the IRS collects is used to fund various other corporations which depend on subsidies to stay in business.

This organization has ties to another shady outfit called the Social Security Administration, who claim to take money from your regular paychecks and save it for your retirement. In truth, the SSA uses the money to pay for the same misguided corporate welfare the IRS helps mastermind.

These scam artists have bilked honest, hardworking Americans out of billions of dollars.

Don’t be among them!

GOT FUNNY? Let the Commissioner decide.

Send your stuff to centerfold@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Answer to riddle: His horse’s name is Friday.

2. Which of the following states has no income tax? a. Delaware b. Florida c. Utah d. California (ha...ha...ha) 3. Federal income tax was first established for which purpose? a. To pay politicians who sacrifice so much for the greater good. Whereas most Americans travel in luxury, they are forced to travel in big, black Suburbans, driven by scary looking security guards. They are also forced to travel – to various golf courses around the country – on these planes which are flying spas. It’s

TThHeE JJeEw P R I2L 41, 82012 , 2013 WiIsShH HHoOmMeE nn MAAY

1. What is IRS an acronym for? a. Invisible Rattle Snakes b. It’s Really Stealing c. I Remain Solvent...barely d. It Really Stinks e. Very Bad Agency (Perhaps that doesn’t make sense...I just did my taxes, nothing makes sense right now) f. Intentional Raiding Society g. Incredibly Rude and Smug h. All of the above...ding! ding! ding!

T h e J e w i s h H o m e n A P R I L 1 8 , 2013, 2013

70

The Shmuz

R’ Ben Tzion Shafier

Parshas Kedoshim

Rebuke: The Malpractice of a Mitzvah “You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall reprove your fellow and do not bear a sin because of him.” — Vayikra 19:17 Why Should I be Punished for Your Sin When the Torah mentions the obligation to rebuke a fellow Jew, it ends with the words, “And do not carry a sin because of him.” The Targum translates this as “And do not receive a punishment for his sin.”

According to the Targum, it appears that if Reuvain ate a ham sandwich and I didn’t rebuke him, I would be punished for his sin. This seems difficult to understand. Why should I be punished for his sin? At most, you might argue that if I was capable of rebuking him and didn’t, I would be responsible for the sin of not rebuking him. But how do I become responsible for the sin that he perpetrated? He transgressed it; I didn’t.

One Nation, One People The answer to this question is based on understanding the connection that one Jew has to another.

The Kli Yakar brings a mashal.

Imagine a man who is on an ocean voyage. One morning, he hears a strange rattling sound coming from the cabin next to his. As the noise continues, he becomes more and more curious, until finally, he knocks on his neighbor’s door. When the door opens, he sees that his neighbor is drilling a hole in the side of the boat.

“What are you doing?” the man cries.

“Oh, I’m just drilling,” the neighbor answers simply.

“Drilling?”

“Yes. I’m drilling a hole in my side of the boat.”

“Stop that!” the man says.

“But why?” asks the neighbor.

“This is my cabin. I paid for it, and I can do what I want here.”

“No, you can’t! If you cut a hole in your side, the entire boat will go down.”

The nimshal is that the Jewish people is one entity. For a Jew to say, “What I do is my business and doesn’t

affect anyone else,” is categorically false. My actions affect you, and your actions affect me — we are one unit. It is as if I have co-signed on your loan.

If you default on your payments, the bank will come after me. I didn’t borrow the money — but I am responsible.

So too, when we accepted the Torah together on Har Sinai, we became one

mon and “gives it to him good,” really shows just what he did wrong, the only thing accomplished is that now Shimon hates Reuvain.

To properly fulfill the mitzvah of tochacha, there are two absolute requirements. The first is in regards to attitude, and the second relates to method.

People hate criticism. We hate it worse than poison, and we avoid it like the plague.

unit, functioning as one people. If you default on your obligations, they come to me and demand payment. We are teammates, and I am responsible for your performance.

The Targum is teaching us the extent of that connection. What Reuvain does directly affects me — not because I am nosy or a busybody — but because we are one entity, so much so that I am liable for what he does. If he sins and I could have prevented it, that comes back to me.

A member of my team transgressed, and I could have stopped it from happening. If I did all that, I could have to help him grow and shield him from falling, I have met my obligation and will not be punished. If, however, I could have been more concerned for his betterment and more involved in helping to protect him from harm and didn’t, then I am held accountable for his sin.

Don’t Rebuke Others– It Doesn’t Work This perspective is central to understanding why rebuke doesn’t work.

When Reuvain goes over to Shi-

What is My Intention?

When I go over to my friend to chastise him, the first question I must ask myself is, “What is my intention?”

If my intention is to set him straight and stop him from doing a terrible sin, then I will almost certainly fail. The only intention that fits the role of a successful mochiah is: “This is my friend; I am concerned for his good.”

If I am looking out for kavod Shamayaim, or if I am a do-gooder concerned for the betterment of the world, then my words will accomplish the exact opposite of their intended purpose. I won’t succeed in separating my friend from the sin; I will only succeed in separating him from me. The first requirement for the proper fulfillment of tochacha is that it must be out of love and concern for my friend.

The second condition for tochacha to be effective has to do with the way it is delivered.

Do You Shout When You Put on Tefillin?

The Chofetz Chaim was once ap-

proached by a certain community leader who complained that no matter how much he reproached the people of his town, they didn’t listen. The Chofetz Chaim asked this person to describe how he went about rebuking his townspeople. The man described his method of yelling fiery words at them. The Chofetz Chaim asked him, “Tell me, when you put on tefillin, do you shout and carry on? Why do you feel the obligation to do so when you do this mitzvah?”

One of the most basic concepts of human relations is that people hate criticism. We hate it worse than poison, and we avoid it like the plague. When you criticize me, I become hypersensitive. If you whisper, I hear it as loud speech, and when you speak quietly, I hear it as if you are shouting in my ears.

Being aware of this is vital in choosing the method, tone, and words with which I approach my friend. The mitzvah of tochacha is to help my friend improve. Without a strategy that is sensitive to human nature, even the best of intentions will backfire. To succeed in this mitzvah, I need to choose my words very carefully, making sure that they are as soft and non-offensive possible.

This is the second requirement of the mitzvah.

Out of Concern and Love The reality is that this is a very difficult mitzvah to perform correctly. Typically, we find ourselves either not wanting to get involved or saying things that cause more harm than good. But when the driving force in doing this mitzvah is concern for the good of our friends, and we carefully study human nature and choose our words guardedly, Hashem will help us to perform it properly.

The new Shmuz book: Stop Surviving and Start Living is now in print! “Powerful,” “Thought provoking,” “Life changing” is what people are saying about it. It is now available in stores, or at www.TheShmuz. com, or by calling 866-613-TORAH (8672).

The book will be released in the stores in April.

The Observant Jew

71

W

Spectators at the Human Race

with the fellow. I gave the oblivious driver the imperceptible nod that meant, “It’s on!” and got my foot ready for the pedal switch.

When the light changed, I took off while the Lambo barely realized that it was time to move. Letting out a whoop of joy, I exclaimed to my family, “I just beat a Lamborghini! Ha ha!”

Of course, in all fairness, the driver of the sleek automobile probably could have left me in the dust if he had been interested in racing. But, on a typical semi-urban street with plenty of other cars and another stoplight a block or two away, I don’t think he would even care to try. Despite that, I was excited

I was competing against myself, trying to set a new record for me, regardless of where anyone else was on the track. about my victory against the fellow who wasn’t racing.

As I reflected on it, I realized how this applies to real life when we’re not just behind the wheel of a car, but when we’re in the driver’s seat of our lives, using the horsepower and finely-tuned engines we’ve been blessed with in the form of our intellect, abilities, and life situations.

How often do we see someone with brains, looks, money, or all of the above, and think to ourselves, “There’s no way I can compete with that.” The truth is, though, that we can definitely not just compete, but win. How? It’s easier than you might think because many people are not even racing.

They feel that the car they’re in is just there for their driving pleasure.

Sometimes they’ll go fast, sometimes, they’ll hang out and wash it without going anywhere, and on occasion, they’ll just sit in it and stare out the windows. They don’t realize that life is about using the machine we’ve got for all it’s worth. They don’t think they need to exert themselves, even though it’s even called the human “race.”

When I was in yeshiva, I had a chavrusa (study partner) who was not as bright as I was. I would get things the first time around, but he would have to break his head on the things we were learning. It didn’t take long, however, for him to eclipse me and move ahead. Like the fable of the tortoise and the hare, he kept moving while I took a breather. The moral of this story, though, is more powerful and important than that of Aesop’s fable.

It never occurred to me that my job wasn’t to keep up with him. Because I thought it was, I just made sure that I drove when the light turned green, and coasted to a stop at the reds. I considered it a red light when I thought he didn’t fully understand something, and when I had a superficial understanding of it. Big mistake.

In truth, I should have been revving

my engine each day, trying to see how far and how fast my vehicle could take me. Instead, I, like the man in the orange Lamborghini, was content to just coast along without pushing myself.

What I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t competing against my friend at all. I was competing against myself, trying to set a new record for me, regardless of where anyone else was on the track.

Because each of us is a vehicle precisely-tuned for a certain type of race with a detailed course that no other car is on, it’s impossible to compare any two drivers’ performance.

The only way to compare, I guess, would be to see what percentage of their

individual course each car completed.

Some, who have souped-up engines and aerodynamic bodies, would seem to be natural choices to get farther and faster than those in the no-frills economy cars, but the key difference is what I’ve been saying all along: You have to realize you’re on a mission with places to go. If you don’t do that, you may just sit back idly and watch the world go by.

Jonathan Gewirtz is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications around the world. He also operates JewishSpeechWriter.com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion.

For more information, or to sign up for the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF Dvar Torah in English, e-mail info@JewishSpeechWriter.com and put Subscribe in the subject. © 2013 by Jonathan Gewirtz. All rights reserved.

a p r i l 1 8 , 2013

hile driving in Florida, I noticed the telltale sleek lines and beckoning color of an expensive sports car. Pointing it out to the kids in my car, I said, “Look at that orange car. That’s called a Lamborghini.”

Everyone turned to look and that was it.

The kids went back to their video games or cellphones and the Lamborghini was no longer on their minds.

To me, seeing that car was a hark back to my teenage years when I was a car enthusiast. I would read the various magazines that discussed transmissions, horsepower, and cosmetic changes, and get excited when I saw a really cool car.

For me, not being a sports fan, I took on cars as a hobby to occupy my mind instead of other interests. Note to Parents: If your teenaged son is interested in sports, cars, model airplanes, or something besides just his Torah studies, don’t worry about it. It’s a GOOD thing at that age.

So, while everyone ignored the sports car with the price tag that could have paid off my mortgage, I kept it in sight. When we got to a stoplight, the Lamborghini and I were side by side. I imagined revving the engine of my rented Kia Sedona minivan and drag racing

The Jewish Home n

Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

The Jewish Home n

a p r i l 1 8 , 2013

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T h eT HJEe w sh p rAYi l 2148,, 2012 2013 J E iW I S HHoHmOeMnE naM

74 94

Cover Story

Susan Schwamm

Life in North Korea

A glimpse into the totalitarian regime where people live under the tyranny of the very leaders they adore

Great Leader Kim Il Sung and his son, Dear Leader Kim Jong Il

North Koreans pay homage to their leader

T

hroughout America’s relatively short history, those that have threatened our way of life have usually been driven by visibly evil ideologies, such as the spread of Communism and radical Islam. North Korea, though, seems devoid of ideology, thus it does not seem as frightening to the average American. The fact that its leader, Kim Jung Un, is a 30-year-old pudgy guy with a bad crew cut probably takes away from the fear factor as well. It seems hard to take him seriously. But the truth is that Kim Jung Un—like his father and grandfather—is running an evil regime which is essentially a “house of horrors.” This is not only of concern because of the humanitarian crisis, but also because North Korea may soon have nuclear capabilities and has set the U.S. as one of its targets.

A lot of what comes out of North Korea is bluster and hot air. The Ryugyong Hotel was built to be the world’s biggest hotel. But construction was halted, and now it stands, 330 meters in the air without windows or interior fittings. All one sees is the empty façade looming high above the North Korean skyline. Statues of the North Korean leaders dot the landscape and loom over their people. North Koreans “drink” the lessons of their greatness in their mothers’ milk. But these great leaders, who can change the weather at whim and author hundreds of books, cannot save their people from hunger and sickness. They have cut themselves off from the

world in a spirit of independence but all that they have accomplished has resulted in a country full of death, pain, and persecution.

The Splitting of Korea North Korea is often known as the “Hermit Kingdom,” and many think that nickname comes from their frosty relations with other countries under the Kim dynasty. But that is far from the truth. In fact, the name was given to Korea in the mid-19th century when its leaders adopted a closed-door policy to protect itself from Western powers wishing to invade the peninsula. Throughout the years, Korea has been invaded and fought over by its larger neighbors including worldpowers Japan and China.

In 1910, after Japan won the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was annexed by the Land of the Rising Sun. The Japanese exhibited tight control over the peninsula with ruthless efforts to eradicate Korean language and culture. Although there were efforts to overthrow the Japanese, they proved unsuccessful. Japan remained in power until the end of World War II in 1945.

Once Japan lost the war, Korea was divided into two occupation zones: the U.S. was given the southern half of the peninsula to control and the U.S.S.R. took control of the area north of the 38th parallel. This divi-

North Korea has the fourth largest military in the world

sion was meant to be temporary until the U.S., U.K., Soviet Union and China could arrange a more permanent resolution.

But that was not meant to be. Relations between the Soviets and Americans became strained as the Cold War began in earnest. As such, the ideologies of those living in the North became diametrically opposed to the principles of those living in the South. In 1948, two separate nations were established. The Republic of Korea was established in the South; the North established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea headed by Premier Kim Il Sung. Tensions ran high between the two new nations, and ultimately, on June 25, 1950, the North launched a surprise attack against South Korea.

The Korean War involved major world powers. The United Nations established the UN Command to which sixteen member nations sent troops and assistance. The North was primarily assisted by China; the South was supported by the United States. The war was long and ugly. 1.2 million people lost their lives fighting the war.

Finally, after a long, arduous conflict, on July 27, 1953, an armistice agreement was signed. But neither the United States nor South Korea signed the peace treaty.

It was signed by the military commanders of the North Korean People’s Army, the Chinese People’s Volunteers, and the United Nations Command. And because no other peace agreement has replaced the 1953 armi-

The first sentence children Father Kim Il Sung, thank you, and Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, thank you.”

Citizens working the fields

When Kim Jong Un took over, he had many of those in government executed

stice pact, there still remains a level of tension between the North and South, a source of heat buried beneath the surface and threatening to boil over into conflict at any time.

The agreement restored the border between the North and the South near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone, known as the DMZ. The DMZ is a 148 mile long, 2.5 mile-wide fortified buffer zone between the two nations of the peninsula.

Most of the DMZ is divided by walls and electrified wire but there is a section of the DMZ that has neither walls nor wires. It is guarded by guards; on the South side, an American soldier and a South Korean soldier face the North. On the Northern side, three guards stand watch. Two face each other, and the other faces the north, to make sure that no one leaves the country.

The stark contrast between the guards on either side is evident. On the South side, the guards are making sure no one is entering the country. On the North side, the guards are there to ensure that no one leaves the country; they know that no one is entering North Korea willingly.

Discos in the South; Cannibals in the North Looking at both countries now, it’s hard to imagine that they were once part of one unit. It’s like seeing twins, all grown up, one a professor of law and one on death row. How could they have come from one mother, one family? Don’t they have the same genes, the same ancestors? In this case, Koreans are from the same mother. They lived the same way, ate the same food, read the same books and played the same games until 1945, and that’s when it all changed.

Recent statistics show the contrast between the two nations. While the South has become an economic powerhouse and is home to companies like Samsung and Hyundai, the North has become a poor, belligerent nation which rules with fear and oppression. South Korea’s GDP is $1,622 billion; North Korea’s is $40 billion. For every 1,000 live births in the South, 4.08 infants die; 26.21 out of 1,000 infants die in North Korea.

Even for those who live past infancy, life expectancy is shorter in the North. South Koreans enjoy a life expectancy of 79.3 years—in the North, people are only expected to live 69.2 years. Even more interesting is the fact that the growth of Koreans is stunted in the North.

Those living in the North tend to be 1.2-3.1 inches shorter than their brothers in the South. (It’s interesting to note that the South Koreans have guards on the taller side standing on their side of the DMZ as a psychological putdown to their shorter counterparts.) 81.5% of South Korea has access to the internet; in North Korea the internet is illegal, and it is reported that less than 0.1% of North Koreans have internet access.

The South is known for its permissiveness atmosphere. In the South, teenagers flaunt luxury items and frequent discos and nightclubs. English is taught as a second language and education is valued.

Many children in North Korea are malnourished and scrounge for food

Much is considered illegal in the North and those who flaunt their infractions are punished severely. It is hard to know if North Koreans believe in their country and its laws or if they are too scared to commit infractions against the system. There are spies everywhere who report any crime to the government. Speaking against the regime is illegal. North Koreans know not to speak in public; they know there is always a government spy looking to report any violation. Punishment for those caught committing crimes is prison and sometimes death. Public executions are common and used a deterrent to others. Hunger is rampant. Families are punished for the sins of their relatives. If one defects or leaves the country illegally, their family is interrogated and often punished. One defector, Chong Yang Koo, spoke of her grandfather’s sin of speaking against the government. She said he was sent away to prison for twelve years and was tormented from his experience.

Her family went forced to move out of the city because of his sin. Life in prison for her grandfather was brutal. Prisoners ate rats and seeds found in animal dung.

Punishments were severe and included bites from dogs and beatings from guards. When Chong Yang’s father defected, she was interrogated by officials. But she lied and told them that her father died in a fishing accident, a common occurrence in the country. Admitting that she knew of his plan would have meant death for her.

Ultimately, Chong Yang was able to sneak out of the country and is now living in South Korea.

There is not much known about what goes on in North Korea because of the iron-lid put on communications to the outside world. North Koreans are not allowed to listen to news or read reports from the outside world. All information that they hear or see is approved or produced by the government. The brainwashing is intense and starts from infancy.

People Void of Emotion Some have managed to defect from North Korea and tell their story to the world, but they are few and far between. Even after they leave, many of them are still left with the fear—fear for their families left behind and suspicion of government, any government.

Shin Dong-hyuk is now a human rights activist living in South Korea. He is the only person known to have escaped from a “total-control zone” grade internment camp in North Korea and lived to tell about it. Even more so, he is also the only person known to have been born in a North Korean prison camp and to have later escape from it. Shin Dong tells his story in the book titled, Escape from Camp 14. His grandfather committed a crime against the regime, and as such, his parents were sent to the prison camp to eradicate the evil from their family. North Korea denies the existence of camps like Camp 14, but Shin Dong’s account and other information prove their existence. Because he grew up in the camp, Shin Dong knew nothing of the outside world. He thought that it was normal to be hungry all

the time—all he ate was watery gruel and the occasional rat or frog that he managed to catch. He competed with his mother for food and was used to the constant beatings from the guards. The scars on his body are witness to the beatings that he was forced to endure.

Public executions were common. Prisoners were lined up to watch the executions and those who committed crimes were either shot or hanged. When Shin Dong was young, his teacher found a young girl with a few grains in her pocket. Eating more than what is rationed is considered illegal. The girl was beaten to death in front of her classmates. Shin Dong revealed that he and his classmates did not feel sorry for the girl, they did not feel sadness. They understood that she committed a crime and deserved to die.

The fear of the regime and the feeling of hunger repress the prisoners’ human emotions. They do whatever they could to survive. In fact, when Shin Dong heard of his mother and brother’s plan to escape, he reported the plan to a guard in the hopes he would be rewarded with more food. Instead, Shin Dong was tortured. A hook was put through his flesh so he wouldn’t move and he was burned by fire to make him confess. After days of interrogation, he was finally released only to witness the execution of his mother and brother. Shin Dong admits that at the time he did not feel sorrow or regret.

The emotions he felt were sub-human. He knew that he was hungry. Reporting to the guards, he thought, would mean more food for him. In an interview last year with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Shin Dong said that after years in the free world, he feels like he is finally able to feel real emotion. “When I see videos of the Holocaust it moves me to tears. I think I am still evolving — from an animal to a human,” he admitted.

Making the prisoners into animals, having them scrounge for food, fear for their lives, and spy on their family is important to the regime. When humans are forced to worry about their basic needs, they have no time or energy to worry about overthrowing their leaders. When people are divided against each other and suspicious of one another, coalescing for mutiny is impossible.

Walking Skeletons in Camp 22 No prisoner is known to have escaped from Camp 22, a concentration camp near the border of China and Russia. A former prison guard, Ahn Myong-chol, has recounted his experience in the camp and the horrifying conditions prisoners are forced to endure. When he first arrived in the camp, Ahn Myong was shocked at how the prisoners looked like walking skeletons, dwarfs and cripples in rags. Around 30% of prisoners have deformities—torn off ears, smashed eyes, faces covered in scars. Many are missing limbs, but even those are forced to continue working. There are around 50,000 prisoners in the camp; around 1,500 die every year and more are sent to the camp every year. Even children are forced to work and many of them die before they turn Continued on page 78

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learn in school is “Great

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After years of abuse

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and indoctrination, the emotions of fear and love likely became strangely intertwined.

Guarding the DMZ. The North Korean soldiers are making sure no defectors try to leave the country

ten-years-old.

Inmates are forced to perform back-breaking labor daily and then the brainwashing continues. Every evening, they are forced to listen to ideological re-education and self-criticism sessions. Even the guards are brainwashed—they are told that the prisoners are class enemies that have to be destroyed like weeds down to the roots. Guards can kill and punish at any time. Ahn Myong admitted that he had a family of 31 killed because one member tried to escape. He only feels regret for his actions now that he is living out of North Korea.

Kwon Hyok was a security officer in Camp 22. He reported that prisoners were subjected to unbelievable torture including water torture (having to stand on their toes in a tank from of water for 24 hours), kneeling torture (where prisoners kneel with a wooden bar inserted behind the knees to stop blood circulation, resulting in loss of mobility), and box-room torture (where prisoners are forced into a small, solitary cell where they can barely sit but not stand or lie for three days to a week).

Punishments are meted out swiftly. Inmates do not rebel because the guards are vicious and quick. No infraction, even the most minor, is forgiven. The guards don’t feel remorse—they know they are doing the right thing by eradicating the evil from the country.

The Kim Dynasty What power is so strong that it makes people lose their most-basic human emotions? What belief could be so powerful that it makes guards turn cruel and sadistic and prisoners submissive? What idea is so compelling that children turn against their parents, and, at times, parents against their children?

The answer lies in the force behind North Korea— the Kim dynasty. In order to understand North Korea and the power behind the culture, you have to delve into their past and learn about the founder and leader behind the nation.

Across North Korea, the first sentence children learn in school is “Great Father Kim Il Sung, thank you, and Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, thank you.”About 30% of what is studied in school is about the Kim family.

There are pictures of both leaders in every classroom, in every school, in every home, every train station, and every airport. North Koreans are given a special cloth to clean the pictures daily in their homes and no other pictures are allowed to be on that wall. Adults are required to wear a lapel pin featuring the leaders on the left side, above their heart. Visitors are cautioned to include the whole picture of the leaders in their photographs. In a National Geographic documentary, a photographer was threatened that his trip would have to be cut shot because, while taking a photo of towering statues of the leaders, he lay down on the ground so he could include the whole statue in the shot. Lying down on the ground in front of the statues is disrespectful to the leaders, he was told.

In that same documentary, a visiting doctor per-

formed 1,000 surgeries in ten days on North Koreans who were blinded by cataracts in their eyes. On the last day of the doctor’s visit to North Korea, the patients were gathered in a room to have their bandages removed. There were 1,000 patients in the room, sitting on chairs, waiting to see if their sight had been restored.

Slowly, the doctor removed the bandages from the first patient. He held up his fingers—she could see! Her gift of sight was restored! But the patient’s reaction was far from normal. Immediately, the patient turned her eyes to the pictures of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at the front of the room. She ran over to them and prostrated in front of them. “Thank you dear leaders for giving me my sight!” she shouted. This reaction was demonstrated time and time again. Not one patient turned to face their present family members or the kind doctor; every one of them ran to the pictures and publicly expressed their gratitude to their leaders for returning their sight to them. The National Geographic reporter was amazed at this display of affection for the Kims and pondered whether it was borne from true feelings or total fear.

She concluded that after years of abuse and indoctrination, the emotions of fear and love likely became strangely intertwined.

Kim Il Sung—Heavenly Leader Born in 1912 to Korean peasants, Kim Il Sung attended a Chinese school when his family immigrated to Manchuria from Korea. As he got older, he moved back to Korea and became a member of the Communist party and launched a series of attacks against the Japanese who were ruling Korea at the time. In 1948, he became the first premier of the People’s Democratic Republic in North Korea when the country was divided after World War II. In 1949, the United States Army started to withdraw from South Korea and just a year later, Kim Il Sung became convinced that the people in the South would welcome being ruled by his government. At dawn on 25th June 1950, the North Koreans launched a surprise attack on South Korea. Three days later, Communist forces captured the South Korean capital, Seoul.

The Korean War ended just a few years later in 1953.

After the war, Kim Il Sung established an authoritarian dictatorship. He launched a five year economic plan to establish a command economy—all industry was to be owned by the state and all agriculture was to be collectivized. Class differences were eliminated and a strong army was established. In fact, the North Korean army is now the fourth largest army in the world.

To hold onto his tenuous power, Il Sung told his people that the United States deliberately spread diseases among the North Koreans. He conducted largescale purges against any dissidents. Anyone who was considered an enemy of the state was punished without a trial. Some of them simply disappeared. Prison camps were established and punishments were meted out deliberately and quickly.

To reinforce his rule, he succeeded in constructing a

Shin Dong hyuk is the only known prisoner to have escaped the horrors of Camp 14

cult of personality with himself as the main icon for adoration. He was considered the “Sun of the Nation” and could do no wrong. There are over 34,000 statues of the leader throughout North Korea. His face appears on banknotes and his picture is in every train station, classroom and home. Citizens are expected to pay annual tribute to Il Sung on the anniversary of his death and birth. Traditionally, newlyweds go to the nearest statue of the “Great Leader” after their marriage to lay flowers at his feet. North Korea was always a nation that followed Confucius principles and placed strong emphasis on paternal hierarchy and loyalty. But Il Sung abused that culture and replaced the traditional devotion to the father’s role in the family with himself.

During his reign, every major publication in North Korea, including newspapers and textbooks, were to include “words of instruction” from Il Sung. The cult worship began when children were young. In schools, North Korean children were taught that they were fed, clothed and nurtured by the “grace of the Chairman.”

The larger elementary schools in the nation have a room set aside for lectures that focus on Kim Il Sung. Images of him were regulated to be in proportion to the building on which they hang.

In North Korea, time is set by Kim Il Sung’s birth.

In 1997, the “Juche Era dating system” was introduced.

The calendar begins with the birth of Kim Il Sung (April 15, 1912) as year 1. The year 2013, therefore, corresponds to Juche 102 (there is no year 0). His place of birth has become a place of pilgrimage, and his birthday and anniversary of his death are considered holidays.

Even in death, he is worshipped. In fact, according to the budget for 2013, 44.8% of North Korea’s budget is to be used for “funding the building of edifices to be presented to the 100th anniversary of President Kim Il Sung…” for “face-lifting” the country and consolidating the foundations for a Juche-based economy.

The Juche Philosophy The ideology that the “Heavenly Leader” developed and that was defined by Jong Il, called Juche, became the guiding principle behind the nation. Juche refers to self-reliance and independence from all other sources.

According to the official website of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, “The Juche idea means, in a nutshell, that the masters of the revolution and construction are the masses of the people and that they are also the motive force of the revolution and construction.” He believed in self-reliance as a nation economically and politically. “The realization of independence in politics, selfsufficiency [sic] in the economy and selfreliance in national defence [sic] is a principle the Government maintains consistently,” the official website declares. “Man is the master of everything and decides everything,” the website concludes. Although Il Sung had ties with the Soviets, his guiding principle was not necessarily Communism. It was Juche above all that he believed in.

The mourning for

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Kim Jong Il was so intense

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it was as if their own heart and soul was taken from them.

Intense grief was displayed at Leader Kim Jong Il’s funeral

Communism is a system that is known to fail and Juche does not seem to be succeeding. At times, the country has been forced to look outside their borders for help. For instance, when crops went bad, the North Koreans needed to seek help from China or the Soviet Union, countries they could count on in dire circumstances. Most North Koreans are malnourished. There have been eyewitness reports of cannibalism where people are so driven by their hunger that they kill others to consume their flesh.

Kim Il Sung died on July 8, 1994, but the people of North Korea still praise him and believe it is only with his help that they survive. His embalmed body lies in a glass-enclosed casket.

Kim Jong Il, “Dear Leader,” Controller of the Weather Kim Jong Il, the oldest son of Il Sung, took over leadership after his father. But he was already appointed to succession when his father was still alive—in 1980, Il Sung delegated the running of the government to him.

Jong Il was respected by the nation and to reinforce that respect, Il Sung turned over the chairmanship of North Korea’s National Defense Commission, the body in control of the armed forces.

It’s hard to keep up with what’s truly fact and what is definitely fiction in North Korea, but stories about Kim Jong Il’s amazing prowess abound. North Koreans are told that Jong Il was born on Mount Paektu in 1942. In truth, he was born in the Soviet Union and was named Yuri Irsenovich Kim. His birth was heralded by a swallow, caused winter to change to spring, a new star to illuminate the sky, and a double rainbow to spontaneously appear over the mountain. He was able to walk and talk before he was six-months-old. He was a prolific writer and wrote 54 books in less than 40 years.

It was reported in North Korea that a French fashion expert praised the Dear Leader’s fashion and said that “Kim Jong Il mode, which is now spreading expeditiously worldwide, is something unprecedented in the world’s history.” It was also said that he could control the weather based on his mood.

Before he became chairman, Jong Il headed the Propaganda and Agitation department and created films that glorified his father. In his official biography, Jong Il composed six operas and enjoyed staging musicals.

It was reported that he was a film buff and owned more than 20,000 movies, including the James Bond films and anything starring Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis. He loved basketball and golf and, according to North Korean state media, Jong Il routinely shot three or four holes-in-one while golfing. The Chairman also referred to himself as an internet expert.

Under his leadership, over a million people—onetenth of the country’s population—died. Most of them died from hunger as famine swept the land, and Jong Il was not equipped to deal with it. His former ally, the Soviet Union, was not able to provide assistance and his

This 33 year old woman was executed for distributing copies of the Bible. Her family was then sent to a prison camp

emphasis on building a stronger military diverted the necessary funds to feed the people.

In 1994, North Korea and the United States signed an Agreed Framework. In the agreement, North Korea pledged to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid in producing two power-generating nuclear reactors. But in 2002, Jong Il’s government admitted to producing nuclear weapons since the agreement. In 2006, a North Korean news agency announced it successfully conducted an underground nuclear test.

On December 17, 2011, the country of North Korea was once again plunged into mourning. Amid rumors of failing health, Kim Jong Il, the Dear Leader, died of a heart attack while traveling on a train. The Korean Central News Agency reported that upon his passing, the sky glowed red above Mount Paektu and a snowstorm paused. The ice on a famous lake cracked so loudly, it shook the heavens and the earth. Thousands of North Koreans lined the streets, crying bitterly. The mourning was so intense it was as if their own heart and soul was taken from them. However, in videos released of the mourning, it was readily apparent that the throngs of criers did not seem to have tears. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that within weeks of Jong Il’s passing those who did not show a sufficient display of mourning were severely punished.

Kim Jong Un—Proving Himself to the World Declared the Supreme Leader after his father’s state funeral, Kim Jong Un is the youngest son of Jong Il and his third wife. He is estimated to be approximately 30-years-old and is the youngest head of state in the world. He was educated in Switzerland and, according to his official biography, was a superior student. But other students at the school recall him as being a mediocre student who was so obsessed with the NBA and Michael Jordan that he spent hours drawing sketches of Jordan. This may explain why he invited former Jordan teammate, Dennis Rodman, on a highly touted tour of North Korea.

An early sign that Jong Un was going to be chosen as successor came in 2006 when Jong Il bestowed the title of “Brilliant Comrade” on him. At his father’s funeral, it was announced that he was chosen as his father’s successor because he inherited “great comrade Kim Jong Il’s ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage.” However, in reality, he was probably chosen as leader because there was no other choice. His older half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, whom he reportedly never met, was the top contender to succeed his father in the role of Supreme Leader until he embarrassed his father in 2001 when he was caught sneaking into Japan on a forged passport in order to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Perhaps out of bitterness, Jong Nam has lobbed insults at Jong Un since his accession, telling one Japanese newspaper that his regime was “a joke” and doomed to collapse. Jong Un took retribution by cancelling Jong Nam’s state-sponsored Visa Gold card, causing him

to be tossed out of his residence at a five-star hotel in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau. The middle son, Kim Jong Chul, was viewed as a “little girl” by his father and too weak to lead, according to a memoir by the family’s Japanese former chef.

Some reports speculated that Jong Un was anointed successor partly because of his resemblance to North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung. According to reports, before he began appearing at official functions, the government spent months shaping Kim Jong Un’s image, including feeding him a carbohydrates-rich diet to make him stocky and round-faced. Jong Un soon sported his grandfather’s iconic box-cut hairstyle, with a neatly pressed wave, and began wearing the founder’s trademark dark, Mao-style suits.

Upon taking power, Jong Un immediately began taking action to consolidate his power and deter any criticism of his youthfulness and inexperience by eliminating dozens of senior members of the military. He ordered his loyal officials to use the excuse of misbehavior during the mourning period for his father to remove any potential opponents. Jong Un showed a penchant for brutality when he ordered the vice minister of the army be obliterated by a mortar round, so that “no trace of him would be left behind, down to his hair.” In classic propaganda form, Jong Un released videos of himself inspecting military rockets and firing guns. In one video, the camera is focused on Jong Un firing a gun. The video then pans in on the bulls-eye, showing that Jong Un’s shot went right through the center of it. Because, of course, Jong Un is an expert marksman as well.

Jong Un is following in his father’s footsteps. Public executions, prison camps and swift punishment for those who dare go against the regime have continued.

He has issued warnings against the United States and the West and seems to be continuing North Korea’s nuclear arms program. But he is trying to portray himself as a lovable leader to his people. He is seen frequently with his wife, who recently, according to basketball legend Dennis Rodman, gave birth to a baby girl. He has been seen riding roller coasters. But that is part of the façade; this man is evil and he wants the world to tremble in his wake.

T

he true picture of North Korea may seem surreal but it is very real to the men, women and children who live in harsh conditions, many of whom suffer daily. It is natural to avoid thinking of the plight of others who live thousands of miles away especially when the reality of their suffering is covered up by their own government. But the truth is, our world is small and it is every nation’s responsibility to relieve the suffering of every citizen in the world. Perhaps, someday soon we will learn of the demise of totalitarian regime, and one day the citizens of North Korea will be able to experience the same freedoms enjoyed by people around the world. And then they’ll know the beauty of humanity. 

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Notable

Quotes

Compiled by Nate Davis

“Say What?”

“I turned Havana to Atlanta...

Boy from the hood I got White House clearance...

Obama said ‘Chill, you gonna get me impeached.’”

- A rap by a famous rapper who recently traveled to Cuba “I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury.”

- White House spokesman Jay Carney, who stated that the rapper received clearance from the Treasury Department

“A 14-year-old boy from China is the youngest golfer to ever compete in The Masters. During his round of golf today, the Chinese boy made two birdies, an eagle, and an iPad.” -Conan O’Brien “Teachers at nine universities are using a new technology that can tell if students are actually reading their textbooks. Let me save you some time. They’re not.”

- Jimmy Kimmel “The digital books create something called an engagement index that shows how often they open their book, which pages they read, and whether or not they skipped pages. That’s a great way to get kids to like books. Program the books to tattle on them.”

- Ibid

“According to a new study, our views on immigration are changing. For example, when asked if they support a path to citizenship, 40 percent of the respondents said, ‘Si.’” - Jay Leno “Our retaliatory action will start without any notice from now as such thrice-cursed criminal act of hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK is being openly committed in the heart of Seoul under the patronage of the puppet authorities.”

- North Korea’s military statement issued in response to the burning of effigies of Kim Jung Un at rallies in Seoul, South Korea

“Gitmo Is Killing Me.” - title of an Op-ed appearing in the New York Times by Guantanamo Bay prisoner Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, in which he bemoans the fact that the hunger strike which he is on is very difficult for him

“Last night, President Obama hosted Republican senators for dinner at the White House. The president said he had to do without salt, pepper, and butter — because as you know, the Republicans refuse to pass anything.”

- Jay Leno

“I want to go to a Bob Seger concert.”

- What 79-year-old Evie Branon said when she awoke from a five year coma; her wish was fulfilled on April 11th

“I’ve heard in a couple of quiet conversations with U.S. officials is two things: Number one, how safe it is over here in this country where people are not running around with guns. And number two, how our – how some students, we had an interesting discussion why fewer students are coming to, particularly from Japan, to study in the United States. And one of the responses I got from our officials, from conversations with parents here, is that they’re actually scared.

They think they’re not safe in the United States, and so they don’t come. They think they’re not safe in the United States and so they don’t come. Unlike the United States, the right to private gun ownership in Japan is not guaranteed in law.”

- Secretary of State John Kerry

“If babies had guns they wouldn’t be aborted.”

- Conservative Texas Congressman Steve Stockman’s latest bumper sticker for his reelection campaign

“The only thing it would not cover is if you sold a gun to your son, for example...I would argue if you want to sell your gun to your son, maybe you have a problem in your family. Why don’t you just give—I don’t know if you should have a gun or not, but if you have a commercial transaction of $100 with your son, there’s something wrong in your family.”

- Michael Bloomberg on the “John Gambling Show” discussing new national gun legislation

“Because of budget cuts, the Navy may have to cancel Fleet Week, where thousands of sailors dock in New York City. Of course if you want to see a bunch of people glad to be off a boat, you could just wait for a Carnival cruise to come in.”

- Jimmy Fallon

- Jay Leno “On the same night I began hunting for the scraps of paper I’ll need for my tax return, President Barack Obama, his wife, kids and a bunch of their buddies were enjoying a live concert of Memphis soul music in a White House now closed to the public because of budget sequestration...

As I scrounged through drawers and coat pockets in search of anything that might reduce the size of the check I’m going to write tomorrow, I was acutely aware of how my tax dollars are being used. Defending my freedom and maintaining the avenues of commerce, no problem. Feeding the hungry and nursing the sick?

All good. But I draw the line at paying... to serenade a president.”

- Nolan Finley, The Detroit News

“People are surprised...some people are surprised I can even read.”

- Former-President George W. Bush to the Dallas Morning News, discussing people’s reaction to his ability to paint

“We’ll just hang and have some fun!”

- Dennis Rodman discussing his next trip to North Korea to visit Kim Jong-Un, planned for this summer “This is going to follow Tiger Woods around for the rest of his life.”

-Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee discussing Tiger Woods’ decision not to disqualify himself from the Masters after he placed a ball on the wrong spot

“Hi. As you’ve probably noticed, I’m not the president.”

- Francine Wheeler, the mother of a Newtown victim, delivering the President’s weekly address in place of President Obama

“North Korean officials reportedly are planning a cyber attack on the U.S. in an effort to bring our economy to a halt. Nice try guys.

You’re five years too late.”

- Jay Leno

“Secretary Kerry will be the first to admit that in some ways he can never fill Hillary’s heels.”

- U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice at the Women in the World Summit in New York

“Hadiya Pendleton was me and I was her.”

- Michelle Obama talking about a 15-year-old Chicago girl who was killed by gun violence

“Well, Michael, tax day is today. That came up. You know, I was thinking of all the iconic events that are being told about today. Of course I knew it was tax day because I got them in. But of course, it’s Patriots Day. It’s also the Boston Marathon. And would you as an expert be thinking domestic at this point? I don’t think tax day means a lot to the Arab world or Islamic world or certainly not to al Qaeda in terms of their world. It doesn’t have iconic significance.”

- Chris Matthews, NBC

“Explosions are a reminder that ATF needs a director. Shame on Senate Republicans for blocking appointment.”

- New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff’s tweet, within hours of the terrorist attack in Boston “Once the device—if it is a device—is found, what kind of explosives were used. So for instance, if it was hydrogen peroxide, this is a signature of al Qaeda. If it was more conventional explosives, which are much harder to get hold of now—that might be some other kind of right-wing extremist. … We’ve also seen, for instance, right-wing groups trying to attack the Martin Luther King parade in Oregon in 2010.”

- Peter Bergen on CNN, within hours of the attack “We still do not know who did this or why, and people should not jump to conclusions before we have all the facts.”

- President Obama in a statement after the bombing “The President of the United States has pledged his full support in all efforts to keep the city safe and to find the person who did this and bring them to justice. We did not have to reach out to the president. The president reached out to us. He called the governor, he called the mayor, he called the members of the (congressional) delegation, because the president is actively involved here and responding.”

- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass., who did not mention the victims in her press conference after the Boston bombing CNN: “What are your impressions of the response in Boston so far?”

BARNEY FRANK: “I’m glad you raised that, because it gives me a chance to make a point I’ve felt strongly about. In this terrible situation, let’s be very grateful that we had a well-funded, functioning government. It is very fashionable in America, and has been for some time to criticize government, belittle public employees, talk about their pensions, talk about what people think ... of [their] health care. Here we saw government in two ways perform very well. ... I never was as a member of Congress one of the cheerleaders for less government, lower taxes. No tax cut would have helped us deal with this or will help us recover.

This is very expensive... What I’m asking people is, whether you have private health insurance or not, whether you can afford this or not, maybe the government’s going to have to pay for it. This is an example of why we need, if we’re going to be a civilized society, to put some of our resources into a common pool.”

T hT He EJ Je EwWi sI ShHHHoOmMe E nn Ma pAYr i l2 41,82012 , 2013

“It’s starting to get serious — China has warned North Korea about starting a war.

China told them flat out, ‘Do not fire any missiles at the United States at least until after we get our money. They owe us $16 trillion.

Wait until then.’”

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Health & Fitness Devorah Gerber Schmeltz

The Jewish Home n

Scooting vs. Crawling

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Dear Devorah, My 10-month- old son likes to get around by scooting on his bottom. I think it is very cute, but some of my friends have been urging me to get him evaluated because he is not crawling properly. My doctor does not seem concerned. Other than the scooting, he is b”H developing normally—he babbles, explores his toys and eats nicely. As an occupational therapist, do you think this is something that warrants an evaluation or is it OK if he scoots for now?

Thank you in advance.

Tzippy Dear Tzippy, You bring up a very common situation, in which baby scoots but is not creeping or crawling. Some babies actually do both. There are many theories and strong viewpoints about crawling and its effects later on in development. I will not delve into them right now, but I will highlight some benefits of creeping and crawling. First, let us clarify the difference between crawling and creeping. It is very simple: crawling is on one’s belly (think commando crawling), creeping is on all fours. In development, baby first crawls, then he or she creeps. Here are some of the benefits: 1. upper body strengthening 2. core strengthening 3. promotes curvature of the spine (Baby is born with a rounded ‘c’ curve back. Over the first year the baby’s spine develops cervical and lumbar curvatures.)

4. promotes reciprocal pattern which carries over later in development for walking and stair climbing 5. develops depth perception skills (There are many more benefits and much material in which one can read up on regarding studies and theories that support its relationship to reading and learning as well.)

These are all very important benefits.

What I find very significant is the advantage of a baby who creeps. A creeping baby will naturally be able to smoothly transition in/out of sitting and creeping.

He will be able to navigate and explore his environment with ease. Additionally, the actual transitions (when done correctly within normal development) facilitate weight shifting and postural alignment.

These skills help provide him with a good foundation for gross motor skills for now and later.

Now let us explore scooting. While in scooting, baby is not weight bearing through his limbs, he is very comfortably sitting on his bottom. Although some

babies may use their arms as a lever to push off from, others propel themselves with their legs. Movement in scooting is by and large forward or backward, it is very limiting. Think of driving a car without a wheel to make turns—you can only go forward or in reverse. I will assume like the vast majority of babies who scoot, your baby likely does not and cannot (yet) transition in/out of sitting. Yes, scooting is functional. It helps baby get from point A to B and some babies become quite skilled and efficient bopping across the room, but in terms of development it does not lead to nor provide skill to the next milestone.

With regards to your question: no, right now I do not think you need to go running for an evaluation. However, now armed with the benefits of creeping and crawling you may want to break your baby’s habit of scooting and promote some crawling. Here are some tips: 1. Tummy. Place him on his tummy to play. It is tempting to place your baby on the floor in a sitting position, but he needs the opportunity to be on his tummy to figure out how to crawl.

2. Sit to side. Practice weight shifting, here’s one way how. With mommy sitting on the floor (sit against a couch or wall to avoid straining your back), place your baby between your legs with his back leaning against your chest. Behind each of your legs, place one of baby’s favorite toys. Have baby twist/turn her trunk to reach over and obtain the toy. As your baby develops this skill, you will one day notice how he transitions from sitting to his belly!

If you are consistent with practicing and implementing the above tips and do not see any improvement, discuss your concerns with your pediatrician. Sometimes babies need just a small boost of intervention and caregivers a hands-on consultation by a therapist to help them conquer a new skill.

Good luck!

Devorah (Gerber) Schmeltz, MS OTR/L is a 2003 alumnus of Downstate Medical Center’s OT Program. She is a senior occupational therapist at United Cerebral Palsy’s Brooklyn Children’s Program. Devorah maintains a private practice, Bumble & Tumble Occupational Therapy P.C., in Far Rockaway, NY providing pediatric occupational and physical therapy. Department of Education vouchers/RSAs are gladly accepted. Your questions and comments are welcome. She can be reached at BumbleTumble Therapy@gmail.com or 917-971-5327.

83 Rifka Schonfeld

iscipline has become a dirty word. It’s what we as a society dole out to poorly-behaved children, misguided politicians, and criminals. And “disciplinary action,” ranging from verbal reprimands to imprisonment, is the realm of principals and law enforcement officials. But true discipline does not have to involve punishment.

The word “discipline” stems from the Latin disciplina – teaching and learning – the same root as the word “disciple.” Discipline, then, is teaching – of one’s self or others. And contrary to popular opinion, discipline is a good thing. It is a way of life. In fact, we cannot thrive as individuals or as a society without discipline. And we cannot raise our children without it.

If you aren’t convinced of the value of discipline, you might want to take a walk down the street to see the effects of its archenemy. It’s called “freedom.”

Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of movement – the unbridled freedom to be and do and have everything the heart desires. The people in the street are bound by very few laws and restrictions. But how free are they?

If a person on a diet passes a restaurant, smells food, and walks inside to wolf down a Super Burger and fries, she is enslaved to her physical cravings. If a reporter gets the scoop on a great story that may harm people and has it published for his moment in the limelight, he is enslaved to his ego.

Any person who lives an unrestricted life is enslaved to his desires. He has no will power; he can’t tell himself ‘no.’ He is driven by what he wants – not by the great person he truly wants to become. He is, in essence, no different than an animal that eats, sleeps, and kills by instinct. By contrast, discipline lets a person overcome desire for a greater good. A disciplined person is truly free.

The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos tells us – Ein lecha ben chorin ela me she’osek b’Torah – only a person who lives according to the Torah is free. The Torah appears to be very constricting. There are laws governing every aspect of our lives. What we eat, wear, and do—even how we tie our shoelaces. But it is the ultimate source of discipline – because it teaches us to become masters over our desires. It is so liberating to have an authoritative guide that teaches us

the “whats,” “whens,” “wheres,” and “hows” of life.

Our “free” society has filtered down to our families – sometimes on the advice of so-called experts. One prominent Brooklyn physician tells his patients’ parents that their children need “only love.” And autonomy and self expression are the new bywords in child rearing. Now I am not saying that

can spend fun, quality time together on even a few rides.

At a family meeting before the trip, the parents could have created a plan for the trip, by outlining the day’s schedule, and letting their children know what was expected. They could have said, for instance, that everyone would go on three rides, get $5 spending money, eat lunch at 12:00, and be at the gate, ready

Any person who lives an unrestricted life is enslaved to his desires.

autonomy and self expression are bad – and I definitely believe that we must give our children mega doses of love.

But discipline is crucial.

Discipline = Structure Several years ago, The Jewish Observer featured an article guiding parents through the pitfalls of Chol Hamo’ed. The article told the story of a family that planned the “perfect” outing to an amusement park. The parents were totally dedicated to giving their children a grand time – but by day’s end, everyone was miserable. The children had wanted to go on more rides, get more prizes, and stay longer – and the parents had been cajoled into spending much more time and money than they meant to. Everyone was hungry and tired. The car ride home was a veritable shouting match, with fights, screaming, and tears. The parents wondered where they had gone wrong.

The day could have been saved with the building blocks of family discipline – goal setting, planning, structure, and parental authority. The goal of the trip may have been set as “strengthening the family by spending fun, quality time together.” Unless the family’s goal is to try out every ride in the park, there is no problem with setting limits on time and money spent, because the family

to go home, at 4:30.

The plan would have lent structure to their day. Such structure fits the goal – and eliminates whining, before it even begins, because everyone knows exactly what to expect. If trouble does arise, and children ask to stay longer, parents can exercise their parental authority, without guilt. The final decision about anything is theirs and theirs alone.

Proponents of “freedom” might argue that this is too rigid; that spontaneity is more natural and fun. But experience has shown that children thrive on structure.

“When I was growing up, evenings were freefor-all in our house,” says Leah, a young mother of three. “We often served ourselves cereal and sandwiches for supper.

We also did homework at random, played in the street until everyone else on the block went inside, and went to sleep when our eyelids shut.

“Our next door neighbor’s family schedule could have been set in stone.

Supper at 5:30, then homework, baths, and bed – no questions asked. We used to make fun of them – but deep inside my heart, I was jealous. I was tired of coming to school without homework, and I was tired of being tired. I wanted someone to make me go to bed.”

In reality, structure is not confining; it is liberating. It is also a panacea for

many childhood troubles.

The chronic latecomer needs structure in the evening – a planned nightly routine that starts when she gets home from school, and carries over to the morning. The distractible child needs structured studying – maybe a dedicated homework spot, in a quiet part of the house. The child who fights may need structure in his room – perhaps he would get along better with others if his treasures are given a special space safely out of reach of curious siblings. And the overweight child needs structured meals – he will learn healthy eating and gain food security when he knows exactly when meals and snacks will be served.

Discipline and structure are Jewish concepts. Discipline is the ability to overcome desire – and desire is the Yetzer Hara. We even define strength as self-discipline – as the Mishna says, Eizehu gibor, hakovesh es yitzro – who is the strong one? He who masters his evil inclination.

Many a heavyweight boxer has trouble controlling his basest instincts – and if you pit him against a frail ninetyyear-old who fights exhaustion and gets out of bed to go to shul, the old man wins, hands down.

In his book Power Living – Mastering the Art of Self Discipline, author Michael Janke writes, “The ability to control our emotions, actions, words, and thoughts has always been one of man’s most difficult tasks.” He adds that our generation is raised on instant gratification – and that “it is more difficult to exert self-control over our lives today than at any other time in human history.” Difficult, perhaps – but crucial to ourselves, our children, and all of society.

An acclaimed educator and education consultant, Mrs. Rifka Schonfeld has served the Jewish community for close to thirty years.

She founded and directs the widely acclaimed educational program, SOS, servicing all grade levels in secular as well as Hebrew studies. A kriah and reading specialist, she has given dynamic workshops and has set up reading labs in many schools. In addition, she offers evaluations G.E.D. preparation,, social skills training and shidduch coaching, focusing on building self-esteem and self-awareness. She can be reached at 718-382-5437 or at rifkaschonfeld@ verizon.net. You can view her website at rifkaschonfeldsos.com.

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In the Kitchen Shalosh Seudos with Sophistication Now that Shabbos is getting longer, here are some ideas to grace your table for Shalosh Seudos.

You never know what you’ll end up making every week this season!

Tabouleh Salad

Poached Salmon

Asian Pasta Salad

Ingredients 2 bunches of fresh parsley (1 ½ cup chopped, with stems discarded) 2 tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped I medium onion, finely chopped 6 medium tomatoes, diced 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or cayenne pepper 1/2 cup bulghur, medium grade 6 tablespoons lemon juice 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Romaine lettuce or grape leaves to line serving bowl (optional)

Ingredients 5-6 slices of salmon, skin removed 1 large onion, sliced 1 ½ cup water, divided ½ cup sugar or Splenda ½ cup vinegar Pickling spices Bay leaves

Ingredients 1 package spaghetti 1 teaspoon olive oil 6 tablespoons soy sauce ¼ cup white sugar 3 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds 2 teaspoons chili sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 2 scallions, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped (optional) 1 cup sugar snap peas (optional) Sesame seeds for garnish

Preparation Soak bulghur in cold water for 1 ½ to 2 hours until soft. Squeeze out excess water from bulghur us.ing hands or paper towel. Combine all ingredients, except for salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil.

If you wish, you may line serving bowl with grape leaves or romaine lettuce, and add salad. Sprinkle olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper on top.

Serve immediately or chill in refrigerator for two hours before serving.

Preparation In a large pot, boil ½ cup water with the onion slices and sugar. Once the water boils, add the vinegar, 1 cup water, pickling spices, 1-2 bay leaves and salmon. Return to boil and then reduce heat to medium heat for 20 minutes. Transfer to container when cool.

Serving suggestions: the salmon slices can be served with lemon slices, tartar sauce or dill sauce.

Preparation Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.

Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Transfer pasta to a serving bowl and toss with olive oil.

Whisk soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame seeds, chili sauce, and sesame oil together in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Toss soy sauce mixture with pasta; top with scallions, red bell pepper, and snap peas.

Refrigerate 30 minutes to overnight to allow flavors to blend. Toss again before serving and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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In the Kitchen Naomi Nachman

Eat Like an Israeli Tonight!

I am writing this article on erev Yom Haatzmaut. By the time this is published, the day will have passed.

I couldn’t let the week go by without putting in my favorite Israeli recipes. I have just come back from three weeks in Israel and we just love Israeli cuisine!

Whenever I make matbucha, I always take off some and turn it into shukshuka. I pour approximately one cup’s worth into a small frying pan and heat it gently. I then crack three raw eggs into it and let it sit and cook on a medium heat to cook the eggs through. (I like runny yellows.) I then serve it with Israeli salad and hummus with some fresh pita and it makes for a wonderful breakfast.

Classic Israeli Salad Ingredients 4 tomatoes, diced small 3 kirbys, peeled and diced small 2 scallions, finely diced 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely minced Splash of olive oil 1 lemon, juiced, to taste (I like it lemony) Salt and pepper to taste Preparation Places vegetables in a bowl. Add in olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Hu mmus Matbucha Ingredients 1 large onion, cubed 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 can 28 oz crushed tomato 1 can 14 oz can diced tomato 1 bunch chopped cilantro, finely diced 1/8 cup sugar Salt, pepper, cumin to taste Preparation Sautee onions for five minutes until soft on medium heat. Add in garlic and stir until it is soft for another five minutes.

Add in rest of ingredients and simmer and stir for fifteen minutes until reduced down and flavors are concentrated.

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.

Ingredients 2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed Juice from half of a lemon 4 cloves garlic, pressed 2 TBS good olive oil ¼ cup techina Water for thinning

Preparation Blend all ingredients in food processor; water as needed until it reaches a smooth consistency.

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Politics Today

SPINCLASS

Politics with Michael Fragin

The Rising Stars of the GOP >>> Analyzing a Winning Campaign >>> The Different Shades of Red in the Republican Party >>> Traveling to Washington with NORPAC >>> Anthony Weiner and Matching Funds

The following are excerpts from the weekly on-line show, Spin Class: Politics with Michael Fragin. Listen weekly on Thursday nights on jmintheam.org.

Michael Fragin: Good evening everyone. Welcome to Spin Class. We are talking politics.

Joining us, we have Jessica Proud, a PR and political consultant with an NLO Strategies right here in New York and dubbed this week a Rising Star in the New York GOP. So Jessica is tasked with being one of those who was going to resurrect the New York GOP and restore the Republican brand.

Jessica, welcome to Spin Class.

Jessica Proud: Hi, Michael.

Thanks so much for having me.

Michael Fragin: So tell us a little bit about the Rising Stars and what might voters be able to expect from a Republican party that’s taken a couple of shots recently.

Jessica Proud: Well, I think for me, personally, it was such an honor to be included with so many young and up-and-coming elected officials around the state. I think they had a good selection, and there is actually many more who weren’t even included right here in New York City. You have Councilman Vinny Ignizio, Jenny Otto, and Joe Borelli who just got elected. So I think despite a lot of the hardships of the party right now, there is definitely a lot of people that are out there every day. They are getting elected and making a difference.

Michael Fragin: So Jessica, you have been involved with quite a few successful campaigns on the GOP side here in New York. What’s the key to a victory? I think that we can differentiate both the city and the suburbs if you want. What’s the key to a Republican victory?

Jessica Proud: Every campaign

is different, so it really depends. But I think it’s about tapping into a sentiment in the electorate and having good candidates. Sometimes we get stuck with candidates that aren’t so great; maybe they don’t have the background or they don’t have the communication skills.

So when you get a candidate that has all the components that are necessary to be successful, that certainly helps.

Running in these rural districts is never easy, and sometimes you can run a textbook perfect campaign and still come up short. And then there is other times where you get lucky.

But I think it’s about capitalizing on opportunities when they come up. And certainly, if you look at Bob Turner and the special election when he won his congressional seat, when he started out, no one thought he could win, and he was just driving the ball forward every day, and he was able to turn it around and get people’s attention. And there were some pivotal moments in the campaign that really got people’s attention and changed the game. So it really depends, but having a good candidate to begin with is critical.

Michael Fragin: In 2009, you had New York City elections but at the same time, you had elections in the suburbs that saw two surprise victories: I think from county executives, Rob Astorino and Edward Egan in Westchester County, and Ed Mangano in Nassau County, and you were involved in the Astorino race.

Jessica Proud: I was.

Michael Fragin: So tell us about Rob Astorino who really was probably a political unknown running against a legend in New York State politics, Andy Spano.

Jessica Proud: Yeah, he was, and Rob had run in 2005 – he was a former county legislator – and actually lost by the same amount that he ended up win-

ning by in 2009. And I think again, that race was unique because there was a combination of factors, the incumbent who was well liked but had been in office for a long time and the taxes had risen consistently every year. He had gone a little fat ‘n happy as he would say like taking trips and had a bodyguard. So the economy was really in a bad place, and I think people were feeling like he was a little tone deaf when it came to those issues, and he had that 12-year record and people were really finally receptive to our message.

Rob had the same message. He always liked to say, “I ran in 2005 on the same message of tax and spending.”

But at that time, that wasn’t resonating with people; they weren’t receptive to that message because things were going well. And then fast forward four years, and it was a very different tune. So this year, he is up for reelection again, and it’s going to be a totally different campaign because now it’s about continuing the work that he did the past four years and not changing direction. So it’s a different message to the voters.

Michael Fragin: So the voters have to be really angry for a Republican to win? Is that the idea that we are really sick of taxes?

Jessica Proud: No, I don’t think that’s true. I mean it helps for sure. I don’t think that’s the only way you can win. But certainly, Republicans always do well when there is a situation where the economy is bad or crime is high because they tend to be perceived as good managers. And this is an ideal situation; obviously, that’s been proved true for Mitt Romney. So I think it’s definitely an easier path when you have those types of circumstances but I wouldn’t say that it has to be that way in order to win.

Michael Fragin: Talk about expanding the electoral pie for a Repub-

lican. I think that’s the real buzzword that the GOP kind of identified is that the Republican Party is increasingly catering to the 47% or even below that.

Jessica Proud: Yeah, it’s interesting too because it’s certainly our economic method. And certainly we are talking with the Democrats that they want to divide the pie and we want to grow it bigger when it comes to expanding the economy. But I think that’s absolutely critical if we were going to be competitive especially here in New York where we do have such a strong minority population; women are becoming a larger than ever voting block and we saw huge gender gap issues in this past cycle. So I would love to see the party reaching out more. And everyone sort of says the GOP is dead and that you need to change all of your principles, and I am not convinced of that.

I would like to see some tweaks here and there. I think having a sensible immigration policy would be a great start and that’s something that you can still respect the law and deal with the issue.

That would make it more palatable for Hispanic Americans to vote for us.

But when you are dealing with some of these issues, I think it’s just about how you talk about them and why they matter to people. And this whole notion of compassionate conservatism and talking about these issues in a way that it’s an opportunity for people and really getting back to our roots on that, that’s what I think the party was always meant to be but we have lost our way a little bit in how we can give that to people.

Michael Fragin: Well, there is no question the party seems to be in conflict with itself. I mean look no further than this past CPAC conference where a moderate like Chris Christie was not even invited, and they are also in lot of conservative areas, they are saying, “Well, let’s get even more conservative, let’s not moderate anything, with

Michael Fragin: Let’s talk about minority outreach. But one group that’s of particular interest to the listeners of this show is the Orthodox Jewish community which has certainly become far more “red” over the last couple of years, and that outreach was kind of left out entirely.

Jessica Proud: It was. And it shouldn’t have been because it’s been a very important voting bloc. And I don’t want to say it’s monolithic and everyone votes the same but by having an organized effort like you saw, and you certainly make the case that it helped propel Bob Turner to victory. And I think traditionally, Republicans have ran off the Jewish vote, especially in areas like in Westchester where they say, “Well, everyone votes Democratic,” but the Orthodox community has been more conservative and I know it’s galvanized around issues like gay marriage. But I think at the end of the day, you need to have a candidate that can reach out to all different constituencies.

Michael Fragin: What do you see as taking place this year in 2013 in the City in particular? Is the Republican brand damaged so much by the current scandals that it can’t recover?

Jessica Proud: No, I don’t think you can attribute it to that, though certainly that’s been an issue that’s in the news right now. I don’t know how much that’s going to actually resonate with the voters. But the organization of the party, I view as a bigger challenge because it’s not where it needs to be.

I happen to really like Joe Lhota as a mayoral candidate. I think he is certainly the best qualified and would do the best job for the city and has the best chance of winning. I would like to see us avoid a primary, if that is possible; it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case. But this is certainly someone that I think can do outreach to multiple different areas and bridge the gap and help grow the party. And that’s going to be important for this year’s election to rebuild and next year we have the statewide, all of our senate and assembly seats are up again.

Michael Fragin: The party’s got to be nervous about the statewide elections coming up with Governor Cuomo looking very formidable and there really not being anybody on the horizon.

Can you identify somebody who might be interested in taking on that task?

Jessica Proud: There has been a lot of talk about that and I know Chair-

a Republican county executive who is up for election this year. So I think that one thing I attribute that to is so many people moving from the City who are always going to be Democrats because the Republican party really doesn’t compete enough in the City; they don’t fill candidates; they don’t really do a whole lot of party building. You can disagree with that if you want. And that continues to spill over.

It’s hard for me to see, and I like Greg Edwards but Chautauqua County, you can’t compare that to the wave of Democratic votes that exist in the urban areas of New York State.

Jessica Proud: Yeah, no question, I was just mentioning him as someone that certainly has good management skills, and he ran for Lieutenant Governor. He has the potential to go out there and be a good candidate for the party. It’s very difficult coming from the southern tier of New York to mount a statewide campaign against a popular

EACH PERSON COMES WITH A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE AND BACKGROUND AND EVERYBODY CAN REALLY MAKE AN INCREDIBLE DIFFERENCE. man Cox has mentioned some possible names. We certainly hold a lot of the county executive seats across the state.

Rob Astorino has been mentioned as one but I think he is entirely focused on running for re-election this year and focusing on the goals that he’s set out to accomplish in Westchester. Marc Molinaro up in Dutchess County has been mentioned. Greg Edwards from Chautauqua County is another one. So I think we have a lot of potential that would make great candidates but it is tough. I mean he is sitting on over $20 million, his numbers have declined but they are still fairly solid at this point.

So the thing with politics is, the climate can change in a heartbeat, you never know what could happen.

Michael Fragin: Absolutely. But Jessica, the counties that you mentioned with the exception of Westchester are tiny and I think, the only way the GOP has been able to win in the past has really been going ahead and running up victories in the large suburban counties of Westchester and Nassau and Suffolk. And if you look at Nassau County, where I live, in particular, when I was younger, Nassau County was solidly Republican and had a Republican enrollment majority.

Now it’s got a significant Democratic enrollment majority even though it has

governor that’s sitting on a huge campaign war chest. But the issue is it has to start now, it had to start yesterday, to start building the party up, raising money, putting these organizations in the place. And certainly in areas where you have elected officials, the parties are stronger because with that comes with their own people and their own organization, their own fundraising machine.

But it’s not looking good at this point.

Michael Fragin: Okay Jessica thank you very, very much for joining us here on Spin Class. And as we progress over the course of the 2013 campaign, hopefully you will be updating us again soon.

This is Spin Class. We talk a lot about political activism, that importance of people voting and being active and that’s really what this show is all about, trying to involve people, trying to get them interested in the political process and what happens. The most important thing is to put that into action. Whatever you hear on this show and other shows, when you are more informed, you should approach your elected officials and tell them what it is that you want. We have a special guest on the show, Dr. Richard Schlussel from NORPAC who is sharing the upcoming mission to Washington, and if

you haven’t been, you should definitely consider it. It’s not the same as AIPAC as I think he is going to explain to us.

NORPAC is a powerhouse—Non-Partisan Political Action Committee—and really involved in many House and Senate races and has set a gold standard for activism in the Jewish committee. So Dr. Schlussel, welcome to Spin Class.

Dr. Richard Schlussel: Michael, thank you for having me, and I appreciate the opportunity speak to your many viewers, in particular to follow up on what you said about our mission, which is on Wednesday May 8th. It’s a backand-forth-in–one-day mission to Washington, DC. And anybody can register for the NORPAC mission by going to our website which is www.norpac.net.

Michael Fragin: Tell us a little bit about the mission, though. Give us the idea of the day. You get on a bus, you go to Washington, you hear a lot of speeches, you come back?

Dr. Richard Schlussel: Exactly.

But let me give you a little more detail.

You get up very early in the morning.

We have approximately 25 buses going from many, many locations around the tri-state area from Manhattan, from Long Island, from Queens, from Riverdale, from different points in New Jersey including Teaneck, Edison, West Orange, etc. So there is tremendous opportunity for wherever your listeners are located to find the transportation back and forth. We give people breakfast on the bus, lunch in Washington and dinner on the way home. But when you get to Washington, the first thing that happens is at the Washington Convention Center. We are addressed by national leaders, really famous and influential members of the Congress and Senate who come to speak to us about issues in the Middle East. And they speak to us for about an hour to an hour and a half and then you get to go in very small groups to meet one-on-one with the members of Congress in their offices, either with the members of Congress or with their aides. And it’s an amazing experience if you haven’t done it. You get to do something that less than 1% of American citizens ever do which is to meet with a Congressman or Senator in their office.

And there is three or four meetings at 1, 2, 3, 4 o’clock. Then we convene at the Convention Center and head home and get home somewhere around 10 p.m. to the various locations. But during the meetings that we have with the members of Congress, we advocate for many things that are important for the US-Israel relationship, things that benefit both United States and Israel, things such as foreign aid for Israel. The for-

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the message: don’t become a second Democratic party.”

Jessica Proud: Well, you know, and that’s been one of my biggest frustrations personally is because we were supposed to be the party of the big tent and I think we need to start embracing all shades of red. Not every Republican is going to fit into every mold and not everyone has to be on the same page with every single issue. And I tend to be more liberal on social issues; does that make me less of a Republican? And I think so many times, we lose elections because people sit on their hands or they don’t get involved and they don’t come out to vote because maybe they are not Conservative enough or whatever the case is. But I think it costs us elections and we need to start, especially in areas where we don’t have enrollment advantages, we really need to be conscious of supporting the party in a bigger way.

You saw it with Mitt Romney as well.

People made the case after the election that we have had moderate nominees the past two presidential elections and that’s why we lost. And I don’t believe that that was the problem at all.

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eign aid for Israel is not only beneficial to Israel but 75% of foreign aid is in fact in the form of military equipment that has to be purchased back in the United States. So not only does it help Israel’s security, it creates jobs here in the United States, in different parts of the country. We advocate for different items such as sanctions against Iran.

We were one of the first people to talk to the members of Congress about Iron Dome funding before anybody. Before many of the Congressmen even knew what Iron Dome was, we were the ones educating them about it and that obviously has been a major strategic advance for Israel and for Israel’s allies in the future. So it’s really a great day.

Michael Fragin: How does one person make a difference?

Dr. Richard Schlussel: Well, first of all, we have our strength in numbers.

We get close to 1,000, sometimes more people, by bringing lots of individuals.

One listener adds up with another listener; one attendee adds up with another, or that person might bring a friend, that person might bring a child, might bring a parent, might bring a cousin, and little by little, those are important things that add up to reach our goal of numbers. And numbers are critically important. When they hear in the offices of Congress that we brought a 1,000 people, they are stunned, they are amazed. There is no such organization that brings so many lay people, not professional lobbyists but lay people, to a cause. And they are just incredibly impressed with our passion and know that this is the will of the American people by the number of people we bring. But in terms of the difference that an individual person makes, we hear stories over and over again how an individual person makes a key point during a meeting that helps to carry the meeting and carry that day. So each person comes with a different perspective and background and everybody can really make an incredible difference.

Michael Fragin: What made you want to get involved?

Dr. Richard Schlussel: Well, I attended a NORPAC meeting about seven-eight years ago. And then after that, I became involved by going to different parlor meetings that would occur in the tri-state area, where members of Congress would come to New Jersey, to New York, to meet with us, and in the setting of about 20 people, speak with us about their thoughts about the Middle East, their concerns, questions, suggestions. And it’s just a really amazing situation that most people aren’t aware of that members of Congress are interested in what we have to say, they are

educated by what we have to say. Some of the things that we say eventually end up becoming legislation that’s not only the law of the land but with the United States as leadership, other countries in the world follow our leadership. So there is tremendous leverage and impact that we have and those were the things that made me get involved.

Michael Fragin: How do you communicate to other people out there about the critical nature of the citizen lobbyist? How do you create the citizen lobbyists? How do you train the people over the years, if people say well I have nothing to say, I don’t know what to say?

Dr. Richard Schlussel: That’s a great question. Everybody who is listening to this should be completely reassured that if you go with us on the mission, you can say as much as you want and take an active role if you want.

Some people prefer not to; they prefer to let other people carry the ball. They are both important roles, both in terms of bringing our numbers, the strength in

For the congressmen, the representatives, we are somewhere in the ballpark of the meeting 85% of the members of Congress, and for senators, we are usually in the 90% to 96% range. We meet with anywhere from 90 to 96 senators.

There is nothing short of the State of the Union Address that so many members of Congress and senate participate in on the same day; it’s really amazing. And when you walk the halls of Congress, and you see all the NORPAC kippots and the NORPAC buttons, it’s really quite impressive and everybody at the end of the day knows who NORPAC is and is talking about the things that we are talking about.

Michael Fragin: Not to detract anything or create any type of competitive nature but what would you describe as the difference between AIPAC Policy Conference and the NORPAC mission?

Dr. Richard Schlussel: We actually supplement each other in a way.

And I like to tell people that many of the members of NORPAC are AIPAC

SOMETIMES YOU CAN RUN A TEXTBOOK PERFECT CAMPAIGN AND STILL COME UP SHORT. numbers issue. In terms of preparing, again, a lot of people say, “Well who am I to speak to a Congressman and I don’t even know the issues.” But in advance of the mission, we prepare talking points on the key issues that we are advocating for and people get those in writing but in addition, we have training sessions throughout the metropolitan area. The one that we have in New Jersey, we have had Steve Rothman, our former Congressman, come to speak to us about what’s going through a congressman’s head. We speak about the different talking points and bills we are advocating for and people learn how to present this. We have a mock lobbying session where Steve Rothman in a very cute way challenges us and gets in our face to try to give us a hard time. But it’s all very helpful and the training is out there. We provide it all to people so they are completely prepared. But again, if somebody just wants to attend and take it all in and observe and be counted, they can do that as well.

Michael Fragin: How many individual members of Congress are you going to meet with over the course of that day?

Dr. Richard Schlussel: We have really an amazing percentage of members of Congress that we meet with.

members; we are big fans of AIPAC. AIPAC is in a way our big brother and a lot of the things that AIPAC advocates for, we advocate for as well. Technically, there is a difference between AIPAC and NORPAC. AIPAC, despite its name, is not PAC or a Political Action Committee; they are a public affairs committee, and because of that, they do not endorse any candidate or support any candidate running for office. We do. So we will endorse candidates; we will raise money for candidates; we will help candidates we think are helpful in our issues towards reelection. So that’s a significant difference but in all other ways we very often work in sync.

Michael Fragin: I think you have a triumvirate at the chairmanship.

Dr. Richard Schlussel: Right. I am co-sharing this with David Steinberg and Laurie Baumel.

Michael Fragin: And where are each of you from?

Dr. Richard Schlussel: Dave is from Queens; Laurie is from Teaneck; I am from Englewood, New Jersey.

Michael Fragin: Okay so a good geographic diversity there. And I really appreciate you coming on and we hope to hear about the mission after-

ward as well, so.

Dr. Richard Schlussel: I would be thrilled to tell you about it again. It’s Wednesday May 8th. And I will tell you one last thing to maybe convince some people to go. The day that you might spend with your teenage or college age child, your son or daughter is like no other day you will spend with them in the entire year.

Michael Fragin: So don’t just go, bring your kids.

Dr. Richard Schlussel: Exactly. It’s a tremendous father-daughter, mother-son type of experience, and to see them speaking with Congressmen and advocating positions and asking questions, in the beginning of the day, they are a little bit intimated, by the end of the day your 16-year-old will be ready to run for Congress.

Michael Fragin: Well all you future Congressmen and Congresswomen out here, take heed of the NORPAC mission to Washington. Thank you very much for joining us here on Spin Class.

This is Spin Class, Politics with Michael Fragin. And just as a closing word, we have been enmeshed, embroiled in scandal here over the last couple of weeks. But let’s bring up former Congressman Anthony Weiner who has now potentially decided that he is going to think about running for mayor of New York City.

I think that one of the reasons he may want to win is that he has all those matching funds that he had raised money for this race and he has raised a ton of money for this race and he can only use that for this mayoral race.

That sounds a little bit similar to another guy who also wanted to run for mayor and now has just been arrested and indicted. Not to make a connection between Weiner and Smith but Malcolm Smith, it seems, only wanted to run for mayor on the Republican line inexplicably because there was no way he was going to win, or even win the primary, was to get that matching funds and to be able to disperse that.

And I think matching funds have always been looked at out there as kind of this great thing for good government. But I think as we are seeing a little bit more, it seems to be creating an incentive for politicians to want to do things that might not be so glamorous and savory. Anthony Weiner, if you want to get into the race, I think it’s great, it will really spice things up and I think there is a niche potentially for you but don’t feel that personal redemption and personal forgiveness will necessarily translate into votes.

Jonathan Cohen, PsyD Sara Schwartz-Gluck, LCSW

Chocolate Therapy using our dark lenses (ex: she only complimented me because she feels bad for me). Some of the distorted thinking styles we use include: catastrophizing (imagining the worst outcome), black and white thinking (seeing ourselves as good or bad—no in between), using a mental filter to discount positive things, and mind reading (assuming we know what people are thinking about us). Once we have taken the brave step of admitting that we are using biased and inaccurate thinking patterns, we can take an honest look at the thoughts we have about ourselves.

What is Healthy Thinking?

Healthy, balanced thinking occurs when we look at ourselves and other people honestly. This involves: 1. Knowing our strengths 2. Admitting our weaknesses 3. Recognizing that our friends, family and neighbors are doing the best they can most of the time 4. Forming beliefs about ourselves and other people that are accurate and demonstrate flexibility.

Ari regretted his late night Amazon purchase as soon as he hit the “place order” button. He thought, “I’m such a loser. I can’t believe I keep wasting my money.” This kind of thinking would likely lead to feelings of hopelessness, and more self-loathing.

The same mistake could be followed by a thought that would help Ari make better Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of decisions next time, without Ben & Jerry’s damaging his self-esteem. A ever, they chose a thought process that balanced thought might look like this: I moved them toward international fame, know I do impulsive things sometimes, financial success, and delicious tubs of but I also know that I am self aware and creatively named ice cream flavors. willing to change.

How Our Thoughts Fool Us There are moments each day during which we choose the way we think. For those who were too busy preparing for Pesach to read our last article, here’s a brief synopsis: We each have certain core beliefs about ourselves (ex: I’m unsuccessful). We may then use distorted thinking to make sure that we see situations in our lives as proof that our core belief is true. We may interpret things

Don’t Believe Everything You Think We often treat the automatic thoughts that go through our minds as if they are facts. When we’re feeling emotionally distressed and a thought flashes through our minds, it is hard for us to evaluate that thought objectively.

Six-year-old Dina was afraid of sleeping in her dark bedroom. She heard a rustling noise as she pulled her blanket up to her ears. “That’s the mon-

ster that lives under my bed!” she panicked, and ran out of the room. To Dina, the presence of a monster under her bed seemed like a fact. In reality, the monster was present only in her thoughts.

We can train ourselves to evaluate our thinking, even if this is not a skill that we have been taught. Using our emotions as signals to explore and evaluate our thoughts, assumptions, and beliefs, we can ask ourselves questions like: What’s the evidence that this thought is true? Is there any evidence that might suggest that this thought is not true?

If we were to perform a hypothetical evaluation of Jerry Greenfield’s cognitions, it may look something like this:

Thought: “I have no talents” Evidence: -I failed gym class -I was not accepted to med school even though I applied several times Evidence against: -I’m good at being a friend -I guess you can say I’m an expert at eating

Balanced thought: I may not have academic talents, but there are other things I’m really good at, like being a good friend and eating.

You can use the same tools to evalu-

ate your own thinking. What is the evidence that you can’t handle your stress/ will never succeed/are a terrible person/ will never have a relationship? Has anything ever happened that contradicts that?

In order to use cognitive therapy tools, one can practice developing their “metacognitive awareness”—the ability to think about your thoughts in an even, logical manner by asking the single most important question in Cognitive Therapy: What went through my mind right before I felt upset (e.g., sad, angry, anxious, annoyed, etc.)?

Now that you’ve taken the important first step toward changing your thoughts, you may want to reward yourself with a pint of Chocolate Therapy (yes, it’s a real Ben and Jerry’s flavor)!

South Shore Cognitive Therapy (SSCT) uses the latest scientific and evidence-based cognitive and behavioral treatments to alleviate emotional problems. Our experienced clinicians offer intensive and customized treatment plans that enable our clients to maintain a high level of personal control throughout the treatment process. Jonathan Cohen, PsyD is the director of SSCT and has advanced training in evidenced-based therapies for emotional and behavioral problems. Sara Schwartz-Gluck, LCSW is a Clinical Social Worker who works with children and adults, and has lectured at schools and mental health organizations throughout NY and NJ. They can be reached at 516568-7493 or www.southshorecognitive.com.

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en, an overweight 7th grader, struggled to keep up during gym class. He would stand on the side with his awkward classmate, and they bonded over trying to avoid physical activity. When Ben grew older, he was accepted to a few good colleges, but he kept dropping out of school. He hung out with his old friend from junior high who was unsuccessfully attempting to get into medical school. The two of them took a look at themselves— college dropouts from a small town on Long Island—and decided that the one thing they excelled at was eating. Especially eating ice cream. Ben Cohen and his friend, Jerry Greenfield, sent $5 to Penn State University for a correspondence course on ice cream making. They pooled their savings and opened a small ice cream store, and named it Ben and Jerry’s.

Ben and Jerry could just as easily have decided to stay home, drink beer, and wallow in hopelessness, deciding to believe they were worthless. How-

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Health & Fitness Aliza Beer

From Slavery to Weight Loss

P

esach is over and it’s time for summer!

The warm weather is almost here, so it’s the perfect time to come out of our winter and holiday hibernation and greet the hot season with slim, healthy bodies. Pesach was a major challenge regarding dieting. The plethora of food and meals combined with an overall lack of exercise posed many problems for those concerned with their weight. A diligent diet and exercise program is necessary to lose those unwanted pounds.

1. Avoid White Flour. Choose multi grain or whole grain breads, brown rice, and sweet potatoes over their white counterparts. Fiber will make you feel full, keep your GI track run smoothly, and help you lose those pounds.

2. Eat Protein.

Try to eat lean proteins at every meal, like egg whites, fish, chicken and turkey.

Fish will help you lose weight and also will give your body oil to maintain good skin.

3. Drink Water.

Try to drink at least 8 cups of water a day.

Drink 1 – 2 cups of water before each meal and you will find that you will eat less. Alcohol consumption is harmful to your diet since it metabolizes as fat.

4. Snack on Fruit and Veggies.

Avoid snacking on cookies, cake, chips, and pretzels.

Eat raw, not dried, fruits and veggies to fill you up with good nutrition.

5. Eat Dinner Before 7:00 pm.

Whatever you eat from dinner and on will be converted and stored as fat, so the earlier you eat, the better. Avoid late night meals!

6. Exercise. The weather is getting warmer (finally!). Go for long walks, bike, or swim. The more you move, the more you’ll burn. Running or jogging at a pace of over 8 mph will allow you to burn at least 1000 calories per hour. Also, swimming is amazing for your body and helps you burn calories faster, without stressing inflamed joints.

Now is the perfect time to get a jumpstart on your diet!

The challenges of the holidays and bitter cold are in the past, leaving us at the right moment to look at our current eating lifestyles. Summer is the perfect time to make your change to a healthier life.

It will be invigorating to lose all those unwanted evil pounds accumulated over the past few months.

Like every challenge, a plan is needed to be successful. We all must be tenacious about our eating habits. A gezunten spring!

Aliza Beer is a registered dietician with a Master’s degree in nutrition. She has a private practice in Cedarhurst, NY. Patients’ success has been featured on the Dr. Oz Show. Aliza’s new line of prepared, healthy mealsto-go are available at Gourmet Glatt.

Aliza can be reached at alizabeer@ gmail.com.

TJH Staff

The Case Against Labeling faction because the problem is someone else!

Unfortunately, it makes matters worse: • The labeled person is frightened, thinking there is something wrong with him or her.

• The labeled person is angry and resentful, thinking that the labeler was arrogant, unkind, and lacking understanding.

• Because one person now is somehow sick and the other person is not, there is a lack of sense of equality in the marriage. A therapist working with the couple will have a much harder time reestablishing respect and trust, the two basics of any marriage.

• The wall between the couple that the diagnosis erected will grow higher over time, possibly eroding the marriage altogether.

• The labeler will never have the opportunity to look at himself and how he could be a better person. In this case, Sam will not recognize how much happier he would be if he appreciated the gifts that Sallie brings to the relationship; became more patient and flexible; and learned to play ball with her, or, in other words, to use his own talents to complement her efforts in the family.

• The professional who does the labeling takes on inordinate power in passing judgment on another human being. Belief in his (or her) own correctness then can lead the professional to lose connection with and compassion for the person who is labeled. This is because, to the professional the labeled person is not “like me.”

You should know the origins of this labeling process.

History It began with a field called eugenics, the sorting out of the unfit from the fit in order to make the world a better place.

While the killing of defective babies has a long history, we would be shocked to learn that it continued into modern times.

In 1915, Dr. Harry J. Haiselden advocated killing such a baby and this was supported by politicians and the media.

Eventually, this led to enforced sterilization of the unfit and laws enforcing it were on the books in twenty states by 1920.

In that same year, Alfred Hoche, a professor of psychiatry in Germany, moved the field from eugenics into euthanasia: He called for destroying “lives unworthy of living.” So began the sys-

tematic killing of mental patients in Germany. This was done at six extermination centers run with classic German efficiency. Medical doctors would fill out euthanasia forms and close to a hundred thousand mental patients were killed between 1939 and 1940. Even after Hitler ended the program and turned to eradicating Jews, psychiatrists in local hospitals continued it on their own.

It was a short step to mass extermination and, in fact, the early extermination of Jews at camps in Germany was run by psychiatrists with equipment transported from the euthanasia centers.

(Please see The Murderers Among Us by Simon Weisenthal.) It is no coincidence that a deeply repentant Germany after the Nuremberg trials did not get on the bandwagon that was going full steam ahead in the U.S. to create a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

DSM The reason we Jews have a Torah is because HaKodosh Baruch Hu knew that we cannot escape our own biases; the Truth must come from Someone greater than we are. Anything but Torah cannot escape bias. It is for that reason that scientific experiments attempt to eliminate this by using controls and are carried out blind, meaning that the researcher does not know who is getting the experimental treatment and who is not (the control).

Unfortunately, from its inception in 1952, the DSM-I made no efforts to prevent bias. Discussing the much-debated consideration of homosexuality as a disorder for example, the American Journal of Psychiatry admitted that inclusion or exclusion was simply a value judgment.

The DSM-II, in 1968, called problems “diseases” but that was changed to “disorders” in the DSM-III, 1980. Why? Dr. Robert Spitzer, a major contributor to the DSM-III explained that, frankly, we don’t have enough knowledge about the problems to truly label them “diseases,” so we call them “disorders.” Nevertheless, people were labeled and prescribed medication on the basis of this insufficient knowledge.

In fact, DSM-III added new labels based only on “clinical utility, acceptability to clinicians of various theoretical persuasions, and an empirical database to propose explicit diagnostic criteria that could be tested for reliability and validity,” wrote Spitzer and co-author K. J. Zucker in 2005. Note that these criteria could be tested – they just were not yet

tested.

DSM-IV came out in 1994 with researchers still objecting to “the lack of strong empirical foundations in the DSM.” That was why a new version was needed. Today, we have the DSM-V, and Dr. Allen Frances, the Chair of the DSMIV task force, said, “This is the saddest moment in my 45 year career of studying, practicing, and teaching psychiatry. The Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association has given its final approval to a deeply flawed DSM-5 containing many changes that seem clearly unsafe and scientifically unsound.”

Why should you care? We are no longer at the brink of Nazi Germany, after all. Dr. Frances himself says it best: “New diagnoses in psychiatry are more dangerous than new drugs because they influence whether or not millions of people are placed on drugs – often by primary care doctors after brief visits.”

In other words, the label you or your loved one gets is likely more a matter of opinion rather than science, yet you will bear that label in records that are maintained for years and will receive medications that may be wrong for you on the basis of it.

As Paula Caplan put it in 1995 in her book, They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal: “Ask ten people whether the object in the middle of your kitchen is a table and the chances are they will unanimously agree that it is. But ask ten people—even ten therapists— whether any particular person is normal and, if not, why they consider the person to be abnormal, and you will almost certainly get a large number of quite different replies. [This is because] normality is not real, like a table.”

Expert opinions are useful, but let’s remember that they are only opinions.

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn has had over 35 years clinical experience. She has been in numerous publications, both professional and for the public, and has appeared on TV and has been featured on radio. She practices Marriage-Friendly Therapy.

She has a local practice in Woodmere, N.Y. See her website, http://drdeb.com, or call her at 646-54-DRDEB.

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ichael is a neatnick. This is not bad. He keeps everything in order, can find whatever he needs, feels free of debris, and thinks more clearly because of it. His wife, Marcie, is a bit more, shall we say, free.

She is not bound by rules of where to put things, how to think, or when to do what. This may not be bad, either. She is an artist and has exhibited at major galleries across the nation. She does have a bit of challenge getting supper for the kids on time so Michael and Marcie have worked out that they would prepare it the night before and have it ready to pop into the oven the next day. Frequently, he will leave a piece of paper on the pan of food in the fridge saying something like, “Put in oven at 5:30.”

Michael finds his wife’s messiness a bit challenging but he fell in love with her free spirit, something that was not present in the house in which he grew up.

He is proud of her national acclaim. And he doesn’t mind the income it brings in either.

Marcie is delighted to have a husband who appreciates her creativity and who keeps some order in their lives. She grew up with one overburdened parent in the house and an absent one. She cannot remember family meals, so she was drawn to someone who represented stability and home.

Not every couple who is attracted to their opposite continues to appreciate that oppositeness years into the marriage.

Not every family manages to pull together and harness the strengths that each one brings into the relationship. Our country’s wonderful celebration of the individual also can mean that the individual thinks that his (or her) individual way of doing things is the right one and the other person’s way is, by definition, wrong.

That’s what happened to Sam and Sallie. They had the identical oppositeness to one another as Michael and Marcie but, unfortunately, were stuck in their own viewpoints and could not see past themeselves. Furious for the thousandth time that Sallie did not have supper ready for the kids, Sam finally decided to seek professional help. “There is something wrong with her!” he exclaimed to the therapist, “and I think she needs help.”

The desire to pin a label on others accomplishes some useful things: • It brings a modicum of stress relief because one now feels like one is taking positive action.

• It creates a feeling of self-satis-

Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

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In the Kitchen Chef Shaul Silverstein

Baby Boston Crea m Pies We are all very shaken by the terror attack that occurred on Monday in Boston.

After having been in conversation with Nechama, a baker par excellence, I asked her if she would be able to suggest an appropriate dish that while enjoying the Shabbos, would give me and my guests a connection and a feeling of solidarity with the victims of this week’s tragedy. This is what she offered me.

Cake/Cookie Part Ingredients 3 eggs 2 c. sugar 1 c. shortening 1 c. buttermilk* 1/4 c. milk or milk substitute 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. vinegar 5 c. flour 3 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cream of tartar 1 tsp. vanilla Preparation Cream sugar, shortening and eggs.

Combine the baking soda and vinegar with sweet milk. Stir in the buttermilk.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to cream mixture, and mix at a low speed until combined. Pour half of milk mixture in, and mix just un-

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til combined. Pour in the next third of flour, mix, and add in last of milk. Pour in the last third of the flour, and mix until combined. Scrape sides, and add in vanilla. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350° to 375° for about 12 minutes or until cookies spring back when touched with the finger. Let cool before filling. * To make buttermilk at home, put 1 tablespoon vinegar into the 1 cup measuring cup. Fill the rest with milk, and let sit for 10 minutes. You can use rice milk or soy milk as well.

Custard Filling Ingredients 4 large eggs (yolks only, discard the whites) 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch Pinch of salt 2 cups milk or milk substitute

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  

1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Preparation Whisk egg yolks until smooth in bowl. Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stirring constantly, gradually add milk in a slow steady stream and cook until mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about five minutes.

Whisking constantly, slowly pour one third of the milk mixture into the yolks.

Mix together. Pour yolk mixture back into the milk mixture in the saucepan.

Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until mixture comes to a full boil and is thick enough to hold its shape when lifted with a spoon. Pour into a bowl and cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap, to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and firm—at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

Chocolate Glaze Ingredients 2 cups powder sugar 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa 2 tablespoons oil 4 tablespoons corn syrup 2 tablespoons milk or milk substitute Preparation Mix everything together. It should be slightly thick, similar to a brownie batter. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well, until smooth. If it is too thick, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. The glaze will thicken as it cools, so if it gets too thick as you dip the pies, you can reheat it for 10 seconds at a time in the microwave. Note: The

glaze recipe is really “a little of this and a little of that” kind of recipe. I tried my best to estimate the measurements that I use, but I almost always end up adding some more milk or powder sugar to get it to the right consistency.

To Assemble I didn’t have patience to wait for the custard to cool, so I poured it into a Ziploc bag, and laid it flat in the freezer for about 10 minutes, and it seemed to do the job. Lay half of the cookie/cakes in a pan. Snip off a corner of the Ziploc bag, and squeeze about 2 tablespoons of custard on the cookie. Now, either you can glaze half of the cookies in advance, and have them ready to cover. Or you can dip each one as you fill the cookie, and put it on top. There are pros and cons to both ways. If you glaze them in advance, they are hard to pick up, but they don’t drip on the filling. If you glaze them while you fill, they are easier to pick up, since they are already in your hand, but they will drip. Personally, I like the natural look of the drips, so I dipped them as I filled. Refrigerate after assembling to allow the pies to set.

I am very thankful to Nechama of cantstopbaking.blogspot.com for this delectable recipe.

Chef Shaul

If there is any category of recipes that you would like to see in this column or if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at chefshaul@gmail.com.

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Forgotten Heroes Ledo Road: The Little Road that Could

D

uring a At first, the supplies military were being trucked campaign, over the Burma many stories of Road but soon it was heroic fighting overrun by the Japaand bravery on the nese. By the end of battlefield make it 1942, the only way to the papers in the to supply the war efhome country. Very fort in China was for few stories about the Fourteenth Air Generals Stillwell (r) and Merrill the work of soldiers Force, under Claire who toil behind the lines ever make Chennault of Flying Tigers fame, to fly national news. American soldiers who them over the “Hump.” The Hump was weren’t in the fighting made up about part of the larger Himalaya Mountain sixth-sevenths of the entire U.S. Military Range. British commander General Wilduring WWII. There was one area of liam Slim had sent surveyors for the first operations, called the Forgotten Theater, 80 miles of the would-be road and said that almost never made the headlines while it was feasible, it would have minibut without the construction and engineering feats of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the battle would have been lost. Even though most of the fighting in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of Operations against the invading Japanese was done by the British and Chinese, American engineers constructed an all-weather road A bulldozer working in the mud that surpassed anything built to date. The Ledo Road was created in mal effect and the precious material that about two years over a 1,000 mile stretch it would consume wouldn’t be worth the of the toughest terrain in the world. effort. He also claimed that Ledo was the

The Japanese had invaded Chi- wrong place to start.

In December, the supreme commander of the British army, Sir Archibald Wavell, agreed with Stillwell to create another road that would link up with portions of the Burma Road. Ledo in Assam, India, was chosen as the start point because it was at a crucial rail and caravan juncture where supplies passed through. The road wound through the Pataki Mountains and Construction on the Ledo Road sometimes reach the height of na in 1931, and in 1941, with the declara- 10,000 feet. The first 38 miles was in Intion of war on the U.S., they continued dia. The next 646 miles were in Burma their offensive in the south. Soon a large and went through many important cities chunk of China was in Japanese hands, on the way. The last 395 miles travelled and they were threatening Burma (today through China and ended at Kunming Myanmar) and parts of India. The west- which was a key city for the Chinese ern allies were only able to send only a forces fighting the Japanese. 65,000 few frontline fighting units to the theater people worked on construction, and as most troops were needed to fight the 15,000 were American soldiers with a Germans and to stage invasions against large number of African-Americans. The Japanese-held islands in the Pacific. Service of Supply (SOS) under General However, the U.S., under General “Vin- Wheeler oversaw the project who apegar Joe” Stillwell, was on very good pointed Colonel (later General) Lewis terms with the Chinese government and Pick as the base commander. their leader, Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang’s The first leg of the road went from troops were being trained by the west- Ledo, India, to Shingbwiyang, Burma—a erners but they needed supplies badly. distance of 103 miles. It took about a year

Avi Heiligman

to create this stretch render in August 1945. which went through For the six months some extremely difthat it was in use durficult terrain to clear. ing the war, 129,000 At the beginning, tons of supplies were there was a lack of transported over the sufficient heavy equiproad in 26,000 trucks ment to clear the soil that were subsequently and crush the rocks. handed over to the The few bulldozers Chinese. that they had were too The British were light for the mountain right in their assessterrain but eventually ment that the supA plane hovering over the road some equipment was plies flown over the borrowed from the British and finally the hump would greatly exceed the tonnage rest was shipped from the U.S. Work con- trucked over the road. However, it was a tinued around the clock as the engineers necessary step in the defeat of the Japafound ways to clear the area including nese for they were constantly pressured using explosives. Even though the rest in that theater and it deprived them of of the road was still under construction, troops that could have been sent to other this part was already in full use to sup- front lines. ply the troops fighting in Burma. Heavy rains and a monsoon in April severely hampered the effort but the work continued despite the treacherous conditions.

One of Stillwell’s deputies, Brigadier General Frank Merrill, had creA truck in the first convoy over the road ated a unit of about 3,000 American soldiers (pretty much the only After the war, the Stillwell Road fell regular American troops fighting in the into disuse and only recently have efforts theater) to clear the way ahead of the been made in the three countries, India, construction units of Japanese. As the Myanmar and China, to reopen it as a Japanese retreated further south, the road major source for economic growth. The took shape in Northern Burma, and by road is also a testament to the ingenuity late 1944, the construction had reached as far as Bhamo, 372 miles from the starting point.

There were two four-inch pipes that ran along the road to provide gas for the bulldozers at the front. It was much more logical than having to truck them all the way and not let other vital materials reach the construction units. The old Burma Road had a spur that reached Bhamo, and at Mong-Yu, China, the junction between the Burma Road and the Ledo Road was connected. The going was much easier General Pick inspecting the road as improvements were made along the that his troops had just built road and no major mishaps or tough ter- of the engineers and construction units rain caused delays. Finally, on January of the U.S. Army who, despite the great 12 1945, the road reached Kunming, challenge and against all odds, completChina—a distance of 1,079 miles from ed one of the greatest engineering feats Ledo. General Pick led the first convoy of the war. of 113 trucks along the entire road finally reaching the end point on February 4.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The The Stillwell Road (the engineers Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments nicknamed it Pick’s Pike after their lead- and suggestions.for future columns and can er) was continually being improved as be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com. a major highway until the Japanese sur-

Rebbetzin Naomi N. Herzberg

What Is It About Art That Needs Explaining? of their own individual works. Some paintings are just that. Not to be explained. The artist leaves room for other people’s imagination to take shape.

Art is a great communication tool. Take your children to a museum and discuss a painting with your children. You will be surprised how many secrets about their feelings will come out. Teach your children how to express themselves by giving them the opportunities to share thoughts and ideas with others. The benefit is priceless. Do not think of art as a mere picture to hang on the wall.

Think of a piece of store bought art and homemade art as jewels that will unlock emotions and feelings.

There is so much beautiful Judaica and secular art out there that is educational.

Art does not only have to be a picture or painting.

It can also be a tapestry, needlework, or heirloom blanket that can be observed and discussed. Fond memories of the person that designed and made it who is not alive is a wonderful testimony to your love and devotion. Remember Bubby a”h and how she loved knitting or sewing? What about those beautiful pottery pieces that remain sitting in the garage?

Take all of it out and share. Share memories with your friends and family and display some pieces. If you do not have room for all at one time, why not send a piece to school for show and tell with a grandchild or great-grandchild. Most important is the documentation of family art that can be passed down from generation to generation. Art is ageless.

If I sound nostalgic, I am. You can become an art connoisseur too.

AchareiKedoshim

CHATZOS

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LAG B’OMER: REBBE SHIMON’S KOLLEL! In the renowned sefer “Zohar Hakadosh”- written by the righteous Tannah Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai – R’ Shimon writes: “There is no greater joy for Hashem than when his children get up at chatzos to learn!”

KOLLEL CHATZOS

Right here, in the “Kollel Chatzos Section”, we have brought you countless holy quotes from R’ Shimon Bar Yochai where he writes that waking at chatzos to learn is the singular force and protection that sustains the world, and by immersing in Torah study at chatzos you gain incredible powers and advantages to merit wealth, luck, engagements, good and pious children, health, and all that is good!

But the main point that stands out and resonates is R’ Shimon’s promise: “The prayers for blessings from Chatzos Jews are answered!

As we look ahead to the festive Yom Tov of Lag B’omer, the yahrtzeit of the holy Tannah Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, we are reminded of one of his more compelling statements in the Zohar Hakadosh (‫ )ח"ב מ"ו‬that not only the Chatzos Jews are worthy of miracles and wonders, but also “every partner has an equal advantage to all the benefits and merits!”.

That is the reason as to why there is strong interest and feelings by Jews all over the world to utilize such a sacred day as Lag B’omer and support the holy R’ Shimon’s kollel; the power of Torah and Protection “Kollel Chatzos”!

By joining such a respectable and worthy cause "Bar Yochai Segulah" especially on the Yahrtzeit of the holy Tannah that wrote that all the prayers and blessings will be fulfilled – the “Chatzos Partners” truly believe that their requests will be achieved and they will be helped in all their endeavors I”H.!

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Rebbetzin Naomi N. Herzberg is a professional art educator, artist and designer.

Among her known artwork is a floral sculpture presented to Tipper Gore, Blair House, Washington, D.C. Presently she is the Director of Operations at Shulamith School for Girls. Please feel free to email nherzberg@ optonline.net with questions and suggestions for future columns.

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W

e all know the saying, “a picture tells more then a thousand words” (Whitaker, F. (1980) The Artist and the Real World, Revealing insights about art and the business of art: p.122). So, from our children’s early days in nursery all the way up the ladder until college, students challenge themselves with mediums of all sorts. Some of those moments are frustrating and some are a high. Wow! Look at that picture, it is amazing and she is so young! I can just imagine what he/she will be able to accomplish with some more lessons and interventions!

The naturally talented youngster as well as the studious art student has so many opportunities available to them. Do we give them the opportunities to succeed or do we stifle them with questions about their work. So many times I have witnessed parents asking their children after seeing a picture that they have finished (and love), so what did you say it is?

Responses such as “It is pretty good, but maybe a little more color would suffice,” are not smart comments. Tell them the truth but do not discourage at the same time. A statement like “That is a beautiful picture, I want to hang it up,” here there or anywhere is an important statement to make. I once had a student whose mother said, “I would never hang up that picture, it is too dark” in front of her daughter.

The girl looked devastated and held back her emotions. She was so upset.

I said to the mother that I wanted it. I also explained to the mother that a dark picture in a light colored frame or mat surrounding it would offset the color and it would be a marvelous piece of art to hang up. She didn’t realize that.

Be careful what you say. A budding artist might be lingering in your home.

Art is an amazing tool. Studies have been found to prove that children who have been exposed to a creative mindset from early on become highly confident people if left alone to flourish. Artists have always been the great explainer

KOLLEL

Parshas

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Ask the Rabbi Yehoshua Levy

Preaching Politics from the Pulpit Please help me understand why more Orthodox Rabbis aren’t speaking out against the blatant anti-Semitic bias of our current administration.

I voted for Barack Obama in 2008, but I have become disillusioned with his foreign policy towards Israel, treatment of the Israeli prime minister, and lately, his nomination of Chuck Hagel. When will our rabbinic leadership realize what is going on and do something about it?

The Rabbi Responds: Rabbinic leaders are acutely aware of the dangers that face Israel today.

They constantly attempt to inspire us to do all that we can to help our Jewish brethren and pray for the safety of Israel and the Jewish people. To use the pulpit, however, to speak out against the American government is an entirely different issue.

First of all, if a rabbi, or any other

member of the clergy for that matter, were to speak in public either for or

evil Nebuchadnezzar was addressed with respect by the leaders of the day.

Even the evil Nebuchadnezzar was addressed with respect by the leaders of the day.

against a political party or candidate, the religious institution he represents could lose its tax-exempt status for violating the ban on preaching politics from the pulpit.

Secondly, the Talmud tells us that when the Jews were exiled, they made an oath not to rebel against the nations of the world and respect the governing authority of their countries. Moshe gave honor to Pharaoh who brutally enslaved the Jewish people. Even the

You may not agree with the policies of the government but we still have an obligation to publicly respect the country’s government and its leaders.

Thirdly, we tend to take the opportunities, liberties and freedom that this country provides for us for granted. For millennia,

Jews in every country were openly discriminated against, and often persecuted. It’s nearly unprecedented in history for Jews to be allowed to openly practice their religion without fear of harassment or oppression, not to mention for the government to legislate and enforce laws that make any discrimination against Jews and their religious practices illegal. America is truly a great country and we must be thankful and grateful for what it has provided for us.

The constitutional right of free speech has its limits—especially during the rabbi’s sermon.

G-d bless America, Yehoshua Levi

Pro Choice Do you believe that everyone has free will or is it possible that some people may be genetically predisposed, or so inclined as a result of another cause, to be unable to control themselves?

The Rabbi Responds: Virtually every individual is born with natural predispositions, innate character traits, strengths and weaknesses. That does not mean that someone can be born a serial killer nor does it excuse criminal or sinful behavior (see Maimonides Hil. Teshuva 5:2). We can choose to do what we want even if we can’t choose to want what we want. The Talmud (Shab. 156) tells us that someone can be predestined from birth to be a “spiller of blood.” If he chooses a path of evil, he will become a murderous thug, but he can choose to spill blood in a productive way and become a shochet (ritual slaughterer) or a surgeon. He can even choose to spill blood in the performance of one of our most sacred mitzvos and become a mohel. King David was born with a ruddy complexion similar to the wicked Eisav and was also drawn to

bloodshed and violence. But unlike the evil Eisav, King David channeled his energies into killing Goliath and other countless enemies of G-d and Israel, and only with the sanction of the Rabbinical court (B.R. 63:8).

succumb to his desires. As strong as the inclination the person may feel, he must always assume that he can choose to overcome and if he succumbs to his desires, he must repent, for only G-d knows if the challenge

We can choose to do what we want even if we can’t choose to want what we want.

There are, however, some individuals who may not have control over their actions at all times. Jewish law does not hold a minor or an insane individual legally responsible for their actions. (The legal definition of insanity according to Jewish law is beyond the scope of this discussion.)

It is possible that they acted out of an uncontrollable impulse or conditioning, and don’t have the mental capacity to make a decision. There are even rare occasions when man will be given an uncontrollable urge to sin and will

was really beyond him. Such was the case when Judah was intimate with Tamar, and as a result, he was never punished. (See Tzidkas HaTzaddik 43, Radal on P.D.E. 31:2, Pachad Yitzchok Letter 9.)

There is another situation where one may not have free will but nevertheless is still held accountable. Maimonides (Hil. Teshuva 6:3) tells us that if someone sins so profoundly or so prolifically, one of the consequences is that he will lose his sense of remorse and conscience. Such was the

case with Pharoah and his obstinate refusal to free the Jews. In a similar vein, addictive behaviors and developing dependence is often the result of repeated abuse. While it is possible that these individuals no longer have “free will,” there is still hope. Man can pray for Divine assistance and seek spiritual guidance and professional help to reclaim his ability to choose. (See Sha’arei Orah Vol. 2 Parshas Vaera.)

So to answer your question, yes, I do believe in free will. But you don’t have to. The choice is yours.

All the best, Yehoshua Levi

Please note, the information written above is not meant as a rabbinic ruling. If you have any questions, please consult your rabbinic authority for clarification.

Yehoshua Levy, a teacher of Torah, is a writer and lecturer who dares to think outside the box to bring his thought-provoking insights and facts to his readers. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

105 Naftali Landau

Choosing the Right Wood Species

When renovating a kitchen, sometimes the hardest decision is the right color for your cabinets. When you choose a color, it is important to understand the different species that you can use to achieve that color. Certain colors only come on certain species because of the graining or characteristics of the wood. There are many wood species to choose from when looking for the right choice for your cabinets.

One of the most popular wood species used is cherry. Cherry has a smooth texture, rich color and flowing grain patterns which really bring out the true beauty of this wood. Cherry naturally has peaks in the graining which just adds to the character in the wood and shows up beautifully in cabinet doors.

When choosing cabinetry colors, keep in mind that if you like the darker color stain, cherry is the wood species for you. This wood species can take a darker color stain than other species and finishes very nicely. Cherry usually gets stained either a rich reddish hue or can go as dark as a deep brown but keep in mind that with cherry the color will gradually darken with age. Because of this, cherry can be stained very dark and will show up beautifully and rich on the wood.

Another very popular wood species is maple. Maple is a hard, strong wood and has a uniform grain and characteristic light color. There is very little variation on the wood species so it makes a great choice in cabinetry to get a consistent look. Maple does have occasional random mineral streaks and worm tracks but stains beautifully in light colors that blend nicely in this wood. Maple usually gets stained naturally or a beige stain or even the lighter shades of

browns, and the color will slightly mellow with age. Because of this, maple can be stained only with lighter colors or else it can become blotchy in spots.

A few more important colors to discuss are painted cabinets as well as alder and birch. Painted cabinets are gaining more and more popularity due to the fact that they do not show any graining, and there is an wide array of colors to choose from usually. Hard maple is the best choice for painted cabinets because of its consistent graining and hard surface. Alder and birch cabinets are some variations of the wood species that I spoke about before in this column

that contain the same characteristics of cherry and maple but come from different wood species. Alder wood is very similar to cherry, and birch wood is very similar to maple. It is important to know these wood species also because some manufacturers carry these wood species as well and can be offered at a cheaper price point than their more expensive counterparts but will give the same look and feel to your cabinets.

In summary, choosing the right color for your cabinetry is sometimes hard but each wood species offered compliments certain colors and should be chosen carefully. Good luck.

Just a reminder: I am still offering 20% off on all orders to anyone unfortunately affected by the storm.

Naftali Landau is owner and chief designer of Exclusive Cabinetry and Design and has been designing kitchens for the past 12 years. For questions or ideas for future articles, he can be reached at 917-468-7693 or at naftalilandau@gmail.com

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I am in the process of renovating my kitchen and have been overwhelmed by the choices in colors and woods. Can you explain to me clearly the difference between all the choices of wood?

D.K.

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Lola's Story

Lola Lieber Schwartz

A World After This

A Memoir of Loss and Redemption Lola Lieber Schwartz is a world-renowned artist whose paintings have been exhibited in art galleries throughout the United States and are part of the Yad Vashem archives in Jerusalem. Most importantly, Lola is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother to many. She has myriad friends and sees life in all its vibrancy and vitality. But life was not always easy. Lola was only sixteen-yearsold when Hitler ym”sh invaded Poland, and Lola was forced into hiding and spent years on the run with her husband, Mechel. Through six years of trying times, near

Chapter 11: Kaddish

E

verything was gray and frozen.

The odor of death hung in the air, stinging our nostrils. As we turned the corner toward the chicken coop we saw at once it had been pushed over, exposing the hole. We ran across the frozen ground, sliding and almost falling. Mechel held tightly to the handles of the cart, as if that alone would keep him upright. We looked into the bunker pit and saw Mechel’s mother, Baila, Marilka, and seven-year-old Itche. Each of them had a single bullet hole in the head. Their bodies were frozen in death and by the winter’s cold. What I remember most vividly is that their last and final living expressions were also frozen in place. Each face bore testimony to the eternal silent scream of all the millions of Holocaust victims. Marilka was clutching the tiny doll. Even as she died, the doll had stayed with her.

I dropped to the ground, put my hands over my eyes, and began to scream.

Mechel grabbed me, stood me upright and whispered. “Silence! Do not utter a word or we will be next.”

It took all my self-control not to continue weeping. Then I witnessed my

Mechel as he absorbed the loss of his second parent and other family members. His courage was without limit.

My mouth and face twisted into a silent scream mirroring our deceased family members, but Mechel and I remained absolutely mute. The crush of grief inside me was so great I thought my heart would burst out of my rib cage.

Mechel said in a flat and soft voice.

“Be strong please, Lola. We have work to do.”

One by one we loaded our dead family members into the cart. I had

starvation and brutality, Lola and her husband held onto their faith and values.

It was Mechel’s words of encouragement, “There will be a world after this,” that helped them cling to the hope that there will be a life of light and joy waiting for them at the end.

This is the story of Lola’s life—from her grandparents’ “enchanted garden” to meeting Eichmann ym”sh to making the Pesach seder for the Bobover Rebbe during the war—her words will take you back to a different world.

It was probably one we had used during our valiant construction efforts. He wheeled the cart, slipping and sliding on the ground. I carried the shovel, and kept one hand on top of the bodies, so that they would not fall out. This was the one and only thing we could do. It was not a great thing, but it accorded dignity and respect to our beloved dead.

Sobbing together, we began to dig a common grave. We determined very quickly that as we had only one shovel we could not get more than one grave

My mouth and face twisted into a silent scream mirroring our deceased family members, but Mechel and I remained absolutely mute. thought we would be using the cart to perform this act of mercy for strangers. We had a short time to get uphill to the Jewish cemetery and dig graves and return before dawn. The cemetery was in the ghetto but up a steep hill. We would become visible to the Nazis and their accomplices by daybreak. Mechel found an old shovel close to the coop.

dug before dawn. Mechel broke the frozen ground with the shovel, and outlined the dimension of the grave. He shoveled out clumps of frozen earth.

We took turns using the shovel. One of us would shovel out more dirt, and the other would use his or her hands, which soon became painfully frozen.

Our adrenalin was running at abnormal levels to enable us to dig a grave large enough and deep enough so quickly. As we finished I said to Mechel that even in this we had been given extra strength.

Just then who should appear at our family’s grave but Moishe Schiller! He was no longer filled with arrogance and bravado. He looked gaunt and pale. We stared at him but said nothing. His first words were like a slap in the face reminding us too clearly of what he had become, as a Jew and as a human being.

“It is not my fault.”

He was guilty and felt he needed to defend himself although we had not accused him or spoken to him. “The dogs found your bunker and one of those gentile kids out ice skating prob-

ably told the Nazis. It isn’t my fault,” he repeated the phrase several times.

We turned to continue working on the grave. He continued, “So that’s how it must have happened. Look, it also happened to my mother and to my sister.”

The word “it” was the most upsetting thing he said – as if “it” were a random accident at the side of the road, or something as simple as breaking your ankle ice-skating. He had not come to express remorse or regret. He was on another mission. “You are digging a grave for my family too. They must go in here. You will bury them too.”

Mechel had the shovel in his hands and turned and glared at him with a murderous look. At that point, may Hashem forgive me; I could have killed Schiller myself. In moments of profound despair and rage, morality is tested. For a moment Schiller appeared to be frightened of Mechel but quickly got nasty again.

“You will do this – or else.”

Mechel turned from him without response. He motioned to me to move a few feet back to find a location for our family’s common grave. With renewed vigor, Mechel began to dig again. We started all over. Turning his back on Schiller and refusing to speak to him or face him was a stronger indictment than killing him. We are accountable only for our own deeds on earth. So we did again exactly what we had done before: we dug with the shovel and our bare hands. By now our hands were not only frozen but blistered and bleeding, and the flesh was shredded. When we finished it looked as if we were wearing red gloves. But we were in such agony from the tragedy that we could not feel our own physical pain.

I did look back once to watch Moishe Schiller bury his relatives in the grave we had made. He was using his hands to cover them up with the earth we had dug. Suddenly, we heard loud German voices. We were far back in the cemetery and were able to back up

from digging the graves. The Nazis had not looted it. Whatever we had left had not been taken or disturbed. This time the Nazis were looking for humans, not silver, because they knew none of us had anything left to steal. We were the objects they were seeking to dispose of as efficiently as possible. Having lost so many family members, our little hovel suddenly looked spacious, which made me start weeping again. What a paradox! We had more space because they had killed our family. We were starving too. I was sorry I had been harsh in my first judgment of the old man who had begged for bread.

I now thought we too needBochnia: Burying the dead – 1950. Painting by Lola Lieber ed to eat some bread, but I had no flour or yeast. shot.” We had escaped death by a hair’s Farber found us and told us everyWe knew there would be a period breadth. As we came to our shack an old thing he knew. The Nazis had not both- of calm after such a massive Aktion, so man came out, delirious with starvation ered to take the sick and the elderly out I went outside without fear. I knocked and loss. “Bread? Do you have a piece to the forest to kill them this time. They at the door of the place next to ours. It of bread for me?” simply shot old people in their beds and was empty. I opened the door. EveryAfter what we had just been through, slaughtered the sick inside the hospital one was gone. It was obvious what had and all that had happened in the ghetto, wards. Thousands had been marched happened to the family. Either they had I wondered how anyone could think into the central marketplace for selec- been slaughtered on the street or were in about food. When I looked at him again tion. Only about 1,700 were deemed fit a freight car. I saw a sack of flour in the I felt compassion. He was old, frail, and enough to become “essential workers.” pantry. I took it and went to the compractically near death himself. He was In many cases the Nazi commanders lost munal kitchen, and baked bilkelech, rolls made of challah dough. It was a Thursday and I had made enough for us to have for Shabbos too, but we were By now our hands were not only frozen so hungry we ate everything I baked. I but blistered and bleeding and the flesh made another batch to barter for provisions. was shredded. When we finished, it looked Thursday we had buried our family. Mechel and I had miraculously as if we were wearing red gloves. survived. Friday I baked challah. We did not “celebrate” Shabbos, but to the best of our abilities and resources we undoubtedly alone in the world without patience with the lengthy process and kept the day sacred, a tradition whose anyone to care for him or love him. I randomly killed hundreds more. They lights we saw dimming before our eyes said quietly, “No, we do not have any lit a fire for mass cremation, throwing with each new week. In the Bochnia bread. I am sorry.” The poor soul shuf- bodies onto the pyre. Farber told us he Ghetto, Shabbos at least was a constant fled away asking the few other mourn- could tell from the screams (which we living and breathing prayer to our coners that had come outside if they had had heard in the tank at the tannery) that tinuing existence; it was testimony to any bread. He was literally out of his many had been burned alive. the thousands of years of our people’s mind from both starvation and fear.

Mechel and I looked at each other survival and to our covenant with the in disbelief and in gratitude. We had God of Abraham. Observing Shabbos As the day became brighter we felt become “survivors.” We did not know and keeping it holy was also our way a new bleakness confronting us. The how much longer we could stay alive, of honoring the lives of all of those who streets of the ghetto ran red with blood. but we had been spared when thousands had been taken from us in the Aktion.

There were bodies and parts of bodies of others had not. This caused us to feel More than anything else, we were everywhere. It was all-out war and we what so many others who were “lucky” saying, “Hashem. We will never depart were on the battlefield, standing in the would also feel: survivor’s guilt. Inevi- from You or lose our trust in You.” front lines. A few others began to emerge tably we asked ourselves why we had from shelter. There had been more wan- been spared when so many had not, Continued next week ton killing than ever before. The last when all our own family had perished.

Aktion had been terrible, but this was It weighed on us and would continue to a massacre. So many dead! With the haunt all of us who were saved from the exception of our family and Schiller’s, bloodbath. We were now eyewitnesses there would be no proper burials, and no to the “Plan” – namely, the liquidation Lola wrote this book with the help of Alida Brill. ability to sit shiva (mourn) for anyone. of all Jews.

A World After This was published in We had been deprived of our families 2010

by Devora Publishing. and of our rituals. Thousands had vanWe went into our shack to clean up

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We gently placed our five family members into the grave, a common grave that would never be marked with a gravestone. We buried three adults and two children. I stooped down and placed the doll back in Marilka’s arms, just as it had been when we found her dead in the bunker. It is not a Jewish custom to bury people with objects, but I knew that there would be no objection from anyone in any Jewish community to what I had done. I knew that Hashem would understand my need to do this.

Dawn was breaking and we had to return or we would be detected and killed. We took each other by the hand and started our descent back into the central part of the ghetto. Before we left the cemetery, Mechel and I suddenly looked at each other in wordless reproach. We had forgotten something essential. We had not said Kaddish at the grave, our prayer for the dead whose very words celebrate and revere life. We crept back to the freshly made grave and, in unison but silently, we began to recite the words of the Kaddish. However, when we reached the words that begin “…oseh shalom…” we spoke out loud in soft but clear tones. The Nazis had taken almost everything from us, but they would not take this. We would say at least a few lines of the Kaddish audibly and fearlessly.

As we left the cemetery we heard a car coming up the hill and quickly hid in the low bushes. The car was looking for Jews burying their dead in order to kill them just as they had executed Schiller. The Nazis in the car did not see us. We waited until we were certain they had gone. We had intended to take the cart back with us but now decided to leave it in the bushes. Jews returning to the main part of the ghetto with bloody hands and a pushcart was not a wise idea.

ished. Those who had not been killed on the spot were on their way to their deaths. Those not slaughtered inside the ghetto or who had not starved to death were loaded onto open freight cars and transported to the camps.

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against the fence in a spot where the Entering the residential streets of the Nazis could not see us. ghetto, we saw the same car a few yards “Moses Schiller,” they screamed. away. The Nazi in the passenger seat Obediently and immediately he ran to screamed a warning over a loudspeaker. his masters, dutifully and respectfully “Do not go to the cemetery. Anyone bowed, and said, “Jahwohl.” A mo- caught going to the cemetery will be ment later we heard one gunshot followed by a second. In the still hazy light, we watched two Nazis toss Schiller into the grave with his family – the very grave we had dug. The Nazis got back into their automobile and sped out of the cemetery.

Schiller had served his purpose. The Nazis no longer needed him. He wasn’t any more important to them than any of On the Way to the Cemetery – 1950. Painting by Lola Lieber the rest of us.

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From Sea to Shining Sea : Montana

T

raveling to Montana may be best done with a friend.

You see, they seem to have trouble with being alone in the state. It’s illegal for unmarried women to fish alone in Montana and sheep cannot be in the cab of your truck without a chaperone. And that sounds funny because it seems that people really are lonely in this state. There are only six people per square mile living in Big Sky Country. The only things that aren’t lonely in Montana are the wildlife. The average square mile of land contains 1.4 elk, 1.4 pronghorn antelope and 3.3 deer. So if you’re looking for some wild friends, it’s best to come to Montana. You are bound to meet some deer and grizzly bears—Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states.

Montana is also called the Treasure State because of its rich mineral reserves. In fact, the Montana Yogo Sapphire is the only North American gem to be included in the Crown Jewels of England. Talking about jewels, Montana’s most visited place is Glacier National Park which is known as the crown jewel of the continent.

So there’s a lot to enjoy in Montana. One thing is certain when visiting this state—you are bound to make some fourlegged friends all the way!

Things You Won’t Want to Miss Glacier National Park Montana is home to two national parks and each one will leave you breathless. Glacier National Park is the center of one of the largest and most intact ecosystems in North America.

Visitors are awed by its one million acres of turquoise alpine lakes, mountain goats and grizzly bears, rugged mountain peaks and smooth glaciers. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is the most popular attraction in the park. Visitors can drive the 50 miles or take the Park’s famous Red Jammer buses and marvel at the scenery and wildlife. But the Lake McDonald Valley is also a wonder to explore, with the largest lake in the park and high peaks with majestic waterfalls surrounding the lake. Hiking, horseback riding and a boat tour are

just a few of the activities available to visitors. At Logan Pass, Reynolds Mountain and Clements Mountains tower over fields of yellow wildflowers, and visitors can hike the Hidden Lake trail and Highline trail and enjoy the splendor of the park up close.

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone is the world’s first national park and is perhaps the most recognized national park in America. Established in 1872, the park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles and is a wonderland of lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges. Although the majority of the park is in Wyoming, the park extends into Montana and Idaho. Visitors flock here for the geysers and its famous Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super-volcano on the continent. There is much to do in the park, although most visitors prefer to drive through the park and gaze at the scenery and wildlife. Bison, grizzly bears and wolves abound in the park. Thousands visit Old Faithful every year and the less-famous Norris Geyser Basin. Each season brings its own splendor; there is much to see all year.

Explore the Great Outdoors Besides for the beautiful nature found in Montana, there is so much to do while visiting there. Love water? Spend time rafting, canoeing or kayaking its rivers and lakes. Enjoy fishing? Cast your fishing rod for some rainbow trout of lunker walleye. Hiking or backpacking your thing? Slip on your hiking boots for a good trek in the Bob Marshall Wilderness or Beartooth-Absaroka. Biking and horseback riding are some other favorite activities of visitors to the great, big state. In the winter, enjoy skiing, dogsledding and snowmobiling. How about a good, long soak in Montana’s famous hot springs?

Sounds relaxing to me!

Susan Schwamm

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Restaurant Review

63 Nachum Soroka

Chagall Bistro K

osher restaurants have always been experts at entering new culinary areas and adopting them as their own.

Oddly enough, too many religious Jews wax nostalgic over Thirteenth Avenue pizzas and imitation kani sushi rolls; the pastrami burger ranks as popular among koshervores as the bacon cheeseburger in the rest of the food universe and butter-less mock-T bone commands a higher premium at high-end kosher locales than the real thing.

While kosher cuisine has ventured far in the culinary sense, it has stayed close to its home base geographically.

Until now, that is. Chagall Bistro, Dan and Sonia Halimi’s kosher reincarnation of their previous non-kosher French brasserie, Belleville Bistro, on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, fits comfortably and uncomfortably with its neighbors. Comfortably, in the sense that it is one of Park Slope’s many quality eateries. Uncomfortably, in that it only serves meat, is closed on Saturdays and is strictly kosher. Yet Sonia and Dan are not what one would call enterprising restaurateurs out to exploit an untapped niche in their market. They are passionate French expats from a Parisian-restaurant heritage who love their Park Slope neighborhood as much as what they do. Indeed, the warm and friendly service at Chagall cannot be found at any other kosher restaurant in New York.

Interestingly, the challenge of cooking authentic classic French cuisine at Chagall was minimized by the fact that authentic classic French does not rely as heavily on dairy as other French fare. As the menu boasts only one decently portioned rib-eye with fries, Chagall is not a brasserie; rather, it offers traditional French recipes in an authentic bistro setting. The French perfected the act of execution in the 18th century with the guillotine, and at Chagall, the name of the game is perfect execution. A modest-sized and tasty duck breast is delivered delicately balanced atop baby asparagus with a side of cauliflower gratin, and a daintily cooked zucchini salad perches atop the moist, seared cod. The saffron risotto with raisins, jalapeno and pine nuts is also a surprisingly popular main dish.

As for appetizers, the pea soup with duck prosciutto comes in a prominently sized bowl and has proven most popular with patrons. A superbly fresh tasting bronzino carpaccio is garnished with mango and lime and is definitely the highlight of any meal. Chagall also offers a Sunday brunch menu for a lazy Sunday afternoon with endless pitchers of mimosa, and succulent rib eyes with eggs. As for dessert, the much hyped blueberry clafoutis may perhaps be a little too unsweet for the American palate, but the crème brûlée is always a failsafe option.

Good things don’t go unnoticed, and although Chagall has been a little slow in getting its name on the right forums, the Jewish grapevine has amply picked up the slack; reservations are highly recommended.

Chagall Bistro 330 5th Street, New York, NY 11215 (718) 832-9777 Open Sun. thru Thurs 5pm-10:30pm Sunday Brunch 11:30am-3:30pm Dinner Entrees: $24-39 OK Glatt Kosher Supervision Photos: Samu Studios Inc. Nachum Soroka is a writer living in New York with his wife, Avigayil, and son, Dovid. Whether it’s a fine wine, a foreign beer, a sizzling steak or cashmere socks, Nachum enjoys all the fine things in life. He can be reached through the editor at editor@ fivetownsjewishhome.com.

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n M AY 2 4 , 2012

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115 Shlomo Steiman, Esq

Am I a New Yorker and Do I Really Want to Be One?

The Attorney Responds: Your issue is something which is becoming increasingly common in segments of our community, and it illustrates the importance and potential benefits of appropriate tax planning. This discussion does not deal with the issue of income earned from a job or a business conducting activity in New York, since that income in most cases will be subject to New York taxation. Rather, this discussion focuses on all other items of income, regardless of where it is earned, including interest and dividends. Due to space constraints, I am unable to delve into all the details of residency; however, the information I will provide should be sufficient for you to start a discussion with your tax professional if you think it may apply to your situation.

Generally speaking, after the federal government obtains its share of your income through taxation, the state you reside or work in will attempt to tax an additional portion of your income to cover its expenses. In some cases, you may be subject to taxation by more than one state, when for example, you live in one state and work in another. Being that New York possesses one of the highest state tax rates in the nation, ranging from 6.45% to 8.82% of your income before any additional city income tax, whereas some states such as Florida do not even tax an individual’s income, people with residences in more than one state prefer that for state tax considerations, their state of residence not be New York.

So Who Is a New Yorker?

New York State (as well as New York City) considers you a resident if you maintain a “permanent place of abode” within the state that is suitable for living year round. A home may be considered “maintained” if you have exclusive use of a residence, even if someone else is paying the expenses. Furthermore, even

if you maintain an additional residence in a different state, you will be considered a Statutory Resident of New York if you spend most of the taxable year, which is more than 183 days, in New York.

Therefore, in order to have the Florida home be considered your primary residence, you would have to spend most of the year (183 days) there, and maintain adequate documentation proving that you spent that time out of New York. This matter should not be taken lightly since both New York State and New York City have focused on income tax audits of individuals who have residences in multiple locations in order to fill its coffers. An inability to document residency outside of New York can be costly, as would be an unplanned last minute family simcha that would bump your days in New York over 183.

How Do You Document Residency?

There is various documentation you would want to maintain to prove residency in a state other than New York.

This documentation should be saved and logged on a continuing basis, since the details of what actually happened can be forgotten by the time one is ever audited. Some relevant documents include: • A calendar documenting where you work and spend your time; • Copies of bank and credit card statements, including ATM withdrawals; • Travel documentation including E-Z Pass records for tags registered in your name and frequent flyer statements; and • Names and dates of guests who may have stayed in your “abode.”

It is advisable that besides electronic or online versions of documentation, you also maintain hard copies of the information, since computers or smartphones break at the most inopportune occasions, while some online information may only be available for a limited

period of time before being removed. I would be happy to discuss your matter further to see how I can be of assistance since there are also other details which may need to be taken into consideration to determine residency.

This article is published for informational purposes only.

It is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Shlomo Steiman, a former Justice Department Auditor, is a Queens attorney with an office in Manhattan. His practice focuses on tax and non-profit organizations. He can be reached by phone at 917-838-5923 or by email at ssteiman@steimanlaw.com CNG Networking Group is an Orthodox Jewish networking group which meets in Queens and Long Island. The attorney subgroup of CNG has 8 members with various specialties: Trusts & Estates, Real Estate, Matrimonial, Criminal, Personal Injury, Trademarks/Copyright, Tax, Non-profits, Litigation. We welcome questions from readers on a wide range of legal matters. Please submit your legal questions to SchechterLaw@ gmail.com. While we do not provide specific legal advice, we hope to present readers with a greater understanding of the issues presented and potential means of resolving difficulties. No column is a substitute for competent legal advice. Please consult with the attorney of your choice concerning specific legal questions you may have.

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I recently purchased a home in Florida, where I expect to live part of the year, while returning to live the rest of the year in New York. However, since my neighbor told me that Florida does not tax income, I was wondering what actions I would need to take to ensure that my income would no longer be subject to New York taxation.

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Call R.E. Agent for more info @347-8065414/Edyta - Grimaldi Realty Office space available for rent in Lawrence by owner.

Shared waiting room with other health related professionals. Utilities covered and internet access available. mymanagement360@yahoo.com

Job Available

Teachers F/T General Studies PreK, 1st, 3rd, 4th Grades Co-ed progressive Brooklyn Day School Inspire students' hearts, minds & souls!

Email jobs@mazeldayschool.com call 718-368-4490 Growing shul in Inwood, NY seeking responsible, dynamic male to spearhead youth dept activites with an emphasis on geshmak. Starting with Shabbos morning groups, the leader will organize and spearhead davening, learning, and play for children in the Shul with plenty of room for growth.

Experience preferred and references required. Kindly submit qualified resumes in confidence to president@inwoodshul.com or fax to 516-813-4222.

Sales position available. Flexible hours, great commission, excellent communication skills needed, must have car. Please call 732-503-3760 if no answer leave message.

Position Available: Receptionist, Challenge EI Center F/T for Queens Office, mature, energetic, organized person with good computer skills and ability to multitask.

Good compensation pkg.

Fax Resume 718-261-3702 Or email at cara.challenge2@thejnet.com

Reach Thousands of People! place your ad in

The Jewish Home classifieds Contact: classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Office Manager Challenge EI Center F/T for Queens Office, mature, energetic, organized person with good computer skills and ability to multitask.

Good Compensation pkg.

Fax Resume Att: Cara: 718-261-3702 Or email at cara.challenge2@thejnet.com Seeking a full time administrative assistant for a busy roofing company.

Hours are M-Th 9am - 4pm & Fri 9am - 1pm.

Skills must include: - The ability to multitask - Good phone skills -Basic bookkeeping - Proficient in MS Office - Proficient in Quickbooks Please email resume and salary requirements to info@islandexteriors.com or fax to 516 303 7664.

Local restaurant looking for responsible experienced shomer shabbos night time manager email relerner1@hotmail.com

Special Ed assistant needed immediately for boys high school inclusion program in local Mesivta. Solid knowledge of high school regents subjects required. Hours 11:30 am - 6:10 pm, Monday -Thursday. If interested, please call the CAHAL office at 516-295-3666 or send your resume to shira@ cahal.org or fax it to: 516-295-2899.

A local girls camp is accepting staff applications for girls entering 9th-12th grade and post high school for Summer 2013. You can fill out an application at campatara.com.

Leaders in Online Jewish Marketing are hiring Sales Superstars. Do you fit the bill?

Send your resume to sales@thejmg.com or call us @ 646-351-1808 x 111

Seeking Job Experienced P-3 Provider, with M.S. in Education and Permanent N.Y. State Teacher Certification- Available to work with students in all grades Mondays through Thursdays- mornings until 11 A.M. and anytime after 5:30 P.M.; and Sundays anytime

Please call Tsivia: 516-526-2385

Misc.

Can you spare it? Donate it. Clear out a closet and help a needy Heimishe family today.

Tax deductible receipts available upon request. Call (866) GIVE2LIVE(448-3254) Simone's Bridal located at 71-05 Main Street has many elegant wedding gowns by designers Maggie Sottero , Enzoani , Morilee and Allure Bridal look on their site to see if u like the gowns we carry most samples . Custom made gowns and mother of bride and sisters are all welcome. Please call for appt.

718-793-5989 Two rings found in Sh’or Yoshuv women’s restroom on Simchas Torah.

Please contact Mrs. Dechter at 516-239-9002 x 0 Shaital gmach in Eretz Yisroel desperately needs shaitels.

To be a part of this great mitzvah please call Peninia @ 347-6756526 Tizku L’mitzvos FOUND Found ring a few months ago in the Stop & shop parking lot.

Please call (718)327-3807.

Lost white gold diamond bracelet/covered watch either at Kennedy Airport or in Boro Park. If found please call 347.578.4165

For Sale by Owner

Huge 2 Family House In heart of Far Rockaway Features:  Completely renovated Large 4 bedroom apt. over very spacious 3 bedroom apt.  3,158 sq. feet plus full basement  Oversized property with beautiful backyard  Lots of children on block  Lots of parking (massive driveway)  Near shuls and schools

For inquiries please call 917-929- 3241�

a p r i l 1 8 , 2013

Bayswater- massive 2 family home in a great area, close to all the shuls, beautiful cabinets & granite counter tops, lots of bedrooms, all tiled bathrooms, hardwood flooring all through the house, fireplace, etc., needs tlc, very motivated seller, Asking 449k, Call Yitzchok 847-691-6397.

A wig salon in cedarhurst is looking to hire a full time shaitel macher with followers. (future potential partner ship) Please send resume by email tresjolieboutique@hotmail.com

The Jewish Home n

Cedarhurst – For sale by owner. 5 BR, 3.5 bath. Colonial on oversize lot.

Hardwood flooring throughout.

Beautiful Eat-in Chef’s Kitchen (Viking/Sub-Zero/Granite). Lrg LR & DR. Finished Basement. Central A/C. Walk to all. Move in Condition….$799k….917-685-0247

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118

Life Coach Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

Agur

Has Spring Sprung?

inTROduCinG three unique Kosher

IsraelI

BoutIque WInerIes uPPeR Galilee

CenTRal COasT

Judean Hills “With each sip you savor, you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality of these great wines.”

Av A i l A b l e f r o m

www.israeliwinedirect.com Agnes K. Goldberger 917.821.5773 Arie Hochberg 973.454.7726

Y

ou’re sneezing, you’re freezing. backs are better predictors of the It’s pollen, its snowflakes. weather than the whole meteoroloYour back is in pain? gist team with all their technology and I think it means rain! equipment. It just seems weather is Oh look—the clouds are clearing as uncertain and unpredictable as the This weather’s not sane! word “whether.”

So the questions remain, Let’s think about that: remember Has spring in fact “came?” the soliloquy: “To be, or not to be, It all depends on how you define that is the question: Whether ‘tis Nospring! bler in the mind If you call to suffer The the start March Slings and Ar21st—it’s well rows of outraon its way. On geous Fortune, the other hand, Or to take Arms if you go by the against a Sea of weather outside troubles, And lately, I think by opposing we’ve already end them…”!

“Whether” alexperienced ways comes two days of along when we summer, three have a decision days of spring, to make, when and a hefty revisiting of winter. Whatever happened there is uncertainty. When we need to the concept of global warming? It’s to choose “whether” to go this way of more likely we’ll be seeing the Abomi- that: whether to go left or right/be hapnable Snowman soon. And these poor py or sad/ be involved or stay out of it/ birds can’t even decide if they should move forward or stay stuck! “Whethbe coming or going! er” represents an uncertainty. Perhaps Listen: one that is why the surefire way physical manito control the festation of weather is stay “weather” is not I’ve got one set inside and incertain either. vest in a sun It seems it of goggles in my right lamp.

Short can be dreary of that, we’re out or the sun hand ready to strap all in the same can be in full on to take a swim, and boat, wonderforce, yet we ing whether still have the another in my left we should put ability to feel hand ready to use to on earmuffs sunny on a rainy and glove to day, or dreary navigate the slopes. go walking, on a bright sunor store them shiney one. The away. And don’t outdoor temperask me. I’m still ature is not rekeeping my ski supplies handy. I’m ally our internal temperature. So I ask a hedger! Also, we all know how it you: has spring sprung yet? works. The minute you tuck winter It’s all up to you! away in the attic, that’s when an unseaIt’s all in how you choose to see the sonal blizzard will hit! “whether!”

Things are so up in the air, I’ve got one set of goggles in my right hand ready to strap on to take a swim, and Rivki Rosenwald is a certified life coach another in my left hand ready to use to and couples counselor. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds. navigate the slopes.

Some people’s bones, legs, and com

2103 NY ad 10 x 14_Layout 1 19-Mar-13 11:16 PM Page 1

119 The Jewish Home n

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The Jewish Home n

a p r i l 1 8 , 2013

120

Massage Therapy Bringing your body back to balance.

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Custom Closets designed to fit your space

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121 Gefen

Liebers

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$

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Mishpacha

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$

.79

.69

$

Mandarin Oranges

.79

Osem

Israeli

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.99

$

1.89

Fresh & Tasty

French Fries

Cauliflower Florets

Milk

Frozen

$

Low Fat

1.99

$

3.49

$

Gefen

Unger’s

Corn

32oz

Whole Kernel

1.79

$

15.25oz

Mixed Salad $

2.99

Blueberries

Cello Carrots

Cello Onions

2/$1

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Mango

Mactinosh

1.19Ea.

Apples 3 Lb. bag

3.19Ea.

$

Deli Dept.

.89Ea.

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$

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Chicken Soup $

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Unger’s

Unger’s

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Tilapia

Chulent Mix

$

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1/2 gal

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Lakewood

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$

Nice Red

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16 Oz.

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Strawberries

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$

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Green Cabbage

$

Silktouch

All Sizes

Fruits & Vegetables Bodek

3.99

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64oz

2.19

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Fantastic

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32oz

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16oz

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Whole

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Backermans

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2/$3

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Baked Potatoes $

Super Family Pack

Chicken Cutlets

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Chuck Fillet Shabbos Meat

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Chicken Fingers $

Chicken Cut Up

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3.79Lb.

Cholent Meat

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Flanken

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Cucumber Salad

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Sale valid 4/21/13 thru 4/26/13. Cash & Carry only. With $10 min. purchase sale items & cases excluded. No delivery for specials & cases. Not responsible for typographical errors. While supplies last. May limit quantities

1913 Avenue • Far Rockaway • T. 718.471.7555 • F. 718.471.9102

FREE PARKING • FREE DELIVERY • FRIENDLY SERVICE Store hours: Sun 7-8 • Mon. - Tue. 7-7 • Wed. 7-10 • Thu. 7-11 • Fri. 7-2

a p r i l 1 8 , 2013

Glicks

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The Jewish Home n

Grocery Section

The Jewish Home n

a p r i l 1 8 , 2013

122

Bake something delicious. Buy something wonderful.

Bring smiles to i-Shine’s children.

Bake N’ Buy A BAKE SALE TO BENEFlT i-SHlNE’S CHlLDREN

Wednesday, April 24th from 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm Thursday, April 25th from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm (Baked goods can be dropped off and purchased at any time during these hours.)

Kashr Emai uth questi alaub l Andy Lau ons? er@c b hailife er at line.o rg

at the home of Bonnie & Heshie Schertz

88 Margaret Avenue, Lawrence

.

EEDED N S R E BAK ail

Em m to gmail.co e i@ a h c u’r ishine that yo w o n k ate let us coordin d n a g bakin ff time. drop-o

i-Shine

i-Shine provides after-school structure to children living with illness or loss in their families. When parents can’t be home after school, i-Shine offers support and encouragement at bi-weekly sessions that combine homework help, activities, dinner, and the chance to befriend others living with similar challenges. It is a program of Chai Lifeline, the children’s health support organization that provides emotional, social, and financial assistance to more than 3,000 seriously ill children and their families around the world.

For more information contact Andy Lauber, LMSW, at (917) 763-1109 or email alauber@chailifeline.org

DEENA INTRATOR, ANNETTE KAUFMAN, STACEY ZRIHEN, COORDINATORS ANDY LAUBER, LMSW DIRECTOR

123 T h e J e w i s h H o m e n april 18, 2013

THE STUDIO I N T E R I O R

487R Central Avenue Cedarhurst, NY 11516

D E S I G N

T. (516) 612-2433 F. (206) 203-1157

Remodeling... Moving... Redecorating... Downsizing...

Welcome to The Studio. With over 15 years experience, we offer an outstanding display of upholstery choices, wall coverings, high quality home furnishings, lighting, accessories and in-house design services.

Enter at the municipal parking area off Cedarhurst Avenue

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”

— walt disney

Designers... invigorate your style.

Prepare yourself for a unique and dynamic design experience.

Schedule design meetings with your clients and take advantage of our extensive collection of home decor.

A sophisticated atmosphere for design professionals.

THE DESIGN EXPERIENCE SUITS PROJECTS OF ALL BUDGETS, SIZES AND SITUATIONS. SERVICING THE PUBLIC AND THE TRADE.

by designers. for designers. with designers...

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