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A PUBLICATION OF THE FIVE TOWNS & QUEENS COMMUNITY JUNE 6 - june 12, 2013 | Distributed
Around the Community
Weekly
In The Five Towns, Queens & Brooklyn
Eric Holder
A Theme of Chessed at Achiezer’s Inaugural Dinner
Page 118
Gesher Hosts an Evening of Excellence and Grace
Page 71
Hundreds Join in the Hachnosas Sefer Torah Dedicated to Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld zt’l at Yeshiva Sh’or Yoshuv Page 50
Page 70
The Scandal that Threatens to Take Down America’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer
94 T h e J e w i s h h o m e n m ay 2 4 , 2012
Dedicated Volunteers are Honored at Chabad’s Friendship Circle Annual Evening of Recognition
Cover Story
Page 82 Susan Schwamm
For Our Teachers, with Thanks
Thousands Join in Unity at the Celebrate Israel Day Parade and Concert
Page 104
Page 52 & 68
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t’s hard to believe that the school year is almost over. It seems as if just yesterday we packed up our children’s knapsacks with their newly sharpened pencils and fresh notebooks for the first day of school. — See — We sent them on the bright school busespage and then24 waited for them after school with their afternoon snack of cookies and milk. For ten months, the teachers and rebbeim dedicated their days to teaching our children. They showed them the beauty of our Torah, the intricacies of nature, the logic of math, and the particulars of the English and Hebrew language. They took them to different eras—to the times of the Rishonim and Gaonim and to the times of Christopher Columbus and Ponce de Leon. They took them to different places—to Mitzrayim where the Jews toiled before Hashem took them out and to Europe during the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. Throughout their journeys through times and places, our children’s teachers imbued in them a
gift they get from parents is a letter or note of thanks written with sincerity and care. Take the time to write about what mattered to you most this year. You can write about something specific or you can write about the overall feeling of the classroom. Teachers put so much detail into their lesson plans. Try to think of the
or with therapists in the school. These committed individuals work one-on-one with your child to help them feel confident in their studies. Make sure to reach out to them to thank them for their hard work throughout the year.
Even when the lights
As appreciation for a wonderful year, some people like to buy their dedicated teachers a little “something” to express their gratitude. A cash gift card or a gift card to a store that they enjoy is a wonderful present. This way, the teacher can buy something that they like and will use in the future. Some teachers have told me that they appreciated a gift card for a manicure/ pedicure, to Starbucks, and to a local restaurant. Others have told me that they appreciated small gifts for themselves such as nice costume jewelry. Others have told me that they received new cookbooks that they use weekly when cooking for Shabbos. A small plant
in the school are off and the — See pagehallways 36 — are quiet, these dedicated educators
A Little Something
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>>Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 >>Community Readers’ Poll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Community Happenings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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>> Israel Israel News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
>> People The Cherbourg Boats: Taking Back What Was Theirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 A World After This: The Story of Lola Lieber . . . . 123
>>Parsha The Shmuz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
>> Jewish Thought
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Dear Readers, My husband and I like to spend our Sundays going on trips or doing activities with our children. This Sunday was no exception, and I know that what we did will be in their minds for a very long time. In the morning, we headed to Sh’or Yoshuv, where, holding flags and torches, we danced with the community into the yeshiva to welcome the new Sefer Torah to its new home. The Torah was dedicated by Rabbi Morris and Delecia Esformes, renowned philanthropists who support Torah and chessed throughout the world. Rabbi Esformes spoke eloquently as he reminisced about his relationship with Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld zt’l. Although Rabbi Freifeld passed away almost twenty years ago, Rabbi Esformes spoke about how Rabbi Freifeld guides him still today. He mentioned the passion he felt and the inspiration he received from his rebbe and how he still feels that same passion today. It was a true testament to how one person can inspire another. Each and every one of us has the power to inspire others. As parents, spouses, friends, co-workers or neighbors, we are role models to those around us. It’s the small things that have the most power to inspire and touch others and that impression can last forever. Eric Holder has been the subject of many headlines recently—and not for good reason. The attorney general has been dragged through the mud time and time again as scandals continue to find their way to his door. In fact, as Danny Joseph notes this week, Mr. Holder has been involved in controversy since the Clinton administration. After reading Danny’s article, I came away with one question: how is this man still in office? Why is he still representing the Justice Department of the United States? It is a shame that the United States, one of the world’s biggest superpowers, is represented by someone who consistently lies, speaks half-truths and tries to wiggle himself out of disgrace. Many have been calling for his resignation, and after reading this article, I can understand why they are calling for him to step down. When June begins, I know that the school year is almost over. For ten months, our teachers, morahs and rebbeim took care of our precious children. More than the lessons they taught them in the classroom, they showered them with love and warmth and showed them that they care. This week, Susan Schwamm wrote a moving tribute to our teachers along with ideas of how to show our gratitude to their tireless and dedicated individuals. It is a mustAs always, we look forward to hearing from our readers. Feel free to reach out to me at editor@fivetownsjewishhome. com.
Down the Drain, by Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz. . . . 76
Wishing you a wonderful week,
Ask the Rabbi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
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Make Learning Fun This Summer!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
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Friday, June 7 Parshas Korach Candle Lighting: 8:07 Shabbos Ends: 9:15 Rabbeinu Tam: 9:39
Post Shavous Weight Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
>> Food & Leisure Recipes: Ciao! Italian Cuisine to Delight Your Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Recipes: The Aussie Gourmet: Roasted Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Travel: North Carolina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
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Shabbos Food for Thought, by Rivki Rosenwald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
>> Humor Centerfold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
>> Art From My Private Art Collection: The Creative Mind and Wisdom During the Aging Process . . . . . . . . 128
>> Political Crossfire Spin Class with Michael Fragin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Notable Quotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
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T h e J e w i s h H o m e n j u n e 6 , 2013
Contents
Letters to Dear Editor, Guantanamo Bay has been in the news for much time. Certainly, for the past few years, we have been hearing about the detention center that is the center of controversy for so many. I, for one, do not think that the prisoners there should be granted any rights. They are interested only in the destruction of the United States government. They wish for and plot our downfall. In fact, many of them sit in their cells masterminding ways to kill Americans. I believe that they should be treated like criminals are treated in their own countries: tortured, maimed, and possibly even killed. If they hate us and our democracy so much, they shouldn’t be able to benefit from our glorious country. America is too kind to them and that may be our downfall. We shouldn’t be force feeding them when they go on hunger strikes. We shouldn’t be clothing them and giving them clean cells to live in. We shouldn’t be supplying them with liberal lawyers who smuggle messages in and out of the prison for them. President Obama has stated time and time again that he wishes to close down Guantanamo Bay. I believe him; he is
M
a true liberal and bleeding heart who would rather release ruthless killers into society than to secure freedom for the rest of the world. It would be a shame to have one of these terrorists released back into society by Barack Hussein Obama only to have him blow himself up outside the White House or in Times Square. Guantanamo Bay is not going away. Even if the president manages to close down the prison, the detainees there will still harbor their murderous thoughts against democracy and plan our destruction from wherever they will be. May Hashem protect us from all harm. Barry Weingarten
Dear Editor, I like reading your paper and try to pick it up every week. I generally read the news section first and read the “That’s Odd” section before anything else. You manage to make me smile every week. This week, I could not marvel at how a little teapot could look so much like Adolf Hitler ym”sh. At first I couldn’t see how a kettle could look like a person, but once I looked at it a certain
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the Editor way, all I could see was the Nazi leader. How crazy! Cindy from Woodmere
Dear Editor, A few weeks ago, you wrote an article about Rabbi Chaplain Herschel Schacter in your Forgotten Heroes column. I felt that it was so apropos to write about such a wonderful man who dedicated his life to the soldiers and Jews around the world right before Memorial Day. Imagine what the Jews in the concentration camps felt when they
saw a soldier, who was a Jew, and above all, was a rabbi, coming to liberate them. These Jews were orphans, frightened, their emotions beaten out of them. But seeing the warmth coming from this frum Jew gave them hope. They knew that they could start again. They knew that Yiddishkeit was not something to be forgotten but something to be cherished. They knew that it was their brother who was liberating them and the love that he felt for them was real. Kudos to you for highlighting such a wonderful hero. Shimshon W. Heller, MSW
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
Readers Poll Compiled by Jannah Eichenbaum
Have you ever changed a tire? Yes 18% No 72%
Global Riots Rock Turkey
This week, nationwide protests rocked major Turkish cities. On Tuesday, Turkey’s deputy prime minister apologized for the “excessive violence” police used against demonstrators opposing the razing of an Istanbul park. That first clash led to protests throughout the land against the pro-Islamic government. Deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc announced to the public, “It is wrong, unjust that excessive violence was used against those that acted upon their environmental sensitivities in the initial event,” he said, referring to the protest in Taksim Square on Friday, which ignited the widespread riots in 67 cities. “I apologize to those citizens.” The United Nations expressed concern over the excessive force and called for an investigation into the matter. The clashes commenced when plans were instituted to remove Gezi Park and replace it with a shopping mall. The park is the last significant green space in the center of Istanbul. The government proceeded with the plans with little to no public input. The clashes have led to the deaths of two people and more than 300 were injured. At least 1,750 have been detained by police. Many critics are saying that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Ergodan has been exhibiting tendencies that are seen as domineering. Recent regulations have been put into place to control the use and sale of alcohol. The prime minister had plans to build mosques around the capital without consultation, and he strongly suggests that Turkish families have at least three children. Unfortunately, the mainstream news channels chose to ignore the riots and instead broadcast beauty contests and doc-
In News umentaries on penguins while their fellow citizens lay bleeding in the streets. Some of the media has apologized to the public for ignoring their plight. On the fourth day of the protests, Erdogan called the demonstrations the work of “bums” and extremists who were trying to overthrow his government. He also hinted that a foreign force may be behind the riots, although he chose not to specify. “Our intelligence agency has their own investigation on that — there is no need to disclose them as this or that,” the prime minister said. Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, called for calm from all sides and said protests and demonstrations were a natural part of democracy. “There is nothing more natural than various ways of expression other than elections if there are different views, different situations, objections,” he said. “Peaceful protests are surely a part of that.” By Monday evening, security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. By Tuesday morning, Gezi Park was filled with people lounging on the grass and listening to music. The five days of riots were over but the tension that lies underneath is still there.
English-Language Publication Glorifies Murderers
Before you head to your local newsstand and pick up the latest issue of the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, here’s a brief preview of what you will find: Inspire devotes almost all of its 40-odd pages to glorifying what it calls the “BBB” — the “Blessed Boston bombings.” It’s an unsurprising, if stomach-turning, move for the glossy, English-lan-
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The Week
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The Week guage propaganda magazine, which has previously run articles celebrating 9/11 and instructing readers on the intricacies of building bombs. The issue opens with a threatening “Letter from the Editor” and goes on to chronicle the attacks, the reaction from public figures, and the small role that Inspire itself played in the bombings. One article, “Inspired by Inspire,” is illustrated by a flaming iPad with a copy of the magazine on its screen. Another consists of a series of media passages that mention the magazine. The main takeaway from the issue might be that its editors are unabashedly pleased that copies of their magazine were found in the Tsarnaevs’ house, despite – or maybe because of – the fact that the men were apparently not affiliated with al-Qaeda. After all, Inspire’s mission, as articulated by Brookings’ Bruce Riedel, is to encourage “the aspiring jihadist in the U.S. or U.K. who may be the next Fort Hood murderer or Times Square bomber.” In the weeks since the attacks, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has told investigators that he and his brother learned to make pressure-cooker bombs from the magazine. The younger Tsarnaev also said
he felt inspired by the online sermons of al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who edited the magazine until his death in a U.S. drone strike in September 2011. Awlaki reportedly inspired at least a dozen other high-profile jihadists, including three of the 9/11 hijackers. The magazine also includes a onepage essay on the brutal beheading of a soldier in London’s Woolwich district, which it calls “the dear price” of Western oppression, and a blurb on the Oklahoma tornadoes, which it interprets as divine wrath.
Google “Maps” the Galapagos Google announced its StreetView trekker has plunged under the waters of the Galapagos and tracked across its islands, bringing to the Internet 360-degree images of the isolated landscape and world’s largest living tortoises. A smaller version of the same technology Google has used to do photographic drive-bys of nearly every address in the world, the Google Street View trekker consists of fifteen lenses
In News seated inside an orb and mounted on a 42-lb aluminum frame backpack, snapping 75-megapixel photos at 2.5 frames per second. Google is stitching together and processing the Galapagos photos, and hopes to publish them online later this year. These photos include underwater encounters with sea lions, giant tortoises munching on vegetation, and sightings of blue-footed boobies. “Google Maps users will be able to zoom in on their blue webbed feet,” Raleigh Seamster, Project Lead, Google Maps, told reporters. An interactive preview of the sea lion panorama is already online.
620 miles west of the Ecuadorian mainland in northwest South America, data collectors traveled by foot and horseback and by boat through choppy waters, over isolated trails and 2.5 miles of lava fields, capturing with the trekker’s eye landscapes empty of, and in some cases, forbidden from, even the most adventurous tourists’ hiking boots. Meanwhile, a team from the Catlin Seaview Survey Google partnered with the project captured underwater imagery. «Our mission is to make the most comprehensive, useful and accurate maps,” said Seamster. “That means going to the farthest reaches of the world.” Previously, the trekker has gone to places like the Amazon River, Grand Canyon and the Canadian Arctic, brought by trike, snowmobile and even a submarine.
Bangkok, Most Popular Tourist Destination Bangkok has beaten London to the number one spot as 2013’s most popular tourist destination. Why? Shopping opportunities, of course! Thailand’s capital is expected to receive 15.98 million tourists in 2013, compared to London’s 15.96 million and Paris’s 13.92 million, according to MasterCard’s latest Global Destination Cities Index. The city’s luxury malls are attracting millions a year. Bangkok’s Siam
Paragon shopping mall is the world’s second-most photographed location on Instagram, trailing only Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.
The MasterCard data showed a surge of Chinese tourists, now the world’s most numerous at 83 million per year, visiting Bangkok. Chinese are famous for their spending abroad. In 2012, $102 billion was spent by travelers with a large amount spent specifically in retail stores in Bangkok. “Most of them are avid shoppers, snatching up brand name products at duty-free shops and stores around Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong Intersection [home of Siam Paragon and several other big malls],” TCTA president Kasean Wattanachaopisut said. The average Chinese visitor spends $167 per day in Thailand, according to the Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance, and most stay one week, coughing up a total of $1,000 to $1,300 each per visit.
Chinese Hackers Compromise National Security Chinese hackers have compromised the designs of some of America’s most sensitive and advanced weapons systems, including vital parts of the nation’s missile defenses, fighter aircraft and warships. The Washington Post cited a report prepared for the Pentagon by the Defense Science Board, which groups government officials and private sector experts. The document, titled “Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat,” paints a grim picture of cyber-espionage emanating from China only 10 days before President Barack Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time. “I’m sure it will be a topic of discussion,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. Continued on page 14
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The Week Beijing, riding a wave of robust economic growth, has been building up its military and while the report does not directly accuse China’s government of stealing the designs, such intrusions could help the world’s most populous country enhance its armed forces. The report coincided with an Australian news report that Chinese hackers illegally accessed the designs for the new top secret headquarters of Australia’s intelligence service, including communications cable layouts, server locations, and security systems. American officials have complained publicly and privately about Chinese cyber-espionage. Obama vowed in his State of the Union Address to take steps to protect the U.S. government and American businesses from such attacks though he did not specifically name China, or Chinese hackers as the main perpetrators. The White House declined to comment specifically on the report. But a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Laura Lucas, noted that in general “cyber security is one of this administration’s top priorities, and we have long said that we are concerned
In News
about cyber intrusions emanating from China.” “What we have been seeking from China is for it to investigate our concerns and to start a dialogue with us on cyber issues,” Lucas said, adding that the United States is “pleased” that China agreed last month to start a new working group to discuss the issue. “Through such dialogue we seek longer-term changes in China’s behavior, including by working together to establish norms against the theft of trade secrets and confidential business information,” Lucas said. “This dialogue will take place within the context of our broader effort to build a cooperative partnership with China that solves shared global challenges.”
Starbucks “Eau de Toilet” A Starbucks cafe in Hong Kong’s posh financial district, which used water from a tap near a toilet to brew coffee, prompted a torrent of angry reactions from customers. The coffee shop, in the
famous Bank of China Tower, has been using the water from a tap in a restroom to make beverages since its opening in October 2011.
Images showed the tap with a sign that said “Starbucks only” a few feet away from a urinal in the dingy washroom, which the paper said was in the building’s parking lot. The water was collected less than five times a day by staff from a tap in a restroom located near the store, Starbucks spokespeople say, adding that it was dedicated for collecting drinking water. “There is no direct water supply to that particular store, that’s why we need to obtain the drinking water from the nearest source in the building,” said
Starbucks spokeswoman Wendy Pang. The water from the toilet tap would go through a filtration system in the store ensuring it passed local and World Health Organization standards, Pang said, adding the store is now using distilled water. “The issue that is more worrying is... the potential risk of transferring pathogens from the restroom environment into the Starbucks food preparation area,” Hong Kong University School of Public Health associate professor Benjamin Cowling said. “I wouldn’t go to the restaurant in the first place if I knew they were having potentially risky hygiene practices.” I’ll think I’ll stick to drinking my bottled Poland Spring.
To Tip or Not To Tip Germans are claiming that they are the world’s best tippers. According to a TripAdvisor survey of 9,000 vacationers, more than twothirds of Germans said they always tip when leaving a restaurant or hotel on
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The Week vacation, compared with 57% of the 1,600 Americans surveyed.
TripAdvisor found that more than 80% of Americans are sometimes not sure about how much gratuity to leave, with three-quarters checking travel guides for advice. In addition, 112 of the Americans surveyed said they took a tip conversion sheet with them when abroad. The conversations of who to tip, when to tip and how much to tip has become an increasingly stressful topic for vacationers; 3% of Americans said tipping difficulties had “ruined” their vacation, citing staff asking for a gratuity or complaining about the amount. Americans and Germans were more likely to leave a tip than any of the six
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other countries surveyed, which included Russia, Brazil, France, Britain, Spain and Italy. “Tipping is a cultural norm in the States, and U.S. travelers have a tendency to take their customs on the road, whether they are on American soil or traveling abroad,” said TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel website. Among the countries surveyed, Italians seemed to be the least generous tippers, with less than 25% saying they always tip when on vacation.
incident garnered attention when another Chinese tourist posted a photo of it on a popular microblog with the comment: “My saddest moment in Egypt. Ashamed and unable to show my face.”
Chinese Shamed by Teen who Defaced an Ancient Temple in Egypt
The photo quickly caught the attention of the Chinese public, attracting thousands of comments. It wasn’t long before the person responsible was identified as 15-year-old Ding Jinhao from the eastern city of Nanjing. People have called Ding’s act an embarrassment to the country. “Why there are so many citizens who go abroad and humiliate us? How many generations will it take to change this kind of behavior?” Xuan Kejiong, a prominent journalist wrote on his microblog. The sentiment was echoed by the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, the People’s Daily newspaper.
A Chinese teenager who vandalized an ancient temple in Egypt with graffiti has come under criticism back at home where his vandalism prompted public concern about how to foster a positive image overseas as more Chinese travel abroad. The teen scrawled, “Ding Jinhao visited here” in Chinese on a temple wall in the ancient city of Luxor. The
“Nowadays, people in China no longer want for food and clothing, and even in the luxury shops abroad, there are advertisement posters in Chinese,” the paper wrote in a commentary. “But many people also feel as though their ‘hands are full but hearts are empty.’ In the process of modernization, how have the people come to lack modern manners and consciousness?” The outcry prompted Ding’s parents to publicly apologize. In an interview with a Nanjing newspaper, Ding’s father said, “The child has committed a mistake and the main responsibility falls on the adults. It was because we did not supervise him well, and have not taught him well.” China has been the fastest-growing source of international tourists in the world for the past 10 years, the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency, said in April. The organization said the volume of international trips by Chinese tourists has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012. Last year, China surpassed Germany to become the largest spender in international tourism, with tourists’ expenditure amounting to a record $102 billion.
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France Attempts to Ban the E-Cigarette
Toilet Paper Seized in Venezuela
French Health Minister Marisol Touraine has called for electronic cigarettes to be banned from public places and their sale to be restricted to individuals over 16-years-old. In an interview, Touraine argued his case by saying that electronic cigarettes should be treated and regarded in the same way as regular cigarettes. “We want the same laws that apply to normal cigarettes to apply to electronic cigarettes,” she said, adding that advertisements for e-cigarettes should also be banned.
In a previous issue we reported that Venezuela was short on toilet paper. Naturally when there is a shortage of a specific good, then it makes room for a black market. Police in Venezuela say they have seized nearly 2,500 rolls of toilet paper in an overnight raid of a clandestine warehouse storing scarce goods. The Thursday announcement on Twitter said that the officers raiding the garage in western Caracas also seized about 400 diapers and 7,000 liters of fruit juice. Police chief Luis Karabin said that authorities received a telephone tip and found “merchandise that we know is scarce on the shelves and doesn’t reach the people.” Toilet paper is hard to find in Venezuelan grocery stores, as are staple food items such as sugar, milk and cooking oil. The socialist government claims that the shortages are part of a plot by opponents to destabilize the country while economists blame the government’s price and currency controls.
Unlike cigarettes, electronic devices are not currently banned in most public places, making them a practical alternative for smoking in bars, public transport hubs, and even on airplanes. Since France banned smoking in public places in 2008, e-cigarette shops have become popular across the country. They have become the standard alternative. Touraine expressed her concern over the ongoing popularity of cigarette-smoking among young people in France, while in other western countries increasingly fewer young people take up the bad habit. She also warned of poor awareness levels among pregnant women in France, where more expectant women smoke than in any other European country. “I want us to rally against smoking,” she said. “There are still too many young people and pregnant women smoking in France.” Touraine proposed placing a logo on tobacco products warning women of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy, something similar to labels on alcoholic beverages. She also suggested creating “smoke-free spaces” outdoors, such as children’s parks. Touraine’s comments came as The World Health Organization celebrated the World No Tobacco Day.
Arizona Mom Released from Mexican Prison Yanira Maldonado found herself living a real-life nightmare. Mexican authorities arrested the American woman on claims that they found drugs under the bus seat she was sitting on while crossing the border. Although she proclaimed her innocence, she was thrown into jail on the outskirts of Nogales, Mexico.. Maldonado was finally released last Thursday and returned to her suburban Phoenix home on Friday, a day after a judge in Nogales, Mexico, dismissed drug smuggling charges. The judge determined she was no longer a suspect, after analyzing a video that showed Maldonado and her husband, Gary, getting on the bus with just a purse, blankets, and bottles of water. “What happened to me can happen to anyone,” she said on Friday of her weeklong detention. Maldonado arrived home on Friday afternoon to be reunited with their seven children. She’s considered quite lucky since many other individuals in similar situations don’t get released for months and sometimes even years. The young mother was born in Mex-
In News ico but is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Maldonado said she doesn’t blame her home country but Mexican authorities need to do a better job of arresting the actual drug smugglers “and not people who are innocent like me.” Traveling to Mexico can be quite dangerous. In fact, the U.S. State Department has a lengthy list of warnings about travel in Mexico. Kidnappings for ransom and cartel violence are common amongst travelers. The site also warns about getting caught up in drug smuggling, either by being used as a “blind mule” who doesn’t know drugs have been put in their car or luggage, or by being strong-armed by smugglers who threaten harm if a person doesn’t agree to transfer the drugs. Maldonado claims to have been caught up in a shakedown by Mexican police who were seeking a bribe. Her husband said police sought $5,000 to let her go. The incident has not been confirmed. An Arizona sheriff who has spent more than 40 years along the Mexican border said Maldonado’s case could very well be a shakedown. “They’ve got some good, courageous law en-
forcement officers in Mexico,” said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada. “Coupled with that, you’ve got really corrupt ones too. And that goes at all levels.” The Maldonados were traveling home after attending her aunt’s funeral in the city of Los Mochis, Mexico. After her release, Yanira gave thanks to the media for bringing her case to the public’s attention. She said that helped contribute to her release.
11 Kidnapped in Mexico As mentioned in the previous article, traveling to Mexico can be fairly dangerous. The U.S. State Department has a long set of warnings about travel to Mexico. Eleven young people were brazenly kidnapped on May 26 from a bar in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa. This district is known to usually be a calm neighborhood lined with offices, restaurants, and shops. The Associated Press has confirmed the names of most of the kidnapped, with the help of relatives. Their ages
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The Week ranged from 16 to 34. Three of them were street vendors. One of them, Jennifer Robles Gonzalez, 23, was a single mother of a six-year-old boy. Unfortunately crimes like this are all too common in the country. Many who are kidnapped are held for ransom or sold to the highest bidder.
Millionaire Households Around the World
According to a report just released by The Boston Consulting Group, the rich are getting richer.
The report, “Maintaining Momentum in a Complex World: Global Wealth 2013,” shows that global household wealth grew by 7.8% in 2012, to $135.5 trillion. That’s after a 3.6% increase in 2011 in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The greatest growth was in the Asia-Pacific region, where private wealth rose 13.8% in 2012, to $28 trillion. Wealth in Latin America grew 10.5%, to $3.9 trillion. The Middle East and Africa rose 9.1%, to $4.8 trillion. North America had a 7.8% increase, to $43 trillion while Western Europe rose only 5.2% to $35.8 trillion. You’re probably wondering where all the millionaires and their money are hanging out. Below are the top 15 countries ranked by households with a million dollars or more in assets as a percentage of all households in the country. 15. The Netherlands: 2.6 percent of households in the country are millionaires 14. Japan: 2.6 percent of households in the country are millionaires 13. Canada: 2.8 percent of households in the country are millionaires
In News 12. Belgium: 3.2 percent of households in the country are millionaires 11. Oman: 3.3 percent of households in the country are millionaires 10. Israel 3.8 percent of households in the country are millionaires 9. United Arab Emirates: 4.0 percent of households in the country are millionaires 8. Taiwan: 4.0 percent of households in the country are millionaires 7. Bahrain: 4.9 percent of households in the country are millionaires 6. United States: 4.9 percent of households in the country are millionaires 5. Singapore: 8.2 percent of households in the country are millionaires 4. Hong Kong: 9.4 percent of households in the country are millionaires 3. Kuwait: 11.5 percent of households in the country are millionaires 2. Switzerland: 11.6 percent of households in the country are millionaires 1. Qatar: 14.3 percent of households in the country are millionaires
Israel Netanyahu Prepares for War
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In wake of the escalation of chemical weapons being used throughout the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took action this past week. Netanyahu has ordered the defense establishment to urgently get gas masks and protective kits into the hands of all Israelis. Currently, only an estimated 42 percent of Israelis have up-to-date gas masks and protective kits. Budgetary constraints in recent years prevented both the manufacturing and distribution of enough masks to protect the entire population. With the probability of an unconventional attack on Israel increasing significantly in the past year and
with the recent proven use of chemical weapons in Syria, distributing gas masks to all Israelis has become more than just a “feel-good” measure. The considerable cost of fulfilling Netanyahu’s order will likely be covered by an increase in the national insurance every Israeli pays, though few are expected to complain over this particular tax boost.
GPS App Turns Down $1B Offer
Many of us use it, but until now may not have known where it came from. Israeli start-up Waze, which provides a real-time navigation and traffic report app for smartphones, is reportedly set to turn down a $1 billion acquisition bid by Facebook in order to keep its team in Israel. With the improved GPS capabilities of newer smartphones like the iPhone and various Android handsets, Waze has seen a huge increase in usage in recent years, and today has an estimated user base of 48 million worldwide. The company competes directly with the “Maps” applications provided by Google and Apple, at least when it comes to traffic and road navigation. Most users say that in these situations, Waze manages to far outdo both of the technology giants. That’s what makes Waze a natural acquisition for Facebook, which competes with both Google and Apple on many fronts, but has yet to jump into the GPS-based navigation game. But, according to American technology website “AllThingsD,” talks between the two companies are breaking down. Despite a massive potential payday for the Israeli start-up, the Waze team has reportedly made keeping the bulk of their operations in Israel a red line, while Facebook is presumably insisting that Waze move to its headquarters in California. Accurate or not, this news is being met with a fair amount of national pride in Israel, where innovative start-ups spring up all the time, but almost always accept a foreign buy-out when it is offered.
Russia Selling Deadly Warfare to Syria Russia’s deal to sell advanced S-300 missile systems to Syria endangers Israel’s security. Speaking at a news conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the delivery of the S-300 to Syria is “not helpful” for efforts to convene a peace conference. The comments came ahead of a preparatory meeting in Geneva next week on a U.S.-Russian bid for talks to end Syria’s two-year-old civil war. “In Geneva, we will test who is serious. Are Russians serious about pushing for that? I believe they are. President Putin said they are, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said it,” Kerry said. “Now, it is not helpful to have the S-300 transferred to the region while you are trying to organize this peace and create peace,” he added. “It is not helpful to have a lot of other ammunition and other supplies overtly going in not just from the Russians – and they are supplying that kind of thing – but also from the Iranians and Hezbollah,” said Kerry. He emphasized that the delivery would have a “profoundly negative impact on the balance of interests and the stability of the region, and it does put Israel at risk.” “And it is not, in our judgment, responsible because of the size of the weapon, the nature of the weapon and what it does to the region in terms of Israel’s security,” Kerry added. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Russian leader Vladimir Putin two weeks ago, in an effort to forestall the transfer of the missiles to Syria. In recent days, there have been reports that the transfer of the advanced systems would not be carried out. However, despite what was reported last week, Moscow said this week that it still plans to deliver the S-300 to Damascus, explaining the deliveries were part of existing contracts. Sources in Moscow said that the S-300s that Russia has promised Syria would be delivered by 2014.
Lots of “Bills” For Bill’s Speech in Israel The Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet Leyisrael) will pay former U.S. President Bill Clinton $500,000 in return for his coming to Israel to give a speech at a gala evening in Rehovot and
In News at a JNF event. He will also take part in the President’s Conference, where celebrities from around the globe will honor President Shimon Peres. The money will reportedly go to the Bill Clinton Foundation.
The gala evening will be held on June 17 and will mark Peres’s 90th birthday. It will be held at the Peres Academic Center in Rehovot, one of the few institutions in Israel that are named for living dignitaries. JNF hopes to improve the organization’s image abroad by bringing Clinton to speak about it in Israel and to have Clinton meet with its largest donors, thus bolstering donations. The Peres Center is not linked to Peres formally but its director, Ofra Elul, is the wife of former Labor MK Rafi Elul, one the politicians closest to Peres. Former Meretz minister Yossi Sarid said on Friday that each of the people invited to the event at the Peres Center was asked to contribute 3,000 shekels for students from low income backgrounds. Peres’s office reportedly did not know that the event would be used for fundraising, and said Peres may have to pull out of the event if this is the case. Clinton will be honored in Israel later this month, receiving the President Award from Peres on June 19.
Smokers Fined on No Tobacco Day
It seems hard to go anywhere in Israel without having to walk through billows of cigarette smoke but the country is taking a more proactive stand this year in deterring smoking and improving the health of its citizens.
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The Week World No Tobacco Day is coming, and the Israeli Health Ministry has asked local authorities to be especially rigorous and active in handing out fines to smokers in public places. The event, marked around the globe since 1987, is aimed at increasing awareness of the deadliness of tobacco. Inspectors will visit hospitals, swimming pools, bus and train stations, government offices, wedding halls and other spots to catch smokers in the act. Not only will smokers themselves be fined, but also owners of premises where the violations are carried out, as owners are by law responsible for enforcing the laws or reporting violators to the municipalities and local authorities. According to the 2012 Smoking Report delivered by Health Minister Yael German on Monday, only 2,500 smoking fines were handed out that year all over the country, even though the municipalities have many hundreds of multipurpose inspectors. Ministry director-general Prof. Ronni Gamzu asked the municipalities to send in written reports by next week reporting how many fines they handed out and where. Nevertheless, the ministry
has not financed any new public service announcements on TV or radio in honor of the occasion, claiming that it lacks the funds, and German did not hold the traditional No Tobacco Day press conference, but only appeared with the report in the Knesset Labor, Social Welfare and Health Committee. The Israel Cancer Association (ICA) is sending messages to thousands of young people about to take driving tests stating that smoking while driving – and at all – is deadly. Leaflets stating, “A cigarette kills you in many ways” will be distributed. They explain that smoking while driving not only distracts drivers and can burn the upholstery, but also poisons passengers through secondhand smoke in a closed space.
Palestinian Boy Receives Kidney from Jewish Donor On Sunday, June 2, a ten-year-old Palestinian child received the gift of life. The young boy who suffered from renal
In News disease received a kidney transplant at the Schneider Children’s Hospital. The boy had been undergoing dialysis and had been waiting for a kidney transplant for years. He is recovering in the ICU and is in stable condition. The transplant operation was carried out by a Schneider team headed by Professor Eitan Mor and which included all Jewish doctors: Dr. Sigal Eisner, Dr. Omer Gogia and anesthesiologist Dr. Meshulam Behar. The donor was Jewish as well. The father of the child said that he had no words to thank the Jewish donor’s family and he was forever grateful to them for renewing his son’s life.
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The senator served in the army during World War II and then attended Columbia University. After college, he joined with two friends to develop the payroll services company, Automatic Data Processing, now known as ADP. Already a wealthy man, he then was elected to the Senate in 1982 at the age of 58. When asked why he would be entering politics at this age when he had been contributing to the campaigns of liberals in the past, Lautenberg retorted, “If I’m willing to support them, why shouldn’t I support myself?”
NJ Senator Frank Lautenberg Dies at 89 On Monday, the five-term United States senator of New Jersey died at the age of 89. Frank R. Lautenberg, a Democrat, was the last surviving veteran of World War II and the oldest member in the Senate. The son of Jewish immigrants, the senator was passionate about the issues he cared out and advocated for many reforms throughout the years. His vacant seat will now be filled by someone elected in an upcoming special election. The politician was a wealthy businessman before he took office. He credited his drive in business to his roots. Lautenberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey, to Sam and Mollie Lautenberg, Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia. Sam struggled to make a living for his family and after several failed attempts at setting up a small business, he returned to work in the town’s silk mills. In 2002, Lautenberg told a reporter that his father took him to one of the silk mills and told him to look around. “I was 12 years old,” Lautenberg recalled. “He hated working in the shop and the factory. He said, ‘You see how dark it is in here? Do you hear the noise? Do you see how filthy it is?’ And he took my hand and he rubbed it along the silk fibers … and it left a film. And he said, ‘You must get an education. You must never work like this.’” He told another reporter at another time, “It must have sunk in because I did get an education. I didn’t want to work and struggle like he did.”
Lautenberg served three terms and then retired. But the active politician regretted that decision, and when Senator Robert G. Torricelli decided at the last minute not to seek reelection in 2002, Lautenberg took his place and won the election. He was reelected in 2008. During his tenure, the senator fought the alcohol and tobacco industries. He pushed to establish the national drinking age of 21 and argued that the change would save lives by ending a “crazy quilt of drinking ages in neighboring states” and prevent teenagers from driving over “blood borders” for alcohol and then drive home under the influence. In 1989, Lautenberg fought to ban smoking on all commercial airline flights. The senator was a former smoker who smoked two packs a day. (Interestingly, his mother was also a smoker.) He also pursued legislation that prohibited smoking in federal buildings. The senator was an advocate for passenger railroads and Amtrak and indeed a New Jersey Transit station is named in his honor. Lautenberg was a strong backer of motorcycle helmet laws. He kept a broken helmet in his office to show to visitors. Mark V. Rosenker, who led the National Transportation Safety Board from 2003 to 2009, explained, “He was skiing and he hit a tree or a rock or something, and that thing broke open like an egg, and it saved his life.” Continued on page 26
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The Week Lautenberg never considered his age to be an impediment to action. When he was 84-years-old, he once said, “People don’t give a darn about my age. They know I’m vigorous. They know I’ve got plenty of energy.” And indeed, he used his energy to advocate for the American people.
Supreme Court Says DNA is A-OK
In a decision reached on Monday, the Supreme Court upheld the police practice of taking DNA samples from those arrested but not convicted of a crime. The justices agreed that a DNA sample taken through a cheek swab is equivalent to the 21st century version of
fingerprinting. The ruling was tight— five to four. Justice Scalia, who is generally a conservative, joined three of the court’s more liberal members in dissenting the decision. There have been other decisions where Justice Scalia has joined more liberal members to fight for greater privacy rights. The five justices in the majority ruled that DNA sampling does not violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches. The sample can only be taken after an arrest while the suspect is in custody at the station for a serious offense. The justices noted that a cheek swab does constitute a search under law, and only requires a “light touch” and no surgical intrusion. Twenty-eight states and the federal government take DNA swabs from people under arrest before they can be tried. The case was presented to the court from an arrest of a 26-year-old Maryland man, Alonzo King, who was charged in a second-degree assault in 2009. When his DNA was run through a database, it was matched to an unsolved crime six years earlier. King was then convicted of the violent crime and sentenced to life in prison. He pled guilty to a misde-
In News meanor for the 2009 assault. But later, the Maryland Court of Appeals overturned his conviction on the grounds that the DNA sample was considered an unreasonable search.
IRS Spent $50M on Conferences
Apparently, when the IRS wants to party, they like to do it right. According to recent information released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the IRS spent about $50 million on conferences between 2010 and 2012. There were 220 conferences in all; one conference in August 2010 in Anaheim, California,
costs $4 million for 2,600 people. Instead of trying to negotiate lower room rates, as all fiscally responsible people do, the event planners focused on receiving perks such as presidential suites for the attendees. 15 speakers at the event received $135,000. “The IRS is an agency in crisis,” House Oversight and Government Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said in a news release. “The American people expect that their tax-dollars will be used responsibly and not for financing lavish hotel suites and entertainment for government employees.” The conference report is the latest trouble for the IRS, following the May 14 release of a TIGTA report detailing the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status and the subsequent resignation of then-acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller. The new acting commissioner, Danny Werfel, said on Monday that he’s looking at the “broad spectrum” of the agency’s activities in an effort to restore public confidence, and he promised “absolute transparency” in what he finds. To help in this endeavor, Werfel said he appointed two career IRS officials, Ken
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The Week Corbin and Michael Julianelle, to oversee the unit that improperly targeted Tea Party groups for additional scrutiny. Werfel also told lawmakers that he’s already come to an “inescapable” conclusion: The targeting of those groups was inappropriate, and there was a “fundamental failure” by IRS management to prevent the affair and to halt it once it was discovered. J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, issued a report last month that revealed that IRS staff singled out groups with “Tea Party,” “Patriot” or “9/12” in their names, sending their applications for tax-exempt status into limbo for more than a year. Werfel testified that there are still 132 “potentially political” groups backlogged for at least 120 days — and some for as long as 500 days. “This is unprecedented, Congressman,” George told Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. “During the Nixon administration, there were attempts to misuse the Internal Revenue Service in manners that might be comparable.” George said he’s also looking into whether the agency issued improper bonuses to employees.
Texas Man Linked to Ricin Letters
Nathan Richardson was unmasked as the Texas man being grilled in connection with the ricin-laced letters mailed to President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg. Richardson, an Army veteran who works at the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, has been described as a person of interest by the FBI but has not been charged with a crime. Agents, including a hazardous waste response team, have been searching the sprawling
In News spread the Richardsons share with their five sons since Thursday. “They’ve only lived there about a year,” said neighbor Ruth Fields. “I don’t really know them, but this is pretty disturbing.” In New York, a defiant Mayor Bloomberg said he’s got more to fear from Mother Nature than any gun nut firing off ricin-laced letters. “I have more danger from lightning than anything else,” Bloomberg said. “And I’ll go about my business, and we’re certainly going to keep working on getting guns off the streets, out of the hands of criminals and people with mental problems.” The letters sent to Obama, Bloomberg, and Hizzoner’s Washington-based anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns were postmarked May 20 from Shreveport, Louisiana, which also handles mail from parts of Texas and Arkansas. The presence of ricin was confirmed in the letters containing an oily pinkish-orange substance. The feds still haven’t said whether Obama’s letter was also laced with the poison. Meanwhile, the FBI has arrested another alleged ricin-letter sender—a
Spokane, Washington, man named Matthew Ryan Buquet—for targeting Obama, the CIA, a local judge, a nearby Air Force Base, and his local post office. Buquet, 38, was arrested on May 22 and pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to mailing a threatening communication charge. Investigators said Buquet’s case and the Richardson case are not connected.
McCain Denies Posing with Kidnappers
Senator John McCain’s office is pushing back against reports that while visiting Syria this week he posed in a photo with rebels who kidnapped elev-
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en Lebanese Shi’ite pilgrims. The photo, released by McCain’s office, shows McCain with a group of rebels. Among them are two men identified as Mohamed Nour and Abu Ibrahim, two of the kidnappers of the group from Lebanon. A McCain spokesman said that no one who met with McCain identified themselves by either of those names. “In coordination with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, Senator John McCain traveled to and from Syria with General Salim Idris, the chief of staff of the Supreme Military Council of the Syrian opposition, to meet with two senior Free Syrian Army commanders,” said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. “None of the individuals the senator planned to meet with was named Mohamad Nour or Abu Ibrahim. A number of other Syrian commanders joined the meeting, but none of them identified himself as Mohamad Nour or Abu Ibrahim.” Rogers said that if the man in the photo turns out to actually be Mohamed Nour that is “regrettable.” Rogers also suggested that the story had been slanted by pro-Assad forces: “It’s not surprising that the pro-Hezbollah forces supporting the Assad regime who originally promoted this distortion would seek to smear anything and anyone supporting the Syrian opposition.”
Crime Blows Through in the Windy City
The level of gun violence in Chicago has caused shockwaves nationally in recent months. The crime wave continued this week with eight people having been shot in the nation’s third largest city in a 24-hour period, including one that ended with the death of a 15-year-old boy. Chicago police said that the teenager, Patrick Sykes, was shot several times early afternoon. They said that witnesses offered conflicting versions of what occurred, with the shooters having been either on bicycles or on foot. Two people were taken into custody for questioning, but were released without any charges being filed. The 24-hour period of gun violence also included the shooting of an 18-year-old man, three women and several others. The high level of violence
in the month of May came shortly after the Chicago Police Department announced that crime in the city fell 8 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared with the same period last year, and 15 percent from the same period of 2011. Chicago’s murder rate is widely considered to be fueled by the drug wars that are fought between the city’s networks of gangs. The homicide rate has been largely confined to the city’s south and west areas, African-American bastions of Chicago. “Hopefully, this should be a reminder that the citizens of the city have not been able to get things under control,” said Damon Stewart, an attorney and activist who works with youth in Chicago. “If you really want to protect a child, families and communities have a role,” said Stewart, who is working with the Pendleton family on a foundation to honor their daughter. “And we have to be even more involved.”
“Knaidel” Wins It!
As the confetti rained down after he won the 86th Scripps Spelling Bee, Arvind Mahankali, 13, was calm. “It hadn’t completely registered yet that I had won so I didn’t really appreciate the magnitude of what had just happened,” Mahankali recalled. In an ending any Jewish grandmother would be proud of, the teen from Queens, N.Y., took home the title by spelling the word “knaidel.” The Yiddish word has German origins and Arvind was not about to be knocked out of the bee again on that account. In the last two Scripps Spelling Bees, Mahankali had placed third after being eliminated by words with a German origin. “This year I decided that no matter what, I wouldn’t be eliminated on a German word so I decided to improve my skills with German,’’ he said. “So first I studied German language spelling patterns, and then I created a list of German words with help from my father, and then I had my mother quiz me on that list.” Mahankali is the first boy to win since 2008, and he brought home
In News $30,000 in cash and prizes as well as the coveted cup-shaped trophy. He didn’t blink when challenged with words like “glossophagine,” “trichocercous,” “thonnier” and “chalumeau.” He was one of eleven young finalists in the event at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center outside Washington who made it to the end from a pool of 281 contestants. Mahankali also overcame a new hurdle introduced this year by contest organizers. A computerized test including vocabulary questions was added to deepen the contestants’ knowledge of the English language.
Lone-Star State is Booming In a nation with many states on the verge of bankruptcy, Texas is thriving. It dominated the recession, crushed the recovery, and in a new analysis of jobs recovered since the downturn, its largest city stands apart as the most powerful job engine in the country – by far. The ten largest metros have recov-
ered 98 percent of the jobs lost during the recession, on average. But Houston, the first major city to regain all the jobs lost in the downturn, has now added more than two jobs for every one it lost after the crash. So, how come? There’s the abundant land and famously favorable business climate (although let’s not dwell on the actual climate). With its proximity to oil and Mexico, Houston is blessed by topography and geography. But the secret sauce of the city’s success might be something else: history – and an ability to learn from past mistakes. The recession in Texas was relatively mild, partly thanks to mistakes learned by the region’s real estate and energy industries, said Patrick Jankowski, an economist and vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership. Texas “won” the recession because of the jobs it’s created, but also because of the jobs it’s hoarded – particularly in energy. The Arab Oil Embargo in 1973 quadrupled oil prices in just three months, sparking a drilling boom that at one point accounted for half of all jobs in Houston’s export sectors. But when oil
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The Week prices collapsed in 1982, oil and mining jobs fell by 57 percent. “By the time Houston’s economy hit bottom in January ‘87,” Jankowski said in an email, “the region had 221,900 fewer jobs than it had five years earlier.” But the energy industry avoided a dramatic boom/ bust cycle this time around. “The region lost one in 22 jobs this recession versus one in seven jobs during the recession of the ‘80s,” he said. Why were layoffs so mild? One reason is that Houston’s energy sector is remarkably old – the average age is over 50 – and companies were nervous about laying off too many veteran workers before they had time to pass their skills down to the younger generation. Houston’s energy demographics “helped to moderate energy industry job losses,” leading to fewer job losses overall.
Ice Floods Alaskan Town A massive “ice jam” on the Yukon River has caused flooding in the town of Galena, Alaska, forcing residents to flee their homes. The flooding has lifted homes off their foundations and is cur-
rently straining at the dike protecting the community’s small airport.
The Alaska National Guard airlifted 32 people and 19 dogs to the safety of Fairbanks on Tuesday night, 270 miles east of Galena. Other residents evacuated sooner. Kevin Ray, 65, moved to Galena four months ago and was among the people flown to safety aboard the Guard’s C-130 cargo plane on Tuesday. He told reporters that all of his possessions, his office and apartment are underwater thanks to the flooding. “So basically, I’m kind of a homeless guy,” he said by phone from a Red Cross shelter
In News in Fairbanks. “I never thought I’d be a victim. But hey, life is life.” The 30-mile stretch of ice and debris blocking the Yukon is expected to melt slowly over the next few days as temperatures reach the 80s. When the river breaks through the jam, the community of Koyukuk, located downriver, will be vulnerable to flooding. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said National Weather Service hydrologist Ed Plum. “And I don’t think these people here [have] either. The ice jam is amazing.” Reconnaissance flights over the jam say that the river is slowly chewing away at the ice. The flooding began on Sunday with waters steadily rising. Power, fresh water, cellphone service and road accessibility have all been disrupted by the flood.
Fire Aboard Cruise Liner
For the second time this year, a fire at sea has halted a cruise ship’s voyage. This time, a blaze broke out aboard Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, and the ship’s 2,200 passengers were expected back in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon after being flown on charter flights from the Bahamas. The fire began at 2:50 a.m. on Monday and was extinguished about two hours later, with no injuries reported. A cause was not immediately known, and Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in an email that she had no updates on what happened or where repairs might take place. Photos show a substantial area of the stern burned on several decks of the ship the length of about three football fields. The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate. The ship, which left Baltimore on Friday for a seven-night cruise, was headed originally to CocoCay, Bahamas. Royal Caribbean said the ship never lost power and was able to sail into port in Freeport, Bahamas, on Monday afternoon. All guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. Martinez said in an email that the company was arranging 11 charter flights. The company also
said passengers will get a full refund of their fare and a certificate for a future cruise. Time to think of another way to spend your vacation.
Bike Program Rolls Out The nation’s biggest bicycle-sharing program got rolling this week, as thousands of New Yorkers got their first chance to ride a network billed as the newest form of public transit in a city known for it. Suraf Asgedom pedaled along a lower Manhattan street on one of the royal blue, quick-rental bikes, and headed for a gourmet supermarket that’s usually a 25-minute walk from his apartment. The medical executive doesn’t own a bicycle because it’s a hassle to haul one downstairs, find a place to lock it up on the street and worry about it, he said. “This just makes it much more convenient,” said Asgedom, 39, who plans to use the bike system to get to work at a downtown hospital.
The privately financed program — called Citi Bike, after lead sponsor Citigroup Inc. — kicked off with 6,000 bikes at more than 300 stations. Plans call for expanding it to 10,000 bikes docked at 600 places in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Riders now can unlock the three-gear, cruising-style bikes from any station, take them for 45-minute rides and return them to any rack. “We now have an entirely new transportation network without spending any taxpayer money,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference. One of more than 500 bike-sharing systems around the world, New York’s is the biggest in the United States. Fifteen thousand people already have signed up for New York’s program, city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn said. While many New Yorkers already do without cars, Bloomberg’s administration has added hundreds of miles of bike lanes and promoted cycling as
a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to driving. Officials see bike sharing as a big next step. The bike-sharing rollout has hit some bumps. The launch was delayed because of problems including damage from Superstorm Sandy, and a woman made off with one of the bicycles Sunday evening as workers unloaded them at a Manhattan station, police said. Bloomberg said the bike was recovered. Police were looking for a suspect. Some residents are incensed about the bike stations, saying the racks block entrances to their buildings or take up park space for a profit-making program. The city intends to split any proceeds with NYC Bike Share LLC, a company running the program. Citigroup is paying $41 million to sponsor it. MasterCard is paying an additional $6.5 million. Some racks have been shortened or moved, including one in front of a Greenwich Village apartment house where owners sued the city over it. Some of the rack was removed last week to create a gap in front of the main door. Officials say they held 400 community meetings to decide where to put the racks. And Bloomberg noted that New Yorkers have long had to work around parked cars and other curbside obstacles. “We have a busy city,” he said, and “we like that. That’s good.” Citi Bike subscribers pay a $95 annual fee for unlimited rides of 45 minutes. Starting June 2, riders also will be able to buy a 24-hour pass for about $10 and a seven-day pass for $25; both allow for an unlimited number of 30-minute trips. The usage time is logged when a bicycle is returned to a dock, with additional charges if the bikes have been out past the allotted time.
Luxury Hotels to Cut Room Service
One of the luxuries of staying in an upscale hotel is the room service. Need a coffee? Coming right up…
But the days of delivery could be numbered for all of us. A big name hotel in New York City is eliminating the service due to economic troubles. The city’s largest hotel, the New York Hilton Midtown, will now offer an alternative “Herb n’ Kitchen” with “on the go foods” for people to pick up themselves. The cut will cause 55 people to lose their jobs. A Hilton representative said, “The staffing needs of this new concept are still being evaluated. We are committed to placing qualified employees in alternate positions within the hotel, where possible.” The changes are set to take effect later this summer. Other hotel chains are considering similar concepts. If room service is a luxury you can’t forgo, next time you book a hotel ask if room service is available.
That’s Odd Sixth Sense or Nonsense?
Sometimes people are interested in possessing superpowers. Some express the desire to fly and others want to walk through walls. Still others are interested in attracting metal objects. (That was never something I wished to do, but hey, you never know!) New York City writer Dann Berg heard about the awesome power of being able to sense electromagnetic waves. So the intrepid reporter decided to get a magnet implanted into his finger. “I had a curiosity to explore the world in a completely different way,” he explained. The procedure was extremely painful and was done by a body piercing specialist who sliced his pinkie with a scalpel and then slipped a “rare earth” magnet under the skin. There was no anesthesia since only a medical professional can administer the drug. Even before the swelling to subsided, Berg was able to pick up paper clips and safety pins with his pinkie. Gradually, his
In News finger began to develop a “sixth sense” around any objects that gave off electromagnetic waves. “There is a half dome of vibration that surrounds the object almost like a tennis ball cut in half,” he said. “The vibrations vary in strength depending on where I hold my finger and it’s almost like the finger itself is vibrating against an invisible field of energy.” Sometimes, the magnet pulls to one side inside his pinkie and sits on the edge. That could be uncomfortable, Berg admitted. But so far, all is good with his superpower. He has not demagnetized any credit cards or set off any alarms. And dangling small magnetic objects from your pinkie is surely a great way to impress your date.
Craziest Fair Foods: Snakes on a Stick If you’re bored with the same, old dinner menu every night at home, perhaps it is time to head out to some fairs around the U.S. and sample the crazy things that people are eating around the
country. You’ll be begging for chicken and potatoes when you head back home.
In Arizona, fairgoers were treated to caramel apples dipped in mealworms in 2011 along with deep-fried crickets. Yum! In Tampa, Florida, a cheeseburger topped with deep-fried ice cream had one woman laud it as a “milk shake burger.” Speaking of ice cream and meat, in Indiana, the Indiana Beef Cattle Association disguised its beef in the form of an ice cream sundae, calling it the Hot Beef Sundae. Mashed potatoes formed the “ice cream” along with marinated beef, gravy, “sprinkles” of grated
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The Week cheese and a cherry (tomato) on top. Think we can deep-fry anything as long as it’s solid? Think again. At the Texas State Fair, beer was deep-fried in pretzel dough and then served with mustard. And if you’re looking for something cool to eat while at the Kansas State Fair, take a pickle pop out of the freezer. These “freeze pops” are made of briny pickle juice and are just the answer for your sour craving. If snakes are your thing, visitors to the California Exposition and State Fair may want to sample the grilled python kebabs that “taste like chicken” and are seasoned with lemon-pepper. And for dessert, deep fried jelly beans are a favorite at the Big E in Massachusetts. I think I’ll just stay home and eat my meatballs and spaghetti for supper tonight. It seems a little safer.
A Marriage Blooms after 63 Years Last week, Cynthia Riggs, 81, married Howard Attebery, 90, in Martha’s Vineyard. That in itself is noteworthy, but their story is even more intriguing
when you hear about how they met.
63 years ago, Cynthia and Howard worked side by side at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. Together they counted plankton and wrote each other notes written in a simple code known only to them. Since then, the two had married other people, had children and then were either divorced or widowed. Essentially, they led separate lives—until last year. Cynthia, who’s a prolific mystery novelist, received a short but revealing note written in code last year. She immediately knew who the sender was and the message was powerful. “I have never stopped loving you.” So she set out to find her long-lost friend. It wasn’t easy. The return address was written in code as well—in latitude and longitude—but Howard mistaken-
In News ly wrote the wrong coordinates. After several failed attempts to find Howard, Cynthia reached out to him through the California Dental Association, as she knew he had gotten a dental degree. She wrote him a letter and he responded with a postcard. The sweet back-and-forth written correspondence went on for nearly a year. They learned more about each other and about the experiences they had over the many years they were out of touch. Howard mentioned that he wanted to send Cynthia something special: a manganese nodule, which is a rock formation found at the bottom of deep seas. Interestingly, Cynthia says, “No individuals own these things that I know of,” she said. “But the funny thing is, I have a sack full of them.” Clearly it was meant to be. He also sent her various seed packets for her garden. The first letter of each flower or vegetable spelled out the words, “H loves C.” Finally, Howard sent a train fare to Cynthia to join him in California. “The last time he saw me I was 18,” Cynthia said with trepidation. “And I’m 81.” But she needn’t have worried. Within an hour of meeting, he had proposed to her. The story ends (or begins) on Sunday when 150 people gathered on Martha’s Vineyard to celebrate their marriage. Asked about the beautiful, blooming relationship, Howard says, “There’s that word grand that you don’t hear so much anymore,” he said about the whole experience. “Well, this is grand for me.”
ward and according to the post, it is “used” but “in good condition.” The ad lists the stainless appliance, equipped with four doors for body storage, as having “signs of cosmetic wear” but being “fully operational.” It is a tremendous freezer, standing 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide, it could fit more than 2,000 12-ounce cans of soda. If you have the cash, a place to store it, and a truck to transport the freezer it can be yours. “Buyer must dismantle unit to remove from room,” the ad states. The buyer, the ad notes, is responsible for cleaning it. “The potential buyer is strongly encouraged to inspect item prior to bidding.” The item is listed as a Norlake Scientific 4 Drawer Morgue Refrigerator with compressor on top. The bidding was at $2,000.10 with 70 bids as of Monday. A spokeswoman for the state Office of General Services, which sells unwanted government goodies, admits she’s never seen anyone sell a morgue fridge. “Every once in a while, we get an unusual item — and this would be that,” said spokeswoman Heather Groll. She added there are no regulations for the buyer. It can be bought by any individual or agency and no background checks are required. This would make a morbid birthday gift.
Florida Man Donates 100 Gallons of Blood
Ebay’s Selling Death
People have sold interesting things on eBay including ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak (how would they do that?), an “awkward date with a weird guy,” an old pair of men’s ski socks (starting at $6 million), and a vampire transformation spell. But this week, a posting on eBay was not for the faint of heart. The state Office of Mental Health is selling a morgue refrigerator on eBay. It was used at a Manhattan psychiatric
A South Florida man has reached a rare milestone. He has donated 100 gallons of blood throughout his life. The Palm Beach Post reports that 84-year-old Harold Mendenhall started giving blood on July 7, 1977, more than 35 years ago. Last month, he logged his 100th gallon. Mendenhall started donating blood when his wife, Frankie, was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she died seven years later, Mendenhall says he was distraught. He stopped by the blood bank on his way home from work one day searching for comfort. He found that this act of kindness helped him cope just a little bit and shortly thereafter he was donating six gallons a year. Continued on page 38
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The Week He donates platelets rather than whole blood, which means he can give two pints per donation instead of one and can give every two weeks instead of eight weeks. Mendenhall says giving blood helped him deal with the deep pain of losing his wife and, later, two sons. I guess you can call him the platelet philanthropist.
These Quarters are Worth Thousands
Reddit user RyMiDo stumbled upon a collection of loose change his father accumulated for more than 30 years and decided to wrap the coins. After seeing images of the haul on Reddit, a commenter asked if any of the $640 worth of quarters were from before 1965. “Yup,”
RyMiDo replied. “They were all pre1965.” Well, if the coins are in fact all pre1965 then his stack of quarters are worth thousands. $10,000-$12,000, in fact. Typically, collectors typically pay $4 to $5 for each pre-1965 quarter.
Pilot Celebrates 90th Birthday Crossing Border 90 Consecutive Times John Lawton is celebrating his 90th birthday, but not with a traditional party. He will attempt to make 90 flying passages across the U.S.-Canadian border in his Cessna 172. The senior has been a pilot for 56 years. “Somehow, I got a wild idea that I needed to do something different for my birthday,” said Lawton. He decided to set his sights on a watery stretch of the northern border in the Niagara River, north of Buffalo. The spot gives him a good view of the border, he explained.
In News It’s also near a location that is meaningful to Lawton. On a dark and snowy flight home from a December 1956 business meeting in Syracuse, Lawton had “the closest call” of his flying career just near that location. It miraculously ended with an unannounced landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, which had been closed amid an 11-inch snowfall.
Brenda, his non-pilot daughter, will be going along for the ride. Lawton’s son, a pilot, will stay on the ground so no one can question who was really at the controls. “I’ve been working on it and am trying to perfect the flying technique to do it,” Lawton said by phone from his Westfield Township, Ohio, home. He has made practice runs over a roadway to get a feel for the turns and timing.
In 2007, he received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, given for 50 years of safe flights. Flying high at 90. I wonder what he’ll do for his 100th!
Karate in the Air
Ernie Torres, a skydiving instructor, a black belt in karate, and member of the U.S. Navy, set a world record last week. “It really was one of the greatest adrenaline rushes of my life,” the fearless adventurer said. “As if throwing myself from an airplane and falling towards the Earth at terminal velocity wasn’t exciting enough, I thought I’d throw a little karate in the mix and try to smash a world record while I was at it.”
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The Week And so he did. After jumping from the plane, Torres broke 12 pine boards in what he called the Blackbelt Skydive. Don’t think that Torres was the only person to have performed karate chops midair. The previous record was held by Jason David Frank, who broke seven sets in the air in January. Torres and his group of skydivers from Skydive Arizona jumped at 16,000 feet and deployed parachutes at 4,000 feet, giving Torres 70 seconds of free fall in which to break as many boards as possible. All the skydivers landed safe-
In News
ly and Torres achieved his goal of most boards broken in a free fall. Ha-ya!
10-Year-Old Finds $10K Tyler Schaefer is just 10-years-old but has the mind of a detective. The boy was with his father, Cody Schaefer, at a hotel near a Kansas City Airport when he found $10,000 in cash. Tyler discovered the bills neatly stacked in one of the drawers in the hotel room.
Cody Schaefer, Tyler’s father, says Tyler, a Cub Scout, is always on the lookout for clues and treasure. “He
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looks for stuff at random,” Schaefer said of his son. “He’s very observant.” Upon arriving in their hotel room the curious 10-year-old began opening all the drawers, and announced, “I found money!” Stuck at the bottom of one of the drawers were mounds of bills. The stack of bills totaled $10,000. “We didn’t know what to do at first,” Cody said. The police were contacted and it was unclear how long the cash was lying there. According to a Missouri statute, lost money could revert to a finder after about seven months if no one can prove ownership. But the owner then has another year to prove the money is his or hers and claim it from the finder. “I didn’t come there with $10,000 and I didn’t leave with $10,000,” Cody Schaefer said. “So it was a wash.” Clearly, the hotel’s cleaning crew is not doing a thorough job.
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Jiroemon Kimura, the oldest known living man, celebrated his 116th birthday this past Friday. Born in 1897, Kimura is reportedly the last man still alive that was born in the 19th century, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The resident of Kyotango, Japan, is also the oldest man in verified history. Kimura is part of an elite group of seniors who have made it to their 110th birthday and beyond. Dr. Tom Perls, the director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University Medical Center, estimates there are approximately 200-300 of these “supercentenarians” in the world. “People who live to that age are incredibly homogeneous, as if they have some key genetic features in common that get them to an incredibly old age,” Perls said. Approximately 90 percent of superagers are women. He speculates that having two X chromosomes offers a certain amount of protection from disease and disability. “If one chromosome has some less-than-desirable aging or disease genetic variance,
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Mazel Tov to the Following Mesaymim:
MESECHTA TAANIS:
Klein, Shmuel Koschitzki, Nossi Kramer, Yoel Laufer, Aryeh Lichtenstein, Shalom Lieberman, Yisroel Menachemov, Daniel Menashy, Binyomin Messner, Elchonon Messner, Yehoshua Messner, Yitzchok Metz, Raphael Munk, Yisroel Mushayev, Yosef Reich, Binyamin Rosenbaum, Gavriel Rube, Shmuel Samuels, Ariel
Gewirtz, Eli Ghoori, Chaim Yehuda Gold, Aryeh Leib Gold Yossi Goldstein, Netanel Goodman, Shimon Goodman, Yaakov Hillel Greenberg, Avrohom Greenberg, Meir Gross, Yaakov Grumet, Shlomo Grumet, Yosef Haller, Meir Henesch, Dovi Huttler, Aryeh Katz, Shimon Keilson, Dovid Klein, Daniel
Adler, Moshe Azerad, Daniel Bachrach, Yisroel Beniawski, Yisroel Berkowitz, Eliyahu Birnbaum, Aaron Borenstein, Nechmya Brown, Eliezer Braun, Gavriel Cohen, Simcha Devor, Zecharia Eisenberg, Eliyahu Engel, Asher Feldstein, Naftali Feller, Chaim Frank, Reuven Frankel, Yekusiel Friedman, Akiva
Biegelisen, Yakar Mermelstein, Ari Abramov, Yosef
Cohen, Neriya Drillman, Dovid Hershkopf, Mordechai
Samuels, Tzvi Setton, Avrohom Shonek, Yeshaya Shonek, Yisroel Meir Silverstein, Shimon Sittner, Aharon Eliyahu Sittner, Yechiel Slansky, Aronie Slansky, Eli Slansky, Tzachi Steier, Avrohom Stern, Binyamin Trachtenberg, Yosef Yitzchok Ullman, Avraham Eliyahu Wein, Shimon Yushuvayev, Emanuel Zacharowitz, Uri
Hollander, Yaakov Khaimov, Asher Levy, Yehuda
Rosenbaum, Binyomin Termechi, Yosef Toiv, Moshe Wolf, Nachum
THANK YOU TO ALL THE REBBEIM WHOSE EFFORTS MADE THIS POSSIBLE
Rabbi Nosson Greenberg Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Metz Rabbi Eli Braunstein
Rabbi Aaron Perr Rabbi Aryeh Ginsberg Rabbi Yehoshua Kalish
Rabbi Moshe Perr Rabbi Kalman Redisch Rabbi Moshe Brown
Rabbi Yosef Bronner Rabbi Dovid Kleinkaufman Rabbi Shmuel Ullman
THANK YOU TO ALL THE BOCHURIM WHO SAID SHIURIM FOR THE MESAIYMIM: Eli Gewirtz, Shimon Goodman, Yosef Grumet AND THE FOLLOWING NOSEI VNOSNIM: Rabbi Aaron Indig and Rabbi Avi Weller Rabbi Yechiel Perr Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Aaron Brafman Menahel
Rabbi Eli Braunstein S’gan Menahel
Rabbi Shayeh Kohn Executive Director
Rabbi Daniel Nekritz Mashgiach
women seem to have the ability to choose a variant on the other chromosome that is more conducive to survival,” he explained. As for living a clean and healthy lifestyle, Perls said the research is conflicting, with one study showing approximately 20 percent of those over the age of 103 practicing truly horrendous lifelong health habits including smoking, drinking, eating junk food, and avoiding exercise. Happy sweet 116th to you, Mr. Kimura.
Woman Delivers her Twins, Resuscitates Eldest A Utah woman delivered her own twins on the side of Highway I-80 about 25 miles outside of Wendover, Utah. The brave mother also revived one of the babies who was not breathing. In a dramatic 20-minute 911 call, Lynette Hales can be heard crying over her non-breathing baby boy while a dispatcher instructed her on how to perform CPR. “My daughter told the driver that the babies were on their way, and they needed help,” Hales mother, Sharon Wyatt explained. “So they pulled to the side of the road, and the first one was born and was not breathing.” “Oh my G-d. The baby is coming out,” Hales’ friend can be heard saying to the 911 operator. “Support the head and shoulders,” the 911 operator instructed. “Tilt the head and give two puffs of air into the mouth.” Hales resuscitated the firstborn, and approximately half an hour later, the second baby was delivered by state troopers, who’d shut down a portion of the highway to assist with the birth. Hales and her two sons were taken to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. “Both of them were just over 3 pounds, but they’re doing fine now, they’re making it,” Wyatt said. “I think my daughter did wonderful under the circumstances.” Way to go mom!
Hamptons Residents go “Glamping” East Hampton residents have an opportunity to make some serious cash this
summer. As summer approaches, many families are renting out their year-round homes to vacationers and are camping out in “trailers.”
In News nancial times. Hey, anyone interested in renting out my home in Lawrence for July? I’m only asking for $50K in rent for the month…
Teen Awaiting Heart Transplant Attends Graduation from Hospital Bed “It’s a piece of paradise. That we live here [is] a blessing to me,” Montauk resident Jeanette Esposito told the media on Thursday. Esposito was referring to the Ditch Plains Trailer Park at Montauk Shores. It’s right on the coast and 200 families get to enjoy the swimming pools, beaches, and parks. Living here has been dubbed “glamping” (glamorous camping), since it’s hardly a camp-out. “We don’t like to refer to them as trailers. Some people have the connotation it is rundown. I would say 90 percent of our residents live elsewhere for most of the year and they spend their summers here,” said Hugh Herbert of Montauk. Owners of Hampton homes can rent their homes for thousands and thousands of dollars. Even more modest homes are collecting $50,000 in rent for July and August while they will pay just $1,400 a month to lease trailer space at Montauk Shores. Hamptons realtors said the new trend makes financial sense. “We are finding a lot more homeowners are putting their houses up for rent, due to paying for college, or economic distress,” said Jacqueline Dunphy of Corcoran Group Real Estate. “We have a place in Montauk called Ditch Plains that is a very trendy trailer park. The homeowners go and live in that for whatever time period they’ve rented for.” Matthew Bergman lives year-round in East Hampton but plans to rent his home for the month of August. “It’s just too much money to refuse,” Bergman said. The trailer park in Montauk is full and there’s a waiting list for interviews. Although the trailer park in Montauk has been around for more than 50 years, the people who run it are saying this is the first time they remember seeing Hamptons families moving in for the summer, perhaps reflecting difficult fi-
Taylor Haberman is thankful. She is currently in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant in Gainesville, Florida. But thanks to the help of an adolescent palliative care organization, she was still able to celebrate the milestone of graduation. Through a five-camera stream, the 18-year-old from St. Johns, Florida, accepted her diploma from the principal of Bartram Trail High School in real time and saw her peers graduate on Saturday afternoon, thanks to a live video feed that broadcast the graduation to the hospital’s conference room. The entire graduating class wore hearts on their gowns to honor their classmate. “She was ecstatic. Just like any other senior, she did it,” Taylor’s mother, Kelly Haberman said. “While it was nothing like being with your own graduating class, it was the next best thing.” Taylor has been waiting to receive a heart transplant for six months at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville. The teen was born with congenital heart disease. While Taylor had several corrective surgeries as a toddler, her condition worsened around the end of her junior year in high school. “It was coming down to the last straw of what we could actually do for her,” Haberman said. “[Being admitted] into the hospital was the last alternative.” Haberman said adjusting to hospital life was a difficult transition for her daughter, especially because she realized she would have to miss out on the pivotal events that often characterize a teenager’s high school experience. “You look forward to your senior year, that’s when all the fun is,” Haberman said. “It was a huge transition for her. She’s leaving all her friends, she’s missing everything.” For a graduation present, Taylor asked for a trip to New York City as soon as she’s out of the hospital. “At this point, it’s just a waiting game,” Haberman said. “We’re waiting for that
call to come in.” We hope that you recover soon. We’d be glad to show you all the fun in the Big Apple.
Taco Bell Responds to Employee’s Facebook Photo
Taco Bell is responding to a Facebook photo of an employee licking a stack of shells while on the job. The company says that the photo was most likely a prank but they are “conducting a full-scale investigation.” The photo shows a man in uniform in a Taco Bell restaurant licking a stack of about 30 taco shells. The photo was originally posted on the man’s own Facebook page but quickly went viral, popping up on many blogs and other people’s Facebook pages. A spokesman for Taco Bell, owned by Yum! Brands, said the company is investigating which store the photo was taken in. The company responded quickly, “We have strict food and handling procedures and zero tolerance for any violations,” Taco Bell says in a statement. The company insists that the franchisee — whose name and location it hasn’t revealed — did not serve the taco shells to any customers. “They were used for training only and in the process of being thrown out,” the company says. Taco Bell declined to specify whether the employees behind the photo were fired. “We will not tolerate this type of behavior, and particularly its impressions on our customers, fans, franchisees and team members.” The statement says, “We are working with the franchisee to take appropriate action against everyone involved.” So is this what really goes on behind the scenes? I’m nauseous.
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The Week
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Arista Installation and Awards Night at MAY This past Wednesday evening, Mesivta Ateres Yaakov held its annual Arista Installation and Awards Night, where tribute was paid to the myriad accomplishments of the talmidim at MAY. Consistent with MAY’s emphasis on developing all of each talmid, excellence in many areas was recognized: Limudei Kodesh, midos, tefilah, general studies academics, athletics, extracurricular activities and community service. Assistant Menahel, Rabbi Yossi Bennett, introduced the program addressing the bittersweet emotions which all in attendance were feeling, over the passing of Menahel, Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe’s mother, Mrs. Shirley Yaffe, a”h, while celebrating the tremendous achieve-
ments of the talmidim of the Mesivta. After recitation of Tehillim by Mashgiach, Rabbi Yehuda Horowitz, shlit”a, showing solidarity with Jews living in Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Bennett related the following story as he introduced senior Zvi Allman to speak in Rabbi Yaffe’s stead: I received the call from Rabbi Yaffe that his mother had passed away, on Sunday evening as I was walking into a talmid’s chasuna, and it was noisy and the connection wasn’t clear. I made out that he had given his speech to Zvi Allman to deliver at Arista. Okay. When we returned to Yeshiva yesterday, after our Yeshiva’s Spring Shabbaton, it turned out that that wasn’t what
he had said. In fact, Rabbi Yaffe had enjoyed Zvi’s drasha which he had said over on the Shabbaton so much, that he had asked Zvi to deliver the same d’var Torah at Arista in lieu of him speaking. Okay. What I didn’t realize, and only became aware of later in the day, was that Rabbi Yaffe had asked Zvi to do this on Shabbos afternoon already, well before he even knew his mother had passed away. So in all his years as Menahel of our Yeshiva, the first and only time he ever asked anyone to speak in his stead, would turn out to be the first Arista night that he would be unable to attend. Without further ado, Zvi Allman.
Following Zvi Allman’s inspirational and moving d’var Torah, Rabbi Sam Rudansky, General Studies principal, installed the incoming Student Government, under the helm of Co-Presidents Yonatan Arshadnia and Naftali Engel, after which awards were presented to over 100 students, both for excellence and progress in a variety of areas of learning. The evening closed with the Arista Installation of over 58 Arista honors students – nearly one third of the student body – and the recitation of the Arista pledge led by Arista President Yehuda Auerbach followed by refreshments. Mazel tov!
12th Annual L’Chaim 5K Young Israel of Jamaica Estates Run/Walk for Israel The 5K Run/Walk for Israel was started in 2001 by the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates Coalition for Israel Action. It began during Israel’s first intifada; the committee’s goals continue to be to raise consciousness and funds for the assistance of Israeli terror victims. This year’s event drew over 300 runners and
700 participants. It raised over $65,000 for a 12 year total of over $800,000. The participants were treated to ice cream and a concert at the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates. If you would like more information or to sponsor the event, please visit www.run.yije.org or run@yije.org.
NEWS
Community
Concert Planned for Belle Harbor Hurricane Relief
Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlita visited Beer Hagolah, the yeshiva that his father founded along with other gedolim over thirty years ago. The gadol met with students and visited a preschool classroom where the children said Shema for him.
Photos by Tsemach Glenn
Hurricane Sandy had major effects on many communities across the Eastern seaboard. Millions were left in the dark with no power, no heat and some form of property damage. Some communities were impacted much worse than others. Unfortunately, Belle Harbor was one of the hardest hit areas. The storm destroyed nearly every home in Belle Harbor and left the numerous shuls in the community devastated. Though massive funds clearly were needed for renovation and to help suffering families, most of its residents were busy repairing their own homes and could not devote the energy or drive to accomplish such a task. But with the faith, tenacity and unity that are the hallmarks of this remarkable community, the children who had grown up in Belle Harbor – and still consider it “home” no matter where they live – came to the rescue. Through their efforts, Congregation
Ohab Zedek – recently reopened but not yet rebuilt – will host the Rebuild Belle Harbor Hurricane Sandy Relief Concert, a vibrant, inspiring event with Benny Friedman, Aryeh Kunstler, The Rambam Choir and special guest Shloime Dachs performing. For those unable to attend, contributions to the fundraiser can also be made through the website. Bring your family and help rebuild a beautiful community. The Belle Harbor “kids” will be happy to greet you. Where: Congregation Ohab Zedek 134-01 Rockaway Beach Blvd., Belle Harbor, NY 11694 When: Sunday, June 23, 11:00 AM Tickets: $54, $36, $18 at the door or purchase at www.rebuildbelleharbor.com For more information email concert@rebuildbelleharbor.com or call 201-308-5580.
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MAY Internet Awareness Program – A Student-Parent Partnership This year, Mesivta Ateres Yaakov introduced a new 9th grade internet awareness program. This initiative adds to a broad suite of longstanding established symposia for other grades about important issues such as bullying, substance abuse, health and internet safety. The program was organized by Dr. Eli Shapiro, the Mesivta’s social worker, and featured presentations from Dr. Shapiro, who addressed technology’s impact on social development and interaction; local family and child psychologist, Dr. Binyamin Tepfer, who addressed both immediate and long-term psychological effects of internet usage; and Mr. Moshe Yachnes, Clinical Director of Madraigos, who fielded questions and answers from students about the dangers of the internet. MAY strives to ready talmidim to maintain Torah values while interacting with the world around us in a positive and constructive way. Accordingly, the symposium emphasized the fact that the internet plays a prominent role in our day to day lives. As Menahel, Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, Ph.D. stressed in his opening remarks, “Although many of us wish it was, the internet is not just a passing fad. It is here to stay and we must educate our children how to address it b’derech haTorah.”
A key theme of the evening was that it was of critical importance for parents to be aware of the potential risks that are associated with unsupervised internet use. It is incumbent on all parents to have an understanding of internet safety to ensure that their children’s potential is not adversely affected. Open dialogue must occur between parents and children, and children’s concerns must be met with listening and discussion, as opposed to admonishment and reproach. In the days following the program, and leading up to the yom tov of Shavuos, Mashgaich, Rabbi Yehuda Horowitz, shlit”a, initiated a campaign to reduce prolonged internet usage and visual exposure amongst the talmidim. Over 100 boys participated in the campaign, preparing themselves for Kabbalas HaTorah and, as well, creating a tremendous Kiddush Hashem. This validated the yeshiva’s approach of meeting the challenge primarily by instilling a desire in the talmidim to regulate themselves for their own benefit. “There was no pressure to sign the petition,” commented Rabbi Horowitz, “The enormous response is a testament to the awareness of the dangers that lurk on the internet and the desire of our talmidim to grow in their ruchniyus.”
NEWS
Community Rav Kook Visits Rambam
Talmidim in Rambam Mesivta had the special privilege of hearing divrei Torah from HaRav Simcha HaCohen Kook this week. Rav Kook, who serves as the Chief Rabbi of Rechovot, davened Shachris with the talmidim and spoke afterwards about the special mission they all have. He recounted
the leadership qualities of Kalev ben Yefuneh who stood up to the crowd against the overwhelming tide of the other meraglim. He singlehandedly captured Yericho and vanquished the mighty warriors that sought to defend that city. Rav Kook explained that Kalev’s success was tied to his commitment to Torah and his faith in Hakadosh
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Baruch Hu. “The Torah teaches us, Baruch HaGever Asher Yivtach B’Hashem - V’Haya Hashem Mivtacho, when we put our trust in Hashem ... we merit that Hashem will come to our aid,” said Rav Kook. Rav Kook explained the critical role that Torah plays in uniting the Jewish community saying that, “Without Torah there is no Jewish people.” He said that it is the responsibility of all of Klal Yisrael to study Torah and gain knowledge of halacha whether or not someone becomes a rabbi or teacher. “The Torah is what sustains us.” As the Chief Rabbi of Rechovot, Rav Kook has become world-renowned for the inspiration he provides to the people in a city. Rechovot, the home of the world famous Weitzman Institute, had many anti-religious residents until they met Rav Kook. He was successful in establishing a yeshiva in memory of his brother who was tragically killed in a car accident. The yeshiva, which started with just 20 talmidim, today has hundreds who come every day to learn. Additionally, he established high schools and elementary schools which currently educate approximately 1,000 students a year. He is renowned for building bridges with the secular community and is greatly respected even by those who do not agree with his religious outlook. His house is open to the entire community on Sukkot, and police officers and firemen are frequent guests. Those who come in contact with him find themselves inspired and oftentimes renew their commitment to their Torah heritage. Rav Kook is able to accomplish all that he does because of his non-judgmental, loving approach of all of Klal Yisrael. Rather than lecture, he inspires. The boys in Rambam Mesivta got a flavor of Rav Kook this week and await his return visit next year at which time he said he would daven Schachris with the Sephardic minyan so that he can join them in Birchas Kohanim!
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An evening to benefit
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The Morris Esformes Sefer Torah Dedication
Photos by Eran Photography
The sefer Torah was donated by Rabbi Morris and Delecia Esformes of Chicago in memory of Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld zt’l
51 T h e J e w i s h H o m e n j u n e 6 , 2013
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Around the Community Thousands Attend Israel Day Concert in Central Park By Daniel Perez Music fans of all ages and walks of life came together on Sunday, June 2 for a star-studded celebration of the special U.S.-Israel relationship. The 20th Annual Israel Day Concert was by far the biggest yet, with thousands coming to hear some of hottest musical acts in the Jewish world. Dubbed “the concert with a message” by its organizers, the gathering, which was free and open to the public, also featured presentations by prominent American and Israeli leaders including media personality and former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, and Israeli Deputy Defense Minister and Knesset Member Danny Danon. The concert, which paid tribute to
Hasidic superstar Lipa Schmeltzer seamlessly blends showmanship with positive, wholesome lyrics at the 2013 Israel Day Concert in Central Park. (Photo credit: Daniel Perez)
liners Lipa Schmeltzer and Edon Pinchot. The many opening acts preceding
The ever popular Israel-based band Simply Tsfat engaged the audience with catchy, upbeat melodies inspired by traditional Hasidic music. (Photo credit: Daniel Perez)
the memories of Carl Freyer—one of the event’s original founders—and Dr. Manfred Lehman (z”l), was organized by Dr. Joseph Frager, with Dr. Paul & Mrs. Drora Brody serving as the Concert’s chairpersons. Sponsoring the event was the Israel Concert-in-thePark Committee in association with Young Israel Chovevei Zion, with catering by the ever-popular Mendy’s Kosher Delicatessen. Special thanks were also given by Brody and Frager to the National Council of Young Israel—and in particular the organization’s Chief Operating Officer Chaim Leibtag—for their assistance. The program began just as the Annual Celebrate Israel Parade (a separate event sponsored by New York’s Jewish Community Relations Council) was drawing to a close, with many of the parade’s participants ultimately finding their way to the concert. The Concert showcased a veritable who’s who of Jewish entertainers. Lending their star power to the event were head-
them, however, were celebrities in the own right. Brought together by Musical Director Zvika Bornstein, these included popular Israeli Chassidic-Folk trio Simply Tsfat; 2012 Jewish Star International Music Contest Winners Dovid Moskovits (of Queens, NY) and Choni Goldman (coming all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa); Dr. Meyer Abittan—a cardiologist who, fittingly, touched people’s hearts with his moving rendition of the theme from Exodus; Jerry Markovitz—publisher of the popular weekly paper the Jewish Connection; The Shloime Dachs Orchestra & Singers; Chaim Kiss; Izzy Kieffer & Heshy R (who delighted with a musical homage to Reb Shlomo Carlebach); and rising music star Elron Zabatani. Zabatani, a resident of Jerusalem’s Old City and an alumnus of the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva (who has also worked as a tour guide and medic), was to be accompanied by piano phenom Shlomi Continued on page 54
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Aharoni. Unfortunately, Aharoni, who “Only Joe Frager could pull somehelped Zabatani prepare for his perfor- thing like this off,” said Langfan, “G-d mance, was unable to attend due to a bless him.” recent automobile accident. Making the Israel Day Concert all Staying true to the concert’s theme, the more unique, community leaders and the entertainment was interspersed with politicians rubbed elbows with musical impassioned speeches by top Israeli celebrities and prominent rabbis, creand pro-Israel leaders. The Israel Day ating a happy, if unlikely, mix. Among Concert, declared Dr. Frager, is unique that last group were such luminaries as by virtue of its “significant message.” Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, Director “That message is, of course, one of uni- of the Iggud HaRabbanim, and Rabbi ty. And the unity we’re speaking of is David Algaze of the International Comthe unity of Yerushalayim [Jerusalem], mittee for the Land of Israel. Tannenand of course the unity of all of Eretz baum discussed the miraculous victories Yisrael [the Land of Israel].” of Israel in the face of repeated attempts Dr. Brody would later echo that sentiment, explaining, “The main purpose of the concert is to show the world, from Washington to Jerusalem, that we are not preElron Zabatani, new rising singing star from the Old City of Jerusalem, performs as Concert pared to give up Chairperson, Dr. Paul Brody, applauds his performance (Photo credit: Barry Brown Studios) any land, and we believe in Eretz Yisrael hashleima [a of genocide leveled against them, and whole, undivided Israel], and Jerusalem how this can serve to bolster one’s faith. ... will stay reunited forever.” Rabbi Algaze offered a more politicized Following Dr. Frager’s introductory address, speaking of the futility of forcremarks, the concert began in earnest ing Israel into a peace process with a with the performance of the Hatikva (Is- group that is bent upon its annihilation. rael’s national anthem) by Izzy Kiefer, He emphasized both the responsibility and The Star-Spangled Banner, led by of Jews worldwide to support Israel as Shloime Dachs and his Orchestra. well as Israel’s raison d’être being to deMany well-known media figures fend the entire Jewish people. “We say attended or actively participated in the ‘Am Yisrael chai,’” thundered Rabbi day’s festivities, including radio broad- Algaze, that Israel will endure “because casters Nachum Segal (who served as of the love that we have for the Land of the concert’s MC), and Zev Brenner. Israel, and because of the support of the Speaking with this reporter, Mr. Bren- Land of Israel for all the Jewish people. ner discussed the concert in his usual Am Yisrael chai!” eloquent fashion. “It’s an important day Among the more controversial figfor Jews to show solidarity with Israel,” ures in attendance, political commenexplained Brenner. “The concert is a tator and anti-Islamist activist Pamela unique institution which shows solidar- Geller made an appearance. Geller, ity with Jews—especially in Yehudah known for her public opposition to & Shomron [Judea & Samaria]–and the construction of the “Ground Zero it’s good to see people gather in song, Mosque” (an Islamic Center near the all unified, because that’s the reality. At site of the 9/11 terror attacks), made the end of the day, we’re all together. So headlines again recently when her apit’s nice to see people from all different pearance at the Great Neck Synagogue backgrounds, unified. We need to see was canceled out of fear of reprisals, pomore people coming out for the parade litical and/or physical. Ultimately, she and for the concert.” was invited to speak at Chabad of Great “It’s a great day to be Jewish in New Neck, where she addressed an over-caYork,” he added. pacity crowd, for whom the controversy Striking a similar tone, noted attor- had become a First Amendment issue. ney and Israel activist Mark Langfan Underscoring the concert’s sigpraised the event as “beautiful,” and of- nificance as regards the relationship fered jocular but spirited praise for the between the U.S. and Israel, Dr. Paul concert’s organizer, commenting that Brody recited a prayer for the release of Dr. Frager “isn’t a myth, but he is a leg- convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, end.” who has been imprisoned in the U.S.
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for over a quarter century. Though his crime (passing classified information to an ally without intent to harm the United States) normally carries with it a prison sentence of just a few years (as opposed to treason, Celebrities, political leaders, and prominent pro-Israel activists came together to a capital offense), show their support for the Jewish state at this year’s Israel Day Concert on Sunday, 2. From left to right: Popular radio host and concert MC Nachum Segal, Israel Pollard was given June Day Concert Chairman Dr. Paul Brody, former U.S. Ambassador to the United a life sentence, and Nations John Bolton, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister MK Danny Danon, Israel securing his release Day Concert organizer Dr. Joseph Frager (Photo credit: Manny Vider / vider@ajwv.org) remains a cause very, very difficult decision, with Isracélèbre among Israel supporters. el’s entire civilian population at risk. Rounding out the distinguished lineBut I will say this: the government of up of dignitaries were Ambassador John Israel should know that if they decide to Bolton and MK Danny Danon. Never act, as they have acted twice before [e.g. one to pull his punches, Dr. Frager laudagainst the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osired Bolton as “the only person to have ak -ed.], that the overwhelming majority accomplished anything at the United of the American people will stand with Nations in the last 64 years.” He went Israel, whatever it takes.” on to offer his own, none-too-subtle Following Ambassador Bolton, Is(though perhaps admirable in its canraeli legislator and Deputy Minister dor) prescription for addressing the Iraof Defense Danny Danon was invited nian nuclear threat: “John Bolton and I to speak. During his introduction Dr. discussed this,” he began. “All it takes Brody spoke of Danon’s his consistent is maybe four bunker busters from the principled stances as a political and President of the United States. All he military leader. In what appeared to be has to do is send four bunker buster a thinly-veiled criticism of certain oth[bombs] to Israel; we’re not asking for er Israeli politicians, he praised Danon a lot. And the world would be a safas someone who both “signals right and er place tomorrow.”He concluded his turns right.” remarks by thanking the audience for During his presentation, MK Danon their participation, and emphasizing the spoke of the love for Israel manifested importance of their grassroots efforts by such gatherings as the Israel Day to affect change in the current political Concert, thanking the attendees for their status quo, particularly as regards U.S. support. He also expressed his admiraforeign policy. tion and respect for those Israelis dwellTaking the stage, Ambassador ing in Judea and Samaria, referring to Bolton offered his own insightful perthem as “our brothers and sisters” and spective on current geopolitical issues “pioneers.” affecting Israel. He discussed a wide “You are the real Iron Dome,” he range of topics, including what he charsaid, alluding to Israel’s latest missile acterized as the failure of the current addefense system. Reaffirming his supministration to respond decisively to the port the Jewish residents of Judea & terrorist massacre in Benghazi, as well Samaria, he declared emphatically that as the Iranian nuclear program, which an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-’67 lines he dubbed a “true existential threat” to (known colloquially among pro-Israel the State of Israel. Tying these themes defense experts as the “Auschwitz borin to the Israel Day Concert, he told ders”) “will not happen.” those gathered that contrary to the popAlong with the parade that immediular misconception that U.S. support for ately preceded it, this year’s Israel Day Israel is largely confined to the halls of Concert, the most successful in the 20 political power, the majority of Ameriyears since its founding, is perhaps the cans are in fact strongly pro-Israel. He most vibrant evidence in recent memory concluded by emphasizing the need to that despite apparent political indicators bolster and publicize this support, espeto the contrary, public support for Israel cially if Israel should launch a preempis not waning in the United States, but tive strike on Iran. Bolton stressed the rather is stable, or even on the rise. If the need for America to “suppress Hezbolenthusiasm generated at the Israel Day lah, Hamas, and any terrorist group or Concert is any indicator of the future state that tries to retaliate against Israel.” U.S.-Israel relations, the future looks “I don’t know what decision Israel bright indeed. is going to make,” said Bolton, “It’s a
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Zeev Hatorah Yeshiva Under Rabbi Shmuel Brazil’s Leadership will be Moving to the Ramat Givat Zeev Neighborhood The Ramat Givat Zeev neighborhood is accelerating: after the development work has begun in the area, and after impressive marketing of dozens of residential units to the best of the Orthodox community in the United States, the entrepreneurs began to prepare for establishing the unique neighborhood, being built for the first time in Israel: a neighborhood designated for foreign residents that includes all educational and communal institutions that match the new residents’ spirits. As a part of the construction of the neighborhood, R’ Chanoch Kass, one of Ramat Givat Zeev’s entrepreneurs, has signed with the known Yeshiva Zeev Hatorah under Rabbi Shmuel Brazil’s shlit”a leadership, to establish the yeshiva in the neighborhood. Rabbi Brazil shlit”a, formerly of Sh’or Yoshuv, settled in a magnificent community in Ramat Eshkol in Jerusalem in the last couple of years, a community for the Anglo-Saxon public, while the highlight of the community is the glorified Zeev HaTorah Yeshiva. Upon the move
to the new neighborhood, along with a significant number of the Yeshiva’s Rabbanim, the new Yeshiva will become a spiritual lighthouse in Ramat Givat Zeev’s community, and shall contribute a great deal to forming a community that understands the needs of the American population, spiritually and materially. David Wales, one of the buyers in Ramat Givat Zeev, says that the news of the new yeshiva with Rabbi Brazil’s leadership will bring a stream of buyers to the neighborhood who feel close to Rabbi Brazil’s ways, known by the pleasant and open ways in which he accepts every Jew. Rabbi Brazil’s arrival will undoubtedly draw out the educa-
tional outlines of the new American community and will contribute immensely to its spiritual character. Ramat Givat Zeev is Nofei Israel’s flagship project, and most of the U.S rabbis have defined it as highly suitable for making the American residents’ dream of making aliyah to Israel come true. The project offers exclusive advantages in the perfect integration process in the new residence, with emphasis on building a warm and homogeneous community, including plenty of communal institutions that match the mentality of the residents. Ramat Givat Zeev’s residential environment is especially prestigious and includes rich and technical specifications, green parks and commercial centers. Also, the neighborhood, located northward of Jerusalem, combines a relaxed countryside environment, dipped in the spectacular and pure view of the Jerusalem hills, but enjoys the proximity closeness to all Torah and Hasidic centers of the capital.
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Prime Location Historical Setting
Green Oasis Green parks and rural serenity are prized commodities in Yerushalayim’s city center. The Merom Yerushalayim complex contains 17,000m of green lawns and park space, 3 times the city norm. The sound of silence, just one more reason why Merom Yerushalayim is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Congress Honors Harvey and Gloria Kaylie in Tribute to American Jewry May has been proclaimed by President Obama and the United States Congress as Jewish American Heritage Month. The tribute to American Jewry was intended to celebrate the numerous contributions that Jews have been making to American culture for over 350 years, including advances in the arts, science, medicine, sports, business, government, and military service. There were many illustrious Senators and Congressmen in attendance, including Bob Casey (D-Pa), Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), and Joe Kennedy III (D-Ma-4). Among the honorees were Harvey and Gloria Kaylie, who since OHEL’s establishment in 1969, have been advocates and supporters of all of OHEL causes. The Kaylies provided OHEL with everything they needed to open the groundbreaking Camp Kaylie—the
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first of its kind integrated summer camp for kids of all abilities. Additionally, the Kaylies have been stalwart supporters of OHEL and its many program, and in its vision to break down stigma in the community. Since its inception, OHEL has been a dependable haven of individual and family support, helping people of all
ages surmount everyday challenge, heal from trauma, and manage times of crises with strength and dignity. For more information about OHEL’s numerous programs and services from which you can benefit, please contact OHEL today at 1800-603-OHEL, askohel@ohelfamily.org or www.ohelfamily. org
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Machon Basya Rochel Hosts Shiur for HS Seniors Finals, AP’s, senior trips and end of the year parties are on the mind of high school seniors at this time of year. The whirlwind of ending the high school career can also bring the thoughts towards the year in seminary. Machon Basya Rochel Seminary, under the direction of Rebbitzen Aviva Feiner, hosted the senior girls on Sunday evening, May 26th at an event to help them prepare themselves for the year. “Making the Most of Your Year in Israel” drew close to a hundred seniors from TAG, TMM, Shevach, and SKA into the beautiful Machon Basya Rochel building in Lawrence. The girls left inspired about their year and with a list of practical suggestions as to how to get the most of this monumental time of their lives in a safe and productive fashion. Rebbitzen Aviva Feiner, the first speaker, spoke passionately about appreciating being in the kedusha-filled land of Eretz Yisroel for the year. Even if girls have visited Eretz Yisroel already, they now get the chance to live there and
experience it through an adult perspective. She urged them to open their hearts and minds to new opportunities and experiences. Just as the mountains surround Yerushalayim, continued Rebbitzen Feiner, Hashem surrounds Yerushalayim as well. The girls were told to feel the presence of Hashem around them next year. While they might be homesick and think about their families, she encouraged them to utilize their independence and time to think of themselves and their own development. At the same time, they were told to have gratitude to their parents for sacrificing in many ways for them to have a year of incredible personal growth. Machon Basya Rochel Seminary’s popular Navi teacher, Mrs. Shoshana Jaeger, ended the evening with a powerful presentation of what to avoid and what to embrace in the year. As former assistant Menaheles of Seminar Yerushalyim and teacher in many seminaries in Eretz Yisroel, Mrs. Jaeger came from
an experienced perspective. She told the girls to pick their chavayot (interesting experiences) carefully. They might have been told of amazing places to go for Shabbos or vacations, but it might not be the correct place that will enhance their spiritual year. She told them to protect themselves while trying to have a good time. She gave real life examples of girls being careless and ending up in unsafe predicaments. On the flip side, she told them there is a lot of good out there. For example, she told them to look for people who are sacrificing themselves to be in Eretz Yisroel. Visiting families sometimes without American comforts can be a rewarding adventure. Forging a connection with someone they admire might take time and effort, but it will expand their year and lives. She offered personal stories of how she accomplished this for herself. Mrs. Jaeger also shared with them that the year also has social pressures. She gave them suggestions how to navigate relationships that can develop in long lasting relationships. She told them emphatically to do their schoolwork. This is not a year off of scholastics. Doing their work will further increase their growth. Mrs. Jaeger ended off with telling the girls to really be in their experiences. While keeping in touch with home is important, in this day and age
of technology one can easily be more attached to home than their year in Israel. She told them to disconnect and live the land. Speaking the language and realizing that life is different there is vital to having a total experience. The girls also received information about the Machon Basya Rochel Seminary’s second year option for when they return to America. Machon Basya Rochel provides stimulating classes that go well with a college or work schedule. There is also the opportunity to receive a BA through Testing Training International. The senior girls left the seminary buzzing with all the new information they acquired. The administration at Machon Basya Rochel Seminary was delighted they could provide this opportunity for the girls in the neighborhood and beyond. To find out more about Machon Basya Rochel Seminary’s first year program, second year program and adult education classes, please contact 516362-5000 or email info@mbrseminary. org.
Flying Free with YDT Preschool The boys in Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s Pre-1A learned firsthand about the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly as they released their class’s butterflies last week into the air.
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Melinda Katz Commends JCCRP and Far Rockway Residents for Their Resiliency
Caption: Nathan Krasnovsky, Executive Director of the JCCRP, with Melinda Katz and Jonathan Dembitzer, Vice President of the JCCRP
On Thursday, May 30th, Melinda Katz, Democrat for Queens Borough President, toured the Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula (JCCRP). Melinda met with Nathan Krasnovsky, Executive Director of the JCCRP, and Jonathan Dembitzer Vice President of the JCCRP, where she received a full tour of the premises and was introduced to all the services the JCCRP has to offer. “The work that the Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula (JCCRP) in Far Rockaway has done after Superstorm Sandy has been tremendous. I came to Far Rockaway right after Sandy devastated our shores and over six months later I again had the opportunity to tour Far Rockaway and have seen the resilient nature of Far Rockaway residents. Although there is still much to be done, the help that JCCRP has provided to the diverse com-
munity of working families, seniors and small businesses has been quintessential to the rebuilding efforts,” said Melinda Katz. As a frontline provider for indi-
viduals in the Rockaways, the JCCRP provides a variety of services to assist clients with all of their needs. With today’s rising costs, making ends meet can be more than a little challenging, particularly when it comes to grocery shopping as the price of food continues to increase. Rising food costs coupled with the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy has created an increase in clients coming to the pantry to receive assistance. To meet these increased needs, the JCCRP’s food pantry provides 400 food packages a month to residents of the community. The JCCRP runs 2 food stamp programs, the Paperless Office System (POS) enrollment and the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP). Additionally, our enroller guides clients through the process of submitting the necessary paperwork for new applications and re-certifications for Medicaid and CHP/FHP enrollment, as well as provides advice and advocates on clients’ behalves. The JCCRP is also a Housing Preservation Company that under the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewals’ Neighborhood Preservation Program performs housing and community renewal activities in the eastern portion of the Rockaway Peninsula. The JCCRP organizes home buyer counseling workshops, renders tenant counseling, landlord/tenant mediation, and community rehabilitation and renewal initiatives for those in need. Through the NYC Department of Hous-
ing Preservation and Development consultant, we inspect neighborhood homes for violations and assist landlords and homeowners in correcting them. The JCCRP also assists clients in applying for HPD subsidized home improvement loans. The JCCRP has a longstanding partnership with NYLAG that assists clients by providing free legal advice and representation on a variety of matters. Our crisis intervention team provides grants to clients to help pay for rental arrears, first month’s rent of a new apartment, moving costs for seniors, beds, utility shut-off and other housing emergency needs. Additionally, we provide summer camp scholarships to families in need so that their children can enjoy their summers in a healthy and relaxing environment that will rejuvenate them for the upcoming school year. Our onsite social workers provide counseling to all those who seek assistance, including recent Sandy victims. The JCCRP provides additional information, referral and assistance with other government benefits including: Social Security, SSI, SCRIE, HEAP and Section 8 Housing. Melinda was born and raised in Forest Hills; she is a graduate of the city’s public school system. Melinda also graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and received her juris doctorate from St. John’s School of Law. Melinda Katz has been a dedicated public servant for nearly 20 years, serving as an Assembly Member, the Director of Community Boards, and a City Council Member. As a City Council Member, she rose to Chair the influential Land Use Committee. Under her leadership, the committee secured private-sector partnerships that lead to the creation of over 15,000 units of affordable housing. Melinda Katz is running for Queens Borough President, where she hopes to continue her dedicated public service. To contact the JCCRP, call 718-3277755 or visit them at 1525 Central Avenue in Far Rockaway or online at www. jccrp.org where you can join the email list to be notified of all grant and volunteer opportunities as well as giveaways. Paypal donations to the JCCRP can be done directly through the JCCRP website with 100% of all donations going directly to underprivileged families.
Green Oasis Prime Location
Historical Setting Merom Yerushalayim is located amongst preserved, historical buildings each with their own unique story. The combination of rural serenity and history on your doorstep is just one more reason why Merom Yerushalayim is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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Torah and Derech Eretz This week we learn the third perek of Pirkei Avos on Shabbos afternoon. The 17th Mishna states “Im ain Torah ain Derech Eretz, Im ain derech eretz ain Torah,” If there is not Torah there can’t be any derech eretz and vice versa. The Rabbeinu Yona takes the term “derech eretz” and applies it to middos, character traits. He says that the majority of good middos are in the Torah, and therefore someone who doesn’t learn Torah will not be complete in the area of “derech eretz.” People tend to use the term “a mensch” to refer to someone who has good character traits. Here, the Mishna is telling us that without learning those character traits through the lens of the Torah, a person won’t be able to become a true “mensch.” Finding time in one’s busy schedule to set aside for Torah learning can be quite challenging, even more so, since this is an obligation incumbent on every male, with the evil inclination fighting a person every step of the way. Knowing that through learning Torah one can become a better person and a better spouse can be an extra push to help set aside time for this most important endeavor. Practically, a tool for success in this area is to bite off a small bit at a time. Rather than trying to find three successive hours in your day, how about trying to set aside twenty minutes, and use them solely for learning, i.e. finding a quiet spot, shutting off your phone if you are
able, etc. The gemara in Brachos speaks about the importance of learning something that you enjoy. So when you decide what to focus on, you can keep that in mind as well. In general, when you enjoy something you are more likely to stick it out. Although the obligation to learn Torah is incumbent on a male, women are obligated to learn that which pertains to character development, as well as the laws that they need to know for the commandments they must perform. Therefore, they too have a part in learning for the sake of “derech eretz.” There are many books both in English and Hebrew, that are based on Torah sources and teach one how to refine his/her character traits, and women are advised to make use of them. By turning to the Torah as the source for improving our character traits, we will be able to continue developing our homes into a place of peace and harmony. 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.
Free Lecture on
“What You Need to Know About Parkinson’s Disease” At Mercy Medical Center on June 18th Mercy Medical Center is pleased to present a free lecture to the community on “What You Need to Know About Parkinson’s Disease” on Tuesday, June 18th at 7:30 p.m. A panel of Mercy neurologists, Jean-Robert Desrouleaux, MD, Poonam Dulai, MD and Joseph S. Jeret, MD will discuss the causes, symptoms and latest treatments relating to this progressive movement disorder that is diagnosed in
more than 50,000 Americans each year. Advance registration for the presentation is NOT required. It will be conducted in the employee dining room on the lower level of the hospital’s North Pavilion. Ample convenient free parking will be available. For travel directions or information, call 516-62MERCY.
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Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns to Honor Mr. Jeff Neuman and Rabbi Sholom Fried The Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns is pleased to host its 11th annual Woodmere breakfast on June 16 at the Young Israel of Woodmere. The Yeshiva will be presenting the Keser Shem Tov Award to Mr. Jeff Neuman and the Keser Torah Award to Rabbi Sholom Fried. Both honorees exemplify two important values that the Yeshiva Gedolah stands for: Torah study and community outreach. It is a very exciting time for the Yeshiva Gedolah. After many years of planning, hard work, and much siyata d’shmaya, the construction of the Yeshiva’s new home is rapidly approaching completion. Those of us passing by Mosher Avenue can attest to the daily progress being made. Under the guidance of the Rosh Kollel Rav Yitzchok Knobel, shlita, and the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Moshe Zev Katzenstein, shlita, over 70 young men are immersed in the study of Torah. Since its inception over a decade ago, the Yeshiva has become a sought after Makom Torah for young men returning from their Torah study in Israel. In addition, the Yeshiva serves the Five Town community in various ways. It provides numerous shiurim to baalei batim, ranging from iyun to daf yomi to hashkafah. Its doors are open to all who wish to learn in its inspiring atmosphere. The Yeshiva’s yungeleit are available as chavrusas for interested balei batim. We all look forward to increased community outreach from the Yeshiva, when the Yeshiva’s new home is completed. Mr. Jeff Neuman grew up as a child of Holocaust survivors. His parents instilled in him sincere Jewish values and an appreciation of the importance of yeshiva education. These ideals underlie his ongoing support of Jewish education and his involvement with shuls in the communities of West Hempstead, Oceanside, Vacation Village, and Woodmere. In spite of a demanding schedule as a custom jewelry manufacturer, Mr. Neuman manages to find time for Torah learning and for community activities. He is a regular member at Rabbi Knobel’s weekly Gemara shiur in the Yeshiva and has been for many years. His wife, Rachelle, is personally involved in Jewish education, as she has been a well-liked teacher at the Torah Academy for Girls in Far Rockaway for several
years and previously at HAFTR. Many graduates have fond memories of Mrs. Neuman from their elementary school experience. The Neumans greatest pride and joy are their wonderful children and grandchildren. The Yeshiva has been and continues to have an immeasurable positive impact on the entire family. The Yeshiva has been fortunate to forge a special relationship with several of their children. Each one of the children shares the parents’ understanding for the importance of Torah and community. Rabbi Sholom Fried is a native of the Five Towns. His family has roots in the community for close to fifty years. Rabbi Fried received semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) where he was a talmid of Rabbi Herschel Schacter, shlita, and learned in the Kollel for several years. He also received a Bachelors Degree from Yeshiva College and a Masters Degree from NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, both in Computer Science. Rabbi Fried is a highly successful professional who works as a System Administrator for the law firm of Davis, Polk & Wardwell. But, in his heart, he has never left the world of the Yeshiva. Rabbi Fried gives weekly shiurim in the community, and also teaches the daf yomi on the Long Island Rail Road. He is a member of Congregation Aish Kodesh, where he gave the daf yomi shiur for several years, and he occasionally delivers the Shabbos morning sermon in Rabbi Weinberger, shlita’s, absence. In spite of Rabbi Fried’s full schedule, he finds time to be a regular participant in the Tomchei Shabbos deliveries. Clearly, Rabbi Fried could not maintain such a demanding schedule without the support of his wife, Russi. Mrs. Fried plays more than just a supporting role, as she is a force of chesed and education in her own right. Mrs. Fried chairs the science department of Yeshiva University’s High School for Girls, where she also teaches biology. Perhaps most importantly, the Frieds have raised their five children in the Torah tradition that has been passed down from their parents and grandparents. We are all looking forward to paying tribute to this wonderful institution and to these two outstanding members of our community and their families on June 16 at 9:15 AM.
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Three of YU’s Valedictorians Hail from the Five Towns Hundreds of students from Yeshiva University’s undergraduate schools were presented with their degrees at YU’s 82nd Commencement exercises, held at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ on May 30. Nine received the distinction of valedictorian, an honor that reflects exceptional academic achievement. As these accomplished graduates prepare to embark on the next stage of life and apply their talents to a range of careers, including law, medicine, education and finance, they remembered the vibrant Jewish life and rich academic and extracurricular experiences that shaped their undergraduate years at YU. Ayelet Haymov of Cedarhurst and Jonathan Weiss of Lawrence were co-valedictorians of the Sy Syms School of Business and received the Dean Harold Nierenberg Memorial Valedictorian Award. “Yeshiva University has provided my peers and me a place to foster our intelligence and recognize the world beyond the classroom by encouraging us to think outside the box, problem solve, and develop our minds and spirits,” said Haymov, who graduated as an accounting major. In the fall, she will begin working as a tax auditor at Deloitte & Touche. She expressed her gratitude to YU for providing a formative and memorable undergraduate experience. “These past few years have been among the greatest years of my life,” Haymov said. “The qualities we have gained from being in this institution have shaped my life and my fellow students’ lives forever.” Weiss, who studied accounting and finance, was drawn to YU for its unique dual curriculum. “I chose to pursue my college education at Yeshiva University because of my desire to continue my religious education in the renowned Torah studies program while still being able to receive a well regarded secular education,” he said. Planning to pursue a career in finance, Weiss is confident that the knowledge and skills he acquired at Sy Syms will serve him well. “I think YU has helped prepare me for my future first and foremost by giving me an excellent business education from the Sy Syms School of Business,” he said. “Additionally I feel that YU’s dual curriculum has helped prepare me for my career in that it has enhanced my ability to handle extremely large workloads efficiently, giving me the confidence that I will be able to handle the
potential pressures of the workplace.” Dan Schindelheim, valedictorian of the Yeshiva Program / Mazer School of Talmudic Studies, was an economics major and a member of the Masmidim learning program at YU. Schindelheim is grateful for the time he spent at YU, which afforded him the opportuL-R: Jonathan Weiss, Daniel Schindelheim and Ayelet Haymov nity to “balance my conOther 2013 valedictorians includtinued growth in Torah learning with the pursuit of my degree, ed Boris Shulkin, James Striar School while also serving as a resident advisor of General Jewish Studies/Mechinah as well as an NCSY advisor, spreading Program; Mickael Herszkowicz, Irving the knowledge and values that play such I. Stone Beit Midrash Program; Chaim important roles in my life,” the Long Szachtel, Isaac Breuer College; Meirah Beach resident said. “I chose to come Shedlo, Stern College for Women; Sarto YU because I fully believe in the val- ah Rosenbaum, Stern College for Womues that the university stands for and am en Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish aware of the tremendous role it plays in Studies; and Ari Cuperfain, Yeshiva College. the Jewish community at large.”
Historical Setting Green Oasis
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Rory Lancman Receives Oskim B’Tzibur Award at Torah Center of Hillcrest Former Assemblyman Rory Lancman was the recipient of the Oskim B’Tzibur award from the Torah Center of Hillcrest at their annual banquet this past Shabbos. Lancman was honored for his service to the Jewish community during his six years as a member of the New York State Assembly, where he championed issues critical to the Jewish community. “Rory Lancman has fought hard to keep the Jewish community safe from terrorism and to ensure that religious schools receive equal treatment,” said Howard Kohn, President of the Torah Center of Hillcrest. “Rory’s unwavering support for Israel and his commitment to serving the Jewish community made him an easy choice for this year’s Oskim B’Tzibur award.” “The Torah Center of Hillcrest is a very important part of the Jewish community here in Queens, and I am humbled to receive this honor,” said Lancman. “It is so important for the Jewish
Community HANC’s Mishmar Dinner: Learning Torah out of Love
Congratulations to all the third-sixth graders at HANC’s Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School in West Hempstead who participated in optional after-school mishmar learning!
community to have a seat at the table of Over 80 students celebrated their learngovernment, because there’s an old po- ing achievements at the annual HANC litical saying, ‘If you’re not at the table, Mishmar Dinner. you’re on the menu.’” The Mishmar Dinner included mish-
mar-related games lead by Rabbi Merrill and Rabbi Boim, divrei Torah from the students and inspiring words from Rabbi Sadigh, Principal, about the importance of learning Torah out of love. The celebration continued with a yummy BBQ generously sponsored by the PTA. A tremendous yasher koach to the Mishmar teachers, Rabbi Merrill, Rabbi Boim, Rabbi Hoffman, Mrs. Tawil and Morah Teitelbaum for their efforts throughout the year to ensure that Mishmar was an engaging and educational experience. A big “thank you” to all the parents who helped with the dinner.
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UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE VAAD OF THE FIVE TOWNS & FAR ROCKAWAY
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Around the Community Madame HANCO’s Wax Museum What do Louis Pasteur, Steve Jobs, Golda Meir, Julia Child, Walt Disney, Elvis, J.K. Rowling, Betsy Ross, Louis Braille and Sandra Day O’Connor have in common? Each one was brought to life by the third grade students at HANC’s Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary Schoolat “Madame HANCO’s” Wax Museum! The students each read a biography about an important historical figure and learned about what significant contributions that person made to the world. After learning about their historical figure, each student prepared a speech about who the person was, what they contrib-
uted and why it was important, and what they think the historical figure’s “message to the world” would be. The students then transformed themselves into their historical figure and brought them to life at Madame HANCO’s Wax Museum! Parents, grandparents and students who visited the wax museum approached each “statue” and followed the directions to make them “come to life.” After making the statue come to life at the museum, visitors heard the student’s prepared speech about whom they were and why they were important. The students and visitors had a wonderful time at the museum!
MBR Scholars Dinner to Feature Rabbi Eli Mansour On Friday night, June 14th, at Machon Basya Rochel Seminary in Lawrence will host its first ever Scholars Dinner. This unprecedented event will feature world renowned speaker Rabbi Eli Mansour giving words of inspiration and a gourmet Shabbos meal with caterer Michael Schick. The dinner committee consists of Alex Edelman, Murray Huberfeld and Salomon Marciano who are focused on making this a Friday night experience to remember. The Friday night experience will benefit Machon Basya Rochel Seminary. Founded in 2010, MBR has expanded under the leadership of Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner, from a seminary program for
post-high school and post-Israel seminary girls, to the center for women’s learning in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway. With regular shiurim from Rabbi YY Rubinstein, Vivienne Frank, monthly presentations of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation’s Tiferes program and more, MBR has truly established itself as the hub for women’s learning. The Scholars Dinner will take place on Friday night June 14th at MBR, 137 Lawrence Ave at 7:45pm. Reservations are $250 per couple and scroll of honor dedication opportunities are available. For more information or to make a reservation call 516-362-5000 or email eshapiro@mbrseminary.org.
NEWS
Community
TMM Girls do Chesed with Heart & Soul The Five Towns/Far Rockaway community is blessed with a cadre of caring, sensitive ba’alos chesed from TMM who are making a difference in the lives of many of its residents. The list of chasadim that the TMM girls are involved in encompasses many of the needs of our community. There is a program for visiting special needs elementary school children in their homes and a program called Yedidim held on TMM grounds. Yedidim gives special needs children a place to go one night a week where they are fed supper and treated to
a fun evening of games, activities, and songs. The TMM girls are also involved in Menucha Vesimcha, for which they willingly forego their Shabbos afternoon naps to provide entertainment and friendship for special needs children in a Bnos-type setting. Adopt-a-Bubby gives the girls the opportunity to spend time with elderly women in the neighborhood – providing these women with companionship and smiles. These remarkable TMM girls also offer tutoring to BBY students and are involved in a big sister/little sister program for local junior high school students. They visit nursing homes where they bring good cheer and they reach out to non-affiliated Jewish children in neighborhood Hebrew schools. Believe it or not, these are just some of the offerings on the TMM Chesed prospectus! On Thursday, May 23, the TMM girls all enjoyed the final, wrap-up event of their chesed-filled year. The event was designed to express appreciation to all the dedicated girls of TMM. The chesed program is treated very seriously by all the students, and the girls view their
chasadim as important markers on their road to maturity and self-fulfillment. As one high school girl commented, “I feel that I’m making a difference in the lives of those who have no one. It’s a very good feeling when an elderly person laughs.” The school therefore wanted to recognize the students’ efforts and the beautiful event did just that. Mrs. Yocheved Shonek, a popular and respected Mechaneches, spoke to the high school girls about how to effectively perform chesed; the chesed song was sung with gusto; waffles, ice cream and toppings were enthusiastically enjoyed; and the Chinese auction raised funds for next year’s chesed program. Angelica Katz, Chief of Staff in Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder’s office, presented “Leadership in Community Service” awards to chesed heads: Shani Burger, Toby Kramer, and Chana Marchuck. “Outstanding Community Service” awards were presented to: Racheli Berman, Esti Halbertal, Sara Bracha Tanenbaum, and Miriam Tanenbaum. It was a beautiful and meaningful evening – an appropriate culmination to a beautiful and meaningful year of chesed in Tichon Meir Moshe. Miss Faigy Fried, the dynamic coordinator of the TMM Chesed Program, is very impressed by the enthusiasm the girls display. She speaks with pride and affection of the way the TMM girls give themselves heart and soul to the people they assist. And, of course, the girls’ dedication is so very significant to the community members who benefit from their love and caring. In the words of one grateful parent, “We just wanted to let you know how much we enjoy your chesed program, Yedidim. Our son happily puts on his knapsack just like his older siblings. It’s also a welcome treat to his siblings to know that he is well taken care of and they are free to do their homework. Thank you so much for your patience, hard work, dedication, and love.” Mrs. Chaya Gornish (Menaheles), Mrs. Adina Mandel (General Studies Principal), and Mrs. Ruchie Sokoloff
(Dean of Students) all put great stock in the evolvement of their students as baalos chesed. They were heavily invested and involved in the chesed program and under their guidance the TMM girls are preparing for their future lives as
giving, caring, and sharing adults in Klal Yisroel. They will be able to draw upon their experiences as active members of their high school chesed program and utilize their skills to enhance the lives of their family and community members.
Otsar’s Chevra Joins Mesivta Ateres Yaakov for a Dynamic Shabbaton The young men of Otsar’s Chevra joined the students and staff of Mesivta Ateres Yaakov on Shabbos Beha’alosecha for an exciting and meaningful Shabbaton at Camp Romimu in Monticello. Members of the group were so thrilled to be invited to come along. They had a wonderful time. “Our young men integrated with the Bochurim with ease,” explained Mayer Kadoch, Program Director of Otsar’s Chevra. “They had an experience that they will be talking about for weeks.” Though the weather was a bit chilly, it did nothing to dull the spirit of all who attended this event. There was singing and dancing at each Shabbos Se’udah, memorable Shiurim, and a fabulous Melava Malka. “We had a great time,” Simcha reported. “Everyone was so nice,” Yidi added. “We had our own bunk and our counselors stayed with us,” Chaim said. Otsar’s Chevra is an Adult Day Habilitation Program that
meets daily. The members are out and about volunteering at local businesses much of the time. The members of this program love to have the chance to give back to the community. They are an important part of K’lal Yisroel; their enthusiasm and Kavanah is inspiring. Chashi Brand, Otsar’s Assistant Executive Director, said, “Otsar’s Chevra thanks Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, Menahel, and Rabbi Shlomo Drebin, Student Programs Coordinator, for hosting our group. The Yeshiva students welcomed our group with open arms making the experience unforgettable.”
Some Members of Otsar’s Chevra at the Shabbaton
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Community
At the Celebrate Israel Parade on Sunday, June 2nd
Rambam students marching in the parade
The HAFTR family proudly marching in the Celebrate Israel Parade
Peninsula Public Library Trustee Jeff Leb with newly elected School Board Trustee Tova Plaut at the parade
Colonel Jacob Goldstein and Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman with Rambam students at the Celebrate Israel Parade
Mrs. Esther Eisenman with students from Midreshet Shalhevet at the parade
Yeshiva Har Torah at the Celebrate Israel Parade
Kulanu students JJ, Ilana, Garrick, Bayla, and Abie marching in the parade
Students, faculty, administrators, parents, and board members of Hebrew Academy of Nassau County proudly marched and danced down 5th Avenue during the Celebrate Israel Parade
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Harav Moshe Meiselman "
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Community
Richard Bernstein Sees Beyond Disabilities Last Tuesday, over 150 friends, families and supporters including a
Addressing the attendees during the Evening of Recognition were Mrs. Batsheva Borenstein, the Friendship Circle’s director, Mr. Rob Kurtz, the programs MC, who captured the essence of Friendship Circle, and Parent representative of the Evening, Mrs. Mimi Srulovitch who spoke beautifully about the volunteers. Esther WilamowsMr. Richard Bernstein (Guest Speaker) and Rob Kurtz (MC) ky, Andrew Goldstein, and Aviva Sussman, representative of the Mayor of Cedar- the Volunteer Representatives of the hurst, Mr. Ben Weinstock, joined for the Friendship Circle Annual Evening of Volunteer Recognition. The evening culminated an amazing year of love, friendship and enriching the lives of children with special needs. Parents expressed their gratitude, children detailed their exciting adventures with their volunteers, and the volunteers reflected on the year with pride and fulfillment. The teens were presented with Certificates of Recognition, a Friendship Circle medallion, as well as a limited edition Friendship Circle sweatshirt. Joy, confidence, smiles and laughter are some of the words used to describe Yisrael Hefter accepting Citation for the the time spent between a Friendship Friendship Circle, presented by Ben Weinstock Circle volunteer and their special friend, on behalf of the Town of CedarhurstA whose lives are both transformed.
The boy volunteers receiving their award
evening, spoke about the value of being volunteers. Esther commented that this experience has taught her life skills, and that working with children with special needs makes all outside pressures melt away. Andrew read a beautiful poem in which he reflected on his three years as a Friendship Circle volunteer. Aviva mentioned how the Lubavitcher Rebbe expressed respect for the wounded soldiers of war. He objected to them being canned the disabled Gabi Edery, Ariella Sinensky and Ricki Zahn show off of Yisroel, in truth, they are the their limited edition Friendship Circle sweatshirts special part of Yisroel. Yisroel Hefter, an adorable 7 year old participant in the Friendship fun they had these past few years, referCircle, thanked his volunteers for the ring to them as his heroes. The evening featured Richard Bernstein, an accomplished lawyer, marathon runner and advocate for the rights of the disabled. Blind since birth, Richard Bernstein never let his limitations stop him in any way. He sets goals and achieves them, whether they are personal or professional, and he does it in his own unassuming, modest way. From participating in countless marathons to graduating law school, from hosting a radio show to speaking all over the world on behalf of the disabled, Richard sets his mind to something and he achieves it. Despite his physical blindness, Richard sees more in the hearts and minds of others than most who have been blessed with the gift of sight. With his true gift of seeing what is truly important and vital, he uplifts us all and reminds us of what really matters in life.
NEWS
Community
AMAZING Reaction to Gesher’s Evening of Excellence
David Weiss and Rabbi Dov Edell
The word “amazing” was heard over and over. As were “beautiful” “incredible” and “extraordinary.” The combination of elegant décor with fine wines and scrumptious fare was a hit. Gesher’s “Experience of Excellence and Grace” was true to its trademark of high quality synergy and service. The standing room only crowd was treated to a three tiered delight of the senses. “The Studio is absolutely stunning” was an oft-repeated reaction. Rachel and Sam Septimus’ showroom of interior design is an unmatched treat for the eyes. Its artistic blend of colors, shapes, and textures inspires creativity. It served as the perfect background for the striking display of palatable pleasures. The eye-catching arrangements of salads, cheeses, and pastries enhanced the ambiance. These delicacies, produced by the very popular Upper Crust, were a distinct treat. The main attraction was the outstanding selection of fine wines. Mark Glicksman transformed the receptionist area into a vibrant exhibit. And the guests enjoyed his pleasant manner as he served and poured glass after glass. But the talk of the evening was about the Gesher Early Childhood Center. Gesher has made quite an impact in just its first year. Its mission is to provide unprecedented support for preschool
Ephraim Kutner and Rabbi Azi Bodner
children whose educational needs are not being met in the mainstream classroom. Gesher has bridged the yeshiva day school curriculum with the quality of support services traditionally found only in the non-sectarian sector. The crowd was awed by a short, yet powerful video. In the video, parents expressed how extremely grateful they are that the Gesher program is available. They describe the many positive experiences that attest to Gesher’s commitment to fully develop their children, emotionally and educationally. Additionally, several local educators articulated the benefit that Gesher provides to the whole community. Rabbi Yaakov Bender of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Rabbi Dovid Plotkin of HALB, and Mrs. Elana Fertig of the Yeshiva of South Shore extolled the praises of the Gesher staff led by Mrs. Chava Bodner. Various related service providers detailed how excited they are that the Gesher model proactively carries over suggestions and methods from other disciplines. Gesher’s enthusiastic teaming creates a strong support unit; connecting parents, teachers, and therapists. After the video, many of the guests shared with Mrs. Bodner how inspired they were by her dedication and professionalism. The diverse crowd was evi-
Michael Kimmel and Ilan Kranz
dence that learning differences can be found across the community. And Gesher is prepared to provide its vital services to all.
Aryeh Freund and Yoni Kutner
Gesher can be reached at 516-7307377 and at gesherschool@gmail.com. For more information and to view the informative videos, please visit www. gesher-ecc.org.
Reflections on Mesivta Yam Hatorah’s Annual Retreat
On Wednesday, May 22, Mesivta Yam Hatorah went on their annual end-of-the-year weekday retreat. This year, the trip was to the Pocono Mountains where the boys enjoyed paintball at Skirmish U.S.A. and white water rafting on the Leigh High River. Wednesday night the boys were treated to a delicious BBQ and enjoyed the amenities of their accommodations which included ping pong, air hockey, pool, shuffle board, and darts. However, the highlight of the trip was the inspiring kumzitz led by Chesky Steiner, a 10th grader, playing the guitar. The kumzitz included a meaningful Dvar Torah from Rabbi Avi Pollak, the Rosh Mesivta, who spoke about the importance of both learning Torah and laboring in Torah. The evening ended with a moving speech from the Menahel, Rabbi Eli Zoldan, who thanked all the Rebbeim and students for another
amazing year. He also reinforced the message that has become the banner of the Yeshiva, the unique Rebbi-talmid relationship, by stating to the boys how much each Rebbi in the Mesivta really cares for each boy and views them as his own child. He said, “Tonight each one of your Rebbeim left their children at home so they can spend time with their other children.” He ended off with a farewell speech to the graduating class commenting on how each one has really grown throughout their years in the Mesivta. The Mesivta would like to thank Rabbi Yonah Stern, the Mesivta's program director, for putting together a trip that will be remembered for years to come. Registration is still open for the 2013-2014 school year. For further information, please call 718-471-7471 or e-mail mesivtayamhatorah@gmail.com.
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T hT eH EJ eJ w n e 264, ,2013 E Wi sI h S HH oH OmMe Enn jMu AY 2012
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You Gotta be
Riddle
Kidding!
A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.” The woman below replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.” “You must be an engineer,” said the balloonist. “I am,” replied the woman, “How did you know?” “Well,” answered the man, “everything you told me is, technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip.” The woman below responded, “You must be in management.” “I am,” replied the man in the balloon, “but how did you know?” “Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”
Hmm...Not a Bad Thought
A man and his son were going to play a game, when the father realized the son was missing something. The playful father says to his son: “I’m not telling you what it is but I can tell you ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES, ISSUES.” The son nods and then runs to his room to get what he was missing. What was the boy missing? Answers on next page
• The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was. • It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as warning to others.
• Eagles may soar, but weasels aren’t sucked into jet engines.
• If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you. • Money can’t buy happiness. But it sure makes misery easier to live with. • Nothing in the known universe travels faster than a bad check. • Vital papers will demonstrate their vitality by moving from where you left them to where you can’t find them.
• To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research. • To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles. • The sooner you fall behind, the more time you’ll have to catch up. • A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
• If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
• If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.
• A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
• Change is inevitable...except from vending machines.
• Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
• Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
• For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. • Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.
• Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now. • Borrow money from pessimists – they don’t expect it back.
2O13 National Spelling Bee (Final Round) Words
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Match each word to its definition on the right 1.
MELOCOTON
A. A critic or faultfinder
2.
GALERE
B. The clinical term for the funny bone.
3.
DORYLINE
C. Adapted to pollination by snails.
4.
SMELLFUNGUS
D. A person with fair hair and brown eyes.
5.
MALACOPHILOUS
E. A type of migratory tropical ant.
6.
CYANOPE
F. A musical direction meaning “tenderly.”
7.
BILBOQUET
8.
CABOTINAGE
9.
TENERAMENTE
10.
OLEACRANON
G. A peach grafted on a quince root stalk. H. A device having a cup or spike at the top of a stick to which is attached a ball on a string. I. A group of people having a marked common quality or relationship.
• Knaidel
• Knadle
• Kneidel
• Knaydel
• Knaiddel
• Knaydle
• Knaiddle
• Knadal
• Kanadle
• Kenadle
• Kennadle
• Kinadle
GOT FUNNY? Let the Commissioner decide. Send your stuff to centerfold@fivetownsjewishhome.com
Answer to riddle: His tennis shoes.
• Knaidle
Matches 1-G 2-I 3-E 4-A 5-C 6-D 7-H 8-J 9-F 10-B
BONUS QUESTION: Can you spell the winning word at the 2013 Spelling Bee? It is a small ball of dough made with matzoh meal and usually placed in chicken soup. In English it is called a matzoh ball. Which of the following is the correct spelling of the word?
Behavior befitting a second-rate actor.
Correct spelling of matzoh ball: knaidel. Now you can have your knaidel and eat it too.
J.
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R’ Ben Tzion Shafier
Parshas Korach
The Danger of Machlokes
The Rebellion Korach, carried away by jealousy, led two hundred and fifty men in rebellion against Moshe and Hashem. These were all great individuals; they had all witnessed Moshe going up to Har Sinai to accept the Torah, and they all heard Hashem speak through Moshe. Yet they willfully and intentionally set out to depose Moshe – to prove that he had veered off from that which Hashem had told him. Moshe, recognizing the danger that they were placing themselves in, did everything he could to get them to back down. Nevertheless, they remained steadfast in their revolt, and marched to their destruction. In the end, the entire congregation – man, woman, infant, and child – died a terrible death. Rashi explains that this teaches us how terrible machlokes is. “Bais Din (Jewish court) doesn’t punish a person until he is thirteen years old. The heavenly tribunal doesn’t punish a person until he is twenty years old. Yet here, even the nursing infants were punished.” That is how far the punishment for conflict goes. This Rashi is very difficult to understand: Clearly, he is saying that the nursing babies were punished. Yet what sins could infants be guilty of? An infant doesn’t have premeditated thought. The infants were completely unaware of what was going on. How could they be punished? The answer to this question requires a deeper understanding of some of the systems that Hashem uses to run the world. Laws of Nature Hashem created this world with immutable laws of nature. Gases tend to expand. Heat tends to rise. Heavy objects tend to fall. These laws are the bedrock foundation of this world that govern all of physicality throughout the cosmos. These laws, however, are neither cruel nor kind. For instance, if a baby is left unattended on a chang-
ing table and falls, likely he will be injured. The result may be tragic, but we wouldn’t accuse gravity of being heartless. Gravity doesn’t judge and it doesn’t decide. It is a fact—a part of reality. Just as Hashem created laws that govern the physical world, so too, He created laws that govern the spiritual world. These as well are specific and exact, and have real consequences.
Therefore, Hashem created the world using the Middas HaRachamim – the system of mercy. Rachamim introduces mitigating factors into the equation—you have to take into account who the person is, where he is coming from, what he was going through at the time… When taken in context, what the person did isn’t as egregious. Keeping in mind everything else that was going on at time, what he did is more under-
Machlokes has the power to bring about extremes. When people cleave to hostile groups, their opinions and attitudes become severe.
One of these laws is din (justice). The basic tenet of din is accountability—simple and unadulterated. You are responsible for what you do. However, while, din, loosely translates as justice it is quite different than man’s understanding of what is just and proper. Din is very demanding. Din is very exacting. It makes no room for mitigating circumstances. If something comes about through an action of yours, you are responsible – whether you intended it, or not. Whether you recognized the consequences, or not. If you brought it about or if through you it came about, the results are attributed to you and you are held accountable. Din is just. Din is appropriate. If you are to be rewarded for what you have done right, you should be punished for what you have done wrong. Before Hashem created the world, He considered (if it could be) creating it with the Middas Ha’Din (strict justice) in operation. However, if this system were in place, no man could survive. The Mesillos Yesharim (Perek 4) explains that if din were in force, any sin that man might commit would bring about one result – his immediate death. The Kings of Kings said not to do X, and you violated His wishes! The consequence of any transgression would be death, immediate and irrevocable. And so, the world couldn’t exist.
standable. And now a person is given leeway. He’s given time to understand the gravity of his actions, and the concept of teshuvah is possible. The result is that the operating principle in our world is compassion. Justice, however, cannot be ignored. So both rachamim and din are in existence, and both have their say. The balance, however, between them can change. If you envision a slide rule, with din on one side and rachamim on the other, the slide can be moved so that more of one or the other is introduced into the equation. If an average day might be 50/50, there are some days with more mercy, like Yom Kippur, which is a day of forgiveness. The person doesn’t change, and the act doesn’t change, but the system of judgment changes, and that change makes all the difference in the world. There are other things that can influence the balance. Chazal tell us that the middah with which you judge others determines the way that you are judged. The amount of strictness or compassion that you exude becomes the standard by which you are then measured. And extremes in attitude or behaviors can bring extremes in the system of judgment. Machlokes has the power to bring about extremes. When people cleave to hostile groups, their opinions and attitudes become severe. There is no toler-
ance, no understanding. You are on our side or theirs — you are a tzaddik or a rasha. Because the divide is sharp and acceptance non-existent, the middah of din flares, and when that happens, judgment is at its strictest. The Result of Conflict This seems to be the answer to Rashi. Korach launched a rebellion, bringing about a complete divide in the nation. Because of this, complete din was brought into operation. Now there were no mitigating circumstances. No considerations. If something comes about through you, you are responsible. And so, the nursing infants were judged. Not for their intentions, not for their plan, but for the outcome. Through them the rebellion was larger. It was no longer two hundred and fifty men against Hashem. It was now two hundred and fifty men and their wives and children. Each person added to the group. Whether they recognized what they were doing or not, whether they realized it or not, the revolution was larger, and the price had to be paid. This is a powerful lesson for us on two levels. Firstly, in terms of understanding the extent of responsibility and the remarkable advantage of being judged with mercy. And secondly, in a very practical manner. While no one wants to be involved in a machlokes, unfortunately it is only too easy to get pulled in. Often, without meaning or intending to, we find ourselves on one side or the other, and before we know it, we are deep into the thick and thin of it. The Chofetz Chaim writes that machlokes is like a raging fire – anyone nearby gets burned. By recognizing the effect of such disputes and the mortal danger that we place ourselves and our families in when we get drawn into machlokes, it wise for us to heed the advice of our sages and run from it like we would run from a fire.
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The Observant Jew Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz
Down the Drain
W
hile driving down the street in the holy city of Monsey, New York, I saw something that disturbed me, and then got worse. Sauntering down the sidewalk was a young man who was clearly discernible as Jewish from a distance. His tzitzis were out, his shirt was out, and he walked like someone who didn’t care what anyone thought about him. The fact that he looked so unkempt was the start of my discomfort. Then it got worse. He was holding a Slurpee cup in his hand, and as he passed a storm drain/sewer grate, he threw the cup down and continued walking. It didn’t go down the large opening of the drain, as he tossed it from a distance, so it just sat there on top of the grate, being too large to slip through the smaller openings. As I passed, I made a motion to him as if to say, “What’s up with that?!” He ignored me. I’ve seen many people over the years throw things down the storm drain openings. I once even heard a young child drop something and say, “Oh, my pencil fell in the garbage! I mean, the sewer.” To him, the grate is not a place to catch rainwater, it will
never go back to the water supply or other people’s homes; it’s just there so he can rid himself of bothersome trash. I remember reading a book about pollution as a child, and seeing the drawings of smokestacks carrying pollutants “away” into the sky. I’m sure it was written by environmentalists with an agenda, but that’s OK. They made their point. The people who ran the factories or burned tires or whatever else
they did didn’t think about the fact that the refuse from their plants that hit the atmosphere wasn’t going “away,” but was going someplace where it would affect the health of plants, animals, and people by damaging water supplies, air quality, and creating smog. They were selfishly unaware, and
While it is common to see Yeshiva boys with their shirts untucked, I wonder if they realize the irony of the fact that they are dressing a certain way to show their closeness to Hashem, while the untucked shirt is a sign of rebellion of sorts, intended to be “cool,” showing they don’t care what people think
Jews are commanded to think about their effect on the world around them and not to leave a mess for others to clean up.
oblivious to the fact that they might somehow be affecting others. Jews, however, are commanded to think about their effect on the world around them and not to leave a mess for others to clean up. By the Torah’s direct instructions, standard-issue items for a Jewish soldier included a spade, with which the soldier would dig some earth to cover up the evidence of his having used an area as a restroom. Instead of leaving piles of waste out in the open, one would leave things clean. It was required because Hashem dwelt within the Jewish camp so it had to remain pure, and also because we, as Jews, are to be responsible and not leave our messes for others to have to deal with. When I saw this young man throw the cup on the street, I realized that he was merely impersonating an officer. Sure, he wore the uniform that said he was an observant Jew, a servant of G-d, and a “soldier” in Hashem’s army, but his uniform was untidy, showing an indifference to the fact that a uniform declares you have allegiance and responsibilities to a higher power. His messy appearance was, in my own opinion, a chillul Hashem.
of them, and that it’s fine for people to have a poor opinion of those who spend their days engrossed in Torah study. In a sense, it shows that their dedication to avodas Hashem may be just as superficial as the untucked shirt, because if they were really concerned for Hashem’s glory, they would look presentable at all times. There is a famous parable about a man who had two sons, one wealthy and one poor. He was marrying off their brother and told them to outfit their families and come to the wedding, and that he would reimburse them for any money they spent in his honor. The rich brother took his family to the finest stores and bought the most magnificent clothing. He hired a limousine to transport them and when they arrived, everyone oohed and aahed at what a fine-looking family they were. The poor brother, not having the funds to lay out, didn’t buy new clothing, but instead did his best to clean the simple, worn clothing his family owned, and then they piled into their old, beat-up, clunker of a car and drove to the wedding. When they arrived, the father was mortified at their appearance, but welcomed them warmly anyway. After the wedding, the rich brother presented his father with a bill. His father said, “I said I would pay for what you did for my honor. If you were concerned about my embarrassment, you would have made sure your brother’s family had new clothing and a presentable mode of transportation. You
didn’t. Instead, you were only concerned with your own family’s glory. You bought all those things for your honor, not mine. I don’t owe you a penny.” The fact that people dress like Torah students, or Observant Jews, but at the same time disregard how their appearance will reflect on G-d, shows that they are not concerned with His honor, but their own. Even worse than all this, however, was the Slurpee cup. The boy’s complete apathy to someone else cleaning up his mess, and to what people watching would think of him, showed me a shallowness that made me shudder. So how did it happen? Didn’t the young man have parents who taught him derech eretz and to think of others? My daughters know that we don’t throw things in the sewer because it will become someone else’s problem, and that’s not how we live. We take responsibility for ourselves, and try not to ask someone else to do something if we can. They know you hold onto the cup until you reach a proper receptacle for it, even if it’s not convenient. Clearly, this boy’s parents were unable (or unwilling) to instill the proper values in him. Maybe they figured the Yeshiva would teach him, but education begins at home, from earliest youth. Parents, if you have children who are still young, who are being molded in the paths that they will continue for the rest of their lives, make the most of the opportunity to teach them right from wrong, and to guide them in thinking of others. Don’t let that opportunity slip away and go down the drain.
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.
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Notable
Quotes
Compiled by Nate Davis
“Say What?” Their paid liar, their spokesperson ... he’s still making up things about what happened. - Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), on CNN, discussing White House Spokesman Jay Carney’s characterization of the IRS scandal
In previous IRS scandals it was the powerful abusing the powerful—a White House moving against prominent financial or journalistic figures who, because of their own particular status or the machineries at their disposal, could pretty much take care of themselves. A scandal erupts, there are headlines, and then people go on their way. The dreadful thing about this scandal, what makes it ominous, is that this is the elites versus regular citizens. It’s the mighty versus normal people. It’s the all-powerful directors of the administrative state training their eyes and moving on uppity and relatively undefended Americans. - Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal I confess that I was not aware of that report, but I’ll run out and buy the book or purchase it online. - White House Spokesman Jay Carney when asked to comment on a report in Ed Klein’s book indicating that the President has agreed to support Hillary Clinton in 2016
Storms now initiating south of Watonga along triple point. Dangerous day ahead for OK [Oklahoma]—stay weather savvy. - Final tweet by Tim Samaras, a highly respected storm chaser who was killed along with his son/partner in the tornado The mayor of New York City is running ADS again me, because I oppose President Obama’s gun-control legislation. … I’m Mark Pryor. And I approve this message because NO ONE from New York or Washington tells ME what to do. I listen to ARKANSAS. - Ad by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) The right reason is it’s important to reform a broken system. I’m not sure a right reason is that in so doing we win votes. I mean when you do the right thing, I think you win votes, as opposed to doing something that’s the right thing to win votes. Maybe there’s no difference there. It seems like there is to me, though. - Former President George W. Bush discussing the current immigration bill during an interview
Well, of course. Of course [Gov. Christie] should have [appointed a Republican to fill Sen. Lautenberg’s vacant seat]. And this is what really rankles conservatives. There’s not a Democrat governor alive that wouldn’t have seized the opportunity to appoint a Democrat senator, no matter what the status. As a matter of fact, in some states, they might even go try to sell it and get rich off it, as they did in Illinois. But all Christie had to do is appoint a Republican. That’s the correct move for him to make. Now, I put it down as debilitating stupidity, because the first rule of politics is don’t lose the friends you already have for the friends you’re never going to get. And if he thinks the Democrats are going to love him for being the guy who plays fair, rather than takes the political opportunity, he’s crazy. Democrats hate Republicans. Democrats aren’t going to vote for Republicans. They’re not going to get a break from the Democrats. They will use him – Obama will use him for political cover, as he’s done twice now, and then actively campaign against him. He will just have to learn the hard way, the way most fair-minded Republicans end up learning. I will do the right, fair thing, and you will cut my legs off and throw me under the bus. That’s what will happen to Christie. - Dick Armey, former Republican House Majority Leader, on CNN
This is not about me. - Former Rep. Anthony Weiner discussing his NYC mayoral run
I’ve known him for years and always knew something was wrong with him. - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talking a about Anthony Weiner One of the things I don’t do well is this. Listen to me or you can take the mike, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice. - Michelle Obama, when heckled at a fundraiser
We are running out of time. If we do not succeed now, and I know I’m raising those stakes, we may not get another chance. - Secretary of State John Kerry discussing peace between Israel and the Palestinians during a speech to the American Jewish Committee
She is totally liberated, and G-d bless her. - Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on his mom saying he shouldn’t run for president
In Pakistan, the Taliban’s No. 2 man has been killed by an American drone. In a related story, today the Taliban’s No. 3 man said he’s stepping down to spend more time with his family. - Jay Leno
Starbucks is now banning smoking within 25 feet of its stores. It will get even worse for smokers once they realize every Starbucks is about 25 feet from another Starbucks. - Jimmy Fallon Today is the 60th anniversary of the first two men climbing Mount Everest: Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.... Historians say Edmund Hillary was the toughest dude ever named Hillary. Unless you count Hillary Clinton. - Craig Ferguson
During congressional hearings, Senator John McCain asked Apple CEO Tim Cook why the apps always need to be updated. McCain also wanted to know how often he should feed Siri. –Conan O’Brien
Please, suspend the rules. - Rep. Lou Barletta, (R-PA) to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius regarding a regulation that is preventing a 10-year-old girl who needs a lung transplant from getting one because of her age and unlikelihood of survival I would suggest, sir, that, again, this is an incredibly agonizing situation where someone lives and someone dies. - Secretary Kathleen Sebelius refusing to wave the regulation after explaining that the regulation is based on survivability
I wrote recently to inquire about the status of my leave from the university, and the letter I got back began, “Regrettably, Princeton receives many more qualified applicants for faculty positions than we can accommodate.” - Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke in his commencement address at Princeton University Note to journalists: This is a joke. - A footnote attached to the text of Chairman Bernanke’s speech provided to reporters. There is a problem within Islam...and we have to put it on the table and be honest about it. - Former British PM Tony Blair, discussing the recent London murder
Dear obese PhD applicants: if you didn’t have the willpower to stop eating carbs, you won’t have the willpower to do a dissertation. - Tweet by NYU professor, landing him in hot water
If you don’t allow the Women of the Wall to pray in our way as is our custom, we will fight with you with every means and you will return home with the bodies of 100 dead chareidim. Your end is near... We will liberate the Kotel anew. - Letter sent by Woman of the Wall to the Chief Rabbis of Israel You know, I have been thinking, now that I have some more time on my hands, I am going to be pitching… a new show for Bravo... We could call it “Project Pantsuit.” - Hillary Clinton, speaking at a fashion awards show in N.Y.
It isn’t about the administration, and it should not be about the administration of the state nor federal level when it comes to Obamacare. But in fact it is. And why is that? I have talked to so many members in the House and Senate and you know what it comes down to? Are you ready for this? It is not about how many federal dollars we can receive. You ready? You want to know what it’s about? It’s about race. Now nobody wants to talk about that. It’s about the race of this African-American president. ... It comes down to the race of the president of the U.S. which causes people to disconnect and step away from the substance of the bill. - The head of the Louisiana Democratic Party, State Senator Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, addressing the Louisiana state Senate and announcing the reason people oppose Obamacare
No, we’re not…this administration has put a real value on the rule of law and our values as Americans. - Attorney General Eric Holder, during a recent press conference, when asked whether, in terms of civil liberties, the Obama administration was comparable to that of George W. Bush
CNN is in talks with Newt Gingrich to co-host a revamped version of the TV show “Crossfire.” Gingrich is in demand for a lot of TV shows right now; he is also being considered for “The Biggest Loser.” - Jay Leno
A gun didn’t kill my husband; a man did. - Taya Kyle, widow of slain former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who was killed in a gun range by a fellow soldier
This is the greatest day of my life. The Yankees and I were born in the same year. - Bernando LaPallo, age 111, after being allowed on the field during Yankees batting practice Everyone here should be maxed out. - First lady Michelle Obama encouraging donors at a Democrat fundraiser to pay the maximum allowed under campaign finance laws
Well, it’s hard to answer the question because in my mind I still hear people saying we were lowlevel employees, so we were lower than dirt, according to people in D.C. So, take it for what it is. They were basically throwing us underneath the bus. - A Cincinnati IRS employee testifying at a Congressional hearing
Women’s core identity lies in motherhood and her role should be defined within that framework, not in an economic context. - Iranian presidential candidate Saeed Jalili
A number of the Syrians who greeted Senator McCain upon his arrival in Syria asked to take pictures with him, and as always, the Senator complied. - John McCain’s spokesman explaining why he posed in a photo with rebels who kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shi’ite pilgrims
Wish we could see you in the World Series. But I’m not sure that’s going to happen. - Met owner Jeff Wilpon to Mariano Rivera during the Subway series You never know. - Mariano Rivera in response
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This latest California wildfire is getting pretty scary. But Governor Jerry Brown has it under control. He said he is going to tax and regulate the fire until it gets fed up and moves to another state. - Jay Leno
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Cover Story Danny Joseph
ERIC HOLDER The Scandals that Threaten to Take Down America’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer Holder testifying before Congress regarding his role in the latest scandal to rock his office
I
n 1983, Marc Rich was indicted by then-U.S. Federal Prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani on illegal trading with Iran and charges of tax evasion. At the time it was the biggest tax evasion case in U.S. history. Rich fled to Switzerland before the indictment was handed down and remained on the FBI’s Ten MostWanted Fugitives List for eighteen years. On January 20, 2001, hours before leav.ing office, President Bill Clinton shockingly granted Rich a presidential pardon. The reason the pardon was so unexpected was not just because there is a 200 year precedent in the U.S. for not giving pardons to fugitives, but also because the general procedure for pardons is that the U.S. Attorney’s office that was initially involved in a given case is given considerable weight when a pardon involving that case is considered. Yet, in this case, they were not consulted at all. The Justice Department official who was responsible for advising Bill Clinton on pardon requests was then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder. During Congressional hearings into the Marc Rich pardon, it came to light that Eric Holder was directly involved in helping Marc Rich’s lawyers secure the pardon and, in that effort, he failed to follow the usual pardon procedures maintained of the Justice Department. Subsequently, Eric Holder was called in front of a Congressional Committee and declared, “In hindsight, I wish I had done some things differently with regard to the Marc Rich matter,” but he denied much involvement in the matter. Upon Eric Holder’s return to public office as attorney general in 2008, it A New Black Panther Party member intimidating voters on Election Day in Philadelphia quickly became apparent that his ignorance plea during the Marc Rich pardon scandal was more than just a mea culpa; it is his modus operandi. Ever since President Obama appointed Eric Holder to the post as head of the Justice Department, he has been embroiled in endless scandals.
THE BLACK PANTHERS CASE
It started on Election Day 2008 when armed men wearing the black berets and jackboots of the New Black Panther Party were stationed at the entrance of a polly -
ing place in Philadelphia. They brandished a weapon and intimidated voters and poll watchers. This horrible intimidation which was witnessed by many and videotaped led to the Justice Department bringing a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. Yet, shockingly, the slam-dunk prosecution against these thugs was dropped by Holder’s Justice Department. J. Christian Adams, who was a voting rights attorney in the Justice Department in 2008, was so disturbed by the baseless dismissal of the case that he resigned in protest. Mr. Adams chillingly described a behind-the-scenes account of why the case was dismissed. “Some of my co-workers argued that the law should not be used against black wrongdoers because of the long history of slavery and segrega-
Eric Holder certainly has nine political lives, but taking on the media may be his final undoing.
tion,” he recalls. “Less charitable individuals called it ‘payback time.’ Incredibly, after the case was dismissed, instructions were given that no more cases against racial minorities like the Black Panther case would be brought by the Voting Section.” In 2011, Eric Holder told a Congressional Committee, “The decisions made in the New Black Panther Party case were made by career attorneys in the department” and was not based on any political considerations. However, in a lawsuit filed against the Justice Department in connection with the dismissal of the New Black Panthers Party case, Judge Reggie B. Walton of the U.S. District Court found that documents “reveal that political appointees within DOJ were conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case in the days preceding the DOJ’s dismissal of claims in that case.” This finding directly contradicts Attorney General Holder’s assertion that the resolution of that case was apolitical. The New Black Panthers Party case was only a prelude to the next scandal
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It quickly became apparent that his ignorance plea during the Marc Rich pardon scandal was more than just a mea culpa; it is his modus operandi.
which was much larger in scale and involved the death of two U.S. Border agents. That was the scandal which is now known as “Fast and Furious.”
FAST & FURIOUS SCANDAL
A federal operation dubbed Fast and Furious allowed weapons from the U.S. to pass into the hands of suspected gun smugglers so the arms could be traced to the higher echelons of Mexican drug cartels. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the operation, lost track of hundreds of firearms, resulting in these arms ending up in the hands of criminals. Many crimes in Mexico, including the 2010 mass murder of mostly young men and women, were committed with U.S. weapons that were obtained through the Fast and Furious Operation. Most upsetting to many Americans, in December 2010, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down just 10 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border by an AK-47 that was allowed to “walk” into Mexico as part of Fast and Furious. Once the Fast and Furious operation was exposed, Congress spent months trying to obtain documents from the Department of Justice. Yet, Congress was repeatedly stonewalled and “hoodwinked.” In February 2011, the Justice Department sent Congress a letter denying the “gun walking” operation. Ten months later—when it was obvious that the facts of the letter were false—they withdrew the letter. At a Congressional hearing, Holder stated, “The letter was withdrawn because there was information in there that was inaccurate,” but argued that the letter was based on misinformation and was not intended to deceive Congress. The Fast and Furious saga does not end there. In the ensuing months and years, the Justice Department’s failure to cooperate with Congress’ investigation resulted in the House of Representatives (including 17 Democrats) voting to hold Eric Holder in Criminal Contempt of Congress, the first time Congress has taken such a dramatic move against a sitting Cabinet official. Once Holder was held in contempt of Congress, the Justice Department was placed in the peculiar position of having to determine whether to prosecute its own department head with a crime. Obviously, the Justice Department determined not to prosecute Holder. However, in the never-ending saga of Eric Holder, the way in which the Justice Department reached that decision, has in itself become a controversy. According to the law, the decision whether or not to prosecute an attorney general is to be made by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a position currently held by Ronald C. Machen Jr. At a recent Congressional hearing, Eric Holder confirmed that Ronald Machen was the person who decided that he would not be prosecuted. However, it quickly became clear based on correspondence between the Department of Justice and Congress that, in fact, Ronald Machen was not the Justice Department official who determined not to prosecute Holder and was not consulted in the matter. Thus it seems as if once again, Holder deceived Congress. As has come to be expected, a Justice Department official stated, “The attorney general misspoke.” The official explained that Holder did not participate in the department’s discussions on how to respond to the congressional action and “since he had not been involved, he did not reBrian Terry was killed by a Mexican drug cartel, a victim of the Fast and Furious program call the details.”
Eric Holder’s involvement in Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich on his last day in office was a symbol of things to come
Despite Eric Holder’s egregious half-truths and mistruths (read: lies) throughout his tenure, the scandal which will either lead to his ouster from office or to a permanent black mark on the Obama administration is the recently revealed “wiretapping” scandal. This scandal may not be worse than an American Border Officer being killed or than Americans being denied their right to vote by Black Panthers, but the target of this scandal is the very institution that protected Eric Holder until now: the media.
TAPPING INTO THE MEDIA
Last month, the Associated Press announced that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press, in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion.”As this explosive news story brewed, it came out that the Justice Department tracked the movements and correspondence of James Rosen, a Fox News reporter based in Washington. In addition to Rosen having his own phone records seized, the federal government had seized Rosen’s parents’ phone records. On May 15th, Eric Holder was called to testify regarding the surveillance of reporters and said that he never knew anything about the targeting of reporters. However, within weeks of his testimony, it was revealed that Holder personally signed off on a subpoena seeking a search warrant to snoop on Fox reporter James Rosen. In fact, not only was Holder directly involved in seeking a search warrant, but he went to three judges in order to obtain the warrant, the first two of whom denied his request. In reaction to the latest revelations, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Sunday said the panel is “very concerned” about the possibility Attorney General Eric Holder committed perjury and is awaiting a response from Holder on a conflict between his statement and his actions. If history is our guide, Holder will claim that his statements were not false but were misguided and based on a lack of firsthand knowledge. The problem this time is that he was the one who personally signed the search warrants. Even more problematic is that this time he went after the media. The media may be complacent and be willing to turn a blind eye to certain injustices but not when it is the target. Eric Holder certainly has nine political lives, but taking on the media may be his final undoing. From scandal to scandal, Mr. Holder’s pleas of ignorance seemed to turn to willful ignorance...to blatant lies. Although most Americans are not personally touched by these scandals, when the chief justice official in the United States is involved in injustice, it affects each and every American. As Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
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Politics Today
SPIN CLASS
Politics with Michael Fragin
The Brooklyn Democratic Party >>> Update on New York’s Mayoral Race >>> Club packing
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. I am Michael Fragin on the Nachum Segal Network, nachumsegal.com, jmintheam.org. On the line, we have Michael Tobman. Michael, welcome to Spin Class. Michael Tobman: Thank you so much for having me. I know we will be talking about the mayoral campaign and the importance of organizational support. Michael Fragin: The Brooklyn Democratic Organization is the largest democratic organization in the country, I believe. The Brooklyn Democratic Party has undergone a little bit of change over this past year. Michael Tobman: Yes. A radical makeover, the former chairman of the organization, former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, is now no longer at the top of the organizational chart there and is no longer an office holder. He perhaps will run for city council, perhaps not. Now we are under a leadership of former judge, former Assemblyman Frank Seddio. Michael Fragin: Michael, you are Brooklyn born and bred and very knowledgeable. So give us the rundown, I want to talk a little bit about the clubs out there and what will they play in the primary. Tell us, what is the function of a county organization and are the county organizations still relevant in today’s political arena? Michael Tobman: They are very much relevant. Running for office whether it’s city council, senate, congress, state assembly or U.S. senate or governor or any of other statewide offices like controller or attorney general, running for office is a very task driven effort, and one of the most arduous and difficult parts of that process is getting on the balance. And in order to get on the balance, you need the support of organization leadership, as I mentioned, like Frank Seddio, and you need the support for lower offices of voters signing nominating petitions to actu-
ally have your name appear on the ballot. Michael Fragin: So tell us, who is the Brooklyn Democratic Party supporting for mayor? Michael Tobman: They are supporting Bill Thompson for mayor, but Frank Seddio is an easygoing guy in a lot of ways. And for those that have prior relationships and prior commitments with different candidates, there is a leeway in that. But the Brooklyn Organization as a larger narrative is supporting Bill Thompson. The Queens Democratic Party Organization is supporting Speaker Chris Quinn. Michael Fragin: Manhattan is supporting no one from what I understand. Michael Tobman: Yes, that is what we call leader’s choice, and it’s important to know that every county has different rules. In Brooklyn, the district leaders are also the state committee members, and in Manhattan, they get to choose their supporter. Candidates can’t get on the ballot without organizational support. Oftentimes, getting on the ballot is a gateway or a gatekeeper or a bottleneck for candidates that want to run for office but don’t have the financial or legal or organizational wherewithal to do it themselves. But it’s not just, you are absolutely right about getting on the ballot, it’s also about connecting in ways with a community, connecting with a community in ways that speaks to folks they trust, validators, civic leaders, block association leaders and other elected officials. You don’t have to have a club. It’s a shorthand way; it’s a shortcut. Michael, you and I have worked on campaigns together where we didn’t have organizational support. Other times, we have worked on campaigns where we do have it. Sometimes it’s easier to have it. Michael Fragin: Let’s talk about club packing. Michael Tobman: It does happen; it’s exactly what it sounds like. You pack the membership roster of people eligible to vote in an endorsement meeting with your friends and family and colleagues
and outsiders, carpetbaggers solely for the purpose of that evening’s vote. Clubs often try to prevent this by setting up rules: you have to have been a member three months, six months, 45 days before the endorsement meeting. If you know what the rules are, you could pack the club ahead of time, it does happen, it absolutely does happen. And very recently, Chris Quinn was alleged to pack a club in Brooklyn just to win its vote not because she necessarily needs it, but because she has a demographic affinity for it. It would have been embarrassing for her to lose. Does it leave a bad taste in people’s mouth? Yes. At the end of the equation, does it matter all that much? No, but it would have been embarrassing for her to lose it, so she packed the club. Michael Fragin: Michael, John Liu seems to have had a nice run since some of the legal troubles with his staff or former staff. Can you explain that? If you think of the club people as being the most involved in politics, wouldn’t they be a little bit more turned off by being associated with scandal? Michael Tobman: John Liu’s surprising supporter of a number of the clubs, speaks to a few things. #1, his personal appeal, he goes to these meetings; he connects with people; he is not packing the clubs in ways I think that are meaningful, and I think he connects with people. #2, it speaks to – and I am sure I am going to get angry calls from my friends who are running– it speaks to the playing field. If there were people setting the campaign trail on fire, he wouldn’t be getting that kind of success with the legal difficulties he has had. The third is, he is an inoffensive second best alternative. If you are a Bill de Blasio supporter in a club, but it looks like Chris Quinn is going to win and de Blasio doesn’t have a shot, well, you throw it to John Liu, and the same could be said if you are a Chris Quinn supporter and de Blasio is going to get it, you throw it to John Liu. So you could be everybody’s second choice. And I would point out that John Lou has not personally been implicated in these legal wranglings. So who knows? Maybe he is being unfairly
targeted, and that resonates with some people. Michael Fragin: Well, it’s about a former Brooklynite who now lives in Queens, who now lives in Manhattan: former congressman Anthony Weiner. What does he do to the democratic primary race? Michael Tobman: Well, Anthony Weiner takes votes from Chris Quinn, takes votes from Bill de Blasio, doesn’t take as many votes from Bill Thompson, doesn’t take as many votes from John Liu. And I think people are remembering now what they liked about Anthony Weiner before his difficulty. They liked that he speaks truth to power; they liked that he is a hard worker; they liked that he is charming. I think it hurts all candidates except Bill Thompson. Michael Fragin: What about all Bill Thompson’s Jewish support? That would seem to be Anthony Weiner’s base or his former base. Michael Tobman: I would say that Thompson’s Jewish support is not Thompson’s base. It was an extra. So does it keep Thompson from getting into a runoff? Yes. I would say the only one that it doesn’t hurt in terms of a Jewish voter out is Chris Quinn because her connection with the Bucharian and Orthodox communities were nil to begin with. Michael Fragin: Michael Tobman, a Democratic political strategist, thank you for joining us. Enjoy the Brooklyn Democratic Dinner with the new chairman Frank Seddio, and we hope to have you back again in the very near future. We are here with Adam Haber who is running for the Democratic nomination for county executive in Nassau County, my home county. Adam, welcome to Spin Class, and thanks for joining us. Let’s talk about the kind of campaign that you are waging right now in Nassau County. There is Tom Suozzi out there who now has the county support. He was county executive for two terms; he got kind of tossed out, and he wants to come back. And then you are campaigning for the right to face Ed Mangano, the current county executive. So tell us
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>>> Adam Haber, Candidate for Nassau County Executive >>> The Future of Nassau County
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a little bit about the race, why you are running and why you are going to win. Adam Haber: The race is very interesting because in 2001 Souzzi was the insurgent against Tom DiNapoli and didn’t have the party support but was politically active as the mayor of Glen Cove. I am coming from a much different perceptive; I am on the Roslyn School Board which I helped and I got involved politically to see how I can help my community. I saw how a committed person can add value, especially with the business background. So I am running as an outsider, and the interesting thing is that I go door to door; I spend a couple of hours every day making phone calls; I go to meet and greets and speak to civic associations. There is a hunger for change. People have tried the incumbents and the party politics since I have lived here since 1993. And whether it’s been Democrat or Republican, it hasn’t worked well. We are slowly sliding into insolvency. So I think I am in the right place at the right time. I get great feedback so I like my opportunity, and I like my chances. Michael Fragin: There is difficulty getting on the ballot if you are not endorsed by the county organization. How did you get on the ballot? Adam Haber: It’s an interesting process in Nassau County because there is a whole industry of attorneys who make it their lives’ work to knock people off the ballot and they make sure that every single signature you have is either perfect or you are done. The rule of thumb is 4:1. I need about 2,000 signatures that are good signatures from our district Democrats to get on the ballot. So I have to collect about 8,000. And such things like if they have on the ballot – what county they live in, and people usually want to put their village down and say Lawrence instead of the Town of Hempstead, and that knocks you off. So we have a topnotch attorney teaching all the people who are doing the canvassing for my campaign, telling them exactly how to get a correct signature. And you have to be in the same room with the person; you have to visually see every signature. Michael Fragin: So you are proceeding cautiously and judiciously, I guess I would say. Adam Haber: I am cautiously aggressive. I am cautiously making sure that we will do everything correctly, but we are aggressively seeking the 8,000 signatures we need. Michael Fragin: Let’s talk for a second about the race, you are going from school board to county executive, and there might be some offices in between, if you like. What made you decide and
say, “I want to run for county executive?” Adam Haber: Well, there is no training grounds. It’s not like baseball, you go from A ball to AA to AAA in major leagues. I mean, Bloomberg skipped from 0 to 100. He had tremendous experience as a leader in the business world. I have experience in finance, and I worked downtown for about 20 years. I have experience in commercial real estate. I am a representative from the Pacific Northwest in New York for four-five years. I do a lot of venture capital startup incubator investing which we desperately need in Nassau County, and I actually own two restaurants. So my background is wide and deep financially, and my background also was on the school board. I also created a website called Nassausuggestionbox.com to try and get people more involved and put their thoughts online and have people vote for more transparency. I am very involved in a host of charities. So my background is very wide and deep. A politician is somebody who is active in the community. I haven’t been elected to a table office but that’s not the problem. So the problem is getting elected to the big office to make the change we need because you really can’t affect change unless you are in charge. The reason why I am running is because I love it here. I want my kids to be able to live here. We don’t attract business; businesses leave; we don’t build anything. In the 20 years I have been here, we have seen a slow, steady decline more like Detroit as supposed to a booming metropolis like Manhattan right next door to us.
well, but Simon Property isn’t a Long Island-based company. Michael Fragin: There is a Tesla store in Roosevelt Field. I think that’s pretty cool that they have a car dealership inside the mall. Adam Haber: Tesla is manufacturing electric cars in California; why can’t we lobby hard to get something like that here in Long Island? We have the space. And that would be my job to go out and be a booster for the county. Since 2000, we have lost over 30,000 manufacturing jobs; we have lost over 30,000 construction jobs, over 50,000 high paying finance jobs, and we replaced them with jobs at Roosevelt Field, retail jobs. That’s not a way to build an economy that’s based on sales tax growth.
Michael Fragin: Usually, my guests don’t put me on the spot like that, so thank you for turning the tables like that… Adam Haber: That’s the point, and that’s why I am running.
Michael Fragin: What are your plans for the Nassau Coliseum site? What would you like to see there in that hub area? Adam Haber: Well, there has been a long failed attempt to have that built with the Lighthouse Project under Suozzi and now with the referendum, it all gets done by Mangano, which was a huge mistake. I mean you could have done that with private financing, very creative financing. And that’s how they built Jay Peak in Northern Vermont and several other projects in and around New York Metro. There is no reason why you couldn’t use that kind of financing that’s available from the government. DIP financing bonds, future tax revenue from these projects, you could have used stuff like that. Name the place, I mean Citi Field gets 20 million bucks a year. We could have built that without having a referendum. But what would I want there? You need a few things. You need a place to do business; you need a convention center. I mean the fact that we don’t have a place to have a car show or flower show or toy show, and it’s in the basement of Coliseum, it’s embarrassing. Long Island has almost three million people, we are larger than most cities, yet we don’t have a convention center. Another thing is I would love a professional sports franchise, but it’s not happening. You have to have the ability to expand if you are going to attract a pro team. You also have to do something for affordable housing so our kids can come back and live here. We have half the affordable housing stock of any county in New York Metro. 19% of our housing stock is rental, and there is no place for my kids to come back here, recent college grads, people who are starting out to live.
Michael Fragin: Well, I have seen expansion of Roosevelt Field, does that count? Adam Haber: That’s going pretty
Michael Fragin: But suburban counties like Nassau always have the challenge because it’s not a single government that controls everything, like
Michael Fragin: So you are taking the idea that Nassau County is a county in decline? Adam Haber: Nassau County is a county that’s slowly eroding, yes. I wouldn’t say steep decline, but if you ask 100 people, people would say we are not doing well. I ask you the same question. Can you name one thing, Michael, in the last 10 years in Nassau County that has been an amazing? Something built, some company coming here, something great that has happened? Can you come up with anything that’s been great here over the last 10 years?
you have in a city. You have many, many different governments and many layers. So how do you deal with that? I think one of the challenges that the county has had is that they have to deal with the towns; they have to deal with the villages; the villages have to deal with the towns and counties and districts and the like. Your now-opponent a couple years ago, when he was in there, one of the things he wanted to take on was to get rid of some of these layers. Is that something that you feel strongly about? Adam Haber: Well, I actually think that services that school boards could do like bussing or servicing cesspool or purchasing, there is ways you can do a lot of the back-office stuff a lot cheaper. But I think if you want to combine school boards,that’s going to come from the communities. $80,000 a year each district spends on servicing the cesspools. It’s no pun intended, a dirty job, but that’s 4 million bucks. You can have central authority hire three or four people full time to do it for 25%-30% of the cost. If you do things efficiently, you can keep qualified staff, it’s a win-win. Michael Fragin: Most of the audience out there is sending their kids to private schools. Tell us a little bit what you think the paradigm should be. Adam Haber: My wife’s identical twin sister is Orthodox, and she sends her kids to private school in Atlanta. The state mandates that there has to be public schooling, there is no dispute about that. But we were just discussing services; why can’t the parochial schools be involved in some of these purchasings, the volume discounts and certain things that we do together? There is huge savings in volume, and that’s one of the things that is overlooked and not even discussed. The paying for teachers health insurance, a host of things, why can’t we do it and increase our numbers to do it cheaper, and that’s something that I think needs to be looked into. Michael Fragin: Adam, where can people follow if they want to follow your campaign? Adam Haber: HaberForNassau. com, also on Twitter, but I am running a very well-funded, strong campaign, with great feedback, and I plan on working for you. Michael Fragin: Okay, well, thank you very much for joining us here, and hopefully we get some updates as the summer progresses. This is Spin Class, we’re talking politics. See you next week.
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DrDeb
Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.
TJH Staff
Why Nagging Doesn’t Work Dear Dr. Deb, I have been following your columns for a while now and I have to say, they are a little bit “fluffy.” I don’t mean to be rude, but you make everything come out so easy, as if all problems can be solved in the course of one column. And life just isn’t so simple. For example, my husband actually went on Amazon (at my urging) and bought your book, The Healing is Mutual: Marriage Empowerment Tools to Rebuild Trust and Respect— Together. He read it, or says he read it, and didn’t like it. He didn’t like the idea that you mentioned the word, “abuse” somewhere in there. He said the following: “Anyone can say they’re abused. Maybe they are just too sensitive.” How can you help someone like me who is knocking my head against the wall trying to get through to my husband? -Frustrated Dear Frustrated, You are correct that my columns can’t tackle the essence of individual problems. All I can do is write general principles that seem to work for many people. The same would be true of learning Torah: You need to learn with a Rav in order to get specific information and understand how it might apply to your own situation. On the other hand, we do go to shiurim which are also meant for a general audience and we very often get a great deal out of it. In the case of my book, I’m guessing that your husband didn’t actually read it because there is a chapter in it called, “My Partner is Hypersensitive.” Had he read that, he would not have made the comments about people being “too sensitive” since that is the very thing that chapter addresses. Had he read it, he would have learned that people who feel their spouse, boss, co-workers, or other relatives are hypersensitive may have toughened up early in life due to difficult childhood circumstances. They therefore have trouble relating to people who are sensitive. The chapter helps people see this and appreciate sensitivity in others. It also helps people access their own sensitivity. Had he
read it, it would have opened him up more to your words. Why then would your husband have not read it or at least not worked
I heard another shiur that approached this topic from a little different angle but ended up saying the same thing. Rabbi David Fohrman explained
One would think, logically, that he would be thrilled to learn how he could be happier in life and happier in your marriage. But we humans are not logical.
with it? I am going to venture a guess something I could never understand: that it is not because the book and this idol worship. I always thought of it as column don’t give enough concrete ad- something that people did long, long vice. Rather, it may be something more ago when we were at the dawn of civiunfortunate than that. It is altogeth- lization and it is nothing we can relate er possible that your husband doesn’t to currently. That is far from the truth. want to underUnfortunately, it stand the mateis something onrial. One would going, but withthink, logically, out the idols. that he would be People crethrilled to learn ated the idols how he could be so as to give the happier in life appearance of and happier in doing something your marriage. coming from a But we humans god. However, are not logical. since those peoOr rather, ple had no idea as Esther Wein what the gods explained in an wanted from us, excellent shiur they projected that I heard this their own wants What, me? Shabbos, we use onto the idols logic in the service of the yetzer hara. and then justified their behavior by That is to say, we rationalize what we blaming it on the idols. In other words, emotionally want. What I understand the idols were their version of ratiofrom this is that when the nachash nalization. Idol worship then becomes (snake) got people to eat the fruit, self-worship, or as Rabbi Fohrman what we know to be true first had to pointed out, it is narcissism. go through the filter of what we want No, I am not diagnosing your husto be true. That is, our emotions took band with a disorder; I can’t do that charge of our thinking; we made irra- without meeting him and I wouldn’t do tionality the master. We would then that in a column in any case. But I am bring reason into the picture to explain saying that he may not want to really our actions to ourselves. This is where hear what you, I, or the book is saythe word “rationalization” comes from. ing. This is why you experience your It is a word that does not mean we are interactions with him as so frustrating: rational. Rather, it means that we use Whatever it is you’re saying is really what appears to be reason to explain not penetrating. what we really want to do. This, however, doesn’t get to the
heart of the matter. Why doesn’t he want to hear what you’re saying in the first place? Why must he substitute what he wants – the rationalization – in place of really taking in your concerns and letting them work on him to effect change? What I have found is that this selfwork is painful. It is very painful to look at your behavior having thought it was coming from a good place and then discover that you made some mistakes that hurt others. It calls into question the assumptions and reactions of a lifetime. To honor the person telling you that you have hurt them means to recognize the possibility that you caused them pain. I am guessing that this is your husband’s problem because he latched onto the word “abuse” as bothersome. He doesn’t want to consider the possibility that he caused you pain. To do so is to recognize that he made some serious mistakes, perhaps many times. This is just too painful for him to bear. Rather than face it and say to himself, “What can I do now to correct these things?” it becomes easier to reject the idea that he did something wrong; it must be your fault or someone else’s fault, but not his. My premise in my book is that when a person is in too much pain to take this step, he must first heal. The book has tips and ideas for healing but, again, it must begin with an honest look at oneself—without rationalization, without the snake. A person who is unable to take this step all by himself needs more than a book. When you see you are not getting anywhere, there is no point in knocking your own head against the wall; it will only hurt you and it will not work. That is what competent therapists are for.
Dr. Deb Hirschhorn, a Marriage & Family Therapist and best-selling author of The Healing Is Mutual--Marriage Empowerment Tools to Rebuild Trust and Respect--Together, is proud to announce that readers of The Jewish Home will receive a $50 discount on every visit to her Woodmere office. For more information, call 646-54-DRDEB or check out her website at drdeb.com.
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In the Kitchen Ciao from Italy
Italian Cuisine to Delight Your Family Classic Eggplant Parmesan Ingredients 2 large eggplants Kosher salt ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs 4 large eggs, beaten 1-1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds, or 2 lbs of grated mozzarella cheese 1 cup grated high quality Parmesan cheese 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
Preparation Cut eggplants lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. Lay slices on parchment paper and then generously top with kosher salt. Let sit for at least 30 minutes so the eggplant will release some of its moisture. When eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove excess water, wipe off the excess salt, and lay the slices out on paper towels to remove all the moisture. Combine the flour and breadcrumbs in a large plate with a lip or a wide, shallow bowl. Place the beaten eggs in another bowl near the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat, and pour in a half inch of olive oil. When oil is shimmering, dredge the eggplant slices first in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg. Working in batches, place coated eggplant into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a 10x15 inch glass baking dish or 9x13 pan, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with one third of the Parmesan and half of the basil leaves. Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce, remaining mozzarella, half the remaining Parmesan, and all of the remaining basil. Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan. Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
Italian Salad with a Twist
THE WORD IS OUT... THE DOCTOR IS IN.
Ingredients For the Dressing 1 cup loosely packed fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped (about one small bunch) 10 big leaves fresh basil ¼ teaspoon dried oregano 2 cloves garlic, peeled ¼ cup red wine vinegar ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil ¾ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ teaspoons honey For the Salad 1 large head of romaine lettuce, cut into large, bite-size pieces 1 large red bell pepper, chopped 1 cup chopped hothouse cucumbers 1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons Handful grape tomatoes, halved or whole Handful pitted olives Feta cheese, crumbled to taste
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-CRE
cheese 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
Ingredients 1 cup + 2 Tbsp warm water 1 ¼ tsp active dry yeast 2 Tbsp granulated sugar, divided 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 ¾ tsp salt 3 Tbsp vegetable oil Topping 2 Tbsp margarine or butter ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp garlic powder Preparation In the bowl of a mixer, whisk together the warm water, yeast and ½ tsp granulated sugar until yeast has dissolved. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Add in remained 1 Tbsp + 2 ½ tsp granulated sugar, 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ¾ tsp slat and vegetable oil. Blend to combine using the paddle attachment of your mixer. Switch mixer to dough hook attachment and then add in remaining 1 ½ cups flour. Knead mixture on low speed, adding a little more flour as needed until dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer dough to large buttered mixing bowl, covered with plastic wrap and allow to rest in warm place until the dough doubles, around 1 ½ hours. Once dough has risen, punch down and divide into 12 equal portions. Cover with plastic wrap until you’re ready to use each portion. Roll each piece into a 9-inch rope on lightly floured surface. Then transfer to parchment lined cookie sheet, cover and let rise for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425° during last 10 minutes of rising. Bake in preheated over 11-13 minutes until golden. Whisk together the ½ tsp salt and garlic powder. Remove breadsticks from oven. Run a stick of margarine or butter over the hot breadsticks and then sprinkle with salt mixture. Serve warm with marinara sauce.
Classic Marinara Sauce Ingredients 2 yellow onions, peeled and diced 2 Tbsp olive oil 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced 2 Tbsp dried herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc.) mixed, total ½ cup red wine (optional) 12 cups peeled and seeded fresh ripe tomatoes salt and pepper to taste Preparation In a large soup pot, heat up the olive oil. Add the onions and cook slowly, on medium heat until they start to caramelize. They should be evenly brown and soft. Cooking them this way brings out the natural sweetness in the onions. Add the garlic and dried herbs and cook for 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup of red wine and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and their juice and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook on low, stirring occasionally for at least 2 hours, or longer depending on the water content of the tomatoes. The sauce should be thick with much of the water evaporated to concentrate the flavor. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Italian Salad with a Twist Ingredients For the Dressing 1 cup loosely packed fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped (about one small bunch) 10 big leaves fresh basil ¼ teaspoon dried oregano 2 cloves garlic, peeled ¼ cup red wine vinegar ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil ¾ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper Preparation To make the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a food processor and blend well. Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Right before serving, add about half of the dressing and toss well. Add more dressing little by little as necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Reserve leftover dressing for another use.
1 ½ teaspoons honey For the Salad 1 large head of romaine lettuce, cut into large, bite-size pieces 1 large red bell pepper, chopped 1 cup chopped hothouse cucumbers 1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons Handful grape tomatoes, halved or whole Handful pitted olives Feta cheese, crumbled to taste
93 75 WiIsShH HHoOmMeE n MjAY TThHeE JJeEw u n e2 46,, 2012 2013
Chewy Breadsticks
sauce and Parmesan. Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
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y cOmmunit
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Step at a time join us at the
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STAYING IN THE CITY THIS SUMMERYOU CAN STILL...
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AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE ROCKAWAY PENINSULA First Session: June 23– July 22 Second Session: July 22 – August 18 Pool closed: June 25, July 8-16 (9 days)
MENS/WOMENS RATE
FAMILY RATE
FATHER & SON(S) FULL SUMMER: $295 FATHER & SON(S) HALF SUMMER: $195 MOTHER & DAUGHTER(S) FULL: $295 MOTHER & DAUGHTER(S) HALF: $195 INDIVIDUAL FULL SUMMER: $175 INDIVIDUAL HALF SUMMER: $95
FULL SUMMER: $375 HALF SUMMER: $275
Includes Men & Women
DAILY RATE Per Person
POOL LIGHTS FOR EVENING SWIMMING
WEEKDAY: $10 SUNDAY/HOLIDAY: $20
POOL HOURS WOMEN SUNDAY & HOLIDAYS*: 9:45 AM-1:15 PM MONDAY-THURSDAY: 6:45 PM-8:15 PM FRIDAY: ——
MEN 1:30 PM-5:00 PM 4:20 PM-6:30 PM 3:00 PM-5:30 PM
*Includes June 23, June 30, July 4, July 7, July 21, July 28, August 4, August 11, August 18
Newly Renovated Bathrooms
MEMBERSHIP: Families only will be allowed to sign up for membership. This includes immediate family members only (no son in laws or grandchildren, cousins or other assorted relatives.) If you have a guest that you would like to use the pool, please use a pool pass. FREE PASSES: • 5 passes for any full summer family membership. • 2 passes for any half summer family membership. • 2 passes for full summer mens/womens/individual membership • 1 pass for any half summer mens/womens/individual membership. Passes will be issued at the time of registration. If you did not receive your passes, they will be left for you at the pool.
FOOD: No food or drink is allowed in the pool or pool area at any time. WEATHER: In the event of a rainstorm, lightening or other weather related matter; the management reserves the right to close the pool for safety reasons. Any person or persons, who do not cooperate, will be asked to leave the pool premises. We will not refund for any weather related matter. LOUNGE CHAIRS: There are a limited amount of lounge chairs available for deck use. Membership does not entitle you to a lounge chair. Please be advised that the chairs are given out at a first come first serve basis. REFUNDS: There are no Refunds.
All rules will be strictly enforced.
COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE ROCKAWAY PENINSULA 257 Beach 17th Street • Far Rockaway, New York 11691 • (718) 868-2300
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In the Kitchen Naomi Nachman
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few weeks ago, I bought tons of strawberries at Gourmet Glatt. They had amazing first-rate strawberries which they had recently purchased from the fresh-produce markets. (Ziggy, who runs the fruit department at Gourmet Glatt Emporium in Cedarhurst, helps me pick the best fruits.) My kids took some to school for snacks and I also served them for dessert at home. However, I still had so much left over. I just didn’t have the heart to waste them so I began surfing the internet to learn about roasting strawberries. After culling through numerous websites, I came across this recipe and after tweaking it somewhat, the results were unbelievable. My family already loves the three key ingredients individually: goat cheese, strawberries and balsamic vinegar, and they couldn’t stop raving about it! Try it out on your own family if you have the opportunity.
Early Intervention Services For children birth - 3 years with special needs.
Services Provided
Roasted Strawberries and Goat Cheese Salad (adapted from closetcooking.com)
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Ingredients 8 oz. goat cheese or a large log of goat cheese ¼ cup panko 2 cups fresh strawberries (stemmed and halved) 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 2 handfuls romaine lettuce, cut into bitesized pieces 1 red onion, sliced thinly 1 handful honey glazed pecans 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 tsp mustard salt and pepper to taste
ABA Program – Center & Home Services Routines Based Interventions & Collaborative Coaching l
Far
Ser Roc
ving
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ay
TO REFER YOUR CHILD TO THE EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM CALL 311. This Early Intervention Program (EIP) is a public program for children under the age of three who are either suspected of having or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. EIP is funded by NYS and NYC. All EIP services are provided at no cost to parents. Health insurance may be used for approved services. A child’s eligibility for the program can be determined only by state-approved evaluators under contract, and all services must be authorized by the NYC Early Intervention Program.
For more information about CHALLENGE call:
718.851.3300
Preparation Freeze the goat cheese for 20 minutes then slice into discs. Press the goat cheese rounds into the panko crumbs and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the goat cheese in a preheated 425°F oven for six minutes. In mean time, toss the strawberries in the honey and balsamic vinegar to coat. Place the strawberries in a baking dish in a single layer lined with parchment paper. Roast the strawberries in the preheated 425°F oven until slightly caramelized, about 10-12 minutes. Pour the juices from the pan into a bowl and mix with the olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper. Assemble salad and toss to coat with the dressing. 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.
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Health & Fitness Devorah Gerber Schmeltz
Make Learning Fun This Summer!
Dear Tamara, Great question! I do not believe you are being overactive, rather, proactive! Here are some helpful suggestions:
Strengthening Good fine motor skills begin with strong muscles that support the hand. These muscles also include shoulder girdle, arm and wrist muscles. Be sure to provide your daughter with opportunities to work these muscle groups. Activities such as monkey bars are excellent. Coloring with sidewalk chalk and building with sand are other great ways to help strengthen muscles that support the shoulder, arm and wrist. Grasp Is your daughter using a correct grasp on a crayon? Coloring with small chunky pieces of crayon and working on a vertical surface all assist in correct hand positioning. (If you are unsure about her grasp, speak to your
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Dear Devorah, I had several children receive occupational therapy at different times during their pre-school/elementary school grades. I now have a threeyear-old who will be entering kindergarten this fall (she is turning four in October). I’d really like to avoid going through the therapy process all over again. It seems receiving OT runs in the family! Being through the system so many times, I have somewhat of an idea what is age-appropriate. I don’t see anything alarming about her, but maybe I’m being overactive? In any case, what type of things can I do with her over the summer to give her an extra boost in her coloring/writing skills? Tamara
daughter’s teacher. If there is an OT that comes into the school/playgroup, request if the OT can take a look and observe if her grasp is appropriate.) Coloring There are loads of fun coloring book in many of the local stores. Look out for simple pictures with thick borders. You can make it exciting by purchasing coloring books with themes of your child’s favorite character (i.e.: Disney Princess, Hello Kitty, etc.). Encourage her to stay within the lines when coloring the pictures. Pre-writing Discuss with school staff what the expectations are for incoming kindergarten students, “What pre-writing/ writing skills are they expected to know?” Review these skills over the summer. This is especially important if your daughter went to an outside playgroup in which the nursery curriculum was not geared to provide these expected skills. *Note, if your daughter is expected to recognize the letters of the alphabet before entering kindergarten and does not, it is crucial to learn this over the summer. It is a true struggle for a child to master writing letters of the alphabet which they cannot recognize.
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Devorah (Gerber) Schmeltz, MS OTR/L is a 2003 alumnus of Downstate Medical Center’s OT Program. She worked as a senior occupational therapist at United Cerebral Palsy’s Brooklyn Children’s Program for 9 years. Currently, Devorah runs a private practice, Bumble & Tumble Occupational Therapy P.C in Far Rockaway. Your questions and comments are welcome. She can be reached at BumbleTumbleTherapy@ gmail.com or 917-971-5327.
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Forgotten Heroes
Avi Heiligman
Taking Back What Was Theirs
How the Israelis Deceived the French and Stole Back Their Boats
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advisors onboard sunk the INS Eilat, a British-built WWII era destroyer, with new Styx missiles. The Israeli navy, with the backing of the government, decided that they needed something to counter this threat for future wars if
n the 1960s, Israel was under the constant threat from her Arab neighbors and always ready to fight any imminent attack. Most of the weapons and aircraft she possessed were upto-date with the weapons of the world powers of the day, the U.S. and Russia. Israel ordered ships from France and even though they were paid for, the French wouldn’t let them leave port. One night, they just disappeared. This is the story of how Israel “stole” back their ships and showed France how to fight with chutzpah. At the time, Russia was supplying the Arab countries with the latest technology and weapons and instructing them to use them against America and her allies. A few months after the Six Day War in 1967, two Egyptian Russian-built missile boats with Soviet
The Israelis had slipped in scores of sailors dressed in civilian clothes and were preparing a midnight party, but the French weren’t invited.
they wished to keep the Mediterranean shipping lanes open. Defense contractors had been working on a missile system that wouldn’t require a big ship to operate. Tests with the Gabriel missile
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fering from very high unemployment. De Gaulle then resigned but the new French president, Georges Pompidou, kept up the embargo, and the Mossad was forced to startplanning to “steal” back their own boats. The Israelis had paid for these boats and wanted them to defend their seacoasts. Prime Minister Golda Meir had first rejected any plan at all but then relented and said that it must be done legally. The Mossad made sure everything was done legally but translated the word very loosely. They were masters of deception. So the Israeli navy publicly “sold” the boats to a Norwegian firm owned by Martin Siem who was very pro-Israel. In a not-so-public meeting,
1948 war and were aging. The navy sent out envoys to western countries to find suitable replacements. Israel’s navy was under a heavy budget restriction and couldn’t afford a cruiser or even a destroyer. They settled on patrol boats from France. In actuality, the boats were of a German design copied from the S-boat that was used in WWII. Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Admiral Bin-Nun The INS Mivtach was built in France that they would get the with German money for the Israelis money to pay for the twelve boats. The navy knew that the government didn’t have he nullified the sale and Israel was now the money for this and only later found free to command the boats. out that Peres had convinced Germany The next step was to deceive the to pay “retribution” money for WWII French about the future of the boats. and to build ships for the small coun- What the French didn’t know was that try. Due to public opinion, Germany the Israelis had slipped in scores of didn’t want to build the boats in her sailors dressed in civilian clothes and shipyards, so France was given the were preparing a midnight party and contracts. the French weren’t invited. The boats France at that time was on good left port every night for short voyagterms with Israel but was feeling pres- es into the Atlantic so that when they sure from the Eastern Bloc countries to were missing from port no one would cut ties with Israel. In January 1969, notice anything was amiss until it was they imposed an embargo on all mili- too late. Also, the loud motors were tary aid to Israel but not before seven kept running every night under the exof the twelve boats had been completed planation that the night winter weather and sent to the Middle East. President was too harsh for the boats to sit idle. Charles De Gaulle was going to cancel This would help mask their departure; the construction of the last five boats no one would become suspicious the but decided not to because he feared night that they left because they were public displeasure of taking away accustomed to the noise. jobs from the French who were sufOther preparations were being han-
one hundred miles R 106
The Cherbourg boats in port in France
left in a Force 9 storm. The boats were separated because of the tempest but were reunited off the coast of Portugal. The French authorities did not find out about their departure until a reporter noticed the boats missing. It must be noted that many French did not agree with the government and their stance on the embargo and actively or passively helped the Israelis. It’s safe to assume that the locals knew that the boats were missing much earlier than the government but didn’t say anything. The government’s official reaction was that of anger. They sent search teams to look for the boats and to destroy them but the orders were ignored. The search teams that did go looking for the Israelis were sent on wild goose chases near Norway and Alaska by false leads planted by the Mossad and the foreign company that bought the boats. As they passed Gibraltar, a British post signaled “Which ship?” The Israelis didn’t respond but the British knew who they were and signaled “Bon Voyage.” After a week at sea, the unarmed boats were nearing Haifa and were
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help their country and showed France what the word chutzpah really meant.
Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions.for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.
The stars of Cherbourg made their first battle engagement in the Yom Kippur War
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given air escort by the air force. They had traveled well over 3,000 miles in dangerous waters, encountered American and even Soviet ships and planes, and then were given a warm welcome by the Israeli people. These five boats, named the INS Sufa, INS Ga’ash, INS Herev, INS Hanit and INS Hezt, were a major factor in the naval battles that took place during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the Battle of Latakia, two Syrian boats were sunk by the Gabriel missiles that were shot from the Israeli missile boats. There were no Israeli casualties or losses during these naval battles and the victory ensured that the important Mediterranean shipping lanes would be kept open. The French government was embarrassed and humiliated by this event. They kicked out Israeli officials and promised heavy repercussions but never came through on their threats. However, future Mossad operations in France were foiled by the government although they couldn’t talk about them openly. The “stealing” of their own boats caused an international sensation. The Israelis were seen as the underdogs who came out on top again and had shown a pompous country what they could do if provoked, albeit in a nonviolent fashion. The heroes were the Mossad agents, the Norwegian businessmen and the pro-Israel civilians who lived in the city of Cherbourg. Last, but certainly not least, it was the Israeli sailors who took upon themselves the hazardous weeklong journey to
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dled in the weeks before the departure. Food for the eight day journey was being secretly stocked on the boats. It was bought in small quantities from local groceries. Usually the boats wouldn’t be fully fueled, so as not to arouse suspicion, five gallon drums were clandestinely brought aboard. Three other ships, the MV Lea, MV Natanya and the MV Dan, were being prepared to stand along the way and pump fuel into the patrol boats. On December 24, the boats were fully stocked and the crews comprising of 80 Israeli sailors were ready. They were to leave on December 25, 1969, at 12 AM but a strong storm forced the departure to be delayed. At 2 AM, the commander received news that there would soon be a break in the weather further out to sea and so they
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Health & Fitness Jonathan Cohen, PsyD and Sara Schwartz-Gluck, LCSW
D
epression. We have all heard of it. We have all probably known someone suffering from depression, even though we may not have realized it. The depressed person knows the depth of the pain every minute. While the core features of depression are sad mood, loss of interest in things usually enjoyed and feelings of worthlessness, those who are depressed know it can feel as though life has been sucked out of them. Since everyone is different, depression looks somewhat different in each individual. In some, depression may include sleep disturbance, appetite loss or the opposite – weight gain, usually from emotional eating. Some people may have difficulty concentrating, and always feel tired and fatigued. While the physical symptoms are life-interfering, it’s the thinking and behavioral patterns that maintain and prolong depression. Contrary to public thought, depression is not caused by bad parenting, a “chemical imbalance,” negative life events, or a traumatic experience. Sam had been out of work for a few months now. He was doing a pretty good job of holding it together. He knew from stories he heard around the community that there were other people in similar predicaments. What he didn’t understand was why he felt so tired and angry all the time. He kept snapping at everyone around him. Sam’s wife and kids felt as if they were walking on eggshells. The strange part was that he felt hopeless about getting another job. Sam tried hard at first, talking to his people around the community,
It’s a Long Way Down scouring help-wanted ads and sending out resumes. After a couple of weeks, Sam remembers thinking, “This is too hard. I’ll never get a job. My wife is going to go crazy and she won’t be able to handle the stress. She’ll probably leave me.” These thoughts led Sam to withdraw from his wife and children. When he had a choice of whether to spend time advancing his job search or to stay in bed and watch TV, Sam told himself, “It’s no use, no one is looking for a washed-up loser anyway. Better to take of things around the house…” The TV got a lot of attention.
more likely to become depressed. People are more likely to experience the onset and continuation of depression when they see negative events as: 1. Indicators of their own personal failures, 2. Situations that will last the foreseeable future, and/or 3. Things that will make others reject them or see them as defective. These attributions, expectations and beliefs lead
While the physical symptoms are life interfering, it’s the thinking and behavioral patterns that maintain and prolong depression. We may assume that losing one’s job would lead to depression. When we look a little deeper, we realize that it’s not true. Many people lose their jobs, become ill, or lose a home or a loved one and don’t become depressed. Why do some people become depressed under these trying circumstances, while others display resilience and work through the difficult period? Years of research have shown that depression is a complex mental illness that has both biological and psychological factors that contribute to its development. What is clear is that people who tend to be pessimistic and who have a negative cognitive style of thinking are
people to withdraw and reduce their efforts and interactions with others, which of course, leads to less and less opportunity for successful, gratifying or pleasurable experiences. Depressive thoughts lead to dysfunctional actions in what becomes a self-defeating cycle. How Does it Look? Common symptoms of depression include: • Loss of interest in things that used to be of value. For example, children who used to get excited about things like dessert, family time, or good grades on a test suddenly don’t care about those things. People who used to enjoy a good steak or football game can’t muster enthusiasm for those things anymore. • Irregular sleep—too much or too little sleep, or interrupted sleep • Irregular appetite—more or less than usual. This may eventually appear as weight gain or weight loss. • Feeling hopeless –the person may say things like “I wish I weren’t alive” • Feeling sad or angry most of the time • Difficulty concentrating – the person suddenly seems distracted and has trouble focusing • Irritability • Change in physical activity – less active than usual (can’t get off the couch), and/or more agitated than usual
(throws things, slams doors) Children and teens may experi-
ence the same symptoms, but instead of expressing depression through being sad, they often appear mad. They may be hostile, aggressive, and angry. They may start fights, argue, and engage in self-destructive behavior. What seems to be a behavioral problem may in fact be caused by underlying thoughts such as “nobody likes me” or “I’m not good enough.” Since depression is typically the activation of a pre-existing tendency, by the time the symptoms appear, one may have been struggling with feelings of sadness for months or years. Discussing symptoms with a physician, therapist, or psychiatrist and receiving a diagnosis can be a relief; once the depression is acknowledged, it can be treated. There are many effective ways to treat depression, and there is no need to suffer alone.
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 516-568-7493 or at www.southshorecognitive.com.
A candid discussion about the issues threatening to splinter Israeli Society.
The Yeshivos. The Army. The Workforce. The Economy.
Discover the facts & faces, struggles & solutions, numbers & nuances A REALITY CHECK.
Rabbi Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva Yeshiva Darchei Torah
Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg, Rov, Chofetz Chaim Torah Center,
R’ Eli Paley,
Publisher, Mishpacha Magazine
R’ Eytan Kobre - Chairman,
US Desk manager , Mishpacha Magazine
ADDRESS: Moshe and Arielle Wolfson, 501 Cedar Hill Rd. Far Rockaway, NY DATE: Motzei Shabbos, June 8, 2013 TIME: 10:15 pm Men and Women are invited No fee – No solicitations
A CANDID AND COMPELLING CONVERSATION ABOUT THE REALITIES IN ISRAEL TODAY
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Do you see the full spectrum behind the black and white?
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This Motzei Shabbos
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Cover Story Susan Schwamm
For Our Teachers, with Thanks
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t’s hard to believe that the school year is almost over. It seems as if just yesterday we packed up our children’s knapsacks with their newly sharpened pencils and fresh notebooks for the first day of school. We sent them on the bright school buses and then waited for them after school with their afternoon snack of cookies and milk. For ten months, the teachers and rebbeim dedicated their days to teaching our children. They showed them the beauty of our Torah, the intricacies of nature, the logic of math, and the particulars of the English and Hebrew language. They took them to different eras—to the times of the Rishonim and Gaonim and to the times of Christopher Columbus and Ponce de Leon. They took them to different places—to Mitzrayim where the Jews toiled before Hashem took them out and to Europe during the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. Throughout their journeys through times and places, our children’s teachers imbued in them a self-confidence and a desire to learn more about their world. They taught them how to be a good friend, a good person, and most of all, a good Jew. They taught them to be a mensch and the proper way to treat others. They taught them to question and to ask. And they taught them that no question is too small and that no chiddush is insignificant. Even when the lights in the school are off and the hallways are quiet, these dedicated educators are still thinking of their students. They spend their nights preparing the lessons for the next day, grading tests and papers, and conferencing with parents and principals about the best way to reach our children. And now, with the school year almost over, it our time to express our deep appreciation and gratitude to those who helped mold our children over the course of the year.
A Note of Thanks
How do you thank someone who did so much for you and your child? Whenever I speak with teachers and mechanchim, they tell me that the most important
gift they get from parents is a letter or note of thanks written with sincerity and care. Take the time to write about what mattered to you most this year. You can write about something specific or you can write about the overall feeling of the classroom. Teachers put so much detail into their lesson plans. Try to think of the
Even when the lights in the school are off and the hallways are quiet, these dedicated educators are still thinking of their students. little things that made the difference. Once your child reaches a certain age, it is also a nice idea to have him or her pen a small note of appreciation to his or her teachers. This is a wonderful way to highlight the lesson of hakaras hatov. Although your child sees his or her teacher every day, there are many other people who are responsible for the wonderful experience your child had in school this year. It is a good habit to write a note of thanks to the principals as well. In many schools, the principals are intimately involved in the day-to-day activities and make sure that everything is running smoothly behind the scenes. Some children spend some of their days outside of the classroom getting extra help in the resource room
or with therapists in the school. These committed individuals work one-on-one with your child to help them feel confident in their studies. Make sure to reach out to them to thank them for their hard work throughout the year.
A Little Something
As appreciation for a wonderful year, some people like to buy their dedicated teachers a little “something” to express their gratitude. A cash gift card or a gift card to a store that they enjoy is a wonderful present. This way, the teacher can buy something that they like and will use in the future. Some teachers have told me that they appreciated a gift card for a manicure/ pedicure, to Starbucks, and to a local restaurant. Others have told me that they appreciated small gifts for themselves such as nice costume jewelry. Others have told me that they received new cookbooks that they use weekly when cooking for Shabbos. A small plant can spruce up their desk and a nice serving piece or an oven-to-tableware dish is always appreciated. It’s not necessary to go overboard; the note included with the gift is certainly the most important part. One teacher who works in a small school mentioned that one year a parent sent fresh coffee and pastries to the teachers’ room in appreciation for the hard work the staff did that year. Another parent sent storebought kugel to the teachers’ room. Both parents felt a deep appreciation for the dedication that the school showed to their children. For ten months we entrusted our little ones to the competent hands of their mechanchim and mechanchot. They grew and blossomed under their guidance, and now is the perfect time to say thank you. Thank you, dear teachers, for all that you do and for the love and devotion you show to our precious children. TJH would like to thank Rachelli T., Brendy S., Nechama H., Sara L., Chaya F., Baila H. and the other teachers who contributed to this article.
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PRESENTS
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Leisure & Travel
From Sea to Shining Sea: North Carolina
C
arolina is the subject of many songs you’ll hear on the radio while driving down to North Carolina. You’ll hear about the beautiful beaches and the clear waves that crash into the shore. And you’ll hear about the peaceful way of life in North Carolina. But nothing can prepare you for the most wonderful vacation you’ll have sitting on its myriad beaches with a cold glass of iced tea. North Carolina is a big part of U.S. history. Did you know that the first English colony in North America was located on Roanoke Island in North Carolina and was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh? Unfortunately, the colony mysteriously vanished without a trace except for the word “Croatoan” etched into a tree. Speaking about American history, the Wright brothers made history in 1903 when they made the first successful powered flight by man at Kill Devil Hill. And Babe Ruth made baseball history when he hit his first homerun in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914. Who knew that that would be the first of a whopping 714 runs for the Bambino? North Carolina is important (in my eyes at least) because Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was founded in this state. And second-most important (again, in my eyes), Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898. Speaking of food, North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in America. (Pass me some pie!) In fact, students at a Wilson County school actually petitioned the North Carolina general assembly for the establishment of the sweet potato as the official state vegetable.
Things You Won’t Want to Miss The Outer Banks A visit to North Carolina would be incomplete without a day or two spent at the Outer Banks, a long string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. Besides for offering visitors some of the most beautiful beaches in all of the country, the Outer Banks has other attractions for those who don’t wish to spend their day in a towel on the sand. The tumultuous seas right off the Outer Banks and the large number of shipwrecks that have occurred there have given these waters the name the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Indeed, there is a museum in Hatteras Village dedicated to these seas and their ill-fated ships. The Wright brothers started their famous flight at Kill Devil Hills, located on the Outer Banks. The Wright Brothers National Monument commemorates the historic flights, and First Flight Airport is a small, general-aviation air-
field located there. And the English Roanoke Colony vanished from Roanoke Island in 1587. The Lost Colony, a play written to commemorate the original colonists, is the largest running outdoor drama in the United States. The Appalachian Trail Almost 300 miles of this Maine-to-Georgia slice of splendor is located in North Carolina. A hike along the Appalachian Trail is a favorite among avid hikers. The terrain differs as you continue your trek. Some areas feature some 4,000-foot gaps along with 5,000foot peaks. Other sections offer panoramic views of western North Carolina. While hiking, you’ll experience a deep feeling of remoteness in the foliage of the lush forests and flowering shrubs. Dismal Swamp State Park Don’t be scared off by its name; a trip here won’t leave you dismal and you certainly won’t be stuck in the mud while visiting here. Just a few years ago, in 2007, the great Dismal Swamp was designated a state park. In 2008, the park was opened to the public. Make sure to spend some time in this glorious gem where hundreds of butterflies fly freely and subtropical birds sing their sweet songs. The Dismal Swamp Canal is full of canoes and kayaks exploring its waters; visitors enjoy its halfmile boardwalk to the mysterious swamp. North Carolina Arboretum If you’re looking to connect with nature, this treasure of 434 acres contains 65 acres of cultivated gardens that flower and bloom with a rainbow of colors. There are also ten miles of hiking and biking trails to enjoy along with one of the finest, most unique bonsai collections in the United States. If you’re planning your trip now, know that the Mountain Laurel blooms blossom at the end of May, so you’ll be in for a treat when you go there. You can even enjoy the foliage on rented Segways. Who can ask for more?
Susan Schwamm
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111 Yehoshua Levy
Jewish Unity Live
The Rabbi Responds: If we were biological brothers, there should be a natural bond of love and devotion between us. Why? Because we share the same parents. Our parents love us, we love our parents, and our parents want us to love each other. To betray a brother is to betray the parent. But if a child, even unwittingly, doesn’t heed the parents’ rules, a good brother will encourage his sibling to keep the rules. To ignore the situation is to be an apathetic brother, and a lousy son. Our parents may not always have unconditional tolerance for our conduct, but they have unconditional love for us as their children. They don’t want us to unconditionally accept the choices of our siblings, and may even expect us to
guide each other. They also want us to love each other unconditionally. Maybe it’s politically correct to respect everyone’s opinion as a legitimate point of view, but it isn’t logical. If I were to declare a square is a circle, you would be foolish to respect my opinion when I am objectively 100% wrong. But don’t lose respect for me as a person just because you don’t respect my opinion. We need to know that we can disagree about how to observe without it getting personal or translating into negative feelings towards others. The Talmud tells us that the Temple was destroyed and we were exiled because of “baseless hatred.” Historically, the infighting and animosity that was prevalent was hardly baseless. The contentious issues were critical
ones: Jewish sovereignty, faith, and the future of our nation. The disagreements were legitimate. The fact that it got personal and splintered the nation into polarized factions was not. True Jewish unity is not about keeping your values to yourself. It’s not about focusing on our commonalities. It’s about unconditional love despite our differences. All Jews are brothers, as we all share the same Father: G-d Himself. But people are different, have different opinions and free choice. When someone exercises his free will in a way you disagree with, it should never affect the way you feel or care about that person. If you care, you should show that you care. Show that you care about them as fellow Jews and respect them as people, regardless of your personal
views and how they lead their lives. Orthodoxy is anything but intolerant of other Jews. On the contrary, true Torah Judaism requires that even when the behavior of another is intolerable, we tolerate, nay, love, every Jew. G-d’s gift to the Jews was His Torah. Ever since, Torah study has been a unifying entity that brings all Jews together, regardless of labels and affiliations. What unites all of them is that they are all involved somehow in Torah study. With love, Yehoshua levy 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.
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Dear Rabbi, Why are Orthodox Jews so intolerant of other Jews that don’t conform to their practices? Isn’t Jewish unity of paramount importance, and disunity the reason we are in exile?
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Ask the Attorney Sol Sokel, Esq.
How Did I End up in Brooklyn?! I was sued and it was a total shock. To make matters worse, the lawyer hired by my insurance company gave me no clear answers. Here is what happened. I was driving a block from my home and stopped at a stop sign, but my neighbor did not realize I stopped and rear-ended me. While my neighbor is great, my neighbor was not too smart to give a ride to a less-than-desirable person who lived in the area. Then, to my shock, my neighbor and I were served with a Summons & Complaint for a lawsuit in the Supreme Court in Kings County, which is Brooklyn! That is ridiculous! Anyway, I did learn from my neighbor that when the accident happened, that person was in the middle of a divorce and moving to Brooklyn. But, for goodness sake, I live in Woodmere, so how did I end up in Brooklyn?! The Attorney Responds: You are raising a basic legal issue in personal injury practice that even smart attorneys get wrong. In fact, the majority of my practice involves defending lawsuits against people such as yourself on behalf of insurance companies, and I often have to correct the errors made by other attorneys. Unfortunately, the “error” is often no mistake and requires a motion to the appropriate Court to be corrected. Regardless, for a client such as yourself, not knowing or understanding what is going on in a personal injury lawsuit can often be the worst part of the case. Every proficient, experienced and knowledgeable personal injury lawyer makes it a priority, so long as reason
ably possible, to keep the client well-informed and comfortable with an understanding of what and why certain things are done or taking place. Regarding your case, please first be informed that you were sued in State Supreme Court. In this regard, a preliminary decision by the lawyer who brought
A rationale for the rule in §503 is to avoid, as much as possible, inconveniencing the parties to the lawsuit. So long as one of the parties lives in the county, the cumulative inconvenience to the parties should be less. By comparison, if no such law existed, a discourteous attorney could make a
So long as one of the parties lives in the county, the cumulative inconvenience to the parties should be less. the lawsuit was to determine in which county to bring it; in legalese, the lawyer needed to choose the “venue” in which to bring the lawsuit. The plaintiff’s lawyer has the right to choose the venue by virtue of §509 of the “C.P.L.R.” (Civil Practice Law and Rules; “§” is a symbol abbreviating the word “Section”). The right of the plaintiff’s attorney to choose the venue is common sense since that lawyer has to start the lawsuit somewhere. However, the right to choose the county for the proper venue is provided in §503. That section provides that the place of the venue “shall be in the county in which one of the parties resided when [the lawsuit] was commenced.” Since, in your case, the plaintiff moved to Brooklyn and lived there at the commencement of the lawsuit, Brooklyn is a proper venue for the lawsuit. In this regard, Brooklyn is an appropriate venue for the entire lawsuit, including the parts against you.
bad situation even worse. For instance, if the plaintiff’s attorney had an office in Buffalo and wanted to take advantage of the circumstances, he might commence the lawsuit in Erie County, which would be an obvious inconvenience if you would be required to go across the state for the trial. To avoid such a scenario, at least one of the parties must reside in the county when and where the lawsuit is commenced. (Aren’t you glad that your plaintiff did not move to Buffalo?) Regardless, I often see other lawyers overlook proper use of the venue rules. For instance, I have seen attorneys pick a venue based on the location of the lawyer’s office or the accident location. Under such circumstances, it becomes the job of the defendant’s attorney to make an appropriate motion to the Court to have the case moved to the correct venue. Along these lines, I remember getting a good laugh when I received a case in which the plaintiff’s lawyer brought the case in Richmond County (a/k/a Staten Island) since the lawyer was not aware that Richmond Hill is actually in Queens. What an inconvenience and disservice to his client! Nevertheless, at times there are overriding considerations provided by the law to change the venue despite the resi-
dence of the parties. In C.P.L.R. § 510(2), the law provides that the venue can be changed when there is reason to believe that an “impartial trial” cannot be had in the proper county. Another exception is provided in §510(3), “when the convenience of material witnesses and the ends of justice will be promoted by the change.” The percentage of lawsuits that have a venue change based on either or both of these exceptions is very small. As an example of such, I had a case involving an oversized Japanese shipping container being hauled from New Jersey on a Canadian tractor-trailer that slammed into a New York State Thruway overpass. This caused my Westchester client to swerve in front of an approaching tractor-trailer owned by an international retailer. Sadly, my client’s husband, an officer for a national corporation, died as a result of the heavy impact that followed. Primarily due to multiple upstate eyewitnesses, first-responders, police and investigators, the venue was changed from Manhattan (a/k/a New York County) to Orange County, where the accident occurred. The Court found that “the convenience of material witnesses and the ends of justice will be promoted by the change” of venue to Orange County. Not a typical case. Do not think for a moment, though, that the top-notch plaintiff’s attorney in that case made a mistake or simply acquiesced to the venue change; the motion to change venue to Orange County was opposed very aggressively by the plaintiff’s attorney (in motion papers, of course). Moreover, this brings us to a major part of my answer to your question. In fact, I will answer a question that you are likely already asking yourself, “Why didn’t the plaintiff’s attorney simply bring the lawsuit in Nassau County?!” After all, both you and your neighbor reside in Nassau County. The answer is very simple and yet very surprising to many people. That is, all else being equal, the value of a case
Sol Z. Sokel, Esq. (a/k/a Shlomo) is associated with the AV rated law firm, Kelly, Rode & Kelly LLP, located in Mineola and Riverhead. He lives in Cedarhurst with his wife and five children. He can be reached at szsokel@krklaw.com (516) 739-0400. CNG Networking Group is an Orthodox Jewish networking group that meets in Queens and Long island. The Attorney Subgoup of CNG has eight members with various specialties: Trusts and Estates, Real Estate, Matrimonial, Criminal, Personal Injury, Trademark/Copyright, Tax, Nonprofits, and Litigation. e 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 clear understanding of the issues presented and potential means for 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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As a general rule of thumb regarding “downstate” New York venues, it is well established that cases in Brooklyn and the Bronx are considered to have greatly enhanced value, so they are places where plaintiffs wants to be. By contrast, the suburbs of New York City (Nassau, Suffolk and north of the City), plus Staten Island in New York City, are counties where cases have less value and are, therefore, venues where defendants want to be. Queens and Manhattan fall in between The basis for the great disparity in values is an issue which has been debated in the legal community for a long time. In all honesty, the most discussed reasons relate to the jury system and those reasons are not “politically correct,” so I will pass on discussing them. Finally, this venue issue can, and does, bring out the worst in some lawyers. For instance, I was defending a client at a deposition venued in Staten Island that was mistakenly commenced in Brooklyn. The case arose from a two car accident in Staten Island. In fact, the parties (one plaintiff and one defendant) always lived in Staten Island, so there was no basis whatsoever for the commencement of the case in Brooklyn. During the deposition of my client, the plaintiff’s attorney took a very aggressive and negative tone towards my client, asking several improper questions. As an aside, my client was well-prepared and kept her composure throughout the proceedings. Plus, inasmuch as there was no judge present for the deposition, which is proper and normal routine, I determined that there was no need to “bust” the deposi-
tion since the situation seemed more of an unwitting embarrassment to that attorney than any harm to my client. Regardless, the basis for the tirade by plaintiff’s counsel then became known when my client testified that she “leased the vehicle” in Brooklyn. It was absolutely bizarre that this seemingly smart plaintiff’s attorney mistakenly believed that Brooklyn was a proper venue based on the location of the signing of the lease. He honestly thought, and expressed, that defense counsel had “deceived the Court” when “fraudulently” filing a motion to move the case to State Island. As a further aside, if you are thinking that there was a basis to sue the leasing company or something like that, there was none; this was a straight personal injury lawsuit arising from a motor vehicle accident between two cars with one occupant in each. As you and I both know, however, the location where the vehicle is leased is irrelevant; what matters is the residence of the parties. In the interim, unfortunately, while that attorney made a fool of himself, what you and I both know now is actually elementary to every proficient, experienced and knowledgeable personal injury lawyer. P.S. If you are wondering what ultimately happened in my case in Staten Island, the case is still pending, while the plaintiff’s attorney continues to effectively “threaten” to appeal. If you are wondering what ultimately happened in my case in Orange County, I was successful on behalf of my client in having the claims dismissed, as were some of the other defense attorneys. Nevertheless, the case against the remaining defendants went to trial and purportedly resulted in the largest jury verdict in the history of Orange County.
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varies significantly depending on the venue. For example, a case in Suffolk County has a value which is far less than the same case in the Bronx. Accordingly, an attorney will have great preference to start the case in the Bronx, if one of the parties to the lawsuit is a resident of the Bronx. By comparison, the value of your case in Brooklyn seemingly far exceeds the value of your case in Nassau County, which is very possibly why it was commenced there. Similarly, in my case which I just mentioned above, the value of the case was far less in Orange County than it was in New York County, for which reason plaintiff’s counsel made a strong effort to oppose the change.
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Health & Fitness Avromy Segal
Post-Shavuos Weight Loss
P
How to Think Yourself Thin Without Ever Dieting!
esach is long gone and Shavuos has just passed. Hopefully you had a meaningful holiday with friends, family, good company and of course…good food! If you’re like most people, you’ve probably put on anywhere from two to ten pounds and your clothing is a bit tight! With the cheesecake and other holiday treats showing on your waistline, you are most likely fed up and ready to take action. In this article, I’m going to show you how to literally think yourself thin without ever dieting. If you’re looking for a diet or a “get thin quick” scheme, then you’ve come to the wrong place. Here’s a harsh but true reality: Diets don’t work. They are only temporary solutions. How long can you stay on a diet anyway? My guess is only as long as you can stay motivated, and if history is any indication, with all the drama we face daily in our life, our motivation to stay disciplined will disappear relatively quickly. They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Most people have been dieting for years. How’s that working out for us as a community? If a person is serious about wanting long term results, it’s time to try something different. So what can be done differently? Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been bitten by an elephant? How about a mosquito? You see, it’s really the small things in life that will bite you. So instead of focusing on dieting, let’s explore how to think yourself thin. I Think I Can! Most people think that the reason they struggle with their weight is because of Shabbos and Yom Tov, or because of the constant invitations to simchas. While that’s a HUGE obstacle and something that must be addressed, that’s not entirely true. What a person eats or how much someone exercises does influence weight loss, but to make sure those behaviors stick one needs to change the way he or she thinks. This is true because the way we think impacts the way we feel which influences the actions we take, and everybody knows that our actions determine our results. The first step in thinking yourself thin lies in understanding the role
Here’s a harsh but true reality: Diets don’t work. thoughts play in creating results in our life. We all have little voices that talk to us on a daily basis. These voices have huge influences on the outcome of what we do. There’s an old saying, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t…you’re right!” Those little voices predetermine the outcome of what we do and have a huge impact on whether or not we will make that long term lifestyle change that will lead to permanent weight loss. To illustrate this point, let me tell you a story. In 1954, in the world of track and field, it was considered impossible for a human being to run a mile in under 4 minutes. Many medical practitioners at that time believed that the pace required to run a sub-4 minute mile would cause the human heart to explode in the rib cage. One person who refused to accept this theory was a medical student and runner in Oxford named Roger Banister. Banister had been trying to break 4 minutes for years, but was never able to get his time below 4:03. One day he woke up and realized that he was trying to do the same thing all the other runners in the world who were trying to beat 4 minutes were doing. He was going to the track every day and trying to run a little bit harder and faster and it wasn’t working. He had an “aha moment” that he put to the test in an ordinary track meet. What had been missing? He never really believed he could do it. On May 6th of 1954, Roger Banister broke the impossible barrier. He ran the mile in 3:59.4 minutes. This showed every other runner in the world that it could be done. He changed the game from “can it be done?” to “how fast can it be done?” The ironic twist is that since 1954, thousands of people have run a 4 minute mile to date. While these
runners were no doubt in exceptional shape, each and every one of them had a secret weapon: power of thought. They believed it was possible, and it became a real possibility. Thinking Yourself Thin So right now you’re thinking, “What does this have to do with losing weight?” EVERYTHING! Like I said before, losing weight has everything to do with how you think. Here’s the cycle. The way we think determines how we feel and our feelings determine the actions that we take -- or don’t take. Our actions determine our results and our results reaffirm our thoughts and beliefs! I lost 55 pounds following the Kosher Challenge Meal Plan, which is the meal plan associated with the coaching that we offer, but it isn’t a nutritional program to which I attribute my results. It was the mental challenge – getting my head in the game – that gave me the ability to stick to the disciplines necessary to get the results I wanted. The Law of the Tug Have you ever played tug-of-war as a kid? The winner is always the side that tugs the hardest. Life is like a game of tug-of-war. We are constantly bombarded with negativity. Think about the last time you asked someone how they were doing. They either told you about all their problems, or they said that things are great. Rarely do people go into detail about why their life is so amazing but rest assured when things aren’t going well, they can go on and on. Negativity is all around us. I’ve heard it said that you are the average sum of the five people you spend the most time with. Look around your inner circle and ask yourself if the people you are hanging around are bringing
you down in life or lifting you up. When trying to lose weight, having a positive attitude and mindset is crucial and if the negativity in your life is tugging you in the wrong direction and you don’t tug back with something positive to counter the negative energy, the chances of you taking action towards long-term weight loss are slim (pun intended). Call To Action I am calling you to action. Don’t worry; the nice part of making a longterm lifestyle change is that you focus on small changes that you can sustain over an extended period of time. Something that’s simple! But let me first share a word of caution. The things that are simple to do are also very easy not to do. That’s why it’s important to make a decision and follow through. Here’s the action step: spend five minutes a day of tugging yourself in the right direction via a good motivational book, an inspirational audio CD, a positive conversation or simply giving someone else encouragement. By listening to or reading something that lifts you up each day, you have a chance of countering all the negative thinking that’s created by all the noise in your life; you have a chance at developing the mindset to think yourself thin! Do you want to know the difference between those who get long term weight loss results versus the typical yo-yo dieters? They both hate doing the activities that lead to long term weight loss. The successful people just do it anyways. Now that the Yomim Tovim are over, let’s come together as a community and make the upfront decision to support each other in sticking to the lifestyle changes that we know will get us the results we are looking for. Are you up for the challenge?
Avromy Segal is an entrepreneur, blogger and the founder of the Kosher Challenge, a Kosher-based weight loss competition, empowering Jews across the globe to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. To learn more about the kosher challenge and to gain access to the free webinar, “The 3 principles of long-term kosher weight loss,” visit www.kosherchallenge.com. Avromy can be reached at avromy@kosherchallenge.com or by phone at 516-522-0407.
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Community
Achiezer’s Inaugural Dinner: A One of a Kind Event The Achdus was palpable; the excitement incalculable. Never before has a community so diverse come together to show support for so elementary a concept: the concept of chesed. Achiezer, now a well-known model of chesed, held its inaugural dinner a mere four years after introducing itself to the Far Rockaway and Five Towns community. In this short time, Achiezer’s reach has grown by leaps and bounds. Whether for medical recommendations, crisis intervention, mental health support, insurance enrollment, financial budgeting, legal assistance, specialized equipment, bereavement services or hos-
pital support, Achiezer has been there for the community; and on this unforgettable night, the community was there for Achiezer. Over 1,200 people, including more than 45 rabbanim, gathered on Sunday evening at The Sands Atlantic Beach, to pay tribute, become educated, and get involved. Attendees from all corners of the community and beyond banded together in an unprecedented demonstration of support and unity. The evening was both enjoyable and inspiring. The event opened with an impressive buffet dinner impeccably catered by Michael Schick, and a lavish su-
Dr. Norman Saffra receiving his award
Boruch Chiya Aryeh, Gavriel Berger, Chanan Greenwald, Chaim Shalom Leibowitz
Alan & Sharoni Botwinick receiving their award
Menachem Soffer & Menachem Pollack
Dr. Brucha Lowinger Psy.D. receiving a surprise award
Aaron Solomon, Michael Krengel, Meir Krengel
shi bar sponsored by Seasons and Stop, Chop and Roll. The program then commenced in the Chuppah room. Chairman of the Board Mr. Shulie Wollman opened the evening by welcoming over 30 representatives from local and statewide organizations which have partnered with Achiezer. Mr. Wollman then introduced Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender, Founder, who delivered a powerful address demonstrating how a favor done for someone else is, in reality, a favor to oneself. Rabbi Bender then presented a surprise award to Dr. Brucha Lowinger in appreciation of all of her efforts in expanding the Mental Health Depart-
Honorees Reuven Spirn, Alan Botwinick, Rabbi Yehiel Kalish
Danny Gluck, Commanding Officer of NCPD Auxilary Unit, with Rabbi Boruch B. Bender
Mark Silber, Rabbi Boruch B. Bender
ment and her heroic efforts in assisting families who were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Rabbi Bender concluded his remarks urging the community to get involved, in any way possible, thereby making our families stronger and the community stronger. Following Rabbi Bender’s passionate words, Far Rockaway resident Mr. Yossi Lieber stunned the audience by ascending the stage, unannounced. With overflowing emotions, Mr. Lieber recounted his experience during his recent stroke, just a few weeks ago. “Without Achiezer,” Mr. Lieber said poignantly, “I would not be alive today.” Mr. Lieber
Rabbi Boruch B. Bender and Rabbi Zvi Ralbag
Yehuda Klinkowitz of TOVA, Rabbi Boruch B. Bender, Yitzy Halpern, Rabbi Yechiel Weberman
Reuven Spirn with family and friends
Rabbi and Mrs. Boruch B. Bender and Dr. & Mrs. Jason Ostreicher
PHOTO CREDITS: Tsemach Glenn and Moshe Gershbaum
Nathan Kraznovsky of the JCC and Rabbi Boruch B. Bender
Mr. & Mrs. Ben Lowinger
Mr. & Mrs. Aroni Parnes
Alon Goldberger, Yoli Edelstein, Rabbi Boruch B. Bender, Rabbi Shai Markowitz
implored the crowd to join in a standing ovation and recognize Achiezer’s critical, lifesaving work. The program continued with video presentations to each of the distinguished honorees: Mr. & Mrs. Alan Botwinick, Guests of Honor; Rabbi Yehiel M. Ka-
lish, Community Hakoras Hatov Award; Dr. Norman Saffra, Physician Appreciation Award; Mr. & Mrs. Reuven (Ronald) Spirn, Esq., Community Service Award; and Mr. & Mrs. Moshe Ratner, Young Leadership Award. The Legislative Leadership Award was presented to
Rabbi Boruch B. Bender, Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky, Rabbi Binyomin Kamenetzky, Michael Krengel
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, by Congressman Gregory Meeks. HaRav Simcha HaKohen Kook shlit’a, Rav of the Churva Shul in Yerushalayim and Rechovot, then led the crowd with the recitation of Tehillim and Birchas Kohanim. The program concludMr. Yossi Lieber giving a stirring testimonial ed with an incredible video production by KolRom MeAs the attendees left the hall, the dia, which showcased Achiezer’s vital unanimous reaction was one of exhilaeveryday services as well as the unfor- ration and awe. This evening of historic gettable role which Achiezer played in measures was truly one of a kind: a one the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The of a kind organization, a one of a kind evening then drew to a close with an ex- community ... all brought together with pansive dessert buffet for all to enjoy. one simple goal: chesed.
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder flanked by Congressman Gregory Meeks and Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano
Reuven & Barbara Spirn receiving an award
Community
Shalom Jaroslawicz, Rabbi Shalom Axelrod, Rabbi Boruch B. Bender, Tom Suozzi, Izzy Wasser, Michael Krengel, Shlomo Zuller, Lloyd Keilson
Eli Weiss, Dovid Bloom, Rabbi Boruch B. Bender, Shalom Jaroslawicz, Rabbi Yehiel Kalish, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, Lloyd Keilson
Mr. & Mrs. Leon Lantsman and Mr. & Mrs. Pinny Ackerman
Moshe and Nechama Ratner receiving an award
Rabbi Tzvi Flaum and Irwin Gershon of UJA
Lloyd Keilson Dr. Moshe Schlusselberg, Michael Krengel
Mr. & Mrs. Shlomo Zuller and Mr. & Mrs. David Sokol
Rabbi Boruch B. Bender addressing the crowd
Dr. & Mrs. Donny Haller – it says Dr. and Mrs. Donny & Haller
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Awardee Dr. Norman Saffra and family
NEWS
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Lola Lieber Schwartz
A World After This
A Memoir of Loss and Redemption
continued - Chapter 15 Strange Interlude
M
echel and I warned the family that trouble was ahead. Everyone in Munkach referred to what was happening as “IT” – as if by not naming the enemy, not saying words like Hitler, the Reich, the SS, the Gestapo, the Nazis, every danger would vanish. Much as Mechel tried, his powers of persuasion did not work. They simply refused to believe what we were saying. I couldn’t believe that they didn’t believe us. Only my uncle Jeno took what we said seriously and immediately put money into Swiss bank accounts. My grandfather was distracted by our conversation about crossing the border and began to digress about how my parents had met. “It was in a border town. Just where you came from, I think. That is where they met. They had a one-day courtship. The wedding here was such an enormous affair that it lasted the full seven days of sheva brachos (festive meals during the week after the wedding).” We all stared at him. Poor Grandfather! He had lost himself for a moment in a happy memory of the past before he realized he had inadvertently directed full focus on my parents. The “presence” of the absence of Mammiko and Tattiko was the largest thing in the room. We changed the subject. I looked at the faces of Uncle Beri and Mechel and Goldie and at that moment I think I did know the truth. Much later I was told what happened to Mammiko and Tattiko. Someone in Bochnia, a Polish child in the neighborhood perhaps, or perhaps Rose’s girlfriend – someone saw them getting into the coal truck that was to leave after ours. It was reported immediately. The Nazis arrived before the truck could leave. They were pulled out of the truck, one by one, and murdered on the spot, along with the driver,
and dumped into a mass grave. Although I did not know this then, I was nonetheless filled with longing for Mammiko and Tattiko. I went into the kitchen to help Grandmother. She looked at me with tear-filled eyes, and in a gesture of acceptance and resignation took off her diamond ring. It was a beautiful ring that was always on her
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. close to the border to remain as “undocumented aliens.” We would be under house arrest in the garden, which I thought was just fine, but it wasn’t practical. We had to return to Budapest where problems of documents and identities could be “fixed.” What a word to use I thought. Nothing could be fixed because everything in our lives was
She, like all the millions and all the individuals we lost, has no grave, no marker, no place to leave a stone that says I have been there.
finger. It had a large diamond in the middle surrounded by smaller diamonds. It was a priceless and beautiful creation, for the smaller diamonds surrounding the large one were cut to look like flower petals. It was a ring with a diamond flower for the woman with the enchanted garden. This was the ring promised to me when I married. “The time is now, Leiku.” Grandmother tried to place the ring on my finger but I hugged her so that she could not reach my finger. My heart was breaking and so was hers. We both knew this gift meant something else. She had heard what Mechel was saying. She did not know if there would be another opportunity to give me the ring. Perhaps she knew she would never see her daughter, my Mammiko, again. I refused the ring. I wanted to believe that if I did not take the ring, we would be reunited and whole again as a family. “No. I want you to wear this ring until you are at least 120 years old,” I said. When Shabbos was over, we held a family meeting. I wanted to stay in Munkach and so did Mechel, but we were at a major disadvantage. We had papers that were Nazi in origin and had our real names on them. We were too
broken. We said good-bye to my family. We were disappearing before their eyes and they knew it. I asked Goldie to come to Budapest with us. In fact, I begged her to come with us. Mechel implored her to come and stay with us. She declined. She would not say why but it was clear that even Mechel could not get his way this time. I believe she simply could not bear to leave our grandparents. I looked back as we left and I saw
my sister in profile standing at the garden gate in Munkach. She remained a portrait of beauty even though she was now pale, thin, and weakened. We waved to each other but there were no last-minute indications that all would be well as it had been when I had left for Krynica. I wanted to run back to her, but Mechel put his arm around my shoulders. Goldie was taken while we were in Budapest. She was part of the deportations from Munkach in the spring of 1944. I do not know the exact date of my sister’s death, only its certainty. She, like all the millions and all the individuals we lost, has no grave, no marker, no place to leave a stone that says I have been there. She lives on forever in memory in the glow of the garden in Munkach that last Shabbos we spent together. My beautiful golden girl, my only sister. Continued next week Lola wrote this book with the help of Alida Brill. A World After This was published in 2010 by Devora Publishing.
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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
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Shabbos Food for Thought
want an honest answer. Do you make a new recipe every Shabbos, or do you go with the old, dependable ones? What do you feel about those people who experiment on their company by serving brand new recipes to them? Are they actually secure people or are they totally inconsiderate? Like are they saying, “Well, they’ll like me even if my food comes out tasting bad” or “who really cares whether they like it or not?” Do bakeries have a challah braiding machine? Why do their challahs look perfect every time, yet taste so commercial, while homemade challah tastes perfect, yet often looks like it was in a car crash on its way from the kitchen to the table? Aren’t we funny when we say “I made homemade gefilte fish”? How does it differ from storebought? It seems with one all you do is add the finishing touch, a carrot on top, while with the other you first boil it in some flavored water then you stick the carrot on top. What happened to the real homemade version where you left the fish swimming around your bathtub all week, then took it from there and actually turned it into gefilte fish—like my mom says her mom used to do. And what do they actually do to “gefilte fish” it?! Seriously, if you know, don’t even think of telling me or I’ll probably never look at it again! Now let’s talk cholent. Imagine serving that with a sprig of parsley and a daisy on the plate, along with a drizzle of sauce decorating it down the side. I think we can all agree this food is all about taste, not delivery. Addictive— yes, tasteful—yes, yet definitely not one of our artistic culinary accomplishments. Over the years I’ve worked hard to give definition to my Shabbos meals. This is in order to help us all get clarity on our caloric weekend intake. Let me explain: • The salads are just that—salads. You can bank on them to be low fat. There’s no hidden agenda. No terra chips, soup noodles, fruit potpourri, or sugar-coated nuts with fried onions lurking stealthily behind the cucumber or lettuce. • My cooked vegetables are in
their purest form. I avoid grinding them up and turning them into some form of embellished quiche or kugel. • And my apple pies, cranberry crunches, and carrot muffins are not slipped in as a side dish. They are delivered at dessert time to be factored in as just that: a dessert. And with all this, we still seem to gain 200 pounds each Shabbos. I guess the Carlos & Gabby’s popcorn chicken and Oh Nuts candy platters that someone smuggles in each week aren’t helping any! Honestly, it appears Shabbos rolls around each week and we face the same challenge: what to prepare and how not to eat it!
It would be great to walk it off, but whenever we are walking on Shabbos, it’s usually to the next meal. People say you don’t gain weight on Shabbos. That might be true…if you don’t eat! They say your extra soul is sharing the food with you. I say that extra soul seems to have much more discipline than I do, and obviously likes to fly light, because it leaves most of the food solidly with me. Shabbos may be the day of rest, but it would be nice if we could also arrest some of our eating. Yet somehow G-d must have had a plan here. And there my friends, is your Shabbos Food for Thought! I have my theory but… Hey, here’s an idea. You can discuss it at your table. That way you may be able to come up for air! Rivki Rosenwald is a certified life coach and relationship counselor, as well as a space design consultant. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com.
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The Creative Mind and Wisdom During the Aging Process
I
recently wrote a 30 page paper on this topic. I was interested in finding out for my own reasons how we are affected by age. I am by nature a creative person and enjoy every minute of it. I wanted to be certain that I would not have to pack up my art supplies at some future date and mark them not usable. Not because there was anything wrong with them but because I wouldn’t be able to make use of them. I guess we all have our own individual fears and uncertainties that we do not like to admit, at least publicly. Now the entire neighborhood knows how attached I am to my creative projects and hobbies. I never want to grow too old to enjoy the many projects that I have done and the new ones that I find
out about each and every day. In the book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, I found a wonderful
produced before the age of seventy is not worth taking into account. At seventy- three, I have learned a little about
“When I am eighty, I shall have made more progress; at ninety, I shall penetrate the mystery of things; at a hundred, I shall have reached a marvelous stage.”
passage: “From the age of six, I had a mania for drawing the form of things. By the time I was fifty, I had published an infinity of designs, but all that I have
the real structure of nature, of animals, plants, birds, fishes, and insects. In consequence, when I am eighty, I shall have made more progress; at ninety, I shall penetrate the mystery of things; at a hundred, I shall have reached a marvelous stage; and when I am a hundred and ten, everything I do, be it a dot or a line, will be alive. Written at the age of seventy-five by me, once Hokusi, today Osakis Robin, old man mad about drawing” (Edwards, 1989, p.232). It was from this writing that I began my research which led me on a path of discovery which I will share with the readers of this column. There are many important questions that lay heavy on my mind. Does the creative mind sharpened with experience, knowledge and its innate flexibility to achieve higher awareness, enhance our wisdom as we age? Does it lose some of its creative juices and abilities during the aging process? What are some of these interesting hobbies during old age that help ignite the fire of wisdom? (Please email me back any positive feedback that you wish to share. It can be about your own experiences with a family member or at work. It can also be an observation that was done on one
of your visits to a nursing home, old age home, retirement community, recreational center, etc.) While doing my research I found amazing information which pertains to the accomplishments of some famous people during their senior years. Robert Bridges lived from 1844-1930. He wrote great poetry at the age of 74 and 81. At the age of 85, he published his last poem, in the year 1929. Nicholas Andry lived from 1658-1742 and wrote a medical book at the age of 83. The artist Blake made 21 water color prints that became famous between the ages of 66-68. Another famous artist, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, who lived from 1780-1867, created a masterpiece at the age of 76. These contributions were all considered works of the very highest quality. Now that I have whet your appetites, stay tuned for part two, where I
will be sharing additional interesting and stimulating pieces of information in the next issue. All comments can be emailed to me at nherzberg@optonline.net and I will share the information that I receive with the readers of this column.
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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