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December 24, 2020

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers, Yitzy Halpern

his week, I saw a short interview with an Israeli actor who plays an undercover operative in a famous Israeli show that has since gone international. The actor’s family hails from Kurdistan and he is not religious and yet he loves to play Chabad niggunim. When asked about why he connects with Chabad, he told the interviewer that, after completing his army service, he headed to India – “it’s a tradition. After the army, you need to go to Beit Chabad and search for a kosher meal.” What struck me about the interview was that this actor feels very connected to Chabad and Yiddishkeit, and yet is not yet religious. He’s an actor and a musician and a songwriter, even auditioning on Israel’s version of “America’s Got Talent.” But he feels a closeness to his religious brothers and sisters. Regardless of our external differences, as Jews, we feel very much connected to each other. At certain times, our differences become more pronounced. In fact, there’s no place where we see that more clearly than in Israel, where they are heading to elections yet another time. I do not envy the citizens of Israel who will be bom-

barded with political ads, maneuverings, and shenanigans over the next few weeks. But at our core, we all have the same goal and the same heart. We see our similarities clearly when emotions run high. When a new agreement with another Middle East country comes through, the entire country rejoices. And, unfortunately, when we hear of the tragic murder of a young mother on Sunday evening, we join together in mourning and in outrage. Ultimately, we are one nation. Rabbi Steven Weil, in this week’s issue, notes that Israel is the “great unifier.” He asserts that the State of Israel and the IDF bring together Jews from all walks of life, from different countries and different backgrounds. Sure, they look different and they may eat different foods and even speak different languages at home. But upon digging deep, they notice that there are more similarities than differences between these Jewish brothers and sisters. Their goals are the same; their values are the same. They are, ultimately, one nation. Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana

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Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll

Community Happenings

NEWS

Global

National

Odd-but-True Stories

ISRAEL Israel News

My Israel Home

JEWISH THOUGHT Rabbi Wein on the Parsha

Protect the Candle by Rav Moshe Weinberger

Parsha Ponderings

PEOPLE The Wandering Jew

Rabbi Steven Weil: Israel is the Great Unifier

The Heroes of Machal by Avi Heiligman

102

FDR, the Nazis, and the Jews of Morocco by Rafael Medoff

104

HEALTH & FITNESS Parts in Relationships by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

A Healthy Breakfast by Cindy Weinberger MS, RD

Parenting Pearls

FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Mediterranean Turkey Schnitzel 96 LIFESTYLES

110

Dear Editor, Ever since the beginning of Covid-19, many aspects of our daily routine have been affected negatively and positively. Many people had the opportunity to spend more time with their family, while others tragically lost family members. Our lives have all changed in personal, private, and even religious matters. One of the victims of this pandemic is small businesses. According to Yelp, at least 800 businesses close every day of the pandemic. Other estimates show that it could be 1,600 businesses! These are not people’s hobbies or extra activities; these are people’s livelihoods. Democrat and even some Republican governors have to stop playing around with

people’s livelihoods! We can be safe at the same time people work. The approach that should be adopted is an approach of personal responsibility. Business owners should be able to assess their situations with the data available. If we restrict people to choose for themselves, businesses will only keep shutting down. Currently, the bottom five in terms of unemployment numbers are all run by Democrat governors including, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Nevada, and Louisiana, who chose the opposite approach. Of the 50 cities where small businesses are closed the most, only 10 are run by a Republican, while the other 40 are run by Democrats or non-partisans, according to visualcapitalist.com. That does not mean that being a Democrat or a Republican made them choose one approach or the other, but it is a strong indicator of the differences that each party believes in: government is the rulers of our society vs. liberty of the people. Covid is a dangerous virus, but to counteract Covid with dangerous policies is pointless and unhelpful. Sincerely, Donny Simcha Guttman Dear Editor, I wanted to inform your readers that, as of this past week, I officially became a columnist for an amazing satire website called the GeneContinued on page 10

Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW 86 Looking for a Change? by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS 110 HUMOR

Centerfold 70 POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

Trump Must Stop Denying Russia’s Complicity by Marc A. Thiessen 100 Time for “Creative Passivity” in the Mideast by David Ignatius CLASSIFIEDS

To the Editors, I am writing this immediately after finishing reading the unbelievable interview, “Did You Get Your Vaccine?” Susan Schwamm did with the incredible Dr. Naor Bar Zeev. I believe this piece is must reading for everyone! Dr. Bar Zeev is honest, transparent, and extremely informative. This piece is such a breath of fresh air and so valuable during such polarized times. I greatly appreciate that The Jewish Home has been covering COVID-19 and other health topics so intelligently and responsibly. Sincerely, Alisa Minkin MD

101 106

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sius Times. The website is the gold standard for political satire, and I couldn’t be more excited to join their team! Their website is https://genesiustimes.com/. If you enjoy political satire, you’ll definitely enjoy their website. Please keep an eye out for articles I post on their website. Thank you to my loyal fans, Rafi Metz Dear Editor, Rabbi Benny Berlin’s article in this week’s paper, “Hashem’s Embrace in the Darkness,” was inspiring. I spent a few minutes on Shabbos after reading the article thinking through the past few months. I can honestly say that, once I searched for them, there were so many “neshikahs” from Hashem, so many acts of love in the darkness. Even though the past few months have been hard, and even now, when we see that another wave is upon us, I see His love emanating from Above. If we can all spend a few minutes each day looking for those kisses for Above and those “besamim” in our lives, we will have more inspired, content, beautiful lives. A Reader

Dear Editor, Your paper highlights so many inspiring people. But this week, your article on Vicki Tiferet, the United Hatzalah member who suffers from a chronic inflammatory disease, really stopped me in my tracks. Vicki’s entire mahus, her entire “being,” is about doing chessed. She doesn’t stop helping people, even when she is in pain. She is considered handicapped by the Israeli government. And yet, it’s her pain that is her impetus to keep going. She knows that at a certain point she will be unable to move in the way that she wishes. And so, she wants to “stuff” all the giving and helping into this time. What a powerful lesson! Thank G-d, we are capable, healthy people. How often do we race out of the house to do a chessed for someone? How often do we go beyond ourselves and reach out to another person? Life is not about doing what’s easy for you; it’s about pushing past those struggles that we have and reaching for our goals and our potentials. Vicki is the best example of this. She is a true hero. Chaya Roth

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The Week In News

Russia Flag, Anthem Banned from Olympics

Russia has been banned from using its flag and anthem in the next two Olympics and any world championship for the next two years for its involvement in a massive doping scandal. The ruling was handed down by The Court of Arbitration for Sport,

a Swiss international court founded by multiple sports leagues in 1984 to mediate athletic disputes between countries. As punishment for what the World Anti-Doping Agency called “widespread abuse of performance enhancing drugs,” Russia will be banned from using its name, flag, and anthem and from hosting major sports competitions until 2022. The ruling means that Russian athletes will not be banned from competing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, and the World Cup in Doha in 2022. Rather than wearing their national attire, Russian athletes will be outfitted in uniforms labeled simply “Neutral Athlete” or “Neutral Team.” In a small concession, the Court allowed Russian athletes to wear their national colors as long as it did not resemble their flag and to write “Russia” on their uniform in small letters. RUSADA, Russia’s anti-doping body, was also fined $1.27 million. The Court’s decision is a small win for Moscow, as the international body halved the four-year ban recommended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). “It has considered matters of pro-

portionality and, in particular, the need to effect cultural change and encourage the next generation of Russian athletes to participate in clean international sport,” the panel stated. The decision was hailed by WADA President Witold Bańka as a victory despite the Court having had rejected its recommended four-year ban. “The panel has clearly upheld our findings that the Russian authorities brazenly and illegally manipulated the Moscow Laboratory data in an effort to cover up an institutionalized doping scheme,” Bańka said. The ruling was met by disbelief and condemnation throughout the world by athletes and anti-doping activists who asserted that the twoyear ban was inordinately lenient. U.S. anti-doping agency head Travis Tygar blasted the decision as a “weak, watered-down outcome” for “robbing sport and clean athletes.” “To once again escape a meaningful consequence proportional to the crimes, much less a real ban, is a catastrophic blow to clean athletes, the integrity of sport, and the rule of law,” said Tygar. WADA had slapped Russia with a four-year ban in 2019 after uncovering a vast doping campaign by Rus-

sian Olympians during the 2014 Sochi Games. The scandal saw Russian authorities purposely doctoring testing data and manipulating results to cover up their country’s systematic use of performance enhancing drugs. The four-year ban was subsequently appealed by Moscow, leading to Friday’s court ruling.

U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Targeted

At least eight Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s Green Zone on Sunday in an attack authorities say targeted the U.S. Embassy. An Iraqi security guard was said to be killed in the shelling, while half a dozen vehicles were damaged along

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with a residential building. The U.S. Embassy confirmed the attack, saying in a statement that its C-RAM missile defense system deflected the projectiles in midair. The deafening booms of the interceptors were reportedly loud enough to be heard on the other side of the Tigris River, a distance of at least 35 kilometers from the heavily fortified Green Zone. “The U.S. Embassy confirms rockets targeting the International Zone [Green Zone] resulted in the engagement of embassy defensive systems,” the Embassy said in a statement. “We call on all Iraqi political and governmental leaders to take steps to prevent such attacks and hold accountable those responsible.” The rocket fire is thought to be the work of Iranian-backed militias, who have frequently targeted the U.S. Embassy in recent years. In early 2020, a U.S. contractor was killed during a particularly heavy barrage, leading President Donald Trump to order the killing of Quds Force Commander General Qassam Sulemeini. While the rocket fire decreased markedly after Sulemeini was killed in an airstrike, it didn’t cease completely. The shelling led the U.S. to pull out the majority of its remaining personnel earlier this month out of concern for their safety. In September, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to shutter the U.S. Embassy entirely if the rocket fire didn’t stop, telling Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that Washington would target militia leaders directly in retaliation.

Super-Spreader COVID-19 Strain

Dozens of countries worldwide have banned flights from the UK after authorities discovered a new variant of COVID-19.

On Sunday evening, Canada banned all air travel to Britain for a three-day period until more information about the mutation was available. “We focused on the new variant of COVID-19 identified in the UK, and we have decided to implement new border restrictions in order to keep you – and people right across the country – safe,” tweeted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Joining Canada in suspending flights from the United Kingdom for 72 hours were Argentina, Chile and Colombia. In France, officials implemented a 48-hour moratorium on flights and closed the Channel Tunnel, resulting in massive gridlock from trucks unable to cross the border. Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands suspended flights as well, while Ireland banned all travel from England for 48 hours. Meanwhile, Israel banned travel from Britain and forbade entry to travelers from Denmark and South Africa. Despite common policy allowing Israeli citizens to choose where they would quarantine upon arrival, arrivals from the aforementioned countries on Sunday were forced to isolate in state-run hotels. “We need to close the whole world immediately – just let business people fly according to protocol, and limit those returning to tight quarantine. It’s an extreme step, but if there is a result, it will be difficult,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The wave of travel bans comes after a new COVID-19 variant was discovered in England that the government says may be “up to 70% more contagious” than the existing version. The mutation is prevalent primarily in the country’s south and led Prime Minister Boris Johnson to classify London as Tier 4, the highest possible level of restrictions. In a press conference on Saturday, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said that the new COVID-19 strain made up 60% of infections in London. It has since been discovered in Denmark, the Netherlands, and in Australia. However, experts say that there is no evidence that the mutant strain will be resistant to vaccines. “While it has not yet been definitively proven that the strain is more infectious, the numbers Johnson presented on Saturday were a projection, based on data that shows a recent rise in infections in areas where this spe-

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Bland by itself, couscous is served with meat or fish, spicy stews, chickpeas and vegetables in a mouth-watering variety of dishes. “I think it is originally Moroccan,” Hamudi Abulafia, a chef in a Moroccan restaurant in Tel Aviv told Channel 13 News, “but there is a Tunisian employee here who says it is Tunisian.”

cific mutation was found,” said Prof. Jacob Moran-Gilad from Ben-Gurion University’s School of Public Health. “Mutations in viruses are nothing new, neither are they new to COVID-19,” added Moran-Gilad. “There are currently more than 1,000 known mutations to the novel coronavirus that was first found in Wuhan, most of which are inconsequential.”

Couscous Accolades Couscous is now part of an elite group. The Berber dish joined the UN list of the world’s intangible cultural heritage last week, rekindling a debate over its origins. The countries that submitted the listing to UNESCO – Algeria, Mo-

rocco, Tunisia and Mauritania – are different culturally but their common love of the grain staple runs deep. “Couscous, present at every social or cultural event, is at once ordinary and special,” their joint presentation argued. “Ordinary because of the frequency of its use in a family setting, and special because of the unifying and propitiatory role it plays at convivial community occasions at which food is shared.”

Depending on where the dish originates, couscous can take on different forms and styles not only in the size of the grain but also in the way it is presented. Restaurant owner Hicham Hazzoum in Morocco was among the couscous connoisseurs who applauded UNESCO’s honor. “I think we are the only Arab countries to have a high regard for this dish,” he said. “It is impossible not to eat it every Friday. Moroccans are crazy about couscous and even children love it. It shows that the couscous flame will never go out.” Couscous – also known as Seksu, Kusksi and Kseksu – is as elementary in the region as rice or noodles are to Asian cuisine, the staple without which no meal is complete. Couscous is prepared from wheat or barley, and sometimes from maize, millet or sorghum, which is ground into semolina. It’s then rolled into pellets which are sieved and later soaked and repeatedly steamed. “Women, in particular, play a fundamental role in the preparation and consumption of the dish, and in practicing and preserving the related symbolic value systems,” said the paper. The girls learn not only the techniques but also “the songs, gestures, characteristic oral expressions and ritual organization” that go along with the process.

Outrage Over EU Ritual Slaughter Ban Jewish groups are outraged after the European Union (EU) upheld a

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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ban on ritual slaughter, paving the way for the prohibition to become binding law. In the ruling, the court refused to appeal a law passed in Belgium requiring animals to be stunned prior to slaughter. Stunning animals is against Jewish and Islamic law, which require livestock to be awake at the time of their death. In upholding the ruling, the court rejected arguments by religious groups that the stunning requirement infringed on their religious freedom. The decision effectively outlaws all forms of Jewish and Islamic ritual slaughter in the European Union and is the first time the EU’s highest court has supported such legislation.

which is not yet the case,” added Yohan Benizri, head of the Belgian Federation of Jewish Organisations. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the legal ruling in an unusually strong statement, charging that the verdict was “sending a harsh message to all European Jewry.” “Beyond the fact that this decision harms the freedom of worship and religion in Europe, a core value of the EU, it also signals to Jewish communities that the Jewish way of life is unwanted in Europe,” the ministry noted. While stunning animals at the time of slaughter had already been an EU-wide requirement, meat destined for Jewish and Islamic communities had previously been exempt from the rule. Attempts by animal rights activists to close the loophole had consistently been rebuffed by the courts until Thursday’s ruling.

“The court concludes that the measures contained in the decree allow a fair balance to be struck between the importance attached to animal welfare and the freedom of Jewish and Muslim believers to manifest their religion,” the ruling said. A slew of Jewish leaders blasted the ruling after the decision was handed down last Thursday, calling the ban a form “of religious persecution” that would effectively make religious life impossible on the continent. “This decision goes even further than expected and flies in the face of recent statements from the European institutions that Jewish life is to be treasured and respected,” said Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, who heads the Conference of European Rabbis. Rabbi Menachem Margolin, who chairs the European Jewish Association, called the court’s decision “a sad day for European Jewry” and vowed to appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights. “What a terrible message to send to European Jewry, that you and your practices are not welcome here. This is a basic denial of our rights as European citizens,” Rabbi Margolin said. “The fight continues, and we will not admit defeat until we have exhausted all our legal remedies,

Life Sentence for Terrorist

Stephan Balliet was handed down a life sentence by a German court, putting the terrorist behind bars for a deadly attack that could have been the worst anti-Semitic atrocity since World War II on German soil. The judges at the court in Magdeburg found him “seriously culpable” – he will be effectively barred from early release after 15 years. Presiding Judge Ursula Mertens described it as a “cowardly attack” as she announced the verdict. Balliet attempted to enter a synagogue in the city of Halle on Yom Kippur last year. More than 50 people were inside the shul. Balliet was barred from entering by a bolted, locked door. After failing to storm the temple on October 9, 2019, Balliet, 28, shot dead a female passerby and a man at a kebab shop. He was charged with two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder in a case that deeply

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rattled the country and fueled fears about rising right-wing extremism and anti-Jewish violence, 75 years after the end of the Nazi era. During his five-month trial, Balliet denied the Holocaust in open court – a crime in Germany – and expressed no remorse to those targeted, many of whom are co-plaintiffs in the case. “The attack on the synagogue in Halle was one of the most repulsive anti-Semitic acts since World War II,” prosecutor Kai Lohse told the court. During the trial, Balliet insisted that “attacking the synagogue was not a mistake; they are my enemies.” Dressed in military garb, he filmed the attack and broadcast it on the internet, prefacing it with a manifesto espousing his misogynist, neo-fascist ideology. The government’s point man against anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, called the trial “a good opportunity to bring about debate in society about anti-Semitism.” Crimes targeting Jews and their belief have risen steadily in Germany in recent years, with 2,032 offenses recorded in 2019, up 13 percent on the previous year.

A Suspicious Gift

Bosnian prospectors opened an investigation after a Serb leader gifted a 300-year-old Ukrainian religious icon to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The icon was given to Lavrov during his visit to Bosnia last Monday by Milorad Dodik, Bosnia’s Serb member of its three-person rotating presidency. The figurine is highly valuable and believed to originate in the Ukrainian city of Lugansk, which has been wracked by intermittent warfare. A photo published by the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA showed a stamp confirming the figurine’s authenticity along with writing in

Ukrainian suggesting that it originated in Lugansk. Now, prosecutors are probing whether the icon was illegally smuggled out of Ukraine by Bosnians fighting with pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine. Kiev has been locked in a battle since 2014 with Russian-backed separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. “If it’s true that this is an icon that comes from Ukraine, which was brought from Ukraine to Banja Luka, during the conflict in Ukraine, if it was stolen…then someone needs to go to jail,” said Zeljko Komsic, who serves as Bosnia’s Croat member of the rotating presidency. The gift to Lavrov resulted in a diplomatic crisis with Ukraine, who demanded that Sarajevo provide “clarification and full information on the circumstances of this case” on how the figurine ended up in Bosnia. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry added that failing to cooperate would mean that Bosnia “supported the aggressive policies and military actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.” Bosnia hopes that the investigation will mollify Ukraine and avoid a diplomatic crisis with one of its staunchest regional allies. “It would be normal to have a very urgent reaction because it is a very serious inquiry, not to say an accusation,” said Bosnian Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic. “Enormous damage is done to Bosnia when a high-ranking official is accused of donating something that has been stolen and is someone’s cultural treasure.”

Space Race Scientist Faced Anti-Semitism

A new article explores how a Soviet engineer pioneered space travel despite facing a deluge of anti-Semitism throughout his career. Anatoliy Davidovich Daron passed away on June 24 in a dilapidated apartment in Brighton Beach, New York, where he had lived since

1998. But prior to emigrating to the United States, the Jewish engineer played a major role in the “Space Race” between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that characterized the Cold War. A rocket scientist by training, Daron worked for 50 years at Experimental Design Bureau No. 456 (OKB-456), the Soviet Russia’s top aeronautical research center. There, he pioneered a series of cutting-edge inventions which underpinned Russia’s space program. Among Daron’s developments were the RD-107 and RD-108 rocket engines that replaced solid fuel with liquid propellants that were able to withstand extreme temperatures. These engines later powered all of Russia’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) and launched all of the Soviet Union’s piloted spacecrafts- Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz. “The new cooling method made it possible to raise the temperature higher without overheating the vessel,” said Daron’s widow, Vera, in an interview with the Times of Israel. “To this day, only these rocket engines are used to fly humans into space.” Daron also served as the lead engineer on the R-9, Moscow’s first silo-based ICBM, and a slew of medium range missiles. In 1957, the quiet scientist was awarded the Order of Lenin, Russia’s highest civilian medal, for leading the development team that launched the Sputnik satellite. Yet despite his engineering brilliance, Daron battled anti-Semitism throughout his career that threatened his advancement in Russia’s military research industries. In 1953, Daron was the victim of the “Doctors’ Plot,” a conspiracy theory promoted by Soviet Chairman Joseph Stalin surrounding an alleged group of Jewish physicians who were accused of planning to kill Russian leaders. The aftermath led to a wave of firings of Jewish professionals, while a media campaign accused Soviet Jews of being disloyal to their country. “He lost his job. He tried to get another job. He was temporarily unemployed,” noted Asif Siddiqi, a Professor of Soviet History at Fordham University. “It was only after Stalin died that he was able to get his job back. If Stalin had lived, Daron would never have done the work he did.” Ironically, being implicated in the “Doctors’ Plot” eventually assisted Daron when he attempted to immigrate to the U.S. in 1998 in

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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order to receive treatment for heart problems. “When we had our interview in the American embassy and they asked us about why we wanted to go to America, we replied that we lived through the Doctors’ Plot. After that, they had no further questions,” said Vera. “All of our lives, we had to overcome obstacles.”

The move is part of the Ivory Coast’s effort to conserve its abundance of tropical wildlife. The sunny African nation is home to over 20 species of rare animals, including hammerhead sharks and leatherback turtles.

Esther Horgan, Hy”d, Killed in Terror Attack

Protecting the Sea In a first, the Ivory Coast has designated a protected marine area in an attempt to protect dozens of endangered species of sea life. The protected marine area will be located in Grand-Bereby and will cover more than 2,590 square kilometers. Located on Africa’s western coast, Grand Bereby serves as an important nesting site for turtles, including several species on the verge of extinction. The Ministry of Environment said in a statement that the protected marine area will “undoubtedly boost local tourism, creating jobs for the benefit of the community.”

In September, the Ivory Coast announced that it would designate five marine protected areas and is working with environmentalists to draft new regulations to conserve animal habitats. The sites marked as protected zones are said to be the Cavally River and Azagny National Park. “Levels of marine protection in West Africa are generally low, so the Ivorian government’s creation of a marine protected area is a big statement that will hopefully act as a regional exemplar,” said Kristian Metcalfe, a marine biologist and researcher at University of Exeter.

Esther Horgan, a Jewish mother of six, was brutally murdered in a terrorist attack on Sunday evening. Horgan, 52, had gone jogging on Sunday in a forest near her home in Tal Menashe in Samaria. She had been declared missing after failing to return from her evening run, causing police to dispatch the search party that found her body. “Police and crime scene investigators were called to the scene and have

begun collecting evidence,” police said in a statement. Horgan was laid to rest later on Monday. A well-known artist and marriage counselor, Horgan was described as a pillar of her community and a devoted mother. Binyamin Horgan, Esther’s husband, said that they met 31 years ago and were married within a few months. “Esther first came to Israel on a trip with her parents at the age of ten,” Binyamin said. “She fell in love with the Land and said that she had to come and live here – and she did, moving here immediately after graduating from high school.” He added, “So many people have asked me to speak about her, but how can I do justice to her in just a few words? She was simply an amazing person, full of joy in life, someone who loved everyone and everything. She was beautiful both inside and out.” Samaria Regional Council Chairman Yossi Dagan shared, “She was a beloved woman with a good heart who so loved to help people. She engaged in sports activities only a minute from her home yet was murdered in such an unjust and cruel way.” Da-

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gan asked, “What kind of barbaric people, like in the Middle Ages, have the cruelty to smash the head of a 52-year-old woman with a rock?” The IDF and Shin Bet subsequently launched a massive manhunt, raiding nearby Palestinian villages and the nearby city of Jenin. A court imposed a gag order, preventing the press from reporting any details of the ongoing investigation. Defense Minister Benny Gantz promised that security forces would succeed in rounding up Horgan’s killer. “I share in the deep sorrow of the Horgan family following the heinous murder of Esther,” Gantz said. “Security forces are already working to get their hands on the heinous killer. We will never accept a reality in which human lives are cheapened.”

A Fourth Election

The Knesset narrowly rejected a deal postponing the deadline for passing the 2020 budget, sending Israel to its fourth election in two years. The Knesset would have automatically dissolved itself had a budget not been passed by midnight on Tuesday. To avert new elections, the Likud and Kahol Lavan parties agreed on a bill that would have pushed back the deadlines for the 2020 and 2021 budgets to allow both sides more time for negotiations. The legislation would have delayed the deadline for passing the 2020 budget from December 23 to December 31, and the 2021 budget to January 5. Yet the compromise bill was voted down by a margin of 49-47 after lawmakers in both parties refused to vote in favor. Kahol Lavan MKs Miki Haimovitch, Asaf Zamir, and Ram Shefa voted against the bill, openly defying party leader Benny Gantz, while others remained outside the Knesset plenum during the final vote. Sharren Haskel and Michal Shir, two Likud lawmakers who served as an internal opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also voted against the bill and resigned from the Knesset. They announced

in a joint statement that they would join the New Hope party headed by Gidon Sa’ar, a Likud veteran who split off earlier this month to found his anti-Netanyahu faction. “I am at peace with my decision to do the least I can to end this embarrassing show of a stuck and conflicted government which is holding an entire country hostage for political seats, and therefore I will resign from the Knesset and join ‘New Hope’ led by Gideon Sa’ar,” tweeted Shir. With the coalition failing to delay the budget deadline, the Knesset dissolved itself on Tuesday evening, setting up new elections that will take place on March 23. Both parties accused each other of being responsible for sending the country to new elections at a time when Israel is suffering from an unprecedented economic crisis. In his final Knesset speech before the bill was defeated, Netanyahu accused Kahol Lavan of putting their narrow electoral considerations over the wellbeing of Israel’s citizens. “I worked all day to stop flights, to prevent the new coronavirus mutation from reaching Israel. It is very possible that it is already here. I think at this time we should have joined forces and found every way to prevent these unnecessary elections,” said Netanyahu. The inability to delay the looming budget deadline was the final straw for the national-unity government. Established six months ago after three unprecedented election cycles ended without a clear winner, the Likud-Kahol Lavan coalition aimed at putting their differences aside to tackle the coronavirus. But the coalition of opposites soon splintered, with the large and bloated government of 34 ministers unable to function due to partisan squabbling and infighting.

First IsraelMorocco Flight

History was made on Tuesday when the first flight from Israel to Morocco took off for a whirlwind

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

trip by a joint Israeli-American delegation that included the signing of several bilateral and trilateral agreements, including those on aviation, tourism, health, water, and agriculture. National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat led the trip on the Israeli side. Ben-Shabbat, the son of Morocco-born parents, said peace is “breaking out before our eyes.” He made his remarks on the tarmac, in front of the plane, which was painted with a hamsa symbol, a hand image popular as a good luck symbol in both countries. Jared Kushner, senior adviser to Trump, said he hoped the renewed ties between Israel and Morocco would create a relationship as warm as the one developing between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi, following a normalization agreement signed earlier this year. Since then, tens of thousands of Israelis have visited the United Arab Emirates and multiple cooperation deals have been signed by the two nations. “My hope is that this flight today to Morocco will produce the same momentum,” Kushner said. Kushner, who largely led Trump’s Middle East efforts, said the U.S. president tried to create a “rational” policy based on common goals, apparently referring to business deals and shared concerns over the threat from Iran. U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that while each normalization agreement between Israel and an Arab country – three of which have been signed in the past four months, with a fourth country, Sudan, having indicated plans to soon do the same – was significant on its own, together they represented a major shift in the region. “Each peace agreement stands on its own. Each is to be celebrated. Together they represent a sea change in the Middle East,” Ambassador Friedman said. The delegation was scheduled to spend less than a day in Morocco, holding high-level meetings with Moroccan officials, including King Muhammad VI, before returning to Israel. Israel and Morocco established low-level diplomatic ties in 1994, although their liaison offices closed after the outbreak of the Second Intifada. Morocco became the third Arab

state this year to normalize ties with Israel under U.S.-brokered deals, and in return, the U.S. president fulfilled a decades-old goal of Morocco by backing its contested sovereignty in Western Sahara. Speaking at a Jerusalem ceremony alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Kushner said normalization with Morocco “will bring about a whole new set of opportunities for northern Africa and the entire Middle East.” “Our collective efforts have led to the birth of a new Middle East, where firsts and breakthroughs are now happening almost every day,” Kushner said. Morocco is home to North Africa’s largest Jewish community, which has been there since ancient times and grew with the arrival of Jews expelled from Spain by Catholic kings from 1492. It reached about 250,000 in the late 1940s, 10 percent of the national population, but many Jews left after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. About 3,000 Jews remain in Morocco. Around 700,000 Jews of Moroccan origin live in Israel. Although ties between the two countries were suspended in the year 2000 due to the Intifada, trade between Israel and Morocco was not. Between 2014 and 2017 the volume of trade exchanges stood at $149 million, according to statistics published by Moroccan newspapers.

First Israeli and Emirati Sports Game

H.C. Bat Yam, Israel’s reigning champion ice hockey team, defeated the Dubai Camels 9-6 in what was the first-ever match between professional sports teams from the two countries.

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Division II Group B tournament. Israel’s ice hockey league currently has 3 senior divisions (A, B, C) with a total of 29 senior teams. Contributing to hockey’s growing popularity in Israel is the influx of Russian emigres, who brought their love for the sport with them to the Holy Land. Founded in 2009, the Emirates Hockey League (EHL) is part of the International Ice Hockey Federation and currently has six teams. The league is currently in negotiations to bring a KHL franchise to Dubai in 2021-22.

Bibi Gets Vaccinated

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was injected with Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine on national

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The high scoring match was held at Dubai’s ice rink, an NHL-standard rink situated in the center of the Dubai Mall. Prior to the game, players posed for pictures and stood while “Hatikvah” played over the loudspeakers. Noting the game’s historical nature, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman recorded a personal video greeting congratulating the players on being part of history. “A match, the first professional match between a team from Israel and a team from the Emirates,” said Bettman. “We’re proud of the fact that hockey can bring people together and we wish all of the participants good luck.” Additional greetings were sent by the commissioner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Europe’s premier ice hockey league. While not a popular sport in the soccer-mad Middle East, hockey has seen steady growth in both Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Israel’s national men’s ice hockey team is currently ranked 34th worldwide, ahead of Spain and South Korea, and took home the gold medal for the first time in 2019’s IIHF World Championship

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television over the weekend as Israel kicked off its massive immunization campaign. The event took place on Saturday evening at Jerusalem’s Shaare Tzedek Medical Center evening and was designed to boost public confidence in the new vaccine. Wearing a black turtleneck, Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstien were both injected by Dr. Tzvi Berkowitz, the premier’s personal physician. After being jabbed with the new vaccine, Netanyahu turned to the camera and implored Israelis to get vaccinated as soon as possible. “It’s a small shot for a person and a huge step toward the health of us all,” the prime minister joked, paraphrasing Neil Armstrong’s famous utterance upon becoming the first person to walk on the moon. “We are leaving the darkness of the coronavirus, at the start of the journey to a great light,” added Netanyahu, “If everyone cooperates, keeps the rules and goes to get vaccinated, we’ll get out of this and we could well be the first country in the world to emerge from this [pandemic]. “Let’s do it together.” Netanyahu and Edelstein were placed under supervision for a halfhour before being allowed to return home. The two had decided to be the first Israelis to receive the vaccine in order to encourage the public to receive the vaccine despite widespread concerns over possible side effects. The unprecedented quick development of Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines have led to an upsurge of conspiracy theories and concerns over the safety of the drug. In a poll published by Ynet last Friday, only 24% of Israelis said that they would get the vaccine immediately, while 63% of Israelis said they planned on being immunized within the next few years. The Health Ministry had launched an effort to mitigate such fears by paying celebrities to share photos of themselves getting their shots on social media and by arranging for question-and-answer sessions with medical experts on national television. On Sunday, former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and President Reuven Rivlin were inoculated in a live feed broadcast on Facebook. Medical personnel and people aged 60 years and over will be the first to receive the vaccination. It is estimated that, by the end of this December, about 4 million doses of the

vaccine will be available in Israel. It is not yet known what vaccines will be available to the entire population.

IDF Soldier Flees from Terrorist Israelis reacted with outrage after a viral video showed an IDF soldier fleeing from a firebomb-wielding terrorist on Saturday evening. The video filmed a standoff between a Palestinian terrorist and a soldier from the elite Golani Reconnaissance Battalion guarding a hitchhiking post near the Samarian settlement of Kedumim. The terrorist can be seen parking his car and slowly approaching the guard booth while holding a firebomb. Despite being armed, the Israeli soldier refrains from shooting the terrorist, who continues approaching undisturbed. Finally, he lights the bomb and hurls it at the soldier, who flees instead of responding. The Palestinian then speeds off unharmed. “A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an IDF soldier near a military post in the area of the Kedumim settlement. IDF troops have launched a search for the suspect. In the event, there were no injuries or damage caused,” confirmed the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit. According to reports, the terrorist was pursued in a car chase by an off-duty policeman who witnessed the exchange. He managed to get away after a nearby IDF patrol refused to provide backup and cut off possible escape routes, citing orders from superiors. While the terrorist was subsequently arrested on Sunday evening, the video of the exchange has since racked up hundreds of thousands of views. The footage sparked outrage throughout Israel, with right-wing politicians, journalists, and pundits decrying what they said was the IDF’s overly-strict rules of engagement that left troops unable to protect themselves. “This story is just insane,” tweeted Religious Zionist lawmaker Bezalel Smotrich. “But it’s not the soldier’s fault. The judicial system in the State of Israel that behaves like in Sodom is to blame.” Jewish Home head Rabbi Rafi Peretz lambasted the IDF, calling on the high brass to ensure that similar incidents ended with a “neutralized terrorist.”

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

“Dead or alive,” said Peretz. “Such a video can never repeat itself.” Already characterized by what is arguably the most stringent rules of engagement of any Western military, the IDF automatically opens a criminal investigation into any soldier who uses deadly force. The frequent probes of soldiers who used their weapons to defend themselves has long been controversial among Israelis, who allege that the policies make troops fearful of protecting themselves.

COVID-19 Fatalities & Preexisting Conditions A new analysis has found that the vast majority of Israelis who died after being infected with COVID-19 were suffering from other existing diseases. The data was published by the Haaretz daily and came following a Health Ministry analysis of the 3,004 victims. The overall death toll

has since risen to 3,111 as of Monday amid rising infection levels and fears that Israel is entering a third wave.

Firings for Corona Betting

working in order to ensure Americans don’t go hungry.” “On one occasion, (plant manager) Casey intercepted a sick supervisor en-route to get back to work, adding, ‘We all have symptoms. You have a job to do,’” the suit said.

Moderna Vaccine Approved According to the figures, 92% of all fatalities – or 2,778 people –had been suffering from existing chronic conditions. Overall, 1,019 people (34%) suffered from high blood pressure, 750 people (25%) had diabetes, 633 (21%) had heart disease, and 246 (8%) battled chronic lung disorders. Another 99 victims (3%) had a compromised immune system, including 31 (1%) with liver problems. Like in most countries, the main victims were primarily the elderly, with the average age of death 79 and the median 81. 1,022 deaths – 33% of the total – had been between the ages of 80-89, while 759 deaths were between 70 and 79.

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Tyson Foods fired seven managers at its Iowa pork plant after finding that they wagered on how many of their employees would become infected with COVID-19. “We value our people and expect everyone on the team, especially our leaders, to operate with integrity and care in everything we do,” Tyson Foods President and CEO Dean Banks said in a statement. “The behavior exhibited by these individuals does not represent the Tyson core values, which is why we took immediate and appropriate action to get to the truth. “Now that the investigation has concluded, we are taking action based on the findings.” The wave of firings comes after a probe led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder found that senior managers had placed cash bets on how many of their workers would get infected by the deadly virus. The claims originally surfaced as part of a wrongful death lawsuit against the meatpacking giant, which alleges that Tyson failed to take the necessary precautions to protect employees from contracting COVID-19. According to court filings, more than 1,000 of the Iowa plant’s 2,800 employees had contracted the disease after managers refused to implement basic safety measures. Despite being fully aware of the coronavirus’s lethality, management forced meatpackers to work in crowded conditions without gloves and face masks. In addition, the site’s foreman “organized a cash buy-in, winner-takeall betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19.” Despite being warned by local law enforcement that the plant was a death trap, Tyson executives refused to shutter the factory, telling workers that they had “a responsibility to keep

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine became the second to receive U.S. approval after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized it for emergency use on Friday. After hours of deliberations, FDA’s experts committee voted unanimously to allow Moderna’s vaccine to be distributed throughout the United States. The authorization came a week after the FDA gave the go-ahead to a competing vaccine made by Pfizer and occurred as the U.S. tops 300,000 deaths from the deadly disease. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said that the approval constituted “another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing vast numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States each day.” “Congratulations, the Moderna vaccine is now available!” tweeted President Donald Trump. The U.S. will now begin a complex logistical operation to ship almost 6 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine to 64 states, territories, and urban centers. The pharmaceutical giant predicts that it will send out 20 million doses by January and another 125 million by April. Apart from Moderna’s vaccine, the federal government plans to distribute an additional 2 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine. “With the availability of two vaccines now for the prevention of COVID-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing vast numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States each day,” said Hahn. Moderna’s vaccine was unveiled in early November, a week after Pfiz-

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

er announced its own breakthrough. Moderna claims a 94.1% efficacy rate, lower than Pfizer’s 95%. Both vaccines require two doses and need to be kept in subzero temperatures until injection.

A Third Vaccine?

A senior U.S. health official has suggested that a third COVID-19 vaccine may be imminent. Speaking with ABC’s “This Week,” Admiral Brett Giroir from the Department of Health and Human Services estimated that the vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson and Janssen would soon show success. Giroir added that he expected the vaccine to be approved sometime in January. However, Giroir was contradicted by Surgeon-General elect Vivek Mur-

thy, who said later on Sunday that such an accelerated timeline was unlikely. “It may be closer to mid-summer or early fall when this vaccine makes its way to the general public,” Murthy told “Meet the Press.” The U.S. has already approved two vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for emergency use. While health officials originally had high hopes for Johnson & Johnson, its vaccine has lagged behind the other two and remains in clinical trials. The company announced last week that it had recruited 45,000 participants for its first round of clinical trials and expects to unveil the results in January. An earlier trial for the drug was halted in October after patients began showing unexplained symptoms.

U.S. Charges for Lockerbie Bomber This week, the U.S. Justice Department announced new charges

against a Libyan bombmaker in the 1988 explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, an attack that killed 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground.

The charges were announced on the 32nd anniversary of the bombing and in the final news conference of Attorney General William Barr’s tenure, underscoring his personal attachment to a case that unfolded during his first stint at the Justice Department. He had announced an earlier set of charges against two other Libyan intelligence officials in his capacity as acting attorney general nearly 30 years ago, vowing that the investigation would continue. The case against the alleged bombmaker, Abu Agela Masud Kheir AlMarimi, is for now more theoretical than practical since Masud is not in U.S. custody. Even so, it is one of the more consequential counterterrorism prosecutions brought by the Trump administration Justice Department. “At long last, this man responsible for killing Americans and many others will be subject to justice for his crimes,” Barr said. A breakthrough in the investigation came when U.S. officials in 2017 received a copy of an interview that Masud, an explosives expert for Libya’s intelligence service, had given to Libyan law enforcement several years earlier after being taken into custody following the collapse of the regime of the country’s leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. In that interview, U.S. officials said, Masud admitted building the bomb in the Pan Am attack and working with the two other defendants to carry it out. He also revealed that he had been summoned by a Libyan intelligence official to a meeting in Tripoli and asked whether the “suitcases” were finished. While Masud is now the third Libyan intelligence official charged in the U.S. in connection with the Lockerbie bombing, he would be the first to stand trial in an American courtroom. After Barr in 1991 announced charges against the two other men, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, the Libyan govern-

ment balked at turning them over. In 1992, under pressure from the UN Security Council, Libya handed over the two men to a panel of Scottish judges sitting in a Netherlands court as part of a special arrangement. Al-Megrahi was convicted, while Fhimah was acquitted of all charges. Al-Megrahi was given a life sentence, but Scottish authorities released him on humanitarian grounds in 2009, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He later died in Tripoli. It has long been claimed that Iran used a Syria-based Palestinian proxy to build the bomb that downed the Boeing 747, as it traveled from London to New York. Documents obtained for the film, titled “Lockerbie: What Really Happened?” suggest that the bombers themselves belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. A similar conclusion was relayed to The Times of Israel in December 2013, when a former senior member of the Israeli security establishment said he was certain that the bombing was carried out by Ahmad Jibril’s PFLPGC. Jibril has always denied any part in the Lockerbie bombing. The Pan Am flight exploded over Lockerbie less than an hour after takeoff from London on December 21, 1988, en route to New York City and then Detroit. Among the 190 Americans on board were 35 Syracuse University students flying home for the holidays after a semester abroad.

Google Sued for Antitrust

A group of 38 states filed a massive antitrust suit against Google, alleging that the tech giant used unfair business practices to eliminate competition to its popular search engine. The lawsuit was filed in a Washington, D.C., federal court by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser who was joined by dozens of attorney generals from both political parties. “Consumers are denied the ben-

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efits of competition, including the possibility of higher quality services and better privacy protections. Advertisers are harmed through lower quality and higher prices that are, in turn, passed along to consumers,” Weiser said. The coalition of states include Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico. The lawsuit alleges that parent company Alphabet Inc. illegally colluded with phone giants such as Apple and Samsung to make Google the default search engine on their handsets. Google is also accused of using its market dominance to force the aforementioned companies to preload their devices with the Android operating system and other Google products. Currently, Google’s search engine enjoys unprecedented market share, controlling 92% of all search queries worldwide as of October. Yet, according to the lawsuit, the tech behemoth’s success comes as a result of using illegal practices to squeeze out competitors that run afoul of the Antitrust Act of 1890. “As the gateway to the internet, Google has systematically degraded the ability of other companies to access consumers,” the states said in a joint statement. The litigation is the third government antitrust proceedings to be filed against Google over the past two months, joining similar proceedings by the Department of Justice over what it alleges is the company’s pattern of using its market dominance to hobble rivals. In a separate case filed last Wednesday, 10 Republican attorney generals accused Google of brokering an illicit deal with Facebook to create a digital-advertising monopoly. The complaint alleges that Google granted Facebook special treatment in ad auctions run by the company in return for refraining from threatening Google’s dominance in the ad business. “Google repeatedly used its monopolistic power to control pricing (and) engage in market collusions to rig auctions in a tremendous viola-

tion of justice,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The company “eliminated its competition and crowned itself the king of online advertising.”

Russian Hack Penetrates U.S. Secret Network

U.S. officials fear that Russian hackers succeeded in penetrating a top-secret network used to control America’s nuclear arsenal. The hack in question began last March and is already the worst in U.S. history. The cyberattack is believed to be the work of Russian intelligence and is the result of a mammoth espionage operation that likely took years to prepare. The attackers gained access to the most sensitive and highly guarded U.S. computer networks by inserting malicious code into Solarwinds, a popular computer software program used by federal agencies. While national security officials still do not know the total fallout of the attack, at least six government agencies are said to be compromised, including the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and State. The news that the Department of Energy may have been breached came as a particular concern, as it oversees the U.S.’s vast nuclear arsenal. According to reports, preliminary findings show that servers belonging to both the Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration were accessed, potentially giving Moscow the U.S.’s most closely guarded secrets. A probe by cyber security officials found traces of suspicious activity in communication systems belonging to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, and the Energy Department’s Richland Field Office. While acknowledging that some networks were compromised, Energy Department Spokesperson Shaylyn Hynes maintained that those responsible failed to penetrate critical

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infrastructure. “At this point, the investigation has found that the malware has been isolated to business networks only, and has not impacted the mission essential national security functions of the department, including the National Nuclear Security Administration,” Hynes said in a statement. “When DOE identified vulnerable software, immediate action was taken to mitigate the risk, and all software identified as being vulnerable to this attack was disconnected from the DOE network.” Officials are still scrambling to understand the extent of the damage and how the perpetrators managed to pull off such a sophisticated attack. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is tasked with guarding America’s cybersecurity and communications infrastructure, admitted in a report that the damage is likely “catastrophic” and will be hard to walk back. “This threat actor has demonstrated sophistication and complex tradecraft in these intrusions,” the agency said. “CISA expects that removing the threat actor from compromised environments will be high-

ly complex and challenging.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fingered Russia as the perpetrator of the attack, telling conservative commentator Mark Levin that no other country possessed such advanced cyber capabilities. In doing so, Pompeo became the first U.S. official to openly accuse Russia of penetrating America’s most heavily guarded platforms. President Trump, though, has said that China is the real culprit. “The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality,” Trump tweeted. “I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because [U.S. media] is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!)” Russia has an extensive history of engineering devastating cyber-attacks on sovereign countries, famously shutting off Estonia’s entire electricity grid in 2007. In March 2014, Russian malware succeeded in penetrating the Ukrainian military’s entire communications network during Moscow’s invasion of Crimea.

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More Stimulus on the Way

Cheating at West Point

After months of dead-end negotiations, Congress reached a $900 billion deal on pandemic relief that will see Americans getting a second round of stimulus checks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Sunday that lawmakers had reached a breakthrough following months of back and forth between both parties. “At long last we have the bipartisan breakthrough the country has needed,” McConnell said. “Now we need to promptly finalize text, avoid any last-minute obstacles, and cooperate to move this legislation through both chambers. “It is packed with targeted policies that help struggling Americans who have already waited entirely too long,” McConnell added. The aid package aims to soften the economic blow Americans have suffered since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and comes after many unemployment benefits have already lapsed. The agreement will send $600 directly to Americans and another $600 per child, less than the $1,200 sent out in May. Households making less than $150,000 are entitled to another $1,200, which will start being sent out in late December. The bill also extends all jobless benefits that were slated to expire in late December. These are primarily the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that helped independent contractors and the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program that extended unemployment benefits by 13 weeks. With both aforementioned programs scheduled to end imminently, lawmakers had feared that letting the benefits lapse would yank away the financial lifeline of more than 12 million Americans. Many who are jobless may still go almost a month without benefits despite the new agreement, as it is expected to take weeks for the funds to be sent out to all 50 states.

More than 70 cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point are being accused of cheating on a math exam, the worst academic scandal since the 1970s at the Army’s premier training ground for officers. Fifty-eight cadets admitted cheating on the exam, which was administered remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of them have been enrolled in a rehabilitation program and will be on probation for the remainder of their time at the academy. Others resigned, and some face hearings that could result in their expulsion. The scandal strikes at the heart of the academy’s reputation for rectitude, espoused by its own moral code, which is literally etched in stone: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” Army Col. Mark Weathers, West Point’s chief of staff, said in an interview Monday that he was “disappointed” in the cadets for cheating, but he did not consider the incident a serious breach of the code. It would not have occurred if the cadets had taken the exam on campus, he noted. Instructors initially determined that 72 plebes, or first-year cadets, and one yearling, or second-year cadet, had cheated on a calculus final exam in May. Those cadets all made the same error on a portion of the exam. Recently concluded investigations and preliminary hearings for the cadets resulted in two cases being dismissed for lack of evidence and four dropped because the cadets resigned. Of the remaining 67 cases, 55 cadets were found in violation of the honor code and enrolled in a program for rehabilitation. Three more cadets admitted cheating but were not eligible to enroll in what is called the Willful Admission Program. One of the biggest cheating scandals among the nation’s taxpayer-funded military colleges occurred in 1976 when 153 cadets at West Point resigned or were expelled for cheating on an electrical engineering exam.

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rious risk to native wildlife in the region. The snake is not native to the state and began appearing in the Everglades in the 1980s when it was likely introduced as an escaped or released pet. Donna Kalil has been eating pythons for a while. She is a female python hunter and has so far captured and euthanized 473 pythons. When she catches smaller ones, about 7 feet long, she uses a mercury testing kit she bought online to confirm they’re safe to eat. Then she turns their white meat into food. First, she uses a pressure cooker to make the meat soft and tender. Later, she adds pasta sauce, chili or stir fry. She also likes turning the snakes into jerky. “It’s really good when you cook it right,” Kalil told CNN. “This would be a wonderful way to get more people involved with helping us remove pythons from the environment. It would be a good thing for people to hunt and eat them but we need to make sure they’re safe first.” Kalil spent her childhood catching and releasing snakes for fun. Despite her love for pythons, which she calls “magnificent creatures,”

Python on the Menu?

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she emphasizes the risk they pose to Florida’s wildlife and the severe damage they’ve already caused to its ecosystem. Large pythons can even eat big prey, including humans. Pythons have been preying on smaller mammals, including rabbits, raccoons, and possums. And now pythons may be the next thing on the menu. Honestly, they’re not really my tasssste.

Social Distancing Sweater

Need a little space at your next gathering? SimpliSafe is here to help. The home security company debuted its SimpliSafe Social Distancing Sweater last Monday. The sweater is adorned with snowflakes that are outfitted with a flashing light alarm system. If a person gets closer than six feet from the wearer, lights start to flash and a screeching noise begins to blare. Sounds like a great way to keep noshing on doughnuts undisturbed? Unfortunately, the sweater is just a prototype and is not being sold to the public. Instead, the company is giving away the same sweater, sans lights and sirens, in a limited quantity in exchange for donations to a nonprofit. If you really need your space, though, have no fear. SimpliSafe has published a detailed list of instructions for people on how to install an alarm system into a sweater. “As the experts on protection, albeit home protection, we wanted to give people a playful way to protect themselves during this year’s holiday celebrations,” SimpliSafe’s Creative Director Wade Devers said. “It’s really meant to bring some lightheartedness to a time that’s otherwise proven very stressful.” And alarms and flashing lights on a sweater are not stressful at all.

Ring of Prosperity

It’s called the Ring of Prosperity and you better be pretty prosperous to own it. Harshit Bansal has earned a spot in the Guinness World Record due to his unique ring. The finger ornament is called “The Marigold: The Ring of Prosperity” and is made up of a whopping 12,638 tiny diamonds. The previous Guinness record for most diamonds set in one ring was 7,801 gems. The Marigold weighs 5.8 ounces and features a massive floral design. Each petal of the ring’s eight-layer flower is completely unique. The massive, circular flower nearly covers a woman’s entire hand. Bansal came up with the idea for the ring two years ago during his study of jewelry design in Surat, the hub of India’s diamond industry. The diamond ring was made in collaboration with his employer, Renani Jewels. “It’s wearable and comfortable. My target was always more than 10,000 diamonds. I trashed many designs and concepts over the years to finally zero in on this,” Bansal, 25, said. While there are many prospective buyers, Bansal insists it’s not for sale – at least at the moment. “We have no plans of selling it right now,” the jeweler said of the bling. “It’s a matter of pride for us. It’s priceless.”

Town for Sale – Cheap

Instead of buying a house in the Five Towns, you can purchase a

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

whole town in the Wild West. For a mere $1.6 million, a replica old-timey town in New Mexico can be yours. The right buyer will enjoy the satisfaction of owning 18 buildings across 58 acres when he or she calls the Town of Gabriella their own. Though the town hopes to preserve the history of the American West, it rose up relatively recently, after the plot near the Datil Mountains was purchased by owner Larry Iams 20 years ago. Like true cowboys, Larry and his wife Janet proudly brought their vision for the rustic, replica settlement to life by hand, as inspired by Western towns of yore from the 1880s. Claiming to be “the largest and most authentic Western town” in the area, the interiors of Gabriella’s buildings were thoughtfully designed to be authentic from the inside out. Included in the sale is the town’s saloon, hotel, log cabin, dance hall, billiard hall, old-timey barber shop, and stagecoach. The space is being used for a western movie set, private parties and, naturally, “1800s gunslinger reenactment.” Sounds like good competition for Central Avenue.

Treasure Found

The letter “Z” made two women pretty happy this recently. Two women found a silver ornament in the shape of the letter “Z” under a bench at Eldorado Park in Las Vegas. This was no ordinary ornament. It had been hidden there for almost 10 years and netted the women $10,000. The ornaments were part of a nationwide treasure hunt, in which people are to locate four hidden items. Clues on the location of the items are outlined in The Great U.S. Treasure Hunt ebook released by David Steele in November, who placed the ornament under the bench near-

ly a decade ago while he was visiting Las Vegas. Interested treasure hunters need to “decode a message in any of the four chapters of the book and the message leads you to an ordinary item hidden (not buried) in public, somewhere in the 48 continental United States,” according to the ebook’s Amazon listing. “Hidden within each chapter are messages which guide the readers to 4 exact locations and describe items to be found at each location. There are no illustrations, only text. If you can read English, you can decode the messages,” the listing noted. A month after the book was released, a clue was shared on December 13 on the Twitter account of the ebook, which noted: “This is the first bonus clue for The Great U.S. Treasure Hunt. CHAPTER FOUR. Singing loudly for all to hear, if it’s a One Hit Wonder, then it should be clear, start your quest for treasure there.” The clue prompted Beth Hovanec, an artist based in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania, to use the letters from the “One Hit Wonders” listed in chapter four of the book to spell out the message: “North Vegas, Eldorado Bench, Silver Z.”

Hovanec recruited a friend, Nancy Zitko, who lives just a few miles away from Eldorado Park where the treasure was to be found. Zitko set out for the park at 7 a.m. local time on a Sunday morning where she found the ornament at the bottom of the bench. Hovanec was given $9,000 for solving the riddle, while Zitko won $1,000 for physically finding the ornament, as per the rules of the treasure hunt, which state “an ‘accidental’ find earns only $1,000...you must solve the code for the full $10,000 prize,” according to the ebook’s Amazon listing. Looking for some cash? There are three other hidden items to be found. “They are within 500 feet of a free, safe parking space. No hiking, boating, swimming, or any dangerous activity is required. Simply travel to the location, park, and go to the spot where the item is hidden. Get the item, and you win $10,000. “Winners must be 18 or older, but readers as young as 10 or 11 might be able to discover the methods needed to crack the codes.” In other words, please buy this book – and then maybe you can get some money out of it, too.

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the

Community Ohel Rocks Chanukah

or decades, and with great thanks to our sponsors, Lea and Sammy Trencher, Ohel has been hosting large and festive Chanukah parties for clients, staff and family guests. As the highlight of the entire year, the party brings an abundance of food (think mountains of latkes & doughnuts), music (envision Shloime Dachs performing with Ohel clients), entertainment (picture magicians, other live performances and more) and gift giving to the delight of Ohel’s clients and guests. Another joy of the season has been Ohel’s well-known Chanukah Gift Drive with participation from 200+ schools, synagogues and organizations across the tri-state area. This Chanukah initiative has ensured that every Ohel individual receives an age-appropriate holiday gift.

Enter 2020. Isolation, quarantine, masks, social distancing, red zones, are part of everyone’s reality during the pandemic. With Chanukah around the corner, Ohel faced a huge conundrum. How is Ohel going to light up the lives of the hundreds of children and adults with developmental and psychiatric disabilities, women and children who live in Ohel’s domestic violence shelters, foster children, and so many community members for whom Ohel is their lifeline? With innovation, creativity and commitment, Ohel’s team of devoted professionals decided to adapt the successful Chanukah programming of the past to the need for a safe, yet joyous present. Fortunately, the Trencher family agreed to serve once again as the major sponsor of Chanu-

kah at Ohel. They, too, said there has to be a way to share Chanukah happiness and bring light to the Ohel family. So, Ohel brought an epic Chanukah to hundreds! Taking the celebratory quarantine drive-by to a new level, the party was delivered to the individuals living in Ohel residences. With the support of the Lea and Sammy Trencher, Shloime Dachs, a dedicated Ohel board member who has often performed at Ohel’s Chanukah parties and is beloved by Ohel clients, boarded the Ohel Chanukah Float Celebration, a traveling concert that visited more than a dozen residences over two days. As the parade of cars pulled up to each residence, Shloime Dachs broke into song atop the float. Delighted individuals with developmental disabilities rushed outside to dance and

clap to the holiday songs. And Ohel staff delivered sufganiyot and gifts to all. In-person gift drives weren’t possible this year, but schools and shuls still managed to collect the gifts so desperately needed this year. Thousands more visited Ohel’s new online gift catalog to purchase gifts specially requested by the individuals in Ohel’s care. https://giftcatalog.ohelfamily.org/. And, separately, with the goal of brightening an additional night of Chanukah, Ohel delivered a “Party in a Box.” Michael Schick, a longtime friend of Ohel and caterer par excellence of Ohel’s Annual Gala, came to the rescue. Individuals living in an Ohel residence, foster children and their foster families, women and children living in Ohel’s Domestic Violence Shelter,

and other clients were treated to a “Make-your-own Pizza Party,” consisting of everything needed to make a delectable pizza with all the toppings, as well as ready-made latkes, doughnuts, drinks and festive party goods. Ohel is fortunate to have the following sponsors help make these magical moments happen this year: Lea and Sammy Trencher and family, Shloime Dachs Orchestra, Jerry & Barbara Weissman, Chani and Jay Kestenbaum, and others. Ohel rocked Chanukah this year. If you’d like to know more about how to volunteer or participate in future Ohel efforts, please contact Kaila Lasky, Coordinator of Volunteer Services, at 347786-0788 or email at Kaila_ lasky@ohelfamily.org.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

YOU DID IT! Hundreds of you stepped up and went above and beyond for Cholei Yisroel. With Hashem’s help and your effort, we could always count on our Women of Wonder!

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

BYAM Chanukah Chagiga

Paint Day

his year, HANC eighth grade girls celebrated Chanukah in an artistic way. On Tuesday, Morah Sharon led an awesome, fun, interactive paint day. The event started in a rush of covering desks, clothing, and shoes in plastic, setting up easels, selecting paint brushes, and creating palettes. The classrooms were charged with excitement and energy as the girls began trans-

forming their canvases. Many artistic abilities were discovered within the next hour and a half, and we had a great time! Each girl, whether following Morah Sharon’s step-by-step demonstration or going freestyle, created a masterpiece. A special thanks to Morah Sharon for giving us such a fantastic experience!

LionsLight Chanukah Celebrations

ais Yaakov Ateres Miriam had an amazing post-Chanukah Chagiga on Monday. The theme of our chagigah was l’hodos u’lehallel, and although Chanukah is over, our chagigah allowed the message of thanking and praising Hashem to remain with us. We hope that it will continue to be a part of our everyday lives. Our lunchroom was transformed into a dazzling musical world, replete with a bandstand, musical signs, hanging blow-up instruments, and music stand centerpieces. While the girls enjoyed eating their bagels, chocolate milk, and ice cream, groups of girls came up to the band stand for a photo shoot. We hope you enjoy the picture your

daughter brought home in her decorated frame. The girls certainly had a good time posing for it! Our very talented fifth graders entertained the classes with a short play and cantata. Their acting and singing were exceptional and brought the theme of l’hodos u’lehallel alive. Thank you, Miss Schreiber, for directing the play and Miss Zytman for directing the cantata. The students and teachers came away from the chagigah uplifted and filled with simcha. It was a chagigah to remember! We are greatly appreciative to Mrs. Devora Neuman for creating, decorating, and organizing the entire chagigah!

TA celebrated Chanukah in style with LionsLight, an exciting week of events and activities! Talmidim enjoyed special treats from Broad Street Dough Co. and Rita’s, participated in NCSY’s Chanukah Box Challenge and Escape The Zoom, and had fun bonding with their friends and rebbeim at shiur lunches and COVID-friendly chagigas.

December is also Tenth Grade Takeover Month at MTA. Sophomores had an incredible time wearing costumes and winning prizes at their own special Let’s Make A Deal Chanukah event, led by Student Activities Director Rabbi Danny Konigsberg! Talmidim learning remotely were able to fully participate on Zoom, and the entire grade had an unbelievable experience.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

“Incredible Foundation” A great Makom Torah can only be built by great visionaries.

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Chanukah at Siach Yitzchok

hanukah is one of the many highlighted times of the year at Siach Yitzchok. It’s packed with Yiddishkeit and fun – from the Zos Chanukah Mesiba, to the grab bag, doughnut day, and, of course, the draidel drop. This year, we had some extra Chanukah excitement. On Thursday, there was a big snowstorm which, B”H, didn’t stop Siach Yitzchok from having Cheder. The boys had a blast playing in the snow with their classmates on the rooftop play area. What a Chanukah to remember.

A Time for Avi

t is time for American Jewry to make an impact. You may not live in Queens and have very likely only been there while taking off or arriving at JFK or LaGuardia airports. Your family might take a seasonal outing to a New York Mets baseball game at Citi Field or see a set at the U.S. Open in the USTA National Tennis Center. But Queens is much more. Queens is home to one of the world’s largest contingencies of Jewish thought, from Ashkenazim and Sephardim to Israelis and more. A stroll through a Queens neighborhood will introduce you to a diverse gamut of Jewish culture. From the teachings of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim and Yeshiva Ohr HaChaim to the Torah halls of Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah-Grodno and Beis Medrash L’Talmud-Lander College for Men, one will cover the grasp and varied scope that the Jewish thinking of Queens

offers. Unless you live under a rock, the acronym BDS connotes the destruction of our Jewish value system on a global scale. This radical ideal is every Jewish person’s problem. Ideas are being promulgated on a national level that firmly go against the morals of our heritage and lifestyle. This June, an unprecedented election is set to take place in a region of Queens home to thousands of Jewish families. Other contenders in the race for the vacant District 29 City Council seat have amassed huge war chests. We must deliver a strong message of resilience and hope. The Orthodox community has unified in selecting a born and bred prodigy to lead its community and bring a logical voice throughout New York City. Avi Cyperstein stands prepared to lead society back on a resolute sensible path. Avi is one of us, having spent years learning in our mainstream ye-

shiva system in New York and Eretz Yisrael and going onward to make his mark in the professional world. From Bava Kama, to healthcare, to Chaveirim and Hatzalah, Avi rose to make a difference. In Avi, the Jewish community will have the voice of logic on its side and a leader who will not curb to the pressure in his midst. With clear-mindedness, Avi trusts in what is correct as the fuel to make strides in Queens from advocating for the rights of ambitious business minded men and women launching their first ventures to the dire needs of seniors desperate for guidance. Over his career, Avi has developed a deep appreciation for our seniors while managing two assisted living facilities and spending years providing much needed medical services for the elderly. Caring for others remains central to Avi’s persona, always seeking new ways to ease the

burdens on others. Volunteerism is second nature for Avi who selflessly brought Chaveirim’s auto assist efforts to the Queens community and is a longtime dedicated member of the local Hatzolah. Awareness is key and political campaigning is quite an expense. Raising $100,000 allows the Jewish voice to be heard loud and clear. You are now part of the fight to restore Jewish standards and allow Jews of the world to once again feel safe walking our streets. Open your pockets to bring back our religious and ethical liberties with a fearless leader that leads his life with deep knowledge of the principles we hold so dear. The success of this fundraiser will give Avi an ironclad chance at being affirmed and starting a movement of frum figureheads in public office. Visit www.ItsTimeForAvi.com to join the campaign.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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The White Shul Celebrates Chanukah

he White Shul was able to able to safely bring the spirit of Chanukah to all! The Youth Department held a special POP BY event for all children where they got a picture taken at the photobooth, enjoyed fresh doughnuts, got special Chanukah pekelach, and won great raffle prizes. The next night, Baruch Levine and Orchestra had a beautiful Kumzitz in the main shul with Rabbi Feiner’s and Rabbi Neuburger’s divrei Torah interspersed with the moving songs. The kumzitz had a full house socially distant in attendance and lots of people on Zoom.

A Virtual Mesiba

ne of the highlights each year at YOSS Mechina is the annual Chanukah Mesiba, and this year wasn’t going to be any different. It was originally scheduled for the 7 th day of Chanukah, which turned out to be the snow day. When deliberating about whether to cancel the Mesiba, the decision was made to move the Mesiba to a virtual platform. This way, it could be held as scheduled with every student of the Mechina having the ability to participate. The Mesiba began with the Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky sharing a powerful dvar To-

rah and message, followed by Rabbi Drebin playing

music with his trusty accordion! The main event was

a virtual interactive game show. The students were

quizzed about Chanukah, as well as different topics relating to YOSS including how well they remember their former rebbeim, how well they know their Menahel, Rabbi Davidowitz, and principal, Mr. Winkler. There were five rounds and prizes were awarded to the top three winners of each round. There were also raffles in between every round, and a grand prize raffle won by sixth grader Alexander Sigelman. The boys had a great time playing the game before enjoying the rest of their snow day!

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Margaret Tietz Spreads Chanukah Cheer

Lunch was provided at the YIFH Senior League for 200 members on December 10 by Margaret Tietz

uring this difficult time, Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation reached out to community seniors at the YI Forest Hills Senior League and the YI Queens Valley Senior League to provide a traditional holiday meal.

The catering truck arrived with hundreds of meals boxed and ready to go. Reservations were made for their members to come by to pick up the meal socially distanced and wearing masks. Margaret Tietz is always glad to

Lunch, sponsored by Margaret Tietz, was provided to seniors at the Young Israel Queens Valley Senior Center

connect with community seniors and provide assistance in whatever way they can. Margaret Tietz residents also enjoyed traditional holiday meals throughout the holiday including delicious latkes and doughnuts. The menorah was lit

each night by the facility’s Rabbi Zavel Pearlman. Margaret Tietz wishes that the light the menorah brings to continue to shine throughout the year with good health for all in the community.

streets, bringing joy and light to the entire neighborhood. Event planners had reservations for nearly 100 cars and floats but in all total more than 200 vehicles created this wonderful event. In addition to children, young and old, participants included decorated trailers including one with a fire juggler, the Chai Riders motorcycle group, and large inflatables atop many cars (animals, dreidels,

menorahs). Of course, it would not be a festival without music and light sticks as well as sufganiyot and chocolate gelt for all participants. The final stop was at the “Grand Chanukah house” (home of Harold and Fran Biller) elaborately decorated with many Chanukah lights and inflatables as well as a twelve-foot lit menorah!

Grand Chanukah Car Parade

Grand Chanukah Car Parade was held in Jamaica Estates and Fresh Meadows and Holliswood. The Chanukah celebration was different but not forgotten here in Jamaica Estates as we put a new twist and a few turns into our Chanukah planning. During a pandemic, how do you celebrate a holiday that’s traditionally full of indoor chagigot and filled with close family, friends, fun and laughter? You bring it outdoors! In grand style! As a sign of neighborhood spirit and collaboration, the neighborhood shuls joined together to present a Chanukah Car

Parade. Efforts were coordinated by Rabbi Shmuel Kogan of the Bukharian Chai Center, Ariel Shimonov, of the Bukharian Jewish Community Center of Jamaica Estates and Simcha Sommer, and Zach Herskowitz of the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates. Other sponsoring synagogues included the Congregation Beth El, Congregation Anshei Shalom of Jamaica Estates, Kahal Beis Yitzchak, House of Torah, and Young Israel of Holliswood. Protected and directed by both the NYPD and Queens Shmira, the parade route started at Cunningham Park and wove through the

Zach Herskowitz, Rabbi Dov Lerner, and Dr. Harold Biller in front of the Chanukah Parade House

Assemblyman David Weprin and Rabbi Dov Lerner of YI Jamaica Estates

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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Chanukah @Central

The Light of Chanukah

y Extended Family’s 350 children from single parent homes took over the entire Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights on the first night of Chanukah for their Annual Chanukah Party. Each child received Chanukah gelt and a gift and was made to feel the light of Chanukah. My Extended Family is an orga-

hanukah is always a special week at Central. The building is decorated, students and faculty give and receive gifts through Mystery Maccabee, Chinese Auction offerings drape the walls, and Chanukah sweaters abound. This year was no exception! Last Tuesday morning kicked off with a G.O. Chagigah. The G.O. led everyone, over Zoom, in making edible menorahs from pre-packaged goody bags of pretzel sticks (candles), candy corn (flames), and fudge (base). Chanukah at Central is also not complete without a spirit of chesed. This year, students were unable to do community service in-person, so Mrs. Hadassah Frankel organized

a “Virtual Community Service Initiative (CSI).” Representatives from the Met Council, Shalva, and Misameach presented “virtual tours” of their activities and programs and engaged students in hands-on activities to give them a taste of what their organizations do. Each grade also had its own Chanukah Mesiba on Wednesday and enjoyed the ability to celebrate together, while playing a fun and competitive game of Chanukah Jeopardy, run by Ms. Leah Moskovich and Mrs. Rebecca Teper. Each grade came dressed-up in theme, heard a Dvar Torah from one of their peers, and enjoyed yummy menorah cookies. It was a wonderful Chanukah week.

Did you know? Marshmallows were created in France in the 1800s and were made from egg whites and sweetener

nization dedicated to the support and well-being of children from single-parent homes, ensuring that they feel wanted and loved by the community. Their goal is to assist single parents in building self-confidence, self – assurance, and overall contentment in the children that can help set them on a positive track for the future.

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Town of Hempstead’s special Chanukah drive-in concert at Town Park Point Lookout went on as scheduled last Thursday evening. The concert featured singers Eli Marcus and Eli Schwebel and the Yochi Briskman Orchestra. It was hosted by Supervisor Don Clavin, along with Senior Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, Councilman Bruce Blakeman, Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, Councilman Dennis Dunne, Sr., Councilman Tom Muscarella and Councilman Chris Carini

Sephardic Congregation of Hewlett Annual Dinner PHOTOS BY JERRY MEYER STUDIO

he Sephardic Congregation of Hewlett recently celebrated its fourth annual dinner at the Imperial Room of Bais Tefilah of Inwood. This year, the synagogue honored three of their members, Ilanit

Cohen, Efraim Rubinov and Gabriel Solomon, for their work preparing and delivering weekly divrei Torah and shiurim, and leading Torah study groups. Rabbi Pinchus Weinberger, a personal friend of Gabriel Solomon

and the Morah D’asra of Bais Tefilah, gave divrei bracha. The shul is a growing and vibrant congregation with minyanim on Shabbat and yom tov and a daily Shacharit minyan. The shul also of-

fers weekly shiurim and hosts a Sunday morning learning program for children in partnership with Chazaq. All are welcome to join and participate.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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Chanukah at JEP/Nageela

W Celebrating Chanukat at the Cahal K-1 class in HANC

Chessed for Chanukah

s children everywhere prepared with excitement for the upcoming holiday of Chanukah, the third and sixth grade students at HANC’s Samuel and Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School in West Hempstead helped to spread the joy of the holiday in a special way. On a recent visit to her father-inlaw, who is a resident at the Nautilus, an independent living facility in Atlantic Beach, a HANC faculty member thought about how different their Chanukah would be this year. In years past, the facility was visited by groups of children from neighboring schools that would come and visit, sing and dance and help to create a joyous environment for the seniors who live there. This year, due to the Covid restrictions, those visits could not take place. If the children can’t come to the Nautilus, there must be

another way to bring a smile to the residents who will not be able to celebrate Chanukah as they usually do. Presented with a “spinning dreidel” with outstretched arms, the students in grades three and six decorated colorful, smiling dreidels and added their own personal message on the back. Once they were completed, the magnificent dreidels were delivered to Melody Kassover, the Activity Director at the Nautilus. “These are wonderful!” she exclaimed when she saw the bag full of dreidels. “I will give them out on Thursday to the residents. They will love them!” This Chanukah, the seniors in the Nautilus celebrated their holiday knowing that children in HANC West Hempstead were thinking of them and wishing them a happy holiday, even from a distance.

e can all agree that this year was a different kind of Chanukah. But just because it was different doesn’t mean it wasn’t amazing and enjoyable! JEP and Torah Ohr had an incredible mother and daughter Chanukah party in Great Neck on the sixth night of Chanukah. The Chanukah party combined two Great Neck programs for public school girls in elementary and middle school called JIL and Nageela sisters. JIL (Jewish Individualized Learning) is a weekly program run by JEP in Torah Ohr on Wednesday nights from 6-7 pm. At JIL, each child has the opportunity to study topics that interest them with group games, prizes, awesome food and special events! Nageela sisters is a monthly big sister/little sister program run by JEP and Torah Ohr with incredible programs and in-

dividualized attention from each big sister to their little sister. The Chanukah party started with fun music and an amazing photo booth with Chanukah picture props. Then everyone played family feud and Pictionary with a Chanukah twist! Team Maccabi won family feud and everyone guessed each picture that had to do with the holiday or story of Chanukah during Pictionary. JEP/Nageela also hosted a 5 Towns JIL Chanukah party which was a blast! Pizza, latkes, doughnuts, marshmallow draidel decorating, mother-daughter Chanukah Trivia... so many fun activities, our heads were spinning! (or maybe it was our dreidel spinning!) We love our 5 towns JIL crew “a latka” and can’t wait to light up every Monday night with more learning, fun and excitement!

Chanukah Joy for Shulamith Eighth Graders By Gabi Moskowitz

n the first night of Chanukah, the Shulamith eighth graders had a chagiga to make up for the Shabbaton they couldn’t have. The night started off with divrei Torah by some of the students and words of wisdom from our special guest speaker, Mrs. Ruchie Frei. After the divrei Torah, the girls enjoyed watching some of their classmates perform a dance, choreographed by Rena Gelbstein and Kayla Hercman, to the song, “Those Were the Nights of Chanukah.” Following the energetic performance, everyone headed to the gym for a fun-filled activity with a silent DJ. The girls each got a pair of lightup headphones, and rocked to a socially distanced dance in their own

designated areas. To add to the beautiful experience, a committee led a lovely kumzitz using a list of songs and lyrics that they had prepared in advance. No chagiga would be complete without tasty treats! A Covid-compliant dinner of pre-ordered, individually wrapped food and drinks was served, and sufganiyot were sent home with the girls to enjoy. Eighth grader Kelli Faivish enthused, “The Chanukah chagiga was so much fun and a great experience for me. I really enjoyed dancing and singing, and since this was the last chagiga I was going to have with my Shulamith friends, I decided that I was going to make the most of it. This year’s chagiga will be one I will never forget!”

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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The children in Gan Chamesh Early Childhood Center enjoyed an innovative and unique experience at the creative “Light Museum,” which was part of the school’s hands-on Chanukah celebration.

Chanukah at SHS HALB celebrated Chanukah with laser tag, math dreidel puzzles, and more

hanukah celebrations are always a highlight at SHS, and this year was no different. All classes were cancelled on Friday in honor of celebrating the miracle of Chanukah. The day began with a beautiful dvar Torah by SHS celebrity, Rabbi Heshy Blumstein, who never fails to inspire students (and faculty) with his energy and positivity. Girls were divided by grade to have breakfast with their advisors before returning to the auditorium for a challenge game box hosted by NCSY. The sounds of laughter and cheering could be heard on the floor above as students competed to win. The day wasn’t over yet – there was yet another full school game lead by Ms. Esty Munk, who MCed a thrilling game of “Jeopardy.” SHS students then signed up for the elective of their choice – candle making, blanket making, trivia, latke making, or “Chanukah in Israel,” all led by SHS’s

beloved faculty. It was an opportunity for students to not only engage in a Chanukah activity of their choosing but also to bond with classmates and teachers. The day concluded with an incredible shiur by Rabbi Paysach Krohn on bringing true light into our own lives. That’s not all – Chanukah week included virtual night activities, including a Fried Oreo Demo, by Esty Wolbe of “Cooking with Tantrums.” Students logged on to fry up some Oreos (a gluten free variation works, too!) with their families. Though SHS students were disappointed that the annual Chanukah chagiga with Friendship Circle could not take place in person, a special Zoom night allowed for the tradition to continue, albeit in a very 2020 way. Though different than in years past, SHS students still had an incredibly warm Chanukah.

Did you know? The first s’mores recipe was printed in 1927 in a Girl Scouts’ cookbook

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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Eight Nights of Chanukah Lights

his year’s Chanukah festivities at HANC High School were LIT. The Student Life Team along with the Student Senate planned awesome school and grade events which included both chinuch and spirited fun. To kick off the start of Chanukah, girls grades 9-11 danced on Kangoo shoes in a glow-in-the-dark iMove with Naz (‘97) chagiga, followed by a boys chagiga on Kangoo shoes with their rabbeim. On the first day of Chanukah, the entire school competed in a riveting and very intense game of ZOOM BINGO. The theme of the game focused on Chanukah and HANC trivia. Winners were awarded their choice of HANC swag. On the fourth day of Chanukah, grades 11 & 12 gathered for tefillah and a special rendition of musical

Hallel by HANC’s very own music teacher, Mr. Jacob Spadaro, accompanied by Rabbi Yakov Grun and junior Avi Brandler. Participants sang along and were uplifted by the beautiful tefillot. Renowned speaker and educator Rabbi Yaakov Glasser enlightened the students with the profound and relevant message of Jewish youths’ responsibility. He inspired our students to make a difference in this world using their individual talents and to make a kiddush Hashem wherever they find themselves. Students also participated in the NCSY “Out of the Box” challenge where they enjoyed inspiring divrei Torah while competing in eight challenges relevant to Chanukah. Students loved the Torah learning, and enjoyed the friendly competition.

Students were ready to roll when HANC turned their gym into a roller-skating rink. Each grade was delighted to skate to Chanukah music as they tried to keep their balance. Students were joined by principal Rabbi Eli Slomnicki and other faculty in the Hurricanes Rink. Throughout Chanukah, all students had the opportunity to participate in the annual Chanukah auction. This year’s successful auction took on a different platform: Instagram. Juniors Dvora Finkel and Daniella Smus spearheaded the insta-auction where students bid on awesome prizes donated by their teachers and faculty. All proceeds will be given to tzedakah. The cold weather has prompted students to take out their jackets, hats, and scarves. Thinking of the

needs of others, HANC is running a coat drive for Yad Leah, in which lightly used winter jackets will be collected and forwarded to Israel for those in need. The coat drive will run through January 3. The highly anticipated grade hadlakat neirot, coupled with an exciting student-led Senate Event, were highlights of the HANC Chanukah experience. Grade representatives prepared an exciting game, dvar Torah, and a student lit the menorah before Tefillat Arvit. Thank you to the Director of Student Life, Rabbi Daniel Mezei, and Director of Student Activities, Rabbi Yakov Grun, and to the entire Student Life team, who did an outstanding job in organizing and creating safe and memorable Chanukah activities.

rabbis enough for always caring about me and making sure that I am able to observe each holiday.” The highlight of the evening was the menorah lighting. The grand and exquisite menorah, a true masterpiece, reminiscent of the Menorah in the Beis HaMikdash, was lit on the sixth night of Chanukah. One of the students, Paul, who works in the ICU of a local hospital was honored with the lighting. Paul said, “I am grateful to the rabbis for reuniting me with my people. It feels so good to be surrounded by my fellow Jews.” Even though it was the sixth night of Chanukah, a Shehechiyanu was recited, for those that hadn’t yet said the brachos. It’s heartwarming to see that people who had no connection to Judaism are now passionate about their Judaism and are learning and growing.

BJX has seen tremendous growth in both their student’s Torah learning and in shemiras haMitzvos. “Do you want to talk about miracles? A BJX student who graduated Madison public high school is now attending yeshiva for the first time in his life,” shared Rabbi Moshe Fingerer. BJX has brought great blessing and inspiration to our community. They have made kiruv and ahavas Yisroel front and center in Brooklyn. Our perception of unaffiliated and less frum Jews or frum Yidden who are in pain and in need of chizuk has changed. The rav and staff of BJX are nosei be’ol – they feel the pain of others b’ruchniyus and b’gashmiyus. You can partner with BJX and help them continue their marvelous work. To contribute, please visit, www.helpBJX.com.

Chanukah Miracle at BJX By Reuven Katz

rooklyn has the highest percentage of unaffiliated Jews in North America. Hundreds of thousands of Jews live amongst us with little or no connection to Yiddishkeit. Where will they learn about Yiddishkeit? Who will connect them to their roots? Baruch Hashem, our community is blessed with an amazing resource, called BJX, where Jews from all backgrounds come to be nurtured and inspired. Whether it is a Jew who was raised entirely secular, or a Jew with a yeshiva background who is teetering, BJX is there to support and care for every type of Yid. BJX is defying statistics and norms. Pew research reports that Jewish observance amongst secular young Jewish professionals and collegiate is dwindling, not growing. Ac-

cording to social scientists, there shouldn’t have been a Chanukah celebration with unaffiliated Jews in Brooklyn. Last week, BJX had a spectacular, COVID safe, event for our less affiliated brothers and sisters. The work of Rabbis Fingerer is incredible – because BJX is succeeding against every statistic and prediction. They are bringing back Yidden of all backgrounds to their roots. The BJX Chanukah party had everything from delicious food, drinks and music to an amazing speech and inspiration from Rav Yitzchok Fingerer. Michael, a young professional, summed up the extraordinary evening: “It was an amazing night. The light of the Chanukah candles was glowing on everyone’s faces. Being involved with BJX has been the most inspiring experience. I can’t thank the

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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Dreidel-thon at IVDU LI

he Chanukah Dreidel-thon at IVDU LI was a smashing success as the first annual, student-oriented fundraiser. The Dreidelthon campaign intentionally coincided with the greater IVDU/ Yachad Upreaching day, the annual day of giving that benefits the greater organization. The IVDU schools provides a whole-child approach to special education in a warm and supportive yet professional environment. At its North Woodmere location, IVDU LI students all got involved in the fundraising campaign. Dr. Sara Seplowitz, school principal, developed this year’s campaign in an effort to involve every student. “The fundraising effort, is a hands-on and fun way to help our students learn how to help their school,” she shared. Students had the opportunity to

participate in fun dreidel games and competitions, collect sponsorships from friends and family, and earn fun prizes at all donation levels. Prizes were also selected carefully to provide both something exciting for the child and something to benefit the whole class or classroom. At IVDU LI, everyone is truly a winner!

The students of Yeshiva Sha’arei Zion of Forest Hills enjoyed a glowing Chanukah chagiga

Chanukah Lights for Single Jewish Parents from the Gural JCC

he annual JCC Kadima Chanukah party for our single Jewish parents and their families has been a highlight of our program and an event families excitedly mark on their calendars for several years. However, in this strange and difficult year when everything has been uncertain, hosting a party seemed impossible. Just when we thought we would have to skip the program this time around, the family of our dear friend and patron, Mark Ramer, z”l, who has generously and enthusiastically hosted our parties in the past, contacted us to help figure out how we can make Chanukah special for our Kadima

clients, despite the current restrictions and challenges. Within days, an incredible celebration was planned. Nearly 150 single parents and their children drove to our Harrison-Kerr Family Campus in Lawrence last Tuesday night in a drive-thru Chanukah celebration that brought smiles, laughter and some tears to their eyes. As the cars slowly traveled a designated course, they were entertained by festive balloon arrangements, music, lights and Chanukah messages from emcee Gary Wallin, a clown on stilts, bubbles galore, a balloon twisting station and the singing, dancing, smiling faces of JCC staff

and dedicated volunteers. The cars stopped to pick up sufganiyot, latkes, special gift packages lovingly created by HAFTR fifth graders and their devoted teacher Rebbetzin Sori Teitelbaum, and, finally, a brightly wrapped Chanukah gift distributed by the Ramer family and their friends.As the cars honked their horns and left the premises, the happy faces on that very cold night warmed our hearts. As one client put it the next day, “I was so emotional. The lights, the balloons, bubbles, volunteers – so incredible, so beautiful. You brought such simcha to our lives. We felt hugged and loved.”

At a time that was dark and particularly painful for our single parent families, it was truly a night of great light and one to remember. The Kadima program for single Jewish parents provides a holistic approach to helping clients, through services and support, move forward on to a path of self-sufficiency. If you would like more information about this or any other JCC initiative please call (516)569-6733 or email rachayle.deutsch@guraljcc.org. The Marion and Aaron Gural JCC is a UJA-Federation of New York proud non-profit partner.

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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JCCRP Launches Innovative Initiative: Success Space for Women

he JCCRP has launched an extraordinary program that is the first of its kind. Single mothers face challenges in their lives. Raising young children and running their households while taking care of their own needs is very difficult. Possibly the greatest challenge they face is the emotional and financial struggle of doing this on their own. Single mothers are very often new to the workforce or re-entering it after a long absence. They need to earn a higher wage and manage their own finances. Due to their domestic responsibilities, they need flexible schedules and access to childcare. Enter Success Space for Women, a new program funded by the UJA Federation of NY. This innovative program focuses on assisting single mothers with identifying their career paths, developing their careers, growing their businesses and guiding them toward additional income. The program services will include: career guidance, career counseling, financial counseling, job placement services, small business consulting, industry networking, and workforce

Natasha and Adele together with program director Esther Miller

courses. Part of the magic of Success Space is its target: divorced women and single moms. The Career Counseling is being led by the very capable women of Wayfind Careers. (Google them and you’ll be impressed!) Adele Dubin and Natasha Srulowitz conduct oneon-one sessions. Whether it’s a career change, finding a higher paying niche job within an existing career or building a new business, the Wayfind coaches assist and guide their clients through each unique journey. The Financial Coaches also work

Financial Counselor Mark Alpert CFA, CFP

one-on-one to examine each woman’s expenses and earnings to make sure she’s able to make her ends meet at the end of each month. The social services aspect, provided by the top-notch staff of the JCCRP, include, but in no way are they limited, to enrolment in SNAP benefits, food pantry, housing, Medicaid, supermarket cards, and all of the other seasonal programs which are the backbone of the JCCRP. At this time, 30 women have joined and are benefiting from the services offered at Success Space for

Women. There is certainly room for more applicants! Last week, a single mom reached out and expressed, “I’m so impressed with the professionalism of everyone involved in Success Space. I now have the tools, including a brand new resume, to help me get the new job you found and helped me apply for.” If you or anyone you know would benefit from these services and this amazing project, please have them contact the program coordinator, Esther Miller, at esther@jccrp.org.

Shulamith ECC Thanks the Hewlett Fire Department

hanukah, even during a pandemic, is such an exciting and fun holiday for young children. This year, as always, the children at Shulamith ECC spent the weeks preceding Chanukah learning and improving their skills in every area of the curriculum. The girls found the Chanukah story, halachot, and minhagim fascinating. Their days were filled with hands-on activities and exploration. They worked hard making unique Chanukiyot, exploring the properties of oil, following recipes to prepare delicious levivot and Chanukah cookies, playing a favorite math game, “Racing Dreidels,” and graphing and polling their Chanukah preferences. An important addition to our Chanukah curriculum is fire safety. We want the children to be very cautious around fire, especially when the Chanukiyot are burning. Usually our friendly neighbors, the Wood-

mere Fire Department, are happy to host us for a special pre-Chanukah visit. This year, due to COVID concerns, things were a little bit different. Instead of the children going to

the fire department, the firefighters came to visit them, right in the classrooms at Shulamith ECC, via a Zoom hookup. The children were enthralled as they watched firefighter Chevi, a Shulamith alumna,

show them each item of firefighter gear and explain its purpose. The children were especially impressed with the mask she put on. They were afraid at first, but once they saw who was underneath, they thought it was funny. They understood that a firefighter needs clean air to breathe and the mask helps them breathe the air they carry around on their backs. They listened carefully as the firefighters cautioned them to be careful around lit Chanukiyot and to make sure someone watches them the entire time they are burning. The children were happy to do the mitzvah of hakarat hatov and made a beautiful thank you card for the firefighters. The youngest children, the nursery, were tasked with the job of delivering the card to the fire station along with doughnuts. Shulamith ECC hopes everyone had a meaningful, joyous, and safe Chanukah.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

Around the Community

NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island: First Staff Vaccinated

n the fight against COVID-19, NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island has reached a significant milestone – its first employee vaccination. Rabbi Jonas Gruenzweig, one of the medical center’s chaplains who served patients in the Emergency Department (ED), Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and throughout the hospital with spiritual care throughout the pandemic, received the hospital’s first vaccination on December 16. The first shipment of vaccines were offered to staff members 60 years and older who work in any capacity in the hospital’s ED and ICU. “As the delivery trucks carrying the COVID-19 vaccinations arrived to our facility yesterday, I began to breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in 9 months,” said Svetlana Lipyanskaya, chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island. “Although our staff will continue this grueling but important work providing exceptional care for the residents of South Brooklyn, it is comforting to know that they will soon have this important, and miraculous layer of protection.” Rabbi Grunezweig, a resident of Williamsburg, has served as chaplain at the hospital for five years. After receiving the first dose of the vaccine, he said, “I decided to take it today because I would like to be protected for myself, my family, my loved ones, my congregants, my patients, hospital staff, or any other person I come together with. “I hope this injection, which comes in two parts, will get rid of this pandemic and we should all be able to move on with our lives and eradicate COVID-19,” said Rabbi Grunezweig. President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, Mitchell Katz, stated that the health system hopes to have enough vaccine for everyone who works in Health + Hospitals’ 11 acute care hospitals in the next three weeks as vaccine supplies become available and following the priority population guidance of federal and state authorities. The COVID-19 vaccine is available at no cost to staff and although it is not mandatory for anyone, Katz believes it is health-

care workers’ best defense against the deadly virus. “After nine long months fighting this virus, today was a day of hope for our staff,” said Lipyanskya. Mayor de Blasio joined colleagues at NYC Health + Hospitals/ Elmhurst to document some of the first vaccines administered there. About NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island is a 371-bed facility, one of the public health system’s 11 acute care hospitals that offers general and acute medical care to adults and children. NYC Health + Hospitals/ Coney Island offers inpatient services for primary and acute care in general medicine, adult medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, medical

and surgical sub-specialties, coronary care, intensive care, obstetrics and gynecology, midwifery, neonatology, critical care, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry, and behavioral health services to a primary service area of approximately 900,000 NYC residents of southern Brooklyn. The hospital has designations as

a SAFE Center of Excellence under the Sexual Assault Reform Act, Designated AIDS Center (DACs), Level 2 Perinatal Center, and a New York State-designated Stroke Center. For more information, visit www. nychealthandhospitals.org/coneyisland and stay connected on Twitter at @ConeyIslandHosp.

Did you know? Ligonier, Indiana, is known as the marshmallow capital of the world

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Author Doreen Cronin Comes to HANC

ANC Plainview was filled with Chanukah spirit last week and the biggest highlight of all was our annual Author Visit. This year, The New York Times Bestselling children’s author, Ms. Doreen Cronin, spent the day on Zoom with all the students in the school. She kicked off the program with a story time for our nursery school students, and her vibrant personality brought smiles to a very interactive session. She then shared an important life lesson of understanding criticism and how it differentiates from feedback with the fifth and sixth graders and empowered the audience to spot the difference, ignore negative comments, and build from the positive. There was a thoughtful Q&A session as

well, and the teachers signed off just as inspired as the students! The second, third, and fourth graders spent a lot of

time learning about details added to stories by illustrators and how that helps bring words written by an author to life. The students

also had a chance to ask questions about the writing and publishing process and some proudly shared they have written stories of their

own, and received a glimpse into Ms. Cronin’s own plans for her next works. After lunch, the kindergarten and first graders had their time with Ms. Cronin who explained that you are an author just by writing. The students were motivated by her spirited presentation to create their own works that they will hold on to as a keepsake from the day. Ms. Cronin was so insightful, and while we could not host her in person, we were honored to have her in our classrooms remotely. It is always inspiring to hear an author speak about their literary journey, and we would like to thank the school librarian, Mrs. Francie Goldberg, for creating such a wonderful experience for all the students.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

‫בס“ד‬

PA R E N T I N G M AT T E R S SERIES

PRESENTS

TEENS & SCREENS

HELPING PARENTS NAVIGATE THEIR CHILDREN’S USE OF SCREENS AND NEW TECH

DR. ELI SHAPIRO

RABBI MOSHE TAUB

CREATOR AND DIRECTOR OF THE DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP PROJECT

M ARA D'ASRA OF Y OUNG I SRAEL OF H OLLISWOOD

Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Doctorate in Education and Specialists Certificate in Jewish Educational Leadership

Rabbinic Editor and Columnist at Ami Magazine, Menahel in Telshe, Riverdale

ZOOM ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION MODERATED BY

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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YOSS ECC students enjoying an amazing snow day last week

From the Mailbox of BYAM

ust wanted to thank you for the shopping bags BYAM supplied last night to shoppers at Kol Save. My wife sent me shopping to get “just a few things” (you and I know what that means) and forgot that we need to bring our own bags. But I was told not to worry because I’ll be able to buy them at checkout. When I got there and told the cashier to add bags, she told me with a smile, “For you, it’s free tonight.” Of course, she probably said that to everybody but it put a smile on my face. And then she pulled out some nice reusable bags with some beautiful words of encouragement/middos with the BYAM logo. No raffle, parlor meeting, building fund, dinner, fundraising project, etc. Just a nice bag with nice words. Love being part of a community where people and organizations look to help people to make people’s lives easier and not always make it just about raising money (which is also a great thing!).

Of course, after that, I went to the BYAM website and made a donation to this wonderful school. Keep up the great work you do for the Klal. -A Member of the 5 Towns Community

Having “snow” much fun in Gesher nursery

Rambam Interviews Mid-East Expert Dr. Hillel Fradkin

ecently, the students of Rambam were treated to an interview between two noted Mid-East experts. Principal of Rambam, Rabbi Yotav Eliach, who has taught Religious Zionism to thousands of students, has served and continues to serve in the IDF, and is the author of Judaism Zionism, and the Land of Israel, interviewed Dr. Hillel Fradkin, the Director of the Center on Islam, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World at the Hudson Institute.

Dr. Fradkin is founder and co-editor of the Center’s Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, the leading journal on contemporary Islamism, and he is currently getting ready to publish a book on the character and history of the dispute between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Its title is The Best of Communities Created for Man: The Contemporary Sunni Shiite Conflict in Historical Perspective. Rabbi Eliach began by asking about the Arab Gulf states’ recent

desire for peace. Dr. Fradkin noted that the rise of Iran as a regional and perhaps global power created a sense of fear amongst the states that resulted in their alliance with Israel. Rabbi Eliach then asked about Syria and Lebanon and their relationship to Hezbollah, and Dr. Fradkin proceeded to explore each nation’s current situation and their possible futures. Rabbi Eliach then asked a question submitted by senior Donny Guttman: “If Biden takes office, will the peace in the Middle East started

by the Trump Administration stop as Biden could revert back to conventional foreign policy doctrine?” Dr. Fradkin expressed some concerns as Biden was a prime backer of the Iranian Nuclear Deal under the Obama Administration. Rabbi Eliach and Dr. Fradkin were clearly speaking the same language, and the students of Rambam were able to gain insights – available nowhere else but Rambam – into the Middle East and its past, present, and future.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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TOH Announces $5.5M in COVID-19 Relief Grants to School Districts

n Monday, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin, members of the Town Board, along with representatives from Nassau BOCES and School District representatives, announced the allocation of $5.5 million in funding to address unbudgeted expenses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Up to $150,000 will be made available to each of the Town’s 36 school districts and Nassau BOCES to pay for expenses incurred to alter their facilities and supply students and staff with personal protective equipment. These reimbursements allow these school districts to recoup some of the unbudgeted expenses needed to keep students and faculty safe. This initiative to provide assistance to local school districts is a key component of a myriad of initiatives undertaken by the Town and made possible by the $133 million received from the federal CARES Act funding. “As the year is coming to an end, I would like to thank Senator Schumer one last time for his part in securing the funding for initiatives like this that have and continue to help tens of thousands of Hempstead residents,” said Hempstead Town Su-

pervisor Don Clavin. “Our schools stepped up to their responsibility of educating children in spite of the challenges arisen by the pandemic. One of the challenges has been equipping the schools according to protocols to protect students, staff members and their families.” Each individual grant has been allocated to reimburse for COVID-related expenses that have already been paid by the schools since the start of the pandemic. Acceptable reimbursements will be distributed for items such as masks, gloves, face shields, hand sanitizer, sanitizer and other cleaning supplies, testing, desk shields and partitions. “Nassau BOCES appreciates Supervisor Clavin’s and the Town Board’s critical financial support for schools within the Town of Hempstead,” said Dr. Robert Dillon, Superintendent of Nassau’s Board Of Cooperative Educational Services. “School administrators have made herculean efforts to keep schools open, maintain high academic quality, and protect the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and the communities they serve….”

“The jewel of Hempstead Town are our great school districts where students are exposed to a diverse range of peers and ideas. This funding from the Town originally received as part of the federal CARES Act will go a long way to ensuring local schools remain the excellent places of learning we know them to be,” stated Councilman Bruce Blakeman. “Nothing makes me prouder about being a resident of Hempstead Town than witnessing the work of my incredible neighbors who were educated right here in America’s largest township,” added Councilman Anthony D’Esposito. “This allocation of federal CARES Act money by the Town to local school districts is a direct way Town government can support our youngest residents during these difficult times.” For more information about the Town of Hempstead and its efforts to improve the quality of life for residents and businesses throughout the region, visit https://hempsteadny.gov/.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Rabbi Jacobs’s eighth grade students at Yeshiva Darchei Torah continued their lessons with electricity. The boys were given a challenge to create LED glow sticks. Using a straw, watch battery, electrical tape and LED lights, the boys used a heavy dose of creativity and imagination to transform what they learned into reality.

Snow Day at SKA

“T

he idea of a real snow day has us all imagining roaring fireplaces and hot cocoa with marshmallows,” wrote Mrs. Kaminetsky and Mrs. Drebin in an email to SKAers explaining there would be no school nor a regular day of online teaching on Thursday, December 17.

Zoom classes were suspended for the seventh day of Chanukah, but...Tefilah, Hallel and Torah at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls were not. Science teacher Mr. Chevesta kept us engrossed in an interesting talk on snow! Thanks go to our dedicated SKA faculty for these absorbing sessions.

Miriam Jacobovits Photography

CALL OR TEXT 347–572–8973 INSTAGRAM: MIRIAMJACOBOVITSPHOTOGRAPHY

The Ganger Early Childhood Center at TAG launched their S.A.F.E. TAG Talmidah Program this week. The talmidos talked about how to travel in a car or bus safely. They discussed the importance of wearing a seatbelt, listening to the driver, always staying seated, and other rules of safety. Every talmidah received a sticker, a keychain, and a magnet for her car that proudly proclaims, “I am driving a SAFE TAG Tamidah!”

Chanukah Amidst Covid

or nearly 30 years, Rambam talmidim have enjoyed fun events and surprise trips during Chanukah. Mystery bus rides, ruach-filled chagigas, trips to the Aviator Sports Complex, school-wide meals at Traditions, and latkes and dreidel at Rabbi Friedman’s house are just some of the things that nearly three decades of alumni recall nostalgically. 2020 has been a year like no other as coronavirus upended all these possibilities and required a new approach to enable safe fun with social distancing and masks. This year, students assembled in their pods of one grade at a time and were treated to a performance by master magician and mentalist Ben Cohen! Ben really put on a show with four different 30-minute performances of mentalist tricks. As the boys were wowed, Ben explained to them that, of course, magic and mind-reading are not real but instead are acquired skills. Ben is a much sought-after performer in the frum community and has entertained crowds in Monsey, Lakewood, California, and Pesach programs. He has a Rambam connection in the fact that his daughter, Leah, attended MSH and his son, Betzalel, is a Rambam alumnus.

Students were heard commenting, “He’s amazing!” That was great!,” ”How did he know that?” and “Incredible!” Sufganiot, sponsored by the Feigenson family, and nosh were strategically served to allow for social distancing and were eagerly gobbled up by the students, each behind their own individual barriers. With Ben Cohen performing and jelly doughnuts served, no mind reading was necessary to know that everyone had a great time!

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

Give the Gift of Thanks!

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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2020 RCCS Drive Thru Auction Ends with History Made

historic auction campaign ended with history being made! Tens of thousands of people of all ages, from all segments of Klal Yisroel, joined together for the 2020 Rofeh Cholim Cancer Society (RCCS) Auction live event. The auction marked the completion of the Drive Thru auction campaign. Due to the challenges of the global pandemic, this year’s auction had to be modified and adapted to meet the unprecedented times.

The highly anticipated house parties, a staple of all past auction campaigns, had to be cancelled due to social distancing concerns and government guidelines. Instead, a no-contact, virtual campaign was held. Despite the challenges, Klal Yisroel came through big time, showing their support to the over 1,000 RCCS hostesses/raisers around the world and to this lifesaving organization by going all out to ensure the ambitious goals were met. The devoted raisers –

from communities around the world who raised thousands from their community – showed immense dedication as they surged towards their personal goals and the collective auction campaign goal. The campaign this year was sponsored by the Skoczylas family in memory of the unforgettable Dr. Tali Skoczylas of Teaneck, may it be a zchus for his neshama. The original goal was to raise $2.4 million for cholei Yisroel, but once that impressive amount was reached, the raisers went into overdrive, aiming for even higher numbers. The virtual auction event saw tens of thousands of people from all around the world tuned in at RCCSauction. org or listening live to one of numerous radio stations broadcasting the show, or calling in to the live hotline, and enjoyed an exceptional evening of entertainment and inspiration, all with the goal of shattering previous records and raising the much-needed funds to save the lives of cancer patients in our communities. By the time the evening was over, the historic $3 million (!) mark had been passed, with donations received from over 32,000 donors worldwide! The auction was fueled by Roth and Co. and so many awesome sponsors – thank you! The event itself featured inspiration from renowned speakers, as well as patients and staff of RCCS telling their moving stories. Additionally, top-notch entertainment was provided by famous Jewish stars. The show was hosted by wellknown community activist and motivational force, R’ Chaskel Bennett, who kept the evening going with his wit and enthusiasm. He was joined by kiruv dynamo and renowned speaker, Rabbi Bentzion Klatzko, who provid-

ed inspiration throughout the show. The highlights were many, with one definitely being the Game Show hosted by the one and only Mendy Pellin, and with panelists Lipa Schmeltzer, Yoeli Lebowitz and Joey Newcomb. The host and panel kept the audience at home in stitches and thoroughly entertained one and all. A most moving and inspiring part of the evening was the live testimonials from families who have been affected by cancer and who have been helped by RCCS. Rabbi Chaim Rapfogel, COO of RCCS, shared a powerful message of thanks to the over 1,000 RCCS hostesses who opened their homes to host auction parties, and devoted RCCS medical coordinator R’ Zishe Lowy described an “ordinary” day in RCCS – which is anything but ordinary. The devoted RCCS volunteers manning the phone lines were kept busy all evening, as the calls kept coming in from around the globe with their donations and auction ticket purchases. A huge cheer went out when it was announced that the $3 million mark had been reached! The influx of funds raised will give RCCS the ability to continue its holy work and be there for the cholim and their families as they go through their painful and difficult ordeal. Mi k’amcha Yisroel! Finally, it was time to draw the winners of the incredible auction prize packages. Congratulations to all the winners! But, of course, everyone who participated in this amazing auction is a winner! It was a truly awesome event – the culmination of a truly incredible Drive Thru in which tens of thousands drove with RCCS towards hope and salvation for cholei Yisroel.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

Around the Community

Pfeizer Vaccine Coming to the Five Town Premier

ith the COVID-19 epidemic on the rise in New York, the Five Towns Premier Rehabilitation and Nursing Center cannot get the vaccine fast enough! Joe Benden, administrator of the Five Towns Premier, is proud to share that we have worked diligently to re-

ceive the vaccine on the very first day it is being administered in New York facilities. Given how fast COVID-19 spreads, particularly in the elderly, Benden feels it is his moral responsibility to protect all residents and staff. “Our hope is we get widespread

acceptance of the vaccine,” said Benden. “We know this could literally be a life-and-death situation.” To minimize fears that persist among the elderly, the Five Towns Premier has engaged in an aggressive campaign to educate all about the vaccine. Monday, December 21,

Walgreens pharmacy team will begin administering Pfizer’s COVID vaccine in the hope to save lives and stop the spread of this deadly virus. Joseph Benden’s team is doing their best to meet the critical needs of his residents.

The Pinnacle of the Heart Making “Next Year in Jerusalem” a Reality As told to Hadassah Bay

erusalem. The name alone elicits a feeling of deep longing. It’s the heart of the Jewish nation, and it resonates within the heart of every Jew. COVID-19, while difficult and distressing, has given us the gift of time for introspection. For me personally, the Passover lockdown crystallized my desire to eventually move to Israel. It was an ambition I’d harbored since youth, yet postponed numerous times due to my various business and familial obligations accumulated over the years. Said obligations still exist, but when my wife and I sang “Next year in Jerusalem” at our solitary aeder, it became overwhelmingly clear: Why wait any longer? The time had come to set our stake in the holy city of our dreams! When life goes back to normal and travel will become an option — hopefully very soon — instead of staying in hotels, we will fulfill our dream of celebrating in our own Jerusalem home. In the short interval between lockdowns last June, my wife and I were fortunate to spend a glorious month in Israel. It was our gift to one another. Almost half of the time was spent in quarantine, but the rest of the time more than made up for it. Between wonderful (socially distanced, of course) visits with our children and delightful grandchildren,

we investigated the various projects and units selling in the capital. There were several attractive options; the city is undergoing gentrification with no lack of upscale residences to choose from. In the end, however, there was no question about our choice. It’s like dating; there can be many excellent prospective matches, but when it’s the bashert, you just know it’s right. That’s exactly how we felt when we saw the JTower penthouse. The first thing you can’t ignore is the location. If Jerusalem is the heart, then JTower is the heart of the heart. Right on Jaffa Road’s Davidka Light Rail train station, hugging Mahane Yehuda open-air market with its enticing sights, sounds and smells, and most importantly, within walking distance of everything that matters. JTower is the hub! Walk eastward and you’re minutes away from the Kotel and Mamilla— Israel’s most luxurious outdoor mall with all the cool stores and excellent

places to eat; in the opposite direction is the Central Bus Station; southward, and you’re in Rehavia-Talbia; or head upward toward Geula and Meah Shearim. Each unit comes with two parking spaces, but between the proximity to all the great shopping, throbbing city life, the shuls and the excellent public transportation, who needs the headache of a car? However, the clincher, by far, was the view. In this city of low-rises, a view is a rarity anywhere; but trust me on this one: I’m talking about something else entirely. Imagine being at the top of the world. From a height of 24 floors, the 360-degree panorama brings the entire city at your fingertips — from the Old City and all the charming neighborhoods, all the way to the Dead Sea and flanked by the Judean Hills. During the day, you have all of Jerusalem’s magic, beauty, holiness and excitement spread out in front of you like a magnificent, living tapestry. At night, the cityscape is like a glittering

carpet of jewels, punctuated by landmarks such as the String Bridge, the Belzer world center, and the glowing streets. One of the amazing things about being in the very center of the city is the atmosphere – bustling, yet surprisingly quiet! With traffic limited to the Light Rail on this part of Jaffa Road, and some of the surrounding area designated as a pedestrian mall, you don’t get the noise or the pollution that comes with other locations. In addition, all the windows of the penthouse are sealed, effectively insulating them from any sound. Bottom line: at the JTower, the air is clean and the noise level, low, providing the best of both worlds, whether we feel like taking a stroll outside or just relaxing at home, and relishing the you-neverget-tired-of-it view. We were already overcome with exhilaration, but before we signed, I checked out the developer. In this respect, too, all our expectations were fulfilled. ICR,

Israel Canada Rem Group, is a leading real estate company with experience building upscale units all over the country. But unlike other huge, successful construction corporations, ICR takes an uncommonly personable approach, using the most innovative technologies and creative techniques to create communities for living. This, along with a willingness to go the extra mile was evident to us from the moment we entered the complex for the first time. All the apartments at the JTower have been snatched up, and now there are only two stunning penthouses remaining. Construction is complete, which means immediate occupancy. With just the finishing left, the lucky purchasers will be able to choose the décor according to their taste, lifestyle and budget – as we did. Despite the pandemic raging all over the U.S., our Israeli dream is steadily taking shape, just in time for our arrival. This year in Jerusalem!

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Kangoo Shoes at HANC

ANC Middle School girls enjoyed an exciting Kangoo shoe dancing event on Thursday in honor of Chanukah. The excitement and energy were palpable as the girls piled into the gym and pulled on their bouncy shoes.

The dancing was led by the incredible Naz, with great music and disco lights. The girls had the time of their lives bouncing on the kangoo shoes and dancing up a storm with the morot.

Sixth graders in Mrs. Pinsky’s science class at Yeshiva Darchei Torah, planning and designing their team’s Rube Goldberg machines to illustrate kinetic and potential energy

HAFTR Girls Give Back

AFTR Middle School’s sixth and eighth grade girls begin their Chumash class every day by putting money in our specially made “Thank You Hashem” tzedaka box. As each girl puts in her tzedaka, she states what she is thanking Hashem for today. These special girls have collected over $600 in the sixth grade and over $500 in the eighth grade in just three months! The sixth graders paid for materials and the packed Chanukah Bags to be given out at the Kadima Chanukah Drive By party. The Kadima program for single Jewish parents has been a

vital initiative at the Marion and Aaron Gural JCC for over six years, compassionately assisting more than 340 single parents and their families with a wide range of support and services. The eighth grade girls presented their money in a large check to Chai Lifeline. The girls have become very mindful of the need to appreciate everything they have and are practicing showing hakarat hatov for all that they have – both big and small – in their everyday lives. We are so proud of them and can’t wait to see what they do with the next monies they collect!

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

Around the Community

Covid-19 Vaccines

What You Need to Know. What You Want to Know Community Wide Online Education Forum Set for December 30, 8:30 PM U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice (NY-04) and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran join esteemed panel of medical experts and community representatives

panel of experts in infectious diseases, allergy, immunology and oncology will join local officials in an online forum to educate the community about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines and build preparedness as the massive rollout effort progresses. The online event, to take place December 30 at 8:30 PM EST, was announced by Amy Mosery, Founder of the Jewish Alliance for Dialogue and Engagement, in partnership with The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC. The event, “Covid-19 Vaccines What You Want to Know. What You Need to Know,” will be moderated by Alissa Hersh, MD, an allergist and immunologist, who is also co-administrator of a local physicians exchange on Covid-19 topics. Panelists will discuss the different vaccines, why they are safe, and will address questions on their efficacy and plans for distribution. “We are all nostalgic for the days when we could hug our families and friends, celebrate milestones together, and do so, without fear of getting sick. Getting vaccinated is one of the most important things we can do to eradicate this pandemic that has decimated our families, our communities, our country and the world,” said Mosery, whose organization has promoted the wearing of masks and social distancing measures to stem the virus’s spread. “We are thrilled to be working with such an accomplished panel of experts on this very important topic,” said Aaron Rosenfeld, JD, Chief Executive Officer, Marion & Aaron Gural JCC. “The Gural JCC has been at the forefront of serving those most affected by the economic and emotional harm this pandemic has caused. We have provided food, comfort and counseling. It is important that we

also focus on educating the community about the efficacy of the vaccines so that we help to end this devastating pandemic.” The panelists include: Rabbi Dr. Aaron E. Glatt, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA, serves as Chair, Department of Medicine, Chief of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, South Nassau. He is in charge of the Infectious Diseases Society of America Designated Center of Excellence in Antimicrobial Stewardship. Lawrence. E. Eisenstein, MD MPH, FACP, is Commissioner of Health for the Nassau County Department of Health on Long Island, New York, overseeing the health of approximately 1.35 million residents. He is Board Certified in Infectious Diseases. Andrea Ault-Brutus, PhD, is Director of Health Equity for the Nassau County Department of Health. Dr. Ault-Brutus has almost 20 years of experience improving health outcomes and access to quality health care for vulnerable and underserved populations as a public health professional and as a former health services researcher. Blima Marcus, DNP RN ANPBC OCN, is an Oncology Practitioner, Public Health Advocate, and founder of the EMES Initiative; she has lectured widely on increasing vaccine confidence in providers and parents. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Farrah Mozawalla, Executive Director, Office of Asian American Affairs, Nassau County, is the first Muslim to be appointed as a department head in the county. She is also a committee member of the County Executive’s Task Force on Domestic

Violence, the Census Count, works with the Valley Stream Interfaith Council, and is an active member of Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, which builds bridges and fights hate. For more information or to submit a question, contact: JADETownHall@gmail.com. The Jewish Alliance for Dialogue and Engagement (JADE) draws together individuals from across the religious and political spectrum, who are united by a shared recognition of our collective responsibility to ourselves, our communities, and our country. We seek to help heal divides, promote social justice, encourage collective action, engage

in meaningful dialogue, and share fact-based information about the pressing issues of our time. The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC has been serving residents of the greater Five Towns for over 40 years. Their programs and services bring together people of all ages and abilities. They provide social, educational and support services that address a variety of interest areas and needs. Their three locations offer a welcoming environment for engagement and camaraderie. The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC is a proud non-profit partner agency of UJA-Federation of New York and an affiliate of Community Chest South Shore.

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DECEMBER29, 24,2015 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER | The Jewish Home

1. *

TJH

Centerfold

A December to Remember 3

4 5 6 7

13 14

14. First state to adopt the Constitution 16. Despite his foreign last name, ______________ van Buren is the first U.S president born in the U.S. 17. This once powerful republic broke apart on December 8, 1991

Across: 3. Jelly Donuts 5. Euro 7. Boston Tea Party 11. Winter Solstice 12. Manhattan Bridge 14. Delaware 16. Martin 17. USSR

Across 3. Many were eaten this month 5. Currency of the European Union 7. Tea overboard in the Boston Harbor 11. Winter begins 12. Third span across the East River in NY City opens to traffic in 1910

Down: 1. Pearl Harbor 2. Wright 4. Bonus 6. Poor Richards Almanac 8. Bill Clinton 9. Beethoven 10. Prohibition 13. Bill of Rights 15. Rosa Parks

Down 1. Propels the U.S. into WWII 2. These brothers finally get it right in 1903 and take off. 4. Every worker hopes for one this month. 6. Benâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book about weather predictions, humor, proverbs, etc. 8. Impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice 9. Completely deaf by the time he wrote his Ninth Symphony 10. Alcoholic beverages outlawed in the U.S. 13. First 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution 15. African-American woman who sparked the Civil Rights movement in Alabama when she refused to go to the back of the bus

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 24, 29, 2020 2015

Serious Body of Work K 30 MINUTES-- Time it takes the

20,000- Approximate number of times a day K 20,000

human body to give off enough heat to bring a half gallon of water to a boil

that the average person blinks

50,000- Number of scents that the brain can remember MILES- Approximate length if all of the K 100,000 MILES

K 3 TO 7 YEARS-- The lifespan of an average human hair

K 1 IN 12 - Percentage of men who are color blind

blood vessels of an average-sized adult were laid out in a line

500,000- Amount of sweat glands in your feet (that K 500,000 explains some things, does it not?)

40 POUNDS-- Approximate amount of dust that a person inhales in their lifetime

K 70% - Amount of body that is water K 100 MPH- Speed that air rushes through your nose when you sneeze

K 150 - Days an eyelash lives before it falls out

Riddle Me This? A magician was boasting one day at how long he could hold his breath underwater. His record was six minutes. A kid said, “That’s nothing. I can stay underwater for 10 minutes using no equipment and with no air pockets!” The magician told the kid that if he could do that, he’d give him $10,000. The kid did it and won the money. Can you figure out how? Answer below

1,000,000- Number of filters on each kidney K 1,000,000 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000K 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Approximate number of atoms which make up the human body

K 2.6 MILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH - Distance

between Earth and the Andromeda galaxy, which is the farthest object visible with the naked eye

You Gotta be Kidding Me! Patient: Doctor, I think I need glasses. Teller: You certainly do! This is a bank. Patient: My hair keeps falling out. What can you give me to keep it in? Doctor: A shoebox. Patient: Doctor, you must help me. I’m under such a lot of stress. I keep losing my temper with people. Doctor: Tell me about your problem. Patient: I just did, didn’t I, you fool?!

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Answer to riddle: The kid filled a glass of water and held it over his head for 10 minutes.

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Torah Thought

Parshas Vayigash By Rabbi Berel Wein

he brothers and Joseph ﬁnally meet each other head-on, without pretense and subterfuge. When Joseph reveals himself to the brothers, the veil of secrecy, role-playing, distrust, and enmity is ripped away. The dreams that apparently were the cause of this gripping family drama now reappear in their stark and simple meaning.

The sheaves of grain are the brothers and the constellation of stars in heaven are to be taken literally as the brothers bowing down to Joseph. It is noteworthy that the brothers never asked why Joseph is entitled to such respect and discipline from them. They apparently never search out the merit or qualities that have made Joseph their ruler.

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There are many commentators who believe that Joseph never recounted to them the story of his life with Potiphar and how he had risen to such glory and power. For the brothers, as perhaps for Joseph himself, it was suﬃcient that the dreams had meaning and had come true. All the rest of the story became almost incidental and unimportant. It was the dreams that were the central issue, and when proven to be accurate and eﬀective, that was all that really mattered.

a mortal threat to their very survival and to the necessary nation-building process that would create the Jewish people. Then, in a moment, this entire understanding and assessment of the situation with Joseph was turned on its head. This occurred because they had refused to give credit or to display conﬁdence in the dreams that Joseph had related to them. It is, thus, superﬂuous to state that the Jewish people have survived only based on dreams.

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The great Ponovezher Rav summed up the situation succinctly when he told me: “I sleep little, but I dream all the time.”

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No longer would the brothers, or their descendants, mock dreams or dreamers. In eﬀect, they now realize that somehow the dreamers were more practical than the pragmatic people of the world. Certainly, as part of Jewish life was to be concerned, it would only survive and prosper based on dreams and not based on data. When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, they are naturally shocked by the turn of events. Until now, they had always believed that they were within their rights, and that the actions that they had taken against Joseph were not only justiﬁed but necessary. They saw him as

The return of our people to the land of Israel in our time is perhaps the greatest of dreams. We are taught in the book of Psalms that the return to Zion must be viewed as a dream, for based on pragmatism alone it could never have happened. The same thing is true regarding the revival of Torah in Jewish society in our time. Only dreamers could imagine, that at some level, the long-standing tides of ignorance and hostility towards Judaism and Jewish values could be checked. The great Ponovezher Rav summed up the situation succinctly when he told me: “I sleep little, but I dream all the time.” Shabbat shalom.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

From the Fire Parshas Vayigash

Protect the Candle, then Light a Bonﬁre By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

hazal (Yalkut Shimoni 150) connect the confrontation between Yehuda and Yosef at the beginning of the parsha to a pasuk in Tehillim (48:2-5) we read every Monday morning in the Song of the Day: “Hashem is great and very much praised in the city of our G-d, the mountain of His holiness. A beautiful view, joy of the entire world, the mountain of Zion…for behold the kings have assembled; they have passed together.” When Dovid Hamelech said, “The kings have assembled,” the Midrash says that this refers to none other than Yehuda and Yosef. Yehuda was the king of the brothers and Yosef was the king of Egypt. Why does the Midrash connect this encounter with Dovid Hamelech’s description of the beauty of Yerushalayim, the Temple Mount, and the Beis Hamikdash? We see from the Mishna in Pirkei Avos (2:1) that there are two types of tzaddikim, two ways of serving Hashem. The Mishna says, “Rebbi says, ‘Which is the straight path which a person should choose? Any one which gives glory to the one who does it and glory from other people.’” In other words, there are

two paths, both of which appear good and straight, so it is difficult to choose between them. But Rebbi advises that one should choose the path that not only gives himself glory, but also causes others to give him glory. One type of tzaddik serves Hashem to perfect himself and get closer to Hashem, but he does not involve himself in teaching or attempting to influence others. This type of tzaddik includes the thirty-six hidden tzaddikim. Such a tzaddik follows the path which “gives glory to the one who does it.” While service of G-d in this way certainly affects the world through its influence on the higher worlds, a tzaddik who follows this path secludes himself and does not attempt to influence others. This is the way of private, secluded service of G-d. But there is another type of tzaddik, one who follows a path that “gives glory to the one who does it and glory from other people.” Tzaddikim who serve Hashem in this way work to bring G-d’s glory not only into their own lives, but also into the lives of everyone around them. This is the way of public service of G-d. Both of these types of tzaddikim

have their place. The pasuk (Tehillilm 96:11) says, “The Heavens will rejoice and the earth will delight.” In other words, “the Heavens will rejoice” as a result of those tzaddikim who seclude themselves to serve G-d in a state of total purity. And “the earth will delight” through the service of those tzaddikim who serve G-d by teaching and influencing their brothers and sisters here on earth. Both paths are precious before Hashem. Both have their proper time and place. Yaakov Avinu himself struggled to find his place between these two paths. He dreamed (Bereishis 28:12) of a “ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to Heaven.” On one hand, his grandfather Avraham Avinu was devoted to the path “which gives glory to the one who does it and glory from other people.” Avraham went out into the world to bring all of mankind to belief in and service of G-d. And his father Yitzchak separated himself from the world, devoted to a path in which he did not travel to teach others about G-d but stayed in Eretz Yisroel and worked to perfect himself. Yaakov Avinu felt drawn to both paths and attempted to find a middle ground.

We see which path Yosef and Yehuda chose based on the Gemara (Sota 36b), which says, “Yosef sanctified the name of Heaven in private, so one letter of Hashem’s name was added to his name. Yehuda, who sanctified the name of Heaven in public, has all the letters of Hashem’s name in his name.” Yosef sanctified Hashem’s name in private by refusing to be with the wife of Potifar when no one was there to see. But Yehuda sanctified G-d’s name publicly by proclaiming, in front of everyone, “She is more righteous than me” about Tamar. Similarly, the pasuk which refers to the greatness of those tzaddikim who give glory to Heaven and increase G-d’s glory on earth also contains Hashem’s four letter name: “The Heavens will rejoice and the earth will delight.” Rav Kook explains in Ein Aya (on Shabbos 21b) a deeper way of understand the Gemara’s teaching: “It is a mitzvah to light the Chanukah candle by the door of the house on the outside… But at a time of danger, one may place it on his table, and that is sufficient.” Rav Kook explains that, at one time, when we had a Beis Hamikdash and

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020 The Jewish Jewish Home Home || OCTOBER OCTOBER 29, 29, 2015 2015 The

had experienced the redemption of Chanukah, we placed the menorah on the outside of the house to illuminate the outside world with the light of Torah and holiness. That is the way of Yehuda. But in a time of exile, when the dangers of the outside world’s influences press on our homes, attempting to come inside, we lock our doors, close our shades, and concentrate on keeping the pure light of holiness burning inside. We do not attempt to influence the outside world in exile because we have a difficult enough time keeping the influences of the non-Jewish world out. That is the way of serving G-d in exile. That is the way of Yosef HaTzaddik. The Sfas Emes uses this Gemara to illustrate a very similar teaching. In the old days, there was a separation between the nations of the world and the protected holiness of a Jewish home. Then, we fulfilled the mitzvah to light the menorah “outside.” But today, the outside world is now inside. Every type of distraction and impurity rides into our homes through the same devices found in the outside world. Because the world out there is now in our homes, we fulfill the mitzvah to light the menorah outside by lighting it in our houses. And by doing so, we daven to Hashem that He illuminate our houses with the light of His Torah so that our homes with have the sanctity and wholesomeness that does not exist outside. What was the nature of this meeting between the two kings? How does it relate to these two says of serving G-d, and how does it connect to the beauty of the Temple Mount and Yerushalayim? Their debate was about their brother Binyomin. And we know that the Beis Hamikdash and the Holy of Holies were situated on both Binyomin and Yehuda’s portions of Eretz Yisroel (Zevachim 53b-54a). In other words, their debate was about the soul of the Jewish nation, the Beis Hamikdash. Which of their paths in the service of G-d represent the pinnacle of man’s service? Yehuda’s way of redemption, of public teaching and influence, or Yosef’s way of exile, of secluding one’s self from the world to serve G-d in

purity? Yehuda’s path of “a beautiful view, joy of the entire world” and “the earth will delight”? Or Yosef’s path of “let the Heavens rejoice”? Yehuda argued that, just like in the time of the redemption, “Yerushalayim will be settled like unwalled towns” (Zecharia 2:8). When we live in the proper way, we will no longer need the high walls of Yerushalayim to keep the outside world out. Instead, the light of Yerushalayim will be open, illuminating the entire world. What is the appropriate time for each of these approaches?

Protecting the Fire This week is the fast day of Asara (the tenth of) B’Teves. According to Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 580 and Magan Avraham there), Asara

And the 9th of Teves is the yahrtzeit of Ezra Hasofer, who caused the Assyrian script we find in sifrei Torah to be used for seforim accessible to the general public. He brought the depth and richness of the Torah’s writing, in which the shape of every letter has significance and every crown on every letter teaches scores of halachos and secrets of Torah, to the Jewish world. Losing Ezra was a tragedy of untold proportions because he introduced a new depth of understanding to the Jewish people’s understanding of the inner, deeper part of Torah. And on Asara B’Teves, the 10th of Teves, the king of Bavel began the siege on Yerushalayim at the time of the first Beis Hamikdash. These three things share one common denominator. All of them

We must light the menorah in our homes in exile before we can light it outside with the redemption.

B’Teves is one of the most terrible fast days because it was instituted after tragedies which befell our people on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of Teves. It is so severe that, were it possible for it to fall on Shabbos, we would still fast. On the 8th of Teves, Talmai Hamelech decreed that the Sages translate the Torah into Greek. This was considered a horrible degradation of the Torah. While it is true that this could theoretically be a good thing because “the beauty of G-d goes to Yefes [the father of Greece] and it shall dwell in the tents [houses of study] of Shem [the father of the Jewish people]” (Bereishis 9:27), it could not have come at a worse time. The walls of the Jewish community were down and many Jewish people were becoming mesmerized with Greek culture. Translating the Torah meant strengthening Hellenists’ penchant for viewing the holy Torah as merely another topic for intellectual study.

demonstrate how important the walls of holiness are to increasing the depth and purity of our connection to and understanding of the Torah. The ultimate goal, the way of redemption and Eretz Yisroel, is to break down the walls and spread Torah to the whole world. That is the way of Yehuda, the father of Dovid Hamelech and Moshiach. But that is only possible after we first protect the sanctity of our people and ourselves by sanctifying Hashem’s name in private, where no one in the world can see us. That is the way of Yosef HaTzaddik, the father of Moshiach ben Yosef who prepares the way for Moshiach ben Dovid. We must light the menorah in our homes in exile before we can light it outside with the redemption. It is told that Rav Chatzkel Shinover, the author of the Divrei Yechezkel, once had to travel with his gabbai on a very cold and windy

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night. The two of them were suffering tremendously from the cold so Rav Chatzkel asked his gabbai to make a fire for them. The gabbai took some flint stones and tried mightily but he was unsuccessful. So the rebbe asked if he could try, and when he did so, a fire started immediately. Rav Chatzkel then told his gabbai, “I know when we get back, you’re going to tell all of the chassidim that the rebbe did a miracle. But you should know that it isn’t true. But Rav Hirsch Riminover… he could do wonders. Once on Shabbos, there was a large storm outside the beis midrash, and one of the windows shattered. The wind was howling through the window and the chassidim wanted to go find a non-Jew to put something over the window, lest the wind blow out the candles in the beis midrash. But Rav Mendel looked out of the window this way and that way, and told them that the candles would be fine. Just then, the wind stopped blowing through the window. So you see, Rav Hirsch Riminover could do wonders but I cannot. All I know how to do is to cup my hands over the spark to allow the flame to grow.” The tzaddikim of the earlier generations miraculously protected us from the winds of the outside world. But today, our job is to cup our hands around the fire of our Yiddishkeit and not to let it go out. We must protect the holiness of our minds, our eyes, and our ears from the impurity of the outside world. And we must fill them with Torah, tefillah, mitzvos, and words and acts of kindness. If we first protect the candle, we can use it to light a bonfire. With G-d’s help, may we protect the holiness within us so that the Heavens will rejoice and the path will be prepared for the way of Yehuda and Moshiach ben Dovid, who will bring about the time when “the earth will delight,” may it come soon in our days. Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Parsha Ponderings Parshas Vayigash

Putting “Ability” into Responsibility By Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky

of Yerushalayim is eating breakfast and learning Torah in peace!’”

n Parshas Vayigash, Yosef reveals himself to his brothers. After an emotional reunion, he tells them something fascinating, yet perplexing, “And now, do not be distressed, nor reproach yourselves for having sold me here, for it was to be a provider that G-d sent me ahead of you,” Yosef said. What a remarkable statement. One would think that Yosef would use this opportunity to demand an apology from his brothers for the terrible actions they took against him. And yet, just the opposite happened. Yosef sensed that his brothers were embarrassed, ashamed, and full of remorse for having sold him. He then took the initiative and appeased them. Why did he do that?   

My grandfather, Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, told the following story: The daughter of Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfel,d zt”l, rav of Yerushalayim a century ago, walked into the courtyard in front of their home and saw her father leaning over into a well. She watched as her father drew a small amount of water, enough for a child to hold, and handed it to a boy. He leaned back into the well to repeat the process. The child ran oﬀ to his house, poured the small amount of water into a large barrel, and ran back to the well to retrieve the next

  

small pitcher from the great sage. This unusual scene repeated itself a few times before she ﬁnally built up the courage to ask her father what

to draw water from this well,” he began. “He was leaning in to reach the pail, and he almost fell in! His father is laying ill, and his mother just

No one grows from blaming others.

he was doing. “What will people say about you?” she asked him. “You are the rav of Yerushalayim! Why are you taking time and using so much eﬀort to draw water for this child?” The rav was not impressed. “I noticed that this child was trying

gave birth. He needs this water for his parents. “I am not worried about what people on the street will say, but I am worried that, in Heaven, they will say, ‘A child’s life is in danger, and only a few feet away, the rav

Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, would often repeat the explanation oﬀered by Rav Yerucham Levovitz, zt”l. True, Yosef could have pointed a ﬁnger at his brother for their mistake. But Yosef knew better. He knew that no one grows from blaming others. He took responsibility upon himself. Yosef felt that maybe he was to blame for inciting his brothers with bringing their evil reports to his father. Maybe he was to blame for his ending up in Egypt, and for that, he comforted his brothers. It was this same sense of responsibility which enabled him to feed an entire nation, and ultimately, the entre civilized world. When one thinks larger than himself, he is able to diffuse situations and shoulder great responsibilities.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky is the Director of Advancement at Yeshiva of South Shore – Yeshiva Toras Chaim Beis Binyamin. He is currently compiling the Torah thoughts from his grandfather, Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, into print, in Hebrew and English. If you have any stories or divrei Torah to share from his grandfather, or to subscribe to receive a weekly dvar Torah from Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky’s teachings, you can email him at skamenetzky@yoss.org.

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

The Wandering

Jew

The Russians Are Coming Part II By Hershel Lieber

Rakhel Walbe and Edjik, far right, Yulia wearing a pink dress, Bella behind her, and Pesi, far left, in 1990

Pesi and I hosting (left to right) Bella and Usher Charny, Rakhel Walbe, and Avrum Sandler in 1994

Chanukah 1990, Yulia & Edjik surrounding me. Asher Sandler in the rear

The Charny family (left to right) Rakhel Walbe, Usher, Edjik, Bella, and Yulia in 1992

uring the 1980s and 1990s, both Pesi and I developed close relationships with a number of Jewish families that came to the United States from the former Soviet Union. I had previously written about the Hanukov family that originated from Baku, Azerbaijan, and later from Moscow. Recently, I wrote about the Hendlins that came from Minsk, Belorussia. I plan to write in the future about the Sandler family from Kishinev, Moldovia. This article is devoted to the Charny family that originated from Vinnitsa in the Ukraine. These four families became very close to us and their children connected with ours as well. They were our guests at numerous Shabbos and yom tov meals. We included them at our Chanukah parties, we sent them mishloach manos on Purim, and, of course, they were always present at our sedorim. We assisted some of them in finding jobs, getting their children into Jewish schools, arranging their Jewish life cycle events, navigating the myriad of paperwork and forms that they needed for social services, and even in finding solutions to disputes with employers or within their own families. In short, they were our extended families. My relationship with the Charnys began on February 11, 1990. I had gone to visit the Sandler

family, whom we had just became acquainted with less than three months earlier. When I came out from their building, I saw a man wearing a Russian ushanka hat, rummaging through some furniture that was put out on the street for pickup by the sanitation department. I started to make some conversation with him, and with his smattering of English and smidgen of Yiddish and my miniscule amount of Russian, I determined that this family had just arrived from Vinnitsa, the Ukraine. His apartment, which was in the same building as the Sandlersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, had almost no furniture and he was excited that there was a dresser on the street that they could really use. I gave him a hand in bringing the dresser up to his apartment, and a lifelong relationship thus began. On that Sunday more than thirty years ago, I was introduced by Iosif Charny to his wife Bella, his ten-year-old daughter Yulia, and his six-yearold son Edjik. Also present was Iosifâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother, Rakhel Walbe, who lived with them. Rakhel called her son Iosif by his Yiddish name, Usher, and I continue using that name to this very day. Rakhel spoke a very cultured Yiddish, and she was able to translate our conversations. I learned that they recently arrived and were being helped with basic support by the NAYANA organization but would soon be on their own. I looked around and saw that they really needed furniture and also

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020 The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

A recent photo of the Charny family with Bella and Usher in the center flanked by Edjik and Yulia and Yulia’s two daughters and her husband

realized that they would soon need employment to put food on their table. Rakhel further told me about her family’s religious background and how the Communists purged all Jewish religious

goal and then took away their last vestige of Jewish identity by banning Yiddish culture and then they closed those very schools. Our connection became very intertwined with

With his smattering of English and smidgen of Yiddish and my miniscule amount of Russian, I determined that this family had just arrived from Vinnitsa, the Ukraine.

identity from them. She told me of her courage in making a bris for her son Usher and that she would love her grandson Edjik to have one, too. Siyate D’Shmaya was very evident in the events that followed my encounter with the Charny family. Within two weeks’ time of our first meeting, I was able to arrange a bris for Edjik, where I participated as the sandek. I inquired with my neighbors about used furniture and was able to get an entire bedroom set for Usher and Bella. I asked some people about work for Usher, and he was immediately hired by a local dry-cleaning shop. The Charnys were our guests for that first Shabbos after we met, and their excitement was overwhelming. Rakhel Walbe reminisced about her childhood Shabbosim and yomim tovim and how these precious days were obliterated by the Soviet regime. She told us that, in the early years after the Russian Revolution, there were public schools that catered to Jews and taught in the Yiddish language. She was a teacher in those schools. The entire goal was to wean the young Jewish students away from Yiddishkeit by introducing them to socialism and atheism. They succeeded in their

this family. Usher would come to me often for advice. He eventually learned English but with a heavy Russian accent. He studied for and passed a civil servant exam in his field of expertise, refrigeration, and heating. He was hired and worked for many years at the NYCMTA. Bella worked as a bank teller and later as the chief bank teller at an Apple Bank branch. Yulia married and has two daughters. Both she and her husband have excellent professional careers. Edjik is still single and has a very good position as a computer analyst. Usher and Bella moved away from Brooklyn to New Jersey a few years ago to be closer to Yulia and her family. After living together with their children for a few years, Rakhel Walbe realized that it would be better to have her own residence. I had a friend who owned an apartment building in the heart of Boro Park but was hesitant to rent an apartment to someone without perfect financial security. After applying some pressure and taking partial responsiblity, he rented Rakhel the premises. Living in the center of this frum neighborhood made it possible for her to return to her religious up-

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bringing. I kashered her kitchen and bought her a siddur and Tehillim from which she religiously davened. Besides our annual mishloach manos visit, I made sure to sell her chametz and came up to do the bedikas chometz every year with my son. I would inspect her cabinets and discovered on more than one occasion bread that she was hoarding for after Pesach use. We bought her some Pesach provisions as well. She was a celebrity by her neighbors, and everyone would stop by to get her “hartzike brachos,” which she showered abundantly in Yiddish to all her visitors. As Rakhel was aging, she was given a full-time aide by the state but many times she was irritated by them and they were frustrated with her. I was called in often to iron out the differences between them, which, in most cases, I was not capable. She was a feisty woman, strongminded and with determination. This was the quality that kept her connected somewhat to Yiddishkeit during the years she lived in Russia. When her sister, who also lived in Brooklyn, died suddenly, Rakhel called me, and I quickly arranged for a Jewish funeral and burial. At that time, I convinced her to buy her own plot near her sister, which she did. A few years later, I officiated at Rakhel’s levaya and organized the shiva for her son Usher. I still am in contact with Usher at least two or three times a year. When I lived in Boro Park, he would come to me in person but now we talk by phone. An unusual quality of Usher that always impresses me is that he never forgets the kindness that was done to him when he came to this country. Every year, both he and Yulia mail me two checks totaling a couple hundred dollars to allocate and send out to any tzedakah organization that I see fit. They want to share their fortune with other needy causes as a form of recognition of the benevolence that was conferred upon them. I pray and hope that this lesson of hakoras hatov with remain with me forever.

Hershel Lieber has been involved in kiruv activities for over 30 years. As a founding member of the Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel he has traveled with his wife, Pesi, to the Soviet Union during the harsh years of the Communist regimes to advance Yiddishkeit. He has spearheaded a yeshiva in the city of Kishinev that had 12 successful years with many students making Torah their way of life. In Poland, he lectured in the summers at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation camp for nearly 30 years. He still travels to Warsaw every year – since 1979 – to be the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the Jews there. Together with Pesi, he organized and led trips to Europe on behalf of Gateways and Aish Hatorah for college students finding their paths to Jewish identity. His passion for travel has taken them to many interesting places and afforded them unique experiences. Their open home gave them opportunities to meet and develop relationships with a variety of people. Hershel’s column will appear in The Jewish Home on a bi-weekly basis.

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

My Israel Home

The Pros and Cons of Buying “On Paper” By Gedaliah Borvick

hen choosing between buying an existing apartment and buying in a project under construction –known as buying “on paper” – most purchasers would initially prefer an already-built home. First of all, there is less guesswork, as you can see the actual apartment for yourself. In addition, when buying an existing unit, there is no waiting period: you receive the keys to the property within a few months of contract signing, as opposed to waiting up to three years when buying on paper. Upon further reflection, however, many clients often elect to buy on paper for the following reasons: (1) You can customize and design the unit to fit your particular needs and tastes; (2) You have more options – such as choosing what floor to live on and what direction you want your apartment to face; (3) You can spread your payments over a few years, which works particularly well for people planning aliyah; (4) Demand exceeds supply, therefore there are not enough existing homes for sale to satisfy the voracious market appetite; (5) In a new project, you can sometimes receive a significant price discount to market value. Let me mention an important law which protects people buying on paper: your investment is protected by a bank guarantee. It is an insurance policy guaranteeing the completion of your apartment should the developer go bankrupt. There are a number of positives to buying an existing unit, compared to buying on paper. For example, older buildings tend to have larger rooms. The flip side, however, is that old-

er apartments usually have fewer rooms. In addition, older buildings in large population centers are likely to be well located, as they were built when the cities were smaller

Some of the negatives associated with buying an older second-hand apartment are: (1) Apartments constructed before 1992 do not have a “mamad,” or a safe room made of

It is an insurance policy guaranteeing the completion of your apartment should the developer go bankrupt.

and less spread out. In comparison, new construction projects tend to be located farther away from the center of town, as few vacant plots of land in the middle of existing neighborhoods are available for new development.

reinforced concrete; (2) Many older buildings lack amenities such as elevators, parking, and storage rooms; (3) Construction technology has soared over the past decade and therefore new buildings are general-

ly built to higher standards; (4) New buildings have various health-related systems that weren’t incorporated into older buildings, including pollution control systems, fire escapes, and carbon dioxide ventilation for parking garages; (5) Lastly, older apartments are vulnerable to the defects of neighboring apartments. For example, even if one’s apartment has been completely gut renovated, a leak stemming from an upper floor unit will obviously cause damage to your apartment. During these unprecedented COVID-19 times, the majority of our foreign clients have shied away from buying existing homes – and yet many of them have been comfortable purchasing on paper. In contrast to buying an existing apartment, they don’t feel obligated to be in Israel to inspect the property under construction as there is no finished product to see. Nevertheless, buying on paper is not for everyone. Know yourself: if you will be agitated for three years, worrying incessantly about your apartment under construction, please resist the urge to buy. If, however, you will be able to sleep at night then buying on paper – in the right project with a strong developer – can be an excellent home-purchasing opportunity.

Gedaliah Borvick is the founder of My Israel Home (www.myisraelhome.com), a real estate agency focused on helping people from abroad buy and sell homes in Israel. To sign up for his monthly market updates, contact him at gborvick@ gmail.com.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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Rabbi Steven Weil

“ISRAEL IS THE GREAT UNIFIER” FIDF, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, was started in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors in the U.S. The survivors wanted to do something for the young State of Israel and for its soldiers. What started as a small effort of a few individuals has grown into an organization that has become the largest donor organization to the IDF. Rabbi Steven Weil became CEO of FIDF in September. He recently spent a few minutes chatting with TJH about the inspiring soldiers of the IDF, the programs implemented to help them, and the future of Klal Yisroel. Rabbi Weil, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. I know that you started with your position at the FIDF two months ago, on September 15. It’s an incredible opportunity. We have the chance to build the future of the Jewish people and build the future of Israel. Tell us what the FIDF is. Let me say what it’s not. People assume that we’re providing machine guns and combat boots to soldiers in the IDF, which, of course, is the farthest thing from what we do. We provide transformational solutions. We provide opportunities for these young men and young women who are the future of the Jewish world. They give three years of their life to the Jewish people, and we give them the opportunity to invest the next six, seven years of their lives. For example, we provide something called the IMPACT! Scholarship. There are two criteria for the scholarship: a soldier who fought in the combat unit and whose family is below certain socioeconomic

plateau. If they meet those two criteria – and keep in mind this is the first time in the history of these families that someone’s going to a university – we provide them a full scholarship, plus expenses, to be able to become a computer programmer, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, and so on. Israel’s university system is a European mode of university, and it differs from the United States. Essentially, with this scholarship, we’re providing them the opportunity to continue giving to the Jewish world for the next 60 years. That’s wonderful. Another program that we do is we support the education of these young men and young women who have computer skills and engineering skills already in high school. The IDF targets them in these nurturing supplemental programs. In America, you have STEM programs in schools. Well, this is even more enriching. And then, once they go into the Army, they’re in special units. Everyone knows what’s called the 8200 Unit. But there are many of these units that are classified. And after they leave

the Army, they can become the next Waze, the next Mobileye, the next Google. We are the ones who fund their education. On the other end of the spectrum, every society has challenged youth. We’re talking about kids who have been in prison or have dropped out of schools. Keep in mind, in Israel, if you don’t have a high school education, you cannot be employed pumping petrol in the gas station. You can’t get a job as a truck driver. These kids have no education. They’re coming from, sometimes, dysfunctional families. Sometimes they’ve been living on the street. Instead of them continue living the life of crime of being ﬁnancially dependent the rest of their lives, there are special bases where we fund them, and have special commanders. What’s fascinating is that most of the commanders of these bases are women who are trained psychologically and emotionally on how to deal with challenged youth. The ﬁrst thing these teens are taught is selfworth, self-respect. You know, if you don’t respect yourself, you can’t respect someone else. In Project Overcome, they’re taught basic life skills that most

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

children and most adolescents are raised with. Eventually, the majority of them are able to actually transition into a mainstream unit in the Army. We also provide them with a high school education. We provide them with the opportunity to take what’s called the Bagrut. And if they’re accepted into university, we fund their university education. How many soldiers so far has that project touched? Thousands. What’s happening with Project Overcome is fascinating. The reason I’m saying that it’s fascinating is because, in any other society, you don’t have programs like this. It gives every Jew a second chance in life and the opportunity to make it in this world – no matter what challenges or background they’re coming from. Right now, Israel is suﬀering terribly economically as a function of COVID. Let me give you context. Historically, over the last six years, we’ve been funding the families that send their children to the IDF. If a family gives up their child to go to the Army, well, that’s an able-bodied person who can’t work to put food on the table. We give them what looks like a credit card that can be used only in the supermarkets. This way, when they came home from the Army, they can bring food home to their family – 600 shekels’ worth. This “credit card” is given based on the socioeconomic status of the family. So, until now, for the past six years, we’ve been funding about 8,000 soldiers’ families that live under the poverty level. Because of COVID, the unemployment rate skyrocketed. If you include people who are self-employed, it hit 25%. So just to translate that into our responsibility, the Army has turned to us and said, “That number [of families below the poverty line with children in the Army] went from 8,000 to 29,100.” Remember, in Israel, they have to go to the Army just to go to the next level of society. And this way, instead of them dropping out and just getting a job waiting tables or making falafel balls, at least the family has some food, basic provisions. It’s unbelievable that Israel as a state did not think of helping out these families with no one who can provide for them when their children are in the army. Israel’s been incredible. The problem is that no government can support 25% of the population. It can’t do that. Look what happened in Venezuela. I’m not being harsh – it’s not fair to ever expect that of a country. That’s where we have to play the role. What we are doing here is we’re giving these soldiers the opportunity, the education, and the skills to build Israel and to build the Jewish nation for the next 60 years. Besides the 17,000 soldiers that we’ve provided the full university scholarship for that we talked about – the IMPACT! Scholars – every year we partner with the Ministry of Defense and we give

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 A sweet care package from the FIDF to a soldier during the pandemic

the Horizon Scholarship to thousands of other soldiers. We fund two-thirds of their university education and the Ministry of Defense funds one-third. Another thing that we do – not just for challenged youth – for any youth who goes into the Army who doesn’t have a high school education, we provide, in the Army, the opportunity for them to get a high school diploma and then have the ability to apply to university. We fund Netzach Yehuda, Nachal Charedi. But we don’t just fund them. After they leave the Army,

“It makes all of us as Jews so proud that this is how we’re building the future of Am Yisrael.” we fund their university education so they can support a family. We have, every year, over 120-something Netzach Yehuda soldiers going to university. We’re funding their education. A number of them are on our board as well. As a side note, our board is very eclectic. It represents Jews and Christians from all walks of life, and it’s reflective of the IDF. It’s all about Klal Yisrael and all about building Klal Yisrael. That’s why the same organization that’s giving secular education for this one is taking care of Nachal Charedi. We take care of everyone. We also fund the Lone Soldiers Program of the Army. There are almost 7,000 Lone Soldiers in the IDF. About 3,4000 of them come from 70 different countries on five different continents. About a quarter of them come from the United States.

They’re such heroes. Yes. And many actually come from Long Island. Right now, we’re building, for instance, a six-story facility in Rishon L’Zion which has apartments for Lone Soldiers. Where do they go when they get weekends off? Where do they call home? We provide their flights home. Together with Nefesh B’Nefesh we provide a 24/7 hotline. And we fund it, and they operate it. We give them psychological counseling and so many different things. Just yesterday, I sat for two hours with the major generals who oversee the manpower of the whole IDF. We brainstorm, and we create strategic solutions. There’s no other Army on Earth that invests in human capital. It’s not just about protecting the borders. It’s about building people, building lives, and building the Jewish nation. What happens after they leave the Army? Well, right now, we’re funding therapy for over 1,000 soldiers who are former soldiers who suffer from PTSD as well as from physical ailments. In terms of psychological issues, the IDF is far more advanced than any other army. After Iraq and Afghanistan, there was a seven-year period in the U.S. when there were 22 suicides a week from veterans. Those were not attempts – they were actual suicides – there were around 63 attempts. Israel has nowhere near those numbers, thank G-d. I’m talking percentage-wise, obviously, because Israel has a smaller army. Why is that? Because what Israel does is it invests in the human capital. They have psychologists already on any base. You don’t need a psychologist after the war, when you’re traumatized, because you already have the relationship with the psychologist because he’s part of the unit. That’s a lesson that Israel learned from the Yom Kippur War. It learned it from Lebanon. It was a great tragedy that came from the first Lebanon War but that they learned from.

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

What was the most inspirational experience or person that you’ve come across over the past few months? I don’t want to say “the most.” But the average Israeli young man or young woman who is willing to give three years or more of their life because they care about Jews all over the world, they care about their people and they care about the Jewish nation – they want to make sure that their children one day will have a homeland to live in – that’s what I find so inspiring. They’re willing to give years of their life. It’s just natural for them. You know the problems we have in America today? People with different backgrounds won’t talk to each other. They shame each other, they hate each other, they can’t have an intelligent conversation because they’re threatened by people who have opinions other than themselves. You don’t have this in the IDF. This one’s from Ethiopia. This one’s parents came from North Africa. This one’s a Ukrainian who came in the ‘90s. This one is an American Lone Soldier. This one made it all the way up from South Africa. And this one’s been a Sabra for five generations. They look at the world so differently – religiously, culturally, they have all these different perspectives of the world. And they have to live with each other. They learn to get along. They learn to figure it out. They learn to live with each other. It’s the great unifier. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, zt”l, gave an interview to Google one time. This was not for a Jewish audience. The questioners were lamenting what’s become of America and what’s become of Western Europe. They asked, “How are we going to change this terrible and collision course that our country’s heading towards?” And Rabbi Sacks said, “Israel is the model for the world.” In Israel, there’s a concept of national service where people, young people, do something. They’re doing something for their country, they’re doing something for people who come from different backgrounds, who see the world differently than they see it. And they’re living with people from different backgrounds, who see the world differently than them. They learn to live with each other. They learn to disagree civilly. They learn to function with each other. At FIDF, we label Israel to be the great unifier. Fundraising is never easy. Do headlines like Israel’s assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist or Israeli assassinations of certain terrorists help you with bringing in much-needed donations? Not that event, per se. I’ll tell you what helps us with fundraising: when people understand what we do. If they were to understand that their dollar going to FIDF is investing in the future of the Jewish people and in the future of Israel, they would naturally give that dollar to us. We’re about spirituality. We’re about education. We’re about welfare. We’re about health. We’re about unification. We’re about diversity. And we’re about security. We’re literally supporting hundreds of thousands of young men and

young women who are the present and who are the future of the Jewish world. That’s who our clients are. How often do you get to go to the Holy Land? Since corona, it hasn’t happened. Once corona is over, I would like to invite your readership to see Israel the way they’ve never seen it before on our missions. We have multiple missions every year to Israel. On our “Holocaust to Independence” mission, we

“We’re literally supporting hundreds of thousands of young men and young women who are the present and who are the future of the Jewish world.” bring Israeli oﬃcers with us on a Poland-to-Israel mission. On that trip, on Yom HaShoah, we’re in Auschwitz, Poland, and then we head to Israel for Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut. Those four days in Poland are very hard but it’s a powerful mission. The majority of the mission is actually celebrated in Israel. The mission is not just for us Americans. We bring the creme de la creme of Israeli oﬃcers to have that experience together with us. We want them to turn around and impart those values and lessons to their soldiers, the future of our nation. Until I started, I myself didn’t have a full appreciation of the IDF. But the Yiddishe values, the arachim, that go into the training of these young men and young women is unbelievable – the sense of achrayus, the sense of responsibility to Klal Yisrael, the sense of the preciousness of every human life that they come out with. It’s about investing in

the neshamos – this is not just about security. It’s more than that. It makes all of us as Jews so proud that this is how we’re building the future of Am Yisrael, the future Klal Yisrael. And it’s through this institution called the IDF. I think what’s also very important is the role of the rabbanim and the role that they play in the life of the soldiers and building the values in the soldiers. The IDF is a tremendous kiddush Hashem. I’m going to give you one story to reflect that, if I may. I had the honor to go with Brigadier General Bentzi Gruber to West Point, where he addressed the graduating class of cadets. He does it every year, and he also does the same thing in Colorado Springs, where you have the Air Force Academy. He addresses what in Hebrew we call Tohar HaNeshek, the ethics of war. He specifically spoke to the cadets about fighting combatants who were not wearing military uniforms – terrorist combatants. Like in Gaza, where they’re dressed like everybody else and they’re driving a Red Crescent ambulance or working in the schools and hospitals and launching rockets. After his presentation and the Q&A, he received an almost three-minute standing ovation. The auditorium at West Point was rocking with a two-and-a-half-minute standing ovation for this man. He spoke about collateral damage. In terms of recorded military history, in the last hundred years, looking at the ratio of what they call collateral damage – innocents being killed and not combatants – to the death of terrorist combatants, the “best” outside of Israel has been the British conquest of Fallujah. During the Second Iraq War, the British killed 23 civilians for every one combatant, when you’re talking about terrorists who were dressed like civilians. As Americans, in Afghanistan and Iraq, our ratio is 30 to 1. But in Israel – and I’m using Hamas’s numbers – what do you think the ratio was in the last two Gazan wars? Two wars ago, it was 2 to 1. And in 2014, the last Operation Protective Field, it was a 1 to 1 ratio. It’s unheard of. The cadets at the academy were challenging Brigadier General Gruber, “How do you do this? You’re putting your soldiers at risk.” They were amazed at what Israel does. So you see, the Jewish values, the arachim, that are instilled by the leadership into the average Israeli, there’s no army and there’s no experience like it. What an incredible kiddush Hashem.

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You asked me before about what blows me away? The reason I told you it’s the average soldier going to give three years of their life because this is what they come out with, this is what they’re instilled with. There’s no country like this on Earth, there’s no army like this on Earth. “Mah yafa yerushaseinu, How cherished and how precious is our lot.” When you speak to the average 17-, 18-year-old soldier, do they really see and feel that mission? Yes. You know how they see that mission? And you know who gets a lot of the credit for that? Two men. One of them you’ve heard the name, Sanford Bernstein, like Bernstein Alliance, the same famous investment banking ﬁrm. Sanford Bernstein, later in life, went by his Hebrew name, Solomon Bernstein, and became a baal teshuva. He met a man who today is a member of the Knesset, his name is Major General Elazar Stern. He’s the highest-ranking Orthodox general in the history of the IDF. He had this idea, the “Israeli Journey,” and Sanford Bernstein funded it. Part of the service is that it’s mandatory for commanders to take their units to certain places in Israel. They visit Yerushalayim and the Kotel. They go to Har Herzl and learn the history of it. They learn about the values of those who built the country. The commanders are required to go because they’re ed-

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ucated in Jewish history and our mesorah. And they’re inculcated with why we do what do and what we represent and what we stand for. You grew up on a cattle farm in Upstate New York. When I grew up, we were the only Jews. My father raised me and taught me, “You don’t have to win. But if someone calls you ‘dirty Jew,’ you don’t back down. You’ve got to fight. Because if you don’t fight them,” he said, “they’ll never stop. You don’t have to win – you just have to fight because then they’ll learn to respect you.” And you know what? I had a bunch of fights, most of them I won, some of them I lost. But they never stood up a second time. Those are the only battles that I’ve ever been on. They’re the only wars that I’ve ever fought. But I can tell you this: when I was learning in Keren B’Yavneh in Israel, we had a boy come home from the First Lebanon War. And that young man, nobody would talk about what happened to him. He was, as we say in Hebrew, shivrei luchos,

suﬀering from PTSD. He would just sit there and stare into space. I was only there for a bit over a year and I didn’t keep up with him. But what happened to him is a tragedy. As an American, I can sit and talk about the tragedy. But that family, they’ll never be the same as a function of what it means to have a son of the Army. Now, we have programs that can help people like that young man and help families that have to deal with these tragedies. These young men and young women who give of their lives are so inspiring. They are the present and the future of Klal Yisroel.

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Dating Dialogue

What Would You Do If… Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters

Dear Navidaters,

I know this is unconventional but I figured I’d ask the Navidaters since I read it every week on Shabbos.

My sister is in shidduchim, she’s 28, and a great girl but has yet to find “the one” – we’re waiting super eagerly to have a simcha! I’m in 8th grade and have been in class on Zoom all year so far and there is a girl in my class who uses her brother’s account. He sometimes comes in the room and I have noticed him multiple times. I have nonchalantly asked my classmate about him and I have learned he is the right age and in a great yeshiva. I want to set him up with my sister. Is that crazy? If so, how can I go about this without it being super awkward? Tzippy*

Disclaimer: This column is not intended to diagnose or otherwise conclude resolutions to any questions. Our intention is not to offer any definitive conclusions to any particular question, rather offer areas of exploration for the author and reader. Due to the nature of the column receiving only a short snapshot of an issue, without the benefit of an actual discussion, the panel’s role is to offer a range of possibilities. We hope to open up meaningful dialogue and individual exploration.

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The Panel The Rebbetzin

The Shadchan

Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S. ou are a concerned sister and that is to be commended. Your caring shows. You have noticed a boy who you think is the right age and goes to a good yeshiva. There is more to a match than that, however. Middos, values, aspirations, personality, and communication styles are important qualities that have to fit. Respectfully suggest to your parents that they look into your friend’s brother for your sister. That should not be awkward. I am sure that they are diligently doing their best to help your sister meet suitable young men and will welcome possible candidates. They will do their homework and work on it in the way if they think it’s a possible fit. They may consult a shadchan, a neighbor, or a community leader to suggest the shidduch to the parents of the boy. It is very common for a shadchan and the original person who suggested a match to be two different people. The idea may come from a younger sister or someone else but the person to set them up will be another party. I imagine that your comment about awkwardness is directed at your relationship with your sister. If you feel awkward about sharing the idea with her, let your parents tell her that you thought this boy might be suitable for her. I imagine that they will tell her after they do their research. The main thing is to communicate openly with your parents and take your cue from them as far as your sister is concerned. They know her for 28 years and talk to her about shidduchim all the time. You would feel wonderful if indeed you turn out to be the shaliach for your sister’s shidduch. Remember that people date many other people until they find “the one.” Nonetheless, your sister will appreciate your thinking of her.

Michelle Mond hat is so nice of you, Tzippy! I’m super impressed that in the flurry of navigating COVID school, at-home learning, and Zoom quizzes you are managing to think outside of yourself. That is to be commended! I love that although you are still in grade school you like to read our column. Hopefully you are gleaning insight that will help you in many areas of life, but not shidduchim yet! In regard to your specific question, setting up your classmate with your sister, I would advise you to hand this idea over to your parents. One of the many shidduchim I’ve been zoche to make also had an interesting twist along the lines of your situation. After the glowing couple got engaged, I arrived at the l’chaim. People were wishing me mazel tov on the shidduch and a young girl approached me and said, “I was the shadchan, too!” Confused, I asked her for more details. The following is the story: This awesome seventh grade girl, whom we’ll call Chani, was the chosson’s next door neighbor, and the girl he was engaged to was Chani’s “big sister” in the local big sister/little sister program. In this program, post-seminary aged girls who sign up get paired with a middle schooler to take them out once a week and serve as a mentor. Chani mentioned to her parents many times that her “big sister” should go out with the boy next door, but nobody took her seriously! Now that they are engaged, since Hashem clearly had used me as the kli to bring their shidduch together, she still felt very much a part of it, and told me this story. So, Tzippy, back to your situation. If you feel that your parents are not taking you seriously, show them this week’s Navidaters column. Show them the story of the seventh grader who tried to make a shidduch and nobody listened. Hashem can make a shidduch come from anywhere. In May of 2014, a UPS delivery man was the

shadchan for an amazing Chabad couple. Google it. You truly never know!

The Single Rena Friedman zippy, you are incredible for keeping an eye out for your older sister as she continues in the tekufah of shidduchim. I am sure your dedication to helping her find her zivug is something that means a tremendous amount to yourself and to your sister as well. I have an older sister who spent years in shidduchim, and I remember just wanting to solve what I believed was her “crisis.” However, I was young

Start thinking right now what your shadchan fee should be and did not know how to appropriately navigate the system, so I figured the best thing I could do was daven to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and try to get my sister’s name out in the community. I spoke to my friends, my friends’ parents, the lady behind me in Gourmet Glatt – anyone who was willing to listen to me knew all about my sister, her accomplishments, and what she was looking for in a boy. Although at times it felt like I was speaking and no one was truly listening, I did not

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If He is giving you the potential to be His shaliach – take advantage of the opportunity. allow that to get me down or distract me from achieving my goal. About two months ago, I was speaking to a more recent friend of mine who is not so familiar with my sister. Although she had only met my family briefly, I went along with my mantra and asked if she had any ideas for my sister. She responded with the classic “your sister sounds so great. I really wish I knew someone. I will keep thinking!” Slightly disappointed, as I have only heard that line about a million times before, we continued our conversation. To my surprise, a few days later, I received a text from this friend with a description of a boy. Following the description, she

wrote, “This wouldn’t be a good call for your sister, right?” Although her hesitation was not reassuring, I took every suggestion for my sister seriously and kept my eyes peeled to the screen as I read the detailed description. It was an awesome idea. I quickly replied, “Actually, I think it could be great!” The shidduch was redt, and not long thereafter they went on their first date. To make a long story short, chasdei Hashem, they are seriously dating and iy”H we look forward to sharing besoros tovos in the near future! So, to answer your question: no, your idea is not crazy at all. Actually, I wholeheartedly support it. Hashem is mizaveg zivugim and if He is giving you the potential to be His shaliach – take advantage of the opportunity! I suggest reaching out to your rebbetzin, a teacher, or someone who you believe will listen to your idea and have them redt the shidduch. They –whoever “they” is – always say age is just a number, so why shouldn’t that apply when it comes to being a shaliach of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? Each and every one of us has an achrayus to actively play a role in thinking of ideas for those around us

and having shidduchim redt. I wish you and your sister much hatzlacha and encourage you to take the leap to what could be the beginning of the end to your sister’s time in shidduchim.

The Zaidy Dr. Jeffrey Galler ave you ever wondered what the Navidater columnists do in their spare time? For the last month, we have been secretly surveying 50 junior high school yeshiva girls, asking them, “What kind of work would you like to be doing in ten years?” Our results were very interesting: *5 girls wanted to become speech therapists. *5 girls wanted to become occupational therapists. *5 girls wanted to become physical therapists. *5 girls wanted to become physicians or dentists. *5 girls wanted to become dental hygienists. *5 girls wanted to become teachers. *5 girls wanted to become computer pro-

Pulling It All Together The Navidaters

grammers. *5 girls wanted to become graphic artists. *3 girls wanted to become lawyers. *3 girls wanted to become accountants. *2 girls weren’t sure what they wanted to become. *1 girl wanted to become an astronaut. *1 girl planned on winning the lottery and staying home to bake cookies. Interestingly, not even one young lady expressed an interest in becoming a shadchan. So, the field seems to be wide open and might be an excellent career path for you. Meanwhile, it’s great that you would like to help your older sister. (Are you sure that you don’t have an ulterior motive? Do you secretly look forward to getting your sister out of the house, and moving into her bigger bedroom, with all that extra closet space? Come on, you can tell us. We’re the Navidaters. We’ll keep it confidential.) Anyway, make your friend your co-conspirator and proceed cautiously. First, make sure that your two subjects don’t already know, and dislike, each other. Second, very quietly and casually assess if your sister and your friend’s brother might be interested in each other. Third, bring your parents into your clandestine plot and ask them to get a professional shadchan involved. And start thinking right now what your shadchan fee should be. I’ll bet your mind is already racing with the possibilities.

Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

ear Tzippy, Thank you for writing in to The Navidaters! And thank you for reading every week! I think it’s great that young people like yourself read our column (with their parents’ permission, of course). It’s never too soon to open up a dialogue with your children about healthy relationships. On a separate note, I am super

impressed by you! You saw a guy, thought of him for your sister, and then went so far as to execute this email. Exemplary! Shidduchim come from Hashem. There are special people in the world, you amongst them, who take time out of their lives to think of oth-

ers. I hope that your thoughts and efforts are deeply appreciated by everyone involved. I suggest mentioning this to your parents and asking them to take it seriously. So much goes into a shidduch so we need to work on monitoring your expectations (i.e., if it doesn’t work out, you’re OK...and if your parents don’t agree to look into it, you’ll also be OK). Tzippy, you may be a natural

shadchan. It’s a tremendous mitzvah. And if you find you have a calling for this because of Zoom school and Corona...then a shadchan is born. Amazing! Tizku l’mitzvos...and I know in my heart of hearts that you are going places! You’re a special girl, Tzippy. Your email warmed my heart and put a gigantic smile on my face. Thank you and all the best to you! Sincerely, Jennifer

Jennifer Mann, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist and dating and relationship coach working with individuals, couples, and families in private practice at 123 Maple Avenue in Cedarhurst, NY. She also teaches a psychology course at Touro College. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 516-224-7779, ext. 2. Visit www.thenavidaters.com for more information. If you would like to submit a dating or relationship question to the panel anonymously, please email thenavidaters@gmail.com. You can follow The Navidaters on FB and Instagram for dating and relationship advice.

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Dr. Deb

Parts in Relationships By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

ur parts came about out of necessity when we were children. They helped us survive. Even the ones that seem malicious had good intentions. So if they had good intentions, why do they hurt us? Meaning, why are they critical or angry at us? Why do they keep warning us of gloom and doom instead of letting us be happy? Why do they worry so much or cause us to be depressed? The answer is that they’re kids – and their logic is the logic of kids. Which is to say it isn’t very logical. Today I asked someone to ask her part that gives her panic attacks what the purpose was. She said it was to spur her on to get things done. I get that, but why have panic attacks? There are other ways to get things done, after all. I asked her to “go inside,” meaning to close her eyes and imagine herself as a separate Self from her parts and converse with this particular one. I wanted to know the purpose of giving her panic attacks. The answer was startling. However, it made sense from a child’s perspective. She told me the part said, “Because that’s all you know – I want to scare you because you don’t know from peace and happiness.” Wow. The little kid in her was maybe five when she needed to jump into hyper-alertness to be sure she was safe. So she learned to scare herself. This little girl inside of her only knows how to do this one job that she took upon herself: Keep herself from missing something dangerous by scaring herself. Similarly, parts that function as critics are there to edge us on so we can beat our parents to the punch by criticizing ourselves before they do. From the logic of a child, it makes sense, right? Each and every part meant to help us – in its own way. And they are part of us so we should never reject them.

I mentioned in last week’s article that I’m suspecting this is more than a metaphor. Rather, parts are likely clusters of neurons that regularly fire together in our brains. On the other hand, since they’re children, they generally don’t see the consequences of their actions. For example, they don’t see that provoking someone can lead to an unpleasant escalation. They don’t envision the hurt feelings that they could cause by instigating us to scream at our friend. They think – like a typical child – that causing us to scream might get us what we want or need from others. Of course, it doesn’t work that way in the adult world. Which brings me to the topic of this article. What if everyone in the world was just a child who did not grow up? Can you imagine the chaos, confusion, and pain that would generate? Wait a minute! That is exactly the world we live in. Ninety-nine percent of the time we – all of us – are dominated by our parts. When those parts interact with people who are also being dominated by parts, I can assure you nothing productive happens. But here is the beauty of thinking of yourself as a “bunch of parts held together by a Self”: When we are be-

ing run by our parts, that’s not who we really are. Who we are is our Self, our neshama, the part of us that is connected to G-d and “knows better.” The traits of Self include clarity and courage, wisdom and intuition, truth and compassion – and more. We have all this within us and it comes out more often than we realize. On the other hand, the parts are loving pieces of our past history; they certainly are part of us, but they took on roles that were needed once upon a time but are no longer needed because we do have a Self, a mature, adult Self. Looking at this a diﬀerent way, I never cared for mental health diagnoses because the diagnosis only refers to part of us – a part that is not doing very well. But is that the totality of who we are? Of course not. No matter how troubled and troubling our functioning, we are more than that label. We have capabilities, opinions, interests, talents, feelings, experience, and knowledge gained through the hard knocks of life. That is a lot closer to representing who we are. And the diagnostic label completely misses all of that. I have often said that diagnoses are disrespectful because they zoom in on the worst in us. But the problem goes deeper: it’s simply an incorrect picture of who we are.

Similarly, any one part, or even the listing of all of our parts, still doesn’t come close to fully describing who we are. In fact, the saddest thing here is that we, ourselves, have lost touch with who we are. We’ve lost touch with our Selves and we operate on automatic most of the time, not realizing that various parts have come to our rescue. But once the curtain is drawn back and we see the array of parts but also recognize our true Selves shining through and taking leadership of all these little-kid parts, then what happens when a chance event in our lives suddenly springs a part into action? What happens is we then have power. We then have choice. The moment we recognize that “it’s only one of my parts” is the moment we can choose to say we don’t wish to be governed by that part; we’d rather return to Self-government. And that’s powerful. That simple step enables a person to shift back into Self. See, unlike a mood which feels like it’s “your mood,” seeing it as merely a helpful kid within you playing a role from long ago which is no longer needed helps you to see your Self as separate and in control. It also takes away the sting of looking at yourself as having acted foolishly; it was only a part that jumped in; it’s not Me. Now, what is it like when a married couple has come to learn how to distinguish their parts from themSelves? And when they’ve learned to pause and ask themselves if they want to be taken over by the part or not? It’s at that precise point that they can be a happy couple. Either one – and both – can take a moment to get back into Self. When they’re discussing sensitive topics from a place of Self-mastery, they aren’t thrown by each other’s parts. What would that look like? Mark and Mindy had a recurrent issue: spending money. Mark could

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feel a tightening in his stomach when he learned that Mindy had spent any amount over $100. It just plain scared him. He was so used to this scared feeling that he pre-empted having it by lashing out at the least hint that this topic would come up. Because if he got angry, it covered up (to some extent) the scared feeling. He didn’t know where that feeling came from and he didn’t really care. That is, until he started (very bravely) to examine himself. (This story is made up.) He recalled his childhood and the issue of overspending. His father had worked hard as a doctor, yet there never was enough money because his mother seemed to need to have a luxurious lifestyle (due to her own inner hurts and pains). He remembered the fights they had and how scared he was of the fighting. Money always brought the fighting on; nothing else did that. He loved his parents and was terrified they would divorce. If only there was peace and quiet. Mindy was actually a conservative

spender. She worked hard herself; she had her own business on Central Avenue. That is, until COVID came and caused the local government to shut down everything. She was sad and depressed over it, but careful with her spending. Mark and Mindy seemed to be on the same page. And yet…

conditions,” he thought. But he noticed this feeling taking over him. And he stopped. He shut his jaw before the words came out. He took a deep breath and asked himself: “Do I really want my anxiety and anger to take over me, or do I want my Self to be in charge here?” Well, that

We, ourselves, have lost touch with who we are.

When things started to open up, Mindy, one day, casually said, “I need a vacation. I need to get away from this sadness and just be happy.” That was enough for Mark’s anxious part to take over. He could feel his stomach tighten and suddenly felt the anger well up inside. “How dare she think about going away under these

was an easy question. He chose the latter. Self is characterized by many wonderful qualities but one of the most important is curiosity. “Maybe it’s better to find out what she was really thinking,” his Self thought. So he asked her. “I wasn’t thinking anything partic-

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ular,” Mindy responded. “This situation weighs heavy on me.” Self is also characterized by compassion. “I know,” Mark responded. “I feel that way, too. What can we do about it?” “Maybe Sunday we can take a drive out to Long Island?” Mindy responded. “Maybe look up something to do that’s fun and distracting for an afternoon?” Mark exhaled. “See? She didn’t even have any nefarious plans for spending money in mind,” he pointed out to any of the parts inside that might be listening. Next week, let’s see what happens if Mark has not learned how to do what he just did but Mindy has.

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn is a Marriage and Family Therapist. If you want help with your marriage, begin by signing up to watch her Masterclass at https://drdeb. com/myw-masterclass.

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Health & F tness

Breakfast: Make the Right Choice Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN

e all know the importance of eating breakfast. Eating a solid, good breakfast could make or break your day. What should a “healthy” breakfast include? To the average American, breakfast implies cereal and milk. However, is cereal and milk truly the well-balanced breakfast we should be eating? Breakfast cereals were originally created as a health food to help digestion. Even though breakfast cereal is a convenient food for many busy people, not all cereals make the ideal breakfast. At the start, the industry’s nutritionists were strictly anti-sugar. However, once the manufacturer opted for profit over health in the late 1940’s, the realities of competition were soon won out. By the 1960’s, children’s breakfasts had been transformed into lower-fat versions of dessert. Cereals are made by processing grains into fine flour. The flour is then cooked and mixed with ingredients like sugar, water, and chocolate. The cereal is then dried and made into shapes, such as puffs, balls, stars, and squares. The real problem with breakfast cereal is that is most cereals are loaded with sugar. “When you exclude obviously sugar-heavy foods like candy, cookies, ice cream, soft and fruit drinks, breakfast cereals are the single greatest source of added sugars in the diets of children under the age of eight,” noted nutritionist Dawn Undurraga, who coauthored the new report, “Children’s Cereals: Sugar by the Pound.” “Cereals that pack in as much sugar as junk food should not be considered part of a healthy breakfast or diet. Kids already eat two to three times the amount of sugar experts recommend.” According to Jennifer L. Harris,

lead researcher at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, children get a teaspoon of sugar with every 3 teaspoons of the typical cereal marketed to them. Many adult cereals contain just as much sugar per cup, giving you up to 100 extra calories in your breakfast. Added sugar may very well be the single worst ingredient in the modern

1960’s is consistent with the fact the sugar’s distinctive chemistry plays a major role in a cluster of abnormalities known as metabolic syndrome. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 75 million Americans now suffer from metabolic syndrome. Without sugar in our diets, diabetes might be a rare disease – as it appears to once have been.

Pay attention to serving size

diet. Many argue that sugar in moderation is harmless, however, that is generally not the case. Sugar is often the underlying cause of many diseases, particularly a condition known as insulin resistance. Sugar also plays a pivotal role in causing dental cavities, obesity, and diabetes, thus increasing the risk of developing other major chronic illnesses, such as heart disease. Some believe that sugar itself is unrelated to these diseases and that overeating in general is the culprit. However, research since the

Aside from the sugar issue, breakfast cereals often have misleading health claims and are heavily marketed as being healthy. Misleading health claims include “low fat” and “whole grain.” These products are not healthy just because they have small amounts of whole grains in them. These cereals are often highly processed foods that are loaded with added sugars. The small amounts of whole grains do not counteract the harmful effects of the other ingredients. Even more so, many cereals are

loaded with sodium. The high sugar content often masks the high sodium taste, however, the adverse effects of sodium still remain. What is considered a “healthy” breakfast cereal? When it comes to choosing cereals, don’t make any assumptions. Read the nutrition facts label carefully. While many assume cereals like Honey Nut Cheerios and Raisin Bran are “healthy,” they actually contain the same amount of sugar as Fruity Pebbles! Look for cereals that have less than 5 grams of sugar per serving. Choose cereals that have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Fiber is important for a number of reasons. More importantly, pay attention to serving size. Cereals can be high in calories, and if eaten in large amounts can add up to a high calorie meal. Furthermore, use skim or low fat milk instead of whole milk to cut back on the calories. If you’re unable to differentiate between “healthy” and “misleading” cereals, stick to the safer option and skip the cereal completely. Good breakfast ideas are eggs, multigrain toast with avocado or peanut butter, fruit smoothies, yogurt with fruit, yogurt with nuts, fruit and cottage cheese, oatmeal with fruit, high fiber pancakes with berries…the list can go on and on. Use your imagination to create a nutritious breakfast that works for you. Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN, is a Master’s level Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist. She graduated CUNY Brooklyn College receiving a Bachelor’s in Science and Master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences. She is currently a dietitian at Boro Park Center and a private nutrition consultant. She can be reached at CindyWeinberger1@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @EatBetterandFeelBetter.

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DECEMBER 24,2015 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, | The Jewish Home

Parenting Pearls

Proactive vs. Reactive Parenting By Sara Rayvych, MSEd

his is a topic that has been percolating in my brain for a while but I had been hesitant to take it on. As I don’t drink coffee, I need to percolate something. I don’t know where I first heard of the concept of proactive parenting so I can’t give credit where credit is due. In my humble opinion, the importance of proactive parenting can’t be overestimated, and I think it would reign as one of my major personal parenting principles.

What is reactive parenting? Most parenting would probably be classified as reactive. Simply, this means we see our child do something and we react to their behavior, action, or words. Our reaction may or may not match the severity of the situation and may involve yelling, punishing, or saying something hurtful. The subsequent consequence may not provide any educational lessons. We can easily see how ineffective this method is. Worse yet, it could be damaging to the child. Reactive parenting can easily give parents a feeling that they are losing

control of the situation or their feelings. Feeling out of control can be a scary situation, even for an adult, and it puts you in a very vulnerable place. You’re liable to overreact to try to regain stability. I’m sure we’ve all had times we overreacted and then felt guilty afterwards. Often, our reaction matches the level of our frustration or anger and not the severity of what the child actually did. This can be counterproductive educationally because a lesser behavior may earn a greater reaction than the worse behavior. Our children could get a skewed impression of where our values and priorities truly are. Another problem with reactive parenting is that we’re basically waiting for a problem to happen before we take any steps. We’re not preventing the issues; we’re simply waiting for them to occur.

What is proactive parenting? Proactive parenting could be thought of as anticipating the issues in advance and having a solution pre-

pared. It doesn’t involve prophecy, so don’t get that nervous. It does take practice and you can’t have a proactive approach for everything being that we’re only human (but don’t tell that to our kids!). The goal is to slowly become more proactive and less reactive in our response. We can see there are many advantages to proactive parenting. By having an idea in advance of how you want to parent any given situation, you are more likely to respond in an appropriate manner, without exaggerating your kid’s misbehavior or your response. You’re less likely to scream, yell, or act in a way you’ll regret, and you’ll feel more in control throughout the encounter. It’s easy to see how being proactive will help you react appropriately but the benefits are even greater than that. When you are proactive, you can often prevent the misbehavior from occurring in the first place. While you can’t anticipate and prevent every situation, you can often recognize the signs of trouble brewing and step in before the full storm hits. With some forethought, you’ll have the oppor-

tunity, in advance, to set up an environment for your child to succeed, not fail. As parents, we often underestimate how much we can alter a situation by carefully setting it up and positively manipulating it to meet our child’s needs.

How do you predict the future? Wouldn’t it be fun if I actually had an answer to this question? The truth, as you know, is that we’re not prophets even if we have other wonderful traits. What you can predict is that certain behaviors will occur again. You know your child’s tendencies and what situations will trigger them. By anticipating those scenarios and preparing for them in advance, you’ll be more able to manage, or prevent, them from happening. Often, children keep making the same mistakes or repeating the same negative behaviors, and parents keep reacting, often in the same ineffective manner. You want to stop the inevitable cycle of futility and frustration. Even if the behavior isn’t identical, it’s often similar enough. For exam-

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 24, 29, 2020 2015

ple, the same child may continuously fight with a sibling at the Shabbos table. The sibling with whom they’re fighting may switch and the reason they fight may change but the inherent behavior is similar. Another example is a child who won’t shower during their time slot before Shabbos. You may find it helpful to find a time or place that gives you some quiet and relaxation so you can properly think through the problem. Don’t be afraid to daven for help since often it feels like we need a real miracle to figure out the solution. Ironically, sometimes the answer comes when you least expect it.

that if you’re going to the grocery store with your toddler, then you can potentially expect a meltdown. There are many reasons a toddler can have a meltdown. A few possibilities are being hungry, tired, overwhelmed or unaware of how to behave in a gro-

rence. This scenario is more straightforward since you can usually see the cause and effect, and you know where to look for the source of their behavior. If you see a new but more general negative behavior such as anger,

With some forethought, you’ll have the opportunity, in advance, to set up an environment for your child to succeed.

Planning for the inevitable The next step after recognizing a behavior is trying to figure out the source of their actions. Even little people usually have reasons for why they do things. Those reasons may seem foolish to us but the reason does exist. It’s important to understand and respect their reason for doing things, even if you don’t agree with their logic. Even if their reason isn’t truly reasonable, it’s still the source for their behavior. An example is a toddler that keeps throwing down his drink cup because he refuses to allow it to remain on his food tray. Especially if you disagree with their reasoning, you still need to respect their feelings and sympathize with their needs. It’s important to acknowledge that kids don’t always have the ability to control themselves and that needs to be taken into account as well. Sometimes, the best or only solution is to physically remove the child from the situation. Once you know why they’re doing something, you can often prepare a more productive response or even a way to prevent the situation from starting. Some needs may be physical, some emotional, and some developmental. Whatever the cause, you can often find a solution. It can be helpful to ask others for ideas or help. That other person can be another experienced parent, a mentor, or a rav/ rebbetzin, but it can also be a medical or mental health professional. As an example, you know if your toddler usually has meltdowns in the grocery store. You can safely assume

cery store. If it’s hunger or exhaustion, then you know to make sure they’re fed or napped first. If it’s due to being overwhelmed, then you can either not bring them or try to figure out what will keep them soothed or prevent overstimulation. It’s also possible that the child doesn’t know what behavior you expect from them in the grocery store. If that’s the case, then you can teach them what your expectations are. It’s not uncommon that we wrongly assume a child understands how to behave in different scenarios. Another potential example: you may know one of your children is having a tough time with a particular pandemic restriction. It’s safe to assume that your child will still be under that stress for the foreseeable future and it’s worth finding a solution. If you can figure out the cause, then you can work on it. Let’s say your child is having issues with the inability to socialize with their peers or grandparents or they are afraid of becoming sick. This may come out as angry outbursts or some other behavior that doesn’t have an obvious connection to the cause. Even if there’s no logical connection in your mind, that doesn’t mean it’s not the source. Sometimes, it can be hard to determine the cause of a particular behavior. It may require more thought and perhaps bouncing ideas off of someone else. Any time you have a situation that continuously creates friction you want to determine a cause and a solution to stop the inevitable recur-

hitting or cursing, you want to figure out the source of that, as well. These more general negative behaviors can be harder to get to the bottom of but they have a cause, as hard as it may be to discover. You may have to dig around a lot but it’s worth searching because these behaviors can take

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over many parts of their day-to-day actions. A child who is continuously angry or acting aggressively may spend a good portion of the day that way. See what’s changed in their lives, what needs are not being met, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Often, we feel helpless or wait for the dam to burst before we clean up the mess. As parents, we can understand our children, their needs, and their feelings and be there for them even before they call. This is an opportunity for a bit more peace and calm in our homes. The less time we need to spend cleaning up the emotional mess means we have more time to focus on loving and bonding with our incredible children.

Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rockaway. She can be contacted at RayvychHomeschool@gmail.com.

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

In The K

tchen

Mediterranean Turkey Schnitzel By Naomi Nachman

There is nothing more exciting than waiting for schnitzel to come of out the frying pan and almost straight into our bellies. I used the Empire Kosher turkey tenders and seasoned them with Mediterranean spices to give them an extra kick of flavor. Don’t forget the dipping sauce! You may even want to buy two packs of the tenders because they will be begging for more!

Ingredients

b1 package Empire Kosher® Turkey Tenders, sliced thin and pounded b1 tablespoon garlic powder b1 teaspoon smoked paprika b1 teaspoon cumin b1 teaspoon turmeric b1 teaspoon kosher salt b½ cup all-purpose ﬂour b3 eggs b2 cups plain panko breadcrumbs b¼ cup canola oil

Preparation

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Slice turkey tenders in half, longways, and pound to even thickness. 2. In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, paprika, cumin, turmeric, and salt. 3. Season the turkey with spices on both sides. Set aside. 4. To prepare a dredging station, scoop the

10. 11.

flour into one bowl. Beat the eggs in another bowl and place it next to the flour. Add the breadcrumbs to a third bowl next to the eggs. Take one piece of turkey; coat both sides with the flour and shake off excess. Dip the turkey in the egg bowl and shake off excess. Coat the turkey with the breadcrumbs on both sides. Repeat with the remaining pieces. In a large skillet, heat ¼ cup canola oil over medium-high heat. Gently add a few pieces of turkey into the pan, being careful not to overcrowd the pan as it lowers the oil temperature, making them soggy. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165°F. Place the fried schnitzel on a tray lined with paper towel to drain excess oil.

Lemon Sesame Dipping Sauce Ingredients

b¼ cup tahini b3 tablespoons iced water b2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice b2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil b1 teaspoon roasted or toasted sesame oil b1 tablespoon honey b1 garlic clove, crushed b¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation 1.

Whisk all ingredients together to make a runny consistency. 2. Serve with schnitzel. Photo by Melinda Strauss

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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The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Notable Quotes

“Say What?!”

Yes, yes, yes. G-d love you, man. You’re a one horse pony. I’ll tell you.

– Sen. Bernie Sanders on CNN, lamenting the fact that Joe Biden has not picked enough cabinet members from the radical left wing of the Democrat Party

- Joe Biden asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy if he still thinks the allegations against Hunter Biden are Russian disinformation

Imagine your nightmare health emergency. You’re on vacation with your family when suddenly you double over with shooting chest pains and lose consciousness.

- Gov. Cuomo, during a press conference, dismissing restaurant owners’ concerns that the in-door-dining shutdown is ruining their businesses

You wake up strapped in the back of an I’m going to continue to fight for our most communities ambulance racingvulnerable to the emergency room. who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus, for our Paramedics hover over you trying to keep health care workers, for our essential workers, fora incarcerated men you calm. “You’ve had massive coronary,” and women to be prioritized inshout the distribution of the“but vaccine. they over the sirens, we’re

– Radical left “squad” member Rep.going Ayanna Pressley on CNN to take(D-Mass), good care of you. You’re This was theft by a thousand cuts across six about to see one of the best doctors in the dimensions anddown six battleground I’m counting the hours ‘tilstates. he’s gone. I plan to pull him out of country. In fact, Whoopi Goldberg just said - White House advisor Peter Navarro, in a 36-page report on Beloved Esther...you were taken from us by such a cruel and there by his hair, his little hands, and his feet. this person should be the next Surgeon election fraud, titled, “The Immaculate Deception” hand just because you were a Jew living in her land. The - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, during a meeting with her malicious leadership team, as reported General.” by Politico people of Israel will not be broken because the government will If we can’t run a fair election, then this deliver an appropriate response this murder. Thethe prime minister So youtoslump back onto stretcher Republic, it will not stand. If we get an will announce today [Tuesday] that the government is doubling deeply relieved. Maybe you’re going tothe illegitimate andthe illegal president in Joe Lincoln, like presidents before him and most after, did not show settlement of Tal Menashemake and isit giving a proud Zionist answer to after all. Moments later they wheel Biden on Inauguration Day without himlives ever mattered to them through policy or rhetoric that black this terrible crime. We will you never break. into the hospital and there she is, the being cleared of being president illegal of wealth building. outside of human capital and asbycasualties - Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan speaking at the funeral Esther Horgan, famous doctor they just toldofyou about. votes… ThisJeffries, country will ofmake or break - Jeremiah chairman San Francisco’s school renaming committee and a in first who was murdered a terrorist attack near her home on Sunday But something is wrong. She doesn’t have a gradebased teacher,on explaining to theisSan Francisco IChronicle itself how this handled. do not why Pres. Lincoln’s name should be removed from a public school stethoscope. There’s not a chart or an EKG have a high confidence in our institutions machine in sight. I would not. No. I would not rule it out. atUprooting this point that they are going to handle the problematic names and symbols that currently clutter - Chris Christie, when asked by conservative host Hugh Hewitt if he’d rule out a 2024 run for this well. This is a problem that needs Instead, she’s turning on what appears to be buildings, streets, throughout the citytoisbe a worthy endeavor. Only president if President Trump decides to run investigated or this country is going to be in an overhead projector. “Jill,” a nurse yells, good can come from the public being reflective and intentional deep, deep trouble. “There’s a patient here. What do we do?” about the power of our words, names and rhetoric within our public - Ibid, in an interview on the “The Cats Roundtable,” WABC “That’s Dr. Biden to you,” the woman replies However, to some Black disability rights activists, like Anita institutions. 770 icilyradical and then launches into a slideshow - Ibid. Cameron, Helen Keller is not at all, “just another, despite on equity and diversity in Delaware’s disabilities, privileged white person,” and yet another example of College system. history telling the story of Community privileged white Americans. I’d like to say very bluntly our mission is to I didn’t feelwealth. a thing, Make no mistake about it. It’s a - From a Time Magazine article about Hellen Keller redistribute A well lot ofdone. people bristle at Tucker Carlson, Fox News, explaining why Joe Biden’s wife, medical miracle. that phrase. That is, in fact, the phrase we Jill, should not be referred to as “Dr. Biden” - Vice President Pence, after getting the COVID vaccination need to use. - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in a news conference, while talking about the New York city school system

MORE QUOTES

DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Remember, I was the runner-up to Biden, and we got a few votes, Elizabeth Warren got a few votes. A number of progressives won seats to Congress. Those voices of millions and millions of people deserve representation in the Biden cabinet. And if you’re asking me if I’ve seen that at this point, I haven’t. – Sen. Bernie Sanders on CNN, lamenting the fact that Joe Biden has not picked enough cabinet members from the radical left wing of the Democrat Party

You should be happy because if we don’t change the trajectory, we’re going to go to shutdown and then your business is going to close. And that, my friends, is a real problem. Worry about that because that is a real worry. - Gov. Cuomo, during a press conference, dismissing restaurant owners’ concerns that the in-door-dining shutdown is ruining their businesses

This was theft by a thousand cuts across six dimensions and six battleground states. - White House advisor Peter Navarro, in a 36-page report on election fraud, titled, “The Immaculate Deception”

If we can’t run a fair election, then this Republic, it will not stand. If we get an illegitimate and illegal president in Joe Biden on Inauguration Day without him being cleared of being president by illegal votes… This country will make or break itself based on how this is handled. I do not have a high confidence in our institutions at this point that they are going to handle this well. This is a problem that needs to be investigated or this country is going to be in deep, deep trouble. - Ibid, in an interview on the “The Cats Roundtable,” WABC 770

I’d like to say very bluntly our mission is to redistribute wealth. A lot of people bristle at that phrase. That is, in fact, the phrase we need to use. - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in a news conference, while talking about the New York city school system

I’m going to continue to fight for our most vulnerable communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus, for our health care workers, for our essential workers, for incarcerated men and women to be prioritized in the distribution of the vaccine. – Radical left “squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass), on CNN

Beloved Esther...you were taken from us by such a cruel and malicious hand just because you were a Jew living in her land. The people of Israel will not be broken because the government will deliver an appropriate response to this murder. The prime minister will announce today [Tuesday] that the government is doubling the settlement of Tal Menashe and is giving a proud Zionist answer to this terrible crime. We will never break. - Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan speaking at the funeral of Esther Horgan, who was murdered in a terrorist attack near her home on Sunday

I would not. No. I would not rule it out. - Chris Christie, when asked by conservative host Hugh Hewitt if he’d rule out a 2024 run for president if President Trump decides to run

However, to some Black disability rights activists, like Anita Cameron, Helen Keller is not radical at all, “just another, despite disabilities, privileged white person,” and yet another example of history telling the story of privileged white Americans. - From a Time Magazine article about Hellen Keller

MORE QUOTES

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020 OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Who needs him anyway? If [they] wanted to, they would’ve probably finished it. But in this case, his wife asked me, and I immediately gave the order to let him out of the country to be treated in Germany... This is a trick to attack the leaders [in Russia]. - Russian President Vladimir Putin at his end-of-year press conference when asked about a report that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) poisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny

That was a small jab for a man, a huge step for the health of us all. May this be this successful. Go out and get vaccinated. - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after getting the COVID vaccination this week

Jerusalem must remain united but with a place within it for a Palestinian capital. – Israel Defense Minister and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, in an interview with a Saudi Arabian newspaper

He’s a basketball player. That’s what he is. Listen, we’re not frontline responders. We’re not teachers. Yo, man, you dribble a basketball, stop acting like you’re the smartest person in the world. – ESPN’s Charles Barkley criticizing Brooklyn Nets player Kyree Irving for refusing to speak to the press

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Political Crossfire

Trump Must Stop Denying Russia’s Complicity By Marc A. Thiessen

oth Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr say Russia was behind the massive cyberattack that compromised 18,000 U.S. companies and government agencies, but President Donald Trump isn’t buying it. “Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens,” Trump tweeted, adding, “it may” be China or “a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big.” No, it wasn’t either of these things. And by tweeting this nonsense, Trump is not only failing to respond forcefully and restore deterrence in cyberspace – he is missing an opportunity to claim vindication concerning Washington’s obsession with Russian electoral interference. Were U.S. intelligence oﬃcials so focused on detecting and deterring Moscow’s election interference that they missed the Kremlin’s real target – a massive cyber penetration of U.S. businesses and government agencies? That’s the case Trump should be making. Undetected, Russian hackers penetrated SolarWinds, a company that produces network management software used by many Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, in October 2019, and began attaching a computer virus to the software updates the company pushed out to its clients. SolarWinds updates acted like a superspreader, allowing Russia to create “back doors” in targeted networks that, according to the New York Times, gave

Moscow the ability “to come and go, steal data and – though it apparently has not happened yet – alter data or conduct destructive attacks.” Russia penetrated not only thousands of businesses but also the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Treasury, Commerce and Energy – including the National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. We still do not know the full extent of the damage. Some national security experts have suggested that this attack could actually be a subset of a much larger operation.

Russian cyberattack. The lesson is that cyberattackers are like terrorists – they take advantage of our free and open society to infiltrate and attack America. And the lesson we learned after September 11, 2001 is that we cannot defend perfectly in every place and at all times against every possible technique. The only way to stop or deter them is to go on offense. “What’s our response to the Russians?” asks retired four-star Army Gen. Jack Keane. He points out that the United States has the most powerful offensive cyber-capabilities in the world. “We cannot let this stand. We

Too often, we allow adversaries to get away with attacks in the cyber domain that would not be tolerated in any other domain.

The Russian hack was discovered by accident, when an employee at a compromised company saw their credentials had been used to log into the company’s network from an unrecognized device. In other words, our intelligence community was overly focused on the wrong target. Rather than deny what took place, Trump should be arguing that Washington’s four-year ﬁxation with Russian interference in our elections provided the perfect cover for this unprecedented

have the capability to attack back and we should…. When you impose costs…. Your adversary is going to think twice before doing something.” Based on what is now in the public sphere, Trump appears to have used America’s oﬀensive cyber capabilities more than any previous president. In August 2019, the New York Times reported that he ordered “a secret cyberattack against Iran in June [that] wiped out a critical database used by Iran’s paramilitary arm to plot attacks

against oil tankers.” In an interview with me last fall, Trump acknowledged for the ﬁrst time that he had launched a cyberattack on Russia to prevent its interference in the 2018 midterm elections. But he has clearly not used them nearly enough to deter attacks like this one. If an adversary had launched a kinetic attack on us this massive, we would take out whatever weapon was used to harm us. But too often, we allow adversaries to get away with attacks in the cyber domain that would not be tolerated in any other domain. If we want to restore cyber deterrence, that has to change. The primary reason we have gone almost two decades without another 9/11-style attack on the homeland is because America has been on oﬀense across the world, taking out terrorists with targeted drone strikes, denying them sanctuary. We need to do the same in cyberspace. Our adversaries need to know that attacks on America in cyberspace will not be tolerated and will be met with a swift and disproportionate response – and that the United States will preemptively take out cyber capabilities of state or non-state actors we believe threatens us. Trump has pulled the trigger in cyberspace before. He can do it again. But to do so, he must stop denying Russia’s complicity, stop obsessing with overturning the election, defend our country and restore deterrence in cyberspace. (c) 2020, Washington Post Writers Group

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020 OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

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Political Crossfire

Time for “Creative Passivity” in the Mideast By David Ignatius

ometimes in life, the best thing to do about a problem is nothing, at least initially. And as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, that may be the best advice about the Middle East. The Middle East has been a boneyard for the past three presidents. They’ve felt the activist impulse that’s characteristic of American foreign policy – put troops in, pull troops out, impose sanctions, cut secret deals – whatever it takes, but do something. We send military forces in and out of the region like yo-yos on a string. But as Biden resets policy, he should consider an initial approach that I would call “creative passivity.” Don’t be in a rush to adjust troop levels anywhere; the limited numbers now in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are manageable and useful. Similarly, don’t hurry to restart nuclear negotiations with Iran. Setting that table will take a while, and our diplomacy should seek to stabilize the whole region – from Lebanon to Yemen – and not just revisit the Iranian nuclear file. Start in secret; explore options; as the ancients advised, “Make haste slowly.” The new administration will begin its Middle East policymaking sadder but wiser. Senior officials bear all the scars of past actions and inactions. This team, starting with Biden, shared the nation’s desire to intervene after Sept. 11, 2001 – into Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Libya. But they learned to distrust this interventionist impulse. Biden, to his credit, was wary of some of these commitments, but he made mistakes on the other end:

He was too eager to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011, too ready to announce naively, as I heard him once say in a White House brieﬁng: “Guys! Politics has broken out in Iraq.” Actually, what was breaking out back then was the embryo of the Islamic State. The new administration embraces the consensus that the United States should seek the sweet spot in the Middle East between overcommitment and pell-mell retreat. Many prominent think tanks endorse this yearning for balance. We need a “sustainable, limited, steady state approach,” argues a study by the Center for a New American Security. We should ﬁnd a path “between retreat and overinvestment,” contends a Brookings Institution study. We should avoid “threatism” that looks for enemies and should correspondingly “reduce reliance on military tools,” urges an upcoming Rand Corp. report. But there are scores to settle: Biden will be pressed to reverse mis-

takes by the Trump administration. Many in Congress will want to cut military ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Others will urge a quick return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. There will be pressure, too, for a renewed commitment to a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem. All of these initiatives have merit, over time. But as the Arabs like to say: Slowly, slowly. Formally recapping the Iranian nuclear program is important but, for now, it’s enough to monitor Iran’s nuclear enrichment and make clear the red lines. Down the road, I hope the administration will consider pursuing a regional stability framework that would include Iran and the Gulf states – an organization that can reframe the Middle East the way the post-Cold War OSCE did for Europe. But that can wait. The new administration would be wise to learn from the United States’ recent successes in the region, as well as its mistakes. That is especially true in Iraq and Syria, which are

often seen as emblems of American failure but in recent years have been the opposite. After the catastrophic overcommitments of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past two decades, the United States finally got it right, with small numbers of Special Operations forces, punishing air power and solid allies who would do the fighting on the ground against the Islamic State. Don’t mess with those successes. A wise Biden approach will also find ways to maintain contact with countries that matter, even when they are governed by dictatorial regimes that suppress human rights, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. I had a lesson last week in how America can keep faith with good people in bad countries when I moderated a discussion with two Egyptian entrepreneurs whose companies – an electronic payments firm called Fawry and a medical firm called Dawi Clinics – have prospered thanks in part to financing from the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund. Creative, inexpensive tactics such as enterprise funds should be in the Biden toolkit. Talk is cheap in the Middle East. If it were easy to solve these problems, we would have done so long ago. If there’s one clear lesson, after so many painful years, it’s that American military and diplomatic power are greatest in the moment before they’re used. So keep that gun in the holster, visibly, and hide the diplomats in the back rooms for a while. Let others wonder and worry what the Biden administration may have up its sleeve. (c) 2020, Washington Post Writers Group

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Forgotten Her es

The Heroes of Machal By Avi Heiligman

Machal fighters of the 8th Brigade’s 89th Battalion

fter the United Nations adopted the resolution in November 1947 calling for the creation of Israel, the call went out that recruits were needed for the anticipated invasion for the neighboring Arab countries. Thousands of men and women came from overseas to help the war effort and served in all branches of the IDF. Even though they were a small portion of the overall fighting forces, many played integral parts in the early days of the IDF. Called Machal, here are some more stories of these volunteers who served. Unlike many volunteers who had a Zionist background, Samuel Boshes joined the Israeli Air Force because he felt it was his duty to help fellow Jews in dire straits. Boshes was born in Philadelphia and had an outstanding record flying B-26 medium bombers during World War II. He flew in over 60 missions over Europe, earning many awards and medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross. When he heard that the Jewish state needed experienced pilots, Boshes went to Israel and was one of the original members of the 103 Squadron. His job was to fly C-47 transport planes filled with supplies to areas that were cut off by Arab forces. These areas were in

the Negev Desert, and the missions usually took place at night. Soon he became commander of the squadron and after the war settled in Tel Aviv while flying for El Al. Harry Sabel was another Machal volunteer with war experience. He was born in the East End of London and at a young age opened up

stationed at British headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, where he became friendly with the local Jewish community. While on leave from duty, Sabel traveled to Eretz Yisrael where he came in contact with leaders of the Yishuv. After World War II, he returned to England and became involved

There was such a tight security in the intelligence community that the identity of their own commander was not known to the operatives!

a surplus store. Soon, he sold the store and married, and when World War II started, he joined the British Army. Since Sabel knew several languages, he was transferred to the Intelligence Corps after completing Officers Training School. He was first stationed in England to keep an ear out for any spies or traitors that could be lurking about the country. Later, as a captain, he was

in a local Zionist movement. When the Israeli War of Independence broke out, he traveled to Israel via the Haganah training camp in France posing as a tourist. There he volunteered for the army and was appointed as the commander of military counter-intelligence for the Jerusalem sector. One story that he liked to relate was that his operatives had noticed an English gen-

tleman who looked suspicious. He had his men trail the suspect and give him reports on his movements. To Sabel’s surprise, he was receiving reports on his own movements. There was such a tight security in the intelligence community that the identity of their own commander was not known to the operatives! During the war, Sabel moved his family from England to Israel, and they stayed there after the war ended. Sabel was then appointed Press Information Officer for the government and later was the English language radio host for Israel’s Radio’s morning newscast. There were about 2,000 sailors in the navy during the war, and they came from a variety of backgrounds. The Machalniks had a lot of experience during World War II and were headlined by an Annapolis graduate (U.S. Naval Academy) Paul Shulman. During World War II, he was stationed on a destroyer in the Pacific and saw action off the coast of Iwo Jima. He resigned from his position in the American Navy in 1947 to join the seamen helping Aliyah Bet immigrants. At the request of Ben Gurion, he came to Israel to organize the navy. He was 26 years old, and in October 1948 he was appointed Navy Commander.

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Harry Sabel, when he was an officer in the British army

Shulman wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only Annapolis graduate. Jonathan Leff, who served as the naval gunnery officer, also went to the Naval Academy. Another American officer, Ben De Roy, was an expert radar and communications specialist. Even though Israel had no submarines for several years, an American submariner, Sender Pinard, found employment in the operations section. After the

A picnic area in Keren Kayemet named after Harry Sabel

K-24 came to Israel, more Machal volunteers came to help the navy. However, there was friction between the Machalniks and Palyam veterans that eventually caused some volunteers to leave the navy. Still, they left an indelible impression in the young navy that won some hardfought battles during the War of Independence. Many Machal soldiers returned

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Paul Shulman with Prime Minister David Ben Gurion

to their country of origin after the war, while some stayed and made Israel their home. It was tough being a soldier, sailor or airman fighting thousands of miles away from home against a formidable foe for a country that was just created. Yet, the Machal soldiers proved themselves time and again and helped shape the IDF for decades to come.

Authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: This is the second installment of Machal stories. For the first article in the series, email the author at aviheiligman@gmail. com. 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.

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Jewish History

FDR, the Nazis, and the Jews of Morocco: A Troubling Episode By Rafael Medoff

Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the Anfa conference in 1943

he normalization of relations between Israel and Morocco and the U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara have stirred interest in the history of Morocco’s Jews, including during the Holocaust years. Unfortunately, some pundits, in their enthusiasm over these developments, have misleadingly portrayed the Allied liberation of North Africa in 1942 as the simultaneous liberation of the region’s Jews from their Nazi and Vichyite persecutors. That narrative papers over the harsh reality of what happened after the Allies’ victory. The full story of how President Franklin D. Roosevelt treated the Jews in Morocco and elsewhere in North Africa is a deeply troubling chapter in his administration’s history. On November 8, 1942, American and British forces launched “Operation Torch,” the invasion of German-occupied Algeria and Morocco.

In just eight days, the Allies defeated the Nazis and their Vichy French partners in the region. American Jews expected that the liberation of North Africa would also mean liberation for the 330,000 Jews there. In 1870, the French colonial authorities in Algeria had issued the Cremieux Decree, which granted equal rights to that country’s Jews after centuries of mistreatment by Arab rulers (although it did not affect the Jews in neighboring Morocco). When the Vichyites took over North Africa in 1940, they abolished Cremieux and subjected all of the region’s Jews to a range of abuses, including restrictions on admission of Jews to many schools and professions, seizures of Jewish property and occasional pogroms by local Muslims that were tolerated by the government. In 1941–1942, American Jewish newspapers carried disturbing reports that the Vichyites had built “huge concentration camps” in Mo-

rocco and Algeria to house thousands of Jewish slave laborers. The prisoners endured backbreaking work, random beatings by the guards, extreme overcrowding, poor sanitation, near-starvation, and little or no medical care. According to one report, 150 Jews scheduled to be taken to the camps were so fearful of the conditions there that they resisted arrest and were executed en masse. With the Allied victory, North African Jews — and their American coreligionists —expected the prisoners to be released and the Cremieux Decree reinstated for Jews living throughout the region. The American Jewish Congress optimistically predicted that the repeal of the Vichy-era anti-Jewish laws would follow the Allied occupation of North Africa “as the day follows the night.” But President Roosevelt had other plans.

Meet the New Boss At the beginning of “Operation

Torch,” the Allies captured Admiral François Darlan, a senior Vichyite leader. FDR decided to leave Darlan in charge of the Allied-occupied North African territories in exchange for Darlan ordering his forces in Algiers to cease fire. Many prominent liberals in the United States were appalled by this decision. “[It] sticks in the craw of majorities of the British and French, and of democrats everywhere, [that] we are employing a French Quisling as our deputy in the government of the first territory to be reoccupied,” an editorial in The New Republic protested. The war was supposed to bring enlightened democracy to areas that had been under the boot of fascism – not keep the old tyrants in power. Not only was Darlan still in power, but he also retained nearly all of the original senior officials of the local Vichy regime. Darlan did dismiss one Vichyite of note, Yves Chatel, the governor of Algeria, but promptly re-

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placed him with Maurice Peyrouton, the very Vichy official who had signed the anti-Jewish laws of 1940. Together, Darlin and Peyrouton deepsixed the Cremieux Decree and kept thousands of Jews in the slave labor camps. Rumblings of concern began to surface in the American press. A December 17 editorial in The New York Times expressed doubt that Darlan really intended to bring about “the abrogation of anti-Jewish laws [and] release of prisoners and internees.” The editors of The New Republic asked on December 28, “Who controls French Africa, Darlan or the [Allies]? And if the latter, isn’t it high time we cleaned up the remnants of fascism that obviously still exist there?” An investigative report in the New York City newspaper PM on January 1 asserted that the Darlan regime was actively discriminating against Jews, and “thousands” remained “in concentration camps.” President Roosevelt publicly claimed that he had already “asked for the abrogation of all laws and decrees inspired by Nazi governments or Nazi ideologists.” But he hadn’t. When reporters questioned him at a January 1, 1943 press conference, FDR replied, “I think most of the political prisoners are – have been released.” But they hadn’t.

No Rights for Jews The official transcript of FDR’s meeting with Major-General Charles Nogues, a leader of the post-Vichy regime, in Casablanca on January 17, 1943, provides some insight into the president’s thinking. Nogues asked President Roosevelt about demands by North African Jews for voting rights. According to the stenographer, Roosevelt replied, “The answer to that was very simple, namely, that there just weren’t going to be any elections, so the Jews need not worry about the privilege of voting.” The transcript continues, “The President stated that he felt the whole Jewish problem should be studied very carefully and that progress should be definitely planned. In other words, the number of Jews should be definitely limited to the percentage that the Jewish population in North

Africa bears to the whole of the North African population.” FDR explained that he wanted to make sure the Jews would not “overcrowd the professions.” He pointed to what he called “the specific and understandable complaints which the Germans bore towards the Jews in Germany, namely, that while they represented a small part of the population, over fifty percent of the lawyers, doctors, school teachers, college professors, etc. in Germany were Jews.” In reality, Jews comprised about 16% of the lawyers, 11% of the doctors, 3% of the college professors, and less than 1% of the schoolteachers in Germany.

American Jewish leaders were strongly supportive of President Roosevelt – and some 90% of Jews voted for him repeatedly – but his perpetuation of the persecution of North African Jews was just too much. On February 14, 1943, the American Jewish Congress and World Jewish Congress took the unprecedented step of publicly denouncing the president’s North Africa policy. In a joint public statement, the two groups charged that “the anti-Jewish legacy of the Nazis remains intact in North Africa.” Despite three months having passed since the Allied liberation, only a few “grudging concessions have been made” to aid the Jews, while no changes “of an im-

FDR explained that he wanted to make sure the Jews would not “overcrowd the professions.”

It’s striking that the president of the United States was so quick to believe the wildly exaggerated numbers – and to conclude that German hatred of Jews therefore was justified.

American Jews Speak Out As the weeks turned into months and as the fascists remained in power in North Africa, public criticism of the Roosevelt administration intensified. Near-daily reports by I. F. Stone in PM featured headlines such as “U.S. Policy in North Africa: Why State Dept. Holds Up Repeal of Nuremberg Laws,” and “Hull Admits Anti-Fascist Prisoners Still Being Held in North Africa.” Repor ts in the New York Times and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s Daily News Bulletin began citing, by name, the camps where North African Jews and political refugees were being enslaved – including one that was just five miles from where “American troops, dedicated to end government by concentration camp, live.”

portant character have been made in the[ir] political and economic situation.” The statement reminded the president that he had pledged “action to insure [sic] that the four freedoms shall without further delay be declared as valid for all the peoples in North Africa, which means the total abrogation of all anti-Semitic laws and decrees and … the release of those of whatever race or nationality who are being detained because of their support of democracy and opposition to Nazi ideology.” The remarkable statement from those two mainstream Jewish organizations was only slightly milder than the charge by Benzion Netanyahu, executive director of the militant U.S. Revisionist Zionists (and father of the current prime minister of Israel), that “the spirit of the Swastika hovers over the Stars and Stripes” in the administration of North Africa. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, the founder and longtime leader of the American Jewish Congress, then led a delegation to Washington to

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personally make their case directly to U.S. officials, and Wise’s co-chair, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, organized a group of prominent French exiles in the United States to present the State Department with a petition of their own. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform) also called on the administration to intervene against the Vichyites. These protests induced a number of other prominent individuals to speak up, among them Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, the exiled French Jewish leader Baron Edouard de Rothschild, and leaders of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Agonizing Delays In March 1943 – more than four months after the Allies liberated Morocco and the rest of North Africa – the Roosevelt administration finally instructed the local authorities to repeal the anti-Jewish measures. The implementation process, however, was agonizingly slow. In April, the forced labor camps in North Africa were officially shut down – yet, in reality, some of them continued operating well into the summer. The Jewish quotas in schools and professions were only gradually phased out. It was not until October 20, 1943, that the Cremieux Decree was at last reinstated. After ten long months of presidential stalling and stonewalling, this disturbing chapter in American foreign policy finally came to a close. The increased public interest in the history of North African Jewry is a welcome byproduct of Israeli-Moroccan normalization. But discussions of that history should include its less pleasant side; that part, too, has important lessons to offer.

Dr. Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, in Washington, D.C., and author of more than 20 books about the Holocaust and Jewish history. This essay is based in part on the research for his most recent book, “The Jews Should Keep Quiet: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and the Holocaust.”

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Spacious colonial, huge eat-in kitchen, finished attic, finished Spacious colonial, Classic huge side hall eat-in col.side kitchen, w/ 4BR finished & col. 3 fullw/ baths. attic, finished All&brs on the 2nd colonial, Classic huge side hall eat-in col.side kitchen, w/ 4BR finished & col. 3 fullw/ baths. attic, finished All on the 2nd colonial, Classic huge side hall eat-in col.side kitchen, w/ 4BR finished & col. 3 fullw/ baths. attic, finished All&brs the Wide-line 2ndClassic side hallcol. col.side w/ 4BR 3 full baths. All&brs the 2nd Classic hall 4BR 3Spacious full Classic hall 4BR &brs 3Spacious full Classic hall 4BR 3 on full Classic hall& col. w/ 4BR 3 on full ch quiet cul-de-sac in Exceptionally hi-end gut ren. S/H SH on great block 516)967-1967 in heart Cedarhurst. 4BRs$799K & Brick SH on great block 516)967-1967 in heart Cedarhurst. 4BRscol. & Brick SH on great block 516)967-1967 in heart Cedarhurst. & Brick on greaton block in heart Cedarhurst. 4BRs$799K & basement, on a deep property. Malka( 516)967-1967 $679Kbasement, Brick on floor, a deep fin.col. basement. property. Malka( Beautiful yard.of Miri (646)515-8813 $679Kbasement, on floor, a deep fin.col. basement. property. Malka( Beautiful yard.of Miri (646)515-8813 $679Kbasement, $799K on floor, a deep fin.col. basement. property. Malka( Beautiful yard.of Miri (646)515-8813 $679K 4BRs$799K floor,SH fin.col. basement. Beautiful yard.of Miri (646)515-8813 baths. brs on the 2ndfloor, fin. 3.5bath baths. All brs on the 2ndfloor, fin. 3.5bath baths. brs on the 2ndfloor, fin. Tamar baths. brs on the 2ndfloor, fin. Tamar “front” Lawrence with 4BRs on the 2nd loc. on desirable block in taxes. SD14. 2bths on hall 2nd floor, walk up attic, extremely low taxes. Tamar 2bths on hall 2nd floor, walk up attic, extremely low Tamar 2bths on hall 2nd floor, walk up attic, extremely low taxes. 2bths on 2nd floor, All walk up attic, extremely low taxes. 5BR, 3.5bath center hall col. on oversized prop. on very desirable 5BR, 3.5bath center col. onAll oversized prop. on very desirable 5BR, center col. on oversized prop. on very desirable 5BR, center col. onAll oversized prop. on very desirable (917)902-0613 $899K (917)902-0613 $899K (917)902-0613 $899K (917)902-0613 $899K block near Cedarhurst Park. Moshe(516)455-5364 $1.19M block near Cedarhurst Park.basement. Moshe(516)455-5364 $1.19M Park. Moshe(516)455-5364 $1.19M block near Cedarhurst Park.basement. Moshe(516)455-5364 $1.19M floor & 1BR on 1st floor,Beautiful partially fin 5 large brs &Beautiful 3 baths upstairs, Beautiful yard. block near Cedarhurst basement. yard. Beautiful yard. basement. yard. bsmnt, low taxes, much more. beautiful bsmnt w/ playroom, Miri (646) 515-8813 Miri (646) 515-8813 Miri (646) 515-8813 Miri (646) 515-8813 Avigail (516)316-3452 A Must See! Bruria $799K $799K $799K $799K

CEDARHURST

CEDARHURST WOODMERE

WOODMERE

$1.65M (718)490-7791 Donny Miller TamarTamar MillerMiller Beautiful exp 5br 4bth high ranch w/ 3 lvls of living space, Beautiful exp SH Tudor 5br 4bth colonial high ranch with 4w/ brs 3 lvls & 2 baths of living on space, the 2ndBeautiful floor, finished exp SH Tudor 5br 4bth colonial high ranch with 4w/ brs 3 lvls &$1.85M 2 baths of living on space, the 2ndBeautiful floor, finished exp SH Tudor 5br 4bth colonial high ranch with 4w/ brs 3 lvls & 2 baths of living on space, the 2nd floor, finished SH Tudor colonial with 4 brs & 2 baths on the 2nd floor, finished many updates throughout. Sarah (347)524-9147 $999K

CEDARHURST

many updates throughout. Sarah (347)524-9147 $999K SD many updates throughout. Sarah (347)524-9147 $999K SD many updates throughout. Sarah (347)524-9147 $999K SD 14. $849K basement, CAC, beautiful yard, award winning 14. $849K basement, CAC, beautiful yard, award winning 14. $849K basement, CAC, beautiful yard, award winning basement, CAC, beautiful yard, award winning SD 14. $849K

CEDARHURST CEDARHURST

CEDARHURST

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

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Classifieds classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com • text 443-929-4003

APT FOR RENT

VACATION RENTALS

HELP WANTED

INWOOD Brand new bright and airy basement apartment near LIRR . Never used kosher kitchen , 2 bedrooms , LR/DR central air /heat ,full bathroom washer/dryer $2000 a month Call/text Yitzi (929) 225-3616

VACATION IN JERUSALEM: Beautiful 3 bedroom apartment with porch and view available for short term in the Kaduri – Jerusalem Heights project on the 8th floor. Shisha Realty 718-408-8070 vacation@shisharealty.com

SHULAMITH EARLY CHILDHOOD is looking to hire a full time teacher assistant for the current school year. Please email resume to earlychildhood@shulamith.org

CAHAL is seeking AM, PM or FT Assistant Teachers for special ed classes in yeshivas in 5-Towns/ Far Rock. Send your resume to Shira@cahal.org or call 516-295-3666 for more information.

WOODMERE: BEST BUY Spacious 2BR Apartment, Washer/Dryer In Bldg, Elevator Bldg, Open Floor Plan, 1st Floor, Close To All...$199K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000

CONDO SALES

Heart of Far Rockaway 3 bedroom apt. Two sinks and dishwasher. Washer/dryer hookup. Please txt 917-860-5762

VACATION RENTALS VACATION IN JERUSALEM: Beautiful Short-term rentals in Jerusalem (Sharei Chesed, Romema, Hanevi'im – City Center) Contact today for great service: Shisha Realty 718-408-8070 vacation@shisharealty.com

CONDO FOR SALE FLORIDA Deerfield Beach, Century Village. Fully-furn mod kosher 2BR/2BA w/ sunroom, 1st flr, closest bldg to shul, steps to pool & shopping. $149k. Call/text owner Pauline 718-986-0917

HELP WANTED Looking to hire sales people to train as NY & NJ Public Adjusters. No experience necessary, flexible hours. Call 973-951-1534 SHEVACH HIGH SCHOOL is seeking a Global Studies teacher, Algebra teacher. Please email resume to Office@shevachhs.org

ASSISTANTS NEEDED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AFTERNOON SESSION. Email: fivetownseducators@gmail.com BAIS YAAKOV IN FAR ROCKAWAY seeking permanent substitute for Preschool and Elementary school. Please call 718-868-3232 ext 211 Seeking full time OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST for Special Education school located in Brooklyn. Experienced preferred. Competitive salary. Room for growth. resumes@yadyisroelschool.org 5 TOWNS BOYS YESHIVA SEEKING ELEM GEN ED TEACHERS Excellent working environment and pay. Only lic/exp need apply. Email resume to yeshivalooking@gmail.com

SPECIAL ED DIRECTOR Responsibility: Curriculum Designer Individual curriculum as needed Staff training Innovative, visionary Requirement: Masters Special Ed and Education Administration or SLP Backgroup Email Resume: specialedresume2018@gmail.com

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home

HELP WANTED

5 TOWNS BOYS YESHIVA SEEKING ELEM GEN ED TEACHERS Excellent working environment and pay. Only lic/exp need apply. Email resume to yeshivalooking@gmail.com

CATAPULT LEARNING Teachers, Title I Boro Park, Williamsburg and Flatbush Schools *College/Yeshiva Degree *Teaching experience required

CAHAL is seeking AM, PM or FT Assistant Teachers for special ed classes in yeshivas in 5-Towns/ Far Rock. Send your resume to Shira@cahal.org or call 516-295-3666 for more information. SPECIAL ED DIRECTOR Responsibility: Curriculum Designer Individual curriculum as needed Staff training Innovative, visionary Requirement: Masters Special Ed and Education Administration or SLP Backgroup Email Resume: specialedresume2018@gmail.com

*Strong desire to help children learn *Small group instruction *Excellent organization skills Competitive salary. Send resume to: Fax: (212) 480-3691 ~ Email: nyteachers@catapultlearning.com “NEW FIVE TOWNS RESTAURANT IS LOOKING TO HIRE THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS: Experienced grill man Laffa maker, Dishwasher, Delivery guy Please email Ronazohar@hotmail.com OFFICE POSITION available in busy legal support company.

**Afternoon Playgroup Assistant** Looking for a heimish, warm and loving assistant Morah in a 2 year old Far Rockaway playgroup (starting now). Hours are Mon-Thu 12:00-3:10 and Fridays 9:00-12:05 For more information, please text your name and 2 references to 718-926-9336

Five Towns 516-374-0242

woodmere

5 Towns area (near train). Full Time M-F. Opp for growth. Must be friendly, motivated, organized, detail oriented & efficient. Cust service & communication skills are crucial. Will train. Please send resume hr@platinumfilings.com

West Hempstead 516-565-4392

cedarhurst

4 br, 4 fbth brick colonial 4 level split in cedar bay park. 5br, 2.5bth 82 x 120 prop. in woodmere’s sought - updated eik with rad. heat, fm rm, mstr ste after “tree streets” - xl eik, mstr w/ new w/ wic and 4 additional brs up, large gunite fbth, xl fdr, full, fin. base with ose. heated ig-pool w/ slide. $899,000 low taxes and flood ins. $929,000

bright and sunny on an

TJH Classifieds

Post your Real Estate, Help Wanted, Services, Miscellaneous Ads here.

Far rockaway

4 br spacious center hall colonial in the heart of far rockaway. lg lr w/fpl, eik, family room with access to deck and yard. xl full unfinished basement. private driveway. $925,000

www.sharonabeckrealty.com

w. hempstead

3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch in heart of the dogwood area w/ franklin square schools. xl lr w/fpl, hw floors, full finished basement, cac, 7,000+ sqft lot. $565,000

Info@sharonabeckrealty.com

Weekly Classifed Ads

Up to 5 lines and/or 25 words 1 week....$20 2 weeks...$35 • 4 weeks...$60 Email ads to: classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com. Include valid credit card info and zip code

Deadline Monday 5:00pm

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

MISC Gemach Zichron Yehuda In memory of R’ Yehuda Aryeh Leib ben R’ Yisroel Dov We have a library of books on the subjects of loss, aveilus, grief, & kaddish. We have sets of ArtScroll Mishnayos to assist with finishing Shisha Sidrei Mishna for Shloshim or yahrtzeit. Locations in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway, & Lakewood. Email: zichronyehuda@yahoo.com

MISC ARE YOU IN NEED OF A LIVER TRANSPLANT? LIVER DONOR AVAILABLE! If you are blood type A or AB and in need of a liver transplant call Chaya Lipschutz, Kidney & Liver Shadchan (917) 627-8336, or email KidneyMitzvah@aol.com

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DECEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Life C ach

Looking for a Change? Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS

as that? Oh, yes, I think so. And it was something that was in very short supply last year. A blanket of snow fell on New York last week. Of course, no one wants another inconvenience. Still, getting to see kids be kids – pure joy! Don’t get me wrong. I’m happier with clear streets and warm weath-

er. After all, taking walks and enjoying outdoor cafes are some of the highlights these days! But kids need a reason to smile, too! An igloo, a snowman, a sled ride…. It’s fun and entertainment that they certainly can use. And all for the right price too. Now, having celebrated that, though, I’m more than happy to have an early spring. Very early!

Emotional Support for Unwanted Touching

MOUNT SINAI BETH ISRAEL

Like tomorrow wouldn’t be too soon! I’m sure biking, playing outside, and going to the park could fill in nicely. Or maybe there could be like one neighborhood designated to get snow. That way, all those who want it could drive there. After all, so much is being mandated these days. Can’t we just insist on a five-mile area in each neighborhood as the snow zone? Then we can enjoy herd immunity for the rest of us. After all, we had our snowstorm already! We don’t need the icy conditions, or the cold, or any more reasons to be indoors.

After all, we traveled all the way to the moon. And then the moon reciprocated by sending some moon rock here. It’s only right! We’ve been dragging ourselves to Miami for forever, can’t Miami make the trek here, just this once, for us? Listen, I’m not knocking snow or advocating for actual global warming. I’m just asking for a sharply curtailed winter this year. Like, if you blinked and missed last week, you could have missed winter already. So, what do you say? Let’s advocate for it. Let’s rally for it. Let’s

Can’t we just insist on a five-mile area in each neighborhood as the snow zone?

In fact, can’t we mandate some really warm weather? Beach weather, perhaps? People aren’t following the rules so perfectly anyway. Why should nature have to? I’m dreaming of a green January. Apple trees in bloom. Sunshine every day. Wouldn’t this be a nice reality?! Of course, some people have demonstrated the power to make this happen. Sure, it took a little maneuvering, like driving to the airport first. But, since we were able to figure out how to shlep ourselves to the weather, can’t we figure out how to shlep the weather to us?

be vocal. Let’s get out there and do whatever it takes to shorten this winter weather. And best case, at least we will stay healthy. Because, we already learned months ago, that the health threat supposedly disappears when you go out for a good rally. Winter, winter don’t stay here. Come again another year!

Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-7052004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com.

The Jewish Home | DECEMBER 24, 2020

Take Control. Live Your Dream. Whether you’d like to switch jobs, change careers, gain skills or start a small businessCareer Counseling

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Five Towns Jewish Home - 12-24-20

Articles inside

FDR, the Nazis, and the Jews of Morocco by Rafael Medoff

The Heroes of Machal by Avi Heiligman

Notable Quotes

Time for “Creative Passivity” in the Mideast by David Ignatius

A Healthy Breakfast by Cindy Weinberger MS, RD

Trump Must Stop Denying Russia’s Complicity by Marc A. Thiessen

Parenting Pearls

nean Turkey Schnitzel

Parts in Relationships by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

Rabbi Wein on the Parsha

Jennifer Mann, LCSW

My Israel Home

Parsha Ponderings

Israel News

Odd-but-True Stories

National

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