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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
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s the number of Holocaust survivors among us diminishes, the level of interest in their stories is at an all time high. Family members are haunted by questions. What really happened to Zeidy’s three brothers who never returned? How did Bubby manage to travel to Switzerland? Did any members of Tanteh Blima’s family survive the horrors of Bergen-Belsen? So many questions, so few answers. Meanwhile, in a remote town in central Germany called Bad Arolsen, there stands a series of nondescript buildings. These buildings house millions of documents, probably the largest archive of the Nazi and postwar era. Many of these documents are the key to answering these heart wrenching questions. Millions of Holocaust victims unfortunately disappeared without a trace. But there were millions of others whose fates were meticulously documented by the Germans and the authorities at the time. The Bad Arolsen archive contains over fifty
We Come to You
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million pieces of documentation with detailed information about 17.5 million civilians who were either victims or survivors of the War. It also includes vital postwar documentation. For many decades these archives were closed to the public. But in 2007, in response to increased worldwide pressure, the collection
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archives were the subject of lots of media attention when they were first opened. But that has since quieted down.” Since then, the entire collection has been painstakingly digitized, a process that is still ongoing ten years later. “We have about 200 million digitized pages so far,” says Dr. Afoumado. The goal, she says, is to make
THE JOURNEY OF
vivors, both Jewish and non-Jewish. “We give priority to living survivors,” she points out, “especially those who are seeking compensation and need documentation to support their claims.” What type of documents are found in these archives? “Every aspect of a prisoner’s life was documented by the Nazis,” says Dr. Afoumado. “There are documents about internment and concentration camps, and about the ghettos and forced labor camps. These include prisoner files, medical files, and transfer lists. If a prisoner was sent from one barrack to another, it was probably documented.” Also fascinating, says Dr. Afoumado, are the documents about postwar Europe and the displaced persons camps. “For most people,” she points out, “the War did not end in 1945. It could have lasted for years afterwards, as survivors struggled to find each other or waited to emigrate. The collection gives us a picture of the world after the War, with documentation about individuals who requested to be transferred, repatriated, or emigrated. “ Researching the archives is not a
JUDGE SAMUEL COLMAN
“Often these are the last pictures ever seen of that person.”
Op-Ed: We Need to Change Our Security Outlook
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was opened and made available to both historians and to families seeking information about their loved ones. Dr. Diane Afoumado, Chief of Research and Reference at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., has dedicated her career to providing this information to survivors and their families. “Ten years ago,” she says, “the
these pages accessible to the public. She encourages families to contact the ITS (International Tracing Service) office at the museum online to request any documentation or information about their family members. “It’s free of charge,” she notes. Thousands have taken advantage of ITS’s services already. On average, they receive 200 requests a month, mostly from families of sur-
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home
Dear Readers,
T
their deaths.” He spoke for a few more minutes about the horror, reminding mispallelim about the importance of talking about the Holocaust to the younger generations. He then asked that everyone stay in shul for the first part of Yizkor. This part, he said, was for everyone. Mr. Fuchs said a short tefillah for the six million who perished in the Holocaust, then paused, and in a rising crescendo, announced, “Dachau.” “Bergen-Belsen.” “Auschwitz-Birkenau.” “Buchenwald.” “Majdanek.” “Mauthausen.” Mr. Fuchs continued on, listing every concentration camp, reminding us about the millions who were slaughtered al kiddush Hashem. I will never forget the raw emotion with which Mr. Fuchs portrayed our loss, and I know his words will echo through my mind when I remember the horror perpetrated against our nation not so long ago. After shul, the children in shul lined up in front of Mr. Fuchs, and he gave them each a bracha and a kiss on the head. Am Yisroel chai. Just a few hours later, our nation keenly felt the golus once again when a gunman shattered the tranquility of yom tov in Poway. And yet, as the blood pooled on the floor and poured from his hands and his mispallelim’s hearts were still shuddering from the terror, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein stood up on a chair and told his congregants, “We are strong; we are united; they cannot break us.” Throughout the generations, even when we are faced with terror and horror, we join as one, knowing that together we will prevail. Am Yisroel chai.
his year, when we saw that there was an extra month squeezed between Purim and Pesach, we knew that the winter would be longer than usual. And so, around Chanukah time, we booked tickets to head to Miami for Pesach, knowing that we would need a little bit of a break. I’ll be honest. I was a little nervous about going away for yom tov. We have always spent Pesach at home or with family, and this was going to be a big change from our normal routine. But I needn’t have worried. In fact, worry was the last thing on my mind on Pesach at the Marco Polo Beach Resort. My children were the last kids in the pool every day and probably the first ones in the tearoom. They sat spellbound at the shows and slurped ice creams to their hearts’ content. They made new friends and we spent quality time together as a family. My son keeps on asking me about how the magician managed to get out of his harnesses before the steel jaws closed on him, and my daughter keeps on joking about Joey Newcomb’s “kracht fun de pickle.” As for me and my husband, well, we were in Miami, so I really don’t have to say anything else. We walked, we biked, we relaxed. We ate a bit too much. We hung out with our friends. There was no shopping to do, no tables to set, and no food to prepare. Everything was prepared for us; it was the epitome of relaxation. When hundreds of Jews get together, there is no escaping Jewish geography, and I love that game. During yom tov, we met so many wonderful people, and there were quite a few memorable individuals with whom we connected. Out of all the people we met there, Mr. Leonard Fuchs’ words will always be etched on my mind. On the last day of yom tov, in shul, after the rabbi spoke, Mr. Fuchs suddenly stood up. “I am a Holocaust survivor,” the 95-year-old said strongly. “I was a teenager. I saw Mengele; I see him every day. One to the right, one to the left. He sent thousands to
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home
Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
8
COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll
8
Community Happenings
37
OpEd: We Need to Change Our Security Outlook by Sol Hersh
48
NEWS
14
Global
12
National
28
Odd-but-True Stories
34
ISRAEL Israel News
20
World Builders
62
PARSHA Rabbi Wein
54
Our Lifeblood by Rav Moshe Weinberger
56
Parsha in Four by Eytan Kobre
58
The Five Stages of Faith by Shmuel Reichman
60
PEOPLE Researching Your Family History, One Document at a Time
64
Lifted from the Trash Heaps: The Journey of Judge Samuel Colman 66 Jewish Recipients of the Victorian Cross by Avi Heiligman
94
HEALTH & FITNESS Trauma in Children by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn
76
Post-Pesach Pounds by Aliza Beer, MS RD CDN
78
The Measles Outbreak by Hylton I. Lightman, MD
80
FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Buttery Cheese Blintzes
82
LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW 72 Your Money
78
HUMOR Centerfold 52
POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes
84
Impeaching Trump Will Only Help Him by Marc A. Thiessen
90
Biden Might Offer a Restful Break for Weary Voters by George F. Will 91
CLASSIFIEDS
networks: bombshell, collusion, golden shower, breaking glass, Saturday night massacre, the walls closing in, Nixon level scandal, impeachment. When all these journalists use the same words at any given time, it is no longer “news” but propaganda, especially since some of them have stated that it is their goal to destroy the president and anyone connected to him. There is a mashal that sheker (falsehood) wanted to get on the ark. He was told by Noah that he needed a partner in order to get on the ark. He met Shlimazel (bad luck or misfortune) Together they decided that whatever gains sheker would receive, he would share with shlimazel. In other words, the lies that are used in the media will somehow be destroyed. With Hashem’s help, the sheker in today’s media will be overcome by truth. Elli Epstein Ocean, NJ Dear Editor, I find it amazing that the Democrats still continue to prosecute Trump. This is after the Mueller investigation tried everything – every person they could get their hands on who was somehow related to Trump was investigated for anything, I mean anything, and if something was found (like tax evasion) they were offered: just give us something against Trump and you will avoid going to jail for a long time. And even with this horrid method they found nothing. Continued on page 10
100
A New Way of Counting by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS 102
Examining Qatar’s Influence by Daniel Pipes
Dear Editor, The April 11 issue of The Jewish Home contained an article by David Ignatius on the need to have a free press – accompanied by a picture of muzzled correspondents. In theory that is true, but Mr. Ignatius reaches the wrong conclusion when he criticizes President Trump for calling journalists the “enemy of the people.” In the same issue, there is an article explaining why a well-deserved award was rescinded from Mike Pompeo due to pressure from a group called media partners. The award was for President Trump securing the release of 20 people from foreign captivity. CNN anchor and PBS host Christiane Amanpour were slated to speak. Other reporters and journalists were a part of this media partners group that threatened to disrupt and boycott the event if Pompeo got the award. That is not the definition of a free press seeking the truth. There was recently a syndicated newspaper cartoon showing rolled up newspapers as pillars for a structure called democracy. That would be true if these newspapers showed some individual content. The problem with our mainstream media is that they mainly speak with one voice. When all the rolled up newspapers and media voices are the same, the structure becomes totalitarian. Whenever a montage is made of the mainstream networks, they all use the same word or phrase on any particular day. Over the last few months, the following words were repeated by most media
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The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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LUCKY KOSHER TOURS PRESENTS
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I wonder if similar methods will be tried for Obama or Clinton. How long will it take to uncover enough crime to send them to jail for the rest of their lives? Michael Kohenov
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Dear Editor, I’ll be honest with you. I picked up The Jewish Home before Pesach but I didn’t get a chance to look at it until the second days of yom tov. My kids knew not to throw it out – they know I love reading what you write and the dating column and the recipes (of course!) and your feature stories. As usual, it was a great read – keep up the great work! Cheryl K.
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Dear Editor, Michelle Mond’s article in this week’s issue, “Turning Points,” was great! I clipped it out and put it on the outside of my Pesach boxes. This way, I can read it again next year before I turn over my kitchen for Pesach. Sincerely, Adina Levy
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Dear Editor, I never write into papers, but I read your dating column’s question over Pesach and I feel compelled to write in because I have seen a situation like this in my own life. A while ago, a friend of mine told me that she was dating a person whom I know. This person – let’s call him Avi – was good friends with my brother throughout all of high school. He would come over all the time to my house and would spend many Shabbos afternoons at our home. I am two years younger than my brother and Avi, and I saw how Avi acted during those years. He was immature, he was disrespectful, he was not a good influence on my brother. My parents,
though, didn’t stop the friendship because they only allowed them to hang out in our home and they felt that they could control the friendship when it was under their roof. I hear their logic and it turns out that my brother was not influenced by Avi all that much in the end. But when I heard that my friend was dating Avi I was shocked. She was such a great girl – head of chessed in high school, part of production, got good grades, came from a great family…. I just couldn’t wrap my head around her dating this clown. It turns out, though, that my friend had been dating Avi for a while before she told me that she was dating him. Maybe she didn’t want to hear my thoughts or maybe she didn’t know that I knew him. In any case, I didn’t think it would be right to flat-out tell her my impressions of Avi. Instead, I made it my business to talk to her more about her dating. I asked her questions about her dates and made her feel comfortable so she could talk to me about her relationship with Avi. I can’t say I was excited for her when they got engaged – I was more wary. But I met Avi at the vort and he seemed more settled, more mature, than I remembered him. Now, three years later, Avi and my friend are married and have one child with one on the way. My friend laughs when I tell her about my high school impressions about Avi and he laughs too. He acknowledges that he was a little bit of a “wild one” back in high school but then got on the right track. If I would have told my friend to stop dating him, she would have missed out on her perfect match. Moral of the story: don’t judge someone by who they were a few years ago. People grow up, they change, they improve. Give people a chance and keep the past in the past. A Reader
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home
The Week In News
Macron Cuts Taxes After Months of Protests
France’s President Emmanuel Macron recently announced sweeping tax cuts following months of “Yellow Vest” protests by French citizens upset over rising tax hikes. In addition to the tax cuts, Macron promised to decentralize the French government and keep financially-troubled schools and hospi-
tals from shutting their doors. The embattled leader also promised to review an unpopular tax cut for wealthy citizens but defended it as “a way to spur production.” “I want cuts for people who work by significantly reducing income taxes,” Macron told the nation during a two-hour news conference in Paris. Acknowledging the “profound sense of fiscal, social and provincial injustice” that spurred the ongoing protests, Macron defended his neo-liberal economic policies as something that “should not just be preserved but pursued and intensified.” “The transformations that are in progress and the transformations that are essential for our country should not be stopped,” he added. Later reports said that the government would make up for the lost income due to the tax cuts by eliminating tax loopholes for the wealthy and spurring people to work past the official retirement age. A former investment banker, Macron swept to victory in 2017 by promising to reform the French economy. His entitlement cuts and other unpopular measures, however, caused rising discontent among the populace which exploded into the
ongoing “Yellow Vest” protests after a price hike on fuel.
N. Korea Demanded $2M for Otto Warmbier’s “Care”
U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton recently admitted that the U.S. promised to pay North Korea for the medical expenses of Otto Warmbier but said that Washington never shelled out the $2 million the rogue state demanded. “It is very clear to me from my looking into it in the past few days that nobody was paid. That is clear,” Bolton confirmed on Fox News on Sunday. While visiting North Korea in
2016, Warmbier had been arrested by police for taking down a propaganda poster of despot Kim Jong-Un from his hotel. Warmbier was detained and tortured until he agreed to give a forced confession to his “crime.” Warmbier was then sentenced by a North Korean judge to 15 years of hard labor but was eventually released by Pyongyang in 2017 and flown to the U.S. Warmbier was returned to Ohio with a massive brain injury that had left him blind, deaf, and immobile. He died on June 19, 2017 at the age of 21. New reports say that North Korean officials demanded that the U.S. envoy who came to collect Warmbier pay $2 million to cover Warmbier’s medical expenses. The U.S. official promised to pay the bill, but it has not been confirmed that the United States paid the giant invoice. A senior official told The Washington Post that then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had ordered the U.S. envoy to pay the bill in order prevent ongoing negotiations between the two countries from imploding. The U.S. has been locked in tenuous negotiations with North Korea over the past two years in a bid
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home
to get Pyongyang to relinquish their nuclear weapons. The White House has refused to comment on the report that it had promised to pay North Korea in order to win Warmbier’s release. “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration,” said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. However, President Trump denied the reports, writing on Twitter that “no money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else.”
Dominating the ranking’s positive side were the Latin American nations. Topping the list was Paraguay as the world’s happiest nation, ahead of Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras. The report found that while “people in Latin America may not always rate their lives the best…they laugh, smile and experience enjoyment like no one else in the world.”
Grandmas Go to School in South Korea
Positivity in Paraguay
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A new analysis has found that people around the world are plagued by an ever-growing litany of negative emotions. According to Gallup’s Global State of Emotions report, people are growing sadder, angrier, and more fearful than in years past. The annual survey looks at the overall wellbeing of adults in over 140 countries around the world. The report found that Chad suffers from the highest negative experience in the world with an overall score of 54, substantially higher than the global average of 30. The African country has been suffering from a host of problems in recent years, including violence, starvation, and displacement. “The country’s overall score at least partly reflects the violence, displacement and the collapse of basic services in parts of Chad that have affected thousands of families,” wrote the report. Following Chad in the sadness department were Niger, Sierra Leone and Iraq, all of which are plagued by political instability and violence. The country with the lowest score on the index, which ranks overall physical pain, sadness, stress, and worry, was Taiwan at only 14.
As South Korea sees its birthrate declining in recent decades – with less than one child being born per woman last year – its schools are losing students as well. Who will fill those empty desks? Enter South Korea’s senior citizens. The hardest hit areas are rural counties, where babies have become an increasingly rare sight as young couples migrate en masse to big cities for better paying jobs. Some rural schools, like Daegu Elementary, are losing students fast. This year, the school is home to only 22 students – with one student in its fourth and fifth grade classes. Now, eight older women, ages 56 to 80, are stepping up to fill the void. They are currently enrolled in classes at the school and four more seniors are slated to join them next year. For younger people who want to stay in the area, the future of their town depended on keeping the school alive. After all, who would want to stay in town and start a family without a school nearby? Many of those older “students” enrolled in the schools are illiterate, never having received an education. Many families focused on educating their sons instead of their daughters years ago. Now, those seniors sit next to students decades younger than them and chant the 14 consonants and 10 vowels of the Korean alphabet as their teacher writes them one by one on the board.
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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Spain’s Extreme Right Gains in Elections
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Spain’s third elections in the past five years saw its Socialist party fail to win an outright majority while the far-right Vox party entered parliament for the first time in years. With current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE faction garnering only 29% of the vote, it will need to build a coalition with other factions in order to succeed in establishing a government. Speaking at a victory rally, Sánchez told supporters that “the future has won and the past has lost” and added that he would soon commence negotiations with other parties. Sanchez added that he would refuse to deal with any faction that supported Catalan independence, something he said would “break up” Spain. “The only condition is to respect the constitution, move toward social justice, coexistence, and political cleanliness,” Sánchez said. Meanwhile, the extreme-right party Vox made a strong showing by winning 10% of the vote, giving it 24 seats in the next government. The party ran on a strong populist platform, opposing multiculturalism, open borders, and “radical feminism.” Among the laws the party vows to repeal is one against gender violence, which the party calls “discriminant against one of the sexes.” Vox’s platform promised to replace it with a “family violence law that will afford the same protection to the elderly, men, women and children who suffer from abuse.” The 24 seats the party won means that Vox will enter the government for the first time since 1975. Many viewed the results as a failure for Vox, which was predicted to gain twice as many seats in the polls. Yet party leaders remained exuberant as the results rolled in. “We told you that we were going to begin a reconquering of Spain and that’s what we have done,” exulted leader Santiago Abasca.
Putin Offers Russian Passports to Ukrainians
Russian President Vladimir Putin caused a storm in Kiev after he announced that he intends to give Russian citizenship to Ukrainians living in areas controlled by Russian-backed rebels. Putin’s decree applies to only those residing in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk region, but he said later in the week that Russian citizenship would be available to all Ukrainians in the near future. The move comes amid a Russian effort to retake Ukraine that began when Moscow first annexed Crimea in 2014, launching a war that has caused the deaths of over 13,000 people. Speaking to journalists in Beijing during an official state visit on Saturday, Putin said that the offer is “not only to the people who live” in the aforementioned areas. “We are generally thinking to provide a simplified citizenship procedure to Ukrainian citizens,” he explained. The offer was swiftly rejected by Ukraine’s President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky, who said in a Facebook post that any Ukrainians taking Putin up on his offer would find themselves behind bars. “We know perfectly well what a Russian passport provides,” Zelensky said. “The right to be arrested for a peaceful protest” and “the right not to have free and competitive elections.” Zelensky, a Jewish former comedian who was elected president last week, added that he didn’t think that any of his countrymen would take Putin up on his offer. “Ukrainians are free people in a free country,” he asserted. Zelensky went on to offer citizenship to “all people who suffer from authoritarian and corrupt regimes” and in particular “to the Russian people who suffer most of all.” Putin’s offer of citizenship to Ukrainians was also slammed by the EU, which called it “another attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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Slaughter in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan government officials said that the death toll from the deadly Easter attacks in the country is lower than originally estimated as the nation continues to grapple with the aftermath of the horrific massacre. According to Anil Jasinghe, the director general of Sri Lanka’s health services, the death toll is substantially lower than the original figure of 359. “It could be 250 or 260. I can’t exactly say. There are so many body parts and it is difficult to give a precise figure,” she told Reuters. Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene put the
current figure of those who were killed at 253. The victims had been killed when multiple suicide bombers detonated themselves at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday, April 21. While the majority of the dead were Sri Lankans, at least 38 foreigners died in the blast as well, including British, Indian, and U.S. citizens. At least seven terrorists took part in the attack. Police said 87 bomb detonators were found at the city’s main bus station, while an explosive went off near a church where scores were killed on Sunday when bomb squad officials were trying to defuse it. ISIS took responsibility for the attacks and released a video showing the bombers. The terror group said in a statement that it had targeted “members of the U.S.-led coalition and Christians in Sri Lanka.” Sri Lanka responded to the attack by making thousands of arrests, shuttering mosques, and imposing a partial curfew across the country. President Maithripala Sirisena also announced that he was banning citizens from wearing full face coverings in public, including the Islamic niqab and burka.
A Putin-Kim Alliance?
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean despot Kum Jong-Un met in Vladivostok for two hours – twice as long as the 50 minutes originally allotted in the day’s schedule. The summit came two months after President Trump’s second meeting with Kim ended without agreement. It was Trump’s second meeting with the North Korean leader, aimed at reaching a deal which would see North Korea ending its nuclear weapons program in return for a lifting of sanctions. At his first meeting with Kim in June last year, Trump spoke of a “special bond” and suggested that there would be “major changes.” The failure of the second meeting signaled that an
alliance or an agreement between the U.S. and North Korea may be a distant dream. And so, enter Russia, which has always longed to reassert itself on the global stage. The meeting in Vladivostok, though, was not expected to produce a major breakthrough. Speaking at a news conference at the end of the summit, Putin pronounced himself “satisfied with the results of the talks.” Truthfully, the meeting was more symbolic than substantial – highlighting Russia’s status on the world stage as a major player. After their talks, Putin and Kim toasted each other at a reception. For now, Russia is committed to being part of the international sanctions regime which the United Nations have imposed on North Korea, so there was little prospect of any announcement of concrete measures to help the North Korean economy. In his news conference, Putin said that North Korea “needs guarantees of its security, preserving its sovereignty.” TASS also quoted the Russian president as saying that Moscow’s and Washington’s interests coincide “in some aspects” in that Russia supports de-nuclearization on the Korean peninsula.
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Kaliver Rebbe, zy”a, Passes Away
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Taub, the Rebbe of the Kaliver chassidim, passed away on Sunday in Jerusalem at the age of 96. The elderly Rebbe’s health had deteriorated ever since he tripped earlier this month at his home, leading to his passing. His funeral in Jerusalem was
attended by an estimated 10,000 Jews from all across the religious spectrum. A survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, the Rebbe was a prominent Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to commemorating the atrocity among the ultra-Orthodox public. The Rebbe was known for reciting Shema at all of his public appearances in memory of those who perished and encouraged leading Holocaust study centers such as the Yad Vashem museum to highlight the European charedi communities which were destroyed by the Nazis. The Kaliver Rebbe told the Israeli Makor Rishon newspaper in a 2001 interview that he had “bargained with G-d” and vowed to make it his life’s work to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust if he was spared its horrors. “I saw people being put into the fire,” he recalled. “One of them screamed out before he was killed: ‘If one of you survives, don’t forget to say Kaddish for me.’ Then, when the terrible Holocaust happened, I started to think about perpetuating the memory of the holy victims. Who will say Kaddish? Who will tell the story? Who will say Shema Yisrael?” In recent years, the Rebbe had
worked to prepare an encyclopedia on the Holocaust that was meant for the religious public, as well as for the establishment of a museum for the Holocaust that will be a complementary museum to Yad Vashem. The Rebbe was born in Transylvania in 1923 and grew up in the Kaliver chassidim community. After the Nazis conquered Hungary in 1944, the Rebbe and his six brothers and sisters were sent to Auschwitz, where all his brothers perished. While the Rebbe survived, he suffered cruel medical experiments at the hands of the infamous Joseph Mengele which prevented him from growing a beard. Following the Holocaust, he moved to Sweden and was reunited with his wife Shifra. He then moved to the United States before immigrating to Israel in 1963, where he established the Kaliver community in Rishon Letzion. In 2011, the Rebbe was widowed and he remarried five years later at the age of 89.
Israel to Name Golan Heights Town after Trump
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged last week to build a new town in the Golan Heights that would be named after President Trump in honor of the United States president’s decision earlier this year to recognize Israel’s presence on the strategic plateau.
Rivki Rosenwald’s new way of counting Page 102
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Netanyahu made the announcement while touring the Golan region over Passover together with his wife and two children. “I am here with my family and the masses of citizens of Israel at the foot of the Golan Heights, enjoying the happiness of the [Passover] holiday and our beautiful country,” Netanyahu said. “A few weeks ago, I brought the official recognition by President Trump, who recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights forever,” continued Netanyahu. “To express our appreciation, I will name a town or a village in the Golan Heights after Donald Trump. I will bring the proposal before the cabinet for a vote soon.” Trump had recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan in a tweet in March, breaking decades of U.S. policy that viewed the region as occupied territory since the Jewish State captured it from Syria in 1967. “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Flanked by Netanyahu a few days later in the White House, Trump signed an official Executive Order recognizing Israel’s hold on the Golan, something he said “should have taken place many decades ago.” “Israel is an inspiration, a trusted ally, and a cherished friend. The United States will always stand by its side,” Trump said. The move follows a decision by the president last May to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to transfer the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood.
Henkin Children Say Iran and Syria Caused Parents’ Death The children of Eitam and Naama Henkin, Hy”d, have filed a massive lawsuit in a U.S. court against Iran and Syria for the role they say the rogue states played in the attack in which their parents were killed. The Henkins were murdered in a grisly shooting near their hometown of Itamar in western Samaria
back in October 2015. The $360 million lawsuit was filed last week in a Washington court and charges that Syria and Iran are responsible for the Henkins’ wrongful death because they financed and trained the terrorists responsible.
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“If these despotic regimes think they can get away with murdering American citizens, then they are wrong,” said Jonathan Missner, the lead attorney on the case. “This lawsuit sends a clear warning that those who finance, support, and encourage terrorism must be held accountable and forced to answer for their actions. “What happened to the Henkin family was a despicable act of murder aided and supported by the governments of Syria, Iran and related entities,” he added. Eitam and Naama were killed when three terrorists sprayed their vehicle with machine gun fire during an ambush they had prepared on a dark stretch of highway. Eitam was killed immediately while his wife Naama was executed at point blank range. The four children in the backseat of the car were spared after the terrorists’ weapons suddenly jammed, causing them to flee the scene. The terrorists, who were captured shortly after by IDF special forces, were given life sentences in 2016. They had belonged to the Hamas terror group, which is financed and armed by Iran. The lawsuit noted that Iran channels its funds to Hamas through a web of Syrian entities, including Bank Markazi, Bank Melli and Bank Saderat, and demanded compensatory and punitive damages under the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. “But for the support provided by Iran and Syria, Hamas would not have been able to develop into the cohesive, organized, and deadly organization that it is today,” read the filing.
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DR. RICHARD M. JOEL
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MRS. SMADAR ROSENSWEIG
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between the two sides. On Friday, Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar reported that UNIFIL is stepping up its patrols on the Israeli border in an attempt to prevent Hezbollah from deploying in the region. The report quoted a senior anonymous source who said that UNIFIL had instructed peacekeepers “to add new routes to their patrols and to enter areas they had not previously entered south of the Litani river under the pretext of full implementation of the Resolution 170.”
According to the IDF, the aforementioned tunnel originated in the Lebanese border town of Ramyeh and penetrated more than 50 feet into Israeli territory. Reaching a depth of 180 feet underground, the tunnel was one of at least ten others dug by Hezbollah over the last decade in what was intended to be used to launch raids into Israel during the next round of fighting. Hezbollah’s vast attack tunnel complex was exposed and neutralized in a major IDF operation that began in December. In an intelligence effort spanning over five years, the IDF and other Israeli security organizations mapped out the terror group’s underground infrastructure and destroyed it within two weeks.
Eclipse
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
STEARNS & FOSTER
UN Says Hezbollah Tunnel Crossed into Israel A UN peacekeeping force has confirmed Israel’s claims that a Hez-
bollah tunnel it destroyed in early January crossed into Israeli territory, violating UN Resolution 1701. The United Nations International Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that the said tunnel snaked under the border into a northern Israel town of Israel. “UNIFIL’s independent assessment confirms that this tunnel cross-
es the Blue Line in violation of Resolution 1701,” said the organization. “UNIFIL has informed the Lebanese authorities about the violation and has requested urgent follow-up actions,” added UNIFIL. Resolution 1701 ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah and established UNIFIL in order to prevent future clashes
Did the Mossad Try to Get Eli Cohen’s Body? A new report suggests that the Mossad tried to spirit out the body of legendary spy Eli Cohen from Syria into Israel in a daring operation that was foiled by Syrian intelligence. Amid a recent spate of rumors alleging that Russia was working to return Cohen’s remains to Israel, Channel 12 played a recording in which Cohen’s brother, Morris, can be heard describing the various ef-
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forts by the Mossad to get its hands on the spy’s body. According to Morris, the reason that so few Syrians know where Cohen is buried is because the Mossad almost succeeded in kidnapping his brother’s body in a failed operation four decades ago in southern Lebanon.
“I’m almost sure that they keep it so secret in Syria, that so few know where he is, because there was an attempt to kidnap the body,” Cohen said. “It was taken to the Lebanon-Syria border. “There is one version that the previous president Amin al-Hafiz put (his body) in a camp surrounded by a battalion of tanks to protect it,” continued Cohen. “Afterwards President Assad, the late father, they say he dug a huge pit and put a gas bomb inside and then covered it in concrete. “Others say that hotheads burned the body, but I doubt that version is correct because it was such an important political bargaining chip.” Cohen’s daughter, Sophie, rejected the recent report and said that she was unaware of any Israeli attempt to seize Cohen’s remains. The legendary spy had managed to rise to the top of Syrian society and was even spoken of as a potential defense minister before he was unmasked as an Israeli agent. He was hanged in Damascus in 1965, and his body has been kept in Syria ever since. Morris Cohen’s allegations come as reports on Syrian opposition websites say that Russia is preparing to retrieve Cohen’s remains and transfer it to Israel. According to the unverified rumors, a Russian delegation left Syrian territory with an Israeli coffin containing Cohen’s body which will be given to the Jewish State in the near future. The rumors were denied by both Israel and Russia, with the latter calling on the Israeli media “to show a more accurate, professional and honest approach to coverage of such sensitive issues.”
Palestinian Terrorist Gets U.S. Citizenship
Vallmoe Shqaire, a Palestinian terrorist convicted for trying to bomb an Israeli bus, managed to obtain U.S. citizenship in what is seen as a major snafu by U.S. immigration authorities. An extensive CNN report published last week details how Shqaire repeatedly fooled U.S. immigration authorities about his terror ties until he was finally charged in September for failing to mention his criminal record. “By concealing his violent, terrorist conduct, the defendant circumvented the procedures our immigration system depends upon,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. Shqaire, 51, had been a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) when he and an accomplice attempted to bomb an Israeli bus in 1988. Despite the bomb going off near the bus, no one was killed. Shqaire was arrested in 1991 and was given a ten-year prison sentence by an IDF military court. Shqaire only served four years of his sentence before he was freed as part of the Oslo Accords. Following his release, he was granted a visitor’s visa to the U.S. in 1999 and married a U.S. citizen, which enabled him to receive a green card. Despite divorcing his wife in 2002, Shqaire was allowed to stay in the United States and was later granted permanent residency. In 2008, the jihadi received U.S. citizenship despite failing to disclose his criminal background, a felony according to U.S. law. Shqaire aroused the attention of the Joint Terrorism Task Force two years later for frequent money transfers he sent to Ramallah and was deemed a “per-
son of interest.” During his interrogation, Shqaire admitted that he had spent time in Israeli prisons but said that his incarceration was a result of violent demonstrations. “He stated that he was young and stupid at the time but was influenced by seeing innocent Palestinian men, women, and children injured or killed by Israelis,” read a court filing in his recent deportation trial. “Shqaire claimed he would have never participated in events if he knew the consequences.” While Shqaire was never indicted for terror activities, he was sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term for his involvement in a credit card scam. His repeated brushes with the law caused federal authorities to dig deeper into his past and unearth his nefarious activities in Israel. However, Shqaire was allowed to stay in the United States for almost ten years while his citizenship request was being vetted. His extended sojourn in the U.S. was left uninterrupted despite the government concluding that he had spent time in an Israeli prison for terrorist activities. In January, Shqaire pleaded guilty to immigration fraud and now faces the possibility of being stripped of his citizenship and subsequent deportation. He is currently awaiting sentencing and is out on bail in Los Angeles. However, the fact that a former terrorist managed to successfully fool U.S. immigration authorities and avoid deportation alarmed observers, who call for significant changes to be implemented in the wake of the affair. “Somebody dropped the ball,” Seamus Hughes told CNN. The deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, Hughes noted that extensive vetting procedures installed after 9/11 to prevent terrorists from reaching the U.S. had proved inadequate and need to be examined.
Israel Releases Two Syrian Prisoners Israel surprisingly released two Syrian prisoners on Sunday in what it says is a goodwill gesture for the release of the body of Zachary Baumel last month. Sgt. Zachary Baumel had been
missing ever since he was killed during a tank battle in Lebanon 38 years ago. His remains were uncovered by the Syrian and Russian militaries in April and returned to Israel. According to the IDF, Zidan Tawil and Khamis Ahmad were handed over to the Red Cross on Sunday and transferred to Syria via the Kuneitra crossing in the Golan Heights.
Tawil had been imprisoned for drug smuggling in 2008 and was slated to be released within the next year. Ahmad, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, was doing time for planning to infiltrate and attack an IDF base. He was supposed to be released in 2023. An Israeli source claimed that Israel has decided to release two prisoners as “a gesture of good will” and that their release was not a condition for Baumel’s return. A Syrian government official told Reuters that the release of the prisoners came after Russian mediation, and that Damascus pressed Moscow to secure their release after the Israeli MIA landed in Israel. Meanwhile, Syrian media reports say that Israel is expected to release more Syrian prisoners in the near future. Unlike previous prisoner releases, the Israeli cabinet did not vote or debate the move. Instead, President Reuven Rivlin pardoned the pair, leading to accusations that Prime Minister Netanyahu had bypassed the normal decision-making process for such matters. The Ministry of Justice pushed back against allegations that the prisoner release was improper, saying in a statement that the move was given the go-ahead by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. “In light of the various facts and circumstances of the case, as presented to the Attorney General, it was determined that in the circumstances of the case there is no legal impediment to working for release in this manner,” the ministry said.
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Tragedy in Poway
On the last day of yom tov, the tranquil chanting of the Torah reading was cut short when a terrorist entered the Chabad shul in Poway near San Diego, California, and opened fire. Rabbi Yisrael Goldstein said that he left the main part of the shul to prepare for the haftorah when the gunman began shooting. “Here is a young man with a rifle, pointing right at me,” Rabbi Goldstein recounted. “And I look at him. He has sunglasses on. I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t see his soul. I froze.” Lori Gilbert-Kaye, 60, attempted to shield the rabbi with her body
during the attack. She was killed al kiddush Hashem. Three others were injured in the attack, including Rabbi Goldstein, who lost a few fingers. Eight-year-old Israeli girl Noya Dahan and her uncle, Almog Peretz, both suffered leg wounds in the attack but were released from the hospital. They had moved to California from Israel to escape Hamas rockets targeting their homes. “For those of us who know Lori, she is a person of unconditional love,” Rabbi Goldstein said. “I have known her for close to 25 years and she was a pioneer member of our congregation. She used to work for Wells Fargo ... and she helped secure us the loan for [the synagogue]. She was the one who always went out of her way for those in need.” The shooting only ended after Jonathan Morales, an armed off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent, and U.S. Army veteran Oscar Stewart screamed at the 19-year-old gunman John Earnest to put his gun down. They fired upon him and he fled. Stewart caught up with the gunman in his car and banged on his window before the terrorist drove away. The murderer eventually surrendered to police.
A white nationalist who hated President Trump for being too friendly to Jews, Earnest faces one count of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree attempted murder. Rabbi Goldstein had asked Morales to come to shul armed “just in case” something nefarious occurred in the Chabad house. “Morales recently discovered his Jewish roots. He would travel three and a half hours from [the California town of] El Centro to pray with us at our shul,” Rabbi Goldstein said. “He felt this was his house of worship. And many times I said, ‘Jonathan, you work for the border patrol. Please arm yourself when you are here; we never know when we will need it.’” Hannah Kaye, who spoke at her mother’s levaya this week, said that Lori was known for her chessed. She would drive hours to visit a sick friend. She bought six months’ worth of medication for someone without insurance. She left freshly baked challah in mailboxes and on doorsteps all over town and would buy extra bagels and coffee during her morning routine to be able to give them away. “Her light has reached all crevices of this planet,” 22-year-old Hannah said about her mother. “Everyone was her sister, everyone was her trusted confidante,” Hannah added. “Everyone was her friend.” “She had a soul that was greater than any of us ever could believe,” said her husband, Dr. Howard Kaye, at the levaya. He urged people to learn more about Judaism and to help others. Dr. Kaye performed CPR on his wife after she was shot. He did not know it was his wife he was attempting to save when he ran to help.
Jewish Founder of H&R Block Passes Away
ant H&R Block, passed away last week in Kansas City. He was 96. Born to a middle-class Jewish family in Kansas City, Bloch later joined the Army Air Corps and flew dozens of missions over Germany during World War II. Following his discharge, Bloch studied at Harvard Business School and opened up a small-time bookkeeping business. The business proved popular, and Bloch soon branched out into tax preparation services. A decision soon after by the IRS to scrap its free tax-prep service caused Bloch to be swamped with customers, and he decided to go into the field full-time. In 1955, Henry and his brother Richard founded H&R Block. The decision to call it “Block” and not their original surname stemmed from a desire to make the company more American. Business exploded; within seven years H&R Block went public and today more than 12,000 branches dot the United States. Bloch would become the face of the company. Appearing before shareholders and in advertisements for the company, Bloch became known to the public as the person who popularized the slogan “Don’t face the laws alone.” Following his passing, H&R Block’s current CEO Jeff Jacobs invoked Bloch’s “honesty and integrity” in a statement eulogizing the company’s founder. “Henry embodied the best of American business, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. His vision lives on through H&R Block associates and the many philanthropic organizations that he supported,” he said. Bloch was also renowned for his charitable giving to Jewish causes. Through the foundation he founded with his wife, the business mogul supported a wide array of Jewish institutions, including the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Family Services, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.
Search Warrants for Baltimore Mayor
Henry Bloch, a known Jewish philanthropist who co-founded tax gi-
On Thursday, federal authorities executed search warrants against the home and several locations tied to Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who is embroiled in a scandal over whether she improperly profited from a book deal with a Maryland
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medical system while she served on its board.
The FBI and criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service executed court-authorized search warrants at the home of the Democratic mayor, a second residence she owns, city hall, a non-profit the mayor has worked with, and the downtown office of her attorney. The home of Gary Brown, a former Pugh aide, was also searched. As of now the FBI has made no arrests, although Pugh has taken a leave of absence from being mayor. While Pugh was a board member of the University of Maryland Medical System, the group spent $500,000 to fund the purchase of some 100,000 children’s books Pugh authored. Pugh apologized in March for having “done something to upset the
people.” Baltimore’s city council has called for Pugh to resign, and Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who earlier this month asked the Office of the State Prosecutor to investigate the scandal, echoed those calls shortly after the raids Thursday morning. Pugh recently returned $100,000 to the medical system and canceled her book deal. She has also resigned from the hospital’s board. Pugh also received about $114,000 from Kaiser Permanente for some 20,000 books from 2015 to 2018, according to the health care provider. Kaiser Permanente said it delivered the books to backto-school fairs, elementary schools, communities of faith and early childhood education and care centers. Additionally, Associated Black Charities, a public foundation that works to encourage healthier and more prosperous communities, said it spent approximately $80,000 between 2011 and 2016 to buy some 10,000 copies of Pugh’s books – a project the organization learned about while she was still a state senator.
made America, America – is at stake. That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.” Trump responded to Biden’s announcement by calling the former vice president as “Sleepy Joe” and questioned his intelligence. “I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign,” Trump tweeted. “It will be nasty – you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!” The 2020 race will be the third time the former vice president and U.S. senator from Delaware tries to become the nation’s highest elected official, as he previously ran in 2008 and 1988. The 76-year old Biden has emerged as a strong favorite in the 20-candidate pack of candidates and has already earned the endorsements of Democratic Senators Chris Coons of Delaware, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Doug Jones of Alabama. The $6.9 million Biden raised during his first day as a candidate is also more than any other candidate as the veteran politico looks to battle Trump in the white working-class states of Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Joe Jumps In
Former Vice President Joe Biden officially threw his hat into the presidential ring last Thursday, the latest in a crowded field vying to be the Democratic Party’s 2020 contender to take on Donald Trump. Biden announced his candidacy in a video he shared on social media. Calling the 2020 race “a battle for the soul of the country,” Biden detailed a long list of incidents, including Trump’s response to white supremacist violence in Charlottesville in 2017, to allege that he was unfit to stay in the White House. “In that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had seen in our lifetime,” Biden said. “The core values of this nation – our standing in the world, our very democracy, everything that has
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The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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Judge Indicted for Helping Illegal Immigrant Escape
BETH SHOLOM
SHABBAT CHAZZANUT A Massachusetts state judge has been indicted for her role in helping an illegal immigrant escape custody and avoid deportation. Judge Shelley M. Joseph and a court officer named Wesley MacGregot were both indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this week on charges of obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting; obstruction of a federal proceeding, aiding and abetting; and conspiracy to obstruct justice. MacGregor also faces perjury charges. The two landed in hot water after they helped Jose Medina-Peret escape an ICE manhunt in April 2018 by letting him out of the back door of the courthouse. ICE was after Perez for being in the U.S. illegally and for escaping a drunken driving rap. When Perez showed up at Judge Joseph’s courtroom, ICE had already issued a warrant to detain him and hand him over to authorities. Yet Joseph and MacGregor decided to spirit him out of the building after hearing that authorities would likely deport him should he be taken into custody. While the judge played for time by recusing herself to her chambers, MacGregor escorted him out of the building using his special ID that gave him free access to the building. “With the recorder off, defendant Joseph and the Defense Attorney discussed devising a way to have A.S. [Medina-Perez] avoid being arrested by the ICE officer,” wrote the indictment. Prosecutors said that the indictment of the two sends an important message regarding the primacy of the rule of law. “This case is about the rule of law. The allegations in today’s indictment involve obstruction by a sitting judge, that is intentional interference with the enforcement of
In memory of Alice Barbanel (A”H) On Her Fifth Yahrtzeit
SHABBAT ACHAREI MOT MAY 3rd & 4th Featuring
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The Chazzanim and choir will lead davening at the mincha minyan on Friday evening and in the Main Sanctuary on Shabbat morning. CONGREGATION BETH SHOLOM 390 Broadway, Lawrence, NY 11559 516-569-3600 • www.bethsholomlawrence.org office@bethsholomlawrence.org federal law, and that is a crime,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling said.
Terror Plot Foiled A 26-year-old Muslim former U.S. Army soldier who served in Afghanistan has been charged with plotting terror attacks in the Los Angeles area, the Justice Department said on Monday. Mark Steven Domingo alleged-
ly sought to detonate improvised explosive devices containing nails this past weekend at a rally in Long Beach that was organized by a white nationalist group. He was arrested on Friday night after he took possession of what he thought were pressure cooker bombs, U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna announced at a press conference. “Law enforcement was able to identify a man consumed with hate, and bent on mass murder and stop him before he was able to carry out
his attack,” Hanna said. Domingo allegedly wanted to “seek retribution for attacks against Muslims” and also considered attacks on Jewish people, churches and law enforcement. He is accused of targeting “Jews as they walked to synagogue, police officers, a military facility, and crowds at the Santa Monica Pier.” On March 2, DOJ says Domingo posted a video online professing his Muslim faith and wrote, “America needs another Vegas event,” refer-
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home
ring to the mass shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017 in which more than 50 people died. Following a mass shooting attack on a mosque in New Zealand in March that killed dozens of people, Domingo posted, “there mustbe (sic) retribution.” Domingo is a recent convert to Islam. He wanted to give “them a taste of the terror they gladly spread all over the world,” according to the Justice Department. Domingo asked an FBI informant to find someone to construct an IED, according to the Justice Department. He met with the informant and came armed with an AK47 style rifle.
Senator Richard Lugar Dies
Former U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar, the longest serving senator in the history of Indiana, passed away on Sunday at the age of 87. The Lugar Center announced that the veteran politico had died after losing a battle with chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, a rare illness that causes infections in the body’s nerve tissue. “This was a short illness. He was in generally good health until this month,” said Lugar Center spokesman Dan Dillon. A former mayor of Indianapolis, Lugar was first elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 1976. He went to become a foreign policy expert who made fighting nuclear proliferation his defining issue during the 36 years he spent in the Senate. Among other things, Lugar launched a program that located and destroyed Russian nuclear missiles and fissile material that was floating around the region following the collapse of the Soviet Union. During his unsuccessful presidential run in 1996, he warned that the lax oversight of Russia’s nuclear stockpile would lead dangerous weapons to fall into the wrong hands.
“Every stockpile represents a theft opportunity for terrorists and a temptation for security personnel who might seek to profit by selling weapons on the black market,” Lugar warned. “We do not want the question posed the day after an attack on an American military base.” Serving for decades on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including as its chairman for two terms, Lugar was an influential voice on foreign policy even after he was ousted from office in 2002. In 2014, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Vice President Mike Pence, a resident of Lugar’s home state of Indiana, eulogized him as a fighter for freedom who led the battle against the South African apartheid regime. “Lugar was a leader not only in the Senate but also on the world stage, where he worked tirelessly to bring pressure to end apartheid in South Africa and enforce treaties that destroyed Soviet weapons of mass destruction,” noted the vice president.
Four Dead in Seattle Fallen Crane Disaster
Four people were killed in Seattle after a crane suddenly collapsed in the South Lake Union district on Sunday. Two of the fatalities were employees who were in the crane at the time of the collapse while the other two were crushed in their cars. Another two people were injured and evacuated to a nearby hospital. The crane was being used to build a building on a new Google campus along with an apartment building. Both buildings were severely damaged in the incident. Following the collapse, the State of Washington said that it would open an investigation into four companies it said had a role in the disaster, including general contractor GLY, Northwest Tower Crane Ser-
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
Save the Date SHULAMITH ONE VISION. ONE HEART. ONE SCHOOL.
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vice Inc., Omega Rigging and Machinery Moving Inc., and Morrow Equipment Co. LLC. “We are closely monitoring the situation in South Lake Union. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the four people who died in this terrible accident,” tweeted Governor Jay Inslee. Google, meanwhile, said in a statement that it was “saddened to learn of today’s accident at South Lake Union. “We share our deepest condolences with those who’ve been affected and thank all the first responders who quickly sprang into action. We are in communication with Vulcan, who is managing the site, and working with the local authorities on the ground.”
Meet the Army’s New War Attack Plan
The U.S. Army and Air Force have announced that they are rolling out a new air-ground combat attack doctrine that will dramatically upgrade its ability to wage ware in the future. Titled “Multi-Domain Operations,” the plan has been tested in multiple wargames and has been adopted by the top brass. It aims to improve coordination and hopes that its strategic partnership will strengthen warfare networks, perform long-range sensing of targets, hit targets more accurately, and beef up defenses across numerous theaters. Behind the new strategy is the paradigm shift among strategic planners in the Pentagon that the military needs to substantially revamp its doctrines to meet emerging threats. Currently, the U.S.-Air Force strategy is based on defeating large foreign militaries such as China. Developed during the Cold War, the strategy known as “AirLand” called for the air force to fly a supporting role for ground troops such
as tanks and infantry that would race to conquer enemy territory and destroy opposing forces. The strategy was mainly built to counter the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc militaries and was used with astonishing success in 1991’s Gulf War. However, future wars are expected to be fought against more asymmetrical and amorphous forces such as terror groups, mandating the air force and army to be more flexible and coordinate to effectively destroy multiple types of targets at once. In addition, highly deadly weapons such as drones and missiles that were once owned only by opposing militaries are now freely available to militias and other small forces, forcing the air force to shift its targeting strategy to counter them. “In Ukraine, we saw the pairing of drones with artillery to use drones as spotters. Their organizational structure and tactics were a wakeup call for us to start looking at that in a more serious way,” said General John M. Murray, who commands the Army Futures Command. The new strategic doctrine also envisions a cloud-based network among a diverse array of forces that would allow troops to build a mini social network to coordinate to maximize their firepower. For example, infantry soldiers under missile attack would be able to mark their position on a screen for the air force to destroy, an action that is currently time-consuming and difficult. “It’s all about coordination,” said retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula. A central figure in the Multi-Domain Operations doctrine, Deptula said that making information more available between forces will make the military more deadly. “The ‘combat cloud’ inverts the paradigm of combined arms warfare – making information the focal point, not operational domain,” wrote Deptula in a recent paper. “This concept represents an evolution where individually networked platforms – in any domain – transform into a ‘system of systems’ enterprise. “If an F-35 detects an enemy missile launch before an Aegis cruiser, the F-35 could engage and launch the interceptor missile that comes off of that Aegis cruiser,” Deptula added in an interview with the blog Warrior Maven. “We can’t do this yet today, but this is where we need to be doing collective thinking about this vision as a common vision.”
the park would be open when he landed. Thanks to private donors, it was. Meyer’s trip sounds like the longest chol hamoed trip ever.
Journey to All U.S. National Parks
There are 419 national parks in the United States. You probably didn’t know that and you most certainly have never been to all of them. (Have you even been to any of them?!) But Mikah Meyer has. He has spent the past three years enjoying nature around the country as he hiked, rafted, flew, sailed and drove to all 419 National Park Service sites in the U.S. He says he is the first person to visit all the parks in one continuous – albeit very long – road trip. His journey ended on Monday morning when he visited the Lincoln Memorial, his final site. “I really got to know the American story,” said Meyer, 33. “More than just natural wonders, the Park Service sites tell our American story.” Throughout his trip, Meyer garnered hundreds of fans who followed his many steps on Facebook and social media. Meyer’s supporters gathered near the Washington Monument (the first site he visited on his trip) then walked the length of the Mall (the 99th site) to reach the Lincoln Memorial (the 419th) on Monday. Meyer needed money to fund his journey and corporate sponsors and donations helped. But Meyer also would deliver sermons in churches – more than 100 in all – across the country along the way. The lectures helped him make extra money to pursue his dream. It took Meyer 75,000 miles to visit all the national parks. One park in particular – the War in the Pacific National Historical Park – was the farthest. It is located in Guam and Meyer’s visit there was threatened by the government shutdown back in January. He had booked the $2,000 flight to the remote island 10 months before. By the time he took off from Chicago for South Korea, he was not sure
Not for Kids
Kids at this eatery won’t be getting a happy meal. The management at a restaurant in the United Kingdom has posted strict rules when it comes to eating with children at the Mediterranean Restaurant. Children, it seems, need to eat like adults – or will be asked to leave. “Children must be seated at all time[s], not left to run around the restaurant,” the letter states, as the restaurant can be a “very dangerous place” with the staff carrying hot plates. “We will not be held responsible for your children if they are hurt in the restaurant because they are not being looked after,” it continued. “Children are the sole responsibility of their guardian whilst in our restaurant.” Children need to be accompanied by adults when they go to the bathroom and children under eight years old are served their meals on melamine plates and bowls – the porcelain plates generally used are too “hot.” Lest you feel that children are being treated unfairly, the restaurant reiterates that it “loves children in the restaurant,” but kids who are “crying or screaming” can create a tense, stressful atmosphere for other diners. “Customers do not come to listen to screaming children, we ask in the most politest [sic] way possible, please if your child is crying/screaming please take them out of the restaurant until they’ve calmed down,” the memo goes on. “I really do not want to upset anyone, but we have had complaints in the past. You have to understand people do not come out to listen to crying/screaming children.” Kids not calming down? Well, no food for you. “Unfortunately, if a child cannot be stopped from disturbing other diners we will unfortunately have to ask you to leave the restaurant, which we would really hate to do,” the notice finishes. “I know it would offend and
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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we’d hate that too!” In other words, children here should be seen but not heard. This is not the first time that children have been singled out at eateries. In May, a Nepalese restaurant in the U.K. left a bad taste in one family’s mouth after handing out a card informing parents to keep their children quiet while dining. Days later, a restaurant in California faced similar backlash for defending their policy of banning strollers, high chairs and booster chairs from the eatery, as well as barring “crying” and “loud” children from the dining room. I guess we’ll be having Junior’s fifth birthday party somewhere else.
Foot Found Dion Callaway lost two feet skydiving. Actually, he hurt one leg two years ago in a skydiving accident and had to have it amputated, and this week he lost his prosthetic leg while skydiving once again. Thankfully, his fake foot was found just a few days later. Callaway shattered his heel two
years ago after he landed on the ground at high speed while skydiving. He went through a year of physical therapy before opting to amputate his leg below the knee. Since then, he’s been fitted with a $15,000 prosthetic limb. But things didn’t go as they smoothly as usual on Sunday.
“I’ve jumped with the prosthetic before, but a rush of air got inside this time and it just flew off,” Callaway said. “I tried to watch where it was falling, but I was so overwhelmed in that moment I could not keep track.” Thankfully, Micah Smith, who is the production manager at a nearby lumberyard, spotted the fake foot in the lumberyard. He first mistook the foot for a soda can but then saw what was attached to it. בס״ד
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“Oh, that’s not a soda can, that’s a leg,” Smith said. “It was a nice looking Nike [shoe].” He brought the leg to the sheriff’s office and they set out to find the owner of the missing limb, even posting a “classified” ad on social media: “Missing a leg?” That sure got people running. Eventually, Callaway was reunited with his lost leg and noted that it was “in perfect shape – survived 10,000 feet.” He says he’ll keep skydiving but will keep his fake foot on a tether so it won’t happen again. “Skydiving is my everything and the people I do it with are my family,” Callaway said. “I always seem to come back to it.” Sounds like he jumps into this sport with both feet.
Cop Car Service?
One police officer went above and beyond when he drove a civilian to a job interview. And that’s not all. In fact, the person he drove to the interview should have been ticketed for driving without a license. Instead, he got a personal ride from the officer – and a new job. On April 17, Officer Roger Gemoules pulled over Ka’Shawn Baldwin after noticing that there was an issue with his car. It turns out that the vehicle had expired plates and Baldwin had an expired license as well. Baldwin told Gemoules that he drove the car because he needed to get to FedEx for a job interview and had no other way of getting there. When Gemoules heard Baldwin’s story, he volunteered to drive Baldwin to the interview so he could get to the interview safely and on time. “It meant everything to me. It brought my spirits up; it kind of made me happy,” Baldwin said of the officer’s generosity. “I was shocked that he actually gave me a ride to the interview. Normally, cops are like [asking] where I’m from, they don’t really do stuff like that,” he added. Baldwin eventually got the job – and now will be working at FedEx in addition to his position at McDon-
ald’s. “Job well done, Officer Gemoules, and congrats to the young man for getting the job!” the police department tweeted.
Vacation Lies
Went somewhere exotic for Pesach? We don’t believe you. Turns out that a whopping 14 percent of Americans have lied about their vacations. Travelers have been embarrassed or have wanted to seem better traveled and so have made up fibs about trips they’ve been on. Even more than that, two-thirds of the over 4,000 Americans surveyed by Jet Cost have also lied about their experiences, with the weather, quality of accommodation and amount of sightseeing done the most common untruths. The study also found that 27 percent of respondents have traveled internationally, with 61 percent admitting they exaggerated the truth about their vacation. Weather conditions top the list at 34 percent, quality of accommodations was second at 29 percent, and the amount of sightseeing was third at 27 percent. “With the modern pressures of social media,” a Jet Cost spokesman noted, “people feel as if they have to prove themselves to others, which is a shame – but life isn’t a competition and just because someone says they’ve done something, doesn’t mean you’re less of a person for not having done it.” Travelers from the U.S. also lied about the amount of alcohol consumed (23 percent) and how much money they spent (21 percent). Another 68 percent said they told someone they enjoyed their vacation more than they did and 52 percent revealed they wouldn’t tell anyone if their trip was a disaster. In the most surprising finding, 10 percent of respondents admitted to posting a fake picture on social media to reinforce the lies. I’m thinking of Bermuda for Shavuos. Better yet, let’s stay home and just say we did.
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
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Around the
Community Model Beis Din Attracts Yeshiva Students from Around the Country
S
tudents from numerous yeshiva high schools recently competed in the recent annual Model Beis Din competition hosted by Touro’s Lander College for Men. This one-of-a kind tournament offers Orthodox high school students a chance to match wits and wisdom on complex halachic dilemmas. Students traveled from near and far to participate. Many arrived on Friday for a Shabbaton, where they had a chance to get to know each other, meet Lander students and experience Shabbat on a college campus. The schools included Mesivta of Philadelphia, Ohr Yisroel in Boston, Da-
vis Renov Stahler High School (DRS) and Rambam Mesivta in the Five Towns, Cooper Yeshiva in Memphis, The Ezra Academy in Queens, and JEC High School in Elizabeth. This year, the case centered on the plight of a widow whose husband was killed in the Yom Kippur War. Because the soldier had no children, his wife would not be allowed to remarry without chalitza. The soldier’s only brother adamantly refused to cooperate. His refusal was rooted in his extreme hatred toward his sister-in-law whom he blamed for his brother’s death. The students were tasked with assessing
what the widow’s options were from a Jewish law perspective. This highly complex and heart-rending case was brought before the highest religious court of Israel. Teams paired off to debate one another and later made their case to Lander’s rabbinic faculty members who challenged their arguments and encouraged additional thinking. At the end of the day, Mesivta of Philadelphia won the competition. The team had spent five months preparing for the competition. Yosef Niknan, a tenth grader on the team, said, “This has been a great opportunity to take my Torah
learning to the next level.” Ohr Yisroel and Torah Academy of Bergen County came in second and third respectively. “The Model Beis Din guides students to fully understand the dynamic nature of halacha—how the Torah can inform and confront contemporary moral and legal challenges in the most sophisticated way,” said HaRav Yonason Sacks shlita, Rosh HaYeshiva of the Lander College for Men Beis Medrash L’Talmud, who directs the program. “My goal is to validate the students’ learning and to inspire them to learn more.”
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Around the Community PHOTO CREDIT IVAN H NORMAN
Local rabbanim sold chometz for the community before Pesach. Shown in the photos are: Rabbi Yitzchok Frankel, Rabbi Pinchas Chatzinoff, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Blumenkrantz, Rabbi Betzalel Korn, Rabbi Dov Bressler and Rabbi Saul Chill. Rabbi Yitzchok Frankel is shown shaking hands with Duke Walters, the purchaser of the chometz.
Chai4ever Children and Parents Enjoy a Pesach Reprieve
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ver 1,000 parents and children joined Chai4ever for an action-packed Pesach Chol Hamoed Family Fun Day on Monday, April 22 at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. The day was an opportunity for families, all of whom have a parent with a life-threatening medical diagnosis, to get together in an environment where they are made to feel comfortable and ordinary despite their pain, medical limitations and challenges. “Our family has not had a day of fun together since my diagnosis. We are so appreciative to Chai4ever for making this possible. My children loved the Mordechai Shapiro concert at the park today,” Sarah, a resident of Teaneck, said. For many patients fighting life-threatening illnesses, a family trip is no walk in the park. Aliza, a mother with lung failure who breathes with the aid of a mobile ventilator, rarely finds an outing that can accommodate her medical needs. At Chai4ever events, however, she knows that she’s taken care of. She contacted her case manager ahead of time to discuss any medical concerns, and was assisted in locating areas to plug in her ventilator, was provided with a handicap parking spot and scooter, was guided to sit-down rides to prevent fatigue, and had volunteers on hand to assist
with the kids as needed. Afterwards she wrote, “Thank you so much for the family experience today. As tough as it is to be out and about, it was amazing to be part of this outing!” Chai4ever families are often enduring almost insurmountable obstacles and do not have the financial capacity or the energy to manage fun family outings. Chai4ever plans
Is the dating “parsha” stressful for the whole family? Page 72
events throughout the year at no cost to the families to give them an opportunity to laugh, play, and bond with a support network of families. Whether a challah bake for the women, a drum clinic for the boys, or a carnival for the whole family, there’s something for everyone. Chai4ever children also have the opportunity to participate in Camp4ever! a unique summer travel camp, where each child is assigned his or her very own counselor who serves as a friend and mentor. Children find themselves in an oasis of warmth and acceptance, where life with serious illness is considered the norm and not the exception. Worries and emotions are addressed by
trained staff in a safe atmosphere, and friendships are created that last well beyond the summer as campers navigate the triumphs and challenges that they encounter throughout the year. Chai4ever is the only organization of its kind, solely focused on mitigating the effects of serious parental illness throughout the United States and Israel. Chai4ever helps keep the home running smoothly, provides emotional support and crisis intervention, assists in relieving financial burdens, and arranges many varied recreational opportunities. Chai4ever partners with schools, synagogues and communities to help them work together to mitigate the potentially devastating impact of serious illness or community crises. Samuel Zaks, founder and chief executive officer of Chai4ever, explains the organization’s empathetic approach: “At Chai4ever, every family is seen as an individual unit with its own unique needs. Whether with crisis intervention, practical assistance, emotional support or financial and medical advocacy, we work to help with a targeted mix of services that will help the family thrive, not just survive.” Families across the United States and Israel benefit from the services of Chai4ever, and families with any traumatic diagnosis are encouraged to avail themselves of its services. Chai4ever is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. The organization can be reached at 646-519-2190. Further information is available at www. chai4ever.org, or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
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Around the Community The sweet sounds of Torah were heard throughout Far Rockaway and the Five Towns this chol hamoed from the boys at Aleph & Bais/Pirchei of Far Rockaway learning program every morning of chol hamoed
In light of recent health concerns surrounding measles in NYC, Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal worked with Councilman Rory Lancman, Congresswoman Grace Meng and the Vaad Harabonim of Queens to provide free MMR Titers blood testing by Kāmin Health for the community. The event took place on Wednesday, April 17 at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills and served over 600 participants
YOSS sixth graders making tzitzis after learning hilchos tzitzis in shiur. (With a little help from the expert tzitzis makers in eighth grade!)
Kopel Letter Prompts Assessment Grievance Deadline Extension
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n Wednesday, May 1, 2019, Deputy Presiding Officer Howard Kopel sent a letter to County Executive Laura Curran asking her to extend the assessment grievance deadline to May 7 from May 3, to accommodate the Orthodox Jewish Community. Orthodox Jewish practice requires a cessation of all business activities beginning at sundown on Friday evening in observance of the Sabbath. Additionally, the May 3rd deadline fell immediately after the end of the Passover holiday, a time marked by refraining from most business. Since many Orthodox
Jewish people may have been out of town, and unaware of the current situation, the Legislator asked that the deadline be extended to Tuesday, May 7 to accommodate them. Hours after submitting the letter, the County Executive agreed to extend the deadline to Tuesday, May 7. “I am happy that the County Executive took my concerns seriously and extended the deadline to grieve once again, to accommodate the Orthodox Jewish community and others who may not have been able to file by Friday, May 3rd,” Deputy Presiding Officer Kopel said.
Digital Citizenship at HAFTR
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igital Citizenship day, recently celebrated at HAFTR Middle School, was an empowering and inspiring day for students, educators and parents alike. Janell Burley Hoffman, author of the book iRules, TEDx presenter, and world-renowned expert on Digital Citizenship, spent the day at HAFTR, holding workshops for all HAFTR Middle School students. At the workshops, students were engaged in conversations about the benefits and limitations of technology, and were empowered to make positive choices online and in life. HAFTR faculty then met with Ms. Burley Hoffman and discussed some of the ways in which they embrace technology in the classroom to complement their effective and innovative teaching methods. The day culminated with a parent
workshop, where HAFTR Lower and Middle School parents, faculty and administration took part in an engaging discussion about how all families can create their own set of iRules based on their family’s values. Participants remarked that they gained valuable insight regarding how technology can be used to create connection and how to use technology in a healthy way. Dr. Yali Werzberger, HAFTR Middle School’s Director of Guidance, explained that Digital Citizenship Day is part of HAFTR’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that all students are given tools and skills to work with and adapt to challenges that they are faced with on a daily basis. Conversations regarding Digital Citizenship continue with students throughout the year to support the development of these crucial skills.
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Around the Community
An Attitude of Gratitude at HANC HS
Charlie Harary speaking at the event
By Dvora Finkel and Naomi Zimmerman
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ANC High School students participated in a Yom Iyun Program and Siyum dedicated to the theme of Attitude of Gratitude right before Pesach break. The entire morning was a huge success. The morning started off with words of inspiration from the keynote speaker Mr. Charlie Harary with a wonderful story about hakarat hatov. Mr. Harary highlighted that the only way to succeed is to “get out of your comfort zone and be grateful for what you have.” Following the talk, the students
attended different teacher-led workshops discussing an attitude of gratitude. In each workshop the students thought of something they were thankful for and made a list of all the people that allowed it to happen (i.e. for coffee we drink, the people that grow the beans). Students then wrote thank you letters to one of the people who helped make those things happen. Each student then wrote something they were thankful for on a post-it and stuck it onto the Gratitude Graffiti wall for everyone to see in the second floor hallway. A second workshop allowed students to look at five things from different perspectives by viewing an
Mrs. Gottesman and Rabbi Adelman, principal
original HANC faculty-student Attitude of Gratitude video, which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=z8uO7GrCPNw&feature=youtu.be Mrs. Schali Chrein was the invited guest speaker for the girls to facilitate this session. All program participants received a dry-erasable magnetic keepsake and pen to use on a daily basis so that they can express what they are grateful for each day. At the culmination of the event, the entire high school gathered in the gym for a siyum l’zecher nishmat HANC’s beloved Dean Emeritus, Rabbi Moshe Gottesman, z”l. Mrs. Gottesman and son, Mr. Shlomo Gottesman, attend-
ed the siyum which was organized by Rabbi Shimon Chrein. Ari Levine (‘16), who is in the IDF and is home visiting for Pesach, was misayem. The Yom Iyun which reflected on an “attitude of gratitude” was very successful. It inspired all participants to look at life and notice the good and be grateful for all that they have. A huge hakarat hatov goes to Director of Religious Life, Mrs. Nomi Zanjirian, for spearheading and organizing this wonderful event. We are grateful to Mrs. Carole Tabin and Family for sponsoring the day in memory of beloved husband and father, Mr. Harvey Tabin, z”l.
BBY’s States of Plates
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BY’s World of Wonder program has landed on familiar shores. That’s right, we’re exploring North America! And what better place to begin than our very own home country – the United States. As part of the educational fun, just before Pesach we launched our “States of Plates” contest. Students in grades 1-8 were challenged to find license plates from as many states as they could over Pesach vacation, recording their findings in special pamphlets. The contest was a runaway hit! Students lurked in parking lots and scoured their neighborhoods for
plates from faraway locales. Whole families got involved as they scanned the roads during chol hamoed trips in search of plates from states they hadn’t yet found. Over the course of two weeks, license plates from nearly all fifty states were sighted, with one girl covering a whopping forty-six states! Some girls even took photographs with the owners of farflung cars they’d spotted. Says one mother, “We had a blast playing the license plate game. The whole family was into it. They really became experts on the fifty states!” Another mother noted, “We have been engrossed in our search for license
Shayna Brazil poses with the owner of a car which sports plates from Alaska!
plates. (My daughter) is up to thirty-five states, and we were all cheering when she found ALASKA!!” As always, education is fun and
exciting in BBY. Maybe that’s why at BBY, we’re always in a STATE of happiness!
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Around the Community
Mesivta Football League – Junior Varsity Division Championship
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he Mesivta Football League brought its second season of its Junior Varsity Division to a close on Sunday, April 14. Picking up where the Varsity Division left off in early February, it was an exciting and exhilarating experience for all participating 9th and 10th grade players. Under the direction of founder and administrator, Rabbi Yossi Bennett, S’gan Menahel at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, the MFL JV Division fielded teams from eight local yeshiva high schools: Yeshiva of Flatbush, Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, Yeshiva Darchei Erez, Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Mesivta Shaarei Pruzdor, DRS High School, Rambam Mesivta, and HAFTR High School. Sunday afternoons at Lawrence High School were filled with excitement as players took the field energized to represent their schools in competitive flag football. Games were
intense, but menschlech, with tremendous sportsmanship displayed week in, week out by all teams. Rabbi Bennett commented, “We were so gratified that so many reputable local yeshivos were interested in participating a JV division of the MFL. After 7 years of our Varsity Division and last year’s successful inau-
gural season for the JV Division, this expansion only advances our goal of developing healthy, kosher outlets for yeshiva high school students in our community.” After a grueling semifinal round of playoffs, the Flatbush Falcons (1) went head-to-head against the MAY Eagles (3) in the Championship game. It was
a battle of the titans with quality football being displayed from both sides. In the end, the Eagles defeated the Falcons 25-6 to take the JV Championship Trophy home to MAY adding to their two Varsity Championships. The League would like to congratulate Coach Donny Rudansky and Assistant Coach Yaakov Goldstein together with their MAY Eagles on winning this season’s championship. The League also congratulates MAY tight end Dovid Samson on winning the Championship Game MVP. Tremendous thanks to Reb Eliezer “Zezy” Fuld, commissioner of the League, and all participating yeshivos – players, coaches, administrators and fans – for helping make this season so incredible. For more information about the Mesivta Football League please visit their website at mesivtafootball.com or email mesivtafootball@ gmail.com.
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Victory at Cooperstown for HALB
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n Monday, April 29, 2019, HALB’s fifteen winners from the Long Island Regional Competition for National History Day participated in New York State History Day in Cooperstown with over 600 other students, under the guidance of Ms. Kristen Waterman, their supervising teacher. They presented documentaries and websites, and each of the groups took home medals in their specific categories, with one of the groups advancing to the National History Day Competition in Baltimore, MD. The awards were as follows: • 2nd Place Group Documentary: The Hits Just Keep Coming: Brain Injuries in Professional Football by Aharon Cohen, Benjy Fried, Shmuli Glick, Marc Matlis, and Moshe Rattner. (Advancing to Nationals) • 3rd Place Group Documentary: Built from the Ashes: Chicago by Raz Amar, Zevi Friedman, Daniel Grosz, Jonah Mehlman, and Judah Rosenthal • 3rd Place Website: A Train Ride to Hope: The Kindertransport by Rebecca Brown, Farrah Crane, Abigail Lampert, Tamara Saffra, and Meira Weinstein
Five Towns Participants to Explore the History and Philosophy of Jewish Spiritual Worship
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his May, Rabbi Zalman Wolowik of Chabad of the Five Towns will offer With All My Heart, a new six-session course by the acclaimed Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) that will examine the Jewish art of prayer and spiritual experience. Beginning Tuesday, May 14 at 8:00 PM, participants in the course will study the history and philosophy of Jewish worship, seeking to discover the deep, elegant structure embedded within the Jewish prayer book and within Judaism’s ancient synagogue traditions. “Responsibilities pull us in so many directions that we seldom get a chance to reflect on our lives, our mission in this world, what’s true, and what really matters to us,” said Rabbi Wolowik. “Even much of reli-
gion seems to have become routine and devoid of heartfelt feeling and spirituality. This course is out to debunk that notion and reclaim the ‘spirit’ within spiritual practice.” According to JLI’s website, the course promises to “outline profound Jewish prayer techniques that lend wings to our emotions and words to our yearnings, allowing us to communicate with something much larger than ourselves, and feel comfort and shelter within a reality that’s more whole, more intense, more real, and more beautiful.” “We tend to turn to prayer when we’re out of options, seeking some kind of magical intervention when we’re having trouble dealing with what life throws our way,” explained Rabbi Zalman Abraham, of JLI’s Brooklyn headquarters. “Prayer is
meant to be so much more than that. It’s a way to relieve stress; find focus, clarity, and connection to a raw and vulnerable place deep within us; or even just to start each day from a positive, humble, and grateful frame of mind.” With All My Heart explores questions such as: What is Jewish prayer? How do we achieve intimacy with G-d? What is the mystical meaning, power, and impact of our prayers? If prayer is a journey, what is its destination? And how do we practice focused mindfulness while engaging in our day-to-day responsibilities? Rabbi Laibl Wolf, founder and dean of Spiritgrow and author of Practical Kabbalah, commented about the course, “Talking to G-d, or discovering the deeper self, is not taught or experienced by most Jews
in a lifetime. It is therefore heroic of JLI to tackle this gap and bridge it with an excellent course that includes experiential elements like meditation.” Like all JLI programs, this course is designed to appeal to people at all levels of knowledge, including those without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning. All JLI courses are open to the public, and attendees need not be affiliated with a particular synagogue, temple, or other house of worship. Interested students may call 516295-2478 or visit www.ChabadFiveTowns.com/JLI for registration and for other course-related information. (JLI courses are presented in Cedarhurst in conjunction with Chabad of the Five Towns.)
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Around the Community
FIDF Five Towns & Greater South Shore 8th Annual Community Event
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ome 500 community leaders will gather this May 15 at The Sands of Atlantic Beach for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Five Towns & Greater South Shore Annual Community Event to honor the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The evening, which is one of the Long Island Jewish community’s largest events, will feature active-duty IDF soldiers, including Sgt. Yehuda of Cedarhust, a Lone Soldier – one serving in the IDF with no immediate family in Israel – who currently serves in the Golani Brigade; Sgt. Sa’ar, a lookout in the IDF Eagle Battalion of the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps; Maj. Y., company commander in an elite IDF unit; and Maj. Hod, who was a deputy commander of Battalion 101 of the IDF Givati Brigade during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza and has joined the IDF Witnesses in Uniform Delegation to Poland. The event will honor Malky and Jay Spector; and their parents, Judith and Zoltan Lefkovits, staunch supporters of the FIDF Spiritual Needs Program, enabling soldiers to carry out their mission of defending Israel while maintaining a strong and meaningful spiritual life. Emceeing the event will be renowned attorney, Benjamin J. Branfman, Esq. FIDF also welcomes Pninit Cole as the new FIDF Long Island Director. Cole joins the FIDF following years of developing new programs for the New Jersey Federation of YMHA and YWHA. “It is a privilege to honor Malky and Jay Spector, and Judith and Zoltan Lefkovits – outstanding supporters of Israel and FIDF – with the L’Dor V’Dor Generation to Generation Award. Their love for Israel and its soldiers is an inspiration to me as I take on the role of FIDF Long Island Director,” said Cole. “It’s truly an honor to be able to join FIDF and lead this incredible event and community.” Judith and Zoltan Lefkovits are
Rabbi Kviat brought his KK class at Siach Yitzchok to the yard of Rabbi and Mrs. Stein on Beach 9th Street to recite brachos ha’ilanos this week. After doing this beautiful mitzvah, the boys were lucky enough to pass the future home of Siach Yitzchok (as seen in the picture) and talk about the excitement of starting the next school year iy”H in a brand-new, spacious building.
Holocaust survivors who are great supporters of Israel and its soldiers. Judith’s family was able to save over 50 lives during the Holocaust, though besides for Judith and her grandfather, they themselves perished in Auschwitz. Zoltan was a survivor of six different camps. The two were avid Zionists and actualized their dreams of going to Israel in 1966. Their love for Israel shows through their support for FIDF, and they passed that love onto their children, the Spectors. The Spectors have been supporters of Israel since their youth. While attending the FIDF National New York Gala ten years ago, they were inspired to bring this support for the men and women of the IDF home to Long Island. They were instrumental in establishing the FIDF South Shore Chapter and the FIDF Five Towns and Greater South Shore Annual Event and Shabbaton. “We will salute the brave heroes of the IDF who risk their lives to protect Israel and Jews around the world,” said FIDF Long Island Chairman Ronny Ben-Josef. “Our annual dinner is a great opportunity for FIDF supporters to meet and thank the young men and women who look after the Jewish state today.” Other distinguished guests in attendance will be FIDF National Director and CEO Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Klifi-Amir; and FIDF Tri-State Executive Director Galit Brichta. The Y-Studs, an all-male acapella group from Yeshiva University, will perform popular and traditional music. The funds raised at this event will go toward FIDF wellbeing and educational programs for IDF soldiers. The evening will begin at 7 p.m. with an elaborate buffet, followed by the program and dessert at 8:15 p.m. For more information or to support FIDF, please visit: https://www. f idf.org/events/f ive-towns-andgreater-south-shore-8th-annualcommunity-event.
Aliza Beer’s tips for shedding the Pesach pounds Page 78
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Yeshiva of South Shore to Host Yom Iyun in Memory of Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l
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wo years have already passed since the petirah of Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, the founder of the Jewish community in the Five Towns. To commemorate his second yahrtzeit, Yeshiva of South Shore, the yeshiva which he founded in 1956, will be holding a special Yom Iyun this Sunday morning, Rosh Chodesh Iyar, May 5, 2019. The program for the Yom Iyun will begin with Rosh Chodesh shacharis at 8:00 in the Yeshiva at 1170 William St. in Hewlett, NY, followed by a lavish breakfast buffet where Rav Yitzchok Knobel, son-inlaw of Rav Kamenetzky and founding Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedola of the Five Towns, will address the participants. Rav Knobel lived in the Five Towns for over thirty years where he was a powerful force in the transformation of the community. As a Rosh Yeshiva whose reach nurtured hundreds of talmidim from youngsters
at Yeshiva of South Shore, to Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, and in his Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns, Rabbi Knobel’s impact continues to resonate in the community, even after his recent move to Lakewood, NJ. After breakfast, Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, an alumnus of Yeshiva of South Shore, will deliver a shiur on the topic of “Sefiras Ha’omer and the Power of Mitzvos D’Rabanan.” Rabbi Lebowitz, a talmid of Rav Binyamin from his days at Yeshiva Toras Chaim, is an accomplished talmid chacham and Rav of Beis Haknesses of North Woodmere. He is also a maggid shiur in Beis Medrash L’Talmud in Queens, as well as engaging hundreds though his online shiurim on YU Torah Online and OU Torah. Rav Sholom Kamenetsky, Rosh Yeshiva of yeshiva of Philadelphia and a nephew of Rav Binyamin, will deliver the keynote address. Rav Sholom is known throughout the world for his brilliant lectures and
inspirational content. He will speak on the topic of “Rebbe Akiva and his talmidim – our rabbeim and us; The paradigm of kabbalas haTorah.” Rav Binyamin came to this community over 60 years ago with the blessings of his father, Hagaon Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, zt”l, and with hard work and siyata dishmaya, he succeeded in building Yeshiva of South Shore, the first all-boys yeshiva in Long Island, as well as many shuls and community organizations. For over 60 years, he nurtured and built the Five Towns with his warmth, determination and commitment to the community we have today. Rav Kamenetzky left a legacy of Torah and inspiration in the Five Towns and beyond, spanning the entire spectrum of the Jewish community. As we are in the beginning of the days of sefirah and count up to kabbalas haTorah, what can be a better
way to spend part of a Sunday morning? Come join parents, alumni, and community members, who will be inspired by the legacy of Rav Kamenetzky, zt”l, through Torah learning, as we begin counting the days of sefirah towards the chag of Matan Torah! Dedication opportunities are available. For more information, please visit www.yoss.org/yomiyun.
United Refuah’s Solution for Employers
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nited Refuah HealthShare has revolutionized the healthcare of the Jewish community, founding the first-ever Jewish health-sharing program. United Refuah has proudly established a thriving community of like-minded people who support one another, all based on Torah-true principles and values.
Health-sharing is not only for families looking for quality healthcare, but can be a real solution for business owners and their employees as well. United Refuah’s health-share program can benefit small-business owners and their employees. There is a huge amount of data out there, detailing the benefits employers gain by offering healthcare plans for employees. According to multiple surveys, offering healthcare is considered one of the top benefits by a majority of employees surveyed. A study from MetLife found that more than fifty percent of employers say offering healthcare has led to high-
er productivity levels. According to the CDC, employees who prioritize preventive care — like regular checkups — accomplish significantly more in the workplace. Providing benefits for employees shows that employers are invested in their employees’ health and their lives outside the office. For employees, benefits provide the springboard they need to do their jobs well. However, traditional employer-provided health insurance plans are government-mandated to provide coverages which are contrary to our Jewish faith and values. Health care sharing is a non-insurance method of sharing health care costs, without violating our religious faith. United Refuah has created a non-insurance program for employees of small-business owners with less than fifty employees. The program allows employers to introduce the concept of health-sharing
to their employees, and provide them with an after-tax bonus that may be used towards a United Refuah HealthShare member-
ship. Businessowners can channel money earmarked for providing traditional healthcare to employees into health-sharing instead. United Refuah also offers an added bonus to employers who has five or more employees choose to participate in health-share plan
by waiving the initial membership fees. Both employers and employees can benefit tremendously from the program, as it cuts out all the bureaucratic tape from the process, creating a hassle-free way to enable employees to participate in a life-changing program. This innovative program is just one more step in the United Refuah plan to completely revolutionize the way healthcare is managed in the Jewish community. And as the membership numbers swell to include members in over thirty states, United Refuah is definitely on its way to succeeding. For more information or to become a member, visit UnitedRefuahHS.org or call 440-772-0700. *United Refuah HealthShare is not an insurance company and does not offer insurance.
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
Around the Community
MTA Families Head to NYCFC Game
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n Wednesday, April 24, MTA talmidim, rebbeim, alumni, and families enjoyed a chol hamoed Pesach trip to watch the New York City Football Club take on the Chicago Fire. The trip was organized by MTA’s Sports
Management Club, which provides the unique opportunity for talmidim to learn about careers in sports management from experts in the field as well as participate in exciting trips to tour sports stadiums and arenas.
Schedule your free and easy pick up TODAY! e info@pickpurple.org w www.pickpurple.org We now accept clothing, shoes, accessories, linen and towels in usable condition
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home
Around the Community
Hagaon Harav Berel Povarsky, Shlita: “We Have True Bekiim In Shas With Whom We Can Go and Greet Moshiach!”
Dirshu Shas Yidden Tested on Shas for the Second Time By Chaim Gold
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t was an absolute unique maamad that transpired in the home of HaGaon HaRav Berel Povarsky, shlita, senior rosh yeshiva at the Ponovezh Yeshiva. Rav Berel was so deeply moved by what he saw that at the end of the event he exclaimed, “I am so overjoyed that, baruch Hashem, Klal Yisroel is not orphaned. We have true bekiim in Shas with whom we can go and greet Moshiach!” What was the event? Why did it make such a profound, deep impression on the octogenarian rosh yeshiva? The event was a celebration of the learning and constant cumulative chazara of learning Shas twice over fifteen years and constantly being tested. The tests were not just on the material learned in the prior month, or the prior six months, but rather on material learned during the entire machzor of the Daf HaYomi from the beginning of Shas until now. Fifteen years ago, with the siyum of Masechta Chullin in the Daf HaYomi, at the behest of Gedolei Yisrael, Dirshu established a new program entitled “Kinyan Shas,” a unique program that would ultimately enrich Klal Yisroel with hundreds of true bekiim in Shas – talmidei chachomim who could literally answer any question from any daf in Shas at any time of the day or night. The program was designed to enable dedicated and motivated talmidei chachomim to be engaged in constant chazara of what they learned so that over the course of the seven-year cycle of the Daf HaYomi they would end up taking tests multiple times on the same material. The way the program worked was that in addition to monthly tests on thirty blatt, Dirshu would create special tests every six months at the end of the bein hazmanim months of Tishrei and Nissan, when the avreichim would be tested on all of the material learned from the be-
An avreich sharing his experience of completing the Kinyan Shas Program for the second time
ginning of the machzor of Daf HaYomi in Brachos until where the Daf HaYomi was holding. “The First Test is One of My Prized Possessions!” Fifteen years ago, when Rav Berel Povarsky was informed of Kinyan Shas, he felt compelled to attend the first test in the new program. Last week at his house, Rav Povarsky reminisced about that first test. “I was in such a state of high emotion and simcha after witnessing that test that I myself took a test home and took the test. I placed that test in my safe here in the house and it is still there. It is one of my prized possessions,” the Rosh Yeshiva concluded. Last week, as the Daf HaYomi approached the end of Masechta Chullin and the anniversary of the second completion of Shas with the Kinyan Shas program is marked, ten of the elite talmidei chachomim have completed the Kinyan Shas program twice! That means being tested multiple times on the entire Shas, many of them with Tosafos too! These talmidei chachomim gathered at the home of Rav Berel for a dual purpose. First, to celebrate and
thank Hashem for granting them the incredible zechus to achieve such a milestone and to thank Dirshu for facilitating it. The second reason was to encourage and give tips to the new generation of Kinyan Shas learners who be’ezras Hashem will be joining the program as it embarks on its third machzor. All of the avreicheim were very emotional as they shared all kinds of eitzos and tips that enabled them to persevere, learn and review vast amounts of Gemara until they would be able to be tested on all of Shas at once and remember every single blatt in Talmud Bavli! The avreichim were accompanied by Dirshu’s Nasi, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, and senior members of Dirshu’s hanhala led by Rabbi Avigdor Bernstein. “It is Like One Massive Act of Kiddushin” After Rabbi Bernstein reminded Rav Berel of how he attended the first siyum in Kinyan Shas and even took the test, Rav Berel smilingly nodded in acknowledgment and said, “The Gemara teaches us that Abaye would say that whenever a person in the yeshiva would complete a masechta, he would make a
siyum for the entire yeshiva. Why,” Rav Berel asked, “did he make on only a complete masechta? Doesn’t completing a perek or a difficult sugya also deserve a celebration? I think the answer is that it is brought down that one must acquire the Torah with a complete acquisition just as one acquires a wife through kiddushin. One cannot acquire half of a wife. It must be a complete acquisition, or it is no acquisition. So too, every masechta is an entire unit. If you have not completed the entire masechta you have not acquired the entire unit. “If that is true with regard to a masechta how much more so is it true with regard to the entire Shas! When you complete the entire Shas, it is like one massive act of kiddushin, of acquisition. “The fact that there are hundreds of people who have acquired Shas in this way in the Kinyan Shas program and have even been tested on it, fills me with simcha!” Rav Bernstein related to Rav Berel, “As new avreichim join, it is important that they receive guidance in how to learn, how to review and how to persevere and remain dedicated to a goal and a task that is in essence an undertaking for life.
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The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
Around the Community
Rav Dovid Hofstedter greeting HaRav Berel Povarsky at the Kinyan Shas gathering
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Shas Yidden Give Learning Tips Rav Zushia Zilberstein was the first to speak. He gave what is perhaps the general approach that must be taken. He said, “Someone once asked the Maharsham of Berzhan how he remembers the entire Shas. He replied, ‘If you keep on chazering over and over…and over again, you don’t have to remember. All of it is fresh. So, first and foremost, a person must learn how to review and review, even a hundred times,” Rav Zushia added. Rav Zev Yankowitz, another baki b’Shas, added, “A person must make sure when he learns a Daf for the first time to learn it well and understand everything in it clearly, knowing it the first time with clarity is one of the keys for success. Secondly, a person must make ‘simanim’, little memory aids, to help him remember. Third and perhaps most importantly, ‘Whenever a person finishes learning a Daf, he must quickly review it and encapsulate the entire Daf in a quick synopsis.’” Rav Eliyahu Fisher, another up and coming gadol b’Torah, added, “What is critically important is the
idea of kevius, of resolving and undertaking that no matter what I am determined to finish this project, to learn, chazer and be tested. Only when a person knows he has no choice but to take every test without ever skipping, can he succeed. This undertaking must be taken on as a life-mission that is impossible to relinquish.” Rav Malinowsky, another participant, added that even a person who initially thought such a massive undertaking was impossible receives special kochos once he jumps into it with true dedication. Rav Michoel Ulman related that what worked for him was using the chazaras haShas method created by Rav Sender Dolgin of Lakewood. It involves learning a new blatt every day, reviewing the previous one, reviewing the one from a week ago, three months ago and then a year ago. In this way, one is always reviewing everything he learned. Rav Dovid Hofstedter, the Nasi of Dirshu, concluded by profusely thanking Rav Berel Povarsky for always being a pillar of support for Dirshu, “The Rosh Yeshiva has always so enthusiastically been there for Dirshu. Whether it was at the beginning of this Kinyan Shas program or making the effort to travel to America for the Convention, the Rosh Yeshiva’s constant guidance and encouragement so strengthens us.”
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Perhaps the Rosh Yeshiva would derive simcha from hearing from the experiences of some of these avreichim and what helped them complete their second machzor of Shas with cumulative tests?”
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OCTOBER 29, 2015Jewish | The Jewish MAY 2, 2019 | The Home Home
Op- d
We Need to Change Our Outlook of Security By Sol Hersh Sol while in the IDF
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ttacks at places of worship and the security measures put in place to thwart them are still a relatively new concept in the U.S. This phenomenon is on the rise and has drastically changed the status quo. Are we as American Jews approaching this in the right
manner? Perhaps we should learn from countries with active shooters for over half a century – namely, Israel. I address this article to both congregants and leaders alike, as I believe that they share a mutual responsibility in the safeguarding of their communities.
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My background in compound security started a decade ago, ironically in the opposite manner. In the IDF unit I served in, my team and I trained to attack facilities, but not until we gathered intelligence before attacking them. It is then that I first learned the vulnerabilities present in every facility, no matter how secure it was originally designed to be. Most of the vast places of worship in the Western world were built decades ago, without bearing any element of security in mind. After all, they are primarily designed to be aesthetically pleasing and welcoming to the congregants they serve. Typically, most of these facilities contain large windows throughout, with various entrances all leading to a common area. These common areas more often than not are packed to the brim with people focused in prayer, rendering these individuals more likely to be unaware of imminent threats. It doesn’t take much to understand that this can be catastrophic from a security standpoint. That said, I would like to bring some core issues to attention. We can all agree that the pacifistic days are over, and no religion or place of worship is free of threat. Generally speaking, congregation leaders have internalized this and have seemingly responded in one way or another. After witnessing various methods implemented in the U.S., I’ve come, though, to question their motive and utilization.
Experience is Key In the military, things got done in two ways: by actually doing them, or by signing them off as if they were done, merely to renounce responsibility. The latter leads to operational issues, which is true in the civilian life as well. It’s unfortunate, but too many of the security measures I’ve seen enacted have been done too haphazardly, perhaps to calm congregants, or relieve someone – somewhere up the chain of command – of his/her responsibility. This creates a façade of actual security and does not actually resolve any underlying security threats. An example of this would be a facility I examined that installed cameras without any relevant form of access control. Was this so they could see their own congregants being maimed after the fact? Last year, I was fortunate to work for one of the largest Jewish American NGOs, where I was part of a team of individuals from different sectors of the Israeli security apparatus. We had a common language and understanding and trained together like a well-oiled machine. Access control, mail, vendors, hostage scenarios, suspicious objects and active shooter scenarios were all accounted for amongst various other operational concerns. I understand this isn’t always the ability of your local synagogue, yet this heightened security and mindset can – and should – take place in many other aspects of the American religious societies. The Department of Home-
The Jewish Home |Home OCTOBER The Jewish | MAY29, 2, 2015 2019
Heavily modified vehicles used for counter-terror missions
land Security is generous with its security grants. It is dependent upon the congregants to scrutinize where the money ends up, and those tasked with it ought to utilize it wisely. After the Pittsburgh shooting, I visited Maryland and sat in on a local congregation’s “‘urgent security meeting.” The congregants (many understandably hysterical about the recent events) demanded to know what they could do regarding the issue. The congregants tasked a young board member with no prior experience in security to deal with this task, and many different suggestions were mentioned. Most of the opinions revolved around law enforcement and supplementing additional funds for more law enforcement. In fact, when the local police representative stepped into the room to join the meeting, the people breathed sighs of relief and told the officer how relieved they were to have him there. It was concluded that the community should bake cookies for law enforcement authorities and be extra friendly to them, so that they would be around more often. I, for one, was appalled at the security measures in place – or more precisely, the lack thereof. Multiple open entryways and a three-foot tall gate around half of the perimeter, with only some cameras and little lighting – and this was after receiving thousands in DHS grants! I have come upon this all too often. Take note: the responsibility of the safety of your congregation is on both
the congregants and on those they entrust to handle it. Congregants should ensure that qualified individuals are hired, even if that means spending the extra dollar. And no, I don’t exclusively mean an off-duty police officer. Jewish communities that have individuals who served in various elite units of the IDF should utilize this resource. Congregants should
Sol, with members of his unit
illegal to walk into a place of worship and spray people with bullets. However, in most cases, members of the law enforcement are checking your vehicle registration or attending disturbances and are somewhat useless shall an attack occur, G-d forbid. This can be seen in the Pittsburgh attack, when even after multiple units arrived, they radioed that they were pinned down and couldn’t
Terror by definition is meant to do just that: create an environment of extreme fear.
join arms to assist those tasked with professionally securing the complex in identification of individuals, vehicles, and objects. Pluralistic ignorance is a huge factor related to security flaws. Be involved and demand answers. If you see something amiss, from the way your synagogue handles its security fund to a random briefcase laying near the entrance, say something. Never assume someone else in the congregation will take care of anything. You are the solution. Law enforcement is meant to do just that: enforce the law. Yes, it’s
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do anything. Police are great when they fire first, since that is the position that they initiate and are confident in. Once a crazed aggressor walks in with no intent to come out alive, law enforcement usually lacks the experience and training to counter-combat, flank, advance, and take control of the scenario. The best offense in this situation is defense. At scenarios we enacted where the police were called, we failed our mission. Law enforcement was the last resort, and should remain that way. If you’re calling them,
you most likely need to contact the chevra kaddisha as well. Shocking, I know, but let me elaborate. Many agency policies dictate the need to wait for a specialized takeover team, which can take even longer to respond. Attacks occur in the matter of seconds, and if they’re not stopped before they start, casualties are guaranteed despite police/ armed presence. In dense crowds and extreme stress, responding law enforcement agencies are very likely to maim innocent people while subduing an attacker. The obsessive over-reliance on law enforcement is concerning, to say the least, and shouldn’t be the only means of security in place by any account. In fact, it is one of the far less important things in the components of a correctly secured facility. A drastic mindset change is needed in regard to this. Granted, police provide a visual deterrent with their vehicles and flashing lights, which is correlated to a reduction in crime. However, crazed individuals who brazenly commit these heinous acts of terror are a different breed; this is not petty crime.
Do Something Terror by definition is meant to do just that: create an environment of extreme fear. The submission to this fear is a win for terror – one that we cannot afford. The mass environment of hysteria before an event could contribute to individuals
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“freezing up” in an actual scenario and remaining in harm’s way without doing anything to put an end to the violence. While fear should be addressed, it isn’t substantially related to security and should be dealt with separately. The same goes for fire drills, petty crime, greeting people, and liability concerns. Traditionally, American security incorporates these notions and tasks the security team with it. This is a distraction and has no tactical relevance to the operational procedures, in most scenarios. I personally witnessed cases where individuals tasked with the responsibility of a facility focus more on calming their congregants rather than doing something that resolves underlying critical tactical issues. Countries like Israel and Brazil have overcome this fear to an extent and have evolved due what is a daily reality. This is evident in Israel, with its terror attacks, and in Brazil with regard to armed robbery. In Israel, for example, you’ll find scenarios where groups of people chased a lone wolf attacker and neutralized him with a sewing machine, mops, and umbrellas. The Brazilians usually resort to flip-flops and take it from there. I’m not advocating for violence, but in active attack scenarios where the attacker is already shooting, no options should be off the table. In fact, the very table itself is a weapon, as are the chairs. Consider what happened in the massacre in Har Nof where congregants threw chairs and shtenders at the terrorists. In another scenario, an attacker was neutralized with fire extinguishers. Those are located everywhere and a great way to stun and overcome someone by either spraying, to temporarily incapacitate, or by using blunt force. The aforementioned statements should be differentiated from a hostage situation where negotiations can still be made and the attackers aren’t utilizing their full lethal capabilities at the particular moment. But when and if they do – do what you must to ensure it ends. If all you can do is save yourself and flee, then do just that. It also appears that security protocols are still sometimes based on
Training in Israel’s desert
the fear of liability issues as well as fear itself, leading many individuals (including those hired and on-duty) to naturally flee from attacks, many getting shot in the back and trampling one another in the process. If there is an ability for your congregation to self-arm, I don’t advocate against it. However, train
congregants are extremely complex and take years of skill and constant retraining to execute properly. If weapons are needed in any scenario, it’s usually a result of a serious flaw and/or breach of the defense components in the facility and its access control systems. And at that point, there will usually be multiple casu-
In Israel, for example, you’ll find scenarios where groups of people chased a lone wolf attacker and neutralized him with a sewing machine, mops, and umbrellas.
regularly and have a calculated, coordinated plan so as not to cause harm to one another. Visible security caps, or items to place on one’s person, should always be on you with weaponry, so as not to be mistaken for an aggressor when law enforcement arrive. After serving on a hostage takeover team for several years, I can say that coordinated counter-terror efforts to combat an active situation with multiple attackers and
alties, G-d forbid. In Israel, the notion of armed citizens neutralizing terrorists successfully is arguably correlated to the fact that these civilians are generally highly trained. In the United States – and around the world – the ease of coming and going is something we as humans embrace; understandably, we value freedom. Stricter security measures at airports, restaurants, malls, parks, at work, and at places of worship ultimately challenge
these freedoms, and people must understand their importance and devote patience to the system, given the reality and current events. In Israel, this is understood. Yet, I find that Americans are more reluctant to accept any form of inspection, or generally anything that impedes them. Arguably, this is also because security in Israel – especially for sensitive institutions – are led by well-educated, able-bodied men, all with backgrounds in various units in the IDF, something which isn’t usually the case in American institutions. Ultimately, whoever is tasked with being operationally in control of a possible terror scenario at your synagogue and initially setting up a security plan should have deep-rooted understanding of counter-terror measures, experience in combat, and institutional security. I’ve seen one too many individuals offering security expertise in particular for synagogues without proper, if any, credentials. Hatzolah members, avreichim, and rabbis organizing community and synagogue watch groups are great. But these individuals and their cohorts should merely assist those tasked with enforcing security primarily in the identification of people, vehicles, and objects. Have someone who’s qualified come out and survey your premises, formulate a unique plan relevant to your facility, and train constantly. Always remain proactive. Sol Hersh made aliya to Israel in 2009 from Far Rockaway, NY. In Israel, Sol served in a special forces unit, tasked with counter-terrorism and reconnaissance in the IDF. He has spent the past decade providing security and consulting to VIPs, events, and facilities, both in the U.S. and Israel. Sol is the grandson of Auschwitz survivor Sholom Hersh who at the age of 15 helplessly witnessed his siblings’ and parents’ brutal murder in the hands of the Nazis. He accredits his devotion of safeguarding Jewish people to their memory, and is devoted to providing security solutions to any community in need. Sol currently resides in West Palm Beach, Florida, and may be reached at solhershmail@ gmail.com.
The Jewish Home |Home OCTOBER 2015 The Jewish | MAY29, 2, 2019
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TJH 911, What’s the Emergency? The following are supposedly real 911 calls: Dispatcher: 9-1-1. What is your emergency? Caller: I heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the brown house on the corner. Dispatcher: Do you have an address? Caller: No, I have on a blouse and slacks. Why? Dispatcher: 9-1-1. What is your emergency? Caller: Someone broke into my house and took a bite out of my ham and cheese sandwich. Dispatcher: Excuse me? Caller: I made a ham and cheese sandwich and left it on the kitchen table and when I came back from the bathroom, someone had taken a bite out of it. Dispatcher: Was anything else taken? Caller: No, but this has happened to me before, and I’m sick and tired of it! Dispatcher: 9-1-1. What is the nature of your emergency? Caller: I’m trying to reach nine eleven but my phone doesn’t have an eleven on it. Dispatcher: This is nine eleven. Caller: I thought you just said it was nine-one-one. Dispatcher: Yes, ma’am, nine-one-one and nine-eleven are the same thing. Caller: Honey, I may be old, but I’m not stupid. Dispatcher: 9-1-1. What’s the nature of your emergency? Caller: My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart. Dispatcher: Is this her first child? Caller: No, this is her husband. Dispatcher: 9-1-1. What is your emergency? Caller: Yeah, I’m having trouble breathing. I’m all out of breath. Darn…I think I’m going to pass out. Dispatcher: Sir, where are you calling from? Caller: I’m at a pay phone. North and Foster. Dispatcher: Sir, an ambulance is on the way. Are you an asthmatic? Caller: No. Dispatcher: What were you doing before you started having trouble breathing? Caller: Running from the police.
Centerfold Riddle me this? A very mean king went to a nearby village. He wanted some more slaves to serve him at his royal palace. He decided that if any family in the village had more than five children, he would take them. A cobbler and his wife had ten children. When the king came to take them, the cobbler and his wife begged and begged the king to save their children from this decree. Finally, the king said, “I see that you have ten pairs of shoes in a box. If you can give each of your children a pair and still leave one pair out of ten in the box, you can keep your children.” The cobbler and his wife began to smile at each other. How did they keep all of their children? See answer on the other page
You gotta be kidding Jimbo and Billy Bob were flying from Texas to Georgia. Fifteen minutes into the flight, the captain announced, “One of the engines has failed and the flight will be an hour longer. But don’t worry, we have three engines left.” Thirty minutes later, the captain announced, “One more engine has failed and the flight will be two hours longer. But don’t worry, we have two engines left.” An hour later, the captain came on the loudspeaker, “One more engine has failed and the flight will be three hours longer. But don’t worry, we have one engine left.” Jimbo looked at Billy Bob. “If we lose one more engine, we’ll be up here all day,” he said.
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Everything May 2
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Across 1. Babe Ruth 6. Barbeque 9. Mother’s Day 10. Memorial Day 11. Kentucky Derby 12. Flowers 13. Christopher Columbus 14. Lewis and Clark 15. Margaret Thatcher
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Samuel Morse invents the ________ May’s birthstone Author of Leaves of Grass Cinco de Mayo: day of this country’s independence Nixon’s vice president, who was forced to resign First bridge connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan opens in May 1883
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In 1935, this baseball player hits his 714th and last home run Time to fire up the ___________ Special day for many women Remembering those who sacrificed most for the U.S. First leg of the Triple Crown April showers bring May __________ This explorer dies in poverty in Spain in 1506 The first United States expedition to the Pacific Coast Britain’s first female prime minister
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Answer to Riddle Me This: The cobbler and his wife gave each of his nine children a pair of shoes. That left one pair in the box. They then gave this tenth child the box with the shoes in it.
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Torah Thought
Parshas Acharei Mos By Rabbi Berel Wein
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his Torah reading is inextricably connected to the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. The first half of the reading comprises the very same Torah reading that is read on the morning of Yom Kippur, while the latter part of this reading is read publicly during the afternoon service of that day. The first part deals with the ritual and service of the high priest in the holy Temple on Yom Kippur. The second part deals with those physical relationships between humans that are regulated and, in many cases, considered forbidden by the Torah. While it is quite understandable why the first part of this Torah reading dealing with the service of the high priest of the Temple on Yom Kippur fits with this theme of Yom Kippur itself, it is somewhat puzzling as to why the second part of this Torah reading, dealing essentially with physical and sexual immorality, should be the theme of the afternoon services on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur represents to us the
ability to disassociate ourselves from bodily wants and needs and to transcend to be in the company of angels, so to speak. Merely reading about the sins mentioned in the context of this second part of the Torah portion of this week already raises images within our subconscious mind that appar-
the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. There are many explanations for the issue that I have raised in the previous paragraph. But one that seems to be most relevant in our time, when there is no longer any definition present for immorality or deviance,
To ignore our weaknesses is to constantly live in peril of irreparable damage to ourselves and to others.
ently are not fitting for the holiness of the day of Yom Kippur. Yet the rabbis of Israel who were the wisest judges of human nature and understood the human condition fully chose that this portion should specifically be read and emphasized on the afternoon of
is that the Torah does not want to allow ourselves to be fooled by the holiness of the day and by our abstinence from the usual bodily needs of everyday life. Judaism teaches that just as human beings can reach the highest forms of holiness, selflessness
and piety, so too can these very same human beings sink to levels of evil, selfishness and incestuous depravity. The Talmud warns us that there is no guarantee or guardian for human beings when it comes to matters of desire and physical attraction. No one is above it and only those who think that they are somehow immune to it are the ones who are most vulnerable. On Yom Kippur, when we are at our holiest, we are also reminded how low and evil we can be if we do not guard ourselves. To ignore our weaknesses is to constantly live in peril of irreparable damage to ourselves and to others. Even a cursory review of daily events in our time will show us how easily even great and noble people can create the greatest harm to themselves simply because they believed that it could not happen to them. The Torah is the book of realism, the book of humanity. That is how it is to be read, studied, and understood. Shabbat shalom.
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From the Fire
Parshas Acharei Mos Our Lifeblood By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
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ashem tells us many times in the Torah, “I am Hashem,” but in this week’s parsha (Vayikra 18:5), He adds, with regard to the study of Torah and the fulfillment of the mitzvos, “V’chai ba’hem, ani Hashem, And you shall live with them, I am Hashem.” The commentaries explain the meaning of the phrase, “And you shall live with them.” The Gemara (Sanhedrin 74a) explains that it means “you shall live with them and not die through them.” In other words, if necessary, one must violate any mitzvah in the Torah in order to save a life, with the exception of the prohibitions against idolatry, murder, and immorality. Rashi, however, explains that it means “and you shall live with them in the World to Come.” The pasuk teaches that if we fulfill the mitzvos we will live not only in this world, but in the next world as well. The Netziv in Haemek Davar explains that when the Torah uses the word chai, life, it has two possible meanings. Sometimes it simply means
“alive,” as opposed to dead. This is the sense of the word chai, life, in the pasuk “And you shall live with them” according to Rashi and the Gemara. The mitzvos should not be a cause of death. In addition, by doing the mitzvos, we merit life in the next world. But the word chai, life, has another meaning. The Netziv explains that the word for life also means to live a full, whole life that is not mired in small-mindedness. Therefore, he says, with regard to this pasuk, that it obligates us to live a life in which “one’s soul should experience spiritual delight in them [the mitzvos].” We can experience a taste of this in one of the mitzvos in the parsha which few of us have experienced; the mitzvah to cover the blood of fowl or wild animals after slaughter (Vayikra 17:13-14). The Torah tells us, “When one eats a wild animal or fowl, he shall shed its blood and cover it with dirt. Because the soul of all flesh is in its blood...” While the Torah does not usually offer reasons for the mitzvos, here, the Torah says that we cover the
blood of a slaughtered bird or wild animal because the animal’s soul is in its blood. The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh explains that the Torah tells us that it is only proper to cover the animal’s blood because it contains the animal’s soul. He explains that this is similar to the reason why we honor the body of a deceased person, since it recently contained a living soul.1 The Torah commands us to show respect for the animal’s life by covering its blood. Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, zt”l, the Mirer Rosh Yeshiva, uses this Ohr Hachaim to teach us a fundamental concept. When a Jew is about to slaughter a bird or animal, it is certainly a mitzvah and it is justified so that the person can make a living and others can eat. But the act of slaughter nevertheless diminishes the value of life generally. At the time of slaughter of a chicken, for example, its life appears completely insignificant and inconsequential. Therefore, in order to counteract the diminished perception of the value of life which arises from the
act of slaughter, Hashem commands us to show some honor and respect for the chicken’s life in order to restore the value and honor of life generally. When a person fulfills the mitzvah of covering the blood, he contemplates the fact that Hashem is so concerned about the value of life, even the life of a seemingly insignificant little bird, that He gave us a special mitzvah in order to instill a respect for the preciousness of life within us. We must understand the value of being alive. Rav Berenbaum takes the lesson to the next level by explaining that once a person contemplates the inherent value of life, he will come to a deeper appreciation of the source of life: the Torah. As we say in Maariv, “Ki heim chayeinu v’orech yameinu, because they [the words of Torah] are our life and the length of our days.” The Torah’s infinite value is not only related to the fact that it comes from and is one with Hashem Himself. It is also the source of our lives. It is what we live for and long for.
The Jewish | MAY29, 2, 2015 2019 The Jewish Home |Home OCTOBER
The Ran, quoting Rabbeinu Yona (on Nedarim 81a), explains the following statement in the Gemara: “Rav Yehuda says in the name of Rav: ‘What is the meaning of the pasuk “Who is wise who can understand this matter”?’ This matter [the reason for the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash] was asked of the sages and the prophets and they could not explain it until Hashem Himself explained it, as it says, ‘Because they abandoned my Torah...,’ meaning that they did not listen to My voice, meaning that they did not go in the ways of [the Torah]. Rav Yehuda says in the name of Rav, ‘Because they did not make the blessing over learning Torah before they began studying it.’” How could the Gemara say that the Jewish people did not say the blessing over learning Torah at the time of the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash when even the simplest Jews say this blessing? In addition, how could the entire destruction and exile result from a failure to say one blessing!? Rabbeinu Yona, as quoted by the Ran, explains that while the Jewish people may have been studying Torah, they did not value the Torah. They may have said the blessing, but they did not have the right intentions when they did so. They viewed Torah as a source of intellectual stimulation and they saw knowledge of Torah as a source of honor. Perhaps some studied Torah in order to obtain an exemption from army service, in order to be exempt from paying taxes, or to have greater chances of “getting a good shidduch.” They did not see the Torah as their life, as inherently important. A person can study Torah all day but not see it as his life’s blood. It is not what he lives for, what he looks forward to. Hashem characterizes this attitude as abandonment of the Torah. Do we think about what we are saying when we say the blessing over studying Torah? We say, “Hashem our G-d, please sweeten the words of the Torah in our mouths.” We thank Hashem that “He choose us from all of the nations and He gave us His Torah.” Do we feel how blessed and how fortunate we are that we are the ones to whom Hashem gave the Torah? Hashem gives us a multiple choice test in the Torah. He says (Devarim 30:15, 19), “See, I have placed before you life and good, death and evil…the
blessing and the curse...” Like those teachers our children love, Hashem is kind enough to tell us in advance which answer to choose. One might expect that we should choose “good” or “blessing,” but instead, Hashem tells us, “U’bacharta b’chaim, And you shall choose life.” The key to our work as Jews is seeing the Torah as the source of life. As the Navi (Yeshaya 55:3) says, “Listen and your soul shall live.” A Jew can be religious and observe the mitzvos, checking off every box in
of Sheis were nine hundred and twelve years and he died.” The Rebbe shook his head, “No, that’s not right.” The boys’ rebbe was confused since the boy had translated the psukim correctly. But the Kotzker turned to another boy and asked him to read the next psukim. This boy read, “And Enosh lived ninety years and he gave birth to Keinan... And it was that all of the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years and he died.” The Rebbe shook his head again, and asked another boy
We must live with a vibrant Yiddishkeit.
the orthodox Jewish checklist. But we were chosen for something much bigger. We must live with a vibrant Yiddishkeit. The Torah and mitzvos are our life and must be what we look forward to and long for every day. The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because even though we kept the mitzvos, we did not value the Torah. So too, today, a Jew can live in a way of destruction, physically observing the mitzvos and checking off Torah study from his list of things to do most days, but he really lives for work, food, clothing, money, honor, sports, entertainment; anything but Yiddishkeit. We must feel, as the Netziv put it, “that one’s soul should experience spiritual delight in Torah.” There is a story of the Kotzker from a visit to his hometown of Tomishov. He received a grand welcome as a son of the town who “made it big.” As was the custom in those days, the Rebbe went to visit the yeshivos where the children studied Torah and tested the boys. He came to one school where the young boys were studying the end of parshas Bereishis, when the Torah recounts the generations from Adam to Noach, listing each patriarch of the generation, recounting the fact that he lived a certain number of years, had a certain number of children, and then he died. The Rebbe asked one boy to read and translate a few psukim. The boy read, “And Sheis lived one hundred and five years and he gave birth to Enosh... And it was that all of the days
to read. This one said, “And Keinan lived seventy years and he gave birth to Mehalalel... And it was that all the days of Keinan were nine hundred and ten years and he died.” Once again, the Kotzker shook his head and told the
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rebbe that he was not teaching the boys correctly. Dumbfounded, knowing that all of the boys had correctly translated the psukim, the boys’ rebbe asked the Kotzker how the psukim should be translated. The Rebbe then shouted, “And Keinan LIVED seventy years...” And then he whispered, “And he died.” He went on to explain: “For a Jew, the emphasis must be on what he lives for. Everything else and his ultimate death are only secondary.” May we merit to live for Torah and mitzvos, so that Yiddishkeit is our soul, our lifeblood, the source of life. By having a living, breathing, vibrant Yiddishkeit, may we merit to rectify the underlying cause of our exile and return to Yerushalayim with the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash and the coming of Moshiach, may it be 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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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Parsha
in 4
Parshas Acharei Mos By Eytan Kobre
Weekly Aggada With this shall Aharon come to the holy: with a young bull for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt-offering (Vayikra 16:3) R’ Yudan interpreted this verse – particularly the word “this” – as to the Kohen Gadol entering the Holy of Holies with bundles and bundles of good deeds in hand: in the merit of the Torah, which is referred to as “this” (Devarim 4:44); in the merit of milah, which is referred to as “this” (Bereishis 17:10); in the merit of Shabbos, which
is referred to as “this” (Yeshaya 56:2); in the merit of Yerushalayim, which is referred to as “this” (Yechezkel 5:5); in the merit of the Twelve Tribes, who are referred to as “this” (Bereishis 49:28); in the merit of Yehuda, who is referred to as “this” (Devarim 33:7); in the merit of the Jewish people, who are referred to as “this” (Shir HaShirim 7:8); in the merit of teruma (offerings), which is referred to as “this” (Shemos 25:3); in the merit of maasaros (tithes), which are referred to as “this” (Malachi 3:10); and in the merit of sacrifices, which are referred to as “this” (Vayikra 16:3).
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When Aharon would enter the Holy of Holies, it was “with this” – i.e., with all these good deeds that are referred to as “this” (Vayikra Rabba 21:6).
Weekly Mussar And Aharon shall lean both his hands upon the head of the living goat and confess upon it all the iniquities of the Jewish people, and all their transgressions, among all their sins; and he shall place upon the head of the goat, and send it away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness (Vayikra 16:21) This Yom Kippur ritual in the Bais HaMikdash involved two goats: one offered as a typical sacrifice; the other taken into the wilderness and cast off a cliff. The Kohen Gadol held a lottery to determine the fate of the respective goats. This striking ritual, explained R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch (B’Maaglei HaShana, Yom Kippur), is best understood through the lens of the second goat. At first, it appears that it “won” the lottery: the first goat is slaughtered, its skin is removed, its blood is sprinkled on the altar, and its body is burned. Meanwhile, a special kohen comes to parade the second goat through the streets of Yerushalayim as distinguished members of the Jewish people look on. The second goat surely believes its fate is far superior to that of its counterpart. But then reality hits the second goat: the kohen stops and prepares to cast it off the mountain. Sure, the first goat was killed – but at least it was killed as a sacrifice to G-d in the Bais HaMikdash. The second goat also ends up killed, but all alone, in a gruesome manner, in an empty wilderness. Our lives are much the same. To the
uninitiated, not following G-d’s commandments seems a far superior, far more liberated life: there are no burdens and no obligations and no restrictions; the observant Jew, on the other hand, is to be “pitied” for his hard work and sacrifice and loss of freedom. In the end, however, only the observant Jew wins: he or she may have lived a life of “sacrifice,” but, like the goat slaughtered in the Bais HaMikdash, that sacrifice brings the Jew closer to G-d. Meanwhile, the non-observant Jew appears to sacrifice little in his life, but all he achieves in the end is eternal “azazel,” emptiness. Sadly, like the second goat, many people are confronted by this harsh reality only at the last moment, shortly before death, when they can no longer change their fate.
Weekly Anecdote And it shall be a statute for you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall do no work, the citizen or the stranger who dwells among you (Vayikra 16:29) The yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel in the late 1940s were in dire straits: there just wasn’t enough money to support them, and many students went hungry routinely. The prominent rabbis of the time agreed that something had to be done. So they arranged an assembly of high-profile potential donors to whom they would appeal collectively on behalf of the yeshivos. It was agreed that the pitch would be made by the Ponovezher Rav, R’ Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, who was known as a powerful and moving orator. At the appointed time, the Ponovezher Rav ascended to the lectern.
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Dear brothers! You probably assume that I will tell you how fortunate you are to have abundant food and how destitute and unfortunate are the students we ask you to support. But I’m here to tell you just the opposite! Praised be the students and praised be their lot. They live in a world of light. No one is more fortunate than our students! You cannot fathom how much sweetness there is in a sugya of Gemara, in the logic of a Rashba, in a differentiation of a R’ Chaim (Soloveitchik), in a foundational concept of a R’ Shimon (Shkop)! The Ponovezher Rav continued in this manner for nearly an hour, gushing over the good fortunes of the students for whom he solicited aid. And then he descended from the lectern and made his way out of the room, leaving a deep impression on his audience. The famed rosh yeshiva of the Chevron Yeshiva, R’ Yechezkel Sarna, caught up with the Ponovezher Rav and asked for an explanation of his
bizarre approach. “The Rav was supposed to talk about what the students are lacking, not about what the they have; the Rav was to talk about how the students lack food, not about how they have Torah! What happened?” “What are you talking about?” replied the Ponovezher Rav. “The students learn 16 hours a day, and they eat for one hour a day. So what’s more important to discuss: what they do for 16 hours a day or what they do for one hour a day?” “It is true that the students only eat for one hour a day and learn Torah for 16 hours a day,” R’ Yechezkel acknowledged, “but they go hungry for 23 hours a day!” R’ Yaakov Galinsky used this anecdote to illustrate the magnitude of the mitzvah of fasting on Yom Kippur. There is a mitzvah to eat on Shabbos and Yom Tov, but eating only lasts for an hour or so a day. Fasting on Yom Kippur, on the other hand, spans more than 24 consecutive hours. How great is the reward for such a mitzvah!
Weekly Halacha And any man of the Jewish people or from the strangers who dwell among them who will trap a beast or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth (Vayikra 17:13) It is a positive commandment, known as kisui ha’dam, to cover the blood of an animal or bird that is slaughtered for consumption (Rambam, Shechita 14:1; Sefer HaChinuch 187). While the mitzvah rests primarily on the one slaughtering the animal, if that person fails to cover the blood, the mitzvah falls to others (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Dei’ah 28:8). The blessing of “al kisui dam b’afar” or “al kisui dam” is recited before covering the blood (Rambam Shechita 14:1; Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Dei’ah 28:2). There is a dispute as to whether one performing kisui ha’dam for the first time should recite the blessing
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of Shehechiyanu (Rama, Yoreh Dei’ah 28:2; Shach, Yoreh Dei’ah 28:5; Chochmas Adam 8:4). The mitzvah is performed by placing earth beneath and atop the blood (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Dei’ah 28:5). The act of covering the blood should be performed in a dignified manner, such as with one’s hand or a shovel, not simply by kicking earth onto the blood (Rambam, Shechita 14:16; Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Dei’ah 28:6). If no earth is available to cover the blood, one should, ideally, refrain from slaughtering until earth is available (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Dei’ah 28:21; Rambam, Yom Tov 3:1). The Weekly Halacha is not meant for practical purposes and is for discussion purposes only. Please consult your own rav for guidance. Eytan Kobre is a writer, speaker, and attorney living in Kew Gardens Hills. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail eakobre@outlook.com.
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Think, Feel, Grow
The Five Stages of Faith By Shmuel Reichman
A
s we depart from Pesach, the holiday of faith, we must reinforce our commitment to embarking on the journey of faith. There are five stages in this journey.
1. Emunah Peshutah – Simple Faith: The first is emunah peshutah. When you are two years old and still a child, you simply see reality as it is. No questions, no options – everything is pure, true, and beautiful.
2. Blind Faith: Then, you learn how to speak: The world suddenly becomes a mystery. You walk around in wonder and confusion; you have questions; you’re learning to communicate. If you’re taught to believe in Hashem, you do. Not because you have any reason to, but because your parents or teachers tell you that Hashem loves you, that He created you, that He cares about you,
and that “He gave you this delicious cookie as a present.”
3. Experiential Faith: However, as you get older, you want more. You want to meet Hashem, to talk to Him. You want to believe in Him, but you struggle, it’s hard. If only you could see Him, touch Him, or even hear Him, then you’d believe! You just want some indication that He’s here, watching, caring, just as you were told growing up. Every once in a while, an encounter with Hashem, the sublime, occurs. Maybe your life was saved, maybe you just made your flight or just missed it and later heard it crashed. Maybe you found your soulmate, did well on your test, or got the job. Maybe you had your first child, your illness was cured, or you won against all odds. Maybe you were just in the exact right place at the exact right time. Suddenly, you believe. It’s real –
at least to you. You’re convinced, you walk around as if floating on cloud nine. Life is good, pure, true, and beautiful. But somewhere along the line, this isn’t enough. You want more; you need more. Rational, logical, and philosophical questions come up. “If G-d exists then…” and “How can Ged exist if…” or “Why would G-d do….” Maybe your life falls apart and you cry out, “How could this have happened to me?!”
4. Rational Knowledge: This fourth stage is the rational stage. You need rational proofs: logic, philosophy, science, math, algorithms, and intellect, so you begin to collect proofs. A. The “Big Bang” may explain how the world came about, but where did the Big Bang come from? It must have come from Hashem. B. The world is so organized and sophisticated. It must have been cre-
ated. C. Quantum physics shows that the world is actually an expression of a supreme consciousness, so Hashem must be the neshama of the world. D. Einstein showed that time and space is relative, and only appears this way to us. But objectively there is a dimension that transcends time and space. Hashem must be that which transcends time and space! But this fourth stage is limited. You may have proved that Hashem exists, but so what? That doesn’t help you have a relationship with Him. It doesn’t help you truly know Him, to connect on the deepest level. As the Ramchal, Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, explains in his sefer Da’as TevunosThe Knowing Heart, rational proofs may reveal Hashem’s existence, but they don’t allow for a deeper understanding of Hashem. You may know that G-d exists, but what does that mean experientially, how does this
manifest in your actual experience of life? All you know is that G-d exists, but nothing more. This is why we need the fifth level.
5. Experiential KnowledgeTruly Experiencing and Knowing Hashem: There are certain things which cannot be explained rationally. They transcend logical and rational explanations; they can only be experienced. These are not irrational – they are post-rational. Reason and logic lead you to them, but only experience itself proves them. Once you’ve experienced them you cannot simply prove them to someone else, for one must experience it themselves in order to truly know them. For example, if someone has never eaten chocolate before, it is impossible to explain to them what it tastes like. They need to taste it and experience it themselves. The same is true for spiritual wisdom: A. Love can’t be explained, only experienced.
B. Goodness can only be experienced. C. The fact that you have free will is experienced every time you face a moral dilemma. D. The fact that life has meaning
The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015
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perienced deep within our consciousness, deep within our existential experience of reality. Deeper Torah knowledge as well requires this post-rational experience, as you weave your way into the inner
Belief is not a noun; it’s a verb.
and purpose is intrinsic to the human experience, and yet is impossible to prove. E. You know deep down that you are unique, that you were created for a reason, and that you have a unique mission in this world, yet again, it is impossible to prove. All of these things may defy logical and rational explanations, but are ex-
dimensions of Torah consciousness. At this stage, you see reality as it is. No questions, no options – everything is pure, true, beautiful. But then you notice something grand, euphoric, and unexplainable: this was the exact experience you had during the first stage. Your journey through life was actually the creation of an epic and cosmic circle!
You lost that transcendent connection of oneness, so that you could journey through life to rebuild it! Except this time, it’s real, it’s earned, and therefore it’s yours; you chose it, you built it, and now, you get to experience it. My friends, life is full of ups and downs, light and darkness, clarity and faith. Belief is not a noun; it’s a verb – something you must constantly build, mold, and develop. When in the midst of struggle and darkness, remember how far you’ve come, remember why you’re here, remember your why in life, and then push forward, push forward, and take the next leap forward in your journey of faith. Shmuel Reichman is an inspirational speaker who has spoken internationally at shuls, conferences, and in Jewish communities. You can find more inspirational shiurim, videos, and articles from Shmuel on Facebook and Yutorah.org. For all questions, thoughts, or bookings, please email shmuelreichman678@gmail.com.
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Home Home OCTOBER 29, 2015Jewish | The Jewish
World
Builders
It Is All Worth It By Lahav Peled
M
y name is Lahav Peled and I’ve been a volunteer with United Hatzalah for a bit more than a year. I live in Kiryat Tivon, a town near Haifa, in northern Israel. My family and I were visiting my wife’s parents in Qatzrin over the intermediate days of Pesach and while we were sitting down to eat, my bluebird device alerted me that there was a man choking near my location. I dropped my fork onto the table, made my apologies for leaving, and rushed out of the room. I got into my car and drove to the address listed on the location indicator on the map that had popped up on my phone. Qatzrin, while being the capital of the Golan region, is not a big city, and I arrived at the scene fairly quickly. When I walked in the door, I found a grown man trying to care for his elderly father of 84 years. The older man’s lips were blue, and I saw that there was a food tray nearby. I asked the son what had happened. He explained to me that he lives alone with
his father and that he has no other family on this earth. His father is everything to him and that he cares for him by himself. He was very agitated, I could tell. The father didn’t seem to be breathing but still had a pulse. I asked the
his throat. I picked the man up from his chair and performed the Heimlich maneuver. A piece of food shot out of his mouth on the fourth squeeze. The father began to cough and breathe once more. The son began to thank me profusely. As we waited for the
“Had I not been around to help this man, it is very likely that he would not have finished the holiday.”
son if his father had eaten anything, and he replied in the affirmative and said that he had stopped speaking a few moments ago and started turning blue. I checked the older man’s airway and indeed he was not breathing and some of the food was lodged in
ambulance to arrive, I looked after the father, provided him with oxygen, and calmed down the son. The danger was over. HIs father needed to still go to the hospital to receive further care, but for now, he was stable. The Golan Heights, and the city
of Qatzrin, in specific are relatively far from any hospital. It took about 15 minutes for the first ambulance to arrive. Had I not been around to help this man, it is very likely that he would not have finished the holiday. This was the first time that I had ever performed the Heimlich maneuver on someone. I’ve saved lives before, via CPR and other instances, but this was the first time I saved a life by myself. It is the greatest feeling in the world to know that I have saved a person’s life with my hands. I’m a police officer in my day-to-day job so I am accustomed to emergencies but saving someone’s life with my bare hands is still a relatively new feeling. This is what I joined United Hatzalah for, and I can say without a doubt in my mind, that as of today, every call I have ever responded to, all of the hours of training I’ve undergone to get here, they are all worth it to know that this man is alive and his son will not be in mourning today.
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future – RIETS and The Abraham Arbesfeld Kollel Yom Rishon / Millie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon Welcomes the 2019 Chidon Ha’Tanach
Tanach Yom Iyun Sunday, May 5, 2019 YESHIVA UNIVERSITY, WILF CAMPUS, NEW YORK CITY
Rabbi Jeremy Wieder
Rabbi David Forhman
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9:45 A.M. KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
11 A.M. BREAKOUT SESSION #1
11:50 A.M. BREAKOUT SESSION #2
Lamport Auditorium
Belfer Hall
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Rabbi Jeremy Wieder
Rabbi David Forhman
Rabbi Shalom Carmy
Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Founder and CEO, Aleph Beta
Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Bible Yeshiva College
Mrs. Yael Leibowitz RZA-Mizrachi ISRAEL360
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Register at www.yu.edu/TanachYomIyun Complimentary refreshments and parking
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MAY 2, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Researching Your Family
history,
time
One Document at a
By Malky Lowinger
A
s the number of Holocaust survivors among us diminishes, the level of interest in their stories is at an all time high. Family members are haunted by questions. What really happened to Zeidy’s three brothers who never returned? How did Bubby manage to travel to Switzerland? Did any members of Tanteh Blima’s family survive the horrors of Bergen-Belsen? So many questions, so few answers. Meanwhile, in a remote town in central Germany called Bad Arolsen, there stands a series of nondescript buildings. These buildings house millions of documents, probably the largest archive of the Nazi and postwar era. Many of these documents are the key to answering these heart wrenching questions. Millions of Holocaust victims unfortunately disappeared without a trace. But there were millions of others whose fates were meticulously documented by the Germans and the authorities at the time. The Bad Arolsen archive contains over fifty
million pieces of documentation with detailed information about 17.5 million civilians who were either victims or survivors of the War. It also includes vital postwar documentation. For many decades these archives were closed to the public. But in 2007, in response to increased worldwide pressure, the collection
archives were the subject of lots of media attention when they were first opened. But that has since quieted down.” Since then, the entire collection has been painstakingly digitized, a process that is still ongoing ten years later. “We have about 200 million digitized pages so far,” says Dr. Afoumado. The goal, she says, is to make
“Often these are the last pictures ever seen of that person.” was opened and made available to both historians and to families seeking information about their loved ones. Dr. Diane Afoumado, Chief of Research and Reference at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., has dedicated her career to providing this information to survivors and their families. “Ten years ago,” she says, “the
these pages accessible to the public. She encourages families to contact the ITS (International Tracing Service) office at the museum online to request any documentation or information about their family members. “It’s free of charge,” she notes. Thousands have taken advantage of ITS’s services already. On average, they receive 200 requests a month, mostly from families of sur-
vivors, both Jewish and non-Jewish. “We give priority to living survivors,” she points out, “especially those who are seeking compensation and need documentation to support their claims.” What type of documents are found in these archives? “Every aspect of a prisoner’s life was documented by the Nazis,” says Dr. Afoumado. “There are documents about internment and concentration camps, and about the ghettos and forced labor camps. These include prisoner files, medical files, and transfer lists. If a prisoner was sent from one barrack to another, it was probably documented.” Also fascinating, says Dr. Afoumado, are the documents about postwar Europe and the displaced persons camps. “For most people,” she points out, “the War did not end in 1945. It could have lasted for years afterwards, as survivors struggled to find each other or waited to emigrate. The collection gives us a picture of the world after the War, with documentation about individuals who requested to be transferred, repatriated, or emigrated. “ Researching the archives is not a
The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015
Children in the concentration camps
simple process. “You don’t just google the name,” says Dr. Afoumado. “This is the most complex historical database in the world.” It takes up to six months of training for an ITS staffer to learn how to navigate and cross-reference countless databases and computer files. “We are a tracing service, a repository of multiple sub-collections from different camps and sources. Some collections are indexed, others are catalogued. It’s not one size fits all,” she explains. Dr. Afoumado leads a team of five full-time and two part-time volunteer staff members. She encourages interested family members to “go online and search for research request forms. Submit a form with the individual’s full name and approximate date and place of birth.” The ITS will do the rest, at no cost. “Survivors,” says Dr. Afoumado, “will receive a response within a month of their request.” Others will have to wait longer. But for many, the wait is well worth it. “Many of the postwar forms include photos and often these are the last pictures ever seen of that person,” she notes. “When we discover a photo, we try to prepare the family before we send it as it can be an emotional experience for them.” So far, the ITS has received over 29,317 requests for information from 78 different countries around the world, and has already responded to 88 percent of these requests. But, says Dr. Afoumado, it’s not about the numbers. It’s about the people.
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The ITS Holocaust Archive in Bad Arolsen
She tells the story of a sixteenyear-old Jewish girl, Rihnata, who was helped during the War by a Polish boy named Carl. She was eventually deported and they lost track of each other after the War. “A few years ago, Rihnata’s daughter and granddaughter came to the museum. They told the story to my colleagues who found information about Rihnata and also about Carl, who now lives in Canada. We served as intermediaries and contacted Carl who agreed to speak to the family. It was amazing to connect these two families!” Another time, a family in Isra-
were never reunited. But the children did connect and discovered their long-lost cousins and are now one big happy family.
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r. Afoumado is clearly passionate about her work at ITS. Born in France, she began reading about the Holocaust as a teenager. “There weren’t many books back then,” she recalls, “but I got interested in the history
“We are like detectives of the past, trying to put together the pieces of a giant puzzle.” el contacted the ITS. Their father, who was still alive, was deported to Cracow during the War but had no information about the rest of his family. “He assumed they were all murdered,” says Dr. Afoumado. “But we did the research and found postwar documents for him as well as for a sister who survived and had also moved to Israel. That was a huge discovery.” Unfortunately, that sister had already passed away so the siblings
and started reading more and more. Eventually, I chose Holocaust research as my masters.” Today, she is a celebrated Holocaust scholar who lectures around the world. But her most cherished project is clearly ITS. “I’m lucky,” she says. “because I’m passionate about my work. At ITS, we are like detectives of the past, trying to put together the pieces of a giant puzzle. I can give you numbers and statistics but it’s not about that. It’s about the people, their lives and their deaths.
Our work reflects what happened to those people. That’s why every single document is important.” Still, she warns that about fifty percent of those seeking documentation or information will be disappointed. “It really depends on what happened to the person you are seeking information on,” she explains. “There is virtually no trace of anyone who was in hiding or of those who were murdered and buried in mass graves,” she adds. Dr. Afoumado empathizes with the families in these cases. “We know that sometimes this is the last hope for finding information. So we try to provide them with other resources to continue searching.” On the other hand, she says that the work of ITS is more significant now than ever. “There is more interest today in Holocaust research than ever before,” she says, “and not just by survivors. The second generation wants to know what happened, as does the third and even the fourth generation. Now that we have the technology for finding the answers this eagerness will continue to increase.” For Dr. Afoumado and her team, this work is tremendously rewarding. “We receive thank you notes and acknowledgements all the time,” she says. “I gather them and send them out to everyone at the museum. It makes us all so happy.” For more information about ITS, visit their website at its-arolsen.org.
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“He raises the needy from the dust, from the trash heaps He lifts the destitute, to seat them with the nobles, the nobles of His people.” —Tehillim, 113
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amuel Colman’s story is a saga of two lifetimes: that of a child of the Holocaust, running with his family from place to place to stay alive, battling hunger and death; and that of an elected official, who spent his adult years continually seeking and striving to improve the lives of those around him. Both stages, though, share a common thread – that of optimism, hope, and belief in Hashem’s loving guiding hand.
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE Samuel Colman was born to an observant Jewish family in Wadowice, Poland, in 1933. His family, originally named Zollman, moved to Yordanow shortly after. Colman’s earliest memories were of an idyllic childhood, surrounded by his loving parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the arrival of his younger brother, Nathan. He recalls being held in his father Jacob’s arms, his father dancing and singing along with Samuel’s mother, Sara. Colman evoked these images throughout the years while dancing with his own children, and later his grandchildren and great-grandchildren on Friday nights. He believes that it was those first six years of love and stability that kept him strong throughout all he endured and have influenced him until this day. As six-year-old Samuel prepared to enter first grade in September 1939, he was able to see that the
LIFTED FROM THE TRASH HEAPS The Journey of Judge Samuel Colman
By Tammy Mark
adults around him were troubled and observed them regularly gathering around the radio. News reports were foreboding until finally, on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland; with the town Yordanow being very close to the German border, the Colman family knew it was imperative for them to flee. The journey began. Jacob, Sara, Samuel, and two-year-old Nathan made their way through fields and
roads along with other Polish Jews. The Colmans eventually joined up with their cousins, the Staner family. The group of 14 traveled together, running for two weeks with the Germans on their heels, hoping that the chaos would turn into a brief conflict which would allow them to return home for good. But their hopes were dashed when they realized that Hitler was intent on Jewish destruction. Samuel remembers the German air-
force overhead shooting at them as they ran for cover and said Shema. The group finally found an apartment in the city of Luck, in the area of Western Ukraine, where Sara restarted her search for a school for her son, the education of her children being a priority no matter the circumstance. Their respite there, though, was short-lived. The Soviets considered the Polish Jewish refugees a threat, and the police raided their homes,
The Jewish | MAY29, 2, 2015 2019 The Jewish Home |Home OCTOBER
Sam with his mother, Sara, and his brother, Nathan
Samuel and Shifra when they were first married
herding them into trucks for transport to the railroad station, where there they were subsequently loaded into freight cars. Samuel remembers the discomfort and fear on the part of the adults which seeped into the children’s consciousness. The Colmans spent several weeks on the train, being hauled deeper
into Russia. Seven-year-old Samuel observed the wilderness around him and knew they were getting further and further away from any sort of civilization. They eventually arrived at a river where they boarded giant rafts made of logs; they floated for several days and nights. They then came to an isolated and uninhabited
harbor where they loaded their possessions onto wagons and followed on foot, trudging into a hot, gloomy forest that was dark in the middle of day. During this ordeal, Samuel remembers his father Jacob’s dejected sentiment, as well as his mother’s consistent optimism. “My mother was always very optimistic,” he recalls, “even on the way to Siberia, a hopeless situation in the middle of a dense forest with huge flies all over and mud. “After three weeks on the road to a gulag, the ox didn’t want to move. My father sat down on a stump, wiped his brow and said, ‘Look where we are – we’ll never get out of here’. My mother said, ‘Don’t talk nonsense. You’ll see the war will be over and one day we’ll be in Eretz Yisroel.’” The family finally arrived at a clearing where they were assigned a barrack and “settled” into their Siberian camp. Soon after, Jacob fell ill and, with no medical treatment available, died. He was only 42. His was the first death in their group. They later determined that he likely had a kidney disease and realized that perhaps he was suffering more than others – and more than anyone knew. Though the situation was gloomy and there was no Jewish life for them, Samuel and his cousins managed to attend a Russian school and established some sort of routine. Soon after Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, the family departed from Siberia and relocated to Kyrgyzstan, remaining there until 1944. During that time, Samuel remembers his and his brother’s stomachs constantly rumbling. He knew that his mother took even less food for herself during those years. Still together with the Staner family, the Colmans headed for the Ukraine in April 1944. Young Samuel worked with his mother in the field, listening to her stories that always imported ethical values and moral lessons. She told tales of the Zionist pioneers and always gave him hope that the war would soon end. When the Germans surrendered in May 1945, the Colmans returned by train to Poland, arriving in Krakow in 1946. Samuel, who had just
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turned 13, recalls how his uncle took him to shul to put on tefillin and be called up for an aliyah in honor of his becoming bar mitzvah. Samuel and Nathan lived in a children’s home run by the Mizrachi Zionist organization, where they were fed, clothed and given comfortable beds. It was there that the boys finally had some friends their own age and were able to experience Shabbos once again. Once settled, though, the family learned of the fate of some of their relatives, most of whom were killed. They soon realized the dangers of trying to resettle in Poland. Sara arranged to get her sons on a train headed to Palestine via Czechoslovakia and France and was able to follow the boys soon after. The Colman boys landed in Diablice, near Prague, and were housed
“I also believe that if a person wants to do something, Hashem helps him.” in barracks. They soon moved on to France and were placed in homes by age. 14-year-old Samuel was sent to Strasbourg, where he received Jewish education. He was very happy there and began a Shabbos morning routine that included walking to study Gemara on his own. While the initial plans were that the children travel to Israel to work the land on a kibbutz, Sara, again prioritizing education, felt strongly that Samuel should go to Israel with more advanced skills. She convinced a rabbi to help him move into a religious home for boys. At the Blum Home, at the age of 15, Samuel had his first taste of leisure time and activities just for pleasure. Sara soon remarried and prepared to leave to Israel with Nathan and her new husband. It was then
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At the end of his successful run for the NYS Assembly
recalls the thoughts and emotions he was experiencing at the time, pondering the long-term effects of certain choices and the influence of each episode on his future. His development into successful adulthood gave him the opportunity to look back on his early life with mature eyes. While Samuel then operated through intellect, he now views his journey through the lens of emotion – a luxury that was not available while he was trying to survive. At the age of 21, Samuel received a fateful letter from the American Consulate offering him the opportunity to come to the United States, eight years after he had applied. “I only realized later how much Hashem saved my life when the letter from the American Consulate came,” he expresses. “I had no idea what I was going to do. I realized if I went to Paris to live on my own, I would have been lost. My friends were lost. My mother was in Israel. I was alone.”
A NEW BEGINNING
Samuel at his swearing-in ceremony
that Samuel needed to begin thinking of his own future plans. He decided to continue his studies and pursue engineering while remaining immersed in Torah studies and residing at a rabbinical school in France. Though being very independent and responsible, and armed with his
mother’s love and support from afar, he nonetheless felt very alone with nobody to turn to for guidance at this pivotal time. In his recent memoir, Lifted from the Trash Heaps, Samuel tells his story of survival while pausing to reflect on these childhood experiences. He
After receiving the letter, Samuel made contact with relatives in the United States and then emigrated to the United States in 1954, armed with dictionaries and The New York Times. He continued his engineering studies at Brooklyn College and got his first job. Samuel met Shifra Schwed, a young woman who had survived the concentration camps, through his cousins. The pair married in 1957, and Samuel Colman became a citizen in 1959. After starting off in Brooklyn, the young couple ventured to Stamford, Connecticut, to be closer to Samuel’s work but there proved to be little Jewish life there for them. They visited Rockland County, New York, and were thrilled to find the community of Monsey where they would have the chance to raise their children in an openly Jewish neighborhood. Working and yet still in school, Samuel’s vocation was a significant part of his life. Attending night school only, it took him over eight years to complete his degree. His opportunities grew, and at one point Colman worked as an electrical engi-
neer in the defense industry. Though he worked many hours and the engineering profession was never truly financially rewarding, Colman is proud that he was almost always able to support his family. Shifra worked hard to help out where needed, working various jobs while volunteering in the community and raising their three children. The Colmans settled into their community, and Samuel became involved in the Rockland County Democratic Club. He felt a strong sense of social responsibility and soon became more and more involved in local government. In 1973, Samuel Colman was elected to the Rockland County Legislature. Once in a position to help others, Samuel practiced with compassion and always kept an inclusive mindset. His even-keeled demeanor and moderate outlook helped him flourish as he dealt with both the Orthodox and secular groups of the community. He tackled issues that continue in many communities today, such as the complexities of a diverse school district in Monsey. Two terms later, Samuel was elected to the New York State Assembly. “I had to be reasonable because I wanted to enter the general government, and because I wanted the secular and Orthodox to find common ground,” he notes. “It’s in our interests, and everyone’s interest, that all of the children in the United States should be well educated because they should make a living. Also, educated people are more tolerant,” he adds. Samuel fought to secure all legally available funds for yeshiva students. “The other side has to understand that the Orthodox are willing to and do pay, but would like to have some understanding,” he says. His pragmatic views were not always accepted. Samuel encountered those who had the attitude of only giving what they must and explains that many view a secular education in high regard and view nonpublic education in disdain. He insists, though, that it’s not anti-Semitism. “Some of them were Jews,” he notes. “They really believe that that’s the most important thing. I’d like to live with people that understand there’s public education and
The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015 The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
Samuel and Shifra with their children
Samuel and Shifra on a recent trip to Israel
non-public education, and they both have validity. We don’t ask to be given something that we’re not entitled to.” Samuel was able to appreciate the different factions of Jews and their contributions to the nation and the building of the State of Israel. “I do believe that G-d wanted every Jew to have a chelek in Jewish life and that the only way, in my opinion, that Moshiach can come is when all the Jews are somehow involved in Jewish life. I believe that every Jew has a function.” From establishing a community Holocaust commemoration and a center for Holocaust studies, to ex-
panding transportation in the suburban area and increasing daycare options, Samuel endeavored to help his community. Most of his efforts in the county legislature were to help make county government better and more responsible. Later on in his career he navigated complicated topics such as abortion rights and was successful in introducing several legislations that were passed into law. While Samuel accomplished a lot in Rockland County, he felt that there was much left undone. Some of the changes that he had instituted were not being utilized and he had many ideas for the future. He maintains
hope that the politicians who follow him will look back at his efforts and attempt to push forward. He feels the same about his work at the state level as well. “I hope I can live long enough to see what I tried to do, and started doing, succeed. I didn’t have enough time to do it on my own,” he laments. “If Hashem gave me another lifetime I would do it.” He notes, “When you do good, not everything costs money. The public thinks that every time a politician wants to do some good it will cost them money – not true. If a single mother can put her child in a daycare that she could afford, though it means it might cost the taxpayers a little bit to help her, it saves money. She will not be on welfare, she will have a productive life, she will pay taxes and it’s not just money – you’re saving a life. And it does save money in the end, though.” Samuel adds that he worked to help people with disabilities find employment as well. “Baruch Hashem, in every place I was I did my best and I got results. I was very eager to make a difference – not just to be a politician but to make a difference in the position I was in. There’s nothing wrong with politicians being ambitious,” he adds, although he notes, “The ambition of a politician should be to do a good job and rise higher in politics so he can do a better job.” He adds, “I’d like to inspire government officials to do good and convince them that it’s not always going to cost money. I would like to convince the public not to be sarcastic and disbelieving of politicians – to admire when a public official does something good and encourage them, encourage the good ones.”
ROSE-COLORED GLASSES “My mother was the optimist,” Samuel shares. “Although they were going to Siberia, where it was known that nobody ever came back, she ignored it. This helped her to survive. She always looked for schools for me, always looked to the future.” Samuel explains that Sara herself was given a superior Jewish education as compared to the standards of the time for a young girl in Poland. Even on
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the train back home from Russia his mother found someone to teach him fractions. Samuel is certain that his mother’s choices and strong sense of optimism impacted his outlook on life and kept him moving forward throughout his journey and until today. “I don’t know if it’s inherited, but I saw her example. And with her optimism, she did make it to Israel.” Sara died in 1996 at age 91, living happily as a Zionist in the State of Israel for close to 50 years. Nathan Colman grew up successfully in Israel, raised a family, and became a rabbi and educator. “When I reflect on our lives and specifically on our little Zollman-Colman family I am in awe of what our mother was able to accomplish, seemingly without really trying,” Samuel says. “She succeeded in that both her sons grew up to be religiously observant Jews who, with G-d’s help, were able to establish religiously observant families of their own. Additionally, something very important to her was that she saw both her sons obtain university education – and in my brother’s case she merited to raise a significant rabbinical scholar and academic scholar who taught Torah all his life.” That was her Yiddishe nachas. Samuel admits that faith and observance didn’t always come easily to him during his teenage years. “I was always observant…. I never stopped putting on tefillin…. It was very difficult to grow up in my kind of environment and in what I went through and be always full of emunah.” He adds, “Many of the friends I survived with did not survive spiritually. I had a philosophical attitude.” Samuel saw his friends leave home and leave religion. He realized he needed to do something, and he was fortunate to have found the rabbinical school. “That was a major spiritual watershed moment. If I didn’t do that, my whole life would have been different. I would not have met my wife because she was from a religious family. I came here and my uncle was religious. I was fine, baruch Hashem, I was lucky.” There was also a time in France when Samuel felt he was floundering psychologically. He knew that
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the rabbinical school wasn’t going to hold him indefinitely. When the letter from the American Consulate came, he had no one to turn to for advice. He had no grownup or true role model in his life. Even later in life, Samuel didn’t have people in his life whom he could ask advice. He notes that in general people don’t want to be intrusive and are conditioned not to ask probing questions. But sometimes asking about someone’s situation can be lifesaving. Samuel shares how someone from his community reached out to him one time during a rare period that he was out of engineering work. “I was out of work and only one man asked me what I was doing. Other people, because of kindness, didn’t ask,” he notes. This man, Avi Blumenfeld, helped Samuel find a job and even helped train him in a new field. “I learned something from Avi and from what he did. First of all, I give him a lot of credit, but also I try in my life to ask people gently about their
situation. People may need help and they’re not going to tell you.” Colman says this idea applies to all ages and at all stages of life. “People need guidance. Too much freedom is not good.” Samuel’s faith in G-d complements his faith in human capability. “Hashem leads you where you want to go. We have bechirat chafshit but if I look at my life, Hashem helped me in areas where you almost think He took away my bechirat chafshit. My idea that I should try to live in rabbinical school in France – nobody did that before – this saved my spiritual life. “Hakol bdei shamayim chutz miyirat shamayim – I believe that, but I also believe that if a person wants to do something, Hashem helps him. If he wants to do good, Hashem helps him. I sincerely believe that I was helped and it didn’t take away my bechirat chafshit. I wanted to do good, I wanted to survive spiritually despite tremendous odds, and Hashem helped me. Now I hope that I can inspire people who need it.”
GIVING WITH A GAVEL After serving in the New York State Legislature for 18 years, leaving home from Sunday to Thursday for six months at a time, Samuel thought it was time to be at home with Shifra but wasn’t personally or financially ready to retire. When a new position in Rockland County opened for a judge, Samuel set his sights on his next endeavor, but as he was not a lawyer, this was a seemingly impossible goal. With 18 years in the State Legislature, writing, advocating and debating laws while trying to reform the judicial system in New York State, Colman went up against a local lawyer and won. On January 2, 2003, near the age of 70, Samuel donned his black robe and became a judge in the Town of Ramapo Justice Court. Along with every opportunity comes new responsibility and so Samuel took a course on mediation to help his decision-making on the bench. Being a judge helped Samuel effect change as well. “The fact is that most people in jail are not educated for various reasons,” he notes. “When I was a judge that’s how I felt – we have them in jail, we have the opportunity to give them the tools so that they could, if they want to, become independent and functioning members of society. This was my approach as a judge – and I wish I had another lifetime because there are a lot more things to do.” Colman explains how he first became a Democrat. “I believe in social justice. I believe in equal opportunity. Wealthy people give the opportunity to their children. I believe it is society’s responsibility to give an opportunity to everyone,” he says. “We can’t impose equality and we shouldn’t – because people have to develop their own strengths and struggle and that’s how they become valuable to themselves and valuable to society – but I believe the government should participate to make sure we give opportunity to everyone.” One of his most notable memories on the bench came when he had the chance to help a teenage boy by handing down an easy judgement. Judge Colman told the boy to regis-
ter to take his General Equivalency Diploma and that he would remove his violations if he completed it. Samuel saw the boy’s transformation as he returned with the GED and wiped his slate clean. Samuel hopes that he went on to be successful. “The most important thing I tried to do, and had partial accomplishment in, was reforming the justice system. Some of that I accomplished – some small changes that are not so small – like reforming the grand jury system so that people should know that their job is not to only listen to the district attorney but also to protect the innocent. That is law in New
“I believe that every Jew has a function.”
York. It was always law, but people didn’t know.” Samuel served for eight years as a judge and is now fully retired, living in Florida with Shifra, taking immense pride and joy in their children, grandchildren and-great grandchildren. In the year 2000, Samuel and Shifra traveled back to Europe to revisit their birthplaces and returned to Samuel’s hometown of Yordanow together, 61 years after he first left. Looking back, Samuel reflects that in Poland, Jews never truly felt like full citizens. In the United States, though, an American is an American – regardless of religion or background. “I came into office as an idealist trying to do some good for those who sent me to legislate, as well as for society in general,” he says. “I left office as idealistic as I came in. Though I did not accomplish everything I wanted to do, I feel fulfilled and gratified that I was given the opportunity to serve in such a distinguished and worthwhile capacity and to be able to help others.” Judge Samuel Colman’s book, Lifted from the Trash Heaps, is available on Amazon.
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Dating Dialogue
What Would You Do If… Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters
Dear Navidaters,
Although I am only 15 years old, I read the Navidater column every week. I find it so interesting, but I mainly read it because my older sister is in shidduchim and it seems to be the only thing that my family thinks about, talks about and breathes. So, I figure that if I read your column, I’ll have a better idea regarding what all the fuss is about.
But the reason I’m writing in is because I feel as though my parents have been neglecting me and my younger siblings. Finding out about young men for my sister and researching them and talking to my older sister about how her dates went is all they all seem to be busy with. If I or one of my younger siblings ask my mother for anything, she is usually so preoccupied that we get ignored. I can’t even remember the last time my mother spent a Sunday with me or anyone else in the family for that matter. I’m starting to get really annoyed and I don’t know what to do or say to remind my mother that she actually has four other children besides our older sister. When I say something, her answer is usually something like, “your turn will come and we’ll give you just as much attention.” But something about her behavior and answer doesn’t seem right. Is it normal for a mother to drop everything because her firstborn is dating? What can I do to get a little attention?
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.
The Jewish | MAY29, 2, 2019 The Jewish Home |Home OCTOBER 2015 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015
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The Panel The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S. am not surprised by your letter. I hear from community members here in the Five Towns that teenagers read the Dating Dialogue column regularly. I am pleasantly surprised that you are bringing this issue to the panel. This speaks to your maturity. You are clearly in touch with your feelings of being neglected or shunted to the side in the wake of your mother’s preoccupation with your sister’s shidduchim. Instead of acting out and engaging in risky behavior to get your mother’s attention, you are asking adults outside of your family for advice. That is a good practice for the future, too, when issues come up in family relationships. Getting advice from a mentor, therapist, teacher, or another wise adult you know is a good idea. Getting back to the present, I suggest that you make a “date” to sit down with your mother and talk. Tell her in advance that you want to schedule a conversation about something that is on your mind. This simple action will show her that you are being mature, respectful of her time, and serious about your feelings. Then sit down and talk to her. Talk so that you will be heard. Don’t attack her; don’t put her on the defensive. She is probably feeling very vulnerable. Shidduchim make people feel vulnerable; they get “no’s.” They feel judged and gossiped about. They are humbled by a process which often feels unkind, competitive, and unmanageable. Parents, especially those who have not yet had a married child and are new to shidduchim, can feel insecure and very worried while their children are dating and trying to find their life partners. I would suggest that you sandwich your remarks. You can first say to your mother something like this: I know you are so busy taking care of the family and its needs. I would appreciate
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spending time doing things together, hanging out, going out together, and just talking. It feels like there is less of this lately. Can we schedule some time regularly for just the two of us? Can we plan some Sunday outings together as a family? Our family is really great, and I think we would all enjoy more quality time together. As you can see, you sandwiched your need as a request between two positive comments. This is a great tactic to use instead of direct criticism which is often interpreted as an attack. The sandwich method opens people up to hear the message in the middle and leaves them with a positive feeling. Also, notice that this script leaves out your sister and her shidduchim. It leaves out your feeling of lack of attention. I do think being strategic is the way to be now because your direct way of expressing your needs did not work. Your mother basically told you that you will have your turn. In other words, she told you that right now your sister’s shidduchim are front and center, and that’s the way it will be. By being strategic, you are reminding her that there is a family as well, with several members that comprise it. Two final suggestions that you can use in conjunction with this one: try talking to your father but make sure to plan your approach carefully. Think through how you will be heard and strategize accordingly. Another person who can help you is your school counselor. S/he is there to help you. Consult with resources available to you.
The Mother Sarah Schwartz Schreiber, P.A. oor lamb. Fifteen and feeling neglected. Approach the Parents. They truly love you. They’re just not efficient at multitasking. Tell them (together and separately) that you crave their attention. The cookies and milk; the warm and snug-
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gly bedtime rituals; the long Sundays at the mall. Fill in the blanks. Ask them if you could consult a professional (start with the school guidance counselor) to help you cope during this complicated period. Assure them you would never resort to risky behaviors; but hey, am I not also your daughter, with my own personal needs and challenges? Take heart. Soon your sister will be married. You and your siblings will get all the attention you seek and deserve. Until grandchild #1 arrives….
The Shadchan Michelle Mond took a poll of many “Siblings-InThe-Parsha” in preparation for
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Parenthood is the ultimate balancing act.
your question. It turns out, you are not alone. Many younger siblings feel this way in the midst of their older siblings’ time in shidduchim. Being a family in the parsha is not easy! This goes for any all-encompassing life-changing circumstances and is not limited to being a sibling of someone in the shidduch parsha. There are many things that have the potential to rock the boat of typical family dynamics. When a family has another baby, when a sibling finally does get married, planning
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a wedding, and the list goes on. It is normal for parents to be more preoccupied than usual during new stages of life, and it is important for the kids to cut their parents some slack and help out in any way they can. However, the business should not come at the expense of the other children feeling neglected. You mention that you have tried talking to your mother but it has fallen on deaf ears. What I am about to say is crucial in getting through to your mother: when it comes to dynamics like this, timing is everything. When she is in the midst of a crisis, i.e. networking, in the midst of a shidduch falling apart, juggling 500 things, emotionally charged, etc. it is not the best time for her to “take in” this realization. I understand that this is usually the time in which you feel neglected the most, but you must approach her during downtime. Think about it like a computer. When a bunch
of things are downloading, you’re trying to check your email, listen to music, and skype your cousin all at the same time, the computer will inevitably crash (or at least go much slower); you need to approach your mother with the same mentality. If that time barely ever comes, create it! Perhaps help your mother clean up after Shabbos and when the house is quiet and everything is nice and clean, tell her the following, “Mom, I’d love to make a cup of hot cocoa/coffee; do you want one too?” She will be thrilled. Then sit with her at the kitchen table and tell her how you feel, using “I” statements. Make it about yourself rather than saying, “You never make time for us anymore – all you care about is *Mindy and her shidduchim.” Some lines you can use are: “Mommy, I feel sad that we never talk anymore. I miss when we had fun times together as a family. I realize that shidduchim for *Mindy
is all encompassing, but I do wish we could possibly make time every day to spend time together, just like we are now. I realize that when it will be my time iy”H you will give me just as much of your time, but I will resent getting all that attention if it will come at the expense of my younger siblings feeling like they are suddenly on the sidelines. Maybe we can work on a system that despite the stress of shidduchim, we can still all be close?” I believe if you use this strategy you are very likely to succeed at finally getting through to your mother. If your mother fails to take the bait of having a nice sit-down conversation, you can try writing a heartfelt letter as well. I wish you much hatzlacha in this endeavor. In the zechus of your hard work bringing your family together during this stressful time, may Hashem make this tekufa pass very soon, and when it is your turn, it should be a speedy process as
Parents, especially those who have not yet had a married child and are new to shidduchim, can feel insecure and very worried while their children are dating.
well! *I don’t know your sister’s name. I am just using “Mindy” to help make things easier to understand.
The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015 The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
The Single Tova Wein ’ll answer your actual question first. You asked if it’s normal for a mother to drop everything and everyone because her child is in shidduchim. The easy answer is no – it’s not normal. You and your siblings
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are still in need of a mother – that has not changed. Maybe it would help to recognize that another “child” has entered the family circle, namely the “shadchan,” who requires a lot of your mother’s time, but surely there should be space in your mother’s life for everyone and everything, even though the amount of attention given to all will be less, for the time being. The
Pulling It All Together
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problem is that often women (otherwise perfectly normal women), who are entering this stage of life for the first time, with their first child, sometimes start acting in ways that are out of control. All the chatter, the pressure, the horror stories circulating, etc. can literally scare even the most rational people into thinking in unhealthy ways. And the collateral damage can be felt everywhere. Mothers can neglect themselves, their spouses, and, as you’ve experienced, their children. I think it’s great and I commend you for writing in. You
are probably the voice of many others like yourself who are having the same experiences. I think you should show this column to your mother. Hand the column over to her at a quiet moment in time, with a nice cup of tea and a yummy cookie or two. Ask her to please read it, and when she’s finished, ask her if she would be so kind as to discuss both your feelings and the suggestions of the panelists together. I think this is a great way to open up some meaningful dialogue with her regarding your experience and hopefully shake her up enough to allow her to look at the entire family unit and consider whether there is a better way to proceed.
your entire life. If everyone in the family is feeling neglected, it is a sign that it is time to restore balance and order to the family unit. If you are feeling stressed and neglecting yourself, that is also a sign that it is time to take care of yourself. Take a few hours on a Sunday, and a few quality minutes at night, to make sure you are checked in and connected with everyone. Tell yourself, “I am shelving shidduchim for the afternoon. See you tomorrow morning!” During very stressful times, some families like to create a new family ritual, like having dinners together or going for a Sunday morning bike ride or playing a long game together on Shabbos afternoon. It can be a beautiful statement that reinforces the family bond. Everyone knows that this family
is important. We matter to each other. The family will feel better, and you will feel better too!
The Navidaters Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists
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’m so glad you wrote in. Clearly, you are pretty incredible. At fifteen years old, you are writing into the panel to get clarity and guidance for your situation. You are also giving a voice to all the younger siblings out there whose families are in the parsha. Younger siblings…this one’s for you! (This one is also for moms and dads to appreciate the impact of shidduchim on the entire family unit.) You asked if your mother’s hyper-focus on your older sister is “normal.” Well, yes and no. I cannot validate you enough in that it shouldn’t be this way. I’m sending you oodles of validation. Your feelings are completely justified. However, it is “normal” in the sense that it does happen fairly often. You see, shidduchim can make parents a little meshuga. There is an enormous amount of pressure involved, and if you allow it, it can have the power to take over your life. Most parents get heavily involved in shidduchim, some to the point of neglecting other family members. Not because they are ill-intentioned, but because they love this child and want to see her happily married. When asked, your mother says something like, “I would do this for all of my children.” This is the evidence that she is
well-meaning. As the other panelists me nt ione d , it ’s time to have a conversation with your mother about your feelings. Approach your mother during a quiet time. Show her that you understand that she is well-intentioned and then let her know how things are impacting you. The panelists gave excellent script options. I am hopeful that after you approach your mother maturely and with sensitivity, she will able to truly hear you and your feelings. A note to parents: This parenting thing doesn’t come with instructions. The vast majority of parents are very well-meaning. We work like dogs to give our children a wonderful life. There are going to be times when one child needs more of our attention, and we feel incredibly pulled and torn. During these times, it is normal for our other children to feel neglected. Parenthood is the ultimate balancing act. If you see yourself in the mother of this author, please don’t judge yourself harshly. I see how stressful shidduchim are on the parents. Let it simply be a friendly reminder or eyeopener that shidduchim cannot take over
All the best, Jennifer
Esther Mann, LCSW and Jennifer Mann, LCSW are licensed psychotherapists and dating and relationship coaches working with individuals, couples and families in private practice in Hewlett, NY. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 516.224.7779. Press 1 for Esther, 2 for Jennifer. 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.
Hi Readers! Receiving your enthusiastic emails wanting to participate in the Reader’s Respond section has been wonderful! Just a reminder about how Reader Response works. Email thenavidaters@gmail. com with the subject line “Reader Response.” We will then ask you, in the order we receive your email, if you would like to respond to the coming week’s email. If you would like to respond to an already printed Navidaters Panel, please submit your answer to the editor at editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com. You can also join us on our FB page @thenavidaters on Sunday evenings to post your response to the week’s column. Interacting with you has been a pleasure! Thank you for all of your feedback. Esther and Jennifer
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Dr. Deb
Trauma in Children By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.
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hen I was five or so I would have this recurring nightmare. I would walk past an oil painting of my deceased grandmother and her eyes would follow me. I had been as close as a little kid can get to a grandma. When she died, I was heartbroken. So theoretically her being sort of alive in the painting could have been nice, like she was watching over me. But it didn’t feel that way. It was creepy. And scary. And it all started with a movie my parents let me watch on TV. After all, they were watching too. But guess what? Their presence did not prevent the creepy idea from getting stuck inside my head. Is that trauma? According to the “bible” that insurers require therapists to use, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders, it is not considered traumatic for children to have nightmares and fears resulting from electronic media. But this conclusion must be taken with a grain of salt: the latest DSM is disappointingly unreliable and invalid. And that’s according to those who should know. Dr. Allen Frances was the chairman of the last DSM, number IV. And his reaction to the new one, number 5 (yes, they went from Roman numerals to Arabic ones for marketing purposes): “This is the saddest moment in my 45 year career of studying, practicing, and teaching psychiatry. The Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association has given its final approval to a deeply flawed DSM 5.” Over the years thousands of studies have been done on the effects of TV – and now video games – on children.
The results have been mixed. One study of high school students showed that computer games could lead to nightmares – or to pleasant dreams! Many studies have concluded violent content leads to increased aggressive behavior. In the case under discussion, the child was five and the content was not violent but scary. What are parents to conclude? I’ve had parents coming in wondering how to abate their child’s nightmares after mistakenly letting them watch “children’s” movies, and other parents reporting that their children were not affected by similar con-
my grandmother had passed away. 3. The way ethics and aggression are handled in the show or game. When my children were very young, I was happy for them to watch Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street because they put fears and violence in proper context. I have noticed that current children’s movies often will do this, which is good. However, that is insufficient for the program to be safe. 4. The degree of graphic focus on violence or scary things. The last five years have shown a crop of movies that are just too graphic. Remember that we are primarily visual learners. Our
If a child has nightmares, we know something is amiss.
tent. To figure it out, I would consider the following: 1. The age of the child. Younger children’s brains have not matured enough for them to understand what is purely fiction and what is a reasonable threat. 2. What other stressors are in the child’s life. When a child is separated from parents, a parent or grandparent is sick, or, say, a child is bullied in school, that child will feel more vulnerable. A person in that position is more likely to be influenced by disturbing ideas. As it happens, I was watching this movie maybe a year or two after
brains attend better to visual stimuli than to auditory stimuli. (That is one reason why sites like Torah Anytime and Rabbi Fohrman’ alephbeta.org are so successful – we can focus better on the message when we have something visual to focus on.) Now, let’s return to the original question: if a child sees a scary movie and has nightmares, is that trauma? My answer is that that is actually the wrong question because it doesn’t really matter what you call it. If the child has nightmares, we know something is amiss. There is no reason for us to unnecessarily expose our children to
disturbing images. There’s nothing to gain and much to lose. Although we would not give too much weight to the DSM, if they do not consider nightmares resulting from electronic media to be trauma then Kal v’chomer anything they do consider to be traumatic must be really disturbing. Here is what the DSM considers trauma to a child younger than 6: Experiencing actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence either • directly • witnessing it happen to others • learning that it occurred to a parent or caregiver figure. With this, are various symptoms that may occur. And please note that “intrusive memories may not appear distressing and may be expressed as play enactment.” (DSM) Don’t overlook the seriousness of this last point. It is all too easy for adults to be callous, saying, “Oh, she’s fine” if a child is quiet and not acting out. Inquire! Find out what the play is all about. Listen openly, not dismissively. Now before you breathe a sigh of relief, consider that young children don’t grasp nuances and metaphors. If, in a fit of pique, you say, “I’m going to kill you” or “I wish you weren’t born” rest assured your child will take that literally. And that could, indeed, be traumatic.
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
Post-Pesach Pounds By Aliza Beer MS, RD, CDN
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f you found yourself on the last day of Pesach struggling to fit into your clothes, you may have eaten too much potato starch and matzah. Vacations and holidays often come with a high-calorie price. Now that Pesach has come to an end, it’s time to face the reality we call the scale. Contrary to popular belief, matzah does, in fact, have calories. And those long afternoons in the tearoom add even more to the scale. Indulgence is synonymous with our yomim tovim. Although five pounds may not seem like a lot now, people mistakenly procrastinate and do not jump on a diet right away to immediately evict the unwanted pounds before they become permanent residents in their bodies. But they’re misguided. Summer is almost here and when the weather is great, you want to feel and look your best. It starts with shedding the “Pesach pounds” as quickly as they arrived and introducing some new healthy habits into your routine. Adhering to a regimen after vacation is crucial. If not taken care of, weight gain will remain and build over time. The longer you let a weight gain stick to you, it has been proven to be harder to get rid of. Although your mother-in-law’s Pe-
sach lukshen is delicious, it’s time to get back on track with eight steps to losing your post-Pesach pounds: 1. Your day will be a radically different by starting off with a healthy breakfast. A good breakfast keeps your blood sugar stable, keeping your body from experiencing a type of hunger that would normally cause you to reach for the wrong foods. Breakfast will keep you from overeating during the day and especially at night. Instead of having sugary cereal and milk in the morning, try a bowl of whole oats with fresh fruit and almond butter. The latter is chock full of whole grains, vitamins, and minerals. Alternatively, eggs and a slice of whole grain toast can be extremely filling and healthy. This provides protein and fiber in one meal, keeping you satisfied throughout your morning. 2. Your pantry is probably cleared and ready to be restocked. The best method to start cleaning up your diet is through the foods you buy. Begin by eliminating processed foods and replace them with whole, healthy alternatives. The term “processed foods” can be subdivided into three categories: refined sugar, white flour, and trans-fat. Cutting these out of your daily munching can have a huge
effect on your health, weight, and overall wellbeing. Buying non-processed foods involves a little effort. Swap out chicken nuggets which are full of sodium for plain chicken breasts you can marinate and grill. For snacking, homemade granola with plain yogurt or unsweetened applesauce are great choices. 3. You may be tempted to skip meals in an attempt to lose weight fast. No pun intended, but skip it. Eating fewer meals causes your metabolism to actually slow down, making it more difficult to lose weight in the long run. When your body doesn’t get the energy it needs, it demands it. Your cells will cause you to crave foods, and since sugar provides us with a lot of energy, it will cause you to crave even more sugar. Skipping meals will also cause your blood sugar to fall. Low blood sugar alters our moods and causes stress. Who wants stress after Pesach?! Our bodies function on the foods we eat. Simply not eating does not make you healthier, in fact, quite the opposite. So, instead of skipping meals, try portion control. Eating less food more frequently (as in smaller portions), will keep you full and curb your appetite. Meal prepping is a great way to avoid not having food at the ready.
Prep lunch for the next few days or just plan your meals in your mind, or log a plan on your phone, so you’re ready for the day! 4. H2O is your best friend. Drinking water throughout the day will help you get rid of your pounds faster. As a bonus, getting into the habit of drinking at least 8 to 10 glasses of water during the summer months is crucial to beating dehydration. Water will suppress your appetite throughout the day so it’s a great tool for weight loss. Although soda, coffee, and juice do count as water intake, they’re heavy in sugar and calories and should be avoided. Stay hydrated with water or naturally flavored seltzer instead. 5. Whether you exercised in the weeks leading up to Pesach or you maybe powerwalked once a month, it’s time to permanently introduce workouts into your life. Motivating yourself to exercise is a daunting task but it doesn’t have to be. Exercising helps you burn calories. You just experienced a surplus in food intake over the week and need to make up for that by hitting the gym. Most weight loss comes from dietary changes but the benefits of working out go beyond just weight. Those who have a regular exercise regimen are at a lower risk for
a host of diseases including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer. Exercising doesn’t just help you lose weight; it helps you shed fat and build muscle. Your workout routine should involve both cardio and resistance training. There’s a common misconception that weights make women bulky. There is little evidence to support this claim, and weight training in particular is vital in preventing osteoporosis. 6. Reduce the red meat. Most chagim include an abundance of red meat, i.e. beef, lamb, and veal, which is very high in fat, cholesterol and calories – and Pesach is no exception. Try eating more fish in the weeks post-Pesach; it will be good for your heart health and great for your waistline. 7. Timing is everything. You can be perfect all day, but if you get snacky at night then you won’t be able to lose a pound. If you keep your nights clean and don’t eat anything after dinner, the scale will be down the next morning. Why? Because the food we eat at night
is just sticking to us and not going anywhere. Our metabolism slows down over the course of the day and is not utilizing the food we consume at night like it did earlier today. If you must have a sweet, then indulge earlier in the day, preferably the morning, and
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that knowledge will give you the impetus to get back on track, making positive health and lifestyle changes. It’s wonderful that we get to enjoy vacations and holidays and bask in amazing food, but the feeling of dread many people get when they return can
Our systems crave healthy food, lots of water, and movement.
stick to just a few bites. 8. Face the scale. Don’t be afraid to get on the scale immediately after Pesach; it’s good to see the number and set your goal. Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is wealth. If you maintained your weight over yom tov, then you will feel accomplished. And if you gained,
offset an otherwise beautiful yom tov. No one can deny the overabundance of food and alcohol in just one seder night. Fortunately, an indulgent week does not necessarily lead to an indulgent lifestyle! The amazing part about our bodies is that they spring back nicely, and the damage is not irrevers-
ible. Our systems crave healthy food, lots of water, and movement, so introducing that into your routine will lead to better functioning. Instead of looking at these tips as a temporary detox, the goal is to create new habits and a healthier lifestyle. By eliminating the stress of yoyo-dieting, you eliminate that exhausting panic of needing to drop five pounds before and after every yom tov. Healthy eating can be a way of life and weight can be maintained in a comfortable range, while still being able to eat satisfying, delicious meals and snacks. Especially after Pesach, it is crucial to get back to eating good quality foods that allow our bodies to function at their peak.
Aliza Beer is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutrition. She has a private practice in Cedarhurst, NY. Patients’ success has been featured on the Dr. Oz show. Aliza can be reached at alizabeer@gmail.com, and you can follow her on Instagram at @alizabeer.
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Health & F tness
The Measles By Hylton I. Lightman, MD, DCH (SA), FAAP
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he Pesach dishes are packed away, and chometz is now back What is your pediatrician thinking about? The measles. Yes, the measles. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there is a measles outbreak in the United States, Europe and Israel and the Orthodox Jewish world is unfortunately at its epicenter. It’s scary. But it’s even more scary because we Jews have been mobile and social during the recent Pesach holiday. Seminary and yeshiva students came home. Families traveled to be with families and others, whether in the continental United States or overseas. Does anyone have a ballpark idea of the final number of our brethren who descended on Orlando, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Morocco and other locations where Pesach programs abounded? Jews flocked for chol hamoed trips to Niagara Falls, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and Virginia. And that’s just the East Coast. We’re coming off quite a curve of mixing and mingling. And it takes just one cough or sneeze of someone whose nose and mucous is infected with the measles virus to spread this highly communicable disease that was all but eradicated nearly two decades ago. I’m not here to judge. I am sharing my opinion that vaccines save lives and that no child should be left unvaccinated. I’m from South Africa and I saw the ravages of this disease firsthand. People can die from it. If one does not die, there can be nonetheless long-term
medical consequences in some cases. It is tragic that in contemporary Madagascar, there have been over 1,000 deaths from the measles. Here is important information. The MMR vaccine is safe and effective, even for people who have egg-related allergies. Perhaps you’ve declined this vaccine for your child until now. Then please reconsider the science and the risk to your child and the community if you choose to continue not vaccinating. If your children are already immunized with the MMR, then you have less to worry about during this outbreak. The MMR is typically given after12 months of age and triggers a 95% certainty for immunity for life. The 2nd dose, which is classically administered at the 4-year well visit, boosts that immunity into the 98-99th percentile. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a child who has had two MMR vaccines should not necessarily require a booster during their lifetime. If you are living in a “MMR-at-risk” area and your child has not yet received the second MMR and is not yet 4 years old, then please pause reading this article and phone your pediatrician to schedule an appointment. It’s okay to have the second MMR as long as at least 30 days have passed since the first MMR. The takeaway: an immunized child can go to school and shul during a measles outbreak because the MMR vaccine is effective. The MMR vaccine provides almost lifelong immunity. Look at how far medical science has
brought us. Wow. Let’s now talk about infants who are too young to have received the MMR vaccine. While these little ones can be at risk during a measles outbreak, the good news is that most of us, depending on our ages (more on this later), have either had the measles or have been immunized against it so we are not spreading it. For babies ages 6 months or younger, moms are key. If Mommy has either had the measles or the vaccine, she has passed the antibodies during fetal development in utero or through breastfeeding. The antibodies are thought to provide protection to up to 6 months of age. Yet as a baby ages, immunity wanes and immunizing is important. We don’t give the MMR earlier because it would be “wasted,” meaning Mom’s antibodies are active, present and doing their “gig.” If the MMR vaccine would be administered at this point, it is highly likely that any immunity it would offer would be absorbed by Mommy’s antibodies and the baby’s own immune system would not be stimulated. The CDC recommends that if you are traveling internationally with your infant who is between 6-12 months of age or this infant is in a group babysitting situation, then make sure he receives a MMR vaccine. This vaccine will be given again after 12 months of age and at least 30 days after the first one. Please note that not every person has an immune response, even after two MMR vaccines. This is the exception and not the rule.
Let’s say there is a measles outbreak and you have a family simcha. What should you do? If you have a young infant, it’s still best to put a wide berth between them and someone you know who is not immunized. As the adage goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” You can always photoshop them into a picture. Is it safe for your child to be in school during a measles outbreak? Yes! As parents, you have every right to approach your children’s school district to find out the numbers of kids who are properly immunized. It is also your right to ask your school administration or school nurse for the same information. Now you can understand why schools are strict about having upto-date immunization records for their students. Adults who are living in or traveling to areas where there are measles outbreaks should check their vaccination status or get a second dose of the MMR vaccine. Knowing your vaccination status can be tricky for an adult because it can be nearly impossible to resurrect old vaccine records. It is most likely that people vaccinated in the United States since 1989 have had at least two MMR doses. Again, two doses are the standard for protection. Anyone vaccinated between 1963 and 1989 most likely received only one dose of the inactivated vaccine. Americans born prior to 1957 are considered to be immune because it is most likely that they were exposed to measles during an outbreak. If you are an adult who does not have ready access to your health re-
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cords, it is recommended that you consult your physician about measuring your measles titers. If this blood test shows that you lack immunity, then a MMR vaccine is in order for you. There are people who should NOT receive the measles vaccine. They include: • Anyone who had a severe allergic reaction like generalized swelling of hives or swelling of lips or throat after the first vaccine. • Anyone knowing they are allergic to a component of the vaccine, i.e., gelatin. • A pregnant woman. Pregnancy should be avoided for 4 weeks post-vaccine. • Severely immunocompromised people, i.e., people with leukemia, lymphoma, congenital immunodeficiency, generalized malignancy. Let’s say you or your child has been exposed to measles over the recent Pesach break. What is there to do? It takes about 10-12 days after exposure to measles for the first symp-
tom, which is usually fever, to appear. The measles rash will appear about 2-3 days after the fever, meaning 1215 days after the initial exposure. The rash usually begins at the hairline and then moves downwards on the face and neck and then the body. In addition to a fever, it is accompanied by a runny
cerned (but not hysterical). Notification of the exposure should be communicated immediately to your doctor. If you have not yet received the measles vaccine, it can be given within 72 hours of exposure, although its efficacy is questionable. It is likely that your physician’s of-
The MMR vaccine provides almost lifelong immunity.
nose, pink eye, and loss of appetite. Measles is highly contagious and can be transmitted from 4 days BEFORE the rash appears to 4 days AFTER it appears. Because of this time lag and the socializing and traveling that transpired over Pesach, there is reason to be con-
fice will have some kind of measles plan in place. In my office, one of my colleagues or I will speak with the parent to ascertain what, if any, exposure has taken place. If we deem that the child needs to be seen, we will come to the car to examine the patient. Thank G-d, we wear
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our stethoscopes around our necks and in our ears and they are not attached to the wall. If we diagnose the measles, the poor sick child will be sent directly home and into bed, with Mommy and Tatty on alert. We will question and question you to ascertain where your child has been and was exposed to whom. Please know that if we need to activate this step, we are doing so in order to contain the disease. If your baby is 12 months or younger and has been exposed to the measles, time is of the essence in informing your pediatrician. An immunoglobulin shot may mitigate the consequences of the exposure. We are here to prevent and, if necessary, to help. As always, daven. Dr. Hylton I. Lightman is a pediatrician and Medical Director of Total Family Care of the 5 Towns and Rockaway PC. He can be reached at drlightman@totalfamilycaremd.com, on Instagram at Dr.Lightman_ or visit him on Facebook.
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In The K
tchen
Buttery Cheese Blintzes By Naomi Nachman
Photo credit: Melinda Strauss
Who can resist the smell and taste of warm, freshly-made cheese blintzes made with real Breakstone’s Butter? The crepes are cooked in a buttery pan, until the butter turns them golden brown and the delicious aroma of the cheese, cinnamon and butter awaken your appetite. You can feel the deep, rich buttery flavor as you take your first mouthwatering bite.
Ingredients Blintzes 6 eggs 3 TBS potato starch ½ tsp salt ½ cup water
Cheese Filling 1 egg yolk 2 TBS sugar 1 cup farmers cheese 1 cup creamed cottage cheese ¼ tsp vanilla extract 1 TBS melted Breakstone’s Butter Pinch of cinnamon Butter for frying
Preparation Prepare the blintzes: Combine and beat well (you can use a hand mixer). Heat greased pan and pour enough mixture just to cover bottom. Once mixture has set and cooked through, place on a plate to cool. Repeat until batter is finished, making a stack. Prepare the cheese filling: In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolk and sugar; beat until thick and yellow. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. To assemble: Place approximately ¼ cup filling into the center of each crepe; fold bottom of crepe over filling. Fold in sides; roll up to the top edge to form egg rolls. Melt enough butter to coat the bottom of a frying pan; fry the blintzes for approximately 2 minutes per side, until brown.
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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Notable Quotes “Say What?!”
From here on in I am going to be more brazen. I am going to be even more proud about walking down the street wearing my tzitzit and kippah, acknowledging G-d’s presence. And I’m going to use my voice until I am hoarse to urge my fellow Jews to do Jewish. To light candles before Shabbat. To put up mezuzas on their doorposts. To do acts of kindness. And to show up in synagogue — especially this coming Shabbat.
I got that paranoia when you think the whole world is after you. I thought there was somebody behind me every single day. It’s hard living your life when you have the ticket everybody wants. - Manuel Franco, 24, of Wisconsin, talking about what happened when he noticed last week that he had the winning ticket for the $768 million Powerball prize
I am a proud emissary of ChabadLubavitch, a movement of Hasidic Judaism. Our leader, the great Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, famously taught that a little light expels a lot of darkness. That is why Chabad rabbis travel all over the world to set up Jewish communities: I have colleagues in Kathmandu, in Ghana, as well as in Paris and Sydney. We believe that helping any human being tap into their divine spark is a step toward fixing this broken world and bringing closer the redemption of humanity. It is why 33 years ago my wife and I came to this corner of California to build a house of light. - From an op-ed by Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, rabbi of the Chabad of Poway
The Emperor of Japan has announced that he is giving up the throne. If you want to know more about it, just read the fifty articles that Prince Charles taped to the Queen of England’s fridge. -Jimmy Fallon
I think there is enough there that any other person who had engaged in those acts would certainly have been indicted. - Hillary Clinton talking about the Mueller report’s conclusions at the Time 100 Conference
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Living it up
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Thank you to brilliant and highly respected attorney Alan Dershowitz for destroying the very dumb legal argument of “Judge” Andrew Napolitano.... Ever since Andrew came to my office to ask that I appoint him to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I said NO, he has been very hostile! Also asked for pardon for his friend. A good “pal” of low ratings Shepard Smith. – Tweet by Pres. Trump about Fox News’ legal analyst Andrew Napolitano who has flipped in the past year from being one of Trump’s supporters to one of his most outspoken critics
I thought the president’s comments were brilliant—he wanted to divert attention from what Mueller had said about him, and what I had commented about Mueller, to his relationship with me. - Napolitano, responding to Trump’s criticism
I don’t want to dwell on the president. This is not his dinner. It’s ours, and it should stay ours. But I do want to say this. In nearly 23 years as a reporter, I’ve been physically assaulted by Republicans and Democrats, spat on, shoved, had [garbage] thrown at me. I’ve been told by senior administration officials of both major parties that I will never work in Washington again. And yet, I still separate my career into the period before February 2017 and what came after. That’s because February 2017 is when the President of the United States called us the “enemies of the people.” A few days later I was driving my then-11-year-old son somewhere, probably soccer practice, when he burst into tears and asked me, “Is Donald Trump going to put you in prison?” - Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, speaking at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night
But I will tell you, I’m doing everything I can right now, spending this time with you — not with our kiddos, not back home in El Paso — because I want to sacrifice everything to make sure that we meet this moment of truth with everything we’ve got. - Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke when asked at a campaign event why he hardly gave any charity last year
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Imagine if the New York Times cartoon that depicted Israel’s prime minister as a dog had, instead, depicted the leader of another ethnic or gender group in a similar manner? If you think that is hard to imagine, you are absolutely right. It would be inconceivable for a Times editor to have allowed the portrayal of a Muslim leader as a dog; or the leader of any other ethnic or gender group in so dehumanizing a manner. - Alan Dershowitz, writing about the vicious anti-Semitic cartoon in The New York Times international edition last week
The New York Times should be especially sensitive to this issue, because they were on the wrong side of history when it came to reporting the Holocaust. They deliberately buried the story because their Jewish owners wanted to distance themselves from Jewish concerns. They were also on the wrong side of history when it came to the establishment of the nation-state of the Jewish people, following the Holocaust. When it comes to Jews and Israel, The New York Times is still on the wrong side of history.
I’m not bothered by the thought of my death. - Warren Buffett, in an interview with the Financial Times talking about why he doesn’t stop his soda guzzling and McDonald’s chomping habits
- Ibid.
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You look at what Russia did, buying some Facebook ads and trying to sow dissent, it’s a terrible thing. But I think the investigations and all of the speculation that’s happened for the last two years has had a much harsher impact on our democracy than a couple of Facebook ads. I spent $160,000 on Facebook every three hours during the campaign. If you look at the magnitude of what they did and what they accomplished, the ensuing investigations have been way more harmful. - Jared Kushner at the Time 100 Conference
The CIA has now launched its own account on Instagram. It sounds cool until you get a notification that the CIA is now following you. – Jimmy Fallon
Yes, even for terrible people, because once you start chipping away and you say, “Well, that guy committed a terrible crime, not going to let him vote. Well, that person did that. Not going to let that person vote,” you’re running down a slippery slope. - 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) when asked at a town hall if the Boston bomber, who placed a bomb at the feet of a 9-year-old boy eating ice cream, should be allowed to vote
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Political Crossfire
Impeaching Trump Will Only Help Him By Marc A. Thiessen
P
resident Trump has called the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt” nearly two hundred times on social media alone. Well, the special counsel concluded he was not a witch. After carefully scrutinizing any links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, Robert Mueller definitively declared “the investigation did not establish that the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” He didn’t do it. Still, several leading Democrats have called for Trump’s impeachment on obstruction-of-justice charges. This is absurd. The lesson of Watergate, we are told, is that the coverup is always worse than the crime. But in Watergate, there was a crime to cover up. We now know that Trump committed no crime. There was nothing to cover up. As Mueller put it, “unlike cases in which a subject engages in obstruction of justice to cover up a crime, the evidence we obtained did not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference.” This lack of an “underlying crime” is the source of Trump’s justified outrage over the Mueller investigation. Imagine that you were accused of a crime you knew you did not commit and a special counsel was appointed who spent nearly two years and more than $25 million investigating you. You’d be angry and frustrated. You’d want someone to stand up for you,
defend your interests, and stop the insanity. For two years, Trump watched as the investigation dragged on, weighing down his presidency. He had to endure being accused of “treason” and crimes of “a size and scope probably beyond Watergate.” He listened as members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, and former intelligence officials, led Americans to believe that they had seen secret evidence showing he had colluded
Gahn did not do and Trump did not press the matter) is not evidence of obstruction; it is evidence of exasperation. The president has a right to vent in private to his staff. Remember, the only reason Mueller knew about his private exchanges with McGahn is because Trump put no restrictions on McGahn’s cooperation. The president could have asserted privilege, but declined to do so. He let McGahn spend some 30 hours with Mueller, sharing details, according to The New York
If Democrats want to pursue impeachment nonetheless, then to quote Ronald Reagan quoting Clint Eastwood: “Go ahead, make my day.”
with Russia – evidence he knew did not exist. Of course, he wanted the investigation to end. But he didn’t end it. He didn’t obstruct justice because nothing was obstructed. Mueller was allowed to finish his work. The White House cooperated, sharing millions of pages of documents and giving Mueller access to dozens of senior officials. The fact that Trump railed against Mueller to aides and told White House counsel Donald McGahn to fire Mueller (which Mc-
Times, “that investigators would not have learned of otherwise.” This is evidence of Trump’s cooperation, not obstruction. As a result of this cooperation, the special counsel’s report contains some embarrassing moments for the president. But it also proves that Trump was telling the truth when it came to the central question of the investigation: he did not conspire with Russia. If Democrats want to purse impeachment nonetheless, then to quote Ronald Reagan quoting Clint
Eastwood: “Go ahead, make my day.” Impeachment over anything other than a conspiracy with Russia will backfire with the American people and help ensure Trump’s reelection. First, it will fail, because two-thirds of the Senate will not vote to convict the president. Second, Trump’s supporters will see an impeachment effort as an attempted coup d’état, energizing his base ahead of the 2020 election. And third, it will be seen as partisan and unfair by persuadable voters, who will not appreciate politicians second-guessing the conclusions of an impartial investigation. Want to push Trump’s approval above 50 percent? Try to impeach him. While Democrats debate pursuing impeachment, they are also abusing their powers to get Trump’s tax returns in the hope they will provide what the Mueller investigation did not: evidence of something incriminating. Does anyone really believe that the House Ways and Means Committee wants Trump’s returns to assess how “the IRS audits and enforces the Federal tax laws against a president”? Please. There is no legitimate legislative purpose for this request. Both the Democrats’ attempt to misuse a 1920s law to violate Trump’s privacy and their partisan response to the Mueller report make clear that they are seeking any pretext to oust Trump. But the only thing they will succeed in doing is eliciting sympathy for an otherwise unsympathetic president. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group
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Political Crossfire
Biden Might Offer a Restful Break for Weary Voters By George F. Will
T
hree days before Joe Biden dove back into the deep end of the political pool, a rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said the terrorist who bombed the 2013 Boston Marathon, and everyone else in America’s prisons, should be allowed to vote, lest the “chipping away” of voting rights leave America “running down a slippery slope.” Such running – to be fair to the faux independent (he caucuses with Senate Democrats; he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination) – does sound dangerous. Another Biden rival, California Sen. Kamala Harris, utilized the sort of verbal fudge that many Democratic presidential candidates resort to when they are terrified that they might be neglecting to stroke some obscure erogenous zone on the party’s progressive base. She initially said Sanders’ idea should be part of a “conversation,” which is basically what she (and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren) said about “reparations” for slavery. One or more of Biden’s rivals have endorsed, or at least deemed conversation-worthy, many ideas not uppermost in most voters’ minds: socialism, the Green New Deal, packing the Supreme Court, abolishing ICE and the Electoral College, free college, votes for 16-year-olds, “Medicare for All” (and private health insurance for no one), etc. Biden’s campaign slogan should be: “How about a president who doesn’t make the current one look less loony than he is?” The large progressive component
of the Democratic nominating electorate, comfortable in its intellectual silo, seems to have convinced itself of this: Because Donald Trump constantly makes sensible people wince, any Democratic nominee, even one from progressivism’s wilder shores, can win, so no nominee should be (in President John Quincy Adams’ 1825 words) “palsied by the will of our constituents.” (Adams lost the 1828 election to the populist Andrew Jackson, whose por-
if they favor reviving this policy that helped Republicans win four of five presidential elections between 1972 and 1988. Some non-delusional Democrats are thinking, not unreasonably, about how their party might carry Arizona, Georgia and even Texas, which have 11, 16 and 38 electoral votes, respectively. (Trump’s electoral-vote margin was 77.) Arizona has not voted Democratic since 1996, but in 2016 Trump defeated Hil-
Biden’s campaign slogan should be: “How about a president who doesn’t make the current one look less loony than he is?”
trait adorns the current populist president’s Oval Office.) Biden has already begun the requisite apology grovel whereby Democratic aspirants try to make amends for various violations of progressive orthodoxy. For example, in the 1970s, Biden was critical of court-ordered busing of (other people’s) children to schools outside their neighborhoods, supposedly in order to achieve “desegregation” but actually to engineer a court-desired racial balance. It would be fun if Biden would (he won’t) sweetly ask his rivals
lary Clinton more narrowly there (3.5 percentage points) than in Ohio (8.1 points). Georgia last voted Democratic in 1992, but Trump defeated Clinton much less handily there (5.1 points) than he did in Missouri (18.6 points). Texas last voted Democratic in 1976, but Trump’s margin over Clinton was smaller there (9 points) than in Iowa (9.4 points). So, which Democrat is more likely than Biden to win one or more of those states? However, first things first: Who is most likely to reacquire the deci-
sive real estate lost in 2016 by a total of 77,744 votes – Wisconsin (22,748), Michigan (10,704) and Pennsylvania (44,292) – out of 13,940,912 votes cast in those states, which have 10, 16 and 20 electoral votes, respectively? Biden, who last lived in Pennsylvania more than half a century ago, has almost worn out the “I am Joe from Scranton” pedal on the organ, but his connection – Delaware is contiguous to Pennsylvania – might be enough to win Pennsylvania, where Trump’s victory margin was 0.7%. Speaking of first things, Biden’s previous forays into Iowa have been dismal (he withdrew in September 1987; in 2008 he received 0.9% of the caucus vote), but as marketers of financial services say, “Past performance is not an indicator of future results.” And perhaps candidate congestion will save the Democrats from themselves: If a dozen or more are auctioning themselves to the incandescent progressives, and Biden can hold, say, 20 percent, this might suffice to get him down the road and into the final four. Biden, whose smile is Jack Nicholson’s without the naughtiness, is not angry. His sporadic attempts at seeming so are transparently, and engagingly, synthetic. Neither, however, are most Americans angry. Rather, they are embarrassed and exhausted. Biden has a talent for embarrassing himself, but not the nation, and he probably might seem to weary voters to be something devoutly desired: restful. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group
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Political Crossfire
Examining Qatar’s Influence By Daniel Pipes
A
lready in the mid-1990s, a playful riddle circulated among foreign-policy types: in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, which are the world’s two great powers? Answer: the United States and Qatar. In other words,
the outsized ambitions of a country with a native population then numbering about 150,000, have long been apparent. These days, Qatar’s influence is no longer a riddle. It is felt from Claridge’s Hotel to Paul Gauguin’s
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Quand te maries-tu? from Al Jazeera to the 2022 World Cup, from hacking efforts to bribery scandals. The government has flamboyantly balanced its external connections, symbolized by the giant Al-Udeid Air Base used mostly by American forces vs. the Qatar-Turkey Combined Joint Force Command. In part, this remarkable record is made possible by the unique riches showered on the country’s tiny
In part too, Qatar’s outsized role reflects on the nature of the country and its leadership. As in Saudi Arabia, the extremist ideology of Wahhabism dominates in Qatar, bestowing its population with a sense of purpose and ambition quite out of proportion to its size. Its recent leadership, first Emir Hamad (r. 1995-2013) and now his son Tamim (2013-), as well as their relatives and aides, indulge in an evanescent
Islamist luminaries such as the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal have for decades made their homes in Doha.
population (which now stands at a bit over 300,000, or about 1 percent of the population of Shanghai). The vast North Dome gas field earns the country’s subjects (as opposed to the many more numerous foreigners) a per capita income of about US$500,000, or some five times higher than the second richest state, Luxembourg.
grandiosity nicely symbolized by the HAMAD name (in Latin letters) stretching one kilometer high and three kilometers wide that Emir Hamad briefly and mysteriously had etched into the sands of an island in 2010, then no less mysteriously had erased two years later. Qatar’s reach is perhaps most evident in its reported support for
The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015 The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
jihadi groups in such varied places as Iraq (Al-Qaeda), Syria (Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra), Gaza (Hamas), and Libya (Benghazi Defense Brigades). In addition, Qatar supports prominent Islamist networks all around the world – including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the AKP in Turkey, and Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. In Doha, the government provides the Taliban with office space. Islamist luminaries such as the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal have for decades made their homes in Doha. In the West, Qatar’s power is more cautious and thrives unchallenged. For one, it funds mosques and other Islamic institutions, which express their gratitude by protesting outside Saudi Arabia’s embassies in London and Washington. But Doha does not rely only on
the Islamist diaspora in the West to advance its agenda; it also works to influence Western policymakers and the public directly. The enormous Al Jazeera television network has become one of the world’s largest and best-known broadcasters. Its English-language stations produce slick propaganda against Qatar’s enemies, dressed up in Western liberal rhetoric. Al
Jazeera’s latest venture – its social media channel, AJ+ – is aimed at young, progressive Americans. Its documentaries on the evils of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Trump administration are sandwiched between glowing coverage of transgender rights campaigns and emotional appeals for the plight of asylum seekers on America’s southern border – seemingly incongruous
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topics for a broadcaster controlled by a Wahhabi regime. Doha also seeks to influence Western educational institutions. The regime-controlled Qatar Foundation hands tens of millions of dollars to schools, colleges and other educational institutions across Europe and North America. Indeed, Qatar is now the largest foreign donor to American universities. Its funds pay for the teaching of Arabic and lessons on Middle Eastern culture and their ideological bent is at times unashamedly apparent, as in the lesson plan in American schools titled, “Express Your Loyalty to Qatar.” Now that the Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, and other Arab governments have woken to the threat posed by Qatar, is it not time for Westerners to do so too? Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2019. All rights reserved.
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Forgotten Her es
Jewish Recipients of the Victoria Cross By Avi Heiligman
Lt. Frank Alexander de Pass, 1914
A
soldier joining the military just to gain fame or medals will usually fail. In the United States, the recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor have many times credited their fellow soldiers, especially if they have fallen in battle. In England, it is very much the same with those who are awarded the Victoria Cross – the highest honor in battle in the United Kingdom. Here are three stories of Jewish World War I soldiers who received the Victoria Cross. The first Jewish soldier to receive the Victoria Cross was Lieutenant Frank Alexander de Pass. He was born in Middlesex, England, and was a member of the 34th Prince Albert Victor›s Own Poona Horse of the British Indian Army. De Pass was awarded the Victoria Cross on February 18, 1915. His citation for the Victoria Cross reads, “For conspicuous bravery near Festubert, on 24 November 1914, in entering a German sap and destroying a traverse in the face of the enemy’s bombs; and for
subsequently rescuing, under heavy fire, a wounded man who was lying exposed in the open. Lieutenant de Pass lost his life in a second attempt to capture the sap, which had been re-occupied by the enemy.”
of Westminster said of de Pass at a ceremony, “In describing Frank’s actions, a fellow officer described his conduct as ‘most intrepid’ and ‘a magnificent example to the men of the Detachment.’ Even in the midst
He promptly tied a telephone wire to the forward pontoon, jumped overboard, and towed it to the shore.
De Pass was not only the first Jewish recipient of the medal but he had the distinction of being the first officer of the Indian Army to receive the honor as well. His medal is displayed at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London. The mayor
of war, his exceptional bravery and valor was recognized by his comrades.” Captain Robert Gee from Leicester was a 41-year officer in the Royal Fusiliers when he was awarded both the Victoria Cross and the presti-
gious Military Cross for bravery in action during World War I. Gee was born in 1876 and joined the army in 1893. For the first 22 years of his service, he was an enlisted soldier and had attained the rank of sergeant. In 1915, his unit was sent to Gallipoli and he was commissioned as an officer. In July 1916, during the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Gee was wounded and received the Military Cross for his actions. On November 30, 1917, a determined and strong attack by the enemy breached the British lines in France, and their headquarters and ammunition dump were captured. Soon, Gee himself was captured but managed to escape. Together with staff from Brigade headquarters, Gee attacked the enemy. Two other infantry companies followed his lead and cleared the area of German soldiers. However, an enemy machine gun was still in action so Gee singlehandedly rushed at the post. He captured the gun and killed eight German soldiers in the process. Gee was wounded and later
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Robert Gee escaped after he was captured by killing an enemy soldier with a spiked stick
was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions. A much younger recipient of the Victoria Cross was Jack White (Weiss). Born in Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1896, White came from a Russian-Jewish background and joined his father in the waterproofing business. When the war broke out in 1914 he enlisted and was assigned to a unit. The 18-year-old missed his battalion’s deployment so he could attend his father’s funeral and joined the King’s Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment. A year later, they were deployed to Gallipoli in modern day Turkey. White’s job was as a signal radioman served with the regiment throughout the campaign. White’s regiment was eventually sent to join the 13th Division of the Tigris Corps to help relieve the siege of Kut. While the division was crossing the Dialah River, he saw the two pontoons ahead of him come under heavy enemy machine-gun fire. When his own pontoon had reached
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midstream, with every man except himself either dead or wounded, he promptly tied a telephone wire to the forward pontoon, jumped overboard, and towed it to the shore. In doing so, White saved the commanding officer’s life, other wounded men’s lives as well, plus the rifles and equipment. White was promoted to lance corporal and received the Victoria Cross for his actions that day. Only a few Jewish soldiers have won the highest medal that their country can offer for bravery on the battlefield. These three soldiers showed their ingenuity and bravery through their heroic actions. While not remembered as well as some other recipients of the Victoria’s Cross, these men are truly forgotten heroes.
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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GERBER MOVING FULL SERVICE MOVING Packing Moving Supplies Local Long Distance Licensed Insured 1000’S Of Happy Customers Call Shalom 347-276-7422 HAIR COURSE Learn how to wash & style hair & wigs Hair and wig cutting, wedding styling Private lessons or in a group Call Chaya 718-715-9009 SHALOM HANDYMAN Plumbing, heating, boiler, installation, sewer, locks, dryer vent cleaning and more… CALL 917-217-3676
BAYSWATER 4 Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, Kosher Kitchen, DR/LR, Closets, Porch Call 516-206-2005 for more info www.AllGoingRealty.com GoingRealty@gmail.com PRICE REDUCED: Sprawling 4BR, 4BA Exp-Ranch, Oversized Rooms, LR W/Fplc, Formal Dining Rm, Large Den, Master Suite, Full Finished Basement, Storage Room & Office, Deck, Fabulous Property…$1.078M Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com NORTH WOODMERE Beautiful spacious 4 bedroom colonial, finished basement, in ground pool, close to all. $879,000 Call 516-924-2971
COMMERCIAL RE EAST ROCKAWAY: Retail Stores on Busy Corner, 1000SF& Up Available, Great High Visibility Location, For Lease… Call for More Details Broker (516) 792-6698 INWOOD OFFICE SPACE LOWEST PRICES IN TOWN! 500-7000 Square feet gorgeous office space with WATERVIEW in Inwood! Lots of options. Tons of parking. Will divide and customize space for your needs! Call 516-567-0100
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Classifieds COMMERCIAL RE CEDARHURST 500-3,500 +/- SF Beautiful, newly renovated space for rent. Ideal for Retail or Executive offices. Prime location. Convenient Parking. Sam @516-612-2433 or 718-747-8080 SF MEDICAL OFFICE SPACE Available, Reception Area, Waiting Room, Kitchenette, 2 Consult, 4 Exam Rooms, 2 Bathrooms, 30 Car On-Site Parking, For Lease … Call Ian for More Details (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com 5 TOWNS: LOOKING FOR: Restaurateurs & Professionals!!! Orthoptists, Podiatrists, Chiropractors, Physical Therapists, Dentists, or Obstetrician/Gynecologists. Spaces Available in Cedarhurst, Hewlett, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, Valley Stream area. For Lease... Call for More Details Broker (516) 792-6698 INWOOD 10,000 sq ft brick building. Offices and warehouse. High ceilings. Asking $16/foot. Owner: 516-206-1100 mark@mbequitygroup.com
HOUSE FOR RENT HOUSE FOR RENT IN CENTRAL BOCA Beautiful 3BR/2B home for rent in Sierra Del Mar. Spacious living and dining areas.Renovated kitchen w/ granite countertops, SS appliances. Walking distance to Shuls and shopping. Backyard with screened patio & hot tub. Asking $2950/M, serious inquiries ONLY, no broker. Call (561) 985-3060 or (561) 990-6571
APT FOR RENT 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 www.pugatch.com Far Rockaway apt for rent ground floor of 2 family house Brand new kitchen – apt freshly painted 3 bedrooms, playroom in basement, large backyard w/d hookup- 1.5 bathrooms $2,100.00 718 471-4502
APT FOR RENT
HELP WANTED
BAYSWATER FOR RENT 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, Kosher kitchen, DR/LR, Closets, driveway, Close to all www.AllGoingRealty.Com GoingRealty@gmail.com
SEEKING 1ST GRADE TEACHER for boys yeshiva Experience Masters degree prefered Competive salary Mon-Thurs 1:30-4:30 email res riswia@ aol.com or 917-742-8909
HELP WANTED DRIVER FOR QUEENS DRY CLEANER ROUTE. Options to drive Tuesday am/ Thursday pm. Also hours available Monday am , Tue am and pm, Wed am and pm and Friday pm. Must have own car. Use of company van part time. Competitive salary. Contact Marc for info 917-612-2300 Yeshiva Darchei Torah Far Rockaway, NY SEEKS 5TH GRADE GENERAL STUDIES TEACHER Afternoon hours Excellent working environment and salary Please send resume to ataub@darchei.org Seeking ELA and Science teachers for YKQ JH for September. Warm enthusiastic supportive environment. Competitive salary. Email resume to rlswia@aol.com or call 917-742-8909
YESHIVA KETANA OF LONG ISLAND is looking for dynamic, experienced and professional teacher for a 4th grade, and a potential JHS position, teaching 4 periods of JHS World American History. Please email your resume to office@ykli.org ASSISTANT TEACHERS FOR 2019-20 CAHAL CLASSES CAHAL, with smaller classes for children with learning challenges in our local yeshivas, is seeking part time or full time Assistant Teachers for Judaic Studies (AM) and/or General Studies (PM) for the 2019-20 school year. Send resume to shira@cahal.org or Fax 516-295-2899. Call 516-295-3666 for more information.
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Classifieds HELP WANTED
HELP WANTED
SPECIAL EDUCATION SECULAR STUDIES TEACHERS CAHAL, with smaller classes for children with learning challenges in our local yeshivas, is seeking Part Time (PM) Special Education Secular Studies Teachers for the 2019-20 school year. Send resume to shira@cahal.orgor Fax 516-295-2899. Call 516-295-3666 for more information.
REGISTERED NURSE openings to work with adults who have developmental disabilities within residential settings in Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Long Island. Current NYS RN, min 2 years hospital experience. OHEL: 855-OHEL JOB www.ohelfamily.org/careers
GENERAL STUDIES TEACHER NEEDED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR SEPT 2019. email: fivetownseducators@gmail.com
CEDARHURST
TORAH ACADEMY FOR GIRLS in Far Rockaway seeks qualified, experienced Moros, Elementary Division for Sept. 2019. Please email resumes to mlevin@tagschools.org
Due to continued growth, THE YESHIVA OF SOUTH SHORE is seeking ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. Cert/Exp required. Please forward resume to monika@yoss.org
YESHIVA IN QUEENS SEEKS A DYNAMIC, ENERGETIC AND CARING REBBE FOR YOUNGER GRADES, 1-3. Experience preferred. Please email resume to rebbesearch5780@gmail.com
Seeking full time PHYSICAL 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
WOODMERE
TJH Classifieds SBrahort & long space term stunning Brand new office in the heart new office space. Can be built to of Cedarhurst with parking suit. All utilities included All Amenities. $5000/month Call included. Single offices or suites Raizie (917)903-1778 testing 123456 available. Prices start at $1,475/m. Call Raizie (917) 903-1778
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Freebuilding standing building perfect for perfecf;fnfflknflfnfkgnfdlkgfdnklg preschool, therapist or doctor's fdlkgt for preschool, therapist or doctor's office. $899kParking Call Miri office. Great location! on (646)515-8813 premises. $899K Call Miri (646) 515-8813
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516.374.4100 www.ftmr.com COMMERCIAL • LEASING • SALES
Post your Real Estate, Help Wanted, Services, Miscellaneous Ads here. 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
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The Jewish Home | MAY 2, 2019
Classifieds HELP WANTED
HELP WANTED
OFFICE MANAGER Do you have good organizational skills? Office Manager position available at local school. Responsibilities: work with vendors, coordinate staff schedules, manage schedules, etc. Must have good computer and communication skills. Great pay and work environment. Email resume to manager5towns@gmail.com
SHULAMITH EARLY CHILDHOOD
ASSISTANTS NEEDED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AFTERNOON SESSION. Email: fivetownseducators@gmail.com CATAPULT LEARNING Teachers, Title I Boro Park, Williamsburg and Flatbush Schools *College/Yeshiva Degree *Teaching experience required *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
is looking to hire a full time teacher assistant for the current school year. Please email resume to earlychildhood@shulamith.org Seeking full time OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST for Special Education school located in Brooklyn. Experienced preferred. Competitive salary. Room for growth. resumes@yadyisroelschool.org
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Money
Pied-a-Terrible! By Allan Rolnick, CPA
W
hen it comes to raising revenue, governments usually find it most efficient to follow the immortal advice of bank robber Willie Sutton and go “where the money is.” They turn to income, payroll, property, and sales taxes to fund most of their operations. They’ll throw in the occasional gas tax for fun. Most of the time, those “nuisance taxes” don’t amount to much. But that’s not always the case. In 1989, New York state imposed a so-called mansion tax, a flat 1% on home sales of $1 million or more. Now the state has “remodeled” that tax, adding seven new brackets for sales in New York City beginning January 1, 2020. The rate increases to 1.25% on sale amounts from $2-3 million, 1.75% on amounts from $3-5 million, and steps all the way up to 4.15% on amounts over $25 million. Officials expect the new tax to raise $365 million per year, and plan to use it to finance $5 billion in bonds for public transportation. So far so good, right? Well, for starters, should a tax on million-dollar homes really be called a “mansion” tax in the first place? Maybe that was true when the Empire State first levied it in 1989. But these days, a million bucks isn’t even “mansion-ad-
jacent,” especially in Manhattan. Right now, you can pay $1,499,000 for a 52nd-floor alcove studio in Hell’s Kitchen. (Hell’s Kitchen!) There’s no separate bedroom, of course. Not even a bathtub! But the bathroom has a very nice marble-lined shower. Of course, some pads really do qualify as “mansions.” Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin just dropped $238 million for a penthouse at 220
cake” moments in American history?) The extra tax would have cost Griffin $7.2 million if he had waited until next year to buy. Sure, that sounds like a lot to you. But Forbes estimates Griffin’s net worth at $11.8 billion, meaning it probably wouldn’t have stopped the deal. (The place comes unfinished, meaning he’ll have to spend tens of millions more before he can unpack his toothbrush!)
They argued, quite reasonably, that out-oftowners buying $5 million condos aren’t taking up space on city buses and subways.
Central Park South, an oligarchfriendly tower on “billionaire’s row.” Griffin’s new pad includes 23,000 square feet sprawling over four floors, with 16 bedrooms and more bathrooms than your mansion. It’s the most expensive home sale in U.S. history — and Griffin plans to use it as “a place to stay when he’s in town” for business. (How’s that for “let them eat
Griffin isn’t the only plutocrat buying pricey real estate he won’t be occupying. So many deep-pocketed foreigners have decided to stash part of their gains in Manhattan condos, without ever moving in, that some high-end buildings stand nearly dark at night. The city even floated a “pied-a-terre” tax for those parttime residents using those condos as
safe-deposit boxes without pouring anything else into city goods and services. Pied-a-terre tax fans pointed out the politically convenient fact that part-time residents don’t vote in New York, which makes it easier to pluck them without making them squawk. But ultimately, real estate insiders shot it down as class warfare. They objected that it would be too hard to determine which owners are truly absentee and deserve to get hit with the tax. And they argued, quite reasonably, that out-of-towners buying $5 million condos aren’t taking up space on city buses and subways. We don’t care if you live in a mansion, an apartment, or a van down by the river. We’re pretty sure you don’t want to pay more than your legal fair share. That’s where tax planning comes in. See how much you might save. You might free up enough to spend some seriously fun weekends in the city!
Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 years in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.
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Life C ach
A New Way of Counting By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., MFT, CLC
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9 ,48, 47, 46, 45.... Yes, I’m counting down the days till I have to stuff myself
again. You may be saying you don’t actually have to! And trust me, I said the
same exact thing before Pesach started. But that’s not how it went down. So why delude myself into thinking I’ll have better self-control on Shavuos? After all, Pesach’s highlights are matzah and potato starch, and the damage was still
significant. So how can I even begin to imagine I’ll be more successful on Shavuos, which is billed as the holiday of cheesecake and lasagna? Yes, everyone is counting the days to highlight receiving the Torah on Shavuos or moving up a level of kedushah. But I’m counting down the days of self-control till I have none left! My plan is that I’m going to be walking, exercising, and dieting over the next 6 weeks hoping to slim down. And it should work – that is, as long as I don’t walk to the kitchen, the pantry, or the eateries in town! If I wind up in any of those locations, I can’t be responsible for my actions. What is it about these holidays that makes us eat so much? Well, let me see.... We wake up, we eat a little something with our coffee, then we go to pray. Then we eat, then we pray. Then we snack, then we pray. And then we eat until we bench, after which we eat a little cake with our tea and go to sleep! On top of that, we are pretty sedentary. We don’t work – unless chewing is work. We don’t exercise – unless chewing is exercise. And we don’t get out to shop, unless choosing what to eat is shopping. So, now you tell me, how exactly do we avoid the eating? I’m guessing you might say to join more Tehillim groups. And guess what? That’s a great idea right there! In fact, I’m going to order that box that you give out to everyone to share
Tehillim. That way, when people come over, rather than offering them a piece of cake, I can offer them a Tehillim section. Then besides praying for each other and those in need, we can add on a prayer for the preservation of our waistlines. Yes, this time of year is called sefira. And it is a time of counting. I know, as I said, I’m certainly counting. And trust me you can count on me – to mess up and to eat more than I mean to during sefira. Yet, I’m still hoping that we can count on some nice weather to get me out walking and exercising so that I’ll be in shape for the next onslaught of food on Shavuos that I already know is too good and too much. Still, as I lament the eating, I cannot fail to mention that the food does greatly enhance our recognition and appreciation of G-d’s bountiful gifts. Now, if we can just figure out how to encourage G-d to let us count down on the scale while we count up on the calories – wow! That would be a gift almost as fantastic as the one we are about to celebrate – the gift of the Torah! Well, they do say there are many secrets hidden in the Torah. Who knows? Maybe this year we’ll unearth that secret!
Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@ rosenwalds.com.
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