Five Towns Jewish Home - 1-24-19 by The Jewish Home

January 24, 2019

Distributed weekly in the Five Towns, Long Island, Queens & Brooklyn

Your Favorite Five Towns Family Newspaper

Robert Kraft See page 7

Passover Vacation Section

A Story of Brady, Belichik, and Israel

Starts on page 77

Around the

Community A Tu B’Shvat Tish with the Sulitzer Rebbe

42 Years Later

Rafi Reflects on the Recent Israeli Elections

MTA Israel Exchange Student Program

Fake News Story Bashes High School Student

PAGE 9

Parshas Yisro 19 Shvat 5778 Candle Lighting Time 4:45 pm Sponsored by

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An Uplifting Shabbos at Dirshu’s International Convention pg

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

Y E S H I VA O F FA R R O C K AWAY

REFLECTIONS

Celebrating a

YOVEL FIFTY YEARS OF HARBOTZAS TORAH

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RABBI YEHOSHUA KALISH Rebbe for over 40 years, Yeshiva of Far Rockaway Rav, Bais Medrash of Harborview

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RABBI ARYEH GINSBERG Former Rebbe, Yeshiva of Far Rockaway Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva Gedolah of South Jersey Rosh Mesivta, Mesivta Aliyah

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

PESACH 2019 BOCA RATON, FLORIDA

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FLORENCE, ITALY

Four Seasons Florence • Entire La Villa building Kosher for Pesach • Luxury 5-star Resort • Hotel set amidst a 350,000 sq.m. Botanical Gardens • Gourmet cuisine by Michelen rated Four Seasons chefs • Professional Day Camp • Scholar-in-Residence: Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv • Glatt Kosher Supervision by Rabbi G.M. Garelik

FIUGGI (ROME), ITALY

Grand Hotel Palazzo Della Fonte • Entire Hotel Kosher for Pesach • Haute Gourmet Italian Cuisine • Beautiful Spa, Indoor & Outdoor Pools • Free Daily Shuttle to Rome • Optional Amazing Day Trips • Professional Day Camp • Scholar-In-Residence: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks • Glatt Kosher Supervision by Rabbi G.M. Garelik of Milan

RYE BROOK, NEW YORK

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The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers,

alarm is a treat. And spending time with family is even better. Whether it’s swimming in the hotel’s pool or tubing down a mountain or going to a museum, when you spend time with your cousins, you’re bound to have fun. I know that every time we take a family vacation, we’re building memories. I am certain about that because all those trips that I took as a child are part of my memories of the fun times we had as a family. Each ride to Washington or Philadelphia or Lake George or Baltimore or even up to the bungalow colony are woven together in my mind. Those were long trips – cars weren’t as comfortable then as they are now and there were just a few tapes in the line-up for the tape deck in the car. My sister is better with the details – she’ll remember the songs we listened to or the games we played or the arguments we had over who sat where – but the memories that I have of those trips are of closeness and comradery, inside jokes and crazy stories. As we head to our midwinter destination next week, I know that our trip will be different than my trips when I was young. Nowadays, there are iPads and MP3s and seats that recline and are heated. But the goal of a family trip remains the same: it’s about building memories and enjoying the warmth of being together. Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana

few weeks ago, we asked readers in our weekly poll if the government shutdown had directly affected their lives. Almost every respondent said that they were not affected by the shutdown. Truthfully, I was not surprised by the results. Around 800,000 federal workers (out of a population of 327 million people in the U.S.) have been affected, and so the chances of those being within our readership are pretty slim. But you know what? I’ve actually been directly affected by the shutdown. No, I don’t work at the TSA or at a national park. But this year, my husband and I were going to take the family to Washington, D.C., for midwinter break. Way back when, in the summer, I reached out to Senator Schumer’s office for tickets to the White House for a tour for my family. I was told that I could only apply for the tickets four months in advance. So I put the date on my calendar and made sure to remind them in October that I wanted to apply. I gathered all our information and sent it all in. But alas, our midwinter plans have been forced to change. There are no White House tours being given during the government shutdown. Ironically, my family is part of the very few who have been affected by the shutdown. Washington, D.C., we’ll see you next year. But a change of plans doesn’t mean that midwinter vacation isn’t fun. For my kids – and for me! – being able to sleep past the

PUBLISHER

publisher@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Yosef Feinerman MANAGING EDITOR

ads@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Shoshana Soroka EDITOR

editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Nate Davis Editorial Assistant Nechama Wein Copy Editor Berish Edelman Adina Goodman Mati Jacobovits Design & Production Gabe Solomon Distribution & Logistics P.O. BOX 266 Lawrence, NY 11559 Phone | 516-734-0858 Fax | 516-734-0857 Classified: Deadline Monday 5PM classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com text 443-929-4003 The Jewish Home is an independent weekly magazine. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

Shabbos Zemanim

Weekly Weather | January 25 – January 31

Yitzy Halpern

Partly Cloudy / Wind

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Showers

Partly Cloudy

36° 20°

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Friday, January 25 Parshas Yisro Candle Lighting: 4:45 pm Shabbos Ends: 5:49 pm Rabbeinu Tam: 6:18 pm

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll

Community Happenings

NEWS Global

National

Odd-but-True Stories

ISRAEL

Israel News

42 Years Later by Rafi Sackville

The Netzer-Ariel Community by Ron Jager

PEOPLE The Wandering Jew

Robert Kraft: A Story of Brady, Belichick and Israel

Longest Serving Servicemembers by Avi Heiligman

PARSHA Rabbi Wein

Learning to Fly by Rav Moshe Weinberger

Parsha in Four by Eytan Kobre

HEALTH & FITNESS A Better Approach to Your Marriage Problems by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

Your Shabbos Guide to Healthy Eating: the Main Course by Cindy Weinberger, MS RD CDN

Dear Editor, It’s interesting to note that all the “bad” points that Marc Thiessen wrote about President Trump in 2018 in your paper last week were generally gaffes that Trump directly had control over and could easily have been prevented. They were referring to incidents when President Trump said something or tweeted something that was beneath the office of the presidency. I know that there are many people out there who would like to support our president wholeheartedly. But then they are disappointed when he tweets about something inappropriately or in an irreverent way or says something that they feel is beneath him and his position. I think the president is doing a great job. Sometimes, though, I know that he is shooting himself in the foot by shooting his mouth off. Sincerely, Avi L. West Hempstead, NY Dear Editor, I appreciate that your paper put in a “daycation” guide in your magazine this week. Every year, a few weeks after Chanukah, my kids start asking me what we’re doing for midwinter break. All their friends are heading to Florida or California or Cancun (!), and they feel very left

out because we stay in New York. I, for one, am a working mom. My husband works as well. Between yomim tovim and other miscellaneous days, we cannot take off an extra week from work for midwinter break. And that’s aside from the expense that comes from heading south for vacation. If the kids had a few days off for midwinter, that would be great. They deserve it. They work hard, and it’s a long winter. But schools are giving off more than a week! This is truly not necessary and an undue hardship on their parent-body. I don’t know of any family that goes out of New York for the whole midwinter break. So why is it necessary to give kids off for eight days when you know that it will just create an atmosphere of boredom – or worse, stress? I read somewhere that a 20-minute power nap during the day is more effective than an hour-long nap when one is feeling tired. I think the same way about midwinter breaks. A few days off is perfect and necessary. But more than that just gets annoying. Anyone else share my sentiments? Sincerely, A Busy Mom Continued on page 10

FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Granola Bars

LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW

Your Money

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The World Used to be Flat by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

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POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

What Americans are Fighting for in Manjib by David Ignatius

Trump is Surrounded by Leakers by Marc A. Thiessen

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Dear Editor, Thank you for standing up for our president! He deserves more credit than the skewed press is giving him! As for the government shut down, here’s an eye-opening video of Judge Jeanine speaking about Nancy Pelosi’s lack of support and compassion for the government workers. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=7RWjIv64iGs . I am not a political person; however, I invite you to watch even a few minutes of this video. One of the judge’s points is that Pelosi’s supposedly worth $100 million and vacationing in Hawaii. Trump, on the other hand, donates his salary to charities. Judge Jeanine articulately presents her perspective about Pelosi’s personal vendetta against Trump to manufacture an economic crisis for the purpose of discrediting him. What is she doing about drug trafficking that contributes to deaths and crime related to drugs? This is an apocalyptic fight of good and evil and she’s a modern-day Dosan and Aviram and the eruv rav leader! Doesn’t sound like she’s putting her money where her mouth is!

Our president may have his quirks; however, if building a wall will help provide security to help me sleep at night and reduce the number of tragic deaths due to drug overdoses that the paper has written about previously, I’m a Trump supporter! Please pray that our country be run in unity, peace, and by people of integrity. Sincerely, Shoshana Brooklyn, NY Dear Editor, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez should take Megan McArdle’s article in your January 17 issue, “No, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Fact is, It’s Not Because You’re a Woman,” read it seventeen times, make numerous copies, and pin it to her fridge, her bathroom mirror, and her front door. She makes really good points about Ocasio-Cortez, although, sadly, poor Alexandra’s faults are the very things that will prevent her from reading something that criticizes constructively. You see, in Ocasio-Cortez’s eyes, there is nothing wrong with Ms. Alexandra. Duvi Finbar

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

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U.S. Citizen Arrested after Infiltrating Lebanon

The Lebanese military said last week that it apprehended a United States citizen after he clambered over the fence separating the country from Israel. “After continuous search operations, a LAF intelligence patrol was able to find the American citizen ‘Colin Emery’ hiding in one of the alleys in the city of Tyre,” said the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) on Thursday evening. “He was arrested over suspicions of entering on 15/01/2019 from the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Israel) to Lebanese territories. Investigation is underway with the competent justice department.” Emery had jumped over the border fence near the village of Aisha A-Shaab and made his way into Lebanon on Tuesday before hitchhiking to Tyre, a Lebanese city 20 miles away. His infiltration caused Lebanon’s army and the Hezbollah military to launch a feverish manhunt after him amid suspicions that he was an Israeli Special Forces operative. Reports said that Emery was wearing an IDF uniform and was holding a box of Israeli ID papers. Emery was apprehended in a clothing story a day later after Hezbollah distributed his photograph and encouraged Lebanese citizens to report any sightings of him. The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that it would be granting Emery any assistance he might need. “We’ve seen media reports of the arrest of a U.S. citizen. We take our obligation to assist U.S. citizens abroad seriously and stand ready to provide

all appropriate consular services,” said the embassy. On Sunday, Hezbollah claimed that Emery is an American Jew from Cleveland and informed the U.S. Ambassador in Beirut that it would begin holding talks concerning his release. There remains no indication if Emery is, in fact, Jewish and what caused him to cross over into Lebanon.

Duterte: Criminal Age Starts at 9

Fueled by his campaign to target crime and drugs in his country, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte and allies have proposed lowering the age of criminal liability in the country from 15 to nine. On Tuesday, senators in the Philippines joined activists and child protection groups in condemning the lower house move to reduce the age of liability, calling it extreme and unjust. The proposal has President Rodrigo Duterte’s support and is being revived by his Congressional allies, having been filed on his inauguration day in 2016 along with a bid to re-introduce the death penalty – moves touting his crime-busting credentials. The plan was approved on Monday by the lower house’s justice committee, but still needs several readings before a house vote. It would then require counterpart legislation and approval of the Senate, members of which appear less supportive. Despite a war on drugs that has killed thousands of people and graft-related scandals and resignations of his own appointees, Duterte has not lost his luster among Filipinos, who polls show back his morality-centered approach to law and order. Senator Panfilo Lacson said nine was too young for crime liability, but he supported lowering the age “to a certain level.” Joel Villanueva said the bill needed a rethink, to target parents more. “Children in general have different

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

levels of maturity and discernment,” he added. International organizations have expressed alarm, including UNICEF and Save the Children, while domestic activists said children should be protected from criminals, not held liable for things they were forced to do. Agnes Callamard, a United Nations special rapporteur who has frequently locked horns with Duterte, called it a “dangerous and potentially deadly proposal. Just shameful.” Justice committee chairman Salvador Leachon, however, noted that the bill was misunderstood and was rehabilitation-centered and “pro-children” with non-compliant parents the ones who would go to jail. “The point here is there is no punishment,” he told news channel ANC. “It’s rehabilitation, reformative, taking care of the family.” “It is anti-family, anti-poor and simply unjust. Moreover, it will promote a heartless and ruthless society that has no regard for its own people,” said Antonio Trillanes, one of Duterte’s biggest critics. Duterte campaigned aggressively on eliminating crime, drugs and corruption and has said he has since realized they were all on a greater scale in his country than he had imagined.

Free Food for Early Commute

In attempts to decrease commuter traffic on its subways during rush hour, the Tokyo Metro is offering free tempura to 2,000 commuters who take the Tozai line to work each day before rush hour commences. If 2,500 people complete the challenge to ride into work earlier every day for the next two weeks, they’ll win a free bowl of soba. Taking it even further, if more than 3,000 commuters get onboard with this initiative, they’ll all receive soba and tempura for their trouble. The subway line is hoping that the allure of free food will be strong enough to haul people out of bed earlier than usual. Around 7.2 million people use To-

kyo’s mammoth metro system every day, with some lines suffering notorious crowding during commuting hours. Among the worst affected is the Tozai line, which is running this innovative campaign. The offer of free noodles comes as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched its own initiative over the next two weeks to encourage commuting outside of peak hours. Nearly 1,000 businesses are taking part in the campaign, allowing their staff to start and end work earlier than usual or to work from home. Metro officials have long attempted various campaigns to ease rush hour conditions especially on the Tozai Line, which links eastern suburbs of Tokyo and Chiba directly to the business districts of the world’s largest metropolis. During the hour from 7:50 a.m. to 8:50 a.m., more than 76,000 passengers use the line, double the number of people the train was originally designed to comfortably serve. Trains on the line operate at 199 percent capacity, which is still considered safe, but means passengers are packed so tightly they have difficulty moving their bodies or limbs, said Takeshi Yamashita, a Tokyo Metro spokesman.

hours

“This is our most congested line. We are always trying to ease the rush hour congestion,” he told AFP. “We hope this will encourage people to continue (taking early trains) to help ease the rush hour situation,” he said. Tokyo is set to host the Olympics next year in the summer. Commuter congestion is going to be a logistical challenge for event organizers.

U.S. Hits Back at Al-Shabaab in Somalia

Over 50 al-Shabaab extremists have been killed by a U.S. airstrike in Somalia following the terrorist organization’s attack last week on a luxury hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya. Al-Shabaab, a group with links to al-Qaeda and based out of neighboring Somalia, had killed at least

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20 people in the attack. In a statement released during the attack, they claimed that they had done so in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In response to this act of terror, on Saturday the U.S. launched their 6th airstrike in Somalia targeting alShabaab of 2019. A statement from the U.S. Africa Command said no civilians had been injured or killed in the strike, which was launched in response to an attack by a “large group” of militants against local Somali forces in a fiercely contested zone south of the Somali capital, Mogadis. A Somali intelligence officer said al-Shabab had been amassing fighters for more than a week to launch a major attack against Somali and Kenyan forces in order to disrupt a planned offensive against the extremists. The officer said some 400 extremists, including foreign ones, had been prepared, including two suicide car bombers. Al-Shabab controls large parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to carry out high-profile suicide bombings and other attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere. The Department of Defense estimates there are 3,000 to 7,000 alShabaab fighters and 70 to 250 ISIS fighters in Somalia, as of August 2018. There has been a significant increase in airstrikes in Somalia by the U.S. since President Donald Trump authorized the U.S. military to carry out precision strikes targeting alShabaab in March 2017 in an effort to bolster the federal government in Somalia. Prior to that, the U.S. military was only authorized to carry out airstrikes in self-defense of advisors on the ground.

France Slaps Google with $57M Fine France has levied a whopping $57 million fine on Google for violating users’ privacy, the first time the country has invoked Europe’s stiff online data rules to punish a tech giant. France’s CNIL watchdog said that under Europe’s GDPR regulations, the search engine had not provided clear and “easily accessible” information about the data it collects from its users. The regulator alleged

in a statement that Google’s policies “could sometimes take 5 or 6 actions” before realizing the extent of its collection policies and that the tech empire made it deliberately difficult for users to understand how their data was being used.

“Essential information, such as the data processing purposes, the data storage periods or the categories of personal data used for the ads personalization are excessively disseminated across several documents, with buttons and links on which it is required to click to access complementary information,” said the CNIL. “The relevant information is accessible after several steps only, implying sometimes up to 5 or 6 actions,” it continued. “For instance, this is the case when a user wants to have a complete information on his or her data collected for the personalization purposes or for the geo-tracking service.” The French watchdog also accused Google of ensuring that “information is not always clear nor comprehensive.” Google said through a spokesperson that it regretted the fine, adding that it is “deeply committed” to meeting the “high standards of transparency and control” that the law requires. Despite the hefty fine, Google is seen to have gotten off relatively lightly, as Europe’s new privacy regulations allow member states to fine violators up to four percent of its yearly profits. For a behemoth like Google, fines could hit billions of dollars annually. First adopted in 2018, Europe’s GDPR regulates how tech giants collect user data. The policy has forced internet giants such as Facebook to examine how it collects user information and is the world’s first major overarching list of regulations concerning user privacy. With a lack of such oversight in the U.S., the passage of the GDPR has effectively turned Europe into the world’s enforcer of online privacy rights. Privacy rights activists welcomed the slap on the wrist given to Google and questioned why the United States

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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has refrained from legislating similar protections. “We are very pleased that for the first time a European data protection authority is using the possibilities of GDPR to punish clear violations of the law,” said activist Max Schrems. “It is important that the authorities make it clear that simply claiming to be compliant is not enough.”

Fatal Mexican Oil Pipeline Explosion

At least 85 people were killed when an oil pipeline exploded in Mexico’s Hidalgo region on Friday. The explosion had occurred during an oil leak caused by thieves that had punctured the line. As over 800 people lined up to collect free

gas from the pipe, a spark caused a massive explosion that could be seen for miles. With hordes of local residents pushing and shoving to collect the purloined gas, engineers said that the disaster was only a matter of time. Eyewitness testimony said that the oil had “risen in the air like a fountain” which had covered the ground in the flammable material, contributing to the disaster’s high death toll. The oil line had only come back into service the same day, after being shuttered for almost a month due to damage caused by vandals. The pipe had been a popular filling spot, as thieves have repeatedly punched holes in the pipe in recent months. “It was the popular tap,” said Enrique Cerron, a local. “You could pass by at 11 or 12 in the morning and see people filling up here.” Mexico’s government has been hit by an increasing backlash in the wake of the disaster, with residents alleging that the military refused to step in to prevent the thefts. Others have said that corruption lay behind the failure by authorities to close the pipeline, despite the oil leak being well-known.

Amid mounting criticism, Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz promised that any negligence amongst government officials would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. “It’s a fundamental issue – the chronology of the events must become absolutely clear,” he said. “Everything will be looked at,” Gertz assured. Even so, Mexico’s top legal official cautioned that “we are not going to victimize the communities. We are going to search for those responsible for the acts that have generated this tragedy.”

Watch Out Starbucks

The coffee wars are on. Meet “Luckin Coffee,” the Bei-

jing-based chain that is pouring massive amounts of money into their attempt to dethrone Starbucks as China’s most popular coffeehouse. Founded in 2017, Luckin is betting that its micro-stores and coffees made to-go will siphon China’s lucrative coffee market from Starbucks. Touting a new app that it says enables them to fill and deliver coffee orders in under 18 minutes, Luckin has now invested another $130 million towards becoming the country’s biggest seller of the dark, hot beverage with its intoxicating aroma. Luckin Coffee executives predict that they will eventually surpass Starbucks, pointing to the resources they have poured in to reach their goal. “China is Starbucks’ best and most profitable market now, but it took them nine years of making huge losses,” noted Chief Strategy Officer Reinout Schakel. “We will be faster than that [at turning a profit].” Key to Luckin’s plans are its plans to target office workers. Luckin says that it is aggressively catering to the target customer group by emphasizing speed and convenience over the variety and customer choice

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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touted by Starbucks. The company says that it plans to open a new tech-dominated shop every threeand-a half-hours and has been aggressively cutting prices to lure customers away from competitors. The small stores also help cut down on overhead costs. “The big advantage for us of having pickup stores versus the big stores is that in terms of rental costs, we pay significantly less than our competitors,” said Shakel. With Luckin, customers can order beforehand online and pick up the coffee from any nearby shop within minutes. With no lines and minimal wait, Luckin’s speed allows employees to quickly duck out of their office for a coffee break and be back within minutes. So far, customers say they approve. “I like the convenience. There are no long queues, or having to sit alone while your coffee is brewed,” Yu Qian told Channel Asia. Yu, a financial analyst in Beijing, added that “the coffee itself is a little sweeter, more like the sweet milk tea that is popular in China.” Perhaps Starbucks needs to watch its back.

American Still Being Held in Syria

The family of an American citizen currently being held against his will by the Assad regime in Syria has launched a campaign calling on President Trump to work for his release. Majd Kamalmaz, 61, is a therapist who hails from Virginia. He has not been heard from since he was detained at a checkpoint in Damascus two years ago, where he had been visiting family members in the war-torn county. Soon after he was arrested, Czech Ambassador to Syria Eva Filip confirmed that Kamalmaz was being held in a Damascus jail. Yet soon after, the 61-year-old vanished, and his family has heard nothing since.

Since his disappearance, Kamalmaz’s family has been working with the U.S. State Department for his release. With President Trump announcing last month that he will withdraw the remaining U.S. military forces from Syria, Kamalmaz’s family has launched a public campaign calling on the U.S. president to pressure the Assad regime to release their loved one. The family says that they remain hopeful that Trump will step in due to his administration’s vigorous advocacy on the behalf of other U.S. citizens held against the will in places such as North Korea and Iran. “I feel that President Trump has put a lot more effort than any other president in releasing detained citizens abroad,” his daughter, Maryam Kamalmaz, told NPR. “Hopefully, he can bring our father home safely.” Noting that Trump has worked to ensure the release of U.S. captives in North Korea and Iran, Kamalmaz said that the family wanted similar advocacy on the behalf of their missing relative. “We want to ask him to do the same for our American father,” Maryam said. “He loves America and has been here all his life.” “I think we’ve reached the point where we absolutely are very desperate,” Kamalmaz’s daughter Ula added in an interview with ABC. As a therapist, Majd had traveled to disaster areas all over the world on behalf of various non-profits but had never before faced threats to his wellbeing. “He’s a very humble, loving, caring soul that allows his heart to lead him, and that’s why he’s in the field of treating people who have been affected by PTSD and traumatic events in their lives,” Ula explained. Experts on the situation in Syria warn that the chances that the Trump administration will succeed in winning the elderly American’s release aren’t high. The U.S. has not had diplomatic relations with Damascus since 2012, and President Donald Trump commonly criticizes President Bashar Assad and his Iranian allies. “The U.S. government has little credibility with the Syrian government and precious little leverage against it,” noted former U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford, the last U.S. envoy to Damascus. Other Americans who are being held in Syria include freelance reporter Austin Tice, who has been missing since 2012, and Chicago native Layla Shweikani.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

Brazil’s Prez’s Corruption Rumors

Barely a month since taking office, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is facing the kind of corruption allegations that he railed against during his campaign to the country’s highest elected office. Throughout his campaign, the populist Bolsonaro raged against institutional corruption scandals that rocked Brazil. With a recent bribery scandal known as the “Car Wash” sending hundreds of lawmakers to prison, including his predecessor Luiz Silva, the right-wing radical promised to end corruption and clean up politics. “Our government departments will not be led by anyone who’s been convicted of corruption,” said Jair Bolsonaro shortly after his shocking win in October. Yet new questions regarding large sums of money that were paid to his son and other close associates are raising questions whether the president is involved in the kind of activity he promised to eliminate. The questions started after Brazil’s Council for Financial Activities Control, or COAF, reported that Bolsonaro’s son Flavio had received 48 deposits into his bank account in 2017 totaling $30,000. In addition, $1.9 million was found in accounts belonging to Jair Bolsonaro’s former driver, Fabricio Quiroz. While COAF did not allege that the sums stemmed from criminal activity, the president is facing accusations that the money was, in fact, intended for illicit purposes such as bribery. Ahead of Bolsonaro’s trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, his first international appearance since winning the presidency, the pressure has been mounting on him to clear himself of suspicion. Prosecutors have already said that they will open an investigation into the source of the payments. Meanwhile, the newly elected presi-

dent and his allies have denied that the payments have anything to do with the government. “Flavio Bolsonaro has nothing to do with our government,” declared Vice President Hamilton Mourao in an interview with Reuters on Sunday. Bolsonaro’s son and driver also deny that there was anything improper in the bank transfers. “I have nothing to hide,” Flavio Bolsonaro declared in an interview with Brazil’s Record television network. Presenting what he said are documents that clear his name, he said that the transfers were from the sale of his apartment and other loans he took out and added that the allegations stemmed from “political persecution.”

Soccer Star Fined $21.6M

This week, Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo pleaded guilty to tax fraud, appearing in court in Spain on Tuesday. Ronaldo, 33, was given a two-year suspended sentence and will not have to go to prison, but he will be fined nearly $21.6 million. The Juventus phenom was accused of using a shell company to hide income generated by his image rights over the course of about three years, during his days at Real Madrid. He was accused of four counts of tax fraud worth more than $16 million. Ronaldo had previously reached a plea deal with prosecutors and tax authorities – Tuesday’s court appearance made it official. Prosecutors wanted the soccer forward to serve 23 months in prison, but under Spanish law a first-time offender sentenced to less than 2 years could have the term suspended. Ronaldo currently plays for Italian club Juventus, but played for Real Madrid from 2009 to 2018. He is considered one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, ranked third in 2018 by Forbes, behind boxer Floyd Mayweather and fellow soccer player Lionel Messi. Forbes estimates Ronaldo made

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Israel to Remove UN School from East Jerusalem

said repeatedly that UNRWA and its sister organizations perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by defining the Palestinians as the only world population that has maintained its refugee status for more than three generations. In November, the UN had called on donor countries around the world to fill in the $350 million shortfall, warning that it will cease operations in Israel and Gaza entirely should the budget shortfall not be solved. The UN says that the lack of monies has forced it to consider shuttering all of its schools and clinics that serve 1.4 million Palestinians.

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Israel is reportedly set to move forward with an effort to remove schools run by the United Nations from East Jerusalem. The plan to eliminate the UN Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, was approved by Israel’s National Security Council and aims to gut the organization which serves tens of thousands of Palestinians. The plan has reportedly been in the works for years but only recently received final approval from the Israeli government. According to reports, Israel will not issue permits for the seven UNWRA schools in East Jerusalem. The schools will instead be replaced by Israeli-managed schools operating under the aegis of the Education Ministry. Israel decided to shutter the UN schools due to the perception that the institutions teach anti-Israel messages and keep the Palestinians mired in poverty. Contributing to the move was slashed funding by the Trump administration earlier this year from UNRWA. From the annual $500 million that UNRWA had been getting previously, the aforementioned agency has received almost nothing from the U.S. and has pressed the international community for more funding. The Trump administration had

Think Jerusalem is overrun with cats? Perhaps that’s because they keep feeding them. On Tuesday, Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lion announced that he will be building feeding stations for stray cats in Jerusalem and will fill them with food at the cost of 100,000 shekels per year. Jerusalem recently changed its garbage disposal system and began using containers that are buried in the ground. Residents worried that stray cats wouldn’t be able to get to the garbage as they used to and would starve. Lion’s initiative attempts to feed the cats in a humane way. The feeding stations will be built in neighborhoods where the new, earth-buried garbage cans are placed and cat-lovers will be encouraged to feed cats in the designed stations, as some people are not feline-philes and don’t want to see their numbers grow even further. It is estimated that the feeding stations will require city hall to purchase 210 food bags a month and 2,500 bags per year. Next week the city of Jerusalem will hold a special event for cat lovers who currently feed street cats at their own expense to explain the new move and how they can be reimbursed for their feeding efforts.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

Palestinian with Sentence for Selling Land to Jews Deported to the U.S.

A Palestinian who received life in prison for selling land to Jews will reportedly be deported to the United States. The development comes after secret negotiations between the U.S. and the Palestinian Authority. A Ramallah court had given Issam Akel a life sentence in December for selling property in East Jerusalem to Jews, a crime the Palestinian Authority can punish by death.

Reports said that the Palestinian Authority had decided to deport Akel due to the diplomatic backlash his arrest caused. “We want to finish this saga. He has become a burden upon us,” a PA official told Israel’s “Kan” television channel. Akel’s son, however, told the Times of Israel that the family was not notified of any change in their father’s status. “I have not been informed my dad was transferred to the Americans,” he said. “As far as I know, he is still in the hands of the PA.” Akel, a U.S. citizen, was held for over a month by the Palestinians without being allowed to see a lawyer and the U.S. had been pressuring the PA regarding his condition. Israel had cracked down on Palestinian Authority activity in East Jerusalem and carried out a slew of arrests in order to pressure them to release Akel. Israel reportedly decided to respond harshly to Akel’s kidnapping due to his status as an Israeli citizen, which caused Israel to view his detainment by the PA as an assault on his sovereignty. Last month, riot police hauled in 52 Palestinian Authority employ-

ees ostensibly for operating without permission in Israel’s capital. While illegal under the Oslo Accords, Israel has never enforced the provisions and generally looks the other way regarding PA policing in Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods. A week later, Border Police broke up an illegal PA-funded conference near Jerusalem’s Old City and detained Adnan Rith, who serves as the PA’s “Governor of Jerusalem.” Rith is said to have played a central role in Akel’s arrest and subsequent detention. Under Palestinian Authority law, selling property to Jews is a felony and can be punishable by the death penalty. Under PA law, the death penalty must be authorized by the PA chairman, and Mahmoud Abbas has been loath to approve such sentences due to the international backlash they receive. In 2014, Abbas harshened the penalties given to Arabs who sell land to Jews. Under the new laws, any Palestinian who rents, sells, or facilitates the transfer of property to Israeli Jews will be slapped with a life sentence.

Jordan: New Israeli Airport Violates Our Airspace

The Kingdom of Jordan lodged a strong objection this week to Israel’s new airport adjoining its border, claiming that the brand-new Ramon Airport violates its airspace. “Jordan rejects the establishment of the Israeli airport in its current location,” said Haitham Misto, who heads the Jordanian Civil Regulatory Commission. Misto added that Ramon “violated international standards regarding respect for the sovereignty of airspace and territory of other countries” and called on international aviation federations to “take all necessary measures to ensure that Israel complies

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

Arrest in Death of Israeli in Australia

with international standards.” Misto’s protests are not the first time Jordan has objected to the $500 million airport. After Israel started construction in 2015, Jordan claimed that incoming flights would overfly its territory and disrupt operations at the nearby King Hussein International Airport, which is located at the vacation city of Aqaba. Israel inaugurated the new Ramon Airport on Thursday, the Jewish State’s first international airport other than Ben Gurion Airport in

the country’s center. The airport is named after Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut who perished in 2003’s Columbia space shuttle disaster, and his son Assaf, who died when his F-16 crashed in 2009. Israel had decided to construct a new airport to boost tourism in its often-neglected southern region and to provide an alternative entrance to Israel should the central Ben Gurion Airport be decimated by missiles in a future conflict, G-d forbid. The importance of a new airport was high-

lighted after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a halt to Israel-bound flights in 2014 when Hamas fired Kassam missiles near Ben Gurion Airport. “The airport will be a focal point of activity, with domestic and international flights,” Prime Minister Netanyahu predicted at the opening ceremony. “It will give us further strategic capabilities in times of normal activity and, when needed, in times of emergency.”

20-year-old Codey Hermann has been charged for what police called the “horrendous and horrific” murder of Israeli Aiia Maasarwe in Australia. The Israeli-Arab Maasarwe, 21, was an exchange student at La Trobe University in Melbourne, a bustling Australian metropolis which is known for its low crime rate. Her bloody corpse was found last Wednesday morning in a suburb 16 miles away from the city center in a murder that shocked police. Police announced that it had arrested Hermann on Friday in the village of Greensborough, a short distance from where Maasarwe’s body was found. Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper said that a hat and shirt found scattered near the crime scene “were keys to solving the case” but declined to give out more details out of respect to Maasarwe’s family. According to authorities, Maasarwe was attacked on Wednesday at 12:10 while on the phone with her sister in Bundoora, a suburb adjoining Melbourne. The apparently random attack caused shockwaves in Melbourne, with the crime getting extensive media coverage in the normally-safe city. A vigil service was held on the steps of parliament, and hundreds of Australians wore black in memory of the murdered student. Yet the murder didn’t come as a surprise to Aisha’s younger sister Noor, who told Australia’s Channel 9 that her dead sister never felt safe when walking alone at night in Australia and would often call her sisters when she was alone and needed reassurance. Mursi Abuch, the mayor of Maasarwe’s hometown of Baqa Al Gharbiye, blasted the Israeli media and the political echelon for ignoring the murder, something he attributed to racism. “Days after the abominable murder and the extensive coverage

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

of the tragic incident, we have not heard a single word or statement from any senior Israeli official while Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has expressed emotional statements on the matter,” he chided. “While continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident [in Australia]...we have not heard any statement from any senior official in the country, neither from the prime minister nor from the honorable Mr. Reuven Rivlin,” Abuch added, referring to Israel’s president. “We believe that the failure to publish any information in the local media, and the lack of concern for the publication of even a short story, is a serious, shameful and embarrassing failure for the State of Israel.”

Tensions Flare between Israel and Syria

Syrian air defense batteries were also attacked,” confirmed the IDF in a statement. Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said that Israel’s offensive came in retaliation for a missile Iran had fired at the Mount Hermon ski resort a day earlier. The missile was thankfully intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, and no injuries were reported. Israel decided to respond harshly after determining that the missile had been fired by Iranian militias in a zone that Russia had promised would be clear of forces identifying with the Islamic Republic. Israel and Russia have cobbled together covert agreements to distance Iranian forces such as the Hezbollah terror group from Israel’s border in order to avoid escalating tensions in the region. “The firing of the missile yesterday – a launch that could have killed civilians – was fired by Iranians out of Damascus within an area that we were promised that there would be no Iranians,” noted IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis on Sunday.

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Rabbi Daniel Mechanic Israel went on an extensive bombing campaign on Sunday evening after Syria shot a surface-to-surface missile at Mount Hermon earlier in the week. The IDF said that Israeli warplanes pounded a range of Iranian targets in Syria, including an anti-missile battery, a chain of warehouses that stockpiled military gear, and a training camp. Russia said that four Syrian soldiers were killed in the aerial assault, which is unusual for Israel which seeks to avoid casualties in order not to inflame tensions or perceptions. Twelve Iranian soldiers were killed in the attack. Russia also said that Syria had intercepted 30 Israeli missiles before they had hit their target. If accurate, the interceptions would be the Syrian army’s most successful effort yet at neutralizing IDF airstrikes and could point to increased air defense capabilities that the country has been developing. “During the attack, dozens of Syrian surface-to-air missiles were fired, despite the clear warnings expressed [by Israel] to refrain from attacking. As a result, a number of

Sunday January 27 • 8PM

A Step Backward for the Forward

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In what observers called an end of an era, the Forward announced last week that it would shutter its print division, including its storied Yiddish-language newspaper, and switch to an all-online format. The Forward also laid off a handful of employees, amid a spate of cost-cutting to offset the publication’s falling subscriptions and lackluster ad revenue. The layoffs include editor-in-chief Jane Eisner and comprises 30% of its total work-

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force. “We made some moves that will allow the Forward to survive and thrive for the next 120 years,” said the Forward’s publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen. “This move will allow our editorial team to really hone its focus on digital connection and growth with our current readers, and the vast potential readership that’s out there.” The Forward will continue to publish an online-only edition, a move newspapers across America have turned to as falling ad revenue decimates the print media industry. The newspaper currently hosts 2 million monthly visitors. Founded in 1897 as socialist Yiddish newspaper, the Forward became a major cultural cornerstone of U.S. Jewry. With left-leaning viewpoint, the publication reached its largest ever circulation in the 1930’s, when an average of 275,000

people counted themselves as Forward subscribers. The Forward also launched an English and Russian edition alongside its flagship Yiddish copy but suffered from falling subsections in recent decades. While the newspaper underwent many changes throughout its 121-year history, the cash crisis it is currently battling threatens its ability to continue operations. Fedderson acknowledged that the cuts were difficult but contended that it would enable the newspaper to reemerge and rebuild in order to reach bigger audiences. “When I joined the company I was given two mandates,” she said. “They were to take us digital-first, now digital-only, and to put us on a path to sustainability. “These past two and a half years have been a time of learning for me about the kinds of changes we can and

can’t make when we think about our mission, why we exist, and the role we play in the Jewish community.”

FDA Mulls Banning E-Cigs

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb recently warned that his agency is mulling banning electronic cigarettes from the market as e-cigarette use among teenagers continues to climb. Gottlieb’s comments came during

a public conference in Maryland dedicated to fighting “electronic cigarette and other tobacco product use” among teenagers. Over the past few years, teenage use of electronic vaporizers, or “vapes,” has climbed amid the popularity of electronic cigarettes such as devices sold by Juul. “I’ll tell you this. If the youth use continues to rise, and we see significant increases in use in 2019, on top of the dramatic rise in 2018, the entire category will face an existential threat,” threatened Gottlieb. “It could be ‘game over’ for some of these products until they can successfully traverse the regulatory process. I think the stakes are that high.” Gottlieb acknowledged, however, that removing the product from the shelves “would be a blow” for some adults who “could potentially benefit from these products.” While Gottlieb said that the entire electrotonic tobacco dispenser indus-

Fake News Flurry Targets High School Student

hen a video went viral last Friday of a white teenager wearing a MAGA hat blocking the path of an “elder” Native American who was playing a drum, it instantly became the picture of bigotry in Trump’s America. The teenager, Nick Sandmann, and his Covington Catholic High School classmates from Kentucky were in Washington, D.C., for the yearly Right to Life rally, at which Ben Shapiro and other notable conservatives were featured speakers. The response by the media was swift and vicious. The New York Times headline declared that Sandmann and his classmates “mobbed” the Native American. Most news outlets reporting on the topic pointed out that the Native American in the video, Nathan Phillips, 64, served in the Vietnam War. Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” producer Jack Morrissey tweeted that kids wearing “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) should be thrown “into the woodchipper.” Bakari Sellers, a CNN contributor, decried that the actions of Sandmann were deplorable and that “some people can also be punched in the face.” Kathy Griffin, who once posted an image of herself posing with a prop head meant to depict President Donald Trump’s severed head, declared that she wants the names and information of these children to be disclosed on

social media. But it turns out that it was all fake news. Subsequent video footage released over the weekend revealed that another group – the so-called Black Hebrew Israelites – were shouting abusive assaults at the students for wearing “Make America Great Again” hats. While that was happening, Phillips and other Native American activists approached them and got into their faces. The following is what Nick Sandmann, age 16, wrote about the incident: I am providing this factual account of what happened on Friday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial to correct misinformation and outright lies being spread about my family and me.

I am the student in the video who was confronted by the Native American protestor. I arrived at the Lincoln Memorial at 4:30 p.m. I was told to be there by 5:30 p.m., when our busses were due to leave Washington for the trip back to Kentucky. We had been attending the March for Life rally, and then had split up into small groups to do sightseeing. When we arrived, we noticed four African American protestors who were also on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I am not sure what they were protesting, and I did not interact with them. I did hear them direct derogatory insults at our school group. The protestors said hateful things. They called us “racists,” “bigots,” “white crackers,” … and “incest kids.” They also taunted an African Ameri-

can student from my school by telling him that we would “harvest his organs.” I have no idea what that insult means, but it was startling to hear. Because we were being loudly attacked and taunted in public, a student in our group asked one of our teacher chaperones for permission to begin our school spirit chants to counter the hateful things that were being shouted at our group. The chants are commonly used at sporting events. They are all positive in nature and sound like what you would hear at any high school. Our chaperone gave us permission to use our school chants. We would not have done that without obtaining permission from the adults in charge of our group. At no time did I hear any student chant anything other than the school spirit chants. I did not witness or hear any students chant “build that wall” or anything hateful or racist at any time. Assertions to the contrary are simply false. Our chants were loud because we wanted to drown out the hateful comments that were being shouted at us by the protestors. After a few minutes of chanting, the Native American protestors, who I hadn’t previously noticed, approached our group. The Native American protestors had drums and were accompanied by at least one

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

try needed further regulation, he singled out Juul for special vitriol. “Indeed, the ubiquity of this one product became so entrenched so quickly that it gave rise to its own verb – juuling,” noted the commissioner. Juul said in response that Gottlieb’s “unacceptable” remarks are “directly opposed to our mission of eliminating cigarettes by offering existing adult smokers a true alternative to combustible cigarettes.” “We are moving full steam ahead on implementing our action plan to limit youth usage,” said Juul spokesperson Ted Kwong. “This is unchanged since we announced our plan in November. We will be a transparent, engaged, and committed partner with FDA, state attorneys general, local municipalities, and community organizations in the effort to combat underage use.” Despite early hopes that electronic cigarettes would reduce the harm-

ful effects of smoking when they first hit the market, the flavored tobacco product has exploded in popularity among teenagers. In November, the FDA said that vaping rose by over 80% among high schoolers and 50% among middle schoolers in the last 12 months alone. With one Juul cartridge containing the nicotine equivalent of an entire pack of cigarettes, doctors worry that the electronic tobacco dispensers can get teens hooked on cigarettes and serve as a gateway to more dangerous drugs.

person with a camera. The protestor everyone has seen in the video began playing his drum as he waded into the crowd, which parted for him. I did not see anyone try to block his path. He locked eyes with me and approached me, coming within inches of my face. He played his drum the entire time he was in my face. I never interacted with this protestor. I did not speak to him. I did not make any hand gestures or other aggressive moves. To be honest, I was startled and confused as to why he had approached me. We had already been yelled at by another group of protestors, and when the second group approached I was worried that a situation was getting out of control where adults were attempting to provoke teenagers. I believed that by remaining motionless and calm, I was helping to diffuse the situation. I realized everyone had cameras and that perhaps a group of adults was trying to provoke a group of teenagers into a larger conflict. I said a silent prayer that the situation would not get out of hand. During the period of the drumming, a member of the protestor’s entourage began yelling at a fellow student that we “stole our land” and that we should “go back to Europe.” I heard one of my fellow students begin to respond. I motioned to my classmate and tried to get him to stop

The United States has detained a U.S.-born Iranian anchorwoman

Under U.S. law, witnesses can be detained against their will if prosecutors can prove that their testimony is valuable for the outcome of a case. Witnesses held against their will are usually released immediately after providing testimony. Hashemi’s prolonged confinement has raised eyebrows. Adding to the speculation is the fact that Hashemi’s own family has

not been told the reason for her detainment and that three of her children have been subpoenaed as well. “We’re hoping that it would be complete and she would be out this week. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen,” said her son Hassan. “So we’re just waiting to hear more.” Marzieh Hashemi is a wellknown anchor for Press TV’s English-language channel, a position she has held for over 25 years. She was hauled off by federal agents in St. Louis last week, where she was filming a piece on the Black Lives Matter group. She has remained behind bars ever since. Born Melanie Franklin in Louisiana, Hashemi converted to Islam later in life and moved to Tehran, where she currently resides. Her family says that she visits the U.S. once a year to see relatives and that her current time under lock and key is the journalist’s first brush with the

engaging with the protestor, as I was still in the mindset that we needed to calm down tensions. I never felt like I was blocking the Native American protestor. He did not make any attempt to go around me. It was clear to me that he had singled me out for a confrontation, although I am not sure why. The engagement ended when one of our teachers told me the busses had arrived and it was time to go. I obeyed my teacher and simply walked to the busses. At that moment, I thought I had diffused the situation by remaining calm, and I was thankful nothing physical had occurred. I never understood why either of the two groups of protestors were engaging with us, or exactly what they were protesting at the Lincoln Memorial. We were simply there to meet a bus, not become central players in a media spectacle. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever encountered any sort of public protest, let alone this kind of confrontation or demonstration. I was not intentionally making faces at the protestor. I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation. I am a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic, and I always try to live up to the ideals my faith teaches me -- to remain respectful of others, and to take no action that would lead to conflict

or violence. I harbor no ill will for this person. I respect this person’s right to protest and engage in free speech activities, and I support his chanting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial any day of the week. I believe he should re-think his tactics of invading the personal space of others, but that is his choice to make. I am being called every name in the book, including a racist, and I will not stand for this mob-like character assassination of my family’s name. My parents were not on the trip, and I strive to represent my family in a respectful way in all public settings. I have received physical and death threats via social media, as well as hateful insults. One person threatened to harm me at school, and one person claims to live in my neighborhood. My parents are receiving death and professional threats because of the social media mob that has formed over this issue. I love my school, my teachers and my classmates. I work hard to achieve good grades and to participate in several extracurricular activities. I am mortified that so many people have come to believe something that did not happen -- that students from my school were chanting or acting in a racist fashion toward African Americans or Native Americans. I did not do that, do not have hateful feelings in my heart, and did not witness any of my classmates do-

ing that. I cannot speak for everyone, only for myself. But I can tell you my experience with Covington Catholic is that students are respectful of all races and cultures. We also support everyone’s right to free speech. I am not going to comment on the words or account of Mr. Phillips, as I don’t know him and would not presume to know what is in his heart or mind. Nor am I going to comment further on the other protestors, as I don’t know their hearts or minds, either. I have read that Mr. Phillips is a veteran of the United States Marines. I thank him for his service and am grateful to anyone who puts on the uniform to defend our nation. If anyone has earned the right to speak freely, it is a U.S. Marine veteran. I can only speak for myself and what I observed and felt at the time. But I would caution everyone passing judgement based on a few seconds of video to watch the longer video clips that are on the internet, as they show a much different story than is being portrayed by people with agendas. I provided this account of events to the Diocese of Covington so they may know exactly what happened, and I stand ready and willing to cooperate with any investigation they are conducting. Nick, are waiting for an apology from the media? I wouldn’t hold my breath.

U.S. Detains Iranian Anchorwoman

and is holding her as a material witness in an undisclosed case, authorities confirmed. Federal officials said that Marzieh Hashemi has appeared before a judge twice and has been given an attorney.

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

COUNCIL MEMBER DONOVAN RICHARDS Chair of Public Safety Committee

last year came to $32.5 million. On top of that, the new owners will have to compete for tenants with newer buildings that offer more up-to-date amenities.

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law. Meanwhile, Iran’s official state TV channel has launched a public campaign to raise awareness for the newscaster’s plight and pledged “not to spare any legal effort” for Hashemi. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said that the anchorwoman’s arrest was part of the Trump administration’s “apartheid and racist policy.”

Chrysler Building for Sale Want to own a piece of New York nostalgia? Consider the Chrysler Building, which is now on the market for at least $800 million. New York City’s iconic Chrysler Building has appeared in dozens of movies and has remained an Art Deco

jewel of the Manhattan skyline for decades. Located on 42nd Street just east of Grand Central Terminal, sale price estimates for the famed Chrysler Building vary, but its majority owners, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, hope to recoup the $800 million it paid for their stake of the building back in 2008. Buyer beware: the land beneath the building is owned by New York’s Cooper Union School and the lease

Perhaps one of the most storied parts of its history is its short reign as the world’s tallest building. At 1,046 feet, the Chrysler Building earned that title – but only after builders installed a 125-foot stainless steel spire atop the structure. The title only lasted 11 months until its larger neighbor, the Empire State Building, opened its doors just a few blocks away in 1931. Tishman Speyer, which owns the remainder of the property, acquired it back in 1997. Just after that acquisition, the 1.26 million square-foot building underwent a $100 million renovation. It’s unclear what led to the decision to sell, but some speculate the structure’s age could be a factor. The Chrysler Building has 77 floors, including a lobby that’s three stories high. It was designed by architect William Van Alen for a project of Walter P. Chrysler and cost $20 million to build. Construction commenced on September 19, 1928 and was completed on May 27, 19230. When the antenna was added, the Chrysler Building towered over 40 Wall Street, which was a rival project being built at the time, and became the world’s tallest structure over the Eiffel Tower.

Can Oysters Save New York’s Harbor? It’s no secret that New York’s harbor is filthy. The result of rampant pollution and decay of marine life, the water’s contamination has led the Department of Health to warn against eating fish caught in its waters. The Billion Oyster project is working to change that. Founded in 2014, the project aims to purify New York’s

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

shores by inserting a billion oysters into the ecosystem. The sea animals are natural purifiers. According to CNN, one oyster is capable of cleaning more than 50 gallons of water a day.

The enterprise is hoping that building an oyster reef will lead to a dramatic improvement in the filthy New York Harbor. As of now, the organization has succeeded in installing 30 million oysters in the area but leaders say that much more needs to be done. “Without the oyster reefs, the whole shoreline is fundamentally changed,” director Pete Malinowski said during an interview with CNN. “We think oyster reefs can be part of an integrated approach to resiliency and proactive planning for climate change.” He added, “For restoration to be successful, you need the recruitment of wild oysters from the system. It could help the population grow expo-

nentially.” Key to the Billion Oyster Project’s effort are the partnerships it has established with more than 70 restaurants in New York. Rather than discard oyster shells, the eateries give the shells to the organization, which lays them out at Governor’s Island. There, the shells are left to the elements for a year to cleanse them of any foreign materials before they are transferred to the New York Harbor School. Students at the school hatch baby oysters, which are attached to the shells and are then returned to New York’s waters. The hope is that the oysters will build a natural reef in the harbor, which could have a real effect in restoring the polluted bay.

Party and the Trump administration regarding the president’s signature border wall with Mexico. Trump has refused to sign a bill that would fund the federal government if it does not include the $5 billion to build the wall, while the Democrats adamantly refuse to provide the said funding. Even after the president lowered his requested amount for the wall, Democrats have refused to meet him in the middle. The result? Hundreds of thousands of federal workers working – or sitting at home – without pay.

Alaska Hit Hardest by Govt Shutdown

As the shutdown inches towards the first full month without full government operations, large amounts of the 800,000 federal employees are being forced to find second jobs or move in with family as their paychecks remain frozen. With the partisan bickering mounting, the only thing that politicians from both sides of the aisle agree on is that federal workers are suffering badly due to the

The long-lasting U.S. government shutdown has led to hardships for federal employees all over the United States. The shutdown is a result of partisan rancor between the Democratic

gridlock. Alaska has been hit more than other states. With more than 15,000 federal employees – the highest percentage in the United States – America’s largest state has been bearing the brunt of the shutdown. According to Alaska’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development, at least 382 of the aforementioned employees have applied for unemployment, a big jump from the 40 that had applied the month before. Compounding the problem is the toll the shutdown is taking on the fishing industry, a bedrock of Alaska’s economy. Upon returning from sea, commercial fishing boats must debrief with the National Marine Fisheries Service. Yet with the ongoing shutdown, fishermen may not be able to unload their catch, something that has the potential to devastate Alaska’s economy. A National Marine Fisheries Service member recalled during an interview with The New York Times that “things became extremely ugly around here” during the previous shutdown in 2013. Should the government not return to full operations soon, Alaskans may start venting their frustrations.

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

The shutdown also comes at the worst possible time for Alaska, as it is mired in an ongoing recession for over four years. At 6.3%, its unemployment rate remains the highest in the United States and 11,100 people have lost their jobs since 2016. As the shutdown shows no signs of ending, more and more Alaskans are pressuring Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, to work towards ending the standoff and putting their constituents back to work. “This isn’t how government is supposed to work,” an editorial in the Anchorage Daily News said. “Putting thousands of Alaskans out of work over a single, minor budget item is damaging to our state and its people, as well as America’s reputation as a world leader. It’s also disproportionately damaging to Alaska.”

4 Americans Killed in ISIS Attack in Syria Four Americans were killed when a suicide bomber detonated

explosives at a restaurant in Manbij in northern Syria last week.

The attack killed 15 people overall and comes as the Assad regime moves to mop up the remaining pockets of ISIS in the country’s northern region. The casualties included three U.S. army personnel and a military contractor. The Americans who perished in the attack were identified as Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, from of Boynton Beach, Florida; Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician Shannon M. Kent, 35, who hailed from New York; and Missouri native Scott A. Wirtz. A former Navy SEAL, Wirtz was hired as a Defense Intelligence Agency operations support expert. Farmer was 13-year veteran of the storied Green Berets and had completed multiple tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Kent was a linguist and left behind two children. New York Gov-

ernor Andrew Cuomo ordered flags to be flown at half-mast across the state for the White Plans native, who was the daughter of a New York State police officer. “We owe her our eternal gratitude for her selfless dedication and sacrifice. On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend my deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones,” said Cuomo. The suicide bombing was the most lethal attack on U.S. forces in Syria since the first troops landed in the country back in 2015 and comes as President Trump moves to withdraw the remaining U.S. forces from the war-torn region. President Trump made a surprise visit to Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base to visit the deceased as they were airlifted home, something he told the press was “the toughest thing I’ve had to do as president.” “Will be leaving for Dover to be with the families of 4 very special people who lost their lives in service to our Country,” tweeted the president. Ahead of giving the soldiers their final sendoff, Trump told the media that “when I’m going to meet relatives of some of our great, great heroes that have fallen, I think it might be the toughest thing I have to do as president.”

Kamala 2020

Ending years of speculation, California Senator Kamala Harris officially announced this week that she will be running in the 2020 presidential elections. Harris’ decision to throw her hat in the ring makes her the first African-American women to have a realistic shot at America’s highest elected position. Previous African-American women to run for president include Shirley Chisholm and Carol Moseley Braun. Harris alluded to her ethnicity by announcing her decision to run on Martin Luther King Day, during an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America. “I’m running for president of the United States, and I’m very excited about it,” said Harris. “I’m honored to be able to make my an-

nouncement on the day that we commemorate Dr. King.” Harris said that she was qualified for the position due to her “unique experience of having been a leader in local government, state government and federal government. The American public wants a fighter...and I’m prepared to do that,” she added. Harris, 54, had long been rumored to be a potential challenger to President Donald Trump in 2020. A former California attorney general and district attorney, she remains only the second African-American woman to be elected senator. With a campaign slogan of “Kamala Harris For The People,” Harris’ headquarters will be based in Oakland and Baltimore. Her first campaign video launch promised to promote “truth, justice, decency and equality,” something the senator called “the values we as Americans cherish.” A strong favorite, Harris is far ahead of other challengers in the polls, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard have also announced that they will join the race for the White House.

Columbus Cover-Up

Christopher Columbus has become controversial. According to an announcement by Rev. John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, the school will be covering up murals on its campus that depict the 15th century explorer. Jenkins wrote in a letter to the university community that “many have come to see the murals as at best blind to the consequences of Columbus’s voyage” for indigenous

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

people. “In recent years I have heard from students, alumni, faculty, staff, representatives of the Native American community, and others on this complex topic,” Jenkins added. “I have decided, after consultation with the University’s Board of Fellows, on a course that will preserve the murals, but will not display them regularly in their current location.” Jenkins also wrote that, for Native Americans, Columbus’s arrival in America “was nothing short of a catastrophe.” “Whatever else Columbus’s arrival brought, for these peoples it led to exploitation, expropriation of land, repression of vibrant cultures, enslavement, and new diseases causing epidemics that killed millions,” he wrote. The decision to cover the murals comes after the Native American Student Association of Notre Dame protested against the murals in 2017, according to The Observer, a student newspaper at the school. “This is a good step towards acknowledging the full humanity of those native people who have come before us,” Marcus Winchester-Jones, president of the Native American Student Association, said.

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Visiting an elderly relative? Perhaps a special pet will help cheer them up. Joie Henney, from Pennsylvania, insists that his pet alligator, Wally, is great at helping the elderly feel good. He has been taking the reptile along with him as he visits the Glatfelter Community Center, an assisted liv-

ing development at Sprenkle Drive. “He’s just like a dog,” Henney told the York Daily Record. “He wants to be loved and petted.” Henney, who hosted his own hunting and fishing show from 1989 until 2000 on outlets including ESPN Outdoors, tells residents not to be scared of his 41/2-foot alligator’s teeth. Wally is a registered emotion-

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al support animal, but isn’t granted any special privileges under the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has gone along with Henney on trips to schools and senior centers. At home, Wally spends most of his time in a 300-gallon pond in the living room. He also likes to watch TV and hide in the cupboards. Sounds like a great gator.

Volunteer Drunks When Pennsylvania police put out a proposal for volunteers for an initiative they were working on, many people jumped at the opportunity to work for authorities. No, these volunteers aren’t amazingly

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

altruistic; they just like to drink. The Kutztown Police Department recently wrote on Facebook that it is seeking three volunteers to help with a training event designed to teach officers how to administer Standardized Field Sobriety Tests during suspected DUI incidents. Among the requirements for the position was the willingness “to drink hard liquor to the point of inebriation.” Volunteers also needed to have a clean criminal history, be between the ages of 25 and 40, and have a responsible, sober party available to pick them up after the exercise.

“Alcohol will be provided, however you will not receive any compensation for your time,” the department said.

(Un)surprisingly, police were inundated with volunteers vying for the position. Unfortunately, only three people were chosen to participate. The others went home to drown their sorrows in tubs of Ben & Jerry’s (we hope).

DNA to Fly?

Looking to fly to Mexico on the cheap? Well, we’ll have to draw some blood before giving you a cheaper ticket. AeroMexico, the country’s national carrier, recently unveiled a program called “DNA Discounts,” which offers discounts on flights to Americans who are of Mexican descent. The catch? They need to take a DNA test to prove it. The amount of the discount depends on the percentage of Mexican

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ancestry. For example, a person who has 15% Mexican heritage qualifies for 15% off. No word if you receive a free ticket if you’re 100% Mexican. The campaign was unveiled in a commercial. In the ad, couples from Wharton, Texas, are interviewed about their views of Mexico. Some confess to liking burritos; others don’t hide their dislike for the country neighboring the U.S. to the south. At the end of the ad, couples are told what percentage of Mexican DNA they have. Some of those on camera look confused; others look dismayed. For now, there’s no information about the discount on the airline’s website. Could it be just a ploy for publicity? No sé.

Chicken Fajitas, 48 portions of dried mince and chicken, firelighter liquid, and an emergency water filter. “Right now we are in a Brexit process that nobody has control over, we have no idea what is happening. Our government has no idea what is happening, but you can control what happens to you by taking control yourself,” Blake explained. “One of those things is to be a little bit ahead, have some food in place.” The Brexit Box’s long shelf life – the canned food will last up to 25 years – is appealing. “In the event I don’t need it for Brexit, it is not going to go to waste,” one customer said. Although I don’t know when there will be an occasion when she’ll voluntarily want to eat freeze-dried fajitas.

The Brexit Box

Delay Scarf

With Brexit looming in the near future, Britons are understandably antsy. But James Blake is here to help fearful British residents survive the Brexit apocalypse. Blake has recently debuted the Brexit Box, which offers food rations that will last at least 30 days. Marketing at $380 apiece, Blake has already sold hundreds of them. No one is sure how Britain will trade with the EU once it leaves in nine weeks. Retailers and manufacturers have warned that a “no deal” Brexit could leave Britons with food and medicine shortages due to chaos at the ports. Inside the Brexit Box you’ll find 60 portions of freeze-dried British favorites: Chicken Tikka, Chilli Con Carne, Macaroni Cheese and

Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s biggest rail company, is not known for punctual service. Last week, the company announced plans to hire 22,000 more staff to assist in getting trains into stations on time. This week, the train company made an interesting purchase. Sara Weber, a commuter from Munich, has spent the past year knitting a scarf. The grey, pink and red scarf is unusual as each color reflects the amount of time Sara’s train has been delayed. Sara’s social media post about the scarf drew widespread attention this month, reflecting Deutsche Bahn customers’ frustration at the company’s persistent delays. Hoping to mollify Sara over her numerous delayed journeys, Deutsche Bahn bought her scarf in an online auction for 7,550 euros ($8,600). Sara said she’ll be donating the money to a charity for the homeless.

Did you know? It has snowed exactly once in Miami, on January 19, 1977, when flurries fell from the sky.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

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Chicken Lady” said her 15 chickens love their coop as much as she does. “Our chickens are pets,” she said. “We love our chickens. We don’t eat them. We just play with them.” She even gave them whimsical names: Daffodil, Greasy Grizz, Mashed Potato, Meatloaf, Moo, Tater Tot, Bluebell, Frankie, Fiona, Chewbacca, Snoop, The Boss, Kirby, Petunia, and Daisy. “They’re big, fluffy balls that look like teddy bears,” Trisha said. “They don’t have regular feathers like other chickens do. They have a big giant cottontail, like a bunny.”

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Less than three quarters of Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains arrived on time last year, debunking cultural assumptions about German punctuality. Sara, perhaps you would be better off purchasing a car for your commute instead of donating the funds.

Trisha’s husband developed the orange and white A-Frame plan and tailored it to the couple’s needs, creating warm spots below for the chickens to perch, hide away, or socialize with one another, and an area for the chickens to lay eggs. Trisha sometimes gets into character and wears an orange and white apron over her dress. The beloved chicken coop is the talk of her neighborhood. “You can see it from the street, and everyone stops, gets out, and takes pictures,” she says. “Everyone says, ‘We love your Whatacoop!’”

Did you know?

Whatachick’n Trisha Ruiz loves chickens, and she loves Whataburger. When her husband asked her to move from Fort Worth, Texas, to the outskirts of town she gave him two stipulations: their new property had to have a chicken coop and they had to be able to “drive to Whataburger

in 10 minutes or less.” Finding a property with a chicken coop was easy. But Trisha noticed there was no Whataburger near her new home. So the couple did the next best thing. Trisha’s husband built her a “Whatachick’n” chicken coop modeled after her favorite fast food restaurant. The self-styled “Krazy Funky

Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because the city has 185 miles of local waterways.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

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Community

Simcha Day Camp campers had a blast at the reunion on Sunday, which featured a ginormous balloon drop

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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BREATHTAKING? ORDER YOURS TODAY!

Children from HAFTR’s Early Childhood baked cookies and made thank you cards last week to show appreciation to our firefighter friends for helping to put out the fire in the Lower School

Brachos at BYQ

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he Bais Yaakov of Queens preschool classes are learning all about brachos. This week they focused on Mezonos. The children discussed what types of foods are Mezonos and voted on a few to cook and bake. This incorporated math as the children counted the votes and determined which one was the higher number. Of course, there is a good deal of literacy, math, and science involved in food preparation and following recipes. The best part was making a bracha and tasting the yummy results! The Pre1-A classes are learning the bracha of Shehakol. In order to

strengthen their kriyah skills, the girls took polls to ask their classmates which Shehakol foods they prefer. The choices included cottage cheese, American cheese, egg salad, tuna, and more. This activity required them to read their friend’s names in Hebrew and then tally up the results. The girls felt very empowered to walk around with clipboards gathering information. The girls then prepared each child’s individual request and served it to her. As a culmination to the lesson of the week, the girls enjoyed homemade apple juice ices at their Shabbos party. What a wonderful experience!

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NASCK Consecrates Unique Florida Cemetery

Rabbi Naftali Kalter, Rabbi Yosef Weinstock, Rabbi Elchonon Zohn, Rabbi Yaakov Lyons, and Mr. Aryeh Palmer

n Sunday, January 6, in Lake Worth, Florida, the National Association for Chevra Kadisha (NASCK) consecrated a nonprofit cemetery dedicated to providing a dignified burial for every Jew, regardless of their level of observance or financial means. One hundred rabbonim, South Florida Chevra Kadisha members, local funeral directors, and other supporters joined NASCK staff from across the country to attend the chinuch beis hakevaros, cemetery consecration ceremony, for the first such community cemetery in over a century. With its elegantly landscaped grounds, the South Florida Jewish Cemetery, just north of Boca Raton, Florida, looks just like the for-profit cemeteries in the area. The only difference? Its mission is to provide a beautiful and respectful burial, at the highest standards of halacha, for every Jew, including every meis mitzvah. The cemetery is part of NASCK’s battle against cremation, a funeral option that already accounts for more than 50% of funerals nationwide, with that percentage nearing a staggering 80% in some states. The reasons people choose to cre-

mate themselves or their loved ones are varied and often complex, but finances surely play a big part: cremation is simply cheaper than burial. NASCK chose South Florida for the establishment of the cemetery because South Florida has the highest population of elderly Jews in the United States. Moreover, Florida ranks second in the country for number of cremations; only the more populous state of California ranks higher. Rabbi Elchonon Zohn, founder and president of NASCK, explained at the consecration ceremony that the goal of the cemetery is not only to make kever Yisroel more readily available, but to use the cemetery as “a place that will educate Jewish people about the fact that they have an eternity, that they have a neshama, that Judaism believes in an afterlife, and that the purpose of this life is the afterlife. “We are hopeful that this consecration will be the beginning of a path that allows residents of South Florida to have kever Yisroel and all the benefits it brings, and that through the cemetery many more Jews will learn that their life is truly eternal. It is our hope that this will affect the meaning of their

Did you know? The city of Miami gets its name from one of the native tribes that lived in the region in the 1600 and 1700s, the Mayaimi

The view of South Florida Jewish Cemetery

Rabbi Baumann, Rabbi Zohn, and Rabbi Lyons at the event

Mr Yitzi Safier, supporter of the cemetery; Rabbi Elchonon Zohn, NASCK founder and president; Mr Yanky Safier, supporter of the cemetery; Rabbi Noach Haller, NASCK director of development; Rabbi Yaakov Lyons, NASCK Florida regional director

lives in this world as well, so that they can appreciate what is possible in just one moment of a life lived by the values of Torah.” With the opening of the South Florida Jewish Cemetery, NASCK has partnered with foundations, funeral directors, chevros kadisha, and individual donors from around

the country to make sure that no Jew is robbed of the benefits of kever Yisroel due to lack of funds. Photos and videos of this historic moment, as well as photos of the cemetery and renderings of buildings still in the planning stages, are available at nasck.org.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

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MTA Sophomores Experience Another Incredible Week in Israel By: Akiva Kra, Gavriel Pudell, Yehuda Wildes, Avi Loew (MTA Class of 2021)

fter an incredible week one on the MTA-Makor Chaim Israel Exchange Program, week 2 had high expectations and did not disappoint! After leaving the YU Gruss Center, where we spent Shabbos, the group made our way back to Yeshivat Makor Chaim. On the way, we briefly stopped at the Lone Tree in Alon Shvut. The tree represents a lot but, for us, it symbolized the continuity of the Jewish people and the settlement in Kfar Etzion, which we had learned about the previous week. When we got back to Makor Chaim, we met our English teacher, a successful playwright, and had a great class with her. After the usual, yet always special, seder erev, dinner and free time, we met the four Makor Chaim talmidim who will return to MTA with us in February and got to talk and play games with them. On Monday, Rosh Chodesh, we

had an extra special davening. Hallel featured lots of singing and dancing, accompanied by guitars, clarinets, drums, and trumpets! Next, we had our Gemara shiur with our rebbeim and Israeli classmates. The always exciting afternoon classes flew by and before we knew it, we had two night activities: playing basketball with Israelis and a kumzits, improv

plays in Hebrew, and hanging out with our new classmates – our new friends. Tuesday just made the week better! We had a short shiur in the morning, before davening with an MTA class of 1974 alum! He helped us to strengthen our kavana for tefilla. After breakfast, we had a shiur about Eretz Yisroel and its connection to

us. In the afternoon, we went to the blind museum. As we headed back to Makor Chaim, everyone mentioned how their Hebrew language skills have dramatically improved! Wednesday flew by before our eyes, which brought the arrival of Thursday. After shiur, pre-Shabbat kumzits, and secular classes, there was afternoon seder, dancing, and an uplifting shiur from Makor Chaim Rosh Yeshiva Rav Dov. At dinner, MTA talmidim Akiva Kra and Aryeh Kolber were chosen to compete in the famous Makor Chaim chair-on-table competition, where they tied. After dinner, we experienced an incredible all-night Mishmar, which lasted until sunrise. It turns out that Friday was also Rav Dov’s birthday, so, in the middle of Mishmar, there was a yeshiva-wide Hitvaadut to celebrate. Shabbos is our off-Shabbos, so it was spent in more than 10 different communities across the country – some with friends, some family, and at our new classmates’ homes. We can’t wait to see what week 3 has in store!

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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R’ Mordechai Rosen saying chaburah for the Yeshiva Darchei Torah Alumni Night Seder Kollel

Tu B’Shvat at BYAM

he PTA of Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam sponsored a fun and hands-on Tu B’Shvat activity for the girls at BYAM this. The girls made gorgeous fruit tree cupcakes in honor of the chag l’ilanos. The preschool girls made the project in their classrooms where their teachers were able to provide more attention and assistance. Grades 1-6 got together for a Tu B’Shvat assembly where they heard an inspiring speech from the principal, Mrs. Zytman. She spoke about how just as we can’t see what’s going on under the ground to prepare the trees for bearing fruits, so too we don’t know what yeshuos Hashem is planning beneath the surface. Just because

Knowing that the chag would arrive during midwinter break, students of Shulamith Lower Division celebrated Tu B’Shvat a bit early this year. Grades 1-4 participated in a special pre-Tu B’Shvat activity with Morah Malki Agular last week. They created unique flower arrangements out of soup containers and felt. The bouquets they made were stunning!

we can’t see it now, doesn’t mean that He isn’t answering our tefillos. The girls had a great time creating their edible trees and singing their lively G.O. song.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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Rambam’s Annual Father/Son Learn-a-Thon

almidim in Rambam who hail from Yeshivas Toras Chaim Bais Binyamin of South Shore were abuzz when they found out that this year’s Family Learn-a-Thon shiur was to be given by their Rosh HaYeshiva, Rav Mordechai Kamenetzky. The learning get-together is held annually on January 1, since fathers have the opportunity to spend time learning with their sons in the morning, without missing work. One father exuberantly said, “Learning instead of work, I wish I could do it every day, especially with such an enjoyable program.” The morning began with everyone davening Shachris and was followed by a sumptuous breakfast provided by The Women’s League and sponsored by the Farrell, Fuchs, Grill, Herskowitz and Pollack families. After bentching, fathers and sons pored over the maareh mekomos in preparation for the shiur. The halachic sources were wide-ranging and included Gemara, Rishonim, Shulchan Aruch, Piskei Halacha from Rav Yehonasan Eibeshutz, the Chuster Rav, and from later day poskim such as Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l. Rav Kamenetzky delivered a shiur on the topic of “Acting in Tandem with an Outsider’s View,” focusing on the sources the talmidim prepared. Rav Kamenetzky emphasized the point that Torah Jews must not only be meticulous in their halachic observance but must always be mindful of the “impressions” they create in the perceptions of others. He peppered his insightful halachic analysis with interesting anecdotes, referring to Sandy Koufax

who brought pride to the Jewish world when he refused to pitch a World Series Game that fell out on Yom Kippur. Koufax was later interviewed in the summertime on CNN and was perturbed that the interview would air a few weeks later on Rosh Hashanah. He did not want to give the impression that he had actually participated in the interview on one of the Jewish High Holy days, and an agreement was reached where it was made apparent that the interview was not a live interview. Rabbi Kamenetzky emphasized the idea that Jews must be above reproach. It is also important for the Torah observant community to think about the implications of their actions. “Years ago, my zayde taught me that davening Mincha in a phone booth deprives the phone company of revenue if someone else wants to make a phone call.”

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The fathers and sons thoroughly enjoyed Rav Kamenetzky’s shiur, and many stayed behind at its con-

clusion to thank him and ask follow-up questions.

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Tu B’Shvat Tish

his past Sunday, the Learn & Live boys had an incredible L&L event l’kavod Tu B’Shvat: a Tu B’Shvat “tish” with the Sulitzer Rebbe! For this unique event, the L&L boys and their fathers all came to the Sulitzer Beis Medrash, where a beautifully laid out tish was ready for them, set up by the indefatigable L&L staff. As the Rebbe walked in, all the boys rose to show proper kavod and sat very quietly as the Rebbe explained why we eat fruits on Tu B’Shvat and why it’s a special time to daven for an esrog. The Rebbe then served various fruits to all the boys, including some of the shivas haminim, as well as melons, nuts, and various dried fruits. Afterwards, every boy got his own special clementine with a personal bracha from the Rebbe. Everyone enjoyed the delicious fruits and

this beautiful celebration of the incredible yom tov for the trees! Thank you to the sponsors of the tish, the Engel, Feldberger, Frishman and Simha families. Thank you as well to the L&L staff and, of course, to the Sulitzer Rebbe, shlita, for making this amazing and inspiring event possible!

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BJX Kiruv Leaders Inspiring the Next Generation

rooklyn Jewish Xperience and JSU/NCSY provide a Leadership Course to Brooklyn’s public high school students. Together they explore the essentials of Judaism through the prism of leadership. Each week the students enjoy a delicious dinner and then join a chaburah where they study a halacha. Then they are riveted by a presentation by Rabbi Fingerer on leadership. Each evening concludes with a presentation by top executives who share their wisdom and success with the students. This past Tuesday they heard

from a panel of executives. After six weeks, the students participate in a Shabbos weekend and receive a stipend and a leadership certificate.

A public school senior was touched by the experience. He said, “I am humbled to be part of such a program.” After studying togeth-

er the laws of lashon hara, one girl asked us, “Why don’t they teach us these things in school?”

Touro Students Learn from Top Orthodox Mental Health Experts School of Social Work has expanded its outreach to the Orthodox Jewish community significantly over the past five years, noted the school’s founding Dean, Dr. Steven Huberman. “Since Touro’s founding over 50 years ago, Touro has taken a leadership role in building Klal Yisrael,” said Dean Huberman. “Our Graduate School of Social Work addresses

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ouro College Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) students pursuing careers in mental health networked and learned from top Orthodox professionals in the field at the 22nd annual conference of NEFESH International held recently at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge, Long Island. The Touro College Graduate

each and every day the mental health challenges facing all of us. Through our extensive support of the NEFESH mental health network, we give our graduate students the opportunity to learn practical skills from Orthodox mental health experts that will help them throughout their social work careers and serve their communities.” NEFESH, a global network and training association of Orthodox mental health professionals, rabbis and educators, brought together a record number of participants this year that included 18 students enrolled in Touro’s Master of Social Work program. The Touro students interacted with seasoned leaders of major organizations in the Orthodox community. They heard from renowned rabbis and therapists who shared knowledge, techniques, studies, statistics and advice at over 30 workshops and presentations. Among the many topics covered were trauma, marital and family relationships, the interplay between religion and psychotherapy. Rabbi Akiva Adelman, another first-year MSW student in the Touro Brooklyn men’s cohort, was moved by the conference. “I was extremely impressed with the resources available to the students and professionals,” said Adelman. Originally from Queens, Adelman lived in Israel for ten years teaching post-high school students in a Yeshiva. Since returning to the United States two years ago, he has been interning as a case manager at Shlomie’s Club in Boro Park, which helps young men who have lost a parent. “I saw while teaching at the Yeshi-

va in Israel that there is a need for social work expertise and skills to deal with today’s teens and young adults as we help prepare them for life,” said Adelman. At Shlomie’s Club, he added, that need has only been reinforced. “I see needs [that]...if I were skilled enough, I could take care of some of their situations without sending them out.” The highlight of the conference for many of the students was a packed session entitled, “Judaism and Mental Health” led by Rabbi Elya Brudny, rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn. “He spoke about how to view mental health from an Orthodox religious perspective,” Yisroel Meir Miller said. For example, the rabbi said Orthodox mental health professionals should see their work as opportunities to help others rather than as sources of income and means of support, which, while important, should be viewed as peripheral to the giving of oneself to help others, a fundamental precept to Judaism. “Rabbi Brudny said clinicians should take some time every day to pray for their clients. He said we know [clients’] pain and we wish we could help them more but we should at least take some time every day just to pray for them,” noted Miller. Included among the well-known speakers were Rabbi Moshe Weinberger of Aish Kodesh in Woodmere; Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president, emeritus, of the Orthodox Union; Rabbi Dovid Cohen; and Alan Singer, Ph.D., LMSW and Touro Graduate School of Social Work Director of Jewish Community Outreach, Men’s Division.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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Yeshiva of Belle Harbor Celebrates with the Far Rockaway and Five Towns Community

ll simchos are special, however, when two families from one yeshiva get married the simcha becomes extra special. Last week, Yeshiva Mercaz HaTorah of Belle Harbor rejoiced as Dovid Dachs, son of Mr. and Mrs. Shloime Dachs, married Naomi, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Yoeli Steinberg. Dovid, a Belle Harbor alumnus, was a choshuve bochur and a role model to other bochurim. During his years in the yeshiva Dovid would often be found learning in the Beis Medrash. Dovid has maintained a close kesher to the Rosh HaYeshiva, Rav Shmuel Zev Dicker, shlita, and published a sefer in honor of his chasuna that he began writing when he learned halacha seder with the rosh yeshiva. Mr. Yoeli Steinberg, of Gourmet Glatt Emporium and a noted askan in the community, is an integral part of the yeshiva. He takes great pride and nachas in the yeshiva’s successes and is me’kusher to the Yeshiva. Dovid is the Steinberg’s second sonin-law who learned and excelled in Belle Harbor. The yeshiva wishes the Dachs and Steinberg families a heartfelt mazal tov and wish them much bracha and continued nachas from their beautiful families. The yeshiva’s idyllic location in the safe and serene enclave of Belle Harbor, New York, has always provided the optimum, out-of-towan setting for unfettered aliya b’Torah. Yet, although removed from the bustle of the city, Belle Harbor remains close enough to accommodate younger bochurim who prefer to board at home. Nowadays, many parents want to have their Mesivta bochurim board at home. With this in mind, the yeshiva is introducing an optional non-dormitory program specifically geared to those bochurim who wish to return home every night. This program is being offered to Far Rockaway and Five Towns families. Supervised transportation and other accommodations will be arranged for this group.

Three decades of Building Bnei Torah • Focus on the Character of a Ben Torah

New NonDormitory Option The yeshiva looks forward to maintaining its balanced mix of local talmidim, along with contingents from communities across North America, and beyond. The transition from a carefree young boy to a mature ben Torah begins in the ninth grade. The menahel, Rabbi Yossi Goldstein, serves as the ninth grade rebbe, lovingly guiding the talmidim through this crucial transitional year. Rabbi Goldstein is known for his trademark geshmak in learning. His passion and exuberance conveys the joy of discovering an illuminating pshat in a sugya. His warm personality endears him to his talmidim and has a way of infusing those around him with sheifos for ever-greater hasagos in Torah. At the same time, Rabbi Goldstein maintains the relationship of a trusted rebbe, who bochurim know they can confide in and share whatever is on their minds. For more information or to receive an application packet with the yeshiva new brochure and video, please contact Rabbi Yossi Goldstein at the yeshiva office 718-474-3064 ext. 205 or 347-528-3600. Applications may also be requested by emailing applications@ymhbh.com or can be downloaded directly from the yeshiva’s online web portal at www.ymhbh.com.

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505 Beach 129th Street | Belle Harbor, NY 11694 Email: office@ymhbh.com | Web: www.ymhbh.com

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

“Torah is the Essence of Life” “Living the Daf,” Celebrated at Dirshu Convention Grand Melava Malka as the March to World Siyum Continues By Chaim Gold

“R

av Boruch Ber Leibowitz said, ‘Torah is not just oxygen, it is life itself, it is the essence of life!’ This was the overwhelming feeling that I had spending Shabbos here at the Dirshu Convention, together with the lomdei Dirshu,” said HaGaon HaRav Dovid Goldberg, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Telshe. “The essence of a Yid is Torah. What a zechus it was to sit with such talmidei chachomim, gedolei Torah, who show honor for the Torah and who show with their conduct that they value Torah, by making Torah learning their kevius, the most important thing in their lives, no matter what they do. My chavrusa takes the tests every month, and I wish I would have the time to also take the tests myself! “Dirshu has no vacations, they are not off on Pesach or Sukkos, never, because they have true chashivus for Torah, value for Torah. Dirshu understands that you can take a vacation from eating but not from Torah,” Rav Goldberg said passionately. Rav Dovid Goldberg’s impassioned words were said at the Dirshu Grand Melava Malka Siyum on Chelek Gimmel of the Mishnah Berurah, the culmination of a Shabbos of Chizuk in Torah. The Shabbos and motzei Shabbos spent with likeminded individuals who have chosen to make Torah learning, setting goals and accountability in limud haTorah the centerpiece of

HaRav Dovid Hofstedter addressing the Dirshu Convention

their lives immeasurably enriched thousands of lomdei Dirshu and their wives. The Convention also served as the harbinger for the Dirshu World Siyum next winter where the efforts of lomdei Dirshu will be recognized and given the honor they deserve at massive demonstrations of kovod haTorah-siyumim in Eretz Yisrael, England, France, and finally America with an outpouring of chizuk and kovod haTorah at a unprecedented siyum to be held at the Prudential Center in Newark. Hashem Blesses Those Who Learn Torah! Indeed, one of the surprises of

the night was a special video message given by the venerated Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh to the thousands of participants at the Grand Melava Malka expressing his great joy about the siyumim. He pointed out that when a large, public siyum is made it encourages more people to learn. He brought proof to this concept from a pasuk in Mishlei [1:20], “Wisdom sings out in the streets; it gives forth its voice in the public.” Rav Edelstein explained, “When wisdom is being praised in the street it gives forth a voice in public that influences others.” When asked to give a bracha in honor of next year’s Siyum HaShas, the Rosh Yeshiva answered, “The bracha is min hashomayim! Hashem

Joyous dancing upon the Siyum on Mishnah Berurah Chelek Gimmel

blesses those who learn Torah. My bracha is that you should have siyatta d’shmaya in everything you do!” Dirshu’s Goal: To Live the Daf Rav Dovid Hofstedter, Dirshu’s Nasi, amplified that message in his remarks, saying, “The purpose of the Dirshu World Siyum is to galvanize, empower and energize lomdei Torah throughout the world, young and old, whatever standing and station in life, irrespective of what shevet they belong to, k’ish echad b’lev echad, to accept upon themselves the ol, the yoke of Torah, to become a mamleches Kohanim v’goy kadosh and to rise above the nisyonos. That is our objective and goal! Hashem has given us the tools to survive. Today there are all kinds of aids to help us in learning. There are umpteen ways to do the Daf, with this shortcut and that aid. Dirshu’s goal however is not to DO the Daf; it is to LIVE the Daf!” In his comprehensive remarks, Rav Hofstedter showed from the parsha how we see that in order to merit understanding Torah a person must prepare himself, motivate himself and accept upon himself the ol Torah, the yoke of Torah. Only Torah with hachana and kabbalah, prishah and tahara can have that transformative impact on a person, similar to the impact that accepting the Torah on Har Sinai had on Bnei Yisrael. This is the limud haTorah that makes us into a mamleches Kohanim and goy kadosh. That is the

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

with many things, but the entire day of Dirshu learners revolves around their learning sedorim and their Torah goals as Rav Dovid so eloquently said, ‘Dirshu ruins lives.’ The Menahel in the yeshiva where I teach gets his life ruined every day. His head is always in his Gemara, learning his Dirshu limud and every time he has to remove his head from his Gemara to attend to something, his life is being ruined!” HaRav Lipa Geldwerth addressing the Dirshu International Convention

HaRav Reuven Feinstein delivering a shiur on Erev Shabbos

goal of Dirshu, to ensure that learning Torah replicates that same transformative impact on lomdei Torah. Rav Hofstedter said the World Siyum would strengthen lomdei Dirshu and help to internalize those values and hashkafos. “Our mantra is ki heim chayeinu, Torah is our life…u’vohem NEHEGAH – and in Torah we will TOIL! We will do this despite the decadent society in which we live and despite the self-serving words of cynics and critics. With siyata d’shmaya we will celebrate kavod haTorah, yegias haTorah and yiras shomayim…and will merit to see the ultimate fulfillment of the tefillah we say on the Yamim Noraim, ‘Give honor to Your Nation, praise to those who fear You and sikva tova l’dorshecha – hope to those who are “doresh,” who seek you!’” Indeed, HaGaon HaRav Binyomin Eckstein, shlita, Belzer Dayan of Lon-

HaRav Yaakov Feitman addressing the Dirshu Convention

don, who was honored with making the siyum, said in his remarks that “this siyum and all Dirshu siyumim are not just siyumim celebrating past accomplishments, as great as they are, rather their purpose is to encourage more limud haTorah, to urge Yidden accept upon themselves more learning and leave their comfort zone.” The Unique Quality of “Fixed” Torah Learning Another highlight of the evening was the moving, powerful drasha by HaGaon HaRav Lipa Geldwerth, shlita, R”M at Yeshivas Torah Temimah and Rav of Khal Kol Torah of Flatbush. Rav Geldwerth said that perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Dirshu is that it has made Torah keva, fixed, and melacha arai, work temporary – Torah has become the mainstay of every Dirshu member’s life and work has be-

HaRav Dovid Goldberg delivering a keynote address

come peripheral. The Vilna Gaon asks, “When the Mishnah tells us to make Torah fixed, why does it also have to say, make your work temporary. Obviously if one’s Torah is fixed his work is not?” Rav Geldwerth answered by citing a Mishnah in Sukkah that says, “All seven days a person should make his sukkah his fixed dwelling and his home a temporary dwelling. If the sukkah is the main dwelling does it not follow that the house is temporary? Why does the Mishnah have to spell it out?” He cited the Pri Megadim that says on Sukkos a person should not put a tablecloth on his table in the house. “Why? To show that the sukkah is the main house. Only by actually leaving the house and showing that it is not your main dwelling, can one truly realize that the sukkah is the main dwelling. Yes, people are busy

Rebbetzin Gustman and Nishei Dirshu The nishei Dirshu were also treated to their own melava malka where they heard profound words of chizuk from Rabbi Paysach Krohn and then from Rav Dovid Hofstedter. Throughout Shabbos, there was an enriching, deeply inspiring program for Dirshu wives highlighting their integral roles in creating the framework for a Torah home and stressing the simcha that they derive from vicariously achieving Torah goals. Addresses for women were given by Mrs. Chany Feldbrand, Mrs. Dina Storch, Mrs. Brenda Katina, and Mrs. Leah Richheimer. Perhaps the Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe, Rav Dovid Goldberg, best encapsulated the unique role that wives can have in facilitating the Torah learning of their husbands when he told the deeply moving story of Rebbetzin Gustman, wife of Rav Yisrael Gustman, Rosh Yeshiva Netzach Yisrael. During the war years, Rav GustContinued on page 50

The Power of Dirshu! A Personal Testimony Heard at the Dirshu Convention

t the Friday night seudah, R’ Yosef, E, a Dirshu member who prefers to remain anonymous, rose to give his own personal account of what being part of Dirshu has done for him. “HaRav Dovid Hofstedter has transformed all of us into Dirshu personalities. When you are part of Dirshu, you know that the blatt has to get done and be reviewed, regardless of what is going on in your life. There are so many terutzim not to learn – a chasunah, a bar mitzvah, the birth of a baby, you are not feeling well… with Dirshu there are no terutzim!” Reb Yosef, who is part of Kinyan Torah and learns the Daf at nights and on Fridays and Shabbosim, relates, “It was a couple of days before I had to take test number 73. I always

try to review all 30 blatt that the test will cover during the week before the test. It was erev Shabbos and I was very behind in chazarah. “My son, who was two weeks before his upsherin, came home and we immediately noticed that his cheek was swollen. Before long, the swelling had spread to his eyes. My wife rushed to the doctor. The doctor said that our child had an infection that needed to be treated immediately via intravenous antibiotics. He instructed us to head straight to the hospital. You know what I was thinking… ‘Ribono Shel Olam! I have a test on Sunday, how am I going to chazer?!’ We came to the hospital and upon examination the doctor said, ‘Antibiotics alone will not do the trick. We will have to operate, remove the abscess and clean it out.’ The operation

was scheduled for 4pm on Sunday afternoon. “On Sunday morning, I still had 28 blatt go! I asked my wife what to do. On the one hand, I had a test, on the other hand, my son was in the hospital. My wife told me, ‘Don’t worry, I have already arranged a babysitter for the other kids…’ But I protested, ‘If I stay home and prepare for the test, I won’t be with you when they wheel our yingele into the hospital room.’ “‘I know,’ she replied, ‘but your Torah leaning is more important to me than the comfort of having you by my side when he gets wheeled in.’ I went home where I learned and learned, forgetting about the entire world. Just after 4 pm I had already chazered 13 blatt when the phone rang. It was my wife, informing me

that they had taken our son into the operating room. I wished her a heartfelt hatzlacha, and returned to my Gemara. “Suddenly, the thought hit me. ‘Are you crazy?! Your son is being wheeled into the operating room, your wife is alone, and you are here, at home, feverishly chazering one blatt after another?! It was right then and there that I understood the famous words of the Ohr Hachaim Hakodesh who writes, ‘If Bnei Yisroel would feel the sweetness of the Torah they would make themselves meshugah over it!’ That is what Dirshu does, it makes us shikkur over the Torah!” Needless, to the operation was a great success. That is the zechus of relentless dedication to learning that Dirshu promotes.

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

man, his wife and daughters spent two years in the forest fleeing the Nazis and eventually joining the partisans. In 1944, the Nazis were already retreating, and the Russians were on their way to liberate Vilna and its environs. The Gustman family had not eaten in two days and were literally starving. If they didn’t find food they would have perished. They had no choice but to sneak into Vilna and knocked on a door begging for food. The gentile woman refused, saying, “Zhid, go away.” Two more homes got the same reaction. The family then noticed the shul of Rav Avrohom Tzvi Eisenstadt. Amazingly, the shul had

Davening in the specially constructed tent

not been touched in two years. The seforim were still open on the table. Rav Gustman sat down in the shul, ex-

claiming, “What should we do? How will we get food?” Looking him in the eye, the Rebbetzin replied, “You have

seforim here from which to learn! How can you speak about food?!” He looked at her in wonderment, “But we haven’t eaten in two days?!” She replied, “It has been more than two years since you were able to open a sefer! Please, sit down and learn for an hour, then we will talk about how to get food!” “That is the neshama of a heiligeh Yiddishe women. It is no wonder that Rav Gustman would always say, ‘All of my learning and teaching is in her zechus.’ Neshei Dirshu resemble Rebbetzin Gustman. They understand that Torah is life!” Rav Goldberg concluded.

HaGaon Rav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, Shlita, Addresses a Painful Topic at the Dirshu Convention The Antidote to Gezeiros Against Chinuch in our Time talmid of the Chofetz Chaim in Radin tragically veered off the path of Yiddishkeit. He moved to St. Petersburg and became friendly with many people in positions of power. Despite living a lifestyle that was far removed from Torah, he retained some warm feelings for Yiddishkeit. He would periodically assist the Yidden in mitigating some of the Czarist government’s terrible decrees against the Yidden. The Chofetz Chaim was once in St. Petersburg when he noticed this talmid exiting a treife restaurant. The Chofetz Chaim began screaming, “Oy vey, what has become of you!” The Yid, was undeterred, and said, “Rebbi, you have to understand, I didn’t eat mamesh treif. Certainly, I had to eat things without a hechsher because in order to help the Yidden I must exhibit camaraderie, by eating together, etc. but I didn’t eat pork….” The Chofetz Chaim responded with a story. A simple villager was riding in a wagon during the freezing Russian winter. Evidently he wasn’t properly protected against the elements. Another passenger realized that his fellow traveler was getting terribly frostbitten. His ears had already turned colors, and there was a serious risk of him becoming deaf if he didn’t immediately address the issue. The person told the villager, “Take snow and rub it in your ear. That is your only chance of possibly salvaging your hearing. Otherwise you will become deaf.” The villager replied, “Are you crazy? Snow is freezing cold; rubbing snow in my

Harav Yitzchok Sorotzkin

ear will only make it worse!” The clever person persisted, “Do you have a better eitzah? I am telling you it works! The least you can do is try it!” The simple villager tried it, and lo and behold, some sensation returned to his ear and he even started hearing again. He couldn’t believe it. The simple fool said, “Wow! We are so lucky this happened in the winter. Had it happened in the summer we would not have had snow to rub in my ear!” “Of course, the person was a fool!” the Chofetz Chaim said, “because had it been the summer, he would never have gotten frostbitten in the first place! The same applies to you,” exclaimed the Chofetz Chaim. “The only reason there are so many terrible gezeiros is because people like you have strayed far from the Torah. If you and others like you would have remained learning Torah in yeshiva, we would not have gezeiros. We wouldn’t need to use your services to nullify some of the gezeiros. Yes, you do some degree of service by putting out the fire, but you are responsible for the fire in the first place!” We are living in a time of unprecedented gezeiros against Torah, against chinuch all over the world – in Eretz

Yisroel, in England, in Canada and now here in the United States as well. We haven’t been subjected to such gezeiros in many decades. Why is Hashem doing this to us now? Is there a message for us? Perhaps it is because there is not enough chashivus for Torah. Let me explain. We know that the Gedolei Hador have said that cellphones and especially smartphones are the prime yetzer haras of our generation. Most are accustomed to understanding this to mean the shmutz, the immorality that these phones bring into our lives from the worst of the non-Jewish street. Yes, that is terrible, but I think there is another terrible assault on our ruchniyus that the phone is doing to our bnei Torah! I am talking about people who would never, challilah, expose themselves to the prevalent immorality. Nevertheless, the phone has had a corrosive effect on our Torah learning. It has been mafsik us and continues to be mafsik us from learning. I remember in yeshiva, even when seder ended, there was a rischa d’Oraish, we left the bais medrash “cooking” in the sugya, we were busy with it both inside and outside the bais medrash.

We were never “out” of learning. Today, I see the finest, most wonderful bnei Torah, the second they leave the bais medrash, turning on their phones and being busy with this and that. They are not shakua, not immersed, in learning. The cellphone, even the kosher one, has made us busy with things other than Torah. This causes a terrible rifyon in Torah. It is an elbon, a shame to the Torah, when small, petty things occupy our attention the second seder ends. I am not even talking about someone who chalilah talks on the phone during seder… Who knows what kind of difficulties, gezeiros and problems this disconnection from Torah is wreaking! One of the most beautiful things about Dirshu is that it creates such an ol Torah, it compels lomdei Torah to constantly be learning, chazering, preparing for tests and therefore not chalilah, becoming disconnected from Torah. The only eitzah, as the Chofetz Chaim said, is to deal with the shoresh, the root of the problem. It is imperative that all bnei Torah accept upon themselves the ol Torah. Kabbolas ol Torah is the call of the hour!

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TJH Riddle me

this? After a local post office burglary, five suspects were interviewed. Below is a summary of their statements. Police know that each of them told the truth in one of the statements and lied in the other. From this information can you tell who committed the crime? Brian said: It wasn’t Charles It was Alan Derek said: It was Charles It wasn’t Alan Charles said: It was Brian It wasn’t Eric Alan said: It was Eric It wasn’t Brian Eric said: It was Derek It was Alan See answer on bottom of the opposite page

Centerfold You gotta be kidding A guy took his mother to her first football game. Afterward he asked her how she liked the game. “I liked it,” she said, “but I couldn’t understand why they were killing each other for 25 cents.” “What do you mean?” he asked. “Well, everyone kept yelling, ‘Get the quarter back!’”

Coach Speak NFL coaches are known as master motivators. The following are quotes from various NY Jets coaches.

There are two things in New York, euphoria and disaster. – Bill Parcells

Your problems are never bigger than your purpose. – Herman Edwards

There is winning and there is misery. – Bill Parcells A goal without a plan is a wish. – Herman Edwards

Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz

Every man has some fear. A man with no fear belongs in a mental institution. – Walt Michaels

It isn’t about the words you say. It’s about the energetic message you send. – Pete Carroll

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. – Lou Holtz

No one has ever drowned in sweat. – Lou Holtz

Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference. – Lou Holtz

Each day you must choose: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. – Eric Mangini We can’t run. We can’t pass. We can’t stop the run. We can’t stop the pass. We can’t kick. Other than that, we’re just not a very good football team right now. – Bruce Coslet

The Jewish Jewish Home Home || OCTOBER JANUARY 29, 24, 2015 2019 The

NY Jets Head Coach Trivia 3. Who had the longest tenure as head coach of the New York Jets? a. Weeb Ewbank b. Al Groh c. Rex Ryan 1. What was the new Jets head coach Adam Gase’s record in his three years as head coach of the Miami Dolphins? a. 35-13

d. Herman Edwards 4. For how long was Bill Belichik (who is now considered by many to be one of the top coaches in NFL history) coach of the Jets?

b. 30-18

a. 7 seasons

c. 27-20

b. 4 seasons

d. 23-25

c. 1 season

2. How many head coaches have the Jets had in total? a. 13 b. 26

d. 1 day 5. Which coach has the best winning percentage while coaching the Jets?

c. 21

a. Rex Ryan

d. 37

b. Bill Parcells

c. Eric Mangini d. Rich Kotite 6. Which Jets coach famously said, “You play to win the game”? a. Bill Parcells b. Joe Walton

New England’s facilities and didn’t even let him pick up his belongings? a. Rex Ryan b. Eric Mangini c. Todd Bowles d. Adam Gase

c. Herman Edwards d. Eric Mangini 7. Which Jets coach had a close relationship with Bill Belichick, as his assistant in New England, until he accepted the head coaching job for the Jets, at which point Belichick locked him out of

 Answers  Wisdom Key 6-7 correct: You are the Bill Parcells of TJH trivia. 3-5 correct: You are not bad...but still too good for the Jets. 0-2 correct: Did you interview for the Jets head coaching job? You have the right credentials!

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4. D- In 2000, Bill Belichik was named head coach after Bill Parcells retired. Moments before his press conference he took out a napkin and scribbled, “I resign as 3. A- Weeb Ewbank was the head coach from 1963-1973 2. C

Answer to Riddle Me This: Derek was the culprit.

1. D

7. B 6. C 5. B- Bill Parcells went 48 and 29 (.604% winning percentage) while coaching the Jets from 1997 through 1999. the HC of the NYJ.” He skipped town to New England. And the joke is on the Jets.

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Torah Thought

Parshas Yisro By Rabbi Berel Wein

he fact that the Torah has seen fit to provide such a detailed narrative about the visit of the father-in-law of Moshe to the camp of Israel at the beginning of their sojourn in the desert of Sinai teaches us a valuable lesson in life and human behavior. The truth is that all of us want to be validated by others. It

is not enough that we believe in our cause or that we know what type of person or nation we want to be – it is necessary that others recognize this as well and express it to us and validate our emotions, policies and life values. This is expressed in all areas of human endeavor. The validation from

others is a form of emotional therapy and conviction reinforcement that human beings desire and seek. It is the key as to why so many people pursue publicity, even publicity that is questionable and not necessarily positive. People desire to be recognized. Simply being ignored leads to depression and other severe consequences. One of the problems that schools often encounter is that they are rarely able to validate the feelings and accomplishments of all their students. There is only one valedictorian and not everyone can get an “A” in every subject. Resentment often results, and insecurities can lead to rebellion and even violence from this lack of validation. There was once a school of psychology that simply had the therapist

enough to sustain them physically and spiritually. They had the greatest leader in the history of mankind, our teacher Moshe, as their leader. Yet, Jewish tradition teaches us that they did not really feel comfortable with themselves until a person from the outside – the very outside, a former idolater – came and confirmed to them the godly powers that they had witnessed and the correctness of their belief in the universal G-d of Israel. It has always been that the Jewish people craved validation from the outside world for principles and beliefs that we know to be valid and correct but with which we feel uncomfortable unless others are willing to agree with us on these matters. Moshe realizes this and therefore he will plead with Yitro to remain with the Jewish peo-

People desire to be recognized.

repeat everything the client said. This was supposed to bring about a feeling of validation that would bring the patient to a more stable view of one’s self and of the world generally. The Jewish people had witnessed great and powerful miracles. They had been delivered from centuries of Egyptian bondage and from experiencing the waters of the sea split before them. They were eating manna that fell from heaven daily, which was

ple and enter the Land of Israel with them. Moshe says to him that he will be the eye of Israel. If he validates the Land of Israel as a Jewish homeland, the Jews will do so as well. So deep was their need for validation from the outside. We should think about these matters when considering our own pursuit of validation from the non-Jewish world. Shabbat shalom.

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From the Fire

Parshas Yisro Learning to Fly By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

e know that the hakdama, the introduction to a sefer, is the neshama, the soul, of the sefer. Therefore, the pesukim that introduce kabbalas ha’Torah, the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Torah, are the essence of what it means to receive the Torah. They teach us what we need to know to personally receive the Torah. The introduction to kabbalas ha’Torah are the pesukim (Shmos 19:5-6), “And you shall be a treasured nation to me from all of the nations...and you shall be to me a kingdom of kohanim, a holy nation.” But the neshama of the neshama, the soul of the soul of our acceptance of the Torah is (Shmos 19:4), “And I will lift you up on eagle’s wings and bring you to me.” We know how Rashi says that that this means that just as an eagle carries it babies on its back to protect them from arrows, Hashem protected us from the Egyptian’s arrows with the cloud of glory, but there is also a deeper message as well. There is a seeming contradiction between the Navi Yeshaya’s description of the angels in our haftora and Yechezkel’s description. In Yeshaya 6:2, it says, “The Seraphim stand above him with six wings for each one, he covered his face with two, he covered his feet with two, and he flew with two.” In Yechezekl 1:6, however, it says about the angels, “And each one had four wings.” How do we reconcile the four-winged an-

gel of Yechezkel with the six-winged angel of Yeshaya? The Gemara in Chagiga 13b answers this apparent contradiction by saying that “these [the six-winged angels of Yeshaya] were at the time when the Beis Hamikdash stood and these [the four-winged angels of Yechezkel] were at the time when the Bais Hamikdash no longer stood, because the wings of the Chayos had been diminished.” The angels had lost their wings. The Gemara continues by discussing which of the three sets of wings were lost. The mekubalim accept the opinion that it was the wings that allowed the angels to fly which were lost. It was this set of wings that they used to say shira, their song to Hashem. In seforim hakedoshim, we find that this teaches us not only about the status of the angels since the Churban, the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. It also teaches us that since that time, we have also, for the most part, lost the ability to fly, to soar above physicality and elevate ourselves above the world. There have been certain tzaddikim, however, who have managed to get their wings back and soar. Rav Uri of Strelisk was known as the “Seraph,” the fiery angel. Rav Mendel of Kotzsk was also known as the “Seraph,” the fiery angel. In fact, there is a story that when Rav Mendel of Kotzsk’s son-in-law, the Avnei Nezer, lost his wife (the Kotzker’s daughter), the chevra kadisha brought him a sample text for her

matzeiva, headstone, which read, “bas ha’saraf, daughter of the Seraph.” The Avnei Nezer told them to make one change. The headstone should say, “bas ha’saraf ha’mofaif, daughter of the flying Seraph.” As the Gemara in Sanhedrin 93a says, “Tzaddikim are greater than the ministering angels.” Human beings therefore can fly even higher than angels, if they guard their wings. The Mishna in Avos (5:18) commands us, “Be as brazen as a leopard, as light as an eagle, run like a deer and be strong like a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven.” Why does it say to be as light as an eagle? There are many other birds, like the sparrow, which are lighter than an eagle. It must mean that despite the heaviness of the eagle, it is considered lighter because it has the strongest wings. The Mechilta D’Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai explains, “Just as the eagle goes from below to above in a very short time, so too the Jewish people go from below to above in a very short time.” Hashem says, “I will lift you up” from the lowest point at the forty-ninth level of impurity to the point of receiving the Torah on Har Sinai in just a few weeks. This is the introduction to our acceptance of the Torah. Hashem is telling each one of us: “You are a Jew! You can fly! Despite all of the heaviness of the world, you have powerful wings and you can fly above everything. There is no website in the world that can tie you down. “You chose

us from all of the nations, you loved us, you wanted us, and you lifted us up from among the nations.” The Alshich makes the following point: The eagle flies much higher than all other birds. But who told it that it could or should fly higher than everything else? It must be therefore that it possesses the innate knowledge and confidence that it cannot rest until it flies higher than every other bird. You too must learn from the eagle, and must not be satisfied until you rise up above everything around you. The Ramchal explains that because a person comes from dust and earth, there is a natural heaviness to a person. He feels weighed down and doesn’t want to trouble himself or do any hard work. So Hashem calls out to us, “Be as light as an eagle! Even though it is heavy, it has strong wings and it shakes off the dust and rises straight up to the heavens. You have wings and you must use them.” Rav Chaim Vital wrote in Shaarei Kedusha that the rectification for the element called “earth” is to be (Avos 4:1) “sameach b’chelko,” happy with one’s life. When a Jew rejoices in the mitzvos, these are the wings that will lift him out of the heaviness and allow him to fly. My children once had a storybook about an eagle’s nest high on a mountaintop. Something happened, and the eagle’s egg rolled down to the bottom of the mountain to a chicken coop. One of the chickens

sat on the egg until it hatched. The little eagle was different from the other chickens and didn’t quite fit in. He tried to peck at the ground and do what the other chickens were doing, but he just could not become like them. He was having a difficult time getting along with his adopted parents and siblings until one day, when he met an eagle family. Essentially, they asked him what he was doing hanging around with chickens pecking at the ground. “You’re an eagle! Why aren’t you flying to the highest heights?” Ultimately, he discovered that he could fly and left with his fellow eagles. We are Jews. We must realize that we are not chickens. We do not need to peck around in the dust. Every adult should read Rav Kalonymous Kalmish Shapira’s introduction to Chovas Hatalmidim before becoming a parent. And every boy should read the first perek of Chovas Hatalmidim to learn what it means to be a Jew. There, the Rebbe writes,

We know that you’re still not quite sure about everything we’re saying here. We know that you’re still asking yourself, “How is it possible to make such an elevated person out of me? Not only that, how can it be that while I am still young, I will be-

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ordinary child.” But this way of thinking is also mistaken, and we can’t leave you with it, either... If you feel discouraged because your parents and grandparents were simple people, then elevate you viewpoint and look farther back. Who were your

It possesses the innate knowledge and confidence that it cannot rest until it flies higher than every other bird.

come Hashem’s special, beloved child like they’re telling me? My parents and grandparents were not like that and I’m just a plain,

forefathers? The holy ones, the Nevi’im, Tanna’im, Amora’im, the Geonim and [many other] tzaddikim. The Gemara (Pesa-

chim 66a) says, “If the Jews are not prophets, they are the children of prophets.” The Gemara is not talking about the distant past. It is teaching us that even now, today, in your heart and in the hearts of all Jewish children, there lies a spark that came from the Nevi’im. All you have to do is search for it and discover it in yourself. Always remember that you can rise above the world around you and become great because you are a Jew and you have wings. Don’t be a chicken pecking around on the ground. Set your sights high and become great. We should be zocheh to return to Eretz Yisroel on eagles wings, b’vias go’el tzedek, she’yavo b’mheira b’yameinu. Amen. 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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Parsha

in 4

Parshas Yisro By Eytan Kobre

Weekly Aggada And all the nation answered together and said, “All that G-d has spoken we will do.” And Moshe returned the words of the nation to G-d (Shemos 19:8) When the Jewish people stood at Sinai to receive the Torah, G-d said to them, “Am I giving you the Torah for free? Rather, bring me trustworthy guarantors to ensure that you will keep the Torah, and then I will give it to you.” “Our forefathers are our guaran-

tors,” answered the Jewish people. “Your forefathers themselves need guarantors,” G-d said. This is comparable to a king who, before lending money, demanded that the borrower secure a guarantor. The borrower brought one guarantor, but the king explained that this guarantor himself needed a guarantor (for the king could not be sure that the guarantor would or could repay the loan, if necessary). Even when the borrower brought a second guarantor, the king would not lend. It was only once the borrower brought a third guarantor that the king agreed to lend the money.

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“Know this,” the king said. “I lend you money only because of the third guarantor.” So it was with the Jewish people. Before giving the Torah, G-d demanded that they secure a trustworthy guarantor to ensure they would keep it. The Jewish people proposed their forefathers as guarantors, but G-d had claims against the forefathers. Then the Jewish people proposed their prophets as guarantors, but G-d had claims against the prophets. Only when the Jewish people invoked their children as guarantors did G-d agree. “They are certainly trustworthy guarantors,” said G-d, “and it is on their account that I give you the Torah” (Shir HaShirim Rabba 1:24).

Weekly Mussar And Yisro rejoiced about all the good that G-d had done for the Jewish people, that He saved them from the hands of Egypt (Shemos 18:9)

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While the simple understanding is that Yisro “rejoiced” over the salvation of the Jewish people, another interpretation is that Yisro’s skin became prickly out of distress over Egypt’s demise (Rashi, Shemos 18:9). The two interpretations appear to be wildly inconsistent: joy and anguish? But to R’ Chaim Shmulevitz, these interpretations show just how complex and multifaceted man can be – at all times comprised of both good and bad (Sichos Mussar No. 2). In that sense, the two interpretations are not at odds with one another, and, in fact, both depict Yisro’s feelings accurately. Part of Yisro rejoiced at the salvation of the Jewish people; another part of him agonized over Egypt’s demise.

There’s a duality in the notion that man can be, at once, both good and bad. When it comes to ourselves, no matter how good we think we are, we must always be vigilant of the remaining darkness lurking (or possibly lurking) within and strive to eradicate it. But when it comes to others, whatever darkness we may see, we must always remind ourselves that there is good in them too, even if difficult to discern.

Weekly Anecdote And the seventh day is a Shabbos to Hashem your G-d; you should not do any work – you, and your son, and your daughter, your servant, your maidservant, your cattle, and your stranger who is in your gates (Shemos 20:9) When R’ Zalman Sorotzkin was the rav in Zhetel (Belarus), there was a certain young man who served as the local wagon driver. With time, the young man’s Shabbos observance declined: he stopped working closer and closer to the beginning of Shabbos; he started working closer and closer to the end of Shabbos; and, ultimately, he began working on Shabbos itself, r”l. The young man was from an upstanding family, but his father was confined to a hospital in Vilna, too ill and infirm to rein in his straying son. One day, R’ Zalman was in Vilna for an important gathering of rabbis, including R’ Chaim Ozer Grodzinski and the Chofetz Chaim. In fact, at day’s end, R’ Zalman was informed that the Chofetz Chaim would be traveling back to Radin on the same carriage that was to take him back to Zhetel. Just then, R’ Zalman saw the young wagon driver’s father ap-

proaching the carriage. “How are you?” R’ Zalman inquired. “Have the doctors cleared you to return home to Zhetel?” The man explained that he was not yet well enough to return home, but he was on his way to the Chofetz Chaim in Radin. Apparently, the ill man’s deceased grandmother appeared to him in a dream with this curious instruction: “Stop wasting away in the hospital. Go to the Chofetz Chaim; attain his blessing and you will be healed.” The ill man was shocked when R’ Zalman told him that the Chofetz Chaim was right there in Vilna. He quickly made his way to the Chofetz Chaim (before R’ Zalman could get to him) and told him of his illness and his deceased grandmother’s eerie instruction. “Who should bless you?” the Chofetz Chaim challenged. “Yisroel Meir? You think his blessing will help? Shabbos is the source of all blessing. You must keep Shabbos. If

you do, then Yisroel Meir will give you his blessing; if you do not, Yisroel Meir’s blessing won’t mean a thing!” The Chofetz Chaim discerned a quizzical look on the ill man’s face. “And don’t think that I speak only of your Shabbos observance. See what the Torah says: ‘You shall not do any work – you, and your son, and your daughter…’ Unlike all other commandments, when it comes to Shabbos, parents are responsible for the observance of their children.” The man was stunned. Tears streaming down his face, he assured the Chofetz Chaim that he would put an end to his son’s Shabbos desecration. Only then did the Chofetz Chaim bless him, and, within a short time, he was healed.

Weekly Halacha Remember the Sabbath to make it holy (Shemos 20:7)

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“R’ Yitzchak said: do not count the way others count; rather, count [the days of the week] in the name of Shabbos” (Mechilta d’Rebi Yishmael, Yisro 7). Some regard this as a directive to refrain from calling the days of the week by the names given them by non-Jews (e.g., Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) – i.e., “the way others count” – but to refer to them in relation to Shabbos (Ramban, Shemos 20:7 and 12:2; Ibn Ezra, Shemos 20:7; see also Ramban, Discourse on Rosh Hashana). So, unlike nonJews, we are to refer to Sunday as “the First Day,” Monday as “the Second Day,” and so on. By counting towards Shabbos, we fulfill the command to “remember the Shabbos day to make it holy.” Some authorities seem to regard this as an actual prohibition (Sefer Chareidim, Chapter 4 [Positive Commandments Dependent Upon Speech and Time], No. 2). Indeed,

according to the Chasam Sofer, “this is an explicit rebuke – we should write in our letters and similar documents the first day of the week, first month of the year, and so on, to attest that G-d created the world in six days, ‘and He rested on the seventh,’ and to remember the redemption from Egypt, and not Heaven forbid, the date of the nations” (Toras Moshe, Shemos 12:2). Nevertheless, the prevailing practice is to permit using the common names for the days of the week (see e.g. Responsa of Divrei Yoel, Orach Chaim No. 15). 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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Israel Today

42 Years Later By Rafi Sackville

former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tip O’Neill, famously said, “All politics is local.” From an American perspective, all Israeli politics are international: the peace process, aliyah, the very importance of

Israel to American Jews. These are the talking points most brought up in conversations among American Jews. For Israelis, however, the politicians who run our cities and towns are those who have a daily effect on

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A crumpled poster from Shlomo Bouchbout’s glossy campaign

Arkady Pomerantz, the new mayor of Ma’alot

our lives. The country took a vacation the day of the last municipal elections. For most peace-loving citizens, it was a deserved break from the daily grind; a late breakfast, followed by a stroll to the polling booth, and then a lazy afternoon off from work. In Ma’a lot, it was a mixture of sunshine, quiet, and the occasional fistfight. Politics is not only local in our quaint Western Galil town. It’s also very personal. For 42 years Maalot had been run by one man, Shlomo Bouchbout. His presence is felt everywhere. There isn’t a corner of the city not touched by him or his close-knit tribe of family members and cronies. During the last election cycle, one of his children was quoted in the national media saying that hers was “a royal family.” One of the major television companies re-ran a short piece on the mayor a couple of days before the elections. It was clear the mayor was originally of the belief that they had come to do a puff piece about him. But the reporter was wily and slowly whittled away at the fabric of his self-proclaimed gloss, and began pointing out to him the many examples of nepotism and the irony of his published biography in which he stated that two terms is all a mayor should rule but that he is an exception to the rule. The mayor doesn’t take kindly to criticism, and soon lost his temper.

He yelled at the film crew. “Tahk!” he barked at them. It was a classic television moment. His English isn’t that good. It was clear he meant to say “cut,” but it came out backward. On a drive through the city, he compared himself to Moshe Rabbeinu. “He led Israel for 40 years, but I have led Ma’alot for 42,” he brazenly bragged. The fist fights were inevitable, for there is a strain of citizen whose inability to accept another person’s opinion leads to physical discourse, which never solves problems – only exacerbates them. Our school turns into a polling booth on every election day. It was the scene of a few ugly altercations that left the poor maintenance man at work until 3:30a.m. Ma’alot went the way of Haifa and Nahariya in the north. Challengers outvoted incumbents. Here, Bouchbout won 27% of the vote. His three rivals, who all ran on a platform with a similar message to vote him out of office, evenly split the remainder of the votes. The city was forced into a second round because no candidate had received 40% of the vote. With no chance of any of the other candidates willing to join forces with him during the first round, Bouchbout’s political career had seemingly come to an ignominious ending. But that’s not the way politics

works. The unusual quiet after the election was punctuated by the occasional news filtering out about deals being made behind closed doors but broadcast in loud, colorful tones. A few days before the second round, Bouchbout ran an ad with his new partner in crime, the very man who had run for one reason alone: to remove Bouchbout from office. He had promised his supporters the last thing he’d do would be to cut a deal with the mayor. It is said the mayor had offered heaven and earth – and then some – to remain in office, which to the majority of the people who have any interest in politics must be confounding when one considers Bouchbout is 76 years old. The question is rhetorical. Power corrupts people. Apart from the occasional skirmish, the second round of voting went by quietly. I had a feeling Bouchbout’s reign had come to an end; his campaign headquarters

is not far from where we live, and victory is always accompanied by a caravan of cars cruising our neighborhood at midnight honking their horns. Bouchbout’s opponent, Arkadi

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Despite the outcome of the elections, though, Bouchbout was gracious in defeat. He hinted at the shameful comment made two weeks earlier by the ex-mayor of Nahariya who, upon being ousted after 30

“He led Israel for 40 years, but I have led Ma’alot for 42,” he brazenly bragged.

Pomerantz, defeated him by winning 65% of the vote. The message was loud and clear: the people of Ma’alot had finally had enough. Our school administration is breathing easier because the mayor had been at the helm of forcing them to do things in his interest.

years in office, called the residents of his city ingrates. Bouchbout thanked the people of Ma’alot for allowing him to govern for 42 years, adding that he was leaving politics and wouldn’t be sitting on the city council where he has a seat. The city is rife with rumor about

the skeletons that have been hidden for so long in so many closets and how long it will be before they are brought to life when he retires, which may be never. Meanwhile, a few days after the election, the roads, the squares, the shopping malls, and streets are littered with campaign posters. Many of them will remain hanging in place, a reminder of the stormy two months of campaigning. The street cleaners have already began picking up the detritus. For American Jewry, the ultimate irony is that while their focus on Israel during the second round of municipal elections was on the south of the country and the hundreds of rockets falling out of the sky, the focus up north was dominated by local politics and all it entails.

Rafi Sackville, formerly of Cedarhurst, teaches in Ort Maalot in Western Galil.

JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home

OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Israel Today

42 Years From Destruction to Later Redemption The Netzer Ariel Community By Rafi Sackville

By Ron Jager

he communities of Gush Katif were established in 1970 following a decision by the government of Israel. Twenty-one diversified communities quickly thrived and created a unique chain of rich cultural and religious life for their community members augmented by a pioneering agriculture industry for the entire region despite the terror and the surrounding hostile Palestinian Arab population. In 2005, the community of Netzarim, along with 20 other communities of Gush Katif, were forcibly and physically evicted from their homes; afterwards their homes, communal buildings, synagogues, and all agricultural infrastructure were systematically destroyed. Gush Katif as a region was cleansed of any Jewish presence. The community of Netzarim along with the rest of the Gush Katif communities were, overnight, simply wiped off the map. For residents of Judea and Samaria, and for many in all of Israel, the destruction of Gush Katif is not only the story of the forced transfer of Netzarim and other Jewish communities, or even the heartbreaking story of 8,000 personal tragedies. In retrospect, Gush Katif is the story of how a whole nation was led by a corrupt political leadership down the slippery

lies of Netzarim to move into temporary student housing at Ariel UniverA crumpled poster from Shlomo Bo sity until a housing solution could be bout’s glossy campaign found. Land was cleared in the center of the city of Ariel, temporary caravans where placed haphazardly creating a small settlement within the city of Ariel, and so began the humble beginnings of what is now known today as the Netzer Ariel community. our lives. what began Israel to American Jews. These are this former Speaker of the House During period, The country took the talking points most with brought up of Representatives, Tip 20 proud former Netzarim fam- a vacatio day of the last municipal elec American O’Neill, famously said, “All in conversations amongilies, fortified in their belief in G-d, For most peace-loving citize Jews. politics is local.” From an Ameriwith unbounded energy and resilienwas into a deserved break from th For Israelis, however,cy, thehas politican perspective, all Israeli politics blossomed a communily grind; a late breakfast, foll cians who run our citiestyand towns are international: the peace proof 60 families creating an oasis of by a stroll to the polling booth are those who have a daily effect on cess, aliyah, the very importance of slope of propagating and believing in being stored by the government. community spirit reaching out to and then a lazy afternoon off from a false and deceiving agenda which During this extended period, many interacting with Ariel’s largely secuIn Ma’a lot, it was a mixture of we all know as “land for peace.” The members of Netzarim remembered lar community, offering religious and shine, quiet, and the occasiona forced destruction of Gush Katif, de- their despair and the sense of injustice communal programs of enrichment fight. Politics is not only local i spite the many warnings and sound- inflicted on them by their own govern- and spiritual nourishing for all age quaint Western Galil town. It’ ing of the alarm by political leaders ment. Yet despite their personal pain groups. The Netzer Ariel Midrasha, very personal. on the right, resulted in one of Israel’s and deep sense of being wronged, the Ariel Bar Mitzvah Institute, the For 42 years Maalot had greatest strategic blunders, creating many former residents of Netzarim “Betzavta” Senior Citizens Program, run by one man, Shlomo Bouch security challenges yet to be overcome elected to establish a new agricultur- the Netzer Ariel Daycare Center, and His presence is felt everyw Ariel Universial community in the southern Negev. the Kiruv Program at even today. There isn’t a corner of the cit After their expulsion, the mem- Many others of the same community ty with 600 university students partouched by him or his close bers of Netzarim decided to remain decided to establish a new communi- ticipating are only a few examples of tribe of family members and together as a community despite not ty, a kind of urban “settlement,” in an the many communal and outreach nies. During the last election having a place that they could call area which presented new hurdles no programs established by community one of his children was quoted home. Whole families were placed in less challenging than what they had members to empower others living national media saying that her temporary housing in which families encountered in Gush Katif. The late literally next door in the city of Ariel. “a royal family.”is esThe Netzarim community were living out of suitcases, with no and legendary former mayor of Ariel, One of the major television access to their personal possessions Ron Nachman, z”l, offered the fami- pecially proud of their program for panies re-ran a short piece o mayor a couple of days befor elections. It was clear the m was originally of the belief tha had come to do a puff piece a him. But the reporter was wil slowly whittled away at the fab his self-proclaimed gloss, and b pointing out to him the many e ples of nepotism and the irony published biography in whic stated that two terms is all a m should rule but that he is an e tion to the rule. The mayor doesn’t take kin criticism, and soon lost his tem

Their permanent homes, finally in the Netzer-Ariel community Students in the Netzer-Ariel school

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

The beautiful shul in Netzarim, which was burned to the ground

“teens-at-risk” which, as you can imagine, is bringing back adolescents and young adults in the surrounding neighborhoods and surrounding settlements from the brink, assisting them in overcoming the challenges of self-destructive behavior. Never leaving anyone behind, a life-sustaining program has been initiated by the Netzer Ariel community on behalf of Ariel’s large aged population of former immigrants from the Soviet Union who receive packages of food and prepared meals during the week and before Shabbat and holidays. Tami’s Story I ran into Tami Filberschein, a former resident of Randolph, New Jersey, and today a mother of seven, in the hills of the Shomron. Tami and her family joined the community of Netzarim back in 1996 when the community was part of Gush Katif until 2005. That year Netzarim and all the communities of Gush Katif were literally uprooted and forcibly evicted from their homes despite having no alternative housing awaiting them. Tami remembers those difficult days and months as some kind of surrealistic reality. She and others didn’t believe that they would be evacuated; they

Being evacuated from Netzarim

acted naturally and continued on with their lives until the very last day. She is reminded of a brit mila that was performed the day before. No one packed and no one made preparations so as not to cooperate with the decision to uproot them. No one believed that they would be uprooted and “transferred” until the very last minute.

Before the explusion

burst that accompanied that traumatic day still resonates in her ears and in her heart. Tami can visualize and convey with precise clarity the events as they unfolded that eventful day. She describes the period afterwards as a period of extended bereavement over their loss, a time of trauma and a sense of being betrayed by their own government, destroying their home,

The dekel tree, with deep roots and clinging soil from where our biblical forefathers marched on their way to Eretz Yisrael, would forever be a symbol of our connection to this sacred land That day came, that moment came, when the army moved in and began taking families out of their homes onto buses. Each family was allowed to take a limited number of small boxes with personal possessions, having to leave all of their home as is, only to be packed later by soldiers. The crying and emotional out-

destroying their community. The period to rehabilitate themselves as individuals, as a family, and as part of a community has been an ongoing process for the past 13 years. Tami and her family, as well as her community, have dealt with their grief, their loss, by giving meaning to their suffering. They have reached out to their neighbors in Ariel and to other communities in the Shomron and have shown their resilience and ability to move forward from destruction to redemption by helping others in need. Tami shared with me her story about the “dekel tree” (date tree). On the last day before the destruction of their community, Tami’s husband tried to dig out their beloved dekel tree so that they could replant the tree sometime in their future home. For them, the dekel tree, with deep roots and clinging soil from where our biblical forefathers marched on their way to Eretz Yisra-

el, would forever be a symbol of our connection to this sacred land. It was an impossible task; the tree’s roots were too deep and it couldn’t be done within the few hours that they had. Lo and behold, a volunteer from the moshav of Nov in the Ramat HaGolan literally showed up out of nowhere, was able to get his hands on a tractor and plucked the dekel tree out. The tree made its way to Moshav Nov since, for Tami and her family, it would be close to a year before they were able to move into their temporary housing and thirteen years before they finally moved into their new permanent homes. Tami and her family and others from the original Netzarim community would travel to Nov once a year to conduct a ceremony in which the dekel tree became a symbol of the ability to create new roots in a new home and continuing to blossom, growing higher and higher, giving Tami and her family a sense of renewal and redemption. During the month of February 2019, the director of the Netzer Ariel community, Mr. Elai Feldman, along with Mr. Motti Isaak, a longtime veteran of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria, will be visiting the tristate area and are especially interested in connecting and meeting with lay leaders and residents of the Five Towns. Meeting them and hearing their personal story and the story of the Netzarim community of Gush Katif gives meaning to their journey from destruction to redemption. Invite Elai and Motti to speak in your shul and in your home; their stories deserve to be heard. Elai Feldman can be reached at elai@ netzerariel.org; 972-585-662-687 (WhatsApp); and www.netzerariel. org. Motti Isaak can be reached at isaak1@zahav.net.il; and 972-52357-1369 (WhatsApp).

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The Wandering

Jew

Moscow, USSR 1979 PART II

By Hershel Lieber

ewish life in the Soviet Union in 1979 was very much the same at it was in 1959 – barely alive. Any form of Judaism was relegated to the fewer than seventy synagogues that existed in the entire country and was entirely regulated by the Communist government. For 98% of the over two million Jews that lived in Russia, Yiddishkeit, unfortunately, had scant relevance.

Choral Synagogue on Archipova Street

People knew that they were Jews, as their identity cards boldly proclaimed; under the heading of nationality, the word “Ivri” appeared. Nevertheless, almost all religious, cultural and nationalistic aspirations were extremely suppressed. Yet the Jewish flame still flickered on, as was evident by the demand for matzos for Pesach, which was so overwhelming that the regime accommodated it, if only to keep up the pretense that it allowed religious freedom. The government-supported synagogues were also part of this fabrication. It was an attempt to show the world that Jewish life existed and was protected and guaranteed by the Soviet Constitution. Moscow in those years boasted a large Jewish population. Estimates ranged between 200,000 and 300,000 Jews. Yet besides the main Choral Synagogue on Archipova street, there existed only one smaller shul, a wooden structure in the Marina Roscha neighborhood. This was clandestinely somehow associated with Lubavitch. The large, beautifully decorated Choral Synagogue served as the headquarters for the Chief Rabbi of the USSR, which at the time of our visit was Rabbi Yakov Fishman. Ostensibly, all religious activities were contained and directed by the kehilla under the leadership of the chief rabbi. The shul had a mikvah which was rarely used, and it accommodated shechita, which was extremely limited and available only to a select few. The rabbinate operated a seminary of between six and ten students in their mid-thirties to train them as future rabbis.

Hershel with Ilya Essas, leader of the Russian baal teshuva movement

There was a daily minyan both in the morning and in the evening with anywhere between thirty and forty mispallelim attending services. The makeup of these minyanim consisted almost entirely of elderly men. As I mentioned earlier, these miniscule accommodations were mainly designed to fool the Western countries into believing that Jewish life flourished in Soviet Russia. Being that we arrived in Moscow by train from Leningrad on Wednesday, our first visit to the shul was for Shacharis on Thursday morning. The elderly mispallelim were cautiously friendly but we still felt welcome. Rabbi Pollak asked me to bring some clothes for Shmuel Meshorer and to give some money to the shochet, Reb Motel, which I did that very morning. Then I met with the Rosh Ha’kahal, Mr. Mitenberg, who gave me a bottle of kosher wine for Shabbos. He then took us up to meet Rabbi Fish-

man, who invited us to join him for the Shabbos day meal. The rav also took us in to the seminary room, where we met some of his yeshiva students. During the entire time, his conversation was aimed at convincing me of how great Jewish life was in Russia. I was not interested in challenging him and getting him suspicious of our presence in Russia. I knew he was a puppet in the hands of the regime and felt sad about his predicament. The most distinguished person we met that morning was Reb Avrohom Miller, a talmid of the Chofetz Chaim, who was the teacher and spiritual guide of the leader of the fledgling baal teshuva movement in Moscow, Ilya (Eliyahu) Essas. We contacted Ilya by phone, and we made up to go to his apartment after shul by taxi. We took a taxi to a nearby street and walked around quite a while, making sure that the taxi left before we entered Ilya’s resi-

The Jewish Jewish Home Home || JANUARY JANUARY 24, 24, 2019 2019 The

Rabbi Yakov Fishman, chief rabbi of the Soviet Union

Thursday morning Shacharis in the adjacent Bais Hamedrash

dence. His wife, holding a five-month old baby, greeted us as we arrived. Ilya showed up a few moments later. He was tall, with a reddish beard, wearing a plaid shirt and jeans. Rabbi Pollak used the term lamed vav tzaddik when describing him and spoke about the Yiddishkeit revolution that he initiated among the young Jews. Ilya told us that he was from Vilna and always harbored a thirst for Judaism since he was a child. He was an academician and a math professor and, as such, had access to books that were officially censored for the average citizen. This included books about Jewish history. He was mostly self-taught and had a vast knowledge of Hebrew, Torah, halacha, etc. In addition, he studied with the aforementioned Reb Avrohom Miller.

After the Six Day War, there was an outpouring of Jewish pride among Russian Jews who were grat-

Pesi at the entrance of the Kremlin

subjects. This eventually expanded to include lectures on Torah, halacha, and hashkafa. What began as a

I knew he was a puppet in the hands of the regime and felt sad about his predicament.

ified to hear about Israel’s victory. That feeling turned into an interest in studying the Hebrew language and Jewish history. Ilya found himself in the right place at the right time. He began giving private lessons and lectures on both of these

feeling of pride for the State of Israel developed into a commitment to Torah-true Yiddishkeit by many of his students. Our planned short visit went into two hours of discussions which included his difficult personal plight. After applying for a visa to leave for Israel, he had been fired from his position at the university and was the subject of continued harassment by the KGB. We left the Essas’ home with a feeling of awe, for we had been in the presence of greatness, and we recognized the great sacrifices that he made through teaching Torah and Yiddishkeit. Friday, after davening at the shul in the morning, we spent the greater part of the day touring Moscow – Red Square, Lenin’s Tomb, the Kremlin which was the seat of the Soviet government, the Alexander Gardens, the Armory Museum with its vast collection of jewels and crowns of the Tsarist dynasty, and much more. We picked up some soda water for our Friday night meal and quickly prepared ourselves for Shabbos. Pesi remained in the hotel after candle lighting, while I took a taxi to

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Rav Dovid Miller, talmid of the Chofetz Chaim

shul. There were only about 20 men there, but the shul was completely lit up and magnificent looking. I went up the bima to greet Rabbi Fishman and six of his students. He was surprised that Pesi was not there, since he assumed that we would be eating with him Friday night, as well as the next day. The rav asked me to daven Shacharis next morning, but I noticed that an open microphone was being used for the chazzan, which concerned me. The rav davened kabbalas Shabbos, actually very nicely, and he insisted that I join him at least for the beginning of the seudah. His talmidim were obviously stooges who knew very little about learning or traditions. They wore caftans with satin collars and sang on cue from the rabbi. It was really the “show of shows.” After singing together “Shalom aleichem” and the rav making kiddush, they went to wash their hands for challah. I noticed how the students washed without removing their rings and realized how ignorant they really were. They served fish and beets, after which the rav gave a speech, all the while trying to impress me. I felt genuinely sorry for him and tried not judge him, considering the constant pressure that he was under. I then excused myself and rushed back to Pesi at the hotel to make our own Shabbos seudah. Our food was cold, but we were warmed by the incredible experiences we shared. On Shabbos morning we left early for the fifteen-minute walk to shul. We strolled slowly and arrived at a packed synagogue with over 250 mispallelim. In addition, there were about twenty women in the balcony. I had already decided not to daven as the chazzan, even if the

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limit his congregants from speaking to me. I hesitantly acceded and joined him on stage which severed the relationship I was nurturing with the mispallelim. A highlight of davening came when the rav made the Mi She’beirach for Peace of the Country and inserted the USSR in place of the names of a king or a president. Someone whispered to me that the Hebrew numerical equivalent of USSR is 380, which is the same as Egypt. Another person confided to me that instead of answering the prayer with amen, he substituted the word onein.

Moscow Seminary to train rabbis, a tool of Soviet propaganda

microphone would be turned off by a gentile. So I was gratified when the rav informed me that since another chazzan showed up, he would have to be honored with davening. I was so thankful that I was saved from a difficult situation! I sat down in the pews among the other Yidden and was soon approached by many of the elderly men. They spoke to me in Yiddish, asking if I knew their relatives

or friends. Unfortunately, they wrote short notes for me to take back to America to their families. One man gave me a photo to give Rabbi Pinchas Teitz of the matzeiva he put up on the kever of the Baal Shem Tov. It was not long afterwards that the rav approached me and asked me to join him on the bima. Evidently, he was not comfortable with all the attention I was drawing and wanted to

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Meanwhile, in the women’s gallery, Pesi met Roslyn Yallow, the 1977 Noble Prize winner in physiology and medicine, and sat with her during davening. She and her husband Aaron joined us after davening, and as we waited to start the seudah, we engaged in a lively conversation about life in Soviet Russia. During the seudah I befriended a young man, Moshele, who was both a student in the yeshiva and a talmid of Reb Avrohom Miller. Moshele gave me a letter for a friend in New York. He told me he got an exit visa and was leaving soon. He kept winking at me during the course of the meal, with the implication of how the rav is truly an actor and a pawn of the KGB. After benching, we were invited for tea in the rav’s study, but I excused myself so I could hide all the notes, letters and photos that people gave me to take back to America. After a short rest at the hotel, Pesi and I came back to shul for Mincha and a spartan shalosh seudos that consisted of bread and sardines and a vort from the rav. I think that I was probably not asked to sing zemiros because it would give me too much prominence. After havdalah, we were beleaguered by many people who wanted to talk to us. Within minutes, the rav appeared and told us that his personal chauffeur and car was waiting in the front of the shul to take us back to our hotel. He must have been upset that people were attracted to us and wanted to end it immediately. The rav told me that everyone likes him in Moscow and that in America lies are spread about him. He was a really an affable person, yet a slave to a tyrannical master breathing down his neck. On Motzei Shabbos we called

The Baal Shem Tov’s matzeiva, erected through the efforts of Rabbi Pinchas M. Teitz

Ilya to say goodbye and packed for our return trip to New York the next morning. We never imagined how our lives would drastically change as a result of this journey. It was late, and time to go to sleep. We closed our tired eyes and dozed off as the radio played the melody “Midnight in Moscow.” Hershel Lieber has been involved in kiruv activities for over 30 years. As a founding member of the Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel he has traveled with his wife, Pesi, to the Soviet Union during the harsh years of the Communist regimes to advance Yiddishkeit. He has spearheaded a yeshiva in the city of Kishinev that had 12 successful years with many students making Torah their way of life. In Poland, he lectured in the summers at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation camp for nearly 30 years. He still travels to Warsaw every year – since 1979 – to be the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the Jews there. Together with Pesi, he organized and led trips to Europe on behalf of Gateways and Aish Hatorah for college students finding their paths to Jewish identity. His passion for travel has taken them to many interesting places and afforded them unique experiences. Their open home gave them opportunities to meet and develop relationships with a variety of people. Hershel’s column will appear in The Jewish Home on a bi-weekly basis.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 18, 2018

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Robert Kraft A Story of Brady, Belichick and Israel By Susan Schwamm

s America gears up for another Super Bowl, viewers will once again either smile or look chagrined at the sight of the ageless 41-year-old quarterback Tom Brady and his hoodie-wearing genius head coach on the sidelines, Bill Belichik. It seems like this duo has some secret recipe that nobody else can seem to figure out. “This year, they are too injured,” “now they are too old, “they no longer have a deep threat” are common refrains amongst sports aficionados early in the season, and yet Brady and Belichick prove them wrong time and time again. Even when they are defeated in the Super Bowl, it often requires last minute heroics by the opposing team, such as catching the ball with a helmet, to win over Brady and his team. A common sight in the last minute of the Super Bowl featuring the Patriots is when the camera pans up to a booth way above the stadium. In the booth sits an older gentleman with a pristine white shirt, a solid colored tie, a deep suntan and a large smile – on the brink of another ring. That man, Robert Kraft, may be the secret to this dynasty’s success. You see, Kraft is the chef who came up with this victorious recipe. Kraft, who is Jewish and went to Hebrew school, purchased the Patriots two decades ago for a then-record price of $172 million. Before Kraft purchased the Patriots, the team was in disarray and bounced around to different owners. In the five seasons before

Kraft purchased the team, the Patriots were 19-61. Since Kraft took over, the Patriots have won 18 division titles, nine conference crowns and five Super Bowl championships. Today, the Patriots are the sixth most valuable sports franchise in the world and are worth an estimated $3.8 billion, according to Forbes. The two now-obvious picks which turned around the Patriots are Brady and Belichick. But when Kraft made the decision to choose these two, they were far from obvious. Brady, who is now considered by many to be the best quarterback in the history of the NFL, was chosen by the Patriots in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL draft. Today, Brady is the only player from that draft who is still playing for the team that drafted him. And today he is no longer the scrawny kid who was passed over 198 times before finally being picked, but a future first-ballot Hall of Famer who holds the record with 207 regular season wins. Kraft often reminisces about his first encounter with Tom Brady after picking him. “I still have the image of Tom Brady coming down the old Foxboro Stadium steps with that pizza box under his arm, a skinny beanpole,” Kraft often quips verbatim. “When he introduced himself and said, ‘Hi, Mr. Kraft,’ and he was about to say who he was, and I [said], ‘I know who you are, Tom Brady, you’re our sixth-round draft choice.’ And he looked me in the eye and said, ‘And I’m the best decision this organization has ever made.’” After repeating that story, Kraft inevitably adds that Brady is, in fact, the greatest of

all time. When asked about the story in a recent interview, Brady laughed and said, “I’m not sure I said it like that — we dispute that all the time. I think I said, ‘I don’t think you’ll ever regret picking me’ but he remembers it differently.” Despite their divergent recollections of their initial encounters, Brady considers Kraft “like a second father.” In 2018 he told a sports interviewer about Kraft that “he’s been part of so many important events in my life… I love him like a dad.” Whereas not much thought was given at the time to the sixth-round draft pick, Kraft’s choice of Bill Belichik as head coach in 2000 was more questionable. Although he had been in various coaching positions in the NFL since 1979, Belichik’s only real stint as a head coach was not very impressive – from 1991 to 1995 he led the Cleveland Browns to a subpar record of 36-44, with only one winning season. Even more, Belichik had accepted the job as the head coach of the Jets and quit that job one day into it, resulting in the New York press referring to him as “Belichicken” and “Belichick Arnold.” The NFL even ruled that Belichick had breached his contract with the Jets by quitting and prohibited him from coaching in 2000 without the Jets’ consent or compensation. Kraft reached an agreement with the Jets to allow Belichik to take the New England head coaching job in return for New England’s first-round pick the following year and several later round picks over the following years. Within two years of these picks made by Kraft,

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

the New England Patriots won their first-ever Super Bowl. Over the next 15 years, they appeared in seven other Super Bowls and won four of them. Next Sunday, they will once again play for the Lombardi Trophy. But, according to Kraft, there is more to victory than just Brady and Belichik. There is also Israel. t the 2017 ribbon cutting ceremony at the Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem, Kraft noted, “My late, darling wife, Myra, always used to tell me that until I start building football in Israel, I would not win anything with Patriots.” He added, “That happened in late 1999, and we won our first Super Bowl in 2001. Now we have five championships, and I can’t ignore the connection between our continuing to support development in Israel and our great accomplishments.” Myra, who passed away in 2011 from cancer, was resolute about supporting charities. Her heart was connected to causes that promoted Jewish causes and helped raise the esteem of Israel in the world’s eyes. According to the Boston Globe, “So involved was Mrs. Kraft in philanthropy that perhaps her biggest worry when her husband bought the Patriots in 1994 was that the large sums of money spent and borrowed would curtail their giving. He assured her they wouldn’t.” Robert, it seems, continues to keep his promise. Myra’s love for Israel started at a young age. Her father, Jacob Hiatt, escaped the Holocaust by emigrating from Lithuania to the United States in the mid-1930s. He lost his parents, brother, and sisters in the concentration camps. When Myra was 5 years old, in 1948, her father visited the DP camps in Europe and then traveled to Israel, which was on the cusp of becoming a state.

Robert and Myra on their wedding day

Young Myra wanted to help him in supporting the Jewish state-to-be at home in Worcester. “One morning I got up, took a bag, and decided to go out to the neighborhood to raise money for the poor children in Europe and Palestine,” she told the Jerusalem Post in 2008. “I went door to door. My mother was getting frantic because I was late and she had no idea where I was. I came in dragging this sack of money.” By the time Robert purchased the Patriots, Myra was supporting philanthropic causes in the millions

“Myra was completely in love with the country. Every stone, every rock, every tree. And she knew all their names.” of dollars. Together, Robert and Myra founded the “Passport to Israel” program which has sent nearly 2,000 Jewish Boston area teenagers to visit Israel. Robert was born in Brookline, Massachusetts; Myra was born in Worcester. Massachusetts was, and still is, a state close to their hearts. Ever since he first visited Israel in 1963 on their honeymoon, Robert’s love of the Jewish State remains deep. Connecting teenagers in their state to the land that they love is a duty that the Krafts have

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taken upon themselves. But it’s not just teenagers whom they bring to visit the Holy Land. The Krafts have helped to bring myriad people to Israel, including NFL players who have only read or heard about the Holy Land in the Bible. Barry Shrage, who was the president of Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies, recalled Myra and Robert’s love for the Holy Land to the Times of Israel. “Robert loves taking people to Israel,” Shrage told the outlet. “Myra was completely in love with the country. Every stone, every rock, every tree. And she knew all their names. “It was a way for her to express her intense feeling of love for the country. It was very important to her… She really was a beautiful person.” Myra would take groups of participants to tour the land, even bringing hundreds during the Second Intifada, when many tourists would have stayed away. She would implore local storeowners to keep their stores open late so she could bring groups to their shops to help support the struggling businesses. Myra was also influential in the plight of Ethiopian Jews, helping to bring them to the Jewish State and chastising politicians who she felt were not working hard enough on their behalf. The Krafts are credited with supporting American-style football in Israel. Aside for building the $6 million Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem, which has two soccer fields and a football field (and is located off of “Kvish Achad [Road 1], much as Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots play, is located off of Route 1), Robert Kraft has donated tens of millions of dollars towards Israeli and Jewish causes. He also sees it as his mission to change the way the world views Israel. To that end, he has arranged several missions to Israel with NFL Hall of Famers. “I was on a trip to Canton, Ohio, and I visited the Hall of Fame. I thought to myself that these people are like modern gladiators; people in America worship them. They have the same value as a year’s worth

Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, Robert Kraft, Jim Brown and Joe Greene, from left, at the Western Wall in Israel (Courtesy NFL Films)

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of public diplomacy [for Israel],” he told Israel Hayom. Ahead of his 2015 trip with nineteen Hall of Famers, Kraft said, “[Myra] and I started doing this a long time ago, taking different people to Israel. We wanted them to see what it really was, not how the media sometimes portrays it.” Former Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson told ESPN.com that Myra invited him and his wife to tour the land when she was sick. “I remember sitting in the training room with her one day; we were both getting treatment, and she invited [my wife] Kirsten and I to Israel with her and Mr. Kraft,” Watson recalled. “I thought she was kidding, but that’s the kind of person she was: so gracious, generous and hospitable. “I specifically remember how comfortable she made us feel. We did not know most of the people on the trip but she went out of her way to introduce us to everyone, like we were her kids, as well as educating us on the many places we visited,” Watson remembered. “I also didn’t realize what a sense of humor she had. She and our tour guide had us rolling.” In 2006, Tom Brady joined Robert on Tom’s first visit to Israel. During the Friday night dinner, which was led by a Chabad rabbi, some members of the group got up to dance. Brady joined in. “He was enormously moved,” said one participant. During that visit, Brady visited an IDF base, where he met soldiers and saw a demonstration of weapons being fired. When asked by soldiers if he would play football with them, Brady responded wryly, “I don’t mix business with pleasure.” Brady, who is not Jewish, keeps a menorah in his Brookline home. His trip with Kraft seems to have been inspirational. During his 2015 trip to Israel, Robert told the crowd the impetus behind his urge to share the Holy Land with others. “I grew up in a traditional family,” he said. “I put on tefillin when I was young. My first trip to Israel was in 1963, for my honeymoon, and I remember how angry I was when I looked out the balcony at the King David Hotel and saw armed Jorda-

nian soldiers keeping me from visiting the holy sites.” After the 2015 trip, former Viking Paul Krause, who retired in 1979 and still owns the NFL record for career interceptions, recalled an experience he had on the expedition. “We were signing autographs one night and this older guy came up to me and says, ‘So, you’re the one who has 81 interceptions?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m very proud of that.’ He says, ‘Well, I want to tell you something. I have 1,700 interceptions.’” Krause explained, “He was the guy who invented the Iron Dome, which protects Israel from missiles. He’s got 1,700 hits on missiles coming into Jerusalem. I told him, ‘Your 1,700 interceptions are a heck of a lot more useful than my 81.’” In 2017, Kraft took another group of Hall of Famers, including Jim Brown, Marshall Faulk, Gerome Bettis, Joe Montana, John Stallworth and Roger Staubach, to the Holy Land. After the trip, Bettis, AKA “The Bus,” reflected on his trip and said, “One thing that was resounding was the resolve of the Jewish people.” The Pittsburgh Steelers iconic halfback added, “The message that you get – outside of the things that happened in each person’s individual life – was their love with the state of Israel, their country. But also the understanding that they were a people who were bashed and beaten, and they were able to rise and overcome it. You get that message with every single person you meet.” The 2017 trip was filmed by NFL Films and aired on the NFL Network, titled, “NFL Films Presents: Touchdown in Israel.” Keith Crossrow, an NFL Films producer, expressed that “this is one of the most rewarding films we’ve ever done.” In the film, Kraft can be seen choking up, “Everywhere I go, I see my wife [Myra] here.” The emotional connection to the land wasn’t just felt by Kraft on the trip. Crossrow noted, “All 18 NFL legends had such personal, emotional reflections of their experience on that last night. They also talked about their lives. I hope the six minutes [of that dinner] we showed gives viewers an idea of how remarkable the dinner

A light exchange between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Robert Kraft in 2012

Inaugurating Israel’s first full-size American football field with NFL “Gold Jackets” in 2017

was. What Mr. Kraft did was give something back to players that have meant so much to the NFL. He gave them a life-changing experience. “It was truly a mitzvah.” ast week, Kraft was awarded Israel’s 2019 Genesis Prize, known as the “Jewish Nobel Prize,” in recognition of his philanthropy and commitment to combatting anti-Semitism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to present Kraft with the award in Jerusalem in June. “This award amplifies my ability to raise both awareness and additional funds to fight anti-Semitism, attempts to de-legitimize Israel and other forms of prejudices,” Kraft said, upon the announcement that he won the honor. At the age of 77, Robert Kraft’s mission to help Israel is ever-present. At the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem, which was attended by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Kraft began his speech by saying: “Shalom chaverim. It is an honor to be here in Jerusalem, the holy city, the center of spirituality for all of the nation of Israel. When I reached the age of bar mitzvah, I got a pair of tefillin from my father, of blessed memory. Every morning I would put them on and say the Amida while facing the direction of Jerusalem and dreamed of the day when I could visit Jerusalem and pray at the Kotel. “Today, I have the privilege and honor of standing here before you, and I continue to thank G-d that I have the ability, with my family, to help in the building of Jerusalem and with G-d’s help to continue to do so in the future.” Win or lose next Sunday, Robert Kraft is a winner on and off the field. The uniqueness of the recipe of his team’s success rivals any spice one may find at the Machane Yehuda shuk. For Patriots fans, hopefully that recipe will cook up something good next Sunday…and beyond.

Like a father to Tom Brady

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Dating Dialogue

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

Dear Navidaters,

I’m engaged to a man whose mother wants me to be her daughter! Let me explain. My chosson is one of five sons. His mother is a “girly girl,” if you know what I mean. Very feminine. From the moment we got engaged, she started gushing about how wonderful it is to have another woman in the house and to not be the only female at the dinner table.

She immediately started asking me if she could go shopping with me, go for manicures with me, or just meet for lunch. It feels like she expects me to fill the void she’s felt her whole life, not having a daughter. She seems to believe that she will now have a daughter of her own. She’s a nice woman, and I do like her. But, thank G-d, I have a mother and I don’t need another mother. One is just perfect. Besides the fact, I don’t even go shopping or for manicures with my own mother. My future mother-in-law thinks that these are all these great bonding moments that we are going to share together. Her vision for our relationship is nothing like my vision for our relationship. I’m starting to feel smothered. I did speak to my chosson about this, but he wasn’t willing to burst his mother’s bubble by telling her that I’m not looking for the type of relationship that she is looking for. She calls me often, asks invasive questions, as if she’s my best friend. I just don’t know how to handle this, and worry that once we’re married, it will get that much worse. As happy as I am with my chosson, I sometimes wonder whether this could be a deal breaker. What do you think?

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 Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

The Panel The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S. irst, congratulations on your perception. You understand what your chosson’s mother wants/needs from a relationship with her first daughter-in-law to be. She has a vision for the relationship, and yours is different. You realize that she is crossing boundaries and is inappropriate at times, even though it is not coming from a bad place. Communication is going to be key here. You are going to have to take the initiative and put things on the table in a positive, careful way. Your chosson’s role is to prepare her gently and be supportive of you, but you are on first! Prepare a script for a tête-à-tête over lunch or coffee. Go over it, edit it, and practice it until you feel comfortable and appropriate. You want to feel comfortable saying it and not deliver a prepared speech. Keep it simple, keep it positive, keep it short. Use the sandwich approach, of course. It can go something like this: I am really happy to be welcomed into Aryeh’s family. Everyone is including me, and it means a lot to me. As the first girl to join the family, it’s a change for everyone, including me. I think it might be a good idea for the relationship to develop naturally. I appreciate your invitations to go shopping together or to go for manicures together. I am sure we will bond beautifully over time. But let’s go a little slower. I feel bad about saying no to the many invitations you extend to me for girl-time but I really think we will have opportunities for that in the future. Between spending time with my chosson, work/school and wedding planning, I am feeling rather pressured these days. I cannot always say yes to these invitations but I appreciate the warm place they are coming from. I look forward to developing a closer relationship over time.

Navigating this relationship will be an ongoing challenge. But it’s one you can handle by being self-aware and sensitive to both your needs and her needs. It’s OK to stay silent from time to time when an intrusive question is asked or, better yet, say I am not so comfortable with where this conversation is heading. She will get it but do stress the positive and keep communicating positively even if not substantively or deeply. You can always text her positive personal messages (no memes, no emojis, real communication). She needs to ease into her role, and you can guide her if you are positive, careful and warm. Don’t wall yourself off, and don’t give her the silent treatment. Show her how and keep it private. Do not discuss this with anyone from her circle but your chosson. Keep in mind that she will never be your mother but you can become close in a way that you will feel comfortable. It’s a process and requires communication and maturity on both your parts. But it’s up to you to help her see that this must develop naturally.

The Mother Sarah Schwartz Schreiber, P.A. f only. If only your future MIL had written first. I would expound on the importance of in-law boundaries. I would caution her to tread lightly until she finds that “sweet spot” that makes for a healthy DILMIL relationship…blah, blah, blah. Instead, it’s you, future DIL, starring in the role of Bride-zilla – 2019 Edition. Now listen up. Just because, by Hashem’s Grace, you’ve snagged an amazing chosson and a ring on your finger does not entitle you to The Golden Pin (the one that bursts another’s bubble). Your MIL is overthe-moon about “gaining a daugh-

ter”; consider the legions of kallahs out there whose shviggers are fiercely critical about the daughters-in-law they feel are not worthy of their exalted progeny. You are truly blessed. And now, during the engagement period, is a perfect time to invest in this new relationship which may yield dividends over the course of your marriage. Practice being warm and open – not only towards your chosson but to his mother, father and siblings. Your chosson may have deferred intervening because a) he may think you’re being overly sensitive/snarky, or b) he loves and respects his mother too much to disillusion her about his sweet, loving kallah. So you’re on your own. And, I get it, you value your space. So, you don’t always have to be available – for manicures, coffee or conversation. She’ll understand; juggling school, work, wedding, and a new apartment can be overwhelming. All it takes is a polite and sincere, “That sounds great. I’d love to, but I’m really swamped this week,” and you are off the hook. Still, be prepared to leave your comfort zone for the occasional date at the local bistro or mini-mall. Before you know it, you’ll be married. At that point, you will either enjoy a more cordial, relaxed relationship with the shvigger or let your husband do the socializing. By then you will have exercised the option of moving – halfway across town, across the country or around the world. Take heart: with four other sons, it won’t be long before your MIL acquires four other “daughters” with whom you can share the Mommy-and-Me time.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond oundaries are the backbone of all healthy relationships. You will have a better relationship with

Boundaries are the backbone of all healthy relationships.

her once boundaries are set; without boundaries you will just feel smothered. You can understand where she is coming from by recognizing how excited she is now to have another woman in the family. Her actions are not coming from a bad place. Practically speaking, here are some things you can do to create these boundaries. If she calls you a few times a day, asking you to get a coffee or manicure, let it go to voicemail. Once a week, call before Shabbos; be very cordial and nice, ask about her week. Tell her you wanted to wish her a good Shabbos. If you merely don’t answer the daily calls or voicemails, she will get the subtle message that you were not interested or were too busy. I do not recommend making a big deal about this with your chosson. You should not put him in this awkward position. If he has a good relationship with his mother, he realizes how excited she was to gain a daughter when her son got engaged. He should not have to get in the middle of any drama. One more thing I would like to add is that you seem to have a very stark opinion regarding your future mother-in-law. You feel almost threatened by the fact that she wants to spend time with you… You state: “I have a mother and I don’t need another mother.” I am wondering if this attitude is trickling down from your own mother. Is your mother making you think that it is abnormal for a mother-in-law to want to bond with her future daughter-in-law? If so, she’s wrong. You do not have to be so threatened by her gestures, as long as you are able to create healthy boundaries. The two of you can

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easily share a beautiful MIL/DIL bond, without it infringing on the fact that you have a mother as well.

The Single Tova Wein t sounds like you actually like your future mother-in-law and

appreciate the fact that she is a good woman with good intentions. Unfortunately, she appears to be somewhat desperate to fulfil some kind of fantasy she’s probably harbored for many years regarding what a mother/ daughter relationship looks like and is hoping you can help her fulfill her fantasy. It also sounds like you are in general a private person who doesn’t en-

Pulling It All Together The Navidaters

joy or need another warm body next to you as you go about your business like shopping, etc. And you’re also not looking for another mother or friend. You have every right to determine how you spend your day, and, just like you probably wouldn’t allow a friend of yours to impose herself on you in ways that don’t feel comfortable, you shouldn’t allow your future MIL the opportunity to do the same thing. We all need proper boundaries. I think you need to take advantage of every possibility open to you to extend warmth and kindness toward your MIL, letting her know how much you appreciate how she’s

As the old saying goes, she will never forget the way you made her feel.

made you feel welcome and loved. On the other hand, it’s important to let her know that, in general, you’re a more private person who doesn’t really hang out too much with others. But try to find enjoyable ways to connect with her that feel right for you so that you’re sending a very clear message that she is appreciated and loved back.

Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

azel tov on your engagement! I’m not sure that your situation warrants deal breaker status. I absolutely hear your plight, and I will address practical ways of handling this in a moment. But first, it is often helpful to come alongside a well-meaning future mother-in-law and practice empathy. I want you to close your eyes and imagine that you are in your mother-in-law’s shoes. Really try to imagine that you have raised sons all your life. Wonderful sons. But sons. Guys. Dudes. Sports. Gemara. Roughhousing. They have picked their noses and eaten it, dirtied the toilets and floors (for years longer than you’d like to admit, to the point that they have been banished from the first floor bathroom in case company comes over). They have chased you with Nerf guns, torn every pair of pants you’ve ever bought, and tracked your home with muddy sneakers. They may have enjoyed their father’s company more, not because you aren’t a wonderful mother, but because children tend to hang around and emulate the same gender parent. You’ve been the queen of your castle, but in many ways, in isolation. You adore your sons and wouldn’t trade them for

the world, but because you are a woman, there is a part of you that can’t relate. And you are not in the boys’ club. You have always dreamt of having a daughter. You missed having some feminine energy around. Someone’s hair to brush, someone to dress up, a girl to look toward you and have that special mother/daughter bond that you just couldn’t have with your fabulous sons – simply because they are boys and you aren’t. The reason I asked you to do this exercise (putting yourself in her shoes) is not to guilt you into spending time with her. On the contrary; I think some defining of this budding relationship is in order. But I want you to take this feeling of empathy and understanding for her along with you when you have your collaborative discussion with her. She probably means well, and this is her first time at this rodeo. Also, until you hear it from her, try not to jump to the conclusion that she “wants me to be her daughter.” It may feel like that to you, but you really don’t know that for sure.

Try to conjure up your vision for a mother-in-law/daughter-inlaw relationship. What comes to mind? Do you want it to be very boundaried, only seeing her at holidays and kids’ birthday parties? Are you open to the occasional lunch and manicure? Would you invite her to do something with you that you enjoy? Are you open to compromising? When we get married, we marry a family. As long as in-laws are respectful of you and your relationship, I encourage you to be open-minded as you negotiate this relationship over time. Being super tough and unyielding when it comes to in-laws will only put any future husband between a rock and a hard place. These conversations are tricky and need to be handled with TLC (tender love and care). She may forget the words you say to her, but as the old saying goes, she will never forget the way you made her feel. So be sure to go into this “boundary” conversation trying your best to make her feel good. If your mother-in-law is truly inappropriate, and you believe that she is completely out of line, or if you’re just not comfortable, then I suggest the following. Approach her with a spirit of collaboration. Invite her out to lunch or for coffee, somewhere nice and cozy

and secluded. Before you say anything about your feelings and making boundaries, ask her what her vision is for the relationship. Listen! Mirror it , validate it, show her you understand her and her feelings. Then, it will be your turn to share with her what your vision is and what your comfort level is right now. She may even ask you the same question. Do not expect her to mirror, validate, and show understanding (though she may). I think the goal of this conversation is for both of you to be heard and reach a new understanding that makes you feel a bit more at ease and leaves her feeling connected in a healthy way to the next chapter in her son’s life…you. 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.

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The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

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JANUARY 24, OCTOBER 29, 2019 2015 || The The Jewish Jewish Home Home

Dr. Deb

A Better Approach to Your Marriage Problems By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

id you know that, right now, it’s possible for you to completely turn around a bad marriage? I’ll explain how in just a second. But first, let’s talk about why so many people think this is impossible. The truth is that you’ve been let down. Let down by so many experts who want you to believe that “date night” and “communication” is the key to becoming happy in your marriage. (Those are the “good” experts, as opposed to the ones who tell you there is no hope and ought to end the marriage.) And on the surface, I get it. It sounds good! It makes sense that if you’ve been drifting apart for a very long time, then reconnecting with date night and being able to communicate sounds like it should work. But let me just come right out and say it: this is dumb. Here’s why: 1. Without repair to the relation-

ship itself which has been damaged by fighting, abuse, neglect, and endless distance, there will still be a huge gap between you on that date night. No one will know what to talk about because there’s an elephant in the room! People want to get over the past. They wish the past wouldn’t be biting them in the rear, but they might feel like crying for all the water that’s gone under the bridge. Or worse, there’s so much leftover resentment – baggage – and so many unanswered questions, that the couple can’t even think of what to say on this famous “let’s have a normal conversation” experience. Questions like, “Where did all our money go?” “Why can’t you stop screaming all the time?” “Why were you out so late?” linger in one’s mind. The result of this experience is even greater loneliness. They tried. They really did. But nobody said anything significant or meaningful. “Do you know who I am after all these years?” they might be thinking. It’s

intensely painful. 2. What’s more, the problem itself – anger, abuse, jealousy, etc. – isn’t even the real problem. The real problem is what caused all that. Was there inadvertent neglect? Selfishness? Confusion about how to understand the opposite gender? Hang-ups left from childhood? An addiction? Interference by family? You see how it goes. Until the time that this elephant in the room will be recognized and moved out of the room, nothing will change. No number of date nights and taking “nicely” will get at this real problem. This is why so much of therapy ends up in finger pointing and raised voices. The people in pain are trying in their own – counterproductive – way to get to the bottom of the problem! They’re correctly thinking that no healing can take place until the other person accepts responsibility. The problem here is that each member of this couple thinks the problem is the other person! So they go round and round. And no matter how skilled a

therapist is at crowd control (joke intended) this method does not work. It will not work. Each person desperately needs and wants to be understood. When they’re not understood, they get upset and start losing their control of their temper or their tears. The therapist tries to intervene to help each one express their pain better and that may calm things a bit. But it is a slow way of dealing with all the built-up pain and betrayal that may have taken place over not years but decades. And since so much of the therapy has to deal with recovering from old pain, ironically, there is no time left over in the therapy session for learning what to do to recover! The time has been spent arguing while the hapless therapist tries to smooth over the rather bumpy process. Weeks or months go by of digging into each problem, each sore spot, each moment of misunderstanding or outright abuse. The process is not fun, and many people don’t have the stami-

The Jewish Jewish Home Home || OCTOBER JANUARY 29, 24, 2015 2019 The

na to forge ahead. By the time they’ve covered every bothersome, painful instance (if they even can) one or both people feel beaten and exhausted. 3. Even if people went into therapy to clear the past and they came to understand the sources of the problem, how do they know how to relate to one another? Once the elephant is out of the room, there needs to be a way to learn how to be intimate with each other. Without it, conversations on date night reduce to who is picking up carpool on Wednesday. The therapist therefore tries to throw in moments of deep conversation between the members of the couple so that they will feel connected. Those are lovely moments, ones that give therapists hope for the future. However, the devil is in the details, and it is awfully hard to teach all the necessary skills that a person needs in order to “get” their partner. This business of “getting” is what paves the way for intimacy. Consider this: aside from the process of healing from the past and restoring trust, how can you understand your partner – and the reverse, them understand you – without at least learning what they might be feeling and how to discuss it as well as avoiding all the pitfalls of automatic assumptions? But the biggest reason of all is that none of these steps will rebuild trust… and that’s an absolute tragedy because without trust, no one will feel safe enough to share the intimate and private thoughts in one’s head or heart. But how in the world do you rebuild trust after so much damage? If that’s the old and dumb way… what’s the new and smart way? Simple: The Marriage You Want program. It is a program that teaches every skill you need while giving you ample opportunity to put it into practice. A program that is at once self-paced learning while holding you accountable by a trained Marriage & Family Therapist. A program like this heals the past, builds the self, restores trust, and promotes intimacy to get you the marriage you want. A program that is inclusive of your mind, your heart, your soul, and your brain. Here’s why this is brilliant: 1. Breaking the process up into

small components leads to mastery quickly. This way, people do not feel the need to waste time arguing, blaming, and feeling lost and hopeless. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel:

out battles so common in the therapy room. Do you see how powerful that is? Here’s the thing, though: no one else is teaching this. Don’t get me wrong. There are courses out there

The reality is far more than “there are two sides to everything.”

they can tell they are learning and acquiring new ways to relate to both themselves and each other, the past as well as the future. This retains optimism and a high level of energy to do the necessary work. 2. By covering every single – vital – behavior and attitude necessary, nothing will be left out. Just learning how to keep a positive mindset in the face of stress, for example, can be a tremendous source of pride for someone who used to have a temper. And if it helps that person feel good about themselves, think how significant that one change could be in the eyes of the other person in the relationship. People who do not or whose partner does not have a temper may not need that little piece, but it is there for everyone. When nothing is left out, everything there can and will benefit everyone. The learning format, when owned for life, means a couple can keep reviewing the skills to improve and improve. And the best part is that by having your therapist overseeing everything you have total accountability – in both directions… Meaning that’s what’s going to enable you to focus exactly on the skills you need and not waste too much time on the ones you don’t need. And it’s going to hold your therapist accountable too because if there is (by some fluke) something you needed that wasn’t in the program, it can be easily added in. All this without the long, drawn-

created by brilliant researchers. Some focus on behavior change, and some focus on emotions. Some are based on the latest research in neuropsychology so that we can take control of what we thought were automatic responses (like the flare-up of a temper or the sudden flash of anxiety). Some focus

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on intimacy which is clearly super-important. But oddly enough, no one combines all of the above. In fact, on a personal note, I recall in grad school that it was looked down on if any therapist said they were “eclectic” (meaning they did a little of this and a little of that). We were supposed to uphold one and only one theory and approach. Well, the Marriage You Want program is a departure from that. I’d love to talk you about how you can use this idea to get the exact marriage you want in a short timeframe.

Dr. Deb is a Marriage & Family Therapist. Book a consultation with her to get clarity on the issues in your marriage and learn about her innovative program at: https:// drdeb.com/book. To book a call with Dr. Deb, go to her scheduler, https://drdeb. com/book, but if you want more information about her new program, please first watch the Masterclass on “Getting The Marriage You Want” at http://drdeb.com/ myw-masterclass.

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JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Health & F tness

Your Guide to Healthy Shabbos Eating: The Main Course By Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN

he part we’ve all been waiting for. The whole Shabbos meal leads up to this: the main course. From meat to chicken to kugels and sides, the main course can seem endless. Sometimes the host keeps bringing out more and more food; there may not even be room on the table, let alone in our stomachs. As if we were hungry by the time the main course started… The main course does not need to be so extravagant and elaborate. Keep it simple and under control by following these tips. Firstly, limit your main dish to one dish. You don’t need a roast and a corned beef and a chicken dish and meat tacos. One main dish is enough. Yes, it’s impressive to serve a lot, but trust me, your guests don’t need all those calories either. My suggestion is to cut the red meat off of the Shabbos menu entirely. Yes, it’s an obligation to eat meat on Shabbos, yet poultry is considered meat too. And yes, Shabbos deserves the finest foods and definitely warrants red meat, yet it will be OK if you forgo the red meat and have chicken instead. Just looking at the red meat, you can see lines of fat. Imagine these fat globs clogging your arteries, G-d forbid. But in reality, that is exactly what happens. The fat globs basically travel and get deposited into the arteries. Red meat is primarily saturated fat which raises cholesterol levels. High cholesterol leads to a cas-

cade of events which increases one’s risk for heart disease and all sorts of problems, including cancer. The World Trade Center Fund in 2011 that found that red and processed meat increase the risk of colon cancer specifically. The researchers define processed meat as anything that has been salted, cured, smoked, or changed to enhance flavor or preservation. This includes deli and yes, beef jerky too. The World Health Organization (WHO) feels that processed meats produce carcinogenic chemicals from preservatives such as nitrites and nitrates. The WHO linked overall red meat consumption to colorectal and stomach cancer. This means that for your overall health, stay away from the ribs, the pulled brisket, the smoked pastrami, the deli roll, and the beef jerky platter too. These have become staples in our culture’s Shabbos meals, though it’s time to rethink these fads and change it for the better. If all this information doesn’t scare you, well, just remind yourself that red meat is fatty and causes weight gain too. Your best bet is to go with chicken. Chicken is lean, filling, and full of beneficial amino acids. Chicken is an excellent source of lean protein. Protein is essential for muscle building and maintaining muscle mass. The average adult needs 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For example, if you weigh 125 pounds (57 kilograms), you should be con-

suming between 45 and 57 grams of protein daily. A chicken thigh and drumstick contains approximately 25 grams of protein, almost half of your daily needs. Some cuts of chicken are healthier than others. Chicken breast has fewer calories, fat and saturated fat than dark meat. It has more protein too. The type of chicken you prepare depends on your preference. It might be a good idea to switch things up so you don’t get bored, though. For the Friday night main, I suggest serving Cornish hens, chicken roast, turkey roast, chicken legs, thighs, and/or drumsticks since these types of poultry taste better when hot. You can cook your chicken, bake it, or broil it too. Cooking your chicken over the stove makes it nice and moist. A delicious, traditional, and rather healthy way of cooking chicken is the good old Hungarian dish, chicken paprikash: sauté onions in a large skillet with cloves of garlic and a generous sprinkle of paprika. Add the chicken and water to keep it from burning. Cook for an hour and a half. When baking chicken, keep it covered to keep in the moisture and uncover it for the last half hour if you want the outer layer to get crunchy. For Shabbos lunch, chicken cutlets are your best bet. Avoid the processed meat (deli) and go for the chicken or turkey. You can make baked schnitzel. Dip the chicken cutlets in eggs mixed with garlic powder, onion powder, and

paprika, then into cornflake crumbs. Spray the pan with PAM and bake at 400ºF for twenty minutes. You can eat the schnitzel plain or cut it up in a salad. Another yummy, healthy way to enjoy chicken cutlets is by grilling them. Dip your chicken cutlets into olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. Broil or grill them on the barbecue grill or in a grill pan for six minutes on each side. Again, enjoy them plain or in a salad. If you want to switch things up, cut up turkey breast and throw that into a salad too. Your main dish does not have to be heavy and greasy. Especially after the preceding courses, you can use a light main. Eating poultry as the main dish (with the appropriate portions, of course) won’t leave you feeling full and wobbling towards the couch. Sparing the calories from the red meat gives you more leeway to enjoy the side dishes too! Keep reading the “How to Approach Shabbos the Healthy Way” series to learn the best and healthiest Shabbos side dishes. Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN, is a Master’s level Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist. She graduated CUNY Brooklyn College receiving a Bachelor’s in Science and Master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences. She is currently a dietitian at Boro Park Center and a private nutrition consultant. She can be reached at CindyWeinberger1@gmail.com.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

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JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

In The K

tchen

Granola Bars By Naomi Nachman

This is a great homemade snack to make with the kids. I’ve been making this for years at kids’ cooking classes and it’s always a hit, both as an activity and as a snack.

Ingredients 2 cups old-fashioned oats ¼ cup sweetened flake coconut ¼ cup raisins 1/8 cup mini chocolate chips ½ cup chopped pecans, toasted, or sunflower seeds, optional 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 6 TBS applesauce 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 3 TBS honey or maple syrup

Preparation Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 8x8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over sides. Spray the tin foil with Pam. Mix oats, coconut, raisins, pecans and cinnamon in bowl. Mix the sweeteners and applesauce together. Pour the sweeteners mixture over the oat mixture and stir until well coated. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Press mixture evenly into the pan. Bake the granola bars until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool before slicing into 18 bars.

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.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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JANUARY 24, OCTOBER 29, 2019 2015 | The Jewish Home

Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change… This is the war — this is our World War II. - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat/Socialist-NY)

Is she like positive it’s like 12 years, or could it be like 11 years or like 13 years? I like need to like know for sure. Like, you know. – One of the many social media responses to Ms. OcasioCortez’s dire warning

Look at that face, you wanna punch that face. The big moment was in the fourth quarter when a controversial call cost the Saints the game. Everyone thought that the Rams defender interfered with the Saints receiver but the referee didn’t throw a flag. Even the ref was like, “Come on, man! What am I, blind?!” - Jimmy Fallon

Due to the shutdown, yesterday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent Trump a letter telling him to postpone the State of the Union address. Today Trump sent Pelosi a letter canceling her trip to Afghanistan. I don’t know what’s worse: that our leaders are fighting or that they are still writing letters. – Jimmy Fallon

Thanks to more modern understandings of what political correctness entails — and why being PC is important — it’s less common these days to find jokes like the offensive ones that often played out on “Seinfeld.” - Angelica Florio, writing on a popular left-wing website that many “Seinfeld” episodes are offensive and should be shunned

- Daily Show host Trevor Noah attacking Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann who the media reported was harassing a Native American Vietnam War veteran before the full video was released which showed Sandmann showing great restraint and deference to the Native American (who turns out not to have served in Vietnam)

Honest question: have you ever seen a more punchable face than [these] kids. - Former CNN host Reza Aslan’s tweet containing the image of Nick Sandmann and his high school classmates

I could sit there and drink that all day. - Andrew E. Slavonic, age 101, of Pennsylvania after a recent private tour of the Coors Brewery in Colorado

Areva, I hate to break it to you, but you should’ve been better prepped. I’m black. - Fox Nation radio host David Webb, who is black, responding to CNN legal analyst Areva Martin who appeared on his show and, during an argument about affirmative action, said to him, “David, by virtue of being a white male, you have white privilege”

MORE QUOTES

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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We are in a polar vortex. It may not mean that much to you but your local weatherman just spent all day shotgunning Red Bull’s... “Here we go, polar vortex, baby.” - Jimmy Fallon

Steve Bannon…made clear to me that one person and one person only was responsible for the faceless execution that Steve was now attempting to carry out: Jared Kushner, still apparently seething over events that had occurred a decade ago. - Chris Christie, in his new book, disclosing that when he was marginalized on the Trump campaign it was because Jared Kushner had a grudge against him because he prosecuted Jared’s father a decade earlier

Pelosi was supposed to leave today but Trump only gave her thirty minutes notice that her flight was canceled. Even Southwest Airlines was like, “That’s messed up, bro.”

“The kid’s been taking an ax to your head with the boss [Trump] ever since I got here.”

- Jimmy Fallon

- Ibid., disclosing what Steve Bannon told him about Jared Kushner

You know that the end is coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. - Skier Lindsey Vonn, who is seriously thinking about retirement after failing to finish a race over the weekend

We have a hater in the White House. Birther-in-Chief. The Grand Wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. One of the things we’ve learned is that while Jim Crow may be dead he’s still got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well.

I don’t care what they said. - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who sent a letter to President Trump demanding that he postpone his State of the Union address because of security concerns due to the government shutdown, responding to statements by the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security stating they are equipped and ready to handle the event

- Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D- NY), taking Trump Derangement Syndrome to the next level while speaking at the National Action Network on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Does this still work? Can an empire like ours with military presence in over 170 countries around the globe, with trading relationships… and security agreements in every continent, can it still be managed by the same principles that were set down 230-plus years ago? - Potential presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), questioning whether we should still follow the U.S. Constitution, in an interview with the Washington Post

MORE QUOTES

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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We never would have lost Pennsylvania, and all my relatives…voted for Donald Trump because they felt slighted by Hillary and her campaign. We never would have not gone to Michigan as the campaign decided not to do because they felt entitled to the votes of those people. – Joe Biden’s younger brother, in a recent interview with the Palm Beach Post

I just want seniors to know just because we’ve gotten a certain age, we don’t have to stop living. I want to tell them that there’s a better way of life if they choose. - Jessica Slaughter, age 85, of St. Louis, who recently lost 120 pounds by walking back and forth in her onebedroom apartment every day, in an interview with KSDK TV

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Political Crossfire

What Americans are Fighting for in Manbij By David Ignatius

f you wonder what the four Americans who were killed on Wednesday in Manbij, Syria, were doing there, let me describe a few images from a visit to that city last February

that illustrate their mission of helping stabilize this area after the Islamic State was expelled. Think of a covered market thronged with shoppers: until the

Americans and their allies liberated Manbij in mid-2016, the only color most women dared wear in public was black; now, a rainbow of dresses is displayed on makeshift racks. While the jihadists ruled, people hid their valuable possessions; now, gold sparkles in the jewelers’ stalls. The market is near the restaurant where the four Americans had stopped to have lunch when an explosion took their lives. If you ask what

hijab; another speaks of someday attending university in France. As you consider these bright snapshots of a city that, with American help, emerged from darkness, you may understand why U.S. soldiers and civilians serving here have been so passionate about their jobs. They could see every day, in nearly every face, the difference they were making. It has been troubling that President Trump never seemed to appreciate

They could see every day, in nearly every face, the difference they were making.

their sacrifice achieved, think of the vibrant street where they died, which was once a monotone of misery. Or take a walk to a girls’ school nearby, and talk to the young women who couldn’t attend classes until the Islamic State’s power was destroyed by a Kurdish-led Syrian militia, backed by U.S. forces. The girls are wearing makeup and once-forbidden hints of color; one displays a pink

how much America was accomplishing in northeast Syria, with so few resources, but maybe he’ll understand better now. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put it well in his recent speech in Cairo. “America is a force for good in the Middle East. ... When America retreats, chaos often follows. When we neglect our friends, resentment builds.” I hope Pompeo will have an

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

honest talk with his boss about those truths and what they mean for Syria policy. The four American deaths this week shouldn’t be used as a political club, one way or the other. The reality is that a ghastly attack like this could happen anytime. It’s been a miracle that only two Americans had died in combat in Syria since 2015; that number has now trebled. The mission made sense before; it still does. Americans will remain targets for as long as they’re in Syria. But they’ll be even more vulnerable in a pell-mell retreat. The most dangerous military operation can be a withdrawal of forces, like what Trump has ordered. Terrorists will be emboldened, now that they have taken American blood and hoping to foster a panicked departure. The Manbij attack carries several obvious lessons. The Islamic State, while driven from its physical caliphate, is far from dead. Intelligence reports say that the group has established “sleeper cells” across northeast Syria that could menace U.S. and allied forces. They’ve created an underground network, waiting for the moment when America tires. It’s clear, too, that coalition forces in Manbij were distracted from the Islamic State because the more immediate danger there came from Turkish-backed opposition groups. These pro-Turkish groups have assassinated or attempted to assassinate several leaders of the Manbij Military Council, the U.S. and Kurdish-backed group that’s trying to stabilize the city. Worried about Turkish threats to attack, the local security forces couldn’t concentrate full time on the Islamic State. Turkey’s obsession with the supposed Kurdish terrorist menace may have helped put U.S. forces at risk. Wednesday’s tragedy should send a message to Ankara, as well as the White House: stay focused on the mission of destroying the Islamic State until that job is closer to being finished. As America should have learned, the Islamic State is like a cancer that hides in cells and bones and tissues, not quite extinguished. The moment you think it’s gone, it pounces back, hungry as ever, devouring the healthy

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organs. American troops shouldn’t stay in Syria forever; Trump is certainly right about that. But he needs to be as careful about how the U.S. leaves Syria, or any other Middle East battlefield, as his predecessors were

sometimes reckless about getting in. For now, Trump should give U.S. commanders what they need in Syria: a small military force to sustain a clear, consistent U.S. policy of destroying what’s left of the Islamic State – and protecting our partners.

If a resurgent Islamic State were able to drag the newly thriving markets and schools of Manbij back into darkness, that truly would abandon the sacrifices Americans have made there. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

h Home

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JANUARY 24, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Political Crossfire Political Crossfire

s Trump is by dedSurrounded by Leakers. Why Why Would He Trust e Trust ithThem His with His Putin Notes? otes? By Marc A. Thiessen

his conversations keep about ending in deals and complained theup trade and complained the trade provided about The Post with deals a full tranprovided Thehe Post with a fullthat tranPost’s report President the media. he sees as unfair with European counhe sees script as unfair European counof with Trump’s phone call with script of Trump’s call towith Trumpphone “has gone extraordiPost notes Trump is tryThat that conversation reportedly tries.” That conversation Mexican President reportedly Enrique Pena Ni-Thetries.” Mexican President EnriquetoPena Ni- details nary lengths conceal ing to left shield Mayhis and“communications her aides “shaken.” left May andinher aideshe “shaken.” eto, which discussed finessing eto, in of which discussed finessing his he conversations with Russian with fromofpublic course,scrutiny.” there areOf the voluAnd, of course, volutheir disputethere over are whothe would pay for a PutinAnd, their dispute overVladimir who would pay for a President Putin” – including course minous he is. A president’s private leaks of his communications minousborder leaks wall of his– communications with the Mexican leader border taking wall – with Mexican leader awaythe an interpreter’s notes and conversations with foreign leaders with Russian officials. Forare example, with Russian officials. For telling Trump that “I example, have recognized telling Trump that “I recognized instructing thehave person not to discuss supposed to be shielded fromadministration public someone in the Trump someone the Trump administration theinright of any government to protect the right of any government protect what was said even to with senior offiscrutiny. Every president revealed that the conducts presidentdicongratthe as president itsthat borders it deemscongratnecessary” and its borders deems and – revealed cialsasofithis ownnecessary” administration has plomacy behind the scenes out ofvictory ulated Putin on hisand election ulated “let Putin victory us on lookhis forelection a creative way to jump “let us look forhackles a creative to jump Some raised in way Washington. public That’s whycall transcripts of during a phone – even though he during a phone – even though he over this call obstacle” – embarrassing the view. over this obstacle” – embarrassing the this have gone so far as to suggest is calls had beenphone warned inand his notes briefing pahad been warned in his briefing pa- any president’s Mexican leader. Mexican leader. that the president is a secret evidence his meetings areNOT marked classified. pers “DO CONGRATULATE.” pers “DO A NOT CONGRATULATE.” transcript of Trump’s phone of call A transcript of Trump’s phone call Russian asset. They are secret. with Some U.S.Sharing officialssecrets also told the media officials also told the media with Philippine President Rodrigo with Philippine President Rodrigothat Some More likely it is evidence the U.S. the media illegal.had shared classified dethatisTrump that Trump had also shared classified de- which Duterte leaked, during Dutertepresident also leaked, during which feels he cannot trust those clear, of what tails of ansome Islamic StateTrump terrorist plot an Islamic State terrorist plotthe “un-To be congratulated him on Trump around congratulated him the “unhim not to on leak the detailstails of of Trump in these private con- Sergei Russian Foreign Minister with Russian Foreign Sergei“on reportedly believable job”Minister he was doing the withsaid believable job” heconversations was doing “onwith theforeign his private is during indeedanoutrageous. Lavrov Oval Office meetduring an Oval Officereports meet- of versations problem” despite exdrug problem” despite reports of exleaders. Why would he think that? Lavrov Be- drug But heing is – the president, and every exposing Israel as the source of ing – exposing Israel as theand source trajudicial killings otherofhuman trajudicial killings other human cause he hasand repeatedly seen the clashas the right to hold It turned out conthat Trump turned–out that Trump rightsItabuses sparking outragepresident in intelligence. rights abuses – sparking outrage in intelligence. sified details of those conversations fidential withIsrael foreign didconversations not reveal that was the did notWashington. reveal that Israel was the Washington. leaked to the media. leaderssource without ending up anony– the thatdetails was done by the source – that was donewere by thetwo anonyAlso leaked of Trump’s Also leaked were twoin of 2017, Trump’s For example, someone on the mous front geniuses pages. The thathis heconverwhofact leaked who leaked his converconversations with British Prime Minconversations British Primeleaked Min- a mous in the with administration full geniuses to Lavrov these serial sation with to theleaks media. sation with the media. ister Lavrov TheresatoMay – including onehas in responded ister Theresa Mayof–Trump’s including one in transcript phone call with by restricting access his interacDespite this to record, senior officials this senior officials which herecord, complained about his covwhich he complained about his covAustralian Prime Minister MalcolmDespite tions with Putin is evidence are angry at not being cut out that of Trump’s are angry at being out ofmedia Trump’s erage in thecut British (to which erage in the British media (toduring which which Turnbull to The Post, is a Russian spy;Putin, it is evidence with anonymously meetings Putin, anonymously Maywith awkwardly explained that Trump she meetings May awkwardly explained that sheabout the president berated Turnbull a are peopleto around him who complaining the media that “there complaining to the media “there could not control thethat media, tellingthat the there could not control the media, telling the refugee swap deal Turnbull had made have noiscompunction about breaking no detailed record, even in classiis no detailed record, even innot classipresident that “we are North Kopresident that “we are not North Ko- The with President Barack Obama. the lawfied and files, harming nationalface-to-face security of Trump’s infied files, of and, Trump’s in-another rea”) a fewface-to-face months later, rea”) and, a few months of later, public exposure thisanother exchange was by leaking what hewith saysthe to the media. teractions Russian leader at teractions the Russian leader at to The callwith in which Trump, according call in which Trump, according to The an embarrassment for the Australian not just an outrage. It two is a years,” fiveislocations over the past five locations over the May past for twoBritain years,”not And Post, “berated do- that Post, “berated Maydamaged for Britain not doleader and our relationship crime. according to The Post. Well, maybe according to The Post. maybe to coning enough, in hisWell, assessment, ing enough, his assessment, to conwith in a critical foreign ally. because theWriters classified details of that’s because the classified details of Brexit, tain Iran…questioned her over tain Iran…questioned her over Brexit, An administration official also (c) 2019,that’s Washington Post Group

his conversations keep ending up in the media. The Post notes that Trump is trying to shield his “communications with Putin from public scrutiny.” Of course he is. A president’s private conversations with foreign leaders are supposed to be shielded from public scrutiny. Every president conducts diplomacy behind the scenes and out of public view. That’s why transcripts of any president’s phone calls and notes of his meetings are marked classified. They are secret. Sharing secrets with the media is illegal. To be clear, some of what Trump reportedly said in these private conversations is indeed outrageous. But he is the president, and every president has the right to hold confidential conversations with foreign leaders without the details ending up on the front pages. The fact that he has responded to these serial leaks by restricting access to his interactions with Putin is not evidence that Trump is a Russian spy; it is evidence that there are people around him who have no compunction about breaking the law and harming national security by leaking what he says to the media. And that is not just an outrage. It is a crime. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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Forgotten Her es

Longest Serving Servicemembers By Avi Heiligman

Lt. Nathan E. Cook joined the navy at 15 and died at 106

erving one’s country in time of war is considered an honor by many. Many who join the service during wartime go back to their civilian lives after the war is over. But some remain in the military for decades afterwards and have fought in multiple wars and engagements. Usually these are high ranking officers that use their experience in previous wars in their current situations. Here are some stories of a few of these long-serving servicemembers that have made their marks in the history books. Peter Conover Hains was an officer who served during the American Civil War (1861- 1865) and World War I (1914-1918). Born in 1840, he graduated from West Point in 1861 after the Civil War had started. One of his classmates was George Armstrong Custer, the same cavalry officer of Little Bighorn fame. Many of their class-

mates left the Union Army to join the Confederates, but being from Philadelphia Hains chose to stay with the northern army. His first assignment was with the artillery, and he had the

76-year-old Major General Hains was the oldest officer in uniform during World War I and the only one to have served during the Civil War

neer in charge of the XIII Corps under General Grant at Vicksburg when his commanding officer fell ill. His innovations helped propel the Union to a victory, and he was promoted to

MacArthur never officially retired from the army as there are regulations regarding those who attain the rank of general of the U.S. Army.

distinction of shooting the first shot of the Second Battle of Bull Run. A year later he was with the engineers and altogether saw action in 30 total engagements. Hains became the engi-

major. Following the Civil War, Hains stayed with Army Corps of Engineers and designed many lighthouses. He also designed the D.C. Tidal Basin to

help with the foul-smelling sewage water. Later in his career he was involved in the building of a road that is known today as the George Washington Parkway, as well as serving on the Panama Canal Commission. Hains retired in 1904 after serving as a brigadier general during the Spanish American War in 1898. In 1916 he was called into active duty by Congress as the Division Engineer for the Army. 76-year-old Major General Hains was oldest officer in uniform during World War I and the only one to have served during the Civil War. Hains died in 1921 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery next to his wife. General “Fighting Joe” Joseph Wheeler graduated West Point in 1859 and was placed in the cavalry. Wheeler left the Union Army and joined the Confederates in 1861. His cavalry units fought well during the

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General Winfield Scott, Old “Fuss and Feathers,” served for 53 years

Civil War. He was wounded three times during that war and sixteen of his horses were shot while he was riding them. After the South lost the war, Wheeler returned to Alabama and in 1880 was elected to the House of Representatives. In 1898, the 61-year-old Wheeler volunteered to fight in the Spanish American War and received the rank of major general by President McKinley. Part of his command included Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. He also served during the Philippine-American War and was mustered into the regular army and commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division. He died in 1906. Fifteen-year-old Nathan Cook joined the U.S. Navy in 1901. He was stationed on the USS Pensacola before going to the other side of the Pacific. Cook served during the last year of the Philippine-American War which lasted from 1898-1902. He also saw action during the Boxer Revolution and fighting on the American-Mexican border. During World War I, he commanded a submarine chaser that sunk German U-boats. After 40 years in the navy, Cook retired on April 1, 1942, just a few months after the U.S. entered World War II. He was one of many to serve during both World Wars but only one of a handful that served during four wars. He died in 1992 at age 106, making him one of the oldest war veterans at the time. The combined careers of two fa-

mous American generals span over 100 years and dozens of presidents. General Winfield Scott joined the American Army in 1808 and didn’t retire until 1861. Within four years, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was taken prisoner by the British after the Battle of Queenstown Heights. Soon Scott was traded back as part of a prisoner exchange and was back commanding American troops for the rest of the War of 1812. In 1814, he was only 27 when promoted to brigadier general but suffered serious wounds after the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. By war’s end, Scott was promoted to brevet major general and served during the Seminole Wars (starting in 1816), Blackhawk War (1832), Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and the Civil War. He retired from active duty in 1861 as the first commander of Union forces during the Civil War. Old “Fuss and Feathers” had served for a then-record of 53 years. Douglas MacArthur entered West Point in 1899 and retired in 1951, but he had a 4-year stint where he left the U.S. military (1937-1941) to head the Filipino Army as a field marshal. He was recalled to duty in 1941 to lead the Army forces in the Far East. In 1942, MacArthur became supreme commander for the southwest Pacific. Three years later, he accepted the Japanese surrender while onboard the USS Missouri. The Medal of Honor recipient was abruptly relieved of his command by President Truman

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, center, with President Richard Nixon and Secretary of the Navy John Warner Jr

Photo of the staff of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, the Rough Riders, in Tampa, Florida. Included in the photograph is Gen. Joseph Wheeler (front, center) and Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt (far right). The photo was taken just before the regiment embarked for Cuba during the Spanish-American War, c. 1898

during the Korean War in 1951 due to a dispute between the commander-in-chief of the U.S., Truman, and the commander-in-chief of the U.N. Command, MacArthur. MacArthur never officially retired from the army as there are regulations regarding those who attain the rank of general of the U.S. Army. Jewish Admiral Hyman Rickover, also known as the Father of the Nuclear Navy, served from 1918 to 1981. His 63 years in the service is the longest for any sailor and the second-longest career in the American military. General of the Army Omar Bradley

holds the official record at 69 years in the military. These anecdotes are just some stories of the longest serving soldiers and sailors in American military history. It is forgotten heroes (well, some are better known than others in this article) like these that protect and serve during times of war when their country needs them most. 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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▷ Daily Mincha Minyan (Maariv) ▷ 10 minutes from Five Towns and West Hempstead ▷ Unlimited parking ▷ Five minute walk to LIRR station (30 minute direct train to and from Penn Station) ▷ Labcorp, Quest, and Sunrise medical labs in building

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The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

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Money

Do Androids Dream of Electric Audits? By Allan Rolnick, CPA

n 1982, the movie Blade Runner presented a technologically advanced vision of the year 2019. There were flying cop cars. (What grim dystopian movie doesn’t feature flying cars?) There was commercial space travel. There were bioengineered androids, known as “replicants,” that drove the story. The film even predicted voice-controlled video phones to communicate with our offices! Today’s reality isn’t quite so exciting. We’ve got the voice-activated video phones! But we’re not using them to summon flying cars or book trips to the moon. No, we’re using them to waste time checking Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We pick up our phone every 12 minutes on average and spend three hours and 35 minutes per day with our heads buried in our screens. Psychiatrists have even identified “internet addiction disorder” as a “condition for further study.” Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. The IRS manages several Twitter feeds for taxpayers and professionals that are worth following. But now they’re looking to get even more involved. We’re not talking about auditors posting pictures of their

dogs (although we’d totally follow that, too). Instead, they want to investigate whether social media can help them collect taxes. Current IRS rules generally prohibit employees from using any social media at work. They specifically can’t create fake accounts to “friend” you and snoop on your finances. But the IRS knows that people post

can: • “Provide a product that is easily explainable in court.” • “Provide real time, customizable reports of publicly available social media information (provided or advertised by businesses), such as new products, current sales, and new locations.” • “Provide reports showing that

Psychiatrists have even identified “internet addiction disorder” as a “condition for further study.”

enormous amounts of information online, information they can use to help with collections. So last month, the IRS issued a request for information and product demonstrations from electronic research vendors. They’re hoping to find a vendor who

a taxpayer participated in an online chat room, blog, or forum, and reports showing the chat room or blog conversation threads.” • “Provide available biometric data, such as photos, current address, or changes to marital status.”

• “Provide access for at least 25,000 concurrent users.” Show of hands here: who wants any part of the government tracking your profile photos, status alerts, or chat room conversations? The good news is that, at least for now, the IRS would use their new super power for good, not evil. “Such a tool would not be used to search the internet or social media sites for purposes of identifying or initiating new tax audits.” Of course, that doesn’t mean the IRS won’t get more aggressive down the road, using predictive analytics and social media as part of a broader effort to target specific taxpayers for extra attention. The IRS’s move towards harnessing social media is part of a broader movement to put “Big Data” to work for various goals. But data isn’t always bad. Use your data to help you pay less this year. Someday your savings might pay for your own flying car! 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.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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Life C ach

The World Used to Be Flat By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., MFT, CLC

n a previous article I wrote that things can be done differently in a relationship. And someone wrote in ask me: how? Well, I’m glad you’re listening! And I’m glad you’re asking! So, here’s some insights: It starts with believing. And wanting things to be different. The problem is, when you want things to be different, you usually try to change the people around you. Why not? It seems so much simpler. And it is – for you! You figure it just takes talking, or lecturing, or hocking, and no other effort on your part is necessary. Yippee! However, what about the other person? They don’t feel like being changed by you. They feel like you should change! Each person who wants change wants it from the other party. And that’s no party. So, you need to realize you need to put in effort too. You don’t necessarily need to be the only one making the effort. It could be a joint

effort. But people often need guidance to get there. Because we are all stuck in our own way of seeing things! When you get re-educated or see things from another vantage point, you start to know that there is something other than your original view.

by looking at things the same way over and over again! But someone did illuminate for us all to see the world in a different way. There is another way to see things, and when you do it, you change automatically.

The problem is, when you want things to be different, you usually try to change the people around you.

Remember when ever yone thought the world was flat and that people would fall off if they went too far? Well, now, everyone thinks it’s round and that they’ll keep going round and round if they keep going. And the funny thing is people do that

You can think someone is nasty, and you may treat them rudely. But if you find out they just heard some bad news, you will change your attitude toward them. When you can see the other person’ s side differently, you can start to

come at them in a different way. And the same is true in reverse as well. First, we must want to see them another way. We need to be curious about that other person and their other ways. When we find out more, or learn something new, we are more prone to change ourselves with an ease and fluidity. It’s each person’s prerogative to be open to seeing another in their deeper dimension. If they do, they can feel differently about them. If they don’t, like the world, they can continue to go round and round with the same frustrations. If you need new perspectives on how to get there, I’m happy to help you open your eyes to how to find them. Since there’s no quick article that can get you there. But with practice, and one small step forward, it could be your start to a new dimension. Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-7052004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 24, 2019

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