Five Towns Jewish Home - 6-9-16

June 9 — June 15, 2016

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

Your Favorite Five Towns Family Newspaper

Pages 9, 10, 11, 13 & 121

Around the

Community

56 Fun and Safety with the RNSP

60 Shulamith Dinner Celebrates their New Campus

Bobker on Shavuos: The Undated Anniversary

pg 90

Climbing the Mountain by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

pg 94

Broken but Whole: Miriam Peretz’s Story of Strength, Belief, and Inspiration pg 98

72 Five Towns Schools Celebrate Israel

The Flower Lady: Chaya Suri Freund Talks about the Business of Blooms pg 104 A Shavuos to Savor Page 69

– See pages 3 & 33

SEASONS LAWRENCE

330 Central Avenue, Lawrence, NY 11559

pg 106

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Achiezer extends a thank you to all those who participated in our inaugural SpecialCare+ Expo.

Your feedback is welcome and encouraged.

We want to hear from parents and caregivers in our community.

Please email specialcare@achiezer.org with your comments and ideas as we move forward with this initiative.

Missed the Event?

Please email specialcare@achiezer.org for a copy of our resource guide for parents and caregivers.

BottomLineMG.com

Recordings of the lectures given at SpecialCare+ are available at www.achiezer.org.

We express our deep appreciation to our close friend, Yoeli Steinberg, of Gourmet Glatt, for overseeing and generously sponsoring the delectable buffet.

Wishing the entire community a Chag Sameach.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Nothing says family like a

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

THE SEGULAH

On Shavuos day, at Kriyas Hatorah

That Brought Thousands of Children Into The World

" ‫לרפאותם‬ ...‫מי שברך‬

The segulah:

‫להחלימם‬

“On erev Shavuos, one should set aside 91 perutos and then (add more) to complete the (numerical equivalent) of twice the word ben, and one should give them to a needy and humble Torah scholar".

‫להחזיקם‬

‫ולהחיותם‬

"

“And this is a segulah for the barren and it hastens the Redemption…

Maran Hagaon Harav

Chaim Kanievsky,

shlit"a and Maran Hagaon Harav Aron L. Steinman, shlit"a

will pray and conduct a Mi Shebeirach Facing the Sefer Torah For the refuah and success of Contributors to Kupat Ha'ir ►In our times, Gedolei Hador have instructed to give $ 104. Kupat Ha’ir commits itself to distribute all the money on erev Shavuos to needy Torah scholars. ►You can also contribute via credit card and other methods of payment. ► In addition all names will be transferred to the Gedolei Hador, shlit”a, for blessing and prayer.

24

1-888-KUPATHAIR 5

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2 8 4

2

Mail your donation to: American Friends of Kupat Hair 4415 14th Avenue Brooklyn NY 11219

Donate Online: www.kupat.org

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers,

I

like cheesecake. I mean, I really like cheesecake. Yet, when I go to restaurants or when I go shopping and see a cheesecake, I don’t buy it.

To me, it’s almost sacrilegious to eat a cheesecake when it’s not Shavuos (or the few days before and after). Cheesecake and Shavuos go together like latkes on Chanukah (and yes, that’s the only time when I eat latkes…).

Growing up, my grandmother would lovingly make each of her children’s families a cheesecake for Shavuos. These were real cheesecakes – graham cracker crusts crumbled by hand; cheeses beaten with a hand mixer. She would place them on her melamine plates decorated with flowers. Bubby has since stopped making her cheesecakes, and I have yet to taste a cheesecake like hers. Perhaps it is the nostalgia that compels me to remember its goodness. I think, though, that they were unparalleled because of the love that was baked into each one.

Lest we think that Shavuos is just about cheesecake, the yom tov is so much deeper than that. But it’s interesting. We don’t have any specific commandments on this holiday – not lulav, not matzah, not mishloach manos. I wondered about that. Shouldn’t Shavuos be the most mitzvah-laden of all the

yomim tovim? Yes, Hashem took us out of slavery and we commemorate that on Pesach, but Shavuos is when we truly became His nation and took on His commandments. Shouldn’t we have some mitzvos to celebrate and commemorate that event?

Perhaps the lack of specific mitzvos for Shavuos tells us something about the Torah itself. We are all one nation and yet each person is so different and unique. Some are more intellectual; others are more emotional. Some are more lively; others are more subdued.

But each one of us was given the same Torah. There is one Torah for each person regardless of their abilities, their interests, and their talents.

Perhaps the lack of special mitzvos for Shavuos is Hashem showing us His gift and telling us to find our own way to make it our own. It’s the same gift for everyone and yet it’s tailor-made for each of us. On Shavuos, as we spend time delving into the Torah, we will find that it speaks to all of us – in a different way.

I hope you have a beautiful yom tov, Shoshana

Yitzy Halpern 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 Rachel Bergida Berish Edelman Mati Jacobovits Design & Production Gabe Solomon Distribution & Logistics P.O. BOX 266 Lawrence, NY 11559 Phone | 516-734-0858 Fax | 516-734-0857

Classifieds

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.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

8

COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll

8

Community Happenings

36 NEWS

84

Global

13

National

24

Odd-but-True Stories

32

ISRAEL Israel News

20

PEOPLE Broken but Whole: Miriam Peretz’s Story of Strength, Belief, and Inspiration by Tammy Mark

98

The Flower Lady by Malky Lowinger

104

Avraham Adan, An IDF Hero by Avi Heiligman

130

PARSHA Rabbi Wein

84

JEWISH THOUGHT The Right Way by Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

85

Torah Boy Scout by Eytan Kobre

86

An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Rabbi YY Rubinstein

88

Bobker on Shavuos: The Undated Anniversary

90

Climbing the Mountain: The Summit at Rechov Vilkomeer by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

94

PARENTING No Child Left Behind by Rabbi Naphtali Hoff

118

Dear Editor, All of the tension about the Harambe case is not settling with me, to say the least. I do not understand the situation. What I am seeing is people are complaining that an innocent, beautiful gorilla was murdered after a boy wandered into the enclosure.

Did I hear that right? You’re mourning the “murder” of an “innocent,” “beautiful,” “harmless” 400 pound primate?

Animal lives may be important, yes, but when a boy’s life is endangered by this aforementioned creature, the choice is obvious! In fact, I would not even go so far as to call it a “choice.” (Well, actually, I just did, but that’s between you and me!)

Humans are quite a level above gorillas! As for those people who posted things on social media like, “so sad,” “just can’t get over it,” I would hardly be surprised if those were the same people who did not bat an eyelash after the first time they heard about the Holocaust, when 6,000,000 innocent and harmless Jewish people were killed in the short span of six years.

People, it’s time to choose your priorities. As for you, PETA, instead of wasting your time campaigning for animal rights, why not go cam-

paigning for the ethical treatment of people, who are a level above, and as mentioned in last week’s letter, can form connections, share feelings, etc., and who need the help far more than the animals do, as proven by the recent episode? Now, don’t get me wrong, I love animals as much, if not more, than the next guy, but mourning over the death of an ape is over the top.

P.S. Thanks TJH staff for an awesome and extremely well-made newspaper (understatement!) and for letting me use a pen name.

Zundel Bresher

Dear Editor, It is almost four years since Obama announced on the campaign trail, “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.”

Presumably, Obama thinks that the government quietly comes into town every night and stocks shelves, pays bills, and hires workers. And why should he think any other way? As an intellectual, Mr. Obama is very good at looking at things in theory. Practice, though, is much harder than theory and that Obama has never done. He has never had to worry about payContinued on page 12

HEALTH & FITNESS Shavuos: It’s the Little Things by Deb Hirschhorn, PhD

116

FOOD & LEISURE The Joy of Shavuos by Jamie Geller 106 The Aussie Gourmet: A Cheesecake Collection 108

108

LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW 112

Your Money

140

Blessed or Blasted? Musings of a Groom by Rivki Rosenwald, Esq., CLC

142

HUMOR Centerfold Uncle Moishy Fun Page

80 132

POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

120

Unified in our Political Acrimony by Michael Gerson

128

Lovable Bernie Whacks Israel by Charles Krauthammer

129

CLASSIFIEDS

134

Shavuos is here! Which flower do you like most?

44 29 % % 17 10

%

%

Rose

Tulip

Orchid

Lily

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Sale Dates: June 12th - 17th 2016

Weekly Poland Spring Sports Cap Water

Fla-Vor-Ice Ice Pops 16 Count

6 Pack - 23.5 oz

99¢

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Elbows, Ziti, Ziti Rigati, Penne Rigati, Rotini, Rigatoni - 16 oz

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......................................................

Gefen Barley

5

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Tide 2X Laundry Detergent

16 oz

89¢

48 Load - 75 oz $ 99

9

Skippy Peanut Butter Assorted - 15 oz/16.3 oz

1

Coke, Fresca, Sprite, Dr. Pepper

.................................................

5 .................................................

All Flavors - 20 oz

All Varieties - 10 oz - 15.5 oz

2/$

Vitamin Water

10

299

$

.................................................

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7

13.2 oz

Glick’s Flour

5

Telma Kariot Cereal

399

$

2/$

.................................................

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26 oz

Assorted 8.25 oz

31 oz/38 oz

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299

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5

2/$

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All Flavors - 64 oz

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699

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Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Soft Baked Bars

299

11 oz

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Coffeemate Creamer Assorted - 32 oz

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Assorted 6 oz

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Kellogg’s Krave Cereals

.......................................

10/$

$ 99

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Mehadrin Leben

8 oz Cups

1

.................................................

$

Entenmann’s Little Bites

5

299

$

All Flavors 8 Bars

2/$

3/$

Regular or Light 32 oz

99¢

Herr’s Restaurant Style Tradition Cup-a-Soup or DippersTortilla Chips Original Chicken, Flavor Only 12 Pack & Salsa 13 oz/16 oz $ 99 2/$ mix &

5

Gefen Mayonnaise

All Flavors - 2 Liter

10/$

All Flavors - 5.5 oz

3

Turkey Hill Iced Tea

Nabisco Oreo Cookies

All Purpose or High Gluten - 5 lb

2/$

2 Liter

4.5 oz - 5.4 oz

.................................................

Frescorti Marinara Sauce

......................................................

4

2/$

Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-ups, Gushers, Fruit by the Foot

by the case only .................................................

5

$ 99

Assorted - 16 oz

match! .................................................

Mauzone Mania Fruit Tarts

......................................................

Ken’s Salad Dressing

Achla Dips

4

2/$

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Cavendish French Fries

Of Tov Chicken Nuggets 32 oz

32 oz

1099

$

5

2/$

.........................................................

B’gan Chopped Broccoli 24 oz

.......................................

Super Pretzel

4

$

99

Assorted - 13 oz

.........................................................

5

2/$

Broadway’s J2 Pizza Original Only - 36 oz

Eggo Pancakes

Enlightened Ice Cream Bars

14 oz

2

$

14 oz/15 oz

99

Kineret Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

.......................................

.......................................

6 Cups

4

499

2/$

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5

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Marino’s Italian Ices

24 oz

Assorted 12 oz/14 oz

$

499

.......................................

Edamame Soy Beans

Kineret Onion Rings 20 oz

299

$

799

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Assorted Flavors

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SUN - THURS: 7 AM-9 PM FRIDAY 7 AM UNTIL 2 HRS. BEFORE CANDLE LIGHTING

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Sale Dates: June 12th - 17th 2016

Specials Neck & Skirt

BONELESS VEAL SHOULDER ROAST

949 lb.

$

Ground Beef

Super Family Pack

...................

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$ 49 3 lb. Chicken $ 49 6 lb. Turkey Drumsticks Stuffed with White Meat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ...................

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Frozen Pastrami $ 99 Corned $ 99 $ 99 Beef 8 lb. Beef 4 lb. or Ground 8 lb.

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new item! great cholent meat!

Wesson Oil

Canola, Corn Vegetable - Gallon

699

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Bounty Paper Towels

Original or Select-a-Size - 15 Count

1299

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Kellogg’s Corn Pops, Apple Jacks or Froot Loops 12.2 oz

5

2/$ Jumbo Sweet Washington Cherries

3

$

99

Red Delicious Apples

Back Yard Stem Tomatoes

Seedless Watermelon

1

69¢ lb.

lb.

99¢ lb.

$

Holland Holland $ 49 Yellow 2 lb. Orange Peppers Peppers

......................................................

49

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$

Elmhurst Dairies Milk All Varieties - 64 oz

Cello Onions

2/$4

1 lb Bag

..........................

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Portabella 2/$ 5 Mushrooms

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99¢ lb.

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$

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99¢ ea.

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Chicken & Broccoli Coconut Chicken Fingers Pastrami Eggrolls Hawaiian Orzo Salad

Tilapia with Seafood $ 99 lb.

8

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69¢ lb.

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We reserve the right to limit quantities. No rain checks. Not responsible for typographical errors.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

& JY

ular holiday but not Memorial Day. How many of those children that went to school are grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Holocaust survivors? They are here because of men who gave their lives so these children could exist.

WHERE IS OUR HAKORAS HATOV? Alan Ernst Cedarhurst, NY

Imperial Wood Flooring lifetime

walk on us for a

Dear Avi, As an aviation enthusiast, I very much look forward to reading your column, “Forgotten Heroes,” in the Five Towns Jewish Home paper. The subject is very enjoyable for me so it’s quite nice to see a weekly article devoted to it. Even for topics that I’m quite knowledgeable, there are always new facts to be learned that I may not have already known about.

Me? I’ll go track and watch airplanes flying by outside just for fun, or “fly” my “simulator” for hours to another city far away. I’m also on the forums of nycaviation.com. It was quite an eventful week (both exciting, yet also tragic) regarding the Jones Beach airshow aircraft, wasn’t it?

Thanks again for your work.

Take care, David

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Continued from 8

ing workers, ordering inventory, late nights, early mornings, insurance, paychecks – all the things that keep small business owners awake at night.

His recent ordinance regarding overtime highlighted his naiveté when it comes to business. Think you’re helping the workers who are earning minimum wage? Not if their hours are cut because their employers

just can’t afford them.

Despite the doughnut motto, it’s not Dunkin that fuels America.

America runs on business – and small businesses help power it too. Hopefully the next person who sits the Oval Office will understand that vital component to America’s success.

Sincerely, Noam Heller NY, NY

Free Estimates

Dear Editor, It was brought to my attention that a number of our yeshivos were open on Memorial Day. I think it is very shameful. Many Jewish and more gentile men died during wars this country fought for our freedom – and specifically World War II. This not a secular holiday. I understand if the yeshivos are open Thanksgiving Day or any other sec-

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

Please send all correspondence to: editor @fivetowns jewishhome.com.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

Five Jordanian Intelligence Officials Killed in Terror Attack

Old Conflict; New Battle

A German Parliament vote this past Thursday about a hundred-yearold matter is causing some serious adverse effects. The parliamentary motion to label the 1915 Ottoman Turk massacres of Armenians, in which more than a million Armenians were murdered, a genocide has angered Turkish government officials in Ankara and is getting in the way of the good relations German Chancellor Angela Merkel desperately needs between her country and Turkey.

Germany is already home to the largest population of Turks outside Turkey, with some 3.5 million residing in the country. Chancellor Merkel needs the support of Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan in sealing a deal which would allow Germany to send back Turkish illegal migrants to their home country in exchange for Germany allowing Turkish nationals easier legal passage in the country.

While the Parliamentary vote does not guarantee that Turkey will not agree to a deal, it definitely makes Merkel’s diplomacy efforts more difficult. Turkish officials have denounced the vote as a “historic mistake.” “This resolution that the German parliament has approved will indeed have serious repercussions to Germany-Turkey relations,” Mr. Erdogan vowed.

While Turkey has already taken responsibility for the murder of 1.5 million Armenians, it insists that the term “genocide” is unfounded. At the heart of the issue is whether the term can be used to describe events which occurred before the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

France, Italy and Greece have already adapted the term to describe the massacres.

Five Jordanian intelligence agents were killed in a “terrorist attack” on their office in a Palestinian refugee camp north of the Jordanian capital of Amman on Monday, the government said. The attack inside of the Baqaa camp, which is a vast facility housing some 120,000 Palestinians, took place when a lone gunman opened fire on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and then fled the scene. He was later apprehended that day inside a mosque.

Although no terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, Jordan is a key Arab member of the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition and has carried out strikes against the group in both Iraq and Syria.

Real Shocker: Guess Who is the World’s Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism

According to the newly released annual State Department report on global terrorism, Iran tops the list as the leading state sponsor of global terrorism. The report states that Iran “remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015, providing a range of support, including financial, training, and equipment, to groups around the world.”

Justin Siberell, the State Department’s acting coordinator for coun-

terterrorism, briefed reporters on the contents of the report and noted that “Iran continues to provide support to [Hezbollah], Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.”

This comes several months after an estimated $100 billion in frozen assets has been released by the Obama administration to the Persian regime. Secretary of State John Kerry actually admitted in an interview last January that some of that money “will end up in the hands of the IRGC or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari called the report “false” and said that Saudi Arabia is the “main culprit” involved in the spread of terrorism and claimed that Washington “turns a blind eye to the broad political and financial support by Saudi Arabia and its other allies to this ominous phenomenon in the world.”

Now that President Obama’s brilliant foreign policy has made us friends with Iran, maybe we can step in and urge Iran and Saudi Arabia not to argue over petty things like who’s trying to kill us more.

Are We Russia’s Number One Enemy?

The Cold War may have ended over twenty-five years ago, but the last few years have not boded well for U.S.-Russian relations. A recent poll by the independent Levada Center in Russia has found that the U.S. ranks on the top of most Russians’ lists as the country’s number one enemy. Some seventy-nine percent of respondents listed America as a threat to their national security, compared to forty-eight who felt the same towards Ukraine and twenty-nine percent towards Turkey. Last November, Turkey shot down a Russian military jet which invaded its

airspace. Turkey claimed it was the third such invasion.

Russian media has become increasingly hostile towards the U.S. and the Obama administration ever since America began backing European states’ efforts in supporting Ukraine against Russian offensives.

ISIS ranks close to the U.S. in the terms of Russian media assessment.

Soccer Star Fends off Kidnappers

Any Mexican national who has made it big abroad knows to keep a low profile when returning home.

Kidnapping has become a fact of life in many parts of the country. But Alan Pulido, a star striker for the Greek soccer club, Olympiacos, and a former member of the Mexican national team, apparently thought he was above the rule when he ventured out alone in his hometown of Tamaulipas last week. He was summarily abducted by a couple of natives.

Luckily for Pulido, his assailants were not of the most experienced kind and he was able to fend off one attacker, grab his gun and then force the second kidnapper to hand over his cell phone with which Pulido called the police. The second assailant, Daniel Morales, was arrested and confessed to the crime. Morales was tipped off by a relative of Pulido of the soccer star’s whereabouts and looked to make a few quick pesos in ransom money.

A report from the a Mexican safety group reminded everyone of the situation going on in most of the country: “Persistent violence, high-impact crimes (kidnapping, extortion, homicides), roadblocks with the burning of vehicles, attacks against the general population, and confrontations with federal security forces by different groups of narco-cartels show that it’s the narcos who control a large part of the state.”

In other words, watch your step.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Saudi Arabia Invests in Uber

In its latest round of financing, ride-hailing company Uber raised $3.5 billion in cash from Saudi Arabia, marking its largest single investment to date.

The San Francisco-based startup, which is valued at more than $60 billion, plans on using the cash infusion to expand its international operations. Uber currently has approximately 450,000 drivers in the U.S. and 1.1 million drivers worldwide.

The recent contribution comes as Saudi Arabia is attempting to diversify their wealth in preparation for a post-oil revenue universe.

“We appreciate the vote of confi-

dence in our business as we continue to expand our global presence,” said Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in a statement. “Our experience in Saudi Arabia is a great example of how Uber can benefit riders, drivers and cities and we look forward to partnering to support their economic and social reforms.”

In exchange for the huge check, Yasir Al Rumayya, managing director of the Saudi public investment fund, will join Uber’s board, giving the Middle Eastern government a voice in one of Silicon Valley’s hottest firms.

Uber faces competition in the Middle East from ride-sharing service Careem, which operates in 17 countries. In New York, Uber faces competition from Lyft and Juno, a new ride-sharing service recently launched by Israeli-American businessman Talmon Marco, whose track record includes founding Vibor, which is a messaging app with 750 million users.

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Just How Rotten Was FIFA?

Over at FIFA, some people are having a ball. Over the past year it has become increasingly clear how corrupt the unsupervised international soccer association, FIFA, has been. This week, officials in Switzerland revealed that the three outed men from the top of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner, awarded themselves raises and bonuses totaling close to $80 million over the course of five years.

“The evidence appears to reveal a coordinated effort by three former top officials of FIFA to enrich them-

selves through annual salary increases, World Cup bonuses and other incentives totaling more than 79 million Swiss francs — in just the last five years,” said Bill Burck of Quinn Emanuel, the U.S. law firm retained

by FIFA during its corruption crisis.

Blatter, the disgraced former head of the organization, received approximately $12 million after the 2104 World Cup and expected to be paid another $12 million after 2019.

His FIFA salary, which was publicly reported, was only $3 million.

Kattner, who was FIFA’s finance director, had his contract extended and pay guaranteed only four days after the initial investigations were opened into the soccer association.

A spokesperson for Kattner claimed that everything was approved by the governing body of FIFA and its audit firm, KPMG.

Japanese Child – Lost and Found It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. After ordering his misbehaving

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

was found safe, but it is important to recognize that there could be a serious problem here.” Mitsuko Tateishi, an educator who has written parenting books, said, “The punishment these parents chose is unthinkable. They have no idea how to raise a child. They did not try to explain what was right and wrong. A child is not a dog or a cat.

You have to treat the child like an individual human being.”

Others came out in defense of the parents, “I really feel for the father, who left his child in the woods for a while to discipline him,” well-known literary critic Yumi Toyozaki tweeted earlier this week. “I hope people stop condemning him.”

Yamato’s father, Tanooka, was remorseful, “We’ve raised him in a loving family, but from now on we’ll try to do a better job and give him even more attention as he grows up,” he said. “Our behavior as parents was excessive, and that’s something I’m extremely regretful about. I thought that what I was doing was for his own good, but, yes, I realize now that I went too far.”

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seven-year-old son Yamato out of the car and driving away a few hundred meters, Takayuki Tanooka could not find the boy after he returned a few minutes later to retrieve him from a forest road. Possibly believing his parents had abandoned him for good, Yamato set off into the forest, which was home to brown bears and other sorts of dangerous wildlife. He tried to follow his parents’ car but was crying so

hard he lost his way.

After wandering in the pitch black night of the wilderness for hours, Yamato came across an unlocked army hut where he spent the next seven days, using two mattresses to keep warm and a single tap of water as his only source of sustenance. It was there that three soldiers found him after a week of frantic searches in the woods and public debate across Japan. Most

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had feared the worst had happened to the boy, who ended up only needing treatment for mild dehydration and some minor scrapes and scratches.

Across the country Yamato’s parents were the subject of fierce debate.

“Beating and kicking are not the only forms of child abuse,” said Tamae Arai, the head of a family support service in Tokyo. “There is also neglect.

Of course, we are all thrilled that he

Many Westerners may associate fatwas with suicide bombings and honor killings, but a recent one in Saudi Arabia takes on some very modern issues: it bans the stealing of Wi-Fi. “Taking advantage of the WiFi service illegally or without the knowledge of other beneficiaries or providers is not allowed,” was the

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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ruling of Ali Al Hakami, a member of the Islamic religious council that advises the Saudi king. Of course, if one is in the area of a free hotspot, such as a hotel or park, the ruling does not apply, the cleric clarified.

Recently, the religious council in Dubai issued a similar ruling, but made clear that “there is nothing wrong in using the line if your neighbors allow you to do so, but if [they] don’t allow you, you may not use it.”

The Wahhabi Wi-Fi ruling follows some very odd rulings which prohibit the use of emojis and travelling to Mars. As they say, “First World problems….”

Despite Protests, Saudi Arabia Removed from UN Blacklist

510 child deaths and 667 injuries to the coalition and 142 child deaths and 247 injuries to the Houthis. In 324 incidents, the responsible party could not be identified.

In response to the protests, the UN said on Monday that it would now carry out a joint review with the coalition of the cases listed in the report. But the Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdallah al-Mouallimi, insisted that the removal of the coalition from the blacklist was “irreversible and unconditional.”

The UN report, published annually, blacklists groups that “engage in the recruitment and use of children, violence against children, the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and/or hospitals and attacks or threats of attacks against protected personnel, and the abduction of children.”

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How Accurate are Arab Figures?

BERNARD FUCHS, Co-Chairman

After the UN removed Saudi Arabia from a blacklist of countries and groups accused of violating children’s rights, human rights groups condemned the decision, citing the Saudis’ campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen in which they were blamed for causing 60% of child deaths in the conflict.

Human Rights Watch accused Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, of giving in to “political manipulation” in the wake of furious protests from Riyadh. It said the UN had executed a “shocking flip-flop.”

Amnesty International decried “blatant pandering” which it said “damages the credibility of the UN as a whole.” Oxfam said the world body’s decision to retract its findings was “a moral failure.”

But the Saudi government said it was “wildly exaggerated” to claim that the coalition it leads was responsible for 60% of the child deaths and injuries in Yemen last year.

A UN report released last week attacked both coalition and rebel forces for a “very large number of violations” including attacks on schools and hospitals. It attributed

Some argue that the Arab population will soon surpass the number of Jews in Israel. But recent studies cast doubt upon the Palestinian Authority’s alleged population figures, which some experts claim have been massively inflated and which allegedly mask massive emigration figures.

At a special meeting on Tuesday of the Knesset Subcommittee of Civil Affairs and Security in Judea and Samaria, initiated by Subcommittee Chairman MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home), the head of the IDF’s Civil Administration admitted he had no idea how many Arabs live in the region.

Lt. Col. Ayal Ze’evi told MKs he didn’t have any firm statistics on the number of Palestinian Arabs living in Area C – the region of Judea and Samaria under full Israeli control and where all Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria are located.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Furthermore, a representative of the Immigration and Population Authority admitted that his office has “no figures concerning the matter of emigration abroad from the Arabs of Judea and Samaria over the past decade.”

The topic of emigration is a crucial one, given recent claims that the Arab population in Judea and Samaria is actually shrinking as many seek better employment opportunities outside the corrupt Palestinian Authority in the Gulf States and elsewhere.

MK Yogev explained that without establishing precise figures on the Palestinian Arab population it would be impossible “to adapt the infrastructure, for example, or the numbers of schools, to the appropriate numbers.”

When he served as the commander of the IDF’s Efrai Brigade in Samaria, he was “responsible for [the Palestinian Authority-ruled cities] Kalkilya and Tulkarem, and we knew the precise number of residents.”

Lt. Col. Ze’evi said that the only figures he had were from the Palestinian Authority, whose Population Registry claims there are some 2.93 million Arabs in Judea and Samaria holding PA identity cards, excluding the Arab population of Jerusalem, who hold Israeli residency permits.

But he noted the PA’s figures were not at all transparent, and there is no way to independently verify their accuracy.

He also pointed out that many Palestinian families register their children at the Population Registry and then leave the region, resulting in an inflated count.

In contrast, a recent survey revealed how the Jewish population of Judea and Samaria continues to grow rapidly, defying U.S.-imposed building freezes and waves of Arab terrorism.

Bibi Denies Frenchman’s Claims It’s the same in politics all over the world. It all comes down to money and a lot of pointed fingers.

The controversy over contributions to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by a French tycoon on trial for fraud deepened on Tuesday after the Frenchman disputed the premier’s version of events. On Monday, the prime minister acknowledged that Arnaud Mimran,

currently on trial in Paris, had given him $40,000. He insisted, though, that it had all been done according to the law and that the 2001 donation was not political and did not occur while he was in public office.

According to the prime minister’s office, the money was for a fund for Netanyahu’s public activities, which included media appearances and travel abroad to promote Israel. A political contribution of that size would exceed Israel’s campaign finance limits.

But Mimran remembers something different.

He told Israel’s Channel 10 television late on Monday that the amount was actually some 170,000 euros ($193,000), transferred to Netanyahu’s personal account.

He also said that previous reports that he had contributed one million euros were incorrect.

“First of all, I never said one million euros; I said one million,” Mimran corrected. “It was in 2001, so it was one million French francs – 170,000 euros. I still have the bank statements, from Arnauld Mimran, my personal account, to Binyamin Netanyahu, his personal account.”

Mimran also said in the interview that he had financed trips to France for Netanyahu and his family after the Israeli leader had already returned to politics.

Netanyahu left the prime minister’s office in 1999 after being defeated by Labor’s Ehud Barak. In 2002, he became foreign minister in then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government. He also lost the Likud primary to Sharon in 2002.

Mimran is one of the main defendants in a trial in Paris over an alleged scam amounting to 283 million euros involving the trade of carbon emissions permits and the taxes on them. The tycoon’s allegations against Netanyahu are the latest focused on his spending.

Last month, the Israeli state comptroller issued a critical report on Netanyahu’s foreign trips, some with his wife and children, in 20032005 when he was finance minister.

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Bibi and Putin Shake Hands It was smiles and handshakes for Prime Minister Netanyahu and

Russian President Vladimir Putin as they met in Moscow to mark 25 years since the renewal of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

After the meeting, the two leaders spoke at a press conference to reflect on the relations between Israel and

Russia. “The conversations with the prime minister were constructive,” said President Putin. “We had a discussion on bilateral relations and about international problems. Netanyahu is visiting here to mark 25 years since the renewal of diplomatic

relations between Russia and Israel and our relations are deeper. The Soviet Union was the first country to recognize Israel as an independent state in 1948. In our statement, we mentioned that in the past quarter century, our relations developed in a quick and constructive way.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu also emphasized the strong relations between the two countries, saying, “We concluded a comprehensive, useful, work meeting for both sides...” Turning to Putin, Netanyahu continued, “I would like to thank you for the cooperation in these fields, and all of the fields which we are pushing forward with in a cooperation you described so well: We celebrate 25 years of renewed diplomatic relations between (our) states today. I remember those days. Those first few years and what preceded them. I was at the meeting between Yitzhak Shamir and Andrei Gromyko [Former Soviet Foreign Minister] in New York… We will never forget the Russian people and the Red Army’s part in the East, and their part in the West in defeating the Nazis.”

Just moments before the press conference took place, Putin suddenly surprised Netanyahu when he told him to wait so that he could take him for a personal tour around the Kremlin. During the tour, Putin showed Netanyahu the different halls and showed him various items depicting figures from the bible. He also treated Netanyahu to a history lesson about the Kremlin and about the significance of the various symbols.

It is expected that during the visit an agreement will be signed which will enable citizens who moved from former Soviet Bloc countries to Israel in 1992 to be eligible for Russian pensions. This agreement is meant to fix a historic injustice whereby Jews who left the former Soviet Union were forced to give up their Soviet citizenship, thereby making them unable to receive their pensions.

The agreement has already been signed by Israeli Minister Ze’ev Elkin and The Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Maxim Topilin. It will begin once it is ratified by the Russian courts.

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The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Bangladesh Says Israel behind Attacks On Tuesday, the Bangladeshi minister finally found a culprit for a string of gruesome killings in his country. The force behind the attacks that just recently killed a 70-year-old Hindu priest? Israel’s Mossad.

While the minister tried to portray the recent attacks as part of a conspiracy involving the Israeli espionage agency, security forces waged deadly gun battles with members of a homegrown jihadist group, who many surmise are behind the attacks.

Speaking to AFP on Tuesday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan again linked the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to the attacks, saying they were part of a wider conspiracy that also involved Mossad. “These killings are part of a national and international conspiracy. Those who are carrying out these incidents are communicating with Mossad,” he claimed.

“You must have noticed that an Israeli intelligence agent had a meeting with a politician, it does not need to be verified further. All Bangladeshi know about it,” he also said, according to the BBC. A senior BNP official was charged with sedition last month for allegedly plotting against the state when he met an Israeli government adviser.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Jerusalem told the BBC the allegations were “utter drivel.”

Bangladeshi authorities have been coming under mounting international pressure to end the string of attacks on religious minorities and secular activists that have left more than 40 people dead in the last three years.

Authorities have blamed homegrown Islamists for the attacks, which have surged in recent weeks, rejecting claims of responsibility from the Islamic State (IS) group and a South Asia branch of al-Qaeda.

IS claimed the latest victim, Hindu priest Ananda Gopal Ganguly. The group said it “assassinated” the priest as he was walking to prayers. Farmers discovered Ganguly’s body in a rice field near his home. Investigators said the murder bore the hallmarks of recent attacks by local Islamist extremists who have carried out ten other similar killings in the last ten weeks.

Although most of the recent at-

tacks have been claimed by IS or the local offshoot of al-Qaeda, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has blamed its domestic opponents for the attacks.

Bangladesh is officially secular, although around 90 percent of Bangladesh’s 160 million-strong population is Muslim.

How Safe is the CDC?

CDC Biosafety lab 4s house the deadliest forms of pathogens, such as the Ebola virus, smallpox and strains of anthrax. Staff at these labs work in spacesuit-like gear and go through advanced decontamination showers before exiting their workspaces. But a number of malfunctions at these labs have many people wondering just how safe these workers – and the public – are from the pathogens contained at these places.

There was the time when the decontamination chamber at one level 4 lab had a series of system malfunctions, including the complete breakdown of the chamber door, which deflated and would not keep shut.

Red warning lights blinked on and off. “The incident summary reads like a screenplay for a disaster movie,” Richard Ebright, a Rutgers University biosafety expert, said of the event.

But the CDC has downplayed many of the incidents at its labs. “Yes, there was some malfunction, but there was a clearly established protocol for how to deal with the malfunction and that was quickly and rapidly executed,” said Steve Monroe, who last fall was permanently appointed to head a new CDC lab safety office.

Others disagree with the agency’s assessment. “Overall, the incident shows that failures — even cascading,

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Death of a Fighter

compounding, catastrophic failures of BSL-4 biocontainment labs — occur,” said Ebright, who has testified before Congress about CDC safety issues. “And the attempted cover-up within the CDC makes it clear that the CDC cannot be relied upon to police its own, much less other institutions.”

The agency has taken its time in

responding to Congressional requests for information regarding the safety measures in place at these facilities.

“Because we don’t want to repeat having omitted any data we supplied to the committee, we are working extensively to make sure we have an absolutely comprehensive answer before we reply to the committee,” the CDC’s

Monroe said.

But some members of Congress are concerned. “We’re very concerned that there could be some gaps in CDC’s responses to our pointed oversight inquiries,” U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., said.

“I am king of the world! I’m pretty. I am a bad man! I shook up the world!” Muhammad Ali, who died at age 74 last week, was perhaps the most brash and greatest of all boxers.

Ali won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1960 just weeks after turning 18, and at 22 took home the World Heavyweight title against the 7-1 favored Sonny Liston in 1964. It was at that fight that Ali – who then still went by his given name, Cassius Clay – told his trainer the famous line how he can “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”

But it was his politics that followed his winning of the crowd that caused him to become the “most recognized face on earth.” After formally converting to Islam the day after the Liston fight and changing his name to Muhammad Ali (“Cassius Clay is a name that white people gave to my slave master. Now that I am free … I gave back their white name, and I chose a beautiful African one,” he said), he openly refused being drafted to the Vietnam War and had his title and license to box revoked.

During that time, he supported himself by speaking out against the war on college campuses throughout the country.

It took until 1970 for a judge to rule that Ali should be allowed to box again. In 1971, he faced Joe Frazier, another undefeated champion, in the “Fight of the Century,” which drew more than 300 million viewers worldwide and netted each fighter a record $2.5 million. Ali lost. He defeated Frazier in another match in 1974 and remained the world champion until shortly before his retirement in 1979.

After retirement, Ali learned he had Parkinson’s disease, and the condition would eat away at him for the rest of his life. He became the global face of the debilitating disease as he strove to remain in the spotlight despite his lack of adequate mo-

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

tor skills. “Even though Muhammad has Parkinson’s and his speech isn’t what it used to be, he can speak to people with his eyes. He can speak to people with his heart, and they connect with him,” his wife, Lonnie Ali, said.

Towards the end of his life, Ali became increasingly focused on bringing about world peace. In 1998, he was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2005, the Muhammad Ali Center was opened in his hometown of Louisville, KY. The center aims to promote peace and tolerance in the world.

He is survived by his nine children, including daughter Laila, who, like her father, became a world champion boxer; and his fourth wife, Lonnie.

Trump under Attack for Attacking Judge Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has set his sights on a new villain: the federal judge who is presiding over a lawsuit against him.

Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born

in Indiana to Mexican immigrants, is overseeing two class action lawsuits against Trump University, alleging that the for-profit, non-accredited “university” defrauded its students in a host of ways. After Trump came under fire for telling the Wall Street Journal that Judge Curiel has an “inherent conflict of interest” given the presumptive GOP nominee’s rhetoric on immigration, Trump took it further and told Jake Tapper of CNN that the American-born federal judge’s judgment is clouded because “he’s a Mexican.”

Hillary Clinton pounced on Trump’s statements and said on MSNBC, “He’s trying to demean and defame a federal judge who was a very accomplished federal prosecutor… I imagine he’ll move on to women judges because he’s been insulting women so regularly, or maybe a judge with a disability, or perhaps one who was a former POW, or African-American.”

Trump’s remarks came under attack by supporters as well.

Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who has largely been supportive of Trump’s candidacy, called the remarks “inexcusable” and “one of the worst mistakes

Trump has made” on Fox on Sunday.

Mr. Trump did not take kindly to Gingrich’s remarks when asked about them on Fox News the following day.

“I was surprised at Newt. I thought it was inappropriate what he said,” whined Trump.

Marco Rubio, who gave a tepid endorsement of Trump last week, condemned Trump’s polarizing statements, even though he says that he still plans on voting for Trump. Rubio added, “When I ran for president, I warned you that this was going to happen.”

“I am concerned about that,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on “Meet the Press” about Trump’s statements. “America is changing. When Ronald Reagan was elected, 84% of the electorate

was white; this November, 70% will be. It’s a big mistake for our party to write off Latino-Americans. And they’re an important part of the country and soon to be the largest minority group in the country.”

Trump is standing by his comments for now and argues that Judge Curiel is a member of “La Raza Lawyers of San Diego,” a group associated with La Raza, a Latino advocacy group whose name roughly translates to “The Race.” He argues that the judge has been issuing unfair rulings in the case and that may be due to the fact that he is unhappy that “I am building a wall on the border with Mexico.”

Evidently Trump University does not offer a course on how to be elected president of the United States.

Who was Targeted by the IRS? Three years after the IRS came under attack for unfairly scrutinizing and delaying non-profit applications for conservative-leaning organizations, a list of the organizations tar-

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geted has been released by the agency. The move was spurred by a class action lawsuit brought against the IRS; the list is important to determine who would have a claim against the agency.

Of the 426 organizations on the list, 60 have the word “tea” in their name and 33 have the word “patriot.”

Eight groups have a reference to the Constitution in their names. Thirteen groups have “912” in their names, another movement started by conservatives.

Despite a 2013 admission by Lois Lerner, then-director of the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt organizations, that conservative groups were unfairly targeted, the Obama Justice Department concluded after a two year investigation that it was merely “bad judgment” and “not a crime.”

Even so, the targeted organizations have filed a class action lawsuit.

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Earlier this month, Yahoo news anchor Katie Couric debuted her documentary titled, “Under the Gun,” which she claimed is a “balanced look at the gun control debate.” But now the documentary has come under fire for deceptive editing aimed at making Second Amendment supporters look foolish.

The controversy revolves around eight seconds in the documentary.

While conducting a roundtable discussion with gun rights activists, Couric asks, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?” For the next eight seconds there is an awkward silence as the film pans around the room showing how those present were silent, as if unable to answer the question. However, according to audio of Couric’s interview provided by the gun rights activists, they all rushed to respond to Couric. The documentary fabricated the silence by using footage from a session that was unrelated to the ques-

tion asked.

After being exposed, the documentary’s director and producer, Stephanie Soechtig, issued a statement, claiming, “My intention was to provide a pause for the viewer to have a moment to consider this important question before presenting the facts on Americans’ opinions on background checks. I never intended to make anyone look bad and I apologize if anyone felt that way.” Couric also stood by the film and simultaneously released a short statement saying, “I support Stephanie’s statement and am very proud of this film.”

But after several days of unrelenting criticism, Couric issued a full apology. She acknowledged the deception and stated, “When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a ‘beat’ was added for, as she described it, ‘dramatic effect,’ to give the audience a moment to consider the question.” She noted that once it was brought to her attention that the gun activists did not pause at all before answering the question, “I went back and reviewed it and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent their response… I regret that those eight seconds were misleading and that I did not raise my initial concerns more vigorously.”

The documentary has since been removed from the website of the cable channel that originally aired it, Epix.

A License to Steal?

A different sort of war has done in a senior Pentagon official: a parking war. Bryan Whitman, a member of the executive service, which, in non-Pentagon-speak, is the equivalent level of general, has been placed on administrative leave and has lost his access to top secret departmental information – something which will most probably take him years to regain – after being caught on camera taking the license plates off a neighborhood nanny’s car for the third time. Whitman was

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

apparently bothered by her unwanted vehicle being parked on his tony Washington street.

Parking wars are common in Washington, D.C., but Whitman is one of the highest level officials there to become involved in them. He was one of the most visible spokesmen for the Pentagon at the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is estimated to be paid over $170K per year from the government.

Whitman has lived on Capitol Hill for nearly twenty years and his house has been assessed to be worth over $900K. Residents of the neighborhood are often frustrated by outsiders’ parked cars which are often there without the proper permits. On April 4, a frustrated Whitman left the following note on the nanny’s car: “I know you are misusing this visitor pass to park here. If you do not stop I will report it, have your car towed and the resident who provided this to you will have his privileges taken away.” Whitman insists he did not know that the owner of the car was a neighborhood nanny and had a right to park there.

Perhaps the use of a little intelligence would have ensured the spy would keep his job.

Wanna Go to Mars?

Tech mogul Elon Musk is setting his sights on Mars. The SpaceX founder and CEO disclosed his plans at the third annual, invite-only Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Not only does he plan on transporting humans to Mars, he actually plans on building a city on the Red Planet.

The eccentric and determined Musk explained that the road towards Mars and to other destinations in the solar system will be paved with the development of reusable rocket technology. SpaceX – which Musk founded in 2002 with the goal of “enabling people to live on another planets” – will begin launching unmanned cargo flights to Mars in 2018. Musk esti-

mates that his company will be able to transport humans to Mars by 2025.

In the past, Musk has said that a one way ticket to Mars would cost approximately $500,000.

Musk, who is also the CEO of electric car company Tesla Motors, has long had his sights on Mars and hopes to eventually die there. “If you had to choose a place to die, Mars is probably not a bad choice,” he once quipped.

Musk – whose vision of reusable rockets is becoming a reality which will likely lead to commercial travel to space – says that his dream of colonizing Mars does not mean that he has soured on Earth, it’s just that “it’s about being a multi-player species” and having life “extend beyond the solar system and ultimately to the other star systems.”

Watch out Martians. The Earthlings are about to invade.

Terrorists Smuggled into the U.S. The U.S. has identified a Brazilian smuggling network that has suc-

cessfully connected its clients, which include known terrorists from countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories, with Mexican groups to smuggle them into the U.S. The U.S. Border Patrol will not provide the exact name of the group but has confirmed that just last year a group which included an Afghani, who was “involved in a plot to conduct an attack in the U.S. and/or Canada,” successfully snuck into the U.S. through a tunnel underneath the Arizona border fence and was detected by Border Police fifteen miles into the U.S. They were led by a certain global smuggling network.

“It’s disturbing, in so many ways,” said Joe Kasper, California Representative Duncan Hunter’s chief of

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staff. “The interdiction of this group … validates once again that the southern border is wide open to more than people looking to enter the U.S. illegally strictly for purposes of looking for work, as the administration wants us to believe. What’s worse, federal databases weren’t even synced and Border Patrol had no idea who they were arresting and the group was not considered a problem because none of them were considered a priority under the president’s enforcement protocol. That’s a major problem on its own, and it calls for DHS to figure out the problem — and fast.”

The men who were caught trying to sneak into the U.S. all claimed asylum. They were put in touch with the smuggling network through contacts in the Middle East and were in turn handed over to a Mexican group who led them into the United States.

its simple finger-prick test and was relying on technologies developed by other companies. In the immediate aftermath of the Journal report, Holmes went on CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Kramer and decried the findings. “This is what happens when you work to change things,” she protested.

The company is now under federal investigation and, according to the Wall Street Journal, will likely have its laboratory license revoked.

According to Forbes, Holmes’ company is valued at a relatively mere $800 million. Since investors in the company own the preferred stock, they would get paid back before Holmes. Which means, as Forbes points out, “[This] has led us to revise our estimate of her net worth. To zero.”

Such a financial fall must hurt...a lot more than a pin-prick.

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32-year-old Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes’ storied rise to the top of the financial world took a massive tumble. Just last year her estimated net worth was $4.5 billion; now it’s not even five cents.

In 2003, at the age of 19, Elizabeth dropped out of Stanford University to start Theranos, a company which enabled the detection of a wide variety of diseases through a simple finger-prick test rather than the normal process requiring a large needle and syringe. By 2014, Theranos’ valuation was $9 billion and Holmes’ net worth was estimated at $4.5 billion. She topped the Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-made Women and was often cast as the female version of Steve Jobs.

However, things began to sour last October when a Wall Street Journal investigative report found that Theranos had failed to develop

There’s no doubt we are raising a coddled generation, in which there are no trophies for first place, only for “showing up to play,” and where everyone gets a “E” for “Effort.” A Texas high school has recently announced that graduates this year would not be allowed to wear their National Honors Society badges to the ceremony out of fear that some of the underachievers may be alienated.

At Plano Senior High School, students with a GPA above 3.6 will not be allowed to flaunt it at graduation, according to the school.

“I’m not just an honor student – I’m an NHS student. I worked hard.

It’s kind of a national thing that’s recognized, so I don’t know why just Plano can’t recognize it,” senior Garrett Frederick told the local radio station.

“I put in the hours.” He also put in twenty hours of community service every semester this year.

“They deserve it,” added Frederick’s mother, KellyAnn. “They

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

worked so hard for it. If you choose not to work that hard, then that’s OK! I wasn’t an NHS kid. I didn’t wear the NHS stole when I graduated. But friends of mine did, and I was OK!” Time for us to let our children grow up.

Zuckerberg Hacked

A hacker group called OurMine reportedly took over Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest accounts last Sunday. The hacking group posted a tweet to the billionaire cofounder and CEO of Facebook, stating: “Hey @finkd [Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter handle] we got access to your Twitter & Instagram & Pinterest, we are just testing your security, please dm [direct message] us.” The group said in a secondary Twitter account, @OurMineTeam43, that it was just

trying to alert Zuckerberg to the security flaw.

The hackers were able to access Zuckerberg’s accounts because in 2012 160 million users’ LinkedIn passwords were leaked online. Users were notified and told to change their passwords. Apparently, Zuckerberg did not do so. He also used the same password for several social media accounts.

What was the brilliant tech mogul’s password? “dadada.”

Seems like Mr. Zuckerberg was schooled this time. Hey Zuck, who’s your dadada?

Tax the Rich, House the Poor

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Facing the prob-

lem of 47,000 homeless people and being home to some of the richest members of society, Los Angeles has come upon a solution to its poor person problem: a millionaire’s tax.

LA will create a 1% tax on everyone in the city earning over $1 million which will go toward housing the homeless.

Earlier this year Mayor Eric Garcetti declared the city’s homeless crisis a “state of emergency” and set aside over $1.8 billion of the city’s budget towards the homeless. Now the city needs to come up with the cash.

The new tax is projected to bring an extra $247 million to the city. Already the city has gotten creative with its taxation; it is currently mulling over a proposed medical marijuana tax. The marijuana tax would only net $17 million, however. A county-commissioned poll found that “76 percent of likely voters would strongly support a November 2016 ballot initiative to impose a one-half percent tax on income above $1 million.”

Los Angeles is the 14th most populous city for billionaires, according to Forbes magazine. All those Bernie Sanders supporters should have no problem helping the less fortunate.

AP: Hillary Finally Beats 74-Year-Old to the Finish Line

After Hillary Clinton won the Puerto Rican primary, the Associated Press on Monday declared that Ms. Clinton has secured the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination for president. The tally includes superdelegates — party officials and officeholders who are free to cast a vote for the candidate of their choice — who have pledged support to Clinton.

However, Sanders’ campaign spokesman Michael Briggs lashed out at the proclamation and said in

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a statement, “It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer.” He pointed out that superdelegates who do not vote until July 25, at the Democratic Party Convention, are free to change their minds between now and then.

2,383 delegates are needed to win the Democratic nomination. Clinton has won 1,812 pledged delegates in primaries and caucuses. She also has the support of 571 of the 714 superdelegates, according to the AP count.

The news came on the eve of the final Democrat primary day when six states, including delegate-rich California, would cast their ballots.

Ms. Clinton welcomed the victorious news and declared at a rally, “According to the news, we are on the brink of a historic, historic, unprecedented moment, but we still have work to do, don’t we? We have six elections tomorrow and we’re going to fight for every single vote, especially right here in California.”

Well, now that Ms. Clinton defeated a 74-year-old disheveled socialist with a thick Brooklyn accent and a chronic karate-chop hand gesture to emphasize each word he says, it’s on to Donald Trump and the general election.

The Haute Dog

At the Maille Mustard Mobile truck in Australia, customers can line up for their lunchtime frankfurter and French fries. But it’s going to cost them.

The upscale food truck is attempting to unite fast food and haute cuisine with a series of gourmet mustards and hotdogs. But while most of their menu items cost an already pricey $10 to $20, they’re also offer-

ing a $73 hot dog creation called the Haute Dog. Why is this lowly wiener so costly?

Well, it’s made out of Australian angus beef sausage and stuffed into a fluffy brioche bun. But what really makes this hot dog not real street food is its mustard. The Haute Dog is topped with a black truffle-infused mustard, and comes with a 100ml jar of the mustard on the side. Since 100ml jars of the Maille black truffle mustard sell for $73 a pop and can only be purchased at a handful of boutique stores around the world, it’s almost a bargain.

Think people Down Under will be too frugal to spend on their lunchtime fare? Think again. “It is a very tasty, very sought after mustard,” Maille’s Joe Barrs said. “We had a tub of it air freighted to us about a month ago ... and we’ve sold out.”

Hey, anything’s better than a Vegemite sandwich.

Streak Running in Miami

He’s on the run.

If you’ve ever been to the beach in Miami (and I’m sure you have), chances are you’ve seen Robert “Raven” Kraft. Kraft runs eight miles along the beach every day – and I mean every single day.

He’s been doing the trek since 1975 and welcomes strangers to join him. You won’t be alone. More than 3,000 people have done the run with Kraft, including the late Muhammad Ali. Grab your sneakers and work off that cheesecake!

Interestingly, running every single day actually has a name: streak running. The United States Running Streak Association keeps a regularly updated tally of people who run every day for years on end. Kraft’s streak is one of the longest on record – eighth in the nation – and he insists on running much farther than the one-mile

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But now Marcarelli has switched sides.

Wearing a yellow shirt, Sprint’s color, and a black bomber jacket, Marcarelli is the focus of the “Paul Switched” Sprint ads.

“It’s 2016, and every network is great. In fact, Sprint’s reliability is now within 1 percent of Verizon,” Marcarelli boasts, adding that Sprint offers cheaper plans and that, like him, millions of others have switched.

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He’s da one in Dubai.

This past weekend, a license plate bearing the number one was auctioned off in the United Arab Emirates to Emirati businessman Arif Ahmed al-Zarouni. The price tag? A mere $4.9 million.

After the sale, al-Zarouni boasted, “My ambition is always to be number one.” Sometimes you gotta pay for it.

Sadly, though, al-Zarouni is not the only number one around. Although al-Zarouni’s bid was 18 times the reserve price, it is not the highest sum that has been paid for a collector’s registration plate in the UAE. In 2008, $14.2 million was paid at auction for the number one plate of the richest of the UAE’s seven emirates, Abu Dhabi.

Zarouni’s plate is for Sharjah, the third-richest emirate.

Sixty sought-after plates were up for sale at Saturday’s auction. The most popular numbers were 12, 22, 50, 100, 333, 777, 1000, 2016, 2020 and 99999. The auction made a total of $13.6 million.

That’s the price for being number one.

can’t decide.

Turns out, you’re not the only one contemplating your closet. According to Marks and Spencer, the UK clothing retailer, women spend about 17 minutes staring at their closets every day. Add up all those minutes per day from age 18 to 60 and, according to the Daily Mail, women spend around 6 months of their lives deciding what to wear. I guess they never lived with a teenager…

Men don’t waste as much time as women, but they still can’t decide on their clothes in a flash – unless they’re Mark Zuckerberg. The average man spends 13 minutes a day on his clothes, or four months over his lifetime.

Want to know what Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg and Pee-wee Herman have in common? A monotonous wardrobe.

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Around the

Community Mesivta Ateres Yaakov Spring Shabbaton

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habbos Parshas Behar was particularly noteworthy for the talmidim of Mesivta Ateres Yaakov. The Mesivta held its annual Spring Shabbaton on the beautiful campus of Camp Romimu in Monticello, NY. The Shabbaton was a resounding success, replete with tremendous growth in ruchniyus, achdus, ahavas Hashem and ahavas haTorah.

From start to finish, the Shabbaton was an inspiring, exciting and stimulating weekend. The featured guest was Rav Bentzion Shafier, shlit”a, the noted founder and presenter of “The Shmuz” and the author of “Stop Surviving, Start Living.” Rav Shafier helped set the tone for the Shabbos, describing the incredible inspiration that can be gleaned from even a single Shabbos.

The lively Kabbalas Shabbos, with enthusiastic singing and dancing, was a fit-

ting entree to such a special Shabbos.

The leibudikeit, which continued throughout the Shabbos, was unparalleled, with incredible singing and dancing at all meals. Rav Shafier commented on how impressed he was by the talmidim of the Mesivta and how their demeanor, their interaction with their rabbeim and the Mesivta’s approach to developing its talmidim “restored his faith in chinuch.”

As has become a tradition in MAY, the Shabbas kibbudim had been auctioned to the bidders willing to commit to the most learning completed over the course of the long weekend. Students committed to over 200 hours of learning outside of the formal shiurim, and the talmidim eagerly honored their rabbeim with the honors.

Motzei Shabbos included a barbeque Melava Malka, a

stirring kumzits, and incredible achdus and comradery among the talmidim and their rabbeim. As is traditional, seven seniors delivered self-prepared chaburos

to the younger shiurim on a wide range of intriguing topics and sugyos. To cap off the Shabbaton, the rabbeim edged out the senior class in an intense game of hock-

ey, while just falling short to the varsity softball team in a rousing game of softball. An incredible ending to an incredible weekend!

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Around the Community

Achiezer Sets Another Trailblazing Standard PHOTO CREDIT: NAFTOLI GOLDGRAB PHOTOGRAPHY

O

n Tuesday, May 31, Achiezer introduced SpecialCare+, a first-ever forum for parents and caregivers of the special needs community; providing them access to information, support and resources that are available to them, all under one roof.

As Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender explained, “For us at Achiezer, there is nothing more rewarding than being able to witness, firsthand, the positive impact we can have on people’s lives.”While the Achiezer staff anticipates there will be more special care programs to come, this unique Expo got down to business. Geared towards parents, caregivers and family members of children affected with special needs, the event yielded an unprecedented turnout.

Shortly after the event began, the Vendor Expo and the halls of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence were filled with over two hundred people seeking guidance, advice and referrals from various noted experts in the field.

Why is Shavuos so quiet?

Read Joe Bobker on page 90

SpecialCare+ consisted of two components. The first was a vendor expo featuring many special needs and related service providers and professionals from many noted organizations and companies. Parents and caregivers were given the chance to meet and consult with these experts from the onset of the evening throughout the entire event.

One of the attendees commented, “Every representative was so attentive, listening to each parent’s story and advising them with what they had to offer.”

Included among the products, services and information offered were the areas of education, healthcare providers, specialized equipment, emotional support, summer camp, extracurricular/respite, family resources, advocacy, day hab/residential, adult planning, financial and legal services.

The second portion of the night was divided into two, hour-long, consecutive breakout sessions, each which catered to the specific ages and stages of special-needs children and young adults. Parents and caregivers had the chance to select and attend the sessions in the topics they were most interested in learning about, ranging from legal and financial issues, to social skills, to parenting, to navigating the City/State services, to detecting learning disabilities to group home placement.

Attendees left feeling empowered – having gained knowledge on various topics, having collaborated with peers going through similar challenges, and, most importantly, they

left with a very important resource book in hand. The resource book, assembled by Achiezer staff members, includes pertinent information regarding every vendor in attendance at SpecialCare+ as well as some others who were unable to attend but have what to offer to the special needs community.

The enthusiastic comments received by Achiezer both during and after the event were remarkable. “I wanted to thank Achiezer for, as always, accepting achrayus for the community, no matter how daunting or challenging the task or project is,” said Joel Kaplan, President of On Our Way Learning Center.

In fact, the underlying sentiment of all those present was: “The ven-

dors, the speakers, the venue, the attendance – made a successful event, and the resource directory ensures that this was not just an expo, but an organization that keeps on giving….

And giving.”

To hear audio of any of the speeches, to receive a copy of the resource guidebook or for more information please email specialcare@achiezer. org or visit www.achiezer.org.

Achiezer would like to express its sincere gratitude to Gourmet Glatt for once again generously sponsoring the lavish dinner buffet at SpecialCare+, personally overseen by General Manager and close friend and supporter of Achiezer, Mr. Yoeli Steinberg.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky Visits Yeshiva Darchei Torah

A

n ordinary Sunday was transformed into a veritable yom tov as the talmidim and rabbeim of Yeshiva Darchei Torah were privileged to welcome Hagaon Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlita, the Rosh

Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky delivers divrei chizuk

Rav Yaakov Bender greets Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky

Yeshiva of Philadelphia, a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, and a senior leader of the Torah world, who addressed the entire assemblage of talmidim who ranged in age from as young as seven to kollel yungeleit.

Rav Shmuel then remained as every single person walked by and was able to greet him. The presence and divrei chizuk of this gadol b’Yisrael undoubtedly left a strong impression on the hearts and minds of all present.

PHOTOS CREDIT: MOSHE BENOLIEL AND ARYEH WIENER

R-L: Rav Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva; Rav Shlomo Avigdor Altusky, Rosh Yeshiva; and Rav Dovid Bender, Rosh Kollel, prepare to welcome Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky to Yeshiva Darchei Torah

Rav Shlomo Avigdor Altusky with Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky

Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky cuts some hair of the son of Rabbi Pesach Horowitz, a member of Darchei Torah’s Kollel Tirtza Devorah, in honor of his upsherin

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Around the Community

Save Big $$$

YOSS Science

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Y

OSS fourth grade Mrs. Knoll’s class recently covered the unit of static electricity in science.

Going up to the lab, they created a huge “charge” as they created static electricity out of everyday items.

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Proud Pre-1A Girls at Shulamith

L

ast week, 66 Shulamith girls graduated from Pre-1A. Each class had its own chance to celebrate with their parents and morot.

When it was their turn to graduate, the girls took the LIRR for one stop, traveling from the Early Childhood building in Woodmere to the Cedarhurst Campus, where they had the chance to visit the first grade classrooms in which they will be learning next year.

As a culmination of all they learned this year about Shabbat, the girls performed for their proud par-

ents. They sang Lecha Dodi, Shalom Aleichem, Shabbat Shalom, and the Chulent Song. Morah Estee Scher, Principal of the Early Childhood Division, spoke about the mitzvot women have relating to Shabbat and how the girls are Shabbat Immas, making Shabbat kadosh. Morah Estee also reminded everyone, “We don’t keep Shabbat; Shabbat keeps us.”

The Pre-1A girls gave their parents and morot much nachat, and we’re sure that they’ll do the same when they move on to first grade next fall!

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Around the Community

The Yeladim at HANC ECC West Hempstead celebrated Rosh Chodesh Sivan with a Chagiga featuring music by Oneg Shemesh, dancing and delicious cupcakes with blue and white sprinkles.

Bnos Bais Yaakov: Bas Mitzvah Begins and Ends with Chessed

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2-years-old. It means a girl has become a Bas Mitzvah. But what does being a Bas Mitzvah signify? Is it all about me, me, me, and the party and gifts I’m getting, or is it about becoming aware of the larger world of Klal Yisroel and a 12-year-old girl’s ability to make a difference?

BBY girls are being trained to think about their place in the scheme of life and their ability to effect change. To that end, the 6th graders have embarked on a year-long Bas Mitzvah process – which does include a grand celebration and gifts – but which focuses heavily on learning about mitzvos and middos which are pertinent to their lives.

Mrs. Kuessous and the sixth grade moros have empowered the girls to flex their chessed muscles by providing them with plentiful opportunities to help others. The sixth graders have organized and shopped for a bridal shower, sending many suitcases full of new merchandise to a needy kallah in Eretz Yisroel. The girls have decorated lovely welcome cards which were distributed to a number of local

shuls. The cards included meaningful prose about the beauty of Shabbos and were earmarked for people in the shuls who were experiencing Shabbos for the first time. The sixth graders have also written letters to orphans in Eretz Yisroel, and have established a big sister/little sister relationship with BBY’s third graders.

The culmination of this year-long Bas Mitzvah Chessed initiative took place on June 1, when the sixth graders boarded the buses and headed to the Masbia Soup Kitchen in Brooklyn. Once there, they donned aprons, rolled up their sleeves, and got happily to work. Each girl peeled between 50 and 80 vegetables; together the BBY girls filled huge vats of vegetables ready to be transformed into nourishing meals for the indigent. As another expression of chessed, one of the classes visited the Jewish Children’s Museum to package crafts and get well cards for sick children.

The girls felt great about their contributions, as well they should.

Reaching out to help another is a Yid’s sure-fire way to experience real, deep, internal simcha.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community PHOTO CREDIT: IVAN H NORMAN

Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion, under the leadership Harav Tzvi Flaum, shlita, held its eighth Annual Breakfast at Congregation Shaaray Tefila in Lawrence this week.

The guest speaker was Harav Uri Orlian, shlita, Mara D’asra of Congregation Shaaray Tefila.

OHEL Launching Local Support Groups for Divorced Mothers and Fathers

Learn the Keys to Successful Parenting after Divorce

F

ollowing on the heels of OHEL’s widely successful Rising from Divorce film which was screened to thousands of people across the country, OHEL is expanding services in Far Rockaway to divorced parents in the community.

While “divorce” may no longer evoke the conventional stigma that was once common in the community, the fact remains that divorce is a devastating life event for both the couple and their children. For the couple: hurt, grief, disappointment, regret, bitterness, conflict, anger, blame, fear, uncertainty, guilt – the list can be long.

Often, in the throes of a divorce and its aftermath, the pain and loss, anger and conflict become consuming. It is just so hard to think, feel, and see beyond the intense experience of this profound rupture.

But the children; what of the children?

Precious fruits of the marriage, jewels in the crown of their parents who love their children and want the best for them. The children’s lives have been torn asunder, the very foundation of their security shattered.

The two people who are at the center of their world, of their very being and their security, are no longer married, no longer love each other, no longer live under the same roof, may even display open hostility toward each other, and worse. Divorce strikes at the very core of a child, where the child’s fierce and faithful love for parents endures.

Both parents and children must undergo enormous adjustments.

The visiting parent, typically the father, misses his children, mourns the loss of their day-to-day presence in his life. He has to continue his relationship with the children in a dramatically new way and may feel guilty for the

suffering brought on by the divorce.

Gone is the familiar footing of their relationship, rooted in their shared home and family life. He has to provide a comfortable, warm, pleasant setting for them and care for them by himself when they come for visits. He may not have family nearby and have to make Shabbos and yom tov alone with his children, a new challenge. He has to get to shul and make arrangements for the children while he is out of the house. Shabbosim and yom tovim without the children can be terribly lonely. He often feels like he is missing out and fears that he will eventually recede into the background of his children’s lives.

Establishing and sustaining appropriate expectations and structure may hold little appeal, when his time with the children is now limited. He may indulge them as he struggles to assure them of his love and be assured of their enduring love. He may have trouble insisting on homework and studying, if his time with the children is fleeting.

He doesn’t want to leave the children with negative memories of their visit when he drops them off at “home.”

The mother is typically thrust overnight into the role of single parent.

Suddenly, she finds herself juggling everything on her own. She may have new income responsibilities, and she may not have had the schooling or training to earn well. If she has sons, there is no father at home to take them to shul; no father at home to learn with the boys as they get older.

A single mother often feels that the bulk of disciplining falls on her, while the father gets to have all the fun with the kids. She may be left “holding the bag” of all the things that the children needed to do that may not have been taken care of while visiting with their

father. She now sits at the head of the table, thrust into a strange new role on Shabbos and yom tov. If she doesn’t have a strong support network of family and friends, it is difficult for her to catch any respite that may have previously been available with help from her husband.

A single mom generally has a hard time taking care of herself. She lives with a lot of stress and can become depleted. She may be edgy, impatient, and feels guilty she isn’t able to be a better mother. She often feels socially ill at ease and even marginalized in her community, if it is dominated by intact families.

And the children.

They miss the absent parent greatly. Often, when with one parent, they are pining for the other. Children typically think they are to blame for the divorce. The thought that the parents whom they so desperately love cannot stand each other is unbearable. They need to hold their parents together within themselves, but that template has been broken. When they experience conflict between their parents, it tears them apart, impacts their identity and sense of self. Moving back and forth between parental homes is a practical and emotional nightmare.

The natural rhythm of intact family life has been upended. Children suffer deeply when they are caught between warring parents. Single mothers and fathers who expose their children to parent conflicts and bitterness cut deeply into the child’s foundation.

Unsurprisingly, even the healthiest of parents have great difficulty adjusting to divorce. And 20-25% of children whose parents divorce are at risk of lifelong emotional and behavioral problems. It is commonly known that about half of first marriages end

in divorce. Perhaps less well-known is that the divorce rate for subsequent remarriages is even higher. Although divorce has become more common and de-stigmatized, research has shown that the negative impact of divorce on child wellbeing has increased, exploding the myth of better child outcomes in cases of “amicable” divorce.

Notably, the persistence of parental conflict is a primary cause of poor longterm outcomes for children across the spectrum of their lives.

Today, there is a growing population of divorced parents in the Jewish community.

Supporting and guiding their adjustment to the realities of divorce buttresses the adjustment of their children. Research has shown that psycho-educational groups for divorced parents and their children reduce conflict, foster effective co-parenting, and develop essential coping skills. All are vital protective factors against risk to child and family wellbeing.

OHEL is introducing this vital resource in our community by initially offering groups for divorced mothers and fathers. The group for mothers will meet on Tuesday evenings at 8:30pm beginning June 21, and will run for seven consecutive weeks. The fathers’ group will meet for seven consecutive Wednesdays, beginning June 22nd. All group meetings will be held at OHEL Regional Family Center in Far Rockaway, at 156 Beach 9th Street, in the 2nd floor Conference Room.

The mothers’ group will be led by OHEL therapists Eileen Fine and Adina Ribacoff; the fathers’ group will be led by OHEL therapists Eileen Fine and Mordechai Jacobs. For more information, please contact OHEL Access at 800-603-OHEL or visit http:// www.ohelfamily.org.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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The Community Supports Yeshiva Gedolah Ateres Yaakov

Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah, Rabbi Meir Braunstein, addressing the standing room only crowd

L-R: R’ Moshe Wolfson, Rabbi Meir Braunstein, and R’ Nochum Aber, Breakfast Chairman

T

his past Sunday the community gathered for a beautiful event for hachzakas HaTorah. Mr. & Mrs. Dovid Muchnik, parents of current Yeshiva Gedolah and Mesivta talmidim, opened up their beautiful home to host the 2nd annual Breakfast Reception on behalf of Yeshiva Gedolah Ateres Yaakov. The breakfast was enhanced by fantastic food and ambiance, and tremendous ruchniyus. Tremendous kavod was given to this special makom Torah, and chizuk given to its Rosh Yeshiva and rabbeim. The breakfast celebrated the successes of the Yeshiva Gedolah and its thriving Kollel.

Mr. Dovid Muchnik greeted the packed event and spoke about the Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Meir Braunstein shlita’s humility and care for

Rabbi Yisroel Meir Blumenkrantz with Mr. Dovid Muchnik

L-R: Rabbi Yirmi Lasker, Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, Rabbi Meir Braunstein, Avi Muchnik (Yeshiva Gedolah talmid), Shmuel Muchnik (11th grade Mesivta talmid), Mr. Dovid Muchnik, and Rabbi Yossi Bennett

each and every talmid in yeshiva. He noted the great hakaras hatov that he and his wife have toward the yeshiva, and introduced Rabbi Braunstein, declaring that the community is fortunate to have such a wonderful makom Torah.

Following this warm introduction, Rabbi Braunstein spoke from the heart thanking the hosts for opening up their home for the breakfast. The Rosh Yeshiva thanked the Menahel of the entire Ateres Yaakov Yeshiva, Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe shlita, for his tremendous devotion to the yeshiva and for his wise guidance.

Rabbi Braunstein spoke about the Yeshiva’s mission being to guide each talmid in the derech that he needs to fulfill his tafkid and attain

simchas hachaim. The Rosh Yeshiva declared how special it is that over 60 bochurim from the Yeshiva Gedolah have gotten married over the past few years, and that so many of those were local shidduchim who are building their homes and families in the Far Rockaway/Five Towns community. The Rosh Yeshiva stated, “Many of our alumni who live locally have established a Kollel boker, where we get together daily at 6am to learn for an hour before Shacharis. The yeshiva is building fine bnei Torah and the entire community is benefitting from it.”

The Rosh Yeshiva concluded by thanking Rabbi Rodkin, Rabbi Gold, Rabbi Edelstein, Rabbi Hartman, and Rabbi Willig for their tireless devotion on behalf of the talmidim.

“The rabbeim of Ateres Yaakov are dedicated to each bochur and each avreich. Whether it’s understanding p’shat in a Gemara or a Rabbi Akiva Eiger, whether it’s navigating a shidduch, whether it’s getting married, or any other of the myriad of challenges that life has to offer, the rabbeim are always there to direct, help, and guide.”

The yeshiva breakfast was enhanced by the presence of many prominent community rabbanim and leaders.

The Yeshiva thanks the Muchnik family for opening their home, and the breakfast chairman Mr. Nochum Aber, the hosting and alumni committee, and the whole community for their support of this unique Yeshiva.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Around the Community

Ezra’s Annual Retreat Breaks School Records

I

t is always a good barometer for a school regarding camaraderie and spirit when there is an optional event being held. A large attendance and participation reflects positively on the environment of the school.

There is always anticipation in the halls of Ezra Academy as the weeks get closer to its annual retreat in Camp Moshava of Honesdale, PA. It is a four day excursion from Thursday to Sunday filled with fun excitement, both physically and spiritually. As always, the retreat is not mandatory and there are a number of students who do not attend for various reasons. A successful year is usually determined by an attendance of around 65%, including most of the juniors and seniors.

This year, however, was one to remember, as over 80% of the student body attended, including almost every junior and senior in the school.

This outpouring enthusiasm from the students does more than just show their school spirit as a whole, it permeates the Ezra mission to all.

Ezra is not just a school, but a family. When a family has an event, it is incumbent on all family members to attend. And of course, the students loved every moment of the long weekend.

Thursday began with a schoolwide activity known as “Klass Kombat.” Each grade competed against each other in various sports and activities, mostly relying on teamwork and effort as a whole. Later that evening, the students sat around a campfire roasting marshmallows, singing, and hearing words of inspiration, from their teachers and friends. The night concluded with a bowling outing and a trip to Walmart, where they were able to stock up on anything else they might need for the next few days.

Friday’s highlights included challah baking and the annual 3 on 3 basketball tournament. There was one team that ran away with the tournament, defeating team after team with ease. That team was the Rabbeim team, of course, which was

able to battle fatigue and hold off the final group.

Shabbos brought with it a new and wonderful group of guests, the famed Traveling Chassidim. It has become a tradition in Ezra that these inspiring families come to the retreat to add an extra boost of ruach

and enthusiasm to the Shabbos experience. Shabbos was filled with a tremendous amount of singing and dancing throughout davening and the meals, which culminated in a Shales Seudos kumzitz and a havdalah concert.

The students headed back to

Queens on Sunday morning, tired yet uplifted, after the amazing weekend and Shabbos together. After a well deserved day off, the teachers reflected on the unbelievable experience everyone had, a perfect way to end the school year.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Over 400 Long Island Community Leaders Gather at FIDF Benefit

IDF Staff Sgt. (Res.) Sahar speaking at Wednesday night’s event

M

ore than 400 community leaders gathered Wednesday at The Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Five Towns and Greater South Shore Fifth Annual Community Event, raising some $315,000 to support educational and well-being programs for the brave men and women of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The evening, which is one of the Long Island Jewish community’s largest events, featured keynote speaker Miriam Peretz, the mother of two fallen IDF soldiers. First Lt. Uriel Peretz z”l was killed in Lebanon in 1998 and Maj. Eliraz Peretz z”l was killed during a firefight with terrorists on the Gaza border in 2010. All four of Peretz’s sons, including those who were killed, served as officers in the

Criminal defense attorney Ben Brafman, Esq., who presided as the master of ceremonies

Golani Brigade’s special operations battalion.

“I would like to tell you how grateful I am, and how grateful the soldiers and all the people of Israel are, for all that you do for us,” said Miriam Peretz. “We, the Jewish people, and all those who support the State of Israel, are in this together. I find comfort in knowing that my sons have fallen so that you may live peacefully and always have a home in Israel.”

The event honored Lone Soldiers – those who immigrate to Israel with no immediate family to serve in the IDF – from the Five Towns and Greater South Shore community. Several active-duty and former Lone Soldiers, and their parents, were in attendance, including Staff Sgt. Chanan, a Lone Soldier originally from West Hempstead who serves as a designated

Have you Ascended the Mountain?

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky on page 94

Miriam Peretz speaking at the event

IDF Staff Sgt. Chanan, a Lone Soldier originally from West Hempstead, with his parents and grandparents

marksman and combat medic in the Golani Brigade’s special operations battalion.

“After graduating from high school I decided to make Aliyah and join the Israeli army,” said Chanan, who attended Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence, N.Y. “I was determined to join Golani’s special operations unit – and through 16 life-changing months of intense training, FIDF was there for me and my squad. When we were about to succumb to hypothermia, we put on thermals donated by FIDF. When I finally had the chance to visit my parents, it was FIDF that booked my flight home.”

“Serving as a Lone Soldier in the IDF is a very hard job – and being removed from fam-

ily and friends makes it even harder,” said FIDF Long Island Director Liron Kreitman, who was, herself, a Lone Soldier in the IDF. “The support among the Five Towns and Greater South Shore community is incredible and inspiring, and it is my honor to work on behalf of these brave soldiers.”

Presiding as the event’s master of ceremonies was criminal defense attorney Ben Brafman, Esq. Attending were other IDF soldiers, including Staff Sgt. (Res.) Sahar, who was awarded a Chief of General Staff Citation for his outstanding gallantry during Operation Protective Edge in 2014; and Cpl. Zalman, an IDF Lone

Soldier from California serving in the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which FIDF’s Long Island Chapter adopted as part of the FIDF Adopt-A-Battalion Program.

Distinguished guests included N.Y. state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Long Beach; Hempstead Town Councilmen Bruce A. Blakeman and Anthony P. D’Esposito; and FIDF Tri-State Executive Director Galit Brichta.

The funds raised at this event will go toward FIDF well-being and educational programs for IDF soldiers.

Pledges were made using Text-to-Pledge and are still being accepted at (646) 8873433.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Accolades for Spring Gymnastics

I

t was not just about winning the competition that brought 55 gymnasts from five communities to Cleveland, Ohio. The

second all girls’ gymnastics competition was more about celebrating each girls’ talents and presenting the skills, confidence, and com-

radery they have acquired through team practice.

Together with the other teams, the girls traveled, competed, cel-

ebrated, and spent the night at a local hotel. A team of all women U.S.A.G. judges placed each one of our team members in at least one event, while placing most in two or more. It was evident that their training was taken to a whole new level. Our head coach, Aviva Skolnik, herself an accomplished team gymnast, possesses a unique ability to bring out the gymnast in every girl in every class.

While we take great pride in our teams’ accomplishments, Spring Gymnastics was born to provide all boys and girls in our community a healthy outlet in a tzinius environment. While learning new skills, gymnastics has proven to build confidence, strength, and discipline through any class a child may take.

B”H in the short time we have been open we have seen great progress in our students. We look forward to seeing you in the fall.

Spring Gymnastics is located at 1854 Cornaga in Far Rockaway, NY. They can be reached by emailing springgymnastic@gmail.com or by visiting www.springgymnastics. com.

A Symbol of Israel’s Strength

Read about Miriam Peretz on page 98

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Around the Community

NYS Fights BDS

S

enator Todd Kaminsky stood alongside Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday, before the Celebrate Israel Parade, as he signed an Executive Order to ban businesses and individuals who boycott Israel from doing business with New York State. The Executive Order does just what Kaminsky has been advocating for more than a year through proposed legislation – protects Israel, while saying no to the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement which seeks to delegitimize and undermine the Jewish state.

“Governor Cuomo’s executive order to combat the BDS movement sends a strong and clear message that New York State and Israel share an unbreakable alliance and attempts to undermine the Jewish homeland will not be tolerated by our state,” said Kaminsky. “Bound by a steadfast commitment to freedom and democracy, New York and Israel are integral economic, strategic and cultural partners.

Today, we stand together to strength-

en the bonds between our state and the Jewish state. This order ensures that New Yorkers’ hard-earned tax dollars do not go towards attempts to delegitimize Israel and other American allies and I was proud to work with Governor Cuomo to get it done.”

Governor Cuomo is the first governor to have signed such a measure.

Senator Kaminsky has been a staunch advocate for Israel, sponsoring legislation to ban New York State from contracting with and investing in businesses and entities that engage in or promote boycotts of Israel. Last year, Kaminsky sponsored a resolution condemning the BDS movement, and last month introduced a new resolution in the Senate reaffirming New York State’s bonds of friendship with Israel, while speaking passionately on the floor to encourage his fellow lawmakers to do the same.

In December, Kaminsky joined a delegation of state lawmakers to Israel to see firsthand what its citizens go through on a daily basis in the fight

against terrorism. And just last week, Kaminsky sponsored a bill to maintain and strengthen New York State’s sanctions on Iran, despite the Iran Nuclear Deal, setting a precedent for other state governments in an effort to prevent the lead state terrorist sponsor from obtaining nuclear weapons to be used to potentially inflict harm on the Jewish homeland.

“Senator Kaminsky has been fantastic to work with on this issue,” said Rob Kurtz, of Lawrence, NY. “The

anti-BDS movement has benefitted greatly from his determination. To get this law signed as an Executive Order has been a Herculean effort and Todd continually assured me he would get it done – and he did. We are fortunate to have had him on our side of this crucial issue. His efforts have been superb.”

“New York stands with Israel in the fight against terrorism and this measure makes that abundantly clear,” Kaminsky concluded.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

HALB M’Dor L’Dor Event

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he fourth grade girls at Hebrew Academy of Long Beach held their annual M’Dor L’Dor event on May 31, where three and even four generations of women and girls gathered to celebrate together the passing on of our mesorah from “generation to generation.”

Rabbi Dovid Plotkin addressed the girls first and encouraged them to grab this opportunity to ask their grandmothers and even great-grandmothers about what it was like to grow up Jewish when they were young girls. The talmidot were made aware that learning Torah freely in such a large, beautiful yeshiva was truly a privilege.

The beautiful program included inspiring words from the great-grandmother of Maya Wilon, Mrs. Miriam Appel; from the grandmother of Gabriella Papilsky, Mrs. Susie Schulder; and finally from the mother of Rina Kaminetzky, HALB’s very own Rebbetzin Elisheva Kaminetzky. Next a lovely picture montage of every fourth grader with her own mother and grandmothers was enjoyed. Finally, the students took their places on stage and performed a gorgeous and moving M’Dor L’Dor cantata led by Morah Tzila Schulman.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Volunteer Commended for Extraordinary Service

M

r. Gary Robinson was recently honored by Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center with the Dorothy & Dr. David I. Schachne award for extraordinary volunteer service. A volunteer with the Gurwin Jewish Adult Day Health Program, Mr. Robinson is the 12th recipient of the award, which is presented annually to an outstanding volunteer at Gurwin.

Mr. Robinson spent his youth in Huntington and Glen Cove and has ties to Long Island’s Shinnecock reservation. After graduating from high school, he became a trained mechanic for Grumman and worked on the F-14 fighter jet program. Now retired, Mr.

Robinson devotes much of his time to the Adult Day Health Program, a community program housed on the Gurwin campus in Commack that provides healthcare services and socialization for those with chronic illness and cognitive or physical challenges in a safe and stimulating environment. The program also offers access to on-site clinical services, meals, transportation and respite for caregivers.

Commenting on Gary’s dedication and service, Kathleen Donnelly, Gurwin’s Director of Volunteer Services, said, “Gary has devoted more than 2,000 hours over a two-year span to our Adult Day Health Program reg-

istrants. He is well-known on the Gurwin campus for the kindness, patience and sensitivity he shows to all.

Gary is a ‘people person’ who believes that his volunteer work gives him as much joy as those he helps.”

Director of the Adult Day Health Program, Jeraldine Fedoriw, was pleased that Gary was rewarded for the difference he makes with program registrants. “Gary has a great sense of humor and his musical abilities are enjoyed by both the staff and our registrants. He has an innate sense of music and movement and often can be seen dancing, singing and playing guitar, much to the delight of all around him,” she said.

“Gary’s personality and professionalism embody the spirit of the Schachne Award, which recognizes volunteers ‘whose acts of loving kindness bring joy and comfort to our residents.’ We are grateful for his service,” Donnelly said.

The Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center is a 460-bed nursing care facility located in Commack, Long Island. Gurwin offers skilled nursing care, short-term rehabilitation, medical/post-surgical subacute care, respiratory and ventilator dependent care, an adult day health program, on-site dialysis, hospice care, home care and assisted living.

R’ Birnhack had his makeshift mikva and let the fun begin as different boys came up to have fun with some water. At the end, R’ Birnhack had a

model replica of a real mikva (thanks to Rabbi Trenk and R’ Mosey Kaplan) and he showed how the water goes all the way around and into the

main bor.

For more information about the L&L program, please email learnandlivefr@gmail.com.

Learn & Live: Double Dipping

“D

ouble dipping”” sure was fun. Learn & Live is in middle of its series on brochos. This week we focused on the bracha of tevilas keilim.

R’ Pinchos Birnhack showed the boys many different utensils and the boys had to say if they needed to be toiveled or not, and if yes, with a bracha or without. The boys got most of them right. Then was the time to get wet as the boys demonstrated the proper way to do tevilas keilim.

MAY Lag B’Omer Festivities

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his past week, Mesivta Ateres Yaakov celebrated Lag B’Omer last week with a concert by Aryeh Kunstler and Even Al and a Grant Park outing.

The MAY Student Government, led by Presidents Moishe Krengel and Naftali Goldshein, sponsored a barbeque lunch for the entire student-body followed by an exciting concert. Rabbi Yehuda Horowitz, shlit”a, Mashgiach Ruchani of the Mesivta, began the concert with the traditional Lag B’Omer niggunim which were recited by the entire yeshiva. What followed was an amazing

concert full of singing and dancing by the talmidei hayeshiva that “brought the house down.” It was very much a “MAY style” event.

A week later, the G.O. surprised the student-body with another amazing event. With the entire Grant Park rented for their use, the Yeshiva had a “Lag B’Omer/End of the Year” outing to the fields. Softball, soccer, basketball and tennis were enjoyed by talmidim and rabbeim followed by another sponsored lunch. A big yasher ko’ach to the entire G.O., specifically Vice President Ari Banner, for arranging this event.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

RNSP Holds its 4th Annual Public Bike & Electronic Device Registration Event

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he Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol held its 4th Annual Public Safety / Bike and Electronic Device Etching event on Sunday, June 5. Etching is when a serial number is placed on an inconspicuous location on one’s bike or electronic device. In the event that an etched bike or electronic device is found after being lost or stolen, the serial number that was etched on the lost or stolen item would facilitate its return to its rightful owner.

With the RNSP Bike and Electronic Device Etching event being held in conjunction with Yeshivah Darchei Torah’s Annual Bike-a-Thon, the RNSP was able to reach out to many bike owners at one time, in one given location. A combined 500 bikes and 74 electronic devices were etched between this event and the smaller event that was held last week in Bayswater.

The participants had a lot of fun participating in the bike-a-thon while also enjoying the engaging activities brought in by the NYPD. Healthy and educational dialogue between emergency responders and the community was a major part of the afternoon. It was a great time for families to have fun and become aware of the many ways one can stay safe. The event was

held in conjunction with the NYPD’s Community Affairs division and Crime Prevention Team. The NYPD provided a rock climbing wall which was a very exciting and popular activity. Each bike etching registrant received a reflective safety vest and a bag full of goodies including RNSP magnets, ices, pens, and other giveaways. The FDNY had a booth set up where they distributed materials to educate the attendees on matters related to fire safety.

A bike repair station was set up, where kids were able to get small repairs performed and tires inflated.

Klein’s Ice Cream graciously donated countless boxes of popsicles which RNSP volunteers distributed to all bike-a-thon participants.

The work itself was taxing. The devoted RNSP members and NYPD officers worked tirelessly to etch bike after bike, item after item, with no breaks, until the job was done. The community was very grateful and impressed with the level of dedication that they witnessed on part of the 101st precinct and the RNSP. The RNSP thanks its amazing and super generous community partners and sponsors for their generosity which made this event possible. Our sponsors included Klein’s Ice Cream

Co., Lazer Marble, MoldPro, Carlos & Gabby’s, Cosmati Stone, Saffron Culinary, Seasons Express, Sleeptight bedding, Bagel Boys, Fairmont Insurance, Allstate, Chosen Island, CreditRepair, Cedarhurst Fashion Opticians, Chateau de Vin, Bounce around this Rock, Oh Nuts, Berrylicious, Giant Bagel, Ezra Pharmacy, Mike’s Burger, 925 Sterling, Lawrence Supply, Cork & Slice, Traditions Eatery, Ahuvas Grill, Qcumbers, JC Sewer and Drain Service, Coffee Bar, Fish Plate, Delicious Dishes, Steven Auto Parts, Stop Chop & Roll, M & R Wine Corp, NA Sewer and Drain Cleaning, Upper Crust, Kosher Pizza World, Sunflower Cafe, Sushi Tokyo, Warren Levi, Haagen-Dazs Cedarhurst, Woodmere Lanes, Central Perk, Liquor & Wine Warehouse, Double Header, Five Towns Mini Golf and Batting Range, Fashionista Boutique, Frankels Super Market, and Central Vision Care.

Each one of these sponsors, along with many other community members, contributed by donating money and or items for raffle prizes to enhance the event further.

The RNSP also expresses a great deal of gratitude to the 101st Precinct Commanding Officer, D.I. Justin Lenz, Queens South Chief David Barrere, NYPD Community Affairs Chief

Joanne Jaffe, Community Affairs Officers, Kevin Campbell and Lynn Blanchette, Crime Prevention Officer Michael Depace, the NCO Officers of the 101st Precinct, the FDNY, Flatbush Safety Patrol, Baruch Moskowitz and Akiva Klein for providing their Mobile Command Center, Pinny Ringel from the NYC Mayor’s Office, and last but certainly not least, a special thanks must go out to the dedicated members of the RNSP along with their wives and families. There are members who have put in hours upon hours of time working on this event.

There was a tremendous amount of work that needed to get done in order to make this event a success. We must thank our dedicated event supervisor RN-61, Nussen Bornfreund, for coordinating all aspects of the bike etching.

We will announce all the winners of the raffle shortly. Thank you all for your participation and we look forward to our continued success working with the entire Rockaway and Nassau community.

The RNSP 24/7 hotline number is (917) 727-7306.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Around the Community

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

End of an Era

A

ssemblyman Phil Goldfeder announced that he will not seek a fourth term as Assembly member for the 23rd District, bringing a close to a remarkable five-year tenure as one of the state’s brightest and most promising frum public officials.

“Serving the families of Far Rockaway these last five years has been the greatest and most rewarding job of my entire life. My work as an elected official has always been guided by the desire to ensure a better future for my three children and for all our families,” said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder. “I am grateful for the community’s strong partnership during this time as we worked together to make a great kiddush Hashem.”

In an announcement, Assemblyman Goldfeder declared that he intends to conclude his third term in the Assembly and will not seek re-election. Goldfeder attributed his decision to the desire to spend more time with his growing family and less at the state capitol in Albany. Regarding any plans for the future, Goldfeder only reaffirmed his commitment to serving out the remainder of his term with the

Brooklyn College, Goldfeder credited his public service to his parents’ example and to his early experiences as the one-time director of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Community Affairs Unit and his work as U.S. Senator Charles Schumer’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.

As a state legislator, Goldfeder scored an early victory when he fulfilled a campaign promise to insti-

same energy and ambition that secured his place as a rising star in New York politics.

“There are still six months of service that I owe the community. I intend to continue my work on behalf of our families and fight for the issues that matter most,” said Goldfeder.

Since assuming office in a 2011 special election, Assemblyman Goldfeder has been the driving force behind countless issues both large and small in the Far Rockaway community. A graduate of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Yeshiva of Far Rockaway and

tute a residency rebate program for the Cross Bay Bridge, securing funds in the state budget to refund tolls for residents of Broad Channel and Rockaway. Thus began a tenure marked by an unwavering dedication to the fight for better transportation for neighborhoods with some of the longest commute times in the entire city.

Goldfeder’s advocacy also extended to the issues that mattered most to Far Rockaway’s frum community.

During each of his five years in the Assembly, Goldfeder fought for and succeeded in increasing funding to yeshi-

vas with Comprehensive Attendance Policy (CAP) and Mandated Services Reimbursement (MSR). It was this dedication to funding for education in Far Rockaway that led Goldfeder to stand as one of the few democrats in the assembly to vote against the state’s 2015 budget bill when legislators failed to include the Education Investment Tax Credit (EITC). EITC, which receives overwhelming support among Jewish groups and the community, would provide parents with a tax credit for their children’s tuition costs at non-public schools. Additionally, Goldfeder secured the first ever state funding for non-public school security as part of the SAFE Act which passed in January of 2013.

Even as local concerns were the primary focus of his work, Goldfeder often found himself well outside the bounds of his Assembly district and the halls of the state capitol as he fought on behalf of the Jewish community. In December, Goldfeder traveled to France with radio host Nachum Segal for a unity concert at the Grand Synagogue of Paris. The concert marked the first anniversary of attacks on a kosher supermarket in suburban Paris and came just weeks after the horrendous coordinated attacks in the French capital that killed 140 people.

At the time, Goldfeder described the trip as a solidarity mission on behalf of France’s Jewish population and an effort to show support from New Yorkers all too familiar with the threat of Islamic terrorism.

But it was Goldfeder’s role in leading the community’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 that best defined his work as an elected official.

From his days spent living out of the 101st Precinct as he helped coordinate recovery efforts in the storm’s immediate aftermath; to his presence at every public meeting, ferry rally and vigil since, Goldfeder has always stood out.

When constituents called or visited relief sites to report storm debris on their block, Goldfeder was out on the street within the hour, shovel in hand. If a street cracked and needed repaving, Goldfeder brought out the Commissioner to see the problem for themselves. If the tide of rising flood insurance premiums threatened to price families out of the community, Goldfeder was at the U.S. Capitol drawing on his connections to Senator Schumer to urge action by federal officials and pitch his plan for a New York Flood Insurance Association as an alternative to the federal programs that failed so many after Sandy.

With his hands-on approach and boundless energy, Goldfeder brought a new level of accountability and approachability to the office. A reliable presence at community meetings, and even more responsive on social media, Goldfeder prided himself on answering every question and working to address every issue. For Goldfeder, this was always a matter of giving back to the community that meant so much to him.

“I’ve always said that I was born and raised in Far Rockaway, and my wife Esther and I are now raising our three young children here. This community has given so much to me and my family and I hope that in my public service, I was able to give something back,” concluded Goldfeder.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Shulamith Dinner Celebrates New Campus Al Fresco

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ver 400 people from the school community and beyond celebrated Shulamith’s new campus and the commencement of the 50th year of a reunified Jerusalem last Tuesday night in a 6,000 square foot tent at the​ir new Cedarhurst Campus.

The dinner honored three families and a faculty member who hail from four different communities. Keter Shem Tov awardees Rebecca and Chaim Schreck are active in Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns, Aish Kodesh and Beis Medrash of Woodmere.

Machazikei Torah Josh and Miri Lifshitz of Lawrence are active members in Congregation Tifereth Zvi and close to its Rabbi Pinchas Chatzinoff.

Shomer Yisrael Awardees Menachem and Shayna Landau are affiliated with Rabbi Fri​edman and Kehilas Bais Yisroel in Cedarhurst. Mechanechet Hashanah Naomi Hollander is a long time board member of the Young Israel of West Hempstead.

The fast moving program was done entirely by videos, which can be

viewed on the Shulamith website.

When asked why they chose Shulamith, parents inevitably say that the hashkafa of its parent body is “just right” – thoroughly committed to halacha while passionately Zionistic and inclusive of technology in the educational process. With this in mind, “An evening with friends” was the vision of event planner extraordinaire Josh Spiegel of Birch Events, who is the father of three Shulamith students. The program was front-loaded in the evening, allowing the Shulamith community to leisurely enjoy a lavish buffet and dessert provided by incoming ninth grade parent Shlomo Katz of Elite Caterers.

Politically and communally active Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, first year parent of a Shulamith Early Childhood student, served as dinner chairman and master of ceremonies.

“The jewel of Cedarhurst” is how Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise referred to the former # 5 school on Cedarhurst Ave. Shulamith has honored this venerable 65,000 square

foot building by painting the entire interior, installing security cameras and alarms around the entire perimeter, augmenting interior lighting and installing a new intercom and phone system.

Shulamith, America’s oldest Jew-

ish girls’ school, opened on Long Island in 1999. Its Early Childhood Center is housed in its original building on Irving Place in Woodmere. Its Lower, Middle and High School Divisions are housed in the former #5 School in Cedarhurst.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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Rambam Joins Internationally Acclaimed Author in Highlighting the Plight of Sephardic Jewry

I

n 1941, as the Nazi rampage was murdering Jews in Eastern Europe, over two thousand miles away in Iraq, a reign of terror was unleashed on the Jewish community of Baghdad.

This Shavuos marks the 75th anniversary of the pogrom in Baghdad called “The Farhud.” The Farhud is the Arabic term which means “violent dispossession,” something the Arab community undertook with glee on the fateful days of June 1-2, 1941. During these two days, as the Jewish community observed the holiday of Shavuos, a fury was cast upon them by their Arab neighbors. The Jews were stripped of their belongings as they were beaten in the streets.

Their homes were destroyed and their shops were ransacked and looted. Worse yet, close to 200 Jewish community members were murdered. Hundreds more

were injured. Similar attacks took place on Jewish communities residing in other Arab lands.

The Sephardic community, which had lived in relative peace with their Arab neighbors for 2,700 years, found itself the victim of vile and blatant hatred and anti-Semitism.

With the founding of Israel in 1948, approximately 850,000 Sephardic Jews faced expulsion from the Arab lands. They were forced to leave virtually penniless, leaving behind homes, businesses and possessions. 27 centuries of continuous Iraqi Jewish life was suddenly and abruptly terminated.

Author and speaker Edwin Black, internationally acclaimed for his work exposing corporate and governmental anti-Semitism, best known for his book, IBM and the Holocaust, organized Farhud Day to call attention to

Rambam freshman Yosef Bluth assists Rabbi Elie Abadie in the commemoration ceremony of the second annual International Farhud Day, which was observed this past Wednesday at the Edmond J. Safra synagogue in Manhattan

the relatively unknown plight of Sephardic Jews who were forced to flee their country of birth. The event was held at the Safra synagogue in Manhattan, and was cosponsored by many national and international Jewish organizations.

Mr. Black made it a point to invite students from Rambam Mesivta and highlighted them during the event as foremost activists among high schoolers and people their age in taking up Jewish causes.

“They are an amazing group of students who are both knowledgeable and dedicated to the cause of fighting anti-Semitism. They are articu-

late pro-Israel advocates.”

In order to make a poignant point, 27 candles were lit. Each one signified 100 years of flourishing Jewish existence in Iraq and other Arab countries. Mr. Black called on the Rambam students to help light the candles. After a moment of reflection, he asked the students to extinguish the candles one-by-one, each representing a century of Jewish life that had been extinguished. It was a moving ceremony for all who were present.

The event was a somber one but an important reminder of this little-known

piece of Jewish history that affected so many. Aside from the historical importance of the day there are political ramifications as well. Arab countries will undoubtedly seek “restitution” for the Arabs who left Israel in 1948.

The commemoration of the Farhud sets the stage for a much larger counterclaim for the descendants of the 850,000 Jews who were expelled from Arab lands. This was a primary reason that Rambam Mesivta felt it was important to send a delegation of students to commemorate and show support for this most important cause.

Kollel Chatzos Welcomes the Thousands of Participants Who will be Joining Them this Shavuos

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s Shavous nears, “how to stay awake all night” is becoming water cooler talk among Yidden everywhere. While the women discuss cheesecake versus exotic petit fours, men debate the efficacy of coffee versus brisk walks. Yidden globally are full of the anticipation, trying to figure out the logistics of how to make the most productive day out of a night.

This Shavuos night, there will be close to one hundred talmidei chachamim who will be keeping their usual

schedule. No, they will not sleep that night. On the contrary, they will be wide awake, learning until daybreak as they do almost every night of the year.

The Zohar discusses the importance of learning at Chatzos. Throughout the ages, this has been the practice of a select few. On Shavuos Yidden across the board have stayed up all night, learning by the candlelight until daybreak.

The zechus of learning all night on Shavuos is particularly potent. The Ari Hakadosh promises that all

those who are up all night on Shavuos, and toil in Torah will merit to stay alive throughout the year and no harm will befall him.

The veteran all-nighters will learn with passion, nonstop, as they do every night of the year. Thereafter they will daven for all those holy Yidden, Chatzos partners, praying that their requests be granted.

While learning at midnight is no novelty to these Chatzos veterans, this night will be special. They look forward to the night of achdus,

when Klal Yisroel will join them during these potent hours to toil in Torah. Essentially, all of Klal Yisroel will be joining Kollel Chatzos for one night. After being up all night, you may just have a better understanding of why learning all night creates so much merit in Shamayim.

For most, learning throughout the night is a once-a-year experience. Why would someone keep a reverse schedule, learning when the world sleeps and then catching up on their sleep at some other time?

Greater clarity of thought during the peaceful night hours. Distractions are few and learning is smoother than daytime. As the Yavetz writes: an hour by day is equals to six hours at night. Then there are the practical benefits. There are some that find that the demands of their daytime jobs leave them with no time to learn, so they relish the quiet night hours of uninterrupted learning. Then of course there is the spiritual benefit, in these dark hours when the Shechina’s presence can truly be felt.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Around the Community

Hachnosas tefillin for Yechiel Osher Norman, son of Yitzchok Chaim & Shani Norman of Teaneck. His maternal grandparents are Irwin & Leda Tempelman of Far Rockaway and his paternal grandparents are Ivan H. Norman of Far Rockaway and Beverly Norman. Yechiel Osher is pictured with his father, Yitzchok, and his older brother, Aryeh Dov.

YHT Wins 1st and 2nd Place at the Inter-Yeshiva Science Fair

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ect earned a second place score.

First place winners were Ian Fuller & Richie Finklestein (Randomness – A Mathematical Analysis), Leah Davidson & Sarah Rosenfeld (The Role of Indomethacin in Heart Rate Regulation Using Dafnia Model), Mina Nabavian & Rebecca Shatz (Antibiotic Resistance Study in Bacteria), Leah Zacaim & Rachel Kohan (The Ability of Colors to Block Ultraviolet Light-Safety from the Sun) and second place winner were Charlotte Hakimian & Sarah Levian (The Effect of Heavy Metals on Bacteria Growth). Congratulations to the 7th grade science teachers Ms. Cindy Kopman-Silverman and Ms. Adina Bachrach for all their hard work and dedication.

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he seventh graders at Yeshiva Har Torah were victorious at the Inter-Yeshiva Science Congress hosted by The Hebrew Academy of Long Beach on May 22, 2016. The projects chosen to be presented at the Inter-Yeshiva Science Congress had already been through a rigorous judging process at Yeshiva Har Torah’s Science Fair held on April 25, 2016. Those that were presented were diverse and represented the varied science interests of the students. The research projects were the results of four months of conducted experiments and collected data. The physical demonstrations explained how the experiments were performed. Out of the five projects presented, four projects earned first place scores and one proj-

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community PHOTO CREDIT: IRA THOMAS CREATIONS

“The Legacy Lives On” was the theme of the forty-ninth Annual Dinner for Shor Yoshuv, which took place on Monday night, June 6, at the yeshiva campus. The dinner brought together friends, supporters, and members of the yeshiva in celebration of Shor Yoshuv’s extraordinary history as the spiritual legacy of its founder, Rav Shlomo Freifeld, zt”l. The Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Naftali Jaeger, gave Divrei Brocha, and a special memorial tribute to Rav Freifeld was given by Rabbi Avrohom Fruchthandler. Honorees were Rabbi and Mrs. Zev Bald, Harbotzas Torah Award; Mr. and Mrs. Andy Gladstone, Kesser Shem Tov Award; and Rabbi and Mrs. Avraham Mordechai Freifeld, Mesores HaTorah Award.

YOSS Early Childhood Center Pre-1A celebrating their graduations this week

True Acts of Chessed at HANC Plainview Lag B’Omer Event

Morah Esther Eckhaus’s class

T Morah Etty Slansky’s class

Morah Rachel Sacknowitz’s class

he fields of HANC Plainview were filled with music, laughter and dancing as the community celebrated Lag B’Omer. The bonfire was supervised expertly by the local Plainview Fire Department and arts & crafts were provided by the Mid Island Y JCC. BBQ and fruit were happily devoured on the warm summer-like evening. Raffles, baseball games and pick-up basketball games rounded out the wonderful evening.

The most amazing part of the event were the 18 girls and women who donated 8 or more inches of their hair to Zichron Menachem in Israel who makes custom wigs for children battling cancer. These amazing acts of chessed were aided by Christine and Erin from Salon Entourage in Syosset who volunteered their time and expertise for the second year in a row.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Around the Community

Gedolei Admorim and Rabbanim Attend Dirshu Siyumim on Seder Nashim in Brooklyn

True simchas haTorah at the Dirshu Siyum in Ateres Chynka, Brooklyn

By Chaim Gold

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massive crowd joined the Skulener Rebbe, shlita, the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe, shlita, and other prominent Admorim and Rabbanim to celebrate the Dirshu siyum on Seder Nashim

in the Daf Yomi cycle at the Ateres Chynka Hall in Brooklyn.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of the event was the hadran delivered by the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe, shlita, followed by Kaddish recited by the Skulener Rebbe, shlita.

When the Skulener Rebbe – who

rarely leaves his home and beis medrash – slowly entered the hall there was a palpable hush and electricity in the room. The fact that the Rebbe made the tremendous effort to come infused the many hundreds of Dirshu lomdim and test takers with profound chizuk at the realization of how much the senior gedolim of our generation value their accomplishments and what their efforts and those of their wives are doing for the entire Klal Yisrael.

The joyous, impulsive dancing was made even more inspiring by the shining countenance of the Skulener Rebbe, who despite his age and infirmity, enthusiastically danced accompanied by the seemingly endless rows of people dancing and clapping their hands. The simchas haTorah of the mesaymim filled the air.

Klausenberger Rebbe: Hundreds of World Class Talmidei Chachomim in Galus America In his Hadran Drasha, the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe, shlita, said that he was profoundly moved that in “Galus America” we have merited to have so many Yidden learning and constantly reviewing to the extent that they are able to be tested on masechta after masechta. He explained how his illustrious father, the previous Klausenberger Rebbe, zy”a, would say that it is a far greater accomplishment for a person living in America to be tested on masechtos than a person living in Eretz Yisrael, where the society is more Torah-oriented.

Rav Weinberger: No Such Thing as “Microwave Talmidei Chachomim” The special guest speaker was HaRav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, Rav of Agudas Yisrael of Flatbush and R”M at Mesivta Shalom Shachne. Rav Weinberger eloquently explained how, when a person pressures himself to excel in yedias HaTorah, he can achieve greatness.

“We live in the microwave generation. People think they can become microwave talmidei chachamim overnight without investment of time and effort. They want to be fed the entire Torah in twenty minutes or less! I feel small in front of the talmidei chachamim in this room who have invested so much toil and effort into their learning.”

Rav Olewski: The Creation of a New Entity, “The Dirshu Home” HaRav Dovid Olewski, shlita, the Gerer Rosh Yeshiva, explained that “Dirshu has created a new entity called, ‘A Dirshu home.’ A Dirshu home is one in which Torah and particularly the Torah growth of the husband and father is paramount. When there is a family simcha or other obligation, the daily learning and chazarah come first. This creates a new entity called a Dirshu woman, who sacrifices her husband’s assistance with the children and other comforts because the ol Torah, the yoke of Torah, is paramount. This in turn creates a Dirshu child, a child who learns from the youngest age that Torah comes before everything!”

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Around the Community Rav Hofstedter: The Only Antidote is Yegiah Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, Nasi of Dirshu, explained that to achieve a true kinyan in Torah it is not sufficient to go through the Daf just to say, “‘I have another Masechta under my belt.’ In order to have a true kinyan in Torah a person must toil and work hard. This is what Dirshu Kinyan Torah learners have achieved. The only way we can fight against today’s considerable yetzer haras is through true yegiah in Torah.”

HaRav Shlomo Cynamon, shlita, Rav of Kehal Bnei Torah, Rosh Kollel Dirshu Flatbush, was honored with beginning Masechta Bava Kama.

One of the moving, very personal moments of the evening was when the Chairman, Rav Leibish Langer, R”M at Yeshiva Darchei Torah, related how the sefarim teach that when a person makes a simcha his parents come from the next world to participate in the simcha. “I am sure that at this siyum, a true simcha shel mitzvah, both my mother and the mother of Rav Hofstedter are present.” He explained that the two women were cousins who suffered through the horrors of Auschwitz together. At the very end of the war, during the death march when they were informed that they were headed straight to the gas chambers, Rav Langer’s mother pulled Rav Hofstedter’s mother out of the line. Together, they ran to the forest and were liberated by the Americans two days later.

Rav Hofstedter, in his remarks, continued by saying that the girls were only able to remain alive due to his mother’s mesiras nefesh not to eat chometz on Pesach. “She was forced to hide her Pesach rations.

It was that bread that kept the girls alive on the death march as they awaited their liberation. Thus,” Rav Hofstedter exclaimed, “we are only here tonight at this siyum in the zechus of the mesiras nefesh of these two women.”

Large Crowd of Lomdei Dirshu and Their Wives Attend Monsey Siyum On Monday, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, hundreds of lomdei Dirshu from Monsey and Shikun Skver gathered for a beautiful siyum and seudas mitzvah. Drashos were given by HaRav Avrohom Schorr, shlita, Rav of Kehal Tiferes Yaakov of Flatbush,

Rav Dovid Hofstedter addressing the Dirshu Siyum on Seder Nashim in Brooklyn

HaRav Zev Smith, shlita, Maggid Shiur Irgun Shiurei Torah and Rav Dovid Hofstedter, Nasi Dirshu.

There were also hundreds of Dirshu wives in attendance and indeed in his passionate address, one of the things Rav Schorr addressed was the impact Dirshu has on the entire family. He asked, “How do kids in today’s world know what is really important and what isn’t? The school may be able to impart book knowledge but seeing how their parents conduct themselves is the ultimate teacher. When a child sees that the entire home is focused around the husband’s and father’s learning seder, chazara and preparation for tests, the entire home becomes a manifestation of Torah. This ability to seek out Torah and to love Torah is transmitted to the children.”

Another powerful address that riveted the hundreds of attendees was given by Rav Zev Smith. He recalled Rav Pam speaking at an emotional maamad and saying, “A small person with a small heart but so many feelings.”

“I wonder,” Rav Smith thundered, “what he would say tonight. I look around and see Shas in front of me. I see tens of thousands of hours of limud haTorah, of yegiah in Torah. So many feelings!”

Indeed, the overwhelming feeling of all Dirshu participants at the siyumim in Brooklyn and Monsey was, “Ashreinu, how fortunate are we! Paraphrasing the Mishnah in Avos they say, ‘We are fortunate in this world and it is good for us in the next world too!’”

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Around the Community

Kabbalas HaTorah at Kehillas Ahavas Yisrael

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e are all familiar with the time-honored custom of staying up the night of Shavuos to study Torah in order to reenact the Sinai experience and accept the Torah with love and devotion.

This year as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah approaches, Kehillas Ahavas Yisrael, at 568 Peninsula Boulevard, invites the entire community to join them for a series of thought-provoking shiurim given by their Mora D’Asra, Rav Daniel Glatstein.

This is sure to be a yom tov of true Kabbalas HaTorah at Ke-

hillas Ahavas Yisrael.

On the first night of Shavuos, between Mincha and Maariv, Rav Glatstein will discuss the mysterious ancestry of David Hamelech. Every stage of the lineage of David Hamelech appears to be tainted with impropriety. From the incident of the daughters of Lot, to Boaz and Rus, there seems to be a pattern that is cloaked and veiled in questionable relationships. This phenomenon draws the attention of the students of the Arizal, as well as the Chofetz Chaim, who glean from here a breathtaking principle that

can give us a completely new angle to deal with the challenges we face on a daily basis.

The highlight of Shavuos will certainly be the late-night learning seder hosted by Kehillas Ahavas Yisrael. Between 12 and 2 AM, Rav Glatstein will discuss the intriguing topic of the Sambatyon River and the Aseres HaShevatim, based on an array of sources from the Gemara and the classic meforshim. What do Chazal tell us about this turbulent river? In an age where man has exhausted nearly every square foot of planet Earth, how has it not been discov-

ered? Where are the Aseres HaShevatim today? This is a topic most relevant to Shavuos, as the historical element of the piyut Akdamus will be analyzed in the context of the mystery of the Sambatyon.

There will be other shiurim given by members of the shul throughout the night.

As throughout the year, this Shavuos, Kehillas Ahavas Yisrael will be an exciting and inspiring place to enjoy the true yom tov spirit. Lavish refreshments will be provided to enhance everyone’s simchas yom tov.

The grand finale will be

the Neilas HaChag that will take place on the second day of Shavuos between Mincha and Maariv. The Neilas HaChag will feature a shiur on the topic “How to ‘Get Into Learning.’” Certainly the inspiration of yom tov will push us to heightened interest, but what practical steps can we take to make limud HaTorah more meaningful and enjoyable to us? How can we ensure that we will make learning a part of our everyday routine?

This informative and practical shiur is sure to be an inspiring conclusion to the yom tov.

All shiurim are open to the community and are geared towards people all ages and backgrounds. Rav Glatstein’s dynamic and engaging delivery will enable everyone who attends to gain insight on their own level.

Kehillas Ahavas Yisrael is located at 568 Peninsula Blvd. For more information about the Shavuos schedule and/or minyanim times, contact contact@kshul.com.

Heart to Heart

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he Heart-to-Heart program, developed by Mrs. Dovi Tomaszewski in TAG, ended the year raising money by selling pickles in school and buying games for Achiezer respite rooms in South Nassau and Mercy Hospitals. The

rooms until now only provided food, but not anything to do on Shabbos for patients and families who had to spend Shabbos in the hospital. The girls delivered the games personally to the hospital. Aliza Wartelsky from Achiezer addressed the girls

and explained how their gift would benefit the patients. Morah Ismach’s and Mrs. Neuman’s fifth grade classes went on the trip along with Miss Namaat’s and Morah Zucker’s fourth grade class. A sign with all the girls’ names is hanging by the new games

corner in both hospitals.

Thank you to all the parents, Morah Levin, Mrs. Feldman, and Shira Chatzinoff who helped make it all possible.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Hair’s How to Do a Chesed! ments. We applaud the sensitivity and generosity of Anthony and the stylists at Quorum who gave of their time and professional skill to make this possible.

The event was held on behalf of Zichron Menachem, an organization in Israel that provides support for children with cancer and their families. The girls were inspired by a video produced by Zichron Menachem which showed girls who had grown their hair enough to provide a 12-inch braid to be used for wigs.

In the video, girls who donated were interviewed about their motivation, and the recipients of the new wigs were also pictured. In many cases, the moms of the recipients spoke about how incredible it was for their daughter to receive a wig that made her feel good about her appearance even as she was being treated for the dreaded disease. The donors were also made to feel beautiful by the restyling of their now shorter hair, and the incredible positive impact their

After their haircuts: Back Row, L to R: Rebecca Aaron, Grade 7; Tamar Stern, Grade 7; Shira Lax, Grade 6; Gabriella Grossman, Grade 7; and Ilana Brunner, Grade 8 Front Row, L to R: Tali Torczyner, Grade 6; Leora Lax, Grade 2; Naava Belsky, Grade 4; and Shira Cohen, Grade 6

donation made on the children under treatment.

At Monday’s event, the girls were accompanied by Dr. Gross, Associate Principal, Mrs. Sara Wolf, a teacher

in Shulamith Middle Division, and by their moms. We are proud and inspired by these selfless young ladies, who gave of themselves to help others!

EX G CL RE U AT SI VE W E Q DD UA IN LI G TY G FA IFT BR !

IC S!

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ine Shulamith girls had their hair cut on Monday morning at Quorum, a salon on Central Avenue. The salon graciously provided this service for free, since the girls will be donating their hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair to cancer treat-

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At the Celebrate Israel Parade

DRS

Rambam Mesivta

HALB Elementary School

How can a Jew hate Israel? Just look at Bernie Sanders.

See Charles Krauthammer on page 129

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Around the Community

At the Celebrate Israel Parade

HANC High School

Midreshet Shalhevet

Shulamith Marching at Parade

T

he gloomy weather and threat of thundershowers did not deter the students, faculty, and parents of Shulamith School for Girls from turning out on Fifth Avenue to Celebrate Israel on Sunday!

Parent volunteer Mrs. Adina Goldstein dedicated her time to organizing many aspects of the parade, including

the ordering of tee shirts and banners.

Our bright and bold yellow tee shirts were designed by fifth grader Aliza Zilberberg and seventh graders Chaya Gelbstein and Bailey Shapiro. The shirt was a rebus that proclaimed, “I feel 4 Israel even though I’m here!”

Eighth graders Essie Abittan, Eliana Eichler, and Yael Stern proudly car-

ried the Shulamith banner and were flanked on either side by flag bearers Rivka Bennun and Meira Steiner.

Shulamith’s eye-catching opening banner proclaimed SENSE-ational Israel: see it! hear it! feel it! and was held by Tzipori Eichler, Rachee Ganchrow, and Ariella Schecter.

At the back of the over 200 march-

ers of the Middle Division, Shulamith High School students carried the closing banner expressing our belief that Hashem always watches over Israel. The banner featured a beautiful image of Yerushalayim and the words from Divrei Hayomim in both Hebrew and English: “He sees and senses the spirit of this place.”

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Esther Wein Accepts Jerusalem Unity Prize with Kesher Yehudi

By Tammy Mark

T

he Jerusalem Unity Prizes were presented at the president’s residence in Jerusalem on June 1 as a highlight of Unity Day. The four deserving award-winners were chosen for inspiring mutual respect, tolerance and connection throughout the Jewish world. Kesher Yehudi received this monumental award with Esther Wein joining Kesher Yehudi founder Tzili Schneider in accepting. Esther is the director of Five Towns Kesher Yehudi, the first international branch of the 6 year-old achdut organization.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosted the second annual Unity Prize ceremony which was created in honor of the kidnapped and murdered Jewish teens Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Fraenkel. Unity Day was established after witnessing the unprecedented outpouring of worldwide solidarity and support received by the three boys’ families throughout the search efforts and during their grief and mourning. The prize is the joint initiative of the boys’ families, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, and the organization Gesher, a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging the gaps between different segments of Israeli society.

Kesher Yehudi (Jewish Connection) is an Israeli-based organization created to bridge the cultural and religious divide between the charedi ultra-orthodox and secular chiloni groups. A huge success in Israel, Kesher Yehudi now boasts 12,000 participants in weekly one-on-one learning programs across the country, including programs at 10 secular pre-military academies. The organization has now been established in the Five Towns in hopes of bringing together the area’s large Orthodox population and significant vibrant secular Israeli population.

Esther Wein is a well-known lecturer and Five Towns resident who has been teaching Jewish women for close to 30 years. With a true talent for connecting with people from diverse backgrounds, she strives to expose students to fundamental Jewish ideas and eternal truths on an intellectually advanced level, while still gearing her lectures towards students of all levels of education.

Esther is passionate about this new undertaking. “Kesher Yehudi is a way for Jews in America to become

part of the powerful wave of achdut that is electrifying and strengthening our people in Eretz Yisrael. The Jewish people need each other and, as President Rivlin said at the ceremony, we became a nation k’ish echad b’lev echad, like one person with one unified heart, and that is what continues to be our greatest source of joy and strength.”

The goal of 5T Kesher Yehudi is to unite the approximately 700 Israeli families who live in the Five Towns and surrounding neighborhoods, and who are predominantly secular, with the local well established Orthodox community. The unique model and goal of Kesher Yehudi is the establishing of one-on- one friendships between members of the two communities who may have never had interaction with one another.

“The superglue that truly connects us is first and foremost our shared religious heritage,” asserts Esther. “In addition, there is the American Jewish communities’ gratitude to the Israeli community who have, at some point, personally put their lives on the line during their army service and beyond, to protect us and allow us to send our children and visit the land without worry for our safety. Thirdly, we all share a deep concern for our children’s future as committed and confident Jews in America. “ In keeping with Kesher Yehudi’s mandate to unify those segments of our nation who have little or no connection to each other, Esther Wein and Anita Koren co-founded the 5Towns branch of Kesher Yehudi. With the help of Motti and Sharon Cohen, and Yael and Yigal Bitton of North Woodmere, they launched the initiative this past Chanukah with a very special kick-off concert by Israeli superstar Gad Elbaz. The enthusiastic audience of 350 included men, women and children of all ages and affiliations.

Elbaz has been extremely supportive of the Kesher Yehudi initiative and has participated in a soon to be re-

leased music video entitled “WeR1.”

The production was sponsored by Kesher Yehudi and features various religious and non-religious singers as well as a clip of a Kesher Yehudi chavruta learning session. The song will be part of the promotion of Kesher Yehudi’s worldwide Jewish unity initiative.

Anita works in partnership with Esther and is in charge of bringing people to the events – and most importantly getting them excited. Anita is very passionate about her work with Kesher Yehudi. Anita understands both sides as her mother is Israeli while her father is not, and was herself on the more secular side earlier in her life.

“It is very important to have Kesher Yehudi here in the States,” Anita says.

“Here we are not only deepening the connection between the secular and religious communities, but also the connection between Israeli and American Jewry, who currently have very little interaction. It’s important – and it’s possible.”

In only a few short months, the 5T Kesher Yehudi has already had four successful events which brought together women of the Israeli secular community and women from the local religious community. Each event was hosted by a member of the Israeli community and attended by about 25 of the hostesses’ friends with an equal number of women from the Orthodox community. Introductions are made and guests enjoy getting to know each other, subsequently pairing off to learn together one-on-one. The chavruta learning is then followed by a shiur presented by Esther Wein, allowing for everyone in attendance to further connect through their joint learning of Torah.

“We have more in common than what separates us – we are connected in history and in destiny. Everyone has a role to play in the Jewish nation.

This is a vital kesher for future generations,” stresses Anita. She believes that the learning is the formula for success.

Following the events, each and every woman who attended received a personal phone call from Anita, who reiterates how the Orthodox community very much wants to have a connection – a kesher with our Israeli neighbors, regardless of any religious differences. Kesher Yehudi is working hard to break down barriers and any preconceived notions of the diverse communities. After having spoken to at least 80 women from across the community, Anita found that almost all wanted continuing Torah classes and Jewish programs for their children who are in public school. In just a few months Kesher Yehudi has already facilitated 22 chavrutot.

“It is most heartwarming to see two Jewish women, accepting each other on their own terms and investing in a new friendship, for the sake of strengthening achdut when we need it most,” Esther says.

Esther explains that currently almost all of the children within the Israeli community are in public school and are at potential risk of drifting away from our nation. Although their parents are by in large not observant of the mitzvot, they still maintain a strong enough connection to their identity as Jews and they are seeking ways to strengthen their children’s identity as well.

5T Kesher Yehudi is hard at work collaborating with local resources to find ways to include Five Towns area Israeli youth in all that the vibrant community has to offer. In addition, Torah shiurim addressing the particular interests of the Israeli community and learning and social events are ongoing. Future programming will include learning opportunities for men and events geared for children as well.

“5T Kesher Yehudi is just beginning. We encourage every member of the entire local Jewish community to join Kesher Yehudi and commit to doing something real for achdut,” says Esther. “While national unity may sound like an overwhelming undertaking, by investing in a new friendship we can create achdut one by one. We will unite our community and serve as a model for all other diaspora Jewish communities. “ To participate in upcoming events and for more information about the Five Towns Kesher Yehudi initiative, contact 5Tkesheryehudi@gmail.com.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island

Pre 1A Siddur Presentation at YKLI

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“Jew in the Workplace” Symposium for Singles on Leil Shavuos • Can I attend a workplace conference on Shabbos?

• Must I take a “shomer Shabbos” medical residency?

• Is a Jewish co-worker allowed to handle my responsibilities?

• On a job interview, when should I mention Shabbos observance?

• Can my website take orders on Shabbos?

These questions, and many others, will be addressed on Leil Shavuos in a special program for singles hosted at the Young Israel of Woodmere in conjunction with YUConnects. All singles from the community and beyond, who are young professionals or

college/grad students, are welcome to attend.

Similar to prior years where hundreds of attendees enjoyed the Shavuos “Jew in the Workplace” series, this one will focus on Shabbos: The Test of the Day of Rest.

The Motzei Shabbos program will begin at 11:45 pm on Leil Shavuos with an interactive symposium. Three local and accomplished young professionals from the neighborhood, Simone Blond, Ariel Charnowitz and Yaacov Schlusselberg, will share brief personal workplace experiences. Rabbi Shalom Axelrod and Rabbi Dr. Aaron

Glatt of the Young Israel will address contemporary career issues relating to Shabbos/yom tov and answer audience questions.

After a refreshment break and an opportunity to mix with friends, there will be another 30 minute session given by Rabbi Axelrod at 1:15 a.m. entitled “From Half-Shabbos to Whole: Making the day complete.”

Co-sponsored by YUConnects and the Young Israel of Woodmere’s “YIW Meet” program, it is open to unmarried men and women in their 20s and will take place at the Young Israel’s Nusach Sfard House, next door to the main shul located at 859 Peninsula

Blvd in Woodmere. No fee and no rsvp is necessary. It will be the most engrossing (late) night of the year for young professionals!

The Young Israel’s YIW Meet committee runs activities and events for singles throughout the year. YUConnects offers unique social events, targeted matchmaking and educational forums for the entire Jewish community. If you have questions about these programs, or want to send YOUR symposium questions in advance for the panelists, please email mglatt@yu.edu, call 516-6038141 or visit www.yuconnects.com.

Omri Casspi Gives Back to Israel

By Rachel Gross

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BA Sacramento Kings forward Omri Casspi is calling on supporters to “show their true colors” and help support Israeli charities.

The Israeli basketball champion is giving back to his homeland by leading a drive to raise $200,000 for four Israeli charities. The week-long fundraising campaign will benefit a diverse range of organizations, each making a unique impact on Israeli society.

Casspi is proud to be an Israeli and sees this fundraising campaign

as part of a wider mission to show the best of Israel to the world. The organizations selected are an example of the vibrant philanthropic spirit in Israel. Shalva, the association for disabled children and their families in Israel, is one of the selected organizations. Omri is enthusiastic about their partnership. “I’m super excited to be part of Shalva and help raise money for kids with disabilities,” he said.

Shalva provides rehabilitative, educational and respite programs for children across the spectrum of disabilities. It also offers practical and emotional support for parents and families of these children. Opening

this year is the Shalva National Center which is poised to become a center for excellence in the treatment of disabled children. The 6- floor building will offer everything from sleeping facilities to a café run by students open to the general public.

This is not the first time that Casspi has used his influence to showcase Israel on the international stage. Last year his foundation brought a group of his teammates from the Sacramento Kings to Israel to tour the country and meet the locals in a series of basketball clinics. This latest endeavor is taking his personal efforts one step further by reaching out to his fans to

join him in supporting Israel. He appealed for support, “Now more than ever, we can show our true colors as a country and people by helping other.”

To donate to the Omri Casspi Foundation donation drive, go to ti-

nyurl.com/omricampaign

Enriched Parenting

E

nriched Parenting is a non-profit organization, particularly focused on providing resources for parents on ways to best promote their children’s lifelong physical and emotional well-being. Parenting decisions start as early as conception, therefore we seek to support a parent’s educational effort in areas including pregnancy, nutrition, birth, and medical decisions for general health and wellness. Our objective is to host events throughout the year in an effort to raise awareness toward this educational based initiative.

The prevalence of chronic illness in our children has increased dramatically, and continues to rise. Affecting

more than 40% of U.S. children in some way, it is erroneously becoming accepted as inevitable and unavoidable.

Studies indicate that currently, 1 in 6 children have a developmental disorder, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the autism spectrum disorders. Autism affects 1 in 68 children, and rates are increasing every year. 1 in 10 children suffer with asthma with annual expansion.

Food allergies surged 18% between 1997 and 2007 and continue to broaden: a level higher among U.S. children than anywhere else in the world. Diabetes is a major emerging health prob-

lem among children creating an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease, stroke, and diabetes-related complications at an early age. Obesity affects 17% or 12.7 million children and is at an all-time high. Most overweight children maintain their obesity as adults, leading to weight related complications such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, some cancers, arthritis, and sleep-disordered breathing.

Our mission is to help parents and caregivers turn the tide of childhood epidemics by addressing environmental and nutritional factors. Prevention is key to making a difference in chil-

dren’s health. With this in mind, it is critical as parents we become more aware of the preventative and treatment factors to help promote a better lifestyle for our children’s health.

Please join us for our upcoming event this Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 8 PM featuring world renowned pediatrician and lecturer Lawrence B. Palevsky, M.D. Be assured, your presence is valued and you will be warmly welcomed. Dr. Palevsky will be speaking on the topic, “Childhood Chronic Illness: Prevention and Treatment.”

We look forward to meeting you, and sincerely hope you will join us in making a happy, healthy lifestyle a reality for our current and future generations!

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Around the Community PHOTO CREDIT: HILLEL MAEIR

Soldiers of the Kfir brigade Netzah Yehuda Charedi battalion completed a mass march towards the Old City and the Kotel on Sunday in honor of Jerusalem Day The 23rd annual Israel Day Concert in Central Park was cancelled due to looming threats of thunder and lightning to protect the public.

Concert Organizer, Dr. Joe Frager (2nd from left) and Concert Chairman, Dr. Paul Brody (holding flag of Yerushalayim) together with media coordinator Odeleya Jacobs (not shown) – who arranged with Rabbi Dr. Eli Abadie to utilize the Safra Synagogue – quickly reacted by transforming those ominous sounds to sounds of hope and unity for Jerusalem and Israel, keeping the messages of the concert alive.

On short notice, Israeli singing star Tal Vaknin (holding Israeli flag) coordinated with Israeli pianist extraordinaire Shlomi Aharoni (behind him), and Israeli star Mati PHOTO CREDIT: UZI PRODUCTIONS Shriki (holding guitar) delivering beautifully synchronized renditions of “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav,” “Vhi SheAmda” and “Oseh Shalom Bimromav,” on Yom Yerushalayim. They were joined by guitarist “Mr. Shabbos,” Josh Alpert (2nd from right) and his band White Shabbos, consisting of drummer Pesach Alpert (far left), bassist Mordechai Harrison (back row) and Noam Segal (far right) on mandolin. Avi Kilimnick (not shown), a rising singing star from Rochester, provided the high notes.

In keeping with the themes of the “Concert With A Message,” former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton spoke with Yoni Kempinski of Arutz 7, together with Concert Organizer Dr. Joseph Frager and Concert Chairman Dr. Paul Brody outside the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue. Amb. Bolton compared the BDS movement to the anti-Semitic U.N. Resolution of “Zionism Equals Racism,” which he had struck down after 16 years, and reiterated the dangers of the pact with Iran.

Other speakers included Odeleya Jacobs, concert media coordinator, philanthropist Ken Abramowitz and activist Rabbi Dr. Eli Abadie of the Safra Synagogue.

PHOTO CREDIT: MAXINE DOVERE

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

On-Site Physical & Occupational Therapy

H

aving trouble walking up the stairs? Having trouble getting out of your bed or moving between rooms? Are basic daily activities becoming more challenging? Is transportation to and from home difficult? We can help!

On-Site Physical & Occupational Therapy, PLLC is a home-based therapy company that offers oneon-one treatments in the comfort of your own home. We bring all the necessary equipment to provide our patients with individualized physical and occupational therapy.

We service the Five Towns and Far Rockaway areas.

It may be challenging for someone who is in need of physical or occupational therapy to get out of the house. It may be difficult for a child or spouse to transport a loved one to

therapy. That is why On-Site Physical & Occupational Therapy offers the convenience of bringing therapy to you. Therapy is provided on an individual basis, giving personal care and attention to each patient.

We treat most neurological and orthopedic conditions, while concentrating heavily on balance and fall prevention. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of senior patients’ admissions to a hospital.

Our goal is to maximize independence and wellness, in an effort to prevent falls and build strength.

Benefits of physical therapy include gait training, balance/coordination training, and muscle strengthening. We treat patients after hip and knee replacements, shoulder and back surgeries, and

strokes as well as patients who have osteoporosis, arthritis, unsteady gait and balance, as well as many other conditions.

Our occupational therapist works on fine motor skills and improvement in functional abilities needed for activities of daily living to help you gain strength and coordination skills to achieve independence. Additionally, we provide home safety assessments and adaptive equipment evaluations. Commonly treated patients for occupational therapy include: stroke victims; patients who suffer from arthritis, fractures, joint replacements, neurological disorders, along with other conditions.

Our physical and occupational therapists work collaboratively with your doctors to deliver the best

care to reach the intended goals.

We work as a team to restore independence and improve your overall function.

All services are covered under Medicare insurance, and we take care of all the necessary paperwork. We specialize in adult and senior care. Hours are flexible and include Sundays. While working in your home, we can address mobility challenges and functional activities specific to your needs in your own environment.

To learn more about the services that On-Site Physical & Occupational Therapy offers, or to schedule an appointment, please call Dr Justin Hirmes, DPT & Leah Klein, OTR/L at 516-500-1750.

For Struggling Learners, a Pathway to a Brighter Future

By Goldie Rosenblum

M

ost of us take reading and writing for granted.

Not everyone is so fortunate. Students with language-based learning disabilities may be very bright, but struggle with the basics.

Some are told they “need to show effort.” Some pass through years of school in shameful silence. Others are asked to leave. Academic disappointment exacts a heavy price on emotional and social well-being. In time, some of these children actually see themselves as failures in life.

Left untreated, learning disabilities can have a devastating and lasting impact.

The Pathway Study Center pro-

vides a reconstructive approach to learning for children with dyslexia, auditory processing and/or language differences as well as difficulties with executive functioning.

Devoted and trained teachers individualize and differentiate the curriculum, vital to academic growth.

Multisensory methods such as Orton Gillingham, together with an eclectic balance in literacy along with a holistic model of learning, stimulate the educational process.

As students achieve scholastically, they develop into more confident and secure persons.

A seven-year-old who didn’t know the alphabet in September, in three months is now reading paragraphs. A twelve-year-old stu-

dent who read on a first grade level, advanced in two years, to a 6th grade level. Students who did not know the Aleph Bais in the beginning of the year are now reading, writing, and translating sentences in our dual language program. Accomplishments such as these have attracted students from the metropolitan New York area and beyond.

Pathway Study Center has been endorsed by a broad spectrum of leading Rabbonim. B’Derech Yisroel Saba, Yeshiva Darko is for boys and Bais Yaacov Darko is for girls.

Our sacred mesorah comes alive as rich and vibrant. By providing skills essential for learning, Pathway implants a love of Yiddishkeit in the hearts and minds of its young

charges.

Far too many students struggle with learning difficulties, jeopardizing their success in school and beyond. By helping children overcome this challenge, Pathway Study Center, Inc. isn’t just another school; it is a pathway to a lifetime of learning.

“It’s not the job of the school to take mitzuyanim, it’s the job of the school to make mitzuyanim.” – Harav Chaim Pinchus Schienberg, zt”l The Pathway Study Center, Inc. is located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. For more information, call 718-887-6030 or e-mail us at info.pathwaystudycenter@gmail. com.

Gesher Century Challenge Shaping Up to be a Great Ride

W

ith just over four weeks until the starting gun sounds, the Gesher Century Challenge is proving to be a winner.

Over fifty riders have already registered. Team Gesher includes parents and grandparents of current and post Gesher students, and many

avid riders from the local community who have come to support this worthy cause. The ride is in conjunction with the very popular Gold Coast Tour of the Huntington Bike Club and gives the participants a chance to enjoy observing many mansions and vineyards on Long Island’s North Shore.

The GCC would like to thank its (growing list of) many corporate sponsors for their commitment help local children succeed in a yeshiva day school environment.

To view the corporate sponsor list, or to help the riders to reach their commitment goals, please visit www.GesherCenturyChallenge.com.

Registration is still open for any riders who are interested.

Choose between five route options: 12,25,55,70, and 100 miles. Gesher will be sponsoring the main rest stop at the Roslyn Pond Park, providing food and entertainment for the riders and their families. The GCC will take place on July 10.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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80 24

JUNE 9, 2016 | The|Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 The Jewish Home

1.

TJH !

You gotta be

Centerfold kidding

Yentel is at a bus stop and walks up to a man, “Excuse me,” she says. “Are you Jewish?”

?

Riddle me

this?

Riddle One: When do we have kri’as haTorah

“No,” replies the man.

5 days in a row, other than on

A few minutes later, Yentel once again approaches the

Pesach, Chanukah, and Sukkos?

man. “Excuse me,” she says. “Are you sure you’re not Jewish?”

“I’m sure,” says the man.

But Yentel is not convinced, and a few minutes later she approaches him for a third time. “Are you absolutely

Riddle Two: What is the one mitzvah in the Torah that you cannot have kavanah on before doing it?

sure you’re not Jewish?” she asks.

See answer on opposite page

“All right, all right,” the frustrated man says. “You win.

I’m Jewish.”

“That’s funny,” says Yentel. “You don’t look Jewish.”

Say Cheese 10 facts to know about the dairy delicacy  The state of Wisconsin produces the most cheese in the U.S.  It takes about 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.  Mozzarella cheese is the most popular cheese variety in the U.S.  Studies have shown that eating cheese before going to bed can help you sleep because of an abundance of an amino acid called tryptophan found in cheese.  On a per person basis, people from Greece eat the most cheese in the world.  A normal cheddar wheel weighs 60-75 pounds.

 Cheese is most flavorsome when eaten at room temperature.  Casu Marzu, often called the world’s most dangerous cheese, which is made in Sardinia, Italy, is purposely infested with live maggots. The cheese is typically eaten when the maggots are still alive, as dead maggots are a sign that it has gone bad. Most people eat this cheese wearing protective eyewear as the maggots can jump and land in your eye.  A Turophile is the word used to describe a true connoisseur & lover of good cheese.  The similarity between smelly feet and smelly cheese is no coincidence. It is actually due to a bacteria that is found in cheese and on feet, known as Brevibacterium linens.

The Jewish | JUNE 2016 The Jewish Home Home | OCTOBER 29,9,2015

*

Torah Tidbits

S Noach was a vegetarian for more than 500 years.

S Avrohom was kept in the furnace in Ur Kasdim for 3 days and nights.

S Four people were named by Hashem before their birth: Yitzchok, Yishmael, Shlomo Hamelech, and Yoshiahu.

S The guests at Yaakov’s wedding sang, “O-ley, O-ley” to hint to him that the bride was really Leah so he couldn’t blame them later.

S Yaakov was 84 when he got married.

S Each of the Shevatim was born with a twin sister that married another brother.

S Eisav was born with a mouthful of teeth.

S Yaakov and Yosef were both born with a bris milah.

S Serach bas Asher entered Gan Eden alive.

S Yaakov was the first person ever to become very ill before his death.

Shavuos Scrambler

S Cham’s wife gave birth to the giant Sichon in the teiva.

S In order to attract guests, Avrohom planted a beautiful orchard in Beer Sheva.

S The sinews of the ram from Akeidas Yitzchok were used for the ten strings in King David’s harp.

S Most Kohanim Gedolim died within the year of Yom Kippur in the time of the Bayis Sheni.

S Rochel died during childbirth as she gave birth to triplets.

(Binyamin and two girls.)

S Yaakov tied a note around Osnas’ (girl born from Dina) neck that stated, “Whoever marries this girl, marries one of Yaakov’s family.”

An angel transferred Osnas to Mitzrayim where she was brought to Potifar’s home and raised. She eventually married Yosef.

S A Jewish king is required to have a Sefer Torah written for himself.

The kings used to attach a mini Torah to their arms and carry it with them constantly.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

haeasn esivanmh invsa eehesc uhtr hellieecm azob daamosk hgilmisc aatmn rtoah smohe iaisn glanerin wfslreo alllhe ohhiascm oddvi egaarm hhumasc litebszn eaisrf

Answers 1. Naaseh Venishma 2. Sivan 3. Cheese 4. Ruth 5. Elimelech 6. Boaz 7. Akdamos 8. Milchigs 9. Matan Torah 10. Moshe 11. Sinai 12. Learning 13. Flowers 14. Hallel 15. Moshiach 16. Dovid 17. Gemara 18. Chumash 19. Blintzes 20. Sefira

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Answer to riddle two: Shechicha. In the part of the field that we harvest for ourselves we are obligated to leave over for poor people any of the produce that innocently falls from our hands. So, if one had kavanah before doing the mitzvah, the produce that fell would not be legitimate shechicha produce.

Answer to riddle one: When Rosh Hashana falls out on Thursday and Friday. The third day is the regular Shabbos leining, the fourth day is Sunday which is Tzom Gedalyah, the fifth day is Monday, in which we always lein.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015 The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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~ epizxez ozn onf ~ Jewish Thought

84 88 90

Shavuot

by Rabbi Berel Wein

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Climbing the Mountain: The Summit at Rechov Vilkomeer

by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

by Rabbi YY Rubinstein Bobker on Shavuos: The Undated Anniversary

by Joe Bobker

Stories of Inspiration

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104

Broken but Whole: Miriam Peretz’s Story of Strength, Belief, and Inspiration

by Tammy Mark The Flower Lady: Chaya Suri Freund Talks about the Business of Blooms

by Malky Lowinger

To Your Health

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Shavuos: It’s the Little Things

by Deb Hirschhorn, PhD

In the Kitchen

106 108

A Cheesecake Collection

by Naomi Nachman The Joy of Shavuos

by Jamie Geller

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Torah Thought

Shavuot

By Rabbi Berel Wein

A

lthough there is no real accurate way to measure the relative importance of the holidays of the Jewish calendar year, I think that we can all agree that the holiday of Shavuot appears to be the least dramatic of them all.

The Torah describes it as an agricultural feast day commemorating the grain harvest and the greening of the first fruits of the season as an offering in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Jewish tradition and rabbinic sanction has emphasized and labelled the holiday as the anniversary of the granting of the Torah to the Jewish people by G-d at the revelation at Mount Sinai. With the absence of the Temple, the holiday has taken on this commemoration as the center point of its observance.

Secular Zionism attempted to restore the primacy of its agricultural component in commemorating the holiday but was singularly unsuccessful. So, even today in the Land of Israel, once again fruitful and bountiful, this agricultural aspect of the holiday is still very secondary to its historical commemoration of the revelation at Sinai. And in this there

is an important lesson that repeats itself throughout Jewish history.

The great Gaon, Saadya, succinctly summed up this message when he stated: “Our nation – the Jewish people – is a nation only by virtue of its Torah.” All of the other facets of our nationhood exist only because of this central historical moment – the granting of the Torah to the Jewish people by G-d through Moshe at the mountain of Sinai.

This was and is the pivotal moment in all of Jewish history. Everything else that has occurred to us over these three and a half millennia has direct bearing and stems from that moment in Jewish and human history.

Therefore it should be no wonder as to why the holiday of Shavuot is the day of commemoration of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Looking back over the long centuries of our existence, we can truly appreciate how we have been preserved, strengthened and enhanced in every way by our studied application of Torah in every facet of our personal and communal lives.

Those who forsook the values

and denied the divinity of Torah fell by the wayside of history and are, in the main, no longer part of our people. Unlike Pesach and Succot, Shavuot carries with it no special ritual or commandments. It certainly is the least dramatic of all the holidays of the Jewish calendar.

But, rather, it represents the every day in Jewish life – dominated by study and observance of Torah and its eternal values.

The name of the holiday means “weeks” – units of time that measure our progress on this earth. It is not only the seven weeks from Pesach to Shavuot that is being referred to, but rather we are reminded of all of

gogue and the home with flowers and greens, and all night Torah study sessions have all become part of the commemoration of the holiday itself. They all relate to Sinai and the revelation. The Jewish people, through long experience and centuries of analysis, have transformed this seemingly physical agricultural holiday into the realm of spirituality and eternal history.

On this day of festivity we are granted an insight into the past and the future at one and the same time. We are able to unlock the secrets of our survival and eternity as a nation, and as the prime force in human civilization for these many

We are able to unlock the secrets of our survival and eternity as a nation, and as the prime force in human civilization for these many millennia.

the weeks of our lives that compose our stay in this world. Time has importance to us when we deem it to be meaningful and well spent. The purpose of Torah, so to speak, was and is to accomplish just that. And therefore the day of commemoration of the granting of the Torah to Israel is very aptly named for it is the Torah that gives meaning to our days and weeks.

The customs of the holiday also reference the scene at Mount Sinai on the day of revelation. Eating dairy foods, decorating the syna-

millennia. So it is the holiday of Shavuot that grants true meaning and necessary legitimacy to all of the other holidays of the Jewish calendar year.

Shavuot is the cornerstone of the entire year, for without it all the days of celebration and commemoration remain devoid of spirituality and eternity. It does not require for itself any special commandments or observances because it is the foundation of all commemorations throughout Jewish life and time.

Chag sameach.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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The Observant Jew

The Right Way

By Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

I

generally don’t think of myself as vindictive. You can therefore imagine my surprise when I was driving on a highway in very slow-moving traffic and I suddenly began thinking of creative ways for someone else to suffer, and did so with glee, albeit for only a moment or two.

You see, as I inched along, a driver went flying past me to my right, on the shoulder of the road. I would have loved to do the same, but since it’s illegal, it’s not worth the ticket if you get stopped. I mean, it’s not nice to the people you’re passing, because they’re all waiting patiently, but that alone might not be enough to stop me.

In my mind’s eye, I imagined the driver cresting the ramp ahead and suddenly slamming into a stalled car. OK, that’s not so good because the other driver didn’t do anything wrong. So instead I envisioned a police cruiser flying past me on the shoulder in hot pursuit of this fellow, with him getting such a whopping ticket that he never did that again.

But why did it bother me so much when he broke the law? People do it all the time and I hardly notice. People change lanes without using a turn signal, they buy things, use them and then return them because they never intended to keep them, or any number of other things, and though I’m embarrassed and annoyed, I don’t take it personally.

Obviously, in this case, the person is cheating and I feel like the one being ripped off. If I have to sit in this traffic, so does he. In other words, I didn’t care that he broke the law; I was just upset with how I perceived

it affecting my life. I personally feel cheated, and I think that’s what G-d wants.

Innately, we know what he did was wrong. People are supposed to be concerned with others, not themselves, and to act selfishly flies in the face of our internal sensors. Why is it wrong? Because the Torah says so, and Hashem gave us a special gift in our sensitivity to injustice. However, I don’t think it’s so we are inspired to tell these people off.

Hashem made us attuned so that when we see something that is clearly wrong, it upsets us, bothers us, and makes us uncomfortable. It’s a way of looking in the mirror and being able to see our own flaws through the misbehavior of someone else.

When the driver passing on the right shoulder goes “off the derech,” he is essentially saying he is above the law and that is meant to throw us off balance and insult our internal sense of right and wrong. Now, you may argue that it’s the state law he’s flouting and not the Torah, but that isn’t really true.

Besides for the fact that one must adhere to the laws of the place he is in or else he is in violation of halacha, the idea that one can skirt the rules and focus on himself is the antithesis of what it means to be a Jew. I believe part of the reason his actions bothered me is that I also do things that are wrong, though I won’t want to admit it. I’m harming others when I do, and Hashem wants me to see what it’s like.

At Har Sinai we received not only the Torah, but the aspect of “arvus,” taking responsibility for our fellow Jews. This means we don’t do

things to harm them, and we don’t do things that make them look bad.

We are concerned about how people perceive us because we’re no longer individuals, but rather part of a great unit of the am Hashem.

guy to give him a piece of my mind, I would have been no better than he.

So, if I look in the mirror, I’ll realize that the only chance we have of all of us moving smoothly down the road is remembering we’re all

In other words, I didn’t care that he broke the law; I was just upset with how I perceived it was affecting my life.

The guy driving on the shoulder is part of the group of highway drivers yet acts like a loner, doing what he wants for himself. While on the highway I can only get annoyed and dream up fitting consequences; in life, Hashem is the Trooper making sure that the scofflaws don’t get away with it.

The problem is that when someone gets into trouble on the road, the whole highway comes to a standstill.

That means when he gets into trouble, I suffer right along with him.

And that is a klal gadol baTorah.

We have to seek the betterment of our peers not by wishing them ill, but by wishing that they understand the folly of their ways, as we seek to understand the folly of our own. If I’d floored the gas and chased after the

in it together, treating others as we would like to be treated, and each of us making sure that we, at least, are trying to stay on the straight and narrow.

Jonathan Gewirtz is an inspirational writer and speaker whose work has appeared in publications around the world.

You can find him at www.facebook.com/ RabbiGewirtz, and follow him on Instagram @RabbiGewirtz or Twitter @ RabbiJGewirtz. He also operates JewishSpeechWriter.com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion. Sign up for the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF Dvar Torah in English. E-mail info@JewishSpeechWriter. com and put Subscribe in the subject.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Between the Lines

Torah Boy Scout

By Eytan Kobre

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my axe. -Abraham Lincoln

T

here is a legend in the law firm world, at least among associates, about a large firm in New York that was looking to hire a junior-level attorney.

After reviewing hundreds of applications, the firm’s recruiting department narrowed its search to three candidates, all unmistakably qualified for the position and each of whom had impressed during multiple interviews at the firm’s offices. The final determination would be made by a mock oral argument to the firm’s hiring partners.

Each candidate researched thoroughly and prepared a compelling slideshow to accompany the argument. The first two candidates demonstrated impeccable lawyering skills and a commanding demeanor; the third was clearly not on their level.

But, about halfway through, a loud pop! interrupted the third candidate’s presentation. The bulb of the

firm’s projector blew, and the slides went dark, along with the third candidate’s already dim chances of securing the position. Just then, he opened his briefcase calmly and produced a spare projector bulb. In no time at all, he replaced the broken bulb and resumed his argument.

Apparently, during his prior visits to the firm, the third candidate had surveyed the conference room and noted the projector model. The night before the mock argument, he purchased a spare bulb “just in case.”

What the third candidate lacked in substance, he made up for in preparation. The partners recognized that his devotion to preparation would always compensate for what he lacked in innate talent. And the following week he received an offer to join the firm.

There is no substitute for preparation. While there is great value in the ability to “wing it,” that value pales in comparison to the benefits of preparation. Preparation readies you not only for what you expect but also for what you never saw coming, and it attaches added significance to that which is being prepared for (Michtav M’Eliyahu, Vol V, pg. 191).

“Before anything else,” observed Alexander Graham Bell, “preparation is the key to success.”

All this is underscored by Shavuos. Shavuos derives its name from the seven weeks that served – and still do – as preparation for receiving the Torah (Da’as Torah, Bamidbar, pg. 24-25). Indeed, inasmuch as Shavuos has no date certain – it is identified only as seven weeks or 49 days after Pesach (Vayikra 23:1521) – the lead-up to Shavuos is an integral part of the holiday itself.

Shavuos’s timeless lesson on preparation dates back to when we first received the Torah. Although it already had recorded that the Jewish people were encamped at Refidim (Shemos 17:1, 8), in describing their final approach to Mount Sinai, the Torah reiterates that the Jewish people “traveled from Refidim and came to the Sinai Desert” (Shemos 19:2). It did so “to compare their departure from Refidim to their arrival at Sinai: just as they departed Refidim penitently, so too they arrived at Sinai penitently” (Rashi, Shemos 19:2).

They departed Refidim with the right mindset, they arrived at Sinai with the right mindset, and, as a result, they merited to receive the

Torah (Ha’amek Davar, Shemos 19:2, 28:3 and Devarim 17:18). The preparations for receiving the Torah continued even after arriving at Sinai, as Moshe Rabbeinu, only later with G-d’s acquiescence, established a third day of preparation before the Jewish people would receive the Torah (Shemos 19:10; Shabbos 87a).

(More recently, the Tzaddik of Sanz was once on his way to shul, when he stopped abruptly and returned home, only to immediately set out for shul again. To his bewildered followers, he explained, “I realized that when I left, I did not have in mind the right intentions. So I returned home and departed once again, having made the proper preparations.”)

Preparation is outcome-determinative.

Consider a painting: the quality of the painting does not reflect the quality only of the “finish coat”; it reflects the quality and thoroughness of all the preparatory steps it took to get there.

Spiritual pursuits are no different. Shabbos and yom tov require preparation (Shemos 16:5; Shabbos 117b).

Prayer requires preparation; the “pious ones of old” would prepare intensely for an hour before prayer (Be-

rachos 30b). Torah learning requires preparation (Avos 2:12; see Nefesh HaChaim 4:7). And perhaps that is why the Jewish people were exiled “for not making the blessing on [learning] Torah” (Nedarim 81a; Bava Metzia 85b). It was not merely that they neglected a simple blessing; it was their failure to grasp the value of preparation and the value that preparation adds to that being prepared for. Indeed, some are even accustomed to recite before fulfilling almost any commandment, “Behold, I am prepared and ready…” (Pele Yo’etz, “Hachana”). The boy scouts’ motto – Be Prepared – permeates every aspect of the spiritual life.

The amora Chiya went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the faithful transmission of the Torah (Bava Metzia 85b). He planted and cultivated flax; then he harvested it and used its fibers to thread nets; with those nets, he trapped deer; he slaughtered the deer, distributing the meat to the needy and using the hides to make parchment on which he wrote the Torah; he then traveled far and wide to teach Torah to children. Now surely he could’ve purchased the parchment and gone

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about teaching Jewish children in much the same way as he did. But he understood that matters of significance demand the investment of preparation (Sichos Mussar

opportunities. As luck would have it, Yankel arrived just as one of the city’s wealthiest Jewish citizens was to marry off his son. As a visitor, Yankel was invited to attend.

Yankel took his place at the head of the table and, with an air of self-importance, rang the bell ceremoniously.

No. 49). Each preparatory step in the process would later be determinative of his entire venture. And he prepared accordingly.

A penniless man named Yankel once traveled to the big city in search of business

Yankel arrived at the reception to find the host sitting at a raised dais. When the host rang a small silver bell, dozens of waiters rushed out with trays weighed down by an assortment of delicacies.

When the host rang the bell again, yet more delicacies appeared.

Incredible, Yankel thought. I must get my hands on such a bell.

So the next day, Yankel bought a bell just like the one owned by the wealthy man, and he returned home to his little town and gathered his wife and children. “Don your very best and set the table for a feast, for today we dine like royalty.”

Yankel took his place at the head of the table and, with an air of self-importance, rang the bell ceremoniously. Nothing. Yankel rang again. Still nothing.

Yankel rang a third time. Silence.

Yankel fell into his chair.

“I’ve been duped.”

The next morning, he headed back to the city to confront the shopkeeper

who sold him the defective bell. “You’ve made a laughingstock of me! You sold me a faulty bell!”

When Yankel told the shopkeeper what had happened, the shopkeeper laughed. “Don’t you understand? The wealthy man had prepared all the food and delicacies before ringing the bell. He rang the bell simply to signal when it was time to bring forth all that he had prepared ahead of time.”

Too often, we act just like Yankel. We demand success, but we won’t invest the time and effort necessary to prepare adequately to achieve it. At best, we ring a bell and expect the results to follow.

And when they don’t, we become disheartened or disillusioned.

In a sense, preparation for life’s mundane tasks is a

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metaphor for the most important preparation of all: that for the true and everlasting life. “Prepare yourself in the hallway so that you may enter the palace” (Avos 4:16). “Those who do not prepare before Shabbos, what will they eat on Shabbos?” (Avoda Zara 3a). “If one does not prepare on dry land, what will he eat at sea?

If man does not prepare in populated locales, what will he eat in the desert?” (Rus Rabba 3:3).

These are just the sorts of metaphorical preparations that Shavuos should encourage us to make.

Eytan Kobre is a writer, speaker, mediator, and attorney living in Kew Gardens Hills. Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

E-mail eakobre@outlook.com.

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Another L

k

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

By Rabbi YY Rubinstein

T

he Mishnah requires that we see ourselves as though we are going out of Mitzrayim. Honestly, there is no experience in my lifetime I can use for comparison to fulfill that demand.

Perhaps the dramatic rescue on the 4th of July in 1976 of the Jews onboard hijacked Air France Flight 139 from Tel Aviv might give me an inkling. The flight was taken over by Palestinian and German terrorists and flown to Entebbe in Uganda where they were publicly welcomed by the dictator Idi Amin. Jewish and non-Jewish passengers were separat-

ed and the non-Jews released.

The entire world held its breath to see what, if anything, the Israelis would do. The Jewish world prayed and hoped. When the famous (and many felt, miraculous) mission took place, where Israeli commandos arrived and succeeded in freeing the hostages, the Jewish world sighed a collective sigh of relief. In the State of Israel, there was dancing in the streets. All over the world Jews felt a bond with those who had suffered the ordeal. All Jews felt the joy of their release.

The rescue from Egypt was not

the release of ninety-four Jews, but of millions, the entire Jewish people. The celebration and gratitude we must have felt to our “Rescuer” is hard to imagine. The purpose of this rescue mission was not simply to end the Jews’ slavery; it was to forge them into a new People and give them a new identity and a national constitution. That would occur at a rendezvous with the architect of their liberation seven weeks later, at a mountain called Sinai.

Here at last was the chance to express out profound thanks and do so by accepting His offer to become His ambassadors to the world, an am ha’nivchar … a people chosen by G-d who in turn said, “Na’aseh v’nishma, We will do it and then hear what’s in it,” in turn choosing G-d and His Torah.

The problem with that narrative and account of events is hinted at in the Torah itself. The people camped “tachtis ha’har,” literally, “Under the mountain.” The Talmud explains the strange wording as meaning that Mount Sinai was held over our heads.

Hashem said, “If you accept the Torah then fine … and if you don’t, then here will be your burial place!” That seems a massive contradiction to the scene of a grateful people who wanted and volunteered to accept the Torah.

It appears that instead we had to be compelled and threatened to force us to accept it.

Reb Zalman Sorotzkin zt”l offers a brilliant explanation that makes this contradiction disappear.

Hashem did not say if you do not accept the Torah, I will kill you all. He said, if you will not accept the Torah, here will be your burial place.

If we did not accept the Torah, Hashem would have had to keep us in the Sinai Desert. We would not have been able to move on to our next des-

tination, Eretz Yisroel, and become His ambassadors to the world. Without the Torah we would not build a Temple and a society which would intrigue and inspire the world. Instead the world would intrigue and corrupt us. That would require Hashem to keep us isolated in a huge ghetto in the Sinai Desert. That would protect us from the people who would make us like them when we should have made them like us.

But there was no ghetto. The joyous events that began in Egypt maintained their momentum and the Jewish people declared their enthusiastic acceptance of the Torah. There would be no need to keep us in quarantine.

We would continue our journey and enter the Land of Israel.

Then we made the greatest mistake in Jewish history.

Moshe told us that he would be gone for forty days and will return with the Torah. We heard those words and misunderstood them. We thought he meant that the clock started ticking from the moment he spoke those words. Instead, he meant forty complete days. The day he spoke to us had already begun and was not part of the forty. That meant the clock started ticking with the start of the next day. When Moshe did not return on the day they expected, the Jewish People panicked and the result was total disaster and the making of the Golden Calf.

There is the well-known story of the Jew who was shipwrecked for ten years on a desert island. Eventually, a passing ship finds and rescues him. The castaway invites the captain and his crew to see how he has survived all that time and leads them to a clearing. In it are four grass huts.

The captain asks what the huts are for and the Jew explains that the one on the left is his home. The captain

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asks about the one next to it and the Jew answers that it is the synagogue where he davens during the week.

The captain then points to the third hut and asks what it is. The Jew explains that it too is a shul, “That’s the shul where I daven on Shabbos!” The captain nods his understanding and then points inquiringly to the last hut.

The Jew turns to the captain, shaking his head, “That’s also a shul. That’s the shul I don’t daven in!”

As Jews are famously contentious, argumentative and contrary, the obvious question is why didn’t one of the 600,000 Jews at the foot of Mount Sinai argue when the people started to panic. Why wasn’t there someone who refused to go along with the rest, pointing out that maybe … just maybe, Moshe meant them to understand that he would be back the next day instead?! Surely one Jew, filled with that desert-island spirit, should have demurred?

The Chovos HaLevovos answers that the reason there were no cantankerous “castaway” Jews at Mount Sinai was that deep down they were scared of accepting the Torah. They doubted they could keep it all. They worried about fulfilling their role and

Surely one Jew, filled with that desertisland spirit, should have demurred?

building a Temple in Jerusalem.

But what of Hashem? He, of course, knew exactly what was about to occur. Why not send Moshe back early so as to nip the problem in the bud?

The Talmud explains that Hashem allowed the catastrophe to take place even though it threatened the very existence of the Jewish People for you and for me. If we, in future generations, look around and see our generation filled with self-doubt and uncertainty about our role and relationship with Hashem; if we see a generation where most Jews do not keep Torah and mitzvos and toy or embrace the values of the world instead; if we despair that we might not be worthy of the title am ha’nivchar, we should recall Shavuos.

It was the culmination of breathtaking events, which are hard to imagine. It was the festival where

everything would go wrong. But it is the yom tov where Hashem showed us that despite our vacillation and failures, He would forgive us and we would build a Temple and a society, which would intrigue and inspire

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the world.

What Hashem offered us then was forgiveness and hope even if the situation of klal Yisroel looks grim and hopeless. That is what He offers us every Shavuos. We will once more realize our potential, build a Temple and inspire the world.

It is an offer you can’t refuse.

Rabbi Y Y Rubinstein is a writer and author who speaks all over the world. He lives in Inwood.

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BOBKER ON SHAVUOS

The Undated Anniversary

By Joe Bobker

T

here is a beautiful Sephardic custom of writing a love song in the form of a marriage contract between G-d and the Jewish people and reading it on Shavuos. The piyut was composed by Rabbi Yisrael Najara, a great Jewish grammarian and 16th century versatile poet from Tsfas who served as the Rav of Tsfas. Rav Najara modeled it after Shir Hashirim, a metaphor of romance for the relationship between G-d and Israel that we say on Shabbps chol hamoed Pesach.

Ironically, despite the significance of Shavuos, it is the only Jewish holiday that lacks

a clearly defined date: the exact calendar day of the “marriage” of the Jews to the Torah remains unknown. This calendar uncertainty is extraordinarily unusual in a religion so centered around dates and times; for example, the first commandment the Jews receive as a people is time-oriented (Rosh Chodesh) as is the first Mishnah (a discussion on the right time to say the Shema).

What do we know about the date of Shavuos? Only the year (2488) and the day of the week (Shabbos) when the Jews reach Sinai. What date was that? Ah, that’s the question! It was either in the “third month” of Sivan or “on the third new Moon” after leaving Egypt. Thus, depending

on which formula one chooses, the encounter at Sinai could have occurred on the sixth, twelfth, or fifteenth day in Sivan. We go with the sixth, in the diaspora the seventh, day of Sivan, however, it was not always so.

The various complexities in the Hebrew calendar explain why there is no mention of a “fixed” calendar anywhere in the Mishnah or Gemara and why such important Babylonian scholars, for example, R’ Abaye of the late third century, had to ask his colleagues what to do if Tisha b’Av falls on a Friday. We take it for granted today and forget that the job of the early rabbinic astronomers was far from simple. Today, because of their

predecessors’ incredible knowledge and persistence, no community rav is concerned about calculating “circuits” of seasons or lies awake at night worrying about where the sun is in relation to the equator.

Gone are the days of antiquity with calculating the passage of time.

Imagine: Two Roman soldiers are guarding the Temple.

One asks the other, “Do you have the time?” Sure he replies, “It’s XX past VII.” Here’s a trivia: What was the bestselling Jewish book in Jewish communities in pre-war Europe? The siddur? No. Chumash? No. Gemara? No. It was the Luach! Every Jew needed to

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know the times of the day and the days of the month.

When Rosh Chodesh was determined by the testimony of two independent witnesses each month, Shavuos fluctuated between the fifth and seventh of the month. Why? Because of the number of days in the months of Nissan and Iyar. Shavuos is thus the only festival whose date fluctuated year by year, anchored by halacha not to a specific calendar date but to a length of time, specifically, the 49 days of sefiras ha’omer which begins on the second night of Pesach.

Shavuos’s position, even as late as the final days of the Talmud, still lacked its own identity, being viewed simply as a “closure” (atzeres) to Pesach, in much the same manner that Shemini Atzeres “closes” the Sukkos yom tov. Once the calendar was fixed by R’ Hillel II in Judea and amended in Babylon by R’ Saadia Gaon in the ninth-century, any calendar doubt regarding the exactitude of Rosh Chodesh and the yom tovim went away forever. But new pressures emerged.

Some Diaspora communities felt the second day, yom tov sheni, the obligation to keep two days of Sukkos, Pesach, and Shavuos, was an unnecessary burden when the Jews of the Holy Land only kept one day.

Consider the unusual events of 1854 in the community of 2,500 Jews in Mantua, Italy, the birthplace of R’ Azariah dei Rossi, physician, scholar, and famous author (Me’or Enayim).

All the Jewish shopkeepers and merchants were angry they had to miss a second day of business when all knew when the right date of yom tov was. They brought the issue to a beis din. A total of 100 rabbis got involved.

They refused to change the calendar. But they had a problem.

The rabbinate knew the majority of the Jewish community who

were in business intended to go ahead and open their stores with or without their “blessing.” The rabbinate did not want to see the masses ignore a rabbinic ruling so they worded their psak by advising the community to “act according to their understanding.”

Have you noticed? The Torah’s three designated titles of Shavuos – Chag Shavuos (The Festival of Weeks), Hag HaKatzir

from within. Therefore the connection to Sinai is not revealed in Shavuos’s name, leaving it up to the Jews, individually and communally, to find their own way to celebrate the yom tov and conclude that the gift of Torah is worth rejoicing over.

This conclusion is easier to reach because of the yom tov’s uniqueness. Consider: It is the only Jewish festival with no specific Torah-derived halach-

“The giving of the Torah happened at one specified time but the receiving of it happens at every time and in every generation.”

(The Harvest Festival), and Yom HaBikkurim (The Day of First Fruits) – were never explicitly connected to the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah). Why not?

Rabbi Yehuda Loewy of Prague (Maharal), the seminal thinker of the 16th century, states that although Jews are automatically obligated to embrace all Jewish festivals with simcha, such an emotion cannot be legislated or coerced. Rather, he explains patiently, they must come

ic rituals. It does not celebrate a part of Judaism or only a few particular mitzvos but rather the Torah as a whole. And so we read the exquisitely beautiful poem called Akdamus, penned in Aramaic by the eleventh-century German Rabbi Meir Nehorai, Rashi’s teacher, whose son was killed by the Crusaders. Akdamus defends the truths of Judaism to a hostile audience. It praises G-d who gave Israel the Torah, describes how the nations

try to entice the Jews away, and ends with a lyrical account of the Messianic era and the mystical banquet of the mysterious sea monster Leviathan.

Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, a 19th century Talmudic gaon (who changed his name from Rotenberg to avoid arrest by the Russians after he took the wrong side in the Polish–Russian War of 1830), and the first Rebbe of Ger, affectionately known as Reb Itche Meir, had an interesting insight into Shavuos.

Its date, he argued, cannot be precisely pinpointed because the very nature of the festival resists time. This is why Shavuos is referred to as Zman Matan Toraseinu, “the time of the giving of the Torah,” and not “the time of receiving.” With each giving comes a bit of receiving, Rav Alter continues, and that “the giving of the Torah happened at one specified time but the receiving of it happens at every time and in every generation.”

To the Rav, R’ J. B. Soloveitchik of YU, Shavuos was just a beginning of an unfolding and timeless “season of Torah knowledge.” Since this was a continuum, designed to link generations, it required no fixed time, no fixed laws, and no dated “receipt.” Rav Moshe would refrain from calling Shavuos a “Torah Day” for fear of giving the impression that Torah was special only on this day.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the brilliant Rav who saved German Jewry from total assimilation, went one step further: he saw an actual danger in creating a specific holiday dedicated to Mt. Sinai and the Torah, concerned that this would somehow “box in” G-d’s words to one specific time, in contradiction to the Torah’s own wish that it be with Jews at all times.

Shavuos is an annual reminder. Jews are to replicate the giving of the Torah from gener-

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ation to generation “in the same manner that it was first given.”

So here’s the question: given to who?

The Shechina appeared not once but twice at Sinai. The first time was on “the whole mountain in sight of all the people,” replete with such dramatic and awe-inspiring imagery as trembling, thunder, lightning, and dense clouds. The second appearance is at the “top of the mountain;” this time everything is more subdued, all the fire-and-brimstone rhetoric is conspicuously absent. This is not for the entire nation of Israel but reserved for such individuals as Moses and his brother Aaron who are in no need of the fiery rhetoric.

To whom then was G-d speaking? At a time of no instant twitters or cable coverage, it’s unclear. Let’s see what the possibilities are. According to R’ Ibn Ezra from Tudela, Spain, the entire nation heard all Ten Commandments. But the Rambam claims that only Moses understood its contents; the Jewish people hearing, but not actually comprehending. Rashi argues that the Jews only heard the first two (“I am the L-rd” and “You shall have no other gods”) directly from the Source and the remaining eight from Moses. He bases this on the Torah’s switch from first-person singular to third person.

Meanwhile, the Ramban, who vigorously defended the Rambam from detractors who were burning his writings and is credited with preventing a serious rift amongst the scholars of his time, suggests a compromise: All ten of the Aseres Hadiberos were given by G-d, however only the first two were understood by the children of an Egyptian polytheistic culture, the other eight requiring further explanation by Moses.

After the fall of the Second

Temple, the Torah’s agricultural underpinnings, from joyful harvest pilgrimages to mandated laws of fruits and offerings, also collapsed. With Jews in golus and no longer active tillers of the soil of the Land of Israel, something had to fill the vacuum. The spiritual aspect of Shavuos was

ent at Sinai; that the Torah was given at daybreak while Jews slept, making it necessary for G-d Himself to awaken them; that the Heavens open at midnight, thus allowing prayers to go directly to G-d; and that, since Israel is compared to a groom and Torah to a bride,

“I explained it was pronounced Sssssh-vuos, the keep-quiet holiday.”

upgraded from an emphasis on agriculture to an emphasis on the giving of the Torah, a dazzling act that combined Torah and land, Sinai and harvest, G-d and nature. And yet...

There was still something lacking in Shavuos, something missing – epes felt, as my mother would say in Yiddish. It was not until the 16th century that this spiritual void was brilliantly filled by the kabbalists of Tsfas who cleverly weaved together four mystical tenets to create one new custom: a Tikkun Leil Shavuos, which literally means “repair of the night of Shavuos.”

What were the four tenets?

That Jews of all time were pres-

one must prepare the bride with sweet words in anticipation of the wedding day.

Tikun Leil Shavuos, a (non-obligatory) all-night Torah study, was a pragmatic activity aimed at helping Jews re-experience the Revelation on a recurring annual basis. But wait! Why should learning Torah be unique to this holiday alone, especially since v’higita bo yomam v’layla, the order to “study it day and night,” already applies?!

Today, the all-night learning is provincial: each shul has their own (loose) program. It was not always so. Originally there was a specific order to Tikun Leil Shavuos wherein each section of

the Tanach, as well as each of the six books of the Mishna, was begun and concluded before daybreak. By learning the beginning and end of each part of the Torah it was as if one had learned the Torah in its entirety, a reaffirmation of the Jews’ connection and devotion to G-d.

Surprisingly, even having Yizkor on Shavuos (let alone cheese blintzes) didn’t bring the masses. Nor did the fact that on Shavuos we can eat what, when, and where we want in contrast to Pesach when we can’t eat what we want, Sukkos when we can’t eat where we want, Rosh Hashana when we can’t eat when we want, and Yom Kippur when we can’t eat at all!

During my career, starting at a public school in Sydney through into the business community of Los Angeles, nonJews, and many secular Jews, were clueless when I told them “I’m off” for two days because of a Jewish holiday. At the University of New South Wales even Jewish professors doubted my claim it was a holiday. The official Department of Education calendar listed every Jewish holiday on which “teachers of the Jewish faith” were entitled to take a day off without any pay penalty – but Shavuos was not one of them.

I explained it was pronounced Sssssh-vuos, the keep-quiet holiday.

Joe Bobker, alumnus of Yeshivas HaRav Kook in Jerusalem, is the former publisher and editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Jewish Times, author of the popular Torah With a Twist of Humor and the 18-volume “Historiography of Orthodox Jews and the Holocaust,” the first of which, “War Against the Rabbis: Hitler’s Assault Against Judaism,” will be published this year around Shavuos. Mr. Bobker can be reached at jbobker@ gmail.com.

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Climbing the Mountain The Summit at Rechov Vilkomeer

By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

T

he Streets of Life are quite dusty in the arid air of Eretz Yisrael. And each speck of dust, like the people it represents, contains a story that I believe can lift a person to the other inanimate representative of our folk – the stars.

This journey from dust to stars began one very sweltering evening in front of a yeshiva. It began with a plume of holy Bnei Brak dust, kicked up by a not-so-holy brand new Mercedes taxi that roared up at the base of the mountain, at the foot of the yeshiva’s many steps. I was behind the cab and nearly choked on its plume of smoke, grime, and dust.

I am not sure if this journey actually ended in the stars, but it surely

ended – or perhaps began – on the top of a mountain. Let me explain.

In Bnei Brak, there are two yeshivos that sit atop mountains. One is the Slabodka Yeshiva, the other is Ponovezh. In 1979, I learned atop the higher mountain, in the larger yeshiva, Ponovezh.

It was then, and still is, a majestic edifice. It stands on a two-tiered mountain. A set of steps leads to the first level and another leads to the beis midrash one story higher.

Its jewel, the beis midrash, is a sight to behold. As you enter the huge hall, the unforgettable scene is the spectacle of nearly 1,000 swaying souls who are immersed in Talmudic texts and the commentators

who expound on them. To the young scholars, the Talmud’s ancient adages ring as relevant as the ever-changing news that pierces the Middle Eastern airwaves on a daily basis.

The students grapple and banter over every nuance of every commentary whose smallest inflection could change the life course of a generation of Jewish families in ways more powerful than any political speech delivered in the halls of power. And their energy subtly colors the scene that greets the visitor upon entering the hall. That vibrancy transcends the beauty of the old wooden benches and the discourse-worn shtenders and the old, worn sefarim that seem to be reinvigorated with each gener-

ation that kisses their words.

But gracing the scene, almost as a symbolic colossus declaring the sanctity of the scenario, stands a most beautiful and equally majestic towering 16th-century Italian wood aron kodesh, gilded in gold leaf.

The scene – all of its components – hit me the first time I entered the beis midrash as an 18-year-old student. I was an American. I was coming from the land of pet-rocksfor-fun to the land of thrown-onesfor passionate-causes. As much as I wanted to fit in, I really couldn’t become an Israeli. At least to the Israelis. I was lucky, however. I was a grandson of Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, one of the oldest and most

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prestigious of the gedolei hador and a close confidant of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Shach, and that privilege allowed me to be my American self, while remaining true to all the rules, protocols, and etiquette of the yeshiva.

Truth be told, little by little, I too began to adapt. I no longer used an American-style shaver prohibited by most of the authorities in Bnei Brak.

I learned to eat vegetables and leben, to speak like a native, and how to manage with less food, fewer clothes, and fewer showers.

But there was one aspect that I could not adapt to. And that was the great and powerful societal divide between the cultures, religiosity, and political affiliations of Israeli society. And that plume of dust began my crusade.

Bnei Brak did not have a sophisticated transportation system and very few members of the yeshiva world had cars. When boys needed to go to a wedding out of Bnei Brak, they would call a taxi. The taxi would wait at the very bottom of the two tiered hill for the boys to descend. They would enter the cab, fight about the fare, and eventually arrive at their destination. The trip would usually not involve much conversation other than the usual argument about yeshiva boys serving in the army, and, depending on the political affiliation of the driver, a soliloquy about what was wrong with the party in power.

The plume of dust that dirtied my pants began my career in the taxi business. I was right behind the reckless driver and luckily not run over. I happened to have been coming from the street below, on my way to night seder, when I was almost run over by the cab. I dusted myself off as I debated my move. This particular driver had turned his motor off as he waited with a newspaper as if he had nowhere to go and all the time in the world. I approached him cautiously.

He did not appear to be the least bit observant. No yarmulke on his head and no buttons on his shirt.

I smiled as I complimented his car and I saw the pride in which he felt about his new baby. I wanted to

mention that the baby should have been wearing a diaper as it had just soiled my trousers, but I decided to be positive. I looked him over.

Forty-ish. European descent. Kibbutznik or the like. Hardened sabra.

Probably never went to shul a day in his life.

He felt as out of place in front of Ponovezh as a yeshiva boy would in front of a Tel Aviv dance hall. But I approached him thinking that maybe he was lost. I asked him if he needed anything, and he replied that he was called to take three boys to a wedding in nearby Ramat Gan. He

ago when he had taught me the power of an M80 or Cherry Bomb firecracker. He had described the way he had lit one in the change receptacle of one of the many local payphones in Cedarhurst Long Island Railroad Station, and how all the change had come pouring out. Now I had to be the minister of religion, cajoling him into a booth that Andy was probably sizing up in terms of “How many cherry bombs would it take to bring down this hut?”

“Andy,” my father called, “come in, make a bracha.” Andy was excited and hungry. The kugel evoked the

I brought a foreigner into sacred territory. A stranger had ascended the mountain.

was 20 minutes early so he’d read the paper in the car while taking the ubiquitous smoke. I asked him if he knew what the giant building was as I pointed some two stories above to the edifice on the hill.

He looked at me quizzically. He was not used to yeshiva boys engaging him in conversation. Surely if they were not passengers in his “baby.”

“Zeh Yeshivat...Yeshivat....” he stammered. I finished, “Ponovezh.”

“Nachon [Correct],” he remembered the name vaguely, “Rechov Vilkomeer,” he added as if it were just another address for a taxi pickup. He added, “I am not from here. I am a Tel Avivite, but I did this run for a friend. I don’t come by these parts too often,” he added with a chuckle.

And then I had the flashback.

Sukkos 1966. Andy Ferguson, who was Jewish, had just finished the paper route and had flung the Newsday on our porch when my father spotted him. He told me to call him into the sukkah.

I sighed dejectedly; I really wanted no part of this. Andy was older than me and it was only a few months

admission that this was the first time he was in a sukkah, and he stood enraptured hearing the stories of the desert trek as he downed soda and my mother’s chocolate cake, and another piece of kugel. I stood sheepishly in the corner, not sure whether to be embarrassed of my overbearing father or proud of how he tamed the big, strong, and tough Andy Ferguson with a piece of potato kugel.

As I saw the aroma waft upwards from the kugel, I heard a voice ask, “Ata Americai?”

And I snapped back to Bnei Brak 1976. I ignored his query and countered in my rudimentary Ivrit, “May I ask you a question? Tell me the truth. Taggid li ha’emet. Have you ever been inside a real yeshiva in your life?”

He looked at me in wonder. Why was I asking him this question?

What did I care? I was not Lubavitch and I was not offering him tefillin.

Why did I care?

He shook his head.

“Shut the motor,” I continued.

“You have 15 minutes. No one is stealing your car.” And in my strongest New Yawk accent, Stars and Stripes written all over it, I declared,

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“You’re comin’ with me!”

I held his hand as we walked up the stairs. He had no yarmulke. I gave him the sweaty one that I was wearing under my hat. I marched him up the stairs. The eyes of Bnei Brak were staring at me.

“Who is that guy walking with Kamenetzky?” “A cousin from America?” When I brought him into the beis midrash his jaw dropped. It could have dropped from any of the components I mentioned before. I do not know. He stood fixated at the scene, and scores of young men who should have had their eyes on the Gemara sat fixated on him. And me.

I had breached their space. I brought a foreigner into sacred territory. A stranger had ascended the mountain.

Later I would tell my new Israeli friends that he was a distant cousin and that we shared an old grandfather named Avraham. But for now, I am sure that they stood, like myself 10 years prior, on the side of the sukkah, not knowing whether to be embarrassed or proud.

Ten years later, I was not unsure.

I knew the answer. I was proud. Of myself and of my father.

But I was never prouder than after what happened in the next two minutes. The three boys who were about to leave to the wedding realized that this may have been their driver. They walked up to him and thanked him for coming up to get them.

And as they walked out with him, he dropped back and turned to thank me. He never asked for my name. I had forgotten to ask his.

“Adoni,” he addressed me as if I were a statesman. “Todah. Thank you for bringing me up here.” His eyes glistened as he said his parting words to me, “I felt that for the first time in my life I had climbed to the top of Har Sinai.”

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Chaim at South Shore, a weekly columnist in Yated Ne’eman, and the author of the Parsha Parable series. This article was previously published in Ami Magazine.

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Broken but Whole

Miriam Peretz’s Story of Strength, Belief, and Inspiration

By Tammy Mark

“In every situation of darkness you must see a little light, in every situation of life. G-d created darkness first and from that darkness He created the light.”

T

hese are the words of Miriam Peretz and the philosophy she lives by each day and every day. Since she was a little girl, Miriam made the best of every position she found herself in, whether as a house cleaner in Morocco at the age of eight or as the poorest of the new arrivals to Israel. That attitude has remained with her always; after her firstborn son Uriel was killed in battle, after her beloved husband Eliezer died, and still after the tragic loss of her second son, Eliraz. Today Miriam is bringing these messages of light to help strengthen others.

A FEELING OF APPRECIATION

Born in a Jewish ghetto in Casablanca, Morocco, Miriam was 10-years-old when her parents immigrated to Israel in 1963. The family made their way to an immigrant camp in Be’er Sheva. Miriam was the eldest of five siblings, including a brother with Down syndrome whose care she later took over after her parents’ deaths.

Miriam’s family was poor but extremely proud.

In Morocco, her mother was a servant for many years in the home of a great rabbinic family. Miriam was grateful for each hand-me-down and small treat she received from the family. Miriam herself was hard worker from a young age, cleaning her teacher’s home during her lunch break and using her money to buy corn for her siblings. Rather than feel shamed, she appreciated every opportunity, feeling only honor in the experience.

In Israel, Miriam was not embarrassed about needing help from the government,

feeling proud to live in a country that takes care of its poor. Always a hard worker, she labored in the fields during school vacations.

This not only deepened her connection to Israel but also earned her money to help her family.

When Miriam reached high school, she was initially placed in the vocational program due to the language barrier, but was moved to the academic program through her great diligence and determination to succeed. She attended Ben Gurion University on her path to becoming a teacher and eventually went on to become an Orthodox principal in a secular school of 1,200 students. Miriam worked tirelessly to infuse religion into the school system. She is currently serving as a supervisor in the Office of Education of Israel.

While still in university, Miriam met Eliezer, an engineer and a fellow Moroccan, and they married soon after.

Together, the Peretzs built a loving home and a full life with six children, starting

off in the seaside settlement of Sharm el-Sheikh. The family endured a heartbreaking displacement from the village in 1982 and subsequently resettled in the town of Givat Ze’ev.

When the Peretzs’ firstborn son entered the Israel Defense Forces, the emotions of motherhood were heightened as Miriam wondered how her slender young boy could possibly be a soldier. Not only did Uriel Peretz become a soldier, he was looked up to by his peers as a leader. He was accepted into one of the IDF’s special combat forces, the Elite reconnaissance unit of the Golani infantry brigade, although at first only as a cook. Like his mother, Uriel was a determined hard worker. When the time came for him to finally be in the field, Miriam would lovingly remove thorns from his hands and feet each time he returned home, so very grateful that he was alive.

Miriam and Eliezer watched with pride as Uriel continued to rise through the ranks.

A TRIPLE LOSS

In 1988, tragedy hit the Peretz family when they received the worst news any parents can hear: Uriel was killed in battle. First Lieutenant Uriel Peretz had led his troop on an ambush in southern Lebanon. Six explosives had been hidden under a rock by Hezbollah and were detonated by remote control, killing Uriel instantly. It was his 22nd birthday.

The Peretz family was devastated.

They cried, mourned and memorialized their fallen son and beloved older brother. Eliezer had led the construction project for the Sephardi congregation in Givat Ze’ev and the synagogue had remained unnamed for five years. After Uriel’s death, it was named Darchei Noam Synagogue in memory of Uriel Peretz. The tragedy strengthened their connection to each other; Eliezer and Miriam and their five children remained closer than ever.

Proud to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Eliraz Peretz, was already seven months into the train-

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Miriam with her sons, (from left to right) Avichai, Elyasaf and Eliraz

ing program for the Golani reconnaissance unit when Uriel was killed. According to law, parents must give permission for another child to serve in combat in the IDF after the death of one child in battle. Second-born Eliraz was always the livewire of the family; his energy knew no bounds and he was a born leader. Miriam and Eliezer did not want to prevent their son from fulfilling his ambitions, so despite their painful hesitation, they ultimately gave permission for Eliraz to continue to serve his country.

When Uriel was in tenth grade, Eliezer battled cancer. Though he recovered, his general health declined.

One month after Uriel’s death, Eliezer developed diabetes. A year later he had a heart attack – he seemed to fall ill each year around the yahrtzeit. The cancer later returned, and on September 8, 2005, Eliezer succumbed to his illness. The anguished family sat shiva in the synagogue in Givat Ze’ev. Miriam says her husband died of a broken heart.

Miriam was left not only with the responsibility of the household and family that she shared with Eliezer but also with the mourning.

She drew on her reserves of strength again and again.

Watching over her children motivated her to keep her moving forward.

Eliraz married and had four children, naming his first son Or-Chadash Uriel for his beloved older brother.

He was a very dynamic and involved father. He was also a devoted friend who adopted the children of Roi Klein who had died after jump-

DANCING THROUGH PAIN

The book Miriam’s Song is a first-person account as told to Smadar Shir. A bestseller in Israel and recently translated to English, it recounts the gripping story of Miriam and her personal journey. Miriam’s most recent visit to the States on behalf of the OU organization coincided with this publication and also includ-

One can’t help but wonder what compels Miriam to remain so strong – her upbringing, her parents, her nature, her belief in G-d?

She believes it is a combination of many things: first it’s the redhead in her, “Hashem created me with happiness.

When I hear songs I begin to dance.”

She continues, “Something in my background too.

My life was not very simple;

“Hashem created me with happiness.

When I hear songs I begin to dance.”

ing on a grenade to save his own friends. Eliraz fought on many battlefronts but he kept the dangerous conditions from his mother.

Some 12 years after Uriel’s death, on the eve of Passover, tragedy came to the Peretz family again, hitting even harder. On March 26, 2010, Eliraz was killed in an exchange of fire in the Gaza Strip. Not only did Miriam suffer the most tremendous loss twice, she was devastated to witness her daughterin-law, Shlomit, become a widow like her.

ed stops at New York area yeshiva high schools, where she brought her empowering messages to young adults.

Though Miriam’s determination and strength is evident through her life story, words cannot convey her magnetic presence.

Conversely, the warmth and charm that she exudes does not give an indication of her resilience. Wearing a huge smile and Eliezer’s wedding band alongside her own, it is apparent she is happy and full of life, yet still mourning with a broken heart.

I had to fight all of my life. I had to fight to learn, for my brothers – just to buy corn for them. I saw my family and something in my soul pushed me to take responsibility, not only for my life but also for the life of the people around me – my brothers, my community and my nation.”

When Miriam looks at her life she sees that G-d gave her many trials, with each one making her stronger than before. She likens it to a big box with many tools, and every trial provides her

with a new tool to cope with the situation at hand.

A MESSAGE OF INSPIRATION

Miriam cherishes the opportunity to meet with people. Her life is full of love. “I love so much to live. I love my nation and my country. I love people and love to speak with them.”

She speaks to those that are grieving, soldiers and students, providing them all with appropriate messages and advice for their circumstances. Miriam shares that for every situation that G-d gives us we can continue – it’s only a matter of choice.

She speaks with bereaved families about how to grow from tragedy. “It is not easy to say that – it doesn’t sound normal – but each time [tragedy struck] I learned something about my strength. Sometimes I force myself to wake up, though it’s very easy to cry and stay in bed. People don’t like to hear other people cry all day.

We want people to give us hope and help us to see the light.”

To the soldiers, she tells stories of leadership, taking lessons from letters that Uriel’s soldiers wrote about him and his model of leader-

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Miriam with Prime Minister Netanyahu

ship. Some of the messages she shares are about being a human being before a leader – leaders must understand what people feel, to look into their eyes and know if they are happy or sad.

She helps the soldiers feel committed to the country, reminding them that all people choose their own way and have control over their actions. “My parents dreamed about Eretz Yisrael. I feel at home in Israel,” she shares with those who are defending their Land.

She laments that her parents never felt that same comfort.

Miriam speaks to students about making good choices, that it’s a matter of will. She speaks about the responsibility to their own lives, asking them about the times they don’t succeed on an exam – did they get frustrated or push harder to succeed? Bravery is not only dying for your land, but also getting out of bed on a rainy day to serve G-d and pray.

She explains that strength is displayed every day when you force yourself to do many little things, doing acts of chessed and being good people. She advises them not to waste time and not to break down over losing an iPhone or another minor difficulty – there will be many and they

can push through. Miriam challenges the students to look at their lives every day and ask what they can do today that is good for the class, the community, the nation and the country.

One story Miriam tells is of Uriel at age six. She describes her son as being pretty and delicate. He set off for the bus on the first day of school with a tremendous backpack filled with a

With Haim and Cheryl Saban

child but chose to overcome it and go on to master it. “Everyone must look at themselves and see that Hashem gave us the ability, it’s a matter of attitude.” She encourages children to know that they have the ability to accomplish; we must all look at ourselves and unravel these abilities within.

Miriam views everything with an ayin tova, a good eye and in a positive

so many people, Miriam acknowledges that everybody is not the same. She works to find the best way to connect with all types and reach out to them so they can hear her message. “When I come to speak with families that have lost their children, it is not normal, but they see that I continued and they see that they can continue.”

Miriam explains, “At first you can’t tell them these

“I also have days that I cry,” she admits.

“I’m not Shimshon, I’m a mother.” wood-covered siddur and a chumash, so heavy he could barely lift himself up the steps. When she retells the story, she asks young children why they think he had trouble, and they answer that the bag was heavy. Miriam corrects them and says that nothing is heavy in our lives, it’s only how we look at it. The stairs were high and his legs were small, but young Uriel said one simple sentence, “Mommy, I can do it.” That was his dictum in life.

Miriam admits that she struggled with math as a

light. This attitude was evident since childhood when she cleaned with vigor and joy at eight-years-old in her teacher’s home. She would learn about the world – for example, when cleaning an elephant statue, having never seen one in real life, she would take the time to study it. As an adult, Miriam sees small miracles every day and is constantly reminded of the effect she can have on others.

CONNECTING THROUGH LOSS

Coming in contact with

things, so I tell them it will take time, and that we learn how to be bereaved parents with baby steps. One family can take one year, another two.” She admits that some moments in time are universally difficult, like the first time lighting a candle or setting the table and your child is not there, “In this moment you want to be under the ground, you can’t accept the picture of this chair that is empty.

Moments throughout life like buying gifts, planning family celebrations, or even eating your child’s favorite food –

how can you eat it?” Miriam questions. “But after that you continue – everyone has tools from their years on this earth. Some have many tools and others have never experienced loss before.” But slowly, with strength, they will pull through.

She recognizes that the grieving process is different for all. One must learn to live again a little more each day – the first day to wake up, then get up and get dressed. She describes the pain of leaving the house after burying a child; one can’t understand how the world continues. “You want it all to stop. When you first see people in the street, you begin to cry.” How can the world be continuing in its normalcy while your world is broken?

Miriam also recognizes that there is not only one way to cope. All of her children, though they all have a passion for life, have different personalities. The Peretz children dealt with their losses in different ways. One daughter didn’t speak the names of Eliraz or Uriel for 16 years – but named her daughter Eliraz. Her Avichai continued to be fighter and wanted to be like them, following Eliraz’s military path.

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Her son, Eliyasaf, first mourned his brother keeping the death notice by his bed for six months. After that, he insisted on taking a trip and flew somewhere in the world. Miriam likened him to the biblical Jonah running from G-d. Though her family said he should stay put, she allowed him to go. Miriam reminded Eliyasaf to remember that when he went to India and Nepal and saw G-d in nature and all over, it is the same G-d that on the one hand took his brother but also created a beautiful world.

He returned to her after one year.

Her daughter, Bat El, suffered a big trauma. She was eight when her older brother was taken from her and 16 when she lost her father.

Three months before her wedding, Eliraz was killed.

She was afraid of death and very fearful of everything, with crippling fear overcoming her during the birth of her first child. Once she pushed past her fears and gave birth, she finally knew she would be OK. One family Miriam came to visit had lost their child in a recent Gaza operation.

They asked her explain the meaning of the death. Miriam told them everything that she normally says, but the father in particular could not accept the message. She asked him what he does for a living and he explained that he works in insurance, assessing the percentage of disability for people injured in an accident. Miriam presented the analogy to this grieving father in a way he could understand.

“From the moment you hear that your beloved son fell, you are handicapped, and it is a lifelong disability that you can’t change. But you can decide for yourself how much of a percentage of

disability you have – some days it may be 100%, like during celebrations and the holidays. And one day it will be low. Every day we all decide. Some days I thankfully feel there are zero disabilities.”

It’s not only to speak with them, Miriam says. “They see me, that I take responsibility for my life and didn’t go down. Many people ask me if death changed me – yes, I also learned to be a better person than I was before because I know the meaning of evil. There is no more evil than to bury children. Because I know the height of the evil, I teach myself every day to be a good person.”

She lives each day with

with messages from people who write to her about their losses, saying they are strengthened by her words.

She feels like a mentor for people who have lost someone. Though she strengthens those around her daily, it is a role she wishes she didn’t have.

When lighting a public memorial torch for her sons, Miriam is told that she’s a symbol of strength and of those who love Israel, yet she misses what she was before – a mother with her six children in her house. She accepts that G-d changed her life and she chooses to continue on. She changes her perspective; instead of looking at her missing sons, she

my voice, I cry and ask G-d why He takes my tool that I work with Him with – and then I realize He is just giving me a rest!”

The synagogue in Givat Ze’v gives her a degree of solace. Aside from speaking tours and her regular work in the Israeli schools, Miriam is also working and collecting funds in the hopes of building up and enhancing the synagogue as a center for soldiers. This gives her another opportunity to lift up others.

FINDING GOOD IN EVERYTHING

Miriam has countless stories to illustrate the divine presence in her life.

“There is no more evil than to bury children.

Because I know the height of the evil, I teach myself every day to be a good person.”

purpose and persistence, never resting. “I don’t want to waste my life.” She shares that her Eliraz was so much like her. “He had so much energy. Until the last day he only thought about other people.”

Miriam explains that she doesn’t rise despite of the tragedies but rather because of them. “You know, if my son Eliraz had one minute more to live maybe he could hear his daughter call him ‘Abba.’ I have this moment!

So waste it? No!” She continues, “Every day I ask myself what I can do to make this world better than it was before. So if I can touch someone, hug someone … then the world is a better place.”

Her bravery in the face of deep tragedy placed her in the role of a national heroine. Miriam’s phone is filled

looks at her grandchildren.

“I’m just a woman – but a woman whose willpower is so big. I have days that I also cry,” she admits. “I’m not Shimshon, I’m a mother.”

Miriam says she stays close to G-d and imagines dancing with Him. “Sometimes He throws me, sometimes He hugs me, and sometimes I put my head on His shoulder. I know that the comfort will come only from Him.” She feels that the door of the sky is open every day and speaks to Him every day from her heart.

“I don’t say it’s good – I’m not an angel, I’m a mother and I want my children.

Sometimes I scream and say, ‘Why? It’s not fair.’ Sometimes, when I see my grandchildren, the four children of Eliraz, grow I say, ‘Thank You.’ Sometimes when I lose

One of the most powerful encounters occurred during the time she traveled to New York to speak for Friends of the IDF in October of 2012.

Miriam’s friend suggested she get some rest during the trip and put her up by the Lawrence home of the Esther and Jerry Williams, her hosts in this past mission as well. Miriam was so grateful for the hospitality always appreciating “little miracles to meet good people.”

She soon learned there was to be no rest on this trip as the ominous news reports warned of Hurricane Sandy heading towards Long Island. Miriam looked up to the sky and questioned G-d, “I came here to rest! Why did You send this Sandy with me?!”

After the brief but powerful storm hit, the Wil-

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liams’ house flooded and lost power. Miriam was shivering and there was truly no rest. Again, Miriam wondered why G-d wouldn’t let her rest. A caring friend of Miriam’s, a flight attendant, invited Miriam to join her in her hotel in Manhattan much to Miriam’s relief. It was just a small room with one bed to share – but she had electricity! The next morning, when the woman took Miriam to the lounge with other flight attendants for coffee, Miriam saw a new attendant enter the room.

She always taught her children that G-d gave us the power of speech in order to connect with others and that it’s important to speak with people. The flight attendant was very tired after a rough flight and not up for conversation, pegging Miriam as a carefree tourist. But Miriam kept pushing until the woman opened up and shared her story. She was from Ramat Gan and distraught about not spending Shabbat in Israel. She confided in Miriam that until seven months prior she was eating non-kosher, going to pubs and doing drugs, until she read a book that changed her life and inspired her to become religious. It was a story of a strong woman who lost two children – it was Miriam Peretz’s story. Miriam revealed that she was the one who wrote the book, that it was her story of strength that inspired this woman.

What an amazing series of events!

The two women spoke for eleven hours on the flight back to Israel.

“I learned that there are no coincidences! It was like Hashem said to me, ‘You lost two children but you have many, many other children,’” says Miriam. “So now I thank G-d for Sandy. I see the hands of G-d in everything.”

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The Flower Lady Chaya Suri Freund Talks about the Business of Blooms

By Malky Lowinger

Nothing compares to the breathtaking beauty of a well designed floral arrangement. And nothing enhances our Shabbos tables, our yom tovim, and our simchas quite like a burst of fragrant and fresh flowers – Hashem’s special gift to us. With the yom tov of Shavuos upon us, we spoke to Chaya Suri Freund of Castille Creations in Brooklyn about her work.

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TJH: Chaya Suri, it’s a pleasure speaking with you. I know you are busy as wedding season is soon upon us. Can you tell us about a little about yourself?

How did you decide to become a florist? When did you get started?

CSF: I’m in the flower business for twenty-five years. I’m actually a third generation florist, as both my mother and grandmother were in the business. It was my grandmother who started Gold’s Flowers in Williamsburg over fifty years ago. She was one of the first Orthodox Jewish florists in the New York area. I guess you can say that flowers are in my blood!

Even as a child, I remember picking up the broken carnation heads that fell on the floor in my grandmother’s shop and arranging them in foam. As a teen, I would help my mother with weddings or in the store on busy weekends. Eventually, I opened my own place in Brooklyn under the name Castille Creations, so as not to be confused with my grandmother’s store in Williamsburg which is still being run by my relatives.

So many years surrounded by blooms. Do you love flowers?

I love floral design, and I adore beautiful things, especially when it applies to home and party décor. I also love gardening and the smell of the earth. I actually have my own extensive garden on my little Brooklyn plot of land that I plant and maintain by myself.

What about the business aspect of it?

To be honest, it could be stressful.

It involves intense time pressure every day. When the bride starts photographing at 3pm, there’s no calling in sick or running late, no such thing as “something didn’t work out” and we’ll redo it tomorrow. The party is always today.

That sounds intense.

Having worked with flowers for so long, how has the industry changed over the years?

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ping for flowers?

The best advice I have, both for simchas and for Shavuos, is to shop for flowers that are in season. I love working with any flower that’s in season. Not only is it more reasonable, it’s always more lush and beautiful.

So be sure to ask your florist what’s in season now.

The business has changed greatly since the days of my grandma’s arches and tulle and floral domes. Then it was basically carnations, gladiolas, some roses and baby’s breath. Maybe an orchid here and there. Today, it’s a vast field of thousands of flowers, with many different varieties and colors, and complicated seasonal patterns.

The business is a global enterprise today, with flowers being imported and shipped from all corners of the world, coming from areas with different seasons and climates than our own.

Design has changed greatly, too!

In the “old days,” if someone wanted to plan an elaborate wedding, they would do three arches by the bride, or multiple domes with lots of flowers.

Today, it’s a different story. Everyone wants something new and fresh. Florists are always scrambling to come up with new ideas, always reinventing and investing in new props.

So, tell us. What are some of the recent trends?

In general, design is much more about a total look and effect than about an individual arrangement.

Many people like to keep only one or two types of flowers in each arrangement, but then mixed and ombre and

textured arrangements are really making a comeback.

Today, working on a party involves much more than just flowers.

There’s draping of walls, changing of flooring, renting of dance floors and furniture, and various types of mechitzas and backdrops. It’s really quite amazing what’s being done today in party décor.

Has technology affected the flower business?

Yes! With the sharing of photos, ideas, and information, everything becomes so “yesterday” in the blink of an eye. Brides in general are more involved and informed than ever.

They can access all the information they need on their phone or computer which gives them the opportunity to research their tastes better. In a sense, that makes it easier for us because they bring their ideas to us sometimes. But it’s also harder because often they’ll want that stunning million dollar wedding look but don’t have the budget to match it.

Creativity costs money and it’s not easy to prop up a cheap flower and make it look amazing. Usually, if it’s amazing, it’s also expensive.

So what advice would you have for people who are shop-

In general, what flowers would you recommend for each season?

In the spring, I love tulips and hyacinth and cherry blossoms. In the late spring, peony, lilac and spireas.

In the summer, hydrangea, sunflowers, delphinium, and stock flowers.

In the fall, we use many of the summer flowers as well as dahlias, amaranthus and fall leaves. And in the winter, it’s amaryllis and orchids and roses.

These are just a few examples.

There are, of course, many, many more.

Any tips or advice for those of us who are purchasing flowers for yom tov?

Sure. Here are some tips to help them stay fresh longer. First, cut the stems at an angle before placing them in clean water. A capful of bleach in the water will help keep bacteria at bay and try to change the water as often as possible. Never leave the buds or leaves submerged in the water as that releases the bacteria which will kill your flowers.

Never place flowers in a hot area, such as on a working radiator or in direct full sunlight. Flowers, like people, want to be cool and comfortable.

Some flowers, like hydrangea, can be temperamental so I don’t recommend them for Shabbos and yom tov settings as they need daily cutting and care.

When your flowers start looking droopy, here’s an idea. Cut the stem really short and place them in a shallow bowl. That will usually prolong their life for a day or two.

Most of all, enjoy your flowers while they’re gorgeous. Because, like all living things, they don’t last forever.

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The Joy of Shavuos

By Jamie Geller

Warm Fennel Dip This is a take-off of a hot artichoke dip. It is best made dairy with lots of parmesan cheese, but I also found it was very good without the cheese so it can be used at a meat meal. It is really good when it is piping hot, right out of the oven.

INGREDIENTS

q 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil q 2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced q 2 garlic cloves, still in skin q Salt and pepper, to taste q 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary q 1 tablespoon lemon juice q 1 tablespoon mayonnaise q ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (optional for dairy meals) q 2 tablespoons coarse bread crumbs

PREPARATION Preheat oven to 400°F. Drizzle 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over 2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced, and spread out on a pan. Throw in 2 garlic cloves, still in skin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Remove from oven when nice and golden brown. Let cool, then squeeze the roasted garlic out of their skins.

Heat another tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan or small saucepan, add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, and the roasted garlic, and cook until fragrant.

Put roasted fennel and garlic-rosemary oil into the food processor and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise and ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese (optional for dairy meals).

Place in a 3-cup baking dish, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons coarse bread crumbs and bake until it is hot in the center and bread crumbs are golden, about fifteen minutes.

Serve hot.

Wheat Berry and Sour Cherry Citrus Salad A wheat berry (also called hard red winter wheat) is the entire wheat kernel minus the hull, and when milled, produces whole wheat flour. This whole grain (make sure not to buy “pearled,” while quicker to cook, it has been stripped of most of its fiber) has a nutty and chewy texture and is slightly sweet.

Wheat berries can be prepared and enjoyed much like faro – my other favorite, considerably more expensive, whole grain. Swap your usual rice salad for this wheat berry version as a wonderful way to mix up your repertoire.

INGREDIENTS q q q q q q q q q q q q

2 cups hard wheat berries ¾ cup tart dried cherries, halved ¾ cup chopped toasted pecans 3 stalks celery, finely sliced 1 small red onion, finely sliced 3 cups small spinach leaves ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil Zest and juice of 1 large lemon Zest and juice of 1 small orange Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper ½ cup crumbled feta cheese

PREPARATION Cook wheat berries according to package instructions.

Toss warm wheat berries with cherries, pecans, celery, onion, spinach, oil, and lemon and orange juice.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Top with crumbled feta and freshly cracked black pepper just before serving.

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Stacked Eggplant Rounds

Halva-Inspired Frozen Yogurt

INGREDIENTS

Silan, aka date honey, is a dark, sweet, concentrated fruit syrup that can be used much in the same way as honey, molasses or maple syrup. In Israel, silan is everywhere – drizzled over roasted veggies, slathered with tahini in pita, stirred into yogurt, and featured in braising liquids, salad dressings, and marinades.

Sold in big jars and less expensive than bees’ honey, I started keeping it on hand and swapping it in lots of recipes. I recently learned biblical references to milk and honey are in fact goats’ milk and date honey.

q Canola oil cooking spray q 2 eggplants, unpeeled, sliced into ½ inch rounds q Kosher salt q ¼ cup olive oil q ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper q 1 (8 oz.) container feta cheese, crumbled q 6 on-the-vine tomatoes, seeded and chopped or 1 (16 oz.) can chopped tomatoes, drained q 1 green pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped q 8 large basil leaves

PREPARATION Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly spray jelly-roll pan with cooking spray.

Place eggplant slices on paper towels and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Let sit for about 5 minutes. Pat dry with more paper towels.

Lay the eggplant rounds in a single layer on a prepared pan. Brush with olive oil and season with pep-

per. Roast for 15 minutes; turn over and brush with oil. Continue roasting for 10 minutes more.

While eggplant is roasting, combine feta, tomatoes, and peppers in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Stack basil leaves, roll them up like a cigar, and slice them into thin strips (a chiffonade).

Place one slice eggplant on a serving platter. Spoon 1 - 2 tablespoons of feta mixture on top. Repeat layers.

Finish with a few shreds basil. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Cooking with Kids: Stacking is great precision work for the older kids and depending on their age this could be a great opportunity to introduce them to frying.

Note: To seed tomatoes, cut tomato in half and gently scoop out seeds; or turn halves upside down over a bowl and gently squeeze until all the seeds have come out. Tomato seeds can be bitter and so can eggplant, so it is better to remove the seeds for these Stacked Eggplant Rounds.

INGREDIENTS

q 1 cup vanilla frozen yogurt q 10 pistachios, shelled and coarsely chopped, about 1 tablespoon q 5 pecans, coarsely chopped, about 1 tablespoon q 2 Medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped, about 2 heaping tablespoons q 2 teaspoons silan/date syrup q 1 to 2 teaspoons 100% natural tahini, or more, to taste

PREPARATION Place yogurt in a small bowl and top with remaining ingredients.

Jamie Geller is the only best-selling cookbook author who wants to get you out of the kitchen – not because she doesn’t love food – but because she has tons to do. As “The Bride Who Knew Nothing” Jamie found her niche specializing in fast, fresh, family recipes. Now the “Queen of Kosher” (CBS) and the “Jewish Rachael Ray” (New York Times), she’s the creative force behind JOYofKOSHER.com and “JOY of KOSHER with Jamie Geller” magazine. Jamie and her hubby live in Israel with their six busy kids who give her plenty of reasons to get out of the kitchen – quickly. Check out her new book, “Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes.”

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In The K

tchen

A Cheesecake Collection

By Naomi Nachman

Cheesecakes are my favorite desserts. So when Shavuot comes around I get excited to bake all kinds of cheesecakes. I am including my parve cheesecake recipe for those who cannot eat dairy or want to serve cheesecake as dessert after a meat meal (particularly good for the Shabbos right before Shavuot this year). I have also included two dairy recipes in this round-up from my favorite bloggers.

Pareve Cheesecake

By Naomi Nachman

maining graham cracker crumbs.

Put filled pan on a sheet pan. Bake 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave cake in the oven 1 additional hour. Then leave the oven door ajar 30 minutes more. Refrigerate cake till thoroughly chilled (or freeze for use another day).

Creamy CaramelTopped NY Cheesecake

By Naomi Ross Ingredients 6 tablespoons margarine 1 cup sugar 1 cup graham cracker crumbs Juice from one lemon 6 large eggs, separated 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 lb. Tofutti cream cheese 2 tablespoons flour 1 lb. Tofutti sour cream

Preparation Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Melt the margarine and combine with the graham cracker crumbs. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Save some crumbs.

Combine the egg yolks, cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and flour. Beat very well until light and fluffy.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into cream cheese mixture.

Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle with the re-

Thick, gooey caramel sauce is the perfect topping for this New York style cheesecake.

COOK’s NOTE: If using the homemade Creamy Caramel sauce recipe below, be sure to prepare a day in

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 | JUNE 9, 2016 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

advance so the sauce has ample time to chill and thicken.

Ingredients 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs 3 tbsp. sugar 1/3 cup (6 Tbsp.) butter or margarine, melted 4 bars (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened ¾ cup sugar 3 Tbsp. flour 2 tsp. vanilla 3 eggs 1 cup sour cream ½-¾ cup Creamy Caramel Sauce (recipe below) or store-bought Dulce de Leche

Preparation Heat oven to 350°F. Wrap a 9-inch springform pan with 2 layers of foil. Combine crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar and butter in a mixing bowl until crumbs are wet and coated with butter; press onto bottom and 1 inch up the sides of pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Beat cream cheese, ¾ cup sugar, flour and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Pour into crust. Place wrapped pan in a larger baking dish.

Fill dish with water till hallway up the sides of the springform pan – baking the cheesecake in a water bath will help to reduce cracking during baking.

Bake for 1 hour- 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Remove pan from water bath. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Before unmolding to serve, spread an even layer of caramel over top of cake to the edge.

Carefully remove rim of pan before serving.

uncovered until the sugar turns an amber brown (about 350°F on a candy thermometer), about 7-8 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot!

Remove from the heat. Slowly add the cream – stand back to avoid splattering. The cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify – this is normal.

When bubbling calms down, return to low heat, whisking constantly until any seized caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla extract. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours.

It will thicken as it sits. For thicker consistency, make in advance and refrigerate.

Muddy Buddies 8 cups Chex Cereal (any flavor you want) 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips ½ cup creamy peanut butter ½ cup unsalted butter 2 cups powdered sugar

*COOK’S NOTE: Caramel sauce will last for many months in the fridge in a tightly sealed container.

To Make the Cheesecake Filling: In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, sour cream and brown sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.

With the mixer running on low, add the eggs one at a time until all ingredients are combined.

Pour the batter into the cooled Chex crust.

Melt the peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds then pour over the cheesecake filling and swirl with a knife to make a pretty design.

Put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven then place the cheesecake on a baking sheet and bake on the shelf above the pan of water. Bake the cheesecake for 45-60 minutes, until the edges of the cheesecake are done and center is still a bit soft.

Turn off the oven, prop open the oven door and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 1 hour.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving.

Naomi Ross is a cooking instructor and food writer. She teaches classes throughout the tristate area and writes articles connecting good cooking and Jewish inspiration. Visit her website and blog at www.koshercookingconcepts.com.

Muddy Buddy Cheesecake

By Melinda Strauss

Creamy Caramel Sauce Watch the mixture very carefully at the end of caramelizing the sugar – it can go from golden caramel to a burnt mess very quickly!

Ingredients Ingredients 1½ cups sugar ¼ cup water 1¼ cups heavy cream ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation Place sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and drizzle water over sugar. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the sugar dissolves and begins to bubble. Do not stir. Boil

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Chex Crust 2½ cups Chex cereal (any flavor you want) 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted Cheesecake Filling 24 oz. cream cheese, softened 8 oz. sour cream ½ cup brown sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 eggs 1 cup peanut butter

Preparation To Make the Chex Crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a -9inch springform pan and line it with parchment paper.

Crush the Chex cereal into small pieces, add the melted butter and combine. Press the crust into the prepared spring form pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Set aside to cool.

To Make the Muddy Buddies: While the cheesecake is cooling, prepare the Muddy Buddies.

Place the Chex cereal in a large plastic storage bag and set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter.

Microwave for 1 minute, stir until smooth and pour the mixture over the cereal.

Close the bag and shake until the chocolate mixture completely coats every piece of cereal.

Pour the powdered sugar into the bag of cereal, close it up and shake until all of the powdered sugar coats the Muddy Buddies.

When the cheesecake has cooled, top it with the Muddy Buddies and lots of candy, like M&M’s.

Melinda Strauss is a food blogger, food photographer and recipe developer. Her blog, Kitchen-Tested.com, with it’s easy to follow step by step photos and recipes, has made a name for itself in the kosher food industry. Melinda also hosts the only Kosher Food Bloggers Conference, which attracts kosher bloggers, chefs, cookbook authors and food industry professionals from around the world.

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Dating Dialogue

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

Dear Navidaters,

My question is not typical for this column, but I need some advice and figure that the panel can shed some light on my question. My son recently returned from his second year in Israel. The first year was a bit touch and go, but I believe his second year was very worthwhile for him and he did a great deal of maturing while away, aside from, of course, his learning.

My son is twenty and believes he is very mature. He is definitely more mature than he was when he left two years ago, but I still believe that he is young in many ways and needs parental guidance. My husband and I are having a serious problem with him now because he is of the belief that since he spent the past two years on his own to a certain degree, he no longer wants to be treated as a child.

He is used to calling his own shots in many regards and is not taking well to us giving him rules or advice.

For instance, we have strict curfews in our home. We believe they are reasonable, but he doesn’t believe that at his age, especially after in many ways answering to no one, that he has to abide by our rules. Or if he decides he wants to go away for the weekend, he doesn’t have to ask us if it’s O.K., but can just inform us that he won’t be home. Of course, we’d rather he asked, or at least check in with us. He doesn’t seem to want to be questioned too much about his comings and goings. Again, he insists he’s a grownup and should be respected as such and allowed to come and go as he pleases.

My husband and I are wondering whether you think we have to back off and let him do his own thing or whether we are still allowed to give him rules to follow. We’re really feeling uncertain at this point and can use some direction.

The feedback from our readers has been remarkable. In order to facilitate further discussion, you can now continue the conversation anonymously on our website. Every Sunday, we will upload the weekend’s most recent edition of What Would You Do If to the dating forum at thenavidaters.com. Join The Navidaters and your fellow TJH readers in a comprehensive dialogue with regard to dating, relationships and marriage. The forum will be moderated daily for everyone’s comfort and safety. See you there!

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

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The Panel

The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

C

learly, your son has gone to Israel as a teenager and is back now as a young adult. You all need to talk and to readjust to this new reality which means a new way of relating.

Old rules are no longer relevant and permission may not be the operative word. The goal is to communicate in a healthy way so that you avoid standoffs and showdowns but are comfortable and understand each other’s needs.

Prepare beforehand with your spouse and then open up a discussion with your son that will be the first of several discussions. Use the “sandwich method” first – be positive about his accomplishments during his two years in Israel. Be specific about the changes you have noticed in him – responsibility, politeness, neatness, davening, etc. Express your pride and your optimism in his continuing to grow and mature.

Then get into the heart of the matter. Tell him that he is now a young adult and you want to treat him that way but you also have needs. Then tell him that some of the matters that you want to discuss with him are car use, money, school, neatness, Shabbos plans, food needs, etc.

You want to hear his needs and you will be telling him your concerns and needs. Make sure he understands that all of you will try to work things out so that everyone’s needs are met. Obviously, he is living in your house and you are paying for his tuition, support, etc., but you should not need to bring this up. Keep it focused on mutual needs and a process for working things out and tweaking as you go. Use phrases like “what do you think is reasonable in this area?”

This will open the door to negotiations about staying out late, internet use, responsibilities around the house, and the like. You don’t have to cover everything in one sitting. Start the discussion and keep communication going at all times.

If there are other children at home, you may have implemented some house rules. These will apply to him as well, even though he is an adult. Some things may need to be tweaked but living at home means responsibility to the family and home. Be open to talking and negotiating but don’t give your son a free pass and a credit card. There are no privileges without responsibility.

This is a normal rite of passage for both parents and child. If you have a healthy parent/child relationship and understand that this is an evolving process, you will do fine.

whereabouts and abiding by a curfew are not only protective measure but a courtesy to the parents who give you shelter and lose sleep worrying about the safety.” At the Roundtable, you may outline your expectations in terms of contributing to the household (carpooling, shopping, cleaning, babysitting). Finally, urge him to get a job. Nothing encourages responsibility, courtesy and good manners more effectively than a demanding boss and an honest day’s work.

The Dating Mentor The Mother Sarah Schwartz, Schreiber, PA

R

abbi Kramer, dean of Bnos Chava Seminary, made the following observation. Girls returning home from Israel perceive themselves as ten years older than they actually are. Their parents, on the other hand, perceive their daughters as ten years younger. The challenge for both sides, that first year back, is to navigate that illusory 20-year age gap.

You son, like many of today’s young bochurim, had a free pass for two years. You supported him in Israel while all he had to do was learn – which he did for one year.

So now he’s back, twenty-years-old and smarter than his parents. I’ve got news for him: in most cultures Maturity entails Responsibility. Maturity entails Courtesy. Maturity entails expressing Appreciation.

Time to convene the Cohen/ Schwartz/Friedman (fill in your name) Roundtable; it doesn’t have to be in your dining room, sometimes the local pizza place works better.

You can start by saying, “Moishele, you’ve been away for a while, so we’d like to remind you about the House Rules and, yes, they apply to anyone sharing our living space (even Aunt Bertha!) Apprising parents of your

Rochel Chafetz

Y

ou sent your son to Israel for two years. He grew up and is now a full-fledged adult. I understand it must be hard for you to realize that and to let go because that means you have to let go of some of the control you have had as a parent and that may mean a little bit of loss of identity for you.

Well, now it is time for you to grow up as well and take some steps back. This is just the beginning. Later, when he will bring home a fine, nice young lady, you will have to take a few more steps back and it will continue on like that. He is 20-yearsold. You cannot micromanage his life, like you did when he was 15, 16 or 17. He has to be able to feel independent, and yes, to come and go without telling you or asking you every step of the way.

But you should sit down with him and tell him you view him as an adult and you understand his desire for independence but it would make you guys feel a bit more secure if he just told you about when he planned on going out or to let you know when he’s going to be away for the weekend. This way you can start to develop an adult relationship between the three of you instead of you being his mashgiach all the time. Otherwise he will resent you and he could possibly take steps back away from you.

Be open to talking and negotiating but don’t give your son a free pass and a credit card.

When he comes in, ask him how his day was. In the morning, ask him what his plans are. Wish him a great day. Tell him you love him and say goodbye, be safe and enjoy. You have to begin to cut the strings. Start now, little by little so that later, it won’t be as traumatic for you and you can still perverse and develop the connection between the three of you. Good luck.

The Single Irit Moshe

Y

ou sent your little boy away to learn and to grow into a man and he did. Now that he is home, you’ll have to get re-adjusted to the new young man he has become. What he is exhibiting and how he is behaving is very normal and to be expected. However, there is one thing you should make sure he does not forget while exerting his new found maturity and that is respect. Respect is a two way street and as much as he is looking for you to respect his newfound maturity and now wishes to live his life as an adult, in your household, you are still entitled to have set rules in which all dwellers, including him, need to abide by. Otherwise, it is time for your young man to move to the next stage of maturity, which consists of him getting a job, moving out and paying his own bills. In the meantime, invite him to a meeting to discuss and negotiate how you all can live together in harmony, under the same roof and feel respected, until he is ready to move onto the next adult stage as mentioned above.

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Pulling It All Together The Navidaters Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

I

like the advice of the panel, who are in unanimous agreement that your son is a twenty-year-old young man who requires more freedom than what you are accustomed to giving. You sent off a boy to Israel and an independent man returned. If he is your oldest child, this is a new experience for all of you. And with new experiences, come periods of trial and error. There is no book for this one … (maybe there is one at the local sefarim store.) As with any parenting issue, there are usually multiple opinions out there. It is our job as parents to find the game plan

that works for our unique family, taking into account the unique needs of both parents and children.

The first step that I believe may be in order now is a bit of “reframing.”

There are now three adults that live in your home. You, your husband, and your son. As a twenty-year-old man, he should have certain rights. There are certain things that should be understood. For example, you knock on his door upon entering, you don’t open his mail, when his phone rings, you

don’t ask, “Nu, who is it?”

What do you get in return?

Well, if he is being treated like an adult, he returns the gesture by behaving like an adult. On his end, he will be respectful, keep his belongings tidy, take on responsibility around the house, be courteous. The details will be worked out as a family, and they are different in every family, but the general idea is that your son is now a young adult. Hopefully, when you genuinely start thinking of your son as an adult in your own thoughts, the message will be delivered loud and clear to your son. You want him to rise to the occasion.

And now for the “details” that I mentioned a moment ago. I think you and your husband need to discuss amongst yourselves where you can find some wiggle room. For instance, you mention a “strict curfew.” This may be an area where you can practice flexibility. When your son was away, you had no idea where he was at any hour of the day. Sometimes that makes life easier. What you don’t know about, you can’t worry about. Now that he is home, and you see how the sausage is made, so to speak, it is unnerving.

However, I encourage you to bend on curfew. Give a little, get a little.

Respect his desire and right to spend Shabbos where he pleases. As I see it, at twenty-years-old, he doesn’t have to ask permission to go away for Shabbos. But don’t take a backseat and play the victim either. If you would like him to spend a Shabbos with you, ask him. Encourage him to invite his friends over. Tell him you would love to meet them. Respect his life and he hopefully will welcome you in. This is wonderful practice for you.

One day, G-d willing, your son will be married and not living at home at all.

As you become more yielding, the goal is that he become more respectful and courteous in response.

But as the parents, you will set the tone for this new dynamic. If your son is exhibiting behavioral problems, is a bad example for his siblings (which I am not sure he is based on your email.

I got the feeling that he is solely having a hard time with you wanting to know his whereabouts and wanting permission to go away for Shabbos), then you

Suddenly, you are told you mustn’t fly anymore but must once again behave like a caterpillar.

Impossible.

can reevaluate his living situation and how much financial support you will give him. Though not typical practice in our circles, remember that at 18 you are no longer financially responsible and he is welcome to find a place of residence that he finds suitable for himself.

Finally, give this some time. Everyone is readjusting to your son’s return, including your son. Imagine you are a caterpillar your entire life, and you become a butterfly; with beautiful wings that grant you the freedom to fly. Suddenly, you are told you mustn’t fly anymore but must once again behave like a caterpillar. Impossible. Or possible with enough enforcement and punishment, but you will wind up with one depressed butterfly.

I encourage my clients to explore the alternative as a way of coping with a current situation. Explore your alternative – that your son has returned from Israel and needs his hand held every step of the day. That he asks your permission for every little thing, that he isn’t spending time out of the house. That he calls you asking you for permission, “Mommy, I’d like to go away for Shabbos. Can I?” Now, that would be a problem in my opinion.

Mazel tov Mom and Dad … it’s a man!

Sincerely, Jennifer Mann

Esther Mann, LCSW and Jennifer Mann, LCSW are licensed, clinical psychotherapists and dating and relationship coaches working with individuals, couples and families in private practice in Hewlett, NY. To set up an appointment, please call 516.224.7779. Press 1 for Esther, 2 for Jennifer. If you would like to submit a dating or relationship question to the panel anonymously, please email thenavidaters@gmail.com.

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Dr. Deb

Shavuos It’s the Little Things

By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

S

honie was really nervous. Okay, she was really nervous last erev Shabbos when she was making dinner and the baby fell and needed to be rushed to the doctor at nearly the last minute. But this time, she was really nervous. The grocery stores were going to close if they hadn’t already and she was short on the cream cheese for the yom tov cheesecake!

She quickly barked orders to Miriam and Avi. She had the roast in the fleishig oven; that would be good for a while. The children were being supervised. Okay with that. But it was really, really late. What if the store was about to close?

Shonie dashed out the door practically running into the mailman.

Thank G-d she didn’t! Oy, the traffic. How will she get there on time?

She started to lean on her horn. She gave people irritated looks. Ah! There were still plenty of people in the parking lot. Oy. Too many people. Wait!

There’s a spot! She dashed in just before an older woman pulled up. Hah. Cut the scene here.

Why exactly was Shonie rushing to the store? Oh, yeah. To get the cheese for the cheesecake. The Shavuos cheese cake.

Shavuos.

What’s Shavuos? Oh, yeah. It’s about the Torah.

Torah? What Torah? – “I HAVE to make this cheesecake!” Shonie, luckily, did not say, “Forget the Torah!”

But her actions said it. It’s the little things, after all.

I live on a very busy corner. Every time I hear a horn I would like to rush outside to the car whose owner

is embroiled in his or her own world and say, “No, thank you.” No. I’m not interested in your noise.

Oh, it wasn’t for me? Well then, who, exactly was it for – yourself?

There’s a word for that. (My next article will be about narcissism. Ahem.)

Please understand: I am not chastising you. Chas v’chalilah. So many of you have been wonderful to me in the last months of my husband’s illness and then petira. I could not thank you all enough. You’re good souls. Very good. Trouble is, we are all good souls. Yet we hurt others.

Like, for example, Joe. He bounded up out of bed at 4:45.

Crazy early. He could not sleep. He had a presentation this morning for his boss and a bunch of big guys from his company. He’d been working for months on his project. He was a nervous Nelly. He got out of bed – no point wasting time there – and proceeded to get dressed.

Susan, his wife, got up about a half hour later. She heard unusual noises and went to investigate. When she found her husband in the kitchen and she innocently asked him what he was doing up so early, he barked at her. Okay, he was uptight. Understandable. But Joe is a devout person.

He honors the Torah; he davens and even makes time to learn. A good man.

So what’s with the barking at his wife? It’s the little things, isn’t it?

See, you probably think I’m being a nit-picker. “Sheesh, Dr. Deb. People are human. Cut us some slack.” But it’s not about Shonie. Or Joe. Or for that matter the honkers on my corner. It’s about Miriam and Avi, Sho-

nie’s children. It’s about the elderly woman who Shonie beat into the parking spot. It’s about Susan…

THE KIDS

As soon as Shonie was out the door, Miriam and Avi started grumbling at each other. Well, that’s normal. Kids will do that. But Miriam was not in a good mood since the morning. She received a poor mark on her test – not a good beginning for the last year of middle school when she has to compete with everyone for the right high school. She was down and nervous.

Avi would not be the kid to distract his sister with jokes or games.

He didn’t care. He was a great kid; don’t get me wrong. He did well in school. He was polite. He worked hard. What more do you want?

He’s just a kid, after all. Right?

But what about the little things?

THE ELDERLY WOMAN

The lady who was trying to get to the parking spot that Shonie took was very sad. True, on erev Shabbos, she ought not to be sad. But she was coming down with something that gave her a fever. That meant she could not stay with her children on Shabbos; she didn’t want to make her grandchildren sick. And she certainly didn’t want to infect her daughter or her son-in-law either. They had enough on their plate.

So she would be home this Shabbos, alone. The first week alone since she lost her husband.

She needed a hand reaching out in compassion, not a parking spot stolen.

THE WIFE

Susan had been really trying.

Majorly trying. She wouldn’t see Joe from one day to the next because of this project. But this was not the first project, either. He worked from morning to night and she had been patient. Patient enough to go to the doctor without him when she became suspicious of a lump that shouldn’t have been there.

And the reward? This?

You see, it’s the little things that make a life.

Life is nothing if not for the smile you wish you got, the graciousness in the parking lot, the warm hand on your shoulder from a friend. A wink from a friendly spouse.

So what do you do if you are too stressed to do all the right things?

Ah. That’s the real question. You can do deep breathing. You can take yoga; you can exercise; you can tell yourself that Hashem has got you covered and what is meant to be will be the right thing. Because from His vantage point, everything is tov. You can do whatever it takes to de-stress so that your encounters with others will lift them up and not crash them down.

It’s amazing how little it takes to raise a person’s spirits and help get them through bad moments.

I should know.

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn is a Marriage and Family Therapist. She can be reached at 646-54-DRDEB or by writing drdeb@ drdeb.com.

Yeshiva of Far Rockaway

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The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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‫הננו מתכבדים בזה להזמנין‬ ‫את הורי ותלמידי הישיבה‬ ‫ואת כל הצבור של שכונתנו‬ ‫לבא ולהשתתף בשמחתנו‬ ‫שמחת התורה‬ ‫לרגל‬

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

A Fulfilled L fe

No Child Left Behind

By Rabbi Naphtali Hoff

A

few years ago I had the privilege of attending a seminar for school leaders delivered

by Dr. Rick Lavoie. Dr. Lavoie is an internationally recognized expert with a particular expertise in the area of special education.

One of the key thrusts of his address focused on inclusion, that schools should be more receptive to meeting the needs of “special” children. He implored us, as school leaders, to orchestrate a paradigm shift within our institutions by raising the inclusionary banner. We need to impress upon our teachers the need to assist these children and empower them to do so most effectively.

Some of the ideas that he presented relate to how we perceive children with special needs. In his words, “these kids aren’t problems, they have problems.” The same way that we demonstrate compassion and understanding for children who are physically handicapped or are enduring a health crisis, lo aleinu, we must also be highly considerate of children with learning handicaps.

Sometimes this consideration must be in the form of not taking their behaviors personally, even when they exhibit disruptive or defiant conduct. Dr. Lavoie reminded us that “hurt people hurt people,” and that kids need love most when they deserve it least, simply because they may not get it elsewhere, or that their entire school experience has been one of shame and failure.

He also reiterated a truism that we all know but often forget – that fairness is not synonymous with equality. Rather, fairness means to give everyone what they need; we simply cannot approach education from the perspective that one size fits all. We must be flexible, resilient and willing to try new ideas. He quoted the words that once hung in FDR’s office: “Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t work, do something else.”

There is another aspect to special education that is often overlooked, namely the significant impact that these children have on their families. Dr. Lavoie shared two reveal-

ing pieces of information that shed much light on these challenges. One was a study that concluded that “the parental reaction to the diagnosis of learning disabilities is more severe and more profound than any other diagnosis.” This statement includes diagnoses of handicap, severe illness, and debilitation.

This reaction is so strong that nine times out of ten, parents engage in some form of coping mechanism before arriving at a level of acceptance of a special needs diagnosis.

Responses include, but are not limited to, denial (nothing’s wrong, it’ll go away), blame (someone is at fault for this), mourning (what will become of him? Will he ever achieve independence?), anger, guilt, and envy (it’s not fair; why me?).

A primary reason for this resistance relates to the onset; there is typically no warning for the first conversation with school staff to discuss a child’s challenges. Parents who thought that their child was fine and generally capable are suddenly faced with a new, daunting reality.

He then offered a startling statistic to reinforce just how much of an effect such children can have on their families. While the average divorce rate in U.S. is (a not insignificant) 45%, 71% of families with severe special needs kids will divorce or at least separate for extended periods!

He concluded by restating the need for the educational community to do what it can to not only meet these children’s academic and emotional requirements, but to offer support to their families, the people that live with these children and are often consumed by their needs.

The importance of each individual is certainly something that we are all aware of. We know from the very outset in this week’s parsha that Hashem loves each of us, independently and collectively, and views our very existence as an opportunity to demonstrate that love.

The L-rd spoke to Moshe … saying, “Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by families following their fathers’

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

houses; a head count of every male according to the number of their names.” (Bamidbar 1:1-2) Because they were dear to Him, He counted them often. When they left Egypt … when [many] fell because [of the sin] of the golden calf … when He came to cause His Divine Presence to rest among them … on the first of Iyar, He counted them. (Rashi to verse 2) But sometimes we get so bogged down by our own needs and responsibilities, and forget that to be part of His nation means to share His devotion, compassion and love with every Jew, particularly those who need it most.

Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky, shlita, addressed the convention a few hours after Dr. Lavoie’s session had concluded. He commented that kabolas haTorah was experienced not by individuals, but by an entire nation, millions of people who stood around Har Sinai with a singular sense of

purpose and destiny.

They journeyed from Rephidim, and they arrived in the desert of Sinai, and they encamped in the desert, and Israel encamped there op-

Torah. They speak directly to its fundamental status as a national Guide, a means through which we learn to better interact and appreciate one another. They also serve as the basis

Hashem loves each of us, independently and collectively, and views our very existence as an opportunity to demonstrate that love. posite the mountain. (Shemos 19:2) And Israel encamped there: [using the singular form, denoting that they encamped there] as one man with one heart. (Rashi ibid) Unity and communal connectivity are prerequisites for receiving the

for our own personal acquisition of its wisdom. “The knowledge of the Torah can be acquired only in association with others.” (Berachos 63b) There is no question that Dr. Lavoie’s appeal is easier said than

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done. Not only does it require a paradigm shift, a fundamental change in the way that we think about education, but it also demands a commitment to support, academically, socially, and emotionally, those who we have thus far viewed as nuisances to avoid rather than challenges to embrace. But if we, as a community, are to fully embrace the concept of providing our children with a meaningful Jewish education, then we cannot be satisfied with meeting the needs of only those who fit more readily within the educational box.

Rabbi Naphtali Hoff is an executive coach and consultant and President of Impactful Coaching & Consulting (www.ImpactfulCoaching.com).

He can be reached at (212) 470-6139 or at nhoff@impactfulcoaching.com.

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Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

Troubling news for Hillary Clinton. The FBI says as part of its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails, it may call her in to speak to them. No word yet on how much Hillary’s planning to charge.

– Conan O’Brien

Gorilla deserved it.

- Message posted on a tampered electronic road sign in Dallas last weekend

A study by the Pew Research Center determined that more millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 are living with their parents than at any other point in history. Millennials were happy to take the poll, while their parents were proud of them for finishing the poll - James Corden

Trump criticized Hillary Clinton over the weekend, claiming that her views are “just words” read off a teleprompter. But Hillary denied it, saying, “I’ve had these speeches memorized since I was six.”

– Jimmy Fallon

He was entirely justified in his conduct, and frankly should be commended. From what I can see, he performed a public service in taking out this fella.

The fella asked for what he got, and he got it.

Bernie said yesterday that his critics call him “Santa Claus” because of his white hair. Then Santa said, “Yeah — even I don’t promise people THAT much free stuff.”

– Jimmy Fallon

It’s the story that I witness every single day, when I wake up in a house that was built by slaves.

– First Lady Michelle Obama during a commencement speech at City College in New York last Friday, while talking about diversity

It doesn’t matter whether you need insurance, pizza, a Buick. You basically can stock your whole household with stuff this guy is selling.

- President Obama joking about Peyton Manning when the Denver Broncos visited the White House this week

- Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler declaring at a press conference that a Pennsylvania pharmacy owner who shot and killed an alleged robber will not face charges

Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun. You have my support.

They’re finally catching up to our 2002 network

- Philippine’s president-elect Rodrigo Duterte during a televised address, urging citizens with guns to shoot and kill drug dealers who resist arrest and ruin their neighborhoods

- Verizon’s reaction to Sprint now using the actor from its “Can you hear me now?” commercials

MORE QUOTES

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The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

21

At a rally in California yesterday, Bernie Sanders said that if he winds up being the Democratic nominee, “Donald Trump is toast.” Incidentally, “toast” is also what Donald Trump’s tanning bed is set to.

– Seth Myers

We were in this land since before Abraham. I am not saying it. The Bible says it. The Bible says, in these words, that the Palestinians existed before Abraham. So why don’t you recognize my right?

-Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas making a bizarre claim on Palestinian TV

Yesterday, a North Korean official turned down an offer by Donald Trump to visit the country and meet with Kim Jong Un, saying the offer is “propaganda” and “nonsense.” This doesn’t make Trump look good. You know you’re in trouble when the leader of North Korea is like, “I can’t associate myself with that guy.”

– James Corden

I’m not Michael. I’m not Ali. I’m not nobody else that’s done so many great things for sport. I am who I am, and if I’m able to go out and put together a game like that, it wasn’t because I was possessed. It’s because I worked on my craft all season long and that’s the result of it. Phil’s a great coach. Mike’s a great player. But I am who I am.

The electronics company LG identified a new phenomenon called low-battery anxiety. People become nervous, distracted, and frustrated when their phones are about to die. If you are not familiar with low-battery anxiety, it’s a real condition that primarily affects people with no actual problems.

– James Corden

According to a survey, a third of people will drop everything to go and charge their phone. Like what, is there a doctor in the middle of surgery and he’s like, “I need to split, guys, I’m at 5 percent. Ted, where you at? At 20? Cool, can you put a heart in this guy?”

– Ibid.

Donald Trump is floating another conspiracy theory which suggests that Hillary Clinton is a murderer.

Today Bill Clinton said, “Trust me, if that lady could kill, I would not be alive.”

– Conan O’Brien

- LeBron James responding to Phil Jackson’s assertion that he should play more like Michael Jordan in the Finals, who played like “a man possessed”

Israel’s performance has inspired the entire world, and it’s important for us to be in Israel. Technology here improves by about 10 times every five years.

I hope they have kidnapping insurance.

- Dell CEO Michael Dell at the Dell Future Ready conference in Tel Aviv this week

- Trump on Fox News responding to the PGA moving the 2017 World Golf Championship to Mexico instead of holding it at Trump Doral in Miami

You couldn’t get the truth from Hillary Clinton if you waterboarded her.

- Trump advisor Barry Bennett talking about Hillary Clinton’s penchant for dishonesty, on CNN

You here in this beautiful city know the horrors, the losses associated with gun violence are just unimaginable.

– Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally in Saint Bernardino referring to the heinous radical Islamic terror attack that took place there last December as “gun violence”

Burger King has merged a Whopper with a burrito to make a Whopperito. So take note, Donald Trump: That’s how you Make America Great Again!

– Conan O’Brien

MORE QUOTES

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said that he might run for president of the United States later on down the line. When they heard, the Republican Party asked him, “Can you start tomorrow?”

– Conan O’Brien

- Jimmy Fallon

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– Daniel Birnbaum, the CEO of popular Israel-based SodaStream, at the Ambassadors Against BDS International Summit

Bernie Sanders campaigned in California yesterday ahead of the state’s Democratic primary, and even checked out the famous carousel at the Santa Monica Pier. But it got a little awkward when the music stopped and Bernie still wouldn’t admit that the ride was over. “This is gonna be a contested carousel!”

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23

After weeks of hesitation, Paul Ryan finally endorsed Donald Trump for president on Thursday.

When asked what influenced his decision, Ryan said, “Xanax. Lots and lots of Xanax.”

– Jimmy Fallon

This is the best planet. We need to protect it, and the way we will is by going out into space. You don’t want to live in a retrograde world where we have to freeze population growth.

-Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the Code Conference

Donald Trump is continuing to draw criticism for his claims that Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s Mexican heritage makes him unfit to preside over a lawsuit against Trump University, despite the fact that Curiel was born and raised in Indiana. And when Trump found that out, he said, “Oh, no, he’s an Indian, too?”

– Seth Myers

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Political Crossfire

Unified in our Political Acrimony

By Michael Gerson

I

f there is any unifying theme in our degraded political discourse, it is the belief that the other ideological side is mainly responsible for degrading the discourse. Both hard right and hard left argue that the other guys started it and act with greater ruthlessness, and that the time has come, by gum, to take off the gloves, play by their rules and finally kick some ideological ... assumptions.

We are seeing a perfectly symmetrical belief that the provocations of politics are asymmetrical.

This might be mildly humorous if it were not undermining the practice of democracy at every turn.

Donald Trump supporters have finally found a candidate willing to speak the language of conservative talk radio, even though he is not actually a conservative. The tone of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter is enough. No more of that politically correct rubbish about civility, mutual respect, reasoned argument, honesty, policy sophistication, ethical rectitude and basic decency. What we need is strength. The presumptive Republican nominee – amazingly – is running on a

promise to restrict the ability of the press to criticize him.

On some progressive college campuses, restricting the speech and associational rights of people you don’t like has become a schoolsanctioned club sport. And it is hard to throw a dead hedgehog without hitting an academic who will argue that all morality is a linguistic game, or a neural epiphenomenon, or a strategy of class privilege, and that politics and everything else, deep down, is a matter of power. This is education on the theory that the world needs more little Nietzsches.

There seem to be a lot of people nowadays who view the purpose of politics as stigmatizing and silencing your enemies.

Into this polluted political atmosphere comes a different sort of academic, who might be described as a democratic environmentalist.

John Inazu, a professor at Washington University and a rising young constitutional scholar, has written a timely, valuable book titled Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Dif-

ference. Inazu is proposing a national cleanup effort to make our public life more pleasant and productive.

This involves, first, a legal order that is genuinely pluralistic – a liberal society willing to accommodate non-liberal communities within it. People have a right, in Inazu’s view, to associate in groups, and those groups – even the ones that we don’t like very much – should (generally) be treated the same in public forums. Inazu defines “public forums” broadly, as everything from access to the sidewalk for protests to tax breaks for nonprofits.

Associations should generally be shielded from majoritarianism, except when they plot mayhem.

This is easy to accept in theory. In practice, according to Inazu, it means all of us must be willing to “endure strange and even offensive ways of life.” For some, this may be a Catholic or Muslim religious institution that withholds certain offices from women, or a college that educates only women, or a Mormon Tabernacle Choir that admits only Mormons.

What is frightening about Inazu’s account is how weak the foundations

are in current legal interpretation for this type of generous pluralism. The Supreme Court has delivered contradictory guidance. Inazu would prefer to see pluralism protected by the forgotten right of peaceful assembly. But, as

of our cultural conflict (as I probably did at the start of this column). People with strong differences still manage to find a “modest unity” in pursuit of local, concrete goals – building a park or improving a school – as well as to model friend-

Tolerance, humility and patience are not the ornaments of a democracy, they are its essence.

it stands, some of the most important theories and practices of our democracy, argues the author, have “almost no constitutional protection under current doctrine.”

The second part of Inazu’s book advocates for a cultural order that upholds pluralism through the practice of democratic virtues such as tolerance, humility and patience. Here the charge has come that the author is being naive – trying to throw a tea party in the midst of a civil war.

Inazu answers, calmly, that we should not overestimate the bitterness

ship across ideological divisions.

On the other hand, we should not downplay the stakes. Tolerance, humility and patience are not the ornaments of a democracy, they are its essence. They allow us to live at peace amid deep disagreement.

Those on the right or the left who undermine pluralism and dismiss democratic values are, in fact, bullies. And there is no real freedom lived at their mercy. (c) 2016, Washington Post Writers Group

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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Political Crossfire

Lovable Bernie Whacks Israel

By Charles Krauthammer

P

art of Bernie Sanders’ charm is that for all of his arm-waving jeremiads, he appears unthreatening. He’s the weird old uncle in the attic, Larry David’s crazy Bernie. It’s almost a matter of style.

Who can be afraid of a candidate so irascible, grumpy, old-fashioned and unfashionable?

After all, he’s not going to win the nomination, so what harm can he do? A major address at the party convention? A say in the vice presidential selection? And who reads party platforms anyway?

Well, platforms may not immediately affect a particular campaign. But they do express, quite literally, the party line, a written record of its ideological trajectory.

Which is why two of Sanders’ appointments to the 15-member platform committee are so stunning.

Professor Cornel West not only has called the Israeli prime minister a war criminal but openly supports the BDS movement (boycott, divestment and sanctions), the most important attempt in the world to ostracize and delegitimize Israel.

West is joined on the committee by the longtime pro-Palestinian activist James Zogby. Together, reported The New York Times, they “vowed to upend what they see as the party’s lopsided support of Israel.”

This seems a gratuitous provocation. Sanders hardly made Israel central to his campaign. He did call Israel’s response in the 2014 Gaza war “disproportionate”

and said “we cannot continue to be one-sided.” But now Sanders seeks to permanently alter – i.e. weaken – the relationship between the Democratic Party and Israel, which has been close and supportive since Harry Truman recognized the world’s only Jewish state when it declared independence in May 1948.

West doesn’t even pretend, as do some left-wing “peace” groups, to be opposing Israeli policy in order to save it from itself. He makes the simpler case that occupation is unconscionable oppression and that until Israel abandons it, Israel deserves to be treated like apartheid South Africa – anathematized, cut off, made to bleed morally and economically. The Sanders appointees wish to bend the Democratic platform to encourage such diminishment unless Israel redeems itself by liberating Palestine.

This is an unusual argument for a Democratic platform committee, largely because it is logically and morally perverse. Israel did in fact follow such high-minded advice in 2005: It terminated its occupation and evacuated Gaza. That earned it (temporary) praise from the West. And from the Palestinians?

Not peace, not reconciliation, not normal relations but a decade of unrelenting terrorism and war.

Israel is now being asked – pressured – to repeat that same disaster on the West Bank. That would bring the terror war, quite fatally, to the very heart of Israel – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ben Gurion Airport. Israel is now excoriated for

declining that invitation to national suicide.

It is ironic that the most successful Jewish presidential candidate ever should be pushing the anti-Israel case. But perhaps not surprising considering Sanders’

to recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. But Sanders is consciously abetting it.

The millennials who worship him and pack his rallies haven’t lived through – and don’t know – the history of Israel’s half-century

That would bring the terror war, quite fatally, to the very heart of Israel – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ben Gurion Airport.

ideological roots. He is old left – not the post-1960s, countercultural New Left. Why, the man honeymooned in the Soviet Union – not such fashionably cool communist paradises as Sandinista Nicaragua where Bill de Blasio went to work for the cause or Castro’s Cuba where de Blasio honeymooned. (Do lefties all use the same wedding planner?)

For the old left, Israel was simply an outpost of Western imperialism, Middle East division. To this day, the leftist consensus, most powerful in Europe (which remains Sanders’ ideological lodestar), holds that Israeli perfidy demands purification

by Western chastisement.

Chastisement there will be at the Democratic platform committee. To be sure, Sanders didn’t create the Democrats’ drift away from Israel.

It was already visible at the 2012 convention with the loud resistance

of peace offers. They don’t know of the multiple times Israel has offered to divide the land with an independent Palestinian state and been rebuffed.

Sanders hasn’t lifted a finger to tell them. The lovable old guy with the big crowds and no chance at the nomination is hardly taken seriously (except by Hillary Clinton, whose inability to put him away reveals daily her profound political weakness). But when he makes platform appointees that show he does take certain things quite seriously, like undermining the U.S.-Israeli relationship, you might want to reconsider your equanimity about the magical mystery tour. It looks like Woodstock, but there is steel inside the psychedelic glove. (c) 2016, The Washington Post Writers Group

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Forgotten Her es

Avraham “Bren” Adan An IDF Hero

By Avi Heiligman

O

ne of the most iconic images in military history is the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in February 1945. The idea of raising a flag after a hard fought battle (in the case of Iwo Jima there was a lot of fighting still to come) was not lost on other countries. For Israel it was in 1949, after the last operation of the War of Independence, when a soldier raised an improvised flag near modern day Eilat. The soldier was Avraham Adan, who went on to a storied military career, serving in four wars.

Avraham “Bren” Adan was born in 1926 in Eretz Yisrael (called Palestine) which was controlled by the British. As with many adventurous youth, he joined the Palmach during WWII and became the backbone of the Israeli Army. After the British left in 1948 the former Palmach units morphed into IDF units, and Adan became a company commander of the 8th Battalion of the Negev Brigade.

Operation Uvda was to take land in the Negev held by the Jordanians that was originally supposed to belong to Israel under the 1947

UN Partition Plan. The city of Umm Rasharsh was captured in March 1949 without bloodshed and it extended Israel’s southern border. Reconnaissance officers noticed that a police station had been abandoned and sent both the Negev and Golani Brigades to capture it. The former reached it first and the 8th Battalion’s commander ordered a flag to be raised to claim it as part of Israel. Without a flag at the ready, the soldiers improvised with a sheet, a Magan Dovid torn from a medical kit and drew two ink stripes to complete the “Ink Flag.” A picture was taken of Adan climbing a pole to raise the flag.

For Adan, his military career was far from over because later that year he established Israel’s first Sherman tank unit. Just seven years later he was a lieutenant colonel in the 7 th Armored Brigade that defeated larger Egyptian units during the Suez War. He was the deputy commander of the Armored Corps through the swift victories in the Sinai during the Six Day War. Adan was a major general and the commander of the Armored

Corps when the Yom Kippur War broke out in 1973. The major intelligence services all failed in gathering information and reporting it back to headquarters of the impending Arab attacks. Adan’s unit, like almost every other IDF command, was caught off guard on Yom Kippur 1973. His command, the 162nd Division, was stationed on the northern portion of the Suez and bore the brunt of the initial Egyptian attack.

A third of his tanks were lost and he was wounded while leading a counterattack. Still, the division forced their way over the canal and deep into Egyptian territory.

Along with Ariel Sharon’s division, they took part in the bitter Battle of the Chinese Farm. It got its name from the IDF soldiers mistaking Japanese characters on machinery for Chinese and was labeled as such on maps. Initial attacks met with stiff Egyptian resistance but with the help of paratroopers the IDF pressed on the determined attack. After two days of heavy fighting, the Egyptians withdrew and the armored units, led by Adan’s division, controlled the passes over

the canal. An Egyptian brigade was destroyed and an entire field army was encircled by the 162nd division.

Adan recalled how the battle ended: In the meantime, the Egyptians were advancing from the south, and at the same time we were lying underneath camouflage nets and the equipment, while the paratroopers fought at night, and we saw that they were not able to clear the entire area.

I decided to take a calculated risk and, under cover of their fighting, I pushed all my crossing equipment, the rafts, to Sharon, and from six in the morning they began to make bridges over the tanks, under artillery fire. While he was building these bridges, and I was...we were sitting face-to-face with the Egyptian generals, and a completely new situation began.

It’s like going from hot to cold.

All of a sudden you meet people who are your enemies, and they speak to you...talks were... had a very humane nature,

The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

Major General Avraham Adan (right) with Defense Minister Moshe Dayan during the 1973 Yom Kippur War

because at first there were shots exchanged on the various fronts, and the Egyptians said, “Look, we’re sorry, but it’s hard for us to control every unit in our army. If someone, some nut, starts shooting, please disregard it.” They made many, very human requests. They were in a terrible situation; their morale was very low; they made many requests. We

agreed to most of them. It was a very respectful atmosphere: we respected each other. But there were these requests, the Egyptian generals’ requests, who were trying to care for their soldiers, and afraid that it would develop into a war again.

And concessions on both sides... we finally managed to reach an agreement on separation of forces and cease-fire.

131

Raising the flag

After the war, Adan was one of the few commanding generals not reprimanded for not being ready for the surprise attack. Sharon, on the other hand, was reprimanded for not having his division properly prepared. He went on to serve as the commanding general of the Southern Command before being assigned to Washington as the IDF military attaché. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 85.

His legacy is that while under tremendous pressure and long odds, Adan didn’t waver and persevered throughout his long career in the IDF.

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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The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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HOUSES FOR SALE ATLANTIC BEACH 200 Feet of Unobstructed Open Bay The Unique Joining of Two Homes by a magnificent Indoor Heated Pool & fully Equipped Gym. 10 Bedrooms, 12 Baths, 3 Gas Fireplaces, Open Concept and Formal Living Spaces, Radiant Heated Floors, Finished Basements, Steel Bulkheads, 3 Piers, Mahogany Decking & Terraces, boat slip, Elevator, Handicap Accessible, CAC, Generator, State-of-the-Art Systems.

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The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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136

JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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The Jewish Home | JUNE 9, 2016

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ut Check oW our NE ! website

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LAWRENCE ON THE WATER

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BAYSWATER

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Classifieds

classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com / text 443-929-4003

HELP WANTED

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Sept. 2016, P/T and F/T for lower and middle school classes, Secular Studies, and Limudai Kodesh. E-mail resume to shira@cahal.org or fax to 516-295-2899.

Special Education Rebbe for Lower Grade Help Wanted Experienced Real Estate Sales agent needed for a HIGH Producing real estate office who is seeking an opportunity to Earn & Learn more!!!

Call Today (516) 295-3000 x 128. All calls kept confidential.

SEEKING CERTIFIED SPECIAL ED TEACHER for well-known preschool in Far Rockaway.

Start fall 2016. Competitive package, pleasant working conditions Email resume to scohen@oonourwaylc.org GREAT OPPORTUNITY Looking for class B CDL DRIVER with clutch for a heimishe lumber co.

Great pay, Call: 718-369-3141 Ext. 348

YESHIVA SECRETARY Yeshiva near Brooklyn/5 Towns Seeking help during Dinner Campaign.

Detail oriented and ability to multi task Yeshiva experience a plus Morning Hours, Immediately after Pesach Send Resume to officepositionhire@ gmail.com 5TOWNS BOYS YESHIVA SEEKING ELEM TEACHERS. Exc working env’t, supportive admin, exc pay Lic’d & experienced preferred.

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Classifieds

classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com / text 443-929-4003

HELP WANTED

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CATAPULT LEARNING Teachers for Title I in Boro Park andWilliamsburg Chassidic boys schools *College/Yeshiva Degree Required *Strong desire to help children learn *Excellent organizational skills *Small group instruction *Competitive salary Email resume: nyteachers@catapultlearning.com.

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CLERICAL POSITION F/T for Queens office Proper candidate will have: good computer skills, ability to multi-task and office experience.

Prior early intervention experience a plus. Will Train.

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Fax Resume 718-261-3702 Att. Bella Or email: cara.challenge2@thejnet.com SERVICE COORDINATOR POSITION BA in Health or Human Services or 2 yrs of SC exper.

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Middle school teachers: M.-Th, 2-4:30 pm.

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JUNE 9, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Your

Money

Barry Good!

By Allan Rolnick, CPA

H

umorist Dave Barry entertained millions of readers with his nationally syndicated column from 1983 to 2004. Along the way, he earned a Pulitzer Prize for commentary, inspired a television series (Dave’s World), and even, after mocking the cities of Grand Forks, South Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, earned the honor of having a sewage pumping station named after him.

Dave’s slowed down in recent years, but he always had a lot to say about taxes. So here are some of our favorite Dave Barry quotes for your quick enjoyment: “It’s income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta.”

“We’ll try to cooperate fully with the IRS, because, as citizens, we feel a strong

patriotic duty not to go to jail.”

“Big business never pays a nickel in taxes, according to Ralph Nader, who represents a big consumer organization that never pays a nickel in taxes.”

whose idea of a dynamite tax tip is that you should print neatly. If you ask them a real tax question, such as how you can cheat, they’re useless.”

“The question is: What can we, as citizens, do to

body has to contribute his or her fair share in the form of taxes. And when I say ‘everybody,’ I mean, ‘not everybody.’ Because the truth is that a lot of people don’t pay taxes. Poor people, for example. Also many rich people. Also a fair number

“We’ll try to cooperate fully with the IRS, because, as citizens, we feel a strong patriotic duty not to go to jail.”

“[American tax laws] are constantly changing as our elected representatives seek new ways to ensure that whatever tax advice we receive is incorrect.”

“The IRS spends G-d knows how much of your tax money on these tollfree information hotlines staffed by IRS employees,

reform our tax system?

As you know, under our three-branch system of government, the tax laws are created by: Satan. But he works through the Congress, so that’s where we must focus our efforts.”

“If our government is going to be able to provide for the common good, every-

of middle-income people.”

“Q. At 9 a.m. today, I made large cash contributions to both major political parties. As of 1:30 this afternoon, the federal government had still not enacted special tax-break legislation just for me. What kind of country is this?

A. Unfortunately, be-

cause of the high demand, the federal government can no longer provide “same-day service,” but if you do not see action by noon tomorrow, you should contact your personal congressperson; or, if you are staying in the Lincoln Bedroom, simply stomp on the floor.”

This week it seems especially appropriate to remind you that there’s nothing funny about overpaying your taxes, and there are no Pulitzer Prizes waiting for people who do it. The solution, of course, is a plan to pay less. So make sure you have a plan of your own and have a laugh at the expense of everyone else who doesn’t have one!

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 yea rs in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

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Life C ach

Blessed or Blasted?

Musings of a Groom

By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

“H

e’s got a big heart but a bigger mouth!”

“He did really well at test ‘taking.’ The teachers weren’t happy about it but the kids were – he shared them with all his friends!”

Sometimes at an aufruf we hear the strangest things about a guy. Some of it is just light humor or reminiscing.

Some, really hit hard. One father of the bride said at an aufruf that I attended, “My wife usually hates to miss any event, but I’m glad she’s home with my daughter this week, and not here at this aufruf. If she heard how they are tearing apart this guy she’d probably call off the wedding!” So how’d this tradition start and is it a good idea?

In the time of the Temple there was a special entrance made for grooms. This way people knew to bless him.

Today, in temple, grooms are called up for an aliyah and given blessings by the entire congregation. Entering into this new stage of life, one is wished blessings, especially

to have a family. Furthermore, a groom is likened to a king. A king was supposed to write a Torah and always have one with him. One reason was so that in this elevated status he did not get carried away with himself.

This is an important time in a man’s life to be made aware of the Torah. It is their guide

someone gets stuck thinking, “I’m the man!” he could possibly forget that he’s really the hu-man!

His cohorts are just trying to let him know: Sure you’re a great guy, but not too great.

I’m almost betting the bride’s parents put the friends up to this job time and again.

Probably some secret ancient

up his socks from his side of the bed, and tune in to the all that stuff that is not said, which, in her opinion, he should figure out anyway.

Now that last job is not an easy one, and certainly not easy for someone who is too full of himself to be hearing the silences. So the aufruf makes him the center, but

When someone gets stuck thinking, “I’m the man!” he could possibly forget that he’s really the hu-man! for a good marriage.

So why are people poking jokes at the king? Well, it’s sort of the same thing as having the inspiration with him. He needs perspective!

It’s important to keep this guy humble. Today, he’s the star of the show. But in that union he’s got to remember maybe he’s the king, but he’s marrying a queen. He needs to know he’s got flaws and shortcomings too. When

tradition passed down from parents-of-the-bride to parents-of-the-bride.

Reminding him of his history also conveys a message.

You’ve got to see yourself as a work in progress. Look at all the crazy stuff you did in the past, and the fact that you have grown, hopefully, since doing that. So, there’s always room to grow!

He’s got to be ready to take out the garbage, pick

also takes him down a notch or two – not necessarily the worst thing.

Strangely, usually at the same time, there is a Shabbas Kallah going on. All the bride’s friends come over and talk about what an amazing person she is. Only! Not a negative word is on the roster! Could the bride’s parents be behind this tradition as well? Or does she just have a better PR person?!

Aufruf means “calling him up” but maybe what they really meant to be saying is “calling him out.” You know, not letting him get away with stuff. Whatever the reason is for this tradition of teasing, cajoling, poking fun at, or gently nudging the guy, I think the important thing is to remember it’s all done in good faith. These are his best of friends doing it, not some random strangers.

Maybe the real message they are there to convey is: no matter what your flaws are, you are a lovable guy! So if sometimes you feel a little unattended to, underappreciated, or called out about something, remember you are still a lovable guy. You’re with your new best friend, and just like us, she can love you even when you’re not perfect!

Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com

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