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January 10, 2019

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Community 68 Record Attendance at YKLI 23rd Annual Dinner

66 Community Comes out in Support at Achiezer Gala

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

"`ad m‫ל‬er oa `edy e‫ ל‬ghan mei ‫ל‬ka zek‫ל‬d dpeyd ‫ל‬k"

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Mr. & Mrs. dov & esther KarfunKel Guests of Honor

‫לע׳׳נ הר׳׳ר יחיאל מיכל‬ ‫בן הר׳׳ר ישראל יהודה ז׳׳ל‬ in memory of His fatHer

r’ mecHel KarfunKel z”l

Mr. & Mrs. Meir & MalKa fried parents of tHe year

Mr. & Mrs. Pinny & taMar hesKiel younG leadersHip award

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13 2019

‫ז‘ שבט‬ ‫תשע‘‘ט‬

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This sunday the darChei dinner at the yeshiva 257 beacH 17 tH stree t

far rocKaway, new yorK 11691

5:30 pm buffet dinner 7:00 pm proGram MeMorial tribute to rabbi yehuda harbater ‫ע”ה‬

Our devoted executive director for over thirty years

The viTal role of moThers in The chinuch of Their children Special Chinuch address by the Rosh HaYeshiva

harav yaaKov bender

dessert reception witH

mordechai ben david A Darchei Grandparent

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers,

I

are, just a few years after last elections, and they’re set to be held again. At the core of the government’s collapse, and indeed the elections in general, is the thirst for power. It’s every person thinking that their way of thinking or managing the country is the right way. Alliances are formed, but even they are a tit-for-tat relationship, a what’s-in-it-for-me.

Hey, it’s politicians being politicians. And that’s why they go into the industry.

In a recent article, Rabbi Berel Wein noted that President Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, “did not even bother to campaign away from his front porch in the 1924 election in the United States.” (Coolidge had taken over the presidency after President Harding unexpectedly died in 1923.) Coolidge was an extreme exception from what we have come to expect from our politicians. During his time in politics, Coolidge earned the nickname “Silent Cal,” as he would frequent parties with his wife when he was vice president and would barely speak. One story has it that a woman, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, “I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you.” Coolidge replied, “You lose.”

Coolidge comes to mind when I think of Benny Gantz in the Israeli elections. The former military leader recently announced the founding of a new party, Hosen L’Yisrael, and yet he has remained silent since then. Gantz is set to speak about his aspirations this Thursday, and yet, despite his silence, his party is now predicting to be second in the polls – and that’s just from him keeping his mouth closed.

Coolidge once wrote, “The words of a president have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately.”

If only our politicians would keep that adage in mind. Then politics could be just a bit more entertaining.

think the only way to enjoy politics is to not take it to heart.

If we all just sat back and realized that much of it is a show, then many people’s blood pressures would drop to normal levels. So much of politics is rhetoric and fearmongering. If you elect him, terrorists are going to be banging on your door, China is going to be taking all your business, and North Korea is going to be breathing down your neck with nukes. That’s terrifying, but it’s also extreme.

Certainly, with every new person elected and every new party in charge, things will change. But life is dynamic. It’s supposed to change. Sometimes we appreciate the changes, and sometimes we hope that they end soon. I, for one, don’t like when my taxes balloon because someone decided my house is worth more than before. But that’s not going to be the end of me. I can manage it and handle it and maybe even change it. (I recently met with Don Clavin, the Receiver of Taxes for Town of Hempstead, who said it’s pretty easy to challenge your assessment on your own. He’s a really nice guy and is willing to help anyone who wants to work on it on their own. www.donclavin.com.) So there’s no need to think the apocalypse is coming soon.

In Israel, politics is way more entertaining than in the U.S. That’s because their system is so different than ours, with so many people vying for power and attempting to climb their way to the top of the heap. The names and the political parties involved continue to grow as Israel heads to elections on April 9. In fact, when preparing this week’s story on Israel’s upcoming elections, we had to rewrite it at least twice to update the new political parties that keep popping up, and it’s possible that between sending the paper to press and printing, another political bombshell would have dropped.

Who knows? At least Israelis are being entertained.

Israel’s system has so many moving parts, and that’s partly why it’s so tenuous. Elections are supposed to be held every four years, and yet, here we

Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana

Yitzy Halpern PUBLISHER

publisher@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Yosef Feinerman MANAGING EDITOR

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Nate Davis Editorial Assistant Nechama Wein Copy Editor Berish Edelman Adina Goodman Mati Jacobovits Design & Production Gabe Solomon Distribution & Logistics P.O. BOX 266 Lawrence, NY 11559 Phone | 516-734-0858 Fax | 516-734-0857 Classified: Deadline Monday 5PM classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com text 443-929-4003 The Jewish Home is an independent weekly magazine. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces­sarily 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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Friday, January 11 Parshas Bo Candle Lighting: 4:29 pm Shabbos Ends: 5:34 pm Rabbeinu Tam: 6:01 pm

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

8

COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll

8

Community Happenings

40

NEWS

39

Global

12

National

28

Odd-but-True Stories

34

ISRAEL Israel News

19

World Builders

92

More than a Three-Ring Circus: Israel’s Upcoming Elections 94 PEOPLE The Wandering Jew

88

The Strangest Battle of World War II by Avi Heiligman

124

PARSHA Rabbi Wein

82

Hashem’s “Bekeshe” by Rav Moshe Weinberger

84

Parsha in Four by Eytan Kobre

86

Dear Editor, I like reading your paper very much; as a matter of fact, my wife usually takes a few home every week from the store so there will be enough to go around the family. I always turn to the “notable quotes” column first. I find it easy to read, light, and entertaining. I have one critique, though, and I hope that you take it to heart.

Recently, you have been putting in a few quotes each week from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I cringe every time I read a quote from her. She is a like an empty barrel that is rolling along with a can inside. As she rolls, she gets louder and louder. And yet, there’s nothing there. She is a mere 29 years old! Think about what you felt like when you were 29. You felt like you owned the world and that you were on a trajectory to greatness. But if you were smart you realized that you didn’t know it all. There

were other people who were smarter and more experienced than you.

Ocasio-Cortez is part of a generation of people who don’t know their place. They think they know it all and are smarter than all the people who are older and more experienced than them. And for now, it seems that people are actually believing that she is wiser than her older peers.

They are allowing her to be a spokesperson for the party, and she is running with that mantle. It’s the story of a generation that is brazen, loud, and, for lack of a better word, full of chutzpah. Don’t give her a platform.

The networks out there are giving her free publicity with their coverage of her tweets and dancing. You are above that. And, believe me, we don’t need to keep more empty cans of hers rolling around.

Sincerely, Chanan Hertz Continued on page 10

HEALTH & FITNESS Why Can’t My Spouse See that I’m a Good Person?

by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

102

Your Shabbos Guide to Healthy Eating: Chicken Soup

by Cindy Weinberger, MS RD CDN

106

The Nearly Forgotten: Children of Divorce by Dr. Hylton I. Lightman 108 FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Spaghetti Squash Pomodoro

112

LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW The Big Business of Sports by Chaim Homnick Your Money

98 126 133

Weight Watchers

by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS 134 HUMOR

126

Centerfold 80 Schnitzel Shenanigans by Jon Kranz 93 POLITICAL CROSSFIRE

Notable Quotes

114

Trump’s Top 10 Successes in 2018 by Marc A. Thiessen

120

The 10 Worst Things Trump Did in 2018 by Marc A. Thiessen

122

CLASSIFIEDS

Are you directly affected by the government shutdown?

129

2

%

Yes

98

%

No

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

on Rabbi Kaminsky this week and couldn’t stop smiling. That was exactly how my experience went when I was in Kitov! And every time I would meet Rabbi Kaminsky, it was as if we never left off. He would be asking about my father, my learning, my wife’s family.

Rabbi Kaminsky was one-of-akind but you managed to capture this very special man.

May we share in only simchos, Y. Goldman

Continued from page 8

Dear Editor, A few weeks ago, a reader wrote in about the freedom he felt over Chanukah when his children didn’t have homework. I still think of his letter sometimes when the homework “chaos” is occurring in my house.

Although I believe that homework is important, I propose that schools have a set day once a month when there’s no homework. Perhaps it

could be on one of the days of Rosh Chodesh. Children would look forward to it, and parents will be able to enjoy one night with a bit of a lighter schedule.

Just food for thought…

Shirley N. Dear Editor, I read Naftali Halpern’s article

Dear Editor, Dr. Lightman’s article on resiliency is important for people to read.

Resiliency is the difference between people brushing themselves off after a failure and moving on. In fact, an important way to hone resiliency is to look at a situation that didn’t go well and analyze it. What went wrong?

How could I have improved? What can I learn from the situation? But don’t place blame when asking those questions. Use those questions to learn about how to grow from a failure.

This is a great strategy when dealing with children. Your milk spilled?

Well, what can we do next time to make sure that doesn’t happen again?

Perhaps she can put the cup closer to the middle of the table or make sure her elbow is not near her cup… This is a small example, but it builds. You see, in that example, the child doesn’t have to cry about the spilled milk.

She can learn from it and grow so she can succeed next time. You failed a math test? That’s upsetting. But what could you have done differently? Perhaps going over the math lessons every night would help. Or asking a friend to teach you the lesson. Or getting a good night’s sleep before the test and doing practice drills every night… Again, small things, but it teaches children that they can – and will succeed – the next time around.

Make sure to include children in the brainstorming session. Ask them probing questions and allow them to come up with the answers. They are smart, and they are resourceful. If you help them follow this strategy, they will turn into successful, resilient, confident teens and adults.

Rhoda Clemens

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

Please send all correspondence to: editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

Bike for Pay

Those living in the Netherlands are privy to colorful tulips, towering windmills, and twisting canals as they head to work. Imagine heading to work and seeing those scenes – as opposed to the graffitied subways we endure in New York.

The Netherlands has been trying to encourage its 17 million residents

to use the biking paths around the country. With 23 million bicycles, there are now more bikes than people! Recently, the Dutch government announced that it will invest $390 million in cycling infrastructure to get 200,000 more people commuting by bike in three years’ time.

Fifteen routes will be developed into “cyclist freeways” (highways that cater to those on bikes), 25,000 bike parking spaces will be created, and more than 60 bike storage facilities will be upgraded, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

“My ambition is to ensure that people can easily get to work or school, or visit family and friends,” said Stientje van Veldhoven, state secretary for that department, who is spearheading the project.

Not only that, the government has added that they will be paying people per kilometer to bike to work. A quarter of all trips made by Dutch residents are by bike. 25% of those trips are work-related. With so many people living so close to their place of employment, the government wants them to start using their feet to pedal to their jobs.

Today the Netherlands is known

MISHKON

for its cycling culture, but that hasn’t always been the case.

“In the 1960s and ‘70s, many Dutch cities were making more space for the car and cycling was at an alltime low,” noted Meredith Glaser, a researcher at the Urban Cycling Institute at the University of Amsterdam. It wasn’t until the late 1980s and early ‘90s that policies prioritizing cycling and walking were implemented.

The new cycling freeways include one between Amsterdam and Amstelveen, a suburb of the capital city.

Another links the northern university town of Groningen with Assen, a city located in Drenthe, known as the “cycling province” of the Netherlands.

law, which took effect on Sunday, was aimed at ensuring that the women’s husbands aren’t secretly ending their marriages, the Saudi Ministry of Justice said in a news release.

“Saudi courts have started to send such notifications ... a step aimed at protecting the rights of female clients and enhancing digital transformation with more services,” officials said.

Divorce Text

The text messages women are to receive about their marital status will include a certificate number and relevant court information, according to the government. Women could also access information about their status online and visit a court to access their divorce paperwork.

“In most Arab countries, men can just divorce their wives,” Suad

Women in Saudi Arabia who find themselves in a tough situation may finally feel free when they see an important text.

Recently, the kingdom announced that women in the country will now be informed – via text message – if they’re being divorced. The

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The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

Abu-Dayyeh, of the human-rights group Equality Now, told Reuters. “At least women will know whether they are divorced or not. It is a tiny step, but it is a step in the right direction.”

The new law marked the latest in a string of moves aimed at modernizing the Middle Eastern kingdom. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently overturned a ban on women driving and also ordered movie theaters to reopen again after more than 35 years.

Breath Test to Detect Cancer

A new device currently being developed in the UK could save countless lives by detecting cancer at an

early stage via a breathalyzer. Early detection can, in many cases, lead to best options for treatment, and unlike traditional biopsies, the “breath biopsy” is a non-invasive test.

The breathalyzer, which is undergoing a two-year trial at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, will test 1,500 individuals – both those with cancer and those without. Initial testing will screen for esophageal and stomach cancers, while later testing will be expanded to include kidney, liver, bladder, pancreatic, and prostate cancers.

Participants breathe into the device for 10 minutes, while the test collects airborne molecules called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

These VOCs are then sent to a Cambridge laboratory for analysis to determine whether there are any alterations in the regular patterns, which is seen as evidence of cancer.

Cambridge scientist Billy Boyle developed the breathalyzer following his wife’s death from colon cancer at the age of 36. Boyle described his late wife, Kate Gross, as “inspirational” and said her loss encouraged him to co-found development firm Owlstone Medical and assist others with getting early treatment.

360,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually within the UK. About half of these are only detected at a late stage. However, as technology advances, scientists are now able to detect cancer at early stages, when it’s as small as a fraction of a single grain of sand.

Brazil to Relax Gun Control Laws

New Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is about to significantly relax Brazil’s gun control laws to allow citizens to protect themselves in the world’s most murderous country.

Bolsonaro, who was sworn in

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last Tuesday, had made citizen gun ownership a major issue during his campaign. The former army officer says law-abiding citizens should be allowed to protect themselves from criminals and murderers in Brazil, a nation that leads the world in murders.

“We have to stop this politically correct thing, saying that disarming everyone will make Brazil a better place – it won’t,” said Bolsonaro in his first post-election interview. “All the hoodlums already have guns; it’s only the good guys who don’t!”

Currently, Brazilians who want to buy a gun must have no criminal history, be over 25 years old, and have to receive police approval. Gunowners must keep their firearms at work or at home; constant carry is forbidden and the permit expires after five years. These draconian regulations are seen as the central reason why only 1% of Brazilians are legally armed.

Bolsonaro’s new bill, however, would reduce the minimum age to own a gun to 21 and allows gunowners to carry their weapons in public.

The gun license would also be permanent.

The push to allow more citizens

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

1959 Communist Revolution. With the nascent island nation’s military in tatters, Fernandez played a major role in shaping Cuba’s army.

Fernandez played a major role in thwarting the U.S.-backed coup of Cuba in 1961. During the attempted coup at the Bay of Pigs, Fernandez kept his cool under fire and managed to prevent the 1,900 Cuban exiles from invading the island.

to arm themselves has been met with widespread approval as the murder rate in Brazil balloons. In October, a survey found that 41% of Brazilians agreed with arming law-abiding citizens.

With an annual homicide at 31 for every 100,000 people, Brazil now has more murders per capita than anywhere else in the world. The real murder rate is estimated to be much higher, as the government undercounts killings by as much as 15%.

“No one feels safe anymore…anywhere in Brazil,” San Paolo resident Ricardo Gouvea told the Wall Street Journal. “Everyone has a right to defend themselves.”

Did N. Korea’s Envoy to Italy Defect?

Bay of Pigs Cuban General Dies

The exiles had been trained by the CIA, who feared an ally of the Soviet Union that was located so close to the United States. Fernandez later said that he had won the battle due to “the firmness and decision of this people, not because of a professional army.”

For his actions at the Bay of Pigs, Cuba’s official communist newspaper called him a “Hero of the Republic”

Former Cuban Brigadier General Jose Ramon Fernandez, who played a significant role in building Cuba’s military, passed away at the age of 95 on Sunday.

Fernandez had commanded Cuba’s only officer school following the

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diplomats, coming to South Korea is not a choice but an obligation,” Thae wrote. “If you come to Seoul, more of our colleagues will follow after us and come to Seoul, and then the unification will happen on its own.”

Brushing away security considerations, Thae said that the tyrannical North Korean regime couldn’t get to him on the southern half of the Korean peninsula. “When you come to South Korea, you do not have to worry about personal safety. To protect me, several security guards stick closely and guard me every day,” said Thae. “The country also provides rental housing and resettlement funds until you safely settle down.”

Rescuer of Jewish Children Dies Where is North Korea’s top envoy to Italy?

Jo Song Gil, the rogue nation’s top representative to Rome, and his wife have been missing since late November. Now, new signs say that the two may have defected from the Hermit Kingdom and are in hiding.

First indications that Jo Song Gil defected to the West came from a top South Korean newspaper, which said that the chargé d’affaires is being debriefed by the United States.

Later reports said that South Korean President Moon Jae-in told his cabinet that Song Gil is in hiding in the United States.

Italy, meanwhile, refused to confirm that Song Gil had left his post and said that it did not have any more information about the matter. The missing envoy had been the North Korea’s top diplomat to Rome since 2017.

If reports are true, the defection would make the envoy Pyongyang’s most senior official to cross the lines since Thae Yong-ho, its top diplomat to the United Kingdom, disappeared in 2016. Ever since his defection, Thae has been described by Pyongyang’s state-run media as “scum” and as one who was fleeing arrest for criminal activity.

On Saturday, Thae penned an open letter to Jo Song urging him to move to South Korea and not to the United States.

“For you and me who are members of the people and North Korean

Georges Loinger, a French Jew who saved hundreds of children during the Holocaust, died on December 28 at a Paris hospital at the age of 108.

Loinger was celebrated for his actions during World War II when he sent 350 Jewish children over the border to Switzerland and safety.

Born in Strasbourg, Loinger was drafted into the French army and was shipped to a prisoner of war camp after being caught by the Germans in 1940. He escaped and joined the resistance organization, Oeuvre Secours aux Enfants, or O.S.E. There, Loinger coordinated efforts to save young Jews by sending them from Nazi-occupied France to neutral Switzerland.

Loinger employed various methods. Often, he would take the children to the border and kick a soccer ball over the unguarded territory.

The children who ran after the ball had no idea that they had just crossed over into safety.

“I spotted a football pitch that was on the border,” Loinger recalled, according to the BBC. “It was made

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

up of fences two-and-a-half meters high. I saw that there was nobody. I made the children play. I told some of them to lift up the fences, and I passed the ball.”

Other times, he dressed his charges in mourner’s garb and pretended to be part of a funeral procession heading to a cemetery that abutted the Swiss border. So as to not alert the unwitting children to what was going on, he once paid railway workers to greet them with signs reading “this exit for campers” as they disembarked from the train.

Loinger was forced to cease his efforts after Nazi soldiers started to guard the previously porous border in 1944. “The Italians left France and the Germans came in. It became too dangerous to play ball with the children like this. With the Germans, we didn’t play these games,” Loinger recalled.

Key to Loinger’s success in saving the children was his Aryan features.

His blond hair, blue eyes, and muscular build contributed to the fact that the Nazis never guessed that he was a Jew. Loinger was decorated for his actions during the war, later receiving the Resistance Medal, the Military Cross and the Legion of Honor.

Following the war, Loinger worked with the precursor to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency to smuggle Jews into pre-State Palestine and also served as a manager for the Paris branch of an Israeli shipping company.

Scorpion Venom to Cure Cancer?

People generally run away from scorpions, but Pepe Casanas hunts down a scorpion every month.

The 78-year-old Cuban farmer says that the scorpion’s venom wards off pain from rheumatism.

His natural remedy is no longer

seen as very unusual in Cuba. Researchers there have found that the venom of the blue scorpion, whose scientific name is Rhopalurus junceus, endemic to the Caribbean island, appears to have anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties and may even be able to delay tumor growth in some cancer patients.

While some oncologists abroad say more research is needed to be able to properly back up such a claim, Cuban pharmaceutical firm Labiofam has been using scorpion venom since 2011 to manufacture the homeopathic medicine Vidatox. Vidatox is sold in around 15 countries worldwide, and the company is in talks with China to sell the remedy there.

In Cuba, where tens of thousands of patients have been treated with Vidatox, each vial costs under a dollar.

On the black market abroad, it can cost a hundred times that; retailers on Amazon.com are seen selling them for up to $140.

“I put the scorpion where I feel pain,” Casanas said while demonstrating his homemade pain relief with a scorpion that he found under a pile of debris on the patch of land he cultivates in Cuba’s western province of Pinar del Rio. After squeezing it long enough, it stung him and he winced. “It hurts for a while, but then it calms and goes and I don’t have any more pain,” he said.

Casanas says he sometimes keeps a scorpion under his straw hat like a lucky charm. It likes the shade and humidity, he says, so it curls up and sleeps.

In a Labiofam laboratory in the southern Cuban city of Cienfuegos, workers dressed in scrubs and hairnets tend to nearly 6,000 scorpions housed in plastic containers lined up on rows of metal racks. Every few days they feed and water the arachnids that sit on a bed of small stones.

Once a month, they apply an 18V electrical jolt to their tails using a handcrafted machine in order to trigger the release of a few drops of venom. The venom is then diluted with distilled water and shaken vigorously, which homeopathic practitioners believe activates its “vital energy.”

The scorpions are caught in the wild as Labiofam workers believe their venom – which is not dangerous – is not as potent when raised in captivity. After two years of working in the “escorpionario,” they are released back into the wild.

39 Killed in Russian Apartment Collapse

39 people were killed after a highrise apartment bloc in the city of Magnitogorsk, Russia, collapsed.

The seventh entrance to the multi-story building disintegrated early on New Year’s Eve in what local authorities think is the result of a gas leak. Despite rumors, authorities ruled out claims that explosives had been found on the site. Gas explosions are common in Russia, especially in crumbling Soviet-era apartment blocs that have not been properly maintained.

Following the blast, Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes felonies, opened an investigation to determine whether inspectors were criminally negligent in declaring the building safe for habitation.

Among the dead were Igor and Anastasia Kramarenko, 31, and their 1 -year-old daughter Milana, a family of three that have become the face of the tragedy.

Following an inspection, engineers said that it was safe to move back into the non-damaged parts of the high rise. “Dear Residents!” read a sign. “An inspection found residing in apartments in entryway 10 is allowed.”

Many residents remained unconvinced. “They say, ‘It’s safe, you can return,’ but I don’t want to,” Yulia Valkyash told The New York Times.

“I want to live in safety.”

In the meantime, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev signed an order giving victims and their families 5 billion rubles as compensation for their losses. The local Chelyabinsk Oblast municipality announced that it will disburse another 93 million rubles.

American Held in Russia

A former U.S. Marine faces espionage charges after he was arrested in Russia last week.

Paul Whelan, 48, was detained in Moscow on December 28 and is accused of being a U.S. spy. Should he be convicted, he will face between 10 and 20 years in jail. Whelan’s family, meanwhile, says he was in Moscow for the retirement party of a fellow Marine.

Whelan is a citizen of the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. All four countries say that they will fight for his release and will coordinate together how to give Whelan consular support.

Whelan had been a police officer in his hometown in Michigan before enlisting in the U.S. Marines.

He served in Iraq in both 2004 and 2006. Later, Whelan was given a dishonorable discharge from the Marines after being convicted on larceny charges, including accusations that he embezzled $10,000 from the Marines and wrote $60,000 worth of counterfeit checks.

Following his discharge, Whelan visited Russia repeatedly and made frequent contacts on VKontakte, a Russian social media site. Russian officials point to the fact that the overwhelming majority of his contacts had connections to the Russian military to support their claims that he was a U.S. intelligence agent.

However, Whelan’s friends, family, and veterans of the U.S. intelligence community say that it was impossible that he was working for the U.S., pointing to the court martial that subsequently forced him out of the Marines.

“This guy is not an intel asset,” Malcom Nance told The New York Times. A former intelligence officer, Vance said that Whelan “is not the type of person you would use as an asset. There is no way.”

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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Speculation has been swirling that the Russian government seized Whelan as a bargaining chip for a future trade involving Maria Butina, an alleged Russian spy held by the U.S. for her role in the 2016 election meddling. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said that “it is still too early” to talk about a possible swap involving the two.

“The situation around the American Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia, is very serious,” Ryabkov told RIA Novosti. “As for the possibility of any ‘exchanges,’ it is impossible and wrong to raise a question on this now, when even the charges have not been formally brought.”

China Reaches the “Dark Side” of the Moon China’s Chang’e-4 lander and rover became the first space vehicle to land on the moon’s so-called “dark side” last week.

The Chang’e-4 landed on the moon on January 2 at 9:26 AM. A few

hours later, a rover departed from the craft to explore the Vin Karman crater stretching across the 2,000-kilometer South Pol-Aitken basin, one of the oldest parts of the solar system that scientists believe contain key minerals that can help explain the history of the world’s development.

The moon’s far side is dubbed the “dark side” because it turns away from Earth and almost nothing is known about it. No nation had ever landed a spacecraft on the far side until the Chang 4 touched down.

“The far side of the moon is a rare, quiet place that is free from interfer-

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ence from radio signals from Earth,” said Yu Guobin, a Chinese scientist who serves as the Chang’e-4 mission spokesman. Goubin added that the mission will “provide important information for studying the origin of stars and nebula evolution.”

The first pictures beamed back to Earth showed a small crater illuminated by the rover’s light. In announcing the successful landing, China’s National Space Administration said that it had “opened up a new chapter in human lunar exploration.”

The landing is the first time China sent a spacecraft to the moon since 2013. China has been striving to expand its space program to show that its scientific development has caught up to the West. Chinese officials now say that they believe Beijing will start planning a crewed mission to the moon in the near future.

Hou Xiyun is a professor at Nanjing University’s school of astronomy and space science. He told the Associated Press, “On the whole, China’s space technology still lags behind the West, but with the landing on the far side of the moon, we have raced to the front. There’s no doubt that our nation will go farther and farther.”

In 2013, China was the first nation to send a spacecraft to the moon since the Russian Luna departed in 1976. The U.S. remains the only country to have landed a man on the moon.

Malaysian King Abdicates

Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V abdicated the throne on Sunday in an unexpected move, after just two years as king.

The palace said in a statement that the 49-year-old ruler had resigned as Malaysia’s 15th king with immediate effect, cutting short his

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five-year term. No reason was given in the statement.

It marked the first abdication in the nation’s history.

Sultan Muhammad V, ruler of northeast Kelantan state, took his oath of office in December 2016, becoming one of Malaysia’s youngest constitutional monarchs.

He is said to have married a 25-year-old former Russian beauty queen in November while on a twomonth medical leave. Reports in Russian and British media and on social media featured pictures of the wedding, which reportedly took place in Moscow. Neither the sultan, the palace nor the government had officially confirmed the wedding.

Speculation that Sultan Muhammad V would step down emerged last week, shortly after he returned from his leave, but Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday that he was unaware of any abdication plans.

Under a unique system maintained since Malaysia’s independence from Britain in 1957, nine hereditary state rulers take turns as the country’s king for five-year terms.

The Council of Rulers is expected to meet soon to pick the next king.

The monarch’s role is largely ceremonial, since administrative power is vested in the prime minister and parliament. But the monarch is highly regarded, particularly among the ethnic Malay Muslim majority, as the supreme upholder of Malay tradition.

to the U.S. and studied mechanical engineering at MIT and aeronautical engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

In the 1950s, Arens returned to Israel and worked as a research fellow at Haifa’s Technion University.

He later went on to become the deputy director general of Israel Aircraft Industries and worked on several advanced missile projects, including the Gabriel surface-to-sea missile.

Moshe Arens Passes Away Moshe Arens, a former Israeli defense minister who left a significant mark on the country, passed away on Monday at the age of 93 in his home near Tel Aviv.

Arens was born in the United States and enlisted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Following his discharge, he moved to Israel in the 1940s to fight for its independence as part of the Irgun. He then returned

Arens biggest project was the Lavi, an airplane modeled off the French Mirage that would have been Israel’s first fighter jet. Israel eventually scrapped the project in the 1980s due to strident opposition from the

U.S., which was worried that the Lavi would hurt the profits of American arms manufacturers. The decision was said to devastate Arens, who saw a decade of work go down the drain.

Feeling like the country was heading in the wrong direction, Arens first entered politics following the Yom Kippur War in 1973. He joined the Likud party and rose through the ranks and was appointed Israel’s Ambassador to the United States in 1982. Arens’ most prominent role came when he served as Israel’s defense minister during the 1991 Gulf War and coordinated the country’s relations with the U.S. defense community.

A known hawk, Arens famously was one of the only few lawmakers who voted against the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.

“The Egyptians attacked us four times: in the War of Independence, in the [1956] Sinai campaign, the SixDay War and the Yom Kippur War. They were defeated four times. You will not find any other example in history of an aggressor getting back everything that it lost in war. It’s neither logical nor reasonable,” Arens later explained.

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The savvy politico made several decisions that led to significant changes in Israel. Among other things, he established the IDF’s Ground Forces Command the Home Front Command guarding Israel’s civilian infrastructure. In addition, Arens unknowingly played a major role in Israeli politics when he appointed Benjamin Netanyahu as deputy chief of mission in the U.S., giving the current prime minister his first job.

Arens was eulogized this week as a patriot who dedicated his life to the State of Israel. “Misha worked his entire life in various key positions to consolidate and develop the State of Israel,” said President Reuven Rivlin, “as an Irgun member, as a scientist, as an engineer, statesman, ambassador, and as an executive in the industries most important to Israel’s defense.”

Bibi’s “Dramatic Announcement” is Really a Dud

An address that Prime Minister Netanyahu assured would be “dramatic” on Monday evening turned out to be a dud.

Earlier on Monday, the country was caught in fevered speculation after a terse statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office promised a “dramatic announcement” that evening on national television. Without mentioning what the address would touch on, journalists and Israelis spoke of a possible declaration of war or a looming resignation.

Instead, Netanyahu told the Israeli people during the anticipated speech that he had demanded to face witnesses that have provided testimony to police regarding his alleged corruption. “What are they afraid of?

I’m not afraid. I have nothing to lose,” Netanyahu blustered.

valid till 01/21/19 “I’m willing for it to be livestreamed for the public to hear the full truth. I’m confident in my truth,” he added. Netanyahu also blasted the “biased” investigation against him.

Netanyahu’s use of a “dramatic address” to defend himself from the multiple police probes into his affairs caused a storm of criticism to erupt.

“Bibi is a-f-r-a-i-d,” taunted former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Opposition lawmaker Itzhik Shmuli said that the speech was “simply embarrassing to see” and called it a “a curtain of smoke meant to get the public to forget one simple fact: he is

drowning in severe accusations. He is neck deep.”

Police have recommended that the prime minister stand trial in various corruption investigations titled Case 1000, Case 2000, and Case 4000. Netanyahu can only stand trial if Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decides to issue an indictment following a prior hearing.

Mandelblit has been weighing whether to issue an indictment before the upcoming elections in April, leading Netanyahu to publicly attack the legal advisor and accuse him of “seeking to throw the elections.”

Egypt Cooperating with Israel against ISIS Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi has admitted for the first time that Egypt is cooperating with Israel in its war against ISIS in the Sinai Desert.

During an interview with the “60 Minutes” television program, Sissi was asked if relations between the two countries, which fought four

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

wars against each other, were the “closest [they had] ever [been].”

“That is correct,” answered Sissi.

“We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis.”

Sissi also said allegations that his regime is holding 60,000 political prisoners are baseless. “I don’t know where they got that figure. I said there are no political prisoners in Egypt,” he reiterated. “Whenever there is a minority trying to impose their extremist ideology we have to intervene regardless of their numbers.”

Sissi’s remarks were from an excerpt released ahead of the full interview the Egyptian leader gave three months ago at the United Nations.

Following the release of the clip, the Egyptian ambassador asked CBS not to air the interview, a request that was denied.

While CBS did not say what Egypt objected to, the admission that the Arab nation is cooperating with Israel against ISIS is seen by many as the cause for the unusual request. While the two countries signed a peace agreement in 1979, anti-Israel sentiment still runs high among Egyptian civilians.

Last February, Egypt denied a

New York Times report describing a massive Israeli bombing campaign against radical Islamic terror groups that have overrun the Sinai Plateau.

Since becoming Egypt’s president in 2013, Sissi has pounded ISIS and other assorted groups that have declared war on the country’s secular government. Israel has allegedly played a key role in the effort, which includes providing intelligence and bombing terror hideouts with full permission from the Egyptians.

February’s New York Times story said that Israel has been taking major precautions to hide its role in the air campaign, using unmarked jets and irregular flight paths.

The Great Kabbalist, Rav Mordechai Sharabi, zt"l: The only cure for the dreaded machla is the Pidyon Reshash

1.5M Jews Killed in Only 100 Days

A new study claims that a fourth of the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust were killed during a single 100-day period in 1942.

The study was authored by Prof.

Lewi Stone of Tel Aviv University and published in the Science Advances academic journal. These conclusions were drawn from data of deportations to the Belzec, Auschwitz, and Sobibor death camps.

Known as Operation Reinhard, the deaths reached a “hyperintense” 15,000 per day quota after Hitler said that he wanted the killing of Jews “sped up.” Stone found that this high rate of killing made these 100 days the deadliest period in the 20th century, topping the 1994 Rwandan genocide which was previously considered the century’s bloodiest threemonth period.

“Historians, social scientists, policymakers, and journalists have consistently relied on inaccurate assessments that greatly underestimated the Holocaust kill rate during Operation Reinhard,” Stone wrote in the Times of Israel. “These underestimates have been repeated for nearly two decades without substantial criticism, a pattern that has effectively rewritten the history of the Holocaust in a way that diminishes its historical standing and the scale of human life it encompasses.”

Stone added that the rapid level of killing could explain why the Nazis never faced a large organized resistance by their Jewish victims during the Holocaust.

“Operation Reinhard had extraordinary rates of killing,” wrote Stone. “That the massacre occurred in such a short timeframe, and under complete deception, ensured the Jewish people did not have a chance and made the formation of organized resistance extremely difficult.”

$250B Demanded for Jews Expelled from Arab Lands Israel said that it wants $250 billion in restoration for the property seized from the hundreds of millions of Jews who fled Arab lands during the state’s fledgling years.

“The time has come to correct the historic injustice of the pogroms against Jews in seven Arab countries and Iran, and to restore, to hundreds of thousands of Jews who lost their property, what is rightfully theirs,” Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel, who is charged with overseeing the effort, said this week.

The examination was carried out by accountants from an international firm that is considered to be experts on Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Iran. As part of the restoration demands, Israel wants $15 billion from Libya and $35 billion for the Jewish property taken in Tunisia.

The restoration initiative first began in 2010 after the Knesset enacted a law requiring any future peace negotiations with Arab nations and Iran to include compensation for the property seized from the Jewish community. Only in recent months, however, did the initiative begin to take shape with actual evaluations on the worth of the lost property.

An estimated 850,000 Jews fled from countries such as Morocco, Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen following Israel’s victory in the War for Independence in 1948. Many had left thriving and well-off communities, and their considerable wealth was looted by authorities.

For decades, Jews who had fled Arab lands had pressed the government to demand restoration for the loss of their considerable wealth, which eventually became the aforementioned 2010 law hinging any

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

peace deal on solving claims for the lost wealth.

“One cannot talk about the Middle East without taking into consideration the rights of the Jews who were forced to leave their thriving communities amid violence,” said Gamliel. “All the crimes that were carried out against those Jewish communities must be recognized.”

Israel Foils PA UN Bid Israel recently foiled the Palestinian Authority’s bid to gain recognition as a bona-fide state at the United Nations when PA Foreign Minister Riyadh Al Maliki tabled the resolution upon realizing that it did not have a chance of passing.

The PA had been quietly lobbying nations on the UN Security Council to approve a bill granting them statehood at the end of the month. Currently, the PA is only recognized as a non-member state. The PA would have needed nine nations on the UN Security Council to approve the mea-

sure and for the United States to refrain from casting a veto in order to gain their long-coveted statehood.

The effort was foiled by Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon, who successfully pressured countries currently sitting on the Security Council to oppose a bill recognizing the State of Palestine. The main thrust of Danon’s argument was that the vast sums of money the Palestinian Authority awards imprisoned terrorists makes it ineligible for statehood.

According to Danon, the provision mandating that new nations be “peace loving” was contradicted by the PA’s violent behavior.

“We exposed the hypocrisy of the Palestinians. They continue to pay terrorists every month and to encourage violence and incitement

against Israel; therefore, they are very far from meeting the definition of a ‘peace-loving’ state,” Danon said.

“The PA continues to error in its attempt to establish facts on the ground through unilateral moves while it has not abandoned the path of terror.”

The PA had previously sought to receive statehood status in 2011 but abandoned the effort due to frenetic lobbying of UN Security Council nations by Israel and the U.S. A year later, however, the PA was upgraded by the United Nations General Assembly to non-Member Observer State status.

Report: Iraqi Leaders Visited Israel A group of Iraqi leaders reportedly toured Israel in order to prepare for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two longtime adversaries.

As reported by Hadashot TV, 15 Iraqi officials comprised of both Sunnis and Shiites spent two weeks in Israel and visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and met with senior Israeli officials and academics specializing in Iraq.

The visit was kept under extreme secrecy in order to avoid an angry reaction from its neighbor Iran, which vehemently opposes Israel. The report said that the purpose of the visit was to turn the 15 officials “into future ambassadors for the Jewish State.”

While Israel and Iraq have been longtime enemies, with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein raining missiles into Israel during the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi people are seen as less hostile to Israel than other nations in the Middle East. Iraq also was home to a flourishing Jewish community for more than 2,000 years until the estimated 130,000 Jews fled following Israel’s establishment.

The alleged visit of Iraqi leaders to Israel comes amid warming relations between Israel and the Arab world. In October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a surprise visit to Oman at the invitation of Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said. During the visit, Omani sources said that the two countries will start publicly cooperating on a host of issues, including building a railroad from Israel to Muskat and allowing direct flights

from Ben Gurion Airport to the Gulf.

A week later, Israeli judokas were allowed to participate at the Judo Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi under the Israeli flag. Previously, Israeli athletes were forced to compete wearing International Judo Federation uniforms and faced a host of obstacles when competing in Arab lands, such as the ban on playing the “Hatikva” anthem after Israeli victories and snubs from their competitors.

Israel is also reportedly negotiating with Bahrain to establish full diplomatic relations between the two nations, the first time the Jewish State signed a diplomatic agreement with an Arab country since the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan.

Netanyahu hailed growing ties with the Arab world in a recent meeting with Israeli ambassadors. “When I meet with Arab leaders, they say to me, ‘We have security and economic interests, and we also want to enjoy the fruits of progress, and we will not mortgage our normalization with the State of Israel to the whims of the Palestinians,’” said the prime minister.

Jewish Teens Held for Murdering Palestinian The Shin Bet internal security agency confirmed this week that five Jewish teenagers it has been holding are suspected of murdering a Palestinian woman.

Aisha Rabi, a Palestinian mother of eight, was killed in October on a Friday evening after she was hit in the head while she was in a car by a rock thrown by anonymous assailants. Her husband told police that he had heard the perpetrators speaking Hebrew and alleged that Jews were responsible for murdering his wife.

Now, the Shin Bet has confirmed that Jews were responsible for the murder and announced that it had arrested five teenagers for their role in the killing. The five teenagers attend the Pri Ha’aretz high school in the village of Rehelim, only a few hundred feet from where Rabi was killed.

The five are being held in extreme conditions and were not allowed to see a lawyer for the first two weeks of their confinement. Their lawyers say that they are being subjected to

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

torture, and Religious Zionist leaders have called on the government to respect their basic civil rights.

“From morning to night (my client) was shackled to a chair, sleeping on a mattress on the floor, in a small cell,” said Adi Keidar, one of the attorneys representing the teens. “The boy I met was tired, broken and exhausted.”

The Shin Bet has denied the claims and has said that the interrogation was “being closely supervised by the State Attorney’s Office.”

“The detainees in Shin Bet interrogations receive all the rights they are entitled to under the law,” said the agency in a statement. “Claims regarding the denial of the rights of those interrogated … are baseless and their purpose is to divert the discussion from the serious suspicions in which they were detained for interrogation.”

Study: Holocaust Survivors Live Longer A new study has found that Holocaust survivors have a longer lifespan

than their peers, despite suffering from more diseases during their lifetime.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Network Open and was led by Dr. Gideon Cohen. The research used data from Maccabi Healthcare Services, one of Israel’s biggest health insurers, and looked at the medical files of 40,000 Holocaust survivors along with 35,000 elderly Israelis who were spared the horrors.

from diseases including high blood pressure, kidney diseases, dementia, coronary heart disease, and cancer.

In addition, 83% of Holocaust survivors were diagnosed with hypertension, as opposed to 66.7% of the general population. 30.9% of Holocaust survivors had kidney problems as opposed to only 19.8% of their counterparts.

Yet despite their increased risk for chronic health diseases, Holocaust survivors lived an average seven years longer than those who did not survive the Holocaust. Cohen and other researchers attribute the increased lifespan to the same qualities that helped the survivors outlast the Nazi killing machine.

The study also attributed the conclusions to “improved health literacy and unique resilience characteristics among Holocaust survivors” due to the trauma they experienced.

The term “Holocaust survivor” in the study included those who survived the death camps, people who escaped the ghettos, and people who fled Europe safely during World War II. The study found that Holocaust survivors were more likely to suffer

U.S.’s Most Expensive Zip Codes

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It’s no secret that certain parts of the country are more expensive than others. Better schools, views, recreational facilities and proximity to natural landmarks or shopping centers have always been criteria for choosing a perfect neighborhood in which to live and bring up your family. People are often willing to pay top dollar to live in the best areas.

New data provided by Attom Data Solutions shows that California now has the majority of the United States’ most expensive zip codes.

San Francisco has the greatest concentration of the most expensive zip codes with four of the priciest

areas in the whole country. Another two cities – New York and Los Angeles – come in a close second and third with three zip codes catering to those with deep pockets. Following New York and LA are another six Californian cities: Lost Altos, Los Gatos, Redwood City, San Jose, Palo Alto, and Newport Beach.

California heads the list of the wealthy for several reasons. Its role as an innovation capital for the tech and startup sector has made it a global destination. Some of the largest tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Apple began in San Francisco, and their headquarters are only a few miles away from the affluent zip codes found by the study.

Despite many houses in the aforementioned zip codes having been gutted by California’s recent wildfires, the study said that it is too soon to estimate the breadth of the economic damage.

24/7 Wall St.’s study is unique because it took into consideration only zip codes with 1,000 or more homes and where 100 homes were sold this past year in order to get the maximum authenticity for the results.

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Dies

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Harold Brown, who had significant influence on the Carter administration, passed away at the age of 91 last Friday.

Brown had served as President Jimmy Carter’s defense secretary. A nuclear scientist, Brown had led the U.S. to transform its nuclear stockpile and introduced a slew of new weapons into the U.S. military’s arsenal, including stealth airplanes, spy satellites, and missiles with pinpoint accuracy. He also successfully lobbied for Congress to enlarge the Pentagon’s defense budget to fund new research and development.

Brown’s insistence on rebuilding

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

the U.S. military faced significant opposition within the Carter administration, which was loath to lavish the billions on the armed forces that Brown demanded. Brown insisted, however, after realizing that the military was at an operational nadir following the Vietnam War. “When I became secretary of defense in 1977, the military services – most of all, the Army – were disrupted badly by the Vietnam War. There was general agreement that the Soviet Union outclassed the West in conventional military capability, especially in ground forces in Europe,” Brown recounted.

“The constant Cold War competition raged hot during the Carter administration and preoccupied me throughout the four years,” Brown added. “The Defense Department budget in real terms was 10 to 12% more when we left than when we came in.”

Brown also oversaw the failed U.S. mission to free hostages held in Iran back in 1980. The operation that would have sent commandos into Tehran reached a fiery end after transport helicopters exploded after being caught in a desert sandstorm.

“I considered the failed rescue at-

tempt my greatest regret and most painful lesson learned,” Brown later wrote.

In a statement, Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan hailed Brown’s “steady leadership that piloted our nation through a consequential segment of the Cold War. His focus on deterrence through a strong nuclear triad facilitated long-term peace and stability in the United States and Europe.”

FL Restores Voting Rights for Felons

1.5 million Florida residents celebrated on Tuesday as the state’s long-standing law banning ex-felons

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from voting took effect.

Known as Amendment 4, the legislation enabling former prisoners to vote passed last year with 64 percent of the vote. “Any disqualification from voting arising from a felony conviction shall terminate and voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence including parole or probation,” says the official Florida state website.

Despite Governor Ron DeSantis saying that he wanted to examine the amendment before it took effect, Florida’s elections commission said that ex-convicts will be allowed to vote barring further developments.

“The Florida Department of State will abide by any future direction from the Executive Clemency Board or the Florida legislature regarding necessary action or implementing legislation to ensure full compliance with the law,” said the commission in a statement.

DeSantis’ decision to review the law before it took effect prompted accusations of voter suppression as the state’s ex-felons lean overwhelmingly African-American and are expected to vote Democrat. DeSantis is a Republican.

Until Amendment 4 passed, Florida was the largest state in the United States that did not allow former convicts to vote. Felons aspiring to vote needed to file an application with Florida’s clemency board, a committee comprised of the state’s governor and the three Cabinet officials. However, applicants had a low chance of getting their voting rights restored.

The clemency board has a backlog of more than 10,000 applications and would only convene once every 90 days.

believe their life has meaning walk faster, suffer less pain as they age, and have stronger grips. Those who are age 50 and above are more likely to judge life worth living if they are married and see their friends at least once a week, the study also found. In contrast, spending too much time on your own at that age or in front of the television can make your life seem less meaningful.

Researchers at University College London questioned more than 7,000 people aged 50 to 90 on how meaningful they felt their life was.

Those who judged life most worthwhile were 16 percent more likely to be married and 13 percent less likely to live alone. They were also 13 percent more likely to see their friends at least weekly and to be part of a social organization.

Those in the study were asked to rate how meaningful their lives were on a scale of zero to 10. Scientists found that those who rated their lives to be most meaningful – with a score of nine or 10 – were 10 percent most likely to be among the highest earners. They were also around a third less likely to be depressed, were less obese, and more than likely to get a good night’s sleep. They also walked faster, ate better, and were less likely to suffer from chronic illnesses.

Experts believe a sense of meaning can give people the motivation to live more healthily, with those who see life as most worthwhile also 11 percent more likely to exercise.

Healthcare for Illegals, Poor in NYC

Think Positive, Be Healthy

It turns out that your thoughts can influence your body physically.

According to new research, scientists found that optimists who

New York City will begin guaranteeing comprehensive healthcare to every single resident regardless of someone’s ability to pay or immigration status, an unprecedented plan that will protect the more than half-a-million New Yorkers currently using the ER as a primary provider,

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The mayor’s spokesman rushed to clarify that the program is not health insurance.

“This is the city paying for direct comprehensive care (not just ERs) for people who can’t afford it, or can’t get comprehensive Medicaid – including 300,000 undocumented New Yorkers,” spokesman Eric Phillips tweeted.

De Blasio said the plan will provide primary and specialty care, from pediatrics to OBGYN, geriatric, mental health and other services, to the city’s roughly 600,000 uninsured. He said the city already has the foundation for such a plan, a public health insurance option that helps get direct care to undocumented residents. That option will be expanded, the mayor said, and supported with the addition of a new program called NYC Care. That plan will roll out in 2019 and build out over the next few years, de Blasio added. According to Politico, it’ll cost about $100 million.

The mayor assured that there will be no tax hikes to fund the program, although critics are wondering where the money will be coming from.

“This has never been done in the country in a comprehensive way,” de Blasio said on MSNBC. “Healthcare isn’t just a right in theory, it must be a right in practice. And we’re doing that here in this city.”

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According to a new study released on Friday by psychologist-researchers at the University of California-Irvine, watching the news of impending hurricanes can lead to stress and mental health problems after the storm.

“A steady diet of media while anticipating the disaster is not psychologically helpful,” noted Roxane Cohen Silver, professor of psychological

science and co-author of the study.

The study asked 1,600 Florida residents to report their hours spent watching media reports in advance of 2017’s Hurricane Irma and their anxiety levels in the aftermath. It found that those who were glued to media reports were likely to suffer more stress and mental health conditions after the storm. Those who paid the most attention to media reports of the storm suffered from “post-trau-

matic” stress symptoms, regardless of whether or not the storm spared their homes from damage, Silver said.

In the 60 hours leading up to landfall in the middle Keys on September 10, the psychologists asked a diverse sample of residents aged 18 to 91 statewide to complete a survey about time spent watching television, listening to radio, reading print news, and scrolling social media.

They surveyed the same group again, getting a 90 percent response rate in the month after Irma. Those who had paid the most attention to media coverage before the storm, were “repeatedly ruminating or feeling anxious in the aftermath,” Silver said.

“It’s not about full-blown, post-traumatic stress syndrome that people who go to war might exhibit, but the same kinds of stress. In oth-

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

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The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

er work that we have done, we have linked post-traumatic stress to psychological problems over time,” said Silver, whose team also studied the lingering effects of repeated exposure to violent images from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Turning to the media before a storm for information is natural and can be important, but “attention should be tempered,” she cautioned.

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A new report alleges that Miriam Adelson, the wife of mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, is, in fact, significantly wealthier than her husband of 27 years.

According to the Guardian’s series on billionaires around the world, the newspaper said that while Sheldon Adelson is worth $36.5 billion, his wife Miriam owns a 17% stake in his casino company, thought to be worth at least $17.4 billion. Her stake dwarfs the 10% that her husband owns.

The Guardian stated that Miriam Adelson’s holdings “make Miriam wealthier than a number of the world’s richest men, including Rupert Murdoch and Charles Schwab.”

Sheldon Adelson is known for the considerable sums of money he donates to Israeli and Jewish causes, as well as the hundreds of millions of dollars he has poured into the election campaigns of Republican politicians over the last decade. Miriam Adelson also officially owns the Israel Hayom daily, which is the Jewish State’s highest circulation newspaper.

The Guardian noted that Miriam is “the driver in the couple’s political and philanthropic activities, whether pushing for the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv

or donating an unprecedented $113m to this year’s midterm elections.”

Last year, Miriam was one of the United States citizens awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“Miriam Adelson is a committed doctor, philanthropist, and humanitarian,” said the White House in a statement. “She has practiced internal and emergency medicine, studied and specialized in the disease of narcotic addiction, and founded two research centers committed to fighting substance abuse.

“With her husband, Sheldon, she also established the Adelson Medical Research Foundation, which supports research to prevent, reduce, or eliminate disabling and life-threatening illness. As a committed member of the American Jewish community, she has supported Jewish schools, Holocaust memorial organizations, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and Birthright Israel, among other causes.”

Miriam, 73, was born in Tel Aviv in 1945. She married Sheldon in 1991, and the couple has four children together. Miriam’s parents, Menucha and Simcha Farbstein, fled Poland before the Holocaust and settled in Haifa. Her father ended up owning a few movie theaters, although the Farbstein family did not have a television until Miriam was 16. Sheldon grew up in a one-room tenement in Boston’s Dorchester section. His father was a taxi driver.

Miriam eventually earned a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During her two years of military service in Israel, she worked in the biological research department, and followed that by earning a medical degree from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Medical School.

She went on to become the chief internist in an emergency room at the Rokach Hospital in Tel Aviv. In 1986, she served as an associate physician at Rockefeller University in New York, where she studied chemical dependency and drug addiction, with a specific focus on the spread of HIV among drug addicts.

Adelson says her heart has always remained in Israel, but she got “stuck” in America after meeting Adelson – “the love of [her] life” – on a blind date in 1991. Her newfound wealth gave her the funds to start clinics that help support those with addictions.

“Sheldon is everything to me,” she once said. “He is my best friend,

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

words, you know.

Lake Superior State University in Michigan is all over words that have been coming out of our ears. And so, the school in Sault Ste. Marie puts out a list of words every year that should be “banished from the Queen’s English” for being overused, misused or useless.

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as I know I am to him, and he is a ‘mensch.’ He claims that I’m an angel and I say he is the ‘wind beneath my wings.’ In any case, we are on a magnificent flight together.”

She told Fortune magazine, “Money is not the most important thing in life. For my husband, money is only a benchmark to measure his success as an entrepreneur and visionary. I studied medicine and worked as an internist and emergency room physi-

cian. I fought to save lives of young and old and had survivors, and, unfortunately, I had people die in my arms. My priorities in life are my family, to be a good mother and a loving wife. Money is down on the list of my priorities. That is why I have no problem to change my expensive suit for the white ‘lab coat.’ Ask me which one I prefer, and I will tell you that with no doubt, it is the white one.”

Banished Words There are words that are, like, just, like, used too much in conversation. You know, like, those types of

Take, for example, the word “collusion.” Ahhh! We’ve all had enough of it. Or how about the phrase “most important election of our time”?

Yeah, until next election comes around. POTUS, FLOTUS, and SCOTUS also made the list. It seems that the White House is on everyone’s minds.

LSSU, which has put out its list for 44 years, gets thousands of submissions on a university website and on Facebook. (The school calls people who submit words for the list “word-watchers,” which sounds important indeed.)

“Word-watchers target pet peeves from everyday speech, as well as from the news, fields of education, technology, advertising, politics and more,” the school said on its website.

A final cut is made by an editor in late December.

Some of the words included in this year’s list was wheelhouse (“it’s an awkward word to use in the 21st century. Most people have never seen a wheelhouse”); wrap my head around (“impossible to do and makes no sense”); yeet (“if I hear one more freshman say ‘yeet,’ I might just yeet myself out a window”); and eschew (“nobody ever actually says this word out loud, they just write it for filler”).

Legally drunk also made the cut and so did accoutrements, which word-watchers said was “hard to spell, not specific, and anachronistic when ‘accessories’ will do.”

Now if only people would actually listen to the list.

$3M Tuna A 612 pound (278 kilogram) bluefin tuna sold for a record 333.6 million yen ($3 million) in the first auction of 2019, after Tokyo’s famed

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

Tsukiji market was moved to a new site on the city’s waterfront.

The winning bid for the prized but threatened species at the predawn auction on Saturday was more than double the 2013 annual New Year auction.

The enormous fish was bought by Kiyomura Corp., whose owner Kiyoshi Kimura runs the Sushi Zanmai chain. Kimura has often won the annual auction in the past.

Japanese broadcaster NHK showed a beaming Kimura saying that he was surprised by the high price of tuna this year. But he added, “The quality of the tuna I bought is the best.”

The auction prices are way above usual for bluefin tuna. The fish normally sells for up to $40 a pound

($88 a kilogram) but the price rises to over $200 a pound near the year’s end, especially for prized catches from Oma in northern Japan.

Japanese are the biggest consumers of the torpedo-shaped bluefin tuna, and surging consumption in Japan and overseas has led to overfishing of the species. Experts warn it faces possible extinction, with stocks of Pacific bluefin depleted by 96 percent from their pre-industrial levels. There are signs of progress toward protecting the bluefin, and Japan and other governments have backed plans to rebuild Pacific bluefin stocks, with a target of 20 percent of historic levels by 2034.

An extinct species of fish would be “too” bad.

Backpack…

Backpain Think your kids’ knapsacks weigh more than your kids? Do your children need more room in their backpacks so they can stuff everything from their locker in there to haul home for homework?

In Japan, The Backpacker’s Closet is the newest rage for people who have lots of stuff and enjoy lugging it around. The nylon bags are more than 26 inches wide, 10.6 inches deep and almost 40 inches long. Yes, that’s big enough to fit your youngest child comfortably.

The website offering the gargantuan backpack says it’s perfect for camping or to use as a closet to hide extra belongings at home.

With a price of just $240, it beats buying any furniture.

Oldest – Fraudster Jeanne Calment had claimed that she was the world’s oldest person.

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According to information provided by the Frenchwoman, she died at the age of 122 years and 164 days in 1997.

She often joked that G-d must have forgotten about her.

But she is not having the last laugh. Recently, Russian mathematician Nikolai Zak and gerontologist Valery Novoselov spent months analyzing biographies of Calment along with photos and interviews and came to the conclusion that it was too good to be true.

According to the researchers, the world’s “oldest person” was really Yvonne Calment, Jeanne’s daughter, who assumed her mother’s identity at

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

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

REFLECTIONS

Celebrating a

YOVEL FIFTY YEARS OF HARBOTZAS TORAH

May he be zoche to continue to lead the Yeshiva for many years to come!”

‫אות הכרת הטוב‬ HAGAON HARAV

YECHIEL YITZCHOK PERR

RABBI MOSHE BROWN

SHLIT”A

ROSH

“What a privilege it has been all these years to bask in the presence of the Rosh Yeshiva shlit”a who embodies the values and character that I saw in my Rebbeim!

H AY E S H I VA

R” M, Yeshiva Derech Ayson of Far Rockaway

GIVING THE ROSH YESHIVA THE GIFT OF A MORTGAGE-FREE CAMPUS

Rav, Agudath Israel of West Lawrence ‫שע"ט‬

‫ ת‬-‫תשכ"ט‬

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The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

one point.

Zak, a member of the Moscow Society of Naturalists at Moscow State University, recently published his report called, “Jeanne Calment: the Secret of Longevity” on ResearchGate, a portal connecting scientists around the world.

Zak suggests that in 1934 it was not Calment’s daughter Yvonne who died of pleurisy, as official records say, but Jeanne Calment herself.

Yvonne then took on her mother’s identity in order to avoid paying inheritance tax. If Zak’s assertions are true, then Yvonne Calment was the person who died in 1997; she should have been 99 at the time.

“As a doctor I always had doubts about her age,” said Novoselov, who heads the gerontology section of the Moscow Society of Naturalists. “The state of her muscle system was different from that of her contemporaries.

She could sit up without any support.

She had no signs of dementia.”

Before she died, Calment would talk about enjoying chocolate and port and would smoke an occasional cigarette before her health deteriorated.

Fueling suspicions, Calment ordered some of her old photos to be burnt when she became famous, the Russian researchers say.

Interviewed by AFP, French demographer and gerontologist Jean-Marie Robine, who took part in authenticating Calment’s age for Guinness World Records, said he “never had any doubt over the authenticity of the documents” of the woman. He slammed the Russian report, saying it “never examines the facts in favor of the authenticity of the longevity of Madame Calment” and “appears to me to be defamatory against her family.”

The mayor of Arles at the time of Calment’s death, Michel Vauzelle, said that the Russians’ theory was “completely impossible and ridiculous” since Calment was monitored by a number of doctors.

DNA testing would be able to finally settle the debate.

If Calment’s record is proven to be fabricated, the new record-holder for world’s oldest person would be American Sarah Knauss, who died at 119 in 1999.

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(Well, isn’t that the whole point of vacation?) According to the British, head to Route 66 in the United States.

The 2,400 miles of roadway stretches from Illinois to California through eight states. Once among the main routes for cross-country travelers, the largely two-lane road was decertified as a U.S. highway in 1985 in favor of modern interstates, but efforts are underway to grant it National Historic Trail status that would help preserve many of the communities and roadside attractions that tourists love taking selfies with.

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It’s understandable that people love to drive along “The Mother Road.” Each of the eight states that it runs through offers its own attractions, each with its own intrigue.

In Arizona, check out the Petrified Forest National Park and the Grand Canyon National Park. In California, make sure to stop by El Garces, Wigwam Village, and Santa Monica Pier. Amber’s Texaco Gas Station and Sprague’s Super Service are historic sites in Illinois. Plus, if you love French fries, you can check out the world’s largest catsup bottle. The world’s second largest rocking chair is located in Missouri in case you need a place to sit down.

Also on the list of most-Instagram-worthy destinations for travelers were the roads around the Grand Canyon and the Pacific Coast Highway, giving the U.S. three spots on the top 10 list, which includes New Zealand’s South Island Circuit and the Ring Road that circumnavigates Iceland.

According to the survey, over twothirds of millennials use Instagram to plan their trips, and 36 percent say they’d have a hard time remembering it if they didn’t post photos to the platform.

Because if you don’t take pictures of it, it never really happened.

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Community First Graders at Gesher Receive their First Siddur

O

ne of the highlights of first grade is the siddur play. The students work very hard to prepare for the big day. The curriculum at Gesher is planned so that the appropriate kriah skills are built up for using the siddur in the coming months – fluency in kriah, word recognition, and the ability to follow with fingers and eyes through significant portions of the davening.

The excitement had been building as the children were practicing their songs and motions, as well as their full performance rehearsals.

As has become the norm, the event took place on the January 1, a federal holiday, and was attended by a capacity crowd of parents and grandparents. The class performed beautifully, giving much nachas to their families and to their morahs.

In preparation for receiving their siddurim, the students learned about the three parts of tefillah: shevach, bakashah, and hodaah. They were able to recognize the concepts of praising, requesting, and thanking through a curriculum of “Wow, Please, and Thanks Moments” geared for younger children. Those sentiments were certainly heard from the parents and grandparent who attend-

ed and expressed their appreciation for the impact that Gesher has had on their children and their families.

Special appreciation was given to Morah Elisheva Rabinowitz and her dedicated assistant morahs Shoshana Hirschey, Gila Max, and Miriam Schrier. Gesher would like to thank the Rabinowitz and Fisher families for sponsoring the siddurim and refreshments.

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Around the Community

Ramat Givat Zeev Now Features 40 Additional Housing Units

Parent-Son Learning at MTA

O T

he finest neighborhood built in the last decade for new immigrants is expanding.

Construction of two additional buildings, containing 40 new housing units, has been approved and, when at full capacity, will now be able to house 500 families.

The neighborhood of Ramat Givat Zeev, where hundreds of families have already settled, enjoys the highest living standards in Israel and beyond: beautiful parks, tennis courts, sports venues and a mikveh are some the most luxurious in the country.

Moreover, new schools are being set up in the neighborhood by the Ministry of Education with a huge budget of over 25 million shekels.

More than 400 housing units have already been sold, half of them to families from the United States.

The Givat Zeev neighborhood has fulfilled their dreams and enabled them to make aliyah thanks to the convenient conditions provided by the Kass Group which has experience working with residents from the Five Towns, Monsey, and Los Angeles communities.

Many new residents were pleasantly surprised by the high level of neighborhood’s buildings and amenities, as well as by the special connection and warm atmosphere shared by the new community that is Ramat Givat Zeev.

n Monday, January 1, MTA parents, talmidim, and rebbeim enjoyed exploring the theme of Turning Shabbos Into Shabbos Kodesh together at its Parent-Son Learning event. The event featured guest speaker Rabbi Mordechai Becher, followed by parent-son chavrusahs and shiurim with MTA

rebbeim.

“It’s an incredible feeling to watch mothers and fathers learning together with their sons,” said Associate Principal Rabbi Shimon Schenker. “We greatly appreciate the dedication of our amazing parents, talmidim, and rebbeim, who always make Torah learning a top priority.”

House Passes Rep. Rice’s Resolution Prohibiting Members of Congress and Staff from Serving on Corporate Boards

L

ast week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Representative Kathleen Rice’s resolution prohibiting Members of Congress and their staffs from serving on the boards of publicly-held companies. The resolution passed as part of the House Rules Package for the 116th Congress.

The measure creates a similar, yet stronger version of Senate Rule 37.6(a), which states no Senator “shall serve as an officer or member of the board of any publicly-held or pub-

licly regulated corporation, financial institution, or business entity.”

Currently, the Senate rule prohibits Members and staff from serving on corporate boards but includes certain exceptions for those who were serving on a board for at least two years prior to their election. The House measure would eliminate this exception and require members and staff who serve on corporate boards to resign from their position by no later than January 1, 2020.

“The American people made it

clear that they want Congress to clean up corruption and restore integrity to Washington,” said Representative Kathleen Rice. “This resolution is long overdue. I applaud Chairman McGovern and the Rules Committee for making it a priority and ensuring that we finally close this gaping ethics loophole. I’m also incredibly pleased to see the passage of several other measures strengthening sexual harassment rules, protecting whistleblowers, and requiring annual ethics training for Members.”

Rep. Rice first introduced the resolution in August 2018. Last fall, Rep. Rice testified before the House Rules Committee to advocate on behalf of her resolution, as well as another measure that would require all Members of Congress to undergo annual ethics training, which also passed as part of the Rules Package.

New Members and all House staff are already required to undergo annual ethics training.

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Around the Community

IVDU LI: The Caring Project

M

orah Leah Rivka’s class at IVDU LI has embarked on a class-wide Caring Proj-

ect.

The class is focusing on building an awareness of prosocial behaviors and empathy by filling a “Caring Jar” with colorful pompoms for acts of kindness. To introduce the concept, the students first sorted pictures of “helping/caring” behaviors and “hurting” behaviors, which can be done with either our hands or our mouths. The students gave examples of caring behaviors, including sharing a book or toy, asking a friend if he/she is ok, and greeting a friend.

Throughout the day, when teachers and students notice caring behaviors, a colorful pompom is added to the jar. The caring jar helps students visualize how acts of kindness and friendship benefit everyone in the class, as they are working together to fill up the jar. When the jar is full, the class will celebrate with a special “caring friend” ice cream party, where the students will have the opportunity to serve each other ice cream!

The students are motivated to

use their “caring hands” and “caring mouths” in the classroom and are excited to see the caring jar fill up with pompoms. For the next two weeks, the lessons on caring will be tied into the literacy and writing curriculum, as social-emotional learning is incorporated throughout the day at IVDU LI. To find out more about IVDU LI, or to RSVP for the Open House on January 14 from 7:308:30 pm, please call Mrs. Miriam Reifer, school administrator, at (718) 758-2999 Ext. 3, or email reiferm@ ou.org.

Kibbud Av V’eim and Community Helpers at YOSS ECC

I

n connection to the letter Kaf and the middah of kibbud av v’eim, the YOSS kindergarten children invited their parents to school to teach us about community helpers.

Thank you to Menachem English’s father who brought a Hatzalah

ambulance to school, to Ari Laufer’s mother who taught us what a physical therapist does, and to Avri Goldstein’s father, who taught us a how a psychologist helps people. Looking forward to learning more from our parents over the next few weeks.

Republican Majority Files Resolution Extending Deadline To File Property Tax Grievances Nassau County Deputy Presiding Officer Howard Kopel and members of the Legislature’s Majority Caucus filed a resolution last week demanding that the Assessment Review Commission extend the deadline to file an application for correction of assessment from March 1, 2019, to April 30.

The Majority Legislators stated that the rollout of the County Executive’s Reassessment Plan has been fraught with so many errors and misrepresentations that has caused mass confusion among Nassau residents.

It is not fair to expect 400,000 residential homeowners to process this information, address the errors, and submit meaningful challenges by the current deadline of March 1.

Some of the errors made in rolling out the County Executive’s Reassessment Plan: • The County Executive broke her promise to abide by NYS law setting a 6% cap on assessment increases by changing the rate of assessment ratio to .01%.

• The County Executive and Assessor mailed out tax notices which purposefully left out the impact of the ratio change on property tax bills.

• The County Executive missed the deadline imposed by the legislature by a unanimous vote to send revised Tax Impact Notices to residents.

• The Assessment Dept changed 60,000 tax notices posted online because the wrong values were used to estimate tax impacts.

• 400,000 residents were erroneously told by “robocall” that they had failed to file for a senior tax exemption.

• 20,000 notices had to be re-done because the projected increases in assessments were too high.

• Taxpayer feedback forced the Assessor to re-value 40,000 properties due to erroneous assumptions in the reassessment model.

• An email from the County Ex-

ecutive to residents about Assessment contained web links that did not work.

• All notices mailed contained the wrong date for when new home values will be final.

• Many residents have still not received a tax impact notice, nor can they be confident that the notice received is accurate.

• The County Executive has repeatedly announced a 5-year phase-in of increases and decreases that requires state legislation that does not exist.

In addition, the County Executive announced that another 85,000 property values have been reduced based on taxpayer feedback. This adds more confusion to residents who now have to wonder if their assessments will increase based on the 85,000 reductions.

“With the overwhelming amount of incorrect information being given out on the late tax impact notices, residents are bewildered and beside themselves,” Deputy Presiding Officer Kopel said. “Residents need a fair system that allows them to correct these mistakes, and by extending the grievance deadline 60 days, we will hopefully provide enough time for the administration to fix the errors.”

Recent reports estimate that more than half of Nassau homeowners will see a tax increase as a result of this Reassessment, and 115,000 of them will see an increase of 15% 25% or more.

An additional 60 days will allow residents to review all notices available, meet with Assessment, seek advice or appraisals as needed, and file a challenge if deemed appropriate.

The Majority legislators also reiterated their demand that the County Executive follow through with her promise to hold public meetings throughout the county to discuss this Reassessment.

Residents can file a grievance on their own. If you have any questions about the grievance process please visit the Assessment Review Commission website at https://www. nassaucountyny.gov/1510/Assessment-Review-Commission.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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Rabbi Sternhill’s second graders and Rabbi Grodzinsky’s fourth graders at Siach Yitzchok celebrated their accomplishments with siyumim this week

HAFTR 8th Grade Shabbaton

U

pon arriving, they were all HAFTR’s eighth grade Shabbaton with rabbeim, morot and teachers at the Middle School was an incredible experience for all involved. Students were treated to beautiful tefillot, deliciously catered meals, fun games, and inspiring pro-

gramming.

The festivities began with a Friday morning Football Tournament for the boys and an ice skating trip for the girls. Students came back to school for candle lighting, a lively kabbalat Shabbat, and a festive leil Shabbat seudah. Rabbi Hulkower

spoke powerfully about our students’ role in Jewish continuity, and the evening ended with an oneg Shabbat for parents and students. On Shabbat day, Rabbi Siff led an informative tefillah. The day consisted of kiddush, lunch, fun activities and culminated with an address by Mr. Ben

Brafman, encouraging the students to lead lives as proud Jews who personify good middot and make a kiddush Hashem wherever they go.

Thank you to our staff and students for making this such a wonderful Shabbaton.

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Around the Community

R’ Feivish Rotbard made hummus with the boys at the Learn & Live program on Sunday to demonstrate the melacha of tochein

MTA’s Makor Chaim Israel Exchange Program

HAFTR fourth graders visited the Eldridge Street Synagogue and toured the Lower East Side on a class trip last week

A Mishna (or Two) a Day at MAY

M

TA’s 11th annual Makor Chaim Exchange Program is off to a great start, as 14 MTA sophomores arrived in Israel at Yeshivat Makor Chaim on Tuesday, January 1.

Located in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, Yeshivat Makor Chaim was founded by noted Jewish educators Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz and Rabbi Dov Singer. Each year, MTA sophomores and YMC juniors spend an academic quarter in each other’s yeshiva.

This immersive experience of Toras Eretz Yisrael affords MTA talmidim an opportunity to fully integrate into Israeli culture and absorb the spirituality of YMC. The MTA talmidim

received a warm welcome as soon as they arrived at Ben-Gurion airport, where their madrich and Makor Chaim talmidim greeted them with singing and dancing. Afterwards, they headed to Yeshivat Hakotel, where they experienced the grandeur of Yerushalayim from the famous rooftop. After a meaningful Maariv at the Kotel, they made their way to YMC, where a big group of talmidim were singing and dancing for them.

The MTA talmidim were excited to start shiur at YMC the next day, after touring Kfar Etzion, where the yeshiva is located, and they look forward to the rest of their trip.

A

n investment of as little as a few minutes a day can yield incredible results down the line. That is the mantra for the voluntary post-Shacharis Mishnayos Chabura at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov delivered daily by 10th grade rebbe, Rabbi Leibe Wolf.

For over a decade, Rabbi Wolf has been delivering a 2-3 minute Mishnayos Chabura at MAY to approximately 20 talmidim from all grades at the Mesivta immediately following Shacharis. In these few minutes, the chabura learns a Mishna or two, and over time complete masechtos and sedorim of Mishnayos.

“Voluntary limud haTorah, outside of the core curriculum, is tes-

tament to the centrality and importance of Torah the Mesivta inculcates into our talmidim,” commented Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, Rosh HaYeshiva.

“We are very proud of these talmidim and appreciative of Rabbi Wolf giving of his time over the years for this worthwhile project.”

Last week, the Chabura was mesayim Seder Nezikin which, for the 12th grade participants, now puts three sedorim of Mishnayos under their belt – Noshim, Moed and Nezikin. The Chaburah has begun Seder Zeraim and will complete the seder before the end of the year, be”H. Mazel tov!

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HAFTR’s Scott Satran Memorial Basketball Tournament

H

AFTR hosted its annual invitational Scott Satran Memorial Basketball Tournament this past weekend. The popular and highly attended event honors and commemorates the memory and life of former student and athlete Scott Satran, who passed away in 1987.

“Watching these kids is just great.

It’s bittersweet,” said Edward Satran, father of Scott, a”h, and current HAFTR parent and alumnus, Robbie Satran. He described what an avid basketball player Scott was and how the idea for the tournament was the most appropriate way to continue his legacy. It started with four teams and morphed into a national event with players flying in from Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, and more.

“This has become a true celebration of Scott’s life.” He was shepping nachas as he shared the family’s latest simcha: the recent engagement of granddaughter and HAFTR graduate, Jamie Satran, to Kevin Kramer, also a HAFTR alumnus. They were sitting in the bleachers together at the games as well.

“HAFTR has done a wonderful job educating my children,” he added. Life has come full circle for the family, and hundreds of people come each year to watch the tournament.

HAFTR invited 10 teams for the weekend from the NY-NJ area for a beautiful Shabbaton and an action-packed high school varsity basketball tournament.

This year’s games saw basketball played at a very high level, with most games decided by just a few points. After the preliminary round of games, the local DRS Wildcats and

Satran all stars-R-L-Benjamin Kornblum, Eddie Satran, Dovi Baratz, and Gabe Shamama

the HAFTR Hawks found themselves in the quarter finals. DRS won easily against the JEC Thunder from NJ and the Hawks faced the Heschel Heat from NYC. Heschel was the favorite to win this year’s championship, but HAFTR was unstoppable and cooled down the Heat by a score of 63-31, the biggest upset of the tournament, and earned a semi-final berth.

In the semis, which featured 3 out of 4 teams from the local area, DRS matched up against the Rambam Ravens and HAFTR tipped off against the Magen David Warriors from Brooklyn.

Rambam and DRS battled it out to the last second before the Ravens Dovid Lichter made 2 big foul shots to win it for Rambam, earning them their first trip ever to Satran tournament finals.

In the second game, in front of a packed crowd, the underdog HAFTR

Hawks battled the Magen David Warriors until the closing seconds of the game. In the end, the Warriors prevailed in a thriller 53-50 and moved on to play Rambam in the finals.

The championship game saw both teams play strong defense and, at the half, the Warriors held a 32-25 lead.

The second half was all Magen David, as they took their first ever Scott Satran Memorial Tournament championship by a final score of 66-44.

Tournament MVP went to Michael Natkin from Magen David, who was outstanding on both ends of the court and averaged 19 points per game.

“We’ve been here the last several years, and we enjoy the hospitality so much,” said Ike Dweck, aka “Spike,” coach for Magen David. “It’s the elite tournament of the year and we just bring this whole experience back home to Brooklyn.”

Rambam All-Star basketball

STEM at BYQ

T

he BYQ eighth grade STEM class recently wrapped up their unit on chemistry and materials engineering by investigating heat energy and how it is transferred. After exploring the differences between conduction, convection, and radiation, they learned how heat can be conserved through insulation. Stu-

dents brainstormed and decided which familiar materials they believed would be the best insulators. They then took their hypotheses to the lab where they tested their theories. Using different materials to insulate cups of hot water and taking water temperatures at three-minute intervals, they were able to monitor

Scott’s brother, Robbie Satran, with Joey Hoenig

heat loss. They tabulated their data, graphed their results, and interpreted their findings. Students were surprised by which materials came out on top.

It was interesting to see how the engineering design process plays such an important role even when designing something as simple as a thermos!

player Aaron Azose was full of enthusiasm by the end of the championship games. “I love this tournament. It’s my third year here and we’ve never beat DRS before. This time we beat them twice! Everyone played great.

We gave it our all!”

Joey Hoenig, HAFTR’s athletic director, added, “Congratulations to Magen David and to all participating teams. This was truly a great basketball tournament and a weekend to remember! Congratulations to Benjamin Kornblum from HAFTR for taking home this year’s 3-point contest champion trophy, hitting an incredible 22 3’s in the finals. Congratulations to our local teams’ all-stars Noah Rhine and Zak Brown from DRS, Aaron Azose and Ethan Aaron from Rambam, and Gabe Shamama, Benjamin Kornblum and Dovi Baratz from HAFTR.”

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Around the Community

Camp SuperKids

C

amp SuperKids reopened its doors again last week at the gracious Stahler home to eight super children.

The winter holiday break is a long one in the public school systems, and for working parents it is a trying time. For our special children, it is a boring time.

Baruch Hashem, under the lead-

ership of Elisheva Katz and the amazing volunteering of counselors and entertainers, Camp SuperKids was there for these children, and boy, was it fun!

For the very first time, Otsar Family Services funded the camps and the campers were able to attend free of charge. Thank you so much Otsar Family Services. We wish you

continued hatzlacha in our community and beyond.

Thank for wonderful musical entertainment: Daphana Naamat, Hindy Schick, Hudi Kowalski, and Debbie Eisikowitz. Magician Baruch Robinson was fantastic, and the children enjoyed the dynamism, song, and storytelling of Menucha Allswang and Tziona Hoffman.

The fantastic counselors make it all happen. Thank you to Sara Golombek, Fradel Rena Mernick, Malkie Schorr, Zahava Weinberg, Yonina Weinberg, Chani Reich, Hadassah Neiman, Chavi Berkowitz, Orya, Tova Shick, Adena Lisker, Shana Forman, Esther Yocheved Hammer, Hadas Goldstein, and Sara Farber.

Shira Superstars Kicks off 2nd Semester

O

n Sunday, Shira Superstars kicked off its 10-week second semester! Girls from across the community, ages nursery to 4th grade, enjoyed a variety of professional classes with adult instructors.

The program also featured classes for boys from nursery through Pre1A. In Dance, Theater, Gymnastics

and Ballet, girls were able to be active while having fun on the move!

Then they engaged their artsier side with a choice of Food Art or Art classes. Each week features another skill and project. Past weeks have already involved canvas painting, oil pastels, clay molding, cupcake decorating, and more!

For the boys, after Crafts or Food

Crafts, they got to enjoy Sports in the gym or Karate with Sensei Meir.

Sensei Meir Breuer has been providing kosher, fun Karate for Five Towns boys for years, and the members of his class love being active and learning skills! In Sports, the class practices skill drills and gets to play a scrimmage in a different sport each week!

Shira Superstars is centrally lo-

cated in Shulamith (305 Cedarhurst Ave). Each child enjoys two classes per week followed by lunch. The hours are 10 am - 12 pm. With nine weeks left, there are only a handful of spots left in the entire program.

For info or to register, check out campshirany.com/superstars or text 516-456-8392.

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M.I. Time at HAFTR

A

t HAFTR, “M.I. Time” activities are offered to third, fourth and fifth grade students every Friday. Based on Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, students join their peers from other classes with similar interests in order to focus on their preferred personal intelligence in an informal way. It also gives teachers a chance to express their dominant intelligence with students who share the same interest and enthusiasm about a craft or skill. Some options included advertising, art, french, health & nutrition, puzzles & games, dance, technology, and yoga.

Working well with your hands and your voice and a love for mitzvot is what Rabbi Schwab and his fourth grade M.I. Time students worked

on in kumzitz and tzitzit. Students learned the art of tying specific knots that are used in order to make a pair of their own kosher tzititz. Mastering the twists and turns of the knots became easier with practice all while learning to sing beautiful Jewish songs.

Students in the third grade hookrug M.I. Time incorporated their artistic ability by mastering the specific craft of rug hooking. They transferred an original graphic to their own canvas, chose yarn, and used a special tool to complete their designs. Students reported that they felt relaxed while practicing their new learned craft.

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. Morah Chaviva’s students have transformed decorative

flat square sheets of paper into unbelieve sculptures. Using folding techniques, students sculpted cranes, boxes, birds, frogs and butterflies.

Some students have mastered folding

unbelievable miniature sculptures.

Students had a successful first semester and look forward to the new semester after winter break.

Pidyon Reshash: New Person, New Gzar Din

J

ust like every year, people “in the know” have been counting down the days and eagerly waiting 10 Shvat. Partially because 10 Shvat, January 15, 2019, is the yahrtzeit of the holy Reshash. But primarily because 10 Shvat is the day Kollel Chatzos designated to perform Pidyon HaReshash for Yidden in need of yeshuos. Throughout the year, these Yidden anticipate this opportunity with tenacious hope.

They know R’ Chaim Vital has said this segulah has brought yeshuos thousands of times. They’ve heard of others’ who’ve been zoche to yeshuos on this day, and they daven that next

year, they too will be part of this fortunate group of “geholfene Yidden,” who’ve been helped in the merit of the pidyon.

Who was Rav Shalom Sharabi?

And what is the secret behind his wondrous segulah?

The Reshash, or Rav Shalom Sharabi, zy”a, lived at a time that Klal Yisroel was blessed with many illustrious personages. Still, his name rings strong as one of the most eminent mekubalim of his generation.

The Reshash served as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas HaMekubalim in Bais Kel and was lavishly praised by the Chida and Rav Chaim Palagi. He dedicated

himself to elucidating and arranging the kavanos of the Arizal for posterity.

One of the gifts the Reshash gave Klal Yisroel was the Pidyon Reshash.

While the holy Arizal revealed this powerful pidyon, it was the Reshash who instructed us how to perform this segulah. The Sha’arei Rachamim describes the Pidyon Reshash as a segulah received from Eliyahu HaNavi himself.

The Reshash wrote that one should set aside 160 pure silver coins, recite special lengthy kabbalistic tefillos, and donate these coins to talmidei chachamim who are moser nefesh to learn Torah. The 160 coins, equivalent to the numerical value of “eitz,” symbolize man who is likened to a tree, an “eitz” hasadeh. Through this segulah, the person receives a pidyon nefesh; judgment is transferred from the person to the coins, and the person receives a new tzelem Elokim.

This segulah is a source of yeshua and hatzlacha. It is astounding to see just how many brachos lie hidden within the segulah. Rav Chaim Vital wrote this person will live the entire year in peace. The renowned kabbalist, Rav Mordechai Sharabi, zt”l, proclaimed, “This is the only cure for the dreaded machala,” (in reference

to cancer.) It is known to bring children, shidduchim, health, parnassa, hatzlacha – and more.

While the segulah is potent every time, it is particularly powerful after midnight. When the Ropshitzer Rav was sick, the Ateres Tzvi even wrote to the Zera Kodesh, to perform the pidyon after chatzos and “certainly, certainly, certainly, you will merit a yeshua.”

Every year, on 10 Shvat, on the yahrtzeit of the Reshash, the Kollel Chatzos’s talmidei chachamim perform this segulah and distribute the coins amongst the Kollel learners.

These talmidei chachamim, who sacrifice their nights for Torah, are the most worthy to perform the pidyon, for they truly personify Torah with mesirus nefesh. They recite the lengthy tefillos individually for each supplicant, in the most mehudar way.

And perform the pidyon at the most opportune time – after chatzos.

And so, every year, after performing the pidyon for Yidden who are longing for yeshuos in the most stellar way possible, the Kollel merits to hear story upon story about individuals whose lives have been transformed by the Pidyon. Just like Reb Chaim Vital predicted.

Because the zchus of Torah is the very best segulah.

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Starting the Year Off “Write”

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orah Academy for Girls prides itself on providing innovative programming to foster strong academic skills in all types of learners. One of the most important foundations for learning is writing.

Research states that learning to write helps develop eye-hand coordination skills and boosts brain development at a greater rate among young children. Additionally, handwriting is a foundation skill that needs to be developed early as it affects all areas of learning.

As handwriting impacts every academic skill, three years ago TAG began a dedicated pre-writing and writing special in its kindergarten and pre-1A classrooms. The program, is run by a handwriting specialist Dena Isaacs, MA OTR/L, a pediatric occupational therapist who has been working at TAG for the past 19 years.

The program is an exciting and dynamic one that uses a multisensory approach to teaching letters.

Morah Dena, as she is referred to by the students, spends a half hour in each class using fun and interactive lessons that incorporate all the senses including movement, touch, hearing and sight to engage the students and ensure that lessons are internalized. The pre-1A students start off every week with a group letter of the week presentation. These lessons

usually involve costumes, cheering, jumping and singing. Then there is a follow up lesson with Morah Dena in the individual classrooms, where the students use unique and engaging activities that reinforce letter formations. These lessons are designed and created specifically to reinforce not only letter formations, but also address letter size, alignment and spacing, which will ensure neat handwriting.

The pre-1A program focuses on lower case letter formation, while the kindergarten program focuses on upper case letter formations as well as prewriting skills such as spatial concepts – top, bottom, middle, diagonal, vertical, and horizontal.

Mrs. Isaacs explains that emotion and memory are both located in the same part of the brain. If one taps into a child’s emotion, a strong memory will ultimately be created. Therefore, the foundation of each lesson is to create a multi-sensory experience that will tap into every student’s emotion. No one blinks an eye anymore when they see Morah Dena dressed as a clown, or a magician or wearing rhinestone goggles and a life vest and brandishing an oar. Nor is anyone surprised to hear cheering and shouting coming from one of our preschool classrooms. We all know that it’s Morah Dena’s lively and energetic interactive handwriting les-

son. Our students have gone swimming and fishing, chanted magic spells and jumped around like frogs.

This is how TAG educates its students – fun-filled, innovative learning ap-

proaches to ensure that every student receives an inspired education in a positive atmosphere designed to promote happy children with successful learning experiences.

Joy of Learning at CAHAL’s Darchei Class

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esearch has repeatedly shown that learning is most effective when it is engaging and fun.

In Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Mrs. Yael Sara Rendler’s 1st-2nd grade CAHAL class has been experiencing learning in just this way! The boys have begun a reading log and are “growing” their reading tree, with a new leaf added for each book completed. In math class, they are using manipulatives to explore three-digit numbers to discover how they relate to each other, writing their own examples of 10 more/less and 100 more/less than the number they each chose. In science lab, where the students are mainstreamed with their buddy class, they are exploring different kinds of clouds and have constructed their own cloud-view finders. As you can imagine, they are

hoping for lots of cumulus cloud days!

Special thanks to Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs and assistant teachers Mrs. Batsheva Flaum and Miss Chaya Sara Fishfeld for inspiring a love of learning in the boys every day.

With much appreciation to Rabbi Shmuel Strickman, limudei kodesh principal, and Mrs. Ariella Kelman and Mrs. Sara Malka Krasnow, the general studies principals, who have established close relationships with every student at Darchei, CAHAL is so grateful for the warm welcome and inclusive atmosphere that permeates the building.

CAHAL, the local yeshiva-based and sponsored community program for children with learning challenges, now in its 27th successful year, provides smaller, more individualized

classes in the local yeshivas catering to children’s learning styles, where all the students attend mainstream activities daily, including lunch, recess, specials, assemblies, trips and more.

When ready, children attend academic classes as well, with support from CAHAL to ensure success. The experienced and caring CAHAL teachers

make it all happen.

CAHAL is currently accepting students.

For more information about the CAHAL program and to donate to this great community organization, contact CAHAL at cahal@cahal.org or call (516) 295-3666.

Follow CAHAL on Instagram and Facebook for exciting news and updates.

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Around the Community

Unique Learning Experience at Mesivta Yam Hatorah

“W

e have to do this more often!”

“This event brings the whole Yam HaTorah mishpacha together!”

“We really enjoyed!”

“It was so well done!”

These were some of the comments that fathers and grandfathers made to Rabbi Pollak and the staff of Yam HaTorah following the enjoyable program last Sunday, December 30. The delicious breakfast was sponsored by the Moskowitz family as a seudas hoda’ah, in appreciation to Hashem for the recovery of two relatives from illnesses.

Following the enjoyable breakfast, the students, along with their fathers/grandfathers, sat down together to prepare for a shiur from the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Shaya Cohen, on the sugya of ve’ahvta l’re’acha ka’mocha. In his usual engaging manner, Rabbi Cohen

brought numerous proofs that although the mitzvah is to love your brother as yourself, you actually only go against the mitzvah when you actively hurt your fellow Jew, for example, saying lashon hara about him and not simply if you don’t do him a favor. Rabbi Cohen went on to bring an apparent contradiction to this idea from the mitzvah of pidyon shivuyim and used an idea from the Chazon Ish to rectify this contradiction. The participants got a real geshmak from this learning session with Rabbi Cohen and appreciated the clarity of the shiur.

Mesivta Yam HaTorah prides itself on the interactive shiurim that take place in the Mesivta that bring clarity to the depths of Torah learning. To find out if Mesivta Yam Hatorah would be a good fit for your son, or to apply, please visit yamhatorah.org or call our office at 718471-7471.

LAWRENCE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINTER 2019 SCHEDULE OF FREE REGENTS REVIEW CLASSES, OPEN TO ALL RESIDENTS OF THE LAWRENCE SCHOOL DISTRICT COURSES WILL INCLUDE: Algebra 1 Geometry Earth Science Global History II English

Algebra II/Trig Chemistry Living Environment U.S. History

CLASSES WILL BE OFFERED ON: Saturdays - January 5, 12, & 19 - 8 AM - 12:30 PM Sundays - January 6, 13, & 20 - 8 AM - 12:30 PM For updated schedules & more information, please visit: http://lawrencehighschool.lawrence.org/ Classes will meet at Lawrence High School: 2 Reilly Rd, Cedarhurst, NY 11516 All District #15 students may attend. No reservations required.

ID is required for admittance to Weekend Academy.

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SKA NCSY JUMP Yom Iyun on Emunah

W

ith an exciting lineup of speakers and sessions, the Yom Iyun on emunah hosted by the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls and the SKA NCSY JUMP Team was an extremely uplifting start to the secular new year!

Students, faculty members, mothers and alumnae joined together in tefillah at HALB’s elementary school in Woodmere on Tuesday, January 1, and then were welcomed by Mrs. Elisheva Kaminetsky, SKA Principal, Judaic Studies, to this morning of inspiration. The Yom Iyun on emunah commenced with an address by acclaimed guest speaker Mr. Charlie Harary who electrified the audience with his words on connecting with Hashem.

While SKA’s ninth graders had the opportunity to hear from noted speaker Mrs. Slovie Jungreis-Wolff, the 10th, 11th and 12th graders, together with the rest of the assemblage, had a choice of several sessions to attend. The workshops covered a range of topics about emunah; esteemed SKA faculty members Mrs. Rochel Chafetz, Rabbi Daniel Eisenbach, Dr. Chana Glatt, Rabbi Isaac

Rice, and Rabbi Gavriel Sanders were joined by prominent educators and mentors Mrs. Schali Chrein, Rabbi Shaya Cohen, Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner, Rabbi Zalman Mindell, Rabbi Simon Taylor, and Rebbetzin Chani Wolowik.

Many shared their personal journeys and struggles with emunah, with a common theme resonating throughout: “You must create a relationship with Hashem.”

After refreshments, Mr. Harary, Mrs. Jungreis-Wolff and Executive Director of Camp HASC Rabbi Judah Mischel answered questions generated by the students about emunah in a panel moderated by Rabbi Yosef Zakutinsky, SKA Director of Student Programs.

A magazine on emunah, edited by members of the SKA NCSY JUMP Team, was distributed at the end of this incredible program. Featuring in-depth articles and interviews, the magazine encapsulated the messages of the event.

Twelfth grader Devorah Schreier summed up the day. “When I think of emunah, I think of a weight being lifted off of my shoulders. I understand that I am not alone and that

there is much more to life than what I am aware of. My job is to take what Hashem has given me and do my best with it, not necessarily understand it.”

namic shadchanim will give mothers and daughters new perspectives as they navigate this stage of life.

The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will include a chance to meet with shadchanim after the panel discussion. Those who RSVP before the event will have a slot reserved to meet the shadchanim. Slots will be available for those who have not responded prior to the event on a firstcome, first-serve basis. Reservations can be made by emailing mbrseminary@gmail.com.

The evening should be an enriching event and hopefully, iy”H, will bring more simchos in our community. All proceeds will benefit the Machon Basya Rochel Seminary Principal’s Scholarship Fund.

Machon Basya Rochel Seminary, dedicated in memory of Mrs. Rose Edelman, a”h, is located at 137 Lawrence Ave. across from the Lawrence Long Island Railroad Station. For more information please call 516362-5000 or email mbrseminary@ gmail.com.

Shidduch Panel at MBR

M

achon Basya Rochel Seminary is proud to be offering an exciting opportunity for all single young women and their mothers. This Motzei Shabbos, January 12, a shidduch panel discussion will hosted by the seminary with Rebbitzen Aviva Feiner, Menaheles, moderating. Never before has such an outstanding group of shadchanim offered our community the opportunity to hear their answers to questions regarding the shidduch world.

Those who attend will be able to

hear from Rebbetzin Susie Brafman who comes with many seasoned years of successful shidduchim. It is a huge kavod that she will be joining the panel. Seasoned shadchan, Mrs. Suri Flegman, offers the panel her renowned wise insights. Local shadchan, Mrs. Rachel Tepfer, will also be on the panel. She is committed to seeing happily married couples.

Mrs. Adina Reich, also a local shadchan, will be on the panel as well.

She is passionate to see successful shidduchim made. This panel of dy-

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

Around the Community Students and fathers had their tefillin inspected at the Tefillin Awareness Project at MSP

MOTZEI SHABBOS

JANUARY 12, 7:30PM

SHIDDUCH PANEL IN THE FIVE TOWNS

Make-up Artists and Photographers on site to take complimentary shidduch pictures. Email devorazero@gmail.com to reserve a time slot.

You will have the opportunity to meet the shadchanim after the panel discussion for a fee of $72 (entrance fee included.)

Space is limited. RSVP to mbrseminary@gmail.com to reserve a spot.

Submit specific questions impacting your daughter’s shidduch by January 8, and we will try to include your question in the discussion!

We look forward to greeting you personally!

WHERE:

FEE: $36 Individual , $50 for Mother & Daughter

Across from the Lawrence Long Island Railroad Station.

Proceeds to benefit Machon Basya Rochel Scholarship Fund

Machon Basya Rochel Seminary

PANELISTS

Rebbitzin BrafmanSuri Flegman Rachel Tepfer Yaffa Jungreis Adina Reich WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

All mothers and daughters who are in shidduchim!

Join us as seasoned shadchanim address many of your questions and concerns.

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Around the Community

YCQ Winter Carnival

By Ben Kochman, grade 6

L

ast Motza’ei Shabbos, the Y.C.Q. Parent Teacher Organization hosted a Winter Carnival at the school. There were various activities like relay races, giant JENGA, obstacle courses, and remote control truck race courses. The students were also treated to bounce houses, adding to the excitement.

Ice cream, pizza, and drinks were also available. There were raffles throughout the carnival where kids used their tickets that they earned by playing games to win prizes.

When parents watched their children playing, they seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. Both the children and parents left with a smile on their faces. Daniella Rafael, a YCQ parent, said, “It was so nice to see my children so excited to go to YCQ on the weekend. I loved seeing them run off and play with friends and feel like they are in their second home. It

makes me feel good to know my kids want to be here and truly enjoy the atmosphere. The carnival was fun for all – the kids got to run, play, jump, and eat – all while smiling and laughing. As an adult I got to shmooze and catch up with other parents. Can’t wait for next year.”

All Junior High School students and parents that volunteered had fun seeing children with smiles on their faces, and all the help they gave was appreciated. “The carnival was great; it was a great success,” noted Siggy Orenbuch, a student volunteer.

The winter carnival had a great turnout of over 200 people; it was a wonderful opportunity for YCQ families to get together on an early Motza’ei Shabbat for an evening of family fun. “The more parents will get involved with the PTO and share ideas and their time and energy will allow us to continue adding new and fun programming not just for the children, but for our families too,” said Aliza Peled, PTO vice president.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

STAFF INTERVIEWS THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 13

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Hama’agal Inaugural Event

H

ama’agal, the new adult Friendship Circle recreational program for adults with developmental delays, held its inaugural event on Sunday, December 30, 2018. Fifteen adult participants along with seven volunteer advisors enjoyed an afternoon at Dave & Buster’s along with dinner at Ahuva’s Grill.

Hama’agal is a recreational program for adults in their 20s and 30s with developmental delays.

This program is designed to provide high-functioning adults with a social outlet through travel and recreational activities. The program takes the proven model utilized by the Friendship Circle (a program of Chabad of the Five Towns) and completes the circle, the ma’agal (Hebrew word for circle), for adults with developmental disabilities. The goal of the program is to design events that adults get to enjoy on a regular basis but with the support that these individuals require. Hama’agal will provide programming and a social group that appeals to the adults that they have become, in a supportive environment that accommodates kashrut and Shabbat observance.

Hama’agal is the brain child of the Horowitz family, and is being subsidized in memory of their wife and mother Rebbetzin Rita Horowitz, z”l. Rebbetzin Rita Horowitz, z”l, dedicated over 30 years of dy-

namic service to her congregants, and taught special needs students, helping them build their self-esteem by developing their creative side. In addition, she was also a mother to a child with special needs, who is now an adult. The Horowitz family has benefitted from Friendship Circle events for years and wishes to pay it forward and support the next stage that is so desperately needed in our community.

Participants in Sunday’s program began the afternoon at the Chabad House in the Five Towns where they engaged in ice-breaker activities in order to get to know each other. They then traveled together to Dave & Buster’s where they enjoyed unlimited access to the video games, some winning prizes, others simply enjoying the arcades and comradery of the group. During dinner, at Ahuva’s Grill, participants placed their orders with the waiter and engaged in additional ice-breaker activities as they waited for their food. All appeared to enjoy the program and the company of others. Participants were able to provide their input as to future events. Suggestions ranged from visiting the Statue of Liberty, museums in Manhattan, and one young man requested a trip to the Bahamas. All are eager for the next time the group will meet. To volunteer or sign up for future Hama’agal events contact 516-295-2478, ex. 13 or go to www.fc5towns.com/hamaagal.

MAY Freshmen “Phone Home” Ski Trip

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his year, the ninth grade at MAY is cellphone-free thanks to a new yeshiva program that radically changes the typical meaning of “Phone Home” – a program fully embraced by the talmidim.

The “Phone Home” program was the brainchild of the Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Yehuda Horowitz and the ninth grade rabbeim. The yeshiva can mandate that boys keep their cellphones at home, but it typically creates resentment and fear of missing out. Instead, MAY decided to create a culture of putting phones aside voluntarily by offering positive incentives to motivate the students.

The students’ universal participation was an unprecedented and laudable response.

The Mesivta has had a cellphone policy in place for many years, which requires students to deposit their phones and other electronic devices in designated cellphone lockers at

the beginning of the day. This new endeavor, however, took the notion of “out of sight, out of mind” to the next level.

The project has built-in incentives to motivate talmidim. Last week, the entire ninth grade embarked on a 2-day, all expenses-paid ski trip to Vermont. The trip began with a stopover at Bounce Trampoline Park, bowling, swimming and 4 star hotel accommodations. On day 2, talmidim were accompanied by their rabbeim, Rabbi Tsvi Greenfield and Rabbi Avi Schulman, to the Okemo Mountain Resort for a well-deserved, fun-filled outing of skiing and snowboarding.

With sedorim and ruchniyus built into the trip, for the ninth grade talmidim the trip was both a reward and yet another opportunity to apply the values and lessons they receive in the Mesivta to real-world situations.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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Rambam Supports Our Troops

E

ight boxes containing pounds and pounds of coffee, powerbars, and assorted treats were collected and sent by Rambam Mesivta’s Chesed Club to American troops in Afghanistan as part of a Hakarat Hatov Chesed Project. The presidents of the Chesed Club, seniors Mikey Csillag and Yosef Kuperman, as well as freshman Zachary Sicklick, were instru-

mental in this endeavor as were the other members of the Club, the student body, Rambam parents, and faculty.

“It was really a schoolwide effort that involved nearly everyone,” shared Rambam Associate Principal Mr. Hillel Goldman. “Showing the troops that Jewish people in Lawrence appreciate their efforts to help ensure our religious freedom is a huge kiddush Hash-

em.”

The packages also included a copy of a prayer created by the Rabbinical Council of America for the safety of American soldiers, as well as photos and personal letters from the Rambam talmidim.

The packages were sent directly to Kandahar to the 40th Infantry Division Headquarters.

This project was just one of many undertakings taken on by the Chesed Club that also included the Chai Lifeline Toy Drive; helping to make minyanim for those sitting shiva; cemetery clean-up; JCC Food Pantry volunteering, as well as numerous fundraising events that helped raise thousands of dollars for various charities.

Pesach Family Reunion – Orlando Upgraded!

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he idea has caught on! People are realizing that taking a home for Pesach in Orlando is the way to go. Last year there were 20,000-30,000 people in Orlando over Pesach, and this year will be the same, if not more, as it’s another 4-day chol hamoed which makes Orlando the destination of choice for so many families.

Welcome to PFR! Pesach Family Reunion in Orlando’s #1 resort, “Reunion Resort,” has upgraded the Orlando Home Program concept, making it the premier home program in Orlando. So what separates PFR from the rest? For starters, if you check out their website (www.pesachfamilyreunion.com) you will see they have well over 100 homes to choose from.

All homes have 30 or so pictures of the rooms, pools, and all the amenities so you can actually see what you are getting! There are homes at all price ranges starting from $4,500.

Another item that sets PFR apart is

“The Mansions” No need to go into detail here – you must see them on their site to start to understand. Even then, the pictures don’t do justice in trying to capture the elegance and beauty of these 10,000 sq ft - 14,000 sq ft “Palatial Pesach Palaces” Another major point is that PFR just built a brand new catering commissary down the road from Reunion Resort. This not only makes for fresher food, but it also helps alleviate logistical highway nightmares that you’ve all heard about.

PFR has assembled an amazing team with years upon years of Pesach and travel experience. Names like Avrumi Flam, Josh Post, Ari Flores, and Jeff Tokayer are known for their organized, caring and ethical dealings with all their clients.

So go to PFR this yom tov and enjoy an Orlando “magical” Pesach experience!

Bais medrash bochurim of Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah celebrated Rosh Chodesh with their Rosh Hayeshiva at Sunflower Cafe

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learning comes first

Call To Register or for more information AT 718.327.3567

Calibri free! in Collaboration with R.H.

the community camp where

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Around the Community

Scenes from the Achiezer Annual Gala

T

he gala was held on Sunday, January 6, at The Sands Atlantic Beach. Yossy and Miriam Lea Ungar were honored with the Pillar of Chessed Award; Michael H. Goldberg was the Man of the Year; Dr. Martin Kessler and Dr. Ari Hoschander received the Excellence in Medicine Award; and Shalom &

Leah Jaroslawicz were honored with the Young Leadership Award. The Edith Lowinger, a�h, Achiezer Volunteer Network was installed by the Lowinger, Keilson, Rosenman and Zafir families. The gala was dedicated in loving memory to Dr. Richie Friedman, a�h.

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Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam 7th Annual Dinner Chinuch Legacy Award. Throngs of people of all ages came from Queens and beyond to greet Rabbi Neuman, who was the principal in the Bais Yaakov of Queens for over 50 years. As the father of Rabbi Nosson Neuman, our menahel at BYAM, Rabbi Moshe Neuman’s legacy and warm brand of chinuch live on within the walls of Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam. It is especially heartwarming to have three generations of Neumans involved in our Bais Yaakov, as Reb Mordechai and Devorah Neuman are the proud parents of Nechama and Miriam Neuman, both students in the BYAM preschool.

We thank all the parents and staff of Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam for putting so much heart and soul into our dinner and into our school all year-

round. While we place tremendous importance on education, both in limudei kodesh and in secular studies, we are incredibly proud of the warmth, camaraderie, and simcha that personifies Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam.

May we all be zocheh to continue sharing the nachas for many years to come.

Photo credit: YK Images

B

ais Yaakov Ateres Miriam celebrated its 7 th annual dinner this past Motzei Shabbos, and there was much to celebrate. Beth Sholom in Lawrence was filled, as over 500 people came from far and wide to show their appreciation for yet another successful year of BYAM. Many came to congratulate our wonderful and deserving honorees who worked lev vanefesh to ensure the success of this year’s dinner.

Dovy and Suri Schwadel from North Woodmere were our guests of honor. The Schwadels have been involved in the school for many years and have been a pivotal force in many of our fundraising campaigns. BYAM is honored to have the Schwadels as part of our parent body, and it was our pleasure to welcome their friends and relatives who joined us for the occasion. Rabbi and Mrs. Yehoshua Rubenstein of Woodmere humbly accepted the Harbotzas Torah award. The Rubensteins personify the value of spreading Torah to the klal, and it was a zchus to share the night with them.

The highlight of the evening was the tribute that was paid to Rabbi and Mrs. Moshe Neuman, Great Grandparents of the Year and recipients of the

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Living it Up at Orah’s Upper Division Recently, Elisheva Segelman, program director at Orah Day Camp, spoke with TJH about a brand-new program for their oldest division.

TJH: Hi there Elisheva! We heard Camp Orah is having a special program for their 5th and 6th graders.

Can you tell us about it?

Elisheva: Sure! I am super excited to talk about it! “Living it Up!” is a Fine Arts Program where our fifth and sixth graders will have a chance to shine while they develop their talents and learn new skills in an awesome camp setting.

TJH: That sounds terrific! But can you explain what that actually means?

Elisheva: At the beginning of the summer, every girl will get a list of “electives” to choose from. The options may be one of but are not limited to the following: hair cutting and styling, jewelry making, singing/

choir, dance or ballet, food styling, painting, basketball leagues, etc. You get the idea…

Each half of the summer, they will be able to pick two of their favorite choices and run with them. After developing their skills in these areas throughout the next few weeks, they will proudly display/perform their accomplishments at our talent expo that will take place at the end of each half.

TJH: That sounds pretty creative!

So just to clarify, these girls will be working on their specific electives all day, every day?

Elisheva: Not quite! That could get pretty intense! A sample schedule could look as follows: morning breakout, davening, double swim, extreme art, Zumba, lunch, girl’s glam, and chessed. Then there would be two hours of the “Living it Up” program before heading to their busses.

TJH: So they will still be able to take

part in all the wonderful specialty activities that Orah has become so famous for?

Elisheva: Exactly. We don’t think our campers would forgive us if they lost out on that! “Living it Up” would take place three times a week, with Thursdays being reserved for trip day. (Count how many Thursdays there are in our over eight weeks of camp!) And Fridays would focus more on swim, oneg Shabbos, workshops and game shows.

TJH: This program sounds wonderful and also quite unique. What inspired you to create it?

Elisheva: We saw that our older, preteen campers were looking for an experience above what they had been having through fourth grade. Some wanted to go on a lot of trips, while others preferred to stay local and have an upgraded program. We tried to combine the two so that there’s something for everyone.

TJH: Is there a specific reason why you chose to call your program “Living it Up? Elisheva: Definitely. There’s the basic answer and the deeper one. We wanted the name to reflect how our campers will be feeling every day as they learn tons of new cool stuff and have the time of their life!

We also feel that it is essential for every person to feel good about themselves and to shine in their areas of strength. “Living it Up” suggests the emotional, social and spiritual growth that we hope to cultivate be’ezras Hashem in every single girl as they increase their knowledge, develop their talents, and hone their many skills.

TJH: We wish you lots of hatzlacha as you launch your new program.

Elisheva: Amen! Looking forward to seeing you at our Talent Expos!

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OHEL Continues to Raise Mental Health Awareness in Communities

D

r. Norman Blumenthal, director of Trauma, Bereavement and Crisis Response, at OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services, was a keynote speaker at the recent Baltimore community-wide event titled, “One Crucial night or Raise Mental Health Awareness.”

The event, which exceeded all expectations and was indicative of the need at hand, saw over 400 people attending, was livestreamed to over 1,200 people, and has since been seen by thousands online.

The evening, held at Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion synagogue in Baltimore, was organized by Mrs. Suzann Lesson, MOTR/L, a local occupational therapist whose vision and perseveration made real this important event.

The key speakers at the event were Dr. Norman Blumenthal of OHEL and Rabbi Ephraim Aliyah Shapiro, Mara D’Asra of Shaaray Tefilah Congregation in North Miami Beach, Florida. The event was moderated by Rabbi Yisrael Slansky, Director of RELIEF Resources Services of Baltimore.

Dr. Blumenthal, who has widely spoken in communities far and wide across the U.S. and beyond, has been a tireless advocate in raising the awareness of mental health issues, breaking down stigma, and nurturing a community far more proactive in seeking the help needed.

Setting the tone of the evening to awaken action, Dr. Norman Blumenthal powerfully conveyed “The time has come to destigmatize mental illness and destigmatize psychotherapy.”

Reflecting on the urgency at-hand by way of the tragic increase in suicides, Dr. Blumenthal conveyed that this reality was in much part the result of continued stigmatization and a feeling of helplessness by many, resulting in them not going for treatment.

Dr. Blumenthal likened mental illness to any physical ailment, where professional treatment is available.

So too, much like a physical ailment which worsens if not timely addressed, so to a mental health issue not addressed will only further aggravate the condition, resulting in a need for greater intervention.

The founder of Chazkeinu, Zahava List, was also present, and made available an abundance of information about her international women’s support group for people with mental illness.

Rabbi Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro emphasized the need for caring for one another. As he explained, people suffering from mental health issues “don’t care what people know – they want to know that people care.” Rabbi Shapiro conveyed that “no one should ever have to feel completely alone.” He stressed the power of dav-

Rabbi Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro, Dr. Norman Blumenthal, Rabbi Yisrael Slansky and Suzann Lasson, an occupational therapist at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital and the event’s organizer

ening for the refuah of people with mental health issues. And he concluded his speech echoing the words of Dr. Blumenthal, with the words, “Stop the stigma.”

Together with OHEL, the event was graciously sponsored by Levindale Hospital, Sinai Hospital, Bikur Cholim, RELIEF Resources, Ahavas Yisrael, Hatzalah, CBMI/Lev Shlomo, Jewish Caring Network, and Jewish Community Services.

This year, OHEL celebrates 50 years of service in elevating the lives of thousands of individuals and strengthening communities.

Servicing the needs of over 11,000 individuals, OHEL has been a trailblazer through decades of innovative programs and services that meet the increasing and diverse needs of growing communities. The breadth of OHEL’s experience and expertise

is second to none, from mental health services to developmental disability services, from foster care to eldercare services, from medical services to trauma services. These programs and services can be accessed from the new OHEL Jaffa Family Campus in Flatbush and the Kleinmain Regional Family Center in Far Rockaway.

Importantly, OHEL’s Crises Response Team provides on-site support to communities struck by tragedy and natural disasters, whether providing training and workshops to local mental health professionals and/or guidance and support to the wider community.

For more information on these many services please call OHEL Access at 1800-603-OHEL, www.ohelfamily. org or access@ohelfamily.org.

The YOSS Guitar Club

T

he Yeshiva of South Shore has launched another great extracurricular program. Our Guitar Club began last month for boys in grades 4 through 8. We are very excited to offer this club to help our boys begin mastering the art of playing guitar. With their training-size (¾) guitars in hand, boys are already picking up the skills to help lead the way in becoming a guitar star!

“The guitar club will teach fundamentals and unique techniques that will propel students well be-

yond viewing guitar as a hobby,” said Rabbi Noam Singer, 6th grade rebbe and guitar instructor.

Music gives us an opportunity to connect to Hashem and to each other in a powerful way. When we play music and sing together, each individual is energized by those around him.

As the Sefer HaChinuch says, “There is nothing that wakes a person up like a niggun.” We are confident that our new guitar club will serve as a vehicle to inspire and connect.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

FINAL STRETCH

HELP BRING THIS BEAUTIFUL BASTION OF CHINUCH TO THE FINISH LINE

BUILDING

CA M PA I G N

An opportunity for partnership!

This is a historic opportunity to partner

with Siach Yitzchak and earn a share in its perpetual impact on the future of Klal Yisroel!

For 39 years, Siach Yitzchok, under the leadership of its dedicated Menahel, Rav Dovid Sitnick, has been a dynamic chinuch anchor of our community. The Yeshiva’s pioneering chinuch achievements are part of the beautiful spectrum of the Five Towns/Far Rockaway community’s essence and identity.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

-

‫ה ב נ י ן‬

‫ז ה‬

‫ה ש ל ם‬

Dedication Opportunities Cheshek Shlomo Building Dedication ........ $2,000,000 Junior High School Name .............................. $1,000,000 Early Childhood Learning Dedication ...... $1,000,000 Bais HaMedrash Name ..................... $360,000 Reserved Main Entrance ..................................................... $360,000 Dining Hall / Auditorium .................................. $360,000 Harav Shlomo Freifeld zt”l Memorial Wall ...... $250,000 Founders Wall in Main Lobby ..................... $250,000 Gymnasium .......................................................... $250,000 Aron Kodesh ........................................ $100,000 Reserved Kitchen ............................................................... $100,000 Classrooms (18) ................................... $50,000 8 Reserved Limudei Kodesh Conference Room .. $36,000 Reserved OT/PT Rooms (5) ................................ $25,000 2 Reserved Bais HaMedrash Menorah .................. $18,000 Reserved Yizkor Plaque (2) .................................................. $10,000 Mezuza at each Floor’s Entranceway (5) ............. $10,000 Mizrach Wall Decorative Panels (12) ..... $7,200 1 Reserved Otzar Haseforim Bookcase (6) ....................... $7,200 Bais HaMedrash Bookcase (18) .......... $7,200 1 Reserved Bais HaMedrash Window (12) .............. $5,400 7 Reserved Classroom Mezuzah (18) .................... $5,400 6 Reserved Pre-School Netilas Yadayim Stations (6) ... $5,400 1 Reserved Classroom Windows (18) ...................................... $3,600 Classroom Cubbies (18) .................... $2,500 2 Reserved Set of Table & 4 Chairs in BM (50) ..... $1,800 1 Reserved Water Fountain (8) ................................ $1,800 1 Reserved Mezuza (50) .............................................. $1,800 4 Reserved Classroom Clocks (18) .......................... $1,000 3 Reserved

For information on dedication and additional sponsorship opportunities please contact Rabbi Mordechai Stein at the Yeshiva office at 718.327.6247 ext.16 or mstein@siachyitzchok.org

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Around the Community

Gedolei Yisroel to Grace and Address Dirshu International Convention This Week Climactic Grand Melava Malka Siyum Open to the Public

By Chaim Gold

A

Dirshu convention is not just a Shabbos in a hotel. It is a massive hafganah, a massive demonstration, of kavod haTorah, limud haTorah and virtually nonstop Torah inspiration.

It is an opportunity for couples, who make limud haTorah the daily centerpiece of their lives, to be inspired by Gedolei Yisrael and have their colossal accomplishments recognized by the leading luminaries of our generation.

This year’s Dirshu International Convention, to be held on Shabbos Parshas Bo, January 11-13, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut, will be addressed by leading Gedolei Yisrael and will feature numerous new innovations intended to provide much guidance and chizuk to the lomdei Dirshu and their wives.

The climax of the Shabbos will be the Grand Melava Malka on Motzei Shabbos where a siyum on Chelek Gimmel of Mishnah Berurah that has just been concluded in Dirshu’s popular Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program, will be made. At the siyum, addresses will be given by HaGaon HaRav Dovid Goldberg, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Telshe Cleveland, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, Nasi Dirshu, and HaGaon HaRav Lipa Geldwerth, shlita, R”M at Yeshiva Torah Temimah and Rav of K’hal Kol Torah of Flatbush.

At the Grand Melava Malka, exciting plans for Dirshu’s World Siyum will be unveiled. The assemblage will hear detailed plans of large gatherings promoting kavod haTorah. The siyumim will begin with massive siyumim in Eretz Yisroel, followed by England, France and South Africa, and culminating in an enormous siyum at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, in mid-February 2020.

She’eilos and Teshuvos Sessions with Gedolim One of the important highlights in the course of the Shabbos will be a riveting shailos and teshuvos session

right before Kabbolas Shabbos with Rav Reuven Feinstein. Rav Feinstein will answer a wide array of hashkafa questions, quoting liberally from the mesorah that he received directly from his illustrious father, the posek hador of the previous generation, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l.

Another highlight of the convention will be the shiur klali that will be given by Rav Shlomo Feivel Schustal after tefillas Shacharis on Shabbos.

Dirshu will be circulating maarei mekomos in advance of the shiur, and many hundreds of lomdim are looking forward to hearing a deep, intricate, lomdishe shiur by one of America’s most prominent Roshei Yeshiva.

Throughout the Shabbos, other Gedolim will give addresses, among them, HaGaon HaRav Reuven Feinstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of Staten Island; HaGaon HaRav Aharon Dovid Goldberg, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva Telshe Cleveland; HaGaon HaRav Yeruchem Olshin, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva, Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood; HaGaon HaRav Dovid Olewski, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Ger; HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Feivel Schustal, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Tiferes Yerachmiel, Lakewood; HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta of Lakewood; and HaGaon HaRav Yechiel Michel Steinmetz, shlita, Skverer Dayan of Boro Park.

Riveting Women’s Programming The convention will include a comprehensive women’s program catered especially to the wives of the lomdei Dirshu. Every individual at the convention is a person who has shown deep dedication to limud haTorah. The men show that dedication by learning, chazering every day, day in and day out, and taking monthly tests over a protracted amount of time. Similarly, every Dirshu wife has displayed mesiras nefesh for her husband’s learning and spiritual ascent by enabling him to de-

HaRav Dovid Goldberg, Rosh Yeshivas Telshe

vote tremendous amounts of time to learning the daily material and then repeatedly reviewing so that he will know the material sufficiently to earn an exemplary mark on the test. Often, this does not come easily and can mean sacrificing the help of a husband in the most hectic of times, such as the morning rush to school or the evening bedtime crunch. That is why Dirshu siyumim and Shabbos conventions always have an important place for Dirshu wives, true partners in the Torah success of their husbands. Among the featured women speakers will be Mrs. Chany Feldbrand, Mrs. Brenda Katina and Mrs. Leah Richeimer.

“Dirshu not only gives Olam Habaah, it also gives phenomenal Olam Hazeh!”

One of the highlights of previous conventions has been the unique shailos and teshuvos session held on Friday night after the seudah with the Skverer Dayan, Rav Yechiel Michel Steinmetz, shlita. Questions spanning literally the entire gamut of halacha are posed to the dayan, who, with his encyclopedic knowledge and good cheer, answers them all comprehensively and often with a good dose of added humor as well.

At the previous Dirshu Shabbos Chizuk L’lomdei Torah, it was Rav

Steinmetz who encapsulated what he saw as the uniqueness of the Dirshu convention by saying, “A unique koach of Dirshu is that it not only gives a person Olam Habaah, it also gives a person phenomenal Olam Hazeh! Where else can you have a convention where, after a moving oneg Shabbos, followed by going to sleep at 1:00 a.m., the next morning at 5:00 a.m., one hears a resounding kol Torah in the beis medrash? Where do you have a convention where after the seudah on Shabbos afternoon, the ‘taanug’ of sleeping on Shabbos is replaced by the even greater pleasure of learning and chazering another blatt Gemara and another seif in Shulchan Aruch?!”

Rav Steinmetz will be introduced by another distinguished international guest, HaGaon Dayan Binyomin Eckstein, shlita, Dayan in Kehal Machzikei Hadas of London and the yoshev rosh of Dirshu in Europe.

The Achdus that is Unique to a Dirshu Convention Inasmuch as the convention is sold out, in order to ensure the proper kavod for davening and learning, Dirshu plans to erect a massive tent on the premises. The tent will also serve to accommodate the burgeoning crowds so that they can hear the shiurim of Rav Schustal, Rav Stein-

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

Around the Community

HaRav Reuven Feinstein addressing a past Dirshu Shabbos Convention

metz, Rav Feinstein and numerous other Gedolim in a dignified manner as befitting a maamad of kavod haTorah.

The phenomenal achdus is another striking component of the Dirshu convention. One participant in the previous convention said, “Where else can one have Ashkenazim and Sefardim, Yeshivaleit and Chassidim, Yidden from Cleveland, Baltimore and Toronto talking in learning with Yidden from New Square, Lakewood and Williamsburg?!” Torah is truly the ultimate me’ached, the ultimate unifier, and the Torah in which all lomdei Dirshu immerse themselves, day in, day out, week in, week out, year after year brings together all segments of Klal Yisrael in the most harmonious symphony of achdus.

A Siyum that Belongs to Klal Yisrael The Gemara teaches us that the tana Rav Yosef said that even when one person makes a siyum it is a

reason to celebrate, and Rav Yosef would make a siyum for all of Rabanan when one person would complete a masechta. How much more so when such a large, significant swath of Klal Yisrael makes a siyum on a masechta! That calls for a true siyum where everyone is invited!

It is for that reason that the general public has been invited to join the siyum on motzoei Shabbos, to sit together with the mesaymim and celebrate with their brothers, to dance with live music and to hear the moving, powerful words of Gedolei Yisrael who will passionately address the assemblage. That is why bussing is being provided to the melave malka siyum from the major Jewish centers of Boro Park, Lakewood, Monsey, New Square and Williamsburg, to enable everyone to come celebrate with their brothers.

RSVP is required for bussing and the melave malka seudah by calling 1-888-5 Dirshu, ext. 106 or emailing, info@dirshunj.org.

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TJH Government Spending The federal government spent the amounts listed below on each of the corresponding studies, except for one study which is made up. Can you figure out which one never took place?

•

$700,000 to study flatulence by cows

•

$216,000 to study whether or not politicians “gain or lose support by taking ambiguous positions”

•

$998,798 to ship two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas

•

$500,000 to paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737

•

$1,500,000 to study how fish move on a treadmill

•

$300,000 to study which gender spends more time playing with Barbie dolls • $1,000,000 to create environmental awareness poetry • $150,000 to create a critter crossing area in Vermont • $900,000 to study whether or not guppies give into peer pressure • $120,000 to study why in the world our federal government would have conducted any of the above studies in the first place

Centerfold You gotta be kidding Four men were bragging about how smart their dogs were.

One man was an engineer, the second man was an accountant, the third man was a chemist, and the fourth was a government worker.

To show off, the engineer called to his dog, “T-square, do your stuff.” T-square trotted over to a desk, took out some paper and a pen, and promptly drew a circle, a square, and a triangle.

Everyone agreed that was pretty smart.

The accountant said his dog could do better. He called to his dog and said, “Spreadsheet, do your stuff.” Spreadsheet went into the kitchen and returned with a dozen cookies.

He divided them into four equal piles of three cookies each.

Everyone agreed that was good.

The chemist said his dog could do better still. He called to his dog and said, “Measure, do your stuff.” Measure got up, walked over to the fridge, took out a quart of milk, got a tenounce glass from the cupboard, and poured exactly eight ounces without spilling a drop.

Everyone agreed that was pretty impressive.

Then the three men turned to the government worker and said, “What can your dog do?”

The government worker called to his dog and said, “Coffee Break, do your stuff.” Coffee Break jumped to his feet, ate the cookies, drank the milk, claimed he had injured his back while doing so, filed a grievance report for unsafe working conditions, put in for worker’s compensation, and went home for the rest of the day on sick leave.

They all agreed that was brilliant!

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The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Government Shutdown Trivia Think you know about the history of U.S. government shutdowns, national parks, and federal workers? Take this quiz to see how much you really know about your government and your country.

c. Mount Rainier d. Sequoia 3. What is the tallest mountain in North America, which happens to be located in a national park? a. Mount McKinley b. Mount Whitney c. Mount Washington d. Mount Rushmore 4. Since 1976 there have been 21 government shutdowns.

During whose presidency was there the most shutdowns? a. Bill Clinton b. Jimmy Carter c. Barack Obama d. Ronald Reagan e. George W. Bush f. Donald Trump 5. According to recent data, the average private sector salary is $51,986. What is the average federal employee’s salary? a. $36,732 b. $45,388 c. $49,921 d. $83,679

a. Yes, but it will count towards his vacation days b. Yes, but he will have to pay for his own martinis c. No, of course he is not being paid! Even though it’s not his fault that the government shut down, why in the world should taxpayers have to pay him for sipping martinis in Bermuda?!

7. One of the tragedies of the government shutdown is that federal museums are closed.

Want to guess how many times I went to the National Air and Space Museum as a child? a. Every trip to Washington, D.C., as a child consisted of gawking at the White House and running around in circles at the Air & Space Museum. So I would say at least 10+ times. b. A is the only option to this question. Sorry, sometimes even the Centerfold Commissioner needs to vent.

(Phew, I feel free right now!)

 Answers

1. D

b. Yellowstone

2. B

a. Yosemite

3. A- Alaska’s Denali National Park & Preserve features North America’s highest mountain, the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley.

(Just because every car from Lakewood says, “This car climbed Mt. Washington” doesn’t make it the tallest mountain in the U.S.)

2. Which of the following was the first national park, established

by Act of Congress in 1872?

4. C- The first-ever government shutdown took place in 1976, during the Ford administration. There were six shutdowns during Jimmy Carter’s four years; eight during Ronald Reagan’s eight years; one during George H.W. Bush’s term; two during the Clinton years; one in the Obama years; and there have been three so far during the Trump presidency.

c. 159 d. 257

5. D- According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the average federal salary is $83,679. That’s right, these poor civil servants give up the private sector perk of making over $30,000 less a year to go work for the federal government. (Read that sentence again if you don’t get it.)

b. 102

6. B- Sorry, Michael, that we can’t pay for your martinis. But during past shutdowns (and likely after this one as well) “furloughed” federal employees received back pay for the period of time that they missed from work.

a. 74

6. A federal employee, let’s call him Michael, is furloughed because of this shutdown. Since he is off from work, he books a flight and goes to the Bahamas. He spends 10 days drinking martinis and having a blast. It happens to be that with his generous federal vacation package he just got back from a 2-week trip to Aruba. But, since he can’t go into work, he might as well enjoy the sun a little more in a nice tropical climate. Plus, this trip won’t cost him any vacation days because he is “furloughed.” Is he being paid for the time spent in the Bahamas?

7. By the way, the bathroom toilet flushers are pedals (to mimic airplanes, I guess). I think all I did all day in the museum was run to the bathroom so I could push the pedal. Good times.

1. How many departments, agencies, and sub-agencies are there in the federal government, according to the Federal Register Index?

 Wisdom Key 5-7 correct: You are a winner...like a furloughed federal employee who gets to stay home from work and then gets paid anyways.

3-4 correct: Not bad. Perhaps read a little bit during your furlough, though.

0-2 correct: Your brain is furloughed.

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3

Torah Thought

Parshas Bo

By Rabbi Berel Wein

A

t the beginning of this week’s Torah reading, Moshe is commanded by G-d to come to Pharaoh. The meforshim all deal with the strange verb used in this commandment. What does “bo” mean here – to come to Pharaoh?

Should not a different verb, such as “approach” or “visit” Pharaoh, have been used? Since Hebrew is a very exact language, and as I have often mentioned, the opinion of the great Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna is that there are no synonyms in the Torah, this word bo must carry with it a special significance, a nuanced insight that the Torah wishes to communicate to those who read and study its written word.

Among the many interpretations regarding this use of the word bo, I find it fascinating that many commentators say that the word does not really mean “to come,” but means “to come into.” Moshe is instructed to come into the psyche of Pharaoh, who has been afflicted with many plagues and yet remains stubborn and unyielding regarding freeing the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt. By understanding the psychology of Pharaoh, they will realize that Pharaoh’s behavior

is illogical, unrealistic and self-destructive.

Pharaoh himself is vaguely aware that this is the case and every so often he offers to compromise with Moshe and grant some sort of

speak, Moshe realizes clearly that Pharaoh is no longer an independent agent given to make free and wise choices. Rather, he is now being controlled directly by Heaven, and it is Heaven that has hardened

Moshe is instructed to come into the psyche of Pharaoh, who has been afflicted with many plagues and yet remains stubborn and unyielding regarding freeing the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt.

temporary relief to the Jews from their bondage. Yet, at the end of the matter, Pharaoh remains obstinate and unwilling not only to free the Jews but unwilling to save himself and his nation from destruction.

By delving deeply into the psyche of Pharaoh, coming into him so to

his heart with hatred of the Jews, so that he can no longer even choose to save himself, as any rational human being would do.

Apparently, both in wickedness and goodness, when one has crossed the ultimate line, one’s powers to exercise wise choices become di-

minished and even disappear. The rabbis have commented that both love and hate cause people to behave irrationally and out of character for self-preservation and personal honor. When that point is reached, it becomes apparent then that heavenly guidance has entered the picture and governs even the ultimate freedom of choice ordinarily granted to human beings.

This is one of the important lessons that Moshe will learn from his encounter with Pharaoh. It helps explain the behavior of tyrants and megalomaniacs who seem determined to burn their house down while still inside. It also helps explain why righteous people are capable of extraordinary acts of goodness and kindness even at the expense of all rational understanding.

By coming into Pharaoh, by understanding him and by realizing how unhinged he really is, Moshe concludes that there is no point in his negotiating with him further.

The L-rd has hardened his heart and the L-rd will be the sole agent for the redemption of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage.

Shabbat shalom.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

From the Fire

Parshas Bo Hashem’s “Bekeshe”

By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

T

his is the parsha of yetzias Mitzrayim, the exodus from Egypt, which is the foundation of our emunah, our faith in Hashem. “I am Hashem your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.”

Shmos 20:2. Perhaps the most wellknown Ramban in all of Chumash is on the last pasuk in this week’s parsha, commenting on the mitzva of tefillin. There (Shmos 13:16), the Ramban says that in the world Hashem created, people have free will because Hashem is hidden and people can deny all of the fundamentals of emunah, faith. To counter this confusion, the miracles of yetzias Mitzrayim, the Exodus, demonstrate Hashem’s existence, His creation of the world, His knowledge of the events in the world, His providence, and His rulership over all creation.

The Ramban says that Hashem gave

us the mitzvos of Shabbos, Pesach, tefillin, and many others so that we would constantly remember yetzias Mitzrayim, the Exodus, which will sustain and strengthen our faith in Hashem.

Many tzaddikim, including Reb Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin, explain an even deeper reason why yetzias Mitzrayim is the foundation of our hanume. They explain that when a person wants to start being an eved Hashem, a servant of Hashem, whether it is a bar mitzvah boy or someone in his thirties, forties, or fifties, the yetzer hara makes certain claims to dissuade him. It claims, “How can a nobody like you think that you can possibly be a great servant of Hashem?” Or it says, “After what you have done, how can you think that you will be able to serve Hashem?!” The answer to this is zecher yetzias Mitzrayim, remem-

bering how Hashem took the Jewish people out of Egypt. One should remember that if Hashem raised up the Jewish people in Egypt, who were slaves on the 49th level of impurity, to receive the Torah on Har Sinai over the course of just a few weeks, then surely any Jew can become a true servant of Hashem no matter who he is or what he has done.

Rav Naftali Ropschitzer offered an explanation of the words we say in kiddush, “First of the holidays (lit. “the calls of holiness”) a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt.”

The Ropschitzer said that when a Jew first hears the call to holiness, he should not give up on himself or lose hope that he has the ability to change. He should remember yetzias Mitzrayim, how Hashem lifted the Jewish people up from the lowest place to stand on Har Sinai

to receive the Torah, and he will be strengthened to know that he too can change and become great.

The last pasuk in this week’s parsha is the mitzvah of tefillin. There is a story of Rav Yisroel Husiatiner, the son of Rav Mordechai Shraga and descendant of the Maggid of Mezritch. Rav Yisroel said that when he first put on tefillin as a bar mitzvah bachur, his father, Rav Mordechai Shraga, told him the following story: At the beginning, the Maggid of Mezrich, their ancestor, traveled from place to place teaching the path of chassidus. He came to one town and started speaking to a group of talmidei chachamim. Soon other villagers came to listen as well, and soon the whole town was on fire with the light of chassidus. After a few months, the Maggid told them that it was revealed to him that he need-

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

ed to move on to a different place.

The people of the town told him that they would be lost and begged him not to leave them because they did not have anyone else to lead them in the service of Hashem. The Maggid then gave one of them his bekeshe and gartel and told them to go to the nearby town of Vitebsk.

He told them that in this town, they would find a Jew named Mendel.

They should put his (the Maggid’s) bekeshe and gartel on Mendel, and then he would be their leader.

The Jews of the town traveled to Vetebsk and asked about someone named Mendel. People pointed out a young talmid chacham named Mendel, so they went to him and told him to put on the bekeshe and gartel. From the time that Mendel put on the Maggid’s bekeshe and gartel, he was filled with a new light and became the tzaddik we know today as Reb Mendele Vitebsker. Rav Mordechai Shraga told his son, Rav Yisroel Husiatiner, that if the bekeshe and gartel of the Maggid of Mezrich could turn a Mendel into Rav Mendeleh of Vitebsk, then surely tefillin, which are Hashem’s garments – tefillin d’mari alma – can turn any Jew into a tzaddik.

The story is beautiful but it is very difficult to understand. It seems that the only reason the gartel and bekeshe had the power to turn Mendel into Reb Mendeleh of Vitebsk was because he already had all of the qualities of a Mendeleh of Vitebsk hidden inside. If they had put the bekeshe and gartel on some other Mendel, nothing would have happened. Furthermore, we have all been wearing tefillin, Hashem’s garment, for years and we are still not big tzaddikim.

The answer lies in the pasuk of the mitzvah of tefillin, which says (Shmos 13:16), “And it shall be a sign upon your hand and as totafos between your eyes that it was with a strong hand that Hashem took us out of Egypt.” We must remember that Hashem took the lowest people in the world out of Egypt and made them great. But just like Reb Mendeleh Vitebsker putting on the bekeshe and gartel of the Maggid of Mezrich, they must have already had the latent potential to stand on

Har Sinai and receive the Torah even before they were taken out. When we put on tefillin of the Master of the World, it must be that we too already have a heart and a neshama capable of ahavas Hashem and yiras Shamayim.

We have learned that the pa-

and achieve greatness. When we put on Hashem’s bekeshe and gartel, it reminds us that He has the power to bring out the Mendleleh Vitebsker within each of us.

I heard an interesting observation from a certain chachom. In the old Gemaras, the title page had a

Even if real service of Hashem feels foreign to us, even if we want to say “that is not me,” the tefillin reminds us that real service of Hashem is not foreign to us at all.

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of today who believe in G-d, but rather to the non-Jews who lived at the time of the Gemara, who served idols and were heathens. This chachom observed that, unfortunately, many Jewish people today make the mistake to think that the references to Jews in the Gemara also only refer to the Jews of that time, but that they do not speak to us today.

Tefillin, and all of the mitzvos which are a zecher yetzias Mitzrayim, remind us of how Hashem took us out of Egypt, remind us that we can strive for holiness and service of Hashem no matter who or what we are right now. Just like Hashem redeemed the Jewish people from Mitzrayim, may He remember us again b’geulah sheleima, b’mheira b’yameinu. Amen.

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congre-

suk says that we put the tefillin “al yadcha, on your hand,” which the Gemara derives to mean that the tefillin should be placed on the “yad ka’hah, the weak hand.” We wear the tefillin on the weak hand to remind us that even when we feel incapable of growing and weak, we must remember that we have a Mendeleh of Vitebsk inside waiting to come out and that Hashem can take us out of our own personal limitations, our own personal Mitzrayim, and that we can become great.

Similarly, the head tefillin are called totafos, which Rashi explains is not even a Hebrew word. It comes from foreign languages. Hashem is telling us that even if real service of Hashem feels foreign to us, even if we want to say “that is not me,” the tefillin remind us that real service of Hashem is not foreign to us at all. It is already within us, deep inside. We just have to remember and believe that it is there and that Hashem can bring it out of us.

“Hashem took us out of Egypt with a strong hand.” We may find it difficult to believe that people like us can go from where we are to receive the Torah on Har Sinai. But Hashem has does not have a yad ka’hah, a weak hand. He has a strong hand which can bring us out of our personal external limitations to long for

statement to the effect that all references to goyim or nachrim, nonJews, do not refer to the non-Jews

gation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

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JANUARY OCTOBER 10, 29, 2019 2015 || The The Jewish Jewish Home Home

Parsha

in 4

Parshas Bo

By Eytan Kobre

Weekly Aggada And G-d said to Moshe and Aharon, “This is the law of the Pesach – all non-Jews shall not eat it” (Shemos 12:43) G-d wanted to redeem the Jewish people [from Egypt], but they had no merit. So G-d called to Moshe and said to him, “Go circumcise them.”

Still, many of the Jewish people did not agree to be circumcised, so G-d commanded the Korban Pesach.

When Moshe made his Korban Pesach, G-d decreed that winds in

the four directions of the world blow through Gan Eden, and the winds of Gan Eden mixed with the smell of the Korban Pesach, and its smell wafted a distance of forty days’ travel.

The Jewish people then gathered before Moshe and asked him to feed them from his Korban Pesach, as the smell had made them hungry. G-d said to them, “If you aren’t circumcised, you cannot eat.” Immediately, the Jewish people circumcised themselves, and the blood of circumcision mixed with the blood of the Korban Pesach, and G-d took each of them and kissed them and blessed them (Shemos Rabba 19:6).

Weekly Mussar And they baked the dough that they took out of Egypt, for they were not leavened, for they were driven out of Egypt and were unable to delay, and they did not even prepare provisions for themselves (Shemos 12:39) Upon learning that they were to leave Egypt, the Jewish people did not tarry or delay; to their credit, they did not ask about venturing into the desert without provisions – they simply believed and left (Rashi, Shemos 12:39).

Now, the Jewish people had two options: stay in the hell that was Egypt, where they had been killed, tortured, and enslaved for hundreds of years; or, after witnessing ten paranormal, Divine plagues, follow Moshe and Aharon out of Egypt. Obviously, that’s no dilemma – of course they would choose redemption over slavery, life over death. Does that “decision” really merit praise?

That the Jewish people are praised for their “decision” to simply leave Egypt, explains R’ Shalom Schwadron, shows that people do not become believers simply by watching miracles (Lev Shalom, Shemos 12:39). If they did, the “decision” to leave Egypt would have been no bona fide decision at all; they would have been compelled to leave.

But all the miracles they merely witnessed did not make believers out of the Jewish people. Because true belief is not acquired by bystanders, even to undeniable miracles; it is acquired only when one takes action based upon belief. Witnessing G-d’s might in Egypt brought the Jewish people to a state where they could exercise their belief in G-d by simply leaving Egypt, without provisions, trusting in G-d. That first, trusting step indeed deserves praise.

Weekly Halacha This month shall be for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first for you among the months of the year (Shemos 12:2) Our custom is to recite kiddush levana on the first Motzei Shabbos at least three days after the “birth” of the new moon (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 426:2), but we do not recite kiddush levana on yom tov (Rama, Orach Chaim 462:2) – and certainly not on Shabbos itself (Magen Avraham, 426:7).

There are several reasons for the custom not to recite kiddush levana on Shabbos: (i) kiddush levana may involve dancing, which might be prohibited on Shabbos (Shaar Hatziyon, 426:11); (ii) kiddush levana contains personal supplications, which may not be recited on Shabbos (Maharil, Laws of Shavuos, No. 7); (iii) kiddush levana is tantamount to greeting the Divine Presence in the heavens, beyond the boundaries that may be traversed permissibly on Shabbos (Maharil, Laws of Shavuos, No. 7; Responsa of Rashba 4:48 [quoting the SeMaK]; Be’er Heitiv, Orach Chaim 426:5); (iv) Shabbos and kiddush levana are both joyous occasions, and we do not combine two joyous occasions (Pri Chodosh, Orach Chaim 426; Rama MiPano, No. 78); (v) reciting kiddush levana may lead to carrying a siddur in a Public Domain, which is prohibited on Shabbos (Sdei Chemed, Vol. 12 [Rosh Hashana], No. 2); (vi) the moon is dubbed a “sign” and Shabbos is dubbed a “sign,” and we do not add one “sign” to another (Responsa of Shvus Yaakov, Vol. 3, No. 31); and (vii) kabbalistic reasons (Kaf HaChaim 426:31; Responsa of Rashba 4:48; Aruch HaShulchan, Orach Chaim 426:10).

The Jewish Home JANUARY 10, The 2015 The Jewish Jewish Home Home ||| OCTOBER OCTOBER 29, 29, 2019 2015

While none of these rationales is particularly compelling or universally accepted (and many are criticized sharply), the prevailing custom is to avoid reciting kiddush levana on Shabbos (Aruch HaShulchan 426:10).

Nevertheless, if it is the last opportunity (or close to it) to do so, one may recite kiddush levana even on Shabbos (Mishna Berura 426:12; Sha’ar Hatziyon 426:12; Aruch HaShulchan, Orach Chaim 426:10; Be’er Heitiv, Orach Chaim 426:5).

run by the “enlightened” reformers, who were anything but true to Torah ideals. As was his habit, the Dubno Maggid asked if he could address the townspeople. “Of course!” replied the

young students on a field trip to the nearby forest. Knowing there might be wild dogs in the forest, the rebbi reassured the young boys. ‘If you encounter a dog, simply recite the

True belief is not acquired by bystanders, even to undeniable miracles.

Weekly Anecdote And to all the Jewish people, a dog did not bark his tongue (Shemos 11:7) The Dubno Maggid, R’ Yaakov Krantz (1740-1804), is best known for inspiring the communities of Eastern Europe with his stirring sermons and poignant parables.

His journeys once took him to a German town that had been over-

community leaders. “But understand that while our people much enjoy your parables, they have no interest in hearing any ‘antiquated’ biblical verses. Omit those from your sermon and you may speak.”

“Well,” the Dubno Maggid replied, “let me sum up this situation with a parable.

“A rebbi once decided to take his

verse, And to all the Jewish people a dog did not bark his tongue, which has the power to ward off a dog attack.’ Reassured by their rebbi’s advice, the young boys set off for their outing.

“As they neared the forest, however, a pack of wild dogs dashed towards them, barking loudly. Without uttering a word, the rebbi turned on

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his heels and scampered back to town as fast as he could. The children followed close behind, eventually reaching the safety of their classroom.

“Several of the boys approached their rebbi. ‘Rebbi, did you not tell us that if we encounter dogs, we should recite the verse, And to all the Jewish people a dog did not bark his tongue? Why did you run rather than recite the verse yourself?’ “‘Indeed,’ replied the rebbi. ‘But what can one do when dogs permit no opportunity to recite even one verse?’”

The Weekly Halacha is not meant for practical purposes and is for discussion purposes only. Please consult your own rav for guidance.

Eytan Kobre is a writer, speaker, and attorney living in Kew Gardens Hills.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

E-mail eakobre@outlook.com.

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JANUARY JANUARY 10, 10, 2019 2019 || The The Jewish Jewish Home Home

The Wandering

Jew

Moscow, USSR 1979 PART I

By Hershel Lieber

W

e traveled by train all night from Leningrad to Moscow. Pesi and I shared a sleeping car that had two narrow but comfortable beds. It was overly warm in the car, and the constant motion and the clacking of the wheels made it difficult for us to sleep. The conductor brought us tea from a samovar in the aisle in the evening and in the morning. The tea was hot and sweet and delicious.

Pesi and I spent a lot of time talking and reliving the events of the past few days. We recalled the night that we distantly followed Mordechai Romano several blocks, during a freezing torrent of rain to get to his apartment. He was too frightened to walk with us together. There, while sipping cherry-flavored vodka, we listened in amazement to a Shlomo Carlebach recording. We laughed about meeting the drunken 5-star general by the bus stop, whom I was humoring as he continued his Russian diatribe to my oblivious ignorance. We remembered our secret meeting with Lev Furman, the well-known dissident, at the onering circus and the conversation which we had in Hebrew. We reminisced about the rabid anti-Semite on the trolley, who was ranting and raving that everyone around him was a Jew. Little did he know how right he was.

And, of course, we discussed the di-

Pepsi was the sponsor of the 1980 Moscow Olympics

Pesi celebrating Victory Day in Red Square

amond earrings we got from Dovid Rifkin, and our plan to smuggle them out of Russia, which was the highlight of our unpredictable experiences.

We arrived early Wednesday morning in Moscow, were met by an Intourist agent at the platform, and were chauffeured to The National Hotel, was a block away and within sight of Red Square and the Kremlin. It was the hotel that Vladimir Lenin stayed at, and his room had a plaque denoting that historical fact. The center of the city had wide boulevards and important historical, cultural and governmental buildings. Nevertheless, many buildings were residential, with grandiose architecture but shabby-looking and in poor condition. The shops were mostly food stores and were poorly stocked with unappetizing products of limited variety. Though it was springtime, the only fruit we saw were apples – and they were mostly rotten. On Friday, we noticed some people carrying stringed bags with oranges. I followed the trail and came upon a liquor store with a huge crowd clamoring for the

oranges that were being offered for sale. The buying system was different than in America. There was one line to reserve an item, then another line to pay for it, and finally a third line to pick up the purchase. When the store manager somehow realized that I was a foreigner, he quickly took care of my purchase without having me wait on line. I guess he was embarrassed about what it would take for me to buy a half kilo of oranges! Any item which was in short supply commanded waiting on lines and much patience. Many times, by the time one approached the clerk, they were out of the item. Even the two largest department stores, GUM and Children’s World, had such shoddy merchandise and frequently ran out of stock.

If there was one thing that truly impressed us about Moscow, it was the subway, especially the metro stations.

Each station was decorated like a palace with different socialist and nationalist themes. The lighting, the mosaic tiles, the marble pillars, the artwork and frescoes on the walls, and the

sculptures were mindboggling. The trains were a lot simpler but very clean and efficient. It was a real contrast to our New York City subway system.

Moscow did have a few exclusive stores. They were called the “Beriozka” shops. There you could buy only with foreign currency. In a sense, these shops were reserved for tourists, businessmen, and upper-class members of the Communist party.

Foreign products as well as the finest Russian goods were available for sale.

Besides beautiful souvenirs, Russian sable and fur, caviar, and outstanding vodka, Western foods and electronics were offered for sale to those with foreign currency.

We noticed a major difference between our society and the average Russian on the street. The mood of the people in Moscow was generally somber. There were very few smiles, and one did not hear laughter or cheer in their voices. Their demeanor was serious and, in a sense, depressing. The gloomy feeling that I sensed matched the drabness of most of the streets and buildings. We realized that the lack of advertising – whether it was posters, signs or billboards – also created a significant difference between our cultures.

Our trip took place a year before the 1980 Olympics, and there were many indications throughout the city of the upcoming event. Banners promoting this universal competition with the five-ringed Olympic emblem graced many lampposts. The Russian mascot, Misha the Bear, was everywhere. Pepsi-Cola was a sponsor of this event and was selling its soda everywhere. I remember the lone soda machine across our hotel which dispensed Pepsi by putting in a ruble.

There were no paper or plastic cups,

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019 The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

Classic Russian souvenir “Matryoshka dolls”

rather a few glasses were piled on top of the soda machine which were used by person after person to drink the soda with. I, too, joined the drinkers just to see that nothing serious would happen to me.

Equality in employment was quite noticeable. Women were employed in many areas that were traditionally a man’s occupation. The streetcleaners were exclusively women, many with babushkas on their heads They used brooms made of branch twigs to gather the rubbish to cart away. I had my shoes cleaned for Shabbos on the street by a woman shoe shiner.

There were female truckdrivers and construction workers. Nevertheless, in the higher echelons of government and the Party, it was exclusively a man’s world.

The day we arrived was May 9, Victory Day. In the Soviet Union this day was celebrated as the end of World War II with the victory over Nazi Germany. The streets were bedecked with Soviet flags and posters of the past and present Communist leadership. The Premier of the U.S.S.R. at

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I had no problem drinking soda from the public glasses Note: Misha the Russian Bear was the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympics

the time was Leonid Brezhnev who was also the Chairman of the Communist Party. He and other officials were standing on top of Lenin’s Tomb in Red Square reviewing the military parade. Troops were marching, and convoys of vehicles carried a display of the latest weapons. Martial music

trip. There were no restaurants, nor was any kosher food available in the Soviet Union. We took along canned meats, tuna, crackers and some hard cheeses, which formed our basic meals. We supplemented that with delicious Russian black bread which we were advised was 100% pure flour

The gloomy feeling that I sensed matched the drabness of most of the streets and buildings.

was playing all day, and anyone who was a veteran of the war was in uniform and adorned with many layers of medals. It was exciting to be there and yet worrisome, being that the Cold War was still actively in force.

Pesi and I had brought along with us ample food for the duration of our

Crowds lining up to buy scarce meat on the street

and water and was permitted to be eaten. That bread and Russian vodka were the only staples which we bought on our trip and, combined with what we had, gave us the nourishment we needed.

Being in Russia was an adventure that we never dreamt we would ex-

In contrast – the extravagant Moscow Metro stations

perience. But what was still in store for us was the bittersweet Shabbos at the Moscow Synagogue and our meeting with Ilya Essas, the father of the Russian baal teshuva movement.

These stories will iy”H be part of my next article.

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

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JANUARY29, 10,2015 2019| |The TheJewish JewishHome Home OCTOBER

Torah Thought

A Talmid’s Perspective upon the Shloshim of his Menahel

By Ariel

A

ll my brothers and I attended Yeshiva of South Shore where Rabbi Herzberg was the menahel for over 38 years. My oldest brother was valedictorian, and, as you can imagine, he was a great kid. The next brother was a well-behaved child who never once entered the menahel’s office. My twin was valedictorian, and then there was me. I was an active, trouble-making child who couldn’t sit still for five minutes without causing a ruckus. As you might imagine, I spent more time than all my brothers combined in Rabbi Herzberg’s office.

Yet, never once did I hear from him those words that you so often hear from parents and mechanichim, “Why couldn’t you be more like your brothers?” Never a trace of comparison or a judgmental look.

As his son Yudi said at the levaya, “The more you misbehaved, the more you loved my father!” I can personally attest to this. From my earliest days I had frequent flyer miles piling up from being sent to Rabbi Herzberg’s office.

Nevertheless, I felt like I had a menahel in the front office that truly understood me and just wanted me to be able to reach my potential, although, over the years he did rebuke me many times. Every time I walked out of his office, he made sure I walked out with a smile, yet at the same time instilling in me an appreciation of what I did wrong. He had the understanding that

many times children enjoy having fun and are sometimes chutzpadik as a result. They don’t specifically intend to be disrespectful – it simply turns out that way. He was a master mechanech at the helm of a large yeshiva and ran it with love, warmth, and fear that was palpable to all.

There was once a four-year-old boy who was having trouble speaking properly. His parents were worried that he might be have difficulty learning. They brought their concern to Rabbi Herzberg. He suggested that they send the boy to public school.

The boy’s father approached two of his rabbanim for advice. He asked, “There is a man with a beard and peyos telling me to send my child to public school; should I listen to him?”

They both responded, “If Rabbi Herzberg says to send your child to public school, you send him.” The boy went to public school. He gained the skills he needed to speak properly and came back to yeshiva a year or so later and was on par with the rest of his class.

Rabbi Herzberg had the foresight that public school offered the much-needed resources to help this child develop his speech properly and that these parents would accept his advice. Today, this boy is a true ben Torah.

Every child remembers after finishing a juice box in elementary school how they enjoyed blowing it up

and then jumping on the juice box to hear the infamous pop. One Sunday morning, while I was in second grade and dismissal time was approaching, I saw a chocolate milk box on the floor.

I jumped on the box, expecting it to make a pop and then everyone would laugh. Little did I know – the chocolate milk box was full! When I jumped on the box, a significant portion of its contents were splattered all over my second grade rebbe. He did not find this to be particularly funny. He sent me to Rabbi Herzberg’s office. Rabbi Herzberg asked me to clean up the mess. After I cleaned up the mess, he asked my father to come into his office.

Rabbi Herzberg tried to explain to me what I did wrong. However, since I truly thought it was empty, I didn’t understand what I did wrong. Rabbi Herzberg tried a few more times to explain to me what I did wrong. For some reason, his message wasn’t resonating with me. He turned to my father and said, “Just forget about it, go home, and enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon.”

I mentioned this story to his son during shiva who then allowed me to travel into his world as a child of a mechanech par excellence. His son explained to me that of course he just let you off scot-free without any punishment. You didn’t understand what you did wrong, and if he would have punished you, he would have caused

you to have animosity toward the rebbe and him without understanding what you did wrong. That would have been pointless. He saw there was no chinuch lesson to be learned, so he just told your father, “Don’t worry about it, he’ll be fine. Just go home and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.”

When I was in fifth grade, our grade’s bein adam l’chaveiro was deteriorating. Rabbi Herzberg called the whole fifth grade into the library to speak to us. He told us a story about a boy in his elementary school class who was very large. Many of the boys in his class called the boy different names, “Blimp,” “Blimpy,” etc. After eighth grade, everyone went on their own path to different high schools. No one kept up with “Blimpy” or heard anything from him. Many years later Rabbi Herzberg was walking in Far Rockaway on a Shabbos afternoon, and he saw “Blimpy” walking toward the beach. Rabbi Herzberg went over to him to say hello. However, before “Blimpy” could respond to Rabbi Herzberg’s warm greetings, he told him the following. He said, “You see this woman I’m with now? She’s not Jewish. When the boys in our elementary school class called me all those nicknames, I wanted nothing to do with Judaism anymore and I married a non-Jew.” We all got the message: “your words matter.” Within a short amount of time, all the tension in the

The 29, 2019 2015 The Jewish Jewish Home Home || OCTOBER JANUARY 10,

grade subsided. He told us this story in fifth grade and I’m not sure if there’s a boy in our fifth grade class who forgot the story and its simple and powerful message that “your words matter.”

I was never the biggest fan of school. I always dreamed of having school for two months a year and then the summer break for the rest of the year. When I was in sixth and seventh grade, I had a habit of counting the days until the end of school year. I started my count in November. Rabbi Herzberg heard about my count and used to ask me, “Ariel, so how many days are left?” “141,” I would respond accordingly. When a momentous day arrived such as a hundred, seventy-five, or fifty days left to school, Rabbi Herzberg would dance with me in the hallways. I remember one time, I was walking down the hall and I saw Rabbi Herzberg approximately 40 feet away. He asked me, “Ariel, so how many days are left?” I responded, “25.” He started to dance with me, “The summer is coming!”

I’m sure Rabbi Herzberg enjoyed the summer months, but he didn’t need to count down the days with a sixth grader. Yet, he wanted to connect to this sixth grader and show him that he knew what I was feeling. I was also in school, he was telling me, we’ll get through this together.

He showed us that his only clientele were his talmidim – not the board, not the parents, not the rabbeim, or anyone else who might have gotten in the way of him giving complete attention to his true clientele, his beloved talmidim.

When I was in eighth grade, approximately 15 boys slept over in Far Rockaway for a friend’s bar mitzvah.

Friday night after the meal with the bar mitzvah boy and his family, all the boys decided to go over to our English teacher’s house to say good Shabbos.

When we knocked on the door, she was ecstatic to see us. She invited us in, gave us cookies, and spoke with us for a few minutes. Afterwards, we all walked over to Rabbi Herzberg’s house to say a good Shabbos. As Rabbi Herzberg invited us into his house, he realized that there were not enough seats at the dining room table for all 15 of us. He asked me to go downstairs to get some chairs from the basement.

After coming up and giving out the

chairs, I took one for myself and sat near Rabbi Herzberg. He turned to me and asked me, “How’s Shabbos going so far”? I responded by saying, “It was going well,” and told that we just came from Mrs. Shwartz’s house.” He said, “Wow, that’s so nice of you guys,” and

alized that he was right, “Ariel, I can do better,” and I stopped misbehaving.

As I mentioned, I was in eighth grade at the time, and it came time for me to decide on a high school. All I could think of when I had to make my decision was Rabbi Herzberg saying to

All I could think of when I had to make my decision was Rabbi Herzberg saying to me, “Ariel, you can do better... Ariel, you’re better than that.”

continued to ask me about the experience. After about a half hour later we started to make our way back to our host’s house. As I walked out of Rabbi Herzberg’s house, my brother and a friend turned to me and asked me, “Did you realize what just happened?”

I said, “No.” They explained that when I went downstairs to get the chairs, the other boys had told Rabbi Herzberg that they went to Mrs. Shwartz’s house. But I would have never known from the way he responded to me that the other boys had already told him that we went there. He wanted to lead by example. You don’t have to make someone feel uncomfortable even if you know the information already. Let the person tell his story. I remember all the boys were wowed about how Rabbi Herzberg handled the situation.

Towards the end of eighth grade, I was up to no good. I was headed down a slippery slope. My eighth grade rebbe got wind of my whereabouts and told the menahel about it. Rabbi Herzberg called me into his office one morning, and said, “Ariel, I heard you’re up to no good,” I responded with a mischievous smile, “Yes.” Rabbi Herzberg could have easy criticized, berated, and scolded me for my actions. But Rabbi Herzberg knew with his innate ability that such an approach wouldn’t help. He turned to me and said, “Ariel, you can do better. Ariel, you’re better than that.”

Within a short amount of time I re-

me, “Ariel, you can do better…Ariel, you’re better than that.” I am forever grateful for Rabbi Herzberg because if I would have continued down that dark path, I’m afraid to think of where I would have ended up. Throughout

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our conversation he said these lines over and over. He imbued in me the confidence that I really could do better, and I could overcome whatever I was struggling with and strive to do better.

After I graduated elementary school, I would occasionally stop by Rabbi Herzberg’s office to say hello to my beloved menahel. Every time I walked in, I could feel the sense of love he had for me, even though it had been many years since I graduated.

One bein hazmanim after coming back from Eretz Yisroel I stopped by Rabbi Herzberg’s office to say hello.

We caught up for a few minutes. As we were about to part ways – which would be my last verbal encounter with him – he turned to me, “Ariel, if you ever need anything” – he put his hand on his office phone – “you know where to reach me.”

Oh, how I wish I could take him up on his offer.

May he be a meilitz yosher for his family, talmidim, and all of Klal Yisroel.

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

World

Builders

Being There at the Right Time

By Shlomo Tausky

Shlomo Tausky works for a non-profit organization known as Ezer M’Tzion. He is married with two children and lives in Haifa. In addition to his work, Shlomo volunteers with United Hatzalah as an EMT and also serves as the Deputy Head of the Carmel Region for the organization. He has been an EMT volunteer for the past three years.

A

few weeks ago, a man was shopping at a store in Haifa and suddenly fell to the floor in a fit of seizures. The frightened storeowner quickly called for emergency services to come and help the man. I was on my ambucycle when United Hatzalah’s dispatch alerted me to the nearby emergency. I immediately gunned the engine and raced to the scene. I was the first responder on site. As I parked in front of the shop and grabbed my medical kit, I saw a municipal ambulance coming toward the location.

The shopkeeper met me at the door and led me to where the man was convulsing on the floor. I secured the man’s airway and carefully protected his head during the elongated bout of seizures. After some minutes had passed, I wondered what was taking the ambulance crew so long to arrive. As I was attending to the still-convulsing patient, I asked the shopkeeper to call dispatch and inquire about the ambulance. A minute later, the shopkeeper told me that the ambulance had responded to a car accident and that an intensive care ambulance was on its way from Kiry-

at Ata, a town northeast of Haifa.

I knew that the man’s elongated seizures could result in brain damage or even death due to lack of oxygen and that it would take an unacceptable amount of time for the mobile intensive care unit to arrive from Kiryat Ata. I told the shopkeeper to immediately request any available ambulance in the area to rush to the scene. A few minutes later, an ambu-

and said: “If you had not gotten the man to the hospital as soon as you had he would most likely not have survived.”

Saving lives gives me a feeling of satisfaction to know that I help others on a regular basis. I began learning about emergency medicine as part of a family safety course that I took with United Hatzalah for my

“This was shocking to me – to see a woman choking right in front of my eyes.”

lance arrived, but with only the driver on board.

Together with the driver I quickly lifted the still-convulsing man onto a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance. As the ambulance was short-staffed, I got on board and rode along to the hospital to safeguard the patient during transport.

Together we rushed the still-convulsing man into the emergency room, and I updated the treating physician as to the length and severity of the man’s seizures. It took two doses of anti-epileptic medication for the man to finally stop convulsing. One of the nurses came to up to me to thank me

own personal reasons so that I would know how to help my family. At the time, I was working partly in a bank in Haifa, and I sensed a commotion happening behind me. I got up to look at what was happening. I saw a woman standing in the middle of the room, and she was choking. This was shocking to me – to see a woman choking right in front of my eyes.

Everyone was standing up and no one seemed to know what to do.

I thought someone for sure would know what to do or know how to help her better than I would but no one moved. I moved. I ran to her and performed the Heimlich maneuver. My

actions saved her life. After she successfully dislodged the blockage from her windpipe, she calmed down, and by the time the ambulance arrived, she refused their services because she was fine and the danger was over.

When they opened the next EMS course in Haifa, I signed up knowing that in the time of need, I need to know what to do because if not me, who else will?

I began as a volunteer because I wanted to help save lives. The heads of the chapter saw that I was interested and that I was hard-working. They gave me an ambucycle, and then, a short while later, they asked me to be the deputy head of the region. I knew saving lives was important and I thought that if I could help others do what I did, then my family, my community, and other communities would be safer.

I didn’t expect to be put in charge of 200 other volunteers. I am happy that I am because the work I do now saves even more lives. From one small course of four hours, I ended up becoming a force multiplier to save countless others – all because of knowing what to do and how to do it when the time came. The message I learned that day is that we all have a responsibility to help others and that often there isn’t enough time to wait for an ambulance. When people suffer a medical emergency, they need help right then and there, and I am thankful to United Hatzalah for teaching me, equipping me, and empowering me to be the one to step up and help.

The The Jewish Jewish Home Home || JANUARY OCTOBER 10, 29, 2019 2015

937

Good Hum r

Schnitzel Shenanigans

By Jon Kranz

S

chnitzel is not uniquely Jewish yet it is beloved by many Jews.

The question is: why? According to most experts, including several top schnitzologists, schnitzelticians and schnitzographers, there are many possible reasons for the strong Jewish connection to schnitzel.

First, schnitzel, a German word, arguably has a Jewish-sounding (or at least a Yiddish-sounding) name. The “sch” prefix is in the same ballpark as the “sch” prefix of other classic Jewish/Yiddish words like schmaltz and schmutz. At the same time, the “el” suffix is similar to that found at the end of words like kugel and kichel. If your last name is Schnitzel, that certainly does not mean you are Jewish, but it does mean you should marry someone with the last name of Weiner: “You are cordially invited to the Weiner-Schnitzel wedding.”

Second, from an onomatopoeia perspective, the pronunciation of schnitzel reminds us that it is fried in sizzling (“schni”) and crackling (“tzel”) oil. (There are other words in Jewish/ Yiddish parlance that have a similar onomatopoeic effect like schlep and shmooze.) The fact that schnitzel is fried in oil means that it is similar to classic Jewish treats such as latkes and sufganiyot, both of which are intended to remind us of the miracle of Chanukah and the little bit of oil that burned for eight straight nights. Since latkes and sufganiyot are not normally consumed year-round, the oily schnitzel arguably serves as a more constant and filling reminder of the Chanukah miracle.

Third, schnitzel is breaded, and

many Jews love bread (see, bagels, bialys, pita and challah for further details). In fact, many Jews prefer food when it includes or incorporates bread. In other words, lox is good but lox on a bagel is better. Eggs are good but French toast is better. Pudding is good but bread pudding is better. Perhaps the Jewish love affair with bread is because it reminds us of the manna in the dessert. This, of course, raises a question as to whether heavily-breaded schnitzel requires a hamotzi bracha.

According to most scholars, the answer is: no. The correct bracha is shehakol

shares space with lettuce, tomato and other accoutrements, snuggly greeting them with a warm but not oppressive embrace. In other words, when the flaming hot schnitzel collides with the tomato, it does not instantly reduce the tomato into ketchup.

Fifth, anything can be schnitzel. Yes, chicken, turkey and veal are the most common varieties but other things can be breaded and fried. In the south, chicken fried steak is popular, and that dish essentially is beef schnitzel. Many scholars agree that chicken fried steak, like many wonderful things

The “Chelm Special”: a cockamamie sandwich featuring a fried loaf of bread covered in chicken crumbs.

because chicken is the star of the dish and the breading is used less for taste and more for practical purposes like preventing the chicken from sticking to the pan. This means that on Shabbat, you should not make a hamotzi bracha over two pieces of breaded schnitzel.

You also should not make kiddush over dolmakadia (stuffed grape leaves).

Fourth, schnitzel perfectly stabilizes a sandwich like a real mensch.

It fills the middle gap with gusto and bravely withstands condiment smothering, soaking up the excess without becoming overwhelmed. It graciously

in life, was discovered by accident. As the story goes, in the early 1900s a tooeager-to-please line cook mistakenly combined two orders, one for chicken and the other for fried steak, hoping to satisfy what he thought was a peculiar request. (Yes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches likely have a similar “oops!” origin.) The rest, as they say, is finger-licking history.

Sixth, schnitzel goes swimmingly with nearly anything and is very flexible. In fact, many restaurants bestow special names on wacky schnitzel creations. In that vein, here are sugges-

tions for some new customized schnitzel sandwiches: (1) The “Klutz”: served in bubble wrap because it definitely will wind up on the floor.

(2) The “Kvetch”: no matter how well you prepare it or how good it tastes, there still will be a litany of complaints.

(3) The “Pushy Panko”: served to those shopping in Machane Yehuda on a busy Friday morning and who must aggressively navigate the crowds with a certain amount of non-violent chutzpah.

(4) The “Plotz”: this sandwich is so shockingly good that you aren’t going to believe it. After just one bite, “you’re gonna plotz.”

(5) The “Chelm Special”: a cockamamie sandwich featuring a fried loaf of bread covered in chicken crumbs.

(6) The “Lettuce My People Go”: a special schnitzel sandwich served on Pesach featuring lettuce and kosher-for-Passover breadcrumbs.

(7) The “Jewish Mother”: served in Tupperware so that you can take the leftovers back with you to share with your roommates.

(8) The “Mezuzah”: it’s so delicious that you’ll want to hang one in every room of your house.

Final thought: how should you describe a schnitzel restaurant that is far better than all other schnitzel restaurants?

It’s a cutlet above the rest.

Jon Kranz is an attorney living in Englewood, New Jersey. Send any comments, questions or insults to jkranz285@gmail. com.

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More than a Three-Ring Circus

ISRAEL’S UPCOMING ELECTIONS

BY TZVI LEV

“When

you turn an election into a three-ring circus, there’s always a chance that the dancing bear will win.” Reportedly coined by the American historian Nancy Isenberg, this quote is an apt description of the chaotic nature of Israel’s political system.

Unlike the two-party system which is in the norm in the United States, Israel’s political scene consists of ten or eleven different factions vying for the support of the voters. The plurality of political parties is seen as a major reason as to why Israeli elections are so divisive.

Ever since the modern State of Israel first headed to the polls in 1949, its elections have been characterized by mudslinging, personal attacks, fearmongering about the other side, and extreme rhetoric. While nominating oneself in the U.S. is referred to as “throwing your hat into the ring,” the equivalent expression amongst Israelis is “jumping into the mud.”

A lot of mud is indeed expected to be hurled until April 9, 2019, the day that Israelis will head to the polls to choose their 21st government. The governing coalition’s faction leaders had recently announced on December 24th that they had decided to dissolve the Knesset and head to early

elections.

While the Knesset dispersed itself officially only as of late, the government had essentially dissolved back in early November, when Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman suddenly resigned as defense minister and pulled his faction out of the government. The Knesset requires a governing coalition to have a minimum of 61 lawmakers in parliament. Following Liberman’s departure, the coalition retained exactly 61 MKs, enabling any rogue legislator to hold the entire government hostage and making effective governing impossible.

What ultimately trigged the government’s downfall, however, was the looming deadline to pass the charedi enlistment bill. In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that a previous law exempting charedi yeshiva students from the IDF draft was unconstitutional and gave the government a year to pass a new law. The deadline has been extended several times as bickering factions in the coalition refused to support it.

With the final January 15th deadline looming, the coalition could not scrounge up the necessary votes to pass a revised enlistment bill, all but ensuring that the government would meet an early end.

“We can’t govern like this,” Coalition Chairman David Amsalem complained to Prime Minister Ne-

tanyahu during a meeting of Likud lawmakers. “If that’s the case, we’ll go to elections,” responded the premier.

Bibi: Shaky or Strong?

The upcoming elections are widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The man who has led Israel for the last decade finds himself in increasingly dire legal jeopardy, as police have recommended that he stand trial in three separate corruption investigations.

In the corruption probe nicknamed Case 1000, Netanyahu is accused of accepting lavish gifts from billionaires Arnon Milchan and James Packer. Police say that the gifts, which included expensive champagne, jewelry, and cigars, constituted bribery in exchange for Netanyahu promoting legislation favorable to moguls’ interests.

Netanyahu maintains that the items were strictly gestures of goodwill, pointing to the fact that the gifts began even before he returned to the Prime Minister’s Residence in 2008, following an absence of around a decade.

The other two investigations deal with Netanyahu’s efforts to increase his control over the media. In Case 2000, authorities say that the prime minister hatched a deal with the publisher of the major newspaper Yediot Aharonot to shut-

The Jewish Jewish Home Home || OCTOBER JANUARY 29, 10, 2019 The 2015

ter competing daily Yisrael Hayom in exchange for glowing media coverage. Part of the evidence police have collected includes recordings in which Netanyahu and Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon (Noni) Mozes can be heard openly negotiating the illicit deal.

Meanwhile, Case 4000 revolves around allegations that Netanyahu promoted regulatory moves that provided a financial windfall for Bezeq telecommunications giant owner Saul Elovitch in exchange for favorable coverage on the Walla! News website, which Elovitch owns as well.

As a serving prime minister, Netanyahu cannot be brought to trial without the recommendation of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. As April 9th creeps closer, Israel is abuzz over the possibility that Mandelblit will indict Netanyahu before election day. Traditionally, government ministers were forced to resign upon receiving an indictment, a precedent which toppled former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2007.

Due to a loophole, however, the law’s wording speaks only about regular ministers and is unclear regarding a serving prime minister under indictment. “There’s no similar determination with regard to the prime minister, and it can be argued both ways whether it applies to the prime minister,” legal expert Professor Menachem Kremnitzer told the Times of Israel.

Regarding the investigations, which Netanyahu has dubbed a “Bolshevik witch-hunt,” the premier has repeatedly attacked the police for coordinating a “rigged investigation” whose purpose he claims is to “topple a right-wing government via undemocratic means.” According to Netanyahu confidants, the premier says that he will not resign even if he is indicted and that he is willing to face a circus-like criminal trial while serving as Israel’s top elected official.

Netanyahu’s legal troubles aside, his ruling Likud party is in its best electoral shape in decades.

With polls consistently estimating that Likud will win 30 Knesset seats, the party would be a clear shoo-in to form the next government should elections be held today. The Likud also enjoys a lack of competition, as factions on the left and right alike devour themselves in the fight for ideological purity.

A Right Referendum?

On the right, the Jewish Home is now struggling to avoid an electoral bloodbath after its now-former leader Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked suddenly jumped ship to found their own party.

With no warning, the aforementioned pair announced last week that they would be launching their own faction titled “HaYamin Hachadash,” or the “New Right.” Bennett said that the party would “be a partnership between the secular and religious public for the sake of Israel” and would

Prime Minister Netanyahu

provide a legitimate alternative to Likud, a party he accused of “implementing center-left policies.”

It’s still too early to tell what effect Bennett’s shock departure will have. For now, the polls are all over the place; surveys taken throughout the week following the dramatic press conference showed HaYamin Hachadash ranging from as low

SURVEYS TAKEN THROUGHOUT THE WEEK FOLLOWING THE DRAMATIC PRESS CONFERENCE SHOWED HAYAMIN HACHADASH RANGING FROM AS LOW AS FOUR SEATS TO A HIGH OF 14 SHOULD ELECTIONS TAKE PLACE NOW. as four seats to a high of 14 should elections take place now. Meanwhile, the Jewish Home party appears to be struggling to find its footing, and is predicted to not pass the electoral threshold in various polls.

Bennett’s decision to leave the Jewish Home comes after years of attempting to make the party palatable to the wider Israeli public. With the par-

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ty having traditionally represented the Religious Zionist community, Bennett fought to add more secular candidates that would soften the Jewish Home’s sectoral image.

Bennett’s efforts received significant pushback from officials within the Jewish Home, who accused him of diluting the party’s religious identity in his quest to become prime minister. In the previous elections in 2015, Bennett was humiliated after nominating a secular soccer player Eli Ohana to the party electoral slate. The ensuring outcry from the party’s rabbis was so strong that Bennett was forced to drop the nomination within a day.

In general, Bennett has made some questionable moves that have caused many to wonder if he’s ready for the big leagues.

In 2012, Bennett burst onto the political scene seemingly out of nowhere, taking over the failing Jewish Home faction and tripling its Knesset representation within one year. Since then, however, he has languished.

Despite Bennett’s open ambitions to succeed Netanyahu as Israel’s leader, the vast majority of the public refuses to support him, with only 9% of Israelis professing to want Bennett as prime minister in a recent poll. Following Liberman’s resignation last month, Bennett publicly vowed to topple the government if he didn’t receive the next nomination as Defense Minister. Yet Bennett backed down from his ultimatum after Netanyahu accused him of “toppling a right-wing government during an especially sensitive security situation,” only to watch helplessly when Netanyahu dissolved the coalition on his own accord three weeks later.

Another party on the right facing significant electoral challenges is Yisrael Beytenu. Avigdor Liberman’s party was once a threat to be reckoned with, reaching a height of 15 seats in the 2008 elections. Yet racked by a massive corruption scandal that saw three ministers receive jail time, and with its Russian-speaking constituency integrating into mainstream Israeli society, Yisrael Beytenu has dropped to only five Knesset seats.

The role of defense minister is often seen as a stepping stone on the path to becoming prime minister, as politicos utilize the prominent position to show the public that they can protect the country against its numerous security challenges. Despite serving as defense minister from 2016 until this past November, however, Liberman not only failed to gain traction but watched as his party collapsed to barely graze the electoral threshold.

A similar scenario faces Shas. A party representing Sephardic charedim, Shas’ collapse from the 17 seats it earned in 1999 has been blamed on several factors, including the passing of founder and Sephardic Torah luminary Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, zt”l, and the criminal investigation of leader Aryeh Deri. Police have already recommended that Deri stand trial for a slew of offenses, including fraud, breach of trust, and multiple tax offenses.

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two sides agreed to run together this time around, but observers predict that it’s only a matter of time until the agreement falls apart.

All of the aforementioned factors have caused the once-mighty Shas to hover around the electoral threshold of 3.25%, a decline unprecedented in Israeli political history. Facing extinction, Shas’ rabbis are frantically searching for a way to reverse the slide, including floating a possible joint run with former party leader Eli Yishai, a sworn adversary of Aryeh Deri.

Things are no more optimistic for United Torah Judaism (UTJ), the faction that represents Hassidic and Lithuanian charedim. UTJ is a joint electoral slate comprised of the chassidic Agudat Yisrael and the Lithuanian Degel Hatorah, a list created in 1988 by Rabbi Elazar Shach, zt”l. Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael first ran together in 1992 and have not always seen eye-to-eye; the two had parted ways in 2004 before returning to a joint party two years later.

Yet veteran observers of the charedi community are hard-pressed to recall a similar case of infighting that now threatens UTJ’s future. Ever since the passing of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Steinman, zt”l, who was seen as the unquestioned leader of the charedi world, UTJ has been suffering from a leadership vacuum that has deteriorated into a power struggle.

With the political battle between the chassidim and the Lithuanian charedim escalating, the two factions already endorsed different candidates in October’s municipal elections, a previously unthinkable departure from the charedi community’s monolithic voting patterns. The lack of unity led to charedim losing control of Bet Shemesh and the failure to pass the enlistment bill, as Agudat Yisrael refused to support legislation that even acknowledged the possibility of yeshiva students being required to draft.

With relations at a nadir, UTJ faced an uncertain future, as both Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah threatened to dissolve the partnership and run independently. After feverish negotiations, the

Meanwhile, the left will pay for the problems facing Shas and UTJ. After being in power for Israel’s first 27 years, the once-mighty Labor faction now faces a nightmarish scenario of dropping to the single digits. Currently known as the Zionist Union, polls show it hovering around seven Knesset seats, an unprecedented fall from the 24 seats it collected in the previous round back in 2015.

The Zionist Union’s dwindling fortunes can be chalked up to its leadership – or lack of it. Made up of a partnership between Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah party and Labor, the Zionist Union almost beat Netanyahu’s Likud in 2015 and remains the largest opposition party. Since its resurgence in 2015 and today, the Zionist Union underwent a series of changes that made the once-fruitful political partnership a thing of the past.

The biggest of the said changes was the appointment of former Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to head the Jewish Agency. Herzog’s subsequent resignation from the Knesset in order to take the plum job meant that Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay needed to find someone to replace Herzog as opposition leader. Since he is not a sitting MK, Gabbay could not choose himself and was forced to choose Livni after she threatened to bolt the Zionist Union and cause the partnership to dissolve should she not lead the opposition.

Instead of thanking Gabbay, Livni subverted his authority at every opportunity. Gabbay’s fury grew as Livni tried to form a left-wing bloc that would not be headed by Gabbay and made it clear that she didn’t respect his leadership. Finally, he had enough.

In what many call the most revolting move they’ve ever seen in Israeli politics, Gabbay sum-

moned Livni for what was an ostensibly routine faction meeting and summarily fired her before the cameras. Livni had no idea what was coming. As the cameras rolled, Gabbay told the shellshocked Livni that he was dissolving the Zionist Union and, with a cynical smile, wished her luck “on whatever party you may find yourself in,” a clear jab at the five parties Livni has been part of in her 18 years in politics.

“I had hoped and believed that the new partnership would lead to our joint growth, to a real connection, and to mutual support. But the smart public has seen that this is not the case, and has drawn away,” Gabbay told the stunned Livni.

Gabbay exhibited a non-insignificant amount of manipulation in the days prior to his announcement that he would depose Livni. To prevent her from guessing what awaited her, he scheduled a meeting with her for the next day after his press conference “to discuss our cooperation in the upcoming elections.” Gabbay also did not consult his own party before announcing that the treaty with Livni was over and even wrote his speech by hand to prevent the news from leaking.

Now, Livni is attempting to relaunch her Hatnuah party. In the meantime, her faction fails to cross the electoral threshold in almost every single survey.

Livni’s departure doesn’t mean that Labor now enjoys stable leadership. If the biblical spies disparaged the holy land as “one that eats its inhabitants,” the Labor Party unquestionably devours its own leaders. Since 2000, Labor has cycled through 11 different leaders. By contrast, Likud is an island of stability that has only had four leaders since its founding in 1973.

In an effort to break the dismal cycle, the Zionist Union had elected Avi Gabbay as its chairman in July 2017. A former CEO of Bezeq and environmental protection minister for the outgoing government as part of the Kulanu faction, the Moroc-

Benny Gantz

Avi Gabbay

Moshe Kahlon

Shuffling on the Left

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Other than the bickering between the aforementioned politicos over who would be the bloc’s prime minister, the arrangement faces other challenges as well. In 2019 Israel, no politician wants to be tarred as a “leftist.” With surveys consistently showing that only 8% of Israeli citizens identi-

fy as leftists, every party save for Meretz and the Joint Arab List seems to be in a mad dash to the center.

Take Yair Lapid for example. The telegenic and charismatic leader of Yesh Atid, Lapid has come in second place behind the Likud, albeit a far second, in every single poll since 2017. Watching as Netanyahu’s legal woes pile up, Lapid sees April 9th as the date in which he will finally actualize his dream: becoming Israel’s tenth prime minister. Crucial to this effort is shedding his left-wing image.

As such, Lapid has ruled out any chance of joining a left-wing list, preferring to hedge his bets on his party and the iron fisted-control he exercises over it than a large and unwieldly coalition filled with his bickering counterparts.

“We are number two in the polls today, and the only ones who threaten the Likud’s rule. We are also not thought as absolute leftist like Livni or Labor,” said Lapid in early December. “To join the Zionist Union is like putting a healthy head into a sickbed.”

Lapid’s confidence aside, the battle for the centrist vote is getting increasingly competitive.

Lapid needs to trounce Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, the leader of the Kulanu faction whose platform is virtually identical to Yesh Atid’s. Both promise to lower the cost of living, including the ever-rising housing prices that make owning a home for young couples the stuff of science fiction.

Lapid had already been victimized before – in 2015 – when Kulanu caused Yesh Atid to drop from 19 seats to the 10 it currently holds. Yet with the cost of living creeping higher and a ballooning national debt thanks to Kahlon’s populist economic policies, Lapid’s biggest challenge isn’t from the Kulanu leader but from former generals Ya’alon and Gantz.

Benny Gantz is admired by wide swaths of Israelis for rising through the ranks of the military

Yair Lapid

Tzipi Livni

can-born Gabbay came out of nowhere to swipe the position. Defeating a crowded field, Gabbay’s surprise victory caused exuberant party members to compare him to Donald Trump, a successful yet politically inexperienced CEO who blew past talented rivals to rise to the top in the United States presidential elections.

Born in an immigrant tent camp, Gabbay was expected to feast on Likud’s traditional Sephardic electoral base and sweep Labor back into power.

That was then. Barely under 18 months since taking power, Gabbay’s dismal management skills have sparked a full-on internal revolt, with lawmakers openly debating whether to break off and create a new political party.

As his party collapses around him, Gabbay maintains that he will win the elections outright, something that has not occurred since Ehud Barak beat Netanyahu in 1999. The same Barak is now attempting to coordinate a merger of all the center-left blocs to create what he calls the “Israeli Democratic Party” that can finally eject Netanyahu from his firm grip on power. The proposed list would include former IDF Chief of Staffs Benny Gantz and Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, Zionist Union Deputy Leader Tzipi Livni, and the extreme leftwing Meretz.

“The only way is to replace the prime minister is by creating a bloc that includes Tzipi [Livni], [Benny] Ganz, Bogie [Ya’alon], [Avi] Gabbay, Dan Meridor and, if there is a need, then me as well,” said Barak in a radio interview last week. “We need a bloc in order to bring about the change.”

Turning Towards the Center

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to become IDF Chief of Staff. The quiet and dignified officer has led to hopes among the left that the security bona fides he brings to the table can draw in votes from the center and allow them to finally send Netanyahu packing.

Curiously, Gantz has maintained radio silence since announcing in late December that he would enter the political arena. While every politician is running to different television studios, Gantz remains tight-lipped, leading to a bizarre phenomenon of Gantz consistently rising in the polls despite not a single member of the public knowing his true political stance.

“Gantz spoke more during the commando missions he led behind enemy lines back in his army days,” joked a Knesset member last month. Despite his strategic reticence, Gantz’s Hosen L’Yisrael party now stands at 15 seats, second to only Likud. More importantly, 29% of the public wants Gantz to be prime minister, only six points behind Netanyahu himself.

Gantz has been holding marathon talks with recruit fellow ex-IDF Chief of Staff Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon. A former defense minister for Likud, Ya’alon quit the government in a huff after an ugly falling-out with Netanyahu in 2016 and has been planning his comeback ever since.

The

plurality of parties has been making the current elections among the most chaotic Israel has ever had. With Barak, Livni, Gabbay, Lapid, Kahlon, Ya’alon, Gantz, and, of course, Netanyahu, Israelis have a wide buffet of candidates to choose from. If the previous elections in 2015 were marked by divisive rhetoric between the right and left, the current race is characterized by a head-spinning number of factions who all claim to be representing the center.

Perhaps it’s going to be more than a three-ring circus.

Moshe Ya’alon

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Dating Dialogue

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

Dear Navidaters,

I recently made a shidduch. At the time, it felt like the highlight of my life. Though I had tried numerous times before, this is the first time that it actually worked. I felt so great about myself, and it was an exciting time.

This couple is now married. The wife was a friend of mine – never best friends, but someone I’ve known for years and part of my greater circle of friends. The husband is a second cousin who I honestly can say that I didn’t know nearly as well, but within the family I’ve always heard nice things about him.

Lately, I’m getting constant phone calls from my friend complaining about her husband. She shares with me things that he does or says, which I really don’t want to hear and that are very upsetting to me. They make me feel horrible. But if that were not bad enough, it seems my cousin’s mother talks to my mother about things my friend does that is making her son very unhappy. And those stories get back to me as well.

Besides the fact that I never want to make another shidduch again for the rest of my life because I’m feeling so guilty, I don’t know how to handle being in the middle of all their problems. Obviously, they are having a hard time of things, and I’m sorry to hear that. But it’s like everyone thinks I’m somehow to blame, and they feel it necessary to drag me into this mess.

How do I handle being the shadchan of a troubled marriage? What is my role now? I want to just run away!

Disclaimer: This column is not intended to diagnose or otherwise conclude resolutions to any questions.

Our intention is not to offer any definitive

conclusions to any particular question, rather offer areas of exploration for the author and reader. Due to the nature of the column receiving only a short snapshot of an issue, without the benefit of an actual discussion, the panel’s role is to offer a range of possibilities. We hope to open up meaningful dialogue and individual exploration.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

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The Panel The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S. our role as a shadchan is to encourage your friend and whoever is reaching out to you to encourage the pair to work on the marriage. You are not the therapist, neither are you responsible to fix things just because you were the shadchan. It is the role of everyone surrounding a young couple (when they are brought into a situation) to be supportive of the effort it takes to develop a marriage.

Don’t take sides; don’t even hear everything out. Be positive about the work involved in a marriage, especially early on and during shana rishona. Remind everyone that help can be found but that throwing in the towel is not an option. Neither is outsiders getting embroiled in the shalom bayis issues of a young couple.

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The Mother Sarah Schwartz Schreiber, P.A. laying with matches, a girl can get burned…” -Tzeitel, “Fiddler on the Roof” What is a shadchan? She may be a social secretary, a facilitator, a dating advisor and ultimately, if things work out, a matchmaker. (“Mazel tov! Thanks for thinking of us. You really earned your shadchanus!”)

What a shadchan isn’t: she’s not a marital insurance underwriter, or a referee, and absolutely not a marriage counselor. (“He’s such a loser and it’s all your fault!”)

Yes, Tzeitel may have been onto something; you played shadchan and now you’re caught in the crossfire. But, in truth, you did a noble deed: you set up a boy and a girl of reasonable intellect and maturity.

Their respective parents did the background checks. They went out

“P

for a period of time during which they engaged in DMCs (deep, meaningful conversations!). They sauntered through a courtship and then an emotionally fraught engagement.

Finally, they arrived at the chuppah, with eyes wide open, brimming with love and optimism. And then came shana rishona, when the choppy seas of marriage threaten to capsize their fledgling relationship. No headlines here.

Unless you withheld derogatory information, deliberately lied, or threatened either party at gunpoint, you have no reason to feel guilty or defensive. Consult with your local rabbi or rebbetzin regarding the best way to extricate yourself from this awkward, no-win situation. In the meantime, should your friend (or her MIL) call you to complain, you may borrow this comeback: “You can ask me for my brownie recipe; we can discuss ring-aroundthe-collar. But I feel uncomfortable talking about your husband and your marriage. For one, I’m working on my shemiras halashon. More important, I’m not qualified to give you advice. You’re a smart woman; you know when and what you need to do.” (Pause for emphasis). “I love you; gotta go.”

And when you’ve recovered from this experience, keep the shidduchim coming – you may have a future.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond heir troubled marriage is not your problem. Our job is to introduce singles to like-minded suitors. Their job is to date and see if they feel like they are an appropriate long-term match for each other. Their decision to get married to each other was in their hands, not yours. Bringing you into this now is highly inappropriate, and any socially appropriate person reading

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this would agree.

The solution: avoid contact with your friend. Do not take her calls, and if I may be so bold: block her number. Making you feel guilty for bringing them together will just bring constant stress and guilt to your life. Furthermore, it will burn you out further from trying to set people up in the future. Do not let this be an indicator of you being a “bad shadchan” in any way.

You do not know the ins and outs of their relationship, their communication skills, or the inner working of their middos. For all you know, this could have been a match made in heaven had the two of them focused as hard on working on their relationship in a mature way as much as they are focusing on badmouthing each other to their shadchan.

Unless you withheld derogatory information, deliberately lied, or threatened either party at gunpoint, you have no reason to feel guilty or defensive.

Ten years ago, about a year after I got married and started setting

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people up, I had a similar circumstance which dramatically affected my confidence in making shidduchim. If I had used that experience as my measuring tape as to how successful I would be in trying to help others in the future there would be well over 40 singles out there still searching for each other. (Although I am sure Hashem would have found another shaliach, it is still nice to have been the personal shaliach for them.)

Don’t give up on setting people up, and be strong in asserting that you and your mother will not be a dumping ground for their relation-

ship issues.

Hatzlacha!

The Single Tova Wein hat a shame that your caring efforts are being rewarded in such an unkind and unjust way.

Using you as an excuse for their failures in working on their marriage is immature and, frankly, ridiculous!

The time for calling in the “boundary police”

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Pulling It All Together

is already overdue.

It’s very important, from this moment and moving forward, for both you and your mother to immediately shut down any conversation that relates to the problems in their marriage. Should anyone bring anything of that nature up to either of you, you must simply say something like, “Being a shadchan doesn’t make me a marriage counselor. It sounds like the two of you desperately need to seek out professional help.” After that, change the subject. It can’t go anywhere positive, and you don’t deserve to be thrown into the middle of their problems.

Regarding your future as a shadchan, only you know for sure whether you have the stomach for

Do not take her calls, and if I may be so bold: block her number.

this type of work. Though your experience is very extreme and probably rarely, if ever, happens, it does take a certain type of personality to be able to handle the enormous responsibility of setting up two people, and should it work out, knowing that you have a hand in their future.

You must decide whether or not you are cut out for being involved in other people’s lives on this level.

The Navidaters Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

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ou are not responsible for this marriage. There is a part of you that holds yourself accountable for the couple’s happiness. I love the advice of all the panelists, but I think for you hearing from Michelle Mond, our shadchan, is very significant. Now would be a very good time for you to consult with other shadchanim. You are not the first shadchan to be put into this unfair situation. Find out how other shadchanim have dealt with being dragged into the ins and outs of an unhappy union. Speak to them about how they felt during that time, and, most importantly, about the boundaries they have had to set to protect their own sanity and well-being. If you decide to continue making shidduchim, you are going to have to figure out your own boundaries.

I am not a shadchan, but in my own line of work, I relate to your

plight.

In therapy, and in life, people are responsible to do the work. An old supervisor of mine once told me, “Jen, you are responsible for input. Not output.”

In other words, do your due diligence (study, learn, reflect, work on yourself and your own stuff, grow), but the outcome of therapy doesn’t belong to me. That was one of the greatest gifts I ever received. It helped me strengthen myself and grow and allowed me to hold my clients accountable for their work.

And you know what? It’s been kind of amazing. And now, I am passing along those words of wisdom to you in your line of work: “You are responsible for input. Not output.”

You are responsible to be honest with people you are setting up (in my opinion). Be forthcoming. Be

kind. Be sensitive.

Perhaps you would feel better moving forward if you made some kind of verbal contract at the beginning of you “working” with a single person. In language that is your own, you may want to express this sentiment in a casual way. Something along the lines of, “Ultimately, my role is to set people up in an honorable fashion. I help people along the way, coach them when needed and am a listening ear during the dating/ engagement stages. Once people make the decision to marry or get married, my role changes. If there are struggles at that point, I recommend they seek counseling. Are you comfortable with that? How do you feel about working with me?”

(Put the ball in their court!) I may have been completely off in the role of a shadchan but my point is that you figure out your boundaries as a shadchan and, in a polite way, make your boundaries known to the people you are working with before they sign on.

As for this friend of yours, my

suggestion is to deal with her headon or this will never stop. “I am so sorry you are having such difficulty with your husband. Of course, I feel terrible about it, and I hope things turn around. I am very uncomfortable being told all the details of your marriage, and I’m getting the message that you hold me accountable for what is going on. This has become very unhealthy for me, and, at this point, I recommend going for therapy to work on your marriage. I can’t be involved anymore.”

All the best, Jennifer Esther Mann, LCSW and Jennifer Mann, LCSW are licensed psychotherapists and dating and relationship coaches working with individuals, couples and families in private practice in Hewlett, NY. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 516.224.7779.

Press 1 for Esther, 2 for Jennifer. Visit www.thenavidaters.com for more information. If you would like to submit a dating or relationship question to the panel anonymously, please email thenavidaters@gmail.com. You can follow The Navidaters on FB and Instagram for dating and relationship advice.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY OCTOBER 10, 29, 2019 2015 || The The Jewish Jewish Home Home

Dr. Deb

Why Can’t My Spouse See that I’m a Good Person?

By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

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ill was incredibly suspicious of Pamela’s motives. This made no sense to her. She was a good person. Everyone thought so. She always thought of herself as someone who was exactly what you thought she was, like a WYSIWYG computer program: what you see is what you get.

That means that she didn’t play games. She didn’t like game-playing and pretense. She was a straightforward, down-to-earth gal. At least, she saw herself that way. And more than that, she was a kind, generous, caring person. This was as plain as the nose on her face. How is it that Bill didn’t see that?

Pamela felt that they were strangers. And they didn’t have to be. She was also a warm person; a people-person. There was no reason for Bill to be suspicious and to distance himself from her. They were only married a few years because they’d both lost a spouse somewhere along the line and found each other.

But they were in their middle years, and Pamela wanted their fu-

ture to be golden. Not yucky. This was so frustrating. She could not get Bill to agree to counseling either. If you guessed that he didn’t trust counselors, you’d be right.

This just never happened to Pamela. She did remember another time, so say it happened with one person before. She owned a retail business downtown, and there was a mix-up in one of the orders once.

When she tried to have a pleasant conversation with the seller – who really was at fault, or so it seemed to her – it did not go well. The man jumped down her throat and treated her as if she were a criminal. Bringing out all her niceness did not work.

She could not charm that man. He would not respond to her attempts at being real.

If you asked Pamela what this situation in her marriage brought up in her feelings, she would have said that more than being lonely and unhappy, it was just puzzling and frustrating.

It made no sense.

Pamela has to relax and stop fretting. It’s not her. And there is absolutely nothing she can do about

it, either.

Here’s why: Children are taught to “read” others. When three-year-old Billy pulls Bracha’s hair, his wise parent or teacher will say, “Billy, do you see she’s crying? It hurts her.”

Why is this necessary? Isn’t it obvious?

The answer is that it is not obvious to Billy at all. He sees that Bracha is crying. But his brain is not well enough developed to make the connection that it came from his hurting her. Maybe it is something she’s just doing to get attention, he could be thinking. He could even think she’s making up the pain to manipulate her parent into punishing Billy. Then he will get in trouble and she can gloat over “winning.” A three-, four-, or five-year-old could easily come to this conclusion. Not only that, in some households, that is exactly what happens.

Parents have to be on their toes to nip such things in the bud and help their children recognize the pain in another person and where it came from. Many people were simply not

taught that. Unfortunately.

Unfortunately, some parents are of the opinion that children “should work things out for themselves.”

This is smart when the child is 14 and has had a lifetime of the sort of training and coaching that I’m describing. But not when the child is still in grade school. That child does not have the tools to accomplish this on his own.

So Billy would definitely need someone directing him to Bracha’s tears and convincing him that she was not manipulating or exaggerating. How would he know? For argument’s sake, let’s say he says to his dad, “No, she’s not. She’s not hurt.” If dad is wise, he will say, “Look at her.

You can see she’s really hurt.”

Dad is now directing little Billy to do something he wouldn’t ordinarily do: study her face. Normally, he would be way too interested in his toys to look at Bracha. Not only that, he’s really feeling awkward and uncomfortable in this situation where he has become the bad guy and Bracha is the victim. Of course he doesn’t want to look at her. He’d

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rather direct his attention anywhere else.

But that is exactly why his parent or his teacher needs to do just that. In this way, he is being trained to do what most of us don’t do: look.

We don’t look, and we don’t listen.

We’re in our own little worlds. We don’t even want to look, listen, or pay attention to others when we’re feeling quite self-righteous about our actions.

Because dad is gently compelling Billy to look at Bracha, he can see just from her expression that her pain is real. He might not realize this at three. But by five, it will be something he’ll be used to seeing and he will recognize the pain of another individual. He will recognize expressions that mean someone is fooling him or manipulating, too.

But that’s only if his parent is proactive about directing him to be aware of the other person.

If not, then everything goes south. If not, we end up with the

adult Bill who cannot actually tell if a person is nice or not. Strange as that may seem, there are lots of people like Bill around. And poor Bill, he himself craves a deeper level of relationship but without the tools to

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

as a friend. He can’t tell who is the Real Deal because he can’t “read” body language or the meaning behind words. He has taught himself to withdraw for safety but ends up feeling lonely and bitter.

The person who grows up not trusting anyone both protects himself from everyone and has no one as a friend.

know what kind of person he is dealing with, he’s trained himself to be suspicious of everyone. That protects him from surprises.

The person who grows up not trusting anyone both protects himself from everyone and has no one

So what is Pamela to do?

Well, I would wonder about her own ability to read people. How did she get involved with someone who puts up such a guard? Was she unable to see this? Or was she too needy when they got married to

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care? She clearly needs help to figure out her own role in this. Maybe Bill will follow her in trying to get this sorted out. But don’t count on it. If he doesn’t trust his own wife, who will he trust?

What Pamela has going for her – it is her leverage – is that Bill is clearly aware of his own loneliness.

He would like things to be better.

So on that basis alone, Pamela has a glimmer of hope. If she works with a therapist, at least she will get to understand herself better. That’s a good beginning. And Bill might follow.

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

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Health & F tness

Your Healthy Guide to Shabbos Eating The Do’s and Don’ts of Chicken Soup

By Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN

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inally, something healthy to eat at the Shabbos seudah: chicken soup.

Chicken soup is one of the healthiest foods out there. It has actually been shown to aid the movement of infection fighting cells, which helps reduce cold symptoms. The warmth also helps soothe a sore throat. Chicken soup not only helps those suffering from the common cold, it’s healthy for everyone. Many feed their babies chicken soup as a first food.

The reason why chicken soup is so healthy is because it is packed with nutrients, including immune boosting antioxidants from chicken and all the vegetables cooked in it. It also increases hydration. However, like all foods, there’s a way to properly make a healthy chicken soup. Even the healthiest of foods can be made wrong and become unhealthy.

What are the do’s and don’ts of chicken soup?

Do use chicken – any type; legs or thighs, dark meat or white meat. The more chicken you put in your soup, the richer the flavor will be and the more nutrients from the chicken will be absorbed. Eat the chicken, too. Approximately half of the calories from chicken come from the protein. Protein is essential for muscle building, maintenance, and losing fat.

Do use turkey, if you prefer the flavor of turkey over chicken. You can use turkey legs, thighs or necks. They

each provide a good flavor and lots of nutrients. Turkey also has lots of protein so it makes a great choice for your chicken soup.

Do skin your chicken or turkey – An ounce of chicken/turkey skin is 100 calories. It has absolutely no nutritional value and only fat. Remove and discard.

Do not use marrow bones or flanken, which adds a lot of fat into

slimy layer at the top of the soup. Take a spoon and scoop off this thick layer of fat and discard. Do this each time you reheat your soup.

Do put in as many vegetables as possible. Sure, traditional chicken soup mostly consists of carrots, but don’t stop there. Get creative. Fill your soup with carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, turnips, parsnips, green beans, celery, parsley, sweet pota-

Chicken soup not only warms the soul, it’s good for your body, too.

the soup. Sure, it will taste better, but it will add excess, unnecessary calories.

Do cook your chicken soup for a long time, the longer the better.

Cook it the whole day, if you can. By cooking the soup for many hours, it absorbs the chicken flavor and makes the soup thicker and creamier.

Do take off the fat from the top of your soup. After you cook your soup for as many hours as possible, let it cool down and refrigerate it. Before reheating, you will notice a thick,

toes, onions, cauliflower, and pretty much any vegetable you like. Make it more of a vegetable soup with chicken than your typical chicken soup. The more vegetables, the more nutrients, and the more filling. Eating a hearty chicken soup like this can be a full meal.

Do not put in matzah balls.

Matzah balls are fluffy and delicious and fun to make, but actually have no nutritional value whatsoever. They simply add carbs to your otherwise healthy chicken soup (if you’re fol-

lowing the above instructions).

Do not put in pasta. Once again, you don’t need to add starch to your soup or your Shabbos meal. Pasta, also known as soup lokshen, also has zero nutritional value and can definitely be skipped.

Do flavor your chicken soup with a variety of spices to give it a delicious flavor.

Do not overdo the salt. When pouring salt into a big pot, the amount added may seem like a small amount but salt content adds up and we do not need extra sodium in our diets. The less, the better.

Don’t use chicken soup consommé. Any flavor consommé is full of MSG. If you think you are beating the system and getting MSG-free consommé, it’s still full of sodium.

Chicken soup not only warms the soul, it’s good for your body, too. Follow the above guidelines and enjoy a hearty, healthy, delicious chicken soup at your Shabbos seudah this week.

Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN, is a Master’s level Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist. She graduated CUNY Brooklyn College receiving a Bachelor’s in Science and Master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences. She is currently a dietitian at Boro Park Center and a private nutrition consultant. She can be reached at CindyWeinberger1@gmail.com.

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Health & F tness

The Nearly Forgotten Children of Divorce

By Hylton I. Lightman, MD, DCH (SA), FAAP

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mother once said to me, “I made two smart decisions in my life, Dr. Lightman. The first was to get married and the second was to divorce. At least I have three beautiful children.”

Indeed, her children are beautiful, inside and out. But there will be struggles. With their childhoods compromised – let’s admit that “friendly divorces” are pretty much an oxymoron – we should be concerned.

Divorce is rampant. According to the National Marriage project, the divorce rate has doubled between 1960 and 2009. Yes, divorce can save people from a bad marriage. However, research shows that divorce can also pick away at a society. Divorced adults are more likely to experience economic difficulties and depression which then trickle down to kids. Because there can be fewer economic resources, many children of divorce experience disruptions such as changes in child care, living arrangements and schools.

School performance? Yes, it is often compromised. The bottom line: turmoil for an unforeseeable amount of time. And potential emotional neglect.

Divorce dissolves families and weakens the belief in the family as a

critically important social unit. In addition to unifying people through marriage and blood or adoption, the family provides the educational, financial and emotional support that its members need to thrive and optimize their potential and development.

Because divorce is ever-present and growing, people question whether having a family is a worthwhile goal.

This is called cynicism, and cynicism is not a pretty thing. It can grow deep roots and cast a long arm that shadows many generations into the future. This is worth repeating: cynicism is ugly and dangerous.

Our continuity as Jews is intertwined with the weltanschauung that a Jewish man and a Jewish woman meet, marry, build a Jewish home and community and have children, and then instill within those children the very same weltanschauung. Since the revelation at Har Sinai, our Torah has been handed down from generation to generation through the family unit.

It’s an extricable part of what makes us tick.

While there is so much to be discussed about divorce, the focus now is about children, the nearly forgotten victims of this epidemic.

Let’s be clear from the outset that many divorced parents are doing a yeoman’s job of trying to raise whole, healthy children. I am in awe of them.

But even the ones doing the best still need our attention and support. And no judgment. Ever.

First, we need to remember that it is the children who need to be at the center. Everything must be done to protect them from their parents’ unhappiness rather than being involved in it.

Respect this truth please: children do not get divorced from their parents.

For Yaakov, Daddy will always be Daddy and Ema will always be Ema. There are no replacements. Period. Even if a parent is “out of the picture,” that parent is still very much in the child’s mind and is often “bigger” in their head than the hands-on, ever-present parent. This needs to be accepted and addressed. By the way, the primary care-giving parents will be the target of the child’s ire for a while.

In most cases, children will identify with the same-gender parent. This identification is natural and constitutes an important building block of a child’s personality. Regardless of whether parents are divorced, daugh-

ters identify with their mothers and sons will identify with their fathers.

It’s important to keep this in mind when, for example, a child hears one parent say, “You eat like your father” and then he sees that parent roll her eyes. Another example is a parent saying, “If you keep being like your mother, you’ll never get anywhere in life.” These kinds of comments can negatively impact a child’s natural development whereby the child’s mental and emotional growth can become mired and stuck. It’s not a good place to go and can take years of therapy to undo the damage.

Further, divorce can create “gaps” in the family structure and in the lives of each parent. Many children come to these gaps like bees flock to honey in order to fill them. A child may try to solve his parent’s loneliness. Sons may try to discipline younger siblings like Daddy. Daughters might become their fathers’ companions. Never should the gap-plugging take precedence over the child’s personal development. If it does, pull the plug. And fast.

What do you do when, in the aftermath of the divorce, a child has two homes and divided loyalties?

It is not uncommon for children of

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The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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divorced parents to become involved in a “triangle.” The triangle occurs when a third person is brought into a one-on-one relationship. The third person becomes the “go-between” who is in the middle of the two people who should be dealing directly with one another. Children of divorce often become the “go-between” for their parents as they try to bridge the gap.

Parents may place them there as they try to pump for information when a child returns from spending time with the other parent. Strong one-on-one relationships is the best antidote for post-divorce family functioning.

It’s easy for a divorced parent to confuse his concerns with his children’s concerns. Please don’t. When you think that you are feeling concern for your children, don’t rush into any action. Stop, pause, breathe deeply and ask yourself, “Am I projecting my own issues onto this fabulous child?”

Deal with your feelings first. Give your feelings names. Only then can you help your children if they are really feeling those feelings.

Some divorced parents go way overboard in becoming either too soft or too hard on their children. In other words, some parents become the “fun parent” where there is little, if any, discipline and boundaries. Others morph into this controlling entity, even when the child is with the “other parent.”

Rather than “co-parenting,” these parents are “competitive parenting.”

I’m not going to connect the dots here about the pointlessness of it and the negative impact on children.

Let’s now discuss divorced parents and the useless emotion called “guilt.”

Guilt can loom large here. Why? Most parents have a biological drive to protect their children from harm. We bring these magnificently beautiful, helpless tiny creatures into this world whom Hashem has entrusted to us to nurture and grow into amazing awesome people and, with Siyata D’Shmaya, we escort to the chuppah so they can do the same, thereby perpetuating the species and the Jewish people. It is how we survive.

If we sense harm, it is the automatic reaction for most of us to protect our young ones. Think of the Mama Bear who wants to claw out the eyes of and dismember anyone who would wound or maim any of her young ones.

Divorce causes harm. The healing process can last a long time and the scars even longer. Some divorced parents fantasize about how life might have been different for their children (meaning less painful) had the marriage survived.

No wonder guilt abounds amongst divorced parents.

If you, Mom and Dad, see yourselves as being too soft or too hard, stop now. Get help, if needed. Seek counseling to better deal with whatever is driving this behavior. We are surrounded by information and professionals. Avail yourselves accordingly.

Always have in mind that for chil-

Sister-to-Sister* weekend organized by the inimitable and indefatigable dynamic duo Rabbi David and Debbie Greenblatt, my wife and I heard directly from many divorced Jewish women what they and their children need.

We agree that all children must have caring, loving, emotionally healthy adults in their lives. Yet don’t rush to assume that just because parents are divorced, these children are lacking in that area. Let’s say your child is friends with a child whose parents are divorced. Your interaction with the child and parents should be the same as it would be with others. If

Respect this truth please: children do not get divorced from their parents.

dren to thrive, they need to be physically, mentally and emotionally safe.

The original family unit for children of divorce is gone. But don’t destroy your children as well. Put them ahead of whatever issues you have with your ex-spouse. Please.

As tacky as you may think this is, make a list of 7-10 positive qualities or memories about your ex-spouse. Perhaps he writes well. She might have helped to design the parochet in a shul.

The two of you had a fabulous trip to wherever with the kids. Speak nicely about your ex-spouse in front of your children, even if it is painful. Your children will appreciate it.

Create new memories with your children. Make your house or apartment into a home. Tape pictures onto the refrigerator or freezer. Shabbos should be Shabbos, complete with a meal, a dvar Torah, and even some sibling fighting. That’s normal, by the way.

We Jews, who have always excelled at community building, need to improve our community-building skills with divorced families. At the recent

you believe something is amiss, do not rush in to “fix” it. Observe respectfully and listen well. Know the facts. Develop a sense of whether the other Abba or Mommy wants input. Speak with their shul rabbi or perhaps a teacher or principal. No loshon hara. And do not disrespect the parents or children.

Some communities have organizations that match adults with children who need mentoring. Mentors enhance parents by spending quality time with children. For example, our community is blessed with TOVA, a mentoring network whose staff screens the mentors and works with parents and schools to make sure there is the right “shidduch” for each child and mentor. If you believe that a child you know may benefit, contact the child’s school or family rav.

Treat all children the same. Don’t make their children feel more different from other children than they already do. Not every child wants to go to shul or Father-Son learning with Mr. NextDoor Neighbor. Offer to do so, routing it through the mother and/or father.

Accept whatever the answer is.

Carpools. This is a big one, es-

49

pecially the non-school carpools for birthday parties and activities outside the school day. When only one parent is in the home and children cannot be left unattended, driving even 10 minutes can be a logistical challenge and impossible. Be mevater and drive a little bit extra. It will count up in heaven that you made the life of a single parent easier. Don’t even think about keeping a cheshbon. Just do it and thank Hashem that you can.

Shabbos and yom tov meal invitations can be tricky. Some wish to stay home with the kids while others salivate to go out. People tend to be inundated with yom tov invitations but there are 52 Shabbosim throughout the calendar year and life can get lonely. Also, single parents may not have their children every Shabbos. That’s also an opportunity.

If you invite a single parent, perhaps with the family, and the answer is no, don’t be offended. They could already have legitimate plans. Respond, “We’d love to have you. When would it work for you?”

The single parent might invite you to their home. It may be a different Shabbos table than to what you are accustomed. Open yourself up to new experiences. Some people need to host regardless of marital status.

Life is not simple. We marry, filled with hopes and dreams of our binyan adei ad. When it does not work, invest in making it work. And keep on trying. When you’ve exhausted every avenue to make the marriage work and it is not working, tread slowly and delicately. Always remember that the pairs of eyes watching every move and listening to every conversation and their nuances belong to your children.

Take care of them. Please.

As always, daven.

Sister-to-Sister is the only women’s organization within the Jewish community that supports divorced women and their children.

Dr. Hylton I. Lightman is a pediatrician and Medical Director of Total Family Care of the 5 Towns and Rockaway PC. He can be reached at drlightman@totalfamilycaremd.com, on Instagram at Dr.Lightman_ or visit him on Facebook.

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home

OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

In The K

tchen

Spaghetti Squash with Pomodoro Sauce

By Naomi Nachman

With only a few grams of carbohydrates per cup, spaghetti squash is an excellent vegetable to choose if you want to reduce the amount of carbs in your diet. This side dish is a great alternative to pasta with meatballs.

Ingredients 1 large spaghetti squash (about 1 ½ lb.)

Vegetable oil cooking spray 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 tsp olive oil 1 can (28 oz.) diced plum tomatoes 3 TBS tomato paste 1 tsp white wine vinegar 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried basil ½ tsp red pepper flakes Fresh basil

Preparation Preheat oven to 375°F. Halve squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds.

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray; lay halves, flesh side down, on sheet. Bake 35 minutes or until you can easily pierce shell.

While squash bakes, sauté garlic and onion in oil over medium heat for about minutes. Add remaining ingredients except fresh basil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Lower heat if sauce begins to boil.

Remove squash from oven. Scrape crosswise to pull strands from shell. Place the squash-strands in nonmetal serving bowl. Pour sauce over squash and garnish with basil.

Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.

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JANUARY OCTOBER10, 29,2019 2015||The TheJewish JewishHome Home

Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

That one made me the greatest player of all time.

- LeBron James in a recent interview when asked about beating the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals

Maybe he thinks that that sells. Maybe he’s taking the Donald Trump approach and trying to sell himself. I don’t know.

- Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge weighing in on LeBron’s comments

Given its mostly liberal audience, there was an implicit financial reward for the Times in running lots of Trump stories, almost all of them negative: they drove big traffic numbers and, despite the blip of cancellations after the election, inflated subscription orders to levels no one anticipated.

- Former executive editor of The New York Times Jill Abramson in her new book which admits that the New York Times made a financial decision to be “unmistakably anti-Trump”

Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again followers who want to return America back to a time when white men and white privilege were unchallenged and where minorities and women were in their place ... are older, less educated, less prosperous, and they are dying early. Their lifespans are decreasing, and many are dying from alcoholism, drug overdoses, liver disease, or simply a broken heart caused by economic despair.

– Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), speaking at the Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta last week

Americans, particularly black Americans, can’t afford to make that same mistake about the harm that could be done by a man named Hitler or a man named Trump.

- Ibid.

My son said, “Mama, look, you won. Bullies don’t win,” and I said, “They don’t because we’re gonna go in there, we’re gonna impeach the [expletive…expletive].

- The first Muslim member of Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), at a party on her first day in Congress recalling a conversation that she had with her young son about President Trump and promising to impeach President Trump, using foul language

MORE QUOTES

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I talked to the front office and sadly I’m not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president. There’s a chance I can get killed out there.

- New York Knicks center Enes Kanter, 26, a native of Turkey, announcing that he will not travel to London for the team’s upcoming international game against the Washington Wizards on January 17 because he believes he could be assassinated for his opposition to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

27

To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better angels.” A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.

– From Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) op-ed in the Washington Post condemning the presidency of Trump, even before Romney was sworn in as Utah’s new senator

Oh yeah, easy. They’ve got a lot of spies there. I think I can get killed there very easy.

It would be a very ugly situation.

- Ibid., when asked if he really thought he could be killed if he went to the UK

I’ve gotta run!

- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when asked by the New York Post whether she is taking a salary during the partial government shutdown, even though she argued that members of Congress should not get paid if others are not being paid

Because Israel is the enemy.

- Lebanese chess player Mark Abou Deeb, age 8, explaining in an interview on Lebanon TV why he refused to play Israeli opponents at a tournament in Spain

Bravo!

- Both TV hosts, in response to the eight-year-old’s statement

There’s no recession in sight… There’s this loose talk about recession with a lot of very – I don’t know – not hard data. The American economy is growing 3 percent solid. Job gains are huge, and businesses are investing big time. So, it’s a much better, more optimistic picture than what we’ve been getting in the last month or two.

-National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on Bloomberg TV after the latest jobs report showed that the economy added 312,000 new jobs in December

I was a little disappointed that they had not come up.

- Astronaut André Kuipers in a recent interview, talking about how he sparked massive panic at NASA’s Houston base when he accidentally dialed 911 from space

It is not that all of the president’s policies have been misguided.

He was right to align U.S. corporate taxes with those of global competitors, to strip out excessive regulations, to crack down on China’s unfair trade practices, to reform criminal justice and to appoint conservative judges. These are policies mainstream Republicans have promoted for years. But policies and appointments are only a part of a presidency.

– Ibid.

Trump’s words and actions have caused dismay around the world. In a 2016 Pew Research Center poll, 84 percent of people in Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Sweden believed the American president would “do the right thing in world affairs.” One year later, that number had fallen to 16 percent.

- Ibid.

POTUS is attacked and obstructed by the MSM media and Democrats 24/7. For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive.

- Tweet by Ronna Romney McDaniel, Republican National Committee chairwoman, scolding her uncle Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) after he penned the anti-Trump column in the Washington Post

Like other Big Government Republicans who never liked Reagan, Mitt Romney wants to signal how virtuous he is in comparison to the President. Well, I’m most concerned and pleased with the actual conservative reform agenda @realDonaldTrump has achieved.

- Tweet by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

It’s the same old Mitt. He was for Donald Trump when Donald Trump gave him money. He hugged him, and he was so glad for the endorsement… I just hope that he will go and work as hard to fight for the American people and a secure border as he will to fight against the president of his own party elected by people who didn’t elect him.

- Mike Huckabee, on Fox News, responding to Romney’s op-ed

MORE QUOTES

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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JANUARY 10, OCTOBER 29, 2019 2015 || The The Jewish Jewish Home Home

The tuna looks so tasty and very fresh, but I think I did (pay) a little too much.

- Restaurateur Kiyoshi Kimura talking to reporters in Japan after paying $3.1 million for a 613-pound bluefin tuna at a Japanese fish market

They forgot what country they represent.

This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality. Maybe a refresher on our U.S. Constitution is in order, then get back to opening up our government instead of taking our rights away.

- Tweet by Muslim Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) about a proposed anti-BDS bill in the Senate

I am not a person of color. I am not a citizen of a tribe. Tribal citizenship is very different from ancestry. Tribes – and only tribes – determine tribal citizenship, and I respect that difference.

- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, while campaigning in Iowa last week, when confronted about her past assertions that she is a minority because she has Native American ancestors and recent DNA test results which show that she has less Native American ancestry than the average American

She’ll cut your head off and you won’t even know you’re bleeding.

That’s all you need to know about her.

- Alexandra Pelosi on CNN when asked last week about her mother, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s, leadership style

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Political Crossfire

Trump’s Top 10 Successes of 2018

By Marc A. Thiessen

I

n his second year in office, the list of extraordinary things President Trump has done, for good and ill, continued to grow.

Today, I offer my annual list of the 10 best things Trump has done in office.

10. He has secured the release of

19 people, including 16 Americans, from foreign captivity. When Pastor Andrew Brunson was freed by Turkey, he became the 19th captive released thanks to Trump. Others include: four held by North Korea; an aid worker and her husband held

by Egypt; three UCLA basketball

players and a Texas businesswoman held by China; a couple and their three children held by the Taliban; a former CIA officer held by Portugal; and two citizens held by Venezuela.

That’s more Americans freed in two years than President Barack Obama got released in eight. And unlike Obama, Trump did it without releasing terrorist leaders or sending planeloads of cash to rogue regimes, creating incentive for more hostage taking.

9. He delivered for the “forgotten Americans.” The Trump boom

workers are among the biggest beneficiaries.”

8. He worked with Democrats and Republicans to pass important legislation. It didn’t get a lot of attention, but Trump got a lot done on a bipartisan basis, including criminal justice reform, opioid and sex trafficking legislation, and a new “Right to Try” law giving dying Americans access to experimental medications.

7. He has ushered in a golden age for women in the CIA. Trump not only appointed Gina Haspel as

The Wall Street Journal reports that wages rose 3.1 percent - the biggest jump since 2009 - and that “low-skilled workers are among the biggest beneficiaries.”

is benefiting those left behind by the Obama economy. Manufacturing jobs grew at the fastest rate in 23 years, and the unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma reached the lowest point ever recorded. The Wall Street Journal reports that wages rose 3.1 percent – the biggest jump since 2009 – and that “low-skilled

the agency’s first female director but also made Elizabeth Kimber the first women to lead the agency’s clandestine service – rewarding the CIA’s “band of sisters” who have toiled to keep the country safe since 9/11.

6. His push to expand domestic energy production bore fruit. This year the United States passed both

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s top oil producer.

5. In the six months after the Singapore summit with North Korea, he has made no concessions to Pyongyang. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un expected to blow up some useless nuclear facilities in exchange for billions in hard currency. Trump has refused to play Kim’s game. Not only has Trump not lifted sanctions, unfrozen North Korean assets, ended the Korean War or offered Pyongyang diplomatic recognition, but he also imposed new sanctions on members of Kim’s inner circle.

4. He struck Syria again and eliminated the last vestiges of the Islamic State’s physical caliphate.

For a second time, he enforced Obama’s red line against the use of chemical weapons. In December, U.S.-backed fighters captured Hajin, the last pocket of territory held by the Islamic State. The militant group is far from defeated, but Trump is right that we have knocked “the [power] out of ISIS.” 3. He’s continued his tough line with Moscow. Trump announced America’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, shipped Javelin antitank missiles to Ukraine, canceled a meeting with Putin at the Group of 20 summit over Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian navy ships, expelled dozens of Russian diplomats, and imposed more sanctions against Moscow.

2. He pulled out of Obama’s disastrous Iran deal and re-imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran. The new sanctions have taken millions of barrels of Iranian oil off the market and led to the cancellation of major deals with European investors. And when Iranian protesters rose up to challenge the regime, Trump (unlike his predecessor) stood with them.

1. He stood by Brett Kavanaugh and even in the worst moments never wavered. Trump has confirmed a record 85 judges in his first two years as president. That total includes two Supreme Court justices, 30 appellate court judges, and 53 district judges who will preside for decades. Trump’s successful fight for Kavanaugh also helped him expand

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his Senate majority, as energized Republican voters threw out four Democratic incumbents who opposed Kavanaugh.

There were many more accomplishments not included in this list.

Trump got Mexico, Canada and

South Korea to sign new trade deals.

He continued his regulatory rollback, replacing Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” and his “Waters of the United States” rule and returning power to the states. He took on the International Criminal Court, which pur-

ports to have jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers and citizens. And his graceful handling of George H.W. Bush’s funeral brought dignity to the office.

That is a strong record of success. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Political Crossfire

The 10 Worst Things Trump Did in 2018

By Marc A. Thiessen

I

n his second year in office, President Trump did many positive things, and earlier, I offered my list of the 10 best things Trump did in 2018. But he also did a lot of bad things that ranged from cringeworthy to catastrophic. Here are the 10 worst: 10. His comment about [terrible] countries blew up negotiations for a deal that would have given Trump his border wall. Nearly a year ago, the president made a bold offer to Democrats – putting not just legal status but also a path to citizenship for nearly 1.8 million young illegal immigrants on the table. Then his abhorrent comment undermined Democrats who were serious about cutting a deal and gave those who were not a pretext to walk away.

9. His offensive tweets continued to undermine his presidency. Calling former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman “a dog” and Stormy Daniels “Horseface” – among countless offensive tweets – is not just unpresidential, it drives away potential supporters who like his policies but then are reminded how much they don’t like Trump.

8. His misuse of power turned critics into martyrs. Revoking former CIA director John Brennan’s security clearance and CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House press pass turned partisan critics who were embarrassing themselves into victims – and gave them an even greater platform from which to attack him.

7. He drove away suburban voters

and caused the GOP to lose control of the House. That’s because the president has sought to energize his base in ways that drive those voters away.

If he wants to win reelection, Trump needs to bring suburban Republican voters back into the GOP fold.

6. His graceless handling of Sen. John McCain’s funeral was a new low.

Trump didn’t like McCain, but when you’re the president, sometimes you must honor people you didn’t like.

McCain was an American hero.

of billions of dollars in orders.”

4. His news conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki was an embarrassment. His meeting with the Russian president came on the heels of Russia’s attempted assassination of a dissident on British soil using banned chemical weapons and the indictment of 12 Russians for 2016 election meddling. Instead of condemning these actions, Trump publicly sided with Putin over his own intelligence community.

With the mute button on, the Trump presidency is pretty good from a conservative policy perspective.

Trump’s inability to muster a kind or generous word reflected poorly on the president.

5. His handling of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder harmed America’s moral standing. Trump is right that a permanent breach with Saudi Arabia is not acceptable because there is no other country in the Middle East that can serve as a counterweight to Iran. But it was unseemly to declare that “it’s all about ‘America First’” and “we’re not going to give up hundreds

3. His policy to separate migrant children from their families at the southern border was an avoidable tragedy. There is nothing wrong with a zero-tolerance policy for illegal crossings. But his administration’s failure to anticipate and prepare for how to deal with migrant families was gross negligence – a symptom of the chaos that is undermining his presidency.

2. His planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a gift to

the Taliban and al-Qaeda. In 2017, my Top 10 Best list praised Trump for reversing President Barack Obama’s disastrous withdrawal, which he said “would create a vacuum for terrorists.” But in December, Trump ordered the military to start planning the withdrawal of roughly 7,000 troops – about half the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The news came just as U.S. officials were holding talks with the Taliban, whose No. 1 demand is … the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Hardly the “art of the deal.”

1. His pullout of all U.S. troops in Syria will take America’s boot off of the terrorists’ necks. Trump’s claim that “we have defeated ISIS in Syria” is as bad as Obama’s dismissing them as the “J.V.” squad. The Islamic State still has up to 30,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria and about $400 million in their coffers. The Islamic State is not defeated, and not one member of Trump’s national security team agrees with his decision to withdraw.

If he lets the Islamic State off the mat like Obama did in Iraq in 2011, our nation will pay a terrible price.

It is notable that, with the exception of troop withdrawals and family separations, most of the items on this list were transgressions of style rather than substance. With the mute button on, the Trump presidency is pretty good from a conservative policy perspective. And yet Trump’s approval rating at year’s end is just 39 percent – because most Americans don’t follow politics with the sound off. (c) 2019, Washington Post Writers Group

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Forgotten Her es

The Strangest Battle of World War II

By Avi Heiligman

French former prime minister Edouard Daladier (L) and General Maurice Gamelin leave Castle Itter on May 5, 1945

I

n a previous article we discussed strange wars and the circumstances that caused them to reach the monopolize the headlines.

Even during wars that are not fought over strange incidents, battles can take place that have odd occurrences too. Sometimes these battles are fought in unusual places or with unexpected allies, while others are fought specifically with nature. One particular battle took place at the end World War II has caught the attention of military historians for the fact that regular Germans soldiers fought alongside American GIs while fighting hardcore Nazi SS and Gestapo secret police. It has been called the Strangest Battle of World War II. The Battle of Castle Itter took place on May 5, 1945, just two days before the German surrender. It-

ter Castle is located in Austria and was used as a prison for high profile French prisoners including former Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, high ranking generals, Charles de Gaulle’s sister, and a tennis player, as well other Eastern European prisoners who had been at Dachau.

One of the prisoners was a Yugoslavian resistance member named Zvonimir Čučković. He had escaped from the castle two days earlier and had been given instructions to find an American soldier. The inmates specifically wanted American assistance in regaining their freedom.

They feared the SS would execute them and therefore wrote a letter in English pleading for American help. Čučković reached the city of Innsbruck and gave the message to members of the 103rd Infantry Division. A

The beautiful Castle Itter

rescue force was assembled but had taken their time reaching the castle.

In the meantime, realizing that the reason that Čučković hadn’t returned was to alert the Americans, the SS guards abandoned the castle. The prisoners armed themselves with weapons the SS had left behind but they would have been overwhelmed if the SS had come back to fight the prisoners. Another prisoner, Czech Andreas Krobot, took the risk to go the nearest city.

Worgl housed a detachment of Wehrmacht troops under the command of Major Joseph “Sepp” Gangl. He had defied orders to retreat and had joined local anti-Nazi resistance and hoped to protect the locals from SS attacks. Gangl met with Krobot, and the German went to seek out American troops. He was met by four tanks

of a reconnaissance unit of the 12th Armored Division and approached them with a white flag. Captain John Lee of the 23rd Tank Battalion asked for permission to accompany Gangl and his men to relieve the prisoners at Castle Itter.

The ragtag force that went to help the prisoners consisted of 16 Americans under Captain Lee, 11 German Wehrmacht troops led by Major Gangl, and a single Sherman tank.

SS officer Kurt-Siegfried Schrader, whom the prisoners had befriended while he was recovering from his wounds, defected and joined this force by organizing the prisoners’ defense. The prisoners were told to remain inside and not fight but they chose to take up arms. They met up at the castle and waited for the over150 Nazi soldiers of the 17th SS Pan-

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 2019 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29,10, 2015

zergrenadier Division to attack.

On the night of May 4-5, the SS began their attack on the defenders.

Gangl phoned the Austrian resistance leader in Worgl for reinforcements. Two more German regular soldiers and an Austrian teen who was a resistance member joined the unlikely force defending the castle.

The SS 88mm anti-tank gun eventually destroyed the Sherman tank but did not inflict any casualties. The defenders poured fire from the castle’s upper floors on the SS, and even French notables fired on the Nazis.

By afternoon, the Allies were low on ammunition but hadn’t suffered too many human losses.

The beleaguered defenders were finally relieved by members of the 142 nd Infantry Regiment. French tennis star legend Jean Borotra had been a Wimbledon champion and an Olympic medalist before being imprisoned. During the battle, he snuck out of the castle, dashed across an open field, and located the

BRUCE BACKMAN’S

nearby American regiment. They sent troops and tanks, and Borotra joined them having borrowed a uniform and rifle. With the arrival

Major Gangl had been a highly decorated Wehrmacht officer but late in the war became fed up with the Nazis and in this strange battle

The ragtag force that went to help the prisoners consisted of 16 Americans under Captain Lee, 11 German Wehrmacht troops led by Major Gangl, and a single Sherman tank.

of the reinforcements, the SS were now outgunned and fled in retreat.

The Battle for Castle Itter was finally over, and 100 SS men were taken as prisoners.

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switched sides. During the battle he was killed by a sniper while shielding former French Prime Minister Reynaud. Gangl was the only fatality from the ragtag force and is buried

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in Worgl. Captain Lee was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in saving the prisoners.

The outcome of the battle was decisive, but even more importantly the VIPs held in the castle were all safe. They were sent back to France and by May 10 had reached Paris. If Lee and Gangl had not been present to protect these VIPs, they may have been executed by the SS. Normally this author doesn’t like to play the “what If…” game, but in this case the future of France could have been decidedly different if the SS had forced their way into the castle. As for the battle itself, it remains the only known time Wehrmacht soldiers fought alongside Allied soldiers during World War II.

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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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Business

Smarts

The Big Business of Sports

By Chaim Homnick

T

he four major sports leagues in America combine for over $30 billion in annual revenue. Billions of dollars are invested in sports, spent on gear, and wagered on results as obscure as the color of the Gatorade splashed on the Super Bowl-winning coach.

Athletes are among the highest-paid employees in America, and the wealth doesn’t stop there: the highest-paid government employee in most states is the state college football coach.

As sports revenues have soared, team evaluations have skyrocketed and player salaries have risen exponentially from the days of Micky Mantle’s $100,000 takeaway. The technology era has helped fuel sports in myriad ways. Firstly, social media has broken down the barriers between fans and players, and the constant media attention has created year-round sports drama and intrigue. Secondly, the proliferation of data and analytics has created new ways to appreciate and consume sports. Fantasy sports serve a similar purpose in increasing consumer engagement.

The passion for sports in America and around the world is so strong that last year’s NFL ratings’ drop over concussion and Kaepernick concerns has already been washed away by a 5% increase in viewership this season. For the “Big Four” sports leagues, the product on the

field, court or ice has arguably never been better, the media attention has never been as continuous, and the revenue totals have never been as healthy.

That makes this the perfect time to analyze the intersection of sports and money. Below are a few key areas where money and sports interact in fascinating ways:

Salaries Player salaries in each league seem to set new records every few years. The salary caps keep rising, and there are always desperate front office executives looking to make a job-saving splash. 29-year-old Giancarlo Stanton signed for a record $325 million, and yet Bryce Harper or Manny Machado are angling to become baseball’s first $400 million men this offseason.

In the NFL, each most recent franchise QB to sign a deal sets new records as the salary cap keeps jumping by millions each season.

Meanwhile, in the NBA, Anthony Davis is eligible to sign a $230 million deal this offseason. In 2016 the salary camp jump was so significant as a result of the new TV deal money pouring into the league that the NBA considered cap-smoothing measures to minimize the sudden impact of that much money flooding the league at once.

The only players who seem to get stiffed are veterans in all sports and

running backs in football. As teams get savvier and analytics become more refined, teams are increasingly avoiding the albatross contracts for players on the wrong side of 30.

Albert Pujols’ deal cripples the Angels, and teams, especially in MLB, are starting to squeeze veteran free agents, even as the pool of money available increases.

Likewise, NFL RB’s have seen their value drop precipitously as analytics favor the increased efficiency of passing offenses and the fungible nature of all but the best RB’s. Leveon Bell sat out an entire season rather than be paid $14.9 million in an effort to receive a long-term contract while still on the right side of 30. Most other RB’s cycle in and out of the league without even getting out of their rookie deal before their knees give out or teams replace them for a younger, cheaper option.

Taxes While salaries keep rising and the media breathlessly reports on each new deal, taxes seem to be mentioned far less. But when the topic is sports salaries, taxes are a vital part of the conversation.

When LeBron James signed with the Miami Heat in 2010 instead of the Knicks or Lakers, he saved as much as $25 million in taxes on his salary and endorsement income due to the lack of a state income tax in Florida. When he decided this sea-

son to move to LA, his taxes went up but it provided him financial opportunities due to his unique crossover appeal in the Hollywood entertainment industry.

However, not every athlete is a superstar, and many athletes don’t have long careers or lucrative endorsement opportunities. For them, the team they play for can have a huge impact on their take-home pay.

Los Angeles and New York athletes are taxed at high rates and face a higher cost of living, but it can pale in comparison to players for Canadian teams. A player for the Toronto Raptors can end up losing 50% of their salary to taxes and fees.

Another rarely-discussed tax is the entertainer tax. Athletes have to pay taxes in some of the states and even cities that they play in. And the rules and rates vary by state! Pennsylvania charges NBA, NHL and MLB players based on the percentage of games played in that state, while charging NFL players based upon the number of days they work in the state out of their total number of workdays. An athlete needs an army of accountants just to figure out their tax bill.

Endorsements Athletes are among the most bankable stars in America. However, the money isn’t evenly distributed. NBA players and NFL quarterbacks are the gold standard in the

The The Jewish Jewish Home Home || JANUARY OCTOBER10, 29,2019 2015

industry, and the NFL quarterback is the most valuable, yet most elusive, position in sports.

Tennis players or golfers also can strike it rich as they play in an individual-centric sport. Soccer players enjoy mass appeal globally as soccer is the world’s most popular sport. Meanwhile, Mike Trout, the consensus’ best player in baseball, earns around $2.5 million annually from endorsements. Average NBA players can earn more on a single sneaker deal.

Collective Bargaining Each of the four major leagues have a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that governs the relationship between the league and its players. In all four leagues, the players take home between 47%51% of the revenue. The CBA for each league is byzantine and complex, with the owners and the players associations fighting for every square inch of concessions as each side elbows the other to protect its interests.

The ugly side of CBA negotiations seems to rear its head every so often when a league endures a work stoppage. When owners dig in their heels, they lock out the players and eliminate or shorten the season.

When players feel defrauded, they go on strike. The ’94 World Series was wiped out by a strike, and the NFL had two strikes in the ‘80s, including one where the owners got replacement players to play instead.

Fans hate lockouts and strikes, and it leads to an interesting situation where players are locked out by owners but fans just want to see the games back up and running and so fans often side with management over labor.

In fact, the most recent NHL and NBA lockouts featured the owners crying poverty in order to lower the players’ shares of the revenue from 57% down to more like 50%.

Wealthy owners can afford to wait out the players who generally want their salaries and have a finite window of earning potential before they age out of the league. As soon as the ink dried on their new deals, NHL and NBA franchise values skyrocketed. But players likely aren’t com-

plaining as salaries have jumped under the new CBA regardless and most of the leagues seem to be enjoying an era of CBA tranquility.

However, not all players have enjoyed the fruits of CBA negotiations and concessions equally. The 2011 NFL lockout featured a labor relations tactic nicknamed “killing the unborn,” whereby members of the working class vote in a way that favors current employees over future employees.

NFL rookie salaries had been rising each season, highlighted by the number 1 pick in the 2010 draft, Sam Bradford, signing a lucrative $78 million deal before ever playing a down and proving his value. This infuriated veterans and so, during

Media Deals While the entertainment industry in general has exploded financially, sports have benefited from one simple fact: it is the most valuable live television commodity on the planet. While DVRs, smartphones and Netflix have altered the way people consume content –eliminating the number of eyeballs seeing TV ads – sports have remained one of the only forms of media content that people still want to consume live.

This has led sports media rights’ deals to increase in value exponentially. While baseball attendance has dipped in most recent seasons, lucrative local TV deals (with stations desperate for 162 nights of

The Silna brothers parlayed a worthless team in a defunct league into pocketing approximately $300 million from 1976-2014.

the lockout, current NFL players threw future NFL players under the bus by voting for a tiered draft slot system that guaranteed certain preset salaries for each draft position. This freed up more money for veteran contracts while resulting in 2011’s number one overall pick, Cam Newton, signing for a more reasonable four years and $22 million.

Similarly, in the NBA’s most recent lockout, the Supermax salary was created as a means for teams to keep their superstars by being able to outbid them. But this has also inevitably led to elite players consuming even more of their teams’ cap space than ever before.

In most leagues, many teams settle on a “stars and scrubs” approach which eliminates the middle class and often marginalizes veterans with higher minimum salaries due to their higher service time.

content accompanied by guaranteed live viewers) have been a bonanza for the league. The same is true of the NHL, NBA and NFL. NFL broadcasts are consistently the most watched TV broadcasts of the year, and the Super Bowl remains the most expensive, yet sought after, advertising commodity in America.

Gambling/Fantasy Revenue After the infusion of cash from media deals, the newest frontier is gambling revenue. Seasonal and daily fantasy sports have already gone mainstream, and now gambling has gone from an illegal niche activity to an increasingly legal one. Sports leagues have gone from preaching about how gambling impacts the integrity of the game to angling for a cut of the action.

While the leagues are unlikely to get a direct cut of gambling reve-

127 75

nue, the proliferation of legal gambling provides new potential income streams. Teams can sell proprietary data, secure new sponsors, and keep degenerate or hardcore fans interested in a meaningless summertime Marlins-Reds game because of the implications to the betting spread or to their fantasy team.

The Greatest Deal Ever Signed All of the above likely pales in comparison with arguably the greatest deal ever signed in the history of sports. In 1976, the Silna brothers owned the St. Louis Spirits of the ABA, which the NBA was in the process of absorbing. Four ABA teams were merged into the NBA. The Virginia Squires folded, and the Kentucky Colonels accepted the league’s offer of $3 million to close up shop.

The Silna brothers turned that down and instead negotiated a deal for $2.2 million plus a 1/7 th share of the “visual media rights” for each of the four ABA teams that joined the NBA (the Nets, Spurs, Pacers and Nuggets). But that deal was signed in perpetuity which would turn out to be prescient. Media deals skyrocketed as sports and TV became closely intertwined, and the Silnas reaped the rewards.

The Silna brothers parlayed a worthless team in a defunct league into pocketing approximately $300 million from 1976-2014. But it gets better: in 2014, the NBA agreed to pay them $500 million upfront to end the deal before the NBA’s new media rights’ deal would kick in.

That deal is the greatest contract in sports and in negotiations in general.

Ultimately, professional sports have come a long way from the days of NBA players smoking on the bench or baseball players having to procure side jobs in the offseason.

We now consume sports around the clock and the calendar, with entire fan bases glued to social media for clues about where LeBron or Durant might go next. Athletes have teams of staffers devoted to their success and hordes of fans emotionally invested in their accomplishments.

In an era where our attention

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JANUARY OCTOBER10, 29,2019 2015||The TheJewish JewishHome Home

spans are shorter than ever, sports still wield a unique power over us.

They provide a form of escapism and a sense of kinship among strangers.

Sports fuel our watercooler fodder at work and our family debates over the dinner table. Sports are as inextricably linked to money as they are to the very fabric and ethos of America. In a world of a million distractions and allurements, sports remains king, and the money pouring into it is the proof.

Chaim Homnick is the owner of Kids Kamps LLC and the owner of Five Towns Tutoring. Chaim is also the College Advisor at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov of Lawrence and teaches 4 periods of Honors/AP English Literature. He has a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership and Administration.

For questions or comments, he can be reached directly at KidsKampsLLC@ gmail.com.

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Roger Federer - $65 Million

4

2

Lebron James - $52 Million

Stephen Curry - $42 Million

5

3

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Tiger Woods - $42 Million

The Jewish Jewish Home || OCTOBER JANUARY 10, 2019 The The JewishHome Home | JANUARY29, 3, 2015 2019

129 77 129

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133 15

Money

Tiny Violins for Very Large Men

By Allan Rolnick, CPA

2

019 is here, and it’s almost time to file your first tax return under the new law. But you probably sat around watching sports all weekend instead of talking taxes, didn’t you? So, as we ring in the New Year, let’s take a look at how the new tax bill affects some of those athletes you’ve been watching.

Washington sold the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as “tax simplification.”

And really, who can’t raise a toast to that? Lower rates! Higher standard deductions! A 1040 you can fill out on a postcard! But many taxpayers, especially those in high-tax states like New York and California, can be forgiven if they feel like they woke up with a massive hangover. Deductions for state and local income and property taxes are now capped at $10,000, regardless of income.

And employee business deductions are nixed entirely. That’s going to be pricey for the Very Large Men we mentioned in the title.

Take 6’8” NBA superstar Lebron James. He’s played in Cleveland, where state and local taxes total 7.5%. He’s played in tax-free Miami.

And now he’s playing in Los Angeles, where he pays 13.3%. (13.3% going to California sure sounds like a technical foul.) Under the old rules,

he could deduct whatever he actually paid. Now the refs limit him to the same $10,000 as the rookies earning the league minimum. Granted, that minimum is $838,464. But doesn’t it make sense to let a guy paying tax on 43 times that amount actually deduct 43 times as much?

Income taxes won’t be the only expense to bite King James under

rebound into IRS hands.

Even athletes who play in states with no income tax used to be able to deduct non-employee business expenses: agents’ and managers’ fees, health club and training expenses, travel expenses, and players’ union dues. But now those are gone, too.

Agents typically take 10% of a client athlete’s salary and endorsement

Now he’ll watch those deductions bounce off the rim and rebound into IRS hands.

the new rules. He owns a $9 million house in his hometown of Akron (where $9 million buys a lot of house), a $21 million house in Brentwood (where $21 million still buys a pretty nice crib), and a $23 million house in Brentwood. (Not a typo.) Property taxes on those homes reach well into six figures, if not seven. But now he’ll watch those deductions bounce off the rim and

income, which means losing that deduction alone can eliminate the benefit of lower overall rates.

The new law does give LeBron one potentially important break.

Charitable deductions used to be capped at 50% of adjusted gross income. The new law raises that limit to 60%. LeBron is famously charitable, especially for educational causes, and may appreciate that change

someday.

As for that postcard-sized tax return? Well, yes, the IRS has released a new Form 1040. And yes, you can print it on a postcard. But don’t get too excited. They’ve just stripped out half of the information from the old 1040 and dumped it into six pages of Schedules. Have capital gains to report or student loan interest to deduct? You’ll have to file Schedule 1. Owe AMT? Schedule 2 is just four lines … but there goes your postcard. Need to pay self-employment tax? Welcome to Schedule 4. And who wants to report their income where the mailman can see it on its way to the IRS, anyway?

This New Year, millions of Americans will pick cliched resolutions like eating less, exercising more, crying less, or smiling more. We’d like to suggest something a little more profitable: minimizing the bite that taxes take out of your year. Call us to save, and make 2019 your best year ever!

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 years in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

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JANUARY 10, 2019 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Life C ach

Weight Watchers

By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., MFT, CLC

S

o many people are on Weight Watchers diets, the company should be exploding. Everyone should be buying stock and hitting it big.

Oh, wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. Actually, everyone is on a weight watcher diet but not everyone is signing up with the company. They’re just watching their weight go up or down or stay the same. And there is no profit in that!

Years ago, the formal Weight Watchers diet was all about the points. But let me ask you a pointed question. Could you actually spend your life counting points? So, what was the point?

Today they got smarter and introduced a lot of foods that are considered “free.” Now, that’s a word that appeals to everyone. I’m not saying you get the food for free; you just get to eat it for free, without worrying about the points of each item.

Then they throw in some points on top of that. That way, you can enhance your foods or eat some extras without feeling you struck out. Now that seems to be a valid point!

This is not as advertisement for the Weight Watchers’ new diet. It’s actually a twofold insight. People are perpetually consumed with their

weight. And there can always be another way to do things smarter.

Let’s start with the weight thing: What’s it all about? Looks?

Health? Boredom? Bonding? Why do we eat or curtail eating? It’s a loaded question with many possible answers.

A lady told me, some years ago, that her husband ran a learning group every Thursday evening in her house.

She served kugel and corn beef, kokash cake, and other delectable Jewish treats. The men stayed, learned,

the food. So clearly on top of everything else, food is possibly a very effective ADHD medication.

Obviously, food and dieting serve multiple purposes. So why we are consumed with weight, it must have many nuances. All of which haven’t been answerable for centuries. So I guess, we will probably have to wait a lot longer for the ultimate answer.

So, let’s explore the idea that there is always a smarter way to do something:

Clearly, on top of everything else, food is possibly a very effective ADHD medication.

and bonded. Then, she told me that one week she had said to herself, “Why do I need to serve anything?

They are used to coming, so who needs the food?” But that night, just a half hour into the learning, they were all itching to head out. They couldn’t sit an extra second to listen without

For years, Weight Watchers operated a certain way. It seemed to be working for them. But now they’ve rethought it. Revamped. Refocused.

And voila! They came up with something that seems more doable, more manageable, something people can live with better.

Maybe many of us are functioning this way. Perhaps, we are all getting by and thinking something is the best we can come up with. But maybe we can all learn from the new Weight Watchers model. The answer may not be doing something different but rather doing something differently!

And we just need to take some time to rethink, revamp, and refocus on a better way to get to our goal.

Perhaps we can then do much better. And not merely with our eating but with many varied aspects and relationships in our lives.

I know this may be a lot to swallow in one sitting. But once you ingest this thought, you may be able to fill up on a lot more happiness in your life.

So, though you may need to continue weight watching, you don’t need to keep waiting and watching things function the same old way. Put in a little effort, look at your old patterns, and come up with a better way of doing things. And you’ll achieve results in a less stressful, more positive way.

And that’s a worthwhile point!

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

The Jewish Home | JANUARY 10, 2019

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