Five Towns Jewish Home - 3-1-18

February 28, 2018

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

Your Favorite Five Towns Family Newspaper

PURIM IN PERSIA Reading the Megillah in the Land of Paras U’Madai See pages 7 & 9

pg

86

Around the

Community

44 Harmony: Joining Together in Song and Dance

Be included in the

TJH Purim Photo Album!

42

Celebrating 40 Years at HAFTR

Send your Purim photos to editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com Deadline: Monday, March 5 at 5pm

Remembering

Miriam Holman, a”h

40 #Giveback Sunday at YI of West Hempstead

PASSOVER VACATION GUIDE See pages 103 – 117

– See page 3

SEASONS LAWRENCE

330 Central Avenue, Lawrence, NY 11559

Thirty Days Since Her Passing pg

69

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Enjoy a Happy and Safe

Purim!

Pusrtiumme

Co est t Con

Check out

what’s happening on social!

Follow your local Seasons location for recipes, contests, giveaways, and more Seasons Family Fun.

Like, Share and Follow the Family! @SeasonsBaltimore @SeasonsofClifton @SeasonsLakewood @SeasonsLawrence @SeasonsofQueens

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

PASSOVER 2018 OUR 60th YEAR

6 Spectacular Pesach Destinations

PHOENIX, ARIZONA

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA

A WALDORF ASTORIA RESORT

A WALDORF ASTORIA RESORT

RABBI MARVIN HIER

RABBI EPHRAIM MIRVIS

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Boca Raton Resort & Club FLORENCE, ITALY

RYE BROOK, NEW YORK

Hilton Westchester

Four Seasons Florence

CHIEF RABBI OF ENGLAND

RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS

RABBI DR. EDWARD REICHMAN PROF. EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

• Condé Nast Traveler, 2016 Gold List Top Arizona Resort • 8 heated swimming pools •7 Tennis Courts • Two 18 hole championship golf courses • Professional Day Camp • Haute gourmet cuisine by VIP Ram Caterers • Fantastic Scholar- in-Residence • International Kosher Mehadrin (IK) Glatt Kosher Supervision

• Gorgeous half-mile stretch Private FORMER CHIEF RABBI OFof ENGLAND Beach • 2 Championship Golf Courses Entire La Villa building Kosher for Pesach • 30 Clay Tennis 40,000setsq.amidst ft. World • Luxury 5-starCourts resort •• Hotel a 350,000 botanical Class Spa •sq.ft.

Haute Gourmetgarden Cuisine by the • Gourmet cuisine

by Michelen rated Four Waldorf Astoria Resort Chefs • ScholarSeasons chefs • Professional Day Camp in-Residence: Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis - Chief • Scholar- in-Residence: Rabbi Lord Rabbi of England International Kosher Jonathan Sacks •• Glatt Kosher Supervision

by Rabbi(IK) G.M.Glatt Garelik Mehadrin Kosher Supervision

• Entire hotel Kosher for Pesach • Only 30 minutes from New York City • Hotel beautifully renovated • Spectacular lineup of Scholars-in- Residence • Fantastic entertainment & daily activities • Professional day camp • Exceptional cuisine by Prestige Caterers • ORB Glatt Kosher Supervision

FLORENCE, ITALY

FIUGGI (ROME), ITALY

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA

Four Seasons Florence

Grand Hotel Palazzo Della Fonte

RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS

RABBI YISRAEL MEIR LAU

FORMER CHIEF RABBI OF ENGLAND

Entire La Villa building Kosher for Pesach • Luxury 5-star resort • Hotel set amidst a 350,000 sq.ft. botanical garden Y NL rated Four • Gourmet cuisine by Michelen O IST Seasons chefs • Professional Day Camp TL I A • Scholar- in-Residence: Rabbi Lord W Jonathan Sacks • Glatt Kosher Supervision

by Rabbi G.M. Garelik

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• Entire Hotel Kosher for Pesach • Member of the Leading Hotels Of The World • Haute Italian CuisineL•YBeautiful spa, N daily shuttle indoor & outdoor poolsT•OFree S I L Day Camp to Rome • Professional IT WA • Scholar-In-Residence: Rabbi Yisrael Lau Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv • Glatt Kosher Supervision by Rabbi G.M. Garelik of Milan

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers,

H

And who would have it any other way? We’re supposed to be “holchim,” movers, doers, always climbing to the next level. And our calendar propels us to continue moving. There’s no sedentary lack of motion in Yiddishkeit. Once we accomplish something, we’re onto the next.

Once we’ve finished putting away all that cellophane and ribbon and recycling all those empty wine bottles, we’re onto macaroons and shmurah matzah and those rainbow jellies that somehow always end up left over after Pesach.

Throughout it all, women have played a special, integral role in our nation’s history and in our homes today. Yes, life is busy. We’re running from one project to the next, from one yom tov to the next. But it is our job to keep things running smoothly. It is our task to ensure that our homes don’t become pressured from the busyness. We need to ensure that our homes are filled with joy – whether it’s on Purim with all those Presidors or on Pesach with all those macaroons. So keep smiling and hum that tune as you go throughout your “Zone 1” or “Zone 2” day.

Speaking of joy, as your family smiles on Purim this year dressed in their adorable costumes, make sure to take a few photos to send into the TJH Purim Photo Album. Email them to me at editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

When your kids see themselves in print, there will be even more grins all around.

And isn’t that something to smile about?

appy Purim! Wait, should I be saying instead “happy cleaning”? Depending on when you’re reading this note – before or after Purim – you’re in a completely different zone. Zone 1: surrounded by cellophane, Presidors, ribbons, and mini jam jars. Zone 2: still surrounded by cellophane, Presidors, ribbons, and mini jam jars but frantically trying to stuff said cellophane and ribbons in the garbage while running to the store to donate Presidors, mini jam jars, and pounds of hard candy the kids seem to be drowning in.

For now, whichever zone you’re in, breathe, smile and reach for the chocolate that you squirreled away just for yourself. You deserve it. After all, you were the one who shopped for all those Presidors and spent hours wrapping the mishloach manos in cellophane. You should be able to enjoy your special nosh. Where you can eat it without being spotted by the kids is a different story.

It’s funny how the year moves at such a fast pace. For months I’ve been telling myself that I should organize the basement when I have “time” (I put that in quotes because, really, which mother has extra time on her hands to spend hours organizing the kids’ toys?) since there’s a few months between Chanukah and Purim when we’re essentially big-yom-tov-less.

But as Sundays melded into one another and Purim hurtled into the picture I slowly realized that preparing for Pesach will take place in our home at the same time as it happens every year – after Purim. No advance preparation, no major organized system. Just a marathon cleaning, shopping, and cooking experience.

Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana

Yitzy Halpern PUBLISHER

publisher@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Yosef Feinerman MANAGING EDITOR

ads@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Shoshana Soroka EDITOR

editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Nate Davis Editorial Assistant Nechama Wein Copy Editor Berish Edelman Mati Jacobovits Design & Production Gabe Solomon Distribution & Logistics P.O. BOX 266 Lawrence, NY 11559 Phone | 516-734-0858 Fax | 516-734-0857 Classified: Deadline Monday 5PM classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com text 443-929-4003 The Jewish Home is an independent weekly magazine.

Opinions expressed by writers are not neces­ sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

Shabbos Zemanim

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

8

COMMUNITY 8

Readers’ Poll Community Happenings

38

NEWS Global

13

National

30

Odd-but-True Stories

36

ISRAEL Israel News

24

PEOPLE

80

Remembering Miriam Holman, a”h

69

Purim in Persia by Tammy Mark

86

The Wonderful World of Costumes by 92 Malky Lowinger Long, Long, Long Lost American History 118

by Avi Heiligman PARSHA

Rabbi Wein

80

Wealth: The Ideal Way to Serve G-d? by Rav Moshe Weinberger

82

JEWISH THOUGHT Benefit of the Doubt? No Doubt! by Eytan Kobre

84

HEALTH & FITNESS Can We Take Off Our Masks? by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

98

Attempting to Eat Healthy Even On Purim by Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN 100

Dear Editor, A program teaching tefillah in high schools is of utmost importance. Connecting to their Creator and understanding the words and meaning behind our tefillos is integral to Yiddishkeit. If children are taught just to mumble the words and check off the box that they davened that day, what sort of believers are we raising? Davening is connecting, and connecting is fostering a foundation for emunah and bitachon.

I hope that more high schools implement these type of programs.

C. Gewirtz

Dear Editor, I am happy that President Trump chose the Five Towns as the venue for his recent MAGA parade.

The fact is, the Five Towns is already great, so it’s the perfect spot to start making th rest of America great again.

Your reporting is usually very complete, but I feel compelled to let readers know that President Trump tweeted after the event, “5 Towns great place. Loved the people, loved the stores. Was nice to meet all 5 mayors and their deputies and to sample their interesting cuisine that

seems to be centered around sushi, pizza, burgers, and even more sushi.

Gonna send Ivanka, the most smartest and the best, to organize a Purim festival for the people living there.

And possibly Jared too. Do they have an embassy in the 5 Towns?

Gotta look into that.”

Wishing you all a freilechen Purim, Yoni Turnt

Dear Editor, Regarding your “Dating Dialogue” column for the week of February 22: I too was like that girl. I became a bit more to the “right” after I came home from seminary. All my friends were going out with boys who were learning – and so was I. But it took a few years for me to realize that I was not cut out for that type of life. Slowly I started dating boys who were working. During that time my parents did not pressure me. They did not question my initial decision to date boys more to the right and when I slowly started dating boys from more to the “left” they did not comment or pass judgement.

That is my advice to these parents writing into the panel. Don’t Continued on page 12

FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Spicy Sweet Potato Hamantashen

102

LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW Your Money

94 124

Purim Made Simple by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS 126 HUMOR

98

Centerfold Flight Food by Jon Kranz

78 116

POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

104

Stop Politicizing the Russia Investigation by Marc A. Thiessen

112

The Zelig of Russian Covert Action by David Ignatius

114

CLASSIFIEDS

120

Do you include something homemade in your family’s mishloach manos?

40

%

YES

60

%

NO

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

HEED THE CALL OF THE GEDOLEI YISROEL

HELP RETURN THE ‫ שכינה‬TO THE

‫פלטרין של מלך‬

I’ve said it many times, Shuvu is not a tzedokah, it’s not a special good cause.

It’s not only a groise mitzvah – it’s a movement!!!! It’s a movement to bring back the Ribbono Shel Olam, the Melech Malchei Hamlachim, to His palace, to the palterin shel melech. To bring back the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel and the kedusha of Am Yisroel.

MOREINU HARAV AVROHOM PAM, ‫זצ”ל‬

And this obligation is incumbent upon each and every one to come to their (Shuvu’s) assistance to be Matzil Nefashos from going astray. And in the Zechus of your assisting the children of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, may you be Zoche to Shefa Brocha and Hatzlocha in all matters, good health, Nachas D’Kedusha from all your children.

MARAN HARAV CHAIM KANIEVSKY, ‫שליט”א‬

The entire Zechus HaTorah of Shuvu children learning is your Zechus.

Ashreichem V’Ashrei Chelkechem.

MARAN HARAV GERSHON EDELSTEIN, ‫שליט”א‬

When Moshiach comes, those who supported Shuvu are certain to receive passes for an audience with Eliyahu Hanavi.

HARAV YITZCHOK ZILBERSTEIN, ‫שליט”א‬

Shuvu has the potential to transform the Chinuch in Eretz Yisroel, to fulfill the vision of Harav Pam zt”l, to give Chinuch Kodesh to Zera Kodesh in Eretz Hakodesh.

As the numbers increase and Shuvu spreads, so too does the Ohr HaTorah in Eretz Yisroel.

DAYAN YONASON ABRAHAM, ‫שליט”א‬ Who can possibly measure the Madreiga of Mezakei Harabim? The Shuvu heads and supporters undoubtedly are the answer to the Gezeira of “Lehashkecham Torasecha”, by preserving the Torah and being Mezakeh the following generations of the students you’ve brought home with mitzvohs.

HARAV ELIMELECH BIDERMAN, ‫שליט”א‬

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Continued from page 8

judge your daughter or pressure her.

She may not feel ready to get married and may not feel completely confident in the boys she is dating.

Let her make the decision herself to date boys more to the “left,” if that really is the reason why she is not yet married.

(Or could it be she just hasn’t yet found the “one”?)

A Reader

Dear Editor, This letter is addressed to Rabbi Gideon Shloush in reference to his

article, “My Trip to the Vatican and Rabbi Lau’s Impassioned Words.”

Although I am not Jewish I pick up The Jewish Home for its very interesting articles. I was very intrigued by your perspectives on your recent visit to Rome and the Vatican.

I would like to introduce myself as a member of The Italic Institute. We are the only think tank to my knowledge that defends the classical history of the ancient Italic peoples and modern Italians from the de rigueur onslaught of defamation. Although many Jewish and Israeli scholars and also rabbis I’ve spoken with have varying opinions on the 70 CE

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.

Temple destruction and the degree of culpability of varying factions for this immense tragedy, I thought I would make the gesture to point out some little known facts that might make you more comfortable about visiting today’s Italy, rather than engage in that controversial, ancient topic.

I also need not point out to you that Catholicism was not the only Christian religion with a history of persecution, and anti-Semitism did not originate with the rise of Christianity. Italy, point in fact, was the receptor of Jews fleeing the Inquisition in the areas not under Spanish control. As you pointed out, you were in Rome discussing the anti-Semitism raging all over Europe and were free to do so because it is not raging there. Italy, especially today, values its antiquities, and Jews were living in Rome before, during and after the 2nd destruction of the Temple whose grandeur was amplified during the Roman period.

You were also visiting a country that resisted the Holocaust more than any other country in Europe, including Denmark. The stories are too numerous to recount but for just a very few, I will point out that

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even the Italian army is represented at Yad Vashem for rescuing Jews in Greece, the former Yugoslavia, and southern France from brutal Fascist regimes. Jews in Rome were hidden in the Cinecitta movie studios, and Italians faked a disease at Fatebenefratelli Hospital in Rome that frightened Nazis and quarantined Jews.

Jews were hidden in the Assisi nun cloister where Catholics were not allowed, a rescue sanctioned by the Vatican which also, despite revisionist history, also hid Jews.

There are great deeds after the war as well. I am sure as I observed the photo of you standing at the great Rome Synagogue that no one there informed you that the Jewish Quarter swelled with rescued Libyan Jews, who were being massacred in Libya with the advent of the 1967 Six Day War. They were airlifted there by the complete generosity and compassion of the Italian Navy. Space and time restrict me from recounting countless more heroic events.

It is my sincere hope that some of this information might counterbalance your overall opinion. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully submitted, Joseph Graziose

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

The Week In News

Norway Sweeps the Olympics

Norway is the king of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The team left PyeongChang this week with 39 medals in its pocket – 14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze. This sweep broke the record for most medals for a country at the Olympic Games; the previous one was set by the U.S. in 2010 with 37 medals in Vancouver.

There were 102 medals up for

grabs in PyeongChang this year. Germany nabbed the second-most medals – 31 –with 14 gold, ten silver, and seven bronze. Canada placed third, with 29 medals, and the U.S. earned 23 medals, putting it in fourth place.

Norway’s athletes – some of whom work as plumbers, carpenters and teachers – do not receive prize money or bonuses from their federations for winning medals. Instead they are given commemorative gold-colored shoes. And cake.

The team’s gold rush in PyeongChang created a slight problem for their officials, who ran out of the commemorative shoes they give to athletes for medal ceremonies.

Their skiers spend 250 days a year together, play cards and enjoy “taco nights.” There have a “no jerks” on the team as a rule, according to super G bronze medalist Kjetil Jansrud.

Jinping to serve a third term in office.

State-run news agency Xinhua said the Party will remove the provision that the president and vice president “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms” from the constitution of the People’s Republic of China. The proposed amendment will have to be ratified by China’s rubber-stamp parliament – the National People’s Congress (NPC) – in March.

When it goes into effect, Xi will be free to serve indefinitely as China’s head of state, the strongest indication yet that he is intending to maintain power at the top beyond the two 5-year terms served by his predecessors for the past 20 years.

No More Term Limits in China?

Long live President Xi Jinping!

China’s Communist Party (CCP) has proposed amending the country’s constitution to allow President Xi

Plans to change the country’s constitution for the first time since 2004 were announced in December,

with most analysts predicting the Party would seek to modify the country’s top legal document to create a National Supervision Commission (NSC), a country-wide anti-corruption task force with sweeping new powers.

In January, the Party’s top body proposed also adding “Xi Jinping Thought” to the document, enshrining it alongside Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought as a key guiding principle of the country.

Experts predicted last October that Xi may seek to stay on as leader after he failed to unveil an obvious successor at a major party congress, appearing to break with an unwritten rule of two five-year terms as head of the party. At the time, some doubted whether this would require a constitutional change, saying Xi could simply retain power through his role as General Secretary of the CCP, which does not have term limits, rather than the ceremonial presidency.

Deng Xiaoping, the most powerful Chinese leader after Mao Zedong, gave up most of his official titles but retained a tight grip on the country until his death in 1997.

By contrast, Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, was pushed out of his polit-

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

ical roles and stripped of influence once Xi came to power. Since then he has rarely taken part in public engagements and many of his allies have fallen to Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.

Women to Enter Saudi Arabia’s Army

The military in Saudi Arabia is going to look a bit different in the next few months. This week, the kingdom announced that for the first time it has opened applications for women to join its military. Women have until Thursday to apply for positions with the rank of soldier in the provinces of Riyadh, Mecca, al-Qas-

yas in public, as well as headscarves if they are Muslims.

sim and Medina. Women will not be given combat roles; instead, they will work in security.

Women who wish to apply need to be Saudi citizens, be between the ages of 25 and 35, and have a high school diploma. The women and their male guardians – usually a husband, father, brother or son – must also have a place of residence in the same province as the job’s location.

The decision to recruit female soldiers is one of many reforms enhancing women’s rights introduced in recent months in the conservative Muslim kingdom. King Salman has decreed that women will be permitted to drive starting in June, while women spectators were allowed to attend football matches as of last month.

Despite the strides for women in the kingdom, many laws are still stuck in the medieval ages. Under the current guardianship system in Saudi Arabia, adult women must obtain permission to travel, marry or leave prison. They may be required to provide consent to work or access healthcare. Women are also separated from unrelated men and must wear full-length robes known as aba-

Is the Former London Mayor Anti-Semitic?

A new investigation is being launched by the British Labour party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) into allegations that former London Mayor Ken Livingstone is an anti-Semite. In April 2016, Livingstone was suspended from the party for claiming that Adolf Hitler was a supporter of Zionism. The new investigation is being held in response to party insiders saying that Living-

stone was likely to be readmitted into the party in the coming weeks.

Even after he was called out for being a “racist, Hitler-apologist” by a member of his own party, Livingstone still refused to apologize for his comments. The first inquiry into Livingstone was announced ten months ago by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but it never actually began.

The former mayor’s two-year suspension will end on April 27.

Livingstone’s original suspension of one year was extended after a full inquiry by the party’s National Constitutional Committee (NCC). After the NCC hearing, his unrepentant tone led to Corbyn announcing that an NEC inquiry would take place.

He was also heavily criticized for defending Labour MP Naz Shah over an anti-Semitic Facebook post for which she subsequently apologized.

On Saturday Livingstone said, “I simply stated historical fact. I never said Hitler was a Zionist but that’s the trouble with fake news these days. I’ve never heard about any other complaints.” He claimed that he had said that Hitler supported Zionism, not that Hitler was a Zionist.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Attack Attempted at U.S. Embassy

ber of a Serbian-language Facebook group called “Russophiles.” It seems as if he was looking to kill himself in the blast.

Montenegro is a Balkan country located in the continent of Europe with a population of under a half million people.

Fighting Despite UN-Mandated Ceasefire A man was found dead outside the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro last Thursday. He died while attempting to toss a grenade over the wall of the embassy in Montenegro’s capital of Podgorica, authorities said. It seems that the grenade exploded prematurely as it was being thrown and then the man detonated an additional weapon that killed him.. The body was recovered 100 feet from the embassy’s wall, according to Steve Goldstein, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs.

“According to the investigation so far, this male person was killed due to the activation of an explosive device after having previously thrown an explosive device – a bomb – into the U.S. Embassy courtyard,” a statement from Montenegrin police said.

Police said the embassy incurred no damage “other than the crater remaining at the site where the bomb exploded,” adding that “evidence from the site has been collected and it will be subject to expert evaluation.”

Later in the day on Thursday, the embassy said on Twitter, “Following our internal review, Embassy at Podgorica confirms all Mission personnel are safe and accounted for following the incident early this morning. Thank you all for sending us your support and kind thoughts. #Podgorica #Montenegro.”

The suspect, Dalibor Jaukovic, was a Yugoslav army veteran who manned anti-aircraft defenses during the NATO bombing in 1999. Police believe he was around 41-years-old and born in Serbia. The U.S. State Department confirmed later that Jaukovic was opposed to Montengro’s membership in NATO as well as pro-Western political leaders in Montenegro. He was a mem-

A 30 day ceasefire had been unanimously ordered by the UN Security Council across Syria “without delay” in order to deliver humanitarian aid and food to the country on Saturday.

The vote was delayed for a couple of days while trying to gain support from Russia, whose representative said that an immediate ceasefire was unrealistic. Despite the ceasefire, fighting still continued. On Monday, Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, stepped in and declared a ceasefire from 9AM-2PM in Damascus.

Saturday’s UN resolution was sponsored by Kuwait and Sweden, both of whom amended it last-minute to satisfy Russia by dropping the demand that the ceasefire takes effect in 72 hours. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley was very critical of Russia for delaying the vote, saying that their feet-dragging “cost lives.”

Despite the ceasefire demands, on Sunday, Syrian forces launched a ground offensive on a rebel-held eastern Damascus suburb. The UN chief denounced the violence in the embattled region. There had been a relative calm in the besieged area in the immediate aftermath of the resolution, which was unanimously approved Saturday by the 15-member council. It demands a 30-day truce in all of Syria but excludes fighting with the Islamic State group and alQaeda-linked fighters.

But since then, violence has since

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

of eastern Ghouta, according to Russia’s defense minister. The ceasefire would begin on Tuesday in Damascus and would take place from 9AM to 2PM every day. Russia said it also plans to help set up an evacuation route for civilians in the area.

Russia is a key ally of theSyrian president, Bashar al-Assad, whose regime forces continued to defy international pleas for a ceasefire on Monday.

Local doctors and monitors said a suspected chlorine attack in the rebel-held area outside Damascus had left 18 people injured on Sunday evening, as residents condemned the international community’s inability to put an end to the fighting.

“I am embarrassed for the UN security council,” said Ghanem Tayara, the chairman of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), which helps run dozens of hospitals in Syria. “The mightiest nations on the planet cannot enforce the most basic standards of human rights and decency.”

The fresh death toll in eastern Ghouta brought the weeklong carnage in the enclave to more than 500 killed in airstrikes and shelling by forces loyal to Assad. According to the Security Council, there are 5.6 million people in 1,244 communities in war-torn Syria that are in “acute need.” Approximately 2.9 million of them are in locations that are difficult to reach.

As the death toll has been rising in Syria, Sweden, Kuwait, and many other countries have been looking towards the UN to take immediate action. The resolution had demanded that all parties immediately lift sieges around populated areas. The only exception to the ceasefire demand was the allowance of attacks on the Islamic State and al-Qaeda terrorist groups.

picked up again with 18 people killed on Sunday in airstrikes, bombardment, and possibly poison gas and 10 on Monday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the warring sides to abide by the ceasefire.

Speaking at the start of a session of the UN-backed Human Rights Council, the comments were his first remarks to the UN body since the reso-

lution was adopted.

Guterres said he welcomes the resolution but added that council resolutions “are only meaningful if they are effectively implemented.”

He added that he expects the “resolution to be immediately implemented and sustained” and also called for safe, unimpeded and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and services, as well as evacuations of the

sick and wounded.

At the Geneva gathering, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein decried “seven years of failure to stop the violence, seven years of unremitting and frightful mass killing” in Syria.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the implementation of a daily ceasefire in Syria’s besieged, rebel-held enclave

Jewish Grandmother on the Run A grandmother who immigrated to the Netherlands in 2012 has been living in limbo ever since she was handed a death sentence from her home country of Iran. Sipora (not her real name), a 60-year-old Jewish woman, lives in the small Jewish community in Utrecht. In 2013, a Tehran court convicted her in absen-

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

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tia of “violating Islamic rules [of the] Islamic Revolution” and “anti-regime activity.” She was running an underground organization that helped to find safe housing for women with abusive husbands who were unable to obtain a divorce.

Luckily, Sipora had already left Iran a year before the verdict to help her expectant daughter overseas. Her daughter, Rebecca, fled Iran in 2010 because of her involvement in the making of a documentary film about the fight for democracy in Iran.

“A few weeks after I came to Holland, I called my husband on the telephone. He asked me to go on Skype. I knew something was wrong,” Sipora said. Her husband told her over the internet that Iran’s secret police were looking for her and the other members of her battered women’s group.

“In that moment I knew there is no going back,” Sipora says.

The problem was further exacerbated by the tightening of immigration policies in the Netherlands.

The anti-Islam Party for Freedom has been gaining more traction in the country, and immigration from Muslim countries has become almost impossible. Though Rebecca had received a temporary resident permit and then citizenship, Sipora has been waiting for two years to receive her citizenship and lives every day in fear of being deported to the death sentence which awaits her back at home.

Sipora told a reporter that although she misses her husband dearly, she has no regrets over helping the abused wives for so many years.

“I would do the same thing all over again,” Sipora said. “For all my problems now I have family who cares for me. These women have no one, only enemies hounding them, and no rights before the law.”

For now, the Jewish grandmother hopes to finally one day be able to find a permanent new home, far away from a regime that convicts those who try to help others.

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Rohingya Taken in by Myanmar There are about 6,000 Rohingyas that are living in “no man’s land” between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The group fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State amid growing violence last year but had not been able to cross onto Bangladesh soil. Neither country wanted to accept the refugees. After

months of debate, the two countries have finally reached an agreement.

“After Tuesday’s meeting, the Myanmar side [accepted] our position, and agreed to take steps to repatriate and resettle these people,” Bangladesh’s Relief and Refugee Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Abul Kalam said.

Last summer, when armed militants stormed Myanmar, more than 688,000 Rohingya fled. Refugees faced terrible circumstances, often dealing with gangs and no food.

Many died on their journey, particularly those who attempted to cross the Naf River into Bangladesh.

Kalam said the people trapped in no man’s land would be moved as part of a United Nations-supported repatriation effort to return the Rohingya Muslims back to Myanmar. A time frame was not announced.

The United Nations refugee agency said last week that representatives of the stranded group had understandably said they were concerned about returning to Myanmar, where they had faced terror before, and said that “people who have fled violence in their country must be guaranteed safety and protection, and must be consulted on their future.”

“Any decision to return must be voluntary, based upon a free and informed choice,” UN spokesman Andrej Mahecic said.

Many refugees have expressed concern about returning to their homeland of Maynmar. Many of their homes and villages were completely destroyed, and they are worried they will face discrimination.

The Rohingya have long faced persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which describes them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They are not exactly welcome in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has struggled to manage the massive influx of refugees crossing its borders. They have denied citizenship to this group despite the fact that many families can trace their roots back hundreds of years.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Walls of Warsaw Ghetto: Witness to History

Two segments of the wall that once surrounded the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust are going to be classified as a historical monument.

Last week a regional conservation official in Poland announced the proposal to list the still-standing red brick wall at 53 Sienna Street as a witness to history. Monument status would give legal protection to a “unique historical memento, priceless to the Jewish and the Polish nation,” and will ensure that the walls be preserved for future generations.

In the next two weeks, local residents have the right to appeal the regional official’s decision. Once that time elapses locals can no longer protest the monument.

Originally built by the Nazis in the 1940s the walls housed thousands of Polish Jews who suffered from disease, malnourishment, infestations, and daily terror. Most of the ghetto’s 450,000 residents were murdered in the Holocaust.

Russia Hacks the Olympics

It appears that the Russians are at again – from behind their computer screens. According to U.S. intelligence, Russian military spies hacked several hundred computers used by authorities at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. They tactfully attempted to make it appear as if they were North Korean hackers, a strategy called a “false-flag” operation.

During Opening Ceremonies on February 9, there were disruptions to the Internet, broadcast systems, and the Olympics website. Some attendees weren’t able to attend the games because they could not print their tickets, according to officials in PyeongChang.

Many are speculating that the motive behind the hack was retaliation against the International Olympic Committee for banning the Russian team from the Winter Games due to doping violations. The IOC banned

officials from Russia’s Olympic Federation from attending, and while some athletes from Russia were allowed to compete under the designation “Olympic Athletes from Russia,” they were not allowed to display the Russian flag on their uniforms and, if they won medals, their country’s anthem was not played.

Investigators are looking closely at the Russian military agency GRU, who had access to as many as 300 Olympic-related computers, ac-

cording to an intelligence report this month. GRU cyber-operators hacked routers in South Korea last month and deployed new malware on the day the Olympics began, according to Western intelligence agencies. Such access could enable intelligence collection or network attacks, officials said. The GRU hackers are thought to work for the agency’s Main Center for Special Technology, or GTsST, according to intelligence agencies. The investigation is ongoing.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

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Saudi Arabia has freed nine Iranian fishermen detained two years ago, Iranian state TV said on Thursday, but a tenth fisherman was killed in the initial incident, his brother said.

Tensions between Shi’ite Iran and Saudi Arabia’s conservative Sunni monarchy have run high in recent years. The two countries have backed opposing forces in wars across the Middle East, usually along sectarian lines.

Saudi authorities released the men in a boat in Iranian waters on Wednesday, and Iran’s state television showed pictures of them being welcomed by their families.

Two years ago, Saudi coast guards arrested the men in the Gulf somewhere between Farsi and Arabi Islands and accused them of entering its waters, Tasnim news agency quoted a local official in Iran’s Fisheries Organization in the southern city of Bushehr as saying.

The coast guards shot the boat’s owner and “no sign of him has been found.” A fisherman told state television “his brother was killed” in the incident and that “his body remains in a morgue in Saudi Arabia.”

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“Persistent Concussions” for U.S. Diplomats in Cuba In 2016, U.S. diplomats in Cuba began reporting a mysterious illness.

Washington took swift action and nearly halved the number of people at its Havana mission and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from the States upon hearing the accounts.

According to reports, at least 24 American staff and family in Cuba reported symptoms including headaches, dizziness, blurry eyesight, loss of hearing, loss of sleep, and concentration problems. Victims claim that their symptoms began after hearing loud and strange noises in their homes or hotel rooms. Some say that their symptoms suspiciously disappeared after they relocated, making it seem that the noise was directed at them specifically. However, many were quick to shoot down those speculations, claiming that the denunciations were purely political.

Last week, a group of American doctors who examined 21 diplomats published a study saying that the victims were exposed to some unknown “energy source.”

There had been previous claims that the diplomats had been victims of “acoustic attacks” from a device that operated outside the audible range of sound. Other claims have maintained that scientists had discovered abnormalities in white matter tracts in the diplomats’ brains, although there was never a formal statement released. The FBI has yet to find any evidence of any of the mentioned scenarios.

The doctors were hired by the U.S. government in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. They found no evidence of white matter tract abnormalities. However, the study describes a new syndrome displayed in the diplomats that resembles a persistent concussion. While some of those affected recovered swiftly, others have had symptoms last for months. The study concludes that the diplomats appear to have “sustained injury to widespread brain networks.”

The investigation is still ongoing, as the cause for the worrisome symptoms have not yet been definitively ascertained.

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Polish Holocaust Law Put on Hold

Poland’s chief prosecutor, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, announced last week that the Polish government would not be opening any criminal investigations into those that break their new Holocaust law until Poland’s constitutional court has had a chance to issue a final ruling on the new legislation. Critics of the law, which criminalizes any mention of Poland being complacent in the Holocaust, call it an anti-Semitic attempt to whitewash the role the Poles played in World War II. Israel’s Foreign Ministry called Ziobro’s announcement “substantial progress” towards coming to a solution to the problem the new law creates. Israel’s ambassador met with Ziobro last week and, according to

the ministry, the meeting paved the way for a visit to Israel by a Polish delegation which will discuss the uproar stemming from the law. “As part of talks, obstacles to the two governments meeting were removed,” said the ministry in reference to the Ziobro’s commitment not to enforce the law. “Poland accepted our request, so now the delegation could meet not just as a formality but for real work to be done on reaching a solution.”

The new law basically outlaws attributing Nazi crimes to the Polish nation. Violators can be sentenced to up to three years in prison for using the term “Polish death camp” when referring to death and concentration camps used against Jews in the Holocaust.

Ziobro has said many times that only a “handful of Poles” cooperated with the Nazis. “It is true that not all Poles behaved decently during the German occupation. We also had a small criminal underclass, who were especially visible in small towns, but their guilt cannot be put on the nation as a whole.” He added that Poland wishes to continue a dialogue with Israel “in the spirit of truth and mutual trust.”

Jerusalem Embassy to Open in May

Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to invite President Donald Trump to Israel to inaugurate the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem this coming May. Washington announced this week that the embassy would be relocated to Jeru-

salem on the 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence. Netanyahu said in a video statement that Trump’s historic declaration marked a “great moment for the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu went on to speak about Trump at length. “The decision by President Trump to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem on the coming Independence Day will make the celebrations even more joyful,” said Netanyahu. “Thank you, President Trump, thank you for your leadership, and your strong friendship,” Netanyahu added.

The U.S. State Department notified Congress that the embassy will officially open in May, coinciding with the 70 anniversary of Israel declaring its independence. The State Department told Israeli media that “the embassy will initially be located in Arnona [in south Jerusalem], on a compound that currently houses the consular operations of Consulate General Jerusalem.

At least initially, it will consist of the ambassador and a small team.”

A ribbon ceremony has been scheduled for the middle of May. The state of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The ceremony will be held on that day even though Yom Hatzmaut falls out on April 19 this year.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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The Palestinian Authority responded with anger and threats to the news of the imminent opening.

President Mahmoud Abbas and senior PA officials have said that the United States is no longer qualified to play a role in the peace process because of its “bias” towards Israel. Hamas warned that the decision would lead to an “explosion” in the region.

According to reports, U.S. bil-

exclusive intelligence that led to the prevention of an air attack by the Islamic State in 2017 in Australia,” a senior IDF officer said.

lionaire Sheldon Adelson has offered to help pay for the embassy move, which is expected to cost at least $500 million. The costs are usually covered by American taxpayers.

Adelson, a backer of Netanyahu, had lobbied Trump to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem. The administration is considering the legalities of accepting Adelson’s funds for the move.

IDF Unit Thwarts Plane Bomb An Israeli army intelligence unit foiled an ISIS plan to bomb an Australian airliner last August. The IDF recently revealed the details of the impressive intervention that Military Intelligence Unit 8200 was able to accomplish. “The unit provided

“The foiling of the attack saved dozens of innocent lives and proved Unit 8200’s position as a major player in the intelligence fight against the Islamic State,” said the officer. The army does not usually reveal when it is involved in such cases, especially when Unit 8200 is a player. The secretive unit is similar to the National Security Agency in the United States in that it collects information from electronic communications.

Unit 8200 tipped off the Australian police to a developing attack they picked up on. The plan was to sneak an improvised explosive device onto an Etihad Airways flight out of Sydney. When Unit 8200 contacted Australian authorities, the two terrorists attempting the attack were arrested at the airport.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the unit for foiling the attack. “Thank you to the Israeli intelligence services. We revealed today that the security agencies prevented the shooting down of an Australian airliner. This is just one of the dozens of terrorist attacks that we have stopped around the world. [The intelligence services] deserve all the support we can give, not only for protecting the citizens of Israel but for protecting people all over the world,” he said.

On Sunday, Economy Minister Eli Cohen said that Israel had warned 30 countries worldwide about specific terror plots in 2017.

“You all heard last week that Australia got a phone call from the state of Israel [with a specific warning that terrorists] intend to blow up a plane.

Actually, 30 countries got phone calls from Israel in 2017, in which the State of Israel called them, and said to them: You need to know, this and that [are being planned], in this and that place, pay attention, there’s going to be an attack,” he said, in a recording of his speech aired by Army Radio on Monday morning.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

New Home for Some from Gush Etzion

A building plan for the Netiv Ha’avot neighborhood in the West Bank has received unanimous approval. The government allocated funds for the construction of 350 new housing units. The move comes as the part of the government’s push to regulate the Gush Etzion neighborhood. Part of Gush Etzion has been scheduled for evacuation next month after such an order was issued by the High Court of Justice (HCJ.) “Today, the Cabinet will approve a budget for the Netiv Ha’avot outline.

The residents of Netiv Ha’avot have been waiting for a long time for this,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at his weekly cabinet meeting. “I

would like to thank my colleague, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, for the joint work, especially with two people, chief-of-staff Yoav Horowitz and Ronen Peretz from my office. They did outstanding work on both this matter and placing the first homes in the community of Amichai last week – this is a double blessing,” he added.

The announcement was welcomed

by Education Minister Naftali Bennet and his Bayit Yehudi party. “The government has taken the correct and moral step by opting to regulate area 91,” Bennet said in reference to the designated area for construction.

“Residents of Netiv Ha’avot fell victim to the appeals made by left-wing organizations. The HCJ decision was wrong, and it is our duty to minimize, as much as possible, the problems that were created for the residents. For every home that is dismantled as a result of the appeals filed by left-wing organizations, a community will be established in accordance with the law that they will not be able to move.”

The head of the Gush Etzion Council also welcomed the government’s decision. Shlomo Ne’eman described the move as a major accomplishment for Zionism. “This is a massive achievement for the Zionist enterprise in Judea and Samaria,” he said. “The

crime of demolishing homes won’t be atoned for by new construction, but will bring about hope for the Zionist enterprise in Gush Etzion.”

The Justice Ministry and the Attorney General have been trying to find a solution for the residents of Netiv Ha’avot for the past few months.

Seventeen structures were ordered to be evacuated by the HCJ after it was found that they had been built on privately-owned Palestinian land.

Israel Appoints Two Supreme Court Justices

Two new members of the Israeli Supreme Court were confirmed this week. Prof. Alex Stein and Judge Ofer Grosskopf will replace Justices Yoram Danziger and Uri Shoham, who will be retiring in the coming months. The

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confirmation was carried out by the Judicial Selection Committee.

The committee also appointed 27 judges to magistrates, district courts, and labor courts.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut said, “The Judicial Selection Committee has chosen 27 judges today for all of the country’s instances, as well as two excellent Supreme Court justices with top-notch and impressive reputations. One is an excellent jurist and a former academic, whereas the other is a longstanding and well-respected academic both in Israel and the world. I have no doubt both will make a significant contribution to the Supreme Court and enrich its rulings with their knowledge. On behalf of all of Israel’s judges, I wish to congratulate the candidates selected today to all instances and wish them great success in their new positions.”

The chair of the committee, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, called the appointments a “day of celebration for the world of Israeli law. Outstanding nominees were selected, carrying unique and varied cultural background and life experiences. When I began my term as justice minister, one of my central goals was to diversify the Supreme Court. I have little doubt their contribution to the court

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

will leave its mark on the annals of Israeli law.”

Judge Ofer Grosskopf, 49, is an expert in civilian law and is known as a socially conscious arbitrator who often stands with the weak and is unafraid to voice his social views when presiding over class action lawsuits.

He was born in Israel, earned his law degree at Harvard University in 1999, and received a doctorate from Tel Aviv University.

Prof. Alex Stein is a former teen chess champion from the Soviet Union and a world-renowned legal mind. He has long been considered one of the leading figures in Israeli penal law, torts, medical malpractice, and the economic approach to law and jurisprudence. He has authored four books, including an innovative one on evidence law.

PA Protesters Throw Eggs at US Delegation Arabs threw eggs at an America delegation last week while demonstrating against President Donald

Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. The delegation, which was visiting Ramallah, included members of the New York City Council.

Members of the American delegation were visiting a polling firm that is owned and operated by the Palestinian Authority. While chanting slogans against President Trump and his government, demonstrators held up signs that read, “The U.S. is part of the problem, not the solution,” and “Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine.” PA security forces did not allow the protesters to enter the building where the delegation was meeting with the polling firm, but protesters threw eggs at the delegation as they left the building.

Protesters also surrounded their minibus and chased them as they tried to make a hasty exit.

The U.S. State Department responded to the incident, condemning the protesters. “The United States absolutely opposes the use of violence or intimidation to express political views,” the State Department said.

“This type of action is unmistakably counterproductive to Palestinian interests; it serves only to ensure that Americans are unable to hear or consider Palestinian perspectives.”

Arab Israelis Planned Attack on Temple Mt.

On Monday, two Arab Israeli men were indicted for planning to carry out an Islamic State-inspired suicide attack on Temple Mount, a Tel Aviv synagogue, or a central Israeli city with few Muslim residents. They were both arrested last month and were also charged with failing to report having knowledge of another group of Arab Israeli men who were also planning on carrying out a shooting attack on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in September, similar to one perpetrated in July that killed two Israel Police officers. That cell was arrested in September before it could carry out its Temple Mount attack.

The suspects indicted on Monday were identified as Muhammad Jabarin, 20, whose brother was a member of the cell broken up in September, and a 16-year-old who cannot be named as he is a minor, the Shin Bet security service said. A third suspect, Imad Jabarin, 20, was also arrested by the Shin Bet in January, but was not charged on Monday. He was also involved with the planning of the thwarted attack.

All three of those involved in the attempted attack were residents of the predominantly Arab town of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, the same town that the Temple Mount attackers in July came from.

According to the indictment, Jabarin and his underage accomplice began following the teachings of the Islamic State terrorist group in 2014, watching the organization’s videos and reading its content online. In late 2017, they allegedly swore allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Initially they helped to spread ISIS ideology through social media. They then considered joining the group in Syria. Finally, in December 2017, the two started discussing carrying out some form of suicide attack against the “infidels” in Israel, according to

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the indictment.

Ultimately, however, they decided that the preferred target of their attack would be either the area outside the Temple Mount, a synagogue in Tel Aviv where Jabarin once worked, or a central Israeli city where relatively few Muslims lived, according to the charge sheet.

The two started collecting money and learning to manufacture the explosives necessary in order to carry out the attack. At the time of his arrest, Jabarin had raised some NIS 14,250 for that purpose, though they had not acquired the weapons, according to the indictment.

Their plans were foiled when Jabarin was arrested on January 22 and the unidentified minor was picked up three days later.

“The terror attack was prevented thanks to accurate intelligence that allowed for the arrest of the cell members before they could succeed in acquiring weapons and fulfilling their plans,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.

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The Democrats in Washington have written a rebuttal to the GOP memo that outlines government surveillance abuses in the 2016 presidential election campaign. The goal was to counter the claims made in the Republican memo – which was released earlier this month – that the FBI and DOJ relied on a Democratic-funded anti-Trump dossier – known as the Steele dossier – to ask the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court for a warrant to monitor Trump advisor Carter Page.

The rebuttal, which was written

by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, came to the conclusion that the Justice Department and the FBI “did not abuse the For-

eign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign.”

President Trump dismissed the Democrats’ rebuttal as a “total political and legal bust.” He also said that the document only confirms the “terrible things” that were done by U.S. intelligence agencies during the election process.

The rebuttal went so far as to completely support the way the DOJ and FBI acted. “In fact, DOJ and the FBI would have been remiss in their duty to protect the country had they not sought a FISA warrant and repeated renewals to conduct temporary surveillance of Carter Page, someone the FBI assessed to be an agent of the Russian government,” the rebuttal said, adding that the DOJ met the “rigor, transparency, and evidentiary basis” needed to meet FISA’s probable-cause requirement. It also claims that the FBI had an “independent basis” for investigating Page’s motivations, as he had been targeted for recruitment by the Russians.

The rebuttal did not have the audacity to challenge the testimony of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who said that the Page surveillance would have never been sought had it not been for the infamous Steele dossier.

Of course, Washington politics would not be complete without a rebuttal of the rebuttal. Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said in a statement that “the American people now clearly understand that the FBI used political dirt paid for by the Democratic Party to spy on an American citizen from the Republican Party.”

President Trump’s White House called the Democratic rebuttal a “politically driven document” that does not answer any of the concerns that were raised in the Republican memo.

Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that “the Minority’s memo fails to even address the fact that the Deputy FBI Director told the Committee that had it not been for the dossier, no surveillance order would have been sought.”

Team USA The Winter Olympic Games wrapped up on Sunday of this week.

Team USA packed their bags and

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stuffed 23 medals into their suitcases. Nine of them were gold, eight were silver, and six were bronze.

Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall and their team made history by winning the United States’ first women’s cross-country skiing medal – and it was gold. The historic win comes more than 40 years after Bill Koch won the only other Olympic medal for the U.S. in cross-country skiing – a silver.

Red Gerard, 17, overslept before the men’s snowboard slopestyle because he was watching Netflix the night before. He also had to borrow his roommate’s jacket because he couldn’t find his own. Despite his morning rush, Gerard made it to the podium with a score of 87.16, nab-

bing the U.S.’s first gold medal of the 2018 Olympics.

Chloe Kim became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal during the Winter Games. She is just 17-years-old.

Kim dominated two amazing runs on the women’s snowboard halfpipe, earning her the first place spot on the medal podium. Kim’s Olympic dreams were realized with a special family member cheering her on in person – her South Korean grandmother. Kim’s parents emigrated to the U.S. from South Korea, making her Olympic debut in PyeongChang all the more special.

David Wise won the gold for the most technically precise run ever seen in the sport of halfpipe skiing.

He scored a 97.2 in the event, beating out his American counterpart.

He also won the gold in the halfpipe in Sochi four years ago.

Snowboarder Shaun White broke records for the U.S. this year when he won the gold, scoring the U.S.’s 100th Winter Games gold medal. “The Flying Tomato” is the first American male to win gold in three different Winter Games as well; he won his previous two medals in Turin in

2006 and Vancouver in 2010. White, 31, had a near perfect score of 97.75 on his final run on the halfpipe. He started off strong on his first run, but fell on his second of three attempts.

Go girls go! In a dramatic shootout, the United States women’s hockey team defeated rival Canada 3-2 to win their first gold medal since 1998.

In another first in the Winter Games, John Shuster, Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner and Joe Polo led the underdog Americans to their first-ever gold medal in men’s curling, upsetting Sweden in a 10-7 victory.

ing learning and memory would be to experience no stress and to exercise,” says Edwards. “Of course, we can’t always control stress in our lives, but we can control how much we exercise. It’s empowering to know that we can combat the negative impacts of stress on our brains just by getting out and running.”

Let’s not forget the endorphins that are released when exercising, so that’s a double bonus.

Major Drug Lord Extradited to U.S.

Stressed Out? Start Running

Lace up those running shoes, grab a friend, and run! New research shows that running regularly is beneficial for your heart and lungs, plus it helps the brain preserve memory even when it’s under attack by chronic stress.

Research has established that stress is bad for health. When a person is stressed, their body activates stress mechanisms to deal with potentially threatening situations, sacrificing functions in other systems.

Doctors say that the most negative effect of stress is the weakening of the synapses, the electrical connections between neurons in the brain, which are connected to memory and recall functions. However, running can counteract that deficit – the exercise can help the brain preserve memory when it’s battling chronic stress.

“Exercise is a simple and cost-effective way to eliminate the negative impacts on memory of chronic stress,” says Jeff Edwards, associate professor of developmental biology.

Based on research conducted with mice, Edwards concluded that running is a natural way to compensate for stress.

“The ideal situation for improv-

Ecuador’s “Pablo Escobar” was extradited to the U.S. last week. He had been under arrest in Colombia since April 2017 when Colombian authorities arrested the 36-year-old drug lord. He had been held at a maximum security prison in Bogota.

Washington Prado, also known as “Gerard,” faces charges of moving more than 250 tons of Colombian cocaine from Ecuador’s Pacific coast to Central America and to the United States, Colombian prosecutors said in a statement. Prado has also been connected with bribing and murdering prosecutors and investigators in Ecuador.

Prado tried to avoid extradition by claiming to be an ex-guerrilla with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He was attempting to take advantage of the peace deal between Colombia and the FARC that ended a five-decade-long conflict. As part of the deal, ex-guerrillas involved in drug trafficking could avoid extradition to the United States in exchange for reparations and a vow to abandon their life of violent crime.

The prosecutor’s office said that Prado was escorted by a detail of 50 commandos and agents of various police agencies as he was turned over to U.S. authorities.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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A penthouse in New York City sold for a record $100 million, the most expensive home ever sold in NYC, a few years ago. The sprawling 11,000 square foot duplex penthouse boasts incredible views and luxurious finishes.

The lucky owner is unsurprisingly one of the world’s richest men, tech billionaire Michael Dell of Dell Computer Company. The deal closed about four years ago, although the deal closed through a limited liability company, P89-90, that protected his identity.

The home is located at 157 W. 57th St. in an all glass tower called One57 developed by Gary Barnett. One57 made headlines for being the first super-tall building on Billionaire’s Row. Barnett owns just a small percentage of the tower, which was mainly funded by Aabar Investments and a second, privately held Abu Dhabi-based investor, Tasameem Real Estate Co. It is said that only 73 units of the 130 in all have been confirmed as sold.

In 2016, the average apartment price in Manhattan hit a record $1.95 million. Michael Dell was ranked by Forbes as the 38th richest person in the world. The Jewish billionaire has a net worth of $23.5 billion, as of February 9, 2018.

Where did All the Snacks Go?

Want to know where all the good nosh from your mishloach manos went? Ask your mom. According to a

recent study, 66 percent of mothers polled admitted to hiding really good snacks and treats from their spouses and children so they wouldn’t have to share their delicious indulgences.

The secret snacking habits emerged as part of a wider study of 2,000 women aged 21-45 across the country and found nearly three quarters (73 percent) admit to having a quick snack “in secret.”

While snacking is an exceedingly normal thing to do, it seems that a high number of women have resorted to enjoying an in-between meal indulgence incognito. In fact, sadly, seven out of 10 women between the ages of 21 and 45 have felt guilt over simply eating a snack, with 42 percent even reporting they were embarrassed about their snacking habits.

The poll, which was conducted by freeze-dried fruit manufacturer Crispy Green, also found that one in four women say they currently have some type of snack “hidden” in their home or apartment.

Two-thirds of respondents say they have a specific snack they struggle to resist, even though they know they should stop eating it, and more than half of women have done some secret snacking while on a diet.

While there is guilt associated with snacking, most women (58 percent) are not embarrassed by their overall eating habits. This just goes to show that women may actually be looking for some peace and quiet, which is why they find snacking in bed to be a comfort they don’t want to give up.

Furthermore, the majority of women (52%) said they don’t tend to eat more when they are sad. This shows that women are able to control their emotions and not use food, specifically unhealthy snacking, as a coping mechanism.

According to Lindsey DeCaro, RDN, LDN, “Snacks actually provide a great opportunity to both curb your hunger and get the nutrients you need to be healthy. No guilt involved – just make the time to snack smartly and you’ll make wise choices for your overall health.”

The average woman snacks between two and three times per day, with the most popular times being 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The top snacking foods among American women between 21 and 45 include chips (70 percent), candy (60 percent), and cookies (58 percent), followed by fruits and veggies in fourth place.

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The top snacking foods among women between 21 and 45: 1. Chips 2. Candy 3. Cookies 4. Fruits/Veggies 5. Nuts 6. Popcorn 7. Crackers 8. Ice cream 9. Yogurt 10. Pretzels No wonder there’s no nosh for the Shabbos party. Mommy is hiding it all.

Schools Closed in W. Virginia

This week, all 680 public schools in West Virginia were closed because of an ongoing teachers’ strike. There are nearly 20,000 classroom teachers in the public schools there and more than 277,000 students are enrolled in the system.

Teachers hit the picket lines last week, demanding higher wages and better benefits. In 2016, West Virginia ranked 48th in the nation for average teacher salary, according to the National Education Association.

Gov. Jim Justice signed legislation on Wednesday giving teachers a pay raise, but educators said it wasn’t enough and it didn’t address other areas of concern like insurance and health care costs, so they went on strike.

State superintendent of schools Steven Paine announced on Saturday that he had met with county superintendents to discuss the continuation of the statewide work stoppage.

“Many asked whether the state was planning to pursue legal action in this matter. A decision will be made on Monday if an agenda item will be added to the State Board of Education meeting scheduled for Tuesday to discuss legal action,” Paine said.

Bank Severs Ties with NRA As many lashed out at the National Rifle Associate (NRA) in the aftermath of the horrific Florida school shooting, First National Bank of Omaha was called out for their relationship with the organization.

First National is the country’s largest privately held bank worth about $20 billion in assets.

The bank issues co-branded credit cards with the NRA – First National cards emblazoned with the NRA logo. A recent promotion encouraged customers to “Carry the Official Credit Card of the NRA” and offered a $40 statement credit.

On Thursday, First National an-

nounced that they would end its relationship with the NRA and will no longer issue NRA-branded cards.

First National spokesman Kevin Langin explained that “customer feedback” caused the bank to review its dealings with the NRA. The bank then decided that it is “not going to renew the contract” to issue the NRA cards. He didn’t specify when the current contract expires.

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Rod Moeller, the director of government affairs for the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association, said that after the severing of the NRA relationship, gun owners with First National accounts “will be giving strong consideration to moving their accounts to a bank that that hasn’t bowed to political pressure.”

The NRA says that it has around 5 million members.

The Future of School Safety

As the world tries to make sense of the terrible Parkland school shooting, there has been a lot of discussion of how we protect our children. Parents of victims and survivors have led the way in opening a dialogue to find a solution to this crisis. While many politicians automatically jumped into the gun control debate, others suggested more practical fixes that can be implemented much faster.

Last week President Trump suggested arming more faculty in schools to deter any future “savage sicko” from causing mass casualties.

Staff, who have military and special training experience, would require extensive training and would carry concealed weapons. The thought is that a school shooter would have no idea which faculty members have weapons and so the probability of them being stopped by faculty would be higher, hopefully saving many lives.

The president also suggested

amending current gun laws to increase the legal age to purchase a weapon to 21-years-old. Under current federal law, licensed firearm dealers cannot sell handguns to people under 21 and cannot sell long guns to people under 18. Trump also said that the sale of bump fire stocks should be banned. In firearms, bump fire is the act of using the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire shots in rapid succession, which simulates the ability of a fully automatic firearm.

In response to some criticizing his suggestion to arm trained teachers, Trump tweeted, “20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions.

Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards. A ‘gun free’ school is a magnet for bad people.

Attacks would end!”

He added, “History shows that a school shooting lasts, on average, 3 minutes. It takes police & first responders approximately 5 to 8 minutes to get to site of crime. Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/ coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. Great deterrent!”

On Wednesday, the White House hosted a listening session for students, parents and teachers affected by the Parkland shooting. Parents of those hurt in the Sandy Hook and Columbine massacres were also invited. The two-hour open session allowed attendees to share their suggestions to make schools safer.

The U.S. has significantly more gun deaths than other developed nations, and it has far more guns than any other country in the world.

the chance to dine on over-the-top meatballs. The truth is, they will be dining on only one meatball – that, and a glass of wine, will set them back a whopping $100.

The restaurant’s famous Kobe beef meatballs usually sell for $13.

But in just a few days, the eatery will be making meatballs with a twist. This special dish will be made with wagyu beef and winter truffles, stuffed with truffle caciocavallo cheese and foie gras, and topped with a creamy shallot and champagne sauce, according to the NY Daily News.

“We wanted to utilize some of the finest ingredients available to provide our guests with a decadent and unique tasting experience available for one day only,” Juan Tourn, executive chef at Davio’s, said.

The extravagant beef orb will be paired with a glass of 2012 Prunotto Barolo, a red wine from Italy.

For those non-kosher foodies who wish to shell out the contents of their wallet and still go home hungry, the meatball will need to be requested 24-hours in advance.

As for me, I’m dining at home that night, eating a whole bowl of meatballs by myself – for free.

Art on the Road

1 Meatball, No Sauce I’ve got a beef with this meatball – actually it’s the price that’s making me see red.

On March 9, also known as National Meatball Day, meat lovers will be descending on Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse in Manhattan for

French painter Edgar Degas is known for his beatific paintings featuring delicate ballerinas and dancers. His paintings have long been targeted by thieves who know a valuable piece of art when they see it.

“The Chorus Singers,” painted in 1877, features a scene from Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni.” The piece was stolen in 2009 from the Musée Cantini in Marseille, although the painting is owned by the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and was on loan to the Cantini when it was stolen. Now, finally, the painting will be heading back home.

On February 16, customs agents checking a parked bus in the Seineet-Marne area outside of Paris discovered a piece of luggage that was unclaimed by passengers. Peering inside, the agents found a work with the signature “Degas.” It was the missing painting. And so, the artwork’s road trip is now over.

“The Chorus Singers” is valued at around $1 million. It will be featured in the “Degas at the Opera” exhibit that’s planned for September 2019 at Musée D’Orsay.

Smallest Pencil

Want to know what a puny record Prakash Chandra Upadhyay was able to pull off? Aside from being able to pronounce his own name, Prakash, a micro-sculptor, now owns the world’s smallest pencil, measuring only .2 inches long.

Prakash drilled a minuscule hole in a piece of wood and inserted the graphite to create the pencil, which requires a pair of tweezers to use. He sweated and worked for four days – probably developing writer’s cramp – to create the pencil, which is only .2 inches long and .02 inches wide.

“This pencil is made of a single piece of wood. The wood has been drilled and the lid has been fixed in it,” Prakash said.

Prakash’s pencil was recognized as the smallest by Assist World Records Research Foundation.

And now for the world’s smallest exclamation point. Don’t see it? Well, I guess that’s really the point.

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Around the

Community YCQ Makes Mishloach Manot for Holocaust Survivors

T

o help students at Yeshiva of Central Queens understand the full meaning and importance of Purim, Rabbi Nafi Orlofsky from the Gift of Unity organization and rebbe at HANC High School visited a group of YCQ second graders to lead a hands-on activity teaching the students the importance of giving. On February 22, class 2-204 had a mish-

loach manot letter writing activity The Gift of Unity organization aims at providing opportunities for uniting Jews all around the world. Its purpose is to give a “gift,� to enable one Jew to feel recognized and cared for by another. The mishloach manot packages will be distributed through Project Lead, an organization that distributes to those in need. The letters

from the students at YCQ will be given to Holocaust survivors to help them celebrate the holiday of Purim. Rabbi Orlofsky shared information with the children about Purim and the importance of helping the less fortunate.

The students then wrote messages on cards they designed themselves. Prior to the visit, the students were taught a lesson on how to properly write and

address a letter by their teacher, Mrs. Michal Fuchs.

The idea behind programs like this, and other ongoing chessed programs at YCQ, is that the younger we begin to teach children about the importance of giving, the more it will become a matter of practice and habit as they develop into adults.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Around the Community

West Hempstead’s Kids Enjoy #Giveback Sunday

By Ann D. Koffsky

P

atients at the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset will be having an extra happy Purim this year due to the efforts of the children of the Young Israel of West Hempstead.

Over 75 of them came out in force (with their moms and dads, too) for the third annual #Giveback Sunday event last week. “#Giveback Sunday is an event that is designed to do exactly that: give back to the larger Jewish community,” says Ayelet Mottahedeh, who brought her two kids to the event.

Kari Levine, one of the founders of the program, explains that she got the idea from when she received her own hospital gift package. “When I walked into the hospital on Taanit Esther to give birth to my fourth daughter, I was handed a beautiful Purim package at the door. That one package was the inspiration behind this program, which I am proud to say has now given out over 300 packages to hospital and nursing home patients.”

Of course, part of the appeal of the event is that it’s lots of fun too! As each family arrived they were greeted by cheerful music playing in the background, along with the scents of fresh coffee and pastries. Families were then directed to tables teeming with craft items, such as of markers, glittery stickers, washi tape and gems.

Then, they got down to work creating and packing over 100 boxes, to be delivered to patients at the hospital.

“This year, we wanted to connect our chessed to Purim, and so we created boxes to help people who have to be in the hospital over Purim to be able to celebrate the chag with simcha,” explains Jen Toplan, one of the organizers.

Each patient will receive packages that include: a tzedakah box brightly decorated with stickers and shiny gems; a mask adorned with feathers; a homemade gragger; and a copy of Megillat Esther.

“This event is so perfect for me to bring my kids to,” said Deborah Rockoff, another of the chessed-doers. “I want to teach my kids to think of others, and this event helps me show that in action.”

Rabbi Dr. Hillel Fox, Chaplain of the North Shore University Hopspital in Manhasset, agrees, “It warms my heart to see so many families volunteering their time to decorate and provide religious articles for the Jewish patients at Northwell Health’s North Shore University Hospital.

Your kindness will bring smiles, comfort and joy to sick patients who are hospitalized over the Purim holiday.”

Most importantly, the toughest of critics seemed to like it, too. “I really like doing chessed,” says Meira Levine, age 9. “I can’t wait to do it again next year!”

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Yeshivas YeshivasMercaz MercazHaTorah Hatorah ofofYerushalayim Yerushalym H 4TH, S U N SUNDAY D AY, F EMARCH B RUA RY 5 T2018 , 2017 9:30 A M9:30 - 11:00 AM AM AT T H E H O M E O F AT THE HOME OF MR. & MRS. USHI KLEIN MR.E N &U MRS. 349 S U M M I T AV E , CTULY E D AKAPLAN R H U R S T, N Y 11516

119 HARDS LANE, LAWRENCE, NY 11559

D I V R E I B R AC H A B Y N OT E D M E C H A N C H I M DIVREI BRACHA FROM

HARAV MORDECHAI ROTTMAN HARAV NAFTALI JAEGER

Looking forward to greeting you personally THE FIVE TOWNS BREAKFAST RECEPTION COMMITTEE:

HARAV ARON GEDALIA ELFENBEIN t’’yhka HARAV AVROHOM ROTTMAN t’’yhka APPLEBAUM . YOSSI BIEGLEISEN . TZVI BOKOW . YANKY BOKOW MAGID SHIUR AT YESHIVAS MERCAZ HATORAH

MASHGIACH AT YESHIVAS MERCAZ HATORAH

AVI DREYFUSS . BINYAMIN EINHORN . ELI EISENBERGER SHAMSHI EISENBERGER . YOSSI EISENBERGER . YOCHANAN FRISCH LO O K I NFRUCHTER G F O RWA R D TOFUTERSAK. G R E E T IMEIR N G FUTERSAK YO U PE R. EVAN S O NGENACK A L LY, GERSHON . MOISHE SHLOMO JACOBOWITZ . MUTTY JACOBOWITZ . OMID KELI YISHMARANI THE FIVE TOWNS USHI KLEIN . MOISH MONCYZK . MORDCOMMITTEE: SCHWARTZ . SHMULI SCHWEBEL SHLOMO WEISS • USHI KLEIN • GERSHON FRUCHTER SHLOMO WEISS . AARON WOLFSON Y E H U D A Z A C H T E R • Y I T Z Y TA U B • A R I T R E U H A F T A M E R I C A N F R I E N D S O F M E RC A Z H ATO R A H TA L P I OT, J E RU S A L E M

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

HAFTR at 40

T

he greater HAFTR community gathered on Motzei Shabbos, February 24, to celebrate 40 years. The institution, founded in 1978, has grown exponentially over four decades.

Guests honored the school’s history and celebrated the future of what is yet to come for students, faculty and parents.

“It was an absolute honor to celebrate this incredible milestone with fellow HAFTR parents, HAFTR staff members, grandparents and graduates. I am confident that the next 40 years will be even bigger and better; and with such dedicated and extraordinary faculty members, administrators, lay leaders and parents in our HAFTR family, I can assure you that this is only the beginning,” says Ari Solomon, newly appointed Executive Director of HAFTR. The event took place at the HAFTR Hawks’ Nest and attendees paid tribute to Lisa & Arthur Perl, Guests of Honor; Ariella & Ari Gasner, Young Leadership Awardees; and HAFTR’s very own Lower School Librarian, Mrs. Phyllis Horowitz, a former parent at HAFTR and current grandparent of the school.

Front row: L-R: Mr. Murray Horowitz and his wife, honoree Phyllis Horowitz; Mr. Arthur and Lisa Perl, Guests of Honor; Ari and Ariella Gasner, Young Leadership awardees. Back row: L-R: Mr. Neil Wiener, Chairman of the Board of Trustees; Mr. Yaron Kornblum, HAFTR president; Mr. Ari Solomon, Executive Director; and Mr. Josh Glatt, Dinner Chairman

HAFTR President Yaron Kornblum addressing the guests

Over 100 women joined Sh’eefa’s Food for Thought last Sunday in preparation for Purim. They heard from Rav Gav, Rabbi Gavriel Friedman, lecturer at Aish HaTorah, Yerushalayim.

HAFTR’s fourth graders singing at the beginning of the event

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Our roots run deep.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Harmony Concert Brings Joy & Nachas

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or the past 26 years, Kol Rayus Productions has produced Harmony concerts that have empowered talented women and girls from across our community to express their artistic abilities.

This year’s performance was the most successful ever! The three performances at Lawrence High School’s beautiful auditorium were sold out weeks in advance. Some 2,400 women attended the shows to watch the over 400 talented performers shine onstage.

DVDs of the performance are selling like hotcakes, with over 300 sold to date.

What made Harmony XII such a success? On the production side, each performance was the result of six months of hard work and practice by each performing group led by incredibly dedicated coordinators, choreographers, and concert heads. Organizationally, Kol

Rayus’s partnership with the TOVA Mentoring Network, its mentors, and volunteer lay leaders, worked seamlessly because of the deep mutual respect and cooperation between the two groups. Harmony also succeeded because of the backing of so many sponsors who made certain to provide the necessary funding to enable the production to run smoothly with all of the accessories and costumes necessary for a professionally run performance. In short, Harmony succeeded because the hundreds of people from our community came together to support a worthy community cause like TOVA in a true spirit of achdus and harmony.

Kudos to the leadership team of Harmony: musical director Karen Daitchman and orchestral director Kayli Joseph for producing the musical arrangements for the evening; Shelley Winkler and

Ricki Molinsky, who were the producers of the show; and Mrs. Batya Travis, whose artistic direction and leadership inspired all of the performers to reach for the stars. The children’s ensemble led by the talented Evy Guttman included over 400 girls! A big thank you to all of the hardworking girls and their parents for

their tireless effort and commitment in making this production an awesome success.

This year’s Harmony concert was sponsored by Yoeli Steinberg and Gourmet Glatt, a leader of chessed and tzedakah in our community. A debt of gratitude also goes to Lawrence School District for opening their doors to the practices, rehearsals and performances. Assistant superintendent Mr. Jeremy Feder, musical director Pamela Gallopini, athletics directo, Joseph Martillotti, Elieen Havey and the custodial team provided immeasurable assistance to the Harmony crew.

Harmony wants to thank the members of the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol, who did a great job of directing traffic and ensuring the safety of the attendees under difficult weather conditions.

Sam Belsky of SamBelsky. com deserves accolades for his technological guidance in developing an online ticket sales system that enabled attendees to purchase and print their tickets at home and for his artistic design of this year’s Harmony poster and logos.

This year’s Harmony XII profits went to benefit TOVA, a longtime community organization committed to providing non-judgmental guidance to local children, assisting them in their healthy and successful academic, social and emotional development.

Harmony DVDs can be ordered at www.tovamentoring.org for $25. For more information about the TOVA program, please call 516295-0550.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

DRS NCSY JUMP Team Hosts Yom Iyun at YIW

I

t was a fantastic day for Torah learning and inspiration on Monday, February 19, as about one hundred and twenty five men, women, and students came to the Young Israel of Woodmere for a Yom Iyun, coordinated by the DRS Yeshiva HS for Boys NCSYJUMP team. JUMP (Jewish Unity Mentoring Program) is the NCSY National Leadership Program that trains and empowers high school students from all over the United States and Canada to become leaders. Participants are given the tools and training to make positive changes in their schools and communities while broadening their understanding of local and global issues facing the Jew-

on all three. The DRS team was especially intrigued by the Tefillah and Kiruv challenges and decided to take them on.

For their Kiruv challenge, the DRS JUMP team is running a bar mitzvah program geared towards public schoolers, teaching them about their heritage and why it’s “Geshmak to be a Yid.” The program meets on Motzei Shabbos, and every week focuses on a different mitzvah and aspect of Judaism.

Aside from the bar mitzvah program, the team has partnered with RAJE (Russian American Jewish Experience) to deliver holiday packages to Russian Jews in Brooklyn. The team started on Chanukah by delivering

team. “Why don’t we run a community event on tefillah in coordination with a local shul?” Every member of the team unanimously

ish people today.

JUMP is a competition between eighteen different Yeshiva high schools, the top six teams making a boardroom final competition, and the top team taking home ten thousand dollars to use for their initiatives. JUMP commences with a two-day conference in November, where all the teams come together and the “JUMP Challenges” are presented to the students. This year’s challenges are Tefillah, Synagogue, and Kiruv. JUMP requires schools to choose two out of the three challenges, although some schools take

menorahs and will G-d willing, be running a mishloach manos drive for Purim, and a drive before Pesach as well.

For their Tefillah campaign, the team has started their own weekly Tefillah newsletter, “Avodah SheB’Lev,” moving through the siddur by focusing on different parts of davening every week. The newsletter is distributed to around forty different shuls throughout the Five Towns, West Hempstead, Queens, and Brooklyn.

In late December in a team meeting, an idea was pitched by a member of the

agreed, and planning began.

The event was set for Presidents’ Day at the Young Israel of Woodmere, with Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, Rabbi Elly Storch, and Mrs. Michal Horowitz set to give shiurim on tefillah. The event, entitled, “Reach for Heaven!

Taking Your Tefillah to the Next Level,” featured two slots of shiurim, meaning that all the attendees at the event were able to choose two out of the three shiurim.

Shiur topics included: “Forging a Connection: How to make Dovi Flug Grow in Kavanah” by Rabbi Elly Storch; “Modeh Ani: The First Te-

fillah of the Day and the Essence of a Jew” by Michal Horowitz; and “House Minyanim: A Halachic Analysis”(Slot 1) and “Praying For Miracles”(Slot 2) by Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz.

The attendees were treated to a light breakfast, followed by introductory remarks by DRS junior and JUMP captain, Yaakov Fuchs. “There is a stark contrast between excitement and inspiration,” said Fuchs in his introduction. “Excitement is the fleeting moment, something awesome while it’s happening, but not something you can take with you.

Inspiration, however, is when you take your excitement and take it with you for the rest of your life. Our goal as a team and for this program is not simply to excite, but we want to inspire.” The shiurim were enjoyed by all, everyone able to take inspiration away from them. Following the shiurim,

a panel discussion on the topic of “Making Tefillah a Part of Us” was held. The discussion was moderated by Rabbi Ephraim Polakoff, faculty advisor of the DRS JUMP team, and the panel consisted of Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt, Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, and Rabbi Elly Storch. Said Rabbi Polakoff, “This program was completely run by the boys, from organizing the event to arranging for speakers, and promoting the event. I couldn’t be prouder of this job well done. Yasher koach!”

The DRS JUMP team would like to thank all those who came and made the event possible and are looking forward to continuing the enhancement of tefillah in our community.

If you’d like to subscribe to the tefillah newsletter, contact us at jump@ drshalb.org.

Be included in the TJH Purim Photo Album!

Send your Purim photos to editor@ fivetownsjewishhome.com Deadline: Monday, March 5, 5pm

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

JCCRP, FDNY, Red Cross & White Shul Team Up to Save Lives

O

n Sunday, March 4, the JCCRP, in conjunction with the FDNY, ARC, and the White Shul, will host an evening dedicated to fire safety and emergency preparedness to help save lives in our community.

This ambitious initiative was spurred by a recent spate of fires in Brooklyn which resulted in the tragic loss of lives, homes and property.

In the aftermath of the tragic fires in Brooklyn, the JCCRP reached out to the American Red Cross which launched its Home Fire Campaign, a national initiative to reduce deaths and injuries from home fires by as much as 25 percent across the country. The new partnership between the organizations will include this campaign which seeks to increase the use of smoke alarms and to encourage all Americans to practice their fire escape plans and be aware of fire risks and hazards. Since 2014, Red Cross volunteers, together with partner or-

ganizations and corporations, have installed more than 65,000 smoke detectors across the Greater New York Region, which includes New York City, Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, and Greenwich, Connecticut.

“The entire Jewish community is still dealing with the aftermath of the tragic fires that took place in Brooklyn this past year,” says Moshe Brandsdorfer, JCCRP Executive Director.

“The JCCRP has always been receptive to creating new partnerships that will benefit our community. After the last fire in Brooklyn, it was very clear that it was time for our community to partner with the American Red Cross and FDNY so that we can prevent such tragedies from ever occurring again. This is a crucial time for this project as we approach Pesach, a yom tov that involves a lot cooking, kashering and use of yom tov licht.”

These two evenings will be hosted at the White Shul, a kehilla constant-

ly committed to assisting and hosting events that benefit the entire community. The event will consist of an education on fire safety and will provide an opportunity to sign up for a free smoke detector installation in your home.

“The new community fire safety partnership between JCCRP, the American Red Cross and FDNY will save lives,” said NYC Council Member Donovan Richards. “The great majority of fire-related deaths take place in locations where smoke detectors are either not functioning or missing completely. This great partnership will help our community install smoke detectors, promote emergency preparedness, and increase fire safety awareness.”

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that nationally the risk of dying in a home fire is cut in half when there’s a working smoke alarm present. In New York City, the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire

Investigations has determined that up to 70 percent of fire deaths in recent years have occurred in residences where there was no working smoke alarm – either with no alarm present or missing or dead batteries in a device. On average, 7 people die from a home fire every day in the US; on average, 36 people suffer injuries from home fires every day in the U.S. Our city has seen time and again the value of being prepared for an emergency situation – particularly in the case of fire, which can rapidly lead to injury, loss of life and loss of property. A working smoke detector and proper fire safety awareness can literally mean the difference between life and death. Please join this vital event and protect you and your family!

To find out more information about this project or other services please call the JCCRP at 718-3277755 or email info@jccrp.org.

coach, said, “It is critical to make math meaningful. The girls learned how they can use their math skills to shop, plan, and help others.”

Many of the girls expressed this connection of math to real life challenges and articulated how math can be used in their lives.

“The unit was a mix of learning and a mitzvah,” said Avigayil.

“We learned how to shop properly in the future,” said Yehudit.

“We can use percents to save money,” said Devorah.

As always, BYQ students put their hearts and souls into the project as evidenced by the seriousness with which the girls weighed their options and expressed their creativity as they decorated the packages. The packages were packed up and placed

in the offices of Mrs. Bergman and Mrs. Reisbaum. As they waited for delivery, staff and students entering BYQ’s principal and assistant principal offices expressed admiration for the beautiful packages. Some of the staff, who are involved with chessed organizations, asked if they could deliver them to their organizations, too!

Rabbi Gewirtz, dean of Bais Yaakov of Queens, Mrs. Bergman and Mrs. Reisbaum expressed their hakoras hatov to the girls and their teachers for all their hard work and the mitzvos that would spread simcha on Purim. The girls were thrilled to learn their mitzvah increased exponentially as the mishloach manos made their way to hospitals and nursing homes.

Bais Yaakov of Queens Sixth Graders Equate Math, Chessed and Fun

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n anticipation of Purim, BYQ’s sixth grade students organized and prepared mishloach manos as a chessed project The girls were given a challenge with a budget to work within and the need to produce as many mishloach manos as possible. Working with local fliers for the planning, the prices of items they saw had a percent discount, so the young planners applied their per-

cent skills to real life! The students in each class voted on the best plan, the order was placed, and the girls prepared their packages.

This unit was a springboard to learn about percentages and how to take the percent of a discount. This “backwards learning” was fun and educational. Mrs. Lindell, their math teacher who planned the unit with Mrs. Rahmani, BYQ’s math

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Yeshiva Toras Chaim Inaugural Dinner

J

ust under three years ago, the dream of Yeshiva Toras Chaim became a reality. A team of determined, dedicated and experienced rebbeim decided that it was time to establish a worldclass Yeshiva to honor the legacy of the esteemed Rav of Antwerp, Belgium, Maran HaGaon R’ Chaim Kreiswirth, zt”l. Yeshiva Toras Chaim exemplifies the outlook and approach of Rav Chaim Kreiswirth, zt”l. combining high levels of learning with exceptionally dedicated and dynamic rebbeim in an atmosphere that exudes warmth and tremendous simchas hachaim.

Special emphasis is placed on improving one’s middos, becoming bnei aliyah, and developing into advanced bnei Torah.

The first step was to find the Yeshiva a home. An empty shell of a building in the heart of Yerushlayim that had been unoccupied for many years was located. With great Siyata Dishmaya, two tireless individuals stepped forward to turn this dream into a reality. Reb Shloime Bronner and Reb Ephraim Kutner quickly turned the empty shell into a state-of-the-art facility designed specifically for the Yeshiva’s needs. The Yeshiva’s building and facilities promote feelings of kavod haTorah in a nurturing environment.

Once the building was secured, the next step was to

find talmidim. The globe-trotting rebbeim intended to start the Yeshiva with a small group of bochurim. Word spread quickly, and with tremendous help from Hashem, ninety-five talmidim enrolled in the first year and the Yeshiva has grown to nearly two hundred talmidim in its third year. Indeed, the dream and vision of Torah learning combined with personal growth has become a reality.

The Rosh HaYeshiva, HaRav HaGaon R’ Dov Kreiswirth, shlita, is a talmid of HaGaon Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva Beer Yaakov, HaGaon Rav Shmuel Rozovsky, zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva Ponovezh, and HaGaon Rav Berel Solevetchik, zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva Brisk. Rav Kreiswirth combines the Torah and middos of these great Torah leaders of the previous generation with the mesorah that he received from his father, the Antwerp Rav, zt”l.

HaRav Zvi Twersky, shlita, the Menahel Ruchani, enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather, HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth, zt”l, who helped formulate his approach to empowering Talmidim and bringing out the best of their individual kochos. He is best known for his warmth and seemingly unlimited time devoted to his talmidim.

Today, the Yeshiva is home to first, second, third and fourth year bochurim.

This blend of talmidim is extremely rare in today’s yeshiva landscape in Israel. This environment is due to the warmth of the rebbeim and their ability to connect to each and every talmid. The Yeshiva’s staff of maggidei shiurim is exceptional. Two examples include Rav Elimelech Reznick, shlita, a famed maggid shiur in the Mir Yeshiva, who gives the highest-level shiur, and the Mashgiach HaRav Yosef Katz, shlita, whose creative and innovative lectures set the tone for the atmosphere of growth in the Yeshiva. All of the rebbeim have extensive experience, collectively teaching hundreds of today’s bochurim with a level of dedication specifically focused on the needs of today’s talmidim.

One of the hallmarks of Yeshiva Toras Chaim is sparing no effort, detail or expense when it comes to creating the right environment for their talmidim’s growth. This environment includes many modern comforts that today’s bochurim thrive on. Legendary trips and shiur Shabbosim, where the rebbeim and their families bond with their talmidim, are combined with a daily regimen of meals that include a full salad bar and delicious main courses. Every Shabbos a different rebbe and his family join the talmidim and together enjoy delicious meals and a Friday night oneg filled with words of Torah and beautiful zemiros. The ex-

penses of running such a highlevel institution are enormous and come along with the responsibility to maintain a healthy budget. This, combined with the desire to create an opportunity for rebbeim and talmidim to bond, is why the Yeshiva felt it necessary to move forward with their Inaugural Dinner.

At the Yeshiva’s Inaugural Dinner, the Toras Chaim family will join together to honor this legacy, celebrate their achievements, and recognize two outstanding individuals that truly epitomize what the Yeshiva stands for.

HaRav Chanina Geisler, shlita, will be presented with the Chaim Shel Torah award in recognition of over two decades of harbotzas Torah with his tremendous mesiras nefesh and dedication to his talmidim, investing in their spiritual growth and appreciating their successes. A memorial tribute will also be made for Rabbi Shlomo Twersky, zt”l, beloved father of the Menahael Ruchni and supporter of

the Yeshiva who provided much encouragement and inspiration for the founding of the Yeshiva. As a prominent member of the Lawrence community, Rabbi Twersky was loved by many and respected by all. A Yad Shlomo Tomchei Torah Fund will be established in his memory to help ensure the wellbeing of the talmidim and rebbeim in his kind and caring way.

The Yeshiva and his family look forward to greeting his many friends and local community members, with whom he shared a close relationship with, at the Dinner.

Yeshivas Toras Chaim’s Inaugural Dinner will iy”H take place on Sunday, March 11, 2018 at the Lawrence Country Club, 101 Causeway, Lawrence, NY. The rebbeim look forward to celebrating this special occasion with their talmidim and their families.

Please visit the Yeshiva’s website at www.ytchaim. com to make a reservation and to place an ad.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

AD DEADLINE THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 4

‫ישיבת תורת חיים‬

YESHIVA TORAS CHAIM igprguuybt s”ctd k”eumz vyrhuuxhhre ohhj hcr iutdv a”g

ROSH HAYESHIVA

MENAHEL RUCHANI

HAGAON HARAV DOV KREISWIRTH t”yhka

HARAV ZVI TWERSKY t”yhka

The Legacy Lives On CELEBRATING A NEW DYNAMIC MAKOM TORAH IN YERUSHALAYIM

Honoring

EITZ CHAIM MEMORIAL TRIBUTE

RABBI SHLOMO TWERSKY k”mz

CHAIM SHEL TORAH AWARD

HARAV CHANINA GEISLER t”yhka

Establishment of Yad Shlomo Shmuel Tomchei Torah Fund

The Roshei Yeshiva & Rebbeim will be participating and look forward to greeting talmidim, their families and dear friends.

DINNER CHAIRMAN

MR. EPHRAIM KUTNER

JOURNAL CHAIRMAN

MR. RONNIE WILHEIM

Inaugural Tribute Dinner

SUNDAY EVENING • MARCH 11, 2018 • j”ga, rst s”f LAWRENCE COUNTRY CLUB • 101 CAUSEWAY • LAWRENCE, NY RECEPTION 6:15PM • DINNER & PROGRAM 7:15 PM • DESSERT & KUMZITS 9:00 PM

FOR RESERVATIONS AND JOURNAL ADS PLEASE CALL: 718-838-3245 • DINNER@YTCHAIM.COM

WWW.YTCHAIM.COM

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

MSH STEM Girls Day Out

By Jacqui Tennenbaum, MSH ‘21

I

t has become a given fact that the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) are critical to the continued economic success of the USA. However, there is a large gap between the importance of these fields and the proportion of unfilled jobs in these areas which is further compounded by the small number of women going into these fields. Midreshet Shalhevet has

taken a strong stance on this issue in the last few years by adding strong STEM options to the curriculum for our students including a ninth grade required coding course.

Last Tuesday, the tenth grade STEM class, as well as the eleventh and twelfth grade Robotics elective class, took a much anticipated trip to Bloomberg headquarters in New York City. As the students toured the building, they saw two sides of the business:; the news side and the

financial side. The trip was a great experience. After the tour, the group was fortunate to have a panel discussion with some religious women working there. The women represent all different areas of the company including media and design, customer support, and software engineering. They heard about the different pathways each woman took until she found something she loves doing. It was inspiring to hear about each of their experiences, and the overall ad-

L-R: STEM teacher Mrs. Aliza Feder, Shana Schapira, Racheli Klein, Miriam Garfinkel, Rivka Kaikov, Becky Haviv, Chaya Roffe, Nechama Schneider, Golda Gordon, Avital Hochster, Tal Gaon, Avigayil Roffe, and Basya Borenstein

February 18th, April 16th *Limited space available

April 30th, June 24th

vice to pursue what you love doing and take advantage of opportunities that come your way.

The students enjoyed this opportunity, and said it was such an amazing experience. According to sophomore Basya Bornstein, “It was an incredibly inspirational experience. I loved it so much!”

Senior Nechama Schneider shared, “I really enjoyed the trip and thought it was very cool to see successful Jewish women at a major company. I really liked the tour of the building and getting to see all the cool design and architectural features. I also thought it was really nice how accommodating the company was with Jewish needs and how the women didn’t feel any sort of discrimination for their gender or religion.”

Sophomore Golda Gordon said, “Bloomberg was a great experience.

The offices had a very modern style.

We heard about other people’s occupations there and were able to get a better sense of the possibilities of where to work in the future.”

We have ribbon raffia cellophane bags and plastic cylinders and boxes as well as gift bags bows shred tissue paper and facepaint.

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

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Breakfast of Champions

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any of us grew up with the notion that Wheaties was the breakfast of Champions.

The champions that were highlighted

by General Mills on those iconic cereal boxes were winners of World Series games or medalists in the Olympics.

This year, during the height of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, another sort of “Breakfast of Champions” took place approximately 7,000 miles away. 40 Meadow Lane in Lawrence, New York, was the venue where the champions assembled.

Rather than being celebrated for a public display of physical prowess, these young men, all of Olympic age, challenged themselves to engage in voluntary learning every morning before the Shacharis minyan at Rambam.

The participants included Gavriel Toplan, Marc Landsberg, Dani Jakubowitz, Betzalel Cohen, Avi Koenig, Shlomo Braverman, Binyamin Werner, Uriel Sussman, Moshe

Chernigoff, Yosef Fertig, Mordechai Schmerler, Yonatan Beer, Donny Guttman, Eli Orenbuch, Yosef Bluth, Andrew Speiser, Chaim Schreck, and Avi Balsam (not pictured).

The boys were treated to a special breakfast prepared by Rabbi Friedman’s wife, Renee, which included bagels, scrambled eggs, waffles, chocolate milk and doughnuts.

The dessert was divrei Torah delivered by Rambam’s Rosh HaMesivta.

The next morning the boys showed up early to learn – not knowing what surprise to expect in the near future!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Purim Fun at Ohr Leah

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he fun began on Rosh Chodesh Adar when the girls went home dressed up as kallahs, a costume decided on by the girls. They each decorated their own “headpieces” and Morah made “lace gowns” to complete the look. They also brought home a clown to hang on their front door in the spirit of Mi shenichnas “our door” marbin b’simcha!

The girls made puppet theaters and puppets to act out the story at home and reinforce what they’ve learned. They also made a pictorial megillah with a case, which will be another modality for them to review the story. Each page of the megillah was painted or colored using a dif-

ferent artistic medium: watercolors, finger paint, dotters, colored pencils, pastels and more. They made graggers decorated with mod podge and had a blast trying them out. Of

course, the girls baked hamantashen and learned about shapes at the same time.

The girls are so excited to take home a bag full of Purim projects

which they can use to celebrate Purim in a meaningful way. At Ohr Leah Academy the learning and fun are intertwined!

Siach Yitzchok’s 5th Grade Spends Shabbos in Boro Park

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his past Shabbos Zachor, Rabbi Mordechai Stein’s 5th grade class at Siach Yitzchok enjoyed a Shabbaton in Boro Park. They were warmly greeted erev Shabbos by their Shabbos host, Rabbi and Mrs. Mark, who are current Siach Yitzchok grandparents and former parents of the cheder. Awaiting the boys were hot kugels and many other delicious foods and drinks.

On Friday night, the boys excitedly went to daven at

Rabbi Eisenberger’s Shul, enjoying a dance with the Rav during kabbalas Shabbos. One shul member commented, “You came here for inspiration, but instead, you gave us inspiration.”

Following an uplifting davening and a zemirosfilled seudah, Rabbi Stein took his talmidim to the Bobov 48 Bais Medrash, followed

by Bobov 45. The Bobov 45 Rebbe acknowledged the boys on the bleachers and waved to them with his right

hand during the tisch.

Shabbos morning davening took place at the Rebbe of Leluv’s shul where the boys received individual brachos from the rebbe, followed by a seudah at their previous year’s rebbe’s house, Rabbi Justman.

After a short nap and learning seder, the boys heard havdalah from the Novominsker Rebbe, with the all the boys shaking his hand and receiving a bracha.

“The boys experienced

things this Shabbos that they may never be able to expe-

rience again,” commented Rabbi Stein.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Around the Community

Learn & Live

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he boys got a little “carried” away this week at the Learn & Live program with Mr. Avi Peltz. Mr. Peltz presented a hands-on of the melacha of hot-

za’ah, carrying. The boys have a new appreciation for what it means to live in a community with a very kosher eruv and what goes on behind the scenes every week. Thank you to all

the people involved with our community’s eruv. This Sunday will iy”H be the Learn & Live/Pirchei Special Event at Yeshiva of Far Rockaway.

For more information regard-

ing Learn & Live/Pirchei please email us at learnandlivefr@gmail. com or try our new hotline 641-7153800 pin 932191#.

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Aiming for AIPAC

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his year, once again, students from Rambam will be making the trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the AIPAC policy conference.

AIPAC has a long-standing track record of enlisting and providing bipartisan support for the State of Israel. Additionally, AIPAC has successfully built bridges with both Jews and non-Jews across religious denominations. Highlights of the conference include special sessions on the Middle East conflict, detailed information about Iran’s continued threat, the challenges Israel faces on both the northern and southern borders, and updates on the latest Israeli technology.

Keynote speakers traditionally include political leaders from both the United States and Israel. This year’s conference is no exception, and the Rambam contingent, along with over 15,000 others, will hear from VP Pence, Ambassador Nikki Haley, Ambassador David Friedman, and many members of the Senate and Congress. Prime Minister Netanyahu will also be addressing the conference.

Participating in the conference not only supports the efforts of AI-

PAC, but also enriches, educates, and inspires those that join. This year, the Rambam students that will join Rabbi Friedman in attendance will be Benjamin Austin (not pictured) Itai Eliach, Doniel Fodiman, Noam Fruchter, Daniel Ganopolsky, Gavriel Haviv, Eliyahu Levy, and Yosef Kuperman. The group will also be accompanied by alumnus Jonathan Deutsch who attended AIPAC during

his time as a student in Rambam and served as a chaperone last year.

This year, once again, the students are privileged to be participating as Joel Shiff delegates. Joel Shiff, a”h, was a passionate supporter of Israel and many other Jewish causes throughout his life. When he passed away five years ago, his wife Jane dedicated the beautiful Beis Medresh in Congregation Beth Sholom, and

provided support for Rambam’s AIPAC delegation in loving memory of Joel’s passion for Israel.

Rambam’s Joel Shiff delegates look forward to participating in AIPAC,and Rambam looks forward to the next generation of inspired leaders picking up the mantle of Jewish pride and responsibility passed on by Mr. Joel Shiff.

OHEL Children’s Home & Family Services Selected as an Official Charity Partner of NYC Marathon

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eam OHEL has been running in the NYC Marathon for eight years. While hundreds of organizations apply for such “Charity Partner” status, OHEL has been one of the few selected this year, having met rigid criteria.

The TCS New York City Marathon is held annually and is the largest marathon in the world, featuring over 50,000 runners, from the world’s top professional athletes to runners of all ages and abilities, including approximately 9,000 charity runners.

“OHEL is thrilled to be named as an official charity partner of the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon,” said Meital Cafri, OHEL’s Event Coordinator and Team OHEL Charity Manager. “This will allow OHEL to

expand the number of Team OHEL participants who are both dedicated runners pursing personal goals, and who, at the same time, seek to raise awareness and support a cause that does so much good, and is so close to their hearts.”

Team OHEL runners help raise critical funding, which enables OHEL to serve the thousands of individuals and families in need whom we serve every day through a breadth of diverse social service programs of award-winning excellence.

Founder of Team OHEL and Camp Kaylie Board Member Tamar Sicklick shares her experience, “Participating with Team OHEL has been an amazing experience. Over the last several years, I have watched how

OHEL is there every hour of the day, doing, working, and helping members in our own community.”

“We are proud to welcome OHEL to our official charity partner program for the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon,” said Christine Burke, vice president of runner products and services for New York Road Runners. “We are inspired by OHEL’s commitment and wish them the best of luck, as they begin their amazing journey to the TCS New York City Marathon.”

Now’s the time to hit the ground running by joining Team OHEL in this 2018 TCS New York City Marathon. You’ll receive guaranteed entry, a team shirt and swag, a personal fundraising page, fundraising and

training tips, and a dedicated professional you can contact for assistance.

Contact Meital Cafri at 718-686-3217 or meital_cafri@ohelfamily.org to join our team. Those who have already secured spots with Team OHEL are welcome to support the team’s sponsorship goals by sponsoring a member of our team or by becoming a lead sponsor.

Not up for a full marathon? Team OHEL participates in other local sporting events such as the NYC Half Marathon (March 18), Five Boro Bike Tour (May 6), and the OHEL Xtreme Challenge Classic (May 27).

Secure your spot now in Team OHEL events to support OHEL Camp Kaylie’s children and adults.

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Around the Community

Midreshet Shalhevet Mothers’ and Daughters’ Night Out

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hursday, February 15 marked the annual Midreshet Shalhevet Mother-Daughter dinner.

The ballroom overflowed as both current and prospective students and their mothers joined together for a wonderful night out. The evening began with a fun LED-lit photo booth in the lobby. Mothers and daughters had a blast as they struck pose after pose with and without props. As everyone made their way into the ballroom for a delicious dinner, they were greeted by the beautiful decor, highlighted by the unique, handmade table centerpieces created by the ninth grade art class under the guidance of their teacher, Mrs. Miriam Norowitz.

Everyone got to eat, talk, and watch videos and photos of Shalhevet memories. The program started with Menahelet Mrs. Eisenman touting the recent accomplishments of the many MSH clubs and teams. The

choir, led by juniors Maayan Sandowski and Eliana Hirsch, represents students from ninth through twelfth grade. The audience was blown away by their beautiful melodies and flawless harmonies. MSH class of 2016 alumnus Shoshie Koppel came in as a special consultant to help bring the already impressive choir to a new level and played the keyboard to accompany them. Following the performance, Mrs. Eisenman took the floor to share some insight on Megillat Esther with an interactive shiur about the secrets of the Megillah and how to uncover them. After a trailer with sneak peeks of the upcoming Midreshet Shalhevet production of Mary Poppins, which the students have been working on since September, the night concluded with a delicious dessert, and the girls got to take home a night full of fun and memories. Midreshet Shalhevet is truly proud to partner with such a committed parent body in educating our talmidot.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

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HANC HS’s Blood Drive

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n Wednesday, February 14, students in grades 11 and 12 at HANC organized a successful blood drive, reaching our goal of donating over 60 pints of blood.

Donors included students, faculty, alumni, and parents. Thank you to the associate principal, Mrs. Ma-

An SKA Chanukah Party in February

rie Palaia, and to math teacher, Ms. Stefanie Klapper for organizing the event. Yashar koach to senior chairpersons, Zach Plutzer and Yael Lubeck, and junior chairpersons Aeton Rabanipour and Gabby Shoenberg for spearheading the event.

I

Preparing for Purim at HANC ECC in West Hempstead

t’s Purim time but for the 10-2 students of the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls it seemed like Chanukah!

Every year, SKA’s Chanukah Auction offers a unique variety of faculty prizes to bid on; the offerings range from Shabbos invitations, restaurant and ice cream parlor excursions, and even hand knit scarves! Last week, sophomore Chaviva Salzberg redeemed her winning bid and took her class to a breakfast party at the home of SKA’s Ivrit teacher, Morah Rikki Fishbein.

The girls delighted in the beautifully set table and happily savored the homemade food and baked goods that Morah Rikki prepared. All agreed, however, that the highlight of the morning was the time the group spent with Mrs. Fishbein discussing the themes of “who am I without a mask” and the role of the Jewish woman.

Knowing their teacher’s proficiency in the culinary arts, the students of SKA’s 12-H class ran to pick up the leftovers!

Yeshiva University Pre-Pesach Event

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n Sunday, March 11, Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) will present a special Pre-Pesach Yom Iyun in commemoration of the 25th yahrzeit of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, a foundational Jewish thinker, scholar and communal leader whose influence continues to shape the world’s Torah learning. The program, presented in conjunction with the Abraham Arbesfeld Kollel Yom Rishon and the Minnie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon, will take place on YU’s Wilf Campus in Furst Hall 501 at 500 West 185th Street, New York, New York at 9:30 a.m.

Participants will learn the Torah

of Rav Soloveitchik on Pesach from classes given by several of the Rav’s most distinguished students. Rabbi Menachem Genack, rosh yeshiva at RIETS and CEO of OU Kosher, will discuss “Hallel at the Seder.” Rabbi Aharon Rakeffet-Rothkoff, a rosh mesivta at YU’s Israel Kollel, will deliver a shiur on the Haggadah and the Rav’s art of teaching Torah. Rabbi Hershel Schachter, the Nathan and Vivian Fink Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud and rosh yeshiva at RIETS, will share insights from the Rav into the Haggadah.

“Rabbi Soloveitchik is synonymous with Yeshiva University and RIETS,” said Rabbi Menachem Penner, Max and Marion Grill Dean of

RIETS. “The goal of our many commemorations of the Rav’s yahrzeit is about more than just highlighting the seminal role he played at our yeshiva and in the American Jewish community. It’s about studying his Torah and about learning as a further merit for his neshama.”

The program is open to both men and women and complimentary parking is available. For more information please contact kollelyomrishon@ yu.edu or 212.960.5400, ext. 6171.

In addition, RIETS will host shiurim focused on the Rav’s teachings in shuls across the Five Towns and Teaneck, New Jersey on March 10.

These shiurim will feature celebrated YU personalities, including President

Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman; Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and senior scholar at the CJF; and Dr. David Shatz, Ronald P. Stanton University Professor of Philosophy, Ethics, and Religious Thought, among others, on topics ranging from the Rav’s approach to prayer to his perspective on the problem of evil.

“The impact of Rav Soloveichik’s Torah and leadership continues to inspire and transform our communities,” said Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, the David Mitzner Dean of YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF). “The upcoming programs to commemorate his 25th yahrzeit are a fitting tribute to his influence and greatness.”

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Around the Community

Bais Tefila of Inwood Dinner

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n Sunday March 4, Bais Tefila of Inwood (“BTI”) will celebrate its ninth Annual Dinner at the Inwood Country Club. As the community of Inwood has grown at a rapid pace, the time has come for BTI and the Inwood community at large to begin a new chapter as the kehilla of well over 100 families searches for a future home. With the tagline of “Building our future together,” this year’s dinner will highlight three wonderful couples who truly exemplify what the Inwood community is all about.

Ten years ago the thought of a vibrant frum community in the 5th town of Inwood was just a dream.

Pinny and Julie Ackerman were pioneers and one of the first few families to move to Inwood. With Pinny serving as president of BTI from its inception up until last year, the Ackermans have been an integral part of building the Inwood community and will therefore be presented with the Community Builders Award at the dinner this Sunday.

After visiting Inwood for a Shabbos as the guest speaker in BTI, Rabbi YY and Elisa Rubinstein quickly decided to make Inwood their home. As a world renowned lecturer the community is lucky to

have Rabbi YY in their midst (when he is not traveling the world), and the Rubinsteins have added so much to the community at large. It is therefore most befitting that they will receive the Harbotzas Torah Award at this year’s dinner.

New families are moving to Inwood on a steady basis yet Chaim and Rivki Gitelis quickly made their mark on the community. A magician and lawyer but most importantly a ben Torah, Chaim is rosh v’rishon to help out the shul in any way he can, and Rivki is active in the N’shei, hosting events and always ready to help as well. In their quiet way, they are very much leaders and have therefore been chosen to receive the Young Leadership Award.

The shul is graciously hosted

by Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island and baruch Hashem is quickly outgrowing their space. Under the leadership of the Mora D’asra Harav Pinchus Weinberger, shlita, the board has been actively searching for a new home for the shul to adequately house the shul and kehilla and their families.

To support this worthy endeavor or for more information please visit www.inwooddinner.com or email dinner@inwoodshul.com.

At Shulamith, the annual Mitzvah Masquerade this week was a resounding success. Third and fourth graders worked in groups to create costumes related to brachot, mitzvot, or Chumash. Each group was allotted three minutes to present their costumes, and the creative and original results were most impressive!

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HANC HS Boys’ Torah Bowl

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n Tuesday, February 13, the HANC boys’ Torah Bowl team traveled to Flatbush for the last four games of the regular season.

Behind the leadership of Jonah Rocheeld, HANC defeated HAFTR, North Shore, Flatbush, and Magen David to finish the season undefeated at 12-0. Special mention to freshman Moshe Wieder, who scored his first points of the season. Thank you to coach Rabbi Chrein for all his efforts and support in working with our amazing team.

HANC has earned a bye to the final round of the playoffs taken place next month.

SKA Juniors Cook Up Cholent for Shabbos

By Elisheva Miller, ‘19

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he juniors of SKA enjoyed a very beautiful weekend Shabbaton on Friday and Shabbat, February 23-24.

The weekend kicked off on the Wednesday before when the juniors took part in the annual Eleventh Grade Cholent Challenge. Before throwing our ingredients into the crockpot, we watched a short video on what people like about cholent. Although most of the cholent got eaten before it could be judged, we were able to taste our cholents on Thursday afternoon.

Since most of us had never made cholent before, we were very proud of our efforts!

Kabbalat Shabbat began

at the home of Tess Shubowitz and then in the pouring rain we ran across the street to enjoy dinner in the Ed-

ward Avenue Shul. There we enjoyed a beautiful Shabbat seudah and heard divrei Torah from Ilana Katz and Yael

Drebin. We then all made our way to Eliana Kramer’s house to enjoy an oneg filled with amazing food, games, songs, and the opportunity to hang out with our friends.

The last part of the amazing Shabbat took place in Devorah Schreier’s house, where we enjoyed Seudah Shelishit, heard amazing words from Rebbitzen Pollakoff, and finished off Shabbos with songs and havdalah.

Thanks goes to our amazing GLAs, Mrs. Shmulewitz and Mrs. Dennis, and Mrs. Spirn, Rabbi Zak and the entire SKA staff who made this awesome weekend possible.

Chaverim of Queens Purim “Don’t Drink and Drive” Program

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haverim of Queens, founded In memory of world renowned philanthropist, Mr. Jack Friedman, a”h, started with just 10 volunteers. That was ten years ago when calls were dispatched to volunteers via beepers. Today Chaverim of Queens has over 100 volunteers who respond to calls rapidly via an app. Times have changed and milestones have been achieved. However, some things have not changed that much and for that reason Chaverim of Queens, for the 10th year running, is spreading awareness and asking the community to please be safe this

Purim.

We are unfortunately aware of the excessive drinking that takes place within our communities during the joyous holiday of Purim. While it is almost impossible to prevent people from partaking in such behavior there are other solutions to keep friends and family safe.

The Chaverim of Queens Purim program was founded to prevent the likelihood that someone will be tempted to drive while under the influence on this festive day. To prevent those who may be unfit to drive on Purim, Chaverim has “Volunteer Des-

ignated Drivers” available in Queens throughout Purim. This service can be requested by calling the Chaverim 24 hour hotline number: 718-4410505.

The Chaverim of Queens Purim “Don’t Drink & Drive” program is generously sponsored by PEYD, Dr. Mark Ehrenpreis, Advanced Home RX, Saavi Consulting, & Zlotowitz Law. This year’s program is also dedicated in memory of Reb Moshe Nechemia ben Reb Shlomo Zev (Sukenik).

While we hope that no one needs the service, please save the hotline number as the life you save may just

be your own.

Chaverim is seeking and recruiting additional volunteers for Purim as well as year-round. Please contact Chaverim for more information regarding dedication and sponsorship opportunities at chaverimofqueens@ yahoo.com.

Donations accepted online at ChaverimOfQueens.org/Donate.

Chaverim of Queens is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization and all donations are tax deductible.

May we all be blessed with a happy, healthy, and, most of all, safe Purim!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Saving Our Lost Relatives Shuvu 27th Annual Dinner Campus to be Dedicated in Memory of Harav Ravitz, z”l

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wenty-seven years ago Hagaon Harav Avrohom Pam, zt”l, founded Shuvu to bring Russian children then arriving in Israel back to their heritage – to bring back the relatives we were losing.

After a decade of incredible success, b’siyata Dishmaya, Rav Pam felt the time had come to include the students’ families as well. These efforts, too, met with great hatzlacah.

Success breeds success, and Shuvu’s reputation for excellence spread far beyond the Russian immigrant community.

Soon, Israeli parents staring reaching out to Shuvu’s Director, Rav Chaim Michoel Gutterman, begging their children too be allowed in. Grabbing this unique chinuch opportunity, Rav Pam quickly agreed and gave it his bracha.

With time, immigrant children from other countries joined as well, and, as is well-known, the recent influx of immigrants from France has brought with it burgeoning enrollment in Shuvu schools.

Today, Shuvu has baruch Hashem grown to be an educational powerhouse, a chinuch empire spanning the length and breadth of Eretz Yisroel, with 74 mosdos in 19 cities from Akko in the north, to Be’er Sheva in the south. Programs include kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and a Kollel – besides the afternoon programs, Shabbatons, seminars, weekly lectures and more. Some 15,000 children and family members are touched annually by Shuvu’s kiruv programs!

And behind these programs are a staff of incredible individuals! The ex-

traordinarily devoted Shuvu teachers and staff members will stop at nothing to achieve their goal – to bring back as many lost neshamos as possible.

There is no simple way to describe Shuvu’s impact.

Just one year ago, at Shuvu’s 26th Annual Dinner, Dayan Yonason Abraham, shlita, was installed as Nasi of the Shuvu movement. In this short time, he has worked intensively to energize Shuvu and carry on the mission of the late Rosh Yeshiva, to do everything to reach as many Yidden as possible, to realize “vechol bonayich limudei Hashem,” to save our family!

As Harav Pam used to say, when Yiddishe children and parents are begging for a Jewish education, we have no choice but to say “yes” even when the budget screams “no.”

“Can we live with ourselves,” he asked while crying, “if we say no?

Will it not haunt us for the rest of our lives!”

We are one nation. One family.

And we must save our relatives!

With his passion for the network he now heads, the Dayan emphasizes the need for expansion, and indeed Shuvu’s Co-Chairmen R’ Avrohom Biderman and R’ Yossi Hoch report that Shuvu plans to iy”H open several new schools this coming September.

The need – and the interest – is there!

A recent survey commissioned by Shuvu shows clearly that over 50% of secular families in Israel are interested in sending their children to a school like Shuvu, where their children would receive a Jewish education.

Shuvu’s upcoming 27th Annual Dinner will be marking several notable dedications. The Shuvu Petach Tikva School Campus will be dedicated l’ilui nishmas Harav Avrohom Ravitz, z”l, formerly the head of Degel HaTorah and chairman of the Knesset’s Finance Committee. Rav Ravitz’s assistance to Shuvu over the years, at many crucial junctures, was critical in allowing the young network to develop and grow.

It was Rav Ravitz, z”l, who provided the first special Knesset allo-

HaRav Ravitz, z”l

cation for Shuvu. Before joining the Knesset, Rav Ravitz had been a powerful force for harbotzas Torah and kiruv as a leading faculty member at Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem, and he therefore had a very special place in his heart for Shuvu. He often stated, “Shuvu is the single most important kiruv initiative in Eretz Yisrael since the State was founded.”

Rav Ravitz’s assistance to Shuvu was both financial, securing government funding, and also supporting Shuvu in many of its confrontations with municipalities that fought the organization.

Most famous was his fight against the municipality of Kfar Saba and its mayor. At the time Rav Ravitz served as Chairman of the Knesset’s Education Committee, and one of the steps he took to show support for Shuvu’s struggle was to move the location of the committee’s weekly meeting to the Shuvu school in Kfar Saba.

Rav Ravitz’s legacy lives on through the tens of thousands of Shuvu children who grew in Torah thanks to his vital assistance, and Shuvu considers it a true zechus to have its large campus in Petach Tikva carry his name.

Additional dedications at the upcoming Shuvu Dinner include classrooms dedicated by Mr. and Mrs. Abe Belsky of Lawrence and Mr. and Mrs. Dov Schechter of Brooklyn. The Dinner Chairman this year will be Yisroel Blumenfrucht of Kew Gardens Hills, and the Journal Chairmen will be Shaul Kuperwasser of Lakewood and Shmuel Rimmer of Brooklyn.

The dinner is a key function in enabling Shuvu’s future expansion.

So many more children and their families – our relatives! – are waiting for us. We simply cannot let them down.

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Around the Community

Remembering Rav Binyamin

A Purim Dichotomy

By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

and said, “One day.” We were about to leave emptyhanded, when Mrs. Schwartz ran over to us and handed my brother and me a crisp dollar bill.

I guess for a buck each, it was worth it. For my father, it definitely was. You see, we got a dollar, but my father got a wing of the new yeshiva building dedicated by the Schwartzs, whose family business, Paragon Oil, was eventually bought by Texaco.

The next stop was to a place that was clearly the antithesis of the first, an old apartment house near the Woodmere Long Island Railroad.

It was not well-kept, and whoever walked in there would never believe that he was in suburbia. The best way an eight-year-old would describe it was creepy.

The elevator was out of order, so

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here is one aspect of Purim that I will not only never forget, but will cherish for the rest of my life.

My father was responsible for the welfare of the Yeshiva of South Shore, and much of his support came from people who were not that strongly affiliated with Yiddishkeit. However, they entrusted my father with ensuring the survival of Judaism through educating Jewish children. And though my father did not specifically raise money on Purim, he would share us and our costumes with some of the donors, who had probably not seen a youngster dressed in a beard and black hat since their grandparents had shown them pictures of the shtetl.

There were no fancy mishloach manos baskets in those days. My mother would bake a special cake or make a delicious kugel that went along with a pineapple specially picked for the occasion.

I don’t remember all of the stops my father made; in the early years there were just a few. But I will never forget two of them. They were on opposite ends of town, and on opposite ends of the spectrum as well.

One stop was to a couple named Robert and Estelle Schwartz. They were probably in their 60s, and lived in an exclusive part of town where each massive home was situated on acres of property. Mr. Schwartz was some sort of oil executive – and I don’t mean cooking oil.

I remember driving up to their mansion in our jalopy and ringing the bell on their imposing, huge door. A

The Weissman family visiting Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, ztl, on Purim day, 2017

uniformed maid answered the door and ushered us into the living room to wait for Mr. Schwartz. There was no Purim atmosphere, and I felt pretty silly holding the pineapple and cake. He finally came out. He was a very distinguished, regal-looking gentlemen, and he hardly noticed the two little boys with black shoe polish mustaches and white cotton beards.

When my brother and I noticed the television in the next room, we slowly drifted toward it. My father held our hands, making sure that our feet would not follow our eyes. He was shmoozing with Mr. Schwartz, and we were getting quite bored. Soon we began tugging on his sleeve, and before Mr. Schwartz could allow us to sit in front of the TV, my father got the hint. He invited the Schwartzs to visit the yeshiva. Mr. Schwartz nodded

we walked the three flights past stucco walls and peeling paint. The door to the apartment was very old, repainted so many times that you could scratch off gook with your nail. I held the pineapple, my brother held the cake, and my father held our hands.

He knocked loudly a few times.

No answer. Finally, a very shrill voice was heard. It was an old woman who shouted, first in Yiddish and then in a heavily accented English, “Who iz deer? Who is knocking on mine door?”

After my father yelled his full name through the old door and its many coatings of paint and grime, a very old lady, very thin with bony fingers, slowly and guardedly opened the door. She immediately recognized my father and smiled broadly.

My brother and I stood there a lit-

tle frightened; we were transported to a place that we did not think existed in Woodmere. Surely, we were not in the Schwartz’s mansion. The old lady was wearing a housecoat and a tichel. The house smelled exactly the way old lady houses are supposed to smell like to little kids. We handed the food to her, and she took it. She told my father that her husband couldn’t eat it, and my father told her that it was for her. She then beckoned us into the tiny kitchen, and offered us some cookies.

We were hesitant, but quietly accepted them. Then she led us into what I think was the only other room in the house, where “the alter Koslovski,” as my father called him, sat meekly in bed. A plaid wool blanket covered his emaciated figure, and he sat up and greeted us. His real name was R’ Yaakov, and he had learned in Slabodka and later run the American office for the yeshiva.

My father broke into a strong Litviser Yiddish with him, and for some reason, our eyes were glued to the two of them. This time we did not tug on his sleeve.

When we were about to leave, Rabbi Koslovski knew what to do. He told his wife to make sure we got Purim gelt, and we each received a nickel. For some reason it meant more to us than Mr. Schwartz’s dollar.

“The alter Koslovski” did not leave a wing for the yeshiva; he left a few sefarim. My father used the tiny Shas, and we cherish a first edition Chidushei Rav Chaim HaLevi. Inside the sefarim in a beautifully cursive Hebrew is written the name “Yaakov Koslovski.”

Purim has changed over the years; Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz are no longer here and neither are Rabbi and Mrs. Koslovski. Mishloach manos is now themed, and my wife prepares mishloach manos for all of our myriad neighbors, friends, rebbes, and teachers. But despite all the varieties of mishloach manos that we prepare, every year we make sure that there are two special ones.

One is for our very own newfound version of Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz, and another for our family’s newly-designated Mrs. Alter Koslovski.

But that, dear reader, is another story.

Adapted from an article that ran in Ami Magazine.

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of South Shore.

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For 60 years, Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky made thousands of phone calls on behalf of individuals, institutions and the cause of Jewish education.

BottomLineMG.com

ANSWER HIS CALL

YESHIVA OF SOUTH SHORE RBK MEMORIAL DINNER April 15 th , 2018 • The Sands, Atlantic Beach Honor his past. Build our future. • RBKlegacy.org Yeshiva of South Shore • 1170 William Street • Hewlett, NY 11557 • 516.374.7363

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r e m e m b e r i n g

Miriam Holman, a "h o n

h e r

s h l o s h i m

By Susa n Schwa mm

“Miriam was just a regular incredible Bais Yaakov girl.”

Worlds of meaning are packed into those nine words, said out of ultimate love at a time of unspeakable heartbreak.

It was how Glen Holman summed up his daughter’s life.

“Regular” and “incredible” are contrasting words that are not commonly grouped together.

But in Miriam’s short life, she was incredible at being regular and she was regularly incredible.

To many, she was just a regular girl.

Just a regular girl who never spoke loshon hara.

Just a regular girl who loved shoes and fashion but placed more of a premium on tznius.

Just a regular girl who would drop anything and everything when a friend needed someone to talk to.

But one month after arriving in seminary for her year in Israel, destiny called in a frightening way. For the next three years Miriam was no longer just a regular girl. Through sheer will, determination, and conviction, she not only fought her own illness but also helped heal the broken hearts of others; she made national headlines by bringing about a change in the way lung donations are allocated, ensuring that thousands of lives will be saved in the future; and she left behind a vision which will carry on, even in her absence.

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MARCHING UPSTREAM

created normalcy around her…. I, myself, would sometimes forget her condition because she made all of us believe she was capable of doing just about anything.”

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t was on chol hamoed Sukkos, one month after Miriam arrived in Israel for her year in seminary, that her father got the call. Miriam told him that she had been rushed to the hospital; the diagnosis was pneumonia. The next morning, Glen was on a plane to Israel. Within a few days, they learned that pneumonia was just a symptom of a dreaded diagnosis.

One month later, when Miriam was healthy enough to travel, she and her father returned home and she began the fight for her life. “She was faced with this tremendous nisayon and a fighter emerged,” explains Glen. “It’s as if she said to herself, ‘I have this nisayon and I’m going to utilize these muscles that I didn’t even know I had until now.’”

For the next three years Miriam spent every day with two objectives: fighting her illness and making the most of her life. Besides holding down two jobs, Miriam went to school at night to become an ultrasound technician.

Miriam had a “bucket list,” and she went about working through the list during the next three years.

“She swam with dolphins; she took a picture of a snake around her neck because she was scared of snakes; and last August she went horseback riding – because it was on her list,” recalls her cousin, Naomi Amar. Miriam was fearless. She insisted that she wanted to go skydiving. “I was petrified for her to do that,” Glen comments, “but figured the doctor would say no. She was actually the one who gave Miriam the go-ahead!”

It was all part of her determination to live as regular a life as possible, her illness notwithstanding.

Miriam’s mother, Saguite, confirms that it wasn’t that Miriam was in denial about the diagnosis. “Miriam knew the cards that she was dealt, yet she still woke up and attacked each day with a determination that was palpable,” Saguite shares. “Being in awe of her resilience and simcha is an understatement; it was as though she functioned with superhuman capabilities that inspired us to fight alongside her.”

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Miriam with her sister, after she made it to the stream

Miriam’s time with her older sister, Nechama, was short. Nechama passed away over thirteen years ago when Miriam was only 8 years old. “Nechama was a very important figure in her life, but even so, Miriam paved her own path,” says Glen, as he sits on a couch in the very spot where several days earlier he sat shiva. “Nechama’s thing was to be happy regardless of the circumstances,” he says wistfully.

“And don’t get me wrong, Miriam was also happy. She even gave me a smile the day she passed away – my last interaction with her. Still, the middah that personified Miriam was determination.”

and made daily activities such as walking a herculean task.

But to her, that was never an excuse not to do, not to accomplish.

In fact, on a fairly recent Holman family trip, the family was at a scenic area and Miriam heard about a beautiful stream which was further down a hiking trail. “Let’s go!” she announced. “You can’t walk all the way to the stream, Miriam,” some of her siblings said incredulously. Miriam replied, “I can and I will.” With that, she took off walking…and stopping…and walking… and stopping. Sure enough, after more than an hour of what seemed like a one-step-forward-two-steps-

“Miriam knew the cards that she was dealt, yet she still woke up and attacked each day with a determination that was palpable.”

About a year before her passing, Miriam traveled to Israel, alone, to gain chizuk. She spoke to a gadol, who, upon concluding the meeting, said in admiration, “You’re coming to me for chizuk? You’re being mechazek me!”

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iriam’s illness caused her to suffer from chronic shortness of breath

back exercise, Miriam triumphantly made it to the stream, where she posed for a picture.

Ronit Pasternack, a close friend, says, “Her mindset was totally about fighting to overcome this challenge. From the minute she heard about her condition, she decided that regardless of any limitations, she was going to function and move forward in a matter that

lthough she dug deep for herself, she dug even deeper for others.

Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender of Achiezer relates that Miriam became an Achiezer volunteer several years ago. “We were stunned when we received the application. Here Miriam was, struggling in more ways than one, and she decided she wants to give back and be there for others.” He recalls that in her application she wrote, “I’m available to do whatever you need. I have plenty of time to volunteer.”

“Miriam went on and wrote something we have never seen in all the years and with hundreds of Achiezer volunteers,” recalls Rabbi Bender. “She wrote, ‘Although I don’t drive, if any of the chessed needs require traveling to Manhattan, I will take the train to Manhattan and do whatever it takes to get there.’ We were blown away.”

Malky Silverberg, a longtime friend with whom Miriam attended college, recalls telling Miriam one day that she had a test and was nervous about not having enough time to find parking and getting to school on time for the test. Miriam replied, “If I find a closer spot than you, I will give you my spot and switch with you.” That’s a nice gesture for a healthy person but for someone with her condition the extra walking could have meant hours of effort and exertion.

It’s not that Miriam was in denial about her situation but she compartmentalized it.

At one point after sharing with her friend, Malky, distressing medical news that she had just received Malky was so shocked that she began crying and asked Miriam why she was not crying. Miriam replied, “I cried already. Now I am focused on fighting it.”

Yes, Miriam gave to all who she encountered, but the people to whom Miriam gave the most were her “extended family,” those who she knew through the Holman Be-

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reavement Retreat.

HOLMAN BEREAVEMENT RETREAT After their daughter, Nechama, passed away in 2004, the Holmans realized that there were no programs for siblings of children who passed away. There were bereavement weekends for parents who lost children, but the loss felt by the siblings was not being adequately addressed. They too suffer terribly in the aftermath of such tragedies and oftentimes feel isolated.

The following year, in 2005, Glen and Saguite initiated a yearly bereavement retreat. Approximately forty families attend the weekend which is usually held at Camp Simcha in the early spring. The goal is to bring together families that all share the common tragedy of the ultimate loss. Gourmet food, twenty-four-hour babysitting for the younger of several hundred children, roundtable discussions, fun, and, most importantly, heartfelt bonding are all part of the ways in which this three-day weekend offers these broken hearts not only a temporary reprieve but also a sense of community and hope which serves as a springboard for them to continue along a journey that only they can understand.

Preparations for each retreat begin months in advance, when families are invited to attend. Then comes the logistical arrangements — how many volunteers are needed this year? Which families need cribs? Which arts and crafts project are we doing with the 8- to 10-year-old girls? Who else would be a good fit for table 4 at the Friday night meal? Did we arrange Shabbos morning entertainment for the younger boys? How are we doing the kiddush this year? The questions mount as the deadline to the retreat approaches.

By the time the actual weekend arrives, details have been worked out and the bonding begins. As Nelly Sebag, a volunteer, describes, “The women usually stay up until 3AM talking. They come with photo albums of their deceased children because oftentimes they are only comfortable showing them to

At a bereavement retreat

people who they feel will truly understand them. They show pictures and tell stories; it’s a forum that they never have anywhere else. The kids do the same thing – they talk and meet others who experienced similar tragedies, helping them feel less isolated in their pain. They build lifelong relationships.”

Then comes the grand siyum.

Right after Shabbos everyone sits

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or Miriam, it wasn’t enough to be a participant at the retreat; four years ago, she began running it.

“She became my partner, essentially the COO. She ran it,” says Glen. No task was too big or too small for her to handle. Miriam spent hours on-end agonizing over every detail with her father to make sure that “this year’s retreat would

“Miriam went on and wrote something we have never seen in all the years and with hundreds of Achiezer volunteers.”

in a circle and there’s a siyum Mishnayos during which the name of each child that passed away is read.

“We always make sure to have some crazy entertainment at the Melava Malka to diffuse the serious mood that the siyum brings,” Glen says. “We’ve had skiers riding on trampolines, BMX bikers, an incredible magic show... So much good came out of the retreats. For many families it’s a turning point towards their healing.”

be the best ever!”

“The retreat was everything to her,” recalls her teacher and mentor Shoshana Jaeger. “It was so important for her to help these families who were in pain.”

In addition to running the logistics of the retreat, Miriam also added a lot to the program itself.

Her primary objective was to increase the focus on the siblings and helping the children connect. Do we have the right therapist? How should we break up the groups so

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that the girls will feel comfortable with one another? Should we add art therapy? Will the mothers benefit from a meditation class? Would a girls’ exercise class be appropriate? What projects can we do so the girls talk with one another and help them open up?

Besides being the person on the back-end, she was the front person as well. “Ask Miriam” was a ubiquitous refrain over the weekend.

Last year Miriam implemented a new idea – the collective photo album.

Each family was given a page to dedicate to the child they lost.

They could submit pictures of their child and add whatever they wanted others on the retreat to know about them. The goal of the album was for parents to learn about each other’s children and to connect to each other through the album. It was very important to Miriam that every child be included. She was concerned that if a child was not in the album, their parents would ultimately regret it when they saw it at the retreat.

During shiva, a chassidishe man told the Holmans that initially his family was hesitant when they were invited for the first time to the retreat last year. Miriam called the man and his wife and convinced them to come. Several weeks later Miriam called them to ask them to submit a picture of their son for the photo album, but the mother again wasn’t comfortable. Miriam implored, “Your son has such beautiful payos, he looks like such a wonderful boy – you have to put him in the book.” The woman agreed and, as her husband related, seeing their son in the album was very comforting.

Miriam’s sensitivity to the children at the retreat was a reflection of losing her own sister, Nechama, when she was a young girl. She didn’t just make sure to know every child; she would personally facilitate relationships between children so that those friendships would last into the future.

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few weeks before Miriam passed away, Glen received a phone call from a mother

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who had been at the retreat. “I’ve been trying to reach Miriam and I can’t get in touch with her. I keep texting her. Can you just pass along this message to her for me?” asked the woman, not knowing that Miriam at the moment was fighting for her own life. The woman explained to Glen that after she had lost a child one of her other children was struggling tremendously.

She refused to get professional help and locked her parents and friends out of her world. But everything changed after the Holman Bereavement Retreat.

“Miriam connected her with another girl who was in a similar situation and they became best friends,” explained the woman.

“Every night my daughter would go into her room and lock her door and pour her heart out to this friend.

Now she is getting the necessary help,” she said. “Because of the retreat we got our daughter back.

It’s mamish hatzalas nefashos. It saved our daughter’s life. And I just wanted to reach out to Miriam to thank her.” Glen gently informed the woman of what was going on with Miriam and how this would be a zechus for her.

Miriam connected to each girl directly, but just being around Miriam was chizuk enough. Risi Fireworker, who lost a sibling and attended the retreat, wrote the Holmans, “Miriam would talk to Hashem all day. You were able to feel it when in her presence, and I hope to be able to take the qualities she shared with me forever.”

Another participant in the retreat notes how normal and insightful Miriam was. “I was telling Miriam about some of my issues with my therapist. She clarified for me that I needed to find the right one, and that it was okay if I didn’t feel comfortable with my current one. I vividly recall hanging up from that phone call with a huge sense of relief, knowing that there was someone out there who understood me and who I could communicate sensitive things to.”

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espite the success of the retreat, Miriam was not satisfied. Something was

Swimming with the dolphins

nagging at her. “The retreat is great but we need year-round programs for these children,” she insisted.

Miriam would sometimes gather the girls from the retreat for a night out at a restaurant in Brooklyn. Other times she would drive with a few of them to a wedding or another simcha that one of the participating families may have been making. But she wanted to organize year-round programs which would help these suffering siblings.

So “COO” Miriam and her father met with Chai Lifeline this past summer and pitched the idea of a

on a waiting list for a lung transplant. Now it was time for Miriam to kick her fighting spirit into high gear. And, according to a doctor at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, in the process “she forever changed Columbia’s Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU).”

Over the next four months, Miriam battled in a way that the staff at Columbia’s MICU had never seen.

According to hospital records, there were over one thousand visitors for Miriam. Part of her fight was to stay active, within her standards. She had a full schedule from

“Because of the retreat we got our daughter back. ... It saved our daughter’s life. And I just wanted to reach out to Miriam to thank her.”

year-round bereavement program geared towards siblings.

Chai Lifeline agreed. Miriam was charged with planning and structuring the program. But Hashem had other plans.

DANCE WITH ME, DANCE WITH ME Everything came grinding to a halt when Miriam was hospitalized in September. Her condition rapidly deteriorated, and she was placed

10AM until 8:30PM every day.

“It’s beyond comprehension the mental strength that she needed to wake up in this place every day and how she had the will to live,” says Ronit. “She never saw herself as a sick person. She would say, ‘I’m not going to be the ‘sick kid’ even though that’s how others see me.’”

“Even though she was suffering tremendously, she clung to her emunah,” reflects Shoshana Jaeger.

Her room was decorated wall-

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to-wall with her paintings, and the Holmans arranged for different activities such as painting, manicures, baking, concerts, and anything that would lift her spirits and keep her busy. They knew that for Miriam the most important thing at this time was to keep on moving.

She didn’t feel like she had limits.

Miriam had some steady “minhagim” in her hospital room.

Whenever someone came into the room she always thanked them, took a picture with them, and asked them to write something positive in a scratch book that she kept near her hospital bed. If a visitor left without Miriam thanking them, they were summoned back so that she could show her proper appreciation for their visit.

“We had practically every Jewish music star show up and sing for her,” says Glen. “I’ll never forget the time when Benny Friedman left her room without writing something in her chizuk journal. Miriam valued his chessed and who he was, so she insisted that someone run after him so that he could write in her book.”

This “minhag” applied not only to visitors but also to the hospital staff. Miriam decorated cookies with their names on them and would give the cookies to the nurses and the doctors. The day Miriam passed away a woman came over to the Holmans, crying hysterically.

She was the woman who cleaned the hospital rooms; Miriam had befriended her.

Moments after Miriam passed away one of her doctors was inconsolable. He explained to the Holmans that although he knew the probable outcome from a medical perspective, the way Miriam fought and came back from the brink time after time convinced him that she would survive against all odds. But it was more – he had not only lost a patient; he had lost a friend.

Naomi Amar recalls, “I was with Miriam one night and she was in a lot of pain. A nurse came in to insert a tube and kept messing up. It took her twenty attempts to get the tube in and it was clearly painful to Miriam. I was losing it. I wanted to say to the nurse, ‘What are you doing?’

But sure enough, when she final-

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ly got the tube in, Miriam turned to her and smiled. ‘Thank you so much for your help,’ she said.”

Her positive attitude and uplifting outlook was infectious.

Glen recalls one time when a group of Miriam’s friends came dressed up in different costumes, and Glen surprised her dressed in a superhero costume. They took Miriam for her physical therapy walk in the hallway, dancing and playing music, all dressed up. A lady approached them in wonder, “Are you guys here to make a music video?”

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s part of the preparation for a lung transplant Miriam had to try to walk every day; it was an excruciating and complicated exercise. With her, there would be a team of at least six medical staff members and technicians managing the machines that she was attached to. “It was a massive entourage,” recalls Chana Henya Majorovic. In order to encourage her along the way, they would play a silly song, “Raining Tacos.” On the days that Miriam was able to do the walk, she would sway her head side-to-side and encourage the people in the hallway, “Dance with me.

Dance with me.”

One of Miriam’s primary doctors said, “It was a real challenge but Miriam and the Holman family and the community are a powerful force of love and tenacity to reckon with; truly incredible and inspiring.”

A number of staff members visited during shiva and others sent cards and letters. One thing is for sure, they can say that they came across a remarkable soul that they will never forget.

The feelings are reciprocal.

Glen, Saguite, and the Holman family can’t say enough about Miriam’s medical team. “The staff at the medical ICU was incredible. They were completely invested in Miriam’s care. These staff represented some of the top medical professionals at one of the best hospitals in the world. It was care borne out of the love and concern that grew from the relationships they built with Miriam over her four months’

Miriam with her sister, holding an alligator with a snake around her neck

hospital stay.”

FIVE DAYS...A TSUNAMI OF CHANGE As the weeks turned to months and the situation become desperate, family, friends, and what felt like the entire klal Yisroel stepped up.

WhatsApp groups around the globe constantly buzzed with Tehillim chains; people gathered to learn in her zechus; women were mekabel Shabbos early and baked challah; and people all over the

way lung donations were allocated.

“Tethered to a breathing machine at a Manhattan hospital, 21-year-old Miriam Holman would die without a lung transplant. But her odds of finding a suitable organ were especially low in New York, where waiting times are among the longest in the country,” begins an article about the Holmans’ lawsuit in the LA Times.

At issue was a decades-old government policy which arbitrarily draws lines and creates different regions for transplant allocation. As a

“You’re coming to me for chizuk? You’re being mechazek me!” world engaged in extra ma’asim tovim in her zechus.

“Miriam knew that the entire Far Rockaway and Five Towns community went into this fight with her,” says a friend. “The Tehillim was a lifeline for her.” Glen, Saguite, and the Holman family saw and felt the love that the Far Rockaway-Five Towns community and beyond gave Miriam and their family and are forever grateful.

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he fight for Miriam’s life was also fought in the courtroom and grabbed national headlines, when the Holmans sought to correct an injustice in the

result, someone can be in need of an organ and days away from death when an organ becomes available but if it is in a different region – even if it is a mile away – that organ may go to someone who is not as sick and who may not have as dire a need for the organ. This policy has made the likelihood of getting an organ in Manhattan statistically much lower than in the rest of the country.

In a desperate effort to save their daughter’s life, the Holmans sued in federal court for the policy to be changed. The lawsuit was a “Hail Mary” - even if they would be able to get the federal court to agree

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with their position, government moves at a snail’s pace and it would likely have taken many months, if not years, for the new policy to be implemented. There was another obstacle in their way too – they filed the lawsuit three days before Thanksgiving; in just a few days the world would be grinding to a halt for turkey, football, and shopping. And the Holmans didn’t have weeks; they had days – and maybe only hours.

In what can only be described as a “legal miracle,” within several days, after a hearing before the court and an appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services immediately implemented a new policy – without requesting time for an impact study, etc. The Journal of Heart & Lung Transplantation declared, “[A] tsunami… in organ allocation occurred.”

The LA Times pointed out just how remarkable the policy change was by noting: “A series of reforms over the years have allowed the sickest patients to compete for hearts and livers beyond their own territories. Those changes usually came after years of debate. The Holman lawsuit changed the lung policy in five days.”

Boies Schiller Flexner partner Motty Shulman, who represented the Holmans in the case, says that the result was a miracle. (As fate would have it, only after Miriam’s passing did Shulman and the Holmans connect the dots and realized that one of Shulman’s family members attended the Holman Bereavement Retreat.)

Reflecting on the lawsuit and the unlikely outcome, Glen says, “My belief is that it was because of Miriam’s zechusim and because she was a force to be reckoned with.”

Despite the glimmer of hope and the joy that came when Miriam did, in fact, get the pair of lungs she was waiting for, the refuah that everyone so desperately prayed for was not meant to be.

HAVE A GOOD SHABBOS In her final days, with her life source slowly ebbing, Miriam was still giving at every possible mo-

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those involved in healing the broken hearts that Miriam cared so deeply about.

Miriam’s dream of a year-round bereavement program will come to fruition. Because, although, she may have been just a regular incredible Bais Yaakov girl, as her father says, “She is a force to be reckoned with.”

ment.

Shortly before she passed away, Glen ran into one of the individuals from Chai Lifeline who was involved in the plans for a year-round bereavement program with Miriam. In order to give some lighthearted hope and encouragement to her, Glen texted Miriam, “Regards from Nachman. He’s getting impatient for you to follow through with the plans!” Miriam replied, but not in jest, “Regards back. I’m really sorry. Let me know what I should do. I will do it from here. I have plenty of time.”

“Let me tell you something,” says Ronit. “She would have done it. She was so passionate about the year-round program that if they let her she would have done it from her hospital bed.”

W

hen the news came that they found suitable lungs for Miriam, the entire MICU quickly went into overdrive. Time was of the essence.

With the lungs en route to the hospital, Miriam had to be medically prepared to receive them. She was quickly rushed out of her room to get prepared for what would be the most complex and risky of surgeries.

It was Friday night.

As Miriam was being wheeled in the hallway, there was a frum family there and they gave her a thumbs up. She looked at them, smiled, and whispered, “Have a good Shabbos.”

Even in that moment, she found something to give. This was Miriam’s essence.

T

owards the end, Miriam was unable to move or speak. She communicated by motioning with her eye. On her last Shabbos she davened for a long time. She used her eyes to signal when she was ready for her mother to turn to the next page in the siddur. She mouthed the brachos so that her mother would get to answer amen. Her limited energy was depleting fast. Yet, on Motzei Shabbos, she communicated to her mother that she wanted to Facetime her friend, Adina Gold, who was getting ready to run a Chai Lifeline

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Miriam with her father, Glen

Marathon the following morning for the zchus of Miriam.

“Miriam was in a lot of pain at that point and she wasn’t able to speak,” Adina says, “but the words she mouthed to me on FaceTime will forever be her last message to me: ‘Go, Adina, go! I love you!’ She blew me a kiss as if hoping these words would carry me through all of the difficult days ahead. And to some degree they already have.”

Reflecting on the impact that Miriam had on the entire Far Rockaway and Five Towns community, Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender says, “We truly lost a gem in our midst.

We lost a pure soul. A pure person.

A person with a pure heart that cared and lived for others despite her young years and her immense suffering.”

M

iriam is no longer in this world. Her hopes and aspirations, though, are very much alive. “Just ask Miriam” will not be the easy answer when the year-round bereavement program she dreamed of is finally implemented. But “what would Miriam do?” will certainly be an ever-present mantra to help guide

Miriam’s dream was to provide a year-round bereavement program for families that have lost a child.

Programs include local support groups especially focused on siblings, barbecues, melave malkas, parents’ panels, art therapy, and other events and services to help people who have suffered the worst possible tragedy. Miriam initiated this program and began working on it but she sadly passed away before she could see it come to fruition.

Please support this campaign generously by donating at https://www. gofundme.com/miriamholman.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2015 2018||The TheJewish JewishHome Home OCTOBER 29,

TJH , n i a g A Hi

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, s g n i l Under

vocacy my ad f o e s at u H b eca nts. Th J e c T o n t e n t i , I get $10. comes terfold s, I get e that n r e e r u c t u t c e i c i th er y p pay d in p tate of For ev gs s e n usually n s real es li e r t e le a b d k s a valu red un cheap ates in on the e hund an the n Bill G n i h o t jo f e i o r t t o ire m ge t ha Berksh ly $10 e pled f e h means t o t a ff d m e o i n ake make approx ’ve sig oney I ice to m That’s since I n m , s ’s i e t i h t h t t e tr u ter all, , even eep. Bu me. Th ay. Af wealth get to k w y ’t a n m ll o a ll d it ng a H–I iving donati a ha. ean, TJ o be g m t I g – n i n Om i y y o a wnu g w b a ca n @fiveto n I’m Hath r u e o o h t i y w d s t e , even da floa ures to money any so m pict Pics.” i r m u o P s r “ P ur i m only you e t i ’s d r e n r w e e s e th to ject lin ember he sub t So rem n I . e.com hhom o d! sjewis t it? Go o G ? t i Get

Signs that You are Still Stuck in Purim You fill your Montblanc pen with disappearing ink You keep a large wad of singles in your pocket You pack your kids’ lunchboxes with a theme

W h e never someone rings your doorbell you automatically start singing, “Mishe, mishe, mishe, mishe, mishe, mishe, mishe, mishe” (talk about sophisticated lyrics!)

You have to explain to the TSA why you tried getting into the airport with a loaded cap gun

When you get a FedEx box, you expect it to be melted chocolate from your friend in Australia who was your roommate in Israel 23 years ago You still think the tent is upside down You can’t stop picking poppy seeds out of your teeth

Shabbos drasha and is not dressed as Kim Jong

A guy shows up in shul for Mincha wearing an Elvis costume and you think he is completely normal

Un

Abe Lincoln is still at your house

You sleep with a box of Presidors near your bed

You still wear your watch on your right hand because you were dressed up as a lefty

You are surprised when your rabbi gets up for his

Your car is still stuck on Reads Lane behind a donkey

You looked at this list and laughed!

The TheJewish JewishHome Home| FEBRUARY | OCTOBER 28, 29, 2018 2015

Olympic Wrap-Up Trivia 1. Which country won the most medals in the 2018 Olympics? a. United States b. Russia c. Norway d. Germany

3. Singapore Olympians get a cool $1 million if they win a gold medal and $500,000 for a silver medal; neither happened in the 2018 games. How much was the bonus that U.S. Olympians were given for winning gold? a. $37,500 b. $50,000

2. What was “Soohorang,” the official mascot of the 2018 winter games? a. A crocodile b. A white tiger c. A Chihuahua d. A Samsung Galaxy

b. Israel c. Madagascar d. North Korea

al in the team sprint cross-country ski competition?

5. The estimated cost of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics was $10 billion. What was the approximate cost of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, hosted by Russia?

c. $200,000

a. $2 billion

d. $350,000

b. $8 billion

a. 0.19 seconds b. 14.2 seconds c. 21.3 seconds d. 4 minutes and 19.4 seconds

c. $14 billion 4. Which country competed in the 2018 Winter Games for the first time ever? a. Afghanistan

d. $50 billion 6. How much did the U.S. beat Sweden by to win its first ever gold med-

 Answers 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

C B A A D A

 Scorecard 5-6 correct: You must be Norwegian.

Gratulerer!

3-4 correct: You are right in the middle of the pack. USA!...

USA!...USA! 0-2 correct: You are really bad, unless you got one correct and you are from Singapore, in which case, you win a million dollars!

You gotta be kidding After seventy years of communist oppression and seven hours of flying, Boris, a burly immigrant from Moscow, steps off the plane in a free land to begin his new life in his new home, Israel. Standing in Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, a young Israeli reporter asks, “Tell me, what was life back in Russia like?”

Boris replies, “I couldn’t complain.”

The young reporter continues to probe, “Well, how were your living quarters there?”

Boris replies, “I couldn’t complain.”

Not expecting this answer, the reporter hits him with the next question, “What about your standard of living?”

Boris again replies, “I couldn’t complain.”

At this point the reporter yells, “Well, if everything was so wonderful back in Russia, then why did you even bother to come here?”

Boris answers with a grin, “Oh, here I can complain!”

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Torah Thought

Purim

By Rabbi Berel Wein

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egillas Esther itself tells us that the memory and commemoration of the days of Purim will continue until eternity and never disappear from Jewish life. Extraordinarily, the Talmud expands this statement to mean that even at the end of days, when the other commandments of the Torah may no longer be necessary because of the exalted state of spirituality within the Jewish nation and mankind as a whole, the commemoration and memory of the days of Purim will continue even then.

Jews live with a constant Purim story unfolding in all generations and over all time. The story of Purim, as it has come down to us through the writings of Mordechai and Esther, is a story replete with individual characters whose personalities and actions define the story itself. These characters are prototypes for later personalities, ideas, plots and events that occur throughout history.

Every generation is charged with reviewing the story of Purim in its time and to see the events and characters of its generation in the light of the grand heavenly scheme that Purim represents. Surveying today’s scene and events, I think that I can identify someone who can fill the bill as far as King Achashveirosh is concerned. I can also cast someone as a humble and destroyed Queen Vashti.

There also are an abundance of tyrants, haters and corrupt officials

who certainly can represent Haman in our current reconstruction of the Purim story. Even some of the minor characters of the Megillah, such as Charbonah, can be discerned in our current world. But my fantasy Purim story has, as of yet, been unable to fit in the two main characters, the heroic figures that make the story of Purim timeless and eternal.

Who is to play the roles of Mordechai and Esther in our current Pu-

erations. Criticized from within and persecuted from without they persevered, and through their loyalty and commitment to the Torah, people and the Jewish nation brought about salvation and triumph.

There are such people amongst us today as well. Our task is to recognize and identify them, strengthen them in their efforts and support them against the misguided other Jews and non-Jews. All of us have

Who is to play the roles of Mordechai and Esther in our current Purim scenario?

rim scenario? Where are they when, seemingly, we need them most?

Against all odds, ignoring advice from friends and threats from foes, Mordechai will not kneel nor bow down to false gods and cruel tyrants.

Queen Esther for her part risks life and limb, position and honor, wealth and comfort, to come to the aid of her people in their hour of need. She is a Jewess first and only secondarily is she the queen of Persia.

These two people, Mordechai and Esther, have set very high standards for Jewish behavior for all later gen-

the ability to fill in our own playbill with the characters – the heroes and villains, if you will – and construct our own current living Purim story.

We live in momentous times where miracles abound for the Jewish people. Just as in the original Purim story the miracles were hidden and not necessarily obvious to all, so too is this the case in our time as well.

It apparently requires dangerous circumstances to bring about some semblance of Jewish unity. Even then, there are always those who dissent, carp and criticize. They were

present in Persia long ago when the original Purim story unfolded, and they exist today in various forms, organizations and institutions. They always profess great human goals and deep concern for the future of the Jewish people while at the same time taking actions that are detrimental to the Jewish present and outrightly dangerous to the Jewish future.

Mordechai and Esther are a little too Jewish for them. They are too brash, too stubborn, too clannish and are unnecessarily provocative.

Mordechai and Esther in their time did not receive universal approbation. It is only history, in its unfolding of events, that has proven them correct and heroic. We cannot expect that people who aspire to be Mordechai and Esther in our time should be universally accepted, loved, admired…and followed.

This is a reality of Jewish and human life that must be accepted and factored into the general pursuit of the good and noble. Hidden miracles abound in our current world as far as the Jewish people are concerned.

Anyone who has the good fortune of living in the Land of Israel today instinctively realizes this on a daily basis. Let us strengthen ourselves and be determined and strong as our current Purim story unfolds around us.

Shabbat shalom and Purim sameach.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

From the Fire

Parshas Ki Sisa Wealth: The Ideal Way to Serve G-d?

By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

T

hese parshios are filled with great wealth, gold, and silver. The Mishkan itself, the vessels in the Mishkan, and the garments of the kohein gadol must be made of gold, silver, bronze and rich fabrics. Why does Hashem demand such “honor and glory” (Shmos 28:2)? What purpose does this serve? Doesn’t Hashem prefer when we “walk humbly with G-d” (Micha 6:8)? Doesn’t the Mishna in Avos (6:4) say, “This is the path of Torah: eat bread with salt, drink a measure of water, sleep on the earth, live a life of pain, and toil in Torah”? While none of the kosher restaurants on the avenue have yet to be named “Bread with Salt,” isn’t such simplicity, even deprivation, the ideal? Why does the Torah command such opulence when it comes to the Mishkan and the kohanim? And why do these parshios of using our wealth to serve Hashem always occur during the month of Adar, the time of joy?

One could answer that gold, silver, honor, and glory are only the ideal when it comes to the Mishkan, Beis Hamikdash, kohanim and shuls, but that in individuals’ private lives simplicity is the ideal. This answer is also not entirely satisfying however. There were tzaddikim like Reb Meir Premishlaner, zy”a, and Rav Uri Strelisker, zy”a, who served Hashem in abject poverty because they viewed this as the ideal. It was known that Reb Uri Strelisker had very few chassidim and that the chassidim he had were as poor as he

was. In fact, it was said that when a wealthy person became a chassid of Reb Uri, he soon lost all of his wealth. Perhaps this is why he had so few chassidim.

Many other tzaddikim, however, believed that a Jew should serve Hashem with honor and glory even in his private life. It is known that Reb Yisroel of Ruzhin, zy”a, and Reb Mendeleh Vitebsker, zy”a, lived in this way. In fact, Chazal appear to extol the service of Hashem in wealth as an ideal when they say (Avos 4:9), “Anyone who fulfills the Torah in poverty will ultimately fulfill it in wealth.” It is therefore not so simple to answer that honor and glory only have their place in the Mishkan, Beis Hamikdash, shuls, and kohanim.

We can begin to appreciate the proper nature of the balance between service of Hashem with wealth by studying a teaching of Rebbe Nachman, zy”a. He writes in Likutei Moharan 56: Every single Jew has an aspect of royalty… And every single person must not use the aspect of royalty for his own benefit and for his own needs. His aspect of royalty must not serve as his slave in order to fulfill his personal cravings. Instead, a person must be a free man… The opposite of the holy aspect of royalty is evil royalty, meaning the kingdom of Haman/Amalek… This is the aspect of the lust for wealth… “And to the sinner He has given the matter of gathering and accumulating…” (Koheles 2:26)

We see from Rebbe Nachman’s teachings that for Haman and Achashverosh, wealth was not a means to an end. The accumulation of wealth was an end unto itself. This is why Achashverosh held an enormous feast (Esther 1:4), “to show the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty.” And even when Haman’s plans began unraveling, he could not restrain himself (Esther 5:11), “And Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches and his many sons…”

Most people in the world (Esther 3:2) “bow and prostrate themselves before Haman,” the pursuit of the accumulation of wealth for its own sake. But “Mordechai did not bow or prostrate himself” (ibid.). And in the end, “it was reversed, the Jews should rule over their enemies” (Esther 9:1). All of Haman’s wealth originally came from Nevuchadnetzer’s conquest of Eretz Yisroel. He derived his wealth from the Jewish people!

And ultimately Haman’s fortunes were reversed and his wealth was returned to the Jewish people (Esther 8:1-2). All of the wealth of Haman, of the kingdom of evil, was ultimately returned to the kingdom of holiness and the Jewish people.

We see the wealth of the Jewish people being expelled from the descendants of Haman in recent news as well. As many of the older Nazis, may their names be blotted out, die, their children are selling their property. We therefore see paintings and valuables stolen by the Nazis now

emerging in auction houses and sales all over Europe as the kingdom of wickedness is forced to vomit out the wealth they stole from our people.

The inner essence of money is reflected in the fact that the numerical value of the word for money, mamon, is the same as the word ladder, sulam. A ladder (Bereishis 28:12) “stands on earth and its top reaches the Heavens.” Money can be used to lift a person up to the heavens or it can cast a person down into the lowest depths of the earth. A person can use his wealth like Mordechai and Esther or like Haman and Achashverosh.

Rav Shamshon Refael Hirsch, zt”l, and other tzaddikim explain the reason the Torah disqualifies an animal sacrifice or kohein with even the slightest blemish. Why must they be so perfect? Rav Hirsch explains that the Torah is teaching us that the Torah is not only for those who are defective. It is not a religion for those who cannot do any better. A Jew must understand that the Torah does not demand that a Jew be bent, broken, and weak. The Beis Hamikdash, the kohanim, and the korbanos must reflect the regal nature of our role in the world. Judaism is not only a refuge for the infirm or mentally ill. The Beis Hamikdash and Mishkan must be filled with beauty, splendor, joy, and perfection to show that the service of G-d is the ultimate source of beauty, grace, and fulfillment of the highest order. Every type of person, from the most broken to the most

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

accomplished, has his or her place in Yiddishkeit. But everything in the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash, the epicenter of the Divine presence on Earth, must be perfect to show that Divine service represents the pinnacle of what a human being can be.

We can now understand why these parshios are read during the Adar, the month of our joy. We must know that service of G-d, as exemplified in the Mishkan, is the ultimate beauty and splendor. But the Torah interjects the story of the Golden Calf into the parshios of the splendor and wealth of the Mishkan. This serves as a warning of the dangers of misusing gold, wealth, and the like.

When used in the service of G-d, it is an ideal way of serving G-d. But when used to serve one’s self, when it exists as an end unto itself as it was used by Haman and Achashverosh, it leads a person down into the lowest depths of idolatry.

These parshios teach us the beauty, splendor, and joy of being free people who use wealth for the service of G-d like Esther and Mordechai and not slaves to one’s own desires like Haman and Achashverosh. We must not bow down to the wicked kingdom of Haman that idolizes wealth and the accumulation of luxury as the ultimate accomplishment of life.

Some people specifically choose to serve G-d by avoiding the dangerous test of wealth by living a life of poverty and simplicity. And others’ lot from Heaven is such that they must serve Hashem in a state of poverty. Still others are blessed with wealth or choose to serve G-d with a life of splendor and wealth. All types are part of the Divine plan.

The balance between using one’s wealth for Divine service and being a slave to it is illustrated by a beautiful story about one of the famous Breslov chassidim, Rav Yitzchok Breiter. Rav Breiter was a very successful owner of a shoe factory in Warsaw before the War. Every day in shul he gave a short drasha between Mincha and Maariv. As a dedicated Breslover chassid, he spoke virtually every day about the importance and nature of emunah (belief in G-d), bitachon (trust in G-d), and simcha (serving Hashem with joy). There was one

older Yid in shul who listened to these drashos cynically, thinking, “It’s easy for Rav Yitzchok to speak about emunah, bitachon, and simcha. He is wealthy and has everything he needs!” This man mentally dismissed Rav Breiter’s drashos and even made fun of his message to others around him.

standing. Rav Breiter explained that it is the same thing with wealth. If a person’s emunah, bitachon, and simcha is dependent on his wealth such that if he were to lose his wealth, he would lose his faith, trust, and joy, then his emunah and bitachon were not real to begin with. If, however, his faith and joy would remain intact

“Rabbi, how are you able to speak about faith and trust in Hashem with the same enthusiasm as usual even as the remains of your factory are still burning?”

Unfortunately, Rav Breiter’s factory burned down one day. He lost everything. With more than a little relish, the older man waited for davening that night to see whether Rav Breiter would have as much emunah, bitachon, and simcha as usual now that he was no longer the wealthiest Jew in shul. To his great surprise, Rav Breiter spoke as enthusiastically as ever about how important it is for a Jew to have emunah, bitachon, and simcha. Unable to restrain himself, this Jew walked over to Rav Breiter after davening and asked him, “Rabbi, how are you able to speak about faith and trust in Hashem with the same enthusiasm as usual even as the remains of your factory are still burning?”

Rav Breiter answered using a parable. According to the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 94:8), a person must stand during Shmonah Esrei. The Mishna Berura explains the halacha when one is leaning on something. Is leaning considered standing or is it more comparable to sitting? He explains that if the person is leaning with so much of his weight that if the object were to be removed, he would fall, then it is considered as if he is sitting. If, on the other hand, he is not placing much of his weight on the object such that if it were to be removed, he would remain standing, then it is considered as if he is

even if he would lose his wealth, then this reveals that his faith and trust in Hashem were genuine all along. He

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explained to the man that he never depended on his wealth for his faith and trust in G-d. Therefore, he did not fall when his support was pulled out from under him.

A Jew must “lean” with all of his weight on G-d alone.

May Hashem help all of us believe and trust in Hashem so that we use whatever wealth we have as a means of serving Hashem and not an end in and of itself. And may Hashem return all of the wealth, beauty, splendor, and grace stolen by the nations of the world to their proper place in the hands of the Jewish people so that we may serve Hashem with the glory and splendor of the rebuilt Beis Hamikdash, may we merit it soon in our days.

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and has served as Mashpia in Yeshiva University since 2013.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Between the Lines

Benefit of the Doubt? No Doubt!

By Eytan Kobre

Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt.

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

A

young couple, Lisa and John, moved into a new neighborhood. One morning, Lisa looked out the window and watched her next door neighbor hanging out her wash.

“That laundry is still dirty!” Lisa criticized. “Our neighbor doesn’t know how to clean clothes!”

And whenever her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, Lisa would criticize her inability to wash.

Some weeks later, Lisa glanced out the window and was surprised to see a nice, clean wash hanging in her neighbor’s yard. “Look, John,” she said to her husband, “she’s finally learned to wash correctly! I

wonder what changed.”

“Well, dear,” John replied, “You’ll be interested to know that I woke up early this morning and finally washed our windows.”

The events surrounding the Golden Calf seem to present a harsh indictment against Aharon; after all, it was his idea (Shemos 32:2-4).

But Aharon’s intentions were righteous (see e.g. Daas Zkeinim, Shemos 32:4), a failed attempt to keep the people at bay until Moshe’s return. Only upon reflection do we learn that Aharon acted with the purest of motives, which underscores just how important it is to judge others favorably.

The command to “judge your neighbor righteously” (Vayikra 19:15), means, among other things, to judge them favorably (Shavuos 30a). While some regard this as a Biblical obligation (SeMaG, Positive Commandment 106; Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos 177; Shaarei Te-

shuva, Positive Commandment 3 and 3:218; Sefer Chasidim 31), others consider it merely “praiseworthy” conduct (Rabbeinu Ovadya MiBartenura, Avos 1:6; Rambam, Avos 1:6; Rambam, Deios 5:7; Rambam, Sanhedrin 23:10; Meiri, Shavuos 30a). The Chofetz Chaim finds a middle ground: it is a Torah obligation to judge favorably those who are righteous, but it is only praiseworthy practice to do so in the case of those who are mediocre or worse (Chofetz Chaim, Introduction and Positive Commandment 3).

Practically, giving the benefit of the doubt is tempered by reality in a balancing act that seeks to achieve moral symmetry based upon the person being judged. We must always give the benefit of the doubt to the righteous (Berachos 19a); the wicked are always to be eyed with suspicion; and, depending on the specific circumstances, it is either

praiseworthy or obligatory to judge favorably the average person (Rambam and Rabbeinu Yona, Avos 1:6; Chofetz Chaim 3:7).

The Ksav Sofer once invited many leading Torah scholars and community leaders to a celebration of thanksgiving to mark an important achievement in the fight against the “Enlightenment” movement.

With the celebration in full swing, the Ksav Sofer quieted the crowd with the promise of a wonder none had seen before.

All eyes were glued to the Ksav Sofer as he produced a small object wrapped in silk.

“Gentlemen, this is a genuine ancient half-shekel coin, such as was donated to the Tabernacle (Shemos 30:12-16). It has been my family’s prized possession for generations. There is none other like it in the world today.”

The crowd was enthralled. An actual half-shekel! The coin passed

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

from hand to hand, and spirited discussions echoed throughout the room.

Before long, though, amidst the tumult in the room, the coin had vanished!

Silence descended upon the room, and all eyes turned to the Ksav Sofer, whose face turned white at the prospect of his loss.

“G-d forbid that I would suspect anyone here of stealing the coin. But perhaps it was mistaken for another coin and slipped into someone’s pocket accidentally. I respectfully ask that everyone empty their pockets.”

Everyone agreed to do so – except one voice from across the room. “I oppose the search,” called out R’ Yehuda Asad, an elderly and eminent Torah scholar. “Let’s wait fifteen minutes. Perhaps the coin will turn up.”

The Ksav Sofer had great respect for R’ Yehuda and agreed. But the time soon passed and still there was no coin.

“Okay,” said the Ksav Sofer, “now let’s empty our pockets.”

To everyone’s surprise, R’ Yehuda asked for another fifteen minutes. Several guests now suspected that R’ Yehuda had pocketed the coin and needed time to devise a clever way to return it. The Ksav Sofer agreed to another fifteen-minute delay.

At long last, the time was up and there was no sign of the coin. “We can delay no longer,” the Ksav Sofer announced.

R’ Yehuda again sought to halt the process, this time his voice breaking, tears streaming down his face. “Please remember the great love your father, the Chasam Sofer, had for me. Wait fifteen more minutes. If the coin is not found, we will do as you see fit.” The Ksav Sofer hesitated, but then agreed.

The tension was palpable. R’ Yehuda stood in one corner in silent prayer; the Ksav Sofer sat in the other corner, his face etched with worry. The guests waited nervously, sure that R’ Yehuda would confess to the theft.

Suddenly, the door burst open and the Ksav Sofer’s attendant charged in. “The coin has been

found!”

After the coin’s presence was verified, the attendant explained.

“When I saw everyone deeply involved in discussion, I began cleaning up. I removed the tablecloths and shook them out over the garbage to rid all the crumbs. Then I heard the coin was missing, and I worried that it might have been placed on one of the tables and inadvertently thrown out. I went to the trash pile and sifted through the mountain of refuse until it caught my eye.”

R’ Yehuda requested permission to speak. Everyone listened with bated breath, eager for an explanation of his bizarre requests.

favorably. Had the search been conducted and the coin discovered in our colleague’s pocket, can anyone here claim they would not have presumed he had stolen my coin?”

Judging others favorably has its benefits – in this world and the next (Shabbos 127a). It promotes peaceful and friendly relationships (Rashi, Shabbos 127b; Sefer HaChinuch 235; Orchos Yosher, Chapter 4). It enables us to love others as we love ourselves (Michtav M’Eliyahu, Vol. V, pg. 431; Tzror Hamor, Vayikra 19:15). It offers us an opportunity to emulate and grow closer to G-d (Tomer Devora, Chapter 1; Chofetz Chaim, Sefer Mitzvos Koton 223).

The tension was palpable. R’ Yehuda stood in one corner in silent prayer; the Ksav Sofer sat in the other corner, his face etched with worry.

“Just as our host, I too possess a genuine half-shekel coin, passed down from generation to generation in my family. I also decided to display it in honor of today’s festivities. But then our host preempted me with his coin, proclaiming it one-of-a-kind. Not wanting it to detract from his presentation, I left my half-shekel in my pocket.”

The venerable sage produced a coin from his pocket and displayed it to the dumbfounded crowd. It was indeed identical to that of the Ksav Sofer.

He continued. “But imagine if the search had been conducted.

The coin in my pocket would have been discovered, and I would have been suspected of theft. So I tried to delay the process, praying that I would be spared a terrible embarrassment.”

Now the Ksav Sofer rose once more. “Gentlemen, this evening has provided a profound perspective on the true meaning of judging others

But its most important benefit may be the one that redounds to those doing the judging. For “one who judges his friend favorably will be judged favorably by G-d” (Shabbos 127b; Yalkut Shimoni, Vayikra 611; Pele Yoetz, Saneigorya).

A man (some say R’ Akiva) once traveled from the Upper Galilee to work for an employer in the south but when his three-year term of employment concluded on Yom Kippur eve, the employer claimed that he had no money with which to pay the worker.

“Give me fruit instead,” said the worker.

“I have no fruit,” answered the employer.

“Give me land.”

“I don’t have.”

“Animals?”

“Don’t have.”

“Quilts and pillows?”

“Nope.”

So the worker returned home emptyhanded. After the holidays,

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however, the employer arrived at the worker’s home with the overdue wages and three donkeys laden with food, drink, and other goodies.

The employer was curious.

“When I claimed that I could not pay your wages, what did you think?”

“I assumed,” answered the worker, “that you had obtained merchandise at a bargain price, spent all your money, rented out your land and animals, had not yet tithed your fruit, and had consecrated all your possessions” – a highly implausible scenario.

“I swear to you that is exactly what happened,” the employer said. “And just as you judged me favorably, may G-d judge you favorably (Shabbos 127b; Sheiltos D’Rav Achai Gaon, Shemos 40; Avos d’Rabi Nosson 8:7-8).

We live in a world that emboldens snap judgments and spontaneous critiques. Lightning-quick condemnations are made all the more instantaneous and impulsive by email, the blogosphere, and the ubiquitous tweet. Let’s face it: in our society, “innocent until proven guilty” is a technical legalism, not a moral or social creed.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is ample reason to be guarded and skeptical in our view of others – our morally bankrupt culture has made sure of that. And, of course, judging others favorably does not mean we should be naïve or allow ourselves to be exploited; we can (and should) be vigilant and suspicious when warranted (Sefer Chassidim 1088; Sefer Chareidim, Teshuva, Chapter 4; Kalla Rabasi 8:1; Rashi, Taanis 23b; Derech Eretz Rabba 5:4).

But we would do well to remember that, like Lisa and her neighbor, before we condemn the dirty laundry of others, we ought to give them the benefit of the doubt. Who knows? Perhaps our disapproval is the product of our own polluted worldview.

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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Reading the Megillah in the Land of Paras U’Madai The kever of Mordechai and Esther in Hamadan, Iran

E

ach year on Purim, as Jews around the world gather to retell the tale of the heroic Mordechai and brave Queen Esther saving the Jewish people from annihilation, we recall an ancient story of our ancestors in an ancient town. As we celebrate the victory over our enemies in a far-off land, we may forget that for many Jewish people observing Purim today these stories hit much closer to home. For some, these stories took place in their own homelands; for others, in the very same land they are living in today.

The story of Purim takes place in the town of Shushan, in Persia, the ancient name of the country now known as Iran. According to Megillat Esther, Queen Esther and Mordechai Ha’tzaddik heroically saved the Jews of the 127 provinces under King Achashveirosh’s rule from a decree dictating their destruction devised by the king’s chancellor, Haman.

An Ancient Jewish Community The Jewish community in Iran dates back 2,500 years, to late biblical times; Jews preceded the Muslims in Iran by more than 1,000 years.

The Megillah relates that at the time of the story of Purim, a Jewish presence existed in every province under Achashveirosh’s rule. Unfortunately, the Purim victory didn’t guarantee any long-term

By Tammy Mark

peace for the Jews; they faced many other threats and other enemies throughout the years.

Iranian Jews trace their history to the reign of Persia’s King Cyrus during the 5th century BCE. They first arrived in the region during the Achaemenid period, after King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and Judea, expelling hundreds of thousands of Jews and sending them to exile lands all across the east, including Persia. Patterns of relative calm that were followed by intense anti-Semitism continued for hundreds of years; intolerance always resurfaced. The Jews of Persia learned to adjust and adapt to the environment to survive, like many other Jews throughout history in other lands. Hatred and evil seemed to intermittently rear their ugly heads.

The most recent history of the Persian Jews relates to the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Prior to the revolution, Jews in Iran enjoyed a relatively free and prosperous life under the secular Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. They were well-represented among Iran’s business elite, holding key posts in industry, banking, and law. While most of the Jews in neighboring Muslim countries fled to Israel in the 1950’s and ‘60s, Iran’s Jews remained.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took control in December 1979, becoming Supreme Leader of the

country and bringing conservative Islamic values and new tensions for the Jews there. While officially there was a fatwa, an order, that granted a level of protection for the Jews along with the Christians, most Jews did not believe they would be able to continue to succeed professionally and worship freely under Khomeini. As such, the revolution sparked the largest wave of immigration of Jews from Iran, with Persian Jews of all types seeking refuge outside the country.

As increased anti-Israel sentiment swept through Iran during the revolution, there were extensive confiscations of private wealth from the Jewish community, which propelled thousands of the more affluent Jews living there to flee to the United States or Israel. Depending on the year and the situation, some Jewish families were forced to escape through the desert, while others were able to leave with less difficulty, keeping some of their money.

More than two-thirds of Iran’s Jews immigrated to the United States in the thirty years after the 1979 revolution. Those who landed in America settled largely in New York and California, predominantly in Great Neck and Beverly Hills. Persian communities sprouted as well in Brooklyn, Queens, Chicago, and Baltimore. Though most Persian Jews came to the U.S. with nothing, many

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Jews originally from Mashhad in Jerusalem, 1920

Jewish members of the Shiraz community at a bris, 1933

Torah reading in a shul in Iran

successfully restarted their businesses and established flourishing tightknit communities, amassing notable wealth and comfort in their new country.

Persian communities throughout the U.S. and Israel are committed to holding strong to their heritage, establishing roots and extending branches within the larger Jewish community. Israel hosts the largest population of Iranian Jews in towns such as Kfar Saba, considered a center for Persian Jewry, as well as in Jerusalem, Netanya and Tel Aviv. Many of the Persian Jews who settled in Brooklyn hail from Shiraz. The Persian community there lives side-by-side with Brooklyn’s Syrian community, sending their children to the Syrian Jewish schools. The Iranian American Jewish Federation of New York was established 16 years ago to celebrate the success of the Iranian community in New York and to use its resources to make a difference in the lives of people in Israel, as well as members of their own community.

While Persian Jews in America originate from cities and towns across Iran, two of the main groups are identified as Mashhadi or Tehrani. The Mashhadis are from the namesake city of Mashhad, one of the largest cities in Iran. Tehrani refers to those from Tehran, although it is also commonly used as the generic term for Persians who are considered non-Mashhadi.

The history of the Mashhadi Jews in Iran is complex. For a period of 86 years, after the Shiites attacked the large Jewish community of Mashhad in 1839, storming the synagogues and killing dozens of people, many Mashhadi Jews chose to “convert” while keeping their Jewish faith and observances secretly. Though they outwardly practiced Islam, the Mashhadis made a pact to preserve their heritage and religion, maintaining the appearance of being Muslim while still risking their lives to continue to practice Judaism within their own homes. Though Mashhadi Jews were officially able to begin practicing their religion openly again in 1925, another wave of anti-Semitism in the 1940s and ‘50s caused many Mashhadi Jews to finally leave Mashhad for Tehran. Some made their way to Israel and the United States during this time.

Along with clinging tightly to their Persian culture, Persian Jews have remarkably remained adherent to Jewish rituals. They observe the mandates of Purim, including fasting on Taanit Esther even if they are not traditionally religious. Despite

bly able to still maintain a Jewish lifestyle. Tehran alone has 11 functioning synagogues, many of them with Hebrew schools. There are five kosher restaurants, a Jewish hospital, an old-age home, and a cemetery. Jews living in Iran are able to observe Purim as well as other holidays and rituals in relative peace and safety. Although alcohol is prohibited in the Muslim country, small amounts are allowed for religious purposes, and Jews are able to have wine available for the holidays without much concern.

Though in some ways the Jews still have a protected minority status in Iran, they are always under scrutiny. While they are officially allowed to be culturally and religiously Jewish, any contact with or support of Israel is strictly prohibited. Any suspicion brings the risk of the most serious criminal charges.

Iran’s Jewish community is the largest in the Middle East outside Israel. It is a curiosity that one of the most openly anti-Israel countries hosts the largest Jewish population of any Muslim country by far. While the Jewish communities of countries like Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Morocco have largely dissipated, the Jews in Iran are holding tight to both their homeland and their heritage.

Over the years, more and more families have started keeping kosher, attending synagogue, and observing halacha more strictly.

Though they outwardly practiced Islam, the Mashhadis made a pact to preserve their heritage and religion, maintaining the appearance of being Muslim while still risking their lives to continue to practice Judaism within their own homes.

A Festive but Reserved Purim the scarcity of available Torah learning or great rabbinic leaders in Iran, Persian Jews avoided assimilation for many years.

Jews in Iran, Today Prior to the revolution in 1979, Iran had close to 100,000 Jews living across the country in places like Mashhad, Shiraz and Yazd. An estimated 20,000 Jews now reside in Iran, mainly concentrated in Tehran, with smaller numbers remaining in Shiraz and Eshfahan. Jews are a recognized minority and are even allocated a seat in parliament.

While so many Persian Jews left the Middle Eastern country due to religious persecution over the years, those who remain today are ostensi-

Rabbi Yosef Shemtov is very familiar with the Jewish communities in Iran today. He came to the U.S. with his family in the year 2000 at the age of 17, settling in Los Angeles. He studied at the Ner Israel yeshiva in Baltimore before marrying in 2009 and moving to Great Neck. His family remains in L.A., where Rabbi Shemtov says the Persian Jewish community is even more segregated from the general American Jewish community than other Persian Jewish communities in the U.S. Rabbi Shemtov recalls the culture shock of celebrating his first few Purims in the States. With such reverence given to authority in Iranian and Persian Jewish culture, the mocking found in Purim spiels, even in good nature, was a complete-

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Celebrating Sukkos in Iran

Boys in a Jewish school in Iran

Young Jewish boys in Iran. Note their tallesim

ly foreign concept initially. Over the years he has acclimated to the “Americanized” celebrations of Purim.

Rabbi Shemtov’s family feels intrinsically connected to the Purim story. His father was born in the town of Hamadan, the location of the tomb of Esther and Mordechai. Rabbi Shemtov’s grandfather was caretaker of the shrine for many years, which for some time housed a shul as well. There is also a surrounding Jewish cemetery, where Hamadan’s most prominent Jewish families are buried.

For many centuries, Persian Jews marked the holiday of Purim by traveling to the shrine in Hamadan, often joined by Christian and Muslims as it was a considered universally holy site and day.

The presence of the tomb and the surrounding bustle angered many people in Iran. Citing the concept that the celebration of Purim involved the destruction of so many Persians, the Purim story came to be publicized as a Jewish massacre of Iranians. After Islamic protests in late 2010, the tomb of Esther and Mordechai lost its official status as a religious pilgrimage site in 2011. Though there had been subsequent talks of demolishing the gravesite, it remains standing to this day, albeit in some disrepair and less conspicuously. While there are only 10 Jews currently residing in the town of Hamadan, Jews and other groups still make pilgrimages to visit the tomb of the biblical heroes.

Rabbi Shemtov keeps very strong ties to the Jewish community in Iran. He is dedicated to keeping traditional Torah alive and thriving in Iran, hoping to infuse a deeper level of Torah learning. He supports a kollel program and assists in maintaining kosher food and other resources necessary for Jewish life in Iran. Rabbi Shemtov has been instrumental in providing semicha and training rabbis to lead the Jewish communities in Iran, aiming to have a representative at each of the 50 remaining synagogues.

“The current government is very open, friendly and supportive of Jewish activities,” says Rabbi Shemtov. “I feel as welcome as any other Iranian citizen visiting back home.”

He explains that while the Purim observances in Iran are intrinsically the same in the very coun-

try that witnessed the story firsthand, the atmosphere is somewhat different. The Megillah is read aloud in synagogues large and small, gifts are exchanged between friends, and charity is distributed to the poor – but there are no costumes and no public drinking. Some will make the very special pilgrimage to the holy burial site of Mordechai and

the horrors of the Holocaust hadn’t reached the Persian Jews.

Many Persian men came to Germany at that time, eventually joined by their wives. Soon one of the women began kashering chickens, providing the first kosher meat for the Persian Jews in Hamburg. A shul ran by a Holocaust survivor became a center for both the Persian and European Jews.

All the while, the Persian Jews preserved their distinctive foods and culture.

Today, Anita’s family’s Purim celebrations include Persian desserts such as gushvill, a paper-thin fried triangle with powdered sugar, and a rice-based dessert called halvah. Hamantashen are not part of the Persian culture at all. She explains that the foods served on Jewish holidays are simply considered Persian and not necessarily unique to the Jews. Distinctions in cuisine and customs, however, can vary between Persian Jews originating from different towns in Iran.

While they are officially allowed to be culturally and religiously Jewish, any contact with or support of Israel is strictly prohibited.

A Stew at the Seudah Esther. Purim is celebrated with a festive yet relatively reserved atmosphere.

Halvah & Gushvill Anita Koren’s family began to leave Iran in the 1950s, her grandfather traveling first to Germany to find work. She believes that it is the Persian Jews’ strong sense of faith in G-d that has helped them survive the turmoil throughout their history.

“Even though they didn’t have talmud Torah for many years they didn’t assimilate,” she says. “Even though we lost that oral transmission, we still were connected because of strong emunah – if you believe in Hashem you can’t take it away.” She shares that the Persian Jews accepted their fate as G-d’s ways. “It was never easy to live there – there were always pogroms. They never left the Purim story.”

Anita shares her family’s particular journey out of Iran. When her grandfather landed in postWorld War II Germany, he had no knowledge of the Holocaust that had just occurred there and throughout Europe. Iran had kept its people so segregated from the rest of the world that news of

Whereas the largest Mashhadi Jewish population in the world outside of Israel is in New York, the largest Tehrani Jewish population is in California. Unlike the groups of Eastern European Jews in America, whose traditions may have become somewhat diluted over time, the Iranian community remains unique in its adherence to its distinct flavors, language, and overall culture. Perhaps it is due to their clandestine history that the Mashhadi Jewish community in particular has preserved their strong Mashhadi heritage and sense of pride over the years.

The community of Great Neck alone has several synagogues supporting a thriving and predominantly Mashhadi Persian community. Farnoosh Zarnighian lives with her husband and children in Great Neck. Farnoosh’s family came over during the wave of immigration in 1979 after the revolution, as did her husband’s. Her family settled first in Queens, moving to Great Neck when Farnoosh was a teenager.

She explains that her family celebrates Purim much like the greater American Jewish community, observing the laws of the holiday and most of the

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Rabbi Shemtov about to shecht chickens in Esfahan

Rabbi Shemtov giving a Torah class in Iran

same customs. Though the Persian community is considered quite insular, her children attend local largely Ashkenazi Jewish day schools. They celebrate Purim by dressing up, exchanging mishloach manot, and socializing with friends from all Jewish backgrounds.

Farnoosh appreciates the closeness of the Great Neck Persian community. Her mother would always make a Persian bread called noon taftoon on Purim to put in the mishloach manot. Foods at her Purim seudah are common Persian foods like rice stews with meat such as ghormeh sabzi – a green

stew with a variety of sautéed herbs, including dried fenugreek to give it its unique flavor – and lapeh, a red stew with yellow split peas and tomato paste.

Farnoosh has no close family remaining in Iran and neither she nor her immediate family has ever returned, though she does have one uncle who still feels a strong attachment to Iran and goes back to visit, feeling safe. With Persian Jews having such a long history and such an intense identity with their homeland, it’s not completely surprising that some Jews today still choose to visit Iran and that many others have never left.

Learning Torah in Iran today

T

hough the occasional anti-Semitic flare-ups in Iran remind the Jewish community there to always remain vigilant, Jewish life, as they have known it for centuries, continues on. It is a puzzling enigma that even in a country that is at odds with Israel, Judaism is still alive and thriving. This Purim, as Jews in Iran celebrate Purim with joy and with reverence, they will recall the hidden miracle of the Jews’ rescue in the land of Persia 2,000 years ago and can passionately declare that the miracles took place “ba’yamim ha’heim ba’zman – u’b’makom – ha’zeh.”

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The Wonderful World of

Costumes

By Malky Lowinger

C

ostumes are an integral element of the Purim experience.

They’re what every youngster dreams about for months. Will she be Queen Esther or a unicorn? Will he dress as Mordechai HaTzaddik or a city cop?

The possibilities are endless.

But did you ever wonder about the world of professional costume design? Who makes those amazing Victorian ball gowns in theatrical performances? The incredible hats and accessories that brighten up the stage? Or those wacky and furry characters that stroll around the theme parks and Times Square?

Recently, we spoke to Yvette, who designs costumes for commercials and Broadway productions.

She has a degree in Art and was involved in the “Phantom of the Opera” production, Disney on Ice,

as well as the “Lion King,” which is considered the ultimate Broadway production as far as costumes are concerned. We asked her what those character costumes are actually made of. And how in the world does the wearer breathe underneath all that feathers and fur?

“It’s quite an involved process,” Yvette admits.

“The costumes need to fit and the wearers need to breathe and be comfortable.” Most character costumes, says Yvette, are made of reticulated foam, which is a lightweight porous material that’s flexible and “breathes.” It’s similar, she says, to the foam used in air conditioning filters. Animal heads such as bears, she adds, are cast out of carbon fiber, then covered in fabric and fur. “It takes lots of weird engineering.”

The character costumes we see

in most theme parks are generally worn by college kids who are hired seasonally. What happens when the weather is hot? “When necessary, they wear cooling vests,” says Yvette. “Those are vests with little pockets that are filled with ice packets to keep the wearer cool.”

Yvette says the most challenging costumes she ever created were Lego mini figures, in which the wearer had to be able to water ski.

“So there was a lot going on,” she remembers. “They had to be sturdy, but also lightweight and waterproof. We made them out of a polyester screening material and then covered them in knit jersey. We had to make sure they wouldn’t fade in the sun. And we had to create fourteen of them. In the end, they were awesome. “ What about the huge hats and

headgear that are often worn at big productions? Think Simba and Scar in the “Lion King.” “They use a special clamp that attaches to the actor’s head,” Yvette explains. “You install them into the base of the headpiece and that way they don’t fall off, even with all the movement and dancing.”

Does Yvette have any tips or guidance for do-it-yourselfers who want to create their own innovative Purim costume? “There’s tons of YouTube videos,” she advises, “that teach you how to make all kinds of costumes. I would start with that to get ideas.”

If you can sew, she recommends working with costume patterns.

McCalls and Butterick both carry an extensive line of costume patterns. “All you need is a little creativity to make a costume that

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

An artist’s sketch for a costume design

works perfectly for you.”

B

randie is the costume designer for the N’shei Tzedaka players, who put on an annual production on behalf of Rachel’s Place. She takes her role very seriously. “As far as I’m concerned,” she says, “there are five integral components to a production such as ours.

Those are the actually story itself, the music, the set and props, the dancing, and yes, the costumes.”

The costumes, she explains, add tremendously to the authenticity of the story. They also affect the cast’s performance. “We could do a full rehearsal without costumes,” she explains, “and then another one with the costumes, and there’s a tremendous difference. The costumes actually bring you into that time period.”

Brandie works for months to get it just right. “As soon as our director chooses the story,” she says, “I go into research mode. I study that period thoroughly.” Brandie adds that she majored in History, and she also enjoys watching historical documentaries. For her this is a labor of love.

When a performance was set in the early 1900s, Brandie ordered eighty pairs of spats for the cast.

She also made sure the women wore seamed stockings, as they did back in the 1920s. Chances are that no one in the audience would have noticed, but it added to the authentic-

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Cast members from the “Lion King” production

ity of the performance.

Still, she makes sure to add some wit and whimsy into her designs. Hats and gowns are often filled with flowers and notions. “We try to keep it colorful and happy,” she says. “That’s what our audiences like.”

There have been mishaps, to be sure. “The first play we did,” she remembers, “we rented most

own closet for the shows. She has discovered creative skills she never knew she had. “I love the hats,” she says. “We do all sorts of things to make them fit. We sometimes glue three or four hats together, or we’ll insert a mesh foundation, or we’ll glue plastic headbands into the hats, to make it work for the actresses.”

Her most challenging costume,

“The costumes actually bring you into that time period.”

of our costumes from a New York City rental service.” All was fine and good until, just days before the performance, somebody wondered aloud if anyone had the costumes checked for shatnez.

A shatnez expert was called in and it turned out that there was indeed a major issue in many of the costumes. With little choice, the shatnez had to be removed at considerable expense.

Since then, Brandie says she is hands-on in the costume production, and she spends countless hours scavenging in thrift shops, in fabric stores, and even in her

she says, was Cinderella’s famous transformational gown.

“That’s when she twirls and her peasant dress turns into a beautiful ball gown right in front of the audience.

That was very difficult to do and we had to practice it many times till we got it right.”

What happens to the costumes after the productions? “We keep about seventy percent of them,” she says, “and will often rent them out to schools or camps that are putting on their own performances. “ Occasionally, private individuals or families will also rent them to use as show-stopping and elaborate Pu-

rim costumes.

Proceeds of the performances go to tzedaka, so Brandie tries to stick to a strict budget. When she needed to outfit the band for the “Music Man,” she improvised. Instead of purchasing readymade costumes, she ordered red jackets and white pants from China, then added gold braiding, shoulder epaulets, and tassels to the jackets and stripes to the pants. “Each costume cost us 35 dollars, instead of hundreds,” she says.

Brandie works with an expert team of eight to ten dedicated women who sew the garments for the productions.

“Boruch Hashem, they are amazing,” she says. She insists that the garments fit properly and comfortably, so that the cast can move with ease. “That adds up to hours and hours of alterations.”

And there are halachic considerations as well. “We have a psak from our rav,” she says, “that if we use men’s pants, we have to do a ‘shinui’ so that it won’t be considered ‘beged ish.’”

What’s Brandie’s advice to the ambitious among us who wish to create their own costumes for Purim? “Have fun,” she says. “Don’t worry if it’s not perfect. There are so many accessories you can add like feathers and flowers and sequins and pearls that can hide a multitude of sins and make you look glamourous and gorgeous at the same time. Just have fun!”

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FEBRUARY29, 28,2015 2018| The | TheJewish JewishHome Home OCTOBER

Dating Dialogue

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

Dear Navidaters,

I’ve been dating for three years and from the start I have noticed a pattern within myself that is not leading to anything good! When I go out with someone who seems kind of cold on the date and not terribly “wowed” by me, I tend to work very hard at winning him over during the date and getting him to like me enough to want to ask me out again. When I date someone who seems very impressed with me and compliments me constantly, I find myself very turned off and disinterested in the guy. Sometimes, they are very sweet, terrific men, but something about them gushing, even nominally, is not attractive to me. Sometimes, I’ll go out with someone who initially doesn’t seem overly impressed with me but we go out again and again, and with time I’m hearing that he likes me a lot. Once I’ve solidly won him over, I find that I’m no longer all that interested in him anymore.

Obviously, I have a problem. I don’t understand why I reject the nicest guys possible, and the more someone is disinterested in me and doesn’t want to go out with me again I find myself thinking so much about this person, as if the best catch in the world rejected me!

Where do I go from here?

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 | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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The Panel The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S. f you have noticed this problem for three years, it’s way past the time to address it. Stop dating, take a break, and get into therapy. Your fears of intimacy, your need to impress, your objectives in dating and need to be pursued deserve serious attention. The fact that you noticed this right at the beginning of your dating life and didn’t address it tells me that there are very deep issues here that you avoided addressing.

Now they are disturbing you to the point that you are asking for help to deal with them.

Be brave! Dig deep. Be honest with yourself and do the work to

I

get to wholesomeness. Growth is work but it is so worthwhile. Work through your issues with good professional help and get to your core insecurities and vulnerability and their causes.

The Mother Sarah Schwartz Schreiber, P.A. ating – sometimes likened to a game (i.e., does he like me?

Will he call me?) is serious business.

There are rules, there is intrigue, but there is only one objective: Marriage and the Happily Ever After. Over the last three years, you have been play-

D

ing: “Catch Me if You Can,” “Cat and Mouse,” “Tag.” You have been motivated and excited by the pursuit and conquest rather than finding your bashert and settling down.

You’ve had your share of fun, sometimes at the expense of a young man who was unaware of your charade. Feelings have been hurt – sometime his, sometimes yours. The whole business seems misleading and unfair; wouldn’t you agree?

It’s time to take stock, to introspect, and to figure out how you will proceed in the parsha. I urge you to seek guidance from a mental health professional – therapist, social worker, or life coach – to help you understand the basis of your behavior and prepare you emotionally for the life-altering task of seeking your life partner.

We are attracted to people who reflect our own perception of ourselves.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond his is a very important question, and I applaud you for recognizing the issue you face. It is complete-

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ly normal for some women to be uninterested in men who are too gushy or forward but from your letter it is clear that even nominal feelings of interest from these men are making you flee.

You are clearly more interested in the chase of dating rather than an actual relationship, which leads me to believe that there are deeper issues under the surface. At this point, you are wasting the precious time of anyone you choose to go out with.

I would firstly advise you to take a dating hiatus and do some inner work on yourself. If you cannot get to the point where a guy is interested in you without feeling the need to get out of the relationship, something is wrong.

Our actions and reactions to those around us are generally molded by the experiences we have had, propelling us into familiar patterns. These patterns are not always

healthy and are how we have conditioned ourselves to act in a subconscious moment of panic. You must get to the bottom of why you have moments of inner panic and discomfort when a man you are dating is interested in you.

Seek help from a therapist to guide you through the process and to help reprogram your apparent fight or flight response to any potential healthy relationship. Once you have worked through this, you can get back into dating with a much healthier attitude and a better prognosis.

The Single Tova Wein

I

’m hearing from you two separate issues. The

Pulling It All Together The Navidaters Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

Y

our plight reminds me of the famous Groucho Marx line: “I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member.” This quote has a very powerful message. When the club accepts you, you turn on the club and think something must be wrong with it because they let you in. When a guy likes you, you see him as flawed. When you get him to like you, you see him as flawed. I understand why you feel confused. Good for you for recognizing your pattern and for doing something about it!

It’s in your best interest to take a dating hiatus and figure this out with a qualified therapist. If you

continue on this path, you will run yourself ragged and you could potentially devastate someone else. Why expend precious resources on dates and relationships that will go nowhere with the current pattern? There is no man that will cure you of this.

I’ve worked with several women over the years who, like you, reject the men who are interested and chase after the ones who aren’t (and even like you, go so far as to win them over and once they got the guy to “see the light,” take their bow and leave… What’s wrong with

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

first has to do with the fact that some women are attracted to the “bad boys.” What constitutes a “bad boy” varies from woman to woman. For some, it’s the guy who is clearly trouble and should be avoided at all costs.

But for others, like yourself, it’s the guy who seems a bit cold, distant and uninterested. The nice guys, on the other hand, who seem truly kind and giving, somehow are turn-offs.

Usually, this ends badly. The woman who was finally able to get the “bad boy” to commit to marriage very often has a tough road ahead, living with someone who continues to be cold and distant – and often much worse.

The other issue I’m picking up on is the fact that for most of your dating career you were not really serious about marriage. Clearly you were not ready or interested in settling down, and so it was all a game for you, which is probably why you never questioned your behavior until now.

If you are now finally looking at your behavior honestly

him for liking me?

Eeeew!) Some of these women are “fixers.”

Some of these women are playing out unresolved childhood issues in which they are trying to seek the love and attention of someone, usually a parent who wasn’t emotionally available.

Once they receive the love (in other words, “get the guy”) they don’t know what to do with that love and attention; it’s new and scary and frightening. So, they bolt. In therapy you will learn about your pattern of relating to men and gain insight and awareness into why you are stuck doing the same old song and dance for three years. Have hope!

Whatever your personal block is, know that people are resilient and capable of tremendous growth!

We all have beliefs about our worth. We all have beliefs about who we are and what we deserve.

When we see ourselves as weird,

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Be honest with yourself and do the work to get to wholesomeness.

and questioning what’s going on you are probably now, for the first time, ready to take dating and marriage seriously.

Before you take one step forward in this important stage of your life, understand that this would be the perfect time to work with a professional and sort out your behaviors and what has been motivating them so that when you actually go out on your next date you’re coming from a healthy, serious place. Hopefully, with more insight and growth, you will leave the games behind and date for all the right reasons.

awful, flawed, wrong, unloveable, undeserving, unattractive, shameful, etc., we simply can’t see that someone could possibly love us. We are attracted to people who reflect our own perception of ourselves.

In order to accept love from another, or give love to another, we must love ourselves first.

Sincerely, Jennifer

Esther Mann, LCSW and Jennifer Mann, LCSW are licensed psychotherapists and dating and relationship coaches working with individuals, couples and families in private practice in Hewlett, NY. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 516.224.7779. Press 1 for Esther, 2 for Jennifer. Visit www.thenavidaters.com for more information. If you would like to submit a dating or relationship question to the panel anonymously, please email thenavidaters@ gmail.com. You can follow The Navidaters on FB and Instagram for dating and relationship advice.

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Dr. Deb

Can We Take Off Our Masks?

By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

L

ast week’s article was just a list, a list of some of the features that seem to constitute “normal relationships.” I made a quick reference to Purim at the end of that article, noting the irony that Purim will be, at the times of Moshiach, the one chag we will keep, yet it is the one chag in which HaKadosh Baruch Hu is hidden when, in fact, at that time He will be revealed!

Since that comment followed a picture of what a normal relationship might look like, I made the point –- and I believe this completely – that we all have within us the capacity to live that “normal” life but our resources are “hidden” from even ourselves.

This point might explain why we will still put on masks and costumes b’yimai hamashiach when there is no need to pretend G-d is hidden because He won’t be.

Let me explain.

PURIM AS CHIZUK I think the reality is that for those of us who “see” Hashem actively operating in our daily lives, He isn’t hidden even now. We see His Handiwork, we thank Him, we appreciate Him, and His Presence makes our struggles a little bit easier, maybe even a lot easier.

But there are so many people who don’t have that experience.

They’re lost, confused, sad, struggling, angry, and miserable. To them, Hashem is hidden. Perhaps Purim is the chag made to order for them. Perhaps it is there to remind them that even though they feel the way they do, the Borei Olam is, and always was, there with them, just seemingly hidden.

That is, by the end of the story, we see that He was never hidden at all, although His Name is not in the storyline. Perhaps this is a form of chizuk for people who don’t see Hashem operating in their lives.

Just as in the story they can’t “see” Hashem, that is like their difficult, challenging, perhaps painful lives. But by the end of the story, His Presence was clearly there, so, hopefully, they can come to believe it will be there for them in their lives even though they hadn’t seen it before.

THE PURPOSE OF THE FUTURE PURIM In the days of Moshiach, we should all know that Hashem is really the One Who runs the world and is with us. Yet, Purim will still be celebrated. What for? If G-d is no longer hidden at that time, what is the purpose of a holiday that is all about Him working behind the scenes?

Perhaps the answer is that this is the really fun part of the chag: In a day when everyone will for sure know that Hashem is with us, we can laugh at our previous ignorance

with that much more joy because the secret is out.

This sets the future Purim up as similar to Pesach in that our seder is an after-the-fact attempt to replicate our exit from Mitzrayim. Although we celebrate Pesach with great joy – because we are, indeed, free – I would imagine that our forebears did not. They must have been nervous and worried.

Much as they saw Hashem’s Hand, it was still a scary time. They worried whether this protection would continue; they worried whether they had the stamina to go forward.

Besides worry, they didn’t even know how to relate to an unseen G-d; they’d been too busy building bricks to think about such things.

We have the advantage of hindsight that they did not. We know that we got saved and we eventually did enter Eretz Yisroel. But they didn’t; we can forgive them for their worries and what they didn’t

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

understand.

So perhaps b’ymai haMoshiach, Purim will be for our descendants like Pesach is to us now. We will really know that G-d is with us, so re-enacting the confusion and mystery of masks and costumes will just highlight our relief and joy.

SO WHAT’S THE TAKEAWAY NOW? It’s interesting that in the Purim story G-d is the One that is hidden, but in our celebrations, we are the ones that get hidden: We wear the masks and the costumes. Why? Is that any kind of reflection of the Purim story? And how can it help us?

So far, we’ve said two things: Purim should give us chizuk because it is a reminder that G-d is always with us. We’ve also said that in the Days of Moshiach, when G-d will be revealed anyway, Purim is a source of delight because we are safely reliving the worry that He

wasn’t there. (We’re in a safe vantage point because we will know for sure that He is there and that is also a source of extra joy.)

What we didn’t address is the odd element that we’re the ones in hiding when we celebrate today.

plainly there, but he’s the one not seeing you! And his not seeing you is tantamount – from his perspective – of you not seeing him.

That’s us. We cover our faces to not see G-d and then we think He’s hiding.

We need to come out from behind the masks we put on.

Is it possible that that is the reason G-d is hiding in the story in the first place? After all, He never hides. It’s our lack of seeing what is in front of us that causes us to think He’s hiding. So He paints a picture of what hiding looks like.

It’s like the baby who hides his face and laughs in delight that he has “hidden” from you. You see him

And we do the same thing to each other. We make an effort to hide behind our defenses so as not to reveal our vulnerabilities.

We put on a show of bluster to hide our fears; we sulk to hide our pain; we cut each other off to hide our neediness.

And the irritating part of all this is that when any one person in a re-

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lationship does it, that hiding process is a threat to the other. So the partner goes into hiding too. Then they come to therapy wondering why they are so badly disconnected.

If the Purim story tells us anything, it’s this: Don’t hide.

G-d’s not hiding after all, and if we’re supposed to imitate Him, then we shouldn’t either. We need to come out from behind the masks we put on, the tough masks, the disinterested I-don’t-care masks, the angry masks, and be real. We need to be “there.” He is, so we should.

Then, when we put on the Purim costumes, it’s that much more fun – because we know for sure it’s just pretend. We’re not hiding anything.

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn is a Marriage and Family Therapist. She can be reached at 646-54-DRDEB or by writing drdeb@drdeb.com.

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Health & F tness

Attempting to Eat Healthy Even on Purim

By Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN

P

urim is a fun-filled, exciting day. However, for those dieting and strictly watching what they eat, Purim can be very stressful. Between the running around and missing meals, to the never-ending junk food calling your name from all the mishaloch manos, to the Purim seudah, eating healthy on Purim can be a daunting task. How does one have control over their diet on Purim?

First of all, make sure before you head out to start your mishloach manos deliveries you sit down for a well-balanced breakfast. Like I always say, breakfast is the best way to start the day. Not only does breakfast start you off with the right energy to embrace your day, breakfast is linked to many health benefits including weight control and performance. By eating breakfast, you will feel more satisfied and are less likely to overeat during the day. Don’t think that by skipping breakfast you are saving calories. Nutritious breakfast examples include whole grain cereal with skim milk, eggs, cottage cheese with fruit, whole wheat toast with peanut butter, smoothies, or yogurt. If you really have no time to sit and eat breakfast in between running out for the megillah and getting a head start on the Purim traffic, grab a yogurt or a granola bar with a bottle of water. It’s easy to go a whole day without drinking water while running around. Water is important to maintain hydration and

keeps you full.

After you have a nutritious, wellbalanced breakfast, plan your next meal. Don’t rely on the junk you’ll be collecting from your mishloach manos to fill you up throughout the day. Plan and prepare a nutritious lunch. If you won’t be home in time to sit down for a meal, make sure you pack a lunch to take with you on your delivery route. If you don’t have a proper lunch you’ll likely snack on all the goodies you receive throughout the day which will quickly add up to many unwanted calories. If you have time, quickly scout your mishaloch manos that you received already and see if anybody sent you a vegetable platter or salad that you can take along with you. If not, pack yourself a sandwich on whole grain bread. Preferably, put a protein source in your sandwich such as peanut butter, tuna fish, or eggs. Next, add vegetables as fillers to your sandwich. Anyone will admit that adding vegetables always enhances a sandwich. This makes it feel more like a meal, gives an added crunch, and imparts more flavor. The best part is that you’re eating some of your daily servings of vegetables without taking any more time. You’re getting your vitamins and minerals without any extra effort.

When you finally do sit down for your Purim seudah, hopefully you’ll have had a proper breakfast and lunch so you will not go out of con-

trol and overdo it at the meal. When choosing foods to fill up your plate, target the salads, fresh fruit, and lowfat foods. In addition, try to fill up on water throughout the seudah so you will have less of a craving for all the other goodies. Steer clear of carbs, fatty foods such as red meats, kugels, anything in puff pastry, and of course the desserts! If necessary, bring your own food to the seudah and only eat the food that you brought with you. Some individuals find it hard to say no to food even when they are not hungry. Bringing your own preplanned healthy meal will decrease the chances of pigging out on all the goodies in front of you.

When taking food, use a small plate instead of a big plate to portion out your meal. Most people enter a party with big eyes and want to try everything. Start off with a small portion and then wait 15-20 minutes before refilling. Your stomach needs about 15-20 minutes to get the message to the brain that you are full; otherwise you can overeat until you are about to burst. So, start off with a small portion, wait, and then if you are still hungry, refill wisely. Don’t fall into the trap of the “finish your plate syndrome.” You don’t have to finish everything on your plate. Once you are full, stop eating. If you are hosting the seudah, you are at an advantage because the menu is in your hands. You can cater the menu to your

diet, making it easier to maintain self-control.

Once you made it safely through the day and controlled yourself from all the enticing mishloach manos, the hard part is facing it all for the next month. Chances are you now have a nice collection of candy, cakes, snacks, and other “dangerous” foods. The best and most generous technique is to donate the food to the less fortunate. One can also send all the junk food to school with your kids or take it to work to share with your coworkers.

You can even make a competition out of it – choose a group of friends; whoever has the biggest bag of food to get rid of wins a prize! Whichever method works best for you, make sure that unwanted food is out of reach and out of the house. Remember: out of sight, out of mind.

Don’t forget to focus on the true essence of Purim and use this powerful day to daven for anything you need. I wish you and your family a freilichen Purim!

Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN, is a Master’s level Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist. She graduated CUNY Brooklyn College receiving a Bachelor’s in Science and Master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences. She is currently a dietitian at Boro Park Center and a private nutrition consultant. She can be reached at CindyWeinberger1@gmail.com.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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In The K

tchen

Spicy Sweet Potato Hamantashen

By Naomi Nachman

Purim is always so much fun for the children. For those of us who have to prepare the seudah, we can bring in fun for everyone too - even at the meal. Here’s one idea for doing so.

Ingredients

Preparation

2 sheets puff pastry 2 sweet potatoes 1 tsp honey ¼ tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp cumin Salt 1 tsp olive oil 1 egg

Peel the sweet potatoes and boil them until they are soft. Drain after they are boiled. Once they are slightly cooled, mash them with a fork.

Add honey, cinnamon, cumin, salt and oil. Mix well.

Cut defrosted puff pastry dough into 3-4 inch rounds with a cookie cutter. Place the filling inside the center and bring up 3 sides of the dough to form a hamantashen. Brush hamantashen with egg wash and bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 350°F for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Serve warm.

Why not utilize a “Venahafichu” approach at the Purim table by serving dessert first! Well, at least something that looks like dessert.

I plan to make spicy sweet potato hamantashen as my appetizer and will have them plated just a few minutes before we are about to eat. Everyone will sit down and think I gave them dessert first – but I will really have given them a yummy beginning to what will be a delicious, festive and yom tov meal!

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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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

For the second year in a row, fewer undocumented youth applied for financial aid in California because they are distrustful of our government. This is a direct product of Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. No one in America should ever have to live in fear of our government.

- Tweet by Sen. Kamala Harris (C-CA), bemoaning the fact that illegal aliens are not signing up to get tax payers’ money in California

I gave him a gun. I gave him a badge. I gave him the training. If he didn’t have the heart to go in, that’s not my responsibility.

There may come a point when the economics of [the print paper] no longer make sense for us.

- New York Times CEO Mark Thompson on CNBC

I will kill any tax legislation that benefits Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with NRA. Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.

– Tweet by Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in response to Delta Airlines announcing that the NRA will no longer be allowed to participate in its group travel program

You guys. I just got into an unmarked gypsy cab at [San Francisco] airport with a Russian driver. If I disappear, it’s a tan Lincoln continental.

– Top 2016 Clinton campaign aide Jennifer Palmieri, in quite a xenophobic tweet

- Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel in a TV interview responding to calls for his resignation after it was disclosed that one of his deputies was on the scene in Parkland during the school shooting and failed to go into the building

Special counsel Robert Mueller and his investigators resemble axe-wielding firefighters frantically stomping through a house and not finding so much as a lit birthday candle.

Meanwhile, the home next door burns to the basement. Team Mueller’s never-ending hunt for reds in October 2016 has found zero evidence of Russian collusion among Team Trump.

In contrast, Russian collusion among Democrats has been as hard to miss as a California wildfire. And yet they still miss it.

- Deroy Murdock, National Review

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In technology news, the organization that oversees emojis has changed the lobster emoji after people in Maine complained that it didn’t have the correct number of legs! ... When they heard about this, lobsters were like, “Thanks for fixing the emoji but while you’re at it, can you stop boiling us?”

- James Corden

CNN had originally asked me to write a speech and questions, and it ended up being all scripted.

- Colton Haab, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, on ABC, disclosing that the CNN Town Hall on guns last Wednesday was scripted

There is absolutely no truth to this. CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night’s town hall, nor have we ever.

– Statement by CNN, accusing Haab of lying

It’s really, really good – diversity!

- Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (D), upon drinking a glass of chocolate milk to demonstrate his belief in diversity at a Black History Month event in Chicago

Young people have helped lead all our great movements. How inspiring to see it again in so many smart, fearless students standing up for their right to be safe; marching and organizing to remake the world as it should be.

We’ve been waiting for you. And we’ve got your backs.

- Tweet by Barack Obama

You agree with their agenda, so you’re praising “youth leadership” generally. That’s dishonest. Young people have also helped lead some of our dumbest and worst movements.

- Tweet in response by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro

What a nice picture that is. Look at that. I would love to watch that guy speak. Oh, boy. Oh, I try like [anything] to hide that bald spot, folks. I work hard at it. Doesn’t look bad. Hey, we’re hanging in.

– President Trump during his speech at last week’s CPAC Convention when he noticed a picture of the back of his head

We officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Every president campaigned on, “We’re going to recognize Jerusalem as a capital of Israel.” … They never pulled it off. And I now know why.

Because I put the word out that I may do it. Right… I was hit by more countries and more pressure and more people calling, begging me, “Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.” I said, we have to do it. It is the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do.

We have to do it. And I did it. But every other president really lied because they campaigned on it. That was always a big part of the campaign. They got into office and they never did it.

- Ibid., at the CPAC Convention

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They also call Trump a tyrant, but they then say they want the president to confiscate our firearms. Try and figure that one out.

- National Rifle Association (NRA) spokeswoman Dana Loesch, speaking at the CPAC Convention

Washington Navy Yard; Garland, Texas; Ft. Hood; Charleston; Boston; San Bernardino; Orlando; Parkland – do you know what all of these mass tragedy incidents involved? FBI dropped the ball. They dropped the ball.

– Ibid.

Evil triumphs when good people stand idly by.

I Don’t Do Doping.

- The motto of the Broward County Crime Commission which, in 2014, gave an award for good police work to Scot Peterson, who was the armed public safety officer on the Parkland campus who did not enter the building when the shooting began

- What was written on a sweatshirt that Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva wore last Tuesday, three days before she was tested positive for a banned substance during the PyeongChang Winter Games

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Congratulations, Kyle Mack!

- Ivanka Trump’s tweet after watching the 20-year-old cinch the silver medal in snowboarding

Can I catch a ride back to the States on Air Force One??

- Mack’s tweet in response

We’re rolling commercial, but you’re welcome to sit next me! Or come visit us at the White House anytime! Congrats!

- Ivanka’s reply

How much luck does Bibi have? How much luck?

Tell me, how much luck?

Gun ownership in China is strictly regulated, which helps reduce gun-related crimes and deaths. The U.S. should learn from China and genuinely protect human rights.

- From an editorial in the The Global Times, a news outlet run by China’s ruling Communist Party

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Political Crossfire

Stop Politicizing the Russia Investigation

By Marc A. Thiessen

T

he indictment issued recently against 13 Russians by special counsel Robert Mueller shows a conspiracy of stunning sophistication by Kremlin-connected Russians, posing as American citizens or using stolen U.S. identities,

to influence the 2016 presidential election.

What it does not show is any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Quite the opposite, the indictment shows evidence of a lack of collusion.

“Some defendants, posing as U.S. persons and without revealing their Russian association, communicated with unwitting individuals associated with the Trump campaign ... to coordinate political activities,” the indictment reads. If these Russians were colluding with the Trump campaign, there would be no reason to hide their true identities from multiple campaign officials.

Moreover, the indictment states

The Russians did develop a preference for Trump, but their effort was much bigger than Trump, according to the indictment. The Russian influence campaign was part of something called “Project Lakhta,” which “had multiple components, some involving domestic audiences within the Russian Federation and others targeting foreign audiences in various countries, including the United States.” The Russians’ stated

They have put their partisan goal of bringing down President Trump ahead of what should be a national goal that unites both parties - uncovering and stopping Russia’s attacks on our democracy.

that the Russian effort began in 2014, a year before Donald Trump declared his intention to run for president. No one, left or right or center, took Trump seriously as a candidate when he declared in 2015.

The idea that the Russians saw what all of us didn’t – that Trump had a serious shot at winning the White House – and figured this out way back in 2014, before Trump even declared his candidacy, is absurd.

goal was to “spread distrust toward the candidates and the political system in general.” In other words, Russia was engaged in a complex, well-funded, multinational effort to undermine trust in the democratic process in the United States and other countries.

This is a grave threat. Republicans and Democrats should be working together in bipartisan way to confront it. So why is this not

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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fort “focused on undermining her expected presidency.” One way to do that would be for Russian officials to provide her campaign with unverified dirt on Trump – fodder for Trump to claim that Democrats colluded with Moscow.

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happening? Because Democrats have politicized the issue, weaponizing the Russia inquiry in an effort to delegitimize Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton with these unfounded collusion charges. They have put their partisan goal of bringing down President Trump ahead of what should be a national goal that unites both parties – uncovering and stopping Russia’s attack on our democracy.

The president’s critics complain that his response to the Mueller indictment is defensive. America is under attack, they say, and all he can talk about is himself. Well, whose fault is that? For more than a year, Democrats have repeatedly accused Trump of colluding with Moscow.

Now the special counsel has issued an indictment that shows – at least with regard to this element of the Russian effort – that no collusion took place. Of course Trump is going to claim vindication! Perhaps evidence of collusion between Trump officials and Russia will still emerge.

If it does, those officials should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But Trump’s response is not the behavior of someone who is worried that Mueller will find evidence he knowingly engaged in collusion.

In fact, the only evidence so far of any cooperation between a hired operative of a 2016 campaign and Russian officials is when the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid Christopher Steele to collect dirt on Trump from

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For three years, President Barack Obama did virtually nothing in response to this attack on America. It’s way past time to address this threat, and we need to do it in a bipartisan manner. But for that to happen, Democrats need to stop politicizing the Russia investigation. (c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Political Crossfire

The Zelig of Russian Covert Action

By David Ignatius Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, serving dinner to Putin in Moscow in 2011, when Putin was prime minister

E

very good spy story needs a shadowy operative who does the dirty work for the boss, and thanks to the indictment issued Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller, we now have a nominee for that role in the Russia investigation.

He’s a billionaire oligarch named

Yevgeniy Prigozhin, and based on Russian and other accounts, he sounds like a real-life version of a James Bond villain.

Prigozhin’s fingerprints appear to be on three of the most sensitive operations launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin: meddling in the

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2016 U.S. election; supporting separatist fighters in Eastern Ukraine; and providing military muscle for the Syrian regime. Russia’s hidden combatants are often described as “Little Green Men,” and Prigozhin may be the Jolly Green Giant who helps this machine function.

Prigozhin has been painted in press accounts as “Putin’s chef,” because he got his start as the future

sians alleged that Prigozhin was a key funder of the Internet Research Agency, a St. Petersburg “troll farm” that sought to plant pro-Kremlin information on social media. The indictment charged that, through several subsidiaries branded as “Concord,” Prigozhin “spent significant funds” to support the organization’s “information warfare” against the U.S.

Russia’s hidden combatants are often described as “Little Green Men,” and Prigozhin may be the Jolly Green Giant who helps this machine function.

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president’s favorite restaurateur in Russia’s wild frontier capitalism of the 1990s. He started with food stalls in his native St. Petersburg and eventually built an elegant floating restaurant there where Putin hosted foreign leaders. Billion-dollar contracts to cater for the Russian military followed. But he started as a tough guy: Back in 1981, prior to gaining Putin’s favor, Prigozhin was reportedly jailed for nine years for robbery, fraud and child prostitution, according to the Russian news website Meduza.

Mueller’s indictment of 13 Rus-

Prigozhin has denied involvement in the troll factory. His defiant reaction to being named in Friday’s indictment: “I am not at all disappointed that I appear in this list. If they want to see the devil – let them.”

Prigozhin has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury since 2016 because of his activities in Ukraine.

Mueller’s indictment describes a complex effort to manipulate American public opinion through fake accounts, false fronts and stolen identities. The troll factory’s election bias was evident in the ads it purchased, including: “Hillary is a Satan, and

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

her crimes and lies had proved just how evil she is,” and “Among all the candidates Donald Trump is the one and only who can defend the police from terrorists.”

The cheeky Russian operatives even arranged to photograph an American in front of the White House several days before Prigozhin’s 2016 birthday, holding a sign that said: “Happy 55th Birthday Dear Boss,” according to the indictment.

Meddling in American politics was a brazen act, but it was an elaboration of tactics that the Internet Research Agency allegedly embraced in 2014 in Ukraine after mass protests toppled Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president. The Wall Street Journal recently spoke with a Russian journalist who had worked for the agency. The Journal characterized his job there as “rewriting news from the point of view of pro-Russian separatists.” Last year, Mueller indicted Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for concealing a scheme to lobby for Yanukovych.

Prigozhin is also allegedly connected to a group of mercenaries, known as the Wagner Group, that aided Ukrainian separatists. The Moscow Times reported last November that he invested in Wagner, and that its leader, a former Russian military officer named Dmitry Utkin, was general director of one of Prigozhin’s Concord companies.

Prigozhin, the Zelig of Russian covert action, also appears to have

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had a special role in the Wagner Group’s mercenary operations in Syria. The Associated Press reported in December that he was an investor in Evro Polis, which has a contract to help liberate Syrian oil and gas fields and, in return, receive 25 percent of the production revenues. “The link between Evro Polis and Prigozhin is significant and is not in doubt,” according to Denis Korotkov, a reporter for the Russian website Fontanka,

quoted by the AP. No public response from Prigozhin could be found.

The Syria mercenary operation took a disastrous turn two weeks ago, when commandos tried to seize oil and gas fields east of Deir alZour and were demolished by U.S. and Syrian Kurdish forces holding that terrain. According to Fontanka, about 3,000 Wagner mercenaries have worked in Syria since Russia intervened in 2015.

President Trump, in his torrent of combative Twitter messages following Friday’s indictment, said that Putin and his operatives must be “laughing their [heads] off” because their divisive efforts have worked so well. Maybe so, but given the exposure of covert action in Ukraine, Syria and America, the Russians may not have the last laugh. (c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Good Hum r

Flight Food

By Jon Kranz

K

eeping kosher is not easy but, in some ways, keeping kosher at 30,000 feet in the air is easier than doing so on the ground. This is due to the fact that many airlines offer kosher meals, an option that normally is just a call or click away.

The proliferation and availability of kosher meals is something that often is taken for granted but should be appreciated every time a kosher meal lands on your tray table.

Airlines, of course, accommodate a myriad of dietary restrictions. Many offer vegetarian meals and some may even offer vegan, pescetarian and fruitarian meals. That does not mean, however, that airlines offer meals to fit every single diet. For example, airlines ordinarily will not offer South Beach meals, Atkins meals, Mediterranean meals or Richard Simmons Deal-a-Meal meals. Also, there are no airlines that offer Rastafarian or pastanarian meals.

When it comes to providing kosher meals, most airlines follow the same basic process. The meals themselves are obtained from a local kosher caterer on the ground who prepares each meal according to each airline’s specifications. In order to ensure that the meals are not tampered with and do not come into contact with non-kosher items, each meal is double-wrapped and hermetically sealed.

In fact, opening a kosher meal on an airplane can be almost as difficult as breaking into Fort Knox, the Federal Reserve, or a synagogue kiddush before davening is over. What makes it especially hard is trying to open

mounds of plastic with a wimpy plastic knife. That’s like splitting a bagel with a spoon.

Ordering a kosher meal on a flight has at least one special perk: you usually get your meal before everyone else gets theirs. The reason is relatively practical: flight attendants would rather get the special meals out of the way before they head down the aisle with carts carrying meals for the masses. For flight attendants, the tricky part is figuring out precisely which passengers ordered a kosher

shocked because I’m wearing a baseball hat over my yarmulke.

Flight Attendant: So what?

Passenger: So what exactly led you to believe that I keep kosher?

Flight Attendant: The name on your baseball hat is “Menschy Mashgiachs.”

Passengers: Oh, that’s right!

That’s the name of my softball team.

But how do you know what a mashgiach is?

Flight Attendant: I don’t. But “Menschy” sort of gave it away.

That’s like splitting a bagel with a spoon.

meal. Many flight attendants attempt to iron that out before takeoff but sometimes they have to rely on midflight instinct: Flight Attendant: Excuse me, did you order a kosher meal?

Passenger: No, I forgot to. But if you have an extra, I would be forever in your debt.

Flight Attendant: I do have an extra kosher meal, which is why I asked.

Passenger: Fantastic! But there is something that I need to know.

Flight Attendant: What is it?

Passenger: This is a packed flight so how did you know to offer a kosher meal to me?

Flight Attendant: It was obvious.

Passenger: Really? I’m a little

The interesting thing about kosher food in the sky is that on El Al airlines, the official airline of the State of Israel, the only type of meal offered is a kosher meal. In other words, when you fly on El Al, you will never hear a flight attendant ask: “Excuse me sir, did you order a non-kosher meal?”

Besides kosher meals, there are other ways to make air travel more Jewish. For example, when pilots make announcements over the P.A. system, they could add a few fun facts as follows: Pilot: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard flight number 613, non-stop to New York City. We are number two for takeoff and we should have you off

the ground in the next few minutes.

The weather currently is 24 degree Celsius with winds out of the northwest at 10 miles per hour. We are expecting a smooth ride but we ask that you keep your seatbelts fastened at all times. This week’s parsha is Tazria-Metzorah, today is the 18th day of the Omer and this week also is Rosh Chodesh and the molad will occur at seven hours, six minutes and eight chalakim. There will be an Ashkenazic minyan in the front of the plane, a Sephardic minyan in the back and a break-away minyan in the middle. On today’s flight, you may purchase raffle tickets to support a local yeshiva and the grand prize of this year’s raffle is one full year of not being solicited to buy raffle tickets from any Jewish organization. For your viewing pleasure we have included “Raid on Entebbe” and “The Ten Commandments” on our inflight entertainment system.

Want to listen to music? Take advantage of our simcha station – which includes chuppah songs, Purim songs, Shabbos zemiros, and your children’s favorite, “Paroah in pajamas in the middle of the night.” Our E.T.A. into New York City is 6:13 p.m., iy”H. So please sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight.

Word to the wise in the Tribe: If you ordered a kosher meal but did not receive it, speak up. Don’t be (kosher) mealy-mouthed about it.

Jon Kranz is an attorney living in Englewood, New Jersey. Send any comments, questions or insults to jkranz285@gmail. com.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Forgotten Her es

Long, Long, Long Lost American History

By Avi Heiligman

W

hen it comes to writing Purim articles the suggestions come in fast and furious. Topics like weird car names and Sesame Street characters as compared to political figures are meant for the self-entertaining Centerfold Commissioner. This author prefers to do a history-based column with topics along the lines of Cleveland Browns’ wins in the past decade or a third party candidate winning the presidential election. Since those lists would be quite small, this author chose to write about other interesting subjects.

Now presenting, for the first time ever in print, are previously unknown facts about Sherlock Holmes, Albert Einstein, and the 1892 Olympics.

Before there were video games and TV, which seems like centuries ago but in reality was only a century ago, people read books and newspapers. The Holmes stories were mainly in the short story form and appeared in the popular Strand Magazine. This questioning fictional character lived in a fictional house on the real Baker Street in the real London. Author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave him one brother, Mycroft (not to be confused with the computer game version of him, Minecraft Holmes).

Other characters appear throughout the stories, although many did not have their names appear in the book.

Only many years later were their

Einstein had a forgotten, but way more important, theory for the world

names and origins revealed. One of these characters was a cousin whose name I am revealing now for the first time. Yes, this author is the only person in history to know the name of this character, and I am willing to share his identity with you. Sidelock Holmes was the founder of the Baker Street Irregulars (street dudes who were able to spy for Sherlock). It was Sidelock’s duty to keep them in line.

The Baker Street Irregulars were from Middle Eastern Arab countries and for some reason Sidelock always had their attention. An interesting fact about Sidelock was that he was a frum Jew whose mother had converted before he was born. His mother, Shaindel, and Sherlock’s dad were siblings. Sidelock was an important figure in cracking the Case of the Missing Afikomen. The case involved a butler of a Jewish family who became deathly ill from eating too much marror at the seder. Sidelock was instrumental in helping Sherlock determine what Pesach, matzah, and marror are, and why Jews are crunching on cardboard for eight days while scarfing down macaroons. He was not able to help Sherlock understand why there was a run on bleach, Clorox, and aluminum foil two weeks before the holiday.

One of this author’s famous pastimes is asking “normal” Americans questions about American history.

A favorite is: “What is Albert Ein-

stein most famous for?” The answer that is the most forthcoming is “he built the atomic bomb.” Oh, how I love how little history people in this country know! The bomb was built by other Jewish physicists but then to jog these people’s memory I say, “Remember E=mc2?” They usually answer, “Maybe, what’s that?” I say, “Ever heard of the Theory of Relativity?” They generally respond, “Huh?” (You know from these conversations that I am talking to a member of the Tribe because almost every answer is in the form of a question.)

Einstein had many famous papers published with earth-jolting results from the science world. Recently, an unpublished paper was found and was submitted to all of the leading Jewish news sources and publications. Here at The Jewish Home we are proud to introduce Einstein’s Theory of Yeshivishnicity. It goes like this: the longer a bachur wears his tzitzis multiplied by the amount of times he eats chulent in a week = how well a customer service rep will be able to understand what he is saying. Or something like that because it was written in physicist language that no normal people can comprehend. It is tough for most people to understand what the actual equation is saying. Words like ken zein, greasy, and mamesh all make an appearance. Imagine any customer service call that a bachur can make, and Einstein already included it in

his paper.

I’m sure that by this time most of the readers, even those living in North Korea, have heard that a major world sporting competition has been going on. The Olympics bring out the best and most colorful athletes that the world has to offer. No, we won’t be talking about them in this article as we’ll wait until next week to do a recap from South Korea.

However, there is a history behind the Olympics that most people don’t know about and so now we’ll delve into the first modern Olympics, the 1892 Games at Sparta.

The ancient Olympics Games were held every four years and to commemorate it a man in 1892 decided to hold it in Sparta, an autonomous nation inside Greece that isn’t on most maps today (don’t take my word for it). The decisions of what competitions to hold were left up to the athletes. A Jewish contingent had been arguing who could do the best hagbah on a Torah scroll made especially for this purpose – without any words – and decided to put their skills to the test. Yankel the Water Carrier from Poland won with a score of 9.2 out of 10. Points were deducted because his tallis slipped to the floor. Berel the Butcher from Lithuania was the potato kugel champion; Harry from Hungary fittingly won the Yerushalmi portion of the kugel competition. On the wom-

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Sherlock Holmes relied on his cousin, Sidelock, for his help in solving certain mysteries

Jews in the ancient chulent-eating contest at the Olympics

en side, across the mechitza, Ethel from Galicia had the best challah form and her companion Esther took home the gold for the best tasting chulent. The fan favorite contest was won by Sammy (no one knew his last name) who read the megillah in just 13 minutes and 31 seconds without a single mistake. Before the reading

dreidels at one time. PETA came out swinging when they heard about the chickens swinging around their heads. At that time, though, no one really cared that they called foul. It was a different time, you see.

Just when you thought you knew history, you learned a little bit more about our nation throughout the

the crowd was instructed not to bang for Haman’s name.

There were other athletes in the Olympics that year who were from the Tribe. We can’t get into them all, but some of their feats involved swinging chickens around their heads, klapping hoshanos on the ground, and spinning the most

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years. Stay tuned for next week’s (real) recap from PyeongChang.

Happy Purim y’all!

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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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

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WOODSBURGH: BEST PRICE IN TOWN PRICE REDUCED Sprawling 4BR, 4BA Exp-Ranch, Oversized Rooms, LR W/Fplc, Formal Dining Rm, Large Den, Master Suite, Full Finished Basement, Storage Room & Office, Deck, Fabulous Property… $1.078M Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com VALLEY STREAM: NEW LISTING 10 Room Property With A 4 Room Office Including A Reception Area, Waiting Rm, Doctors Office & 2 Examining Rooms, Attached Is A 3 Bedroom Apartment, Also Perfect If The Professional Office Is Converted To More Bedrooms, Many Possibilities…$559K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

Rabbi Dovid Fleischmann Certified Mohel

WWW.BABYSMOHEL.COM

Baby-Friendly Care

 Personalized Attention

COMMERCIAL RE

Expert Skill and Dedicated Service you Deserve

CEDARHURST 500-3,500 +/- SF Beautiful, newly renovated space for rent. Ideal for Retail or Executive offices. Prime location. Convenient Parking.

Sam @516-612-2433 or 718-747-8080

516-314-3236 babysmohel@gmail.com

INWOOD OFFICE SPACE LOWEST PRICES IN TOWN! 500-7000 Square feet gorgeous office space with WATERVIEW in Inwood!

Lots of options. Tons of parking.

Will divide and customize space for your needs!

Call 516-567-0100

5 Store Strip - Fully Occupied Great Tenancy Pugatch Realty Corp 516-295-3000 x-127 516-384-3880 Direct www.pugatch.com

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FEBRUARY 28, 2018 | The Jewish Home

Classifieds

classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com text 443-929-4003

COMMERCIAL RE

COMMERCIAL RE

CEDARHURST: COMING SOON Don’t Miss This Opportunity!!! High Tech Executive Suites W/Parking & Storage, Various Sizes Available, All New!!! 24 Hour Access, All Utilities Included Plus Many Amenities, For Lease…

Call Ian for More Details (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

HEWLETT: INVESTOR’S DELIGHT!!!

5 Store Strip - Fully Leased, Great Tenancy, High Traffic Location, Easy to Manage, For Sale…

Call Ian for More Details (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

CEDARHURST: 3,300 +/- SF Retail Space with Basement, Municipal Parking Lot in Rear & Street Parking, Corner Building, Prime Location, Very High Ceilings & Lots of Windows, For Lease…

Call Ian for More Details (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com East ROCKAWAY: Retail Stores on Busy Corner, 1000SF& Up Available, Great High Visibility Location, For Lease… Call for More Details Broker (516) 792-6698 FRANKLIN SQUARE: 2,185+/-SF Medical Office Space in Professional Strip W/On-Site Parking in Great Location, For Lease…

Call Alan for More Details (516) 2953000 www.pugatch.com

WOODMERE

FAR ROCKAWAY: 8,600SF DayCare/School Available, Various Classrooms, Offices, MultiPurpose Room, Kitchenette & Bathrooms, Ready to Go!!! For Lease …

Call For More Details Broker (516) 792-6698 ROCKVILLE CENTRE 5700 -S/F WAREHOUSE Includes Offices with Large Windows Loading Dock / Ideal Location Walk To: LIRR - Chase Bank - Seven Eleven - Rite Aid 917-822-0499 INWOOD 10,000 sq ft brick building.

Offices and warehouse. High ceilings.

Asking $16/foot.

Owner: 516-206-1100 mark@mbequitygroup.com

WOODMERE

COMMERCIAL RE

APT FOR RENT

WOODMERE:

FOR RENT BY OWNER-NO BROKERS 4 bedroom 2 bath second floor near TAG. New kitchen ,washer/dryer, yard. $2900 rent contact brubek@aol.com

1,400 +/- SF Office Space Available, steps from LIRR Station, Close to All, For Lease…Call Lenny For More Details (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com EAST ROCKAWAY: Retail Stores on Busy Corner, 1000SF& Up Available, Great High Visibility Location, For Lease… Call for More Details Broker (516) 792-6698

CO-OP/CONDO SALE WOODMERE: BEST BUY Spacious 2BR Apartment, Washer/Dryer In Bldg, Elevator Bldg, Open Floor Plan, 1st Floor, Close To All...$199K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com CEDARHURST: NEW LISTING Bright & Sunny, Spacious 1BR Co-op W/Lg Living Rm/Dining Rm, Eik, Near All...$159K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

FAR ROCKAWAY: NEW LISTING Spacious & Updated 2BR, 2 Bathroom Apt on 1st Floor W/Terrace In Elevator Bldg, Parking, Doorman & Laundry Room On Premise...$350K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com FAR ROCKAWAY Semi new, 2 floor apartment for rent on beach 9th Street.

Please call 347-524-3864 LAWRENCE: NO FEE BRAND NEW Top Of The Line Apartment, 2 Bedrooms, Stainless Steel Appliances, Crown Molding, Close To All…From $2,000/mo Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com CEDARHURST: NEW LISTING, 2BR, 2BA In 2 Family House, Eik, LR, DR, Washer/Dryer, Very Close To All, Great Location...$2,500/mo Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

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

Brand New Construction On Oversized Lot In The Heart Of SD #15.

Experienced builder. Call Tamar (917)902-0613 $1.495M

New exclusive! Open Layout Cape With 3 brs, Renovated Bths And Granite Kosher Kitchen. Beautiful Yard With Deck. A+ Location In Sd 15. Call Tamar (917)902-0613 $799k

LAWRENCE

HEWLETT

Wide-Line Expanded Ranch In Exclusive Sutton Park Section Of Lawrence With Room For Expansion. Call Chana (516)449-9692 $1.38M

4 Bedroom Cape On Quiet Cul-De-Sac For Rent. Pet Friendly. Radiant Heat On Tile Floors, Large Yard With Deck, Walk To All. $3500/month

CEDARHURST

Weekly Classifed Ads Up to 5 lines and/or 25 words 1 week ................ $20 $10 2 weeks .............. $35 $17.50 4 weeks .............. $60 $30 Email ads to: classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com

Renovated 3flCol w/ new kitchen and bathrooms. Lived in as a 1 family, but is a legal 2 family. Call Donny (347)992-6343 $799K

5br, 3bth short term rental in the heart of Cedarhurst available immediately. Call Tamar (917)902-0613 $4000/month

CEDARHURST

New exclusive! 4br SH colonial on very large property Amazing location! Low taxes! $749K Call Avigail (516)316-3452 or Miri (646)515-8813

New exclusive! Ren split w/ 4brs on 1 level. 2 wonderful fam rms.

Large prop. Call Miri (646) 515-8813 or Chana (516) 449-9692 $839K

Include valid credit card info

Deadline Monday 5:00pm

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Classifieds HELP WANTED TEACHERS Elementary & JH - Math, ELA for Sept. '18. M-Th afternoons.

5 Towns Area Boys’ School. candidateteacher@gmail.com 5TOWNS BOYS YESHIVA seeking Elem Gen Ed Teachers.

Excellent working environment and pay. Only lic/exp need apply.

Email resume to yeshivalooking@gmail.com.

Pugatch Realty Corp., in Woodmere, is looking to hire and train a select group of motivated Realtors. If you are looking to build a career in real estate, or looking to take your existing career to the next level, there is no better place to start that the #1 Real Estate Brokerage in the Five Towns…Call Today (516) 295-3000 x 128.

All calls kept confidential.

HAMASPIK IS SEEKING COMMUNITY HABILITATION STAFF to work day hours, evenings and weekends in the Five Towns, Queens, Far Rockaway & long Island, with high functioning developmentally disabled adults, children and teens. Shabbos staff also needed for Cedarhurst, Far Rockaway & Lawrence.

Drivers’ license a plus.

Mileage will be reimbursed.

Please call Yehudis: 718-408-5417 for more details.

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classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com text 443-929-4003

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

MISC

Well known Preschool in Far Rockaway, seeking certified SPECIAL ED TEACHER FOR SUMMER SESSION. Competitive salary, pleasant working conditions.

Email resume to scohen@oonourwaylc.org

CATAPULT LEARNING Teachers, Title I Boro Park, Williamsburg and Flatbush Schools *College/Yeshiva Degree *Teaching experience required *Strong desire to help children learn *Small group instruction *Excellent organization skills Competitive salary Send resume to: Fax: (212) 480-3691 ~ Email: nyteachers@catapultlearning.com

Gift It Forward a non profit gift shop,

FIVE TOWNS OFFICE LOOKING FOR immediate hire of several people…part time and full time…starting at $15 per hour. Need detail- oriented person to handle A/P, A/R, customer service, and ability to negotiate bids and contracts.

Computer literate a must.

Please email fabadi@egwaste.com

WIG GEMACH

CDL DRIVER WANTED FOR SUMMER IN THE CATSKILLS FOR A FOOD DISTRIBUTER PLEASE EMAIL: employment@mehadrin.com SHULAMITH EARLY CHILDHOOD is looking to hire a full time teacher assistant for the current school year.

Please email resume to earlychildhood@shulamith.org F/T & P/T REGISTERED NURSE openings to work with adults who have developmental disabilities within residential settings in Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Long Island. Current NYS RN, min 2 years hospital experience. OHEL: 855-OHEL JOB, www.ohelfamily.org/careers Immediate position open for experienced teacher. 5th gr. boys' class; potential also for next year.

Far Rockaway area. immediateopening8@gmail.com

445 Central Ave, Relocating March 2018.

Huge Pre-move sale.

Every purchase benefits the community.

Donations of new gift items appreciated. fb/insta @giftitforwardcedarhurst info.giftitforward@yahoo.com

Everyone in our community deserves to look great! Donate used wigs and make a world of a difference.

For appointments to see wigs or to donate, call Deena 845-304-6668

Reach Your Target Market

Classifieds

Life CAPTURE

I M A G E S LTD PHOTOGRAPHY I VIDEO

GABRIEL SOLOMON

GABE@LIFECAPTUREIMAGES.COM 516.499.9620 WWW.LIFECAPTUREIMAGES.COM

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Your

Money

Free App Avoids 100% of This Tax

By Allan Rolnick, CPA

T

raffic apps have revolutionized how many of us get from Point A to Point B. They started with in-dash navigation systems that needed updates every time a new subdivision or interchange appeared. Then they migrated to the phone with Google Maps and real-time traffic updates. Now, apps like Waze tell you where to get off the highway to avoid traffic jams altogether — and terrorize quiet residential neighborhoods in the process.

At this point, your kids probably wouldn’t recognize the vintage navigation tool known as the “folding paper map” if you used it to smack them in the face.

But now there’s a way to use these exciting new apps to help reduce your tax bill, too ... at least, if you’re thirsty in Seattle.

Seattle proudly counts itself as a leader in America’s progressive movement. Seattle residents joined the rest of Washington residents to become one of the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana. And Seattle has spearheaded the growing national drive for a $15 minimum wage.

Now Seattle has joined Berkeley,

Philadelphia, and several other municipalities in imposing a soda tax.

Wanna quench your thirst with a tasty Mountain Dew? Plan on paying an extra 1.75 cents per ounce. The new tax, which kicked in on January 1, applies to “sweetened beverages,” including regular sodas, energy and sports drinks, sugary coffee drinks

that a case of Gatorade they used to sell for $15.99 in Seattle now runs $26.33. That’s a 63% increase. A case of Dr. Pepper that used to cost $9.99 is now $17.55. That makes the tax bill nearly as much as the soda itself!

Seattle officials expect the tax will raise $15 million per year. They’re dedicating the revenue to nutrition

Costco reports that a case of Gatorade they used to sell for $15.99 in Seattle now runs $26.33. That’s a 63% increase.

for people who can’t drink it black like a grown-up, and sweetened iced teas. It does not apply to diet sodas, which means you can guzzle all the new Feisty Cherry Diet Coke you can handle without paying the extra tax.

A couple of pennies per ounce may not sound like much at first. But those pennies add up. Costco reports

education programs and studying how effective the program is. They also hope it will cut down residents’ waistlines and reduce diabetes. And if that’s what actually happens, it sounds like a win-win, right? Of course, we’ve taxed cigarettes for generations now in an attempt to discourage smoking. A pack of Marl-

boros costs $14 in Manhattan, and people still smoke ‘em if they got ‘em.

Here’s the problem. “Take the Long Way Home” is more than just a classic-rock radio staple. All you have to do to avoid the tax is to buy your soda somewhere else. Enterprising soda sellers outside Seattle city limits are taking advantage of that obvious fact! I5-, I90-, and I495take thirsty shoppers to places like Bellevue with no tax. Costco is even sending Seattle shoppers to their Tukwila store to avoid it. And so, a smartphone equipped with the Google Maps app is all the planning you need to beat the new tax.

Of course, there’s a downside to using an app for your tax planning: tax planning isn’t really that simple.

Shaving a few bucks off your sweetened beverage bill isn’t nearly as valuable as shaving thousands off your income tax. So come to us when you’re ready to save real money, and let’s see how sweet it is!

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 years in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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Life C ach

Purim Made Simple

By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., MFT, CLC

C

an we talk seriously about this Purim holiday?

For a day we starve, and then the next day we overload our friends with every kind of junk there is. The men get drunk and end up throwing up. And when they are completely emptied out, we eat a giant meal to top off the holiday.

Two minutes after the holiday ends, we are trying to get rid of all the junk because Passover is around the corner. So we send all our junk to school with our kids and they come home with a giant stomachache and threaten to throw up all over the place. So what’s this cycle all about?

I guess it mimics the holiday itself, where things looked bad. Then Esther got into the palace and that looked good. But then Haman went after the Jews, and that was bad.

But then we got rid of him, and that was good. And then, through all the tumult, G-d saved us!

So, as you go through the dramatic food extremes on Taanis

Esther and Purim, think of your brethren in Persia. There they were, thinking things were bad, then good, then bad again, then good again, and realize you can truly commiserate with the flight of emotions they were exposed to.

Our holidays are here to commemorate the experience of our

“meat” the memories head-on, while we remember our “past-a.”

And G-d demonstrates that He always “rice”s to the occasion, and in order that we don’t “lamb”-ment our plight, G-d becomes a “lifesaver!” Somehow, it’s just always done through food.

What better way than through

As they say, one appetizer is worth a thousand words.

people, so long ago, and to help us appreciate that G-d comes through for us in a crunch – or in a snap, crackle, pop! G-d “chips” away at the bad, and “sweetens” the future.

He washes “salt” off our wounds and “sugarcoats” our lives. We

our stomachs to experience the ups and downs of the Purim experience?! As they say, one appetizer is worth a thousand words.

We are an oral nation. G-d created man through speech. Therefore, when we are not using our words to

retell our history, we find ourselves using our lips and tongues anyway.

Articulate or masticate – either way we are reliving our past.

Furthermore, G-d blew life into us through our mouths and that’s where the relationship started.

Thus, when it is time to reconnect, it’s best to go back to the Source.

Sure, we could use our articulators to keep retelling the story. But what honest, self-respecting Jew wouldn’t stop for a bite somewhere in between anyway? G-d’s only making it easy for us by incorporating the food aspect into the entire theme of the day.

In other words, as the saying goes, G-d is just giving us food for thought!

Have a joyful, ful“filling” Purim!

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 | FEBRUARY 28, 2018

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