Five Towns Jewish Home - 4-6-17

April 6, 2017

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50 Chanukas Habayis Celebration at Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah

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A Community of Chessed at Tomchei Shabbos Packing Drive

IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: Thoughts on Shabbos Hagadol Crumbs and Greater Loaves by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky Bobker on Pesach No Regrets and No Tears by Rabbi YY Rubinstein Stories of Inspiration Pesach Recipes Chol Hamoed Guide Sinai Selfie by Jon Kranz The History of Egyptian Jewry by Brendy Siev Page 89

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TAG Inaugural Bat Mitzvah Event

– See page 3

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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THIS YEAR,

we are grateful to have TAKEN YOU OUT from the difficulty of navigating the various rewards programs; we have SAVED YOU from misusing your rewards; we have REDEEMED YOUR miles and points for top dollar; and we have BROUGHT YOU to the land of milk and honey (and many other lands as well) without having to break the bank...

So this Pesach, the entire PEYD Team says thank you, for another milestone year.

‫לשנה הבאה בירושלים‬

8 8 8 . 4 0 4 . P E Y D ( 7 3 9 3 ) | W W W. P E Y D.C O M | I N F O @ G E T P E Y D.C O M

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Dear Readers,

B

y the time you have time to sit down and read this you’ll probably be wading in potatoes, macaroons, and matzah crumbs. On Pesach, I feel as if we’re taken into an entirely different world. The smells are different, the tastes are different, the feel is different.

Think about it. Does the smell of hardboiled eggs sometimes bring you back to Pesach trips to the park or to a concert on chol hamoed? Do your taste buds go into overdrive trying to process all those egg whites, potato starch, and coconut flavoring that saturate Pesach cookies? Is your whole house rearranged so that the Pesach dishes and condiments can be accessible for the next eight days? Are your storage closets marked with big Xs in masking tape or covered with silver foil? Yes, for over a week we live in a different world.

But the world is not so different, in a way.

The changes that we make have been taking place in every Jewish home for hundreds of years. For centuries Jews have been using different dishes for Pesach. We’ve been eating an entirely different cuisine for just these few days. And our houses have looked different than from the rest of the year – all just for Pesach. As Tevye would say, “Tradition!”

Where would we be without our mesorah?

We would be a rootless nation, eventually melting into society. But our chain of traditions from father to son, from mother to daughter, is strong – and on Pesach we see it even more acutely.

In some homes, they don’t eat fish on Pesach. Lubavitchers only use sugar syrup on Pesach and don’t eat eggplants or unpeeled fruits and vegetables. Some people don’t eat milchigs. Others only use coarse salt and pepper to spice up their dishes and only use schmaltz during the chag instead of oil. Do you “brocht”? Well, I don’t eat gebrochts now, although my parents do. The list of chumros dictated by mesorah differs at each person’s home. And that’s just it. Pesach is about mesorah, it’s about the chain of Yiddishkeit being passed from generation to generation.

And we don’t question why someone doesn’t eat gebrochts or why they only use schmaltz instead of oil. If it’s what their parents did, then that’s what they do too. No questions asked.

This year, know that everything you do on Pesach is being passed along to your children.

It’s not just at the seder when the generations connect in the telling of yetzias Mitzrayim.

When your children build their own homes, they’ll be remembering that their parents did it “this” way on Pesach. And they will happily pass those traditions down to their children, continuing to add onto the hundreds of links that bind us to tens of previous generations.

Wishing you a chag kosher v’sameach, Shoshana P.S. Look for our next issue in stores on April 27.

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 Classifieds: Deadline Mondays 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.

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

The biggest ‫קמחא דפסחא‬ distribution in the world Donations to the ‫ קמחה דפסחא‬fund of Kupat Ha'ir are divided out amongst ten thousand families across the country.

The total sum distributed is eleven million shekels

TWICE ON EREV PESACH

‫להוושע‬ after Vasikin prayers

‫ולהנצל‬ After midday

Maran Harav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita will daven for donors of

About the Igeres Kodesh it is written "Whoever reads the Igeres Kodesh is promised that he will be saved from all troubles and he will succeed in all his endeavors". After reading the Igeres HaKodesh, Rav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita will daven for donors to Kupat Ha'ir

Kupat Ha'ir at the Siyum Hashas Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi after Tefillas Vasikin on Erev Pesach

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‫קו‬ ‫העפת‬ ‫יר‬

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll

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Community Happenings

49 NEWS Global

S4

13

National

36

Odd-but-True Stories

44

ISRAEL Israel News Just One Bite by Rafi Sackville

26 116

PEOPLE The Battle of Abu Ageila by Avi Heiligman

114

PARSHA Rabbi Wein

84

Shabbos Hagadol: Do You have a Father? by Rav Moshe Weinberger 86 THOUGHTS ON PESACH Crumbs and Greater Loaves by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

S4

Bobker on Pesach

S8

No Regrets and No Tears by Rabbi YY Rubinstein

S14

The Road to Redemption by Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

88

Making Shabbos Great Again by Eytan Kobre

91

STORIES OF INSPIRATION The Wheat Merchant by Dr. Annette Labovitz

S18

Asleep at the Seder Table by Rabbi Yerachmiel Michael Tilles

S22

CHOL HAMOED GUIDE

S32

JEWISH HISTORY Yetzias Mitzrayim 2.0: The Last of My People Go by Brendy J. Siev

S26

The Mystery of the Maharal and the Fifth Cup of Wine at Seder Night by Rav Pini Dunner 92 HEALTH & FITNESS The Wall by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

100

The Foods to Pass Over by Aliza Beer, MS RD

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Dear Editor, The article regarding the girl going out with a young man with diabetes struck me hard, because my young daughter married a wonderful young man with diabetes type 1.

Everything that was said in this article, particularly from Dr. Mond, was right on target. My son-in-law was honest with her and told her about his illness on the fourth date, and then we asked doctors, and she spoke to his endocrinologist and rebbe.

The important thing that I would like you to tell this girl’s parents is that his having diabetes can be a blessing in disguise. He has proven that he is responsible, capable, and calm by adhering to a diet, checking his blood and taking care of himself.

This makes him a better husband than others! He is not flustered by medical issues, he will be protective and compassionate with my daughter, he was honest by informing her, he is not trying to hide anything, and most important this illness could have made him more mature and responsible. Also, as his mother recently told me, he accepted this diagnosis at a young age with equanimity and

Cover Painting by Lola Lieber, A”H

acceptance, showing his deep emunah.

Although we always had healthy food, my daughter, as any young wife could attest to, had to adjust to shopping and cooking healthy, and learning about diabetes, but they are happy, baruch Hashem.

I would be happy to speak to this girl’s parents if they want; I hope they will not drop the shidduch on the diabetes issue alone.

A Reader Dear Editor, I enjoy reading your dating column every week and this week’s article really piqued my interest. I appreciated that you had a doctor weighing in and providing facts for this mother and father. I have to agree with the panelists who pointed out that sometimes people marry people who are healthy and then a year or two – or more – later, they become ill. Such is life. Yes, we don’t ask for challenges, but sometimes a challenge will prove to be an event that provides strength of character and fortitude in the face of suffering.

Sincerely, Miriam Kadein Dear Editor, Pesach is upon us and we all know that the seder can be busy as parents try to give each child proper attenContinued on page 10

FOOD & LEISURE The Fifth Question: Which Wine is Best?

TJH Speaks with Gabriel Geller S43 Pesach with The Aussie Gourmet: Naomi Nachman Speaks with TJH S46

S14

The Aussie Gourmet: Perfect for Pesach: Charoset Salad S48 Chol Hamoed with a Twist by Jamie Geller S50

LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW

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Your Money

124

What am I Searching For? by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

126

HUMOR Centerfold Sinai Selfie by Jon Kranz

82 S52

POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

104

The Road to Single-Payer Health Care by Charles Krauthammer

112

CLASSIFIEDS

119

Pesach is here! Does your family eat gebrochts on Pesach?

79

%

YES

21

%

NO

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Dear Editor, Last week, you wrote about convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh and how she will finally be deported.

Odeh killed two Hebrew University students in 1969 and sat in jail in prison in Israel after she was convicted. She was released in a prisoner exchange and then entered the United States on false premises – refusing to reveal to authorities that she was convicted of a crime and sat in jail.

During the Obama administration, the terrorist enjoyed the freedom that America offers. But now, a new sheriff is in town and you reported that Odeh will be deported. Finally, justice will be served – at least in part.

Guess what Odeh’s final parting words were? She spoke on Sunday for the Jewish Voice for Peace conference. Make no mistake about it. Yes, the name says their Jewish but their words and actions are anything but pro-Jew. Odeh received a standing ovation at the event and was lauded by “Rabbi” Alissa Wise. “Rasmea will be leaving us within a few months, but we know that in a short period of time she’ll have another Arab women’s committee going somewhere, and her legacy of principled resistance to Israeli-U.S. crimes against Palestinians and all other oppressed communities will be honored and continue,” Wise said. “We welcome you today, Rasmea, with love, with appreciation, with gratitude for all that you are.”

Such is the way that the left heaps saccharine adoration on terrorists and murderers. America will be better off without this terrorist. And I hope that other terrorists will realize that America will no longer harbor murderers.

Chaim H.

Continued from 8

tion. Perhaps, as parents, we should make sure to set aside a half hour or an hour over yom tov to give individualized attention to each child.

Go over their sheets and hagaddahs.

Listen to their songs, comment on their projects. Share divrei Torah, learn together. The bond that you share and strengthen as you sit together is invaluable – and your children will remember that special time

for years to come.

Zahava I. Dear Editor, I nodded my head when I read your letter to readers this week. What is the rush about buying clothes for Pesach? You’d think these stores were giving their merchandise away for free, the way people are clamoring for tops and skirts. How have we become such a society that NEEDS

so much materialistic things? Why are we DESPERATE to buy clothes or groceries or build a bigger home than our friends?

Take a step back. See what type of people we’ve become.

Yaakov Avinu said, “Yesh li kol.”

Eisav, his brother, said, “Yesh li rav.”

We should go back to being people who are satisfied with what we have.

Sincerely, Chana Y.

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

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

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

The Week In News

Russian Train Explosion Kills 14

tack is being treated by Russian authorities as an act of terrorism.

Experts say it is likely the Kremlin will argue that the attack – if motivated by radical Islam – highlights the importance of their backing of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Others will likely counter that it is proof that Putin was wrong for intervening in Syria.

Russia has been attacked by extremists before. ISIS claimed responsibility for bringing down a plane carrying 224 Russian tourists home from a Red Sea resort two years ago.

Chemical Attack in Syria A train in St. Petersburg was blown up by a suicide bomber on Monday. The blast killed 14 people and injured 49 more. The attack took place on a train that had left the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station. The doors of the train car were blown out by the explosion, and post-attack videos show the entire station filled with smoke.

Another device was discovered hidden in a fire extinguisher a few hours later at another metro station in St. Petersburg. The discovery led to a wave of fear across the city as investigators raced to find the terrorists responsible for the carnage.

President Vladimir Putin had been visiting the city that day as part of his reelection campaign. It is Russia’s second biggest city and Putin’s hometown. The president was quick to visit the scene of the explosion and lay flowers at a makeshift shrine to the victims.

On Tuesday, Russian officials revealed that Akbardzhon Dzhalilov, a Russian from the mainly Muslim Kyrgyzstan, was the terrorist responsible for the attack. It seems he was Muslim, but relatives say that he wasn’t radicalized. Officials said his DNA was also found on the bag holding the second – undetonated – bomb in the other train station. He carried the bomb onto the train in his knapsack. Both bombs contained shrapnel; the second bomb had 2.2 pounds of explosives in it.

According to security experts, Russia’s involvement and military intervention in Syria has made it a potential target for attacks by ISIS and other radical Islamic groups. The at-

On Tuesday, at least 72 Syrian civilians were killed in the town of Khan Sheikhun by a suspected chemical attack. Dozens more suffered from respiratory problems and symptoms, including vomiting, foaming at the mouth, and fainting.

At least 11 children’s lives were lost in the attack.

Hours after the initial attack – in which planes dropped plumes of toxic gas – air strikes also hit a hospital in the town where doctors were treating victims, bringing down rubble on top of medics as they worked.

Syria’s opposition blamed President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, saying the attack cast doubt on the future of peace talks. A senior Syrian security source denied claims of regime involvement as a “false accusation,” telling AFP that opposition forces were trying to “achieve in the media what they could not achieve on the ground.” If confirmed, it would be one of the worst chemical attacks since the start of Syria’s civil war six years ago.

Nations around the world swiftly condemned the attack; France’s President Francois Hollande denounced it and called it a “massacre.”

“We heard strikes this morning... We ran inside the houses and Continued on page 16

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saw whole families just dead in their beds. Children, women, old people dead in the streets,” resident Abu Mustafa said.

Khan Sheikhun is in Syria’s Idlib province, which is largely controlled by an alliance of rebels including former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front. The province is regularly targeted in strikes by the regime, as well as by Russian warplanes, and

has also been hit by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, usually targeting jihadists.

Syria’s government officially joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and turned over its chemical arsenal in 2013, as part of a deal to avert U.S. military action. That agreement came after hundreds of people – up to 1,429, according to a U.S. intelligence report – were killed

in chemical weapons strikes allegedly carried out by Syrian troops east and southwest of Damascus. Despite that, there have been repeated allegations of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

Tensions are rising in Venezuela as opponents of President Nicolás Maduro labeled him an outright dictator on Thursday, after his allies on the Supreme Court stripped the country’s parliament of its power.

Since 2015, Maduro has basically ruled Venezuela by decree. His detested government was overpowered in parliamentary elections and his opponents took control of congress.

Since then, they have been systematically blocked by Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which Maduro has armed with loyalists. This recent and broad sweeping move made his power official. Late Wednesday the court ruled that lawmakers were acting in contempt of its orders, and the judges formally took away their powers, saying the court or “another chosen body” would assume responsibility for writing Venezuela’s laws.

Outside the courts, groups of opposition lawmakers clashed with police, accusing Maduro’s government of carrying out a coup.

“This is a dictatorship, and Venezuela needs the world’s help,” said National Assembly leader Julio Borges, attacking the judges’ order and calling it “garbage from those who have kidnapped the constitution and the rights and freedoms of the Venezuelan people.”

The U.S. State Department condemned the court’s ruling. “This rupture of democratic and constitutional norms greatly damages Venezuela’s democratic institutions and denies the Venezuelan people the right to shape their country’s future through their elected representatives,” spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement. “We consider it a serious setback for democracy in Venezuela.”

Instead of doing damage control, Maduro and his ruling United Socialist Party have strongly supported the ruling, threatening criticizers and protestors. Opposition leader Leo-

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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poldo López has been held in harsh conditions at a military prison serving a 14-year sentence since leading anti-government street protests that erupted in violence in early 2014.

Before Hugo Chavez died of cancer in 2013 he hand-selected Maduro, 54, as his successor. That year, Maduro barely won the election. Since then, the oil-dependent country has been mired in deep financial crisis, with concerning shortages of food and medicine.

The Last Jew in Pakistan?

Fishel Benkhald, a native of Pakistan, regards himself as a Jew, although he was raised as a Muslim.

Born to a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, Benkhald – who was once known as Faisel – was registered as a Muslim but has changed his religion with the permission of Pakistan’s interior ministry. It is rather unusual for the Pakistani government to allow “conversion” requests.

“The applicant may be allowed to practice [the] religion of [his] choosing and preference,” decided the ministry after Benkhald urged the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to allow him to identify as a Jew in his national identity documents.

Despite his conversion, the latest U.S. State Department Report on International Religious Freedom notes that it is Pakistan’s policy “not to allow citizens, regardless of religious affiliation, to travel to Israel.”

“I studied Islam in childhood.

But I never practiced it as a religion,” Benkhald confessed. Previously, he would have been deemed a traitor had he identified himself as a Jew without the consent of the ministry.

The media has dubbed Benkhald the “last Jew in Pakistan.” However, many claim that there is a small

Jewish community that has survived persecution in the predominantly Muslim country by maintaining a low profile. According to an anonymous Pakistani official familiar with the data, there are 745 “registered Jew families.”

Benkhald’s hometown of Karachi was once home to the largest concentration of Jews in Pakistan — nearly 2,500 at the beginning of the twenti-

eth century, reports the Jewish Virtual Library. According to that organization’s data, there are about 200 Jews remaining in Pakistan. “Some Jewish families do remain, but they prefer to pass themselves off as Parsis [followers of the ancient Zoroastrian religion] due to the intolerance for Jews in Muslim Pakistan,” notes the Jewish Virtual Library.

The U.S. State Department also

notes that religious minorities, particularly Christians and Jews, face discrimination and persecution in Pakistan. “According to reports from the Jinnah Institute and other monitoring organizations, some public school textbooks continued to include derogatory statements about minority religious groups, including Ahmadi Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and Continued on page 20

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Christians. The monitoring groups said the teaching of religious intolerance remained widespread,” reported the State Department in 2015.

Pakistan does not recognize the State of Israel and often joins Arab-initiated moves against the Jewish country in the United Nations as a show of Muslim solidarity.

avalanche. He said that the accumulated rainfall in one night was almost half the amount Mocoa usually gets in the entire month of March. He urged local and national authorities to focus their efforts on preventing similar disasters.

Before the disaster 40,000 people called Mocoa their home.

Colombian Town Buried in Avalanche

Malaysia and North Korea Strike a Deal

Mocoa, Colombia, is a small town on a riverbank. Late Friday night the town faced unthinkable destruction when heavy rains sent floodwaters, mud, and debris rushing over homes in the small Southern city. By daybreak on Saturday the roads were coated in thick sand, mud, and tree parts. Residents scrambled to dig through the debris to find their possessions and locate their loved ones.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday that at least 273 people were killed in the natural disaster, and unfortunately they expect the death toll to change “every moment.” Authorities revealed that about 200 people were unaccounted for and another 200 people, including many children, were injured.

Hundreds are displaced and now homeless.

President Santos declared the city a disaster zone. After the avalanche, the Air Force transported 19 patients to a city farther north and said 20 more would be evacuated soon.

Medicine and surgical supplies were being sent to the city as the area’s regional hospital struggled to cope with the magnitude of the crisis. As of Monday, partial electricity was restored to the area. 20 tons of aid arrived for survivors as rescue workers combed through debris in search of life. Residents struggled to obtain clean water, creating a potentially fatal hazard for those who survived the tragedy.

Santos says that he believes that climate change is responsible for the

Malaysia and North Korea completed a bitter exchange that has been pending for several weeks. Last week Malaysia returned the body of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. About a month ago Kim Jong Nam was murdered at Kuala Lumpur’s airport in what is believed to have been an assassination orchestrated by North Korea.

After what Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak described as “very sensitive” negotiations, the nine Malaysians that were being held in Pyongyang since Nam’s murder were returned home as part of the deal. In exchange, North Korea won custody of the body and the release of at least two suspects who had been holed up in its embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysians — three embassy workers and six family members including four children — were flown home in a government jet and greeted by Foreign Minister Anifah Aman at the airport. Anifah said their safe return reflected “diplomacy at its best” but declined to provide further details on the deal with North Korea.

Kim Jong Nam was poisoned by a deadly chemical on February 13.

Malaysia hasn’t directly accused North Korea of being responsible for the murder but there have been suggestions from politicians and media around the world. The chemical used, VX nerve agent, which is banned and unavailable in most parts of the world, is believed to be

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Ferrari died almost three decades ago in 1988 at the age of 90 and was buried in central Italy in a town called Modena. His tomb has a model Ferrari resting on top. Modena is where Ferrari founded the luxury car company in 1939 as Auto Avio Costruzioni.

Col. Saverio Ceglie, head of the carabinieri, or military police, in the province of Nuoro, said the gang is part of Anonima Sequestri, known as the kidnapping specialists of organized crime operations on the Italian island of Sardinia.

“The gang had prepared everything in detail,” Ceglie noted.

Individual members were identified as being in charge of drawing up the plans, stealing the body itself, and delivering the ransom demand to the Ferrari family, he said. Ceglie added that authorities kept the Ferraris informed about the plot throughout the investigation, which he said had been “in the works for years but never succeeded because of our extensive efforts.”

Authorities said there are another 11 individuals under investigation who were not apprehended at the scene. The officers also seized a large amount of cocaine and weapons from the gang.

Ecuador’s New President

available in North Korea. North Korea has denied the accusation and has dismissed it as politically motivated. In fact, North Korea has not even acknowledged the victim is Kim Jong Nam, referring to him instead as Kim Chol, the name on the passport he had on him when he was killed. However, they then demanded custody of the body, claiming that the victim was a citizen of North Korea

Ferrari Plot Foiled Desperate times call for desperate measures. An Italian drug gang was cash-strapped so they devised a bizarre plot to uncover the body of legendary automaker Enzo Ferrari and hold it for ransom. It seems like crooks have become more creative, as of late.

Just before this unusual scam was carried out, Italian police interceded. Last week, in an enormous raid involving hundreds of officers, 34 people were arrested in northern Italy. Police closed in on the criminals at the site of Ferrari and his father Modena’s graves just as they were about to launch the plan that had been brewing for the last year and half.

Citizens of Ecuador sat at the edge of their seats late Sunday as the presidential election was neck-to-neck.

The two candidates running for office were polling within 3 percentage

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

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points with over 96% of the votes counted.

In the end, leftist candidate Lenin Moreno of the ruling Alianza PAIS (Country Alliance) party won a narrow lead over conservative opponent Guillermo Lasso. Around 8:30 p.m. local time Moreno declared himself the winner and celebrated his victory. A nongovernmental organization that had been monitoring the result, though, said that it was an actual tie.

Ecuadorean state media maintained that Moreno – the former vice president – was the successor to outgoing President Rafael Correa. His opponent Lesso is demanding a recount which can take several weeks.

“Delegates from our political alliance will challenge the results,” Lasso asserted. “We will not allow a distortion of the popular will.”

Lasso urged his supporters to take to the streets to peacefully protest the result. “Let’s act in a peaceful but firm manner,” Lasso’s tweet read.

“We must go to the streets and say ‘don’t steal my vote’ because we want a change in Ecuador.”

Moreno, who is confined to a wheelchair, challenged the allegation that there was fraud. “We have completely accurate data,” he said. “We have won the elections.” He tweeted a photo of his victory speech with the message: “Long live Ecuador! Welcome fighters of peace and of life.”

“Official results from the National Electoral Council, a difference of more than two percentage points.

Lenin [Moren] is our president,” President Correa exulted. “The moral fraud committed by the right will not go unpunished.”

Moreno has promised to work “for those who voted for me and for those who did not.”

ments that portray religious extremism. “Abnormal” beards and names, as well as other “extremist signs,” are banned as well. The law didn’t specify what constitutes an “abnormal” beard or name, but anything that promotes “religious fanaticism” is not allowed.

It is unclear what other forms of dress, if any, are outlawed under the legislation which was passed by the Xinjiang People’s Congress last week.

Xinjiang, China’s westernmost region, is home to the Uighurs, a Muslim group which claims to face discrimination from the Han Chinese. This policy is a proof to those claims. According to regional officials, the policy harks back to a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014, in which he said religious extremism of “ethnic separatists” in Xinjiang threatened national security. Addressing a party workshop on Xinjiang in Beijing Xi said separatists “severely damage the stability of Xinjiang, as well as national security with religious extremism as their ideological basis, violent terror as the main method, and national division as their ultimate goal.”

In the last ten years the region has been plagued by violence, which the government blames on Islamist radicals or separatists.

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A new guideline, which will be in effect this weekend, bans all gar-

The 2017 European Tree of the Year award was given to a tall oak tree in Poland that played a role in saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust. The award was created seven years ago. It focuses on the history and background of a tree rather than its size, age or beauty.

The prize was awarded to Oak Jozef, located in the Polish village of Wisniowa. According to Jakub Pawlowski of the Ulma Family Museum in Markowa, “This tree saved two lives.” The two lives he is referring

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

to are two Jewish brothers who had escaped the Fryszak ghetto and hid in the tree for a long time.

“The hideout was shown to the brothers by Rozalia Proszak,” Pawlowski shared. “The hollow in which they hid was huge. People say it had two levels. The lower was used as a hideout and the upper was used as a lookout. Both brothers survived the occupation but their fate after the war is unknown.”

The name of the tree was given by the residents of Wisniowa after Jozef Mehoffer, a well-known Polish artist, painted the tree in the 1930s.

The ceremony was organized by the Environmental Partnership Association, the European Landowners’ Organization and TetraPak. Over 200 people attended the presentation in Brussels. More than 125,000 people voted in the contest.

Oak Jozef won with 17,597 votes.

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Famed “Babi Yar” Poet Dies at 84

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Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the famous Russian poet who denounced anti-Semitism and shed light on war atrocities, has died at the age of 84.

Yevtushenko, who lived in Oklahoma, was a lifetime faculty member at the University of Tulsa. He became famous in the former Soviet Union for denouncing Josef Stalin while in his twenties. In 1961, he wrote a famous poem titled “Babi Yar” which tells the story of the slaughter of 34,000 Jews by the Nazis and denounces the anti-Semitism that was spreading throughout the Soviet Union. He would read his works to packed stadiums, including a reading to a crowd of 200,000 in 1991.

“Babi Yar” was written after Yevtushenko visited the site of the mass killings in Kiev, Ukraine. Yevtushenko said that he was shocked that there was no sign, tombstone, or marker to commemorate the genocide that took

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The poem, which took two hours to write, starts with: “No monument stands over Babi Yar. A drop sheer as a crude gravestone. I am afraid.”

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Amazon Expands in the Middle East Amazon.com is taking over the world, one region at a time. In 2016, the e-commerce site was ranked the world’s eighth-largest retailer – and

CEO Jeff Bezos has no plans of slowing down.

Last week Amazon announced that it is expanding its global reach to include the Middle East with the acquisition of Dubai-based Souq. com, the Middle East’s largest online retailer. The exact details of the financial aspects of the deal were not disclosed. Supposedly Souq.com had

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

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est-valued internet company in the region when it secured $275 million in funding from international investors to fund its growth.

Amazon has made headlines lately as it attempts to expand its domination to other services, cloud computing, and streaming; however, online shopping remains its prime asset. In the last quarter of 2016, its retail operations earned $26 billion in North America and $14 billion collectively in all other countries.

Samih Toukan, the head of Jabbar Internet Group, an early investor in Souq, applauded the deal on Twitter, writing: “History is made.”

Mouchawar launched Souq from within Maktoob, the first provider of Arabic email services, which he joined after he landed in the United Arab Emirates in 2000. Born in Syria, Mouchawar had studied engineering and worked for several tech companies in the United States.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya news channel, Mouchawar said he would remain as the chief executive of Souq.com and that the company would keep its workforce.

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several suitors. A few days before Amazon announced the deal, Dubaibased Emaar Malls confirmed offering $800 million to acquire the site.

Souq.com was originally founded as an auction site but since 2005 has evolved into a retailer and a marketplace for third-party sellers. Souq. com attracts over 45 million visits per month. The two companies released a joint statements saying the deal would

be finalized this year “subject to closing conditions.”

Souq.com chief executive and co-founder Ronaldo Mouchawar called the agreement “a critical next step in growing our e-commerce presence on behalf of customers across the region.” He added, “By becoming part of the Amazon family, we’ll be able to vastly expand our delivery capabilities and customer selection much fast-

er, as well as continue Amazon’s great track record of empowering sellers.”

Amazon senior vice president Russ Grandinetti said the companies share a mutual vision and “the same DNA.” “We’re both driven by customers, invention and long-term thinking,” he said.

Souq.com made headlines last year and was regarded as the high-

The Israeli Finance Ministry has published a study that profiles the typical Israeli “mega rich” citizen. In Israel, there is a club of about 400 people who pull in 2.9% of the country’s income each year. That’s a lot of shekels.

Continued on page 30

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

The Max & Ruth Schwartz Sderot Hesder Institutions Annual Dinner Rabbi Dovid Fendel, Rosh HaYeshiva American Friends of Sderot Tuesday Evening, May 9 | 14 Iyar Terrace on the Park, Flushing, NY 6:00 PM Buffet Dinner Reception 7:30 PM Program followed by Viennese Dessert

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The typical profile of the mega-rich is a 56-year-old man living in Tel Aviv with an income of NIS 36.8 million ($10.1 million) per year.

The average salary of the mega-rich is 290 times higher than the average Israeli income of NIS 126,900 ($34,955). The mega-rich before-taxes income is NIS 60 million ($16.5 million) per year. Of those on the list (whose names were not published), 80% live in central Israel, with 53% living in Tel Aviv. Only 11% of them are women. Although in Israel the average woman’s annual income is 65% less than her male counterpart, among the super-rich, women made only 12% less.

Among the rest of the Israeli population, 93.2% of annual earnings come from salary, business or pension; the top 400 earners in the country see only 8.2% of their income from those sources. The remaining 91.8% comes from financial investments and capital gains.

In order to be a “member� of the elite club, a minimum annual income of NIS 10.5 million ($ 2.8 million) was needed. The data was provided by the Israeli Tax Authority, the Israeli version of the IRS.

New Bill to Cut Terrorist “Salaries�

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nomic annex to the Oslo Accords – the two are connected. “Payments made by the PA to terrorists are not only inciting but also an incentive for terrorist activities,� said MK Stern, who is leading the bill.  “It’s a real temptation to murder Jews, and it is our duty to stop this madness immediately.�

The current salary – paid for by the PA – for a terrorist that is imprisoned is up to five times higher than the average Palestinian salary. Here is a list of the compensation that is given to Palestinians who are imprisoned by Israeli authorities for terrorist activities: 0 – 3 year sentence: NIS 1,400 a month.

3 – 5 year sentence: NIS 2,000 a month.

5 – 10 year sentence: NIS 4,000 a month.

10 – 15 year sentence: NIS 6,000 a month.

15 – 20 year sentence: NIS 7,000 a month.

20 – 25 year sentence: NIS 8,000 a month.

25 – 30 year sentence: NIS 10,000 a month.

30 year sentence and higher: NIS 12,000 a month.

Terrorists get the message loud and clear from the PA: terrorism literally pays.

Himmler/Grand Mufti Telegram

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A new bill has been drafted in the Knesset to stop Israeli funds from entering the pockets of terrorists. The bill is set to prevent the payment of terrorists’ families coming indirectly from Israeli money.

A large amount of the Palestinian Authority’s budget comes from Israel.

When families of terrorists are paid by the PA, it is as if Israel is paying them – albeit indirectly. In 2016, the PA paid approximately NIS 1.1 billion to families of terrorists. The new bill proposes cutting that amount from Israel’s contribution to their budget.

As funding terrorists is a violation of the Oslo Accords and the Israeli payments to the PA are based on the Paris Agreement – which is the eco-

Buried deep in the archives of Israel’s National Library is a telegram from Heinrich Himmler addressing the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem which was recently rediscovered in the archives of the Library. The murderous deputy to Adolf Hitler was in touch with Haj Amin al-Husseini to assure him that the German Reich will support the Arabs of Palestine in their fight against the “Jewish intruders� who were plaguing them.

Himmler outlines in his telegram that the German National Socialists

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considered their struggle with the Jews of the world a primary principle and have always had a “particular sympathy for the struggle of the freedom-loving Arabs” battling the Jews in Palestine.

The half-page telegram ends with warm regards, a noting of the “unhappy” anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and wishing the Grand Mufti luck in the continuation of his struggle.

The Grand Mufti met with Adolf Hitler for 90 minutes in Berlin in 1941. When they met, both men still believed that Germany would win the war. They reportedly discussed how the Arabs would play a role in that victory.

Israel to Cut UN Funding Again

“rights expert” condemned Israel’s policies. The UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Michael Lynk, charged Israel with the “subjugation of (Palestinians’) humanity.”

Additionally, Israel is the only country that is targeted by the council with a dedicated agenda item.

The Human Rights Council’s members include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Cuba. Rex Tillerson, U.S. Secretary of State, has recently threatened to withdraw from the Human Rights Council over its “biased agenda item against Israel.”

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Israel will be cutting its payments to the United Nations by $2 million in light of the UN’s recent “anti-Israel” votes. Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said the decision was made to reduce the annual payments after the Human Rights Council showed “obsessional discrimination against Israel on the part of the United Nations and its agencies.”

All of the 193 UN member nations are required to pay a percentage of the United Nations’ regular budget based on their individual GDP. Israel is expected to pay $11 million, which is .43 percent of the budget. Under article 19 of the UN Charter, any country that does not pay their dues fully can lose its vote in the General Assembly.

The money that is withheld from the UN will be used for development projects in countries that support Israel in international organizations.

Israel had already cut $6 million from its $11.7 UN budget in December after the Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israel’s settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Last week, a United Nations

A new settlement has been approved for establishment by the Security Cabinet to help the former residents of Amona.

Amona was a West Bank outpost that was deemed illegal and eventually evacuated in February. This new settlement is the first to be established in over 20 years. After the Security Cabinet made their decision, the other government ministers were all contacted for their approval as well. The new settlement will be in the Shiloh Valley.

Before the new settlement was announced, the former residents of Amona released a statement demanding a new home. “We demand that the prime minister and the rest of the government unanimously support the establishment of a new settlement … at the site chosen by the residents,” the statement read. They also refused to be a part of an existing community or even to be a new neighborhood in an existing settlement. “You destroyed our homes. Now build new ones. You signed an agreement stating that by March 31 work would begin on a new community. Fulfill that agreement,” the residents charged.

After the announcement of the new settlement, the tone of the Amona residents’ statement changed. The new statement reads: “The memory

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

of the Amona settlement will always remain in our hearts. We love you, Homeland, so we swear on this day to return to the land of Amona—us, and if not us, our sons who will rise after us—one never leaves a homeland.

However, from the time when Amona was destroyed, we asked only one thing: a pioneering-Zionist mission to establish a new settlement in the Land of Israel, for us and for the entire People of Israel. Only creating a reach life of prosperity of action will serve as a cure for our pain and the pain of the public for a life that was taken.”

salem issue. Their resolution that they prepared was shortened from six pages to two and the language has been softened heavily when in comparison to the last draft. Still, the UNESCO proposal is still filled with political elements that do not belong along with outright lies about the Jewish state.

UNESCO and the Holy Land

Despite taking the Western Wall and Temple Mount off the agenda, the Arab proposal still contains several clauses that are of concern to Israel, including those that call the Cave of the Patriarchs and the Tomb of Rachel Palestinian sites. It also states that any legal and administrative decision in all of Jerusalem “by the occupying power” is illegal. Another clause asserts that any past decision is recognized, including the decision to erase Jewish connections from the Temple Mount. Israel is demanding to remove the clause entirely or to speci-

The Western Wall and the Temple Mount will not be mentioned and will not be included in any vote at next month’s meeting of the UNESCO executive board. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can take credit for the significant diplomatic win that occurred to ensure the Jerusalem meeting would not involve these sites.

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fy that decisions related to the Temple Mount are not binding.

Back in October, UNESCO criticized Israel and called it the “occupying Power” for its actions around holy sites. It referred to Temple Mount, Har Habayit, only by its Islamic name, ignoring the significance the holy site plays in three major religions. At the time, Prime Minister Netanyahu tweeted: “What’s next? A UNESCO decision denying the connection between peanut butter and jelly? Batman and Robin? Rock and roll?”

Two weeks ago, a UNESCO delegation arrived in Israel for a tour of the country and Jerusalem to try to understand the complex history and rife that exists in the land.

Carmel Shama Hacohen, Israeli envoy to UNESCO, said, “When you’re talking about anti-Israel resolutions initiated by Arab countries, achievements and conclusions are only counted on the stairs at the exit of the building after the vote. It is preferable to accept a draft resolution without a direct stab to the heart of the Jewish people, but we have no intention of keeping quiet when we are being stabbed in other places, even if they are less sensitive. The State of Is-

rael has decided to put an end to the incitement and obsession against it in international organizations, even if it takes years.”

Shama also added, “There is no doubt that the new administration in Washington, D.C., under the leadership of President Donald Trump and the wonderful U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, have made the goal that seemed fantasy achievable.

We will work around the world this month around the clock to continue explaining our truth, both current and historical, and we will observe the sanity and fairness of our neighbors.”

IDF Prepares for Hezbollah Threat Israel is gearing up for a possible war with Hezbollah. Tensions rose again this week after Israel shot down an anti-aircraft missile that was headed for an Israeli plane. The missile was fired as Israel was carrying out an airstrike on a suspected Hezbollah weapons convoy from

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

In the 2006 war, Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israel communities. The group has seen many of its members die in the Syrian conflict, in which they support Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Hezbollah has built up its weapons stockpiles over the past few years, and may have up to 150,000 missiles – many of which are long-range with guiding systems.

Israel has sworn to deter any Hezbollah munitions attainment.

It is widely believed that Israel has carried out many strikes in recent years on weapons convoys that were headed to the militant group. Israel has also introduced and made operational a new missile defense system called David’s Sling. Its function is to intercept medium-range Hezbollah rockets.

Wait and Lose Weight

Syria to Lebanon.

It has been over 10 years since Israel fought a war with the Iranian-backed terror group. The IDF is preparing by training its soldiers in mock Lebanese villages that have been created specifically for this task.

“We are trying to give the commanders and the soldiers the environment that looks like the real war so that

they can have the feeling, when they will have to go to war, they will feel that they did it before. This is the purpose of the training – to prepare for the real thing,” said Col. Kobi Valer, commander of the Elyakim Military Base in northern Israel. “The forces need to know that this could be their last training before the war.”

Hezbollah Secretary General

Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to strike Israel’s nuclear facilities if Israel were to attack.

The Jewish State has also come up with an evacuation plan in which a quarter of a million people would be moved from border communities should an attack or invasion by Hamas, Hezbollah, or other Islamic militant groups occur.

They say that patience is a virtue, and new research is saying that patience is also a good form of dieting.

Researchers claim that if a person waits just 25 seconds before buying a chocolate bar they can avoid filling their craving and instead select a healthier option.

The researchers analyzed people Continued on page 40

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at vending machines across the U.S. over a 14 month period. Scientists installed countdown timers on the machines, forcing customers who purchased chocolate or other unhealthy products to wait 25 seconds before the items were dispensed.

During the countdown they had the option to change their mind and make a different selection that would become available instantly. Users who purchased healthy snacks from the get-go were not forced to wait.

Good things come to those who wait: the researchers concluded that the delay in dispensing unhealthy snacks prompted up to a 5% increase in purchases of healthy snacks.

The Disc (Delays to Improve Snack Choices) system also color-coded healthy snacks so they stand out from the regular options.

Snacks containing 250 calories per serving or less and containing no more than 25% calories from fat qualified.

“Having to wait for something makes it less desirable,” pointed out Dr. Brad Appelhans, who led the research at the Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago. “Research shows that humans strongly prefer immediate gratification, and this preference influences choices and behavior in daily life. We wanted to see if we could use this preference for immediate gratification to improve people’s vending machine snack choices.”

The research team also found that offering a 25% discount on healthy snacks or imposing a 25% tax on less healthy snacks influenced buying patterns.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said Disc was a “terrific” innovation. “It ticks all the right boxes and one wonders why no one has thought of this before. What’s more, it’s not just a flash-in-the-pan gimmick but it has been field-tested and proven to work. To top it all, it appears that vendors can install the system into their standard machines at a viable cost. They will have no excuse not to do it,” Fry said.

The average household in the U.S. spends $27 a year at vending machines. The U.S. is home to around 6.9 million vending machines with the industry generating more than $64 million each year.

Forgot your lunch at home? Even though the Oreos may be tempting, try the pretzels instead.

Silver Star Heroes

It’s a catch-22. The U.S. Army has a special award reserved for soldiers who risk their lives on secret missions to save their comrades in battles against militants in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, since these missions are so secretive, their heroism is known only to a small circle. The Silver Stars have been handed out since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Last week, the Pentagon released a list to USA TODAY detailing 12 of the 41 narratives associated with the Silver Stars, the third-highest medal granted for heroism. U.S. Special Operations Command refused to disclose the remainder “to protect military plans, weapons systems or operations.” The names of the soldiers who received the award were blurred, citing concerns that such information may potentially endanger their lives.

Since 2001, over 1,000 medals for the most honorable bravery, including Silver Stars and service crosses, have been awarded to troops, mostly for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Navy SEALs and Army special operators, including members of the ultra-elite, counter-terror unit Delta Force, have been the recipients of nearly one in five of those awards.

Currently all awards are under review due to a Pentagon edict calling for all awards to be analyzed to determine if they should be upgraded. The Army will conclude any upgrades by September 30.

“Over the course of their entire history, Army Special Operations Forces have created a legacy of exceptional commitment and valor,” said Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt, a spokesman for the Army’s Special Operations Command. “The past 15 years of war since the events of 9/11 are no exception.”

The 12 Silver Star recipients all share a common distinction: the Stars were earned for acts of valor involving lots of bullets, many aimed

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Border Patrol Face Obstacles in Securing Border

at soldiers and some striking them.

The heroes also killed insurgents and protected fellow troops.

Take one Silver Star recipient, only identified as the “Medical sergeant.” When Taliban insurgents blew a hole in a wall of a fort in Afghanistan on August 28, 2013 with a car bomb, ten insurgents dressed in Afghan army uniforms entered through the breach. The Medical ser-

geant raced to the chaos and killed the insurgent closest to him. His two fellow commandos killed two more.

Turning a corner with another commando, they confronted six more insurgents and faced a hailstorm of gunfire and grenades. One bullet struck the sergeant’s helmet, knocking him to the dirt where he continued to fight to blunt the attack.

Sped to a surgery team, the med-

ical sergeant refused treatment, insisting on guarding the medical personnel until more troops arrived.

“His efforts directly supported containing the enemy to the edge of the airfield, and saved the lives of (1,400) personnel,” the narrative states.

This hero is just one of many who put their lives on the line for their countrymen every day.

As Congress proceeds with its Border Patrol overhaul under President Trump, the Homeland Security Department is being accused of being hesitant to send helicopters out to oversee nighttime missions to aid Border Patrol. Border Patrol Agents’ Labor Union told Congress last month that agents are left to approach drug smugglers and illegal immigrants on their own without critical air coverage. The group asserts that in order for the Border Patrol to carry out Trump’s mission the president will need to secure agents and provide the necessary protection and aid.

Brandon Judd, an agent who is also president of the National Border Patrol Council, said that this is just one of the many problems agents are facing.

Judd said before the Homeland Security Department was introduced, more than a decade ago, the Border Patrol controlled its own helicopters and had the air support it needed. But now the Office of Air and Marine has control of the aircrafts.

“Right now the Office of Air and Marine, they fly very little at night,” he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “In fact, in [the Rio Grande Valley sector], we had to use the Coast Guard to fly sorties in certain areas. And when their apprehensions became so great, it’s my understanding the officer at Air and Marine asked them not to fly anymore at night in RGV because it was making them look bad.”

Most border crossings take place at night.

Judd added that more needs to be done to secure the border, including “draining the swamp.” “What’s very concerning to Border Patrol agents is, to this point, we still have the same people who gave us all of the failed operations, who were the authors of the catch-and-release program. They’re still in charge – even under this current administration,” the union chief said. “That’s head-scratching, especially since the president said we’re going to drain the swamp.”

ICE agents have the same complaint. They argue that agents want to enforce the country’s laws but their hands are tied at times.

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Rice Unmasked Trump Associates

There are two things we know about Susan Rice, at least according to her: she is an “unmasker” and she is not a leaker.

That’s what the former national security advisor said on Tuesday after revelations that she sought to “unmask” – reveal – names of Trump associates caught up in surveillance.

She acknowledged that she had asked for the identities of U.S. citizens in intelligence reports – but defended the requests as routine and denied leaking any Trump-related information.

“I leaked nothing to nobody, and never have,” Rice insisted on MSNBC. She added, “This is not anything

political as has been alleged,” Rice said. “The allegation is that somehow Obama administration officials utilized intelligence for political purposes. That is absolutely false.” Rice contended that she sought the names of some people in intelligence reports as part of her job.

The Tuesday interview with MSNBC occurred after sources told Fox News that Rice had sought to unmask the names of Trump team members caught up in incidental surveillance of foreign targets. Those names were then widely disseminated. Rice flatly denied leaking the identity of President Trump’s first National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, and also dismissed Trump’s claim in early March that the Obama administration had “wiretapped” Trump Tower.

Not all are confident in Rice’s insistence that the unmasking was routine.

“From my direct experience dealing at this level, that is never done,” Ret. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Fox News. “The national security adviser is a manager position, not an analyst position. You have analysts in the intelligence community whose job is to sort through who is doing what with what. Susan Rice is a senior

manager looking over the entire intelligence community. She should not have time to be unmasking individuals having conversations. It’s insane.

It’s never done.”

The Robot Wife

Want the perfect wife? Maybe you should build her yourself.

Zheng Jiajia of China said he was having a hard time finding the perfect spouse. Instead, the artificial intelligence engineer gave up his search and “married” a robot he built himself.

His new wife’s name is Yingying.

Because his relatives were constantly nagging him about getting married,

Zheng “dated” Yingying and then, after two months, donned a black suit to “marry” her at a ceremony attended by family and friends.

The marriage is – obviously – not official by law, although it will make Zheng’s mother happy – and that’s what counts. It had all the trappings of a typical Chinese wedding. The “bride’s” head was covered with a red cloth in accordance with local tradition. No word on if they had a mitzvah tantz.

China has one of the worst gender gaps in the world, mainly due its one-child policy, which for decades controlled how many children each family could have. Its shidduch crisis seems to have more men than women: there were 113.5 men for every 100 women in China, according to the latest figures published by the World Economic Forum. The gender imbalance, coupled with changing attitudes towards marriage among the country’s middle class, means many men will never find wives.

For now, Zheng’s “perfect” wife can read some Chinese characters and images and speak a few simple words, but Zheng plans to upgrade his “bride” to be able to walk and do household chores. Until then he has to

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carry the 65 pound robot to move her.

What’s the most perfect thing about Zheng’s new wife? Never having to split up Pesach with his parents and the in-laws.

To Give or To Receive?

Generous drivers in Phoenix were rewarded when they offered money to a homeless man collecting in the street.

When Tim Owens, wearing a cardboard sign around his neck asking for help, approached their vehicle, he came towards them with his hands full – of cash! You see, Owens had a job – right before this experience. He was in a director-level position for a major media company, with three children, a wife, a home, and a nest egg that they had been building. But when he looked at his final paycheck he realized that there were others who needed that money more than him.

Owens says he felt compelled to give it away.

“I knew I had to do something crazy,” Owens says. “Not because of the theatrics of it, or not because of this self-fulfilling idea. It had to be a big and bold step in a way I would never forget it.”

He added, “What if we flipped this and showed people that things aren’t always what they seem?”

Owens dressed in disheveled clothing and held a sign saying, “It’s better to give than receive.”

He found himself talking people into taking the money he was offering.

Many drivers rolled up their window, said no thanks, or waved him away.

Owens kept repeating, “My needs are met, my needs are met,” when drivers would ask him if he was serious. He had to convince the drivers to take the $50 he was offering them. One man expressed his gratitude and told Owens that he was short this week when paying his bills. The $50 would go far. One driver told Owens to give the money to someone else; his needs were already met for the day. Another driver bought Owens a cold bottle of water.

Owens recorded the experience for himself, never intending to share it with the public. It happened almost three years ago. After years of telling the story of kindness to family and friends, he decided to share his experience after all. The response has been huge. Now Owens is trying to create more moments like his around the country.

“We don’t know what the needy look like, we don’t know who is in need,” he says. “Putting yourself second and other people first, even if it’s just a moment. We need to love each other and give where we can give and help where we can help and lift each other up.”

Hey Tim, I’ll take your $50 – no problem.

Light-As-Air Cake

Searching for the lightest Pesach sponge cake recipe around? Perhaps you should take a tip from Dominique Ansel, the baker who brought us the delicious and delectable cronut. At Ansel’s new Tokyo bakery he sells slices of sponge cake floating inside magic balloons – a zero gravity cake!

According to Ansel, once the balloon is popped the plastic turns into a plastic bag, perfect for storing your cake.

“That cake is so fun — we tested so many versions,” Ansel enthused.

“Different-sized balloons to hold different amounts of helium, weighing every cake by the gram to see how big we could get it until it stopped floating. The testing was hilarious.”

Sounds like fun for him but how do consumers get the cake out of the balloon without it falling on the ground?

It’s a cake conundrum.

Congratulations – on Your Free Dessert Cati Domitrovich and Alex Nagle, Texas teens, were looking to score some free dessert. The two came up

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

HAPPY PASSOVER to the entire community from your friends at St. John’s

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On March 26 the two went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. At the end of the meal, when Cati went to the restroom, Alex told the waiters that he was planning on proposing to her.

He even asked the waitress to stick around to take photos of the momentous event.

Alex went down on one knee – and Cati said yes! The whole restaurant clapped and congratulated the young couple. And yes, the restaurant sent over a plate with a trio of desserts with the word “congratulations” written in chocolate on it.

“We faked a proposal just to get free dessert,” Cati boasted on Twitter.

Alex said it was “really fun.”

The two are now planning on doing the fake proposal at other restaurants to get more dessert. They must be really hungry – and pathetic.

Swallowed by a Snake

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Last week, an Indonesian man, Akbar, was found after being reported missing. He was last seen on Sunday, March 26, before he left to harvest palm oil in the village. When he didn’t return home by the end of the day, investigators were called in to find him.

A day later, police found a 23foot python in Akbar’s garden. The snake had a telltale bulge in its belly; it had swallowed Akbar whole. His boots were clearly outlined under the snake’s skin.

Sadly, the villagers had to cut open the giant python to retrieve Akbar’s body.

“They didn’t find him [Akbar], but the villagers saw an unmoving python in the ditch. They grew suspicious that maybe the snake had Akbar.

When they cut it open, Akbar was inside the snake,” a police spokesman said.

It is rare for pythons to kill or eat human beings. They usually suffocate their small prey before swallowing them whole.

At a Swedish startup hub called Epicenter, employees have an alternative option to swipe cards: they can have a microchip injected under the skin in their hand. The chip will help them open doors at the firm, operate printers or buy smoothies in the company’s cafeteria.

“The biggest benefit I think is convenience,” said Patrick Mesterton, co-founder and CEO of Epicenter. As a demonstration, he unlocks a door by merely waving near it. “It basically replaces a lot of things you have, other communication devices, whether it be credit cards or keys.”

When an employee gets the chip, other workers celebrate with a party.

“Of course, putting things into your body is quite a big step to do and it was even for me at first,” Mesterton acknowledges. “But then on the other hand, I mean, people have been implanting things into their body, like pacemakers and stuff to control your heart,” he said. “That’s a way, way more serious thing than having a small chip that can actually communicate with devices.”

Epicenter, which is home to more than 100 companies and some 2,000 workers, began implanting workers in January 2015. Now, about 150 workers have them. A company based in Belgium also offers its employees such implants, and there are isolated cases around the world where tech enthusiasts have tried this out in recent years.

The small implants use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, the same as in contactless credit cards or mobile payments. When activated by a reader a few inches away, a small amount of data flows between the two devices via electromagnetic waves.

The implants are “passive,” meaning they contain information that other devices can read, but cannot read information themselves.

Critics say that the chips erode at privacy laws. They also point out that it’s possible for hackers to get ahold of data. After all, Big Brother is always watching.

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On Sunday, Senator Todd Kaminsky joined Tomchei Shabbos of the 5 Towns and Far Rockaway to help package food for Pesach. Tomchei Shabbos provides food for Shabbos and yom tov to those in need.

Over 3,000 Children Enjoy the Traveling Matzah Bakery

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ver 3,000 children in Long Island and surrounding areas participated in matzah baking with The Traveling Matzah Bakery, organized by Rabbi Dovid

& Chumy Ezagui of Lake Success Chabad. The Traveling Matzah Bakery visited many local schools and synagogues like NSHA, Silverstein Hebrew Academy, JLE Hebrew School, Friedberg JCC, MIYJCC, Shelter Rock Jewish Center, Lurie Academy, Barkai School, Yeshiva of Long Island, Temple Sinai, Solomon Schechter and more.

Children had the opportunity to make their very own matzah. They took turns producing flour from wheat kernels and separating the chaff from the grain. Students then collected the grain into a hand-driven wheat mill and grinded it into flour. Students then rolled up their sleeves and got ready for lots of fun as they kneaded, rolled, and baked the dough into a handmade matzah.

Each student was accessorized in their own baker’s hat and apron

as they put their baking skills to the test!

The Traveling Matzah Bakery is run by Rabbi Dovid & Chumy Ezagui

of Lake Success Chabad. To see the many different traveling workshops they offer please visit www.myJLE. org or www.myJLE.com.

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Chanukas Habayis Celebration for Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah PHOTO CREDIT: GABE SOLOMON

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his past Thursday night, on Daled Nisan, fifteen local rabbonim and roshei yeshiva and over two hundred and fifty people came to join in the simcha of the Chanukas Habayis of Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah. It was a true chizuk for the talmidim, alumni, donors and roshei hayeshiva to see the crowd genuinely rejoice with them.

With enormous Siyata D’shmaya, as Rabbis Blinder and Weinberger both noted in their addresses, the Yeshiva was zocheh to purchase and renovate a building on Franklin Place in Woodmere. The building includes a dorm and a beautifully designed beis medrash. The atmosphere was one of warmth and joy as friends of the yeshiva met with the bochurim and alumni.

The program began with Horav Yaakov Feitman, shlit”a, sharing divrei brocha. He emphasized the chashivus of having a rebbe and the vital role that this plays in a person’s life. He described his own personal feelings of seeing what a boon to To-

rah this will produce in the community. Rabbi Yissachar Blinder, speaking next, thanked all of those who played such a pivotal role in in getting the yeshiva where it is today. He then discussed that one of the main challenges for so many bochurim, and Yidden in general, is that we might go through the motions but we don’t deal with the neshama.

The core is being ignored and thus it yields a very lackluster performance. The yeshiva was started to address that need, hence, the name “Nishmas Hatorah.” Here, bochurim connect their neshama to the Torah and the Torah to the neshama. It’s an experience of shleimus and the result is the nachas that this Yeshiva witnesses on a daily basis.

Rabbi Pinchus Weinberger got up next to present Rav Aryeh Zev Ginzburg, shlit”a, a token of appreciation for the gracious hospitality he and his shul has shown the Yeshiva for the past year and a half. This is but a small example of the chessed the Rav does b’hatzneia leches on

behalf of Klal Yisrael. Rabbi Weinberger continued by bringing out from the parshiyos of the Mishkan how we all have grand plans and dreams but yet the practicalities of life seem to prevent them from being actualized. The idea is Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to us to bring out the goals through our challenges and struggles, as they are all opportunities for reaching higher and going further. Bochurim leaving Mesivta and coming back from Eretz Yisrael have this avodah very acutely. They want to hold onto something more but yet when hit with dating, school, career choices, being home while trying to find oneself and maintain a life based on Torah with limmud haTorah, there is often despair. In steps Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah to assist in keeping those dreams alive, in making sense of it all, in giving direction and meaning. With a focus on being productive with one’s day, with a close-knit, warm chevra, and young and dynamic rebbeim the Yeshiva has produced over seventy

such alumni over the few short years of its existence.

An exciting announcement was made that starting this coming zman, after Pesach, there will be a Kollel in the Yeshiva under the leadership of Rav Nesanel Feit, shlit”a. This will enhance the kol Torah of the Yeshiva, along with giving bochurim role models that they can emulate and learn from.

Numerous rabbonim and benefactors of the yeshiva were mechubad with putting up mezuzos.

B’ezras Hashem, Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah, with its new building, will continue to produce b’nei Torah who are shleimim v’yereim, healthier husbands, better fathers and great Yidden that are ensuring that our dor will be going m’chayil el chayil.

For more information about the Yeshiva and its Kollel please email yeshivanishmashatorah@gmail. com or call 516-939-1526.

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Tour New York City with Oscar

D

o something different this Chol Hamoed. Tour New York City and experience it like you’ve never seen it before.

Renowned tour guide, author, and lecturer Oscar Israelowitz is offering three fascinating tours that will make your outing a memorable and fascinating experience.

On Friday, April 14, (second day Chol Hamoed), join Oscar as he explores the “Secrets of the NYC Subways.” An expert on the city’s underground subway system, Oscar points out the historic art and artifacts that can be found in the city’s stations. Tour includes a glimpse of NYC’s first subway station, a 1908 ticket booth, whimsical brass alligators, a diagonal elevator ride, and much more.

On Sunday, April 16, (fourth day Chol Hamoed), Oscar will explore the history of the first Jewish settlement in the city. The tour will

include the Jewish Plymouth Rock, the site of the first Jewish neighborhood in New Amsterdam, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis, Island, a fascinating carousel designed as a tropical fish, and more.

After Pesach, on Thursday, April 27, Oscar will lead a fully guided 90 minute Jewish Harbor Cruise around Lower Manhattan. Learn about the United Nations site with its Marc Chagall windows, the great synagogues of the Lower East Side, as well as fascinating structures designed by Jewish architect Louis Kahn.

Whether you’re a seasoned New Yorker or a visiting tourist, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to explore New York with refreshing new insight.

For more information on Oscar’s tours, call 718-951-7072.

PESACH TOURS

_________________________________ Secrets of the NYC SUBWAYS Friday April 14 at 11:00am $20 adults $15 kids _________________________________________ Jewish New York City–Where It All Began Sunday April 16 at 11:00am $20 adults, $15 kids ____________________________________________ Jewish Harbor Cruise Around New York City Thursday April 27 at 11:00am $45 adults $40 seniors __________________________________________ For more information contact Oscar Israelowitz Tel. (718) 951-7072 e-mail: oscari477@aol.com

As OHEL Expands, Alan Secter Appointed New Chief Development Officer

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oishe Hellman and Mel Zachter, co-presidents of OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services, announced the appointment of Alan Secter as the new chief development officer of OHEL. Alan brings extensive, well-rounded fundraising and leadership experience to this role. Prior to joining OHEL Alan served as Executive Director of Annual Giving & Major Gifts with Yeshiva University. He previously held the position of Senior Director in the Planned Giving and Endowments Department with the Jewish Federations of North America.

In his new position Alan will be responsible for achieving the fundraising goals for OHEL and Camp Kaylie, and will play a key role in completing the capital campaign for the new OHEL Jaffa Family Campus. He will lead the development of strategies that introduce new donors to OHEL and increase engagement among current supporters.

Reflecting on joining the OHEL team, Alan commented, “OHEL’s mandate to help everyday people with everyday problems resonates deeply with me. Virtually each and

every family in our community has at least one member who does – or could – benefit from OHEL’s programs. The breadth of OHEL’s reach and depth of its service are truly amazing. It is a real privilege to devote my professional energies to this wonderful organization and its noble mission.”

As chief development officer Alan will work closely with OHEL senior staff, the Board of Directors of OHEL, Bais Ezra, Lifetime Care Foundation, Camp Kaylie, and community leaders. Feel free to contact Alan at alan_ secter@ohelfamily.org or by phone at (718) 686-3214.

‫לתועלת הרבים‬ Please be advised BGAN Pesach fries are clearly labeled on the front

‫כשר לפסח‬

KOSHER FOR PASSOVER. If those words are not clearly stated then it's not Kosher L'Pesach.

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IN CONJUNCTION WITH

Mr. Joe Bobker with Ambassador to Israel David Friedman

THE RNSP PRESENTS THE ANNUAL FAR ROCKAWAY/FIVE TOWNS

COMMUNITY–WIDE CHOMETZ BURNING

MONDAY, APRIL 10

SOF Z’MAN - 11:38AM (VILNA GAON - 11:50AM)

LAWRENCE

7:00-12:30PM

FAR ROCKAWAY

LIRR STATION PARKING LOT

7:30-11:50AM

#HalbSababaChallenge

6:30-11:45AM

SUPERVISED BY THE FDNY, NYPD & RNSP

20 IRVING PLACE

SUPERVISED BY THE LCFD, WFD, NCPD AUXILIARY & RNSP

S

upport for Medinat Yisrael has always been central to the mission of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach. As part of an effort to ensure that the school’s Yom Haatzamut celebration is more than a one day encapsulation of such an important occasion, the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach has begun to roll out Yom Haatzamut programming that engages students and their families.

The Sababa Challenge, spearheaded by HALB’s Bnei Akiva shlichot, has expanded beyond the walls of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach.

Families, teachers and guests are participating, nominating, and above all, demonstrating their appreciation for and knowledge of Medinat Yisrael.

WOODMERE

AT THE DEAD END OF B. 9TH OFF OF SEAGIRT

Community members are welcome to burn their chometz at any of these three locations.

For your safety and the safety of others, please only bring that which is halachically required. Anything in excess of that will not be allowed.

All children must be under the direct supervision of a responsible adult.

All community members are urged not to create independent chometz burnings.

Any such infraction will result in that fire being extinguished by the local fire department and may also result in the issuance of a summons.

The RNSP and the co-sponsoring organizations below wish you a safe and happy Pesach. securityalerts@rockawaynassau.org

We invite you to visit HALB’s Facebook page to see what the hype is about! #HalbSababaChallenge

@rockawaynassau

.com/RockawayNassauPatrol

@Rockaway_Nassau_Patrol

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Around the Community

The JCCRP Welcomes its New Executive Director

T

he Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula (JCCRP) announced this week that Moshe Brandsdorfer has accepted the position of Executive Director.

Brandsdorfer brings over a decade of experience in nonprofit management and fundraising and previously served as Director of Development at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov in Lawrence. This experiential base will facilitate a smooth transition to the executive director role and in preparation for the upcoming years of services and growth.

Moshe joins the JCCRP with a myriad of experience in communal affairs, social services, program management and development. After studying psychology at Brooklyn College, he began his career as a teacher at Yeshiva Bonim Lamokom’s vocational program, a school for children with special needs located inside Yeshiva Torah

Vo’daath. At that position, he excelled in providing job training, mentoring and life skill classes to young adults with various disabilities.

Moshe went on to become a program director at Harmony Services, an OPWDD certified organization. For six years, he directed a day-hab program that serviced over 75 clients with special needs in a most caring fashion. Of his major accomplishments at this position, he founded Camp Kinor Dovid, an inclusive summer camp located in Camp Ma Na Vu, in Parksville, NY. Aside from creating a summertime haven for spe-

cial campers, the camp provided the much needed and deserved respite to the families of these young men and women. In addition to establishing the camp, he also directed it for six summers.

Although extremely busy and devoted to providing top level quality care, Moshe continued to develop his professional training. He received administrative and fundraising training at the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools (also known as Torah Umesorah) and at Boston University School of Continuing Education. At both programs he learned a vast amount about nonprofit strategy, while developing long lasting relationships with his classmates and professors.

Brandsdorfer will be replacing the JCCRP’s current executive director Nathan Krasnovsky. Nathan joined the JCCRP during a tumultuous time for our community,

as Hurricane Sandy devastated us. He immediately took the reins and helped lead our community on the path of recovery. His devotion, love for our community, and affinity towards our clients is unrivaled. Under his leadership, the JCCRP has experienced tremendous growth. Nathan transformed the JCCRP from a small organization offering a scattered array of services to a single-stop destination offering the full scope of services for community members in crisis.

“My passion has always been to help elevate the quality of services to better meet the needs of our clients. Through my work with the JCCRP and our member agencies, I look forward to continuing Nathan’s mission of improving people’s lives by mobilizing the caring power of the community,” Brandsdorfer said. Moshe, a longtime resident of the Five Towns, resides in Woodmere

with his family.

Nathan Krasnovsky, JCCRP executive director, commented, “Moshe has a strong desire for success, along with a proven track record of creating long-lasting relationships with community partners in our area. It was truly a pleasure working for the community and I’m very excited to see Moshe continue the JCCRP’s mission of providing quality services in a most respectful and dignified fashion.”

JCCRP Board President MZ Dicker added, “It is with great excitement that I can announce that Moshe Brandsdorfer has accepted the position of executive director of the JCCRP. We’re confident in his abilities and with his leadership, look forward to making a great impact in our ability to serve all those in need in the Five Towns and Rockaways community. We wish him tremendous hatzlacha.”

HANC High School Hosts Project Ezra

O

n Tuesday, March 28, HANC High School and its Jewish Poor Committee were privileged to host the annual Project Ezra Model Seder. This event provided a mock Pesach seder experience to elderly Jews from the Lower East Side who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in or celebrate the holiday.

Organized by Project Ezra, a nonprofit organization that serves the Jewish elderly of New York’s Lower East Side, and HANC’s Director of Student Life, Rabbi Daniel Mezei and Chairpersons Keren Dayan and Jacob Kohanim, the model seder involved spirited singing, dancing, eating, and celebrating, as the seniors of Project Ezra were joined by HANC students

from all grades. All in attendance were treated to a special performance from members of HANC’s award-winning boys’ chorus which contributed tremendously to the ruach and joy of the event.

Students read aloud from the Hagaddah, educating and commemorating with the seniors on the basic aspects and practices of the seder,

and connected with them through jovial conversation and laughter, taking the opportunity to learn from the seniors themselves on their personal histories and experiences.

The program concluded in high spirits with seniors and students hand in hand, singing and dancing to l’shana habah b’Yerushalayim, marking a classic Pesach seder.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Around the Community

MAY Alumni Yarchei Kallah 2017 – A Huge Success!

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his past week, Mesivta Ateres Yaakov held their annual Bein Haz’manim Yarchei Kallah on inyanei Pesach. Although primarily geared for alumni returning from Eretz Yisrael for bein haz’manim, the Yarchei Kallah also attracted many members of the greater community. This year’s program drew over 50 graduated talmidim for shiurim, learn-

ing, schmoozing, and “catching up.”

Each morning following Shacharis, alumni were treated to a lavish breakfast during which they caught up with friends, current talmdim and rabbeim. Seder began with shiurim on the Haggadah delivered by Mesivta and Yeshiva Gedolah rabbeim, providing insightful divrei Torah for talmidim to share at their

own sedarim. Following the Haggadah shiurim, talmidim, together with the 12th grade, were provided ma’areh mekomos with which to prepare for the day’s iyun shiur on different Pesach topics.

The Yarchei Kallah also featured a special Tuesday night kumzits. Those in attendance were treated to a delicious smorgasbord replete with cholent, kishka, kugel,

and poppers. The evening progressed into a beautiful kumzits, with live music, singing and divrei Torah from various rabbeim of the Mesivta. Suffice it to say, the evening was enjoyed by all!

Rabbi Yossi Bennett, Assistant Menahel, commented, “Each year it is one of our most highly anticipated events and a highlight of our year when our talmidim return either from Eretz Yisroel or from their respective yeshivos or colleges in America. The enormous response

from our talmidim returning to learn with their MAY rabbeim is a huge chizuk, both for rabbeim and current talmidim. It bears testimony to the strong connections and relationships that were forged while they were here at the Mesivta and to the fact that those relationships remain intact.”

Recordings and source material for the various shiurim are available on the Yeshiva’s website at www.ateresyaakov.com or through the Yeshiva’s office.

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Around the Community

A Most Unique CAHAL Hagaddah Experience

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he main mitzvah of Pesach is “v’higadita l’bincha, tell your children.” Pesach is the ultimate children’s holiday.

It is focused on making them feel as though they were present at the geulah. As we all know, dating back to our own school days, elementary school children create their own Hagaddah

every year. Rabbi Moshe Waxman has taken this activity to an entirely new level. In the 2nd-3rd grade HAFTR CAHAL class, Yitziat Mizrayim truly comes alive, as Rabbi Waxman focuses on the mindset of “B’chol dor v’dor.” Through active learning and multi-sensory techniques, the students literally experience our his-

tory and identify how Bnei Yisrael felt as each event unfolded. Then they dress up for each scene, portray the appropriate emotions, and Rabbi Waxman invests many hours photo-shopping his students into actual backdrops to complete the pictures. The results adorn their Hagaddahs, but that is not all. Divrei Torah are added, important words are highlighted and color-coded, and the children are ready to go. As they present their extraordinary Hagaddahs and all that they have learned, they become the most important participants at their family sedarim.

CAHAL, the local yeshiva-based and sponsored community program for children with learning challenges, now in its 24th year, provides smaller, more in-

dividualized classes in the local yeshivas catering to children’s learning styles.

All the students attend mainstream activities daily, including lunch, recess, specials, assemblies, trips and more. When ready, children attend academic classes as well, with support from CAHAL to ensure success. The

experienced and caring CAHAL teachers make it all happen.

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

The Chesed Fund Breaks $4 Million Raised in One Year

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fter launching just over a year ago, The Chesed Fund has just passed the milestone of 4 million dollars raised for charity.

The platform’s founder, Avi Kehat, says he never expected the platform to grow so quickly. “I’m just a coder, holding down a full time job.

I devote whatever time I can find each day to programming the site, but this level of success really caught me by surprise.”

The Chesed Fund was created to help charitable

causes raise funds from the public without charging the fees commonly associated with types of platforms. If the average crowdfunding platform charges 5% of the funds raised, then The Chesed Fund has, in effect, saved the causes that used the platform a collective $200,000 in fees.

One of the The Chesed Fund’s biggest clients is Kupat Ha’ir, which uses the platform to raise millions of dollars for chesed cases in Eretz Yisrael.

Avi Kohen, who oversees the organization’s marketing, ex-

My wife said she wanted something with several diamonds in it so I bought her a pack of cards. The doctor says the swelling over my left eye should be gone in three days.

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plained the platform’s unique appeal. “When you are raising as much funds as we are, even a small percentage point adds up to a significant amount.

We are now able to use those additional funds to further assist the families in need.”

If The Chesed Fund collects no fees, how does it sustain itself? With the help of donations, explains Kehat.

“It’s heartwarming to think that so many people have contributed to The Chesed Fund’s continued success. It’s a gift that keeps on giving, because it effectively saves thousands of dollars to all the other campaigns that run on the platform.”

Although The Chesed Fund does not charge any fees for running a campaign, it does offer some premium features. One, “Verified Campaigns,” involves a staff member reaching out to community leaders to make sure the contributions are going to a legitimate cause.

“Many people use The Chesed Fund to contribute to causes halfway around the world, because they are touched by the story,” explains Donni Lurman, who runs the account verification program for The Chesed Fund. “At the same time, they want to know that their money is going to a good cause. We use multiple methods to research the validity of a campaign before giving it “verified” status.”

According to Lurman, methods include phoning local rabbis, asking for haskamos and supporting medical documents, and more. Several

campaigns have been rejected after research conducted into the details of the cause.

Despite its overwhelming success, Avi Kehat believes that this is only the beginning. “My vision is to create a centralized platform where everyone can go to give tzedakah. It would be a place that aggregates all the causes under one roof and allows people to easily contribute to the causes that are closest to their hearts.”

Based on its current track record, this dream could very soon become a reality.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Around the Community

Royalty Visits Torah Academy for Girls

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o, it was not Queen Elizabeth who visited TAG recently, rather it was authentic Mothers of Royalty as portrayed in TAG’s inaugural Bas Mitzvah Event. Becoming a bas mitzvah is certainly a cause for celebration, but understanding and compre-

hending what that entails was the goal that the school worked on for the past few months. According to Rabbi Meyer Weitman, the Dean of TAG, “We wanted to refocus the standard way of celebrating a bas mitzvah and elevate it so that the girls really knew why becoming a

bas mitzvah was such a major simcha in their lives. Boruch Hashem, I feel that we succeeded.” In order to utilize the talents of our sixth graders, the school hired Mrs. Malkie Brown to coordinate a production that would incorporate the goals of the school through song and dance.

We wish a hearty Mazel Tov to all of our 6th graders upon reaching the milestone age of bas mitzvah. Your production at our inaugural bas mitzvah event was an inspirational tribute to your future roles in Klal Yisroel.

Atara Abramson Devorah Alyeshmerni Faigy Behar Reena Belsky Tova Berger Penina Bernstein Estee Blachorsky Gitel Brody Shira Hadassah Calderon Atara Cywiak Shayna Davidson Shevy Dreifus Tamar Eberstark Shana Edell Batya Ehrenberg Tehilla Esses Yael Esses Shana Feder Leeya Feldberg Etty Felder Meira Feltman Rivka Fink Leah Fried Bracha Friedland Deena Esther Friedman Devorah Friedman Nechama Fruchter Fay Fuchs Rachel Fuksbrumer Talia Gade Rikki Genack Rikki Glass Nechama Gold Hennie Goldman Avigayil Gross

Chava Kayla Gross Dalia Halbfinger Chaya Bracha Hamada Ayala Hammer Yael Yocheved Hartman Esther Leah Hersh Chanie Hershkovich Ariella Hertz Lilli Hirt Shira Hoffman Chaya Jacobowitz Chavi Jacobs Esther Leiba Jacobs Tovah Justic Mindy Kagan Rikki Kamin Adina Chana Karasick Rachel Karni Rikki Kaufman Shana Kaufman Sari Kirschenbaum Esther Knobel Kayla Korngold Chani Kramer Shira Kuritsky Nechama Langer Aliza Lantsman Elana Lantsman Elisheva Lasker Chevie Lazar Devora Leibowitz Shayna Lesser Ayala Levin Tzippy Levine Feigel Levy

Chani Lichtman Shani Lieber Yael Lieber Sarina Loew Devorah Lovett Dora Lowinger Rachi Lowy Fanya Lugashi Leya Lugashi Malky Mann Esty Mermelstein Nava Miller Atara Moskowitz Shana Muller Tzila Muller Malka Avigail Nelson Malka Nussbaum Shoshana Oldak Leah Olshan Malka Ostreicher Raizy Ostreicher Aviva Rochel Pacht Lily Perla Atara Malka Post Perri Puderbeutel Devorah Respler Doba Roitman Michali Rosenberg Goldie Rosenman Talia Ross Faige Rothman Sarah Sassoon Ahuva Schechter Shoshi Schepansky Shana Scholar

Penina Schonkopf Daniella Schwartz Elky Schwartz Hindy Schwartz Shira Devorah Sebrow Tehilla Raizel Sebrow Shevi Seliger Deena Shamoelian Shaina Shapiro Atara Shleifer Rachel Dena Shteierman Nechama Shuter Reena Silverman Rus Solomon Aviva Spira Chayale Stern Rikki Stern Gitty Sussman Rikka Tempelman Rivky Trepp Shayna Tyberg Leah Ungar Devora Nechama Vogel Rachelli Waldman Reena Wasserman Shira Wasserman Aliza Weinhouse Tehila Wieder Esti Wolberg Tehila Rina Yagudaev Yael Yaish Tzofia Zaiman Tehila Zlotnick Sara Zulberg Chanala Zweig

May you continue to be a source of much nachas for your families, our school, Klal Yisroel and most of all, Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Rabbi Meyer Weitman Dean

Mrs. Sara Drillman Principal, Limudei Kodes

Mrs. Cecile Wieder Principal, General Studies

“The thing I loved most about the performance was that everyone was part of it and everyone had fun, “said Shayna Lesser, 6th grade.

By selecting three Mothers of Royalty, Chana, Miriam and Esther, the girls portrayed these exceptional role models with moving songs and exuberant dances. “We were inspired by the caliber of the performance and the messages sung loud and clear by our beloved daughters.

Tefilla, emuna, tzinius and pride in our abilities as individuals and women of klal Yisroel were all celebrated,” enthused Mrs. Rivky Gross, parent. The girls received a gift of beautiful linear translated siddurim with their names engraved, in the nusach of their choice. They made beautiful picture frames for their own mothers featuring their royal lineage. “The best part of the production was my mother’s reaction when I showed her the picture frame with the letter inside. She really loved it. I also enjoyed the siddur with my name on it,” responded Talia Ross, 6th grade, when asked what she liked best about the event.

With six classes involved, there were two evenings set aside to accommodate the many mothers, grandmothers, sisters and even great-grandmothers who came to join in the simcha. Each family had their picture taken at the beginning of the evening and believe it or not by the end of the evening each mother took home a picture in a beautiful frame along with copies for other members of the family. The stunning new TAG Simcha Hall certainly was the perfect venue for this event and the hot buffet supplied by Upper Crust was enjoyed by both students and guests. The special booklet that featured items in the world of changes versus timeless was a poignant reminder about what is truly everlasting.

At the conclusion of the meaningful performance, the girls were treated to dancing and singing with Mrs. Bracha Jaffe leading them. Not to be left out, mothers and grandmothers also joined in. One of the most moving moments was when all the participants made a huge circle and sang “V’zakeini l’gadel,” every mother’s tefillah at hadlakas neiros, swaying and holding on to their daughters with tears in their eyes,

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

Around the Community expressing their joy and pride at being part of this truly royal occasion.

Much hard work and effort went into making this such a memorable evening. A huge yashar koach to Rabbi Meyer Weitman for his inspiration and support, as well as his enthusiastic encouragement in all areas of this event. Thanks to all the 6th grade Moros, Morah Michal Feig, Morah Chevie Langsam, Morah Hinda Perr, Morah Shana Rosenbaum, Morah Shana Pollack, Morah Batsheva Scheiner & Morah Sarale Weiner. Special hakaras hatov to the eighth grade students, Zippy Bugayer, Chana Rivka Caplan, Miriam Fruchter, Shira Gade, Nechama Mansour, Dina Yurman, Sara Vahab and Shayna Zelmanovitch, for helping with the amazing choreography. Accolades to Morah Sara Drillman, the very heart and soul of the entire project from beginning to end, and to Mrs. Chavie Rhodes who made it all happen.

And certainly last but not least a huge bravo to Mrs. Brown who took an idea and made it a most moving and inspiring reality.

The beautiful, newly decorated TAG Simcha Hall was bedecked with all the finery befitting such a royal event

“The program was fantastic. You involved all of our daughters and they were truly proud of their performance,” said Mrs. Ditza Berger, parent

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Around the Community

DRS Alumni were part of the recent YU Chag Hasemicha. Pictured, top row, L-R: Meir Cohen, Mark Weingarten, Eli Wagner, Jason Strauss, Joshua Elsant, and Ashie Schreier. Bottom row, L-R: Ari Mirzoeff, Yoni Danzger, Yoni Mandelstam, Josh Maslow, Natan Farber, Aaron Fleksher, Elliot Schrier, and Ari Lipsky

Harav Chevroni, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chevron in Yerushalayim, in Great Neck this week

Rabbi Yaakov Feitman, rav of The Red Shul in Cedarhurst, visiting the individuals in Kinor Dovid Harmony Services

Mangano Recognizes Jewish Heritage Center’s Eruv District

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n behalf of the Nassau County Jewish Advisory Council, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano issued a Proclamation to Rabbi Avraham Portnoy of the Jewish Heritage Center of Queens and Long Island this week, recognizing an Eruv District – a neighborhood virtual enclosure – in the East Meadow community.

“I am proud to present this proclamation to the Jewish Heritage Center, and congratulate them on their successful efforts in establishing an Eruv in East Meadow,” said County Executive Mangano. “This is truly a milestone for the East Meadow Jewish community and the Jewish community throughout Nassau County.”

Pictured from left to right: Lieutenant Jeiver Espinosa, Nassau

County Police Department; Rabbi Moshe Turk, Jewish Heritage Center; Martha Krisel, Nassau County Attorney’s Office; Nassau County Executive

Edward P. Mangano; Rabbi Avraham Portnoy, Jewish Heritage Center; Rabbi Ronald Androphy, East Meadow Jewish Center; Detective Sergeant

Shevy Berkovits, Deputy Commanding Officer of Public Affairs; and Natalie L. Bell, Deputy Bureau Chief, Legal Bureau of Nassau County.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

Secluded. Peaceful.

In a crowded city where trafďŹ c and dense construction abound, Merom Yerushalayim built you a home with an enviable panoramic view of Yerushalayim and lush greenry.

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Sprawling. Unprecedented.

In a neighborhood where only over-populated high-rise projects are for sale, Merom Yerushalayim built you a magical home on expansive acreage.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

Sophisticated. Exclusive.

In a community much in demand, Merom Yerushalayim built a limited number of homes complete with neighbors just like your family.

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NIGHTTIME PHOTO captured on March 26, 2017

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DAYTIME DAYTIME PHOTO PHOTO captured captured on March on March 26,2017 26,2017

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

Spacious: Only 7 spacious buildings have been built on 16 dunam of history and grandeur.

Peaceful: Noise level measures 60% lower than the majority of new real estate projects in the city.

Serene: Set back more than 250 meters from the main road.

Private: 10 dunam of greenery and 8 preserved historic sites throughout the exclusive neighborhood.

Prestigious: Authentic Yerushalayim construction preserving the holiness and quality of life of the neighborhood.

Community: A prestigious and vibrant community from the United States, Europe, and Israel, comprised of families who appreciate an upscale home and a heimeshe environment.

Inspiring: Located in the center of all major Torah and Chassidic centers in Ir Hakodesh, an inspiring group of families have made Merom Yerushalayim their home. It’s a place with a neshamah yeseira!

Family: The Merom Yerushalayim community is centered around family, values and peace of mind.

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This year in Yerushalayim!

Merom Yerushalayim created sophisticated and prestigious living for the Charedi community.

Our luxury homes and friendly homeowners encompass a magical blend of artful and authentic design and an inspiring community centered around values that your family appreciates. Situated on a peaceful oasis in the center of Yerushalayim, Merom Yerushalayim offers a heimishe community and an upscale quality of living.

Merom Yerushalayim. It feels like home.

Experience the difference this year!

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‫ קבוצת סן חן‬:‫שיווק בלעדי‬

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Nitzanei Tal

ROTHNER HIGHGATES

Tzameret Hair

Speci al P Suppl ESACH emen t

‫והגדת לבנך‬ Thoughts on Yom Tov

For Your Enjoyment

Bon Appétit

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Crumbs and Greater Loaves

by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

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Bobker on Pesach

by Joe Bobker No Regrets and No Tears

by Rabbi YY Rubinstein

Stories of Inspiration

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The Wheat Merchant

by Dr. Annette Labovitz

Asleep at the Seder Table

by Rabbi Yerachmiel Michael Tilles

Yetzias Mitzrayim 2.0: The Last of My People Go

by Brendy J. Siev

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The Fifth Question: Which Wine is Best?

TJH Speaks with Gabriel Geller

Chol Hamoed Guide

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Sinai Selfie

by Jon Kranz

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Pesach with The Aussie Gourmet: Naomi Nachman Speaks with TJH

Charoset Salad Naomi Nachman Speaks with TJH

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Chol Hamoed with a Twist

by Jamie Geller

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

ASTING KOSHER L'PESACH YOG T T S E U RT THE B

‫כשר לפסח למהדרין‬

KOSHER FOR PASSOVER

‫חג פסח כשר ושמח‬

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APRIL 6, 2017 The |Jewish HomeHome OCTOBER 29, |2015 The Jewish

Crumbs and Greater Loaves

By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

C

rumbs. They epitomize the nothingness of banality, the edible dust of the remnants of earth’s fruitage. Indeed, they are often ignored and desecrated, except for junctures that have occurred at the opposite spectrums of history.

The crumbs of the Warsaw Ghetto and of Auschwitz were harvested, cherished for every –or any – tiny bit of nutrition they may have contained. Garbage dumps and bakery refuse were searched and scoured to find the morsel of nourishment that took its form in the tiniest crust of moldy bread. A crumb here, a crumb there, and who knows? Soon one could have a drop of sustenance to place on the tip of the tongue to savor for a second.

And then there are the current crumbs of affluence. The remnants of succulent feasts that now linger in the crevices of the pre-Pesach kitchen. They are searched for and sought for annihilation as if they would be the bacteria of evil that could infect the healthiest of bodies. And they can. After all, a crumb of bread that falls into the largest pot of food on Pesach indeed renders it unfit for Jewish consumption. Indeed the crumb that was once pursued and appreciated is now loathed.

Ovens and refrigerators entrenched eleven months in their places suddenly become mobile, all in the effort to find the crumb – not to eat, as in Auschwitz, but to destroy.

Of course all of you bellowers

of bitul are shaking your heads, “Why would someone who seems so in the realm of normal (at least I hope to be) could worry about a tiny crumb slipping under the 300 pound refrigerator?”

Indeed, halacha is a halacha, and, even if the crumb was located in the crevice that would not ever meet your food preparation area, I was raised to have this terrible feeling in knowing that there is actually a crumb of chometz in the house, even if it is physically unreachable and unattainable. And I believe that’s a good feeling.

in our Jewish gut and I don’t know if there is an English word for it. Es gritjidt. There is an awful pit in the stomach so many times in life when there is something gnawing at you, something that you are missing, and something that is just not right.

It is utterly amazing how adjectives of strife and agmas nefesh are so often inversely proportional to the item, physical or mental, causing the agita.

Indeed, it is utterly amazing to note how so often things that are so much less significant, be it a sartorial imperfection or the lost parking

The tiny grain of mistrust, the fake news and the fallacious lies of BDS grows like a drop of yeast that is only a morsel of leaven, yet rises to a monster of inexplicable madness.

Whether or not the halacha would allow for its existence, there is something in the mindset of many of us, knowing that we are living in the realm of chometz. After all, how can one live with himself knowing full well that there is a piece of chometz somewhere in his domain that he was not able to do anything about.

There is something somewhere

space or place on line, create feelings of “es gritjidt” tenfold than of a missing piece of chometz under the fridge.

There is a spiritual realm to life in which the minutest inconsistency, the tiniest flaw, can render an entire action, as comprehensive as it may be, worthless.

The naysayers who quibble,

“Does the Almighty really care if you rip a piece of toilet paper on Shabbos?” “Does He really care if the ink from the kutzo shel yud, the tiny part of the tiny letter, is missing?” “Forget about the realities of the mundane world. Must I really say those three Rabbi Gamliel things after an entire night spewing vertlach from 50 different haggados?

“If I don’t say them, am I really not yoitzei? After all I sang my heart out at Dayeinu!”

Chazal gave us the guidelines and perspectives of what counts and what does not. And, indeed the items that they define as defining and seminal are just that. In no way can we be flippant with a point of view that comes from our mundane perspectives.

Did physics really care that the Space Shuttle Challenger had a hairline crack in an O-ring seal? A hairline fissure. An explosion that rocked the world. Does it really make a difference if you forget a dot, when typing your dot com? Does the transistor care if the microwire does not touch the proper conductor?

We are at the precipice of a yom tov that celebrates a huge and greater picture, yet the details are so significant in the highlight the celebration.

Indeed the story of the Egyptian exile and the miraculous exodus are replete with detail that clearly an entire night of recounting it would not even touch the surface. Yet the minor detail we may omit does not detract

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

from our sense of accomplishment in doing the best we can in relaying the story to the next generation.

Life is filled with details and generalities, the crumbs and the loaves. Often when we become obsessed with the irrelevant details of minutia, we can destroy our greater vision. However, when we leave out what may appear to others as nothing merely more than a tiny crumb, we may be losing sight of the greater picture as well.

I hearken back a month and think about Haman, the man who had everything. He was not only the wealthiest man in the kingdom, he was the most influential. He had the king’s ear to the effect he was able to get him to agree to wipe out an entire nation without so much as a short conversation – yet there was that elusive crumb. An old Jew who would not kowtow and bow in front of this man led him to lose his perspective and declare, “All that I wave is worthless, every time that I see, Mordechai sitting without any acknowledgement of my presence.”

One man, in the entire kingdom, defies Haman and it is enough to

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warp his perspective.

The small insignificant crumb named Mordechai was no longer meaningless.

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he Torah is sketchy about the evolution of the grueling golus that was Egypt. It seems that there were no cataclysmic events that had Pharaoh write his “Mein Kamp” to deal with the “Jewish problem.”

The only clue that the Torah tells us about was a meeting of Pharaoh and his advisors when feelings of paranoia entered his mind. “It may just be that the Hebrews, indeed the family of Yosef who had saved this country from imminent doom, who lined its coffers with the wealth and power, may just join against our enemies who may attack us.”

Why? What prompted such thoughts? Why would the family of Yosef, who so generously and liberally contributed to the welfare of your country, suddenly join with nations to whom they owe no allegiance, and attack you? The tiny grain of mistrust, the fake news and the fallacious lies of BDS grows like a drop of

yeast that is only a morsel of leaven yet rises to a monster of inexplicable madness.

And that is the question that I pose. When is a morsel of madness the seed of real destruction? When do we just ignore it and rely upon the few words of bitul and of spurn, and when must we seek to eradicate the elusive crumb with destruction and decimation?

What morsels of minutia are truly worthy of lifting refrigerators to seek and destroy?

Life’s decisions that may seem insignificant for better or worse may have eternal ramifications.

The sudden turn into oncoming traffic, the foolish ingestion of one wrong pill or drink or even cigarette.

In spiritualty our futures were shaped with the refusal to eradicate just one person and the relentless pursuit to achieve just one dream as well.

Who knows how the world would have been different had Shaul not had mercy on Agag? What would have been had a Rochel been obsessive over the fact that she may never have Yaakov to marry? What must be relentlessly pursued and what should be left to ignore in totality?

Indeed there are those seemingly insignificant items that need total eradication, just as there are those seemingly giant nuisances that should be ignored as they just may fade away by themselves.

Often the minutia of mitzvos or an inkling of what may or may not be a custom can spur tremendous and erratic reactions. In our quest for mitzvos, how often does our own personal feelings take the tiny piece of chometz, the slight imperfection, and exacerbate it? How often do we involve our personal laxities or obsessions in the quest for spirituality?

I’d love to say not to worry but unfortunately that does not work for the elusive crumb. It may be out there and, like it or not, we have to find it.

The question is, “How?” To what end does our own character reflect in the “search and destroy mission” that we are all tasked with in the days prior to Pesach.

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ne of my favorite stories (and there are many) is told of Reb Shraga Feivel Mendelovitz the founder of Yeshiva Torah Vo’daath. I was told that once he stayed in Miami for Shabbos at the

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home of a student. The man escorted the Rebbe home from synagogue, but when he opened the door the young man was shocked and embarrassed.

His wife, exhausted from a week’s worth of child rearing and the responsibility of keeping a home, was sprawled on the couch. The Shabbos table was half-set, the dishes placed in a pile next to the kiddush cup and wine. In front of the head seat were two large challos – sitting uncovered.

The minhag is to cover the challos when making kiddush. As the blessing over bread normally precedes that of wine it is a somewhat a metaphorical embarrassment to the bread – thus it is covered during the kiddush. The talmid, who was embarrassed at the state of affairs, called out to his wife in a somewhat demeaning manner. “Please let us prepare the table in its entirety.”

Turning to his mentor, he exclaimed, “I’m sure that leaving the bread uncovered was an oversight! Everyone knows,” he exclaimed shifting his self-inflicted embarrassment upon his wife, “that we must cover the challah before the kiddush.”

Reb Shraga Feivel was annoyed at the man’s self-righteous behavior and turned to him. “Over the years, I have heard many problems that people faced. Students, couples, and adults from all walks of life have entered my office to discuss their personal situations with me. Not once did a challah ever enter my office, suffering an inferiority complex because it was left uncovered during kiddush! Do you know why? Because we are not concerned with the challah! We are concerned with making ourselves cognizant of feelings. We worry about challahs because the goal is to worry about people. How, then, can you embarrass your wife over not covering the challah when the act of covering is supposed to train you in sensitivity?”

I often wonder what we are really looking for when we search for those elusive crumbs.

Maybe in looking for it, we should also find ourselves.

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Chaim at South Shore. This article was adapted with permission from Ami Magazine, where Rabbi Kamenetzky is a weekly columnist.

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

BOBKER ON PESACH The ROLE of CHILDREN

A Pesach seder in the Warsaw Ghetto

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his year I decided to be a good husband and offered to help my wife clean for Pesach. “How can I help you?” I asked, “I’ll do anything.”

“Well, the best thing you can do for me is to leave the house and let me do my thing uninterrupted,” came the response. So I left. When I came home 3 hours later my wife was upset. “What are you doing? I told you to leave the house!” “What!” I replied, “you expect me to help you the whole day!?”

Anyway I started cleaning our closets and came across a shoebox with six eggs in it and $15,000 dollars. “What’s this?” I asked. “Well,” said my wife, “every time you told a bad joke I bought an egg.” That’s not bad, I thought to myself: only six eggs over 45 years of marriage. “And what about all this cash?” I asked.

“Well,” came the calm response, “every time I had a dozen eggs I sold them for $50.”

Meanwhile, with Hashem’s help, I have managed to finish the entire Shas and would like to invite family and friends over to help me finish

cleaning all my other seforim.

Last week we were proud to hear that one of our young grandsons was sent home from yeshiva early because he was the only boy in his entire class who could answer the rebbe’s question. Seeking more nachas I checked in with the rebbe to see what kind of difficult pre-Pesach shayla my genius grandson was able to answer. “So, Reb Shir, what was the question the rest of the class couldn’t answer?” Reb Shir was very accommodating. “I asked the class, ‘Who threw their backpack through principal’s window!?’”

I decided to seek my nachas elsewhere and called a few other grandchildren to come over for a few days to help my wife clean the house. “So,” I cheerfully asked Asher, “what are you doing today?” “Nothing,” he replied. “But that’s what you did yesterday,” I said. “I know,” said Asher, “I’m not finished yet.”

To retain my pre-yom tov sanity I went into the City. I remember last year during Pesach chol hamoed I had a meeting with a lawyer in a Food Court. We both brought our

matzah sandwiches but the moment we started to eat the manager came running over and scolded us, “You can’t eat your own food in here!” So we swapped our matzah sandwiches.

My niece is not very good with finances so my nephew sat her down and said, “Look, Pesach is coming and we have a lot of expenses and you need to make sure there’s money in the account to cover any checks we write.” “But we have plenty of money in our account,” my niece said. “Really? Well the bank just returned this check.” “Oh, that’s so sweet of them,” said my niece, “what can I buy with it this time?”

To all husbands out there: Buy your wife some jewelry for yom tov.

I did. My wife said she wanted something with several diamonds in it so I bought her a pack of cards. The doctor says the swelling over my left eye should be gone in three days.

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umor is an important part of yom tov because it is effective with children and the presence of a child is essential to the Pesach

seder – the single most important meal in the entire Jewish calendar, even more so than the three Shabbos meals – for only they can accelerate the telling of the tale of the Exodus (V’higadetah l’binchah) through their curiosity and questioning.

Since children are the focus of the seder tisch, the rabbis allowed drawings to be included in the Hagaddah, the only sefer where this is permitted. Doodles and sketches attract and help explain the dramatic saga of yetzias Mitzrayim to the young.

Of course, there were some restrictions. No human forms are allowed, which is how the bizarre late 13th century Bird’s Head Hagaddah came into being. Penned by a Jew called Menachem we have folks with bird’s heads. Ashkenazim scattered drawings throughout the Hagaddah in contrast to Sephardim who were more cautious about mixing the text with pictures. One can recognize the early Sephardi Hagaddahs because they placed large full-page drawings in the front and at the back.

The first printed Hagaddah came out around 1482 in Guadalajara,

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One year, R’ Shalom Mordechai Schwardon (left), the fiery maggid of Jerusalem, was at a seder at the home of R’ Paysach Krohn who was worried that the evening was dragging and Rav Schwardon would not be able to eat his afikomen on time (chatzos).

As he tried to hurry things along Rav Schwardon told R’ Krohn that it was more important for his mother, a recent almuna, to shep nachas from all her einiklach than to meet the afikomen deadline.

Baking matzos in hiding, Lodz, Poland, 1943.

Photo credit Yad Vashem

Spain, a decade before Queen Isabella decided to rid the Iberian Peninsula of Jews. There is only one known copy. If you want to see it, go to the National Library next time you’re in Jerusalem. The first Ashkenaz edition wasn’t published until 1526 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. You know it’s Ashkenaz because it’s jam-packed with over 60 woodcut illustrations.

After R’ Isaac Luria Ashkenazi (Ari), the 16th century genius kabbalist in Sfas, Palestine, chose the Ashkenaz Hagaddah, it became the sefer of choice for Sephardim.

The Hagaddah is more than just a children’s storybook. It is, in fact, the best (and earliest) How-To-Guide for Jewish teachers. Move over Chinuch Roundtable: this is the real McCoy. Consider: the Davka section is a humbling lesson to teach children to thank G-d for the “small” favors in the broader context. The lesson of the Four Sons is obvious. Parents must have patience with their children and be all-accepting, from the “wise and rebellious to the simple one and another who knows not how to ask a question.”

The most instructional lesson is that they are all there, together, despite the social and intellectual and theological differences. In this brilliant Instruction Manual for Teachers of Children the Torah places the emphasis and responsibility on the father to reply according to “the child’s intelligence (and personality)”; in other words, the father must determine and master the art of appropriate communication for

each child separately based entirely on how the question is asked and framed.

The fact that the Hagaddah begins with a Q & A is a lesson in itself: encouraging children to ask a question is half the battle. Whether it is the traditional four (of which two are more like statements, not questions) or any other question, the moral is to

for parents to engage in a creative dialogue with their children about the story of Pesach; when your son asks, “What is this?” the reply must be long. Why? Because “the more a person dwells on the Exodus, the more praiseworthy it is.” Even the word Pesach itself offers a clue to the importance of this once-a-year pedagogical narrative: in Hebrew pe

“There’s no evil son here tonight!

Anyone who identifies as a Jew after what the Jewish people have been through is righteous.” pique their curiosity to a level where they want to know the answer.

Before there was a formal Hagaddah, the story was told by each family in their own creative way. Many went on a “field trip” to the Temple in Jerusalem where there were exhibits set up of the paschal offering (korban Pesach), matzah, and marror to assist the father in telling the story. It was not until the Temple was destroyed that the obligation to ensure that future generations “remember they were slaves in Egypt” was reduced to a formalized text sometime between the persecutions of a cruel Roman Emperor, Hadrian (132-138 CE), and the codification of the Mishnah (c 215).

There is an explicit Biblical duty

means “mouth,” sach means to “converse.”

“If the other does not know how to ask,” states the Hagaddah, “ask for him!” Why? “Because the finest quality of Man is asking questions, since his wit is judged better by his questions than by his answers.”

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he first rudimentary Hagaddah was a collection of blessings, Tehillim, Torah passages, and Midrash. How do we know when it was completed? Through simple detective work: none of the rabbis from the Talmud (Bavli or Yerushalmy) appear; the last scholar quoted is R’ Judah bar Ilai, a student of R’ Tarfon and R Akiva, who lived in the mid-2nd

century CE. Until the advent of the (Hebrew) printing press in 1493 the Hagaddah was copied by hand and passed around. We have no copy of an early Hagaddah so we don’t know its content. We do know, however, of R’ Amram Gaon, the 9th century rosh yeshiva of Sura, Babylon, who incorporated the Hagaddah into his famous siddur in an attempt to standardize the prayers throughout the Diaspora. If we could use R’ Amram’s version we would easily meet the afikomen deadline because it’s only four pages.

The Hagaddah’s “inflation” began when R’ Saadia Gaon, also the head of Sura, produced a more comprehensive version in the 10th century and later when the Hagaddhh left the siddur, became a stand-alone sefer, and during the early 16th century, rabbis brought out their own Hagaddahs with their own lengthy commentaries, a practice still being done today. There are more than 3,500 Hagaddahs published; most are not traditional, many are politicized to reflect different agendas. Examples: There are “Shalom Seders” for the Dominican Friars in the Nevada desert to protest the H-bomb (“the ultimate Pharaoh”). There are “Freedom Seders” for African-Americans (with such soul-stomping heartfelt harmonies as “Rock my Soul in the Bosom of Abraham,” and “By the Waters of Babylon”). This year we even have a Harry Potter “Hogwarts Hagaddah” from Moshe Rosenberg.

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According to R’ Isaac Abarbanel (left), the great Spanish statesman, the reason frogs are mentioned ten times in their turn in the plagues is because living a life under constant croaking is as bad as all ten plagues put together.

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he seated Kiddush, the handwashing at the table, the aristocratic reclining seating arrangements, and the dipped vegetables all signal unusual experiences to get a child’s attention. As does the hide-and-seek game where the middle matzah is broken in two and the larger portion (afikoman) is hidden for the children to find. Going to bed before midnight (afikomen) is always a good lesson,

although in our family we find it nearly impossible to meet the deadline.

By the time each child and grandchild says the Ma Nishtana and everybody gets to repeat their school sheets and questions, it’s nearly midnight. One year we tried to have everybody say it together but it was just one loud meaningless din. According to R’ Isaac Abarbanel, the great Spanish statesman, philosopher, and

Torah commentator, the reason frogs are mentioned ten times in their turn in the plagues is because living a life under constant croaking is as bad as all ten plagues put together.

One year, R’ Shalom Mordechai Schwardon, the fiery maggid of Jerusalem, was at a seder at the home of R’ Pesach Krohn, author of the series of “Maggid” books. R’ Krohn recalls being worried that the evening was dragging and Rav Schwardon

would not be able to eat his afikomen on time (chatzos). As he tried to hurry things along Rav Schwardon told R’ Krohn that it was more important for his mother, a recent almuna, to shep nachas from all her einiklach than to meet the afikomen deadline.

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Great wine doesn’t need to cost a bunch.

In 1925, Yankel Hirsh Segal and his family emigrated to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv. Brothers Elhanan and Yehezkel established Israel’s first distillery in the German colony Sharona in Tel Aviv.

Their experience and reputation led them, in the 1930s, to be asked by the French rulers to set up distilleries in Beirut and Damascus. In 1954, the family decided to concentrate on wine production.

The winery moved to Ramla, and was called the Zvi Vineyard. The name was later changed to Segal Wines. All the winery’s bottles bear the Segal wine logo, reproduced in Zvi Hirsh’s own handwriting.

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Conducting the first Passover seder in April 1945 in the city of Kassel, Germany, was Rabbi Mayer Abramowitz from the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division (above, speaking at the Hafetz Hayim Yeshiva in BerlinMariendorf). Rav Abramowitz scrambled and put together two-and-a-half ton trucks full of food, wine, matzah, and even gefilte fish for the seder; the drivers called it, “The Matzah Ball Express”

ry, the thousands and thousands of children descendants from the 1,500,000 children who Adolf Hitler brutally terrorized and butchered.

Their absence is the agony of the seder tisch. Their absence leaves a gaping hole in one’s heart.

Currently, the Hagaddah is structured with savnalut, “patience,” that someday the wicked son will become wise and he and his siblings will all grow into observant Jews. The Fifth Child was deprived of this opportunity courtesy of the Third Reich.

What we would give to have them with us, no matter rebellious or simple or lazy, just their presence. Just like Eliyahu and his Fifth Cup, they are invisible to us.

By 1945, the nation of Israel was crippled, physically and spiritually; stricken with violated self-images, emotionally amputated, baffled, dazed, scared and scarred, leftovers of a once vibrant people brought to sacrifice on the Third Reich’s bloodied altars of false gods. The Jews who emerged from Hitler’s hell were witnesses that at Auschwitz there was no angel, at Treblinka there was no ram in the bushes. No seas were divided in Europe, no enemy first-born males slain, no tiny gnat found its way into Hitler’s brain as it once did to kill Titus, the merciless Roman Emperor after he destroyed Jerusalem. Unlike Abraham, no Jew walked out unscathed from the fire.

The religious component in rehabilitation back to some form of normalcy was very important. Shabbos, kashrus, learning, and other activities were spiritually therapeutic. But perhaps the most cathartic for the survivors was Pesach. But it was also the most depressing.

In his stirring memoirs, R’ Abra-

ham J. Klausner, the first American chaplain to enter Dachau, describes how he tried to organize the first post-Holocaust Pesach seder in Berlin, Germany. Klausner was unable to find a single Jewish child in the city to say the Ma Nishtana. Consider: in all of Germany only 61 Jewish children were found, mostly orphans.

Consider: of the 15,000 Jewish children who entered Theresienstadt, Hitler’s “model” camp in northern Bohemia, now Czechoslovakia, only 132 survived.

Conducting the first Passover

evil son here tonight! Anyone who identifies as a Jew after what the Jewish people have been through is righteous. Today there are only righteous Jews!” At that point the seder broke down and the “hall” erupted in spontaneous singing and clapping.

Starting in 1945, Pesach in the DP camps was an extraordinary liberating and energizing event for all Jews, secular to observant. It was medicinal, a spiritual shot-in-the-arm against the deadly plague of declining morale. Pesach punctured the feelings of resignation, despair. Its

“Because the finest quality of Man is asking questions, since his wit is judged better by his questions than by his answers.” seder in April 1945 in the city of Kassel, located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany, was Rabbi Mayer Abramowitz from the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. The only place big enough for a seder attended by 300 Jewish personnel and 100 Jewish survivors was an underground bunker. Rav Abramowitz scrambled and put together two-and-a-half ton trucks full of food, wine, matzah, and even gefilte fish; the drivers called it, “The Matzah Ball Express.”

Senior non-Jewish military men attended and were embraced by grateful survivors. When Rav Abramowitz began the section on the Four Sons he was interrupted by a survivor who shouted, “There’s no

Biblical message of slavery and liberation gave the survivors a traditional anchor to their present circumstances. If there was a promised land then, there was also one now: Zion.

Thus, not surprisingly, 70 percent of all Jews who arrived in Israel’s first two years were She’erit Hapletah (“Remnants of the Remnants”); in the next ten years, it was 50 percent. At a time of unprecedented historic turmoil when only demoralized and dispirited faces hovered over the dazed Jewish remnant, when oppression and persecution and suffering seemed the Judaic norm, when emunah, faith, was at its lowest nadir in 1,000 years in a near total eclipse, there were many who stub-

bornly declared that the truism of a Tehillim verse, “Lo amut ki echyeh, I will not die, I will live” applied to the gantze Yiddishe folk, the entire Jewish nation, as well.

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ut we digress: Back to the seder tisch and the kinderlach. Last year one grandchild asked me why the yom tov is called “Passover.” I explained that it’s because there are so many people around the table everybody spends the night saying things like “Pass over the salt,” or “Pass over the matzah, soda,” etc. Some members of our family love matzah. I call them matzochists!

Last year we had an old cranky uncle named Herbert and a distant cousin with the same name. We sat them with the children. They were miserable company – but it worked!

One grandchild came to me and asked, “Why do we have to have bitter Herbs at our table this night of the year?”

A kosher un freiliche Pesach to all.

Joe Bobker, alumnus of Yeshivas HaRav Kook in Jerusalem, is the former publisher and editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Jewish Times, author of the popular Torah With a Twist of Humor and the 18-volume “Historiography of Orthodox Jews and the Holocaust,” the first of which, “War Against the Rabbis: Hitler’s Assault Against Judaism,” will be published this year around Shavuos.

Mr. Bobker can be reached at jbobker@ gmail.com.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Another L

k

No Regrets and No Tears

By Rabbi YY Rubinstein

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ne of the most well-known stories in the Talmud is an uncomfortable one, the story of Elazar ben Durdoi. This man was a moral degenerate who had devoted his entire life to debauchery.

The Talmud in Avodah Zora tells that once he heard of a new outlet for his taivos. The cost was enormous both in money and physical danger and he put his life in danger seven times to get to the place where he could indulge his passions. When he finally reached his destination and was about once more to plunge his soul into filth, a wind blew. The owner of the establishment he had come to said, “Just as that wind will never return to the place it came from, so too they will never accept you in heaven were you to do teshuva.”

Being told that heaven would never accept him touched a nerve or rather touched his dormant soul, and he ran from the place and its owner.

The story ends with Elazar ben Durdoi unable to stop crying; regretting a life wasted and he dies of a broken heart. As he dies, a heavenly voice calls out, “Rabbi Elazar Ben Durdoi merited to enter Heaven.”

So there is a twist at the last second and a kind of happy ending.

Still, the story leaves me feeling a sense of sadness. His experience may have highlighted a lesson of sincere remorse that would be told and

retold through the millennia, every time the volumes of Avodah Zora turn to page 17a, and yet, and yet ... I can almost still hear his sobs of regret at the realization that he had thrown his life away. I often wondered if perhaps he had a glimpse at the very end that his remorse had indeed brought him to real teshuva, which would wash away all of his past, even turning his aveiros into mitzvos! If he did, then indeed at his very last moment, he would have stopped crying and perhaps a small smile would have formed on his lips.

The wording of the Gemara suggests otherwise: “Heniach rosho bein birkov vgah bibichiya ad shyotziso nishmoso, He curled into the fetal position and wailed with tears until his soul left his body.”

In fact, there would be a reason to cry to the very last moment even if you did realize that you had succeeded and purged your past. I have witnessed that sort of sadness several times in my journeys.

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he first time was when I was scholar-in-residence at a Shabbaton in a very exclusive gated community in California. It is the home to celebrities and successful business people. The event was hosted in someone’s home and although the sponsors were a husband and wife, I only met the wife. This

elderly and happily married couple enjoyed an unusual relationship. The wife had become a baalas teshuva in her sixties. Her husband was perfectly willing to accommodate his wife’s choice, even though it held no attraction for him in the slightest. This included paying for a Scottish rabbi to come and give lectures to lots of people in his home while he sat happily in his den watching a ballgame on a huge TV screen. The husband, who had heard that I have a sense of humor, did emerge to join everyone for seudah shelishis. We got on great.

After Shabbos, my hostess asked to speak with me privately. She told me of her sadness, not about her husband’s refusal to join her on her journey as she discovered her religion (he has in fact now taken the same road as his wife); her sadness was about her children.

Becoming frum when your children are young means you can pass on the Torah you have absorbed to them too. When you become a baal or baalas teshuva when you are old, your children are already well along the path you originally set them on, one without Torah. They are very unlikely to change that path because Bubby and Zeidy have. My hostess cried bitter and sad tears at her inability to turn back the clock and give Torah to her now-grown children.

On another California

Shabbaton, I met another baal teshuva who had discovered his roots later on in life, when he was eighty-six and his wife eighty-five, to be precise.

The rabbi who was my host came over to me before davening on Shabbos morning and handed me a book, which was open to the page that told the story of this remarkable old couple. When I finished reading it and raised my eyebrows in astonishment at the tale, the rav smiled and nodded in the direction of the man I had just been reading about who sat a few rows from me in the shul.

He and his wife decided to go straight to the source to cement their new discovery and traveled to Yerushalayim where both husband and wife joined programs for “mature” baalei teshuva for a month before returning home. A year later they were back and spent an entire year in the Holy City learning Torah.

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf, whose book introduced me to this remarkable pair of Jews, asked this elderly returnee where he thought the spark that came to life so late originated.

The man explained that he was born into a family that was proud of being Jews but had kept nothing and knew less. As a young man he was drafted into the Russian army and on one occasion he set off with his regiment on a day’s march. It was Yom Kippur, and the young Jewish solider some-

how decided to fast – something that was strictly against military rules.

As he marched, he decided to pray, but he knew no Jewish prayers.

He explained his problem to Hashem, adding that the only Hebrew words he knew were from the Haggadah, “Avodim hayinu l’Paraho b’Mitzrayim.” For freezing mile after freezing mile, over an entire day, he marched and repeated thousands of times, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt,” hoping that would be an acceptable substitute to the Almighty.

It seemed that it was, and this remarkable Jew and his equally remarkable wife eventually added the real words of the Yom Kippur davening to their repertoire.

He and I spoke that Shabbos after one of my talks and he told me more of his remarkable life. Once again, a shadow of sadness passed across his face as he too lamented the fact that their wonderful, late discovery was blemished by the fact that it could not be passed onto their children and grandchildren who had already been brought up before he and his wife

came to frumkeit.

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he Haggadah speaks of four sons. The simple son, the one who doesn’t know how to ask, the wise son and the wicked one.

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of the Olami or some other outreach organization. The other three – the simple son, wicked one and the one doesn’t know how to ask – didn’t.

I wonder if it is possible to consider that those three sons ended up as

For freezing mile after freezing mile, over an entire day, he marched and repeated thousands of times, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt,” hoping that would be an acceptable substitute to the Almighty.

The Haggadah doesn’t tell us how old these sons are. It could be, in today’s world, that the wise son became so because while he was at college he was fortunate enough to bump into one of the kiruv rabbis

they did because their parents, like the elderly couples in California, did not bring their children up with Torah values.

And perhaps that was why “Rabbi” Elazar Ben Durdoi cried so bit-

terly over his wasted life to the very end. Even if he did realize at his last moment that he had done a complete teshuva and there was an opportunity for the briefest of smiles, he would recall that it was too late to pass that onto the children he had denied a Torah upbringing.

This Pesach, as we sit around the table and recall the story of the four sons with our own sons and daughters sitting and listening, even we who are frum should remind ourselves to take every opportunity to lead their lives in the path of the Chacham. Parents have to grab the fleeting years of their children’s youth to lead by example and not wait until it’s too late to set our sons and daughters firmly on the right road; thus ensuring that we have no regrets and no tears.

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

Extended hours for Pesach starting April 2nd

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

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APRIL 6, 2017 The |Jewish HomeHome OCTOBER 29, |2015 The Jewish

The Wheat Merchant

By Dr. Annette Labovitz

I

ncluded in our daily prayers is a special petition for rain which wakens the slumbering seeds of the soil to provide food for mankind.

“You cause the wind to blow and the rain to fall.” This petition for rain is recited worldwide, but we are particularly conscious of the necessity for rain especially in the Holy Land during the winter months of the growing season.

In the winter of 1915, there was a terrible drought in the Eretz Ysrael.

It seemed as if the windows of Heaven were shut tight. The earth was parched. Instead of the plush golden color of the winter wheat crop, the fallow land lay barren.

Fruit on trees shriveled. Branches hung limp. The wind, blowing across the arid land, created a dustbin.

Little of the previous year’s wheat crop remained, and it was so costly that the ordinary person could hardly afford to purchase it.

Famine, hunger, and fear reflected on the distraught faces of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. The winter sky dazzled from the glow of the sun, the horizon remained unclouded. Pesach was rapidly approaching. The settlers recalled the joyous ceremony in previous years of harvesting the wheat, grinding, milling and finally baking matzos for the holiday.

Sadly, this year would be different.

The leader of the Yerushalayim Jewish community was Rabbi Yisrael. He had guided his people through many difficulties and assisted them in their personal troubles. He suggested solutions to critical community problems, but never had he faced a dilemma of this proportion. He hoped that some financial help would reach him from the Diaspora, from Jews who felt obligated to support the settlers who were building the land. As the

holiday grew closer, he doubted that any money would reach him in time.

He also worried where he could possibly purchase wheat, even if he did have money. Rabbi Yisrael’s face reflected his pain, his heartache, and his helplessness.

Toward evening of one particularly dazzling winter (corresponding to the month of Adar / March) day, Rabbi Yisrael heard the sound of bells, signaling a wagon approaching his house.

Curiously, he stepped to a window and saw a Bedouin leading camels that were pulling a wagon laden with sacks of wheat. In a split second, the Bedouin stood on his doorstep and queried: “Are you the leader of the Jewish community of Yerushalyim?

I have a wagonload of wheat to sell, and I know that you and your people need wheat for Pesach. I thought you would purchase my wagonload of wheat at the fair market price.”

Rabbi Yisrael answered: “Yes, we

need wheat for Pesach, but we have very little money to pay for it.”

The merchant hesitated for a moment, then spoke gently: “I will wait for the money. I trust you to pay me.”

Rabbi Yisrael said: “I will buy the wheat from you on the condition that you set a date when payment is due.”

The merchant answered: “I will return after the holiday to collect my money.” He turned to the workers who had been riding on top of the wagon-loads of wheat and ordered them to unload the wagons into the storehouse nearby indicated by Rabbi Yisrael. Soon, Jews ran from all over the neighborhood to help unload the sacks of wheat.

As the workers unloaded the wheat, dusk descended over the city.

Rabbi Yisrael ran home to fetch some lanterns. When he returned to the storehouse, the sacks of wheat were piled neatly inside, and the

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Bedouin merchant and his workers had disappeared.

R

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abbi Yisrael rejoiced that the bakers would have wheat with which to bake matzos for Pesach. He also realized that the load of wheat that was delivered would even allow for leftovers after the holiday, for many of the coming months, in order to help sustain the community. He recognized that he might not have enough money to pay the merchant for such generosity, so he started a letter writing campaign to everyone he knew in the Diaspora explaining the emergency situation and appealing for financial help, generous donations of money with which to pay for the wheat. Within two weeks, the envelopes of each mail delivery contained marks, dollars, francs, rubles, zlotys, pounds.

Before candle lighting time on the night of the first seder, Rabbi Yisrael had accumulated the entire sum of money that he owed the BedouIn merchant.

After the Pesach holiday, Rabbi Yisrael waited for the merchant to appear. Days passed…one month…

very special to discuss with you. You might recall that so many years ago, the worldwide Jewish community

The merchant hesitated for a moment, then spoke gently: “I will wait for the money.

I trust you to pay me.”

not come in the designated time to collect his money, then promise me that you will distribute it equally to the needy Jews of Yerushalayim.”

The wheat merchant never returned.

Author’s Note: This story was reprinted from our book titled: “Time For My Soul: A Treasure of Jewish Stories For Our Holy Days,” Northvale, NJ. 1987. The book is out of print, but the message of this story is eternal.

Dr. Annette Labovitz realized that “holy

two months…three months. The merchant did not come. Over the years, Rabbi Yisrael guarded the money that rightfully belonged to the merchant, but he never appeared to collect the money that was his due.

Rabbi Yisrael aged. He realized that he had not much more time to live. He asked his son-in-law to stop by his house. “I have something

helped us raise money to purchase matzos for Pesach. It was the year of the terrible drought. At that time, a Bedouin merchant appeared on the scene with a wagonload of wheat.

When I offered to pay him, he told me that he would return after the holiday to collect the money. I still have the money, for he never returned. I want you to hold that money for another ten years. If he does

stories” are an incredible method to teach and inspire and she developed this method as the basis for her dissertation.

Her books / teaching materials include: A Sacred Trust: Stories of Our Heritage and History; Time for My Soul: Stories of Shabbat and Our Holy Days; A Touch of Heaven: Eternal Stories for Jewish Living; and The Legendary Maggidim: Stories of Soul and Spirit.

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Asleep at the Seder Table

By Rabbi Yerachmiel Michael Tilles

E

ver since the days of the Baal Shem Tov, chassidim have greatly desired to participate in the Passover Seder of their Rebbe.

How else can one experience the true meaning of freedom in this “Festival of our Freedom?” However, while the chassidim are unanimous in this matter, the Rebbes themselves are far from being so. Some encourage their chassidim to join them, while others are adamant that the appropriate place to be for Seder is with one’s family.

Rabbi Yaakov-Aryeh Guterman, who would himself become the “Sabba Kadisha” (“holy grandfather”) of Radzmin, tried as a young man to be close to the leading tzaddikim of the generation in Poland and Galicia.

He especially loved to join them for Passover Seder night.

One year, R’ Yaakov very much wanted to be with the Maggid of Koznitz for Seder, but he knew that this Rebbe was among those who preferred not to host chassidim that night. Still, he was determined to try; maybe he would be one of the few that merited to sit at the Rebbe’s table.

Actually, R’ Yaakov had already formed a plan. For the three weeks from before Parshas Shekalim (the “Torah portion of the [half-] shekels,” read on the Shabbat before the

beginning of the month of Adar in which Purim occurs) till after Purim he remained in Koznitz. During that time he was constantly going in and out of the Rebbe’s house, running errands and making himself as useful as he could, until he became almost a member of the household.

As Passover approached, he went into stage two of his plan. He asked various members of the Rebbe’s household with whom he had become friendly to get him invited

crowds of chassidim had arrived to participate in the Maggid’s matzah baking and to hear him sing Hallel throughout the work. At precisely midday the Maggid entered the room, checked the tables and all the rolling pins, and distributed the various tasks among the chassidim present.

The work began. The Maggid himself ran back and forth between the different stations to observe and instruct, and to exhort and enthuse

The enchanted guests felt themselves among those privileged to leave Egypt amongst wonders and miracles. for the Seder. The Maggid didn’t say yes or no. R’ Yaakov felt certain that he would eventually relent, but he decided to avoid the Rebbe’s house and shul for the last few days until erev Pesach. Then, when he would suddenly appear, the Maggid would surely instruct him to stay, because there would no longer be time for him to travel home.

By late morning on erev Pesach,

everyone with the call of “l’shem matzvos mitzvah [for the sake of the matzah of the commandment].”

When intermittently he would sing Hallel, everyone would join in. The room hummed with activity and reverberated with song.

At that moment R’ Yaakov came in and busied himself among the workers. He was in a great mood.

Surely his plan had worked. The

Rebbe would have no choice but to invite him – he would merit to see the Rebbe’s holy face as he conducted the seder!

The baking completed, all who took part lined up to receive three matzos from the Maggid’s holy hand and his blessing for the holiday.

When Reb Chaim, a wealthy, much respected chassid from a neighboring village, approached the Maggid for a blessing, the Maggid added another blessing that they should merit to bake matzah together the following year, and then added, “I also want to honor you with a special guest for Pesach,” and pointed to R’ Yaakov, who the whole time had been standing nearby, closely observing the Rebbe’s manner of distribution.

The Rebbe’s words toppled R’ Yaakov’s plans and dreams with a sudden crash. He tried to muffle his disappointment in the face of Reb Chaim’s excitement. The latter was thrilled speechless at the present the tzaddik had bestowed upon him. A genuine Torah scholar to grace his table with deep words of Torah and chassidus! How impressed everyone in his village would be that the Rebbe felt he, Reb Chaim, merited this blessing. His face beaming, he beckoned R’ Yaakov to climb up into the fancy carriage that awaited them.

Reluctantly, R’ Yaakov got in. He

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still hadn’t fully accepted the Rebbe’s sudden decree. His mind was busy, conceiving and weighing plans how to try to change the Rebbe’s mind.

His new host whipped up the horses and they sped off in the direction of his village. R’ Yaakov sat dejected, facing backwards, towards Koznitz.

His inner turmoil didn’t last long.

At the first crossroads he jumped off the wagon and started walking determinedly back to Koznitz. By the time he reached town, it was already dark – the holiday had begun.

S

topping at the first shul, he quickly prayed the holiday evening prayer and recited Hallel, and then hurried on to the Study Hall of the Maggid. By the time he arrived, not a soul was there; the prayers were long over.

The holiness of the room was overwhelming. It was said that whoever entered it full of sins did not leave until he was fully repentant.

R’ Yaakov paced back and forth the length of the building for a long time, alone, reflecting deeply. He was troubled that he had entered like a sneak thief in the night. Finally he emerged, and headed for the Rebbe’s house. He was prepared for the Rebbe’s displeasure for disobeying a specific instruction.

It was already long past nightfall. The Maggid still sat isolated in his room, exalted, his face aflame, preparing himself for the seder. On the way to her husband’s room to see if perhaps he was ready to come to the table, the Rebbetzin glanced out the window. She thought she felt a presence that disturbed the absolute quiet that reigned in the courtyard.

Peering closer, she saw R’ Yaakov standing immobile in the shadows, immersed in thought. Instantly, she empathized with the young man who had endangered himself by his rebelliousness, solely because of his need to be at her husband’s seder.

She decided to intercede for him; to ask her husband to allow him to stay. The Rebbetzin tiptoed up to her husband’s door. When he looked up, she entered and said, “I must tell you that Yankele from Rychivol is standing about in the courtyard.”

The Rebbe didn’t react especially. He simply said, “If so, tell him to go in and find himself a place at the table.”

The Rebbetzin went quickly to inform the Rebbe’s attendant, and then

to tell R’ Yaakov the good news that he was invited. R’ Yaakov face lit up in joy. He ran into the Beis Midrash where the long table had been set up.

The gabbai showed him his place and whispered in his ear that matzot and wine had been sent for him from the Rebbe’s house.

Sparkling candelabra and gleaming oil bowls filled the room with bright light. The long heavy table on which the chassidim studied Torah year round was now covered with a bright embroidered white cloth, graced with vessels and utensils of silver, crystal and gold. The Maggid’s place was set with a couch piled with pillows and cushions to a distinctive height. The few guests rose to their feet with bated breath as they heard the measured steps of the Maggid approach.

T

he door opened. The Maggid entered. Dressed in white from head to toe, his face shone with heavenly splendor. Generally short of stature and frail, he now seemed to be tall and majestic, like an angel of G-d. The guests froze in their places, paralyzed with awe at the startling apparition. With surprising agility the Maggid sprang onto his cushions and a powerful voice that reverberated through the room called out, “Kadesh!” to inaugurate the seder.

As he arranged his kiddush cup next to his silver seder platter with the familiar symbolic foods, the guests started to relax. Fear transmuted into inspiration as an aroma of holiness, of Gan Eden, seemed to emanate from the Maggid’s place and permeate the entire room. Everyone concentrated mightily so as to not miss a word or a nuance of the Maggid’s recital of the emergence from Egypt.

No one present was so affected by the awesome atmosphere as R’ Yaakov. He already felt himself to be an intruder who had forced his way in.

He couldn’t stop trembling. Beads of sweat dotted his frightened visage.

He felt so weak he thought he might faint.

The Maggid rose to begin kiddush. Everyone immediately rose after him, but R. Yaakov didn’t know if he could. With his last remaining strength he forced himself to stand straight and focus on the Rebbe at the head of the table.

After saying kiddush, the Maggid

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reclined and drank. So did everyone else. The tzaddik called out “Maggid!”–“Let us tell” –and R’ Yaakov fell into a deep sleep.

The Maggid explained each paragraph of the Hagaddah with holy inspiration, accompanied with wondrous stories and parables. The enchanted guests felt themselves among those privileged to leave Egypt amongst wonders and miracles. Not one was aware of the soundly sleeping R’ Yaakov.

After many hours the Maggid finally reached the concluding blessing. As he intoned the words “Ga’al Yisroel,” R’ Yaakov awoke. His disappointment was unbearable.

All those months of careful planning and hard effort! He knew he had been totally exhausted, but he also understood quite well that the real reason he had missed out was his outright rebellion against the Rebbe’s explicit wish for him to be the guest of the villager.

A true chassid, R’ Yaakov refused to be depressed. Instead he looked forward to the seder of the second night. After all, his falling asleep this night could possibly be attributed to his exhaustion from walking all the way back to Koznitz, toiling at matzah baking, and not having eaten anything the whole day. By tomorrow night he would have eaten well, caught up on his sleep, prayed and recited Hallel properly, and prepared himself to be transported out of Egypt by the inspired words of the Maggid.

The awesome vision of the first night repeated itself again for all those who merited to be present at the second seder. With the Maggid’s entrance, the room was filled with light and the guests dumbstruck with fear. The holiness was palpable. His closest chassidim used to explain that this was because of all the angels crowding in who wanted to hear the Maggid’s seder.

R’ Yaakov was excited and optimistic. This time he didn’t feel sleepy at all. He looked forward with all his being to watching and listening to the Maggid.

The tzaddik’s face shone and dazzled like the sun. Kadash...Urchatz...

Karpas...Yachatz all passed with R’ Yaakov in a maximum state of alertness. The Rebbe called out “Maggid.” At last! R’ Yaakov concentrated mightily. “Haw lachma anya...”

–“this is the bread of affliction” – read the Maggid, and R’ Yaakov was sound asleep.

Several hours passed of extraor-

“Come let us go to Zion with joyous song” in a mighty voice, crossed the room, and joined the soldier for a few steps of ecstatic dance until they

Yet, as his singing increasingly louder and stronger, he was matched and even surpassed by the soldier, whose enthusiastic efforts nearly drowned out the Maggid’s holy voice.

dinary revelations and spiritual unifications. “...Ga’al Yisroel” blessed the Maggid, and R’ Yaakov woke up.

Finally he was forced to acknowledge that the stubbornness of a chassid is no match for the will of a tzaddik.

Still, he could not understand why he was not allowed to witness the Magid’s holy seder while, for example, the guest seated opposite him in the coarse uniform of a Russian Cantonist (a Jew kidnapped in his youth and forced to serve in the army) got to see and hear everything. What was he even doing there anyway?

A

t least the explanation for that mystery was unveiled that same evening. After the meal, as the second part of the seder progressed, the boundless joy of the Maggid seemed to accelerate even further. After the fourth cup of wine, he began to sing the concluding hymn “Chasal siddur Pesach” in happy excitement and ecstatic devotion. Yet, as his singing increasingly louder and stronger, he was matched and even surpassed by the soldier, whose enthusiastic efforts nearly drowned out the Maggid’s holy voice!

When they reached the last line, ending with the words “peduyim l’tzion b’rina (“...redeemed for Zion with joyous song”), the soldier leaped out of his seat and began dancing mightily while emphasizing the final two syllables of the word “peduyim” – “redeemed,” but pronouncing it like the Russian word “duyon” which means “let’s go.” Over and over again innumerable times the soldier and the rebbe repeated the phrase “peduyim l’tsion b’rina” with Russian accents, until finally the frail Maggid jumped up and yelled,

reached the door.

The soldier exited and immediately disappeared from sight. No one ever saw him again. “‘Fortunate is he who sees him while awake,’” mused R’ Yaakov to himself.

Years later, R’ Yaakov became a famous Rebbe in his own right, known as the “Sabba Kadisha” (holy grandfather) of Radzmin. The chassidim who participated in his Passover sedarim also reported many wondrous happenings. Nonetheless, R’ Yaakov Aryeh was fond of say-

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ing, “Nowhere else in this world can one hope to find the kind of Pesach seders that I enjoyed in Koznitz. Perhaps in the World to Come it will be possible to repeat such experiences.”

May the merit of the holy tzaddikim protect us until “like the days of our going out of Egypt, we see extraordinary wonders” and the full Messianic redemption.

Source: Translated and retold

by Yerachmiel Tilles, mainly from Si’ach Tzadikim, pp. 42-48 (and first published in Kfar Chabad).

Reprinted with permission from Festivals of the Full Moon by Rabbi Yerachmiel Michael Tilles, Menorah Books, an imprint of Koren Publishers Jerusalem. Copyright date: 2016.

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

ur history in Egypt starts with the story in Shemos, the one that we recount year after year following our tradition of passing the story from father to son, from parent to child. The story takes on larger meaning, and “Mitzrayim” functions in the Jewish mind as a metaphor at times for all exiles, for the yetzer hara, for personal pain.

In truth, Egypt has a history with our people that spans millennia past krias Yam Suf and our escape from the Egyptian oppression. Manuscripts in the Cairo Geniza, the geniza in the Ben Ezra shul in Old Cairo, date the community back at least 2,000 years.

After leaving Spain in 1492, Sephardi Jews (in this case, literally from Spain) came to Egypt. They lived there in prosperity for years; their numbers swelled 400 years later when the Suez Canal opened in 1869 bringing Jews from all over the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Greece. The community was divided between Karaites and Rabbanites; both groups did not marry each other. Late in the 1800s, Ashkenazi Jews started coming to Cairo’s Darb al-Barabira quarter to escape European pogroms.

But in the 1950s all this shifted.

The Egyptians, experiencing a wave

of isolationist nationalism, expelled its Jewish population and took Jewish-owned property.

As recently as 1948, up to 80,000 Jews lived in Egypt. Today, 57,500 Egyptian Jews live in Israel and only six Egyptian Jews actually live in Egypt, all of them women over the age of 65.

What follows is a brief history, and, in their own words, a picture of a vivid and robust life led on the banks of the Nile after 3327.

From Israel to Egypt During the time of Ptolemy, Ptolemy took 120,000 Jewish captives to Egypt. There, the Jews settled and lived in peace; Ptolemy even freed them from slavery when they arrived there, opening the Jews to an era in Egypt of relative peace and wealth.

The community even dedicated a shul to him.

Once they were in Egypt, they were present for the establishment of Alexandria under Alexander the Great, becoming a large portion of the local population. Alexandrian Jews lived in two out of five districts in the city to ensure that they could follow Jewish customs; the Jews were politically independent. The community, however, was destroyed during the Kitos War, or Jewish re-

volt, in 115 BCE. When the Emperor Heraclius I drove the Jewish population out of Jerusalem, Egyptians and local Coptic groups took this as permission to hurt local Jews. Together, they massacred Jewish residents throughout Egypt. So when the Arabs invaded Egypt in the middle 600s, the Jews welcomed them and supported them. In fact, the Treaty of Alexandria (641) stipulated that Jewish residents should be allowed to stay in Alexandria and be treated fairly. The new Arab leader reported that there were 40,000 Jews in that city alone.

The Middle Ages: When Egypt Thrived During the Middle Ages, Egyptian Jewry thrived: the Jews founded yeshivas; Jews rose to high positions of the government. But as is the classic story in Jewish history, tolerance is dependent on local governance. During the 24-year reign of caliph al-Hakim, for example, Jews had to wear bells and carry in public the wooden image of a calf. This followed the Pact of Umar, a pact between Muslims and Christians about the rights and restrictions of non-Muslims that became incorporated into the Muslim canon. One street, al-Jawdarriyah, was desig-

nated as Jew street, and, when the caliph learned that Jews had privately mocked him, he burned the Jewish quarter down.

By the 12th century, though, a Jew led the Department of Agriculture, and there was a Jewish master of finances. Jews were personal doctors to the caliph. Reports from famous talmidei chachamim of the time, such as Yehuda Halevi, give us an understanding of the local Jewish communities. Cairo had 2,000 Jews, Alexandria had 3,000, and another close to 1,500 Jews collectively lived in other small communities.

The apex of this leadership and esteem is with the Rambam, who came to Alexandria in 1166. He was a renowned doctor to Saladin. The Rambam was a Jewish leader and prolific writer of seforim; his Mishneh Torah and Moreh Nevuchim and sheilos and teshuvos are still very much alive in batei medrash all over the world.

Under the Ottoman Empire This cycle of peace and persecution continued through the Ottomans’ rise to power in 1517. Jews had high government positions – Abraham de Castro, for example, headed the Egyptian mint – and their spiritual and Torah life flourished.

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PRIORITY-1

30TH ANNIVERSARY

DINNER

Save the Date 06.07.17 Celebrating

3 DECADES 2 APPROACHES 1 MISSION:

Enhancing Chinuch in America

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The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria

Bezeleel Ashkenazi wrote “Shittah Mekubbezet,” and was rebbe to the future Arizal, who was visiting a rich uncle in Egypt. Chaim Vital Aaron ibn Chaim wrote his perush on the Gemara; Menashe ben Yisrael records that a Jew was always at the side of the Egyptian viceroy in the position of “zaraf bashi” or treasurer.

By 1840, the Damascus Affair involved the arrest of 13 respected members of the Jewish community of Damascus who were accused of killing a monk for the sake of their Pesach matzos. The Jews were attacked, imprisoned, and tortured by the Ottoman government. The locals attacked the shul and burned sifrei Torah. The violence drew international attention, and negotiations for the prisoners’ release took place in Alexandria for 24 days in August.

The nine prisoners who were still alive were released and an edict went out to stop the spread of blood libels and hatred in the Ottoman Empire.

With the raised awareness of the Jews in Egypt, famous Jews including Moses Montefiore visited Egypt and founded, with Rabbi Moses Joseph Algazi, schools in Cairo.

They noted that “a great spirit of tolerance sustains the majority of our fellow Jews in Egypt, and it would be difficult to find a more liberal population or one more respectful of all religious beliefs.” Unfortunately, in 1844, 1881, and 1902, Egyptian Jews for the first time faced the pain of blood libels.

The Last Hundred Years, the Last of the Jews By 1898, 25,200 Jews lived in Egypt. By 1919, though, under Brit-

The Jewish Quarter in Alexandria, circia 1898

ish rule and under King Fuad I, most Jews did not have Egyptian nationality. They had either been denied it or did not apply for it. However, they still played key roles in the economy,

The Senator and Chief Rabbi of Cairo, Rav Haim Nahum Effendi, with Egyptian officials at King Fouad’s funeral, Cairo 1934

Muslim families; this was relatively common for Jewish families including the Aghion, Goar, Mosseri, Nahman, Pinto, and Tilche families.

Others were actors, musicians, and

. He was taken with other Jewish boys and men to the precinct, where the captain “started his introduction with a reddening slap across our faces.” They were then beaten and eventually branded with a triangle with a number on it.

and their population soared to nearly 80,000, as Egypt accepted Jewish refugees running from European persecution.

The community, of course, had its own traditions. On the night of Rosh Chodesh NIssan, for example, they had a special seder in the local shuls, called the Seder El-Tawhid. The seder involved learning, including reading the parsha about the korban Pesach, and Tehillim 136 to honor the Torah and the status of those who learn it.

Following that, the chazan sang Seder Hayichud (translation: El-Tawhid) in Arabic, as well as a special tefillah in Arabic asking Hashem to have mercy on His children.

Egyptian Jews at the time were well-known and powerful. The Qattawi family, for example, had business relationships with all the major

17

athletes, who competed for Egypt on a global level, including the Olympics.

The Cicurel family originated from Turkey. They owned and ran Cairo’s leading department store, a store they built from a fabric shop in Cairo’s El Mousky district to the department store Au Petit Bazaar to the even larger department store Les Grand Magasins Cicurel. This department store was considered Egypt’s finest. The family founded Banque Misr, a bank owned by Egyptian and Jewish owners who wanted to end foreign countries’ power over the local banking industry. Other Jews, however, limited their business relationships to other Jewish families.

The Jews were proudly Egyptian.

Rene Qattawi eventually led the Cai-

ro Sephardi community and created in 1935 the Association of Egyptian Jewish Youth. The group’s slogan, “Egypt is our homeland, Arabic is our language,” demonstrated the tight ties the Egyptian Jews felt with their native country. They opposed Zionism and even argued in 1943 against Palestine as a destination for all of Europe’s Jewish refugees.

Other Jews functioned as Zionists and Egyptian nationalists, writing poems to “My Homeland Egypt,” while defending the right to a Jewish state. Some were so patriotic that they joined the Egyptian nationalist movement advocating the overthrow of the British mandate in Egypt. Yaqub Sanu even edited nationalist publications, one of the first magazines written in Egyptian Arabic.

Henri Curiel founded the Egyptian Movement for National Liberation in 1943, the seed of the Egyptian Communist party.

Because they had never truly been granted Egyptian citizenship, Jews prospered even more in the late 1930s, due to an interesting government tax loophole and ruling. The government at that point exempted foreign nationals from taxation. European Jews started using Egyptian banks for transferring money from central Europe, and Jews trading within Egypt had extra advantages, especially since they were not considered full Egyptian citizens.

However, with the rise of the clashes between Arabs and Jews in Palestine during the late 1930s, as well as the rise of Nazi Germany, tensions between Egyptian Jews and their Egyptian Arab neighbors increased. Militant nationalist groups came to power and became antag-

18

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Members of the Sasson family, Cairo, 1939

A group bat mitzvah in Alexandria

onistic toward Jews. The Muslim Brotherhood spread its own version of fake news: Jews were killing Arab women and children, Jews were destroying holy places in Israel. Nazis funded the Muslim Brotherhood and funded its printing presses to disseminate anti-Semitic propaganda.

W

hile World War II raged, pogroms began in Egypt.

In 1945, the Jewish quarter in Cairo was severely damaged, and, with the advent of the State of Israel, nationalism and anti-Semitism in Egypt increased. The government required that 75 percent of salaried employees and 90 percent of all workers be Egyptian. As most Jews had been denied citizenship as a rule, Jews were laid off, even in Jewish-owned companies.

They had been warned. The Egyptian prime minister had told the British ambassador that “all Jews were potential Zionists...all Zionists were Communists,” and the head of the Egyptian delegation to the General Assembly said that “the lives of a million Jews in Muslim countries would be jeopardized by the establishment of a Jewish state.” They took this not-so-veiled threat one step further, stating that, should a Jewish State be established, or “the UN decide to amputate a part of Palestine” to do so, “Jewish blood will necessarily be shed.”

Violence increased following 1948, beyond economic sanctions and oppression. There were bombings in Jewish areas, and riots, and the Cicurel department store was firebombed and eventually nationalized by the Egyptian government.

This led 14,000 Jews to immi-

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grate to Israel; by 1950, 40 percent of the Egyptian Jewish population had left.

But until 1952, and the overthrow of King Farouk, Cairo was still known as “Paris on the Nile.” A step inside a cafe, according to Lucetta Lagnedo, who wrote a memoir about her family’s life in pre-1952 Egypt and their forced emigration to Brooklyn, brought not only the aroma of coffee

the Jews and took pains to make statements like “these defendants happen to be Jews who reside in Egypt,” the aftermath was brutal.

By 1956, when Israel, Britain, and France invaded Egypt to regain control of the Suez Canal, the Egyptian government issued a new proclamation. Now, “all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state” and were to be expelled. Half of the community –

“I still remember my last day in Egypt. I still remember looking out the back car window. And I thought, ‘I wonder if I’m ever going to see this place again. I wonder what’s ahead of me. What’s going to be.’”

and pastries, but the sounds of four or five different languages. The upper echelons of Egyptian society included Muslims and Jews who lived together in a relatively tolerant community.

With the rise of President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1952, Egypt was to be only for the Egyptians. And Jews were not considered Egyptian.

Furthering the situation, Israeli espionage agents, utilizing contacts within the Egyptian Jewish community, tried to secretly overthrow President Nasser to stop negotiations between him and Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Sharett. Though the Egyptian government did not blame

25,000 Jews – upped and left for Israel, Europe, the United States, and South America. They were forced to declare that they were leaving voluntarily and had to agree to government seizure of all their assets. A thousand Jews were thrown into prison.

No longer were Jews a resource to the country and economy. They were now enemies of the state, sleeper agents infiltrating the county and ready to undermine its very existence. Those from the most prominent families – the Qattawis, for example – lost their social clout and for the most part left the country, despite their earlier anti-Zionist declarations.

T

his was devastating to the Egyptian Jewish community. Cairo had been a city that “was particularly alive, very cosmopolitan,” a place that was “very extraordinary,” says Lagnedo. But following the Jews’ mass emigration, hundreds of shuls were emptied.

Cemeteries were desecrated. The schools were bereft of students. The charmed life was over.

Leon Lagnedo, Lucette’s father, had been fabulously wealthy. He wore custom suits, went out each night, and did business with Arabs and Jews. By 1963, he was forced to leave. He and his family took 26 suitcases with them and were only allowed 200 dollars. And they were told: don’t come back.

“My father went from a successful businessman to a stateless refugee,” she says. In America, he was too old to find a job, according to local social workers, who encouraged him to go on welfare. People didn’t like the fact that he would say “G-d is great” when faced with hardship; it was too religious-sounding and discomfiting for their taste. He started spending nine or ten hours a day in the local Sephardi shul in Bensonhurst and sold neckties out of a box on the subway and Brooklyn street corners. He, a descendant of rabbis in Aleppo, was stateless and poor.

Still, some Jews remained in Egypt, though not for long. They faced further dangers and persecutions, especially after the Six Day War in 1967. The day the war broke out, all Egyptian men between ages 17 and 60 were expelled from the country or imprisoned and tortured for three years.

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The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

A page from the Cairo Geniza

Israel Bonan had been a student in his final month of college when the Six Day War broke out. His siblings were already in the United States. He just needed to get his diploma; then he and he parents would leave. The day the war broke out, he was at college. Classes were cancelled, and Israel could see the “glee” in his classmates’ eyes as they anticipated being able to work in Tel Aviv post-graduation. Israel walked home, and around 10pm policemen knocked at his door, looking for him. He was taken with other Jewish boys and men to the precinct, where the captain “started his introduction with a reddening slap across our faces.” They were then beaten and eventually branded with a triangle with a number on it.

After some time, Bonan shared a cell with a Christian, whose name had been confused with a Jewish name, and a Muslim newspaper reporter, who reported too much of the truth.

Because they were not officially Egyptian, despite deep roots in the country, some Jews spent years in prison hoping to get a nationality based on their heritage. Some finally needed to procure Spanish passports, because of a “nationality” that dated back to 1492.

Mrs. Simone Wadiche left Egypt in 1967 when she was ten-years-old.

Her father’s import-export business had been thriving, and each week found him on a plane to Europe to meet with different contacts. Because Jews were not citizens, despite being born in the country, her father, knowing the political situation, acquired through underground channels an Italian passport. When the Six Day War began, her father was taken to jail and eventually de-

19

Egyptian Jews in Alexandria, pre-1967. The choir of Rabbi Moshe Cohen at the Samuel Menashe synagogue

ported to Italy. Her mother, in the meantime, contacted the Italian consulate, where a representative told her that they had a boat leaving in three days to Italy. The family, sans their jailed father, could leave on the boat; afterwards there were no guarantees. Mother, grandmother, and children packed what they could and left, leaving behind a fully-furnished home, money, and the bulk of their jewelry and valuables.

Egyptian Jews were wealthy and spoke many languages. Conversationally, they spoke French, like the elite of the Arab world. They were fluent in Italian, German, and English. Because of this, Simone’s parents, when the family reunited in Italy, spoke to the children in English to prepare them for a future in the United States.

From Italy, the family went to France and then to the United States.

After a brief time in Georgia, Rabbi Halfon Savdia of Ahaba VeAhva, a shul catering to Egyptian Jews in Brooklyn, wrote to her father and convinced him to come to Brooklyn for the sake of his children’s Jewish future. This was the right decision; his children eventually went to Yeshiva of Brooklyn where they were welcomed by the Sephardic community, and Rabbi Mandel, zt”l, personally looked out for their welfare.

Today, Simone’s husband, who came to New York from Egypt as a small child, is a rebbe at Yeshivat Sha’arei Torah, and her brothers are rebbeim in different yeshivot as well.

Though she speaks matter-of-factly and openly about her experience, she is equally open about how difficult the transition was.

While Egyptian Jews follow Syri-

an traditions, traditions shared by most of the Sephardic community in New York, the transition still was “very traumatic,” she says. “I still remember my last day in Egypt. I still remember looking out the back car window. And I thought, ‘I wonder if I’m ever going to see this place again. I wonder what’s ahead of me.

What’s going to be.’”

During these years, the majority of Jews left the country, including the last Egyptian chief rabbi, Rabbi Haim Moussa Douek. The last Jewish wedding took place in 1984.

B

y 2007, fewer than 200 Jews lived in Egypt. Less than 40 were still there in 2014. Today, only six women remain, though those numbers may be skewed as marriage restrictions may have motivated some to convert to other religions. Still, despite the almost total absence of Jews in Egypt, anti-Israel feelings are strong in the country and rumors abound that Jews are subverting and weakening the state.

The Rambam’s shul still stands, newly renovated in 2010, though it is barely used. Burials take place in the 9th-century cemetery.

The head of the community and youngest of the remaining six women, Magda Shehata Haroun, age 63, is the daughter of a famous Egyptian-Jewish lawyer. Her father refused to leave Egypt because he was anti-Zionist, and he suffered for it; Magda refuses to go as well. Her father so loved Egypt that, when her sister was four-years-old and suffering from leukemia, he would not take the child out of the country for medical treatment because the Egyptian government said they would not

let him return. Magda now worries about how to give the last members of the community proper funerals (for her father’s funeral, she invited in a French rabbi). She has given money to the Support Egypt Fund and hopes that the golden years of Cairo as the Paris of Africa will return. She knows the remaining Jews live in fear of people learning that they are Jews “because of the image of Jew being promoted as traitors and spies.” Despite her dedication, Magda has had trouble procuring an ID card. Though she now has it, most people who see it are shocked and assume that the religious designation – Jewish – is a typo.

Yet the small community, however eccentric, however fearful, however female, still gathers for Rosh Hashanah in the Shaar Hashamayim shul in downtown Cairo for tefillos led by American volunteers who lead the service in Arabic, English, and Hebrew. They eat apples and honey, as well as pomegranate seeds and dates together. Magda is 63; the other five Egyptian Jewish women are over age 80. Three live in Alexandria.

Despite the rumors of their incendiary underground actions, the last of the Jews will not be expelled, the government asserts, perhaps because, after investigation, the Egyptian government has decided that septuagenarian females are not true threats.

And so Egypt remains, nearly devoid of Jews, haunted by its past, stirring with unrest and anger, while the Jews who once lived there and their children thrive on all continents, waiting for the last of the exiles to end.

Hopefully on this Pesach.

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CHOL HAMOED

Places to Go, Things to Do This year, Pesach comes out in April. Even though we hope to have balmy temperatures, remember that nothing warms you up more than enjoying quality time together. Take advantage and spend time with the family during chol hamoed – indoors or outdoors.

TJH has compiled a list of ideas, activities and places to go for you to enjoy. Make sure to pack enough food (macaroons, matzah and marshmallows!) and music for the road and have fun!

Zoos and Farms

Queens Zoo 53-51 111th Street, Flushing, NY 11368 718-271-1500

Queens County Farm Museum 73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park, NY 11004 718-347-3276 White Post Farms 250 Old County Road, Melville, NY 11747 631-351-9373 New York Aquarium 602 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224 718-265-3474

Central Park Zoo 64th Street & 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10065 212-861-6030 Long Island Game Farm 489 Chapman Boulevard, Manorville, NY 11949 631-878-6644

Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center 431 East Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901 631-208-9200

Scenic Attractions

Prospect Park Zoo 450 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 718-399-7339

Central Park Boating, biking, the Great Lawn, model-boat sailing, carriage rides, carousel Between 5th & 8th Avenues and 59th & 106th Streets 212-360-3444

Bronx Zoo 2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10460 718-220-5103

Visiting

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much shed so ccompli with a y e a w d “… ou r more in urs!”

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Bryant Park 6th Avenue, between W40-42 Street, New York, NY 10018 212-768-4242 New York Highline Gansevoort St. to West 30 St. between Washington St. and 11 Ave., New York, NY 212-500-6035 Brooklyn Bridge Park 1 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 718-222-9939

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Fort Tyron Park Riverside Drive to Broadway, W 192 Street to Dyckman Street, New York, NY Fort Tyron Park Riverside Drive to Broadway, New York Circle Line W 192 Street to Dyckman nd Pier 83 West 42 Street, Street, New New York, York, NY NY 10036

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens 900 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 718-623-7200 Brooklyn Botanic Gardens 900 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn Heights Promenade Brooklyn, NY 11225 Downtown Brooklyn—Remsen Street to 718-623-7200 Orange Street along the East River

212-563-3200 New York Circle Line Pier 83 West 42nd Street, Island Statue of Liberty/Ellis New York, NYBattery 10036 Park, NY Ferries from 212-563-3200 1 Battery Place, New York, NY 10004

Brooklyn Heights Promenade South Street Seaport Downtown Brooklyn—Remsen Street to 89 South St., New York, NY 10038 Orange Street along the East River 212-732-7678

212-363-3200 Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Ferries from Battery Park, NY Old Westbury Gardens 171Battery Place, New York, NY 10004 Old Westbury Road, 212-363-3200 Old Westbury, NY 11568

South Street Seaport New York 89 South St., New York, NYGarden 10038 Botanical 212-732-7678 2900 Southern Boulevard,

516-333-0048 Old Westbury Gardens 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Bethpage Old Westbury, NY 11568 1303 Round Swamp Road, 516-333-0048 Old Bethpage, NY 11804

Bronx, NY 10458 New718-817-8700 York Botanical Garden 2900 Southern Boulevard, Historic Richmond Town Bronx, NY 10458 441 Clarke Avenue, Staten 718-817-8700 Island, NY 10306

516- 572-8400 Old Bethpage 1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, NY 11804 516- 572-8400

718-351-1611 Historic Richmond Town 441 Clarke Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10306 718-351-1611

Open For Pesach Open or BEDFORD FNEW Pesach 10

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• 212 576 1515

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BedfordNYC

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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THIS PESACH ENJOY A PIZZA AND DESSERT AT BERRYLICIOUS! NON-GEBROKTS Pesach 2017 Hours: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

April 10 April 11 April 12 April 13 April 14 April 15 April 16

9 AM - 5PM Closed 9PM - 1AM 7AM - 1AM 7AM - 5PM 9:30 PM - 1AM 8AM - 5PM

PIZZA IS CHOLOV YISROEL & GLUTEN FREE COFFEE all flavors are

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CHOLOV YISROEL or PAREVE

CHAG SAMEACH 69-48 Main St. Flushing, NY 11367 718.59.BERRY

We will be moving to our NEW 5 TOWNS LOCATION as of April 10

590 Central Avenue Cedarhurst, NY 11516 516.792.3848

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Luna Park Coney Island 1000 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224 718-372-0275

The Amish Village 199 Hartman Bridge Road, Ronks, PA 17572 717-687-8511

Adventurers (formerly Nellie Bly Park) 1824 Shore Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11214 718-975-2748

Mystic Seaport 75 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355 888-973-2767

Sahara Sam’s Oasis and Water Park & Diggerland 160 Cooper Road, West Berlin, NJ 08091 856-767-7580

Amusement Parks

Indoor Fun Parks

Hersheypark 100 West Hersheypark Drive, Hershey, PA 17033 1-866-946-9977

Fun Fuzion at New Roc City 19 Le County Place, New Rochelle, NY 10801 914-637-7575

Six Flags Great Adventure 1 Six Flags Boulevard, Jackson, NJ 08527

Fun Station USA 40 Rocklyn Avenue, Lynbrook, NY 11563 516-599-7757

Adventureland 2245 Broad Hollow Road (RT 110), Farmingdale, NY 11735 631-694-6868

chol hamoed

Legoland Discovery Center Westchester 39 Fitzgerald Street, Yonkers, NY 10701 866-243-0779 ‫בס"ד‬

PESACH

at PACPLEX Thurs. APRIL 13 • 10-6Pm Fri. APRIL 14 • 10-3Pm

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of

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PacPlex

Belt Pkwy, Exit 13

Kids N Shape 162-26 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, NY 11414 718-848-2052 @Play Amusements 229 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735 631-815-5355 BounceU of Oceanside 3459B Lawson Blvd, Oceanside, NY 11572 516-593-5867 Laser Bounce 2710 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, NY 11756 516-881-9620

Inflatabl Arts & Crafts

2 Indoor Pools!

With Mechitza

Chuck E. Cheese 162 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, NY 11550 516-483-3166

Ideal for children ages 2-12

1500 Paerdegat Ave. Bklyn, NY 11236 718.209.1010 x158 • www.pacplex.com

Pole Position Raceway Go-Karting 40 Daniel St, Farmingdale, NY 11735 631-752-7223 Brooklyn Boulders 575 Degraw Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217 347-834-9066

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Something Different

Air Trampoline Sports 1850 Lakeland Avenue, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 631-619-6000

Puppetworks 338 Sixth Avenue at 4th Street, Park Slope, NY 11215 718-965-3391

One World Observatory One World Trade Center, 285 Fulton Street, New York, NY 10007 844-OWO-1776

Ceramix at the OWL 591 Malvin Mall, Cedarhurst, NY 11516 516-374-5707 Make It Too 86 Cedarhurst Ave, Cedarhurst, NY 11516 516-341-7660

Chelsea Piers Hudson River—Piers 59-62—New York, NY 212-336-6800

Build a Bear Roosevelt Field Mall 630 Old Country Road, Garden City, NY 11530 516-248-0027

Woodmere Lanes 948 Broadway, Woodmere, NY 11598 516-374-9870 Strike 10 Lanes 6161 Strickland Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234 718-763-6800

Artrageous Studio 5 N Village Ave, Rockville Centre, NY 11570 516-255-5255

Hot Skates Roller Skating Rink 14 Merrick Road, Lynbrook, NY 11563 516-593-1300

Once Upon a Dish 659 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530 516-742-6030 Baked in Brooklyn 242 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11249 718-384-2300 Taro’s Origami Studio 95 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215 718-360-5435

$28.00 $1.50

Individual Tickets

Chol Hamoed Pesach PARK HOURS ONLY ON Thursday, April 13th from 11AM to 6PM

Museums Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum Pier 86, 12th Avenue and 46th Street 212-245-0072 9/11 Memorial and Museum 200 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10006 212-266-5211 Sony Wonder Technology 550 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 212-833-8100 New York Hall of Science 47-01 111th Street, Queens, NY 11368 718-699-0005

No food will be available on premises

Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128 212-423-3200

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

¶½È ¹¯ ɸ¸³´ ¹±¶° ɶ½È´

BELLO NACHUM! SHOWTIME!

12:30 PM

FRIDAY, SECOND DAY OF CHOL HAMOED

APRIL 14TH, 2017 5 towns

at

T.A.G.

444 Beach 6th Street, Far Rockaway, NY

TICKET PRICES $20 & $30

TICKETS AVAILABLE: JUDAICA PLUS - ONLINE: JEWISHTICKETS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 718 854 6902 WWW.UNCLEMOISHY.COM

5 TOWNS

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Crayola Factory 30 Centre Square, Easton, PA 18042 1-866-875-5263

Living Torah Museum 1601 41 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11218 718-851-3215

The Franklin Institute 222 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-448-1200

Long Island Children’s Museum 11 Davis Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 516-224-5800

Please Touch Museum 4231 Avenue of the Republic (formerly North Concourse Drive), Philadelphia, PA 19131 215-581-3181

Brooklyn Children’s Museum 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213 718-735-4400 Jewish Children’s Museum 792 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213 718-467-0600

Imagine That! Children’s Museum 4 Vreeland Road, Florham Park, N.J. 07932 973-966-8000

Children’s Museum of Manhattan 212 W 83rd St, New York, NY 10024 212-721-1234

TJH assumes no responsibility for the kashrus, atmosphere, safety or accuracy of any event or attraction listed here.

Please call before you go. Have fun!

American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024 212-769-5100 Liberty Science Center Liberty State Park, 222 Jersey City Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07305 201-200-1000

NEW JERSEY NCSY GOES TO

CHOL HAMOED PESACH 2017 Thursday, April 13, 2017 ONLY Park hours 10:30 AM - 8:00 PM Safari hours 10:30 AM - 4 PM

Tickets Presale $40

Discounted parking passes available presale only Online www.ncsygreatadventure.com By phone 201.862.0250 In Store Z Berman (Boro Park, Cedarhurst, Flatbush, Passaic) Tuvia's (Monsey) Eichler's (Flatbush)

BENNY FRIEDMAN WITH

Tickets at the gate $45 All park and ride openings or closures are determined by Six Flags Great Adventure.

Kosher for Pesach food will be available for purchase. No outside food allowed.

Riverdale Kosher Market Open from 11:00 AM -7:00 PM

NEW JERSEY NCSY •1345 QUEEN ANNE RD • TEANECK NJ, 07666

MORDECHAI SHAPIRO

LIVE IN CONCERT 3:00 PM

PRODUCED BY AVRAHAM ZAMIST

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

the jean fischman chabad center of the five towns invites you to join in

the 22nd annual

b"h

Meal of Moshiach Led by Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky,

International chairman of the Conference of Shluchim it is a custom established by the baal shem tov that on the last day of pesach we eat a special meal,

the moshiach seudah

complete with matzah, wine, and chassidic songs.

tuesday, april 18, 2017 ¡ 6:30 pm at the chabad center of the five towns 74 maple avenue ¡ cedarhurst, ny 11516

For more information call (516) 295-2478 or online www.chabad5towns.com MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN ARE WELCOME! Sponsored by Chaim & Tova Brill

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Pesach 5777 With Guide Rabbi Aryeh A. Leifert

Thursday April 13, 2017

What's a Green Line?

HebrontoBetShemesh

Start the day at Ma'arat Hamachpela, open in its entirety

Special Discount for Lone Soldiers Cost includes armored transportation, guide, entry fees, tastings.

Trip departs promptly at 8:15am from the Liberty Bell Parking Lot (behind the Sonol Gas Station) and returns approximately 6:00 pm

for the Jewish holiday.

Leave Passover nosh at Beit Hashalom's Pina Chama for our soldiers.

See the security room in Kiryat Arba and how One Israel Fund protects the communities.

At Adora on the strategic Trans Judean highway; enjoy your own picnic lunch then tour the town.

On to Beit Shemesh and the Israel Police Heritage Center.

End the day with Passover apple cider and hard lemonade at Buster's Cider, open specially for One Israel Fund.

Cost: $60 adult / $50 student learning in Israel (225/190 shekels)

FOR RESERVATIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION visit www.oneisraelfund.org/daytrips email to daytrips@oneisraelfund.org or call: In US: Ruthie Kohn 516.239.9202 x10 In Israel: Sarah Tacher 050-587-7710 *Itinerary subject to change due to security, weather and/or other considerations.

Building and Securing the Heartland of our Nation

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

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The Fifth Question:

Which Wine is Best?

TJH Speaks with Gabriel Geller

A

side for the four cups of wine that are sipped at the two seder nights, each seudah on Pesach – with friends and family gathered around the table – is the perfect setting for a crisp, delicious glass of wine. Although not one of the customary questions we ask on Pesach, which wine to choose to complement the myriad dishes that are set before us is a question we set out to answer. Wine expert Gabriel Geller spoke with TJH about how to choose the perfect wine, what to look for when selecting a wine for the seder, and his journey into the world of wine.

Gabriel, you are a wine expert in the kosher wine industry.

What turned your passion into wine? And what have you discovered over your journey?

I first started when I was 16, as a summer job in my hometown, in Switzerland. Working for a local importer and distributor, I was blown away when I found out how many different types of wines exist. Back in Israel, I started buying for Shabbos a different wine every week, within the limitations of the wines that were available there and my budget, of course. I started with Binyamina Reserve Merlot, Teperberg Moscato, Baron Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon…

I was learning about wine from books, magazines and online and started attending as many tastings as I could. At 22, I landed my first client as a wine consultant, and one thing leading to another, by the time I was 26 I had my own wine store in

that I immensely enjoy nowadays.

What are the new and exciting regions to explore now?

The most new and exciting region making kosher wine would be Canada, with the wines from Tzafo-

Watching the evolution of my palate over the years has also been fascinating; there are wines that I did not understand when I first started and that I immensely enjoy nowadays.

Yerushalaim. That boosted things even further and a few years later I decided to move to New York for personal reasons and was recruited by Royal Wine.

Over time, I discovered many wineries making great wines and the wonderful, hardworking people who produce them in Israel, France, Spain, California, New Zealand...

Watching the evolution of my palate over the years has also been fascinating; there are wines that I did not understand when I first started and

na Cellars. Their Ice Wine Vidal, as well as the Unoaked Chardonnay, are unusual, interesting, and well worth seeking out.

Does price dictate quality?

Why are some wines super-expensive and some not?

Sometimes price does indicate quality, but not always. Some wines are expensive because they are made with expensive grapes. High-quality Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Napa Valley can cost over $10,000/

ton, and that will have an impact on the price of the wine. Oak barrels can be very expensive as well, and of course there is marketing and packaging too. Some wineries mishandle their grapes sometimes, they harvest them when they are too ripe or age them in new oak barrels for too long.

Doing that costs even more, yet the wine resulting from that process will not be of acceptable quality, despite a hefty price tag. However, when used well, top quality grapes and equipment such as barrels can yield some of the better wines. For instance, a fine Bordeaux such as the Pavillon de Léoville Poyferré is not cheap by any means, but the complexity and aging potential it features justify the cost.

How far has kosher wine come in comparison to non-kosher wines?

In terms of winemaking procedures and knowledge, kosher wine is no different than non-kosher wine. Most winemakers working at kosher wineries are graduates from world-renown universities and faculties of enology such as UC Davis, Cornell, Bordeaux, Adelaïde or Milan. However, it still is a niche market. 3,000 different kosher wines on the global market is an impressive number for the Jewish world, but it still is a drop in the ocean compared

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to the millions of non-kosher wines hailing from countless regions and grape varieties. We have no real reason to complain, though. Nowadays, there are great kosher wines from Bordeaux such as Château Giscours, Herzog Generation VIII from Napa Valley, Château de Rayne-Vigneau Sauternes, New Zealand, Alsace, Rioja, Monstant, Chianti, Barolo, Burgundy, Israel, Portugal, etc. I am still eager to enjoy some kosher Super Tuscans and Barbaresco.

What should one look for when buying wine, i.e. year, grape, region, months in barrel, fancy label?

It is not easy to buy wine if you do not know exactly what you are looking for – there are so many bottles on the shelf! A fancy label or other information on a label is no guarantee of quality. I advise to talk to your retailer and tell him or her which wines you usually like. There are also many recommendations and articles on kosher wine online as well as in the papers over the weeks preceding Pesach, including some from yours truly.

As you said there are so many wines – where can one start if he or she wants to become knowledgeable?

Knowledge is acquired by learning and practicing. You can learn by reading books, magazines and articles on wine and winemaking but it is also very important to educate your palate. To do so, you need to try as many different types of

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

wines and as often as possible. The best way to achieve that is attending tastings like KFWE, the Kosher Food and Wine Experience. And every time you drink wine, whether for a simple weeknight dinner at home, in a restaurant, at sheva brachot or Shabbos and yom tov, try different varieties, styles, etc. The most interesting way to do it is to do a side by side. For example, two Sauvignon Blanc, one from New Zealand such as Goose Bay, and one from Israel such as the Tabor Adama. Same with reds.

For instance, Baron Herzog Pinot Noir and Pacifica Pinot Noir, the first from California, the second one from Oregon.

Are pairings (white with fish, red with meat) supposed to be adhered to or can you drink whatever you want with any type of food?

I always say drink what you like with what you like to eat. With that being said, you will likely find out yourself that a crisp, light Riesling is not the best companion for a cowboy steak, and a bold, full-bodied Shiraz won’t shine with lox. Pairing your wines with your menu is important for Shabbos and yom tov as when done properly it enhances the whole eating and drinking experience.

Try and experiment with different types of fuller-bodied whites with fatty fish, for instance the Covenant Lavan Chardonnay with Chilean Sea Bass in a creamy sauce. The Yatir Viognier would be another delicious option with such a dish. A tender, juicy second-cut brisket would

pair really nicely with the fantastic Flam Reserve Merlot or with the Carmel Mediterranean.

The seder involves four cups of wine – two nights in a row.

What do you recommend to drink that is light and delicious?

I like to start with a rosé, typically lighter, refreshing, lower in alcohol than most reds. For the second cup I would go with a heavier, more complex wine, ideally a fine aged wine. For the third cup I go with a more fruit-forward wine that is medium in body, and a sparkling wine to top it all for the last cup – maybe even a dessert wine for the 4th cup of the second seder.

First cups – Psagot Rosé and Tabor Barbera Rosé Second cups – Château Giscours and Carmel Limited Edition Third cups – La Fleur de Beaulieu and UVA Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Fourth cups – Laurent Perrier Rosé Brut and Porto Cordovero I am having quite a number of guests this year for Pesach.

What wines do you recommend that can appeal to almost every palate?

A light off-dry wine such as Baron Herzog Chenin Blanc is usually a crowd-pleaser. Other very popular wines include Teperberg Vision Shiraz and Château Cantelaudette.

What’s the best glass to put on the table for wine drinkers?

That’s a matter of personal pref-

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erence. My favorite wine glass is the Zalto, but it’s very expensive. For the seder and the four cups I recommend a single malt scotch glass such as the Glencairn.

How has Royal changed the kosher wine world?

Royal Wine Corp. was the first to produce and sell dry kosher wine in the 1970s, and has initiated the production of quality kosher wine in many wine regions, including Bordeaux, New Zealand and Oregon.

What wines are worth spending the extra money on?

Those that you like, of course.

And those that are worth putting away if you can store them properly, to enjoy at optimal maturity with friends or family. For instance, Château Soutard, Herzog Chalk Hill, Château de Rayne-Vigneau, or the Flam Noble.

Will there ever be a kosher Domaine de la Romanée-Conti?

You never know… But it is very unlikely, as it would likely cost at least $20,000/bottle. I doubt that there is or ever will be a market for such a product.

Gabriel, thank you for your time and your expertise. We look forward to enjoying our seder and yom tov meals paired with a delicious selection of wine.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Pesach with The Aussie Gourmet Naomi Nachman Talks with TJH about Her Cookbook, Perfect for Pesach

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aomi, we all know you as The Aussie Gourmet and enjoy seeing your recipes in TJH every week. But now you have come out with your first cookbook, Perfect for Pesach. How long did it take you to develop the cookbook?

From when I found out about the book until it came out was three and a half months. I’ve had the recipes for a long time as I am always developing recipes for my clients, readers, and students.

How is this cookbook different from other Pesach cookbooks out there?

I really came up with out-of-thebox ideas for Pesach using ingredients in combinations that haven’t been seen before. I have a recipe for Quinoa Hum-

mus and Cauliflower Lachmagine, and that has ever been done before for an Ashkenaz Pesach.

Do you think of Pesach recipes all throughout the year?

For sure. I am always thinking about how I can use certain ingredients or recipes on Pesach.

You have a booming business on Pesach for your personal chef business. When do you start working on your Pesach cooking for your business?

Right after Chanukah.

Is there a recipe or two in the cookbook that someone may be scared to try because it’s so different but will be pleasantly surprised once they make it?

The hummus, or anything with cumin as an ingredient in the recipe. It has an OU-P but is a new flavor to the Pesach palate.

Pesach is all about tradition.

Even so, are there any recipes that we should include in our yom tov menus that our families will rave about throughout the year?

Well, my recipes are mostly from my regular repertoire for during the year.

They happened to work perfectly for Pesach too as they are gluten-free, hence the name Perfect for Pesach.

We eat so many meals on yom tov. Do you have any ideas or recipes we can include in our menu that are lighter and healthier?

The salads are fabulous. I have a skirt steak salad and an Israeli salad with shwarma chicken cubes as well as soups and fish recipes are all on the lighter side.

What about for dessert after a big yom tov meal?

I always tell people to serve fruit.

The lemon curd is light and refreshing and super easy to make.

Although you live in the Five Towns, you are originally from Australia. How is Australian kosher cuisine different from American kosher cuisine?

It’s basically the same if you keep kosher. Pavlova is a traditional Australian dessert. I have a Pavlova recipe in the book in homage to my Aussie roots.

How did you get into the kosher food industry?

I love to eat and cook. I started my business over 14 years ago cooking from my house for people who wanted fresh, healthy food. It grew from there.

You’re a personal chef. How is cooking for someone else different than cooking for your family?

We eat what I am making for my

clients when I have a job. If I don’t have a client we eat whatever I feel like making. We also love going out to eat at restaurants.

You have a family. How are you able to balance your cooking career with running a home?

It’s hard to balance and have a good quality home life. I try to give my kids one-on-one attention as much as I can and also try to take them with me to demos as it’s good bonding time.

What are a few essential tools and/or ingredients a cook should always have in her/his kitchen?

In the front of my book I have a great guide on buying equipment for Pesach. Start off with good sharp knives and good peelers.

Is there anything else on the horizon for you?

There is so much going on all the time for me. I’m working on exciting summer programs, kosher Chopped competitions, cooking classes and teaching with Susie Fishbein at Camp Shoshanim /Nesher this summer.

Naomi, it sounds like things are exciting and very busy for you. We are looking forward to some delicious dishes to serve this Pesach from your new book.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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In The K

tchen

Charoset Salad

By Naomi Nachman

Charoset Salad Pareve – Yields 8 servings I wanted to include a version of charoset in my book, but I decided to take it a step further, so I created this charoset-inspired salad, with all of the flavors you expect to find: cinnamon, wine, nuts, apples, and more. During our photo shoot preparation, the kitchen support staff all raved about this salad and kept wanting to remake it just so they could enjoy it again and again.

Ingredients Candied Almonds 1 cup blanched, sliced almonds ½ cup sugar ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Dressing ½ cup cream Malaga or sweet red wine ½ cup balsamic vinegar ¾ cup oil 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon cinnamon Pinch cayenne pepper Salad 5-6 ounces baby spinach or choice of lettuce 3 Granny Smith apples, with peel, diced 8 dried dates, pitted and diced

Preparation Prepare candied almonds: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add almonds, sugar, and cinnamon; cook for approximately five minutes, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved — do not overcook or sugar will burn.

Spread the nuts in a single layer on prepared baking pan; set aside to cool.

Prepare the dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients in a container; cover tightly and shake to combine.

Assemble the salad: Add spinach, apples, dates, and candied almonds to a large bowl. Just before serving, drizzle with desired amount of dressing (you will have extra); toss to combine.

Prepare Ahead: Nuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week. Dressing can be prepared ahead and stored in the fridge for about a week.

Cook's Tips • Be careful when working with the candied almonds, as hot sugar can cause a painful burn.

• This recipe makes a large quantity of dressing. Keep any extra in the fridge and use it to dress salads all week.

This recipe has been reprinted with permission from Perfect for Pesach

by Naomi Nachman, published by Artscroll/Mesorah.

The Jewish | APRIL29, 6, 2017 The Jewish HomeHome | OCTOBER 2015

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In The K

tchen

Chol Hamoed with a Twist

By Jamie Geller

CHOPPED SALAD A LA RUSS AND DAUGHTERS The ingredients of this famous salad are well chosen and simple. The best tip for making this salad is to chop everything except the beets together. The ingredients really flavor each other and the end result is a mixed textured, smoky, creamy mish-mash. This salad is gebrochts.

To roast beets: Preheat oven to 375°F. Drizzle unpeeled beets with extra virgin olive oil and wrap in foil. Roast for about 45 to 50 minutes until a paring knife can easily pierce without resistance.

Time saver tip: Buy vacuum packed cooked beets, such as Gefen’s Organic Beets, cooked peeled and ready to eat.

Ingredients Salad • 1 pound smoked white fish, broken into big chunks • 3 hardboiled eggs, peeled and cut into gorgeous wedges • 2 ripe but firm avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced • 1 large Honeycrisp or other firm and sparkly flavored apple, cored and sliced • 6 cups mixed sturdy greens, such as arugula, kale, or romaine • 2 medium red beets, roasted, peeled and diced • 2 sheets matzah, broken into pieces

Dressing

• 1 cup buttermilk • 2 heaping tablespoons sour cream • 2 scallions, chopped • 1 garlic clove, minced • 2 teaspoons apple cider or white vinegar • 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise • ½ teaspoon kosher salt • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper Preparation To make the salad: Pile white fish, eggs, avocados, apple, greens, and matzah on a large cutting board and chop them all together. (Yes, you should have bought the large cutting board!) This way the flavors really meld.

To make the dressing: Shake buttermilk, sour cream, scallions, garlic, vinegar, horseradish, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper in a jar.

Store leftover dressing in refrigerator for up to 5 days.

To assemble the salad: This salad looks best on a platter so you can see all the colors.

Skip the bowl! Pile diced beets on the bottom of the platter. Put all chopped salad on top of beets. Drizzle buttermilk dressing and scatter pieces of matzah on top of salad. Pass extra dressing when serving.

Jamie Geller is the only best-selling cookbook author who wants to get you out of the kitchen – not because she doesn’t love food – but because she has tons to do. As “The Bride Who Knew Nothing” Jamie found her niche specializing in fast, fresh, family recipes. Now the “Queen of Kosher” (CBS) and the “Jewish Rachael Ray” (New York Times), she’s the creative force behind JOYofKOSHER.com and “JOY of KOSHER with Jamie Geller” magazine. Jamie and her hubby live in Israel with their six busy kids who give her plenty of reasons to get out of the kitchen – quickly. Check out her new book, “Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes.”

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

SPINACH TORTILLA ESPAGNOLE Spinach Tortilla Espagnole is my go-to lunch, brunch and dinner dish. I always have eggs, potatoes, and an onion around and you probably do too. The addition of spinach makes this already delicious egg dish even more amazing. Sweet baby spinach is a perfect counterpoint to the sweet onion and fried potatoes.

Ingredients ● ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, such as Colavita extra virgin olive oil ● 1½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (any waxy potato will work for this), cut into medium dice ● 1 large Spanish onion, diced ● 3 garlic cloves, minced ● 10 eggs, whisked ● 2 teaspoons kosher salt ● 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper ● 2 cups baby spinach or 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed

Heat one-third cup of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and onion and cook until potatoes are soft and tender with slightly crispy exterior (about 10 minutes).

You may need to do this in batches, depending on pan size. Add garlic and continue cooking 2 minutes more until garlic is fragrant and slightly softened, but not browned. Transfer potatoes to a large mixing bowl.

Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in your omelet pan, or use the same pan and drain all but 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil out of it, over low heat. Add whisked eggs, salt, pepper, spinach, and potato-onion mixture.

Transfer the pan to preheated oven and bake at 400°F for about 5 to 7 minutes until eggs are barely set. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan before inverting on a serving platter.

Place a large platter over the skillet and invert the tortilla onto a plate. Serve warm or cold with salad and bread for the perfect light dinner, lunch, or brunch.

Reprinted Magazine.

Preparation

from

Joy

of

Kosher

Preheat oven to 400°F.

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Good Hum r

Sinai Selfie

By Jon Kranz

O

n Passover, a key requirement is that in every generation Jews should view the Exodus as though it is happening to them. For many Jews, that can be an awfully difficult assignment, especially for those attending Pesach programs featuring excellent entertainment, awesome amenities, and, of course, countless meals. If one were to make a movie about such Pesach programs, it would be called Waiting to Inhale because all you do is eat and then wait for the next meal.

Making the Passover story relevant today does not mean we should literally re-enact the Exodus. For example and for obvious reasons, we should not (i) put infants in baskets and float them down the Nile River, (ii) build pyramids or (iii) wander through a desert for forty years. That would be taking things a bit too far and, practically speaking, it would be very tough to secure the necessary insurance for such pursuits.

Making the Exodus relevant today, however, does mean that we should embrace a “Passover State of Mind,” which, incidentally, was the original title to a famous song, “New York State of Mind.” (The original lyrics went something like this:

“Some Jews like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood. Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood. But I’m staying in my house, with four cups of Kedem wine. I’m in a Passover State of Mind.”)

To put today’s tech-reliant Jews in the proper Passover state of mind, we must make the Passover story technologically relatable. So, the question is: what would the Passover story look like to Jews living in the cellphone generation?

Let’s make believe that everyone in the Passover story, from Moshe to Pharaoh and all those in between, communicated via cellphone. For example, imagine that Pharaoh sent out an e-mail to his Hebrew slaves with the subject line, “Hey and Hay”: “Hey Hebrews, I need those pyramids done like yesterday. BTW: To spice things up, no more hay for brick-making. And yes, this is the last straw!:-)” Fast forward to the second plague, frogs, during which Pharaoh (“P”) and Moshe (“M”) exchange the following text messages: P: Reb Moshe, what’s with all of the Kermits?

M: I warned you. Let me people go.

P: No can do.

After the ninth plague, darkness, they exchange a few more text messages: P: Reb Moshe, who turned the lights out?

M: I told you, let my people go.

P: No can do. Like my favorite musician, I’ll be dancing in the dark.

M: Let my people go!

P: O.K. But I may harden my heart again. :) After the tenth plague, Moshe (“M”) sends out a group text to alert the Hebrews (“H”) that their salvation at hand: M: Pharaoh caved. We r out.

H: Where r we going?

M: Mt. Sinai.

H: Address?

M: Waze it.

H: Just did. There’s a 10 camel pile-up on the Egyptian Expressway.

M: Thanks. We’ll take the Tutankhamun Turnpike.

One clueless Hebrew replies to Moses separately: H: Can we push back the Exodus a half-hour? I’ve got bread in the oven.

M: No, we leave now.

H: But I wanted to pack some

sandwiches.

M: Just use what you have.

H: Do you realize how messy it will be eating sandwiches made out of unleavened bread?

M: Yes, I realize.

H: But it also will create a trail of crumbs for the Egyptians to follow.

M: I’ll take my chances.

Now fast forward to the splitting of the Red Sea. Moshe does a Facetime with a frightened Hebrew: M: Trust me, it’s safe to cross.

H: But I can’t swim.

M: You won’t need to.

H: I can’t even tread water.

M: You’re not listening to me!

H: Do you have a pair of floaties?

M: Oy vey iz mir.

Bottom line: Aren’t you happy that cellphones weren’t around 3,329 years ago? And yes, matzah corners are sharp so don’t text and eat matzah at the same time. You don’t want to scratch your screen.

Jon Kranz is an attorney living in Englewood, New Jersey. Send any comments, questions or insults to jkranz285@ gmail.com.

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Which one of these children needs Chai Lifeline?

(Hint: They all do.)

Chai Lifeline is renowned for the care and love it bestows on children fighting cancer. But that’s only the beginning.

Chai Lifeline serves thousands of children with medical challenges that aren’t evident on the outside, everything from Crohns Disease to cystic fibrosis to heart disease and illnesses so rare only a handful of children have been diagnosed. And still, that’s only the beginning.

Chai Lifeline includes siblings and parents, too, with programs geared towards the entire family.

We care for more than 5,000 children and their families around the world and across the street.

Chances are, you know them. They just don’t look sick.

Whenever, wherever we’re needed, Chai Lifeline is there.

Chai Lifeline. Comprehensive, compassionate, professional assistance for families facing illness, loss or trauma.

151 West 30th Street, New York, NY 10001 I (877) CHAI-LIFE I (212) 465-1300 I www.chailifeline.org

Regional Offices: Greater New York I Southeast I West Coast I Midwest I Mid-Atlantic I New Jersey I Canada I England I Israel I Belgium Hospital Support: Meals | Transportation Assistance | Hospital Visits | Respite Children’s Programs: Arts and Recreational Activities | After-school programs | Sibling Programs | Educational Assistance in Limudei Kodesh Counseling for patients and siblings | Camp Simcha/Camp Simcha Special Family Programs: Advocacy and Information | Retreats | Insurance Advocacy | Family Recreation | Family Counseling | Bereavement Services Community Programs: Project CHAI, support for schools, camps, and communities facing crisis or trauma.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Wishing Our Famiy & Friends

a Happy, HealtHy and KosHer pesacH!

At Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Yomim Tovim are a sweet and uplifting experience. s

State-of-the-art separate Meat & all Cholov Yisroel Dairy Kitchens under the Vaad Harabonim of Queens

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Daily & Shabbos Minyanim/ Full High Holiday Schedule

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Shabbos Elevator

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An integral part of the Jewish community for more than four decades, Margaret Tietz is proud to deliver unparalleled Subacute Rehabilitation, as well as Long-Term, Medically Complex and Hospice Care in a newly renovated, comfortable and completely Kosher setting.

Shabbos Hospitality Apartment for visiting family members located only a block away

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Eruv connecting our facility to Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Estates/Holliswood, Hillcrest/ Fresh Meadows & Briarwood

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Festive Shabbos & Holiday Meals conducted by our Shabbos Rabbi

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Margaret Tietz Nursing & Rehabilitation Center is a voluntary, not-for-profit health care provider.

164-11 Chapin Parkway, Jamaica Hills, NY 11432 www.TietzJewish.com • (718) 298-7829 Centrally located near the Queens communities of Kew Gardens Hills, Hillcrest & Jamaica Estates. Only 20 minutes from Crown Heights, Manhattan & the Five Towns.

Monday - Friday • 9am - 3pm

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

Around the Community HAFTR Middle School students load a duffle filled with Shabbat and yom tov Pesach clothes. This is one of four duffle bags that will go to the Bayit Tikva, a girls’ home in Netanya. The CPH chessed committee, under the guidance of Rabbi Dovid Kupchik, Menahel, organized this successful pre-Pesach clothing drive.

The kids were excited to send their good condition clothes to girls who they know will appreciate wearing them.

Seen in this picture are Eric Herman, Molly Klein, Eliana Perl and Ashley Einstein.

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Midreshet Shalhevet Chesed Team Raises Much Needed Funds for FDNow DR. ASHER DIAMOND DiamondSleepSolutions.com

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ollowing months of preparation, posting flyers, getting sponsors, and coordinating logistics, the Midreshet Shalhevet Chesed Team ran an enormously successful dance party fitness event on Motzei Shabbos, March 25.

The fourth annual Fitness For A Cause fundraiser brought awareness and funds to the FDNow organization, which supports research and develops treatments for Familial Dysautonomia, a rare genetic disease that affects a number of children in our community. The event was founded after Midreshet Shalhevet alumnus Bayla Bach’s (Class of 2012) brother, Philip Bach, passed away from the disease four years ago. Over the last four years, this annual event has sin-

gle-handedly raised thousands of dollars for FDNow, Yakira Apfel of FIT Studio led an exciting and challenging dance fitness workout for the over 100 women in attendance who came to dance for a cause.

The Midreshet Shalhevet FDNow Chesed Team organized and executed this fantastically successful fundraiser directed by team captain Michal Beer, and team members Sarah Austin, Avigail Borah, Aviva Chait, Shifra Chait, Shayna Laya Frankel, Suri Lipsky, Haylie Leibowitz, Aviva Rubenstein, and Maayan Sandowski. The success of the event attests to all the hard work and dedication shown by the team.

Thanks to the money raised, we hope a cure is not far behind.

2983 Long Beach Road Oceanside, NY 11572

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Around the Community

Bnos Bais Yaakov “FACT”ory

Paint & Pizza

A

significant factor in being a well-rounded student is having a broad base of general knowledge. This year, Bnos Bais Yaakov has launched a knowledge “Fact”ory where the girls are becoming proficient in facts about famous people and places.

Color-coded cards with general information about America – its people, places, and things – are studied until the facts are second nature. Each colored set of cards represents a different group of information. Once a group of information is mastered, another colored set of cards is given out. The enthusiasm for this program is simply astounding! Girls are “caught” studying all the time – and they are so proud of their newly acquired knowledge.

At the start of the program, each student received a bracelet, and as the girls progress through the cards and information, another charm is added to their bracelet. The end goal is that each girl should master all the information and receive all the charms for their bracelets.

T

his past Sunday, girls from the Yachad Long Island Chapter enjoyed a fun and inclusive Paint & Pizza event at The Art Studio in Rockville Centre, Long Island. The artist from the studio, Meryl Cittadino, led them in a stepby-step painting class. Together, they learned interesting paint techniques allowing them to express

themselves with Meryl’s direction.

Everyone took home their very own masterpiece! Following the painting, the girls sat down to a delicious pizza party along with some great Yachad energy!

To find about other happenings in Yachad Long Island event, contact sametm@ou.org.

Israel Advocacy at Yeshiva University High School for Girls

Y

eshiva University High School for Girls is proud of the members of the student body who seek out every opportunity to demonstrate their support for the State of Israel. Juniors Ellie Berger, Liat Cohen, and Sarah Miller traveled to Washington, D.C., last week for the annual AIPAC conference. Attending a variety of sessions, the Central representatives heard the perspectives of actual Knesset members, learned about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and met with the creators and actors of the critically acclaimed Fauda. They were also privileged to hear addresses from Prime Minister Netanyahu, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Speaker Paul Ryan. Ellie particularly enjoyed the speech of Vice President Mike Pence, who discussed the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship to both coun-

tries, and Liat felt inspired by the words of U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. Liat says, “I always knew how important the Israel-America alliance/friendship was, but hearing it from people standing right in front of me really put it in perspective for me and made me realize all the more so how important it is not only for Israel but America as well.”

The entire senior grade also engaged in Israel advocacy at a full-day conference aimed at combatting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. Held at the United Nations Headquarters, the conference was run by the World Jewish Congress and the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations. Students attended high-level discussions on a range of topics including the digital media and diplomatic tactics used to combat the BDS Movement on

college campuses and in the business world – two places Central seniors are headed in the near future. Participants and speakers included government officials, dignitaries, academics,

representatives of leading pro-Israel and Jewish communal organizations, high-profile anti-BDS activists, and experts from the private sector.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Around the Community The talmidim of Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s third, fourth and fifth grades took a comprehensive test on their knowledge of Chumash Shemos. The boys were allotted raffle tickets based on their scores. All were winners – as they gained proficiency on the parshios of the Torah.

Rabbi Moshe Bender, associate dean; Meir Abdurachmanov; Rabbi Dovid Morgenstern, menahel; and Rabbi Avrohom Levitin, fifth grade rebbi

Rabbi Dovid Morgenstern, menahel; Shmuli Edelstein; and Rabbi Aron Rosenberg, fifth grade rebbi

Rabbi Yair Weinstein, fourth grade rebbi; Shmuel Gorlin; and Rabbi Dovid Morgenstern, menahel

Many Voices. One Mission.

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ast week, Shulamith High School for Girls’ 10th grade students enthusiastically headed to D.C. to participate in this year’s AIPAC Policy Conference. The students were inspired and left the conference with a newfound commitment to their role in supporting the State of Israel. They spent time preparing for the conference through their coursework in their Broadcast Journalism class and attended the conference as reporters. Now that they have returned, students will work together on a news story as a collection of their newfound understanding of the American-Israeli relationship.

Below are some of the students’ highlights and reflections.

Hadassah Allman: AIPAC’s slogan this year was “Many Voices, One Mission.” Every time I think of these words, they open my eyes to the different kinds of people who attended the conference. 18,000 adults, college students, and high school students from completely different backgrounds and ethnicities gathered together, united by one mission in support of America and Israel.

Hana Adler: I am really thankful for the State of Israel. I never considered how much we take Israel’s very existence for granted. Attending AIPAC and investing time into sessions and conferences helped me understand the many responsibilities associated with Israel’s existence. We have to protect it and develop it. This

trip reawakened my strong love for Israel.

Sela Pollack: The Sunday night general session was very inspiring, especially Hagai Shaham’s performance of Hatikvah, in which he

used one of the “Violins of Hope,” restored from the Holocaust. The entire conference softly sang along, making the motto of this year’s conference, “Many Voices, One Mission” come true.

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Around the Community

With Dayan Yonason Abraham at its Helm, Shuvu Launches its Next Era

By Gur Aryeh Herzig

H

orav Avrohom Pam zt”l left us 15 years ago with a great legacy and also with a great void.

He expected us never to be complacent with our Jewish tradition as long as our Russian brethren were not reunited with what was stolen from them.

He demanded our attention, our focus and our resources to the maximum for this cause. He saw this as the primary calling of our generation and shared that vision with us in the most powerful way. He led Shuvu to become one of the most successful Jewish educational outreach programs in the world today.

Furthermore, he looked at Shuvu as eventually becoming a paradigm, an opening for all of our lost brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisroel to embrace their noble heritage through education of their youth.

Since Rav Pam’s petira, Shuvu continued on but there was a definite void at the level of leadership.

So, the excitement at the 26th anniversary dinner last month was well understood as Shuvu’s new leader was introduced to its thousands of friends. Dayan Yonasan Abraham of England brings with himself a fiery dedication to the mission of Shuvu.

A frequent visitor to Israel,

he was awed by the work of Shuvu long before he was approached with the idea of leadership.

In his passionate acceptance speech, Dayan Abraham demonstrated a keen understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities facing us in the coming years. He described a visit to a secular public school in Beit Shemesh whose principal happens to be frum. The principal described the blind hatred the children have to their religion to a frightening degree.

On the other hand, a survey (by the reputable Rafi Smith & co.) of secular parents showed that over 50% of them would be delighted to send their children to a Shuvu-like high-scoring-yet-religious school.

Rabbi

Abraham’s voice choked in emotion as he implored his audience to rise up to this great challenge of our time.

“If we can reach these 50% of Israel’s million school age children from secular homes, it can change the face of Israel. This is more than a challenge. This is an obligation.”

The words were so reminiscent of Rav Pam’s constant refrain: “B’yadeinu! We can do it! We can deliver the children of Israel as a gift to the Ribbono shel Olam. They will become v’chol bonayich limudei Hashem.”

As Mr. Abe Biderman, co-chairman of Shuvu, expresses it: “Dayan Abraham represents a seamless continuity in the strength of vision and enthusiasm of Shuvu’s unforgettable founder.” Mr. Yossi Hoch, co-chairman of

Shuvu, sees in Dayan Abraham: “An enthusiastic man at the helm. His passion for the holy mission of Shuvu is downright contagious.”

The Novominsker Rebbe, shlita, introduced Dayan Abraham and formally inaugurated him as the new Nasi of Shuvu and warmly endorsed him wishing him success and longevity. The official scroll of inauguration was signed the Gedolei Yisroel of America, including the Novominsker Rebbe, Horav Aharon Schechter, Horav Shmuel Kaminetsky, Horav Dovid Feinstein, Horav Mattisyahu Solomon, Horav Malkiel Kotler, Horav Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, as well as the three sons of Rav Pam, underlining the strong sense of hemshech Dayan Abraham is bringing to Shuvu.

Shevach Ushers in Nissan with Chessed Excitement

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n Tuesday morning, Rosh Chodesh Nissan, Shevach High School was flying high.

The heads of Shevach’s Chessed Program – Leah Shapiro, Tzipporah Shonfeld, Shani Sommers, Chavi Steinberg, and Batsheva Twersky – under the direction of Assistant Principal Rebbeztin Chani Grunblatt, put together a fun and uplifting event. After davening, to start off the exciting program, the entire school was treated to iced coffees and brownie bars. As much as everyone enjoyed these treats, the next treat,

which was spiritual sustenance, was enjoyed even more.

Rabbi Bentzion Chait, Director of the National Torah Initiative of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, delivered a truly inspirational speech on the power of chessed, keeping the student body riveted to their seats.

One of the many points Rabbi Chait spoke about was finding sources of inspiration to do chessed within our own community, and how one act of chessed can lead to many others. He gave many stories illustrating this point including one about a She-

vach alumna who lives in Portland, Oregon, and moved her family of six out of her home into a basement for quite a few months in order to accommodate a larger family who had nowhere to live after their house was destroyed in a fire. When asked what inspired her to do this tremendous act of chessed, the alumna said she was inspired by a Kew Gardens Hills family who opened up their home for many months to a family they did not even know but needed to be in New York for medical treatment. Mi ke’amcha Yisrael!

After the speech, the Shevach students enjoyed a Chinese Auction featuring wonderful prizes donated by businesses in the community.

Each girl was awarded tickets based on the number of chessed hours she did throughout the year. All the girls really enjoyed this pre-Pesach program that highlighted the hard work they put into their individual chassadim. We are confident they will constantly grow in their performance of chessed, and thus continue to be a source of pride and nachas to the entire Queens community.

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HANC Shabbaton

T

his year the school Shabbaton was for the entire HANC Middle School – seventh and eighth grades. The excitement started as soon as the busses pulled into our parking lot. The students rushed out of the building (in an orderly manner, of course) and loaded the busses. The first stop was ice skating. Each grade went to a different rink to allow for achdut within each grade. Students had a blast, even though some never left the wall. Next, we went up to Camp Nageela. There is something special about the fresh air up in the mountains. Students were given their room assignments. They went to their rooms and then had free time to hang out, relax and get ready for Shabbat. The davening Friday night was very spirited. The Friday night meal was fantastic. The food was delicious and the spontaneous ruach was incredible. The students really enjoyed being together and also being with their teachers and their teachers’ families. After an activity the evening ended with beautiful onegs complete with singing and, of course, cholent!

Shabbat Day was filled with davening, kiddush and a wonderful lunch and Shabbat menucha.

Students enjoyed skits and a knee hockey tournament. Right before shalosh seudot, there was a seventh vs. eighth grade of Family Feud, HANC-style. The singing at shalosh seudot was beautiful. In fact, it was heartwarming to see the school linked together as one as the Shabbat ebbed away. After Maariv and havdalah, the students went back to their rooms to get ready for night activity. It was the HAPPY AND HILARIOUS HANC CHALLENGE. There were all kinds of events including the potato sack race, bobbing for cherries and the sock race, to name a few. The evening concluded with a delicious Melava Malka.

Of course, the students wanted the Shabbaton to go on forever but it did conclude Sunday morning. The students had a fantastic time and have been talking about it all week.

A special thank you to the gabbaim, the people who led davening, those who leined and those who gave divrei Torah. Thank you to Morah Hakimian for planning and organizing the Shabbaton. Thank you as well to the staff members and their families who came and made this year’s HANC Middle School Shabbaton the amazing success that it was!

Woodmere is Coming Alive with a New Addition

P

ugatch Realty Corp. on behalf of Omek Capital presents: all new construction, executive suites on Broadway in Woodmere.

More than just beautiful shared office spaces, we want to build a culture and community of professionals that have every luxury and amenity at their disposal. Premier luxury office spaces offering private offices, co-working, and innovative amenities for growing businesses.

Beautifully designed spaces include furnished offices, state of the art conference rooms, ultra-fast WiFi, 24/7 access, breathtaking lobby,

members-only lounges and game room, storage/file room and much more. We are located in one of the most vibrant and quaint commercial neighborhoods in the South Shore of Long Island – the Five Towns. The complex is surrounded by shopping, restaurants, banks, and has a municipal parking lot which is connected to the rear of the building. A couple of blocks away is the LIRR and the post office.

Leasing now for occupancy early May. Contact Pugatch Realty Corp. for more details: 516-295-3000.

200 Families will Make Aliyah Next Pesach to Ramat Givat Zeev

N

early 200 families will be spending their last Pesach in the USA this year, in anticipation of making Aliyah ahead of the holiday next year to the spectacular new Ramat Givat Zeev neighborhood, which is being built at the entrance to Jerusalem.

This is the first residential complex that is being erected with the same exacting standards that buyers were used to in the USA and features everything that an oleh could ever dream about.

Ramat Givat Zeev will highlight beautiful synagogues, parks and a shopping center, as well as first-class schools.

The schools are being programmed for new immigrant students by former rabbis

from the USA and educators via Lawrence, New York, who understand how to channel the sensitivities of new immigrants, as they adjust to Israel’s educational system.

The local Israeli media

has dubbed Ramat Givat Zeev as the “religious Caesarea” (an upscale secular town located along the coast), with 85% of the homes and apartments within Ramat Givat Zeev already snapped up by buyers from

the USA, Canada, UK and Israel. Suffice to say, it is one of the most sought after real estate projects in Israel with local real estate experts predicting that Ramat Givat Zeev’s prices raising by as much as 50%, once the first

residents receive the keys to their homes in 2018.

Even as you enter Ramat Givat Zeev today, one can already see the eye-popping plazas, which highlight water sprays, as well as thousands of trees and shrubs which were planted a year ago so that the neighborhood will be enveloped in green when residents start moving in next year. The initiators of the Ramat Givat Zeev project have thought of everything down to the last detail.

So for the 200+ families who’ve invested in Ramat Givat Zeev, this truly will be the last time they utter, “Next year in Jerusalem,” at the seder table.

For more information contact: office@nofei.com.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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Around the Community

Nearly 300 people showed up this week to help make a tremendous kiddush Hashem at the packing for Tomchei Shabbos’ Pesach drive

Ezra Matzos, Handmade by Ezra Academy Students

T

he Ezra Academy mission is not only to teach Torah and Judaism, but to live it as well.

While many schools and yeshivas schedule trips to matzah factories to watch the process of handmade shmura matzah, the seniors of Ezra Academy did something slightly different this week: they made the matzos.

That is correct! A group of 25 students from Ezra traveled to Brooklyn to make their own matzah for the seder. We are not talking about students assisting professional rollers and kneaders in the matzah process; rather the entire production line was done by Ezra. From Michelle who measured and poured the first pitch-

er of “Mayim Shelanu,” to Sharon who rolled perfectly round matzos, and ending with Eyal who assisted the matzos as they were placed in the oven – t was all Ezra.

Well, not all Ezra. There was one great person there who not only helped and supervised but made this all possible. Rabbi Twersky, the Hornsteipler Rav of Flatbush, does something very interesting every year Rosh Chodesh Nissan. He turns his shul into a matzah factory. The entire Beis Medrash is covered top to bottom with paper, and the process begins. Schools and groups must reserve their slots as a small window of time is available to bake your own matzah.

When Flowers Aren’t Enough Shaaray Tefilah Hosts Presentation on Healthy Relationships

O

rthodox young women today face pressure to get married younger as the “shidduch crisis” looms and families are concerned about the prospects for older singles.

Yet reaching the chuppah is only the first step and young women must be equipped with the tools needed to sustain a healthy relationship.

In an effort to educate and empower, Congregation Shaaray Tefilah is hosting When Flowers Aren’t Enough, a dynamic presentation by actress and advocate Naomi Ackerman to be held on Wednesday, April 26 at 8:15pm at Shaaray, 25 Central Ave in Lawrence.

This engaging and eye-opening performance will promote self-awareness in dating and marriage and help young women learn to identify red flags and distinguish between healthy versus controlling personalities. Ackerman has performed When Flowers Aren’t Enough for the past two decades in high schools shuls and yeshivot all over the United States.

“Every avoda requires hachana or preparation, and the avoda of creating a healthy marriage is no different.

The hachana that places the beauty of a spousal relationship within realistic context can ensure the viability of

those relationships. In order to prepare for what could be the most wonderful time in our lives, people need to first develop the necessary skills that will serve as the foundation for marriage,” said Rabbi Uri Orlian, Rav of Congregation Shaaray Tefilah.

Noted marriage expert and clinician in private practice, Mrs. Rachel Pill, LCSW, will introduce the program and lead informative breakout sessions following the performance for 12th graders, post-seminary young women, married women and mothers.

The breakout sessions will address the specific needs and questions of each

population.

According to Pill, “We as a community have an obligation and a responsibility to teach our children what is healthy in a marriage and what is not acceptable. What are the skills and tools needed to turn ME into WE and what are the skills needed to make sure that even as a WE there is still a ME?” For sponsorship opportunities please contact the Shaaray Tefila office at 516-239-2444. For more information on Shaaray events and programs contact Rabbi Orlian at rabbiorlian@shaaray-tefilah.org.

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Around the Community

OHEL’s Annual Legislative Breakfast Draws Public and Community-Wide Supporters

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olicymakers, elected officials, advocates and community activists gathered for the 4th Annual Legislative Breakfast on Friday morning, March 31. The event strove to acknowledge the breadth of services and the impact OHEL makes in various communities and to further break down various stigmas that often impede the decision to get help in the community.

Opening remarks were made by Annette Rubin, an OHEL Board member. Accompanied in support of OHEL were co-presidents of OHEL Moishe Hellman and Mel Zachter, as well as David Mandel, CEO of OHEL. The MC, well-known NBC Anchor David Price, spoke about “the critical importance of OHEL

in the community,” and the vital work provided – often under the radar screen.

Keynote speakers included former NY Governor David Paterson, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, NYC Councilman David G. Greenfield, as well as Councilmen Mark Levine, Rory Lancman and Vincent Gentile.

David Mandel, CEO, used the opportunity to announce the launch of OHEL’s new Calendar, “Look Beyond: Celebrating the beauty of us all.”

The groundbreaking calendar was created with world-famous fashion photographer Rick Guidotti and is a celebration of the lives of some of uniquely wonderful individuals diagnosed with autism that OHEL Bais Ezra has the

deeply entrusted and rewarding responsibility to care for.

As David Mandel echoed, “Disability transcends gender, age, religion, level of ability and socioeconomic status and it is OHEL’s responsibility to ensure a more inclusive community where every individual can contribute and thrive to the best of his or her abilities.”

Former NY Governor Paterson, who is legally blind, spoke movingly about overcoming his disability as a child. He shared his experience of stigmatization, but also regaining his self-esteem, and his devotion to the betterment of others, through public service. The former governor compared yesteryear to both the resources available today and a community far more inclusive and under-

L-R: OHEL Co-President Mel Zachter, OHEL board member Elly Kleinman, Councilman David Greenfield, OHEL co-president Moishe Hellman and co-chairman of the OHEL board Moshe Zakheim.

standing of various disabilities, a testimony to both New York and organizations like OHEL that have been at the forefront of such transformational change.

The morning culminated in a presentation of an award of appreciation to NYC Councilman David G. Greenfield for his tireless efforts on behalf of the community and long-time

OHEL’s Board leadership and supporters welcomed former NY Governor David Patterson, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and Councilmen Greenfield, Gentile, Lancman and Levine to the 4th annual legislative breakfast

friend and supporter of OHEL and especially the New OHEL Jaffa Family Campus opening summer 2017 in his district of Flatbush. Councilman Greenfield articulated that the reason he so passionately supports OHEL “is because time and time again they deliver.

Their positive impact is immediate, tangible and transformative.”

The breakfast was hosted at Bernstein Private Wealth Management in Manhattan

by Jeff Wiesenfeld, Principal of Bernstein. The event was coordinated by Ezra Friedlander. OHEL extends its thanks to the many public officials, OHEL Board members and other benefactors in attendance, who displayed their support for OHEL and the many causes the organization provides and addresses.

Preparing for Pesach at HAFTR Lower School

A

t HAFTR Lower School, students are provided with age-appropriate opportunities that allow each student to feel “as if he/she left Mitzrayim.” In the early grades, teachers use a combination of songs, stories and hands-on experiences to help students connect to the content of the Hagaddah.

The Tzivos Hashem Matzah Workshop transformed our multipurpose room into a working matzah factory where students actually separated the kernels from the wheat

chaff to baking the matzah.

Starting in first grade, HAFTR students receive a hagaddah that will travel with them throughout their lower school experience. Each year builds on their prior knowledge; incorporating new divrei Torah and insights into the structure of the seder. Each class visits our annual Pesach Around the World museum where students explore various customs. Customs include a Moroccan Mimuna, a conversation in Arabic that Jews from Yeein and Iraq have at

the beginning of the seder, a brick display to represent what Jewish Americans used as charoset in the Civil War,

and nisuch hamayim of Gerer Chassidim on the 7th day of the chag.

As a culmination of their

preparations, students participated in model sedarim.

After the joint kindergarten seder, conducted by our menahel, Rabbi Dovid Kupchik, kindergarten students could not wait to sing and share their hagaddot with their families next week. Our fifth grade talmidot had a joint seder with the HAFTR High School 11th grade girls. The students enhanced the model seder with a play based on midrashim. Chag kosher v’sameach from the HAFTR Family.

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Around the Community

Shulamith and Kulanu girls enjoy a mock seder together

Preparing for Pesach at HANC ECC in West Hempstead

Pre-Pesach Egypt Fair for Shulamith Sixth Graders

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he sixth graders at Shulamith worked on a collaborative project in English and social studies class, which culminated In their Egypt Fair this past week! Each girl was given a topic to research on ancient or modern day Egypt. The students learned important research skills, how to write a research paper, cite their sources and create an entertaining and informative visual. With the help of Mrs. Goldberg and Mrs. Markowitz, the students learned about Ancient Egypt food, Ramass-

es, fashion and daily culture, history, landmarks and more. We are so proud of all the students and their hard work.

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YHT Educator Named “Young Pioneer” in Jewish Education

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rs. Sara Duani, who serves as Jewish Studies Curriculum Coordinator and a Jewish Studies teacher at Yeshiva Har Torah, was recently named a Jewish Education Project Young Pioneers Award winner for 2017. In awarding her the prestigious honor, the Jewish Education Project noted Mrs. Duani’s ability to employ a

unique, multi-modal approach, based on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence, in order to reach and inspire diverse groups of learner, all entirely in Hebrew.

“Morah Sara” credits her parents, Rabbi and Rabbanit Manasseh, for raising her in a home that “emphasized educating and instilling high values in future genera-

tions.” She also credits her colleagues at Yeshiva Har Torah for encouraging her to take risks in her teaching and fostering a school-wide focus on collaboration and progressive education. Rabbi Gary Menchel, principal, called the award a “fitting tribute” to “one of a number of rising stars within our school who is being recognized for her extraordinary contribution to

Yeshiva Har Torah and to Jewish education.”

Morah Sara will be honored along with four other Pioneers at a gala on May 17 in Manhattan. Nominees for the award come from institutions across educational settings and religious denominations. Recipients were chosen by a committee of lay leaders and educators in the field.

How the PEYD Team Traveled This Winter Vacation, Part 4 Family of Five to Los Angeles/Disneyland

I

n our series documenting how the PEYD Team traveled this winter break using airline miles and credit card points to offset the cost of the airfare and hotels, we share our insider tricks, methods and best practices to help minimize any out of pocket expenses when planning one’s next vacation.

In this series, we will focus on how Eli and his family took a vaca-

tion to sunny Los Angeles, which is always a great winter destination.

With deluxe locations such as Disneyland typically part of the itinerary, it can also get quite pricy as there aren’t many discounts available for the Disneyland entrance fee, so the need to find cheap airfare and hotel options becomes even more necessary than other destinations or vacation options.

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Points Accrual Eli was able to make this trip happen without breaking the bank by racking up miles on his Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) credit card, opening new airline and hotel credit cards for him and his wife based on his everyday spending, with the intention of using these valuable miles and points towards his flights, hotel and overall travel.

One of the greatest ways to maximize reward potential using SPG points is by utilizing point transfers.

Certain SPG transfers of 20,000 points or more give you an extra 5,000 points when converted to airline miles and luckily, Virgin America is within that bonus tier.

Airline Choice Virgin America has direct flights to LA and is an airline partner with SPG as mentioned above, and after researching flight options with numerous airlines, it became clear that Virgin America would offer the cheapest possible tickets for California during his preferred travel dates.

With this in mind, Eli opened two new Virgin America credit cards in order to receive their 15,000 point bonuses after spending the minimum requirement. The 20,000 SPG points Eli had accrued plus the transfer bonus of 5,000 including the two 15,000 bonus miles he had earned with the Virgin America spending bonuses left Eli with 55,000 Virgin America miles to be used for his flights.

Eli then booked his trip for 56,000 airline miles (he had 1k in his account already). As it grew nearer to his trip, Eli checked the airfare rates for his flights and noticed that the

mileage cost had gotten significantly lower than it had when he originally booked. Virgin America allows customers to cancel flights free of charge so within a matter of minutes Eli had cancelled and rebooked his tickets for a lesser amount of miles, saving himself 10,000 points in the process!

Hotel Stay It was imperative for Eli and his wife that his kids to spend time near a water park and research was done to locate a hotel in the area that would accommodate these needs.

There is a particular Howard Johnson in Anaheim, California, which has a great water park on premises and is just minutes from Disneyland. Howard Johnson is connected to the Wyndham hotel chain which happens to offer a credit card with a 30,000 point spending bonus... You can guess the rest! Two credit cards signups and 60,000 bonus points later, Eli had a four-night stay at this convenient hotel for free. Luckily, there was enough points leftover for Eli and his family to stay at a local hotel and “crash” by a Chabad program over Shabbos – the perfect ending to a wonderful family vacation!

For more information about how you can take advantage of airline miles and credit card points and vacation in style without breaking the bank, please visit www.getPEYD. com.

Readers should keep in mind that applying for and receiving CC is 10% of your credit score and closing them only impacts your credit line with that card.

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Around the Community

Talmidim at Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s Harriet Keilson Early Childhood Center learn to bake matzah with the Model Matzah Bakery

DRS Excels at NCSY JUMP

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UMP, a national program run by NCSY, offers teens skills-training, along with the opportunity to demonstrate on-the-ground leadership by creating projects and programs in their schools and communities. This year, the DRS JUMP team chose to work on the area of Israel Advocacy. The team created an Instagram account which attracted over 1,000 followers and also produced two inspiring short films focusing on the uniqueness of Israel.

For the community challenge,

the DRS team began a campaign called “Post Positive,” encouraging students to reverse negative comments and posts on social media with positive comments. The team advanced to the championships, placing in the top five JUMP teams from around the country. They presented their work in the final NCSY JUMP Boardroom Competition at Goldman Sachs as a part of the culmination of a four month competition between fifteen schools throughout the U.S. and Canada. The panel of judges consisted of Ranaan

Agus, Daniel Benedict, Phil Rosen, Tami Radinsky, and Avi Katz. After all five teams presented, the judges conferred with each other and discussed the pros and cons

of each school’s JUMP initiatives.

In the end RASG Hebrew Academy of Miami won the entire competition. Congratulations to the DRS JUMP team

on an extremely successful inaugural JUMP campaign. We can’t wait to see them build off of this success and ultimately win a competition in the near future!

Sara Schenirer Announces New Location in Far Rockaway

S

ara Schenirer Seminary, the leader in higher education for the frum community, has announced that they are adding a Far Rockaway location to serve students in the Five Towns, Queens, and Long Island. No longer will students from these areas need to travel into Brooklyn, fight traffic, and find parking just to earn their degrees in an environment suitable for a Bais Yaakov graduate. Instead, they’ll have the option to earn an affordable and highly respected degree at an accelerated pace right here in Far Rockaway.

Beginning fall 2017, Sara Schenirer will be offering the popular B.A. in Social Sciences, a versatile and widely accepted bachelor’s degree that can be earned in just one year. This degree can be used to gain entry into an ex-

tensive variety of master’s programs.

Accepted by colleges across the country, it is an excellent value in every sense.

They will also be offering a BSW – Bachelor’s in Social Work. This is specific for those who wish to enter the field of social work and can also be earned in just four semesters. Furthermore, students who complete the BSW will be able to join any MSW program that accepts Advanced Standing, which allows them to attend for just two out of four semesters of their MSW program. In terms of money and time, the savings of this arrangement are huge.

Students who have already completed their Bachelor’s degree can join the M.S. Ed. in Education and Special Education B-6, a popular Master’s de-

gree that can be earned in just four semesters as well.

All of these degrees are offered through their partner college, Concordia College-New York, a highly ranked, fully-accredited college. Concordia College-NY is dedicated to bringing higher education to the Jewish community and is highly accommodating of the unique needs and sensitivities of a Bais Yaakov graduate. All classes are scheduled to accommodate the Jewish calendar, coursework is tailored to respect the hashkafos and values of the frum population, and professors are drawn from our community to ensure cultural sensitivity.

Of particular interest is the fact that Sara Schenirer and Concordia College share the same dedication to providing unmatched student sup-

port. The helpful staff at Sara Schenirer and Concordia is there to guide, assist, and support students every step of the way. No effort is spared to ensure that students enjoy a warm and supportive environment that is conducive to academic success. To save students time and expense, the academic advisement staff always strives to guide every student in a manner that guarantees a solid education while maintaining an accelerated degree path.

Potential students and parents interested in learning more are invited to an informative Open House right after Pesach, Thursday April 20th, at Machon Basya Rochel, at 7:30 pm.

For more information, contact sjaeger@sarasch.com or call (347) 6753357.

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

1.

TJH !

Centerfold ?

You gotta be

kidding

A matzah walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while, where have you been?” The matzah replies, “I’ve had some bad breaks.”

600,000 Jewish men go out to eat. The waiter says, “You thought splitting the sea was hard; try splitting this check!”

Riddle me

this?

You are a blindfolded waiter setting up a seder.

There is a table with four glasses in the four corners of a square rotating table. Each glass is either facing up or facing down. You need to turn them all in the same direction, either all up or all down.

You may do so by grasping any two glasses and turning either or both over. But the table is spun after each time you touch the glasses.

How do you get all of the glasses to face the same way?

See answer on next page

Ten Makkos Did-You-Knows Firstborns are 16% more likely to go to college than their younger siblings. (That’s probably because when they are done with college they convince their younger siblings not to go!)

Frogs don’t need to drink water as they absorb it through their skin. (Hey! That’s how I absorb my chocolate)

Itching from a lice infestation is an allergic reaction not to the bite itself, but from the saliva secreted onto the scalp.

(Go ahead…itch your head)

Blood makes up around 7% of the weight of a human body. (And tasteless Pesach cake makes up the other 93% of your body right now) Male lions defend the pride’s territory while females do most of the hunting. Despite this, the males eat first.

(Hey, that’s so not PC!!)

Vicuña fur is the most expensive fur in the world. It is produced from animals related to the llama family that live in Peru.

The average price is $5,000 per meter. (A little Weight Watchers is recommended before ordering a Vicuna fur)

According to the American Dermatological Association, stress results in drier, more brittle skin that can become infected by staphylococcal, the bacteria that causes most boils. (So if you want to have clear skin, sit at home all day doing nothing…you’ll be a very clear-skinned couch potato)

A hailstone the size of a baseball weighs about 150g and can fall at speeds of 100mph. This can cause a lot of damage, with entire crops being wiped out in just a few minutes during a large hailstorm. (It’s really cool to see the hail fall.

Next time a hailstorm comes, go outside and look up towards the sky…ouch!)

A desert locust swarm can be 460 square miles in size and pack between 40 and 80 million locusts into less than half a square mile. Each locust can eat its weight in plants each day, so a swarm of such size would eat 423 million pounds of plants every day. (Sounds almost as crowded as Central Avenue)

The City of Flagstaff, Arizona, is the darkest city in the world and became the World’s First “International Dark Sky City,” a designation awarded by the International Dark Sky Association for its low light pollution and commitment to enforcing stargazing-friendly lighting restrictions make it the ideal destination to explore the night skies. (Dad: Son, what do you want to be when you grow up? Son: I want to be the executive director of the Dark Sky Association. Dad: OK, let's go on a little field trip to the therapist)

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

*

Seriously, How Smart Are You? They say that matzah makes you smarter.

Try these on your family members to see if it’s true.

Questions 1. Take 1,000 and add 40 to it.

Now add another 1,000. Now add 30. And another 1,000.

Now add 20. Now add another 1,000. Now add 10. What is the total?

2. Are there more up-hills in the world or down-hills?

3. A contractor hires an electrician and a plumber to do work on a construction site. One of them was the father of the other’s son. How could this be possible?

you to finish the pills?

10. You are participating in a race.

You overtake the second person. What position are you in?

11. Two U.S. coins are worth a total of 30 cents, and one of them is not a nickel. What are the coins?

12. Who is not, not, not a person that has not, not set foot on the moon: Neil Armstrong or your mother?

6. A farmer has 17 sheep and all but 9 die. How many are left?

7. The Goldberg family has a mother, father and 7 daughters.

Each daughter has 1 brother.

How many people are in the family?

8. How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 25?

9. A doctor gave you 3 tablets and tells you to take one every half hour. How long will it take for

6. Nine.

7. Ten. There are seven girls and one boy in the family, plus the parents.

8. Only once, and then you are subtracting it from 20.

9. An hour 10. If you overtake the second person and you take his place, you are second!

11. A quarter and a nickel (one is not a nickel, but one is).

4. How can a man go eight days without sleep?

5. Someone tells you that a rooster laid an egg on top of the barn roof and it floated towards the sky. Why doesn’t that make sense?

roosters don’t lay eggs.

12. Your mother. Every pair of “nots” cancel each other out. So the question really is, “Who is not a person that has set foot on the moon?”

Answers 1. The total is 4,100. So, if you thought it was 5,000 you need to brush up on your math.

2. There are the same amount of up-hills and down-hills because every hill is either up or down, depending on how you look at it.

3. They were husband and wife.

4. He sleeps at night.

5. It doesn’t make sense because

Wisdom Key 9-12 correct: You are a genius. (Just do me a favor, your comb over really is not fooling anyone…give it up) 5-8 correct: You are of average intelligence. (Sorry, I know your mother always said, “My boy, he’s so smaaat.” She was exaggerating a bit, like you are when you tell her how good her Pesach cake is!)

0-4 correct: Don’t worry, I will give you a secret tip to get brains: Take a small piece of matzah and take all of the leftover marror and eat it together very quickly. Trust me, try it. After you do that, try this quiz again and you will see that you will get more answers correct.

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Answer to riddle: 1) Turn two adjacent glasses up. 2) Turn two diagonal glasses up. 3) Pull out two diagonal glasses. If one is down, turn it up and you’re done. If not, turn one down and replace the other. 4) Take two adjacent glasses and turn them both over. 5) Take two diagonal glasses and turn them both over.

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The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

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Torah Thought

Parshas Tzav, Shabbos HaGadol

By Rabbi Berel Wein

T

his year, as is true in most years of the Jewish calendar, the Torah reading of Tzav coincides with the Shabbat preceding Pesach – Shabbat Hagadol. Since on a deep level of understanding there are really no coincidences in Torah matters, the connection between Tzav and Shabbat Hagadol should be explored and explained.

The word “tzav” is one of a mandatory command. It does not present

reasons or explanations and does not brook discussion or argument. It is representative of military discipline, of service to a higher purpose even if all of the participants in the project are not really aware of the workings of that higher purpose.

A necessary part of living in society is the mandatory obligations, which are part of everyone’s life. If it were not for these rules, mores and practices imposed upon us, life

would become so chaotic as to be unlivable. It is the “tzav” part of life that allows all of the other more freedomof-choice opportunities to be present in our lives.

An ordered society demands that there be commands, not only recommendations or suggestions. There is an understandable reflex built into our emotional system that resists and resents commands from others.

Any parent of a three-year old can easily testify to the truth of this observation. Nevertheless, the young child must eventually respond to commands in order to grow, mature and become a successful human be-

ficient that we honor the ideas that Shabbat and Pesach represent and then ignore all of the mandatory commandments that accompany these days, their values and ideals?

Without mandatory commandments no commemoratory day – no matter how well meaning and well planned – will stand the test of time and changing circumstances. It is the “tzav” component of Shabbat and Pesach that make this Shabbat the Shabbat Hagadol – the great Shabbat that it is.

It is an historical fact that those movements and individuals that ignored or rejected mandatory ob-

But noble ideas alone, without detailed instructions as to their realization, are useless in a practical sense.

ing. So, “tzav” plays a vital role.

Perhaps there are no two areas of Jewish life and law that are as complexly intertwined with mandatory commands and laws as are Shabbat and Pesach. The concepts behind these holy days and their observances represent noble values – serenity, leisure, freedom and independence.

But noble ideas alone, without detailed instructions as to their realization, are useless in a practical sense.

The sons who appear in the Torah and the Haggadah all ask the same question – “What relevance do these laws have in our time?” Is it not suf-

servances associated with Shabbat or Pesach eventually slipped out of Jewish life and continuity entirely.

Again, without “tzav” there can be no Shabbat Hagadol. This is the basic issue that divides much of the Jewish world today. The avoidance of mandatory commandments, attractive and popular as this idea may initially appear, is a sure recipe for Jewish extinction. Shabbat Hagadol comes to remind us of this lesson.

Shabbat shalom and chag kasher v’sameach.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

From the Fire

Shabbos Hagadol Do You Have a Father?

By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

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any of our minhagim at the seder are specifically designed (Rambam, Chometz U’Matza 7:3) “K’dei she’yiru ha’banim v’yish’alu, so that the children should see and ask questions.” The whole purpose of the seder is to reconnect the generations so that the children learn to look at their parents and grandparents as guides to teach them their path in life. The message is clear: “You have a father! You come from somewhere deep and ancient! Turn your heart to your father and carry on his path!”

In the modern world, there is no father. He has been killed. In the classic Greek myth of Oedipus Rex, the main character killed his father, the king, so that he could become king. That is the attitude today.

One Jewish professor wrote that there are two types of relationships between fathers and sons: “Ani oh ata” or “Ani v’ata,” “Me or you” or “Me and you.” The modern Western

world celebrates the individual at the expense of the collective. Therefore, parents attempt to calculate how they can most effectively limit their children’s freedom, while the

attempt to provide a framework in which their children should live, but not for the purpose of enslaving them or hampering their freedom.

Rather, the goal is to bring them

He leaped to his feet like a lion. He usually had velvety blue eyes, but suddenly his eyes became piercing, searching, and investigating.

children plan and scheme how they can free themselves of their parents and their old, outmoded ways.

The Jewish way is that the father should be viewed as the source, the go-to person for the children to learn a way of life. Fathers also

into an elevated way of life, to sign them up for the great mission for which our people were appointed.

The goal is to liberate them to be who they truly are and fulfill the potential of who they can become.

The father’s goal is to implant with-

in his children the faith that Rav Kook spoke so often about, “L’hiyot ne’eman l’ha’atzmiut ha’penimut, to believe in one’s own inner essence,” to believe in the Divine spark within them and the great destiny that awaits them.

Without a father, without any transmission of the truth of a path in life, there can be no true sense of identity and therefore no freedom.

That is why the Hagaddah presents cutting one’s self off from tradition, from the Jewish people, as the ultimate heresy, when it says about the wicked son, “Hotzi es atzmo min ha’klal...kafar b’ikar, He removed himself from the community [and thereby] denies a fundamental principle of faith.”

The twentieth yahrtzeit of Rav Yoshe Ber Soliveichik is coming up on the fourth day of Pesach. I was moved to the core by a story from his childhood in Khaslavich which was included in a book, Vision and Leadership. I will quote a few para-

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

graphs which affected me deeply: By sheer association, I recall an experience of my early youth. I was then about seven- or eight-yearsold. I attended cheder in Khaslavich, a small town on the border of White Russia and Russia proper. My father was the rabbi of the town. My teacher was a “Chabadnik,” a follower of the Lubavitcher Rebbe[, the Rebbe Rashab]... He taught me how to experience Judaism and not just practice it.

The episode that I am about to relate took place on a murky winter day in January. I still remember the day; it was cloudy and overcast. It was after the Chanukah festival, and the Torah portion of the week was Vayigash (Gen. 44:1847:27). With the end of Chanukah, the little serenity which this festival brought into the monotonous and listless lives of these poor Jews passed... As far as the boys from the cheder were concerned, a long and desolate winter lay ahead. It was a period in which we had to get up while it was still dark and then return home with lanterns in our hands because nightfall was so early.

On that particular day, all the boys were in a depressed mood-listless, lazy and sad. We recited – or I would rather say chanted mechanically – the first sentences of Parshat Vayigash in a dull monotone.

We read mechanically: “Then Judah approached him [Joseph] and said: . . . My lord asked his servants saying: ‘Have you a father or brother?’ And we said to my lord: ‘We have an old father, an av zeken, and a young child of his old age, a yeled zekunim’” (44:19-20).

Then something strange happened. The melamed, the teacher, who was half asleep while the boy was droning on the words in Yiddish and in Hebrew, suddenly jumped to his feet with a strange, enigmatic gleam in his eyes. He leaped to his feet like a lion. He usually had velvety blue eyes, but suddenly his eyes became piercing, searching, and investigating. He motioned to the reader to stop and turned to me, “Podrabin!” – assistant to the rabbi, as he called me whenever he was excited – “What kind of question did Joseph ask his brothers? ‘Do you have a father?’

Of course they have a father; everybody has a father! The only per-

son who had no father was the first man of creation, Adam. But whoever is born into this world has a father. What kind of question was it?”

I tried to answer. “Joseph,” I finally said, “meant to find out whether the father was still alive.”

“In such a case,” the melamed thundered back at me, “he should have phrased the question differently: Is your father still alive?” (cf. Gen. 43:24). To argue with the melamed was useless. As he began to speak, he no longer addressed himself to the boys. The impression he gave was that he was speaking to some mysterious visitor, a guest who had come into the cheder, into that cold room...

“Joseph,” the melamed continued with fervor, “was anxious to know whether they felt themselves committed to their roots, to their origins. Are you, Joseph asked the brothers, rooted in your father?

Do you look upon him the way the branches or blossoms look upon the roots of the tree? Do you look upon your father as the foundation of your existence? Do you see him as provider and sustainer of your existence? Or are you a band of rootless shepherds who forget their makor, their origin, and wander from place to place, from pasture to pasture?”

Suddenly, he stopped addressing himself to the strange visitor and he began to talk to us. Raising his voice, he asked: “Are you modest and humble? Do you admit that the old father represents an old tradition? Do you believe that the father is capable of telling you something new, something exciting, something challenging, something you did not know before? Or are you insolent, arrogant, and vain, denying your dependence upon your father and your makor?

“Do you have a father?!” exclaimed the melamed, pointing at my study-mate Yitzik, who was considered the town’s prodigy. The melamed turned to him and said: “What do you say? Who knows more, you or your father the blacksmith who can hardly read Hebrew? Are you proud, Yitzik, of your father?” he asked. Do you feel humble in his presence? Do you have a father?” ...

The answer the sons of Jacob gave to Joseph must hold true even today. We are still committed to our

“old father,” to a great mysterious past and to eternal ideals. Only this can account for our mourning for a Temple consumed by fire nearly two thousand years ago; only this can account for our deep attachment to the Land of Israel. We are committed not only to a great past, but to a glorious future, to the “young child.” The child is our ambassador of the future. We behold a great vision of tomorrow, and we know that in order to realize it we must know how to bring up and educate the child. We are both past-minded and future-oriented.

There is an ancient Jewish custom that the first word the child says when asking the four questions is “Tatteh lebin, Dear father.”

One time, a child left out the phrase “Dear father,” when asking the four questions in front of Rav Yissochar Dov of Belz. The Belzer Rebbe corrected him, “You left out the most important part of the four questions!” We want Hashem to answer all of our questions and teach us the Torah. But we must first recognize that we have a precious Father

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above! The Seder concludes with with Chad Gadya, with “the little lamb that father bought for two zuzim.” Hashem invested the two zuzim of the Torah in us and thereby brought us into a way of life to make us His legs in this world, to give Him a dwelling place in this lower world.

May we merit to celebrate Pesach together next year in Yerushalayim with the coming of Moshiach and the return of parents’ hearts to their children and the children’s hearts to their parents.

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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The Observant Jew

The Road to Redemption

By Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

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As I was running a few errands on Sunday morning, I asked Hashem to give me something to write about.

Soon, however, I had more urgent things to worry about. About a week or two ago, one morning after shul, I started my car and was greeted by a man speaking enthusiastically about the Bible. Or it may have about fried chicken, or tulips, or male pattern baldness. I really have no idea what he was talking about because

y publisher informed me that this week would be their “Pesach issue,” and I was racking my brain to come up with something to write about. Since my articles generally follow the pattern that something happens, I think about it, and then share a lesson, focusing it to be about Pesach is hard unless I happen to be hit on the head by a falling box of potato starch in the supermarket.

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he was speaking Korean.

It seems that my radio had reset to factory defaults as if the battery had been dead. However, since I had driven to shul less than an hour earlier, and it started on the first try afterwards, that seemed odd. I also noticed that the heat had been cranked up to the highest setting. Weird.

Later, when I got into the car, the temperature magically set itself to 62 degrees, a lot cooler than I had previously set it. Something was definitely amiss, but I didn’t have time to get it checked out. Until today. On my errands, suddenly two warning lights began to flash. They were unrelated items so I believed it must be electrical. By coincidence, (as if!) this happened when I was two driveways from my usual mechanic. I deftly pulled in and asked them to test the battery.

They checked the alternator and said it was charging fine. That’s good.

Then he tested the battery and it read, “OK.” He retested it and it failed. Aha! We were onto something. I knew the battery was only a few months old, but things can be defective, right? He told his boss who came to look at it.

He found it hard to believe the battery was bad because he knew this brand was reliable.

Sure enough, it turned out that the connection to the battery was loose, and the terminals had corrosion on them. They used a wire brush tool to clean the terminals and re-crimped the connection so it was tight. No more warning lights and hopefully no more Korean newscasters.

So, what does this have to do with Pesach? Everything!

On Pesach we go back to basics and review the story of how we were slaves in Egypt until Hashem took us out, lifted us up, and set us on the path to freedom. We reinforce that Hashem is in control of the world by recounting the miracles and details of each event and marveling at what He did for us.

So, let’s say Hashem is the alternator. He’s the source of all power and He constantly generates a charge we can use. The Torah and mitzvos are the battery, harnessing and storing

that charge so they can deliver the power we need to live happily and properly. Sometimes, though, we don’t feel the boost. We can go on the fritz and feel drained. It’s not because there’s something wrong with Hashem or the Torah, chas v’shalom, because those are completely reliable.

The problem is that our connection to the source has become loosened.

The seder is precisely calibrated to tighten our connection. When we speak of the miracles, we brush off the corrosion of time and cynicism.

When we imagine ourselves there during the Exodus, we restore our hearts and minds to factory-condition – the day we rolled off the “assembly-line” of nationhood.

By tightening our connection on Pesach, we get the benefit of the unlimited power of Hashem and can use this to continue our journey of life. R’ Yaakov Kamenetsky, z”l, actually says that when Moshe ask Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel go to the desert for three days, we were originally supposed to go back to Egypt to finish the 400 years and that the Matan Torah would only be a spiritual retreat to recharge our batteries. (When Pharaoh balked and made us work harder, he used up the labor of the 400 years, leading to a permanent Exodus.)

The best part of this lesson, however, is that we don’t need it to be Pesach. It teaches us how to do a factory-reset. Anytime we feel drained or disconnected, we can go just back to the source, wipe away the things that corrode our emunah, and get right back on the road to Redemption.

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

You can find him at www.facebook.com/ RabbiGewirtz, and follow him on Instagram @RabbiGewirtz or Twitter @ RabbiJGewirtz. He also operates JewishSpeechWriter.com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion. Sign up for the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF Dvar Torah in English. E-mail info@JewishSpeechWriter.com and put Subscribe in the subject. © 2017 – All Rights Reserved

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

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Between the Lines

Making Shabbos Great Again

By Eytan Kobre

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was born on the second night of Chanukha, which also happened to fall on a Tuesday that year.

Naturally, I mark the occasion each year on the second night of Chanukah, and it would be rather strange if I commemorated it on the last Tuesday of Kislev instead.

After all, what’s Tuesday got to do with it?

Indeed, we generally celebrate and observe historical dates by reference to the calendar date—not the day of the week – on which they occurred. So, for instance, Pesach, Chanukah, Purim, birthdays, and anniversaries are celebrated on certain calendar dates.

It is a bit odd, therefore, that we always commemorate Shabbos HaGadol on a Shabbos.

“The Great Shabbos” commemorates the miracle that occurred just before the Exodus from Egypt. On that day – the Tenth of Nissan – the Jewish people tied lambs (an Egyptian god) to their bedposts, and then told the Egyptians of their intention to slaughter and eat the lambs. Despite this grave affront to the Egyptians and their god, the Egyptians did not harm the Jewish people – a wondrous miracle, especially given their track record. And since the Tenth of Nissan that year coincided with Shabbos (Shabbos 87b), we celebrate “Shabbos HaGadol” to commemorate the miracle (Tur, Orach Chaim 430; Sefer HaPardes, pg. 343; but see Tosfos, Shabbos 87b).

But since the miracle occurred on the Tenth of Nissan, we ought to commemorate the miracle each year on that date. What’s Shabbos got to do with it?

S

habbos, at its core, is the ultimate expression of our belief in G-d. It attests to the fact that G-d created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and that He recreates it every day since (Shemos 20:8-11 and Ramban ad loc.; Shemos 31:17; Magid Mishna, Shabbos 30:15). Shabbos proclaims that G-d is in control; violating it is tantamount to idolatry (Eruvin 69b; Chullin 5a; Rambam, Shabbos 30:15). As Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan put it, “By what act in particular do we demonstrate our belief in G-d as Creator? The one ritual that does this is the observance of the Sabbath. It is the confirmation of our belief in G-d as the Creator of all things” (Why the Sabbath?).

A villager once came to R’ Shalom Rokeach of Belz seeking a blessing. When the Rebbe asked the man whether he kept Shabbos, the villager was embarrassed to admit that, regrettably, he did not always do so strictly, as he continued to do work his fields even on Shabbos.

When the Rebbe admonished him for not keeping Shabbos, the villager promised to make more of an effort to keep Shabbos. “But during the harvest season,” the villager pleaded, “when my work in the field is overwhelming, I must work even on Shabbos. I hope the Rebbe will forgive me.”

The Rebbe frowned. “It is G-d, not I, Who commands the Shabbos.

And I do not believe He will overlook your desecration of Shabbos simply because it is the harvest season.”

And he proceeded to relate the following story.

A gentile nobleman once threw a party for his fellow gentile noblemen.

In their drunken state, they began to compare their “special” Jewish employees, with the host boasting that his Jewish employee was truly the very best. “I’ve tested him time and again, and he would do anything to serve me!”

“Even convert?” challenged another nobleman.

“Indeed,” the host replied, “he would.” So the host summoned his special Jew and asked if he would do anything to be faithful to his service.

“Certainly, my lord,” said the Jew. “If so,” challenged the host, “I want you to convert to my religion.”

After recovering from his initial shock, the Jew agreed to convert, much to the delight of the host and his rowdy guests. And the Jew was converted without delay.

Several weeks later, the host summoned “his” Jew again. “Now that you have fulfilled my wishes, surely your conscience is bothering you a great deal. I am not a cruel man, so I hereby permit you to return to the religion of your ancestors and people.”

“Oh, thank you for your kind offer,” said the Jew. “But the Jewish holiday of Passover is nigh upon us.

It is quite an expensive holiday, what with the matzah and the wine and the new dishes…Can I keep your religion and remain a gentile – just until after Passover?”

The Rebbe smiled at the villager. “By working the fields during the harvest season you are denying that G-d is in control of the world, and, in that sense, you are converting to another religion.”

Stirred by the Rebbe’s words, the villager promised to observe Shabbos – year round – from that point on.

Shabbos gives expression to our belief that G-d created and runs the world.

And that’s what the miracle of the Tenth of Nissan was all about (S’fas Emes, Shabbos HaGadol 5646/5674).

In taking and slaughtering the Korban Pesach, the Jewish people rejected idolatry and accepted G-d’s complete dominion and authority (Shemos Rabba 16:2; Rashi, Shemos 12:6). It wasn’t simple bravado or

machismo; it was the quintessential proclamation of faith in G-d and the belief that He created and governs the world.

So it was no coincidence that the miracle of the Tenth of Nissan took place on a Shabbos, because Shabbos is the expression of that same faith and belief. Commemorating the miracle of the Tenth of Nissan on Shabbos, rather than on the Tenth of Nissan, reaffirms that G-d created the world and continues to run it.

Shabbos and the Exodus are thus forever intertwined. As G-d said to Moshe, “Just as I created the world and told the Jewish people to keep Shabbos to commemorate the creation of the world, so too they should commemorate the miracles I performed for them in Egypt” (Shemos Rabba 19:7). And in Kiddush every Shabbos we attest to the fact that Shabbos is “a commemoration of the creation” and “a commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt” (Pesachim 117b; Moreh Nevuchim 2:31; Shemos 20:11; Devarim 5:15). Because Shabbos and the Exodus both express our belief in G-d as the Creator (Ramban, Devarim 5:15).

And the same connection to Shabbos holds true for the coming redemption.

We will merit redemption once more when our Shabbos exhibits, without fail and without reservation and without interruption, our complete faith and belief in G-d. “If the Jewish people would keep Shabbos twice according to its laws, they would be redeemed immediately” (Shabbos 118b).

Shabbos HaGadol thus commemorates the miracle that occurred on the Tenth of Nissan, but it also reminds us of the declaration of faith we made on that first “Great Shabbos,” which we must continue to reaffirm through each and every subsequent Shabbos.

And that’s what “The Great Shabbos” really is all about: making Shabbos great again.

Eytan Kobre is a writer, speaker, mediator, and attorney living in Kew Gardens Hills. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail eakobre@outlook.com.

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Jewish History

The Mystery of the Maharal and the Fifth Cup of Wine at Seder Night A Story of Confused Tradition & Literary Forgery

By Rabbi Pini Dunner

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ne of the most prominent rabbis in sixteenth century Europe was R’ Yehuda Loewe (1527-1609), the Chief Rabbi of Prague usually referred to as the Maharal of Prague. His numerous works on Torah were famous even during his lifetime, and after his death his many students continued to propagate the Maharal’s deep and insightful ideas until they became the fundamental theology underpinning the essence of Jewish life in Europe. His influence continued to grow with each century that passed, and it continues to grow to this day.

So imagine the joy and excitement surrounding the publication of his Haggada shel Pesach in Warsaw, Poland, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Apparently, based on a long lost manuscript that had lain undiscovered in an obscure French library, the publisher claimed it had been composed by the Maharal’s son-in-law, R’ Yitzchak Katz of Nikolsburg, who recorded material taught to him by the Maharal during his lifetime, and it also included information about the Maharal’s customs during the seder itself, as observed by R’ Katz.

The most stunning information contained in this new haggada was that the Maharal had included a fifth cup of wine at his seder, a cup that only he drank, and over which he recited a special proclamation. Ma-

haral aficionados began to introduce this practice into their own Pesach sedarim, and the revelation of this fifth cup custom that had been practiced by such a prominent rabbinic authority generated great excitement across the rabbinic world.

One of the enduring mysteries of

the end of the seder, but not drunk by anyone. Some have the custom to pour the wine in this cup back into the bottle after the seder, while others use this cup of wine for Kiddush the following day.

So what are the origins of this “fifth cup” custom? Why would we

During the proscribed two weeks the Maharal fomented such mayhem for Wilson through the medium of kabbalistic miracles that once the two weeks were up a spooked Wilson agreed to give up the stones for nothing, and they were returned to the museum. seder night is the confusion over the need for a fifth cup of wine. All of us are familiar with the requirement to drink four cups of wine at the seder, based on a Talmudic explanation that matches each cup of wine with an expression of redemption in the Exodus narrative (Shemot Chapter 6, 6 & 7). We are also familiar with a fifth cup of wine at the seder, known as the Cup of Eliyahu. This is a solitary cup of wine poured towards

pour a cup of wine that no one is going to drink? Why is it known as the Cup of Eliyahu?

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he Mishna at the beginning of the tenth chapter of Pesachim instructs us to ensure that no member of the community is without four cups of wine at the seder, even if it means we have to use charitable funds to pay for their wine. Later on in the chapter we are informed ex-

actly when to drink the four cups, with the fourth one coinciding with the conclusion of Hallel. The Gemara adds a piece of information that is quite mystifying: “Rabbi Tarfon says that the fourth cup coincides with the end of Hallel, and one says Hallel Hagadol.” (Hallel Hagadol is a chapter of Tehillim consisting of thirty-six lines of praise to G-d, all ending “Ki le’olam chasdo – His kindness is eternal.”)

Although the text of the Gemara we have does not mention a fifth cup, both Rashi and Tosafot assert that the text of the Gemara must be amended not to include reference to a fifth cup, as it is not possible that Rabbi Tarfon would mandate a fifth cup of wine at the seder. Tosafot also mentions an opinion that permits anyone who “needs” to drink a further cup of wine to do so. Evidently these early medieval rabbis had conflicting Gemara texts in front of them, and based on their own knowledge and experience of seder customs they concluded that the text they had access to which mentioned five cups must be wrong. Meanwhile, R’ Yitzchak Alfasi, who preceded both Rashi and Tosafot and was the author of the authoritative halachic distillation of Talmud known as Rif, clearly had quite a different view. His version of the Gemara clearly states that R’ Tarfon mandated a fifth cup over which one should recite Hallel Hagadol.

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Rabbi Yehuda Yudel Rosenberg

R’ Alfasi was not alone. The Rambam mentions a fifth cup, although he says it isn’t mandatory. The Rambam’s greatest critic was the French rabbi, R’ Avraham ben David of Posquières (also known as Ravad). On this occasion he utterly concurs with him, confirming that R’ Tarfon obligates a fifth cup to match up with a fifth expression of redemption in the Exodus narrative – “veheiveiti – and I shall bring you to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Similarly, Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel (known as Rosh) dismisses the claim that the Talmud text talking about a fifth cup is wrong, as it is clear R’ Tarfon considered a fifth cup obligatory, even if contemporary practice had reduced it to a voluntary custom.

Later rabbinic authorities understood this confused picture to have been a result of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. All sedarim during the Temple period had included five cups of wine, not just four, allowing Jews to commemorate all five expressions of redemption.

But once the enduring reality of the Second Temple’s destruction sunk in, the custom to drink a fifth cup of wine lost its shine, and then slowly receded into the background. After all, how could one celebrate Jewish dominion over the Land of Israel if that dominion no longer existed, and Jews had been dispersed across a

The title page of the Maharal Haggada

far-flung diaspora?

And yet, despite this depressing reality, the custom to drink a symbolic fifth cup of wine prevailed in at least some communities as a hopeful reminder of a future return to the Land of Israel under Messianic leadership. Rashi and Tosafot either did not have this custom or believed it to be misconceived. R’ Alfasi, Rambam, Ravad, and the Rosh may have had this custom, or at least they felt it was too important to be dismissed completely. Then, at some point during the late medieval period, the custom of drinking a fifth cup of wine morphed into pouring a fifth cup of wine not drunk by anyone, which became known as the Cup of Elijah, probably a reference to the traditional idea that Eliyahu Hanavi would be the first person to inform us of the Messiah’s arrival and of the Jews’ imminent return to the Land of Israel.

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abbi Yehuda Yudel Rosenberg of Warsaw was a fascinating individual, a rabbinic scholar who claimed to be descended from the Maharal. Born in 1859, in a town called Skaryszew, Poland, he was recognized as a genius at a very young age. Married at seventeen, he was appointed rabbi of a town called Tarlow at the age of twenty-five, and later styled himself as the Tarla Rebbe, although there was no Tarlow dynasty and he never

ran a Hasidic court.

From Tarlow R’ Rosenberg moved to Lublin where he served as a dayan on the Beit Din of R’ Shneur Zalman Fradkin, a chassid of Chabad and author of the acclaimed halachic work Torat Chesed. Although he was an exceptional scholar, R’ Rosenberg attracted criticism for his fondness of Russian literature and eventually moved to Warsaw, where he opened a tiny synagogue and acted as a community dayan, resolving local disputes and answering halachic questions for payment. But clearly this did not provide him with sufficient income to look after his family, so in 1902 he published a book on the Talmudic tractate Nedarim, an unusually complex volume that is unaided by Rashi’s commentary.

This excellently written book was welcomed by Talmud scholars and yeshiva students, and it continues to be utilized by those studying Nedarim to this day.

In 1905 he published the Maharal Haggada. On the title page he asserted that this was the first time it had ever been published and claimed it was based on an old manuscript originally held at the Royal Library in Metz, a small town on the border of France and Germany which was home to a well-established centuries-old Jewish community.

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In his foreword to the haggada, R’ Rosenberg wrote how it had been extremely difficult for him to bring the manuscript to print, particularly because the current owner had refused to part with it under any circumstances. As a result of these difficulties he did not include what he claimed was a long and rambling introduction by its author, the Maharal’s son-in-law, R’ Yitzchak Katz, but had instead focused on the haggada commentary itself.

Below R’ Rosenberg’s foreword was a letter addressed to him written by a man called Chaim Scharfstein, and dated 15 Av 5664 (July 27, 1904). Scharfstein wrote that he was sending R’ Rosenberg an accurate handwritten copy of the original manuscript previously held in the Royal Library, assuring him that no one else would get a copy besides for him, as agreed between them.

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e will return to the haggada in a moment, but first let us focus on the Chaim Scharfstein manuscript collection, which in the years after 1905 would play a significant role in R’ Rosenberg’s literary output.

In 1909 R’ Rosenberg published another book based on the R’ Katz manuscripts from Metz, this time about the Maharal’s creation of a Golem, the mythical and powerful humanoid creature animated by kabbalistic formulae, who was used by the Maharal to protect the Jewish community of Prague against the evil conspiracies and dastardly scheming of local anti-Semites. The Maharal Golem myth first emerged in 1837, when a German-Jewish poet and author called Berthold Auerbach wrote a fictional account of what must have been an ancient oral legend that described a series of stories involving the Golem of Prague. In the years that followed Auerbach’s version a number of similar accounts were published, all of them folklore-style literature that made no claim of authenticity.

R’ Rosenberg’s book was quite different. The title page described how the stories contained in his book had been recorded in writing

by R’ Katz – the same R’ Katz who had recorded the Maharal’s commentary on the haggada. And just

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like the haggada manuscript had lain undiscovered in the Royal Library of Metz, so too had the Golem manuscript. The title page went on to claim that the Metz library had been destroyed during some unnamed war a century earlier, and as a result many Jewish manuscripts had made their way into the possession of wealthier members of the local Jewish community.

The 1909 publication was very popularly received, and was followed in 1913 by another publication: The High Priest’s Choshen Mishpat. This book was apparently based on an autographed copy of a manuscript written by R’ Manoach Hendel, a well-known student of the Maharal who died in 1612. The manuscript was purported to be an attempt to catalogue the whereabouts of sacred utensils that may have survived the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70A.D. Included in the manuscript was an incredible story that R’ Hendel said he had heard from the Maharal himself, about his involvement in the recovery of the twelve precious stones which had been a part of the choshen mishpat – the bejeweled breastplate worn by the Temple’s High Priest, and originally worn by the very first High Priest, Aaron Hakohen, brother of Moshe Rabbeinu.

Evidently the twelve precious jewels of the choshen mishpat had somehow made their way to England, where they were kept at the Belmore Street Museum in London. In the year 1590, the Maharal discovered they had been stolen and went to London to locate them so that they could be returned to the museum for safekeeping. Once in London he pretended to be an antique collector, and in that guise met someone called Captain Wilson, who, as it turned out, was the thief who had stolen the Jewels. The Maharal offered to buy the stones from Wilson and they agreed on a price. They also agreed that the actual transaction would take place two weeks later to give the Maharal enough time to come up with the astronomical amount of money he needed to buy them. But the transaction never happened. During the

proscribed two weeks the Maharal fomented such mayhem for Wilson through the medium of kabbalistic miracles, that once the two weeks were up a spooked Wilson agreed to give up the stones for nothing, and they were returned to the museum.

The problem with this riveting story was that it had nothing to do with the Maharal, nor with R’ Manoach Hendel, nor, indeed, with R’ Yehuda Yudel Rosenberg – because it was written and published in 1899 by the famous nineteenth century British author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as a short story titled, “The Jew’s Breastplate.” R’ Rosenberg must have been familiar with the story in a Russian translation, and been pretty certain that no one who read his Hebrew version, and later on his Yiddish version, would be remotely familiar with this obscure British piece of fiction. He was so convinced of this that he never even bothered to change any of the names used by Arthur Conan Doyle in the original version! The only thing that changed in R’ Rosenberg’s version was the main character in the story, who was no longer the first-person narrator, but instead was the Maharal.

As it turns out, the entire backdrop to these manuscripts is fiction.

There was never a Royal Library in Metz. Neither R’ Yitzchak Katz nor R’ Manoach Hendel left us with any manuscript material relating to the Maharal in the form claimed by R’ Rosenberg. Even Chaim Scharfstein was a fictional creation, produced

by R’ Rosenberg to generate the impression that his Maharal material was authentic. Whether the Maharal ever created a Golem is a question for scholars to debate, but it is certainly the case that R’ Rosenberg’s stories about the mythical man-beast were fanciful creations of his literary imagination and bear no relationship with what may have really happened.

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n 1913, shortly after publishing his Choshen Mishpat forgery, R’ Rosenberg moved from Poland to Toronto, Canada. In 1919 he moved to Montreal, where he became one of the most prominent

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

rabbis in the city. For the remainder of his life – he died in 1935 – he regularly published books on Jewish subjects, although he never again published any Maharal-related material.

It is unclear whether R’ Rosenberg believed his fictional Maharal stories would be taken seriously. It is certainly the case, however, that the haggada was taken seriously, something R’ Rosenberg was certainly aware of during his lifetime. But at no time after he published it did R’ Rosenberg ever disavow himself of its authenticity, nor admit that his claim it was based on a manuscript was nothing more than a hoax.

Much of the material in the Maharal Haggada can be found in existing Maharal commentary on the Torah; R’ Rosenberg simply adapted it for seder night. But anything that cannot be sourced elsewhere in the Maharal’s reliable body of work must be dismissed as fantasy. Which means

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that the Maharal never drank a fifth cup of wine at the seder and that R’ Rosenberg’s claim to the contrary was fake.

The fact remains that an ancient tradition existed to drink a fifth cup of wine at the Pesach seder. The loss of our Temple in Jerusalem resulted in the abandonment of this custom, and it eventually disappeared completely, replaced with the custom of the Cup of Eliyahu.

Let us hope and pray that we can soon drink a fifth cup of wine at seder night again, a thought to bear in mind when we say this year at the seder – “L’shana haba b’Yerushalayim – next year in Jerusalem!”

Rabbi Pini Dunner is the Rav of Young Israel North Beverly Hills in California.

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Dating Dialogue

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

Dear Navidaters,

My friend Yaakov is dating my wife’s quasi-friend. I say “quasifriend,” because they go back a long way and know one another since high school days. They never really hung out together, but were in the same grade and had and still have a couple of friends in common.

For that reason, my wife knows a great deal about this girl. She remembers how she behaved in school and how she treated others. She had a reputation for being a “user,” someone who knows how to put on the charm but couldn’t be trusted. Many people were hurt by her, and in general, she was known as a spoiled kid. My wife tells me that even quite recently, she’s heard some unsavory things about her.

Yaakov seems to be head over heels crazy over her and has been talking to me about the future he sees for the two of them. I’ve met her and can understand how he has been pulled in by her charm. She definitely has a way about her and is very attractive.

My wife thinks I should talk to Yaakov and warn him about her reputation so that he doesn’t ultimately get very hurt. I don’t feel it’s my place to get involved. Yaakov is a grown man, has gone out a lot, and isn’t an idiot. On the other hand, when my wife tells me that if they do marry and wind up getting divorced, I’ll have myself to blame. This puts me in a very difficult position.

I’m wondering whether you think it is my place to say something. And if so, how would I go about it?

I know that if he doesn’t believe me, he’ll probably start viewing me as the enemy and I wouldn’t want to lose this friendship. But if he ultimately gets hurt and I could have saved him from that, he will also be angry at me. I feel like I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. Any advice for what my role should be?

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 | APRIL 6, 2017

I t l ook s l ik e a boy b e com in g a h an dso me man

P ho togr a ph y by El i au P i ha

It l ook s l ik e B o rsalino

excl u s i ve s t ock excl u s i ve s er vi ce B rookl yn: 2 9 1 7 A ve nu e J | 7 1 8 -6 7 7 -0 1 0 0 Lakewood : Se a g ul l Squa re - 1 3 2 8 R ive r Avenu e # 9 | 7 3 2 -8 8 6 -8 8 8 6

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The Panel The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

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imple answer to this one. Discuss it with your rav. Asking a shaila will give you a halachic decision that brings into account responsibility and lashon hara laws.

You need not carry this responsibility that your wife says is yours.

The Jewish way in such a situation is to consult your local Orthodox rabbi for guidance.

The Mother Sarah Schwartz Schreiber, P.A.

B

efore you go and sully your friendship with Yaakov, take a moment to reflect on the negative hype you’ve heard about the “quasi-friend.” You admit that her rep-

utation goes back to high school, during her teenage years – essentially, eons ago. Teens grow up. They mature and amend their “spoiled” or “user” ways. Even the more recent “unsavory things” you’ve heard about her would not hold up on a witness stand. All this information is hearsay at best – lashon hara, at worst.

Your role here is to remain a friend. Trust Yaakov – he’s done his research and has spent considerable time with the young woman in question. Even if you mention something (based on flimsy evidence) he is unlikely to break off his relationship with a girl he’s head over heels about; worse, he’ll attribute your warnings to jealousy and mean-spiritedness.

If you are truly Yaakov’s friend, be supportive and available to him. In the event he gets engaged, be sincerely happy for him and fargin him all the mazal in the world.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond

We all bring out different things in others.

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o doubt, this is a tremendously uncomfortable position to be in. I’m sure many people know people who they may be inclined to warn people against going out with!

Now: could she have changed with a turnaround to become a different person than she was? Could be. But we can’t count on that, so I won’t try to brush you off with some presumptuous lecture. We will trust your instincts and err on the side of caution, judging that no drastic 180-degree change has taken place. To utilize the language of an upcoming parsha: Behold, the tzara’as hasn’t changed it appearance.

So, back to your predicament. On one hand, you have crucial information about the manipulative nature of this girl. On the other hand, you

don’t know if your friend will accept your report, if it will cost you your friendship, and most importantly, are you even allowed to mention anything from a halachic standpoint. This is a true sheilah of dinei nefashos, and the only person qualified to answer this question is a rav – your own, your friend’s or the young woman’s. Just be sure that the rav/ rabbi has experience in dealing with these matters. Once you consult and received guidance from da’as Torah, you can feel confident that you are making the proper decision.

Should the rav advise against speaking up, you can still help. If your impression is that your friend

l e a r s I m o r f s g n i t e Gre

ISRAEL

Sending blessings for a healthy and happy Passover.

Councilman Bruce Blakeman

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is so enthralled to the point of blindness to the issues, you may casually suggest the he slow things down.

Advise him, as an unassuming married friend, that a solid relationship takes time to develop and that he should focus in on getting to know her fully. Perhaps he might take her out for a Shabbos meal to observe her interactions with peers and strangers and focus on how she speaks of people afterwards. Give him other similar suggestions you think might help him pick up on the subtleties of her personality. If she indeed hasn’t changed, you can only hope he will pick up on red flags and make the right decision on his own.

The Single Tova Wein

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here are a lot of parts to your question that I find very disturbing. But what they all have in common is the power of lashon hara, both past and present. Perhaps this young woman was talked about negatively in high school and even more recently because of reasons no one even considers. Maybe she inspired jealousy in others. Perhaps she was just very shy and had poor social skills that caused others to judge her badly. Or she could have been just going through some personal challenges that affected her behavior.

Whatever the case, it doesn’t sound

Pulling It All Together The Navidaters Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

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hat a thoughtful friend you are! This type of situation is unfortunately all too common and it always boils down to the following: What is more important? Risking my friendship, or my friend risking his future with the wrong woman?

If you are so inclined, I think speaking with a rav may allay some of your concerns and take some of the burden off you. If you aren’t so inclined, it is going to boil down to going with your gut. I think your intentions are in the right place and you are coming from a good place.

My response is not purporting to be of any sort of halachic nature.

My reactions is as follows. I am totally with you on your conflicted feelings. I would probably feel the same. If your wife’s reservations (and outright warning) were solely about this woman’s behavior in high school, I would tell you not to get involved. There are some very respectable adults with less than respectable high school years. You mentioned that she is currently displaying some “unsavory” behaviors.

I don’t know what you are alluding to.

This is important. Is she doing drugs, drinking alcohol, treating people unkindly, disrespectful to her family, stealing, behaving inappropriately with other guys? It is her behavior today that grabbed my attention. I think you need to get more concrete information from your wife. The issue is that your wife is hearing about her through the grapevine. It seems like it’s all rumors and hearsay.

If her unsavory behavior was verified and was putting Yaakov’s reputation and dignity at risk, I would consider saying something. However, being that this is such a grey area and nothing has been substantiated firsthand, the lines are blurred.

Even in this case, I think you could say something along the lines of: “I am so conflicted. I heard something about Chana, it’s just a rumor and I feel ridiculous and embarrassed to bring it your attention.

On the other hand, I didn’t know if

as though your wife has any really concrete reasons why you should be scaring Yaakov away from this relationship.

And even if she was “difficult” and caused others to dislike her, that doesn’t mean that Yaakov isn’t that guy who brings out the very best in her, and because of who he is and how he treats her it allows the special and wonderful parts of her to shine through within their relationship.

We all bring out different things in others.

I think you need to give Yaakov and this young woman the benefit of the doubt and assume they both know what they are doing. They are adults. If G-d forbid, they do get married and it doesn’t work

you would be mad at me if you found out down the line that I knew about it and didn’t tell you.

What do you want me to do?” Now, you will have put the ball in his court! And you will respect whatever he tells you. If you have any halachic/spiritual concerns, please consult your rav. I have heard of cases where a rav advises to keep quiet, and I have heard of other cases where a rav advises sharing what you know. Either way it will be beneficial to hear the opinion of a trusted rav who may give you insight you have not yet considered.

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Teens grow up.

They mature and amend their “spoiled” or “user” ways.

out, it won’t be your fault. And you shouldn’t let your wife tell you otherwise. You simply don’t have that much power over other people’s lives. If it’s meant to be – it will be and hopefully have a happy ending!

Good luck with your decision!

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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Dr. Deb

The Wall

By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

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omething’s been really troubling me. Just a little background information: The last time I spent any significant amount of time in Eretz Yisroel was in 1968.

I’d gone with an honors class from Queens College, my alma mater.

We spent six weeks there, including doing individual research projects (mine is on my website) and touring.

I recall crying at the time and mak-

ing promises to return; I’d fallen in love with the Land.

But life gets in the way. I’m an only child and I had an elderly mom who needed care. My husband needed to look out for his mother, too. Then my husband was needing some looking after of his own. So, now I’m here for six weeks and, of course, one of the first “must do’s” was a visit to the Kotel. As it turns out, one of my son’s

friends, Daniel Sokol (Sokol Tours), is a professional tour guide, and he volunteered to give us the best of the best of tours because they’re very close friends. He gave us a wonderful historical understanding of Ir Dovid and the Old City. Of course we saw the Kotel.

Nevertheless, unlike my reaction so many years ago, I just kind of felt, “Well, what should I feel?” This is

not like me in general. My feelings are pretty much on my sleeve. (Yes, clients have seen a tear or two slipping down my face on rare but special occasions.) How is it that the only thought that passed through my mind at that moment was: “Should we be davening to a Kotel?” It kind of looked like and felt like that’s what we were doing. If our beloved shul lost three of its four walls, would

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we be davening there? Maybe. I’m not saying we wouldn’t be. But I just felt very weird there. And the notes.

Do we really think that the Wall has something to do with answering our tefillos?

A week later, my son and family moved. As luck would have it, the morning after moving day, we could not find the coffee pot. This presented extreme problems for all of us so the most natural thing in the world was to call this good friend, the tour guide, Daniel Sokol, to get the day started with coffee. And his polite inquiry to me, the Savta, of how was I enjoying my stay led me to respond – honestly – to him that I had not felt these wonderful, special feelings you’re supposed to have at the Kotel; I frankly admitted I was concerned about that.

Daniel looked at me very seriously and said, “That’s good. That’s right. How can a person expect to, out of nowhere, have these feelings?

Most people don’t. And there is a real kedusha problem: If the Kotel is kadosh, we shouldn’t be touching it. And if it is not, then there is no point to the notes. Furthermore, it’s like any relationship. The feelings you have are based on what you put into it.”

That was my “Aha!” moment.

“Daniel, that’s what I do!” I told him. “I’m a relationship therapist and that’s exactly what I tell couples!

Thank you; now I get it.”

My son, we called him Dovid last week, then asked me what my favorite activity was so far. Immediately, what popped out of my mouth was, “Our hike. It was so beautiful.”

“Why?” he wanted to know. “Colorado is beautiful too.”

“True,” I answered, “But Hashem gave this Land to us. It was a gift.

That is meaningful to me.”

Dovid went on to say that for him stepping on the ground that our forefathers walked on and finding history come to life was most meaningful.

“Study Navi,” Daniel advised me.

“The more you learn and the more you understand the connection to our artifacts, the more you will feel it. Like any relationship, it takes time and effort.”

Since the move was on a Thursday (14 hours’ worth of move), the

Sokols kindly had us over for dinner erev Shabbos. The conversation turned to the medical establishment here in Israel. You might recall that I wrote a Letter to the Editor of this

little inconvenience and remember that we are all here to grow.

Help your partner grow by showing a great example, never judging unfavorably, holding back your neg-

“But Hashem gave this Land to us. It was a gift. That is meaningful to me.”

paper some months ago wondering why medicine seemed to be behind the U.S. when technology was so advanced.

I figured this was a good time to raise that same question with Daniel. His answer was fascinating. He explained that, since Israel is a really new country, you just can’t expect the clinical practice to keep up with technological advances.

“And,” he added, “it is growing so fast that nothing is keeping up with how it should be!”

This not only made sense but it also tied in very nicely to what we had been talking about earlier. See, if you think of your relationship to Israel just like your relationships in your own family, then it makes sense that you get out – emotionally – what you put into it. Israel, just like the person you married, is not perfect.

Far from it. And, just like the person you married, it will grow and be better when you put up with the flaws and nurture the strengths.

In fact, the love you have is precisely because you have put up with those irritations. You put up, you laugh about it (as my children and the Sokols did at their table), you help it along, and you love it because of that personal investment in it.

This is really what it means when people say marriage takes work. It takes work to keep your yap shut when you want to express irritation or frustration. That’s especially important when you know it won’t help and it will only hurt the other person’s feelings. Just put up with a

ative comments, and being a giver without counting but with enthusiasm and from the heart. Same thing with Eretz Yisroel: It’s a gift from Hashem; olim put up with the growing pains, are excited about the future, and give it time, thought, effort, good words, and love. That’s the secret of the olim; that’s their strength.

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I’m so glad I had that conversation with Daniel. Even olim complete their Hagaddah saying “L’shana haba b’Yerushalayim” because the true Yerushalyim, the one with shlaymus (completeness,) has yet to come. Now I understand why that’s okay. Like the marriage you nurture, you nudge the Moshiach closer to coming by doing everything you can to create that shlaymus. It’s a process, and what’s important is our part in getting there: Lo alecha hamlacha ligmor, v’lo atah ben chorin l’hivateil memena (You don’t have to finish the job, but you can’t withdraw from it [either]).

My first Pesach in Eretz Yisroel.

G-d willing there will be others. This is a good relationship to build.

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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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Health & F tness

The Foods to Pass Over

By Aliza Beer MS, RD

T

he busiest time of the year in my practice is post-Pesach, because Pesach presents the greatest holiday obstacle of all yom tovim. This year, five out of the eight days are yom tov days and Shabbos.

The meals are long, late, and overwhelmingly carby, i.e. matzah, potatoes, and cake; and fried foods enjoy the spotlight, such as latkes, matzah brei, and French fries. There are generally two ways of celebrating: going to a hotel program or staying home. Both present with their own unique challenges, but the following are some tips to help navigate each path to Passover.

Home and Hotel • Whole Wheat Matzah: ½ round shmura or 1 whole square board is one serving. I am not referring to the sedarim where one must adhere to the halachic shiur. At the sedarim eat the matzah portion that is required, but not one superfluous bite!

• Lower Sugar Grape Juice: Grape juice is very high in sugar, so get the lower sugar version. Dry wine will have less sugar than sweet wine. Once again, drink the amount required and not one extra sip! Drink water for Shulchan Orech.

• Eat Before the Seder: Don’t come starving to the sedarim. Eat some kind of protein late in the afternoon, for example, tuna, turkey, or chicken, and some salad or cooked veggie with it. At the sedarim, try to eat lighter. It’s very late at night and you just consumed an abundance of matzah and grape juice/wine!

• Drink 1-2 Cups of Water before Each Meal: The water acts as an appetite suppressant and helps the stomach prepare itself to receive the food. When you drink prior to a meal, you typically consume less food at that

meal.

• Go for Walks: Weather permitting, try going for walks to burn off some of those extra calories. Serving, cooking and cleaning are hard work, but not really considered exercise.

• Eat Fish: Try to sneak in a few fish meals. Fish is a lighter, healthier fat than chicken or meat. Most hotel programs offer a fish option at every meal.

• Reduce Red Meat: Keep the red meat to no more than three times over the course of the eight days. For example, once the first days, once on Shabbos, and once the second days.

and nibbling.

• Curb the Carbs: The meals are larger and later than your normal eating pattern. At the very least, limit the carbs and overeat on protein/veggies if you must. This will reduce possible weight gain. Make sure there are sufficient salads and veggies at every meal.

• Selective Sweets: If you are home, then you are in control of the dessert/sweets situation. Not everyone needs every type of cake/cookie. Limit the selection and the whole family will thank you after Pesach.

Make it your rule that you must eat sitting down. This will inhibit much of the picking and nibbling.

Red meat includes beef, lamb, and veal. Red meat is typically heavier, fattier and saltier than most poultry and fish.

• Get on the Scale: It’s good to see the number. Weigh yourself on chol hamoed. This will help you monitor any weight gain and get you back on track for Shabbos and the second days.

Home • Don’t Eat Standing Up: The kitchen is the most dangerous place for this behavior. An enormous amount of time will be spent in the kitchen cooking, prepping, serving, and cleaning.

When one eats standing up, it does not register in the brain that they have eaten, and this leads to more eating. It’s called blindly grazing. So make it your rule that you must eat sitting down.

This will inhibit much of the picking

Hotel • Make Good Choices: There are always good options available, but you must choose wisely. Choose an egg and veggie omelet for breakfast instead of the pancakes or French toast. Some food for thought: they make non-gebrochts French toast by taking sponge cake, dipping it into eggs and frying it!

Head for the salad bar at lunch and top off your salad with some tuna or fresh grilled fish and avoid the pasta/pizza section. Eat a protein at dinner such as fish, chicken or meat, and pair it with grilled or roasted veggies, not French fries.

• Don’t Attend All Events: Just because they are having a BBQ at 3:30, when you already ate lunch at 1:00 and will be eating dinner at 6:00, doesn’t mean that you must participate. The same applies to a midnight madness,

and the all you can eat dessert buffet.

AVOID. • No Food in the Room: If you bring back snacks to the room, the probability is quite high that you will eat it! If you don’t have immediate access to it, you cannot eat it.

• Exercise: Take advantage of your vacation from the kitchen and burn off those extra calories! Especially if you are in a warm weather climate, you should walk, swim, play tennis, basketball, etc.

• Tea Time: The tea room is like the yetzer hara; fight it with all your might. It can undo even the most disciplined amongst us. Proceed on rare occasions with caution. Eat fruit and some nuts, but steer clear of the cakes/cookies/muffins.

Pesach is a time of joy and freedom, but should not be viewed as freedom from healthy eating. Balance the need to make nutritionally sound choices with some special treats sprinkled throughout the week, although you cannot have dessert at every meal, every day. That pleasure is only temporary, and your body will suffer the consequences more permanently after yom tov. Do your best at every meal, every day. The goal is to maintain your weight, but if you gain a few pounds don’t despair – get yourself back on track immediately after Pesach, commit to a post-peach weight loss program, and the weight will come off.

Wishing my wonderful readers a chag kasher v’sameach!

Aliza Beer is a registered dietician with a master’s degree in nutrition. She has a private practice in Cedarhurst, NY. Patients’ success has been featured on the Dr. Oz show. Aliza can be reached at alizabeer@gmail.com.

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

President Trump will meet with the president of China next week to discuss Trump’s claims about China’s unfair trade practices. Which means we’re about two weeks away from having to call these [fortune cookies] “freedom cookies.”

- Seth Myers

Sometimes, it’s OK to throw rocks at girls – New billboard slogan of North Carolina’s Spicer Greene Jewelers advertising their diamonds

Amazon Prime has made it possible to have beer and wine delivered to your home by Alexa. All you have to do is say the phrase, “Alexa, Daddy’s sad.”

– Conan O’Brien

Every time some bomb goes off, before it goes off, somebody yells “Allahu Akbar!’” I never hear anybody go, "Merry X-mas! This one’s for the flying nun!"

Please tell me this is photoshopped. Please?

– Tweet by Chelsea Clinton, accompanied by this image of the cover of the 2017 Lincoln Day Dinner program for the Republican Party of Palm Beach County

Nope, sorry. Everybody knows they didn’t have photoshop back then.

- One of the hundreds of response tweets

No, this is the exact hat Lincoln was wearing when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation ppl forget that - Ibid.

No, Lincoln actually wore that hat in 1865; it was found at Ford’s Theater.

–Ben Shapiro’s tweet in response

– HBO’s Bill Maher

A 12-year-old girl in North Carolina correctly chose the final four in her bracket; it was amazing. Yeah, yeah, but great — just one more thing that I’m worse at than a 12-year-old girl.

– James Corden

We should boycott North Korea. We should sanction Iran. We should divest from Syria, not Israel.

– U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley at an anti-BDS conference

MORE QUOTES

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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They’re allowed to get away with just whatever, and they’re always thinking about themselves. Me, me, me, me, me. “I didn’t score, so why should I be happy?” “I’m not getting enough minutes; why should I be happy?”

That’s the world we live in today, unfortunately. Kids check the scoreboard sometimes because they’re going to get yelled at by their parents if they don’t score enough points. Don’t get me started.

- Geno Auriemma, coach of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, which hasn’t lost a game in more than two years and is in play for a fifth consecutive national title

An Ohio couple was arrested for faking their own murder. People grew suspicious when the couple changed their Facebook status to “We’ve been murdered. Sad!” – Conan O’Brien

This is an exercise on expanding your point of view by going outside your comfort zone…

Former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest recently said that former President Obama is genuinely concerned about how things are going in the country. In fact, today there was just a hint of sadness in his eye, as he swam up to the bar to order another Mai Tai.

- Explanation for an assignment asking students to write an essay in support of the Holocaust in a Oswego County, NY, public school

- Seth Myers

– Assemblyman Dov Hikind

#BlackLivesMatter - What Ziad Ahmed wrote 100 times in response to the Stanford admissions essay question of “What matters to you, and why?” The pathetic non-answer waste of paper gained him acceptance into the uber-liberal university

A new study reports that older women are doing more and more binge drinking. I asked my mom if that was true and she said, “I love you, man.”

- Conan O’Brien

Had the assignment been to argue in favor of slavery or other human atrocities, would anyone dare to defend it? I honestly couldn’t believe this story when I heard it. I thought it was a sick joke.

Age is just a number!

– Actress Doris Day, who found her birth certificate last weekend on her birthday. She thought she was turning 93 but found out that she is actually 95

A 16-year-old boy in Bosnia broke a world record this week by smashing 111 concrete blocks with his head in 34 seconds… When asked how it felt to break the world record, the boy said, “Lampshade tricycle is my favorite flavor of pizza truck.”

- James Corden

I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

I was texting.

- A Texas driver, at the scene of the accident, who crashed into a church bus killing 13 senior citizens last weekend while texting

Britain began the process of leaving the EU today, and the leader of the European Council responded to the move by saying, “I will not pretend I am happy.” Which makes sense, as that’s more of a British thing.

- Seth Myers

If being complicit is wanting to … be a force for good and to make a positive impact then I’m complicit.

- Ivanka Trump in a CBS News interview responding to those who say that she is “complicit” in her father’s presidency.

President Trump told senators yesterday that they would make a deal on healthcare because “that’s such an easy one.” OK, well, just make sure your healthcare plan covers amnesia.

- Seth Myers

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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You are being run by an idiot.

- From a statement addressing Americans by ISIS spokesman Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajer, who seemingly caught Trump Derangement Syndrome from the alt-left media

China is the only one that can control Kim Jung Un, this crazy fat kid that’s running North Korea.

- Senator John McCain on MSNBC

John McCain…made a provocation tantamount to declaration of war against the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], the DPRK will take steps to counter it. They will have to bitterly experience the disastrous consequences to be entailed by their reckless tongue-lashing and then any regret for it will come too late.

- Official response by North Korea to Sen. McCain’s comments

What, did they want me to call him a crazy skinny kid?

- Sen. McCain’s tweet in response to the threat

Hillary, stay in the woods. Okay. You had your shot. You [messed] it up.

You’re Bill Buckner. We had the World Series, and you let the grounder go through your legs.

– HBO’s Bill Maher responding to Hillary Clinton’s assertion that she is “ready to come out of the woods” and get involved in politics again

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Here we go, America! Trump won’t throw out the first pitch. What else? He won’t go to the Correspondents’ Dinner. He won’t release his tax returns. He won’t put his business in a blind trust. He doesn’t want to live in D.C. What presidential tradition will Trump abandon next?

This Thanksgiving, those turkeys better run.

- Stephen Colbert

President Trump turned down a chance to throw out the opening day pitch for the Washington Nationals. Turned it down! For some reason, Trump doesn’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of large Hispanic men holding baseball bats.

- Conan O’Brien

There’s drama brewing in Washington because the Senate is about to vote on [Supreme Court] nominee Neil Gorsuch. But Democrats aren’t going to let Gorsuch get confirmed without a fight. Sure, it’s a fight they’re going to lose — but those are the kinds of fights Democrats love.

The White House says President Trump will not throw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals game. Apparently Trump was afraid of hurting his tweeting arm.

- Stephen Colbert

- Jimmy Fallon

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OCTOBER 29, |2015 The Jewish APRIL 6, 2017 The |Jewish HomeHome

Political Crossfire

The Road to SinglePayer Health Care

By Charles Krauthammer

R

epeal-and-replace (for Obamacare) is not quite dead. It has been declared so, but what that means is that, for now, the president has (apparently) washed his hands of it and the House Republicans appear unable to reconcile their differences.

Neither condition needs to be permanent. There are ideological differences between the various GOP factions, but what’s overlooked is the role that procedure played in producing the deadlock. And procedure can easily be changed.

The House leadership crafted a bill that would meet the delicate requirements of “reconciliation” in order to create a (more achievable) threshold of 51 rather than 60 votes in the Senate. But this meant that some of the more attractive, market-oriented reforms had to be left out, relegated to a future measure (a so-called phase-three bill) that might never actually arrive.

Yet the more stripped-down proposal died anyway. So why not go for the gold next time? Pass a bill that incorporates phase-three reforms and send it on to the Senate.

September might be the time for resurrecting repeal-and-replace.

That’s when insurers recalibrate premiums for the coming year, precipitating our annual bout of Obamacare sticker shock. By then, even more insurers will be dropping out of the exchanges, further reducing choice and service. These should help dissipate the pre-emptive nostalgia for Obamacare that emerged during the current debate.

At which point, the House

leadership should present a repealand-replace that includes such phase-three provisions as tort reform and permitting the buying of insurance across state lines, both of which would significantly lower costs.

Even more significant would be stripping out the heavy-handed Obamacare coverage mandate that dictates what specific medical benefits must be included in every insurance policy in the country, regardless of the purchaser’s desires or needs.

Best to mandate nothing. Let the customer decide. A -60year-

the world have decided everyone must have.

It is true that even if this revised repeal-and-replace passes the House, it might die by filibuster in the Senate. In which case, let the Senate Democrats explain themselves and suffer the consequences. Perhaps, however, such a bill might engender debate and revision – and come back to the House for an old-fashioned House-Senate conference and a possible compromise. This in and of itself would constitute major progress.

That’s procedure. It’s fixable. But there is an ideological consideration that could ultimately determine the

A broad national consensus is developing that health care is indeed a right. This is historically new.

old couple doesn’t need maternity coverage. Why should they be forced to pay for it? And I don’t know about you, but I don’t need lactation services.

This would satisfy the House Freedom Caucus’ correct insistence on dismantling Obamacare’s stifling regulatory straitjacket – without scaring off moderates who should understand that no one is being denied “essential health benefits.”

Rather, no one is being required to buy what the Jonathan Grubers of

fate of any Obamacare replacement.

Obamacare may turn out to be unworkable, indeed doomed, but it is having a profound effect on the zeitgeist: It is universalizing the idea of universal coverage.

Acceptance of its major premise – that no one be denied health care – is more widespread than ever. Even House Speaker Paul Ryan avers that “our goal is to give every American access to quality, affordable health care,” making universality an essential premise of his own reform. And

look at how sensitive and defensive Republicans have been about the possibility of people losing coverage in any Obamacare repeal.

A broad national consensus is developing that health care is indeed a right. This is historically new. And it carries immense implications for the future. It suggests that we may be heading inexorably to a governmentrun, single-payer system. It’s what Barack Obama once admitted he would have preferred but didn’t think the country was ready for. It may be ready now.

As Obamacare continues to unravel, it won’t take much for Democrats to abandon that Rube Goldberg wreckage and go for the simplicity and the universality of Medicare-for-all. Republicans will have one last chance to try to convince the country to remain with a market-based system, preferably one encompassing all the provisions that, for procedural reasons, had been left out of their latest proposal.

Don’t be surprised, however, if, in the end, single-payer wins out. Indeed, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if Donald Trump, reading the zeitgeist, pulls the greatest 180 since Disraeli dished the Whigs in 1867 (by radically expanding the franchise) and joins the single-payer side.

Talk about disruption? About kicking over the furniture? That would be an American Krakatoa.

(c) 2017, The Washington Post Writers Group

The Jewish HomeHome | OCTOBER The Jewish | APRIL29, 6, 2015 2017

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Forgotten Her es

The Battle of Abu Ageila

By Avi Heiligman

Ariel Sharon, center, as commander in the Sinai during the Six Day War

O

ne of the weapons that made the Ancient Egyptians a world power was the chariot. At the time of Krias Yam Suf (crossing the Red Sea) hundreds of chariots were employed to attack the Jews. They all were rendered useless and destroyed by the miracles of yad Hashem. Fifty years ago the Egyptians tried using a modern day version of the chariot to annihilate the Jewish nation and failed spectacularly. Known as the Battle of Abu Ageila, or Umm-Katef, it was the main engagement of a larger conflict that is considered one of the largest tank battles in history.

The Six Day War lasted from June 5, 1967 to June 10, 1967. In the Sinai, approximately 2,500 tanks of all shapes, sizes, firepower and origin took part in total from both sides.

Three divisions, including one under future Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, were part of the general offensive against Egypt. Major General Sharon had about 14,000 soldiers with about 150 tanks. Most of these were British-built Centurions or American-manufactured Super Shermans with French 105mm guns attached.

In this particular battle they were up against only 66 Russian WWII T-34 tanks, which were totally outclassed by the Super Shermans. But the Egyptians had the advantage when it came to terrain. Umm-Katef was a plateau that was bordered by sand dunes that were flanked by mountains. Defenses were con-

IDF soldiers heading out to the Sinai

structed with trenches, minefields and concrete bunkers, making for a strong defensive position. Infantry and artillery battalions dug in waiting for the Israeli armor and were backed by the T-34 tanks. Egyptian reconnaissance units were in place to give the warning if and when the Israelis were coming.

Abu Ageila was an important junction in the Sinai and was needed by the Israelis to allow other divisions to attack. If it was taken, the road to the entire Sinai would be open to the IDF. Sharon was banking on the fact that the Egyptians were

tle. When the first seven Centurions were lost and a second strike failed, the Israelis knew where the defenses were placed. Instead of another frontal assault they decided to go around but the Umm Katef would need to be taken as a strategic strongpoint. Infantry was called in, and the plateau was attacked by a reserve battalion supported by artillery during the night of June 5-6. Paratroopers were sent in by helicopters to take out any remaining Egyptian artillery.

Hand-to-hand combat ensued in the trenches at 11pm. Soon enough of the Egyptian trenches were taken that

Defeating the Egyptians early in the war was key to its success.

expecting a similar attack to the one the IDF used in 1956 in the same area. He decided to use a roundabout attack as a feint and to surprise the Egyptian commander with a frontal assault. In the end the Israelis did just the opposite when a frontal attack stalled.

Attacks during the Six Day War by the Israelis were done in a coordinated effort. Intelligence had placed the Egyptian defenses at a lower estimate two days before the bat-

engineers could be employed to clear minefields wide enough to allow the tanks to pass.

By the morning of June 6, Israeli tanks were attacking the remaining Egyptian positions at Abu Ageila from two sides. At 3:30am the Israelis had the Egyptian tanks surrounded. Three hours later these positions were destroyed and Sharon was soon on his way to the Suez Canal.

In all, 40 Israeli soldiers paid the ultimate price and 19 tanks were lost

during the battle. Over 4,000 Egyptians were killed in the head-to-head tank battle that saw the loss of over 40 tanks in this particular part of the battle. Knowledge of the terrain and predicting the Egyptian response were all key factors in the sweeping Israeli victory. With the southern front a non-factor the IDF was able to concentrate on the northern and central fronts. The fighting against the Syrians and Jordanians gave Israel a lot of land, and just a few days after the Battle of Abu Ageila the paratroopers finally reached the Kotel.

Defeating the Egyptians early in the war was key to its success. Israeli intelligence knew that it couldn’t sustain a long, drawn-out war and air attacks had been carefully planned in advance. They were successful in annihilating the entire Egyptian Air Force on the first day but the tanks were needed to finish the job (it should be noted that by 8am on June 5 the Egyptian Air Force was no longer a threat to Sharon’s attack later in the day). With the Battle at Abu Ageila the IDF armor had successfully pieced the well, laid-out Egyptian defenses in a battle that is still studied by war historians and tankers today as a perfect example of how to fight a tank battle.

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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Israel Today

Just One Bite

By Rafi Sackville

W

hen I was 9-years-old we moved into a house large enough to get lost in. A mysterious cellar was accessible by pressing a button inside the bar of the sunroom. The floor would creak open to reveal a set of steps leading down into the dank space where my father stored his favorite bottles of wine. A rarely used sitting room housed a grand piano that nobody played, and the kitchen was large enough to become our de-facto living room.

Outside, a cabana ran to the edge of a pool. Next to it, at the bottom of the garden, was a tennis court.

During the summer my friends and I spent hours either alternating between the two, or we’d open the side gate to the house and play cricket on the steeply angled driveway. My friend Nathan Serry avidly commentated every ball and stroke. He had a knack of taking my wicket just as I was finding my groove. I was less annoyed at being given out than at his perfectly pitched verbal account of his bowling prowess.

In the middle of the large tiered garden was a fountain from which a spray of water exited the mouth of a nude statuette. Around the perimeter of the property was a range of thick shrubbery. Down its side was an unbolted door through which we could worm ourselves through the musty bowels of the foundations to a trap door that opened just inside the front door.

In short, it wasn’t a house you wanted to leave during summer. I

My maternal grandparents, Emma and Charles Plotkin, circa mid 1930s

had trouble reconciling the mansion’s stature with the family history that preceded it. My father’s family ran a large factory in the city. I somehow understood that suits translated into bricks (lots of them) but the incongruous link between the walls and my grandparents’ style of living confused me. I felt more comfortable in my maternal grandparents’ two room apartment in Elsternwick than I did in the imposing silence of empty rooms in Toorak. To this day I feel a greater European influence than that of my parents’ Melbourne.

Our family history in the Lucky Country never seemed as real, tactile, or meaningful as the countries my grandparents had been born in or traveled through.

My grandparents played a central role in our lives. The memories I have of the kitchen in Heyington Place is not complete without the memory of my grandmother on the couch knitting or crocheting. If my parents traveled, Nanny and Papa looked after us. Even when they didn’t tend to us they were visiting every few days.

I recall their European friends and the card games they’d play in any

one of seven languages depending on who was present. I remember their smells and sounds, their mannerisms and customs.

I adored my maternal grandmother. When I sought comfort from the world she was the person to whom I turned. She would put me to sleep while calling me “my darling,” running her warm fingers through my hair. She listened, but never judged, and she spoke to me softly through smoke-laced lips. Her sad eyes matched a disposition of melancholy. She had made the transition from privileged Russian society to poverty. Despite never complaining, the story of her life was knitted in her brows. I think the only disappointment she saw in me was my stubborn refusal to take the piano seriously.

She had been a childhood prodigy, a talent stolen from her at a young age when the Russian government exiled her family from Moscow.

I wasn’t as close with my grandfather. Unlike my grandmother, he was someone to observe, not to love.

I found him amusing. For one, he had an opinion about everything. When he became excited or surprised by

the force of one of his arguments, or if he wished to emphasize a point he’d say, “Take for ahmed,” which was his Polish way of saying, “take for argument.” He read newspapers from cover to cover, banishing each page to the foot of his armchair until the floor became a large mosaic of clutter and disregard. I tried to read them first because I hated picking up each page in search of the sports section.

He owned a small, unsuccessful belt factory in a rickety building in the middle of town that was eventually torn down for a movie house.

He’d oftentimes disappear down Ackland street – famous for its coffee shops and a hint of Europe – in a suit and tie and greet the world as if he were holding court. He always offered advice, but unlike Nanny rarely laced it in warmth.

He had an older brother, Norman, who owned a summer house in Mt. Martha on the Mornington Peninsula. Norman’s wife was a plump, white-haired woman whose nondescript face I can register best when surrounded by overweight matrons.

Early one Sunday summer morning Nanny and Papa drove to our house. They hoped to take me with them to Mt. Martha for a picnic lunch.

Our house was quiet that day.

There was no reason why I suddenly became so stubborn and refused them. My mother’s countenance could not undo itself. She thought a day out with them a great idea. She

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

BNOS BAIS YAAKOV "FACT"ORY

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A significant factor in being a well-rounded Once a group of information is mastered, another colored set of cards is given out. The student is having a broad base of general enthusiasm for this program is simply knowledge. This year, Bnos Bais Yaakov astounding! Girls are “caught” studying has launched a knowledge “Fact”ory AIS YAA B all the time – and they are so proud where the girls are becoming S K O of their newly acquired knowledge. proficient in facts about famous At the start of the program, each people and places. Color-coded student received a bracelet, and as cards with general information the girls progress through the cards about America – its people, and information, another charm places, and things – are studied is added to their bracelet. The end until the facts are second nature.

A goal is that each girl should master Each colored set of cards represents C T " OR all the information and receive all the a different group of information. charms for their bracelets.

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The following girls have all earned a perfect score on their tests. But perfect score or not, every girl comes out of this “Fact”ory ahead – because knowledge is a very valuable commodity.

Malka Aghbashoff Chana Perel Ament Esther Nechama Aziz Rivka Bald Aviva Baron Gila Bauman Esti Becker Elisheva Beim Rivka Beim BasyaBender Chana Golda Bender Esther Bender Esti Bender Miri Bender Eliana Benderly Neshama Adina Ben-Haim Shira Devora Bennett Talia Ben-Simhon Rachelli Benzaquen Chaviva MiriamBerger Aliza Bergman Hadassah Birnhack Racheli Bistricer AvigayilBlobstein Kayla Rivka Bloom Rochel Leah Bloom Shifra Bloom Adina Bluth Rina Bluth Miri Bokow Yael Bokow Yehudis Bondi Michal Botwinick Bracha Brana Breskin Goldie Brisk Shoshana Buls Avigail Chait Rachel Chait Esther Chetrit Rina Chrein Ahuva Cohen Neshama Cohen Shoshana Cohen Tova Brocha Cohen Rivka Cooper Tehilla Dahan Yocheved Dahan Zahava David Chana Dershowitz Aliza Deutsch Kaila MalkaDonowitz Rivkah Yakira Druker Tzivia Yehudis Dunn Zahava Ebert Penina Edelstein Rachel Edelstein Riki Edelstein

Rochel Ehrenfeld Tova Ellenberg Chana Rivka Enker Chedva Temima Fagin Leba Fass Ayala Feder Miriam Feifer Chana Leah Feigenbaum Frumet Feldberger Chana Feldhamer Daniella Feldman Dassy Feldman Avigail Finestone Rochel Finkel Sora'le Finkel Dina Finkelstein RaizelFishof Chaya RenaFogel Dina Fogel Golda Fogel Rivka Frenkel Avigail Frishman Miriam YehudisFuchs Esti Gantz Miriam Gerber Tova Gerber Bella Gillig Penina Bracha Glazer ChaniGluck Shira Gluck Yocheved Gluck Freidi Gold Mindi Gold Sarale Gold Tzippy Gold Baila Goldberg Devorah Goodman Yehudis Goodman Milcah Leah Gordon Rivka Gordon Elana Gralla Rochel Greenberger Hadassah Gruenbaum Leah Temima Gul Elisheva Halbertal Hindy Halpern Rena Halpern Avigael Hammer Miriam Harary Rachel Avigail Harary Dina Hartman Leah Heinemann Rochel Leah Hellman Esther Henoch Faigy Herskovits Racheli Herzka Leah Hirschfeld

Menucha Holman Chana Indich Sora Malka Indich Ruchie Jacobi Sora Jacobsen Nechoma Jaeger Rochel Jaeger Rochella Jakubowicz Baila Bracha Jonas Esther Jungreis Hadassah Bracha Kadar Bracha Kagan Sara Kagan Shira Kagan Tamar Kagan Chavie Kaminsky Chaya Kaminsky Yitty Bracha Karmely Esti Karp Rivky Karp Tehila Rena Katz Chedva Katzenstein Esther Katzenstein Yocheved Katzenstein Hadassa Kaufman Chaya Rina Keilson Esther Meira Keilson Goldie Keilson Mati Keilson Baila Klein Shaindy Klein Temima Klein Sarah Miriam Knoll Miriam Kohan Yocheved Kohan GellieKopelowitz Layala Korngold Malky Korngold Batsheva Krasnovsky Chavi Kraus Chaviva Krausz Shira Henna Krausz Baila Kutner Rena Kutner Shifra Kutner Raizy Langsner Mimi Laufer Batya Lawrence Esther Lawrence Aliza Lebovic Layah Lebowicz Tehila Lebowicz Surie Lebowitz Yaeli Lehrfeld Batsheva Levin Yocheved Levin Shoshana Levine

Avigail Shira Light Ahuva Bracha Livian Leah TzipporahLivian ShifraLivian Sarah Leah Loewi Chana Ludmir Simcha Leah Magazzinich Temima Rivka Majerovic Aliza Rivka Mendlowitz Meira Leah Mendlowitz Tova Metz Leah Reva Miller Sarah Miller Sheva Rochel Miller Zahava Sara Milstein Nava Moskowitz Tova Munk Aliza Menucha Neuman Tzirel Yaffa Olshan Rochel Orlansky Chaya Leah Peltz Miriam Peltz Yael Peltz Kayla Perkal Myah Perkal Aliza Perl Esther Petegorsky Nechama Petegorsky Perry Pfeiffer Miriam Rivka Pollack Mindy Posy Chaya Sarah Rapfogel Chana Reich Shaindy Reidel Blimi Reisman Avigail Meira Ribacoff Tehilla Chana Ribacoff Atara Richman Daphna Richman Charna Rochel Richtman Hinda Leah Richtman Basya Nechama Ritholtz Esther Ahuva Ritholtz Batsheva Rodkin Chumi Rodkin Chana Leah Roseman Ahuva Rosen Chaya Sorah Rosen Esti Rosenberg Adina Rosenberg Ita Esther Rosenblum Lea Rosenblum Aviva Soshana Rosenfeld Meira Tzipporah Rosenfeld Tova Chaya Rosenthal Miri Rosner Rochel Devorah Rostker

Chana Rotbard Chana Rachel Roth Esther Roth Leah Rubin Michal Sarah Rubin Pessi Rubin Esty Rutner Aliza Ruvel Rachel Leah Sachmechian Yafit Rivka Sachmechian Mirel Salzman Tzirel Sandler Chava Schachar Chana Tova Scharf Dina Scheininger Elisheva BrochaSchiff Gitty Schiff Adina Miriam Schmukler Esther Schnitzer Nechama Schnitzer Goldie Schulman Leah Rina Schulman Shayna Orah Schulman Chana TovaSchuss Chana Devora Schwartz Raizy Shaiman Shoshana Shaiman Ahuva Shanet Batsheva Shapiro Nechama Shapiro Racheli Sharfman Leah Silberberg Rachel Simantov Sari Sinensky Sara Bracha Sinnreich Devorah Speiser Faigy Steg Pessy Steg Rachelli Steg Esther Michal Stein Rivka Stein Hadasa Storch Rivka Sudwerts Tova Sudwerts Chaya Sussman

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intimated that I owed it to them. After all, hadn’t they driven out of their way to collect me?

I was having none of it. I must have said no a dozen times. Papa didn’t seem to care much, but Nanny was upset. I was sorry to let her down, but the thought of driving all that way in their sweaty Ford Falcon with the back of my knees stuck to the hot seat didn’t appeal to me.

I was forced to face them. If I could, I would have hidden behind the drawn curtains in the sunroom.

They wouldn’t have found me there.

Or perhaps my father could have defended me. But he was outside cleaning the pool and sweeping the leaves. Besides, my grandparents were in too much of a rush to wait for his opinion. Dad might have told them it wasn’t right for so young a boy to sit in a hot car for hours. Or he might have lied and told them we were expecting guests. But no one was asking him. I stood my ground until my mother backed down. “I’m not going to force him to go with you,” she told her parents. “He’d only be miserable if we forced him against his will. You’d only have to suffer his nonsense all day.”

The packet and a half of Peter Stuyvesants they daily smoked between them detracted little from their vigor. Papa slid behind the wheel of their Ford Falcon. Nanny lighted one before getting in beside him. She was so short she all but sank out of sight behind the dashboard and a cloud of smoke. The number plates flashed in the morning sun as they reversed out of the driveway.

Then they were gone.

I spent the day in and out of the pool until sometime mid-afternoon, when our quiet lives turned into bedlam. My aunt and uncle drove over, briefly conferred with my parents, and after hurrying instructions at us, left for the hospital. My siblings and I were left with a hastily called babysitter. All I understood was that both my grandparents had fallen ill.

Earlier that week Norman’s wife had purchased fresh schnitzels, which she froze. On Friday she took them out to defrost. They were left out on the kitchen counter for most of the hot day. By nightfall she no-

ticed them and changed her mind about that coming Sunday’s menu.

So she returned the schnitzels to the freezer. On Saturday night she had another change of mind and took them out to defrost again. Come Sunday morning they were as venomous as a viper’s bite.

Poor Auntie Rachel (for that was her name) was unaware the meal she prepared for that Sunday afternoon was close to my grandparents’ last.

My grandfather was not a shy eater. He digested a schnitzel or two and it wasn’t long before he began throwing up. So toxic was the food that he

doctor up, would you darling.”

He followed me up the stairs in silence. I somehow felt important, although I’m sure he could have managed without me. He greeted my mother who led him down the hall and through my brother’s room to the corner of the house where Nanny lay.

“I want you to wait here until the doctor has finished his examination,” my mother instructed me.

They disappeared into the darkened room leaving me alone in the hall. I sat down on the carpet and craned my ear against the door. I

Then he pointed at me and said very softly, “One mouthful would have killed a young boy his size.” lost consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital where he spent weeks recuperating.

Nanny was a nibbler. She, too, became ill but was released after a few days. Norman and Rachel only suffered severe stomach cramps.

Maybe a lifetime of her cooking had left them both with a higher degree of tolerance to poisoned food.

After a few days my parents brought Nanny home to us. I was horrified by her appearance. She looked wan. Her voice had sunk to a whisper. She was so frail I was terrified she would break into pieces.

My late uncle Bernard, our family doctor, came over daily to check on her. He was jovial and always ready to give me a pass for feeling sick when I really wasn’t. I was so used to his morning knock on the door that I would excitedly run to open it, waiting for him to say, “How’s my nephew?”

One morning I opened the door to a stranger. He was a taller man with a black doctor’s bag.

“Hello, young fella. Is your mother in?”

“Good morning, doctor,” my mother called from the upstairs landing. “She’s up here. Show the

failed to make sense of the muffled sounds coming from inside. Digging into my pocket I pulled out three marbles. I rolled my prized Aggie towards my sister’s room at the other end of the hall and scuttled the two onionskins after it.

When the examination was over my mother gently closed the door behind her and accompanied the doctor downstairs to the front door.

I stayed close to her side, keeping my eye on him. As she opened the door, the doctor tapped me on the shoulder.

“Aren’t you a lucky young fella,” he said. His hand had moved from my shoulder to the middle of my back. “Are you going to help take care of your grandmother?”

I was too intimidated by the blackness of his bag and his hand on my back to answer.

“Doctor,” said my mother as he was walking away, “was the poultry so tainted that my father is still fighting for his life?”

“Very much poisoned,” he replied and he shifted his bag from one hand to the other. Then he pointed at me and said very softly, “One mouthful would have killed a young boy his size.”

I didn’t hear as much as feel his words. The chill I still experience when I recall that short conversation is as real today as it was over 48 years ago. Even at the age of nine I understood that had I gone with my grandparents I would not have returned.

I don’t nibble like my grandmother did. And I love schnitzels. The Almighty had other plans for me, and today I am creeping towards the age my grandparents were during that late-1960s summer.

Peter Stuyvesent claimed the life of my grandmother in 1976. I called her from Israel after she had been hospitalized. Her lungs had become as gooey as a sponge filled with tar.

Submitting to a lifetime of cigarettes had left her without strength.

When she called me her “darling” her voice was no louder than a whisper shuffling its feeble cords across the ocean of her life. Her loss a few weeks later weighed heavily on me. I miss her still.

Before traveling to Israel I rummaged through my parents’ photo albums. I found a library card belonging to my grandmother that dated back to 1934 when she and my grandfather were living in Tel Aviv.

They had left Poland and Russia via Berlin, then Israel, before attempting their luck in the Lucky Country Down Under. She was proud that I had come to Israel. I know she would be proud that I’m still here.

Papa lived another twenty years.

He became quite a lady’s man in his later years. There were many occasions when he couldn’t be located. No questions were asked. He never gave up the habit of dismantling newspapers, thus making them almost unreadable for anyone else. He continued to hold court in Ackland Street well into his 96th year.

My grandmother loved me too much to have precipitated the disaster she and my grandfather had to suffer through. My “schnitzel miracle” as I like to refer to it, was meant to be just that. At the age of nine it simply wasn’t my time.

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

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home

Classifieds classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com / text 443-929-4003 APT FOR SALE

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  

‫ מי כעמך ישראל‬ 

   

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 

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

Classifieds HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

Ohel Bais Ezra’s Community Habilitation and Respite Programs are looking for responsible male and female staff to work one-on-one with children or adults with developmental disabilities who live at home in your community. Experience and driving preferred but not required. Good English communication skills a must.

Flex P/T. Call 718-686-3487, apply online at www.ohelfamily.org/careers

CAHAL SEEKING TEACHERS AND ASSISTANTS CAHAL, with smaller classes for children with learning challenges in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway, is seeking Assistant Teachers and Head Teachers for General Studies and Judaic Studies for September 2017.

Send your resume to shira@cahal.org or fax 516-295-2888.

Call 516-295-3666 for more information.

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.

Immediate openings for Middle School Language Arts Teacher and Limudei Kodesh Maternity substitute in Hebrew Academy of Long Beach - afternoons only.

Resumes to ulubetski@halb.org OVERNIGHT \WEEKEND COUNSELOR Responsible and exp’d staff to live in a beautiful group home & work 3 nights\week 7pm - 9am. Staff are not req’d to remain awake after 11pm.

Staff are req’d to work two weekends per month. Free rent & food. Stipend given as well. Great for college girl.

For additional info contact Frayde Yudkowsky at 732.948.4636 or fyudkowsky@evolvetreatment.com BUSINESS OFFICE POSITION West Hempstead based business, seeking bright individual in business office. Mon-Thursday 9:00-3:00, Bookkeeping & Data Entry.

QuickBooks, Excel, will train.

Email resume to kohn.hb@gmail.com

CAHAL SEEKING A SUBSTITUTE ASSISTANT TEACHER CAHAL is Seeking a Substitute Assistant Teacher for a girls Bais Yaakov class starting after Pesach. If interested send your resume to shira@ cahal.org or fax 516-295-2899. Call 516295-3666 for more information.

Local F.T. Accounting Office Seeks P/T JR. ACCOUNTANT proficient in Q.B. knowledge of payroll tax, sales tax, business tax and individual taxes Qualified applicants should please e-mail resume to: 5towntaxoffice@gmail.com

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Your

1

Money

Rich as Rockefeller

By Allan Rolnick

L

ast week marked the end of an era as David Rockefeller, the last grandchild of Standard Oil baron John D. Rockefeller, died at age 101. Rockefeller, whose name was once synonymous with “wealth,” symbolized the eastern establishment in all its glory. His death marks a last living link to an age of robber barons-turned-philanthropists whose fortunes still shape our nation.

Patriarch John D. Rockefeller launched the family fortune before Uncle Sam launched the income tax, which gave “Senior” a big head start.

He started out in 1855 as a 16-yearold assistant bookkeeper in Cleveland, Ohio, with a 10-week accounting course under his belt. By 1911, he controlled 90% of America’s oil refining. The Supreme Court eventually broke his company into 34 separate pieces. But much to Rockefeller’s delight, those pieces became worth more than the original whole.

By the time he died in 1937, he was worth the equivalent of $340 billion in today’s dollars.

Rockefeller had always been generous. He gave away six percent of his earnings even at age 16. But his fortune helped him really ratchet up his giving. He endowed the Univer-

sity of Chicago with a nondeductible gift equal to $2 billion in today’s dollars. (That’s because there wasn’t any tax to worry about then.) He founded Rockefeller University and made major gifts to Central Philippine University and Spelman College.

Rockefeller’s son, John D. Jr, wasn’t quite so lucky. In 1923, when the IRS published everyone’s tax

Bank the world’s largest.

By then, Junior was taking advantage of charitable deductions for his own philanthropy. He gave $537 million to charity over his life, more than the $240 million he gave to his own family. He donated the land for New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the United Nations headquarters, and gave generously to renovate

When the Wealth Tax Act of 1935 applied a special rate on income above $5 million, there was only American who paid it — Rockefeller. bills, he ranked #1 in the country, paying $7,435,169. In 1924, he ranked #1 again. And when the Wealth Tax Act of 1935 applied a special rate on income above $5 million, there was only American who paid it — Rockefeller. Junior diversified the family’s holdings, financing the 16-building Rockefeller Center complex in midtown Manhattan and helping make Chase Manhattan

Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

David Rockefeller might have become like those spoiled rich brats you see on Instagram and reality television. He grew up in an eight-story house, the biggest ever built in New York. (Seven stories are for peasants, right?) He and his brothers roller-skated down Fifth Avenue, trailed by a limousine in case they got tired, and vacationed at the family’s 107-

room cottage in Maine. But as an adult he expanded the family portfolio internationally, cutting banking deals with the Soviets, Chinese, and various oil-rich dictators. He was active in the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission.

(If the Illuminati are real, you probably could have found David Rockefeller lurking somewhere near the center of it all.)

Time, taxes, and 150+ descendants have whittled down the Rockefeller fortune. Forbes magazine estimates the family is worth “just” $11 billion today. Ironically, two of the family’s charitable funds have announced that they will be selling all their fossil fuel investments as part of their commitment to fight climate change.

We realize you don’t have Rockefeller riches to protect. But we know you value what you have, and we know that smart tax planning is one of the best ways to preserve it. Make sure that this year you pay less!!

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 yea rs in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

THANK YOU

The Jewish Home | APRIL 6, 2017

M A H A R D V E A I FR EVENT SPONSORS: CONCERT SPONSORS: Mr. and and Mrs. Mrs. Paul Paul Reinstein Reinstein Mr.

NMR&&ASSOCIATES ASSOCIATES NMR

VIP ROOM SPONSORS C A H A L

PLAYBILL SPONSORS

CAHAL THANKS THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS FOR MAKING THIS YEARS CONCERT

Mr. and and Mrs. Mrs. Sol Sol Kurz Kurz Mr.

Y-STUDS SPONSORS Shimmie & & Karen Karen Ehrenreich, Ehrenreich, Shimmie Yechiel & & Sara Sara Engel, Engel, Yechiel Shabse & & Tova Tova Fuchs Fuchs Shabse

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Mr. & & Mrs. Mrs. Sender Sender Hirth, Hirth, Rabbi Rabbi Dr. Dr. Aaron Aaron & & Margie Margie Glatt, Glatt, Jeffrey Jeffrey & & Sue Sue Rosenberg, Rosenberg, Robert Robert & & Melody Melody Harris, Harris, Mr. Alan & & Cookie Cookie Greene, Greene, Adam Adam & & Chavi Chavi Mirzoeff, Mirzoeff, Dovid Dovid & & Chani Chani Scharf, Scharf, Mr. Mr. and and Mrs. Mrs. Dov Dov Weinstock, Weinstock, Ely Ely & & Sarit Sarit Guttman Guttman Alan

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APRIL 6, 2017 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Life C ach

What am I Searching For?

By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

W

hat am I still searching for?! The last thing I want to do is find one more crumb. And then, how does the holiday start? With a major search! I’m searched out! If you haven’t been able to wipe it away, vacuum it away, burn it away, or cart it away, then I think it should have every right to stay!

The brilliance of this holiday is that it’s got ingenious, secret elements built right into it.

Every kid enjoys the afikomen search. Right?! Little do they realize it’s a training program for when they have to look in every nook and cranny to clean for Passover. They don’t even realize they are becoming experts in turning over the house so that it will become second nature later on for them.

Four cups of wine: now what’s that all about? The adults get to drink and drink and drink and drink till they totally forget the trauma of the last few weeks of sterilizing their house and completely redesigning their kitchens. They’re even provided with pillows right there at the table to start the relaxing process.

There is an idea taught on Passover – that we must remember the fact that we were freed by G-d and keep it with us throughout the year.

This is in order to continually appreciate that G-d is personally involved in our lives and livelihood. And how well it works! Especially since that trusty matzah, consumed in lethal doses all during Passover, continues to stay within our GI track throughout the year. And, in fact, is probably just finished exiting our systems as the new Passover begins.

through?

At the seder, did you ever realize we wash once and then we wash again? We are actually experiencing our own dividing of the waters. We are subtly reliving the Splitting of the Sea, so to speak. On this night we are meant to envision that we ourselves were there in Egypt. This certainly gives some subliminal fortitude to

We are ready to “pass out” and “fall over” and thus the resultant contraction: Pass-over!

Why do we work to exhaustion cleaning the house? We are told that it is to get rid of all the chometz. But I think that what may be going on here is that we need to identify with the back-breaking work our forefathers did as slaves in Egypt. How else could we authentically celebrate the freedom?!

Then, as we sit down to complain, we are immediately prevented from doing so by being directed to recite all the plagues the Egyptians experienced. How can we possibly feel sorry for ourselves after what they went

the concept.

There is a mitzvah that says the more you talk about the experience the more you are praised. I think, pure and simple, the real reason this is encouraged is that if you stop talking, well you know how it is, you would just fall asleep. But that’s the brilliance here! We are praised for talking about it. Isn’t that smarter than saying, “Beware, you are so wiped out, you may fall asleep!”

Even the name of the holiday, Passover, has its subtle underlying message. People claim it came

from the fact that it reminds us G-d passed over the houses of the Jews, saved them, and killed only the Egyptians. Sure, that may be a part of it. But again, I’m going to share the ingenious hidden element contained within it. It’s really a blend of the two feelings we have as we arrive at the seder night. We are ready to “pass out” and “fall over” and thus the resultant contraction: Pass-over!

What it all “boils” down to, and this is the “bloody” truth, even when our kids seem to be running around like “wild animals” looking for the afikomen, there is more there.

Therefore, we should “hale” the brilliance of our Creator because hidden in the “darkness” of not knowing is a “lice”-ence to look for more.

So, make sure to summon up some residual energy this holiday and search for the hidden elements within it. See if you can get much “more-or,” at least some more out if it and have an awesome passout, fall over, PASSOVER!

Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach.

She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com

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