Five Towns Jewish Home - 2-27-20 by The Jewish Home

February 27, 2020

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

Your Favorite Five Towns Family Newspaper

Always Fresh. Always Gourmet. See page 7

Around the

Community

58 Special Tributes at Siach Yitzchok Annual Dinner

70 Community Comes Out in Support of Tomchei Shabbos Yad Yeshaya

76 Uniting in Harmony with Song & Dance

PAGE 9 & 136

PASSOVER VACATION SECTION Starts on page 117

Oceans of Memories Remembering Rabbi Chaim Wakslak, zt”l, SELFLESS AND HUMBLE

The Answers to Your “Ad D’Lo Yadda” Questions

114

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Dear Readers,

and spent countless sleepless nights hosting his congregants in the shul after Superstorm Sandy. His members saw his endless love in the boundless energy that he exerted on their behalf; they felt his concern and care when they saw him in shul each day. Rabbi Wakslak’s biggest desire was to elevate and grow his kehillah. He dreamed of a community by the sea with exponential growth; he envisioned a neighborhood teeming with members from all walks and from every stage of life. We live in an age when achievements are measured by “likes” and “followers.” Sometimes we fool ourselves when we begin to believe that that is what success should look like. But when you see what Rabbi Wakslak did over the past three decades, you know that that can’t be true. Sometimes, without fanfare, without accolades, by rolling up your sleeves and showing true concern, you are being the most successful. Sometimes, it’s the small acts, the mundane, the unglamorous, the selfless undertakings that are the biggest triumphs.

n Friday, when I heard about the passing of Rabbi Wakslak, z”l, rav of Young Israel of Long Beach, I felt a void. Although I didn’t personally know Rabbi Wakslak, I felt a connection with him through TJH. I saw how he was so concerned with his kehillah, so involved with every detail that was put into every program at YILB and with the Long Beach community as a whole. I reached out to a member of the Long Beach community over the weekend, and we spoke for a while. Her reaction at hearing about Rabbi Wakslak’s passing was inspirational – inspirational because I saw how deeply connected Rabbi Wakslak was with every member of his shul. The Long Beach community is an interesting community as it is located on the periphery of the Five Towns but engenders a smalltown feel. Because of its smaller size, every member of the community is an integral part of the kehillah. Rabbi Wakslak, with his indefatigable love for his members, ensured that each person was appreciated for their individual qualities. He saw characteristics intrinsic in each member and was there to uplift them and enhance them. Rabbi Wakslak’s ambition was to bring each person to their fullest potential and to elevate them as they rose to that potential. Rabbi Wakslak was humble. He shunned accolades. He schlepped cholent and kugel from Brooklyn each Friday to shul and even served trays of food at the shul’s kiddush. He personally entertained the crowd on Purim

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Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana P.S. Yes, it’s me again, reminding you to vote in the WZO elections. But if you’re one of the few who hasn’t yet done so, today – this moment – is a great time to make sure you get it done. Go to www.eretzhakodesh.org and vote today.

Yitzy Halpern PUBLISHER

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll

Community Happenings

NEWS Global

National

Odd-but-True Stories

ISRAEL Israel News

110

An Unforgettable Trip to Israel by Laura Curran 78 Sick on the Edge by Rafi Sackville

JEWISH THOUGHT Rabbi Wein on the Parsha

Hashem’s Inner Chamber by Rav Moshe Weinberger

Parsha in Four by Eytan Kobre

The Fading Light of Inspiration by Shmuel Reichman

PEOPLE Remembering Rabbi Chaim Wakslak, zt”l, Selfless and Humble by Elliot Pasik

Coping with Comedy by Rivkah Lambert Adler

Innovations During World War I by Avi Heiligman

126

HEALTH & FITNESS Coffee vs. Tea by Cindy Weinberger, MS RD CDN

106

The Secret to Happiness by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

108

FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Hamantashen Roundup

110

Adam Neustadter, Manager of Spruce D’Vine, Answers Your “Ad D’lo Yadda” Questions 114 LIFESTYLES

Dear Editor, For what it’s worth, here is my take on the election. I have always felt that we have an unhinged demagogue as president. We, as Jews, should know better than to follow a lying low-life demagogue. His rallies remind many of us of other rallies in other countries. Since when does America have such vitriolic rallies for one man? As for who I do support, Bloomberg is my man. He has loads of experience in handling huge cities and huge companies and would do great handling our wonderful country. Unfortunately, he probably won’t make it, and we’ll get a communist as the Democratic leader. Och in vey! If that happens, I will be forced to vote for el Trumpo – but when I go into the voting booth, I will be taking along a barf bag to vomit in it as I vote. LOL. Yours, Charles Tal Fresh Meadows, NY Dear Editor, Let me share with you a secret that every educator and event planner should know. It is a guiding light for all the JEP/Nageela outreach efforts. To run an event where everyone leaves on a high, you should touch the participants on every level of their soul. Touch them on their physical level through things like good food or entertainment. Touch them on the social/emotional level through activities that build bonds of friendship. And touch them on the intellectual/spiritual level through providing them with beauty, harmony and meaning.

This secret is revealed to us over and over in our mitzvah lifestyle. When we observe mitzvos fully and completely we achieve happiness. An obvious example is Shabbos observance. We are touched physically through the Shabbos delicacies, socially through the time shared with family without distractions, and spiritually through the Torah study and knowledge that we are sanctifying our existence by refraining from creative activities. Thus, Shabbos to us is such a highlight of life. This secret explains why thousands of girls and women in the Five Towns who participated in or viewed the Harmony production these past two weeks were on a high. Harmony reached the girls and women on all three levels. The music and choreography and the performances were first rate. The feeling of unity among the performers, all doing things that complemented each other, brought new friendships and bonds across subgroups of the community. The knowledge that all this effort was going towards helping bring Torah to Jewish girls who don’t have that exposure added meaning to the performances. Thus, this community effort was so well appreciated. JEP/Nageela feels a profound sense of gratitude to all involved in the performance. To the women of all ages who gave of their time to plan and practice their songs and dances, to the parents who drove the many carpools and bought tickets, to the Continued on page 10

Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW 102 Your Money

108

132

A Worldview Through Viewing the World by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS 134 HUMOR Centerfold 80

POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

118

Look Who’s Riding the Berniemobile by Megan McArdle

123

Bloomberg’s Disastrous Debate Performance by Marc A. Thiessen 124 CLASSIFIEDS

129

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Continued from page 8

high school girls and young ladies who led many of the acts and did the logistics, to the young dancers and singers who practiced until they got it perfect, and to the creative geniuses behind it all – we thank you all. We recognize that all the time and effort you put in, which was certainly a lot of fun, was also done with the goal of helping Jewish girls grow. You should be proud of yourselves and savor your accomplishments. Rabbi Dovid Shenker Founder, JEP/Nageela Dear Editor, I enjoyed reading your article this week on surprises. I have to tell you, though, that although I am the type to figure out that a surprise is brewing, I still find it uncomfortable to be the center of the “surprise.” I’d prefer to be part of the planning committee instead of the subject of the surprise. So, for all my friends reading this: I know that it’s my 40th birthday coming up and I know you’re planning something big. But can I help you with the arrangements instead of blushing and pretending to be surprised on the big day? That would make me so much happier! Y.H.

Dear Editor, At least two of the articles in your publication this week focused on “connections” and “relationships” between groups of people: the interview with Rebbetzin Dr. Adina Shmidman and the article by Yeshaya Kraus on rebbeim connecting with their students. Thinking about it, I have to say that connecting with others – a spouse, a parent, a colleague, a rebbi – is one of the most gratifying and important aspects of life. “Lo tov l’hiyos adam l’vado.” Yes, this pasuk generally refers to marriage but it can also refer to a person’s desire to be part of something and feel valued and connected to others and to the community. When one connects to another, they feel as if they’re part of something greater than themselves; they feel wanted and connected. I take this as a lesson for myself. If you see someone alone, on their own, floundering, it’s important to reach out. Whether it’s a phone call or a visit or even just a “hello” before davening, these acts of connection can bring life to a person. A small gesture of connection can change their world. Sincerely, Yochanan Neuberger Brooklyn, NY

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The Week In News

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Trump Feels the Love in India

their ideology.” Trump’s speech and the rally was only one part of a pro-Trump fest that gripped India during the president’s visit. After landing, the road from the airport to the brand-new stadium was lined by dancers clad in vibrant colored clothing who cheered as Trump’s motorcade whizzed by. All throughout Gujarat, signs featuring Trump and Modi were put up under the caption: “One momentous occasion. Two dynamic leaders.” Trump had arrived in India to buttress U.S.-India ties amid rising trade friction between the two countries. In recent months, Trump has slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum, prompting India to tax U.S. medical devices and agriculture. Trump then removed India’s special trade status.

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President Donald Trump began his 36-hour trip in India by attending a massive welcome rally in the country’s largest cricket stadium. More than 100,000 Indians packed the stadium located in Prime Minister Narenrda Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Known as the “Namaste Trump,” the rally was India’s answer to the giant “Howdy Modi” rally held last summer in Houston during the Indian prime minister’s visit to the United States. During his address, Trump was constantly cheered by the whitecap wearing throng while he heaped praise on Modi, the country’s democracy, and the Bollywood film industry. “America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal to the Indian people,” said Trump. “Your nation has always been admired around the earth as the place where millions upon millions of Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs and Jains worship side by side in harmony,” Trump added. Calling Modi “a true friend,” Trump echoed the prime minister’s hardline anti-immigration rhetoric by highlighting his own efforts to restrict who enters the United States. “Every nation has the right to secure and controlled borders,” Trump told the crowd. “The United States and India are committed to working together to stop terrorists and fight

As Venezuela’s political and economic status remains engulfed in chaos, a new UN report has found that a growing number of its citizens are going hungry. According to the UN World Food Programme, 1 out of every 3 Venezuelans aren’t able to put enough food on the table. The report found that a total of 9.3 million Venezuelans are defined as moderately or severely food insecure, with the vast majority of them surviving on a non-nutritious diet of beans and vegetables. While Venezuelans everywhere are having difficulty finding nourishment, the UN found that food insecurity is particularly a problem in the regions of Delta Amacuro, Amazonas, and Falcon. The growing hardship has forced 74% of families into “food-related coping strategies,” which include skipping meals and settling for lower-quality nourishment. Overall, 60% of families said that they had reduced the size of their food portions, while another

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33% said they accept food as a form of payment. Another 20% have sold their most valuable possessions in order to put food on the table. A central cause of Venezuela’s food crisis is its useless currency. The bolivar is largely seen as worthless, causing foreign companies to refrain from importing food. As food becomes more scarce, the prices become increasingly unaffordable for basic staples like bread and milk. In the report, 70% of Venezuelans said that they could not afford food due to the high prices, while another 37% reported losing their job in the past year. “The reality of this report shows the gravity of the social, economic, and political crisis in our country,” opposition leader Miguel Pizarro said.

he was reelected in 2018. Since then, he has put an emphasis in catapulting Malaysia into an economic and manufacturing giant. Mohammad is also infamous for his strong anti-Semitic views. In 2012, he wrote on his personal blog that “Jews rule this world by power of attorney” and claimed that “America is under a very large Jewish influence.” He added that he was “proud” to be called anti-Semitic. The Malaysian leader also previously questioned the fact that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, saying that he put the correct figure at four million. Last year, he accused the Jewish people of committing a humanitarian crisis with their actions towards the Palestinians.

Malaysia’s PM Steps Down

Hardliners Win in Iran’s Elections

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammed shocked his country on Monday by suddenly tending his resignation to the Malaysian king. In a surprise announcement, Mohammed said that he agreed to retire and transfer power to his former rival, Anwar Ibrahim, after joining his opponent’s party to form a coalition after the 2018 national elections. Mohammed, 94, was the world’s oldest serving incumbent before deciding to leave his post.

His party also withdrew from the coalition, leaving the Asian country rocked by political chaos. “All members of the House of Representatives of the party are also out of Pakatan Harapan. All of them have signed the Oath to continue to support and trust Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammed as the Prime Minister of Malaysia,” read a statement from Mohammed’s Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu). Having served as Malaysia’s prime minister from 1981 until 2003, Mohammed stunned the world when

Iranian hardliners made major gains in the country’s parliamentary elections as voters repudiated President Hassan Rouhani’s more moderate approach. With most of the votes counted, conservatives won 208 of the parliament’s 290 members, including all 30 seats in Tehran. Conservatives also made substantial advances in a slew of other provinces, including Esfahan, Khuzestan, and Mazandaran. Another 11 seats will be voted upon in April.

Meanwhile, Iran’s more moderate parties saw their number of seats in the parliament drop to only 20 from the 90 it had picked up in 2016. Another 15 were taken by independents, while the last 5 seats are reserved for Iran’s Zoroastrian, Jewish, Assyrian, Chaldean, and Armenian minorities. Former Revolutionary Guards head Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf topped the list and will likely be voted in as the next speaker of parliament. The vote came after the coun-

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in depressing voter turnout was the poor weather on election day and Rouhani’s widespread unpopularity that kept reformist-supporting Iranians at home. “For the most part, a good portion of Rouhani’s supporters did not show again because they did not wish to vote for him nor for the opposition,” Tehran University Professor Fouad Izadi told Al-Jazeera.

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try’s Supreme Guardian Council disqualified thousands of hopefuls from contending, including 90 current members of the Iranian parliament. Loosely controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the body is allowed to ban candidates from running if they run afoul of the tenets of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The results of the election will

make life significantly harder for President Hassan Rouhani, who identifies with the reformist bloc. While both the reformist and hardline bloc support Iran being run by Islamic law, the reformists commonly promote engaging with the outside world and supported the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Friday’s vote was marked by extremely low turnout, with a record low 42.5 percent of Iranian citizens

choosing to cast their vote. The drop in participation was particularly steep in Tehran, with the 25 percent turnout far below the 60 percent that voted in 2016. Causes for the low turnout included Iran’s coronavirus, which has already killed 15 people, and a public boycott movement by citizens angry at the regime’s shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner last month. Other factors that played a role

A Chinese court has sentenced Swedish bookseller Gui Minhai to 10 years in prison for “providing intelligence” overseas, in a case that is likely to reignite international criticism of Beijing’s treatment of its critics. Gui, 55, was sentenced by a court in the eastern city of Ningbo. According to a court statement posted online, Gui pleaded guilty to the charge and said he would not appeal. Gui was one of five Hong Kongbased booksellers who went missing in late 2015, before resurfacing in Chinese police custody. Known as the Causeway Bay Books disappearances, all five of those missing were linked to a Hong Kong bookstore owned by publisher Mighty Current, best known for gossipy titles about China’s ruling elite, including President Xi Jinping. Gui disappeared while visiting his holiday home in Thailand. He later reappeared on Chinese state television, confessing to an alleged drunk-driving incident more than a decade earlier. According to state news agency Xinhua, Gui was sentenced to two years in jail but left before the sentence could be carried out. His televised confession later became a symbol of what human rights advocates say is the Beijing government’s increasingly repressive measures to clamp down on dissent

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

– including overseas abductions, televised confessions, and ignoring consular rights even for those with foreign citizenship. Gui briefly reappeared in 2017, only to be seized a few months later in January 2018 by Chinese agents aboard a train while traveling with Swedish diplomats. According to his daughter, Gui had been diagnosed with progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS and was on his way to see a Swedish doctor at the country’s embassy in Beijing. China eventually confirmed Gui had been detained in February 2018. The detention of Gui, who was born in eastern China but became a naturalized Swedish citizen in the early 1990s, has led to increased tension between the two countries, with China publicly warning Sweden not to interfere in the case. The Ningbo court document noted that Gui had requested the restoration of his Chinese citizenship in 2018, presumably while in jail. His case has alarmed many overseas Chinese, especially those critical of the Beijing government, who have acquired foreign citizenship. Despite its own law that bans dual citizenship, Chinese officials have insisted someone like Gui is considered “a Chinese national first and foremost.”

Mubarak Dies at 91

Hosni Mubarak, who became Egypt’s longest-serving ruler in more than 150 years before being forced from office by a popular uprising, died this week at the age of 91. Mubarak’s passing was announced on Tuesday by state media, with the presidency later describing him as a hero of the nation’s 1973 war against Israel. Dubbed the “pharaoh” by his detractors, Mubarak had ruled for 30 years and was widely accepted to be preparing his younger son Gamal as successor when the Arab

Spring surged into Cairo in January 2011. After 18 days of mass protests, Mubarak was ousted, his image of an all-powerful ruler shredded. Mubarak attended his trial for the killing of more than 850 protesters by security forces in the final days of his regime in a hospital bed and faced other serious charges, but was only found guilty of fraud and avoided serving additional time in jail. Mubarak was born on May 4, 1928, in Kafr El Meselha in the Nile Delta. Opting for a military career when Egypt was still a monarchy, he entered the Air Force Academy in 1950. Four years later, King Farouk was overthrown in a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1964, Mubarak was appointed head of the Egyptian military delegation to the Soviet Union, the sole supplier of weapons to Nasser’s regime. From 1967 to 1972, he served as air force chief of staff, became deputy minister for military affairs, and was promoted to air marshal after the October 1973 Yom Kippur War. After Nasser’s death, Egypt was led by President Anwar Sadat, who appointed Mubarak as vice president in April 1975, effectively designating him as heir apparent. That succession came earlier than expected, with Sadat gunned down by Muslim fundamentalists on October 6, 1981, during an annual parade marking the 1973 war anniversary. Sadat was killed while Mubarak, seated next to him, escaped with a hand wound. Mubarak cracked down on violent groups and went on to govern in a low-key, stolid style that contrasted with the glitter of the Sadat years. Mubarak never backtracked on the policy of diplomatic rapprochement with Israel, though his only visit to the Jewish state was for the funeral of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. He managed to restore links with fellow Arab rulers who were enraged by Sadat’s decision to sign a peace treaty with Israel. This week, upon hearing of his passing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “On behalf of the citizens and government of Israel, I would like to express deep sorrow on the passing of President Hosni Mubarak. “President Mubarak, my personal friend, was a leader who led his people to peace and security, to

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peace with Israel. I met with him many times. I was impressed by his commitment; we will continue to follow this common path.” Mubarak also retained Egypt’s alliance with the U.S., which began with Sadat’s noisy break with the Soviet Union. Egypt receives about $1.3 billion a year in U.S. military aid. It was Mubarak’s ever-tighter grip on domestic freedoms that proved his undoing. In elections in 2005, the Muslim Brotherhood won 88 seats in the 454-member parliament – a surprise result that prompted a crackdown on Islamic activists and on anti-Mubarak secular politicians, judges, newspaper editors, bloggers, and street demonstrators. Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood activists were rounded up and some put on trial in closed-door military courts. Mubarak’s fall came at the hands of an unexpected coalition of opposition parties, the Brotherhood and, most poignantly, a youth movement whose Facebook and Twitter-driven demonstrations mobilized the streets.

also had the virus. Health officials quoted in Iranian state news media confirmed three more deaths in the country, bringing the total to 15. At least 95 people nationwide have tested positive for the coronavirus, most of them in the northern city of Qom, health officials said. With an economy choked by economic sanctions, a restive population that distrusts its government and a secretive leadership, Iran is something of a wild card in the region. Experts are concerned that the government may be withholding information and deflating numbers to quell panic. Qom, an important religious center, draws more than 22 million visitors every year, according to tourism figures from the country, most of them religious pilgrims. Of those, around 2.5 million come from abroad.

Anti-Semitic Belgian Parade

Iran Health Official Has Coronavirus

Iran’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, who spearheaded the country’s efforts to contain the coronavirus, has contracted the illness. Harirchi had been experiencing flulike symptoms on Monday and tested positive for the disease later in the day. He had been sweating and was shifting from foot to foot during a news briefing earlier in the day. The number of coronavirus cases and deaths continued to rise in Iran on Tuesday, according to health officials, days after the country emerged as another focal point of the outbreak. A prominent member of Parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi, an outspoken critic of the country’s hardliners, posted on Twitter that he

The European Commission on Monday slammed a Belgian street parade for featuring anti-Semitic floats that it said were “incompatible” with EU values. The Aalst carnival, a centuries-old event in central Belgium long known for mocking public figures, has in recent years been accused of parading insulting and derogatory depictions of Jews. Last year, it lost its place on a UNESCO heritage list because of anti-Semitism. On Sunday, the parade included caricatures of Jews with hooked noses, obsessed with money and dressed up like insects. “It should indeed be self-evident that such images as what we’ve seen should not parade European streets, 75 years after the Shoah,” a Commission spokesman, Adalbert Jahnz, told journalists. He said the European Union executive had received “a number of complaints”

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

over the Aalst event, but that it was up to Belgian national authorities to take action. As far as the European Commission was concerned, Jahnz said, “We stand firmly against all forms of anti-Semitism” and view the parade’s floats as “incompatible with the values and principles in which the EU is founded.” Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas said the Aalst carnival was a “shame.” “It needs to stop. No place for this in Europe,” Schinas wrote on Twitter. Aalst mayor Christoph D’Haese defended the event, insisting it was not anti-Semitic. He said it was important to take the “overall context” into account, comparing the parade to a “ritual of reversal” in which, over three days, “the poor become rich, the rich poor, men become women, and women become men.” “Here, we laugh at everything – the royal family, Brexit, local and national politics, and every religion – Islam, Judaism and Catholicism,” he said. A float depicting puppets of hook-nosed Orthodox Jews with rats sitting on money bags at the 2019 carnival caused an international uproar and led to UNESCO withdrawing it from its “intangible cultural heritage” list. One carnival-goer, doctor Guy Verhuslt, said that it was a shame that “Jews don’t have a sense of humor.”

Holland Returns Stolen Crown

into his hands” in 1998. He added that he had discovered the crown left behind in a suitcase by a guest to his home. Asfaw said that he did not come forward for 21 years as he was hesitant to return “looted heritage to the same regime as the one during which it was stolen.” According to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Asfaw contacted them through the mediation of art detective Arthur Brand to discuss how to return the crown. Following a series of conversations, the official handover ceremony finally took place last week, in which the crown was officially transferred to Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed. Along with President Ahmed, the event was attended by Asfaw and Sigrid Kaag, Netherlands foreign trade and development cooperation minister. The government was pleased to have expedited the transfer of the crown to Ethiopia, according to Kaag. “We’re honored and delighted to have been able to facilitate the rightful return. This is the crowning achievement of returning this heritage to its rightful place,” Kaag said. The Netherlands is not the only government to have returned stolen African artifacts that were taken many centuries ago. In November, France transferred a historical sword stolen from Senegal to the government and stated that it plans to return additional artifacts to their owners. According to a 2018 report on stolen pieces from Africa, French collections house at least 90,000 artifacts originating from sub-Saharan Africa, with around 70,000 located in Paris’ Quai Branly museum alone.

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Coronavirus Continues The Dutch government returned a stolen 18th-century crown to the Ethiopian government last Thursday. The crown, which holds religious significance, disappeared from an Ethiopian church 21 years ago. Sirak Asfaw, a Dutch national of Ethiopian origin who emigrated to the Netherlands in the late 1970s, said in a video recording that the crown “came

Fears are growing that coronavirus is rapidly turning into a global pandemic as new cases of infection emerge in different countries around the world, including Kuwait and Bahrain. On Monday, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Bahrain announced their first cases of coronavirus, with all of the patients having come from Iran. While the majority of coronavirus cases have been in China, other countries, including Iran, South Ko-

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rea, and Italy, are struggling to contain the virus that now threatens the world economy.

South Korea has been particularly hard-hit of late, with the country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying on Monday that 70 additional coronavirus cases have been confirmed, bringing the country’s total to 833. In Italy, the rash of new cases led authorities to quarantine 10 towns and cancel the Venice Carnival. No effective vaccine has been found to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, leading to fears around the world that its rapid spread will turn into a global pandemic. On Monday, the World Health Organization said that while it was too soon to define the outbreak as a pandemic,

countries should nevertheless be “in a phase of preparedness.” Overall, 2,600 people have died in China from the virus with another 77,000 infected since the initial outbreak in late 2019. As the illness continues to spread, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his nation that it is facing its worst crisis since it was founded in 1949. During a public address on Sunday, Xi said the “current epidemic situation is still severe and complex, and the prevention and control work is at the most critical stage.” Xi added that the coronavirus will probably have a “great impact” on the Chinese economy, which has been locked in a standstill due to massive quarantine efforts.

Terror in Germany Nine people were killed in the German city of Hanau last Wednesday after a gunman opened fire at two shisha tobacco bars. The attack began on Wednesday evening at around 10 p.m. when

the person identified by police as 43-year-old Tobias Rathjen opened fire with his legally-obtained pistol at the Midnight shisha bar. He then fled the scene before beginning another rampage shortly afterward at the Arena Bar and Cafe. Rathjen then went home and shot himself and his mother.

Five of the victims were of Turkish origin, leading Turkey to condemn the rampage as a “racist attack.” Three others were Kurds who had German citizenship. According to police, the shooter was motivated by an extreme rightwing ideology that led him to target Middle Eastern immigrants that he knew would be at the bars. Federal Prosecutor Peter Frank told the media that Rathjen had left a “kind of manifesto” on his personal website

that highlighted his “conspiracy theories” and “confused thoughts.” He added that Rathjen had consistently displayed “a deeply racist attitude.” Following the shooting, German officials called on authorities to crack down on the extreme right. Anti-immigrant and neo-Nazi inspired attacks have been rising in Germany over the past few years, in part motivated by the large influx of Muslim refugees into the country. “It is still too early for a final evaluation. Everything is being done to clear up the background of these horrible murders to the last detail,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel. “But at present there is much evidence that the perpetrator acted out of right-wing extremist, racist motives – out of hatred against people of other origins, other beliefs or other outward appearances.” “If the suspicion is confirmed, the gruesome act in Hanau is the third extreme right-wing murder attack in Germany in a year,” added Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “Right-wing terrorism has again become a threat to our country. There is absolutely nothing to put into perspective.”

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Ordinarily, you wouldn’t vote in the World Zionist Congress election…

... UNLESS YOU NEED TO. We don’t want to vote in the World Zionist Elections, we need to vote. There is too much at stake. Who truly cares about Eretz Yisroel if not us those who value our Torah and Mesorah? We need to stop the influence of anti-Torah movements in Eretz Yisrael. We need to preserve our Torah-true values that the kedusha of Eretz Yisrael is dependent on. It’s not that we want to be a part of this, we need to.

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

IDF Admits It Forged Haredi Draft Info

The IDF admitted on Thursday that it had willfully forged the number of haredi soldiers in the army in order to make it appear as if ultra-Orthodox enlistment was on the rise. Disputing earlier IDF contentions that the discrepancies were accidental, the investigative panel found that the actual numbers of haredi troops had been purposely inflated. Instead

of an upward trend in ultra-Orthodox enlistment over the years, the panel said that there had been no increase between 2013 and 2018. The report went on to describe how the IDF’s Human Resources Directorate used loose definitions of what constitutes a haredi soldier in order to make the IDF appear as if it was reaching its recruitment targets. As part of the effort to cook the books, the military counted anyone who served in a haredi unit as ultra-Orthodox in order to include Religious Zionists, foreign volunteers, and formally religious troops in the final figures. “For example, in 2016 the IDF defined over 400 soldiers as haredim despite the fact that they did not lead an observant lifestyle,” wrote Major General Roni Numa. “There were also 46 female soldiers, new immigrants without any connection [to the haredi community].” A year later, the IDF said that 3,070 haredim had chosen to enlist, despite the real number being 1,374. According to the findings, the effort was coordinated at the highest levels of the military, with senior officers being fully aware that the figures presented to the public were false.

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“The investigative committee identified a severe systemic, professional and command failure,” the investigative panel wrote. The panel had been tasked with investigating the goings-on in the IDF’s Human Resources Directorate after the scandal was first exposed two months ago.

Cohen and Halevi’s trip took place in order to promote a long-term arrangement with the Hamas terror group in Gaza. To convince Qatar to continue its monthly payments to Gaza residents, the two Israeli officials jetted to Doha in early February on an unmarked private jet and met with the country’s emir.

Liberman Breaks Rockets Pound Gag Order the Holy Land

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman defended himself against charges that he harmed Israel’s security after exposing a secret trip made by top Israeli security officials to Qatar. On Saturday evening, Liberman had announced during a prime-time television interview that Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and IDF Southern Command head Major General Herzi Halevi had secretly visited Qatar two weeks before to hammer out a ceasefire with Hamas. The surreptitious trip had been kept under gag order by the IDF censor, and Liberman came under harsh criticism for deciding to flagrantly disregard it. Liberman has rejected the allegations, though, writing on Facebook that the gag in itself had been issued on the basis of political – and not security – grounds. “There has never been a political figure who leaked security information for political purposes more than Netanyahu,” Liberman charged. “In the case of the head of the Mossad’s visit to Qatar, the use of the censor was cynical and political, which was meant to hide the submission to terror and the desire to purchase calm until the elections, while abandoning both the security of residents of the south for the long term and the civilians and soldiers being held captive by Hamas.” Prime Minister Netanyahu called out Liberman for exposing the secret mission, blasting him for “willing to harm the security of Israel and do anything in order to force the Likud out of government.”

Over 50 rockets rained down on Gaza-area communities on Monday in what was the latest escalation by the Strip’s assorted terror groups. Thirty of the projectiles landed in open fields while another 20 were intercepted by Iron Dome. The rocket fire had first started on Sunday and then abated, only to restart again after Israel killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Syria in an overnight airstrike. On Sunday, the rockets began in two barrages about 50 minutes apart. Ten of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome while the rest landed in the communities of Sha’ar Hanegev, Ashkelon, and Sderot. There were no reported injuries. Following the barrage, Prime Minister Netanyahu convened a meeting at the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv in order to assess the situation. Attended by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and other security officials, the emergency sit-down had been scheduled even before the missiles were fired in order to discuss the tensions on the Gaza border. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) took responsibility for the rocket fire, writing on their website that it was in response to a face-off between an IDF troops and a group of Gazans earlier in the day. On Saturday evening, two Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed by IDF forces while trying to plant explosives on the border fence. Footage of the incident released by the military showed them scurrying alongside the border fence near Khan Younis before being killed by tank

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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fire. A few hours later, an armored IDF bulldozer flanked by a tank entered the Strip to retrieve the bodies of the two terrorists. The decision to retrieve the bodies was part of a new policy implemented by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett which seeks to hold as many terrorists, both alive and dead, as bargaining chips. However, the two armored vehicles were greeted by stone-throwing Gazans who attempted to prevent the IDF from taking the corpses back to Israel. The troops and rioters clashed for over five minutes, with the entire encounter being captured on film and subsequently going viral. The video of the bulldozer manhandling the two corpses inflamed Palestinians, who decried the “desecration” of the “martyrs.” “The blood of martyrs will not be in vain,” vowed the PIJ while a Hamas spokesman called the incident “another heinous crime that has been added to its record of awful crimes at the expense of our Palestinian people.”

Ice Cream for Voting

nities come in all sorts of flavors – and together the residents of Israel can realize ‘One Sweet Vote,’” the company said in a press statement. The company conducts similar campaigns all over the world to encourage people to vote, Ben & Jerry’s Israel CEO Avi Zinger noted. In December, the local company posted a picture of an ice cream pint in the shadows, with the text: “We thought that in honor of the elections, we would create a new flavor called ‘Third Time Ice Cream,’ but we can’t decide what to put in it. Any ideas?” “Third time, ice cream” is an Israeli expression meaning that the third time you run into a friend, you should treat each other to an ice cream. “We received thousands of responses from all over the world,” Zinger said. “We decided, in the tradition of Ben & Jerry’s, to encourage elections, especially in Israel where people are saying, ‘There’s no reason to vote’ because nothing will happen, to take this step and to make people aware that they need to vote and to encourage them.” The ice cream will be available at factory stores in Yavne and Be’er Tuviya.

Police to Probe Gantz’s Failed Tech Company If Israelis are weary from heading to the polls for the third time in just a few months, here’s something to make voting a bit sweeter. Ben & Jerry’s has come out with a special flavor in honor of the upcoming March 2 elections. The flavor is called “One Sweet Vote” in English and “There’s a Flavor/Reason to Vote” in Hebrew – based on the Hebrew word ta’am, which has both meanings. The cold confection is both vanilla and chocolate and contains chocolate “peace signs,” chocolate-covered almonds, white-chocolate chunks and blondies – essentially vanilla brownies. The sweet treat was released with the goal of encouraging as many people as possible to vote, amid fears that voter turnout could decrease in the third round of elections within a year. “Just like the ice cream, commu-

Acting State Attorney Dan Eldad announced last week that the police will launch a criminal investigation into Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz’s bankrupt tech company. Known as the Fifth Dimension, the company attempted to produce surveillance software for the military and law enforcement agencies. It declared bankruptcy last year after receiving more than $5 million from the Israel Police to develop the product. Gantz himself is not a suspect in the probe, which will investigate what led the police to spend exorbi-

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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sure to get this thing on the public agenda,” Gantz said on Thursday. “I am totally at ease. This was checked in the past, and no criminal suspicion was found.”

Bibi Announces Building in East Jerusalem

tant sums of money on a product that was not yet ready. The investigation follows a State Comptroller’s report which found that, contrary to regulations, the police had signed the contract with the Fifth Dimension without first issuing a public tender. Eldad and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit were reportedly at odds over how to handle the issue. While Eldad pushed for an investigation immediately, Mandelblit wanted to wait until after the elections in

March to avoid harming Gantz’s political prospects. In the end, Mandelblit deferred to Eldad, leading to Thursday’s announcement. The probe will be handled by the elite Lahav 433 anti-fraud unit. “The attorney general agreed with the acting state prosecutor that if any suspicions arise in the future different from those today that justify the involvement of the attorney general, they will be brought before him for

his instruction and decision,” said Mandelblit’s office in a statement. Gantz and other Kahol Lavan lawmakers denounced the timing of the probe, accusing Eldad of acting out of political considerations. Highlighting that Eldad had been appointed to his post earlier this month by Justice Minister Amir Ohana, a Netanyahu confidant, they said that it was improper to announce the investigation so close to the March 2 elections. “It all sounds like political pres-

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently announced that the government will build thousands of new housing units in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Har Homa and Givat Hamatos. Netanyahu announced the move in a press conference together with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon on a hill overlooking Har Homa. “As a Jerusalemite from when I was two days old and as prime minister of Israel, I have amazing news,” said Netanyahu. “We are adding another 2,200 housing units to the Wall Har Choma behind me. “I founded this neighborhood in 1997 when I was first elected prime minister, against the opposition of the whole world,” added the prime minister. “There are almost 40,000 residents here today, and now we are adding another 10,000 residents. “Jerusalem is being built and expanded. We are connecting all parts of the united Jerusalem. I have removed all the restrictions, and now Jerusalem is being built under my authority.” Located southeast of Jerusalem’s Old City, the two neighborhoods have been under an official settlement freeze due to international pressure. Further construction in the two neighborhoods would cut off the Palestinian city of Bethlehem from Jerusalem, making a two-state solution all but impossible. Netanyahu had wanted to begin construction in the area as early as 2011. The building plans were approved by the District Planning and Building Committee, but Netanyahu

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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froze it due to heavy international pressure, including from then-President Obama. Since then, Netanyahu has come under frequent criticism by the Right for preventing the two neighborhoods from expanding. Netanyahu’s announcement was condemned by the Kahol Lavan party and the leftist Peace Now organization as a political move ahead of the elections in March. “This is the last point that can allow territorial contiguity between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem – the most significant Palestinian metropolitan area – and if the neighborhood is built, it will not be possible to connect the two cities,” Peace Now asserted. “Such a policy change cannot be passed in a transitional government without a mandate from the public. This move is therefore nothing but another cynical election exercise by Netanyahu to the detriment of the interests of all Israeli citizens.”

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Former Trump associate Roger Stone has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for impeding a congressional probe into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election. Stone, 67, had been found guilty in the fall of lying to Congress and threatening a witness. He had been accused of misleading Congress about his role in attempting to obtain Hillary Clinton’s computer files that were hacked by Russia and released by Wikileaks. The longtime political operative was also found guilty of pressuring a witness not to cooperate with law enforcement probing the hack. While announcing the sentencing on Thursday, U.S. District Judge

Amy Berman Jackson condemned Stone’s actions. According to the judge, Stone “was not prosecuted for standing up for the president; he was prosecuted for covering up for the president.” She added that Stone had engaged in “threatening and intimidating conduct” towards her by posting a picture of her on social media in which her face is covered by a gun’s crosshairs. “He knew exactly what he was doing,” said Berman Jackson. “The truth still exists; the truth still matters,” Berman Jackson added. “Roger Stone’s insistence that it doesn’t, his belligerence, his pride in his own lies are a threat to our most fundamental institutions, to the foundations of our democracy. If it goes unpunished, it will not be a victory for one party or another. Everyone loses.” President Trump condemned the sentence, contending that the Obama-appointed judge was biased on hints that he may pardon Stone. Speaking at a campaign event in Las Vegas, Trump questioned why former senior FBI officials such as James Comey and Andrew McCabe were not prosecuted for committing the same crimes that landed Stone a prison sentence. “This is a woman who was an anti-Trump person, totally,” said Trump when asked about Berman Jackson. “Is that a defrauding of the court? You tell me.” Trump added that he was “following this very closely, and I want to see it play out to its fullest because Roger has a very good chance of exoneration, in my opinion.” Following the sentencing, Stone asked for a new trial headed by a judge other than Berman Jackson, saying that her praise for a clearly anti-Trump juror on Thursday should disqualify her from the case. “The court’s ardent conclusion of ‘integrity’ indicates an inability to reserve judgment on an issue which has yet been heard,” said Stone’s lawyers.

Bloomberg’s Debate Debacle Candidates for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination unleashed frequent verbal broadsides at each other in the final debate before the Nevada primary.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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In a debate characterized by open hostility between contenders, struggling candidates such as Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar attempted to stand out by trading barbs with each other. Throughout the debate in Las Vegas last week, Klobuchar and Buttigieg sparred over their experience and competency for public office as they fought to become the party’s moderate candidate to take on Bernie Sanders.

In one particularly bitter exchange, Klobuchar accused Buttigieg of “benefiting from male privilege” and contended that his experience as a small-town mayor would be disqualifying had he been a woman. “Could we be running with less experience?” Klobuchar quipped. “I don’t think so. I don’t think people would take us seriously.”

A few minutes later, Buttigieg mocked the senator from Minnesota for forgetting the name of Mexico’s president. “Are you trying to say that I’m dumb? Or are you mocking me here, Pete?” replied Klobuchar icily. She also spurned Buttigieg’s outstretched hand during the traditional post-debate handshake. The candidate who found himself under relentless attack from all sides was former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire, whose considerable wealth gives him a substantial advantage over his rivals, faced off with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren over his history of inappropriate behavior towards his female employees. When pressed by Warren on the numerous non-disclosure agreements (NDA) that he had forced his employees to sign, Bloomberg defended himself by highlighting the numerous women he had promoted to senior positions in his company. “I hope you heard his defense: ‘I’ve been nice to some women,’” Warren responded as Bloomberg rolled his eyes. “That just doesn’t cut it…. We need to know what’s lurking out there.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg took di-

rect aim at Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Ridiculing the self-identified socialist for owning three homes, the billionaire called Sanders “unelectable” and said that he would guarantee Trump’s reelection should the radical win the nomination. “I don’t think there’s any chance of the senator beating President Trump,” Bloomberg said. “You don’t start out by saying I’ve got 160 million people – I’m going to take away the insurance plan that they love. That’s just not a way that you go and start building the coalition that the Sanders camp thinks that they can do. “If he goes and is the candidate, we will have Donald Trump for another four years. And we can’t stand that.”

campaign across the political spectrum. As a curator for the Smithsonian Institution, her quest for the upcoming election began in Iowa. “Every four years we get in the field – go to primaries, conventions, pick up things voters are doing,” said Jerry. While this is her first presidential campaign, the Smithsonian collection dates back to the very first president of the U.S.

Collecting Political Swag

The collection includes everything from makeup compacts and cologne to soap and buttons. An entire room with cabinets is filled with buttons and their predecessor, campaign ribbons. Only a fraction of the 130,000-item collection is on display to the general public.

Many people collect political memorabilia relating to their preferred candidate, but Claire Jerry is on the hunt to document the 2020

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

the completion of the Manhattan Project during World War II.

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The government has determined that capping the toxic material – which includes unexploded munitions – is likely a safer, as well as cheaper, alternative to trying to bring the rusting barrels to the surface. According to Steven Wolf, who is managing the capping project for the Army Corps of Engineers, the project is anticipated to be completed by next year. At its closest point, the dumping ground is less than a quarter mile from Stellwagen. David Wiley, the sanctuary’s research coordinator, led a seminal study of the area in the 1990s. He found that the federal government kept few records of what exactly had been dumped there until 1977 and that many of the barrels have corroded over decades spent in saltwater. His surveys of the dumping grounds, which included video recorded of the area, found that approximately half of the identifiable barrels were still intact. The other half had clear signs of openings, some of which were from rifle shots fired at them to ensure they sank while being dumped overboard. “I am concerned about leakage,” Wiley said. “They could leak from the initial pressure placed upon them, as they are being covered.”

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Sanders to Skip AIPAC

Where Knowledge and Values Meet

“That’s the question curators are always asking themselves – trying to think 50 or 100 years down the road,” Jerry explains. President William Henry Harrison popularized campaign swag back in 1840 with his log cabin cup, notes Lisa Kathleen Graddy, curator of political history. “This is really the genesis of a lot of the kind of campaign material you see,” she said of the cup. “We think of the campaigns as being very dis-

posable,” Graddy said. “Once a campaign drops, do people even remember them? Well, we do!”

Toxic Dumping Near Boston Harbor The federal government plans to bury thousands of barrels of radio-

active waste currently littering the seafloor near Boston Harbor. The mile-wide site, known by fisherman as the “Foul Area,” is one of the largest offshore dumping grounds of radioactive waste across the U.S. It is located next to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Government reports and congressional testimony suggest that plutonium, along with other highly dangerous materials, may have been discarded at the site after

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who is currently the Democratic Party’s frontrunner for the presidential nomination, announced this week that he will not attend the annual AIPAC conference. Writing on Twitter, Sanders said that the popular annual confab had become a venue for politicians to deny the Palestinians’ legitimate rights. “The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security. So do the Palestinian people,” Sanders

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

tweeted. “I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason, I will not attend their conference.” AIPAC responded by blasting Sanders and noted that he had never attended the annual conference before. “Senator Sanders has never attended our conference and that is evident from his outrageous comment,” said the influential lobby. AIPAC added that his boycott disfranchised several members of the Democratic Party who would be attending in addition to “18,000 Americans from widely diverse backgrounds.” “By engaging in such an odious attack on the mainstream, bipartisan American political event, Senator Sanders is insulting his very own colleagues and the millions of Americans who stand with Israel. Truly shameful.”

Sanders’ decision comes amid rising anxiety among U.S. Jews and the pro-Israel community regarding Sanders’ feelings towards Israel as he continues his rise in the polls. Born to Jewish parents, Sanders once volunteered on a kibbutz in his youth but has nevertheless been renowned for his strident anti-Israel positions. Sanders is married to a Catholic, and they raise their children in the Catholic faith. Among other things, Sanders has inflated the number of Gazans killed by the IDF during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, has promised to divert the U.S. military aid Israel gets to Gaza, and recently called the Netanyahu government “racist.”

Three U.S. Aircraft Found in the Pacific Seventy-six years after they were shot down, three World War II-era

U.S. aircraft have been discovered in the Pacific Ocean. “Operation Hailstone” in February 1944 was viewed as a decisive victory for the United States, though it came at a high cost – forty American servicemembers were killed and over 20 aircraft lost. Many of the families that lost loved ones had no answers regarding their relatives’ watery graves.

Project Recover, a nonprofit that searches for those missing in action since the second World War, has now discovered three of the aircraft 100 to 215 feet below the surface of the ocean in Micronesia. Two SBD5 Dauntless dive bombers and one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber were located, according to the University of Delaware. “While the discovery of these sites is exhilarating and validating, these feelings are mixed with the humbling emotions of the sacrifices made by these servicemembers and their families in protecting our freedoms,” said Project Recover co-founder Mark Moline. It’s too soon to determine whether the seven crew members associated with the three aircraft might be recovered. Project Recover’s lead archaeologist Andrew Pietruszka said researchers are “now assembling the reports for review by the U.S. government to potentially set into motion a process for recovering and identifying the remains of up to seven crew members.” Over 81,000 American servicemembers are still missing from past conflicts, according to data from the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Sanders’ Nevada Victory Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders solidified his frontrunner status in the Democratic race for president after pulling off a blowout victory in the Nevada primaries on Saturday, With most of the votes counted,

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Sanders enjoyed a commanding 47% victory, with former Vice President Joe Biden coming in far behind at 20%. Following Biden was former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 14%, with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren coming in a distant fourth. “We just won the Nevada caucus. This grassroots movement is unstoppable,” tweeted Sanders after clinching the victory. “Together, let’s win the Democratic nomination, defeat Trump, and transform the country!” The victory, Sanders’ second straight, came despite failing to win the support of Nevada’s influential Culinary Workers Union. Contending that his Medicare-For-All initiative would cause them to lose their healthcare plans, the union called on its 60,000 members to refrain from pulling the lever for Sanders.

The win was validating for Sanders as it showed that he has the ability to attract support from a cross-section of minorities. The senator dominated with Latinos and young voters in Nevada and won 27% of the African-American vote, second only to Joe Biden’s 36%. The first time that Sanders showed that he could win in a heavily diverse state such as Nevada, the win amplified his claims that he may be able to defeat President Trump in 2020. “There’s one big, huge, screaming story here tonight and that is: there is a frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential race,” Democratic Party strategist James Carville opined. With the victory, Sanders took 18 of Nevada’s 36 pledged national delegates, while Biden got seven, and Buttigieg nabbed two. Sanders has the highest amount of pledged delegates heading into the South Carolina and Super Tuesday primaries. As per Democratic Party rules, a candidate needs 1,991 pledged delegates to secure the nomination.

The Real Deal

For decades, the Allentown Art Museum had an oil-on-oak panel painting on display called “Portrait of a Young Woman.” It had been attributed to “Studio of Rembrandt” but now it seems that the master himself may have painted the portrait. Two years ago, the painting was sent to New York University for conservation and cleaning. Once there, layers of overpainting and a thick, dark varnish had been removed. Ultimately, the original, delicate brushwork was uncovered to reveal the artistry of Rembrandt himself. “Our painting had numerous layers of varnish and that really obscured what you could see of the original brushwork, as well as the original color,” said Elaine Mehalakes, vice president of curatorial affairs at the Allentown Art Museum. Conservators used a variety of tools, including X-ray, infrared and electron microscopy, to bolster the case that it was the work of one of the most important and revered artists in history. Outside experts who examined the 1632 painting after the completion of its two-year restoration concurred with the NYU assessment that it’s an authentic Rembrandt. “We’re very thrilled and excited,” Mehalakes said. “The painting has this incredible glow to it now that it just didn’t have before. You can really connect with the portrait in the way I think the artist meant you to.” When “Portrait of a Young Woman” was bequeathed to the museum in 1961, it was considered to be a Rembrandt. About a decade later, a

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group of experts determined that it had been painted by one of his assistants. Such changes in attribution are not unusual: over the centuries, as many as 688 and as few as 265 paintings have been credited to the artist, according to Mehalakes. For now, the museum has not yet appraised the piece, although it could be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Milkshake Shocker

mascarpone to Oreo cheesecake, although there are the typical strawberry and vanilla to choose from as well. “When we initially opened up the restaurant, we had about 40 milkshakes. Because they were so popular, it became 100, 150 then 200, then 207. So it happened over a period of five years,” noted co-owner Ian Halfon. “We’ve always sold a lot of milkshakes, and we’ve always come up with cutting-edge flavors,” he added. Lest one thinks that the adventure ends in the cup, the milkshakes are generally garnished with overthe-top toppings. I’ll have one of each, please.

Violin Surgery If you love milkshakes, you may want to head down to South Africa. Gibson’s Gourmet Burgers and Ribs doesn’t just sell meat for lunch and dinner. The eatery is now the proud holder of the Guinness World Record for Most Varieties of Milkshakes Commercially Available. Flavors range from Nutella and

Doctors wanted to ensure that Dagmar Turner, a talented violinist, wouldn’t be adversely affected when she underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor. And so, surgeons asked Dagmar, 53, to play the violin while they were performing the surgery. The tumor was dangerously close

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to areas of Dagmar’s brain that were responsible for coordinating delicate movements in her left hand. These regions are crucial for playing the violin, and in some spots, their distance from the tumor was as narrow as a credit card.

“The violin is my passion. I’ve been playing since I was 10 years old,” Dagmar said. “The thought of losing my ability to play was heart-breaking.” Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, a consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital, came up with the plan to reduce the risk. Dagmar, with her eyes closed, played the violin as the tumor was removed. “This was the first time I’ve had a patient play an instrument,” Ashkan said. Dagmar was back home just three days after the surgery. “I’m hoping to be back with my orchestra very soon,” Dagmar said. She plays with the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra. Sounds like she’s fit as a fiddle after this procedure.

8 Hour Plank I’ll wait while you try to do a plank on your living room floor. It’s OK, you can do it. Just try. Can’t? Can’t even hold a plank for 15 seconds? Well, this 62-year-old can – he did it for more than 8 long hours. Former Marine George Hood has reclaimed the male Guinness World Record for longest time spent in

the plank position. He had first set the Guinness World Record in 2011 with a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 25 seconds. His new time – 8 hours, 15 minutes, and 15 seconds – bested Mao Weidong’s 2016 Guinness record.

“I’ve taken the plank as far as I can take it,” Hood said on Saturday. The grueling session burned an estimated 4,252 calories. What did Wood do to celebrate this outrageous, muscle-defying feat? He did 75 pushups, of course. “Hood has trained nearly seven hours a day for the past 18 months, which included, but was certainly not limited to, approximately 2,100 hours of plank time, 270,000 pushups and nearly 674,000 sit-ups,” a release says. Guinness World Records certified Hood’s February 15 record in Illinois, but he’s planked even longer in the past, including a 10hour plank certified by a different organization. Hood says he wants to raise public awareness of mental health issues. “When I plank, I’ve met a lot of my own personal issues,” he said. He uses the marathon planking sessions to “purge” negative thoughts. For now, he acknowledges that he has pushed the plank record to its limits. He’s setting his sights on pushups next – hoping to take on the record for most pushups in an hour. And I have a hard time walking up the stairs to put away the laundry.

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the

Community Purim Prep at Shulamith

s Purim approaches, the children in the Shulamith Early Childhood Center are joyously preparing for the upcoming chag while learning so much in every curriculum area. Visitors to our three-year-old m=nursery class are amazed at how much learning such young children are capable of. Under the loving direction of their able morot, Morah Tzivia, Morah Suri, and Morah Bracha, the girls are making tremendous strides in all of the important developmental domains. The children are fascinated by the Purim story and used the opportunity to think about the characters, study sound, fill raashanim, and bake Oznei Haman. The children showed great interest in the architecture of the beautiful palace in

Shushan Habirah. The morot hung up pictures of palaces, and the girls excitedly discussed what kinds of things are in a palace. They decided to transform the dramatic play area into a palace and hung shiny fabric from the ceiling. The children carefully studied pictures of thrones and worked hard transforming two yellow plastic chairs into elegant thrones fit for Queen Esther and King Achashverosh. The addition of royal costumes made their Purim play complete. Our young engineers were excited to tackle a STEM challenge in the block area. They spent many happy hours figuring out how to build a palace from a combination of unit blocks, hollow blocks, and transparent color blocks. They experimented with shape, size, and weight as well

as balance and stability. The palaces they produced included turrets and multiple rooms. The children were proud of their creations and learned quite a bit of math, science and engineering along the way. The children’s fascination with palaces also became apparent in the art area. They exercised their fine motor muscles to cut all kinds of fancy paper. Then they created a huge palace mural by gluing the pieces they cut into their conception of a palace. They also made individual palace collages, enjoying the sensory feel of spreading glue while sticking on the papers they had cut. They had a lot to say about their collages, and the morot listened carefully and scribed the children’s words on separate cards to attach to their artwork. The girls were amazed when their

morot read the words they had said back to them. They are starting to understand that those letters on paper have real meaning. The most important aspect of the children’s study of Purim, as well as every other theme that they learn about in Shulamith ECC, is that their ideas are valued and celebrated. The children’s ideas about palaces and thrones and how they should look served as the basis for a rich curriculum. Following through on their ideas targeted all of the important content areas and also sent a very strong message to the children that they are respected as individual thinkers and learners. The children at Shulamith ECC wish everyone a royal and wonderful chag Purim sameach!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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Around the Community

HAFTR Celebrates Its Accomplishments

ebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway proudly celebrated its accomplishments of over four decades of academic excellence and Modern Orthodoxy on Motzei Shabbos at its 42nd Annual Dinner. The dinner honored leaders within the HAFTR community who embody its philosophy of Torah u’madda: Keter Shem Tov Awardees Dr. Jessica and Mr. Jeremy Kirschner; Hakarat Hatov Awardees Mr. Adam and Mrs. Dara Karhu; and Alumni of the Year, the young men of the 2014-15 Championship Varsity Basketball and Hockey Teams. The event was led by a dedicated dinner committee, chaired by Mo Blinder, Perri Kaye, and Sheila Wiener. Gilad Kalter was not only a HAFTR alumni, he was a HAFTR parent and Board member who was involved in many aspects of the school. Following his sudden death in September, the Kirschner family approached the school with a special request for this year’s dinner funds. Together, spearheading fundraising for The Gilad Kalter z”l STEM and Innovation Center to replace the STEM lab in the Lower School that was destroyed in last year’s fire. This new, bigger, and better STEM center will continue HAFTR’s placement as the preeminent STEM educator in the tri-state area, offering students an education second-to-none. We look forward to watching students take risks and problem-solve as they design, create, and implement their original ideas in our new lab. It will, iy”H, be a proper tribute to Gilad’s memory and a place where his children, Bella and Leo, will visit often. Keter Shem Tov Awardees Dr. Jessica and Mr. Jeremy Kirschner are members of the Irving Place Minyan,

L-R: Board member Cal Nathan, Executive Director Ari Solomon, Dr. Jessica Kirschner, Jeremy Kirschner, Senator Todd Kaminsky, Adam Karhu, Dara Karhu, President Neil Wiener, and Chairman of the Board Amir Kornblum

live in Woodmere, and are huge HAFTR fans! The Kirschners exemplify HAFTR’s vision and mission. They are leaders in the community, in their shul, and in our yeshiva. Their exuberance for the school is clear whenever they speak about the school, and they have shown a steadfast devotion to HAFTR and their children, Michelle, Jordan, and Benjy for many years. The Kirschners embody the message that Torah education is of the utmost importance. Their continual and active involvement in our community is a testament to their commitment to Torah and excellence in education. Jessica currently serves on the Board of Education. Despite her busy schedule, each year, Jessica throws herself into Health Week at HAFTR. She volunteers to speak to classes and engages them in activities which foster critical thinking and reflection on our lifestyle and health. She tirelessly helps the PTA on various project committees, most notably chairing the Purim Project for several years. Jeremy has been a devoted member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board for numerous years. Jessica and Jeremy Kirschner are an outstanding couple, and this honor is

a fitting reflection of their deep commitment to HAFTR, to chinuch, and to our community. Hakarat Hatov Awardees Mr. Adam and Mrs. Dara Karhu bring tremendous energy to our yeshiva. They are exemplary representatives of the future of HAFTR. The parents of four HAFTR students, the Karhus have made their children’s education and the growth of our yeshiva their highest priority. Dara can often be found behind the lunch counter serving students and engaging them in conversation, sprinkled with great humor. Shay, Layla, Jayda, and Paisley share her warm, friendly, positive attitude, adding a special spark to their classrooms.

Adam has been the Chair of the Golf committee, and his support has been instrumental in the success of this event over the last number of years. It is not often that a school can boast it has won a sports championship, let alone multiple championships in the same year. There has only been one school to win both the Yeshiva League basketball and hockey championships in the same year: HAFTR. More impressive is that it has repeated that athletic achievement twice, in 2002 and 2015. HAFTR is very proud to recognize the 2014-2015 Varsity hockey and basketball teams with the Alumni of the Year award. Representing the excellence HAFTR strives for in all areas, these championship teams epitomize HAFTR’s commitment to cultivating students who strive to be their best selves in all facets of life – be it academic, spiritual, social, or athletic. On behalf of the entire Board, administration, faculty, and staff of HAFTR, we extend warmest congratulations to all the honorees on this recognition of their extraordinary contributions to HAFTR and our community at large. You are an inspiration to your family, friends, and Klal Yisrael. Mazal tov!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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Around the Community

MTA Robotics Teams Advance to FIRST Tech NYC Championship By Zack Mankowitz

n Sunday, February 16, the MTA Robotics Teams, Lionotics and Lionotics 2, participated in their third competition of the year at the FIRST Tech Super Regionals. The teams worked hard over the past few months to create the best possible robots, using MTA’s state of the art STEM Lab, which has a dedicated room for the robotics teams with specialized tools and equipment. The teams went into the competition expecting great things but even they were impressed by how well their robots performed. Prior to the Super Qualifier, both teams had performed really well. In the first competition of the year, both robots made it to the finals, but only Lionotics was victorious and earned a spot in the Super Qualifier. Lionotics 2 made

up for the loss in their next regular qualifier, where they were ranked number 1 out of 30+ teams in the ranking section and came in second during the finals. The team also won an award for innovative design for developing a system that enables the

robot to scan the field with a camera for a specific game element and then pick it up. As soon as the teams arrived at the Super Qualifier, they got to work doing last minute tweaks and adjustments to the robot. The testing went well, although some

of the other robots looked intimidating. During the matches, Lionotics started to gain momentum, winning match after match and ending the ranking section in third place out of 24 teams. Lionotics 2 didn’t fare as well and landed in 19th place.

Nevertheless, the second-tier team saw Lionotics 2’s potential and picked them to join their alliance. In the championships, both Lionoticts teams played against each other, but Lionoticts 2 emerged victorious. Lionotics 2’s alliance lost in the last championship round in a very close, nailbiting game leaving the alliance in second place. In the award ceremony, both teams advanced to the NYC Championship with Lionotics 2 getting a nomination for the design award. Congratulations to both teams for an amazing showing on Sunday, and good luck to both Lionotics and Lionotics 2 in the NYC Championship on March 8! If you are interested in sponsoring MTA’s robotics teams or are looking for guidance in starting your own team, please email lionotics@ yuhsbstudents.org.

Assemblyman Hikind Comes to Rambam

nti-Semitic sentiment has been on the rise in the metropolitan area, and we have seen an increase in slurs, hate crimes, and violence. Jews have been attacked simply for being Jewish. The Jersey City Massacre and the stabbings in Monsey are the outcomes of this insidious force. Rambam Mesivta has stood at the forefront of combating anti-Semitism and instilling in its students a sense of activism, Jewish pride, and working to fight anti-Semitism when it rears its ugly head. This past week, students assembled to hear the passionate words of former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind. Rosh Mesivta of Rambam Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman introduced him and recounted Dov’s important support and presence at

rallies over the years. “Dov is someone who truly cares. He was with us when we rallied against Nazi war criminals living in Australia in 2000. He provided constant support throughout the years and joined us as we rallied successfully against Nazi guard Jakiw Palij who

lived in Queens. He partnered with us pressuring the German government to have Palij removed from the USA. Since Dov stepped back from his role as being Assemblyman, he has been passionate about fighting anti-Semitism in this country. He founded an organization called Amer-

icans Against anti-Semitism and he has taken the lead in defending Americans of the Jewish faith. It is an honor to have him speak to us.” Mr. Hikind spoke bluntly about some of the unprecedented attacks and challenges that we face as Jews in America. The interest

in his remarks and concern was palpable. He lauded Rambam’s history of activism saying that the school “stands out among all others in the metropolitan area for its leadership on these important issues.” His talk was followed by an interactive question-answer period. Many students stayed afterwards to address their concerns and find out what more young adults could do to deal with the rise in anti-Semitism. Rambam is a school that understands the importance of taking the lead on Jewish activism, and there is no question that Mr. Hikind’s words reinforced that understanding. When it comes to stopping injustice and intolerance against the Jewish people, we will continue to not be silent.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Open House

Around the Community

Uriel Sussman Brings National Merit Finals to Rambam

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pproximately 3,500,000 students in America take the PSAT/NMSAT Exam every year. From that number, a small percentage are named to be National Merit Semifinalists. That list of outstanding students is further culled to come up with the list of Merit Finalists. A total of 0.0004% of all those who take the exam qualify to be Merit Scholars. Because of the percentage of high-achieving students in our area, the hurdle to become a Merit Scholar is greater than it is for students living in other part of the country. Those elite students who are chosen are awarded a $2,500 scholarship for post-high school education. More importantly, the designation as a Merit Scholar clearly demonstrates that the student is a high achiever, student of excellence, and consequently is going to be sought after by both colleges and future employees. Uriel Sussman, a student at Rambam, was designated to receive this honor. Rabbi Yotav Eliach, Rambam’s principal, commented, “We are so proud of Uriel. He truly continues the tradition of Rambam’s excellence in both limudei kodesh and college pre-

paratory studies!” Mr. Hillel Goldman, Rambam associate principal, remarked, “While Uriel is an incredibly bright and diligent student, what is truly remarkable is his commitment to his commitments. As the school’s gabbai, he is there before prayers begin making sure the minyan runs smoothly. As editor of Hamasmid, the Weekly Torah newsletter, Uriel shepherded a record number of publications. He also leads Debate, Torah Bowl, and a number of other teams and initiatives. The list goes as he excels in an understated and sincere manner. He is a real Rambam Man!” Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, Rosh Mesivta of Rambam, announced the award to the entire school after davening. He later said, “When I announced the news and called Uriel up to shake his hand publicly, he gave a quick smile and shrugged; a humble reaction that I expected. Truth be told, the entire school was not surprised! I have the pleasure of learning with Uriel in our shiur and can tell you that he is an outstanding talmid and he often raises points found in the Rishonim or Achronim. He truly ‘merits’ this award – it was an expected surprise.”

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COMMUNICATED

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY

STOP 6T Regarding the possible development of the Woodmere golf course, the single most important point for all everyone to know is that This Is Not A Done Deal. Although the developers want everyone to believe their plan is inevitable, it is NOT. The Nassau County Planning Commission (“NCPC”, the lead agency on this proposed project) mandates a full SEQRA review in which multitude of areas and concerns are to be studied. Until that time, there has been no final determination as to what, if anything could be built on the property. The NCPC has not rendered any decision on any subdivision plan, and will not be doing so for quite some time. No State or Federal court has determined that they could build as of right. To find FACTUAL information, you can go to the Nassau County website and click on the link titled Willow View Estates. To date, the only proposal submitted by the developers to the NCPC is the one for 284 single family homes. There is no mention of any apartment building, nor is the property zoned for that. The developers claim this is not a Sixth Town. It most certainly is. The Village of Woodsburgh consists of 257 homes. The Sixth Town proposes 284. The “as of right” zoning they refer was put in place over 100 years ago. A lot has changed since then. There are multiple areas of concern. Here are but a few: Flooding - The property is located directly along the water on a Coastal Flood Plain, the majority of which was submerged during Hurricane Sandy (see the official FEMA map). During that devastating storm, the land acted as a sponge, absorbing most of the water that would have otherwise flooded hundreds of more homes. If that sponge is developed and filled with concrete, future flood waters will have no place to go except into people’s homes. Due to the increased frequency of major storms and rising sea levels, the risk of flooding is so great that the US Army Corps of Engineers is currently conducting a major study including the area directly abutting the golf course to figure out how to prevent future flooding. How could anyone think it is a good idea to develop open land that currently acts as a natural barrier and major buffer against flooding? It defies logic! One of the best ways to mitigate flooding is to preserve as much open land as possible, NOT to build 284 homes on every inch of the property. In response to the proposed development, The South Shore Audubon Society said “We oppose this detrimental and foolish development of open space on a floodplain…The development site sits directly on top of sole source aquifers for Long Island, and the project threatens to pollute the drinking water for three million people. Long Island already faces a water shortage from droughts and heavy usage, and the aquifers of southwestern Long Island show evidence of saltwater intrusion as the water table drops. Willow View Estates would increase demands on a shrinking water supply and could exacerbate saltwater intrusion and shift contaminants in the groundwater”. Ecology - There are ecological concerns regarding flora and fauna trees and wildlife that inhabit the area. Hundreds of trees will be destroyed to pave the way for homes and roadways. Portions of the site are designated as “archaeologically sensitive” by The New

York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation. Traffic/Parking - The NJ based developers don’t really care about the traffic problems and gridlock that the residents of the Five Towns have to put up with on a daily basis. They don’t TM have an understanding of the way our roadways connect, where the bottlenecks form or how the railroad tracks can only be traversed at a handful of crossings. They don’t know what it’s like when one of our main arteries like Broadway, West Broadway or Peninsula gets clogged or is shut down entirely due to construction or an accident (as it did just last Friday), snarling traffic for miles in every direction. All our residents know that a quick errand or carpool that should take five or ten minutes can take an hour. Go to the Nassau County Website to see what exactly their traffic study entails - turning counts at a handful of corners for One Saturday, One Sunday, One weekday, traffic counts only at Broadway and Meadow for 7 days. Parking now is woefully inadequate on Central Avenue, in municipal lots and at the LIRR. Where will hundreds more cars park? Emergency Services - How will police, fire trucks and ambulances respond to emergencies when our roadways are clogged beyond capacity? Our lives are at stake. Utilities - including gas, electricity, water and sewer lines. Our sewer lines are in a grave state of disrepair, our water lines are rusty and crumbling (which one of the reasons our residents are plagued with brown and black water). Until just a few weeks ago, there was a moratorium on natural gas for the entire state of New York. We suffer from frequent power outages on a regular basis. How can anyone consider adding hundreds more households to an area whose utilities are so overburdened and on the brink of collapse? Municipal Services - New streets means new fire hydrants, sewers, lighting, sanitation services, postal services, snow removal and adequate emergency service providers, all to be paid by you, the tax payer. Construction Related Issues - Construction will likely happen in phases over many years. We will have to live through YEARS of air/noise pollution and construction related traffic. Also, the grounds have likely in the past 100 years been treated with now-banned pesticides that are known to be dangerous to humans. When the soil is disturbed and dredged up, toxins that have remained dormant until now will be released into our environment. Aside from all the homes in the surrounding area, there are several schools nearby: Gesher, Gan Chamesh, Kulanu and HAFTR High School. With potential toxins being released into the air, there are short- and longterm heath ramifications that could affect all of us. Home Values - When 284 homes hit the market your home value will likely decline significantly with an influx of inventory on the market. Setting a Precedent? - Golf is a declining sport. The Seawane Golf Club in Hewlett Harbor was just sold. The Rockaway Hunting Club, Inwood Country Club and Lawrence Yacht and Country Club all are in the surrounding area. If and when they decide to shutter their doors, are we setting a precedent that allows for them to build hundreds of more homes there too? More Projects in the Works - NYC has recently approved a

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

COMMUNICATED

1700-unit apartment complex to be built just over the border in Far Rockaway. The Town of Hempstead recently unveiled sweeping zoning changes in North Lawrence and Inwood that will allow for approximately 1900 new residences. A local developer wants to purchase property from The Lawrence Woodmere Academy on West Broadway in Woodmere with plans to build a 33-unit luxury condominium there. How much more can we take? What’s in it for us? - In our meetings with the developers, we told them how disappointed we were that there was no plan to create, build or gift anything whatsoever to the community such as a library or JCC. Along with several local politicians, we asked them to consider expanding the clubhouse to accommodate the huge demand for a large and local simcha hall/catering facility. It was our recommendation that they try to ingratiate themselves to the community rather than being so adversarial. Unfortunately, we see the developers have chosen to be litigious, to pit the three local municipalities against each other, to threaten us with statements like “if there are no conversations, we will simply move forward on our 284 home project”, to threaten us with lawsuits and increased taxes if we don’t accept their proposal. According to public record, they paid a little over 9 million dollars and assumed 15 million in debt for the entire 114-acre piece of property. They are poised to make an excellent return on their investment. As one resident so eloquently stated at the last public meeting, “I look at this map and all I see is greed”. The developers portray themselves as the victims, claiming they are being treated unfairly by everyone, yet they are the ones initiating multiple lawsuits and suing everyone that stands in their way. They insult our local leaders and mischaracterize a Civic Association that exists solely to benefit the community. The fact is if we don’t let our voices be heard the only victims here will be the residents of The Five Towns Community who will suffer through years of construction which will decimate an integral ecosystem, make us much more vulnerable to flooding, compromise our water supply, stress our infrastructure to the brink of destruction, snarl traffic beyond all recognition, hamper the efforts of our first responders and cause a decrease in our home values, while likely causing a tax increase to all residents.

We maintain our position that 284 homes in any configuration (apartments or houses) is still way too much. Their new plan still doesn’t go far enough. Open space is far more valuable than hundreds of homes. Once green space is gone, it’s gone forever. In short, if either of their current proposals are approved, the character of our neighborhood and the quality of life we enjoy will never be the same. Every single resident here has a voice. Your opinion counts. Your concerns matter. Every single person who is opposed should be reaching out their local representatives in Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodsburgh as well as your local Nassau County Legislators, Town of Hempstead Council Members and the NCPC to tell them how you feel. Attend future public meetings and express your concerns. The Five Towns Civic Association is seeking donations to support our efforts. Donations will be used to for attorney fees and to commission our own environmental impact studies. You can donate via PayPal by visiting our website 5TCA.org. Checks can be mailed to 5TCA, PO Box 462, Woodmere, NY 11598. To be added to our email list, please email us at stopwoodemeregolf@gmail.com Thank You. The Five Towns Civic Association

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

The kindergarten classes of the Ganger Early Childhood at TAG completed their unit on brachos and celebrated with a beautiful siyum this week. In honor of having learned all of the brachos, in order, and the foods associated with each one, the girls had a brachos party. They ate different foods for each bracha, giving them the opportunity to review what they had learned and to make each bracha and say amen. May they continue to learn and grow!

Sulitza Bais Hemadresh BYAM Chidon Preparing for 69th Melave Malka

e are at the threshold of a milestone in celebrating sixty-nine years of Bais Medrash Sulitza - Kehilas Yakov in this community. The resounding success of all our endeavors and achievements of this makom kodesh is due to the outstanding rabbinic and lay leadership of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin, zt”l, who stood at the helm all these years, and is under the leadership of the present Rebbe, shlita, and the Rebbetzin who continue to follow in that hadracha. We are pleased to present to you the roster of this year’s honorees. We are privileged to announce Rabbi Eliezer and Mrs. Shaina Braun as our Guests of Honor. Rabbi and Mrs. Braun are choshuve and devoted mispallelim, actively involved in the functions of our beis midrash. They are loyal to the beis midrash, the kehillah, and the Rebbe, shlita. With their tireless effort and unbelievable willingness and dedication, Rabbi and Mrs. Braun are part of the Sulitza Bais Medrash heart and soul. We wish them many healthy and active years in their work l’tovas ha’klal. The deserving Shem Tov Awardees

of this year, Mr. Elimelech and Mrs. Shulamis Feldberger, a very unique recognition for a highly respected couple who are an inspiration of middos tovos and anava. We wish Mr. and Mrs. Elimelech Feldberger arichus yamim v’shanim tovim ad meah v’esrim shana. Our deserving Chessed Awardees are Mr. Shmuel and Mrs. Nechama Salamon, who have kindly opened their home for the Sulitzer Tehillim Kollel breakfast this year. It is with this honor presentation that we can openly acknowledge the devotion to chessed by Mr. and Mrs. Shmuel Salamon, who are known for their strong support for chol davar she’b’kedusha. May they merit many more healthy years of achievements. We once again call upon our friends and members to assist in the support of our holy mosdos. Your generous support will help our institutions and honor your friends as well. The Melava Malka will take place, iy”H, on Motzoei Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Terumah, February 29, at the Bnos Bais Yakov School, 613 Beach 9th Street, Far Rockaway, NY.

nown for its academic excellence, Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam had its annual chidon this week, which tested the talmidos on various yedios klaliyos throughout Sefer Bereishis. Each grade received booklets of information and questions that the girls took home to study. On the day of the chidon, the girls chose random questions from boxes marked at different levels of difficulty. The questions ranged from connecting ma’amarei Chazal with a particular parsha, to asking

how old a personality in Tanach was at the time he was niftar. The girls were excited to be challenged, and points were given out for correct answers based on the difficulty of the question. The “icing” on the cake was a trip to the ice skating rink awarded to the class with the most points. Truthfully, each BYAM girl was a winner for stepping up to the challenge, thereby enriching her knowledge of Sefer Bereishis. We are so proud of all of you!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

BNOS BAIS YAAKOV

26TH ANNUAL DINNER

Honoring

DR. AKIVA AND MRS. MALIA BERGMAN

Guests of Honor

MR. MICHAEL AND MRS. LILY WEICHHOLZ

Parents of t he Year

MR. YOSEF AND MRS. VIVI MOSKOWITZ

Kesser Shem Tov Award

MR. SHLOMO AND MRS. HINDI SALAMON

Amudim Award

MR. YEHOSHUA AND MRS. JASMIN LIVIAN

Etz Chaim Award

SEVENTY FIVE YEARS SINCE THE LIBERATION

Paying Tribute to the She’aris Hapleita

OUR GRANDPARENT SURVIVORS

RABBI BARAK LEVY DAVID SOLOMON

‫כ״ב אדר‬ ‫תש״פ‬

Journal Chairmen AVI FELDMAN DOVID HELFGOTT

03 18 20

Campaign Chairmen YITZI FRIED ADAM OKUN

The Sands Atlantic Beach RECEPTION 6:30

DINNER 7:30

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Dinner Chairmen

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

On Motzei Shabbos, the fourth grade boys at Yeshiva of Central Queens gathered for a parent-child melava Malka and made their own pair of tzitzit

Book It Forward

LIKE at HALB

s part of HALB’s ongoing initiative to promote mental health wellness and thriving throughout the school community, Middle School parents came together to watch LIKE, a documentary exploring the impact of technology and social media on our mental health and wellbeing. The event was a collaboration with HALB’s SEPTA committee and OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services, as part of HALB’s partnership with OHEL on “Road MAPP to Success,” a Middle School Anxiety Prevention Program. The film was followed by a panel discussion featuring Dr. Karen Fleiss, Clinical Director of NYU Child Study Center Long Island; Dr. Norman Blumenthal, Zachter Family Chair in Trauma and Crisis Counseling at OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services; Dr. Benjie Stern, Director of Pediatric Adolescent Professional

Psychology and HALB Middle School psychologist; and an adolescent perspective from Eitan Guttenmacher of DRS. Middle School students watched the film the following day during advisory, followed by break-out discussion sessions with their advisors and student ambassadors from SKA, with an emphasis on empowering students to create greater balance in their lives. The theme throughout the interactive program for students and parents was to inspire and help equip us to self-regulate our social media and technology use, exploring how we can harness the power of technology and social media as a platform for enhanced connection, increased empathy, and growing a caring school community. HALB is grateful to the Middle School Guidance department for coordinating the event.

n Friday, February 14, Hindi’s Libraries celebrated International Book Giving Day by hosting Book it Forward, a free distribution event held at the Levi Yitzchak Library in Cedarhurst, NY. Cofounders Dovid Kanarfogel and Leslie Gang invited organizations and families alike to collect free books that were previously donated to Hindi’s Libraries. Throughout the event, which spanned from 10am4pm, more than 15 representatives sifted through a tremendous selection of books and filled their bins, baskets, and bags full of children’s reads. Hindi’s Libraries distributed more than 2,000 books to recipients that included hospitals, medical centers, and schools in the community at their Book it Forward event. The inspiration continued with

a Hindi’s Libraries workshop on Sunday evening, February 23. The first of a series of four, Leadership Through Listening was led by Yehudi Meshchaninov who holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. Meshchaninov is a partner at The Ready whose clients include Macy’s, Tiffany’s, GE, Citibank and Dropbox where he has coached personal and system transformation and lasting behavioral change. The workshop, held at Levi Yitzchak Library, addressed the difference between hearing and listening, and through unique group activities, Meshchaninov provided attendees with some wonderful and useful skills to help them lead effectively in their personal or professional lives.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Around the Community

Yeshiva of South Shore Annual Banquet

Guests of Honor Robby and Sheri Zimmermann

t is with great pride that we invite you to the 63rd Annual Banquet of the Yeshiva of South Shore to be held this coming Sunday evening, March 1, 2020 at The Sands Atlantic Beach. Our Guests of Honor, Mr. Robby and Mrs. Sheri Zimmermann, have been integral pillars of our Yeshiva for countless years. Robby serves as Chairman of our Board of Directors, helping guide the yeshiva. He also serves as co-chairman of the new building committee and is a member of the security committee. Robby is a Senior Project Manager at Forest Electric, a leading electrical construction and telecommunications services supplier. Sheri was involved in various committees at the yeshiva while Avi was a student. Sheri is a pediatric occupational therapist who has been working in the community for over 20 years. They are active members of Congregation Bais Medrash of Cedarhurst. They are the proud parents of Zahava, a social worker at Magen David and in private practice; Aviva, living in Israel with her husband Benjy Dennis, who is learning in the Mir, and their adorable son Yosef; Rivka, a student at Queens College; and Avi, (YOSS class of 2018) a sophomore at DRS. Our Parents of the Year, Zahava and Roni Benjamini, are dynamic leaders in our yeshiva. Roni, the principal of 1 Oak Contracting, a boutique general contracting and consulting firm specializing in midrise construction, is a senior member of our Young Leadership Committee. Roni plays a key role as a member of our yeshiva’s expansion and construction committee, as well as the building committee of Congregation Shaarei Emuna where he has served as a board member for the last seven years. Zahava, a

Parents of the Year Zahava and Roni Benjamini

Alumnus Award Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin

Leadership in Government Award Mr. Donald X. Clavin

full-time mother and homemaker, is a licensed clinical social worker with years of experience at Mt. Sinai Hospital and Ohel Foster Care. She is also the proprietor of The Perfect Gift, which is a unique store that specializes in hostess, engagement, and children’s gifts. The Benjaminis are the proud parents of Shmuel, a YOSS alumnus, currently a 9th grader in DRS; Eli, a sixth grader at YOSS; and Libby, Mia and Brie, proud talmidos at Shulamith. Our Ahavas Chesed Award will be presented to Mr. Moishe Heller on behalf of the Grandell Rehabilitation & Nursing Center. Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, was among one of the foremost residents of the Grandell in recent years who was assisted with outstanding care and attention. Mr. Heller, the Corporate Administrator of the Grandell, was able to learn about our yeshiva through the relationship he developed during the many visits by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky and the countless South Shore alumni and families. The Grandell serves the needs of the greater Five Towns area, providing both short-term rehabilitation and long-term nursing care, while accommodating the frum population with glatt kosher food and daily minyanim. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, class of 1998, recipient of the Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, Alumnus Award, is a proud talmid of our yeshiva. Director of Education for NCSY, he is also an instructor at Yeshiva University where he teaches courses on public policy, religious crisis, and rabbinic thought. A talmid of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel and a musmach of REITS, R’ Dovid holds a Master’s degree in Polish Chassidus. Dovid is the author of two works – B’Rogez Rachem Tizkor and Sin·a·gogue: Sin and Failure in

Jewish Thought – both works about sin and failure in Jewish thought. A weekly columnist for Mishpacha magazine, Reb Dovid never fails to include wonderful memories of his years as a talmid of Yeshiva of South Shore. R’ Dovid resides in Teaneck with his wife Tova (Flancbaum) and their two children. As a gesture of gratitude, we are proud to bestow Mr. Donald X. Clavin, the newly elected Town of Hempstead Supervisor, with the Leadership in Government Award. For 18 years, he held the position of the Town’s Receiver of Taxes while

working to help residents reduce their property taxes through “tax challenge” seminars. In his new role, Mr. Clavin’s agenda is to put taxpayers first by cutting taxes and improving roadways and parks. Our dinner is not just a joyous occasion; it provides scholarship funding for many families who cannot afford the full cost of tuition. We therefore turn to you to make a generous contribution to provide education for all children. We look forward to personally greeting you on Sunday evening, March 1 at The Sands Atlantic Beach.

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

West Hempstead Enjoys #Giveback Sunday By Kari Levine

atients at Northwell’s North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset will be enjoying beautiful Shabbat packages due to the efforts of the families of the Young Israel of West Hempstead. Close to 100 children, along with their moms and dads, participated in the Young Israel of West Hempstead Sisterhood’s fifth annual #Giveback Sunday event on February 16. “We started #Giveback Sunday in 2016 as a way to do chessed for the larger Jewish community,” explains Kari Levine, former Sisterhood president. “Each year it’s one of our most popular events. I am proud to say that in the last five years we given out over 500 packages to hospital and nursing home patients.” “#Giveback Sunday is a fantastic way to spend a cold winter morning teaching my children the importance of giving back,” says Ayelet Mottahedeh, who brought her two kids to the event and who has been chairperson for several years. What appeals to all those who attend the event is the relaxed atmo-

sphere. As each family arrives, they are greeted by cheerful music playing in the background, along with the scent of fresh bagels and coffee. Families are handed a Shabbat kit in a reusable shopping bag. The kit includes a kiddush cup, electric candles, a deck of cards, a bencher, a challah cover, a sachet for besamim, and the supplies needed to make a paper flower. Participants are directed to tables teeming with craft items, such as markers, glittery stickers, gems, washi tape,

Poets Rule at Shulamith School

and cloves. Then, they get down to work embellishing the packages with their personal touches. Each package is a work of art made with love. “This event is so perfect for me to bring my kids to,” said Daniella Rosenberg, another of the chessed doers. “I want to teach my kids to think of others, and this event helps me show that in action.” Rabbi Dr, Hillel Fox, chaplain of the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, agrees, “It warms

SKA Student Wins Third Place in Chemistry

his year’s Annual Poetry Slam at Shulamith featured poets from grades 5-8. The theme for the event was “Branching Out,” and entries ranged from poems about trees, to appeals for conservation, to the joy of trying new things. With 18 exceptional entries, the judges had a hard time determining the winners. Poems were evaluated for content

and presentation, resulting in some really close scores. In the end, these winners were crowned. Fifth grader Yardena Lifshitz was the first place winner for her poem called “Hidden Beauty.” In second place was sixth grader Yael Schick who wrote, “Forever,” and in third place was seventh grader Gabi Moskowitz with “Save the Trees!”

my heart to see so many families volunteering their time to decorate and provide religious articles for the Jewish patients at Northwell Health’s North Shore University Hospital.” As he addressed the crowd he said, “Your kindness will bring smiles, comfort and joy to sick patients who are hospitalized over Shabbat.” “I came here today to do chessed in honor of my upcoming bat mitzvah,” said Meira Levine, age 11. “I can’t wait to do it again next year!”

ongratulations to Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls junior Priva Halpert on winning third place in Chemistry in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium held at York College on Sunday, February 9. In Priva’s freshman year, she participated in SKA’s exceptional program, MAGIC, a science 1:1 mentoring program offering students the opportunity to learn from women who are distinguished in STEM fields. Working with Dr. Mindy Levine, an SKA graduate (‘00) and professor of Chemistry at the University of Rhode Island and then at Ariel University in Israel, Priva’s

project utilized advanced chemistry research. Entitled “An Investigation into Potential Colorimetric Detection Methods of Aliphatic Alcohols in 2-HP-β-CD Solutions,” Priva’s work developed a new method of alcohol detection using color changes. For the last two years, Priva worked on this project in her home and with the encouragement of her SKA mentor, Dr. David Friedman, and SKA Science Department Chair, Dr. Chana Glatt, submitted the results of her original research efforts to the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, winning 3rd place in Chemistry!

Did you know? Esther was also called Hadassah

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Brooklyn 5005 16th Avenue Cedarhurst 426 Central Avenue www.shopmezzo.com

FASHION BOUTIQUE

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Madraigos Addresses Alcohol Awareness

n Tuesday, February 11, Madraigos presented alcohol awareness & education to the high school girls at Shulamith as part of their Health Week. This workshop is a central focus of Madraigos’ School-Based Services Program where local school partnerships are formed and continuous efforts toward substance-abuse prevention make an impact on our community. Highlights of the workshop included defining different stages of alcohol abuse as well as addressing common myths pertaining to usage. The workshop was presented by Mrs. Miriam Schiller, LMSW, clinician, who discussed statistics from current studies and how alcohol can affect the brain and the rest of the body. A visual presentation depicting what transpires in the different parts of the brain preceded a video presentation describing the effects of extended alcohol usage on a normal brain and liver. Students gained a better understanding of the dangers and the importance to refrain. They are now better prepared to identify a potentially dangerous situation as it pertains to alcohol consumption. Besides learning about the facts, Mrs. Schiller actively engaged the students in conversation about the importance of making wise choices

when faced with peer pressure. Miriam Schiller gave several real-life examples of peer-to-peer social situations and what smart reactions and choices would look like. The examples included situations when one is with friends on the weekends or over a break. Mrs. Schiller encouraged the group not to be scared to address alcohol usage as if it is taboo. Instead, students were encouraged to confide in a trusted adult and present the situation. Additionally, students were advised how to respond when they see a friend engaging in unhealthy

behavior and making poor choices. The students became more aware of the importance of their role and better understand their responsibility. The students especially appreciated the discussion related to making responsible choices when they go away for college or participate in a seminary program in Israel. While this unique stage offers greater independence, it poses unique challenges as teens are separated from their support system at home and school. Teens and young adults were urged to keep these lifesaving messages fresh in their minds.

While alcohol use/abuse may not be something they struggle with on a day-to-day basis, the students left feeling stronger with their newly acquired knowledge and more prepared to face the myriad issues surrounding use and peer pressure.

Yeshiva, Rav Yonason Sacks. The boys prepared and presented sugyos related to mitzvos tzitzis. Rav Sacks asked them questions and added to their discussion, demonstrating his wide grasp of both bekiyus and iyun.

Rav Sacks praised Rabbi Ziskind and the shiur. The boys returned back to Rambam invigorated from their brush with such a tremendous talmid chochom and inspired to continue in their growth in Torah.

For more information about Madraigos’ School-Based Services Program or to arrange a Madraigos workshop, please contact Rabbi Dr. Dovid Felt, PhD at 516-371-3250 ext. 11 or rdfelt@madraigos.org.

Rambam Talmidim Farhered

pproximately 20 students participate in Rambam’s intense afternoon learning program known as DBM (Double Bais Medrash). As soon as lunch is over, they assemble with Rabbi Yosef Ziskind and learn various topics in Maseches Menachos. All areas are covered in depth with Rishonim and Achronim. The focus is on breadth and depth so that they can truly understand the conceptual underpinnings of the sugyos that they cover. The shiur is very interactive with the boys posing questions and suggesting answers. At the end of the year, they publish many of their chiddushei Torah in a sefer called “Kol Yosef.” Additionally, the boys have the special opportunity to say over their sugyos and be tested by roshei yeshivas. In the past, they have been

tested by Rav Herschel Schechter, Rav Michael Rosensweig, Zechariah Gelley, zt”l, Rav Reuven Feinstein, and Rav Naftali Jaeger, among other Torah luminaries. This week, they traveled to Lander College for a farher with the Rosh

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

CAHAL CONCERT

A S H LO I M E D AC H S M U S I C P R O D U C T I O N

SUNDAY | MARCH 22 | 7:00PM

PRE-CONCERT DINNER WITH THE STARS FOR VIP

SPONSORS:

AVRAHAM FRIED | SHULEM LEMMER | MOSHE TISCHLER SPONSORS:

MR. & MRS. PAUL REINSTEIN

LAWRENCE HIGH SCHOOL

Reilly Rd. & Peninsula Blvd, Cedarhurst, NY

Tickets:

$36 • $54 • $72 • VIP

PURCHASE TICKETS AT: CAHAL: 540-A Willow Avenue, Cedarhurst

The JEWISH STAR MOISHE & ESTHER MISHKOWITZ | MR. & MRS. ARYEH GELBARD ALAN & COOKIE GREENE | SARA & YECHIEL ENGEL | LARRY & LISA SIEGEL

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For Ticket Information & Sponsorships Contact

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Siach Yitzchok Annual Dinner

n Tuesday, February 18, Siach Yitzchok paid tribute at their Annual Dinner to some of the special people who made their new building possible: Rabbi Avrohom Fruchthandler, Mr. Alex Edelman,Mr. Evan Genack,

Mr. Nachman Goodman, Mr. Shlomo Zalman Gutfreund, Mr. Moishe Hirth, Mr. Moishe Leben, and Mr. Henry Schachar. The Dinner also included the dedication of the new building in memory of Rebbetzin Hindy Sitnick, aâ&#x20AC;?h.Â A surprise

presentation was also made at the Dinner in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Yoni Kutner and Mr. and Mrs. Shalom Stein for their unwavering support and dedication to the Cheder. To round out the evening, the overflow crowd was treated to a special

musical performance by our proud parents Reb Eitan Katz and Reb Yosef Newcomb. Siach Yitzchok thanks all parents and friends for showing their support during this vital campaign.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Around the Community PHOTO CREDIT: YITZY ENGEL

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Partners in Torah Expansion Taking Inspiration to Even Higher Heights hen he enrolled at Chicago’s DePaul University, Ben Rios got more of an education than he ever could have imagined. The son of a Mexican father and a Jewish mother, Ben knew relatively little about his religious roots, but as a college student, he found himself drawn to the campus Jewish outreach program. In time, he found himself looking to further broaden his spiritual knowledge, and he signed up for Partners in Torah in 2015. His partnership with Rabbi Shlomo Drebin of

es. With tens of thousands of religious awakenings fostered worldwide, it is hard to believe that the worldwide telephone Jewish educational program took its first major steps towards becoming a household name in a city known for snow-capped glaciers and Native American totem poles. But in truth, the story of Partners in Torah’s exponential growth began in the most unexpected of places – Alaska. It was 1999 when Rabbi Eli Gewirtz received a phone call from Ron Adler, a Ketchikan social worker who wanted to expand his knowledge of Judaism but

Woodmere was, as they say, a match made in heaven. While the two simply chatted in their early conversations or discussed basics of Judaism, over the years they made the leap to serious learning, tackling Gemara and halacha. Ben has been learning in the Skokie yeshiva for the past several years, and when the time came for him to make a siyum on Maseches Taanis, Rabbi Drebin stepped in to make sure everything went smoothly. “Rabbi Drebin has been the most consistent force in my growth,” said Ben. “I’ve had many rabbis and people come and go, and only Shlomo has been there since the beginning and is still there constantly.” Ben’s story is one of Partners in Torah’s many success-

lived quite a distance from the nearest Jewish community. With a long history in the world of outreach, Rabbi Gewirtz had already launched an adult education program in Twin Rivers, New Jersey, in the eighties, with dozens of Lakewood volunteers making the weekly 25 mile trip for an hour of one-on-one learning with local residents. After relocating to Passaic in 1993, Rabbi Gewirtz created a similar initiative in a local shul and the idea of matching students and mentors caught fire, with additional branches popping up in other shuls, schools, and Jewish community centers. Within six years, Partners in Torah had spread to 40 locations but the historic turning point came with Adler’s request to facilitate a long distance learning

By Sandy Eller

arrangement, one that ultimately spanned a distance of nearly 3,500 miles. “Ron’s brother was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was learning at one of our programs and he wanted to participate as well,” recalled Rabbi Gewirtz. “I matched him up with Yosef, a psychologist from Brooklyn, someone who I thought would be a good fit, and instead of learning together in person they did it over the telephone. We reimbursed Yosef monthly for the cost of the calls, and over time, the idea of learning by telephone mushroomed beyond anything we could have ever imagined.” The Ron and Yosef pairing was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and Partners in Torah soon found itself making shidduchim between those who wanted to find out more about Judaism and mentors who were happy to share whatever they knew, the limitations of geographic boundaries smashed to smithereens by the wonders of telecommunications. The Partners in Torah phone model worked on multiple levels – both students and mentors loved the relative anonymity of phone learning and the flexibility of both time and subject matter, and it became abundantly clear that participants on both sides were finding themselves enriched by the experience. Fast forward to 2019 and Partners in Torah has seen over 76,000 men and women from 2,337 cities in 39 different countries learning together, touching the lives of people from all walks of life. Rabbi Gewirtz noted that Partners in Torah’s primary focus is to help all Jews build a proud, lifelong connection to Judaism. The mentor-student experience is about building relationships between likeminded individuals, having

enjoyable conversations, and fostering a sense of caring that carries through, even over the phone. “This isn’t about telling people how to live their lives,” explained Rabbi Gewirtz. “People who come to us are looking for a connection to their Judaism and our goal is for them to feel that they belong in the Jewish community because right now, the overwhelming majority do not.” The upcoming launch of a digital platform will make relevant content and resources easily available and Partners in Torah is poised to recruit thousands of new mentors to meet the ever-growing need of those who want to connect with their Judaism. Mentors typically sign up to learn for 30 minutes a week over a three month period, with most extending their commitment because the experience is so rewarding. Partners in Torah chairman Steve Savitsky estimated that there are nearly 1,000 mentors in the Five Towns alone. He hopes that number will increase significantly in the coming weeks, noting that mentors need not be seasoned educators and that virtually everyone has what it takes to inspire students, sharing the beauty of Yiddishkeit in many different ways. “When I first started encouraging people to volunteer with Partners in Torah, they would tell me they didn’t know enough, but the truth is most people know far more than they realize,” said Savitsky. “Of course, it’s import-

ant to study something, but the main part of being a mentor is to share things about your life – why you light candles on Friday night, why you keep kosher, why you devote so much of your income to educating your kids.” Drawing parallels to the business world, Partners in Torah COO Moe Mernick noted that much like Airbnb empowered individuals to become part of the hospitality industry by hosting people in their homes and Uber democratized the world of transportation by giving individuals the opportunity to become paid drivers, Partners in Torah gives anyone, anywhere, the ability to ignite the flame of Torah in those who are thirsting for knowledge. “There are millions of unaffiliated Jews in the world and the future of Jewish education cannot rely solely on outreach professionals, the campus rabbis and the big organizations,” said Mernick. “Any person who had the benefit of a Jewish education has the ability to impact the life of another Jew and all it takes is 30 minutes a week to light up their world. Just imagine what could happen if each of us, as well as our family members, neighbors and friends, looked inside ourselves and decided to share the beauty, depth, and relevance of Torah with another Jew – we could literally change the course of Jewish history.” Learn with a fellow Jew for 30 minutes a week and help shape the Jewish future. Sign up at www.partnersintorah. org/mentor.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Rosh Chodesh Adar Purim spirit at Siach Yitzchok with Reb Yosef Newcomb

YOSS Visits the Living Torah Museum

Books & Cookies at HANC

H L

ast Wednesday, the fifth grade talmidim from Rabbi Burger’s class at Yeshiva of South Shore had the amazing opportunity to visit Rabbi Deutsch’s Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn. As the name implies, Torah, Nach and various Gemaros truly came alive during their time at the museum. The boys had the rare opportunity to hold several unbelievable artifacts dating back nearly 3,000 years. Coins bearing the face of Antiochus from the time of Purim and some showing the face of Alexander

the Great were passed around; they brandished swords (a gladius to be exact), held scarred shields, and put on a helmet used by the Gladiators in the times of the Romans. One boy held a wine jug, or chavis, as spoken about in Gemara. Needless to say, they’ll need many more trips to see the remaining artifacts at the museum, though this trip brought the past directly to the present. A huge thank you to Rabbi Deutsch for the incredible opportunity he afforded us and everything he does for Klal Yisroel.

ANC’s Samuel and Elizabeth Bass Golding’s Elementary School in West Hempstead kicked off its annual Scholastic Book Fair with two events on Sunday. The first event, which was geared toward pre-school through second grade students, was called “Milk and Bookies.” The children were treated to milk and cookies, and a special mystery guest was invited to read a story to them. To the children’s great surprise, the mystery reader was none other than HANC’s much loved Administrative Assistant, Jeannie Toplin. After an enthusiastic reading of the book The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, the children then completed a craft project and created their own beautiful rainbow fish. Later that afternoon, a second

activity geared for older children took place. The packed crowd played family bingo, with numbers called out by Rabbi Yaakov Sadigh, head of HANC’s West Hempstead campuses. Game winners received prizes, books from the book fair, and Amazon gift cards. After each event, the families were invited to shop in the book fair, which was well stocked with books for all levels of readers. HANC wishes to thank Rachayl Bornstein, school librarian, as well as the PTA Book Fair Committee, including Tamar Rydzinski, Rachel Lazarus, Sheri Guttman and Yocheved Krimsky, for coordinating the book fair. Extra thanks go to the many parent volunteers who helped make this year’s book fair a great success.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Student Art Exhibition at Gesher’s Annual Grandparents Day

he annual Grandparents Day at the Gesher Early Childhood Center took place on Tuesday, 30 Shevat, the first day of Rosh Chodesh Adar. The combination of simcha stemming from the approaching Adar and the theme of the departing Shevat set the perfect tone. Wanting to reinforce the sense of nachas that the grandparents were expecting to experience, the Gesher staff took upon themselves a very special project. Having been recently introduced to a new technique in using art to reach and support students, Morah Shoshana Salzberg and Morah Shoshana Hirschey initiated an art curriculum that would culminate in a beautiful display for the grandparents and parents. Together with the dedicated team of morahs and assistants, each class selected several modalities that would express the themes of fruition and growth of Shevat, with a special emphasis on the shivas haminim. The teachers selected

grade-appropriate techniques that would allow the children to use different senses and media to create their very own masterpieces. The morahs gave some directions, and the students took over, making their own beautiful projects from start to finish. But that was only the beginning. The devoted staff set out to create a stunning display of original art, transforming a boring hallway into a high-class gallery. After spending many after school hours in preparation, the magnificent exhibition

was ready. As the grandparents and parents arrived, they were greeted with introductory remarks explaining what they were about to experience. The children met them and together they entered into the newly transformed space. Clearly the introduction was not sufficient as the expressions of amazement continued throughout the program. The close-to-200 guests took note of the level of professionalism, not only in the artwork itself but in the way the staff approached

the endeavor. The amazing amount of teamwork and collaboration that such a feat required was clear for all to see. To those familiar with Gesher’s programming, it was not as much of a surprise. The Gesher model focuses on developing the whole child, academically, socially, and emotionally. Teamwork and collaboration are the trademarks, together with a growth mindset that researches new techniques and methodologies. After exiting the art display area, the grandparents

and parents joined with the children for some fun, family-themed crafts. Family tree making, “relationship” bracelet making, picture frame keychain decorating, and the family-oriented props at the photo booth provided a fun way to spend some quality time and to share a little bit of the Gesher experience. Gesher prides itself on bringing that extra bit of nachas to all, and the glowing smiles on the faces of the participants testified that this year’s Grandparents Day was a resounding success.

BYQ Hard at Work

he students of Bais Yaakov of Queens are hard at work with creative, thoughtful, and meaningful projects in literacy. The second graders are working hard to create their second book of the year. This book is based on a science unit on animals. The girls studied and researched different animals while learning a new medium for illustration. In their books they are using their research skills and displaying a special technique called collage. This technique was used by well-known author Eric Carle. The girls are having a wonderful time while they expand their writing horizons. The sixth graders read a touching story called, “Hattie’s Birthday

Box.” After completing the story, each student drew a classmate’s name to be her secret box buddy. The girls designed boxes of hope and inspiration for their classmates. Each box included five complements, one original poem or story, one letter of encouragement, one creative illustration, and one handmade gift. The girls did a beautiful job displaying

their creativity and sensitivity as they worked hard on bringing inspiration to their classmates! In the seventh grade, the girls are working on a research project of famous people who overcame challenges and their contributed achievements. Some examples of famous people are Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Christopher Reeve, Thomas

Edison, Ludwig von Beethoven, Michael Phelps, Albert Einstein, and Winston Churchill. The girls are inspired by the way these people overcame difficulties, yet persevered and became so successful. Literacy and learning are rigorous and relevant at Bais Yaakov of Queens!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Lawrence Hardware 589 Burnside Ave. Inwood, NY 11096 (516) 371-2900 In the Burnside Plaza (Stop & Shop Center)

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This week, the talmidim of Mesivta Ateres Yaakov had the special zechus of hearing divrei chizuk from Rav Binyomin Carlebach, shlita, Rosh HaYeshiva of Mir Yerushalayim

SKA Production An Extraordinary Life

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fter months of practice and hard work, production, one of the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls’ most exciting events of the year, finally arrived! On motzei Shabbat and Sunday evening, February 22 and 23, An Extraordinary Life: A Story of Faith and Courage, was performed at the HALB campus auditorium to a full house of family members, friends and SKA faculty. The Purim story of Queen Esther was beautifully told through inspiring harmonies from the choir, elegantly crafted dances, creative musical numbers, and an inspiring sign language presentation, all highlighted by the 3-D computer staging which lent a special dimension to the performances. The SKA Band, which contributed so much to production, was outstand-

ing. Both shows ended with a “finale” as all the girls of production came back on stage and sang. Every student involved in this year’s production, in whatever capacity, really had her moment to shine! Since over 200 girls participate in production, connections were formed across the grades, making production a wonderful bonding experience. Our thanks go to Mrs. Terry Wagner, Mr. Ari and Mrs. Nes Blau, Mrs. Chani Kanowitz, Mrs. Suzy Libin, Mrs. Lauren Sider, and Mrs. Lani Zoldan, who, with the help and support of SKA principals Mrs. Drebin and Mrs. Kaminetsky, Associate Principal Ms. Flaumenhaft and Director of Student Programming Rabbi Zakutinsky, helped make production 2020 one of the best ones yet!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Around the Community

If Purim is Coming, Can Pesach Be Far Behind? Gourmet Glatt Meat Departments Gear Up for the Coming Yom Tov

ith Purim still two weeks away, the countdown to Pesach has officially begun at Gourmet Glatt. The annual changeover got underway last week as crews began the meticulous process of cleaning the butcher departments in the Cedarhurst, Woodmere, and South Lakewood stores—an effort that culminated with the kashering of the respective meat department premises on Motzoei Shabbos. By Sunday morning, the showcases were fully loaded with kosher l’Pesach meat and poultry. Similar scenarios are set to play out this week in the Boro Park and Lakewood North stores, as well as in KolSave, Gourmet Glatt’s price- and value-centered food market in Lawrence. According to Gourmet Glatt meat department director Rabbi Berel Wolowik, readying the meat departments for Pesach is a time-consum-

ing (each store spends about 15 hours switching to Pesach mode) and labor-intensive effort that requires the involvement of about a dozen staff members (including butchers, general store personnel, and mashgichim)

in each branch. “It really is a massive undertaking,” Berel observes. “The cutting rooms are all scoured from floor to ceiling, with all movable items – boxes, tables, racks and so on –

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pushed aside to allow for maximum access. When the spaces have been thoroughly cleaned, the year-round equipment is switched out for items that are reserved for Pesach use only. In general, everything that comes in direct contact with the meat and poultry – like tables, cutting boards, knives, blades, and scrapers – is replaced.” Berel points out that preparing for Pesach involves more than just cleaning and kashering. “As meat department manager, it’s my job to make sure that our customers always get a great product at the best possible price. So as early as Chanukah, I start working with top suppliers to bring in fresh, quality products that meet the highest standards of kashrus. “When Pesach rolls around, I want to know we’ve done our part to make it affordable for all our customers to put something really special on their yom tov tables.”

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

The annual Tomchei Shabbos Yad Yeshaya Breakfast was held at the home of Eli and Julie Verschleiser in Lawrence on Sunday. Rabbi Ya’akov Trump, rav of Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, was the guest speaker. Pictured with him and the hosts are Hylton Lightman, MD, Joey Hoenig, Arielle Wolfson, Jeanette Lamm and Moshe Lamm

PHOTO BY IVAN NORMAN

KFWE Wines to Rock Your Purim Seudah By Gabriel Geller

he “KFWE season” is now behind us! The KFWE (Kosher Food and Wine Experience) are wine and food shows which take place in five different locations around the world (New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London and Tel Aviv) where more than 400 wines are opened for tasting. Taking place just a few weeks before Purim, they make for a great opportunity to taste and choose wines that will grace the table and delight the guests on the upcoming holidays. After having tasted through most of the KFWE offerings, I have chosen a handful of wines which I very much enjoyed and recommend you all to consider for your Purim seudah. The Purim seudah requires an abundance of responsible drinking (please do not drive afterward or have a designated driver accompany you if you are going to friends or family). When drinking big, bold, full-bodied wines, one’s palate often gets tired quickly, losing the ability to enjoy more wines after a glass or two. The solution, I believe, is to broaden your horizons. Sure, with the mitzvah of the seudah and drinking Ad d’lo yada (to the point one would not be able to tell apart Haman the Persian tyrant from Mordechai the tzaddik), Purim is one of the main “wine holidays.” We learn from Megillat Esther that even when G-d is not intervening as obviously and publicly as he is with the Makkot or Kriyat Yam Suf, he nonetheless never abandons Am Yisrael, the Jewish people. On the

contrary, Haman had plotted to hang Mordechai and eradicate the Jewish People. G-d, however, did v’nahafoch hu, He turned Haman’s plans upside down. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built to hang Morde-

series of high-value wines, which includes a lovely, crisp Rosé 2019 made from Barbera grapes, with citrus, strawberry, tropical fruit notes and subtle minerals – delicious. Vitkin winery has a lovely, unique,

chai, and the Jewish People fought back and won against the mighty Persian Army. So, herewith wine, let’s do v’nahafoch hu and turn things around, as well. Instead of opening the bottles you have been stashing away for special occasions, keep them for the upcoming yamim tovim and go for more approachable, somewhat lighter wines. I recently had the opportunity to taste many new and interesting wines. Tabor Winery, which is located in Kfar Tavor, just came out with the latest vintage of their Adama

dry Gewürztraminer 2018 that is delightful, complex, fragrant and restrained yet very much approachable with hints of lychee, white peach, lime, and rose petals. Netofa is an incredible boutique winery in the Lower Galilee, with its vineyards nestled at the foot of Mount Tavor. They make wines from Mediterranean varieties originating from regions such as the Rhône Valley in France, Spain, and Portugal. Netofa’s wines showcase very well the unique richness of Israel’s ancient terroirs and microclimates. Their wines are made by veteran winemak-

er Pierre Miodownick who for over three decades produced some of the best kosher wines to ever come out of Europe. Miodownick’s experience, combined with the Israeli sunshine and soil, have yielded the Netofa Tel Qasser Red 2017, a blend of Grenache and Syrah. It is a smooth blend that is medium in body and features an elegant mouth-feel with notes of red forest berries and Mediterranean herbs, as well as a long and elegant finish. Jezreel Valley has an unusual wine made from Argaman, a grape variety that is indigenous to Israel where it was created in the 1970s, a hybrid of the French-Spanish Carignan and the Portuguese Sousão. While the previous vintage was a bit on the heavy side, the 2016 is more restrained and nuanced, making it even more interesting and pleasant to sip. It truly provides an intriguing drinking experience, and I highly recommend you check it out! Last, but certainly not least, if you prefer sweeter wines, I suggest you be on the lookout for the Herzog Late Harvest Chenin Blanc 2018 (or any other vintage). This dessert wine is a crowd-pleaser, appealing to both amateurs and sophisticated palates. With notes of honey, quince jam, and baked pears, it is the perfect companion to Oznei Haman. It is also available in a 375ml format which makes it a great gift to include in your mishloach manot. Mishenichnas Adar marbin b’simcha! When the month of Adar comes in, we shall rejoice! These wines will definitely play their part. Purim sameyach, l’chaim!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Third graders at HAFTR used insulating and conductive PlayDoh to understand and create circuits. They learned about transferring energy through electrical currents and why the conductive Play-Doh works for this. The boys and girls explored various types of series and parallel circuits by building creations involving LED lights, buzzers, and fans.

HALB Lev Chana Celebrates 100 Days

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he HALB Lev Chana children were greeted as they arrived by bus and carpool with Morot proclaiming, “Welcome to the 100th day of school!” this week. Many children came prepared with their special collections and projects to present to their friends that included 100 items to celebrate this noteworthy day. 100 jumping jacks, counting 100 pennies that were then

given to tzedaka, stringing 100 Cheerios, creating murals with 100 stickers or mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, listing the names of 100 friends or books that were read, and wearing t-shirts and hats with 100 sequence or pom poms are just a few of the creative ways our children and their families helped mark this special milestone. A fantastic time was had by all!

Did you know? There are three opinions as to Esther’s age upon becoming queen: Rav says she was 40. Shmuel says she was 80. Others say she was 75.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Tens of Thousands Worldwide Become “Dirshu Yidden” as First Test on Masechta Brachos Breaks all Records By Chaim Gold

“U

pon entering the Spinka Shul in Boro Park, I couldn’t believe my eyes! The large bais medrash was packed. Upstairs, downstairs, wherever one looked…people were waiting patiently on line to get their tests, others were taking tests standing, leaning on shelves of sefarim shranks, and then I saw something that was so deeply moving that it brought tears to my eyes. A father, a yungerman, and his not-yet-bar mitzvah son walked into the test site, holding hands, heading together to take their first test on Masechta Brachos!” Those were the emotional words of Rabbi Chaim Blum, Menahel of the Bnos Haddasah school, who was at the Boro Park testing site. This scene repeated itself in Dirshu centers throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. In Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Shlomo

Monsey, New York

Rozenstein, a senior member of Dirshu’s hanhala, described an absolutely surreal scene. In the hundreds of testing sites spread throughout the length and breadth of Eretz Yisrael, tens of thousands, yes, many tens of thousands of Yidden came to take the first test in the fourteenth machzor of Daf Yomi, comprising the first thirty blatt Gemara in Shas.

“We Underestimated the Gadlus and Grandeur of Klal Yisrael!” Both Rabbi Ahron Gobioff, Dirshu’s North American Director, and Rabbi Rozenstein in Eretz Yisrael made a profoundly moving admission. “We underestimated the gadlus and grandeur of Klal Yisrael!” Rabbi Gobioff related, “We printed copious amounts of tests before the test, distributing them to proctors who would preside over the testing sites throughout the country. We decided in advance that rather than risk running out of tests, we should print extras and have leftover, untaken tests at the end. Still,” both Rabbi Gobioff and Rabbi Rozenstein exclaimed, “we could not believe how many people came pouring into the testing sites to take that first test. Despite having prepared all those ‘extras,’ at many locations both in America and in Eretz Yisrael, Dirshu had to print hundreds of extra tests while the testing was taking place to meet the tremendous demand!” In America, the testing sites opened at 7:00 p.m. By the actual time of opening, very large crowds were already gathered – whether it was the Spinka Shul in Boro Park, the Yeshiva Ketana Bais Medrash in Lakewood, Yeshiva Bais Dovid in Monsey or any of the other tens of testing sites throughout North America. Rabbi Motti Zinsky, Dirshu’s proctor in Monsey, related, “I have been a Dirshu proctor for fifteen years,” Rabbi Zinsky continued, “and this is the third haschalas haShas that I am proctoring. I can say that

this time we had more than seven times the number of test takers than we had at the beginning of the last machzor of Shas!” Rabbi Zinsky also explained that the only singular demographic that the test takers represented was that they were a microcosm of all of Klal Yisrael. “There were chassidim, yeshiva types, Sefardim and Ashkenazim, bochurim, yungeleit and even children under bar mitzvah, and kollel yungeleit and baalei batim…” Rabbi Zinsky related, “The whole evening was deeply moving, but I remember one matter-of-fact comment from a baal habayis that impacted me tremendously. Generally, the test is scheduled for Sundays, but this time it was on a Thursday. One baal habayis, a person who works very hard to make a living, came in to take the test and nonchalantly commented, ‘I took the entire day off of work and spent that time chazering so that I could properly prepare for the test.’” “Retzonenu Liros es Malkeinu!” The experience at the Lakewood testing site in Yeshiva Ketana’s spacious bais medrash was almost identical. This writer was zocheh to be at the Lakewood testing site. It was unbelievable – the spacious Yeshiva Ketana Bais Medrash suddenly didn’t seem so spacious as hundreds of people converged together. It seemed that they were echoing the words of the Gemara that talks about Matan Torah when the Bnei Yisrael said, “Retzonenu liros es Malkeinu – we went to see our King!” The sheer volume of Yidden who have joined Dirshu, who have become ‘Dirshu Yidden’ with the start of this machzor, is really a full-throated shout from Klal Yisrael echoing what the Yidden said at Matan Torah, “Retzonenu liros es Malkeinu! We want to become the closest possible to Hashem!’ We know that the best possible way to ‘see Him,’ to get close to Him is by attaching ourselves to His Torah in a way that we will remain attached every day!” Rabbi Gobioff perhaps put it best when he said, “As we were planning the World Siyumim, our banner was to consistently focus on raising the

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Around the Community Torah landscape. Seeing how many new learners has joined Mishpachas Dirshu is the most gratifying culmination of the simchas haTorah of the siyumim that we could have possibly experienced.” “Reminiscent of a Renewed Kabbolas HaTorah!” HaGaon HaRav Chaim Feinstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, put it succinctly when he came into a testing site in Bnei Brak. So moved by what he saw, Rav Feinstein exclaimed, “I see here something reminiscent of the Kabbolas HaTorah meichodosh, mamesh like maamad Har Sinai – I see something reminiscent of a renewed Kabbolas haTorah, literally like maamad Har Sinai!” In Yerushalayim, gaonim such as HaGaon HaRav Yisrael Gans, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva Kol Torah,

Hagaon HaRav Naftali Nussbaum, Rosh Yeshiva rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chayei Moshe, and Rav Shamai Kehos Gross, Dayan and Rosh Yeshiva at the Belzer Yeshiva, visited testing sites and were similarly overwhelmed with simcha. Indeed, there were well over 200 testing sites throughout the length and breadth of Eretz Yisrael. Father and Rebbeim Bringing Children and Students to See A fascinating prelude to the new machzor of tests was experienced both in the Lakewood and Monsey sites as Rabbi Gobioff from Lakewood and Rabbi Zinsky from Monsey told this writer almost identical occurrences from both locations. It was actually at the final test on the last machzor of Shas. There are true Torah heroes, courageous Dirshu Yidden who actually took the

MAY Annual Blood Drive a Huge Success

ast Tuesday, Mesivta Ateres Yaakov once again hosted an incredibly successful blood drive, raising over 60 pints in just a few hours. The drive was organized by senior Shuie Feierman, in conjunction with the JCCRP. The event was sponsored by the MAY Student Government, whose outstanding efforts to encourage donations really made the event a success. “The annual blood drive is just another way in which our talmidim inculcate the Torah values they are taught at the Mesivta into real world situations,” commented S’gan Menahel, Rabbi Yossi Bennett. “We are

extremely proud of Shuie and all the of the talmidim who helped with the organization of the drive and who participated.” The faculty and talmidim of the Mesivta and Yeshiva Gedola got the collection started, after which many people from the community participated, excited to donate and assist in this worthy cause. The Mesivta thanks the New York Blood Center for co-sponsoring this drive and all those who participated. This blood drive brings the total blood contributed in the past three years to over 300 pints! Yasher ko’ach!

last Kinyan Torah cumulative test on the entire Shas! The test had many hundreds of questions from Brachos through Niddah. It was a test on some 2,000 blatt Gemara! “At the Lakewood site,” Rabbi Gobioff related, “many Yidden came with their children simply to observe this phenomenal sight of people being tested on the entire Shas. Their fathers brought them to these talmidei chachamim and asked these Yidden whose hearts and minds were saturated with the entire Shas to bench them, to give a brachos to them and to their children!” Rabbi Zinsky from Monsey commented, “I was totally flabbergasted when I saw a rebbi from a prominent cheder in Monsey arrive at the testing site with his entire class! He wanted his talmidim to see that this wasn’t just a dream, this was really happening! He wanted them

to watch as Yidden from their own communities were actually being tested on all of Shas at once! The class lined up and asked for brachos form those heroic, remarkable Dirshu Yidden.” The first Dirshu test in this machzor was the ultimate testament to the tens upon tens of thousands of Yidden who made such a commitment to Torah saying, “I can’t leave. I can’t leave learning Torah, I can’t forsake my obligation to learning Torah! ‘Ki lekach tov nasati lachem, Torasi al taazovu!’” You can still join Dirshu! The next test on Masechta Brachos will be held on Sunday, 12 Adar/March 8. Soon thereafter there is another opportunity to become a Dirshu Yid by joining for beginning with Masechta Shabbos. Now is the time!

Sheba Medical Center to Play Integral Role at AIPAC

A Sheba Medical Center field hospital operating room during a recent drill in Israel. Photo courtesy of Sheba Medical Center

By Ken Stephens

or the first time in its 72-year history, Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital facility in the Middle East and named by Newsweek magazine as one of the Top 10 hospitals in the world, will have a substantial presence at the forthcoming AIPAC Policy Conference, beginning Sunday, March 1. Within the AIPAC Village, located in the Washington Convention Center, Sheba Medical Center will showcase its renowned field hospital, used

for global emergency outreach via the Israel Center for Disaster Medicine & Humanitarian Response team, as well as an interactive display for its ARC start-up ecosystem. ARC (Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate) is being employed to accelerate startups in order to redesign healthcare on a global scale via collaborative efforts. During the conference, several of Sheba’s top executives will be participating in the AIPAC event and will meet with prominent members of the Jewish community.

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

The Community Unites in Harmony for JEP/Nageela By Jennifer S. Zwiebel

housands of girls and women in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway communities joined together in Harmony XIII for three sold-out performances these past few weeks. What makes this entertainment series extra special is that the performers are the most important people you know – your daughters, your granddaughters or your mothers and grandmothers, your close friends and family. Of course, you had to be there! Families came out in full support to watch their favorite stars perform each

The heads of Harmony XIII

night in two Motzei Shabbos shows and one Sunday evening show. It was a beautiful display of achdus and chessed as girls and women from different schools and neighborhoods united as one for a worthy cause.

The entertainers did a great job wow-ing the audience with well choreographed dances and songs, as everyone shared in the nachas, smiles and kvelling with “shout outs” to their favorite performers. All

the Harmony participants changed lives without even realizing it – they helped make Jewish education more accessible to hundreds of children by raising funds for JEP/Nageela’s programs. Thanks to all the per-

formers, choreographers, organizers, sponsors, attendees, volunteers, security and parking staff and everyone who helped make Harmony XIII a success. Your talents and efforts should continue to pave the path for our current and future generations of community leaders and role models. To purchase a DVD copy of Harmony XIII or video streaming online, please visit jepli.org/harmony. For more information on how to volunteer during the year and to be in Harmony with JEP/Nageela, please call 516-374-1528, ext. 240.

Homework Program with Aaron’s Way

t’s 7:20 p.m. on Monday night, a time when the halls of Yeshiva Sh’or Yoshuv are usually quiet in the interlude between sedorim. But tonight, something is different. From behind the doors of the Bais Medrash Katan comes the sound of dozens of young voices, excitedly discussing various topics. Peeking through the windows, one sees the tables and chairs packed with boys from sixth through eighth grade, from schools and yeshivos from across the community. There’s a palpable sense of achdus and camaraderie that transcends the differences in ages and schools. In one corner, two boys sit poring over their Gemara notes from class that day; at the next table, four boys are huddled over a poster board that they are completing for an upcoming presentation; at the table behind them sits a boy reviewing his bar mitzvah parsha for his leining in a few weeks.

All of them are here united by one thing: the Aaron’s Way Homework

Program, l’ilui nishmas Aaron Tepfer, a”h. At the end of the exhilarat-

Did you know? Achashveirosh searched for four years for a queen after killing Vashti and considered more than 1,400 candidates before choosing Esther as his queen.

ing learning there will be a short but entertaining and thought-provoking story, followed by a raffle, refreshments and the exclusive use of the beautiful Sh’or Yoshuv gym. The program takes place every Monday evening, from 7:00 p.m. until 8:15 p.m. There is no cost, and all sixth through eighth graders are welcome to join us. Come by and check it out!

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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FEBRUARY 27,2015 2020| |The TheJewish JewishHome Home OCTOBER 29,

Op- d

An Unforgettable Trip to Israel By Laura Curran

arlier this month, I had the privilege of traveling to the State of Israel. Accompanying

me for the journey was my friend Rabbi Hershel Billet of Young Israel of Woodmere. Together, we criss-

crossed the Land of Milk and Honey, dashing from religious landmarks and cultural touchstones to institutions of government, commerce, and medicine. On a personal level, my trip was filled with countless experiences I won’t soon forget. Praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest and most sacred site for the Jewish people. Walking with Rabbi Billet through the unprecedented

in pita with just the right amount of hummus! For a country the size of New Jersey, Israel certainly punches above its weight. While I was traveling on my own expense, I knew that this was an important trip for me to take as Nassau County Executive. Above all, it was an opportunity to learn more about the culture and history of the Jewish people and their homeland. Especially in light of rising anti-Semi-

For a country the size of New Jersey, Israel certainly punches above its weight.

archeological excavation that dates back to the Second Temple period, between 516 BCE and 70 CE. Standing at the site of the Masada, the majestic fortress King Herod built near the Dead Sea in the last century BC. Witnessing the sunset at the Sea of Galilee or marveling at the snow-covered Mount Hermon. One cannot also forget their first falafel

tism and hate-fueled crimes here at home, I’ve sought to deepen my cultural understanding and solidarity with our proud Jewish community. As I walked the path through Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, I was reminded of just how important it is that we be neither silent nor complacent when confronted with hatred.

In January, I organized a march of over 2,500 Long Islanders of all faiths to take a stand against anti-Semitism, and working through my new task force, Unify Long Island, we will continue to combat bigotry through education and unity. Walking out of Yad Vashem, the first thing one sees along the mountain’s slope is a dramatic view of modern-day Jerusalem. It reminds you of the light that comes after the darkest hour – not just a new nation but a beacon of hope built from the ashes of tragedy. Modern Israel is a gem, and today in 2020 we have much to learn from the Israeli people. As County Executive, my most important job is keeping our residents safe. My Administration has especially prioritized securing synagogues, mosques, churches, and cultural institutions, working closely with community leaders to ensure the safety of residents of all faiths. It’s no secret that Israelis live in a

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

The TheJewish JewishHome Home| |FEBRUARY OCTOBER 27, 29, 2020 2015

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has been a priority of my Administration, and my trip to the Holy Land has inspired me to fortify that commitment. I will continue to stand with the Jewish people and the State of Israel. As both continue to come under attack at home and abroad, that stance will remain firmer than ever. Am Yisrael chai.

With Rabbi Billet and the mayor of Efrat, Oded Revivi

dangerous geopolitical neighborhood. Meeting with local officials from Sderot to Efrat, I saw firsthand the advanced methods, tools, and know-how Israel champions to protect its citizens. I’m working hard to build up research, development, and technology here on Long Island, and Israel’s tech sector has set a new

global standard for innovation. In proportion to its population, Israel boasts the largest number of startup companies in the world. As Americans, we don’t just share with Israel timeless values of freedom and democracy; we also share common economic connections that help us all prosper. Strengthening the bond between Nassau County and Israel

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FEBRUARY29, 27,2015 2020| |The TheJewish JewishHome Home OCTOBER

TJH

Centerfold

10 Things I Plan on Doing in Honor of February 29 Brush my teeth. (Admit it, you thought that I mean that I only brush every 4 years… No! I brush every day, but the fact that you think that I brush every 4 years certainly means that you don’t brush every day!) Change the oil in my car. (Because my check engine light has been begging me for four years…next thing it’s going to do is tell me to go vote!) Celebrate my 10th birthday. (Yes, I was born on 2/29/79). Finally give away the suit in the corner of my closet that I am waiting to fit into…because it has been there since last February 29. Get a haircut. (Yes, me dreds real long... But you know mon, me no tink mon hof to cut air too often….Ow’ Pirates, yes, dey rob I sold to dem merchants ship.) Finally finish reading the book that I have been reading since last February 29. “Say, I do like green eggs and ham…”

Celebrate this rare day by eating two challahs, four bowls of cholent, three pieces of potato kugel and two desserts…as I do every other Shabbos. I won’t do anything different than normal because I’m bichlal not goires goyish zmanim anyways. (For those of you who speak English, that means I don’t recognize the secular calendar.) Go to the gym. (Just to say hi to the people who have been working out since the last February 29th and look just as out of shape as I do.) I won’t do anything differently than I normally do… What’s the difference to me? Everything is always the same! I’m always working. I never have time for anything anyway. Same thing, different day. (Don’t you love when you accidentally ask this guy a question like “So, how’s your summer going?” Then you remember that he is one of those “same thing, different day” guys. Well, now you have no choice but to play along. “Yeah, I know, it’s always the same. The only difference in the summer is that I sweat more!” Anyway, happy dude. I’m off to the beach…I mean my office!)

The TheJewish JewishHome Home| |FEBRUARY OCTOBER 27, 29, 2020 2015

Leap Day Trivia 1) What is someone who is born on February 29 called?

ruary 29ths (Xavier was born on 2/29/04, Remington – or “Remi,” if you wish – was born on 2/29/08, and Jade was born on 2/29/12)

a. Leapling b. Leap Baby c. Bedayprived

2) What do Jade, Remington, and Xavier Estes, of Utah, all have in common?

a. Evolution b. Rotation c. Revolution

d. All of the above

d. Skipper

4) A year is based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the sun. What is this called?

3) February gets its name from the Latin word februa. What is the meaning of the word “februa”?

a. 1/1,461

b. They all have really cool names!

b. Purification

b. 1/1,200

c. Horizon

c. 1/12,094

d. Rebirth

d. 1/865

2) 1)

 Wisdom Key 5-6 correct: Trig, you know a lot about leaplings. Don’t forget to buy your siblings Jade, Remington and Xavier good birthday presents. They only get them every four years! 3-4 correct: Not bad, you just need an adjustment every once in a while. Basically, your brain needs a February 29th to keep you on track. 0-2 correct: Just wait until we do a quiz about February 30th. You are going to be in serious trouble then.

b. William Shakespeare c. Alexander the Great d. Julius Caesar

5) What are the chances of being born on February 29?

a. Winter

 Answers

a. Thomas Edison

d. Equinox

a. They are all siblings.

c. They were all born on consecutive Feb-

6) Who first established February 29 as leap day?

You gotta be kidding Moishe wakes up bright and early on February 29 ready to tackle his day. His wife, Rose, turns to him and says, “Honey, do you know what today is?” Moishe’s mind starts racing but he quickly recovers and says to Rose, “Of course, I know what today is… How could I ever forget?” As he kicks himself for not checking his calendar, Moishe quickly gets working. At 10 a.m., he UberEats a scrumptious breakfast to his wife. At 12 p.m., he sends a private car to pick her up and take her to the spa. At 3 p.m., he sends her a beautiful bouquet of flowers. At 6 p.m., he comes home with a luminous pearl necklace and gives it to her. Feeling like he dodged a bullet, Moishe turns to Rose and asks with a wide grin, “So, how was your day?” Rose turns to Moishe and says, “Moishele, it was the greatest leap day ever!”

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The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Torah Thought

Parshas Terumah By Rabbi Berel Wein

ne of the greatest problems that has dogged religious life throughout the centuries is the place of material wealth and money in the structure of religious life. It is obvious to all that wealth corrupts and sullies noble programs and plans. The question boils down to the eternal issue as to whether the noble ends – Jewish education, synagogue worship, social charitable endeavors – justify the means, as the process often borders on

the unethical procurement of money. Monetary scandals have plagued all religious projects and ambitions from time immemorial. The fact that the goal trying to be achieved is so noble and morally necessary makes the temptation to deviate from correct probity and proper behavior in fundraising and monetary conduct all the more tempting. Unfortunately, the history of religion is littered with monetary scandals driven by poor decisions.

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The prophets of Israel decried this situation during First Temple times, but apparently to little avail. Religion sadly has a tendency to transform itself into a business, a commercial enterprise. And this always leads to the desecration of G-d’s name and catastrophic disasters. Many commentaries and scholars have stated that this monetary corruption was the real basis for the destruction of the Temples themselves and the continued cessation of Temple service even until our very day. Even buildings and programs conceived in holiness and founded by the most righteous of people are susceptible, over time, to fall into the trap of monetary scandal. I need not and will not enumerate specific examples

In fact, this is the pattern of the Torah in all matters of everyday life, events, and society. Judaism does not allow for excess ascetism or hermit-like lifestyles. We are always somehow to be engaged in this world, tawdry and flawed as it may be. Yet the challenge is to somehow remain a holy people, a kingdom of priests, while dealing with these challenges that mark our daily lives and society. The holy tabernacle, the Mishkan, is to be constructed through heartfelt donations of material wealth and personal volunteerism. Though religion and faith are corrupted by monetary issues, wealth applied correctly and through a generous hand can enhance and even ennoble religion.

The challenge is to somehow remain a holy people, a kingdom of priests, while dealing with these challenges.

of this weakness, but all of us are aware of their existence and sad influence. Yet, despite all of this, these dangers are almost inevitable. This week’s Torah reading combines the ideas of holy service to G-d with the necessity of fundraising and material wealth. The Torah apparently is of the opinion that the benefits of channeling and using money for noble good outweighs the dangers inherent in combining religion with wealth and money.

Moshe was shown a coin of fire in Heaven. It could burn and destroy, but it could also warm and light the way. The word terumah itself, in its literal sense, means to uplift and raise. Wealth properly used and applied can be the engine that propels all holy endeavors forward. As it was in the time of Moshe, so, too, does it remain one of the greatest challenges in Jewish life. Shabbat shalom.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

From the Fire

Parshas Terumah Hashem’s Inner Chamber By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

he Baal Haturim quotes the Zohar (Parshas Korach 178b) with respect to the pasuk at the beginning of this week’s parsha, which explains that the word “teruma” is a contraction of the words “Torah mem (40),” because “‘teruma’ stands for ‘Torah 40’ because the Torah was given after forty days.” What is the connection between teruma, which is the beginning of the process of building the Mishkan, and the giving of the Torah? The Midrash (Tana D’bei Eliyhau 12) explains that when the Jewish people said (Shemos 24:7), “Naaseh v’nishmah, We will do and we will hear,” “Immediately, Hashem said to Moshe that he should tell the Jewish people that they should make Him a Mishkan... (Shemos 25:8) ‘Make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.’” This Midrash also demonstrates that Chazal saw a connection between the giving of the Torah and

the building of the Mishkan, but we must still identify the nature of that connection. The Midrash (Shemos Raba 33) explains the connection between the giving of the Torah and the building of the Mishkan with a parable: There is a parable of a king who had one daughter. One of the kings came and married her. He asked to return to his country and take his wife with him. [The king] said to him, “I have given you my only daughter. I am unable to separate from her. I cannot tell you not to take her because she is your wife. Instead, do me this favor. Wherever you go, make a room for me so that I may stay with you since I am unable to leave my daughter.” Similarly, Hashem said to the Jewish people, “I have given you the Torah. I cannot separate from it. I cannot tell you not to

take it. Instead, wherever you go, make me a house so that I may dwell in it,” as it says, “Make me a sanctuary...” We learn from this Midrash that the primary purpose of the Mishkan is to serve as a place which joins together Hashem, His “daughter” (the Torah), and his “son-in-law” (the Jewish people). Indeed, the Ramban in his introduction to the parsha explains that the purpose of the Mishkan is to carry on, in a concealed way, the revelation of Hashem on Har Sinai. This is why the centerpiece of the Mishkan, the Aron, contained the luchos (Devarim 10:2), which mysteriously contained the whole Torah within them (Rashi on Shemos 24:12). Indeed, most of the mitzvos in the Torah were given to Moshe by Hashem from above the Aron, as the pasuk (Shmos 25:22) in this week’s parsha says, “And I will arrange meetings with you there

and I will speak with you from above the cover of the Aron from between the two cherubim...” That is why the word “teruma” stands for the fact that the Torah was given after forty days and why the Jewish people’s statement that “we will do and we will hear” prompted the command to build the Mishkan. The Mishkan is the place where Hashem, the Torah, and the Jewish people can be together as one. Hashem said to His son-in-law, the Jewish people, that He would be with them and the Torah wherever they traveled. The problem is that we have not had a Beis Hamikdash or Mishkan for a very long time. Hashem said, “I cannot separate from it,” so where is that little house in which Hashem, the Torah, and the Jewish people can dwell together? Yechezkel, the first Navi to prophesize in exile, said (Yechezkel 11:16), “And I shall be to them a small sanctuary.”

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The Gemara (Megilla 29a) explains that “these are the shuls and batei medrash (houses of Torah study) in Bavel.” We can infer from this Gemara that every moment we spend studying Torah in shul or a beis medrash is a means of experiencing the reality of sharing a dwelling place with the Creator. Rav Pinchas Friedman, the Belzer Rosh Kollel in Yerushalayim, points out that this entire concept is difficult to understand. Ostensibly (Yeshayahu 6:3), “Hashem’s glory fills the entire world” and (Tikunei Zohar 91b) “No place is devoid of Him.” Hashem remains with the Torah wherever we go. Why does He need one house set aside in order to dwell together with the Torah and the Jewish people? Rav Friedman prefaces his answer to this question by asking why Chazal (see e.g., Sukkah 28a) refer to all complex halachic discussions as “the discussions of Abaye and Rava.” Why are all such discussions referred to as the discussions between Abaye and Rava when there are many famous pairs of disputants in the Mishna and Gemara? The Gemara (Brachos 48a) relates a formative story of Abaye and Rava which may constitute their first dispute. According to the Gemara, “Abaye and Rava were studying [as children] before Raba. Raba asked them, ‘To whom do we make brachos?’ They said to him, ‘To Hashem.’ [Raba asked them further,] ‘Where is Hashem?’ Rava pointed to the ceiling [of the Beis Medrash] and Abaye went outside and pointed to the heavens. Raba said to them, ‘You will both become great rebbeim.’” Based on Raba’s responses, the answers of Abaye and Rava seem to have great depth so we must understand what they each mean. Rav Friedman quotes the Gemara (Chagiga 5b), based on the reading of Rabbeinu Chananel and the Zohar, that teaches that Hashem cries while the Jewish people are in exile, as the pasuk (Yirmiyahu 13:17) says, “And if you do not listen to it, my soul will weep in secret.” The Gemara continues on to challenge this and asks how the pasuk could say that Hashem is crying in exile when

another pasuk (Divrei Hayamim 1:16:27) says, “There is might and joy in His place.” The Gemara resolves the apparent contradiction by explaining that on the inside, there is always joy. But, on the outside, externally, Hashem is crying. The Seforim Hakedoshim explain that the outside refers to yiras Shamayim, the fear of heaven, which means maintaining a basic level of religiosity and observance, as the pasuk (Tehillim 111:10) says, “Reishis chochma yiras Hashem, The beginning of wisdom is fear of heaven.” However, the inner place of Hashem, where (Shir Hashirim 1:4) “the king brought me into his chamber,” is our study of the Torah. Then, as the pasuk in Shir Hashirim continues, “I will rejoice and be glad in You.” In that inner chamber, “there is might and joy in His place.” And how do we know that the word “might” refers to Torah? As the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni Tehillim 21) says, “Might refers only to Torah.” Every Jew must have basic fear of heaven in order to enter into the most basic relationship with Hashem. At this state, one does not yet taste of the great joy of being in Hashem’s presence. If anything, he senses the “crying of G-d” as felt in the difficulties of exile. But then he must continue into Hashem’s inner chamber by studying Torah and davening in the shuls and batei medrash where “there is might and joy in His place.” The Gemara (Shabbos 31a-b) explains that “any person who has Torah but does not have fear of heaven is similar to a treasurer who was given the keys to the inner chamber but not the outer chamber.” Without the keys to the outer chamber, he cannot even approach the inner chamber to which he does have the keys. Now we understand why Hashem wants a specific place in which to dwell with us. Because there will be times of tears, of concealment of Hashem’s presence, Hashem gave us constant access, no matter where we go in exile, to His inner chamber, to “the shuls and batei medrash.” Whether it was the Aron from which Hashem spoke to Moshe, the Beis Hamikdash, or every shul and beis medrash in which we study Torah

today, we have the keys to Hashem’s inner chamber in which we experience the joy of Hashem’s presence, even in exile. That is what the Gemara (Brachos 8a) means, when it says that “from the day that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, all Hashem has in His world is the four amos of halacha.” Our study of Torah in the beis hamikdash is the place where Hashem’s presence and joy are felt most openly. Rav Friedman then explains that we can now understand the dispute regarding Hashem’s “location” in response to Raba’s question. Rava pointed to the ceiling of the beis medrash, as if to say that, in exile, Hashem is most revealed in the beis medrash. Abaye, however, went outside and pointed to the heavens to hint at the fact that while Hashem’s inner chamber, where He is most revealed, is, in fact, in the beis medrash, one cannot even approach the beis medrash without fear of heaven. This is related to the Mishna (Avos 3:11) which teaches: “The

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wisdom of anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom will last.” In connection with these teachings, we must strengthen our connection to and honor of our beis medrash, as the place where we connect to Hashem and His Torah. We must increase of study of Torah here and strengthen our commitment to honoring this place by not weakening our commitment to avoid speaking during davening, by taking care of the building, and by supporting it financially. May we merit to constantly enter Hashem’s inner chamber by studying Torah in our mikdash mi’at, our miniature Beis Hamikdash here in exile, and may we merit to build the revealed and everlasting Beis Hamikdash in Yerushalayim, may it be soon in our days. Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

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Parsha

in 4

Parshas Terumah By Eytan Kobre

Weekly Aggada And you will see and you will make, after their pattern that is being shown to you at the mount (Shemos 25:40) R’ Yehoshua of Sichnin said in the name of R’ Levi: When Hashem said to Moshe, “Make for me a Mishkan,” Moshe simply should have brought four wooden posts and pitched the Mishkan upon them. So how was it that Moshe knew of all the

work in detail? Rather, it teaches us that Hashem showed to Moshe the Mishkan all built in the Heavens in a red fire, a green fire, a black fire, and a white fire. And Hashem said to Moshe, “Make for me a Mishkan below, just like the pattern of this Mishkan.” “Master of the Universe!” Moshe replied. “Do I have a red fire, a green fire, a black fire, and a white fire?” “After their pattern that is being shown to you at the mount,” said Hashem. “Make it like the image that

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you’ve seen.” R’ Berechya in the name of R’ Levi likened this to a king who appears to his court regulars in a beautiful robe adorned with precious stones. “Make for me a beautiful robe adorned with precious stones, just like this one!” When the court regulars questioned how they could make beautiful robes adorned with precious stones, the king replied, “Use your dyes to color me a robe that appears as if it is adorned with precious stones like this one.” It was as if Hashem said to Moshe, “Moshe! If you make me something below (i.e., on earth) similar to what is Above (i.e., the Heavens), I will leave My throne Above and descend and rest My Divine Presence amongst you below” (Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 1).

Weekly Mussar And the middle bar in the middle of the boards, passes through from end to end (Shemos 26:28) The Targum Yonasan ben Uziel explains the genesis of this middle bar. It was made from the tree that Avraham planted in Be’er Sheva. When the Jewish people crossed the Yam Suf, the angels cut it down and tossed it into the sea, where it floated in the water. The angels declared, “This is the tree that Avraham planted in Be’er Sheva and at which he prayed in the name of G-d.” The Jewish people then took that tree and later used it to fashion the middle bar. This middle bar was 70 cubits long. And, miraculously, when the middle bar was inserted into the

Mishkan’s boards, it wrapped around like a snake within the boards; when the Mishkan was dismantled, the middle bar miraculously straightened out. Some explain that the wood for the middle bar was taken from Avraham’s tree to show that generosity and kindness – as Avraham displayed towards his guests under the tree – are preconditions to receiving G-d’s Divine Presence. Perhaps that’s the reason G-d arranged the miracle of the bending and turning middle bar. Because to be generous and kind, one must first be pliable and flexible and malleable and adaptive. Indeed, “one should always be soft as a reed and not rigid as a cedar” (Taanis 20a). And nowhere is that trait more needed than in our own homes. If we want our homes to be graced with G-d’s Divine Presence, we must be generous and forgiving and kind. And that requires that we be pliable and flexible and malleable and adaptive.

Weekly Anecdote Speak to the Jewish people that they should take for Me an offering, of every man whose heart makes him willing you shall take My offering (Shemos 25:2) R’ Menachem Kalish of Amshinov (grandson of the famous R’ Yitzchak of Vorka) was once told about a wealthy man who had a desperately impoverished distant relative. Now, this was difficult for R’ Menachem to understand; he believed that, whatever the distance of their blood relations, the wealthy relative ought to

support his own flesh and blood. So R’ Menachem went to speak with the wealthy man to implore him to help provide for his relative. But the wealthy man did not possess a willing or generous nature. “I do know the poor gentleman about whom you speak,” the wealthy man began. “And he is indeed a relative. But he is a very distant relative at best. I hardly know the man.” R’ Menachem nodded as if he understood. Then he looked down for a brief moment before raising his head again. “Do you daven Shacharis and Mincha and Maariv each day?” This took the wealthy man by surprise. “With all due respect, rabbi, what kind of question is that? Is the rabbi’s opinion of me so low that he suspects that I do not even pray?” “Well, if you do pray,” R’ Menachem replied, “perhaps you could tell me about the first blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei.” “Indeed, I can,” said the wealthy man proudly. “As we all know, it

begins by referencing our people’s Patriarchs – the G-d of Avraham, the G-d of Yitzchak, and the G-d of Yaakov.” “And when did these Patriarchs live?” probed R’ Menachem. “As we all know,” answered the now-confused wealthy man, “our Patriarchs lived thousands of years ago.” “True, true,” yelled R’ Menachem. “Our Patriarchs lived thousands of years ago. And yet, you reference them and invoke them three times each day, and in the merit of these ‘distant relatives’ from thousands of years ago you seek G-d’s salvation. But when I come to you to seek support and sustenance for your own relative – who is alive today! – you have the gall to tell me that he is ‘a very distant relative’ and you ‘hardly know the man’?” Suffice it to say, from that day forward, the wealthy man supported his destitute relative – regularly and generously.

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Weekly Halacha And they should make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Shemos 25:8) While this verse is the basis for the commandment to build the Mishkan and the Bais HaMikdash, it also includes the obligation to build shuls generally (Zohar 3:126). Indeed, shuls and batei midrashim are regarded as “miniature sanctuaries” (Megilla 29a). And many of the laws governing how we treat the Bais HaMikdash also govern the way we treat our shuls (Berachos 62b; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 151). The building of a shul is a communal obligation that arises once there are ten “adult” (over bar mitzvah) Jewish men in the community (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 150:1; Mishna Berura 150:1). The community must fund the building of the shul, and if the community cannot afford to

purchase or build a shul, it must rent a space for davening (Mishna Berura 150:2). If the community can afford to purchase or build a shul, they should not settle for merely renting one (Aruch HaShulchan, Orach Chaim 150:1). The shul should ideally be the tallest building in the city (Shabbos 11a; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 15:2). While it is not always possible or practical to adhere to this requirement in modern times – and some leeway is given to build houses taller than the shul – it is still preferable to refrain from doing so when possible (Mishna Berura 150:5). The Weekly Halacha is not meant for practical purposes and is for discussion purposes only. Please consult your own rav for guidance. Eytan Kobre is a writer, speaker, and attorney living in Kew Gardens Hills. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail eakobre@outlook.com.

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Think, Feel, Grow

The Fading Light of Inspiration By Shmuel Reichman

ave you ever felt that everything worthwhile in life eventually fades? The energy of youth fades into old age; the excitement of beginnings fades into routine; the inspiration of a new goal fades into habit. This experience extends to almost all dimensions of human experience. When you begin a meal, the taste is fresh and delicious but after only a few bites the taste wears off and the food loses its mouthwatering appeal. Did you ever hear a great song, immediately fall in love with it, and play it endlessly on repeat? After a few days, you probably couldn’t listen to it anymore. This once-captivating song somehow lost its appeal, and you were forced to move on to the next song. This numbing experience isn’t always negative. If you’ve ever heard a loud or disturbing sound, you may initially be annoyed or irritated by it. However, after a few moments, your senses become dulled and your mind muffles out the sound. The stimulus is still there, but the sensation has faded. This concept permeates all of human experience, leading us to question why Hashem created the world this way. Why did Hashem create a world in which inspiration, physical sensation, and emotional delight always fade? What is the deep spiritual concept behind this phenomenon?

Yetzias Mitzrayim and Matan Torah Before answering our question, let us take a further look at this pattern and how it plays out through the events in the Torah. In this week’s

parsha, Parshas Terumah, Klal Yisrael are experiencing the aftereffects of Yetzias Mitzrayim and Matan Torah. Let us take a closer look at the events that led up to this moment. The first day of Pesach was the pinnacle of the Yetzias Mitzrayim experience. After revealing Himself to the world through the ten makkos, Hashem performed Makkas Bechoros (the Plague of the Firstborn) Himself, striking down the firstborns of Mitzrayim. At this point, the Jews underwent the process of their formation as Hashem’s chosen nation, performing the mitzvos of korban Pesach and bris milah. The Ba’alei Machshava describe this night as the absolute peak of holiness and spirituality for the Jewish people. It is therefore astonishing that immediately following this elevated experience, the Jews descend into the midbar, the desert, and fall into total disarray. The midbar is a place of spiritual emptiness and the next forty days are defined by hardship, complaints, and spiritual challenge. Then, upon completing these forty days, the Jews once again experience spiritual transcendence. The Jews are given the Torah at Har Sinai, cementing their marriage relationship with Hashem and committing themselves to a destiny of greatness. There is an obvious question on this sequence of events: why didn’t the Jews go straight from Mitzrayim to Matan Torah, from one high to the next? Why did they first have to go through such a bitter low, losing everything they had gained on the first night of Pesach? The deep explanation behind this

process is explained by the Arizal, the Ramchal, the Vilna Gaon, and many other Jewish thinkers. They expound as follows: every process contains three stages. The first stage is the high, the inspiration, an experience of perfection and clarity. Next comes the second stage: a complete fall, a loss of everything that was experienced in the first stage. Then we have the third stage, a return to the perfection of the first stage. However, this third stage is fundamentally different than the first. It is the same perfection, the same clarity, but this time it’s a perfection and clarity that you have earned. The first time it was given to you; now you have worked to build it for yourself.

Learning to Walk Imagine you are a young child, still unable to walk. One day, your father holds your hands and begins to walk with you. Suddenly seeing the world from a higher vantage point, you immediately fall in love with your new ability to walk. Your father takes you around the kitchen, around the house, and you start to feel more and more comfortable in the walking position. You feel so close and grateful to your father for walking with you. Suddenly, just when you felt so safe and loved, your father does the unexplainable – he lets go! A second later, you fall to ground, shocked, feeling both hurt and abandoned. All you can think is: “Why would my father do this to me? I thought he loved me?!” The next day, the same thing happens. Once again, just as you feel safest, your father lets go, and you fall

straight to the ground. You can’t understand why your father is putting you through this suffering! However, a few weeks later, something magical happens. Your father lets go, but this time, you don’t fall to the ground. This time, you remain on your feet. You begin to walk around, by yourself! You have officially learned to walk. Only now do you realize the truth. Your father wasn’t trying to hurt you. On the contrary, he was simply trying to help you walk. First, he needed to show you how to do it. However, it was only by letting go and forcing you to stand on your own that you eventually learned how to walk. While he was holding your hand it may have felt like you were walking, but you now realize that it was only an illusion. It was a gift; it wasn’t real. Only now that you were forced to build it on your own do you really have the ability to walk. The first stage was the gift. The second stage was the fall. The third stage was the recreation of the first stage, except this time, it’s now real.

The Three Stages The first stage is a gift, a spiritual high. It’s there to help you experience the goal, the destination. It’s a taste of what you can and hopefully will ultimately accomplish, but it’s not real, it’s given as a gift, and is therefore an illusion. It serves only as a guiding force but can’t compare to the genuine accomplishment of building something yourself. The first stage is therefore taken away to allow for the second and most important stage: building it yourself, undergoing the work required

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The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015 The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

to attain this growth in actuality, to work for the perfection that you were shown. A gift isn’t real; something chosen and earned is. We’re in this world to choose, to assert our free will, and to create ourselves. Now that we’ve tasted the first stage, we know what we’re meant to choose, what we’re meant to build. The third stage is the recreation of the first stage. While it appears the same, it’s fundamentally different. It’s real, it’s earned, it’s yours. The first stage was a gift, an illusion; the third is the product born of the effort and time you invested. (These three stages are the secret behind many spiritual concepts: Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov; chessed, din, and tiferes; male, female, and the child created from their bond of oneness.) Returning to our original discussion, we can now understand why the Jewish people couldn’t go straight from Yetzias Mitzrayim to Matan Torah. The first night of Pesach was a

spiritual high, a revelation of their ultimate destination, but it was a gift, unearned. They therefore had to go through the challenges of the midbar in order to rebuild and earn that initial stage. Matan Torah was the third stage, the recreation of the first stage, but earned, real. Only then was

you can hardly even remember that initial stage of excitement. The Rambam compares this experience to a man lost in the forest, in the darkness of night, in the midst of a thunderstorm. Unable to see his hand in front of his face, he has no idea where to go. Suddenly, there’s a flash of

It’s the same perfection, the same clarity, but this time it’s the perfection and clarity that you have earned.

Klal Yisrael truly able to experience their connection and marriage with Hashem. This is the process of life. Inspiration, followed by hardship and difficulty, usually to the point where

lightning, and he sees the path home, clear as day. A second later the lightning fades, and he’s left with only the memory of clarity to guide him back home. The lightning represents flashes of

inspiration in a challenging and difficult world. The darkness represents the journey we must take to recreate that initial stage of inspiration. We must hold onto those flashes of lightning, understand our goal and destination, and then recreate that light within the darkness. For, one day, you will once again experience the clarity of that light. Except this time, it will be real, earned, never again fading away.

Shmuel Reichman is an inspirational speaker, writer, and coach who has lectured internationally at shuls, conferences, and Jewish communities on topics of Jewish thought and Jewish medical ethics. He is the founder and CEO of Self-Mastery Academy (ShmuelReichman.com), the transformative online course that is revolutionizing how we engage in self-development. You can find more inspirational lectures, videos, and articles from Shmuel on his website, ShmuelReichman.com.

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Israel Today

Sick on the Edge By Rafi Sackville

Rambam Hospital in Haifa

recently fell ill with a correctable condition. What should have lasted no longer than an afternoon trip to the doctor ended up dragging on for over two weeks and a handful of hospital visits. Without boring you with the details of my ailments, I want instead to focus on my hospital experiences.

In order to do so, however, I would be amiss were I not to emphasize that we live in Ma’alot and that Ma’alot is slightly off the grid, in what is commonly known as the periphery. Not one to take for granted my right to live in Israel (anywhere in Israel) as anything less than a blessing, I initially assumed that anywhere

meant equality and quality for all its citizens. This naiveté, this blind spot of seeing everything about this country through rose colored glasses, finally caught up with me and took a beating. Since returning to Israel seven years ago, we have repeatedly been told that, in the case of medical emergency, we would be better served avoiding the local hospital. When we’d ask why, the answer was always the same; this is the periphery; the government doesn’t invest as much here as they do in the center of the country. Upon initially falling ill, our family doctor insisted I go to the emergency room in Nahariya. The attending doctor checked me over, told me there were many sick people in the hospital, and that he’d wait a few hours and send me home to decrease my chances of catching something I didn’t arrive with. That was on the Thursday. I was back the following Monday by way of ambulance, where I was kept for two days, only to be sent on my way, but not before begging the doctors there to investigate all my symptoms. They wouldn’t comply. While under their care, they put me on a fast in preparation for a test. Upon being visited by the doctor on the morning of the test, I asked him what time they were taking me down. He left my bedside looking bemused only to return a few minutes later saying there’d been a mistake. Someone whose name was similar to mine was due for the test, not me. This was after being told they’d never seen so unique

a name as mine. The following Friday I was back again. I was greeted by some of the nurses there with the bonhomie of old friends. Despite the obvious difficulties I was having, I was once again sent on my way. Two hours before Shabbat I called an ex-patriot Australian who has been in the field of emergency medicine for almost 40 years. She told me to get to Rambam Hospital in Haifa immediately. I did as I was told, but only after she threatened never speak to me again if I didn’t listen to her. Thus, began my “vacation” in Haifa which lasted for six days. My initial, and then ongoing, observation is that the quality of care is not only far more professional but far more caring. The doctors and nurses exhausted all the artillery at their disposal to get to the root of what was ailing me. Upon arrival in emergency, followed by my extended stay, I was treated with respect. No one yelled at me as they had done in our local hospital. I did notice that in both hospitals there was a shortage of bed space. On more than one occasion patients on beds were parked in hallways until space became available. During my third visit to Nahariya, they parked my bed by the toilets down the corridor. After 24 hours in Rambam, our daughter, Elisheva, who lives in Far Rockaway, called and asked if there was anything she could do for me. I jokingly asked for a pillow, as the

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nursing staff couldn’t find one for me. Three hours later, a nurse from a different department came looking for me. She stood at the foot of my bed and asked if I was the man who had protexia (preferential treatment) from New York. She was carrying a pillow in her hand and was wearing a smile from ear to ear. Word got around about Elisheva’s remarkable feat. Soon thereafter, the hospital’s rabbi came looking for the patient with the pillow. “I just wanted to see who you were,” he told me. My bed looked out across Haifa Bay. Ennui coupled with confinement to such a small space, I became enchanted for hours at a stretch by its peacefulness. At one point I was taken for a test in a far wing of the hospital. Suddenly I heard my name, not called, but barked. “Rafi! You’re here, and you never told me! What’s the matter with you?” The call came from one of my student’s mothers, whose last question

and chocolate cake. She, herself, brought me the tea and cake. By the time my sojourn in Rambam was over, Dina had arranged every test she could think of except for filling up my tires and an oil change.

The view of Haifa Bay from my hospital bed

was not in reference to my health. Before I knew it, I was receiving the kind of (protexia) preferential treatment only reserved for people who can move mountains and arrange getting a pillow from New York. Unfortunately, she ordered more tests than were necessary; I guess that’s one of the side effects of protexia.

Dina – for that’s her name – was interested in getting to the bottom of my ailment. As she told me more than once, “I want you back in school way before the state exams. My son needs you.” She pulled every rabbit out of her magic hat and arranged everything for me, including lots of herbal tea

It’s unacceptable that the periphery of the country isn’t funded as well as the center of the country. One cannot blame the local hospital for their lack of services. Resources and the distribution are the front of nearly all problems in the periphery. The majority of tourists who flock to the country don’t get to see the other side of Israel. The experience of the last few weeks hasn’t dampened my love of the north. I now know that, in the hopefully, unlikely chance I need hospital services again, I’ll drive a little further south of Nahariya to seek help.

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

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Oceans of Memories Remembering

Rabbi Chaim Wakslak, zt”l, Selfless and Humble By Elliot Pasik

f Rabbi Chaim Wakslak, zt”l, Rav Chaim Aharon ben Yisroel Meir v’Dvorah, had been an artist, he would have been an Impressionist. The Impressionist movement began in 19th century France. Conventional artists before them painted portraits and landscapes in studios. The Impressionists often painted outdoors, utilizing visible brushstrokes, and emphasizing changing light, movement, and imaginatively creating overall mood. I say this because Rabbi Wakslak was more than a rabbi in the strict, narrow sense of that word. Rabbi means “teacher of Torah.” Teaching is usually done indoors, just like traditional artists paint in art studios. Our rabbi was, yes, the indoor teacher of Torah, but he was also an outdoor rabbi as well, like the Impressionists. It was the Brisker Rav who gave a better definition of rabbi than a “mere” indoor Torah teacher. He defined a rabbi as much more, as Rav Soloveichik, zt”l, wrote in Halachic Man. The rabbi is one who “redress(es) the grievances of those who are abandoned and alone, protect(s) the dignity of the poor, and save(s) the oppressed from the hands of his oppressor.” The complete rabbi

teaches Torah and also tends to the needy, the widow, and the orphan. Rav Wakslak, for 32 years as the rav of the Young Israel of Long Beach, was the indoor and outdoor rabbi, the Impressionist rabbi, the Brisker Rav rabbi. I daresay that Young Israel of Long Beach was the perfect place for our rabbi. It was hashgacha pratis, Divine Providence, that brought the two together.

oung Israel of Long Beach is a moderately-sized shul, judging by the building itself. But the shul seems bigger than the building. We are one short block from the vast Atlantic Ocean. We are surrounded by a near-constant physical ruach, the ocean wind. In this windy, ocean setting, Hashem gave us an elite, complete rabbi. I have been here for 25 of those years. Davening, singing, learning, laughing, crying, schmoozing, dancing, eating, drinking, and observing our rabbi. Rabbi Wakslak was the son of Auschwitz survivors, born in Sweden in 1948. I heard Rabbi Wakslak once comment that the Swedish hospitals carefully gave tender care to his par-

ents, restoring them to health. The family emigrated to America, so that the children could receive a proper Jewish education. The Wakslak family resided in Newark, and the rabbi developed a close relationship with the Pittsburgher Rebbe. Rabbi Wakslak learned for many years at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, receiving semicha there. The rabbi’s Shabbos drashos reflected deep thought and careful organization. He was a genuine talmid chochom, recognized as such by the learned, choshuv men in the shul and other rabbis throughout greater Long Beach. The rabbi knew his olam and made each and every Shabbos drasha understandable to all. In all of his drashos and shiurim, Rabbi Wakslak translated the more complicated Hebrew and Aramaic terms, so everyone could understand. In twenty-five years of listening to the drashos, I rarely heard the rabbi repeat himself. His thoughts were always fresh and new and he was famous for his clever gematrias at simchas. Some recurrent themes do stand out, though: our love for G-d and G-d’s love for us; the vast potential of every Jew to grow in Torah and mitzvos. One repetition I do recall. Often, around Pesach time, Rabbi Wakslak

would comment that the yom tov is called both Pesach and Chag Hamatzos. We Jews call it Pesach, because we love G-d for passing over us and sparing us from the Tenth Plague of the slaying of the firstborn. Hashem calls it Chag Hamatzos, declaring His love for us, because we placed our faith in Hashem and departed Eretz Mitzrayim with only simple matzos for food. The Rabbi’s emphasis on ahavas Hashem and ahavas Yisroel appeared throughout the passing years.

t Pesach time, for 25 years, Rabbi Wakslak would plant himself in the shul kitchen for a couple hours, standing alongside a big vat of boiling water, with the Jews of Long Beach lined up to make their utensils Pesach’dik. Rabbi Wakslak actually enjoyed this annual exercise, wearing rubber gloves, shvitzing in the overheated kitchen, and chatting with the olam. For me, it was torture just to wait on line. Purim was a one-man show before Jackie Mason made that famous on Broadway. Rabbi Wakslak would bring in, for guest appearances, donkeys, parrots, and local politicians. The Rabbi cracked jokes, sang, dance,

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Rabbi Dr. Chaim Wakslak, Clinical Director at HASC Center, affixing a mezuzah to new 65th street residence and ran for elective office but lost – he wanted to be Chief Rabbi of Long Beach. Rabbi Wakslak had a sense of humor. My favorite joke, told from the Shabbos pulpit: Mazel and Schlamazel went out for a walk. After a while, Schlamazel said, “I’m tired, let’s rest.” Mazel agreed, and said, “I’m so tired, I’m just going to lie down here, in the middle of the road.” Schlamazel replied, “Are you crazy? Come here, and sit on this bench by the side, where it’s safe.” Mazel stayed put, and sure enough, after a few minutes, a big truck came along, saw Mazel lying on the road, swerved, and hit Schlamazel on the bench. The Rabbi seemed to be an expert on Sefer Rus. He gave a long drasha, on a different theme, every Shavuos. He also gave the daily Daf Yomi shiur. He prepared for it at 3 a.m. and gave the shiur at 5 a.m. One time, a car jumped the sidewalk and smashed a hole into a side wall of the shul. It was the week of Parshas Metzora. On Shabbos, the Rabbi told us it was a sign of tzaraas and that we should take heed. Stop gossiping. Like many shuls on Shabbos, a child leads the Aleinu. Children often repeat the word “u’Shmo,” in the last line, three times. Once, in another shul, I heard a child do this, and the presiding, very-learned Modern Orthodox rabbi let out a “shah” that could be heard blocks away. To say that it was not on Rabbi Wakslak’s radar screen to utter such a “shah” is

an understatement. I never saw the Rabbi so much as shush a child in shul. Once, in a rare while, the adults he shushed, but not a child.

he Rabbi, a psychology Ph.D., was Clinical Director of HASC. He was previously director of addiction services at a Long Island hospital. I rarely heard the Rabbi discuss psychology. The Rabbi worked in Brooklyn. Erev Shabbos and yom tov, the Rabbi picked up the kiddush food from a caterer in Brooklyn and brought the food into the shul. He did this to save on costs for the shul. He also sometimes brought the food from the shul kitchen into the kiddush room on Shabbos. Nothing was beneath it when it came to his congregation. For many years, the Hoffman Manor in Long Beach donated space in their building for a mikvah. As years went by, there were ongoing repairs, until it became apparent that a new mikvah was needed. Every Shabbos, until the new mikvah was built, Rabbi Wakslak announced: it is now seven days that Long Beach is without a mikvah. The second week, it is now fourteen days that Long Beach is without a mikvah. The third week… you get the idea. This continued for the approximate two years that it took to raise the money and build the mikvah. Today, there is a modern mikvah at the corner of Penn Street and Monroe Blvd, with a residential apartment above. It is named after Rabbi Wakslak’s parents.

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With Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and Speaker Sheldon Silver There was no “dead air” in the shul. Between Mincha and Maariv, and other similar times, the Rabbi, or a designee, always spoke Torah. When new faces came into the shul, the Rabbi often got out of his chair, walked over, and greeted and schmoozed with them. Non-Orthodox Jews visiting the shul always – not sometimes, always – commented that the Rabbi was intelligent and friendly. One time, a stranger broke into the shul and vandalized Rabbi Wakslak’s tefillin. The young man was caught and arrested. But Rabbi Wakslak dealt with the situation with compassion and intelligence. He publicly read the young man’s sincere letter of apology to the shul on Shabbos. The Rabbi’s beloved daughter, Avigail Rechnitz, z”l, was tragically niftar six years ago. Avigail personally established new tzedakah initiatives in Los Angeles. There is now a tzedakah organization named after Avigail. I comment that tzedakah cannot be learned from a book. It comes from the parents. Over the years, our shul has had a few general membership meetings. Sometimes words were said that should have been phrased more delicately. The Rabbi was a calm, patient man. He kept his composure and always tried to make shalom at the meetings. Rabbi Wakslak helped people get jobs, called yeshivas to lower tuition and to get children in, and gave and distributed tzedakah to the needy.

One time I was in a dance circle with the Rabbi, holding hands. He leaned in and said, “Elliot, smile.” So I smiled. If he knew you well enough, the Rabbi gave you constructive advice. The Rabbi was the shadchan for my children, Chanan and Tzipi (Krupnik) Pasik. Rabbi Wakslak knew how to daven and sing. He was musical. He had a deep, strong, gravelly voice and had excellent pitch and a great sense of rhythm. He davened and sang not merely from the larynx, but from the heart and from the soul, the way it’s supposed to be done. Rabbi Wakslak led every Birchas Rosh Chodesh on Shabbos. For a non-professional, his repertoire was amazing. Every month, he changed the tune to a fitting melody. At the same time, the Rabbi always sang the Mi Shebayrach tefillah after the two Yekum Purkan tefillos. Our shul hired professional chazzanim for the High Holy Days, but Kol Nidre and Ne’ilah were led by Rabbi Wakslak. At the end of Ne’ilah, the Rabbi was in high spirits and drenched with perspiration. Before my father was niftar eight years ago, I was rarely a shaliach tzibbur. But after he passed away, on weekdays, at our Long Beach shul and elsewhere, I had to get up to the amud and daven. Slowly but surely, during that year and after, I made progress as a baal tefilah. I took some lessons. Rav Wakslak noticed and encouraged me. He made a Shabbos Mussaf tape for me.

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Rabbi Wakslak with, ybl”ch, his friend, the Pittsburger Rebbe On one occasion, Chazan Yaakov Lemmer came to our shul, and sang the Avinu Shebashamayim, Medinas Yisrael tefillah. I had somehow never heard it before,and decided to learn it. When the Rabbi heard me sing it, he liked it, and a new minhag was born. Every Shabbos Mevorchim, I sing this tefillah. In small Long Beach, Rabbi Wakslak managed to persuade five kosher stores that they should be certified kosher by him – the butcher, naturally, but also Country Boy Bakery, Dunkin’ Donuts, Life’s a Bagel, and Carvel.

am active in child protection in the Jewish and all faith communities. When my friends and I formed an organization about ten years ago, Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, I realized that a proper Jewish organization needs a rabbinical advisory board to put on its letterhead. We needed to look respectable. I also thought that it didn’t seem appropriate for the organization’s president not to ask his own shul rav to be on the advisory board. So, in shul, I approached Rav Wakslak and asked him, “We’re forming an organization that will advocate for child protection. Can you serve on our advisory board?” I expected lots of questions or a more formal meeting to discuss the parame-

ters. I got neither. The Rabbi just said one word: “Yes.” I’ve knocked on a lot of doors for this issue in the past few years, and “no” is the more common answer. But Rabbi Wakslak was different. Later, it was Rav Wakslak and two other rabbis who accompanied me to State Senator Dean Skelos’ office, advocating for criminal history searches for nonpublic school employees. Now, each passing year, more schools are fingerprinting their employees. Many would-be employees have been reject-

Rabbi Wakslak with, ybl”ch, Rav Reuven Feinstein

urricane Sandy, on October 29, 2012, devastated Long Beach and other shore communities. I saw a boardwalk pedestrian ramp in the Waldbaum’s shopping center parking lot after the storm. It floated there. For months after, we had free, catered meals in the shul. People had no electricity or heat or water. Our sturdy Rabbi Wakslak held down the fort, arranging for everybody’s needs. In one memorable moment, to keep our spirits high, the Rabbi gathered shul

At the end of Ne’ilah, the Rabbi was in high spirits and drenched with perspiration.

ed because of their serious crimes, and children are safer. Our little group also persuaded many Jewish organizations to participate in National Jewish Week for the Prevention of Child Abuse. During that week, Rav Wakslak devoted his Shabbos drasha to that theme.

members to meet him at “Mt. Sandy,” a four-story mountain of sand on an empty lot next to the damaged boardwalk. We climbed the mountain, and davened a little, and sang a little. The Rabbi dressed for the occasion, wearing suspenders and knickers, and carried a walking stick.

A few months later, on March 6, 2013, Rabbi Wakslak was honored by the New York State Legislature and asked to deliver the Invocation. Here are his memorable words, imparting an unforgettable spiritual message, so lacking in our troubled times: “I will have traveled for over three hours to come to Albany today, to deliver an invocation lasting no more than several minutes and then to again travel over three hours to return home. Yet, I find myself deeply honored and privileged to address you in these hallowed chambers. “I am reminded of the Talmudic passage which relates the story of a student who would travel three months to and from yeshiva and was called ‘a one-day rabbinical student’ since by the time he arrived he could stay only one day before having to turn around and head home. Yet, he understood that it was worthwhile to travel, based on the value as to what one can accomplish in a single day in yeshiva. “You see, I stand before you as a son of Holocaust survivors. My parents witnessed the extermination of their entire family and endured the unspeakable tortures of the concentration camps. Once liberated, my parents emigrated to these United

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States of America where they reestablished themselves as responsible citizens, rebuilt a family while remaining faithful to their tradition and heritage. Unfortunately, my parents of blessed memory are no longer alive but I can only imagine how proud they would be with the knowledge that their son has been invited to deliver the invocation opening this session of the NYS Assembly. I am certain that they never would have imagined such an eventuality. If for no other reason, I express my gratitude to the Honorable Harvey Weisenberg for inviting me to pray with you today and to humbly reflect to you the importance of your roles in being a part of the freedom, tolerance, and democracy which we cherish and which we should never take for granted. “Dear G-d of us all, we ask for your blessings upon the Speaker of the House, its leaders, and upon its members. “May You bless them with your

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“May G-d empower all of you to carry out your good intents, and pronounce laws that will safeguard our lives and the lives of our children. “And all of those who occupy themselves faithfully with communal affairs, may the Holy One, Blessed be He, give them their reward, remove from them and their loved ones all sickness, heal their entire body, pardon all of their sins, and send blessing and success to all their endeavors. And let us say, Amen.”

H Rabbi Wakslak hosting a class from Yeshiva Darchei Torah for breakfast one morning at Young Israel of Long Beach guidance, insight, and wisdom to do their work for the good and benefit of the people of our state – especially now when we continue to reel from the destruction and destabilization

of Superstorm Sandy. “May all the members work together and have the heart and the mind to accomplish Your will to make our state a better place.

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ow do we explain the sudden, unexpected passing of our dear, beloved rabbi? There is no explanation. Rabbi Chaim Hoberman, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta of Long Beach, davened at the shul on Shabbos, the day after the levaya, and delivered the drasha: have faith in Hashem. Emunah is the only answer. May Hashem grant comfort to the family and all mourners.

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C PING with

C MEDY by Rivkah Lambert Adler

“Israelis are so blunt in the way they name things. Dead Sea. Cave of Horror. Wailing Wall… It’s all crisis.” −Comedian Dwight Slade on a Comedy for Koby tour

n May 2001, American olim Rabbi Seth and Sherri Mandell’s 13-yearold son Koby and his 14-year-old friend Yosef Ishran were viciously murdered by Palestinian terrorists half a mile from their home, just south of Jerusalem. The Mandells were instantly plunged into a nightmare of unspeakable darkness. Sherri grew up as a secular Jew on Long Island. “I always felt that, because I didn’t know anything about Israel or Judaism, I was missing something,” she explained. Early in her career, she took time off to travel, eventually enrolling in a kiruv program for young adults in Israel. Pleased to have a greater understanding of her heritage, but not quite ready to commit to an observant life, she met Seth, who was studying at a ye-

shiva for baalei teshuva. He encouraged her to enroll in seminary and, before marriage, she took on kashrut, Shabbat and taharat hamishpacha. The couple married in Israel and had two children before returning to the East Coast. Less than a decade later, Seth took a sabbatical from his work as a Hillel director, and the Mandells, now with four children, returned to Israel in 1996. Five years on, Koby and Yosef were murdered. The combination of the young age of the boys and the particularly brutal murder drew a dizzying amount of attention to the case. During the funeral, a major intersection near the cemetery was closed, and thousands of people attended the shiva. “During the shiva, I already knew, being a Jewish professional, that I would now have a platform to do something,” Seth recounted. “I wanted Koby’s murder to mean something. I wanted the whole experience of his life to mean something.” Originally published in 2003, Sher-

ri Mandell’s memoir, The Blessing of a Broken Heart, has been turned into a one-woman show. In it, she explained their earliest thinking about taking action in Koby’s memory. “Seth and I know that we have to do something to keep Koby’s spirit alive. We cannot let his spirit die. As a former Hillel director, Seth has experience running programs and raising money. Many people know about Koby’s death; we want to channel the power of the boys’ death and we have the ability to do so. We decide to do something Koby would enjoy; we decide to make a summer camp for the children in Israel whose mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers have been killed by terror. “We see that our own kids aren’t understood. They go right back to school, and people think they’re okay because they play and seem happy. But inside we know they suffer, they’re in pain.” Seth quickly began to raise funds for the camp. Significant early support came from Marty Scharf and Fran Hirmes of the Five Towns.

Moving Forward In the 18 years since Koby’s and Yosef’s deaths, the Koby Mandell Foundation has provided support for thousands of bereaved Israeli families. The Foundation’s programs are based on three pillars: recreation, creative therapy, and community building. Their flagship program is Camp Koby, an immersive sleepaway camp experience for Israeli children. Camp Koby is offered at no cost to families impacted by terror or tragedy and combines typical camping experiences with emotional, physical, and spiritual healing. The very first Camp Koby had 150 kids. As the Second Intifada fully erupted, there were 600 children enrolled the following year. “We were the first ones to recognize children’s grief,” Sherri noted. “We were the first camp set up for brothers and sisters and orphans in Israel. We were the first organization to create a community of bereaved children.” In addition to the approximate-

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Enjoying Camp Koby trips (photo credit Eliana Braner) ly 7,500 children who have attended Camp Koby since its inception, over 2,000 young adults have served as volunteer counselors and staff members. Six months after the murders, Yosef’s mother, Rena, expressed to Sherri a need for “a place for herself, some place where she’s not going to be bothered for two days and where she can be taken care of.” That was the inspiration for the first women’s retreat in 2002. To date, over 1,000 women have participated in ongoing support groups and retreats through the Koby Mandell Foundation. An unusual partnership helps fund the foundation’s activities. Israeli-born, American-raised, yeshiva day school-educated Jewish comedian Avi Liberman is the personality behind Comedy for Koby. Liberman was born for comedy. As a kid, he watched endless hours of comedy specials, always renting the funny movies at Blockbuster. Early in his career, he worked in LA as a teaching assistant in a Jewish day school by day and doing stand-up at night. Today, he combines stand-up with an interest in screenwriting. Having just sold a script based on the female characters Miriam and Batya in the Exodus story, he calls Comedy for Koby “my mini part-time job.” Twice a year, Liberman brings three well-known American comedians to entertain English-speaking audiences in Israel. The comics, whose credits include Late Night with Conen O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, The

Improv and more, come for an eightday Israel experience. Liberman came to Israel in 200304 during the Second Intifada and was overwhelmed by what he saw. “I hadn’t been there in years and I just decided to go. The mood was awful. No one was around. There were no tourists. “So I asked my friends, ‘What do you guys do at night?’ Especially in Tel Aviv because there’s such a huge night life. They said, ‘Not much, because our parents are too freaked out if we tell them we’re going to a café or a bar or anything, because there are suicide bombings going on.’ “So I came up with the idea. What if we just did a comedy show here? I mean, there are enough people who speak English. And I figured, let’s just give everyone one safe, fun night out. And that’s sort of how the tour started,” Liberman recounted in the 2016 documentary Land of Milk and Funny. Initially, Liberman would perform in the U.S. in exchange for a business class seat to bring a comic to Israel. Today, sponsors help offset costs, so more of the ticket money can go to support the work of the foundation. (New sponsors are always welcome.) At first, Liberman had trouble booking comedians. After multiple rejections, the first one who agreed was Jewish comedian Wayne Federman. “Avi Liberman came to me and said, ‘Would you like to tour Israel as a stand-up? It took me [snaps fingers] that long to answer. I was, like, ‘Yes, I’m in.’ I knew it was dangerous, but I couldn’t have cared less,” Federman

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Enjoying Camp Koby activities (photo credit Eliana Braner) recalled. The first show in Israel was during the Second Intifada, even before the partnership with the Koby Mandell Foundation began. “The first show we ever did, a girl [came] up to me, just very matter-offact, and she looks right at me and goes, ‘I just wanted to thank you. I haven’t had anything to laugh about in over a year,’ and just walks away. “And it sort of hit me in the gut, like, maybe this is a little more important than I think. And that’s sort of when I made a commitment to myself. ‘I think I’m gonna do this as often as I can,’” Liberman recounted. Comedy for Koby recently concluded its 25th tour, and Liberman has no plans to stop.

8-Day Tours The Mandells greet the audience, comprised mostly of English-speaking religious olim, before each show. Seth opens with a joke of his own. They introduce Liberman, who steps on stage wearing jeans and an untucked, button-down shirt. He is always the opening act, and his material is almost always the most Jewish. After the audience has been treated to some of the best clean American stand-up for a solid hour, the house lights are raised and people are invited to ask the comics anything they’re curious about. After the show, the comics stand in the lobby, meeting and taking selfies with those they have just entertained. The eight-day tour includes perfor-

mances in Israeli communities, such as Jerusalem, Bet Shemesh and Modi’in, with large English-speaking populations. A few of the comics, including Elon Gold, Modi (Mordechai Rosenfeld), and Mark Schiff have been traditional Jews. In preparation, Liberman asks every comedian to “be clean and lay off politics. It’s a fair request – to keep it clean. [I ask for] 20 clean minutes,” he explained. “I think it’s always a little bit harder if one of the comics is Jewish because there’s something subconscious with Jews. ‘Let’s see if this guy is as funny as Mason or Seinfeld,’” Liberman joked. “I don’t think they can get over that. So if I’m going to bring a comic that’s Jewish, I know they’re going to nail it.” In between performances, Liberman takes the comedians on road trips, so they can see what Israel is all about. The group travels to sites of both Jewish and Christian significance. Liberman is especially fascinated by the reactions of the comics who are “people of faith” in their personal lives. Many of the comedians open their act with a few minutes of local mate-

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did it once, a long time ago, in the Five Towns, at the very beginning. I’d like to see us do that in six to 10 Jewish communities in America.”

rial, often reacting to what they have observed while traveling around. They joke with the audiences about their reactions to Shabbat, kosher food, the sound of spoken Hebrew, and the differences between Israeli and American culture. Some of the biggest laughs come from hearing how life in Israel appears in the minds of these comedians. “The audience loves the angle that a non-Jew can bring because their mind is working differently than ours. They see things from a different angle,” Liberman noted.

Shakshuka & Mishpacha

PR for the Holy Land For Israeli-born Liberman, there’s another agenda at play. “Israel has such PR problems. My little ulterior motive with bringing these guys over – and the guys I’m bringing over are not chumps; these are top level comics that work in TV and film all the time, some of them have exploded to be big stars – they come to Israel and it sort of busts the stereotype of what they think is going on there. And they come there and they become big fans. Then they come back and they spread what the reality is among the entertainers, in the entertainment community. “You can’t buy that kind of PR,” he noted with pride. The impact has been felt far beyond Comedy for Koby. Liberman explained, “Word got out to the superstars that Israel is a great place to go. I brought Mark Schiff, who opens for Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry ended up going, in no small part thanks to Mark telling him, ‘The audiences are phenomenal and it’s a great place to perform.’ Then Jerry told Chris Rock and Chris went… “Somebody said I get 1% credit for these huge stars. They’re not going to go because you asked them. They’re going to go because their friends and colleagues say this is a great gig.” Seth concurs, “When we started Comedy for Koby, there were many fewer comedy outlets in this country. The Jerry Seinfelds didn’t come. Part of what we did was open up the comedy scene for the English speakers in Israel. Some pretty big comics have come. We didn’t bring them, but I think it opened up the whole scene. I’ll take some credit for that.”

Healing programs offer bereaved women the opportunity to create, to express themselves and to heal (photo credit Dena Wimpfheimer) Another unanticipated positive outcome of Comedy for Koby was quite personal. Liberman quotes Seth saying, “You know, everywhere Sherri and I go, people kind of walk on eggshells. What do you say to a couple that’s had that happen to them? It’s so terrible. “Now, all of a sudden, people are coming up to me and going, ‘This tour

mother hen of the whole thing. Any time there’s an issue or problem, she’s the first person I contact. No one makes the tour run smoother than Dena and Jeremy. Without them, it would not happen, certainly not at the level that it does.” With 65,000 tickets sold to-date, Comedy for Koby has raised well over

“THERE’S SOMETHING SUBCONSCIOUS WITH JEWS. ‘LET’S SEE IF THIS GUY IS AS FUNNY AS MASON OR SEINFELD.’” is great. When’s the next one?’ All of a sudden, Sherri and I are more socially acceptable just because these non-Jewish comedians come over and do these shows.” Local coordination is handled by the DJW Productions team of Dena and Jeremy Wimpfheimer. About Dena, Liberman said, “She’s like the

a million dollars for the Koby Mandell Foundation. According to Seth, there are plans to expand Comedy for Koby outside of Israel. “We want to bring Comedy for Koby to Jewish communities in America,” he said. “We’ve done it in the Teaneck-Englewood area for 800 people two years ago. We’ve done it in Florida. We also

Scenes from Land of Milk and Funny show the comedians joking about theological issues. Having learned that the Jews have 613 Biblical laws, comic Denis Regan asks, “Alright, what’s number 512?” Federman answers, “512? Right! That is, ‘Do not copy off your neighbor’s paper in math class.’” Liberman responds, “No, I thought it was, ‘Don’t eat fruit after brushing your teeth.’” Liberman said, “The highlight of almost every tour is the trip to Jerusalem. I’m never worried about them coming and not having fun. That hasn’t happened once. That’s the one good thing about Israel. I can just sit back and let the country entertain them.” Comedian Ralph Harris reflected on his experience, “To be able to come to Jerusalem, to be in the place where I’ve read about all of these different locations and places and the significance all my life – it blows me away. “It’s still hard to believe that all that stuff is here and that I saw it, that I experienced it and touched it. I’m so overwhelmed by the time I hit the stage, I don’t even know what to say to these people.” Liberman trusts the PR success of Comedy for Koby. “To this day, I’ve never met any comic that had the same image of Israel, or the same opinions about Israel, as they did after they’ve gotten back. None of them. “It always affects everybody once they get back. I think when they’re there, they’re so caught up in the experience, they don’t realize what they’re going through.” Comic Maryellen Hooper spoke about what she did before agreeing to perform for Comedy for Koby. “If I’m honest, I had to do a lot of research before saying yes to the tour my first time. It was 13 years ago, and I had a 22-month-old son and a husband not thrilled about the prospect of changing diapers for two weeks while I was gone. “The only thing I knew about Israel was what I saw on the sensationalized news channels: fighting and terrorists and suicide bombers...oh my! “After a quick history and geog-

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Seth and Sherri Mandell on stage at a Comedy for Koby event (photo credit Yissachar Ruas) raphy lesson from Avi, he told me all about The Koby Mandell Foundation and all the humanitarian work they do. I not only said, ‘Yes!’ to the tour, but I brought my husband and baby with me.” Hooper joked that she changed her son’s diaper “in every green room on the tour.” Her strongest impression of Israel was “how much better they do breakfast than we do. My life was forever altered by a plate of shakshuka.” She was also “touched by how warm and friendly everyone in Israel was. I’m not speaking in platitudes. After the shows, strangers offered to take me shopping [and] invited me over for home-cooked meals.” What keeps Florida-based Hooper returning to Israel? “I keep going back to Israel because I’m so inspired by the work the Mandells are doing with their Foundation. Ever yone involved works tirelessly, year after year, to support the families in need. “That, and the free shakshuka,” she quipped. Dwight Slade, who is one of the comedians featured in Land of Milk and Funny, was attracted to come to Israel for the same reason many people stay away. “I have found that most people are cautious of the dramatic. I, as a stand-up comic, am drawn to drama. I wanted to experience being in front of an audience that wanted to laugh and needed to laugh.” His strongest impression was how different Israel was in reality com-

pared to what he had anticipated. “I was surprised at how Westernized the country was,” he said. “It’s not what we are taught to expect from the media. I was like, ‘Wow, there are malls here! That, and the brunches. I have never eaten so much before noon in my life.” A second trip confirmed for him the specialness of Israel’s people. “I came back from both of my trips to Israel realizing that everyone has a bigger story in Israel. And it pays to listen to what those stories are, even if the dude is the shuttle driver.” Slade also thinks that “Israelis are funny! Laughing is highly valued in families and the culture. I found myself laughing all the time. Laughter truly is the best medicine in Israel.” And, like Hooper, he concluded with a food-related joke, “That, and be aware of what foods you can and can’t have on certain days.” Arguably the comic most impacted by his experience with Comedy for Koby is Butch Bradley, who was clearly energized by the chance to talk about Israel. His first comment was, “I miss Israel!” Bradley had plenty more to say about how performing in Israel impacted him. “Why did I say yes when invited for Comedy for Koby? Just the whole idea that the pain, the suffering that the family was going through, that they turned this into a positive move forward, [they took] action based on the humor of Koby. The whole storyline was just incredible, especially

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Avi Liberman performing at Comedy for Koby (photo credit Yissachar Ruas) with all that’s going on in the world with terrorism. “For them to have that strength, to put something so positive and wonderful that now, years into it, has touched so many people, been so inspirational and helps other people who are affected by the actions of terrorists throughout the world. They didn’t let the terrorist act steal their joy or their positive memory of Koby, and now it’s just even so much more. “And in this strange way, I feel like I know Koby and the family through all of my visits to Israel. Now after being in Israel, I see that’s very Israeli – that they move forward every day no matter what’s going on around them. They live. They go forward. It’s an incredible thing and I’m honored to be a part of it,” he enthused. “My strongest impression of Israel? I think it’s summed up in a great word that I learned there which is mishpacha. I know I’m pronouncing it terribly, but the idea of family. It’s an incredibly romantic place to watch the families interact, couples interact, and just the idea of a family. It really is a special place. The spiritual energy that is there, I’ve never experienced it anywhere else in the world. Both the family element and the spiritual element are incredible. “I have to address the fact that, because of the location of Israel, they’re constantly, on a day-to-day basis, people are trying to steal that from them. I was there many times when a siren would go off and everybody would just

calmly move inside for a minute and then afterward, it was back to conversation, a glass of a glass of wine and onto life. “It’s just absolutely an incredible place. I just love Israel!” Bradley met Liberman while they were both entertaining American soldiers in Afghanistan. Liberman convinced Bradley to come to Israel to perform and that decision changed his life. “Initially, part of me thought I was going to experience some of the things I experienced when I’m doing shows in the Middle East for the troops. And we had some really crazy experiences over there together. “In my mind, I thought, after all the media, there was going to be rocket attacks, but it was everything opposite and more. Every trip to Israel shows me just so much more. I never want to leave Israel. “If I hit the lottery, the first thing I would do is buy a place in Tel Aviv. I just love it there! Tell Israel I said hello, and I can’t wait to get back,” he concluded.

iberman’s contributions have undoubtedly helped thousands of Israelis over the years. But he’s also reaped a very personal benefit. Working on Comedy for Koby, “put my own career into perspective,” he reflected. “It’s not the be-all end-all. There are things that are more important.”

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Dating Dialogue

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

Dear Navidaters, I just got engaged to an amazing guy. I should feel ecstatic, excited, and over the moon. Unfortunately, I am wrought with anxiety. Thoughts going through my mind are: “How do I know I made the right decision?” “What if I need someone from a different type of family?” etc. It does not help that my parents did not have the best marriage and that decisions in general are hard for me. I was very excited after years of dating to meet Ezra (my chosson) and proceed to this place in our relationship. I am happy with him and there are no red flags, and I truly feel we are a good pair. I just feel awful that the excitement is not like I imagined it would be. Is this normal? Sara

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.

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The Panel The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S. ara, your anxieties about your not feeling the Hollywood and Jewish notions about excitement over your engagement are both illegitimate and legitimate. The young kallah and media version of thrills are artificial and external. However, you have identified your fears as being grounded in your own experience of viewing your parents’ marriage and fear about your chosson’s family. In other words, you are level-headed, and you probably deal with your head and less with your heart. Therefore, it might be a good idea to go into short term therapy to examine these concerning family dynamics in the context of your own history of reactions and coping manners. Choose a therapist who uses the family systems approach, one of three main types of psychotherapy. Choose someone who is highly experienced in dealing with pre-marital jitters. There are several in our neighborhood. I am assuming that you have found Ezra understanding and supportive of these specific concerns and that he is reassuring and supportive of your need for time and support. Keep him involved. I am also assuming that he also understands you and what works for you when you are confronted by other kinds of problems. Some people need to be given space; some need supportive words; some need “solutionizing”; some need comforting acts of service while they work it out on their own; and some need the other person to listen. Look at yourself, your patterns of response when seeking help with challenges, and look at your chosson’s response style to your needs. It will be helpful to also tell him what you need so that he is clued in. Not all couples “get” each other’s’ need for the type of support they require. It’s helpful to articulate this early on if he doesn’t naturally “get” it.

B’hatzlacha. My sense is that with sensitive support of Ezra and professional help, you will weather this and successfully navigate this period and develop strategies for dealing with fears and in-laws.

The Mother Sarah Schwartz Schreiber, P.A. o paraphrase the words of one wise nanny: “Sara, you is kind. You is smart. You is normal.” For many, the engagement period is arguably the least exciting, least romantic, most angst-riddled stage in a young woman’s life. Whoever propagated the myth of a carefree, ecstatic kallah – resplendent in white satin and lace, cavorting in fragrant pastures of peonies and butterflies, while her chosson serenades her adoringly – should probably be working for Disney. Especially among the frum, more Yeshivishly-inclined sector of young people, the tenets of halacha dictate that an engaged couple comport themselves with utmost modesty and restraint. Thus, many couples have found that a steady exchange of cards, flowers, small gifts and “kosher” gestures can soften the strain and bump up the romance gradient prior to marriage. (Ezra, take note.) Furthermore, the engagement (especially if it’s long) is a time when a commitment-phobe may feel especially vulnerable. For someone like you, dear Sara, who admittedly has a tough time making decisions, it makes sense that the interlude between proposal and chuppah can be fraught with anxiety. It seems like one minute you’re confronted with umpteen choices (wedding venues, apartments, china patterns) and the next minute you’re second-guessing your taste and judgment. It shouldn’t surprise you that, while in this introspective state of mind, you may find yourself revisiting your old doubts and insecurities, such as: Is he really The One? (Absolute-

ly! You’ve dated enough guys. He’s amazing – no red flags.); how will I fit into his family? (Time will tell; you’re not marrying his parents or siblings.); can I experience shalom bayis even if my parents didn’t? (Of course! Especially because you are mindful of respecting one another and will seek help before things get out of hand). Reassurances aside, if your qualms about marriage (although common and reasonable) are putting a damper on your relationship with Ezra, I urge you to articulate your concerns with a qualified therapist. A few sessions spent in pre-marital counseling is a wise investment; it will enhance your marriage far more than a ten-piece band, Viennese table, or designer linens.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond There are two types of decisionmakers: maximizers and satisficers. Satisficers are the type of decisionmakers who take action to choose once their criteria are met. They don’t second guess or play the “what if” game. They see a good choice in front of them, and choose it. A practical example of this is *Rivky Weiss. She was always the girl in school with decision confidence. Shoe shopping was a breeze – as long as it looked nice and did the job, she was happy. Do not mistake this with settling for mediocrity; their criteria can be very high but as soon as they find the car, the item, or relationship that has the qualities they desire, they’re satisfied. Maximizers generally want to make the best decision and will go to great lengths to make sure they did not cut corners anywhere. Maximizers will set extremely high standards during decision-making and will aim for them, often setting themselves up for disappointment when perfection is not seen. Maximizers tend to dwell on what they have missed out

Always remember: happiness is not by chance but by choice. on rather than what they have. From maximizers you may hear the following statements, “I can get along with anyone. He would be great husband material and definitely good father material. But I’m just unclear, maybe there is someone better out there.” This is most likely why you feel anxious and unsettled. One will never know in any given situation, and especially with relationships, if the right decision was made, as we no longer have neviim. The misleading concept of needing to weed through a needle in a haystack to find the one, otherwise doomed to a life of failure, is a disastrous concept to anyone with a maximizer personality. These people can go years searching for someone better, only waking up at the age of 35 to the realization that their suggestions are not as close to as good as they were in their 20s. In my humble opinion, this concept is one of the biggest hindrances in shidduchim today. The concept of a bas kol is the name of the man you ultimately choose to stand under the chuppah with. Whomever you choose as your bashert is your bas kol. You have obviously chosen Ezra for a host of reasons, and I applaud you for making the decision altogether. That alone is a very important milestone for a maximizer. My advice for you is to write. Make a list of all the reasons you chose Ezra, the reasons you feel drawn to him and continued with him this long, not giving up. Remind yourself often that you choose your bashert, and if you need a reminder, read your list of what drew you to Ezra in the first place. As long as

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you have chosen him for the right reasons, you will, iy”H, be blessed with a wonderful life together. Always remember: happiness is not by chance but by choice.

The Single Rena Friedman ara, the feelings you describe are extremely normal. You just made one of the biggest decisions of your life and now have conflicting emotions. That is very scary and quite the load on your shoulders. I cannot imagine the heaviness in your chest. Deciding who to marry makes all of those nights agonizing over which seminary and college to attend look like a piece of cake. You just made one of the biggest social, emotional, and financial decisions you will ever make. Something of that caliber comes with anxiety, so it makes sense that as soon as Ezra popped

the question it hit you hard and you panicked. I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but life is not like the movies. Falling in love with Prince Charming and living a happily ever after without a problem in the world is fake. The realities of dating and engagement include building relationships, having real uncomfortable conversations, and wondering if what you’re doing is right. How you are actually feeling and how you think you should be feeling are not matching up because your expectation for your emotions in this stage is based off of unrealistic beliefs. Bracha comes in all shapes and sizes. This is a huge bracha that comes with a lot of excitement, and with all that excitement, also comes a lot of anxiety. For example, having a baby is the biggest bracha in the word, but it is also extremely stressful. With all bracha comes stress. That is what you are experiencing now. This is reality.

Listen to your heart and that feeling in the pit of your stomach. Why are you all of a sudden feeling this way? Is it the typical engagement nerves or is it something more? You dated Ezra and felt that this was the right decision before you got engaged. Putting a ring on that finger and making it public brings everything to a whole new level. Think back to how you felt when you dated Ezra. How did you feel? Were you questioning his family background and if he is shayach for you? Speak to a rav or mentor that has been with you throughout the relationship. If you do not have a rav or mentor, find a married person, someone who can relate to what you are experiencing now, who you trust and ask them for advice. Most importantly, try to enjoy this stage of life. You made it! You did it! You managed to do what many of us long for and few have yet to attain. Thank Hashem that you are engaged to an amazing guy and ask Him to

Don’t be concerned that your heart does not go “zing” when you hear the phone ring. give you the strength and clarity to deal with everything that comes next. I wish you and Ezra a hardy mazal tov and hope that clarity and calmness come over you soon.

The Zaidy Dr. Jeffrey Galler ara, my dear, you are the victim of watching too many Disney movies and reading too many over-the-

Serving our community for over 30 years

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top romantic novels. It is only in Disney movies that the princess sings of her love for Prince Charming while surrounded by chirping, adoring, animated birds and woodland creatures. It is only in romance novels that the hero and heroine, hearts beating wildly, climb mountains, ford rivers, and brave insurmountable odds to breathlessly find themselves in love.

It sounds like you have, fortunately, found someone who is your perfect life partner. Deciding to spend a lifetime with someone who shares the same goals and aspirations is a mature decision that is conducive to a long, happy, healthy marriage. Don’t be concerned that your heart does not go “zing” when you

Pulling It All Together

hear the phone ring or that you don’t “feel over the moon.” Those transient emotions, by definition, are not long-lasting and do not survive the rigors of making a relationship succeed. Happy marriages begin when a couple shares similar life philosophies and objectives, and succeed over the years when a couple works at growing, sharing, and communicating well with each other. Anxious? You have a lot on your plate right now. Planning for a wedding, setting up a household, forging relationships with a whole new family,

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and learning how to budget your finances are very real challenges. Of course, it’s normal to feel anxious at a time like this! May I make a suggestion? Instead of experiencing added anxiety and indecisiveness because of your parents’ marital experiences, use that history to your advantage. When you examine what your own parents did wrong in their marriage, you can resolve to avoid those pitfalls. Learn and emulate what your parents did right and avoid duplicating what your parents did wrong. You will be the author of your own movie and novel. I hope that you and Ezra script a wonderful, long-lasting, happy life together.

The Navidaters Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists

ear Sara, I can’t tell you how many kallahs I have seen who presented with the same feelings you are having. We typically spend some time separating their own generalized anxieties from the relationship they are in. Sara, no one can tell you if you and Ezra are meant to be. The reason I say this is because I see so many couples who were told to just “get married” and that these feelings would go away. With a clear conscience, I must tell you that this is your decision to make. You may want to speak with a professional to get a good handle on how you are feeling, and whether you are experiencing the normal anxiety that comes along with engagement and wedding time or whether your anxiety is alerting you to something not being right for you. You didn’t have any anxiety leading up to the engagement. It seems like you and Ezra were a great fit. Did anything change other than the engagement and wedding? Was there anything you were ignoring when you were dating? My response may not be popular, but we do need to explore these areas.

I’m hearing two separate (but perhaps related) ideas. The first is that you are generally anxious. The second is that you aren’t feeling excitement. Let’s address the latter first. Most brides I meet aren’t feeling the excitement. They are sad that they aren’t feeling the excitement. They’re so busy with family dynamics, an angry relative, new in-laws, someone being disappointed, someone telling her she is a “bridezilla,” dealing with her chosson’s lack of support… it’s a very emotional time! Some kallahs are throwing up from nerves. The stress on a kallah’s shoulders is enormous…and let’s not forget what the real stress is about: the massive transition from being a single girl to someone’s wife! This is a huge moment in the cycle of life. Everything is changing. It seems as though you had some pre-existing anxiety that existed before you met Ezra. You were also exposed to your parents’ marriage which was not healthy for them or for you. Could that be triggering

this anxiety? The more I think about it, as I write, the more I am inclined to encourage you to speak with a therapist to help you calm your anxiety and work through any unhealed parts of yourself or ideas you may have about marriage in general. You can’t make any decisions from an anxious place, anyway. Let’s get the anxiety a bit under control and take it from there. Get a referral, make an appointment, and I think you’re going to do great! I encourage you to practice mindfulness, take care of yourself, and slow down your thoughts through deep breathing.

All the best, Jennifer

Jennifer Mann, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist and dating and relationship coach working with individuals, couples, and families in private practice at 123 Maple Avenue in Cedarhurst, NY. She also teaches a psychology course at Touro College. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 516-2247779, ext. 2. 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.

Hi Readers! Receiving your enthusiastic emails wanting to participate in the Reader’s Respond section has been wonderful! Just a reminder about how Reader Response works. Email thenavidaters@gmail. com with the subject line “Reader Response.” We will then ask you, in the order we receive your email, if you would like to respond to the coming week’s email. If you would like to respond to an already printed Navidaters Panel, please submit your answer to the editor at editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com. You can also join us on our FB page @thenavidaters on Sunday evenings to post your response to the week’s column. Interacting with you has been a pleasure! Thank you for all of your feedback. Jennifer

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Health & F tness

Coffee vs. Tea By Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN

fter reading last week’s article, “A Coffee a Day Keeps the Doctor Away,” a client approached me with a great question. Which is healthier: tea or coffee? In any group of people, you will have your tea drinkers and your coffee drinkers. Both are social drinks. In my opinion, coffee is associated with high energy, mood boosting, and on the run; the classic scene of a secretary handing a busy boss a coffee while chasing them down the office corridor. When I think tea, I envision someone sipping a hot cup of tea calmly while relaxing with a book. Coffee and tea are similar in that they both contain caffeine and antioxidants. Is one really healthier than the other? Both tea and coffee have been shown to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. However, in terms of antioxidants, tea wins. According to the National Cancer Institute, the antioxidants in tea have been shown to decrease tumor growth and protect the cells from oxidative damage. Since green tea specifically is not processed much before it’s poured into your cup, it is rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants fight free radicals that damage DNA and cause aging, cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Antioxidants play a large role in cancer prevention. It is well known that oxidative damage contributes to the growth of cancers and that antioxidants can have a protective effect. All tea, especially green tea, are excellent sources of antioxidants, so it makes sense that tea could reduce your risk of developing cancer. Researchers believe that the

best benefit of green tea is the catechin content. Catechins are antioxin dants that fight and may even prevent cell damage. Multiple studies have shown that green tea drinkers had lower occurrences of various types of cancer such as breast, bladder, ovarian, colorectal, esophageal, lung, prostate, skin, and stomach cancer. The antioxidants found in both tea and coffee not only fight off certain cancers; antioxidants help promote heart health. Catechins (the antioxidants found in green tea) have been found to have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system as well. Studies also show that green tea can improve one’s lipid profile which is a major risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Green tea has been shown to lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. In addition, the antioxidants in green tea also protect the LDL cholesterol particles from oxidation which is part of the pathway of the disease. Scientists also believe that green tea helps keep the lining of the blood vessels relaxed, thus helping regulate blood pressure. Furthermore, green tea is thought to help protect against blood clotting which is a primary cause of heart attacks. Observational studies have shown that green tea drinkers have up to a 31% lower risk of developing heart disease. Coffee, on the other hand, has no heart health benefits. Tea is thought to help regulate glucose levels by slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating (post-prandial glucose). This can prevent high insulin spikes many usually experience after meals. Studies have also

shown that green tea can improve insulin sensitivity. Various studies demonstrate that green tea can decrease blood sugar levels. It may also lower the risk of developing type II diabetes in the long term. If you remember all the facts from last week’s article, you will remember that coffee has also been known to lower one’s risk of developing Type II diabetes – if you have a family history of Type II diabetes. So once again, it looks like tea drinkers have the advantage here. When it comes to weight loss, many people feel that drinking coffee helps them lose weight. We’re obviously talking about plain coffee with minimal sugar and skim milk – no fancy lattes and macchiatos. Drinking a cup of coffee is satiating and helps keep you full. However, tea is linked to scientific-based research for weight loss. Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant found in tea, is thought to promote weight loss. While EGCG is found in most teas, green tea has the highest amounts. Green tea has also been shown to improve fat burning and metabolism. Furthermore, researchers believe that polyphenols found in green tea increase fat oxidation, thus reducing triglyceride levels, and increasing the rate at which your body turns food into calories. Looks like tea is winning by a landslide. Let’s give coffee a chance to catch up. Both tea and coffee have been shown to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Coffee gives one an energy boost and a quick kick and has also been shown to lower one’s chance of developing depression. Green tea contains

a substance called L-theanine. L-theanine is an amino acid that has anti-anxiety effects. Additionally, L-theanine, together with the caffeine in green tea, has been shown to improve brain function. Therefore, both and coffee are both beneficial for mood. The main reason why most people depend on that cup of coffee is for the caffeine. Yes, coffee wins in terms of caffeine content. While tea does contain high amounts of caffeine too, coffee contains a lot more. Coffee has 100-175mg caffeine per 8oz cup, while tea has only 35mg of caffeine per 8oz cup. The caffeine causes a stimulant effect in the brain which boosts energy levels, improves mood, and various brain functions. Both tea and coffee each have their health benefits. They are rich in antioxidants, help prevent Type II diabetes, are mood boosters, and promote weight loss. However, overall, tea offers more evidence-based health benefits. Coffee drinkers are still getting plenty of health benefits, however, tea drinkers may be gaining slightly more. I recommend alternating between coffee and tea to get the best of both worlds.

Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN, is a Master’s level Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist. She graduated CUNY Brooklyn College receiving a Bachelor’s in Science and Master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences. She is currently a dietitian at Boro Park Center and a private nutrition consultant. She can be reached at CindyWeinberger1@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @EatBetterandFeelBetter.

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Dr. Deb

The Secret to Happiness By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

ave you ever seen the interview by Tony Robbins, the well-known motivational speaker, with Alice Herz Sommer? Ms. Sommer was born in Prague in 1903, was taken prisoner by the Nazis, and was forced to play piano for them while she was in Theresienstadt. She was more than an accomplished musician; she lived for her music, and because she could play during her internment, she said, in that interview, that she was happy.

Happy. She lost her parents and her husband. She saw her community demolished. But she was happy. These are not mere words. Something inside kept her going. She died in 2014. That is not a misprint; she was over 110 years old – and still playing piano to the end. Well, let’s ask another question: If a man were hated and the constant target of lies that tainted his stellar performance at his job, would

he be happy? Take it a step further. If this was going on for three years and most of his loyal staff had to quit because they couldn’t take the nastiness, could he possibly be happy? You would think not, right? But Donald Trump is happy. He even is the subject of a book about it, Trump’s Happiness Code, written by his son. How is that possible? How does he do that? In one speech he said, “If there is a concrete wall in front of you, go through it. Go around it. But get to the other side of the wall. Never, ever give up.” And I think this answers the question very nicely. It’s all about focus. What you look at. Where you put your attention, your energies. Trump is all about goals. And reaching them. The little distractions along the way are just that, distractions. Nothing more. And certainly nothing to take up time. That is what Alice Sommer had in common with Trump. She wanted to play her music and nothing else. So when that was her assignment in the concentration camp, she grabbed it. And she was happy. She ignored the cement slab that she had to sleep on. She didn’t pay attention to the lack of food; she silenced the hunger in her belly with the notes emanating from the piano under her touch. In fact, this is precisely the formula used by Viktor Frankl, the famous psychiatrist of the Holocaust. He turned his focus inside because there was nothing in his external world to give him happiness. Through long marches, as people died around him, he went back in time in his mind to a happier period.

He relived scenes with his wife and children. And he survived. And yes, he was a giver. It gave him strength to help his fellow inmates, too. Even in that, it was all about his choice of where to focus his efforts. We always can choose what to focus on. We can focus on problems, which is a very good way to try to solve them; there is nothing wrong with that. But with what aim? Are we focused on our misery so that we can lick our wounds? Feeling sorry for oneself is perfectly natural and normal. But when it gets to a point where all we’re doing is focusing on the losses and pain we’ve experienced, then it no longer serves a purpose. At what point, exactly, do we draw the line and say, “This is pointless”? We can’t endlessly play victim, even in our own minds. What starts out as a way to soothe ourselves and commiserate with ourselves because of our troubles ends up being a weight around our necks, bringing us forever down. Take a moment to do a personal assessment. Right now. Stop and ask yourself how much time have you spent in the last day or week or month ruminating about the difficulties, injuries, insults, and injustices you’ve suffered? Next, ask yourself what percentage of that time has paid off? What percentage has led to a direct benefit, either of stopping the onslaught or at least of feeling validated by someone? And if being validated was a reasonable result, then it’s time to compare that positive experience with doing something for yourself that’s rewarding and enjoyable.

In other words, where do you want to get your positive from: being validated for all the suffering you’re going through or from doing something that just plain feels good? And while we’re on the subject of “feels good,” let’s explore further what that meant to Frankl, Sommers, and Trump. Frankl created Logotherapy which simply is based on finding meaning in your life and going for it. His meaning in the camps was reaching out to help others as well as daydreaming about his past life. He also encouraged other inmates to envision a future of freedom. Sommers’s meaning was playing her beloved music – and it felt good. For Trump, translating ideas into action that would be powerful enough to change people’s personal economics and change world alliances with the fewest number of deaths is a meaningful challenge that he enjoys a whole bunch. Well, what he’s accomplished isn’t small potatoes.

I don’t know if Frankl was right, that what you focus on must be meaningful in some kind of broad, philosophical sense. I think our focus just has to be something that we can hang onto. I remember when I

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body in the poses. That’s it. That’s your only focus. And there is something incredibly freeing about that. Think about the liberation you get when you’re not busy with your worries.

It was all about his choice of where to focus his efforts.

stood up in the hospital for the first time after my C-sections. My stomach was stapled up and down. My focus was simply to stand up straight! But focus on it I did – quite intently, I might add. Bessel van der Kolk, the trauma expert, suggests people with trauma histories take yoga classes. It requires focusing on holding your

So perhaps happiness is simply being freed from all the negatives in your life. All you need to do is a 180. Just remember the positive past; look at the good in your life; focus on your dreams – and go for them. I had the opportunity to test this out myself recently. Something I could not change was bothering me. It was a constant source of worry

and went from one negative thought to another. This went on for a week. Then I woke up one morning and I asked myself why in the world I was letting all this get me down. True, it was a reality. True, it was immutable. But those truths did not require that I think about it all day long. Or even at all. And I simply decided not to. If G-d wanted things to change for me, He’d make them change. And in the meantime, I would focus on the good in my life and not this unpleasant thing. And that was that. If you have trouble with this, I understand. It is not as easy as it sounds. But it is doable. Just reach out.

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn is a Marriage and Family Therapist. If you want help with your marriage, begin by signing up to watch her Masterclass at https://drdeb. com/myw-masterclass.

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In The K

tchen

Hamantashen By Naomi Nachman

I love to eat hamantashen. I have made many assorted kinds and varieties of hamantashen over the last several years, ranging from savory to sweet. Because I am not an avid baker, I will usually use my blogger friends’ recipes when I want to make really unusual and funky hamantashen. These four food bloggers (all close friends of mine) have developed these outrageous hamantashen. They are so exciting that I had to share them with you in this round up.

Reuben Hamantashen By Alex Idov When you’re in hamantashen baking mode, it’s hard to stop. Following on the heels of my “Pastrami on Rye” Hamantashen, I bring you another New York Jewish deli-themed hamantash: The Reuben. Rye dough stuffed with corned beef, sauerkraut, faux Swiss cheese, and a creamy Thousand Island dressing. Yes, please. I’ll take two (or more.) Yields: 10 hamantashen

Ingredients Rye Dough 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup rye flour 1 ½ tsp. garlic powder 1 ½ tsp. onion powder 2 tsp. instant yeast 1 tsp. baking powder 1 ½ tsp. salt 2 TBS olive oil 1 ½ cups beer (room temperature) ¼ cup caraway seeds

Filling 3/4 lb. thin-sliced corned beef 1 14-oz. can shredded sauerkraut 1 7.8-oz. package Daiya non-dairy swiss slices ½ cup mayonnaise 2 TBS pickle relish 1 ½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 ½ tsp. white distilled vinegar 1 tsp. white sugar 1 tsp. ketchup Pinch of ground cloves

Preparation Prepare the dough: Mix and knead together all of the dough ingredients – by hand or with a mixer – until the dough is smooth, firm, and comes away from the side of the mixing bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes (you can also allow the dough to rise at a slower pace/overnight in the fridge. (I think the dough taste better when aged overnight.) Prepare the filling: Tear or cut the corned beef and Daiya “cheese” into small pieces and place into a large bowl. Add the sauerkraut, mayonnaise, pickle relish, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, and cloves and toss/mix until well combined. Set aside. Preheat oven 400°F. Roll the rye dough into a long, thick rope (approximately 15 inches) and divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll the pieces into balls about the size of a tennis ball and flatten each ball with the palm of your hand into 1/8” thickness. Place a heaping spoonful of the corned beef filling mixture on the center of the dough and fold the dough into a triangle around the filling, pinching the corners tightly to ensure the filling is well enclosed. If you feel there is too much filling in any of the hamantashen, be sure to remove some so as not to force the hamantashen open in the baking process. Mix one egg together will a few tablespoons of water to create an egg wash. Generously paint the hamantashen with the egg wash and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the sides and bottom of the hamantashen are firm. Serve hot/warm.

Alex Idov, AKA the Kosherologist, is a food blogger at the award-winning thekosherologist.com and a freelance food writer. He is currently studying for his bachelor of science degree in Culinary Sustainability and Hospitality at the Kennesaw State University Michael A. Leven School of Culinary Sustainability and Hospitality.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Hamantashen By Melinda Strauss This hamantashen recipe is dairy-free but you can use butter and heavy cream in place of the margarine and coconut milk to make it dairy. Yields: 2-3 dozen

Ingredients Crunchy Peanut Butter Dough 2 sticks (1 cup) margarine ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup white sugar ½ cup canned coconut milk (or whipped topping) 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ cup crunchy peanut butter 3¼ cup all-purpose flour 2 tsp cream of tartar

Chocolate Ganache Filling ½ cup chocolate chips ¼ cup canned coconut milk (or whipped topping)

Pretzel Topping 1 cup salted bite-size pretzels

Chocolate Peanut Butter Drizzle ½ cup chocolate chips 3-4 tsp creamy peanut butter 1 TBS margarine or vegetable shortening

Preparation Beat together the margarine, brown sugar and white sugar then add the coconut milk and vanilla extract. Once everything is combined, add the crunchy peanut butter and blend. Then slowly add the flour and cream of tartar until the mixture is completely combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for 10 minutes. You can also place in the fridge for up to 3 days before using. Make the ganache filling: In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate and coconut milk and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate melts then place the ganache filling in the fridge to set for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F. and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes, just to warm it up a bit. It’s much easier to roll out at room temperature. Lightly flour the counter and roll out the dough. Don’t make the dough too thin or it won’t hold together while it bakes. Cut out rounds of dough using a 3-4-inch cookie cutter. You can pretty much use whatever size cookie cutter you want based on the size of the hamantashen you are looking for! Move the dough rounds to a parchment lined cookie sheet, brush the edges with water then add a half teaspoon of the chocolate ganache and pinch the edges together to create a triangle. Brush the tops of the hamantashen with water and gently press a pretzel into the top. The water will keep the pretzel from separating from the cookie after baked. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top. Move the baked hamantashen to a cooling rack set inside a parchment lined baking sheet to cool completely. Make the Chocolate Peanut Butter Drizzle: Combine the chocolate chips, peanut butter and margarine in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Pour the drizzle into a sandwich bag, close the bag then cut off a small piece of one of the corners. Drizzle the chocolate over the pretzel-topped hamantashen and allow to set for 10 minutes. Note: These hamantashen are amazing right out of the freezer, otherwise the pretzels tends to get stale after a few days.

Melinda Strauss is a food blogger, food photographer, and recipe developer. Her blog, Kitchen-Tested.com, with its easy-to-follow step-by-step photos and recipes, has made a name for itself in the kosher food industry. Melinda also hosts the only Kosher Food Bloggers Conference, which attracts kosher bloggers, chefs, cookbook authors and food industry professionals from around the world.

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French Macaron Hamantashen By Jonathan Margolin To get into the festive spirit of Purim, I made a hamantashen that was fun, colorful, and enjoyable. Most people enjoy a great French macaron and a delicious hamantashen, and I thought: Why not bring them together? This is a very easy recipe to make at home. You just need a bit of patience to get the perfect cookie.

Ingredients 3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar 2 cups almond flour 6 large egg whites room temperature ½ tsp cream of tartar ½ cup superfine sugar 2-3 drops food coloring 1 tsp vanilla extract Pinch salt ½ filling of your choice, I used strawberry rhubarb jelly

Preparation Preheat your oven to 300°F. It is best if you have a convection setting. Using parchment paper, trace out a triangle shapes with a black sharpie. Then take the parchment paper and place it on the baking sheet place. Line the baking sheet with a silicon mat. You should see the triangles through the pad. Line three baking sheets like this. Measure the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour by spooning them into measuring cups and leveling with a knife. Transfer to a bowl and combine. Sift the dry ingredients flour into a large bowl, pressing with a spatula to pass through as much as possible. It will take some time, and you will end up with 2 tablespoons of coarse almond flour left which can then be put into the mixture. Make sure your egg whites are at room temperature. Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt with a mixer on medium speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium-high, then slowly add the superfine sugar and beat until stiff and shiny. Add the food coloring and extract. Continue folding and turning the bowl, until the batter is smooth. The batter should fall off the spatula in a flat ribbon consistency. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag or plastic bag. You can cut a hole in the plastic bag and use the bag to pipe or use a 1/8-inch round tip. Holding the bag vertically and close to the baking sheet, pipe the outline of the triangle and then pipe in the middle. Firmly bang the baking sheets a few times against the counter to release any air bubbles. You should be able to pipe 6 - 8 cookies per sheet. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, 15 minutes to 1 hour. Place another unlined baking sheet under the first batch, which will protect the cookies from the heat. Bake the first batch until the cookies are shiny and rise 1/8-inch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat, using a double sheet for each batch. Peel the cookies off the mats and sandwich with a thin layer of filling. Note: I used strawberry rhubarb jelly in my hamentaschen. You can be very creative with your cookies, from mint chocolate to blueberry cheesecake – the sky is the limit.

“Your Kosher Food Doctor” helps you with all your cooking ailments. Jonathan Margolin (Toque & Scalpel) is a doctor by day and a chef, recipe developer, cooking instructor, brand ambassador, food photographer and a food writer/blogger at night. If you enjoyed this recipe, you can find more of his creative recipes on his site: www.toqueandscalpel.com.

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Baklava Hamantashen By Chanie Apfelbaum To get into the festive spirit of Purim, I made a hamantashen that was fun, colorful, and enjoyable. Most people enjoy a great French macaron and a delicious hamantashen, and I thought: Why not bring them together? This is a very easy recipe to make at home. You just need a bit of patience to get the perfect cookie.

Ingredients 1 pkg filo dough, thawed ½ cup melted butter or margarine 2 cups chopped walnuts 1 cup loosely packed light brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon ½ tsp salt ½ cup apricot jam ½ cup water

Preparation Grease an 8”x 8” baking dish with melted butter and set aside. Add the chopped nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a food processor or blender. Pulse the mixture until the nuts are chopped more finely (but not ground) and the mixture is combined. Remove filo dough from packaging and cut sheets so that you have 18 squares the size of the baking dish (a little smaller than 8” x 8” so it fits well). Separate the filo into 3 parts with 6 square layers in each. Cover the layers with a damp cloth as they tend to dry out quickly. Starting with the first set of 6 layers, brush melted butter in between each layer, placing them in the baking dish on top of each other. Spread half of the nut filling over the first stack of filo dough in the baking dish. Repeat with the second stack of filo dough, brushing butter in between each layer, stacking it in the baking dish, and topping it with the 2nd half of the nut filling. Take the third stack of filo dough and brush butter in between each

layer, but DO NOT layer it in the baking dish. Instead, set the buttered stack on your work surface. Using a triangular-shaped cookie cutter, gently press your knife down on the filo dough to form triangular-shaped guides that will show you where to cut the filo later. Make sure not to cut through the layers of filo dough. This is only meant as a guide to show you where to cut the baklava later, when all the layers are stacked. Once you have drawn your guide, take a smaller triangular cookie cutter and cut through the layers of filo to remove their centers, resembling hamantashen. Take your final stack of filo dough, with the triangular guides and hollowed out centers, and place it in the baking dish over the previously set layers. Now you can take your knife and following the guide, cut the triangular shapes all the way through the layers. Brush the top layer of filo with butter and bake the baklava at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, until golden. While the baklava is baking, place apricot jam and water to a pot and heat the jam until it begins to melt into a syrup. Use a whisk or spoon to break up the jam, and continue to cook until a thin syrup forms. Remove from the heat and pour into a small jug or pitcher. Remove the baklava from the oven and pour apricot syrup over it, brushing with a pastry brush, if needed. Note: For a healthier version, you may spray each layer of filo dough with butter flavored PAM instead of using real butter. Variation: You may use other kinds of nuts such as pistachios or almonds, or use a combination. Note: If you do not have triangular shaped cookie cutters, you can prepare your own template using heavy cardstock to serve as your guide.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Chanie Apfelbaum runs the popular kosher cooking blog BusyinBrooklyn. When she’s not busy caring for her little ones, Chanie blogs about her cooking, crafting, and coping adventures. She combines her love of writing, photography, and design to bring you original dishes and crafts that your whole family will enjoy. With step-by-step photography, clear instructions and friendly guidance, the BusyinBrooklyn blog makes everything look easy!

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PRINKING ON DURIM? MAKE SURE TO READ THIS BEFORE YOU START Adam Neustadter, Manager of Spruce D’Vine, Answers Your “Ad D’lo Yadda” Questions

Adam, I don’t know a thing about wine but would like to try some at my Purim seudah. What wines would you recommend for a novice wine drinker? Enjoying wine is similar to enjoying food. Just like when trying new foods you taste a little of one type first, then try another, and another until you find what you like, wine is no different. That being said, if you have a sweet tooth, start with a sweet wine, like the Herzog Late Harvest series. If you are looking for something with more spice, maybe step up to a Teperberg Impression Semi DryRed. If you want to jump right into the deep end, I suggest the new Or Haganuz Amuka Light. It is a dry red wine with lower-than-normal tannins and alcohol level.

By Susan Schwamm

I am a whiskey lover but I want to be mekayem the mitzvah of drinking on Purim with wine. Any suggestions on how I can have both this Purim? I heard you shouldn’t mix these two. Let’s start with one premise. Know your limit. Whether you mix drinks or not, if your body says you have had enough, STOP! Within that limit, however, mixing sugar and alcohol can often lead to negative effects. If, however, you are looking for the “express train” i.e. a higher alcohol level, while still staying with wine, I suggest a nice, kosher certified X.O. Cognac. It is wine-based, yet still has the whiskey alcohol content to achieve your goal.

What is the whole deal about letting your wine breathe? How should I go about it this Purim? In a nutshell, there no single answer to that question. Letting a wine breathe is not simply a cliché. It is a scientific fact. The complexity and age of your wine will determine how long you need to let your wine breathe. That being said, most dry wines will benefit from at least 20 minutes of “breathing” before consumption. If the wine is a complex and younger wine, it will require that much more breathing time. Using an aerator or decanter can speed up the process.

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Can you give me suggestions for two or three wines that a wine expert would enjoy?

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My close business associate is a scotch connoisseur, and I am completely clueless. How can I choose a nice scotch for him? Is it safe to say that the more expensive, the better?

At Spruce D’Vine, we have a dedicated, temperature-controlled room with over 100 different wines, from various wineries and from various vintages. Any wine lover would have a great time in that room. In terms of best-bang-for-the-buck, I love the Tabor Malkiya Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Herzog Rutherford Vineyard, Shiloh Mosaic, and Tura Mountain Peak.

Scotch is as subjective as wine, or food for that matter. That being said, price is generally reflective of quality. We have some great scotches on sale at all different levels: Glenfiddich 21yr at $169.99, the Glenfiddich 19yr at $139.99, the Balvenie 14yr at $63.99, and the Tomintoul T’lath at $26.99.

Can you tell me what is the difference between scotch, bourbon, and whiskey? While we just throw these words around, they actually have legal definitions. Whiskey is a distilled spirit from a malted grain. Scotch is a whiskey made in Scotland, meeting Scottish legal standards. Bourbon is a 51% corn whiskey, aged in a first usage barrel for a specific amount of time. The other 49% can consist of any other grain spirit.

What are some suggestions for wines that will impress my business associates but won’t break the bank? That is probably the most common question I get. It’s also the hardest for me to answer, mostly because “won’t break the bank” means something different to different people. We have great selections at every price point. Something new at around $25 is the new Segal’s Wild Yeast Fermentation, Cabernet Sauvignon. We also have the Herzog Variation 3 on sale at $15.99. However, it is most helpful, if you can actually provide a number that “doesn’t break the bank” and we will be happy to help you find the perfect bottle for your associates.

Are there any recent trends in the industry that you can tell me about? One word: tequila! It’s all the rage. All price ranges and all styles. Tequila, tequila, tequila!

Which foods go well with white wine and which go well with red? I am a big fan of starting from a point of: which wines do you like? If you dislike dry white wine, then no matter how well your fish matches with Sancerre, you’re not going to like the wine. Once you have established what you like, we can then pick out a wine that will best match the flavors, textures, and acidity of the food you are serving. Ideally, you want to match the wine’s characteristics with the food. If you have a fruit salad, My brother gave me a you would really expensive bottle want someof wine for my birthday thing like a last year. How can I tell if Baron Herit’s ready to drink? zog Chenin Even under ideal storage Blanc. circumstances, there is no way to 100 percent guarantee the longevity of a bottle. However, if stored properly, and you don’t know what the longevity is supposed to be, you should ask someone like our staff at Spruce D’Vine. We have a combined 80 years of experience in the industry. People should feel free to tap that knowledge.

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Is there a new country from which kosher wines are being made? Is Israeli wine really so good? Or do people only drink it for kashrus and solidarity reasons?

Wine can be made wherever quality grapes can grow, so there really isn’t any place that’s “new.” There are places that don’t generally make kosher wines, but that’s more due to fiscal reasons more than anything else.

There is definitely an element of solidarity when drinking Israeli wine. That being said, Israeli wines are no longer lacking in competitive quality. They are winning in non-kosher wine competitions worldwide just like any other wine-producing appellation. In addition, because Israel has hotter summers than most other wine-producing countries, generally speaking their wines are fuller in texture, viscosity, and, very often, higher in alcohol content. As far as the kosher aspect, not all Israeli wineries are kosher. However, all the wineries we deal with have kosher certification. Many have no less than four listed on the bottle.

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What can I do with all my open bottles of wine after Purim? I wouldn’t know. We generally finish all of ours! However, if someone has leftover wine, it’s worth investing in something called a Vacuvin. It’s a little $12 plastic contraption that sucks almost all the air out of the bottle. Once there is no air in contact with the wine, the wine’s decomposition slows down dramatically. Definitely worth the investment!

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Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

It just took one person, one person who started it, and then a bunch of others began to do the same. And if we can light up a high school gym like that, we can light the neighborhood. If we can light up a neighborhood, we can light up a city. If we can light up the city, we can light up this whole country, and if we light up this country then everyone can make sure this country we love shines as a beacon around the world once more. – 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaking after the Nevada Caucus

It’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know? When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?

It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world.

- Bernie Sanders on CNN, defending Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s actions

– President Obama, while campaigning in 2008

Stalin spurred industrial production throughout the country, but all everyone wants to talk about is putting 14 million people in gulags! Ughh, so annoying! - Tweet by the Bloomberg campaign in response to Sanders’ pro-Castro statement

By engaging in such an odious attack on this mainstream, bipartisan American political event, Senator Sanders is insulting his very own colleagues and the millions of Americans who stand with Israel… Truly shameful. - Part of AIPAC’s response to Bernie Sanders claiming that AIPAC is bigoted, while announcing that he will not appear at their conference in early March

As I watched one-sided results of the caucus in Nevada, I reached for a historical analogy and used a bad one. - MSNBC’s Chris Matthews apologizing on air in response to calls for his resignation after he compared Sen. Sanders’ Nevada Caucus victory to the fall of France to the Nazis in 1940

We were happy. We were just getting ready to do something together. And we did. And I’ve been blessed. - Mary Woodruff, age 103, talking to the TODAY show from her pie shop in Monroe, Virginia, which she and her husband opened 70 years ago and where she still works

I’ve taken the plank as far as I can take it. - Former Marine George Hood, age 62, after claiming the Guinness World Record for longest time spent in the plank position by planking for 8 hours, 15 minutes, and 15 seconds. He celebrated by doing 75 pushups

When we leave office in 26 years or so, they’re going to miss us. - President Trump trolling the media at a recent rally

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The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

I could teach anybody, even people in this room, no offense intended, to be a farmer. It’s a process – you dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. - From a recently unearthed clip of 2020 presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg talking to an audience at Oxford Saïd Business School in 2016

You have to have a different skill set; you have to have a lot more gray matter. - Ibid., contrasting working in technology with farming

I want to talk specifically for just a minute at the top about a threat that is coming our way. And it’s a big threat — not a tall one, but a big one: Michael Bloomberg. - 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally

Please tell me, is it possible to live on 10,800 rubles ($170)? - A Russian woman complaining to Russian President Putin about her miniscule monthly salary, after pushing through a crowd when Putin stopped to talk to people on the street

I think it’s very hard. - Putin’s reply

Your pay is probably about 800,000 rubles, I imagine. - The woman’s retort to Putin

I was born in Brooklyn, so I have Brooklyn street smarts. America doesn’t need a revolution. … It’s the most perfect country in the world and those people that are trying to change it and revolutionize it, don’t have a chance, because I’ll fight them to the death. - Judge Judy promising to fight Sen. Sanders and his Bernie Bros, at a campaign appearance with 2020 presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg

I have never seen @BernieSanders supporters being unusually mean or rude. Can someone send me an example of a “Bernie Bro” being bad. - Tweet by Kieth Ellison, deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, in response to news that some Sanders supporters are engaging in violence

I can think of an example. - Response tweet by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who was shot and nearly killed by Bernie Bro James Hodgkinson, who was a Sanders volunteer and manifested that he wanted to kill Republicans before shooting at a bunch of Republican congressmen playing a baseball game

While our president exonerates criminals and releases them from jail, notice what color they all are. - Chelsea Handler tweeting last week that President Trump only grants clemency to white people

I’m BLACK. - Angela Stanton-King, who was granted clemency by the president, tweeting in response

Every righteous person must be remembered for his deeds. This square eternalizes the memory of a man that left precious teachings for all humankind. - Rio de Janeiro’s first lady Sylvia Jane Crivella speaking at the naming ceremony of an upscale public square in Brazil now called “Lubavitcher Rebbe Square”

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word “Royal” overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use “Sussex Royal” or any iteration of the word “Royal” in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise). - Harry and Meghan writing on their official website that although the Queen doesn’t own the term “Royal,” they will not use it

It really does mean a lot more than winning the Super Bowl. One day, when you look back and people are talking about you and they say, “Oh my gosh, what are you going to be known for?” Are you going to say Super Bowl, or we saved a lot of babies? - Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow speaking at a pro-life event

My name is Joe Biden. I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over. If you like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other Biden.

He’s got obviously a big fan in me. And if you’re asking me what my party affiliation is, I’m a Trumpocrat. - Former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, after the president commuted his federal prison sentence last week

- 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden at an event in South Carolina

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Political Crossfire

Look Who’s Riding the Berniemobile By Megan McArdle

knew the win was coming, but I didn’t understand how big it would be. It only really hit me as I walked out of a caucus in the East Las Vegas Community Center where Bernie Sanders had carried all five precincts; in two of those, no other candidate even got enough votes to earn a single delegate. This was the sort of place where the socialist senator from Vermont had once been expected to flounder: It was jammed with Latinos, African-Americans, some white gentrifiers – not the stereotypical college students, grooving to whatever hot band was out busking for Bernie last week. I spoke to military wives and service workers, retirees and small business owners – normal people with real jobs. These voters went overwhelmingly for Sanders, as did the rest of the state; with 70% of the vote in, Sanders’ support stood at 47%, more than 25 points ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden’s distant second. The Nevada results undo all the dire predictions that Sanders’ opponents have (rather hopefully) been making. There’s no obvious cap on Sanders’ support, no suburban or minority firewall that will keep him from winning the nomination. Moreover, the makeup of his supporters suggests all the reasons it is going to be hard for his opponents to unify against Sanders – at least, not fast enough to matter. I’m not even talking about the racial and gender diversity of his coalition; I’m talking about the way Sanders voters seem to be thinking about the race. They can be broadly divided into three categories: the Realist-Idealists, the Revolutionaries, and the Bandwagoners.

The Realist-Idealists are attracted to his far-left position on some issue they care about – usually climate change or Medicare-for-all. Many supported Sanders in 2016. But they are Democrats before they are Sanders voters. They will “Vote Blue No Matter Who” in November, a point they often spontaneously emphasize. The Revolutionaries, by contrast, resemble the new voters President Trump brought into the GOP. They value authenticity over flexibility; they always tell you that Sanders has been

He’ll destroy it faster than they will. And then we can rebuild.” And then there are the Bandwagoners. A few days ago, Tim Miller, veteran of a short-lived Stop Trump PAC, offered a grim warning for Democrats who wanted, say, an actual Democrat to be their nominee. Voters, he noted, like winners; they are inclined to sign on with any candidate who opens up a commanding lead. To stop Sanders, he argued, the other candidates need to attack the front-runner instead of one another, now. They need to think

If Sanders’ opponents want to stop them from climbing onto the Bernie Bandwagon, they have to build a different wagon — one single wagon, not five — and fill it with enough voters.

saying the same thing for 40 years. Often, they add that 2016 was the first time they got interested in politics or voted. These folks insist it’s Bernie or Bust. “Any Blue Won’t Do,” said Charlee Magenot, who served as a delegate for Sanders in 2016 and was at a rally for him here Friday. Even at the expense of keeping Trump in office? At that point, Magenot’s mother, Debra Cole, interjected. “Donald Trump is not worse, for one reason:

about building a unity ticket, now. But the Trump equivalent of Bernie’s Revolutionaries are why Republican candidates in 2016 spent months attacking everyone but the front-runner. An early sustained attack might have taken Trump down, but it looked like his ultra-loyal faction would destroy anyone who mounted it. So they tried to knock out everyone else, in the hope that with a larger base, it would be safer to take Trump on. They failed. As the rest of the Democratic field is failing now. And the

Bandwagoners are why. In East Las Vegas, I spoke to seven Sanders supporters and two undecideds who were considering him. Three out of the nine either said they chose Bernie because he already had so much support – or that they had rejected another candidate for having too little. Moderate Republicans often claim that Trump is enabling Sanders – that Trump’s unpopularity makes it safer to vote for the socialist. But that’s close to the opposite of what I hear from the voters who are driving his growing margin: Bandwagoners choose Sanders because they think he’s the most electable candidate. After all, his rallies are huge, and his primary margins keep growing. Maybe those voters are wrong. But if Sanders’ opponents want to stop them from climbing onto the Bernie Bandwagon, they have to build a different wagon – one single wagon, not five – and fill it with enough voters to make it look even more popular than the Berniemobile. That could shift enough Bandwagoners to lure some Realist-Idealists along. If the alternative candidate’s margins are sufficiently overwhelming, even the grumbling Revolutionaries will find it hard to claim they’ve been robbed. It could work – maybe. But Democrats have to execute this whole maneuver by March 3, Super Tuesday. Because by the end of that day, almost 40 percent of the Democratic delegates will have been allocated. And the Sanders caravan may have enough momentum to cruise all the way to the nomination. (c) 2020, Washington Post Writers Group

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Political Crossfire

Bloomberg’s Disastrous Debate Performance Capped His Catastrophic Week By Marc A. Thiessen

t took only minutes for the pummeling of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg to commence at Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate. “I’d like to talk about who we’re running against, a billionaire who calls women ‘fat broads’ and ‘horsefaced [women],’” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., declared. “And, no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.” Bloomberg stood there like a deer in headlights as his rivals went after him for his demeaning comments about women, his nondisclosure agreements with female employees who accused him of harassment and gender discrimination, his stopand-frisk policy, his opposition to Obamacare, his past support for Republican candidates, and his attempt to buy the Democratic nomination. He had no clever retorts, much less competent responses. It was painful to watch. Not since Jeb Bush stumbled over a question in 2015 on whether the war in Iraq was a mistake has a candidate been so woefully unprepared for such an obvious line of questioning. Bloomberg never smiled. He rolled his eyes. He was not likable or prepared. His best moments came during the long stretches in which the other candidates attacked one another while

he effectively disappeared from the debate. Was it a mortal blow? Never count out anyone who has billions of dollars to burn. But Bloomberg’s disastrous debate performance capped a catastrophic week in which his effort to claim the electability lane was severely damaged. To beat President Trump, Democrats must do three things: First, they must energize African-American voters who turned out for Barack Obama but failed to do so for Hillary Clinton. Second, they must win back blue-collar Democrats who voted twice for Obama but switched to Trump in 2016. And third, they must hold onto the votes of suburban women who defected from the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections. Bloomberg is alienating all three groups. The audio of Bloomberg’s 2015 speech in which he defends targeting minorities for police stops will make it hard to woo black voters. What Bloomberg said was not a defense of stop-and-frisk; it was a defense of racial profiling. Big difference. Under stop-and-frisk, police needed to have a “reasonable suspicion” that the individual they were stopping and frisking had a weapon, but Bloomberg said “male, minorities, 15 to 25” was enough for reasonable suspicion. “You

can just take [that] description, Xerox it, and pass it out to all the cops,” he said. That is racial profiling, plain and simple. Add to that Bloomberg’s comments that getting rid of “redlining” – a discriminatory housing practice that denied mortgages to residents of poor, minority neighborhoods – was to blame for the 2008 financial crisis, and it’s hard to see how he can generate the Obama-level African-American turnout Democrats need to win. It’s hard to see how he can win back blue-collar voters in the key swing states that put Trump in the White House when Bloomberg has appeared to suggest that farmers and factory workers lack the brain power to succeed in the information economy. “I could teach anybody, even people in this room, so no offense intended, to be a farmer.... You dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn,” Bloomberg declared, adding that factory work was just as simplistic. But in the information economy, Bloomberg said, “you have to have a lot more gray matter.” It has become a common insult to tell working-class Americans they should “learn to code,” but Bloomberg implied they didn’t have enough “gray matter” to learn to code. Then there are allegations of

Bloomberg’s mistreatment of women, which would follow him into the general election and neutralize any advantage Democrats might have had over Trump with suburban Republican women. Bloomberg’s alleged history of making lewd and inappropriate comments to women, as well as lawsuits accusing him of presiding over a culture of harassment and degradation at his company, Bloomberg LP, will not go away, nor will his refusal to release women who made allegations from the nondisclosure agreements that were put in place as part of legal settlements. As we saw last Wednesday, he was paralyzed when challenged with specific comments attributed to him or demands that he release women to tell their side of the story. Bloomberg is seeking to pick up the mantle of electability from former Vice President Joe Biden. But Biden’s electability claim rested on the argument that he could bring back the coalition that put Obama in the White House. Bloomberg is anathema to virtually every element of the Obama coalition. At the Nevada debate, Bloomberg said the question for Democrats is “Who can beat Donald Trump?” Based on his performance, it’s not at all clear that he is the answer. (c) 2020, Washington Post Writers Group

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 27, 2020 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Forgotten Her es

Surgeries, Trench Coats, & Grenades World War I Innovations By Avi Heiligman

reviously, we discussed innovations that were used during the American Civil War. A half century later, World War I plunged many countries worldwide into a conflict that would last five years. Some innovations used during the First World War are well known, such as aircraft and tanks as these machines first saw combat during World War I. Other innovations such as submarines, medical advances, modern weapons, and some everyday items are among the many developments and inventions that still have a practical use today. The first war in which submarines played a major part was World War I. They had been around much longer than that – a Confederate submarine sank an enemy ship during the Civil War. However, it wasn’t until World War I that subs went into full-scale production. To go along with the new threat coming from below the ocean’s surface, torpedoes were developed for the high seas. The U-boats (the U stands for

undersea) were German submarines that could take out any ship afloat. The British answer to the U-boat menace was submarine chasers and Q-Ships. A Q-ship looked like a merchant vessel, but when the submarine was detected, hidden guns would appear and sink the enemy. One of the reasons cited for the U.S. entry into the war was the sinking of the passenger ship Lusitania by a U-boat. American and British engineers designed and built submarines of their own but had a mixed bag of success during operations. Submarines continued to advance during the interwar period and were major players during World War II. Today, they are a vital part of many navies across the world, including the U.S. and Israeli navies. World War I is known for trench warfare and the use of poison gas to obliterate opposing forces. Sitting in trenches for weeks on-end and being exposed to poisonous gasses as well as diseases and gunshot wounds

brought the medical field to introduce new methods of saving lives. Medics on the battlefield were given first aid kits that included bandages, iodine, sutures, and morphine. Blood transfusions were used on the battlefield as new techniques in anticoagulants were discovered. Army field doctors developed new ways of carrying out transfusions on the battlefield. Many lives were saved by having transfusions done before reaching the hospital. Battlefield hospitals were placed closer to the frontlines than in previous wars, thereby decreasing the time it took for a seriously wounded soldier to receive proper treatment. Blood banks were established in 1917; blood was kept on ice so that its shelf life was extended to 28 days. Once a wounded patient reached the hospital, new types of surgeries, including skin and bone grafts, were used. A New Zealand doctor, Sir Harold Gilles, working for the British medical corps performed 11,000 surgeries on soldiers who suffered

nasty-looking wounds. Most of the cases were face surgeries, and after the war Gilles and his team performed many more such surgeries. Reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries have come from techniques used during World War I. New types of weapons were introduced on the battlefield in response to the new kind of warfare being used during the war. One weapon that proved its effectiveness during trench warfare was the grenade. Throwing a small bomb by hand dates back centuries but chemistry and advances in explosives technology took it into the 20th century. Filled with explosives like TNT and amatol, grenades came in a variety of shapes and sizes. The first British grenade had a sixteen-inch handle and exploded on impact. Others had time fuses. The Mills Bomb was the first fragmentation grenade to see action. Grenade technology has improved immensely since then, and today non-lethal grenades have been introduced that

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home

have proven vital in non-battle situations including flash-bangs and smoke and sting grenades filled with rubber balls. Ancient military conflicts saw some forms of fire being thrown from a device. The most popular of these was the Greek fire and Chinese flamethrowers from over a thousand years ago. Modern flamethrowers were used by the Germans in the years leading up to World War I, and they started appearing on the battlefield in 1915 to flush British troops from their trenches. British, French, and Russian troops also used versions of the weapon, with the British having one that had a range of 90 yards. During World War II, American soldiers and marines used flamethrowers to great effect in the Pacific. In 1978, the U.S. Department of Defense decided to stop using the flamethrower in combat, although they are still used for some civilian purposes. Sometimes the latest in fashion

lightweight, had button-closed pockets, and went well below the knee. The coat kept the soldiers dry in wet and filthy trenches. After the soldiers returned from the frontlines, they brought the trench coats with them and it soon became popular with civilians. These aren’t the only innovations and inventions that came from World War I. Zippers, stainless steel, men’s wristwatches, and Daylight Savings Time can all be traced back to World War I. In the air, radio-controlled pilotless aircraft would lead to the first drones and aerial torpedoes. Today, many of the inventions and innovations in both military and civilian industries have their roots traced back to World War I.

garments and accessories come from odd places. The origins of the trench coat are disputed, as there are both American and British claims to the invention, but it was first seen

in public during World War I. The name obviously comes from the trenches that the soldiers had to live in. The waterproof coat proved to be perfect for those conditions. It was

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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REGISTERED NURSE openings to work with adults who have developmental disabilities within residential settings in Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Long Island. Current NYS RN, min 2 years hospital exp. OHEL: 855-OHEL JOB www.ohelfamily.org/careers

YOUNG ISRAEL OF LONG BEACH IS SEEKING A VIBRANT YOUNG COUPLE (REBBE/MORAH TYPES) TO SERVE AS YOUTH DIRECTORS. The candidate(s) would run youth groups on Shabbos and develop youth programming for all ages and seek to engage the young couples in the shul. email cwakslak@att.net. TEACHER- IMMEDIATE OPENING Short Term Position Secular Studies Special Education Teacher, Part Time, Afternoons, Monday-Thursday, for small middle school girls class in a Bais Yaakov in Far Rockaway. For information, call Shira at 516-295-3666 or email your resume to shira@cahal.org. YDE GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL is expanding and adding another grade for 2020-2021 academic year! Searching for passionate, experienced educators for our innovative, inspiring, student-centered school. Full & part time positions available in: Limude Kodesh, English, Hebrew Language, Math, Social Studies, Science, Computers, Physical Education. Compensation and benefits are competitive, reliable and commensurate with experience. Interested candidates please email resumes and cover letters: GHSresumes@ydeschool.org **PLAYGROUP ASSISTANT** Looking for a young, heimish, post-high school girl to work as a warm and loving assistant Morah in a 2 year old Far Rockaway playgroup (starting now). Competative pay, sick and vacation days. Hours are 8:55-3:10 (12:10 Friday). For more information, please text your name and 2 references to 718-926-9336 SHULAMITH EARLY CHILDHOOD is looking to hire a full time teacher assistant for the current school year. Please email resume to earlychildhood@shulamith.org

CATAPULT LEARNING Teachers, Title I Boro Park, Williamsburg and Flatbush Schools *College/Yeshiva Degree *Teaching experience required *Strong desire to help children learn *Small group instruction *Excellent organization skills Competitive salary Send resume to: Fax: (212) 480-3691 ~ Email: nyteachers@catapultlearning.com

Lawrence

OPEN HOUSE 45 Locust 3.1.20 12:00-1:30pm 1st fl, 2BR, 2bth, living rm, frml dining rm, hi ceilings, hdwd flrs, many closets. W/D on premises. Bryna (516)322-4831 $299K

Fully renovated s/h colonial with 4br 3.5 bth in mint condition. Huge deep lot. move right in. $1.252M Chana (516)449-9692

Far rockaway

OPEN HOUSE 211 Seagirt 3.1.20 11:30-1pm Completely renovated 4 br, 2.5 bath home with new kit and baths, rights to priv beach. Malka (516)967-1967 $679K

woodmere

Immaculate & renovated 4br col. w/ full fin. basement, kosher granite kit, huge den spacious yard. Tamar (917)902-0613 $899K

5 TOWNS BOYS YESHIVA SEEKING ELEM GEN ED TEACHERS Excellent working environment and pay. Only lic/exp need apply. Email resume to yeshivalooking@gmail.com â&#x20AC;&#x153;NEW FIVE TOWNS RESTAURANT IS LOOKING TO HIRE THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS: Experienced grill man Laffa maker, Dishwasher, Delivery guy Please email Ronazohar@hotmail.com Bais Yaakov in Far Rockaway seeking permanent substitute for Preschool and Elementary school. Please call 718-868-3232 ext 211 ASSISTANTS NEEDED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AFTERNOON SESSION. Email: fivetownseducators@gmail.com

MISC ARE YOU IN NEED OF A LIVER TRANSPLANT? LIVER DONOR AVAILABLE! If you are blood type A or AB and in need of a liver transplant call Chaya Lipschutz, Kidney & Liver Shadchan (917) 627-8336, or email KidneyMitzvah@aol.com LOST DIAMOND BRACELET in Boro Park area (possibly also Five Towns)on Sunday, February 23. If found, please call or text 516-697-9496

cedarhurst

Lawrence

Brick SH colonial 4brs, 2.5bth, new hardwood flrs, centrally located. Call Bryna 516-322-4831 Reduced $3950/month

WOODMERE

Free standing building, parking, great for medical office or pre-school ask $799K Call Miri (646)515-8813

Updated townhouse. 3 levels of living space, newly finished playroom, rear deck & private yard.Malka 516-967-1967 $439K

Lawrence

Stately 7 bedroom 4.5 bath colonial on vast property adjacent to the Rockaway Hunt Club. $1.29M

woodmere

Brick ch col. loc. Wdsbrgh-Old Wdmr border. Approx .5acre prop, immac. maintained w/lrge brs, & lrge kit. Bruria (718)490-7791 $1.499M

VALLEY STREAM

Newly renov. all inclusive office near LIRR, singles & Suites, util, conf room, kitchen, parking Call Raizie (917) 903-1778 or Sarah 347-524-9147

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Your

Money

If Only They Had an Oscar For This! By Allan Rolnick, CPA

ollywood legend Kirk Douglas, who died last this month, played nearly every role in his career: actor, director, producer, and writer. He was born before the first “talkie” hit theaters. He grew up one of seven children in an impoverished home. Then he worked his way through St. Lawrence University and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, dated Lauren Bacall, and served as a communications officer on a submarine chaser in World War II before launching one of the most storied careers in film. Douglas is best known for playing the role of Spartacus, a Thracian slave-turned-gladiator who leads a revolt against the Romans. The rebels wind up trapped by the Romans, who offer them a pardon if only they identify Spartacus. The men all respond shouting, “I am Spartacus,” with precdictably unpleasant results. (Sorry for the spoiler, but the movie did come out in 1960.) The movie won four Oscars, was the studio’s biggest moneymaker for a decade, and even helped end the Hollywood blacklist against suspected communist sympathizers. Douglas left an incredible 60-year legacy of television, film, and stage work. He also changed how Hollywood stars manage their careers and

left a mark on the Los Angeles skyline. He even managed to beat the IRS in the process! Back in Hollywood’s Golden Age, stars could make what seemed like a princely $500,000 per year. Not bad, to be sure, but hardly the $2050 million paychecks today’s performers like Robert Downey Jr. take home for Marvel movies. But Douglas

Marina Del Rey’s “Shores” apartments. By 2012, that trust had grown to $80 million. The couple’s overall net worth has been estimated as high as $200 million. Not bad for a kid who started out selling snacks to millworkers to feed his six sisters! If the Douglases pay much in income tax on those assets, it’s because they’re volunteering. As Kirk’s acting

Not bad for a kid who started out selling snacks to millworkers to feed his six sisters.

wasn’t satisfied with just a paycheck. He wanted equity. So, in 1955, he became one of the first actors to establish a production company. With Spartacus, he gave up the paycheck, took 60% of the profit, and wound up with $3 million. The money went into a trust that his wife Anne managed. Much of that money wound up in real estate, including the land under

drew to a close, his tax-deductible philanthropy took off. The couple have already donated $40 million to fight Alzheimer’s and dementia. And they’ve pledged $50 million more to various organizations. These include his alma mater, his temple, the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he donated a robot that per-

forms surgery. (Of course, the robot’s name is “Spartacus.”) And so, in Act One, we see Douglas start out as a poor but scrappy kid with a dream. In Act Two, we see him achieve that dream to worldwide acclamation. In Act Three, we see him partner with his wife in a new role, changing the life of his adopted city and its inhabitants forever. Kirk may have won the Oscars — but if the Academy handed out awards for personal financial planning, Anne would have taken home a Lifetime Achievement Award. Here’s the bottom line for everyone who aspires to Kirk and Anne’s level of financial success. Kirk’s talent and presence got them off to a great start — but Anne’s planning and perseverance took them through post-production. The right partner makes all the difference in the world. We can’t promise you an Oscar. But we can help protect your success no matter what legacy you choose to leave.

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 years in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

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Life C ach

A Worldview Through Viewing the World By Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., MFT, CLC

s I gaze out upon the wideopen mountain terrain, in Mitzpe Ramon, I am reminded that a meteor-like event, over time, may have created this expansive open area. Years ago, eroding with the force and impact of no other than a “meteor,” it left a lasting impression in the surrounding rocks. However, when one looks out at it, one may think, it’s merely a beautiful area in the mountains. Such is life. Without the backstory, we create our own reality and miss vital details that inform the more correct narrative. A yelling mom can be a nut letting go for no reason or, alternatively, a hero who is managing to get by, if you only knew her kids. A calm guy can simply be a sweet doll of a person or someone who decided it’s just not worth saying anything because he is never listened to anyway. We need to know the meteors that have impacted one’s life in order to truly understand them. You certainly can’t know the “hole” story unless you are willing to focus on those layers. We are often judging one another – whether close friends, new

acquaintances, or strangers – from the vantage point of the immediate moment, or simply with our own spin to their backstory or even more likely letting our own backstory overshadow theirs. It’s funny – we easily and naturally make excuses for ourselves. And probably, half the time, we don’t even bother with excuses because we are us, and it makes perfect sense to us

kishkas and innards. Rather, that you can easily see a computer-like display that simultaneously shows the effects of their childhood on them and the emotions that are informing them, as they speak. It may not make communication perfect per-se, but it would not let one summarily dismiss the other person’s side of things. Here’s an interesting thought:

Shouldn’t we remember to mediate, not meteor, our relationships?!

the way we are behaving. But we will feel, when it comes to you, the other guy – what in the world is your problem?! Maybe, it would be helpful if people were made more transparent. And I don’t mean that you easily see their

Is it coincidental that mediator sounds so much like meteor? Often, in life, there are all this meteor-like clashing pieces sparking and exploding in our relationships such that we need a person, a mediator, to make some sense of it. The mediator is ra-

tional and tries to reconstruct an informed narrative and find out what’s worth focusing on. The meteor, on the other hand, is merely explosive. Which do we want to be in our relationships? Shouldn’t we look at the picture and remember more than the moment at hand? Should we recognize that in order to have a real understanding of any situation we need to register all that brought us to this moment? Shouldn’t we remember to mediate, not meteor, our relationships?! As I sit here and stare out at the open crater before me, I feel lucky to see the awesome topography and interesting land curves. I feel inspired by its history to come to this insightful relationship view. But I must confess, I feel most thankful that the mountains have no feelings to hurt so that I can look away from its backstory and just enjoy the view – no matter how the landscape actually got here! Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-7052004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com.

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