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Special Sukkos Section

Divrei Torah, Halacha, Thoughts on Yom Kippur, Recipes, To Your Health, & More… SPECIAL COVERAGE OF DIRSHU’S MISSION TO RADIN AND YOM LIMUD AND TEFILLAH

25th Yahrtzeit

THEY CALL HIM “THE REBBI”

The fire that burned in Reb Shlomo Freifeld’s soul and how he turned it into a revolution PAGE 59 – See pages 3 & 39

SEASONS LAWRENCE

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See page 114

PAGE 83

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From the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Community Readers’ Poll Community Happenings

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News Global

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Odd-but-True Stories

Israel News

An Ode to Marriage by Rafi Sackville

Why the Arabs are Rioting—Again by Nachum Soroka 103 People Daring Prisoner of War Escapes by Avi Heiligman

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A Few Minutes with Caitlin Callahan

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Parsha Rabbi Wein

The Shmuz

Jewish Thought Thank you for Every Thing by Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz 78 Eating Some Humble Pie…In the Sukkah by Rabbi Naphtali Hoff 79 Sukkos An Etrog from the Garden of Eden by Nissan Mindel 74

py on yom tov, every person can experience the chag in their own way. Some people find joy in music and singing; others delight in words of divrei Torah; and still others bask in fostering stronger connections between family and friends. And the sukkah, with its minimal structure, is the perfect setting for our happiness. Because the sukkah is so simple, we are able to focus on our happiness. We are able to connect with what brings us joy on a deeper, more profound level because we’re not distracted by the usual loud interference. May this Sukkos be one filled with joy for you and your family as you celebrate in your own way. Chag sameach, Shoshana

The Sukkah Experience by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller 77 They Call Him The Rebbi by Naftali Halpern

Behind the Music: An Insider’s Look at the Jewish Music Scene by Brendy J. Siev

Weekly Weather

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Chol Hamoed Guide: Places to Go, Things to Do 93

SHABBOS

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The Splendor of a Sukkos in Bobov by Yaakov Wasilewicz 108 A Floral Sphere to Enhance Your Sukkah by Esther Ottensoser 132 Health & Fitness Battling the Yom Tov Bulge by Aliza Beer, MS, RD

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Trust by Deb Hirschhorn, PhD

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Israel

my father hauling the sukkah panels out of the garage, rigging up lights, and starting to build. We still have that sukkah—although it has been expanded— and that’s the sukkah my children have also grown to love. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I overheard my kids talking in the backseat of the car, chatting excitedly about Sukkos and how when they go to Bubby and Zeidy’s house, it’s “pinch black” outside when they head out to the sukkah and stay up late playing with their cousins. Sukkos is called Zman Simchaseinu. Happiness is a very personal emotion. What makes one person happy won’t necessarily bring joy to another. And that is why Sukkos is such a wonderful holiday. Because we are commanded to be hap-

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National

Dear Readers, My daughter asked me today when she’ll be going to the restaurant. The restaurant? Which restaurant? Did I promise her an outing and then forget about it? And then I remembered that it’s almost Sukkos and as a treat for the children in the spirit of yom tov, my husband takes them to Boro Park to take in the sights and sounds of preparing for Sukkos. Yes, there is a restaurant involved—after all, they have to eat!—but the kids are mesmerized by the bustling streets of 13th Avenue, the blocks lined with esrog vendors, the blaring music from the stores, and the general excitement and anticipation in preparing for Sukkos. When I was young, on Motzei Yom Kippur, I remember

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Contents

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, There has been a lot of research in recent years regarding people who went through “Near Death Experience” (NDE). There has also been some research regarding people who “remember” previous lives when in hypnotic state (this is called “regression”). I am not sure, however, if anyone ever tried to collect stories of specifically Orthodox Jews who went through NDE or remembered past lives. I would like to collect and possibly publish bli neder such stories. I think they may serve as an inspiration to many people. Please if you or someone you know has stories you can share, feel free to send them to michaelrosen85@gmail. com. Thank you and gut yom tov to everyone! M. Rosen

Dear Editor, It’s funny how the media drives our nation’s perception of reality. In fact, it’s amazing to me and I truly wonder how real the “news” really is. Take, for example, Ahmed Mohamed, a sweet, innocent young boy who invented a clock and brought it to school—only to have himself taken to a police station in handcuffs. Alarming, no? That an innocent child should be suspected of having sinister thoughts and should be arrested for his innocent doings? Well, if you look deeper into the story you see that it’s not all that it seems. For one, Ahmed did not invent a new clock. He took an old clock he found online (made by Radio Shack) and then took its guts and transplanted it into an old case and tied the case with string so it wouldn’t look suspicious. I don’t know why he would think his new invention would look suspicious. My alarm clocks in my home don’t look anything near a device that can cause mass destruction. In fact, dear Ahmed, my clocks look like clocks. So Ahmed is neither an inventor nor is he too innocent if he thought that perhaps his “invention” would raise alarms in schools that have been targeted throughout the country. Well, when Ahmed was taken to the

Cover painting Sukkot, Praying at the Kotel by Alex Levin www.artlevin.com

police station, it made national news because it seems that if a teacher suspects someone who is Muslim of perhaps bringing in something that may be dangerous to school, she is called a racist. If she suspects a white person, well, then, that’s just being vigilant. In fact, there have been white students who have been suspended or taken away in handcuffs for writing about killing people or for pointing a Poptart in the shape of a gun at a fellow student. Truly dangerous children, but the schools must have had their reasons for the suspension. In any case, none of those cases raised anyone’s shackles nationwide and in none of those cases did the president invite the children to the White House. So what’s the deal in the case of sweet, little Ahmed? Was he unfairly targeted? Or perhaps it’s America that’s bending over backward to show that we’re so politically correct that we can never suspect a person with a Muslim-sounding name to be a vehicle of destruction. If that’s the case, then we haven’t learned any of the lessons from 9/11—and I hope that we won’t G-d forbid need to learn those lessons again. Sincerely, Ron Heller

Dear Editor, Why not participate in the annual Car Free Day Monday, September 22nd? Millions of Americans today on a daily basis utilize various public transportation alternatives. They include local and express bus, ferry, jitney, light rail, subway and commuter rail services. All of these systems use less fuel and move far more people than conventional single occupancy vehicles. Most of these systems are funded with your tax dollars. Depending upon where you live, consider the public transportation alternative. Try riding a local or express bus, commuter van, ferry, light rail, commuter rail or subway. Leave your car at home. For local trips in the neighborhood, walk or ride a bike. For longer travels, consider many public transportation alternatives already available provided by Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, MTA Bus, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Rail Road, Nassau Inter County Express (NICE) Bus and others. They use less fuel and move far more people than cars. In many cases, your employer can offer transit checks

to help subsidize a portion of the costs. Utilize your investments and reap the benefits. You’ll be supporting a cleaner environment and be less stressed upon arrival at your final destination. The ability to travel from home to workplace, school, shopping, entertainment, medical, library, etc. is a factor when moving to a new neighborhood. Economically successful communities are not 100% dependent on automobiles as the sole means of mobility. Seniors, students, low and middle income people need these transportation alternatives. Investment in public transportation today contributes to economic growth, employment and a stronger economy. Dollar for dollar, it is one of the best investments we can make. Sincerely, Larry Penner Great Neck Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked in the transportation field for 31 years.

Dear Editor, As a resident of Woodmere and many years’ experience in public safety, I am gratified to write about the swift response to an area safety hazard by Councilman Santino’s office. Within 12 hours of writing an email to Councilman Santino in regards to a stop sign becoming obscured by trees in an area frequently traveled by children, a crew

was on scene trimming and pruning trees to ensure the safety of our residents. In another instance, I met Councilman Santino one morning at the local LIRR Station and discussed with him the danger for disabled persons and those with strollers being forced into an area street due to utility poles installed on a sidewalk spanning several blocks. He did not just listen. He did not delegate someone to take notes. He asked me to show him the area. This is the character of whom I want to see in office. It simply is about getting things done. And, Councilman Santino gets it. For his efforts, I am grateful. Sincerely, N. Gordon

Dear Editor, I was truly moved reading Rabbi Gavriel Sassoon’s inspiring thoughts on the yomim noraim. His words were so comforting and I kept thinking of them during my davening on Shabbos. Yes, Hashem loves us and He always wants the best for us. If someone who went through such a tragedy could say those words and repeat them so strongly, with such conviction, how much more so should I believe in the goodness of the Ribbono Shel Olam and in His absolute love for us. May this year be filled with kol tuv for all of Klal Yisroel, Chaya N.

Readers Poll Do you eat in the sukkah on Shemini Atzeres?

68% No 32% Yes To be included in the TJH weekly poll, email editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com with the word “poll” in the subject line.

The Week In News

China Curbs the Smartphone Addiction

If your phone breaks or gets stolen, how much do you panic? Do you stress that you will need to go a day or two with minimal contact with your family and friends? Or do you relish the tempo-

Carol Braunstein

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rary calm and mystery that comes along with not being able to be reached at any given second? The word “addicted” is tossed around when we talk about cellphones, but do people actually suffer from phone addictions? Studies show that the younger generation of cellphone users, particularly, are struggling with limiting their phone time. In China, they are considering phone addiction to be a pretty serious problem, and they are tackling it in a serious way. Young adults who are about to go to college are forced to go to military camp and “unlearn” their bad tech habits. There are about 250 such camps in China. According to pictures that have been released, “training” includes holding an iPhone between your teeth and engaging in physical activity. Chinese social media outlets have shown other strange exercises. Students receive “punishments” for certain infractions, and go to psychology sessions to help them curb their addiction. Many studies have shown that toddlers that spend many hours a day on smartphones and other electronic devices may need therapy later in life to break

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In a bold confession, North Korea has admitted to reopening its main plant for producing nuclear bombs. Experts’ assessments based on satellite imagery have suspected activity at the facility for about two years. Last week’s report from North Korea’s state media adds to concerns that the isolated nation is proceeding to sharpen its nuclear threat. Pyongyang also indicated last week that it may soon

Last week’s state media report cited the director of North Korea’s Atomic Energy Institute as confirming that all the facilities at Yongbyon had “started normal operations.” The official, who wasn’t named, was also quoted as saying that scientists were “steadily improving the levels of nuclear weapons with various missions in quality and quantity.”



N. Korea Reopens Nuclear Plants

launch a long-range rocket. Any launch would be highly political and have many repercussions. The U.S. and other countries view such launches as tests of missile technology that could potentially be used to deliver a nuclear bomb as far as the continental U.S. Any rocket launch would also undermine a recent warming of ties with South Korea. The two Koreas agreed in August to hold a reunion of families separated by their shared border in October. A spokesman for South Korea’s foreign ministry said Seoul would consult with the United Nations Security Council on a response to a launch if one takes place. North Korea has rejected all approaches from Washington and Seoul to discuss its atomic weapons program and instead pursued a policy of developing its “treasured sword” of a nuclear threat. Its leaders say it needs nuclear weapons to prevent an invasion by the U.S. and South Korea. “We continue to call on North Korea to refrain from irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional tensions, and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

THE JEWISH HOME

Global

The Week In News

THINK YOU ARE THE

ONLY ONE BEING

the habit. I don’t know if military camp is the answer, but it may be quicker— and cheaper—than countless hours on a therapist’s couch.

ABUSED?

THINK AGAIN

Iranian Prez: “Death to America” Not to be Taken Personally

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past, but at the same time our gaze must be towards the future.” Iran rose up against its pro-Western monarch Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1979. After the revolt, Iranian radical students took 52 U.S. embassy workers hostage and held them for more than a year. During the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988, the United States remained close to the aggressor, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, as almost a million Iranians lost their lives, many through chemical weapon attacks.

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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is trying to reassure a skeptical American public that when crowds in Tehran chant “Death to America!” they don’t mean it personally. In an interview with “60 Minutes,” the Iranian president said the famous Friday ritual is a reaction to previous Washington policy decisions that hurt Iran. In April, U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration signed a deal with Rouhani’s government to release Iran from many of the economic sanctions crippling its economy in return for certain controls on its nuclear program. But many in the United States are still convinced that Iran, which is ultimately led not by Rouhani but by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remains bent on their country’s destruction. The death chants don’t help to sway their sentiments. In a July speech, Khamenei hailed the Iranian masses for demanding the destruction of Israel and America and said he hoped that G-d would answer their prayers. A clip published by Khamenei on social media last week warned the U.S. it would be defeated in any war with Iran. In the fierce debate over the deal, opponents have often cited the regular appearance of chanting anti-American crowds as evidence of Tehran’s true intentions. But according to Rouhani, there’s nothing to be scared of—the anti-American chants are remnants of an old attitude based on the United States support of Saddam Hussein. “When the people rose up against the Shah, the United States aggressively supported the Shah until the last moments. In the eight-year war with Iraq, the Americans supported Saddam. People will not forget these things. We cannot forget the

Stanislav Petrov is known as “the man who saved the world” for a decision he made on September 26, 1983. The former Soviet military officer is credited by some for having averted a nuclear war. On that night, an alarm had sounded, signaling the launch of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles, and it was up to the 44-year-old lieutenant colonel to determine—quickly—whether the attack on the Soviet Union was real. “I realized that I had to make some kind of decision, and I was only 50/50,” Petrov recently related. Despite the data coming in from the Soviet Union’s early-warning satellites over the United States, Petrov decided to consider it a false alarm. Had he done otherwise, the Soviet leadership could have responded by ordering a retaliatory nuclear strike on the United States and history would have played out very differently. During that tense time of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was on high-alert and feared an ambush nuclear attack from the U.S. That month, the Soviets had shot down a passenger plane flying to South Korea from the U.S., suspecting it of spying. The United States, after a series of provocative military maneuvers, was preparing for a major NATO exercise, called Able Archer, which simulated preparations for a nuclear attack.

11 THE JEWISH HOME 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Sale Dates: September 27th - October 3rd 2015

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The Week In News

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This week, a movie based on Petrov’s story will be released. Of course, the movie is called, “The Man Who Saved the World”; it was directed by Danish director Peter Anthony. Petrov appears in the movie as his older self. Interviews of him in his home in Russia and other recent footage are interwoven within the scenes played by actors portraying him in his younger years. In Russia, Petrov, 76, isn’t really regarded as a hero. He lives a quiet life in Fryazino, a town on the outskirts of Moscow. In an interview. Petrov recalled the night, “It was this quiet situation and suddenly the roar of the siren breaks in and the command post lights up with the word ‘LAUNCH.’ This hit the nerves. I was really taken aback. Holy cow!” He quickly noticed that his colleagues were all looking at him in confusion. “My team was close to panic and it hit me that if panic sets in then it’s all over.” He needed to make a quick and smart decision. Within minutes of the first alarm, the siren sounded again, warning of a second U.S. missile launch. Soon, the system was reporting that five missiles had been launched. Petrov immediately reported to his commander that he believed the system was providing false information. He says he was not at all confident, but his decision was based on the fact that Soviet ground radar could not confirm a launch. The radar system picked up incoming missiles only well after any launch, but he knew it to be more reliable than the satellites. The false alarm was later discovered to have been caused by a malfunction of the satellite, which mistakenly identified the reflection of the sun off high clouds as missiles. Strangely, Petrov was not rewarded for his actions, most likely because doing so would have brought to light the failure of the Soviet’s early-warning satellites. Although his commanding officer did not support Petrov at the time, he was the one who revealed the incident after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. If Col. Gen. Yury Votintsev had not spoken out, Petrov said he himself “would have forgotten about it like a bad dream.”

ed as saying, “In recent days, several cases have been filed in the court for bad hijabs and, in two of them, the accused were sentenced to pay 9 million rials [$260] in cash.”

No further details were given on what the women had done to warrant the fine; that amount of money is equivalent to the average monthly minimum wage. Since the mid-1990s, there has been a gradual relaxation of the dress code in Iran despite continued campaigns by police to enforce it. Yet it is still the law of the land for all women—even foreigners—to wear a loose scarf to cover their hair and neck. President Hassan Rouhani, who was elected in 2013, has overseen some political and social reforms, but much of Iran’s political establishment remains strict in its adherence to Islam. Recently, a police official said women drivers could have their cars impounded if they are caught driving with a poorly fixed veil or with their heads uncovered. “If a [female] driver in a car is poorly veiled or has taken her veil off, the vehicle will be seized in accordance with the law,” Tehran traffic police chief General Teymour Hosseini announced.

Million Evacuated when Earthquake Rips Through Chile

Iranian Women Fined for “Bad Hijab” Two women in Iran were fined $260 for violating the Islamic dress code by not wearing their mandatory hijabs (headscarves) properly in the street. A Tehran judicial official was quot-

A powerful 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck Chile on Wednesday, leaving eight people dead and forcing the evacuation

15 THE JEWISH HOME 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

The Week In News of a million. Buildings trembled from the shock in Buenos Aires, Argentina, about 1,000 miles east. It was the sixth most powerful quake in the history of geologically volatile Chile and the strongest anywhere in the world this year, Deputy Interior Minister Mahmoud Aleuy said. Intense aftershocks followed the first quake, and a tsunami alert was imposed for hours on the Chilean coast. Many

people were evacuated to higher ground, but it was lifted before dawn the next day. In the aftermath, a tsunami warning was issued for as far as Japan, New Zealand, and other countries in the Pacific. In Chile, more than 135,000 families were left without power in the north-central coast area, the National Emergency Office reported. Central Choapa province, which is closest to the epicenter, was declared a disaster zone and placed

under military rule. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake occurred at 22:54 GMT and measured a 8.3 on the so-called moment magnitude scale. It occurred at a shallow depth, 228 kilometers (about 140 miles) north of Santiago, a city of 6.6 million people. The Chilean government put the main earthquake at 8.4 on a slightly different measurement, the Richter scale.

Syria has New Weapon Cache, Courtesy of Russia

For those who have been awarding Putin with the benefit of the doubt, his motives have basically been confirmed. A Syrian military source recently revealed that in recent weeks President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been using advanced air and ground weapons from Russia. There is no denying that Moscow has a growing role in the bloody Syrian civil war. The source related that the new weapons feature high efficiency and accuracy and that Assad’s army trained with them for several months before their recent deployment on the battlefield. “New weapons are being delivered, and new types of weapons. The Syrian army is being trained in the use of these weapons. In fact, the army has started using some of these [weapon] types,” revealed the source. “The weapons are highly effective and very accurate, and hit targets precisely. We can say they are all types of weapons – be it air or ground.” Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has a visit planned to Russia next week where he will meet with President Vladimir Putin. In an official statement it was written that Netanyahu “will present the threats on Israel as a result of the increased influx of advanced weaponry to the Syrian theater and from the flow of lethal weapons to Hezbollah and to other terrorist organizations.” In addition to the new Russian weapons, there is growing evidence of an expanding Russian army presence on the ground in Syria. U.S. officials have disclosed that America has located at least four Russian helicopters via satellite imagery, including helicopter gunships, at a Syrian airfield. Secretary of State John Kerry told

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A number of North Korean women are being forcibly returned to North Korea from China. To prepare for their return, the Hermit Kingdom has ordered more space be made in their notorious labor camps to accommodate them. According to the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (CHRNK), the atrocities that await inmates in the North Korean gulag include forced labor, starvation, episodic executions and other crimes against humanity. The Kim regime steadfastly denies the existence of any and all of the labor camps. The women are to be imprisoned for the “crime” of leaving North Korea. In the past they fled to China largely to escape outright starvation at home, said David Hawk, author of the CHRNK report. Now some also leave for the less desperate reason of pursuing marginal economic opportunities. Once in China, they are often picked up randomly by po-

scrutiny made possible by satellite imagery analysis.”

How Hitler and Khamenei are Alike

Yale University Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder has authored a new Holocaust book entitled Black Earth. In the book, Snyder compares the anti-Semitism of Adolf Hitler and that of Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei. Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitism, explains Snyder, is generally seen as an aspect of his absolute German nationalism. For the Nazi dictator, the Germanic Aryans reigned supreme, the theory goes, and Jews, Slavs and Gypsies needed to be eradicated to purify this master race.

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While the American unemployment rate isn’t great, it’s nothing compared to India. Over two million people applied for just 368 jobs in the Indian state government of Uttar Pradesh. Officials were extremely overwhelmed by the number of applicants and said it would take a long four years to get through interviews. The state has a population of 215 million residents. The government advertised for job openings in August, known as “peons,” whose tasks include making tea and transferring files between governmental offices. The requirements for the jobs included passing primary school education and being able to ride a bike. The jobs provide a monthly salary of 16,000 Indian rupees ($243). The applications included 255 people with PhDs and 150,000 university graduates, highlighting the dearth of jobs for India’s educated class. “We have been left astounded with the response not just because the number of applicants is as high as 2.3 million,” Prabhat Mittal, secretary to the administration department of government of Uttar Pradesh, related. “We are stunned also to find candidates with PhD, B.Tech, MBA and other masters and bachelor degrees applying for these jobs of peons.” The last time India’s most populous state advertised for such jobs was in 2006, and the level of applications at the time was 16 times lower, highlighting the lack of jobs for the country’s young and educated workforce. Half of India’s

N Korean Women’s Labor Camps Being Expanded

lice and detained until “a busload” can be driven back to North Korea. Once back, the women are “interrogated, often brutally,” Hawk said. If police decide they have committed no “political offense”—which can include any contact with South Koreans, or with any Christian churches—they are sentenced to anywhere between six months and three years of hard labor and placed in the labor camp system. That fact alone can be a lifesaver, as the families of inmates in the “normal” labor camp system are actually informed of the existence and location of their loved ones, meaning that they can receive additional food supplies when possible—though often it is not. Overall, the analysis notes, “up to 120,000 political prisoners detained in North Korea’s ‘hidden gulag’ continue to be subjected to induced malnutrition, forced labor, torture and extra-judicial killings.” As a result, it adds, “scores of thousands” have died in the camps over the years. If anything, Hawk notes, “the North Korean regime appears to be stepping up its efforts to conceal the ‘heart of darkness’ of its oppressive system, its political prison camps, from international

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Millions Apply for Government Jobs in India

population is under 25 years old. According World Bank figures, youth unemployment in India was 10.5 percent in 2013, compared to 3.6 percent for the working population as a whole. “These candidates only have to be interviewed but my estimate is that the entire process will take at least four years to complete even if there are 10 boards interviewing 200 candidates a day, for 25 days a month,” a senior state government official related. The job is very attractive to young Indian workers, as they can rely on a steady income and their jobs are largely secure from large layoffs seen in the private sector. One graduate said that he applied for a government role because “there is so much security” in the government sector. The average number of people applying for each government post is 6,250.

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reporters last week that Russia has proposed military talks with the United States on Syria, with the talks evidently meant to coordinate ways of avoiding clashes between American and Russian troops as Russia expands its presence.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

The Week In News However, Snyder has argued that Hitler’s anti-Semitism was actually rooted in an even more extreme—and far more sinister—way of seeing the world. “What Hitler does is he reverts,” Snyder explained. “He reverses the whole way we think about ethics, and for that matter the whole way we think about science.” In Hitler’s worldview, which Synder termed “racial anarchy,” human life has no inherent meaning outside of savage competition between the races, he said. The Nazi dictator thought “races struggle against each other, kill each other, starve each other to death, and try and take land” — this is life in its purest and most true form. In Hitler’s eyes, Snyder said, the Jews subvert this natural order by introducing the idea that people can see each other as human beings. Snyder said that Hitler wasn’t any more or less anti-Semitic than Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who he noted recently predicted Israel’s demise within 25 years. “Hitler explicitly said that states are temporary, state borders will be washed away in the struggle for nature,” Snyder said. His decisions as Fuhrer weren’t truly concerned with strengthening the German state, but were designed to make Ger-

many an “instrument to destroy other states,” in accordance with what he saw was life’s true, primal meaning. “As far as he was concerned, if the Germans lost, that was also all right. And that’s just not a view that a nationalist can hold,” Snyder said. “If we think that Hitler was just a nationalist, but more so, or just an authoritarian, but more so, we’re missing the capacity for evil completely.” The difference then is that Khamenei’s hate-filled anti-Semitic ideology does not preclude him making rational decisions based on the principle of self-preservation. By comparison, Snyder said, the supposed evil of the Jews was so central to Hitler’s worldview that the Final Solution was entirely rational for him.

Iran Nuclear Deal Adoption October 18 The clock is ticking down to the Iran nuclear deal. The formal adoption of the deal which was reached in July between Iran and six major pow-

ers will be October 18, but it is not yet clear how long it will take for Iran to satisfy conditions to relieve sanctions, top U.S. officials said. In a press conference, senior administration officials outlined the steps Iran must take before inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, confirm that Iran is in compliance.

The Obama administration has announced that Stephen Mull, the outgoing ambassador to Poland, would be the point person for ensuring Iranian compliance with the deal. Among other measures, Iran must remove thousands of centrifuges from its Natanz reactor, ship overseas all but 300 kilograms of 12,000 kilograms of enriched uranium, and remove the center of its plutonium reactor, the officials said. Because of how involved the measures are, the officials would not estimate how long it would take to get to “implementation day,” when the IAEA confirms compliance and sanctions are lifted. Reports have indicated that Iran is likely to comply with conditions from between six months to a year from adoption of the deal. “All of this will take a lot of effort and probably a fair amount of time,” said an official. “The ball is in Iran’s court — it’s hard to predict how long it will be before sanctions relief is implemented.” One condition the Iranians must complete prior to October 18, or “adoption day,” is to report to the IAEA on the possible military dimensions of its past nuclear activity. Iran has insisted its nuclear research is for civilian purposes only. The deadline for Iran’s report to the IAEA is October 15.

Iran Boosts Funding to Hezbollah, Hamas The ink is barely dry and the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal has not

yet taken place, but Iran is already ramping up its support for terrorist organizations in the Middle East.

Since July, Iran has significantly increased its financial support for two of the largest terror groups in the region that have become political players, Hamas and Hezbollah. Crippling sanctions previously hampered Iran’s desire to support terrorism. But now that hundreds of billions of dollars will start to flow into the country, the regime has begun to boost its cash flow to both Hamas and Hezbollah. This support, for example, has enabled Hezbollah to obtain highly developed new armaments, including advanced technologies that many militaries around the world would envy. Al-Rai, a Kuwaiti newspaper, reported on Saturday that Hezbollah has received all the advanced weaponry that Syria has obtained from the Russians. Iran’s recent increased support for Hezbollah has Putin taking notice. The Russians have become more involved in the Syrian conflict, aiding Bashar Assad’s regime, as Iran has sent hundreds of members of its Revolutionary Guard Corps to play an active role in the fighting in Syria. Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are all working to keep Syrian President Assad in power. The Shiite-Russia axis has been anxiously watching the Islamic State creep toward Damascus in recent months and saw the territory controlled by Assad, an important ally, diminished to the coastal region of Latakia south of the capital. Not only was Damascus endangered, but also access to the Alawite regions, from Homs to Damascus — thus the urgency for intervention, including sending troops on the ground. Iran, then, is the main, and likely only, power attempting to build terror cells to fight Israel on the Syrian Golan Heights, in areas under Assad’s control. With regards the Palestinians, in the past two months, Iran has sent suitcases of cash – literally – to Hamas’s military wing in Gaza. Not everyone is happy about this, including some Hamas officials. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who was always the man who controlled the money, has found himself outside the circle of Iranian funding over the summer. Tehran, which was none too pleased by his visit to Saudi Arabia and meeting

The Week In News

The CIA’s Outlook on the Six Day War Almost 50 years after the Six Day War, newly declassified CIA documents show the United States’ initial take on the war. Here are some excerpts from the 2,500 newly released documents.

Israel Palestinian Violence on Temple Mount Four more Israeli police officers were wounded as Palestinian rioters continued their wave of violence on Temple Mount. The incident took place in the neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv, where Palestinian rioters threw Molotov cocktails and shot at police. Among those wounded was a 25-year-old Border Police officer who sustained moderate-to-serious injuries. The wounded officer was rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center for treatment. The other officers were treated for light burns, and one sustained a wound to his hand.

Israeli police said Palestinian rioters had blocked roads with burning tires and garbage cans. When they tried to restore traffic, police were attacked with the firebombs. Har Habayis has re-emerged as a dangerous flashpoint in recent days following a series of clashes between police and Palestinian protesters angry at

On June 5, the opening day of the war in 1967, a daily briefing was transferred that was classified as “top secret.” It read as follows: “Hostilities began early this morning. Both sides report heavy fighting in the air and between armored forces along the Israeli border with Egypt. Israeli planes raided airfields in Cairo and other areas beginning at about 8am local time (2am Washington time).” A day later, the situation on the battlefield was updated. “Cairo may be preparing to launch a campaign urging strikes against U.S. interests in the Arab world. Both Egyptian and Syrian domestic broadcasts this morning called on the ‘Arab masses’ to destroy all U.S. and ‘imperialist’ interests in the ‘Arab homeland.’ Last night Cairo radio claimed it had proof of U.S. and British participation in the ‘aggression.’ Demonstrations have now taken place against U.S. embassies and installations all over the Arab world. Arab oil-producing countries, meeting in Baghdad, say they will stop selling oil to any country which takes part in or supports Israel in the fighting. Baghdad radio said this morning that the pumping of Iraqi oil has been stopped ‘because of

U.S. and UK attitudes.’” In the documents’ summation from the first two days of the war, the reports reads, “Israel has gained an early and perhaps overwhelming victory in the air, but the progress of the war on the ground is unclear. If Israeli claims regarding damage to Arab combat aircraft are valid, they have destroyed the entire Jordanian inventory of 21, two thirds of the Syrian inventory of 69, and 250 of some 430 Egyptian planes. Arab counterclaims of 158 Israeli planes destroyed seem grossly exaggerated, but actual losses to the Israeli force of about 270 aircraft are not known.”

Tel Aviv: Priciest City in Middle East In case you were thinking of making aliyah, consider this article before picking your dream location. According to the 2015 edition of the Prices and Earnings report from Swiss bank UBS, Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the Middle East in terms of price levels. Israel’s second largest city is closely followed by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which actually ranks higher when including rent prices into the calculation.

The world’s most expensive cities – according to the survey which examines the price levels, wage levels and purchasing power of 71 cities worldwide – are Zurich, Geneva and New York. Tel Aviv ranks 22nd overall in terms of price levels but places only 33rd when it comes to earning power. Workers in the city, however, have the highest wages in the Middle East. The report indicates that employees in Zurich, Geneva and Luxembourg City are earning the highest grossing salaries worldwide, while workers in Nairobi, Jakarta and Kiev earn the lowest. Luxembourg City, Zurich, and Geneva also enjoy the most purchasing power, while Nairobi, Jakarta and Kiev are again at

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

It was victory for Greece’s charismatic left-wing leader Alexis Tsipras on Sunday when he won the general election in his run for premier in the country. Tsipras’s Syriza party will once again be forming a coalition government with the small nationalist Independent Greeks party. It was a tight race, but Tsipras eventually pulled ahead, and New Democracy leader Vangelis Meimarakis eventually admitted defeat. “It appears that Mr. Tsipras’s Syriza is first, I congratulate him,” said the 61-year-old lawyer and former defense minister, whose defeat signals the end of a decades-long era in which the conservatives and socialists alternated in power. In a victory speech to hundreds of cheering flag-waving supporters who turned out in evening heat on a central square in Athens, Tsipras said the victory would “turn the wheel” and “change the balance” in Europe. The race was shadowed by painful tax increases and pension reforms in the future. When elected in January, Tsipras became Greece’s youngest prime minister in 150 years upon taking office and a beacon for anti-austerity campaigners across the European Union. “Europe will not be the same after our people’s victory [on Sunday],” he said before supporters broke into Italy’s revolutionary anthem, Bandiera Rossa, Italian for “Red Flag.” But Tsipras also admitted that the country’s pledge to go forward with four years of painful reforms set out by Eu-

the prospect of an increase in Israeli visitors in the run-up to the Jewish holiday season. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Eid al-Adha, a Muslim feast, fell out on Yom Kippur this year. These most recent clashes came as Palestinian leaders called for a “day of rage” following prayers on Friday. Israeli police preemptively called up 800 extra officers to patrol the Old City and Arab neighborhoods throughout Jerusalem, and also barred Muslim men under the age of 40 from the Temple Mount.

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Tsipras Wins in Greece

rope’s leaders would not be easy. “We have difficulties ahead,” he told supporters. “Recovery cannot come through magic but through lots of work, stubbornness and struggle.” Tsipras handily won the January general election when he ran on an anti-austerity ticket. He stepped down in August, after a contentious bailout deal with European leaders, and called for new elections. But despite the broken promises, many voters believed Tsipras had their interests at heart and represented a break with past leaders perceived as corrupt. Economic analysts responded positively to Tspiras’s win. “Greek voters now seem to have given him the chance to do better,” said Berenberg’s Holger Schmieding. “After years of almost unprecedented crisis, the vast majority of Greeks are endorsing parties that are promising to keep the country in the euro even if that implies thorough and painful reforms,” he said.

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with King Salman, decided to take revenge on him in an original way. It bypassed Mashaal and has handed over the suitcases, by way of couriers, directly to the leaders of the group’s military wing in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas military leaders, for their part, are happy to receive the influx of cash and are delighted to weaken Mashaal and his groupies, who have been living in luxury in Qatar and dictating to Hamas in Gaza what to do and what not to do, who to get closer to (Saudi Arabia) and who to stay away from (Iran).

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

The Week In News cil voted in favor of boycotting all Israeli-made products. The Reykjavik municipality passed the motion, which approved a boycott of Israeli goods “as long as the occupation of Palestinian territories continues.” Councilmembers said the boycott was a symbolic act demonstrating the Icelandic capital’s support for Palestinian statehood and condemnation of Israel’s “policy of apartheid.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move, and, in an apparent reference to Iceland’s status as a hotbed of volcanic activity, said “a volcano of hatred spews forth from the Reykjavik city council building.” “For no reason or justification, except hatred for its own sake, calls of boycotting the state of Israel are heard,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We hope someone in Iceland will come to their senses and end the one-sided blindness fielded against Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.” Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid published an op-ed in two Icelandic publication, entitled, “The Hypocrisy of [a] Boycott.” “Does the boycott include products made by Israel’s Arab minority which is

the bottom. In the Middle East, Dubai just trumps Tel Aviv in purchasing power, but both are way ahead of Cairo. The study found that in most major cities around the world, people work more than 2,000 hours a year, mainly in Asia and the Middle East. The shortest number of working hours can be found in most of Western Europe.

Israeli Goods Boycott in Iceland

The boycott of Israeli products unfortunately took another step forward this week. Iceland’s capital’s city coun-

20% of the population? … the 14 Arab Israeli parliamentarians who sit beside me in Israel’s parliament? … Israeli factories which employ tens of thousands of Palestinians for whom this is the only opportunity to provide for their children?... Israeli hospitals at which tens of thousands of Palestinians are treated every year?” he asked in the editoral. “Does the boycott include Microsoft Office, cellphone cameras, Google – all of which contain elements invented or produced in Israel?” he continued. “If the answer to all these questions is ‘yes’ then I’ll move aside and wish you all an enjoyable life until the sadly unavoidable heart attack (sorry but pacemakers are also an Israeli invention),” he said. On Saturday, after much pressure, it was announced that the Council will be retracting its proposal to boycott Israeli goods, amending it to indicate that the boycott will only extend to items produced “in occupied areas.”

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on Mount Scopus near Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus. The attacks come as part of a sharp uptick in Arab terrorist attacks focused on Jerusalem, which started on Rosh Hashana. Aside from massive violent riots and attacks against police on Temple Mount that lasted throughout the week, an Israeli was murdered in a rock attack in Jerusalem’s southeastern Armon Hanatziv neighborhood last week. Gaza also saw some action, with terrorists there firing three rockets at Israel. The IDF responded later with an airstrike on a Hamas base.

An IDF base located just east of Jerusalem was attacked by Arab terrorists this week. The attackers used firebombs to start a fire and then attacked firefighters who came to put out the blaze their Molotov cocktails had set off. The attack occurred at Anatot Base located just to the east of Mount Scopus and Mount of Olives – and took place just days after a very similar attack was carried out at a nearby base two days earlier. At Anatot Base, terrorists hurled firebombs at a guard tower on the base, setting off a brush fire but fortunately not wounding any soldiers. Two firefighter crews were dispatched to the scene, only to be met by the terrorists who hurled rocks at them and a firebomb that exploded right near them. IDF forces responded by using non-lethal riot dispersal measures, which generally include tear gas and stun grenades, and sometimes rubber bullets as well. The attack comes after Arab terrorists threw a firebomb at the IDF’s Ofrit Base in Jerusalem, located

This week, Justice Michael Cheshin, who served for years on the Israeli Supreme Court, passed away at the age of 79 after a long battle with cancer. During his lifetime, he took part in writing over 5,000 verdicts, with decisions spanning all areas of law. Cheshin relished using the Hebrew language, writing his verdicts in rich, stylistic words, and he loved the law as much as he loved his country. “The method of law, in its attitude toward life, seems like an actor standing atop a moving, spinning stage,” he once said. “If the actor does not move, he’ll disappear from view behind the stage.” Cheshin was born in 1936, the son of Dr. Shneor Zalman Cheshin, one of the inaugural five justices of the Israeli Supreme Court. He earned his law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law in 1957, and three years later was licensed as a lawyer. He earned his doctorate of law in 1962 from the Hebrew University. Between 1957 and the mid-80s, he taught at the university’s law faculty as well. Between 1962 and 1978, Cheshin worked for the State Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant to the state prosecutor, then served as assistant state prosContinued on page 26

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The Week In News ecutor for the last five years. In 1978 he transitioned to private practice. In January 1992 he was appointed to the Supreme Court. When he retired in February 2006, Cheshin implored, “Fight corruption with all your might. Don’t let up, night or day. It is in our souls, in the state’s soul, in the people’s soul.” Cheshin was a staunch defender of the Supreme Court, even after his retirement. In February 2007 he said, “My father was the first Supreme Court justice. I was on afterward. He became a permanent stand-in for the chief justice. I was deputy chief justice. It’s my home. If anyone raises their hand to strike my home, I’ll cut their hand off.”

PA and Fatah behind Attacks in Jerusalem The recent unrest in Israel is not spontaneous, coming from the masses of Muslims rioting. The Palestinian

Authority and Fatah are actually the driving force behind the systematic attacks that have been taking place. Senior Palestinian Authority and Fatah leaders close to Mahmoud Abbas have called for violence to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest religious site.

On September 14, it was reported that Nabil Shaath, Fatah Central Committee member and Commissioner of International Relations, said, “The continuation of the Israeli occupation’s attacks on the Noble Sanctuary [i.e., Jews visiting the Temple Mount] and the Ribat fighters [Murabitin – those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/ war to protect land claimed to be Islamic] will be the spark that sets off the impending explosion, whose onset and scope no one can predict.” He called

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on the Palestinian and Arab masses to carry out riots of rage. Likewise, Raafat Alayan, official Fatah Spokesman in Jerusalem, called on “all Palestinian bodies and national and Islamic factions in all regions of the homeland to enlist and go to the areas of conflict in order to ‘explode’ in front of the occupier and its assistants because of its repeated actions and attacks against the Al Aqsa [Mosque].” He urged the schools in Jerusalem to take to the streets to show their opposition to Israel. Sultan Abu Al-Einin, Mahmoud Abbas’ adviser and Fatah Central Committee member, echoed their words, calling on all people to come to Al Aqsa and carry out Ribat, religious war to protect and not leave Temple Mount for the Israelis. He urged all Fatah members to carry out public uprisings to make Israel “pay” because “the hand that will be raised against the Al Aqsa [Mosque] will be amputated.” Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman has said, “East Jerusalem and the places holy to Islam and Christianity are a red line, and we will not sit idly by.”

National White House Honors Heroes who Thwarted French Terror Attack

Last month, three young Americans stopped a terrorist on a Paris-bound passenger train. They are being hailed as heroes across the world, having saved dozens of lives. Last week, they were invited to the Oval Office. Following the incident on the train, they had been awarded France’s highest honor by President Francois Hollande.

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The Week In News The three arrived at that ceremony in polo shirts and khakis, a wardrobe choice noted by the media. On Thursday, the three heroes, Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler, arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue dressed in their best. They met with President Barack Obama, who praised them for their courage. He commended their teamwork, bravery and quick-thinking actions that averted “a real calamity.” The three friends were on their way to Paris for a vacation but “ended up engaging a potential catastrophic situation and pinning down someone who clearly was intent on doing a lot of harm to a lot of people, inflicting terror on the French people.” Obama praised them as “the very best of America.” He added, “It’s these kinds of young people who make me extraordinarily optimistic about the future.” Skarlatos is a National Guardsman and Stone is 1st Class Airman—they showed up in their military uniform— and Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University, wore a sports coat and open-collared dress shirt to meet the American president. They are all orig-

inally from Oregon and were childhood friends. After visiting the White House, the three were off to the Pentagon to pick up more honors. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James presented Stone with the Purple Heart in recognition of the injuries he suffered; he hurt his hand during the attack and said it is healing nicely. Stone also received the Airman’s Medal. Skarlatos was awarded the Soldier’s Medal, and Sadler was given the Secretary of Defense’s Medal of Valor. “When some took cover and ran, when others were unsure what to do, these three friends said, ‘Let’s go,’” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said. Carter said their uniting shout reminded him of the chilling words of those aboard the hijacked airliner on 9/11 who shouted, “Let’s roll,” before charging the cockpit and forcing the plane to crash in a Pennsylvania field before it could reach its intended target. The 26-year-old terrorist in the attack, Ayoub el-Khazzani, was known to authorities in France, Belgium and Spain. Authorities say El-Khazzani is an Islamic extremist who spent time in Syria.

Dr. Ben Carson Swoops in on GOP Candidacy

Who is Ben Carson? If you aren’t familiar with his name yet, expect that to possibly change in the coming months as he sets his sights on the Oval Office. Dr. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who previously practiced at John Hopkins Hospital in Maryland. He is an author and politician, and on May 4, 2015, Carson announced he was running for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election at a rally in Detroit, his hometown. So what do we know about this presidential hopeful?

First of all, we know he is smart. Carson was the first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins joined at the head. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. Second, he’s one of the more conservative of the conservatives when it comes to the national budget. Carson supports a version of the flat tax advocated by some of his rivals. Under this system, all Americans would pay 10 percent of their income in taxes (“although it could be any percentage,” he has written), a tithe, as written in the Bible. There would be no exemptions for the poor. Third, he is well-liked. A post-debate poll finds that surgeon Ben Carson has jumped businessman Donald Trump as the candidate most Republican voters believe will win the GOP nomination. Rasmussen Reports said that 59 percent of likely Republican voters believe Carson will end up on top after the primary and caucus season is over next year. He is closely followed by Donald Trump, at 58 percent, Carly Fiorina at 41 percent and Jeb Bush at 40 percent.

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The year 2009 was probably the height of President Barack Obama’s career: he made history as the first African American president, his approval ratings were high (remember when?), and he won the highly coveted Nobel Peace Prize. Fast forward six years, and his approval ratings are at 47%, one of the lowest in American history, and now the former secretary of the Nobel Peace Prize committee says the 2009 award to Obama failed to live up to the panel’s expectations. Geir Lundestad details in a book to be released this week that the committee had anticipated that the prize would enhance Obama. However, the award was highly criticized; many contended that Obama had not served as president long enough to have an influence worthy of the highly respected award. “Even many of Obama’s supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,” Lundestad wrote in excerpts of the book. “In that sense the committee didn’t achieve what it had hoped for,” he said, noting that Obama himself rarely mentions the prize. Lundestad, who resigned last year after 25 years as the secretary of the secretive committee, did not have a vote on the recipient of the award and said that Obama was surprised by the award and that his staff even investigated whether other winners had skipped the prize ceremony in Oslo. That has happened only on rare occasions, such as when dissidents were held back by their governments. “In the White House they quickly realized that they needed to travel to Oslo,” Lundestad wrote.

America’s Fast Food Trend is Growing Fast

How often does your family eat out? Once a year? For a special occasion? Maybe once a month? Aside from the cost of eating out, the nutrients of a home-cooked meal are much better for our bodies. But despite all of that, a new study reveals that Americans in general eat out way more than you’d guess. According to a new report from the Centers for Disease

GOP Debate Pushes Some Candidates Ahead Ever wondered what “GOP” stands for? It refers to the “Grand Old Party,” more commonly referred to as The Republican Party. Last Wednesday, 11 top presidential candidates battled it out at CNN’s Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The three-hour marathon attracted about 23.1 million

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Last week, Ahmed Mohamed brought a homemade clock to school that got the whole country’s attention. The 14-year-old brought the beeping, strange-looking device with wires to class and a vigilant teacher called authorities, thinking it was an explosive device. The child was then put in handcuffs and was suspended. But the device that he brought to school was only a clock of his invention, and Mohamed and his family are now insisting that he is the target of terrorism, saying that he was only arrested because he is Muslim. President Obama weighed in on the story that made national headlines, tweeting, “Cool clock Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House?” The president hosted the teenager at his residence, Mark Zuckerberg offered to have him stop by Facebook, and Twitter has given him an internship. “I built a clock to impress my teacher but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her,” Mohamed told reporters. But it’s hard to understand what exactly Mohamed built. It turns out that he did not invent this clock. He took a vintage clock made by Radio Shack and then transplanted the electronics to an old pencil box. In a video, Mohamed explains that he closed the box with a piece of cord because he didn’t want it “looking suspicious.” Apparently, he understood that some may think that his “invention” may be something that it’s not. This is not the first time the Mohamed family has made the news. His father, Mohamed ElHassan Mohamed, made news in 2011 when he defended the Koran as its defense attorney to an anti-Islamic pastor. He said at the time that the Koran teaches Muslims to engage in peaceful dialogues with Christians. It was also in 2001 that Mohamed debated Robert Spencer on the question of “Does Islam respect human rights?” endeavoring to make a victory against a famous “Islamophobe.” Now, a few years later, Mohamed has his national pulpit, with even the

Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, 34% of children aged two to 19 eat fast food each day. A common misconception is that low income households tend to eat more fast food but surprisingly the number does not change that much by economic status, race, or gender. In fact, children of wealthy households ate out slightly more frequently than kids from less affluent homes. The results were based on research gathered from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2011 - 2012, finding that adolescents ate an average of 12.4 percent of their daily calories from fast food. On average, a fast food meal contains 300 more calories than a homecooked meal. That surely doesn’t help our obesity epidemic—childhood obesity has quadrupled among adolescents over the past 30 years. As Americans get fatter and fatter, fast food franchises are consistently expanding, and their portion sizes are growing with them. To combat this upward trend, research shows that exposing kids to healthy food at a young age and cooking nutritious meals with them are a good ways to encourage children to adopt healthy eating habits and make healthy food choices.

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Was it a Mistake to Award Obama the Nobel Peace Prize?

It is extremely rare for Nobel officials to discuss the proceedings of the secretive committee or publicly criticize each other. However, in the book, Lundestad reveals some interesting details. He talks negatively about Thorbjorn Jagland, who was a committee chairman for six years and is now a regular member. Lundestad said that as a former Norwegian prime minister and sitting head of the Council of Europe human rights organization, Jagland should never have been appointed to the committee, which frequently emphasizes its independence. When it was revealed that it came out that Lundestad suggested that it was a “mistake” to award Obama the Nobel Prize, he called a press conference to deny any smear against the American president, insisting that once the book comes out people will realize that was not truly what he implied. The book, Secretary of Peace. 25 Years with the Nobel Prize will be in stores on Thursday, September 24.

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The Week In News viewers, an all-time record for CNN. After the highly anticipated event, many well-known candidates slumped in the polls while others whose names many didn’t even know have gained more supporters. There seemed to be two main candidates who earned more support during the night’s debate: Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio. Fiorina was recognized for her clear and sharp answers and for taking on the night’s “bully,” Donald Trump, with class and finesse. Fiorina saw a dramatic increase in her favorability following her performance Wednesday night. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the businesswoman, compared to just 37 percent in a poll conducted before the debate. Marco Rubio also grabbed people’s attention. When Trump called out Rubio on his voting absences in the Senate, Rubio responded with class, “You’re right, I have missed some votes, and I’ll tell you why, Mr. Trump. Because in my years in the Senate, I’ve figured out very quickly that the political establishment in Washington, D.C. in both political parties is completely out of touch with the lives of our people,” Rubio said. “That’s why I’m missing votes. Be-

cause I am leaving the Senate, I’m not running for re-election, and I’m running for president because I know this: unless we have the right president, we cannot make America fulfill its potential, but with the right person in office, the 21st century can be the greatest era that our nation has ever known.”

Donald Trump entered the debate as the front-runner but didn’t maintain his crown through the night. He faced a barrage of attacks from his contenders who questioned his credentials, capabilities, and recent shocking and sometimes offensive comments. At one point, Trump stumbled when responding to Fiorina about previous comments he made about her appearance.

And when Jeb Bush attacked him for a “lack of judgment” and “lack of understanding about how the world works,” Trump resorted to an oft-used tactic of tying Bush to his brother’s presidency, suggesting that “your brother’s administration gave us Barack Obama because it was such a disaster ... that Abraham Lincoln couldn’t have been elected.” Many were also underwhelmed by Ben Carson’s performance. The retired neurosurgeon had recently surged to the No. 2 spot in the race but played it very safe during the debate. He avoided the chaotic arguments unfolding around him and remained cool and calm, a trait many are concerned wouldn’t make him a strong leader. Twenty-nine percent of those who watched the debate said Fiorina won the contest, with businessman Donald Trump coming in second with 24 percent of the vote. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was seen as the winner by 7 percent of viewers, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) each received 6 percent of the vote. There are roughly 55 million voters registered as Republicans. (There are about 72 million Democrats and

roughly 42 million registered Independents.) There have been 18 Republican presidents in U.S. history, the last being George W. Bush.

That’s Odd The Ice Cream Banana

Love ice cream? Well, do I have a banana for you. Believe it or not (and I’m sure you will believe it), the bananas we have sitting on our counter and that we mush for our babies are not the most delicious bananas in the world. Ice cream banan-

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The Week In News as, which are found in Hawaii and in other tropical environs, are sweet, taste like vanilla and even have frosted-tinted peels. And they practically melt in your mouth. Sounds like a summer frosty delight to me. Ice cream bananas (also known as blue java bananas) may be a specialty fruit, but they aren’t anything new. Farmers have been growing these sweet

fruits in Hawaii since the early 1920s, according to Ken Love, executive director of Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers, and in other tropical regions for ages. And, like Baskin Robbins, there are so many different varieties. “There are over 100 types of bananas in Hawaii, all tasting different,” Love related. “It’s really the diversity that’s interesting.”

Hawaiians don’t have to just settle for ice cream bananas in their country. There are apple bananas (that taste citrusy) and bananas that taste like berries (Mysore bananas). So when mothers in Hawaii bribe their kids to be quiet when they’re on the phone, they just hand them a banana. (Actually, despite their sweet taste, kids won’t really fall for that—no matter where you live.)

Love likes to spread bananas over toast—like butter. Others freeze and then blend the banana for delicious smoothies. Sounds like they’re going bananas for bananas.

The Honorable Ig Nobels

On Thursday night, a few lucky winners walked away with Nobel prizes. Well, actually, it was the Ig Nobels and the winners walked away with a few dollars and some wry grins. One of the winners, Michael Smith, a Cornell University graduate student, won the Ig Nobel for his research into honeybees. In fact, he literally put blood, sweat and tears—and honey—into his experiment when he allowed honeybees to sting him in 25 places, about 200 times. It turns out that the nostril and the upper lip are some of the most painful places to be stung. “A sting to the nostril is so painful it’s like a whole body experience,” Smith related. Smith, though, wasn’t the only one playing with dangerous insects. He shared the Ig Nobel for physiology and entomology with Justin Schmidt, an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona who devised a pain scale for insect stings. His advice: Do not get stung by the tarantula hawk, a nasty looking wasp found in the Southwestern U.S. with a stinger about a quarter-inch long. Yes, we need an Ig Nobel winner to tell us that. Mark Dingemanse and two colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, Netherlands, won the Ig Nobel for literature for determining that the word “huh” is used in languages around the world, including some of the most obscure. “A system for fixing misunderstandings is clearly a crucial part of language,” he said. “‘Huh?’ is one element of this system: It’s the basic error signal people Continued on page 38

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

37 THE JEWISH HOME 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

The Week In News

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

O R I G I N A L PA I N T I N G S A N D P R I N T S F O R S A L E

P R I VA T E A R T L E S S O N S AVA I L A B L E

fall back on if all else fails.” Raghu Rau, professor of finance at the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues won for their study that found business leaders more directly affected by natural disasters as children took less risk during their careers. He pointed to late CEO Steve Jobs, who lived through a deadly landslide near his home in San Francisco as a child and ran the company conservatively. His successor, Tim Cook, witnessed few fatalities despite regular tornadoes while growing up in Alabama and has made more risky business decisions. “Think of yourself as a member of a board of directors: When you try to hire a CEO, do you want a risk taker or not?” Rau said. Well, I would hire Steve Jobs no matter where and when he grew up. The winners at the 25th annual ceremony at Harvard University were handed their prize by (real) Nobel laureates and each winner won a whopping Zimbabwean 10 trillion-dollar bill—the equivalent of a couple of U.S. dollars. “Sometimes these crazy things provide a lot of insight,” said Schmidt, the bug guy. Clearly he’s excited about his prize. Next year, the real Nobels!

Epic Pity Party Feeling down? If you can put the tissues away for long enough, maybe you should head to Somerville, Massachusetts. Everyone there seems to be a little depressed. On Thursday, the city hosted a “Pity Party” and thousands attended. Greg Cook, a local artist who helped organize the weepy event, felt that people who are sad shouldn’t be alone. “A pity party is usually a kind of party you have by yourself to wallow in sadness—wear pajamas, binge on ice cream, listen to sad songs,” states the event’s

Facebook description. “Now imagine that as a free, community, block party in Union Square. . . sad for the whole family.” Sounds like a great family event.

To make the event even more depressing, there were sad bands, depressing clowns, melancholy poetry, a booth to write letters that would be discarded later in trash cans, and video games that participants “just couldn’t win.” And, of course, there was free ice cream. “So turn that grin upside down and help us make Somerville the saddest town around,” organizers said to the thousands who planned to show up. Turns out that many people have lots to feel sad about—but they all love a good party.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

The Week In News hitting the needle. The grandmother of six is a member of a knitting club known as the “Souter Stormers,” who recently yarn-bombed the towns of Selkirk, Ettrickbridge, and Yarrow in Scotland. The “Stormers” spent nearly a year secretly planning the project, which was part playful prank, part street art installation. The mischievous knitters

took to the streets this month, covering fences, benches, and lamp poles all across the towns in elaborate knitted art. There were colorful knitted houses, animals, and little yarn families. But though their art is playful, the project was no joke for the secret knitters— the owner of a textiles shop in Selkirk reports that “the words ‘I could tell you but I’d have to kill you’ passed

the lips of the knitters several times” as they prepared for the massive yarn bomb event. Serious stuff. Brett, who was born in London in 1910 and worked as a telephone operator, said, “I liked seeing my work shown with everyone else and thought the town looked lovely.” Keep those needles clicking.

A Sandwich—Really— from Scratch Ever make a sandwich from scratch? No, I don’t mean spreading the cream cheese that you just took out of your fridge. This week, someone made a sandwich literally from scratch—and it took six months and $1,500 to make. In a series called How to Make Everything, Andy George likes to “explore everyday things many of us take for granted.” We all take the sandwich for granted—we either pick it up in our local groceries or slap together some turkey and mayo between slabs of rye bread.

George, though, endeavored to make a sandwich from scratch—starting with the cow and grinding his own wheat. He grew his own vegetables, milked a cow for cheese, evaporated ocean water for salt, collected his own honey, grew and ground wheat, preserved pickles, and slaughtered, de-feathered and cooked the chicken. The result? A sandwich that was, in George’s words, “not bad.” All that work and money for a “not bad”?! George gave some sandwiches to taste testers who had similar reactions. In fact, one boy took a taste and then headed to the kitchen to wash out his mouth. Turns out we shouldn’t take sandwiches for granted—we could be stuck eating $1,500 food that took six months to make. And it’ll be “not bad.” 

Why the Arabs are Rioting—Again

See page 104

41 THE JEWISH HOME 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Around The Community

PHOTO CREDITS: BARRYBROWN.COM AND AMITYSTUDIONY.COM

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Chazaq: Jewish Outreach Group Celebrates Successes, Dedicates Sefer Torah at 3rd Annual Dinner in Queens

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Rabbi and Mrs. Yitzchok Oelbaum and family receiving the Chazaq Rabbinic leadership award

By Daniel Perez Towering over Flushing Meadows, Terrace on the Park was a fitting venue for the 3rd Annual Dinner celebrating Chazaq, the Queensbased kiruv organization that has inspired thousands of Jews to reach for greater spiritual heights since its inception in 2006. City and state government officials, business mo(L-R) Yaniv Meirov from Chazaq, Rabbinic leadership awardee Rav Yitzchok Oelbaum along with his father Rav Noach Isaac Oelbaum guls, and members of the and father-in-law Rav Avraham Lefkowitz local community rubbed elbows Wednesday night, September 9, the organization’s involvement in helpunited by their shared support for Chaz- ing establish a shul in Forest Hills. aq and its many accomplishments. Also among this year’s distinguished Chazaq provides “an opportunity for attendees was state assemblyman Miyouth to grow in the Jewish communi- chael Simanowitz. An award recipient ty, to be in a Jewish environment,” said from Chazaq’s first annual dinner, SiNew York City Councilman Rory Lanc- manowitz described Chazaq as “an inman. The councilman, whose district incredible organization,” expressing adcludes Jamaica Estates and Kew Garden miration for the Meirov brothers (Rabbi Hills, added that Chazaq’s communi- Ilan Meirov is the group’s founder; his ty-oriented programming helps partici- brother Yaniv is its head of operations) pants “to integrate as Americans [while] and their colleagues. staying within the Jewish world.” “Their programming, their lectures, Also in attendance was watch mag- their youth outreach....What they’ve nate and prominent philanthropist Eu- been able to accomplish in such a short gen Gluck, who pointed out that Chazaq period of time is remarkable,” said Siis broadening the scope of its outreach. manowitz, “and it’s something that they “They’re affecting people who aren’t should be very proud of.” necessarily Sefardi,” he declared, noting The evening’s program, which began with a live performance by Israeli vocalist Tal Vaknin, was emceed by R’ Yaniv, who remarked on Chazaq’s ever-growing reach, having positively TJH Chol Hamoed Guide impacted the lives of over 8,000 participants this past year alone. He extolled the organization’s work as a religious institution. “If you need inspiration, if you need shalom bayit (marital harmoStarting on page 93 ny), then we will do whatever we can to get you that inspiration, and to get you that shalom bayit.”

Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Hisinger and family receiving the Chazaq Keter Torah Award

(L-R) Councilman Lancman, Councilwoman Koslowitz, Queens President Melinda Katz, Yaniv Meirov of Chazaq, Assemblyman Weprin, R’ Pollack & Assemblyman Simanowitz

“I must add,” said R’ Yaniv, “that baruch Hashem, Chazaq has become a leader not only in spiritual matters but also social and political matters as well. All of this is thanks to your support and dedication.” One of the dinner’s chairpersons (and former Chazaq honoree) Shalom Zirkiev, expressed a similar sentiment, commenting that divorce rates in the local community are down and more teens are “off the streets,” since Chazaq began its soul-saving work. New to Chazaq’s programming repertoire in the last year: a youth sports league, which a promotional video announced was instrumental toward instilling a greater sense of discipline in local Jewish youth, and a healthy respect for authority. This year’s honorees included Mr. and Mrs. Simcha Mushayev, for their dedication to youth outreach; Rabbi and Mrs. Yizchok Oelbaum, an esteemed Torah scholar and key advisor on Chazaq’s educational programs; Mr. Manny Behar, a longtime director of the Queens Jewish Community Council and recipient of this year’s Community Service Award; Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Hisiger, in recognition of their communi-

ty-strengthening activism in the wake of the tragic kidnappings of several Israeli yeshiva students in the summer of 2014; Mr. Robert Gurgov—co-founder of the popular Sushi Fussion (sic) restaurant chain, and his wife, recognized as “Pillars of Chesed” for their philanthropy in supporting Chazaq; as well as longtime Chazaq supporters Mr. and Mrs. Moshe Sdayeb. The evening concluded with a most joyous hachnasat sefer Torah—the dedication of a newly completed Torah scroll. The scroll, which had been added to by several Israeli Torah sages, was completed at Wednesday’s dinner, with the right to fill in the last few letters being auctioned off to support Chazaq’s programs. Complete with a gourmet meal, music, dancing, and a hefty dose of charity, Chazaq’s Third Annual Dinner proved an enjoyable and meaningful segue to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. To learn more about how Chazaq is building a stronger future for the Jewish community or to join their efforts, visit their website at Chazaq.org or call 917617-3636.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Around The Community Five Towns Marriage Initiative A Sukkah of Harmony The sukkah is in remembrance of the clouds of glory that surrounded the Jews in the desert. These clouds were given to us in the merit of Aharon the Kohain. Therefore, the sukkah is symbolic of the life and essence of Aharon. What was Aharon all about? The Shem Mishmuel explains that Aharon’s legacy was one of serving Hashem with our emotions. We see this from how he used an approach of creating peace and harmony amongst people. We also see this from the service he performed in the mishkan all year, and especially on Yom Kippur where his whole essence became one of prayer, which is called the service of the heart. This Sukkos let us work to become like Aharon, refining our emotions to use them to serve our Creator. After the holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur have passed, we have had ample opportunity to improve our prayers. Let us keep up the positive momentum and continue to focus on praying properly with all our heart and soul, throughout the additional prayers we will recite on this holiday. Let’s also work to adapt Aharon’s approach of achieving peace and harmony. In the sukkah there is much less space than we have in our homes. Everyone is almost on top of each other, and this can either lead to bickering and annoyance, or to closeness and harmony. The Ben Ish Chai brings a story of two families whose married children lived with them. One head of the family asked the other, “How do you manage? I am going out of my mind with everyone living on top of each other this way.” The other head of the family responded, “Because we all love each other the small space we live in feels to us like palace.” We can make our sukkah feel like a palace this year, if we succeed in creating a feeling of peace, harmony and love between our family members, and of course this all begins by making sure that the foundation of the family, the couple itself, has managed to create such feelings together. Five Towns Marriage Initiative provides educational programs, workshops and referrals to top marriage therapists. FTMI will help offset counseling costs when necessary and also runs an anonymous shalom bayis hotline for the entire community Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 9:30-11p.m. For the hotline or more information, call 516-430-5280 or email dsgarry@msn.com.

On Friday, September 11, a special commemorative 9/11 memorial ceremony took place in Uman, Ukraine, together with noted askanim and delegates from the United States Embassy to the Ukraine.

William Bistransky, Consul General from the U.S. Embassy to Kiev, Ukraine; Brian Campbell, Human Rights officer from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev; and askanim, including R’ Zvi Gluck, Rabbi Klatzko, Avigdor Cyperstein, Eli Rosenthal, Dov Dym and Danny Schilo

No Longer Just a Dream: Construction in Ramat Givat Zeev in Full Swing Development work for the brand new Ramat Givat Zeev neighborhood, located in the outskirts of Jerusalem, is in the final stages of completion. The upscale project is well underway, as buyers will be able to move into their dream homes in this great community within 24 months. The project, which has already been dubbed the “Orthodox Caesarea,” has seen rapid development and acclaim. Hundreds of families in Israel and from abroad who have already purchased apartments are waiting with anticipation as they watch their dream home being built. Building the project situated above the new Givat Zeev neighborhood to provide maximum views, Nofei Israel has invested 40 million NIS in the development and plans to invest a total of 750 NIS in the project. The neighborhood boasts 370 housing units of different styles to fit the diverse needs of this new community. There will be 130 private homes ranging in size from 250 to 450 square meters. There will be 240 apartments in 13 luxu-

ry apartment buildings that include 3, 4, 5 and 6 room apartments, garden apartments and penthouses. The project’s 234 large and luxurious units mostly sold out during the preliminary development stage. Anyone who has already purchased, or is planning to do so in the near future, is taking advantage of the opportunity before the expected rise in prices. According to real estate industry experts, unit prices will rise at least 30 percent in the coming months because of the project’s demand and building specifications. All building permits have been issued and the work on the project is moving ahead quickly. Ramat Givat Zeev will be an up-

scale, Torani community built to include high standards of construction and infrastructure. Modeled after homes in affluent Orthodox communities abroad, the homes and apartments in Ramat Givat Zeev will be beautifully finished. The gated community will include shuls with frequent Torah shiurim for men and women, mikvaot and chinuch institutions. Joining the community are several families making aliyah together from North America. In addition, the neighborhood will feature wide streets, walking paths and LED street lighting. There will several expansive green spaces, parks, gardens and playgrounds, as well as fountains and sports clubs. A shopping center and country club are being planned. The neighborhood will blend Torah living with modern recreational and commercial centers, complete with all communal services and amenities. Ramat Givat Zeev is bound to be a magnificent, dream-come-true community.

Around The Community

45 THE JEWISH HOME

Evening of Inspiration Supporting CAHAL

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

CAHAL held an Evening of Inspira- word and invited their friends to attend, tion in North Woodmere on Sunday of and Shira Cohen and Noach Haller of Aseret Yemai Teshuvah, September 20 CAHAL who coordinated the entire at the home of Rina and Jeffrey Gane- event. les. The nearly 100 After a beaumen and women tiful video about from the communiCAHAL was ty who attended the shown, Jeffrey event were treated Ganeles spoke to a delicious array passionately about of sushi, fruit and the program. He desserts. described how atShimmie Ehtending the CArenreich, CAHAL kindergarten HAL’s Executive class changed his Director, thanked son’s life. After the attendees attending CAHAL and the individufor one year, with als who worked so the wonderful exhard to guarantee perience of having Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz speaking at the event the success of the Mrs. Melody Harevening. He was especially appreciative ris as his teacher, his son was successfulof the event committee, who spread the ly mainstreamed into first grade. He then

Rina and Jeffrey Ganeles, Shimmie Ehrenreich, and Noach Haller

introduced Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, Rav of Bais Haknesses of North Woodmere. Rabbi Lebowitz gave an inspiring dvar Torah and spoke about how CAHAL has successfully educated hundreds of local

Jewish children, helping them realize their true potential and mainstreaming them in the yeshivas in our community. The event was a huge success and raised money for CAHAL’s Scholarship Fund.

ElderCare Plus: Answering the Questions You Really Want to Ask What’s the secret to creating a successful conference? Providing people with the information that they really want. The Achiezer Community Resource Center’s highly acclaimed Eldercare Conference is slated to take place on Sunday, November 8, at the New York LaGuardia Airport Marriot. Newly-titled ElderCare Plus, this conference serves as a direct response to the questions that Achiezer fields from hundreds of individuals, all concerned about the many facets of eldercare. I’m a vibrant grandfather in my late fifties, busy with my job, my shiur, my children, and, thank G-d, growing numbers of grandchildren. I’ve always believed that a responsible parent plans for the future, and now that I’ve married off most of my kids, I’m starting to think about securing my assets for a comfortable retirement. If this sounds familiar, you need to be at ElderCare Plus. I live in Brooklyn, my mother lives in Detroit. She’s managed just fine all of these years; but recently, things are starting to come up. She’s having a hard time staying on top of her medical records and bills, she can’t drive anymore, her hearing is starting to go… How can I help her from afar? If this sounds familiar, you need to be at ElderCare Plus. Medicare Advantage has open enrollment, and I know I need to decide

on a plan. But I have no idea what to choose! The whole Medicaid/Medicare thing is so confusing and overwhelming, I feel like I’ll be making a bad decision no matter what I do. If this sounds familiar, you need to be at ElderCare Plus. My father has been forgetting things. He’s missing appointments, losing papers, even wandered out of the house one night and couldn’t find his way home, but he adamantly refuses to let us children intervene. If this sounds familiar, you need to be at ElderCare Plus. I’m a fairly knowledgeable “healthy eater,” but everything I’ve ever learned about nutrition has flown out the window ever since I’ve become a caregiver. Forget healthy salads; I’m lucky if I have time to grab a Danish on my way to yet another appointment. If this sounds familiar, you need to be at ElderCare Plus. My wife has unfortunately battling Stage 4 cancer, and the professionals are telling me to put her in hospice. I know that I can’t care for her anymore, but hospice scares me. What should my next step be? If this sounds familiar, you need to be at ElderCare Plus. Featuring a top-notch lineup of professionals skilled in every aspect of eldercare, as well as an expansive array of products and services, ElderCare Plus is the place to get answers to all of your questions – even before you’ve asked them. Join us on November 8th, as we

work together to support our senior population, as well as the dedicated caregivers who devote their lives to taking care of them.

Stay tuned for further updates and details during the coming weeks, in this publication and on our website, www. achiezer.org/Eldercare.

Kaminsky Announces Installation of Security Cameras at Lawrence, Cedarhurst LIRR Stations Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky announced this week that security cameras have been installed and are fully operational at both the Cedarhurst and Lawrence Long Island Railroad (“LIRR”) stations. Following multiple incidents of hate graffiti at both LIRR stations, Assemblyman Kaminsky advocated strongly for these security cameras. Days after Assemblyman Kaminsky took office in January, a swastika was found etched into a pane of glass at the Cedarhurst LIRR station. Kaminsky alerted the LIRR, who immediately removed the offending graffiti. The Assemblyman then requested that the LIRR install security cameras at the Cedarhurst station to prevent future incidents. Just days later, on January 12, hate graffiti was again found at the same station. Assemblyman Kaminsky repeated his calls for security cameras and in February 2015 his request was heeded—the LIRR agreed to install cameras.

Later, an additional incident of hate graffiti was discovered on August 10 at the Lawrence LIRR station. Kaminsky again repeated his calls to the LIRR for security cameras, stating that clearly they are necessary in order to deter future hate crimes and to assist law enforcement in prosecuting the responsible individuals. This week, the Assemblyman’s advocacy finally came to fruition with security cameras in full operation at both the Cedarhurst and Lawrence LIRR stations. “I commend the LIRR for installing these security cameras and for standing with me to eradicate hate graffiti,” said Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky. “The most effective way to prevent hate speech from spreading is to stop it from happening in the first place. Cameras provide a great measure of deterrence and send a message that hate speech will not be tolerated.”

Around The Community Annual Father-Son Kinus Teshuva

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

After preparing the Bnos Bais Yaakov pre-schoolers for Rosh Hashana and shofar blowing, the girls were ready to experience the real thing. Rabbi Yehuda Kaplan, mohel, mechanech, and husband of our beloved Morah Mousha, blew the shofar for all the pre-school classes, so that they would be comfortable with the experience in shul. Rabbi Kaplan reminded the girls that their special job on Rosh Hashana is to be very quiet in shul so that the shofar can be heard by all.

HAFTR High School Announces Two National Merit Semifinalists

Generations bonded while learning Torah together at the annual Father-Son Kinus Teshuva program, held on September 20 at DRS. After selichot and davening, Rabbi Kaminetsky addressed the yeshiva about unique relationships rooted in and revolving around Torah between a father and son. Following a delicious breakfast, parents and students headed up to shiur, as each rebbe presented stirring shiurim on topics re-

lated to teshuva and the Yomim Noraim. Keynote speaker Rabbi Shay Schachter, Rosh Beis Medrash at Young Israel of Woodmere, gave an inspiring shiur about the power of teshuva and the Yomim Noraim, as parents and students alike listened to Rabbi Schachter’s message. The program was a great opportunity for students to learn together with their parents while preparing for Yom Kippur.

Kulanu One Mile Fun Run

HAFTR High School is pleased to announce that Jonathan (Yoni) Kastner and Justin Lish have been designated as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Yoni and Justin are two of 16,000 students nationwide to be notified by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation about this prestigious honor. Over 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2014 PSAT. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in

each state. Yoni and Justin will complete the application process to advance to finalist standing, and they will be eligible to potentially receive a National Merit Scholarship or a corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship. Congratulations to Yoni and Justin on their outstanding academic achievement.

Sh’eefa is Back, Inspiring the Women of Our Community for the 11th Year

Pictured (L to R) at the Finish Line are Island Park Fire Chief Anthony D’Esposito, Kulanu Executive Director Beth Raskin, Isaac Greebel, Legislator Howard J. Kopel and children competing in the Fun Run.

Senior Councilman Anthony J. Santino and Legislator Howard J. Kopel joined families and children supporting the Kulanu Center for Special Services at the organization’s One Mile Fun Run in North Woodmere Park on Sunday.

Kulanu is a leader in providing children and young adults with special needs specialized services and programs. The funds raised from the Fun Run help support the school’s programs throughout the year.

You can feel the excitement as the participants of Sh’eefa walk down the steps of Aish Kodesh on a Sunday morning or after a long day of work or college. Entering a spiritual oasis of Torah learning for women in the Five Towns community, post-seminary women can maintain their ruchniyus after their time spent learning in Israel. They are greeted with a smile and a feeling of knowing they belong, allowing them to connect with similar-minded young women and are left inspired through the thought-provoking shiurim. Sh’eefa proudly presents shiurim and programming on Sunday mornings as well as every night of the week. Sh’eefa prides itself in having world renowned lecturers, mechanchim and mechanchos from our community, the tri-state area and Eretz Yisroel. In addition to the various speakers, Sh’eefa provides the young women with unique chessed opportunities, enabling them to assist and connect with members of our community.

Elul was truly a special time at Sh’eefa. Rabbi Ephraim Frenkel, the Menahel and Founder, and Mrs. Aviva Zakutinsky, Program Director, made sure that this was a month full of inspiration. All of the hundreds of participants who attended the shiurim of Mrs. Chana Silver, Mrs. Rochel Chafetz, Mrs. Linda Nathan and Mrs. Amit Yaghoubi left geared up and ready for the Yomim Noraim. This past Sunday of Aseres Yemei Teshuva was no exception. Mrs. Jackie Bitton’s unique sense of humor and thought-provoking insights left the overflowing crowd of over 150 women with a new-found approach and perspective towards the Yom HaDin. The delicious refreshments sponsored by Seasons greatly enhanced the morning of learning. Sh’eefa is already looking forward to a jam-packed schedule in store for you in the coming months. For more information or to be added to Sh’eefa’s email list, please visit www.sheefa.org.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Ateres Yaakov’s Building Expansion Plans Approved

49 THE JEWISH HOME

Around The Community

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

After more than a year of architectural and logistical planning and consultations with the village, the Lawrence Zoning Board has approved MAY’s plans for its campus expansion project. The approved structure to be built on 3 adjacent properties on Mulry Lane will expand the existing building substantially to better serve the needs of the yeshiva’s 200+ students. The expansion will house a new state-ofthe-art gymnasium with grandstands and locker rooms, four new classrooms for the upper grades, a student lounge, an exercise center, and a new computer lab. In addition, Israel advisers will be collocated near the senior classes they service. A significant priority in the planning was to ensure that the expansion would address pre-existing issues with traffic flow on Washington Avenue and Mulry Lane and create a structure that

TJH Special Sukkos Recipe Section

Starting on page 119

would blend into the surrounding area. One major improvement will be a large on-premises driveway to facilitate student pickup and drop-off in a safer and more streamlined fashion. Final building plans are now being prepared, and existing structures are being demolished. The yeshiva hopes to begin construction this winter. MAY had previously applied for Hurricane Sandy relief funds to equip the gymnasium as an emergency community relief shelter, to be activated in case of natural disasters. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Ateres Yaakov opened its doors for all members of the community and the school hosted a Town Hall meeting that aided communications and provided relief to victims of Sandy. MAY’s location on high ground and proximity to transportation and other services makes it an ideal location for that purpose and the proposal may be funded in the coming years. Ateres Yaakov educates nearly 200 high school students and over 30 adult Yeshiva Gedolah bochurim. The students, who have been using rented gyms and local parks for physical education and recess, are eager to use the planned new facilities. Rabbi Yirmiyahu Lasker, MAY’s Executive Director, explained, “Mesivta Ateres Yaakov prides itself on providing a well-rounded education for our talmidim that includes enjoyable extracurricular outlets. We are excited that our expansion and its gym will provide the boys with these outlets on campus for use on a daily basis.”

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The Eighteenth Annual Kinus Teshuva was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Spiegel on Thursday evening. The speakers were Rabbi Yechiel Perr, Rosh Hayeshiva of Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, and Rabbi Aaron Brafman, Menahel. Pictured here: L-R: Michael Spiegel, host; Rabbi Yechiel Perr, Rosh Hayeshiva; and Rabbi Aaron Brafman, Menahel.

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Around The Community

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53 THE JEWISH HOME 

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Around The Community SKA 9th Grade Retreat

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

One day of school and off they went! On Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday, September 10, the ninth grade class of the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls went to Camp Kaylie for their Freshman Retreat. Cupcake wars, go-karts, basketball, volleyball, tennis, bowling and paddling on the beautiful lake were only some of the activities on schedule. Divrei Torahs at lunch were given by

Esther Miller and Zoe Poznanski, after which everyone gathered by the water for a group photo. At night, Ms. Raizi Chechik, Principal Grades 9-10, shared inspirational words on “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” To round out the evening, the girls enjoyed s’mores around a bonfire and a very competitive game of “A Minute to Win It.” Everyone had a wonderful time meeting new friends and spending time

with older ones. The Duct Tape Challenge in particular really helped the grade come together as a unit and the ice cream party held before everyone left on Thursday just highlighted the great time the students had. All in all, SKA’s Freshman Retreat was a huge success! Thanks go to Rabbi Yosef Zakutinsky, Director of Student Programs, and his assistant, Mrs. Yafa Storch, Ms.

Chechik, Mrs. Deena Kobre, Assistant Principal, Grade Level Advisors Mrs. Sheila Liebtag, Mrs. Esti Engel, Mrs. Danielle Sudwerts and Ms. Leora Balk, Ms. Lisa Fogel, Social Worker, Ms. Jordana Bienenfeld, Graphic Design, G.O. Advisor and Media Coordinator, and SKA’s G. O. members who all planned and accompanied the freshmen on this wonderful retreat.

55 THE JEWISH HOME ď ł

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Around The Community Eastern Union Funding Launches Office, Transitions Senior Personnel into Long Island and Five Towns Region On the heels of a hiring spree which saw 100 new brokers join Eastern Union, the mortgage brokerage is launching a full-fledged office in the Long Island neighborhood of Valley Stream. Heading the new office will

be senior managing directors Jonathan Singer and Jake Handelsman, two leading producers formerly stationed in the firm’s Brooklyn home, as well as 15 incoming brokers. The office is located one 181 South Franklin Avenue.

This summer, Eastern Union Funding began recruiting new brokers and launched an office in midtown Manhattan. It is continuing to hire and grow its reach in earnest, with a slight twist: the company is preparing to make the first

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aggressive bid in this Nassau County market from a national mortgage company. “As a Long Island-headquartered multifamily lender with a nationwide business, we have long recognized that the Long Island market has lacked a true national brokerage company with a local presence,” said Stephen York, Vice President with Uniondale, NYbased Arbor Commercial Mortgage. “As a result, Long Island’s commercial real estate market and its investors are sure to benefit from the expertise of Eastern Union at its new Valley Stream office.” Internally, Eastern Union Funding President Ira Zlotowitz affirmed the company’s goals to launch a full-service office in the relatively untapped neighborhood. “There’s endless potential here,” Zlotowitz said. “As we grow our business together with the team, launch new initiatives and cultivate unique loan products we believe it’s also important to focus on these burgeoning markets. Put these pieces together and we came up with a fitting home for our newest full-fledged office.” About Eastern Union Funding: Founded in 2001, Eastern Union Funding is a top 10 commercial mortgage brokerage, according to Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual survey, and one of the top 50 fastest growing companies in NYC, as reported by Crain’s New York Business. A trusted advisor to its clients and innovation leader in the commercial mortgage marketplace, Eastern Union has closed an average of $3 billion in annual transaction volume nationwide. The firm’s sophisticated and reliable debt solutions are complemented by a one-of-a-kind Equity Division. Eastern Union is headquartered in New York, with offices in New Jersey, Maryland and Israel. For more on the country’s most trusted commercial mortgage brokerage visit www.easternuc.com.

Is Obama too Naïve for Putin? Page 116

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Around The Community GNO at The Lounge Throughout the school year, Tuesday night at The Lounge is GNO - Girls Night Out, a night for local yeshiva high school girls to “chill” and have a great time. Under the supervision of Mindi Werblowsky, LMSW, Director of Adolescent Programming, GNO is an enrichment program designed to engage girls in activities that develop their social-emotional skills in a warm, healthy environment.. The GNO program gives girls the chance to think about and discuss the challenges they encounter and practice appropriate and productive responses. This process helps to nurture

girls’ social-emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills – qualities proven to lead to success in life. Topics to be discussed include communication, healthy decision making, leadership, critical thinking, assertiveness skills, and anti-bullying tactics. To make the program more enjoyable, dinner from a variety of local kosher restaurants will be served. Taking the program outside to real-life applications, we are planning exciting trips for zumba, spa night, baking, bowling, and more. GNO program will be held on Tuesday nights from 8:15 PM to 10:15

PM. Offered to the community free of charge, it is a meaningful program developed for girls to make constructive use of their time and form friendships with other girls in the community who may not attend the same school.

The GNO at The Lounge is a follow-up to the successful Madraigos GNO Summer Camp, directed by Tobi Goldfeder, a Madraigos social work intern. Through the generosity of Junee and Junee Jr., who sponsor this program, Madraigos GNO Summer Camp was launched four years ago to provide a healthy, productive venue where girls in the community, a place where they can hang with friends, have fun, and uplift their summer. Madraigos became aware of the problem that teenage girls who stay home in the summer lack entertainment in the evenings and may become involved in unhealthy and unsafe situations. These girls may work in

day camps and enjoy being a counselor but appreciate fun themselves. They needed wholesome outlets for their energy with proper structure and supervision. In response to this communal need, Madraigos developed the GNO program. Nine sessions throughout the five week program were designed to improve the girls’ social skills, peer-topeer relationships, and build confidence. Dinner and exciting trips fleshed out the program. Most important, the girls benefited by receiving a wonderful solution to their boredom. Overall, the program enabled the girls to build friendships and create new memories in a positive, stimulating environment. Stay tuned for details of upcoming activities at GNO at The Lounge. For more information, please contact Mindi Werblowsky, LMSW at 516-371-3250 x 113 or mwerblowsky@madraigos.org. For more information about Madraigos services, please visit www.madraigos. org.

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“Rebbi, We are Learning Your Torah! Rebbe Help Us! Bless All of Klal Yisrael with the Yeshuos and Refuos That it So Desperately Needs” By Chaim Gold

“T

he Chofetz Chaim was the Rabban Shel Yisrael and the Avihen Shel Yisrael—the Rebbi of all Klal Yisrael and the father of all Klal Yisrael. As the Rebbi of Klal Yisrael, Dirshu is coming to you with hundreds of thousands of pages of Mishnah Berurah and sefer Chofetz Chaim learned by Daf HaYomi B’Halacha learners. As the father of Klal Yisrael, we are coming with buckets of tears, and rivers of tears, of tzaros, and crying to you heiligeh Chofetz Chaim, Avi Avi, father, father, don’t forget us!” Those were the powerful words of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, shlita, Rav of Western Bnei Brak and talmid muvhak of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Wosner, zt”l, said in the town of Radin in front of the kever of the Chofetz Chaim on his yahrtzeit this past 24 Elul/September 9. Rav Stern was among a group of some 20 gedolim representing the entire cross-section of Klal Yisrael—Ash-

kenazim, Sefardim, Bnei Yeshivos and Chassidim—who came to participate in a special, worldwide yom tefillah on behalf of Klal Yisrael and especially on behalf of those who are learning or have undertaken to begin learning Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program. Words from a Broken Heart… A Collective Broken Heart Rav Stern continued, “Heiligeh Chofetz Chaim! Your children are in trouble! There are many sitting alone, in homes without children, waiting for their houses to be filled with the laughter and cries of a child. Tatteh, father, please may they be blessed with children. There are so many sick people trying to fight bitter illness; so many little children who have barely begun life and are already battling with the malach hamaves. Please Tatteh, daven that they should not have to suffer, that they should be healed. “Oy Tatteh, Avihen shel Yisrael! So many of our youth are straying from the proper path, they are rebelling, oy, how Continued on page 60

Dirshu: A Worldwide Achdus Phenomenon By Rabbi Nachman Seltzer Radin, Belarus his is the story of a concept that touched and changed countless people everywhere. It is a story of a nation closing ranks in times of danger with astonishing alacrity and focus. It is the story of the power of a good idea. It is the story of the recent “Yom Limud and Tefillah.” It is very much a story of our time. The “Yom Limud and Tefillah,” (presented also as a Day of Jewish Unity to our unaffiliated brethren) touched over 500,000 people! Participation continued even after the day was officially over, with more and more people signing on to be involved. By nighttime, when they were finally able to take stock on what had been one of the most amazing days ever, the organizers were able to recognize that their initiative had been supported by Jews literally all over the world! There was participation from the USA, Eretz Yisrael, Canada, Mexico, France, Italy, Australia, Belgium, Greece and even Japan, to name but a partial list. The campaign had turned global in an unprecedented way, as the best global campaigns tend to do. With hundreds of thousands of people actively involving themselves in the “Day of Jewish Unity,” it became clear that the initiative had struck a chord in the

hearts of Jews worldwide. The media coverage detailing the upcoming day of prayer was featured in editorials, broadcasts and even front page mention in various secular Jewish newspapers. It was obvious that the message was cutting across party lines and religious affiliation to unite one and all in a way that simply warms the heart. The initiative proved to be a marvelous success. ue to the nature of current events – the Iran nuclear threat – in general, and this article in particular (coming as it does on the heels of Dirshu’s mission to the kever of the Chofetz Chaim in Belarus), I’d like to begin this piece by sharing the following anecdote involving the Chofetz Chaim and a reunion of two of his grandchildren. The Chofetz Chaim had a granddaughter who lived in Communist Russia for the majority of her life. A professor and mathematician by profession, she was a brilliant woman with a formidable intellect. In her later years she moved to Eretz Yisrael, and Rav Hillel Zaks—another grandchild of the Chofetz Chaim—went to see her. Rav Shimshon Pincus accompanied him to his cousin’s home, and would later re-

Continued on page 62

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DIRSHU’S TRIP TO RADIN AND ITS YOM LIMUD AND TEFILLAH Continued from 59

they suffer, how their parents shed rivers of tears. Please Tatteh, have rachmanus on them, go before Hashem and beg that this plague should cease wreaking havoc on our youth…. “Daven dear Tatteh, that all Yidden should have parnassah and that no sonei Yisrael should succeed in their diabolical plans against us.” These moving, heartfelt words addressed to the Chofetz Chaim in front of his kever were just one highlight of a day filled with emotional climaxes as the Dirshu group of Gedolei Roshei Yeshiva, rabbanim and poskim visited the kever of the Chofetz Chaim, the Radin Yeshiva, the kever of Rav Chaim of Volozhin and the Volozhiner Yeshiva. A Dual Purpose Trip “The historic trip to Radin on the yahrtzeit of the Chofetz Chaim was undertaken for two primary reasons. Firstly, to daven for Klal Yisrael at this most precarious, dangerous time. Klal Yisrael is under terrible threat from both within and without,” said Rabbi Shlomo Rozenstein, Dirshu’s Director of Public Affairs. “Everyone understands that the possibility of nuclear weapons in the hands of our sworn enemies who have openly expressed their desire to incinerate every last Jew in Eretz Yisrael is a great danger. In addition, Klal Yisrael is suffering from numerous internal challenges as well. The Torah community in Eretz Yisrael is suffering from terrible poverty, there are chinuch issues and so many other difficulties facing us at this time. Dirshu’s leadership felt that we must do something profound to help neutralize these threats. “The second reason for the trip was to come to the Chofetz Chaim with the koach of more than 100,000 people who learned that day’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha limud and exclaim, ‘Rebbi, we are learning your Torah! Rebbi, we are fulfilling the worlds of the Mishnah Berurah and the sefer Chofetz Chaim! Rebbe help us! Bless all of Klal Yisrael with the yeshuos and refuos that it so desperately needs. Moreover, more and more Yidden are joining the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program and transforming their lives with daily halacha and mussar learning.’ This zechus of those who learn the Chofetz Chaim’s seforim imbues them with special ability to access this Divine bracha and enrich Klal Yisrael.” A Universal Yom Tefillah With the urging and encouragement

of many gedolei Yisrael Dirshu declared the Chofetz Chaim’s yahrtzeit a special day of Torah and tefillah for all of Klal Yisrael. The trip of the gedolim was the climax of this yom tefillah that touched over 500,000 people the world over. Yeshivos, chadorim, Bais Yaakovs and Yidden all over the world joined the rabbanim. Men who were able learned that day’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha limud of halacha and mussar, others took time to say specially auspicious kapitlach of Tehillim as well as the tefillah of “Acheinu.” The group of gedolei Yisrael who participated in the unique tefillah journey to Radin came back deeply moved by the experience. Many delivered short, emotional words of chizuk during the course of the one-day trip. The group, which encompassed all of the “shevatim” of Klal Yisrael, was comprised of

ech; HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Bransdorfer, shlita, Dayan of the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Community of Beit Shemesh and a son of the senior posek, HaGaon HaRav Meir Bransdorder, zt”l; HaGaon HaRav Menachem Ernster, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of the Vizhnitzer Yeshiva and brother-in-law to the Admorim of Vizhnitz; HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Shmuel Shechter, Sanz-Klausenberger Dayan of Netanya; HaGaon HaRav Rapahel Alkarif, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Derech Chaim; HaGaon HaRav Chizkiyahu Mishkovsky, shlita, Mashgiach of Yeshiva Orchos Torah and talmid muvhak of Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, shlita; HaGaon HaRav Chaim Pesach Horowitz, shlita, Belzer Dayan of Ashdod and a Daf HaYomi B’Halacha Maggid Shiur; HaGaon HaRav Sariel Rosenberg, shlita, Av Beis Din at the Beis Din Tzedek of Bnei Brak and a Daf HaYomi

Heartfelt tefillos at the Chofetz Chaim’s kever

HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Kiryas Melech in Bnei Brak; HaGaon HaRav Shimon Baadani, shlita, Rosh Kollel Torat Chaim and a member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah; HaGaon HaRav Yechiel Mechel Steinmetz, shlita, Skverer Dayan of Boro Park; HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, shlita, Rav of Western Bnei Brak and talmid muvhak of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Wosner, zt”l; HaGaon HaRav Simcha Hakohen Kook, shlita, Chief Rabbi of Rechovot; HaGaon HaRav Dovid Alter, shlita, son of the Gerer Rebbe, shlita; HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Kanievsky, shlita, son of HaGaon HaRav Chaim, Kanievsky, shlita, and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Tiferes Tzion and Kiryas Mel-

B’Halacha Maggid Shiur; HaGaon HaRav Dovid Shlomo Zoldan, shlita, Dayan and Rosh Hakollelim of Seret-Vizhnitz, Haifa; HaGaon HaRav Shimon Galaei, shlita, Rav of Osem and Dayan in Bnei Brak; HaGaon HaRav Aryeh Dinkel, shlita, Rav of the Bayit U’Menucha neighborhood of Beit Shemesh; HaGaon HaRav Zishe Horowitz, shlita, Rav of Kehillas Hachassidm of Elad; HaGaon HaRav Boruch Yehuda Heimlech, shlita, Dayan in the Eidah Hachareidis and Toldos Aharon Community; and HaGaon HaRav Binyomin Eckstein, shlita, Belzer Dayan in London. Chizuk and Hisorerus… All Along the Way! The distinguished delegation left

Eretz Yisrael in a private plane on Monday evening, September 7. After landing in Minsk, they embarked on the threehour bus ride to Radin. The plane trip and bus ride, as well as the visits to the Radin Yeshiva, the Chofetz Chaim’s kever and Volozhin, featured deeply inspiring chizuk and hisorerus given by the gedolim. Upon arrival in Radin, the distinguished group – with a cherdas kodesh, holy trepidation – made its way to the famed Radin Yeshiva established by the Chofetz Chaim. Who can ever forget the Selichos said in that yeshiva led with such passion by HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein, shlita, his voice reverberating, punctuated with tears, “Ulai yachos al am oni v’evyon, ulai yerachem – Perhaps He will pity His poor and destitute people, perhaps He will have mercy!”? There was no person who was not deeply moved. A Bris for ‘Yisrael Meir’ in the Beis Medrash of ‘Rav Yisrael Meir!’ Another highlight of the day was a special bris milah held after Shacharis in the yeshiva. An eleven-year-old baal teshuva who is now learning in the mosdos of Karlin-Stolin located in nearby Pinsk undertook the great mitzvah of bris milah. The painful procedure was sustained with simcha and mesiras nefesh by the young boy. As the procedure was being performed he shouted the words, “Shema Yisrael Hashem elokeinu Hashem echad.” A shudder seemed to collectively shake the assemblage as they heard the words, “V’yekaraei shmo b’Yisrael, ‘Yisrael Meir!’” Another holy neshamah bearing the name of the holy Chofetz Chaim. After the bris, before delivering that day’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha shiur, Dirshu’s Nasi, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, thanked the rabbanim for taking the time to come despite the hectic timeframe. He talked with great wonder about the open miracle that even after the great churban of the Holocaust it was possible to have so many talmidei chachamim davening and celebrating a bris in the Radin Yeshiva. “It is a miraculous occurrence that we would never have dreamed could transpire!” The Kohein Gadol in the Kodesh Kodshim While in front of the Radin Yeshiva before setting out for the kever, HaGaon HaRav Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky, shlita, explained further, “We have to understand the power of tefillah at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim. Just this

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The delegation visiting the Volozhiner Yeshiva

week, a Yid came to the venerated Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, shlita, begging him to daven for a person plagued with a terrible, terminal illness. He asked Rav Shteinman, “What should we do?” Rav Shteinman answered, “I don’t know. Perhaps tefillah at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim could help?” That is the power of this place! We all know that the greatest manifestation of tefillah was the Kohein Gadol davening in the Kodesh Kodshim on Yom Kippur. Rabbosai,” cried Rav Mishkovsky, his voice punctuated with sobs, “We are now going to the Kohein Gadol, the Chofetz Chaim! We are now in the Yamim Noraim, the Kodesh Kodshim of the year. Let us and all of Klal Yisrael strengthen ourselves in guarding what comes out of our mouth. In this zechus may our tefillos be accepted.” Rivers of Tears and Pain at the Kever Finally – the climax of the trip! There are no words to describe the emotion, the gripping hisorerus, the rivers of tears shed at the kever of the Kohein Gadol, the holy Chofetz Chaim, by senior gedolim who in the course of their lives see so many Yiddishe tzaros! To watch how they came to the Chofetz Chaim, their Rebbi and the Rebbi of all of Klal Yisrael, and cried copious tears on behalf of Klal Yisrael was an unforgettable scene. Rav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein set the tone, “As we approach the kever of the Chofetz Chaim, the one person in the last generations whose sefarim are literally the basic sefarim that have been accepted by all of Klal Yisrael, we must beg here, at this heiligeh place on be-

half of all of Klal Yisrael. We must beg Hashem that in the zechus of the Chofetz Chaim, Yidden should be able to overcome the terribly difficulty nisyonos, spiritual hurdles, that our generation faces. Let us daven that in the zechus of the daily learning of the Mishnah Berurah and sefer Chofetz Chaim and in the zechus of women and girls learning the laws of lashon hara Hashem will give our generation the strength to overcome the constantly expanding enticements put forth by the yetzer hara.” The Importance of Knowing Halacha HaGaon HaRav Dovid Alter, shlita, son of the Gerer Rebbe, shlita, spoke about the importance of learning halacha daily in a way that one retains the knowledge. “The foundation of learning must be learning halacha and knowing and fulfilling the halachos that one learns. If a person does not know halacha properly he can make all kinds of mistakes and transgressions. He must know the difference between a d’oriaisha, a d’rabbanan, a minhag, a middas chassidus…” Rav Alter expressed his hope that this chizuk in learning halacha and shemiras halashon that is encompassing so many in Klal Yisrael would be a zechus coming into Rosh Hashana. Bags of Names and Requests HaGaon HaRav Raphael Alkrif, shlita, discussed the incredible rachmei shomayim that the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha surely invokes. He said, “Before I left on this journey, many of my talmidim accepted to learn the Daf HaYomi B”Halacha program. They sent with me bags of names and requests to

make at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim. The sense of connection to the Chofetz Chaim at first glance seems inexplicable. However, when one delves into it a bit more it becomes clear. The Chofetz Chaim was a conduit for so much Torah, so much yiras shomayim, pashtus and middos tovos, he so embodied those

time to daven for all Yidden who find themselves in difficulty. Now – on the yahrtzeit of the Chofetz Chaim who was moser nefesh for Klal Yisrael – is the time to daven for yeshuos in ruchniyus and gashmiyus, for parnassah, refuah sheleima and shidduchim. We are now standing in the beis medrash where the

In discussion with Rav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein

concepts that we all have an instinctive bond with him.” “Certainly the Chofetz Chaim’s Zechus Can Stand Us All in Good Stead!” HaGaon HaRav Yechiel Mechel Steinmetz, shlita, the Skverer Dayan of Boro Park who flew in especially from New York to join the delegation, spoke passionately at the Radin Yeshiva about the importance of the moment. “Now as we approach Rosh Hashana and are davening at this special place it is the

Chofetz Chaim poured out his heart to Hashem; we are standing in the place where the Chofetz Chaim transformed the world through his sefarim, Chofetz Chaim, Shemiras Halashon and Mishnah Berurah. Now, at this auspicious time when thousands of Yidden world over are learning the Chofetz Chaim’s sefarim and thousands are engaging in the daily learning of Daf HaYomi B’Halacha and mussar, certainly the Chofetz Chaim’s zechus can stand us all Continued on page 62

THE JEWISH HOME

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

DIRSHU SPECIAL COVERAGE

DIRSHU’S TRIP TO RADIN AND ITS YOM LIMUD AND TEFILLAH Continued from 61

in good stead and ensure that the curses of this year will end and the brachos of the New Year will begin!” Following the general tefillah, the entire entourage in the beis hakevaros approached the kever with their own personal tefillos. The weeping, deep kavanah and inspiration from those heartfelt tefillos was simply indescribable. Finally, the group of distinguished gedolim was left with no choice but to tear themselves from that unique makom kadosh, the kever of the Chofetz Chaim and return to the buses for the two-hour journey to the town of Volozhin. Volozhin-The Hakaras Hatov Imperative The name Volozhin was enough to imbue all with deep feelings of hakaras hatov. For it was from Volozhin that the entire olam ha’yeshivos, the yeshiva world, emanated. Indeed, HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Kanievsky, shlita, son of Rav Chaim, addressed the assemblage, “The feeling that we must have as we approach the holy kever of Rav Chaim Volozhiner is an overwhelming one of hakaras hatov. The greatest way to express that hakaras hatov is to continue his legacy by perpetuating the derech of the yeshivos begun with Volozhin, educating our bachurim in that derech and supporting the yeshivos hakedoshos.” After relating wondrous stories of the mesiras nefesh for the middah of hakaras hatov displayed by his two grandfathers, the Steipler Gaon, HaRav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, zt”l, and HaGaon HaRav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l, Rav Shlomo Kanievsky said, “Now, as we daven at Rav Chaim Volozhiner’s

Continued from 59

late the story of that visit and the powerful lessons he learned there. Sitting with the professor, they questioned the older woman as to her relationship with her illustrious grandfather. “Do you remember the zeide?” Rav Zaks asked. “Well,” she replied, “I only met him twice. The first time I was just a little girl and I don’t recall that visit.” “What about the second time?” “My second visit happened right before I left for university. My parents were religious and were worried about the fact that I was leaving home and whether I would remain frum. (She didn’t.) “Hoping to influence me for the

kever, we must say the same thing we said at the Chofetz Chaim’s kever. ‘Rebbi, we are learning your Torah! Your derech in learning is continuing in yeshivos all over the world! We are trying our utmost to continue your legacy, to carry on what you built with such mesiras nefesh. We are doing our part! Please do your part! Please, go before Hashem and beg him to have rachmanus on the yeshivos. Please ensure that the yeshivos will be able to continue educating their talmidim in purity! Please intercede on behalf of our holy bachurim and ensure that they will be able to learn in purity and not be influenced by the terrible distractions and tumah found everywhere. In the olden days, if the yetzer hara came to a person he could run to the beis medrash to escape. Today we must worry that perhaps even in the beis medrash he has the yetzer hara in his pocket in the form of a prohibited electronic device. Please help them remain pure!’” Rav Shlomo continued, “If we are discussing hakaras hatov, we must all feel a deep sense of hakaras hatov to Dirshu and its Nasi, Rav Hofstedter, for increasing the quantity and quality of limud haTorah among so many members of Klal Yisrael. Let us daven that Dirshu’s efforts to enrich Klal Yisrael with limud haTorah, limud halacha and its kiruv arm, Acheinu’s efforts to bring Jewish children back to our Father in heaven, will continue bearing fruit!” Rav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein then led the assemblage in a passuk-by-passuk recitation of Tehillim.

In the building which housed the Chofetz Chaim’s Yeshiva in Radin

filed into the famed Volozhiner Yeshiva, the place where it all started. The Mincha davened at the yeshiva of Volozhin was a powerful experience. The walls of that building were so saturated with Torah, it was within those walls that the famed Netziv learned with great hasmada, wrote his famous sefarim and gave shiurim numerous times a week. It was within those wall that the Beis Halevi and Rav Chaim Brisker gifted the world with the unique derech halimud that changed the Torah world forever. Now, once again, talmidei chachamim of great stature had returned to the orphaned building, filling it with the sound of Torah and tefillah.

“We have done our shelichus. We have davened on behalf of Klal Yisrael at profoundly holy places of tefillah; we have especially davened for present and future learners of Daf HaYomi B’Halacha who by virtue of learning the Chofetz Chaim’s sefarim have a special zechus for their tefillos to be heard.” In fact, that is perhaps the most important takeaway message from the special historic maamad of tefillah in Radin. The brachos and zechus of the Chofetz Cahim are unlimited, open and accessible. All someone has to do is learn his sefarim regularly thereby earning the unique zechus to say, “We are learning your Torah,” please don’t forget us!

Returning to the Starting Point After heartfelt tefillos at the kever of Rav Chaim of Volozhin, the gedolim

“We Have Done Our Shelichus!” As the august group of rabbanim made their way back onto the airplane in Minsk, there was a palpable feeling of,

To join Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha please call, 888-5-Dirshu, or e-mail, info@kolleldirshu.org.

good, they sent me to visit my grandfather, the Chofetz Chaim in Radin. I left cosmopolitan Warsaw, traveling by train and eventually by horse and wag-

on to reach his tiny village. I was used to spacious homes well-lit by electricity, but my zeide sat in a darkened room that was full of books and nothing else,

illuminated by candlelight. It was lightyears away from what I was used to, and it was difficult for me to believe that people still lived life this way. “Zeide,” I asked him, “when will you leave the darkness for the light of the world?” (Her jab was double-edged, cynically disparaging her grandfather’s Torah outlook, which she considered steeped in darkness, along with a reference to the fact that he was literally sitting in the dark with only a candle for light.) “Why don’t you come out of the darkness, Zeide, into the light? We aren’t living in the Middle Ages any longer. There’s a modern world out there to be part of!” The Chofetz Chaim was silent for a few moments, digesting her words.

Belzer Cheder, Brooklyn NY

DIRSHU’S TRIP TO RADIN AND ITS YOM LIMUD AND TEFILLAH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

raveling across Eastern Europe in a bus filled with some of the greatest gedolim of our generation is not an ordinary occurrence. Then again, these are not ordinary times. Tuesday, the 24th of Elul, Sept 8, 2015, was the Chofetz Chaim’s yahrtzeit (yes, the same Chofetz Chaim who foresaw the future), and a special mission of gedolim traveled from Eretz Yisrael to stand at his kever and daven for Klal Yisrael, which once again finds itself in a perilous situation—this one brokered ironically by the United States of America.

A mere seventy years ago, the world laid down its weapons at the end of World War II and faced with the enormous guilt of standing by while 6 million Jews were murdered, tried to make amends. Fast forward to the year 2015. Events are moving with dizzying speed as the president runs to sign a deal with Iran – a deal that many feel can only bring harm to the United States and its allies everywhere. Congress is voting to finalize the accord. If they do, they will have signed a deal into law that could very well place the Jewish People and democracies worldwide in grave danger. Enter the “Day of Jewish Unity.”

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“Eventually, he turned to me,” she continued, “and asked, ‘Do you see the planes flying above us in the sky?’ “I nodded. “‘They will yet create a plane (rocket ship) that will fly to the moon.’ Here the Chofetz Chaim was predicting the future—that one day NASA would build a rocket ship capable of reaching outer space and the moon. But the Chofetz Chaim hadn’t finished predicting the future. “Do you see the bombs that they throw from the planes?” he asked, referring to the first-generation bombs which were used to sow fear and psychological damage more than anything else. His granddaughter nodded again. Suddenly, the Chofetz Chaim raised his voice. “Science,” he said, “will yet create a bomb capable of destroying the entire world!” The Chofetz Chaim had just foretold the creation of the atom bomb! He predicted it before anyone had created anything even remotely similar! Looking his granddaughter in the eye, her zeide said, “We work on improving man, while they work on the ultimate destruction of mankind! And you want me to leave my world, so brilliantly lit, to enter your world of darkness?” This incident not only pertains to the incredibly broad mindset and worldview of a tzaddik who lived close to a hundred years ago, but to the actual events that are taking place right now in the halls of world power – the U.S. Congress and the U.N.—as the world’s diplomats remain committed to their insistence on signing a treaty with Iran, no matter the cost or the danger of a future Iranian nuclear bomb being used…chas v’shalom. The Chofetz Chaim’s words are clearly as relevant today as they were when he was alive and the accepted leader of the entire nation.

Yeshivas Yesodei HaTorah, Melbourne, Australia

Yisrael, North America, Mexico, France and beyond. Children and adults of all types

“As I recited the age-old words of Dovid Hamelech live on the air to an audience of tens of thousands, with Nachum repeating every verse after me for his listeners’ benefit, I knew that I would never forget this moment, or the heartfelt prayer of Acheinu that we recited together.”

he idea was a simple one, and like the greatest of concepts, simple and brilliant at the same time. The “Day of Jewish Unity” was spearheaded by Acheinu, the kiruv arm of Dirshu. The initiative was linked to Dirshu’s “Yom Limud and Tefillah,” which coincided with Dirshu’s mission to Radin. The Concept: a massive day of tefillah and Torah study. Over 500,000 people are estimated to have taken part in the “Yom Limud and Tefillah,” as hundreds of yeshivos, kollelim, Bais Yaakovs, seminaries and international corporations committed themselves and their students/employees to taking part. From the Belzer cheder in Boro Park to the Toras Ahron Yeshivah in Lakewood; From Yeshivah Tiferes Elimelech to Bais Mikrah in Monsey; From Riverside Abstract, BP Graphics and Madison Title, to the Bobover Yeshivah in Toronto; From the Yeshivah Ketanah of Lakewood to day schools in Houston, Los Angeles and yeshivas across Eretz Yisrael and across the globe. Participation included shuls and kollelim in Eretz

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DIRSHU SPECIAL COVERAGE

stopped what they were doing and participated with all their hearts. All of this coincided with Dirshu’s unity mission to the kever of the Chofetz Chaim in

around the world stood united on the day of his yahrtzeit as they recited two chapters of Tehillim in unison. Many also partook in a learning session consisting of that day’s Daf HaYomi B’Halachah limud – a daily Mishnah Berurah and mussar learning program. Whereas many campaigns involving religious Jewry pass by without making waves in the outer, non-religious and non-Jewish worlds, the “Day of Jewish Unity” initiative not only caught on, but spread like wildfire to every corner of the globe, clearly resonating with many leading secular Jewish media outlets. It even was featured in a broadcast on the leading media outlet in Israel. This alone instilled a feeling of unity in Jewish people everywhere well advance of the event—as all geared up for the big day of brotherhood.

France - Yom Limud and Tefillah

Radin, led by a delegation of prominent Chassidish, Litvish, and Sefardic gedolim and Rav Dovid Hofstedter, nasi of Dirshu. The Chofetz Chaim was one of the most beloved and revered leaders of pre-World War Two Europe, and Jews

e set out on our mission Tuesday morning, poised to take part in a moment of incredible achdus and togetherness. As Jews the world over gathered together to recite Tehillim, I connected with famous radio personality Nachum Segal—he in New Jersey, me in Belarus—for a live interview. We discussed the trip, how it felt to stand at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim, and the incredible array of gedolim who’d come along for the journey. And then Nachum did something out of the ordinary. Something he has seldom done in many years of reporting for the Jewish people. He asked me to recite the two chapters of Tehillim that Jews were saying all over the world— live, on his broadcast. It was a unique opportunity, one which bound every Jew taking part in Acheinu’s initiative into a single gigantic tapestry, originating in Radin on the Chofetz Chaim’s yahrtzeit and spreading forth to every corner of the globe. A beautiful tapestry that included every

64 SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

DIRSHU SPECIAL COVERAGE:

THE JEWISH HOME

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DIRSHU’S TRIP TO RADIN AND ITS YOM LIMUD AND TEFILLAH

Yom Limud and Tefillah at the Kosel Hamaravi

kind of Jew—men, women and children, yeshivish, Chassidish, Ashkenaz, Sefard, young and old. As I recited the age-old words of Dovid Hamelech live on the air to an audience of tens

struction, we remember how much we truly do care for one another. Acheinu initiated the campaign to spread the message of achdus and brotherhood. But that alone cannot

across the globe, exhorting the Master of the World to have mercy on His Nation? There is an explanation, of course. A way to explain how this movement, this brilliantly simple initiative sponsored by Acheinu, took on such momentum and a life of its own. The answer is simple. Jewish people love one another, and want to unite. We want to UNITE! That is why the initiative took on such momentum. Because this is what the Jewish people really want!

W Kollel in Mexico

of thousands, with Nachum repeating every verse after me for his listeners’ benefit, I knew that I would never forget this moment, or the heartfelt prayer of Acheinu that we recited together. That interview, and the entire “Day of Jewish Unity” initiative, are classic examples of how we, as religious Jews, can use today’s technology to make a kiddush Hashem. I am grateful to have been a part of so historic a moment.

ometimes it feels as though we just can’t get along and that nobody even wants to try. Then along comes an initiative that captures the heart and soul of every Jew, proving just how much we really do love and care for one another. When confronted with the danger from Iran, and its frantic dreams of world domination and de-

explain the grassroots movement that swelled in its wake, growing exponentially until it took on a life of its own. That alone cannot explain how an idea, even a very good idea, took off so rapidly, almost instantaneously generating excitement from every sector of our community. It cannot explain the fact that dozens of corporate companies volunteered to take part, ceasing operations right in the middle of their business day, picking up their Siddurim and reciting the same chapters of Tehillim that Jewish people were saying all around the globe. Yes, it was a wonderful initiative. But how to explain the massive display of brotherhood, of schools and educational institutions representing every stream of the religious world taking part—or the pure voices of thousands and thousands of children ringing out

e must, of course, lobby our elected officials and use every bit of power we possess in the political realm. Hashem expects His children to do their hishtadlus. But at the end of the day, every one of us knows that the real power and salvation will come not from government or politicians, but from the One Above and the power of achdus.

Numerous people signed up to study the Dirshu daily dose of Chofetz Chaim inspiration on the big day. This is the true face of the Jewish People. In a single day, we unmasked unmistakable unity through the simplest of eternal gestures, as we rose up to proclaim our belief in Hashem and to seek comfort in the eternal words of Tehillim. As we took our places beside the kever of the Chofetz Chaim on the day of his yahrtzeit, and as the entire world joined hands in the most worthy of Torah endeavors, I reflected how the powerful words that the gadol hador told his granddaughter some ninety years earlier were still as relevant now as they had been back then—because tzaddikim are above time and space. May the entire world merit to partake of the great light from the many seforim of the Chofetz Chaim, and may he serve as a source of merit for us in Heaven in this critical moment in the history of the Jewish people. 

Toronto Kollel

65 THE JEWISH HOME

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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Thoughts on Sukkos

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Sukkot by Rabbi Berel Wein The Mitzvah to be Happy by Rabbi Ben Zion Shafier The Sukkah Experience by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller Thank you for Every Thing by Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz Eating Some Humble Pie… In the Sukkah by Rabbi Naphtali Hoff

144

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Rivki Rosenwald, Esq., CLC

For Your Yom Tov Enjoyment

74 83 90

An Etrog from the Garden of Eden by Nissan Mindel They Call Him The Rebbi by Naftali Halpern Behind the Music: An Insider’s Look at the Jewish Music Scene by Brendy J. Siev

93 108 132

The Splendor of a Sukkos in Bobov by Yaakov Wasilewicz Chol Hamoed Guide: Places to Go, Things to Do A Floral Sphere to Enhance Your Sukkah by Esther Ottensoser

To Your Health

127 130

Trust by Deb Hirschhorn, PhD Battling the Yom Tov Bulge by Aliza Beer, MS, RD

In the Kitchen

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The Story Behind The New Kosher: TJH Speaks with Kim Kushner, author of The New Kosher

120 124 134

Yom Tov Dishes with a New Twist by Kim Kushner A Sukkos to Savor by Jamie Geller Sukkot: The Best Time of Year for Hosting!

THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR AN ELDERLY PARENT!

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Torah Thought

Sukkot

THE JEWISH HOME

Rabbi Berel Wein

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placing our lives and their events into proper perspective. A flash of clarity,

Jerusalem on the holiday of Sukkoth created a national emotion of joy and

A flash of clarity, an insight of perspective, a moment of confident decision can truly bring about a feeling of joy.

an insight of perspective, a moment of confident decision can truly bring about a feeling of joy. Sukkoth can provide us with that clarity and perspective. It teaches us that our physical home and house is not quite as important as we may think it is. It instructs us in the beauty of nature, the necessity for Heaven’s blessing of rain and productivity, and in the realization that even though our lives and existence are indeed fragile, we should treasure every breathing moment and see it in the perspective of our immortality and eternity. Sukkoth engenders within us the appreciation of correct priorities in our lives and the achievement of a proper balance between the illusory and reality. It provides us with a most necessary dose of humility – one that can allow a person to see things in proper perspective. The Jewish people throughout our long and many times difficult years and experiences have always realized that we are living in a sukkah. That realization alone was sufficient to allow individual Jews and Jewish society generally to function, survive and even prosper. By absorbing this lesson of the sukkah – its beauty, its fragility, its temporary nature, its serenity and its relationship to nature and the world we live in – we immerse ourselves in G-d’s perspective, so to speak, of the world and our place in it. That alone should awaken within us an emotion of joy and satisfaction. In Temple times, the libation of water on the holy altar of the Temple in

rejoicing. It is interesting to note that water, which most of us take for granted, is not nearly as expensive a commodity as an animal sacrifice or an

offering of gold or silver would have been. Nevertheless, it was the offering of water that occasioned the great celebrations of joy in ancient Jerusalem. Simply because it was almost a relatively mundane offering, it emphasized the perspective of life that Sukkoth was meant to convey. One can be joyful even with plain water if one realizes the blessings of nature and of the benevolence of G-d. In a world of excess and the pursuit of luxuries, Sukkoth comes to remind us of our true priorities and of the necessity of a healthy balance in our lives and behavior. Chag sameach. 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

fter the tension-filled solemnity of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the holiday of Sukkoth arrives with its many inspiring rituals and its message of joy and rejoicing in the service of G-d. It is regarding Sukkoth that the Torah instructs us “to be joyful on your holiday.” Now, joy, like almost all other emotions, is not something that can be turned on and off like a faucet. A person either feels joyful or not. You cannot tell a person who is sad and depressed to just feel joyful and expect that that should somehow happen. The traditional commentators have already remarked that since we have just passed through the cleansing processes of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and feel relieved, forgiven and confident in our faith and in our relationship to our Creator, it is only natural to expect that we will feel joyful at this time of the year. But, to a certain extent, this type of answer really only begs the question. It is quite difficult for anyone to feel completely satisfied with one’s self and one’s actions after undergoing a thorough, honest and often painful self-examination. We are now privy to our faults and failings and even though we are confident that Heaven’s goodness has forgiven us, we are still well aware of the problems that remain within us and limit, if not even prevent, any feelings of overwhelming joy to take hold. And yet the Torah insists that we be joyful and of good cheer on this holiday of Sukkoth. The rabbis have given a markedly different perspective to the emotion of joy and it is this perspective that I feel the Torah is speaking of when commanding us regarding the holiday of Sukkoth. The rabbis in the Talmud stated that there is no joy comparable to the joy one feels when doubts have been resolved and clarity and reality reign. Much of the sadness that exist in life is based on its uncertainty, in the plethora of options and choices, the consequences of which are never clear to us and in the difficulty we face in

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TJH CENTERFOLD

• TJH CENTERFOLD

Riddle! Two Japanese people who have never seen each other bump into each other at the New York Japanese Embassy. They begin talking and go for lunch. They then realize that one of them is the father of the other one’s son. How is this possible? See answer below

Kidding!

Lucy is having a bad day at the roulette tables. Down to her last $100, completely exasperated, she cries, “What horrible luck! What in the world should I do now?” A gentleman next to her, trying to calm her down a bit, calmly suggests, “I don’t know... Why don’t you play your age?” He walks away. Moments later, he is intrigued to hear a great commotion at the roulette table. Maybe she won! Rushing back to the table and pushing his way through the crowd, he is stunned to see Lucy lying limp on the floor, with the table operator kneeling over her. He asks, “What happened? Is she all right?” The operator replies, “I don’t know, buddy.... She put all her money on 45. When 67 came up she fainted!”

You Might Just Be a Jewish Redneck If... • Your home is mobile and your sukkah isn’t

• You’ve fired a shotgun at the sound of Haman’s name

• You have a gun rack in your sukkah

• Your belt buckle is bigger than your yarmulke

• Your standard is “Ad dillo yoda”… every day

• Your shul used to have wheels, but now it’s up on blocks • You’ve called the “psychic hotline” to answer a halachic question

• The only plant in your home is your lulav

• You know what bracha to make when you see a UFO

• Your siddur lists the Sabbath greeting as : “Shabbot shalom y’all”

• Your rabbi has yelled “Yee-Haw” during his drasha • You keep a can of spray paint in your tallis bag

• Your Shabbos suit was purchased at Walmart

• You know which brand of grits have an acceptable kashrut supervision

• Your tallis is made from camouflage cloth • Your local sofer shoots his own parchment • Gefilte fish is the most solid thing you can eat with your tooth • You’ve used the song “Rawhide…rawhide…rawhide” for Kedusha

• Your omer counting calendar has come up with three cherries in a row

Go funnt y?

Comm let the ission er dec se nd

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fivetow centerfold@ nsjewis hhome. com

Answer to riddle: The Japanese people are husband and wife and both are blind since birth.

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You Gotta be

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1. when there’s a wind blowing, does a round-trip by plane take more time, less time, or the same time? a. More time b. Less time c. The same time d. It depends on the airplane 2. You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin increasing the speed slowly. what will happen first: will the glass slide off, will it tip over, or will the water splash out? a. Fall b. Tip over c. Have water splash out d. Depends on the shape of the glass and how full it is 3. Using only a 4-minute hourglass and a 7-minute hourglass, measure exactly nine minutes. You must use both. a. Start both hourglasses, flip over the 4-minute glass when it’s done, flip both glasses over when the 7-minute glass is done, then flip over the 7-minute glass when the 4-minute glass is done b. Start both hourglasses, flip over the 4-minute glass when it’s done, flip over the 7-minute glass when it’s done, let it run 1 minute, then flip it again for the 9th minute c. Start the 7-minute hourglass, flip the 4-minute hourglass when the 7-minute glass is done, measure 2 minutes using the 4-minute hourglass d. Start the 4-minute glass, flip it when it’s done to measure another 4 minutes, then flip the 7-minute hourglass to measure 1 minute 4. You’re given a cube of cheese and a knife. How many straight cuts of the knife

do you need to divide the cheese into twenty-seven little cubes? a. 10 b. 12 c. 8 d. 6 5. You’re in a car with a helium balloon tied to the floor. the windows are closed. when you step on the gas pedal, what happens to the balloon: does it move forward, move backward, or stay put? a. Moves forward b. Moves backward c. Stays put 6. At 3:15, what is the angle between the minute and hour hands on an analog clock? a. 0 b. 7.5 degrees c. 6 degrees

d. 5.5 degrees Answers: 1. A 2. D 3. B 4. D 5. A 6. B wisdom Key: 5-6 correct: Congrats! You should actually fly out to Silicon Valley right after Sukkos for an interview at Google! (Maybe we could fly together.) 3-4 correct: You won’t get the Google job, but you can become CEO of AOL if you want. 1-2 correct: You won’t get the Google job, but you can work at a pizza shop if you want. 0 correct: When you Google your name, does a “nobody home” sign come up?

Picture of the Week!

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The following are a sample of the type of questions you will be asked during the Google interview process, according to William Poundstone’s book titled, “Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?” Good luck!

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n a c u o Y k n i Th Work at

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The Shmuz

R’ Ben Tzion Shafier

Sukkos

The Mitzvah to be Happy “Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart when everything was abundant.” — Devarim 28:47 The Destiny of the Jews The fate of the Jewish people is unlike that of any other nation. We are either exalted and revered or downtrodden and oppressed — there is no middle ground. If we follow the ways of Hashem, the Torah assures us that we will live a life of prosperity, abundance, and peace. Secure in our borders, finding only goodness and happiness in our land, we will be blessed. However, if we reject Hashem’s ways, then we will be cursed, oppressed, and tortured — hunted down by our enemies until we are thrown out of our land. At the end of a long prophecy of what will befall us if we don’t follow the ways of Hashem, the Torah seems to lay the blame on one issue: “Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart when everything was abundant.” It seems the pivotal point of these two extremes is based on simcha, implying that serving Hashem with happiness is critical to our success as a nation. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that this is because the mitzvos must be done with joy and complete devotion. When the mitzvos are done without joyfulness, they are lacking in their effect, and this can be part of the spiral downward. He then gives an example of a mitzvah that wasn’t done with complete motivation. The Medrash tells us that when Reuvain attempted to save Yosef from his brothers, he said, “Let us put him in the pit.” His intention was to buy some time to eventually save him. However, had he realized that he would be recorded in history as the one who saved Yosef, he would have put him on his shoulders and carried him home to his father. From here we see the importance of doing a mitzvah with complete dedication and commitment. The Power of Simcha This Rabbeinu Bachaya is difficult to understand on two levels. First, how can the Torah command me to be happy?

Being happy isn’t an emotion that we can turn on and off like a light switch. And second, how can we compare the effect of doing a mitzvah joyfully to

Over the course of his working career, he built over fifty companies. He is now the owner of Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company of the Venetian Resort.

We will look back at our mitzvos, and they will bring us far more joy than earning a million dollars an hour. the case of Reuvain? That was a classic example of kavod. We are well aware that honor is one of the most powerful driving forces in the human condition. Public recognition, fame, and having one’s name in the floodlights of history are things that people in every generation kill for. Granted, Reuvain was a tzaddik, but the fact that he would have been titled the savior of Yosef for eternity is something that would propel a man to extremes. How can that be compared to something as minor as joy in the performance of a mitzvah? While happiness when doing a mitzvah may be a nicety, it certainly can’t be ranked up there with kavod as a driving force. The answer to these questions can best be understood through a different perspective. If I Were a Rich Man Sheldon G. Adelson, the son of immigrant parents, grew up in a poor neighborhood of Boston. His father was a taxi driver; his mother ran a knitting store. At a young age, Adelson began showing an entrepreneurial spirit, first by selling newspapers on local street corners, and then by becoming the owner of his first business at age twelve.

In 2003, his net worth was ranked at 1.4 billion dollars. While that is an impressive sum, it didn’t put him anywhere near the richest people in the world. However, when he took his company public, a rather interesting thing happened. His personal wealth increased by 750%. By 2004, his personal worth had increased to over 20 billion dollars, making him the fifth richest man in the world. Forbes magazine estimates that over those two years, Adelson’s fortune had been growing by $1 million every hour. I want you to imagine for a moment what it must feel like to know that your wealth is increasing at that rate. You sit down to a leisurely lunch and walk away a million dollars richer. Open a Gemara for the daf HaYomi – there’s another $750,000. Lie down for a Shabbos nap; wake up three million dollars wealthier. What it’s like to be alive! Every moment I live, I become richer, and richer… I Have No Plans of Dying The single most difficult concept that we human beings deal with is our mortality. While we are cognitively aware of it, emotionally we just don’t feel it will happen. With that emotional

blindness comes blindness to the value of our actions. Since in our operating reality, I will never die, then what I do or don’t do really doesn’t matter. If for a flashing moment, I were to see what the World to Come will be like for me, I would effectively lose free will. The extraordinary accomplishment of one mitzvah would so overwhelm me that I would be completely and radically different — not different physically, not smarter, but much more driven to accomplish my purpose in life. When Chazal tell us over and over again that mitzvos are worth far more than the greatest treasures in this world, it is because they had that clarity. They understood what it will be like for each of us as we regale in our great wealth. In that World, we will look back at every chance we had to grow as the greatest opportunity ever given to Man. We will look back at our mitzvos, and they will bring us far more joy than earning a million dollars an hour. This seems to be the answer to Rabbenu Bachya. One of the greatest motivators in the human is enthusiasm. That enthusiasm is based on a value system. If I value money, I will be driven to pursue it, and the acquisition of it will bring me great joy. If I gain a deeper perspective on life, then I experience elation, knowing that my net worth in the World to Come is growing at an incredible rate. My investments are paying back in spades. That excitement is one of the most powerful motivating forces — equal even to kavod. With it, a person can reach great heights. Without it, a person’s avodas Hashem can become stale and lose its potency, thus beginning a downward spiral. Ultimately, joy is a great force that both allows a person to enjoy his short stay in this world and propels him to achieve the greatness for which he was created. Rabbi Shafier is the founder of the Shmuz. com. The Shmuz is an engaging, motivating shiur that deals with real life issues. All of the Shmuzin are available free of charge at the www.theShmuz.com or on the Shmuz App for iPhone or Android.

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An Etrog from the Garden of Eden By NIssaN MINdel

was the first day of Sukkot, and all the congregants in the shul (synagogue) of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk were in a festive mood. One could feel the “yom tov” spirit in the atmosphere. As Rabbi Elimelech stood at the lectern and began reciting Hallel, all eyes turned upon him. There was something unusual in his manner this Sukkot. Why did he stop so suddenly in the middle of his swaying as he held the etrog and lulav in his hands to sniff the air? And why did he not go through the service in his usual

emphatically, “I am sure it will be a story worth hearing!”

“My

name,” began the quiet-looking man, “is Uri, and I come from Strelisk. I have always regarded taking the ‘four kinds’ on Sukkot as one of my favorite mitzvot, and so, although I am a poor man and could normally not afford to buy an etrog according to my desire, my young wife, who agrees with me as to its importance, helps me by hiring herself out as cook. Thus she is independent of any financial help from me, and I can use my own earnings for spiritual matters. I am employed as melamed (teacher) in the village of Yanev, which is not far from my native town. One half of my earnings I use for our needs and with the other half I buy an etrog in Lemberg. But in order not to spend any money on the journey I usually go on foot. “This year, during the Ten Days of Repentance, I was making my way on foot as usual, with fifty gulden in my purse with which to buy an etrog, when on the road to Lemberg I passed through a forest and stopped at a wayside inn to have a rest. It was time for mincha so I stood in a corner and davened mincha. “I was in the middle of my prayers when I heard a terrible sound of moaning and groaning, as of one in great anguish. I hurriedly finished my davening so that I could find out what was the trouble, and if I could help in any way. “As I turned towards the man who was in obvious distress, I beheld a most unusual and rough look-

“Come and help me find the etrog which is permeating the whole shul with the fragrance of the Garden of Eden!” leisurely manner? It was evident that something was on his mind, something rather exciting by the look on his radiant countenance. The minute the davening (praying) was over, Rabbi Elimelech hurried to where his brother Rabbi Zusha (who had come to spend the festival with him) was standing, and said to him eagerly: “Come and help me find the etrog which is permeating the whole shul with the fragrance of the Garden of Eden!” And so together they went from person to person until they reached the far corner of the shul where a quiet-looking individual was standing, obviously engrossed in his own thoughts. “This is the one,” called out Rabbi Elimelech delightedly. “Please, dear friend, tell me who are you and where you obtained this wonderful etrog?” The man, looking somewhat startled and bewildered at this unexpected question, replied rather slowly, carefully choosing his words: “With all due respect to you, Rabbi, it is quite a story. Do you wish to sit down and listen to it all?” “Most certainly I do,” answered Rabbi Elimelech

ing person, dressed in peasant garb with a whip in his hands, pouring out his troubles to the innkeeper at the bar. “From the somewhat confused story, between his sobs, I managed to gather that the man with the whip was a poor Jew who earned his living as a baal agallah (owner of a horse and cart for carting purposes). He had a wife and several children and he barely managed to earn enough to make ends meet. And now, a terrible calamity had befallen him. His horse, without which he could do nothing, had suddenly collapsed in the forest not far from the inn, and just lay there unable to get up. “I could not bear to see the man’s despair and tried to encourage him, by telling him that he must not forget that there is a G-d above us who could help him in his trouble, however serious it seemed to him. “‘I’ll sell you another horse for fifty gulden, although I assure you he is worth at least eighty, but just to help you out in your difficulty!’” The innkeeper was saying to the wagon driver. “‘I haven’t even fifty cents, and he tells me I can buy a horse for fifty gulden!’ the man said bitterly. “I felt I could not keep the money I had with me for an etrog when here was a man in such desperate plight that his very life and that of his family depended upon his getting a horse. So I said to the innkeeper: “‘Tell me what is the lowest price you would take for your horse?’ “The innkeeper turned to me in surprise. ‘If you pay me on the spot, I will take forty five gulden, but absolutely not a cent less. I am selling my horse at a loss as it is!’ “I immediately took out my purse and banded him forty five gulden, the wagon driver looking on, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets in astonishment. He was just speechless with relief, and his joy Continued on page 76

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was absolutely indescribable. “‘Now you see that the Almighty can help you, even when the situation appears to you to be entirely hopeless!’ I said to him as he hurried off with the innkeeper to harness the newly-bought horse to his forsaken cart tied to the stricken horse in the forest. “As soon as they went off, I hurriedly got my few things together and disappeared, as I did not want to be embarrassed by the thanks of the grateful wagon driver.

perfume! Let me tell you the sequel to your story.”

“WheN

the wagon driver whom you saved thought about his unexpected good fortune, he decided that you must have been none other than the Prophet Elijah whom the Almighty had sent down to earth in the form of a man in order to help him in his desperation. Having come to this conclusion the happy wagon driver looked for a way of expressing his gratitude to the Almighty, but the poor man knew not a Hebrew word, nor could he say any prayers. He racked his simple brain for the best way of thanksgiving. “Suddenly his face lit up. He took his whip and lashed it into the air with all his might, crying out with all his being: ‘Dear Father in Heaven, I love you very much! What can I do to convince you of my love for you? Let me crack my whip for you as a sign that I love you!’ Saying which, the wagon driver cracked his whip into the air three times. “On the eve of Yom Kippur, the Almighty up above was seated on His Seat of Judgment, listening to the first prayers of the Day of Atonement. “Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who was acting as the Counsel for Defense on behalf of his fellow Jews, was pushing a wagon full of Jewish mitzvot to the Gates of Heaven, when Satan appeared and obstructed his path with piles of Jewish sins, so that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak just got stuck there. My brother,

“Dear Father in Heaven, I love you very much! What can I do to convince you of my love for you? Let me crack my whip for you as a sign that I love you!” “I eventually reached Lemberg with the remaining five gulden in my pocket, and naturally had to content myself with buying a very ordinary looking but kosher etrog. Usually my etrog is the best in Yanev, and everyone used to come and make a blessing over it, but this year I was ashamed to return home with such a poor-looking specimen, so my wife agreed that I could come here to Lizensk, where nobody knew me.” “But my dear Rabbi Uri,” cried out Rabbi Elimelech, now that the former had finished his story, “yours is indeed an exceptional etrog. Now I realize why your etrog has the fragrance of the Garden of Eden in its

Rabbi Zusha, and I added our strength to help him move his wagon forward, but all in vain; even our combined efforts proved fruitless. “Suddenly there came the sound of the cracking of a whip which rent the air, causing a blinding ray of light to appear, lighting up the whole universe, right up to the very heavens! There we saw the angels and all the righteous seated in a circle, singing G-d’s praise. On hearing the wagon driver’s words as he cracked his whip in ecstasy, they responded: ‘Happy is the King who is thus praised!’ “All at once, the Angel Michael appeared, leading a horse, followed by the wagon driver with whip in hand. “The Angel Michael harnessed this horse to the wagon of mitzvot, and the wagon driver cracked his whip. Suddenly the wagon gave a lurch forward, flattening the piles of sins that had been obstructing the way, and drove it smoothly and easily right up to the Throne of Honor. There the King of Kings received it most graciously and, rising from the Seat of Judgment, went over and seated Himself on the Seat of Mercy. A happy New Year was assured.” “And now dear Rabbi Uri,” concluded Rabbi Elimelech, “you see that all this came about through your noble action. Go home, and be a leader in Israel! For you have proved your worthiness, and you shall carry with you the approval of the Heavenly Court. But before you go, permit me to hold this wonderful etrog of yours, and praise G-d with it.”  Excerpted from The Complete Story of Tishrei, published and copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society, Brooklyn, NY

By ReBBeTzin TzipoRah helleR

In the very impermanence of the sukkah lies its security, because here we realize we are not alone!

Seeing G-D’s Presence The holiday itself celebrates the fact that as we traveled forty years in the desert, we were surrounded by G-d’s presence. The physical manifestation of His encompassing love and protection were the clouds that encircled us. The laws concerning the construction of the sukkah are there to provide us with the opportunity to relive the experience of feeling G-d’s life-force surrounding us without the distractions that blind us to Him. By leaving the deceptive permanence of our homes, we let go of the first and most damaging illusion that blocks our inner eye from seeing G-d’s presence. This is the illusion that material security protects our vulnerability. But nothing material is eternal; the feeling of security and stability that comes from possessions is transient. The only enduring possession that any of us have is our essence. Still, the illusion of permanence is one that we are reluctant to surrender, because, without it, we feel as if we are abandoned to an unknowable fate. The solid stone, bricks and mortar of our homes create the ambiance of security which is not real. The inherent impermanence of the sukkah forces us into encountering reality. But in the very impermanence of the sukkah lies its security, because here we realize we are not alone! The reality that we face does not have

to terrify us. The schach symbolizes to us that the world in which we live is very much one in which G-d is with us. Although there is more darkness than light, we still see the stars. The sukkah is a living allegory for our world, which presents us with far more questions than there are answers that human wisdom can provide. However, what makes this world a place of meaning rather than one of despair is the fact that we can see what the stars embody – brilliance and illumination. We yearn for meaning and we find it when we focus our inner eye on the stars. The Talmud tells us that it is no coincidence that the time of year that we celebrate our trust in G-d is the fall. The timing of Sukkot seems almost arbitrary. After all, our stay in the desert took place over forty years, rather than a particular week in the year. The timing of Sukkot, no less than the physical structure of the sukkah, is an integral statement of our identity. We are not leaving our homes for relief from the heat of summer; we are leaving our homes to experience our vulnerability. It is only then that we are not blinded to G-d’s love. Paths Of The Just Feeling beloved is not always easy. We all have times in our lives in which our faith is sorely tested. We lose sight of the invisible clouds of glory and fire that surround us. The classical 18th century mussar work, “The Paths of the Righteous,” explains how we often blind ourselves to the stars and presents four different ways to a solution. One way to clear our vision is to recognize that

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G-d is far more compassionate than we are. It is only through His mercy that we survive either physically or emotionally all the absurd errors of judgment that have taken us to the brink of disaster. We have always been enveloped in His cloud. When we reflect on the compassion we have experienced as a result of His presence in our lives in the past, we get a new take on the present and the future. Hope suddenly seems pragmatic and realistic, while despair can be seen a naïve escape mechanism, which is what it is. Another way to clear our vision is to become aware that all of the acts of kindness that have been done on our behalf by friends and relatives, ultimately are from G-d. We have paid for nothing – not the air we breathe, nor the earth upon which we stand – nor for the means by which other human beings can help us. The inspiration from their altruism stems from G-d; what they do for us is a gift from G-d. We can never begin to repay what we have received not only from humans, but from G-d. We must be willing to be vulnerable enough to feel gratitude. This thought counteracts the “entitlement” mentality that clouds our ability to recognize goodness. The third way to clear our vision is to re-define the word “possible.” We must always keep in mind that with G-d anything is truly possible because G-d is not limited by any restrictions. Nothing can happen against His will, and nothing can prevent His will from being realized. Observing the ceaseless movement of the constellations and their timeless beauty can bring us back to this realization. We are in G-d’s hand just as they are. While the people in our lives may affect us, ultimately they are not more than His agents. The final thought in Rabbi Luzzatto’s collection is that facing challenges is what life is for. We Jews are not designed for “permanent housing.” We were designed for the sukkah. The idealization of complacency has never sat well with us. When we are forced to travel the fast lane, we can be energized or frightened. It is a choice that we all make in the moments in which our faith is tested. The more we can envision the eternity of the sukkah, the more we can welcome the trek through whatever type of “desert” G-d requires us to travel. These four ways can be transformational. What is even more powerful is actually coming into contact with the mitzvah of sukkah in the literal sense. Our nature is that we are less readily moved by realizations and thoughts than by actions, because actions often redefine our capacity to think along new and untried patterns. May this year bring us the joy of learning to feel and acknowledge what has been true all along. We are in G-d’s sukkah and always have been. 

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he specifications for building a sukkah are both arcane and fascinating. The roof must be built from material (which is called schach) that comes from living source. Branches, bamboo in its various forms, and palm fronds are popular choices. It must be arranged in a way in which the amount of shade is greater than the amount of sunshine that can enter the sukkah. The arrangement of the schach should be such as to give us a view of the stars. In addition, the sukkah itself must be constructed in a way in which it is an inherently temporary structure. While it may have permanent walls (it may have four, but is ritually fit even with two and a half walls), its roof must be of an interim nature. The roof, therefore, must be rebuilt yearly. Throughout the holiday, we are required to spend as much time as possible in the sukkah and to treat it as our home. This often opens us to reflecting on the fact that by this time of year the weather is rather nippy, and had the holiday been set a month earlier we would find the sukkah a comfortable shady spot to sit in the balmy weather. Let us examine each detail of these laws in order to grasp the elation that this, the most joyous of all holidays, can bring us.

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The Observant Jew

Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

Thank You for Every Thing

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t happened. The nightmare we all fear. I was having cabinets installed in my home and something went wrong! When you invest so much time, effort, and money into a project, you don’t want it to come out bad. Frantically, I called the cabinet installer. OK, I didn’t call him. I texted him, What’s Apped his boss, and basically had a meltdown. “You’ve got to fix this!” I pleaded, with appropriately desperate emojis. It was the end of the day and I was afraid they wouldn’t be able to do anything, throwing off our schedule. Worse, I feared there was no way to rectify the problem. I was on my way out to a meeting so I couldn’t wait for him to come but when I got back later that evening, baruch Hashem, everything was straightened out! I immediately texted the worker and thanked him for coming out and fixing the problem, doing such a great job, and basically saving my skin. I complimented him to his boss, too, and thanked him for his involvement. At some point,

though, once I calmed down, it hit me that this man had laid everything out, installed all the cabinets, attached hinges and doors, panels and drawers, and I didn’t comment on it. It was only once I had a problem with a small (OK, maybe not so small) part and he swooped in and came to my rescue, that I felt the appreciation for his craftsmanship that I should have felt all along. I should have been thanking him every step of the way for his care and attention to detail, but I didn’t because I just expected everything to go

smoothly. I’m sure by now you’ve guessed where I’m going with this. There’s one Craftsman who pays attention to every detail in every one of our lives. Forget a Jewish carpenter, my Boss is above religion and has many more skills than that!

it’s that we simply didn’t even stop to think about it. That’s why Sukkos is so special. In Tammuz and Av we mourned the Bais HaMikdash and tried to enjoy some sort of summer vacation (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere at least). Come Elul, we’re busy reflect-

But now, we sit and think about all the things we didn’t have to think about, and that’s what makes us thankful. Hashem constantly works wonders and makes the whole world run for us and everyone else in it. Most of the time we don’t even notice it as we’re going about our business with Him working in the background. Then, all of a sudden, BAM!! Something happens that we weren’t expecting and sometimes we feel like there’s no way to fix the problem. That’s when we make our frantic calls to Heaven, contort our faces and hearts into pitiful shapes, and try to convey to Hashem just how urgent this problem is. We know it’s out of our hands and He’s the only one who can help us. Sometimes it’s quick, sometimes it’s not, and sometimes we don’t even recognize the fix, but when we do, our hearts explode with joy and appreciation. That’s when, like I did with my cabinets, we should stop to realize that not only the problem, but everything leading up to it that went smoothly, came from the same source. We should pause to reflect on what we’ve experienced without pain and suffering and how much work Hashem’s put in for us before we even asked. It’s time to recognize that we’ve been blessed by having all the things we didn’t feel the need to daven about. It’s not that we took them for granted;

ing, improving, and trying to see what we can do differently. Tishrei, with Rosh Hashana and the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, means extended davening, early morning Selichos, focusing on shofar blasts, and trying to put honey on everything that isn’t nailed down. Then comes Yom Kippur with its frantic pre-fast feast followed by twenty-six hours of trying to be angelic. The minute that’s over we’re running to build the sukkah and make sure we have a lulav and an esrog. Finally, Sukkos arrives and what is the mitzvah of the day? SIT! Don’t do anything. Just SIT in the sukkah. What? No running around delivering Sukkos Manos baskets? Nope. What about measuring our food to make sure we’re eating at least 4 kilos of wheat in under

four minutes? Nyet – not necessary. Just sit there. Sit, and think. Think about the fact that throughout the year, you’ve put in work, sure. You’ve offered prayers, of course. But now, we sit and think about all the things we didn’t have to think about, and that’s what makes us thankful. The ananei hakavod, the Clouds of Glory which we commemorate by sitting in the sukkah, controlled the climate, flattened out the paths we traveled, killed dangerous pests and more. Basically, they kept us rolling along smoothly, without bumps in the road. What we’re recalling is the fact that we were saved from having to think about all those things. So, on Sukkos, it’s time to take stock of what we have; to look at all the cabinets, not just the problem ones. It’s finally a chance to not just give a quick “Thanks for everything,” but instead to give a well-considered, heartfelt “thank you,” for every thing. Jonathan Gewirtz is an inspirational writer and speaker whose work has appeared in publications around the world. You can find him at www.facebook.com/RabbiGewirtz and follow him on Twitter @RabbiJGewirtz. He also operates JewishSpeechWriter.com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion. Sign up for the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF Dvar Torah in English. E-mail info@JewishSpeechWriter.com and put Subscribe in the subject.

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Excellent references. Just ask.

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he above reason given to explain the close proximity between Yom Kippur and Sukkos is perplexing on a number of counts. First, of all possible punishments which Hashem could inflict upon us for past misdeeds, why should we specifically concern ourselves with exile? Why should we not worry about more likely events such as famine, disease, or persecution at the hands of our gentile neighbors? Second, even if exile was in fact ordered, how can we assume that the relatively benign act of entering a sukkah would satisfy such a decree? Certainly, we would expect exile to be a much harsher experience than this! In reality, there is a particular motivation to specifically fear a decree of exile over other punishments. Exile serves two primary functions. The first purpose is for the land, to remove from it the presence of a sinful nation which fails to keep Hashem’s precepts. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations… For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled. The land should not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. (Vayikra 18:2628) The second purpose, more significant, says Rav Chaim Freidlander (Sifsei Chaim, Vol. 1, p. 228ff), is to instill within a complacent, arrogant nation a strong sense of humility.

Yeshurun became fat, and kicked. You have become fat, thick, and gross. Then he forsook Hashem who made him, and spurned the Rock of his salvation… They sacrificed to powerless spirits, not to Hashem… You ignored the Mighty One that fathered you, and have forgotten Hashem who formed you. (Devarim 32:15, 17-18)

exile following the Yomim Noraim, in which we spend countless hours engaged in personal introspection while also working to come to the complete awareness that Hashem is our King and Judge. Arrogance at this time would not appear to be a major concern. Still, our worries are fully justified. As we transition out of the seriousness of the Yomim Noraim, our thoughts

Because of our great sense of happiness, celebrating the fruits of our hard labor, we are prone to feelings of arrogance and self-reliance.

It was largely because of their arrogance that the Jewish people acted with such indifference towards Hashem. They did not need Him – or so they thought – so they did not heed him. Instead they looked to pagan dei-

quickly move to the festive days of Sukkos, the chag ha’asif (festival of the harvest), in which we celebrate the new harvest. Because of our great sense of happiness, celebrating the fruits of our hard labor, we are prone to

ties to help unburden themselves of the shackles of Judaism. Eventually, their wanton sinfulness could no longer be tolerated, and the Jewish nation suffered the fate of exile. How does this idea of exile tie specifically into this time of year? If anything, one would assume that we would be far removed from any concern over

feelings of arrogance and self-reliance. “And you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’” (Devarim 8:17) The enormous sense of accomplishment which accompanies the harvest is likely to awaken a strong degree of pride, which, the Torah tells us, is a primary factor in loosening our sense

of dependence and allegiance towards Hashem. It is for this reason that we are commanded at this time to leave our comfortable, secure surroundings and enter a sukkah. There we are to remain for seven days, living directly under Hashem’s protection. So long as a person remains in his regular domain, it is difficult for him to feel a sense of humility and submission. These feelings come much more readily when one is forced from his home. As Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva, 2:4) writes, “Exile atones because it causes man to become more humble and subdued.” Instead of channeling our joy back within ourselves, as a means of taking excessive pride for our accomplishments, we are reminded to focus on Hashem, our true provider. “And you shall remember the L-rd your G-d; for He is who gives you power to get wealth.” (Devarim 8:18) Such remembrance will not only keep us humble, but will allow us to achieve the highest degrees of happiness. In the words of the Sefer HaChinuch: The days of the festival (of Sukkos) are days of great joy, since it is the time when the grains and fruit are harvested. Therefore, people celebrate to great degrees. That is why the festival is called “the harvesting festival.” Hashem commanded that we make a holiday at this time so as to give (the Jewish people) merit that the primary joy should be directed towards Him. (Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 324) It is only by focusing our happiness on Hashem, the true provider of our material bounty, that we can achieve the true degree of joy which was intended on this special chag simchaseinu. Rabbi Naphtali Hoff is an executive coach and president of Impactful Coaching and Consulting (ImpactfulCoaching.com). He can be reached at 212.470.6139 or at president@impactfulcoaching.com.

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Why do we make the sukkah (shortly) after Yom Kippur? Since we find the Holy One, blessed be He, sitting (in judgment) on Rosh Hashana before the entire world, and on Yom Kippur He signs the judgment, perhaps the Jews’ judgment that year was to be exiled. Therefore, we … “exile ourselves” from our homes into the sukkah, and the Holy One, blessed be He, considers it as if we were exiled to Babylon. (Yalkut Shimoni, Emor)

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Eating Some Humble Pie… In the Sukkah

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Rabbi Naphtali Hoff

Israel Today

Rafi Sackville

An Ode to Marriage

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

After

seven years I’d come back to Melbourne, Australia, my childhood home. I spent two weeks visiting most of my family. There were places to go and friends to see. Time was precious, my pace frenetic, my energy boundless. The decision to fly there was not taken lightly. Keren had planned to visit our eldest daughter, Elisheva, who had just given birth. There was an element of guilt in taking off Down Under, but Elisheva, Keren, and our youngest daughter Batya, all insisted that the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents was too important to ignore. I drove Keren to the airport on the Monday and left via Bangkok the following day. Before flying off I spent a few hours with our youngest daughter Batya. She has a healthy attitude to life. For too long she’s been warning me about chemicals that are doing me harm. She taught me how to make deodorant from scratch. I would leave Israel smelling like coconut oil with a touch of eucalyptus. I returned to Ma’alot to sleep the night before taking the train from Nahariya to the airport the following morning. The convenience of the train station at Ben Gurion being underneath the departure and arrival halls cannot be overstated. It’s something that is lacking at JFK and Melbourne airports. I was on my own and would be for a month. Therein lay a situation that Keren and I have not experienced in over thirty years of marriage: being separated for so long. Our three sons had recently moved out of the house and for the first time since our eldest daughter Elisheva was born, Keren and I were alone at last. Yet almost the first thing we did was to separate for a month. In the time I spent among my cousins and friends I was constantly praised for the incredible job we had done raising our three boys, about whom I have written about in this column. For every compliment I received I sang Keren’s praises. In my eyes, she is more deserving than I. If Social Security either in Israel or in America needed dealing with, it was Keren who took control. Medical visits and expertise in the field of dealing with the boys’ particular needs was exclusively her field. Clothing them and maintaining a strict regimen in the house that has always been orderly and calm is all her doing. When we got to Israel over two years ago I immediately found work. Keren took it upon herself to go back to battle for the boys’ rights once again. Finally, after two years of struggle, the boys left the house to reside in Kfar Tikvah, in Tivon. In my travels throughout Melbourne I met some wonderful people. There are couples I have known well before I left for good in the early 1980’s who welcomed me into their homes as one of theirs.

People who taught me by example. There were, however, many I met whose lives have not quite turned out as they had planned; divorced family members, friends who have separated, and family situations that might have been

Her question incensed me. I asked her why there had to be an escape clause for everything in life.

different—that may have succeeded—with a little bit more effort. One young rabbi I met told me how the divorce rate in Melbourne this past July was so much higher than the same period a year earlier. The fundamental struggle in relationships seems to have gone missing in so many relationships. We live in a world with too many options.

Before

my trip I was took an intensive 8 day course for educators teaching children at risk. I got to talking to one of the guest speakers. Her specialty is motiva-

tion. She told us her life story. She was proud to list her successes. There came a stage in her marriage, however, when her husband told her she had to choose between her career and her family. She didn’t hesitate to choose the former. She was interested in knowing about our three boys. The first question she asked me after I told her about their

disabilities was “Did you get divorced?” Her question incensed me. I asked her why there had to be an escape clause for everything in life. She was bemused at my attitude to life. To me she reflects the “me” view of the world. My dear friend Nathan, a psychiatrist, did tell me that the loss of a child or children with handicaps oftentimes is the cause for the breakdown of families. With that in mind I am reminded of my rav and mentor, Harav Ze’ev Chaim Lifshitz zt”l, who told me quite unequivocally before my chuppah that couples who don’t fight don’t exist. I don’t want to be misunderstood or thought to be taking the high moral ground on marriage, but as a father and an educator for almost a generation I have seen too much damage done not to draw some general conclusions. The extreme difficulties Keren and I faced raising three sons with disabilities only made the bond between us stronger. We faced difficult times. We were presented with situations well beyond the scope of our initial ability. We had to wait 23 years before we took our first vacation away together. Yet the fruits of our battles to make the lives of our five children as good as we could give them are evident today. Despite the circumstances of their upbringing, our three boys have adjusted quite remarkably. Israel, Kfar Tikvah in particular, has performed wonders on their confidence and ability to interact with the world. We are ever so proud of our daughter Elisheva and the beautiful family she is raising in Far Rockaway. Our youngest, Batya, has developed into a magnificent young woman who shines a special light over everything she touches. While Keren was away I was asked by neighbors and friends how I was coping. Did I wash my dishes? No, I didn’t use any. I picked from the fridge by hand. Did I cook for myself? No, the eateries I frequented did it for me. Did I do my own laundry? Yes, yes, although the day Keren returned and I showed her what I had done she asked if I’d done the load in the hamper. What hamper? I asked her. Oh, was I happy she had returned home. It’s Keren who has been such a catalyst in bringing us to this point in our lives. We live in Ma’alot in a quiet neighborhood and spend all of our free time together. I feel selfish in saying that we spend this time to the exclusion of everyone else, but not too brash to say that at this point in our lives together we have deserved it. I am a man who is truly blessed.

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

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By Naftali HalperN

The

year was 1997 and Apple Computers was at a crossroads: its iconic founder, Steve Jobs, believed that his products were the future of computing and technology in general, but the public had not yet bought into his vision. How would he convince the world to get on board? How could he, in a sense, start a revolution? In what has become perhaps the most memorable marketing campaign in history, Jobs came up with a two word slogan that hooked the world on his products, making it the most profitable company in the universe. “Think different.” The truth is, although the actual slogan may have been put forth by Jobs, it has been a driving force in many revolutions—both good and bad— throughout modern history.

Reb Shlomo Freifeld’s accomplishments can be considered a revolution, the driving call of his revolution was “think different.” He lived by that ideal on a micro and macro level and imparted it to each of his students. It’s no wonder then that one student can see his calling in life to be a veterinarian and another can see his calling in life to be a shochet. One student who learned twelve hours a day may have been told to become a doctor; another may have been told to become a rabbi.

He looked at each student differently; he saw a different life path for each talmid, and most importantly, how he educated each student was based on his unstated but ever-present mantra: Think different.

Reb Shlomo

was the son of Russian immigrants who escaped anti-Semitic persecution in Russia and wanted to put that life behind them. Although his parents sent him to yeshiva, the greatest hope that most parents had for their children in those days was that they would live the American dream. Religion was an afterthought. What better place to start then, than the bustling multicultural neighborhood of East New York. But from a young age, Reb Shlomo, then known as “Seymour,” questioned. He looked at his surroundings in a different way than many of the neighborhood kids who he went to school and played stickball with. “Where do we come from?” he wondered. “What were the Russians trying to take away from us?” What he found out created a fire in him that drove him every day of his life. “The Rebbi,” explained a close talmid of his, “saw himself as part of the opposition to Stalin.” It’s not that he was delusional and thought that he could take on the Communist superpower; it’s that he understood that the Communist manifes-

to was to take away the individual’s freedom to think and decide for himself, especially when it came to matters of religion. And he was not going to let that control him, nor those in his sphere. One candle at a time, he knew, can defeat the blackness of Communism. And it was a personal battle for him. In his quest for understanding the world around him and the world left behind by his forebears, young Shlomo ingratiated himself to Rabbi Nissan Telushkin. Where one may have seen a shul with a few elderly people, Shlomo saw a window into a world that was, a world that seemed to be nearly extinct at the time. Even many years later, he would vividly describe how his views on Yiddishkeit blossomed in the shul: “The Rav was like my father. He was worldly and he understood things. His drashos always had content. I remember watching the old Jews nodding their heads wisely when he made a point. He went through Shas with the shul three and a half times, and learned Mishnayos with them in the morning…He would say over maasim of tzaddikim during shalosh seudos. They were all real; he’d seen them and knew them in Europe... “...There used to be steps going up to the main sanctuary and a crow’s nest (like the lookout on top of a ship's mast) where the gabbai would stand. When he would see the Rav coming, he would bang a big wooden [object] so everyone inside could hear. They would turn around and

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

The fire that burned in Reb Shlomo Freifeld’s soul and how he turned it into a revolution

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“tHe reBBi”

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they Called Him

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stand up for the Rav. The Rav couldn’t stand it. He would bury his head and walk through the crowd.” Reb Shlomo was 14, Rav Telushkin sent him to Yeshivas Chaim Berlin to learn by Rav Yitzchok Hutner. Although that decision may have been based simply on logistics—there were very few yeshivas in America at the time—it turned out to be a perfect match. Rav Hutner was known throughout the Jewish world as a Torah genius and a dynamic teacher. His list of students reads like a “who’s who” of Torah leadership: Reb Elya Weintraub, Rabbi Dovid Cohen, the Noviminsker Rebbe and many more. What Rav Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik was for the Modern Orthodox world, Rav Hutner was for the yeshiva world—a magnanimous talmid chacham whose understanding of Yiddishkeit, society and philosophy created a panoramic Torah mosaic which enthralled his students. Perhaps Reb Shlomo’s relationship with Rav Hutner was the most meaningful one in his life. He related to Rav Hutner in a different way than many of his colleagues. “Many talmidim of Rav Hutner soaked up the Torah,” he once said. “I also learned from him through our everyday conversations.” That’s not to diminish the Torah that he learned from Rav Hutner—he was eventually appointed Rosh Kollel of Chaim Berlin, a designation which required a high level of Torah accomplishment— but he saw his relationship with Rav Hutner as even more. Exploring the depths of Yiddishkeit and understanding the world around us are inextricably intertwined, and Rav Hutner was able to tie those two together in a way which made the picture whole. As someone who had a deep passion for Yiddishkeit and a desire to understand the world around him, Reb Shlomo flourished under the tutelage of Rav Hutner. And Rav Hutner saw Reb Shlomo as a trusted talmid. Reb Shlomo recalled that after Rav Hutner once explained something to him, he added, “If you ever forget this pshat, I’ll never forgive you!”

When

refugees before the Zionists would get to them. After spending a month on a boat (it was the preflight era), he arrived in Israel and immediately got to work. He recalled “barely sleeping or eating for months” while carrying out the work of setting up schools and working with the refugees. During the mission, he met with the giants of the generation, including the Chazon Ish, the Brisker Rav, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer and the Ponevezher Rav, zichronam l’bracha. Those meetings left an indelible

“I recently read an article by an industrial psychologist who writes that he’s fifty years old and still doesn’t know what he wants to do when he grows up… In our society, adolescents can last a lifetime!” impression on him and furthered his lifelong fascination with tzaddikim and Jewish leaders. Upon his return to Chaim Berlin, Reb Shlomo eagerly sat with his rebbi for hours on end and went over every detail of his experience.

In 1965,

when he was selected by spent his most formative Rav Hutner as menahel years by Rav Hutner, by of Chaim Berlin, Reb Shlomo exhibited true leadthe time Reb Shlomo was a young adult he had ership qualities…the very qualities that the Torah a mission. That mission dictates is necessary for was to not only explore leadership. the beauty of Yiddishkeit The midrash says but to bring that beauty that Moshe Rabbeinu to others. In 1952, Reb was a shepherd who Shlomo was selected by would chase after an inRav Aaron Kotler to be dividual sheep if it ran part of a small group of from the flock. By its bachurim—including nature, teaching tends Rav Elya Svei and Rav to be an exercise in pluNissan Alpert—who ralities—reach most of were sent to Israel to esyour students most of the tablish P’eylim, which time and you are a suwas created to help resperstar—but that nagged Reb Shlomo at his rebbi, Rav Hutner's, house cue the arriving Teimani Reb Shlomo. The stu-

Having

dents at the periphery were foremost on Reb Shlomo’s mind—those who weren’t having success in learning; those who were drawn to the prevailing counter-culture of the time; those who may have had difficult upbringings in the homes of Holocaust survivors. Those were the very students he had the most burning desire to help. The wayward sheep. How to reach these students was not a matter of technique, novel method or machination. It was simple: teach them about life. But simple does not mean easy. The best way to teach about life is by example. When a student sees how the teacher lives his life—every facet of it—they mimic that in their own life. (There are examples in the Gemara of students who went to great lengths to learn about every aspect of life from their teachers.) This method of teaching has no curriculum, it has no manuals, but most importantly, it has no “on-and-off switch.” A master who chooses to teach his disciples in this fashion must graciously pour his heart and soul into this endeavor. In a word, he has to be selfless. And, of course, it must be natural; it is not a learned skill, which may explain why it is so uncommon and unique. Reb Shlomo excelled at this form of teaching. Many of Reb Shlomo’s talmidim can readily recall a particular shiur he may have given forty years ago as well as seemingly mundane matters, such as a song he may have liked, a particular food he enjoyed, or a painting that he was intrigued by. Why all these seemingly mundane memories? It’s not a failure on their part to recognize what is important and what is not. Quite the opposite— it’s a recognition that there is what to learn from every aspect of their Rebbi’s life. It is why when Reb Shlomo went out of town, talmidim would often join him on his journey; when he walked home from shul, they would escort him; when he went to a particular tzaddik for a bracha, they would go to the tzaddik for a bracha; when he learned a certain sefer before davening, they would learn the same sefer before davening. As he embarked on his journey of teaching his students about Yiddishkeit and life, the students who had been considered the chaff for most of their young lives began gravitating to him. He opened their eyes to Yiddishkeit. No, they weren’t inferior as compared to their more conventional colleagues; they were different. And for Reb Shlomo, that was an attribute which should be celebrated, not eschewed.

really teach this lesson, Reb Shlomo knew that he needed to create a yeshiva

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did Reb Shlomo reach so many who

were so lost? He believed in them and helped But getting his students to learn was the sec- them believe in themselves. He gave them inond step in the process. The first step was to sight into the world around them and gave them build, repair and hone the character of his stu- the tools they needed to navigate it. “If you know dents. “Derech eretz kadma l’Torah”... if one does about a ship, it can have the most sophisticated not have middos, what good is his Torah, was a navigational instruments but besides them it needs tenet that Reb Shlomo sought to inculcate in his a ballast, something to give it direction,” he once said, “Without the ballast in the ship’s center, the ship can’t sail. And we are all ships navigating through a very stormy sea.” He was constantly schmoozing with his talmidim, sometimes formally in shiur, sometimes over coffee, and sometimes during long walks. But most of his students would attest that the place they learned the most was sitting around his dining room table, whether it was at a Shabbos meal, a shalosh seudos, or just on a random evening. He once explained, “We have to talk, otherwise we don’t stand a chance. We’ll end up being swept away by the pollution, by the stream of mediocrity.” He used to wistfully recall the times spent with his talmidim talking about life. Reb Shlomo once noted that looking back at his years as leader of the yeshiva, the most significant moments were when he would take trips with the boys out of town. “We students. He would tell his students: “To be a real would get up early and sit with a cup of coffee and talmid chacham you have to work at learning and just talk about this and about that, about our [weakwork on refining yourself!” nesses], about our dreams and we would listen to In the era of “peace and love” there were many each other…I remember we talked for hours.” enclaves that were glued together by a false sense He was always curious and passionate about of togetherness and caring, but the yeshiva was Yiddishkeit and always pushed his talmidim to be one of the few places which that way too. He once quipped served as an authentic laborain a shmuess, “I heard about tory for these ideals. Whereas a Yid in Kfar Chabad who sits each person was encouraged to with a bottle of vodka, a Tework on their Torah skills on hillim and a Tanya, and he is their own level, in the creed of somehow in one form or an“Derech eretz kadma l’Torah,” other involved in one of these Reb Shlomo set a standard three things throughout the which he demanded that evday. In a way I envy him—he’s eryone comply with. And it searching for something!” worked. In a sense, the yeshiva He appreciated the search, became a large family. which explains why searching Thus the yeshiva that startsouls gravitated to him. ed with a few students who Reb Shlomo knew how to had mostly grown up religious point out to his students that began to attract young, unafmany of their pre-conceived filiated Jewish men who were notions about life were based searching for meaning in life. on a decadent society’s malRav Hutner visiting Reb Shlomo's new yeshiva Their searches may have beaise. While he accepted each

“Did they bother Bach and Beethoven about every little nuance that had to be in their music? No! They understood that it’s all part of the art. Every movement that you make is part of a derech!”

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Reb Shlomo walking with a talmid on Central Avenue

How

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gun on the fields of some commune, but they ended in a small building on Central Avenue in Far Rockaway. With his burning desire to help every Jew, Reb Shlomo became one of the pioneers of the baal teshuva movement. Lost souls of all kinds made their way to “The Rebbi.”

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where he could bring these students together and form a community. At the time, it was a novel idea—it was before the current era where there are yeshivas for all types of individuals. It’s not that it was unacceptable to go outside of the mainstream, it’s that even the mainstream consisted of only a handful of yeshivas and starting a yeshiva geared for a specific type of student, particularly for students who were considered unsuccessful, was a radically different idea which was several decades ahead of its time. Of course, as a faithful student of Rav Hutner, he sought his permission to embark on his venture. And in 1967, Reb Shlomo started his yeshiva, which he called Sh’or Yoshuv, in Far Rockaway. It was a yeshiva like no other at the time. The entrance exam did not ask how well one knew how to learn; there was no requirement to dress a certain way. The only requirement was that one had to be willing to grow as a person. Within a few short years, the yeshiva which started with eight students morphed into a bustling yeshiva with dozens of talmidim. In those early years, the yeshiva would serve as an incubator for ideas that would eventually gain worldwide acceptance and eventually spawn the creation of similar types of yeshivos. Reb Shlomo lovingly taught his students Torah while simultaneously building their character. “Chanoch l'naar al pi darko” was the sole curriculum in his Bais Medrash. It was not uncommon for him to tell one student to focus on learning many pages of Gemara, while telling another student to delve into the depths of a single page; he could tell one student to learn Chassidic seforim, while telling another to learn Litvisher seforim; he could tell one student to try and maximize the amount of time he spends learning, while telling another student not to pressure himself too much. He encouraged each talmid to connect to a sefer that spoke to their n’tiyas ha’neshama. Reb Shlomo loved Torah and everything that it stood for and there was nothing he enjoyed more than seeing his talmidim grow in their learning. But he also wanted his talmidim to understand the penimius of what Torah is really about. It wasn’t just something for smart people, with high IQs. He was not trying to make professors of Torah. “In my shul there was a guy who worked in construction and used to get up at five in the morning to learn, with a real niggun,” he would tell his students. “That’s where I saw what learning was— even though learning is intellectual and analytical, it’s still a relationship with the Ribbono Shel Olam. I knew that with all my yeshiva learning, I was nothing compared to this Jew!” He could sit for hours with an advanced talmid and delve into the depths of one line of Tosfos and then turn around and help a beginner learn how to read the alef bais.

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student for who they were, he challenged them nity was integral to the whole. The purpose was for to be active participants in their lives and to be- all types of people to feel comfortable and bring up come “real men.” He once quipped, “I recently their families in an environment where they were read an article by an industrial psychologist who part of something. If someone did things differentwrites that he’s fifty years ly than others, he wouldn’t old and still doesn’t know shun it, he would celebrate what he wants to do when it. In his shmuessen he he grows up… In our sociwould often refer to speety, adolescents can last a cific struggles that certain lifetime!” students may have had and In an era when freewould glowingly discuss thinking was in vogue and how they overcame those some forms of Yiddishkeit struggles in order to point may have seemed restricout how others could overtive to some, Reb Shlomo come similar challenges, if did not allow his students they work hard enough. to fall into the comfort of “If you’re connected that thinking. “Existento a tzibbur,” he said, tialism—that’s Amalek!” “everyone has their own he thundered in a shmuess. particular talent. This one “We believe that there’s a screams his head off in derech—the Torah that we davening and you learn must follow. Amalek says, how to daven from that. ‘What do you need all this This one has a different, In his sukkah minutia for, rabbi?’ Did particular maalah and you they ask Rembrandt, ‘Why do you make such sub- learn that from him. Before you know it, you’ve tle strokes?’ Did they bother Bach and Beethoven incorporated into yourself in a real way many difabout every little nuance that had to be in their ferent aspects.” music? No! They understood that it’s all part of Unsurprisingly, some of Reb Shlomo’s stuthe art. Every movement that you make is part of dents put on Chassidishe garb after they got mara derech!” ried. It’s not that he put a premium on outward He would regale his students with stories about appearances—he lived by the often-ignored adage Jews who made sacrifices for Yiddishkeit and were that one should not judge the book by its cover—it not ashamed to take drastic action to advance the was much deeper than that. It was a natural byJewish nation. Of course, he spoke about gedo- product of his method of kiruv, which oftentimes lim, but he also spoke about everyday people who focused on revealing to a wayward soul that his made a difference. He often repeated a story that took place when Orthodox Jews first started moving to Boro Park. One Shabbos, in the main shul in the middle of kriyas haTorah, an elderly woman walked into the men’s section and walked up to the bimah. In front of a packed shul, she gave a klapp and said, “We’re not laining another pasuk until a mikvah is built in Boro Park.” The Rav got up and said, “She’s right!” They took pledges on the spot and a mikvah was built. Reb Shlomo would exclaim, “That was a speech!”

his students began getting married and building families, a community formed. The community, which he referred to as “the kehilla,” was his crown jewel. Its foundational pillars were Torah and chessed. Like a parent, he had a great concern that the people in the kehilla should be there for one another. He not only spoke about chessed but also about how important it is for people to speak kindly to each other. He once noted, “The koach of speech between people is umbilical. If the right words are said at the right time, life can be created and the shadows that destroy people’s lives can be erased.” To Reb Shlomo each member of the commu-

“The koach of speech between people is umbilical. If the right words are said at the right time, life can be created and the shadows that destroy people’s lives can be erased.”

forbears were deeply pious people. So, Steve from Montana might find out that his grandfather in Europe was a shamash of the Belzer Rebbe; Joe from Kansas might find out that he is a direct descendent of the Baal Shem Tov. Those individuals, having embraced a new religious life and having given up the trappings of the secular world, may have been enticed to connect to their ancestors in the way they dressed as well—a full embrace of their newfound world. That was something that Reb Shlomo saw value in and encouraged.

Once

Reb Shlomo’s students had children who were school age, Reb Shlomo opened Siach Yitzchok and Tapeinu (which later became Bnos Bais Yaakov). He concerned himself with every aspect of the chinuch of his students’ children. In a sense, he viewed them all like his own grandchildren. If a husband and wife had a question about chinuch or an issue with a particular child, he would sit with them for hours, guiding them. His speeches began to revolve around the topic of chinuch. And he spent hours on end with teachers and principals talking about matters of chinuch. Although Reb Shlomo’s community was based in Far Rockaway, its influence reached far and wide. Many of his students, who were by then successful rabbis, professionals and business people, lived far away from the center of their universe—Reb Shlomo’s dining room table. Yet, they returned for a yom tov, a Shabbos, a simcha, or just because they had to schmooze with the Rebbi about a pressing matter. Even though Reb Shlomo’s magnanimous personality was hard to mimic, many of his methods of chinuch gained wide traction. Stories about Reb Shlomo became the topic of chinuch lore. Mechanchim from far and wide started reaching out to him for advice. And schools and yeshivas which were modeled after Reb Shlomo’s ideals in chinuch opened and continue to flourish to this day.

In 1983,

Reb Shlomo was diagnosed with the machla. Whereas this was the last chapter of his life, it was not dominated by sadness and debilitation. In fact, he lived a full seven years with his illness and continued to hold a bright torch for his students. Yes, there were many months where he was incapacitated in one form or another, but his passion didn’t diminish. He would often state, “Vayichi Yaakov doesn’t mean ‘and Yaakov lived.’ It means ‘and Yaakov LIVED!!” stressing that while one is alive they must be full of life and invigorated. He showed by living example how that is done. It was perhaps during this period that he taught his students the most about life. He made a herculean effort to be b’simcha during that period and used humor as a forceful tool. Once, when he awoke from a surgery and a nurse asked him if he needed anything, he famously quipped, “Corned beef on rye please.” After recovering from each of his numerous surgeries, his students would greatly anticipate the first time they would get to visit the Rebbi. Was he in a condition to see them? What should they say to him? Would there be other people there? It was not uncommon that the moment they would walk into his room, he’d play a practical joke or have a puppet monkey dancing on the table. He was teaching them by example that in the face of any struggle a person has to work to overcome the hardship and should use every tool at their disposal. Even in the face of constant hospital visits and

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last lesson he taught his students may have been the most important: It was Yom Kippur of 1991 and Reb Shlomo was notice-

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The

ably apprehensive. After years of treatment and surgeries, he felt as if his time on this earth was coming to an end. Throughout Elul he had uncharacteristically spent many hours talking with his family about matters pertaining to his passing. In shul, after Neila, Reb Shlomo asked to be wheeled towards the bimah. At the same time he asked for Rav Shimon Potachnik, an elderly European Jew who had been a close talmid of Rav Shimon Shkop, to be wheeled there as well. He began singing a song. It was a song his own rebbi, Rav Hutner, composed. Reb Shlomo and Rav Potachnik both rose up, clasped hands and danced with their faces covered by their taleisim. With his rebbi, Rav Hutner For many, that was

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treatment, Reb Shlomo found life lessons. While giving a shmuess about the definition of commitment, he illustrated with a story he had just witnessed in the hospital: He had shared a room with a Lubavitcher Chasid who had a quadruple bypass. Late one night he noticed a commotion as nurses were frantically checking his room and surrounding hallways. He asked what was going on and was told that the Lubavitcher Chasid was nowhere to be found. Several hours later the man returned to the room and Reb Shlomo excitedly asked, “What happened to you? Where were you?” The man responded, “I went to Crown Heights. The Rebbe gave a farbrengin tonight! You think I would miss it?”

The Rebbi at his dining room table on Motzei Yom Kippur

the last time they saw their beloved Rebbi. Seven days later, on Shabbos Chol Hamoed Sukkos, he passed away. Perhaps this teacher of life wanted to encapsulate everything that he had taught his students over the previous fifty years into one moment: hold onto the legacy of our past and even in times of darkness, cling to Yiddishkeit with d’veykus and simcha. These may be lofty goals, but they certainly can be achieved...so long as one is willing to think different. 

MAY YOUR YEAR BE FILLED WITH

rgrossmandesign@gmail.com

Simcha! 718.868.2300 Ext.233 www.simchadaycamp.com

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

WE ARE ST. JOHN’S HERE FOR YOUR HEALTH

OTOLARYNGOLOGY EAR, NOSE & THROAT CARE AT ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL Dr. Sheldon Genack is double board-certified in Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery (commonly known as ENT) and Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. He offers medical and surgical care to adult and pediatric patients with diseases that affect the ears, nose and throat and related structures of the head and neck. His diagnostic and surgical expertise includes medical treatment of hearing loss and tinnitus, dizziness, congenital malformations of the ear, ear infections and inflammation, facial nerve disorders, sinusitis, allergies, mouth and throat cancer, masses of the neck, voice and swallowing problems, trauma to the face and neck, and tumors of the ear, hearing nerve, and skull base. ENT specialties and subspecialties offered at St. John’s: • Otology/Neurotology - the medical and surgical treatment of diseases of the ear, including traumatic and cancerous disorders of the external, middle, and inner ear, as well as the nerve pathways which affect hearing and balance • Pediatric Otolaryngology - the medical and surgical treatment of diseases of the ears, nose, and throat in children • Head and Neck - the medical and surgical treatment of tumors in the head and neck, including thyroid and parathyroid surgery • Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - the treatment of cosmetic, functional, and reconstructive abnormalities of the face and neck • Rhinology - the medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the nose and sinuses • Laryngology - the medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the throat, including the voice • Allergies - the medical treatment of inhalant allergies affecting the upper respiratory system

Education Dr. Genack completed his residency in Otolaryngology at State University of New York, Upstate Medical University. He Interned in General Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center and completed a Fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Illinois, Chicago. A Fellowship in Facial and Reconstructive surgery followed at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Board Certifications American Board of Otolaryngology American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Professional Memberships American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Long Island Society of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery American College of Surgeons, Brooklyn and Long Island Chapter Please call: 347-619-5950 for an appointment. ENT offices are located at 495 Beach 20 th Street.

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL E P I S C O PA L H E A LT H S E R V I C E S I N C . (718) 869- 7000 | WWW. EHS.ORG

E P I S C O PA L H E A LT H S E R V I C E S I N C . 7 1 8 . 8 6 9. 7 0 0 0 | W W W . E H S . O R G

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL

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A HAPPY & JOYOUS HOLIDAY!

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! ‫חג כשר ושמח‬

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An Insider’s Look at the Jewish Music Scene

SukkoS And choL hAMoed Are upon uS, the perfect tIMe to enJoy A LIve concert. But whAt goeS on BehInd the SceneS to get the AudIence on ItS feet And SIngIng? we Spoke to SeverAL ceLeBrIty JewISh MuSIc producerS to LeArn whAt goeS on Before the curtAIn goeS up And how the JewISh MuSIc Scene hAS chAnged.

By Brendy J. SIev

Musical Beginnings

The world of Jewish music production is high on talent, though small in number. Most of us have heard of the major producers: Sheya Mendlowitz, Eli Gerstner, Ding, and Yochi Briskman. Naftali Schnitzler specializes in chassidish music; David Fadida in Israeli productions. Ding was the first to produce an album; Sheya Mendlowitz followed in the 80s. Sheya Mendlowitz sang on his first album, the fourth Pirchei record, when he was 12 years old. After, he played in different bands for his yeshiva’s functions. He then started his own band and produced records. His first, the Amudei Sheish, he co-produced. His first full album featured Avraham Fried. The year was 1981. The rest is history. Mendlowitz also changed the Jewish wedding scene. He put together bands for weddings that included full strings sections and what has become mini symphony orchestras. Eli Gerstner grew up listening to Sheya Mendlowitz’s and Ding’s productions. Music, as he tells us, is in his blood. He was the boy always tapping on the table. Eventually, he took drum lessons, and, by the time he was 13, he led his camp choirs. At camp, Gerstner met Yosi Piamenta’s son, and, when Yosi a”h gave a camp concert, Gerstner backed the Piamentas on the drums. After that, Gerstner started rehearsing and playing at the Piamenta home. Yosi generously let Gerstner learn from him, and eventually drew Gerstner into the concert world. By the time Gerstner was 15, he played at the simchas bais hashoeva in Crown Heights and had learned the keyboard and guitar as well. But at

15, Gerstner also faced the loss of his great-grandfather. Like many musicians, he turned to music for solace. The night of the petira, Gerstner wrote his first song, a song that came, he says, from his tears. Now, more than 2,000 songs later, Gerstner has become the new producer of the biggest Jewish music concert in the world, a Time for Music, also known as the HASC concert. The concert has been drawing crowds for 27 years and was originally produced by Sheya Mendlowitz and then by Ding. Gerstner sees it as the “passing of the torch” of Jewish music in America and professes how he’s “so thankful to them for choosing me.”

Let’s Put on a Show!

When it comes to putting together a show, Gerstner and Mendlowitz tell us, it all depends on the size of the venue. Most of the time, an organization or school puts together an event. For a venue seating more than a few hundred people, the organization hires a producer, who works with them on who to hire and who will perform. Concerts in 2015, Mendlowitz says, are no longer about the artists. People want more, a bigger concept, to draw them in. The producer writes a script for the evening and figures out how to “wow” the crowd. Choosing performers, of course, depends on the budget. The producer finds the headliner, the most popular act. Then, the producer selects the second and third tier acts. It comes down, Gerstner says, to who will bring in the most people to buy tickets. The producer also gets the sound, lighting, and

Sheya with Shmuel Mendlowitz and Joseph Leifer

“I would like to see Jewish music go back to its roots. we have beautiful things we can call our own.” Mendlowitz, too, says, “If a person is good, and his song is good, and he works on his craft, he’ll be successful.” He encourages people to get voice lessons and hone their personality, what he considers “three quarters of the sell.” The singer needs to have a rapport with the audience; personality comes out in singing. Still, even successful singers and songwriters are sometimes baffled by which of their songs succeed. Gad Elbaz wrote hundreds of songs before “Hashem Melech” broke. The song made his career, though he has other songs he considers personal favorites. But suppose the demo catches someone’s attention. That’s when the work begins with the producer. He picks the materials for the artist and the album. He picks the arranger, and he’s there for all the recording sessions. In the old days, Sheya Mendlowitz tells us, the artist and band practiced for months and recorded all the songs—ten to twelve, the standard number in an album—in one day. The choir, if there was one, recorded in one day as well. They used what was called an 8-track recorder, one that recorded eight different tracks of music (i.e., the drums, the piano, etc., were each recorded on a separate track) that was later properly mixed and balanced. This evolved into 24-tracks—Mendlowitz’s preference—and now what they call multi-tracks. Today, ten songs require ten months in order to

Eli Gerstner with Abie Rotenberg

Sheya with Yisroel Lamm and Mordechai Ben David backstage at The Event

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For Eli Gerstner, “everything happened because it had to happen.” He produced his first really successful album, The Chevra, and then Yeshiva Boys Choir with Yossi Newman. Gerstner just “wanted to put out music, to give songs and music to teenagers who wouldn’t necessarily listen to Jewish music.” He produced a concert when he was asked and has since produced concerts in the Barclay Center, the Great Parade in Crown Heights, and now A Time for Music. But with all that, he admits, there’s no set answer

utilize all the best recordings. Different aspects of an album can be recorded in different countries without anyone stepping on a plane. Instead of spending months rehearsing, the rehearsals overlap with the recording sessions. The chorus of a song will be duplicated (or cut and pasted) instead of being re-recorded each time the choir sings it. Because of this, Mendlowitz points out, modern recordings can, at times, sound a bit robotic. Once the songs are recorded, the producer arranges them in order and has them duplicated. The finished album needs to be distributed, a task traditionally taken by one of three companies: Aderet (Mostly Music), Sameach Music, and Nigun Music. In 2015, much of this has started to shift as well. Fewer and fewer CDs are created, as people prefer to download their music. In fact, according to Gerstner, more CDs are sold in supermarkets than Judaica stores. This has opened the music world in some ways; in others, according to Mendlowitz, the world has narrowed as people take music online. Jewish music apps and live streaming provide 24 hours of Jewish music and tell their listeners about concerts. One app, JStream, aggregates all the different Jewish music apps into one. It has been downloaded more than 50,000 times. This open market opens the possibilities for aspiring artists. A singer can record his songs and put them online, offering, initially, free downloads. Or he can sell his songs on iTunes or through his website, suggests Gerstner. But choose the music and style wisely, the producers say. Over time, says Mendlowitz, the Jewish music scene has changed, because we have tried to improve on the professional quality of the music. These are good changes. But then people get so caught up in “going secular,” putting bits of hip-hop, for example, into their songs, that there’s nothing Jewish about their music. They “took out the neshama in there.” Mendlowitz continues, “I would like to see Jewish music go back to its roots. We have beautiful things we can call our own.” Mendlowitz encourages the next generation. “Anybody aspiring to get into this should keep it Jewish. We don’t need to copy anyone else—we have our own identity. Let them copy us. Preserve what we’re given: our music and the way we conduct ourselves.” 

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So, You Want to Break Into the Jewish Music Scene…

about how to break into the Jewish music scene. It’s about mazal. Sheya Mendlowitz agrees. A person needs mazal and siyata dishmaya. There’s no magic, he claims, in becoming the next big thing. In his case, “Hashem gave me a matanah. My taste represented a good majority of the taste of the hamon am.” With that, we still need hishtadlus, and there are steps an aspiring singer or songwriter can take. Write a song, make a demo, and get it recorded, Eli advises. Today, everyone’s reachable; the Jewish music world is not like Hollywood. Go to people’s websites and email them. If a song is really great, hopefully someone will offer to produce it.

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stage designers. Gerstner, for example, uses an excellent frum sound company; he uses non-Jewish companies for lighting along with a frum lighting designer. The producer, of course, coordinates the publicity and advertising. This means traditional newspaper advertising and spots on Jewish radio shows throughout the country. But 2015 also brings a whole new angle: social media. Producers connect with their fan-base through Facebook and Twitter. The headliners of different concerts usually find their music played on Jewish music apps continuously, adding to the pre-concert buzz. Certainly the most important aspect of the concert is the band. A wedding band requires great musicians. These musicians know their music well but are not necessarily great music readers. A concert, however, requires great talent to play and to read the music. Because of this, the orchestra’s name is often just a name or the name of the bandleader. Most of the musicians playing in the band are not those who play at weddings; they are actually high level professionals, who play, for the most part, on Broadway. This means that top musicians such as Kim Sessions, Jim Heinz, and Andy Snitzer regularly play at Jewish music concerts. The biggest Jewish music concert, A Time for Music, was the brainchild of Sheya Mendlowitz. Twentyeight years ago, he spent a Shabbos at Camp HASC and was moved by the experience. But he found out that, due to a loss of funding, the camp was going to close, and he was inspired to start the HASC concert, or A Time for Music. For 28 years, the concert has kept the camp open. As the “crown jewel of Jewish shows,” Mendlowitz tells us, it takes at least a half a year to prepare. Now that Gerstner is producing A Time for Music, Mendlowitz is working on something new. “Im yirtzeh Hashem, I hope Hashem will give me a bracha to put this on,” a show that will hopefully travel the country, he says.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Places to Go, Things to Do

Queens County Farm Museum 73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park, NY 11004 718-347-3276

$26.00 $1.50

Individual Tickets

CholHamoedSuccos PARK HOURS ONLY ON Wednesday, Sept 30th Thursday, Oct 1st from 11AM to 6PM

Family Animal Fun At the Aviator Sports Center 3159 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234 718-577-2086 White Post Farms 250 Old County Road, Melville, NY 11747 631-351-9373 New York Aquarium Surf Avenue & West 8th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11224 718-265-FISH Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center 431 East Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901 631-208-9200 Prospect Park Zoo 450 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 718-399-7339

There will be a Succah available on premises.

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

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Zoos and Farms

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This year, Sukkos falls out in beginning of the fall season. Take advantage of the cool, brisk temperatures and spend time with the family during chol hamoed. TJH has compiled a list of ideas, activities and places to go for you to enjoy this time spent together. Make sure to pack enough food and music for the road and have fun!

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Chol Hamoed

Queens Zoo 53-51 111th Street, Flushing, NY 11368 718-271-1500 Central Park Zoo 64th Street & 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10065 212-861-6030 Green Meadows Farm Floral Park, NY 11002 718-470-0224

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Long Island Game Farm 489 Chapman Boulevard, Manorville, NY 11949 631-878-6644 Cherry Crest Adventure Farm 150 Cherry Hill Road, Ronks, PA 17572 717-687-6843 Claws ‘N’ Paws 1475 Ledgedale Road, Lake Ariel, PA 18436 570-698-6154

Scenic Attractions Central Park Boating, biking, the Great Lawn, model-boat sailing, carriage rides, carousel Between 5th & 8th Avenues and 59th & 106th Streets, New York, NY 212-360-3444 Bryant Park 6th Avenue, between W 40-42 Street, New York, NY 10018 212-768-4242 New York Highline Gansevoort St. to West 30 St. between Washington St. and 11 Ave., New York, NY 212-500-6035 Brooklyn Bridge Park 1 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 718-222-9939 Fort Tyron Park Riverside Drive to Broadway, W 192 Street to Dyckman Street, New York, NY New York Circle Line Pier 83 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036 212-563-3200

in Lancaster County and Hershey, PA

We rented out the entire park! Act now – NO event in 2016! We’ll be back in 2017

LO D G I N G

Rates starting as low as $94/night

DINING

Children’s Tickets – Refundable Rain Tickets See website for details/restrictions

AC TIVITIES

Spend Wednesday at Chocolate World

ADM I S S I O N

Includes free parking, rides, Zoo America and Chocolate World

TICKET DEADLINE: September 25 – Advance – $41, Group – $37, Rain Refundable –Add $5 After deadline, purchase tickets at gate

Sukkahs inside park!

Outside food not permitted

www.lancastersukkot.com

Spend the Night!

866-946-9977 www.lancastersukkot.com

Photos courtesy of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts. Hershey, Hersheypark, Chocolate World and Skyrush are trademarks used with permission.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

(sneak peek Sept. 30, 5 pm)

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October 1, 2015 I 11 am – 7 pm

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CHOL HAMOED SUKKOT

Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Ferries from Battery Park, NY 1 Battery Place, New York, NY 10004 212-363-3200 Old Westbury Gardens 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568 516-333-0048

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Old Bethpage 1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, NY 11804 516- 572-8400 Brooklyn Botanic Gardens 900 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 718-623-7200 Brooklyn Heights Promenade Downtown Brooklyn—Remsen Street to Orange Street along the East River The New York Botanical Garden 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10458 718-817-8700 The Amish Village 199 Hartman Bridge Road, Ronks, PA 17572 717-687-8511 Mystic Seaport 75 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355 888-973-2767

Amusement Parks Hersheypark 100 West Hersheypark Drive, Hershey, PA 17033 1-866-946-9977, lancastersukkot.com Six Flags Great Adventure 1 Six Flags Boulevard, Jackson, NJ 08527 732-928-2000 Adventureland 2245 Broad Hollow Road (RT 110), Farmingdale, NY 11735 631-694-6868 Luna Park Coney Island 1000 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224 718-372-0275 Adventurers (formerly Nelie Bly Park) 1824 Shore Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11214 718-975-2748 Sahara Sam’s Oasis and Water Park & Diggerland 535 N Route 73, West Berlin, NJ 08091 856-809-4168 Dorney Park 4000 Dorney Park Road, Allentown, PA 18104

5 TOWNS - Friday October 2nd 3RD DAY CHOL HAMOED Two Shows 11:00AM & 1:00PM Ticket Prices $18 - $22 - $30 Tag- 444 Beach 6th St. Tickets At Judaica Plus For More Info Call 718 854 6902 QUEENS - Sunday October 4th HOSHANA RABAH SHOW One Show! 12:30 PM Cong. Sharei Tova - 8233 Lefferts Blvd. Tickets Prices $18 -$22 - $30 For More Info Call 718 -285- 9132 Tickets At Seasons & Rosenblums

TWINS FROM FRANCE FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FOR TICKETS ONLINE GO TO

WWW.JEWISHTICKETS.COM AND WWW.UNCLEMOISHY.COM

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

COUSIN NACHUM

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AND

THE JEWISH HOME

CHAZAQ PRESENTS

THE JEWISH HOME

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Indoor Fun Parks

Trapeze School NY 3 locations in NYC: Lower Manhattan at Pier 16 in South Street Seaport; Pier 40 in Hudson River Park; Circus Warehouse in Long Island City 212-242-8769

Legoland Discovery Center Westchester 39 Fitzgerald Street, Yonkers, NY 10701 866-243-0779 Fun Fuzion at New Roc City 19 Le County Place, New Rochelle, NY 10801 914-637-7575

Skyzone Trampoline Park 111 Rodeo Drive Deer Park, NY 11717 631-392-2600

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

Chol Hamoed Special

Funzone 229 Route 110, Farmingdale, NY 11735 631-847-0100 New York Skyride Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10118 212-279-9777 Discovery Times Square 226 W 44th St., New York, NY 10036 866-987-9692

Ultimate Family Fun Center

Play! Expore! Party! Fun! Fun for the Whole Family

2710 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown • 516-342-1330• lilaserbounce.com 11am-9pm Every day CITY

BALLO

LAZER

FRENZ

ALL NEW BOWLING

Chelsea Piers Hudson River—Piers 59-62 New York, NY 212-336-6800 Woodmere Lanes 948 Broadway, Woodmere, NY 11598 516-374-9870 Strike 10 Lanes 6161 Strickland Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234 718-763-6800

LASER T

Great for all ages

ONLY 20 minutes from Five Towns and Queens!

BounceU 3495B Lawson Blvd Oceanside, NY 11572 516-593-5867 Chuck E. Cheese 162 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, NY 11550 516-483-3166 Kids N Shape 162-26 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, NY 11414 718-848-2052 Klub4Kidz 159 North 4th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 718-599-5900 Brooklyn Boulders 575 Degraw Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217 347-834-9066

r e c n u o B

Large Sukkot on Premise

a Simch ing Play c i s u M ility c a f e ir in ent

• Arcade • Prizes • Ballocity • Video Games Kosher Food Available– Under Strict Supervision • Laser Tag • Stuff a Bear from Vaad Harbonim of Queens • Combo Parties Available

$24.95 per person Stuff-a-Bear Pay One Price ONLY $14.95 Includes admission to 1 session Session A 11am-2pm Session B 2pm-5pm Session C 5pm-8pm UIncludes play in Bounce, Ballocity and Laser tag during session times VALID 9/30, 10/1, AND 10/2.

(normally $24.95)

coupon must be presented at time of purchase. Tax not included. Valid 10/1-10/5/15

Extend your Fun 4 Games of Bowling and/or Laser MAZE -

Only $9.95 Tax not included - 10/1-10/5/15

Special Group Rates Available Call Ryan @ 516-342-1330 Advanced reservations required.

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Museums Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum Pier 86, 12th Avenue and 46th Street 212-245-0072 9/11 Memorial and Museum 200 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10006 212-266-5211 Sony Wonder Technology 550 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 212-833-8100 New York Hall of Science 47-01 111th Street, Queens, NY 11368 718-699-0005 Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128 212-423-3200 Living Torah Museum 1601 41 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11218 718-851-3215 Long Island Children’s Museum 11 Davis Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 516-224-5800

Brooklyn Children’s Museum 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213 718-735-4400 Jewish Children’s Museum 792 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213 718-467-0600 Children’s Museum of Manhattan 212 W 83rd St, New York, NY 10024 212-721-1234 American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024 212-769-5100 Liberty Science Center Liberty State Park, 222 Jersey City Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07305 201-200-1000 Crayola Factory 30 Centre Square, Easton, PA 18042 1-866-875-5263 The Franklin Institute 222 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-448-1200 TJH assumes no responsibility for the kashrus, atmosphere, safety or accuracy of any event or attraction listed here. Please call before you go. Have fun!

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

102

‫בס״ד‬

Traveling in Israel?

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TERRIFIC FALL/SUCCOS TOURS

Kotel Tunnels; Ir David; Old City; Masada, Ein Gedi, Dead Sea; Golan Heights: CHOCOLATE factory; Galil/Tsfat/Kivrei Tzadikim; Negev: Ancient Susia-children’s activities; Jeep Excursion; Chevron, Kever Rochel; Rosh Hanikra; Bar Kochva; & more

Abdullah’s words, “Netanyahu’s…explosion.” Abdullah stated in the meeting that “Al Aqsa is a place of worship for Muslims.” Like the Mufti’s allegations in the times of the Holocaust, the Temple Mount is being used as a convenient excuse for a new round of aggression. The timing of the new tensions seems too perfect for Mr. Abbas. For weeks already, the PA leader has been smugly telling the world about a “bombshell” he is going to drop at the UN General Assembly at the end of September. Much like a glib peddler, Mr. Abbas hopes to create any semblance of suspense ahead of his UN address in order to push an empty agenda. Bombshell or not, many believe that what the PA chairman will attempt at the UN is to declare the abolishment of the relevance of the

Oslo Accords and his territory an officially enemy-occupied state. It is the Oslo Accords that hold the PLO responsible for the recognition of Israel and Israel to recognize the authority of the PA. But the accords also laid the groundwork for the establishment of a Palestinian government and the ultimate establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. It has been over twenty years since the accords were signed and the idea of a working Palestinian state is as much of a delusion today as it was back then, in no small part because of Abbas’s own government’s lack of desire to work on behalf of its constituents. Abbas, however, would like to use the Palestinian failure to work

with Israel as a reason to declare the entire Oslo Accords null and the PA no longer accountable for any of the small concessions made back then. He intends to announce this to the UN in a few weeks and, as farcical as it may be, it most probably will receive strong support from the floor there. It should come as no coincidence then that the PA in Jerusalem is laying the groundwork at home for the attack Abbas is planning at the UN in New York.

he tensions come at a difficult time for the Palestinians. Gaza, which is largely under Hamas control, has been the scene of social unrest, as many people there have taken to protesting declining living conditions. Hamas must contend

with actual opposition from neighboring Egypt, which began flooding Hamas-built tunnels in the area this week, along with a new movement of Palestinians who no longer support the terrorist organization and instead pledge allegiance ISIS. Much like Abbas in Jerusalem, Hamas may find its cause served well by cooking up more violence with Israel, a surefire way to muster up support on the Gazan streets, if only for a short while. The terrorist group fired rockets at Ashkelon last Shabbos and participated in gunfire exchanges with the IDF. The rockets were stopped by the Ashkelon’s Iron Dome system and IDF war planes took out three Hamas targets in Gaza in response to the at-

tack. Hamas also declared a “Day of Rage” last week in response to the events at Al Aqsa. Hamas, which is a Sunni organization, is heavily backed by Shiite Iran. Recently, however, Gaza and the PA territories have found themselves the target of outreach from the most powerful Arab country, Saudi Arabia. The Sunni Kingdom is now looking to enlarge its influence in the Middle East, which has been weakened by civil wars and toppled regimes. The Saudis also stand to gain from a greater position of directorship in the region vis-a-vis Iran, its known enemy who is now closer than ever to a nuclear arsenal. Considering that Israel and Saudi Arabia have certain common goals in the area, all this may lead to interesting public policy from all parties in the near future. Meanwhile, the Israelis do not have many choices other than waiting and seeing what the PA, Abbas and Hamas have planned in the country and abroad, diplomatically. Prime Minister Netanyahu has called for minimum punishments of four to five years imprisonment for rioters throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks along with fines for their parents. Such punishments are opposed by Yehuda Weinstein, the state’s attorney general, although he has approved the use of a Ruger rifle to neutralize protesters. As can be expected, much of the global response to the week’s events have been one-sided. The Saudi monarch Salman Abdul Aziz phoned President Obama to urge him to put a stop to Israeli police action at the Temple Mount. The Pope vowed to Mahmoud Abbas that he will bring up the “plight” of the Palestinians when he meets with the president in the White House on Yom Kippur. The U.S., along with many other countries, called for a return of “status quo,” or the reenactment of a ban on Jewish worshipers on the Temple Mount. And the UN called for Israel to allow Palestinians to worship in peace. But isn’t that what Israel has wanted all along—to worship and live in peace? 

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srael may be a relatively young state, but the behavior of the Palestinians is nothing short of adolescent: one doesn’t know when they will have an outburst, and when they do, no one knows exactly why. The most recent outbreak of rock throwing at the Har Habayis, which began just before Rosh Hashana, was most certainly foreseeable; we just didn’t know exactly when to expect it. And the instigation for a new bout of violence in that area and how long it will last is unclear. The simple reasons given for the recent aggression and the findings of stockpiles of pipe bombs and other explosives at the Al Aqsa Mosque seem to be recycled versions of those given in the past: Palestinian “concern” over potential visits from right-wing Israelis on Rosh Hashana or the visiting of a high-ranking Israeli official. But there appears to be a much more significant correlation between the Temple Mount or Al Aqsa and the Arab violence that takes place there. Eighty years ago, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, began spreading lies about Jewish machinations there, the previous intifada began with a staged spontaneous uproar there, and during the First Intifada over twenty five Israelis were injured during the Black Monday riots at the Kotel. This time around, the Palestinians have an equally aggressive mouthpiece in Mahmoud Abbas. Throughout his tenure as PA president, Abbas has utilized the supposed cause of a religiously pure Al Aqsa as a means to divert tensions within his government towards Israel. Abbas recently announced publicly that, “the dirty feet of the Jews must not be allowed to desecrate Al Aqsa.” As comical as it may sound, that a group claiming to be the victims of bigotry turns violent at the whiff of members of a different faith near their place of worship, even Israeli Arabs have publicly joined the “unpolluted Al Aqsa” chorus by sending a delegation of Arab MKs to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan and discuss, in

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Around The Community Speaking with Rabbi Nechemye Hoffman, Founder and Director of Kollel Chatzos By Shoshana Bernstein

Rabbi Nechemye Hoffman is the founder and director of Kollel Chatzos. A young, married father of three, he started the first kollel in 2011 with just 14 members and a dream. Four years later there are four locations and the power and zechus of supporting limud haTorah, especially at chatzos, is reverberating across the globe. What is Kollel Chatzos? Every night at a little past midnight, close to 100 young talmidei chachomim in Brooklyn, Monsey, Monroe and Meron leave home to learn in Kollel throughout the night. People are shocked when they see the yungerleit running into shul at that time, with tallis and tefillin in hand. It’s inspiring to see such excitement for learning when everyone else is going to sleep! Recently, a wealthy man happened to be standing outside the shul when one of the cars pulled up. He wondered out loud what they were doing and was so moved, he gave $50 to each kollel member right then and there. What differentiates Kollel Chatzos from other organizations of the same name? We are the only kollel in Eretz Yisroel with regular, young kollel members learning the standard range of Torah. Walk into any of our locations at 3am and you’ll think you stepped in to a normal, vibrant day kollel. In America we are the only Kollel Chatzos and the only kollel learning throughout the night. Describe a night in Kollel Chatzos. The members are picked up (since it is the middle of the night, we provide transportation) and kollel begins promptly at 12:45 with Maariv. Then they settle in to learn. Some chazer what they learned during the day, some learn b’chavrusa. Others participate in Dirshu; Maggidei Shiur prepare and there is a dayan who reviews shailos and learns Shulchan Aruch. Many say tikun chatzos. Each member has a list of names specific to their kollel to keep in mind while they learn. At some point he takes out the paper and recites the names, often with tears. We keep the lists relatively small and these exemplary talmidei chachomim develop a strong spiritual connection to the

names they daven for; if a name is taken off the list, they notice. They learn until daybreak and daven Shacharis at netz. There is something very special about a davening that comes after an entire night of being immersed in Torah! Then the members head home to eat breakfast and help with the family and sleep for a couple of hours. By ten o’clock in the morning they are back in their regular day kollel.

B’Omer and bought myself a small set of Zohar and found it very inspiring. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai states over and over that chatzos halaila is such

So they learn day and night?! Yes. They get home from day kollel, eat supper and help with the kids, go to sleep at about 8:30pm for four hours and then wake up and head to Kollel Chatzos for the night. It is an intense way of life, but the kollel members who commit to it can’t imagine anything else. In fact, there’s a huge waiting list in each city. What type of person signs up for Kollel Chatzos? Yungerleit ages 25-30; deeply committed to learning Torah; they must be learning during the day as well. When someone applies, we meet with him and ask: “What is your plan for learning and what is your plan for your home life? When will you sleep?” They must be able to sleep for four hours before they come. When someone is accepted, he is committed for one zman. For most kollel members, there is definitely an adjustment period, but then it becomes a way of life. What about the wives? The application actually requires the wife’s signature stating that she agrees and supports this decision, just like for Hatzolah members. Some wives even add that it is a zechus and an honor. During the year we plan support groups for the women and inspirational speakers; before Pesach we give out bonus coupons; and before Shavuos we give a bag filled with milchig items and a beautiful letter thanking the wives. How did the Kollel get started? When I was a bochur learning in the Mir I was zoche to get to know a tremendous talmid chochom and mechaber seforim who shared with me that it is a life-changing experience to learn the Zohar. I went to Meron for Lag

a special time to learn, so I decided to try. I davened Maariv in the first minyan in yeshiva, went to sleep and woke up at 12am. I had the key to a Bais Medrash in Meah Shearim; I let myself in and learned, alone, the whole night. Then I got married and settled in Monroe with a regular day kollel schedule, but I really missed the chatzos halaila learning and always talked about it. About a year and a half after I got married, my wife urged me to use our chasunah savings to open a kollel. I went to various gedolim for haskama and put a small ad in the classifieds. I started two weeks later with 14 people. How did one small kollel grow into four locations and a world renowned source for the zechusim of limud haTorah? The kollel started after Pesach and by the summer, I was running out of money. I happened to mention the kollel to a new father and he reached into his wallet and gave me $30. He told me, “I can’t stay up the whole night before the bris to learn. Please have the kollel learn in zechus of my baby.” The Rashash brings an incredible chiddush: if someone cannot stay up

to learn the night of his baby’s vacht nacht, he can ask someone else to learn on his behalf and it is as if he himself learned for his baby the entire night. I realized that this was a potential way to help support the kollel while providing new fathers an avenue to have a shmira and a zechus for their baby. We started advertising and more people signed up for the zechus of having the kollel learn throughout the night. It grew from there. What do you think appeals to people most? When people hear the power and zechus of supporting the kollel, and the yeshuos it brings, they realize that there is definitely a koach to supporting Torah being learned b’chatzos halailah. There have always been those who feel a deep connection to segulos and yeshuos. Now people across the board are recognizing the tremendous zechus in helping ensure there is never a moment without Torah being learned, especially during the night. When you consider the time difference between the Kollel Chatzos locations in America and Eretz Yisroel, it means that in essence Torah is being learned non-stop from 6 pm to 6 am. Add this Torah learning to the rest of Torah being learned during the day throughout the world and Torah is being learned 24 hours a day. You give people the opportunity to become a partner with Kollel Chatzos. Where does the money go? Exclusively to the kollel members and administrative costs to help administer and raise funds for the kollelim. Without the money raised, we would not be able to pay the kollel members and the families would not have the ability to live this elevated and exceptional life of Torah. The more money raised, the more I can give each kollel member and the more locations I can open. What is your vision for the future? A kollel chatzos in every city with enough money to include as many kollel members as possible. And ultimately, that each kollel chatzos should be a full day kollel as well.

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Erev Shabbos ‐ Parshas Ki Savo – Sept 4 �Sunrise 6:39 �Sunset 7:22 �R.Tam 8:34 � Candles: Boston zman 6:52, Reg zman 7:04 Mincha/Kabolas Shabbos 6:52 ** Shachris 9:00 Mincha/Shalosh Seudas 6:52, Maariv 8:22

Sunday ‐ Erev Rosh Hashana – Sept 13 �Sunrise 6:33 �Sunset: 7:07 �R.Tam 8:19 Shachris/Hatoras Nedarim 8:00, Mincha 6:37, Maariv � Candles with Shehechiyanu �Eating foods L’Siman Tov� st Monday – 1 day Rosh Hashana ‐ Sept 14 Shachris/Adon Olom 8:00, Hamelech 8:45 20 min Kiddush break before Shofar Mincha 6:05, Maariv � Candles with Shehechiyanu �Do not light or prepare for 2nd day before 8:18 �Eating of Shehechiyanu fruits� Tuesday – 2st day Rosh Hashana ‐ Sept 15 Shachris/Adon Olom 8:00, Hamelech 8:45 20 min Kiddush break before Shofar Mincha 6:05, Maariv � Candles with Shehechiyanu �Do not light or prepare for 2nd day before 8:16

Tuesday ‐ Erev Yom Kippur – Sept 22 �Sunrise 6:42 �Sunset 6:52 �R.Tam 8:04 Slichos & Shachris 8:00, Mincha 2:30, � Candles: Boston zman 6:03, Reg zman 6:15 Light with Shehechiyanu. �Tefilas Zaka 6:40, Divrei Hisoreros/Kol Nidrei�

Wednesday ‐ Yom Kippur Sept 23 �Sunrise 6:43 �Sunset 6:50 �R.Tam 8:02 Shachris 9:00,**Yiskor,** Mincha, Shofar 7:52 �Fast over 8:02�

Erev Shabbos ‐ Parshas Hazinu – Sept 25 �Sunrise 6:45 �Sunset 6:47 �R.Tam 7:59 � Candles: Boston zman 6:17, Reg zman 6:29 Mincha/Kabolas Shabbos 6:37 **Shachris 9:00, Mincha/Shalosh Seudas 6:17 Maariv 7:47 Sunday ‐ Erev Succos – Sept 27 �Sunrise 6:47 �Sunset 6:44 �R.Tam 7:56 Mincha 6:40, IMMEDIATE MAARIV � Light with Shehechiyanu. Monday – 1st Day Succos – Sept 28 Shachris 9:00 Mincha 6:30 Maariv 7:30 �Do not prepare for night seuda before 7:55 SIMCHAS BAIS HASHOEVA 10 PM ‐ ALL ARE INVITED

#soooooogood

Erev Shabbos Chol Hamoed – October 2 �Sunrise 6:52 �Sunset 6:35 �R.Tam 7:47 � Candles: Boston zman 6:05, Reg zman 6:17 Mincha/Kabolas Shabbos 6:25 ** Shachris 9:00 Mincha/Shalosh Seudas 6:05 Shalosh Seudas in the Sukkah **Maariv 7:35 Motzoai Shabbos ‐ Leil Hoshana Rabba –Oct 3 Mishna Torah/Tikun/Tehillim 9:00 Late Maariv 11:00pm, 11:30 & 12:00

Sunday ‐ Hoshana Rabba – Oct 4 Shachris 8:30, Mincha 6:20, Maariv Shmini Atzeres

Monday ‐ Shmini Atzeres – Oct 5 �Sunrise 6:55 �Sunset 6:30 �R.Tam 7:42 Shachris 9:00,*Yiskor, Tefillas Geshem* Mincha 6:00

Monday Evening ‐ Simchas Torah Night Maariv 8:15 Ato Horaisa & Hakofos immediately after Maariv **Hakofos finished by 10:15 �Wine for havdalah, Seuda & Refreshments for all! Tuesday ‐ Simchas Torah – Oct 6 �Sunrise 6:56 �Sunset 6:29 �R.Tam 7:41 Shachris 9:00 �Hakofos and Refreshments

Erev Shabbos – Parshas Bereishis – Oct 9 Mincha/Kabolas Shabbos 6:06, Shachris 9:00

FIRST MOZTEI SHABBOS LEARNING PROGRAM PARSHAS LECH LECHA OCT 24 ‐ 7:45pm PARSHAS VAYERA 7:45 �Move clock back!! CHAYE SARA 6:45 �Weekly Early Bird Prizes!

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MAARIV/SLICHOS SCHEDULE UNTIL YOM KIPPUR Regular Maariv 11:00, 11:30; 12:00 �Special Maariv 11:45 followed by Slichos ‐ 12am; Maariv 12:35 – Late Late Slichos 12:50am LATE LATE SLICHOS AFTER CHATZOS �Morning Slichos 7:00 – Shachris 7:30 Erev Shabbos ‐ Parshas Nitzavim – Sept 11 �Sunrise 6:31 �Sunset 7:10 �R.Tam 8:22 � Candles: Boston zman 6:40, Reg zman 6:52 Mincha/Kabolas Shabbos 7:00 ** Shachris 9:00 Mincha/Shalosh Seudas 6:40, Maariv 8:10 �EREV ROSH HASHANA SLICHOS 1 MINYAN ONLY ‐ MOTZOAI SHABBOS 12:50AM

Tuesday ‐ 2nd day Succos – Sept 29 �Sunrise 6:49 �Sunset 6:40 �R.Tam 7:52 Shachris 9:00, Mincha 6:30 Maariv 7:40 Chol Hamoed Wednesday ‐Friday Shachris 9:00 Late Maariv: 11:00pm, 11:30, 12:00

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�Motzei Shabbos 1st Slichos Slichos: 1:00�

�TZOM GEDALYAH SLICHOS Tue nite 12:50 am� Wednesday ‐Tzom Gedalyah ‐ Sept 16 Slichos 7:00 am Shachris 7:40 Erev Shabbos Shuva – Parshas Vayeilech – Sept 18 �Sunrise 6:38 �Sunset 6:59 �R.Tam 8:11 � Candles: Boston zman 6:29, Reg zman 6:41 �New Zman Mincha Kabbolas Shabbos – 10 min before Sunset ‐6:49 Shachris 9:00 �RAV’S DRASHA BEFORE MUSSAF� Mincha/Shalosh Seudas 6:29, Maariv 7:59

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The Splendor of a Sukkos in Bobov B Y YA A k O v WA S I l E W I c z

Sukkos, the majesty of the yom tov takes On place outside, when we sit under the stars and can connect with the Shechina on a deeper level. Every community has their own way of celebrating Sukkos: some enjoy the chag with singing and dancing, others make their way to their Rebbe’s home, and still others spend their time before the holiday decorating and preparing their sukkahs. For many years I had a pleasure to spend this special holiday of Sukkos in Boro Park. The yom tov almost wraps itself around you, as most homes in the area have sukkahs in the driveway or on their balconies. Some of the most beautiful sukkahs can be found in Boro Park; one of them is the Bobov Sukkah, located on 48th street and 15th Avenue. majesty of Sukkos is found in the Bobov The Sukkah. Thousands of chassidim join together with their Rebbe to highlight the magnificence of the Sukkos yom tov. The walls are adorned

with pillars and paintings depicting the ushpizin, and the soaring ceilings hold brilliant chandeliers and lights. Years ago, the Bobov Sukkah had different, intricate miniatures of the ushpizin that the pervious Bobover Rebbe loved. But nowadays, the miniatures are not taken into the sukkah. The current Rebbe realized that people would come to see the miniatures and would talk and disturb the tish. Now the decorations are exclusively on the walls. Years ago, in Poland, the decorations for the sukkah were all made by hand. Chassidim would take an egg, pierce a hold in it, and shape it into an eagle. Now, the decorations are not handmade, and the chassidim feel that it is important to spend on the decorations to add grandeur to the mitzvah of sukkah. Over $10,000 is raised every year to decorate the community’s sukkah. The chandelier is one of the main focuses in the Bobov sukkah. The huge fixture dazzles and towers over the participants, illuminating the room. The minhag in Bobov is to have 91 lights in the sukkah because the gematria of the word sukkah is samech, which is 60; vav, which is 6; kaf, which is 20; and hey, which is 5. The sum

of all those letters is equal to 91, which also corresponds to the numerical value of two names of Hashem. There are 91 lightbulbs affixed to the massive chandelier. building of the sukkah commences right The after Rosh Hashana and is completed on erev Sukkos. The Bobover bochurim build and decorate the sukkah. The walls, though, are kept up the whole year, so essentially it’s the schach and decorations that need to be taken care of before yom tov. Once the schach is in place, the Rebbe comes into the sukkah to ensure that the schach is so thick that you don’t see any outside lights. This minhag in Bobov is interesting since according to halacha, there should be enough schach to block out the sun yet allow you to see the stars at night. But the custom in Bobov is different from the rest of the world and stems from the days when bamboo was not available. In those days, the Rebbe would use leaves for schach. He would be concerned that when it rains the leaves would become wet and

But food is not the focus of the tish. Soon, the Rebbe, together with the throngs of chassidim, join together in song. The sounds reverberate off the strong walls of the sukkah and enter one’s soul. And

then the Rebbe tells his chassidim divrei Torah on the yom tov, regaling them in Yiddish with thoughts on Sukkos. On chol Hamoed, the tish in the Bobov sukkah is transformed into a Simchas Bais Hashoeiva. On

Yaakov welcomes your questions and comments and can be reached at jakubwasilewicz@tlen.pl.

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join him every night after they finish their meals in their own sukkahs. It is a majestic sight to watch thousands of chassidim join their Rebbe in their yom tov garb, hanging onto his every word and basking in the kedusha of the yom tov until the late hours of the night. As the Rebbe enters the sukkah, he recites the ushpizin out loud, greeting the seven special guests. He eats a bit of challah and other yom tov foods and the chassidim all press to get a small bite of his sheraim.

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Sukkos, the BobDuring over Rebbe makes a tish in the sukkah. His chassidim

those nights, there are violinists who join in the festivities, adding to “zman Simchaseinu,” the time of joy. violinists have been joining in the Simchas Bais Hashoeiva in Bobov since the years before the war. In Poland, though, there were only two or three violins. Nowadays, over 15 men play the instrument. Some say that violins were used because of the posuk in Tehillim, “Haleluhu b’neivel v’kinor,” Praise Him with lyre and violin. On Shemini Atzeres, when chassidim generally don’t eat in the sukkah, the chassidim still go the Bobov sukkah to say goodbye to the mitzvah that they will see again only next year. The Rebbe throws apples to them and they catch them, adding to the simcha of the chag. Sukkos truly is zman Simchaseinu, a time when we joyfully connect with our creator and bask in His glory. Seeing Sukkos in Bobov only adds to the majesty of the yom tov, when one can see the devotion of the Bobover chassidim, the magnificence of their sukkah, and the love that their Rebbe has for his chassidim, for the yom tov, and for Hashem’s mitzvos. 

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then dry out and shrink, resulting in too much sun in the sukkah. Therefore, the Rebbe makes sure that the schach is laid out thickly to ensure that there won’t be too much space in the schach during Sukkos. Reb Shlomo Halberstam, zt”l, was very stringent about checking the schach on the community’s sukkah. Since the ceiling is so high, he would walk around the sukkah with a long stick and show the bochurim where more schach was needed. He also took a lot of pride into the sukkah building and would watch the bochurim work, complimenting them on their avodas hakodesh.

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Notable Quotes

Compiled by Nate Davis

“Say What?”

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I read that Jeb Bush has seen a drop in campaign donations lately and has been forced to take commercial flights to campaign events. It got weird when the airline said they lost Jeb’s baggage and he was like, “You lost my brother?!” - Jimmy Fallon

How many [expletive] Jews do these people think there are in the United States? - Tweet by Ann Coulter when several GOP candidates mentioned Israel during the second Republican debate

The government has unveiled a new website that predicts your financial worth after graduating college. It doesn’t give you a number, just tells you which Starbucks you’ll be working at and for how long. - Conan O’Brien

According to a new poll, almost half of Florida voters think their own candidates, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, should drop out of the race. While the other half of Florida keeps asking what happened to Eisenhower. – Jimmy Fallon

President Obama awarded a National Medal of Arts to author Stephen King. You know, because if there’s anyone who can relate to the story of a guy trapped in a mansion that’s driving him insane, it’s Obama. - Jimmy Fallon

Last night’s debate at the Reagan Library was the most watched program in CNN history. CNN said they were thrilled with the ratings but even happier they could finally show a plane that wasn’t missing. – Conan O’Brien

On Friday, Rick Perry announced that he is dropping out of the presidential race. It’s too bad. This country really needs more candidates like Rick Perry — you know, candidates who will drop out of the presidential race. – Jimmy Fallon

Scott Walker, the presidential candidate who is famous for riding a Harley, is dropping out of the race. Walker made the decision when he realized that all of his supporters could fit on his Harley. - Conan O’Brien

More quotes

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Even many of Obama’s supporters believed that the prize was a mistake. In that sense the committee didn’t achieve what it had hoped for. - Geir Lundestad, who was secretary of the Nobel Committee that awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama in 2009

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Trump gave a speech from the deck of a battleship where he warned us about crime and drugs coming from down below. “The drug cartels are going wild. They cannot believe how stupid our government is. They are making a fortune. The drugs come in, the money goes out, daily.” He’s right, we have to start making drugs in America again, American drugs. – Jimmy Kimmel

According to a new study, there have been more deaths this year from selfie-related incidents than there have been from shark attacks. Good. – Seth Myers

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Vice President Biden spoke to voters in Pittsburgh yesterday and continued to hint at a possible 2016 run. So no announcement yet—he was just there to rub elbows with voters. Rub elbows, rub shoulders, rub noses. Basically, if you got it, Joe Biden will rub it. Biden-rub, 2016. – Seth Myers

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In San Diego, a 100-year-old man set five world records at a track meet. He set a record in the 50-meter dash, the 800-meter run and the 100-meter wander off. – Conan O’Brien

Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don’t think so! This is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by not saying something. If someone made a nasty or controversial statement about me to the president, do you really think he would come to my rescue? No chance! - Donald Trump responding to critics after he failed to repudiate a questioner at a town hall meeting who said that Obama is Muslim

Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? - Tweet by President Obama, after 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was arrested at his Texas school for a bomb hoax when he brought a suspicious looking briefcase with a clock and wires to school Consider the kids disciplined and/or kicked out of school for bringing squirt guns to school or taking bites out of a Pop-Tart until it resembled (to some politically correct yahoo) a gun. Or the student out deer hunting with his dad early one morning who forgot he had a box of ammo in his truck when he parked in the school’s lot later that day. Whereas Ahmed Mohamed, an evidently obstinate-answering student, bringing in a homemade “clock” that obviously could be seen by conscientious teachers as a dangerous wired-up bomb-looking contraption (teachers who are told “if you see something, say something!”) gets invited to the White House. – Sara Palin If that’s a clock, I’m the Queen of England. - Ibid People at the school thought it might be a bomb because it looks exactly like a … bomb. So the teacher’s just supposed to see something that looks like a bomb and be, “Oh, wait, this might just be my white privilege talking? I sure don’t want to be politically incorrect, so I’ll just let it go.” - Bill Maher, talking about Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest

The last polls before Scott Walker dropped out of the presidential race found the Wisconsin governor was polling at one half of 1 percent. Bobby Jindal said, “What’s your secret?” – Seth Myers

A company in Japan has released a robot that’s able to simulate some emotion. Either that or Hillary Clinton just made a surprise visit to Japan. - Conan O’Brien

I cannot imagine anyone being more of an outsider than the first woman president. I mean really, let’s think about that… all these mothers and fathers bring me the placemats with all the presidents. And they bring their daughters, and they say, my daughter has a question for you. The daughter says, “How come there are no girls on this placemat?” So I think that’s a pretty big unconventional choice. – Hillary Clinton on Meet the Press arguing that she is a political outsider

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that. - GOP candidate Ben Carson when asked on Meet the Press whether he would be okay with a Muslim president

Does the boycott include products made by Israel’s Arab minority which is 20% of the population? … the 14 Arab Israeli parliamentarians who sit beside me in Israel’s parliament? … Israeli factories which employ tens of thousands of Palestinians for whom this is the only opportunity to provide for their children? … Israeli hospitals at which tens of thousands of Palestinians are treated every year? Does the boycott include Microsoft Office, cellphone cameras, Google – all of which contain elements invented or produced in Israel? If the answer to all these questions is “yes” then I’ll move aside and wish you all an enjoyable life until the sadly unavoidable heart attack (sorry but pacemakers are also an Israeli invention). - Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid in an op-ed in Iceland’s newspapers after the City Council in Iceland’s capital voted to boycott Israeli products

Yeah, Keurig is now offering cups that let you make Campbell’s Soup in their coffee machines. You know, for the weirdos who are like, “Don’t even talk to me till I’ve had my first bowl of soup in the morning! Ahhhh! Now where were we?” - Ibid

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Dr. Ben Carson defended his comments about Muslims being unfit for the presidency and posted on Facebook that he believes Sharia law is the central tenet of Islam. While most people on Facebook believe “Sharia Law” is a show about a black lady judge. – Seth Myers

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Keurig announced that they are now offering prepackaged cups that let you make instant Campbell’s Soup in their coffee machines. It’s great for the person who wants to enjoy a cup of soup, then enjoy a cup of coffee that tastes a little bit like soup. - Jimmy Fallon

Donald Trump is leading among Christian evangelical voters. They love him. Apparently, they like him because a Trump presidency would mean the world really is coming to an end. – Conan O’Brien

Political Crossfire

Charles Krauthammer

Putin’s Gambit, Obama’s Puzzlement

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nce again, President Obama and his foreign policy team are stumped. Why is Vladimir Putin pouring troops and weaponry into Syria? After all, as Secretary of State John Kerry has thrice told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, it is only making things worse. But worse for whom? For the additional thousands of civilians who will die or flee as a result of the inevitably intensified fighting. True, and I’m sure Lavrov is as moved by their plight as by the 8,000 killed in Russia’s splendid little Ukrainian adventure. Kerry and Obama are serially surprised because they cannot fathom the hard men in the Kremlin. Yet Putin’s objectives in Syria are blindingly obvious: 1. To assert Russia’s influence in the Middle East and make it the dominant outside power. Putin’s highest ambition is to avenge and reverse Russia’s humiliating loss of superpower status a quarter-century ago. Understanding this does not come easily to an American president who for seven years has been assiduously curating America’s decline abroad. 2. To sustain Russia’s major and long-standing Arab ally. Ever since Anwar Sadat kicked the Soviets out of Egypt in 1972, Syria’s Assads have been Russia’s principal asset in the Middle East. 3. To expand the reach of Russia’s own military. It has a naval base at Tartus, its only such outside of Russia. It has an airfield near Latakia, now being expanded with an infusion of battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, howitzers and housing for 1,500 – strongly suggesting ground forces to follow. 4. To push out the Americans. For Putin, geopolitics is a zero-sum game: Russia up, America down. He is demonstrating whom you can rely on in this very tough neighborhood. Obama has given short shrift to the Kurds, shafted America’s allies with the Iran deal and abandoned the Anbar Sunnis who

helped us win the surge. Meanwhile, Putin risks putting Russian boots on the ground to rescue his Syrian allies. Obama says Bashar al-Assad has to go, draws a red line on chemical weap-

offers a way out: No war, no refugees. Stop the Syrian civil war and not only do they stop flooding into Europe, those already there go back home to Syria. Putin says, settle the war with my

Obama says Bashar al-Assad has to go, draws a red line on chemical weapons – and does nothing. Russia acts on behalf of a desperate ally. Whom do you want in your corner? ons – and does nothing. Russia acts on behalf of a desperate ally. Whom do you want in your corner? 5. To re-legitimize post-Crimea Russia by making it indispensable in Syria. It’s a neat two-cushion shot. At the U.N. next week, Putin will offer Russia as a core member of a new anti-Islamic State coalition. Obama’s Potemkin war – with its phantom local troops (our $500 million training program has yielded five fighters so far) and flaccid air campaign – is flailing badly. What Putin is proposing is that Russia, Iran and Hezbollah spearhead the anti-jihadist fight. Putin’s offer is clear: Stop fighting Assad, accept Russia as a major player, and acquiesce to a Russia-Iran-Hezbollah regional hegemony – and we will lead the drive against the Islamic State from in front. And there is a bonus. The cleverest part of the Putin gambit is its unstated cure for Europe’s refugee crisis. Wracked by guilt and fear, the Europeans have no idea what to do. Putin

client in place – the Assad regime joined by a few “healthy” opposition forces – and I solve your refugee nightmare. You almost have to admire the cynicism. After all, what’s driving the refugees is the war and what’s driving the war is Iran and Russia. They provide the materiel, the funds and now,

increasingly, the troops that fuel the fighting. The arsonist plays fireman. After all, most of the refugees are not fleeing the Islamic State. Its depravity is more ostentatious, but it is mostly visited upon minorities, Christian and Yazidi – and they have already been largely ethnically cleansed from Islamic State territory. The European detention camps are overflowing with Syrians fleeing Assad’s barbarism, especially his attacks on civilians, using artillery, chlorine gas and nail-filled barrel bombs. Putin to the rescue. As with the chemical weapons debacle, he steps in to save the day. If we acquiesce, Russia becomes an indispensable partner. It begins military and diplomatic coordination with us. (We’ve just agreed to negotiations over Russia’s Syrian buildup.) Its post-Ukraine isolation is lifted and, with Iran, it becomes the regional arbiter. In the end, the Putin strategy may not work, but it’s deadly serious and not at all obscure. The White House can stop scratching its collective head whenever another Condor transport unloads its tanks and marines at Lata kia. (c) 2015, The Washington Post Writers Group

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The Wreckage Left by the Summer of Trump self, as the debate demonstrated once again, is small, petulant and out of his depth on policy. And Trumpism apparently regards the speaking of Spanish as un-American, contemplates one of the

“He’s not a conservative,” said Bobby Jindal at Wednesday’s undercard debate. “He’s not a liberal. He’s not a Democrat. He’s not a Republican. He’s not an independent. He believes in Donald Trump.” port and leeway to oppose outworn or extreme ideas within their own coalition and to produce an agenda relevant to our time. Many (myself included) thought this process of crawling out of an electoral hole – after losing the popular vote in five out of the last six presidential elections – was difficult but doable. I sat around tables at conferences with Republican policy experts who believed the same. Bush and Rubio, in particular, began the typical effort of hiring interesting thinkers and producing interesting speeches. Donald Trump clearly is uninterested in this reform project. But his damage is not merely an intellectually hollow campaign driven by the resentment of foreigners; it is the suspension of an essential GOP reform process. That this suspension may not be temporary is now the sum of Republican fears. Trump is either Herman Cain or a cartoon version of Barry Goldwater. This would be the 1964 race stripped of all ideological content. The stomping and jeering conservative rebels at the Cow Palace hated the elitist, Eastern Republican establishment. But these rebels (generally) had a conservative or libertarian vision of an alternative. Trump’s alternative is always himself. “He’s not a conservative,” said Bobby Jindal at Wednesday’s undercard debate. “He’s not a liberal. He’s not a Democrat. He’s not a Republican. He’s not an independent. He believes in Donald Trump.” Trump’s defeat is now a matter of Republican survival. The candidate him-

largest forced migrations in human history, and spreads destructive, unscientific nonsense about childhood vaccines. The summer of Trump has been a season of toxicity, ugliness and racially charged resentment. But the GOP’s survival does not

guarantee success. Trump has deepened the electoral problems of 2012 in nearly every respect. And Republicans now require, not just a serious, policy-oriented reformer, but someone with the exceptional political skills to remove Trump’s new layer of political damage. Any successful GOP candidate will need to be the anti-Trump, rejecting the language and philosophy of Trumpism as offensive and fundamentally at odds with the ideals of the party they represent. In 2016, the GOP’s greatest challenge may not be overcoming the Democratic nominee, who is likely (as of now) to be weak and wounded, but overcoming the worst ideas and tendencies that have emerged in their own party.  (c) 2015, Washington Post Writers Group

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

rate welfare, the environment, cultural renewal and immigration were either hardly mentioned or, in the case of immigration, discussed in the most disaffecting way possible. Mitt Romney was nearly beaten by a series of joke candidates and survived by taking positions that exaggerated GOP weaknesses in the general election. In the hopes of serious Republicans – or at least Republicans serious about the success of their party – the 2016 election process would begin the recovery. A strong stable of candidates would update the 1980 Reagan economic playbook, addressing modern challenges of cultivating skills and social capital, and seeking a greater degree of economic mobility across the

board. The Obama economy – which has seen household income fall and poverty rise – would provide an opening. And the Republican primary electorate would give a talented field the intellectual sup-

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he relatively rare moments of economic analysis and political outreach in the second Republican debate – Chris Christie talking about income stagnation, or Marco Rubio lamenting the “millions of people in this country living paycheck to paycheck,” or Ben Carson admitting the minimum wage might require increasing and fixing, or Jeb Bush setting out the necessary goal of accelerated economic growth, or John Kasich calling for a “sense of hope, a sense of purpose, a sense of unity” – only served to highlight the opportunity cost of the Trump summer. Let me recall a little ancient history, from three years ago. After the 2012 presidential election, the Republican Party was left with a number of large political deficits – with minorities (particularly Latinos but also Asian-Americans), with women, with younger voters, with working-class voters in key states (such as Ohio). In the arc of that year’s GOP nomination contest – involving 20 debates and tens of millions of dollars in ads – issues such as upward mobility, education, middle-class concerns, poverty, strong communities, safe streets, corpo-

THE JEWISH HOME

Michael Gerson

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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A Few Minutes with Caitlin Callahan

JCCRP’S NEW HEALTH INSURANCE ENROLLER TJH: Caitlin, thank you for spending some time with us today. CC: No, thank you, I really appreciate the opportunity to have a chance to raise awareness of the wonderful service being offered out of the JCCRP.

recovery efforts from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. My husband and I moved to the Rockaways to commit to a year of service and I accepted a position with Friends of Rockaway as an

me at 718-327-7755 x 6111 to schedule an appointment; or they can email me at ccallahan@addabbo.org. I strive to provide amazing customer service and pride myself on assisting clients with

“I personally know how frustrating and

What exactly is your position at the JCCRP? I am a certified applicant counselor that guides clients through the process of obtaining health insurance via the New York State of Health Marketplace, commonly referred to as Obamacare. I help clients sign up for Medicaid, Child Health Plus, qualified health plans and determine if they qualify for Tax Credit and cost sharing reductions toward their monthly premium payments.

AmeriCorps VISTA. Through my time at Friends of Rockaway, I learned about the instrumental services offered at the JCCRP and couldn’t wait for an opportunity to join their team.

What interested you in the position at the JCCRP? I attended East Tennessee State University, where I studied community public health and developed an interest in non-profit work. After graduation, I wanted to assist the Rockaways in their

How can a potential client set up an appointment to meet with you? The beauty of working at this site is that it truly cares for the clients and caters to their individual needs. If clients choose to walk in they are seen that very day without much of wait; they can call

exhausting it can be trying to receive help in regards to social services.” the upmost respect and sincerity. What is the benefit for a client to meet with you as opposed to either enrolling themselves, another agency or at HRA? The benefit of seeing me at the JCCRP is that it’s modeled as a single stop, a one-stop shop for all of the clients’ social services needs. Very often, a client doesn’t know that they are eligible for other services and after meeting with me I can refer them to my wonderful coworkers for additional services. Additionally, the JCCRP is here to help those in need. I personally know how frustrating and exhausting it can be trying to receive help in regards to social services. Those of us who have experienced this know how easy it is to feel like a number; like you’re not being heard or seen. We are here to listen and to serve you the best we can. My job as a health insurance enroller is to help educate and empower you to get the coverage you need and make an informed decision while doing that.

How has your experience been working with our community thus far? I grew up in Tennessee, in a small religious town that was very insular with a strong sense of community. I find that the Jewish community has many similarities as far as how they take care of one another and interact on a daily basis. The Far Rockaway Jewish community has the feeling of being a small, tight-knit town within a big city setting. I have learned so much about the Jewish religion from my coworkers and clients; I look forward to getting to know the community even better. Caitlin, you seem like an amazing addition to our community and the JCCRP team. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do during your spare time? In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I love the beach, riding my bicycle, practicing yoga, reading a good book, cooking, playing music, writing and using my mind in creative and artistic ways. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you.  The JCCRP is a proud beneficiary agency of UJA Federation of NY. The JCCRP provides a range of services for any clients who need assistance in social services or resource directing within the community. Please contact the JCCRP for further information; they are located at 1525 Central Avenue (entrance on Foam Place), Far Rockaway, NY, 11691— Call the JCCRP at (718) 327-7755—or visit them on the web at www.jccrp.org.

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The STory Behind

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The New Kosher

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

TJH Speaks with Kim Kushner, author of The New Kosher

TJH: Kim, you were born in Canada. How has your upbringing affected your cooking style? KK: I was born in Montreal. My mom is an amazing cook. She was born in Morocco and her many colorful dishes have always inspired my cooking. What were your favorite foods from your youth? My mom’s food has always and will always be my favorite. Her food tastes and feels like home to me. What drew you to lead a culinary life? I love eating! Sounds like the perfect thing for you to go into. You were once a private chef. Can you give us some ideas of the perfect meal for Shabbat or for a dinner for two at home? Less is more. A beautiful salad, a crispy roast chicken, and golden potatoes equal perfection. What about dinner for your family? What do you like to prepare for them after a long day? I love preparing fish for dinner, because it takes just 15 minutes to cook. I can pick up fresh fish on my way home and cook it straight away and serve it straight from the oven—especially my Lazy Crumb Fish recipe. It’s so good and so easy. The holidays are coming. What do you recommend serving on the cool nights in the sukkah? One Pot Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables, Chicken & Dill Stew, and Smashed Za’atar Potatoes are delicious dishes that will enhance your meals. The New Kosher cookbook just came out. How

is this new cookbook different from the other cookbooks out there? The New Kosher is not a typical kosher cookbook. In fact, you probably wouldn’t even know it was a kosher cookbook if it didn’t have the word “kosher” in the title! The recipes in this book focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients—bright, bold colors, simple steps, and delicious results. You won’t find

It’s all about organization in the kitchen. There are some steps you can prepare in advance that make cooking so much easier. For example, wash and dry your herbs as soon as you bring them home so they are always ready to use. (I dry mine is a salad spinner.) Have marinades and salad dressings stored in glass jars available in your fridge at all times. And have pie dough and cookie dough stored in your freezer at all times. Check out the Flaky Buttery Crust on page 190 and the Happy Cookies on Page 38 in The New Kosher. You never know when you’ll want to bake a quick quiche or a great batch of cookies!

The recipes in this book focus on fresh,

seasonal ingredients - bright, bold colors, tons of sugar or margarine anywhere in this book. What you will find are creative but simple recipes that everyone will enjoy!

What are a few essential tools or ingredients a cook should always have in his or her kitchen? Lemons, limes, garlic, good olive oil, and fresh herbs are essential ingredients for a cook to always have on hand. A mini food processor and a great peeler should be in easy reach.

That sounds like a cookbook every cook needs in her pantry. Can you give us your 2 or 3 favorite recipes from The New Kosher? There are so many! I especially love the Red Roast chicken, the Salmon with Edamame, and the Pomelo Salad. Oh, and the biscotti are amazing!

How do you manage to balance family life with your work life? I’ve been so lucky to be able to do what I love while at the same time being a mom. My family comes first, and luckily, many women like to cook at night, which makes my work a lot easier!

Your classes and seminars are always a success. Can you give us a few techniques or tips that you share with your students and audience?

Kim, it’s been a true pleasure speaking with you. I look forward to trying out some of these delicious recipes! 

simple steps, and delicious results.

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yom Tov diSheS

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with a New Twist By KiM KuShneR

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Tamari Salmon wiTh edamame

When friends are coming over for dinner, this is the recipe they often request. It’s easy to make: simply cook the salmon at a high temperature, pour the garlic-tamari sauce over the fillet, and sprinkle the crunchy, bright edamame on top. My kids fight for the edamame smothered in the zesty sauce. Tamari is traditionally a by-product of miso production and, unlike soy sauce, contains little or no wheat. It is also darker, thicker, and less salty than soy sauce. You’ll find it in most supermarkets. Ingredients ◊ 1 skinless salmon fillet, about 2 lb ◊ Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper ◊ 2 cloves garlic, minced ◊ 1⁄2 cup tamari sauce ◊ Juice of 1⁄2 orange ◊ 3 tablespoons pure raw honey ◊ 1⁄2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil ◊ 3 tablespoons sesame seeds ◊ 11⁄2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed and brought to room temperature Preparation Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the salmon on the prepared baking sheet and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, place in the oven, and cook until the flesh flakes when prodded with a knife but is still moist or to your liking, 10–15 minutes. Remove from the oven, uncover, let cool for 15 minutes, and then transfer to a serving platter. Meanwhile, in a glass jar, combine the garlic, tamari, orange juice, honey, and sesame oil and shake until well blended. Rinse the edamame under running warm water. Pour the sauce over the cooled fish and sprinkle the edamame and

sesame seeds evenly over the top. Serve right away. (That’s right, the edamame don’t need to be cooked. They were cooked before they were packaged and need only to be thawed.) Serves 4–6

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CriSpy SmaShed Za’aTar poTaToeS

Preparation Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place the potatoes in a large pot and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir in 1 tablespoon salt. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until fork-tender, about 10 minutes depending on size. Drain the potatoes and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. use a large fork or a potato masher to smash them slightly. you just want to break them up a bit. Drizzle the oil over the top and season generously with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Roast until the potatoes are golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle generously with the za’atar to taste and serve right away. Serves 6-8

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lamB riB ChopS wiTh red wine vinegar, minT & garliC

When I was growing up, my mom always made lamb on Passover. It was a real treat, something we looked forward to all year. My siblings and I knew that lamb was a special dish, and we felt lucky and proud to have it. I now find myself making a big deal out of serving lamb to my family. Mom serves hers in a traditional Jewish Moroccan style with canned truffles. My recipe is more modern, but I can’t say that it’s better than hers! The lamb chops are marinated in a mixture of red wine vinegar, red wine, garlic, orange, mint, and cilantro, and the result is unbelievably good. Ask the butcher to french the lamb chops—remove any meat, cartilage, or fat from the tips of the bones—or you can do it yourself. Ingredients ◊ ¼ cup red wine vinegar ◊ Splash of dry red wine (plus a glass for yourself to enjoy while you’re cooking; optional but recommended!) ◊ ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ◊ 4 cloves garlic, crushed ◊ 1 orange

◊ 1 handful of fresh mint sprigs, stemmed and roughly chopped ◊ 1 handful of fresh cilantro sprigs, stemmed and roughly chopped ◊ Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper ◊ 12 lamb rib chops, about 4 lb total weight, frenched Preparation in a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, wine, oil, and garlic. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from both halves into the bowl. Cut the orange halves into thin slices and add to the marinade along with the mint, cilantro, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Place the lamb chops in a large lock-top plastic bag, pour in the marinade, and seal the bag. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal or gas grill. Remove the lamb chops from the bag and pour the marinade into a small saucepan. Grill the chops, turning once, for 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. (i like them a little more cooked, about 4 minutes per side.)

Meanwhile, place the saucepan holding the marinade over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 4 minutes to create a sauce. Pour the sauce into a serving bowl. Serve the lamb chops right away and pass the sauce at the table. Serves 4–6

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Ingredients ◊ 2 ½ lb marble potatoes or other small potatoes ◊ Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper ◊ ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil ◊ 3–4 tablespoons za’atar

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It seems that my cooking students are always looking for an easy side dish that will be a big crowd-pleaser. This one is definitely a winner. The key is to use small potatoes, like ruby or golden marble potatoes. I parboil them in simmering water, smash them with the back of a large fork or with a potato masher, and then roast them in an extra-hot oven until golden and crisp. These potatoes are delectable.

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} The perfeCT STormy Cake This is just the type of dessert you want to have on hand on a rainy, glum day—paired with a steaming cup of coffee, of course—thus, its name. Unlike a typical coffee cake, which is all nuts and cake, I’ve added cocoa powder, which lends an element of surprise and richness. You can make the cake in advance and freeze it, then pull it out on one of those stormy days. This recipe is based on Norene Gilletz’s Best Coffee Cake from The Food Processor Bible. Ingredients ◊ nonstick cooking spray for pan ◊ For the Topping and Filling ◊ ¾ cup pecans or almonds ◊ ½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar ◊ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ◊ 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder ◊ 1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips For the Batter ◊ 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter ◊ 1 cup granulated sugar ◊ 2 large eggs ◊ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ◊ 1 teaspoon baking soda ◊ 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt ◊ 1 ¹/³ cups all-purpose flour ◊ 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

Preparation Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9-inch (23-cm) round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. To make the topping and filling: in a food processor, combine the pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder and process with 6–8 quick on-off pulses until the nuts are coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the chocolate chips. Wipe out the processor bowl with a paper towel. To make the batter: in the processor, combine the butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla and pulse for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Do not insert the pusher into the feed tube. in a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the sour cream. Add to the processor and pulse for 3 seconds. Add the flour and baking powder and pulse with 4 quick on-off pulses, just until the flour is blended into the batter. Do not overprocess, and stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with half of the topping. Repeat with the remaining batter and topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40–45 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 1 hour

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before serving. To freeze, invert onto a plate lined with plastic wrap then again onto a serving plate, being careful not to lose too much crumb topping. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, place in a plastic freezer bag, and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature before serving. Makes one 9-inch (23 cm) cake; serves 6-8 Recipes supplied by Kim Kushner from The New Kosher cookbook.

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124 62

In the Kitchen

Jamie Geller

A Sukkos to Savor Sweet Cabbage Brisket with Thyme Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients For the brisket: 1 (5-pound) brisket 1 (16-ounce) bag shredded cabbage 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes 3 cups tomato sauce ½ cup light brown sugar 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon onion powder For the potatoes: 4 pounds mixed fingerling and new potatoes, halved 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 cloves garlic, smashed 1 tablespoon thyme ½ teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper

6-8 Servings Preparation Place brisket in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add cabbage, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, salt, and onion powder and cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook about 3 hours or until meat is very tender. Meanwhile, prepare the potatoes. Preheat oven to 400°F. On a large baking sheet, toss potatoes with oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Roast 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. Serve slices of brisket with roasted potatoes and a little extra sauce.

Jamie Geller is one of the most sought-after Jewish food personalities worldwide. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of NYU, Jamie developed an outstanding media career as an award-winning TV producer and marketing executive at CNN, HBO and The Food Network. Ever since her first cookbook, Quick & Kosher: Recipes from the Bride Who K new Nothing (Feldheim, 2007), became a Jewish cookbook classic she has been at the helm of a rapidly growing media empire. The savvy bestselling author founded Kosher Media Network (KMN), an integrated media and marketing company along with Chairman Henry Kauftheil and spearheaded by Grey Advertising veteran Milt Weinstock. KMN is organized into four business segments: Publishing, Broadcasting, Digital, and Live. In the spring of 2010, KMN, unveiled its Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller consumer brand, with the simultaneous launch of JoyofKosher.com – the first and #1 social networking community for the kosher foodie – and the awardwinning magazine, Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller.

125 63 THE JEWISH HOME

Thai Chicken Salad

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Ingredients 3 cup shredded rotisserie chicken, about a 3-pound chicken 3 cup shredded Napa cabbage ¾ cup thinly sliced red bell pepper ¾ cup thinly sliced carrot 6 green onions, chopped ½ cup Thai peanut sauce 2 to 4 tablespoon olive oil or water ½ cup roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped

6 servings Preparation In a large bowl combine chicken, cabbage, peppers, carrots, and onions. Add peanut sauce and thin slightly if necessary with oil or water. Toss to evenly coat salad. Divide between 6 bowls or plates and garnish with chopped peanuts.

Balsamic Cucumber and Carrot Ribbon Salad

Ingredients 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 4 tablespoons olive oil 4 tablespoons finely chopped shallots 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 2 tablespoons honey ½ teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 large cucumber 3 large carrots, peeled 1 pint multicolored cherry tomatoes, halved 2 cups watercress, cut into 2-inch pieces

4-6 servings Pretty, pretty, pretty. And it doesn’t take much. If you own a vegetable peeler you’re in business. Preparation In a small bowl, combine vinegar, oil, shallots, mayonnaise, honey, salt and pepper and whisk well until dressing comes together. Set aside. Using a vegetable peeler, peel cucumber and carrots into long ribbons. Transfer to a large bowl and add tomatoes and watercress. Add dressing and toss lightly to coat well. Serve immediately or refrigerate undressed for up to 1 hour.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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Chocolate Carrot Cake 8 Servings Chocolate is a great flavor addition to the classic carrot cake. This cake is moist and satisfying and really simple to make. A great option for a yom tov (or anytime) dessert, celebrating the tradition of eating carrots to symbolize a new year filled with only good things. Ingredients ½ cup oil ½ cup orange juice ½ cup hot water 2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 ¾ cups flour ½ cup cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups grated carrots, about two large carrots or three medium carrots 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes Carrot Juice Glaze 3 cups confectioners’ sugar ¼ cup carrot juice Preparation Combine the oil, juice, water, eggs, sugar and vanilla. You can use a food processor, a hand mixer, a standing mixer, or a whisk. Combine the cinnamon, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and gently mix into the wet ingredients. Fold in the grated carrots and coconut flakes until just combined. Place into a 9 inch loaf pan or a six cup tube/Bundt pan and bake for forty minutes at 350° or until a wooden stick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely, and drizzle the carrot juice glaze on top of the cake. To make the glaze: Using carrot juice in the glaze amps up the carrot flavor in this dessert and adds a vivid, natural orange color to the frosting and contrasts beautifully with the dark chocolate carrot cake. Carrot juice is widely available in supermarkets, under Bolthouse Farms. Combine sugar and carrot juice until a thick mixture forms, and drizzle over the cake.

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Trust the mind. How could this be? And then I remembered the line from the weekday tefilla that we say before bentching and it all made perfect sense. It explains why people • cut ahead of you in line • leave their cart in the middle of the aisle in the grocery store when it’s crowded • honk their horn like crazy You get the idea. They believe the world revolves around them. They have no concern for others. They don’t care. And may even be happy to have scored a minor “victory” over everyone else. Tehillim 137 finishes the very sad story of our exile and the torment of our captors by saying, “Fortunate is He who will take and dash your little ones against the rock.” That’s nekama (revenge). And if we add in a line from Tehillim 126, we get a complete picture: “When Hashem brings us back to Zion, we will have been like dreamers. Then our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongue with joyous song.” Not only are we happy to be returning, but we are happy at vanquishing our enemies, those same enemies referred to in 137. There you have it: We can be “sadistic” after all. We are happy to see those who hurt us hurt. Why? Because it appeals to our sense of fairness, justice. Why I noticed myself doing that very thing today. There I was, driving along, and someone came rushing out from behind me, speeding up and going way ahead. He obviously didn’t care for the posted speed limit. I caught myself saying to myself, “Ha. It’s a school zone. I hope you get a ticket.” And then I said to myself: Wait a minute, Deb. You would be happy to see him suffer? Excuse me? And the answer is, Yes. Because he needs some authority telling him he’s doing something wrong, something that I can’t get away with. Maybe I also would rather get there faster. Who is he to get ahead

of me? Now take this all back into our homes and families. The pleasure comes from feeling like the score is evened up for someone who hurt us. It’s all about Justice. But what if no one hurt us? What if this “hurt” was all a figment of our imagination? What if the person you are attacking – and are happy to torment – is innocent? That is where Trust comes in. When there is no trust, we have liberty to let our imaginations corrupt our hearts. We can come to believe that the other person – a kindly person who would do no wrong – is the Enemy. Where did this lack of trust come from? The sad answer is it came from the homes in which we grew up. When people were “each one for himself,” manipulative, corrupt, lacking compassion – even for children – then the outcome is that those children will have a lot of trouble trusting others. Those children will not believe others are good and kind. Those children will grow up to be adults who themselves are manipulative, selfish, and lacking compassion. And that, I believe, is where Sukkos comes in. Sukkos is here to remind us to trust. We must trust Someone. We live under the elements to take into our very souls the notion that without trust, there can be no relationship. But how do you do that? How do you come to trust after such a childhood? The sukkah reminds us that we must blindly take the plunge, to be, in fact, dan l’chaf zchus. It is a requirement even though we don’t feel it. The sukkah tells us to do it, enjoy it, feel good about it, and if we can trust Hashem, then with His help, we will learn to trust those we are supposed to love.

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn, is a Marriage & Family Therapist and best-selling author of The Healing Is Mutual: Marriage Empowerment Tools to Rebuild Trust and Respect—Together. Attend the Food For Thought lectures at Traditions Restaurant in Lawrence on Tuesdays at 12:30 PM. (There is a lovely optional lunch menu for $12 cash.) Any questions, call 646-54-DRDEB or check out her website at http://drdeb.com. All stories in Dr. Deb’s articles are fabricated. See Dr. Deb on TorahAnytime.com.

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I was reading Dr. David Schnarch because he seems to be one of the few therapists who wants to tackle intimacy issues and I was interested in that topic. After all, what is the point of learning how to communicate and not hurt one another if the marriage that results is flat as a board? Partners have to be friends who truly “get” one another. If that is missing, there is no marriage, in my book. So I was reading him to see if he had any ideas that either corroborated how I work or could be added to them. And he unexpectedly started talking about abuse. My topic. Only he didn’t call it that. He calls it “normal marital sadism.” Whoa. What the heck is normal about this? Well, it is certainly not normal in the sense of “healthy” and “right.” It is normal in the mathematical sense of “prevalent.” And he had statistics to back it up. They gave me pause. First, he administered a survey to 20 couples attending one of his retreats. His result: “Every one [italics in original] reported doing things deliberately to hurt their partner.” Wait. Here’s the punchline: “Half the group reported really enjoying it.” Oy. More: “A quarter of the group added mind-twisting torture by denying they were doing it when accused by their partner. Three-quarters reported deliberately procrastinating to infuriate their partner.” What gives? How do we explain this? Well, you might say they were a group of people with marital troubles and that is why their answers were so terrible; it’s a skewed sample. But he then gathered a new sample of a hundred therapists. Uh-oh. Sure enough 88 percent engaged in what he calls normal marital sadism, too. This is the part where I have to do my deep breathing. The truth: People have told me this before and I dismissed it because of my excess of dan l’chaf zchus. The notion that a person not only attacks someone because that is all he/ she knows but may also enjoy it boggles

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got it. Finally. Why it took so long may be because I have had a surplus of dan l’chaf zchus so I didn’t understand fully what it means to have a lack of trust. Now, baruch Hashem, I do and perhaps the pieces have come together so I can help people in that boat. Okay, let me back up a bit. My specialty within Marriage and Family Therapy is trauma and emotional abuse (which – actually – is trauma). I understood all along that people inflict abuse on one another because (as I say in the introduction to my book, The Healing Is Mutual) they have been abused themselves. Therefore, that is what they know. Very often, they don’t even recognize their behavior as abusive. Having been immersed in it growing up, to them it is normal. I have a new client like that somewhere out in another part of the country. He feels so sad because his wife left him, saying that he was abusive. He was shocked. He grew up with the yelling and the belittling and thought that is just how couples argue. But he had the integrity to go online and look up abuse. He realized that his behavior fit the bill. He could not deny it. And he came to me to see if he could learn to be different – and perhaps glue the marriage back together. This scenario, I understood all along. People in this boat need to 1. Recognize what abuse is; 2. Learn new ways of handling themselves when there are differences; 3. Breathe and calm down so they can put #2 into effect. But there is a darker side to this scenario, one that I would dismiss in the past. It answers all these questions: Why can’t the abuser learn? The spouse has told him/her a thousand times what hurts and nothing changes. • Why does the abuser seem unaffected by his wife’s tears or accuses her of manipulating when she cries? • Why is it that in therapy that person tells me, “Dr. Deb, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” • Why does the abuser accuse the spouse of lying, cheating, and manipulating? • Why does the abuser seem to get pleasure out of wounding the partner? I came across my answer by chance.

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Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

Forgotten Heroes Avi Heiligman

Daring Prisoner of War Escapes

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he main thing on the mind of in Iowa and joined the Naval Academy a prisoner of war is when he’ll in Annapolis in 1911. After graduation, he served on the battlebe able to go ship USS Florida behome. Escape is a not fore being transferred too farfetched plan in to the transport USS the minds of POWs. President Lincoln. But There have been some the ship sank on May spectacular escape at31, 1918 after being hit tempts in history, alby three torpedoes from though more often than the German submarine not the plan failed or the U-90. German U-boats POW was recaptured. were new to warfare In recent wars, there and Izac learned valuwere several escapes able information about that have been noted for their movements that he their courageousness knew would be of value and daring. to the Allies. He didn’t Edouard Izac (the let anyone know that he family name was origcould read and speak inally Isaacs. There are Nick Rowe attempted to German and saw secret no records of him beescape several times during his capture by the Viet Cong ing Jewish) was born information. When he

was transferred to the army to be trans- was captured by the Germans after the ported to a POW camp, he tried escaping fall of France in 1940. He was acquitted through a window but was recaptured. of murder of two German spies and sent Undeterred, he tried escaping from the to a secure prison camp near Dresden. camp by cutting through barbed wire Two years later, in another daring esand creating confusion. German guards cape, he lowered himself down a 150saw him and starting firing which al- foot cliff that the camp was situated lowed two other POWs to escape as upon. His wife had secretly sent him well. Izac made his way though Germany and walked into the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland the day WWI ended. For his actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. After leaving the navy, he was elected to the House of Representatives and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. As mentioned in a previous article, French General Henri Giraud was Konigstein Castle where General Giraud escaped from during WWII rescued by the HMS Seraph and brought to Gibraltar during WWII. This, in fact, was the maps of the area, and speaking German second time he successfully escaped (he convinced the Nazis to teach him) German captors with the first taking and looking like an average citizen, he place during WWI. During the Battle escaped into the countryside. Eventuof Charleroi, Belgium, in August 1914, ally Giraud made it to Vichy France (it he was seriously wounded and left for was a puppet government under Axis dead. The Germans captured him and rule) and they refused to turn him over sent him to a POW hospital. Giraud es- to the Germans. The Gestapo sent a caped two months later and posing as a squad to kill him but the HMS Seraph circus hand managed to avoid recapture got there first and he finally was able to before making his way to the Nether- resume his position as commander of lands. Finally he reached Allied lines. French forces. During WWII, French politics were The majority of POW escapees are recaptured and sent back to prison. Perhaps the most interesting escape attempter of all time was Douglas Bader. Captain Bader had lost both of his legs in 1931 in a flying accident while attempting aerial acrobatics. He was discharged from the Royal Air Force but was recalled in 1939 when the British needed every experienced pilot to fight the German LuftDouglas Bader personified heroism during WWII waffe. He fought during the Battle of Britain and a bit confusing as many commanders shot down at least 20 German planes. In chose to side with the Germans. Giraud, August 1941, he was flying over France however, worked with the Allies but in a Spitfire when they encountered a

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using a blanket and walked 100 miles before being recaptured. Since he was a celebrity, they didn’t punish him except threaten to take away his legs if he

held in the U Minh Forest deep in South but was recalled to active duty seven Vietnam. During his five years in cap- years later to set up a survival course. tivity he made the Viet Cong believe The Survival, Evasion, Resistance and that he was an engineer and didn’t know Escape (SERE) course is an integral part of training for secrets. He had all Special Forctried a few times to es trainees. While escape but was reworking as an incaptured each time. telligence agent in Each day he was the Philippines, he held in a wooden was assassinated cage, his bed was a in 1989 by Comsleeping mat. But munists after he he still managed to discovered one of hold out hope that their plots. he would survive. Edouard Izac finally escaped by cutting These are just Once he simply through barbed wire, traversing through a few of the inwalked out of the the Alps and swimming across the Rhine triguing stories camp but had the of POW escapes. misfortune to walk into another Viet Cong camp. Another The escapees are professionally trained time they caught him in a canal and he military men and women who have a convinced the guards that he simply desire to help their country instead of sitting forgotten in a strange land. Many went fishing. Finally, in December 1968, his cap- hatched plans to escape and while we tors had had enough with his refusal to may never know the numbers, their accept the Communist ideology and his stories are a reminder that they weren’t continued escape attempts, and Rowe forgotten. was scheduled to be executed. But on December 31, 1968, Rowe overpowered his guards who were distracted by Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The American helicopters. He managed to Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can flag one down and his ordeal was over. Rowe retired in 1974 after writ- be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com. ing a book about his time as a POW

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Giraud with Franklin D Roosevelt

tried escaping again. Of course, he tried again until they sent him to Colditz Castle where they held escape-prone POWs (the Colditz Castle escapes are another story). After he was liberated by the American army, Bader asked to be given another plane to “have one last crack at the Germans.” Thousands of prisoners escaped POW camps during WWII. The Vietnam War was a different story. Only 34 Americans successfully escaped while hundreds of others were slowly released over a period of time. All of the escapes happened in South Vietnam and while there were multiple attempts from POWs held in the North, none successfully reached American lines. (There were also no successful POW rescues during the war, although several missions were launched to recover POWs.) Nick Rowe was a Special Forces (also known as the Green Berets) intelligence operator from Texas when he was sent to Vietnam in 1963. He was captured by the Viet Cong (South Vietnamese Communists) with two other operators and

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dozen Bf-109s. Bader’s plane was shot down and he was forced to bail. One of his synthetic legs was trapped but he managed to pull away and parachuted safely. After being captured by the Germans, the RAF (Royal Air Force) was able to parachute in another leg to help Bader. This didn’t stop him from trying to escape multiple times—he probably made at least 20 attempts—or becoming a pain in the side for the Nazis. One time he climbed out a window

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Health & Fitness

Aliza Beer, MS, RD

Battling the Yom Tov Bulge

ne can gain several pounds over a yom tov easily, but to rid oneself of them can be arduous. It is imperative that we lose this gain quickly, for Sukkos, including two sets of two day celebrations alternating with Shabbosim, comes w i t h m a n y meals and lots of time around the table. Let’s try to “detox” our bodies from the recent spate of overeating healthy and unhealthy foods. The longer you let this weight stick to you, the more difficult it is to eliminate. Follow these simple “Boot Camp” rules, and you will shed those unwanted pounds fast! 1. E l i m i n a t e White Flour: Consume only fiber-rich grains, breads, and cereals. 2. Limit the Dairy: Eat only one serving of reduced fat yogurt, cottage cheese, or cheese a day. Supplement with calcium and vitamin D to avoid deficiency. 3. Snack on Fruits/ Vegetables: Avoid snacking on nuts, cheese, or frozen yogurt. Focus on raw fruit—not dried—or vegetables. Canned fruit in its own juice is fine, just drain the juice. Baked apples or poached pears make great desserts on cool nights. 4. Eat Fish: Have at least 4 servings of fish this week. It’s a healthier and lighter in fat than chicken. 5. Dump Diet Soda: Switch to water instead. Studies have shown that if you drink 1-2 glasses of water before each meal, you will lose weight. 6. Don’t Eat too Much Challah: Eat whole wheat matzah or bread instead.

7. Exercise: While shopping, cooking, and preparing for yom tov is hard work, it is not calorie burning exercise. Squeeze in some cardio wherever you can to help move things along. 8. Watch for Hidden Calories: A salad is a great option, but not if it’s drowning in fatty dressing! Look for lowfat/fat-free dressings and always take it on the side. Avoid foods prepared with full-fat mayo as well. 9. Eat Dinner Before 7:00: I know it’s difficult, but it really works! The earlier you eat dinner, the more you will lose. 10. Avoid All Red Meat: The one exception is bison, which is very low in fat and cholesterol. This month of holidays is very challenging, and pounds can pile on quite easily. Work off your Rosh Hashana weight gain before Sukkos, and approach Sukkos with the mindset of maintenance. It takes strength and willpower to maintain one’s weight over a lengthy yom tov. Treat most of the meals as you would a typical Monday or Tuesday. If you come out of S u k kos the s a m e weight you were going into Rosh Hashana, consider yourself victorious. Gmar chasima tova!

This month of holidays is very challenging, and pounds can pile on quite easily.

Aliza Beer is a registered dietician with a master’s degree in nutrition. She has a private practice in Cedarhurst, NY. Patients’ success has been featured on the Dr. Oz show. Aliza can be reached at alizabeer@ gmail.com.

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A Floral Sphere TO ENHANCE YOUR SUKKAH by Esther Ottensoser

Sukkos is a yom tov that lends itself to creativity and self expression. The sukkah is a blank canvas waiting to be beautifully decorated. These beautiful Sukkos decorations will be a wonderful addition to your sukkah decor. The floral ornaments are delicate and will not overpower or block natural light from entering the sukkah. Materials Balloons Twine, in the color of your choice Glue Glitter Artificial flowers, stems trimmed off Directions Blow up a balloon to your desired size. Cut a length of twine large enough to encircle the balloon numerous times. About two to three yards should suffice for a small-sized ball. Add additional length for larger sized balls. Pour glue into a pan. Add glitter to the glue and mix. Place the twine in the glue mixture making sure to coat it completely. Wrap the balloon with the twine. As you wrap, make sure to crisscross your work to create an intricate pattern. Set the balloon down to dry overnight. After the twine is completely dry, take a pin and pop the balloon. Place one or two artificial flowers inside the ball. Tie the flower ball to your schach with a pretty ribbon. 

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Sukkot: The Best Time of Year for Hosting! The weather starts to chill, the holidays are in full swing and loved ones stop by for a visit! Tnuva’s expert chefs are pleased to present you with delicious dishes to impress your friends and families. Enjoy these uniquely crafted dishes at your holiday table!

Zucchini Goat Cheese Quiche

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Sour Cream ½ cup whipping cream 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar Ground black pepper Topping (Optional) 3 tablespoons whipping cream ½ container (8 oz.) sour cream

Serve your favorite bread with this wonderfully creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup Servings: 4-6 Ingredients 10 large red peppers ½ package (3.5 oz.) Tnuva butter 4 cloves of garlic ½ container (4.5 oz.) Tnuva Feta Cheese, coarsely chopped 1 ½ cups yogurt

Preparation Using a charcoal grill, roast the red peppers whole until skin is lightly blackened. (If you do not have a charcoal grill, a gas burner or the grill setting in your oven will do.) Place peppers in a plastic container or bag, and cool. Once the peppers have cooled, remove the skin, chop, and deseed. In a medium-sized pan, melt the butter. Add peppers and garlic, and fry for about four minutes. Add the feta cheese and cook for another 3 minutes. Transfer the pepper, garlic, and cheese mixture to a blender or food processor, and process until you’ve attained a smooth consistency. Add yogurt, cream, sugar, salt and pepper and stir. Serve in bowls with a swirl of cream. If you like, use a knife to create patterns. Finally, top with a dollop of sour cream. If serving hot, heat the soup until simmering, then top with cream.

Mozzarella Salad 6 oz. sprouts of your choice ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley 1 teaspoon fresh thyme 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon pomegranate extract Freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4 Ingredients 9 oz. Tnuva Mozzarella Loaf 4 tablespoons sundried tomatoes

Preparation Cut the mozzarella into ½-inch pieces and place them into a large mixing bowl. Add sundried tomatoes, sprouts, parsley and thyme. Mix well. Beat together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and pomegranate extract. Drizzle on top of the salad and season with pepper. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours until the flavors have marinated. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 6-8 Prepare in a 10-inch pie dish Ingredients 1 lb. zucchini Salt 5 oz. goat yogurt 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped 12-15 cherry tomatoes 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 oz. Tnuva Goat Cheese Oregano For the crust ½ cup Tnuva butter 1 ½ cups bread crumbs 1 tablespoon flour ½ cup Tnuva Edam Cheese, chopped ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper ¼ teaspoon oregano Preparation Chop the zucchini into thin rounds. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt on the zucchini rounds and toss. Separate the slices and transfer them into a colander. Let sit for 20 minutes. To prepare the crust, grease the bottom of a pie dish 10 inches in diameter. Mix together all the ingredients for a crust and press firmly in to the bottom and sides of the dish. Refrigerate until ready to assemble. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, eggs and dill. Season with salt to taste. Cut tomatoes in half and carefully sauté them in oil. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the zucchini from the colander and gently squeeze out the excess water. Place about half of the zucchini rounds on top of the pie crust. Pour the cheese mixture and eggs on top. Top with the tomatoes, the remaining zucchini slices and goat cheese slices. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano. Bake in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes, until the center stands. Let cool for 15 minutes and serve warm. 

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Alibaba and the Forty Percent

urn on the financial news and you’ll hear all sorts of explanations for the stock market’s ups and downs. Oh no, the Fed’s going to raise rates! Oh no, they’re not! Who knows what the real answer is? But last week, the IRS moved the market — when they casually signaled they wouldn’t be greenlighting Yahoo’s plan to spin off their remaining stake in the Chinese company Alibaba. Yahoo was the first big online search engine, and they helped popularize services like free email addresses. It’s still the most-read news website and fourthmost visited site in the world. But those eyeballs just aren’t translating into dollars, especially now that search engine advertisers have surfed their way over to Google. But Yahoo can brag about one grand-slam home run — back in 2005, they paid $1 billion for a 40% stake in Alibaba, “the Amazon of China.” Since going public, Alibaba’s “market capitalization” (the total value of outstanding shares) has climbed as high as $248 billion. (It’s down to a paltry $162 billion today.) In fact, some analysts argue Yahoo’s entire market capitalization was worth less than its holdings in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, making its core U.S. businesses worth less than zero! Naturally, Yahoo’s long-suffering shareholders want to unlock that value. So when Alibaba went public, Yahoo sold a slice of their stake for $7.6 billion — but therefore got hit with a $2 billion tax bill. The folks at the IRS said, “Yahoo!” But shareholders, not so much. Earlier this year, Yahoo proposed a different strategy for the rest of their stake. First, create an entirely new company. Then stuff it full of their remaining Alibaba stock, along with a dinky slice of Yahoo’s remaining operating business. Then spin it off to their existing shareholders. Why jump through all those hoops? Well, if Yahoo just distributes cash and prizes like the Alibaba stock, the IRS gets their usual cut. But if they include an active trade or business in the new entity, Code Section 355 says it’s tax-free. (Wink, wink.) There’s just one problem. The IRS

doesn’t say how big that operating business has to be to make the whole thing work. Would a lemonade stand work? How about a hot-dog cart? Just to be sure, Yahoo went to the IRS to get their blessing first. They applied for a “private letter ruling,” which is a written ruling that interprets and applies tax laws to one specific taxpayer’s facts. Fees for a letter ruling range from $625 to $50,000, which makes them a cheap form of insurance against billions in taxes. (Of course, the kind of law firm that handles those sorts of requests can run up that much in legal fees just answering the phone!) Here’s where our story gets interesting. Last week, an IRS attorney announced at a bar association conference that the IRS was “reconsidering their ruling policy” on spinoff requests — and Yahoo’s stock price promptly dropped 7.6%. That meant over $2 billion in value vanished in a heartbeat. Now, Yahoo can certainly proceed with the deal. They still have an opinion letter from their lawyers telling them it will work. But their profile is high enough that they’re under constant audit. It’s not like they can pretend they never asked for the ruling or just hope that nobody at the IRS “notices” the spinoff! Here’s the lesson. Tech companies like Yahoo understand the value of proactive tax planning. They’ve used it to save billions in taxes, and they realize the money they spend on it is an investment, not an expense. Shouldn’t you take advantage of that same opportunity yourself? Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 yea rs in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@ aol.com.

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The Rocky Rant

Rocky Zweig

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Dad’s Delayed Diploma or The Best Thing I’ve Ever Done

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so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how

His eyes pierced my soul, and he smiled. And oh, how I got lost in that smile. In that smile, I found solace. In that smile, I finally found peace. much the old man had learned in seven years.”

Presenting my dad with his well-earned diploma

from thine office or yonder grape from thy friendly neighborhood grocery before thou buyeth the rest of the bunch. And coveting? Fuhgeddaboudit. Virtually impossible not to covet, especially since I found out what it means from Hannibal Lecter. Come on, be honest: how can you look at Shloimie Booplestein’s new Tesla S P85D and then look at your rusted-out Geo Metro and not feel just a teensy bit…well… covetous? But honoring mom and dad? A walk in the park, right? Except it’s not. Because honoring doesn’t mean honoring per se, as in throwing them a party for their anniversary or commissioning a beautiful family tree for the living room or going on Snapfish and designing a scrapbook. No. A huge part of honoring is simply listening. And listening means two things: It means listening and obeying when you’re a kid, and absorbing their wisdom, both as a kid and as an adult. There’s a great quote by the inimitable Mark Twain: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was

it was. And let’s not even discuss math! To call me a mediocre student would be to

absolutely idolized my father z”l, but somehow I felt I could never live up to his standards. He was a little guy, maybe 5’2”, but he was always a good ballplayer. He’d take me into the backyard to have a catch and after about fifteen or twenty minutes of helplessly watching what a klutz I was, he’d suddenly remember something that needed his attention inside. So I’d dig a hole, get a stick and a ping pong ball, and play golf the rest of the afternoon. I don’t even think I’d get upset. It just was what

insult all the truly mediocre students out there. I guess I was pretty bright, but I didn’t care about nutin’. I liked English and science a little, but I’d usually just be staring out the window, daydreaming. I’m sure if they would have had the labels they have today, they would have called me something: Learning Disabled, ADD, something. But back then? I was just A Kid Who Didn’t Care. Except when it came to math. Trying to teach me math was like trying to teach me hieroglyphics. Blindfolded. Underwater. I had no idea about anything past addition or subtraction. Still don’t, as a matter of fact. And, just my luck, my dad was an absolute whiz at math. He would come into my room

while I was preparing another exciting issue of The Modieinu (see bio) and give me three or four long division problems. I’d put away my Royal Quiet Deluxe typewriter (it was originally my mom’s from her days at Seward Park High School on the Lower East Side, when she walked over the bridge from Williamsburg to save the trolley fare) and work on the problems for, oh, I don’t know, fifteen minutes. I’d arrive at some ridiculous figures that were nowhere near the right answers and then start doodling in the margins of the looseleaf paper. Dad would come back, look at my work, explain it again, give me new examples, and disappear again. The main problem was that he knew the stuff cold, so when he taught it he kind of zoomed through things he assumed I understood and I was too embarrassed to tell him otherwise. After the second group of wrong answers, he pretty much gave up. I knew he loved me, even though he never said it. Not once. He came from an old-fashioned, strict European background (he was born in Warsaw) where there was no place for sentimentality. But I never stopped trying to win his approval. And then one day, many, Continued on page 140

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

abeid ess avichah v’ess imechah. When it comes to commandments, one would think that this is one of the easier ones, n’est-ce pas? I mean if you have any emunah at all, #1 is a piece of cake, and #3, graven images, is not really a yeitzer horah anyone has these days, unless you count my Joe Pepitone Bobblehead. Not stealing doesn’t sound too hard until you realize that “Thou Shalt Not Steal” encompasses thy boss’s pencil

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many years later, when his strength was almost gone and so were his faculties, I finally did.

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My parents at their wedding

ad was born in 1916 and his family was lucky enough to immigrate to the States before World War II. He met my mother a”h, they got engaged, he worked during the day and went to City College at night. Everything seemed like it was going to be honky-dory. And then he got drafted. So Private First Class Morris J. Zweig was shipped overseas to France while his beautiful kallah waited for him in Williamsburg. It was a seven year engagement! (Think we should call the Guinness people?) He came back and married the love of his life, a love that was as vibrant and alive when he was niftar in 2003 as it was when they stood under the chuppah together fifty-seven years earlier. But the kids came along and with them came new responsibilities, and he never managed to go back to school to finish his degree. And all he needed were six

credits! My father absolutely loathed the army. We kids were never able to have one of those “what did you do in the war, daddy?” conversations. He never, ever talked about it. As an adult, I found out from my mother that he had been the only Jew in a unit full of rednecks, and anytime they got a little too drunk, my 5’2”, hundred-twenty pound father was a convenient little punching bag. The army wanted him to go for counseling when he came home, but he refused. He carried that stuff inside him all his life, plus the resentment of not finishing college. He never spoke about that either, but we all knew it bothered him deeply. Dad’s faculties started slipping in his 80s, and by the time he turned eighty-five, he didn’t really speak much. But true to form, he never complained. He made myriad brief trips to the hospital for one thing or another, but always had a smile for the doctor or a kibbitz for the nurse. Even though there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with him physically save for his heart (he had had a pacemaker put in years before), we all knew we weren’t going to have him around much longer. Around April of 2003 I ran into a friend and happened to mention my father’s lack of a college degree, how the army had interrupted his education, and how it had always aggravated him. “Why didn’t he get credits for his military service?” “Huh?” No one in our family knew anything about that. No one had ever thought to look into it. OMIGOSH, I thought. Could I possibly…? I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing. Not my siblings, not my mother,

no one. I was too excited and too worried that it wouldn’t work out. I called the Veterans’ Administration and after the usual governmental hoop-jumping and red-tape cutting, I finally got dad’s service record. Clutching it nervously in my left hand, I dialed Baruch College with my right. I very slowly and patiently explained the situation to a typically bewildered receptionist who connected me to a wonderful associate dean, Dr. Phyllis Zadra, and I explained myself once again. “Hang on,” she said, and after what seemed like an eternity, she came back on the line. “Okay, I found your dad’s transcript. Fax me his service record and I’ll see what I can do.” I wanted to jump through the phone and hug her! Was it really possible? Was I actually going to get my father his degree after all these years? Well, I’m here to tell you that it took a week or two, but this is what I finally received from Dr. Zadra via Fedex:

I don’t know if you can read the fine print, but it’s not really a diploma. For some strange reason having to do with some fifty-five year old red tape, they issued a k’ilu diploma that read, in part: Zicklin School of Business Undergraduate Studies In recognition of attendance in the Economic and Finance major Confers upon Morris J. Zweig This Bachelors of Business Administration Certificate Dated February 1, 1948 Signed, John A. Elliot, Dean Zicklin School of Business

Signed, David Dannenbring, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

…and, of course, a gold seal!

y siblings and I had it framed, went over to mom and dad, and gave it to my father on

May 6th, 2003, his 87th birthday. I told him about the lost credits I had gotten him for his service to his country. There was no doubt in the mind of anyone in the room that he got it, and that he hadn’t been as happy in years. He knew precisely what he was looking at, knew exactly what it meant to him, and how incredibly long he had waiting for this amazing moment. And I stood there, basking in that moment. That once-in-a-lifetime moment. My father and I locked eyes, and suddenly there was no one else in the room. He didn’t say anything. No thank you. No good job. Certainly no I love you. But I wasn’t expecting any of that. And then he smiled. His eyes pierced my soul, and he smiled. And oh, how I got lost in that smile. In that smile, I found solace. In that smile, I finally found peace. P.S. My father was niftar on 19 Iyar, or May 21st, exactly fifteen days after his impromptu commencement exercise at the kitchen table. He spent his final fifteen days in this world as a college graduate. I’m so happy I was able to give that to him.

Rocky Zweig has been writing since he was sixteen and was the Editor-in-Chief of the late and decidedly unlamented Modieinu, the mimeographed (remember mimeographs?) newspaper of the Tenth Avenue Pirchei of Boro Park, where he wrote everything from stories to news articles to hashkafa articles to...yes (now it can be told!)...letters to the editor. Rocky was sixteen a very long time ago. He is the proud father of three marginally neurotic children. He has been married three — count ‘em — three times and has finally determined that he’s probably not very good at matrimonial bliss. He lives in his Fortress of Solitude in Flatbush with a small menagerie: Clarice, a European Starling; Rabbi Horatio LeZard, a Bearded Dragon; an aquarium filled with Lake Malawi African Cichlids; and a ten gallon tank that functions as a Home for Unwanted Goldfish, or H.U.G., collected over the years by his grandkids and great nieces and nephews at myriad street fairs and carnivals (rather than face the unpleasant task of flushing these unfortunate piscine creatures when they are eventually, inevitably ignored by their own obnoxious progeny, the parents simply call Uncle Rocky who then feeds them and cares for them until their ultimate natural demise three or four or even ten years down the pike). So apparently Rocky seems to get along better with animals than with his fellow homo sapiens. Or sapienses. Or whatever. Rocky’s column will be appearing every other week in The Jewish Home. Rocky can be reached at anidaati@aol.com.

TJH Classifieds

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Alternative Solutions Geriatric Care Management staff will assist you with: * Obtaining Medicaid and Pooled Income Trust * In-home Assessments, Individual and Family Counseling * Securing reliable home care assistance * Case and Care Management services Dr. S. Sasson, DSW, LCSW (718) 544- 0870 or (646) 284-6242

GAN KATAN Where Fun and Learning go Hand in Hand. 2 year old playgroup located in Woodmere 9:00-1:00 (option till 2:00). Friday till 12:00 Call Morah Malka: (917) 608-0739

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WOODMERE NEW CONSTRUCTION 5 BR, 3.5 Bths, Center Hall Colonial. Master Suite w/2 Walk in Closets, Guest BR w/Full Bath on First Floor. Radiant Heat on First Floor, Granite Kosher EIK………………….….. $1.3M By Owner NO Brokers 646-634-4642

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989 EAST BROADWAY - BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED, ONE OF A KIND HOME IN OLD WOODMERE 4 B/R, 2.5BA Cape. Approx. 2420 sqft of living space nestled on 9167 sqft of beautifully landscaped property. Located in Old Woodmere, HewlettWoodmere school district. Attached 1 car garage, enclosed front porch, deck, 3 working fireplaces, custom cabinetry and built-ins throughout. Partial basement and attic, CAC, IG sprinklers, lovely yard. Low taxes. Walk to Worship. Walk to transportation. Asking price $699K Contact Mike 516-509-7489

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Wash and Set $20 for short sheitels • $25 for long sheitels Located in 5towns/ far-rockaway area Call: Shlomit H. (516)-233-0633

by Meshulam Ross Free Trial Session Only $30 per Session Learn by Ear/Note Reading “Loads of Fun!” Learn a new Jewish song each week! Over 100 students taught Call or Text Meshulam: 917-280-4545 “Kosher” Yoga & Licensed Massage Therapy Peaceful Presence Studio 436 Central Avenue, Cedarhurst Separate men/women Group/private sessions, Martial Arts... Gift Cards Available www.peacefulpresence.com 516-371-3715 Struggling with Shalom Bayis? The Shalom Bayis Hotline 732-523-1112 Caring rabbanim answering your questions for free. So far very positive results BS’D! DO YOU NEED CLEANING, BABYSITTING OR CARE GIVERS? Cheap rates Call 718-304-4348

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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TJH Classifieds REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Don’t Get Stuck With a Two Story House Ya Know, It’s One Story Before You Buy It But a Second Story After You Own It !

CEDARHURST: 500-3000 +/- SF Professional Office Space Available in the Heart of Cedarhurst, For Lease...Call for More Details (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

Call Dov Herman For An Accurate Unbiased Home Inspection Infrared -Termite InspectionFull Report All Included NYC 718-INSPECT Long Island 516-INSPECT www.nyinspect.com

HEWLETT: Spacious 4BR, 2.5 Bath Split, Eik, Formal DR, Den, Finished Basement, CAC, SD#14...$499K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com WOODMERE: 2 Family House in Prime Location, 5BR, 3 Full Baths, Den, Hardwood Floors Throughout, New Roof & More, Near All, SD#14…$615K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com WOODMERE: PRICE REDUCED!!! Very Spacious Well Maintained 5BR, 3.5 Bath Split, Lg Eik, Formal DR, 2 Dens, CAC, SD#15, Quiet Prime Location...$749K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

FREEPORT: 1,400+/-SF Office Storefront, Newly Renovated with Rear Door, Empire Zone Benefits, Near Parkway, Train & Buses, For Sale…Call Alan for More Details (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

MIXED USE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY AVAILABLE Perfect for medical facility or retail On site parking and vacant lot attached Located minutes away from Central Ave. shops Currently vacant building, two apts with two commercial spaces And basement for storage High traffic street in Inwood 202 Sheridan Blvd. Option to lease or buy If interested contact Jeffery 718-734-8457

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Luxury Condo in Far Rockaway 156 Beach 9th St. Steps from the beach and boardwalk. Gorgeous 2 bedroom, 2 bath with modern kosher kitchen, stainless steel appliances, hardwood ﬂoors, washer/dryer hook up and terrace. Generous closets and living space. Elevator building with onsite maintenance staff.

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HELP WANTED

MISC.

CEDARHURST 500-3,500 +/- SF Beautiful, newly renovated space for rent. Ideal for Retail or Executive offices. Prime location. Convenient Parking. Call Sam @ 516-612-2433 or 718-747-8080

SEEKING TEACHER ASSISTANTS for special education pre-school in Far Rockaway Email resume to scohen@onourwaylc.org

Seeking a warm, capable Preschool Teacher for Preschool in Port Washington (near Great Neck) Good pay, beautiful facility and atmosphere. Please email your resume sara@chabadpw.org

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2 & 3 bedroom. Newly renovated, Washer and dryer hook up. Granite countertops. On Seagirt Avenue More info call or text 917-602-2914

CATAPULT LEARNING Teachers for Title I in Boro Park and Williamsburg Chassidic boys schools *College/Yeshiva Degree Required *Strong desire to help children learn *Excellent organizational skills *Small group instruction*Competitive salary Email resume: nyteachers@catapultlearning.com Fax# (718) 381-3493

Senior Jewish looking to rent a garage for storage in or near Far Rockaway ASAP 646-657-3131

MISC. For Sale: Toyota Avalon XLS 2007 only 58k miles!! Runs beautifully. Upgraded premium JBL audio, heated leather, 12 speakers. Premium wheels. PRICE REDUCED: $9,500 --$3,000 below KBB value! FCFS. Video of car and contact info at www.BuyMyAvalon.com Free lots to giveaway in Honeapath SC Buildable or storage Only pay transfer fees. $750 Lots valued at $10,000 718-974-9428

DONATE YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR VAN Get a tax deduction and $1200 in gift cards We pay cash for old cars too 718-974-9428 YEHALOMIM SHELANU SPECIAL PROGRAMMING Presents An after school program for the special children of our neighborhood! Every Monday afternoon from 4:45- 6:15 Fun and educational run by talented and experienced staff Call 516-732-2949 for more information or to register

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Part Time Male Aid SALES POSITION $1000/week (based on exp) Unlimited commission potential 3 positions available Call: Fidelity Payment 516-262-3134 Or apply online: www.fidelitypayment.com/salescareer

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TJH Classifieds Post your Real Estate, Help Wanted, Services, Miscellaneous Ads here. Every Thursday Email ads to: classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com Include valid credit card info Deadline Monday 5:00pm

Weekly Classified Ads Up to 5 lines and/or 25 words

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

4 BEDROOM, 3 BATHROOM SINGLE FAMILY CONDO $2,400 / MONTH Newly renovated, newly refinished hardwood floors throughout entire house, living room, dining room, large eat in kitchen with pantry, lots of Physical Therapist Assistants (PTA’s) & windows, new porcelain flooring, laundry room Occupational Therapists Assistants (COTA’s) with washer / dryer, garage, backyard with space For 200+ bed Nursing Home in Queens for sukkah, access to communal pool, Central Air/ Must have Hospital or Nursing Home experience heat, parking space, Near Darchei and beach. Please email resume to Call / txt 323-314-8773 or promrehab@aol.com email rivkalock@gmail.com

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ACCOUNTS PAYABLE, F/T Needed at Nursing Home in Queens with Must have prior A/P exper. NH exper a strong plus. Please fax resume to 718-868-1291.or Email mrt@queensnassaurehab.com

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Life Coach

Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

nce you make it through Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur you are truly drained, ready to sit down anywhere. You are not so picky. You are finally able to stop feeling so nervous about being judged and finally able to eat again. Do you really care if you make it back in to your dining room? Under the stars is just fine! You have soul searched, reviewed your past behavior, truly renewed a relationship with your Creator—it’s time to celebrate that reconnection. By now you know the walls of your house are irrelevant. If G-d wants you safe, you are; if not, no fortress can protect you. So a sukkah is as great a place to have a reunion, as anywhere else. In fact, what’s wrong with it at all? The bees seem to love it! The ants seem to find it rich in supplies. Even the neighborhood cats seem to

sense it’s a wonderful place to hang out. They can’t all be wrong. I think people overlook the talents sukkahs possess. For instance: -I hear they have physical talents: sukkahs hop. -They make good neighbors, since they must have walls, and as the poet Frost says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” -And finally, they are a great place to operate as a lookout, since you must be able to see the sky from everywhere inside of them. If the weather’s good, it’s a plea-

sure to sit there. If it rains, you’re exempt. Only cold weather is a problem

is what inhibits it. On Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur we dismantle those

I see people bringing heaters, air conditioners, beds and curtains into their sukkahs. So how it’s any different from their houses is actually a mystery to me. and in my house they keep the AC so high all summer, I’m used to wearing a jacket when I eat so it’s nothing new to me. Anyway, I see people bringing heaters, air conditioners, beds and curtains into their sukkahs. So how it’s any different from their houses is actually a mystery to me. In fact, in my home curtains would be a step up for me; I’m still using roll-up shades. Sukkahs give you the opportunity to use your deck, your yard, even your driveways in new and unusual ways. We pay for those extra pieces of real estate; they might as well multitask. And sukkahs do keep families intimate. It’s like when you were first married, everything happens in one room. When you eat inside the house, kids seem to disappear somehow during the meal. They often have this unique way of getting up to get some salt and you’d think they were siphoning it out of the ocean it takes them so long for them to reemerge. Rabbi Daniel Travis, in his book, Days of Majesty, explains: Hashem created this world to have a relationship with Man. The walls we build

barriers. By Sukkos the spiritual wall is dismantled. We go from days of mercy, to days

of repentance, to days of mitzvot, to days of jubilance— that’s Sukkos! So, within the walls of the sukkah celebrate the reconnection, the renewed relationship between you and Hashem. And the relationship between you and all those created in G-d’s image, and especially the ones near and dear to you, created in your image as well. This is the gift of Sukkos. Build walls around you—not between you! Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or at rivki@rosenwalds.com

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Prepare yourself for College and a career!

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NO MONEY OUT OF POCKET NEEDED New York State approved millions of dollars in funding for efficiency construction projects, including windows, doors, boilers, AC systems and foam insulation.

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Qualify for a free energy assessment, access low interest financing and get up to 50% cash back on eligible upgrades. Make your home more comfortable year-round and save on energy costs by taking advantage of the Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Program.