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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

We wish all of Klal Yisroel a ‫כתיבה וחתימה טובה‬. A year filled with all the goodness earned through your devotion to ‫כבוד בית כנסת‬. We are gratified that thousands around the world have joined our movement

and raised the levels of tefillah to the lofty level it truly deserves. May Hashem bless us all with a ‫שנת גאולה וישועה‬

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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Dear Readers, The Middle East will never be the same again. Peace with Israel is no longer taboo—indeed looks like it will become mainstream in the very near future. We are witnessing a modern miracle. Additionally, this peace comes from a place of respect. A respect for Israel’s success in areas such as water, technology, and medicine to name a few. It is now in the self-interest of fair-minded Arabic countries to have financial cooperation with the Jewish State. They plan to welcome Jewish businessman from the world over. Who knows, perhaps the Palestinian Arabs will rise up against their corrupt leadership and demand their right to live a life of peace and opportunity and not live in perpetual conflict? This atmosphere of reversal seems to be everywhere right now—not only in public spaces, but in private ones. Within my circle of acquaintances (and I imagine the same is true for other people), there’s a real shift in improving the way we behave: additional Torah learning, being more considerate of others, more careful about keeping kosher, and so on. We might call it a silent revolution of individual improvement. This might be a good new year’s resolution: to see reality based on what we are experiencing and not let the news sites, Facebook, or Instagram portray it for us. We can see the world through the lens of despair, or we can choose to see it through the lens of growth and opportunity. Let’s choose life. May 5781 bring much healing, blessing and ultimately the geulah sheleimah. Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos, a ksiva v’chasima tova, l’shanah tovah u’mesukah,

Shalom

T H E P R E M I E R J E W I S H N E W S PA P E R H I G H L I G H T I N G L A’ S O R T H O D OX C O M M U N I T Y The Jewish Home is an independent bi-weekly newspaper. Opinions expressed by writers are not necessarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly. FOR HOME DELIVERY, OR TO HAVE THE LATEST ISSUE EMAILED TO YOU FREE OF CHARGE, SEND A MESSAGE TO EDITOR@JEWISHHOMELA.COM

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Jewish Homeschooling on the Rise in Uncertain Times Yehudis Litvak

In over a decade of homeschooling here, in Los Angeles, I have seen our local Jewish homeschooling group grow and evolve, adjusting each year to the needs of new and continuing homeschool families. But never in all those years have I seen such a tremendous influx of new members in our group as we are seeing in this 2020-2021 school year. The group more than doubled in size as Los Angeles Jewish families opt for homeschooling in the face of global uncertainty. Before the coronavirus pandemic, homeschooling had not been a popular choice in the Jewish community. The majority of the community relied on school to meet their children’s spiritual, educational, and social needs. But when the pandemic hit, many families experienced the advantages of homeschooling, and some of them never want to go back. “We’ve been staying home since March, and for our family it’s like Heaven,” says Tali Krutovski. “My children love it. They learn well. We get to be together, get to know each other better.” One of Tali’s children had struggled in school and always needed extra tutoring. At home, Tali is able to provide tutoring for him without the extra stress or the pressure of keeping up with his classmates. Another new homeschooler, Aliza Fuhrman, echoes Tali’s sentiments. “I took [my children] out of school right at the beginning of the pandemic. I love it, and so do they. They thrive. We are having so much fun!” Aliza had considered homeschooling before, but it was the pandemic that finally gave her the opportunity to take this step. “We get to pick our own topics, we delve into whatever the kids are interested in, we order tons of books and do huge unit studies,” she says, explaining that her children are much more enthusiastic about learning when the curriculum is structured around their interests. Sarah Roven shares a similar story— she’d wanted to homeschool before but was concerned about her children’s social opportunities. With the pandemic limiting everyone’s social life, Sarah decided to give homeschooling a try. While homeschooling has its daily challenges, Sarah strives to make learning fun and interactive for her children, with lots of arts and

The Week In News

Happenings

crafts. She also teamed up with her neighbor, whose children are similar in ages, and they take turns homeschooling their small “pod.” That way, the children get some social interaction. Ruvin Spivak also formed a pod together with three other families. The children had been in school together, and the transition wasn’t difficult for them since they were able to maintain these friendships. While currently most of their interactions are virtual, they are hoping for more in-person learning opportunities in the future. Ruvin gives two primary reasons for homeschooling: flexibility and control. “I love the idea of forming our own schedule,” he says, explaining that education becomes much more efficient and effective when it is adjusted to the students’ needs and interests. One of his children is academically advanced, and in a homeschooling environment she is able to move through the material faster and have more time for other, “not cookie cutter,” educational opportunities. Since both Ruvin and his wife work full time, their children take online Judaic studies courses and are signed up for a public online charter school. The online school is much more flexible than other schools since the children can work on their lessons at their own pace and schedule. They enjoy this flexibility and don’t miss the morning rush. Financial considerations also play a role in local families’ decision to homeschool. Tali explains that paying for much needed tutoring in addition to full tuition is very difficult at a time when so many families’ resources are tighter. “I believe that I can give [my children] a lot more at home,” she says. Sarah and her husband also found themselves strapped financially and did not want to commit to paying tuition with so much uncertainty about what this school year would look like. “Homeschooling is much more affordable,” she says. All the families we spoke to intend to homeschool long term. While they expressed concerns about their children’s social lives once the world returns back to normal, they are also finding hope in the fact that so many families are homeschooling this year. Perhaps if they all continue to homeschool, social life will no longer be a concern.

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‫ הגאון רבי יהודה סילמאן‬,‫כקש”ת הגאון רבי משה שטרנבוך שליט”א ראב”ד העדה החרדית ירושלים תובב”א‬ ‫ הגאון רבי עזריאל‬,‫ הגאון רבי נפתלי נויסבוים שליט”א‬,‫ הגאון רבי יצחק זילבערשטיין שליט”א‬,‫שליט”א‬ ‫ הגאון רבי שריאל ראזנבערג שליט”א‬,‫ הגאון רבי שמואל אליעזר שטערן שליט”א‬,‫אויערבאך שליט”א‬

The Week In News Living with the Times

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

This is the Year

Publisher of the Yated Ne’eman After a month of preparation, we are now at Rosh Hashanah, when Hashem judges all people. We have been given Elul to rectify that which we have done wrong so that we may be judged favorably. At the time of creation, Hashem realized that the world would not be able to exist if it were run strictly according to din, which would exact immediate punishment when people sin. He therefore added rachamim, mercy, to din, and created the idea of teshuvah, granting a person the ability to erase sin from his ledger and absolve himself from punishment. Teshuvah is applicable throughout the year, but Elul and Aseres Yemei Teshuvah are times of rachamim, when Hashem is closer to us, representing an opportune time for us to consider the way we behaved throughout the year and express regret for the times we erred. Teshuvah will be accepted and the sinner will be immediately welcomed back into Hashem’s embrace, as the posuk says, “Dirshu Hashem behimatzo, kera’uhu bihiyaso karov - Seek out Hashem when He is found, call out to Him when He is close.” Now is when He is found and close. How can a person determine if his teshuvah has been accepted? If his aveirah was bein adam laMakom, he must repent to the degree that Hakadosh Boruch Hu can testify that the sinner will never return to his aveirah. What about if a person sinned with improper middos? How can he know if his teshuvah is complete? The Rama (at the end of siman 582) says that on Rosh Hashanah, people should wish each other, “Leshanah tovah tikoseiv. May you be inscribed for a good year.” The Mogein Avrohom (ibid.) writes that people should wish each other, “Leshanah tovah tikoseiv veseichoseim,” adding to the blessing that the recipient should not only be written for a good year, but also that their good fate should be sealed. He explains that this is on account of the obligation to view others as tzaddikim, who are immediately sealed on Rosh Hashanah for a good year. If someone is able to view his contemporaries as tzaddikim, it is an indication that he has successfully committed teshuvah and can view others favorably. Someone who wishes other people, “Leshanah tovah tikoseiv veseichoseim,” is no longer encumbered by middos ra’os and views other people in a positive light. Humility is an indication that the process of teshuvah has been completed. The question is how we get there. The Gemara in Maseches Taanis (30b) discusses the concept that the most joyous

days for Klal Yisroel are the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur. The Gemara explains that it is easy to understand the greatness of Yom Kippur, because on that day, Jews can be forgiven for their sins, and the second set of Luchos was bequeathed to Klal Yisroel. The original Luchos were broken by Moshe Rabbeinu upon his return to earth and seeing the Bnei Yisroel celebrating with the Eigel. It would seem that the two occurrences of the day are intertwined. Not only was the re-giving of the Luchos on Yom Kippur a sign that Klal Yisroel had been forgiven for the sin of the Eigel, but the power of the Luchos is the power of the Torah. It is the Torah that raises man and brings him closer to Hashem, enabling his sins to be forgiven. A person who dedicates his life to Torah becomes sanctified and his life takes on added meaning. Just as teshuvah allowed the dor hamidbor to recover after

frightening. Everything that will happen in the coming year is decided on this day. Tof Shin Pey was a tough year. Who didn’t experience difficulties in the outgoing year? There was much good, for which we are indeed grateful. We made it through the year. We have what to eat and where to live. Many other things went the way we would like. We should never take that, or anything, for granted. But now, at the outset of the new year, we stand like poor people, begging for life and that we be spared from the tribulations that we endured throughout the year, which is thankfully ending. We seek sources of merit that will shield us from the din, from anguish and agony, and from despair. People seek to find happiness in their lives and aren’t able to. People look for menuchas hanefesh, shidduchim, nachas, good health, and more, knowing that on Rosh Hashanah, our fates for the upcoming year are decided.

In addition to being a day of judgment, Rosh Hashanah is also a day of redemption. sinning with the Eigel, it allows the sinner in our day to return to Hashem’s embrace. We seek to become closer to Hashem. Torah is the prime method of accomplishing that. When we study the word of Hashem, it attaches us to Him. As we ponder the awesomeness of the day of judgment, the yom hadin, we engage in teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah to remove the barrier that separates us from Hashem. We daven and ask Hashem to view us “im kevonim im ka’avodim,” either as children and pity us as a father pities his offspring or as slaves and recognize that our gaze is fixed upon Him until we find favor in His eyes and are judged favorably. Thus, we recite twice daily the kappitel of L’Dovid, for it refers to our bitachon in Hashem: “ori veyishi, our light and our hope.” Even as others abandon us, seek to entrap us, and declare war on us, “bezos ani voteiach,” we maintain our faith that Hashem will assist us. During the Yomim Noraim period, as the Soton seeks to prevent us from getting closer to Hashem and disparages us before Him, we believe that He will look upon us with kindness and love. Rosh Hashanah is the day when our fates are decided. The day is awesome and

We promise to mend our ways. We say that we have examined our actions of the previous year and will do what we must to merit the gift of another year. How do we clean our slate and earn a better year? How does a person arrive at teshuvah? Doing so requires conducting a serious cheshbon hanefesh. We undertake a personal scrutiny and review our conduct through the year. Then we set about correcting our character flaws and rectifying the mistakes and errors of judgments we made. We think about the times we were lackadaisical about performing a mitzvah, and if there was an aveirah, we must remove its remnants and resolve to be more serious about the mitzvos and the Torah. We regret improper actions, words and thoughts until Hashem can proclaim that we are cleansed and will not engage again in the inappropriate conduct. We emerge from the process changed. Teshuvah is humbling, as it reminds us of our mortality and tenuous hold on things. We are reminded of our weaknesses and how hard we must work to keep ourselves straight and decent at all times. Teshuvah brings us back to where we were before we sinned. It sets us on the

path we should have been on and provides us the energy we require to be properly and thoroughly engaged. It provides us with a greater appreciation of Hashem’s role in our life and accomplishments. Teshuvah triggers an outpouring of sincere tefillah. With a fresh awareness of how small and helpless we are in the face of life’s frightening precariousness comes a spontaneous outpouring of tefillah. We proclaim Hashem’s supremacy over all of existence, thank Him for His daily kindnesses, and beg that we merit His continued generosity. Middos tovos are prerequisites for teshuvah, for ga’avah prevents a person from recognizing his shortcomings as well as his dependence on Hashem. A person who is caught up with himself is not able to reach the level of understanding required to draw himself closer to his Master. He wallows in sin and self-indulgence even as he goes through the motions of transformation. Ga’avah derails an individual from properly preparing for Rosh Hashanah and from becoming a special person. Ga’avah prevents a person from helping others. An arrogant individual looks down upon others and views them askance, with a measure of scorn and hate. His negative middah keeps him from using his gifts to help others. He views others as somehow deficient and inferior to himself. This is what the Rambam refers to when he writes, “Baalei teshuvah darkan lihiyos shefeilim va’anavim b’yoser” (Hilchos Teshuvah 7:8). The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 11a) states that Rosh Hashanah is the day when Yosef was freed from the Egyptian jail, as well as the day that marked the end of crushing slavery for the Jews in Mitzrayim. Thus, in addition to being a day of judgment, Rosh Hashanah is also a day of redemption. On this day, we can all be released from enslavement to the yeitzer hora and to the web of desires. The avodas hayom and the day’s built-in redemptive power can return us to an earlier, more ennobled state. Once a person reaches that higher level of spiritual awareness brought on by teshuvah, he realizes that he is not superior to other people, who were created just as he was, b’tzelem Elokim. He is able to better appreciate the plight of those who are in need of assistance, evoking his sympathy and compassion. As part of the spiritual growth triggered by teshuvah and tefillah, he has a growing awareness that it is not enough to care for himself and his close family. He recognizes that he can assist other people in obtaining their daily needs. His feelings of supremacy, aloofness and apathy crumble as he ponders his own in-

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

Living with the Times

‫ ת ּו ַפ ר‬- ‫ַׁשׁ ְּפ ר ּו ַמ ֲע ֵׂש י ֶכ ם ּו ְב ִר י ת ֹל א‬

adequacies. The baal teshuvah attains a level of contentment reserved for those who are humble and walk in the path of Hashem. When teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah flow, a person indicates that he has reached the level of comportment necessary to prevail in the din of Rosh Hashanah. Thus, with our hearts focused on implementing the lessons embedded in these words, we proclaim, “Useshuvah usefillah utzedakah maavirin es ro’a hagezeirah.” We endeavor to reach that lofty level and find favor in Hashem’s eyes, so that He will bless us all with a kesivah vachasimah tovah. Everyone essentially wants to do teshuvah and return to Hashem’s embrace, but some find it difficult to overcome their habits and the yeitzer hora, which leads them astray. They feel removed from kedusha and Torah and fear that they can never rid themselves of their addictions and sins. If they would only call out, “Hashiveini! Hashem, help me. Bring me back,” then ve’ashuvah, they would be able to return. No one should ever give up on themselves, and we should never give up on anyone. “Zeh hayom techilas ma’asecha.” Rosh Hashanah is not just the commemoration of the first day of creation, but an opportunity to experience creation anew and in the process renew our own personal circumstances. On Rosh Hashanah, we daven for a good new year, with beginnings that will improve upon what we experienced in the passing year. We seek to merit a year of positive developments for ourselves and our families, keeping sadness and failure in the past. We examine ourselves and, instead of being upset that we are not as good as we would have liked to be and were not able to realize all of our goals, we recognize that just because last year didn’t turn out as we would have wanted, that doesn’t mean that we are doomed to remain in a lesser state. Hayom haras olam. Today is the day of man’s creation. Not just back when the world was created 5,781 years ago, but also today and now. Hayom yaamid bamishpot kol yetzurei olamim. Today, the forces of creation are strongly present, as Hashem judges all His creations and decides what type of year they will have. The day of Rosh Hashanah marks a new start for everyone. Thus, the teshuvah process begins with the days of Rosh Hashanah, reminding us that we can walk a new path. Rosh Hashanah precedes Yom Kippur because it is the day when we begin anew. The realization of the new beginning provides us with the confidence that we can undertake teshuvah and make ourselves whole once again.

Rosh Hashanah is the gift that launches us onto the path culminating with Ne’ilah on Yom Kippur. It is this awareness that allows us to believe that we can change. Everything can change. We can do it over and do much better this time. While listening to the shofar, we hear echoes of the blasts that were sounded at Har Sinai, when Klal Yisroel was formed into the nation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The shofar then proclaimed a new beginning. The world had reached its destiny. Ahead was much hope and promise. The shofar was also blown at Yovel. When we blow it on Rosh Hashanah, it hints at the independence of the Yovel year, the collective song of freedom chanted by so many released slaves going home to begin life anew. The earth, as well, joins in the process, as land returns to its original owners at Yovel. We are reminded that Rosh Hashanah affords us an opportunity to start over again. Teshuvah is how we overcome past mistakes and begin anew unencumbered by past errors and bloopers. They do not have to be an albatross, chaining us down forever. Irrespective of what it was that hampered our growth and ability to prosper, succeed and advance in life as we had hoped, Rosh Hashanah allows us to put that behind us and begin anew, with fresh vigor and optimism for a bright and blessed future. We can have a great year, even if last year wasn’t too good for us. We can be happy again, even if last year we were sad and depressed. Even if we didn’t learn shtark enough and weren’t able to shteig last year, that doesn’t mean that we should give up on ourselves. This year, we start from scratch, leaving the weakness in the dust and doing our best to move ahead. If relationships were strained, we ask forgiveness and set about beginning again with the ability to do everything this time the way we wish we would have done it in the first place. Just because we allowed ourselves to be held down last year doesn’t mean that this year cannot be the breakout year when we are finally able to access and utilize our abilities. May this be the year we have always wished for. May all our hopes, dreams, wishes and ambitions be realized. May we merit the ultimate new beginning and hearing the blasts of the great shofar announcing the arrival of Moshiach. Leshanah tovah tikoseivu veseichoseimu.

IT’S THE ASERES YEMEI TESHUVA! We’re extra careful with what we eat. We’re working on our davening. We’re meticulous in our ‫בין אדם לחבירו‬

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Keren Neki Kapayim accepts full responsibility to for the money ‫עד שיבא‬ ‫ אליהו‬when it will be handed over to their rightful owner.

Keren Neki Kapayim operates under the auspices of:

the TheFrom Week InFire News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

From the Fire

Rosh Hashana Iyov’s Memories By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

he truth is that one is not supposed to darshen, to speak, on Rosh Hashana. But if one is going to teach Torah, it should not be with words of mussar, of rebuke. Rather, it should only be words which seek out the positive things in the Jewish people. And because Rosh Hashana is the birthday of Adam HaRishon, the first man, it is our birthday to. So let us speak about what kind of birthday present we would ask for from the Master of the World. The shofar is the call to freedom, as we say in Shemonah Esreh every day, “Sound the great shofar of our freedom.” And the Gemara (Rosh Hashana 33b) derives the simple nature of the sound of the tekiyah, the first and last shofar blasts of each set, from a pasuk regarding the blowing of the shofar on the jubilee year in which all slaves are set free. But in each set, there is a teruah blast in between the simple tekiyah blasts. While there is a dispute in the Gemara there regarding the specific nature of the teruah – whether it is made up of several medium-length sounds or a number of shorter sounds – it is clear that the sound is meant to represent the sound of crying. We see from the Gemara that the order of the shofar blowing is a strong clear tekiyah at the beginning, broken, mournful teruah sounds in the middle, and a strong clear tekiyah at the end. In truth, this is the pattern of our individual lives as well as the life of our nation. As a child, each person begins with a clear, simple, optimistic note. Then, when a person grows up a bit, life becomes complicated. We hit obstacles and suffer setbacks, disappointments, and pain. But then, eventually, one reaches a stage in life when he or she is able to look back on his early years, everything in between, and all of his accomplishments and feel that simple, clear sense of satisfaction and nachas. People often ask me how I would characterize the difference between teaching

and meeting with the bochurim in yeshiva and teaching and speaking with the members of this shul. I love the yeshiva. And I love this shul. But it is a completely different experience. Speaking with the bochurim in yeshiva can be compared to the initial, clear, simple tekiyah blast. They are filled with optimism, hope, and idealism for the future. Even if they regret certain mistakes, they look forward to how they will go in a new direction. This is completely different from speaking with people who are older, middle-aged, or already grandparents. They have already experienced so many of the ups and downs, the complications of life. They have had their share of teruos, broken shofar blasts.

Avraham’s Three-Day Journey Our great-grandfather Avraham Avinu experienced this pattern as well in the par-

sha of the Akeida, the binding of Yitzchak, which we read on the second day of Rosh Hashana. When the time came, the pasuk (Bereishis 22:3) says, “And Avraham got up early in the morning.” The day started with a crystal clear and simple tekiyah blast. Avraham was ready to do Hashem’s will, whatever that meant. But he was not immediately able to fulfill Hashem’s command. Rather, he had to walk with Yitzchak for three days before he arrived at the place where he would bind and slaughter his beloved son, his only heir to the spiritual legacy he brought into the world. What thoughts were going through Avraham’s mind during those three days? How many memories of his time with Yitzchak flashed before his eyes? How many tears did he shed for what he and the world were about to lose as the minutes turned into hours and the hours turned into days as

they slowly journeyed toward their destination? Those three days must have been the most mournful teruah in Avraham’s life. But when they arrived and the time came to carry out Hashem’s will, Avraham’s simple, clear desire to do Hashem’s will returned: “I am here!” (ibid. 11).

Iyov’s Memories And much later, there was another tzdadik who experienced his own tekiyah – teruah – tekiyah: Iyov. There was something that bothered me as I learned through sefer Iyov on Tisha B’Av. Iyov’s life began with a grand, clear tekiyah blast. He was a wealthy tzaddik with a beautiful wife and children. What could have been better? But in one long staccato teruah, he lost everything and everyone precious to him in quick succession. In the end, however, Iyov experienced another

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

From the Fire

‫ ת ּו ַפ ר‬- ‫ַׁשׁ ְּפ ר ּו ַמ ֲע ֵׂש י ֶכ ם ּו ְב ִר י ת ֹל א‬

IT’S THE ASERES YEMEI TESHUVA! We’re extra careful with what we eat. We’re working on our davening. We’re meticulous in our ‫בין אדם לחבירו‬

tekiyah, a clear shofar blast. The pesukim say (Iyov 42:12-17) that Hashem restored Iyov’s wealth. He remarried and had many more children. He was even more blessed than before. I cannot help but not be satisfied with that ending. While there is no doubt that Iyov loved his new wife and children, how often did he think about his first wife and first children with sadness? My parents lost everyone that they loved in the Holocaust. While they loved my sister and I, I have no doubt that they always mourned all of the loved ones they lost. When I imagine Iyov with his new wife

Iyov’s zichronos, shofar blasts of remembrance.

Our Birthday Request The same Gemara we quoted above also says that if one doubles the length of the final tekiyah of one set of shofar blasts, the second half of that blast cannot count as the first tekiyah of the next set of blasts. Why not? Because one simply cannot compare the simple, upbeat, fresh optimism of a new beginning with the nachas later on in a full life saturated with the memories of all of the ups, downs, and disappointments of the previous years.

One reaches a stage in life when he or she is able to look back on his early years, everything in between, and all of his accomplishments and feel that simple, clear sense of satisfaction and nachas.

and children, it reminds me of a powerful Journeys song called “Memories” by Abie Rotenberg: When I hold my grandson close to me And his fingers trace the pattern of my tears He asks me, Zaide Tell me why do you cry What is it that you fear? And I tell him there once was another child Who smelled this sweet and felt this warm But he was taken from before my eyes And only I remain to mourn During the final tekiyah of Iyov’s life, what was he thinking when his children or grandchildren sat on his lap? They certainly gave him nachas, but I have no doubt that the memories of his children who left the world never stopped haunting him. His previous wife and children were

They are not in any way interchangeable. We therefore ask that Hashem look at our people now. We ask that he listen to our tekiyah gedolah, our final great and clear shofar blast filled with thousands of years of disappointments, losses, and pain. May He finally “sound the great shofar of our redemption.” As we say in the Rosh Hashana Shemonah Esreh, may Hashem grant “happiness to Your land, joy to Your city, a blossoming of the horn of Dovid Your servant, and the establishment of the candle of the son of Yishai, Your anointed one, may it be soon in our days.” It has been too long already. All we want on our birthday is that Hashem finally sound the great shofar. Call and end to this long process and bring us back to our land with the coming of Moshiach this year! Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

Sarah's The WeekCorner In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Alive or Living? Sarah Pachter

My son recently posed a clever riddle. “Imagine you’re faced with three doors, and you must choose one to open and go through. One room has ninja assassins, another has a lion that hasn’t eaten in three months, and the last opens into a flaming inferno. Which door do you choose in order to live?” Before I had a chance to reply, he answered, “The one with the lion, of course! If it hasn’t eaten in three months, it’s dead!” His riddle got me thinking about the true meaning of life and death. On Rosh Hashanah, we beg for life, but are we really living now? If we want to do better than just survive in the physical realm, we will need to nourish something deeper within ourselves. Fifteen years ago, while delivering a lecture, I shared that I passed by the window of a Starbucks, and three people were each sitting alone, facing the street and staring into a laptop. Not one person in the coffee shop was conversing with another human being. Today, this scene is typical, but at the time, this example was shocking to any onlooker. Five years ago, I shared to a class the example of a couple typing on their phones during dinner at a restaurant. While sharing this story, I saw visible disapproval of this practice in the faces of the audience. Today, this behavior sounds all too familiar in our own lives. These days, and especially amid COVID-19, we are plugged into our

screens for most of our waking hours. Just like the physical body needs nourishment to survive, our soul requires nourishment. Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski labels the lack of spiritual nourishment as “Spiritual Deficiency Syndrome.”1 Just as the body can be deficient in certain vitamins or minerals, the soul can become deficient in its needs, and wither.

Incorporating physical, verbal, intellectual, and emotional needs in every mitzvah is much easier said than done. Sometimes, mitzvot feel more like just going through the motions as we robotically and even grudgingly perform them. • How often do we prepare for Shabbat and holidays with exhaustion rather than zest and excitement?

The time before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur should be one of introspection and prayer. It’s a perfect time to reflect on ways to nourish the soul so we can really live a full life. Yet how do we “feed” something non-physical?

• How often do we grunt or groan as we receive yet another email or phone call asking for tzedakah?

The Ben Ish Chai explains that mitzvot provide nourishment to the soul, and we perform them with the physical shell that Hashem gifted us, our bodies. He further notes that there is a physical, verbal, mental, and emotional aspect to every mitzvah which nourishes different parts of the soul.

• How many times do we zip through prayers, only to realize when we finish that we were merely on autopilot the whole time?

Take, for example, the act of eating. It’s a mitzvah to nourish the body. We use our mouth, tongue, and teeth to physically fulfill this mitzvah. We verbally recite a blessing when fulfilling this mitzvah. We are meant to mentally stay present at this time, and feel grateful to Hashem for all the people, resources, and energy that went into the preparation of our food. And there is also an emotional aspect to this mitzvah, which is feeling joyous and satisfied with eating.

Twerski, Abraham J., The Enemy Within: Confronting Your Challenges in the 21st Century

• How many times do we sigh with frustration when caring for our children?

We may begin the process with the best of intentions, but actually performing every mitzvah with mind, body, intellect, and emotion is difficult to maintain. Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of the creation of man, offers us a chance to rejuvenate, and is a shortcut to feeling alive and vibrant while serving Hashem once again. Just as when Hashem initially created man with His breath, when the shofar blows, life in its truest sense is blown back into us. It is no coincidence that neshamah, “soul,” and neshimah, “breath,” share the same letters. The blowing of the shofar serves as the physical representation of this rejuvenation. The Shulchan Aruch asks a fascinat-

ing, yet seemingly irrelevant question regarding the shofar. If a shofar were to have a second shofar inside it, can it be deemed kosher for use? The halachah explains that a double shofar is kosher if the inner shofar extends on both sides beyond the outer shofar. Rabbi Eli Mansour explains the deeper message behind this question: Everyone is made of two shofars—one outer and one inner. One’s inner shofar, or inner life, must extend beyond the outer shofar. In other words, our priority must be on the inside, on the soul. Otherwise, we risk a life that creates a shell with an inner void. Of course, the body must be nourished; otherwise, life ceases. But our physical body is just a vehicle for the soul to achieve its higher purpose on Earth. The inner soul must be a priority, or we risk a life with no meaning. We beg G-d for a good year, but what will we choose for ourselves this year? A life that feels like an empty shell, plugged into a screen 24/7? A life that views acts of kindness as drudgery? Or a life that recognizes how every moment has potential to draw forth spirituality and meaning into our daily existence? Every mitzvah we partake, no matter how seemingly small, can potentially to nourish our soul if we perform it with enthusiasm. We can pray even one blessing with deeper kavanah, we can clean out homes while saying “L’chovod Shabbos kodesh,” and we can honor our parents or grandparents with gratitude that they are still in our lives. We beg Hashem for life, but we have the power to create life, true life, for ourselves. As the gates are opening for us this year, we must keep in mind the very first line of the Shulchan Aruch: “Arise like a lion, ready to start the day.” That lion must have a zest and energy with which to tackle life’s challenges. Feed the lion, both inside and out, so we can once again start living.

The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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KITZUR HALACHOS: SUKKAH & DALED MINIM, prefaced by HAGAON HARAV YERUCHEM OLSHIN shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha, contains a thorough examination of all the halachos of Sukkah and Daled Minim, based on the rulings of the Mishnah Berurah. The intricate and complex details of each halachah are brought out in a clear and comprehensive manner. Kitzur Halachos includes detailed diagrams and illustrations, making the sefer accessible for all levels.

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29, | The Jewish Home Feature TheOCTOBER Week In2015 News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Keeping Kosher in Dubai

TJH Speaks with Rabbi Yissachar Krakowski

BY SUSAN SCHWAMM

Last month, when representatives from the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates gathered in Dubai to solidify the normalization of relations between the Jewish State and the UAE, Rabbi Yissachar Krakowski, of the OU, was on hand to ensure that kosher-observers were able to eat with their counterparts without concern. TJH recently spoke with Rabbi Krakowski about his experience with keeping the event kosher in the Arab country.

Feature The Week In News

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Rabbi Krakowski, you're the head of the OU Kosher Israel office. Yes. And I’ve been working on expanding into the Gulf region, to reach out beyond the borders of Israel, including the Palestinian areas. Before I came to the OU, they were more reluctant to certify things in Palestinian territories. Now, that’s less so the case, and we’re definitely reaching out to other Arab countries. So Dubai is going to be your new frontier? We’ve been certifying companies both from the Emirates and other Arab countries for a while. It’s not something that’s brand new. Until the Arab Spring, we were certifying companies in Syria even. Not now, obviously, because of safety of mashgichim. I don’t think it’s safe to send even Muslims to Syria right now, let alone Jews. These countries have no problem with you coming there on an Israeli passport? I don’t come on an Israeli passport. I come on an American passport. It took a little bit of ingenuity to get to the United Arab Emirates from Israel for the event. Well, I was coming from Israel, and I had to get there before the delegation in order to kasher everything. With Covid, it’s a bit harder to travel. In the past, when I flew to the Emirates, I flew through Amman, Jordan, which is just one stopover and is not that much out of the way. But the airport in Amman is closed because of COVID-19. So I had to fly to Europe to fly to Dubai, as ironic as it sounds. On the way there, I flew through Bulgaria, and then on the way back, I flew through Athens, Greece. I had to leave there very, very early in the morning to get to Bulgaria. There was a whole issue because they don’t allow Americans into Bulgaria. I had to pull strings there to be able to get to my flight. In the end, they took me in a border police car from one terminal to the other terminal, so I didn’t actually step foot over the border. I was also busy with my suitcases because I had three oversized suitcases with food that I brought along for the delegation. Initially, they planned a fleishigs menu and I packed food for that, but they opted out of the fleshing menu when they heard what was involved. That was decided when I was already in transit, so I was bringing the food along. Coming home, I flew through Athens, but I had a very long stopover – almost five hours. The meals were served starting on Monday. When did you get there to handle the kashering? I worked with somebody locally to kasher the kitchen, and he started kashering it before I came.

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He sent me pictures and videos of the equipment that had to be taken care of in order to kasher the kitchen, so I was involved before I even got there. When I came, I followed up, and I checked up on it. The truth is, in a certain way, it’s much easier actually to do these types of programs than to do a Pesach program somewhere or a vacation program. Really? I did a similar program earlier this year in February in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. It was for the COP, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations; they had a conference there. At the invitation of the Royal Court, I did the kashrus there for them. In both of these instances – in Saudi Arabia and in the event in Dubai – when you’re doing something for the Royal Courts of these types of countries, they spare not a cent. Whatever it costs, whatever you need, if this is what the royalty wants, that’s what’s going to be. They want to be hospitable, and they want to be able to feed their guests and to honor them with food. How did that manifest itself in Dubai? Well, to give you an example, this time they used new plates at every single meal. There were people eating kosher and not kosher next to each other at the same meal. Hotels have codes that they need to use a certain standard and certain size and everything has to be the same pattern in terms of their crockery and their cutlery, flatware, silverware, etc. The event was at the St. Regis in Abu Dhabi. For this event, all those things were brand new at every single meal. They’d give us 150 pieces brand new for all our guests. A mashgiach stood and saw them unwrapping them from the boxes before each and every meal. To ensure that there wasn’t any confusion as to what was kosher or non-kosher, the plates that were used for the kosher eaters did not go back into the kosher kitchen after the meal. They were sent to a different area in the hotel, to a different kitchen, where they were washed and used for non-kosher. They did this – using new dishes, etc. – without batting an eyelash. There was no worry about costs involved. In terms of not sparing any expense, what else did that translate into? For one of the dishes, the chefs needed truffles. Truffles are kosher. You just need to check them to ensure they’re not infested with bugs. So I told them that they could use them. But then, a little while later, I saw a jar of truffle sauce and I look at it and it had wine, which is obviously not kosher and had other ingredients in the sauce. I said to him, “This doesn’t have a kosher certification. This isn’t kosher.” And he told me, “You told me I could use truffles.” “Well, you can use truffles, but this is

truffle sauce, and it’s not kosher.” He said, “Oh, man, what are we going to do? That’s what I put on the menus already.” So I said, “OK, make your own truffle sauce.” “That’s a great idea. Let me get truffles.” He started making phone calls. Truffles are a relatively high-end type of food. So we started making phone calls trying to get ahold of fresh truffles. We finally found one place that had them but they told him they couldn’t deliver. He only needed one or two kilos of truffles. He told them that he’d pay them 2,000 dirhams – which is around $600 – for the truffles. “Send it in a taxi and meet me here in 15 minutes,” he said. For them, the word “budget” doesn’t exist. They’re very cooperative because this is coming from His Royal Highness. This is what the royalty wants. In that culture, this is royalty, this is a dynasty, they listen to every word of what he says. The more liberal Muslims are very excited about the accord because they can’t wait to – unfortunately – come to Tel Aviv to party. Obviously, that’s not what I want to hear. But that’s the truth of it. But when you speak to the more conservative Muslims, as they call themselves, and you ask them what their thoughts are about the accord, they say, “We trust our royalty implicitly.” They believe that they all come from Mohammed and that they’re innately holy just by default. And the royalty has immense power. There’s no saying no to them. When you’re the one who is asked to do something by the royalty, it’s a different ballpark. No one second-guesses you or balks at what needs to get done. Do you speak Arabic? I have a pocketful of vocabulary but not more than that. I would like to learn, but that hasn’t happened. Who translated for you? They all speak English fluently over there. It’s not like Jordan or Egypt, where many of

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Feature The Week In News

them are uneducated. Maybe if you go to the marketplace or other places, you’ll meet some common folk in the UAE who are less educated. But, by and large, most of the people you’re dealing with either in terms of hotel staff and other things speak English fluently. Wow, that's refreshing. What was on the menu? Originally, as I mentioned, we were going to have a meat menu and for various reasons because of complications in the kitchen, they decided to take off the meat from the menu. I brough kilos of cheese from Israel. They had dairy products. There was fish which they bought locally but they cleaned and gutted and it in the hotel under kashrus supervision. Some of their fish I let them descale as long as they left some scales on, just for halachic reasons, we needed a siman. The kosher menu, by and large, had two fish options and a vegetarian or vegan option at every meal for a main course. And then there was all sorts of different side courses. Breakfast was buffet.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. What's the most interesting location that you've been to in order to certify a meal or products? It’s kind of hard to say. I guess Riyadh is probably the most far-out, the most unthought-of type of place to go. The OU certifies a few companies in Saudi Arabia on a regular basis and people from the office in New York go there, but it’s not typical of kosher assignments. But yes, each place is a little different. Each circumstance is different. For this event, there were challenges that I didn’t have before. In Riyadh, for example, everyone was eating kosher. Over here, in Dubai, we had people sitting at the same table eating kosher and non-kosher one right next to the other, so it presented an obstacle in terms of how to create a separation between those eating kosher and not kosher. For one, we had to ensure that everyone got the right meal, and halachically, there’s another issue. It’s like if you’re sitting at a table, and you’re eating dairy and your friend is eating meat. The halacha is that you have to put a heker, something to remind you that you can’t eat from the other person’s plate

little card with the letter K on it that we put in front of each person’s plate. This way, we would know who was eating kosher and it would be a heker as well – it reminds people the whole time that they’re eating that they’re eating kosher. What was interesting was, once I told the waiters to give the cards to whoever was eating kosher, they said, “No. No. No. We don’t want them to feel like second-rate, like we’re marking them because they keep kosher.” So they put down a card at every seat at the table. Once people sat down, the waiters asked if they wanted a kosher meal, and if they didn’t, then they took away the “K” card. That is very respectful. Yes, that was the Emiratis’ approach because they want to be hospitable. It’s interesting because one of the Arab newspapers quoted me as saying how making things kosher in Dubai is important to the peace process because if people can eat together, it brings about peace. But truthfully, that was taken out of context and is the opposite of what is true via a halacha vantage point. In halacha, Chazal made a lot of

Were you able to taste a little bit? Unfortunately, probably too much. The caterer lives in the Emirates, correct? Right. It was catered by Elli’s Kosher Catering. Her husband is the president of the Jewish community in Dubai. She runs more of a mom-and-pop type of business right now, although she’s signing a contract for an industrial kitchen and then she plans on getting OU supervision on a regular basis. And right now, by request, if somebody wants OU on the event she’ll bring out OU mashgichim to make sure that it’s up to OU standards and do it that way. Who invited you to ensure things were kosher at the event? Meir Ben Shabbat. He was the head of the delegation on the Israeli side. He made it clear that he was only going to eat fruits and vegetables, nothing else, when he got to the UAE. But they said, “No. We want to get you kosher food.” So they reached out to Elli’s Kosher Kitchen. They worked with her in the past on other types of things for what’s called MOPA, Ministry of Presidential Affairs, and the Emirati Institution especially for His Highness the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Elli reached out to me and asked me if I would come. She didn’t just want a mashgiach. She wanted somebody very identifiably OU. I told her that I have two bosses: my wife and Rabbi Genack, head of OU Kosher. And that I had to check with both of them. You mentioned that you were in

When you're the one who is asked to do something by the royalty, it's a different ballpark. because otherwise, your friend could say, “Wow, this sandwich is really good,” while she’s in the middle of eating her cheese sandwich. You want a taste and you just took a bite out of your meat sandwich a minute ago and you’re like, “Well, yeah. I’ll take a taste,” and you cut off a corner of her sandwich and eat it and then you just had milchigs right after fleishigs. In order to avoid that, Chazal say that you have to put something in between you, so you shouldn’t end up sharing from the other person’s food. The object that you put down shouldn’t be something that you usually have on the table, like a salt shaker. It should be something different as a reminder. Over here, I had a different issue because many people don’t think of this issue when it comes to kosher and non-kosher because most people are never put into that situation. It’s really not a common scenario. Even those who know halacha and are familiar with halacha don’t realize that there is this problem. And so, to take care of this, I came up with a

takanos to avoid getting too close to the other nations. Bishul akum, pas akum, all these types of things, so we don’t get extra friendly. One time I spoke to a group on a college campus and I pointed out that if they want to maintain a Jewish identity, kosher is the best way of doing it because every time they sit down at a social event, eating kosher reminds them of who they are. So, it’s true that they’re making things kosher in the UAE to allow Jews and Arabs to eat together, and it bridges a certain gap in terms of that to make peace. But the fact that they need us to do it and that we know that the food needs to be kosher, that helps us maintain a certain healthy distance to live in harmony but not, chas v’shalom, to cause detriment to Am Yisrael, with assimilation, etc. To me, it was very important that from the onset of this whole process that kosher came into place because I think that speak volumes in both directions – both by accommodating our needs and at the same time keeping things distinctive between the nations.

TheAdvertorial Week In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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Press Release The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

Reinventing Internships for the Summer of Corona As the summer of 2020 approached, the students in the Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women computer science departments saw many internship opportunities evaporate because of COVID-19. This presented a serious problem. Not having a productive summer project to add to the résumé and losing out on chances for networking with tech professionals could have a negative impact on students’ academic and professional careers. But Prof. Judah Diament, chair of the department at Yeshiva College, and Prof. Alan Broder, chair at Stern College for Women, were determined that the pandemic summer of 2020 would not be a lost summer for their computer science students. They huddled with their computer science faculty and industry volunteers to design imaginative in-house software development programs to help students sharpen their computer science skills. “I’m not aware of another university or department,” said Prof. Diament, “that took on that level of responsibility for its students,” while Prof. Broder added that “these in-

house projects, mentored by professionals and YU faculty, were a true ‘reinvention’ of the internship experience.” They also reached out to their extensive networks of professional and industry contacts to see who could offer what now seems the “new normal” demanded by our pandemic times: a virtualcomprehensive internship where the instructors, mentors and students would work remotely but collaboratively on projects that had substance and challenge. Because of their exhaustive and dedicated efforts to create internal and external internships, 50 students (24 at Yeshiva College and 26 at Stern College) found themselves engaged in intellectually challenging, educationally exciting and personally fulfilling computer science projects, all done remotely by students, instructors and mentors scattered across the country and the world. Judging by the responses of the students and their instructors and mentors, what could have been a catastrophe turned into a productive educational experience that was also a great deal of fun and sat-

isfaction. At Stern College, the internship projects included working with a research astrophysicist at NASA writing computer code on the work of Maimonides, indexing the Talmud using natural language processing, building a map application completely from scratch and writing opensource code for data visualizations (under the guidance of Prof. Lawrence Teitelman and Dr. John Canning, president of Shakumant Software), to just name a few of the projects. One student, Debbie Cohen ’22S, actually did her internship from her home in Caracas, Venezuela, where she had gone to be with her family during the pandemic. She and her colleague, Lizaveta Kemerava ’22S, worked with Tuvia Lazar, managing principal at the Capital Technology Group, on the mapping project. Lazar was more than pleased with the performances of the interns. “The Stern students were outstanding, and in the words of the supervisor who ran the program, ‘They are by far the best students I’ve ever taught, and every single one of them is very close to being employable as a junior engineer.’” The Yeshiva College projects included designing software for YU’s registrar and office of student finance, building a suite of data recording tools for a company building homes in Florida, working with mentors from Google on controlling social distancing inside stores and applying deep learning to improving the classification of vegetation. Zechariah Rosenthal ’22YC, who worked with three other students to “revamp the entire company’s data pipeline” for INB Homes in Florida, not only enjoyed the hands-on work but also learning about “the messiness of building things in the real world, both in software and more literally houses, which taught me the value of clear communication and good teamwork practices.” Rainer Richter, vice president of operations at INB Homes, found the experience very useful for his company. While it required a lot of hands-on management because the work was being done remotely, “the interns delivered excellent work.” Brendon Collins, University Programs Specialist at Google, along with group of Google mentors, challenged their four interns to design a web platform that allowed customers to navigate businesses that must cap in-store capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions. All the Google mentors appreciated the challenges the students faced educating themselves on new web technologies and getting used to each other’s work habits and skills, “but they’ve done very well, all things considered,” said Collins. “Their

passion and drive are evident, and we’ve been happy to mentor these students as they navigate the project’s ambiguities in a methodical and professional way.” The benefits of what the computer science department did to help its student went well beyond salvaging a summer’s work. It helped the students more deeply understand what they are studying in computer science and why they are studying it. Estee Brooks ’22S “learned that you can apply computer science to any topic you are passionate about” and Cohen loved that computer science “demands dedication, lots of passion and a good attitude toward learning new things.” They were incredibly appreciative of how their professors went the extra mile to ensure that they had a fruitful and enjoyable summer. “I am really grateful to Prof. Broder for helping us in our professional growth and inspiring us to learn more and pursue our goals in the field,” said Kemerava. Cohen agreed: “I feel very grateful for this opportunity and for having all these amazing people as professors and mentors.” Yonatan Berner ’23YC summed it well when he said that it was “truly great to have professors that care very much about each of their students’ success. Our professors worked hard to organize a productive summer full of learning and building. I very much appreciate the opportunity I was given, and I am very thankful to all who made it happen.” For the instructors and mentors, they were constantly pleased by the competence and enthusiasm of the students. Dr. Jeremy Schnittman, a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Godard Space Flight Center, found them “so talented and dedicated to the project—I don’t think a single one was absent from a single class!” Dr. Joshua Waxman, assistant professor of computer science at Stern College and head of the natural language project, was very impressed “with the dedication of the students and the quality of the code they produced,” and Dr. F. Patricia Medina, assistant professor of computer science at Yeshiva College, who oversaw the vegetation classification project, learned that “our computer science students are well prepared to take on research problems.” Alex Porcelain, vice president of cybersecurity at Goldman Sachs, summed it up well in speaking about the projects he directed for the registrar and office of student finance: “These guys are great! They’ve more than exceeded my expectations in organizing a project, researching many new technologies and driving all development forward to completion. YU students are smart and motivated—it doesn’t take them too much time to achieve meaningful results.”

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SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 | The Jewish Home

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