Jewish Home LA - 3-17-16 by Jewish Home LA

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES AND CONGREGATION ETZ CHAIM OF HANCOCK PARK INVITE YOU TO THE

Gala Dedication Ceremony of the

MOSHE YITZCHOK RUbIN MEMORIAL SqUARE

AT THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHLAND AVE. AND 3RD ST. CELEbRATED WITH THE

HACHNOSSOS SEFER TORAH By the Treitel Family sunday

MARCH 27 1:30 pm

EvEnt will commEncE at HigHland and 2nd witH tHE HacHnossos sEfEr toraH

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL COMMUNITIES We beg of you, this Purim, please treat our kids as you would treat your kids... by not serving them alcohol when they come to your home. Lets enjoy Purim responsibly and safely. SPONSORED BY CONCERNED PARENTS

The Week In News

CONTENTS

COMMUNITY Community Happenings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

JEWISH THOUGHT A Topsy Turvy World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Purim, the Day Hastarah Goes into Hiding . . . . . . 22 Pesach Is Coming!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

LIFESTYLES Mmmm… Mishloach Manos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Amulets, Accusations & Controversy. . . . . . . . . . . . 36 6 Questions for Gila Manolson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Travel Guide: Cape Town, South Africa. . . . . . . . . . 40 Ask Dr. T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Nutrition: Soy Myths Debunked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

FEATURE Upside Down and Inside Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENT Centerfold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

NEWS

Global. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 National. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 That’s Odd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 The Jewish Home is distributed bi-weekly to: ANAHEIM AGOURA HILLS BEVERLY HILLS BURBANK CALABASAS CAMARILLO COSTA MESA ENCINO GLENDALE HUNTINGON BEACH IRVINE LONG BEACH LOS ANGELES -BEVERLY HILLS

LOS ANGELESFAIRFAX LOS ANGELESLA BREA LOS ANGELESS. MONIA LOS ANGELES-PICO LOS ANGELES -WESTWOOD MALIBU MANHATTAN BEACH MARINA DEL REY MISSION VIEJO MOORPARK NEWBURY PARK

NORTH HOLLYWOOD PALM SPRINGS PACIFIC PALASADES PASADENA REDONDO BEACH SHERMAN OAKS SIMI VALLEY STUDIO CITY TEMECULA THOUSAND OAKS TORRANCE VALENCIA VAN NUYS WOODLAND HILLS

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers, Looking back, post-salvation, it always seems simple. The Jews knew they would be saved, they believed it, and things turned out happily ever after. At times I wonder, though, what it was really like to be in the generation which left Egypt, or among the Yidden in Persia at the time of the Purim story. Did they really believe things would turn around and they would be saved? Did they, perhaps, believe it in the general sense, but then struggle with it in their day-to-day comings and goings? How about the general population? Did they expect that miracles would happen to the Jews? Did they recognize G-d’s hand in the world travels and adventures of the Jewish people? I suspect that in the future, when we will look back on our current time period, the eventual outcome will be just as clear as with the story of Purim. Though the events described in the Megillah took place over a span of 13 years, all of the happenings – the highs and the lows, the regular and the spectacular – led to one place: the great miracle of Purim which we celebrate to this very day. One might even propose that we will look back and only see our faith. Not the daily struggles or the challenge of maintaining our emunah b’viat hamoshiach. Rather we will see a generation supra-rationally positive about the future, expecting the coming day to be better than the previous, as if possessed with inside knowledge on how it would all end up. Meanwhile, who would’ve guessed we would have another candidate riding the wave of promises to “fix the system” and that voters would again line up to show they’re “fed up with the system?” It’s as if a candidate’s actual political experience is a negative, because their faults, inevitably, are on the public record. I’m assuming people don’t hire CEO’s this way. “You say you have no experience? Perfect!” “You know how to fix things although you’ve never done so? You’re hired!” With the world in such disarray, wouldn’t we want someone who has actually accomplished something? Either there’s a disconnect between the way we

run our daily lives and our attitude toward the outcome of who we choose on the ballot, or we have been so spoiled by the labor and toil of the previous generations that we expect everything, ripping down anything in our path in which we find a fault – it’s either perfection or destruction. In the international arena, we see another development which has caught everyone by surprise: the announced evacuation of Syria by the Russian army. Who knows who will fill up the vacuum they will leave behind? No one predicted Russia would enter Syria, and no one predicted they would suddenly leave. The truth is, no one predicted the Syrian revolution in the first place, or the partnership between Israel and many Arab countries, or that Israel would become a respected leader of the free world. One wonders when the political pundits will show a bit more realistic humility when boasting their knowledge of current realities and future events... In the story of Purim, Mordechai and Esther had complete faith that miracles would happen but nonetheless, they fasted and prayed. Indeed that year they didn’t eat matzah on Pesach so that their teshuvah would be complete and accepted on high! We too have complete faith that whether it’s Trump (for real?!) or Clinton (liar), Sanders (who?) or Cruz (run for cover!), we will continue to strengthen our presence in the Promised Land and with G-d’s help succeed wherever we are. Together with that, we must still do teshuvah and perform good deeds. Like Mordechai told Esther: salvation will surely come, but if you want to be a part of it then you have to answer the call. The medrash says that the joy of Purim which followed the mesiras nefesh of all the Yidden is so great it will stand out even after the coming of Moshiach. It’s high time we experienced it for ourselves. May we have a joyous Shabbos and a festive Purim together with the rest of the Jewish people,

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

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Matanos L'evyoniM h Kupat ha'ir g u o r th

‫קו‬ ‫העפת‬ ‫רי‬

Harav Chaim Kanievsky Shlit"a: "I have the custom to give matanos le'evyonim to Kupat Ha'ir immediately after krias hamegillah

and that is what I do every year."

Kever oF MorDeCHai & eSTHer Messengers of Kupat Ha'ir will mention each name and personal request at the Kever of Mordechai & esther .

26 GaTeS oF Heaven

For a SpeCiFiC YeSHuaH

at each of the 26 places messengers of Kupat Ha'ir will mention each name and personal request.

Zivug – Kever of the Chazon ish; Children - Kever rochel; refua – Kever of the Maharal Diskin; The whole sefer Tehillim will be completed at each place, after which each name and personal request will be mentioned.

To SubMiT naMeS Call now:

1-888-KupaTHair 5

2 8 4

Donations can be sent to: American Friends of Kupat Hair - 4415 14th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11219

Donate online: www.kupat.org

‫קו‬ ‫העפת‬ ‫רי‬

TheHappenings Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Spreading the Light of Emuna: Rabbi Shalom Arush in Los Angeles Yehudis Litvak

A colorful crowd gathered at the Nessah Synagogue, Monday night, March 7th. Hundreds of Jews of diverse backgrounds came to hear Rabbi Shalom Arush. Rabbi Arush is the head of Chut Shel Chessed Yeshiva for serious learners of any Jewish background. He has also written several books, including the best-seller The Garden of Emuna and other titles inspired by teachings of Breslov chassidism. The lecture, scheduled to begin at 8 pm, started an hour late. Numerous attendees frantically searched for parking, and the non-Hebrew speakers waited in a long line to rent a headset to hear English translation of the talk by Rabbi Lazer Brody, a student of Rabbi Arush (and the translator of his books and CDs into English). Wait-

ing in that line was an experience in itself, an opportunity to observe many different kinds of Jews getting together in one synagogue. They ranged from visibly secular, with women complaining about wearing a

skirt for the occasion and men awkwardly adjusting their yarmulkes, to Breslover chassidim with long payos and black coats. There were Ashkenazim and Sefardim, young and old – even some children. Rabbi Arush’s talk in Los Angeles was part of a world-wide speaking tour, which also included Toronto, Miami, Las Vegas, New York, and Chile. In Los Angeles, the event at Nessah and another at Erez Cultural Center in the Valley the following night were organized by Junity, an organization which seeks to bring together Jews of all walks of life. Altogether, about 1700 people attended the two local events. About 1015% was not even Jewish. The topic of Rabbi Arush’s talk was “Finding Happiness, Peace, and Closeness to G-d through Emuna.” He began with a request, “Say thank you to Hashem for bringing us together, and for the chair you are sitting on.” He spoke about the double happiness that two months of Adar bring this year, breaking into song several times during his talk. He said that human beings need joy more than anything else in life, and true joy can only come from full and complete emuna. After Adam HaRishon sinned Hashem cursed him with sadness, so that he’d have to work on acquiring joy, thus necessitating constant work on

emuna. Complete emuna, explained Rabbi Arush, is the wholehearted belief that whatever Hashem does is for the best, even if it doesn’t seem good to us. The highest level of emuna is not only to accept our troubles, but to thank Hashem for them. “Don’t deny the pain,” he said, “but say thank you to Hashem for the pain.” Rabbi Arush emphasized the importance of not taking anything for granted, singing, “I don’t deserve a thing, Hashem doesn’t owe me anything.” He told a story of a woman living in Israel today who after ten years of marriage didn’t have any children. Distraught, she went to Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, ztz”l, for a bracha. After listening to her story, Rav Auerbach responded, “Hashem doesn’t have to give you children. But if you do something you don’t have to do for Hashem’s children maybe He’ll do something He doesn’t have to do for you.” The woman took the advice to heart and began volunteering in a local hospital. A year later, she was blessed with a son, and some time later with twin daughters. To this day, she continues to volunteer in the hospital, bringing her now grown daughters with her. Rabbi Arush told other miracle stories where a person’s troubles got resolved after they consciously decided to thank Hashem for their blessings while in the midst of their troubles. He encouraged his listeners to spread the light of emuna, both to Jews and non-Jews. “Everyone has to learn that there is G-d in the world, and that G-d is only good,” he said. “Mashiach will come when the world is illuminated with emuna.” The event concluded with singing and dancing. Then many attendees had the opportunity to approach Rabbi Arush privately and receive a personal bracha. Junity is planning other events where, “Jews of all walks of life can put their differences aside and unite,” says Mr. Ariel Peretz, founder of the organization. They started out with music shows, featuring popular Jewish performers. “Music is an accessible way to reach out to people,” says Mr. Peretz, explaining that he’d like today’s generation to perceive the Torah as alive and exciting. Last year, Junity also hosted a three-day shalom bayis conference with Rabbi Lazer Brody, and is planning to host another one this year. Mr. Peretz was personally impacted by Rabbi Arush’s work and believes it is important to spread his teachings to a wide audience. Junity is also planning on bringing in other innovative speakers.

Photo: Uzi Moses

Los Angeles Screening of Documentary “Once Upon A Family” Rabbi Arye D. Gordon On Monday, March 7, 2016, at the Museum of Tolerance, Project Witness presented a screening of the original, full-length documentary commemorating the destruction of Polish Jewry, “Once Upon A Family.” The murder of three million Polish Jews was a devastating blow to klal Yisroel, resulting in an almost complete annihilation of many major Jewish communities. The Nazis killed rabbanim, roshei yeshivos, rebbes, and yidden of all kinds. This new film tells their stories. Project Witness is the brainchild of Mrs. Ruth Lichtenstein, publisher of the Hamodia daily newspaper. Mrs. Lichtenstein has made Holocaust remembrance her life’s mission. Serving as a Holocaust resource center, Project Witness has focused on research and the creation of thought-provoking educational materials for schools, communities, and lay leaders. “Our goal is to empower the future by remembering the past,” says Mrs. Deborah Schechter, Project Witness’s educational director. “We aim to inspire upcoming generations to absorb the spiritual courage and dedication of those who fueled our nation’s rebuilding – whether they perished or survived.” The evening’s Master of Ceremonies, Rabbi Eli Ryzman, rav of the Young Couples Minyan at YIHP, extended thank-yous to various individuals and to the Wiesenthal Center for being a focal point through which light can emanate. In thinking about what he would say, Rabbi Ryzman took inspiration from the Project Witness tag line, the memorable phrase that sums up the tone and premise of what Project Witness is all about – to Educate, Inspire, and Transform. And so he asked, “How are we to educate, inspire, and transform?” In realizing that the devastation of the Holocaust occurred in just a five-year period, it is easy to overlook that previously, a period of close to 1000 years passed which were better times for the Jews of Poland. Jews first settled in Poland in the early Middle Ages. From about the 17th Century until the beginning of the 20th Century, the country was the global center of Jewish life. For example, in 1917, Jews accounted for 44% of Warsaw’s population. The vibrant community – along with its synagogues, businesses, and schools – were destroyed during the Holocaust. “We have a moral obligation to remember not only how Jews died but also how they lived, lest the world knows more about how they died than how they lived.” Therefore, Rabbi Ryzman continued, “I try to inspire not only by talking about death, but talking about life, as well.” The documentary “Once Upon a Family” is composed of live interviews with survivors. Through powerful footage, rare documents and pictures, and interviews with survivors and historians, the full-length film poignantly captures the character of a deeply committed segment of Polish Jewry. Before the presentation of the documentary, we heard from Mrs. Lichtenstein. She set the emotional tone by playing for us what is known as the “Treblinka Song,” as it was recorded and sung by a remnant of children that survived the horrors. We heard also from Rabbi Avraham Czapnik, the head of the Los Angeles Learning Exchange. He too engaged us with snippets of his

family’s history and experiences in those momentous times. His voice cracked with emotion as he relived events his parents, survivors of the Holocaust, had described to him. Rabbi Czapnik, left us with a tale of a cap and a candelabra. Raising up the striped cap, recognizable as part of the uniform worn by concentration camp victims, Rabbi Czapnik told us, “This was my father’s cap in the concentration camp.

A friend of his, who worked on planes near his camp, took one of the cleaning rags that had the initials of the Luftwaffe on it, and put it in my father’s cap, so that it would provide some warmth for his head. An act that could have

cost this man his life.” And then he explained the candelabra: A gift from Mrs. Marcus, a survivor. “One of Mrs. Marcus’s possessions was a candelabra, and after being the one to approve of the shidduch of my parents, this was her gift to them. ‘If a young couple is going to build a Jewish home, then this Shabbos lichter belongs to them,’ she said.” Before the actual showing of the documentary, Rabbi Ryzman left us with these parting words. “We all, by our education, inspiration, and transformation, are not only witnesses to what was, but we will insure that Ma shehaya, those Jews that were, Hu she’yi’hi’yeh, they will have those that will come in their place and bear witness that the saga lives on – Ma shehaya, Hu she’yi’hi’yeh.”

Photo: ADG

TheHappenings Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

TheHappenings Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

ADVERTORIAL

Malcolm Hoenlein to Headline Multi-Faceted Majestic Retreats’ Passover Program at Rosen Plaza in Orlando Malcolm Hoenlein, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and one of World Jewry’s leading spokesmen, will deliver several major addresses during the Passover holiday (eve of April 22nd through April 30th) at Majestic Retreats Passover program at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando. Mr. Hoenlein will discuss the state of the World Jewry and his recent visits to Israel, Egypt, and Turkey as part of his review of the state of Israel’s relationships in the region. He is also expected to take an advanced look at the upcoming presidential election in the U.S. Unlike most other Passover programs, which require the hotel to kosher their kitchen for the holiday only, the Rosen Plaza Hotel recently launched a year-round, kosher 5,000 square-foot

kitchen, under the supervision of the Orthodox Rabbinate of Central Florida and the Orthodox Union (OU).

Mr. Hoenlein will be joined by a group of other prominent scholars in residence including Menachem Lubinsky, a leading marketing expert and the recognized authority on the kosher food market. He is an outstanding Jewish leader who is currently leading the efforts to preserve and develop Har Ha-

Zeitim in Jerusalem. Elisheva Wolner, LCSW, a recognized expert in treating children, adolescents, and adults with eating disorders and other mental health issues, and Rabbi Ari Lamm, the Resident Scholar at the Jewish Center on the Upper West Side, will also participate in the program. For guests at the Passover program, Avi and Shneur Faskowitz of Majestic Retreats promise “an unprecedented magnificent culinary experience.” “In addition to our reputation for first-rate food, the Rosen Plaza features several world-class chefs who will bring their culinary excellence to the Passover program, all under the strictest kashrus standards,” said the brothers. There will be a fully-stocked tea room and even a special tea room for children only. In addition, the celebrated chefs will offer

BBQ nights and special theme nights in what promises to be a “kosher food fantasy.” Guests wishing to enjoy some of the world-famous theme parks in Orlando will receive special discounts. There will also be an exciting program at the hotel, including world-renowned comedian Joel Chasnoff, the Chicago Boyz Acrobats, a surprise concert, extraordinary mentalist Alain Nu, a petting zoo and pony rides, daily kids entertainment, tennis, golf, and spa discounts that are part of the Rosen facilities. For a short time, Majestic is offering two free flights per room, based on full room rate (limited availability). Majestic will also be offering a nursery, teen, and full-day camp, even on chol hamoed. To contact Majestic Retreats for reservations, please call: 800-672-6060.

now selling K purchasing visit our boutique at lamarang.com

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

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*Bartenura Moscato is now available in adorable 375 ml bottles, perfect for your Mishloach Manos!

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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The Week In News ‫בס״ד‬

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Make a Bring

difference this Purim. to 630 widows and 3,700 orphans with your Matanos L’evyonim.

!‫מתנות לאביונים בו ביום‬ Puts food on widows’ tables. Fills orphans’ hearts with joy. Fulfills your Matanos L’evyonim obligation in a special way! A minyan of yerei shamayim will pray for you on Purim at the Kever of Mordechai V’Esther.

Be mezakeh your entire family.

‫קבר מרדכי ואסתר‬ Hamadan, Iran

)‫(רבמ״ם הל׳ דעות פרק פ״ו‬

Mesamche Lev’s representatives praying at the kever Purim 2015

per name

‫חייב אדם להיזהר ביתומים ואלמנות‬

‫בהמלצת גדולי ומאורי הדור שליט"א‬ ‫תפילות על קבר מרדכי הצדיק ואסתר‬ ‫המלכה בעצם יום הפורים‬

‫מתנות לאביונים ביום הפורים‬ ‫אלמנות ויתומים‬ ‫עניי אר"י ועניי עירך‬

Donate today and your Matonos L'Evyonim will be distributed on Purim- Bo B'Yom.

Call

24 hrs:

718.506.1400

FAX: 718.838.3310 MAIL: 1364 53rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 ONLINE: www.mesamchelev.org

All Contributions are tax deductible

per family

TheHappenings Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Mesamche Lev to bring Simchas Purim to hundreds of widows, orphans, and others Frimet Blum 630 widows and a large number of single mothers in Eretz Yisroel and the U.S. will receive generous checks from Mesamche Lev this Purim. The matanos l’evyonim will brighten an otherwise challenging yom tov. The women face the difficult task of being the sole parent on a very family-oriented day. They will have to lead the Purim seudos, take their children to hear the megillah, and create a joyous atmosphere, despite the grief in many of their hearts. Additionally, Mesamche Lev will send these families beautiful mishloach manos. Each woman will receive at least one platter of meat, fish, fruit, or vegetables, so that she can serve a festive Purim meal to her families and guests. The platters are sponsored by donors who want to add a meaningful mishloach manos to their reg-

ular list of relatives and friends. Mesamche Lev has been distributing matanos l’evyonim to widows for over 40 years. Ever since Harav Zalman Ashkenazi, ztz”l, founded the organization, the Purim campaign has focused on almonos and yesomim. Harav Ashkenazi, ztz”l, had a special place in his heart for widows and orphans. He felt their loneliness and pain, understood their challenges, and dedicated his life to relieving their burden. Mesamche Lev’s generous matanos l’evyonim, delivered bo b’yom on Purim, continues to bring families relief and joy. In recent years, Mesamche Lev has expanded the Purim program to include single mothers, a much-neglected demographic. The matanos l’evyonim and mishloach manos platters offer them not only practical assistance, but also the joy of be-

ing remembered. At a time when many in the community spend hundreds of dollars on elaborate mishloach manos, costumes, and the Purim meal, it is wise to consider the words of the Rambam in Hilchos Purim: “There is no greater or more beautiful simcha than to bring joy to the hearts of aniyim, yesomim, and almonos.” Mesamche Lev will also give each widow and single mother a large check that will make a significant difference to her family. The organization is counting on the community to join them in bringing joy to almonos, yesomim, and single mothers, by helping them raise this large sum. Donors will fulfill their Purim obligations with hiddur. They will also be part of Mesamche Lev’s special tefillah at Kever Mordechai

V’Esther, where a minyan of yerei shamayim will pray for donors who submit kvittelach. It is a rare opportunity to harness the power of Mordechai and Esther, and merit yeshuos. The many rabbonim who endorse Mesamche Lev and witness the organization’s exceptional work firsthand urge the community to join Mesamche Lev in this important effort. The rabbonim also bestow their blessings upon all who participate. Donations can be mailed to Mesamche Lev, 1364 53rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219. Contributions can also be made by calling 718-506-1400; or at mesamchelev. org. All contributions received before 4:00 pm on Purim are guaranteed to be distributed on Purim.

ADVERTORIAL

Purim – Did you just say “different wines?” With Purim approaching, many of us are looking for different wines to enjoy over the holiday – “different” meaning new and tasty, “different” in the sense of interesting and diverse. Fortunately, some exciting kosher wines have been released recently from all over the world. For those of you usually drinking Israeli wines, I suggest you try some new offerings from Spain, Italy, or France for Purim. Don’t gravitate to the usual Bordeaux blends and varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but try some more unusual varietals. Take, for example, the latest wine released by Capçanes Winery in Spain. It is called Samso, as Samso is the name used for the Carignan varietal in Catalonia. “Samso is a muscular wine, made with grapes from over 100 years-old vines,” says Jürgen Wagner, winemaker at Capçanes. Having tasted it a few times myself, I was impressed with the body and structure of the wine. Already quite tasty now, it will also age gracefully. When mentioning Italian wines, we often think of Bartenura. The red wine drinkers among us however are looking for something heavier to accompany the holiday meals. UVA is a very nice,

non-mevushal Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. This is a juicy and fleshy wine with

notes of smoke and red fruit. It comes from a small boutique winery in Italy, and as their first kosher wine, it is impressively well-made. From France we tend to expect a big, bold Château from Bordeaux that requires some time to age in the cellar. I know you are going to ask yourself, “What could be so different about another wine from Bordeaux?” Well, the difference here is that the new Château Greysac is a supple wine from the Médoc appellation that is already easy

to drink. It has good body while remaining unmistakably French. Also worth mentioning: a couple exciting wines that come from the Loire Valley, another grape-growing region in France. I personally consider the Sancerre Chavignol from Domaine Moreux to be one of the best kosher white wines out there. It is made from Sauvignon Blanc and is not only very aromatic; it features beautiful minerality and fresh citrus flavors, as well. Now, how about a Cabernet Franc? The Domaine Val de Brun Saumur-Champigny is a wine entirely made from Cabernet Franc, as this is the primary red grape variety grown in the Loire Valley. Lighter than the wines we are used to from Israel and California, it pairs really well with cold cuts and roasted vegetables. Royal Wine just released some new vintages and wines from Israel that are well worth trying. Shiloh Shor Barbera is a great example. Its flavor profile features red berries and freshness as well as notes of toasted oak. The Sinai is the latest addition to Psâgot winery’s portfolio. Psâgot Sinai is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz with rich black fruit flavors and hints of green bell pepper. It would show best paired with a hearty meat stew. Another wine which

is already a favorite of mine is the Matar Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon. Matar is a new kosher winery from the Golan Heights. Tal Pelter makes beautifully balanced wines and this one is no exception. With aromas of lemon and green apples, as well as a refreshing acidity, it is quite the hit with fish and salads. Last but not least, what might be the most appropriate wine for Purim is the Herzog Special Edition Camouflage, a “field blend” of 12 different grape varieties, all grown in the Herzog family’s historic vineyard in California. A wine dressed up in a costume? Now that’s a first! While the style reminds me more of Spanish wines, it is really a challenge to guess which varieties are included in this fruit-forward and fascinating wine. Verdelho, Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional are only a few of these intriguing varieties and each of them provides distinctive characteristics to the wine. These different wines will surely lead to great conversations this Purim, and so much so that I’m confident that, just like me, you may decide to serve them more often at your table for Shabbat, yom tov, and all celebratory occasions. L’chaim, cheers!

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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The Week In News

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MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

TheHappenings Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Jewish Education is Key: Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau’s Historic Visit to Los Angeles Yehudis Litvak The Los Angeles Jewish community was honored this week by a historic visit by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, current Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, and Chairman of Yad Vashem. Rabbi Lau was the guest speaker at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Lau is a descendant of a thousand-year long dynasty of rabbis. The youngest survivor of Buchenwald, he lost his parents in the Holocaust, but continued in his father’s footsteps upon his arrival in Israel. He progressed in his studies and acquired a reputation as a powerful speaker and a unifying force, respected by Jews and non-Jews of all backgrounds. Noble in appearance yet humble, Rabbi Lau attracted a diverse, eager audience. Rabbi Lau’s Shabbos morning drasha at Beth Jacob was attended by over 750 people. “Chief Rabbi Lau delivered a captivating and powerful drasha,” says Niva Taylor, Communications Director at Beth Jacob. She explains that Rabbi Lau spoke about the continuity of tradition from one generation to the next. “The sacrifice and dedication of the shul’s forebears, many of them Holocaust survivors, can be felt in the very walls of Beth Jacob, [Rabbi Lau] said. They have bequeathed a precious inheritance – morasha kehilat Yaakov – to the younger generation that we are so proud to receive.” On Saturday night, Rabbi Lau held a town meeting at Beth Jacob, attended not only by Pico residents, but also Jews from the La Brea neighborhood and the Valley. Introducing the Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Kalman Topp, the rabbi of Beth Jacob, said, “[We had] an amazing experience over Shabbat. Rabbi and Rabbanit Lau’s presence energized our city.” At the town meeting, Rabbi Lau spoke about bringing spirituality to our world. He told stories within stories describing the generation gap taking place in Israel. He spoke about a unique soccer game in the former Soviet Union, where the Israe-

li team played against the Russian team in Moscow. The game drew many Jewish spectators from all the fifteen republics of the former Soviet Union who wanted to see and touch a real Israeli. But, as one Israeli soccer player later told Rabbi Lau, “We disappointed our brothers in the Soviet Union.” The day before the game, which was Shabbos, the Israeli team visited the main Moscow synagogue, packed with Soviet Jews who came to see them. During the Torah reading, one of the players was given an aliyah, but when he came up to the Torah he did not know what to do. Ten years after his bar mitzvah, he no longer remembered the blessings. After these events, Zalman Aran, the

Israeli Minister of Education and Culture at the time, instituted a new program which became mandatory in all Israeli public schools – toda’ah yehudit, basics of Judaism. He also asked Mordechai BarOn, Chief Officer of Education in the IDF at the time, to implement a similar program in the IDF, for the young men and women who had already graduated from school and would not benefit from the new program. Years later, at a public discussion, Mordechai Bar-On, by then a Knesset member, told Rabbi Lau of a conversation that took place between him and Zalman Aran about the importance of teaching the basics of Judaism to young Israelis. Mr. Aran grew up in Eastern Europe and learned in yeshiva

as a child. Later, he became a communist and abandoned Judaism. As a young man, Mr. Aran fought in World War I. When he found himself in a seemingly hopeless situation and thought that his end was near, he thought to himself that he should pray, but, not wanting to be a hypocrite, he decided not to. In turn, Mr. Bar-On shared his own war experience, which took place decades later in the IDF. During the Suez Canal War, Mr. Bar-On also found himself in a seemingly hopeless situation and wanted to pray, but he didn’t know any prayers. That was the difference between the two generations, explained Rabbi Lau. Mr. Aran’s generation knew how to pray, but chose not to. Mr. Bar-On’s generation wanted to pray, but didn’t know how. Both Mr. Aran and Mr. Bar-On invested much effort into making sure that the youth of their day would at least know how to pray, should they want to. Rabbi Lau shared other stories, emphasizing the importance of Jewish education. He said that there is only one key to resolving the conflicts among different kinds of Jews – Jewish learning, especially experiential learning that involves both knowledge and experiences that touch the heart. After the lecture, many listeners approached Rabbi Lau asking for brachos, and a small crowd accompanied him to the car. On Sunday night, Rabbi Lau spoke at Beth Jacob’s Tiferet Award Banquet, honoring the shul’s Holocaust survivors. He delivered a moving message of hope, noting that we are all survivors of the Nazis’ Final Solution. Ms. Taylor recaps, “Those who actually lived through and endured the unspeakable, he said, are not just survivors, they are heroes. Not only did they live – they learned to cry, to laugh, and to feel again, and moved forward to build remarkable families and communities, transmitting their cherished Jewish heritage to the next generation.”

City of Los Angeles to Designate the Intersection of Highland Avenue and Third Street as the “Moshe Rubin Memorial Square” Moshe Yitzchok Rubin, or “Moishe” as he was known to so many, was a very special little boy who brought joy to an entire community. Despite struggles, his infectious personality and love for everyone he encountered truly taught all of us the valuable lessons of tolerance and acceptance. Moishe, the son of Rabbi and Mrs. Chaim Baruch Rubin, was an integral part of the community in general. But per-

haps his favorite place was his synagogue, Congregation Etz Chaim of Hancock Park, where his father is the spiritual leader. Although challenged, and suffering from the terrible disease which eventually took his life, Moishe taught an entire community the lessons of love, acceptance, and tolerance. For this reason, the City of Los Angeles has decided to dedicate the intersection of Highland Avenue and

Third Street as “Moshe Rubin Memorial Square,” an everlasting testament to his very special – although short – life. In celebration of this event, there will be a festive hachnossos sefer Torah, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Treitel and family. The community is very grateful to Councilman Paul Koretz, who was instrumental in the dedication of the intersection. Councilman Koretz will be honored with carrying

the sefer Torah into the aron kodesh. The dedication event will conclude with a concert with Shloime Dachs, who was a very special friend of Moishe’s. The event is planned for Sunday, March 27th, at 1:30 pm, commencing with the hachnossos sefer Torah at the corner of Highland Avenue and Second Street. The entire community is invited.

Photo: Reuven Fauman, TrulyMovingStories.com

TheHappenings Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Yeshiva Program of Los Angeles: A Part-time Yeshiva Option in Our Own Backyard Devorah Talia Gordon About one year ago, Jill Kahn started to look around for post-high school options for her son, who wanted to live at home and develop his academic skills, yet also wanted to continue learning Torah. Mrs. Kahn spent two months looking for possibilities, but could not find a program that fit his needs. “He felt he needed to learn with a chevra, not just a chevrusa or class.” Mrs. Kahn, a longtime resident of Pico-Robertson, had noticed that boys who stay home post-high school often feel alone, as most of their friends have gone out of town. Mrs. Kahn approached Rabbi Asher Brander, Rav of LINK shul and kollel in Pico-Robertson, with the idea of creating a part-time morning yeshiva program. Rabbi Brander’s response was one of complete support; he’d been wanting to do something like this for years. Rabbi Brander provided a space at the kollel, the use of rabbaim for the program, and helped find a program director, Rabbi Aryeh Steinman. Rabbi Steinman, a LINKer himself, was raised in Toronto and moved here two and a half years ago. Steinman learned in the Rochester Yeshiva and Chofetz Chaim (Queens), always with the goal of getting into chinuch. Rabbi Brander felt Steinman would fill the role perfectly, and the idea resonated with Rabbi Steinman. Steinman

and Kahn began networking and recruiting their first students, about ten young men ages 17-22, and YPLA was born in August 2015. The yeshiva begins daily at 8:15 am with shacharis, followed by breakfast and learning until 12:15 pm. The seder halimud includes gemara (bekiyus and iyun), halacha, mussar, and a Thursday morning parashah shiur with Rabbi Brander. Rabbi Yisroel Casen, an avreich in the kollel, teaches the gemara iyun shiur. Rabbi Steinman also regularly brings in special speakers from across the gamut, including a chaplain in the Marine Corps and a sofer who demonstrated sofrus for the bachurim. In addition to the learning, Rabbi Steinman organizes various events for the bachurim, such as gatherings on chol hamoed and Chanukah, shabbatons, and trips – the biggest one so far being to Catalina Island. These “extras,” plus the day-to-day learning, have created achdus for the YPLA boys. Recently, when one bachur was recovering from a serious car accident, Rabbi Steinman felt great satisfaction upon witnessing how the boys related to each other as a unified group of support as they visited the young man in his home. Another student, who lives in the Sunland/ Tujunga desert area (also a desert of Torah

learning), drives all the way to YPLA three times a week, and relishes each shabbaton and extra event. Steinman mentioned that Doniel Dimont, a more advanced bachur, comes to help out every day. Dimont is “very dedicated. He’s always involved with the guys. He’s there for them like a mentor, offering a dynamic that no one else does.” On the cusp of the culmination of YPLA’s first year, with endorsements from Rabbi Nachum Sauer and Rabbi Avrohom Stulberger, Mrs. Kahn and Rabbis Brander and Steinman have much to be proud of. Not only have the boys improved their gemara skills and found a chevra, but, as Kahn explains, “They walk into a kollel, where everyone is learning, where there’s great energy…and they have Rabbi Stein-

man, who is passionate about what he’s doing. This isn’t the traditional route; some boys can’t or don’t want to learn for twelve hours a day, or want to develop academic or work skills, or need to help out their families financially. They appreciate that this program gives them a way to plug into Torah every morning.” Another parent, Robert Miller, had this to share about YPLA: “YPLA gives my son a sense of belonging to a community. It gives him direction in his learning and his life. And the wonderful chevra serves as an anchor.” For more information contact Rabbi Aryeh Steinman at 213-425-5992 or acgsteinman@gmail.com

Valley Torah Leadership Lunches Inspire Dr. Eliezer Jones (VTHS-Boys General Studies Principal) Last year, Valley Torah High School – Boys Campus became a FranklinCovey “Leader In Me” school. These schools are committed to building leadership skills among their students. “Leader In Me” schools accomplish this goal by utilizing a leadership framework based on The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Steven Covey. For Valley Torah, this was the year the framework was implemented with the students. As part of the implementation, each month, students who illustrate leadership skills and knowledge of the habits are invited to an exclusive “Leadership Lunch.” At the lunch, students are treated to food, drink, and a discussion with a VTHS alumnus who exemplifies strong leadership. Alumni share their stories, secrets of their success, and leadership skills they have learned and applied to their lives. At the March lunch, Valley Torah was delighted to host a graduate of the class of 1992 and social activist in the field of mental health, Rabbi Guy Avihod. He was in town from Israel, where he lives with his wife and five kids, to speak at the National

Council for Behavioral Health conference in Las Vegas. Rabbi Avihod spoke with the students about his journey from Valley Torah to social activism. After graduating Valley Torah, Rabbi Avihod received his BA and Masters in Political Science from California State University, Northridge and his rabbinical accreditation from the Chief Rabbanut in Israel. He is currently working towards his PhD in Social Work at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Avihod is the co-founder of Shaf Yativ, the first rehabilitative yeshiva geared towards people dealing with mental illness. Rabbi Avihod is on the advisory board for the Israeli Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association and has spoken internationally on the subject of mental health. Currently, his newest social venture, Haboydem (http:// www.haboydem.org), is a second-hand store which serves as a workplace for people on the road to recovery from mental illness. As their mission states, they exist “to create a self-sustaining second-hand clothing store which is serviced by people with disabilities who are being trained and empowered to maximize their potential

and integrate back into the competitive workplace.” Throughout his presentation, Rabbi Avihod focused on specific leadership habits to which he attributes his success, and on the many ways the habits of living a religious life have provided him with support and guidance. The students found his story inspiring, and they were left with great tips on how to be successful at making a difference in the world. Rabbi Avihod also served them personally as a wonderful

role model. Near the end of Rabbi Avihod’s presentation, one student, 10th grader Michael Stark, raised his hand high. He asked, “How can we get involved?” There could not have been a better outcome to this lunch than a desire for action. Valley Torah looks forward to future Leadership Lunches, the continued building of student leadership and the continued student exposure to amazing Valley Torah Alumni like Rabbi Guy Avihod.

TheHappenings Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Makor HaChaim: Paving the Way in the West Valley Devorah Talia Gordon

Over the past thirty years, the Torah community in the West Valley has blossomed steadily. It now can boast everything other communities have, including schools, shuls, kosher bakeries, butchers, and mikva’os. Although the community has experienced tremendous growth, up until two or three months ago, it lacked an eruv. For the past seven years, Makor HaChaim, under the leadership of Rabbi and Mrs. Dovid Horowitz, has been progressively growing to fit the needs of the burgeoning community. “Now that the eruv is up, we are suddenly ‘on the map’ in ways that we weren’t before,” Rabbi Horowitz says. Rabbi Horowitz, a native of L.A. who learned in kollel at Ner Yisroel in Baltimore for many years, founded the shul when he felt there was a need for a place for those growing in their yiddishkeit. “People were looking for a place to elevate their learning, and baruch Hashem, we took off in that area. We have been aware

that we need to build up a foundation of younger families, and we are now an option for younger families.” Now families from as far as New York and Virginia, looking to move to L.A., are seriously considering the West Valley. In addition to the eruv, the West Valley has affordable housing, with condos and homes in nice neighborhoods. Young families that haven’t been able to get out of their apartments in the city have been moving in more regularly. “People are not

missing out on anything to move to Tarzana,” Horowitz explains, “in fact, there is a lot to gain. There is achdus and chessed, with people going out of their way for each other. We have something unique to offer. You can become a pillar and contributor to the community, and give in many ways.” To show this to people who might be interested in joining their community, Makor HaChaim held a shabbaton on Shabbas Parashas Vayakhel, March 4-5. The shul hosted a large Shabbos day meal in

a private backyard setting for 130 people. More than 10 families from outside the West Valley joined current synagogue members. Over Shabbos, Rebbee Hill spoke to children, men, and women. He was “dynamite,” according to attendees. The shul was also well-received by the newcomers. “They were extremely impressed by the sincerity and warmth of the kehilla,” says Rabbi Horowitz, who emphasizes that one draw is Makor HaChaim’s diverse membership, from non-religious to modern to yeshivish, all coexisting under one roof. “There’s a lot of respect [and] understanding of one another that allows this group that seemingly is not homogeneous to exist together as one. We wanted to invite people into what we feel is a warm, open, and sincere community.” The growing kehilla, with about fifty men, plus women, davening on Shabbos, is bursting at the seams and looks forward to expanding. There is learning every night of the week, and Sunday during the day, at various levels, including shiurim on Chumash, special classes for women on shalom bayis, learning and activities for younger kids. “We are trying to cover the spectrum of the community, and offer different classes that will speak to them, give them a deeper connection to Torah,” Rabbi Horowitz says.

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Purim The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Purim:

A Topsy Turvy World Sarah Pachter

A student of mine, Jennifer, approached me after a class that I delivered on the topic of humility. She relayed the following personal story: After working at her job for several years, a more senior position opened up. She was excited at the prospect of a new role, as she felt fully qualified for this opportunity. Before Jennifer had a chance to apply or interview for the position, a younger woman, with much less experience, was hired for the job. Jennifer was suddenly taking orders from this “whippersnapper.” Deep down, she knew that she should not be jealous or angry, but every time she looked at the “newbie’s” office from the seat in her own cubicle, she seethed inside. Frequently, she caught mistakes that her new boss made, but was forced to cover up for her. These occurrences only reaffirmed Jennifer’s feelings: She should be the boss. Jennifer summed up her story saying, “It just feels so backwards.” One of my favorite themes of the holiday of Purim is Venahafoch hu. The first verse in Chapter 9 of Megillat Esther states, “On the very day that the enemies of the Jews expected to gain the upper hand over them, it was turned about;” the Jews gained the upper hand over their adversaries. The Jewish people were sentenced to be destroyed, but the opposite took place – they were saved. Mordechai, a righteous Jew, was slated to be hung, and instead Haman, the wicked mastermind behind this evil plot, was hung. Venahafoch hu carries a powerful message about potential; namely, that anything is possible. Where we stand in the future could be wildly different than where we stand today. The underdog can become the champion. On a personal level, challenges that seem dire can change in an instant for the positive. This represents hope and the chance to believe that something we never thought possible is truly attainable. Those who are seemingly all-powerful, oppressing others from the highest heights, can fall. And on the flip side, someone of the lowest possible status has the potential to ascend to great heights and success. This concept of Venahafoch hu represents Hashem’s control over the world. Recognizing this helps foster a true sense of humility. If we internalize this message, we will come to realize that we do not have to publicly claim our greatness; we can allow those below us to excel.

One day, my son and I walked outside, ready to play on a swing attached to a tree in our front yard. A complete stranger was pushing their child on our swing! It seemed that they were not quite done using the swing, and that they did not intend to leave any time soon. To avoid conflict, I quickly declared, “Nahafoch hu!” “Huh?” my son asked me, somewhat confused. “Let’s take a walk.” I said, “I want to tell you a story...” A friend of the family on the East Coast recently built a pool in their backyard. The family felt so blessed to have this ability that they committed to an “open door policy.” During the hours from 10 am to 4 pm, anyone who wanted to take a dunk in the pool was more than welcome to. One summer evening after 4 pm, the owner of the house wanted to get in some laps before dinner. He made his way to his very own backyard. To his surprise, he found a man swimming in his pool. Note that this was a complete stranger in his pool. To the owner’s shock, the stranger exclaimed with apparent annoyance, “Excuse me, the owner of this house told me explicitly that I have permission to use this pool without anyone else. Please leave so I can enjoy my pool time. I turned to my son and asked him, “What would you do in a situation like this?” “I would tell him it’s my pool, now you get out!” “Yes, honey, that’s what a lot of people would say, and what many more would be thinking.” I proceeded to tell him what actually took place. “’If you are sure the owner told you that,’ my friend said to the stranger, ‘then it’s all yours.’ He then proceeded to calmly walk away without mentioning that he himself was the owner.” This man’s response shows that he internalized the lesson of Purim, the lesson of Nahafoch hu. At its core, Nahafoch hu is teaching us the lesson of modesty and humility. Micha 6:8 says “Walk humbly with Hashem.” When Hashem created the world, He contracted Himself in order to make space for mankind. Being humble is about constricting ourselves, making ourselves small to allow for more space for others. In reality, the rightful owner of the pool had the authority to ask the intruder to leave. Alternatively, he could have let

him know that he himself was the owner and never gave anyone such permission. But he chose to be humble. He allowed this person to maintain his dignity and feel ownership and pride, even though he was completely out of line. Hashem acts this way with us all the time. He modestly gives to us in a hidden manner behind the mask of nature, while we selfishly take, constantly demanding more of Him. He could tell us like it is; yet He continues to give, even if we do not deserve His blessings. It is His desire for us to act in kind to others as He acts with us. I saw the wheels in my son’s head turning. “Look, YOU just did Nahafoch hu. This swing is rightfully yours, and we have every right to ask this boy to leave. But we now have the chance to be like that

tzaddik, and to be like Hashem!” My son loved feeling like he too could internalize the lesson of Nahafoch hu and achieve greatness. That day, he chose to play on his scooter instead. Today, Jews of every age, young and old, celebrate Purim through this concept of Nahafoch hu. We get dressed up in fun costumes. We deliver gift baskets of food to friends. Additionally, we give charity to the poor before they even have the chance to stretch out their hand to ask us. This Purim, may we all reach personal heights and learn the lesson of Nahafoch hu, and may Hashem continue to apply this bounty toward us and turn about everything in our lives for the best!

Living with In theNews Times The Week

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz Publisher of the Yated Ne’eman

There is a special thrill in finding something precious. Within each of us is a child’s dream of digging in the backyard to find a hidden treasure. When we were young, we would dig and dig, finding nothing but dirt, but we never gave up the search for a hidden treasure until we grew older and stopped playing and dreaming in the dirt altogether. There is a unique joy in discovering light in a place of darkness and value in a space considered worthless. Not only people who prospect for gold, but also real estate investors and stock pickers search all day for assets with hidden value. When they find one, they celebrate the great payday in the making. One of our tasks in this world is finding some of the sparks of holiness that were hidden at the time of creation during the original act of tzimtzum, when Hashem confined His presence and power to conform with a finite physical world of boundaries and limits. If the Divine presence had not been hidden to a large degree, there would be no bechirah, no choice between good and bad, no possibility of error or struggle, and, thus, no reward and punishment. Hashem is there for those seeking to find Him, never far away and never totally hidden. Chazal teach that the essence of the Divine name Shakai is that “Dai Elokuso lechol beryah uberyah.” Sifrei Kabbolah explain those words to mean that there is enough Elokus in the world for everyone to find Him. Hiding, Not Hidden A story is told about one of the early chassidishe rebbes who heard his grandson crying. He asked the child what prompted his tears. The young boy explained that he was playing hide-and-seek with his friends and was hiding under a pile of clothing in a closet. His friends looked for him for a few minutes, and when he wasn’t quickly found, they got restless and ran off to play some other game, leaving him behind and forgotten.

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Purim, the Day Hastarah Goes into Hiding As the rebbe listened to the child’s tale, he began to cry. “The way you feel,” said the rebbe, “is how the Ribbono Shel Olam feels. He hides and people spend a few minutes trying to find Him, then tire and give up.” The rebbe explained that the novi Yeshaya refers to Hashem as a Keil Mistater, stating, “Ochen Atah Keil mistater” (Yeshaya 45:15). Commentators observe that the novi doesn’t call Hashem a Keil seiser, a hidden G-d, but a Keil mistater, a hiding G-d. The difference is that someone who is hidden does not want to be found. Someone who is hiding – as the young rebbeshe ainikel was – wants to be found. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is hiding. He wants us to look for – and find – him. As Mighty and Awesome As Ever This task is central throughout the year. However, on the holiday of Purim, a day dedicated to revealing depths and remov-

Moshe Rabbeinu had referred to Hashem as ‘Hakeil, Hagadol, Hagibor, Vehanora, the Great, Awesome and Strong G-d.’ “Yirmiyohu Hanovi saw gentiles violating the Bais Hamikdosh and wondered, ‘Ayeh nora’osav? Where is Hashem’s awesome power?’ Left without an answer, he omitted the word norah when speaking of Hashem. Daniel viewed Hashem’s chosen nation subjugated to gentiles and asked, ‘Ayeh gevurosav? Where is Hashem’s strength?’ He left out the word gibor. “Then the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah came along. They saw things differently. ‘To the contrary,’ they said, ‘we see His gevurah everywhere, for He controls His will, allowing wicked people to succeed in order to carry out His ultimate plan of rewarding the righteous. Klal Yisroel’s survival, one nation amongst so many others, is testimony to His awesomeness.” They restored the original nusach.

ON PURIM, THE DREAMS COME ALIVE, THE MUSIC IS PUMPED UP, AND THE SONGS ARE SUNG WITH VIGOR, ZIP AND ZING. ing the masks veneers of this world, we are obligated to see beyond the superficial and find the hiding truth. This is alluded to by the Gemara’s statement (Chulin 139b), “Esther min haTorah minayin.” A hint to the tale of Esther is found in the Torah in the posuk which states, “Ve’anochi hastir astir es ponai,” where Hashem says that His face will be hidden. The essence of Purim is to realize that Hashem is ever-present, though in hiding. The Gemara (Yoma 69b) further sheds light on this reality: “The Anshei Knesses Hagedolah received their name from restoring Hashem to His former glory.

Yirmiyohu and Daniel didn’t see the attributes of Hashem and thought that they had been concealed permanently and that Hashem was now running the world differently. However, the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah saw things differently. Mordechai was a member of that august group, and when he experienced the miracles that are described in Megillas Esther and celebrated on Purim, he saw that even though Hashem is hidden, He is not concealed. He is in hiding. From His matzav of hester, He controls the world with gevurah and noraah. Thus, he prevailed upon the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah to return those attributes when proclaiming the

glory of Hashem. All throughout the period that the tale of Achashveirosh and Haman transpired, Hashem was coordinating the moves, setting up the world for the great miracle that would save the Jewish people from destruction and show His gevurah and nora to all. Yirmiyohu had seen the evident splendor and then the churban and destruction of everything he held dear. Daniel was taken prisoner by Nevuchadnetzar and experienced the subjugation. Although he was miraculously saved, he never made it back to Eretz Yisroel and passed away in golus (see Maharsha in Yoma, ibid.). Mordechai experienced the gezeirah and the hatzolah, all behelem ubehester, demonstrating for him that in our days of darkness and churban, Hashem is here, but He is operating behester, as mighty and as awesome as ever. The words of the Gemara and the insight of the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah resonate through the ages, empowering us to continue despite Hashem being in hiding. On Purim every year, we are reminded of Hashem’s powers even as we are in golus and under the domination of others. The gevurah is not always apparent, but it is always there. Purim is the day when we see that gevurah does not have to be out in the open for it to be present. We see that we cannot judge the world by the way current events are recorded in the media. There is always something much more potent transpiring beneath the surface. On Purim, we perceive this fact as it relates not only to Hashem and His people and the entire world, but to every one of us personally. On Purim, the hastarah goes into hiding. The Strength We Require is Always There Sometimes, we feel as if we are lacking in gevurah. We feel weak and beaten. We become depressed and unhappy, because we think that we aren’t as strong as we have to be. Purim tells us that Hashem cares for us and provides us with the amount of strength we need to fulfill our missions in this world. If we feel as if our physical strength is declining as we age, we should recognize that we have been given other strengths. We have become more astute and more intelligent and have imbibed more Torah. Perhaps we cannot run as fast, but maybe we don’t have to be running anymore, as there are other ways to get the job done. Our strengths may not be as obvious,

Living with In theNews Times The Week

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

but they are there, waiting to be tapped into and utilized to realize our goals. They are in hiding. That is why Chazal say, “Eizehu gibor? Hakoveish es yitzro.” The really strong person is the one who defeats his yeitzer hora. Our mission is to beat back the yeitzer hora and not let him overtake us. No matter our situation, we always possess the strength to overcome him. We may feel weak and defeated, but, in truth, the strength we require is always there, albeit sometimes in hiding. It is our task to discover our latent inner strength and utilize it to defeat our arch foe. Who is strong? One who recognizes the strength he beholds and uses it for its intended purpose. On Purim, the essence, which is hiding beneath the surface, is revealed and the sod of every Yid flows as free as the yayin that allows it to rise to the top. We recognize our strength and that causes us to be joyful. On Purim, we hear the dreams that are kept silent a whole year. On Purim, we hear the songs that are kept buried deep in our hearts all year. On Purim, the dreams come alive, the music is pumped up, and the songs are sung with vigor, zip, and zing. On Purim, you look at our people, and at the people around you, and you see how strong we are. You see the gevurah and you become filled with pride. You see the realization of the posuk in Megillas Esther (8:16) which states, “LaYehudim hoysah orah vesimcha vesasson viykor – The Jews had light, joy and splendor.” The Gemara states that when the posuk says, “LaYehudim hoysah orah,” it refers to the light of Torah. On Purim, when the plan came together, the Jews of the time perceived, as Mordechai did, that even in a time of hester, the Hand of Hashem is evident, even though it is hiding. Unlike those who had come before them, the Jews of golus Shushan understood the hanhogah others had missed. Perhaps this is also the explanation of the statement of Chazal that “Hadar kibluha b’yemei Achashveirosh, the Jews accepted upon themselves the observance of Torah all over again.” Now that they realized that the power and glory of Hashem are ever-present and they can always bring themselves to the level of perceiving that truth and power in all situations, they agreed wholeheartedly to follow the Torah. They knew that they’re never alone, no matter how lonely they appear to be. They are never in the dark, no matter how little light there is. There is always more light beneath the surface, in hiding, b’hester.

On Purim, we stand back and marvel at Hashem’s power. Though unseen, He is always guiding us, providing for us, breathing life into us at each moment. On Purim, the hastarah goes into hiding. So Many Don’t Know How Rich They Are Rav Chaim Kreiswirth zt”l was escaping from the Nazis when he met a beaten Jew lying on the ground, his life slowly leaving him. The dying man saw the young rabbi and asked him to bend down to hear his whispers. He didn’t have strength to speak and knew that his end was approaching. “Please, do me a favor,” the man whispered. “You look like someone I can trust.” He told Rav Chaim who he was and other identifying information, along with a series of numbers, which represented his substantial bank account. “If you survive,” he asked, “please find my son, Shloime, and give him these numbers. Tell him

about the account.” After enduring much suffering, Rav Chaim survived. He was rosh yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois, and then rov of Antwerp, Belgium. Wherever he went, Rav Chaim never forgot the dying Jew and his wish. He never gave up trying to find Shloime. Years went by and he didn’t find him. One day, a poor Yerushalmi came to him seeking help. Like so many others, he went to the rov and out came his tale of woe. The compassionate rov listened to his story and asked the man about his background. The Yerushalayimer visitor said that he was a Polish survivor and had arrived in Eretz Yisroel alone, having lost his family in the war. Rav Kreiswirth asked more questions about his hometown, shtiebel, and relatives. The poor man just wanted a donation. He wondered why the rov was asking him so many questions. It was because the rov never gave up his quest to find Shloime.

Finally, he decided that the man asking for a handout was none other than Shloime, the son of the dying man with the bank account. Rav Kreiswirth asked the man to wait for a moment and went to retrieve the paper with the bank name and account number from his safe. “Here,” he said, handing it to the middle-aged pauper. “This is from your father.” Rav Kreiswirth subsequently had local lawyers help the man deal with the bank and prove his identity in order to claim the funds. He returned to Yerushalayim a wealthy man. His father’s inheritance had finally reached him. Rav Gamliel Rabinovitch retold this story and added some lessons we can learn from the tale: One is the trustworthiness of Rav Chaim. Even though he could very well have rationalized withdrawing the money and distributing it to the various charities he raised money for, he never considered using the money even for tzedakah. It wasn’t his. Another lesson is yeshuas Hashem keheref ayin, how Hashem helps in the blink of an eye. This collector from Yerushalayim was destitute his whole life and then suddenly became wealthy. The third lesson is that so many people don’t even know how rich they are. The poor Yerushalmi struggled and saved and sighed. He avoided creditors and cut corners wherever he could. He traveled out of the country seeking handouts to be able to feed his family. All because he had no idea that he was really wealthy. In fact, that is true for so many of us. In many ways, we are all like the pauper who has no idea how much money he has. We don’t know how strong we are. We don’t know how smart we are. We don’t know how capable we are. Revealed And then Purim comes along, revealing the secret codes and showing us that we are lacking nothing. Nichnas yayin yotza sod. Wine elicits the secrets that are hiding. Our hidden strengths and abilities are revealed. On Purim, the hastarah goes into hiding. On Purim, we see what is inside. We see our truth and we dance. On Purim, we see the riches and the sod of every Jew. We see a nation of silent gibborim led by Hakeil, Hagadol, Hagibor, Vehanora. May we all merit experiencing the orah, simcha, sasson and yekor of Purim.

24 32

Purim TheOCTOBER Week In2015 News 29, | The Jewish Home

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Mmmm… Mishloach Manos By Bryna Garbacz

Toffee Chocolate Explosion Biting into homemade toffee bars is a luscious symphony of flavors. These are so easy to make yet look elegant on a tray with a single bottle of liqueur. Chocolate and liqueur? A sweet, freilechen Purim.

What you’ll need: Liqueur of your choice Tray (or wooden basket) Cookie sheet

Ingredients 1 ½ packs graham crackers 2 sticks (1 cup) margarine or butter 1 cup brown sugar Toppings 3 (3.5 oz.) bars chopped milk chocolate 3 bars chopped white chocolate Peanut butter cups Caramel turtles Slivered almonds Craisins

Sandwich cookies Chocolate covered pretzels Preparation Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the graham crackers touching side by side in a single layer. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Add brown sugar and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the

mixture reaches a boil, stirring constantly. Let the mixture boil for about 2 minutes, then remove from heat and pour over graham crackers. Use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly over the graham crackers. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly. (Make sure not to burn.) Remove pan and immediately sprinkle evenly half the pan with milk chocolate and the other half with white.

(Make sure your chocolate is chopped small enough so that it will melt.) Let it sit for a few minutes until the chocolate is melted, then use a spoon to spread the chocolate around in an even layer. Sprinkle your desired toppings on top of the melted chocolate. Let it sit for a couple of hours until all the chocolate is hardened. When all the chocolate is dry, cut into squares and put into the packaging of your choice.

‫‪25‬‬

‫‪The Week In News‬‬

‫‪MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home‬‬

‫‪...‬פתחו‬ ‫לבכם לרחם עליהם‬ ‫בימי עניים ומרודיהם‪,‬‬

‫והושיטו שני ידיכם במתנות‬ ‫הגונות שיש בהם ממש ובכך‬ ‫תהיו נמנים לדבר מצוה‪...‬‬

‫כ"ק אדמו"ר‬ ‫מסקולען שליט"א‬

‫‪...‬כל מקרה‬ ‫ומקרה בפני עצמו זועק‬ ‫ומשווע עד לרקיע‪ ,‬וחלילה‬ ‫לנו להתעלם מהם‪ ...‬לא‬

‫מה רבו‬ ‫ונפלאו מעשי החסד של‬ ‫קרן החסד‪ ...‬ופעולתם אמת‬ ‫שעוזרים עניים נכבדים ותלמידי‬ ‫חכמים‪...‬לכן נכון שעסקנים‬ ‫יתקבלו בסבר פנים יפות‪,‬‬ ‫ביד פתוחה וברוח נדיבה‪.‬‬

‫הרב משה וואלפסאן‬ ‫שליט"א‬

‫תעמוד על דם רעיך!‬

‫‪Matanos‬‬ ‫‪L’evyonim‬‬ ‫בהמלצת גדולי ומאורי הדור שליט"א‬

‫‪EZRAS YISROEL‬‬

‫מקיימים מצות מתנות‬ ‫לאביונים בהידור רב‪...‬‬

‫הרב שמואל‬ ‫קמנצקי שליט"א‬

‫של כל אחד הנוטל חלק‬ ‫במפעל כביר זו‪...‬ולקיים‬ ‫בזה מצות מתנות לאביונים‪..‬‬

‫המפעל‬ ‫הנשגב עזרת ישראל‪...‬‬

‫הרב אפרים פישל‬ ‫הערשקאוויטש‬ ‫שליט"א‬

‫‪...‬והתיצבו‬ ‫לימין העסקנים המסורים‪...‬‬ ‫כי עיניהם של עניים נשואות‬ ‫לתרומות הללו‪ ,‬וחלילה‬

‫להתעלם מקול זעקתם‬ ‫הבוקע מתוך לבבם‬ ‫הנשבר‪...‬‬

‫‪Your Matanos L'evyonim will help‬‬

‫!‪from utter despair‬‬

‫!‪Join Us In Helping Them‬‬

‫צדקה נפלא‬ ‫וכביר בשם עזרת ישראל‪...‬‬ ‫לזאת אליכם אישים אקרא‬

‫להיות שותף וליטול‬ ‫חלק נכבד עבור אותם‬ ‫משפחות‪ ...‬ונא להרים‬ ‫תרומות הגונות‪...‬‬

‫הרב ארי' מלכיאל‬ ‫קוטלר שליט"א‬

‫‪bring Happiness to Thousands of‬‬ ‫‪People and will save their families‬‬

‫כ"ק אדמו"ר‬ ‫מנאוואמינסק שליט"א‬

‫מסייעים ותומכים‬ ‫למשפחות נצרכים‪,‬‬ ‫חולים גלמודים עניים‬ ‫ואביונים‪...‬‬

‫‪will help you fulfill your obligation to give‬‬

‫מתנות לאביונים‬ ‫לעניי עירך בו ביום!‬

‫‪...‬אין ערוך‬ ‫למצוה רבה זו וחשיבות קרן‬ ‫הצדקה הנ"ל‪ ...‬אשרי חלקו‬

‫הרב יחזקאל ראטה‬ ‫שליט"א‬

‫‪...‬ויכולים‬ ‫לקיים בזה מצות מתנות‬ ‫לאביונים כהלכתו‪ ...‬באתי‬

‫לבקש לקיים מצות פתוח‬ ‫תפתח את ידך וגו' ולתרום‬ ‫ביד נדיבה סכומים חשובים‬ ‫ולחוס ולרחם על הנצרכים‪...‬‬

‫‪...‬חובה‬ ‫גדולה לעמוד לימינם‪..‬‬

‫הרב אברהם יהושע העשיל‬ ‫ביק שליט"א‬

‫להיות להם לעזר ואחיסמך‬ ‫בעושה ובמעשה‪...‬שכן‬ ‫מפעלם מפעל אדיר הוא‪,‬‬

‫והרבה נפשות מישראל‬ ‫צריכים להם‪...‬‬

‫הרב מתתי' סאלאמאן‬ ‫שליט"א‬

‫!‪The More You Give - The More We Can Help‬‬

‫‪...‬כי‬ ‫המקרים נוגעים בפיקוח‬ ‫נפש והצלת נפשות רבות‬ ‫מישראל‪ ,‬ומצוה גדולה הוא‬

‫עד מאוד‪ ,‬להיות שותפים‬

‫במפעל קדוש ונשגב זה‪...‬‬

‫‪All donations received by 5:30pm on Purim day will be distributed on Purim‬‬

‫"‪Tax-deductible contributions payable to "EZRAS YISROEL‬‬

‫כ"ק אבדק"ק וויען‬ ‫שליט"א‬

‫‪ALL MAJOR CREDIT‬‬ ‫‪CARDS ACCEPTED‬‬

Purim The Week In News

The Jewish Home 29, 2015Home MARCH 17,| OCTOBER 2016 | The Jewish

Get Your Hot Pretzels Here! Chewy hot pretzels in a variety of flavors – sweet, spicy, savory – is a welcome treat on a busy Purim day. Cinnamon & sugar, mozzarella & basil, or classic kosher salt will appeal to all tastes. Add some mustard and dipping sauces – they’ll be gone before you can say, “Happy Purim!”

What you’ll need: Tray or basket Dipping sauces or mustard Beer of your choice

Ingredients 1 ¼ cup warm water 1 tablespoon active dry yeast ¼ cup brown sugar 2 cups bread flour 2 cups self-rising flour** 1 teaspoon vegetable or canola oil ½ cup baking soda 3 cups hot water 1 egg (for glazing pretzels) (**make self-rising flour by whisking together 2 cups of pastry or cake flour with 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make sure to re-measure the 2 cups for this recipe after you’ve made the self-rising flour)

Toppings Cheddar cheese/jalapeno rings Cinnamon/sugar Olives/onions Mozzarella/basil Kosher salt Preparation Preheat oven to 450°F. In a mixing bowl, mix yeast and warm water. Let sit for 2 minutes until mixture is bubbly. Add brown sugar, bread flour, self-rising flour and vegetable oil to the yeast, and mix to combine completely. Knead for a few minutes until dough comes together. (Don’t over-knead

the dough; it will cause the dough to become tough and chewy.) Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a cloth. Let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour. To form the pretzels, divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each section into a long rope about 18 inches long. Make a U-shape with the dough, then lift the two ends and twist them around each other twice. Boil up water and then add baking soda. Drop the formed pretzel into the solution for 5 seconds and then place on a greased cookie sheet. Brush pretzels with

egg and bake for 8- 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. These pretzels are best served fresh but they can be frozen and reheated at 325°F for a couple of minutes. They can be made with a variety of flavors and toppings. The ones featured in this mishloach manos are jalapeno cheddar, almond cinnamon sugar, plain with kosher salt, sweet cheese with streusel, onion and olive, and mozzarella basil. You can sprinkle the toppings on top or knead it into the dough prior to rolling out and then sprinkle on the cheese or toppings before baking.

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Vaad Harabanim is It is mehudar to send matanos l’evyonim in the one’s matanos l’evyonim most mehudar manner. money to Vaad Harabanim Chaim Kanievsky Yosef Shalom Elashiv

To Open the Gates of Divine Favor

For Vaad Harabanim’s Donors

To fulfill all the wishes of their heart for the good

Prayer Session

At The Tomb Of Mordechai And Esther

In Hamadan, Iran!

Tefilah and Recitation of “Ayeles Hashachar”

By 26 Gedolei V’Tzaddikei Hador Shlita

In 93 Shaarei Shamayim Around The World

1877-722-2646

221 Regent Drive Lakewood, NJ 08701

Tax ID# 37-1456890

Fax: 1877-KVITTEL (1877-584-8835)

1888-36-36-248 international toll-free number

In Canada: 5831 Esplanade Montreal Quebec Canada h2t3a2

All donations are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to Vaad Harabbanim In accordance with U.S. tax law requirements regarding deductibility of contributions, VAAD HARABBANIM L'INYANEI TZEDUKA INC. shall have full dominion, control and discretion over this gift. All contributions subject to final board approval.

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Feature The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Home Home OCTOBER 29, 2015Jewish | The Jewish

Upside Down and Inside Out

A Behind the Scenes Look at “Megillas Lester” By Baila Rosenbaum

ave you ever read a book and wanted to jump right inside and join the characters in their imaginary world? In “Megillas Lester,” an animated feature length film produced by KolRom, the main character gets to do just that. He joins the world of ancient Shushan and the people he meets are the well-known characters of the Purim story. Chananya (CJ) Kramer of Kol Rom Multimedia wrote and directed this Persian version of “The Wizard of Oz meets the Megillah” and it makes for a fun and wild ride that charms both children and adults. Doniel Lesterovitch, known as Lester, is your average Yeshiva kid who’s had the bad luck of drawing the job as producer for his school’s Purim performance. He’s under the gun because the performance is being scrutinized by a scary professor from the county’s Arts Department

who will make funding decisions based on how cultured a performance the school can produce. Lester lucks out, coming up with a winning script when a box of puff paints falls on his head – and he falls into another world. He finds himself in Achashveirosh’s court and promptly gets into big trouble. Inadvertently, he convinces Vashti to appear before the king and the whole Purim story is turned upside down. With Vashti in place and no Esther on the scene, who will save the Jewish people from Haman’s wicked plans? Lester has altered Jewish history and now he’s got to make good. He spends the rest of the film trying to eliminate Vashti and get the story back on track. But (spoiler alert…), as Mordechai so wisely tells him, “Hashem always puts the right people in the right place at the right time. It’s not up to you what

will happen in the end.” This entertaining, 65 minute animated film starts out with a bold caveat: “Warning! This is definitely not the Purim Story!” Thus armed, the viewer can be ready for some rollicking, good fun. The generous distribution of jokes and puns entertain on many levels and the characters are engaging and playful. In fact, I felt a little irreverent

Director Chananya (CJ) Kramer

enjoying the bad guys of the Purim story – some of them were downright endearing. Achashveirosh has an amazingly authentic Persian accent and a loving relationship with a horse named Hangover. Vashti has a penchant for natural herb smoothies and was perversely relegated to sitting on a folding chair next to Achashveirosh’s vast gold throne. Haman is constantly ha-

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Feature The Week In News

rassed by his wife, Zeresh, for not taking out the garbage; she’s got a Brooklyn accent and she calls him Manny. He sings a show-stopping song about how evil he is, while hel-

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

meted guards pop up behind him singing harmony. The music is sing-along good across the board with the theme song appropriately named “Upside

“My biggest compliment was hearing Megillas Lester referred to as a ‘poor man’s Pixar movie!’”

Down.” Musical director Shmuli Rosenberg and lyricist Malka Leah Josephs do an amazing job balancing the serious and the silly. The background music for the scene featuring the feast of Achashveirosh is an old Modzitzer melody. And a scene of Bigsan and Seresh cavorting at the city gates while they plan to assassinate Achashverirosh is set to the tune “Oh the day will merry, merry be…” LA Jewish Home This film does not pretend to ed4.8x6.4 ucate or instruct, though there are

many clever subliminal midrashim floating through the plot. In testament to the respect intended for the real Megillas Esther, Mordechai is only portrayed from behind, as he gives Lester comforting words of chizuk. Queen Esther does not appear at all. The goal here was not to teach but to present Purim shtick at its best, coming from the perspective of a dreaming, ten-year-old boy. “The Orthodox Jewish world doesn’t have a conventional entertainment industry,” C.J. Kramer

Friends don’t let friends drink irresponsibly on Purim.

/OrthodoxUnion /OrthodoxUnion

Safe Homes. Safe Shuls. Safe Schools.

OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

explains. “A production is either ‘treif ’ or considered curriculum, an educational tool. We were trying to create a film to entertain – to provide a high caliber alternative to secular entertainment, and I think we accomplished that goal. It’s got healthy messaging, but its good entertainment.” After watching the film and having a good laugh, I was left wondering, “How did they pull this off?” The long list of credits at the end of the film attests to the considerable work that went into it. But the credits are listed under unfamiliar categories. What are MoCap dancers? How does someone do Character Rigging or Character Modeling? Happily, the DVD includes an extra 45 minute of footage inviting us into the virtual backstage to watch how the animation process unfolds. That, coupled with a conversation with producer C.J. Kramer, explains the filming process and a fairly new method of animation called “motion capture.” The story of Megillas Lester was hatched during Kramer’s camp days as division head in Camp Romimu where he was involved in all the creative aspects of camp life – color war, night activities and camp songs. The same talent that created Romimu’s legendary “Shluffy Bokervekker” kicked in to write, refine and edit Megillas Lester. With script in hand, the next step in the process was making a casting call. “The first character we cast was Lester, he was our starting point. We had to make him lovable and relatable. We were lucky to get Michael Bihovsky, who had done some

work for Kol Rom before. The one character that was challenging to cast was Haman. We needed a bad guy with an accent and everyone that auditioned sounded like a terrorist. We didn’t want to make it too scary – but we needed ‘evil.’ We got the perfect match in actor Adam Levinthal – although instead of a Mideast accent we got a little British tinge!” After all the parts were cast, a group of artists and animators were called in to design the characters. “The actors needed to see who they were representing. A heavy or tall character will move differently than a small one. The body motions will be different.” The next few steps were the nuts and bolts. Audio was recorded, the tracks of dialogue were created and the sound effects were added. The combined result was a complete sound track of the film – sounding something like the cassette tapes we bought our kids before DVDs were the norm. When the audio was completed, a rough animation, called an animatic, was created. This fixed the actors in place within the setting, like stick figures on a drawing board. “It’s like a placeholder showing where everything will go. When you’re filming in 3D, the camera’s point of view is in all directions. You’re creating a stage but it’s a moving target. You want to know where the actors are going to stand on that stage so you can plan how to film them.” Here’s where the most fascinating part comes in. The actors acted out the motions of the script filming with a process called “motion capture.” Motion capture is a method of recording the movements of hu-

Feature The Week In News

man actors and using that information to animate digital characters in a 3D computer animation. The animation data is mapped onto a 3D model and the model replicates exactly the live-action movements of the actor. That’s why, though it’s an animated picture, the characters move with the fluidity of real people. To film Megillas Lester, the actors wore tight fitting bodysuits fitted with 39 markers. As they acted out the motions of the script – gesticulating, singing and dancing – sixteen cameras tracked those

well as a myriad of other talented people. Best of all is that they all seem to have had a lot of fun doing it. Kramer points out, “There is an enormous amount of talent in our community and we need to find a platform to use that talent. There’s a lot of ability out there and enormous potential to reach out to children and adults, to tap into people’s talents and to produce quality work.” The quality of the film has been lauded as “frum and professional” and it has been well received by an admiring Jewish public eager for

“We needed a bad guy with an accent and everyone that auditioned sounded like a terrorist. We didn’t want to make it too scary – but we needed ‘evil.’” markers. The cameras followed and recorded their movements and fed the data into a computer. The computer created a digital model of their actions and imposed that model onto a 3D setting. One computer wouldn’t have been able to do the job. All the thousands of images were sent to a “render farm,” a bank made up of many computers, that created all of the frames, and were ultimately put together to form a three dimensional animated “Megillas Lester.” Filming Megillas Lester took an intensive seven months with a staff of twelve full-time animators, programmers, artists and actors as

a good laugh. “My biggest compliment was hearing Megillas Lester referred to as a ‘poor man’s Pixar movie!’ It costs about $200 million to produce a Pixar movie. Our budget was a mere fraction of that and it’s a wonderful show. So I think we did pretty well!” Kramer muses. Though the animation in Megillas Lester may not reach the Pixar level, it is delightfully entertaining and appealing. Most importantly, the film has a happy ending as Lester manages to regroup and both the Jews of Shushan the school production are saved. Upside down, turns right side up in the end.

OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

TheCenterfold Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

TJH ?

Riddle me

this?

Centerfold Purim ScRaWbLe 1. Hcdeamior

__________________

2. Ershte

__________________

es of wine to put in his shalach manos

3. Oiehhcssaahr

__________________

baskets. The first box is marked “red,”

4. Maanh

__________________

the second is marked “white,” and the

5. Hstnaaham

__________________

6. Onmsa

__________________

7. Hcapahaniv

__________________

8. Niwe

__________________

9. Uipmr

__________________

10. Onisgb

__________________

boxes because he needs to transport them.

11. sseehhr

__________________

How could Chaim figure out what is in each

12. Thsvia

__________________

box by only taking out one bottle of wine

13. Aavhchon

__________________

from one of the boxes?

14. Rordspise

__________________

15. Tceumos

__________________

16. Hsfi

__________________

17. Rrgggea

__________________

18. Hhssnau

__________________

19. Haatkdez

__________________

20. yneoj!

__________________

Chaim gets a delivery of three box-

third box is marked “mixed.” The delivery man says, “Sorry, we had so many orders and your boxes are labeled incorrectly.” Chaim doesn’t want to open all the

See answer on next page

You gotta be

kidding

Jimbo and Billy Bob were flying from Texas to Georgia. Fifteen minutes into the flight, the captain announced, “One of the engines has failed and the flight will be an hour longer. But don’t worry, we have three engines left.” Thirty minutes later, the captain announced, “One more engine has failed and the flight will be two hours longer. But don’t worry, we have two engines left.” An hour later the captain announced, “One more engine has failed and the flight will be three hours longer. But don’t worry we have one engine left.” In a panic, Jimbo looked at Billy Bob and said, “If we lose one more engine, we’ll be up here all day.”

Answers to Purim Scramble: 1. Mordechai; 2. Esther; 3. Achashveirosh; 4. Haman; 5. Hamantash; 6. Manos; 7. Vinahapach; 8. Wine; 9. Purim; 10. Bigson; 11. Sheresh; 12. Vashti; 13. Charvonah; 14. Presidors; 15. Costume; 16. Fish; 17. Gragger; 18. Shushan; 19. Tzedakah; 20. Enjoy!

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

TheCenterfold Week In News 23 35

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Ha ppy Pu ri m!

c. Much Ado About Nothing d. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

6. Complete this line from King Henry IV, Part 2: “Uneasy ____ the head that wears a crown.” Dear Underlings, a. Rests ald Trump? I’ve been politically Which of Shakespeare’s b.y Sits you all so caught up with Don are Wh s. guy you get ’t don me to remind you I must say that I onto the scene. (Do you need ped jum he ore characters described himself c. Is bef g lon e rud and incorrect, bloviating, insulting how much I get paid by TJH? e he’s rich. Do you even know aus bec him like as “more sinn’d against than d. Lies you , Oh ?) what I really thin k of you go there. sinning”? or the Greek yog urt that’s Oh, never mind, I don’t want to o are voting for Hillary Clinton wh ple peo two the g sin res 7. Which villain — says, “If you prick won’t even bother add a. KingI Lear vote for me instead! mp suppor ters wake up and Tru you of all but s, der San as a “write-in” candivoting for Bernie us, do we not bleed?” b. Hamlet Five Tow ns and I’m runninghe the to ing com are s advising? can arie prim l That’s right, the presidentia is it spelled ballet?…hmm] you lot [or bal the on a. Shylock in The Merchant of are o wh c. Macbeth se tho of choosing from a. Polonius, speaking to Laertes r vote ’t want you date. That means that instead you are not too bright and I don e, nam my in g Venice llin spe m d. Othello ble a pro b.! Hamlet, speaking to Laertes cident write in my name. If you have that will change when I’m pre re, and to spell any b.mo Iago in Othello how ws all broc- to Hamlet I will makespeaking butPolonius, o xic any ways… Nobody kno c. ans go back to Me xic Me all ke ma n’t wo I in! aga ntr y great our cou Which character inke Julius Caesar c. Demetrius in Titus Andronicus e their little sweet potaI will really ma to Arizona; and Idaho can hav d. Laertes, speaking to Hamlet k bac go h nac spi all ke ma l wil nia; I not Califor k tobury go bacto says,col “I icome Caesar, d. Lady Macbeth in Macbeth fun again. By the way, Chris Chrisstory. We need to make things of End . iod Per ds. foo lthy hea I will ban all orsing me. He’s a great guy toes. him”? to praise ll be fun to watch) and endAnswers: (wi n trai mp Tru the of off g you fift y tie is actually thin king of jumpin re crony capitalism…charging no mo 8. Complete this line from The ryone; eve a. Octavius am for cre ice e Fre lly. rea it, es lov 1. C m… and loves our platfor s. dersuch San Tempest: “We are stuff / As with Bernie b. Julius Caesar se I agree t only that, cents for 20 sprinkles. In that sen e? Forget about it,2.it’sAgone. No Cor n mo Com ut abo talk s ate did can er dreams are made ____.” oth the all c. Brutus And you know how 3. D Period. all yea a. r.On the only answer to re school. School is out. Camp d. Mark Anthony I am t no mo tha ge ssa me 4. C and send a strong er eth tog e com let’s s arie So in the upcoming prim b. Fromgrate … steel grates!! We can do it! yle 5. B ntr y grate again…Weber grill-st cou this ke ma w... kno you g hin Which play opens with the c. Of ryt eve you leader who has taught 6. D Vote for your humble and kind That’s just silly talk. line, “Now is the winter of our d. In name is presidential enough.” r you if e sur not I’m ll, “we , 7. A “Oh,” you may say discontent / Made glorious 8. A 9. Which play features the line, summerFor byeve this sun rs,of York”? r you 9. D sioner “Why, this is very midsummer’s a. Pericles Mr. Centerfold Hussain Commis 10. A busy cammadness”? b. Richard II nos, but I am going to be really Ma lach Sha you e giv to se your hou e you. We P.S. I really wanted to drop by much candy I am going to giv a.you A Midsummer Night’s e howDream gin ima c. Richard III n eve ’t can , win I if , Wisdom key: on food stamps paigning. But I am telling you only fair that those who are not k it’sNothing so I thin b.psMuch About alreadyAdo d. Henry V40 million Americans on food stam only way is the How 7-10 Correct: heavy your have Stay safe and vote for me, which im! Pur py Hap ! nce wa allo dy c. The Taming of the Shrew can ek we a $10 a get t leas should at head must be…Uneasy lies the head In which islythe line,. “All the d. Twelfth Night an insult and be safe siderait crown. will tru youplay will con wears as I really am then I that me dso han as k loo not do me and up like ss the dreall S. If/you world’s a P.P. stage And men 4-6 Correct: Your dull brain is LY! YOU BIG will SUE 10. Which character in Hamlet and women merely players”? wrought with things forgotten. advises, “Neither a borrower a. Love’s Labour’s Lost 0-3 Correct: Nothing will come of nor a lender be,” and whom is b. As You Like It nothing. Answer to riddle: First Chaim takes a bottle of wine from the box marked “mixed.” If it is a red wine he knows that the box can only contain red wine since it can’t be the mixed box. He looks at the other two boxes: one is labeled “white” and the Answer to riddle: Steve other is labeled “red.” Since the boxes are mislabeled, he knows that the one that is labeled “white” does not actually contain only white wine, rather it is the mixed box. Now he knows that the box labeled “red” must be the white box. (The same logic applies if he picks a white bottle from the box labeled “mixed.”)

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Shakespeare Trivia

1. Who said, “Beware the ides of March”? a. Caesar b. Brutus c. Soothsayer d. Mark Anthony

Jewish The WeekHistory In News By Rabbi Pini Dunner Rav of Young Israel North Beverly Hills

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Jewish History

Amulets, Accusations & Controversy: The Devastating Polemic Between Rabbi Yaakov Emden And Rabbi Yonason Eybeschutz Part VI THE STORY SO FAR: Despite the conversion to Islam of false messiah Shabbetai Tzvi in 1666, and his death in 1676, secret societies of Sabbatians who still believed in his messianic mission thrived in communities across Europe, and continued to be active well into the eighteenth century. One prominent rabbi who fell under suspicion was R. Yonason Eybeschutz, whose name emerged during a campaign to root out Sabbatians in 1725. Although he successfully dismissed the allegations, when he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the illustrious triple-community twenty-five years later the accusations resurfaced. R. Yaakov Emden examined amulets R. Yonason had given pregnant women and discovered what he believed to be references to Shabbetai Tzvi. The affair quickly escalated into a full-blown controversy, and the community split into factions. R. Yaakov was held under house arrest and told he would have to leave the city within six months. Shortly afterwards violence broke out between supporters of R. Yonason and supporters of R. Yaakov and R. Yaakov decided to flee to Amsterdam until things had calmed down. R. Yaakov arrived in Amsterdam both physically sick and very depressed – the result of months of confinement, his secret departure and then a difficult journey. R. Yaakov’s sister and her husband sought to improve his spirits and his health, and in the weeks that followed his strength slowly improved, and so did his mood. Eager to recover his reputation and the right to return home he realized that the only way he could do this was if he proved that his suspicions were correct, and that the way he had been treated for voicing them was a travesty. Now able to think more clearly, R. Yaakov formed the opinion that there were only two reasons why so many people had supported R. Yonason and continued to support him - either there was a crypto-Sabbatian conspiracy to protect their leader at all costs, or R. Yonason was so charming and charismatic that he was able to mislead people into believing the accusations were false, even though they were not. Both scenarios were highly

dangerous, as they allowed Sabbatian heresy to creep into mainstream Jewish life completely unchecked. A third alternative – namely that R. Yonason was innocent, and had been wrongly accused – was dismissed by R. Yaakov as wishful thinking by naïve people who had allowed their respect for rabbis to undermine their critical faculties, and who simply did not appreciate that a guilty man can often convincingly present himself as innocent. But could R. Yaakov successfully counteract the powerful forces mounted against him? R. Yonason’s influence was wide and deep, and particularly in the triple-community he seemed unassailable. After reflecting on his options R. Yaakov concluded that to win this fight he would have to do exactly the opposite of what he had originally suggested so many months earlier. When first confronted with the amulet evidence he had opted for a restrained, civil approach, on the basis that it would lead to a quiet solution – perhaps R. Yonason’s discreet termination, and a minimum of negative backlash. But that strategy had failed miserably, and it was evident that forces loyal to R. Yonason would easily crush any such gentlemanly opposition. So R. Yaakov decided that the only way to overcome the forceful defense would be to use equal force, and to publicize everything negative known about R. Yonason as widely as possible, so that the latter’s position would become untenable, with no right-thinking person ever able to support him again. In Amsterdam R. Yaakov had no fear of repercussions, and felt free to say and write whatever he wanted. He sent letters to all the rabbis he knew, recording in lurid detail every piece of information he had ever been told about R. Yonason that exposed the dark side of a man widely believed to be virtuous and without blemish. The aim was simple: to discredit his rival and to utterly ruin his reputation. He called him a liar, a sinner, a heretic, a phony, in each instance offering narrative support for these accusations. The upshot was that R. Yonason was clearly not the kind of man to lead a community or teach impressionable young men. The counter-offensive had begun. At the same time two other major developments had begun to unfold, one in Metz, R. Yonason’s former city of residence, and the other in Frankfurt. In Metz, R. Yonason’s replacement as Chief Rabbi, R. Shmuel Hilman, had been one of the

recipients of R. Yaakov’s desperate plea for help in the aftermath of his fall from grace after his announcement on February 4, 1751. The letter from R. Yaakov came as no surprise to R. Hilman, who had long been suspicious of amulets handed out by his predecessor, even before he had replaced him in Metz. In his response to R. Yaakov’s letter dated February 21, 1751, he wrote that he had decided soon after his arrival to confiscate all of R. Yonason’s amulets and forbid their use by anyone in the community. He also offered to send a number of notarized copies of the amulets in Metz to the leadership of the triple-community, with the suggestion that they call in R. Yonason without warning him in advance, so that they could ask for an explanation of the obvious Sabbatian references in the amulets without giving him enough time to come up with a contrived meaning that explained them away. Notaries were a fixture of Jewish communal life in those days, and could more accurately be described as court recorders who faithfully recorded all the proceedings at meetings of lay-leadership and the rabbinate in an official record book that could later be used for reference when needed. In the city of Metz the two community notaries were Isaac Koblentz and Mordechai Gumprecht, and on March 17, 1751, they carefully copied the contents of five separate amulets that had been written by R. Yonason and given to five different individuals on five separate occasions. Koblentz and Gumprecht then affixed their signatures to a declaration which stated: “These five amulets were copied word for word, letter for letter, line by line, exactly as they appeared in the original amulets that were received by five separate people from R. Yonason Eybeschutz who was our Chief Rabbi and is now Chief Rabbi of Hamburg.” Much later in the year, on November 17, 1751, the two notaries once again affirmed their original notarized document, this time in front of a local Christian judge, an act that gave their notarization official legitimacy in a gentile court of law. Both notaries were known to be deeply devoted to R. Yonason, and no one could accuse them of being biased against him, nor of having deliberately misconstrued the notarized copies to show R. Yonason up in a bad light. Much later R. Yonason would accuse his enemies of having “forced” the notaries to sign the declaration against their will, essentially implying

that the amulets had been deliberately reconfigured and the notaries threatened that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t notarize the altered versions. The notaries themselves dismissed this claim, and it is clear from R. Yonason’s later attempts to explain the notarized versions that even he considered the Metz copies to be largely accurate. Meanwhile the amulets, all of which seemed to indicate a definitive Sabbatian obsession by their author, were widely disseminated by R. Hilman, and within a few weeks, as rabbis and leaders across the Jewish world came face-to-face with the evidence, the accusations against R. Yonason could no longer be dismissed as representing the bitter resentment of a cranky competitor for the position of triple-community Chief Rabbi. On the contrary, the evidence now seemed to indicate that R. Yaakov had been right all along. This devastating proof played an important role in the second development that began to unfold at around the same time, a development that was far more significant than a few notarized amulets. After having remained publicly silent for two months despite the desperate plea from R. Yaakov for his support, in late March, 1751, R. Yaakov Yehoshua Falk, distinguished Chief Rabbi of Frankfurt and elder statesman of the European rabbinate, finally lent his backing to the growing group of people who felt that R. Yonason had a lot of explaining to do. Clearly unaware that R. Hilman had already notarized some of the Metz amulets, on March 30 R. Falk wrote to advise him that any amulet reproductions would have to be accompanied by irrefutable evidence that they were genuine copies of the originals, otherwise “members of R. Yonason’s community who are loyal to him will claim that his enemies are using falsified amulets to discredit him because of jealousy.” R. Falk added “I am in no doubt whatsoever that R. Yonason is guilty as charged, which makes your task all the more urgent.” R. Falk was a savvy, experienced communal rabbi. He knew that even if R. Yonason was guilty, there was no way the triple-community would ever fire him from his position, as this would amount to an admission of gross ineptitude – after all, it was they who had chosen him only the previous year, despite the not-so-secret information that their new rabbi had been dogged by suspicions of heresy for twenty-five years. The only way of resolving the matter of R. Yonason’s Sabbatian amulets was if the man himself was forced to

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admit what he had done and then forced to publicly repent. At this stage R. Falk felt that R. Yaakov’s strategy of totally delegitimizing R. Yonason could never be effective as a tool to convince those people who adamantly refused to believe he was guilty, and the strategy was certainly not pertinent to those who already believed it. At first R. Falk appealed to R. Yonason via messengers, asking for him to be in touch. When this elicited no response, R. Falk published a letter calling for the matter to be adjudicated by three rabbis, although he did not mention R. Yonason’s name. Once again R. Yonason did not react, so R. Falk then wrote a letter directly to R. Yonason exhorting him to do the right thing. When even this failed to get a reaction R. Falk went public with that letter so that his proposed solution would become widely known in the hope that the consequent publicity would force R. Yonason to accept his proposal. When the published version reached R. Yonason he was livid. He protested that he had never received the original letter, and vigorously objected to R. Falk’s implication that he was guilty of heresy. And this time he decided to respond. He sat down and wrote a lengthy, angry reply to his antagonist in which he dismissed his famous work, Pnei Yehoshua, as being full of mistakes. The letter also challenged R. Falk to a kabbalah contest, guaranteeing that any such contest would only act to prove that R. Yonason knew much more about this discipline than R. Falk. The letter even accused R. Falk of having harbored hatred towards R. Yonason for many years, making him an inappropriate person to suggest any method of rehabilitation. Once R. Yonason finished writing the letter, and on reflection, he decided not to send it, and instead left it on his study desk. This resulted in mischief. While he was away from his desk a few of his students snuck in to the rabbi’s study and copied the letter word for word without telling him, and then began circulating it far and wide. It was only a matter of time before a copy found its way to R. Falk, who was understandably furious. R. Falk began to forcefully demand that R. Yonason appear before a panel of rabbis, but his appeals fell on deaf ears. R. Yonason’s support in the triple-community was still rock solid. Even in R. Falk’s own community of Frankfurt the leadership began to tire of their Chief Rabbi’s involvement in the controversy and before long it was he who was forced out of his position - the second major casualty of the Emden-Eybeschutz affair after R. Yaakov. Although R. Yonason felt safe, it had become apparent that the amulets were a burning issue, and he therefore decided to seek out experts who would endorse his version of what they meant. The two experts he chose were R. Shmuel Essingen of Muenster, a friend of R. Hilman of Metz, and R. Eliyahu Olianow, an elderly Kabbalist who had spent time at the home of R. Arye Leib of Amsterdam, R. Yaakov’s brother-in-law. Clearly these two rabbis were carefully chosen to demonstrate how

even friends of his enemies were willing to support his version of what the amulets said, rather than the version suggested by his enemies. And so they did, both declaring that R. Yonason’s amulets were completely fine, free of any Sabbatian references. R. Olianow even suggested that banning the use of these amulets by insisting that the letter formulations were Sabbatian was highly dangerous, making R. Yaakov and his supporters guilty of allowing those who really needed them to be subjected to illness and death. R. Yaakov was unimpressed. In a pattern that would become familiar with regard to any supporters of R. Yonason, he

accusations against R. Yonason and were disgusted that a man with such a deep flaw could remain in a leadership position; and those who could not accept that a rabbi as great as R. Yonason could ever be a believer in the long dead Shabbetai Tzvi and the ridiculous mystical system disseminated by his followers. Truthfully, R. Yaakov’s rambling vituperative letters did not help the case against R. Yonason. On the contrary - those who read them and who might have been sympathetic to a case against R. Yonason based purely on the amulets, dismissed any believable evidence once they read accusations of heinous sin coupled with ridiculous claims that R. Yonason was

The original notary document from Metz recording the exact wording of the controversial amulets, as reproduced in a recent article by Rabbi Professor Shnayer Leiman and Dr. Simon Schwarzfuchs. R. Yonason later claimed that the two notaries were forced to sign the notary document against their will

accused both experts of being miscreants and bribe takers who had allowed money to influence them. R. Essingen, he said, was someone who made money out of fake magic dressed up as Kabbalah, while R. Olianow was an immoral drunkard. Meanwhile R. Yaakov had not been idle. He had written dozens of letters to rabbis in Germany and Poland, informing them of R. Yonason’s iniquities and trying to convince them to excommunicate R. Yonason, and to demand that the triple-community dismiss him from his position immediately. Using the notarized amulets from Metz as proof of his depravity and duplicity, R. Yaakov added numerous other accusations and claims to boost his case against R. Yonason: “With my own eyes I saw him throw out a Talmud student who travelled a great distance to study at his yeshiva in Hamburg, simply because he was poor and could not pay his way. Someone once asked him why he eats wormy fruit and he laughed, answering ‘worms and bugs have no power over me, so who cares!’ His evil deeds in Prague could fill up a whole book, and all his followers are the same… immoral sinners who rejoice in transgressing against G-d!” The Jewish world was deeply divided into two camps: those who believed the

The notarized copies of the Metz amulets as they appeared in R. Yaakov Emden’s book ‘Sefat Emet Valashon Zehorit’. The recent discovery of the original notarized documents has vindicated his version, although at the time this book appeared in 1752 the rendering was maligned and dismissed

an ignorant fool. With the controversy now raging in full force across the Jewish world it was no surprise that the gentile world also became involved. As the year progressed incidents of public disorder increased in Hamburg and Altona, as arguments envolved into physical fights between supporters of R. Yaakov and supporters of R. Yonason. One nasty fight on December 12, 1751, took place as a funeral was being conducted in the cemetery, and resulted in a court summons for R. Yonason, and then on December 28 a violent fight broke in the Hamburg Stock Exchange. All of the fights were fallout, a result of the bitterness felt by R. Yaakov’s supporters at the success of R. Yonason’s supporters in silencing and penalizing anyone who expressed any misgivings about the Chief Rabbi, or who expressed any interest in getting clarity on any aspect of the controversy. In the Fall of 1751 this animosity came to the attention of the young King of Denmark, Frederick V, whose kingdom included Altona, where R. Yaakov owned his home and had resided for many years before running away. A man named Mor-

dechai Shmuel Hecksher, who was a member of the triple-community board, had written a letter to his brother in Brunswick in which he expressed doubt about R. Yonason’s honesty, and also questioned why no major German rabbinic leaders had publicly supported the Chief Rabbi. But before the letter reached his brother it was intercepted and read by R. Yonason’s supporters, who decided to punish its author. Hecksher was humiliatingly deposed from the board and expelled from Altona. He immediately appealed to King Frederick, and although the Hamburg City Council had no stake in his expulsion from Altona as it was a different jurisdiction, they also demanded that Hecksher be readmitted into Altona otherwise his antagonists would no longer be able to do business in their city. The main instigator in the Hecksher expulsion, Eliyahu Oppenheim, was forced to appear before the Hamburg authorities for his role in the affair, and after fining him with a hefty fine he was ordered to present a list of all those who had formally joined the pro-R. Yonason faction in Altona. Oppenheim appealed to the Altona authorities for help but they sided with Hecksher and their counterparts in Hamburg, and Hecksher was readmitted into Altona. With this success in hand R. Yaakov’s supporters now formed the view that the gentile authorities could be the means by which they would achieve R. Yonason’s dismissal from office. In the first instance they appealed to the Hamburg City Council, alleging that R. Yonason had overstepped his legal rights by imposing punitive measures on his opponents. When this attempt failed to gain traction, a similar case was brought to the Royal Court of Denmark in Copenhagen, where both factions presented evidence to King Frederick himself. During the proceedings the King was also informed of R. Yaakov’s expulsion from Altona earlier in the year, and his ongoing exile in Amsterdam. After a bitterly fought battle at the Royal Court the King ruled that R. Yaakov could return home to Altona and should be allowed to operate his printing press. The Court also decided that Hecksher should be reinstated as a member of the triple-community board. In addition, R. Yonason was ordered to personally appear before the King to explain his attempts to overreach his authority, and also the claims of heresy against him. It seemed, finally, that the tables had turned, although rather than the controversy being resolved by Jewish leaders it would have to play itself out in a non-Jewish courtroom setting. NEXT TIME: R. Yaakov returns home and R. Yonason appears before the king with a Jewish apostate apologist. With the community now in complete turmoil a new player stepped in - R. Yechezkel Landau, author of the Noda BiYehuda. Bravely he tried to arrange a compromise solution between the warring factions in an attempt to settle the matter once and for all.

Six Questions The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

6 Questions for Gila Manolson Interviewed by Rebecca Klempner

to Torah than someone who has no struggles.

Gila Manolson is the author of five books, including The Magic Touch and Choosing to Love, and a widely-known lecturer on the topics of modesty, dating, relationships, and love. A resident of Jerusalem, Mrs. Manolson will be visiting Los Angeles this week. Before she caught her flight to the U.S., I had a chance to ask her several questions about her areas of expertise. 1. How did you come to teach about relationships, shomer negiah, and tzniut? I understand that you were newly married and quite young at the time you began to teach about these subjects. I came to teach about relationships, shomer negiah, and tzniut because I felt that, as a ba’alat teshuva, I had a perspective that many FFBs may not have had. I didn’t see anyone presenting these topics the way I would and that frustrated me tremendously. I felt my approach could be beneficial across the board, to both BTs and FFBs. 2. What advice do you have for women who teach Torah or hashkafa, or who are interested in teaching Torah or hashkafa? Don’t parrot, don’t be apologetic, think independently, and be honest. It’s more valuable to have a role model of someone who admits her struggles but is still loyal

3. One of your best-known books, Outside/Inside, is on the topic of tzniut. This is an area of strain between some parents and their daughters, and between some students and their teachers. What advice would you give the adults in these situations? Don’t comment too much on details of dress, like by saying, “Shouldn’t your neckline be higher?” Stick primarily to comments about general spiritual image: “I think a guy can notice you have a cute figure without you having to wear a tight shirt, and that would make it easier for him to relate to you on a deeper level.” And keep things positive. The overall message should be, “You’re too much of a quality girl for a cheap look.” And realize that no matter what you say, it still may not work! 4. If you could give a woman any piece of advice – about life, love, or marriage – what would it be? Be joyful, confident, and authentic. Those are also the traits that keep a woman looking beautiful as she ages. 5. If you could give a man any piece of advice – again, about life, love, or marriage, what would it be? Look for the kind of real, compelling beauty in women that is a potent mixture of her appearance and her character and personality. If you’re not immediately attracted, give a woman a chance to grow on you. The kind of relationship that will develop with a woman who becomes attractive to you is likely to be deeper and more enduring than a relationship in which the attraction is instantaneous. 6. Many people are now marrying later in life, by choice or by circumstance. What advice do you have for an older single?

Be happy and productive. There’s too much to fill your life with to spend your time being sad about not having yet found your soul mate (as much as I sympathize). Also, people are attracted to happy, fulfilled people. On the other hand, don’t let your indepen-

dence cause you to give off “I don’t need anybody” vibes. Be as whole as you can be as a single, but leave an empty space in your life for someone to fill.

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

Travel The Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Travel Guide: Cape Town, South Africa Aaron Feigenbaum Situated on South Africa’s southwest coast, Cape Town’s sophisticated, urban culture and natural beauty set it apart from pretty much any other city in the country. Often likened to San Francisco, Cape Town has a highly diverse population, interesting boutique shops and unique cultural destinations. Also like San Francisco, Cape Town wears its history on its sleeve: Signs of South Africa’s Dutch and British colonial legacies abound from towering monuments to Victorian buildings to quaint Cape Dutch style houses. Cape Town is a very vibrant city with lots of interesting shops, exotic market fare, and festivals to keep both locals and tourists busy. Cape Town’s focal point, though, is the massive, imposing Table Mountain, which is one of South Africa’s most popular tourist attractions. The city is also well-known for its picturesque Cape Point, located a bit south of Cape Town proper, where tourists flock to soak in the sun and surf. And the outdoors opportunities don’t stop there: From hiking to biking to paragliding and more, Cape Town is a city where adventure is always close at hand. Overall, Cape Town’s distinct blend of European and African cultures – as well as its idyllic setting – have made it one of the absolute best cities to visit on the African continent. It’s no wonder at all that British explorer Sir Francis Drake called it, “the fairest Cape we saw in the whole circumference of the earth.” History Little is known about the first inhabitants of the Cape Town region, but most theories say they were of the Khoisan tribe and had migrated south from present-day Botswana. The first European to come to the cape was Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias in 1488. He happened upon it while searching for a passage to India. Although he named it “Cape of Good Hope,” bad weather and hostile natives prevented Portuguese settlement attempts. Things changed in the 17th century, when the cape became a supply base for the Dutch East India Company. Jan van Riebeeck, considered by Afrikaners (South Africans of Dutch descent) to be the founder of the nation, was charged with administering the settlement on behalf of the company. This task proved to be quite difficult as the settlers faced determined resistance to their presence from the Khoisan. In a foreshadowing of apartheid,

Cape Town skyline

Van Riebeeck decided to wall off the European section of the settlement from the Khoisan section with an almond hedge. He also brought in tens of thousands of slaves to overcome the colony’s severe labor shortage, thus laying the foundations for the city’s multicultural population. The Khoisan were easily overcome by both Dutch guns and the diseases brought by the colonists. The settlement continued to grow and became a favorite stopover for explorers, merchants, and pirates. The British briefly held Cape Town after the Battle of Muizenberg in 1795, but gave it back to the Dutch less than 10 years later. They regained it for good in 1814. The city’s economy boomed, and it sought to gain more independence from the British. The colony elected its first parliament in 1854 and became internationally known with the discovery of diamonds in the nearby Transvaal region in the 1870s. Cape Town’s dominance in South Africa was slowly lost to Johannesburg and its gold field, but Cape Town remained an important center of trade. Cape Town suffered under the apartheid regime, in which whole black communities were excluded and uprooted. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, Cape Town has become one of South Africa’s top tourism destinations. It has a highly unique blend of cultures, strong economy, and one of the world’s highest levels of biodiversity. Attractions Table Mountain: Located within Table Mountain National Park, Table Mountain is the key defining feature of Cape Town. You can either take a ride in the comfy cable car to the top of the mountain or hike to the top via Platteklip Gorge. If you decide to hike, be warned that you will do two hours of steep, strenuous climbing, so you might feel like just taking the cable car back down. Unless there’s dense cloud cover, from the top you’ll get an incredible of the whole city, Table Bay, and other local features such as Robben Island and

South African Parliament

Garden Shul, Cape Town

Signal Hill. Table Mountain is part of the Cape Floristic Region, one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world. In fact, there are almost 1500 different species of plants and an incredible array of mammals, birds, and insects. Come at sunset for an epic view that’s just begging to be photographed. And if you want a high-adrenaline adventure, then Abseil Africa lets you step off the mountain top to give you an even better view with the ocean at your feet. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden: These gardens are often ranked as one of the most beautiful in the world. Almost 9000 of South Africa’s 22,000 species of plants are grown right here. Species native to South Africa are held within the greenhouse while other plants are located outside. Remains of van Riebeeck’s almond hedge boundary can still be seen here. The gardens also have an interesting sculpture gallery as well as a canopy walkway that was added several years ago to take visitors above the trees and provide phenomenal views. Kirstenbosch has several trails connecting to Table Mountain including Skeleton Gorge (also called Smuts’ Track after Prime Minister Jan Smuts.) Kirstenbosch’s famous summer concert series is currently ongoing, so if you happen to be in Cape Town either this month or next, consider checking it out. Two Oceans Aquarium: Located on the beautiful Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the aquarium is named “Two Oceans” because Cape Town sits at the confluence of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Thus, as you’d expect, the aquarium holds a huge variety of sea life. The Indian Ocean Gallery’s coral reef has interesting animals such as loggerhead turtles, moray eels, mantis shrimp, and hermit crab. The Atlantic Ocean Gallery has even more unique marine creatures including stingrays, octopi, sharks, and the primitive hagfish. One of the aquarium’s most unique attractions is its kelp forest, something that only a

Two Oceans Aquarium

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

handful of aquariums in the world possess. Visitors are attracted by the beauty of the swaying kelp and the sunlight glimmering off colorful fish. Those with diving training can pay to swim in the forest. Another popular exhibit at the aquarium is the penguins. There are several different penguin species, and they are all placed in a river environment filled with many different fish species. A recent addition to the aquarium is the Smart Living Challenge Zone, which helps visitors to think about their impact on the environment and how to make environmentally responsible choices. There’s also a touch pool/microscope zone and, last but not least, the I & J Predator Exhibit which showcases the aquarium’s most popular animals: the ragged-tooth sharks. Robben Island: Located about four miles off the coast the the Cape Town suburb of Bloubergstrand, Robben Island is best known as the location where the late president of South Africa Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his 27-year sentence for protesting against apartheid. Ferries leave from the Waterfront to take visitors to this notorious island, where they can view the prison cell that once held Mandela. You can learn firsthand from former inmates what life was like on the island. A bus ride around the island also shows the lime quarry where prisoners labored and other features. If you don’t have time to go to the island, you can check out the Nelson Mandela Museum on the Waterfront for some insight into his struggle for equality. Parliament: South Africa has three capitals: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial), and Cape Town (legislative). Thus, the nation’s Parliament house is located in Cape Town. Public tours are provided, and visitors can learn how the legislative process works in South Africa, as well as observe live debates and meet with members of Parliament. District Six Museum: This museum represents one of the most tragic episodes in South Africa’s past. The multiracial District Six was once home to 60,000 inhabitants until they were forced out by the apartheid regime in the 1960s and 1970s. The museum includes a floor map showing where people lived and the features that defined the neighborhood. There are also photos, recorded testimonials, and reconstructions of home interiors. Most of the staff members are former residents, and their stories are at once intriguing and heartbreaking.

South African Jewish Museum

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Tsitsikamma

South African Jewish Museum: This museum is a wonderful tribute to South Africa’s rich Jewish past. The museum tells the history of South African Jews from being poor refugees escaping European persecution in the 1800s to building up a community that contributed greatly to the country spiritually, politically, and economically. Learn how Jews were crucial in building up Johannesburg (South Africa’s largest city) and the famous Diamond City of Kimberley. A gangway connecting the Old Synagogue with the new part of the museum symbolizes European Jews walking off the ship to a new land filled with opportunity. The museum includes a plethora artifacts as well as a full-size replica of a shtetl. On the same campus as the museum is Cape Town Holocaust Centre, the Albow Centre (which has a shop and library), and the Cafe Riteve (a kosher restaurant). Cape Town Diamond Museum: Located inside the Waterfront’s beautiful clock tower, the Diamond Museum tells the story of South Africa’s lucrative – and often controversial – diamond industry. You can learn about the initial diamond rush of 1867 and see how De Beers came to dominate the industry. There are replicas of the world’s biggest diamonds as well as an in-depth display about the science of diamond formation and diamond cutting. Day Trips The nearest day trip to Cape Town is the Cape of Good Hope. This windswept coastal headland marks the beginning of the European venture into South Africa when Bartolomeu Dias spotted it in 1488. Today, it is a perfect place for bird-watching, hiking, and photography. Like Table

Mountain, there is an incredible diversity of plant species so be sure to take the time as you’re strolling around to appreciate them. Simon’s Town is a relaxing, small locale on the Cape where you can see the famous penguin-filled Boulders Beach and take a submarine dive. The Garden Route is a beautiful drive that’s fairly similar to California’s PCH. There are many towns and activities to do along the way. These include taking a treetop canopy tour in Storms River and getting up close and personal with sea life in Plettenberg Bay. An absolute must-see for nature lovers is Tsitsikamma National Park, a coastal reserve located on South Africa’s southern coast that has incredible scenery, ample outdoors activities and the opportunity to ride on an elephant at Crags Elephant Sanctuary. Daven and Eat Cape Town has a sizable collection of Orthodox shuls including Chabad (chabad. co.za), Beit Midrash Morasha (morasha. co.za), and the famous Cape Town Hebrew Congregation (South Africa’s oldest shul, gardensshul.org). There are also a good amount of kosher options such as Avron’s Place (serving a wide selection of meats, avronsplace. co.za) and Cafe Riteve (a milchig restaurant located in the city center, caferiteve. co.za). Additionally, there are a number of supermarkets such as Checkers Sea Point and Pick n Pay Adelphi that have dedicated kosher sections. Getting There Flights from LAX to Cape Town currently start at around $1150 per person round trip.

Parenting The Week In News

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Proactive Parenting Sara Teichman, Psy D

Dear Dr. T., With Purim upon us, I feel really panicky. Mishloach manos, seudah, Megillah (two times!), costumes, and “collecting” – it’s a lot to do in one short day. What really gets me, though, is that despite my best efforts, no one ever seems happy that day. The little ones whine about their costumes, the big ones complain the mishloach manos look nebby, and the guests are greeted by an over-stressed, strung out Mom (me). Not only isn’t this day very fun for me, but I find it really hard to get fit in all the obligations of the day. How can I get on top of this situation – and maybe even enjoy myself as well? Sincerely, Esther M. Dear Esther, Let me begin by saying that I certainly see your point. Purim can be hard, particularly when there are a number of children – and competing demands – clamoring for the parents’ attention. Ideally, we would all love to enjoy the fun in the spirit of the day. We envision ourselves enjoying the reading of the megillah, helping the less fortunate, and seeing the smiles of joy on our little ones’ faces. Yet, somehow, we fall prey to the tumult and rush and throw good intentions (“I will not scream at chocolate footprints!”) to the wind. Let’s look at some coping strategies so that we can best prepare ourselves for battle and win this war. Step I: Be Proactive. Proactivity is the #1 pre-requisite for effective living according to author Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Effective People. Plan, delegate, assign, and simplify the multitude of tasks required for a successful Purim day – long before Purim arrives. You may choose to plan your menu weeks in advance when you can comfortably cook/bake/freeze/shop in an unhurried manner. Or, perhaps, you can figure out a way that your children can deliver mishloach manos without you being the driver. Maybe an older sibling, neighbor, or babysitter can drive them to their teach-

ers and friends. And lastly, have your children make their costume choices weeks in advance and institute a “no backsies” policy. However, the most important step on your road to becoming proactive is including all family members in a family meeting to talk about Step II. Step II: Have Realistic Expectations. At a family meeting well before Purim, let everyone talk about what they would like to see happen on Purim. I would imagine that the sum of even the most modest of needs and wants would be overwhelming.

Now is the time to help your children prioritize and learn the very valuable life lesson: “Tafasta meruba, lo tafstah.” While overweening expectations are bound to lead to disappointment, realistic expectations can lead to gratification and satisfaction. The child who wants to deliver four baskets and only does three is disappointed, while the child who anticipates – and manages – just one trip feels accomplished. The key thing is that now is the time to work out the details – not on the spot. Talk about it! Can your child go “collecting,” stay out to one o’clock (“Everyone else is…”), or go party hopping with a teen driver? Knowing the ground rules beforehand forestalls disappointment and the begging and pleading that is so wearying. Before the deluge, decide how to handle the nosh. While your children may be banking on a surfeit of exotic nosh and the stowing of the loot until erev Pesach, you may want to institute a healthy breakfast policy for that day and allow only a predetermined number of special treats. Alternatively, you may want to adopt a free-forall policy on Purim itself and some other strategy for afterwards. For example, some families hold a nosh sale on shushan Purim where the children sell their extra nosh to their parents – who can then decide what to do with it. What is realistic for you and yours is for you and your family to work out. But,

whatever you and your family agree on, knowing what they can fairly expect to happen makes it easier for your children to go along with the program. That translates into less stress and tension in the home. The actual arrangements determined beforehand are very individual, but the results are uniform: clear, manageable expectations all around. Step III. Clarify Your Values. We are often so caught up in the moment that we lose sight of our goal. We all know that Purim is a day of fun, but also is a one-time opportunity to do the special mitzvos associated with the day. It’s a chance to get closer to our friends and neighbors through tzedakah, seudah, and mishloach manos. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to forget about our purpose when our judgment is clouded by excess – too much running around, too many things to do, and mountains of junk food. In some communities, there is an additional pressure to come up with an original theme. Not only does this involve co-coordinating the mishloach manos with the family’s costumes, but may also require an exorbitant amount of time and money. Reminding ourselves of our values – and what we really want to get out of the day – can help us find balance and maintain perspective. I hope some of these suggestions are helpful, and that your Purim this year will be full of meaning and joy. But, most of all, know that Hashem values our efforts and intentions and is always there – no matter how many masks we wear. The Book Nook: Raising your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic by Mary S. Kurcinka. This very basic book helps parents understand their child’s temperament and its effect on their personality and behavior. There is also an accompanying workbook with some very practical exercises. Sara Teichman, Psy D. is a psychotherapist in private practice in Los Angeles and Clinical Director of ETTA, L.A.’s largest Jewish agency for adults with special needs. To submit a question or comment, email DrT@jewishhomela.com.

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Singapore Most Expensive in the World

While your zip code may feel like the most expensive in the nation, fortunately the Economist Intelligence Unit has proof that other people’s wallets have it at least a little bit worse. According to the report released by the research and analysis group associated with The Economist magazine, Singapore is the most expensive city in the world to live in. The “worldwide cost of living survey”

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sums up the costs of living in cities around the world as of September 2015, then compares them both to other cities and each city’s cost of living one, five and 10 years ago. Where should you avoid living if you want to keep some extra change in your wallet? Zurich and Hong Kong both tied for the number two spot, with Geneva and Paris ranking fourth and fifth, respectively. Surprisingly, with the exception of New York City and Hong Kong, all of the world’s ten most expensive cities had a lower cost of living in 2015 than they did five years earlier. This is the first time in 14 years that the Big Apple has been listed in top ten. Must be all that free Pre-K courtesy of Mr. de Blasio. Tokyo’s costs also dropped significantly from 2010, when it was the world’s most expensive city. It now ranks 11th – far from “affordable,” yet still a better bargain than London, Los Angeles, Seoul and Copenhagen. The world’s ten most expensive cities are: 1. Singapore 2. Zurich (tied for 2nd) 3. Hong Kong (tied for 2nd) 4. Geneva 5. Paris 6. London 7. New York 8. Copenhagen (tied for 8th) 9. Seoul (tied for 8th)

10. Los Angeles (tied for 8th) Following New York and LA, here are the next ten most costly cities in the U.S., along with their global ranking: 21. Chicago 24. Minneapolis 26. Washington, D.C. 31. Houston 34. San Francisco 42. Seattle 46. Honolulu 46. Pittsburgh 49. Miami 56. Boston

ISIS Member Doc Leaked

In a large blow to the Islamic State terror network, Zaman Al-Wasl, a Qatari-based Syrian news website, has published internal ISIS “personnel” information. The stolen files detail the names, addresses, phone numbers and skill sets of hundreds of ISIS recruits. While many of the names may be duplicates, over 22,000 are listed on the official looking documents. Germany’s interior minister has said the stolen files can be assumed to be genuine. Two of those listed, Kerim Marc B and Abdelkarim B, are currently on trial separately in Germany, while another two Germans on the list, Farid Saal Yassin Oussaifi, have appeared in ISIS videos. “The German Federal Bureau of Investigation acts on the assumption that the documents are authentic,” the Minister of Interior said. “We can also improve our understanding of the structures of this terror organization,” he added. “And possibly, it will discourage young, radicalized people, who believe they are doing something good if they become a member of a criminal organixation.” Sixteen British recruits are listed, including two people that were killed in airstrikes in Syria, Junaid Hussain and Reyaad Khan. One file refers to a German recruit who used to be “in sales” and now “wants to be a suicide bomber,” while another would-be suicide bomber formerly worked as a “tobacconist in a restaurant.” The documents seem to have come from a man called Abu Hamed, an ISIS fighter who said he had become disillusioned with the group’s leadership and stole a memory stick from the head of the ISIS internal security force before handing it over in Turkey.

North and South Korea Trade Blows

After South Korea imposed new sanctions on their northern neighbors, North Korea responded by firing short-range ballistic missiles into the sea. Included along with the show of defiance came a vow to “liquidate” all remaining South Korean assets at former cooperative projects in the North. This back and forth is the latest in an escalating standoff between the Koreas that began in January when North Korea detonated what it said was an “H-bomb of justice,” its fourth nuclear test. Since then, the North has launched a long-range rocket and the South has shuttered a jointly run factory park, slapped sanctions on the North, and began large-scale war games with the United States. North Korea responded by threatening nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. mainland. North Korea also said it will impose “lethal” military, political and economic blows on the South Korean government to accelerate its “pitiable demise.” South Korea’s government called the North Korean statement a “provocative act” and warned the North not to damage any South Korean assets. The assets that will be liquidated includes buildings, a spa, a golf course manufacturing equipment and finished products worth $1.2 billion in total. The missiles fired by North Korea last week flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles) before falling into the ocean off the country’s east coast, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said. They were believed to be Scudtype missiles. Such missile firings by the North are not uncommon when animosity rises. North Korea bristles at the annual military drills staged by Seoul and Washington, calling them preparations for an invasion. The allies say the drills, which this year are described as the biggest ever, are defensive and routine. North Korea warned at the start of the drills on Monday of pre-emptive nuclear strikes.

Russia in Search of the Perfect Dolphin Calling all dolphins…requirements include perfect teeth, average length (8 feet), and willingness to “display motor activity.” Russia’s military advertised this casting call online last week and according to a defense ministry official, anyone who brokers a deal will earn $24,000. The government

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is searching for three male and two female bottlenose dolphins for the purpose of servicing the Russian state. The notice was quickly taken down but it already sparked growing suspicion that the Russian navy is attempting to revive the combat dolphin units that served as Soviet spies, investigators, and rescuers during the Cold War. Those dolphins were based in Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, during the Soviet era. They were absorbed by Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and in 2000, the BBC reported that the animals, which had been moved to a “private dolphinarium to perform for tourists,” were being sold to Iran because its handler could no longer feed them. In 2012, Ukraine resurrected the dolphin military training program, according to the Guardian. But after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, it also took control of the military aquarium and the dolphins, despite Ukrainian objections. That same year, an anonymous source told the state news agency RIA Novosti that the Russian military was again training flippered fighters, which the defense ministry denied. A Ukrainian military spokesman tried to hush suspicions at the time, telling The Washington Post that “dolphins are not a military asset.” Dolphins are notorious for their superior sonar skill, or echolocation, which makes them exceptional at detecting mines and sea vessels, locating lost div-

ers and swimmers, and detecting enemy activity on the sea, shore and ships.

guish foreign and Soviet submarines by the sound of their propeller,” the BBC wrote.

North Korea Threatens Manhattan This idea is not foreign to the military. In fact, the U.S. Navy has used dolphins, as well as sea lions, since the 1960s. Sea lions have strong underwater vision and outstanding hearing, both can dive deep without getting decompression sickness, and they’re fast. They are also “highly reliable, adaptable and trainable marine animals,” according to the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, which trains them in San Diego. However, the Russians are accused of also training their dolphins to be assassins, according to many. Retired Col. Viktor Baranets told the Guardian that they planted explosive devices on enemy ships. The dolphins’ trainer told the BBC in 2000 that the animals were fitted with harpoons that they used to stab enemy swimmers and carried out kamikaze attacks on foreign vessels. “The dolphins could allegedly distin

The latest brazen threat to come out of North Korea hits very close to home. The violent dictatorship claimed that it was capable of sending a hydrogen bomb on a ballistic missile to the heart of New York. While there are many reasons to believe that Kim Jong Un’s regime is exaggerating its resources, near-daily barrage of boasts and warnings from Pyongyang make it obvious that Un is very angry at those making efforts to stop him. “Our hydrogen bomb is much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union,” said a state-run media website. “If this H-bomb were to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile and fall on Manhattan in New York City, all the people there would be killed immediately and the city would burn down to ashes,” the report said, citing a nuclear scientist named Cho Hyong Il. In January, Kim ordered North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and claimed that it was a

hydrogen bomb, not a simple atomic one. But most experts are skeptical of the claim, saying the seismic waves caused by the blast were similar to those caused by the North’s three previous tests. Then in February, Kim oversaw the launch of what North Korea said was a rocket that put a satellite into orbit but that is widely considered part of a long-range ballistic missile program. North Korea has made advances in its inter-continental ballistic missile program, and experts generally conclude that the United States’ West Coast might now be in reach but there has been no suggestion that the North would be able to hit the East Coast. Many experts are also skeptical of the “miniaturized warhead” that Kim showed off last week during a visit to a nuclear weapons plant, saying it doesn’t look right.

Car Bomb Kills 32 in Turkey In the Turkish capital of Ankara this week at least 32 people were killed and at least 75 more were wounded when a car bomb exploded in a busy bus terminal. This marks the second such attack in the heart of the city in less than a month.

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While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, a senior security official told reporters that initial findings suggested the attack had been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or an affiliated militant group. Another official said the car used in the attack was a BMW which had been driven from Kurdish town of Viransehirt. The PKK and the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) appeared to be responsible, he said. The Turkish government has been battling PKK militants in its southeast, where a 2 ½ year ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s.

TAK claimed responsibility for a previous car bombing, just a few blocks away on February 17. That bombing killed 29 people, most of them soldiers, near the military headquarters, parliament and other key government institutions. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held an emergency meeting with the interior minister, the head of the intelligence agency and police and security chiefs. An Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook, Twitter and other sites in Turkey after images from the bombing were shared on social media. European leaders condemned the horrific attack. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was “appalled.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described it as a “cowardly attack.” Islamic State militants have carried out at least four bomb attacks on Turkey since June 2015, including a suicide bombing which killed 10 German tourists in the historic heart of Istanbul in January. Local jihadist groups and leftist radicals have also staged attacks in the NATO member country in the past.

Obama Reveals his True Feelings about Netanyahu President Barack Obama is never shy in offering his opinion, even when he is not

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asked. He has commented on everything from his food and music preferences to his feelings about world leaders. Recently, Obama publicly expressed his disdain for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two never really even pretended to like each other and their distaste for each other was palpable during Netanyahu’s recent visit to the White House in November. In a roundup of interviews featuring the current president published last Thursday by The Atlantic, Obama is quoted as saying that Netanyahu “is in his own category” when it comes to Middle East leaders who have most deeply disappointed him. In the article entitled, “The Obama Doctrine,” writer Jeffrey Goldberg claims that “Obama has long believed that Netanyahu could bring about a two-state solution that would protect Israel’s status as a Jewish-majority democracy, but is too fearful and politically paralyzed to do so.” Goldberg recounts an undated encounter between Obama and Netanyahu in which the Israeli prime minister “launched into something of a lecture about the dangers of the brutal region in which he lives.” Obama supposedly related to Goldberg that he “felt that Netanyahu was behaving in a condescending fashion and was also avoiding the subject at hand: peace negotiations. Finally, the president interrupted the prime minister: ‘Bibi, you have to understand something,’ he said. ‘I’m the African-American son of a single mother, and I live here, in this house. I live in the White House. I managed to get elected president of the United States. You think I don’t understand what you’re talking about, but I do.’” The article definitely has an undertone of anti-Israel rhetoric but it did call-out other leaders in the region that supposedly had “frustrated” Obama “immensely.” Supposedly Obama now thinks of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who he had hoped could bridge the East-West divide, as “a failure and an authoritarian, one who refuses to use his enormous army to bring stability to Syria.” Goldberg also says two years ago Obama took Jordan’s King Abdullah II aside at an international summit because he was unhappy that the monarch was badmouthing him. “Obama said he had heard that Abdullah had complained to friends in the U.S. Congress about his leadership, and told the king that if he had complaints, he should raise them directly. The king denied that he had spoken ill of him.” The article did reveal what many have realized long ago: the rise of the Islamic State terror group has forced Obama to realize that the Middle East is a major problem that is not easily fixable, at least not during his term or in his generation. Despite his disdain for their leader, the American president is impressed with Israelis. Goldberg quoted Obama praising Israelis’ ability to withstand a relentless climate of terrorism. He wrote, “Several years ago, he expressed to me his admiration for

Israelis’ ‘resilience’ in the face of constant terrorism, and it is clear that he would like to see resilience replace panic in American society.”

What Israelis Have to Say An extensive survey was carried out in Israel by the Pew Research Center Pew between October 2014 and May 2015. Over 5,600 Israeli adults were interviewed in a first-of-its-kind poll on a wide range of religious, social and political issues. So what’s on Israelis’ minds? According to the survey, there is a majority of religious and traditional Jews in Israel. 40 percent of Jews in the country consider themselves secular, while 23 percent are traditional, 10 percent are Orthodox and eight percent are ultra-Orthodox. A significant factor for these trends is the size of the family, with 28 percent of ultra-Orthodox respondents aged over 40, both men and women, saying they had seven or more children. In comparison, very few among the Orthodox (five percent), the traditional (two percent) and the secular (one percent) respondents said they had seven or more children. As a result of the differences in the birth rates, the rate of secular Jews is smaller among adult Jews aged 30 or younger (44 percent) than among adult Jews over 50. 14 percent of those living in the Holy Land are Muslim, two percent are Druze, two percent are Christian and one percent say they do not have a religion. The first census in Israel, conducted in 1949, showed that 86 percent of the population was Jewish, nine percent was Muslim, three percent was Christian and one percent was Druze. But in 2014, only 75 percent of the population was Jewish, while the rate of Muslims in the population doubled to 18 percent, and the rate of Christians dropped to two percent.

79 percent of Arab Israelis say there is major discrimination against Muslims in Israeli society. Jews believe the opposite. The vast majority, 74 percent, says they do not see much discrimination against Mus-

lims in Israel. At the same time, public opinion among Jews is divided on the question of whether Israel can be a national home for the Jewish people while maintaining the Arab minority in the country. Nearly half of Israeli Jews, 48 percent, say Arabs should be deported or exiled from Israel. Religious people tend to be particularly supportive of such a move: about 71 percent agree that Arabs should be expelled. Secular Jews tend to go the other way: 58 percent oppose the idea of expelling Arabs, including 25 percent who are completely opposed. But some secular Jews agree – about one third would support expelling Arabs from Israel. Most Jews, across the religious spectrum, agree that Israel can in principle be a simultaneously Jewish and democratic state. However, they are divided on the question of what has to happen in practice when democracy clashes with halacha. 89 percent of secular Jews say that democratic principles should be given priority over religion, while 89 percent of the ultra-Orthodox public disagree, saying halacha must be given precedence.

Mud Blows Mossad Cover

Who would have thought that mud could be responsible for exposing two highly trained and experienced Mossad agents? That’s exactly what happened in a northern German town last December. The pair of G-men were in Germany to accompany the recently-completed INS Rahav submarine from the Kiel shipyard to Haifa. Hamburg media reported that the trouble started when they came across a locked fence that was labeled “no entry” in the town of Quanbeck. The agents picked the lock and drove through the gate, but quickly became stuck in mud and were unable to free their SUV. Media outlets in Germany reported that an elderly woman saw them and called the town mayor to report the suspicious activity. “The woman asked the two men what they were doing,” said Mayor Klaus Langer. “They told her that they came to survey the area since a sailing competition is supposed to take place in the passage this summer.” Langer summoned the police, who found two handguns in the car. With no choice, the Israelis handed over their documentation and explained that they were foreign agents with diplomatic immunity and permission to be armed. Eventually a team of firefighters and a farmer were able to extricate the car, along with a forklift that had also become

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stuck during a rescue attempt. Langer was not happy about the incident. “People in our community are concerned,” he explained. “The residents are asking themselves how young men can roam freely here as part of secret intelligence activities, especially armed with pistols.” He refused to pay the cost for freeing the car and has sent a bill for $1,392.28 to the Israeli Embassy in Berlin. Officials at the embassy say that they only received the letter a few days after the story reached the media and angrily told Langer that he should have talked to them first, instead of the press.

won’t live.’ So, I said, he shouldn’t kill more people.” While still bleeding from his wound, he pulled the knife from his own neck and stabbed his attacker, who died a few minutes later. Azriaev’s story was one of the few silver linings in a day marred by tragedy. Two stabbing attacks and one shooting in three Israeli cities left 11 injured and one American tourist, Taylor Force, dead. Upon returning home, Azriaev said he plans to resume his mission in life:

Chassid: I Won’t Let Terrorist Hurt More People Yonatan Azriaev is a strong, brave – and very cool – Breslover chassid. After being stabbed in the neck by a Palestinian terrorist last week, Azriaev grabbed the terrorist’s arms and threw him against a wall. He then pulled the knife out of his neck and killed the murderer before he could injure anyone else. A burly man with a calm, bearded face, Azriaev, 35, has spent the past 16 years learning and teaching. He lives with his wife and five children in Yavniel, a 4,000-person agricultural village in northern Israel. He served in a non-combat position in the Israeli army and doesn’t exercise.

Survivor is World’s Oldest Man According to Guinness World Records, the world’s oldest man is Yisrael Kristal, a 112-year-old Israeli Holocaust survivor. Yisrael Kristal was born before the first airplane took flight on September 15, 1903 in what is now called Poland. He lived in the country through the First World War and until the Nazi occupation in World War II,

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    Azriaev had been handing out Breslov pamphlets in Petach Tikvah when he stepped inside a shop hoping to give one to the cashier. Then he felt sharp blows to his back and shoulders. Feeling like he was punched, Azriaev said he figured he was being attacked by someone who hated religious people. But then the shop owner started yelling, “It’s a terrorist! It’s a terrorist!” Realizing he had been stabbed, Azriaev said he followed his instincts. He swiveled around, grabbed the attacker by the arms, and threw him against the wall. The attacker fell to the floor and Azriaev realized he was bleeding from the neck. “I thought that was it, I wouldn’t live,” Azriaev recalled. “I saw he was fighting with someone else. When I saw that, I said, ‘I

distributing the pamphlets. “I thought, if there was one thing that could save me, it would just be that I would keep handing out these pamphlets,” he said. “That’s why G-d would save me. I thank G-d for the miracle he did for me,” Azriaev said. “As much as someone takes care of himself, it’s not enough. What can save us is just a short prayer to G-d.”

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when he was eventually sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. “Mr. Kristal’s achievement is remarkable – he can teach us all an important lesson about the value of life and how to stretch the limits of human longevity,” Marco Frigatti, Head of Records for Guinness, said. Reacting to the news, Mr. Kristal said in a statement, “I don’t know the secret for long life. I believe that everything is determined from above and we shall never know the reasons why. There have been smarter, stronger and better looking men than me who are no longer alive.”

Mr. Kristal worked in the family confectionary factory but was sent under Nazi occupation to the infamous Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. His wife died but he survived, weighing just 81 pounds at the end of the war. The oldest living woman, at 116-yearsold, is Susannah Mushatt Jones of the United States, who was born on July 6, 1899.

West Bank vs. Gaza: By the Numbers A poll has come out that details some differences between West Bank Palestinians and their counterparts in Gaza.

In the West Bank, 52 percent oppose continuing the violent uprising against Israel, while 76 percent of those living in Gaza are in favor of continued violence. In a separate question, 80% of Gazans expressed support for continuing the current round of knife attacks, while 54% of West Bank residents opposed it. Since September, there have been 202 stabbings and attempted stabbings, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, as well as 82 shoot-

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

ings and 41 car rammings, with 34 people killed. 180 Palestinians have also been killed – about two thirds while carrying out or attempting to carry out attacks, and the rest in clashes with the IDF. The Jerusalem Media and Communication Center published the poll which shows a sharp drop in support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (down from 52.4% in August to 45.3% this month) and for PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (down from 25.5% a year ago to 22.2%). Seven in 10 Palestinians still back a two-state solution that would give them an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with just a quarter of those questioned supporting a binational state with equal rights for Arabs and Jews. 52.7 % of those polled favor continuing security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians if halting it would spell the suspension of permits in areas such as medical referrals to Israel.

New Drones for the IDF

bility that Iran could start procuring new weapons, Israel has stressed its need to keep ahead. Last year, Israel requested $5 billion in a new annual aid package from the U.S. but has since lowered that number to $4 billion to $4.5 billion. U.S. officials have offered a lower figure, around $3.7, possibly intensifying tensions between the two allies. Israel faces a challenges on many fronts in the region, including threats from Iranian leaders, a strengthening anti-Israel Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon and continued control of the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Ultra-Processed Foods to Blame for Extra Pounds

Success in Fight Against ISIS

Unmanned drones are arguably the most essential and popular piece of equipment in a modern and advanced military’s arsenal. The IDF has announced that Israel’s air force plans to double the number of Heron TP unmanned aerial vehicles it has by the end of the year.

Israel has lately been looking to expand and strengthen its military capabilities, recently requesting billions of dollars in boosted aid from the United States. Missions using the unmanned, long-endurance technology are set to grow at “an unprecedented rate,” said a spokesman in an Israeli magazine interview. The 4.5-ton, medium-altitude aircraft is produced by Israel Aerospace Industries and has the capacity to operate in all weather conditions. Technology advancements are expected to continue. “In the last year, we started to absorb new capabilities and additional intelligence missions, and in the coming year we will further expand,” Lt. Col. Ofir, White Eagle squadron commander, told the magazine. “We’re only at the beginning of a revolution.” By 2020, the squadron should at least triple in size. While the Israeli army is among the most advanced in the world, Israel routinely upgrades its technology in an effort to maintain military superiority in its region. With boosted spending among Arab states on defense and a looming possi-

sentially as the terror group’s secretary of defense. Officials believe that they struck Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, along with 12 additional ISIS fighters. These two updates are regarded as Washington’s first major successes since it implemented a more aggressive policy of pursuing jihadists on the ground in December. The Obama administration deployed a commando force to Iraq specifically to capture and kill ISIS leaders in clandestine operations, as well as generating intelligence leading to more raids.

Although it’s been relatively quiet the last several weeks, U.S. troops continue to combat ISIS in Iraq. Last month in a raid near the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, the Delta Force team captured the head of the Islamic State terror group’s unit, Sleiman Daoud al-Afari, trying to develop chemical weapons. Although the operative was supposedly captured several weeks ago, the U.S. only officially confirmed the news last week as they questioned the suspected terrorist. The operative told U.S. interrogators that ISIS had converted banned mustard gas into powdered form to launch in artillery shells. Iraqi officials said al-Afari worked for Saddam Hussein’s now-dissolved Military Industrialization Authority where he specialized in chemical and biological weapons. They said al-Afari, who is about 50 years old, heads the Islamic State group’s recently established branch for the research and development of chemical weapons. Last Tuesday, defense officials said U.S. warplanes in Syria targeted and likely killed another ISIS leader who served es-

It’s been confirmed and reconfirmed by research that Americans don’t have great eating habits. Now researchers are claiming to know exactly what is wrong with our diets: ultra-processed foods. For many of us, that’s probably a large percentage of what we ate today and what is in our pantries. Frozen pizza, cereal, soda are all classified as ultra-processed foods. On a typical day, the calories consumed by an average American are 58% from processed foods, according to a study published recently in BMJ Open medical journal. Government health experts recommend Americans consume no more than 10% of their total calories in the form of added sugars, but according to Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 71% of American adults exceeded that 10% goal and added sugars accounted for 15% of all the calories they consumed. Of that amount, 90% are from processed food and drink. The obvious consequence, aside from many cavities, is obesity which leads to serious health problems that are becoming more and more prevalent in America like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. According to the recent study, on average participants consumed 2,070 calories per day. About 28% of those calories came from unprocessed or minimally processed foods, such as eggs, milk, vegetables and fish, and 3.1% from cooking ingredients like table sugar and olive oil. An additional 10% of calories were traced to processed foods, including cheese, canned vegetables and cured meat. However ultra-processed

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foods accounted for nearly 3 in every 5 calories consumed. To clarify, ultra-processed foods contain artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, stabilizers and other additives to make them taste like real food or mask their “undesirable qualities.” Breads, cakes, cookies, pies and salty snacks were the most popular ultra-processed foods. By definition, unprocessed and minimally processed foods contained no added sugars. Processed foods got 2% of their calories from added sugars, on average. For ultra-processed foods, that figure was 21%, therefore the individuals who ate more ultra-processed foods were more likely to eat more than the 10% recommended added sugar intake. Looking to cut down on added sugars? You may want to cut down on your ultra-processed foods, although that’s certainly easier said than done.

provides more than 98 percent to veterans. Charity Navigator also assessed that Wounded Warrior’s total revenue for 2014 was well over $340 million. In response to these accusations, the Wounded Warrior Project issued a statement claiming that the information is false and accusing CBS of not contacting the chair of the Wounded Warrior Project’s audit committee prior to running their story. The organization also took to social media, responding to numerous concerns and attacks on its Facebook page. However, the recent firings do not look like a plea of innocence. According to CBS, Nardizzi’s and Giordano’s removal was due in part to the preliminary results of a financial audit following the reports accusing Wounded Warrior Project of improper spending.

Get Fit, America! Wasteful Spending at Wounded Warrior Project? The Wounded Warrior Project is one of the largest veteran support organizations in the country. Since the September 11th attacks, they have offered a variety of programs, services, and events for wounded veterans of the military.

Last week the board fired its chief executive officer and chief operating officer after the nonprofit was involved in a scandal. The two top executives, CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano, are being held responsible for the organization’s wasteful spending. According to Wounded Warrior Project tax forms obtained by a CBS News investigation, the organization spent $26 million on conferences and meetings in 2014, up from $1.7 million in 2014. Many former employees also accused the organization of making money off their injuries in a CBS report. One former employee told CBS News that how Wounded Warrior Project spends its money is the equivalent of “what the military calls fraud, waste and abuse.” According to the charity watchdog, Charity Navigator, Wounded Warrior Project only spends 60 percent of its budget on veterans. The Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, on the other hand,

Scientists believe that people who live active lifestyles tend to have longer life expectancies, but being fit isn’t simply about clocking in at the gym. It involves a combination of healthy diet and lifestyle. Fitness varies across the nation, as a city’s infrastructure takes a major toll on how active its residents are. For example, cities with a warmer climate allow for a broader range of outdoor activities all-year round. Residents of Hawaii can participate in water sports, such as surfing, diving and paddle boarding all year. On the other side of the nation, cities with mountainous ranges such as Colorado allow for winter sports like skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing. So where do the fittest Americans live? New Yorkers only rank at 24th fittest in the nation. Those living in Baltimore can do a little jig; they come in at number 19. Despite the warm weather and surf, living in Miami doesn’t guarantee a fit life. Miami residents only come in at number 30. Los Angelinos, though, rank 23. Keep rollerblading through Rodeo Drive. According to the CDC, more than onethird of U.S. adults are obese; related conditions include heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Membership at gym, though, (and that doesn’t mean that you’re hitting the treadmill) is at its peak. “In 2014, U.S. fitness centers had a total membership of more than 54 million. The U.S. fitness centers market consists of about 34,000 membership-based exercise facilities.” Perhaps you should attend a class or two instead of sticking the membership card in your wallet.

Sadly, our children are not living fit lifestyles. About 50% of people ages 12-21 are not vigorously active on a daily basis. Additionally, there is a huge outbreak of obesity amongst kids – more than 30% of children ages 6 to 11 are overweight and over 15% are obese – and nutritionists are blaming lack of physical activity as one of the key contributors to the epidemic. Aside from a long life, fitness has many other benefits. A daily dose of exercise can help people feel happier and more energized because physical activity releases endorphins into the blood that positively affect mood. Exercise also can help relieve stress. Additionally, each pound of muscle earned causes the body to burn an extra 50 calories every day. Get fit, America! Here are the top ten fittest cities in the nation: 1. Washington, D.C. 2. Minneapolis, MN 3. San Diego, CA 4. San Francisco, CA 5. Sacramento, CA 6. Denver, CO 7. Portland, OR 8. Seattle, WA 9. Boston, MA 10. San Jose, CA

Milk and Cookies

It’s the perfect afterschool snack: chocolate chip cookies dipped in milk. But why does it taste so good? Turns out, milk and cookies really do taste great – it’s scientifically proven that they’re the perfect pairing. Matthew Hartings, a professor of chemistry at American University, related that it’s partially due to the chemical compounds interacting on our tongues. Here’s the science behind it: Chocolate is a combination of cocoa butter (pure fat) and cocoa powder, which wouldn’t ordinarily mix. But, chocolate also contains chemicals called phospholipids, which act

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as emulsifiers and allow foods with a lot of fat (like oil and cocoa butter) to mix with substances without fat (like water and cocoa powder). Milk is also full of emulsifiers. Without them, Hartings explained, the fat in milk would “pool at the top” – similar to the way oils do in all-natural nut butters. Chocolate chip cookies have a lot of fat in them. When they hit your tongue, the emulsifiers in milk “help to smooth out the chocolate as you’re eating it,” Hartings said. Though your tongue can pick up the full-bodied taste of the cookie eventually, the milk quickens this process, and makes sure your tongue receives an even cookie coating. Without it, the cookie may be a little more gritty. Milk also helps to mellow the sweetness of the chocolate chip cookie. Want to know what else goes well with cookies? Turns out that tea may work just as well. NPR reports that cookies feature a chemical called methylbutanol, which contributes to the toasty flavor we associate with cookies and other baked goods. Dipping cookies into hot beverages release this flavor more quickly into your mouth. Seems that the English may have something there with their scones and tea at teatime. But despite the science, culture plays an even bigger component in the way we understand and enjoy food. “We’re just culturally biased to prefer different flavor pairings over others,” Hartings said. “Culture does a better job of explaining ‘like’ and ‘preference’ than chemistry does.” Matzah and charoses, anyone?

A Taste of their Own Raw Law West Virginia politicians say it’s just a coincidence, but others are milking it for all its worth. Recently, state lawmakers passed a bill allowing people to drink raw milk. Once the bill was passed, they chugged some raw milk in celebration – but then some legisla-

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

tors became sick. Was it due to the raw milk they consumed or were they sick from an unrelated stomach bug? Delegate Scott Cadle, who stayed home sick on Monday, said the culprit is actually an unrelated stomach virus circulating the Capitol. Symptoms include fever, vomiting and a loose stomach. “There’s nobody up there that got sick off that milk,” Cadle insisted. “It’s just bad timing, I guess.” Indeed, some who became ill did not taste the raw milk. “With that many people around and that close quarters and in that air and environment, I just call it a big germ,” Cadle told the Gazette-Mail. “All that Capitol is a big germ.” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill on Thursday allowing people to share milk-producing animals and drink raw milk if they sign a document admitting the health risks, and if the animals have passed health tests within the last year. The law goes into effect in May. Dangerous bacteria that can live in raw milk include Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and E. Coli. “A lot of people haven’t tasted raw milk ... and they find out it’s got a little better flavor than store-bought milk,” Cadle related. “Most of them people just tasted it. That’s all they did.” He says he drinks raw milk “all the time” and never gets sick. You know what they say: there’s no use crying over sp[o]iled milk.

Let’s Make America Crate Again

The location has been a tourist attraction in Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line,

Vermont, since its completion in 1904. Martha Stewart Haskell and her son, Colonel Horace Stewart Haskell, both Canadians, built the building as a tribute to Mrs. Haskell’s late husband, Carlos. The family hoped that citizens from both countries would use it as a “center for learning and cultural enrichment,” according to the official Haskell Free Library website. The Haskell is divided between the two countries. The library’s official entrance is on the U.S. side of the building, while most the books are on the Canadian side. The opera house is similarly split, with most of its seats in the U.S. and its stage in Canada. In an interesting twist: the Haskell is the only library in the United States without any books and the opera house in the country without a stage. So do you need a passport to take out your favorite tome to read? Fortunately, passports are not required but the border inside the “building is real and it is enforced,” according to the website. Visitors are expected to return to their side of the border after a visit; if they don’t, they risk possible detention and fines. “We’re just trying to be the best library we can, and our community is made up of people from two different countries,” Library Director Nancy Rumery said. “We don’t think of it in that big symbolic way that I think a lot of people do. These are all our neighbors and we do our very best to help them on their life-long learning journey.” As long as their journey doesn’t go across county lines.

Hiring Shoplifters A Border Runs Through It A five-feet, actor Danny DeVito may

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not be the tallest person around, but he’s urging Americans to vote with their feet – long or short – and feel the Bern. While stumping for Sanders at a rally in St. Louis, Missouri, this week, DeVito stood atop a wooden box so he could reach the mike and shouted, “I love you guys. I love you because you’re here for Bernie,” he said. “And I’m here because you’re here, and because I feel…” The crowd then answered, “the Bern!” Yes, he is looking to make America crate again and he feels that Sanders is the one who can do it. “I am very, very excited tonight to introduce to you the next president of the United States,” said DeVito, who then compared the candidate to Star Wars character ObiWan Kenobi. “We need you, Obi-Wan,” said 71-year-old DeVito, “Bernie Sanders!” Earlier, DeVito didn’t have positive things to say about Mr. Trump. In an interview with MSNBC, he opined, “In terms of the Republican party, I mean, I feel like unfortunately, they have — it’s almost like they had a really nice big car and they loaned it to the crazy brother-in-law who has taken it for a joy ride, and that’s where Donald is. He’s got a lot of people who are riled up, he’s dividing people up.” DeVito didn’t mince words in January when he called Americans “a bunch of racists” when speaking about this year’s Oscars ceremony. “It’s unfortunate that the entire country is a racist country…But just generally speaking, we’re a bunch of racists.” DeVito is currently starring on a sitcom, which has aired for 11 seasons, as the financier of a morally bankrupt group of deviant opportunists, in which every major character is white. DeVito portrays a satirical conservative businessman and gun enthusiast on the show.

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It’s a library divided – between two nations, that is. The United States is flanked by wonderful neighbors. We have the nation of Mexico to our south, and Canada graces our northern border. But visit the Haskell Free Library and Opera House and you can be in two countries at once. The library literally lies on the border of Quebec and northern Vermont.

When he stole $7 worth of groceries, he was desperate. He recently quit his job and his wife was in a coma after giving birth. He had three young children to feed. The 31-year-old man in a small Malaysian town was caught shoplifting from a supermarket and knew that he would be handed over to police. But the supermarket didn’t offer him time in the slammer; instead, they offered him a job and a second chance. “The man’s situation really touched our hearts,” said store manager Radzuan Ma’asan, who interrogated the would-be shoplifter. “He was not a regular thief. When we questioned him, he immediate-

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ly confessed, saying that he stole the fruits and drinks because his son was hungry.” The manager also gave the man some cash to help him take care of his three children, ages 2 to 7. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish – or give him a job – and feed him and his family for a lifetime.

best policy. But sometimes being too honest may not be too helpful. Take David Wheeler, for instance. He launched a dating site back in 2014 to help people find their perfect match. But his site is different from the others. “We’re trying to build a community of honesty, so people can be themselves,” Wheeler, 31, said.

Revel.

Cash in the Chimney

It was like a “bad American movie,” he said. Vemund Thorkildsen, a 27-year-old real estate broker, was showing his new apartment off to his friends. They were admiring his brand new digs in Norway when they found something that took their breath away. “To begin with, I broke out into a cold sweat. After that, we hopped around screaming,” Thorkildsen related. Thorkildsen was speculating whether a fireplace could be moved to another room, when he lifted up one of the stone slabs. When something caught his eye, he climbed into the duct and found four envelopes stuffed full of cash. The total sum? Nearly 350,000 kroner, or $38,000. “I thought this was only something that happened in bad American movies,” Thorkildsen told Norwegian paper Verdens Gang. After celebrating with his friends, though, Thorkildsen thought, “This is not my money.” The elderly couple that lived in the apartment before him had donated their estates to a Norwegian cancer foundation called Kreftforeningen, so Thorkildsen decided to keep their generosity going and give the cash to the nonprofit (he had purchased the apartment from Kreftforeningen). Plus, it “felt nice to give it to something good like the cancer foundation,” he added. Norway is the third most generous nation is the world. Seems like Thorkildsen is one of its most generous citizens.

The Solution to the Shidduch Crisis? You know what they say, honesty is the

The dating site encourages people to post both flattering and unflattering photos of themselves and to list their flaws along with their positive attributes. Understandly, not everyone is gung-ho about dating those with too many flaws. “To be completely blunt and honest, we’re still at about 5,000 members,” Wheeler admitted. “In the dating space, that’s still so small. What we’re hearing from a lot of people is they love the concept.” Wheeler, for example, is balding. He used to post profile photos in which his bald spot was hidden, until it occurred to him that he was contributing to the lessthan-honest facade that bothered him about the whole industry. “I started uploading pictures of myself balding and where I didn’t look the best,” he said. “But I knew my competition wasn’t. Their pictures were all after they just did bicep curls and flexed.” So he and his business partner, Jacob Thompson, launched their site. Their tagline? “Imperfection is Beautiful.” The honesty doesn’t end with photos. Users are encouraged to list their “imperfections” alongside their “perfections” in their profiles. “I have endless amounts of cons,” Wheeler said. “I drive a Dodge Stratus with duct tape on the bumper. Some girls look at that as horrible, and some look at it as, ‘I like that he’s frugal and spends money on his house and not his car.’“ Hey, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. What’s good for the goose may not be good for gander. One person’s dream date is another person’s nightmare. And do I have a boy for you. He’s a nice guy, drives a beat-up Accord, sometimes goes to minyan on time, has dandruff on shoulders, and sends his shirts to the dry cleaners after wearing them three times. Can he call you?

Wood Grilled Rib Eye mustard demi | fried yukon gold potatoes sous vide abalone mushrooms | roasted pearl onions

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Nutrition: Soy Myths Debunked Ilana Muhlstein, R.D.N.

Soy got a bad reputation because 93% of all soy grown in the United States is genetically modified, and its by-products,

like processed soybean oil, are found in most junk food products lining the supermarket shelves. Yet, soy can be really,

really great for you! Below I break down three myths about consuming soy. Myth 1: Soy makes too much estrogen. Soy is the richest source of isoflavones in our diet. Isoflavones, considered a phytoestrogen, act similarly to estrogen and bind to estrogen receptors in the body. Unfortunately, the resemblance between these molecules has caused myths like, “Men who consume soy will grow breasts,” or “Soy will cause breast cancer.” Luckily, clinical studies have disproven all these myths. In fact, soy has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer. Some of the lowest rates of breast cancer are reported in Asian countries where diets are highest in soy. Additionally, nine identified clinical studies found no evidence that isoflavone exposure affects circulating estrogen levels in men. Myth 2: Soy is dangerous for the heart. Soy is extremely heart-healthy. Studies have shown soy consumption to reduce heart disease risk. It produces nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. It also contains Omega 3 fatty acids, and is high in fiber, which lowers cholesterol. Myth 3: Soy foods are unhealthy. Yes, it is true that overly processed, GMO soy products are usually accompanied by tons of salt, sugar, and fat. This unhealthy soy is generally consumed via cheap soybean oil found in processed junk foods, and it also shows up in soy burgers and energy bars. However, choosing organic, non-GMO soy – in the form of soy milk, tofu, edamame, or tempeh – is a very healthy choice! Bottom Line: Get the wonderful cancer-preventative, heart-healthy, plantbased protein and high-fiber benefits of soy by choosing organic, non-GMO, high-quality soy products. Ilana Muhlstein, is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a private practice in Beverly Hills. She is also the dietitian for A&E’s hit new reality show, Fit to Fat to Fit, and works at UCLA where she meets with occupational health patients and leads a weight loss seminar titled, the Bruin Health Improvement Program.

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

ThePre-Pesach Week In News

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Pesach Is Coming! Aidel Matskin

This may come as no surprise to you, as you can see it clearly, black-on-white, on your calendars: Pesach is coming! Some of you may be rolling your eyes, thinking that I’m really slow and behind the times. After all, you have already Pesach-cleaned half your house! Others are rolling your eyes in the opposite direction. You have not even begun to think about Purim costumes, and I’m already discussing Pesach?! But every housewife has a different way of handling her Pesach preparations; everyone has their own ideas of what to do, how to do it, and when is the ideal time to begin. Let’s take a look at a group of experienced Pesach planners and see what they have to say. Ready, Set, Start! When is the best time to start cleaning for Pesach? Ask five women and you’ll likely receive six answers. I think a lot depends on family and occupation circumstances. Do you live in a large house

in which you can clean areas far in advance and block them off, or do you live in a small apartment in which you need every square foot on a daily basis till the last minute? Do you work full-time right through the Pesach season, or do you have ample time to do your preparations? Chavi starts her Pesach cleaning on Tu B’shvat each year. She enjoys starting early, working slowly, and getting, as she says, “to all the details that are rarely touched during the year.” She starts the kitchen right after Purim, cleaning one cabinet at a time and taping them shut, slowly concentrating all her chometz in one small area of the kitchen. Temima, on the other hand, doesn’t start till after Purim, oftentimes even later. She says she sees no reason to start earlier. There is really no area in her apartment that is not used on a regular basis, so she has no areas she can close up. “Starting too early,” Temima states, “will just gen-

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erate unnecessary tension.” Ruti takes the middle ground. She starts earlier in the year, doing her “organizational things” throughout the winter, and then starts the actual Pesach cleaning a few weeks before yom tov. She finds that when things are organized it doesn’t really take that long to Pesach clean. Becky takes a similar approach. She de-junks and spring cleans before Rosh Chodesh Adar. By that point, she’s gotten rid of outgrown clothes, taken the sheimos bag to its drop-off point, and sorted out the toy closet. Depending on life’s circumstances each year, Becky may or may not complete that stage, but she is adamant that if it’s not done before Rosh Chodesh Adar it doesn’t get done at all. After that point, she does only real Pesach cleaning. So, whether you are a believer in “slow but steady wins the race,” or you prefer to work intensely just those last few weeks, get your supplies ready…Pesach is just around the corner! Toothpicks or Rags? Everyone has their own way of completing the Pesach cleaning challenge. Many insist it’s fine to just wipe things down with a bleach-dipped rag, while others insist that their mothers and grandmothers always went through every crack and crevice in the house with a toothpick. Let’s take a look at different approaches. Though she focuses strictly on cleaning chometz, and not spring cleaning, Becky is a bona fide “toothpicker.” She lives in a small house with a lot of young children. She says she’s happy to let everyone toddle around with their chometz all year and then pay the price for three weeks before Pesach. As she digs chometz “out of every bed frame, door jam, and crack in the wall,” she reminds herself that she chose this option the rest of the year. Temima, on the other hand, prefers to just lock up most of the closets and cabinets. She has a special sturdy plastic kitchen pantry that she uses just for Pesach, eliminating the need to clean out any of her kitchen cabinets. The rest of the house she just vacuums and wipes down, focusing her intense efforts mainly on the kitchen which is, as she says, “where it really matters”. Ruti takes an approach somewhere in the middle. She always tries to keep in mind which of the things that she is doing is really halacha and which is just a chumra. She had a few years in which she had really extenuating circumstances right before Pesach and was only able to do the bare minimum. Because she always separated in her mind which things were a must and which were extra, she didn’t feel overwhelmed and berate herself for not following the chumros she likes to do. Ruti feels that, “Of course, there’s an inyan to be machmir, and we try to, but not at all costs.” Little “Helpers” Wouldn’t it be convenient if we could

pack away the kids for a few weeks while preparing for Pesach and bring them home when the house is all clean? Most of us don’t have that luxury and must include our children in our cleaning plans in order to get anything done. Let’s take a look at various ways to include the children in this wonderful mitzvah. Chavi states that she loves Pesach cleaning and her children all inherited that love from her. She says, “It’s an exciting time of year and motivation runs high.” Her children are old enough to be given jobs to do on their own, and Chavi just bites her tongue and refrains from commenting when her daughters use cleaning methods vastly different from what she prefers. As long as the job is done properly in the end, she doesn’t want to spoil the positive feelings towards Pesach cleaning. Ruti finds that children love to help in other homes more than in their own. She lets her children pair up with a friend and work together, one day in their own home and the next day in their friend’s house. Becky’s children enjoy cleaning anything made from plastic. A bottle of soap, scrubbers, and a garden hose make great fun in the pre-Pesach warm weather. She brings out plastic chairs, toys, and anything else than can handle the water, and the children have a great time cleaning! Becky also gives a small prize or project as compensation to any child that properly completed their tasks at the end of each day. Temima stresses the importance of giving children jobs that they enjoy. She says it’s important to give tasks that they can do together with you, and not tasks that you are depending on them to complete on their own. Sometimes the children’s way of participating may not necessarily include cleaning. If they get distracted from their tasks and spend the afternoon making “cleaned for Pesach” signs to hang around the house, that’s fine with her too. Temima feels that this is their way of participating and making a positive pre-Pesach experience. Everyone must evaluate their own home, family, and circumstances and chose when it is best for them to start. Everyone has their own rav and should ask him any questions they have on what they should include in Pesach cleaning, and then make their own evaluation as to how it’s best to clean. Based on the ages and stages of their family members, each of us should choose the best way to get the work done. However, no matter which Pesach cleaning approach we choose, we should all try to enjoy the process and make it fun. Let’s not lose sight of why we’re doing all this work – the mitzvah to rid the house of chometz. And, let’s not forget to be prepared on the spiritual level as well, so that we can all be inspired and build our emunah, which is the real purpose of Pesach. Chag kasher v’sameach!

MARCH 17, 2016 | The Jewish Home

MAY 15, 2016

SALUTE TO ISRAEL WALK

The Week In News

RANCHO PARK, CHEVIOT HILLS RECREATION CENTER

Let’s Paint the City The Israeli American Council (IAC) and

Presents:

Blue & White Assemble: 10:15 am, 2551 Motor Ave., Los Angeles

To register online: celebrateisraelfestival.com/walk For more information: Rebekah Sacher call: 310-836-6140 ext 106 email: Rebekahs@standwithus.com

Commence Walking: 11:00 am Route: W. Pico Blvd., from Motor Ave. to S. Robertson Blvd. and back (1 miles total) The walk will end at the Celebrate Israel Festival’s Gate

Community-Wide Walk

in Solidarity for Israel • Youth movements – show your support and be recognized.

• Great fundraising opportunity for your organization

• Proudly wear your organization’s shirt & bring your banner

• Show your support for Israel

WWW.CELEBRATEISRAELFESTIVAL.COM/WALK

IsraeliAmericanCouncilLA

#CelebrateIsraelFestival

@IAC_LosAngeles

05.15

#CelebrateIsraelFestival