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‫ט׳ ניסן תשע״א שבת הגדול וחג הפסח‬

E E R APRIL 13, 2011

A m e m b e r o f t h e 5 To w n s J e w i s h T i m e s F a m i l y o f N e w s p a p e r s

MA Chadash

By Tuvia Brodie . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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No One Is Home

By Dave Kiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2

Withholding UN Funding

By Ron Jager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Taxibot . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Dahlan Inquiry

By Samuel Sokol . . . . . . . . . . . .

6

The Oleh Chronicle: David Bedein

By Samuel Sokol . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Under the Sun

By Rabbi Dov Lipman . . . . . . . .

8

UN Give and Take

By Larry Gordon. . . . . . . . . . . . .

9

Chessed Corner

By Rochelle Maruch Miller . . . 10

Investing in Israel

By Aaron Katsman . . . . . . . . . . . 11

A Very Special ‘Aliyahversary’

By Shmuel Katz . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

Focus on Fashion

By MIRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chelm-on-the-Med

By Daniella Ashkenazi. . . . . . . 14

Shmu’s Shmooze

By Shmuel Katz . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Letters to the Editor. . . 16

For our next issue, Koleinu is looking for stories and pictures of how you have celebrated Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and/or Yom HaAtzmaut.

Does your shul/school/ group run a special program? Share it with the rest of us at stories@koleinu.co.il

MA Chadash: News From Maale Adumim

BY TUVIA BRODIE In September 2011, the Municipality of Maale Adumim will expand a special school called NIRIM, which is completing its inaugural year. This school is for students who have tested at normal intelligence but who have demonstrated emotional and behavioral issues in the regular school setting. For the current year, the oldest child age for admission had been set at 12; for September 2011, the oldest age for admission will be set at 13. According to Aliza Azarzar, school principal, the typical student best suited for this program is one who has become so frustrated at school that regularly trained teachers, in a regular school setting, are not equipped to help the student learn.

With this program, the student’s school experience is organized to create an enhanced learning environment where teachers, working with specially trained adults, focus on the class curriculum in ways that help students develop. Each child’s progress is monitored daily, and emotional support will be available throughout the school day.

The school is located on Tsemach HaSadeh.

According to Ms. Azarzar, the program has three goals: “first, to give the student reason to feel happy coming to school each day; second, to help each student discover his or her strengths; and third, to help the student feel successful enough to return to a regular school setting.”

052.952.7500 editor@koleinu.co.il Published by: Shmu Media, Ltd. Editor: Shmuel Katz Associate Editor: Larry Gordon Managing Editor: Goldie Katz News Director: Samuel Sokol The NIRIM school in Maale Adumim

To help ensure that these goals are achievable, classes will be small, perhaps no larger than eight. Also, each class will have multiple assistants and teachers, perhaps as many as four, depending on the number of students in each class and the needs of those students.

Esther Perez, manager of special education for Maale Adumim, feels that a program like NIRIM is designed to give each child an opportunity to build school successes—and to feel successful. She is pleased that Aliza Azarza has taken charge of this program.

Maale Adumim parents who are in-

terested should speak to the teachers and principal of their child’s current school to discuss how the NIRIM program might benefit the specific needs of their child. In addition, Esther Perez’s office is conveniently located in the city’s central municipal building, and she welcomes those who wish to make an appointment to see her.

Tuvia Brodie has a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. He has worked at the University of Pittsburgh and at American Express. Before moving to Pittsburgh, he lived in Manhattan for seven years. He and his wife, Shaina, made aliyah in August 2010 and currently live in Maale Adumim.

When The Lights Are On But No One’s Home

BY DAVE KIEL Jerusalem of Gold—the city that’s close to every Jewish heart and soul. We all mention Jerusalem in our daily prayers and dream of living in this holy city. Many of those who can’t currently realize this dream have built or purchased a home in Jerusalem, though they may reside at present in different parts of the world. These Jerusalem realestate owners are fulfilling an important mitzvah and preparing the ground for their future permanent aliyah or at least aliyah l’regel, spending Sukkot, Pesach, or other holidays in the comfort of their home in Jerusalem.

While most homeowners would not dream of leaving their precious investment uninsured—all the more so when they are not residing full time—they are

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April 13, 2011

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The Voice ‫קולינו‬

unaware that their insurance policy may not provide the appropriate coverage.

Any untenanted (unoccupied) property is understandably more at risk. A burst pipe, a break-in, or a fire—G-d forbid—that goes undetected will cause much more damage than if detected immediately. For this reason, all insurance policies in Israel stipulate that if unoccupied, an additional premium is called for, as well as preventive measures like shutting the main water, gas, and electricity flow to the home while away and regular visits by family, friends, or professional property managers.

Failure to comply with any of these stipulations, unless agreed, written, and authorized by the insurer, will void coverage!

Particularly at risk are homeowners with bank mortgages who are insured

through the mortgage bank affiliates that do not address these issues, leaving the client completely exposed and inadequately insured.

Other problematic issues when insuring through a mortgage bank include your inability to choose your own plumber for burst-pipe repairs and lack of liability coverage (leaving you uninsured if sued by someone who had an accident on your property or if your pipes are leaking onto your neighbor’s property), to name just a few.

In conclusion—prayers notwithstanding—one would be well advised to be insured appropriately!

Dave Kiel is the general manager of the Centurion division at Elad Insurance Agency with 27 years of experience providing all insurance needs for Anglos, foreign residents, and tourists in Israel.

Copy Editor: Michele Justic Copy Editor: Shmuel Gerber Contributing Editors: Aron Katsman, Rabbi Dov Lipman, Rabbi Shalom Hammer, Paul Shindman Staff Photographer: Yissachar Ruas News Intern: Zahava Pinsker Design by Design-ER Printing: Graphoprint, Tel Yitzhak DISCLAIMER: The Voice | ‫ קולינו‬is an independent newspaper o wned and operated b y Shmu Media, L td. O pinions e xpressed b y the c olumnists and contributors ar e not nec essarily those of the editor, publisher, or owner. Opinions e xpressed b y the adv ertisers ar e not necessarily those of the editor, publisher, or owner. We are not responsible for the hashgachah or kashrut of any product or establishmen t advertised or featured in the newspaper . All submissions ar e pr operty of the newspaper .

The edit or r eserves the righ t t o r eject any submissions for publica tion and/or advertisements, at his discretion. We are not r esponsible for an y t ypographical errors or omissions or the content of any advertisements or submissions.

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April 13, 2011

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Withholding American Funding Of The United Nations you will clearly see that Goldstone gave an erroneous picture of what it is like to Richard Goldstone’s Washington Post face an enemy that is devoid of any huop-ed retracting the central conclusions manitarian considerations, and he gave no indication that of his earlier report is Israel has the right something of an earthand the duty to dequake. Despite his atfend its citizens. Aftempt to apologize for ter the years of inhis 2009 report by the cessant shelling of United Nations HuIsrael’s south, drasman Rights Council, tic action was inwhich caused a modevitable. Goldstone ern-day blood libel and never even menone of the deepest rifts tioned Hamas’s use between Israel and the Judge Richard Goldstone at the UN of its own civilian international community, its bottom line was simple and population as a hiding place for weapconclusive: Israel had committed war ons and terrorists and as human shields, crimes and crimes against humanity in or its booby-trapping of buildings with Operation Cast Lead, by intentionally civilian inhabitants. Hamas established military command centers in hospitals targeting civilian population.

Goldstone’s Jewishness gave the re- and UN-affiliated schools.

Hamas also exploited the relative port special weight and an aura of objectivity. All supporters of Israel should weakness of the rockets that it sent into reject Goldstone’s pathetic attempt to Israel; due to Israel’s home-front prepacorrect the irreparable damage done ratory efforts, physical damage was manto Israel when he paved the way to de- ageable, yet the world never showed inmonize and delegitimize Israel across terest in or took note of how deeply the globe. The United Nations, which the Kassam attacks terrorized the pophas consistently and obsessively con- ulation in Israel’s south, making the exdemned Israel at every opportunity in tent of Israel’s retaliation seem disprorecent years, has shown that it can no portionate.

Goldstone willingly created the imlonger fulfill its historic mission and should not be funded by the American pression that Israel was acting cruelly taxpayer any longer. Read the report and out of choice, never presenting Israel’s

BY RON JAGER

Koleinu can be found in the following locations: Jerusalem

• Wolfson: Cheerfully Changed and (Friday only) Positif • Rehavia: The great Synogogue • Emek Refaim: Super Hamoshava • Baka-German Colony: Mercaz Hapri Vehayerek on Derech Bet Lechem and (Friday only) both Super Deal Supermarkets • Katamon: Shteeblach Shul • Kanfei Nesharim: Cheaper Kol • Har Nof: Hakol Labayit on Shaulson and Chalav Udvash on Chai Toub • Ramot: Minimarket Naamad on Tsundak and Super HaChoresh • Keren Hayesod: The OU Center • Shaarei Chessed: Yaakov Binyamini Fruits on Keren Kayemet

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• Efrat upstairs and downstairs in the Mister Zol shopping center, Patit on David Hamelech, HaSuper Shelanu in Zayit • Alon Shvut in the makolet and the butcher shop • Elazar in the makolet • Neve Daniel in the makolet

ened, keeping in mind that the Muslim revolt in the majority of the Arab nations in the Middle East is a byproduct of the hypocrisy and neglect of UN institutions.

The very nations that sit on the UN Human Rights Council are the ones whose leaders have attacked their own people with jets and tanks, refusing to respect the most basic human rights of their citizens.

In response to this expected development, the Obama administration has the opportunity to send a message to the leaders who are undermining American interests and disregarding the expectations of Obama, who has led the demand of respecting the democratic rights of the masses demonstrating for change and democratic reform in the Arab nations.

Obama can show the world that he is serious about his administration’s intentions by acting consistently and proactively. Halting American fundU.S. President Barack Obama addresses the UN ing of the UN will send the al support to our enemies, encouraging right message: that America no longer them to believe that they could kill us condones the use of the UN for attacknot only with impunity, but with ac- ing Israel exclusively, rather than ustive international empathy and support. ing the resources of the UN to promote Goldstone endangered the lives of all democratic reform and upholding huof Israel’s citizens on the battlefield as man rights in all of the nations that surwell as in the major population centers round Israel.

It has become clear to all that the UN in the south of Israel. So much for Goldhas dealt with Israel as a means of disstone’s penitence.

As the UN prepares for the next major tracting the focus from the nations that anti-Israel event this September, when are the worst offenders of human rights. the nations of the world plan to cooper- Obama, instead of ushering in an era of ate with the enemies of Israel and vote freedom in the Arab world, will enable in favor of a virtual Palestinian Arab Islamic radicals to benefit from the UN’s state, the members might want to con- continuing obsession with Israel, the sider that the one-sided anti-Israel res- only democratic nation in the Middle olutions over the years have led to the East. Now is the time to halt American point where the majority of Israel’s cit- funding of the United Nations. izen and politicians have absolutely no Ron Jager is a 25-year veteran of the Israel trust in the UN. The public in Israel will dismiss the Defense Forces, serving as a field mental-health officer. Prior to retiring in 2005, he served as the expected resolution concerning the Pal- commander of the central psychiatric military estinian Arab state and demand of its po- clinic for reserve soldiers at Tel-Hashomer. Since litical leadership to respond to this lat- retiring from active duty, he has been providing est attempt to attack Israel in the spirit consultancy services to NGOs, implementing of the Goldstone Report. The UN’s credi- psychological trauma treatment programs in Israel. To contact him, e-mail medconf@ bility and impact will be seriously weak- netvision.net.il. actions as a response to Hamas’s systematic targeting of Israeli civilians.

Goldstone, being only the most recent example of a “useful idiot,” enabled his biased and dishonest investigation to have a toxic effect everywhere in the “soft power” battlefield—in diplomatic and legal forums, in the print, broadcast, and Internet media, throughout university campuses, and in the global public discourse. Goldstone poisoned Israel’s name. In the physical battlefield, where the IDF’s finest put their lives on the line, the Goldstone Report gave mor-

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A ‘Tugboat’ For Airplanes That Saves On Fuel

BY KARIN KLOOSTERMAN The idea has been around for a while, but engineers weren’t able to make it work. At least as far as Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) knows, the Taxibot Dispatch Towing system is the world’s first tugboatlike way to tow both wide- and narrowbody commercial airplanes between the gate and the runway without the use of their jet engines.

Developed and tested in a joint venture with Airbus, the environmentally friendly semi-robotic towing system could potentially reduce annual fuel costs from $8 billion to less than $2 billion, carbon dioxide emissions from 18 billion tons to less than 2 million tons per year, and noise emissions by a significant margin.

“This is an outcome of the very innovation process we are doing at IAI,” says Ran Braier, Taxibot project director and civil robotics director in the company’s Lahav Division. He notes that a team of about 26 people, mostly engineers, worked on building the Taxibot.

Instead of running the engine as the plane taxis to the runway—and if you’ve ever been stuck sitting in a plane on the runway for three hours, you know the problem all too well—jets outfitted with Taxibot won’t have to turn on the engine until minutes before takeoff.

A Boeing 747 can burn through a ton of jet fuel for every 17 minutes it’s taxiing.

Control In The Pilot’s Hands When designing Taxibot, IAI needed to recognize that pilots were not about to relinquish control over the taxiing process, Braier explains to ISRAEL21c.

“The pilot is the only person who is allowed to be in control of passenger jets because the human factor is one of the greatest causes for accidents. One of the weaknesses [in the link] is the change of responsibility between humans,” he says.

Bottom line: Any towing system must be designed with its controls in the cockpit.

The engineers at IAI also had to clear another major hurdle: Previous attempts at taxiing systems produced too much wear and tear on the nose landing gear, causing breakdowns. Taxibot has been designed to overcome this problem.

“We have a lot of mechanisms that are maintaining the load envelope in realtime, in a way that it doesn’t affect the landing gear,” Braier says, describing in aviation terms how the innovative control system of the Taxibot works.

And, of course, the device was developed with the environment in mind: “‘Green’ is also part of why IAI selected this program among all those we are analyzing,” he adds.

The company recently announced a series of successful trials with Lufthansa on a Boeing 747 in Germany and on an Airbus in Toulouse, France. Lufthansa is a likely first customer, and interest has been expressed by U.S. Airways in Philadelphia.

The business model is flexible. The Taxibot could be owned by the airline, provided as a service by the airport, or owned and operated by privately held ground-crew companies.

With an estimated cost of about $3 million each, the company aims to sell some 1,500 Taxibots by the year 2020. The return on investment for airlines buying the device directly is expected to be quite rapid—less than two years, depending on the size of the plane.

Taking Off With Pilots During trials, IAI showed how the aircraft’s pilot can steer the plane to the runway using tiller and braking pedals like those used in regular airplane taxiing.

Taxibot in action

The use of the Taxibot system requires no modification to the airplane and minimal modifications to the airport infrastructure, which will not affect existing taxiways and runways.

After the test, Lufthansa pilot Bernd Pfeffer stated in his evaluation: “The overall impression is very good, and better than I expected. Steering the aircraft using the Taxibot with all kinds of turns was absolutely to my liking in addition to the accelerating and braking capabilities that were good.

“A big advantage of using the Taxibot is on icy or slippery surfaces where traction is now better, and safety is increased when turning.

I wouldn’t change anything at all.” (Israel21c)

¤

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Personally deliver the Sefer Torah to the I.D.F. in a joyous ceremony with your family and friends on an army base in Israel.

Find out more at: www.redeemtorah.org Or contact: In the US: Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Exec.-VP NCYI: execvp@youngisrael.org In Israel: Daniel M. Meyer, Exec.-Director, IYIM: iyimisrael@gmail.com

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Fatah’s Dahlan Inquiry Highlights Divisions In Palestinian National Movement

BY SAMUEL SOKOL NEWS DIRECTOR

While internal Palestinian Authority maneuvering may seem to hold little interest for the Jewish community, it is in fact vitally important for our security and well-being to understand what is taking place in Ramallah, only minutes from our capital in Jerusalem.

The fight between “hard-liners” and “moderates” may seem to many Israeli observers to be a conflict between two vastly similar, and violently anti-Semitic, groups.

But there is a significant difference of which one must be aware.

Should the “hard-liners,” led by such men as Marwan Barghouti and Muhammad Dahlan, gain ascendency, it could mean that the official weight of the Palestinian Authority may be mobilized behind violence, going beyond the incitement and diplomatic warfare currently being practiced by “moderate” Mahmoud Abbas.

The difference between Dahlan and Abbas has important security ramifications for Koleinu’s audience, and as such should be taken quite seriously.

Last week, the Fatah Central Committee announced that it is investigating allegations that former Preventative Security Service head and former central committee member Muhammad Dahlan due to allegations that he is responsible for smuggling Israeli munitions to forces loyal to Libya’s beleaguered dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.

According to a committee spokesman, interference in the internal affairs of Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan foreign nations is against the Fatah faction’s principles and runs rebels claimed that the munitions were used against their positions in the concontrary to Palestinian interests.

The accusations against Dahlan stem tested city of Misrata and that they were from a report in the Algerian newspaper marked with Israeli symbols, includAl-Shuruq that Dahlan and several oth- ing the Star of David. However, images er Palestinians were “involved in a deal of the weapons shown on Al-Jazeera did to supply weapons from Israel to Muam- not appear to bear any such markings.

Dahlan expressed anger at Al-Jazeera mar Gaddafi.” The paper cited Omar ElKhadraoui, described as a member of the over its reporting of the story, denouncpolitical leadership of the Libyan rebels, ing what he called the network’s “bad inwho accused Dahlan of arranging a ship- tentions.”

A second Palestinian named Khaled ment of “proscribed” Israeli weapons to Tripoli onboard a Greek ship. Libyan Salam was also named as a party to the arms deal, but Fatah sources claim that he has no connection to the movement and that he is not being investigated.

The investigation highlights the acrimonious relationship between Dahlan and PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who has been working hard to minimize the former Gaza strongman’s influence in recent months.

Abbas has taken a series of steps against Dahlan, including reducing the number of policemen outside his residence from four to two, shutting down the offices of Dahlan’s “Tomorrow’s Palestine” satellite channel, purging his supporters from key ministerial and security postings, and forming a committee to scrutinize Dahlan’s “insolence.”

Dahlan’s membership in the Fatah movement was suspended in December

amidst allegations that he was forming a militia outside of Palestinian Authority control in order to stage a coup. The rivalry stems in part from the former security chief’s criticism of the Palestinian president’s perceived weakness vis-à-vis Israel and his willingness to make what Dahlan believes to be “very dangerous compromises.”

Dahlan, who has been working to rebuild his power base in the West Bank after leading Fatah’s forces to defeat in the 2007 Gaza civil war, has been a tough critic of the current Palestinian leadership.

Despite being accused of running a massive racketeering operation during his time commanding the PA’s security forces in Gaza and charges that he siphoned taxes collected at the Karni border crossing into a personal bank account, Dahlan has positioned himself as a reformer and has accused President Abbas and his supporters of corruption.

Among the charges leveled at Dahlan, who some Palestinians believe to be America’s favored candidate to succeed Abbas, is his interference in Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s government.

According to Palestinian news sources, in 2010 Dahlan attempted to “maneuver a cabinet reshuffle,” in pursuit of which he allegedly offered several prominent Gazans ministerial positions without the knowledge of Abbas or Fayyad.

Dahlan spoke to the Al-Arabiya satellite station in January, following the suspension of his Fatah membership, blasting reports that he called “humiliating to the Fatah movement.”

“Accusing me of conspiring against Abbas is unacceptable. These words aren’t part of the Fatah lexicon. They’re only helping Hamas and Israel and making it hard on the movement,” he stated.

Should the young guard loyal to Dahlan gain power, we should all be worried, for Fatah may drop the veneer of civility that it shows the world under Abbas. Abbas is bad, but Dahlan would be worse.

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The Oleh Chronicle: A Profile Of David Bedein

BY SAMUEL SOKOL David Bedein gave me my start as a reporter. A short and friendly 60-yearold man who came to Israel on his 20th birthday, Bedein exudes a jovial presence that makes one want to open up and confide one’s most private thoughts.

This is a useful, and carefully cultivated, trait in a man whose living depends upon success in ferreting out facts that the subjects of his stories would rather keep hidden.

He is one of Israel’s most senior foreign newsmen, having worked as a radio correspondent for CNN and the Middle East bureau chief for the Philadelphia Bulletin, produced documentaries for the BBC, and been retained by the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

Operating in a cramped office in Jerusalem’s Bet Agron International Press Center, Bedein is a whirlwind, taking call after call, reading through faxes and sending e-mails, all while keeping up a running dialogue as I sit in an old and battered armchair he keeps around for his numerous guests and interviewees.

An American immigrant originally from Philadelphia, David lives with his wife, Sara (who came from Cleveland on the last voyage of the SS Shalom in 1966), in Efrat, where they are the proud parents of Noam, Rivka, Elchanan, Leora, Meira, and Ruchama.

He also runs the Israel Resource News Agency in Jerusalem’s Bet Agron. (Beit Agron was once the nerve center of Middle East reporting, but now the only remaining tenants are the Israel Resource News Agency; the Yomiuri Shimbun; and the Israeli Government Press Office.)

What one sees today is a far cry from the building’s heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when it was home to 40 international media outlets and IDF Radio.

However, with the decline of revenues for print media in the face of the Internet, fewer and fewer newspapers maintain full bureaus here.

His agency, however, is still thriving, and some of the biggest stories of the past decades were broken in his small, unassuming office, cluttered with reference volumes, sefarim, and propaganda leaflets produced by every organization from the PLO to the Likud and Yesha.

Due to his background as a social worker and community organizer, Bedein decided that the best thing to do with people who, in his words, are “selling a bill of goods” is to report what they say in their own language, among their own people.

David Bedein and family

As such, Bedein began closely following what Arafat was saying in Arabic after the start of the Oslo process. He hired a Palestinian television crew and retained a veteran translator who had been with the highest echelons of Israeli intelligence to sit around and watch Palestinian television.

He then used the footage to put together the famous Arafat tapes, in which the Palestinian Authority leader could be heard speaking in flamboyant Arabic, negating his promises to the Israelis and Americans. Many people who felt relief at the thought of the end of the Arab-

his lapel, and, frankly, I was Israeli conflict were unintimidated. However, rederstandably angry when membering Bedein in RaBedein showed the world mallah, I steeled myself and that their celebration was began to ask questions . . . premature.

While daunting at first, During a face-to-face such activities become easiinterview with the PLO er to conduct with time, and chieftain in Ramallah, BeI am now in regular contact dein used his social work/ with both the Palestinian criminology background Authority and Hamas. to calmly ask Yasser Arafat With the impending cloabout his incitement and sure of the Beit Agron press endorsement of those who center and the relocation of murder Jews. Arafat gave Nahum Bedein, z”l the Israel Government Press his word that he would monitor and oversee the Palestinian me- Office to the Malcha Technological Center in Jerusalem, just opposite the Maldia and stop incitement.

Later, during a press conference at the cha mall, David’s base of operations will U.S. State Department, Bedein move while still maintaining the task at challenged Arafat regarding his hand: to reveal the sordid details of the broken promise. Arafat, feel- anti-Semitism promoted by the Palestining cornered, began gesticulat- ian Authority, the United Nations Relief ing wildly and ranting in a loud and Works Agency, and the network of voice, denying any anti-Semi- organizations that act on their behalf.

The center will be named the Natism on the part of the Palestinian Authority. “I love the Jews!” hum Bedein Center for Near East PolArafat screamed. “I love the icy Research, for David’s brother NaJews!” It was a poor attempt at hum. Nahum died of cancer this past spin that in the end went unre- year, leaving behind his wife and four sons. David dedicated the center’s work ported.

That was the beginning of in recognition of his brother’s advice the Israel Resource News Agen- and counsel over the years. David says cy’s effort to report the real sto- that his brother taught him a basic lesson that he applied to working with the ry of the Oslo Accords.

“The most important scoop, media, which was that “you must give which was on April 24, 1996, was when service, not just serve,” when you work we had the only crew—it was a Palestin- with a reporter.

Reflecting on a quarter century of work ian television crew—inside the Palestinian Legislative Council when they did with the press, David believes that Isranot cancel the PLO covenant. Martin In- el’s challenge is not “media bias” per se.

David asserts that “Israel’s detracdyk, the American ambassador, reported to the Clinton Administration and to the tors have mastered the art of giving serU.S. Congress that they did, and on that vice to the media, making the best use of state-of-the-art public relations, combasis Arafat got into the White House.”

Congress had conditioned Arafat’s ac- bined with charm, hospitality, and paceptance on American soil on his cancel- tience, packaging their PLO terror state ing the PLO’s charter, which until today as some kind of humanitarian gesture.”

The challenge, David puts it, is to still calls for the destruction of the State show the world that the PLO now deof Israel.

Indyk and then-Prime Minister Peres mands the 1947 lines, not the 1967 lines, as the first stage of that conquest. perjured themselves, Bedein asserts.

The uncompromising PLO demand However buoyed I was by David’s encouragement, it was with significant trep- is that Israel withdraw to the 1967 lines idation that I began interviewing subjects and allow for the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and their descenaffiliated with the Palestinian Authority.

One of my first meetings was with Ad- dants to repossess the lands where their nan Husseini in East Jerusalem. Hussei- villages were in 1947, which have been ni is the former head of the Islamic trust, replaced by Bet Shemesh, Ashkelon, Ashknown as the Wakf, that controls the dod, Kiryat Gat, S’derot, and more.

Despite the passivity of the governTemple Mount and has served as an adviser to Palestinian Authority President ment of Israel in all matters dealing Mahmoud Abbas. He is one of the fig- with PR, it will devolve on the privateures behind the sporadic violence that ly supported initiatives such as the Nabreaks out in Arab sections of Jerusalem hum Bedein Center for Near East Policy Research to tackle a difficult job with and has a long history with the PLO. When we met, in a hotel in a heavi- the press.

To learn more about the center or to ly Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem, Husseini was accompanied by a burly body- make a donation, visit http://www.Israel guard wearing a Palestinian flag pin on BehindTheNews.com. ʥʰʩʬʥʷ

April 13, 2011

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Under The Sun: A Survey Of Bet Shemesh News

BY RABBI DOV LIPMAN

Bet Shemesh Celebrates 60th Anniversary The city of Bet Shemesh is celebrating 60 years since its founding. The city was founded as a development town on December 6, 1950 by immigrants from Iran, Iraq, North Africa, and Romania. It has since grown into a city of close to 100,000 residents from all over the world.

The city has been celebrating its 60th anniversary in many ways. Most notably, a “resident card” has been issued granting Bet Shemesh residents discounts of 5%–25% off at local restaurants and stores. A contest was held for a slogan to be used throughout the year of celebrations. The winning entry, “60, And this is just the beginning” was included in the 60th-anniversary logo, also chosen through a contest.

The 60-year mark has led to numerous events and ceremonies, with a focus on the next 60 years. A recent youth event focused on what the youth want from the city in

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The winning 60th-anniversary logo and slogan “60, And this is just the beginning”

the future. There is a general sense among the public that the city has been on “autopilot” in terms of how it developed and that the time has come for real planning.

A master transportation plan has been developed in conjunction with the Transportation Ministry. The plan includes widening Highway 38, which connects to Highway 1 to Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv; completing Highway 10, which runs from Bet Shemesh to Ramat Bet Shemesh and continues towards

Beitar and Gush Etzyon; and a more convenient internal north-south road from Bet Shemesh to RBS Aleph.

New Project Geared To Anglo Olim The community of Nofei HaShemesh, under the leadership of Rabbi Shalom Rosner, is ready for its next stage of growth. The community is located between Sheinfeld and Nofei Aviv and is

right next to the new Orot School campus. In just a few years in Bet Shemesh, Rabbi Rosner has become one of the city’s most popular rabbanim, with weekly parashah shiurim, daf yomi, and fascinating halachah shiurim drawing people from all over the city.

At its inception, the community consisted of one block of houses. It is now expanding to include several sevenstory buildings with apartments ranging from 3 to 5 rooms. The apartments are geared to the dati community with porches for sukkot for every apartment and Shabbat elevators in each building.

For more information about this exciting new project please call *3112 or go to www.nofei.co.il.

Dov Lipman teaches at Reishit Yerushalayim and Machon Maayan in Bet Shemesh. He has semichah from Ner Yisroel and a master’s degree in education from Johns Hopkins University and is also the author of three popular books geared to teenagers and their parents. In recent years, Dov has become a community activist in Bet Shemesh.

He can be reached at ddlipman@gmail.com.

UN Give And Take ASSOCIATE EDITOR

That the now infamous Richard Goldstone is a Jew played beautifully into the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda machine run out of the United Nations on the east side of Manhattan. And the selfloathing Jews liked it more than most others. That even a Jew and someone who was once identified as pro-Israel and characterized himself as an ardent Zionist could be so critical as to accuse the Jewish State of war crimes during Operation Cast Lead was simply additional “proof” of the validity of his panel’s assertions.

Now Goldstone has searched his wounded and apparently disturbed conscience, which he previously was able to comfortably suppress. Now that he has come to realize how misguided his ways are, the propagandists are turning the tables and are suggesting that because of his Jewishness he has reversed his thinking and that they had predicted this all along.

For a short time it was just wonderful that the UN was able to find a prestigious South African Jew to brutally excoriate the State of Israel. They had to know somewhere deep down in the brain trust that does their devious thinking that Goldstone’s Jewishness might someday backfire on them. And what do you know; it happened more rapidly than anyone has anticipated.

Though the notorious Goldstone Report has had its major anti-Israel points magically repudiated, the reaction of the United Nations is, “Sorry, but not so fast, buddy.” A UN spokesman said this week that just because the chairman of a commission set up to investigate events does a reverse and comes to the realization that his committee’s research was badly flawed and that the findings lack credibility, that’s no reason for the resolution condemning the involved parties to be withdrawn.

This approach can only make sense in the UN, and the fact that the anti-Israel finding of Goldstone will remain on the books over at that corrupt diplomatic forum does not seem troubling to anyone.

To them and a majority of the world’s diplomats who make their living lunching and lounging in the corridors of that august body, backtracking on anti-Israel resolutions contradicts the raison d’être of the UN in the world today. When reading Goldstone’s story, one gets a sneaking suspicion that amongst other things he has come to the realization that he has been used as a tool to do potentially irreparable damage to the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

So what exactly did Mr. Goldstone have to say in his piece published in last Friday’s Washington Post? Essentially he said that there is no equivalency between the fashion in which the Israeli military conducts itself and the way in which the death merchants and terrorists in Hamas ply their trade. Basically he said that Hamas and its leadership are a bunch of skunks that can’t be trusted (with apologies to the skunks, of course).

“If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document,” he wrote in his op-ed piece. Without parsing words or turning sentences, Goldstone was saying that he was wrong to conclude that Israel had intentionally targeted civilians in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead in 2009.

He added that while that was so, it was now clear to him that, on the other hand, Hamas had indeed targeted civilians (and continues to do so). He wrote in his piece last week that it was an error on his part and that “In the end, asking Hamas to investigate (itself) may have been a mistaken enterprise.”

Beyond Goldstone, Israelis needs to grapple with the issue of why it is so important to them to be found in the good graces of such an obviously corrupt and long-standing anti-Israel forum. The antiIsrael frenzy and even determination is such at the UN that despite Goldstone’s recantation of his awful and unfounded accusations, the UN will let the report stand, at least for now—repudiation and sham document that it is or not.

The biggest challenge to the UN at this point is the search for a mechanism whereby an anti-Israel resolution can be reversed. Diplomats are scratching their heads as if they have been asked to arrange for the water at Niagara Falls to flow upward instead of down. How does the UN go ahead and act in such a way that it favors Israel? This, perhaps, is a move that is not found in their playbook.

The UN, which by its actions of these last many years has made itself extremely irrelevant on any substantive level when it comes to Israel, is planning additional obstacles and difficulties for the Jewish State in the months ahead. The plan is for the Palestinians to ask the UN General Assembly to grant statehood to Palestine at the annual conclave that takes place in New York in September.

The plan would need to first be presented to the Security Council. However, a provision in UN law allows for the General Assembly to vote on a resolution when the Security Council is deadlocked on an issue or when a majority of its member countries favor a resolution but it is rejected because of a veto by one of the permanent core members (in this instance, the United States).

This is the major reason why PA leader Abbas has refused to enter into direct negotiations with Israel and engage in an effort to reach an agreement. Abbas’s obduracy has nothing to do with settlement-building. He and his cabinet and cohort believe that they have finally figured out a way to get their state by circumvention and nuances in international law. While a General Assembly vote can further serve the effort to dele-

gitimize Israel, it is not binding by any application of law. Still, the prospect of having 120 or more countries vote to establish a Palestinian state in and around post-1967 Israel is of serious concern.

Israel is very sensitive to these dramatic flashes of condemnation that are covered in the New York Times and on major network news. They are used by leaders like President Obama, officials of European Union countries, and others to further isolate and pressure Israel.

Coverage of the anticipated Palestinian move that papers like Haaretz in Israel and others seem to indicate will checkmate Netanyahu and call into question the entire enterprise and existence of the State of Israel may be troubling but also may be premature.

Alan Baker of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs says of the planned move

Arutz-7

BY LARRY GORDON

Judge Richard Goldstone

by Abbas to unilaterally seek a UN resolution that will impose a solution on Israel that it is wrought with negative consequences for the Palestinians as well. First, the move would not have the authority to alter the status of the territories. Further, it would serve to void the basis of the peace process. He writes that it would “undermine the legal existence of the Palestinian Authority and violate commitments by Yasser Arafat to settle all issues through negotiations.”

In addition, Baker says, this action “would constitute a fundamental breach of the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, thereby releasing Israel from its reciprocal commitments.” He says that “this unilateral action toward an imposed solution on Israel will also undermine the international communi-

ty’s reliance on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 which form the foundation of all agreements between the parties.” Baker says it would also call into question the integrity and credibility of any Security Council resolutions or agreements that are in place and have been accepted as the basis for resolving conflicts between states.

And finally, Mr. Baker states, “It would render as meaningless the signatures of the major powers as witnesses to previous negotiated agreements. It would also be incompatible with provisions of resolutions and agreements requiring negotiated solutions to the Jerusalem and refugee issues.”

All the enthusiasm by Palestinian leaders is about the anticipation of a public-relations coup in September in New York that will temporarily damage the image of Israel—but that seems to be the major objective these days of Palestinian leaders. Apparently they are not taking into consideration that the move frees Israel to take unilateral action as well—including, of course, annexation of Judea and Samaria, which is long overdue.

Israel and its friends as well as its critics are fidgeting and contorting themselves at the prospect of the Jewish State being vilified by an overwhelming majority of member states of the UN. After all, they may feel it was the UN that dramatically created and breathed life into the modern State of Israel in 1948, so shouldn’t they have the power and ability to undo or deconstruct whatever it is they may have created?

Clearly the responsible parties in the international community know that this is not the same UN. And more importantly, Israelis should not be so alarmed and beside themselves because of the international community’s continued attempts to make Israel a pariah in the world. Our biblical commentators have said from time immemorial that the destiny of the Jewish people until the time of our Redemption is to be cast in the role of “a sheep surrounded by seventy wolves.” Israel is indeed that sheep, and the UN states are playing their role very convincingly.

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April 13, 2011

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Chessed Corner: Ohr Meir And Bracha Terrorism does not discriminate. Terrorists seek out innocent people and attempt to garner media attention by causing the greatest possible tragedy. Even when the attacks subside, the pain never dies. Terror attacks do more than cause physical injuries. They crush the spirit.

For Liora Tedgi, founding the Ohr Meir U’Bracha Terror Victims Support Center was personal. Both her grandfather and her husband had been victims of

her efforts to providing support and succor to other victims of terror. Liora set up the organization to respond to the unmet, unrecognized needs of victims of terror and their families.

Terror attacks destroy the lives not only of those who perish but also of those who survive them.

horrific terrorist attacks. Liora, a mother of ten, was herself a victim of terror and knows firsthand the effects of such a tragedy. Since 2002, she has dedicated

There are hundreds of victims who “fall through the cracks” of the Israeli government’s aid initiative. They do not receive help because they are still in the process of being assessed for disability (which can take two or more years).

Terror attacks do more than destroy buildings and cause physical injury; they cause great psychological duress in individuals and interfere with the longtime livelihood

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of families. Many workers lose their jobs because of extended absences from work as a result of their own or a family member’s injuries, yet often they do not qualify for unemployment subsidies. Others are “unrecognized” or known as secondary victims, individuals traumatized by having witnessed an attack or relatives of victims — people whose lives have been inexorably altered due to the death or disability of a beloved family member as a result of an act of terror. The pressures on the family following a terror attack can wreak havoc, straining relationships to the breaking point, leading to divorce, depression, chronic unemployment, and dissolution of family functioning.

The grief and pain of losing a loved one or enduring ongoing extensive medical treatment can make it difficult for many families to cope with the daily

(516) 295-8800

caretaking needs of their children.

Other families fall into acute financial crises and do not have enough money to pay bills, buy food, or find psychological counseling. The Terror Victims Support Center provides support for these victims by offering many services to help rebuild their shattered lives.

Ohr Meir U’Bracha does not use lengthy evaluation processes. It does not have eligibility criteria other than verifying that the individual is a primary or secondary victim of terror. This exemplary organization gives immediate assistance whenever possible. Ohr Meir U’Bracha provides numerous services to

victimized families. Its flagship service is its weekly food distribution project, which brings together volunteers from all over to package and deliver food to 400 families each week.

The organization is open, however, to any provision that will improve the lives of those afflicted, and habitually provides shivah costs and catering services; hospital visits; psychological and legal services; open-line, 24-hour emergency call-in service; weekly and holiday food distribution; new household electrical appliances; clothes and school supplies; and financial assistance.

Through its Adopt-a-Family program, generous families commit to providing for victimized families’ monthly needs. The center arranges visits to families’ homes, to show support and bring

joy, through its Home Visits program.

“Big Brothers” are dedicated volunteers who act as mentors to young victims.

Through its Family Therapy Vacation program, the center brings families from all over Israel together for a welcome respite in their most difficult times.

“Our mission is to provide financial and moral support for terror victims and their families,” with the aim of relieving the intense pressure that most of these families endure, Liora explains.

“The organization survives through the generosity of its donors worldwide. We are always looking for help, monetary or otherwise, and to increase awareness of our nonprofit organization and the crucial services it provides.”

Unfortunately, at this critical time before Pesach, a vendor who supplied them with weekly vegetables can no longer offer them his goods at a discounted price. Each week the cost of fresh goods will rise to NIS 10,000. Ohr Meir needs your help now more than ever.

You can touch a victim’s life through a simple act of chessed. Please join Ohr Meir U’Bracha in its noble endeavors by mailing your generous donation to: Ohr Meir & Bracha; P.O. Box 41055; Jerusalem 91410.

Tizku l’mitvot!

Investing In Israel: It’s Not Just About Real Estate

BY AARON KATSMAN

$4.4 billion. Buffett has since referred to the purchase as a “dream investment.”

With many foreign investors worried about the potential of a real-estate bubble occurring in Israel, I have been asked by many tourists here for Passover about other investment alternatives available to gain exposure to the strong Israeli economy. While many of you will question my opening line about a potential real-estate bubble forming in Israel, some recent data shows that it may be happening. It’s important to note that certain government officials have made it a priority to cool off the surging Israeli property market.

The Bank of Israel (BOI) continues to raise interest rates to try and slow down rising home prices. This comes on the heels of other BOI regulations regarding mortgages. Under new guidelines, buyers need to make a down payment of 40% of the price, and take a loan on only 60%.

If this is the case, then how else can foreign investors gain exposure to the incredibly resilient Israeli economy?

How To Capitalize?

For many investors, investing in Israeli stocks is an alternative way of gaining exposure to the Israeli economy. While you could open up a local Israeli brokerage account, for many foreign investors this solution is a bit complicated as it entails transferring money to Israel and converting into shekels. Foreign investors may want to look at Israeli stocks that trade in the U.S. In fact, Israel has more compa-

nies trading on major U.S. exchanges than any other foreign country. Not all Israeli companies are created equal and, unfortunately, options are limited in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that focus on Israel. Therefore, investors should speak to a licensed financial adviser experienced with these investments.

Risk It’s very important to note that these types of investments carry an element of risk. As some of these companies are not very large, the smallest piece of

news can send their stocks either soaring or tumbling. It’s therefore important to speak with your investment adviser to see how, if at all, investing in up-andcoming Israeli companies fits into your overall investment portfolio.

Aaron Katsman is a licensed financial professional in both the United States and Israel and helps people who open investment accounts in the United States. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc., a registered broker dealer, member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, NFA, SIFMA. For more information, call (02) 624-0995, visit www.aaronkatsman.com, or e-mail aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il.

Economy Israel has successfully made it through the global economic crisis without so much as a scratch. While certain European countries are on the verge of bankruptcy, not only is Israel on fiscally solid ground but the Bank of Israel actually upped its economic growth forecast for 2011 to 4.5%. In May 2010, Israel was reclassified as a “developed market”

by MSCI, Inc. For investors, this means that you get the stability of a developed country with the strong growth prospects of an emerging economy. Sounds like the best of both worlds.

I am of the belief that this change in classification will be a boon for Israeli stocks. In spite of the fact that Israel used to occupy a larger percentage of the emerging-markets index, investments tracking the developed market are so much greater than their emerging counterparts that Israel may actually see a net inflow of investment money looking for Israeli stocks.

Not Just A Tourist Destination With its sandy beaches and living history, Israel has always been sought after as a tourist destination. Over the last decade, Israel has become a very popular destination for foreign investors as well. Global giants like General Electric, Microsoft, IBM, and Johnson & Johnson are only a few of the companies that have made large investments in Israel by buying local companies. In fact, Warren Buffet, perhaps the world’s most famous and successful investor, made his largest non-U.S. investment when he purchased Iscar, an Israeli company, for ʥʰʩʬʥʷ

April 13, 2011

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A Very Special ‘Aliyahversary’

BY SHMUEL KATZ Rosh Chodesh Nissan dawned with rain in the air. Although it ended late this year, the rain season seemed to have a final gasp of energy and released one more spate of rain showers before what looks to be the end of the season. In the pouring morning rain, with 200 of their close family and friends joining in the celebration, Rabbi Jay and Mrs. Ruby Karzen hosted a special celebration for the 25th anniversary of their aliyah.

The Karzens followed their children Tamar and Morris Rubin and Rabbi Uri (himself an army rav) and Mrs. Shelley Karzen in achieving their 20-year dream of making aliyah. They celebrated their “ali-

z’l, Redeem a Torah for the IDF” project.

The premise of this program is quite simple: Young Israel in Israel solicits congregations from the U.S. and across the globe to donate unused, often pasul sifrei Torah for refurbishment and then donates those sifrei Torah for use on Tzahal bases throughout the country. In the 12 years of the program, Young Israel has presented 190 Rabbi Karzen being greeted by Rabbi Menashe as the Torah is presented to the Chatmar Etzion base sifrei Torah to various

Rabbi Karzen looks on as his grandson Benzion Rubin, currently serving in the IDF, dances with the Torah

yahversary” and the dedicated service of their children and grandchildren in Tzahal by donating a sefer Torah to the Mitkad Chatmar Etzion army base in Gush Etzion as part of Young Israel’s “Ruby Davidman,

bases, including the Karzen Torah.

As the four busloads of guests pulled in to the base, the skies looked threatening and ominous. As a cousin of the Karzens, I was thrilled to participate but was

Rabbi Jay And Mrs. Ruby Karzen Jay and Ruby Karzen made aliyah from Chicago in 1985. Prior to their aliyah, Rabbi Karzen served as a highly regarded rabbi/spiritual leader in the Chicagoland area for many years.

Upon making aliyah, Rabbi Karzen founded “Rituals Unlimited” and arranges/conducts/officiates at bar/bat mitzvah services for tourists at the Kotel and other holy sites. He is also the author of Guide to Jerusalem Funeral and Burial Practices and runs the cemetery and bereavement program for the AACI (Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel).

He also authored the best-selling book Off The Wall, an anthology of humorous tales spanning his rabbinic career.

He teaches Torah to various women’s groups in Jerusalem and is a member of

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the Rabbinical Council of America and Young Israel Rabbis. He is currently copresident of the RCA-Israel Region.

Ruby Karzen has served as both national president of AACI and chairperson of the Jerusalem Region. She spearheaded a successful campaign against curtailing the English-language news on radio and television. Ruby is an interior designer, “Kablanit,” journalist, and teacher in the field of design as well as in feng shui.

The Karzens form a wonderful team and are leaders in communal involvement and Israel advocacy; they are a highly regarded scholar-in-residence team.

Their son and daughter (and their spouses), eleven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren all live in Israel.

in the aron kodesh, Rav Aryeh Menashe, the rav of the base, effusively thanked the Karzens and all their guests for the Torah and for joining them in celebrating the Torah’s arrival at the base. After telling the guests that the base’s beit knesset had only recently been upgraded and enlarged, with the bimah and aron kodesh having arrived days earlier, he added to thunderous applause that the Karzen Torah would be the very first Torah of the beit knesset and base.

After the formal hachnassat sefer Torah concluded, Rav Menashe invited all the guests to a lavish breakfast seudat mitzvah in honor of the Karzens. At the seudah, the Karzens were saluted by divrei Torah and divrei berachah from Rabbi Berel Wein, rav of Bet Knesset Hanasi in Yerushalayim and a longtime personal friend of the Karzens; Ceec Harrishburg, a leader in the International Young Israel Movement; Rav Menashe; and Zion Shenker.

Daniel “Mush” Meyer, executive director of the International Young Israel Movement’s Israel Region, thanked the Karzens for their participation in the program and presenting the sefer Torah to Tzahal. He saluted their hard work and dedication to

concerned about the weather. I remarked to Zion Shenkur, the s’gan mefaked of the unit on base, that although we definitely would be blessed by the rains, I hoped that they would hold off for an hour or two, so as not to interfere with the hachnassat sefer Torah. He responded to me that he totally disagreed. “The more we are inconvenienced, the greater will be the benefit from Heaven, especially when the inconvenience comes from gishmei berachah,” he told me.

He got his wish. Despite the fact that the rains began almost simultaneously with the beginning of the dancing on the way to the beit knesset, no one rushed to get out of the rain, choosing instead to joyously dance with the Karzen family and the Karzen Torah as it slowly made its way through the base. Chayalim (including Benzion Rubin, the KarChayalim and guests dance through the rain at the zens’ grandson) energethachnassat sefer Torah ically joined in the celebration and there was a tremendous the Jewish people over the years, especially the six months of preparation that had sense of love and joy in the air.

When the sefer was safely ensconced gone into that morning’s celebration.

He added that not only had Young Israel recently brought in the 191st Torah to be refurbished and dedicated to a Tzahal base, but that Young Israel is in discussion with the IDF rabbanut to launch a new kollel safrut, with young sofrim who will work in the mornings on sifrei Torah for the army and learn in the afternoons, in an effort to dramatically step up the program. He then called upon the Karzens to address their guests.

Rabbi Jay Karzen’s message was one of inspiration and leadership.

He opened his remarks by saying, “Mishenichnas Nissan marbim besimcha,” commenting that this year’s two Adars were too filled with tragedy and that he hoped that their Rosh Chodesh Nissan celebration would be the launching of a new period of simcha. He spoke about his pride in being Rabbi Jay Karzen

able to present the Torah to Tzahal, and said that “the real sefer Torah is us, walking and living; we are G-d’s partners.” He added a charge to all those present that “after we leave here, we have to be sifrei Torah, not just in bein adam l’Makom, but also most importantly in bein adam l’chaveiro.”

Rabbi Meyer then called upon Ruby Karzen to deliver the final message to their guests. She spoke about the dawn of their personal aliyah dream in 1964. Her voice Morris Rubin, son-in-law of the Karzens, holds cracked several times as her husthe Torah as Rav Aryeh Menashe welcomes the celebrants to the base shul. band watched with tears in his eyes as she spoke of their pride in living in Israel and in having their children “We are Zionists! Religious Zionists! and grandchildren serve in Tzahal.

Passionate, flag-waving, lump-in-the-

IYIM executive director Daniel “Mush” Meyer (far left) and President Ceec Harrishburg present Jay and Ruby Karzen with a certificate commemorating their gift to the IDF

Rabbi Jay Karzen surrounded by friends and chayalim as they dance the Torah through the base.

throat Zionists. When we are on the highway driving home and the sign to Jerusalem appears, I still marvel at the fact that we actually live in Jerusalem. The city of Yerushalayim with all its majesty and history and meaning is our home,” Ruby declared. She shared memories of watching her father listening to the radio on November 29, 1947 and seeing tears run down his face as he ticked off countries voting in favor of the establishment of the State of Israel.

She saluted all the chayalim, including the seven of her children and grandchildren who have already served and

continue to serve along with the rest of the young men and women who provide a safe and secure country for us all. She spoke of her pride in being able to give them the gift of the Torah and thanked the friends and family who joined them in supporting the Torah project and in celebrating a truly momentous aliyahversary and closed with a berachah, “Shehechiyanu, vekiymanu, vehigiyanu lazman ha’zeh!”

To learn more about the Ruby Davidman, z’l, Redeem a Torah for the IDF project, contact Daniel “Mush” Meyer at iyimisrael@gmail.com.

Upcoming Publication Dates:

May 4 (Yom HaZikaron/Atzmaut)

May 18, June 1 Submission deadline for articles and non camera ready ads is 9 PM Wednesday prior to publication and for camera ready ads is 4 PM Friday prior to publication.

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What To Wear, How To Wear It, And Where To Find It Notable New York designer MIRI answers questions on resort wear, fashion faux pas, and just how to get the pieces you loved from the runways.

Dear Miri, I am going away for Passover to the Dead Sea, and I’m not sure what to pack.

I know so many people who will be there, and I know every time I leave my hotel room there will be a little fashion show with the ladies. How do I know what is appropriate for day? What about night?

Eleanor Schain, Manhattan Dear Eleanor, More and more people every year are choosing to go away for the holidays rather than deal with all the hassle of preparing their homes and having family over and making meals. There is no need to worry about what to wear if you follow these simple guidelines: Evenings in the desert can be almost as hot as day, so stick with light fabrics like chiffon. Mix it up with navy instead of black. Beaded lightweight sweaters with structured skirts are another alternative. For the daytime, keep cool in cotton dresses, and experiment with prints. You might want to bring slightly more formal attire for synagogue in the mornings, and then

change into casual resort wear for later in the day.

Dear Miri, I was recently at the wedding of a friend and I noticed a woman across the room wearing a black dress with a lace insert in the back and a beaded belt. I noticed the details because I was wearing the same dress! I wasn’t sure what to do. It was so awkward. Is there any right way to react to that situation?

Sarah Goldman New York Dear Sarah, This question is a very relevant issue.

With all the chain stores, it’s become commonplace to see several of the same designer pieces at any event, and the chances of seeing the same dress that you have on increases as well. The best thing to do in this situation is to place yourself on the opposite side of the room, with some distance between you. Try to see how your “twin” accessorized. What shoes, jewelry, and makeup is she wearing? Take it as a lesson for yourself for the future; see if there is anything you can incorporate into your look. If you find that you cannot avoid this person, try to put a positive spin on it. Give her a friendly smile and compliment her fabulous sense of style!

Dear Miri, I love looking at the designer collections each season, and every once in a while I will see a look that is beautiful and fits my needs perfectly. I wait and wait and the line finally comes to the stores, but then the piece I loved is nowhere to be found. How can I make sure to get specific designs from the collection, and why are these styles missing?

Elaine Sternberg New Jersey Dear Elaine, The runway clothes you see now in magazines and online are simply proposals or samples. If retailers like them enough to buy them, they will be produced. Some are too outlandish to ever be produced en masse. These experimental runway samples will be headed to museums, private collections, or the brands’ own archives. But don’t lose hope. Most of the clothes on the runways really are samples in search of a champion. If you’ve seen something on the runways that you just have to have, there’s a good chance you can get it, with a little patience and savvy.

Here’s what to do: 1. Call the brand and ask if they have a trunk show scheduled near you. Most brands take parts of their collections on

hour-long conference calls with Israeli nationals stuck in Japan, to calm their nerves.

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CHELM-ON-THE-MED O

BY DANIELLA ASHKENAZI

Send Cookies ASAP! When things got dicey in Japan, the Japanese government put out an urgent request for 300 special Geiger counters made by the commercial wing of the Dimona nuclear reactor, Rotem Industries.

The Israeli ambassador to Japan made an urgent request, too—that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem send his beleaguered skeleton staff of four at the Israeli embassy a shipment of Purim hamantaschen to lift their spirits. The Hong Kong Chabad center came to the rescue, airlifting the goodies to the stressed-out diplomats in Tokyo via FedEx. Apparently unsure whether hamantaschen would do the trick, the ambassador also asked Jerusalem to “send a psychologist” who began conducting

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April 13, 2011

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Remember “You’ve Got Mail–À La 2011” from last month, about how the IDF’s Israel Home Front Command will be sending personalized SMS messages to all cell phones within radius of any incoming rocket or missile anywhere in the country?

Quick-thinking officers at the Home Front Command came up with another innovative application in the wake of the Japanese earthquake-tsunami: text messages will also go out to warn Israelis in advance of such natural disasters.

How? The existing SMS rocket-missile notification system will be attached to stateof-the-art earthquake warning technology that gives a 5- to 35-second warning before an earthquake occurs, and 30 to 60 minutes before a tsunami. (The last tsunami hit Acco in the year 1033.) Granted, 5 to 35 seconds doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but tell that to residents of S’derot who have 15 seconds to duck and cover.

Pigeonholed Jews may not have a Holy Grail, but do they have a Pious Pigeon? Talmudic students at the ultra-Orthodox Kaminetz Yeshiva in Jerusalem believe a white pigeon

What daf did you say we were on?

comes to sit in on their Torah lessons. For a month, the bird has sat on the windowsill during the two-hour lesson, only departing when the class is dismissed.

The students view the bird as some kind of medium and have formed “learning circles” (with the bird in the center) to recite Mishnah passages and request forgiveness from deceased souls that they believe have set up house in the holy bird’s body—but to no avail. The bird keeps coming back. The yeshiva is studying the issue.

the road to retailers, who invite good customers to come see the samples and place orders.

2. Contact a local luxury retailer who carries the label and ask if they’ll order the item for you. The time to do that is now. Once the orders are closed, it’s very hard for brands to produce additional items. They simply won’t have enough fabric to make them.

3. If you have no idea how to contact a helpful retailer, look on the website of the brand. Most will list all the retailers that carry their label. As a designer, I love for my clients to send me looks they loved from the runways so that I can incorporate some of those key ideas into my own collection!

E-mail your questions for MIRI to info@ miricouture.com. To contact MIRI’s Jerusalem boutique, call 026502352. For the Ramat Gan boutique, call 036186231. To reach the Jerusalem bridal salon, call 026525638. Visit MIRI on the Web at www.miricouture.com.

Koleinu is looking for civic-minded individuals to share news stories from their community with our readers. Submit your story to stories@koleinu.co.il. ly, although new high-rise buildings integrate solar panels into the roof design and hide the unsightly storage tanks, most solar water heaters are pretty ugly, perched as they are on flat rooftops of apartment buildings like flocks of lifeless metal storks. To be frank, they’re ecologically friendly eyesores.

If the tanks weren’t ugly enough to begin with, manufacturers always splay their names in paint across the tank exterior as “advertising”—as if they were selling fashion apparel.

Now a Rechovot solar water heater manufacturer, Tal Sachar, has taken a leap of faith to enhance the aesthetics: For a nominal 50 NIS ($14) surcharge, owners

Improving The Solar System

Eli Cohen and Yaakov Cahlon will wallpaper their new solar systems in puffy white clouds on a pale sky-blue background, in lieu of the Tal Sachar logo.

Ninety-five percent of Israeli houses have solar water heaters. Unfortunate-

Reprinted courtesy of www.chelm-on-the-med .com.

More Marror For Pesach?

Shmu’s Shmooze thing to which we have adjusted because the circumstances dictate that we adjust.

Then came the news that Daniel Aryeh By the time you pick up this paper, we may be fighting an openly declared war. Viflic, the teen critically injured in the There is no doubt in my mind that the un- school bus, was a Bet Shemesh boy. His declared war has been ratcheting up for parents ran a local restaurant for years the past several weeks. If it happens, this (they recently converted it to an all-delivwill be the third war since we made ali- ery/pickup service). Even though we do yah, not even five years ago. It seems like not know them personally, the news hit home just a little bit harder and made us they happen every time we turn around.

The second Lebanon war broke out liter- focus on it a bit more.

I don’t know about you, but I was disapally days after our aliyah. I remember our confusion as we tried to grasp what was go- pointed to realize that I had emotionally ing on and explain it to our kids. Families distanced myself from the pain I had been from the North streamed into Bet Shemesh, feeling when the latest set of attacks bestaying in strangers’ homes as they fled the gan. It might have been a simple defense mechanism, but having heard that it hapnightly rocket attacks. pened somewhere south, I breathed a sigh of relief for myself, family, and friends and tried not to think about it.

And when I found out that the family was a Bet Shemesh family, I realized that I wasn’t as emotionally invested in the news or as concerned about the attack as I might have been a couple of years ago. I had become distant and detached in an effort to protect myself. And I am a bit ashamed.

Bus that was hit by an anti-tank missile last week In 2002, we had joined my brotherThe Gaza war began just a couple of in-law in Florida for Pesach. I remember years later. My nephew saw action in that walking around aimlessly on erev Pesach war and I remember our panicked drive with the pictures from the Netanya hotel from Eilat to Bet Shemesh as we drove bomb being shown on every TV I could see. through Be’er Sheva, where rockets had It was shocking.

The next morning at the hashkamah minbeen falling sporadically for days. We didn’t tell the kids that we were even near yan, I was asked (to this day I do not know Be’er Sheva, because we knew how afraid why they chose me) to say the tefillah for the medinah and for the IDF. I remember they would be.

If you believe the various reports, the the passion in my voice as I prayed, the incoming war, if it happens, will be even scar- tensity I felt in reading the words, and the ier than the prior ones. Rocket capabilities sudden depth of meaning that the simple that can reach as far as Tel Aviv. An enemy tefillot had for me. For the first time in my that has learned from its failures the last life, I did not simply say the words or antime around and may be more entrenched swer “amen” by rote. Instead, I prayed.

And I got a bunch of strange looks as than before. An enemy that seems to be I went back to my seat. Surely, no one seeking escalation, for whatever purposes.

And it seems that the constant barrage in the minyan expected such a display. I of concern and worry has somewhat im- didn’t even expect it. It just happened.

From time to time I catch myself in munized us from getting as emotionally overwhelmed as we might otherwise be. shul answering “amen” to the very same We have learned to adjust to the times tefillah in a reflexive manner, without foand not let the concern over terror and cusing on what I am praying for. When wars immobilize us. Which I assume is a I do, I remind myself of the bond I felt sign of strength and courage and reflects that first day of Pesach 2002 and try to reour ironclad resolve not to let events focus my thoughts on where they should be, perhaps even answering “amen” with stand in the way of living our lives.

Even the recent escalation has seemed more emotion and feeling.

I think we need to take that same mesa bit less alarming than it had been in prior times. Yes, the brutality of Itamar still sage to heart. While it is easier for us to shocks with a stunning blow that does mentally and emotionally shut some not want to fade. The bus bombing saw part of ourselves down in order to simanother step in the wrong direction, with ply function, we need to keep focused. people commenting about how it re- That terror victim is someone’s loved one, minded them of the last set of bus attacks and they deserve our honor and respect. in Jerusalem. Even the dramatic increase When we become immune to that, we in rocket fire and last week’s striking of a lose something of ourselves.

As we approach yom tov, I hate to close school bus with an anti-tank weapon initially seemed just like more of the same. on such a down thought. We live here in Tragic, something we hate, but still some- a land of constant juxtaposition. Events

BY SHMUEL KATZ

here have a tendency to run far afield and would never have even thought possileave us breathless in their wake. Because ble 12 years ago. Our lives are so differthe issues are so heavy and divisive, our ent now, as I am sure many of yours are emotions always seem to be on high no- (well, those of you who live here—the tice, often leaving us exhausted by the tourists maybe not as much). She has learned and grown so much, end of the day. and—as I told her six years So, before I wish you a Chag ago would happen—her HeSameach, I will share a simcha brew has so surpassed mine with you. As the paper went that she laughs at and is emto print, we began the celebrabarrassed by mine (as are her tion for our daughter Batya’s siblings). bat mitzvah. Although she was So a special mazal tov to my born just after Pesach, we are goofball (I haven’t called her taking advantage of having that in years). We hope you some of our extended family Mazal Tov, Batya! will always be sweet and yummembers join us for the chag and pushed up the celebration to coin- my. Mazal tov to the rest of the family too.

As for everyone else, it is my fervent decide with their visit here.

In our first year here, when our fami- sire that you come seek me out on erev ly struggled with multiple challenges and Pesach at the Beit HaMikdash. As a kohein, Goldie and I were in the U.S. for almost it will be my joy to be makriv your kortwo months, Batya shrugged off all her ban Pesach for you and your family. I worries and concerns and thrived. She has hope and pray every day to have the honintegrated herself into her class, in which or and privilege of serving in that way. On there are only two English-speakers, and the chance that for some reason we have amazed us then and now with her confi- not seen the ultimate redemption and are still suffering the galut, I offer you dence and competence in being Israeli.

We are incredibly proud of her, as our best wishes for a Chag Sameach and a parents should be. We are thrilled to prayer that we celebrate l’shanah haba’ah be celebrating in Israel, something we b’Yerushalayim habenuyah!

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What Are You Doing This Chol HaMoed?

We all know that Israel is a land full of history and fascinating activities. Over the years we have gone on so many different tiyulim, ranging from three-hour hikes to a

day at the beach, from volunteering for food pantries to parasailing on the Red Sea, and everything in between. What are YOU doing over Chol HaMoed? Send your pic-

Eretz Bereishit

Yeladudit

Ganei Yehoshua at Park Hayarkon

The Biblical Zoo

Superland

Eilat Aquarium

Matzah baking

ATV’ing

(American) football in the sand mountains in the Negev

Hiking the Red Canyon

Dear Sir, I was amazed to learn, in your article describing the Bnei Menashe officer’s appointment [March 1 edition], that the Ten Lost Tribes had been found. I would have thought that all the media, including CNN, Fox, and the NY Times, would have had headline stories about this discovery.

Since your article mentions that Lt. Gin is

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tures and a brief description to stories@koleinu.co.il for our next issue showing how you spent your Chol HaMoed and vacation days this month.

April 13, 2011

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descended “from one of the Lost Tribes” please inform your readers which one of these tribes he is descended from.

Just to get the record straight.

Robert Stern Mr. Stern, Later in the article, we more accurately note that the Bnei Menashe “claim descent” from the Ten Lost Tribes. We should have made the same clarification in the sentence you noted. Thank you for pointing out our inconsistency and we apologize for any confusion.

Shmuel Katz

Editor’s Note: In Koleinu’s March 29 edition, we printed a photo of Mary Jane Gardner with the following caption: “UK Citizen Mary Jane Gardner, who was killed in last week’s Jerusalem bus bombing.”

Last week, we received an unsigned hate-filled e-mail about the publication of the picture. The author made disgusting comments about the death of a human being. We are not printing the letter. Besides being incoherent, it was unsigned, and we do not credit cowards.

Koleinu understands that Mary Jane Gardner was working on a project and living in a community that appears to be highly involved in missionary activity. We do not condone such activities. We would rather that there be no missionary activity, be it by this group or any other missionary group, in Israel. We do, however, recognize that Ms. Gardner’s death was caused by a terrorist bomb. As such, we felt it wholly appropriate to mark her passing respectfully, without further comment.

We stand by that decision.

Shmuel Katz