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VOL. 12 NO. 27

14 NISSAN 5772

!‫חג כשר ושמח‬

“DANGEROUS” SETTLERS EVACUATED FROM HEBRON HOME

APRIL 6, 2012 FROM THE EDITOR

BY LARRY GORDON

Jerusalem Contradictions On the first two nights of Passover, when our eyes are weary and as the night shifts into early morning, we will recite the concluding words of hope and inspiration that signal the end of the Seder: “Next year in Jerusalem.” It’s a multi-

April 6 April 7

– –

See Luach, Page 6

7:07 PM 8:14 PM* *or later

Features Index, See Page 12

On Wednesday, the IDF oversaw the evacuation of 15 residents of a building in a Palestinian neighborhood near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. See Page 110

One Million United With Israel

BY SAMUEL SOKOL Saying that in an environment in which most pronouncements by the Palestinian Authority are accepted uncritically and Israeli government claims are considered

Celebrating 60 years.

See Page 59

Continued on Page 10

BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

HEARD IN THE BAGEL STORE

BY LARRY GORDON

What Will We Eat? The comedians like to capture the essence of the Jewish holidays by humorously summing it up as: “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat.”

While hardly accurate, there is some minimal validity to the description.

Our holidays and yomim tovim are beautiful and exquisite celebrations that tie us all

to an ancient past filled with both deep meaning and an innocence and simplicity. But we have to confess that, along with the davening and the recitation of the Haggadah at the Seder, a highlight of the yom tov observance is the culinary service.

A KOSHER K-CUP

JEWISH BY ASSOCIATION

BY RABBI AVROHOM SEBROW All those people who thought that their Keurig was the best coffeemaker are in for some bad news. The old machine is now just second-class.

Keurig introduced a new machine just in time for Pesach.

It’s called the Vue and it’s supposed to provide more brewing options to customize your

Caring for our parents.

See Page 26 Team Butterfly participated in running for a cure for epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare skin disease. See Page 60

Yehuda Green: Jewish music’s future. See Page 86

Continued on Page 14

Continued on Page 12

Continued on Page 22

Tidbits From Israel

BY RON JAGER In recent weeks, archliberal Peter Beinart has reignited the call to boycott products manufactured in communities located geographically in the “West Bank,” known to many supporters of Israel Continued on Page 8

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Z’manim:* Dawn:

5:05 am

Earliest tallis/tefillin:

5:35 am

Sunrise:

6:30 am

Latest Shema: M. Av.

9:14 am

Gr’a

9:50 am

Eat chametz no later than: M. Av.

10:24 am

Gr’a

10:48 am

Destroy chametz no later than: M. Av.

11:40 am

Gr’a

11:52 am

P’lag ha’minchah:

6:04 pm

Candle Lighting:

7:07 pm

Friday night: 1st Seder

15 Nissan – Shabbos/Yom Tov Saturday, April 7 1st Day Pesach Saturday night: 2nd Seder; begin counting Omer Candle Lighting:

after 8:14 pm

16 Nissan – Shabbos Sunday, April 8 2nd Day Pesach 20 Nissan – Chol HaMoed Thursday, April 12 Erev Yom Tov Candle Lighting:

7:13 pm

21 Nissan – Yom Tov Friday, April 13 7th Day Pesach Earliest tallis/tefillin:

5:23 am

Sunrise:

6:19 am

Latest Shema: M. Av.

9:01 am

Gr’a

9:37 am

P’lag ha’minchah:

6:09 pm

Candle Lighting:

7:14 pm

22 Nissan – Shabbos/Yom Tov Saturday, April 14 8th Day Pesach Yizkor Shabbos/Yom Tov ends**: 8:29 pm 72 min.

8:59 pm

* All times from MyZmanim.com ** includes 5 minutes for tosefes Shabbos General Calendar April 5–7 & 12–14 NYC alternate-side parking regulations suspended.

April 5–13 Spring Break at Lawrence and Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools.

April 6–13 Spring Break at NYC Public Schools.

Look for the next issue of the 5TJT on newsstands Thursday, April 19 The community-wide supervised Lawrence/ Cedarhurst Fire Department burning of the chametz will take place Friday morning at Brach’s (11 Lawrence Lane).

6

April 6, 2012

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5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

April 6, 2012

7

TIDBITS FROM ISRAEL Continued from Front Cover as Judea and Samaria. This Jewish-liberal crusade to save Israel from itself is based on the premise that for Israel to survive as a democratic state, the American Jewish liberal movement must boycott, sanction, and divest from Judea and Samaria, or in Beinart’s words, “non-democratic Israel.� This liberal tendency of limitless capacity to express a myopic view of reality will never understand nor internalize one basic tenet: Jewish communities located in Judea and Samaria generate disproportionate criticism not because they inhabit, in Beinart’s words, a “non-democratic Jewish state,� but rather because they live by and are perceived as the very opposite; they represent the very embodiment of a moral world, the modern-day torchbearers of the Western democratic principle.

For liberal Jews like Beinart, the notion of the “occupation� has become the defining lens through

which everything about Israel is explained and justified. Yet when we take a close look at what has kept the conflict between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel on the slow burner for so long, I invite them to imagine what would happen if the Palestinian Arabs had the military strength of Israel and Israel had the military strength of the Palestinian Arabs. Do you think the Jews of Judea and Samaria would be subject to the occasional harassment at the Allenby border crossing, resource competition, and military checkpoints? Or do you suspect, and even know somewhere deep down, that the world would stand by, that Beinart and his cohorts would remain silent as they did during the Holocaust, and witness a terrible massacre?

For this reason alone, Beinart should be the first to acknowledge that despite this complex reality, this unrelenting Palestinian primal urge to murder Jews that live in what he labels “undemocratic Israel,� the Jews respond by maintaining the

highest level of a moral society, and the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria enjoy more opportunities, human rights, and freedoms than any Arabs living in any Arab nation in the Middle East.

In Peter Beinart’s just-released book, The Crisis of Zionism, we learn from the very first page why those Jews who hold on to the land—cultivating and growing roots, educating their children to believe, living in the historical and biblical heartland of Israel—tick him off. Beinart shares with his readers a comment by his grandmother, who responds to her American grandson speaking highly of his new homeland in America. “Don’t get too attached,� she states. “The Jews are like rats; we leave the sinking ship.� This is a curious and revealing, albeit unconscious, concession on the part of Beinart.

Throughout history, Jews have wandered—not out of choice, but out of the necessity to survive. In the words of Rabbi David Wolpe, Jews rarely abandoned a sinking ship, but they

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have repeatedly been thrown overboard. This brings us back to Beinart’s grandmother, who evidently has instilled in her grandson the belief that Jews are to be blamed for a situation largely created and brought about by the Arab rejection of Israel’s right to exist as the Jewish homeland.

The idea of not running away and “abandoning ship,� standing your ground and refusing to become once again a “wandering Jew� is what motivates Beinart to reject the “settlers� and what they represent. Beinart and like-minded Jews are terrified of the prospect of having to be like all other nations—they insist on retaining their historical role of moral pureness, a light unto nations. This can never be fulfilled should they be held responsible, coupled with repeated worldwide condemnation, for not repairing a broken streetlight in an Arab street in Judea and Samaria.

Dividing Israel into good cop, bad cop, making out the “settlers� as an amalgamation of Dirty Harry and Death Wish so as to make Israel within the Green Line more palatable to young American Jews, is avoiding the real issue at hand. The problem is that, and here I can quote Beinart himself, young American Jews “are not especially connected to Israel because they are not especially connected to being Jewish.�

Why do these young American Jews whom Beinart claims to represent find it so difficult to express unconditional support for Israel? Is it because they confuse supporting Israel with supporting official policy? That is, if they disagree with Israel’s policies, do they find it difficult—even impossible—to express unconditional support for Israel? The bottom line lies somewhere in the dialectical relationship between Israel, the definitive homeland of the Jewish people, and Jews opting out of choice to live elsewhere. Supporting Israel, including the Jews beyond the Green Line, is messy and complicated; it raises too many questions concerning Jewish identity and Jewish affiliation. Israel within the Green Line, the startup nation, is a Jewish nation agreeable to the palate of young American Jews who would prefer to remain Jewish by association, and nothing more.

I can assure Beinart and his many supporters, and I think many in Israel would concur with me—most Israelis inhabit not “democratic Israelâ€? or “undemocratic Israelâ€? but the vast landmass of “middle Israel,â€? the place where all Jews can live together, providing our Arab neighbors maximum liberties and human rights. Beinart is welcome to participate in this endeavor. Or not. ď ś Ron Jager is a 25-year veteran of the Israel Defense Forces, where he served as a ďŹ eld mental-health ofďŹ cer and as commander of the central psychiatric military clinic for reserve soldiers at Tel-Hashomer. Since retiring from active duty in 2005, he has been providing consultancy services to NGOs, implementing psychological trauma treatment programs in Israel. Ron currently serves as a strategic advisor to the director of the Shomron Liaison OfďŹ ce. To contact him, e-mail medconf@netvision.net.il.

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April 6, 2012

9

UNITED WITH ISRAEL Continued from Front Cover

ISRAEL BONDS

“propaganda,” American emigrant and pro-Israel activist Michael Gerbitz decided to take the battle for his adopted country’s reputation newest battleground in the Arab-Israeli conflict: the Internet.

While such claims regarding companies’ reach on social networks are usually taken with a grain of salt, this is nonetheless an impressive achievement for such a small, homegrown organization. It remains doubtful that every one, or even most, of his one million fans on the social network are all actively following his posts, and certainly many of

United with Israel recently dedicated two bomb shelters to Brachia and Hodaya, two small towns on the outskirts of Ashkelon.

2012

PASSOVER 5772

Celebrate Tradition

by Helping Israel Build for the Future

His organization, United with Israel, received its one millionth “Like” on Facebook last month, prompting Gerbitz to note that his organization can

those actively following are not sharing each and every comment he writes.

However, Gerbitz’s achievement has allowed United with Israel to work effec-

now reach somewhere in the area of 200 million Facebook users, a number equal to two-thirds of the population of the United States. He arrived at this conclusion by noting that the average user of Facebook has something around 200 Facebook friends and that this means that, potentially, every comment or piece of information he posts online can be shared with this large pool of users.

tively to counter what he views as Palestinian propaganda online.

United with Israel (www.unitedwithisrael.org or www.facebook.com/unitedwithisrael) is a non-profit organization dedicated to, in Gerbitz’s words, countering the “lies” about Israel that abound on the Internet. Speaking with the Five Towns Jewish Times earlier this week, the former resident of Lawrence noted that the morning of his interview

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with this newspaper he had dedicated two bomb shelters, in Brachia and Hodaya, both towns on the outskirts of Ashkelon.

One of the shelters, Gerbitz said, was an aboveground model that was placed next to a nursing home. The residents of the home, he explained, needed an easily accessible solution that they could reach quickly and without descending long flights of stairs.

During a tour of the South following the recent rocket bombardment, this correspondent met one senior citizen, a resident of Ashkelon, who had broken her hip in a panicked effort to reach a shelter in time. Placing a reinforced structure aboveground and nearby will, Gerbitz hopes, prevent such occurrences from happening in the future.

Gerbitz cited the donation of the shelters as an example of real-world activism stemming from his online work. Following the beginning of the most recent clashes between Israel and Hamas forces from the Gaza Strip, Gerbitz and his organization mobilized online donors to raise the necessary funds for the procurement of the aforementioned shelters. “We also develop action items that make it easy for people to transform themselves from lovers of Israel into doers for Israel,” he said.

The Israeli government has noted these achievements, with the one millionth “Like” on Facebook coming from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. Netanyahu stated that he felt “honored on being the 1 millionth Facebook fan!” in a post on his own Facebook page, which itself has over 40,000 fans.

“What United with Israel has done is redefine the meaning of hasbarah (public relations),” said Naftali Bennett, former chief of staff for Prime Minister Netanyahu. “Using social media, this dynamic, young organization has been able to accomplish that which Israel has been trying to do for years.”

“In the pro-Israel world, nothing measures up to United with Israel in terms of the number of people they reach and the diversity of the member population. No other pro-Israel organization is doing anything even remotely close to this,” Bennett stated.

Commenting on his ability to mobilize Israel’s supporters online, Gerbitz said, “It’s not magic. We’re the first proIsrael organization that’s actually harnessing the full potential of social media. The fact is, if ordinary people in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya can use social media as the basis for radical change, we can certainly use it to advocate for Israel. Like people in countries all over the world, we are harnessing the best technology and communication channels out there to reach the masses.”

Speaking about the significance of reaching one million fans, Gerbitz concluded, “There is a huge, untapped market of Israel supporters around the world,” Gerbitz says. “It wasn’t being reached. We’re turning these people into PR soldiers for Israel. The State of Israel is focused on protecting its citizens, not on social media. That’s where we come in. We fight for Israel on the battlefield of public opinion all over the world.” 

5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

April 6, 2012

11

K-CUP

IMMERSE IN WATER.� When I was a child, these cautionary statements always made me feel proud. “Wow! Enough Jewish people are toiveling their appliances that the manufacturer had to put out a warning about tevillah!�

Apparently, people have tried to immerse their Keurig machine, with the result that it ended up being an oversized paperweight. One friend of mine bought the simplest Keurig machine with no electronic options whatsoever.

He let it dry for two weeks after its ritual immersion and it still worked! However, the owner of Sterling Electronics told me that those that attempt to toivel any of the higher-end models will most certainly lose their investment. The immersion also voids the warranty.

A relative of mine who inherited a Keurig machine decided to take it apart and see if there were any metal parts on the inside. He found that the water is heated in a small metal receptacle. It would seem obvious that the machine requires tevillah.

One rav ruled that indeed the Keurig machine does require tevillah. How-

Continued from Front Cover coffee. The OU posted on its website that there are kosher l’Pesach K-Cups.

They do not have special Passover certiďŹ cation but are kosher l’Pesach all year round. Flavored K-Cups may contain chametz; consequently, the machine used year round should not be used for Pesach. The article posted by the OU also discusses another issue affecting Keurig machines: tevillas keilim.

There is a biblical mitzvah to immerse in a mikveh utensils used with food prior to use. Metal utensils are definitely included in the mitzvah. Glass utensils require tevillah mi’d’rabannan.

Our custom is not to toivel plastic. I am told that minhag Chabad requires tevillah for plastic as well.

An informal and unscientiďŹ c survey I conducted yielded that the vast majority of people do not toivel their Keurig machines. Many I spoke to never even thought of the issue. They need to wake up and smell the coffee.

The Keurig machine itself is stamped with the following warning: “DO NOT

ever, he explained that you can quickly immerse the Keurig machine. You do not need to wait until all the insides ďŹ ll up with water. It is analogous to keeping your mouth closed while you are in the mikveh. As long as the entire outside of your body comes into direct contact with the water, it is considered a valid tevillah even with a closed mouth. The same is true with tevillas keilim. As long as the entire outside of the utensil comes into direct contact with the water, we do not have to be concerned about the inside. The Keurig machine needs tevillah according to this view because of the metal parts on the inside. Yet it sufďŹ ces to only have the exterior plastic parts come into contact with the water.

However, another rav disagreed. The second rav argued that the metal piece was already a utensil before it was attached to the machine. It is considered a distinct utensil and requires tevillah.

In fact, even if one were to submerge the entire Keurig machine in water for ten minutes, it might not sufďŹ ce. How can one guarantee that there weren’t any air bubbles in the small metal receptacle? It is a clear halachah in Shul-

P.O. BOX 690 LAWRENCE, NY 11559 516-984-0079 editor@5TJT.com ads@5TJT.com LARRY GORDON Publisher/Editor

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Hannah Reich Berman, Anessa V. Cohen Shmuel Fessel, Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg, Yoni Glatt Toby Klein Greenwald, Rabbi Yair Homan Ron Jager, Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky Dr. Bernie Kastner, Shmuel Katz, Phyllis J. Lubin Esther Mann, Rochelle Miller, Rabbi Meir Orlian Elke Probkevitz, Dr. Rachael Schindler Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow, David J. Seidemann Rabbi Avi Shafran, Eli Shapiro, Dr. Ari Sher, Samuel Sokol, Chanita Teitz ELISHEVA ELEFANT Sta Graphic Artist IVAN NORMAN, IRA THOMAS Sta Photographers DESIGN BY DESIGN2PRO.COM Design & Production MICHAEL KUROV Art Director The Five Towns Jewish Times is an independent weekly newspaper.

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chan Aruch that even air bubbles are a chatzitzah.

Some argue that there is a clever way to obviate the need for tevillah on the Keurig machine. The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 120) rules that one may not immerse a new utensil in a mikveh on

is akin to manufacturing it, because plugging it in renders it usable. However, this appears to me to be faulty logic.

The metal receptacle could hold water even if not plugged in. Consequently, even if it didn’t heat water it would still require tevillah.

Some argue that merely plugging in an electric machine is akin to manufacturing it, because plugging it in renders it usable.

Shabbos. (See also O.C. 323.) There is a rabbinic restriction against tevillas keilim on Shabbos because it is akin to repairing a utensil. It is forbidden to use a utensil, even temporarily, before tevillah (contrary to the common myth). When one immerses a utensil in the mikveh, he is rendering it usable.

It appears to be a violation of mesaken mana, fixing a utensil, so the rabannan forbade it.

If one must use the new utensil on Shabbos, the Shulchan Aruch offers the following advice: Give it to a nonJew and borrow it back. Only utensils owned by a Jew require tevillah. Hence, you may use a non-toiveled kosher glass owned by a gentile without a problem.

(In a hotel, for example, you may use the clean glasses provided in the room to drink cold water.) You may use your borrowed utensil on Shabbos without tevillah, since it is owned by a non-Jew. If you are on a hike and can’t be toivel your new grill, you may use the same technique. Give it to a goy and borrow it back. Some people employ this leniency with their Keurig machines; they sell it (or part of it) to a non-Jew and borrow it back. However, this would appear to be problematic. The Taz writes clearly that aforementioned idea is only a temporary solution. One must be toivel the utensil as soon as the opportunity arises. In the Shulchan Aruch’s case, one has to immerse the utensil in a mikveh on Sunday. One is not allowed to permanently keep a gentile’s utensil in his house and use it without tevillah.

So how could one employ this technique with his Keurig machine on a permanent basis? Possibly, one could argue that the Taz only requires immersion at the first available opportunity. In this case, there is no available opportunity. The Keurig machine will break if he tries to immerse it. Perhaps in such a case, the Taz would be lenient and allow one to employ this technique permanently. However, it appears that there is no basis to support this theory, and many reject it. But others argue the opposite extreme and say that a utensil which will break if immersed does not have a tevillah obligation at all. One does not even need to give it to a gentile.

If the utensil was manufactured by a Jew it does not require immersion. Theoretically, disassembling the Keurig machine and reassembling it may be an option. To satisfy all opinions, the metal receptacle used to heat the water would have to rendered unusable. That would certainly be difficult. Some argue that merely plugging in an electric machine

If one permanently attaches the Keurig machine to his house, it would not require tevillah. It is a clear halachah that items that are attached to the ground do not require tevillah. Being attached to the house, which is anchored to the ground, is also sufficient. The question arises as to what is considered

“attached.” There is a very lenient opinion that argues that merely plugging in a utensil renders it attached! However, poskim reject this approach. One rav suggested that having a water pipe running directly to the machine would be sufficient to render it attached.

There is one other basis for a lenient approach to the Keurig machine. The OU provides kashrus certification for many varieties of K-Cups. How do they expect people to use the Keurig machine? The OU article on the subject says the following: Q. Does a Keurig require tevillas keilim? Isn’t it basically a computer?

A. Unlike most other hot water urns that can withstand being dunked in water, so long as they are properly dried, the Keurig machine has a digital component that cannot survive getting wet.

Additionally, even if one were to attempt to toivel a Keurig machine, the inner chamber will not fill with water.

Water will only enter the inside chamber by being pumped through. So tevillah is not really an option. Rav Yisroel Belsky, the OU halachic decider (posek),

holds that we may view the Keurig machine as a plastic k’li, which is exempt from tevillah. This is because the entire visible machine is indeed plastic. The metal receptacle and element which are in the recesses of the machine are not accessible. Although there are two pins that pierce and inject hot water into the K-Cup pack, it is not clear that these pins require tevillah. It is possible that they are like a can opener. If one wishes to remove the pins and toivel them, with some cajoling they can be removed (at least in some models).

••• In summation, some rabbanim rule that the Keurig machine does not require tevillah; some rule that it requires an external-only immersion; and some rule that there is no practical way of using the Keurig machine short of attaching it to your house. And there may be the option of giving it to a non-Jew and borrowing it back. Consult your own rav for practical guidance.  Rabbi Sebrow can be contacted at ASebrow@gmail.com.

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FROM THE EDITOR Continued from Front Cover generational chant, an expression of the eternal hope of the Jewish people from time immemorial, and even the words to a popular song. It did not matter when or where we

were; the Sinai Desert, the era of the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, after the destruction of the Temple, in the European shtetel, during the Holocaust, or even in these modern times that we live in and wherever you may be reading these words.

Many of us may take liberties with the liturgy in the Haggadah. Some say this and some skip that. But without fail, everyone recites with a heightened level of intensity and concentration, “L’Shanah Ha’baah b’Yerushalayim—Next Year in Jerusalem.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State and the current Obama administration are having serious problems relating to the indisputable historical fact that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and indeed the eternal capital of the Jewish people. So as we say

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“Next Year in Jerusalem,” they scratch their scalps in bemusement and wonder why.

According to U.S. policy, Jerusalem is not only not the capital city of Israel, but rather in their estimation is not a part of the State of Israel at all.

Whether you agree with the current policies of the Israeli government or not, whether you support Barack Obama or not, how does one in this day and age exercise such profound denial as to refuse to recognize the history and the relationship of the Jewish people to Jerusalem? Frankly, if it were not such a serious matter, it would indeed be laughable.

Two recent episodes flung the issue back to the forefront in both the diplomatic and journalistic world. It has really been simmering on the back burner for a while in the fairly-well-publicized case of Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to American parents. Menachem is entitled to an American passport that routinely lists the location of the passport holder’s birth. His parents wanted the place of birth listed as Jerusalem, Israel. The U.S. State Department that issues passports would only list his birthplace as either Jerusalem or Israel, but not both.

The Zivotofskys, represented by Washington, DC attorney Nat Lewin, took their case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which recently heard the case and referred it back to the lower court that said originally that it had no jurisdiction on a foreign-policy matter. The U.S. Congress in 2002 had passed legislation that says it is permissible for Jerusalem to be listed on passports and in other official contexts as being located in the State of Israel. Neither President Bush nor President Obama implemented the legislation, which is part of official U.S. law.

So does the U.S. recognize any part of Jerusalem as belonging to Israel? Put it this way: If you were born there prior to 1948, your passport can list your place of birth as “Jerusalem, Palestine.” If you were born after the establish-

Continued on Page 20

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USC Hillel Foundation salutes

The University of Southern California on its Historic Delegation to Israel USC is home to nearly 3,500 Jewish students, representing 12 percent of the entire student body. This visit to Israel provided USC leadership an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Israeli and American Jewish cultural history; strengthened the educational and research collaborations between USC and Israeli institutions of higher learning; and furthered the development of meaningful solutions to today’s most challenging issues.

For further information on the 2012 USC Delegation to Israel visit usc.edu/Israel2012 or to learn more about Jewish life at USC email us at trojanfamily@uschillel.org

CAPTIONS – Top left: USC President C. L. Max Nikias and Niki C. Nikias lay a wreath in memory of those lost to the Holocaust during a ceremony in the Yad Vashem Hall of Remembrance; Top center: USC Delegation members meet with Eugene Kandel, head of the National Economic Council of Israel; Center: USC Trustee Alan Casden (left), President C. L. Max Nikias and Mrs. Niki C. Nikias with the President of Israel, Shimon Peres; Bottom right: Hebrew University President Menahem Ben-Sasson and USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett; Bottom center: Stephen Gruber of USC, Gadi Rennert of Technion; Bottom left: USC Trustee Jeff Smulyan with Manuel Trajtenberg from the Israel Council for Higher Education and USC Trustee John Mork.

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Ask the Four Questions.

Then, ask one more.

This Passover, the rituals of the seder will again tell the story of our redemption from Egypt.

We will taste the bitterness of maror, the sweetness of charoset, experiencing the journey from slavery to freedom.

But this year, after the youngest at the table asks the Four Questions, let’s ask ourselves one more.

What can we do on this night and all other nights to help those who are hungry, lost, or anguished, across the globe and in our own backyard?

The seder deepens our connection to those suffering, reminding us that our freedom empowers us to make a difference.

Every Passover is a new opportunity to re-commit to getting involved in our shared community.

Let this year’s seder inspire us in new ways, to remember the bitterness of human suffering and the sweetness of coming together to give the gift of hope.

Thanks to you + UJA-Federation, there will always be room for the millions who depend on us.

Learn more at www.ujafedny.org/passover.

5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

April 6, 2012

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FROM THE EDITOR Continued from Page 14 ment of the State of Israel in 1948, your passport can only say “Jerusalem� but not “Israel.� It’s quite simple to draw your own conclusion about U.S. policy on the matter.

Then, just last week, at a routine State Department brieďŹ ng with reporters, the State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, was questioned by public radio reporter Matt Bell about a release from her department that her boss, Kathy Stevens, an Undersecretary of State, would be embarking on a Middle East visit that included stops in “Algiers, Doha, Amman, Israel, and Jerusalem.â€? At the brieďŹ ng, Bell relentlessly asked Nuland to explain what the release meant to say about the status that

the U.S. accords to the city of Jerusalem.

Nuland responded that the note had been revised and re-released and that it was originally released without proper review and authorization. The revised release said that in addition to the three Arab countries, Ms. Stevens would also be stopping in “Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.�

Bell wanted to know whether the odd usage denoted that the U.S.—despite laws passed by Congress—did not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. All Nuland would say was that Jerusalem was a â€œďŹ nal-status issueâ€? that had to be resolved through negotiations with the parties involved in the dispute over how to categorize the location of the city.

Bell pressed Nuland as to whether the U.S. wavering on Jerusalem’s status was an issue that related to East Jerusalem,

liberated by Israel from Jordanian occupation in 1967, or to Western Jerusalem as well, which it is at least partially assumed will always be considered part of Israel even if these imaginary ďŹ nalstatus issues are ever again discussed and someday resolved.

Without mincing words and clouding issues as diplomats are paid to do, the reality seems to be that the U.S. may indeed regard all of Jerusalem as being illegitimately occupied by Israel. Those of us who have frequented Jerusalem or stayed in one of the major hotels or an apartment in the center of the city at some point most likely have passed the very conspicuous and wellprotected U.S. consulate located on Agron Street across the way from Supersol and around the block from the Plaza Hotel. It’s a well-trafďŹ cked street

made busy by cars and, especially on Shabbos, pedestrians.

The consulate located in the western part of the city, it has been learned, is there to primarily serve as the U.S. Embassy to Palestine. Diplomats have stated that fact directly to representatives of the Shomron Regional Council who conducted a series of meeting with U.S. diplomats over the last two years to explore the idea of U.S. funding for Jewish community projects in Judea and Samaria. The U.S., through this ofďŹ ce on Agron Street, has overseen the administration of over $4 billion in funding for Palestinian projects in the same territories. The meetings turned out to be fruitless and were eventually discontinued. It was made clear to the Shomron representatives that U.S. funding in the territories is earmarked for Arabs and

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not for Jews. In fact, if you are an American residing in Israel, even in close proximity to this consulate building, you are directed to the embassy in Tel Aviv for whatever you may need. That is, of course, if you are Jewish.

So U.S. policy at the highest levels continues to deny a very blunt reality— that Jerusalem and the Jewish people

ical separation built through the middle of the city. It was not a comment or judgment on the issue of sovereignty.

Put those words together with Ms. Nuland’s comments of last week, and what you have is a U.S. policy that wants to see the entire city of Jerusalem—East and West—as the capital of some future Palestinian state. For many

Palestinians in the interest of this socalled peace must, according to the U.S., the UN, and the Arab countries, be free of any Jews. We can call that type of arrangement many things, but it would be wrong to call it peace.

The little controversy currently brewing in Hebron speaks to this specific issue. Why do there have to be plac-

If you were born there prior to 1948, your passport can list your place of birth as “Jerusalem, Palestine.” If you were born after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, your passport can only say “Jerusalem” but not “Israel.” are inseparable. The policy denies modern history as well as historical and biblical texts attesting to the connection between the Jews and Jerusalem.

Back in 2008, when Barack Obama was a candidate for president, he spoke at the AIPAC Conference in Washington. Among the things he declared was that Jerusalem should remain, as it is today, an undivided city. When later pressed on that assertion, Obama qualified what he meant that day. He said that he was attempting to communicate the idea that he did not want to see barbed wire or some kind of phys-

years now it has been U.S. law that calls for the American embassy in Israel be located in Jerusalem. The law has a provision in it, however, that gives the president the prerogative to waive that move, that is to delay implementation of the move every six months. This law was passed by Congress in 1995 during the Clinton administration. Every president over these last 17 years—Republican and Democrat alike—has passed on the move to Jerusalem.

The fundamental flaw of the peace objective here is that whatever land Israel may someday wish to cede to the

es anywhere in the world designated as locations where Jews cannot reside? It’s an unworkable formula. That, along with the almost universal denial of the natural connection between our people and the city where the ideas of monotheism and the One G-d originated, are the ingredients of a failed policy. They can vote and legislate against us, but they are powerless in the face of the simple, late-night, bleary-eyed Seder chant of “Next Year in Jerusalem.”  Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com.

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BAGEL STORE Continued from Front Cover And that’s true whether you are preparing everything from scratch in your own kitchen, having an extraordinary chef like Batya Kahn of Brooklyn prepare the food for you, or trusting your palate to some of the caterers and some of this country’s finest hotels—people like Michael Schick, or Abe Fuchs of New Star Caterers, who is working with Mark David at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida.

This year one of the glatt-kosher community’s most in-demand caterers, Mr. Schick, has undertaken two venues at opposite ends of the United States.

Once again this year Michael is doing the catering for Pesach at the Park Hyatt in San Diego, California with the KMR Tours team, which over the last few years has become a leader in the Pesachhotel industry. The Werner brothers of KMR search out exquisite venues around the country several times a year but basically focus on the beautiful California climate for Pesach.

Michael is also the caterer for the Pesach program at the Hyatt Wind Watch in Hauppauge, New York where Eden Tours and the Goldwasser family of Miami Beach are the hosts. Zahava and Dr. Norman Goldwasser have received critical acclaim since they ran one of the most in-demand Pesach programs up here in New York and at the Doral Country Club in Miami Beach.

Both the KMR program and the Eden Tours hotels are non-gebrokts, which is always a challenge to a caterer’s creativ-

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ity.

I talked to Michael a few days before he left for San Diego and asked him what menu he was planning for the coming yom tov. He was particularly animated and enthusiastic about the Friday-night Seder meal that he was contemplating because of the cooking process he was planning to use. Schick says that it is commonly known as sous vide, which is a French term that means “under vacuum.” This is a method, Michael explains, where the food is sealed in an airtight plastic bag and placed in water for an extended period—sometimes up to 72 hours—at an accurately determined temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically between 60 and 140 degrees. The objective is to cook the item evenly, not to overcook the outside while keeping the inside at the same “doneness,” and to keep the food juicier.

Michael explains that this process works especially well when one is preparing a main course for the first night of yom tov that is also Shabbos, which brings with it additional halachic restrictions to consider. Schick says that the thing he especially likes about this process is that it does not compromise the taste and gives the chicken or the meat that just-cooked taste that will be enjoyable for the connoisseur of fine dining.

Reflecting on innovations for this Pesach in the arena of edibles, Schick mentions new flatbread-type crackers that are made from potato starch, along with market items that have been around for the last couple of years, such

Michael Schick (left) working with Rabbi Dovid Shapiro at the Park Hyatt in San Diego, California

as pizza, bagels, frankfurter rolls, and toast—all non-gebrokts.

As for the different approaches and considerations when catering a Pesach in California as opposed to New York, Schick says that on the West Coast there will be a fair amount of outdoor dining, either around the pool or on the golf course. Preparations at both venues have been going on for a while. He says that last week, five trucks packed with foodstuffs were dispatched from

New York for the cross-country trek to San Diego. An additional three trucks are delivering new kitchen equipment that was purchased in California so as to make sure that the around-the-clock food service for 700 or so people at the Park Hyatt goes smoothly throughout the chag.

Though to many it may seem like it, not everyone is packing up and checking into a hotel for Pesach. Some are doing the next best thing—a cross between staying put in their own homes for yom tov and going away to hotels that adapt themselves for Pesach. One of the more popular people serving that niche market in gourmet dining is Batya Kahn of Batya’s Kitchen in Brooklyn.

Batya has been making Pesach preparations for herself as well as about eight different families that retain her services to prepare either all or part of the culinary end of the yom tov for them. So who is the typical Batya’s Kitchen customer? “Well, I don’t know that there is a typical customer,” she said last Sunday morning from her busy commercial kitchen, located in her home in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.

“I think the most common reason why people ask me to cook for them is that the woman of the house who usually does the cooking is busy working at a full-time or career-type job,” Batya says. She adds that other circumstances that serve as a catalyst to hire her are if someone is having in inordinate number of guests; all the children, their spouses, and the grandchildren are coming for yom tov; or a family that has always gone somewhere for Pesach but

is staying home for the first time. And then there is a medical consideration where someone is just unable to appropriately prepare.

Batya says that she is preparing for a greater number of families than any prior Pesach over the last decade that she has been doing this. In all, she is doing the Passover cooking for about a thousand people. Batya’s prepares the meals, packs them in attractive labeled tins, and ships them, frozen, to her customers. If a customer is ordering salads, those are prepared on erev yom tov and delivered that day. All the food she prepares in non-gebrokts and under the supervision of Rabbi Ahron Mendelson.

As far as the most requested item to prepare, Batya say it has to be sweetbreads with short ribs, with tongue and assorted roasts in the runner-up positions. In the side-dish department, the order of popularity is apple crumble, potato kugel, carrot muffins, and “tons of blintzes,” she says.

As to unusual food preparation stories that she is or has been involved in, Batya says there are women who order from her but ask her to leave her company label off the tins because they do not want family members or their guests to think that they did not labor endlessly in the kitchen preparing yom tov meals for them. Then she adds that she has spoken to some men who say that they just do not care for their wives’ cooking and do not cook themselves. So, she says, they tell their wives that they don’t want them to work so hard and that they want to treat them to meals prepared by Batya.

Batya’s Kitchen features an extensive and intricate menu, and those who have utilized her culinary talents always seem to come back for more. Batya can be reached at batyakahn@aol.com.

Abe Fuchs arrived in Naples, Florida on Thursday, March 29 to begin the rigorous and painstaking work involved in turning the Ritz Carlton into a kosherfor-Passover hotel. I finally got hold of Abe on Sunday morning and asked what he was up to. “Well, right now I’m on a loading dock watching trucks back in and getting ready to unload a few truck-

that the second Seder on Saturday night was much more challenging. This, he explained, is because it is Shabbos and no work or preparation can be done on Shabbos for whatever is going to take place after Shabbos. This additionally means that the kitchen and wait staff cannot budge until after the conclusion of Shabbos, which this Saturday night in Florida will be about 8:45 p.m.

Abe Fuchs says that the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Naples is very upscale, with the cost of Pesach running at about $6,000 per person. He says that every detail

Batya says there are women who order from her but ask her to leave her company label off the tins. loads of Pesach food and other related materials,” he said. He did not have much time to talk, so we jumped right into the menu for the Seder night. He said his menu called for braised short ribs with a Merlot reduction as one choice, and rack of lamb or veal osso bucco.

I actually asked him to explain what a Merlot reduction was, and he said it was something about getting the wine flavor into the meat without the liquidity of the wine. Frankly, I don’t know if it’s something we should be trying at home. On the challenges of a first-Seder night also being Shabbos, Abe said

of the program will be meticulous and that the presentation of the chag there has been in the planning stages for months. Like the program in San Diego, there will also be a lot of outdoor dining in Naples.

Our conversation gravitates back to food after discussing the venue and the crowd for a few minutes. Abe says that his plan is to incorporate the theme of the Seder components into the menu, and to that end he will be serving apple crumble, horseradish, and potatoes as well as carrot soufflé as side dishes with his main courses.

He adds that being that this year fea-

tures a long chol ha’moed, the hotel will be presenting theme nights on each of those intermediary days. Abe says that on the first night of chol ha’moed they will be featuring a carnival night, followed the next day by a Hawaiian luau, which will be followed by a Middle Eastern or Moroccan night.

Miriam W. from Queens has also been working on Pesach for the last two weeks. She works part-time but has been cooking and freezing items since the start of the holiday planning. She says that three of her four married children will be at the Seders, and collectively they have six children—all under the age of eight. She also has three teenage children at home. Her husband’s parents will also be in her home for the entire yom tov.

“My husband thinks that I spend too much time in the kitchen, but I don’t see any other way,” she says, then pauses for a minutes and adds, “I really don’t think he understand what goes into this.”

Miriam is having 13 people at the Seder in addition to at least three of the grandchildren who will probably be awake. She said she goes to the supermarkets to shop almost every night to buy ingredients and some ready-made products. None of her children who live in their own homes are cooking anything because their kitchens have not be cleaned for Pesach.

She is making lots of chicken and has also made two French roasts for the Seder nights. She has help, but her reg-

Continued on Page 25

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23

A Dollar And A Dream From The Other Side Of The Bench

BY DAVID J. SEIDEMANN, ESQ. If I had won the $650 million lottery the other day, I would take my car for a “Passover Special” car wash. That’s about what they are charging these days. I guess the non-Jews have figured out that if a loaf of bread costs $2 but in April a box of flat, tasteless dough that has not yet become bread costs $26 a pound, then a car-wash owner can charge $650 million for a car wash that a week ago cost $14.95.

If I had won the $650 million, I would buy my own airplane so that I would not have to worry about a midair mental breakdown by a pilot running through the aisles telling us to pray. I would use that money to finance a way to defund the United Nations, which is nothing more than a collection of anti-Semites powerless to effectuate any real change in this

world. Did you ever wonder what they would do if Israel would not exist?

They might actually have to deal with real human suffering.

I know, they say that money can’t buy happiness, but I’m willing to give it a try. Truth be told, there have been many studies that track the lives of mega-lottery winners, and it ain’t a pretty picture. So while a lot of my friends this past Friday night sang “If I were a rich man,” I intoned my usual “Shalom aleichem.”

If I had won all that money, I would hire a fashion consultant for Rick Santorum. No one is going to vote for a man who wears sweater vests all the time. I would hire an anger management coach for Newt Gingrich. He always seems so angry. People want a leader with a smiley disposition, someone who promises “hope and change.”

Never mind. That didn’t work out too well in the last election. I would hire

a geography tutor for Barack Obama who would show the president where Israel is. I would hire a military adviser for Mr. Obama to explain to him that when he says he has Israel’s back, it is meaningless because the enemy has a knife to our heart, in the front.

I would hire a biologist and an anthropologist for Mr. Obama to teach him that his saying that if he had a son he would look like Trayvon Martin is as foolish as my saying that if I had an African-American father, he would look like Barack Obama.

If I had all that money I would give some of it to support those who are legitimately learning in kollel and would use a portion of it for vocational training for those who are fooling themselves and others about how they spend their days. And yes, I would help out the local institutions and give some money to widows and divorcées and people having a difficult time finding employment.

If I had all that money I would take off one day a week from work and sit with the wisest rabbi I know who undoubtedly would teach me that I real-

ly don’t need all that money to accomplish all of those things listed above.

We have given a voice to those with money and conferred all kinds of power on them. In the process, we have excluded some very competent and skillful people who have much to lend to the process. More importantly, we are sending a message to the next generation that “money rules” and everyone else should step aside.

We are sending a message that in pursuit of “making a killing” we can actually kill.

Our riches must be measured differently.

There is a businessman in this neighborhood who has a client who lives in the Hamptons. On a recent visit to his customer’s home, the businessman was overwhelmed at what he saw on this man’s sprawling estate. There was a movie theater, a bowling alley, and an arcade. A track for horses and an iceskating rink adorned the premises as well. And that was just the beginning.

“Wow,” exclaimed the local businessman, “you actually make use of all of this?” “No,” replied his host. “But if I didn’t have all of this, my children and grandchildren would never come visit.

This is all for them. I don’t need any of this.”

The businessman remarked that he wished he himself had something so magical to lure his children and grandchildren to his home. And now listen to what this non-Jewish mega-millionaire replied.

“It seems to me that you already have something that magical. You have your Sabbath and your holidays and all kinds of religious functions and ceremonies that involve the family. I would trade it all,” said the man from the Hamptons, “I would trade it all for a weekly Friday-night dinner with my kids.”

It’s been 18 years now since my entire family sat around one Seder table in Columbus, Ohio as we spent the last Pesach of my mother’s life together, as a family. The memories created there rush back every year at this time, no matter where we find ourselves Seder night.

As I look around the table and see not only what my children have become but how each one of them carries within them a bit of my mother, may she rest in peace, I realize that my wife and I have won the mega-lottery many times over.  David Seidemann is a partner with the law firm of Seidemann and Mermelstein and serves as a professor of business law at Touro College. He can be reached at 718-692-1013 or ds@lawofficesm.com.

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BAGEL STORE Continued from Page 23 ular housekeeper usually works elsewhere on Saturdays and Sundays, and that was a big issue this year. The housekeeper has her own family, and asking her to stay late at night, especially on weekends, is simply costing additional money.

She says that she prefers pre-plating most dishes as opposed to bringing out platter after platter of food once the meal begins. But she says she will not send out just any plate to the table. “It has to look a certain way, and that takes time,” she says.

I didn’t ask her if she knows who Batya Kahn is or whether she orders any ready-made things from her. I was thinking afterward that I probably should have suggested it, but Batya is obviously not taking any more or-

ders at this point. So I’m wondering the whole time that I’m writing these words: Who has the hardest job? Is it the caterers, private food preparers or chefs like Batya Kahn, or someone like Miriam who represents the majority of people who, oddly enough, become something resembling slaves so that we can appropriately commemorate the experience of our ancient servitude in Egypt?

And I’m really not sure what the answer is. I thought I was given a clue by Batya who, as I was talking to her on the phone, asked me to hold on and then called out to whoever else was there with her, “Why is there so much smoke in the kitchen?” Then there was a pause and she calmly called out again, “Can someone please open the window.”  Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com.

And Moshe said: “This is the thing which G-d commanded you to do; and the glory of G-d shall appear to you” (Vayikra 9:6) For the seven days of inauguration, during which Moshe set up the Sanctuary, performed the service in it, and dismantled it each day, the Divine Presence did not rest in it. The people of Israel were humiliated, and said to Moshe: “Moshe our teacher! All the toil that we toiled was only that the Divine Presence should dwell amongst us and we should know the sin of the Calf was forgiven us!” Said Moshe to them: “Aharon my brother is more worthy than I—through his offerings and his service the Divine Presence will rest upon you, and you will know that G-d has chosen you.”

(Rashi)

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Preparing For Your Future With Care

BY ZVI GRAUMAN For many elderly people, the availability of someone to help them a few hours a day with personal care or household chores can mean the difference between continuing to live at home or moving into a nursing home. To assist you in making the best decisions, here are some key points to consider on finding an appropriate care provider, and paying for that care:

an agency (like Future Care), which screens, trains, and supervises its employees, or merely a registry of independent caregivers. Also, ask if the service is licensed and accredited by a professional association, indicating a higher standard of quality.

In many instances, the people who are referred, instead of being employed, are cheaper. Keep in mind, the less costly person comes with a potentially big price. For example, if one of our em-

Keep in mind, the less costly person comes with a potentially big price.

Private home-care services. Some people may not qualify for government programs or may require more help than local aging agencies offer. They, or their family members, may have to look for private home care services providers. Home care aides run the gamut from companions and housekeeping aides to those who help with personal care such as bathing, dressing, and grooming. People with specific health problems may require a visiting nurse.

In exploring home-based care, check whether the service you contact is

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ployees is unable to visit a client on a particular day, a replacement is found.

And if an aide is injured on the job, e.g., hurting her back while turning or lifting a person out of bed, the agency— not the client—is liable. If an independent caregiver or aide is injured, you, as the employer, are liable for injuries.

Paying for care. Once you find the home-based care you need, the next challenge is paying for it. Medicare, the government’s health care program for those 65 and over, does not cover

long-term care or help with personal or household services. However, Medicare will pay for home care services related to acute, short-term health problems if a person is homebound, under a physician’s care, and needs part-time or intermittent skilled nursing services or physical/speech therapy.

Private insurance pays very few home care costs. Some newer supplemental medical insurance policies, known as Medigap, offer limited coverage for home care, but only when a patient is also receiving Medicare.

Private long-term care insurance policies often cover home-based care. But these policies are still so new and relatively expensive that only a small percentage of the elderly have them. The bottom line is that if you need private home care services, you’re probably going to have to pay for it yourself.

We at Future Care are familiar with the road ahead for those of you needing home care, and we strive to provide the most personalized and professional home care services in the industry. We are dedicated to assuring your loved ones will receive kind, sensitive assistance and care to enable them to continue to live at home with dignity. So go ahead . . .

Place your Future in our Care!  Zvi Grauman lives in Lawrence and is the director of business development for Future Care Health Services. Future Care is a licensed home care service agency servicing the five boroughs of New York and Nassau County.

Readers are encouraged to send questions or comments to zvi@futurecarehealth.net or to visit www.futurecarehealth.net for more information.

Become a Facebook fan of 5 Towns Jewish Times.

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News From The Hills

BY CHANITA TEITZ This is going to be a short note to wish you all a good yom tov. I didn’t get any announcements this week. I guess everyone is busy with Pesach, and most community events took place this week, while others are taking place after Pesach. There will be some chol ha’moed concerts, including my grandson Mordechai Weiss with the Yitzy Bald New York Boys’ Choir performing at Great Adventure on Tuesday.

I ďŹ nally started cooking for yom tov.

I know many of you have been cooking already for weeks, but a week before is the earliest I start. It’ll all get done, and we’re not as many people as we were last year. Two of my daughters are with their in-laws for the ďŹ rst days, and my brother is in Chicago this year. We were planning to go to Israel this Pesach, but instead we’ll go later, iy’H , closer to my granddaughter’s bas mitzvah.

Each year as I unpack my Pesach pots and dishes, lots of memories of past years come to mind. I also leave lists for myself of everything I bought and prepared, so reading them takes me back in time.

I remember the Pesach blizzards, one in Chicago many years ago and one in New York. And then there were years when it got so hot we needed the air conditioning.

There is a lot of hustle and bustle on Main Street and lots of sales going on as each of the supermarkets compete for the best prices. I’ve been shopping early in the morning before the crowds descend. I’ve been busy showing some co-ops and houses. Sitting here at the computer writing this column gives me a quiet moment away from all the shopping, cooking, and stress.

So enjoy your yom tov at home or away from home. Enjoy family, shep nachas, and be inspired. Chag kasher v’sameiach! ď ś

Board of Governors ”Ǥ ƒ–”‹…‹ƒ ––‹ƒ ”Ǥ ƒ”� ‡ŽŽ ‘•Š‡ ‡ŽŽ‘™• Šƒ‡Ž ‡ŽŽ‘™• ‡�Œ‹‡ ”‡…Š‡” ‘�ƒŠ ”—…� ‘‹•Š‡ Š‘’’ ‘•‡ˆ ƒ˜‹• ‹…Šƒ‡Ž †‡”› •Ǥ ƒ�‡ ‡ŽŽ ‹…Šƒ‡Ž ‡�‹‰ ‡�ƒ…Š‡� ”‹‡†�ƒ� œ˜‹ ”‹‡†�ƒ� ‡”‡Ž ‡Ž„•–‡‹� ‘� Š‡”�‡œ‹ƒ� ƒ„„‹ ‹†�‡› Ž‡��‡” ˜‹ ‘Ž†ˆ‡†‡” ŠŽ‘�‘ ”‘•• ”Ǥ ŽŽƒ� Ǥ ƒ’Žƒ� ƒ”� —–‘ˆˆ ”Ǥ ›Ž–‘� ‹‰Š–�ƒ� ”•Ǥ ‡‰‹ ƒ—‡” ”ƒ�� ‡�Ž‘ ‘”†ƒ� ‘•– ˜”‘Š‘� Ǥ —ŽŽ‡” ‹…Šƒ‡Ž —••„ƒ—� Ž‹•Šƒ ”‡”‘ Š‹�‹ ƒ› ˆ”ƒ›‹� ‡‹…Š�ƒ�� ”‹… ‘–Š�‡” ‹…Šƒ‡Ž ‹Ž„‡”„‡”‰ ‡›‡” ‹Ž˜‡”„‡”‰ ‘„‡”– ‹�‹�• ƒ˜‹† ‘�‡”•–‡‹� ‘•Š‡ ‘�‡”•–‡‹� ‘‡› –‡”� ƒ„„‹ ŠŽ‘�‘ ‡‹…Š�ƒ� ƒ˜‹† ‡••Ž‡” ‘”†‡…Šƒ‹ ‡••Ž‡” ƒ˜‹† ‹Ž‹• ”ƒ† —”‡ŽŽ ƒ˜‹† ‡‹�„‡”‰ ‡•Š› ‡�‰”‘™

516.612.3922

www.projectextreme.org Rabbi A.Y. Weinberg, Executive Director

Rabbinic Endorsements ƒ„„‹ Ǥ Ǥ Ž–—•Â?› ƒ„„‹ Ǥ ‡Â?ÇŚ ƒ‹Â? ƒ„„‹ Ǥ ‡”‡Â?„ƒ—Â? ÇŻ ƒ„„‹ Ǥ ‡‹Â?•–‡‹Â? ƒ„„‹ Ǥ —‡”•– ƒ„„‹ Ǥ Ǥ ‘–Ž‡” ƒ„„‹ Ǥ Ǥ ‹‡ˆˆ ƒ„„‹ Ǥ Ǥ ‡˜‹Â? ƒ„„‹ Ǥ ‡”Ž‘™ ƒ„„‹ Ǥ ƒŽ‘Â?‘Â? ƒ„„‹ Ǥ …Šƒ…Š–‡” ƒ„„‹ Ǥ …Š‡…Š–‡” ƒ„„‹ Ǥ –‘Ž’‡” ƒ„„ ƒ„„‹ Ǥ Ǥ ‡Â?‰‡”

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Chanita Teitz is a real-estate broker at Astor Brokerage, with ofďŹ ces in Kew Gardens Hills and Fresh Meadows. For all your real-estate needs in Queens, call her at 718-263-4500 or e-mail chanita@astorbrokerage.com.

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AROUND THE FIVE TOWNS Hesped For Rav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg At SKA The loss of a gadol ha’dor has an effect upon an entire generation. Upon learning of the sad passing of the Torah giant, Rav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg, zt’l, the administration of the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls felt the need to share some insight into the life of Rav Scheinberg. They were

fortunate to have Rav Scheinberg’s grandson-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Weinberger, mara d’asra of Congregation Shaaray Tefila and a rebbe at SKA, address the entire student body and share personal glimpses from his close relationship with the gadol.

Speaking with great emotion, Rabbi Weinberger expressed how important ahavas Yisrael was to Rav Scheinberg

and how he related to everyone who came to see him, regardless of their background.

Although Rav Scheinberg was such a public figure, he always made time for his family and was a wonderful husband to his wife. He was the rav of over 500 kollel men and boys but made sure to emphasize the respect their wives deserved.

Sharing several vignettes from the life of Rav Scheinberg, Rab-

bi Weinberger conveyed the deep love and respect between the two men.

The SKA girls were visibly moved. “After listening to Rabbi Weinberger, I felt that

Rav Scheinberg was very real, someone we could hope to emulate,” said one student, a sentiment shared by many girls. To hear Rabbi Weinberger’s full remarks, visit http://tinyurl.com/crw88qp. 

Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam Update The announcement of the opening of Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam generated much excitement in the Far RockawayFive Towns community. The open house was attended by an overflow, standing-roomonly crowd, eager to hear from noted beloved mechanech Rabbi Nosson Neuman about the school’s chinuch philosophy and practical curriculum.

Apparently, the parents liked what they heard. The three planned classes, which are almost full for next September, will be ably supervised by Mrs. Leah Zytman, a seasoned mechaneches.

“We can’t wait to service the families of the Far Rockaway-Five Towns community. We’re excited about Ateres Miriam, and we’ve spent many hours preparing a fantastic educational experience for our talmidos,” Rabbi Neuman explained, with his characteristic enthusiasm and warmth. “The area is in need of another girls’ school, and we have received the wholehearted endorsement of the chashuva rabbanim in the community, as well as their berachos for success, in establishing Ateres Miriam.”

Under the guidance of talented and capable individuals like Rabbi Neuman and Mrs. Zytman, it would seem that the berachos of the rabbanim and the expectations of the new parents will readily be fulfilled.

For more information about Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam please see the ad in this paper. 

Rav Mordechai Kaminetzky Addresses Mesivta Bais Shmuel Of Oceanside

By Shmuel Kramer Under the inspired leadership of Rav Ari Moshe Leiser, shlita, Mesivta Bais Shmuel of

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Oceanside strives to infuse its bachurim with a love for, and cheshek to learn, Torah. The mesivta was founded under the auspices of Harav Hagaon Rav Avraham Chaim Levin, shlita, rosh yeshiva of Telshe Yeshiva in Chicago, for the specific purpose of creating a mosad which is able to give every bachur the attention he needs to enable him to become a true ben Torah.

The mesivta is, baruch Hashem, able to accomplish this by keeping the classes small, which enables the rebbeim to spend whatever time is necessary for each bachur to understand what he is learning with great clarity. Chazal say “gadol shimushom m’limudam,” so the strong relationship which the bachurim are able to develop with the rebbeim is even more important.

The only characteristic which is a requirement for a student to succeed in Bais Shmuel is a desire to grow in Torah and yiras shamayim, or, in other words, to be “a yeshiva bachur.” Labels don’t exist; there are no “metzuyanim,” “beinonim,” or “shvach’e bachurim,” just bachurim who have a tremendous sh’eifah to grow. Boys come from out of town, even from Canada, to hear the shiurim and experience the ruach haTorah which the mesivta offers.

Every yeshiva needs, aside from excellent rebbeim and shiurim in Gemara, a strong element of mussar. The bachurim are zocheh to have as menahel ruchani Rav Leiser’s father in law, Harav Hagaon Rav Moshe Walkin, shlita, rav of K’hal Bais Aharon in Kew Gardens. Rav Walkin is a talmid of Harav Hagaon R’ Aharon Kotler, zt’l, and he learned with the chashuvei Mir in Shanghai, and later in Bais Hatalmud. He is able to share his rich experiences with the bachurim in his stirring shmuezen, imparting a sense of what it was like to learn with and under true gedolim in most trying circumstances. The bachurim are inspired to continue in the legacy of our glorious past, using their unique strengths to become a link in our mesorah.

The growth of the bachurim over this past z’man, due to their own efforts and the devotion of the rebbeim, was no more evident than when they began to learn hilchos Pesach. The end of a long winter z’man tends to feel a little bit tedious, but the joy and ruach with which the bachurim were revitalized amazed the rosh hayeshiva. The bachurim even asked to extend the z’man past the original schedule!

One way of measuring a bachur’s growth is his hasmadah—how much time he spends learning. Of course, the

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AROUND THE FIVE TOWNS Continued from Page 29 bachurim learn during the regular sedarim, but the rosh hayeshiva and rebbeim have been thrilled to find bachurim in the beis midrash even late in the evening, looking up a few extra meforshim on the sugya, or keeping a seder in a different limud.

There’s another aspect of hasmadah, though, in which the rosh hayeshiva wants to be mechanech the talmidim. Rav Mordechai Kaminetzky, shlita, rosh hayeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Chaim of South Shore, has been a good friend of the mesivta, helping in ways only he can. He graciously accepted Rav Leiser’s invitation to address the bachurim at the end of the z’man.

The Baal Hagadah states, “Yochol meRosh Chodesh”—one would think that the mitzvah of recounting yetziyas Mitzrayim should begin from rosh chodesh.

Rav Kaminetzky asked, why would we think so? What connects rosh chodesh to yetziyas Mitzrayim?

We find another interesting connec-

tion, that of yetziyas Mitzrayim and Shabbos, as we mention in Kiddush.

The Rambam (Hilchos Chametz Umatzah, 7:1) compares yetziyas Mitzrayim, about which the pasuk says, “Z’chor es hayom hazeh asher yitzasem miMitzrayim,” to Shabbos, about which we are commanded, “Zachor es Yom HaShabbos l’kadsho. Why are they compared?

The answers, says Rav Kaminetzky, lie in properly understanding the mitzvah of Kiddush. The Rambam (Hilchos Shabbos, 29:1) writes that just as there is a mitzvah to be mekadesh Shabbos upon its commencement, there is a mitzvah to mention Shabbos at its conclusion— what we refer to as Havdalah. It’s clear that the mitzvah is not merely to sanctify Shabbos, because Havdalah is said as Shabbos departs. The mitzvah is to demonstrate the uniqueness of Shabbos, its status as separate from the days of the week.

This concept of havdalah is also the central theme in yetziyas Mitzrayim.

Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in taking us out of Mitzrayim, made us unique and separate from the other nations. Thus, we

can understand the connection between Shabbos and yetziyas Mitzrayim.

Our uniqueness and status as free from the influence of other nations is symbolized by the mitzvah of rosh chodesh. Only a free nation has the ability to set the days of its calendar and therefore its holidays. An employee must work according to the needs of his boss, but the boss makes his own hours.

Hashem affirms our status as “b’nei chorin” by leaving kiddush hachodesh and the dates for the yomim tovim to us.

This is why it would be conceivable that the mitzvah of sipur yetziyas Mitzrayim should begin on rosh chodesh.

Rav Kaminetzky went on to exhort the bachurim to “make their own hours” and continue to learn b’hasmadah, even when there is no official z’man. The rosh hayeshiva and rebbeim of Mesivta Bais Shmuel are confident that their talmidim will learn b’hasmadah, even bein hazmanim, and continue the tremendous growth which they have been able to accomplish.

For information about the mesivta please call 718-337-3446. 

News From JCC Of The Greater Five Towns Food pantry distributes 200 chickens to the needy for Passover. Ellen Warshall, coordinator of the JCC of the Greater Five Towns’ Kol Ditzrich kosher food pantry, was proud to take part in the donation of 200 frozen kosher chickens to help those in need enjoy Passover. The poultry, which was donated by an individual who wishes to remain anonymous, was in response to recent news reports about the rise in the number of families accessing the food pantry.

The poor economy and higher prices for such essentials as food, gasoline, and home heating oil has forced many families who are struggling to turn to the food pantry for help. Located at 1012 Central Avenue in Woodmere, the pantry presently serves 267 families throughout the Five Towns community.

The JCC’s kosher food pantry is always in need of monetary gifts or donations of non-perishable, shelf-stable kosher food items to help less fortunate neighbors in the community. To drop off food or personal care items call the Kol Ditzrich kosher food pantry at 295-5678. For monetary contributions, please make checks payable to the JCC of the Greater Five Towns Food Pantry, 207 Grove Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY 11516.

Benjamin Grushkovskiy holds 4th-place award in chess tournament

Chess player receives award. Congratulations to Benjamin Grushkovskiy, the eight-year-old son of Svetlana and Maksim Grushkovskiy from North Woodmere, who recently came in fourth place in New York City P.S. #6’s chess tournament on March 11. Benjamin, a second grade student of chess master Anatoly Tonkonogy from the JCC of the Greater Five Towns’ chess club, was thrilled to rank so high in the unrated K-8 division.

Benjamin was originally inspired to play by his father. Furthermore, he greatly appreciates his teacher’s immense knowledge of the game. He plays with the JCC Chess Club on Wednesdays at Temple Israel in Lawrence. Benjamin says, “I love playing chess. I just started one year ago at the JCC and now I can play with my father and grandfather. This is our family tradition to play, so I am trying to follow it. My teacher, Mr. Tonkonogy—we call him Mr. T— is giving me a lot of new strategies every time I come for chess lessons at the

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AROUND THE FIVE TOWNS Continued from Page 30 JCC. I recommend everyone start chess lessons with Mr. T. It is a lot of fun.” Mr. Tonkonogy, who started to play chess himself “late” in life at age 13 said, “It is never too late to begin. It is also important to inspire students to not only learn the rules of chess but to think outside of the box with problem solving, playing brain games, solving all types of puzzles, etc.”

The chess club is part of the JCC’s Rainbow School, a supplementary school designed for children from families of Russian descent who want to maintain their Russian language and culture. However, the chess club is open to all children, seven years and older. For more information, please contact Irina Vainblat or Yulia Gross at the JCC at 516-569-6733, ext. 214 or e-mail yulia.gross@fivetownsjcc.org. 

IN TODAY’S ECONOMY,

‘Extreme’ Shabbaton In Inwood

YOUR CHILD’S JEWISH FUTURE IS THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD SACRIFICE. Jewish day school grants and scholarships now available for all ages!

These grants and scholarships ensure that more children realize the dream of an education rich in Jewish values and responsibility, where they achieve academically, while connecting to the world through a Jewish lens.

Engaged, passionate and committed, they are tomorrow’s leaders.

Each student will receive up to 33% of tuition at day schools throughout Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey, up to $5,000 for lower and middle school and up to $8,500 for high school.

Don’t wait another minute to give your child a Jewish day school education.

A limited number of grants and scholarships available at all day schools in Greater Philadelphia/South Jersey: Abrams Hebrew Academy Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy Kellman Brown Academy Kohelet Yeshiva High School Perelman Jewish Day School Politz Day School of Cherry Hill Politz Hebrew Academy Torah Academy Torah Academy Girls High School

These grants and scholarships are multi-year and are offered to new and existing day school students of all denominations. Qualifications and details vary based on grade level.

To see if you qualify, please contact

JewishDaySchoolGrants.org info@JewishDaySchoolGrants.org

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© 2012 Kohelet Foundation

A limited number of tuition grants and scholarships will be awarded to Jewish day school students in nursery, elementary, middle and high school for September 2012/Elul 5772.

Project Extreme led a successful girls’ Shabbaton in Inwood, providing an inspirational and enjoyable experience. Project Extreme‘s participants were able to see and experience Shabbos in a positive manor, which many of them have not experienced in a long time!

The Inwood community, led

by Rabbi Pinchas Weinberger of Bais Tefila of Inwood, welcomed the Shabbaton participants. Friday night, Rabbi A.Y. Weinberg, executive director of Project Extreme, discussed that just as G-d never gives up on us, we too cannot give up on our alienated youth. In his unique fashion, he was able to transmit to the community the importance of connecting with our teens and ensuring that they feel they have people they can turn to.

His words touched the community, as seen by the amazing feedback received from the participants. The girls greatly enjoyed Friday-night meals with the Ackerman, Brazil, Levine, and Michaeli families, and were warmly welcomed at Bais Tefila of Inwood on Shabbos day. The participants could not stop raving about the wonderful conversations, sense of warmth, and hospitality that they were shown.

Project Extreme was founded in 2001, with the realization that many alienated Jewish teens have special needs that must be addressed by highly trained staff. Project Extreme helps troubled teens find the courage necessary to make positive changes in their lives.

The organization’s mission is to alter the destructive life of

at-risk youth, helping them move away from high-risk behaviors and reconnect with their families and communities.

In the past ten years, Project Extreme has grown and evolved and now provides year-round programming to youth in-need. Project Extreme’s programs include an information and referral line, Shabbatons, yom tov programs, nights on the town, Camp Extreme for Boys, and Camp Extreme for Girls.

For more information about hosting a Shabbaton or for assistance with a teen exhibiting negative behavior, please call 516-612-3922 or e-mail info@ projectextreme.org. 

‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to be screened at HANC, April 22 for Yom HaShoah Auf Wiedersehen (’Til We Meet Again) is to be shown on Sunday, April 22, at 4:45 p.m. at Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, 25 Country Drive in Plainview.

This event is being presented by Young Israel of Plainview, Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Auf Wiedersehen (‘Til We Meet Again) is a “compelling and funny tale of recovery and renewal!” about a grandmother, a daughter and grandson who return to where the Holocaust began. It is “autobiographical, lyrical, poignant and reflective . . . everything except cynical and its blend of clear-eyed realism and deep human sympathy is irresistible” (Stanley Fish). It is a remarkable film about the Holocaust for all ages to remember and never forget.

Program Schedule: 4:45 p.m.: Introduction by Peter Goodrich, Professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and Linda G. Mills, co-producers/cowriters of ’Til We Meet Again. 5:15 p.m.– 7:00 p.m.: Film and discussion. (The film is neither graphic nor violent, but is not recommended for children under the age of 10.)

RSVP by April 15 to offficemanager@ yiplainview.com or 516-433-4811. Suggested sponsorship support is $10 per person, $25 per couple, or $50 per family. Donations will go toward the cost of the event. Please make checks payable to “YIP Inc.” and mail to 132 Southern Parkway, Plainview, NY 11803, Attn: Office Manager, or donate at the door. 

Pre-Passover Experience At Chabad Of Hewlett Chabad of Hewlett hosted a pre-Passover experience for local Jewish children this past week. The children had a wonderful time trying to build pyramids to experience the slavery that our ancestors suffered in Egypt so many years ago. They then decorated their

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AROUND THE FIVE TOWNS

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very own Passover wine goblet to remind us of the freedom that we celebrate. The children had a wonderful time preparing the Seder plate; they even got to prepare their own charoset! Then, to make sure that they are truly prepared for Passover, they practiced singing the Four Questions! ď ś

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And Moshe diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt . . .

(Vayikra 10:16) Three goats were brought that day as sin-offerings: (1) the one that G-d commanded should be offered by Aharon on the occasion of the Eighth Day; (2) the one brought by Nachshon, leader of the tribe of Judah, as the first in the series of offerings brought by the tribal heads in honor of the Sanctuary’s inauguration; (3) the goat offered every Rosh Chodesh (first of the month—that day was the first of Nissan).

The first two were not burnt, but eaten by Aharon and his sons as per Moshe’s instructions. The Rosh Chodesh offering, however, Aharon burned, reasoning that if he was instructed to eat the meat of the day’s special offerings even though he is in mourning (contrary to the usual law), he should not deduce that the same applies to an offering that is not unique to this special occasion, but is part of the regularly scheduled offerings.

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This distinction escaped Moshe, who demanded of Aharon and his sons: Why did you burn this sin-offering? And if you burned it because you are mourners, why did you eat the others? To which Aharon replied: “If you heard this instruction (that the offerings should be eaten even by mourners) regarding the offerings of the moment, you should not apply the same to the offerings for all times.�

(Talmud, Zevachim; Rashi)

And [Moshe] was angry (Vayikra 10:16) Because he became angry, he forgot the law that a mourner is forbidden to eat from the meat of the offerings.

(Midrash Rabbah; Rashi)

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real estate & mortgage financing

By Anessa V. Cohen

Pesach Projects Each year, depending on the way the calendar falls, we estimate how much lead time we will need to be ready for Pesach. I point out “the way the calendar falls” since how crazy we need to get with allowing lead

In Israel, of course, they never have to think beyond a two-meal or fourmeal chag—one of the perks for not living in the galut.

The one never changing yearly frustration remains trying to find

The neighborhood children started coming around and asking us quietly if it was true that we were housing a circus elephant in the tent. time always is based on whether yom tov will begin with a three-day chag (meaning, a two-day chag plus Shabbos), which translates into the need for a six-meal preparation instead of a four-meal preparation in advance for those of us not living in Israel.

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parking on Central Avenue the last week before Pesach. That does not look like this will ever change. Maybe we should add it to the end of the Haggadah together with L’shanah ha’baah b’Yerushalayim and wish for L’shanah ha’baah chanayah b’Central

Ave b’erev yom tov.

Preparations for Pesach turn into all sorts of combined projects that have been put off and never attended to, only to become a priority when Pesach is getting near and a cleaning frenzy begins.

I remember, as a kid, my mom wanting my father to clean out the basement. Each year, several months before Pesach, she would start pushing him to clean out all the valuable stuff he had accumulated over time only to settle for his cleaning the basement and reorganizing his stuff in similar patterns once he finished his Pesach cleanup.

One year, my mom had enough and told him he had to get everything out of the basement or she would take the bull by the horns and clean it out herself. My father, realizing she meant business, promptly took action. He erected an army tent (my father was actively involved in the U.S. Air Force) in the backyard, and moved all of his stuff from the basement to the tent so he could “sort out the important items at his leisure.”

It was such a large tent that the neighborhood children started coming around and asking us quietly if it was true that we were housing a circus elephant in the tent, and what were we going to do with it?

We could not believe that this was the story circulating in the neighborhood, and we started teasing my father about it. His answer was that we should give a tour to anyone who asked and then they would realize

L I N DA M O O D B E L L

that there was no elephant in the tent.

So we went into the tent with some of the neighborhood kids to show them there was no elephant, and one of my friends who came with us said, “Do you realize that if someone attacks the U.S., your backyard could be a target? They may see this big army tent and think there is something of military value here.”

Needless to say, over Pesach the tent became a constant topic of conversation, with all of us teasing my father over the possibility of making us a military target with his tent and not wanting to get rid of his stuff.

Many suggestions were discussed amongst us siblings over ways of camouflaging the tent which gave us many hours of laughs throughout that chag.

By the end of Pesach, when we asked my father what he was really going to do with the tent and all that stuff inside, his answer to us was, “Don’t worry about it; by the time Pesach rolls around next year, it will all be gone!”

Have a wonderful Pesach, everyone!  Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a licensed real-estate broker and a licensed N.Y.S. mortgage broker with over 20 years of experience, offering full-service residential and commercial real-estate services (Anessa V Cohen Realty) and mortgaging services (First Meridian Mortgage) in the Five Towns and throughout the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-5695007 or via her website, www.AVCrealty.com.

Readers are encouraged to send questions or comments to anessa.cohen@AVCrealty.com.

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Their Freedom And Ours: The Difference Erev Pesach Thoughts With A Glimpse Of The Russian Revolution

BY R’ NISON GORDON, Z’L Reprinted from Dos Yiddish Vort, AdarNissan 1967. Translated by Victor Cohen.

The world will forever study, research, and seek to ascertain what occurred in Russia 50 years ago and how it occurred. To the world, it is a study of the politics in a social revolution. It is how the Russian Bear awoke till it completely overturned the Czarist dictator to a worse and a more bloody socalled proletariat dictatorship.

Hundreds of books have been written in the last 50 years about the Russian Revolution, each book from its own narrow point of view. From more than 50 years ago, the Russian Revolution has affected the entire course of world history, the lot of people and countries, the destiny of millions of people. On the 50th anniversary of the abdication of the czar and the establishment of the provincial Krensky government, the whole world has turned its glance to everything that happened in those fearful days in the streets of Petersburg, the present Leningrad, as well as to what was in the hearts of a people who felt free of the yoke of a self-ruling czar.

More than anything, the world remains amazed and cannot fathom how

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Trotsky, Lenin, and their comrades grabbed the revolution from the people and put on their Communist uniform. In March 1917, it seemed that Russia would become a Socialist-Democratic country. In November of that same year, the Bolsheviks grabbed the

as we are in the web of those happenings.

However, these broad conclusions are not enough for the Jewish people.

We have our own observation about those days, about our participation in those events, and of the heritage that was left from those days. Of all the peoples that had put together the Russia of the past, not one of those minorities made such an impact on the revolution as the Jewish minority. And of all the peoples who today put together the Soviet-farband, it is the Jewish minority which is crushed and quivers in the

The dreams of the hundred thousand Jewish boys and girls who paid with their lives for raising the red flag were shattered. power and began a new chapter not only in the history of Russia, but in the history of all of mankind.

It is not possible that in thinking about the 50th anniversary that people will not speculate how the world would look today if the Krensky regime had remained in the saddle and would over time have become a second France. Today, the world is coming to its own conclusions on the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, even

shadow—going under, Heaven forbid.

Jewish boys and girls in the hundreds of thousands gave up their young lives for the red flag of the revolution, soaked by their blood. They left their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and gave away their ideals for a “freer Russia.”

These young people, first secretly and then openly and with a mighty bravado, the intelligentsia and workers alike, surpassed their non-Jewish com-

rades with their zealous idealism—and let us be ashamed to admit—bloody terror.

In their terrifying fatal mistake, they assumed that through their struggle for freedom for Russia, they would also get freedom for themselves. That in a free Russia and a free world, the Jew will also be free—to free themselves from their Yiddishkeit.

They thought that being part of the Jewish Diaspora made the regime under which they lived hostile to them.

However, if the red flag would wave over the church tops of the Kremlin, the Jew would stop being separated, for they would have the possibility to rid themselves of their Jewishness.

One of the worst shames in Jewish history will remain in the chapter of the Jewish “Yevseksiya” [the Jewish section of the Communist Party whose purpose was to destroy Zionist parties and suppress Judaism and replace it with “proletariat culture”]. Let us not be shamed further and admit that the Jewish destruction was so great because “our own” Jewish Yevsekeniks overrode everyone else with their hate for each connection with Judaism.

There were Jewish Yevsekeniks, who with their closeness to Stalin, brought about the exile of tens of thousands of stubborn Jews who wanted to remain Jewish to the “Dark Mountains.” There were Jewish Yevsaki who brought us to the present condition that a Jewish child in Russia cannot recognize an aleph, and the survivors that remain hope and wait for the salvation for the doors to open. These Jewish Yevshek-

esh terrorists and crusaders, who bathed in pools of Jewish blood, did not spare the young and old in their striving to release the world from the chains of the bourgeois and through this take away the rage of the world at the Jews, whom Marx designated as “bourgeois element.”

Observing this from the Jewish standpoint we can surmise with one word—disaster! Destruction for the world and for the Jews—also the destruction of the Jewish Yevshekesh terror and combatants of the revolution. Who, of them, was killed behind a wall in an early gray morning?

How many of them were sent away to the same places where before they had sent their victims and condemned them to the same death? The Jew who established the Red Army was stabbed with a red sword in exile—in Mexico, and all his Jewish comrades were given the same lot one way or another. The dreams of the hundred thousand Jewish boys and girls who paid with their lives for raising the red flag were shattered. The hopes of the misled idealists who wanted to solve the Jewish problem by living in a world of Russian freedom were bloodied and shattered.

••• Did we learn anything from the tragic happenings of 50 years ago? Have we gotten an understanding of how different our Jewish definition of freedom is from the freedom in the language of humanity?

The first occurrence of freedom in world history was the Exodus from Egypt—people were freed from the concentration camp known as Egypt where even one slave could not escape.

Freedom is a great thing—it is so great that the first statement of the commandments mentions the Exodus from Egypt. The Almighty declares to all the Jewish People at Mt. Sinai, “Who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.” However, immediately after comes, “You shall not make for yourselves a graven image or any picture.” Jewish freedom lies in the servitude of Hashem. “When you take the people out of Egypt,” when the Jewish people will go out from the Diaspora—“you will worship G-d on this mountain.” After “When you will take out”—after freedom, the Jews then must come to “you will worship,” the servant bound to the Al-mighty. Striving for freedom was the goal of humanity from time immemorial. 

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BUSINESS WEEKLY Restoring the Prominence of Choshen Mishpat

By Rabbi Meir Orlian

Selling Chametz Mr. Becker came to sell his chametz. “What do you do with all the chametz that you buy?” he asked Rabbi Tzedek.

“I don’t buy any chametz,” Rabbi Tzedek responded with a smile.

“What do you mean?” asked Mr. Becker, perplexed. “There was a whole line of people selling their chametz to you!”

“No one sold their chametz to me,” said Rabbi Tzedek. “They just appointed me as their agent to sell the chametz on erev Pesach. If you want to see the actual sale of the chametz, come back on erev Pesach at 11:00 a.m. when I meet with Mr. John Doe. There will also be two other people,

not included in the sale, to serve as witnesses.” (See Moadim U’Zmanim, 4:279.)

“That sounds interesting,” said Mr. Becker. “I remember when you instructed me to sell part of my pregnant ewe to a gentile to avoid the sanctity of the firstborn lamb (bechor). You told me to receive cash payment from the gentile and also have him pull the animal” (Y.D. 220:6).

“The laws are very similar,” said Rabbi Tzedek, “but there’s a difference.”

“What’s different about chametz?” asked Mr. Becker.

“Nothing in principle, but consider the logistics,” said Rabbi Tzedek.

“The gentile can’t go around picking up the chametz from hundreds of families! Nor can he make immediate cash payment for the full value of the chametz, which can be worth over $100,000.”

“Then how can you sell him the chametz?” asked Mr. Becker.

“You’ll see when you come,” replied Rabbi Tzedek.

On erev Pesach, Mr. Becker came at 11:00. Rabbi Tzedek introduced him to Mr. John Doe. “Mr. Becker wants to watch the sale,” he said.

Rabbi Tzedek took out all the sale forms. “These are the people who are selling their chametz and a rough listing of the chametz items they are selling,” he said to Mr. Doe. “The chametz will be sold at its fair value, as determined by a panel of appraisers.”

“In addition,” continued Rabbi Tzedek, “the sellers are renting to you all the places where the chametz is, and thereby selling—along with that— the chametz placed there. The fair rental value will also be ascertained by a panel of appraisers. Meanwhile, give me a down payment of $100 for

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the rental, and the remainder will be extended as a loan, due after Pesach.”

Mr. Doe gave Rabbi Tzedek $100.

“Why do you do rent the places?” asked Mr. Becker.

“There are a few reasons,” replied Rabbi Tzedek. “First of all, this way the chametz is not in the Jew’s property” (O.C. 448:3). “Second, this allows two other possible forms of kinyan (acts of acquisition). When someone buys or rents a property, he can simultaneously acquire along with it moveable property (kinyan agav). In addition, property that a person owns or that he rented can acquire for him items that are placed there (kinyan chatzer)” (Ketzos 194:3; Mishnah Berurah 448:17).

“Now give me another $100 as a down payment for the chametz,” Rabbi Tzedek said to Mr. Doe. “The remainder will be extended as a loan, due an hour after Pesach is over. I want to emphasize, though, that the sale is absolute, even if you default on the payment.”

Mr. Doe gave Rabbi Tzedek another $100. Rabbi Tzedek then asked Mr. Doe to provide his pen, which Rabbi Tzedek picked up. They shook hands on the deal.

Afterwards, Rabbi Tzedek and Mr. Doe signed a detailed contract confirming the sale of the chametz and rental of the locations. Rabbi Tzedek handed Mr. Doe all the documents before the witnesses, acknowledging that everything was rented and sold to him (odita) (Ketzos 194:4).

“I recognize the pen as a kinyan sudar,” said Mr. Becker. “But since when does a contract serve as a means of transaction for moveable property like chametz?”

“Halacha recognizes any means of transaction that the common commercial practice uses to consummate binding transactions, in addition to the acts of kinyan delineated in Shulchan Aruch,” replied Rabbi Tzedek.

“This is called situmta, and may include legal contracts nowadays and a handshake” (C.M. 201:1-2; Mishnah Berurah 448:19).

“Why is it necessary to make so many forms of acquisition?” asked Mr. Becker.

“There are questions about each form of kinyan,” said Rabbi Tzedek.

“Since it is not logistically possible for the gentile to actually take the chametz, by doing many alternate forms of kinyan we strengthen the sale” (Aruch Hashulchan 448:28).

“We are finished now,” Rabbi Tzedek said to Mr. Becker. “Your chametz has been sold to Mr. Doe.” “If you have some good whiskey,” Mr. Doe piped up, “maybe I’ll pay you a visit on Pesach and pick up a bottle!”  This article is intended for learning purposes and not to be relied upon halacha l’maaseh.

There are also issues of dina d’malchusa to consider in actual cases.

Rabbi Meir Orlian is a faculty member of the Business Halacha Institute, which is headed

by HaRav Chaim Kohn, shlita, a noted dayan.

For questions regarding business halacha issues, or to bring a BHI lecturer to your business or shul, please call the confidential hotline at 877-845-8455 or e-mail ask@ businesshalacha.com. To receive BHI’s free newsletter, Business Weekly, send an e-mail to subscribe@businesshalacha.com.

Celebrating Freedom In Siberia, 1941

BY RABBI AVI SHAFRAN The group of Novardhoker yeshiva bachurim and their rebbe (and his rebbetzin)—along with a number of families—were packed into the train’s stock cars in the summer of 1941. Since Rav Yehudah Leib Nekritz, zt’l, and his talmidim, then in Soviet-conquered Lithua-

spend the years of the Second World War. The Siberian summer is oppressive; insects left the exiles at times unrecognizable for their swollen faces. Winter in the taiga, of course, brought challenges of its own, including 40-degree-below-zero temperatures. In his short memoir, Fire Ice Air, my father re-

To undertake some semblance of that mitzvah, the exiles managed to obtain milk—an expensive delicacy in its own right— and used it instead. nia, had declined the offer of Russian citizenship, the Soviets were providing them an all-expenses-paid trip to Siberia. Occasional pieces of bread and cups of water were also offered at no charge during the weeks of travel. Not to mention the cruise across a lake on a barge to the work camp where my father, may he be well, the youngest of the yeshiva group, and his rebbe and friends, would

calls that even as the yeshiva exiles arrived in the East, Pesach was already on their minds. And so, as they worked in the fields, some of the boys squirreled away a few kernels of wheat here and there, carefully placing them in their pockets—something that was “entirely against the rules, and very dangerous.”

Continued on Page 48

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insights on THE TORAH Pesach: Kadesh And The Four Kosos will ask. And his father will answer him, ‘They are going to bring the platter back, to do the second dipping.’ And the son will then ask, ‘Why do we dip two times?’ Right after they take away the platter, they bring it back to him, with

BY RABBI YITZCHOK D. FRANKEL AGUDATH ISRAEL OF THE FIVE TOWNS

They pour him the second cup, and here the son asks his father.

—Pesachim 116a In the Mah Nishtanah, we ask about dipping twice and leaning. But the fact that we drink four cups of wine at the Seder is not mentioned at all. Isn’t this also something different?

The explanations that have been offered are quite surprising. The most common one is simply wrong: We haven’t done anything different yet, because Mah Nishtanah comes after Kiddush and we have only drunk one cup of wine so far like we do every yom tov.

Why is this explanation wrong?

Tosafos (114a) says: “‘They bring the matzah before him’—Since they took the platter away from the one who recites the Haggadah and leads the Seder, that is why the mishnah says, ‘They bring the matzah [back] before him.’

Taking away the platter was so the son

as Tosafos says, the child notices that something is different (the platter was taken away before anyone got to eat anything!). So at that point, we tell him about what will happen next: We’re going to eat matzah, and we’re going to dip another time. The marror is going to be dipped into the charoses. The child is now aware of the protocol and starts to ask questions: Why will we do this?

Why will we do that?

These changes tweaking the curiosity of the child apply just as well today.

The instructions in the Haggadah indicate that we pour the second cup of wine before reciting Mah Nishtanah.

This is mentioned in the mishnah. Why are we in such a hurry to pour the second cup? Because at this point the child asks Mah Nishtanah. We want the child

So why does he ask about everything else in the world and forget to ask why we are drinking so much wine? the matzah and marror on it. This is because during the Haggadah he needs to recite, ‘This matzah . . . This marror . . .’”

We see that even in the time of the Mishnah, Mah Nishtanah was asked before they dipped twice and before they ate matzah or marror. This is because,

to ask, “Why are you pouring another cup of wine?” to which we cleverly answer, “Because we’re going to be drinking four cups tonight!” And then he continues, “Why is this night different from all nights?” and he proceeds to ask about the differences.

What prompted the child to ask questions in the first place? The fact that we poured an extra cup of wine. So why does he ask about everything else in the world and forget to ask why we are drinking so much wine? So much for that explanation.

According to another explanation, Mah Nishtanah deals exclusively with mitzvos that are Torah-ordained. Since the obligation to drink arba kosos is only d’rabbanan, it is not asked about.

But how does the child know that? He asks about whatever piques his curiosity, so why shouldn’t he also ask about the added wine consumption? Thus, this explanation needs to be explained fully.

Let’s ask a most obvious question: Why don’t we ask Mah Nishtanah on Sukkos? After all, we leave our homes and go eat in some type of shack. This is greater than the changes we make on Pesach, so we should ask: “All the nights of the year we eat at home; why, tonight, are we outside?” However, we don’t ask Mah Nishtanah just because things are a little different on Pesach night, but rather to enable us to fulfill a Torah obligation unique to this evening.

You shall tell your son on that day, saying: “For the sake of this, Hashem did for me when I went out of Egypt.”

—Sh’mos 13:8 When your son will ask you at a later time, saying: “What is this?” you shall say to him, “With a strong hand, Hashem brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.”

—ibid. 13:14

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The mitzvah on Pesach night is to tell the story of Yetziyas Mitzrayim. And, as we see from the above pesukim, this is meant to be in the form of question and answer. That is why we ask Mah Nishtanah. Even if a person is all alone, he should ask himself and then relate the story, as it states in Pesachim 116a.

The Gemara mentions many changes that are to be made this evening, all in order to motivate the child to ask, the ultimate goal of which is to fulfill the mitzvah of Haggadah. What does this mitzvah of Haggadah entail?

Rabban Gamliel would say: “Whoever did not say these three things on Pesach did not fulfill his obligation. They are: Pesach, matzah, and marror . . .” (Pesachim 116 a–b) Now we can understand why the four cups are left out of Mah Nishtanah. We are only interested in questions that lead us to where we want to go—the fulfillment of the Torah-ordained mitzvah of Haggadah—which is fulfilled with an explanation of Pesach, matzah, and marror! Yes, we want the child to ask about the four cups, too. We do almost anything to pique the child’s curiosity. We hand out roasted nuts, we take the matzah platter away and then bring it back, etc. However, Mah Nishtanah does not ask about all these attention-getting devices because they are not really the point. This is what Tosafos is saying: “‘So the child will notice, and ask’—In other words, this way he will come to ask about other things. But by asking why we take the platter away, he has not exempted himself from asking Mah Nishtanah . . .” (Tosafos, Pesachim 115b).

Now we understand why the child asks only about Torah-ordained mitzvos.

Talking about the arba kosos all night long, we will not have fulfilled the mitzvah of Haggadah. Instead we ask about matzah (a Torah-ordained mitzvah) and marror (which is not a Torah-ordained mitzvah today but is still originally required from the Torah). In the time of the Beis HaMikdash, we also asked about the Korban Pesach. Since we no longer have anything resembling the Korban Pesach, we substitute the question about “leaning,” which is connected to the fulfillment of the mitzvah of matzah. 

Seth A. Cohen, MD Attending, Department of Medicine e

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45

A number of years ago, I read a columnist who declared that the Vaad HaKashrus should get involved if there was indeed price gouging. I’m not sure I agree. However, there is plenty of precedent for such a move.

The mishnah in Kerisus (8a) relates an interesting incident. There was a time when birds used for korbanos became ex-

DAF YOMI INSIGHTS

By Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

Neither Fish Nor Fowl Before Pesach, I usually take my car into a car wash to be cleaned. However, I don’t fall for those Passover specials.

They charge you about $20 extra to clean your car. Why? It’s for Passover. Admittedly, a minivan that has been used for trips, car pools, and snack runs needs extra cleaning attention. I remember a woman in front of me at the car wash looking with dismay at the ticket that the attendant handed her for her minivan wash. Her stub was stamped “Extra Dirty.” I hope her kids can still get shidduchim.

However, to simply charge extra for Passover is unconscionable. Dov Hikind’s office last year launched an investigation into these so-called Passover

car wash specials. Another complaint we hear around Pesach time is price fixing of food items. As Abie Rotenberg’s song goes, “Why do the same things we buy all year round, at Pesach time are triple the price?” Moreover, people complain about the cost of items manufactured specially for Passover. Granted, there are additional costs involved in a Passover production, but are the high final prices justified? There was a well-known federal investigation in the ’90’s regarding price fixing by Jewish manufacturers. Hopefully, those concerns are now just something from the past. Additionally, I have read that our local food stores pledged not to raise their prices simply because it’s Passover.

He felt that b’nos Yisrael were being taken advantage of financially and were not getting proper tweetment. ceedingly expensive. Each pair of birds was sold for a gold dinar. A gold dinar at that time represented about a month’s salary for the average person. Women who had recently given birth could hardly afford to purchase them for the korbanos they were required to bring.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel cried fowl and declared, “I swear by Hashem, Who rested His Divine Presence in the

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Beis HaMikdash, I will not go to sleep tonight until the price drops dramatically.” He went to beis din and declared that any woman who hitherto would have brought five sets of korbanos was now free as a bird to bring just one; she may bring the others if she so chooses. (This is a rather simplistic interpretation; see the Gemara for all the technical details.)

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After Rabban Shimon’s declaration, the price of the birds swooned dramatically—to a hundredth of the original price.

According to Rashi in Kerisus, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel instituted an emergency, limited-time measure to bring down the price of the birds. He felt that b’nos Yisrael were being taken advantage of financially and were not getting proper tweetment. Perhaps some would chicken out of buying their korbanos. After the temporary measure, however, they were able to wing it. We can certainly conclude that the rabbis did at times see fit to intervene and lower the bill; they didn’t duck the issue.

However, was that measure only for the birds, or can it be applied to fish as well? Mullet over for a second, then read the rest. The question was posed to the Tzemach Tzedek. It seems that hundreds of years ago, the gentiles of that place knew that the Jews had the halibut of buying fish for Shabbos, and they cod raise the prices without suffering a dropoff in sales. When the prices increased dramatically, the Jews realized that something was fishy. Some were in favor of instituting a temporary ban on the purchase of fish for Shabbos to cause the price to sink.

Others, however, referred to the Gemara in Beitzah (16a) that the money one spends on Shabbos and yom tov is not deducted from one’s yearly allotment. So, they reasoned, what difference does it make if the fish is expensive? Since they are buying it for Shabbos, their money will be returned to them in one way or another through Divine intervention, and they will remain afloat. They argued further, How can you ban herring from a kiddush? A Jew without herring is like a fish out of water! When both sides presented their arguments, it was time to fish or cut bait.

The Tzemach Tzedek ruled that a boycott was in order. Just as Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel curtailed the offering of korbanos, we may temporarily curtail the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos. This would be true even if eating fish on Shabbos is a mitzvah d’Oraysa, as some argue (see the Shulchan Aruch HaRav). However, for halachah l’ma’aseh we hold that eating fish is just one manifestation of the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos. One can fulfill the biblical mitzvah of oneg Shabbos with other dishes as well. There are plenty of fish in the sea. So a boycott is certainly in order to bring the price of fish down.

As to the argument that the money spent on Shabbos will be returned: The Tzemach Tzedek said that it is fine for people who have the money to lay out, but

not for a poor person who does not have the money to spend now and will not be able to buy the fish, even though there is a guarantee that the money will be returned to him later. Since these poor people were floundering, a temporary ban on buying fish for Shabbos was proper.

The Aruch L’ner points out two apparent flaws in the Tzemach Tzedek’s conclusion from our mishnah. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel never forbade women from bringing all their korbanos. He just made it optional. Further, even if he had forbidden women from bringing all their korbanos, they would have been able to offer them after the price went down. Every woman affected by the temporary measure conceivably could have brought all the optional bird sacrifices when it became affordable. However, if a ban on fish was initiated, it wouldn’t just make the purchase of fish optional, it would outlaw it altogether. Further, after the boycott would be rescinded, only current Shabbos meals could be enjoyed with fish. Those Shabbos meals that passed without gefilte fish could never be “rectified.” Therefore, the Aruch L’ner says that no support can be adduced for the ban from our mishnah.

Still, the Mishnah Berurah (242:2) codifies the ruling of the Tzemach Tzedek as practical halachah. You may indeed institute a boycott against fishermen who are as crooked as a barrel of fishhooks.

One interesting point that can be made from the above story is that the Tzemach Tzedek agreed that one should continue buying fancy food for Shabbos even if it is above one’s means. That money will be returned to him somehow that year.

I heard the following caveat from R’ Reuven Feinstein, shlita: One cannot simply go on a spree and purchase the most expensive items and expect the money to be returned. However, a food that is indeed within one’s means and suddenly becomes expensive may continue to be purchased without suffering any net loss in his income that year. This fits with the above story. Apparently the fish started out as affordable but was subject to the whims and manipulations of the gentile merchants.

Just one note: There is no way to tell how the Shabbos expenditures will be repaid to each individual. Perhaps the individual might be saved from losing his wallet. Perhaps there was a decree that he should sell six cars one week and now will sell seven. But one way or the other, Hashem will pay him back for the money he spends to honor Shabbos.  Rabbi Sebrow leads a daf yomi chaburah at Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead and is a rebbi at Yeshiva Tiferes Torah in Kew Gardens for post-high-school boys.

He can be contacted at ASebrow@gmail.com.

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April 6, 2012

47

FREEDOM IN SIBERIA Continued from Page 43 “The Communist credo, though,” he writes, “was ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs’ and so we were really only being good Marxists. Our spiritual needs, after all, included kosher for Pesach matzo.”

They put the kernels in a special bag, which they carefully hid where no one could find it. The winter was brutal, but the Novardhokers all survived it, as did the bag of grain. When the end of the cold season was rumored to be near, they ground the kernels into flour with a small hand grinder intended for coffee beans. My father remembers that the flour was coarse and dark, but resplendent all the same.

The next part of the Pesach plan was to arrange for the actual matzahbaking. Although the yeshiva boys were barracked with non-Jewish locals, there was one hut in the area that was occupied solely by a Jewish family, the Beckers, who had come from Kovno. Arrangements were made for some of the boys to come to their house in the middle of the night, when all the town’s residents were asleep, and fire up their oven on full blast for two hours to make it kosher. Then they would bake matzos for the family and themselves.

Since matzah dough is traditionally perforated in rows to ensure that it is “baked through,” the young men improvised a special tool for the purpose by whittling a piece of wood so that it could be fitted with gear-wheels bor-

‘‘

rowed from a clock. The apparatus was rolled over each matzo-dough quickly before the baking.

“When Pesach came,” he recalls, “we all gathered at the hut and all of us— the Nekritzes, we yeshiva boys, and the Beckers—were able to fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah on the first night of Pesach, in remembrance of our ancestors’ release from the outsized prison that was ancient Egypt. Understandably, it was a mitzvah that resonated strongly for us.”

The four kosos could not so easily be addressed; there was no wine and there were no grapes to be found in Siberia.

But, to at least undertake some semblance of that mitzvah, the exiles managed to obtain milk—an expensive delicacy in its own right—and used it instead. To them, my father writes, “it tasted of the finest wine.”

The group even bartered some of their possessions for a few eggs, traditionally eaten at the Pesach Seder. Some of the eggs were frozen, he recalls, “but that was nothing that a bit of roasting couldn’t cure.”

As we all prepare for Pesach this year, cleaning our homes and polishing our silver and shopping for our personal plethora of Pesachdikeh products, accounts like my father’s—whether from Siberian exiles, concentration camp inmates, or Jews in hiding—should be required reading, and required pondering, for our children and for ourselves.

They provide something priceless: perspective.  © 2012 AMI Magazine

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that’s the WAY IT IS

By Hannah Reich Berman

Best Pesach Cleaning Ever There’s precious little about preparing for Pesach that I enjoy. In addition to readying my house for Pesach, I do the same for my car. Every year, on the Sunday before Pesach, I drive to a car wash and fork over money in exchange for having my car cleaned. This has nothing to do with washing the outside of the car with soapy water— water, I might add, that is black. The water that shpritzes out of the overhead spigots is clear and clean, but if you have never looked inside those barrels of water that the men dip their sponges into, my advice is—don’t!

Okay, so maybe the water isn’t pure black, but it’s certainly dark gray. I can live with that, however (what choice do I have?), because what really brings me to the car wash before Pesach is to have the inside cleaned out. Today was the day!

As soon as I drove onto the front lot of the car wash, I knew I was in for a long wait. The place was unable to accommodate all the cars, but no one was turned away. They just kept coming. And I noted that the very last car on line was in the perilous position of having its front end on the lot while

the rear of the car stuck out onto a heavily trafficked road. Scary doesn’t begin to describe how it feels to be in that unenviable spot.

When my entire car was on the lot, and there was no longer any danger of getting hit by a passing car as it sped by, I was approached by a uniformed worker. He was a very pleasant, Spanish-speaking gentleman, and he asked, “Are you here for a Pesach cleaning or a regular wash?” It took me a minute to respond because I was blown away by his pronunciation of the word Pesach.

He didn’t say “Passover” and he didn’t say “Pay-sock.” He made the perfect “ach” sound—the one that is often likened to trying to cough up a piece of popcorn that has gotten stuck in the back of the throat.

After recovering from the shock of his stellar pronunciation, I told him I was there for the Pesach cleaning.

He directed me to drive to the longer of the two lines, which I promptly did. Then I waited, and I waited. And I waited. As each of us was instructed to slowly inch our car up to the front,

Continued on Page 50

5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

April 6, 2012

49

THAT’S THE WAY IT IS! Continued from Page 49 which was actually the back of the lot, I did what I always do when I’m waiting on a long line: I looked behind me.

I like to see that, while I might not yet be the first in line, at least there were more people lined up behind me than there were in front of me. That always lightens my mood.

Twenty minutes later I arrived at a spot where I was told to exit my car.

Then I was asked by another worker what type of cleaning I wanted. While there were signs offering multiple options, the descriptions of the various types of cleaning looked pretty much the same. What differed from one sign to another was the price, and I got the sense that the man who had asked the question was less interested in what type of cleaning I wanted than he was in determining how much he could charge for the job.

After I made my choice, he handed me a small slip of paper, on which he had scrawled “$39.99.” He then instructed me to take it to the cashier.

But I decided that I wouldn’t pay just yet. I had waited long enough for them to start the job, so they could wait a few extra minutes for my money. I wanted to watch the man vacuum the seats and the floor and air-spray every pocket and crevice. I wanted to see him shpritz cleaning fluid out of the plastic container that hung out of the back pocket of his overalls.

I like watching the cleaning solution as it drizzles down the dashboard, the

steering wheel, and every other visible piece of plastic. And I wanted to be sure that he wiped everything dry.

In short, I was determined to oversee the cleaning job that would include yanking out the rubber floor mats and whacking them with the hard end of the large hose so that any accumulated dirt and dust would fly off in every direction.

When I chanced to glance down to the floor, I realized that my car hadn’t been that dirty after all. There was one piece of paper that must have missed my litterbag and two pens that had ap-

It was when I looked around and saw what had been sucked out of the other vehicles that I knew the meaning of the word dirty. parently rolled under the seat. But that was it. It was when I looked around and saw what had been sucked out of the other vehicles that I knew the meaning of the word dirty. The ground around the car in front of mine was littered with enough food and drink to feed a family of four for a week. And some of the shmutz had been in that car since Chanukah.

I’d love to take credit for detective work here, but there was none in-

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volved. The FBI won’t be looking for my services anytime soon. It was a nobrainer once I spotted half a dozen gold-foil-wrapped pieces of chocolate Chanukah gelt. Elsewhere in the same pile of refuse were colorful M&Ms that had spilled out of a large blue plastic dreidel. Scotland Yard won’t be calling on me either. A rookie could have solved the mystery of how long that junk had been in the car.

Several automobiles were simultaneously being cleaned, and from time to time I looked around. I made a mental note that the family who owned

the SUV parked parallel to my sedan had cleaned out their car more recently. There were no signs of Chanukah.

Instead, on the ground next to their rear side door were a few half-eaten hamantaschen, some candy wrappers, two rotted apples, and a torn Purim mask that had gotten trapped somewhere. Holiday food wasn’t the only thing that was plucked and sucked from that van. There were several halfempty bottles of water, a yo-yo, a torn

coloring book, assorted crayons, and countless tissues. After that, I stopped looking.

While the dirt in my car didn’t hold a candle to the others, it was still a solid half-hour before the worker finished with my golden chariot and drove it onto the tracks to be washed. In spite of how long it took, I had enjoyed every minute of the cleaning process— probably because I didn’t have to do a lick of work to get it looking and smelling good. Regardless of whom I hire to clean my house before Pesach, I always need to pitch in. There are multiple tasks that only I can do, so I’m right there alongside the worker, doing my bit. But getting my car to look the way I want it to, and ridding it of every shred of chametz, requires no effort from me. I just wait for someone else to do the work.

When I finally paid the bill, I walked out into the sunshine and waited as the outside of the car was wiped dry.

At that point, the same gentleman who had asked if I’d wanted a Pesach cleaning made the following comment: “Well, Miss, there’s not a drop of chametz left in your car now.” And his pronunciation of the “cha” in “chametz” was every bit as flawless as his “ach” in “Pesach” had been earlier. It was indeed impressive! But even more impressive was that I left there in a car that was spotlessly clean, inside and out.  Hannah Berman lives in Woodmere and is a licensed real-estate broker associated with Marjorie Hausman Realty. She can be reached at Savtahannah@aol.com or 516-902-3733.

Man’s Search For Freedom

BY DONI JOSZEF “Everything can be taken away from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

—Viktor Frankl I never had to fight very hard for my freedom. I was born, raised, and coddled in cozy Long Island suburbia. My freedom came served to me on a silver platter. Which is probably why I don’t think about it too often. Freedom is boring when it’s free.

Yet, Pesach demands that I fight for my freedom. Not just to commemorate glorious days of old, but to actually stir up an experiential salvation anew. To sincerely feel my own bondage and rejoice in my own redemption. Or something to that effect . . .

“In each and every generation, individuals must actually see themselves as if they are exiting bondage.”

—Pesachim 116b When my grandmother sat in Auschwitz, she probably had no problem conjuring up sentiments of slavery. Her bondage came served to her on a bloodstained platter. But what do I know about servitude? All I know is tearooms and bellboys. With no chain on my legs or yellow star on my shirt, how am I supposed to fight for my own freedom?

A closer look at our original Egyptian slavery reveals some peculiar points to ponder. Both the nature of our work

and the delegation of its tasks seem beyond ridiculous.

For starters, Jews were forced to build cities on land that was destined to sink (Sotah 11a). Whatever we’d construct would inevitably destruct. How encouraging. We built with no purpose, no meaning to our task. Why did Egypt waste the cost-free Jewish labor on doomed construction plans? Why play mind games with us?

To make matters worse, Jewish men were assigned so-called “female tasks” while the women were assigned “male tasks.” This means men were changing Egyptian diapers while women carried pyramid stones. Mars and Venus switched roles. Another psychological mind game. Why? Red (a fictional character played by Morgan Freeman in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption) is granted parole after 40 years of imprisonment.

Surprisingly, his new freedom is far from freeing. It’s emotionally unbearable. Prison life provided Red with a sense of security and structure that freedom foreclosed. Freedom is frightening when it comes without a framework for meaningful living. And so, Red violates his parole. Prison was the only purpose he knew.

Viennese psychiatrist Victor Frankl walked through a grim and gruesome gallery of genocide, and somehow sparks a glimmer of light within one of history’s darkest shadows. It is here

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MINDBIZ

By Esther Mann, LCSW

Dear Esther, When I was 19 years old, one of my closest friends got married. I was overjoyed to help her in every possible way.

At every relevant simcha, I stood by her side. I went with her and her mother to help pick out her wedding gown. I planned her shower, making sure it was original and fun. I planned a theme and games. I invested in a bridesmaid gown and was in charge of purchasing and schlepping all of the shtick to the wedding. I helped make sheva berachos just for friends. I really did it all, and I did it with love, excitement, and happiness.

When all the festivities were over, I soon realized that she was going home to an entirely different life and I was returning home to my old single life.

Though we’ve remained friends, we just don’t have that much in common anymore. She’s gone on to have a family and has different worries and interests.

She’s made new friends who share her interests and lifestyle.

This story has repeated itself more times than I’d like to remember. Sometimes I found myself just as involved in other friends’ marriage plans and sometimes a little less involved. But I’ve given so much of myself over the years, only to ultimately say goodbye to the friendship I had known and to return to my single life.

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My closet full of bridesmaid gowns has grown; my list of close friends has shortened. I find myself, at the age of 25, feeling less happy when a friend gets engaged and more jealous and resentful. Not to say that I wish anyone anything bad. I am happy that people are finding their basherts and moving on with their lives, but I have to admit that it’s starting to not work for me anymore. It’s hard for me to keep the excitement going. I want my turn to come. I hate the feeling of loss when a friend suddenly has a husband to view as a best friend, and I’m no longer needed the way I once was.

I’ve given so much over the years and wonder whether my turn will ever come to experience some payback. I didn’t set out feeling this bitter. When I participated in the first few weddings, it never occurred to me that someday I would start wanting at least some of the work reciprocated. I did everything from a loving place. But now I am feeling resentful and almost used.

What do I do with all of these negative feelings that I’m having? Recently a good friend got engaged, and I didn’t even want to go to the vort to wish her a mazel tov. It was that painful. I did ultimately show up, but it was a hard evening for me. I felt the smile on my face

must have looked as fake as it felt. And constantly hearing everyone say, “G-d willing by you” almost makes me want to puke at this point.

I don’t know what the future will bring. On good days I feel positive that my time will come. But some days I feel like I will never meet anyone to marry, and I get really depressed. It’s hard for me to enjoy these years, with this hanging over my head.

Any suggestions?

Depressed Dear Depressed, Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. There have been movies made on this topic because it is so complicated in terms of the multilayered emotions it evokes in women. At age 19, you no doubt started out with feelings of overthe-top excitement for your friend’s big day. At that young and innocent age, it was probably the most thrilling event of your life. Your joy and desire to help in every possible way was pure and generous in nature.

But with time, the same-old same-old can get stale, but probably much more serious, unnerving. Seeing your close friends, one after another, smoothly transitioning on to their next stage of life without a hitch, while you somehow haven’t been so lucky, changes a mindset. You may be feeling stuck and even sometimes frightened that your day may never come. Though being 25 years old does not exactly make you an old maid—far from it—I do recognize the pressure our community puts on young women. It creates a huge burden that is heavy to carry.

The first thing you may want to work on is giving yourself permission to feel.

Let your emotions surface without guilt or judgment. Of course you probably sometimes feel resentful about all of the hard work you’ve put out for your friends, time and time again, never having had the opportunity to be the main event and experience it for yourself. Why wouldn’t you have some feelings of jealousy when you see your friends happily starting their new lives with their husbands, while you’re left to carry on alone? These are natural feelings. They don’t make you a bad person, only a normal person. If you continuously push these feelings down because you believe that they make you some kind of miserable human being, the emotions will ultimately find a way of surfacing in some way. They may account for the feelings of depression that you say you experience sometimes.

We all want the same stuff, more or less. Just because we want what our friends have doesn’t mean that we don’t want them to have it. It also doesn’t mean that we can’t be happy for their good fortune. It just means that we would also like to be similarly blessed.

So go easy on yourself. Feel what you need to feel, and then move on. Let it out and let it go. If you feel it’s just too much to organize one more bridal shower or sheva berachos, take a pass.

Maybe at this point it’s just not healthy for you to be overly invested in all of the details involved in marrying off a friend. By excusing yourself, it doesn’t mean that you no longer love or care about your friend. It just means that right now it’s not working for you.

I’m hoping that you are able to use this time productively and in a fulfilling manner.

Though I’m sure that being married and starting a family is your first priority, it’s important to keep busy with fun activities. Assuming you are working or studying toward a career, you still have evenings and weekends to do things that your married friends do not have the luxury to do.

Have you always wanted to take a sculpting class or theater workshop? Do you want to travel more, see the world?

Let’s face it, once you are, G-d willing, married with children, your life will change. Certainly in wonderful ways, but you won’t have the freedom you now have. Use it wisely. Not only will you live a more interesting life, but you will distract yourself from sitting around, worrying all the time.

I’m also hoping that you continue to make new friends as your old friends have kind of moved to the back of the bus.

Your married friends who never experienced what you are experiencing cannot possibly understand what it feels like to walk in your shoes right now.

Talking to them about your issues probably wouldn’t be all that satisfying to you. It’s helpful to constantly be refilling the till with individuals who can empathize with you and with whom you can empathize.

Mind you, I’m not suggesting that you sit around with a bunch of single women, wringing your hands and having a great big pity party. But I have found that when identifying and spending time with people who truly relate to and therefore understand your shared situation, the conversations can go from serious to light, and ultimately laughter can ensue. Though it may sound counterintuitive, when we feel heard and safe, we can find the humor in just about any situation.

You are hopefully doing all the right things that will enable you to ultimately meet Mr. Right. In the meantime, go easy on yourself. You’re allowed to have human emotions. Just don’t get stuck in them. Make the most of your freedom, connect with other singles who are interesting and with whom you can truly relate and be honest, and stay positive. G-d willing, your time will come.

And all of your old friends will be falling all over each other in an attempt to create the most magical experience for you.

Esther Esther Mann, LCSW, is a psychotherapist in Lawrence. Esther works with individuals and couples.

She can be reached at mindbiz44@ aol.com or 516-314-2295.

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Freedom Continued from Page 51 that he discovers the true essence of freedom. In his magnum opus, Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl writes, “In between stimulus and response there is a space; in that space lies our power to choose our response. And in our response lies our growth, our freedom.”

In the midst of death and desperation, he realized: They can take away my possessions. They can take away my family. But they can’t take away my freedom. Because my freedom is in my mind. And my mind is all mine.

It’s not the physical action, but our attitudinal reaction that truly determines the nature of our experiences.

By giving meaning to our suffering, we transform it into a personal awakening. We all search for meaning; we just look in funny places sometimes.

Frankl found it in the strangest of places: in his own slavery. This discovery is what set him free.

In the spirit of the season of redemption, I’d like to quote Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”: “Redeem yourself from mental slavery. No one but yourself can free your mind.”

Victor Frankl taught the world that you can actually be free while surrounded by captivity. The Shawshank Redemption taught the world that you can actually be in mental captivity while surrounded by freedom. Egypt was not interested in our work as much as they were in its ultimate meaninglessness and the psychological toll this takes on the soul. Men were taken out of their element and were handed kitchen gloves and a mop. Women were taken out of their element and handed hammers and nails. This is not who I am. But I’m doing it anyway. This is the saddest genre of slavery; this is mental slavery. Cognitive dissonance to the umpteenth power. What did all of our hard work accomplish? Nothing.

The entirety of our efforts ultimately ended in a giant pile of rubble. The ground swallowed up our work like a ruthless wave demolishing an innocent child’s sandcastle. Learned helplessness is hard to unlearn.

Mental slavery is most debilitating, and Egyptians knew this quite well.

Every generation experiences some genre of slavery. We 21st-century freedom fighters are not battling on mine fields, but on mind fields. We live with lots of means but a deficit of meaning.

It is extremely difficult to find meaning in today’s super-speedy, ever-modernizing world. But without a sense of meaning, freedom erodes into mental slavery. It is meaning that makes freedom freeing, and since our minds are the manufacturers of meaning, it behooves us to become mindful. To awaken. When we make our freedom meaningful, we taste the meaning of freedom.

Have a mindful and meaningful Pesach!  Doni Joszef is a cognitive psychotherapist practicing with adolescents and young adults in Cedarhurst. He is a member of the DRS guidance department and writes for a wide range of publications. He is available by appointment. Contact Doni at 516-316-2246 or e-mail DJoszef@Gmail.com. For more information, visit DeficitOfAttention.Com.

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Another Mother’s Musings

By Phyllis J. Lubin

Send In The Clowns

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point somewhere in my home. For some reason, every white/whitish paint bucket that I have found on the shelves is dried up. The yellow paint used sporadically in Rochel, Rivka, and Lea’s room at some point will have to do.

“Did you paint the cabinets yellow?”

(What’s wrong with yellow? It’s springy and uplifting! It used to be my favorite color growing up!)

“Why, yes I did. Don’t you like it? I think it adds some pizzazz to the room.”

I’m not so sure about that. All I know is that I have accumulated bags of items for Passover, and I am eager to find them their permanent home. Yellow is a sign of spring. It reminds me of the bulbs that have been prematurely blooming since the end of February. It also reminds me of the clowns at the circus. The bright yellow in their costumes makes me smile.

We (my Mom, Rivka, Rochel, Lea, Yussie, and I) had an opportunity to see many clowns at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus on Sunday morning last week. The circus itself did not begin until 11:00 a.m., but we arrived on the scene by

Continued on Page 56

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“No more food? We have two weeks left until Pesach!”

“Actually two weeks less two days.

That’s why I have all the chametz available in the big blue bin on the floor,” I explain to anyone who inquires.

The big blue bin. It has traditionally held our chametz over Pesach for a number of years now. Every year I fill the bin a couple of weeks before Pesach so that I can begin filling my cabinets with our Pesadick metziahs. Not only do I empty the food cabinets, but prior to restocking the cabinets I paint the insides. Much simpler than contact paper, and this way the cabinets (at least the insides) have a fresh, clean look.

“Can I paint?”

“Not this year, Lea. I’m in a hurry.”

Somehow time has gotten away from me this year. I am two days behind schedule. Perhaps the calendar has thrown me a bit off; is this earlier in the year than usual? In my rush to get the job done I haven’t had a moment to properly prepare. Rather than the bucket of new white paint that I usually procure, I have to search through my paint stock in the garage. The garage is filled with buckets of paint that have been used at some

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MOTHER’S MUSINGS Continued from Page 55 9:15 to catch the animal show, which began at 9:30. We were able to get up-close glances of the animals themselves (behind cages, of course): lions, tigers, goats, horses, and even the elephants! After the animal show, Rivka, Lea, and I were enchanted by the preshow directly on the floor of the circus. While we were hobnobbing with the clowns and other circus staff, Yussie, Rochel, and my mom feasted on the fresh bagels that I had picked up at Toddy’s early Sunday morning, and after the preshow, Rivka, Lea, and I joined them in partaking. With less than two weeks left to partake of fresh bagels, we were all very happy with our circus menu.

What is it about Pesach that causes us to overload on bread products in the weeks leading up to it? Somehow the

thought of being without leavened products for a mere eight days puts us into a tailspin!

But my van is completely chametz-free.

I explained to everyone that the van will be a “no-eating” zone until chol ha’moed.

Obviously I will have to give it a quick cleaning before the holiday begins, but at least I won’t have to worry about finding entire bagels in the car.

The circus was exciting. Both Lea and Yussie had their circus lights to shine along with the rest of the crowd, as we watched the exciting animal tricks, and various trapeze artists, etc. It surely was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

And now with my yellow kitchen cabinets, I will be able to remember the smiling faces of the clowns all year long!

••• The countdown has begun! With only less than a week until the first night of

Attending the Ringling Bros. animal show were Rivka, Yosef, Rochel, and Lea Lubin with Phyllis Lubin and her mother, Esther Davidson.

Pesach, I have gone into super cleaning/ shopping mode. In the midst of doing my super-duper cleanup for the holiday, my house looks more disheveled than it usually does. Remnants of holidays past: the Thanksgiving projects that have yet to be put away; the various Chanukah accouterments that have yet to be packed up; the Purim costumes that haven’t been put in the costume bag; and the never-ending amounts of candy from mishloach manot that hasn’t yet been consumed (and that is after bringing a huge bag of it to work last week).

In the midst of the cleaning, this past Friday we had a new convertible couch delivered to our home. The couch we inherited from Bubby Lily had served us well the past 15 years, but now it was

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time for a new experience. Having a new piece of furniture sounds like a simple enough project, unless you consider that we had to remove the old couch prior to the arrival of the new one. No small feat! The couch had ensconced itself into our lives for quite some time, and didn’t seem ready to leave! I remember the difficult time the movers had when the couch had moved into our home, and was not relishing the trip out. The furniture company had explained that the movers only move the new furniture in and are not “contracted” to move the old furniture out.

On Wednesday, I called Tal, my trusty all-around handyman (who has done re-

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MOTHER’S MUSINGS Continued from Page 56 markable work in my house and can be reached at 516-855-4221 for all sorts of jobs around the house) to inquire if he could move the old couch out of the house on Thursday (of course that is the story of my life—I ordered the couch on Wednesday, less than two weeks from Pesach, and suddenly had to rush to make arrangements). He said that he would try and come by to see what would be involved, and how many men he would need to do the job. Thursday arrived and Tal came by to help out with other things in the house, and took a look at the couch.

“I’m sorry, Phyllis. I can’t possibly take this couch out today, because my assistants are busy today.”

“But you have me!”

Somehow, Tal and I moved that couch out of the house. Besides the fact that the couch is extremely heavy and has been falling apart, the bed inside kept coming out of the couch as we moved it out. In addition, Tal had to take the wheels off the bottom of the couch, the mezuzot off the doorposts, and the door off the room to fit the couch through the doorways. Had someone been videoing the process, it might have looked like a circus act as we tried to move the couch through the house while repositioning the bed every so often and clearing the pathway as we proceeded. Suffice it to say that we both received a nice workout, but I was now ready for the furniture delivery on Friday. Thank you, Tal, for yet another job well done!

The new couch found its new home Friday morning, and my parents will

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now have a brand-new bed to sleep on over yom tov. And the back room is now a food/chametz-free zone.

••• Last night, the last Sunday before Pesach, we retrieved our eldest daughter, who is home from Binghamton University for spring break, from her ride to Brooklyn. Fortunately, a trip to Brooklyn gave us an excuse to visit one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, Shang Chai. We were able to combine the restaurant activity and daughter retrieval while also having a bonding experience with our eldest son and his lovely bride of four months, along with Rochel, Yussie, and Lea (Rivka is still busy at school). After filling our stomachs and meeting up with our visiting daughter from Binghamton, we discovered (thanks to the advice of our daughter-inlaw) an amazing 99-cents store on the corner of Avenue Y and Coney Island Avenue.

It had a phantasmagoria of Pesach treats and actual Pesach packaged food at amazing prices. A wonderful way to end our trip to Brooklyn and help stock my cheery yellow kitchen cabinets.

At press time, our house will (iy’H) be totally Pesadik (my game plan is for Tuesday night/Wednesday), and we will be purchasing our last-minute bargains from all the local stores and creating various Pesach delicacies. I wish all my readers a chag kasher v’sameach!  Phyllis Joy Lubin is an attorney with Rosenfeld & Maidenbaum, LLP, who resides in Cedarhurst with her husband, Leonard. They have six children: Naftali, Shoshana, Rivka, Rochel, Yosef, and Lea and now a new daughter-in-law, Nina. The author welcomes your questions and comments at MothersMusings@gmail.com.

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Celebrating A Diamond Anniversary In Dayton

BY SARAH KLINGER This week, four generations of our family will be flying in from across the world to celebrate the festival of Passover and the 60th wedding anniversary of our beloved parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, Rabbi Samuel and Rebbetzin Miriam Fox. In Hebrew, the festival of Passover is called Pesach. There are many possible interpretations of the word Pesach, but my favorite comes from the Sefas Emes, who says that the word Pesach is a combination of two Hebrew words peh, a mouth, and sach, speaks. This is the mouth that communicates from generation to generation.

Pesach is the festival in which there is much discussion; telling over the story of the Exodus from Egypt and passing on our history and our traditions from parents to children. It is not a coincidence that the Fox family decided to celebrate on Pesach this special milestone of the family patriarch and matriarch.

The idea of the conversation between parents and children is present in every aspect of the festival. The Mishnah suggests that the matzah that we eat instead of bread is called lechem oni. This might mean the “bread of affliction,” symbolizing the fact that as we hurried out of Egypt, we did not have time to bake proper bread and so we ended up

with these matzah wafers.

Another possible interpretation of the phrase lechem oni is the “bread of responding,” or the bread which is used to respond to many questions. “Pesach is not just about parents lecturing their children; it’s about encouraging our children to ask as many questions as they possibly can,” comments Rabbi Samuel Fox.

By asking their questions, the children nurture their own curiosity and prompt us to tell them about our collective history. Rabbi Fox explains, “Only by encouraging our children and inviting them to ask their own questions can

we expect them to respect, understand, maintain, and transmit our beautiful Torah values and traditions. Indeed, it could be said that there is nothing more sacred or eternal than our ability to communicate.”

This message is particularly apt on this very special occasion in the lives of Rabbi Samuel and Mrs. Miriam Fox. For over 50 years, they served their community in Dayton, Ohio, as rabbi and rebbetzin. They led their community lovingly and with endless devotion. They made room for every person looking to connect with his or her Jewish heritage or seeking help, guidance, and Jewish inspiration. They passed on Jewish traditions in a way that was accessible to every Jew. They changed thousands of lives.

While this was more than a full-time job, they served as role models in raising their children with enormous love and affection and with the finest of Jewish education, at tremendous self-sacrifice. It was difficult to raise children

with true Torah values in the small community of Dayton, which did not even have a yeshiva when they first arrived there. “Sending our children away from home to go to yeshiva at a young age took tremendous courage,” says Rabbi Fox. They then built a yeshiva, another Jewish institution.

They added that their greatest pride and joy, nachas, is the way in which their children have raised the next generation, embodying the very same teachings and values that they instilled in their children. “We invest everything in our children. There is nothing more gratifying than the dividends we are realizing through our 36 grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” said Miriam Fox. “However, raising children is not like an ATM where we put in tefillah or chesed and expect to receive whatever it is we are requesting. The Seder teaches us about the four different children, recognizing that each child is different and requires a very different response. This is the key to educating our children, with unconditional love,” says Miriam Fox. As four generations sit around the Seder table, at the home of Dr. Joshua and Mrs. Shifra Fox, the entire community extends its congratulations to Rabbi Samuel and Rebbetzin Miriam Fox. While celebrating this auspicious occasion during the festival of Pesach, we can all take to heart the message they have shared and taught to their children and imparted to entire communities with much devotion, love, and Jewish pride. 

Wishing all our friends and patrons a Chag Kasher V'Sameach

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Racing For The Cure: A Conversation With Team Butterfly’s David Beiss

D.B.: I am 18, grew up in West Hempstead, and attended the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County for elementary and high school. This year I am studying

BY ROCHELLE MARUCH MILLER Nothing can deter David Beiss from reaching for the stars. Blessed with a strong sense of self-confidence and determination, the West Hempstead resident accomplished his goal of running the 10-kilometer route of the March 16 Jerusalem Marathon.

For the next two weeks David will be unable to walk because the soles of his feet are very sensitive, a result of epidermolysis bullosa (EB), the rare and serious skin disorder that keeps him in a wheelchair most of the time. But the charismatic 18-year-old, who is spending the year studying in a yeshiva in Israel, will not allow EB to take over his life.

Despite the demands of his hectic schedule, David recruited 42 other teenagers spending their post-high-school year in Israel to run together as Team Butterfly. Each has committed to raising at least

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Members of Team Butterfly

$600 toward researching a cure for EB. In this exclusive pre-marathon interview, David shared his compelling story

with the Five Towns Jewish Times.

R.M.M.: David, please tell us about yourself.

in Yeshivat Torat Shraga in Bayit V’gan. I have a skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa which causes blistering on the surface of my skin from any type of contact or friction. Because of this I use a wheelchair to get around since walking causes a lot of friction on my feet.

EB is so rare that only one in 50,000 are diagnosed with it. People with severe cases of EB have a 50% chance of dying by age 15 and almost a 100% chance of forming an aggressive and usually fatal form of skin cancer.

R.M.M.: How many marathons have you participated in thus far? What is your goal for this year?

D.B.: I have done four half-marathons and one full marathon in the past; the way I usually participate is by being pushed in a wheelchair and then running the last mile. This year I plan on running the full 10-kilometer run. This is also not the first team I have created; a few years ago I started a running team called Team Yachad, which now raises hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

R.M.M.: What inspired you to create Team Butterfly?

D.B.: To do something like Team Butterfly was a dream of mine since I started “running” marathons. This year I just decided that I had already raised a lot of money and run for many other teams and that it was now time for me to focus on something that is very dear to my heart and that could ultimately end up benefiting me with a cure for EB. Last year I got in touch with Jamie and Alex Silver, the founders of the Jackson Gabriel Silver Foundation (JGSF), and told them how I wanted to make a running team in Jerusalem. Jamie and Alex started the organization because their son Jackson has a form of EB. They are committed to fund research for a cure to EB, and since the founding of the organization the JGSF has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds for research. I know how painful and how terrible EB is and how it can affect a family’s life. That is why I created Team Butterfly—to put an end to this devastating disease. Team Butterfly consists mostly of yeshiva and seminary students learning here in Israel for the year, ranging in age from 18 to 35.

Each runner commits to raising $600 when they sign up; so far, as of March

12, my team of 43 runners has raised over $36,000. On March 16 the runners will run either the Jerusalem Half-Marathon or 10k race.

R.M.M.: How did you choose “Team Butterfly” as its name?

D.B.: People with EB are compared to butterflies since a butterfly’s wings are very fragile and brittle and can break with minimal contact, just like our skin.

Also the team will be running in memory of Tripp Roth, a toddler who passed away this past January from EB. His mom and his story are just unbelievable and inspiring and have gotten a lot of publicity over the past year.

R.M.M.: David, what challenges did you face while bringing Team Butterfly to fruition?

D.B.: There are many challenges when creating a team in a marathon; in general, those challenges become more and more difficult if you are studying in yeshiva for the year. To make something of this size happen you need to be on call and working all the time, speaking to marathon organizers, shirt companies, and our runners and many other people that together make this happen.

Being in yeshiva makes it that much harder since I have a full schedule from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The way I make it work, though, is during my breaks and by constantly e-mailing people from my BlackBerry. Another huge challenge in bringing Team Butterfly to fruition is the language barrier. It also requires a lot of running around and meeting people and signing runners up, which is difficult because of my schedule but also physically. One thing that has not been much of a challenge is getting runners for the team. To be honest, at first I thought I would have 12–15 runners maybe, and I would have been very happy with that. But now I have 43 runners, which is just unbelievable, and raising $36,000 from the runners is very impressive.

R.M.M.: What are your long-term goals for Team Butterfly?

D.B.: My long-term goal for the team is really to keep growing. I would like to have Team Butterfly participate in races all over the United States in a few years, with thousands of runners and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. I think that is very much a possibility, since in just the first year we have 43 runners. And every time someone hears about the team they get inspired and want to participate in some way.

Another goal for the team is spreading awareness through the runners and our hundreds of sponsors; as more people familiarize themselves with EB, they can then spread the word to others. Obviously it is my hope that some day in the near future there will be no need for Team Butterfly, that we will find a cure and end the suffering of those affected.

R.M.M.: What is the most rewarding aspect of your involvement with Team Butterfly?

D.B.: The most rewarding part for me in all this is just seeing how many people really care. It is amazing to see so many of my family and friends deciding to run in support of EB and me. I think it’s such a big kiddush Hashem seeing so many people joining together to run and raise money for this terrible

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Team Butterfly Continued from Page 61 disease. Also just knowing that we have the potential to help so many people is inspiring and rewarding.

R.M.M.: How can young people, and their parents, make a difference in the lives of others?

D.B.: There are so many ways in which we can make a difference in the lives of others. The way I chose to make a difference is through marathons and raising money, but that is not the only way. Giving a donation to an organization is amazing and needed, but it isn’t that personal. There are so many people out there that just by saying hi to them it will make a difference. I personally think it is the small things that count and have the best effect. If you really want to make a difference in the lives of others, start by saying hi to your neighbor; join organizations such as Chai Lifeline or the Friendship Circle and spend time with children who are sick and need a friend; go to the local nursing home once a week. That will make a

difference in the lives of others and ultimately benefit your life as well. There are so many opportunities out there for you to help; you just need to open your eyes and look for them.

ated; there are no salaries within the JGSF, so all of the money that you donate will go directly to research for a cure. Another way to show your support is by spreading the word about EB and

“Each time someone said I wouldn’t be able to accomplish something I became even more determined to prove them wrong.”

R.M.M.: How can we show our support of Team Butterfly?

D.B.: For readers to show their support of Team Butterfly is very simple. They could make a donation to one of our runners at our fundraising website (http.//www.crowdrise. com/2012jerusalemfundraiser/jgsf). Every dollar counts and is much appreci-

Team Butterfly. Tell all your family and friends about this amazing team and its mission to cure a terrible disease. Since so few people have EB, not many people know about it. By spreading the word, hopefully more people will become familiar with it and that will lead to donations. Another thing readers can do is contact the JGSF at jgsf.org and

ask them how you can help out. Maybe you can start a fundraiser or an awareness group or make an announcement in shul. Those are just a few of the ways to get involved.

R.M.M.: What message would you like to convey to our readers?

D.B.: The message I usually try to give over is this: Never give up, no matter what, no matter how many people tell you that you cannot do something.

So many times in the past, people have told me that I won’t be able to do something because of my disease. I was told I wouldn’t be able to make my school hockey team, but I did. They said I would never be able to run the last mile of the marathon, but I proved them wrong. It’s all because of determination.

Each time someone said I wouldn’t be able to accomplish something I became even more determined to prove them wrong. And even more than that, I wanted to do it for myself, to prove to myself that I could do it. I am determined not to let EB take over my life and dictate what I can and cannot do. The same applies for this year’s race. I plan on running the full race even though everyone has said I cannot do it. Don’t allow yourself to get down when someone tells you that you will not be able to accomplish something because of a limitation you have. Try and prove them wrong. And even if you don’t make it to your goal’s “finish line,” at least you tried your hardest. Hopefully, the next time you will finish. If you always have this idea in the back of your mind, the sky is the limit as to what you can accomplish. 

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Mesamche Lev Distributes Food And 42,000 Pairs of Shoes

BY FRIMET BLUM Some 42,000 excited children filed through Yerushalayim’s Bais Bracha hall last week, at Mesamche Lev’s massive Pesach shoe distribution. The children, eyes agape, were enthralled at the sight of the colossal hall bedecked with samples of beautiful boys’ and girls’ shoes hanging on the walls. One person said that the very walls were dancing. It was not an entirely preposterous observation, considering the thousands of heels tapping the walls and the impromptu dancing by several children who couldn’t contain their joy. The shoe distribution was the first segment of Mesmache Lev’s massive Pesach distribution.

This week, with the shoes safely stowed away in closets across Eretz Yisrael, the décor in Bais Bracha was replaced—first by cases of grape juice and then by enormous freezers filled with meat and poultry. The distribution brought Pesach necessities to families who would otherwise not be able to celebrate the holiday properly. The recipient families included 396 almanos, as well as thousands of Torah scholars, large families, and others in need—a total of nearly 10,500 families.

The distribution was Mesamche Lev’s fortieth. Ever since the organization’s founder, Rav Zalman Ashkenazi, zt’l, began his life’s work of helping widows, orphans, and poor Jews, the Pesach distribution has been eagerly anticipated by

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the poor. Reb Zalman, a world-renowned gadol in chessed, whose exceptional dedication to the poor was legendary, was deeply attuned to their needs. At a time

table style, he distributed things no one else would think of—like shoes. He also saw beyond ideology and helped anyone in need—Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Chassidim, Litvaks, Mizrachists, Americans, Yerushalmim—everyone in need is welcome at Mesamche Lev, and everyone is treated with great respect.

Lev and devised creative ways to keep the poor from feeling as if they were getting a handout. One way he did this was by asking the poor to “pay” for their shoes. Recipients pay a token 20 shekel per pair—about $5, for shoes that sell in the United States for as much as $80.

The Mesamche Lev credit card pro-

when there were few organizations offering any assistance at all, he recognized the tremendous challenge faced by the poor before Pesach. In his inimi-

Reb Zalman always insisted on protecting the dignity and pride of the poor.

He went to great lengths to make it easy and pleasant to receive from Mesamche

vides yet another level of dignity. Preloaded with each family’s orders, including shoe sizes and cuts of meat, it lets people check out their “purchas-

es” by swiping their cards. Many of the children aren’t even aware that they got their new shoes from a charity because they see their parents “paying” for them!

This year marked the second Mesamche Lev distribution since Reb Zalman’s untimely petirah last Adar.

Despite the challenges of raising significant funds, his rebbetzin and children are continuing his work and keeping his legacy alive.

Many of the families awaited the yom tov distribution for months. The shoe distribution was especially anticipated, because most of the families can’t afford to buy their children shoes. The shoes they get from Mesamche Lev are the only ones they receive all year!

One woman showed us her son’s worn, scuffed old shoes.

“These are the shoes he was wearing until now. He wore them every day for the past year,” she said. “For the past few months, he’s complaining, saying, ‘es drukt mir,’ they’re pinching, but what could I do? I didn’t have money. Now he has new ones.” Another mother said that when her son’s shoes ripped, she bought him imitation Crocs.

“I really felt bad on rainy days,” she said. “The rain went right through the holes. I sent him to cheder with an extra pair of socks, but he never put them on.” Now she put the Crocs away, in favor of a sturdy pair of leather shoes.

One potential donor, an American who was visiting Eretz Yisrael, was invited to come see the distribution. He was amazed to see many American olim, whose own parents might not know that their children are getting help.

Then he met his own niece who told him that if not for Mesamche Lev, her children wouldn’t be getting new shoes.

Now she was getting beautiful top-quality shoes for all her children. She was especially pleased because her children were getting Botticelli, Corino, and other name-brand shoes; the same ones their American cousins were getting. It was a sentiment heard countless times by the hundreds of volunteers who helped parents find sizes and styles, and fit their children’s shoes.

haven’t had meat since Sukkos,” she said. “I really was dreading yom tov, because it’s the first Pesach without my husband; but now I’m excited to get home and start cooking.”

An American yungerman approached Reb Sender to thank him personally. “I remember when your father, Rabbi Ash-

kenazi, zt’l, used to come to my boss for money,” he said. “He used to take out his big black briefcase and show my boss Mesamche Lev’s canceled checks. To me, as an American from a comfortable family, it was strange to think that people could need help to buy meat. I never thought I would get to know Mesamche

Lev this way [as a recipient]. Your father was a tzaddik, and you are all tzaddikim.”

“It was easier here than in a regular store,” Chaim T., a talmid chacham with eleven children, said of the system in the distribution hall. “There was plenty of space, and everything was so well organized. I was in and out in less than a half hour.” That was no coincidence. Mesamche Lev invested months in organizing the distribution so that it would run smoothly and be as dignified and pleasant as possible for recipients.

This year, there was a new addition to the distribution. Participants received vouchers to use in a supermarket, redeemable for Pesach staples, including cases of potatoes, eggs, apples, onions, bananas, avocados, and carrots; as well as kosher L’Pesach groceries including sugar, oil, coffee, tea—even aluminum foil and dishwashing soap! The program was instituted by Mesamche Lev during the shivah for Reb Shlomo Gross, zt’l, l’illuy nishmaso. Reb Shlomo was a close friend of Reb Zalman Ashkenazi and an ardent sup-

Continued on Page 69

Grape Juice! Meat!

Groceries!

When recipients came into Bais Bracha this week, they found it divided into neat aisles constructed of boxes.

There were boxes and boxes, filled with bottles of Kedem grape juice—the finest quality available. There were also giant freezers filled with meat and poultry, to bring simchas yom yov to over ten thousand families.

The packaging was a massive task. Volunteers reviewed each family’s order and filled boxes systematically, giving each family at least 10 pounds of beef, plus 25 pounds of chicken for the entire holiday.

Then the boxes were put into freezers, awaiting pickup. Families then presented their Mesamche Lev cards to the “cashiers,” who swiped the cards and gave them the pre-approved number of coupons stating the amount of meat and poultry they were entitled to. Coupons were sponsored by generous donors from the United States and elsewhere. There was no pushing and no hassle. Men and women waited in separate sections of the hall.

One widow sought out Rabbi Avrum Webber, director of Mesamche Lev. “We

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Mesamche Lev Continued from Page 67 porter of Mesamche Lev. The initiative, valued at over $200,000, kept Reb Shlomo’s legacy of tzedakah and chessed alive.

In addition to the tremendous amount of products distributed, the organization also sent out large maos chitin checks to almanos and talmidei chachamim. The checks brought an added measure of relief to families by enabling them to purchase clothing, household necessities, and more l’kavod yom tov.

In total, Mesamche Lev distributed a mind-boggling 80 tons of meat and poultry. That was in addition to the shoes, grape juice, and groceries. The budget for the distribution in Israel was over $2 million, with a retail value of over $5 million.

In addition, in response to requests from families in the United States, the organization subsidized thousands of pounds of matzah, which was sold in New York for half price.

The funds for the distribution are raised largely from donors who open their doors to Rabbi Zalman Ashkenazi’s nephew, Rabbi Berel Ashkenazi, Maglemitza Rebbe, shlita, who dedicates himself to fundraising, following in the footsteps of his legendary uncle. Additional funds are raised by donors who respond generously to Mesamche Lev’s mailings and sponsor meat coupons for the distribution.

To learn more about Mesamche Lev’s many activities, visit MesamcheLev.org, or call 718-506-1400.

Mesamche Lev in New York After 40 years of helping the poor in Eretz Yisrael, Mesamche Lev expanded its operations over the past three years to include the needy in New York and New Jersey. This Pesach, the organization purchased 40,000 pounds of shemurah matzah, which it sold to large families at a greatly subsidized price. The organization also offered a 50 percent discount for shoes, redeemable at Shwartz’s Shoe Store and Shoes at Park in Boro Park.

Like its operations in Eretz Yisrael, the American matzah distribution was extremely organized and dignified. Families simply called in to a hotline, where they ordered the matzos they wanted from an automated system, paying for their orders by credit card. They chose from five mehudar popular matzah bakeries, and paid just $12 a pound—half price.

Pickup was also streamlined and took minutes. Families from every background came to pickup locations in Boro Park, Williamsburg, Lakewood, Monsey, and Monroe, where they provided a phone number and received an order ticket.

They then took their matzos off shelves and checked out by presenting the preprinted tickets they had received. Mesamche Lev’s program, which sold, rather than gave away matzah, allowed them to retain their dignity, while getting significant assistance.

The matzah program came at the heels of a large Purim distribution, in which Mesamche Lev delivered mishloach manos with large checks to over one hundred local almanos and divorcees. The Purim assistance brought much simcha to families that might feel alone on the happiest day of the year, and gave almanos and divorcees a head start on their Pesach expenses. 

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Growing Up Jewish With Jewish Music G-Notes

BY YOSSI GREEN Much has been written and debated of late about the pros and cons of infusing the lives of our children with the experiences and values of Jewish music. Having some strong feelings on the subject, I would like to add some of my own opinions and observations to what I believe is a most important discussion.

Growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the 1960s was, in retrospect, a precious experience. Yiddishkeit was composed of many different streams and styles evident on the thoroughfares of this lively and bustling neighborhood.

Each avenue and street boasted another center of a major chassidus or great yeshiva. The well-known Yeshiva Torah Vodaas was on Wilson Street; the center of the Vizhnitzer chassidus in America was on Division Avenue; the Tzelemer Shul with its world-renowned posek and leader, the Tzelemer Rav, zt’l, was on the corner of Rodney Street and Bedford Avenue; across the street and less than 50 feet south was the venerable building of the Young Israel of Williamsburg; the center (yes, the center, at the time) of the Skverer chassidus was another 50 feet south, on Bedford Avenue between Rodney and Williamsburg Streets in the walk-in level of an attached brownstone; a few blocks fur-

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ther down south, on Bedford Avenue and Penn Street was the center of the Puppa chassidus; the energetic Stoliner chassidus was represented on Rodney Street near Lee Avenue; further down south on Lee Avenue one passed Klausenberg with its great tzaddik; just a bit further south, the tumultuous davening of the malachim could be heard as one approached Hewes Street; while the ever-expanding influence and bright light radiating from the tzaddik, the Satmar Rebbe, zt’l—who lived just a few blocks away, further north on Bedford and Clymer Street and who could be seen walking alone on the street many a time with only a young attendant— was everywhere.

On Shabbos and yom tov at around noon, when all the shuls let forth their congregants onto the streets at roughly the same time, what unfolded before one’s eyes was a brilliantly magnificent landscape of intricate design and vibrant color made up of Yiddishkeit, period!

To the young and sometimes bewildered Jewish child growing up amidst all of this and experiencing this beautiful, colorful, and glorious Yiddishkeit, the common denominator uniting all these different elements was a growing awareness of a musical undercurrent and persistent presence of the Jewish song. This was that part of Yiddishkeit that everyone from every type

of home could identify with. The tentative first steps of the child in attempting to grasp on to this magnificent Tree of Life with its many areas of complicated halachos, diverse minhagim, vast history, and unfamiliar liturgy were made easier by the constant background and beautiful strains of the Jewish song, the nigun. This was the one area of non-intellectual pursuit which provided one

ness in the songs of the great Rebbes and “older” chassidim of Chabad; the constant new introductions to diverse musical worlds of the distant chassidic courts brought to us almost annually

by Chazan Dovid Werdyger; the annual contribution of stunning original lyrics and melodies by R’ Yom Tov Ehrlich which defined our chinuch and painted pictures of forgotten worlds left behind

The common denominator uniting all these different elements was a growing awareness of a musical undercurrent and persistent presence of the Jewish song. with pure joy while developing a rich contact with one’s emerging emotional side, so necessary in becoming a healthy “Yiddish kind” (Jewish child).

The songs and the music we heard were all so diverse and colorful. Beginning chronologically with the gently comforting, mellifluous voice and nusach-defining compositions of Yosseleh Rosenblatt; the definitive power and vocal excitement in the gifted voice of Moshe Koussevitsky; the classically primal compositions of the great Modzitzer Rebbes faithfully carried on by R’ Bentzion Shenker; the elevating holi-

in Eastern Europe; the beginning stirrings of Jewish soul music introduced to our conscience by the great teacher and proponent of ahavas Yisrael, R’ Shlomo Carlebach; the fresh sounds of children’s voices expressing new “modern” melodies in the lechtigeh recordings of the Pirchei records; and the ever-expanding repertoire of the fledgling orchestras performing at Jewish weddings all contributed to the awareness that something important and precious was taking place.

Passing by on the street, hearing the sounds of Jewish song bursting out of

open windows and doors, filled one with hope, pride, excitement, and even, at times, the beginning sensations experienced from the flow of holy tears— once again so necessary in the development of the adult Jew. Pirchei melaveh malkas, class trips, and summer camps . . . besides the physical activities and the forging of lifelong friendships, what else was that about? It was about Jewish music and song! This was the place where the child would come into contact with other young, talented individuals and would dare to begin the dream of what would or could become his or her own musical abilities and possibilities. This was the place where the emotional excitement and warmth of Jewish music was usually experienced fully for the first time. The enterprising efforts of young and dedicated teachers, counselors, and leaders would challenge the young people to dare and risk displaying latent and heretofore undiscovered talent. Confidences were planted, personalities were developed, and an overall sense of healthful pride and blissful joy at being a Jewish child was reaped as a result.

And the all-important Jewish message heralding the advent of the coming of Mashiach was related to us most effectively through song! Parents and teachers working so diligently to instill into children and students the images, hopes, and dreams of a Jewish future were supported through the messages so ever-present in the Jewish song.

Who doesn’t remember that line in a song inscribed by the imagination of a

creative and budding lyricist which finally brought home that powerful feeling when one finally got it! Understood it! Felt it! Reveled in it! And shared it!

“Someday we will always be together . . . No Jew will be left behind . . . Forever one . . . Come with me, little neshomeleh” . . . Ahhh, how else to transmit such important and powerful ideas?

This incredibly beautiful gift from Above . . . This powerful tool for chinuch and the raising of our children . . . This incomparable vehicle for growth in avodas Hashem . . . It is inconceivable to this writer what our world would look like without the role and benefit of Jewish music! What would replace it?

What would our children replace it with?  In the next article, iy’H, I hope to discuss the history and development of the recording and refining of Jewish music. Please send questions or comments to goverdi@gmail.com.

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Robot Maid

BY MORDECHAI SCHMUTTER This week, in honor of yom tov, I am presenting some Pesach questions sent in by several confused readers.

Q. Where on Earth did my kids hide the afikoman?

A. I have no idea. The kids have an entire year to figure out where they’re going to hide it, and you have until midnight to find it on two-plus cups of wine. And this is bearing in mind that, the night before, you couldn’t find ten pieces of bread that your wife hid in plainly obvious spots, such as right in the middle of the living room floor sitting on a napkin.

Q. Um . . . I’m talking about last year’s afikoman. I still haven’t found it.

A. Oh. Have you considered moving?

Q. Is it too early to start cleaning for Pesach?

A. It’s never too early to start cleaning for Pesach. For example, I’ve already started cleaning for Pesach. And if you don’t think that’s a big deal, you obviously don’t know how far in advance I write these columns.

In all seriousness, though, it depends on what kind of person you are. Some people prefer to do all of their cleaning as close to Pesach as possible and clean everything in one mad panic, and some people prefer to start early, so that by the time they finish cleaning the last room, the first room is dirty again.

Q. What is the most important part of cleaning?

A. Different things are important to dif-

ferent people. Some people, for example, think that one of the most important parts of cleaning is reading their newspapers so they can finally recycle them. I assume that’s what you’re doing right now.

“Why are you sitting there? Come help me clean!”

“I am helping! I’m going through the newspapers!”

I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere?

A. Yes. And to that I would suggest cleaning your car. Cars are the most satisfying thing to clean by far, as far as amount of actual chametz found per time spent cleaning. We’re talking good, oldfashioned chametz—enough to feed your family for a week if they somehow lock themselves in. For example, my minivan has 18 cup holders, and every single one has something in it, although not necessarily a cup. And my minivan doesn’t even seat 18 people.

Sure, there is some chametz in your

NASA had to choose between training a cleaning professional to go into space and training astronauts to use a vacuum cleaner. So they made a robot.

It’s like if you’re sitting there and eating, and you’re like, “I am helping! I’m going through the chametz!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“You should be sorry. What are you doing? Rearranging drawers? Pulling cabinets away from the wall? I’m cleaning actual chametz here, if you don’t mind!”

Q. I’ve been cleaning forever, and I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere.

A. Sorry, you have to put that in the form of a question.

Q. Okay. I’ve been cleaning forever, and

car that you will never get to in a million years. For example, the sadistic antiSemites who design minivans put several holes on the floor under the seats that are too small to get your finger into, but are big enough to hold Super Snacks. In fact, I think they wedge the Super Snacks in right at the factory. Plus, the vacuum cleaner cord refuses to stretch all the way to your car no matter how many extension cords you add, and your car wasn’t designed to have an adult lie on the floor and reach under the seat with a vacuum hose. But cleaning your car always takes

about the same amount of time, and when you’re done, it’s so clean that you want to make people take off their shoes before getting in.

“Alright, we’re here!”

“Where are my shoes? You told me to leave them right outside the car!”

Q. I got rid of all the chametz in my house, and I just now realized that I don’t have any bread for the bedikah?

A. Yes. But that’s okay; you can borrow some from a neighbor. Just remember to return it when you’re done.

“I don’t want it; you take it.”

Alternatively, you can check under your kids’ car seats. This is something that a lot of people forget to do, and, especially with all these new car-seat laws that keep kids in there until they’re eight years old or 80 pounds, whichever comes first (child-obesity note: 80 pounds comes first), you’re bound to have enough food to hide chametz in all the houses on your entire block!

Make sure to tell your neighbors before you do this.

Q. I’m cleaning out my kitchen, and I found two slices of frozen pizza. Should I split up the two slices among my eight kids, or should I go to the store and buy more pizza, so no one will feel left out?

A. I would say to keep cleaning, because you never know what you’re going to find. Last year, my mother was going through her freezer, and she found a package with two pieces of fish in it, so she set them aside for supper. Then she kept going, and she found two more pieces of fish. And then two more. By the time she was done, there was enough fish for everyone. Apparently, that brand of fish

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comes with two more pieces than they usually need. And in the meantime, I was going through my freezer, and I found eight packages of two hot dogs.

Q. What scientific advances have been made recently in the field of Pesach cleaning?

A. I will answer that with one word: Robonaut 2. Okay, so that’s two words, if you count the “2.” But on the other hand, Robonaut is not a word, as far as I’m aware.

(My spell check agrees.) Robonaut, or robotic astronaut, is a robot developed by NASA to go up onto the International Space Station and work alongside the astronauts, doing mundane tasks that the astronauts can’t be bothered to do.

Q. Like what?

A. Like scrub the floors. Not many of us think about that. We all just assumed that no one had to clean the floors, because no one walks on the floors. It’s not like the astronauts are just dropping things on the floor. It’s not like they have kids walking around up there with cookies. And they’re not eating regular food, either. You can’t just open a can of peas in zero gravity.

(Though it would be fun to eat them.) All their food comes in toothpaste tubes, like . . . well, like toothpaste. (And applesauce.)

“Yuck! This tastes like toothpaste!”

“It is toothpaste. The applesauce comes in the green tube.”

Q. What does Robonaut look like?

A. From the waist up, it looks like a buff person wearing a helmet. From the waist down, we’re not sure what it looks like, because NASA is still working on that.

They’re going to send up the legs at a later date.

Q. Why?

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A. Because they can.

Q. So why don’t the astronauts clean the station?

A. Because they’re like, “We’re astronauts. We didn’t go through millions of dollars worth of training to scrub floors.”

So they float around all day having fights about who should clean up whose messes and who left the cap off the applesauce. In fact, the International Space Station hasn’t been cleaned since it was first sent up there in 1998. So what are NASA’s options? Pay a professional cleaning lady to come in once a week? Swing the space shuttle by Home Depot and pick up a couple of immigrants? There are no immigrants. It’s an International Space Station.

Up in space. NASA had to choose between training a cleaning professional to go into space and training astronauts to use a vacuum cleaner. So they made a robot.

Q. That does sound easier than training my kids. So when is Robonaut going to be available for home use?

A. Definitely not before they figure out how to make legs.

Q. Should I get one for my wife for Pesach?

A. Actually, I would say to get it before Purim and avoid the rush. And then you can go around with it, delivering shalach manos, and confuse absolutely everyone that you meet.

“When did you have another kid? And why is he sweeping the sidewalk?”  Mordechai Schmutter is a weekly humor columnist for Hamodia and is the author of three books, published by Israel Book Shop.

He also does freelance writing for hire. You can send any questions, comments, or ideas to MSchmutter@gmail.com.

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Solution To Last Week’s 5TJT Puzzle: Pesach Preparations 1

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Puzzle appeared on Page 60 of the March 30 issue.

Minyanim in the 5 Towns/Far Rockaway Area

MINCHA

12:45 @ Agudas Israel of Long Island (Sun) 1:30 @ Cedarhurst Center @ Mesivta Chaim Shlomo (in Darchei Torah) @ Shor Yoshuv @ Yeshiva Beis Shmuel (2937 Oceanside) 1:35 @ Rabbi Katz (in Far Rockaway) 1:45 @ Learning Center (114 Spruce) @ Yeshiva Gedolah of 5 Towns 1:50 @ Yeshiva Mercaz HaTorah 2:00 @ 5 Towns Judaica @ Brachs @ Elite Caterers (M-Th.) @ Yeshiva of South Shore @ YI Lawrence Cedarhurst (Sun) @ YI Woodmere (Sun) 2:10 @ Mesivta Ateres Yaakov (131 Washington) 2:15 @ Yeshiva Far Rockaway 2:45 @ Agudas Israel of Long Island @ Kollel Avreichem (1204 B. 12) @ Yeshiva Far Rockaway @ Yeshiva Gedolah of 5 Towns @ Yeshiva Zichron Aryeh (2422 Bayswater) 3:00 @ Judaica Plus 3:15 @ Yeshiva Mercaz HaTorah 3:20 @ Mesivta Chaim Shlomo 3:35 @ DRS 4:15 @ Aish Kodesh 4:30 @ Yeshiva Bnai Torah 4:40 @ Shaare Emunah Mincha in the Young Israel of Far Rockaway is approximately 9 minutes after the previous Shabbos's candle lighting time followed

by Maariv.

Mincha at the Young Israel of Hewlett is 5 minutes after the previous Shabbos’s candle lighting time.

5:10 6:30 6:35 7:00 7:15 7:30 7:45 8:00

8:15 8:30

8:50 9:00

9:15 9:30 9:45

9:50 10:00

Mincha at the Agudath Israel of the Five Towns is 15 minutes before sunset.

Mincha at Rabbi Blumenkrantz’s Shul is 10 minutes before sunset Sun.-Thurs. followed by Maariv.

Maariv at Ahavas Yisroel in Cedarhurst is 10 minutes after the previous Shabbos’s candle lighting time.

Erev Shabbos Mincha at Yeshiva of Far Rockaway and Yeshiva Shor Yashuv is 1/2 hour after Chatzos

To add or modify a listing, please email: editor@5tjt.com

10:15 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00

MAARIV

@ Learning Center (114 Spruce) @ YI Woodmere @ Shor Yoshuv @ YI Woodmere @ Mesivta Chaim Shlomo @ YI Woodmere @ Aish Kodesh @ Heichel Dovid in Lawrence @ White Shul (S-Th.) @ YI Woodmere @ Young Israel of Far Rockaway (S-Th.) @ YI Lawrence Cedarhurst @Young Israel of North Woodmere @ Beis Hamidrash Harav @ Rabbi Blumenkrantz @ Yeshiva Far Rockaway @ YI Woodmere @ Cong. Beis Tefillah (Edward Ave.) @ Mesivta Chaim Shlomo @ Cong. Knesseth Meir (The Sand Castle) @ Rabbi Brown @ Shor Yoshuv @ YI Wavecrest and Bayswater @ YI Woodmere @ Agudas Israel of Long Island @ Shaaray Tefila @ Cong. Beth Shalom @ Heichel Dovid in Lawrence @ YI Woodmere @ Cong. Bais Yehuda Zvi (Red Shul) @ Mesivta Ateres Yaakov (131 Washington) @ Shor Yoshuv @ Spinka Shul (10-29 Bay 32nd St., Bayswater) @ Yeshiva Gedolah of 5 Towns @ Rabbi Blumenkrantz (M-Th.) @ Agudas Israel of Long Island @ Cong. Bais Medrash (Rabbi Speigel) @ DRS @ Yeshiva Bnai Torah @ Yeshiva Far Rockaway @ Yeshiva Zichron Aryeh (2422 Bayswater) @ Agudath Israel of 5 Towns @ Kollel Avreichem (1204 B. 12) @ Agudas Israel of Long Island @ Yeshiva Gedolah of 5 Towns @ Boston Beis Medrash @ Boston Beis Medrash @ Boston Beis Medrash

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5TJT Puzzle: Chol HaMoed Outings

BY YONI GLATT Across 1. Man in a garden 5. Qualm 9. Hightailed it 13. Neighbor of Java 14. ___ ___ of (via) 15. Climax 16. “Jewish” Chol HaMoed staple 19. Military sch.

20. Quizzes 21. Chol HaMoed staple, where unique blessings can be made 25. Best of the best 29. Prevent 30. Everglades bird 33. Bounce back 34. Pandemonium 37. Mozart’s Il mio tesoro, e.g.

39. Bard’s nightfall 40. Chol HaMoed staple, at sea 44. ___ Z 46. Early pulpit 47. Maaser 50. Lashon ___ 52. Break down, in a way 55. Ring bearer, maybe 56. Seating request 58. Chol HaMoed staple, for teens 61. Middle of March 64. Novice: Var. 65. Chol HaMoed staple that’s “International,” yet local

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72. Length × width, for a rectangle 73. Big ___ (drinks) 74. Coin featuring Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man 75. Algebra or trig 76. Horse feed 77. Chulent, basically Down 1. Disney division 2. Code word 3. Frazier foe 4. Fashion city in Italy 5. Stray canine 6. Bristle 7. Astronaut’s insignia 8. Places to lose the Pesach weight 9. Bother 10. Diamonds, slangily 11. Outback runner 12. Like L.B.J. 14. Solder 17. 610 to Caesar 18. Island strings 21. Monty Python airer 22. “Go team!”

23. Figures of speech?

24. Good politicians, e.g.

26. Summer drink 27. Everyday article 28. Long, long time 31. Be off 32. 50-50, e.g.

35. “___ say can you . . .”

1

2

3

4

5

6

16

17

22

24 30 35

32

37 41

42

27

28

48

49

70

71

39

47 53 58

57 61

26

43

52

51

56

12

33 38

46

50

66

25 31

36

40 45

11

18

23

34

10

20

29

65

9 15

19

44

8

14

13

21

7

62

67

63

54

55 59

60

64 68

69

72

73

74

75

76

77

36. Caribbean, e.g.

38. Clever 41. Mischief-maker 42. Jazz grp.

43. First Rocky film where he wins 44. “Got it!”

45. ___ chi (martial art) 48. Hardly a beauty 49. Hosp. areas 51. Synagogue honors 53. Common exercises 54. Leaves

57. Tokyo, formerly 59. Big do 60. Gets licked 62. As a result 63. Gull-like bird 65. ’60s war zone, briefly 66. Victorian, for one 67. Soaked 68. Computer key 69. Sukkah 70. Bonanza find 71. “Awesome!”

Passover In A Cyprus DP Camp

BY RAFAEL MEDOFF I.F. Stone, the famed investigative journalist, probably took part in some interesting Passover Seders in his time, but he never spent one with Jews who felt personally connected to the events in ancient Egypt—until 1947, when he was a guest at a remarkable Seder with Holocaust survivors in a detention camp on the island of Cyprus.

••• “This is being written 3,000 feet up over the blue Mediterranean,” began Stone’s dramatic account in the pages of the New York City daily newspaper PM. “I am in a tiny four-passenger, two-motored mosquito plane bound for Haifa from Nicosia in Cyprus, where I have just spent the first two days of Passover in camps established by the British to intern ‘illegal’ Jewish immigrants seized in Palestine.”

Those were turbulent times. Hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors crowded the displaced-persons camps in Allied-occupied Europe, waiting for British permission to immigrate to Palestine. The British, bowing to Arab opposition, had almost completely shut the gates to the Holy Land. Palestine itself was in flames, as Jewish underground forces waged guerrilla warfare against the British authorities. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Truman administration wobbled back and forth on the controversial issues of Jewish immigration and statehood.

In a desperate race for the Promised Land, survivors were boarding aliyah bet (unauthorized immigration) ships bound for Palestine. More often than not, they were intercepted by British naval patrols and taken to Cyprus.

That’s where I.F. Stone’s story began.

“There are two sets of camps on the sweet-smelling ancient Greek Isle of Cyprus for 11,300 refugees now held there,” Stone explained. “Both are being enlarged to meet the expected Spring rush of Aliyah Beth boats which will probably boost the Jewish population to 20,000 before the end of June.”

The detainees were living in Nissen huts, which Stone described as “the ugliest architecture known to mankind—a sort of tin igloo with cement flooring set in bleak rows on the level grassless plots near the sea, surrounded with barbed wire and a row of latrines.”

A typical hut housed three families in three rooms.

“Unexpected and unannounced,” Stone and a friend, Alex Taylor of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, dropped in on the Efrati family on Passover eve—Moshe Efrati, 35, “a laundryman by trade”; his wife Rachel; and their children, 15-year-old Miriam and 12-year-old Eliezer. Despite the lack of an invitation, the visitors “were at once made welcome.”

“Father Efrati sat at the head of the table, reclining on a pillow as is customary for the Seder,” Stone’s account continued. “On his right, sat his bright-eyed son of 12, already a student in the yeshivah organized by religious Jews in the camp.” On the father’s left sat his good wife and daughter. Alex and I were given Haggadas (Passover service books) and the Seder went on.”

Refugees in the DP camp on Cyprus

“It was no hop-skip-and-jump affair, as is customary in most American

Jewish homes,” Stone noted. “Efrati left nothing out. We rose to drink our

wine with blessings, partook of the bitter herbs and first matzohs. Efrati sang the parts with relish and explained and translated as he went along . . .”

Stone, himself a secular Jew, was deeply moved by the warmth and religious devotion of the family, especially in the midst of such difficult surroundings. “The mother looked on as if she didn’t know how one man could be so bright,” he wrote, “and the daughter was fascinated while the son’s eyes shone.”

What struck Stone the most was the connection between past and present. “The Passover has a deep personal meaning for these Jews . . . For them the ancient cruel taskmasters were no fable: they had been in slave labor camps under German occupation. For them, the G-d who smote the Egyptians was the same G-d who brought the Third Reich low.”

••• As he strolled around the camp the next day, Stone was impressed by the vibrant life he encountered among the

Continued on Page 76

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DP Camp Continued from Page 75 Cyprus exiles. “Life flows on strong, and vigorous babies are being born at the rate of 30 to 40 monthly,” he reported.

“There have been almost 600 weddings since the camps were established last August, and there were 135 nuptials during the two weeks before Passover.”

“There are schools and synagogues, camp newspapers, an art exhibition, and workshops,” not to mention “sev-

strictions on Jewish immigration, “it will take 18 months before the latest arrivals get their chance to go to Palestine.”

But British rule in Palestine did not last another 18 months. That autumn, in the face of the Jewish underground’s military assaults and sharply escalating international pressure—generated in part by sympathetic journalists such as Stone—the British surrendered. Seven months after Stone’s Passover with the Efratis, London accepted the United Nations vote on partitioning Palestine and

For them, the G-d who smote the Egyptians was the same G-d who brought the Third Reich low. eral soccer teams which often play the British guards and boast they have never been beaten.”

What did the future hold? The Seder with the Efratis offered a clue. “Were [the DPs in Cyprus] not like the Jews under Moses?” Stone asked. “Moses went through one kind of wilderness or another to the promised land. And as Efrati explained in his own running commentary to the service comfortingly, ‘We had to go down into Egypt for 400 years, but we need only be six months or so in Cyprus.’”

Stone thought Efrati’s prediction too optimistic. Given the severe British re-

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announced it would withdraw. Four months later, the first British troops began leaving, and two months after that, on May 15, 1948, the British withdrawal was completed.

For the Efratis and the thousands of other DPs whose plight I.F. Stone helped publicize with his impassioned prose, the exodus was over and homecoming was finally at hand.  Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and coauthor, with Sonja Schoepf Wentling, of the forthcoming book Herbert Hoover and the Jews: The Origins of the “Jewish Vote” and “Bipartisan Support for Israel.”

These shall you eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales (Vayikra 11:9) All fish that have scales also have fins (and are thus kosher). But there are fish that have fins but do not have scales, and are thus impure. If so, the Torah could have written only “scales,” without having to also write “fins”? . . . Said Rabbi Abahu, and so it was learned in the study house of Rabbi Yishmael: This is so that “Torah be increased and made great” (Yeshayah 42:21).

(Talmud, Niddah 51b)

The student of Torah is comparable to a fish in water, as in Rabbi Akiva’s famous parable. His fins are the means by which he moves forward through the water—the intellect and study skills with which he advances in wisdom and increases the Torah and makes it great with his own contributions (chiddushim) to Torah learning. His scales are his protective armor against predators and adverse elements—his fear of Heaven, which shields his learning from error and distortion.

One might think that the primary requirement for success in Torah is the fins, while the scales serve a secondary function. It is the fins that move the fish forward, while the scales merely preserve what is. After all, learning is an intellectual exercise; piety and fear of G-d are lofty virtues, but are they any use in navigating the complexities of a difficult Tosafos?

In truth, however, the very opposite is the case. A scholar with fins but no scales is a non-kosher fish. He might swim and frolic with his talent and genius, but his learning is corrupt; it is not Torah, but his egoistic arrogation of the Divine wisdom. On the other hand, the Talmud tells us that while there are fish with fins and no scales, all fish with scales have fins. If a person approaches Torah with an awe of its Divine author and the commitment to serve Him, he will certainly succeed. Regardless of the degree of his intellectual prowess, he will find the fins with which to advance in his learning and contribute to the growth of Torah.

(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Pesach Edition Should a girl be expected to provide a picture? . . . How do I go about discussing his gambling tendencies? . . .

Is a courtesy “chesed” second date always expected and necessary? . . . Is it improper for me to insist on the details of what happened in a broken engagement? . . . At what point do you deem it appropriate for the boy’s parents to meet the girl?

Dating can pose a multitude of delicate and sensitive questions that require the assistance of those who spend countless hours dealing with singles.

In each installment of the Five Towns Jewish Times Dating Forum, a question pertaining to contemporary dating issues is addressed by our diverse and experienced forum panelists. This Pesach edition of the Dating Forum features various questions submitted and a selection of previously published responses from some of our panelists.

Questions and comments can be submitted to 5townsforum@gmail. com.

••• Question: In today’s dating world, creating a profile/resumé with some

basic information is an essential part of the process. I have noticed some girls include a picture while others do not. Although I am not abashed to provide a picture, at the moment, I do not.

My mother and I are often asked by shadchanim and other people to provide a picture, and I am confused as to what the proper protocol is. Should I be expected to provide a picture? Will the perception of how “frum” I am be affected by the presence or absence of a picture? Is it wrong for me to conclude that if a boy needs to see my picture, he’s not for me? Please advise.

Baila Sebrow responds: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So goes the old advertising adage, which has been rephrased in various styles conforming to the circumstance. The print media glamorize photography with gloss and glitz, erroneously misguiding people into believing you can depict yourself as you are, or who you would like to be.

Photography can accentuate the positive and diminish what is perceived as negative. Society has become depen-

dent on photography to such an extent that there are those who allow visual fabrication to take control of reality.

Posing your question in a public forum and channeling that which has become a focal aspect in today’s dating world is a gracious gesture on your part. You are absolutely correct in illustrating the need for creating a profile/resumé as an essential part of the shidduch process. This gives a basic idea of who the person is in terms of age, status, and hashkafic values. However, you state you do not see the need to include a picture of yourself when forwarding your profile to a prospective shadchan. Although your counterparts indulge in this acceptable practice, you steadfastly believe it to be unnecessary.

Should you be expected to provide a picture? Will the perception of how frum you are be affected based on the presence of the picture or lack thereof? You indicate being unabashed at the sentiment in providing a picture of yourself, yet for philosophical reasons you do not. Congratulations, young lady, on the courage of your convictions. You are an eloquent advocate for your position.

You are clever and knowledgeable enough to recognize that in these situations you can be denounced if you do in fact supply a picture, as well as if you don’t.

There is a popular misconception that very frum boys do not expect a picture to be included with a resumé when considering a shidduch, and that

those who are more modern unconditionally expect it. From my experience, I can honestly say that I know of boys considered very frum who not only expect a picture, but demand shots taken in various poses. By the same token, I speak to modern boys, some of whom are OK when a picture is not being provided as a deliberate omission, as a result of their sensitivity to the discomfort of the girl in question.

Providing photos for shidduch purposes is a personal decision. Refusing to do so is by no means a symbol of an unattractive shidduch being presented. There are beautiful women who either do not think they are photogenic or believe that photographs objectify people.

The strong demand for pictures today has been reinforced by the popular media. Video games, action films of heroines, advertising, magazines, and even comic strips all contain strong messages reinforcing the image of the perfect female. Many guys mistakenly fail to discern the extent to which photography has advanced in technology. Imperfections can be Photoshopped and what is naturally not visible can be subtly augmented.

In addition, when a guy meets a girl whose picture was deceptive according to what he anticipated, the shidduch will automatically be rejected, and a second date will never occur.

Whereas if two people meet one another without having seen an im-

Continued on Page 78

BETTER MATERNITY WEAR

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DATING FORUM Continued from Page 77 age on a piece of paper beforehand, that aspect of disappointment will not stand in the way condemning the shidduch. Instead, they might possibly evaluate one another in appreciation of their positive attributes. In return, they might even decide to go out for a second date. When a person becomes favorable in one’s eyes, a beautiful image is artistically painted within the mind. Your vision of intellect is unclouded and it is definitely not wrong for you to conclude that you desire someone who sees life through your lenses.

Baila Sebrow is president of Neshoma Advocates, communications and recruitment liaison for Sovri-Beth Israel, executive director of Teach Our Children, and a shadchanis. She can be reached at Bsebrow@aol.com.

Question: I have been going out with a guy for seven weeks now—a total of ten official dates. The last date, we had a serious discussion about engagement plans and even apartments.

A few days later, he kindly let me borrow his car for the whole day. While looking for the trunk button, I opened the glove compartment and saw some poker chips and receipts from casinos.

I was simply shocked. I did not know what to think or do and didn’t mention anything to him when I returned the car. How do I go about dealing with this? Should I bring it up to him?

If yes, how? Please advise.

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Madeline Gross responds: Addiction is a very real and often downplayed issue in the Jewish community. Whether it’s gambling, drugs, alcohol, or pornography, addiction must be confronted and dealt with appropriately. Obviously, the best way to avoid becoming an addict of any kind is to completely abstain from the activity. However, just like an occasional drink by a Kiddush doesn’t label someone as an alcoholic, an infrequent pastime with friends doesn’t translate into a gambling addiction. It is important to find out the extent of his involvement before overreacting and coming to a drastic decision.

Most importantly, this should be viewed as a great opportunity for a couple to face a “real-life scenario”— something which many couples don’t experience until well into their marriage. The goal at this dating stage is to continue fortifying a solid foundation of trust, honesty, and complete openness in the relationship.

The ultimate indicator of strength and healthiness in a relationship is when a couple can smoothly navigate through some early adversity.

Using the right tone and proper sensitivities, raising an issue with your potential spouse is a great litmus test to see if you can work through certain hiccups rationally, respectably, and without extreme tension. This could be a perfect stepping stone to grow closer and more confident in your relationship. Throughout the

Continued on Page 80

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DATING FORUM Continued from Page 78 course of a marriage, certain issues or surprises will arise—you should feel at ease communicating with one another without the fear of having your spouse become upset for stating his or her feelings.

Before drawing any conclusions from this situation, it is important to look at all the feasible scenarios as to why those chips/receipts were there, and then determine how each one will affect your relationship with him. Assuming he doesn’t completely deny ownership (e.g., claim the last girl he dated also borrowed his car and went to these casinos), possibilities are: (i) He never gambles but wanted to go once to check out what a casino was all about; (ii) He does not meet the psychologists’ DSM handbook criteria for compulsive gambler but he does enjoy gambling occasionally; and (iii) He is a diagnosable gambler and completely kept it from you.

Ultimately, it is your decision on

how each of these scenarios makes you feel. You want to have confidence that it’s not in his nature to be secretive or deceitful when it comes to any potentially harmful habits or proclivities. How he reacts to your sensitively worded concerns regarding a potential gambling habit and why he kept it from you will inform and assist with your decision: it will either reassure your confidence in building a solid relationship or it will serve as a harbinger for more complications down the road. Whichever the result, you will be glad you discussed it.

I would also suggest speaking with a rabbi, educator, or authority figure who may know him well to determine how concerned you should be and to further discuss the adverse effect gambling can have on a marriage. This issue has damaged and even destroyed many marriages; remaining silent about it would be tantamount to gambling with your relationship.

Madeline Gross is a Woodmere shadchanis. She can be reached at madelinegross1@gmail.com.

Question: My son has been dating for several months. Often, after the first date, he claims he knows with certainty that the girl is not for him.

He is conflicted about how to proceed: He is convinced the relationship won’t develop and therefore further dating is a waste of time and money, and will likely give the girl a misleading impression. On the other hand, he fears his reputation will be damaged if he doesn’t give a courtesy second date. Is a courtesy “chesed” second date always expected and necessary? Should he fear that he’s doing something wrong by ending it after one date?

Matty Sod responds: When boys and girls first start dating, they are advised by their mentors to always agree to a second date. After all, they are told, one never knows.

Just a few years ago, most daters were heeding this advice. But, nowadays, we’re in “shidduch crisis” mode. Boys are being inundated with names, while girls sit around waiting for just one decent suggestion. Ask almost any good

boy in shidduchim, and he will tell you that he could date every single night, if he so desired. Many boys (and girls, too) are getting “burned out” from dating, especially if they feel they are being pushed into going on second dates that are not shayach for them.

So, these days, unless they feel there is some potential, many boys are not agreeing to a second date. The most common reason they give is that they don’t feel any “chemistry,” i.e., attraction. They very rarely change their minds about this issue, even after a second date. I do feel that if everything else is great, attraction can grow.

But most boys are not willing to wait and see if things will develop. After all, they have so many girls on their “lists.”

I always advise boys to go on a second date, if they have some interest in the girl or if they are really not sure. Sometimes, though, one knows for sure that the shidduch is not right for them—for example, if there are major hashkafic differences or major differences in life goals. In that sort of case, it is usually pointless to go out again, and may actually give the other person false hope. Especially when neither side is excited about the prospect of a second date, why bother with it?

You say that your son “often” does not go out again after a first date. This seems to indicate that sometimes he does go out with a girl more than once.

I don’t think your son needs to worry about his reputation, just because he does not go on a second date with every girl. Plenty of guys don’t give every girl a second date, and they’re still being redt shidduchim.

May your son find his bashert very soon!

Matty Sod has been an active shadchanis for over 15 years. In addition to making shidduchim, she mentors singles throughout the dating process.

She has written many articles on shidduchim and can be reached at mattysod@verizon.net.

Question: Over the last number of years, it seems like broken engagements have, unfortunately, become more prevalent. My son and daughter, who both recently started dating, have gotten names of quite a few people with broken engagements. My first reaction is to ask the shadchan why the engagement broke off. The usual response is they just weren’t right for one another and not to be concerned.

Is it improper for me to insist on the details of what happened? I would assume something significant happened to end the relationship. Shouldn’t I be informed in order to make a decision based on the particular reason(s) given?

Miriam Schreiber responds: Despite the unfortunate prevalence of broken shidduchim, we are fortunate to have a system in place to ensure the best outcome for all. A broken engagement does not automatically signal trouble nor relegate one to permanent single status. Since it may be indicative of a potential problem, it is appropriate to inquire about issues

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April 6, 2012

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DATING FORUM Continued from Page 80 that may be of concern such as abuse, mental health, control, anger, etc. The shadchan should give over any appropriate information that would help you make the best decision for your child. While people involved in a broken shidduch may have a halachic disclosure agreement (sh’tar mechilah) to prevent unnecessary damage to any of the parties, there is usually a competent rav designated to answer specific questions.

If you are not comfortable with the information you get, perhaps it is a message that the shidduch is not for you.

Also consider that in the olden days, when we parents were dating, there was a longer courtship, less intense involvement from shadchanim, and fewer rules regulating when to stop dating or get engaged. This allowed more time for two people to interact to determine if they had found their bashert.

Our current system, where the research is done before the prospective mates meet, has its pros and cons. On the pro side, we have the assistance and guidance of wonderful competent shadchanim who can help minimize wasted dates by eliminating those that don’t fit the desired profile. On the con side, if the prospective mates are given all the information before they go out, it takes away from the gettingto-know-a-person process (as opposed to about the person) which in and of itself can be enlightening.

In today’s system, by the fourth or fifth date they are expected to know if it’s going anywhere and by the seventh date they are engaged. While they may have spent 25–30 hours together, there is a world of a difference between spending intense time dating over a few weeks and what we learn about another person by spending the same amount of time over the course of a few months of real life. Of course some are blessed with finding their bashert by the fourth date!

Consider two scenarios:

1. Parents chose a potential match.

With most of the information at hand, potential mates must only see if they like each other. Three weeks later they are engaged. Within a month, through wedding preparations, life, and getting to know each other’s families, ordinary personality conflicts arise that cannot be resolved. They conclude that they just got engaged before really knowing each other. The mutual and amicable break leaves both of them with a broken engagement on their resumé and people reluctant to give a “yes” without knowing exactly what went on.

2. Two prospective mates date, slowly, once a week for several months offering them time to reflect on their relationship.

Their work/school schedule does not allow time to get engaged, although they would like to.

There is very little they don’t know about each other, yet after five months an irresolvable issue causes them to break up. Both are officially available with requests for dates pouring in as if nothing transpired, yet neither can

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easily move on past the deep relationship.

Would you prefer a shidduch from scenario one or scenario two?

A friend whose husband had a broken engagement when he met her wanted to share every detail with her when they were dating, to make sure she was totally comfortable. She wasn’t interested in the details of his previous relationship and barely listened. They just celebrated their 28th anniversary today!

With shidduchim, we make serious inquiries into those areas that we deem important. Something significant between two people doesn’t render one “pasul” as a potential mate across the board. If the person checks out, then a broken engagement may simply be a mistake between two parties and perfect for another. An issue could’ve taken place in any relationship prior to an official engagement and you would not even know to question it.

I tell kids, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” You can ask your friends about the person, but pay attention (partial) only to objective facts. Otherwise, you may miss your bashert!

Miriam Schreiber is the publisher of Jewish Image Magazine, Event Coordinator/consultant and organizes tours throughout the world. She is involved in Shidduchim across the globe and lives in Chicago. She can be reached at monro999@aol.com.

Question: My son will be going out on a sixth date later this week. My husband and I, as well as my son, are uncertain regarding when the appropriate time is for us to schedule a meeting with the girl. I have heard various different practices—from meeting her on second or third date to only when it starts getting “serious” to the moment before engagement. At what point do you deem it appropriate for the boy’s parents to meet the girl and why?

Madeline Gross responds: Hearing about divergent practices on a given issue is usually an indicator of the issue’s subjective nature. Once we can determine what this meeting signifies to both you and your son, you will be able to decide which practice suits you best.

Our roles as parents are different for each child. Some children were raised more independently while others were more sheltered and coddled.

Daters who are a bit older and experienced usually feel they are less in need of parental input than younger children. As a parent, ask yourself, “Why do I want to meet this girl and what role does my son need me to play?”

• If you feel that your very independent and mature son will be making the ultimate decision and that you, as parents, will have minimal say on the matter, then meeting the girl is simply a formality which can be done at a later stage.

• If your role in your son’s decision will be more active and influential, it would be advisable to assess the girl and voice your opinion before things get serious. I would venture to say

that this might also apply to meeting the girl’s parents as well.

• If your son’s dating is less formal and more laid back, the number of dates are less meaningful. You may want to meet her very early on to help ease some tension and not inevitably send “getting serious” signals through a meeting.

In addition to determining where your role as parents fall on this very broad spectrum, it is imperative that your son clearly articulates why he wants the girl to meet his parents.

At an earlier stage of dating, a meeting with the parents will send far less signals than by a seventh, eighth, or ninth date. Too often, a girl will mistakenly interpret a boy’s request for a meeting as an indication that he’s taking the relationship to the next level when he simply wants his parents input. Communication is essential to assuring the right signals are being conveyed. Never assume.

Whenever the appropriate time for the meeting is determined, it is important to choose a setting that will put the girl completely at ease. Meeting in-laws (especially a potential mother-in-law) for the first time can be a daunting task for a girl. Keep it short and sweet. You will have plenty of time at a later stage to fully evaluate her. Girls, those sharp conspicuous glances his mother will be giving you are inevitable. Behind every successful man is a proud wife and a surprised (disappointed) mother-in-law.

Madeline Gross is a Woodmere shadchanis. She can be reached at madelinegross1@gmail.com.

ethical shadchan does so for the pure intention of chesed. No fee is charged for the infinite time spent with the singles and their parents. Seeing a shidduch through to fruition feels like Kriyas Yam Suf—not just for the engaged couple, but for the shadchan as well.

However, as with many things in life, there is imperfection in shadchanis too. I may need a bulletproof vest to acknowledge this: there are those who portray themselves as shadchanim who are not only unethical, but dangerous.

You have every right to not only be perturbed but horrified by shadchanim who aggressively approach you at social gatherings. These people not only interrogate you about personal information, but have no qualms about exhibiting photographs of girls in public settings. Hold on for the ride, it gets worse.

Whatever information you share with these unethical shadchanim is often brought before their community shidduch meetings to demonstrate

how successful they are in obtaining male profiles. I have been informed of shadchanim who stalk single guys on Facebook by getting their information and using it as though they are shidduch clients. There are also some mothers of girls who are not shadchanim, but who misrepresent themselves as such, believing that this proactive technique will find a shidduch for their daughter.

You ask if this is part of being “on the market.” The answer is an emphatic NO. Being single and searching for your zivug is not an invitation for victimization. You inquire if it would be proper for you to request a more private meeting. It is not only proper to request, but your human right to do so. If they do not give you the time of day as you suggest, then you are justified in feeling apprehensive and questioning the authenticity of the alleged shadchan.

The manner in which an honorable and sincere shadchan who views you as an eligible bachelor will conduct herself in a public setting is to dis-

creetly approach you. The shadchan must apologize to you for the intrusion, provide a personal bio indicating his or her name and contact information, should you be interested. The shadchan is obligated to share with you the essential aspect of yourself which is most prominent to warrant this impromptu approach. Lastly, it is essential that you be informed of the shadchan’s course of action in matching you with a plausible shidduch.

Chag kasher v’sameiach! 

Question: As a single dating guy, I am fortunate and grateful to have many people exerting their efforts to help me find a wife. However, I am frequently perturbed by certain shadchanim who aggressively approach and interview me at various simchas and gatherings I attend. Often, in a public setting, I am asked my name, basic biographical information, and several personal questions. The shadchan then proceeds to list names of girls (and show pictures off their phones) for all to hear and see. Is this just part of being “on the market”? Would it be proper for me to request a more private meeting or will I not get the time of day? Your feedback on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Baila Sebrow responds: The theatrical depiction of a shadchan is that of an older, self-proclaimed wise, in-your-face type of woman. Reality, unfortunately, has not done much to debunk that myth.

As a shadchan, I abhor and have great disdain for those who practice dishonest methods in the quest of assisting singles to find their bashert.

I appreciate your opening statement expressing your feelings of being fortunate and grateful to those exerting effort in helping you find a wife. I speak for other shadchanim, as I speak for myself, in conveying my thoughts on the matter. For the ethical shadchan, the person who views shadchanis as a privilege in partnering with Hashem, there is a bit of agmas nefesh along with an abundance of joy. The

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THE DISH

By Elke Probkevitz A Chol HaMoed Picnic Lunch This year, Passover comes out just right for the perfect chol ha’moed. There is plenty of time to go on day trips and have fun excursions with your kids.

With the restrictions of Passover eating, it is almost always a good idea to pack lunch and snacks for your trips. Whether you are making a picnic in the park or on the go at the zoo, these ideas can tide you over till the next big seudah.

Matzah sandwiches. This is the go-to meal for Passover. Fill matzah boards with anything from cream cheese and lox or tuna or egg salad to sliced turkey, pastrami, or salami. You can also spread Israeli salads and fill with grilled eggplant or slice hard-boiled eggs and

cheese. (Minhagim vary so check with your personal rabbi or posek.)

Parfaits. Create your own parfaits with cups of plain or flavored yogurt topped with any kind of berries or other fruit. Top with shaved coconut, chocolate chips, or Passover cereal.

Burgers. You can make a burger out of ground beef or turkey, tuna, or salmon for a satisfying lunch that’s easy to pack up. Eat it in a lettuce wrap or pack it in a Tupperware container with grilled veggies or chopped salad.

Grilled chicken. Chicken cutlets off the bone are probably easiest to take along on a trip, but if you prefer chicken on the bone, that can work as well.

Make sure to pack plastic plates, forks, and knives and find a picnic table or spot to lay a sheet down and enjoy.

Stir-fry. You can take leftover chicken and meats from the yom tov meals and stir-fry them with onions, peppers, or any vegetables you choose. Pack in a tight container and pack a fork, and your meal is good to go.

Snacks. Fruit salads, veggie sticks, nuts, and dark chocolate are some

Caramelized Onion Chicken

Fruit salads, veggie sticks, nuts, and dark chocolate are some healthy options. healthy options. Leftover baked goods from the yom tov meals and packaged (non-chametz) cookies and chips are always good to grab in a pinch. Remember to bring beverages as well. 

This dish can be served as a main course during a yom tov meal or as lunch leftovers.

Ingredients: 6 onions, thinly sliced 2 Tbsp. onion-soup mix ¼ cup packed brown sugar 4 Tbsp. oil ½ tsp. pepper, to taste 1 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. paprika salt, to taste ⅓ cup maple syrup 8 chicken thighs 8 chicken drumsticks Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix onions, soup mix, brown sugar, oil, and pepper in a medium bowl. Place half of the onion mixture on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place chicken on top of onions and season with garlic powder, paprika, and salt. Cover chicken with remaining onion mixture.

Cover chicken with foil and bake for 1½ hrs. Uncover chicken and drizzle maple syrup over top. Bake another ½ hour, basting once or twice with pan juices.

Want to learn how to cook delicious gourmet meals right in your own kitchen? Take one-on-one cooking lessons or give a gift to an aspiring cook that you know. For more information, contact Take Home Chef personal chef services by calling 516-508-3663, writing to elke@TakeHomeChef.net, or visiting www.TakeHomeChef.net.

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Community News From Around The World UJCare’s Sabainu: Vouchers For 200+ Tons Of Food UJCARE, the community relations and advocacy agency, representing communities throughout Willamsburg, Boro Park, Bayswater, Monsey, and Kiryas Joel, has secured private and public funding from generous benefactors and food bank agencies, and has launched its fifth Project Sabainu (“satisfy us”) and distributed vouchers for over 200 tons of food for Passover on Sunday, April 1.

In the spirit of the Passover Haggadah, which reads, “Let all those who are hungry come and eat . . . ,” Sabainu volunteers had the arduous task of assessing family needs and distributing vouchers at several locations, to ensure that those who need it most will get the necessary staples (including fruits, vegetables, grape juice, and eggs) to celebrate the holiday to the fullest. Some families feed as many as 15–20 participants at their Passover Seder.

When asked if the Project Sabainu 2012 was a success, Isaac Abraham, a community activist and public relations coordinator for the event, replied, “No! Success will be when there are no hungry mouths to feed.” 

tain air, and beautiful scenery, together with the incredible potential for large and spacious custom-made housing, all make Ramat Givat Ze’ev an altogether irresistible place to live.”

The ideal location of Ramat Givat Ze’ev will enable people to enjoy the best of all worlds. Jerusalem is in close proximity and is easily reachable through two main highways, thereby providing Ramat Givat Ze’ev residents easy reach to all the advantages the city has to offer. At the same time, the tranquility of Ramat Givat Ze’ev’s smalltown suburban lifestyle with its sizable housing and expansive surrounding areas will provide families with an exceptional quality of life that they wouldn’t be able to find in Jerusalem.

The housing potential in Ramat Givat Ze’ev is extraordinary. Some 450 housing units will dot the beautiful landscape, the majority of which are “buildyour-own” villas. Families will have the opportunity to design, create, and innovate to their hearts’ content. These private homes start at 2,200 square feet and will be custom-designed according to the individual preferences of the buyer. Representing true innovation, these semi-attached private homes will offer

Continued on Page 86

Build Your ‘American’ Dream Home In Ramat Givat Ze’ev

By Tanya Mayor To live in Israel is a dream for so many people. But how does one turn this dream into reality?

If you’ve always had a deep yearning to move to Israel, you now have an exceptional opportunity to build the home of your dreams there, with ease, personalized guidance, and American familiarity. A prestigious residential project is taking shape, offering American families an extraordinary standard of living, in the most extraordinary of locations. The project is called Ramat Givat Ze’ev and it is being developed by Nofei Israel, a renowned Israeli real estate company.

Ramat Givat Ze’ev is located just a 15-minute drive from the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, amidst the spectacular views of the Jerusalem Mountains.

Adjacent to the well-established city of Givat Ze’ev, Ramat Givat Ze’ev is the second phase of Nofei Israel’s large-scale vision. The building of the first phase, known as the Old Givat Ze’ev, began four years ago and consists of 700 housing units. All of these units were snapped up immediately and, to date, 350 frum families (30% American) have already moved in and the community is flourishing.

The area of Ramat Givat Ze’ev neighbors this community and will comprise 450 housing units, 80% of which are designated for American families.

“Our expectations for Ramat Givat Ze’ev are huge,” comments Hanoch Kass, founder and partner of Nofei Israel. “This project is the first of its kind in Israel. Never before has such an area been developed especially for frum American families, right on Jerusalem’s doorstep. The vast space, clear moun-

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Community News

and we have high hopes for it. If any of our other developments across Israel are anything to go by, we are certain this one will be a success story too.” 

Continued from Page 85 flexible interior layouts and huge garden space. Nofei Israel has its own team of recommended architects, interior designers, builders, and other expert professionals to assist buyers at every stage if they wish. Each parcel of land is also backed by a full banker’s guarantee.

More than just housing, Nofei Israel is committed to developing the social and communal elements of the community too, as it does in its other residential projects throughout Israel. Ramat Givat Ze’ev is set to feature an abundance of community and family services. New and modern facilities will grace the tree-lined neighborhood, and will include several shopping centers, medical centers, mikvehs, shuls, a community center, and a variety of educational institutions, all suiting the needs of the American community. Employment opportunities will also be available for the American immigrants in the nearby industrial area that Nofei Israel is currently developing.

The Future Is Yehuda Green

What’s more is that because Ramat Givat Ze’ev will be a brand-new neighborhood with a brand-new community, its residents will be able to define and create the community as they envision it. Friends can build homes next door to each other and can together create a flourishing and thriving community.

In fact, Nofei Israel is currently in dialogue with a few rabbis and communities in America about bringing groups of families to Ramat Givat Ze’ev together as a unit. “The area is currently an empty canvas waiting for its first splashes of color,” explains Kass. “We’re excited to see how Ramat Givat Ze’ev develops,

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By Larry Gordon His voice reaches into magical stratospheric heights that excite the senses. In a way, he is an unsung star who is currently singing his way to stardom. I sat with Yehuda one evening prior to Pesach along with his confidant and good friend, Jonathan Greenstein of Woodmere. Without knowing Jonathan, you would think that he is more of the Jerry Garcia type, but he admits that he has a special place in his heart for Jewish music and has been particularly drawn to Yehuda Green and his music.

Green’s new album, “Peace In My Heart,” is a masterpiece inspired by and in the tradition of the legendary master of Jewish music, Shlomo Carlebach.

In fact, today Green is the regular chazzan at the Carlebach Shul on West 79th Street on the West Side of Manhattan.

He says he tries to be in the shul every second week, but the demand on his schedule with traveling for performances and appearing at simchas continues to grow. He will be spending his 13th year at a Pesach program in Las Vegas.

In our first issue after yom tov we will feature in these pages Yehuda’s full fascinating story and his evolution as a singing sensation. For now let it suffice that Yehuda was born in Israel and as a child found himself attracted by the records of cantorial greats such as Moshe Koussevitzky and Yossele Rosenblatt.

Yehuda says he would listen to them over and over again each night when he returned from yeshiva.

Then, one day, he says, his brother came home with an album with a pious-looking man on the cover. “It was funny. I was 8 years old, but I couldn’t understand it. “He looked like a chazzan but he was holding a guitar. I never saw anything like that before.” And that’s where the relationship began between Shlomo and Yehuda. Green studied the Singing Rabbi’s work, met him, and eventually became one of his traveling backup singers on albums and live shows. And now, though Shlomo has been gone many years, the connection between the two continues intact, as does the inspiration that is evident on the new album.

Look for the rest of the story in our next issue directly after Pesach. 

Technion Places 85% Of Graduates In Top Residency Programs Over 85 percent of the 2012 graduates of the Technion’s American Medical Program (TEAMS) in Haifa have found residency placements in some of the world’s most prestigious programs. In comparison to the 65% success rate of the 39,000 applicants who applied for the match worldwide, this figure is remarkable and attests to the high caliber and determination of the TEAMS students, as well as the strong commitment of the program’s staff to cultivate students’ potential.

The 2012 TEAMS graduates will be undertaking residency positions at well-

Photo by Dr. Ivan Quervalu

L–R: TEAMS students Menachem Davis and David Ozeri receive their matching results

known hospitals and medical centers across the United States. These include the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, SUNY-Downstate, Lenox Hill Hospital, Cornell University Medical Center, Maimonides Medical Center, and the Montefiore Medical Center, among numerous others. “We’re extremely pleased that such a high number of our students have received residency placements in such fantastic programs,” comments Professor Eliezer Shalev, dean of the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. Professor Andrew Levy, vicedean of the medical school and director of the TEAMS program, adds, “The program is undergoing many structural changes and the 2012 matching results are proof of their positive impact.”

Over the past year, the TEAMS program has developed affiliations with over 20 medical centers in the U.S. Students can carry out their clinical rotations in these centers, thereby providing them with an increased edge in terms of residency matching. In addition, board review courses and mock exams have been built into the curriculum, taught by leading U.S. medical educators, in order to help students thoroughly prepare for their exams. A network of counseling services has also been established, providing a supportive and nurturing learning and living environment for all students. “We are proud of our students and we look forward to continuing this success in coming years,” states Levy.

The Technion American Medical Students Program offers an excellent opportunity for qualified U.S. pre-med college graduates to pursue a career as physicians at a world-class technological institute—the Technion, in Haifa, Israel. The program combines a strong curriculum in basic medical sciences, with clinical education at some of the finest medical centers in Israel. 

with higher education and job opportunities. She is currently employed as project director of the Work Incentives Planning Assistance (WIPA) at The City University of New York, a research program that aims to help people in the South Bronx with disabilities enter the

L–R: Robert S. Schachter, DSW, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers, New York City Chapter; honoree Karla Perez, LMSW; and Maria Elena Girone, ACSW, president and CEO of the Puerto Rican Family Institute, Inc.

workforce or enroll in higher education.

“I am humbled and never expected to be recognized for doing what I love,” said Ms. Perez, who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic at

age seven and grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “Academic social work is what I hope to do for the rest of my

Continued on Page 88

Touro Social Work Alumna Wins 2012 Leadership Award Karla Perez, an alumna of the Touro College Graduate School of Social Work, class of 2009, was recently recognized with a 2012 Leadership Award for promoting community services to Latino families and youth in poor communities.

Ms. Perez was honored at the 8th annual Latino Social Work Task Force Awards Dinner for her work during the past four years helping people with disabilities and trying to connect them

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Community News Continued from Page 87 life. I want to help recent immigrants and other traditionally underserved individuals elevate their standard of living and break the cycles of chronic poverty with the most valuable tool—an education.”

Ms. Perez said that she began working at CUNY as an intern while studying for her master’s degree in social work at Touro. Working with the CUNY Research Foundation’s Youth Transition Demonstration project, she studied youth in the South Bronx who were disabled and transitioning from high school to work or higher education. Prior to coming to Touro, Ms. Perez said she worked with children with disabilities and realized that she was passionate about helping families learn about the best academic options for their children and helping them navigate the complexities of the education system.

That realization propelled her to obtain her master’s degree in clinical social work at Touro, she said.

“Touro College was the best option for me—diverse, and intimate, with great professors,” she said.

The Graduate School of Social Work’s Master of Social Work program is designed to train clinical social work practitioners to awaken and enliven the innate ability of individuals, families, groups, and communities to learn to meet their own needs and sustain their own state of equilibrium, thereby enhancing human well-being. The program meets all academic requirements for both social work licenses, LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker) and LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker). 

Touro Occupational Therapy Assistant Students Meet with Elected Officials Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) students from the Touro College School of Health Sciences visited Albany recently with the New York State Occupational Therapy Association. Their goal was to raise awareness among elected officials about occupational therapy and

the role of OTAs in upcoming healthcare legislation impacting the profession. Participants included Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D-Far Rockaway) and Touro Assistant Professor Julia Kardachi. Issues discussed with legislators included updates to the New York State Occupational Therapy Practice Act and Regulations in February 2012, and implications of the proposed health care budget. 

Destiny Foundation Summer Tour With Rabbi Berel Wein, August 5–15 Rabbi Berel Wein’s destination for this year’s Destiny Summer Tour is the Amalfi Coast of Italy and Sicily. Featuring an endless panorama of breathtaking vistas, the tour will visit Naples, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Capri, Pompeii, Paestum, and then in Sicily, Catania, Taormina, Mt. Etna, Agira, Ortigia, and Syracusa.

The magic of this mountainous region that dreamily slips into the bluest sea is certainly a touch of paradise.

The magnificent views along the Amal-

fi coast combine fissures and grottos covered in delicate blooms whose vivacious colors are set against the Mediterranean.

As those of you who have traveled with Destiny in years past know, the trips are punctuated by the wisdom and wit of Rabbi Berel Wein. Rabbi Wein will offer a mini-course in Jewish history that will feature topics related to Pompeii, Naples, and Sicily; the Trani family; and nature, beauty, and the Torah, and more.

You might choose to hike or bike the cobbled alleyways and winding roads or just relax amidst the charming picturesque landscape. Everyone will have an opportunity to tour this aquamarine coastline in their own style.

For a sophisticated and enlightening gastronomic happening, the group will again be treated to the talents of Eric and Naomi of Jerusalem’s Naomi Catering, who will no doubt deliver a kosher Italian experience second-tonone. Those who traveled with Destiny to Tuscany in 2010 remember the delicate veal, the delicious homemade pasta, the mouth-watering desserts, and, of course, the endless gelato. For Shabbos, the centerpiece of the tour, you will be in the company of wonderful people from all over the world. Over the past 12 years, a group has formed of like-minded individuals who enjoy being with each other and want to combine their traveling experience with the ability to learn something about Jewish history.

Each one of the tours supports the efforts of Rabbi Berel Wein to bring Jewish history to life in the classroom, in the community, and to those who have no connection to their Jewish heritage.

The Destiny Foundation is a 501c3 tax exempt educational foundation under the federal tax code. There is limited availability so if this is something you would consider, please call Destiny at 800-499-9346 for details and to reserve for this Amazing Amalfi and More tour. 

Shomron Basketball Champs Tal Brody is not alone. The Shomron is on the map—and now in sports, too. Elitzur Shomron, a group of basketball players from the Shomron Regional Council, made history and qualified for League Alef.

The group, composed exclusively of residents of the Shomron, was established about two years ago by the Department of Sports of the Shomron Regional Council community center. It is made up of residents of the Shomron Council communities, just like residents of the Karnei Shomron and Kedumim regional councils. All the players are volunteers, and the games and training take place in the evenings, after work hours.

During the entire season, the basketball team performed well, winning 15 out of 17 games, not a few of them against established and wealthier groups. After Elitzur Shomron got to first place, the team has qualified for League Alef, and the Shomron will now be competing in the higher league.

The head of the Shomron Regional

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complishment: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Shomron is on the mapâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and now, in sports. We are proud of the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s players and the team. The spirit of Samaria is the spirit that leads the group. All the players are intention-

Continued from Page 88

Courtesy of Shomron Community Center

Council, Gershon Mesika, thanked the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s managers, Doron Halal and Meir

ally residents of the Shomron, and with this spirit, the guys from the Shomron made history and made it to League Alef.

Barchiya of the community center sports department, and congratulated the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s players for their outstanding ac-

â&#x20AC;&#x153;From now on, the Shomron is no longer at an amateur level, but at the level of a senior professional league.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure that in a few years, the Shomron will also take the state championship.â&#x20AC;? ď ś

Organizers Of Salute To Israel Parade: Say NO to BDS!

By Larry Domnitch The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Boycott, Divestment, Sanctionsâ&#x20AC;?

(BDS) movement is an international attempt to cripple Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy through boycotts and to delegitimize the Jewish State by leveling spurious accusations of â&#x20AC;&#x153;apartheid.â&#x20AC;? BDS is detrimental to Israel. Should groups that support BDS be allowed to participate in the annual Salute to Israel parade?

DeďŹ nitely not!

Last year, the New Israel Fund was allowed to participate in the annual Salute to Israel parade. The NIF was joined by other far-left groups which marched with them, displaying their banners.

These groups include Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Tzelem, Partners for Progressive Israel (otherwise

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known as Meretz USA), and Rabbis for Human Rights. The NIF will be marching again this year and presumably the other aforementioned groups will again be joining them.

This should be viewed with concern, since the NIF supports groups which support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. The following are a few examples.

Five grantees of the New Israel Fund (Machsom Watch, Coalition of Women for Peace, Women against Violence, Social TV, and Mossawa) signed a letter to the Norwegian Government Pension Fund urging it to divest â&#x20AC;&#x153;in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.â&#x20AC;?

Meretz USA displays on its website a heading instructing speciďŹ c â&#x20AC;&#x153;settlement products sold in the U.S.â&#x20AC;? to be boycotted which include Israeli products such as Ahava cosmetics, B&B Baked Goods, Soda Stream, and various wines. Oren Yiftachel, the chair of Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Tzelem, which is a major grantee of the New Israel Fund, has publicly called for â&#x20AC;&#x153;effective sanctionsâ&#x20AC;? against Israel.

According to NGO monitor, headed by Professor Gerald Steinberg at Bar Ilan University, the NIF authorized grants of $897,007 to Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Tzelem between 2006 and 2009. Despite NIFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stated opposition to the BDS movement, their funding of groups which support BDS indicates that their policy runs contrary to their statements.

For some Israelis and Jews to support such a nefarious movement gives impetus to harmful international boycotts.

When Jewish groups of the far left support efforts to force Israel, they have crossed the line. The people of Israel have the right to decide their future, especially on matters pertaining to their vital security, without coercion.

Richard Allen, founder of JCC Watch and a member of the pro-Israel parade committee which has organized the stop-the-BDS-movement from marching in the Israel day parade on June 3 in New York City, denounced the participation of groups supporting BDS in the parade, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jews do not call upon Jews to boycott Jews.â&#x20AC;?

Some of these have also joined the attack against Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public image.

Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Tzelem produced a video that was shown at the infamous â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israel Apartheid 2012â&#x20AC;? and at events held at colleges throughout the world.

American Jewry has different voices which come together on the day of the Israel parade, but there must be zero tolerance for those who act against Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sovereignty. Their participation would demean the very purpose of the event. The only suitable designated spot for those who give support to Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s detractors should be next to the likes of the Neturei Karta and others who publicly oppose the Jewish State.

Groups supporting BDS may proclaim their support, but their actions speak louder than any words.

According to Beth Gilinsky, executive director of the National Conference on Jewish Affairs, â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is shocking that organizations actively promoting boycott, sanctions, and/or divestment from the Jewish State or other clearly anti-Israel agendas are allowed to march in the Salute to Israel parade. The sponsors and organizers of the parade can immediate-

The student musicians relished their experience. “It’s very important to get new perspectives on things you normally take for granted, like how to play a melody, how to touch the keys,” said Yevick, whose Rachmaninoff rendition garnered extra admiration from McMillen after Yevick confessed that he only started learning piano two years ago.

Rackovsky agreed. “There is pressure being in the hot seat, but it’s worth it to come away with a better musical understanding,” he said. 

ly stop enabling those hateful groups that are masquerading as ‘pro-Israel,’ by revoking their permission to march.”

The theme of the day is “Blue and White”—to unify support for Israel.

Multitudes of participants are there to celebrate and show support for the State of Israel. And that’s the way it should be. 

YU Musicians Perform At Master Class With Blair McMillen Three Yeshiva College student pianists had the opportunity to participate in a master class with accomplished professional pianist Blair McMillen on March 22 at the Schottenstein Center on the Wilf Campus. The event, which drew an audience of more than 30, was jointly sponsored by the Yeshiva University Classical Music Society (YUCMS) and the Yeshiva College music department.

The structure of the master class was as follows: each student performed one piece, after which McMillen, a Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard-educated musician, gave encouraging, incisive feedback on anything from volume to tempo to finger placement. Sometimes he even demonstrated a few bars of the music himself. The student then reassumed his place at the piano and implemented McMillen’s suggestions— often successfully.

Elia Rackovsky, co-president of YUCMS, coordinated the event. “I’m very proud to be part of this event and of how the YUCMS is instrumental in putting on events that . . . expose the YU student body to classical music,” said Rackovsky.

Rackovky was also one of the three students selected to play at the event

by Professor Noyes Bartholomew, cochair of the Yeshiva College department of fine arts and music. Rackovsky performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s French Suite no. 5, while Moshe Shulman played Beethoven’s Piano Sonata op. 31 no. 2 and Aaron Yevick, Elegie, op. 3 no 1

by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

McMillan, who has performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Moscow Conservatory and serves on the faculty of Bard College, noted the challenges of interpreting the works of different musicians. Earlier composers, like Bach, seldom marked their sheet music with indicators of desired loudness or tone. Beethoven, on the other hand, was incredibly specific. “Can we inject our own musical inspiration and personality into a piece that’s so loved and is considered holy writ?” mused McMillen about Beethoven’s works. “Yeah, I think so.”

McMillen described one particular strategy he employs when determining how to play a given piece. “I very often think of vocal music or of different instruments,” he said, emphasizing the usefulness of this approach with regard to volume.

Teaching master classes, said McMillen, enriches his own musicianship.

“Teaching in front of people affords me the opportunity to think about what I do subconsciously on my own . . . I learn more about myself as an artist, musician, and pianist by showing people how I think things should sound

HASC Center Inaugurates E-Works Program

Elia Rackovsky with Blair McMillen

than in a three- or four-hour practice session on my own . . . I’ll probably be all the better for it when I go back to practicing tomorrow morning after this master class.”

After answering some questions, McMillen treated the audience to a short, electrifying performance of “What the West Wind Saw,” a piece he described as “a wild-raging storm.”

E-Works, HASC Center’s new electronics recycling initiative, began operating this November. This program complements HASC’s other assembly and packaging job training opportunities.

“We’re just at the brink of this whole recycling market,” said HASC Center’s executive director, Shmiel Kahn.

“E-Works will help in protecting the environment while giving engaging work to the individuals who’ve been trained

Continued on Page 92

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Community News

self-worth. It allows individuals with developmental disabilities to become productive members of society. For Moshe, an e-Works employee, disassembling computers for a living taps into his own personal interests.

“I really like making my own money—it feels good,” said Chaim.

With NY State’s continually increasing recycling requirements and people’s growing interest in the environment, HASC Center’s e-Works holds growth potential.

“This is real work—and our individuals want to be busy. They don’t like downtime,” said Linda. “This new venture is really an opportunity for us to be innovative and help the environment.”

To learn more about e-Works and other programs, e-mail eworks@hasccenter. org or call 718 434-4027. 

Continued from Page 91 to perform this specialized work.”

Businesses and private individuals send their unwanted or obsolete electronics equipment to HASC Center to be recycled. The workers dismantle them and separate the various parts. The recycled pieces are shipped out to be further processed at recycling plants. As a zero-landfill project, e-Works responsibly recycles assets in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations. The program offers convenient drop off locations in the Boro Park, Flatbush, Williamsburg, and Sunset Park sections of Brooklyn with large quantity pick-up availability, and safe and secure handling.

Vocational Instructor Linda Raxenberg, who’s been involved with e-Works since the initial pilot, said the training process takes time and concentration, but it’s been “amazing to see it all come together.”

So far, 18 individuals with developmental disabilities served in HASC

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At the HASC e-Works program

Center’s Pre-Vocational and Supported Work Programs have been trained.

“The individuals are so focused. It’s great to see them in their chairs work-

ing—they really are enjoying their jobs,” she said.

Working and bringing home a paycheck creates a sense of confidence and

Whoever Is Hungry, Let Him Come And Eat: Ohr Meir And Bracha’s Pesach Lifeline

By Rochelle Maruch Miller Pesach is a holiday rich in symbolism.

From the Seder plate, to breaking the matzah, to welcoming Eliyahu haNanavi, each step described in the Hagadah symbolizes a Jewish event or value.

“Ha lachma anya, this is the bread of affliction that our forefathers ate in Egypt. Whoever is hungry, let him come and eat; whoever is in need, let him come and conduct the Passover Seder,” state the opening lines of Magid, recounting the story of salvation from slavery in Egypt. Although we cannot actually invite everyone to join us at our Pesach table, symbolically we are obligated to welcome anyone in need to participate in our Seder.

Poverty is far more rampant in Israel than anyone can imagine. Families who have suffered at the hand of terror find their livelihood jeopardized by constant visits to the doctor and therapists or by the absence of the family’s breadwinner ruthlessly murdered in an act of terror.

Although these families yearn to celebrate Pesach with all the requisite supplies and symbols, they lack the means to do so due to their dire circumstances.

As in the past, Ohr Meir and Bracha is heeding the call of these victims of terror as it provides a Pesach lifeline, enabling them to celebrate the chag in a dignified manner. Please refer to this exemplary organization’s ad in this issue of the 5TJT to view the collage of their Pesach price list, which will give you an overview of the astronomical expenses they face in helping to make this a true Festival of Freedom for victims of terror.

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.

Liora Tedgi’s family has been giving to Israel—both in terms of charitable assistance and personal sacrifice, for over half-a-century. In 2001, while pregnant with her second set of twins, she was injured in a car bombing in a residential Jerusalem neighborhood. After one of the twins died in the attack, Liora, a mother of ten, decided to establish Ohr Meir and Bracha Terror Victims Support Center, an organization that assists terror victims “who have fallen through

the cracks of Israeli bureaucracy. Eight members of Liora’s family have been injured or killed in terror attacks.

Liora’s childhood was one of suffering and poverty. “My mother worked from morning till night as a cook and also worked for the burial society,” Liora explained. “She grew up as an orphan, the eldest of the children, and raised her brothers and sisters. Although both of her parents were very sick, and there was never any money, my mother took care of everyone. I can still remember how, when the winter began, we went to our shed and put on hand-me-down shoes that didn’t fit. We wore them anyway. My mother would wear two pairs of socks and slippers.”

Despite these difficult times, Liora’s mother never wanted to ask for help.

“Her nature was always to help others,” Liora recalls. “Even today, she cooks meals as a chesed for 100 poor people in Jerusalem.”

For Liora, the worst part of being so poor was having to go to a place that distributed food. When she and her brother asked for eggs or vegetables they were given them grudgingly and felt terribly embarrassed. When they arrived home, Liora’s mother cooked the food and gave most of it to others who were even poorer than they were. She instructed them to bring the food quietly to other families in a way that would not embarrass them. One day she told her brother that when they grew up, they would create an organization to distribute food to the needy in a dignified way.

“I opened just such an organization soon after the car bomb attack in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood in Jerusalem,” she says. “It was February 8, 2001.

I was standing a few meters away from the car that blew up, and it was the hand of Hashem that saved me. I was in shock and couldn’t move. When I turned around, I saw utter devastation, the smell of burning I will never forget.”

Devastated, Liora realized she needed to channel her energy into something positive. “I promised Hashem that if He would give me another set of twins to love—I already had one set as well as the baby who survived the attack—I would establish an organization to help terror victims.”

From their own experience, Liora and her husband knew only too well that many families fall into a state of crisis while waiting for the medical files to be completed or their cases reviewed. Some families have to wait three years or longer. In one case, a 14-year-old boy was in danger of having one of his injured legs permanently shorter. “Had we not been able to raise the money to purchase a special apparatus for his leg, he would have had a terrible limp all his life.”

Ohr Meir and Bracha does not use lengthy evaluation processes. It does not have eligibility criteria other than verifying that the family is a primary or secondary victim of terror. This outstanding organization gives immediate assistance whenever possible in a plethora of ways to victimized families.

Please partner with Ohr Meir and Bracha by making Pesach a reality to families who are victims of terror. Support their noble endeavors by mailing your generous contribution to them at 455 Viola Road; Monsey, New York 10977. 

Accelerated Special-Ed Teachers’ Program At TTI A growing demand for special-education teachers is encouraging news for young men and women looking for a promising career with jobs waiting. To help prospective teachers take advantage of the opportunity, Testing and Training International (TTI) is offering an accelerated program leading to a bachelor of science degree, a master’s in special education, and ultimately New York State certification.

Students enrolled in the TTI undergraduate programs typically earn credits from their yeshiva or seminary backgrounds which are supplemented by taking exams in limudei kodesh subjects. TTI offers special classes to help the students meet requirements in English, math, and science. An important factor for students considering TTI is an exclusive tuition discount offered to Excelsior College enrollees of up to 75%, according to Mrs. Raizel Reit, director of Testing and Training International. Mrs. Reit emphasized the guidance and assis-

And that you differentiate between holy and the profane . . . and that you instruct the Children of Israel (Vayikra 10:10–11) This teaches us that one who has drunk wine is forbidden to render a ruling of Torah law.

(Rashi)

And Moshe heard this, and it was favorable in his eyes (Vayikra 10:20) Moshe was not ashamed to admit his error; he did not say “I did not hear this,” but said, “I heard it and I forgot it.”

(Talmud; Rashi)

He issued a proclamation to all the camp, saying: “I made an error in regard to the law, and Aharon my brother came and taught it me.”

(Midrash Rabbah)

There are seven things that characterize a boor, and seven that characterize a wise man. A wise man does not speak before one who is greater than him in wisdom or age. He does not interrupt his fellow’s words. He does not hasten to answer. His questions are on the subject and his answers to the point. He responds to first things first and to latter things later. Concerning what he did not hear, he says “I did not hear.” He concedes to the truth. With the boor, the reverse of all these is the case.

“He does not interrupt his fellow’s words”—this is Aharon, who though he had an answer to Moshe’s charge, waited in silence until Moshe had concluded speaking. “He concedes to the truth”—this is Moshe, who admitted that Aharon was in the right.

(Ethics of the Fathers; Avos d’Rabbi Natan)

Continued on Page 112

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Passover Wine Preview: Yarden & Gilgal Acclaimed

BY STEVE K. WALZ

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A group of internationally renowned celebrity chefs from the USA, South Africa, and beyond who recently flew into Israel to sample a variety of the Holy Land’s finest vintages during the course of the ISRAWINEXPO were positively bowled over by the impressive list of high-quality wines produced by the award-winning Golan Heights Winery.

“It was fun to watch some of these famous chefs come over to our booth, sample the various Yarden, Gilgal, and Golan Heights wines and witness the expression on their faces, especially popular Chicago chef Julius Russell, who has his own cooking TV show (Big Ten Network),” Udi Kadim, CEO of Yarden Inc. USA, revealed. “When Chef Russell tasted our 2008 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, his face took on a severe look.

Then he took a second sip and blurted out, ‘No, that’s impossible!’ He took a third sip, again made a face, got up and walked away. For a moment, I thought he went to a different winery booth in order to taste something else. But in reality, he went to clean his palate with a glass of water, came back, and told me, ‘This is the best Cabernet Sauvignon I’ve ever had in my life!’ He spoke about it in the same vein as one speaks about a fond childhood memory. He also sampled our 2007 Gilgal Cabernet Sauvignon, which he also loved calling a ‘truly vibrant wine.’”

Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon has been the company’s flagship for many years, having won numerous prizes in international competitions and was the first Israeli wine to make Wine Spectator magazine’s “Top 100 Wines” list. Kadim added, “We’ve been very lucky, because the Golan Heights region is like no other region in the world. We don’t really have ‘bad years.’ We are quite consistent with the quality of grapes that are grown and harvested every year, although every so often, we do have exceptionally good vintages.”

During the course of the ISRAWINEXPO, several celebrity Anglo chefs mingled with some of Israel’s top hotel chefs, who also tasted a variety of wines, including “single vineyard” 2006 Yarden Kela Merlot, 2007 Yarden Odem Merlot, along with the popular Yarden Mt. Hermon Red, as the Israeli culinary experts sought out a list of premium wines to serve the thousands of vis-

iting North American guests during the upcoming Pesach holiday. While a large number of five-star Israeli hotel lounges and dining rooms feature a mélange of Golan Heights Winery brands during the course of the year, Pesach represents the ultimate gastronomic challenge for Israeli hotel chefs, as they look to titillate the palates of their sophisticated clientele with nearly two dozen different culinary experiences (i.e., menus) over an eight-day period, including two Seders. Matching wines to menus is a culinary art.

All of the aforementioned wines are kosher for Pesach (“OK” hashgachah and Rabbi A.D. Auerbach) and are available at wine and liquor stores in the metro region. The “single vineyard” vintages are a bit more expensive and limited in numbers, due to their “boutique” quality. “We produce several Merlots, whose grapes are harvested from different vineyards. Even though it’s the same Merlot grape, the location and soil content will create a different wine character,” Kadim explained. “We invest a considerable amount of time and resources with the geological and meteorological aspects (oenologists call it the ‘terroir’) of winemaking. When our chief winemaker, Victor Shoenfeld, recognizes an exceptionally good vintage, Victor and his assistants will produce a ‘Single Vineyard’ wine from only one type of grape (Merlot etc.). We use advanced technology to understand the soil and the vine’s environment. There are over 300 single-vine blocs within our vineyards spread out over the Go-

lan region, where each one features its own characteristics. This is the equivalent of cultivating over 300 different boutique vineyards.”

According to Kadim, a visiting South African chef who relished the 2011 Yarden Mt. Hermon Red offered the ultimate compliment. Kadim recalled, “She said that the difference between a Golan Heights Winery product and many other leading wineries around the world was that most major wineries invest considerable effort, producing one or several quality ‘flagship’ wines, while the rest of their products are an afterthought and are not on the same level.

What she found with our wines is that she could identify how meticulous we are with each brand and vintage with no loose ends, which is a great compliment. We are proud of the fact that for the past three decades, we have set the standard for a new generation of highquality Israeli wines.”

Kadim has also discovered that Yarden and Gilgal wines have also had a positive impact on finicky American palates. “Undoubtedly, the Jewish American palate is becoming more sophisticated. There is a clear trend that Jewish consumers are learning to appreciate quality wine,” Kadim kvelled.

“There’s also a special pride for consumers to serve family and friends, especially during holidays like Pesach, a quality wine that was produced in the Holy Land and we are honored to be a part of this tradition.” For more information about Gilgal and Yarden wines, visit their websites at www.gilgalwines. com and www.golanwines.co.il. 

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Man Versus Machine Halachic Musings

BY RABBI YAIR HOFFMAN No, this article is not about Garry Kasparov’s chess match against IBM’s Deep Blue. The issue under discussion is something of far greater consequence. Can we fulfill the obligation of consuming matzah on Pesach with matzos that were baked by machine rather than by hand? And what about that soft, scrumptious-looking Syrian matzah, the kind that looks like a pita bread?

The History Ever since the Exodus from Egypt, Jews have been consuming matzos that were baked by hand. Then, in 1856, all of that changed, at least for some people. In Vienna, Austria, a Jewish baker created an international stir by introducing machines into matzah production. There was an earlier machine created in 1837, but that one did not stir up any controversy, perhaps because it did not automate as much as the latter version.

When the issue became known in Galicia, the controversy began. Rav Shlomo Kluger wrote a response about the issue to his student, Rabbi Chaim Nosson Dembitzer, the famous rabbi and historian in Cracow, and Rabbi Leib Horowitz, Cracow’s chief rabbi. The responsa are found in HaElef Lecha Shlomo (Hashmatos 32).

The War Begins Later, in 1859, Rav Kluger joined up with Rav Mordechai Zev Ettinger, the author of the Maamar Mordechai and together they published the Modaah L’Beis Yisrael where the two great luminaries categorically forbade the use of machine matzos and placed it under a ban. They gave a number of reasons

for forbidding it. Rav Ettinger’s brother-in-law and chevrusah, Rav Yoseph Shaul Nathanson, author of the Shoel U’Meishiv, was a world class posek in his own right.

Shortly after the printing of the Modaah L’Beis Yisrael, Rav Nathanson printed a booklet entitled “Bittul HaModaah” permitting the matzos. Needless to say, the chevrusahschaft with his brother-in-law, the Maamar Mordechai ended on a somewhat sour note. A 25year collaboration on dozens of great halachic works came to a tragic end be-

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feeling for whole or broken wheat kernels which is normally done by hand would no longer be performed. 4. He provided a sociological reason for the poor. Since the cost of matzos would lower considerably, people would no longer provide them with charitable contributions.

The Rebbes Get Involved

Another authority who permitted the matzos was the Ksav Sofer, the son of the famed Rav Moshe Sofer, known as the Chasam Sofer.

The Sanzer Rebbe, Rav Chaim Halberstam (Divrei Chaim, OC #23, and #24) agreed with the position that forbade the matzos. The Sogetchover, in Avnei Neizer (OC #537) also came out strongly against machine matzos and cited the Sanzer Rebbe as well as the Gerrer Rebbe forbidding it.

During the First World War, without consulting with the Munkaczer Rebbe, some members of the kehillah in Munkacz purchased machine matzos so that everyone would be able to fulfill the mitzvah of matzah. They did so out of concern for the wartime shortages which would have made matzah baking nearly impossible. In reaction to this, and based on the ruling of the Sanzer Rebbe, the Munkaczer Rebbe had these matzos burned on chol ha’moed as if they were chametz.

The Reasons For The Prohibition

The Mishnah Berurah’s Silence

What were Rav Kluger’s reasons for forbidding the matzah? There were four reasons for his strict ruling. 1. He felt the requirement of lishmah was lacking.

2. He was concerned for crumbs and leftover dough that would stick to the machines. 3. He was concerned that the

What is perhaps most shocking is that well after the advent of machine matzos, K’lal Yisrael merited the Mishnah Berurah, written by the posek of the era, the Chofetz Chaim. And yet the Chofetz

Based on the ruling of the Sanzer Rebbe, the Munkaczer Rebbe had these matzos burned on chol ha’moed as if they were chametz.

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cause of the argument.

Initially, the Maharsham of Brezen (Responsa Maharsham Vol. II #16) also issued a ruling permitting machine matzah, even for use at the Seder. This heter was based on the notion that the machinery required constant turning by human labor. Later, he rescinded the heter (Vol. IV #129) based upon the idea that the power was emanating from electricity and the human labor was merely a grama, a cause. The Divrei Malkiel, however, permitted it even with the electricity being the power source.

Continued on Page 98

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Halachic Musings Continued from Page 96 Chaim was strangely silent about machine matzos for use in the Seder. It was a debate that ripped at the heart of K’lal Yisrael, yet we have nothing from the Mishnah Berurah. Why the silence? It is, of course, a matter of record that the Chofetz Chaim used hand matzah. But why did he not even discuss the issue?

Additional Reasons To Forbid After the initial reasons forbidding the machine matzos, other poskim brought up other issues that were pertinent at the time. The machine’s motor was excessively hot and would heat up the matzah dough to the point of concern that it might cause it to become prematurely chametz. In the early machines, oil would actually drip out of the machines. Some of the dough that entered the oven caused the other dough attached to it to become halachically considered hot through the principle of cham miktzaso cham kulo. Some of the additional arguments might even seem to be a bit of a stretch. For example, matzos have to be round; square matzos are chukos hagoyim, and finally the last argument, that chadash—innovations—are forbidden from the Torah.

The Sole Real Issue Let us, however, look at the one issue that has withstood the test of time— the issue of lishmah. The Talmud (Pesachim 38b) quotes Rava that the verse in Sh’mos (12:17) which states, “And you

shall guard the matzah,” indicates that it is to be guarded [created] for the sake of matzos. The Gemara cites a breisa that would have allowed the use of the loaves of the Korban Todah or the rekikim offered by a nazir for use as matzah were it not for this derashah that it must be guarded for sake of matzah.

Based upon this Gemara, the Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 460:1) rules regarding the matzos that will be used for the Seder that we do not have these matzos kneaded by a gentile, by a deaf person, by a person without his faculties, or by a minor.

And while this may be true that there is a requirement to have matzah made completely lishmah during the Seder, what about the rest of Pesach? The Mishnah Berurah (460:2) cites a custom that the Children of Israel are holy and have the custom during the entire duration of Pesach to eat matzos that were prepared lishmah.

The Rashba, which is cited authoritatively by the Bais Yosef, rules that even if an adult Jew is standing behind the child or gentile and warns him to make the matzos lishmah, it is ineffective. Although the Ritva cites his rebbe, the Raah, that it may not necessarily be forbidden, the Pri Chadash rules like this Rashba, as does the Magen Avraham.

The Rosh, however, in Pesachim (2:26) rules that a Jew standing behind the gentile telling him to do it lishmah is effective.

Another issue comes into play, however. Some may argue that since the Jew is turning on the switch to the machine, it is counted as if the Jew has done it

himself. This is actually the subject of great debate. Some authorities are of the opinion that since the electricity is enabled through manpower—koach adam—only in the first moment of activity, then the fact that the electric current continues to flow by itself cannot be counted as if it is koach adam. [The Chazon Ish (O.C. Chapter 6), by the way, regarding another halachic issue, disagrees with the notion of it not being considered koach adam.]

One hurdle that must be overcome by the position permitting the machine matzos is how to distinguish this case with that of animal slaughter done with a blade attached to a water wheel, where the man just allowed the water to cause the water wheel to turn. The Gemara in Chullin states that such a slaughter is not effective.

We need to understand the underlying rationale for this Rashba. Why, in fact, does a Jew standing behind the child or gentile not help? Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank (Mikraei Kodesh 8:2:3) and the Minchas Chinuch (Mitzvah #10) both explain that a person cannot control what is in the hand of his friend.

This would present a problem regarding a gentile, a deaf-mute, one who has lost his faculties, and a minor. Rav Frank argues that it would not present a problem for a matzah machine. Thus, according to Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, the machine matzah would be acceptable even according to the Rashba.

However, there may be other explanations for the Rashba as well. One explanation might be that all intents must accompany an action. Here, the electricity

might be considered as a series of numerous actions. If this is the case, then the person’s intent may not be so connectable to all those actions made by the electricity. This is the explanation of Rabbi Ben Tzion Abba Shaul, zt’l, in Ohr L’Tzion (Vol I #5 and Vol. III #11).

This author would like to suggest that although the flow of electrons back and forth might be considered separate actions by separate identities, since each of these electrons are not visible to the eye, there is a vast distinction between the case of slaughtering the animal through the water wheel and our case. In our case the electrons cannot be seen, and therefore, it is a logical step to attribute the action to the person pulling the switch. If this argument is true, it may buttress the position of those who permit the machine matzah, even for the Seder itself.

Nonetheless, it would be proper, if possible, to fulfill this mitzvah in the manner that our forefathers have done and in a manner acceptable to most authorities.

Hand Matzos Have Changed It may be noted that those that permit the machine matzah may perhaps point out to those who insist on hand matzah that the hand matzos they eat are not the hand matzos of yesteryear.

Why? There seems to be a requirement for the harvesting and the grinding to be done lishmah as well (see Shulchan Aruch O.C. 453:4). Most of the drivers on

Continued on Page 104

What: Ages: 2, 3 and 4 year olds Camp dates: June 27th – August 21st Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9:00 AM-2:00 PM Friday: 9:00 AM-1:00 PM Fees: Early Bird: $1350 full/$675 half After April 18th: $1450 full/$725 half

Who: Do I call to register: Marni Polatoff – 516-295-0067 – days Avigayil Ginzberg – 516-295-7644 - nights Under the auspices of the Chofetz Chaim Torah Center

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YO U R A D COULD BE HERE! 516-569-0502 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

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SERVICES PROVIDED Experienced Rebbe available to learn any limudei kodesh subject with you or your son. References available.

917-842-2587, PrivateRebbe@gmail.com

Looking for full time office help. Time split between Canarsie, Brooklyn and Lawrence. Frum office, salary plus benefits. Please call Leizer at 718-927-1410 Ext. 227

Gemach special for simcha. We provide for you excellent speaker plus MP3 full of Jewish music, plus excellent mike system. Call 718-600-4559

End Of Summer Camp Positions! Looking for a fun and exciting way to end your summer? Come join Ohel Bais Ezra’s exciting end of summer sleep-a-way camp programs! Enjoy swimming, sports, karate, yoga, zumba, music, carnivals, dance, gorgeous outdoor campgrounds, and much more, all while making a difference in the life of a child or teen with a developmental disability.

Positions available include Group Leaders, Counselors, Lifeguards, Dining Room Staff, Nurse and Specialty Staff(music, art, sensory integration, dance, zumba, karate, sports, drama, and more) Boys sleep away Camp at Camp Kaylie: 8/23/12-8/30/12 Girls Sleep Away Camp at Camp Romimu: 8/23/12-8/30/12 For more information please contact Ruti: 718-686-3475 or camps@ohelfamily.org

Beautiful business-size cards with Kiruv websites, are available for free (to give to not-yet-Frum people).

Please text or call 718-501-2110 “Used or Abused” Before you buy a used car, come in for a free frame (structural) check. Precision Auto Body 691 Burnside Ave, Lawrence. 516-371-1137.

Friends don’t let friends drive junk!

Boro Park Ladies & Children Coat Gemach accepting gently used coats in excellent condition. Woodmere drop-off.

718-972-3699 Simchas Naava Share your simcha flowers! Be m’sameach other simchas! Donate your fresh flower arrangements! We will match your simcha date with simchas following yours or deliver them to nursing home residents. To donate or obtain flower arrangements call 516-239-6066 In memory of a special friend, Naava Wassner Katlowitz

Small beginners Siddurim, and Shabbos guidebooks, both in Russian, are available for you to distribute.

Please call Tashbar Publications at 718-438-9025 (leave message with address, IY”H we will mail them to you for free.)

Help Kosiner Bikur Cholim maintain their apartments near Manhattan hospitals. Sponsor a Shabbos as a z’chus. Donations accepted. Tax deductible.

347-924-4205 New Table and Chair Gemach for shortterm simchas. 740 Mador Ct., Far Rockaway.

Call 718-471-0368 G’Mach Chasdei Yisroel — Lending money to people in Klei Kodesh & for Klei Kodesh purposes. In the Far RockawayFive Towns area.

Please call 917-822-9910 for more info.

Or email shaimag@gmail.com.

In Memory of R’ Yisroel Ben Binyamin, a”h.

Personal Chavrusa available for learning and growing understanding the beauty of our Torah. Experience of many years in delivering shiurim to Baalei Batim and all those interested in learning. Reasonable hourly rate. This is a project of Kollel Tiferes Avos.

Call 718- 316-3874 or call Rabbi Dov Bressler 718- 327-8903. (Payments are tax deductible.)

Retired public school teacher available to tutor men and boys in Hebrew, English, and/or Yiddish in the 5 Towns.

Recession buster.

Call 718-552-5525 Study with Steve. One-on-one tutoring. SAT Math prep, regents, high school and elementary math, high school physics.

Call 516-371-5522 SBG Moving — Prompt, professional, and reliable moving service available for local & long distance moves. Lowest rates between NY and Lakewood. Small jobs welcome! We are insured! 347-276-7422 Menadvim — Furniture and Appliances. Like new to Donate and Receive.

Call 718-MEN-ADVIm (718-636-2384) We deliver.

Boro Park Ladies Hat Gemach accepting hats in excellent condition. Woodmere drop-off.

718-972-3699

HELP WANTED P/T P.M. elementary teacher. All girls Queens yeshiva.

Licensed, experienced and enthusiastic. E-mail resume to: ashapiro@byqueens.org Medicaid Service Coordinator — Work with individuals who have developmental disabilities and their families. Responsibilities include referral and advocacy, regular meetings with individuals and families, and assisting families with needs of the disabled child. Must have an Associates degree in a health or human services field plus at least one year working with persons with developmental disabilities.

Computer literacy, valid driver’s license, and own car required.

Full time or part time positions available. Ohel Bais Ezra, phone 718-686-3102, fax 718-851-6428, e-mail resumes@ohelfamily.org

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HELP WANTED

Looking for full time office help. Time split between Canarsie, Brooklyn and Lawrence. Frum office, salary plus benefits. Please call Leizer at 718-927-1410 Ext. 227 Teaching positions in expanding Far Rockaway boys’ school, grs 1, 2, & 4,Sept. ‘12, PM hours, M-Th. Experience required. Fax resume to 718-471-0925, e-mail Teachersearch11@gmail.com Wanted: Real Estate Sales Person Willing to Work Desk and Floor Time Provided For More Information Please Call 516-359-6741 Insurance office located on North Shore, Long Island looking for motivated sales producer. F/T. Licensed/ experienced a plus.

Call 917-868-4900 or e-mail ca1872@aol.com F/T experienced Salesperson with good computer & people skills, articulate, motivated, organized & energetic, for Queens car rental location Email resume to: jobsatusave@gmail.com Allstate Ins Agency in Hewlett seeking customer service and sales reps.

Insurance license & experience preferred. E-Mail resume and contact info to: dkievman@gmail.com Yeshiva seeking middle school General Studies teacher for ‘11-’12 school year. M-Th from 2:00- 4:30.

Please send your resume to teachersearch11@gmail.com

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE Cedarhurst — 7BR expanded and renovated col. 3.5bths, borders Lawrence, perfect for professional or M/D with permit.

Property 64x117. Low taxes. Priced right . . . . . . . . .$711K Agent 516-808-5927 For Sale/Rent. Wesley Hills — 1.2 acre colonial on culde-sac, great views. 4BR + 3 in finished basement. 3.5bths, 2-car garage. $619K No brokers. 347-927-6474 Lawrence — Co-op. New to market. Spacious totally renovated 1BR apt, gorgeous kosher kitchen, DA, large LR & BR, new bth, just bring your toothbrush and move in.

Low maintenance, great location. Sale or rent.

Call 5 Town Homes 516-569-5710 Thinking of Aliyah? Beautiful, comfortable home 7BR, office, large kitchen, DR, LR, 5bths, large basement for sale in Gush Etzion area. For details call 866-536-8789 Lawrence — Co-op. New to market. Spacious totally renovated 1BR apt, gorgeous kosher kitchen, DA, large LR & BR, new bth, just bring your toothbrush and move in. Low maintenance, great location. Sale or rent. Call 5 Town Homes 516-569-5710 KGH — 2BR co-op, first floor, gated complex with security, recently renovated kitchen and bath, near shuls, transportation, shopping, Queens College. Underground parking included. 347-673-9870 Cedarhurst — New construction. First show. Col. 9’ ceilings, 5BR, 2.5bths, full basement, on quiet tree-lined street. Call for details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$799K 5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710 Cedarhurst — Legal 2 family brick, all new, spacious, LR with fireplace, FDR, large kosher EIK, 3BR each apt, c/ac, new roof and gas heat. Each apt has w/d. Alarm, basement, great location, walk all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$739K 5 Towns Homes 516-569-5710 Hewlett — Beautiful 5 BR, 3 bths, split. All updated, in SD#14. Separate entrance can be M/D with proper permits.

Owner motivated, reduced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$449K 5 Towns Home Realty 516-569-5710

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE Woodmere — New Construction Classic 5BR c/h col.

Large property. Walk to YI of Woodmere and Aish . . $1M+ Old Woodmere — 3BR Colonial Charming on oversized property great block, walk to new shul.

Woodmere — Open House 9 Harvard Road — 12-2 PM Newly constructed, 6BR col. Grand 2 story entry foyer, custom kitchen, marble bath, radiant heat, every amenity. Must see! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1M+ Hewlett Neck — New construction located on spectacular 1/2 acre lot. 6BR, 2-story entrance foyer, 9’ ceiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1M+ Hewlett Neck — 1/2 acre, buildable lot, for sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$750K South Shore Estates 516-569-4980 Lawrence — Ours Alone!! Brick, C/H COL, Stately brick, w/ old world charm, Hi ceilings, 6Br, 4.5 bths, Kosher EIK, Lg. FDR, Library, Fin. Bsmt., Lg Prop., walk all.

5 TOWN HOMES 516-569-5710 Far Rockaway: Coop, 3Br, 1Bth Lr/Dr, Walk to All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $179K Call 516-322-3555 Woodmere Colonial For Sale 6 BR 3.5 Bath Col. Master suite w/ bath. Fin. Bsmt, BR, bath + more. Granite Kitch, all new appliances, Den with skylt, Fireplace, formal DR, A Gem! $649K 516-569-1684 Woodmere/Cedarhurst Oppty! 12,000 sq. ft. approx. 90’x150’, Colonial, 17 rooms, full bsmt. with hi ceilings, clean 2 car garage plus storage, 6 space parking, 2 family, professional use, accountant, Esq., medical and/or educational and religious uses. Grand colonial with charm and great possibilities. Available at once . $875K Negotiable.

Owner 516-322-3555

FOR RENT Bayswater — 1BR basement apt, fully furnished, newly renovated, 1bth, kitchen, small dining room. Perfect for couple. Electricity, heat, water, internet and cable included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $725 718-337-0724 Bayswater — House for Rent 5BR, 3bths. Like new. Great location on Healy.

E-mail Mrs_Ku@yahoo.com or call 516-554-8177 Classifieds by Luach.com Far Rockaway — New Construction, Central Air 3BR, Full 2Bths, Upper floor of 2 Family House. Asking. . .$1850 Call 917-337-6262, Yossi Miami Beach Fontainebleau Hotel — Magnificent 850 s.f studio ocean view Available for Pesach and Daily/Weekly Miami Beach Carriage Club North — Large one bedroom with kitchen and oversized living room Dining room available Pesach and Daily/Weekly 347-804-4666 Far Rockaway — Renovated! 3BR, New EIK, New gas, high-efficiency, large closets, off-street parking, yard, storage, hardwood floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1525 neg.

Lower level offices or apartment also available.

203-387-9991 Far Rockaway — 3BR apt. Excellent condition, central a/c & heat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1900 Call 631-273-5386 or 516-643-3874 Lawrence — Co-op rental. Totally renovated. Large 1BR, new kosher kitchen and bath, spacious LR & DR, great location, walk all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1450.

5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710

5 Town Homes 516-569-5712 Cedarhurst: NU 2 Mkt. Lg LR, DR, EIK, Den, 5BR, 3bth, Skilits, Cabana, Lg prop, IGPool, Walk to all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $659K

Cedarhurst — Houses for rent. 3BR-5BR homes in A1 condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2600-$3800.

Call for details. 5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710

Cedarhurst — Co-op. 1st Flr, large LR, FDR, EIK with new appliances, 2BR, 2bths, hw floors, Terrace. Views of Gdns, W/D, Lo maint, Grt. loca’n, Walk all.

Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$300’s or rent 5 Town Homes 516-569-5710

Cedarhurst — First show all new. 4+ BR, 2.5bths, LR w/ fireplace, granite kosher kitchen, FDR, 2 dens, basement, great location, walk all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3200 5 Towns Homes 516-569-5710

North Woodmere —Spacious Updated Woodmere 400. 11 rooms, 5BR, 2.5bth, EIK kosher, FDR, Den, Fireplace, Finished Basement, Office, New Roof, SD#15, 2-Car Garage, All-Sys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $735,000 Owner 516-717-8723 Oceanside — Brand new construction. Beautiful CH col. Large 4 BR (1 level), 2.5 bths, granite EIK, FDR, den with fp, full bsmt, in cul-de-sac, walk all, best price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $675K 5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710 Hewlett — Col. MIC, 4br, 2bth, 2fpl, full deck, wood flr, Lg. den. Walk to all. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$729K 5 TOWN HOMES 516-322-3555 Far Rockaway — 2 Family. All NU, 3 over 1 Bdrm, 3 full baths. Great Location . . . .$599K Call 516-322-3555 Inwood — New to market. Charming Victorian on quiet tree-lined street with water view. 7BR, great for large family. A must see! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$499K 5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710 Five Towns — Woodmere, Church Avenue Completely renovated CH colonial in 2004/05. Hardwood floors throughout. 8BR, 5 full baths, custom kosher EIK, stainless steel appliances, FDR, home office, full finished basement, kids’ game room & home gym and so much more. Asking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.5M For more information & virtual tour visit www.abcwoodmerehouse.com.

Call 516-640-8646, or e-mail moshry@hotmail.com Lawrence/Far Rockaway — Co-op Freshly painted large 2BR, 2bth, kosher kitchen, LR, FDR, terrace, 24-hour doorman, Shabbos elevator. Walk all. . .$279K 5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710 Lawrence/Far Rockaway — 833 Central Ave. Spacious 1 BR, light and bright, doorman/elevator building, walk all. Price reduced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$179K 5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710 Lawrence — Gracious brick c/h col. LR with fireplace, FDR, large EIK, den, 4BR (1 level), 3bth, finished basement, great location, quiet block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $895K 5 Towns Homes 516-569-5710

FOR RENT Lakewood, NJ — 13th Street & Forest Ave. — 1BR apt.

Best central location. W/D, includes all . . . . . . . . . . . . $950 Call 718-327-0269 or 917-495-0623

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FOR RENT Rockville Centre — 3,500 sq. ft., fully wired for Web, partitioned, will divide.

Call 516-322-3555 Cedarhurst — Office rental: Executive 2 Bths, Fully Web wired, 1,250 sq. ft., CAC. 5TGR 516-322-3555 Cedarhurst office for rent— 2 small offices on Central Ave. 1 flight up, C/H, C/A. Call owner 917-417-5725

MISCELLANEOUS The Ocean Corp. 10840 Rockley Road, Houston, Texas 77099.

Train for a New Career. *Underwater Welder.

Commercial Diver. *NDT/Weld Inspector. Job Placement Assistance. Financial Aid available for those who qualify. 1-800-321-0298 Wants To purchase minerals and other oil & gas interests. Send details P.O. Box 13557, Denver, Co 80201 Helping poor brides is a big z’chus to find a shidduch!

Donate to Yad P’sucha Hachnasas Kallah.

Call 718-972-3699 Yeshiva of South Shore has some membership openings in its burial society. By purchasing an individual, couple or family membership, you will be ensured of select plots in one of several New York area cemeteries of your choosing. For more information on burial society membership, contact Eliezer Allman at 347-417-3777 or ezerman@msn.com

LEGAL NOTICES

Hewlett — House for Rent. 4BR, 2bths, LR, DR, EIK, large yard, SD#14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2400 5 Towns Homes 516-569-5710

Your Real Estate, Service, or Help Wanted Ad Here Every Thursday 100,000 readers look forward to what’s happening in the 5 Towns by reading The Five Towns Jewish Times.

Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

1 Week . . . . . . . . . . $35 2 Weeks . . . . . . . . . $60 4 Weeks . . . . . . . . $100 Weekly Ads of up to 25 words

Call: 516-569-0502 Fax: 516-977-0608 Or E-mail ads to: 5TJTads@gmail.com Include payment info.

Cedarhurst — 2BR, 2bths, first floor, garden apt, LR, DR, EIK, terrace, prime location. Heat and water included 5 Towns Homes 516-569-5710 Lawrence — Coop Rental. 1BR. 1NU Bth, LR, DR, EIK $1,300 5Town Homes ** 516-569-5710 Cedarhurst — Garden apt. Nu 2 Mkt. Oversized 1BR, 1Bth, Mint, 1st Flr, heat & prk incld . . . . . . . . . . $1,600 5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710 Far Rockaway — Large, bright 3BR, 1.5bths apt in 2-family house. Great location off Reads Lane. Includes heat and parking.

5 Towns Homes Realty 516-569-5710 Far Rockaway — Lg. Hse Rental: 4br, 2bth, bsmt., hi-ceilings, NU bths, W\D. Call 516-322-3555 Hewlett — House for rent. Updated 3BR, 2bths, new EIK, SD#14, walk all. Available immediately . . . $2,600 Call 5 Towns Homes 516-569-5710 Cedarhurst — All updated charming Col. New granite EIK, FDR, LR with fireplace, 4+ BR, CAC, in the heart of Cedarhurst. Walk all.

Call 5 Towns Homes 516-569-5710

VACATION RENTAL Vacation Village 2 fl, 4 BR, LR, 3 new bth, playrm, WD, beautiful view. 516-967-8370 Alexander Hotel, Miami Beach — 2BR apt.

Breathtaking views, 2bths, southern exposure, 10th floor.

Available for Pesach. Priced right!

516-581-2058, 516-374-4001

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FOR SALE Income Producing Shopping Center for Sale in Sullivan County 100% Leased with Long Term Leases In Place & Additional Air Rights Available $1,900,000- 9.7% CAP Contact Yosef Katz @ 212-837-4629 or ykatz@gficap.com

NOTICE OF FORMATION: SONNEN BROTHERS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/30/2012. Office: Nassau County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 145 Central Ave, Lawrence, NY 11559. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Deadline for Classified Advertising in the next issue is Monday, April 16, at 5:00 PM Call 516-569-0502

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A Five Towns Simcha

Halachic Musings

PHOTO BY LARISSA STEELE

the combines that harvest the wheat grain are gentiles. True, there may be a Jew standing over him and demanding that the gentile perform his action for the sake of matzos, but this too is b’dieved.

The response to this is that although there is such a requirement, the requirement for harvesting and grinding lishmah is less than that of kneading and baking. Indeed, the Biur Halachah (beginning of siman 460) cites a debate between the TaZ and his father-in-law, the Bach as to whether the requirement is less and whether a Jew standing over the gentile would be sufficient. The TaZ permits it. Also, the requirement of grinding lishmah is such that the matzah is still kosher even if the requirement was not technically met (S.A. siman 453).

Continued from Page 98

The Chofetz Chaim’s Silence The bat mitzvah of Elisheva Maslow, daughter of David and Tamara Maslow of Far Rockaway, was held on Sunday, April 1, at Yeshiva of Far Rockaway. Mazal tov!

One last question remains. Why was the Mishnah Berurah silent? This au-

thor would like to suggest that at the time the Mishnah Berurah was written, the other underlying issues were still a factor and had not been adequately resolved. We can conjecture that as far as the lishmah factor, it seems likely that the Mishnah Berurah would have voiced his opposition to the matzos if he held that the lishmah issue was truly unbridgeable. He didn’t permit it at the time because it was still loaded with problems, and had he voiced his view it would have been used to permit all sorts of problematic matzos.

The wiser choice would have been silence—which the Chofetz Chaim did choose. The Chofetz Chaim was one of the wisest of the generation and Chazal tell us in Pirkei Avos, “s’yag l’chochmah shetika”—a good boundary for wisdom is silence.

••• This, then, may be the lesson of the matzah issue for Pesach. Matzah is called by the Zohar the “Bread of Emunah.” Emunah means belief and closeness to Hashem. Pesach is the time when we draw ever closer to Hashem, and this bond will hopefully continue with us throughout the year.

What about the Syrian matzah? Word has it that Rav Hershel Schachter permitted it. Rav Shmuel Fuerst, shlita, from Chicago, one of the foremost chareidi poskim in the United States, told this author that, in general, it is not our mesorah and should be avoided. However, if someone is ill, he or she can use this matzah if it does not touch anything hot and if it is not put in contact with water.

There are so many different types of matzos—machine, hand, Yuma Arizona, the important thing is to focus on our bond with HaKadosh Baruch Hu and, when any issue may arise that can divide us, to use the great boundary that Chazal recommended—silence.

May we all have a zissen Pesach.  The author may be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com.

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Traveling Light On Pesach

BY DR. RACHAEL SCHINDLER Jean Kerr once said, “I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on!” With summer just around the corner, many of us are making vacation plans. While going away is fun, traveling for some can be a food challenge since there is less access to the foods you need or like to eat, and people may think that they are on vacation from their diets as well. Getting to your destination may be stressful, as well, and your usual routine is disrupted, mealtimes may be irregular, and you may be exposed to a variety of tempting foods or drinks. To complicate matters, some individuals may find it relatively easy to keep up their healthy eating ef-

this information you can shop in any supermarket, order food wisely, and always have the right food on hand, wherever you go. You will have the knowledge—and the power—to eat well and be fit!

In order to understand nutrition you need to understand its parts. In simple terms, there are two types of nutrients: macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients—protein, fat, and carbohydrates—provide us with energy. Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals that are required to run the body, but they need to be consumed in relatively small quantities. Without the micronutrients, macronutrients could not be broken down and utilized by the body.

I will explore more of these nutrients in the coming articles, but now I will fo-

Our leaner ancestors had many fewer food choices and certainly did not go home to pantries and refrigerators packed with sugarladen snacks, soda, and assorted junk food.

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(OK, second-most-eligible bachelor, but what’s the

Find out on the smash-hit TV series forts for a while, only to slip up after a few days and gain weight! How do you relax on vacation without being too lax with your eating and fitness plan?

In previous articles I discussed many aspects of emotional eating. We use food to celebrate, reward good behavior (“I just exercised, so I can have that ice cream cone!”), stave off boredom, soothe hurt feelings, relieve stress, and elevate mood. Nature, however, intended for something completely different.

The primary function of food is to provide energy to fuel all bodily functions, including walking, thinking, maintenance and repair of cells, and heartbeat.

Nature is not optimized for the recreational eating common in the 21st century!

Our leaner ancestors had many fewer food choices and certainly did not go home to pantries and refrigerators packed with sugar-laden snacks, soda, and assorted junk food. In the early 20th century the typical local grocery store stocked a few dozen staple items; today there are more than 50,000 varieties of food sold in supermarkets. But more isn’t necessarily better. There’s row upon row of chips, sugar-rich cereal masquerading as breakfast, and endless amounts of cakes and cookies. Not to mention all the fast-food restaurants selling high-fat, high-calorie, supersized meals.

A major pitfall to dieting and eating healthy today is that food is over-abundant and easily available. Our survival and our belt size depend on our ability to become discriminating food consumers. In this article I will give you the tools you will need to make good food choices wherever you eat. Armed with

cus on protein: lean meat, chicken, eggs, fish, tofu, and cheese, which is only 4 calories per gram and approximately 7 grams of protein per ounce. The word protein dates back to the ancient Greek word protos, which means “first.” They got it right! Protein is vitally important and it is literally the stuff from which we are made. During digestion, protein is broken down into smaller units called amino acids which combine in various ways to form cells and body tissue. Amino acids can also provide energy if the body needs it, but unlike carbohydrates, they don’t produce a spike in insulin.

In total, there are 22 different amino acids. Fourteen of these can be made by the body itself and are considered “nonessential.” The other eight amino acids can be obtained only through food and are called “essential.” Proteins derived from animal sources (meat, eggs, cheese, even fish) are considered complete and contain all 8 essential amino acids.

Only a handful of plant foods have all the essentials—they include soybeans (edamame) and soy foods. Most plant sources of protein, such as legumes and nuts, contain some but not all of the essential amino acids. Vegetarians must complement foods in order to form “complete” proteins (e.g., rice and beans together will give you all eight essential amino acids).

So, now that we see how necessary protein and good nutrition is, how do you balance the endless opportunities on vacation to either strengthen your resolve not to overindulge, or to just give in and splurge?

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Five Towns Simcha

PHOTOS BY NAOMI COHEN OF GLAMOROUS PICS

PHOTO BY JEFF NECKONOFF

The bat mitzvah of Molly DiGiacomo, of Oceanside, was celebrated on March 15 at Shaaray Tefila, with catering by Meisner’s and DJ entertainment by Jeff Neckonoff of Azamra Music. Molly is a student at HALB. Mazal tov to parents Chaya and Frank, siblings Jason and Jacob, and the entire family!

Remember that article?

Visit our archive section and find any issue of the 5 Towns Jewish Times online @ www.5TJT.com

Ayelet Nussbaum, daughter of Tsippy and Stuie Nussbaum of Cedarhurst, celebrated her bat mitzvah at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov on March 25. Ayelet is a student at Shulamith. Music was provided by Danielle Jacobs and photo favors by Naomi Cohen of Glamorous Pics. Mazal tov!

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Traveling Light Continued from Page 105

Adapting To Different Scenarios In my view there are two types of trips: One, where there is a dizzying array of delicious foods being offered at a resort/hotel, where you have to skip food offerings because otherwise you would literally be in the dining room (or tea room) all day (or even at a midnight buffet). The other, where you go out to nice local restaurants for meals, or bring your own prepared ones, and make do with snacks you pick up anywhere (airport, candy store, etc.) along the way.

In the first scenario, where there is an overabundance of food, it is important to know your menu and plan which meal you would want to indulge in.

Some prefer a large breakfast, (eggs, pancakes, fruit), or a large lunch (salad, fish, quiche), or dinner, (soup, steak, veggies, potatoes), and even a dessert! One dessert a day, max! Either one whole dessert, or bites of a few that in total would be equal to one. I advise to get the menus for lunch or dinner in advance,

since breakfast is usually the same every day, and figure out which meal is most worth it to you.

Make sure you fill up on healthy salads without all the hidden calories and fat from dressings. Ask for balsamic vinegar and a little oil, and mix in some salt and pepper. Then eat what you planned. Try to make veggies and then protein your biggest staple. However, if you want to indulge in a yummy pasta dish or something that is more laden with fat, like eggplant parmigiana, go ahead. Just lighten up the rest of the day or just eat half the portion and fill up with free foods like steamed veggies or salad beforehand.

Don’t forget to stay hydrated and drink all day long (it helps your metabolism get revved up). Take a water bottle with you everywhere or add a Crystal Light pouch to it for flavor. Avoid tea rooms in the afternoons if you can’t help but eat the cake when you see it.

Have a family member bring you a plate of fruit or some nuts (not a cupful, and not the chocolate-covered kind). Let’s face it; if you don’t see it, you don’t want it, and there’s plenty of food to eat during the meals.

I always pack with me baby carrots, light yogurt, chummus, and bran crackers as a light snack just to have ready in my room. If you are the type to order one of every main dish just to taste, make sure you consume only one complete meal. That means, cut portions off the mains to visually total only one plate. If you do wind up eating an unplanned food, don’t use it as an excuse to continue eating. Just remember, if you overeat at the beginning of your trip you might gain a little weight, but if you continue to overeat, you might gain a lot of weight.

Sometimes it’s worth the caloric and fat expenditure to taste a delectable food (for example, croissants in Paris), so enjoy in moderation and allow yourself to taste, but don’t have the mindset that you “cheated” and blow away all self-control. Taste, enjoy, and stop. Remember, you can’t “treat” yourself every minute all day. You would never give treats to your kids all day, either!

In the second scenario, where you eat as you go, the best advice is to not go too long without eating; otherwise, as studies have shown, you are more like-

ly to overcompensate at meals. You must pack snacks with you just in case you get tied up, you are touring, or even get lost and there’s no food in sight. From home, I pack some sugar- and fat-free mini muffins, low-fat all-natural peanut butter, tuna packets, and sugar-free jelly on every trip. I find that when you go out of the country it’s much harder to find light/diet foods, so I bring my favorites.

When I arrive at my destination, I check out a local supermarket and stock up on fruit and veggies such as cherry tomatoes, Persian (no peel) cucumbers, as well as nuts and dairy (yogurt), which are easy to eat and/or carry. I eat something small—usually something high-protein, which lasts longer—approximately every three hours to keep me going. In restaurants, try to just taste (not eat) the rich dishes or appetizers, and eat your snacks, such as baby carrots, before you go, so you are not starved.

I like to eat a light breakfast, such as an egg and two whites with cucumbers/ tomato and coffee. Lunch is easy with any one of the veggie burgers you can buy frozen. They are fully cooked and don’t need heating up. Frozen dinners from home can be ordered light, too, with yummy Portobello mushrooms or grilled veggies as a great side dish. Or, for the restaurant diners, the rule is, eat smart for your heart! Enjoy your protein-laden meal and eat starches or fried foods sparingly. Try not to eat too late, and chew gum or suck on candy as often as your sweet tooth knocks. A glass of wine a day is OK too—it works for the French and is rich in antioxidants.

Aside from food choices, choose to be active some of the time. If you’re at a resort, take a great yoga class or have fun working out with your spouse. If you are not skiing or snorkeling, find a way to move for at least an hour a day (aside from walking to and from the dining room). You don’t need fancy equipment, so walking or jogging on the boardwalk is a super way to increase your fat burn and calorie expenditure (as well as your tan)! As Zig Zagler once said, “People say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”

Last but not least, sleep! Studies have shown that sleep loss alters hormones that control hunger and increase appetite for calorie-dense foods such as cookies, candy, chips, and bread. A study from the National Public Health Institute in Finland found that sleep disturbances and lack of exercise increased the risk of abdominal obesity in men and women. So, whether you watch what you eat, exercise moderately, or take a nap, the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that you will feel that you didn’t pack on another ten pounds along with the luggage is priceless! As one of my clients always says, “Nothing tastes better than not gaining!”  Rachael E. Schindler, Ph.D., is a psychologist, founder of Quick N’Lite.com gourmet meals delivery, noted lecturer and author, certified pediatric and adult nutrition counselor, certified personal trainer, and group fitness instructor and Pilates master for over 20 years, practicing in Cedarhurst and Manhattan. She specializes in fitness, food, and behavioral issues for both children and adults. She can be reached to order, for an appointment, or for comments at Teichbergr@aol.com or 917-690-5097.

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Netanyahu: Security Forces Had To Evacuate Hebron Settlers

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Following harsh criticism of Defense Minister Ehud Barak by Likud ministers over the evacuation of a Hebron house on Wednesday, senior officials in the prime minister’s office said that the evacuation was carried out after careful coordination between the defense minister and the prime minister.

Nevertheless, Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides went on the defensive against rightwing criticism and said that the prime minister had no choice but to approve the evacuation out of security and legal consideration.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also criticized Barak on Wednesday, saying authority over issues regarding settlements in Judea and Samaria must be taken out of Barak’s hands and given to a committee of ministers. Lieberman even suggested that if no changes are made in this respect, the coalition’s stability may come under threat.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli security forces evacuated Israeli settlers from the house in a Palestinian neighborhood in Hebron, in a surprise move that ended an affair that sparked controversy across Israel and caused a rift in the government.

The IDF said that the evacuation of the settlers, who resided in the house for more than two weeks, was completed “without any unusual events.”

Lieberman’s criticism of Barak echoed comments made earlier on Wednesday

by Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who said that Barak must be stripped of all authority over West Bank settlements.

“Ehud Barak is acting against the government and against the settlements in Judea and Samaria, all he is doing is fanning the flames,” Ya’alon said Wednesday during a closed discussion.

“It is imperative to check that the settler’s documents of sale are not counterfeit. If it turns out that they are in order, the purchase must be approved and the settlers allowed entry. This is not a national or defense issues, the property rights need to be checked. Why does the defense minister claim that such a check will take weeks when it can be done in a few days?” said Ya’alon.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak fired back at Ya’alon on Wednesday, claiming that the deputy prime minister is making comments against him out of political considerations.

“Unfortunately, Minister Ya’alon is combining cheap political concerns with defense decisions, harming the government’s ability to protect democracy and law and order,” officials close to Barak said. (Haaretz) 

Choosing Life Insurance

JOSH POST & AVRUMI FLAM

BY DONNY FEIN What life-insurance options are best for you and your family?

Contrary to popular belief, it is not only possible but also easy for anyone living abroadâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether or not they are a U.S. citizenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to purchase an American life-insurance policy that provides total coverage overseas, including death resulting from terrorism or acts of war.

So whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the advantage of an American policy over an Israeli one?

An American life-insurance policy is ďŹ xed. That means that if you buy in at a young age, the price will stay incredibly low for the entire term period. In contrast, Israeli policies go up in price every year until age 75â&#x20AC;&#x201D; making them drastically more expensive in the long run.

In the United States, a 20-year term life-insurance policy of $540,000 with an American AM Best rated A+ life-insurance company for a healthy 30-year-old male will cost $37 per month, or $404 annually. This price is ďŹ xed for 20 years and will never increase or require any renewal questions until the end of the term. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a huge savings over the course of 20 years when compared to an Israeli policy.

A typical Israeli policy is a oneyear renewable term policy with no option to convert to permanent insurance and can only be renewed up until age 75. It will cost a healthy 30-year-old male roughly $42 per month or $499 for the year. Each year the policy goes up so that at the age of 40, the policy will cost him $637 per year. When he turns 50 it will cost him an annual rate of $1,728, and at 60 a whopping $5,147 for the year!

Since the price of an American policy gets locked in for the duration of the policy, it pays to buy at the youngest age possible. It is also possible to get much higher coverage with no greater effort. All it takes is a simple medical exam on your next visit to the Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s it for the next 20 or 30 years. At your convenience, a medical practitioner will come to you at no cost. Furthermore, with an American policy you will also have the option to convert it to permanent whole-life insurance, if desired.

Your annual statements will then be mailed to an address in the U.S. Death beneďŹ ts are taxfree in both Israel and the U.S.â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even have to be an American citizen to qualify! ď ś

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Community News Continued from Page 93 tance students receive: “Students who enroll at TTI are immediately assigned an adviser who follows their progress from mapping out their curriculum to helping them meet prerequisites for a master’s program.” Once students complete their bachelor’s degree, they may immediately be eligible for new, highpaying positions.

The TTI master’s program offers valuable hands-on fieldwork experience such as supervised assessment and remediation, as well as the opportunity to deliver lessons in a classroom setting under the guidance of an experienced instructor. TTI students benefit from a mentoring program where students are assigned a personal mentor to offer support and assistance in developing skills and competence in the classroom. In addition, TTI offers a supportive telephone hotline that is available six days a week.

Full-time master’s students in the women’s program attend classes one day a week while men meet two evenings a week. This allows students to maintain a job while going through the program. Students can earn temporary state certification (Transitional B) as early as eight weeks into the program, offering them the opportunity to obtain professional positions while completing the program.

The program offers students the option of choosing either childhood education (grades 1–12) or early-childhood education (birth–grade 2) with

the possibility of receiving certification in both areas. TTI students have made their mark as classroom teachers and assistants, P3 providers, SEIT instructors, early intervention instructors, Head Start teachers, pre-K teachers, resource-room teachers, and inclusion class teachers. Graduates are eligible for New York State certification in both special education and general education.

According to sources in the Jewish educational network, there is a shortage of special-education teachers in yeshivos. Special-education teachers earn approximately $33,000 up to $78,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

People working in early-childhood programs may be eligible for loan forgiveness under the federal student loan program. Teachers who have been teaching full-time for five consecutive years in grades pre-1A through grade 12 or in other early-childhood settings for ten years may be eligible for the loan forgiveness. In many communities, graduates can work for agencies like Catapult and Tree of Knowledge and still be eligible for the loan forgiveness program.

Students enrolled in the special-education master’s program receive a wellgrounded, firm foundation that allows them to take advantage of many rewarding careers and job opportunities.

TTI students have a reputation for being well-prepared for their positions as a result of the high-level coursework and guided fieldwork experience. Many

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TTI students have landed jobs with some of the nation’s most prestigious employers.

Testing and Training International (TTI) was founded in 1996 as a comprehensive flexible educational program designed to help Orthodox Jewish students earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree from accredited institutions without compromising their religious principles. Since its founding, TTI has serviced more than 3,500 undergraduate students and 2,000 graduate students. 

Met Council Towers VI Provides 78 New Units Of Affordable Housing For Seniors The shortage of affordable housing for seniors in New York City is more evident than ever before. Many needy seniors are living on low annual incomes and are finding it increasingly difficult to cover their monthly rent. Affordable housing options for seniors have fallen by the wayside due to recent federal, state, and city budget cuts, and this population is slipping through the cracks.

Met Council, a leader in poverty alleviation, receives thousands of eligible applications for each of its senior housing projects.

In response to this urgent need, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman John Rhea, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua, New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Marc Jahr, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Deputy Regional Administrator Mirza Orriols, and Enterprise Deputy Director Victoria Shire joined Met Council to celebrate the opening of Council Towers VI in Queens on February 21.

This building is the sixth in a series of completed senior housing buildings created to serve as supportive affordable housing for New York City residents 62 years of age and older. Council Towers VI is located at 155-25 71st Avenue, between Kissena and Parsons Boulevards in Flushing.

“NYCHA is proud to partner with Met Council, HUD, HPD, and HDC. This is an excellent example of how all of us— government agencies and nonprofit organizations—can combine our unique strengths and resources to better serve New Yorkers,” said NYCHA Chairman John B. Rhea. “This development for our senior population shows how working together, even in tough economic times, we can find innovative solutions to meet the demand for affordable supportive housing.”

Council Towers VI was developed under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan (NHMP), a multibillion-dollar initiative to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers by the close of the 2014 fiscal year. To date, the plan has funded the creation or preservation of over 129,200 units of affordable housing across the five boroughs—12,500 of which are in Queens, with 2,598 units located in Community District 8 (which contains Council Towers VI).

Council Towers VI is an eight-story building with 77 one-bedroom rental units and 1 unit reserved for an on-

site superintendent. A full 25 percent of the units have a preference for existing NYCHA tenants. All units have a senior preference for tenants age 62 and older. The units will be available to tenants earning no more than 50 percent area median income (AMI) or $28,650 for an individual. This building was developed under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 202 program. The tenant’s rent will be set at 30 percent household income.

“New Yorkers, indeed all Americans, are living longer, and as a society we have to better prepare for their needs as they grow more vulnerable and frail,” explained William E. Rapfogel, Met Council CEO and executive director. “By helping our clients find a secure, safe, and stable place to live, we empower them to have a better quality of life. We are so grateful to HUD, the Housing Authority, HPD, HDC, and other government agencies and elected leaders that support our mission of bringing affordable housing to communities in need.”

Residents of Council Towers VI have access to a variety of onsite services.

Management staff will provide case management, benefits, and entitlements advice and advocacy as well as onsite education and recreational activities. An experienced social worker will serve as a support service coordinator.

Staff will be equipped to refer tenants to offsite licensed health care agencies to provide home care, adult day care, hospital services, medical education, and nursing home options. Additional onsite services include Meals-On-Wheels, housekeeping assistance, counseling, and recreational trips. Through the New York State Department of Transportation, Met Council provides transportation for the elderly to essential appointments and recreational outings.

The site of Council Towers VI was provided by NYCHA. HDC provided construction financing in a HDC First Mortgage amount of $10.2 million. The HDC First Mortgage will be paid down at conversion and is not counted in the total development cost. The total development cost of the project is nearly $20 million. HUD provided funding under Section 202 in the amount of $11.16

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million as well as a HUD Predevelopment Grant of $397,000. HPD provided approximately $1.8 million through the federal HOME Loan program, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board of New York contributed $770,000 in permanent financing. Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LITHC) in the amount of approximately $5.8 million will be provided through Enterprise Community Partners. 

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Pre-Pesach Learning At MAY

Scenes from the Mesivta Ateres Yaakov annual pre-Pesach Yarchei Kallah

Remember that article?

Visit our archive section and find any issue of the 5 Towns Jewish Times online @ www.5TJT.com And every earthen vessel into which any of them fall . . . shall be unclean (Vayikra 11:33) If the source of impurity enters within the space of an earthen vessel— even without touching its walls—it becomes impure.

If it did not enter into it, even if it touched it from the outside, it remains pure.

With all other utensils, the opposite is the case: entering within them alone does not make them impure, while touching any part of them does.

(Talmud, Chulin 24b; Rashi)

The worth of a utensil of wood or metal is not only in its function as a container—the material of which it is made also has value. So contact with any part of it, including its outside surface, affects its ritual state. On the other hand, an earthen utensil, whose body is mere earth, has value only as a container; accordingly it is affected only by what happens to its inside. Indeed, its inside is therefore even more susceptible to contamination than that of other utensils.

Man is an earthen vessel (“And G-d formed man out of the dust of the earth, and He blew into his nostril a living soul”—Bereishis 2:7). His worth lies not in his material exterior, but in its content. He should therefore regard as significant only what pertains to his inner self.

(The Rebbe of Kotzk)

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letters to THE EDITOR Skelos Honor Undeserved Dear Editor, A bit late, I wish to voice my strong disagreement with the honor given State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos at the recent Agudath Israel of America legislative breakfast in the Five Towns. While Skelos has been a strong ally of the Jewish community, to praise him for his stance against same-sex marriage is to blur the role he played in passing that ignominious legislation.

It is true that Skelos personally opposed the gay-marriage bill; however, he did everything in his power to allow the bill to come up for a vote, despite the fact that he knew it would pass. In-

deed, the mechanism employed during the week leading to the vote, in which a show was made of stalling the bill while at the same time paving the way for the Senate to vote on it at the last minute, was deplorable. And it is Skelos who must take the blame.

Here was a vote to undermine thousands of years of Jewish and Christian morality. Yet instead of standing for tradition, Dean Skelos chose to play both ends, voicing opposition to the bill while assuring its passage. This sort of politicking deserves scorn, not praise, and who knows how much New York will eventually suffer because of it.

Avi Goldstein

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The Message In The Matzah

BY YOCHANAN GORDON The late posek ha’dor, Reb Moshe Feinstein, zt’l, has been quoted as saying that the phrase “it’s difficult to be a Jew” damaged many Jews and prevented them from realizing their spiritual potential.

The truth is, being Jewish is not difficult. But those who feel for one reason or another that it is are perhaps in pursuit of what they perceive to be Torah and mitzvos, but which in reality is very far from it.

I am not of the stature or in the position to offer words of remand or rebuke. The truth is that rebuke coming from the wrong source could do more damage than good and is better left unsaid. However the very opposite is true regarding mussar from those who are in the position and respected enough to convey it. Case in point are the words of rebuke that I recently heard in the name of the late Steipler Gaon, Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky. The Steipler used

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to say that there used to be a concept known as Taryag Mitzvos. Today, however, it has been redefined as Taryag Ba’ayot (problems or inconveniences).

Chassidic literature expounds at length regarding the value of preparing for a mitzvah. Many go so far as to suggest that the preparation for a mitzvah is even greater than the performance of the mitzvah itself. The rationale behind this is based on the concept that we could only gain from Torah and mitzvos as much effort as we put into it. So if we put extra effort and concentration into preparing for a mitzvah then its performance is complete, and the opposite is true as well. The tension that is sometimes generated in preparation for a Shabbos or Yom Tov usually concerns a detail, that has very little to do with the Mitzvah itself.

Let’s take a chasunah as an example.

Tosafos in Meseches Kesubos on Daf Beis writes that practically every marriage contract comes along with problems.

However, if we study each case on its

own, it will emerge clear that the problems are caused by the insignificant details which exist on the periphery. The Toldos Yaakov Yosef of Polonoye, a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov writes, “Essentially a wedding is a very simple process where the groom gives the bride a ring in the presence of two valid witnesses and recites, ‘behold you are betrothed to me with this ring in accordance with Moshe and Israel.’ The disputes and disagreements regarding the hall, the orchestra, the caterer, the invitations, or the level of involvement of any of the parties involved have nothing to do with the wedding. Any time Jews congregate to do something holy or to glorify the name of G-d in the world, the Yetzer Ha’ra is there working overtime to make something go wrong.”

The same applies to our lives and the performance of Torah and mitzvos. With this we could also explain the Gemara which asserts that it is better for one to go to a funeral than to participate in a wedding celebration. Essentially all of our lives are part of one long wedding ceremony where G-d, the groom, wants to be bound with the Jews, his

bride. Reb Chananya ben Akashia said G-d wanted to reward the Jews so he gave them the Torah and many mitzvos. When a Jew embraces a mitzvah with joy and performs it with concentration and devotion, undisturbed by all the obstacles that get in the way, he has essentially bound himself with G-d and has become betrothed to Him. However, the giddiness and celebratory atmosphere at the wedding sometimes pulls at us from the wrong angles and we in turn lose focus of why we are there in the first place.

A funeral, by contrast, leaves little room for disturbances. Every participant realizes with unmistakable clarity that this is where creation meets its Creator. Had Adam, the first man been obedient to the one mitzvah that G-d had commanded him, that union would have happened almost immediately and the purpose for creation would have been fulfilled. Today, 5772 years after creation, we are still trying to get it right. We have to view each mitzvah as an opportunity to fulfill G-d’s will in creating the world and be undeterred towards achieving that goal.

Perhaps the law of refraining from chametz on Pesach symbolizes the importance of focusing on the essence of life and not getting caught up on the glitz and glitter on the periphery.

Chazal call matzah the “bread of faith.”

Matzah comprises the fewest ingredients possible—only flour and water—and is stripped of the extraneous substances which on a regular day are sometimes viewed as the main ingredient. On Pesach we get to experience life at its most organic level. The Maharal in Gevuros Hashem writes that the fruit juices and yeast, which is normally added to the bread mixture, in a sense symbolize our subservience and dependence on others. Pesach, the holiday in which we celebrate our liberation from Egypt, has to epitomize this ideal way of living for the sake of G-d and not the other unimportant details which continuously vie for recognition and importance.

In the writings of the Arizal and the Sifrei Kabbalah it says that the purpose of our enslavement in Egypt was to atone for the sin of Adam HaRishon.

The Arizal writes, “Those who in Egypt were cast into the river were born from the seed which Adam wasted during the 130 years that he separated from Eve.” Perhaps, if we would zero in this Pesach on the message in the matzah, and internalize it as we consume it, we will no longer have to suffer the loss of life as the clarity of purpose in the fulfillment of each mitzvah will be done in manner where G-d’s purpose in creating this world will be realized.

A kosher and happy Pesach to all. 

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