jlbc #42

Inaugural Annual Guide to Bergen County Coming Fall 2014!

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OF BERGEN COUNTY Issue #42

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

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Aug 1 | 5 Av - Parshat Devarim Light Candles: 7:55 - Shabbat Ends: 8:58

Foiling the Rosh Hashanah Surprise

Stop the Sirens: Federation Rallies for Israel

By Lawrence A. Franklin/ Gatestone Institute

By Stephen Tencer

DF excavation of the tunnels has resulted in the seizure of tons of Hamas supplies as well as the discovery of plans for future operations.

Hamas had apparently been preparing a murderous assault on Israeli civilian tar- An IDF paratrooper officer emerges from a Hamas

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cross-border tunnel that his unit discovered, July 20, 2014. (Image source: IDF)

All-Volunteer CSS Works to Secure Community from Within

By Elizabeth Kratz, with additional reporting by Benjy Kleiner and Yanky Krinsky

nglewood—Searching the blocks around Englewood’s BergenPAC Theater for a parking space, JLBC saw scores of Jews hurrying from wherever they had left their vehicles to get to a special rally called by the Jewish Federation of North Jersey (JFNNJ) and 60 area synagogues, over a dozen Jewish day schools, and two dozen of the area’s other major Jewish organizations.

By the 7 p.m. starting time, there wasn’t an empty seat in the orchestra floor and people rushed to fill the balcony. Later arrivals filled overflow rooms in the theater, and when they were full, hun-

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dreds of others stood on Van Brunt Street in front of the theatre. Toward the end of the program, Jason Shames, JFNNJ CEO announced the unofficial crowd estimate at 2,200 people, consisting mostly of the community’s Jews, and also members of interfaith groups. No one could remember seeing such a huge crowd at any Federation event in the last 40 years.

The idea and planning for the rally began earlier in the week.

Joy Kurland, long-standing Exec.

Dir. of the Federation’s JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council), and many other Federation

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Rabbi Zev Goldberg to Lead Young Israel of Fort Lee

By Robert Cordas

eaneck—Now more than ever, the Jewish community faces acute security challenges. With Israel under fire and anti-Jewish violence in Paris making headlines this week alone, the Jewish community continually seeks solutions to protect its members and keep David Dabscheck (CSS President) with

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Michael Wildes and Fred Horowitz (CSS Team Member).

Start-Up Life: Part I

By Yali Elkin I’ve been asked to write about starting up a technology company.

I should preface this by disclosing that I am, to some extent, learning as I go.

Much of what I’ve done right has been thanks to helpful advisers, both professional and otherwise.

I should also note that a lot of my mistakes key learnings have been through trial and error. Very often, there’s no better way to learn what works than by trying. That’s

one benefit of a technology company: you don’t have to build a whole factory to see what works.

But much of it applies to businesses in any field, so if your dream is more old-economy than new, this still may help.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s back up for a moment.

My brother-in-law once told me that, if you’re thinking of opening your own restaurant, start by slipping the maître d $50 every time you eat there. You’ll get treated like an owner and it will cost far less. If you still want to do it,

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ort Lee—Just before Sukkot, Rabbi Zev Goldberg, a Teaneck native, will join the Young Israel of Fort Lee as senior rabbi.

Rabbi Goldberg, his wife, Rebbetzin Dr. Michal (née Safier) Goldberg, and their two children, Meira and Yakir, lived in Beverly Hills since 2010, where he served as the assistant rabbi of Young Israel of

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CONTINUED ON P. 20

Rabbi Zev Goldberg and his wife Michal.

Teaneck TBO 8U Summer Finishes First aseball season didn’t end in the spring for a group of determined and committed Teaneck boys playing summer travel baseball in the 8U division. The near daily practices and games for the past six weeks have resulted in an amazing 11-1 record in the Paramus Summer Tournament and a firstplace team finish in the regular season. The condensed schedule and more intense competition allowed for very little relaxation time, but any trepidation in

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the beginning of the season quickly faded into smiles after seeing

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Jewish Federation

OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY

Israel Solidarity Rally rocked the bergenPAC! 2,500 people stood up for Israel.

Thank you!

CO-SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS Schools

Ben Porat Yosef Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies Gerrard Berman Day School Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls The Moriah School Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey Sinai Schools Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County The Frisch School Torah Academy of Bergen County Yavneh Academy Yeshivat He’atid Yeshivat Noam

Organizations

American Jewish Committee Amit Children Areyvut Bereisheet Bergen County YJCC Daughters of Miriam Hadassah Northern New Jersey Region Hillel of Northern New Jersey JADD - Jewish Assoc. for Developmental Disabilities Jewish Family Service of Bergen and North Hudson Jewish Family Service of North Jersey Jewish Home Family Jewish War Veterans Bergen County Council

Jewish Women International/Johannes Post Kaplen JCC on the Palisades Moishe House Hoboken National Council of Young Israel North Jersey Board of Rabbis Ort New Jersey Region Orthodox Union Rabbinic Council of Bergen County The Jewish Community Council of Teaneck Unite4Unity United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Media Support provided by The Jewish Standard

Synagogues %DLV 0HGUDVK RI %HUJHQÀHOG Barnert Temple, Franklin Lakes Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, Mahwah Chabad Jewish Center of Northwest Bergen County,Franklin Lakes Chabad Jewish Center-Upper Passaic County Congregation Ahavat Achim, Fair Lawn Congregation Ahavath Torah, Englewood Congregation Beth Aaron, Teaneck &RQJUHJDWLRQ %HWK $EUDKDP %HUJHQÀHOG Congregation Beth Shalom, Pompton Lakes Congregation Beth Sholom, Teaneck &RQJUHJDWLRQ %HWK 7HÀOODK 3DUDPXV Congregation B’nai Israel, Emerson Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck &RQJUHJDWLRQ &KDYXUDK %HWK 6KDORP 7HQDà \ Congregation Darchei Noam, Fair Lawn Congregation Gesher Shalom /Jewish Community Center of Fort Lee Congregation Keter Torah, Teaneck

Congregation Kol Haneshamah, Englewood Congregation Netivot Shalom, Teaneck Congregation Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck &RQJUHJDWLRQ 6KDDUH 7HÀOODK 7HDQHFN Congregation Shomrei Emunah, Englewood Congregation Shomrei Torah, Fair Lawn Kehillas Zichron Mordechai, Teaneck East Hill Synagogue, Englewood Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel Glen Rock Jewish Center Jewish Center of Teaneck Jewish Community Center of Paramus /Congregation Beth Tikvah Jewish Congregation of Kinnelon, Pompton Lakes Kehillat Kesher &RPPXQLW\ V\QDJRJXH RI 7HQDà \ DQG (QJOHZRRG Kol Haneshamah, Englewood /XEDYLWFK RQ WKH 3DOLVDGHV 7HQDà \ The New Synagogue of Fort Lee /Congregation Kehillath Baruch Ohr Saadya of Teaneck

Sha’ar Communities, Teaneck Shaarei Orah - Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck Shomrei Torah/The Wayne Conservative Congregation Temple Avodat Shalom, River Edge Temple Beth El of North Bergen Temple Beth El of Northern Valley, Closter Temple Beth Or, Twp. Of Washington Temple Beth Rishon, Wyckoff Temple Beth Sholom, Fair Lawn Temple Beth Tikvah, Wayne Temple Emanuel of North Jersey, Franklin Lakes Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley, Woodcliff Lake Temple Emanu-El of Closter Temple Emeth, Teaneck Temple Israel & JCC, Ridgewood Temple Israel Community Center, Cliffside Park 7HPSOH 6LQDL RI %HUJHQ &RXQW\ 7HQDà \ Valley Chabad Center for Jewish Life, Woodcliff Lake Young Israel of Fort Lee Young Israel of Teaneck

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 7

NEWS

Babies on the Front Lines

By Abigail Leichman Klein/Israel 21c shkelon—Booming missile ďŹ re and wailing air-raid sirens are the “lullabiesâ€? reaching the tender ears of newborns at Ashkelon’s Barzilai University Medical Center these days. Rockets are falling on the Ashkelon area at a furious pace, up to 200 every day. “We hear bombs all the time,â€? says Dr. Shmuel Zangan, head of pediatrics and neonatology at Barzilai, speaking to ISRAEL21c on Monday morning moments after yet another bombardment.

The infants are out of harm’s way, in the hospital’s protected rooms. Zangan says the newborn nursery and neonatal inten-

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sive care unit (NICU) have been moved seven times since 2006 in response to intensiďŹ ed bombardments from Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Zangan explains that transporting fragile newborns carries great risk for brain injury, so the decision is not taken lightly.

Furthermore, because Barzilai has limited sheltered spaces, he is forced to discharge many newborns earlier than he normally would. “Our hospital serves more than half a million civilians, and we do 4,500 deliveries per year,� he says. Like in any other modern hospital, about 10 percent of newborns at Barzilai arrive prematurely. The medical center has a 22-bed NICU and a 40-bed new-

born nursery. Only a fraction of these babies can be accommodated in the protected rooms. “As a result, the capacity for treating babies here has shrunk 40-50%. In order to be able to treat those babies who really need it, I have to discharge preterm babies a few days early, and full-term babies after 36 hours,� says Zangan. “The other problem is that the remaining babies are very crowded in the sheltered areas and that’s a risk factor for cross infection. We urgently need more sheltered spaces, and we’re working on that.�

He points out that in Gaza, just seven miles from Ashkelon, hospital shelters are expropriated by Hamas operatives for their

own safety. “While we are doing all we can to use our shelters to give life, we know our neighbors are using shelters to protect leaders of Hamas,â€? says Zangan. “If you want to ďŹ gure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, look at how they use their sheltered areas in hospitals. That is the litmus test.â€?

Preemies in the bomb shelter On the morning he spoke with ISRAEL21c, Zangan’s staff was caring for a full complement of 15 preterm babies and about 25 full-term babies. Among them were two-day-old twins born nine weeks prematurely, one weighing 1,100 grams (about 2.4 pounds) and the other 1,300 grams (2.8 pounds). “The smaller twin had to be medicated and intubated because his lungs were immature, and luckily he is now doing much

Keeping fragile newborns in Ashkelon safe under bombardment from Gaza is no easy matter.

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better and I hope he can be extubated within a couple of hours,� says Zangan, recalling that in 2010, two Gazan preemies were being treated in the protected NICU along with the Israeli babies.

The NICU is staffed with ďŹ ve senior neonatologists, two pediatricians and 30 nurses; the nursery has two physicians and 20 nurses.

He is relieved to know that the infants in the bomb shelter will not remember those ďŹ rst sounds of war. The effects on the adults are more long-lasting. “Lots of research on small or preterm babies and morbidities during delivery proves that staying for a long time in stressful situations, like those among mothers in Sderot or Ashkelon, is a risk factor for prematurity and low birth rate,â€? says the neonatologist.

In several previous times of conict, Barzilai directed many patients to hospitals farther north. Now, Barzilai is functioning normally due to the Iron Dome antimissile system in place near the medical center, and because the need is so great in its catchment area of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, Sderot and the smaller towns around Gaza. Nevertheless, the ground outside the hospital is strewn with shrapnel.

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NEWS

If You Want to Find Support For Israel, Read the Newspapers in Cairo

By Myer Freimann/Tabletmag.com istorically, Arab states have banded together in support of the Palestinians when fighting with Israel erupted: Any mention of Israel typically drew accusations of IDF gross misconduct and dramatic statements of solidarity with the Palestinian people. This has not been the case in

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the latest round of fighting. Egypt’s stance specifically has changed remarkably, combining implicit support for Israel’s military operation in Gaza with harsh criticisms of Hamas.

Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukri, went so far as to blame Hamas for Palestinian deaths: “Had Hamas accepted the Egyptian proposal, it could have

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saved the lives of at least 40 Palestinians,” as reported by Egyptian state news agency MENA. Numerous Egyptian media reports have also expressed explicit support for Israel’s actions. Azza Sami of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram wrote, “Thank you Netanyahu and may God give us more [people] like you to destroy Hamas!”

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This is perhaps surprising to many. Israel’s right-wing supporters for years have portrayed Israel as a lone beacon of democracy surrounded by implacable enemies— something that is now more questionable than in the past. At the same time, Egypt’s open confrontation with Hamas lends credence to Israel’s assertions that Hamas is primarily a terrorist group—a view that is sometimes challenged by those who like to paint Hamas as a provider of social services to the Gazan population: Recent events have exposed how billions of dollars of financial aid and tons of cement earmarked for construction projects have been used

by Hamas to develop a complex tunnel network that serves its terrorist objectives, instead of building schools and hospitals.

Israel’s actions are cited as being responsible for exacerbating the hostility of Arab states, but Operation Protective Edge has proved that the opposite can also be true.

Israel’s actions against Hamas have brought to the fore relations that were previously covert. Amos Gilad, director of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s policy and political-military relations department recently admitted that, “Everything is underground, nothing is public. But our security cooperation with Egypt and the Gulf states is unique.

This is the best period of security and diplomatic relations with the Arabs.”

What’s behind these seemingly revolutionary changes in Arab attitudes towards Israel? Recent years, and even months, have seen dramatic changes in the Middle East. The Sunni vs. Shia conflict has engulfed the Muslim world, and plunged key Arab states into turmoil. Forging strong alliances with countries who share common enemies is the linchpin of global strategy in every region of the world—and contrary to assumptions on both the right and the left, the Middle East is no exception.

Hamas, the Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, is a prime example of how having common enemies can overcome other disagreements and rivalries. A report compiled by Khaled Abu Toameh for the Gatestone Institute noted that, “Sisi’s Egypt has not forgiven Hamas for its alliance with Muslim Brotherhood and its involvement in terrorist attacks against Egyptian civilians and soldiers over the past year.”

With the regional powers allied against Hamas, U.S. and European influence is significantly reduced compared to previous conflicts. As former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren noted, the Obama administration has close ties with Qatar and Turkey, “who are not on the best terms with Egypt right now”: After supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and denouncing al-Sisi’s coup in Egypt, neither Obama nor Kerry has any particular influence with Egypt either. As a result, America is more of a spectator than a player in current events, while the real decisions are made in Jerusalem and Cairo.

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NEWS

Operation Protective Edge: Trends in Public Opinion in Social Media in Gaza and Egypt

By Orit Perlov/www.inss.org.il (reprinted with permission from INSS) y conversations with select leaders of public opinion in social media in Gaza and Egypt paint a complex picture, largely contradicting some Israeli working assumptions regarding Hamas and the situation in Gaza, which have been raised by leading voices in the traditional Israeli media. These opinions challenge the Israeli interpretation of Hamas’ conduct, public opinion in the Gaza Strip, and Egypt’s role as mediator between Israel and Hamas.

The four questions I posed to these leaders of public opinion in Gaza and Egypt were: a. Why does the Gazan public, the majority of which is opposed to Hamas’ rule, not take to the streets and rebel against the organization, or at the very least, publicly criticize the organization’s leaders? b. Is Abbas an alternative to Hamas? Are Gazans willing to accept the rule of the Palestinian Authority and Abbas should the Hamas regime collapse? c. What is the opinion in the Egyptian street regarding President el-Sisi’s position on the operation in Gaza? Why is Egypt not ending the confrontation as soon as possible? Why are the Egyptians not pressuring the President on this matter, as they have in the past? d. Is Israel the winner and Hamas the loser? Why is Hamas in no hurry to end the fighting? What does the organization hope to gain from this round of fighting?

Although over the past year public opinion in the social media in Gaza has indicated waning legitimacy for Hamas (a recent survey taken by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy indicates the same trend), a civil uprising in Gaza has yet to take place and public criticism of the organization is not being heard. There are two principal explanations for this. First, “Hamas has the weapons and so when we [the Gazan public] see what’s happening in Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, Iran, and Turkey, we understand that Hamas won’t think twice about shooting us.” The people of Gaza are exhausted and beaten after seven years of a blockade, and do not believe they can topple the Hamas regime and create a better alternative. Similarly, “If we fail, we will have to deal and live with them after the operation is over, and neither Israel nor Abu Mazen nor Egypt will help us then.” The second answer is that as long as there is no reasonable alternative to Hamas, Gazans fear the potential ensuing chaos and infiltration of jihadists more than Hamas.

Talk of a ceasefire has raised the possibility that the Palestinian Authority, led

by Abbas, will return to the Gaza Strip. My question was: Will the PA’s position and legitimacy as the Palestinian leadership be strengthened, if it is included in the ceasefire agreement? Can Abbas serve as an alternative to Hamas?

The discourse in the social media reveals that Gazans do not want the PA and Abbas to replace Hamas; they perceive both regimes as “corrupted to the core.” Further confirmation came when Abbas decided to send the PA minister of health to Gaza to see what sort of aid to extend to the local population: the minister was pelted with stones and eggs, the windows of his

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car were smashed, and the streets of Gaza were covered in graffiti calling Abbas a traitor and demanding his death.

The Egyptian angle: hatred for Hamas is greater than solidarity with the Palestinian people. Conversations with public opinion leaders in the social media reflect the following: a. “Gaza, unlike Libya, does not present a strategic threat to Egyptian stability.” “Gaza is a humanitarian disaster, not a strategic threat.” The threat of armed militias, Qaddafi loyalists, jihadist movements

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in Benghazi and Tripoli, and concern about Libya’s dissolution with terrorism trickling into Egypt all worry the el-Sisi government and Egyptian public more than Gaza. The disintegration of Iraq and the rising power of ISIS are also seen as higher priorities for Egypt’s national security than Gaza. b. After President el-Sisi announced that during his tenure there would be “nothing called the Muslim Brotherhood” in Egypt, it would be very hard for him politically to engage in talks with Hamas. Without domestic pressure, el-Sisi will not be in a rush

to pay the minimal price of permanently opening the Rafah crossing. Similarly, social media discourse reveals that hatred for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas is greater than the solidarity with the Gazans.

A growing number of Egyptians is interested in seeing Hamas collapse and therefore, despite the pain over the suffering of the Gazan public, many voices in Egypt are happy about Israel’s continued war against Hamas and encourage its continuation,

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NEWS

Foiling the Rosh Hashanah Surprise 

CONTINUED FROM P. 1

gets for the coming Jewish New Year Holiday, Rosh Hashanah, which begins on September 24, according anonymous sources

in the Israeli security services, as reported in Maariv.

The Hamas plan consisted of what was to be a surprise attack in which 200 fighters would be dispatched through each of dozens of tunnels dug by Hamas under the border from Gaza to Israel, and seize kibbutzim and other communities while killing and kidnapping Israeli civilians.

Israeli soldiers already frustrated a surprise assault by Hamas through one tunnel from Gaza into the Eshkol district of Isra-

el on July 19. The Hamas fighters escaped back into the tunnel, but the clash cost the lives of two Israel Defense Force [IDF] troops.

Israel has reportedly discovered at least 30 [at JLBC press time at least 60] tunnels, and has destroyed several of them by employing bulldozers. IDF excavation of the tunnels has resulted in the seizure of tons of Hamas supplies, as well as the discovery of plans for future operations. Clearly, the network of tunnels—using hundreds of

tons of concrete that might otherwise have been used by the Palestinians for building homes, shopping malls, parks, schools, hospitals, and libraries—indicates that Hamas had been preparing for an ongoing conflict for at least a year. According to the reports, each tunnel has arteries, veins, offshoots, and offshoots of the offshoots in intricate and complex arrangements. As one Israeli spokesman said, “There are two Gazas, one above ground and one below ground: an underground terrorist city.”

Italian Reporter Reveals Hamas Cover-Up Over Misfired Rockets

By Ari Soffer/Artuz 7 n Italian journalist who until Tuesday was embedded in Gaza has backed the IDF’s account of a rocket strike on a school playground in central Gaza’s Shati refugee camp on Monday.

At least 10 people were killed in the attack—most of them children—and some sources claimed the death toll was as high as 30. Palestinian sources were quick to blame Israel, claiming that an Israeli fighter jet fired missiles directly at the playground and nearby hospital. Israel denied the accusations, saying that Hamas rockets aimed at Israel from the area misfired, and struck both the school and the hospital.

Verifying facts on the ground in Gaza is

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notoriously difficult for foreign reporters, and even for Palestinian journalists seen as aligned with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, as journalists are closely watched

by Hamas security forces and can face interrogation and a permanent ban from Gaza for publishing material deemed unfavorable to the territory’s Islamist rulers.

As such, little information has emerged on what exactly happened that day in Shati.

But returning from a stint in Gaza, and safe from what he ominously referred to as potential “Hamas retaliation,” Italian journalist Gabriele Barbati broke the media silence by tweeting the following message, confirming that Hamas terrorists rushed to cover up evidence of what was indeed errant rocket fire aimed at Israel:

During the 23 days of Operation Protective Edge a handful of journalists have defied, purposefully or inadvertently, Hamas’s restrictions on reporting negative information from Gaza —only to backtrack soon after.

Two cases in particular were highlighted earlier this week. In one, Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Casey tweeted evidence—and veiled criticism—over Hamas’s leadership’s use of Shifa Hospital in Gaza as a command center, shedding more light on the group’s use of human shields. Hamas reacted furiously, and a Hamas-affiliated twitter account blacklisted him as a journalist “who lies for Israel” —a potentially deadly accusation for anyone in Gaza, let alone a foreigner. Shortly after-

Tzohar Calls on Diaspora Rabbis and Jewry to Come to Israel During Crisis J

erusalem—The Tzohar Rabbinical Organization issued a direct call to Diaspora rabbis and communities to demonstrate their support for Israel by choosing to visit the country at this time.

“Israel and our people are in an Et Tzara, a time of crisis,” said Tzohar Chairman Rabbi David Stav. “The role of Jews all over the world must be to pray for the welfare of our soldiers and our people, but also to show your solidarity by choosing the next possible time to come and be with us.”

In a letter distributed to rabbis all over the world, Rabbi Stav said that particularly in this time of the Jewish year of the “Three Weeks” when the Jewish people commemorate historical tragedies, it is incumbent that Israel not be forsaken.

“The IDF soldiers are not only protecting

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the citizens of Israel, they are risking their lives in defense of the entire Jewish People. It is important that we all show our moral and spiritual support now, not just through words but through action.” Rabbi Stav added that despite the traditional custom to avoid extensive travel during the days preceding Tisha B’av, supporting Israel in this time supersedes any such considerations.

Tzohar, which works regularly with rabbis from around the world to protect the Jewish future of Israel, announced that they have opened a special Operations Center to assist diaspora rabbis in all logistical and operational support to leading their communities to Israel.

Tzohar Executive Vice President Nachman Rosenberg said, “The continued Hamas rocket attacks and the expansion of

the IDF campaign will cause a further decrease in tourism. This is harmful to the morale and economy of Israeli society.

This is the time for the global Jewish family to stand strong together, resilient in our faith, for as our tradition has taught, ‘If not now, when?’”

In addition to asking people from Chutz l’aretz to come to Israel to help, Tzohar also issued halachic guidelines for those under attack, particularly if an attack comes on Shabbos. The need to know when an attack is coming has become a clear life and death issue. Rabbi Stav says that homes should take advantage of a special “silent broadcast” radio station which will only broadcast when rocket strike is deemed imminent.

Rabbi Stav also said that those who walk long distances to synagogue and

wards, the tweet was promptly removed by Casey. Numerous foreign journalists have admitted to interviewing Hamas leaders inside the hospital, but their reports are notable for the lack of emphasis placed on such a flagrant violation of international law.

In the second case, another WSJ journalist tweeted evidence of a Hamas rocket misfire which damaged Gaza’s main hospital. Again, shortly after tweeting it, Tamer El-Ghobashi removed the evidence.

Deleted tweets: The use of human shields by Gazan terrorist groups during the current conflict has been repeatedly documented. Both Ha-

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CONTINUED ON P. 34

therefore might not be able to find shelter are halachically advised to pray in their homes rather than put themselves at risk.

Active reserve soldiers should not hesitate to answer calls from their commanding officers on Shabbos, because it might be their call to serve. In addition, active duty soldiers or other emergency service personnel who are released from their responsibilities over Shabbos are permitted to return home by foot if the distance is less than 12 kilometers, but transportation home by vehicle is not permitted.

Mission trips are being coordinated between Tzohar and Arnon Katz of Jewish Journeys who have volunteered their full support for the cause. Rabbis and community leaders interested in coordinating a mission can contact Rabbi Reuven Spolter at reuven@tzohar.org.il.

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NEWS

Tunnel Intelligence Failure a Wake-Up Call for Israel

by Ben Caspit Translator: Danny Wool pparently, there is no way to avoid the creation of a commission of inquiry once Operation Protective Edge is over.

The commission will have to discuss what Israeli cabinet ministers are describing as a “resounding security failure.” Why didn’t Israel mark the threat posed by the Hamas tunnels as a strategic threat, as is now so obvious? Why didn’t it devote thought, effort, budgets, and attention to this threat, just as it did to the rocket threat, which received an appropriate response in the form of the Iron Dome air-defense system?

The magnitude of the Hamas tunnel network was not correctly assessed by the military and caught Israel by surprise, after which the Security Cabinet approved the ground operation, wishing the international community understood Israel’s need to eradicate this threat.

The commission of inquiry will have to investigate three distinct tiers of questioning: Did the security forces have intelligence about the tunnels? If so, was it relayed to the political leadership? And if it was relayed, why didn’t the political leadership act accordingly? It should be remembered that had Hamas not rejected the Egyptian cease-fire initiative, Israel would not have discovered the scope of this threat, and Hamas would have continued digging and expanding its tunnel network, right until the moment it was deployed.

One senior Cabinet member I spoke

A

with this week described that possibility to me: “Imagine,” he said, “that we are in the middle of a conflict with Hezbollah up north. Our top-notch infantry brigades are up there, in the north, when suddenly Hamas deploys its network of dozens of tunnels all at once. Some 2,000 Hamas commandos suddenly burst out of them and embark on a killing spree, slaughtering thousands of people in the cities and towns across Israel’s south, from Sderot through Ashkelon, Netivot and Ofakim, maybe even all the way to Beersheba. Who would stop them? The police? The air force? It would take weeks to clean up the mess, and at the end of the entire process, we would find death and destruction across southern Israel. I know,” the minister continued, “that it sounds like a figment of the imagination, but based on what we are discovering these days, the scenario is far more realistic than it is imaginary. In this region, the reality easily exceeds anything we can imagine.”

What originally led to Israel’s ground assault in Gaza was the tunnel near Kibbutz Sufa from which 13 Hamas commandos emerged. They were seen coming out of the tunnel by scouts in an Israel Defense Forces observation post. Video of the ensuing battle, which took place that same morning, aired on all of Israel’s TV networks. The commandos can be seen coming out of the tunnel dressed in IDF uniforms, with all of the standard equipment, with body armor, camouflaged helmets, and toques (knit caps) and an enormous

amount of weapons. They crawled across the ground together, performing together rolls and rescue maneuvers, until, apparently, they suddenly heard the motor of one of the IDF’s unmanned aircraft or the ignition of a tank that was turned on in the sector by accident, and they raced and pushed themselves back into the tunnel.

An IDF aircraft fired a few rockets, but not all of the commandos were hit.

The film footage shocked Israel. Suddenly, everybody realized how permeable Israel’s border wall along the Gaza Strip really is, how much we had been living for the past few years beside a barrel of gunpowder on the edge of a volcano. Even ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni, who did not support a ground incursion until that morning, withdrew their opposition, clearing the way for the operation to begin.

At first, it was said that it would take three days to clean out the tunnels and destroy them. Now they are already talking about three weeks. This is not some effort to win time. It is an effort to win lives. Israel believed before that Hamas had three strategic tunnels. The current estimate is that there are 30, and perhaps a lot more.

As this piece is being written, an end to the ground operation in Gaza seems to lie far in the future. Efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to bring about an end to the fighting are not bearing any results.

Hamas is not interested in a cease-fire. It is interested in prolonging the fighting, which is costing hundreds of residents of the Gaza Strip their lives, because the organization

is well aware that this is the only way to break through the international blockade.

It is the only way for Hamas to get past the dead end that it has reached as a result of its behavior over the past few years.

So they continue to fight. What helps them along is the realization that Israel will restrain itself and not dare “go all the way.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be a big talker, but he is somewhat less of a doer. He will not have the courage to sacrifice the necessary lives (about 200 soldiers according to one estimate) to conquer Gaza. He is worried about complications, he recoils from international pressure, and he has difficulty making decisions. That is why what we have now is a paradoxical situation verging on the absurd: Israel is desperate for a ceasefire, and Hamas is thumbing its nose at it.

The entire international community (except for Egypt) is desperate for a ceasefire, and Hamas is thumbing its nose up at it. The strongest, best-equipped, and most powerful army in the Middle East is completely submerged in Gaza, fighting a hopeless war against a guerilla army that is carefully concealed and camouflaged, well-trained and unwavering. But the outcome remains unresolved because Israel’s political leadership is afraid of any complications, afraid of casualties and afraid of international public opinion.

I write this as a journalist who is identified more with the Israeli left. Through-

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CONTINUED ON P. 15

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NEWS

Tunnel Intelligence Failure a WakeUp Call for Israel ďƒ›

CONTINUED FROM P. 13

out my journalistic career, I supported, and continue to support, all of the peace plans, from Oslo to the Geneva agreement. In order to resolve this conflict, I am prepared to give up the occupied territories (with territorial swaps), East Jerusalem (although, like all Israelis, regardless of who they are, I will not agree to the return of the refugees to Israel), everything. I would do all that

Operation Protective Edge: Trends in Public Opinion in Social Media in Gaza and Egypt ďƒ›

CONTINUED FROM P. 11

rather than condemn it. c. Most Egyptians are interested in their economic hardships, such as the rising prices of gas, fuel, and cigarettes. The Egyptian public, which has had its ďŹ ll of demonstrations, is reluctant to take to the streets

on the condition that there is someone with whom that peace agreement could be signed.

It seems to me that we are at the stage that the world is wising up to Hamas. Given the international community’s support for Israel, which was not taken for granted, it seems to me that the world has already internalized that this was a war between good and evil, between a culture of life and a cult of death. Hamas is the Islamic State, IS. Hamas is Jabhat al-Nusra. Hamas is Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. They are all products of the same school: the oppression of women, the expulsion of Christians, a war of annihilation against the Jews. Some of the aforementioned groups even slaughter Shiite Muslims, solely because they are not Sunnis. This is not some ďŹ gment of the imagination. It is not a delusion. These

are ďŹ rm facts that any child can ďŹ nd on YouTube.

The facts are that even after the current conict began, Israel agreed to a cease-ďŹ re and Hamas refused. It is piling up the people of Gaza as a defensive shield for the means of destruction that it is acquiring wholesale—and then complaining that Israel is killing civilians. On Wednesday, July 23, three young Israeli paratroopers were killed when they entered a booby-trapped house in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. Army would have attened the house from the air. The Russian army would have attened the entire town from the air. Let’s not even talk about what the Syrian army would have done, because that’s something of a sensitive issue these days. In contrast, the IDF informs civilians that it is coming by way

of text messages and phone calls and even by ďŹ ring warning shots. Hamas responds by ďŹ ring rockets at aÂ ďŹ eld hospital that Israel set up in Gaza, where Palestinian civilians were being treated.

No, I am not saying that Israel made no mistakes or that it has been free of errors. Not everybody in Israel wants peace. The behavior of Netanyahu, particularly in his dealings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate, has been strongly criticized here by me and in many other places, too. He has been criticized severely, and he will continue to be criticized. But in this war we must not get confused. This is a war between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. Read more: http://www.al-monitor. com/pulse/originals/2014/07/idf-kibbutzhamas-attack-tunnel-network-failure-kerry. html##ixzz38a10fOpu

again, and certainly not on behalf of the Palestinians. “As long as Egypt is not affected by this crisis, it will not be willing to pay the price.�

There is a working assumption in Israel  that since the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas is in trouble and ďŹ ghting for its survival; Hamas’ popularity is eroding and it has failed to foment a “popular awakeningâ€? (i.e., a third intifada). There is an asymmetrical struggle between “the strongest army in the Middle Eastâ€? and a fading terrorist organization. Thus, Operation Protective Edge has weakened the organization further and has dealt the organization and its infrastructures a harsh blow. Furthermore, the Iron Dome system strengthens the resilience of Israel’s civilian front and undermines the threat of Hamas’ rockets, while the Gazan rear is vulnerable and exposed.

This question suggests an answer in the form of two equations. The ďŹ rst equation is: “It’s either Hamas or chaos.â€? In Hamas’ view—as explained in the social media— the very fact that the organization positions itself in the equation as “us or chaosâ€? is a point of strength. Neither Israel nor Egypt, the two countries most interested in the collapse of Hamas, are unable to topple the regime, out of fear of the alternative. The fact that the two strongest countries in the region are worried about the alternative provides the organization with a life insurance policy.

The second equation is “rockets for prisoners and border crossings.� In response to the Israeli equation of “calm for calm,�

Hamas is trying to generate its own equation, which is highly problematic for Israel: rockets for prisoners and crossings. Hamas, backed by the force of rocket ďŹ re aimed

at the heart of Israel, has no intention of giving up. It will continue to launch rockets until Egypt and Israel agree to a ceaseďŹ re and the Hamas demands will be met: a renewed opening of the crossings, the release of prisoners and economic aid from Qatar and Turkey. Perhaps most demoralizing among the social media discourse is the slogan of leading social media opinion shapers: “In the Middle East, there are no absolute winners and losers; the public in this region has become hostage to weak leaders.â€?

The Institute for National Security Studies launches and engages in innovative, relevant, high-quality research that shapes the public discourse of issues on Israel’s national security agenda, and provides policy analysis and recommendations to decision makers, public leaders, and the strategic community, both in Israel and abroad. Visit http://www.inss.org.il/

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NEWS

Persecution of Christians by ISIS Contradicts Idea of a Caliphate

By Erica C.D. Hunter/theconversation.com

Death of an ancient community

Senior Lecturer in Eastern Christianity at SOAS, University of London

With Christian communities extending out of Mosul and across the Ninevah plains, ISIS has also extended its focus on the surrounding countryside. Militants seized the ancient Mar Behnam Monastery, reputedly founded on the spot where the royal Sassanid brother and sister, Behnam and Sara, were martyred in the 4th century then home to Syrian Catholic monks. The monks were expelled and refused permission to take any of the holy relics housed in the monastery.

This raises real fears that these historic items, together with the manuscript collections there, will be destroyed. There is also the likelihood that the monastery, parts of which date from the 13th century and number amongst a handful of buildings in Iraq that survive from the Mongol Il-Khanate period, will be desecrated and destroyed.

Christians have lived in Iraq since close to the religion’s birth—they first began to settle in the region around the 2nd century and must be counted as amongst the earliest witnesses to the Christian faith. Their churches and monasteries have been an integral part of the landscape for centuries, producing some of the finest examples of architecture. The communities have lived in relative accord with their Muslim neigh-

SIS conquests across northern Iraq have been comprehensive in recent weeks.

Taking control of large parts of the region, they declared a Caliphate last month. And one group who has especially suffered at their hands is the Christians that have been a part of the region’s landscape for almost two millennia.

Following ISIS’ consolidation of power in the region, these longstanding communities have faced brutal treatment. In what can only be considered persecution and discrimination of the highest degree, ISIS has targeted the Christians of Mosul by daubing their homes with the Arabic letter N, marking them out as Nasarah, Christians.

In a concerted and deliberate plan of ethnic cleansing, ISIS then offered Christian families three choices: convert to Islam, pay the Jizya tax (a tax of 14g of pure gold that Christians must pay in addition to normal taxes for the privilege of their faith), or leave their homes. Anyone who could not pay or refused to convert to Islam was threatened with death.

I

Mass exodus In these circumstances and fearing the worst, many chose to flee and Mosul— just recently home to thousands of Christians—has been emptied of this ancient community. Stripped of all their possessions, even medicines, many were forced to walk 70km to safety, eventually heading to Dohuk in the Kurdish region of the country. The 15 Christian families who chose to stay in Mosul, did so by converting to Islam in order to retain their homes and possessions. But the homes of those who left the city were confiscated as the property of the newly formed “Islamic State.”

This forced exodus has ended the sig-

Demolished grave of prophet Jonah near Mosul.EPA/STR

nificant Christian presence in Mosul that predated the coming of Islam by several centuries. In a region that has seen the rise and fall of many political powers, ISIS’ policies undermine the long co-existence of Muslims and non-Muslims in the region.

In Mosul, ISIS militants have begun to desecrate the city. They are physically rendering it into their extreme, minimalist interpretation of Islam. And their actions have not solely focused on Christian buildings. The ancient tomb of Jonah (a major landmark in Mosul which was venerated

by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike) has been leveled and Shi’a shrines and mosques have been destroyed too.

In their bid for “Islamic purity,” the ISIS militants have particularly targeted Christian buildings. The diocesan headquarters of the Syrian Catholics in Mosul has been torched, having existed since the late nineteenth century. All crosses from the 22 churches in Mosul have been removed and churches have been turned into mosques or destroyed.

bors down the centuries, each contributing to each other’s cultures.

Following the 2003 Allied offensive, Christians in Iraq have endured many atrocities, the most notable being the massacre on October 31, 2010, at the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Karrada, Baghdad.

Now the Christians, who have contributed in many different ways to the culture and economy of Iraq, do not meet ISIS’ stringent definitions of who is acceptable.

Their persecution raises the real possibility that this ancient community will be eliminated from its homeland in Iraq. It also marks the end of the notion of “civilized dialogue,” a tenet that has lasted since the Abbasid period where Muslims and non-Muslims lived alongside each other. It is paradoxical that ISIS, which aims to emulate the Caliphate of old, instead adopts tactics that can only be described as brutal and befitting of uncouth barbarians.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT:Erica C D Hunter receives funding from AHRC for her major project ‘The transmission of Christian texts at Turfan.’ The Conversation is funded by the following universities: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, City, Durham, Glasgow Caledonian, Goldsmiths, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, The Open University, Queen’s University Belfast, Salford, Sheffield, Surrey, UCL and Warwick. It also receives funding from: Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE, SFC, RCUK, The Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for Useful Evidence One of Mosul’s 22 churches, facing destruction. EPA/STR

Hamas Ambush Tactics Revealed in Training Booklet NOTE: Because we at the Jewish Link believe that our readers are a discerning and sophisticated group that appreciates a full picture of the Middle East and a fuller understanding of what the Arab and other recognized media sources are publishing, we have printed below an article that will likely not be found in mainstream Jewish media but we have found to be enlightening. We recognize that some of our readers will not be pleased with how Israel, the IDF, and Israel’s leaders and citizens are sometimes characterized in these articles and we do not endorse those characterizations. aza—Adnan Abu Amer of Al-Monitor reported last week from Gaza City that Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’ political bureau said—before the ground invasion was launched—that the al-Qassam Brigades were ready to respond to it. Abu Amer also reported that Hamas field officers believe that when armed fighters attempted to enter Israel through the tunnels in the Sufa operation, Netanyahu was pushed into the ground operation.

A retired Palestinian brigadier general told Hamas newspapers that Israel’s careful consideration of the ground operation was

G

16 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

due to its awareness of its potential losses and fear of the surprises like ambushes and kidnappings, as well as Gaza’s geography and population density. He said the resistance in Gaza was effective at street fighting, hiding and making quick strikes against its opponents.

Al-Monitor also got its hands on a training booklet for al-Qassam fighters before the war that displayed confidence in fighting Israeli troops on the ground. The booklet read, “Amid the military power imbalance favoring Israel, the resistance will heavily use anti-tank guided missiles while relying on qualitative capabilities to respond to the ground operation.”

It went on, “The Israeli soldiers will primarily target tunnels, as these give fighters easy mobility and allow them to set up ambushes. The most heard phrase among the invading soldiers is ‘Careful! There is a hole under your foot!’ As they approach residential areas, al-Qassam sniper units will emerge and the army will face hundreds of improvised and camouflaged bombs in each lane and road.

“The more it advances into the residential areas of Gaza, the more Hamas fighters will be favored; it is on their land that

the clashes are taking place, which allows them to easily monitor the vehicles of the Israeli army.” al-Qassam Brigades bragged that at dawn on July 20, they lured an Israeli force east of the al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City into a tight ambush. Israeli tanks to entered a minefield of barrel explosives, and after two personnel carriers followed them into the ambush, the fighters blew up the minefield, destroying it completely, and killing 14 IDF troops. At dawn on July 18, Hamas infiltrated Israeli army positions east of Rafah and Khan Yunis using a tunnel behind Israeli positions, to sabotage intelligence systems that the IDF had recently erected to monitor the Rafah border. Al-Qassam Brigades claimed six Israeli soldiers were killed in the operation, while Israel said two had been killed.

A freed prisoner from the West Bank who was deported to Gaza Strip told AlMonitor, “Al-Qassam [fighters] are responding to the ground campaign, benefiting from the combat experience acquired in the West Bank during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. They are actually following a professional tactic to face incursions,

whereby they set ambushes for the army by opening holes in the houses located on the outskirts of Gaza’s border, so that they can ambush the soldiers inside the houses and catch them off guard. There is also an innovative way that consists of booby-trapping water faucets and pipes and detonating them at the level of the head of the Israeli soldier.”

The freed prisoner, a former Hamas activist in the West Bank who refused to reveal his identity, concluded by saying, “The routes taken by the tanks are known in the areas of Abasan and Bani Suhaila in Khan Yunis, Bureij, Maghazi and Johr el-Dik in the central region, Shojae’ya province in Gaza and Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. These are narrow areas with limited crossings and driveways, which allows the resistance to take advantage of this field factor and develop a plan to address the land incursion by setting up booby-trapped entrances, planting improvised explosive devices and disseminating resistance fighters carrying RPG rockets to impede the progress of the vehicles and confine them within the improvised explosive devices field.”

www.al-monitor.com

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NEWS

Rallying for Reason - Thousands Gather at UN To Support Israel

By Maxine Dovere en thousand—some say more—supporters of Israel came to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza to the “New York Stands With Israel” rally, one of several shows of support for Israel in cities across the United States. The expressions of support for Israel’s right to defend herself and her citizens were even warmer than the midday heat. Organized by the UJA Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Conference of Presidents, leaders of the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform movements, together with Federal and city political leaders, pledged strong support for Israel’s right to defend herself and eliminate the scourge of Hamas.

The rally was headlined by Senator Charles Schumer, who led a legislative delegation which Yeshiva University’s Richard Joel addresses the crowd. included five Congressmen and ly, teenagers, many who traveled women. Schumer garnered the sage of appreciation from Israel.

After three weeks, and the ex- hundreds of miles from summer strong approval of the crowd saying, “We cannot have any cease- posure of the vast network of tun- camps, wrapped themselves in Isfire until Israel destroys Hamas’s nels whose shingle intent is to raeli flags and added their voices tunnels and weapons. No cease- provide a mechanism to maim to slogans of support.

Excellent order was mainfire until Hamas’s weaponry is and kill, Israel’s right to destroy the threat to its existence and tained by a heavy display of New gone! It’s plain and simple.”

Rep. Eliot Engel (Westchester/ the well-being of its citizens that York City Police presence. AlBronx) compared what America’s is posed by Hamas grows more though there were counter-demreaction might be to missiles be- determined. At the New York ral- onstrations by Netura Karta, a ing fired from Mexico or terror tunnels coming from Canada. Rep. Steve Israel detailed the unanimous statement of support passed in the House and presented a letter to the UN Human Rights Commission signed by 100 members. “We will not take the United Nations seriously unless they take Hamas war crimes seriously,” he warned.

Support for Israel’s right of self-defense was expressed by New York City officials, including Comptroller Scott Stringer and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. H. E. Ido Aharoni, Israel’s Consul General in New York, delivered a warmly received mes- Camp Morasha participants in the rally.

T

haredi (religious) group, and counter- protests by the Jewish Voices for Peace and a contingent of ProPalestinian chanters, they were kept well separated by the police Jeremy Joszef, Director of Camp Morasha in Lake Como, Pennsylvania, guided 300 campers and staff to the rally. They traveled in six buses to partici-

pate. Hundreds of former campers’ parents, grandparents, and friends of Morasha joined the campers who placed themselves in the center of the crowd. Asked why he decided to bring the teenagers to the New York event, Joszef said, “We brought them to learn. There’s a big difference between learning from a textbook and acting on our passion for Israel. We really believe that camp is about teaching and Judaism. It would be hypocritical if we said ‘it’s too complicated—a logistical nightmare.’ It is part of our mission; it would have been wrong of us not to attend.

The Director told JLBC that the reaction of the campers was “gratitude for being part of doing something for Israel, even here in the states.” Continuing, he noted that, “the campers saw it as a great opportunity to support the people of Israel and what they are fighting for. They felt very good about that,” he assured. “Although we were nervous about the logistics, by the time we were on the way home we realized how absolutely important it had been to just be there. Camp is an opportunity to really have fun, but most of all it is important to have an experience in Jewish values....Learning is not just from a textbook.”

President Obama Nominates S. Fitzgerald Haney as Ambassador to Costa Rica A fter more than a year without an ambassador in Costa Rica, the White House recently named S. Fitzgerald Haney, an international businessman with experience in marketing, financial services, and manufacturing in Latin America as its ambassador.

Most recently, Haney was a principal and director of business development and client services for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Pzena Investment Management in New York City. He

has held the position since 2007.

Mr. Haney served as Senior Vice President of Ethnic Consumer Products at International Discount Telecommunications (IDT). From 2002 to 2006 he served as Director of Strategic Planning/New Business at Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Haney was a Senior Associate at Israel Seed Partners in Jerusalem, Israel. He previously served as an appointed Member of the City of

201-371-3212 • WWW.JEWISHLINKBC.COM

Englewood Planning Board and Board of Adjustment in Englewood, New Jersey.

The nominee was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up outside Chicago in Naperville, Illinois. Fitzgerald and Andrea Haney live in Englewood with their four children.

Haney is a convert to Orthodox Judaism and has been active in Englewood’s Modern Orthodox community. He and his family are members of the Kesher Syn-

agogue.

Fitzgerald Haney earned a Bachelor of Science in international economics and a Master of Science from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in international business and diplomacy. Haney has worked in Mexico, Brazil, Israel, and Puerto Rico during his career, among other places. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew and is conversant in French.

S. Fitzgerald Haney

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 17

LOCAL NEWS

RYNJ Expanding Over Summer Kaplen JCC on the Palisades Helps Children in Ashkelon enafly—Looking to bring a little joy to the children in Ashkelon, a city just north of Gaza that has been ravaged by Hamas rocket attacks since 2005, the Israeli Center at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades recently collected board games, books, and arts-and-crafts kits to donate to the children. The effort was coordinated by community member Sofia Rozenberg, a resident of Fair Lawn, who lived in Ashkelon for many years, and Sharon Goren, a Demarest resident and a marketing manager at the JCC. Concerned for the welfare of the children, they met with the JCC Israeli Center Director Aya Shechter.

“We decided that one way we could really make a difference would be to send books, games, and toys that could keep the children occupied while they were in the bomb shelters,” said Sharon. “Since Sofia had personal connections with her former home, she was able to contact the mayor’s office in Ashkelon and when we spoke to his office manager, he was thrilled by our ideas and our desire to help.”

Donations began to pour in from JCC members and people in the community. A large assortment of new toys was also gifted by the Glen Rock Jewish Center. Each gift was accompanied by a personal note from friends in America. Kids from the JCC Teen Adventures travel camp wrote letters to the children and helped assemble the packages, including 70 goodie bags that were packed on behalf of children who participate in EMEK, a Hebrew Language and Israeli Culture program offered at the JCC. Said Aya, “Sending the gifts was an incredibly rewarding experience in and of itself, but it was made even more special because it has provided us with a way for children in our community to create longterm friendships and bonds with their Israeli counterparts and there is nothing more rewarding than that.”

“I am just overwhelmed by the love and generosity that the Bergen County

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he Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey is demolishing a portion of the building facing Kinderkamack Road and plans to extend out 50 additional feet. They will be building on to their gym and adding four large classrooms to make room for their growing student body. 1,070 students are enrolled for the fall.

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If Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

4-year-old Meredith Mainzer raising money for the IDF with her lemonade stand.

By Stephanie Goldberg air Lawn— On a sunny Thursday afternoon, many people stopped by a lemonade stand manned by Meredith Mainzer, a 4-year-old, to buy drinks and cookies and generously give tzedakah.

Even after the lemonade stand closed, checks were sent to the “owner” by folks who were impressed with her determination to raise funds for Israeli soldiers under fire.

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While Meredith does not know exactly what is happening in Israel, she felt a need to support the IDF troops. It was Meredith’s idea to host a lemonade stand and she even called her principal, Rav Tomer Ronen of Yeshivat Ben Porat Yosef, to ask him where to send the money.

Meredith happily presented Rav Ronen with over $650 to take to Israel to be donated to support lone soldiers in the IDF and to purchase Shabbat food for Chayalim serving in Sderot.

Make-A-Splash eaneck—The Make-A-Splash fundraising campaign has begun with placement of lawn signs around Teaneck to create awareness and raise funds for an exciting new town project.

Fundraising for the new outdoor water play area, which will “make a splash” with children of all ages and capabilities, has started, according to Bernie Pearson, chairman of the committee that is overseeing the project. This great addition to Teaneck’s park will be a free and fun summer activity for children in Bergen County. Its placement next to a playground will mean that children will have a new option for summertime fun.

The path leading to the water park will include bricks engraved with the names of those who support the Make-ASplash project in Teaneck. To become part of this exciting project, residents can find

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18 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

Tisha B’Av Film on Rescued Children to Air at Keter Torah eaneck—On Tisha B’Av, August 5, at 6:00 p.m. at Congregation Keter Torah, a film entitled 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus will be presented. Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus never intended to become heroes. But in early 1939, as conditions were worsening for Jews living inside Nazi Germany, the Philadelphia couple embarked on a risky and improbable mission: an effort to rescue 50 Jewish children and bring them to safety in the United States.

The couple faced imposing obstacles.

The United States government, and a vast majority of the American public, was largely indifferent to the plight of Jewish refugees seeking to escape from the Nazis.

America’s rigid immigration laws also made

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Bernie Pearson, committee chairman, placing the first Make-A-Splash lawn sign in Teaneck.

out more about the customized bricks at: https://www.bricksrus.com/order/masteaneck/index.php.

community demonstrated for these children in Israel,” said Sofia. “When we put our mind to something as a community, we achieve so much, and the JCC is always eager to serve as the perfect liaison for ensuring that we succeed in efforts such as this. Our packages are now making their way to kids in the shelters all over Ashkelon and I am just so proud.”

it nearly impossible to bring refugees—even children— into this country.

In the spring of 1939, the Krauses sailed for Europe and into the heart of darkness.

The Krauses, who were Jewish, also had to face the risks of traveling into Nazi Germany and dealing with the Gestapo and other Nazi officials in their effort to carry out their bold rescue plan.

In doing so, they transformed themselves from an ordinary couple into extraordinary heroes To view a trailer of this 63 minute documentary, narrated by Alan Alda, visit https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JAnRo2ejEW8#t=12.

For information call 201-907-0180 or email howard@ketertorah.org.

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LOCAL NEWS

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman To Teach at YU ew York—Former United States Senator Joseph Lieberman has been appointed the Joseph Lieberman Chair in Public Policy and Public Service at Yeshiva University for the 2014–2015 academic year. During that time, he will teach one undergraduate course and give three public lectures on topics ranging from Judaism and public service to the Middle East at schools throughout the University.

“We are thrilled to welcome Senator Lieberman, whose public life and values serve as a model for our students, especially those who aspire to careers in public service while embracing Orthodox Judaism,” said Dr. Selma Botman, university provost and vice president of academic affairs. “Interaction between Senator Lieberman and the students will be a truly transformational experience.”

The Lieberman Chair was established through a gift from University Benefactors Ira and Ingeborg Rennert, who also recently gave a gift to support the re-appointment of Ambassador Danny Ayalon as the Ira and Ingeborg Rennert Visiting Professor of For-

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Former United States Senator Joseph Lieberman.

eign Policy Studies. “This chair enriches our academic programs and strengthens the Jewish values and ideals that the Rennerts, Senator Lieberman, and Yeshiva University hold most dear,” said Botman.

“I am very honored that Yeshiva Univer-

sity is establishing this Chair, deeply grateful that Ira and Ingeborg Rennert are making it possible, and personally surprised that YU and the Rennerts have asked me to be the first occupant of the chair,” said Lieberman. “I am excited about working with the students at YU to engage and inform their interest in public policy and public service.”

Lieberman represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to 2013 after serving in the Connecticut State Senate for 10 years and as attorney general of Connecticut for six years. He was the first Orthodox Jew to serve in the Senate and became the first Jewish American to be named to a major political party ticket when Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected him as his running mate in 2000. Lieberman played an instrumental role in creating a new Department of Homeland Security after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and is also famous for championing, authoring, and leading the effort that led to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

In 2008, he received the U.S. Senator John

Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an annual award conferred by the Jefferson Awards.

“Joe Lieberman was the first Jewish candidate on a national ticket and has become an iconic figure; that’s important for history,” said YU President Richard M. Joel. “But Joe Lieberman is much more than that. He’s a passionate Jew, a statesman, and a man of integrity. And to be able to build on who he is and what he represents is critical to the multifaceted dimensionality that must be Yeshiva.”

Lieberman and his family are already well acquainted with YU. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University in 1989 in recognition of his leadership in Jewish and civic affairs; addressed YU students at commencement; and, more recently, engaged in a dialogue about religion in America as the featured guest in the “Great Conversations” series of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought. His wife, Hadassah Lieberman, has been honored by Stern College for Women, and their daughter, Hani, attended Stern.

The Tikvah Summer Institute: An Illustrious Educational Experience

By Aaron Eckstein he Tikvah Summer Institute, an academic two-week program for just graduated and rising high school seniors, is held at Yale University each summer, hosting a powerful and eclectic group of speakers and professors. The program seeks to bring together some of the most brilliant young Jewish minds from around the country and exceptional professors for learning and discussion about what it means to be a Jew and a citizen in the society we live in.

From the moment I walked into Yale’s Saybrook College and walked up one of its winding staircases, it felt magical. The dorms have a Hogwarts feel to them, and the environment hinted at what great things were to come. Before any seminars began, at the first meal shared by all the participants, there was already an energy in the air, a passionate interest in the topics at hand. Even when people barely knew one another, they immediately delved into heavy and difficult discussions. There were discussions on objective and moral relativism, and philosophical debates in an environment ripe for generating serious discussion on such topics.

The seminars, ranging from “War and Statesmanship” to “Sexuality, Family, and Virtue,” deeply explored and unpacked complex ideas. The sessions, combined with the substantive preparatory readings, did not end when the seminar ended. The topics would reappear at various times of the day, and lead to even deeper enlightenment.

Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, senior director of the Tikvah Fund, and a variety of well-established professors in a number of fields, were consistently present at meals and always engaged us in discourse. The program also allowed us to meet and talk with people who are considered some of the greatest minds of the generation. Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik was there, and one could easily have a conversation with him on a whim.

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Tikvah participants and program staff. Author is third from back right.

Multiple times, he lectured us in groups big and small on various aspects of what it means to be a Jew with elaborations on our virtues and on the meaning of yehudi, one of our ancestral names.

We heard from former Senator Joseph Lieberman on political activism, success, and statesmanship, and experienced a week of seminars led by Kimberly Kagan, who was instrumental in the development of the surge in Iraq during 2007. I spoke with Professor Kagan about ISIS [the terrorist Caliphate taking over Iraq] in the Middle East, the area of her expertise, and could not have imagined getting that kind of opportunity anywhere else.

From the moment I woke up each morning, my day was jam packed with growth and development. My quintessential experience was the back and forth I had with a professor of political economics right after an enlightening seminar.

Similarly passionate minds from across the country and world converged at Yale to allow for an experience that differed from most in a sea of summer programs. I could, and did, strike up conversations with any one of the students present. We had simi-

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lar interests and did not have to engage in an icebreaker to dive into more meaningful discourse. It was amazing to walk into the dining hall and feel like you wanted to sit down at every table and talk to everyone.

You knew you could strike up an incredibly interesting discussion no matter where you went, and you always felt like dinner should have lasted just a little bit longer.

I reminisce about those meals, and savor the copious and brilliant conversations that took place. Whether the discussion concerned the compatibility and sincerity of American patriotism and Zionism, or the

virtues and moralities of sexuality, it was always thoughtful and insightful.

When I first applied to the Tikvah program, I did not expect to be accepted. The application process is one I used to prepare for writing the kinds of college essays I would need to write when I applied to different universities. Even if I did not get into Tikvah, I thought, at least I took the preparation seriously and benefited from it.

The fact that I did get in made it that much more incredible. This, in itself, is indicative of the kind of great experience I had at Tikvah. Even the application process, with all its rigors, was enjoyable and beneficial.

The messages imparted to me throughout the course of the program gain more substance as time goes on. Constantly, I was being exhorted to find a mentor, find a guide to life, to continue and expand the discoveries in deep texts from Hobbes or Adam Smith. These messages continue to appear as ever greater guiding lights imparted to me as I proceed beyond Tikvah.

No matter the course for my life that I set, I know that what I learned, experienced, and enjoyed at the Tikvah Summer Institute will have an everlasting impact on my development.

Aaron Eckstein is a JLBC intern and a rising senior at TABC. This summer, he is also interning at Assemblyman Schaer’s office (36th district), and attending a wrestling camp.

Market your business to the Jewish Community!

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LOCAL NEWS

228 From North America Head to Israel

By Tzvi Silver and Combined Sources ew York—Despite the war in Gaza, 228 new Olim (immigrants) from the United States and Canada departed from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on July 21, on a Nefesh B’Nefesh charter flight to Israel. Of these Olim, a remarkable 100 were children making aliyah with their parents. The children include 39 girls and 61 boys. All together, 29 families and 54 singles were on this landmark flight, which took place in collaboration with the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and JNF-USA. Due to the complicated security situation in Israel, Nefesh B’Nefesh is reaching out to the Olim, briefing them, and providing counseling and support. As they arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, each Oleh receives a special booklet by Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption on security measures, such as what to do when a Code Red siren sounds warning of incoming rockets. The Olim are also provided an Englishlanguage manual from Israel’s Home Front Command on how to talk to your children about the situation, translated by Nefesh B’Nefesh.

“Cancelling or postponing our trip was

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Ilana Barta, 23, from Teaneck, NJ, came to Israel to marry her fiancé there (the wedding is scheduled for August 17). Her fiancé is an officer in a paratrooper unit who is currently on active duty in Gaza. In the photo, Ilana just got off the plane with the wedding dress she had brought from the United States. Ilana has not heard from her fiancé since the ground operation began.

Rabbi Zev Goldberg to Lead Young Israel of Fort Lee 

CONTINUED FROM P. 1

Century City, a large congregation of 500 member families/singles in the Pico Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Rabbi Neil and Rebbetzin Andrea Winkler, who preceded them, are making aliyah. Under the Winklers’ leadership, the Fort Lee community grew from a small community of 20 families with one shul in 1978, to a community that is now home to three Orthodox synagogues with an estab-

20 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

The Feinbergs, formerly of Teaneck, making aliyah.

Children coming off the plane on arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport.

never an option. Even though we’re flying into a war zone, we’re just as excited as we always were,” said Sarah Bergman, 31 of Waterbury, Connecticut, who will be making aliyah to Even Shmuel with her husband, Fred, 34, and children, Eliyahu, 10, Zev, 8, Azriel, 6 and Elisheva, 2. “We are preparing our children by watching videos and talking about the situation. Our family is concerned, but this is where we’re going,” she added.

Dozens of these Olim are planning to live in Israel’s south and north, as part of a joint project to settle Olim in the Negev and the Galilee. Those who are planning to live in the south also received special briefings about the security situation, such as information about trauma counseling and support from English-speaking Olim living in the south.

A number of Israeli dignitaries greeted the new Olim as they touched down in Israel as new citizens, among them Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landver; MK Rabbi Dov Lipman; Chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky; Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Yisrael Meir Lau; and Founders of Nefesh B’Nefesh, Tony Gelbart and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass who escorted the flight.

“The decision to make aliyah is not a simple one, especially in the current situation; it is a courageous and important one,” said Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption MK Sofa Landver. “The continu-

ing massive aliyah of families and children, especially in these times of crisis, strengthens the resolve of our nation and serves as a proof that Israel is the one and only home of the Jewish nation.”

Chair of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky added: “That so many Jews from the West are joining us of their own free will is the best answer to those who still try to destroy us. This flight is yet another step in the ingathering of the exiles, and we look forward to welcoming these new Israelis home.”

“Today’s aliyah flight demonstrates the great resilience of the Jewish people and its determination to build the State of Israel,” said Nefesh B’Nefesh Co-Founder and Executive Director Rabbi Yehoshua Fass. “These Olim, who are choosing to move to Israel in these difficult times, are instilling hope, optimism, and strength throughout Israel and the Jewish nation. The outpouring number of requests we received to join the flight out of solidarity for the citizens of Israel is inspiring.”

Among the approximately 230 Americans making aliyah on Tuesday morning were a few Bergen County natives.

Kal and Barbara Feinberg, originally of Teaneck, are moving to Israel to spend more time with their three children and 13 grandchildren, who already live in Israel. “It’s wonderful to come to Israel now, to show support for our brothers here, especially the IDF soldiers fighting in Gaza,”

said Mrs. Feinberg, “We’re looking forward to spending more time with our family; it’s been so difficult living 6,000 miles away from them.”

The Feinbergs are moving to the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, and are looking forward to becoming part of the sizeable Anglo community there, though the Feinbergs did express their concerns about the cultural and language barriers that they will be facing shortly.

Also from Teaneck was Ilana Barta, who has been making the news recently as her aliyah is dramatically taking place less than a month before her wedding, with her fiancé currently serving in the IDF deployed to Gaza. Ilana shared her inspiring perspective for JLBC readers: “I grew up in a Modern Orthodox household, went to Bnei Akiva camps, and it was very clear to me from a young age that Israel is the place to be. I’ve always wanted to do my part and come to live here.”

Ilana met her future husband, Akiva from Efrat, in camp and they dated for three-and-a-half years, mostly long distance, before he proposed to her. Ilana has been trying to raise aliyah awareness by spreading her story throughout the world, going as far as carrying her wedding dress on the flight, which she proudly showed me before calling on Jews worldwide to come to live in Israel. “I’m here today doing my part, my fiancé is doing his, and now it’s time for everyone to do theirs as well.”

lished eruv and mikvah.

Flourishing under Rabbi Winkler’s leadership, Fort Lee’s warmth, energy, and tremendous potential for additional growth were key selling points that attracted Rabbi Goldberg to the position.

“Rabbi Winkler has done an outstanding job in growing the community over three decades, and we feel very excited to [build] off of his hard work. We’re also very excited about being closer to home and giving back to the greater community we’ve been brought up in,” Goldberg told JLBC. Rabbi Goldberg said his first priority is to continue expanding services and programming that the shul already offers as the community continues to grow. “We’re going to work very hard to make sure everyone knows what a jewel Fort Lee is,” he said.

Rabbi Goldberg is a product of the Teaneck community. “My wife and I both grew

up in Teaneck, and we’re very excited to be coming back to the area.” He attended Yavneh Academy and TABC. His parents, Eli and Helen Goldberg, have been active members of the Young Israel of Teaneck, where his father has served as president. Rebbetzin Goldberg grew up in the B’nai Yeshurun community; her parents are Steve and Priva Safier.

Rabbi Goldberg expressed gratitude to Young Israel of Century City’s senior rav, Rabbi Elazar Muskin, for helping him prepare for his new job. “Rabbi Muskin is considered one of the finest pulpit rabbis in the country,” said Goldberg. “Working at a large shul has allowed me to touch all parts of synagogue life, from teaching, dealing with communal issues, providing pastoral services, as well as building meaningful relationships with many of the congregants.”

Goldberg received his smicha from Yeshiva University’s RIETS program, and a BA

in economics from Yeshiva College. He is an alumnus of Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, where he studied for two years after high school. He served as the rabbinic intern at the Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side of New York, as well as in Livingston, New Jersey and Riverdale, New York. Rebbetzin Goldberg is a psychologist and will be working at a clinic in Monsey.

Asked whether there are any inherent differences between working as a Rav on the East Coast versus the West Coast, Rabbi Goldberg said one difference will involve wintertime minyanim. “You never have to get people to come out and walk through the snow in Los Angeles. Besides that, the switch from East Coast to West Coast should be fine,” he joked.

Rabbi Goldberg’s transition will take place in October. For more information, visit http://yiftlee.org/.

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LOCAL NEWS

High Schoolers Grow With NCSY’s Girls Learning Initiative

By Elizabeth Kratz eaneck—High school students from across the region are enjoying the third summer of the Summer Girls Learning Initiative, a program operated under NCSY’s rubric and run by Dr. Aliza Frohlich, director of guidance for Yavneh Academy’s mid-

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shana Schechter, Mrs. Leah Silver, and Ms. Elana Flaumenhaft. August speakers will include Rabbi Donny Besser, Dr. Frohlich, and another exciting speaker to be announced.

Powerful learning experiences in Israel may be something that girls who stay home miss out on. “I was a madricha for three summer in NCSY’s Michelet program (in Israel). Just because you can’t make it to Israel for the summer, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a taste of that kind of learning experience,” said Frohlich.

Students get exposed to varied topics over the summer. Sometimes the shiur is

based on women’s topics and some are related to the time of year. There have been shiurim in regard to the three weeks, especially because as day camp staffers the students are not able to spend time during the day contemplating the seriousness of the time period. “It’s not like when you go to sleepaway camp, where there’s introspection. [Working] in day camp, they are not in a program all day geared toward high school students.”

Another advantage of the program is that girls from different schools and different age groups meet each other and socialize. While the age range is high school,

Frohlich said the program has welcomed some incoming 9th graders, as well as some coming back from their post-high school year in Israel.

About 25 girls attend each week, but there is room for more. There is also no commitment for girls to attend every week; each speaker is its own self-enclosed program.

Participants are asked to bring $5, which includes the cost of food and drink.

Upcoming evenings of the program are August 7, 14, and 21. The group means at 7:15 p.m. until 8:15 p.m. For more information, email aFrohlich613@gmail.com.

dle school, with support from Bruriah High School, the Frisch School, and Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls. The program is geared toward girls who spend their summer at home, most often working at the many day camps around the community.

“It’s something to ensure that they continue with their spiritual growth and learning over the summer, and keeps them connected socially,” said Frohlich, in an interview with JLBC. The girls meet each Thursday evening at the Lazy Bean Cafe, which the Secemski family, as owners of the cafe and Glatt Express, have generously agreed to keep open after hours for the event. “The girls order their drinks—lattes or milkshakes—and there is a different presenter each week,” Frohlich said.

Both women and men teach in the program, and the participating schools present instructors whom the kids are eager to hear.

The schools send out emails to all their students announcing the program and each week’s speaker. Generally it is a text-based shiur, with source sheets, “but it is designed in a way that if someone doesn’t have an extensive background they won’t be lost, but if they are more advanced, they are also challenged,” said Frohlich. All of the instructors have volunteered their time. June and July speakers have been Mrs. Jordana Baruchov, Mrs. Elissa Hochbaum, Mrs. Sho-

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LOCAL NEWS

Stop the Sirens: Federation Rally for Israel 

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staff and volunteers notified community members on Tuesday afternoon that there would be an Israel Solidarity Rally to kickoff their Stop the Sirens Campaign the following Thursday evening.

Among the speakers were Malcolm Hoenlein, Exec. Vice-Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who gave a comprehensive address before leaving to appear on a national radio program, and Sen. Robert Menendez, who left the presidents of three Central American countries in Washington to come home to Bergen County and deliver his speech to his most loyal constituents.

The program was opened by Dr. Zvi Marans, President of the JFNNJ. Among the dignitaries whose names he announced were former Congressman Steve Rothman; Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan; Freeholder Jim Tedesco; County Police Chief Brian Higgins; State Sen. Loretta Weinberg; Assemblyman. Assemblywoman, [people missing?] Sen. Gerald Cardinale; Assembly reps Robert Auth, Gordon Johnson, Valerie Huttle, and Joe Lagana; and Englewood’s Mayor Frank Huttle.

Former Mayor of Fort Lee, Michael Wildes, was recognized by a later speaker.

Like most of the speakers, Marans had just returned from Israel. He reported that on the way to Israel, his delegation had stopped in Salonika, where 50,000 Jews had been killed by the Nazis because they had no one to save them. (Today Greece is one of the most anti-Semitic countries in the world.) He said that now Jews of the world stand up for themselves, and we should stand with those on the front lines in Israel, and that they do not stand alone.

Upon landing at Ben-Gurion Airport, he said to himself, “I am home.”

He said that, contrary to many media depictions, there is no moral equivalency between a terrorist organization and a democratic government. When under serious threat, there is no appropriate proportional response. The threat must be stopped. Israel is America’s only ally in the mid-East. We should continue to help it stay safe and strong by writing to our representatives, visiting the country, and offering our services to it.

The Israeli Consul General to New York, Amb. Ido Aharoni said he was “humbled by this display of affection and support.” He thanked the U.S. for its funding of the Iron Dome missile defense program, which has saved tens of thousands of lives. He made it clear that this war with Hamas was deliberately imposed on Israel as part of the continued strategy of Hamas, which is shared by other Muslim terrorist groups, including those who blew up the Twin Towers. This is a clash of cultures, not a dispute with the Palestinians over territory or an independent state.

He said Hamas is not seeking any solution other than the eradication of Israel, and Jews around the world. Gaza was evacuated by Israeli forces nine years ago, who left behind many assets that the Gazans could have built upon. Instead, they chose to demolish those structures and turned Gaza into a launching pad for attacking Is-

22 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

rael. Israel celebrates life; the Hamas Charter promotes bigotry, hatred, and death.

They will settle for nothing less than total rule of the region by their brand of Islam, he said. Their tools are thousands of rockets and an extensive network of secret tunnels they use to bombard and infiltrate Israel. They want their own people to suffer, so that the sight of the casualties will bring international pressure on Israel to give in.

Aharoni admitted this war of terror weighs heavily on Israelis. While Hamas’s rockets have no other purpose than to kill, Israel is taking every precaution and making many sacrifices to preserve innocent lives, even of their enemies. But the war’s resulting turmoil is having devastating effects on Israel’s economy and the psyche of its citizens. They are burdened by dangers and the extraordinary efforts needed to deal with them. Israel’s tourism and trade are greatly curtailed, and investors are reconsidering investing there. We must support Israel by going there and buying its products here. Israelis are overwhelmed by our display of love and affection. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Malcolm Hoenlein decried the “calumny that Jews don’t back Israel. We are one people with one heart.” He praised the support given by Sen. Cory Booker and even more so Sen. Robert Menendez, “who even takes on the President from a sense of deep conviction.” Referring to the Biblical tribes of Israel who wanted to settle in the east, he pointed out that Israel’s war is fought on behalf of all Jews, wherever they live. “Israel did not want this war, but must now win it. And Israel cannot win by just being defensive… Hamas exists to kill, Israel kills to exist.” The U.N. condemns Israel multiple times annually, but takes no notice of the deaths of thousands by Muslim extremists.

He also said that the Arab Spring was a volcano that shook the whole Arab world.

He indicated that some stable Arab regimes are becoming supportive of Israel, now that they have a common foe. No one uses proportionality in dealing with threats; a police force will not limit itself to sending just one officer to apprehend one criminal. Israel plays a crucial role in its region. If Hamas and ISIS were to meet, “that would be the end of Jordan.” Iran cannot be allowed to become a nuclear power, and Sen. Menendez is seeing to that. He also warned that extreme Islamists plan to infiltrate countries in the West. “This is a fight between their values and those of the U.S. and Israel. It is nothing less than a battle between good and evil.” He added that the media deceive their public by showing Gaza only through what Hamas will tell them or permit them to show.

“If the vow Never Again is to have meaning, we must act now, and not be silent.

Your grandchildren demand it of you. This is a battle for the future.” He noted that the Jewish community has built a broad coalition of supporters in the U.S. Polls show that Israel is supported by 72% of Americans, so the community must present a united front.

The unexpected speaker was Sen. Menendez, who got a standing ovation. He had just gotten off the train from Washington, rushing to join this rally “to stand with you for Israel.” He spends his time in DC explaining to others that he supports Israel so strongly because it is essential to America’s national security interests. He and Sen. Lindsey Graham had introduced a resolution supporting Israel’s right to defend itself. It was passed unanimously by the

Senate, and a companion resolution was passed unanimously in the House.

Like many others, Senator Menendez laments the loss of both Palestinian and Israeli lives. But when Hamas uses its civilians as shields for its rockets, Israel has no choice but to attack. He cheered the success of the Iron Dome program, which he has always supported, and which he said must be replenished. “What other army warns innocents of its planned attacks?” He said justice, time, and history are not on the side of Hamas. He advocates stopping U.S. financial support to Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas until he disowns Hamas and turns to making peace with Israel. He also warned that we must push back against the rise of ugly anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world and that the Jewish people’s thousands-of-years-old claim to its homeland must be honored.

Unable to leave Washington, DC, Congressman Bill Pascrell sent a message to the rally that was read to the crowd: “I am gravely concerned by the escalating violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip, and I am proud to express my solidarity with Israel during this harrowing time. Israel is a vital U.S. ally in the Middle East region, and has the implicit right to defend itself against these attacks. Innocent Israeli civilians should not have to live in constant fear that a Hamas rocket could come crashing down on their homes and neighborhoods. Hamas must end its rocket attacks on Israel, which have continued in spite of good faith offers for a ceasefire. I have been proud to support federal funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system, which has likely lessened the number of Israeli casualties.

“I lament the loss of life during this terrible conflict. I believe that majority of Palestinians and majority of Israeli citizens want nothing more than peace and mutual respect from their neighbors. It is my hope that a ceasefire can be negotiated that can provide security and prevent further violence.”

Jerry Silverman, President and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, and a member of the JFNNJ headed the mission to southern Israel from which he and Dr. Zvi Marans had just returned. When his group met with four mayors of towns near Gaza, he asked what his group could do for their people. One mayor responded “We need a hug most. Give me a hug.” Our vocal support is important to every Israeli.

The people in that area have between 10 to 15 seconds to find shelter every time they hear a warning siren. “Count how long that is.” Bar-mitzvah aged kids have heard hundreds of those sirens all their lives. So, one thing American Jews are helping with is to give 45,000 southern kids the relief of a normal day in a park or zoo. Likewise, we are supporting the delivery of meals and medications to the elderly and home-bound.

While Israelis grieve over their fallen soldiers, we must realize that they are fighting for all Jews. The two lone soldiers, [American volunteer soldiers] killed recently had tens of thousands of mourners attend each of their funerals in Israel.

“We are one family, with one destiny.” He told the parents of Gilad Shaar, one of the three murdered Israeli teenagers, that “we are all in shloshim [first 30 days of mourning] with you. Those boys brought unity to world Jewry and support from many nations. The North Jersey Jewish community is taking action in their memory.” Silverman is returning to Israel next week with another mission. He ended by pledging Am

Yisroel Chai. His remarks were immediately followed by a group of Israel scouts holding a large Israeli flag who led the attendees in rousing renditions of that song and Oseh Shalom B’mrovov, bringing many in the audience to their feet.

Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner of Temple Emanu-El in Closter also just returned from Israel. He noted that he was born on the day the Yom Kippur War began. His parents sang Ani Mavteach Loch, a song promising Israeli children peace, to him as a small child. “But this vow has not been fulfilled, and conditions there now are no better than they were then. Fortunately, the Iron Dome brings them a warm blanket of comfort.” He asked Steve Rothman to join him on stage, so we could all thank Rothman for being the Congressional champion of that program. He too received a standing ovation.

Kirshner talked about how media bring us much misinformation. They do not point out that Israeli officers lead their units from the front, while Hamas leaders live safely in Qatar. “Hamas uses hospitals to store weapons, Israel uses them to save lives.” Gazans are not purely innocent civilians. They voted Hamas into power, take no steps to stop Hamas from putting rockets near their homes and institutions, and do not evacuate when warned by Israel to do so. Hamas uses innocent children as shields.

Enough children have died there already, including our three murdered Israeli teenagers and the murdered Palestinian teenager. There are “Free Gaza” rallies around the world, but those same people don’t protest the far greater killings by Syria, Iran, ISIS, and Boko Haram. They don’t recognize that Gaza was freed nine years ago, when Israel withdrew all its forces from the territory.

Instead, they demand that “the most moral army ever” be investigated and found guilty of war crimes. Protesters complain of Israel’s blockade of certain goods to Gaza, but don’t protest Hamas’s 35 infiltration tunnels and thousands of rockets.

Father Donald Sheehan, retired Pastor of Saint Matthew’s Church in Ridgefield and a long-time participant in interfaith activities spoke next. His first very warm remark was “I’d like to give Israel a hug.” He strongly praised Congress for passing companion resolutions, in both houses, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and demanding that Hamas immediately cease its attacks. He has visited Israel a couple of times. He saw the desert bloom, prayed at the Western Wall alongside Rabbi Neal Borovitz [recently retired from Temple Avodat Shalom in River Edge and past Chairman of the JCRC], and saw how vibrant Jerusalem is. He understands how an Israeli soldier would not want to let go of any of that. He “prays for peace in Israel, like any good soldier would.” He ended by reading a statement from Archbishop Meyers of Newark that called for peace and justice.

The concluding speaker was Dr. Leonard Cole, past president of the JFNNJ and the national JCPA (Jewish Council for Public Affairs). He had arrived home from Israel just a few hours earlier. He addressed those present as “Ladies, gentlemen, youngsters, mishpacha.” After visiting with one of the severely wounded soldiers in a hospital in Israel, he was shocked to see the headlines in London papers, where he had a stopover, calling for a “War Crimes Investigation” and calling Israelis “ruthless barbarians.” In fact, “they are the most decent and human-

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LOCAL NEWS

Bikur Cholim in Bergen County: An Introduction to Services

By Sara Kosowsky Gross n Genesis, God visits Abraham following his circumcision, demonstrating the importance of visiting the sick. The morning prayers describe the mitzvah of bikur cholim, visiting the sick, as one for which people can enjoy the fruits of their labor in this world and for which they will also be acknowledged in the World to Come. In Bergen County this mitzvah is taken very seriously.

From visiting people in the hospital to preparing for the needs of the patients’ family members to organizing hospital hospitality rooms, the local Bikur Cholim associations try to take care of everything. What follows is a brief introduction to some of the bikur cholim services at the three local hospitals.

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Bikur Cholim of Teaneck “The mission of the Bikur Cholim of Teaneck is to visit the patients of Holy Name Medical Center,” says Arlene Eis. “We’re a volunteer organization of about 60 very dedicated, very generous, men and women from all over Bergen County. Our group is not shul or town based, it is simply made up of people who want to perform the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim.”

The volunteers visit Sunday through Thursday and local synagogue members visit on Friday and on Shabbos. Visitors need to be 18 or older to visit through Bikur Cholim of Teaneck. Once accepted, all new visitors go through a training and orientation. To volunteer, contact Arlene Eis at 201-836-4950.

The hospital has a kosher kitchen/ lounge that is fully stocked with kosher food for patients and visitors. Elie Y. Katz, former mayor of Teaneck, current Deputy Mayor, and owner of Chopstix, worked with the hospital to have the room built and even met with the hospital designer to discuss the room’s layout. He also donated the appliances to help defray the costs. The room has a couch, kitchen, and sefarim.

There is a committee that makes sure the lounge is stocked and prepared for Shabbos and Yom Tov as well as cleaned out regularly. They even make sure the hot water urn is working. Food is supplied by Bikur Cholim of Rockland County/ Partners in Health. Over the years food has also been supplied by Maadan, Chopstix, and Glatt Express. Additionally, there is a room with two beds in the hospital that families can use on Shabbos or Yom Tov by making arrangements with the floor nurse.

Teaneck is home to CareOne at Teaneck, which also welcomes visitors.

There is no age minimum to visit there and it’s not unusual to see whole families coming by to visit the residents. Those interested should contact CareOne directly at 201-862-3300 for details. Members of Congregation Arzei Darom visit residents on Shabbos.

Bikur Cholim in Englewood Englewood Hospital and Medical Center has a group of visitors who visit Jewish patients during the week organized by Deborah Berger, chair of the Ahavath Torah

Kaplen JCC on the Palisades: Aging With Grace J

oin other senior adults in the community for an inspiring Shabbat service at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades. Led by Rabbi Gary Katz, the service includes the opportunity to engage in conversation, enjoy a delicious Shabbat meal with peers, and share a few meaningful hours filled with warmth, laughter, and friends.

Fridays, Oct 31, and Nov 21, 11:30 a.m. Cost is $5.

The JCC Senior Adult Department offers a wide range of programs and services to meet the varying needs and interests of a diverse senior population. It serves as a social and recreational center for active retirees, an adult day care for people with Alzhei- Rabbi Gary Katz leading a Shabbat program at the JCC. mer’s and related forms of dementia, and a place where yet others can successFor more information, call Judi Nahary fully “age in place” with their peers. at 201.408.1450 or jnahary@jccotp.org.

Stop the Sirens: Attend Fed Rally for Israel 

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itarian army in the world.” “The trauma of Israelis, especially those in the south, has never been so deep.” In addition to having to repeatedly take shelter from rockets, they now fear surprise attacks from

Hamas terrorists popping out of undetected tunnels. They never used to lock their doors, but they do now. Many voices are demanding an immediate ceasefire, but Cole thinks that should come only after every Hamas tunnel has been wiped out.

He urged everyone to tell their representatives how important this crisis is to us all.

The very last words were from Jason Shames, urging everyone to participate in missions to Israel and in giving donations to support all the emergency relief that is being undertaken by many organizations.

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Bikur Cholim Committee, in conjunction with Rabbi Charles Friedman, the hospital rabbi. On Wednesdays Rabbi Mordechai Shain from the Lubavitch on the Palisades visits patients and on Shabbos and Yom Tov members of Congregation Kesher Synagogue visit. To join the rotation, contact Deborah Berger at 917-903-7538. The hospital also has a room with sleeping accommodations for family members that must be arranged for in advance by contacting Letitia Corrigan in the Pastoral Care office at 201-894-3228.

The Kosher Pantry is overseen by Annette Schabes who took over from her mother, Diane Katzenstein, last year.

Schabes has a committee of 14 women from the Sisterhood of Ahavath Torah who rotate the upkeep of the room. They fill the urn Friday morning, plug in the hot plate, and return after Shabbos to unplug everything and make a list of what’s needed for the following week. According to Schabes, the bikur cholim initiative was begun by Rebbetzen Swift, z”l. Food is provided by Menagerie Caterers by owner Martin Mayer, in memory of his parents who were Holocaust survivors. Chesed 24/7 also supplements the food as does East Hill Synagogue. According to Schabes, “Everything is there to make someone not necessarily in an ideal situation still have a semblance of Shabbos or Yom Tov.”

Bikur Cholim of Bergen County Hackensack University Medical Center has its own volunteer program; how-

ever, if the need arises, Bikur Cholim of Bergen County, under the coordination of Eva Stern and Chani Schmutter, will make arrangements for visitors.

The hospital has four kosher pantries throughout the hospital. Chesed 24/7 and Bikur Cholim of Rockland County/Partners in Health provide the food. There are also two Shabbos rooms in an adjacent hospital facility that family members can use for Shabbos or Yom Tov. One room is for women and one for men. Arrangements can be made through Stern, Schmutter, or a soon-to-be-announced Bikur Cholim hotline.

According to Stern, “Bikur Cholim of Bergen County has been an umbrella organization serving the needs of the various shuls, providing funds when needed, a medical equipment gemach, transportation, home visitation, and general overall needs that extend beyond individual Shul services.” Bergenfield residents Meredith Yager and Batsheva Preil are working to enhance the services offered

by Bikur Cholim of Bergen County starting with the launching of a new website, www.bikurcholimbergencounty.org. The site will go live at the end of the summer and will be a “one-stop shopping” website for community members as well as those who need to be in Bergen County for medical care. The site will include information on bikur cholim services at the three local hospitals as well as other initiatives such as volunteer services that community members can join.

Bake Sale for IDF Rabbinate Raises $7,000 O n Sunday 7/27, Tzippora and David Wallach hosted a Bake Sale to benefit the American Friends of the IDF Rabbinate, to raise funds for olive green “dri-fit,” Tehillim/ Siddurim, and other items for the combat soldiers. The event was organized by Tzippora in under a week, with plans shared and bakers recruited via Facebook, TeaneckShuls, and weekly newsletters from area shuls. Donations of homemade baked goods poured in from dozens of community members.

Grand & Essex Market, Butterflake Bakeshop, Sammy’s New York Bagels, and Mocha Bleu Patisserie Bistro & Cafe also participated by providing baked goods, supplies, and coffee. The event, held for just three hours, brought together scores of neighbors and friends from the Teaneck Jewish community and beyond (including Washington Heights, Lawrence, and Queens). While the children made cards and drew pictures for the soldiers, the parents browsed through the vast selection of baked goods in the Wal-

lach’s living room and dining room. There were also cold refreshments including iced coffee, lemonade, and Marino’s Italian ices to help ease the heat of the day.

When the dust (and crumbs) settled, the fundraiser proved to be a tremendous success, having raised nearly $7,000.

If you’d like to donate to the American Friends of the IDF Rabbinate, visit: http:// afidfr.youngisrael.org/

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 23

LOCAL NEWS

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) Hosted by NORPAC in Teaneck upporters of Israel joined NORPAC on Sunday to welcome and honor one of Israel’s strongest allies in Congress: Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, representative from the 27th district of Florida.

In 1989, Ros-Lehtinen became the first Cuban American and the first Hispanic woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. She is currently one of the most senior Republican women in the U.S. House. As Chairman emeritus of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and current Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, Ros-Lehtinen has worked tirelessly to ensure the U.S.-Israel alliance continues to grow and strengthen.

In Teaneck, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen discussed a new bill that she and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) recently introduced. The bill, H.Con.Res.107, is a bipartisan resolution that denounces the despicable use of human shields by Hamas, while reaffirming Israel’s right to defend its territory and stop the rocket attacks on its citizens.

Ros-Lehtinen has also introduced and co-sponsored countless other important

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Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)

bills to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship. She introduced the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act (H.R. 938), the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act (H.R. 4681), and the UN Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act (H.R. 3155), just to name a few; and co-sponsored the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act (H.R.4411), the Iron Dome Support Act (H.R.1130), and

the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act (H.R.850), of which she was an original co-sponsor.

At the event, Ros-Lehtinen also reiterated her firm position on the Iranian nuclear negotiations. From previous statements before a committee hearing on the destabilizing role of Iran in the Middle East, Ros-Lehtinen said, “Instead of offering concessions to the regime, the Admin-

istration should be pressing Iran to dismantle completely its nuclear program, abandon its support for Assad and its terrorist proxies [like Hezbollah and Hamas], and cease its provocations against the U.S. and our ally, the democratic Jewish State of Israel, or else we will impose even stricter sanctions that will bring Iran’s economy to its knees.”

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen has also authored and co-signed multiple letters to the President, urging him to consult Congress in the nuclear negotiations and to make the text of the nuclear deal public.

The bills she has sponsored and cosponsored, her statements before congressional committees, and the letters she has authored and co-signed, are a testament to the meaningful commitment that Rep. Ros-Lehtinen has to the U.S.-Israel relationship. “The United States and Israel are more than allies; they are friends,” Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said. “Our two nations share democratic principles and values, and our mutual commitment will never waver.”

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) Visits Englewood ongressman Brad Schneider—representing Illinois’s 10th congressional district—is a truly committed supporter of America’s friend and only democratic ally in the world’s most volatile region. Despite his only being a freshman Representative, Schneider has already taken tremendous steps to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.

In Englewood, Schneider expressed concern about the many threats facing Israel today, including Iran’s nuclear capabilities, turmoil in Syria and Iraq, and the countless rocket attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah. In an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post, Schneider wrote, “Allowing Iran to acquire a nuclear weapons capability would directly threaten the United States, our interests, and our allies.”

To stay up to date during the event, Schneider periodically checked the “Red Alert” app on his phone, which alerts us-

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(l-r) Ben Chouake, Rep. Brad Schneider, and event chair Allen Friedman.

ers around the world in real-time as rockets are launched toward Israeli cities. There were several of these rocket alerts while the event was taking place.

Representative Schneider’s numer-

ous efforts to combat these threats—in less than two years in office—exemplifies his unique commitment. Schneider was an original co-sponsor and helped introduce the Israel Qualitative Military Edge

(QME) Enhancement Act (H.R.1992) and the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act (H.R.850), and he co-authored the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R.4411)—all of which received impressive bipartisan support. Schneider has also cosponsored numerous bills to enhance Israeli security, including several pieces of legislation to support the Iron Dome missile defense system. Even more recently, he had introduced House Resolution 642, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers. Tragically, this resolution could not help.

In only a short period of time, Representative Brad Schneider has done more to improve the U.S.-Israel relationship than most members of Congress. He is truly a unique and meaningful friend to Israel.

Representative Schneider is up for reelection on November 4, 2014.

Teaneck Chizzuk Event Hosts Rabbi Brachyahu

By Elyse Hansford and JLBC Staff eaneck—Last week, residents congregated at Congregation B’nai Yeshurun to hear from Rabbi Rami Brachyahu, the rabbi of the Israeli city of Talmon, for an evening of tefilla and chizzuk.

“Our tefillos are still required,” said Rabbi Steven Pruzansky during a somber evening of Tehillim for the three slain teenagers. While Pruzansky provided introductory words of chizzuk, setting the tone for the evening, Rabbi Shalom Baum led the mixed gathering with the recitation of Tehillim. The event provided a sense of the growing angst over the conflict in Israel. It also encouraged the community to make use of spiritual coping strategies in an attempt to make sense of the escalating violence and the stunning, tragic loss of three young lives. The event was co-sponsored

by Congregation B’nai Yeshurun and Congregation Keter Torah.

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24 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

“We do not focus on the darkness; we focus on the light,” said Rabbi Pruzansky. “[It is] yet another aspect of our uniqueness.”

Rabbi Brachyahu’s comments, in Hebrew, described the strength and complete belief in Hashem of the three families as they waited to hear news of their sons. He said that the days between the kidnappings and the world finding out their fate were notable because they were unifying. The expe-

rience brought all Jews in Israel, left-wing and right-wing, dati (observant) and chiluni (secular), together. He also said that the way to convince people to have a good opinion of frumkeit is by behaving correctly, by showing belief in Hashem, and by doing the right thing— what the three sets of parents exhibited with almost unimaginable grace throughout the ordeal.

“Strength of character, that nobility, is part of the Jewish soul,” Pruzansky said.

“We know what our enemies are capable of, but to be able to live a life filled with purpose, persevere, and even thrive with a sense of enjoyment and purpose for why we are here and the idea intrinsic within us that there is nothing my enemy can do to me that will detract from that realization, is the apex of our faith.”

“It was good to just be there, hearing from their rabbi and davening together. It was healing and unifying,” said Annette Prager, a Bergenfield resident.

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LOCAL NEWS

Bergen Community Supports IDF Troops

By Lisa Matkowsky eaneck—Rabbi Tomer Ronen, Rosh Yeshiva of Ben Porat Yosef Yeshiva Day School in Paramus, flew to Israel recently with his wife, Deganit, carrying 12 extra suitcases full of donations for Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. Their mission is a very personal one. Their son, David, is serving in the elite Tzanchanim (Paratroopers) division. Stationed in Gaza, David has been out of communication with his family since July 17th.

Rather than sit still and contemplate the possible implications of David’s silence during Operation Protective Edge, the Ronens decided to do something, both to find out about their son’s well-being and to support other soldiers during this challenging

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dale, and from families at BPY and SAR Academy (where Rabbi Ronen worked previously). I had to send out an e-mail asking people to please stop as we couldn’t carry any more!”

“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness and generosity from our incredible community and the amazing people we are surrounded by.” Ronen consulted with El-Al Israel Airlines about the extra luggage he was bringing, and they promptly agreed to fly the cargo without charge. In fact, donations from the county have been so substantial that the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey has received notice from EL AL requesting that

Said Ronen, “‘Thank you’ all collections be stopped beis not even enough to express cause the overwhelming rethe emotions we are feeling sponse has outpaced the abilfrom these acts of chesed. We ity to handle the good will. are confident that we have Grown-ups weren’t the more than sufficient amounts only local residents to rush of these items for the chayto help the IDF soldiers who alim. Our contact in the IDF risk their lives daily to prohas assured us that there is tect Israel. “Monday afterstill plenty more to be purnoon, a student in the nurschased for the troops. May ery at Ben Porat came over Hashem to continue to watch to me and told me she had Rabbi Tomer Ronen. over all our brave chayalim made a lemonade stand to raise money for the soldiers,” said Ronen. and safeguard Eretz Israel from harm.”

It seems his community in Bergen “She handed me an envelope. It contained County couldn’t agree with him more. $625.”

Items collected for chayalim.

period of conflict. “As the father of a soldier, this is one of the hardest times,” Ronen said. “Since last Thursday there has been no contact. It’s very difficult to have no clue what’s happening, so it helps our family to be busy and take action.”

After speaking with his son’s unit commander and inquiring about what he and his wife could bring David’s fellow troops, Ronen emailed and posted details to the BPY school community as well as to the Bergen community-at-large, describing his family’s poignant situation and listing necessities the soldiers could use: underwear, undershirts, and socks. The email/Facebook post reads in part: “For the last few weeks we have been glued to our televisions, phones, and newspapers following the news out of Israel...

Last week David’s unit entered Gaza and we are praying for their safe return home.

We have decided that we can no longer sit in our home in Teaneck waiting with bated breath for word…We are leaving for Israel in hopes that we will land and peace will have already come. If not, at least we may be blessed with the opportunity to see David, hug him tight and share some very special time together.”

Response to the post was instantaneous and beyond anything the Ronens could have anticipated. In under 48 hours they received donations of enough brand new Tshirts, socks, and underwear to fill 12 suitcases, as well as $13,000 for the unit. “I thought we’d get a bag or two,” Ronen said.

“The outpouring of generosity was unbelievable, from people we don’t even know.

Contributions poured in from across the Bergen County community as well as River-

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 25

LOCAL NEWS

All-Volunteer CSS Works to Secure Community from Within 

CONTINUED FROM P. 1

them safe. One such organization with a sophisticated answer to security concerns is the Community Security Service (CSS). Founded in 2007 by security professionals, the CSS is a nonprofit organization that trains volunteers from their own synagogue communities in professional operational security approaches, including counter-surveillance and risk assessments.

The more than 3,000 people who have been trained by CSS have saved millions of dollars to their member organizations, but the cost savings is not their primary focus. Rather, their unparalleled knowledge of their institutions enable them to act as adept and sophisticated “eyes and ears” for the police.

“As we watch with horror the videos and images hailing from Paris to Israel we are fortunate to have an organization such as CSS in our midst,” said former federal prosecutor Michael Wildes, a community member who is a former two-term mayor of Englewood. “CSS partners with the

organized Jewish community, governmental authorities and the police, and operates on a strictly non-political and non-denominational basis,” he said.

“CSS acts as a force multiplier for law enforcement by engaging a key element that is often overlooked in discussions about security: the community,” said David Dabscheck, CSS’s founder and president. “Our volunteers play a crucial role in complementing a synagogue’s security, as they have the cultural familiarity to identify suspicious behavior and out-ofplace objects in their environments, thereby addressing a situation long before it escalates into a serious incident,” he said.

Dabscheck also noted that central to CSS’s methodology involves working closely with a wide range of strategic partners and law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and Secure Community Network (SCN), which is the national homeland security initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Confer-

Two members of the CSS working at a recent solidarity event.

ence of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“With the war in Israel and the escalating threats to Jewish communities throughout the world and in the U.S., many community members have volunteered to join us so they can help protect their families, friends, and synagogues in a responsible and useful way,” said Deena Seelenfreund, CSS’s regional manager for New Jersey. “We are receiving requests

from numerous synagogues and communities throughout New Jersey to join our network, before the higher risk time of the High Holidays,” she added.

“Members volunteer their time in order to serve as the eyes of the community to detect and deter possible threats at an early stage, and to defend the community if necessary. The recent anti-Israel protests and riots around the world have reminded us once

again of the need for Jews to remain alert and vigilant against those who would do us harm.

While we are blessed in the U.S. to be largely exempt from the antisemitism that has gripped Europe, extremists do exist and we must be ready,” said Eli Davidovics, CSS New Jersey operations manager.

CSS also helps to secure some of the largest and most visible special events and galas of the community, such as those organized by Birthright, Chabad, and the Friends of the IDF. “Because of the current situation we have also been flooded by requests to help secure the solidarity rallies that have been occurring in communities across the country,” Seelenfreund said. “Everyone at the moment feels the need to contribute and stand together, and we feel privileged that we can play this unique role at this difficult time.”

CSS currently operates in three states and in dozens of synagogues. “We have received requests from communities across the country to bring this model to them, as there is a growing recognition that managing our security needs in an efficient and effective manner is one issue that affects us all equally,” said Seelenfreund.

Those interested in donating to the CSS or in volunteering may visit http://www.thecss.org, or email volunteer@theCSS.org.

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LOCAL NEWS

Democratic Candidate Roy Cho Visits Teaneck

By Larry D. Bernstein n a Sunday afternoon under a blazing sun, Roy Cho traversed the West Englewood section of Teaneck. The Democratic candidate for New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District clad in jeans, grey polo, and black shoes knocked on doors for over three hours.

Henry Frish, a Cho supporter and longtime Teaneck resident, escorted the candidate and members of his staff through the neighborhood. Frisch, a former teacher at Bronx Science, who has been involved with politics in some capacity for years, holds Cho in high regard. He says of the candidate, “From the first time I met him I found Roy Cho to be a highly intelligent, moderate, vigorous, and empathetic individual. I am impressed by the priority Roy is giving the support of Israel among the issues of concern to residents of the new Fifth Congressional District.”

Cho went door to door and introduced himself to potential constituents. He asked each person whom he met what issues con-

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cerned them regarding the federal government. Not surprisingly, the issue that came up repeatedly was Operation Protective Edge going on in Israel and Gaza. Cho listened intently as resident after resident brought up the dire situation.

Cho was certainly familiar with the situation going on in Israel and empathized with the country. He noted that he has recently attended an AIPAC meeting (and is in contact with AIPAC members and officials) and will be taking a trip to Israel in the very near future. Rabbi Steven Burg, Eastern Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, amongst others will accompanied him on the trip. Cho said of the trip, “I’m looking forward to going and learning as much as I can.”

Cho, a 33-year-old who resides in Hackensack, has an intriguing personal story. His family moved to America from Korea when he was just 1.

Cho says he came to respect what government could do via his father’s experience.

Cho’s father wanted to start a textile import/ export business. He approached the New Jer-

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sey Economic Development Authority. Richard Font of the NJEDA spent six months going to banks in an attempt to help Cho’s father secure a loan. Ultimately, Cho’s father got the loan and was able to start a business.

This experience had a big impact on Cho. It helped form his belief that the “public and private sector need to be invested together.”

The competition for New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District is steep. Scott Garrett is a seven- term incumbent who has won the district handily each time. Cho believes there are a number of reasons why Congressman Garret is vulnerable. He cited the change in the district based on the 2010 census which now includes much of Bergen County as one prime reason he believes he can win. Mr. Cho also noted the public frustration with the current Congress and that anti-incumbent sentiment is high. He says, “People are sick of career politicians.”

Cho earned an undergraduate degree in political science from Brown University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. For the past five years, he has worked as a mergers and acquisitions and private equity attorney from the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He also has worked in government. Cho served as Correspondence Director to U.S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan.

Earlier Cho served as an Aide to the Governor of New Jersey and as Special Assistant to the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. While with the Port Authority, Cho worked on a number of public-private collaborations.

The stint with the Port Authority reaf-

Roy Cho, candidate for Congress in the 5th District, went door-to-door in Teaneck on Sunday, July 27 at the invitation of resident Henry Frisch, who accompanying him on his walk. Cho, who also sat for an interview with the Jewish Link, spoke with residents about his support for the Israeli government’s efforts to root out terrorism in the Gaza Strip, along with other issues of concern to the community.”

firmed Cho’s belief that the private and public sector can work together. It also piqued Cho’s interest in transportation, which along with financial services is the committee that he would like to serve on should he win the election.

Cho’s staff spoke glowingly of their candidate. Each emphasized his personal warmth, genuine kindness, and magnanimity. Director of field operations Sam Berman said, “The first thing Roy does whenever anyone gets involved with the campaign is thank them and not just once.”

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CONTINUED ON P. 29

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 27

THE JEWISH LINK

EDITORIAL

OF BERGEN COUNTY

Hyperbole, Hypocrisy and Hate: The Lethal Mix ost of the producers, directors, reporters, broadcast facilities and editorial offices of the biggest media corporations are in our backyard. It is amazing that they are either so ignorant, or so hypocritical, or dare we say it, so antisemitic, because of the subtle ways in which they sabotage the facts of what is going on in Israel and Gaza.

They exonerate the terrorists and blame the victims. That’s a familiar theme in Jewish history.

They frame the picture with words— like describing the “Israeli Tour of the Tunnels” as a propaganda push on CNN, and then in other pieces, suggest that the tunnels are not dangerous at all and that the Israelis are exaggerating. Seriously? How many of our people have fallen? How many would have fallen without the Iron Dome?

(The Iron Dome is truly a gift from Hashem, through the ruach hakodesh He gave its designers.) Do you think tens of thousands of dead Jews and Israeli Arabs and Christians and Bahai and others in Tel Aviv, Beersheva and Haifa would have made them more sympathetic? To the mainstream media, it seems context means nothing.

Everything the Jews present to the mainstream about this war is dismissed as propaganda. Even the rocket and missiles counts are met with skepticism. The human shields who have been placed there

by Hamas, are victims of a terrorist organization aligned with ISIS, Iran and Al Qaeda and is the realized nightmare of a con-

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temporary enemy. Those facts are never discussed. Hamas certainly learned how to manipulate the hypocritical ignoramuses who skew this war and have unleashed a wave of antisemitism that rivals what went on in pre-World War II Europe and the United States.

The reporters don’t dare talk about how they are being intimidated with—at the least—confiscation of their equipment and—at most—a beheading. Only one Italian reporter is daring to tell what he really saw. Two others removed their tweets after Hamas threatened them. And now we learn that Europe has shelled out $125 million in ransoms, that the NYTimes says is demanded by Al Qaeda operatives and is used to fund acts of terror. News agencies are afraid of their people being killed or kidnapped.

How can they possibly tell the truth?

When Russia hit a jetliner and murdered 300 people in a nano-second, no one screamed in the streets or in the news feeds, howling like mad dogs for Russian blood nor did they throw Molotov Cocktails at Russian installations or embassies. When America murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, only a handful in the media elites said “Boo.” And the mainstream media, and social networks are essentially silent about all that. The exceptions make the rule. And remember, it’s all about ratings. A war in Israel with terrorists? BORING. We are living in a “Sha-Sha” world, where

leaders and news agencies are terrified of terrorists and show it. So they defend Hamas, whose mission is to exterminate every Jew, and every infidel thereafter. It is a group with the same ideology as those who brought us 9/11. Those who defend Hamas by extension defend Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda and ISIS, whose leaders have demanded that the 4,000,000 million women under their rule be mutilated. They are defending the same people who tried to blow up the Eiffel Tower, are threatening the Dutch government and blew up London’s subways—as well as buses and cafes, discos, trains, planes and marketplaces around the world. They are defending the murderers of thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria, as well as each other, and they are defending a group of men who believe rape is a weapon of war, and are carrying out that kind of war in Nigeria. Those who defend Hamas defend the indefensible.

These defenders never defend the people most terrorized by Hamas: the people in Gaza, Hamas’ most valuable weapon against the Jewish people. By inculcating children from birth with hatred and a cult of death, by using their women and children as human shields, while they live lives of luxury in Qatar, where the government channels American weapons to terrorists, Hamas is winning the propaganda war. And those who see it refuse to talk about, because they, too, are victims of Hamas terror.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor:

To the Editor:

As CEO and owner of an Executive Search firm, The Joel Paul Group, I read with interest Y. Lieber’s article (7/17, p.69). I agree with all his advice to candidates writing a résumé, except one.

I receive feedback from hiring managers that the “Objective” section of a résumé is not needed. They view it as filler. Simply stated, when a candidate applies for a job (e.g., accountant, fundraiser, or educator), that is their objective: to get the interview and eventually be the candidate of hire.

There is no need to state an objective.

Two more reminders: If you add the link to your LinkedIn profile on your résumé, you must insure that your printed résumé matches your LinkedIn profile. Different titles, dates, or leaving out a prior job, raises a “red flag” to a hiring manager.

Lastly, when emailing your résumé, you should send it as a .pdf (not as a Word document, unless so requested by the hiring manager). Word documents may print out differently on the reviewer’s printer. A .pdf insures that the way you saved the document is the way it will be viewed by the recipient.

One of the fundamental teachings of Judaism is the idea that there is meaning in all historical events. This meaning refers to a divine design, a master plan that encompasses all of history.

It is in the days commemorating the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh and of Yerushalayim in the year 70 A.D. that our consciousness of history and its meaning should be raised. The Beis HaMikdosh and Yerushalayim were destroyed and millions of Jews were murdered, taken into slavery, starved to death, and exiled across the Roman Empire. The rabbis concluded we were punished because of our sins. Several sins were suggested, but the overwhelming opinion was the sin of disunity, unjustified hatred, and a lack of feeling responsible one for the other. We all too often fail to see that every person is created in the image of God. Pride, envy, anger are the real sins. These are not petty moral sins but basic tenets of the Jewish religion, and a failure in our relationships is a failure as Jews.

American Jews live in an age of relative prosperity, health, and happiness. It is not easy to reflect on what appears to be ancient history. Yet at every moment, with every person we meet, perhaps we can be a little more sensitive and accepting; possibly give assistance to a person in need—and maybe even love each person a little more.

Traditionally, each year Jews remember the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh and Yerushalayim on Tisha B’Av. It is a day of reflection on our national and historical tragedies, including the Holocaust, Crusades, and pogroms. It is a time to think how we can improve ourselves, our communities, and the world; and even how to guard our speech from hurting others.

Willie Hochman Fair Lawn, NJ

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Rav Joseph Soloveichik teaches that Judaism developed a very peculiar philosophy of memory, an ethics of memory.

Memory is not just the capacity to know events that lie in the past, memory is experiential in nature; one does not simply recollect the past, but re-experiences that which has been. Just like during Passover one must see himself as if he himself left Egyptian slavery, so too one should attempt to re-experience the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem, our dispersions, and all the pogroms and holocausts.

Every expression of traditional Judaism envisages a happy ending, from the sociological message of the prophets to the mystical message of the Kabbalists. The rabbis assert that the anniversary of the day of the destruction of the Temple would be the birth date of the Messiah. Perhaps we can help rebuild Jerusalem and bring the messianic era of world peace.

Martin Polack Teaneck, NJ

To the Editor: As we are getting ready for Shabbos, it is appropriate for me to take a few moments and reflect upon the unique events of this week. I know that all of us are constantly davening and looking for ways to assist our beloved soldiers, risking their lives to protect all of us.

Although what I will share with you is only a small part of the overall effort to defend the Jewish people, Hashem watches and accepts all of our actions. Recently, we received 500 pairs of tzitzis strings and camouflaged (green colored) garments to assemble for the chayalim. This request came from the army, as many soldiers wanted the zchus of this mitzvah as

Co-Founders/Co-Publishers Moshe Kinderlehrer Mark (Mendy) Schwartz Editor-in-Chief Jeanette Friedman Managing Editor Adam Negnewitzky Senior Editor Elizabeth Kratz Contributing Editors Nina Glick Phil Sieradski Advertising Director Yaakov Serle Assistant Editor Aliza Chasan Office Manager Jennifer Hoffer Sales Development Ken Goffstein Sales Representative Risa Lefkowitz Simon Worman Database Coordinator Moishie Rosenberg Sports Editor Steve Gutlove Proofreader/Copy Editor Ruth Brody Business Dept Ilan Itzkowitz Zach Kfare Yanky Krinsky Interns Sushi Kaplan Benjy Kleiner Design design2pro.com Contributors Sarah Abenaim • Larry Bernstein Jenny Gans • Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Glick • Estelle Glass • Sara Kosowsky Gross • Gail Hochman Robert Katz • Banji Latkin • Bracha Schwartz Rabbi Mark Staum • Tzvi Silver N. Aaron Troodler • Temimah Zucker The Jewish Link of Bergen County PO Box 3131 Teaneck, NJ 07666 Phone: 201-371-3212 Email: editor@jewishlinkbc.com Advertising: ads@jewishlinkbc.com Subscriptions/Home Delivery: delivery@jewishlinkbc.com

The Jewish Link of Bergen County, an independent publication, promotes honest and rigorous conversations about Judaism,Israel and issues affecting our community. The opinions reflected in articles from our contributors do not necessarily reflect JLBC’s positions, and publishing them does not constitute an endorsement from JLBC. We simply offer food for thought. We reserve the right to accept or refuse submissions and edit for content and length. We also reserve the right to refuse advertising that in our opinion does not reflect the standards of the newspaper. We are not responsible for the kashrus of any product advertised in the Jewish Link of Bergen County.

they went out to battle. At precisely the moment our soldiers were entering Gaza, NCSY kollel boys were completing these tzitzis to be delivered to the soldiers on the front lines. I couldn’t help but tear throughout the tzitzis making, as I watched our young campers and counselors learn invaluable life lessons of achdus, Ahavas Am, and Eretz Yisrael.

In Parshas Matos, Pinchas, a Kohen Gadol—the spiritual leader of Klal Yisrael at that time—accompanies the troops to battle. We learn from here, that as we fight for the safety and security of Klal Yisrael, we must always approach the battle using two powerful fronts, a physical and spiritual one.

Let us continue to find ways to improve our individual and collective Avodas Hashem during these trying days. May Hashem protect His people and ultimately restore His peace over all of us.

Wishing everyone a Good Shabbos.

Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky Bergenfield, NJ

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DVAR TORAH

Devarim: The Final Oration

By Larry Stiefel Scene: The Parsipanny Hilton Grand Ballroom. A hall filled with red, white, and blue balloons and streamers, with approximately 200 people standing around, looking a bit dejected. A man in a pinstriped suit with perfectly coiffed, grey hair approaches the podium. (Loud applause.)

“Thank you. Thank you. I just got off the phone with Joshua Franklin and congratulated him on his victory. It was a close, hard-fought election, but it’s now official.

Josh has won the election for the next Mayor of Parsipanny.” (Boos) “Now, now. Don’t be that way. We’ve had a great run, and we have nothing to be ashamed of.” (The crowd calms down) “That’s better.

“It’s been my honor to be your Mayor for the last 20 years. That’s five consecutive terms, quite an impressive record. Some of the volunteers in this room weren’t even born when I took office, or were just getting out of diapers. Over the years, I’ve hopefully become a little wiser, and certainly a lot

greyer. (Laughter, polite applause) “But I’ve tried to serve the people of Parsippany as best I could.

“Before I go any further, I’d like to thank my wife and kids for all their help through my long journey. Beth, are you in here?

Come on up.” (The candidate’s wife stands at the podium, to a loud round of applause.)

“Thank you for letting me share our lives with the 50,000 citizens of Parsippany, Honey. I certainly appreciate it, and I know they do, too.

“When I started out in politics, all those many years ago, the times were very different. Ronald Reagan was President. The Berlin Wall was still standing. Dirty Dancing was showing in the local movie theatre. We were listening to Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer on the radio. Of course, this is New Jersey, so most of you are still listening to that Bon Jovi song. Some things never change.

“But things truly were different back then. Twenty years ago, we were a town in decline. We were suffering from a high crime rate, rising unemployment, and a general malaise. Parsipanny was in a downward spiral. Now we have one of the lowest crime rates in the state, our unemploy-

ment numbers are the envy of New Jersey, and just a few years ago we were voted the country’s 17th best place to live by Money Magazine.” (Polite applause.)

“When I first started as Mayor, I was up against a Town Council that didn’t want to change anything. They were very stubborn, very old school. I pretty much had to force my will on them, and confrontation was common. In my first term in office, it was either my way, or the highway. What can I say? I had to knock a lot of heads together.

The people of Parsipanny stood with me in those days, and over time things improved.

“Now Parsipanny has a wonderful Town Council, open to change and openly responsive to the changing needs of our town. The schools are constantly improving. There are new businesses moving in every day. Morale is high. I’m so proud of all our progress.” (More polite applause.)

“It took a generation for all these changes to take shape. I think that a new era is dawning in our town.

“Our new Mayor, Josh Franklin, rose up through the Town Council. He is an example of the new kind of leader this town has created, a leader who understands negotiation and compromise. I guess the time of

the dinosaurs like me, autocrats who rule by force of personality, is coming to an end.

If I had to lose this election, I’m glad it’s to someone I respect, like Josh.” (Applause.)

“I guess this is what Moses must have felt like when he rose before the Israelites at the start of the fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy, to address the people as their leader for the last time. Not that I’m Moses, mind you. Still, I imagine this is how he felt.

I’m proud of all that we’ve accomplished, and I see so much more that needs to be done. I wish I could be there to guide you, but I know it’s time for new leadership. I’d like to stand here all night and give you advice, but unlike Moses in Deuteronomy, who lectured for thirty-three chapters, I think my time is up.

“The good news is that after this speech, I will not be escorted to Mount Nebo to an anonymous grave. At least, I don’t think I will. This is New Jersey, after all, and politics can be tough. Seriously, though, I plan to be around for a while. Call me if you need me. My number is in the book.

“Thank you. Good luck, and good night.” (The Mayor exits the stage to loud applause.)

The Jewish Obsession: Parshat Devarim/Shabbat Chazon

By Rabbi Zvi Hersh Weinreb he popular media often accuses the Jewish people of an obsession. Some accuse us good-humoredly of an obsession with food. Others maliciously accuse us of being obsessed with money. I agree that there is a Jewish obsession. I maintain that it is justice with which we are obsessed.

I define an obsession as an idea that dominates our thinking even when there are other important concerns that we need to address. Thus, the person who is truly obsessed with a particular idea cannot ignore that idea even when he is busy working, playing, or attending to other personal needs. Naturally, this can reach the stage where the obsession is pathological and actually interferes with the necessary functions of life. But the Jewish obsession with justice is not at all pathological.

One example of a Jew obsessed with justice is Rabbi Moshe Rivkish, who lived in the late 17th century. His name is certainly not a “household name,” even among individuals who are familiar with the heroes of Jewish history. Students of the codes of Jewish law may know the name of his major work because it adorns the margins of every edition of the Shulchan Aruch. The name of his work is Be’er HaGolah, but not everyone who consults his work regular-

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Democratic Candidate Roy Cho Visits Teaneck 

CONTINUED FROM P. 27

ly knows the author’s identity. Many more are likely to be familiar with the name of his distinguished mov grandson, Rabbi Elijah, the Gaon of Vilna.

Be’er HaGolah is not a commentary in the usual sense of the word. It is a reference tool, in which the author supplies the sources in the Talmud for the statements found in the code. Occasionally, but rarely, the author allows himself a phrase or brief sentence of commentary. Inevitably, these few comments express Rabbi Moshe’s “obsession” with justice.

Here is one example of such a comment: “I write this for all future generations, because I have seen people who have grown wealthy from monies they derived from cheating non-Jews in business. Ultimately, they were unsuccessful and their properties deteriorated so that they left no blessing behind. On the other hand, I have seen many who have sanctified God’s name and returned profits derived from non-Jewish customers who mistakenly overpaid for merchandise. Ultimately, they were successful, became materially wealthy, and left a significant inheritance to their offspring.”

What do we know about the personal concerns of this individual who was “obsessed” with justice for non-Jews? Based upon the preface to his work, we learn that he was driven, not once but several times, from his hometown of Vilna in Lithuania.

Each time, he was a victim of fanatically anti-Semitic non-Jews, and each time he left

with just the clothes on his back and his personal diary, forced to abandon all of his possessions, including his painstakingly accumulated library of holy books.

His critical personal concerns did not interfere with his fundamental obsession: justice for all human beings, even those at the hands of whom he suffered greatly.

This late 17th-century Moshe learned to be obsessed with justice from the first Moshe, Moses our Teacher, and from the words he speaks in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22).

Moses begins his lengthy and eloquent valedictory to the Jewish people with his predominant concern. He is nearing the end of his life and his duty was to prepare the people to enter the Promised Land. But instead of instructing them about the methods to be used in entering the land, conquering it and settling it, we find him addressing the people with these words: “So I took…wise and experienced men, and appointed them heads over you… I charged your magistrates at that time as follows, ‘Hear out your fellow man, and decide justly between any man and a fellow Israelite or a stranger…

You shall not be partial in judgment: hear out low and high alike…’”

Moses too is obsessed with justice, to the extent that he interrupted his final instructions to the Jewish people and prefaced them with his plea that they establish a fair and equitable judiciary that would mete out justice to all, even the “stranger,”

the non-Jew. This week is a special Shabbat. It is the Shabbat before the major fast day of Tisha B’Av. We follow the reading from the Torah portion with a selection from the very first chapter of the Book of Isaiah. It is called Shabbat Chazon, or the Sabbath of the “prophetic vision” of Isaiah.

Here, too, the prophet has numerous concerns, not the least of which is his critique of the sinfulness of the Jewish people. But he does not fail to express his obsession, which like the biblical Moses and the 17th-century Moshe Rivkish, was the cause of justice. So he concludes his vision of what the final redemption will look like: “I will restore your magistrates as of old…

After that you shall be called City of Righteousness…Zion shall be saved by justice.”

I write these words in the midst of a great and challenging crisis for the Jewish people. We are at war against a vicious and treacherous enemy. Yet, even in the midst of our valiant efforts to defend ourselves, we remain obsessed with the cause of justice, and we strive in every way possible to wage a just war, even risking our own lives as we attempt to spare the lives of innocent civilians.

We are confident that Zion will indeed be saved, imminently and gloriously, and that the justice we practice will be acknowledged by all mankind, thereby resulting in the universal blessing of the Almighty God of Justice and Mercy.

That genuineness came through during Cho’s walk through Teaneck. After introducing himself, Cho asked each candidate, “What issues do you have with the federal government.” He was content to listen, but also offered feedback and thoughts when appropriate.

Cho who says, “I am proud to be a Democrat and I believe in the values of the Democratic Party.” He describes himself as a pro

business moderate. He noted that bipartisanship and reaching across the aisle are imperative and bemoaned that this has been the least productive Congress in history. Cho says should he be elected, he’d vote based on issues, as he is not “beholden to the president” nor is he “entrenched in ideology.”

Cho, who respects both New Jersey Senators, spoke glowingly of Senator Menendez who he says has “shown real leadership” on his

stances in regard to his support of Israel and Iranian sanctions.

When asked for his final thoughts, Cho said, “we need to make sure Washington works and that your representative works for you.”

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Larry D. Bernstein, a Bergen County Resident, is a freelance writer, tutor, and English teacher. You can find more of his writing on his website: larrydbernstein.com.

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 29

POLITICAL PONDERINGS

David vs. Goliath

By N. Aaron Troodler, Esq. ontrary to what you may think, Israel has been battling more than just one enemy during Operation Protective Edge.

There is no question that the onslaught of rockets fired by Hamas directly resulted in the decision by Israel to take measures to defend its citizens and led to Israel’s attempt to restore a sense of quiet and stability to the region. Yet, Hamas is not the sole adversary that Israel is forced to engage in battle during this difficult period.

Not only is Israel fighting a war against terrorism; it is also fighting a war in the court of public opinion. Throughout history, there are people who relish the opportunity to criticize Israel and denigrate the Jewish State. These critics anxiously wait for an opening, and, when it materializes, they are prepared to pounce and malign Israel.

Israel is facing a public relations offensive that it is trying valiantly to deflect.

To make matters worse, the United Nations Human Rights Council greatly exacerbates the situation and turns the tide against Israel. In an absolutely deplorable move, the UN Human Rights Council voted to launch an investigation into what they deliberately call “war crimes.”

Hamas is using civilians as human shields, and it is Israel that is in the crosshairs? Hamas is indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets at populated areas.

That a so-called human rights organiza-

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tion can turn a blind eye to the blatant human rights violations being wantonly perpetrated by Hamas is preposterous.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was outraged at the UN’s actions. “The UNHRC is sending a message to Hamas and terror organizations everywhere that using civilians as human shields is an effective strategy,” he said.

It is no surprise that the UN Human Rights Council, with its longtime record of prejudice against Israel, launched this bogus and biased investigation into Israel’s actions. The UN vote may have been the last straw.

Those seeking to censure Israel attribute the disparate number of deaths in Gaza to the fact that Israel, in their opinion, is using a disproportionate show of force. This incredibly successful public relations effort by Israel’s enemies to label the people in Gaza as victims of Israeli aggression.

They do not mention the Iron Dome missile defense system, without which there would be thousands of casualties in Israel. Hamas’ intent to kill civilians is clear; more than 3,000 rockets and missiles have been thrown at Israel. The critics do not say Hamas fires them from schools, hospitals and mosques in heavily populated areas, putting every resident in Gaza in harm’s way. Hamas threatens to kill their own people if they leave after getting warnings

rorists in Gaza intent on annihilating the Jewish State, they will have won the war that matters most.

It is like the story of David and Goliath.

On the surface, young David had no realistic chance of besting the mighty and powerful giant Goliath—and Hamas and ISIS and their terrorist partners are the Goliath that threaten Western Civilization, not just Israel. Yet, just as David persevered against all odds, let us hope and pray that Israel will prevail against its enemies on the frontlines. Not just for the sake of Israel, but for civilization as we know it.

N. Aaron Troodler is an attorney and principal of Paul Revere Public Relations, a public relations and political consulting firm. Visit him on the Web at TroodlersTake. blogspot.com, www.PaulReverePR.com, or www.JewishWorldPR.com. You can also follow him on Twitter: @ troodler from Israel that an attack is imminent.

Critics do not refer to the sirens and bomb shelters everywhere in Israel. In Gaza, residents do not have a safe haven from Israel’s attempt to defend itself. Instead of constructing bomb shelters, Hamas built an elaborate network of terror tunnels to launch attacks against Israel.

As Israel struggles to fend off the tsunami of denunciation, it is having a difficult time turning the tide of public opinion in its favor, but the real struggle Israel has been forced to contend with is protecting its people. If Israel is able to neutralize Hamas, Islamic Jihad, ISIS and the other ter-

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OP-ED

To Save Gaza, Destroy Hamas

By Amos Yadlin /www.inss.org.il (reprinted with permission from INSS. This article appeared first in the International Edition of the New York Times) EL AVIV—After nearly three weeks of fighting…it is time to revisit some basic assumptions about Hamas. Until now, Israel assumed Hamas was the “devil we know,” capable of attacks that were mostly a nuisance; accepting its rule over the Gaza Strip was preferable to risking a vacuum of governance like what we see in Somalia and Libya. But Hamas’s reckless violence in the current round of fighting severely undermined this thinking.

First, Hamas has proved a bad ruler. By placing many of its military assets—tunnels to infiltrate Israel, bunkers for its fighters, rocket launchers to terrorize Israeli civilians—under or among mosques, hospitals and schools, Hamas turned Gaza’s civilians into a shield for its military assets, in effect daring Israel to attack them. Then it cynically turned the predictable casualties that ensued into propaganda, and rejected ceasefire proposals, notably an Egyptian plan accepted by Israel, the Arab League and the international community. Last week, Mohammed al-Arabi, a former Egyptian foreign minister, accused it of “shedding the blood of innocent Palestinians.”

The latest round of warfare showed that Hamas had become more dangerous, and its offensive capacity stronger, than we had known. Its ability to threaten Israeli towns through its tunnels and to rain rockets on Israeli cities raised what had been a nui-

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sance to a challenge of strategic proportions.

For these reasons, Hamas’s rule over Gaza must be brought to an end, its military wing disarmed, and Gaza’s people given the chance to elect new leaders.

This can be done in three stages: First, Israel has every right to intensify its campaign until Hamas’s leaders agree to a cease-fire. Israel’s forces must step up the pressure on Hamas, so that its leaders feel the encirclement tightening. (So far, Israel’s incursion has destroyed more than two dozen offensive tunnels, reduced rocket fire at Israeli civilians and collected important intelligence.) Second, any cease-fire must carry the condition that Hamas cannot rearm.

Third, the Palestinian Authority must regain a share of power in Gaza, so that new elections can be held.

These measures could clear the way for Gaza’s reopening to the world, so that its people could at last prosper in peace.

All of this can be achieved because of a fundamental change in Middle East politics: For perhaps the first time, there is a true convergence of interest among Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority and Israel in limiting the spread of Islamist extremism.

Remember that it was the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, that governed Gaza following Israel’s complete withdrawal from the territory in 2005. After a divisive election a year later, Hamas seized sole power in Gaza in 2007. For an enduring peace, Israel should quietly promote a

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resumption of control in Gaza by the Palestinian unity government, with international support. If Israel succeeds in tying a cease-fire to an immutable ban on rearmament by Hamas, government by a unified leadership of technocrats— as the Palestinian Authority and Hamas agreed to on July 3—should be encouraged for Gaza.

Such a government could, at minimum, govern the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and provide basic rule of law.

With continued support from Arab countries, this would allow for more economic growth in Gaza and for a gradual lifting of the Israeli- Egyptian blockades. It could even open the way for a long-term, post-conflict “Marshall Plan” for Gaza, led by moderate Arab states and supported by Israel.

Unrealistic? Perhaps. But the alternative—continued rule by Hamas, with its propensity for periodic warfare against Israeli civilians—is far worse. Would an ungoverned Gaza be able to produce and launch thousands of rockets that could cover the length of Israel? We can’t be certain.

Similarly dire predictions of Israeli vulnerability to jihadist “tidal waves” from Syria and from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula have been proved wrong in the past. The original sin that led to this outbreak was a willingness, in previous cease-fire agreements, to let Hamas rebuild its offensive capabilities. This reality must not be repeated.

Before this round of fighting, Hamas had been weakened by two years of political and economic setbacks for its supporters in the Middle East. It had to leave its base in Syria because of the civil war there. Its Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt were ousted. Its popularity among Palestin-

ians was declining. A June poll showed that 70 percent of Gazans wanted to continue the cease-fire with Israel then in effect; 57 percent wanted the newly established unity government with Fatah, the Palestinian party that governs the West Bank, to renounce violence against Israel; 65 percent said the Palestinian Authority should send officials to administer Gaza.

Opinions have no doubt changed, given the heat of battle and the anguish of Palestinians over the hundreds of civilian casualties. But Gazans know that Hamas is to blame for their staying in neighborhoods about to be bombarded, for hiding rocket depots in their children’s schoolyards, for digging tunnels under mosques. Gazans may hate Israelis, but I suspect that a similar poll, if taken today, would show even less support for Hamas than in June.

Israeli military officials know there is no simple solution—but that a political solution is always better than a military one. But to achieve that political solution, Israel must first arrive at cease-fire negotiations from a position of strength. For that, a significant price must be extracted from Hamas.

Amos Yadlin, the chief of Israeli military intelligence from 2006 to 2010, is director of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. A version of this op-ed appears in print on July 26, 2014, on page A21 of the New York Times. The Institute for National Security Studies launches and engages in innovative, relevant, high-quality research that shapes the public discourse of issues on Israel’s national security agenda, and provides policy analysis and recommendations to decision makers, public leaders, and the strategic community, both in Israel and abroad. Visit http://www. inss.org.il/

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 31

OP-ED

To the Students for Justice in Palestine, a Letter From an Angry Black Woman

By Chloe Valdary/www.tabletmag.com he student organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is prominent on many college campuses, preaching a mantra of “Freeing Palestine.” It masquerades as though it were a civil rights group when it is not. Indeed, as an African-American, I am highly insulted that my people’s legacy is being pilfered for such a repugnant agenda. It is thus high time to expose its agenda and lay bare some of the fallacies they peddle.

• If you seek to promulgate the legacy of early Islamic colonialists who raped and pillaged the Middle East, subjugated the indigenous peoples living in the region, and foisted upon them a life of persecution and degradation—you do not get to claim the title of “Freedom Fighter.”

• If you support a racist doctrine of Arab supremacism and wish (as a corollary of that doctrine) to destroy the Jewish state, you do not get to claim that the prejudices you peddle are forms of legitimate “resistance.”

• If your heroes are clerics who sit in Gaza plotting the genocide of a people; who place their children on rooftops in the hopes they will get blown to bits; who heap praises upon their fellow gang members when they succeed in murder-

T

ing Jewish school boys and bombing places of activity where Jews congregate— you do not get to claim that you are some Apollonian advocate of human virtue.

You are not.

• If your activities include grieving over the woefully incompetent performance by Hamas rocketeers and the subsequent millions of Jewish souls who are still alive— whose children were not murdered by their rockets; whose limbs were not torn from them; and whose disembowelment did not come into fruition—you do not get to claim that you stand for justice. You profess to be irreproachable. You are categorically not.

• If your idea of a righteous cause entails targeting and intimidating Jewish students on campus, arrogating their history of exile-and-return and fashioning it in your own likeness you do not get to claim that you do so in the name of civil liberty and freedom of expression.

• You do not get to champion regimes that murder, torture, and persecute their own people, deliberately keep them impoverished, and embezzle billions of dollar from them—and claim you are “pro-Arab.”

You are not.

• You do not get to champion a system wherein Jews are barred from purchasing land, traveling in certain areas, and living

out such an existence merely because they are Jews—and claim that you are promoting equality for all. You do not get to enable that system by pushing a boycott of Jewish owned businesses, shops, and entities— and then claim that you are “against apartheid.” That is evil.

• You do not get to justify the calculated and deliberate bombings, beatings, and lynchings of Jewish men, women, and children by referring to such heinous occurrences as part of a noble “uprising” of the oppressed—that is racism. It is evil.

• You do not get to pretend as though you and Rosa Parks would have been great buddies in the 1960s. Rosa Parks was a real Freedom Fighter. Rosa Parks was a Zionist.

Coretta Scott King was a Zionist.

A. Phillip Randolph was a Zionist.

Bayard Rustin was a Zionist.

Count Basie was a Zionist.

Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. was a Zionist.

Indeed, they and many more men and women signed a letter in 1975 that stated: “We condemn the anti-Jewish blacklist. We have fought too long and too hard to root out discrimination from our land to sit idly while foreign interests import bigotry to America. Having suffered so greatly from such prejudice, we consider most repugnant the efforts by Arab states to use the economic power of their newly-acquired

oil wealth to boycott business firms that deal with Israel or that have Jewish owners, directors, or executives, and to impose anti-Jewish preconditions for investments in this country.”

You see, my people have always been Zionists because my people have always stood for the freedom of the oppressed. So, you most certainly do not get to culturally appropriate my people’s history for your own. You do not have the right to invoke my people’s struggle for your shoddy purposes and you do not get to feign victimhood in our name. You do not have the right to slander my people’s good name and link your cause to that of Dr. King’s.

Our two causes are diametrically opposed to each other.

Your cause is the antithesis of freedom.

It has cost hundreds of thousands of lives of both Arabs and Jews. It has separated these peoples, and has fomented animosity between them. It has led to heartache, torment, death and destruction.

It is of course your prerogative to continue to utilize platitudes for your cause.

You are entirely within your rights to chant words like “equality” “justice” and “freedom fighter.”

You can keep using those words for as long as you like. But I do not think you know what they mean.

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UNDER FIRE

OU Summer Programs in Israel Continue

By Lisa Matkowsky rthodox Union summer programs in Israel continue to adjust their itineraries and sites to accommodate changing safety concerns and providing security updates as warranted. Programs currently reporting amendments include YU’s Counterpoint Israel, Anne Samson TJJ Ambassadors, NCSY, Kollel, BILT, GIVE, ICE Israel, Euro ICE, JOLT and Yachad.

“Our main concern is the safety and best interest of the participants,” said Mayer Fertig, Chief Communications Officer for the OU. “We are being guided by the Israeli government through direct communications with the Cheder Matzav (situation room), and we are following their advice and going a step beyond.”

College students in Israel with the Counterpoint Israel program, an immersive service-learning initiative of Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), were originally scheduled to run camps in Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi from June 29–July 10 before relocating to Dimona and Arad for the second session, scheduled for July 13–24. The YU students were working up until Monday, July 7th, in two locations in southern Israel: Kiryat Gat and

O

NCSY high schoolers in Israel.

Kiryat Malachi. As sirens sounded in that region, they moved back to Jerusalem that day.

Counterpoint volunteers help empower underprivileged youth throughout Israel, and undergraduates run two separate camp sessions in Arad, Dimona, Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi concurrently

focusing on two cities at a time.

Teaneck resident and second-time Counterpoint participant Rebecca Kleiner, a student at Stern College and alumna of Ma’ayanot High School, describes her experience as positive, both in terms of content and security: “It’s clear that security comes first. They

have adapted different sites and locations but the camp is running the same.” And for Kleiner, the tremendous impact this program has is well worth any modifications in plans. “Counterpoint allows volunteers to provide these kids with exposure to a broad array of unusual activities as well as teaching English, including juggling, break dancing, baking, and music that allow them to delve into what they’re good at. We share in some kids’ getting the first chance in their lives to shine.

It’s an incredible experience.”

NCSY has moved hundreds of program participants in Israel to the North in order to make sure that safety is the first priority as these students experience the diverse summer programming offered by the OU and NCSY, and has delayed and altered some of their flights and even changed destination from Israel to other sites.

Anne Samson TJJ (The Jerusalem Journey), consisting of 450 public school teens, was scheduled to head off to Israel when their departure date was initially postponed. It was ultimately decided to substitute a trip to the West Coast. “We are excited and enthusiastic despite this change,” said Fertig. “The program will be

different, but it will be an amazing experience. And the vast majority of the kids are still planning to attend and are raring to go.”

Parents and participants on these programs seem to agree.

The NCSY Summer Kollel, an intensive learning program for high school boys, had just begun as hostilities began. It was moved from its home in Beit Meir, approximately nine miles from Jerusalem, to Chispin in the north.

The 157 boys, including about 20 from Bergen County, have reportedly been doing very well, even in the face of significant logistical challenges and alterations to their original itinerary.

Unique to the kollel’s experience this year was an organization of the rapid production of 1,000 kosher tzitzis for soldiers who wished to mobilize wearing this mitzva, reported Rabbi Tanchum Cohen, one of the kollel’s rabbeim who is also the assistant rabbi at Bergenfield’s Congregation Beth Abraham. A friend brought the raw materials to Chispin and, “for several hours the beis midrash has been filled with a dozen of our Beth Abraham boys together with 150 of their closest friends, all hard at work ty-



CONTINUED ON P. 34

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 33

NEWS

Italian Reporter Reveals Hamas Cover-Up Over Misfired Rockets ďƒ›

Europeans Are Paying Ransoms to Al Qaeda

K

idnapping Europeans for ransom has become a global business for al-Qaeda, bankrolling its operations across the globe. While European governments deny paying ransoms, an investigation by the New York Times found that al-Qaeda and

its direct afďŹ liates have taken in at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, of which $66 million was paid just last year. The U.S. Treasury Department has cited ransom amounts that total $165 million over the same period.

Counterterrorism ofďŹ cials now believe al-Qaeda ďŹ nances the bulk of its recruitment, training and arms purchases from ransoms paid to free Europeans, making Europe the inadvertent underwriter of alQaeda.

OU Summer Programs in Israel Continue

program must remain in the North indefinitely, sufďŹ cient activities remain available. GIVE (Girls Israel Volunteer Experience), a chesed (benevolence) and touring program of 80 girls have been in Israel for 10 days and as with the TJJ Ambassadors, GIVE is nearing the end of the hiking/ touring activities that are available in the North, and have performed fewer chesed accomplishments than originally planned.

According to the NCSY security update, there is a possibility that their trip may be cut short.

ICE Israel, which is a co-ed travel program for teens looking to see the entire country, has been in Israel for ďŹ ve days.

The program is currently staying in Sevyonei Hagalil. There is a week and a half of programming available to ICE Israel in the North. The 40 teens on ICE Euro have been in Greece for nearly a week. They are expected to travel to Israel, but given the uncertainty related to travel into and out of Israel at this time, programmers decided to arrange for the Euro ICE participants to stay longer in Italy before moving on to Israel. Possibilities include moving onto the Israel portion of the trip or extending the group’s stay in Europe until approximate-

ly August 7th.

JOLT (Jewish Overseas Leadership Training) has 40 teens on a leadership trip who have been in Poland for nearly a week. They move on to Austria next week followed by Germany, and are due to travel to Israel the following week. The feasibility of the Israel portion of the JOLT trip is expected to be evaluated closer to the departure date.

In the Yachad division, the Yad B’Yad program, with two groups comprising more than 185 typical high-schoolers, Yachad members with disabilities, and staff were to have own to Israel with departures Sunday July 20th and Sunday July 27th. Departure to Israel was delayed for one group. Parents were informed that alternative trips to the West Coast would be offered instead of travelling to Israel. Virtually all the participants decided to travel to the West Coast. In addition, three Israel Free Spirit-Birthright trips are currently in Israel and the next departure is not scheduled until August 6.

Overall program participants seem committed to experiencing Israel and continuing with their current plans despite the current security situation.

CONTINUED FROM P. 12

mas and Islamic Jihad have stored and ďŹ red rockets from within densely-populated civilian areas, making Israeli attempts to stop them without causing collateral damage near to impossible.

To compound the problem, Hamas has openly encouraged civilians to act as human shields, glorifying their actions as heroism. Terrorists have also used hospitals and schools as command centers and military bases. On Tuesday, the United Nations Work and Relief Agency (UNWRA) admitted that it had discovered rockets stored in one of its schools for the third time. Hamas has not issued a response to Barbari’s claims, and it is unclear whether he will face a ban from reporting from the Strip in the future. But whatever happens to him, his claims raise some uncomfortable questions about the objectivity of reports coming from Gaza—in particular the accuracy of the much-touted civilian death toll, and who may be responsible for it.Â

ďƒ›

CONTINUED FROM P. 33

ing tziztis strings onto about 200 pairs of Tzahal-approved begadim and subsequently pairing their handiwork with a note of friendship and gratitude addressed to the chayyal who will wear it,� Cohen wrote in an email to congregants.

Anne Samson TJJ Ambassadors, with 40 public school teens who have already been in Israel on a leadership program for about two weeks, began in Jerusalem but moved to the North as soon as rocket activity began. As with all programs currently in Israel, their activity has been limited to the Galil and Golan regions.

The BILT (Boys Israel Leadership Training) program, a leadership and touring program of 40 boys, has been in Israel for about nine days mostly staying in Chispin. The nature of the program is such that even in the seemingly likely event that the

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HUMOR

The Summer of…

By Banji Latkin Ganchrow an plans and God laughs… This quote is true every day, but this summer has proven to truly bring this phrase to fruition, though, I would hope that He is not actually laughing. I certainly do not want to minimize the grave situation in Israel. Day to day things change, and with technology it helps us to feel closer to those we know and love thousands of miles away. There are apps so you can know when and where there are sirens, there are apps where you can get the latest news updates to the minute; you don’t even need to be in Israel to experience the anxiety and fear that they must be feeling.

Sometimes, you just need to step away and breathe, which doesn’t seem fair when our friends and family in Israel cannot do that.

Son #2 chose to go on Yad b’Yad this summer, which is a program that goes to Israel, designed to bring together both mainstream and special needs children. He could have gone on Sulam, which is the program run by Morasha, a camp that he has gone to for years. He could have gone on Seneca China, because I told him that since I was never going to see the Great Wall, I at least wanted him to see it, because you always want more for your children (he and his friends made fun of me for that suggestion…), but he chose Yad b’Yad. And then the rockets started flying. And the emails started coming, “We are going.” (Take a Xanax.) “We might still be going.” (Take another Xanax.)

M

“We are postponing.” (Do I need another Xanax?) “We are postponing a few more days.” (Keep the bottle ready.) “Unfortunately, due to the current situation, we have to cancel our trip.” (Back to ice cream.)

On the one hand, I was really disappointed that he wasn’t going to Israel. We aren’t one of those families that go there at least once a year (not that there is anything wrong with that). In all honesty, we have never taken a trip there as a family. Son #2 was there once, three years ago, and I was looking forward to him having the experience that a kid can only get on a summer program. (Not that I would know firsthand, because my parents didn’t send me. That is for another article.) But, on the other hand, he is the only one of my children who has promised not to put me in a nursing home, so I was relieved that he wasn’t going. However, as a Jewish mother, I have come up with a whole list of new things to worry about in his new destination: the west coast. We have mudslides (take a Xanax), earthquakes (take more Xanax), wildfires…need I say more?

Sometimes I wish I could be more like son #2. He took the whole thing in stride. He has never been to the West coast (since we haven’t gotten there yet to see baseball stadiums) and deep down, I know he was excited to go somewhere that his older brother has never been to as well…(though, he would never admit it. On the other hand, son #1 was more than happy to say “Hey, I have never been to California”…Ahh, brotherly love at its finest.)

The people who run Yad b’Yad have been

Micro Robot in Anti-Tunnel Campaign arbara Opal, in Defense News, reports Israel is using the Micro Tactical Ground Robot (MTGR) built by Roboteam, a locally developed micro robot, to explore the labyrinth of tunnels and concealed shafts supporting subterranean arms depots, command posts and cross-border attacks from Gaza. Several systems are already operating with combat engineering units against dozens of tunnels and multiple access points concealed in homes and civilian structures throughout Gaza. MTGR is tasked for high-risk surveillance, mapping and explosive-ordnance-disposal missions. It weighs less than 20 pounds and is built to clear obstacles, climb 8-inch stairs and maneuver in tight, dangerous terrain. Its five onboard cameras, internal microphone and infrared laser points generate intelligence and targeting data 360 degrees around the vehicle. (Defense News)

B amazing. They had to change an entire summer program, literally, upside down. Booking flights and finding hotels and activities for all of these kids could not have been easy, but they did it (I think, so far, as of writing this, which is a week and-a-half before it will be printed, the group has gone to Sea World which, according to rumors, is just like being at the Dead Sea…).

I am sure there are kids on this trip who have never been to Israel and were really upset. That being said, there is a true beauty to this program. My son expressed it and it was expressed in the emails we received from YBY…It’s not the destination that is always the priority, it is the experience of having all of these kids together, with all different limitations, and making them feel like one. Inclusion, that seems to be the motto of this trip; whether it be in Israel, California or Pittsburgh (where I thought they would end up.) They will still have an incredible summer, will learn so much about each other, and I am so excited for all of them.

Back to the reality of what is going on now: May our prayers be answered, our soldiers kept safe, and may there be peace in Israel.

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IN GOOD TASTE

Dark Banana Tarte Tatin

By Lisa Reitman Dobi sing a grocery delivery website, I ordered four organic bananas. Four seemed just the right number.

They’d ripen and within four days, they’d simply go from sweet to sweeter before crossing the line into that dark-brown-now-I-must-bake-bananabread-against-my-will territory. I don’t care for banana bread.

However, instead of finding four bananas in the box, I found four bunches. That’s a lot of bananas.

Two bunches went into the downstairs refrigerator, one in the kitchen fridge and one on the counter. Four weeks later I had one large bunch of very dark, chilled bananas remaining. Refrigeration had slowed the ripening process. But their time had come. Something had to be done. And so, this week’s recipe is for Banana Tarte Tatin, something I had never seen, let alone eaten, but seemed logical.

Tarte Tatin has always been a favorite in our house. Apples, butter, sugar, puff pastry, a dexterous flip onto a plate and voila!

Messing with a favorite is always dicey, but it had to be done. And the result was lovely, leaving the very concept of banana bread in the dust.

Bananas, with significantly lower water content, were even simpler to use in this recipe. Instead of simmering the fruit in the caramel, I could lay the halved bananas right on top of the hot mixture, cover with the pastry, and bake in a hot oven, allowing the pastry to puff without worrying about over-cooked fruit.

I enjoy making rough puff pastry, and encourage readers to at least give it a shot or two. It’s quite rewarding and can be done in less than one hour. But in the real world, when we’re often pressed for time while faced with dark bananas just screaming to be managed, purchased ready-made puff pastry is a great alternative.

What You Need:

U

36.Dobi.jpg

• Non-stick skillet, about 10 inches across, with a metal handle for cooktop to oven baking • 6 very ripe bananas • 1 ¼ C. sugar • 4 T. butter • Your favorite puff pastry recipe or brand • Two large sheets wax paper • Flour for dusting • Rolling pin Serving platter that will fit perfectly over the skillet with room to spare Optional accompaniments: crème fraiche, vanilla ice cream, crème Anglaise, or nothing at all Recommended: Oven mitts with a gripping surface Preheat oven to 400°.

In the non-stick skillet, melt the butter and sugar together. To avoid clumping, I smear the butter all over the bottom of the pan and then sprinkle the sugar over the layer of butter. Place on medium heat. Allow the mixture to melt and change from light to a richer, deeper golden brown color.

Do not stir until the sugar is entirely melted. Frankly this does not need stirring but if you see that the ingredients are cooking

unevenly, use a wooden spoon or wooden spatula to gently push the mixture into a better position. Remember that the color you want is a darker golden brown, but not a dark color. A burned taste can be passed off as a sophisticated crème brulee touch to a very short extent. Do not, under any circumstances, touch the mixture or taste what remains on the spoon. The temperature of caramel will give you a burn that will make you hate me, or baking. Neither one is acceptable.

When the caramel has attained the right color, remove from the heat. Peel the bananas and cut each one in half to keep the curved shape. Carefully lay the halves onto the caramel, positioning them in a decorative, pinwheel manner.

Remove the puff pastry from the refrigerator. Sprinkle flour on one sheet of wax paper. Place the pastry dough on the floured paper. Sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the dough and cover with the second piece of wax paper. Working quickly, roll out the wax paper covered pastry to a ¼ inch deep circle that will fit over the skillet.

Drape the pastry dough over the bananas and with a wooden spoon, push the edges

down to somewhat “enclose” the caramel and bananas.

Dock the pastry (poke holes in several places with a fork), and immediately place the skillet into the hot oven. You must be extremely quick about this. Puff pastry will rise when the cold butter is hit with high heat in the oven. If you linger and the butter in the pastry melts, you will have a flat and less palatable result.

I baked mine for 25 minutes, using my own rough puff pastry. Time will vary depending on the pastry you use. Consistency and butter content will be different in homemade or brand purchased. Check after 15 minutes.

When the top of the pastry is golden brown, the tarte should be ready. If you’ve done everything right, the crust will be flaky and cooked through. If you feel the pastry is still a bit raw, though golden, return it to the oven.

Allow the tarte to cool for about ten minutes. During that time, I noticed that my pastry had shrunk and bananas were peeking out around one part of the edge. I used a blunt knife to carefully push the bananas back under the pastry.

To invert onto a platter, cover the skillet with the plate larger than the diameter of the skillet. Speed and traction are your friends during this process. An oven mitt with gripping stripes is ideal. With one mitted hand on the underside of the plate, and one mitted hand holding the skillet handle, quickly invert and rest the platter on the counter. The tarte should make an audible “plunk” sound as it hits the plate. If you have heard nothing, tap and wriggle the skillet. The non-stick surface should allow the tarte to drop intact. If you see pieces of caramelized banana or spots of caramel in the pan, simply remove them and fit them into their spots on the tarte.

Serve at room temperature.

This was delicious. I chose to serve it with crème fraiche because the caramel itself is already quite sweet. Enjoy! You will never go back to banana bread again.

HEIMISHE HOMEMAKER

Olive Oil Does Not Spoil…It Is Very Loyal

By Gail Hochman s you know, I love finding new uses for staples that we have at home. Here are some tips for using olive oil in ways that you may never have thought of.

If you run out of furniture polish try this tip: wipe article with a teaspoon of olive oil and a soft rag. Add a bit of vinegar to bulk up the cleaning power.

To help with fingernails, use a bit of olive oil to moisturize cuticles, or mix oil and water and soak your hands before a manicure.

Lubricate measuring cups and spoons. Rub or spray olive oil on your measuring tools for easy clean-up of sticky substances like honey and other syrups.

Control hair frizz. Comb a bit

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of olive oil through dry hair to tame the frizz and flyaways on humid days or in the winter.

Free a stuck zipper. Use a cotton swab to apply olive oil to the teeth of a zipper, then gently ease the tab down.

This tip is always worth a try: To stop snoring, take a sip of olive oil before heading to bed. It might lubricate your throat muscles and stop yourself, or your partner, from snoring.

Exfoliate your face and hands.

Rub your skin with olive oil, and then scrub with sugar or coarse salt and rinse. As you bathe, add a few tablespoons of olive oil to your running bath water. You’ll be amazed when you towel off how smooth your skin will be.

Remove makeup. Dab a bit under your eyes, on your cheeks and forehead, then wipe with a damp cloth.

Cure an earache. Very carefully use a cotton swab to apply olive oil to the outside ear cavity to help with earaches and excess wax.

Remove paint from your skin.

Rub on olive oil onto messy hand and arms (or faces) and allow the oil to soak into the skin for five minutes, and then rinse with soap and water.

Treat lice. Apply olive oil to your youngster’s hair and leave on for at least 40 minutes. Shampoo twice, and then apply a preventative.

Fix a squeaky door. Use a rag or cotton swab to apply olive oil to the top of a problematic hinge.

Shoe polish. Rub down your shoes with just a spray of olive oil to maintain their shine.

If you run out of shaving cream, don’t waste your time try-

ing to make do with soap—it could be rough on your skin. Olive oil, on the other hand, is a fabulous substitute for shaving cream. It not only makes it easier for the blade to glide over your legs, but it will moisturize your skin as well.

Easy clean-up of garden tools.

Spray some olive oil on your tools to cut down on dirt buildup.

Condition leather. Rub olive oil into worn leather, such as a baseball glove, and let set for 30 minutes. Then wipe away any excess.

Cure diaper rash. Gently wipe on olive oil to your baby’s bottom to help with the irritation of diaper rash.

Gail Hochman has been a resident of Fair Lawn for over 30 years and has been blessed with many grandchildren.

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WINES

A True Pioneer of Israel’s Terroir

by Yossie Horwitz ny list of top Israeli wineries is going to include Tzora winery. However, in addition to its solid placement at the top of the qualitative Israeli winery food chain, Tzora also holds a significant place of honor among those qualified to be called the pioneers of Israel’s recent wine revolution, due to the early efforts of one man, Ronnie James (deceased), and the continued efforts of Tzora’s team, including their young and über-talented winemaker Eran Pick.

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nie, the winery, and the potential he recognized there. The duo had two harvests together before Eran took over full time after Ronnie’s passing. While his education is from the dominantly New-World UC Davis, Eran is really an updated Old World winemaker and it shows in his wines, which are, in a word, exceptional.

After a hi-tech career and a brief stint as an importer of Bordeaux wines, the überprofessional Uri was recruited in 2008 to take over as CEO. He tends to be involved in the winemaking process as well. After

Tzora vineyard.

Originally from Egypt, where his British-born parents settled, Ronnie’s family moved to Israel, where he eventually settled in Kibbutz Tzora, located in the acclaimed grape-growing region of the Judean Hills. His initial job at the kibbutz was maintaining the kibbutz’s many vineyards, whose grapes were sold to other Israeli wineries, primarily Carmel Winery, Israel’s oldest and largest winery. A near mythological figure within the Israeli wine industry, he became the father of the terroir movement, focusing on the importance of the land, soil, and micro-climate where the grapes are grown to the finished product. He spent years analyzing and determining the effects of different plots of land on different varietals.

After delighting in the wines produced from his grapes, Ronnie was determined to produce wine on his own and convinced the kibbutz to allow him to start a winery at a time when there were only a few in Israel (including Carmel, Golan Heights Winery. and two of the first boutique wineries that started up around the same time: Margalit and Castel). He founded Tzora Winery on the kibbutz grounds in 1993.

Ronnie passed away in 2008 and the winery team today consists of Winemaker Eran Pick, CEO Uri Ran, Vineyard Manager Dor James (Ronnie’s son) and, most recently, Jean-Claude Berrout, the former winemaker of the mythical Château Pétrus, who has been a consultant for the winery for the last two years.

With the exception of Dor, who has been working with the winery for years, after abandoning a promising career in the life sciences for a full-time position at the winery after his father fell ill, the entire team is relatively new, with the knowledgeable and infectiously enthusiastically Eran being the one with the longest tenure. Educated at UC Davis in California, with stints in Napa Valley, Bordeaux, and Australia, Eran was recruited by Ronnie (with the assistance of Recanati Winery’s winemaker Gil Shatsberg). Eran abandoned a gig in Napa to come work for Ronnie after falling in love with Ron-

44 harvests at Pétrus, Jean-Claude remains a consultant to the varied Mouix family wineries (owners of Château Pétrus), and consults to wineries in California, like the famed Dominus Estate winery, and also has a couple wineries of his own. After being “recruited” by Eran, he consults to Eran in connection with the harvesting, blending, and other winemaking aspects.

While the Tzora team was pretty unstoppable before Jean-Claude’s arrival, they are now a winemaking powerhouse, producing incredible wines, well worthy of your attention.

Together with the management overhaul, recent changes include substantial capital improvements, including the planting of many new vineyards in premier locations and relocating to a brand new facility in Shoresh, closer to where the majority of the vineyards are now located.

Recent years have seen the winery move away from its famous Givat HaChalukim vineyard (the last vintage was in 2008) to focusing on its Neve Ilan and Shoresh vineyards, with the higher-quality and elevated Shoresh vineyards expected to provide the bulk of Tzora’s wines in the future. Similar to a number of other wineries, the recent plantings are focused more on the Rhone varietals, considered most suitable for Israel’s Mediterranean climate.

These varietals include Syrah, Mourvedre, and Petite Verdot.

The winery’s wine-making philosophy is clear: to extract the best wine possible from the grape grown in the most appropriate terroir (i.e., follow the land’s lead).

The winery invests a substantial amount of time, effort, and experimentation in determining the most appropriate plot (or sub-plot) of land for any particular grape and then goes about making the best wine they can from the resulting harvest. This triangular partnership among the land, the vine, and the winemaker is so central to the winery’s existence, it is encapsulated on their recently redesigned labels, which show Ronnie tending to a vine

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TEEN PERSPECTIVES

Why Didn’t You Eat the Cheesecake Macaroon?

By Oren Oppenheim n the fourth day of the eight-day photography intensive course I’m taking, we had a speaker talk about how she turned her blog into a business. She started out just posting all sorts of random things on her page, and then started narrowing it down to pictures and recipes from her baking. The pictures of the food made our stomachs grumble. Delectable macaroons, little cakes, petite cookies, fun milkshakes, you name it. And even though I keep kosher, I confess that I would’ve loved to have some—I mean, I’m the type who occasionally watches the Food Network for fun, and I always stay on the lookout for dessert. (It’s the classic stereotype—I eat too much and feel full, and yet as both the Gemara and my grandfather say, there’s always room for something sweet.) Then the speaker, about three-quarters through her presentation, surprised all of us. “And I brought some treats!” she cried out.

The room erupted in wild cheering, a thunderous applause, people were crying—okay, it wasn’t that dramatic, but everyone got pretty excited. Everyone except me.

“Oh no,” I thought. Given that I keep kosher, I wouldn’t be able to partake… Oh, my God, are those cheesecake macaroons?

Green-tea-flavored black-and-white cookies? (Winner of the Guinness World Re-

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cord for most hyphens in a food name.)

I didn’t know those were possible! Even the coconut macaroons—which (when kosher) are a Pesach favorite that I usually steer clear of—looked great.

Obviously this article is not about how after 16 years of keeping kosher I finally broke my personal trend. The plate was passed around the U-shaped table we were sitting at, and when it reached me, I simply passed it to the next guy and mumbled something about not wanting. And then again when it came back around so people could take seconds. I mean, desserts are like potato chips, you can’t have just one.

I don’t know if I was the only religious Jew in this group. I don’t know what the other non-Jewish kids think of Jews, although given how it was a pretty nice group I doubt it would’ve been a problem had I shown my yarmulke and tzitzit. (I wore my yarmulke beneath a baseball cap and had tucked in my tzitzit.) But it opened up an interesting question to me: When being one of the only or the only Jew in a group of non-Jews—something I know many adults, including my own parents, deal with in the workforce on a daily basis—what do I reveal about my religion, if anything? If I’m not violating any mitzvot at all, does it matter if they know I’m Jewish or not?

As a teenager, this is a somewhat new question to me. I mean, back when I was younger, I actually attended a public camp in Teaneck that had both Jews and non-

Jews. (The camp provided kosher food.)

I remember (since I’m bad at forgetting these sorts of embarrassing incidents) how I probably made too much of a deal there about my yiddishkeit. I may have worn baseball caps, but I often brought Judaism up in different ways way too much to the point that maybe I just made myself too different, too separate from the others.

Here’s an example: a non-Jewish kid had a pack of Mike and Ike’s, and I really, really, really wanted one. I asked for one, and he said, “Oh, they’re not kosher.” So I launched into a whole seminar about kosher and the OU symbol and trying to find it on the package and that the OR copyright symbol isn’t it and all that. Finally, we reached the conclusion that yes, Mike and Ike’s were kosher and had the OU. “So can I have one?” my disconcerting younger self asked my friend.

His answer? “…No.” Let’s leave his personality out of this for a moment. Maybe he didn’t act so nice, but how should I have acted? Was it really worth it trying to give a whole speech on kashrut just for one candy? Did that actually really backfire and alienate him from me at that moment (thankfully, it didn’t matter later on) because I had played up our religious differences a bit too much?

I feel pretty strongly connected to my religion and my God. I do my best to follow the Torah and mitzvot, especially with ideas like kosher. Yet I know that much of the world I’ll be interacting with in the fu-

ture doesn’t necessarily understand all that. I mean, when growing up, most of the kids—myself included—are usually in a pretty Jewish environment. Jewish schools, Jewish after-school clubs or teams, Jewish shuls (then again, I didn’t think there were any Catholics starting a Young Israel anytime soon), etc. There’s nothing wrong in this sense of community, in creating an environment where our religion is the main focus and it’s the paradigm to use in our lives. But then comes the real world, where you interact with not only Jews, not only even different types of Jews with varying levels of observance and traditions, but also non-Jews. To any adults reading this, this may seem overly familiar at this point, but to myself at least—and to plenty of teenagers who are starting to expand beyond their own communities—this is something new.

What do I reveal about my religion?

What if I don’t need to reveal anything?

Let me take it back to my photography class. Everyone in it has a pretty strong common interest (I’m sure you can guess what it is). And it doesn’t really stand out that I bring my own lunch (most people do), or that I didn’t take a dessert, or even that I didn’t eat at all on Shiva Asar B’Tamuz.

Would it have been different had I shown my kippah? Quite possibly yes. People could’ve made judgments, or brought up the topic of my religion, or made it matter more in some way. Maybe I could’ve made

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 39

PARENTING

The Animals

By Sarah Abenaim ommy! Mommy! Can you check if my frog is dead?” my daughter bursts through the front door, ignoring the fact that I am talking to a visitor, and has a look of sheer panic on her face. “It’s like this!” she says, and tips her head to the side at an odd angle, her tongue dangling out of her mouth. It doesn’t take a near-death-experience of a frog for a child of mine to interrupt me, and so I try to dismiss the behavior until the guest gets the hint that I have a child on the verge of hysteria and gracefully leaves.

I stopped everything to run outside and check on the well-being of this aforementioned frog. (Let it also be noted that the animals are not allowed inside our home.) We had been the proud owners of this amphibian for a grand total of 21 hours, my daughter having brought it home the previous afternoon from the woods, after a rainstorm.

I know that sentence is misleading because you might actually believe that she caught it herself, but she did not. She traded it for a salamander, and happily placed it in a small bug-habitat along with some puddle water, a rock, grass, and a few untradeable salamander friends.

I peer into the habitat, and it is clear, without even having to consult a biology textbook, that indeed the frog has passed on. Or else it is sunbathing casually under

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the warmth of the sun’s rays, magnified three times due to the lens on the cover. Maybe it was the sunbathing that caused its sudden death.

There are real tears coming from her eyes. They are streaking her cheeks and touching her lips and she is heaving great deep breaths of sorrow.

I think they are tears of disappointment; she had hoped to have a connection with this new pet, had worked hard to acquire it on her own, and then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

They had only gone on one “hop” together, where she let it free in the driveway for a minute or two, then trapped it again, and returned it to its container. But she had envisioned them having many excursions throughout the summer, exploring different territories together, and then resuming shelter in its cozy plastic hovel. With the frog’s death, this dream had vanished.

There is something enticing about finding a small animal, trapping it, and keeping it. There is an excitement that buzzes through the air in our Catskills community after a storm, as the kids gather in a section of the woods, alongside a park, and hunt for creatures to inhabit the plastic containers lined up neatly on their porches. There is competition: who has more animals, which look more exotic, who has bet-

love and not from something malicious.

She shakes her head. “Living things do best in their environments,” I say, and together we decide that if she would like to continue trapping crickets or small animals, she should let them go at the end of the day.

The next day, there is a big black carpenter ant under the kitchen table, and although I am used to the way the bugs in Upstate NY seem to think they are partial homeowners, I still don’t accept this behavior. I kneel down to kill it. “NO!” screams my daughter, the same one who once shrieked about a centipede in the shower.

“How can you kill it?” And she bends down, trying to cradle it in her hands, to rescue it from my zealotry, and to return it to its home in the great outdoors.

ter recreated the great outdoors in a small enclosed box. But these animals won’t survive; they won’t eat the pieces of popcorn they are fed, the cut up vegetables or the blades of grass. They will feel isolated and scared, and will spend the rest of their days yearning to return to the wild, for their former freedom, roasting in their restrictive Tupperwares, until they die. Each time my daughter traps an animal, it will be a loselose situation, both for the animal and for her own eventual disappointment.

We talk about the three boys kidnapped in Israel. “Do you think they liked being taken away from their homes?” I ask, and she suddenly understands the comparison, even though her motive stems from

Sarah Abenaim is a freelance writer living with her husband and four children in Teaneck. She is working on her first book. More of her essays can be read at www.writersblackout.wordpress.com. She can be reached at SarahAbenaim@gmail.com.

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THE BUSINESS LINK OF BERGEN COUNTY

Inaugural Issue

SEO CORNER

SEO Outsource or Insource?

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

Kozy Kitchens Redefines Style

SUCCESS STRATEGIES Focus on Customer Service Sets Cedar Market Apart

by Jenny Gans

by Shimon Sandler

By Tova Gold

SEE A LOT OF companies (including some large brands) that are doing a great job in paid search, but are doing a lousy job in natural search. Natural search is also known as search engine optimization (SEO), organic search, or algorithmic search. Let’s see, how many more names can I call it to confuse you? Anyway, it all starts with the recognition that it’s needed and usual-

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eaneck—Ask most kitchen design experts the most basic of kitchen musthaves and they’ll likely respond “the triangle.”

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Li Ka-Shing: How The Chinese Billionaire Became The Startup Nation’s Biggest Supporter

By Maya Yarowsky, NoCamels June 15, 2014

Giving a thumbs up to investing in Israel Bonds at Israel Bonds/Hampton Synagogue weekend on July 6. From left to right: Stuart Garawitz, VP sales at Dev. Corp. for Israel; Josh Mandel, Ohio State Treasurer; Izzy Tapoohi, President and CEO, Dev. Corp. for Israel; and Tom DiNapoli, NYS comptroller.

Israel Bonds Not Just A Charity Anymore

By Dmitriy Shapiro/JNS.org/ Washington Jewish Week acing a constant barrage of rockets from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israel’s economy is proving just as dependable during the current crisis as the much-acclaimed Iron Dome missile defense system, helped in part by capital investments made internation-

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ally through the work of organizations like Israel Bonds.

A product of the Development Corporation for Israel, an Americanrun brokerage and retail firm, Israel Bonds has long been a financial boon for the Jewish state’s economy. Now, the bonds are in-

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Four Investors and Entrepreneurs Reveal Some Tricks of the Trade

By Roy Goldenberg t isn’t easy founding a start-up, even for a great idea. Four top investors and entrepreneurs offer some tips for beginners.

MyHeritage Ltd. founder and CEO Gilad

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This story originally published on NoCamels. com - the leading news website covering breakthrough innovation from Israel for a global audience f you’ve been following the business headlines

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Finance Minister Lapid: Gaza Conflict Won’t Hurt Israel’s Economy

By Moshe Golan and Globes correspondent

lately, it’s clear that Israel and China are the hottest new collaborative couple.

With the recent acquisi-

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LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

David Alan: Spa Perfect

By Tova Gold aramus—Driving down the Eastern spur of Route 4 in Paramus, it’s hard to miss the artistic scrawl of the David Alan Salon

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eaneck—Yossi Hollander once dreamt of becoming a chef, but that was put on hold after a down-toearth discussion with an administrator at the Culi- photo credit--Jenny Gans nary Institute of America (CIA). They told that experience, Hollander him he needed six months found a job in a wholesale of experience in the food meat processing facility, industry before beginning a program with CIA. To get  CONTINUED ON P. 44

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inister of Finance Yair Lapid told Bloomberg News that the Israeli economy remains strong despite the fighting in the Gaza Strip. He stressed that the 21 days of conflict had not affected the Israeli economy’s strong foundations, and that his ministry was constantly monitoring the figures. He also addressed the strength of the shekel, saying that it provided additional proof that the campaign had not harmed Israel’s robust economy.

“This operation is not something that even

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Yair Lapid.

touches the fundamentals of the Israeli economy,” Lapid said on Bloomberg’s Television’s Surveillance.

“I’m more worried, if at all, by the decline of world trade.”

When asked how the war would affect the budg-

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How Your Online Crowdfunding Is The Key Presence Works to More technology entrepreneurs are seeking Grow Your Business to raise capital on sites like Kickstarter.

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By Roy Goldenberg n late March 2014, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) made another big headline-making acquisition: it was not the $19 billion that it shelled out to acquire instant messaging app WhatsApp, but a less known company called Oculus VR, which has developed the Rift virtual reality head-

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David Alan of David Alan Salon

set, which allow wearers to play sports and feel as if they are on the field.

Facebook paid $2 billion for Oculus VR was not only a badge of honor for the state-of-the-art technology behind Rift, but also for Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites, which enable entrepreneurs of

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(StatePoint) If you own a small business, you know that online visibility is one of the keys to success. And these days, harnessing the Web is crucial to any marketing plan.

“While most small business owners know they need a strong Web presence, many of them are not taking enough action to build and maintain it,”

says Tim Carroll, Vice President of Small Business Engagement at Deluxe Corp., a provider of marketing services and products for small businesses.

In fact, of those small business owners who put a high level of importance on Web presence, 70 percent spend less than one

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BUSINESS LINK

Start-Up Life: Part I 

CONTINUED FROM P. 1

then at least you’ll know that you’re doing it for the right reasons. I’m not sure that advice is perfectly applicable to someone who’s thinking of starting a technology company, but some circumspection in the face of such daunting odds is certainly appropriate. If you really want to start your own technology company, it’s important to confront some hard questions. Are you tired of steady hours, reasonable pay, predictable schedules and frills like health insurance and retirement plans? Do you enjoy having to make decisions that determine the success or failure of a company several times a day? If so, then it just might be for you.

Let’s assume you have a great idea in a new space that you can execute before someone else (Google, Hooli, that sort) throws thousands of developer-hours at it and replicates it. Or even improves on it. For the purposes of this piece, we’ll focus on

tech start-ups. If your plan is to open a factory that makes actual things, please write in and let us know. I’d be happy to research it for you. I’m told that such things were actually common in our area many years ago.

To begin with, let’s understand just what we’re talking about. A tech start-up is what professional asset managers call a very high-beta undertaking. Beta comes from academic finance and the capital asset pricing model. It is an investing term used as shorthand for a particular asset’s relative risk compared to the broader market (let’s use the S&P 500, whose beta is, by definition, one). An older, more stable company might have a beta of 0.8, suggesting that it effectively blunts some of the market’s volatility: if the market is up 10% in a

Publishers’ Note – Presenting The Business Link

Israel Bonds Not Just A Charity Anymore 

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creasingly seen by both individuals and institutions as a sound investment, not just a charitable gift—on par with or better than sovereign debt securities of other wellknown, financially stable countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and European Union member states.

Israel’s dynamic economy and excellent credit rating—Standard & Poor’s in March affirmed the Jewish state’s A+, or stable, rating—has made even non-Jewish investors take notice, leading to vastly improved sales of Israel Bonds over the past couple of years.

“At the end of the day, we’re a brokerage firm with a Jewish heart,” said Izzy Tapoohi, president and chief executive of-

42 July 17, 2014 • 19 Tammuz 5774

advisers to guide you. All these things cost money, so unless you’ve already retired (somewhere between comfortably and extravagantly) or come from a phenomenally talented family, you will most likely be looking for outside funding.

But before that, there needs to be a core team behind your idea. The next piece will discuss building a team and finding the right investors and advisors to help you navigate the shoals of forming and building and company, and avoiding the windswept crags upon which most tech startups have run aground. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please send them in by email to the editor and I’ll do my best to address them.

Yali Elkin spent 15 years perfecting his spreadsheetsmanship in corporate finance before starting LiveDial (www.livedial.com), to develop and market software for polling and surveying users via smartphone applications on issues ranging from President Obama’s foreign policy to the Kanye West/Kim Kardashian wedding. He has a BA in History from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from NYU. He lives in Teaneck with his family and that somewhat overwrought “shoals/ windswept crags” metaphor is his own.

The Notable Notary

By Chaim Frazer

e are proud to introduce our first-ever Business Link section in this week’s paper. It is our hope that the Business Link will become a regular section in our paper and serve as an invaluable resource to local business owners with great articles, advice, and features from select local and professional sources aimed at helping everyone—from start-up to established businesses—grow and expand. In addition, we are committed to making sure that there will always be a Business Halacha related component in every Business Link.

For those of you who don’t own your own business (perhaps you’ll be inspired!), we hope you will enjoy reading about exciting opportunities, successful local businesses, and Bergen County business leaders.

Of course, no section about business owners would be complete without mentioning Israel, and we are committed to including regular articles on business and innovation from the Startup Nation. We hope you enjoy it and we look forward to hearing your feedback and comments! Send all your ideas and thoughts to editor@jewishlinkbc.com

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given year, that stock may only be up 8% or so (and it will minimize some of the loss in a down year). But there’s a corollary to that: a high-beta company will tend to amplify the swings of the market in either direction. Amazon.com used to have a beta of 3, which means that in a plus-10% year for the market, you could see a gain of 30%, but in a down-10% year, you could be down 30%. When investment guru Peter Lynch warned investors decades ago that successful investing depends as much on a strong stomach as a strong mind, this is one example of what he meant.

Why is that, exactly? For one reason, the market for software is global. A pizzeria or clothing store might be able to ship worldwide, but they would still incur costs (investing in new capacity, for example) to be able to do that. Your costs to expand, let’s say, a software business are relatively low and the talent pool is everywhere.

As a result, the stakes are also higher in almost every way. You will compete more aggressively for talented hires, you will work harder to secure – and protect – intellectual property like patents and trademarks, and you will need smart and experienced

ave you ever wondered why any document needs to be notarized? Isn’t your signature good enough? And if more assurance is needed, aren’t witnesses sufficient as an additional level?

For some purposes, the quick answer is simply NO. Some documents require the following: *Proof that the purported signer is the actual signer *Reasonable proof that the signer understood the documents *Reasonable proof that the signer signed the document freely and voluntarily What kind of documents require these three elements? Almost al-

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ficer of Israel Bonds. “Yes, we do have a Jewish community backing us and investing, knowing that it’s a good investment, but we shouldn’t forget that at the end of the day if there was a crisis in Israel and we were sitting in bomb shelters, the only place that Israel can go to insure that it’s economy would survive would be to come to Israel Bonds.”

Israel Bonds is constantly working in the market, whether there is a crisis or not, to impress on investors the new face of the Israeli economy and subsequently, its bonds appeal to younger investors who are more interested in making a good, secure, diversified investment than in the traditional pull of patriotism and sentimentality—though belief in Israel is still a motive for investment.

“If you look at the older generation, obviously even if they got negative 30 percent, they would be investing in Israel bonds [anyway] and in Israel,” Tapoohi told JNS. org. “When you look at the younger generation… the demographic is 35, 45, 55” they

ways they are documents involving major commitments or decisions, such as: *Documents included in a mortgage package. Usually, a mortgage commitment is the single greatest financial obligation that a person will assume. The document package for a home purchase is thick, complex, and heavily regulated by Federal and State governments. Certain documents in that package require those proofs to safeguard both the purchaser and the seller. *Documents included in other complex financial purchase, leasing arrangements, and loans. *Documents involving your rights to substantial funds or property. The two most common are pension and other qualified plan accumulations, and real estate transactions. *Documents giving others the

see that it is a good investment, with reasonable return, with the principle and interest always paid on time.

On June 2, Israel Bonds received its largest-ever single investment when the state of Ohio—and its Jewish state treasurer, 36-year-old Josh Mandel—completed a $47.8 million investment. This sum, added to the $42 million investment Mandel made in 2013 as well as state’s previous investments, brings the Ohio Treasury’s total Israel Bond holdings to $105 million.

“This purchase is consistent with our strategy of making sound investments that prioritize the safety and security of Ohioans’ hard-earned dollars,” Mandel told the Cleveland Jewish News. “Just four years ago, Ohio’s fiscal condition was ranked 43rd in the nation—and today we’re ranked seventh,” he added. “This improvement in Ohio’s financial health has been a team effort, and I’m proud to be doing our part from the state treasurer’s office.”

Mandel’s move was supported by both of Ohio’s state legislatures and is the largest

authority to act in your name.

These are frequently called “powers of attorney,” and may relate to legal or medical affairs. These powers of attorney sometimes need the extra assurance provided by notarization. *Documents bringing others into your family through a legal process.

The obvious case is adoption, both domestic and international. *Documents to prove that you are in compliance with court orders, such as having the consent of a spouse to take a child out of the country.

What all these things, and many others as well, have in common is that they involve major matters (usually also something that you very much want), and matters that are often both urgent and private.

(Bear in mind that notarizations



CONTINUED ON P. 47

Israel Bonds holding by any U.S. state.

Despite the instability that surrounds the Jewish state in the Middle East region, Israel Bonds has seen positive momentum over the past three years. A record was set last year when its total annual domestic bond sales topped $1.079 billion, “refuting the perception that Israel bonds only sell well in times of crisis,” a company fact sheet said.

As an investment firm, Israel Bonds has tried to shed its image as a charity, not wanting to take money away from actual charities and looking to be taken seriously by major investors.

Stuart Garawitz, corporate vice president and head of national sales at Israel Bonds, said a critical part of this move was modernization of its business model.

“For the first time ever, you were able to buy bonds online, and last year we sold $25 million of bonds online when three years ago it was zero,” Garawitz told JNS. org. “Zero to $25 million is pretty amazing.”

This article is exclusive to JNS.org.

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Business & Halacha Weekly Cool Emergency On Friday morning, the air conditioner began rattling wildly. Mr. Wolf called his regular air conditioner repair man, Mr. Braun. “Sorry, but I’m already booked solid this morning,” Mr. Braun said.

Mr. Wolf tried a few other repairmen, but none were available.

Mr. Wolf called Mr. Braun back. “I wasn’t able to find anyone,” he said. “It’s supposed to be sizzling over Shabbos and we’re hosting a shiur!”

“I expect to finish about 2:00 p.m.,” Mr. Braun said. “I usually don’t start a new job so late on Friday afternoon, but I’ll come.”

At 2:30 p.m. Mr. Braun arrived. “It needs two to three hours’ work,” he said, “but I should be able to have it working for Shabbos.”

By 4:30 p.m. Mr. Braun had replaced the broken part. “It will take about forty-five minutes to put everything back and check it,” he said.

Just then, Mr. Braun got a call from his wife. “Come right away!” she said. “Your mother was admitted to the hospital and wants you immediately!”

“I’m really sorry, but I’ve got to run,” Mr. Braun said to Mr. Wolf. “My mother was just admitted to the hospital.”

Mr. Wolf desperately searched the Yellow Pages for an emergency A/C repair service. “We can send a repairman over immediately,” one service said. “However, you’ll have to pay the premium weekend rate and an emergency surcharge.”

“Whatever it is, we need it!” said Mr. Wolf.

The repairman came shortly and finished the job. With the premium weekend rate and emergency surcharge, the remaining work cost what the entire job was supposed to have cost!

After Shabbos, Mr. Wolf went to pay Mr. Braun. “I understand that you had to pay a pretty penny to have the job finished,” Mr. Braun said. “I’ll charge you for the part, but not the labor. Why should you pay double?”

“It’s not your fault that you had to leave,” Mr. Wolf said. “You’re entitled to payment for whatever you did.”

“I won’t take payment unless Rabbi Dayan says that you owe me the money,” said Mr. Braun emphatically.

The two men met with Rabbi Dayan.

Mr. Wolf related what happened.

“You must pay Mr. Braun for the work he did, even though it cost extra to have the job completed,” ruled Rabbi Dayan.

“Why is that?” asked Mr. Braun.

“A job that is clearly time-bound is referred to as a davar ha’avud,” explained Rabbi Dayan. “In general, a worker may not back out in the middle of such a job unless an equivalent worker is available. If the employer needs to pay extra to procure a replacement, he can deduct this amount from the work done by the first worker, even the entire amount” (C.M. 333:5).

“Nevertheless, the Gemara (B.M. 77a-b) teaches that if the worker had to stop because he became sick or a close relative passed away, he is not penalized,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “He is entitled to full payment for the work he did.”

“It was not I who became sick,” said Mr. Braun. “I chose to stop working to go take care of my mother.”

“Terumas Hadeshen (#329) rules, based on the Gemara (Nedarim 27a), that if a person’s child became sick that is also considered an oness (uncontrollable circumstance),” replied Rabbi Dayan, “since he has to be with him. Terumas Hadeshen adds, “all the more so one’s wife, who is like him and for whom he is responsible.”

“What about a parent?” asked Mr. Wolf.

“The Rivash (#127) extends this halachah also to a father, since a child is required to serve him in his illness,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “Presumably, the same is true for a mother. Thus, Mr. Braun is entitled to full payment for the work he did” (See Pischei Choshen, Sechirus 11:18[43]).

Title Check Shortly after I purchased a house, a relative of the seller produced a document signed by witnesses in which the seller admitted that although the title was in his name, the property, in fact, belonged to his nephew. The “owner” wants his house back, but I maintain that since the title search showed that it belonged to the seller, it is now mine since the title is now in my name.

Q: Halachically, who owns the house?

In the event that I am obligated to return the house to the “owner,” is he obligated to reimburse me for the money I paid to purchase the house, or must I contact the seller (a powerful and difficult person) to get back my money?

A: Your question involves many issues and requires a beis din to address them practically. However, we will outline two basic approaches to this situation.

Shulchan Aruch (C.M. 371:1) rules that land can never be stolen and remains the

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possession of the owner. Even if it was sold and the owner despaired (yei’ush) of retaking possession of his land, it remains his.

Generally, when Reuven steals an object and sells it to Shimon and the owner did not despair of recovering his object, Shimon must return it to the owner, but the owner must reimburse Shimon the amount he paid for it. The rationale here is that if the customer is not reimbursed people would hesitate to make purchases out of concern that the item is stolen and the owner will take it back, leaving the customer to suffer the loss. To ease the mind of buyers, Chazal enacted (takanas hashuk) that if one innocently purchased a stolen item, the owner must reimburse the buyer to retrieve his object and it is up to him to pursue the thief for reimbursement (C.M. 356:2).

However, when land is stolen and sold, the owner need not reimburse the buyer.

Since the purpose of the enactment is to assure confidence in the market for facilitating commerce, there is no need for such an enactment regarding land since one can easily research whether the land was stolen or not (Sema 371).

The question is whether this rationale applies nowadays. In earlier times, since ownership of properties was known, any buyer of land researched the ownership by inquiring from others, and there was no need for this enactment. Nowadays title is recorded in the name of the legal owner, so a buyer need perform only a title search. Therefore, if the title does not reflect the true owner, perhaps Chazal’s enactment should apply to ensure confidence in the market.

Some authorities maintain that it is uncommon for property to be recorded in the name of someone other than the actual owner, so we apply the principle that enactments were not made for uncommon occurrences (Maharash Engel 7:129).

Even though nowadays property is sometimes recorded in the name of someone other than the actual owner, it is uncommon for the recorded owner to betray his trusting friend or relative (the true owner) and sell property that is not actually his, and thus Chazal’s enactment does not apply. Therefore the true owner would not have to repay the buyer of the property, and the buyer’s recourse will be from the one who sold him the land illegally.

Others contend that based on dina d’malchusa dina the one who has title to

the property can sell that property since the government recognizes the title holder as the owner. Such a law serves the interest of citizens and thus, according to some opinions, is binding in Halachah as well (Teshuras Shai 2:54).

As stated, the matter must be presented to beis din for an actual ruling.

Copyrights and Patents 1 Q: Copyright and patent law have become very relevant legal issues in the past two centuries. What is the halachic approach to copyright?

A: This question has been addressed by contemporary authorities; there are widely divergent opinions. B’ezras Hashem, we will deal with some of the fundamental questions relating to this issue. Among them: Is there halachic ownership of intangible objects, such as Torah thoughts, professional techniques, a computer program, or musical work?

Is there a time limit to these rights?

Do heirs have rights in works of their predecessor?

Is there a difference between Torah sefarim/shiurim and other [mundane] items?

Can a person sell something, yet restrict its use? If so, what recourse does the seller have?

What role, if any, does state law play here?

What status do common commercial practice and local customs have?

What is the idea behind haskamos (approbations) of sefarim?

Is there a difference between copying for personal and for commercial use?

Once something has been made public on the internet, legally or illegally, does that impact the Halachah?

Based on our discussion of these issues, iy”H, we will attempt to address practical 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 email ask@ businesshalacha.com. To receive BHI’s free newsletter, Business Weekly, send an email to subscribe@ businesshalacha.com.

July 17, 2014 • 19 Tammuz 5774 43

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How Your Online Presence Works to Grow Your Business 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

hour a week maintaining it, according to a new Deluxe study. In contrast, only 1.2 percent spend 10 or more hours each week on their Web maintenance.

It’s important to learn how to use the Internet to keep your business top of mind with prospective customers, says Carroll.

He offers some top tips for maximizing

your company’s presence online.

• Interact: Since current and prospective consumers use social media, you can’t neglect this marketing approach. Social media marketing isn’t just about gaining followers. It becomes a vehicle for sharing your company’s message as well as driving traffic to your website.

Don’t be afraid to use Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites to ask customers for feedback and show your personality.

Use calls to action to acquire new followers, engage them further and encourage reviews of your services.

Many small businesses turn to consultants or social media services for help developing and executing a social media strategy. When effective, these efforts will place a brand in front of its target audience. Small

business owners should look for a service that also tracks results in order to gain insight into how its customers engage online.

• Website: “Today, a business without a website is a business without a face,” says Carroll. “A clean, easy-to-navigate, and mobile-friendly online presence is one your customers will remember.”

Unfortunately, less than a third of small business owners think they are proficient or extremely proficient at maintaining their individual company websites, which is why many seek outside help developing a site and building content.

• Search engines: With 91 percent of Internet users utilizing search engines, according to the Deluxe-commissioned study, search engine optimization can be your key to better visibility online. After all, a website

is hardly useful if no one can find it.

Additionally, consider search engine marketing services to help your online advertising and to make use of local searches by more effectively targeting your customer audience.

• Email marketing: Small business email marketing is the centerpiece of any effort to stay in touch with existing customers, while reaching out and finding new ones.

Use it to promote new items and offer special discounts to loyal customers or simply to keep in touch.

More tips, strategies and information about marketing your business online can be found at www.Deluxe.com.

Small business owners know they need to be online. It just takes commitment and the right tools to capitalize on the potential.

SUCCESS STRATEGIES

Focus on Customer Service Sets Cedar Market Apart 

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but instead of leaving after his six months ended, he stayed on for another ten years.

Five years ago Hollander took his knowledge of wholesale food and groceries and opened Aron’s Kissena Farms in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens. With that successful grocery store opening, Hollander further expanded his reach when, last year, he opened Cedar Market on Cedar Lane, in Teaneck, NJ. The love of food Hollander cultivated early on in his career is still a big part of what he brings to Cedar Market. “Food is still the passion that drives everything,” he said.

Hollander said that a customer-centric supermarket should bring quality and freshness without marking up the price, and then pass savings along to the consumer. In addition to providing quality products, Hollander ensures variety throughout the store. “We try to get the best and the most we can into the space we have,” he added.

Cedar Market is designed to be a place where the customer can find many of the same items they might look for in a chain store, a one-stop shopping loca-

tion, but with personalized service and the option to special order. Hollander’s strategy is that customer service is key to setting anything apart from the competition, even the competition outside the kosher consumer. Because of this, he invested in employees equipped to greet every customer and ask if they need assistance, nuances which can make a big difference in customer sentiment.

Hollander also believes customer feedback is an important part of a successful customer experience. As such, he created multiple avenues for customers to share how they feel about their experience, and encourages both positive and negative feedback. Vehicles for feedback include verbally in store, e-mail, as well as through social channels like Facebook and Twitter. Hollander said social media is a “powerful tool,” and said he has used social media contests and giveaways not only to solicit feedback, but to promote brand awareness, and keep Cedar Market at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Even with every effort, businesses encounter their share of unhappy feedback. How a business responds to feedback impacts the trust a customer has toward future shopping experiences. For example, Hollander received considerable communications about the state of Cedar Market’s chickens when he first opened. Hollander had initially contracted with a poultry supplier who provided chicken for a competitive price, but with many customers writing in to express dissatisfaction with their appearance, Hollander addressed this feedback

by switching suppliers. Now the chickens come in cleaner and fresher: It is on the shelf within 24 hours of slaughtering.

“The voice of the customer means a lot to us,” Hollander said.

Hollander’s advice to anyone looking to start a business is to do extensive research and know the risks and challenges involved. Hollander searched and planned for almost two years before opening Cedar Market in August 2013.

Even with all the research and planning, unexpected difficulties often occur. Hollander recounted unexpected delays as part of his process in opening the store.

However, Hollander said that Teaneck set itself apart as a pro-business environment; everyone was helpful and forthcoming with assistance. Holdups, including a major leak in the basement of the store leading to the electrical panel, delayed the opening. The electricity had to be turned off in order to prevent a fire.

Without power, there was no inventory, no refrigeration, and no opening. Eventually the Lieutenant Governor’s office came in and helped move the process along, but that delay set back the opening of the store despite all the preparation.

The early years of any business are risky, and Hollander acknowledged that the next two years are more about keeping his head above water than about seeing a real profit. (The sacrificing of profits for growth is a common strategy employed by companies such as Amazon.) Hollander credits the early success of his store with the fact that Cedar Mar-

ket has made an effort to become a part of the community; more than just a place to buy groceries. The store participated in and sponsored several recent community events, including Yeshivat Noam’s Color Run. They also served free barbeque as part of Cedar Lane’s Memorial Day celebrations. “If people are coming to Cedar Lane for the Memorial Day attractions, let’s feed them free lunch,” Hollander recounted.

In order to further set Cedar Market apart from other supermarkets in the area, Hollander brought some “out of the box,” unique ideas to Teaneck as well. Nachum Segal hosted his radio show from Cedar Market; first, for the grand opening, then for a Pre-Pesach show, and Nachum Segal and Cedar Market collaborated for the First-Ever Kosher Super Bowl Halftime Show, which took place in the Meadowlands in January. Another unique venture at Cedar Market included a visit from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his wife Calista. Even in the middle of a snowstorm, it was a positive and well-received event.

Hollander aim is clear: To make Cedar Market a new destination for one-stop shopping, as well as a social venue with special guests and community involvement. Hollander looks forward to bringing more community participation in, as part of Cedar Market’s place in the community. “We try to do things that stand out and are fun for our fans and customers, and to have what to remember from event to event. As we go on, more events and more fun will keep coming.”

FEATURED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES 1. Buying and Selling Businesses

2..

3.

Franchise Opportunities

Investment opportunities

To have your opportunity featured in next week’s paper, email bizopps@jewishlinkbc.com.

44 July 17, 2014 • 19 Tammuz 5774

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Haredi Entrepreneurship Thrives in Beit Shemesh

By Sybil Kaplan/JNS.org eit Shemesh, located 20 miles west of Jerusalem with a population of 100,000 people, is home to innovators like Rabbi Joel Padowitz, whose ventures have a direct relationship with the haredi community.

Padowitz, 36, is co-creator of what he believes is a “game-changing” product for Israeli tourism and business called the “Israel App.” Originally from San Diego, Padowitz made aliyah in 2009 and lives in Beit Shemesh with his wife and six children. He teaches Mishnah every day at a men’s kollel in Beit Shemesh, is an avid mountain biker, and is the founder of a Manhattan-based investment bank. Although he has rabbinical ordination and an MBA from Bar-Ilan University, he is now pursuing a BA in social science from Harvard University.

The co-founder and manager of the Israel App is equally eclectic 28-year-old Yaakov Lehman, formerly from Tucson, Ariz., who is married with a newborn child. A part-time rabbinic student and part-time social entrepreneur, he has a BA

B

Crowdfunding Is The Key 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

every stripe to raise money from a wider audience to kick start their dreams of innovation.

The public learned about the Oculus Rift in August 2012, when the company launched its Kickstarter campaign, in which it raised $2.4 million. This was one of the most successful campaigns by the site. 9,522 people invested in the project, which raised 975% more than its initial target within 30 days.

Reliance on Kickstarter long ago became one of the preferred ways for new entrepreneurs to embark on their long march to success. It does not work for everyone, and not everyone succeeds in meeting the challenge and surviving even after a successful financing round, but Kickstarter alone, as the most popular crowdfunding site, has raised more than $1 billion from 5.7 million people worldwide in its five years in business.

Fundraising or advertising?

The big question is whether this is a fundraising platform that can replace the early financing rounds by start-ups and

Finance Minister Lapid: Gaza Conflict Won’t Hurt Israel’s Economy 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

et, Lapid answered, “We’ll make sure this operation is funded in 2014. We won’t let it slip into the 2015 budget,” adding that he did not think the conflict would require a tax hike.

from the University of California, Santa Barbara in global studies, an MA from the London School of Economics in economic history, and an MA from the University of Vienna in world history. He came to Israel in 2008.

“The reason I founded the Israel App is because people come to Israel and do not get a legitimate or even meaningful presentation of this incredible country,” Padowitz tells JNS.org. “We cater to the majority of tourists who don’t hire human tour guides. We want to give them a way to appreciate more deeply all that Israel has to offer.”

The Israel App—which currently has about 6,000 users—contains GPS-guided tours for any tourist who needs to find sites or hotels or restaurants, a virtual concierge for making reservations, coupons, and background content like an “Israepedia,” a glossary covering a wide variety of historical information. Tourists can use the app without roaming charges as they travel around the country.

When Padowitz and Lehman initiated their project, they began looking for a programming team. They happened upon Net-

Source and its subsidiary, Concept Creative Technology, a service provider of software development. “We liked the service, the price, and their work environment,” says Lehman.

NetSource’s 48-year-old CEO, Mazal Shirem, is a divorced mother of three who grew up as an Orthodox Jew in Jerusalem, where she lived until the age of 20. After 16 years with Intel and a stint in Munich, Germany, she found a business partner for her new venture whose mission “was to get Orthodox people into the employment market and give them the tools they need to learn the work environment.”

NetSource was launched in 2010 and today employs 200 people—90 percent haredi women and 5 percent haredi men—almost all living in Beit Shemesh. According to Shirem, the company operates so that the employees “receive the full respect of their lifestyle, including the on-site kosher kitchen, flexible work hours, and even proper subjects on which they work.”

Tamar, a 26-year-old haredi mother of a 3-and-a-half year old and a 1-and-a-half year old, is consulting with Shirem in her office. She started work there a year and a

half ago as a secretary and worked her way up to an account manager.

“I really like to work here,” she says.

“The girls are very nice and it’s convenient for me to work in this company because I find all the conditions which I need in order for me to go out and do my job in an appropriate environment.”

Tamar adds, “They respect my motherhood in terms of hours and are a firm supporting my lifestyle; the holidays are being celebrated properly here and the company is flexible to our home needs.”

Across the street is a second part of the company, a call center, with 130 workstations where “some employees want careers and some want jobs,” says Shirem, but essentially all are Orthodox/haredi.

“Most of the employees here have a basic education, [but] we give confidence for those who want to do more,” she says.

Israel App, meanwhile, has employed some 20 people all over Israel doing marketing, design, research, transcribing, data entry, photography, audio recording, and content—although the venture doesn’t have a formal office yet. Lehman says, “My computer is my office, wherever I am.”

entrepreneurs from private investors and venture capital funds. The problem is in the objective: is the desire to raise money or to secure advertising and fame? The responses from several entrepreneurs, who ran campaigns on Kickstarter and its peers, to “Globes” are divided on this point.

“The money you raise from platforms like Kickstarter is not something that can sustain you for a long time and build a big company, says, Pitango Venture Capital managing general partner Aaron Mankovski, who invested in 3D printer developer Formlabs Ltd. shortly after it closed the raising of $3 million in a successful Kickstarter campaign. He says that the platform mainly creates contact with the public, an understanding of the way the wind is blowing, and early feedback. “It’s a huge advantage for both companies and investors who want to know if there are customers for the product outside,” he says.

Crowdfunding projects are widely covered by the media, and new and fascinating projects garner newspaper headlines and bloggers’ attention. Nonetheless, the entrepreneurs behind the projects do not really depend on traditional investors rushing in to become talent hunters. “I don’t believe that venture capital funds will be tracking the graph of the trendiest projects on Kickstarter,” says Pressy Ltd. founder Nimrod Back. The developer of the “Almighty

Android Button”, which is plugged into a smartphone port to characterize and operation functions, raised $700,000 on Kickstarter. “The entire venture capital industry is very conservative, and they see this whole sector as a game or toy. They don’t yet treat it seriously.”

Anyone who thinks that he can find angel investors or high-tech leaders at the top of a list of Kickstarter backers is in for a surprise. After five years of operations, its biggest investor is American-Jewish author Neil Gaiman, and the biggest backer is Mr. Kickstarter himself, Tieg Zaharia, who has invested in more than 1,000 projects.

Although no big investor tracks or believes in Kickstarter ventures as the next big thing, unless there is something exceptional, Israeli technology and gadget entrepreneurs continue to throng it. It is currently possible to find on Kickstarter ventures such as ConsumerPhysics’ SCiO pocket molecular sensor, which can identify the components of an object in real time. The sensor can detect the percentage of fats or the number of calories in a schnitzel on the plate in front of us, or the chemical formula of a medication prescribed by a doctor. The project has raised more than $630,000 to date, and the campaign has more than a month to run.

Another interesting project is ZUta

Labs’s The Mini Mobile Robotic Printer, a pocket printer that can be taken anywhere. The 300-gram baseball-sized printer with a printhead, cogs, and Bluetooth processor that can print a page from a smartphone. Although the printer has had extensive media coverage worldwide, the campaign, which ends this week, raised just under $500,000, only a little more than its target.

Bottom line, can entrepreneurs turn to crowdfunding to promote their start-ups?

The answer, as mentioned at the top of this article, is in dispute. A campaign on a site like Kickstarter is a huge public relations boost for any entrepreneur who wants and can promote himself or herself. Such a campaign will create awareness about the entrepreneur and the product, from which the point the path to meet the target and raise enough money to get the product rolling is short. However, in view of the product’s production costs for its backers, it is not certain that the entrepreneurs will be left with enough money to grow and thrive. Nonetheless, the cases of formlabs and Oculus VR shows that a little bit of luck can definitely help, and the creation mass awareness can lead to the doors of traditional investors. From there, the road to securing big money is faster.

Lapid said disarming Gaza should be a condition for repairing the damage caused by the fighting. “The equation should be rehabilitation for demilitarization,” he stated.

“If they want Gaza to be rebuilt, then this is what we have to do.” The conflict has also killed 56 people on the Israeli side, including three civilians.

“Hamas used the humanitarian ceasefire to shoot at Israel,” Lapid told Bloomberg, adding, “Hamas is a terrorist organization for all intents and purposes, and is behaving like one.”

At the outset of the interview, Lapid dismissed reports of a rift between Israel and the U.S., thanking U.S. Secretary of State

John Kerry for his efforts to achieve a solution in the region, saying, “Kerry is a true friend of Israel.”

Lapid said that Israel had already agreed three times to a humanitarian ceasefire, and that Hamas had violated it every time, saying, “Hamas used the humanitarian ceasefire to shoot at Israel.”

Commenting on the attempts to arrange a ceasefire, Lapid said, “There’s an Egyptian proposal on the table. We already accepted this proposal a few days ago. The Egyptian proposal says there should be a ceasefire, and after we see that it holds, we’ll sit and discuss everything through Egypt with the help of the U.S., because this

help is always welcome.”

Lapid said that Israel was demanding the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.

“No country in the world would have accepted 2,500 rockets being fired at its civilians. There’s a will to rebuild Gaza. This is a possibility that can be discussed. We have no problem with the civilians in Gaza; we have a problem with Hamas.” He also commented on the tunnels, saying that Israel was fighting to destroy terror tunnels whose sole purpose was to murder Israeli women and children.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 29, 2014

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Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 8, 2014

July 17, 2014 • 19 Tammuz 5774 45

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Li Ka-Shing: How The Chinese Billionaire Became The Startup Nation’s Biggest Supporter 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

tion of Israeli food conglomerate Tnuva for billions by China’s Bright Food; the “Times of Israel’s” release of the first Chinese-language publication on Israeli innovation; and Israeli Economics Minister, Naftali Bennett’s recent statement that, Israel is shifting its economic resources to “China, China China,” the ties between Tel Aviv and Beijing couldn’t be stronger. But there may be one man to thank for the recent spike in Chinese interest in the land of milk, honey, and of course, technology — Billionaire Li Ka Shing.

Asia’s richest man with a net worth of $31.9 billion, Li has spent the majority of his life enveloped in a world of entrepreneurship and success, but since he turned his sights to world of startups and Israel in particular, things for the Asian mogul and the little Mediterranean country are looking up. Take Waze, for example, one of the 20 Israeli startups in which Li was an early investor, or the $130 million his venture

capital fund, Horizons Ventures, donated to the Technion, one of the largest ever donations received by an Israeli university. No matter the cost, Li wants to be at the forefront of the next disruptive technology and evidently that means being heavily invested in Israel.

Li’s interest in the “little country that could” may derive from his own humble beginnings as a Hong Kong factory laborer, from a young age working long hours to support his struggling family. However, once Li discovered the power of risk-taking and became hardened to failure, qualities which he shares with the Startup Nation,

the money and success stories kept coming. Now Li is paving the way for his fellow countrymen to regard Israel as the country to take bets on.

Israel over the horizon Before Li became one of the founding fathers of the modern tech revolution, the 85 year-old Chinese billionaire started out on a tougher road in life. Following the death of his father from tuberculosis, at the age of 15, Li was forced to leave his school in China’s Guangdong Province to work 16-hour days as a laborer in a plastics trading company. Driven to support his family and to lift them out of poverty, by the age of 22 Li had already earned enough money

to open up his own business making plastic toys, Cheung Kong Industries, a company that would eventually become Hong Kong’s leading real estate investment company. In 1979, Li acquired the investment holding company Hutchison Whampoa from British banking giant HSBC, and by 1987, the humble Chaozhou merchant was already ranked on Forbes’ first list of global billionaires.

While Li’s manifold investments in real estate, utilities and the stock market were enough to make him the richest man in Asia, the aging Hong Kong billionaire was not ready to retire into a life of opulent

leisure. In 2006, Li began to set his sights on the world of disruptive innovation, or game-changing technology like Skype, Facebook and even Siri (before it was acquired

by Apple in 2010), donating a huge sum to his Hong Kong-based venture capital firm Horizons Ventures. Through Horizons Ventures, Li secured his place as one of the earliest investors in Facebook, with a $120 million investment in 2007 and 2008 when the company was only barely profitable, and was the saving grace for then loss-accumulating video platform Skype in 2005.

Today, through Horizons Ventures, Li and his partners have invested $350 million in 50 companies in over 10 countries around the globe, with over 20 of those companies originating in Israel. What made Li and Horizons turn towards places like Israel was a passion for those disruptive startups that would not only produce revolutionary technology, but were what are considered in the finance world highstakes investments with potentially hefty returns. Take Waze for example; the global crowdsourced navigation system sold to Google for $966 million last year, but when Li’s Horizons invested $30 million in the home-brewed Ra’anana startup in 2011, the company had a humble staff of 80.

As Waze CEO Noam Bardin told Forbes, Horizons is most valued for its deep roots in the China business market and the Asian market, which is embellished with Li’s long list of coveted Asian business and investment contacts. “They are entrenched in China,” Yahal Zilka, one of Waze’s earliest investors told Forbes, adding that the Hong Kong venture capital firm helped the smalltown Israeli startup search out potential Asian partners. Since Waze, Zilka has developed a close relationship with Li, with the tech buffs pairing up to invest in two other (unnamed) Israeli startups together.

Li’s mission to keep startups out of the “valley of death” Recently, Horizon invested $10 million in Tipa, an Israeli startup offering biodegradable packaging solutions for food manufacturers and $5 million in Magisto, an automatic online video editor. Horizons also invested in Onavo (recently purchased by Facebook), as well as Wibbitz and CorePho-

tonics (just to name a few) with the goal of helping these budding companies meet the challenges that lie in what some have called the “valley of death”—the gap between the first stages of funding and the final stages, when startups are forced to prove that their product is worth every cent of funding.

Aside from Li’s role in pouring funds into burgeoning startups, the Chinese business mogul has been successful at directing the attention of investors throughout Asia to Israeli innovation. According to Israel’s Economy Ministry, Asia is set to beat out the United States as the major destination for Israeli exports, after Europe in 2014, with over 21 percent of exports now headed East, and it is likely to assume that Li had a part in that. This assessment is paired with facts on the ground, which show increased cooperation and interest in all aspects of Israeli tech from countries like China, Japan and South Korea. As Israeli Chief Scientist Avi Hasson told Bloomberg News: “We are seeing more and more Chinese activity in Israeli high tech. Investment in venture capital by strategic and institutional Chinese investors, direct investments in companies and also acquisitions.”

Supporting his “third son” Li’s role as a trendsetter is not just limited to whom he embellishes with dollar signs; the man from modest beginnings who himself was deprived of an education places all of his profits from Horizons Venture’s investments in a charitable foundation bearing his name. What Li calls his “third son” (after his two real sons), the Li Ka Shing Foundation supports cultural, educational and medical research projects aimed at promoting social progress throughout Asia. Through his foundation, Li has donated billions of dollars to various education and exchange programs in China and the world, set on providing students with the opportunities that he never had.

In one of the foundation’s more recent ventures, Li displayed the extent of his faith in the future of Israeli technology. In September of last year, Li donated $130 million to Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology to establish a research and shared learning program between the top Middle Eastern institution and China’s Shantou University in Guangdong Province. Li Ka Shing’s generous gift is the largest ever bestowed upon the Technion and one of the largest amounts donated to any Israeli school— a testament to a fruitful future of Israeli-Asian cooperation in the realm of technological innovation. Here again he was a trendsetter, as last month Tel Aviv University and Tsinghua University in Beijing announced the establishment of a $300 million joint research center.

With his humble beginnings, strong determination and “can-do” spirit, it’s no wonder that Li Ka-Shing is a huge fan of Israeli confidence and risk-taking in the name of innovation. Hopefully, this is only the beginning of a long history of partnerships between the little country with a big vision and international business magnates of Li’s caliber.

Photo: Stanford EdTech / Tablet Mag

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BUSINESS LINK

Four Investors and Entrepreneurs Reveal Some Tricks of the Trade 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

Japhet. The genealogy social network, which has raised $49 million, was chosen as the most promising start-up by “Globes” in 2013.

• Do your best to finance your company yourself until you are able to obtain traction from customers. It will be worth it.

You will get more interest from investors and a much better valuation so your investment will pay off.

• Always check and perform due diligence on the investment partner before raising funds. Not just from business side but also personality side. You may think the money is important and the personality isn’t, but then you may find that you are stuck with someone unpleasant for the rest of your journey.

Kickstarter and the likes are great sources of funding, check if they are applicable to your business.

• Growth is the drug of the Internet. Companies that are growing fast are excused if they are not profitable or do not even have revenues. Challenge yourself to ensure that your product/business is going to generate sustained strong growth for years. If you think the answer is negative, consider changing your plans. It is not always necessary to think prematurely about monetization and cash

flow, which is liable to affect the distribution of the product and limit the business’s growth potential.

• Grant stock options to ALL your employees. Everyone should be motivated to make the business a success.

Lool Ventures founding partner Avichay Nissenbaum. He has signed off on two exits, with the sale of SmartTeam and Yedda. He previously served as a VP at AOL Inc. (Nasdaq: AOL) and manager of AOL Israel Ltd. • Know how to tell your story in a clear, crisp, and engaging manner. Will your mom understand it?, a friend ?, your employees?, your potential customers?

People have very brief attention span today - your story needs to come across in a short, dynamic way. Your narrative should relate to the user of your product, talk about product values and benefits rather than technology and features.

• A start-up’s journey is like a rollercoaster - a lot of ups and downs. It is therefore necessary to build a team of winners and not whiners. You need people with conviction that can continue forward even in tough times. Build a team that complements you - always seek people that know more than you on the subject matter.

• Focus on defining the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that drive your business and maximizing them: the number of active users; the number of deals; the number of paying customers, and so forth, depending on the kind of product or service you are offering. Achieving KPI success is important because it proves that there is a need for your product and that it is “world class.” This success also demonstrates that you able to communicate your story to your target audience and that your technology works and scales.

Rhodium Ventures founder and CEO Daniel Recanati. Rhodium has invested in scores of start-ups to date, including face.com, which was sold to Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), and HopStop, which was sold to Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL).

• Believe in yourself, seek advice as much as necessary, and do not hesitate to think big and long term.

• Meticulously pick your partners for the road, whether they are other entrepreneurs, employees, or investors.

• Try to reach your target market as soon as possible in order to know the new trends in the environment and to find customers and sites for pilots.

Urban Compass Ltd. co-founder and executive chairman Dr. Ori Allon.

Urban Compass has developed a technology platform to change the global real estate market. It has raised $33 million at a company value of $150

million. Allon previously founded and sold companies to Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR).

• Entrepreneurs do not need to try and solve very specific problems, but should think big and try and solve big problems that will affect a great many people. If you start there, it is fine to subsequently focus on something specific, but the company’s vision and the entrepreneurs are doing should be big, not a niche.

• When seeking seed financing, you should go for the smart money, and not the big money. There are investors who might help boost the company value, but will not necessarily help you down the road. There are funds that help with networking and ties, business development, provide a base for the products pilot, and so on. It is also worthwhile considering strategic partners, which might not make the largest financial offer, but will give you added value later.

• It is not enough to build a good and amazing app and put it on AppStore.

There is no magic charm to make people start using the app. People develop very good things, but no one hears about them. Sometimes, companies do not succeed not because of the product, but because they fail in user acquisition.

It is therefore necessary to think about how to win users; do not imagine that they will come to you.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 15, 2014

SEO CORNER

SEO Outsource or Insource? 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

ly by someone in the marketing department. Then, the appointment of the resident “SEO expert” happens. Often it’s a novice in the marketing or the IT department. Typically, they will try altering the meta tags, and then look for the Web site on the first page of Google. Eventually, everyone realizes that the search engine rankings haven’t changed (or got worse), and it’s time to hire an in-house SEO professional, outsource to an agency, use an SEO consultant.

So, what kinds of things should you consider if you want to in-source the SEO function? The first question you should

The Notable Notary 

CONTINUED FROM P. 42

may require the Notary Public to skim a complex document to be certain that the signer understands it.)

The certification of a signer’s identity, understanding, and free and voluntary signing is called “notarization,” and a “Notary Public” usually conducts it, although other public officials can do so as well, and attorneys-at-law especially often conduct them.

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ask is whether or not you have the proper resources and time allocated. Proper execution of the SEO process takes time.

An in-house SEO expert will need a lot of time to analyze target audiences, keyword phrases, content, keyword traffic, etc. Then, once all the SEO processes and initial SEO has taken place, the SEO expert will need to stay informed of industry trends, the latest technology developments, and the latest changes made by the search engines.

Additionally, the SEO expert will need to monitor campaign performance and expand and improve the existing campaign.

So, if you’re thinking of giving someone the additional task of the SEO expert, make sure to allocate the proper time and resources needed.

The SEO expert should know how to view the Web site/business from a macrolevel. This attribute might not exist in the

appointed in-house SEO expert. They need to know how to integrate the needs of sales and marketing, as well as the IT dept.

Basically, the SEO expert needs to act as a project manager. Sometimes it is necessary to get adversarial departments in harmony. Very often it’s easier for an outsider to accomplish this task, rather than an inside person.

If you assign someone as the SEO expert, then hold them accountable for the performance of the SEO initiative. Someone needs to responsible for implementing the SEO process, increasing performance, and explaining any setbacks.

Another issue to consider is the learning curve. There is also a large amount of information and resources available on the Internet, however much of it is contradictory. Some of it is “black hat” and could get your Web site banned. You might or might not want your SEO ex-

pert to learn these mistakes by trial and error.

These are important questions to consider when it comes to deciding whether you are going to in-source or outsource your SEO function. If you decide to appoint your SEO expert, then make sure you have committed enough time and resources to do so. A halfhearted effort will only be a disappointment to all, and will be evident in the results.

Regardless of whether you outsource or in-source, if you take the time to work out all of these issues, then you will be setting up your SEO initiative for success.

It is critical to understand the difference between a Notary Public and an attorney. The principal focus for the Notary Public is the signer. Is the identity clear and proven through proper documentation? Does the signer both have the mental capacity to understand the document and seem to do so?

(This can be sensitive with elderly persons.) Has the signer acted freely (without any pressure, coercion, or intimidation) and voluntarily (actually wishing to do so).

An attorney, on the other hand, is at least equally concerned with the content of the document, and through having a license to practice law, may com-

ment on that content. A Notary Public cannot comment on the content or meaning of any document without being guilty of practicing law without a license. Similarly, the writer of the document determines the specific language that requires notarization.

When you need a Notary Public, you have many choices. But as with any other task involving sensitive and private matters, you may decide to use a Notary Public who is professional and discreet. Depending upon how you value your time, you may also want to utilize a Notary Public who is mobile, and will come to you at a time and place convenient to you.

Now that you know the basics of what a Notary Public is and what he or she does, future articles will take a look at some of the amazing number of ways in which the apparently simple act of notarization can produce horrendous pitfalls, starting with why you should never have a self-drawn will notarized.

Shimon Sandler is the President of Search Interactions, a digital agency that specializes in SEO and Social Media Marketing which is based in East Rutherford, NJ. Shimon is considered a thought leader in the field of SEO, and has been writing for the industry since 2004.

Chaim Frazer, a 30-year resident of Teaneck, owns and operates Mobile Notary-At Your Service, which brings mobile notary services to Bergen and Passaic County residents, businesses, and professional practices. He can be reached at 201-707-4800. Save your time and preserve your privacy. Let the Notary come to you.

July 17, 2014 • 19 Tammuz 5774 47

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

Kozy Kitchens Redefines Style 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

They’re not talking about the Bermuda Triangle where all your teaspoons disappear to hang out with all those lost socks from the dryer, they’re talking about the workflow triangle, the one that exists between the fridge, sink, and cooktop. Although the classic triangle has been modified many times over with the inclusion of modern conveniences like a microwave and dishwasher, it remains the foundation of a well-designed kitchen.

Ask Aaron Lapp, owner of Kozy Kitchens on Cedar Lane in Teaneck about the triangle and he chuckles. “In a kosher kitchen there are so many triangles that overlap, it’s totally useless.”

Mr. Lapp has so much experience specializing in kosher kitchen design that he’s taught a college course on the subject.

Kosher kitchens are different. When homeowners who keep kosher are looking for a kitchen renovation and come to him with an architect’s design plan in hand, he often finds he needs to begin the kitchen design process from the ground up.

Everyone has been in a kitchen that just doesn’t feel right, where the movement never seems to flow and the interaction of workspaces somehow never finds its rhythm.

Maybe the garbage requires a trek from the prep area or the oven floats with no logical place to put stuff down next to it. Those things happen when a designer isn’t design-

ing the space for the way that people will actually use it, and how families who keep kosher use their space much differently from the average American Joneses.

Aaron Lapp fell into kitchen design almost by accident. As a young man an opportunity arose to work at a kitchen installation company and he decided to give it a shot.

Over the years his career brought him to all types of jobs, learning first-hand all aspects of the process—from the selling of cabinetry and parts to getting his hands dirty, installing kitchens piece by piece at night after selling the parts during the day. He’s learned all the design software and he’s even worked construction sites so he has an overall knowledge of kitchens and construction, from start to finish.

It was about six years ago that he decided the time had come to open his own space.

Having lived in Teaneck, he knew the community and knew that he had something special he could offer. He opened a modest storefront on Cedar Lane and despite a rocky start that can be attributed to complicated partnerships and more so to a tanking economy and housing market, he worked hard and stayed afloat.

Over the years he has built a reputation for creating some of the most beautifully elegant

David Alan: Spa Perfect 

CONTINUED FROM P. 41

and Spa Signature logo on the side of their oyster shaped building.

If you haven’t been there yet, this salon is worth the visit. David Alan and his team of experienced staff work with women, men & children to create flattering cuts, colors, and styles to complement each client’s features and personality. Dedicated to making every customer happy, services include everything from a cut and color to a la carte styling options for blow out and updos.

The newest, exciting addition to David Alan offerings is the introduction of the Dry Bar / Braid Bar. Long known for his perfect blow-outs, the salon now offers quickn-easy, drop-in blow outs or styling at a very affordable rate. Services at the dry bar are great for the working woman who needs to look sharp and polished on a daily basis (you can stop by before work) or for special occasions when you just want to look and feel a little extra glam (date night, Shabbat).

With all the celebrity buzz around braided, vintage and boho inspired hairstyles, David realized this offering was yet another way to service his clientele in the way they needed to be serviced. In a specially designated area, flanked by pictures of the hottest up-dos, for just $25 you can have your blow dried and styled any way you want for that special occasion, including the opportunity to rent clip-in braids and extensions to lend an extra dose of glamour and fullness to your hair. With more elaborate additions, the price goes up very slightly.

48 July 17, 2014 • 19 Tammuz 5774

David Alan’s dedicated wig salon.

All washes, cuts, colors, styling and updo services can be done on your wigs as well as natural hair. David has a passion for and deep knowledge of the wig industry and the clients who wear them. After years of cutting, coloring and styling wigs, he recently launched his own collection of human hair wigs in the latest and most flat-

and functional spaces in this area and beyond.

His Clifton workshop is where they build all their custom cabinetry for kitchens and also baths, vanities, wall units, and custom closets.

And it’s not just kitchens in Bergen County homes. Kozy Kitchens has fulfilled contracts with a number of luxury hi-rises in Manhattan, creating sleek and modern kitchens and baths that adorn multi-million dollar apartments and condos.

While Lapp shares that his personal style tends to trend more modern, he is always happy to work with the homeowner to truly create their ideal space, in their ideal finishes. Whether that means ornate carved cabinetry or high gloss acrylic cabinets in shades of bright orange and tomato red, he can help you make that vision come alive.

Kozy Kitchens also handles construction projects as they relate to kitchen redesigns. If you want to push out your kitchen and make it bigger, he can do that. He takes great pride in providing a quick, clean, job performed by a responsible, reliable team. It’s hard to ask for more when everyone knows what a hassle kitchen renovations can be. Living on a construction site, especially when you have kids, can be a gruesome ordeal. Lapp, also a father of five young kids understands that

and ensures that his workers clean up every night and respect the homes they work in and the customers they work for. His goal is to be in and out of a job in four to eight weeks.

If you’re not looking for a kitchen right now but want to build something extra special and have your kids be your biggest fans, check out this top-of-the-line treehouse he built for his kids in his backyard. Complete with heating, AC, electricity, a built-in rock wall, zip-line, and swirly slide exit, this is every kid’s dream. There’s even a push button Shabbos lock.

And if you are thinking about a renovation of your kitchen, or if you’re building a home and want to make sure your kosher kitchen works for you, swing by Kozy Kitchens and get to know Aaron and learn a bit about what he and his team can do for you.

Estimates are free and include complete 3-D renderings of your space. When discussing price, Aaron explains that although some have said his reputation is to be high-priced, when you factor in all that he provides including custom and semi-custom cabinetry, he’s confident that you’ll find you get more for your money plus a better experience and final product when you work with him.

tering styles. David personally designs the available assortments and styles on his own.

He’s proud to share that he strives to work with the finest, hand-knotted, human hair wigs, taking special care to keep them lightweight, breathable and priced well below the competition, whose quality he surpasses. Ask him to explain to you how a wig is constructed, to show you the inner workings and tell-tale signs that differentiate a good wig from a not-as-good one, and he’ll take you on a journey that reveals a deep rooted passion and knowledge that is hard to ignore.

In addition to servicing the Orthodox community’s sheitel needs, he also works with the cancer community, having recently written a book that will be distributed for free at area hospitals. The book is filled with practical beauty tips and encouraging info written to inspire those currently battling hair loss and other physical side effects from the disease.

It is a cause he is clearly passionate about.

Another way that David gives back to the community is through education. He knows that the pressures on a woman’s

time are squeezed to capacity these days, and often the first thing to go is time for self-care. David views hair care as a vital part of a woman’s life and so he has begun working with women’s groups to teach their members how to do a beautiful blowout so they can look sharp for that interview or opportunity. Classes are free and those that want to pay may do so as a contribution to their charity of choice. Contact the salon for more info.

Though not apparent right off the bat, the 2,800 square foot Salon is currently undergoing a makeover as well. In addition to adding men’s and children’s areas on the upper floor, plans are in place to transform the front section of the salon into an express mani-pedi area to accommodate those on-the-go and looking for a quick pick-me-up.

Massages and facials will have more treatment rooms, and there’s as wine and tea center planned to enhance the overall spa experience. David Alan is also an ideal place for pre-simcha styling, offering everything make-up, nails, eyebrows, hair, and spa treatments to renew even the most exhausted party planner.

David Alan knows you can’t hide a bad cut, and he strives to make sure even the fussiest of clients walks out thrilled with their results, or they invite you back to fix it. Packages are available for a day of selfcare as well as a 20% discount to members of all Jewish schools and organizations— just mention it on the phone when you make your reservation.

Gift Certificates are available in any denomination and can be sent directly to the recipient. A perfect idea for birthdays, graduation, brides or moms to be!

To schedule and appointment call 201228-0588 or visit www.davidalansalon.com

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OP-ED

Invest in Jewish Children

By Elly Libin y wife Suzy and I will never forget our wedding day. The uplifting ceremony and beautiful party left an indelible mark; some life-altering advice that we received from one of our guests informed and shaped our lives from that day forward.

My high school teacher, Rabbi Yagid, pulled us aside just before the chuppah and challenged us to choose one mitzvah that would be the foundation of our marriage and our lives. He explained that we would have to work as a team to ensure that every facet of our chosen mitzvah would be fulfilled appropriately for the long-term and that this challenge would keep us focused and grounded.

We decided that building Jewish families would become our mission for life.

As Suzy and I began building a family of our own, we became intimately involved in Ohel Children’s services, bringing scores of Jewish children into our home as active foster parents. The relationships we developed with each child were precious reminders that providing children with a safe home and a strong education would set the stage for a healthy future and allow them to develop the emotional tools they needed to build stable and loving families of their own.

Though this sounds basic, especially to those of us who were blessed to grow up within such a framework, the truth of the matter is that countless children around the world grow up without the love, support, and resources they so desperately re-

M

quire, and wind up with serious deficiencies of these very elemental ingredients for healthy growth and development.

In addition to providing our children with love, support, and a top-notch education, we also make sure to stress the importance and centrality of Torah values. To maintain the appropriate balance and deliver the right messages, we send our children to schools that value higher education and Torah equally.

In our minds, it is not enough for us to raise a child who will build a single healthy family. We want our children to become contributing members of the Jewish community, individuals who will constantly give of themselves to build up their neighborhoods, cities, and society at large.

Living with this healthy preoccupation, I joined the board of the Friends of the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT). As a leader in the field of higher education in Israel that is at the forefront of educating otherwise forgotten Israeli populations, including the Haredi and Ethiopian communities and religious women, JCT was a perfect fit for me. Working with JCT, an institution that provides a framework of educational support and professional training in a Torah-rich environment, allows me to make a difference on the individual, familial, and societal levels simultaneously, and sets an example for my children regarding the kind of impact they can make on the world with the right partners. And the impact is truly phenomenal.

Many of JCT’s students are the first members of their families to pursue higher education. By providing them with serious opportunities for personal and academic growth, we are not only shaping their ca-

Referrals By: We Refer LLC

Gail Hochman

reers but securing the futures of their entire families. In turn, each family’s financial health drastically improves Israeli society as a whole.

We often forget the impact that a single educated child can make on the world.

Armed with the right tools, a Jewish child can become the ultimate builder, transforming personal success into a boon for his family, community, and the entire Jewish world.

Instead of bemoaning our societal woe—as we so often do—our energies would be better spent ensuring that every Jewish child is provided for appropriately, mind, body, and soul. Because a confident, well-rounded Jewish child will build a strong, Torah-centered Jewish household,

dedicate himself to the cultivation of the global Jewish community, and ease, if not alleviate, numerous societal tensions.

Years later, Suzy and I are so thankful to Rabbi Yagid for forcing us to choose a single direction for our life’s work. Our dedication to the development of Jewish families has, indeed, kept us grounded. More importantly, it has allowed us to stay focused on the unbridled potential for true greatness within every Jewish child.

Elly Libin is the President of Broad Comm, Inc., a consulting group specializing in wireless communications, the executive director of the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance, and the President of the Friends of the Jerusalem College of Technology (www.friendsofjct.org).

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 49

UNDER FIRE

Israel’s Children Under Fire Eva Fogelman, Ph.D. and Mark Sossin, Ph.D. (exclusive to JLBC from The International Study of Organized Persecution of Children) hen sirens blare, Israeli children in Sderot chant in Hebrew: “Tzeva Adom Tzeva Adom: Red color, red color.

Hurry, hurry to a safe area because now it is dangerous. My heart beats boom, boom, boom. My body is shaking doom, doom, doom. We are falling down (children go under desks) and now it is okay.

Now we stand up and shake, shake, shake our legs. Breathe in deep, breathe out far, and now we can laugh. It is all gone, and now I feel better.” The children pose like Hercules and continue to chant: “But I am overcoming because I am different. And now it is okay.” Hands are clapped and everyone gives a sigh of relief, “Yes!” Israeli youngsters are taught this song as soon as they can talk to reduce the anxiety created by sirens signaling rocket attacks. For 12 long years, this has been the reality for Israeli children in southern Israel near the Gazan border. Some of them have never known a life sans sirens.

Children exposed to war and violence are at high risk for post-traumatic consequences that may negatively impact their personal, relational, and academic futures. This is true for preschoolers, toddlers, and infants, as well as older children. Old theories about young children being immune to war- and violence-exposure are upended by more recent assessments and research. Experts in the field of psychotraumatology found that safety begets expectations of further safety, and danger begets expectations of more danger. The children’s fight-or-flight response is not a one-time event—it puts children into permanent “survival mode.” Staying “on guard” replaces spontaneity and exploration. For children living in Israel and Gaza, basic assumptions about the safety of the world they know, while at home, at school, or at play, are overwritten by sirens and/or bombs.

For those who can find safe shelter, protective routines can be created. A degree of psychic protection can build upon literal protection, as in the songs and routinized behaviors Israeli children are taught through shelter-drills and real-life attacks. For those without available turnsto-safety, such psychic protection (partial at best) is not available.

Professor Danny Brom, director of the Herzog Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma, has been leading mother–child groups to strengthen children’s emotional regulation for the last nine years. During this war, crisis intervention is the priority over traditional therapy. Resilience workbooks have been distributed to young children in the south. There is a 24-hour hotline to help parents cope: A mother wants to know what to do when her 7-year-old vomits and collapses every time he hears a siren.

Says Brom: “The real work with trauma victims starts when the war is over.

Restoration and recovery will take a long time. Those who have severe symptoms Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)— 10-15%—have not had the opportunity to recover because children and adults are in and out of stress all the time.”

Brom believes PTSD is just one of the effects of massive psychic trauma. The

W

50 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

majority of victims are not necessarily suffering from PTSD. Children in Sderot and in southern Israel have not had a respite since the first rockets fell in 2002, and now more powerful missiles are aimed at them. Children under 14 have lived under threat of annihilation their entire life. How will these children feel about living in Israel when they grow up? What kind of faith will they have in God? How will this sense of insecurity influence their intimate relations and ability to commit to a relationship and having a family? What kind of a world view will they develop? How will their aggression manifest itself when they become adults? How will they be able to regulate their emotions?

Children growing up in contexts of protracted and recurring warfare and terrorism, experiencing their days interspersed with preparations, protective maneuvers, and their aftermath accrue massive strains and stresses. Add direct exposure to bloodshed and/or the anguish of loss or personal injury, and children directly learn of the limitations of adult capacities to safeguard them. They develop psychological armor that may be adaptive in the moment, but maladaptive in the long-run.

Waiting for PTSD to emerge before offering intervention is imprudent, as accumulated violence underscores the benefits of “prevention.” This includes offering facilitated play where the child creates a more coherent narrative through “pretending.”

Helping parents and caregivers appreciate children’s symbolization in play, especially when they are highly stressed themselves (which itself diminishes symbolic activities) becomes a key element in such prevention, exemplified by the Namal Program implemented in Sderot (developed by Esther Cohen, and expanded and applied by the Israeli Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma).

Operating efficiently in group therapy focusing on caregiver-child relations, the program highlights themes of attachment, self-reliance, playfulness, and the importance of make-believe, a positive view of the child, child-expressivity of emotions, self-care for the adult caregivers, the use of soothing interactions, and an increased appreciation for the complexity of child-thought. This is all designed to help the child feel that his or her inner experiences are understood.

Countering feelings of helplessness and associated anxiety, active construction in play promotes a developmental ability for the child to distinguish what is real and what is imagined, to differentiate one’s own perspective from what is another’s, and resilience itself.

Moran BenDov, a resident and social worker in Sderot works with Hosen, a center for trauma treatment. She is with traumatized children and their parents 24/7. The schools in Sderot are now day camps, yet each afternoon, 200-300 children are in shelters with 50 to 70 volunteers from Sderot and elsewhere. The children are entertained with clowns, music, and movement among other activities.

There is a psychologist in every shelter; parents are taught to care for their children and understand their behavior during this traumatic time. BenDov’s center teaches parents to be aware of children’s symptoms like excessive clinginess, wanting to sleep in the parents’ bed nightly, bed-wetting, and nightmares. Parents are encouraged not to allow their children to watch news, to explain the truth but in age-appropriate ways, and not to expand on details. Children learn to cope from their parents, so parents need to stay calm in front of the children. But of course, this is not always possible.

Parents and caregivers in war-torn environments are challenged to provide infants and young children with the basic ingredients of pleasure, security, safety, and trust, and the tools that children need to manage emotions in their lives, especially negative emotions. This is true even when the child is not directly hurt and has not witnessed death or injury to others, though such experiences exacerbate reactions. Young children, even infants and toddlers, are remarkably skilled at reading the emotions of those around them. The nonverbal communications are every bit as powerful as the verbal ones. Hence the adult who is terrified lends a feeling of terror to the child via body tension, a slightly opened mouth, raised brows, and opened eyes locked in narrowed attention. Perhaps later the caregiver is angry or highly distracted. Young children tend to personalize such behavior, attributing it to something they did. Children at different levels of cognitive maturity, based upon age and distinct trajectories, may come to different conclusions, but the caregiver’s ability to attend to the child’s experience and meaning-making is invariably crucial. But that becomes difficult when the parent is stressed and is not reading the child’s cues as sensitively as he or she would in a safer context.

BenDov went to a home of a woman who had a panic attack when a Kassam fell near her house. The 37-year-old had difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, noises in her ears, and heaviness in her legs. BenDov showed the mother a few breathing exercises while her 7-year-old daughter watched. After a few exercises,

the daughter tried to get the mother to continue and told BenDov she wants to be a doctor when she grows up, showing amazing strength. In situations of life and death, children sometimes exhibit more resilience than the parents. Roles are reversed and children end up taking on greater responsibility. Sderot has many single mothers from the former Soviet Union who don’t speak Hebrew very well.

They rely on their young children to let them know what is going on in the outside world.

The discovery of the tunnels has created new fears. Therapists are creating new ways to help people cope with this new threat of annihilation. Children are moved to safer areas for brief periods, sing the “Red Color” song, and play rocket games.

All traumatic stressors, including natural disasters, trigger concerns regarding injury or death to oneself or loved ones.

Human brains are pre-wired to respond to such threat by entering a survival mode.

Fear-arousal is a biological response that is given psychological meaning in context. One of the major factors in war and terrorism is that people are behind it. Children know that the danger comes from people with malevolent intent. Thus, mistrust and hatred are fueled by their trauma. Even very young children remember these traumas in meaningful ways.

Enough knowledge has accumulated from Holocaust child studies and trauma research to recognize that there are longterm consequences to trauma-exposure during the earliest days of life. In fact, the fetus absorbs stress (e.g., through higher cortisol levels), proving that war-exposure has negative pre-natal consequences.

Danny Brom strongly believes that during war, children and adults don’t need traditional psychological care as much as they need human connection and to feel as part of a community. But pre-war psychologically-informed prevention is necessary to lessen the disruptive and frightening impact of the recurring threat. Later, psychological intervention will be needed for those with symptoms.

Moran BenDov says creating a sense of community with those on the “outside” is vital. “We need to feel that Jews all over the world are giving us a big hug.”

Drs. Eva Fogelman and Mark Sossin are officers and therapists for the International Study of the Organized Persecution of Children/Child Development Research, which works with child survivors of the Holocaust since the 1970s. They apply the knowledge gained from Holocaust survivors to help children everywhere from suffering from the trauma of war. www.holocaustchildren.org

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Paradox and Miracles: A Few Thoughts from Under the Dome

By Eli Katz ou can touch the Kotel, smell the honeysuckle, see the birds circling Jerusalem, taste the kaffee hafuch, but you have to pay attention so you will hear the red alert warning.

We have the newest and best technology in the world, but the soldiers still have to hitch a ride to their bases on the front. The residents of Netivot spend much of their time in bomb shelters but come out to the main road to applaud the army convoys and miluimniks driving by. The skies are blue and cloudless, marred only by the vapor trails of enemy missiles and iron dome defenses.

We warn the enemy by phone, text, leaflets and non-explosive missiles to vacate targeted areas, yet many in the world call us immoral. We use our missiles to protect our children and families. They use their children and families to protect their missiles.

We are bombarded with over 1,000 missiles, yet can count our casualties on one hand.

In the middle of a war, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of a Golani base, we davened Mincha under a tent (and I was able to say Kaddish for my father’s yahrzeit).

Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov.

The IDF has the iron dome, high tech drones, deployable robots, and sophisticated cameras and listening devices. But it was us, fellow Jews of NY and NJ, who

happier they are.

The national unity is the highest I have ever witnessed. There are actually prayer vigils in Meah Shearim for the safety of our soldiers. Aside from a few on the radical left and right, the people are of one mind. Miracle?

Jerusalem has not been red alerted in the past few days and the gentle holy stillness of Shabbat (kol demama) is setting in.

A lot of Shabbat tables will be without their young men and women who have been called to the army. But the scents of Shabbat cooking permeate the city and the cell phones are ringing from young people on the front line calling home to say, “Shabbat Shalom, mom, I’m okay.”

The news of a deceased young soldier, perhaps killed by friendly fire, is on everyone’s mind. We are not willing to accept that “bad things happen in war.” The people expect better from themselves and from the army. It is the holiest and most moral army in the history of mankind.

Once again I say, “Be proud.”

The brave 18-year-olds are aware of their 3,000-year heritage.

We adults are keenly aware that they are also the gatekeepers of our future.

Don’t get me wrong. There is still fear in the shelters of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sderot, et al. We accept fear but not terror. And that’s why we will overcome the enemy.

We distributed clothing and gifts to the soldiers. They were most heartened by the fact that we came from America representing our congregations. But they were mostly moved when Rabbi Reichman distributed letters written by young children of Englewood wishing them health and letting them know that they, the children, were praying for these soldiers.

It may be my imagination but there seems to be a little less horn-honking than during usual times.

Ben-Gurion is famous for saying that here in Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles. Amen.

When you make the mi-sheberah for Israel and for the IDF, think miracle.

Shabbat shalom to all.

Herzliya on Palestinians who need the type of surgery in which he specializes. And Israel is now fighting Hamas in a way to minimize collateral damage to the civilians of Gaza to the extent possible. This comes at a great cost of self-harm to Israel and to its citizens. When Israel warns civilians in Gaza of an intended attack so that they can leave the area, Israel puts itself at peril as Hamas operatives are also warned.

Last week, Israel put down its defenses to allow tons of goods into Gaza. During the past weeks, Israel has agreed to two humanitarian cease-fires. In the first hours of each of those cease-fires, Hamas rained down over 70 missiles onto Israeli civilian areas.

A few weeks ago when three Jewish teens were kidnapped and murdered by

Arab terrorists, Hamas celebrated by distributing sweets to children. When an Arab teen was murdered by Jewish terrorists, the Jewish world and Israel’s government condemned the terrible act.

I hope Israel’s defensive war on Hamas will end soon and that Israel can join other countries in helping the people of Gaza rebuild their lives by providing them with farm equipment, water, electricity, medical care, and food and ultimately empower them to lead fulfilling lives when, with Hamas out of the way, there will be nothing stopping them from sitting at the negotiating table.

But for now all I can do is pray and hope for a time of peace and security for all the people in the region and mourn for the loss of life on both sides.

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supplied them with clean underwear, clean socks, and clean T-shirts. There are 3,000 soldiers near Gaza wearing our shirts with the Beach Minyan and East Hill Synagogue logos.

Our mothers would be proud. You, we, should be proud.

Paradox and Miracles (Part 2) The missile bombardment continues without letup; same with the coffee drinkers in the cafés. As the red alert goes off, people calmly put their coffee down and go to shelters. They remain there for five minutes and then return to their seats and continue where they left off. The more the new normal looks like the old normal, the

My Brethren in Gaza

By Rabbi Hyim Shafner (Reprinted with permission from the author, who is a member of the RCA and is the rabbi at Bais Abraham in University City, MO.) feel terrible for the people of Gaza. They live under the rule of a violent oppressor.

But their oppressor is not Israel, it is Hamas, a terrorist entity whose very name means anger and whose actions seem to so revolve around war and hatred, that they cannot spend adequate money, time, or effort on the welfare of the people over whom they rule.

Hamas has made it a regular practice to use the children of Gaza as human shields and to place rocket launchers and missiles in the people’s hospitals, schools, and mosques and has spent the billions of dol-

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lars of aid from Iran, the U.S., and other countries on missiles, bunkers, and offensive military tunnels instead of on schools, food, and medical care. Hamas even destroyed the rich farming areas and greenhouses left behind by Israeli farmers when Israel withdrew from the area in 2009, as a step toward peace.

I care deeply about the innocent people in Gaza, made in the image of God, and who, going back to Abraham, are my brothers and sisters. I pray for the people of Gaza.

Over the past few years Israel has regularly treated the people of Gaza in Israeli hospitals. A close friend, a Washington University Medical School trained surgeon who moved from St. Louis to Israel 10 years ago, periodically operates at a hospital in

Parents Flown to Israel to See Their Injured Son

By Benny Toker, Arutz Sheva he parents of Moshe Hirt, an American soldier who was wounded during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, were able to fly to Israel to visit their son thanks to El Al, Israel’s national airline, and the head of Moshe’s yeshiva.

Hirt, from New Jersey, was a student at the Birkat Moshe hesder yeshiva in Ma’aleh Adumim. The head of the yeshiva, Gilad Gross, recalled what happened after

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Hirt was wounded in a conversation with Arutz Sheva on Thursday.

“Moshe came to us from the United States for a year at the yeshiva. After he finished his studies he joined the paratroopers,” said Gross.

“Unfortunately, he was injured in Khan Younis in Gaza, when a wall that collapsed hit him on the head, we were updated about his injury and we were in contact with his mother, got some guys together and went to the Tel

Hashomer Hospital to visit Moshe,” he added.

“When we left the hospital I called his parents and gave them an update.

We then found out that because the international airlines were cancelling flights to Israel, Moshe’s parents were unable to come to Israel,” said Gross.

“We called the office of the CEO of El Al, and within minutes they told us there were two free tickets waiting for them to fly to Israel and today they

landed in Israel,” he told Arutz Sheva.

Gross noted that the love showered upon IDF soldiers by Israeli citizens has been unimaginable.

“We came to Tel Hashomer yesterday and we could not get in,” he said.

“There was a tremendous amount of sweets and gifts. But in the end there is nothing like a hug from a father and mother, and so we decided to bring the parents here and indeed we succeeded.”

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Making an Impact While Under Fire

By Sam Weinstein recall standing at the front of the Yeshiva University in Israel auditorium during orientation for the Counterpoint Israel Program, YU’s annual project to run educational summer camps for underprivileged children in Israeli development towns, introducing everyone to the concept of “Lizrom,” going with the flow and being flexible in the face of obstacles. I explained that it would be our anthem for the summer.

If the scheduled speaker decides to cancel without notice, we need to “Zrom” and find something else to do during that time. If our bus shows up an hour late, we will “Zrom” and make it work by ordering taxis. “Zrom” is a device, a strategy, and a way of life that, if utilized properly, can provide the key to working through a surprising number of problems and handling a host of unexpected situations.

As Counterpoint Israel began, we employed this methodology to deal with missing supplies, late meals…and terrorist rocket fire.

Last week, on the way back from a nice dinner at a local restaurant, our team received a rude awakening when the

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serene, blissful night was shattered by a slow, haunting siren. We had 45 seconds to get to safety before a rocket was expected to hit Kiryat Malachi. We sprinted back to our lodgings and took shelter in the bomb shelter.

Though no one was hurt during the incident, it was decided that Kiryat Malachi was no longer safe enough to house us. At midnight, the entire Counterpoint team packed up and left Kiryat Malachi. Thus began the ultimate “Zrom” experience, a three-day adventure of going with the flow and finding meaningful and productive activities everywhere we dared to look.

Still, it didn’t help that rockets continued to rain down on Israel, reducing our programming options by the hour.

As head counselor for the team that staffed the Counterpoint camps in Kiryat Malachi and Dimona, I was so impressed with the way our group faced our unfortunate and, and times, frightening situation with extreme positivity and poise. It was difficult being on “lockdown” and it was incredibly painful saying a rushed goodbye to our beloved campers in Kiryat Malachi and Kiryat Gat. But the YU students didn’t let it drag them down.

The surprises continued, with many activities, including a reunion day in Tel Aviv with all the campers, being canceled at the last minute due to safety concerns. Though the constant surprises took the YU students on an emotional roller coaster, they remained excited and hopeful when they headed down to Dimona and Arad to begin the second session of camp.

While the counselors had a full day to get their bearings and prepare their original classrooms in Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi, this time they had no choice but to simply jump in and begin teaching. Still, to my amazement, the first day of the second session was an incredible success. The counselors were channeling the “Zrom” and it just didn’t matter that we didn’t know how many kids to expect or where the basketball court was located.

They were full of energy, eager to educate and inspire, and they connected with the campers immediately.

Reflecting on our incredible and unprecedented Counterpoint experience, I realize that there are two very important lessons.

The first is that things rarely proceed as planned—some discrepancies may be in-

significant, others more dramatic. Unfortunately, it’s just a fact of life. The sooner we realize that we are not truly in control, the easier it will be to adjust and accept the changes that must be made to move forward.

The second is that no matter how far we must deviate from the plan in order to move forward, we will be successful if we remain positive, energetic, and fully focused on our goals.

Though the constant barrage of rockets was intended to harm us and crush our spirits, we overcame. Our group came to the south to positively impact the lives of Israeli youth at risk, and we didn’t let anything, not even rockets, stand in our way.

Armed with powers of “Zrom,” we made a real difference in the lives of others and even learned a few important things about ourselves.

Sam Weinstein is a resident of Teaneck, and a senior at YU’s Sy Syms School of Business. This summer, Sam and 32 other exceptional undergraduate students from YU ran the ninth annual “Counterpoint Israel Program,” specially designed educational camps for 300 Israeli campers from varied socio-economic backgrounds in Arad, Dimona, Kiryat Gat, and Kiryat Malachi.

And the Rockets’ Red Glare

By Murray Chass heir sojourn in Israel did not end exactly the way the Goldsteins of Fair Lawn would have expected when they embarked on it nine months earlier. When Uri Goldstein, the rabbi of Orthodox Congregation Ahavat Achim, his wife Julie and their five children returned to Fair Lawn July 16, they left behind red code sirens, explosions, dashes to safe rooms in their home or wherever they could find them, and the Iron Dome.

“On one hand, everybody is happy to be back in the house, with familiar faces and items,” the rabbi said. “But, on the other hand—everything has on one hand and on the other hand— it was hard to leave. The kids had made a lot of friends, good friends. Everything is different for kids in Israel.”

Explaining the difference, the rabbi said, “Israel affords kids a lot of freedom. Life is very children-oriented. They’re free to roam around the neighborhood, ride bikes anywhere, take buses.

We had to start training them before we left: ‘Remember in America you won’t have all this freedom.’”

On the other hand, in America there would be no sirens and threat of exploding rockets.

“We were in Beit Shemesh, close to the center of Israel,” the rabbi related. “We certainly were not bombarded like residents in the south, who were hearing code red sirens every day, several times a day. At most we heard them once or twice a day. The kids were

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frightened by it. We were frightened by it.”

No rockets ever landed near the Goldsteins’ apartment or wherever they happened to be when the sirens blared.

“Sometimes, when we got the sirens, they were followed by a boom,” he said. “That was the Iron Dome taking down a rocket. The kids tensed up. You could especially see the impact on the children. Our final 10 minutes in Beit Shemesh were spent in a safe room. Sirens went off when we were putting luggage in the taxi and the kids were outside. They were scared, but they came in and went to the safe room.

“There was one time when Julie was out with the kids and sirens went off. I wasn’t able to reach her and she was worried about us.

But the kids had the confidence and the fortitude to know what to do. You hear this about Israeli

kids. They learn to live with it as frightening as it was and as traumatic as it was.”

A major threat of the terrorists, Rabbi Goldstein said, “is they want to affect your mindset.” The bright side, he added, is that the “fortitude and bravery” demonstrated by the people “brought Israelis together. That ordinarily doesn’t happen.”

The safe room in the Goldsteins’ two-bedroom apartment was the room where their two sons stayed. Shimshon, at 12 the oldest child, closed the door when everyone, including Julie’s mother, was in the room. “To him,” his father said, “that was an act of bravery. In a sense he was the one protecting the family. He was shook up, but he wanted to do it.”

The Goldsteins spent nine months in Israel because Julie won the Golda Meier Fellowship

at Hebrew University to study and do research linked to her doctoral dissertation.

“It was a long shot and I was very surprised to get it,” she said. “I couldn’t pass it up.”

The subject of her study is coincidental to a major element of the current conflagration in the Gaza Strip: child martyrdom.

“Child martyrdom goes back to the 12th century,” Julie said. “I asked why the child martyr became such a poignant symbol. After all, it’s victimizing and exploiting children.”

But now it also has become prominent in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Israel has accused Hamas of using children as human shields, and evidence seems to be clear that the charge is valid.

“Seeing it among Palestinians piqued my interest,” Julie said.

“Whatever book is going to result from my research will include the Islam image of the child martyr and human shield.”

Just before leaving for Israel last October, Julie gained a second fellowship. “I applied for a small fellowship for a pilot program from the NYU Global Research Institute of NYU at Tel Aviv University.” She won that one, too.

Back home now, Julie will continue her research and resume teaching at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck, where she heads the Jewish history department.

Then there are the five children: Shimshon (12), Moriah (10), Aviad (8), Lielle (4), and Ayala, who

was born in March.

Ahavat Achim has been working on developing a program to attract new members, and Rabbi Goldstein came home with some ideas that he witnessed in Israel.

“The shuls in Israel are drastically different,” he said. “It gives you insight into other possibilities. The rabbi of the shul where we went had died, and every Shabbat they had a different member speaking. People had an opportunity to hear from people in every walk of life.

“I’d like to focus on every facet of Jewish life, bring in scholars who will talk about different areas, Jews in different parts of life, increase learning opportunities within every age group, and work with children more.”

In addition, he said, “I’d like to strengthen our community’s relationship with Israel in many ways. We have people on one level with people in Israel, but we should strengthen it on a community basis.”

Asked if it was difficult for him to come home, Rabbi Goldstein said, “Of course.” Calling himself a “life-long Zionist, he said, “Having had the opportunity to live there was the realization of a dream. It’s hard to give up a life that is draped in Judaism. It’s hard to come back from that. But there were a lot of things we looked forward to coming back. We’re grateful we had that opportunity. The kids had great opportunity.”

The rebbetzin and budding Ph.D. said leaving was bittersweet, calling the time in Israel a “very edifying and meaningful year.”

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Sar-El: Helping the IDF

By David Siegel hall your brothers go out to war while you settle here?”

The tribes of Reuven and Gad requested permission to remain behind in the fertile lands east of the Jordan River and not to inherit in Israel proper. These words, from the most recent parsha, were Moshe’s response not only to the tribes, but also across three millennia to us, as well. When Moshe realized the two tribes intended to cross the river and fight with the rest of Israel, only to return to their homes after the conquest was completed, he instructed them to build cities for their children, prepare pens for their flocks, and to arm themselves for battle.

There are many here today in Northern New Jersey and all over America who would like to share in the responsibility of defending Israel, knowing that so many there are forced to leave their homes and families and risk their lives to protect the nation. We watch CNN and follow reports of casualties in Gaza and we just don’t know what to do, being frustrated at our inability to contribute in any meaningful way. Fortunately, Israel has a professional and well-trained army with no need for Americans to get involved with the fighting. However, for each combat soldier an army typically requires seven military personnel to support him.

That’s where we can help.

The Sar-El program began in 1982, during the first war with Lebanon, when civilian replacements were needed for thousands of reservists called to duty just as Israel’s harvest season began. Israeli General Aharon Da-

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From the hands of Sar-El volunteers to the hands of the IDF.

vidi sent emissaries to the United States to enlist volunteers to harvest crops and save the economy. More than 600 volunteers responded immediately.

As part of Volunteers for Israel (VFI), the U.S. contingent of Sar-El, more than 30,000 Americans have signed on to do civilian work on Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) bases since 1982. Duties could include such support services as updating medical kits, preparing gas masks, connecting communications systems in helmets, sorting uniforms, and other functions that need to be done on the bases. Newer programs include two Summer International Youth Programs, a possible add-on to Taglit-Birthright tours, and other volunteer options. In the past five years alone, more than 5,000 people have gone on VFI programs.

“It’s simple. If we can do these tasks, Israelis who just served in Gaza can go home to their jobs and families. Reservists who get called for other duties might be able to go home sooner. Otherwise,

“they would have to do the work,” states Marion Mittelman, North Jersey Ambassador for VFI. The mobilization for reservists is very costly to the country, as well as to the individuals involved, emotionally and financially. “Not only do these volunteers provide essential support, but they also assure Israel that she does not stand alone.”

As a VFI volunteer, you can choose between one-, two- or three-week programs. When you arrive, you will be greeted by a Sar-El representative and quickly assigned IDF fatigues and a madricha (female soldier). The madricha functions as your translator and logistics handler. She coordinates all activities relating to your time on the base, including meals, work, and evening activities, and any other issues you may have in adapting to work on the base.

You may have the same job for the entire week or different jobs during your time there. Typically, you will dine with other soldiers and at nighttime have the ability to socialize with the members of

Sar-El volunteers of all ages from all over the world.

your group. If you stay for two or three weeks, you will be taken on a trip on Thursdays, the IDF’s way of saying, “Thank you.”

Several years ago, I participated in a one-week program with a group of ten people from Northern New Jersey. We worked alongside a group of Christians from Iowa who took a week off their three-week tour of Israel to also work on a base near Tel Aviv. Lawyers, doctors, journalists, along with other professionals, all were happy to do whatever was required, even if the work was menial at times.

“At home, everybody wears a different hat,” explains Steve Mittelman, North Jersey Ambassador, “but, on base, we all wear the same hat, which is ‘army issue.’

We’re here to help our country, and to alleviate some of the burden the people here have to bear.”

However, the benefits are not just a one-way street. As a volunteer, I came away with a tremendous feeling of pride in what I had done. Bonding with my com-

rades, dining with the soldiers, and meeting with people from other countries and ways of life, was all part of the positive experience.

The defense of Eretz Yisrael continues 3,000 years after Moshe’s rebuke of Reuven and Gad. So, make sure your children are safe in their cities and your pens are in order for your sheep; and, then, reach out to VFI. Permit yourself to an experience of a lifetime, a source of pride for you to share with your children and grandchildren: that you were there for the State of Israel when they needed help.

To contact VFI, please go to www.vfi-usa.org. or contact the Mittelmans directly at 973-3968006 or vloera10@gmail.com. If you are not in Northern New Jersey, they will direct you to the proper people.

David Siegel is a Home Lending Specialist with Citibank in it’s Englewood office.

Siegel can be reached at david.siegel@ citi.com or 201-419-1330.

Lev LeChayal: Taking the “Lone” Out of Lone Soldiers

By Tzvi Silver amat Beit Shemesh—Yoav and Avi Schaefer, brothers from Santa Barbara, California, are proud Lone Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In describing their experiences as soldiers fighting far from their home, they acknowledge the hardships of their decision: “What does it mean to be a lone soldier? It means living in a new country and struggling with a new language and a different culture. It means coming home exhausted to a bedroom and having no mother or father to hug and welcome you back, no warm home-cooked meal waiting for you on the kitchen table.

With the endless bus rides and the evergrowing pile of laundry, it is easy to wonder how different it would be to come home to a caring family.”

For the IDF’s thousands of Lone Soldiers, this is quite possibly the biggest impediment to enlisting in the Israeli military.

Three years of army service in a foreign language is tough, but lacking a home base significantly intensifies the challenge. The Is-

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raeli military, like any bureaucracy of the Jewish state, can often be an inefficient and cold place, and the lack of personal support only adds to the difficulty of the Lone Soldier’s journey. Without a home, without family and friends, and without necessary religious and emotional support, the journey of a foreign Lone Soldier in the IDF can very well seem dauntingly impossible.

But, what if these drawbacks to the Lone Soldier lifestyle didn’t have to happen? What if the foreign soldier serving alone in the IDF didn’t have to be alone?

What if he could have a bedroom to go back to, home-cooked meals awaiting him?

What if he could have a supportive community backing him, helping him through his difficult journey, and friends going through the same challenges, with whom to share the experience?

This is the mission of Lev LeChayal, a new program by Yeshivat Lev Hatorah, founded by New York area natives Rav Binyamin Kwalwasser and Rav Boaz Mori.

Lev LeChayal, which literally translates to “heart of the soldier,” does exactly what its

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name implies: it lends emotional support to the Lone Soldier, helping him feel at home so far away from where he grew up.

The program begins in January, 2015 with three months of pre-army preparation, including rigorous physical training and a Torah-learning regimen. Participants will also be led on special trips around the country, focusing on connections between Tanach (Bible) and the Land of Israel, to deepen their appreciation of the land they will be defending.

Once the Lone Soldiers enter their actual IDF service in mid-March, Lev LeChayal switches from a training base to a home base, with participants living in apartments in the Ramat Shilo community of Ramat Bet Shemesh around Yeshivat Lev Hatorah, gaining from the supportive and friendly Anglo community. Each Lev LeChayal participant will be set up with an adoptive family from the neighborhood who will help fill their void of missing a home. The families will invite participants for meals during off days, attend their army ceremonies, and most of all, give them the feeling

of support and family that is missing from the life of the Lone Soldier.

Rabbis from the yeshiva will be available for the Lev LeChayal soldiers for supportive talks and learning, helping participants get through the difficult religious challenges of army life. There will also be a dedicated Rabbi for the program, Rav Dudi Winkler, who will meet the participants before the program on a personal level, and frequently visit them on base to provide additional religious support to the young men defending Israel.

Lev LeChayal is much more than a home base for Lone Soldiers—it creates a feeling of community for these young men, giving them a home base; a supportive, Yeshiva environment to spend their off time; and a network of friends going through this difficult undertaking together, to enable any Lone Soldier to truly feel at home in his new home. Thanks to Lev LeChayal, these Lone Soldiers will be far from lonely.

For more information on Lev LeChayal, please contact Rav Binyamin Kwalwasser at bkwalwasser@gmail.com.

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UNDER FIRE

A Local Mother’s Thoughts: My Children are Under Fire

By L’via Weisinger y old tagline used to be, “five kids, five jobs.” I was known for being a multi-tasker with five jobs to support my five kids. Now, my tagline is “four out of seven kids in Israel.” (For those who are wondering, no I did not give birth to two more children, rather I gave birth to two weddings and now have two amazing daughter-in-laws I love like my own—without a C-section; it’s awesome—I highly recommend it). But this summer, my pride is not about my work, it’s about Israel.

This summer was supposed to be a great opportunity for all of my kids, and something they all had been looking forward to for a long time—an opportunity for self-awareness, dream catching, spiritual growth, career advancement—all kinds of personal benefits. Four out of seven were either headed to Israel or already there.

My worry radar was not very high, even for my 20-year-old son, Yoni. Many of you may have read about him in the pages of the JLBC in April as I was preparing to join him at his swearing-in ceremony into the IDF in May. As a new recruit, he had many months of advanced training ahead of him, was looking forward to a long hot summer of classes and exercises in the tank division in Shizafon in Israel’s south, just north of Eilat, with a promised week off to relax with his friends at some point in the summer. In a relatively quiet area of the country, in the training tanks on the base, surrounded by teachers and commanders, I assumed Yoni was relatively safe and I would not yet have sleepless summer nights…

Batsheva, my bright and accomplished daughter-in-law, having just graduated Stern College with a double major in biology and psychology, was privileged to be invited to participate in the Summer Science Research Internships for Yeshiva University Students at Bar-Ilan University, and would be given housing at the Gruss campus in Jerusalem. My son, Zevi, of course would tag along, and was looking for a business internship to add to his CV upon his graduation next semester from Sy Syms at YU, and had several options in various types of marketing and hi-tech corporations. However, upon arrival in Israel in early June, he was offered an internship doing business development at the Lone Soldier Center in Jerusalem, and with a lone soldier brother, he figured he could develop his business and marketing skills and do a mitzvah at the same time.

While working on career advancement as their primary goal, Batsheva and Zevi were also excited to use this opportunity of an extended trip to Israel as their “pilot trip,” planning for their eventual aliyah, as well as soaking up the language, culture and kedusha of Eretz Yisrael. They looked forward to a carefree adventure as newlyweds spreading their wings….

And then there’s Tali, our adventurous, enthusiastic avid NCSY’er who has not stopped talking about the summer after 10th grade in Israel since she heard there was such a thing. For at least three years she has brought me brochures, sent me links, begged, borrowed, and worked her tuchas off babysitting till all hours of the night to pay her way, and she did. After much agonizing over which AMAZ-

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54 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

Zevi Weisinger of Teaneck ran into his brother, Yoni while delivering goods in a staging area somewhere near Gaza.

ING summer program to choose from the extensive list, she chose Michelelet NCSY, based in the Reishit building in Bet Shemesh, a beautiful campus with its own pool, among other wonderful amenities.

To save space and not pay for an extra suitcase, I arranged through an old friend in Bet Shemesh to borrow linens and towels and get bottles of shampoo and soap and other heavy/bulky items and deliver them to Reishit so they would be there when she arrived on July 9. Tali was so excited, she was literally bouncing off the walls in the weeks leading up to departure day on July 8…

So, the story of my life, and now my kids’: man plans, God laughs. Well, maybe He’s not laughing so much this time…

Well, Yoni is not in training, to say the least. My summer nights are not completely sleepless, though, because as a new recruit, he is more suited to support at the border than combat on the front. Unlike other mothers in our area whose sons are somewhere inside of Gaza, and my heart aches for them constantly, Yoni is somewhere on the Gaza border, working very hard to support the war effort and prepare troops for battle and assist when they return. He does guard duty on the very same border areas that may have surprise tunnel entrances, and that does keep me up at night, as it does every resident within miles of the border. He’s within rocket distance of Gaza, as is most of Israel. But, he’s never been happier in his life, fulfilling the dream of protecting Am Yisrael from our enemies and doing Hashem’s holy work in Eretz Yisrael and for that I am grateful and proud. He is an eye witness to the unity of the Jewish people, the generosity of strangers, the coming together of all walks of life for one common cause and he knows he’s living in remarkable historical times and the hitchalta de’geula. He calls when he can, sometimes once a week, sometimes once a day. This is what we talked about on Friday, July 25: (I posted it to facebook, got over 100 likes in several hours and 11 shares) Despite some terrible losses that touched him—a reservist from his base, an older boy from his mechina (Elisha in N’vei Tzuf), and an injury to one of the boys in his shana bet at Elisha—his spirits are high going into Shabbat and he and the chayalim are determined as ever to continue till the

The proud mom, L’via Weisinger.

job is done. About the donations of stuff pouring in (besides loving wearing brand new underwear every day), he said “Mommy, it’s not the donations that we love, it’s the donors—the people who are bringing these things are amazing, from everywhere, every walk of life, every city in Israel, even from other countries. I don’t care what they bring or even if they are emptyhanded, it’s that they’re coming.” He went on to say that the “unity of the Jewish people during this tough time is so beautiful, Ii wish it could stay like this forever, I wish tragedy did not have to happen to pull us together, but hopefully we will never fall apart again.” From his mouth to Hashem’s ears.

And how are Batsheva and Zevi? Well, Batsheva goes to her “dayjob” at Bar Ilan every day, and then sometimes at night, she and Zevi run to the bomb shelter in their building in Jerusalem. When that happens, she stops off at every apartment on the way down to help couples take their just awakened and frightened children, because that’s the kind of person she is. In her spare time, she has been in talks with ElAl and various other organizations on a special secret project, involving “getting a plane” that hopefully will work out and will be the first of its kind to lend critical help to Israel in her time of need. (Stay tuned for details on that). Zevi, never expecting this internship to be what it has turned out to be, is making a huge difference in the lives of lone soldiers, working hard to get them what they need wherever they are. He even bumped into Yoni on a trip down south to deliver supplies to the bases on the border! He is part of an extraordinary team of dedicated people who will go to any length to help these chayalim, and all the chayalim. Man planned, and God put Zevi in the right place at the right time, as he is energetic, ambitious, a doer and a shaker, and the guy to get things done under pressure. We speak almost every day via phone, whatsapp, and facebook, and it is clear that this couple is having the adventure of a lifetime, just not what was expected. They, too, feel privileged to be in Israel now, when Israel needs them most.

How’s Tali? Having the Best. Summer.

Ever. as promised by NCSY. So much for the advanced planning of the box of linens and things; the girls never made it to Reishit. After taking off from Newark while

rockets flew over southern and central Israel and with no girls withdrawing from the program despite the fear and uncertainty, NCSY whisked them straight from Ben-Gurion up to the north where they have been based in Chispin ever since. There they have set up home base, adapted to the circumstances, and have been sheltered from the war to a large extent without ever having to seek a bomb shelter. They have been traveling around the north, participating in a plethora of fun activities, learning and doing chesed—everything NCSY promised and more. Yes, they are frustrated that they have not yet been to the famous beautiful Reishit campus, to the Kotel, Kever Rachel, Chevron, Eilat and other treasured tiyulim they had anticipated. But Tali knows she is also privileged to be there during this time, to do chesed where and when it is needed most, to daven and to learn in the z’chut of her brother, his fellow soldiers and all of Am Yisrael. We speak every day and I get daily updates from the administration. Again, this summer is not quite what Tali had in mind, but what an amazing opportunity for growth, both spiritually and emotionally.

Where does that leave me, the mom of “four out of seven kids in Israel”? How’s my summer going? When a lice client walks in and I’m on the phone, all I have to say is “Please wait, I’m on the phone with my daughter in Israel” and they practically bow at me. When I’m at work at the hospital and my phone buzzes that it’s Yoni, I find coverage for myself ASAP so I can hear his voice. My colleagues are extremely supportive and will always accommodate me because they know it’s rare and special. When I’m with a lactation client and I shmooze about my kids, inspiring them with tales of breastfeeding twins, I proudly tell them what those 23-year-olds are up to nowadays and they look down at their newborns and try to fathom that their tiny baby will one day be 23 and making his mom proud. When I found out Batsheva was in the mood for American chocolate chip cookies to relieve the stress and would be in Efrat for Shabbos, I found home bakers, amateurs and professionals like myself, to send over fresh Americanstyle chocolate chip cookies to her so she would feel our love 6000 miles away. Finally, job number five, as a writer, I share my thoughts and boundless pride on facebook and on these pages, as catharsis, therapy, and to receive chizzuk as well as offer inspiration.

And where are the other three? Making me oh so proud, as well. Akiva and Shoshanah are living in Washington Heights, relatively safe but bullets fly there once in a while, too, y’know. Busy with s’micha studies, graduate school and Internet hasbara, they are doing holy work as well, on these shores, but with an eye to Eretz Yisrael in their future, b’ezrat Hashem. And little Batya, attending rallies for Israel, making videos to send Yoni, saying tehillim every day for the chayalim, and splashing around the pool, her youthful innocence and pure love remind us of the future and why were are fighting this fight, for what is good and right and just in this world.

Job #6: I pray. A lot. May Hashem watch over all my children wherever they are, and all of your children and all of k’lal Yisrael. May we see a lasting peace b’m’hera b’yamenu.

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UNDER FIRE

US Teens Brave Rockets to Lend a Hand at Reuth

By Ariel Zilber, Jerusalem Post (with permission to reproduce) he average American high school teenager who chooses to spend part of his or her summer vacation in Israel would certainly be forgiven if the threat of Kassam rockets encouraged a quick exit and return stateside. If one thing has been proven during the course of the last three weeks, however, it is that a group of young girls from the New York area who came to do a summer internship at Reuth Medical Center, one of Israel’s most established and venerable health and rehabilitation centers, are anything but average.

“Yesterday we were at the pool when the siren went off,” says Dara Shulman, 24, who came to Israel from New Jersey in order to serve as a guide and counselor for high school kids interning at Reuth. “The feeling of having so many people running with you—kids, adults, it doesn’t matter— and people are not panicking. They’re even joking around in the shelter, and then they go back out, and it’s fine. They go swimming. It doesn’t faze them. In America, I would probably be panicking and nervous about my cousins and about my friends, constantly worrying whether everyone is safe. But being here as a Jew, it’s great to be part of that, because we’re not going to let Hamas interrupt our daily routine.”

Rocket sirens, bomb shelters, Iron Dome explosions overhead, 24-hour-a-day news coverage of war, and all of the attendant anxiety aroused by the topsy-turvy security situation that has deteriorated significantly in the last three weeks have given these girls a summer experience like no other. Not only is the nature of their internship—one that entails being exposed to and interacting with chronically ill patients, some of whom are missing limbs or afflicted with various physical and mental disabilities—challenging enough, but they are also learning to cope with the everyday traumas of a people under fire.

Miriam Frankel is the deputy executive director of Reuth Medical Center in south

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Metropolitan area teens interning at Reuth Medical Center in Tel Aviv. (top l-r) Rachel Aboodi, Harlee Miller, Arianna Kigner, Dina Fleyshmakher, Katie Chizzali, Tabith Korn (bottom l-r) Ruthie Charendoff, Lauren Schechter, Emily Jaffe, Rachel Gelnick.

Photo: Courtesy Reuth

Tel Aviv. As a native of Perth, Australia who for years was active in Jewish and Zionist causes, Frankel knows the importance of having Diaspora Jews engage local Israelis to deepen bonds and strengthen connections.

Reuth, the nonprofit foundation that in addition to running one of three long-term rehabilitation centers in the country also offers housing and welfare services to elderly needy and Holocaust survivors, now offers a platform for young women from the New York metropolitan area who are not only interested in the medical field but who can also get a first-hand glimpse of the long-term therapeutic processes that patients undergo, all while at the same time doing it in Israel.

Frankel and her staff have been pleasant-

ly surprised at the willingness of the young American interns to get close to patients whose medical conditions may be too gutwrenching to observe on a daily basis.

“We were concerned whether the girls would find the hospital too difficult,” she said. “If it’s too hard, we can have them volunteer with the elderly or with the survivors. Not only didn’t they choose for that, but they took upon themselves things in the hospital that we didn’t think they would want to do. This year’s girls, let me tell you, are the most amazing bunch because they have been the most challenged,” she said.

“They like making the patients become their own person, being an individual, not a patient,” Shulman said of the staff at Reuth.

“They encourage them to wear their own

clothing, put pictures on the wall. Some of them even bring their own food. They encourage individuality. When you think of a hospital, you think of a place where everybody looks the same. You don’t look at the person by their disability or by their illness.

You look at them as individuals. It’s very nice to be around an atmosphere like that.”

Israel’s more casual, informal approach has allowed the interns to get a close look at how therapists interact with patients.

Unlike the United States, Reuth allows the interns to actively assist in so-called “soft therapies”—music therapy, drama therapy, animal therapy, and jewelry crafting, leisure activities that allow patients to momentarily take the focus off of their afflictions. “It’s like a family here. They want to learn from one another because they’re family. They want to push each other, to inspire one another.”

“The first couple of days, we tried out different therapies in the hospital,” said another intern, Lauren Schechter. “Every day I get to sit for a couple of hours and watch various patients and therapists. The therapists are very nice. They will explain what’s going on with the patient. It’s an incredible learning experience for me. I never really had an interest in physical therapy before.

Now it’s something that I’m definitely going to keep on my horizon.”

“When I heard about Reuth, I knew that this was an opportunity to get hands-on experience, and I get to do it in Israel,” said Dina Fleyshmakher. “I love Israel. I’m very Zionistic. I get to make new friends. I get to learn, but I also get to have fun. It’s my summer. I want to spend it learning, but they’re also adding trips and games because they know it’s my summer. I’m gaining so much.”

“Being in a hospital made me appreciate the little things, like being able to see,” she said. “And the war has made me appreciate so much in life. After the summer, I get to go home where I feel safe, but people who made aliya and people who live here chose to live in an environment that is always changing. That made me appreciate them more.”

Congregation Ohr Saadya Sends Toys to Children in Israel

By Sara Weinberg he members of Congregation Ohr Saadya got together on Sunday, July 27, to assemble 100 packages of toys and art supplies to be sent to children in Israel. Ohr Saadya’s rabbi, Rabbi Daniel Feldman, who is participating in the Ahavath Torah Emergency Mission to Israel led

by Rabbi Goldin of Englewood, distributed these packages to children in the areas most affected by the recent violence in Israel.

Given the goal of reaching children who have been displaced from their homes and who are spending time in safe rooms and shelters, the packages contained a variety of items chosen specifically for their usefulness in entertaining children indoors in relatively confined spaces. Colorful paper, crayons, mosaic art kits, paddle balls, modeling clay, Chinese jump ropes, and other toys filled the packages taken on the Emergency Mission.

“This was a wonderful opportunity

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for children in the community to feel a real connection to the current events in Israel and to do their part to help,” according to Josh Weinberg, president of Ohr Saadya.

The children first got to work creating cards. These home-made cards—each with a picture and short message—lent a

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personal touch to each of the packages.

The children also assisted in decorating the bags with sparkly and colorful stickers, and then helped fill each decorated bag with the assortment of toys and art supplies.

As one participant remarked, “It was great to see the enthusiasm shown by

the children as they participated in this initiative, and we hope that the arrival of these packages will be met with similar enthusiasm by the children in Israel. We would love to know that we are putting smiles on their faces and giving them a distraction from the scary events going on around them.”

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 55

UNDER FIRE

Killed In Gaza, American “Lone Soldiers” Honored By Israelis

By Daniel Ben Simon; translated

by Ruti Sinai, Al Monitor f all the stories of soldiers killed in battles between Israel and Hamas, three seem to have captured the hearts and minds of Israelis. They cried for them as though these were members of their families, accompanied them to their final resting place as though they had been an integral part of the boys’ lives. Few in Israel knew the three, and were it not for the war they likely would never have heard of them. This is the story of three young Jews who bid farewell to their parents and family, moved to Israel, joined the Israel Defense Forces, served in one of its leading combat units, and found their deaths in war.

The first to go was Nissim Sean Carmeli on July 20. At the age of 16 he took leave of his family in Texas and came to Israel. Two years later he enlisted and volunteered for the Golani Brigade, one of the military’s top combat units. His friends described him as an introverted young man who was shy around his Israeli-born “Sabra” friends.

They spoke loudly and displayed self-confidence; he spoke quietly, even in a whisper, part of the legacy he brought with him from the United States.

When he was killed, it came out that he had been a “lone soldier,” a soldier in Israel without his parents living in the country, often a new immigrant on his or her own. His parents lived in the United States. Before the war, he had time to contact them. Immediately after the fighting began, he fell silent. Like most of the soldiers, Sean was required to hand over his cell phone. After his parents were informed of his death, they got on a plane and made their way to Israel. News of the

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An Israeli soldier from the Golani Brigade mourns during the funeral for fallen comrade Max Steinberg at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, July 23, 2014. (photo

by REUTERS/Siegfried Modola)

death of this lone soldier shocked Israelis.

Entire families were glued to their television sets, as they are at such times, and anxiously followed the military’s every move and every piece of information about casualties. They felt sorrow for Carmeli’s loneliness, in life and especially in death at only 21.

In a matter of hours the call went out on social networks, appealing to people to accompany the lone soldier to his final resting place. Since he was a fan of the Maccabi Haifa soccer club, fans were asked to turn up for the funeral. Thousands of soccer fans and others announced they would be coming to the cemetery in Haifa, and that’s exactly what happened. Toward 11 p.m. on June 21, tens of thousands crowded into the military cemetery at the entrance to Haifa. Apart from his parents and a few other family members, no one from among the thousands had known Sean in life. How ironic that it was his death that brought them together.

His parents, Alon and Dalia Carmeli,

wept when his coffin was placed beside his grave. His sisters could barely stand, they were so crushed. When his coffin was lowered into the grave, thousands sobbed. The mourners wept for the lone young man they had not known, feeling that he had fought for them as though he were a relative who had died defending his homeland.

“Sean was a loved boy. He was not a lone soldier. He was anything but lonely. He was a hero,” his aunt Lennie Buganim wrote on the Facebook page created by the family.

The next day, a similar scene took place at the funeral of Jordan Bensemhoun, another lone soldier from the Golani Brigade killed in Gaza. His parents and other family members, who live in France, had made their way to Israel upon hearing of their son’s death. Jordan, whose Hebrew was not yet fluent, was accorded a hero’s status in the town of Ashkelon. The call that went out on social media brought out thousands to the municipal cemetery.

They marched behind the coffin of the introverted young man who spent most of his life in France before immigrating to Israel and joining the army. His mother clung to the coffin for a long hour with all the force left in her before it was lowered into the ground. Her wails swept up thousands, who cried for the boy they had not known until he went to his death at the age of 22.

One mourner, Sharon from the town of Kiryat Gat, told the local Ashkelonet website: “I felt I had to be here. There is something special in seeing this crowd coming to take part in the funeral of a person they did not know.”

Those who attended the funeral of Max Steinberg said they had never seen such a gathering. Like Sean Carmeli and Jordan

Bensemhoun, Max Steinberg, a 24-year-old Los Angeles native, decided to start a new life in Israel. He first came on a tour with “Birthright Israel,” which brings young Americans and others of Jewish heritage to visit Israel, and fell in love with the country.

Two years ago, he moved to Israel on his own and enlisted in the Golani Brigade. As he was in Israel without his parents, the army designated him a lone soldier.

When word of his death spread, the call went out over the social networks urging the public to see Max off to his final resting place. According to police estimates, some 20,000 people showed up at Carmeli’s funeral, 10,000 came to Bensemhoun’s and more than 30,000 mourners came to see off Steinberg. The military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem had seen such turnouts only at the funerals of exalted rabbis.

Steinberg’s final journey was also his parent’s first visit to Israel. When asked where they wanted to bury their son, they answered “Israel.”

“You are a true hero,” his father eulogized him. “You came to Israel because of the people. We decided you would be buried in Israel because of the people.”

Hezi, another attendant at the funeral, told Israel Hayom that he did so “to show his family that they are not alone. He may have been a lone soldier, but we are all with him. This shows the solidarity we have here.”

The three lone soldiers had migrated to Israel but had yet to fully experience the country and learn its language. Their lives were cut short in the war in Gaza and their deaths swept up an entire nation that discovered new heroes. Their alone-ness, it seems, helped turned their sacrifice into an act of heroism.

BOOK REVIEW

A Review and Must Read: Roadblock to Peace

By Stephen G. Donshik (with permission from ejewishphilanthropy.org) f you have not heard of, seen, or read the book Roadblock to Peace by David Bedein, do so immediately. It is a remarkable piece of work and essential reading for all those involved in Israel advocacy. This book is a primer on how the United States and the United Nations are supporting armed conflict with Israel through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA). UNRWA (founded in 1949) is a UN agency established specifically to provide direct relief and work programs for Palestinian refugees. It was a response to the plight of hundreds of thousands of Arabs who left their villages during Israel’s war of independence in 1948.

The circumstances surrounding UNRWA’s founding and the role of the United States’ funding of it are key to why I so strongly recommend Roadblock to Peace for those involved in Israel advocacy. For starters, the United States (of about 20 countries) is the largest contributor to UNRWA, providing almost $248 million annually or about 30% of its budget. American citizens should be very concerned about spending such a sizable percentage of the U.S. foreign aid

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56 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

budget on this one organization.

Given both that the organization was specifically founded to aid displaced Arabs and the American role in supporting the programs, one would think that a great deal would have been accomplished in the last 65+ years to resettle the displaced population and assist them in creating new lives for themselves. Throughout history many peoples have been displaced, had to migrate to new countries, and there successfully rebuilt their lives. However, for a number of reasons, UNWRA has not worked on behalf of the people it was established to serve, but instead has focused on keeping the original refugees and their descendants for several generations in an unsettled homeless situation.

Bedein has thoroughly researched the subject and provides not only the complete background to the development of UNWRA but also an analysis of its funding and the political role in plays in perpetuating the unfavorable living conditions of the Palestinians, who are being miss-served by the organization. As you read through the book, you will clearly come to understand that, early on, UNWRA ceased being a welfare and relief organization and be-

came instead an organ for the political aspirations of the Palestinian refugees.

UNWRA did more than merely emphasize the refugee status of the displaced Palestinians; its formal and informal educational institutions became involved in inciting discontent and violence, instead of helping these people create productive lives even under difficult situations. Bedein documents how misappropriated funds were used freely with no accounting for their use or accountability to the donor states, such as the United States. In the latter sections of the book, he documents how the educational programs sponsored by UNWRA use materials that incite hatred and work against any peace discussions or agreements.

So why, specifically, should Israel advocacy groups read this book, and what use does it have for their purposes and programs? First and foremost, those involved in advocacy are continually meeting and holding discussions with elected officials in the U.S. Congress.

Given that the United States is donating 30% of UNWRA’s budget, elected officials should have a very clear picture of how the funds are being used. This information is particularly important for the congressional committees in-

volved in foreign affairs and allocations of foreign aid or to the UNWRA. When the staff and volunteer leaders of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national umbrella organization, or of local Jewish Community Relations Councils meet with their representatives it would be appropriate not only to quote the facts discussed in the book but they should consider providing copies of the book to the relevant elected officials. The same would hold true for other nonprofit organizations advocating for Israel in the United States and in Canada (which provides close to $15 million annually to UNWRA). By not conveying the facts documented in the book, advocates are missing opportunities to help others understand the complicated nature of the relationship between UNWRA and the terrorists involved in the present conflict with Israel.

If there had been proper oversight and better accountability of the use of their funds, the countries donating to UNWRA might have either ceased funding programs that incite terror or initiated social welfare programs that truly met the welfare needs of the Palestini-



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BOOK REVIEW

The Rebbe

By Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Glick just received a copy of a new book and I can’t put it down. While I found Yehuda Aviner’s The Prime Ministers quite impressive, the book I am now reading is worlds ahead. Actually, not specifically the book itself, though it is a very impressive work that the author took three years and countless interviews and much, much research to prepare, it is the subject of the book that is overwhelming. The book is simply entitled Rebbe, by Joseph Telushkin (Harper Wave, 2014). The book is 576 pages long and includes76 pages of endnotes and references. It is an overview of the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

I have been following the Rebbe from the sidelines since I was a teenager, and once had a Yechidus with the Rebbe when I was 19 years old. I am quite sure that virtually every Orthodox person knows a fair amount about the Rebbe, and an extremely large number of marginally Jewish people (and a smaller number of non-Jews) are likewise very aware of Chabad. But few know about the amazing details of the life of a Manhig Yisroel unlike anyone else since at least the time of the Rambam, and probably a lot longer.

The Rebbe welcomed conservative and reform rabbis into his farbrengen. In fact, one prominent Orthodox rabbi complained to the Rebbe about his allowing Conservative

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and Reform rabbis to attend public events at Chabad. The Rebbe dismissed the objection, saying that all Jews were and continue to be fully welcome at Chabad events. The Rebbe was once approached by a Reform rabbi who asked if he should leave his congregation. The Rebbe said, “You’re a soldier on the front” and that he not only shouldn’t leave, but should challenge his congregants to do more! That is unimaginable from any other Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshivah, or Gadol Hador, who would negate in the strongest possible terms any non-Orthodox religious leader, or at the very least, simply never refer to them.

Telushkin quotes the former chief rabbi of Great Britain, Lord Jonathan Sacks, as describing the amazing accomplishments of the Rebbe by saying that, “Among the very greatest leaders of the Jewish past there were some who transformed communities.

There were others who fostered many disciples; there were yet others who left us codes and commentaries that will be studied for all time. But there have been few in the entire history of one of the oldest peoples in the world, who, in one lifetime made his influence felt throughout the entire Jewish world…The Rebbe was one of the immortals.”

And his influence was hardly limited to the Jewish world. On the night preceding his election to the senate, Cory Booker (an African-American Christian) went to the previous Rebbe’s grave to pray. It was done privately and only came to public attention after the election. Booker has often made clear that he regards the Rebbe as one of his foremost teachers. Something similar happened when in 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress [from

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Southern Democratic congressmen, many of whom in those days were racists, assigned her mockingly to the Agriculture Committee.

Chisholm was frustrated and furious. Shortly after that, she received a call from one of her constituents, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and was told that the Rebbe would like to meet with her. When she came she told the Rebbe that she was upset and feeling very insulted. The Rebbe said, “What a blessing God has given you. This country has so much surplus food and there are so many hungry people and you can use this gift that God’s given you to feed hungry people!”

On her first day in Congress, Chisholm met Robert Dole who expressed great concern regarding the plight of mid-western farmers who were producing more food than they could sell and were losing money on their crops. Working with Dole and on her own, in an effort that eventually benefited millions of poor people and farmers, Chisholm greatly expanded the food stamp program. She played an even more critical role in the Special Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) which mandated food supplements for high-risk pregnant women and for young children at nutritional risk. Today, some 8 million people receive WIC benefits each month.

Telushkin relates an incident about his father, Shlomo Telushkin, who was the Rebbe’s accountant and had been the accountant for the previous Rebbe since he came to the United States. Shlomo Telushkin had a serious stroke. For several days, he lay in a hospital bed in a coma. Though he came out of the coma, he never fully recovered. The fami-

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ly received calls twice daily from the Rebbe’s office asking about his condition. A few days later the family received a call from the Rebbe’s secretary stating that an accounting issue had come up and the Rebbe had said “ask Shlomo.” Despite Joseph saying, “But you know how sick and disoriented my father is,” he was told the Rebbe “of course remembered, but insisted that we ask your father.”

Joseph was told the issue and he went to his father and asked him. Shlomo said the answer was obvious and told it to Joseph. At that moment Joseph realized what the Rebbe had done. “He had made a calculation and asked my father a question that he knew my father would be able to answer. Sitting in his office at 770 Eastern Parkway, dealing with macro issues confronting Jews and the world, he had the moral imagination to feel the pain of one individual, my father, lying in a hospital bed, partially paralyzed, and wondering if he would ever again be productive.

And so the Rebbe asked him a question, and by doing so, he reminded my father that he was still needed and could still be of service.”

The stories go on and on, each one more remarkable than the others. On this, the 20th Yahrtzeit of the Rebbe, let every Jew and every human being dedicate himself to being a better Jew and a better person.

Please feel free to contact me regarding this (or any) topic. You can do so anonymously by writing to mordechaiglick@gmail.com.

Dr. Glick was a clinical psychologist in private practice for 35 years as well as the rabbi of Congregation Ahavat Yisrael in Montreal. If you would like to submit a question, or contact him for an appointment, he can be reached at mordechaiglick@gmail.com or by calling him at 201-983-1532.

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 57

THE DATING GAME

Orthodox Dating On Line The Online Profile and Fitting into Drop-down Menus

By Elisheva eaneck—Married 14 years and deciding to divorce was the most difficult, yet the best, decision I ever made. After picking up the fragmented pieces of myself, I begin to put myself out there, hopeful, optimistic, and excited for the good I believe is heading my way. I couldn’t wait to sign up for online dating. Completely unfamiliar with the process because pre-marriage, personal computers, if you had one, had a DOS prompt and a dial-up connection, not lightning-fast data upload speeds or userfriendly interfaces connecting you through words and images to your long-lost soul mate!

As I moved forward, I discovered the signup process intimidated me. Defining who I am and what I’m looking for was only the beginning. Just five minutes ago I was fragmented and broken. I managed to work through some of my identity and psycho/emotional baggage with pen and paper and a lot of crossing out, but I wasn’t quite ready to upload and post the anecdotal tell-all. Navigating back to the dropdown boxes, I stopped and admitted to myself that this is also not so easy; I realized don’t fit neatly into the choices they provide in drop-down menus. I am not always so black and white. People need to explain themselves; I certainly do.

Let me be clear, I do know how tall I am and how many children I have, but hashka-

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58 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

fah, observance? I am Modern Orthodox but enjoy Chabad philosophy. I am machmir on some things but liberal on others.

Am I taking this too seriously? Perhaps.

I uploaded three photos and answered basic pull-down menu questions but no profile questions at all. I found my comfort zone with the personality insight questions. How long should you date before getting married? What is chemistry? When upset what do you want from the other person? How committed are you to your Judaism?

I answered tons of these questions because they embraced the gray areas. Then I clicked submit and up went my profile live, sans profile.

The next day I get an email from Simcha (not his real name). He wrote an entire paragraph (later I discover no one writes that much the first time). It was very expressive and filled with gaping spaces and serious grammatical and punctuation errors. Rabbi Schneerson wrote that overlooking personal obstacles to a shidduch is necessary if the primary attributes are in place. Okay, so he can’t write. We spoke on the phone a number of times; he was very forthcoming, very engaged, and it was very exciting!

By the time our date rolled around a week and a few days later, I was comfortable; we had already shared so much on the phone.

As I reached for the door handle of the restaurant a voice from behind me spoke and I turned and looked into the eyes of a hand-

some, but fully grey-haired man.

Who is this? Nooo, my thoughts tick back to the online image stored in my brain and this was not the Simcha I knew. Ok, it wasn’t a matter of 150 pounds; it was just gray hair, and at 56 at least he had hair, so I tabled the complaint. Moments after we were seated he said something even stranger, “I want you to give us a chance. Don’t date anyone else.”

What?!? We hadn’t even ordered beverages yet! We continued to date for a few months and I thought maybe time for the next level, meet the kids. He quickly stated he wasn’t ready for that step claiming he enjoyed me so much, he cherished our time alone and was content with that for now. Huh? Weeks had already turned to months and months, chas v’ shalom could turn into years. Who is he kidding? Not me. Believe it or not he was fooling himself, and for a while he fooled me too. This ambivalent man did care for me, but not in a healthy way. He used his profile to attract me, but did not deliver on any of the core attributes or stated goals that appealed to me in the first place.

I made all the concessions; he made none. Lesson: You can’t control someone else’s intensions or integrity but you can demand it of and for yourself. With great pain I sifted through the light and dark parts of myself, asked myself the tough questions

to determine who I am and what I’m looking for. My pitch is me, authentic and true.

The jury is still out for me. Online dating is great in theory but in practice it is strange. I have lots of stories. Histatdlut, personal effort, is required for success. In spite of my impulses to pull my profile down, it’s still up because I believe in the partnership with Hashem. I have to do my part, be willing, be open, be available; He’ll do the rest.

Disheartening how cavalier others can be with their profiles. At least it seems that way to me. No photos (deal breaker)—who are you supposed to connect to? Witty responses to serious questions, silly jokes, and the profile names! I just can’t take a man seriously when his handle is Underdunn or Sincerity4keeps. You can create an online identity and become anyone you want, except perhaps who you really are.

I do want to remarry but with an honest person, who is willing to work through his “stuff,” like I do. For all those still seeking our bashert, soul mate, may Hashem guide that search leading us on the path truly best for us.

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LOCAL NEWS FEATURE

The Healing Redemptive Powers of Mussar

By Elyse Hansford eaneck—“Mussar has the power to bring the Redemption,” says Rabbi Tzvi Miller, founder and director of The Salant Foundation. “Mussar is not a rebuke, that’s a misconception. Mussar is a wisdom that helps us understand that the furthest distance in the universe between two points is the distance between the mind and the heart. Mussar helps us internalize that which we know intellectually directly into our hearts. That is the essence of Mussar,” Miller states.

Through the foundation, Miller has revived the spirit of these holy mystical teachings, making the message available through first-ever English translations and easily discernible books, international teleconferences, Mussar Vaads, e-Mussar, and the establishment of the Salant Kollel Kenesses Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. This nonprofit organization, created to disseminate the message and methods of Rav Yisrael R’ Salanter’s teachings, began taking shape in 2004 with the release of Ohr Yisrael, a first time translation of R’ Salanter’s classic published and unpublished Mussar texts.

A progressive thinker and child prodigy, Rav Salanter was young when he met and learned with Rav Yosef Zundel, a student of Rav Chaim Voloshin who himself was a student of the Vilna Gaon. Brilliant and ahead of his time, R’ Salanter learned fervently at great personal risk. He recognized the tremendous challenges facing Klal Yisrael in the 19th century and with incredible insight extracted relevant new teachings and developed practical applications that empowered and inspired a brand new generation.

Miller describes R’ Salanter’s devotion to Klal Yisrael and the miraculous divine forces that enabled him to develop this healing, daily guide to middos during a time of deadly pogroms, great opposition, and relentless persecution.

“The world greatly changed and it was to R’ Salanter’s merit,” says Miller, “because in his day he noticed in alarming proportions that the Talmud chocham did not have middos. If you do not have good middos, then what is the value of Torah?” He thus launched the Mussar movement, surrounded himself with dedicated students who became masters of Mussar, students who would then go on to establish some of the greatest yeshivas in the world. Yeshivas in Lakewood, Chevron, Baltimore, and Ponevez in Israel are all directly founded by his students.”

How is this effective today in modern times?

“There is a thirst in the world today for self-help. Bookstores are overflowing with self-help, self-love, self-esteem books, and books on happiness, yet no one can really figure it out. But the Torah can because it is from Sinai and from Hashem’s wisdom.

We have the yetzer hara, which is a disorder, a real spiritual disorder, and we can only be healed by a proper remedy. Overthe-counter drugs treat only the symptoms.

They are not as powerful, potent, or as specific as improving one’s character—the beginning of Avodas Hashem. Mussar is like a real prescription drug treating real spiritual diseases. Without it there is no chance a person can be healed of his or her spiritual

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A Mussar learning session.

Rabbi Tzvi Miller

CONTINUED ON P. 64

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 59

THE ARTS

Self-Healing Award Winning Art at Teaneck General Store

By Elyse Hansford eaneck—“If you’re an artist you just create and you cannot imagine a time when you don’t create,” says artist and physician Ariela Noy. After discovering she had BRCA1, a genetic mutation indicating a high risk for breast and ovarian cancer, Noy, an oncologist herself, underwent radical preventative treatment, including two surgeries. She painted about this difficult and dramatic twist of reality—a doctor becoming patient— and she writes and lectures about that difficult experience.

Inspired to express the surreal medical challenge she endured, Noy wrote a book that remains unpublished and painted a composite of images entitled “BRCA Fear 2005,” winning her “best in show” at the

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annual Medical Complex Art Show. “I was shocked they accepted it into the competition and even more surprised to win such an award,” said Noy. She has been a part of every show since entering the first competition 17 years ago, winning honorable mention and first runner up several times.

The Medical Complex Art Show displays the works of faculty, staff, and students of the Weill Cornell Medical College, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Rockefeller University, with a virtual component including work from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and WCMC alumni.

The winning piece, “BRCA Fear 2005,” is an explicit visual narrative depicting the complexity of a BRCA diagnosis and was entered into the Lilly Oncology On Can-

vas competition and made into a fine art reproduction, or giclée by Noy specifically for this competition. This giclée was so well received it toured 22 countries. Winning artwork will be exhibited at various locations nationwide, such as cancer centers, hospitals, and patient advocacy group events. Lilly Oncology and the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), or other nonprofit cancer-related advocacy groups or charitable organizations, use award-winning work from these competitions to further their ongoing educational and fundraising efforts.

Potential subjects are everywhere. “I walk around with my iPhone and take pictures of people. It’s their expressions that get me, I don’t have to necessarily know who they are at all,” said Noy. Painting since her parents gave her a “paint by numbers” set, she took her first class at Fairlawn Arts Center at age 7. There she met and studied

with Jean Silver through high school.

Noy didn’t study art or paint one stroke during her initial years at Princeton, where she attended undergrad school. Junior year she enrolled in an art class and the passion rekindled. The challenges and restrictions of the coursework enhanced her talent exposing her at a level she never knew existed. “By the time I got to medical school I was on my way, with my first commissioned piece,” recalls Noy. “Thistles at the Cloisters,” another award-winning canvas, hung for a year on a wall at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and was recently returned to Noy. Now they are requesting it back to be part of Sloan-Kettering’s permanent collection.

Noy’s creativity is not exclusive to painting and photography. She is an accomplished vocalist, a member of Florilegium, a 30-voice chamber choir comprising highly trained avocational and professional musicians dedicated to the highest level of performance. The choir’s repertoire covers all eras of Western music, from preRenaissance to the newly commissioned, sung in original languages and available on Amazon.

Noy’s collection will be on display at Teaneck General Store through August 15.

Commission work and select pieces are also available for sale.

TGS, a Wi-Fi café, retail toy and unique affordable gift shop, features live events, performances, art exhibits, workshops, and lectures. For more info: TeaneckGeneralStore. com; www.florilegiumchamberchoir.org

Why Didn’t You Eat the Cheesecake Macaroon? 

CONTINUED FROM P. 39

a Kiddush Hashem, or maybe some of my classmates would’ve shown their true colors. I’m personally fortunate that my experience went like it did, with no trouble, when I know others have had difficulty with navigating the differences between them and others, and that in the work world—where you usually can’t wear a baseball cap—things could be different.

But even so, I’ve realized that I don’t need to let religious differences get in the way when it comes to this class, or friendships, and connections I have with non-Jews. I just don’t need to bring up the topic; there’s still other ways I can find common ground with other people.

Religion doesn’t need to matter there, as long as I stay true to myself and as long as it keeps mattering to me.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go look up some macaroon recipes. How does the chocolate cheesecake flavor sound?

Oren Oppenheim, age 16, lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and attends Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan. He spends his free time writing and reading, and hopes to become a published novelist. You can email him at orenoppenheim@gmail.com.

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ASK THE DOCTOR

Newborns and the Immune System

By Dr. Giuseppina Benincasa-Feingold hile working at Bellevue Hospital during my training in pediatrics, I was exposed to many different cultures. I treated babies with parents from all around the globe and learned how different we all are and how similar we are.

I heard many old wives’ tales, some founded on reason and later proven by science; some never worked and sounded absurd to my Western Medicine mindset. No matter which culture the child is born into, there is a common link: newborns are not brought into the general community immediately. Roman Catholics will not go out with a newborn until that child is baptized, which generally occurs after two months.

Orthodox Jews will first bring the child to the synagogue for a ritual circumcision or a formal naming on the eighth day of life.

The Chinese usually have a party at one month, and the child is not brought out before that time.

During pregnancy there is an intimate relationship between mother and child that comes to an abrupt end with birth.

Everyone, especially the mother, needs time to adjust to this new status. Some time alone at home with no visitors gives both the mother and child some time to adjust. I prefer to believe that this period is actually founded on a more scientific reason. Limiting the exposure of a newborn to other people may be a way of isolating the child and making it less likely to come into contact with germs.

A newborn has an immature immune system and is therefore more prone to infections. Some can be quite serious. Infant mortality has decreased over the past five decades because we are aggressive in admitting and treating newborns with antibiotics at the first sign that something is wrong.

We routinely do a “sepsis workup” when a child less than two months old has a fever.

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This includes a urine analysis and culture usually obtained by bladder catheterization or a lumbar puncture, and blood tests with an intravenous catheter. The child is given antibiotics intravenously. This has prevented many newborns from becoming seriously ill or dying. As such, medicine has been able to decrease infant mortality from 29 per 1000 live births in 1950 to 6 per 1000 live births in 2010.

The majority of babies needing a workup usually have a virus. It’s traumatic for a mother anticipating a prescription for an antibiotic to be told that her infant requires hospitalization to undergo a battery

A Review and Must Read: Roadblock to Peace 

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an refugees and improved their lives.

That, unfortunately, has not been done.

Advocating for the dissemination of this important information might lead to a change in how foreign aid is allocated to the Palestinians, who desperately need their lives improved. In light of the present military conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, reading this book is a must for all Israel advocates in the philanthropic community.

Stephen G. Donshik, D.S.W., is a lecturer at Hebrew University’s International Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program. Stephen was Director of the Israel office of the Council of Jewish Federations (CJF), 1986-94, and Director of the Israel office of UJA Federation of New York, 1994-2008.

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of tests. In general, work-ups are not necessary for most of the babies we see, but they become life saving for the small number of children who would have died if this were not done. Since we cannot tell which child will get seriously ill, we have to treat them all. Luckily, the hospital stay has been greatly shortened and methods of testing are much more sophisticated so the process is simpler and fortunately the results more accurate.

As usual, prevention is the best treatment. How do we prevent a newborn from getting sick? One method is to limit the exposure to viruses and bacteria that are

transmitted to the child by contact with other people. Perhaps limiting a child from going out in the first two months of life—sometimes based on religious practices, sometimes on custom—now can be shown to have a scientific basis that proffers limiting the newborn’s exposure to infections. This is not to say that we want to keep babies from their family members, but it is wise to practice good hand washing prior to holding a newborn.

If you have any questions you want answered please address them to Dr. Giuseppina Benincasa-Feingold at “askthedoctor@ jewishlinkbc.com.”

Finally, you’ve got an alternative to the ER when your pediatrician’s office is closed.

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SPECIAL NEEDS

Making Aliyah with Family Members with Special Needs

By Chana Zweiter oming on aliyah with a family member with special needs often seems like an impossible journey. “It was hard enough finding the right placement here, how are we ever going to do it in Israel?” is the most common refrain heard from these families.

The good news is that many such families have come on aliyah and have succeeded.

In the last decade in particular, Israel has developed a high-level multifaceted system that makes living in Israel open to all. The following is an overview of this system and how to access these services.

Special needs services in Israel follow a continuum that tracks the individual throughout his/her development. It includes medical, therapeutic, educational, recreational, vocational, and residential services. A baby with developmental disabili-

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A True Pioneer of Israel’s Terroir 

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growing out of a patch of earth. In another indication of the winery’s philosophy, the wines are labeled by vineyard or origin (i.e., Shoresh, Judean Hills, etc.) as op-

ties will be referred to the local Child Development Center (CDC), a feature of the health ministry and its health providers, the kupot cholim. The CDC will assess the needs of the baby, will prescribe the appropriate medical and therapeutic care, and will determine the child’s eligibility for early intervention centers that are specialized to meet each patient’s particular needs.

The CDC will also guide parents of older children regarding the availability of educational settings and therapies that their child is eligible to receive.

For school-age children, there is a diverse educational system from nursery through high school, which includes educational programming until the age of 21.

There are school settings for children with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and autistic characteristics, and these settings are individualized according to special needs and grade levels. The educational system emphasizes inclusion, which is individualized to address each child’s needs.

Consequently, these special education settings are often found in self-contained schools and offer parallel classes in the general educational track. These programs are available in Haredi (ultra-religious), mamlachti dati (religious public school) and mamlachti (general public school) settings. It is important to visit the different settings prior to making aliyah in order to determine which environment is most suitable for your child.

Services other than educational, e.g., recreational programming, respite care, and vocational and residential placement, and other benefits, e.g., monthly stipends, are provided by the Ministry of Welfare (Misrad Harivacha) and the National Insurance Office (Bituach Leumi). To be eligible for these services and benefits, one must register in the agencies’ local district offices. The agencies will then determine the degree of disability and to which arm of these offices your family members belong.

For all placements, it is necessary to come equipped with updated (not more than six

months old) evaluations, including medical, psychological, psychiatric, and educational when pertinent. All placements are determined soon after you make aliyah by a Placement Committee (Vaadat Hasama) held at the local government offices. Parents have an important voice at these committee meetings and should attend.

Come to Israel equipped with patience and a positive attitude. It may take time to sort things out, but you can make this work—and it is worth it!

For more information, please contact Chana Zweiter at chanazweiter@ gmail.com

posed to the more traditional Israeli and New World method of using the varietal (i.e. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, etc.). Even the winery’s flagship Misty Hills is an allusion to the unique terroir from which it was derived, which contains large shifts between hot and cold weather and a substantial amount of morning fog. While Eran, Uri, and Dor passionately believe in this philosophy, recent vintages have shown that Eran has taken the wines to a

whole new level of elegance and sophistication, managing to combine New World rich fruit (without having too much ripeness or oak) with the subdued elegance, terroir-driven mentality of France, whose wines have characteristic minerality, good acidity (from relatively early picking), and near-perfect balance.

Tzora is currently producing approximately 80,000 bottles annually, spread across four different labels, with an ex-

pectation to reach 100,000 bottles within the next few years. Each series carries the name of the area from which it was produced. Misty Hills is a Bordeaux-like blend, produced only in better vintage years from the best grapes the winery’s Shoresh vineyard has to offer. The Shoresh and Neve Ilan wines are single-vineyard wines, with Shoresh being the higher-end of the two.

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Chana Zweiter has been a pioneer in the field of mainstreaming. Chana made her mark in the United States where she founded and directed Yachad until she made aliyah in 1991. In Israel, she is the founding director of the Rosh Pina Mainstreaming Network/Kaleidoscope and also serves as a special education consultant, helping families making aliyah to find appropriate educational programs for their children with special needs.

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HEALTH AND FITNESS

Tisha B’Av, Negative Emotions, and Coping

By Temimah Zucker ver the past month we have been confronted by tremendous sadness. It feels as if pain and sorrow have blanketed our nation; we have come together to support one another, to dry one another’s tears and hope to provide some comfort and joy. This has been a month of fear and unease, a month that I hope ends swiftly.

It seems that when we experience pain, sorrow, and fear there are few positive ways of coping. What can we do to get through the day, through the night, when our nation and homeland exist in turmoil?

What can we do when our loved ones and kin continue to fight a war that the rest of the world seems to condemn? I feel as if since the moment Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Sha’ar, and Eyal Yifrach were kidnapped things have gone by in a blur. And in reality, there was so much going on before then.

Social media no longer shows clips of cute

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Allergies

By JLBC Staff ccording to the Centers for Disease Control, 20% of Americans suffer from one or more allergies including environmental, food, medicine, and insect-related allergies. Additional data show that allergies limit activities for more than 40% of children and account for more than 17 million outpatient office visits annually, and that food allergies cause 30,000 visits to the emergency room each year.

The statistics show why it is important to see an allergist. Dr. Debora Geller, who received her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, completed her residency in General Pediatrics at Upstate Medical University and fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at SUNY Buffalo Children’s Hospital, recently opened her own practice in Emerson. Dr. Geller is board certified by the American Board of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and

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disease,” says Miller.

“Life becomes easier with Mussar,” says Rita Rivka Levy, a member of one Teaneck Vaad. “Where do you go when you are challenged? This new awareness becomes a tool. When confronted by an uncomfortable situation, our first thought or response might be negative, ‘knowing’ we should say or do something else.

But we are powerless to change. Through Mussar study we begin to access these tools, and are able to do it better. It’s incredibly transformative,” says Levy.

As if from a torn page out of our history book, the people of Israel are once

64 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

animals or everyday statuses; instead our browsers are filled with photos, arguments, and news that brings us to anger or tears.

How can we cope with all this? How can we approach Tisha B’Av, the saddest day of the year, in a meaningful and healthy manner? How can we treat ourselves kindly living with these emotions and at times with guilt or concern?

When difficulty strikes it is easy to push our emotions to the side. Many times we misplace these emotions by turning to other coping mechanisms. This may be through actions or behaviors. All too often an individual may over-eat or undereat as a result of something difficult. Worry or heartbreak can cause us to turn toward or away from food. This does not help us work through our emotions, but rather acts as a form of avoidance. Some people turn toward drugs, alcohol, or self-harm to numb fear, pain, or chaos. Others lash out at those around them, feeling irritable or hostile as a result of emotions that they may be burying.

This is a very sensitive time for our na-

tion. As we approach Tisha B’Av we are reminded of our history, of the tragic events and loss we have experienced not only in the recent past or over the course of the past century, but all the tragic experiences.

This is a great deal of emotion, and a great deal to sit with. Rather than unhealthy coping skills, rather than displacement of emotions or numbing of feelings, it is time to sit with the pain while being kind to ourselves.

This seems difficult to achieve; sitting with negativity can be overwhelming and dangerous. But it can also be uplifting as it provides growth and personal insight. But how can we achieve this knowing that Israel is being terrorized and there is so much suffering and people dying? This is the time to be kind to others and gentle with ourselves.

When I speak in schools about confidence and inner peace I generally focus on the positive emotions that arise when doing good for others as well as being kind to oneself. This is the time when we must provide support to those who are in need and offer what we can to help. Rather than take out our emotions on food, on our bod-

ies, or on our self-esteem, we should strive to address them, learn from them, and continue moving forward as best we can. We must learn to be easy on ourselves rather than experience internal negativity.

This year on the fast it is important to create meaning in whatever way possible.

This is a day when we are commanded not to eat. While general manipulation of food is not encouraged, this day and commandment go deeper; the fast day is one when we are stripped of distractions and mourn the losses of our people. This year I plan not to avoid the difficulty of the day, but to appreciate the meaning behind the existence of this fast.

As a nation we must support one another and try to provide comfort and strength to others. I pledge to feel the sadness and the frustration and to learn to live with these emotions and turn them into reactions of strength rather than avoidance.

May you only hear and experience joy and success, and I hope that this Tisha B’Av provides meaning during a tumultuous time for our nation.

is a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, and the Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. She is also the recipient of the Gilbert B. Forbes Prize in Pediatrics and the Department of Pediatrics Award for Excellence in Teaching.

She decided to open her own practice to be more available to her family and three children and to provide patients with a more personalized doctor/patient experience. That experience typically starts after individuals notice symptoms in themselves or in their family members. Patients may bring those symptoms to the attention of their general practitioner who then may refer them to an allergist for an in-depth evaluation. “You try to get down to the nitty-gritty and find out exactly what someone is allergic to in order to make sure they avoid those triggers,” Dr. Geller said.

After a specific allergy is pinpointed, Dr. Geller spends a lot of time educating her patients about trigger avoidance

and prevention. This is important because not all potential triggers are immediately obvious. As an example of what that means, Dr. Geller described a patient with severe pollen allergies whose bed sheets were hung outside to dry, not realizing that they were being coated with pollen. With the correct education, the child’s parents could easily avoid such an exposure.

Allergies, regardless of type, can develop at any point in an individual’s life and can wax and wane. In fact, 20% of those diagnosed with a peanut allergy may outgrow it. Because of this, Dr. Geller said, allergies require follow-up and monitoring.

When it comes to seasonal allergies, Dr. Geller said that “there are options on treatment and there are quality medicines both by prescription and over the counter so that patients do not have to feel miserable.”

Seasonal pollen allergies can sometimes translate to “food” allergies, specifically with fresh fruit and vegetables. This is called oral allergy syndrome or fruit pollen syndrome. Individuals may pre-

sent with mild oral itching or irritation or, rarely, more severe symptoms. Usually, such individuals may safely eat the produce in its cooked form because the heating process denatures the allergen.

Symptoms of environmental allergies may present as cold-like symptoms that linger: snoring, mouth breathing, recurrent sinus infections, and eczema, or the more typical “hay fever” symptoms. Allergies can present with “a spectrum of symptoms, and they’re not all as obvious as in the typical springtime symptoms.”

In addition, many creams and lotions contain ingredients to which individuals may be allergic. Extensive education, a process that is important to Dr. Geller, is something that can help people learn to avoid those items.

Dr. Debora Geller sees patients on Wednesdays and Fridays with late hours on Wednesday. She shares the office space with her husband, Dr. Bradley Geller, an ophthalmologist. For more information on Dr. Geller or her practice, call (201) 265-7515 or visit www.bergenallergydoctor.com.

again living with the threat of annihilation. Instead of Russian and Polish militias, things are different this time as we are challenged by an ideological enemy with no concern for life or death. How does one fight with an enemy that brutally murders three teenage boys? How can we make sense of such human loss, cope with a climbing IDF death toll, antisemitic violence erupting all over the globe, and the unbelievable alignment with the Three Weeks? How can we rein in all those emotions and control our yetzer hara for peace?

Rabbi Miller is quick to reply, “This is Jewish self-help and it is as relevant today as it was 200 years ago. It is a methodology that believes in its people, in transformation, and in a Jew’s ability to make permanent internal changes, to be successful, happier, and closer to Hashem.”

The First Temple was destroyed for our sins, and we were punished with a 70-year exile. But the Second Temple de-

struction occurred due to “baseless hatred.” Again we were exiled, but this time remained so for more than 2000 years.

So which is worse? Miller states, “This sinas chinom was more intrinsically a part of ourselves (and thus warranted the greater punishment) and we can only be fixed if we are machmir with ahavas Yisrael.”

“The entire country of Israel is under fire. Maybe Hashem is imposing it (the war) upon us in order to provide an opportunity for our collective ‘spiritual return.’ Perhaps these recent events are Hashem’s way of sending us the message to ‘make teshuva’ to ‘create unity.’ We already know that tikkun is unity, love, and caring for people.”

“We are made B’etzelem Elokim, in Hashem’s image; we have a halachic obligation to learn to do it better, to behave with b’havet Yisrael, love of Jews,” Levy explains. “This teaching is not done in a critical way, it is with loving kindness

and gentleness that we learn how much Hashem loves us and how much we must also love one another.”

Connect with Salant Foundation to learn how you or your shul can partner with Kenesses Yisrael to help support budget shortfalls left in the wake of government cutbacks. Sample a Mussar Vaad, offered in several cities and three countries and very active in Bergen County. A new Teaneck Vaad is launching next week, based on 30 Days to Teshuva, available in stores and on Amazon. “This 30-day program for the month of Elul is a step-by-step preparation for Rosh Hoshanah,” says Annette Prager, Mussar Vaad coordinator for Bergen County. Or simply sign up to receive e-Mussar, a daily a dose of practical wisdom delivered to your mailbox.

For more info: Vaad-Annette Prager: hoshana3@aol.com Foundation/Kollell salantorg@gmail.com or visit www.salantfoundation.org.

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CHINUCH

Israel in Crisis: Making Sure We Really Care

By Rabbi Avraham Shulman MS, LAC uring the month of Av, the three-week mourning period that we began observing this week is intensified, culminating in our national day of mourning: Tisha B’Av. Some years, however, it seems that Av comes early. With the tragic murders of the three yeshiva boys and war in Israel, the Jewish people have already experienced feelings of sadness and destruction.

At the Shabbos table, my daughter told us she found it challenging to sincerely relate and feel the pain for those suffering in Israel. She’s right. It’s not easy as we sit here, thousands of miles away in the midst of our summer, to truly empathize with our brothers and sisters on the frontlines. But we have to try, especially if we want our children to care about serious and important issues.

Chazal tell us (Sotah 11a) that Pharaoh took counsel of three advisors regarding the population growth of the Jewish people in Egypt: Balaam advised him to kill all Jewish-born males by throwing them into

D

the Nile, Iyov (Job) remained silent, and Yisro ran away. The Gemara tells us that corresponding to their responses to Pharaoh, Balaam was eventually killed, Iyov suffered great afflictions, and Yisro merited descendants who would sit on the Great Sanhedrin. Why was Iyov punished so harshly for his silence? The commentators explain simply: When someone feels pain, they cry out. Iyov’s silence indicated that he wasn’t bothered by Balaam’s plot to kill thousands of Jewish babies. When something truly bothers us, we react—loudly.

Our first response to the current situation has to be to ensure that we as educators and parents make it clear that the welfare of fellow Jews is something genuinely close to our hearts. We have to cry out in some way; otherwise in a sense we too are guilty of indifference. When children see that something truly matters in the eyes of adults they look up to, inherently they understand that issue should be important to them as well. This is the building block of trying to reach kids in a way that encourages a sense of responsibility.

We live in an era that by definition is distracted. Smart phones have provided us with more and instant information, while

dumbing down the average attention span needed for genuine learning. This means that getting through to kids is more challenging than ever. One strategy that can be very effective is to create concrete and tangible ways for kids to relate to the issues that concern us. It’s very difficult to care about something abstract; it has to be real.

An easy way this can be done is by sharing relevant videos, news, and stories about the situation in Israel. Try to personalize the crisis by meeting or talking to people who have been there. If your kids have been to Israel, remind them of the places they saw and describe specifically what is happening there. If they haven’t been to Israel, and it’s possible, plan your next big vacation there.

Finally, look for opportunities through which your family can actively do something that aids or promotes Jews in need.

When kids feel they can make a difference, the cause becomes something that is a part of their lives, not just a distant concern.

Another idea that can help elicit empathy and care for others is actually based on our practice of fasting. One of the things that we accomplish by not eating or drinking is to give up a little bit of our normal comforts so that we can look outside of

ourselves and focus on important things.

Perhaps each individual can choose a luxury in their life to voluntarily abstain from.

This can be for a week, a day, or an hour, the point being to empathize during that time with others who are in distress.

In 1970, a TWA flight to Israel was hijacked, and the passengers, some of them very prominent Jewish leaders, were held hostage by terrorists. After lengthy negotiations, some of the hostages were released and welcomed home with great fanfare.

While others were celebrating, Rav Moshe Feinstein’s response was somewhat muted. When asked why he wasn’t celebrating with everyone else, Rav Moshe responded that he felt it was inappropriate for him to be joyous while other Jews were still in grave danger.

Hopefully we can all contribute in some way to alleviating the current crisis, and I pray that we merit to see Shalom for all of Israel.

Rabbi Avraham Shulman MS, LAC is a Rebbe and Guidance Counselor at MTA. He is also an Associate Mental Health Counselor at EK Counseling in Teaneck. He can be reached at avshulman@gmail.com or 973-2713753.

Mercava Interactive Textbooks Will Change Everything erusalem—For generations, Jewish educators have been searching for ways to engage their students in Torah study and make the texts relatable to students of varied ages and abilities.

Mercava (www.themercava.com), a nonprofit educational technology platform and incubator, has developed a library of fully interactive texts—including the Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim, Talmud, Rambam, Shulchan Aruch, and many others—that are “so intuitive, fun, and easy to use that even the most timid or uninterested students will be drawn to the magic of the Jewish learning experience,” said Yehuda Moshe, co-founder and CEO of Mercava.

Mercava will be launching a summer campaign to introduce formal and informal Jewish educators across North America to the organization’s new line of interactive Jewish books and invite them to co-design the upcoming digital-lessons product line in advance of the 2014–15 school year.

Mercava’s cutting-edge digital tools aim to make Jewish learning “irresistible” to every Jew. Rather than producing its own content, Mercava serves as “the technology team for the Jewish World,” providing Jewish educa-

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A True Pioneer of Israel’s Terroir 

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The Judean Hills wine rounds out the portfolio and is meant for early drinking. The Judean Hills wine is a blend of grapes selected from among the winery’s diverse vineyards (the winery only utilizes between 35–50% of its grapes every year on its approximately 85 acres, selecting the absolute best and selling the rest of its recognized high-quality grapes to

tors with the technology platform, media resources, and talent they require to produce irresistible learning experiences.

Mercava’s current library offerings are in use by thousands of students across North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

“From the outset, our mission has been to bring together the world’s top talent from the fields of technology, entertainment, and education in order to empower Jewish educators around the globe to create cutting-edge digital learning experiences for students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds,” said Moshe.

“Though we plan to offer an online marketplace of interactive books, lessons, media, apps, and games in the future, our

other wineries). The winery also produces an exceptional dessert wine, Or, made in the Icewine style.

Another welcome development for Tzora has been their retention of a new importer: Michael Skurnik Wines.

Skurnik is a renowned world-class importer with an insanely carefully curated selection of smaller/estate wineries into which Tzora fits perfectly. While current availability is still limited and Tzora only exports approximately 12–15% of its production to the U.S., hopefully we will see more of its wines on our shores on a more consistent basis.

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initial focus has been the development of interactive versions of the books that have been requested consistently by Jewish educators across the globe. Listening and being fully responsive to the needs of educators has always been our top priority and will continue to shape our priorities moving forward.”

The organization’s summer campaign aims to ensure that as many educators as possible add Mercava’s interactive texts to their toolkits before the next school year.

“For generations, Jewish educators have been searching for ways to engage their students in Torah study and make the texts relatable to students of varied ages and abilities. Our online interactive books are crowd-sourced masterpieces—including the input of over 100 educators and scholars,” added Moshe.

For example, Mercava’s interactive Talmud incorporates elements that personalize the experience and makes the text more approachable, including the ability to change the text’s Hebrew fonts and access phrase-by-phrase translations as well as vowels, punctuation, and elucidation.

“To optimize the experience, all of our interactive titles also include a feature that

allows students to add notes, questions, or personal commentary that can be associated with specific words and phrases. Those notes are then accessible from one central workspace for easy review,” explained Ariel Isaacson, Mercava’s Chief Technology Officer.

By the end of July, Mercava will also roll out a “live interaction” feature, which will allow students to learn in real time with anyone else in the world on the Mercava platform. The live feature will create dynamic international classrooms that will empower educators to guide their students’ learning experiences, including the ability to highlight specific texts and turn pages.

Over the course of the next year, Mercava will continue to develop “The Lesson Builder,” a media toolkit that will allow the international community of Mercava users—teachers and students—to leverage each other’s knowledge and resources to create interactive and visual lessons for every subject area and grade level throughout Jewish education with built-in progress tracking and reporting tools. In addition, 500 other interactive books are also currently in production.

Market your business to the Jewish Community!

Advertise in the Call 201-371-3212 or email ads@jewishlinkbc.com July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 65

CAMPS

Yachad Color Run at Camp Mesorah

Camp HotShots

Dean Shein - Basketball MVP

Noam Landesman - Hockey MVP

Eli Feinberg - Middot Tovot Award winner

Scenes from Camp Shalom

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SPORTS

Teaneck TBO 8U Summer Finishes First 

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how the players and team matured.

It was amazing to see how much fun the kids had on the field, playing at a new level. Veteran leaders Jack Ruditzky and Jordy Sheinfeld returned from last summer’s team, along with Joshua Markovitz, Judah Vogel, and Liev Wolin who joined the travel team last fall. Rounding out the team this year was Eli Altman, Shay Fields, Shalom Spraragen, Gavi Weinstein, David Grunstein, and Sam Wartelsky. Coach Norm Blumenthal was back again in his quest for a championship (or even a victory over the powerhouse Paramus A team) and was helped by David Ruditzky, Yudy Sheinfeld, and Avi Vogel as coaching staff.

The coaches always stressed the need for the boys to hit in order to win at this level, and the team responded during the first game with a 12-0 mercy win over Teaneck Southern White. The players hit the ball hard and often, with Markovitz and Sheinfeld on base all three times and the team collecting 12 hits overall before the game was called after 4 innings.

Glen Rock was next, and this game held tremendous importance for many of the players as this was the team that ended the 8U fall playoff run last year. TBO jumped

out to a 4-1 lead and pulled away in the 4th inning with 6 runs and another mercy victory with a final score of 14-2. Ruditzky led the way with a double and triple and strong pitching.

Continuing its dominance, Teaneck next beat Teaneck Southern Blue for its third straight mercy win with great at bats and solid pitching for a 15-3 win.

The Ramsey game, which was next, held the first true challenge for the team. Ramsey’s ace pitcher held Teaneck to 1 run over the first 2 innings as Ramsey led 3-1. TBO was down 5-3 in the 5th inning, but all the batting practice paid off as Teaneck scored 3 runs in the top of the sixth and held on to win 6-5. Vogel had two hard shots to the outfield for a double and a triple for a total of 4 RBI. Paramus B was next, and once again the opponent proved no match for the Teaneck pitchers as they threw a shutout coasting to an 8-0 victory. Ruditzky, Markovitz, Altman, and Vogel all had multi-hit games.

A rematch vs. Teaneck Southern White was another big win with a final 24-0 score.

This game gave TBO the opportunity to call up Noam Eckman and Rami Knapp from the practice team, as they each contributed with hits and scored 7 combined runs.

Ruditzky and Grunstein each came up big with 5 hits and 4 hits respectively, while Wartelsky came through with a hit and scored twice as well.

Saddle Brook gave TBO a tough fight, but ultimately the TBO pitching and hitting was too much and TBO secured a 10-1 victory. Ruditzky, Fields, and Spraragen had

The Bees are Buzzing....

A

fter this past Sunday ’s thrilling come from behind victory, the Killer B’z of the CBY Men’s Club Softball League have moved into a tie for first place in their division at 9-2. The team is led by captain and mortgage expert Michael Graber, pitching ace Jacky “Action Jackson” Fleischman, all-star shortstop Jon Neiss, top league LF Yoni Goldenberg, star IF and OF Yossi Friedman, sure-handed slugging 1B Yitzi Karasick, and their top catcher, Ari “just get it over” Satz. Several other players have also contributed mightily this season, including newcomers team doctor and star OF Joey Shotzkes , speedy leadoff hitter and 2B Ronnie Schwartz, rock solid Avi Weissberg, slugger Mendy Strulowitz, B’z all time HR leader, and top 3B Judah Eizikowitz, as well as Andrew “the other Dube” Dube.

The B’z play together as a team, always have a good time while exhibiting excellent middot, and are often found eating donuts with their fans during the game. A major part of the B’z success this season is due to their cheering section, made up of young raucous fans under the leadership of Etty Goldenberg.

They include: Yosef, Doniel, Keira and Arielle Fleischman, Shua Satz, Rafi Karasick, Baruch and Miri Goldenberg, Eliana, Devora, Benny and Yoni Friedman, Akiva and Kaylie Schwartz, and Ami Dube.

Special shout out to the wives who allow the players to go out each Sunday morning to play softball.

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multi-hit games.

Next up, Rochelle Park visited Teaneck and put up a good battle. Pitchers Spraragen, Wolin, Markovitz, and Ruditzky held them to 1 run while Fields came up with the defensive play of the season, with a full-extension, over-the-shoulder grab of a line drive crushed deep to left field. A 3-run third inning for TBO was enough to push the lead and final score to 4-1.

The true challenge for this team was to keep the momentum going with four games left to go and three of them versus the top teams in the league. Against Hawthorne, TBO immediately proved it was up to the challenge facing a talented team with strong pitching. Teaneck pitchers continued their dominance with their best performance of the year. Ruditzky threw 4 innings and Wolin 2 to combine for a no hitter and a total of 16 strikeouts. Singles by Ruditzky, Markovitz, and Wolin in the 3rd inning plated 2 runs in the impressive 2-0 victory.

The battle of the unbeaten was next as TBO traveled to Wayne for a night game.

The long road trip along with a stellar catcher from Wayne led to three TBO runners being thrown out trying to steal third and shutting down key rallies. Overall TBO continued with solid pitching and defense (highlighted by a relay throw from deep right field by Grunstein to Markovitz to Fields to get an out at third), but the lack of scoring led to the first loss of the season.

However, a 2-0 loss to an undefeated team showed Teaneck that it could play with anyone in the league. A rematch vs. Glen Rock

was up next and put the team back on the win side and a 12-0 shutout over 4 innings.

With their 10-1 record, Teaneck had one game left in the regular season, and it was the biggest challenge yet against the powerhouse Paramus A team. Coach Norm, in all his years with TBO, had yet to beat a top Paramus team and everyone knew that it would take a complete team game to make TBO history. The entire team showed up ready to play. Teaneck took a lead 3-1 in the bottom of the 1st off singles by Ruditzky, Markovitz, and Altman. Paramus scraped together runs in the 2nd and 3rd inning to tie the game at 3-3. The turning point of the game came when Paramus scored 2 more runs off a missed call by the umpire at first during the 5th inning giving Paramus a 5-3 lead. Teaneck was going to have to come from behind and rally for the win. Paramus felt the pressure, as well, and walked the bases loaded with only one out in the 5th for TBO leadoff hitter Jack Ruditzky. Ruditzky hit a double to tie the game and singles by Markovitz and Altman brought the lead to 7-5. The top of the sixth was two quick strikeouts and a groundout to shortstop to end the game and regular season with real excitement.

Coach Norm finally had his win!

With an 11-1 season TBO has locked in the number one seed for the upcoming playoffs and a first round bye. With a week to go between games there will be six practice sessions and one off day before the final run at a championship. Whatever happens in the playoffs, it has been an incredible season that none of the players, coaches, or families will forget.

Englewood Hospital Hosts Basketball Face-Off T he Center for Spinal Disorders (CSD) and Dr. Jonathan Lewin sponsored an “NBA Worthy” Basketball Face-Off. The event included staff and administrators from North Shore Hospital and Englewood Hospital, and top players from the community. They squared off at City Sports on 4, New Jersey’s Premiere Sports Complex located in Englewood.

Dr. Lewin, who enthusiastically took part, also serves as the official spine surgeon of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association. In addition to The Center for Spinal Disorders (CSD), he sponsored the event in conjunction with The Center for Hand Disorders and The Center for Pain Management.

Dr. Jonathan Lewin taking a foul shot

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SPORTS

Q & A with Josh Pransky from YU Athletics JLBC – Thanks for taking the time to talk with us about YU Athletics. What is it that you do for the department?

YU – Thank you for having me here, I’m excited to talk about our student athletes.

I wear multiple hats but essentially I coordinate our recruiting efforts and our athletic alumni relationships. I’m also the Men’s Soccer Coach.

JLBC – There’s a lot there. Let’s break it down. What does recruiting mean; you go to TABC and Kushner and scout?

YU – I have, and we do keep track of what is going on locally, but we are spreading our net far and wide trying to create an international recruiting network. My post is only a year old so we are learning about what is out there as we discover certain elements to the Jewish sports scene. In this first year we have focused on four main regional areas, essentially the four biggest Jewish metro-areas in the world: Israel, the New York Metro area, Southern California, and the Southern Florida corridor along I-95. At the same time we are using our contacts to identify and contact potential student athletes from around the world. What we have learned is that despite YU’s history and popularity there are still so many people out there that have no idea what Yeshiva University actually is, and we have been educating them about how fantastic a destination it can actually be. Our next step will be to build a bigger presence in smaller market areas and continue to spread our wings internationally.

JLBC – So once you ID a strong prospect you give him a sports scholarship?

YU – YU is an NCAA Division 3 school which means we are prohibited from giving any sort of athletics-based scholarships. But like every other D3 school, students, whether athletes or not, can receive Financial Aid based on need and Academic Merit-based grants. YU is very similar in that regard to other upper echelon D3 schools—MIT, NYU, Carnegie Mellon and others. We are a Top 50 Academically Ranked school according to US News & World Report; we have a fantastic career center and therefore amazing statistics of graduating students getting a job within six months of graduation, we are in New York City, and we provide the only shomer Shabbat NCAA experience. All of that, coupled with our Judaic studies, makes us uniquely poised to attract a lot of people. My conversations with athletes take two main directions, “I want to learn more about Judaism and become more religious” or “I want to keep playing and this is my chance to do so and continue to be shomer Shabbat.” One of our student athletes, who is a two- time Capital One Academic All-American, when asked about why she chose YU instead of anywhere else, phrased it really well. She said, everyone my age coming out of high school was talking about getting out of a Jewish school and going into the real world, but I have my entire life to have to live in the real world so why not spend these four years surrounded by Judaism. If she wasn’t a two-time All-American, that probably wouldn’t carry as much weight to it. But if she can say it, I can say it!

JLBC – You really get players who are choosing YU over other places?

YU – All the time. We have numerous Division 1 and Division 2 transfers. Students that were playing at places you see on TV and others that chose us from the

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Coach Pransky and his soccer team.

beginning but were having conversations with universities with that caliber of athletic program.

JLBC – Okay, so who does YU play and what kind of championships are available for a D3 team like Yeshiva? Can you offer that same elite level competition?

YU – We compete in the Skyline conference and play out-of-conference games against teams from around the northeastern U.S. So our athletes are playing schools like Purchase College, St. Joseph’s, and Maritime College in our league and then out of our conference against the likes of Baruch, Montclair State, NYU, Rutgers Newark, Army, Haverford College, Johns Hopkins, Western Connecticut State University, and this year we will play against Penn State Brandywine, which will be fun. The championships structure is identical to what you are used to in the D1 sphere. There are over 400 Division 3 schools in the country broken into 45 or so conferences. We play in our league, the Skyline Conference. If we win the championship, then we go to the NCAA National Tournament. The misnomer is that D3 means lower competitive levels than D1 and D2. In a sense it is true because D1 and D2 are essentially “paying,” through scholarships, to attract the top players. But D3, at the top, offers extremely high level competition. Players from our conference have been drafted by MLB and gone to Europe to play Basketball; many D3 players have played Major League Soccer, and more than a few have gone to high level tennis and golf tournaments.

JLBC – So let’s talk about tennis then.

YU Tennis went to the NCAA Tournament?

YU – Yes! Tennis won the Skyline Conference and went to the NCAA National Tournament. They lost to Skidmore College, who was ranked 20th in the country, in the first round.

JLBC – Alright, so honestly, does anyone actually care if you win?

YU – For sure! My phone was buzzing like crazy with people asking how they can watch the NCAA games. Now, obviously our biggest focus is on a higher level. We will never encourage or endorse winning at the expense of sportsmanship, middos, or academic success, but as a school we want to succeed at everything we do. One of the tennis matches this year, our #1 player was hitting the ball so hard and so fast that his opponent couldn’t get out of the way and it hit him in the chest—this was an opponent who went to the national tournament last year by the way—and after each time it happened, our guy apologized. In the championship game, after he won, he didn’t celebrate on the court. I asked him why? He says, “I couldn’t; the other guy was crying. He’s a senior. This was his last col-

lege match ever. I couldn’t do that.” That is the epitome of what we want to imbue in our students at YU—to control one’s emotion in the heat of the moment, due to a sensitivity of others, and to be gracious regardless of the circumstance. You see, we aren’t out there recruiting hired guns or anything like that. We are out there trying to find students who can thrive at Yeshiva University in every sense.

JLBC – That’s awesome. Okay, so now how do you build a winner from a team that has, well to use your word and be a bit “gracious” traditionally not been a winner?

YU – That was gracious. It builds first with the pioneers. Our coaches recruit and convince students that YU is the right choice for every aspect of their college life.

In year one, say three kids decide to join a team, the team does better and so the next year it is easier to recruit three more. The process builds itself. Winning breeds more winning. The key is that Division 3 schools are made up from two types of universities. Some have an ideological reason to stay as a non-scholarship program. Those are schools like NYU, MIT, Yeshiva, and Carnegie Mellon, and in D1, the Ivy’s. The second group is made up from small city and private colleges that just cannot afford to offer those scholarships. Yeshiva is firmly from the former group of schools. We already draw an international student body; the school can sell itself with its host of offerings, which makes bringing in great students who are great athletes easier. We’ve been hiring some fantastic coaches with an extensive pedigree or a skillset to build success and we are building an infrastructure for student athletes, who are very driven individuals by nature, to compete. Our students, without any hyperbole, are superstars. Our Athletic Director likes to say how they don’t exist anywhere else on earth, and he is right. These kids are in a dual curriculum, and optionally choose to participate in what is basically a third curriculum.

They practice most days of the week during the season, and yet still have an amazingly high GPA as a group.

JLBC – We are almost out of space here, you have any good stories to share?

YU – Just one? An NCAA National Tournament appearance is always going to rank as one of my favorite moments of 2014. Another favorite, though thankfully not a single occurrence anymore, is the satisfaction of hearing student athletes who did not grow up in a religious environment choose YU based on thoughts like—and these are actual quotes— “Something in my heart tells me Yeshiva is the right place for me,” or “I want to become shomer Shabbat.” Or when I ask an athlete from a public school

about his level of observance and he tells me, “well my mom goes to shul on Shabbat and I just started putting on teffilin a few months ago; I really want to be more involved.” How can anything be better than hearing that? But there are plenty of funny stories that happen when I am on the road recruiting. I went out of state to visit a prospective student athlete for Stern College. I knew the family was traditional, but the girl was genuinely interested in YU. I show up and her mother had gone to a kosher bakery, specifically for me and bought probably $30 or $40 worth of cakes and treats with a hechsher. She wouldn’t let me leave until I took some cake with me to go.

JLBC – Something about Jewish mother’s right?

YU – Right! Another funny story happened when I went to a tournament, here in New Jersey, at which Maccabi Haifa’s youth team was playing. Maccabi Haifa is traditionally one of the more secular teams in Israel. So I show up in my YU, Nike brand polo shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes, and I’m wearing my kippah. The directors of the team are all shaved headed Israelis, standing off behind the field smoking and they look me up and down suspiciously like only they can. I talk for maybe five minutes explaining who I am and what I am doing there, and finally one of them says in the thickest Israeli accent I’ve ever heard, “You’re the coach? You look like a rabbi!” I say, “That’s funny because the rabbis all think I look like you!” He laughs and puts his hand on my shoulder, “Okay, Josh, we can help you; we can find you players for Yeshiva.”

JLBC – Amazing. And it is great that YU can benefit from those kinds of relationships.

YU – A different and equally satisfying kind of relationship is like this one great episode when I was recruiting a kid from South Africa. He is an elite level soccer player who was offered a chance to play for a top-level team in Europe, but he turned them down because he is shomer Shabbat.

I reached out to him and he was shocked.

He had no idea that we existed or that we could offer him a place like YU and that he could play soccer here. He was on his way to Israel to learn for a year, but he got so excited about the possibility of learning, studying, and playing at YU that he says, “Coach, what do you think, maybe I shouldn’t even go to Israel, and I’ll come straight to New York?” I said, “Whoa! Hold up! I don’t want that on my permanent record for when I go upstairs! You go learn for a year; I’ll see you next season.”

JLBC – Last line. Give me your elevator pitch. Why should I choose YU? YU – Yeshiva University is the only place on earth you can get a top-50 college education, adhere to strict observance of the Torah, and never feel threatened about who you are religiously, play at the highest level alongside elite players from around the world (if you and the other three guys I am recruiting all come this year), live in New York City, meet some lifelong friends, and put yourself in a great position for a career of your choice with help from our fantastic Career Development Center. So, the way I see it, your college decision is based on four factors: Education, Religious Life, Social Life, and Athletics. You can have it all here, and if you have a few moments, I want to tell you how…

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July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 69

THE SEPHARDIC WAY

Restaurants Serving Meat During the Nine Days: A Sephardic Approach

By Rabbi Haim Jachter wners of meat restaurants face a dilemma during the Nine Days. If they refuse to serve meat items during this time, marginally observant and non-observant Jewish customers will likely choose to eat nonkosher meat elsewhere. The question is whether Halacha permits storeowners to serve meat during the Nine Days to help prevent others from eating non-kosher food.

We will review the basis and development of the custom to avoid eating meat during the Nine Days and some of the parameters of the prohibition to cause others to sin, Linei Iveir Lo Titein Michshol (Vayikra 19:14). We will base our discussion on a teshuva of Hacham Ovadia Yosef (Teshuvot Yehave Daat 3:38) who presents a characteristically Sephardic approach to this issue. While each community adopts a policy appropriate to the spiritual needs of its own community, it is very worthwhile sharing a Sephardic perspective on this important topic.

The Mishna (Taanit 26b) and Gemara (ibid. 30a) record the rabbinical prohibition to eat meat during the Seudah Hamafseket, the last meal before the Tisha B’Av fast. There is no rabbinical prohibition to eat meat before the Seudah Hamafseket.

The Rambam (Hilchot Taaniot 5:6) notes that the custom has emerged to abstain from eating meat during the entire week that Tisha B’Av occurs (e.g., if Tisha B’Av falls on Thursday, one would abstain from meat beginning the previous Saturday evening). The Rambam notes that some avoid eating meat beginning from Rosh Chodesh Av. The Shulhan Aruch (Orah Chaim 551:9) records three different practices in this regard. Some refrain from meat only during the week that Tisha B’Av is observed, some avoid eating meat during the entire Nine Days, and some avoid meat during the entire three weeks. The Rama (ibid.) notes the accepted practice among Ashkenazim is to refrain from eating meat during the Nine Days. Hacham Ovadia Yosef notes that the practice among both Sepharadim and Ashkenazim in Israel is to abstain from eating meat during the entire Nine Days.

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The members of Congregation Shaarei Orah, Teaneck’s Sefardic Congregation (who come from a wide variety of Sephardic sub-groupings) report that the custom to avoid eating meat during the Nine Days is practiced by Sepharadim in the Diaspora as well. One difference, though, between Ashkenazim and Sepharadim in this regard is that while Ashkenazim do not eat meat on Rosh Chodesh Av (Mishnah Berurah 551:58), Sepharadim do eat meat on Rosh Chodesh Av (Rav Ovadia Yosef, Teshuvot Yechave Daat 1:41).

Halachic authorities view this custom very seriously. The Shulhan Aruch (O.H. 551:11) writes that one who violates this custom “will be bitten by a snake,” a term used by Halachic authorities to emphasize the importance of a particular custom and that it should not be lightly dismissed. In fact, the Aruch Hashulhan (O.H. 551:23) deplores the practice of some in his time (late 19th-century Lithuania) to disregard this custom. He writes that since our ancestors have accepted this practice, it has become a “communal vow,” which is a Biblical obligation to uphold. He concludes that God will severely punish those who fail to observe this custom.

There are at least two explanations for this custom (see the Beit Yosef O.H. 551 s.v. Katav Hakolbo). First, the Gemara (Pesachim 109a) states that there cannot be a festive occasion unless meat is consumed. Thus, since the Nine Days are a time of mourning, we should avoid meat, as it is associated with joy. Another explanation is based on the Gemara in Bava Batra (60b) that records that a proposal was made to abstain from meat entirely as an expression of mourning for the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. Chazal rejected this proposal because they felt that it was an edict that the majority of the community cannot tolerate. We see, however, from this passage in the Gemara that abstaining from meat is a form of mourning for the destruction of the Temple.

The Rema (O.C. 551:9), though, rules that a sick person may eat meat during the Nine Days.

Despite the seriousness of this practice, it is still only a custom and is not to be treated with the same severity as a rabbinical obligation. In fact, Poskim assume that our ancestors did not intend to accept to observe customs in case of

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great need. A competent Halachic authority should be consulted to determine if a situation constitutes a great need to the extent that one may eat meat during the Nine Days.

Lifnei Iveir Lo Titein Michshol. Accordingly, it is forbidden to serve meat to a healthy individual who is a guest in one’s home during the Nine Days. However, the storeowner is in a somewhat different situation. There are many alternatives to his restaurant and the non-observant Jew will eat at the non-kosher establishment if the kosher restaurant does not serve meat during the Nine Days. The Gemara (Avoda Zara 6b) states that the prohibition of Lifnei Iveir applies only in a situation of “Trei Avri Denahara,” which literally means “two sides of the river.” This means that the prohibition applies only when one facilitates the performance of a sin that would have otherwise have been difficult or impossible to perform. For example, if one brings wine to a Nazirite from one side of the river to another side of the river, he has violated the Torah level prohibition of Lifnei Iver.

Accordingly, the restaurateur does not violate the Torah level prohibition of Lifnei Iver since there are many other restaurants available to serve meat.

The Rishonim debate, though, whether there is a rabbinical prohibition to assist someone to sin in a situation where there are many others available to assist in the performance of the sin. Tosafot in Avodah Zarah 6b (s.v. Minayin) imply that there is no prohibition if it is not a situation of Trei Avri Denahara. On the other hand, Tosafot in Shabbat 3a (s.v. Bava Dreisha) assert that there is a rabbinical prohibition to aid a sinner even if it is not a situation of Trei Avri Denahara. The Rama (Yoreh Deah 151:1) cites both opinions and concludes that common practice is to follow the lenient opinion but it is best to abide by the stricter opinion.

Thus, a restaurateur has a Halachic basis to serve meat during the Nine Days, as common practice is to rely on the lenient opinion of Tosafot that appears in Avoda Zara 6b. In Israel, however, the situation is a bit more complicated. In Israel, Jews own the alternative establishments that serve meat during the Nine Days.

In such a situation, argues the Mishneh Lamelech (commenting on Rambam’s Hilchot Malveh Veloveh 4:2), the Torah level prohibition of Lifnei Iver applies even if it is not a Trei Avri Denahara situation.

The Acharonim vigorously debate whether the Mishneh Lamelech is correct (for a summary and analysis of the opinions see Rav Yosef Shalom Eliashiv’s Kovetz Teshuvot number 20). It appears that the general consensus is that one should abide by the strict ruling of the Mishneh Lamelech.

There might be another reason to permit serving meat during the Nine Days based on a controversial ruling of Rav Akiva Eiger. Rav Akiva Eiger (commenting to Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 181:6) suggests that it is permissible for a woman to shave a man with a razor if the man would have otherwise shaved himself with the razor.

This is because if a man shaves himself with a razor he violates two prohibitions— the prohibition to shave with a razor and the prohibition to be shaved with a razor (see Makkot 20b and Shulchan Aruch Y. D.

181:4). However, a woman is not prohibited to shave with a razor (see Kiddushin 29a).

Thus, when a woman shaves a man with a razor, the man violates only the prohibition to be shaved. This ruling is quite relevant for female nurses who are required to shave male patients.

The logic for Rav Akiva Eiger is that the essence of the prohibition of Lifnei Iver is that one should not offer “bad advice” to another. Causing another to sin is certainly offering bad advice. However, if by one’s actions one minimizes the severity of the sin that would have been violated in any event, then he might indeed be offering good advice rather than bad advice.

The Israel Chief Rabbinate permits meat restaurants to serve meat during the Nine Days because of a similar rationale.

They are aware of the fact that in Israel today a very significant percentage of the population fit the description of the Gemara (Chullin 4a) that “Lo Shvak Heteirah Veachil Issura,” that they will not eat kosher if kosher food is available. Thus, they reason that it is certainly preferable that these people violate the minhag to abstain from meat during the Nine Days rather than violate the Torah prohibition to eat non-kosher meat. Thus, the restaurateur is saving his customer from violating a severe transgression by serving him meat during the Nine Days.

Although many authorities do not accept the approach of Rav Akiva Eiger (see the sources cited in Rav Eliezer Waldenberg’s Teshuvot Tzitz Eliezer 15:19), Hacham Ovadia Yosef endorses the approach of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. He notes that one may rule leniently because we are dealing with the question of the observance of a custom, and the fact that some authorities reject the aforementioned stringent approach of the Mishneh Lamelech.

Although the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s lenient approach is somewhat debatable, it certainly is an expression of love and concern for the spiritual health of all of Am Yisrael.

This author followed this ruling in a case presented to him by a congregant.

The congregant prepared and sold meat sandwiches to not yet observant Israelis for lunch. If they refused to sell meat to them during the Nine Days the customers would almost certainly purchase their sandwiches at a non-kosher establishment (and might continue to do so after Tisha B’Av as well). Following Hacham Ovadia’s ruling, I permitted the congregant to continue to serve meat sandwiches during the Nine Days.

This is a typical Sephardic approach, which stresses love and concern for all Jews. This love is reciprocated by almost all Sephardic Jews, who even if they do not yet observe all of the Torah’s laws, observe some basics such as Kashrut and Taharat Habayit and visit an Orthodox synagogue at least a few times yearly. With God’s help the love shown by Hacham Ovadia for all Jews will lead all Jews to live their lives fully in accordance with Torah Law. We hope this, in turn, will usher in an era in which the mourning of the Nine Days will be transformed to a time of joy.

Rabbi Haim Jachter is rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck.

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PROFILES

Who Is Rav Aharon Lichtenstein?

By Elli Fischer (Reprinted with permission from the author. This article first appeared in Mosaic.) mong this year’s recipients of the Israel Prize, the country’s highest honor, is the eminent thinker and educator Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein. To those many Jews in Israel and elsewhere who are acquainted with or have been touched by his life and work, this award, to be conferred on May 6, Independence Day, will signify one of those rare instances when government committees get things right.

In America, where he was raised and educated, Rabbi Lichtenstein’s name is bound to resonate much more faintly.

Within the Orthodox community, it may be familiarly known that he is the leading sage of “modern” or “centrist” Orthodoxy; that he holds a Ph.D. in English literature from Harvard; that he is clean-shaven; and that he is the son-in-law of Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903–1993), the towering figure widely regarded as the founder of modern Orthodoxy. In other Jewish circles, most will have never even heard of him. In mentioning his name a few years ago, the columnist Jeffrey Goldberg cited “Orthodox informants” to the effect that the rabbi was “quite the genius of Jewish law” and a “great dude of halachah.”

With this in mind, my goal here is less to summarize his achievement, a daunting and ultimately futile task, than to offer a portrait of the man sufficient to motivate readers to learn more. (A place to begin might be the online bibliography of his myriad published essays, books, and lectures.)

Aharon Lichtenstein was born in Paris in 1933. Eight years later, his family fled Vichy France to the United States on visas arranged by the courageous American diplomat Hiram Bingham, Jr. After brief stops in Baltimore, where the young boy was already recognized as a prodigy of traditional learning, and then Chicago, they settled in New York in 1945. There he entered a yeshiva before his bar mitzvah and subsequently went on to undergraduate studies and rabbinic ordination at Yeshiva University (YU).

The following years, spent studying English literature at Harvard, were crucial to the development of his particular strain of religious humanism; Boston also afforded the opportunity to study closely with his future father-in-law.

Upon returning to YU in a teaching capacity, Rabbi Lichtenstein oversaw the rabbinical school’s program for its most advanced students. Then, in 1971, he accepted an offer to join with Rabbi Yehuda Amital in heading a new yeshiva south of Jerusalem in the Etzion Bloc (in Hebrew,Gush Etzion, with Gush pronounced goosh as in “push”). He has been there ever since. Formally known as Yeshivat Har Etzion but universally called “the Gush,” the school represents his (and Rabbi Amital’s) vision for the role of the yeshiva as a unique educational institution within Jewish society; it is perhaps his greatest legacy.

Increasing in stature and influence over the decades, the Gush and its satellite initiatives are famous for providing an

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open, intellectually curious, and nondogmatic alternative to other Israeli yeshivas. This is no accident; having spent virtually his entire adult life within the yeshiva world, Rabbi Lichtenstein believes that, properly conceived and managed, these schools can be places not only for single-minded devotion to talmudic excellence but also for the development of moral character and leadership. In his holistic vision, the moral goal is not self-mastery or ascetic self-discipline (as in some yeshivas of old) but, to the contrary, wellroundedness and other-directedness.

The same moral vision explains Rabbi Lichtenstein’s readiness to cite sources outside the Jewish tradition that, even as they complement and support the uniquely Jewish system of values and virtues, are reminders that immersion in Torah must not come at the expense of universal responsibilities. The thinkers to whom he regularly returns—Matthew Arnold, John Henry Cardinal Newman, and F. H. Bradley, to name only a few—are precisely those who best articulate how to combine a life of devotion with fruitful engagement in the outside world, an alien and sometimes problematic reality.

Of course, this is not to say that moral and religious development takes priority in his mind over his students’ intellectual growth and erudition. For one thing, he views the two spheres not as distinct but as interrelated. For another and more important thing, Rabbi Lichtenstein is staunchly within the Lithuanian rabbinic tradition that views Talmud study as the ultimate religious act, a merging of the minds of God and man.

As a talmudist, Rabbi Lichtenstein is a proponent of the “Brisker” method, for which his wife’s family is renowned. In this pedagogical approach, legal disputes or contradictions within the Talmud may be understood by analyzing the logical or “conceptual” underpinnings that account for the divergent rabbinic rulings under examination. In Rabbi Lichtenstein’s hands, the method has been further abstracted so that it can be employed at the very outset of any exercise in talmudic analysis.

Brisker-type interrogations thus become hermeneutical keys, to be tested in a variety of settings. Does a given rule require the attainment of a particular result, or does it mandate a specific act? Is a particular rabbinic enactment an expansion of a biblical law, or a separate institution? Does a speech-act hinge on the technical or the commonsense meaning of the words uttered? Taking the metaphor of “key” questions still further, Rabbi Lichtenstein has spoken of developing a “key ring”: the more keys on a student’s ring, the more talmudic “locks” can be opened, and the larger and more complex become the conceptual structures within which one assimilates talmudic data.

This mode of discourse can be discerned in Rabbi Lichtenstein’s non-legal thinking as well. His treatment of “The Universal Duties of Mankind,” for example, begins with Genesis 2:15: “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it (l’ovdah) and to guard it (l’shomrah).” He then abstracts these two verbal charges as fundamental yet distinct and often competing categories of mankind’s duties toward the world,

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to which the remainder of the essay is devoted: Here we have two distinct tasks.

One, “l’shomrah,” is largely conservative, aimed at preserving nature. It means to guard the world, to watch it—and watching is essentially a static occupation, seeing to it that things do not change, that they remain as they are. This is what Adam was expected to do, and part of our task in the world is indeed to guard that which we have been given: our natural environment, our social setting, our religious heritage. . .

At the same time, there is the task of “l’ovdah” (to cultivate it), which is essentially creative: to develop, to work, to innovate.

I think that we would not be stretching things too far if we were to understand that this mandate applies far beyond that particular little corner of the Garden where Adam and Eve were placed.

What we have here is a definition of how man is to be perceived in general.

This example also typifies another salient feature of Rabbi Lichtenstein’s oeuvre: a frank acknowledgment of the tension and equivocation between competing claims. Numerous demands are made on one devoted to the path of Torah, demands that must be ordered within a hierarchy of values and then implemented in life. Neglect of even a trivial demand can denote failure to maintain proper balance, a flaw in one’s discharge of his duties. In an essay in this vein, Rabbi Lichtenstein articulates the desired ordering of study of Torah with the duty to serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

Clearly, the resulting approach to life is itself very demanding. But it can also be characterized as both moderate and balanced: moderate not because it shuns extremes, but because it embraces competing extremes; balanced not because it stands on many legs at once but because it seeks a subtle equilibrium that will allow one to remain upright amid the swirl of external forces.

It is also an approach that countless students have found inspiring and lifechanging. And that is because Rabbi Lichtenstein, in addition to being its master exponent, is also its greatest role model. Far from flamboyant or charismatic, he is shy and unpretentious to the point of sometimes seeming aloof. But that impression is deceptive: a video produced in honor of his 80th birthday includes footage in which he is pictured doing the dishes, in a rowboat, playing with his children and grandchildren. The canonical stories about him do not recount his genius or erudition but his humility: answering the yeshiva’s public phone with a simple “Aaron speaking,” or, after students in an army classroom have all fallen asleep, continuing an involved talmudic lecture so as to allow them to get some much-needed rest.

Such stories abound. They may help to explain why, in the end, his many disciples can only describe him by speaking personally of what he has meant to them.

And so I will now proceed to do. In recent years, the Orthodox spirit in Israel and the U.S. has suffered shock after shock. Leading and respected rabbis have been ex-

posed as frauds, bigots, or manipulators entangled in political jockeying for plum appointments. Other renowned figures have been revealed as racists, plagiarists, protectors of sexual predators, abusers of power. Intellectual and moral lightweights have promoted themselves as Orthodoxy’s exponents and arbiters, influencers and opinion makers.

All this has had a traumatic effect. Every saint who turns out to be a sinner further erodes the bulwarks of religious commitment. Was it, we wonder, only ever thus? Were our revered rabbis and sages always so petty, self-absorbed, and powerhungry?

On May 10, 2013, among the 1,500-some students who gathered to celebrate Rabbi Lichtenstein’s 80th birthday with him, I experienced a powerful restorative of my faith in God and in the Torah transmitted to us through the generations. To adapt a Shakespearean tag favored by Rabbi Lichtenstein (though never to describe himself), I was reminded that one figure doth bestride this phalanx of fallen saints and discredited chief rabbis like a colossus, his erudition fully matched by his humility and humanity, and by the harmonious balance and wholesomeness of his life. Such multifaceted greatness is wholly unattainable by me, but acquaintance with it helps me believe that such paragons of service to the Almighty have existed in the past and will continue to exist in the future.

This may seem a strange basis for faith.

Can one’s faith in God and in the halachic tradition really be rooted in love and reverence for a human being? Is it appropriate for a fellow human to be treated as an object of reverence in the first place?

According to the Talmud (Pesahim 22b), the answer is yes: reverence for Torah scholars is indeed an extension of reverence for God, their greatness being a reflection and refraction of His. The same idea is developed in a 1996 article by Rabbi Lichtenstein himself.

The article is about his mentors, and he begins by quoting the first line of Matthew Arnold’s sonnet “To a Friend”: “Who prop, thou ask’st in these bad days, my mind?”

About this formulation of Arnold’s he comments that, “In my case, at least, the critical factor is indeed ‘who’ rather than ‘what,’” and he proceeds to describe how three men—Rabbis Aharon Soloveichik, Yitzhak Hutner, and Joseph B. Soloveitchik—constitute, in part, the source and grounding of his faith in God and the Jewish tradition.

As for my own feelings of gratitude toward Rabbi Lichtenstein, they are well expressed in another passage in Arnold’s poem: “But be his/ My special thanks, whose even-balanced soul/ . . . saw life steadily, and saw it whole.”

The same feelings are expressed, most beautifully, in words of the Psalms (84:6) that in the original are clearly addressed to God. In singing them, Rabbi Lichtenstein’s students are altogether right to have in mind, as well, their peerless guide and mentor: Ashrei adam oz lo bach –Fortunate the person who finds strength through you.

Elli Fischer lives in Israel. A writer and translator, he can be followed on Facebook and Twitter. From 1998– 2002, he studied for rabbinical ordination in Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein’s institutions.

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 71

FEATURE

Where Synagogues Once Stood: A Tisha B’Av Exploration

By Judah S. Harris isha B’Av the world over is observed through fasting, expressions of mourning, the reading of Megillas Eicha, and the recitation of the Kinos. In our times, at least, communities and individuals have often supplemented these activities with additional experiences, hoping to create added meaning and relevancy to the commemorative day.

In the early ’90s I photographed the annual torch-lit procession on Tisha B’Av night at Camp Morasha in Lake Como, Pennsylvania; I attended day-long learning programs in Brooklyn and some of the other boroughs; I sat with others in air-conditioned synagogue halls and multi-purpose rooms watching Tisha B’Av films and interviews. But one Tisha B’Av afternoon in the late ’80s, a few years after I graduated college, I wandered around parts of Harlem and looked at structures that used to be synagogues.

My grandfather was born in Harlem in 1900. As a young child and then a young man, Harold Harris attended Congregation Ohab Zedek, north of where it is today. Its full name was First Hungarian Congregation Ohab Zedek, and Yossele Rosenblatt was the esteemed cantor. My grandfather would proudly volunteer that information in the 1920s and 1930s during countless job interviews, when asked what “church” he belonged to after his credentials had been readily confirmed. His response was always: “I belong to Congregation Ohab Zedek, Yossele Rosenblatt is the cantor…”

I heard this story numerous times, and my grandfather always ended it the same way: “I’m sorry Mr. Harris but we don’t hire Jews.”

Decades later, I would walk through Harlem on many shabbosim and yomim tovim—from my apartment in Washington Heights, to the Upper West Side— sometimes three miles, sometimes five,

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and sometimes doubling that with a return trip. I even organized a final Rosh Hashanna minyan at a shul on 157th Street. This was in the late ’80s, and was inspired by my Tisha B’Av afternoon walk to see the synagogues that once were. I wrote an eloquent message and papered the walls of Yeshiva University’s main campus with photocopied signs inviting students to be a part of the last synagogue in Harlem’s very last minyan. The synagogue was just outside the boundaries of Harlem, two blocks north of the Hamilton Heights-Washington Heights border. It also wasn’t the very last synagogue in Harlem—it was the southernmost of what’s referred to as Northern Manhattan.

Indeed, Harlem still has one active synagogue, which gets press attention for just that reason, and it is one I frequented on many occasions. The Old Broadway Synagogue, located a block east of the intersection of Broadway and 125th Street, is a reminder of the heyday of Jewish life there during the first two decades of the 1900s.

Toward the latter part of this period, the Jewish population reached as high as 178,000. But as the Jewish migration away from Harlem began and quickly grew—relocating to the Bronx, Brooklyn, and the Upper West Side—the synagogues relocated too. Over the short span of nine years, the population dropped to only 5000 by 1930. For Jews, Harlem was over and the houses of worship were abandoned. As any Tisha B’Av afternoon walk similar to mine will reveal, many former synagogues are

now churches, some are empty, and some, whose large buildings no longer exist, have been replaced with new structures.

Visiting the places where synagogues once stood, where Jewish communities once thrived, can be one way of internalizing the meaning of Tisha B’Av, especially if their exterior architecture and Hebrew inscriptions are still visible, and there is no Jewish life within. From the beginning, synagogues in all the generations have been mikdashei me’at, smaller versions of the Temples that once stood in Jerusalem. Tisha B’Av mourns the destruction of the Temples, and as the Talmud says it is “a day of crying for the generations” that laments other calamities and tribulations in Jewish history.

The Temple functioned as a concrete sign of God’s presence, of His relationship with the Jewish people, and its destruction continues to suggest His absence, even as we have grown accustomed to the exile.

Today we are able to visit the courtyard of where the Temple, the grandest of all synagogues, once stood. Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, who lived prior to 1967, were not able to do that.

In 1967, there was a euphoria that surrounded the unification of Jerusalem, the capture of the Temple Mount during the Six-Day war; Mordechai Gur’s declaration that “the Temple mount is in our hands”; the sounding of the shofar; the recitation of the blessing of Shehechianu. But today the actual site of the destroyed Temple is a place almost too alive to truly feel the destruction and abandonment.

During the daytime it often bustles with people of all types, ringing with the sounds of prayer, conversation, and nearby traffic. It’s a destination now, and familiarity has softened its impact. In our times, the Kotel must be one of the most iconic of Jewish images, its looming presence, the strength and size of its stone, and even the knowledge that we are gazing at only a smaller section of the total expanse of the

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75 Years of Volunteer Service 2014

Western Wall.

I was more moved when I took a tour of the archeological excavations along the Southern Wall. The guide pointed out the stairs that led up to the Temple mount via Hulda’s Gate, noting the stairs were those used by the people of Israel who were oleh regel, during the three appointed holidays.

For me, the stairs brought the past closer.

It was a sunny day, the sounds of the crowds and the noises of the buses and cars, though diminished, could still be heard in the distance. There was a time when tens of thousands, even more, came to Jerusalem to a functioning Holy Temple, a combination of the miraculous and, from ample descriptions, of the glorious. It was all so long ago, and some have the custom in the synagogue the night of Tisha B’Av to announce the number of years that have passed since the destruction of the Second Temple two millennia ago.

A few years ago on the Shabbos before Tisha B’Av, the rabbi in my shul gave a talk.

He said he wished that the sorrowful day, on the following Thursday, would be somehow transformed into a holiday, a day of celebration. This Thursday? I thought…

Five days from now? Really?

Judaism has an essential belief in waiting for the redemption. We believe it will come and we wait for it each day. The Rambam says this basic tenet means that each and every day we are hopeful that God will redeem the Jewish people, “at the appropriate time.” And no matter which generation will be redeemed, the entire nation, past and present, will benefit. We are all connected to the destiny of the Jewish people; each Jew is a point on the continuum of Jewish history.

Waiting for Messiah conveys a concept that just as Judaism is a dynamic religion, so too is our history. There is more in store for us as a people, for sure, and also for the world at large. Much remains unresolved.

To believe in the imminent redemption is to feel a desire today for a closer relationship with God. Each day we feel the absence of His presence, and we are like children awaiting the return of a parent, who run to the window to peek out from time to time, who know something is missing, something is not complete.

That year, Thursday was mighty soon, and this year it’s the same. But what about the question that faithful Jews probably wonder about: “Will the Temple actually be rebuilt in my lifetime?” “In my lifetime,” provides a little more room for opportunity, but it still sounds not much different, and perhaps no less a fantasy than “this Thursday.” But still the promise: “Those who mourn for Jerusalem will merit to see it in its joy,” says the Talmud (Taanit 30B), basing its assurances on a phrase in the last chapter of Isaiah that encourages all lovers of Jerusalem and all who’ve mourned her to rejoice in her revival and her rebirth.

Within the sadness of the Tisha B’Av day coexists a future holiday, a time of rejoicing. Within the mourning and sorrow lives the promise of happiness and of joy. The abandonment feels real, but the trajectory more so.

Judah S. Harris is a photographer, filmmaker, speaker and writer. Judah’s photography has appeared in museum exhibits, on the Op-Ed Pages of the NY Times. To learn more about Judah S. Harris, visit www.judahsharris.com/visit.

201-371-3212 • WWW.JEWISHLINKBC.COM

CHESED

Neve Yerushalayaim

By Aviva Fort eve Yerushalayim is a network of schools in Jerusalem dedicated to uniquely educating Jewish women about their heritage.

“Neve,” as it’s simply called by its thousands of alumnae, is more than just a school. It’s a place where women explore their Jewish identity, create lifelong friendships, and integrate Torah knowledge into their lives on their levels.

Many readers are familiar with Neve because of its impact on countless Jewish individuals, families, and communities. Neve is known for its world renowned educators such as Rabbi Moshe Chalkowski and Rebbitzen Tzipporah Heller, among many others. Unfortunately, Neve is now going through a difficult financial time, so alumnae across the globe have decided to raise visibility and funding for this incredible institution. Many current and former residents of Bergen County are Neve alumnae.

Talia Jaffe of Teaneck attended Neve in 2012. “I was 20 and suddenly felt a strong urge to go away from the stability of my soon-to-be fiancé and the Torah path. I felt that Neve was the place for me to be to restore my values and be inspired. Thankfully, Neve allowed me to pay a minimal amount and join their summer session last minute. I was so lucky to learn from such incredible teachers who were able to excite me again about what I had always known was the right path. When I think of Neve, I think of an oasis on a hill, full of women who are genuinely there to grow, all with spirits thirsty for Torah and understanding of what is important in life.”

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Neve School of General Jewish Studies.

Neve students.

Rachel Zahava “RZ” Ruchlamer, a teacher, community activist, and singles event organizer from Teaneck, attended Neve in 2001 and 2003. RZ credits Neve teachers Rabbi Azar and Rabbi Bear for supporting her through the unexpected loss of her only brother. “I could not have gone through my experience without the help and support of my teachers and fellow Neve girls.”

As Brooke Lewitan, also of Teaneck (Neve ‘01-’02) shared, “Neve has always allowed people to attend regardless of the ability to pay.”

Neve has an extraordinary pay-it-forward system that enables women to study on campus regardless of their financial circumstances. If a student can’t pay the $1,800 monthly tuition (which includes room, board, trips, three meals a day and even potato kugel on Friday afternoon), she is asked to pay what she can manage and commit to pay the remaining balance as a moral obligation to Neve when she is in a better financial state. Neve has accrued about $15 million dollars of moral obliga-

tion debt due from alumnae from just the past 10 years.

Both Lewitan and former Teaneck baby gemach volunteer Rachel Fleischer assert that if it wasn’t for Neve, they would not be raising their families in a religious lifestyle. Lewitan states, “Neve allowed me to learn about Judaism in a non-judgmental setting.”

Says Fleischer, “Neve changed the course of my life.”

Rabbi Dovid Refson, Dean of Neve Yerushalayim, puts it quite clearly: “In the present day world, everyone has to understand that if women don’t receive a Jewish education, there is no Jewish future.”

Rabbi Refson and Rabbi Chalkowski started Neve Yerushalayim in 1970 but had originally intended for the students to be men. “I put an advert in the Jerusalem Post for yeshiva summer courses. As a Brit I never imagined that it wasn’t clear this was for men. Instead, five women showed up! It was an outgrowth of their desire to learn that Neve Yerushalayim was born. We were ahead of everybody else, but not by very

much, in understanding the centrality of women and women’s education to Jewish continuity.

“This is our contribution. Our idea of empowerment is to give women the knowledge to make their own independent decisions. We’ve created an environment which supports and enables women to call the shots at every turn, to experience their personal challenges and remember the process by which they reached their decision regarding their Jewish heritage. The whole essence of Neve is that people need the information with which to make their own choices.”

Allison Gur-Aryeh of Teaneck went to Neve in 2006. She remarked that “Neve enabled me to become a religious Jewish woman with knowledge of her rights and the motivation to keep learning. I wish I could win the lottery just to send them money.”

If you would like to support this revolutionary and essential institution, please donate to Neve Yerushalayim at https://nevey. org/donation-form/ .

FINANCE

For Retail Investors, Is History Repeating Itself (Again)?

By Elozor M. Preil uy-and-hold and market timing are two investment approaches that seem to be polar opposites in terms of philosophy and execution. Yet proponents of both strategies can make historical arguments for their validity by pointing to the positive results of investment professionals. Unfortunately, it appears the majority of non-professional individual investors, often referred to as “retail customers,” don’t seem to be able to use either approach effectively. They don’t hold what they buy, and they mis-time their transactions.

As a result, retail investors have a tendency to sell low and buy high, an approach that almost always diminishes gains and frequently delivers losses. Studies tracking investor behavior consistently find that returns for the majority of retail investors are significantly lower than market indices, and the same holds true when their returns are compared to funds that use either buy-and-hold or market timing strategies.

There are obvious explanations for retail investors’ not achieving better results.

Some people don’t have the belief or emotional makeup to handle the repeated fluctuations that come with a buy-and-hold approach. Others may not have the time, expertise, or discipline to successfully exe-

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cute timing strategies. But the biggest challenge for most retail customers may be the inability to acknowledge their incompetence as investors; they keep making the same mistakes.

Since bottoming out in March 2009, equity markets have experienced the “most uncelebrated bull market in history,” according to research director Tony Ferriera in a Reuters article. How much of a bull market? Through April 1, 2014, Louis Basenese of the Wall Street Daily reported the S & P 500 index had gained over 130 percent in the past four years. Sounds like a good period to have been invested, right? Unfortunately, many retail investors were leaving the market instead of getting in.

In an article for Investor Insight, Gary Hulbert cites data from the Investment Company Institute showing mutual funds had huge redemptions in 2008 and 2009, which is understandable, given the losses investors were incurring. However…

“This pattern of outflows continued in 2010 and even beyond. In fact, ICI reports that there were net outflows from domestic equity mutual funds in 21 of 24 months in 2011 and 2012. Net inflows to equity mutual funds didn’t turn positive until January of this year. These data prove that millions of investors missed all or most of the bull market in stocks that began in early 2009.

Likewise, many are only getting back on board now with the Dow and S&P 500 at all-time record highs… Selling low and buy-

201-371-3212 • WWW.JEWISHLINKBC.COM

ing high.”

A Wall Street Journal article titled “Mom and Pop Run With the Bulls” personalized this self-defeating individual investor behavior with the example of a Houston couple, both doctors, who felt “sucker punched” by the losses they sustained in 2008 and 2009. They swore off stocks, putting their savings in a bank. But after seeing the indexes push to record highs, “they took the plunge back into the market.” Why now? “We just didn’t want to be left on the sidelines,” said the wife. And thus, another example of selling low, buying high. Can anyone say “Déjà vu all over again”?

To be clear: The problem isn’t the stock market. Intelligent investing can deliver substantial returns, and result in significant upgrades in one’s financial well-being.

But like many other big financial decisions (starting a business, buying a home, beginning a life-insurance program), buy-andhold and market timing approaches to investing require discipline and a willingness to stay the course long enough to see results. Many individual investors sabotage their chances with impulsive decisions based on immediate distractions.

If you have been an individual investor in the stock market, now might be an opportune time to assess your past performance. (Remember, we are in the midst of an “uncelebrated bull market,” so the current numbers should look good, right?) Ask yourself some simple questions, and be

honest with the answers: Do you have a defined investment strategy? Do you stick to it?

Have you bought high and sold low in the past?

Has your investment performance come close to matching that of indexes or comparable funds?

Based on past experience, what needs to change to improve your results?

Should you consider getting more input from expert sources?

In the Wall Street Journal story referenced above, the Houston couple said this time they were hiring a financial adviser to help them with their investment plans. This decision may be beneficial, because while it is possible to make individual investing a do-it-yourself project, an informed third party can be a voice of reason that keeps you from repeating past mistakes.

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Keep your sanity—and your money—by changing your investor behavior.

Elozor Preil is Managing Director at Wealth Advisory Group and Registered Representative and Financial Advisor of Park Avenue Securities LLC (PAS). He can be reached at epreil@wagroupllc.com. See www.wagroupllc.com/epreil for full disclosures and disclaimers.

Guardian, its subsidiaries, agents, or employees do not give tax or legal advice. You should consult your tax or legal advisor regarding your individual situation.

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 73

PERSONAL FINANCE

No Thanks, I’m Good

By David Siegel ow many times have you been at a shabbat lunch and the host offered you a second helping of that delicious steak dish, or you attended an important meeting and were offered water or a pad to write on, and each time your immediate response was “No thanks, I’m good.”

And then it happens. You begin to rethink that hasty decline. You really enjoyed that steak and would like a little more be-

H

fore dessert comes. Your throat is dry and you could really use a little water before the meeting begins, and unfortunately, you now realize you don’t have any paper on which to take notes.

But it’s too late, you said “No thanks, I’m good.”

Student Debt is now a looming crisis facing our nation as millions of young people are saddled with mountains of debt.

Many young people will never be able to purchase a home because of their monthly student loan obligations. They will not be able to qualify for a mortgage, and even their parents, who cosigned their loans,

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may not qualify for a refinance since they are now obligated on these debts as well.

Fortunately, the government is now making student borrowers a generous offer. If you qualify, you can reduce your monthly payments and eliminate any remaining debt after as little as ten years.

Here’s how it works.

Essentially, the Income Based Repayment Program (IBR) establishes a payment schedule based on your income and household size without regard to debt amount.

A single household earning $40,000 will pay $281. The household of three earning the same $40,000 would pay just $129.The BS”D

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same households earning $60,000 would have to make payments of $531 and $379.

Compare this to the standard 10-year payments due on $50,000 and $100,000 loan balances of, respectively, $533 and $1066, and you can see the potential for reduced monthly payments.

If the same person graduated recently and qualifies for the Pay as You Earn (PAYE)) program, the payment would be one-third less than the IBR amount. The three-person household with a $40,000 income would only be paying $86 per month. The recent coverage in the press about student loans refers to President Obama’s plan to extend this program to graduates as far back as 2007, thereby opening the program to millions more debtors. If you graduated after 2007, this may be a benefit for you.

The second aspect of the IBR program is that it enables you to discharge any remaining debt after a certain number of payments. The standard number of years is 25, while if you qualify for PAYE, you can discharge debts after 20 years of payments.

While this is a long time, at least it gives you a time horizon, and if your income never catches up with your expectations you will pay the monthly amount knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Now here’s the really exciting part. If you have chosen a profession that meets the requirements of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, you can discharge your debt after just 120 payments or 10 years. Public service includes such positions as nurses, teachers, municipal workers, non-profit employees, and more. If you fit into this category and you have debt over $30,000 you are missing a tremendous opportunity if you don’t explore this program.

I have helped people reduce monthly payments from $1000 to $253 and from $525 to zero. Unfortunately, I have spoken with more people who expressed interest but never pursued the program and who are now paying hundreds each month they may not need to be paying. The process will require work, and persistence. However, we spend so much energy working to earn a living, isn’t an hour of work worth hundreds of dollars in savings per month?

As they say, a penny saved…

The first step is to go to www.studentaid.gov and find the repayment estimator and compare how much you pay now with what you would pay under these programs. Even if you are presently deferring, you may be better off starting to pay under IBR or PAYE. Maybe your current payment will be zero but it will count towards the 120 required payments to discharge the balance due.

If you need help, call your loan servicer.

Also, if you wish, ask me for a free booklet explaining the various programs in more detail.

The government is offering you a second helping of chulent. Before you turn it down see if it works for you and resist the urge to say No thanks, I’m good. Perhaps you could actually be better.

David Siegel is a Home Lending Specialist with Citibank in its Englewood office. Siegel can be reached at david.siegel@citi.com or 201-419-1330. David has prepared a guide for First Time Homebuyers. Contact him for more information on student debt programs and homebuying tips.

201-371-3212 • WWW.JEWISHLINKBC.COM

FINDING A JOB

The Interview Process: Pre-Interview

By Yoni Lieber, SPHR So you got the call to come in for an interview—now what?!

Here are some tips to help you prepare.

1. Research. Make sure you research the organization where you are seeking employment. If your career is one that gives you the flexibility to move between industries, such as a role in finance or IT, you may not be familiar with it. Check the company website, Google them, and learn as much as you can about them. If you are a LinkedIn member, see if you know anyone who works there or has knowledge about the company. The more you know about the company and industry prior to your interview, the better off you’ll be.

Even if you’ve worked in the same industry and are familiar with the company, it makes sense to get some more information. Being knowledgeable about the company will prepare you to discuss any recent changes or developments at the company and arm you with the information you need to speak intelligently during the interview.

2. Plan Ahead. If you are scheduled for an interview and have never been to that geographical area, make sure you know how to get there before the day of your interview. You don’t want to show up late for your meeting because you got lost. Waking up that morning and realizing you have no idea how to get there will affect your timing, and can create additional anxiety that will hamper your interview. If you are taking public transportation, make sure you know the schedule, and give yourself extra time to get there. You also want to have enough time to ensure you look presentable and not walk into the interview looking disheveled.

3. Prepare. Make sure you properly prepare for the interview. Try and anticipate what questions you will be asked, and have some answers formulated in your mind. If you know that there are

certain aspects of your experience you want to highlight, think of ways to steer the conversation to that area. You may want to practice your interview skills against someone else. Ask someone you trust to sit with you and ask you some questions. Answer them out loud and have them provide feedback—not only on what was said, but how your answers were delivered. Another option is to use a mirror. Many actors will prepare for roles in front of a mirror. While it seems a little silly at first, it will give you a chance to practice your answers out loud, which will hopefully give you

some insight into your interviewing skills.

4. Relax. This is definitely easier said than done, as the interview process can be very stressful. Most people are nervous when it comes time for the actual interview, which is understandable. At the same time, you want to exude confidence in your abilities. Prior to the interview find time to relax by watching TV or reading a book. Take your mind off of the upcoming meeting. If you go into the interview anxious or uptight, the recruiter can easily read your body language and it could have a negative effect

on your chances of getting the job.

Keep in mind that recruiters can get hundreds of applications on a daily basis, so if a recruiter called you for an interview, it means they saw something on your résumé that caught their attention.

That being the case, it means you have at least some of the skills and qualities that they are looking for, so carry yourself with confidence.

Yoni Lieber is a certified HR professional with over 15 years of experience in the Human Resources field. He currently works as the Human Resources Manager at Hackensack UMC at Pascack Valley in Westwood, NJ.

Send us your news, events and photos!

Send to editor@jewishlinkbc.com 201-371-3212 • WWW.JEWISHLINKBC.COM

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 75

CLASSIFIEDS Shul Looking To Rent Out Space Bergen County Shul Looking to Rent Out Space to Nursery or Kindergarten or Related Purpose Ready for Immediate Use. For info, call: 201-265-9714 or nussynj@aol.com

Fort Lee, NJ Co-Op For Sale Moving - Must Sell – Co-Op with River Views, 3brs, 2bths.

No Reasonable Offer Refused. Call 201-390-0755 for details.

SEEKING COLLEGE PROFESSORS/TEACHERS College Professors • Full-time & Adjuncts PhD/EdD a must for F/T position with expertise in Special Education & NY Common Core Standards. Adjunct positions available in both Men’s and Women’s Programs.

Fax resume to 718-338-1044 or e-mail: raizel.reit@consulttti.com.

Math Team Advisor Sought The Frisch School, Paramus, NJ is seeking a Math Team advisor. Prior high school teaching experience and, ideally, past experience with AMC and NJ Math League preferred. Math Team meets one afternoon every other week (Mondays or Wednesdays). Position begins 8/4/14. Advisor responsible for registering all contests, running/supervising meetings, and administering various monthly contests. Room to expand the scope and activities of the team. Résumés to sabrina.bernath@frisch.org.

Job Opportunities - Project Ezrah Our client, a CPA firm located near Monsey NY, is seeking a motivated staff accountant with solid 3-5 years of current CPA firm experience. The firm specializes in the tax and accounting needs of small to mid-size closely held businesses, both international and domestic, and highnet worth individuals. You will be given the right tools and training in a supportive team environment which will enable you to succeed and grow with us. Your initial responsibilities will include tax preparation, QuickBooks write-up, and special projects. This is a full-time job with tax season overtime, but there is some flexibility for less hours during the summer. Full benefits include vacation, holidays, and health care. To apply please email your resume to application@ezrah.org New York law firm seeks a fifth plus year Commercial Real Estate Transactions focused Attorney to join its expanding

76 July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774

group. In this role candidate will engage clientele to include developers, real estate private equity funds, and property owners.

Candidate must have the following: complex and sophisticated transactions experience (sales, acquisitions, financing, and joint ventures); experience in a law firm setting (experience should be current or very recent).

Solid academic credentials desired; Strong research, verbal and written communication skills required; major law firm experience preferred. New York Bar. ••• Excellent work environment and benefits package with competitive compensation commensurate with experience.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: • Engagement across a broad spectrum of real estate activities that includes development deals, acquisitions and dispositions, leases, market standard and complex financings, and restructurings.

• Representing clients in all of the major real estate product areas, including office, commercial, industrial, multi-family, hospitality.

To apply, please email your resume to application@ezrah.org ••• Entrepreneurial printing company located in Bergen County is seeking a part-time graphic artist to handle additional workload during the summer.

Must have experience and be comfortable with the following programs: Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop.

To apply please email your resume to application@ezrah.org

Seeking SEO Consultant Myraj Media is looking for an experienced SEO Consultant to work directly with our clients on as-needed basis to improve their organic search performance. The SEO Consultant will work as a member of our team, working hand-in-hand with the web developers and designers.

The SEO is responsible for a combination of project management and execution of the SEO programs, therefore actual hands-on SEO experience is essential. Contact jobs@myrajmedia. com for more information. www.myrajmedia.com

For Sale: Dining Room Table & Chairs Formal dining room table and chairs for sale. Solid wood, light brown. 60””, and extends to 96””. Items may be purchased separately. Table--$150 or best offer. Chairs--$25 per chair or best offer. Contact avmanh@verizon.net or 551-265-3963

Skills-Based Groups “Toby Barg, MSEd, Teacher, Ben Porat Yosef. Teaching skills-based groups in your home.

Specialty: Expository Writing and Research (integrating technology, interactive). All Grades.

Groups forming now for fall. Contact tobybarg@gmail.com, 914-419-1277. References upon request.”

Model Airplane for Sale Colorful balsa wood 13”” model airplane for sale. Recreated as an art object. Photos available. Contact uptogo@aol.com or 201-417-9269.

Bar Mitzvah Lessons “Bar Mitzvah Lessons! Teaneck Area, Sunday and weeknight sessions available.

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Torah Teacher/Tutor for Women and Girls Experienced teacher with strong Talmud and Bible background looking to help you or your daughters improve skills reading and understanding Jewish texts, and also derive meaning from those texts. At my home or yours. $50/hr. Contact Elisheva Schlanger, elisheva.schlanger@gmail.com

Englewood Home for Sale Beautiful Englewood Home for Sale by Owner. $949,900. Colonial with 5 B/R, 3.5 baths.

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Woodbourne: Bungalow for Sale in Frum Colony Bungalow in prime Catskills Location—one mile from the center of Woodbourne—ideal for frum couple. A neat little bungalow in a popular frum colony with 1 large bedroom, a large eat-in kitchen, and front porch. Colony has a shul, a swimming pool and heimishe/haredi/yeshivish menschen.

For information call 570-216-4727.

Secretary Wanted for NJ Company Secretary Wanted for company in New Jersey. Nice work environment. Good salary. Please send resume to: faigy@mehadrin.com OR call 718-456-9494 x332

Seeking Executive Assistant Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School (YCT) in Riverdale seeks an Executive Assistant to manage the President’s daily operations and provide administrative support. Minimum 5 years similar experience. To obtain full job description, email hr@yctorah.org with JL Assistant in subject line.

Seeking Recruiters Looking for recruiters to join our Hackensack office. This is job selling via phone and email. We offer base salary, commissions, and benefits. This job is very conducive to a Frum lifestyle, and we have many Orthodox employees. Contact sheera@threepillars.com

PERSONALS Widow, 55 years old, looking for a nice established guy who would consider living in Israel or the US. Please contact me at: 458299@gmail.com or 011-972-458-9299.

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UNGARBLED TECH

Wired vs. Wireless Networks

By Shneur Garb ix years ago, homes were not dependent on WiFi access. Homes that used to have one PC and maybe a printer now have WiFi TVs, tablets, phones, a number of PCs and multiple printers. Even cell phone carriers suggest you use WiFi to save on the data charges.

A common complaint IT professionals receive is, “My room right next to the router has low coverage but the room above the router has perfect coverage.” A strange phenomenon is when some users pick up a better signal from their neighbor’s router than their own.

Since WiFi works with line of sight, it’s

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very possible that your neighbor’s WiFi has a better reception in certain areas than your own router. I check my WiFi network in my own home and I see my neighbor’s router who lives on the next block!

If you have a choice to connect Desktops/TVs to a wired solution, that is the best way to go. Most users have their router and provider’s Cablevision or Verizon router in the basement. The signal has to propagate upstairs through walls and pipes. Some of these obstructions can block WiFi signal.

Here is an easy solution. Have your modem moved to a central location. Don’t let the providers tell you differently. You can have the modem moved anywhere you want. My home office used to be in my attic. Then my teenager outgrew living with her younger sister and moved to the attic. Af-

ter three weeks of yelling up to my “selective hearing” teenager, I called my provider. They moved all of the equipment to a central area.

If you are doing new construction on your home or office, my consulting company can be helpful in consulting with you on how to best run network wiring throughout the home. Alarm professionals and general contractors should run these wires.

Besides holding the proper licensing and insurance, people running wires in your home should make sure it’s done properly. Ask where lines will be terminated and who will be terminating them—I just saw a homeowner who had no idea that network wires had been run through the house, but were never terminated—but be aware that running such wires may not be possible or affordable in older homes.

Routers are getting stronger signals with each new release. With that said, before you start calling Cablevision or Verizon and stay-

ing on the phone for hours, purchase a new router, and install it yourself. Most can be installed easily or if you are wary, call your IT professional.

If you are still getting low signal, an Access Point/Repeater can be installed in the area where the signal is weak. Some of the Access Points will advertise that this can be done via WiFi. Meaning the AP will regenerate the signal from the weakest point and will do this via WiFi. I have not found this method effective. If anything it causes more frustration than a solution. The best way to implement an Access Point is to have a hard wire Network run to the middle point of the home. Then install the Access point to the Ethernet wire. This method is very effective, and when the installer is there, it might be prudent to think about running more than one line if you have the installer there.

If you have any questions email shneur@garbcg.com.

LEGAL

The “Undocumented” Child

By Michael J. Wildes, Esq. ver the centuries, the United States has been a beacon for young people worldwide trying to create a better life for themselves and their families. Most everyone willing and able to leave his or her home country and immigrate to America has found a place in our society. Whether the reason was religious persecution, political backlash, famine, violence, or other reasons, young people who were escaping bad situations in the pursuit of happiness have arrived at our shores and borders and were essentially welcomed with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, things have recently taken a turn for the worse on our southern border with Mexico.

Due in part to the uptick in the number of deportations by the federal government that was a carryover from the Bush administration and continued during the Obama administration, huge numbers of undocumented young people are being held, oftentimes inhumanely, in large-scale detention centers with little idea about what the government has in store for them. Many of these minors speak little English and are not fully aware of their situations, nor are they capable of defending themselves.

Receiving adequate legal counsel is well above the budget of most of these young detainees, and the government neither feels they are entitled to assigned counsel, nor does it provide pro bono legal services to them. Undocumented immigrants do

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not have a right to legal representation as United States citizens do.

Unlike undocumented immigrants hailing from Mexico, many of these youths are from Central and South America, making it much more difficult for the U.S. to deport them as efficiently as they do Mexican illegals. This is why the U.S. government has resorted to holding them in detention centers for long periods while they await trial.

Because these children do not speak English they do not understand legal proceedings and courtroom discussions. Many of them came to this country to escape the deep poverty in which their parents are mired, or to join their parents who have already made it to America legally or illegally. Because of this, the parents are largely not present during their detention and trial, and are helpless to assist their children.

There is no doubt that the laws of this country are absolutely sacrosanct and must be upheld to the fullest. Considering the highly important Jewish tradition of “Dina D’Malchusa Dina” (literally “the law of the land is the law”), the provisions of American law must always be respected. That said, just because the U.S. government has been doing something one way for a long time does not mean that is the only or the right way. Every young man and woman entering the United States does so with essentially the same underlying goal: to improve his or her life. They know that in our system the right to pursue happiness features prominently. While this right is essentially reserved for United States citizens, it is a core principle of our society and the hope to achieve it should not be denied

to those risking so much to attain it.

The American dream, while not an entitlement, is something that should be available to young people making every effort to become part of our society. Looking forward, these young people will eventually be beneficial to America. And this is not only a moral issue. It is a Homeland Security issue as well. As a constant target of security threats from every direction, the United States must be in full control of its borders, including a security examination of those who would cross them. However, when hoards of disgruntled young people are penned up together for long periods of time, they become vulnerable to anti-American sentiments and may grow to resent their custodians. One influential disgruntled detainee could easily convince an entire group to smuggle drugs and incite antiAmerican violence, etc. Because of this, it is essential to keep migrant children detained for as short a period of time as possible so as to mitigate the risk of creating a national security or crime threat.

A third and highly important reason to be wary of the mass detention of undocumented youth is one of pure economics. The government, (also known as the U.S. taxpayer), spends millions of dollars to lease and maintain the facilities, pay the guards, and feed the detainees. The government actually loses even more money by missing out on potential tax revenues and potential future income from these youths whose presence stimulates the economy through increased production and spending. In essence, we are shooting ourselves in the foot economically by continuing the practice of holding kids, many of whom are not even of high school age, in prison-like facilities as punishment for trying to make it into America.

While the situation facing many young migrants is unfortunate, it is not incurable.

Two years after being enacted by President Obama, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has been renewed by the Department of Homeland Security. The program, based on the legal work of our Senior Partner in representing the former Beatle, John Lennon, in deportation proceedings in the 1970s, has already provided relief to over 550,000 young undocumented immigrants. It offers protection from deportation for young undocumented immigrants and has afforded them the ability to obtain work authorization, driver’s licenses, social security cards, and even the ability to travel.

DACA is a very complicated legal program that can be difficult to navigate without guidance. I strongly recommend the help of a skilled immigration attorney to assist an individual through the DACA process. We at Wildes & Weinberg have successfully managed and helped numerous young people seeking to use DACA to their benefit and are experts in negotiating the complicated legal terrain for immigrants. *This article is based on information available as of its publication and is not intended to be all-inclusive or to furnish advice in a particular case. We are not responsible for any changes in regulations that may occur subsequent to publication. Please feel free to contact our office for further information and advice. We sometimes reprint material from government websites.

Michael J. Wildes is the Managing Partner of Wildes and Weinberg, P.C. with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. If you would like to contact Michael Wildes, please email him at michael@wildeslaw.com and visit the firm’s website at www.wildeslaw.com.

Gaza Conflict Spotlights Role of Qatar

By Sean Savage/JNS.org he oil-rich Gulf state of Qatar’s influence has been widely felt during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. While traditionally closely aligned with Iran, Hamas has pivoted to Sunni powers like Qatar and Turkey in recent years for economic and political support. Keen to expand its regional and international influence, Qatar’s ties to the Palestinian terrorist group

T

have drawn increasing criticism from Israel, the United States, and even fellow Arab states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who accuse Qatar of undermining regional stability by supporting Hamas.

“Qatar is a very strange place. They rely on the U.S. for protection and invest heavily in the U.S.,” said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), noting that the U.S. has its largest Mideast air-

201-371-3212 • WWW.JEWISHLINKBC.COM

base—Al-Udeid Air Base—in Qatar. “[But] at the same time, just miles away from [the airbase], you can find the head of Hamas (Khaled Mashal), and there was even a Taliban embassy there for a while too. All of these things make for a foreignpolicy anomaly,” Schanzer told JNS.org.

With the war raging in Gaza, Israeli leaders have begun to single out Qatar for its support of Hamas. During a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

on July 23, now-former Israeli President Shimon Peres slammed Qatar for becoming “the world’s largest funder of terror.”

“Qatar does not have the right to send money for rockets and tunnels which are fired at innocent civilians. Their funding of terror the must stop. If they want to build then they should, but they must not be allowed to destroy,” Peres said.



CONTINUED ON P. 78

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 77

ANALYSIS

Gaza Conflict Spotlights Role of Qatar 

CONTINUED FROM P. 77

Qatar reportedly pledged more than $400 million to Hamas in October 2012 during a visit to Gaza by Qatar’s ruling emir at the time, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Qatar has also given refuge to Hamas chief Mashaal, who fled to Qatar’s capital of Doha after Hamas’s offices in Damascus

were shut down in 2012 as a result of the terror group’s criticism of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s conduct in the Syrian civil war.

More recently, the U.S. blocked the transfer of Qatari funds that were slated to pay the salaries of civil servants hired

by Hamas in Gaza, the Times of Israel reported.

According to a diplomatic source in Qatar, the Gulf state in June attempted to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to an Arab bank for the salaries of 44,000 Hamas civil servants who were rendered jobless due to the recent Palestinian unity deal between Hamas and Fatah.

The attempted transfer of funds by Qa-

tar to pay Hamas employees highlighted the dire economic situation Hamas has found itself in over the last year due to Egypt destroying Hamas’s smuggling tunnels, which the terror group relied on for tax revenue.

Egypt’s crackdown on Hamas has been part of a larger effort by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to target the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas’s parent organization.

But El-Sisi is not alone in his contempt for the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi Arabia also declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization this March. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain all recalled their

ambassadors to Qatar over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt also recently sentenced three journalists from the Qatari-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network to seven to 10 years in prison for “spreading false news and conspiring” with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Qatar’s vocal foreign policy developed with Al Jazeera. Qatar had a point of view and, after 1995 and the launch of Al Jazeera, began increasingly and gradually to express it,” Joseph LeBaron, the U.S. Ambassador to Qatar from 2008-2011, told JNS.org.

LeBaron explained that Qatar, like



CONTINUED ON P. 80

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR SUNDAY, AUGUST 3RD Rabbi Pesach Krohn lecture on “Words Build Worlds” Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, 641 W Englewood Avenue Sponsored by Bnai Yeshurun Chesed Committee in conjunction with Adult Education dedicated in memory of Esther Manischewitz by Steve and Ofra Parmett MONDAY, AUGUST 4TH Teaneck Women’s Tefillah is holding its reading of Megillat Eicha for Tisha B’Av on Monday August 4, 2014 at 10 PM. For information about the location, email teaneck.womens.tefillah@gmail.com.

Jewish Center of Teaneck 7:50PM Tisha B’Av Service 70 Sterling Place Following the service a film produced by the Jerusalem based Ma’aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts – “A Strength to Tell” will be shown. The film follows a group of Jerusalem teenagers who are victims of broken homes and shattered lives. Participating in Martef, a therapeutic program for at-risk teens,

they interview surviving witnesses of the 1961 Eichmann trial, then create a play based on the survivors’ stories. The young actors and the aging survivors, connected by shared pain and loss, develop bonds of empathy and understanding. Following the screening of the film Rabbi Lawrence Zierler will lead a discussion of the issues raised by the film which will focus on rebuilding after destruction, passing on history and heritage to the next generation and the Holocaust and today’s youth.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 5TH TISHA B’AV Rabbi J J Schachter will be hosted by Congregation Keter Torah, 600 Roemer Avenue. The program will be broadcast live on www.yutorah.org.

Tisha B’Av Youth Program 9:00AM – 2:00PM Congregation Keter Torah, 600 Roemer Avenue.

For children entering nursery school through fifth grade. Lunch and snacks included. Space is limited and is based

on a first come first served system. Cost of program is 45.00. Money should be brought to Keter Torah in order to insure spot. For further info please contact rivki19@yahoo.com 1:30 – 5:00PM Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, 641 W Englewood Avenue Fit For Kids Fitness Program, Arts + Crafts , Magician, Games, and Snack!!! For Nursey age 3 through 3rd grade. $15.00 must be paid to shul office. To register online at http://www.123contactform. com/form-617458. With questions email Judah at youthcby@gmail.com Congregation Keter Torah 6:00 PM 600 Roemer Avenue 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr and Mrs Kraus In the spring of 1939, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus sailed for Europe and into the heart of darkness. “50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus” tells, for the first time, the incredible story of an American Jewish couple who, against all odds, brought the

single largest group of children during the Holocaust out of Nazi Germany and into the United States. In doing so, they transformed themselves from an ordinary couple into extraordinary heroes. To view a trailer of this 63 minute documentary, narrated by Alan Alda, visit https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JAnRo2ejEW8#t=12.

followed by Mr. Charlie Harary Congregation Rinat Yisrael 5:30PM 389 West Englewood Rabbi Moshe Bernstein will be speaking on The Fourth Chapter of Eicha.

Young Israel of Teaneck After Chatzot, 1:00 – 5:00PM 868 Perry Lane Age appropriate movies will be shown for children in the Social Hall, Apple Juice and Cookies will be served.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6TH Keter Torah Men’s Club Barbeque 7:00PM Congregation Keter Torah 700 Roemer Avenue There is no cost for this fun night of games and food .RSVP is a must to Ben Rieder at brieder@chestnutholding.com, Ari Weisbrot at AWeisbrot@foxrothschild. com or howard@ketertorah.org.

Congregation Arzei Darom 725 Queen Anne Road Tisha B’Av Video Presenataions – Please Hashem Make This Our Last Tisha B’Av Tues Aug. 5 at 2:30 & 5:30 pm 2:30 pm - Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation video presentations Program 1: Rabbi Zev Leff followed by Rabbi Paysach Krohn Program 2: Rabbi Jonathan Rietti

Women’s Annual Study Program with Shuli Taubes 8:00PM Congregation Zichron Mordechai, 268 W Englewood Ave Topic “Of Prophets and Prayers: The Haftarot of the Days of Awe” Series of 3 lectures, August 6, 14, 20th Cost 75.00.

For all levels. RSVP or for further info contact staubes@gmail.com or 201 787 1812.

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS TEANECK FOOD PANTRY Running low in supplies. Drop off cereal, tuna and canned goods to 954 Warren Parkway. A box will be left on the front porch and it empties regularly to go to the pantry. Goods can be kosher and non kosher.

KEYBOARD PLAYER AND CHOIR LEADER NEEDED The Beth Aaron Boy’s Choir of Teaneck’s Congregation Beth Aaron, seeks an accomplished and experienced keyboard player for running the musical activities of the choir, which is based in Teaneck. This includes working on new songs and arrangements, weekly practices, organizing performances and preparing the boys for recording sessions. Activities will resume after Labor Day. Interested keyboard players please send an email to the following: yehiel.levy@optonline.net or call 201421-8422

CONGREGATION BETH AARON BOYS CHOIR Now accepting new members in grades 1 to 7. The choir is known for its warm, friendly and fun atmosphere, and welcoming initiatives from its boys. Be a part of a group, learn new songs, and take part in the upcoming performances and CD. For more information, or to join the choir, contact Yehiel Levy, 201-4218422 or Hillel Kapnick, 845-418-4616 or email bethaaronboyschoir@gmail.com GIRLS SUMMER LEARNING INITIATIVE The Summer Girls Learning Initiative (SGLI) meets at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday nights at Lazy Bean Cafe, 1404 Queen Anne Road. SGLI is an opportunity for high school girls who are home for the summer to spend time with other girls their age and have some exciting Torah learning experiences. Classes will be offered by dynamic rebbeim and morot from our local yeshivotSGLI is sponsored

by NCSY and supported by Bruriah, Maayanot, and Frisch. Food will be served. For more information, contact Dr. Aliza Frohlich, afrohlich613@gmail.com.

GEMACH ZICHRON CHAYA IN CHASMONAIM I am visiting from Israel and have a formalware gemach. I am now collecting women’s and children’s gowns in all sizes.

We serve women and children daily from all over Israel. Good condition and up to date dresses only. There is a drop off point in Teaneck or a pickup service. Contact Ilana Katz, 201 620 4596 or ilanasnk@ gmail.com.

END OF LIFE ISSUES The Legal Department of Agudath Israel is providing pro bono legal assistance to anyone who needs help with end of life issues.

Call if you need help with the following: * You have a relative in the hospital and

need guidance about signing a DNR or other directives regarding vital care. * If the hospital is trying to force your relative to relinquish medical care and go to hospice * If you know a patient who needs legal representation to prevent the hospital from “pulling the plug” Please call with any questions of this nature to: 212-797-9000 ext. 335 and they will be glad to assist you. .

Mikvah appointments now available online!

The Teaneck Mikvah, which is open from 5:00 p.m. until 9:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. for a shower. On Saturday night, the Mikvah will open 20 minutes after Shabbat ends, remaining open until 9:15 p.m. for a bath and 9:30 p.m. for a shower. You must make an online appointment (www.teaneckmikvah.com) to use the Mikvah on Friday night or Yom Tov. There will be a late fee of $25 if you

CHESED OPPORTUNITIES TOMCHEI SHABBOS needs help packing during the Summer on Wednesdays at 1:00PM at 13 Foster Street, Bergenfield. Volunteers interested should contact Karen Wagner at 201-3141854 as well drivers are needed for Wednesday nights. Please contact Chani Shmutter at 201 833 2320 or chaniruth@att.net deliveries.

Care One – desperately needs help in forming a minyan.

A kosher rehabilitation and nursing center located at 544 Teaneck Road, 4 blocks south of Holy Name Hospital, is in need of volunteers to maintain continuity of its Shabbos and weekday minyanim, which its residents look forward to each week. This is a wonderful chesed opportunity that can be combined with the mitzva of Bikur Cholim.

Sharona Nagler Care One visitation program is a Bnai Yeshurun program reaching out to volunteers to commit at least once a month (or more if preferred) to visit people staying in Care

One. Contact Arianne Weinberger at ariannew@ verizon.net, Ari Wartelsky at ariwart@gmail. com or Alana Green at green.alana@gmail.com for further information.

Jewish Family Service of North Jersey, located in Fair Lawn, is in need of volunteers who can deliver kosher meals to homebound and disabled people living in Fair Lawn. Meal deliveries are made Mondays thru Fridays, between 11:30 am and 12:00 noon. Substitute drivers for any weekday are needed, as well as volunteers who can commit to driving once a week on a regular basis.

Please call Francine Cuff @201-796-5151 if you are interested in volunteering.

Bikkur Cholim of Passaic- Clifton helps provide rides for Cholim and frail residents to medical appointments. Rides are available to local Passaic and Clifton destinations as well as to Hackensack, Englewood, Manhattan and other medical canters as necessary. For more information or to volunteer contact the Bikkur Cholim at 973-249-8811.

201-371-3212 • WWW.JEWISHLINKBC.COM

Bikur Cholim of Teaneck is looking for volunteers to visit the Jewish patients at Holy Name Hospital on a daily basis and Shabbosim.

Volunteers must be 16 years or older to visit the hospital on their own. For more information or to volunteer please call the Bikur Cholim at 201836-4950.

Shearit HaPlate of Bergen County, Inc. is our area’s only kosher food rescue organization that collects prepared food leftover from local caterers and restaurants, and then repackages and distributes it to those that can benefit in a respectful way that helps ensure the recipient’s privacy and self-esteem.

To Become a Recipient: If you or someone you know would like to be notified when food is available, please respond to this email. The information will be kept confidential within the organization, and no qualifying questions are asked.

-EMAIL _shearithaplate@gmail.com_ _ fernamper@aol.com_

arrive after closing hours. If you have a special circumstance, please call Miriam Feman at the Mikvah, 201-837-8220, and she will do her best to accommodate your needs. The Keylim Mikvah is open from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Please call the Mikvah, 201-837-8220, with any questions.

Friday Night Mikvah Now Open The Teaneck Mikvah Association is proud to announce that the new Friday Night Mikvah serving the south side of Teaneck is now open. The new Mikvah is located at 87 Sterling Place, directly across the street from the Teaneck Jewish Center.

Appointments are required and should be made on their website, http://www. teaneckmikvah.com. The entrance to the Mikvah is in the back of the house.

Please follow the ramp at the top of the driveway to the main entrance at the rear.

List your events in our Community Calendar.

Advertise your services in our growing

Classifieds section!

Call (201) 371-3212 or editor@jewishlinkbc.com

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 79

SUPER SHABBOS SHEET

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DIRSHU

Despite Rockets and Sirens, Dirshu Tests in Full Swing Across Israel

By Shimmy Blum ll of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the southern region in particularâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;has in recent weeks lived under the frightening reality of rockets, mortars, sirens and shelters. However, none of that sufďŹ ced to dent the dedicated Torah learning of the thousands of participants in the Dirshu program across the country.

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Gaza Conflict Spotlights Role of Qatar ď&#x192;&#x203A;

CONTINUED FROM P. 78

most Arab countries, does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist group. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In terms of Hamas, Qatarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy of dialogue can lead to direct support, whether political and diplomatic, economic, or humanitarian,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But Qatarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy also is not to support terror groups. Qatar would not support Hamas if it believed Hamas was a terror group.â&#x20AC;?

Nevertheless, Qatarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unyielding support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Ha-

80 July 31, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 4 Av 5774

tions across the country, tests on the revolutionary daily halacha program took place on schedule, in every location. Most notably, there was no change in location or schedule in Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and other areas in the line of the heaviest Hamas ďŹ re.

Rabbi Avraham Schwartzman, Menahel of the Dirshu Testing Program, admits that even he and other Dirshu organizers were surprised. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Initially, we expected to need to reduce the number of seats at the location, and/or move them to special protected locations,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we received scores

of phone calls asking whether the tests will be held as per plan, we realized that would not be the case.â&#x20AC;?

The testing locations were equipped with accessible shelters in case of need, but none were moved to a particular safe zone. Other than the few Dirshu participants who abandoned the city during the turmoil, virtually all Daf HaYomi Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Halacha participants showed up to take the tests, many with their young children in tow.

Dirshu considered all the logistics necessary in order for the tests and proctors to

make it to the war torn region in time and, baruch Hashem, succeeded. Many had to be sent early. Several locations, not being serviced by regular shipping services, required that Dirshu arrange its own special transportation.

Watching the yungerleit take the tests in spite of all thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going on around them was a sight to behold, and an inspiration to all. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At this test, we saw that the true war we are ďŹ ghting is the milchamta shel Torah,â&#x20AC;? says Rabbi Schwartzman. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our response to the rockets and sirens is a strengthening of limud HaTorah, with lots of mesiras nefesh.â&#x20AC;?

mas has created a deep rift in the Arab world.

Egypt, which has traditionally played a role as a mediator for the Israelis and Palestinians, accused Qatar and Turkey of undermining its efforts to broker a cease-ďŹ re to the current conďŹ&#x201A;ict in Gaza.

In a statement on July 17, shortly after Egyptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initial cease-ďŹ re proposal was rejected by Hamas, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said that Palestinian blood was on Hamasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Had Hamas accepted the Egyptian initiative, at least 40 Palestinian souls would have been saved,â&#x20AC;? said Shukri, the Egyptian state-run news outlet MENA reported.

The Arab power struggle has continued, with Qatar reportedly offering its own cease-ďŹ re plan that excluded Egypt

from the negotiating process, before the Israeli ground operation began on July 17.

Yet regional divisions appeared to thaw a bit on July 22, when Qatari Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with Saudi Arabiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s King Abdullah to discuss cease-ďŹ re efforts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are strained relations, obviously, but so far that tension has been restricted largely to the diplomatic sphere. Because it has, I am optimistic that the Arab states will gradually ďŹ nd a way to accommodate one anotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s differing foreign policy approaches toward regional issues,â&#x20AC;? former U.S. ambassador LeBaron told JNS. org.

FDDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Schanzer blamed the growing Arab rift, which is largely between U.S. allies in the Middle East, on the lack of

strong U.S. leadership in the region. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The White House right now is doing its best to extricate itself from the Middle East,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are setting a low bar for our allies; we are not demanding a certain level of responsibility [such as demanding that countries not support terrorist groups like Hamas]. The fact that we allow this is troubling,â&#x20AC;? added Schanzer.

Some U.S. legislators, however, have sought to pressure Qatar over its Hamas ties.

Last year, two-dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives, spearheaded by Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL) and John Barrow (D-GA), sent a letter to Qatari Am-

ď&#x192;&#x153;

CONTINUED ON P. 81

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OP-ED

Holocaust Survivors, Gaza, and My Uncle the Instigator

By Peter Himmelman (This article is reprinted from The Huffington Post) y Uncle Sonny (his real name is Arthur but don’t tell) has always been an instigator. The best kind. While I should have been studying about flax production in Iowa, back in eighth grade social studies, Sonny turned up at my parent’s house with a double length John Lee Hooker record.

This morning was no different. Along with about 30 others, I got an email from him and I read it as I was walking my dog.

The email began with a photo of an elderly man and this caption: My name is Reuven Moskovitz and I am a Holocaust survivor. I, as a holocaust survivor cannot live with the fact that the State of Israel is imprisoning an entire people behind fences. It’s just immoral. What happened to me in the Holocaust wakes me up every night and I hope we don’t do the same thing to our neighbors.

Sonny wrote: Needless to say, Moskovitz is a man of great compassion and one who knows as much as anyone about the most horrific crimes against humanity. Sure, some will say that he is “wrong” about this, but in any case he deserves respect for speaking his mind based on his experience.

The first response to Sonny’s email, the one that set me off on this tear in the first place was from M. He wrote: An intelligent mensch. I can’t think of a worse example of cultural lag—revenge against the Palestinians for what the Germans did to the Jews. And the youth on both sides are brought up to hate each other: Death to the Jews/Arabs is common graffito. I saw one notice on a wall in Hebron: Gas the Arabs. Oy! I recommend Gatekeepers doc (Former heads of Mossad) and Miko Peled’s The General’s Son for some insight.

Here’s how I responded to M. and everyone else cc’d on Sonny’s email: I’m not sure if your reference to “...a worse example of cultural lag—revenge against the Palestinians” suggests that as an example, this is the worst—because of its irrelevance, or are you saying that the IDF operation and the blockade over Gaza in general, is an act of revenge for what the Nazis did to the Jews—or perhaps toward the Gazans themselves?

For those of you who suggest that the pullout from Gaza nine years ago, and Israel’s subsequent need to take defensive

M

measures has anything to do with revenge, let me take you back in time. There were $14 million worth of hydroponic flower factories, tens of buildings and schools left intact, plans for parks, a railroad, a seaport, an airport, even a zoo—all of these things were left and all these plans were laid for the Gazans to begin the construction of their own state. As you well know, none of it happened and not because of anything Israel did to prevent it from happening.

Did the billions of dollars that were funneled by the U.S. by the EU—and by the State of Israel itself—go straight to developing these wonderful ideas for the future prosperity of newly-Judenrein Gaza? No, in fact they were not. Soon after representatives from Hamas were finished throwing their rivals from Fatah off of the roofs of buildings (and we think political discourse in America is getting rough) the people of Gaza handily elected Hamas, along with their charter calling for the destruction of Israel, to represent them.

Just so we’re all clear about history: the “blockade” didn’t begin until the flower gardens were razed and turned into launching sites, until tunnels were dug and munitions brought in from Iran and Sudan and until the rockets started raining on the Jews in southern Israel.

A bit about the rockets... I hear too often—or used to hear, because now the Grad and the Fajr-5 missiles are falling too—how the rockets that were initially launched at towns like Sderot in southern Israel were nothing more than firecrackers, that the blockade and the other measures the IDF put into place were “wildly disproportionate.” Consider this: The least of those “firecrackers” can tear a grown man to pieces from a football field away if he’s not protected by a cement structure.

M., you write about the “death to the Arabs” graffiti on the walls and I agree, it’s repugnant, absolutely wrong, absolutely horrific. Though one critical distinction must be duly noted: The vitriol on the part of the Jews comes from thuggish far-right soccer fans and is condemned by most thinking Israelis and Jews. The vitriol on the part of the Arabs is state-sponsored, classroom taught, societally consensual, and is reflected in the charter of Hamas and the as yet unchanged, covenant of the PLO itself.

Dr. Moskowitz’s experiences in the Holocaust should compel us to have the greatest rachmanus, (mercy in Yiddish), they should compel us to have the greatest understanding and respect for life, but they should not compel us to consider his ide-

Gaza Conflict Spotlights Role of Qatar 

CONTINUED FROM P. 80

bassador to the U.S. Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, urging the country to end its support of Hamas.

“As Israel works to achieve a cease-fire and sustainable quiet, it doesn’t help that others in the region, such as Qatar and Iran, are undermining the peace process by helping Hamas fire thousands of rockets at innocent civilians,” Barrow told JNS.org.

LeBaron said he believes the U.S. will continue

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as wise—if our goal is the protection of human life on both sides. Just for the record, and sadly this actually needs to be said: The taking of innocent human lives, each and every one (notice there are no “buts” here) is a tragedy.

I know several Holocaust survivors, men and women both in the U.S. and in Israel, who have lived through the same horrors as Dr. Moskovitz, whose ideas are the polar opposite of his. The opinion that Israel is somehow committing the same atrocities on the Palestinians as the Nazis perpetrated on the Jews in WWII is such an extreme minority among Holocaust survivors, as to hardly be worth mentioning. To equate the systematic murder of six million innocents with the justifiable defense of one’s homeland from bloodthirsty attackers is an insane moral calculus—no matter the degree of suffering Dr. Moskovits has endured during his lifetime. To glean the understanding that his ideas are representative of any larger group is simply wrong.

Let me cut to the chase. Some of us need to do some soul-searching. Some of us need to truly consider if Israel has a right to exist. Don’t give a knee-jerk “yes of course.”

We need to ask ourselves, is the State of Israel a legitimate expression or not? Do we have the right to a State in that land, no less than Norwegians have the right to live in Norway? If you say we don’t, I’ll disagree vociferously on a hundred grounds— not the least of which is that we Jews have had a continuous presence in the Land of Israel since ancient times and that our cultural narrative has for thousands of years, been about our eventual return to Zion (can the French make the same claim to France, can the Canadians make the same claim to Canada?) but as with Mel Gibson’s drunken and candid admission of his antiSemitic leanings several years back in Malibu California, I will at least acknowledge your candor.

Those of you who’ve read left-leaning Haaretz editor Ari Shavit’s book, My Promised Land, will know for one thing, that for the Palestinians, the issue of Israel’s legitimacy has nothing to do with giving back Gaza (clearly not) or the West Bank or with a return to the ‘67 borders.

You’ll soon realize (as if the charters and covenants calling for Israel’s destruction were not enough) that the real issue is May 14, 1948, Israel’s declaration of Independence. The Arabs call Israel’s Independence, the Nakba—the catastrophe— and obviously, that happened well before

to engage with Qatar.

“The United States and Qatar have long recognized that they will not always agree, far from it, but since 2010 this realization has not led either side to isolate the other. I expect this policy of engagement to continue,” he said.

Nevertheless, as Qatar seeks to expand its role as not only a major regional player, but also as an international one, the country’s fundamental values will continue to be scrutinized. In particular, Qatar’s designation as the host of the 2022 World Cup has drawn significant backlash. “[The Qataris] are supporting a very violent non-state actor (Hamas),” Schanzer said. “A lot of people ignore Qatar’s ideological leanings. But at the end of the day, even though they are nominally allied with the United States, they are Islamist at their core.”

1967. Don’t forget the Khartoum conference in 1967, just weeks after the Six Day War, when Israel’s offer to return the land it gained in that defensive struggle was met by three “no’s” from the Arab summit: No Peace with Israel, no recognition, and no negotiations.

If you can say that Israel has the right to exist, than you must, in the same breath say that it has the right to defend itself from a fanatical religious cult that is hellbent on its destruction. Defending a nation isn’t pretty. It always involves blood and gore, something we who are safely ensconced in Santa Monica, perhaps jogging near the beach—or in Minneapolis sampling Hagen Dasz by Lake of the Isles—or dining with friends and business partners in Manhattan seem to forget. It’s so easy to take the armchair pacifist’s position when you’ve never shit your pants from the report of a rocket falling too near.

Proportionality is another word that is starting to sound absurd given the context. You’ve been reading this every day for weeks: “300 Palestinians dead but there have only been three Jewish fatalities”—as if by dying in greater numbers we can legitimize ourselves. Both sides invest in bomb shelters; Israel invests in them to shelter its citizens from bombs. Hamas invests in them too—except they use theirs to shelter their bombs. Not entirely true... they use them for their leaders too—leaving their populace to become bloody photo-ops.

M. this war is not about “revenge” against anyone and it’s not some kind of a “cultural lag.” It’s a legitimate defense against a regime that is focused on the murder of Jews. The youth on both sides are not “brought up to hate each other.”

That is a completely false statement. There is no equivalence. To suggest it is beyond absurd. It is also dangerous. The false moral relativism it creates is the vacuum in which Jewish people die—with the seeming full consent of the world.

In an effort to console me, my son Isaac put it all this way: “As difficult as it appears now for Jews in the world, compare our situation to where we were a hundred years ago. Be grateful that these days, our challenge is one of how much of our awesome power do we wield, and with what measure of mercy shall we mete it out?”

For those who truly support the State of Israel, that is consolation indeed.

Peter Himmelman, who is an Orthodox Jew, is a Grammy and Emmy nominated singer-songwriter, CEO/ Dream Enabler of Big Muse.

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SECTION

ZOA Sponsors Talk in Teaneck

By Elizabeth Kratz eaneck—Joshua London, the Zionist Organization of America’s Co-Director of Government Relations, will be speaking in Teaneck on August 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the home of Melissa and Lazer Borgen. The talk is titled, “Promoting Israel’s Interests: A Beltway Insider’s Perspective.”

London previously worked as a lobbyist on behalf of the Orthodox Union. He spends his days working on behalf of ZOA on Capitol Hill, educating members of Congress and their staff about Israel and the Middle East, and strengthening the U.S.-Is-

T

rael relationship. London is known as a savvy and insightful beltway insider as well as an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker. This is his first time speaking in Teaneck.

He said that the biggest error being made again, even as the current war in Gaza rains rockets down on Israel, is believing that the Palestinian Arabs will ever somehow agree to peace, he said. “The total mistake of Oslo is to have placed faith in false hope over experience. Israel hoped that the PLO had actively reformed, and that Arafat desired peace, but that was a lie. The notion that these people reformed themselves, and would or could ever live peace-

Joshua London

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fully alongside Israel, is a lie,” London said.

“To date, Palestinian Arab violence and terror has been rewarded, and each successive rejection of terms at the negotiating table has been answered with better terms, sweeter inducements, and zero costs. Palestinian Arab intransigence has created a situation in which Israeli negotiators, with illusions as to the intentions of their adversary, essentially end up negotiating with themselves,” he said.

As U.S. aid continues, London reasoned, and as U.S. support for the Palestinian Authority continues, the forces against Israel continue to grow stronger. In no uncertain terms, London said, the foreign aid funds “a venomous socialization of hatred directed toward Israel, capitalism, and rejectionism, and is a fetid combination of a lamentable, destructive force. Whatever entrepreneurial forces might have been working, with foreign aid, are gone now.” Today, most of the Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria are under 24 years old, and they have been taught to hate Jews with robust zeal, London noted.

ZOA prevails upon fellow Jews to put aside the ideology of peace and look at the realities of the situation. “Open your eyes, look at the hard evidence, not the dream.

Do our goals line up with our policies? I don’t pretend to have the solution, but I know we are continuing to feed the problem,” London said. By attempting to broker peace with those who seek to destroy us, we are not furthering the general cause of humanity, London said.

“The ZOA looks at the complexities of the ongoing Arab war against Israel. We look at it in principle, in terms of right and wrong. We don’t represent the United States. We look from the vantage point of the realities on the ground and what is right, and we look to the best interest of Israel, and to further that, the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he said.

London said that ZOA differs from AIPAC and other U.S.-based pro-Israel organizations in that ZOA is not a big tent, consensus-based group focused on bipartisanship. Instead, it has a narrow focus and doesn’t often work on topics that are wellmanaged by other Jewish organizations.

“ZOA is consistently the one lone voice all through the peace process asking the tough questions, pointing to inconvenient truths, so to speak,” London said.

London said a ZOA priority other than questioning the peace process is preventing the U.S. government from pressuring Israel to make decisions that would be detrimental to Jews in Israel.

For more information, or to attend the lecture, RSVP to Laura Fein, Executive Director, ZOA-NJ, (201) 424-1825, or lfein@zoa. org.

July 31, 2014 • 4 Av 5774 83

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