Monsey #01

INAUGURAL ISSUE What is Jewish Music Anyway?

March 23, 2017 25 Adar, 5777

My Genesis as a Rockin’ Rabbi

This Shabbos

P38

Central Park and Lunatics P33

March 24, 2017 26 Adar , 5777 Parshas Vayak’hel-Pekudei

monsey.com

Light Candles: 7:06 PM Shabbos Ends: 60 minutes: 8:15 PM 72 minutes: 8:27 PM

Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suern • Wesley Hills

Packing for Pesach With KosherTroops

By M.C. Millman

schools Monsey-wide turned out to help ďŹ ll packages for the 1,000 KosherTroops’ annual pre-Pesach military members across the globe packing campaign took place on who eagerly anticipate KosherSunday, March 19, with the help of Troops’ assistance in making their numerous enthusiastic volunteers Pesach Seders a reality. from all over the Monsey community. Adults as well as students from ďƒœ CONTINUED ON P. 16

Monsey Alumni of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim Join Bicentennial Celebration

Monsey’s Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation Changes the World— One School at a Time Worldwide Machsom L’Fi program that will be introMonsey’s Chofetz Chaim duced in girls’ high schools Heritage Foundation is across the globe immedichanging the world with ately after Pesach. ďƒœ CONTINUED ON P. 4 the advent of their new By monsey.com sta

Photo credit: Bambi Images

Mir alumni will be presenting a sefer Torah to the marbitzei and lomdei Torah at the upcoming bicentennial celebration for Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim. ďƒœ CONTINUED ON P. 12

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Community News Monsey’s Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation Changes the World—One School at a Time By monsey.com staff

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CONTINUED FROM COVER

This is a logical next step that follows the advent of the Shabbos Table Machsom that was introduced this summer during the Worldwide Tisha b’Av event. At least it is a logical next step if you are Mr. Michael Rothschild, founder of the CCHF, who propelled the new high school program toward the post-Pesach launch date, adding yet another program to the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation’s already broad repertoire. It seems that for the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, this is “The Year of the Machsom.”

The one-month machsom, which is starting Rosh Chodesh Iyar and running until Rosh Chodesh Sivan, will take place in participating schools during lunchtime. This is the best time during the school day to conduct a machsom. The machsom includes an estimated 14,000 American and Canadian students who have already signed up to participate in the Lunch Brake: Put the Brakes on Negative Speech program. There are 27,000 more students signed up in Eretz Yisrael and another 5,000 more worldwide. A total of 104 schools signed up in the United States and Canada, and 38 schools have joined worldwide.

An additional 20 Chabad schools from all over the world have joined and 150 schools in Eretz Yisrael.

The girls hail from as far away as Lvov, Ukraine; Pinsk, Belarus, Gibraltar, Mexico City, Venezuela, Panama, Johannesburg, Capetown, Milan, Antwerp, Manchester, London, Ottawa, Berlin and schools across the entire United States including Portland, Oregon, which has a school of five girls signed up.

The way the program works is that the girls will commit to learning the two specially chosen halachos a day, either on their own or together during their daily lunch break. The halachos were specifically chosen as potential challenges that a regular high school girl might face during her life in general as well as throughout the day.

The program is meant to be much, much more than simply one hour a day, though, because there is no denying that shmiras halashon is a 24-hour-a-day kind of thing.

The concept of a machsom is that by spending one hour a day paying careful atten-

4

tion and trying to observe the halachos to the best of one’s ability, that thought process will carry over through more of the day. That way, not only will one have an hour a day of shmira, but the participants will also gain awareness and sensitivity that will give them cause to pause on other occasions throughout their day. The halachos are also chosen and presented to be interesting so that the girls will want to go home and share what they have learned with their family and friends. In this way, the machsom will have an ever greater effect as the one-month, multi-faceted machsom’s expected ripple effect carries over into the rest of the day/week/month/year of the participating students.

The Lunch Brake breakout will include a showing of a DVD introducing the program and offering a motivational trigger film with an explanation of the entire machsom program and two inspirational, world-renowned speakers. High school students who feel inclined will then sign up and register for the program. The signing will help strengthen the girls’ resolve and will bring a greater sense of responsibility when faced with the challenges a month-long machsom can inevitably bring about. The girls who signed up will then receive a zipper bracelet (to remind them to “zip” their lips), the wearing of which will provide a tangible demonstration of just how many girls have made the Lunch Brake commitment in the school. Individual booklets will be distributed to each par-

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ticipant. The booklets contain 32 halachos. That will be enough for two a day for the full 18-day program, which will consist of two halachos learned a day and two review days at the end of the program. The back page of each booklet has a scorecard that will get sent to the CCHF at the end of the program to serve as a raffle ticket at the Siyum Teleconference for Lunch Brake.

The idea of Lunch Brake is that during every lunch period a teacher or other comparable head of staff will play the daily presentation for the girls. The presentation will include the catchy Lunch Brake jingle and a message of chizuk from a high school girl located somewhere around the world. The student will offer her fellow participants encouragement and will wish them hatzlacha as well as they all continue meeting the challenges of the program.

Greeting the girls at the door to their lunchroom will be “standup,” a 4-foot by 4-foot clock where the two halachos of the day will be posted to serve as a reminder of the machsom to the girls throughout the day as well as at lunch. Posters placed strategically throughout the school will also enhance the program and keep up the excitement, with shmiras haloshon and creative messages posted from girls around the world and will include their signatures as well.

This will give the students all around the world a feeling of connection with each other despite the physical distance that separates them.

Newsletters and pin-on badges will also keep up the momentum and excitement of the program.

After the full month of the Lunch Brake program, there will be a grand finale teleconference for all participants held on Gimel Sivan, Sunday, May 28, on the TicTalk Hotline.

TIC stands for Teen Inspiration and Chizuk and is another CCHF innovative program, a year-round call-in hotline that receives over 7,000 calls a day from high school girls worldwide. There will be raffle winners drawn from worldwide participants who have sent in their completed daily scorecards from the four-day-a-week, four-week program. The siyum teleconference will be a fitting conclusion to the Lunch Brake program and will include music, stories and games as well as the grand raffle drawing. The real winners, though, will be the 46,000 plus participants whose lives will never be the same after experiencing a machsom for an entire month together with thousands and thousands of girls across the globe. The participants will all appreciate how learning the same thing, on the same day, and overcoming similar challenges can lend strength to one another—proving that not only is there strength in numbers, but there is something to be gained as well for everyone. And to think . . . it all started with an idea that originated in—Monsey!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher’s Note ...................... 8 Community News ............... 4-19 Seen Around Town............ 20-21 Spotlight on Schools ........ 22-24 Around the World ............. 24-25 Israel News ...................... 26-28 Torah & Inspiration ........... 29-30 Food & Wine..................... 31-33 Changes by Barry Mase...........34 Crossroads by Mayor Fred Brinn ..............................36 Famous Jewish Musicians Let Us Know How They See It ............38 CONNECT RECONNECT!

by Sarah Berger......................43 Tigger by Dana Mase ..............45 Foot Notes from Dr. Baldinger ..........................48 Classifieds ..............................50 Real Estate ....................... 50-51 March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suern • Wesley Hills

Chaverim of Rockland to the Rescue

Community News

By monsey.com sta Chaverim of Rockland came to the rescue in more ways than one during the Blizzard of 2017. The regular Monsey Chaverim number was so inundated with the record-breaking number of calls pouring in that Chaverim posted a second number as well so that callers could get through.

Chaverim towing one of many cars stuck in the snow during the blizzard.

Chaverim strategizing during the blizzard.

Although the vast majority of the 343 calls made during the single day were for cars that were stuck in the snow needing a tow, Chaverim’s amazing volunteers dealt with way more situations than that during the course of the blizzard.

One important service Chaverim provided was fulďŹ lling the urgent transportation needs for the numerous weddings taking place throughout Monsey on Tuesday night, March 14. Chaverim did their utmost to make sure that, despite Stella, the weddings would go o without a hitch. Their

vehicles were made available for any of the urgent errands that inevitably came up before the wedding. This included arranging for the makeup artist to either come to the kallah and her family or to bring the kallah and her family to get their makeup done. When it was time for the wedding, the chasan, kallah, their immediate families and close friends all got to and from the hall via Chaverim volunteer drivers. The musicians as well were brought to their respective wedding halls by Chaverim.

Emergency visits to a number of doctors took place compliments of Chaverim’s volun-

teers providing the transportation through the nearly impassable streets. The organization also brought several newborns home from the hospital with their parents. One father who needed a ride from Chaverim to pick up his newborn also requested a quick pit stop at Walmart on the way there. His driver was only too happy to oblige, considering that the baby needed layette items for the homecoming.

One frantic call came in to Chaverim hours after midnight. A woman had lost contact with her husband who had gone to Shoprite to pick up some necessary supplies. It was well past closing time, though, and her husband had not come home. He wasn’t answering his cell phone either. Chaverim volunteers took to the roads and searched along the route from the Shoprite store on 202. The man was found, near freezing. He had been walking in the snow for hours trying to make his way home. When he had ďŹ nished with his purchases at the store at midnight, the store manager had called a taxi for him before leaving.

The taxi, though, did not show up, and the shopper’s cell phone battery had died so he was unable to call anyone for help. Fortunately, his wife thought to call Chaverim so the story ended well.

With the Blizzard of 2017 behind us, other than the ongoing cleanup, once again, Chaverim has proven its mettle. Chaverim of Rockland is an all-encompassing organization that is run with sensitivity, skill and speed, able to rise to any challenge and truly living up to its name as Chaverim: close friends to call on in a time of need.

421 NY-59, Monsey, NY 10952 (845) 426-0824

Tuvias Seforim /Ĥ Ĺ&#x;Ä° ÄĽ``` Judaica 1/4 pg = Ĺ&#x; ÄŚ ÄŚ Ă´\ Chesed 24/7 Post-Purim Collection a Success Monsey’s Chesed 24/7 held a post-Purim food drive. Participants sent in their unneeded mishloach manos food supplies, either to local Monsey drop-o locations or to participating schools. The post-Purim mishloach manos collection brought in 40 boxes of us-

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

able nosh donations, as well as seven boxes of grape juice, soda and box drinks. Donations were picked up by Chesed 24/7 volunteers for distribution to the 20 chesed hospitality rooms located in hospitals across the tri-state region.

20% OFF all Hagadah's Come see our large selection of Closeouts! www.monsey .co m • info@mo nsey .com

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PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION TO OVER 40,000 READERS THROUGHOUT ROCKLAND COUNTY!

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Contact us We print and online ad Adplans plans We have have print and online and forall allbudgets! budgets! and packages packages for

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barry@monsey.com 845-270-3106 www.monsey.com 6

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March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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7

Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suffern • Wesley Hills

Letter From the Publisher Kol haschalos kashos—all begin-

all across the spectrum of Yiddish-

nings are difficult, but now that keit, have united in this one central

monsey.com

the beginning part is over and our location we all call home. It is this first edition is here, we can truly say sharing and this bond of our joint how excited we are to share our in-

commitment to continue our com-

augural edition with our readers. munity that makes Monsey, its en-

Founder & Publisher Barry Mase

Already, we at Monsey.com can feel virons and people great. It’s also the synergy as we work together to

why Monsey.com is here, to share

produce an outstanding product. the kind of news and uplifting enerWe have put together a great team, gy that makes our community the and now we are ready to show you unique and enriching place to live through words and deeds what an that it is.

And so, we want your news, we incredible community we live in.

Monsey is a truly special commu-

want to show your success and we

nity and has had a profound impact want to be your voice. We want to on how I see the world. Of course, share with the world what makes nothing in this world is without

Monsey so incredibly exceptional.

angels”—(ex- And we can’t do that without you: cepting those beautiful grandchil- the people, the places, the busidren, of course!) but it’s clear to nesses, schools and organizations fault—“we’re

not

me that the people and the institu- that make Monsey great.

Feel free to drop us a line at tions who comprise this surprisingly diverse Jewish community are editor@monsey.com to offer comextraordinarily idealistic… driv- ments and suggestions and to just en to live a life of kindness, good-

let us know what you think. This is

ness and depth of meaning that is, your paper and your voice, and we in my humble opinion, pretty rare want to hear from you. in this day and age.

Monsey.com’s focus is the achdus

Barry Mase

and cohesiveness of our residents

Publisher

who, although coming from varying and diverse backgrounds from

barry@monsey.com

Send in your letter to the editor to HGLWRU#PRQVH\ FRP and it may be featured in our next issue!

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Editor M.C. Millman Jewish Link Marketing Solutions Adam Negnewitzky Proofreader/Copy Editor Rivky Bergstein Contributors Shimon Apisdorf • Dr. H. Baldinger Sara Berger • Fred Brinn • Mindy Cohn Solange DeFrancesco • Sandy Eller Shlomo Fuerst • Linda Levin • Dana Mase Rabbi D. Staum • Dr. Eliya Stromberg Rabbi Tzvi Weinreb monsey.com Phone: 845-270-3106 Email: editor@monsey.com Advertising: info@monsey.com Subscriptions/Home Delivery: info@monsey.com Monsey.com welcomes letters to the editor, which can be emailed to editor@monsey.com. Letters may be edited for length, clarity and appropriateness.

Monsey.com, an independent publication, promotes honest and rigorous conversations about issues affecting our frum community. The opinions reflected in articles from our contributors do not necessarily reflect monsey.com’s positions, and publishing them does not constitute an endorsement from monsey.com. 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 monsey.com. monsey.com is a publication of The Jewish Link Media Group.

Co-publishers: Moshe Kinderlehrer Mark (Mendy) Schwartz March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suffern • Wesley Hills

Inspirational Renewal Kidney-Awareness Monsey Event

By M.C. Millman Renewal held a Monsey kidney donation awareness event on Sunday, March 5. Renewal is a non-profit organization that supports the kidney transplant community through close relationships with nephrologists, transplant surgeons and coordinators around the world.

A leader in the field, Renewal shares their medical expertise with the medical community in dealing with the transplant process both from the donor and recipient perspective. They save lives by developing and maintaining a registry of potential kidney donors and matching them to patients who need a new kidney to survive. Once the match is made, Renewal supports both donors and recipients throughout the process with transportation, financial and moral support.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Renewal also educates the public about kidney disease and the transplant process and maintains an extensive registry of potential kidney donors with their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and blood type, ready to help a patient in need of a kidney transplant. In this way, when a donor is needed, Renewal can check their worldwide database for a biological match.

Renewal pre-screens potential donors and supports them throughout the transplant process. They also assist with appointments, transportation and lodging and cover costs not covered by insurance, such as loss of wages.

Renewal hosts community kidney drives in order to give potential donors a chance to learn about kidney donation and meet past kidney donors.

The kidney donor awareness event took place at the home of Mrs. Rivky Fekete on Old Nyack Turnpike. The well-attended and highly successful evening was arranged in order to

present to attendees the steps they can take in order to help save the life of a community member through donating or by spreading the word.

Inspirational first-hand stories from previous kidney donors including Mrs. Fekete, the hostess, and a kidney recipient described the dramatic, life-changing effects of receiving a new kidney. Speakers included Mrs. Esther Yenty Noe from Renewal’s staff, and a donor who spoke about Renewal and the process of donation. A recipient spoke about her life story and how she was saved by a transplant,

Community News

and subsequently had a baby. Mrs. Leahla Lazar, who donated a kidney to her father, spoke about what it was like giving a kidney to a parent and how inspiring it was for her to have the zechus to give to her father. A testing area was set up: a simple cotton swab test to find matches of potential donors. Only serious candidates, of which there were quite a few, were accepted for the simple process, given that the test is cost prohibitive.

For more information on Renewal, visit http://www.life-renewal.org/.

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Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suffern • Wesley Hills

Monsey Hosts Tour de Simcha Reunion

Community News

By Mindy Cohn Last year on July 19, over 205 riders joined the Tour de Simcha’s fifth anniversary ride to benefit Camp Simcha. Together, they biked 15,375 combined miles through northern New Jersey and Upstate New York and raised over $124,000.

The funds raised by the participants were used to benefit Camp Simcha, an overnight camp where over 400 sick and disabled children come each summer to have the time of their lives.

Monsey held a Tour de Simcha reunion event on Wednesday evening, March 15, at The Cyclery by Effy, which is located in Pomona. New riders were welcome to attend as well and hear firsthand all about the Tour de Simcha experience. Specially designed tznius bikewear was on display with the designer on hand to demonstrate how the elastic bands and snaps keep everything together and in place. There was also a demonstration of Zwift, an indoor biking community experience comprising the world’s largest cycling community.

Tour de Simcha represents a diverse spectrum of women from across the Jewish community and of every fitness level— from seasoned athletes to first-time riders.

Participants commit to train and to raise money to benefit the children of Chai Lifeline. Monsey’s Libby Akerman was one of

Tour de Simcha fare

the driving forces behind Tour de Simcha, having come up with the idea initially for a women’s ride after cheering on her husband during the Bike for Chai men’s ride.

She recruited riders for that first year and has watched the event take off from there ever since.

Extraordinary support makes the miles go quickly. Even before they ride into Camp Simcha, cyclists are never alone on their journey, as the ride is fully supported with

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SAG wagons and stocked rest stops. Every comfort is provided to the riders from beginning to end of the two-day event, from the amenities that are provided for the over-

night stay at the Minerals Resort and Spa in Vernon, New Jersey, to the array of refreshments provided at each rest stop. Riders’ safety, comfort and hydration are always a top priority.

In addition to committing to the grueling physical training, the riders raise thousands of dollars each from family, friends and colleagues in order to participate. The vast majority of bikers raise far more than the minimum, and most riders return year after year, encouraging one another to train hard and raise more for the kids. Personal reasons for cycling make the event an imperative for some. Several riders have children who have been to Camp Simcha or know families who have been helped by Chai Lifeline’s year-round services. Many have formed teams in honor of present and former campers. The Chai Lifeline biking events are the biggest annual fundraisers for Chai Lifeline. Last year’s event raised more than double the amount brought in the previous year. We can only imagine what Tour de Simcha 2017 is going to look like.

Monsey Children’s Shoe Gemach Is Ready for Pre-Pesach Rush By monsey.com staff For over four years, the Monsey Children’s Shoe Gemach has assisted countless Monsey families with finding shoes for Yom Tov. The gemach is especially busy around the Yomim Tovim, and this year is no exception, with the gemach open around the clock. Donations also come in more during the pre-Pesach season as people begin to clean out their closets in preparation for the Yom Tov. The Monsey Children’s Shoe Gemach accepts all the new and/or gently worn shoes that people want to donate and that will make another child’s Yom Tov extra special.

The Monsey Children’s Shoe Gemach evolved from a near crisis before a family wedding, which was averted when a pair of shoes was located by a friend. The shoes had simply been sitting unworn in the closet, and were a perfect fit to save the day for this particular occasion. Hearing similar stories from others provided the impetus for the opening of the Monsey Children’s Shoe Gemach. The gemach’s mission was to utilize all the shoes people might have languishing unworn in closets. As for those who want to avail themselves of the opportunity to visit the Monsey Children’s Shoe Gemach’s large assortment of footwear, there are no rules or restrictions. Anyone can just show up. “Getting shoes from the Monsey Shoe Gemach,” says the founder of the gemach, “is just like getting something from a friend or neighbor that their kids outgrew. We have Yidden of all types coming as well as bringing.”

Last year, the gemach was moved into a spacious shed that was built especially for displaying the shoes. The shed has

wall-to-wall shelving and extra lighting, which provides a much better shopping experience for all of the visitors. The new location also makes it possible for visitors to come at whatever hour works best for them without being limited to calling ahead for any set hours, as the doors are always open. The Gemach also offers privacy for those who require it and ample room to view the selections with space to move around in when trying on the shoes as well.

The Monsey Children’s Shoe Gemach is still accepting donations of all new and gently worn weekday shoes, as well as school shoes, Shabbos shoes, boots, Crocs, sneakers and even slippers. The donations are carefully selected and displayed for visitors. Drop-offs can be made at any time at 3 Flamingo Lane, which is off of New Hempstead Road in New Hempstead. The shoes displayed are completely free of charge for anyone who wishes to avail themselves of what is available.

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Ateres Bais Yaakov Groundbreaking Ceremony By monsey.com staff The day was very cold and the air was brisk, but luckily the sun was shining. A festive air permeated the groundbreaking ceremony of Ateres Bais Yaakov that took place in New Hempstead on its Summit Park Road property on Sunday, March 5. A beautiful new building is planned to be built there to house the school’s more than 400 students from preschool through 12th grade.

(l-r) Fred Brinn, Mayor of New Hempstead with Rabbi Aaron Fink - Dean, Ateres Bais Yaakov

Many of the trees on the grounds have already been cleared and a tractor was

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

parked on the property waiting to continue. Chairs were set up in what will one day be the parking lot. The audience consisted of parents, teachers, administrators, rabbis and members of the various boards of New Hempstead Village. Shovels and hard hats were prepared at the front for the symbolic groundbreaking.

Rabbi Aaron Fink, dean, spoke first, welcoming everyone. He thanked the members of the village boards as well as his “team” of administrators and staff and all others involved in helping him see his dream become a reality.

Next Rabbi Chaim Schabes, rav of Congregation Knesses Yisroel in New Hempstead, addressed the crowd. He expressed the idea that one day all of the mosdos of Torah will be transported to Eretz Yisrael, including girls’ schools. He spoke about the special chinuch of Ateres Bais Yaakov, which is done with simcha. Rabbi Ari Senter of Kehilas Yeshorim of Wesley Hills and a former parent in the school gave divrei bracha. Rabbi Aaron Lankry of Ohr Chaim spoke as a parent of an Ateres student and as a rabbi in the community.

He thanked Rabbi Fink for the chinuch his daughter received in Ateres; Rabbi Lankry pledged $5,000 to the building fund, encouraging others to do so as well. The mayor of New Hempstead, the honorable

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Ateres ground breaking

Fred Brinn, said a few words welcoming Ateres as an integral part of the community. Rabbi Yisroel Teichman, rabbi of Kehilas Zichron Yitzchok of New Hempstead and halacha teacher in Ateres high school, gave the closing address.

Each speaker was asked to don a symbolic hard hat with the school’s logo on it and dig up some earth with a shovel also emblazoned with the school logo. Four school administrators—two from elementary and two from the high school—also participated.

The adorable Ateres third graders entertained the crowd with a cheerful song about the school finding a new location. Without any musical accompaniment, they managed to sing the song with youthful gusto.

At the end of the event, the tractor on the property came to life and the operator demolished an old brick fire pit. This was a symbolic gesture marking the beginning of the building of the school and a new beginning for Ateres in the Village of New Hempstead.

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Townhouse Community Planned for Minisceongo Golf Course The new owners of the Minisceongo Golf Course property said Wednesday their plans to develop housing on the site will respect the area’s atmosphere and history, while providing much-needed housing for young families and empty-nesters.

But they are releasing no details of the proposal, saying that the specifics still have to be worked out.

Joseph Kazarnovsky of Monsey and Mark Mandelbaum, principals of Mount Ivy LLC, met with The Journal News/lohud.com on Wednesday to discuss their development ideas for the 130-acre property. The company— along with Lindifrim Limited Partnership—purchased the site for $32 million from the previous owner, Rockland developer Eric Bergstol, about a year ago.

Mandelbaum is chairman of Lanterra Developments in Toronto, Canada.

The owners also held an invitation-only meeting with neighbors Tuesday night, during which they heard an earful of concerns from locals, who fear that the site may be turned into another high-density housing development.

“There were absolutely no specifics,” said Pomona village Mayor Brett Yagel, who attended the meeting. “They were just gauging how the audience is going to respond.”

Kazarnovsky, the former president of the Yeshiva of Spring Valley, said as a longtime Rockland resident, he understands that people are worried about overdevelopment because of

other high-density projects in the area, particularly in the town of Ramapo.

He said his company’s plan will be different.

“We are taking a new path, something that hasn’t been done in the past. … We’re going to preserve as much of the area as we can, yet put a housing component that’s sensible in this state and age,” Kazarnovsky said. “No one is here to preserve what things were 100 years ago. On the other hand, we have to preserve the atmosphere, the feel and the whole aspect of what this community is all about. We are not New York City. It’s not Manhattan.”

Monsey Alumni of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim Join Bicentennial Celebration

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Monsey alumni participated in the k’sivas osios on Sunday evening, March 19, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Yehuda Wisotsky on Lynn Drive in Spring Valley.

Yeshivas Mir’s bicentennial celebration will celebrate the 200-year milestone of un-

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interrupted limud haTorah. The event will take place on Sunday, March 26, at the historic Bell Works Building in Holmdel, New Jersey, for North American talmidim, parents and friends honoring the marbitzei Torah and lomdei Torah of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim.

Photo credit: Bambi Images

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Kazarnovsky said the community would consist of townhouse-style structures along with some limited retail spaces. The number of housing units has yet to be determined, but it will probably be less than eight units per acre, he said.

“We don’t have a plan that we can show you,” Kazarnovsky said. “Basically, we are waiting for the input from the community.”

Ramapo Town Attorney Michael Klein said the owners haven’t filed any applications yet with the town. For them to move forward, the owners will first have to come before the town board to seek a zoning change as well as a

Community News

change in the town’s comprehensive plan, he said.

The current zoning for the site allows one home in every 50,000 square feet, or about 1.15 acre, and the comprehensive plan does not allow multifamily housing there, Klein said.

The property once was a residence for children from broken homes, known as Happy Valley, an outgrowth of the Manhattan-based Five Points Foundation. It was in operation from 1911 until 1974, when it became the Greer-Woodycrest and later Crystal Run facilities. The land was turned into the Minisceongo Golf Club in the early 1990s.

When Bergstol opened the golf club, he turned the school’s main building into his clubhouse and preserved some of its memorabilia, allowing alumni to visit the property.

Kazarnovsky said the company has reached out to Happy Valley alumni and given them assurance that they will not be forgotten.

“For them it’s very meaningful that this place will be preserved. We’ll put together a memorial for them,” Kazarnovsky said. “We’re going to have a place where they can come periodically … reminisce and gather together.”

Mel Hancock of Suffern, who grew up in Happy Valley, said the owners have been supportive.

“They assured that we are going to have a place to exhibit the history of Happy Valley,” Hancock said. “They understand that there is a ‘soul’ that the property has.”

Rockland Community College to Break Ground on First-ever Dorm

A residence hall proposed at Rockland Community College is expected to break ground this spring which will give students, for the first time ever, the option of living on campus while pursuing studies.

College officials say they are in the final stages of securing permits from the Town of Ramapo and a request to lease the land from the county to construct a $26.7 million, 324bed building north of the field house. Besides dorms, the four-story building will include classrooms, food service facilities and a fitness center, and is projected to be ready in time for the fall 2018 semester.

“It’s not fast enough for me,” chuckled Nayyer Hussain, the college’s senior vice president of finance and administration.

During a recent weekday afternoon, Hussain toured the future site of the residence hall, which he expects will be filled with construction workers and equipment by the end of May. “It will help us stabilize enrollment. Not so much increase enrollment, but our goal is to stabilize. It will also help with recruiting international students and help us expand our recruiting within and outside of the state,” he said.

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Improve59: Ironworkers, Teamsters Community and Public Officials Join Expanding Coalition

News

Group Hosted Community Education Day at Town Square Mall to Promote Bold Vision to Modernize, Upgrade Congested State Highway The Improve59 Coalition announced that its bold vision to widen, modernize and upgrade New York’s Route 59 was endorsed by Ironworks Union Local 417, Teamsters Local 445 and an expanding coalition of faith and community leaders. The group hosted its first Community Education Day on the plan on Thursday, March 16, at the Town Square mall to engage Ramapo-area residents on the coalition’s vision for infrastructure improvement in the Monsey Commercial District. An informational booth was set up with renderings available for viewing as part of a series of workshops being planned to invite the community to learn more Jack Sullivan, president of Teamsters Local 445. “The road along this stretch is crumbling and the only funding currently allocated for improvements is reserved for adding a small section of sidewalk—that is not enough to ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians.”

Mike Gaydos, president of Ironworkers Local 417, announced the Labor organization’s membership in the Improve59 coalition as well.

The coalition also announced that Pastor Nathaniel Demosthene of First Timothy

about the dramatic new initiative and ways to get involved.

“We briefed local leadership in our initial unveiling of Improve59, and now we are excited to bring our bold, new vision for the “Route 59 of the Future” to members of the community,” said Ryan Karben, Esq., Improve59 spokesperson. “Our first Community Education Day will be an excellent opportunity to engage area residents interested in a wider and safer Route 59.”

Improve59 recently unveiled its vision for the corridor, which proposes widening Route 59 with an additional lane of traffic in each direction and synchronizing traffic lights. Major improvements also include adjusting traffic flow on Route 306 for bottleneck relief as well as creating a Route 59 bypass road from Route 59 to Saddle River Road. The coalition also prioritizes pedestrian safety by proposing the creation of sidewalks, safe crossings and medians to discourage jaywalking, as well as a biking/walking trail from the existing park at Old Nyack Turnpike through Monsey Glen Park.

Teamsters Local 445 and Ironworkers Local 417 reflect the latest organizations to formally endorse Improve59.

“I am proud to welcome my brothers and sisters in Labor to this coalition,” said Stephen Reich, business manager of Laborers Union Local, which endorsed the initiative

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Christian Church in Spring Valley would assist in educating community members about the plan.

“New infrastructure will benefit all Ramapo residents. I look forward to great discussion in the community about the Improve59 initiative,” said Pastor Nathaniel Demosthene.

Members of the coalition also include New Hempstead Mayor Fred Brinn, Ramapo Councilwoman Brendel Logan Charles and Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder.

Improve59’s Community Education Day

last month. “We are building a strong coalition of residents, workers and business owners to improve Rockland’s neglected infrastructure.”

“Improve59 is offering a comprehensive plan for sound planning and traffic management, where currently there is none,” said

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Car 1ulled Grom Train Tracks in SuffFSn (Ramapo Daily Voice) An 81-year-old Suffern man became disoriented on Thursday and drove onto the railroad tracks at the Suffern Train Station, according to the Suffern Police Department.

Responding officers located the man whose

car had become stuck on the southbound track with the driver still inside, police said.

The driver told officers he became disoriented and drove his car off the train platform at the Suffern Train Station, then drove north on the tracks before getting stuck, police said.

All trains were stopped for a short time while the vehicle was pulled off the tracks by a heavy-duty tow truck, police added.

No one was injured during the event.

Indian Point Outage: Unit 3 Begins $100M Refueling and Maintenance CORTLANDT, NY—Control room operators shut down Entergy’s Indian Point Unit 3 nuclear power plant in Buchanan Monday morning to begin a nearly $100 million refueling and maintenance outage after 453 days of continuous operation.

This work brings 1,000 additional workers and economic benefits to the region, and reinforces Entergy’s commitment to continued safe and reliable operations through the plant’s planned permanent shutdown in 2021, company officials said in a statement.

Unit 3 remained online 96 percent of the time since its prior refueling and maintenance outage while generating more than 16.9 million megawatt hours of clean power and preventing the emissions of more than 7.6 million metric tons of carbon.

“Both Indian Point Unit 3 and Unit 2 continue to operate safely and reliably, and people can be confident in our commitment to maintaining outstanding performance,” said Tony Vitale, site vice president and Entergy’s top official at Indian Point.

“Indian Point 3 recorded a reliable run of service in 2016, benefitting millions of New Yorkers with

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clean and safe energy. We are investing tens of millions of dollars during this refueling and maintenance outage on inspections, maintenance and equipment upgrades to ensure the plant continues to operate safely and provide economic stimulus, grid reliability and environmental benefits until permanent shutdown in 2021.”

The work includes comprehensive inspections and upgrades of plant equipment and systems, including specialized examination of baffle bolts on a removable liner inside the reactor.

Entergy committed to conducting these bolt inspections at Unit 3 two years ahead of schedule after engineers identified and replaced similar bolts on the removable liner inside Unit 2’s reactor last year.

This is the second-to-last refueling outage at Unit 3 before shutting down permanently by April 30, 2021. Unit 2, which remains in service at full power and has been online for 250 continuous days, will conduct its final refueling and maintenance outage next spring before it shuts down permanently by April 30, 2020. Entergy officials said the company is investing nearly $100 million at Unit 3, including about $80 million on salaries and expenses for full-time and supplemental employees, to complete the refueling and other projects. About 1,000 additional skilled contract workers are supplementing the approximately 1,000 full-time Entergy employees at Indian Point, providing an additional economic boost to the surrounding communities. These contractors represent dozens of vendors from the community and across the country. Since purchasing the plants more than 15 years ago, Entergy has safely delivered hundreds of millions of megawatt hours of virtually emissions-free power to the Hudson Valley and New York City, while investing more than $1.3 billion in safety and reliability improvements.

Community News Indian Point Unit 2 began commercial operation in 1974 and Unit 3 in 1976. Entergy purchased Unit 3 in 2000 from the New York Power Authority and Unit 2—along with the permanently closed Unit 1—in 2001 from Consolidated Edison. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of approximately $10.8 billion and more than 13,000 employees.

Under Entergy’s ownership, Indian Point has established an excellent safety record and ranks among the most reliable power plants in the state. Inspectors at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with special expertise and training in nuclear power and strict licensing and operational guidelines, ranked the plant in the agency’s top regulatory column for safety following more than 6,000 hours of inspections in 2016.

On Jan. 9, as part of a settlement with New York State, Entergy announced its plan for the early and orderly shutdown of the two units. In exchange, New York State agreed to drop its legal challenges and support renewal of the operating licenses for Indian Point. Entergy will continue to invest in the plant and its employees to maintain a strong record of safety and reliability through the final four years of operation.

Message From Ramapo Police: A Rash of Catalytic Converter Larcenies The Town of Ramapo has seen a rash of catalytic converter larcenies in the past few weeks.

Thieves are able to quickly slide under the vehicles, cut the catalytic converters off of the vehicles with battery-powered reciprocating saws, and flee the area within minutes. The converters are then sold at scrap yards and fetch anywhere from $50 to $75 due to their contents of precious metals such as platinum, rhodium and palladium. One way to thwart off would-be larcenists is to keep your vehicle parked in a welllit area.

Camp 613 Is Ready for Camp and Taking Registration

Summer is just around the corner and the staff at Camp 613 couldn’t be more excited for what’s in store! Camp 613 is located at Lifeplex Health Club, in Monsey, New York. Now in its 16th season of operation and in its 10th season at Lifeplex, Camp 613 continues to expand its outstanding programming in a facility that is truly one of a kind. The impressive grounds are home to an indoor Olympic-sized ice skating rink, indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool, rock-climbing wall, indoor tennis courts, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, indoor dance and gymnastics studios, indoor & outdoor visual arts studios and outdoor sports field, as

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well as a new culinary program, boys’ music program and new end-of-summer Sports Extravaganza for the boys’ division. A favorite for the girls’ division is the MainStage production performed in a theater! This professionally directed show is a culmination of the performing arts classes our campers have come to know and love. This year’s end-of-summer Mainstage production will be “The Wizard of Oz.” All of these amazing activities are sure to provide your camper with an extraordinary summer experience.

Camp 613 hires professionally trained instructors for all of its activities, giving our coun-

selors the opportunity to focus on each & every camper in their bunk. Rabbi Dr. Daniel Herman and Tamar Sheffey, our camp directors; Yocheved Kornfeld, our aquatics director; Rabbi Shlomo Hyman, our learning director; Ayelet Mermelstein, medical director; and Aliza Fischman, our associate executive director, have been part of the Camp 613 family for several years.

In addition, Camp 613 would like to welcome Yael Rosman as co-medical director for summer 2017. This team of outstanding directors has been hard at work planning and preparing an action-packed summer full of fun-filled activities.

Whether your child enjoys sports, gymnastics, rock climbing, music, dance, ice skating, ice hockey, art…and the list goes on, there is something for every camper at Camp 613!

The combination of exceptional and qualified staffing, a nurturing and safe environment, an outstanding facility, and most importantly, the campers themselves, is the perfect recipe for a spectacular summer the campers never forget!

Camp 613 is filling up quickly and space is limited. If you have not registered yet and would like your child to attend, please make sure to fill out your camper application today at www.camp613.com.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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Chasdei Lev Holds Monsey Volunteer Event

By Mindy Cohn Monsey’s Chasdei Lev volunteers offered chizuk by offering their time and energy as they got together to show hakaras hatov to Monsey mechanchim. The volunteers were on hand to assist in the Pesach order distribution on Sunday, March 19. The distribution took place at the Yeshiva of Spring Valley Girls’ Building on Grandview Avenue.

Chasdei Lev’s mission is to ensure that the rebbeim of our communities are able to go into Yom Tov with peace of mind. Yom Tov on any budget is expensive. Yom tov for rebbeim with large families and on a typical rebbe’s salary can be daunting. Chasdei Lev’s goal is to help alleviate that strain by utilizing a combination of donations and subsidies, as well as the purchasing power of buying in bulk. In this way, Chasdei Lev provides a service whereby our children’s rebbeim are able to order a large quantity of food and paper goods at a quarter of the typical cost. All of this is done in a most dignified and efficient manner.

Community News

tons of meat and 44,132 bottles of wine and grape juice.

Chasdei Lev and their volunteers realize that children’s rebbeim sacrifice so much to teach our children. Chasdei Lev is about us giving back to them so that they can go into Yom Tov with simcha and menuchas hanefesh.

To contact Chasdei Lev either as a yeshiva, as a volunteer, donor or rebbi, call (718) 831-2500 or e-mail them at info@chasdeilev.org.

IT’S THE SEASON TO

Most rebbeim receive between 40-50 cases of Pesach essentials. Rebbeim are presented with a shopping list of food and household necessities at drastically reduced prices. The items on this list were purchased directly from manufacturers and distributors at below wholesale prices. Individual yeshivos participate in bearing a significant portion of the cost to help make the price reductions possible. Items available for purchase include a variety of chicken, meat, wine, juice, fish, produce, paper goods, plasticware and dry goods Chasdei Lev has the participation of 156 yeshivos and has distributed to over 2,564 rebbeim in locations that include not only Monsey, but Brooklyn, Far Rockaway, Queens, Edison, Staten Island, Scranton, South Fallsburg, Denver, Montreal and Toronto as well. In the past year, Chasdei Lev has purchased over $6,600,000 of retail price goods, distributed 105,115 cases of goods, which is more than 130 truckloads.

This includes 78 tons of chicken, 17,100

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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Hope at Last for Reducing the Stink Bug Population Invading Rockland County Last summer, an important biological control agent, a parasitoid wasp that uses the eggs of the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), was captured. This tiny wasp is the size of a pencil tip, capable of laying its eggs in the eggs of BMSB. The wasp was enticed to lay its eggs in the sentinel BMSB eggs provided along the wooded edge of an organic Jalapeno pepper planting in Marlboro, New York.

Once the wasp hatched out of these eggs at the Hudson Valley Research Laboratory in Highland, New York, specimens were sent to the USDA and it was confirmed as the Samurai Wasp, Trissolcus japonicus.

Researchers believe this wasp to be the most effective tool for reducing BMSB in the United States, where the stink bug has spread over the past 20 years. It is believed that as this tiny wasp is captured, reared and moved to lo-

cations where BMSB is a pest, it will significantly reduce home infestations of BMSB from occurring in the fall, reducing the need to spray the exterior and, in some cases, the home interior, to keep the stink bug from entering and overwintering in homes.

More importantly, this parasitoid can save fruit and vegetable farmers millions of dollars in management costs and yearly loss of crops as BMSB populations decline.

If the wasp can be successfully distributed and established in New York, it will be the David and Goliath story of the decade, as eradicating the stink bugs has been a near-impossible task thus far. But not anymore. Now you can help by letting Cornell scientists know where the insects are this spring. Sign on to the National March Madness Citizen Science Project to put your BMSB in your homes on the map to help.

Community News

To participate in the project to help eradicate the stink bugs, when you find a brown marmorated stink bug you take a picture of it and send it in according to the following guidelines: Step 1. Join the project by first identifying your insect as a BMSB by visiting http://njaes. rutgers.edu/stinkbug/id.

Step 2. Then report your findings, which is a very simple process on the EDDMaps website: (early detection and distribution of invasive insects) http://www.eddmaps.org/bmsb/ report/.

Step 3. Every day from March 1 to April 31, count all of the adult BMSBs in your home.

Step 4. Enter your data online here: http:// www.eddmaps.org/bmsb/report/.

The project will end on April 31, at which time the distribution map of BMSB popula-

tions will be completed. The more people in our area who send in information, the more likely it will be that we will receive help in ridding ourselves of this invasive species.

The scientists want to update their understanding of where the bugs are causing the greatest nuisance and most damage. This means that the more of us in the Monsey area who report our stink bug problems, the more likely we will find that help is on the way.

About Pjj5@cornell.edu Peter J. Jentsch is a graduate of the University of Nebraska with a master’s degree in entomology. He is presently focusing on invasive insect species, monitoring in the urban environment and commercial agricultural production systems throughout the state.

Packing for Pesach With Kosher Troops  CONTINUED FROM COVER For more than nine years now, Monsey residents Sara Fuerst and Ava Hamburger have organized Kosher Troops packaging of holiday and Shabbos foods for shipment to Jewish military personnel all over the world.

Kosher Troops has become so popular as the years go by that now military personnel call or email in their orders for each location. Passover packages will be received by U.S. military personnel stationed in places as far away as Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghan-

istan, Japan, Germany and stateside military bases all over the United States as well.

The packing was done at the Kosher Troop’s warehouse in Mahwah, New Jersey. The Pesach packages contained a vast assortment of kosher-for-Passover foods including cookies, cakes, ketchup, macaroons, matzo, gefilte fish, horseradish sauce, horseradish roots, grape juice, preserves, matzo ball mix, chocolate and candy. The food that was included in this year’s Pesach packages was donated by a number of companies including J.R. Kelley, LaBriute, Kedem, Manischewitz, Streit’s and Osem The next step for the 1,000 boxes, after each was packed and sealed, was to address and stamp each one for the U.S. Postal Service to collect in time for the shipments to arrive wherever in the world our troops are stationed.

Even with the volunteers who come to pack countless times a year, giving of their time and energy, and even with the generous donations from food companies, there are expenses. Given that the packages to the troops grow in number each year, shipping all the boxes would not be possible without the generous donations that pay for not only the shipping expenses, but for

additional items that must be purchased as well.

To receive more information on Kosher Troops or to be a part of their regular accomplishments, which include shabbatons for the troops and Shabbos and Yom Tov packages around the year, please call 845-3547763 or email: sara@kosher-troops.com.

For more information on Kosher Troops or to follow all that is being accomplished on a regular basis, visit www.koshertroops.com or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suffern • Wesley Hills

Yedei Chesed Hosts Successful Passaic-Clifton Shabbaton From time to time, something seemingly ordinary becomes extraordinary. This year, on Shabbos of Parshas Teruma, two special communities came together as one. For the second consecutive year, Yedei Chesed hosted its Passaic-Clifton shabbaton, creating an inclusive Shabbos that brought together adult men from both Rockland County and Passaic-Clifton.

On Friday evening, the chevra joined the community members for davening at Ahavas Israel, afterward joining their respective host families for leil Shabbos seuda. The night continued with a spirited oneg Shabbos, again at Ahavas Israel, filled with zemiros, beautiful words of Torah and incredible storytelling.

The participants awoke bright and early for Shacharis, once again davening alongside the mispalelim of Ahavas Israel. The shul gabbaim were extremely welcoming, ensuring the shabbaton participants received aliyos, and also invited one of the staff members to serve as ba’al Musaf.

The afternoon Shabbos seuda (catered

by Passaic-based King of Delancey) brought members from the broader community together with the shabbaton participants. During the meal, they heard inspirational words of Torah from Rabbi Yehuda Minchenberg, a member of the Passaic kehila. Chaim Solo-

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Community News The amazing shabbaton ended with kumzitz and pizza.

On the Monday morning following the shabbaton, one of the parents from Monsey, Mrs. Rokach, whose son Mechel attended the shabbaton, was exuberant as she described how much Mechel enjoyed the shabbaton. Mr. Rokach said that Mechel shared that Mordechai Jablin, his counselor, is “not just Mordechai Jablin; he’s Mordechai the Tzaddik.”

Yedei Chesed is equally excited for its women’s shabbaton, taking place on Shabbos Parshas Behaalosecha, June 9-10. If anyone is interested in hosting, joining or participating, please contact Yedei Chesed at (845) 425-0887 or info@yedei.org.

Yedei Chesed Shabbatone conclusion: pizza and kuzitz

mon, Yedei Chesed’s director of day services and member of the Passaic kehila, also shared an uplifting message. Solomon emphasized “the incredible bonds created between shabbaton participants from two different communities, as well as the special relationships being built between participants and members of the broader kehila.”

Despite the uptick in the afternoon windchill, a special shalosh seudos took place at Bais Medrash Zichron Eliezer. Naftali Stubin, one of the young shabbaton volunteers from Passaic, delivered an incredible drasha, drawing on the

wisdom of Parshas Teruma as he expounded on the idea of harnessing one’s strengths rather than focusing on one’s limitations. Further enhancing this part of the shabbaton was the opportunity for participants to utilize their homemade shtenders.

Perhaps the most memorable portion of the shabbaton saw Yedei Chesed’s shabbaton staff— comprising both volunteers and professionals— extend themselves beyond the shabbaton’s official programming, making home visits to the families of individuals with disabilities, offering parents an opportunity for Shabbos respite.

Yedei Chesed would like to thank the following people and organizations for making this shabbaton possible: Congregation Ahavas Israel; Congregation Bais Medrash Zichron Eliezer; Mr. and Mrs. Moshe Feigin; Mr. And Mrs. Howard Fishman; Mr. and Mrs. Pinny Gildin; Mr. Shlomo Golombeck; Mr. and Mrs. Yitzchok Herz; King of Delancey; Rabbi and Mrs. Yehuda Minchenberg; Mrs. Amy Nevo; Orthocraft Inc.; Pink Orchid; Mr. and Mrs. Howard Reece; Mr. Andrew Schultz; Rita Singer RD; Mr. and Mrs. Chaim Solomon; Rabbi and Rebbetzin Menachem Spira; and Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Stubin.

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Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suffern • Wesley Hills

Seen Around Town

Yaakov Yosef Coren – Chaburah at Yeshivas Ohr Reuven

Rabbi Leff inscribing sefer for Avi Zelefsky at Yeshivas Ohr Reuven

A first grader wins the grand raffle from Rabbi Newberger’s Kriah shma al Hamita program at Ateres

Kitah Alef and their interactive Ivris program at Ateres

Mir Alumni Monsey K’sivas Osios

Halacha Midterm at Yeshivas Ohr Reuven

The Cat In The Hat comes to school in honor of Dr.Suess’s birthday Ateres, 1st grade

3rd grade Globe Project at Yeshiva Darchei Noam

Ohr Chaim Learning Center’s Yeshivas Kiymu V’kiblu

Send your photo submissions from anywhere around town to editor@monsey.com 20

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March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Airmont • Chestnut Ridge • Forshay • Kaiser • Monsey • New City • New Hempstead • Pomona • Spring Valley • Suffern • Wesley Hills

Seen Around Town

Preschooler at The Hebrew Academy

Tomche Shabbos packing

Frank Sinatra night at The Fountain View

Send your photo submissions from anywhere around town to editor@monsey.com March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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21

Spotlight on Schools A School Like No Other

By M.C. Millman It is an educational institution the likes of which I had never seen. The first thing that hits you after you walk in is the color and brightness, both from the walls decorated by kids and for kids and from the bright, airy structure itself. The warmth comes next, exuding from every teacher, member of the staff and the students themselves. But all of this is but the tip of the iceberg once you begin to traverse deeper into the heart of what makes The Hebrew Academy tick.

Tefila Circle at The Hebrew Academy Preschool: interactive and involved. Toddlers begin from 18 months old at the licensed Child Care at The Hebrew Academy Preschool.

The Love of Torah is one of the Three Loves at The Hebrew Academy: Love of Torah, Love of Hashem and Love of His People. Rabbi Avrumel Kotlarsky, Principal explains to the 2nd graders how the Torah and the Chumash the children learn in class are the same even though they appear in a different form (scroll vs book).

“It’s the school I wish I could have gone to as a kid,” was the quote I heard from one parent in the school. But as I toured room after room, I found myself echoing the sentiment but turning it around somewhat at the same time. For me, I couldn’t help but say, “It’s the school I wish my kids had gone to.”

Founded in 1995, The Hebrew Academy, located in New City, is a yeshiva offering an excellent Judaic and secular studies program for students in toddler through eighth grade. With Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky at the helm as principal, with his successful vision for the school as being a dynamic model for highest student achievement, the Hebrew Academy looks beyond their students’ mastery of the basic curriculum and seeks to prepare each child with the skills needed for the 21st century. Among those skills are digital literacy, innovative thinking and effective communication—skills that will enable each child to work effectively in today’s collaborative atmosphere.

The Hebrew Academy believes that all children are different and have different needs.

“The children are our customer,” says Rabbi Kotlarsky. As such, they need to be offered varied learning opportunities that should challenge them, keep them interested and feeling successful on an individually appropriate level. The school also believes that technology is important for enhancing the learning process and that enthusiastic, competent, caring and pro-

22

fessional staff members are essential to quality education.

Starting with the phenomenal extracurricular activities, I couldn’t help but reach out myself to tap on one of the many drums lining the shelf in the music room. There, the students get an introduction to music and rhythm. The room boasted drums, flutes, violins, a cornucopia of musical choices so vast, my heartstrings thrummed with pleasure at the thought of all the music created there regularly. But the musical appreciations room isn’t enough, apparently. In the next room there were enough keyboards for every student in a Hebrew Academy class, classes that will never exceed 16. The keyboards take the students to the next level in the world of music. There, each teacher-guided student plays the keyboard while wearing earphones.

The art room was another incredible location. Bright, airy, vibrant and so full of art supplies of every medium, it isn’t hard to imagine the happy hours spent there. During class, students explore and develop an appreciation of art while being able to create masterpieces of their own including pottery, which is fired in the kiln in the room. There are even two 3D printers, which the students had just used to complete a model of the Beis Hamikdash.

The library in the school holds nearly 10,000 wall-to-wall books of all of the students’ favorites and those yet-to-be-discovered favorites. It is another room that streams light and brightness with one wall completely glass.

The window into reading is the clear message there. There is a computer room as well, with more than enough desktops for each student in the class. Besides for working there on their own on the individualized SuccessMaker program that the students utilize to advance their math and reading skills at their own pace, the students also learn essential programs from Microsoft Office as well as coding and robotics.

The student lounge as well as the two-sto-

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Pre K enjoys camaraderie in the expansive playground at The Hebrew Academy.

ry gym with a mezzanine so parents and family can come view events, just adds to the impression of what a wonderful learning environment this school has created. There is also a stage in the gym for performances and a social hall with a full professional kitchen for school celebrations and events. The playground has something for every age, from climbing, riding and sliding equipment to a full-court basketball area.

The classrooms themselves are beautiful, carpeted and highly decorated. Each classroom has its own SMARTBoard, and the ergonomically designed desks are spacious enough to fit an iPad and a textbook on each with room to spare. This is the only Jewish school in Rockland County where every student in kindergarten through eighth grade has their own iPad, one tool in the blended-learning approach that is essential to The Hebrew Academy’s goal of meeting every child’s learning needs. The iPads are used for individualized learning as well as class projects and other learning endeavors. “Technology is an integral part of the learning at The Hebrew Academy,” says Director of Admissions and Preschool Director Mrs.

Shternie Perline. “It is a fantastic tool to keep students engaged in learning and enable them to create, communicate and collaborate.” Classrooms all have tables for group discussions and several desktop computers at the back of the room as well.

The school begins at 18 months utilizing the Reggio Emilia progressive approach to education in early childhood. By the time kindergarten ends, the students are reading in Hebrew and English and can write four- to five-word stories on their own.

“An educated consumer is our best customer,” says Rabbi Kotlarsky, borrowing from Sym’s motto from days gone by. “When it comes time for parents to make what is going to be the most important decision for their child’s future, parents need to ask themselves, ‘What am I looking for and trying to achieve for my child?’ When potential parents come to look into our school, we appreciate questions that can help them understand more about what we do. We are eager to show and explain what our educational philosophy and hashkafa is and what is different about our school beyond the amazing building people constantly comment on.”

Not one to rest on its laurels, The Hebrew Academy continues to adopt new and innovative educational programs to the curriculum. One such program is the extensive and very popular Lehavin Ulehaskil, which enables students to build excellent Chumash-learning skills. Proficiency is reinforced with songs, cards, posters and attractive workbooks. The school also has a comprehensive Ivrit program that builds upon itself year by year. Secular subjects are taught by handpicked, experienced state-certified teachers.

Technology engages 2nd graders at The Hebrew Academy as they program robots, Dot and Dash, with iPads.

One crucial question prospective parents tend to ask is which schools the graduates go on to attend. The answer is quite simple: Any school they set their mind to going. All doors are open to the students of The Hebrew Academy, and that’s what we want for our children, after all—open doors, open hearts and open choices, all within the realm of Jewish values and yiras Shamayim. And it’s all right here, waiting behind the open doors of The Hebrew Academy.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Ateres Bais Yaakov Visits Children in the Ukraine

Spotlight on Schools

By monsey.com staff Thirty-one girls from Ateres Bais Yaakov spent their winter vacation in the Ukraine as they took the much-anticipated annual visit the school makes to the Tikva Orphanage in Odessa. The 11th graders spent two weeks in the orphanage. They went on trips together and even made a carnival for the children. They spent Shabbos together as well with the children living in the orphanage, making it their business to give the orphans two weeks of the love that they so desperately crave.

As they do every year, the 11th graders from Ateres Bais Yaakov really bond with the children they have come all the way to visit. They find soon enough that even if they do not speak the same language, everyone seems to understand the universal language of a smile, a hug and shared laughter.

Besides for visiting the Tivka Orphanage for girls, the school and the babies’ orphanage, the 11th graders also took a short break to go to Uman. They davened at numerous kevarim in the area and also visited a mass gravesite from the Holocaust. The majority of their time, though, was spent with the girls in the orphanage and at the local school, including the preschool department where the girls taught the children and did arts and crafts with them.

The 11th graders were on hand when the little boys received a new yarmulke and tzitzis, compliments of their American visitors.

The ones they had been wearing until then had been brought the year before by Ateres.

The impact of seeing what it meant to the little boys in the preschool who felt so lucky to receive a single new yarmulke and a new set of tzitzis during the once-a-year ceremony was moving beyond words for the girls who experienced it. Plus, the value that the young boys placed on what they had, a single yarmulke and tzitzis lasting an entire year, made a truly memorable impression on girls coming from a society where people go out and buy many yarmulkes at one time, only to lose most of them a short time later.

The Ateres girls not only taught in the nearby school during the day, but they did a night activity nearly every night too. They also made a Shabbos program, inviting the girls from the nearby school, for a total of nearly 150 girls.

“The children were so appreciative of everything we did for them,” said one participant, who has only praise for the two-week trip.

ASHAR Participates ASHAR in Boys’ and Girls’in Participates Torah Bowl Torah Bowl Each students in in Each year, year, aa group group of of ASHAR ASHAR students grades fi ve through eight try out to join the grades five through eight try out to join the elite team for for elite Torah Torah Bowl Bowl Teams.

Teams. There There is is one one team the girls and one for the boys.

Competing in the girls and one for the boys. Competing in aa Torah Bowl requires a tremendous amount Torah Bowl requires a tremendous amount of the students. students. of dedication dedication on on the the part part of of the Throughout the season, the students meet Throughout the season, the students meet once a week with their winning coach, Rabbi once a week with their winning coach, Rabbi Leible material. Every Every Leible Chaitovsky, Chaitovsky, to to study study the the material. year the material consists of a diff erent one of year the material consists of a different one of the Chamisha Chumshei Torah, complete with the Chamisha Chumshei Torah, complete with all students an an all text text and and every every Rashi, Rashi, giving giving the the students unbelievable amount of Torah knowledge that unbelievable amount of Torah knowledge that isis amassed the year. year. amassed throughout throughout the the course course of of the This year’s participants completed the entire This year’s participants completed the entire Sefer SeferDevarim Devarimwith withRashi.

Rashi.

ASHAR takes that their their ASHAR takesextra extra pride pride in in the the fact fact that teams have won many division championships teams have won many division championships competing schools: YeshiYeshicompeting against against other other local local schools: va North Jersey, Ramaz, SAR and JEC, includva North Jersey, Ramaz, SAR and JEC, includ-

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Each girl was allowed to fly with two suitcases, but months before their departure, they each brought in one suitcase to school.

The suitcase was then filled with toys, games, arts and crafts and clothes from the clothes drive that was held before they left. The girls then traveled with one suitcase for themselves and one suitcase filled with chesed.

“After this trip, my daughter was able to understand the true definition of what it means to be truly poor,” said one participant’s mother. “They took them one day to a child’s home just so they could see where they were coming

from, and my daughter told me how impossible it was to comprehend living in such a hut.

She couldn’t comprehend how they could even survive the cold by living in such a place. She came home with a totally different mindset of how people suffer, and not just any people, but fellow Jews. This trip made a huge impact.”

“We saw the home,” said the daughter, “and then we saw the baby in the orphanage later.

She couldn’t live at home because her mother is an alcoholic, but some children in the orphanage do go home to visit sometimes.”

“I gained an appreciation of life,” said one participant. “They have nothing there. There was a kosher restaurant under the shul, and a coffee stand where coffee costs 30 cents.

Falafel was 45 cents at the stand.” It was so cheap, yet the visitors could see that people still couldn’t afford to pay for it.

Besides for the souvenirs from Uman, the Rav Nachman necklaces, the babushka dolls hidden inside each other and the holy water that was brought back from the well near the river where the Baal Shem Tov is buried, the girls also brought back an appreciation for all that they have at home in America. They also realized how much more they can still give.

As such, the 11th graders have taken it upon themselves to raise funds for the weddings of two kallahs from the Tikvah Orphanage they met in Odessa. For $5,700, they can help a kallah make a wedding, purchase a sheitel and set up her own home. To this end, the 11th graders made a Purim carnival. Many of them have also committed to donating $50 a month to help reach the goal of marrying off the first kallah whom the girls met in Odessa.

To participate in the Ateres Bais Yaakov Odessa Tivka Orphan Wedding Campaign, tax-deductible checks can be made out to the Torat Chessed Trust and mailed to 1 Carlton Place, Passaic, New Jersey 07055.

Yeshiva Darchei Noam News Rabbi Biller’s third graders were privy to a bowling siyum at New City Bowl. This was followed by a pizza party in honor of finishing Mishnayos and Perek Vov of Parshas Vayeishev.

They also celebrated a very successful Mechiras Yosef play. ing their their win win on on Monday, Monday, March March 20.

20. ASHAR’s ASHAR’s ing boys’ Torah Bowl team is now heading tothe the boys’ Torah Bowl team is now heading to Junior Torah Bowl Championships after defeatJunior Torah Bowl Championships after defeating YNJ YNJ in in the the playoff playoffs.s.This This will willbe bethe thesecond second ing year in a row that ASHAR’s team is advancing year in a row that ASHAR’s team is advancing to the the championships. championships. The The boys boys pulled pulled out out aa to strong victory and will represent the Western strong victory and will represent the Western Division in round, which will Division inthe thechampionship championship round, which take place in Brooklyn after Pesach.

Leading the will take place in Brooklyn after Pesach. LeadASHAR boys was Shimshon Gordon, Eitan Nising the ASHAR boys was Shimshon Gordon, Eisel and Yoel Schmutter. tan Nissel and Yoel Schmutter.

After defeating Moriah, the the ASHAR ASHAR girls’ girls’ After defeating Moriah, team took an impressive second place to YNJ. team took an impressive second place to YNJ. The ASHAR girls’ team was led by Rochel Leah The ASHAR girls’ team was led by Rochel Leah Itzkowitz, Ruti Ruti Tsour, Tsour, Mindy Mindy Benovitz, Benovitz, Eliana Eliana Itzkowitz, Meckler and Miriam Boss Meckler and Miriam Boss

(l-r) Rabbi Yosef Rawicki, Menahel assisting sixth grader Avi Zisman during the class tzitzis project Menachem Rieder from Rabbi Biller’s 3rd grade, Darchei Noam at bowling siyum

The end of Parshas Shelach discusses the mitzvah of tzitzis. As part of hands-on learning, the sixth graders of Yeshiva Darchei Noam

learned many of the halachos and ideas behind this special mitzvah. The class then made their own tzitzis according to their minhag, as care was taken that every talmid was taught the proper way to tie tzitzis according to his own family minhag.

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Cheder Ateres Tzvi News After learning the entire Mesechta Yuma, Cheder Ateres Tzvi’s fourth grade put on a production. Under the guidance of Rabbi Velvel Schmelczer, the class acted out the avoda of

Spotlight on Schools

Yom Kippur for their parents. The performance included each boy in a dierent role and replicas of the keilim of the Beis Hamikdash that the boys made together in class.

Rabbis to Reform Reform Movement: Movement:Dictating Dictatingto toIsrael Israel Around the World Rabbis to and and Downplaying Downplaying Terrorism TerrorismEndangers EndangersIsraelis Israelis

BALTIMORE, MD, MARCH 10—The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) castigated the American Reform movement today for �presuming to tell Israel how to protect the lives and livelihood of Israeli Jews,� and for its friendly meeting with Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas while the latter continues to incite and reward bloodshed.

Israel’s Knesset passed legislation on Monday

that will bar entry to foreign nationals who publicly call upon the world to isolate and boycott Israel, or who represent an organization that calls for a boycott. In response, the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ), led by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, publicly denounced this law as being “anti-Democratic�—although it was approved

by Israel’s democratic legislature by a large margin.

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“Rabbi Jacobs’ statement is simply illogical,â€? said Rabbi Yaakov Menken, director of the CJV. “Given the long and repulsive history of boycotts against Jews, his quoted claim that an anti-boycott law is tantamount to saying ‘don’t come unless you agree with everything we’re doing here’ is embarrassingly devoid of rational basis. But it is sadly typical for a movement that seems desperate to forget Jewish history and to pretend that familiar, pernicious anti-Semitic themes could never recur in the modern era.â€? “The condemnation of Israel today by the Reform movement tragically reects this insulated American group’s extreme failure to grasp Israel’s reality,â€? added Rabbi Dov Fischer, a senior rabbinic fellow of the CJV. “When a non-citizen, non-resident of any country is engaged internationally in a hateful boycott of that country, it is appropriate for a free Western democratic nation to deny that hater a welcome mat.â€?

Indeed, it is common practice among Western nations to deny entry to foreign nationals considered undesirable. The United Kingdom banned many Westerners over recent years, including a French comedian and an American talk show host. The United States banned entry to singers Boy George, Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) and Amy Winehouse, as well as former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.

The Reform movement has had a fractious relationship with Israel from its earliest days.

The founding Reformers rejected the idea of a Jewish homeland in the historic Land of Israel, and the movement belatedly endorsed Zionism only after Israel’s miraculous survival in 1948. Even so, Reform has never actively encouraged its congregants to move to Israel— and during Israel’s wars, the Hebrew Union College abandoned the country, interrupting its “year in Israel� programs and moving its American students to New York.

Meanwhile, that same movement has repeatedly taken stances regarded by Israelis as

unrealistic and dangerous to their safety. Just last Thursday, Jacobs and other URJ leaders met with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, and joined his claim that communities of Jews living in Judea threaten peace. While the PA continues to encourage terrorism and reward its perpetrators, discussion of ongoing and hateful incitement was relegated to an afterthought. Following their meeting, Jacobs praised Abbas, who has personally called for bloodshed in Jerusalem and honored murderers of children, for having “acknowledged that [incitement] was a real challengeâ€? and suggesting that it would require an “anti-incitement trilateral committeeâ€? in order to cease referring to Jews â€?desecratingâ€? holy sites “with their ďŹ lthy feet.â€? PA representatives declared afterwards that they and Reform leaders “see eye-to-eye.â€?

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, also a senior rabbinic fellow of the CJV, observed that “the Reform movement should not presume to decide how best to safeguard Jews living in Israel. The founders of Israel ignored Reform then, and Israel’s current leaders should ignore Reform’s harmful prescriptions today.�

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), a national organization directed by prominent rabbinic leaders, articulates an authentic Jewish perspective on current events, and promotes Jewish values through writing and teaching derived from traditional Jewish thought.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Around the World

Terror Attack Outside Parliament Stuns London

By monsey.com Ttaff

“A car on Westminster Bridge has just mowed down at least 5 people,” Poland’s former At press time, two people had been con- foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, wrote on Twitfi rmed dead, a police offi cer had been stabbed ter. Also on the scene was MP Tobias Ellwood, and as many as a dozen people had been run who lost his brother Jon in the Bali bombings in over outside London’s Parliament building as it 2002. Ellwood was photographed administerwas in session on Wednesday. The incident was ing CPR to the injured police officer. The rest of being treated as a terror attack. London’s met- the Parliament was on lockdown and the memropolitan police were called to the Parliament bers were not immediately allowed to leave the building at around 2:40 p.m. local time (10:40 building.

The incident Wednesday came on the onea.m. EST) after reports of a vehicle crashing into a crowd at Westminster Bridge near Britain’s Par- year anniversary of the terror attacks in Brusliament, resulting in horrifi c injuries. At least 10 sels in which 32 people were killed and more people were treated at the scene. A woman was than 300 injured. ISIS claimed responsibility pulled alive from the Thames River where she for those coordinated suicide bombings—two had jumped or been thrown as the car hit the at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem and one bridge railing. Witnesses say an assailant also at Maalbeek metro station in central Brussels. forced his way onto the grounds of Westmin- The bombings were the deadliest terror attack ster Palace and stabbed a police officer before in Belgium’s history. This attack, if confirmed he was shot at least three times, but was taken as terror, would be London’s only terror attack from the scene via ambulance, presumably alive. since the London transport system’s suicide “Prayers of the Jewish community are with bombing attacks on July 7, 2005, where 52 peothe families of the victims of today’s attack at ple were killed and over 700 were wounded.

Britain is on its second-highest alert level of #Westminster & with our brave security services,” wrote British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis on “severe,” meaning an attack by terrorists is considered highly likely.

Twitter.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

www.monsey .co m • info@mo nsey .com

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Israel News ‘Law and Order’ Unite to Promote Disability Inclusion at Jerusalem Marathon On Friday, March 17, the Jerusalem Police Department joined forces with four of Israel’s most prestigious law firms for the 7th annual Jerusalem Winner Marathon, working together to raise funds for ALEH (www.ALEH.org), Israel’s foremost network of state-of-the-art facilities for children with severe complex disabilities.

Though police officers and lawyers don’t always see eye to eye, the JPD and the law firms of Herzog Fox & Neeman (HFN), Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM), Yigal Arnon & Co., and Meitar Liquornik Geva Leshem Tal (Meitar) are of one mind when it comes to supporting ALEH’s residential facilities across the country. Both sides of the law are unified in their passion to promote the true inclusion of Israeli children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Throughout the winter, officers from the JPD have been making weekly visits to ALEH’s residential facility in Jerusalem to train with the residents for the upcoming marathon. With the aim of giving their ALEH running partners a leg up, many of the police officers will be wearing children who cannot use walkers in special “walking harnesses.” Because they will be connected, every step taken by an officer is also taken by the child, giving children who have never even moved their own legs the ability to “run” in the marathon.

Now in its fourth year, the inspiring project has captured the hearts of disability advocates around the world. The most recent fan is Roni Alsheikh, the former deputy head of the Shabak and current Chief of Israeli Police, who recently visited ALEH Jerusalem to watch a training session.

“Our role as police officers is twofold: to serve and protect. It is important for us to remember that we are here to serve the citizens and not just deal with the criminals. It is our responsibility to provide services to citizens on the streets, as well as seek out opportunities

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to give back to the community,” said Chief of Police Alsheikh during the visit. “As police officers, it is our job to be model citizens and lend a hand to the weakest members of society. Working with ALEH is the ideal project for my police officers in that it helps remind them who they are as human beings and why they became police officers in the first place.”

Shlomit Grayevsky, director of ALEH Jerusalem, explained that the initiative started out as a limited volunteer commitment for the police officers, but soon became their favorite weekly activity. In fact, many of them have expanded their volunteerism at ALEH over the past three years, visiting the Jerusalem facility whenever they can.

“ALEH’s goal is to give every individual with complex disabilities in Israel the opportunity to reach their fullest potentials. We work hard to change the way people view those with disabilities, so that they are embraced and included, instead of shunned or forgotten,” said Grayevsky.

“This amazing project with the Jerusalem Police Department is the perfect way to show the world that individuals with disabilities should not be counted out. These amazing kids are pushing their limits and surprising us more and more each day. All it takes is the love and dedication

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of individuals who truly care—our unparalleled professional staff and incredible volunteers like Jerusalem’s courageous and kind men and women in blue.”

While the police officers tackle the 500-meter “Community Track” with their ALEH running partners, 25 lawyers from HFN, ERM, Yigal Arnon & Co., and Meitar will be pounding the pavement in the 10K race as members of ALEH Ascend, the organization’s official running team.

“The Jerusalem Marathon is a thrilling challenge and it’s also the ultimate expression of unity, inclusion and triumph over boundaries of all kinds. We were inspired by the Jerusalem Police Department, and we wanted to do our part to ensure the unrestricted growth and true inclusion of Israeli children and adults with severe complex disabilities,” said Asher Sacks, an associate at Herzog Fox & Neeman and the son of Judith Sacks, chair of the ALEH Jerusalem Ladies Committee.

“My mother has been involved with ALEH for years, and it became clear to me that ALEH was an organization for all people and deserved wide support. I made it my mission this year to introduce ALEH’s amazing work to a new crowd of Tel Aviv professionals who will hopefully continue to spread the message further.”

Recruiting an impressive ALEH Ascend team for the Jerusalem Marathon was the first of many ways that ALEH Jerusalem will be marking its 20th anniversary this year. Under the theme “The Unification of all People in Jerusalem,” a nod to the 50th anniversary of the historic reunification of Jerusalem, ALEH will be organizing and hosting several events to celebrate its impact on the acceptance and inclusion of individuals with disabilities in Israel’s capital over the past two decades.

Events will include the 7th annual “ALEH Marches Forward” event on the Jerusalem Chords Bridge, a powerful and symbolic display to encourage “bridging” the inclusion gap for individuals with disabilities in Israeli society; the inauguration of the new state-of-the-art rehabilitation floor at ALEH’s Jerusalem facility; and a gala dinner to mark the anniversary and honor the memory of Rivka Chervin-Weinberger, founder and longtime chair of the ALEH Jerusalem Ladies Committee.

AIPAC: Pence, Haley, Harper Among Top Speakers at Upcoming AIPAC Policy Conference

By JNS.org The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), whose annual policy conference draws more than 15,000 people and is arguably the world’s largest pro-Israel gathering, announced the highest-level dignitaries who will address the lobby’s 2017 conference later this month.

US political leaders Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will all speak at the March 26-28 convention in Washington, DC. In the realm of foreign leaders, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will address the conference, AIPAC said.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were not included on AIPAC’s list of top-level speakers. Netanyahu, who typically appears at the conference, already visited Washington to meet with Trump last month. He is expected to speak through video conference.

While he was a presidential candidate, Trump spoke at last year’s policy conference, igniting a controversy when he said “yay” about how it was President Barack Obama’s final year in office. Following the AIPAC crowd’s significant applause for Trump’s remark about the sitting president, the lobby distanced itself from the candidate’s rhetoric the next day, acknowledging on the convention stage that “there are people in our AIPAC family who were deeply hurt last night” and lamenting that “so many applauded a sentiment that we neither agree with nor condone.”

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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US Boycotts UN Human Rights Session Targeting Israel (JNS.org) The U.S. State Department announced Monday that it plans to boycott a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that will examine alleged Israeli human rights abuses against the Palestinians.

The U.N. Human Rights Council meeting room in Geneva (Credit: Ludovic Courtès via Wikimedia Commons) “As an expression of our deeply held conviction that this bias must be addressed in order for the council to realize its legitimate purpose, the United States decided not to attend the council’s Item Seven General Debate session,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

Agenda Item Seven mandates that the council discuss alleged Israeli human rights abuses at every session. Israel is the only country in the world with such a specific mandate.

Other countries’ human rights abuses are discussed under Agenda Item Four.

“The United States strongly and unequivocally opposes the existence of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Agenda Item Seven,” the statement added. “The United States will vote against every resolution put forth under this agenda item and is encouraging other countries to do the same.”

The U.S. is one of 47 members of the UNHRC, but the Trump administration has warned that

28

America may reconsider its participation in the body unless it makes a number of reforms, including regarding its treatment of Israel.

The UNHRC is expected to approve five resolutions targeting Israel this week, while a total of only seven resolutions will be likely approved on human rights abuses in seven other countries, including Syria and Iran.

Israel Plans Mass Evacuations in Event of New War

(JNS.org) Israel is developing contingency plans to evacuate up to 250,000 civilians living in border communities in the event of a war breaking out with Hamas, Hezbollah or other Islamic terror groups.

The contingency plan, codenamed “Safe Distance,” was initiated in response to Hezbollah and Hamas’s stockpiling of large new weapons caches capable of striking all of Israel’s territory. According to a senior Israeli security official, since its war with Israel in 2006, Hezbol-

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Israel News lah has significantly expanded its arsenal to a stockpile of approximately 150,000 missiles.

The implementation of the evacuation plan would leave the traditional targets of terrorist rocket fire—communities close to Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Gaza—empty of civilians.

The idea to implement the “Safe Distance” plan is based upon insights gained in Israel’s 2014 war with Hamas, which saw civilians living in areas adjacent to Gaza evacuating on their own initiative.

Col. Itzik Bar of the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command told the Associated Press that the purpose of the plan is to “remove the threat by not having civilians there.”

“We want a meeting of army and Hezbollah forces, and not civilians with Hezbollah forces,” Bar said. “In places where we understand there is a great danger to civilians, for example, where we won’t be able to supply defenses or supply deterrence...we will evacuate.”

Palestinian Terrorist Livingston’s Temple Who American Teen BethKilled Shalom Gets Four Life Declared SafeSentences After Bomb Threat

(JNS.org) Palestinian terrorist Mohammed Abdel Basset al-Kharoub, who murdered American(monsey.com teen Ezra Schwartz, in November 2015, staff and18, combined sources) received four lifemorning, sentencesMarch from 21, Israel’s Ofer On Tuesday Temple military court. in Livingston was evacuated Beth Shalom

after receiving a telephoned bomb threat.

Its on-campus preschool was evacuated as well.

The Essex County Sheriff ’s Department and Livingston Police Department, including its bomb squad and K-9 units, were immediately called to the scene to investigate.

After completing a thorough search of the entire premises, law enforcement officials declared the building safe and everyone was allowed to return.

Following the threat, U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen issued the following statement: Ezra Schwartz with his high school diploma from theam Maimonides School Brookline,ofMA (Credit: “I saddened byinreports yet anothMaimonides School via Facebook) er shameful anti-Semitic threat against another synagogue, this time native, at Temple Beth Schwartz, a Massachusetts was studShalom in Livingston.

These are not just atying in Israel for his gap year before his planned tacks against the Jewish religion, heritage, attendance of Rutgers University.

Schwartz was culture and values,food buttoare crimes against on his way to deliver Israeli soldiers in the our entire was built opened on the Etzion Bloc nation. junctionAmerica when al-Kharoub foundation tolerance.

Anti-Semfire on a lineofofreligious traffic with an Uzi submachine itism and other forms of Israeli bigotry mustYaakov end.” gun. Schwartz, 51-year-old teacher This comes just weeks after anDon andthreat 24-year-old Palestinian resident of Heti-Semitic graffiti was found a bridge bron Shadi Arafa were killed in theon attack. in the Mountain Reservation, is AfterSouth running out of ammunition, the and terrorthe latesttoward in multiple waves ofjunction anti-Semitist drove the Gush Etzion and ic threats Jewishvehicle. institutions in rammed hismade car intotoanother Israeli seEssex County and throughout the United curity forces subsequently apprehended him.

States and Canada since four the start of 2017.

In addition to receiving life sentences, No explosives found of the al-Kharoub washave alsobeen ordered by at theany court to scenes, and each all reports to datefamilies have been compensate of the victims’ with deemed credible. paymentsnot of 750,000 shekels ($205,000).

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Torah & Inspiration The Leader, A Partner

Would you ever consider Rembrandt a leader? How about Mozart, or Frank Lloyd Wright?

Each of them was certainly a leader in his own field, but none of them was an individual who had a public following, or who had an influence upon a nation or community. Rembrandt deserved his fame as an artist; Mozart, as a master composer of beautiful music; and Frank Lloyd Wright, for his architectural accomplishments. But none of them is considered a leader, notwithstanding their superior creative talents.

In this week’s double Torah portion, Vayakhel-Pekudei (Exodus 35:1-40:38), we encounter a brilliant artist, architect and artisan. Arguably, he was at least as gifted as the aforementioned geniuses. I refer, of course, to Bezalel. We were first introduced to him one week ago in Parshas Ki Tisa, but his considerable talents are again described in this week’s parsha, and it is this week that we learn that he accomplished his mission and that he was congratulated for his work by Moses himself. Let the sacred text speak for itself, beginning with Moses’ words as he introduces Bezalel: “And Moses said to the Israelites: See, the Lord has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability and knowledge in every kind of craft… He and Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan have been endowed with the skill to do any work… Let Bezalel and Oholiab and all the skilled persons, whom the Lord has endowed with skill and ability to perform expertly all the tasks connected with the surface of the Sanctuary, carry out all that the Lord has commanded.”

(Exodus 35:30-36:1) Bezalel’s divinely endowed artistic genius is emphasized here. What is so striking is that he is assigned a partner, Oholiab, from a different tribe, who is also extremely talented, albeit probably not quite as gifted as Bezalel. We must also take note of the fact that an entire team of “skilled persons” is also engaged in the holy, and daunting, task of designing and crafting the Tabernacle and all of its components.

The ensuing several dozen verses all begin with phrases such as “they made,” “they matched,” “Bezalel made” and then, more than 20 times, “he made.”

Our Sages do not regard Bezalel as merely an artistic genius, nor even as the supervisor of a team of lesser geniuses. Rather, they reserve for him the title of “good leader,” or literally, “good sustainer.” In a most fascinating Talmudic passage in Berachot 55a, they refer to him as the ideal “parnas tov,” the person who supports

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

and nourishes the community at large.

Here is the passage: “Rabbi Yochanan said: There are three things that the Holy One, Blessed be He, Himself announces. They are a famine, a period of prosperity and a parnas tov, a good leader… As it is written [Exodus 31:1-2], ‘And God said to Moses: See that I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri…’”

ical and moral perspective, all of a person’s actions can be assessed by his readiness to accept a partner to assist him in his work and responsibilities, and to share his power and his fame. The great leader is not afraid that someone else will also achieve recognition. He is not concerned that another might stand in the limelight with him and get the credit for some of his accomplishments. The readiness to accept a partner is the litmus test of a truly good leader.

What made Bezalel the parnas tov was neither his artistic genius nor his management abilities. Rather, what made him the parnas tov, deserving to be “announced” as such by the Almighty Himself, was the fact that he readily accepted Oholiab as his full partner in this sacred undertaking.

Would you ever consider Rembrandt a leader?

How about Mozart?

What is the significance of the notion that the Almighty Himself “announces” something or someone? The commentators explain that the Lord “announces” only that which is unusually unique and extremely important. Famine is thankfully a rare occurrence, but it is a terrible one; great prosperity is also quite rare, and it is a wonderful phenomenon. Hence the Almighty reserves for Himself the right to “announce” them. Apparently, a parnas tov, a good and giving leader, is a most unusual person, hard-tofind and a very special blessing to his followers.

Rabbi Chaim Zeitchik, a Holocaust survivor who left us with numerous sensitive essays on topics of morality and ethics, wonders about the basis for the Talmud’s assumption that Bezalel was in any way a leader. “Was he a teacher, or a spiritual guide, or a judge?” he asks. “True, he constructed the Tabernacle, and but even that was for only a limited time. What is the evidence of his leadership capacity?”

Rabbi Zeitchik finds the answer to his question in a passage in the Midrash. It reads: “Rabbi Levi taught in the name of Rabbi Chanina: We find that when the Tabernacle was built, representatives of two different tribes were partners in its construction: Bezalel from Judah, and Oholiab from Dan. Similarly, in the construction of the first Holy Temple, the son of a widow from among the daughters of Dan partnered with King Solomon of the tribe of Judah.” (Yalkut Shimoni, Kings I, paragraph 185) Rabbi Zeitchik teaches us that from an eth-

Rabbi Zeitchik adduces another Talmudic text to expand upon his point. He refers to a passage in Tractate Yoma that praises a number of individuals and families who generously gave of their fortunes and wisdom to help in the construction and in the function of the second Holy Temple. It refers to them as tzadikim, very righteous people.

But that passage continues and lists fam-

ilies, such as the House of Garmu, who possessed the expertise necessary to properly bake the lechem hapanim, the holy showbread; and the House of Avtinas, who knew how to mix the ingredients of the holy incense. Shamefully, neither of these families was willing to disclose its secret knowledge with others. They wished to be known as the only possessors of the sacred secrets. They wanted glory to be theirs, and theirs alone. Not only are these glory seekers not labeled as parnasim tovim, good leaders, but the very derogatory term resha’im, wicked people, is applied to them.

Their names are recorded in the history of our people to their eternal shame.

Only the Holy One Himself can judge alone, and only He can lead alone. Human leadership requires partnership. This lesson is exemplified by Bezalel in the earliest days of our people’s history. Sadly, it is a lesson that few throughout our history have sufficiently taken to heart. It is a lesson that is evermore important in our critical times.

May our current and future leaders learn the lesson exemplified for us by Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, the parnas tov.

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, a Monsey resident, is executive vice president emeritus of the Orthodox Union.

Rabbi Weinreb’s newly released “Person in the Parasha: Discovering the Human Element In the Weekly Torah Portion,” co-published by OU Press and Maggid Books, contains a compilation of Rabbi Weinreb’s weekly Person in the Parsha column.

For more information about his book, go to https://www.ou.org/oupress/product/ the-person-in-the-parasha/.

For other articles and essays by Rabbi Weinreb, go to http://www.ou.org/torah/ parsha-series/rabbi-weinreb-on-parsha.

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29

The Shabbos Table

Torah && Inspiration Inspiration Torah

PARENTING PEARLS

By Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW Our Shabbos seudos are very nice but they are also very stressful. My husband does his utmost to read through all of the different Shabbos sheets.

Each child has his/her own set of similar questions on the parsha. Some of the children are all too eager to share what they learned and answer questions, but others are hesitant and it becomes a bit of a stressful point. Should we insist that every child review their parsha sheets? Also, how long should we insist that they stay at the table?

A wise colleague once related that if you want to get a good handle on the inner workings of a family, ask one of the children to describe their Shabbos table. What goes on?

What’s the atmosphere like?

Rav Matisyahu Salomon, shlita, in “With Hearts Full of Love,” emphatically states that the proliferation of Shabbos sheets with questions and divrei Torah are a modern phenomenon, and are a mistake.

For the child who doesn’t know the parsha well, asking him his questions turns the Shabbos table into Tisha B’av. The Shabbos table must be a place of warmth and joy, where every child feels welcomed and happy. They should sing zemiros and enjoy the food. The Shabbos table must not become an extension of the classroom.

That is not easily achieved. But the first step is for us to make it our mission to ensure that our Shabbos table is a happy place. Then we can figure out the details of how to accomplish it.

Practically speaking, it may be more worthwhile to discuss the parsha with the whole family together and ask questions, perhaps making a game out of it, to see who can answer the question first. With young children, the reward for a correct answer can be a candy; for older children perhaps money. Reading or telling a story can be great too, such as a story from “The Little Midrash Says” or “Mashal Tov.” For older children, Rav Zilberstein’s works on the parsha (“What If” by Artscroll and “Veha’rev Na”

by Feldheim) can be very interesting and dis-

What follows are two little slices of cheese, inspired by the teachings of HaRav HaChalaban.

Slice I: Wake-up, It’s Morning.

On the ninth of Av, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jewish nation was driven into exile.

Those events changed everything.

Then, for over two millennia, Jews everywhere hoped and prayed for change to come again.

Today, in a section of Tel Aviv that was once home to numerous dairy factories, there remains a small cheese factory and store known as Machlevet Deshen.

The owner is an elderly cheese-maker, scholar and revered Kabbalist.

In his writings and teachings, Rabbi Chaim Kohen Fachia, known as Harav HaChalban, insists that once again everything has changed, and so must we.

When Chazal established the holiday of Purim, they said that in the years when there are two Adars, that Purim must be celebrated in Adar Sheni. Why? To tie one geula to the next. To connect the geula of Purim to the geula of Pesach. These months of Adar and Nisan are saturated with geula.

30

Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW, is the rabbi of Kehillat New Hempstead. He is also fifthgrade rebbe and guidance counselor in ASHAR in Monsey, and principal of Mesivta Ohr Naftoli of New Windsor, New York. Rabbi Staum offers parenting classes based on the acclaimed Love & Logic program. He can be reached at stamtorah@gmail.com. His website is www.stamtorah.info.

Another Slice of Cheese

The Shift

By Shimon Apisdorf

cussion provoking.

I was recently a guest at a Shabbos table where the ba’al habayis asked everyone at the table their opinion about a question from Rabbi Zilberstein’s sefer. It was fun to hear afterwards whose responses were most in sync with Rabbi Zilberstein’s, which he proceeded to read aloud later in the meal. In addition, it was also a great exercise in “thinking in learning” and applying Torah to everyday life.

At another Shabbos table I attended the mother asked everyone some riddles—first starting with Torah/parsha riddles, and then some mathematical thought riddles to get everyone at the table into it.

Some families have adopted the custom

of reading a brief halacha or two from hilchos Shabbos. At times the children read the halacha while the adults listen.

In our home, we are particular that when one of our children repeats a dvar Torah at the Shabbos table from a parsha sheet they received from their rebbe/morah, that they prepare the dvar Torah in advance so that they can say most of it in their own words. I tell my children that I try hard to pay attention to what they are saying, and it’s very hard to listen to someone who is reading something just to get it over with. We also stress that when one child is speaking, the other children have to give them the courtesy of not speaking loudly. If they need something they can whisper.

Every family also has to balance how long to insist the children stay at the table. There should definitely be some modicum of structure at the Shabbos table, but as Rav Salomon states, it should not become a stressful place, an extension of the classroom. Each child should feel comfortable and welcome at the Shabbos table.

We’re all waiting.

When? When will it finally happen?

When will all this come to an end? When will the geula finally be here?

Early in the morning, one can find HaRav Chalban at work in his office at the small cheese factory founded by his brother over 50 years ago. The rest of his day is spent studying and teaching Kabbalah.

The Chalban tells us that there is a verse in Isaiah (60:1) that goes to the heart of what is taking place in the Jewish world today. We are living in the midst of a profound historical-spiritual shift that affects the fabric of Jewish existence in the deepest way.

The verse says, “Arise! Shine, for your light has arrived, and the grandeur of G-d has shone upon you.” This verse describes one of the fundamental characteristics of geula. Notice that even though the light is already shining, we still need to “Arise and shine.”

The prophet is describing a phenomena where even when the great light of geula has already arrived, still, the Jewish people will need to be awoken to see the light.

Galut is literally an exceptionally deep sleep.

It’s like the sleep of a young chayal home for Purim who is so “dead tired” that, despite the loud singing and dancing swirling around him, is sound asleep on the couch. His siblings give him a push, and then a shove, but all he can manage is a slight moan, to crack open one eye, but unable to be cognizant of the joyous party.

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King David said that when G-d returns us to Yerushalayim, we will be “like dreamers.” For millennia we thought that geula would be like awakening from a bad dream, to a dream come true. Isaiah is telling us that even when the geula has arrived, our slumber will still be so deep that we will need to exert great effort to “arise!” and see the light that is already shining.

Where once Jews were called upon to await and yearn for redemption, today we are called upon to become enlightened—aware—of that which is taking place right in front of our very eyes.

Slice II: This Can’t Be Real The following is not a political statement: From 2004 to 2015, a New York real estate developer hosted a reality TV show; the next year he was elected president of the United States. People were stunned. For many, the words “President Trump” are a reality that is impossible to come to terms with.

The cognitive dissonance continues unabated.

On 9/11 we all experienced a similar phenomenon. I remember standing next to my wife and watching on television as the first tower imploded into a giant cloud of thick smoke and dust. It was impossible to grasp what was unfolding before our eyes. “This can’t be happening.” Every fiber of our being screamed out “This can’t be real!”

The Chalban says: “And we will be like dreamers.”

Sometimes there are events whose sheer enormity renders them virtually impossible to assimilate.

These overwhelming events leave us stunned; “I must be dreaming,” we say to ourselves. Our minds shut down.

Such experiences demand we take hold of ourselves, but it’s not easy. There are so many reasons to avert our eyes, our minds, our hearts. There are times when it takes almost superhuman strength to deal with reality for what it is: reality. Addressing the Jewish people of the future, the prophet knew there would come an era that would be exceptionally hard to grasp. And so an overwhelming force would need to be met with another overwhelming force—the voice of the Source of all reality speaking through the prophet. “Awake and shout for joy!” Isaiah thunders, “you who lie in the dirt!”

To see the shining light of geula requires big thinking, expanded consciousness, a focused mind and a brave heart. It’s ironic. After waiting so long, one might think it would be easy to partner with the dawning opportunity of geula, but it’s not. It requires a near-overwhelming challenge of awareness. But if the prophet demands it, then clearly we are up to the challenge.

We are living in a time when profound awareness is available in an unprecedented fashion, because that is what our unprecedented times call for—unprecedented awareness—and a tight, thoughtful grip on reality that is even more enlightening and uplifting than it is overwhelming.

As for how to achieve that awareness, that is a subject of a different time.

Shimon Apisdorf (sjdorf@gmail.com) is an award-winning author of 10 books including the “Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Survival Kit.”

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Solange’s Table

Food & Wine

An Evening Worth Sharing It all started with the prime rib. We had bought it and knew we were going to share it with our friends. You cannot possibly eat that sort of thing all by yourself. It was absolutely meant to be shared. So share we did and quickly. It’s not good to mull over these things—you just do it! Don’t plan too much—it will make you nervous. Enlist the help of your friends.

One brought delicious techina chocolate chip cookies for dessert and another friend brought the opener—a seared-to-perfection tuna with a medley of roasted vegetables.

Prime Rib Recipe Prime rib is arguably the best piece of meat for roasting. Count on one rib for every two people. A three-rib roast serves six nicely. For drama and more leftovers buy a bigger roast. Anticipate spending a lot of cash. This is a special dish for Yom Tov or a really great simcha, so go ahead and splurge if you can.

A prime rib is also called a standing rib roast. The roast needs to sit for four hours at room temperature before cooking. Yes.

es, the tablecloth and linens; nothing too precious, that’s not our lifestyle. There are always candles, lots of them, candelabras and single candlesticks on a line down the table. The lights were low but not too low so we could all enjoy and see what we were eating as well as fill out our grid. For the music, we had some French music from the ‘40s. Not too loud so as to distract, but just there to catch every now and then during the rare lull in the conversation.

By the time we finished and had un-

Chocolate Chip Techina Cookies

4 ounces butter/margarine 1/2 cup techina 1 cup sugar 1 large egg 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 3/4 cups chocolate chips Flaky salt

Step 1 Cream butter, techina and sugar at medium speed till light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla and continue mixing for another 5 minutes.

Step 2

Now that I had the prime rib on my menu I knew there were some fabulous Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Israel we wanted to familiarize ourselves with, so we decided this would be a great time for a wine tasting. We bought the wines, covered the bottles with paper and had a blind tasting. It was totally fabulous! I printed a grid wine-tasting template from the internet, put one on every guest’s plate, and so began our total amateur wine tasting. We swirled.

We sniffed. We sipped and gave each one a rating. Mostly we enjoyed an impromptu evening with our friends in the middle of the week on a cool winter’s night.

THE MENU Seared Tuna Appetizer Salad with Garlic Dressing and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Hearts of Palm and Campari Tomatoes Boneless Prime Rib With Lemon Zest Mashed Potatoes Sesame Techina Chocolate Chip Cookies Frozen Chocolate Parfait With Coconut Milk Peanut Butter Chocolate Caramels With Salt March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

That’s not a typo! Salt the meat. Liberally salt and pepper roast using more salt than you think necessary. Roast at 500 degrees for 25 minutes, which will kill any bacteria on the surface. Lower the oven to 275. Avoid opening the oven door for the next hour and 5 minutes, so the temperature will drop slowly. Roast the meat at this low temperature for about 65 minutes and then begin checking for doneness with an instant-read thermometer, which is an absolute necessity for getting meat right. There should be no guessing in order to get a perfectly cooked chicken or meat every time.

Medium rare—125 degrees. Medium rare to medium—130 degrees. Medium—135 degrees. Medium to medium well—140 degrees. Do not cook more than that.

To show off your financial ruin, carve the roast at the table. Transfer to a cutting board with a moat to catch the juices. Keep the knife flush against the rib, so slices are only as thick as the rib, then slice with the knife flush against the next rib so you have a thick slice of meat and no bone. This way every other person gets a bone, as some love the bone and others do not. Cut accordingly and enjoy.

When I think of throwing a dinner party, I always think of the lighting, the dish-

wrapped all of our bottles and compared our scores, we all knew we had shared a fun and memorable evening with our friends.

All I know is the more you share the more you have.

Solange DeFrancesco is a resident of Pomona, New York. She is a former New York City stylist with clients that include Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys, Mercedes-Benz and Monte Carlo French Tourists Bureau. Cooking and styling food is just one of Solange’s artistic interests, which also include professional home-design projects both locally and in New York City, planning parties, staging homes for sale and teaching art at a local grammar school.

Solange encourages everyone to take the plunge and plan a gathering; basic ingredients: a bit of planning, a list of friends and family, and a warm welcome at the appointed hour.

Sift flour ,baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and mix with a fork. Add flour mixture to butter mixture at low speed until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Dough will be soft, not stiff. Refrigerate at least 12 hours.

Step 3 Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use an ice cream scoop or two spoons to form dough.

Step 4 Place cookies 3 inches apart to allow room to spread! Bake 13 to 16 minutes, depending on your oven. As cookies come out of the oven sprinkle lightly with salt. (You can also do this before they finish baking.)

TIP Before measuring sticky, gooey techina in a cup, spray cup with Pam so it will come right out!

Enjoy, these are a winner!

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Beauty of the Beast

By Sandy Eller Having lived in Monsey for 27 years, I have grown accustomed to the idea that, for the most part, if you want to go out to eat and enjoy a really good meal, you get in your car and you drive to Teaneck. But over years, the tide has been turning, and with the opening of Beast BBQ in Wesley Hills, which is serving up some of the finest kosher smoked meats in the New York City area, my trips to Teaneck may just be history, and you can pretty much expect that Bergen Countyites are going to be making their way up north so that they too can chow down at Monsey’s newest eatery.

Walk into Beast BBQ and you have clearly entered carnivore heaven. From the tables branded with cows’ heads to the longhorns mounted in the kitchen area, you know you didn’t come here to eat salad. There are a few vegetables on the menu and, of course, the mandatory slaw, but it’s all about the animals here, and Chef Moshe Wendel, of Pardes fame, does not disappoint.

I had the opportunity to visit Beast BBQ at their soft opening, which meant it was me, lots of foodies and wonderfully patient waitresses bringing out platter after platter of smoky goodness. Some items like the brisket and the short ribs were exactly as awesome as you expected them to be—flavorful, delicious and perfectly done—while others went above and beyond. The cured tongue didn’t have that creepy, tongue-y look that some find intimidating, and the small, neat slices had a unique flavor that really rocked, thanks to an inspired spice rub. While we had been told that the slow-smoked chicken was the best item in the house, at first, I couldn’t see ordering chicken on a menu that included tantalizing choices like thick-sliced pas-

(Credit: Sandy Eller)

While kosher food has leaned heavily toward steakhouses, Mediterranean cuisines and the ever-popular burger, smoked meats are finally having their well-deserved day in the spotlight, and for good reason. The smell alone is enough to get your salivary glands going, and with just one bite you can almost picture yourself on the Ponderosa wearing a 10-gallon hat and riding off into the sunset.

Pastrami-cured tongue, fresh-baked rye (Credit: Sandy Eller)

Pulled-beef sandwich, seasoned fries (Credit: Sandy Eller)

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Food & Wine

Slow-smoked fried chicken, bacon-onion jam, pickled blueberries, corn waffle (Credit: Sandy Eller)

trami and spicy lamb shoulder with coconut crema. But all that changed once I saw someone at the next table cutting into his chicken and clearly savoring each and every bite. We ordered the chicken and, without a doubt, it was the best decision of the night. Picture this: an exquisitely crunchy, golden-brown half chicken, perched atop a dinner platesized, thick yet fluffy corn waffle, topped with bacon-onion jam and pickled blueberries. To call it merely delicious would be an insult to that poor bird because it was amazingly scrumptious. This was a chicken that has earned a coveted place in my personal hall of fame for great restaurant entrees and I won’t even have to look at the menu on my next trip to Beast BBQ, because I am going to be ordering the chicken.

While the sides included the de rigueur slaw and potato salad, others were delightfully unexpected. I thought the hush puppies would be some form of potato, but instead they were more like falafel’s overgrown cousins. I can’t actually tell you what was in the hush puppies, which were about two inches in diameter and perfectly seasoned, but they were really, really good. And the scrappy baked beans? I don’t think I will ever be able to touch heavily sweetened canned baked beans ever again after eating these lightly seasoned and sauced beans, studded with bits of burnt ends that made a spunky, smoky statement. Equally delicious were the onion roll-crusted onion rings topped with caramelized onion mayo, and all I can tell you is that one minute there was a full basket of onion rings at our table and then seconds later when I pulled out my camera to take a picture, the basket was totally empty, save for a few crumbs and a smear of mayo. Yes, they really were that good.

There were quite a few interesting barbecue sauces on the menu, but I confess that I am just not a sauce girl. Give me well-spiced meat and I am a happy camper and I just didn’t see the need to tamper with food that was so perfectly done.

The beverage menu at Beast BBQ offers a variety of soft drinks, beers, hard cider, fruited sangrias and mixed drinks and while at some restaurants the cocktails are a little lighter on the alcohol, most at Beast BBQ packed quite a wallop. My nutty flapjacks, a combination of maple syrup, Frangelico and Bulliet cask strength bourbon (clocking in at about 120 proof), had quite the kick but not in an unpleasant way at all. It’s probably a good idea to have that drink at the beginning of your meal so that you can drive home safely after enjoying all that cow-y goodness.

Slow-smoked biscuit, lamb-fat biscuit (Credit: Sandy Eller)

Main dishes average about $25 each, with brisket, short ribs, tongue and pastrami priced at $25 to $30 per half pound. The sides ranged from $5 for the corn on the cob with huitlacoche cream to $13 for the aforementioned onion rings.

Looking for a fun night out that will have you licking every last bit of flavor off your fingers? Put on your Stetson, hop on your favorite horse and gallop on over to Wesley Hills to check out Beast BBQ. You’ll be glad you did.

Sandy Eller is a freelance writer who writes for numerous websites, newspapers, magazines and private clients. She can be contacted at sandyeller1@gmail.com.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

The Chef ’s Chef

By Elizabeth Kratz Do you remember what you were eating in kosher restaurants 10 years ago? Had you tried sous-vide dishes yet? Housemade sausage?

Fresh, cured gravlax made with only salt, sugar, peppercorns and dill? Shaved black truffles curling onto delectable fresh pasta tossed with roasted porcini mushrooms? Fried chicken so crisp-tender you’d almost swear it had been soaked in buttermilk?

Chef Avram Wiseman (Courtesy of Chef Avram Wiseman)

Not likely. It was probably a burger, a steak or a pizza, and don’t forget that side order of sushi.

Over the past decade, one man, whose name you might not even know, has had perhaps the single-most positive influence on shaping and growing the skills of kosher-keeping culinary students, both men and women, mentoring them with his unique, quirky sense of humor, imbuing them with kitchen “street smarts,” pulling forth their best efforts and then placing them in top kosher restaurants for externships and employment. Kosher gastronomy has never been quite as advanced, or quite as delicious.

Whether you know it or not, if you keep up with kosher culinary trends and have been to a haute cuisine or modern concept restaurant in New York City or another city with a large Jewish population sometime in the past decade, chances are that someone in that restaurant was a student, or a student’s student, of Chef Instructor Avram Wiseman.

Chef Wiseman, a kosher caterer, restaurateur, banquet chef and menu consultant for two decades before turning to teaching in 2000, first at the Art Institute of New York, trained close to 500 students in classic French culinary technique, espousing the methods of Auguste Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine, and then teaching in 2008 at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts (CKCA). In its second-floor outpost on Coney Island Avenue in Flatbush in Brooklyn, he worked as the small school’s lead culinary instructor and, by 2010, became its dean of students. He worked tirelessly, from early morning until late evening through its closing in 2015 due to New York state licensing issues, taking only short weekend breaks to go fishing in his beloved Atlantic Ocean.

“Chef Avram is my close friend and professional culinary colleague, my ‘go-to guy’ for industry advice, a gastronomical pirate, with knowledge more than most about navigating the sea and finding fish without GPS,” said Chef David Kolotkin, who was, for 15 years, executive chef of Prime Grill and the Prime Hospitality

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Group. He now runs Kaptivating Kosher, an exclusive, boutique catering company for upscale and celebrity events, and Chef Avram has sent him many externs over the years. “Avram Wiseman is like a walking iPhone 7, fully charged, on steroids, with every app already downloaded, full of knowledge and fun,” he added.

Wiseman’s technique-focused pedagogy also offered students the freedom both to develop basics and also the tools to learn more about the flavor profiles of virtually every region’s culinary influences. With the classic French techniques of knife skills and beef, poultry and fish butchery providing a strong baseline set of professional-level kitchen skills, he mentored hundreds of students who will, even today, stand as he enters the room, and run to do his bidding, while shouting “Yes, Chef!”

Chef Wiseman’s graduates are now a veritable army of knowledgeable professionals, working in restaurants, synagogues, dormitories, catering, in commercial food production and as personal chefs and entrepreneurs.

Still others are food writers or those who work in food-adjacent professions, such as the wine business, and hotel or cooking facility/banquet management.

Chef Avram Wiseman’s veal with vegetables.

(Courtesy of Chef Avram Wiseman)

Hundreds more have been charmed by Chef Wiseman over the years as recreational students, at culinary date nights and couples competitions at CKCA, which sold out almost immediately after they were advertised. He was the longtime emcee for the culinary competitions at Kosherfest, the kosher food industry’s largest tradeshow.

“Chef Avram really taught me the ropes of the culinary field, and he gave me the confidence to go ahead to launch my career as a personal chef,” said Bracha Serle, who works fulltime for a family in Manhattan. She also writes about food and shares recipes on the blog She’s The Chef. “He is not only a great teacher in terms of teaching what he knows, but I did something totally different and he supported me in that as well. He’s always available for questions.

“He told me at graduation, ‘You are going to be on the cover of a magazine a year from now.’

And last week, just about a year later, I was on the cover of Yated,” she said.

Jeremy Brown, who lives and works in New Jersey, said, “Chef Wiseman took my cooking skills from improperly boiling pasta and turned me into a competent cook with a vast knowledge of recipes and skills; he was my teacher and my friend as I struggled and then suc-

Food & Wine

Several of Chef Avram Wiseman’s former students. (Courtesy of Chef Avram Wiseman)

ceeded in the kitchen. Chef Wiseman showed me that one should master their work skills, become good enough at it to where they can have a sense of humor and a smile, while accomplishing their objectives in earning a livelihood.”

While Brown is not working as a chef, he noted he has applied the skills he learned with Chef Wiseman to move into an entirely new field.

Esther Anzaroot, an entrepreneur from Brooklyn who owns and operates a gluten-free bakery business that sells Middle Eastern delicacies, said, “Chef Avram has impacted me by giving me confidence in my abilities, teaching me new techniques and always, always demanding the best out of me. He is a gifted cook and teacher,” she said.

As part of a thank you letter sent to CKCA Director Jesse Blonder after the school’s closing, an individual who funded multiple individuals to take part in its professional training program said the following: “Of the 38, the great majority are currently still working in the field, some with great success, and almost all with a decent and reliable job. You have saved several marriages, made several others possible by allowing the man to earn an honorable living, allowed at least one widow to keep her house, reunited two families that I know of and allowed at least one woman to leave an abusive marriage. You (and of course Chef Avram!) should take great pride in your work, a pride that will last far longer than the pay you get.”

“This is part of my legacy,” Wiseman said. “To be able to take a student, who hasn’t yet found a career or parnasa (profession), and watch him and help him as he develops marketable, valuable skills, and then to see him rent his own apartment, watch him get married and have children and support all of them by cooking…

This is why I do this,” he said.

On May 1, Chef Wiseman will welcome the first cohort of students for the newly formed, three-story state-of-the-art Kosher Culinary Center. It is the first kosher-supervised culinary career training program in America. He will lead the center, along with a partner, Perline Dayan, one of Chef Wiseman’s former students. Teaching initially along with Chef Wiseman will be

Chef David Ritter, a culinary instructor who has worked at The New York Restaurant School, CKCA and CityTech College, as well as Chef Naomi Ross, a cookbook author, recipe developer, personal chef and instructor.

The Kosher Culinary Center will be overseen

by Rav Zushe Yosef Blech of Monsey, New York, who will serve as the rav hamachshir (kashrus administrator/posek).

Chef Wiseman has also partnered with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as its certificate-granting institution. Ben-Gurion will be the optional five-month destination for culinary students after they complete the 216-hour culinary program in Brooklyn, and will also be one of many choices of location for student externship experiences.

“Once students arrive in Israel, they will have a five-day ‘Birthright’-style tour of Israel, with an emphasis on Bedouin and Mediterranean flavors, and then go to the university in Eilat where they will live in dormitories with a three-meal-a-day cafeteria. At the end of their time in Israel, the students will have certificates from Ben-Gurion and also the Marriott, Hyatt or wherever their externship location has been,” Wiseman said.

Located in Marine Park, Brooklyn, the culinary training center (currently awaiting state licensing) will also have ample room for teaching and demonstration. It will also be open for bridal showers, culinary competitions, gala events, date night events, “Family Feud”-style team culinary competitions and special events such as chocolate work, truffle making, cupcake decorating lessons and more.

The Kosher Culinary Center is located at 2359 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234, located on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue S. This area is considered the Marine Park/Mill Basin section, two blocks away from Kings Plaza Shopping Mall right off Exit 11 on the Belt Parkway. The area is serviced by the following buses: B41, B46, B47, B100 and Q35. There is ample parking on the adjacent streets. Learn more at http:// www.koshercul.com.

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33

Central Park and Lunatics I’m Barry Mase, and I’m a baal teshuva. Yes. That’s right. There you go. I said it. If this sounds like a confession of sorts, like those addicts who finally admit they are addicted, well, then, I guess that’s what it is. I’m addicted to being a religious Jew. That being said, very often the baal teshuva experience is portrayed in our religious media both sugar coated and triumphant, when in reality it’s fraught with a myriad of questions, unique perspectives and the subsequent highs and lows of becoming and living a religious Jewish life. In my case, it’s going on 25 plus years that I shifted the secular gears of my life and became Jewishly observant. I’ve raised five children, sent them to yeshivos, sent them away to Israel and have, at this point, married off three of my children. Religious grandchildren are starting to come, too, with names like Chaya Nava, Baila Rivka, Zahara Rina and Kayla. Who would’ve thunk?

The goal of this column is to present the authentic experience of living as a religious Jew from the perspective of one who, at some basic level, still doesn’t feel like he fits in. That’s OK. They always say, “In the place where a baal teshuva stands, a completely righteous person cannot stand.” I’ll take it.

Baal teshuvas of the world, unite!

CHANGES

mean, for crying out loud, I even saw Jerry Seinfeld at a small, tiny club in the city, way before he became Jerry.)

Oh, well, life was good anyway. I was 25 years old. I still had my share of old and new friends. I found another similar type of job. Still had my old, trusty Ovation guitar. Still wrote those searching songs that were going to make me famous… and still had doubts about the purpose of my life.

Now, I’d like to switch gears for a second, which will hopefully move this little story along. Over the years, I would invariably run into or have unwanted conversations with people I viewed as… lunatics. People whom I didn’t want to talk to but people who, for some reason, wanted to talk to me. Generally, these were people who would find me sitting alone somewhere, most likely near my apartment stoop, guitar in hand, singing one of my new “hit “songs, usually without a care in the world.

that kind of overlooks all of the relaxing festivities. Basically, it’s a place to hang out and do a lot of people-watching.

And that’s exactly what I was doing. Hanging out. Relaxing. Minding my own biz on the Central Park lawn with my trusty purple bike parked right next to me. I took off my sneakers. Untucked my torn Snoopy T-shirt and just lay down and chilled. Beautiful day, beautiful people everywhere and, dare I say, beautiful miniature boats floating all over the place. So relaxing. All of it.

OK. Thirty relaxing minutes later, I’m getting crazy bored. That Brooklyn energy neurosis started flowing through my veins and it was time to get up and, at the very least, move from the idyllic grassy lawn knoll. Kind of like that feeling when you go to the beach and lie down for a while and then say to yourself, “OK, now what?” I guess I’m not the most relaxed person in the world.

girl. And now that I was closer, I could see what strikingly beautiful blue eyes she had. So, do you think I sat down? You’re darn tooting I did!

I sat down right next to Dana’s mother. She in the middle and Dana on the other side. I actually couldn’t speak to, nor really see, the pretty girl. Dana’s mother was blocking the sightlines. So the mother started “interviewing” me.

Right there on the Central Park bench. What a world!

Well, before too long, the pretty girl’s mother got up to take a walk by herself somewhere.

I guess I passed the “interview” and she felt she could leave me with her daughter. Ahh, alone at last with the beautiful girl with the beautiful blue eyes and the captivating nose! We talked for a while, sans mother, hit it off, and before you knew it we had planned our first date together just a few days later.

Now, here’s the deal and the whole purpose of this lengthy diatribe of mine. The one thing

So, what exactly was the nature of these conversations, you might ask? Very often it was some unkempt, placard-waving guy telling me how I should believe in Jesus. That Jesus was the answer and savior to all of my problems and questions and that if I would just open my heart and soul to him all would be well.

Very nice. I’m not buying. I don’t care how little I knew about my religion. I don’t care if I never had even the simple party-style bar mitzvah that all my Jewish friends had at Leonard’s catering in Long Island. This just seemed insane to me. Who in their right mind would take this guy seriously?

The truth is that anyone I had met along the way who tried to talk to me about G-d or Jesus or Buddha or any other sort of spiritual stuff seemed nuts to me. They didn’t seem grounded. They didn’t seem authentic, and frankly, they had a crazy, fanatical vibe that was just too much for me to deal with. In short, keep em away!

So that leads me to July of 1985. Not only July of 1985 but actually to July 4th itself. Big, beautiful, warm, fun, exciting day that it is. Well, as I mentioned earlier, I lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at the time. I decided to grab my purple Murray 10-speed bike and head on over to Central Park. You see, there is this small little lake there where people bring miniature model boats to display and play around with, all surrounded by a manicured grassy lawn

I wasn’t quite ready to leave the park, so I decided to head down closer to the rim of the lake itself and take a look at the boats and the people from a different vantage point. And then I saw something that mesmerized me from afar. Maybe 50 feet or so from where I was sitting.

I saw this really pretty girl sitting on a park bench.

A really pretty girl, with blonde hair and, believe it or not, from what I could tell, a really cute nose too.

I, of course, was never just going to walk over to her and start talking. It’s not my way. I’m too afraid of being rejected. So, I just sat there by the boat lake and hung out there a little while longer. At some point, I decided to just sidle on over in her direction, with no great plan behind it. No expectations. I just started walking toward where she was sitting. I did, however, notice this beautiful girl was sitting next to an older woman on the park bench. Whatever…

“Excuse me—are you a foreigner?” I heard the older woman call out to me. I was a bit startled and moved closer to the older woman and the beautiful girl on the park bench. “Umm… no. I’m just a regular guy from Brooklyn,” I said to the woman. “Come here, what’s your name? Why don’t you talk to us for a minute?

Have a seat. This is my daughter, Dana.”

Wow, “this is my daughter, Dana.” What a nice phrase. What a nice name. What a pretty

that I liked about Dana right off the bat was her willingness to talk about her relationship with G-d. Yes, she spoke about her work with horses and, yes, she spoke about her musical interests and, yes, she spoke about her growing up in the Midwest. All of it great and all of it really interesting and all of it very attractive to me. I mean, I didn’t know much about horses other than I was allergic to them!

But, dear readers, what really caught my undivided attention, both when we first met and later as we started to date, was her commitment to G-d and her true desire to bring others close to Him. It really impacted me in a profound way. She had a presence about her that was altogether beautiful in all the most meaningful ways. She was a believer. She expressed it comfortably and authentically. She made me want to know more and she encouraged me to have a relationship with G-d. What could be better? Sometimes I think it’s the only way I would have ever become a religious Jew. My beautiful, blue eyed, “non-lunatic” wife to be—Dana. Thank You, Hashem!!

By Barry Mase Looking back now from the vantage point of over 30 years, it’s clear that this was the only way I was going to ever become a religious person. I mean, most of the “believer” people I ran into on the streets, sidewalks and stoops of Brooklyn and Manhattan seemed liked real lunatics to me. But I’m getting ahead of myself. So, let me get back to “religious” ground zero.

Two and a half years after graduating Brooklyn College, in the winter of 1983, I found myself living in a small, one-bedroom flat (actually it’s just an apartment but it sounds more impressive to say flat) on the east side of Manhattan. 77th between 2nd and 3rd avenue to be exact. Not a great apartment, but by New York City standards it certainly was fine. Rent controlled, not too expensive and, and this is a big and… I was able to split the $583.000 rent with several “come and go” roommates. Very impressive, don’t you think? Truth be told, I was just happy to be living on my own and breaking away from my parents’ home in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Life was good.

I also wasn’t so concerned with work. I’m not quite sure why, but I never really worried about work. Maybe it was because I was convinced that one day I’d be a rock star. You know, one of those celebrity guys with oodles and oodles of endless fame, fortune and funds… or perhaps it had something to do with my father giving me money anytime I needed it. Hmmm, I wonder?

Nonetheless, I found a job with a corporate entertainment production company as an account executive. They, of course, wanted me to bring in more corporate business. I, of course, fancied myself an entertainment impresario, spending the nights searching for up-and-coming talent in the city. They, of course, fired me. (I

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Do you have a story about how a baal teshuva changed your life to share with our Changes forum? If so, please send it to editor@monsey. com with ”Changes” in the subject line of your submission. We look forward to hearing about all the changes in your life.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

The Chosen Father A Special Kind of Joy

By Eliya Stromberg Does having a child with a disability mean you can’t feel joy? Of course not, you’ll say.

And you are absolutely correct. Sadly, the truth is that most parents of disabled children don’t feel joyful. (Many parents of typical children also do not.) But only two words stand between them and feeling the joy that every parent deserves to have.

“As father to my dear son Yossi, who is blind and deaf, I am acutely aware of the “As father to my dear Yossi, who isDr. blind and deaf, I am acutely aware of the challenges fathers face.

In son Chosen Fathers, Stromberg pinpoints the steps a father fathers Insuccessfully Chosen Fathers, stepsrecoma father canchallenges follow to raise hisface. child andDr. findStromberg joy in thepinpoints process. the Highly can follow to raise his child successfully and find joy —KALMAN in the process. SAMUELS, Highly recommended reading.” mended reading.”

—KALMAN Founder and Chairman of SHALVA Children’s Center,SAMUELS, Jerusalem Founder and Chairman of SHALVA Children’s Jerusalem Recipient:Center, The Israel Prize Recipient: The Israel Prize “Chosen Fathers fills a niche in the literature on families with children who are dis“Chosen Fathers fills aofniche in the The literature familiesand withhopeful. childrenItwho are to disabled: namely, the role the father. book on is honest speaks abled: namely, the role of the father. The book is honest and hopeful.

It LCSW, speaks to fathers (and mothers!).”

—SALLY WEBER, fathers (and mothers!).”

—SALLY WEBER, LCSW, Co-Founder, HaMercaz, Los Angeles Co-Founder, HaMercaz, Los Angeles “Chosen Fathers reminds us how important a father‘s involvement is in the life of his “Chosen reminds howforimportant a father‘s involvement is in the life of his children.

AnFathers inspiring mustus read all fathers.”

—STEVE SAMUELS, children. An inspiring must read for all fathers.”

—STEVE SAMUELS, Father of three children, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Father of three children, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Meet Dr. Eliya Stromberg at www.fathersconnect.com Meet Dr. Eliya Stromberg at www.fathersconnect.com

PARENTING/ PARENTING/ SPECIAL NEEDS SPECIAL NEEDS

In the past month I have been in Golders Green and Stamford Hill (London), Manchester (England), and Jerusalem speaking to groups of parents of children with disabilities.

I offer parents a promise: if they accept their child, their situation, their spouse and themselves they will discover joy in parenting their child.

All the parents I speak to tell me they accept their child. And I believe they do. Most often, however, their acceptance is limited to cognitively accepting their child’s diagnosis.

They usually have not done the difficult work of coming to terms with their true feelings, or giving unconditional support to their spouse.

They often feel overwhelmed by all the demands placed on them. And rarely do they express true joy and fulfillment. My work is to go with parents beyond what I call “resigned acceptance” to the two words that lead to joy— dynamic acceptance.

Let me describe some of the parents I know who dynamically accept their child and have found joy.

When Elchie was an infant, the doctors and physiotherapists said he was so hypotonic (his muscle tone was low) that he would never walk. His parents would not accept such a life for their son, nor for themselves. Together they worked as a team and taught Elchie how to walk. By age 7 he could walk 3 kilometers. His mother proudly says of herself: “While teaching Elchie to walk I earned an MD degree: Mother of Determination.”

Some parents become absolute superstars in response to their child’s condition. Jul and

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

LIFE LESSONS LEARNED FROM FATHERS LIFE LESSONS LEARNED FROM FATHERS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

C hosen Fathers

EliyaStromberg, Stromberg,PhD PhD Eliya

ELIYA STROMBERG, PhD, is the father of an adult son ELIYA STROMBERG, PhD, the father of an adult son with disabilities.

As a teacher andis school principal he has with disabilities.

Asdisabled a teacher and school he has educated typical and children and principal has counseled educated typical and disabled children and has counseled parents how to raise children to achieve their full potential. how to raise achieve their full potential.

Heparents shows fathers (and children mothers)tohow to reframe their perHe shows fathers (and mothers) how to reframe their perceptions so that disappointments become opportunities for ceptions so that disappointments become opportunities for success and joy. success and joy.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM FATHERS LEARNED FATHERS hosenFathers FathersLIFEOFLIFELESSONS OF CHILDREN WITHFROM DISABILITIES CC hosen CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Thirteen fathers speak honestly about accepting the reality of having Thirteenchild, fathers speak honestly aboutexpected acceptingand thecertainly reality of never having a disabled a situation they never a disabled situationand theyhis never expected and certainlyasnever wanted.

Fromchild, thesea fathers professional experience an wanted.Dr. From fathersidentifies and his professional experience as an educator, Eliyathese Stromberg four life lessons which every educator, Dr.toEliya four life lessons which every father can use raise Stromberg his child toidentifies its full potential. father can use to raise his child to its full potential.

Elaine Kornbluth’s son, Avi, had a typical birth and developed as expected for the first nine months. Then Avi contracted encephalitis. It left him blind in one eye and severely limited in the other. The Kornbluths actively sought the most current and progressive medical advice available. Though they lived in London, they found it in America (long before the internet).

They diligently followed the doctor’s program to strengthen Avi’s optical nerves. Though still

Eliya D Eliya St Stromb romb erg, erg, Ph Ph D blind in one eye, Avi increased sight in the other eye when most practitioners doubted any gain was possible. But the Kornbluths didn’t stop there. When their first choice for school would not accept Avi, claiming it could not accommodate his special needs (this was before “inclusion” was mandated in English schools), the Kornbluths founded The Independent Jewish Day School. The school became a model for inclusion for all of England. The Kornbluths were later awarded the Israel Prize for their contribution to Jewish education in the Diaspora. The Kornbluths have joy from Avi’s children as well as his semicha ordination, and feelings of fulfillment that the school they founded so their son would be included continues to educate and nurture generations of Jewish children.

Zack is a father I interviewed for my book, “Chosen Fathers: Life Lessons Learned from Fathers of Children with Disabilities.” Zack was an older father when his wife gave birth. During the pregnancy he dreamed of who his child would be and the kind of father he would be.

When he was told that his daughter had Down syndrome he flatly refused to believe it. The pediatrician said there were at least fifty signs to confirm the diagnosis and showed Zack several of them. Zack says he had no choice but to accept. But for two years he kept his pain to himself. “I did not want to give my wife the pain of my pain.” Though deeply hurt by the loss of his dreams, Zack teamed up with his wife to provide for their daughter’s needs.

Though she definitely had Down syndrome, something else was not right. In the first six months their daughter made no eye contact and did not respond to their touch. Their baby developed physically but not socially. She acquired strange behaviors that she repeated for long periods of time. From their research, Zack and his wife knew their daughter was not typical Down syndrome. Zack sought explanations from doctors but did not get clear answers. Zack and his wife kept searching. They found a clinic that specialized in treating children with Down syndrome. They scoured the internet for clues to their daughter’s strange behavior. When their daughter was 3, Zack brought a diagnosis to the doctors: PDD on

the autism spectrum. The doctors agreed.

Though now faced with even bigger challenges, they felt relieved; their daughter’s condition had a name.

Parents who dynamically accept their child: • Understand all the labels and terms used to describe their child. They get their questions answered.

• They identify the range of development generally expected of the diagnosis.

• They search for opportunities to build their child, and never set limits on their child’s growth.

• They view challenges as opportunities to develop not only their child, but themselves.

• They do not make “mistakes”; rather, they have “learning opportunities,” • They come to terms with their true feelings.

There is no mistaking the parent who dynamically accepts his child, his situation, his spouse and himself. He is animated and enthused speaking about his child. He is hopeful and proud. He is the first to say it is not easy and that he never wanted the journey.

But he will also say that now that he’s on it, he is thankful for who he has become, what it has done to turn his family into givers (rather than takers), and for bringing him joy where he never thought it would be.

Eliya Stromberg, PhD, lives with his wife in Jerusalem. They have three children and several grandchildren. Their second child has Down syndrome. He lives in an assisted-living apartment in a community that is Dr.Dr. Stromberg a model model for forinclusion inclusionininIsrael.

Israel.

Strombhas been a classroom teacher of bothoftypical erg has been a classroom teacher both and children and adolescents with special typical and children and adolescents with needs. He was He a public Jewish special needs. was a school public and school and day school and university lecturer Jewish day principal, school principal, and university to graduate students students in education.

He writes lecturer to graduate in education. for writes and speaks tospeaks fatherstoand couples, and He for and fathers and couteaches how to how reframe their situaples, andthem teaches them to reframe their tion to seetowhat is good.

Meet him www. situation see what is good.

Meetathim at fathersconnect.com and contact him athim eliwww.fathersconnect.com and contact ya@fathersconnect.com. at eliya@fathersconnect.com.

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CROSSROADS

Beginning on the Road

By Mayor Fred Brinn As this is the inaugural issue of Monsey.com and my first attempt and writing for any publication, I must thank my eighth-grade English teacher who would never have thought that I would be writing anything like this, but it seems I proved her wrong!

Why Crossroads?

I believe that all of us here in the town believe that as far as the political arena goes, we find ourselves at a crossroads. For quite a while now, and almost daily, we read about different events, some good, mostly bad, and it no doubt continues to make a lot of people angry and upset at the perceived injustices being committed. Our little neck of the woods garners so much attention, and I’m sure most of us are fed up and want to just wake up in our own part of town expecting to live the quiet life we came here for. We now have monitors, oversight by third parties, calls for resignations, accusations across both political parties, allegations of corruption and conflicts of interest, lack of accountability, special-interest groups looking to beat the system and a push for a ward system. Frankly, I don’t believe this is what any of us have come here to expect or should tolerate.

The result of all this is evident—increased acts of anti-Semitism, racial tensions, inefficient and dysfunctional government, and a complete lack of faith in our elected officials.

My family has lived here in Ramapo, in New Hempstead, for 29 years. While I have never lived anywhere else for that amount of time, it seems to me that the growth and development in this town has been overwhelming and has occurred at a shockingly rapid pace. There is, of course, both positive and negative aspects of this type of growth, and unfortunately it seems that at times it is done without any foresight or proper planning (depending upon whom you ask).

A few weeks ago, I wrote an opinion letter to the Journal News. It was written as a result of their special report “Ramapo

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Nears Breaking Point” in which I stated that we need to somehow begin to work together to enact sensible community development policies that allows for growth in a responsible and inclusive way. All villages, together with the town, must work together, not in conflict with each other.

I would suggest that when major development sites are being planned, we need to go further than the current mandatory GML (general municipal law) review, that all the villages, together with the town, should weigh in on how this might affect them. While I’m not suggesting that any outside municipality could possibly have any veto power, at a minimum, everyone at least will know what is going on.

It would seem to me that the reason we have all these problems in Ramapo is because we have gone down a path of “I’ll do what’s good for me” instead of “let’s do what’s best for all.” Is this statement a naïve hope for a better and more inclusive community? I’ll let the readers comment on that.

The purpose of this column will hopefully be a thought-provoking means to get feedback on what is going on in the political world of our town. Its purpose will not be to denigrate any individual, or to give you my personal specific position on issues. Nor will I be a mouthpiece for anyone with an agenda looking to get their issue out in the open.

So, as we find ourselves at a crossroads here in Ramapo, it is my hope that we can somehow begin to turn the corner on a nasty few years in politics and begin making Ramapo a shining example of inclusivity, tolerance and respect.

We need to rise above politics, as this can no longer be about politics, but rather what’s best for all of here in the Town of Ramapo.

Fred Brinn has lived in New Hempstead with his family for 29 years. He is president emeritus of Kehillat New Hempstead and has been involved in the Village of New Hempstead government for 15 years, first as a zoning board member, then deputy mayor, and now as the current mayor of New Hempstead.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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37

Famous Jewish Musicians Let Us Know How They See It… What is Jewish Music Anyway?

My Genesis as a Rockin’ Rabbi

By Avraham Rosenblum Publisher’s Note: For years, the question of what actually defines Jewish music has bothered me. Is it the musical arrangement, the lyrics, the instrumentation or perhaps even the artist’s lifestyle…in any case, the question still remains, what is Jewish Music? So, we decided to bring the question directly to the Jewish “music streets” and ask some of the more well known artists themselves….What is Jewish Music anyway?

I always loved to sing and act. I was one of those drama club kids who always got a lead role in the school shows. My first was in fourth grade as Santa Claus. It read great in the program: Santa: Allen Rosenblum(!). Paul Lehotski, a Polish-American kid, played the reindeer shlepping my sled. Even at that age I somehow felt that justice was being served.

My bar mitzvah was in September of 1963. I had no patience to actually learn the “trop,” so I memorized my haftorah from a scratchy 78 rpm.

My dad owned a few Jan Pierce and Yiddish Favorites LP records, and so as I was learning my haftorah I started listening to them too. And, by the way, my family were Holocaust survivors and my mother tongue is Yiddish. The first song I learned was called “Dudele.” Ten years later I learned that it was a song by the Holy Reb Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev who exclaimed to Hashem, “Monday it is You, Tuesday it is You,

Wednesday it is You…” “Du” means You! … and so on. Pierce’s beautiful tenor voice pierced my soul. I tried to imitate it as best I could, and although I had no clue as to the wealth of niggunim and chazanus that our culture contained, the little I was exposed to could move me to tears.

Then came President Kennedy’s assassination. I went to shul that Shabbos. My soul was hurting. I was confused and angry and needed consoling and healing. Kabbalas Shabbos was a salve.

The next month, a major TV network started broadcasting a weekly folk music show called Hootenanny. It featured almost all the big American Folk names including Pete Seeger, Kingston Trio, Odetta, Tom Paxton and The Limeliters, as well as the great Irish music stars like Tommy Makem and The Clancy Brothers. I was drawn to it all. But again, I knew little of its origins, and it took me a few more years to begin to grasp its social-political messages, even the explicit ones. But on purist folk music’s boot heels soon came The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and a slew of British bands. But it was Bob Dylan’s controversial breakthrough performance at Newport Folk Festival, telling his new electrified band to play even “…. louder!” that I really began to hear the messages in the lyrics of songs like “Like a Rolling Stone,”“The Times They are a-Changin,” “Eve of Destruction” and more and more...

1979. Diaspora Yeshiva Band, Mt Zion, Jerusalem.

1968- Frank Stallone and me hanging out in Greenwich Village, NYC.

Lately, with my Baltimore jam band The Brisket Brothers.

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During my teen years, I played in Northeast Philly neighborhood bands called The Classix and The Nobelman and eventually drifted downtown. Another neighborhood buddy, Frank Stallone, and I ran into each other at a music store. We first backed a temperamental female singer in a group called Wind, and then we founded Valentine. Later incarnations of Valentine made it into the soundtracks of the 1976 movie “Rocky,” written by and starring Frank’s older brother Sylvester Stallone.

I had already been in Jerusalem for five years at that point. In 1971 I went for a two-week trip to Israel and “somehow” was led to Mt. Zion, the site of King David’s tomb and location of Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein’s, z”l, Diaspora Yeshiva. I began to observe Shabbos and learn Torah, and my music naturally began to carry a new message—one of Jewish spiritual discovery, celebration, gratitude and commitment.

In so many ways, all of that was a continuation of the path to spirituality that I had been

on all along during my rock/hippie days. All my country-flavored folk-rock guitar styling and musical influences were gratefully repurposed.

That was my contribution to DYB’s sound. I could not get into the klezmer stuff with the kvetchy clarinets and boom-boom rhythms and I just knew that a solid band with a strong Jewish message could do our world some good.

And that’s what Jewish music is to me. It’s music to accompany Jews on their journey home. That’s what I set out to do. DYB was a great band not because of great virtuosity, although we were hot jammers. It was our shared purpose and focus on helping klal Yisrael that gave the music its intensity and light and why it still reverberates after all these years. Crazy, huh?

So let’s face it, we will not feel so alone—“Everybody Must Get Home!”

Avraham Rosenblum is the leader and a founding member of the legendary Diaspora Yeshiva Band.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

How One Monsey Woman Turned Her Pain Into ‘Gain’

Chesed

By monsey.com staff Monsey is the home to so many interesting people: public figures, private ones, and public figures with private lives the likes of which most would never imagine from the outside. Just such a figure is Mrs. Linda Levin, Monsey resident for many years, interim principal for limudei kodesh at Bais Yaakov of Ramapo, assistant principal for general studies at Ateres Bais Yaakov Elementary and teacher in The New Seminary. In addition, Mrs. Levin gives a popular Shabbos shiur in Forshay. And as if that isn’t enough for one person, Mrs. Levin is also a prolific freelance writer published in numerous places. But the above just scratches the surface of who Mrs. Levin is.

Below the surface, there is more, much more.

It was the year 2005, and Mrs. Linda Levin was living in Toronto. Pesach was fast approaching. Her 22-year-old son, Nesanel, was home from yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael for bein hazmanim. Nesanel was the third of her seven children, and her oldest son.

She remembered how while he was in Eretz Yisrael, she continuously worried about his safety. It was a time of high tension in Israel with almost daily terror attacks. She had warned her son, “Don’t go over the Green Line,” “Don’t travel by bus—take a cab instead” and other such motherly warnings. She was, of course, certain that he ignored them all.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Last year’s Kolel Zichron Nesanel

Mrs. Levin never could have imagined that the real danger was lurking right there in Toronto not 10 minutes away from her house. During the two weeks he was home, he filled his time visiting friends, helping with Pesach errands and, as always, learning. Not a day went by without him learning even during bein hazmanim. His hasmada and love of learning filled his mother with great nachas.

It was Wednesday evening before Pesach.

Nesanel planned to pick up a Slurpee and head to the beis midrash to learn. He never made it. An out-of-control, mentally disturbed driv-

er t-boned his car on the driver’s side as he turned left into 7-11. His brother came home trembling and shaking in a panic, having witnessed this terrible crash. The Levin family was all thrown into turmoil.

Mother and father met the ambulance at the hospital. The doctor on call was grim—the parents were told that Nesanel had no chance of waking up; he had suffered a devastating brain injury. Friends and family surrounded them with food, love and prayer in the hospital as they waited for the inevitable. Friday morning his neshama departed, and shortly afterward they buried their beloved son. There was no shiva as Shabbos was Erev Pesach.

Mrs. Levin had become paralyzed by grief.

She could not function. Someone must have made Pesach for her. She was dazed, stunned.

She felt as if she were living a nightmare. This surely couldn’t be happening to her.

The emotion was so strong, so overbearing, that it filled her entire being. She could not think, could not eat, could not sleep, could not breath.

Although she knew that there were none, she was frantic for answers. She traveled to Eretz Yisrael twice, meeting with gedolim and sharing her pain-filled story with anyone who would listen.

A rebbe from Toronto suggested she meet with Rav Moshe Shapiro, z”l, on one of those visits. She trusted the rebbe’s judgment and agreed to meet with Rav Shapiro. Mrs. Levin had been told that Rabbi Shapiro himself had suffered through the loss of a child, although she did not know the circumstances of his loss.

The meeting with Rav Shapiro was unmemorable. But having gone through his own tragedy, he understood the dynamics of grief. He understood that grief needs to be channeled into something lasting and worthwhile before it consumes with its fury.

Rav Shapiro made a suggestion: the Levins should start a Pesach bein hazmanim kollel l’ilui nishmas their son. It sounded like a good idea, given that Nesanel loved to learn with all his heart and soul, and Mrs. Levin made a verbal commitment to create and fund a bein hazmanim kollel. It would become a place for her grief to find a “home.”

She returned to Toronto with a plan and direction in place. However, Hashem had some

other plans. Four years after this tragedy, they moved to Monsey. New house. New community. New jobs. The kollel plans were placed on the “back burner.”

Settling into a new home and community took some time and lots of energy. Through it all, she thought of her unfulfilled promise to Rav Shapiro but she couldn’t seem to muster up the stamina to follow through, at least not at that point. Knowing that she had told Rav Shapiro that she would take on this project, and she still hadn’t done anything about it, troubled her greatly. Moving was a valid excuse, she told herself. But after a few years in Monsey, her list of excuses dried up.

It would soon be the eighth Pesach since this terrible loss. Mrs. Levin said to herself, “Enough!

It is either now or never!” Finally, she was on a “mission” to see the kollel happen.

Mrs. Levin mailed letters asking for funds to help launch Kollel Zichron Nesanel. Friends and family honored her son’s memory and sent the funds needed to help the kollel get started for that first year. Next, they needed a place and yungeleit. It started to look like Rav Shapiro’s idea was indeed taking shape.

The Cliffwood Yeshiva, under the leadership of Rav Shimon Alster, graciously allowed the use of their beis hamidrash. Excellent yungeleit were recruited and offered a stipend.

The kollel has been very successful and has grown in size since its inception. Every year there are more requests from young men who wish to join. The yungeleit learn a half day, starting from Rosh Chodesh Nisan, for a week.

Bein hazmanim Pesach this year will be the fifth session. The success of the kollel is due to the caliber of the yungeleit and the seriousness of their learning. They come to learn at a time when they are officially “off ” from yeshiva and could be helping out at home.

The kol Torah that echoes far beyond the beis midrash walls brings a sense of closure and peace that Linda hadn’t known since Nesanel was taken from her. Out of the ashes of a personal churban, a makom Torah was born. Truly pain transformed to gain.

To participate in this year’s Kolel Bein Hazmanim Zichron Nesanel, tax-deductible checks can be sent to Ruach Chaim Inc., 14 Macintosh Lane Monsey, NY 10952.

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Rabbi Ronnie Greenwald and His Beloved Monsey Community

By Sara Nathan There aren’t many people who have walked this earth knowing how to face the world with a macro outlook along with a micro disposition.

Rabbi Ronnie Greenwald, a”h, was one of those people.

This year marked the first yahrtzeit of this legendary personality, and there is no doubt that as the first year of his absence drew to a close, his presence was and is sorely missed in this community.

Many people associate Rabbi Greenwald with spy trading, others with President Nixon, and some might close their eyes and picture him standing side by side with the late Senator Ben Gilman, dealing with pressing political matters. The beauty of Rabbi Greenwald’s unique personality, however, was that he maintained a bird’s-eye view at all times while retaining a tremendous focus on detail. He was able to recognize the Jewish people as an entire entity without losing sight of its many parts.

Anyone who went to Camp Sternberg can attest to the fact that not only was Rabbi Greenwald the camp director, but he was also the unofficial camp garbage collector. He would drive around on his go-cart, collecting scraps of trash, encouraging both campers and staff to pick up papers, making sure that the camp environment was clean and beautiful. He handled difficult decisions as the director of the largest Orthodox girls’ camp in the world, while dealing quietly behind the scenes with problems of shalom bayis, divorce, child custody and family disputes.

This Sternberg dichotomy is perhaps the best analogy there is to reflect on what was one of Rabbi Greenwald’s finest character traits.

This unassuming man, truly a grandiose figure, was involved in some of the most complex decisions for major Jewish (and other) leaders in our time. Nonetheless, he paid equal attention to those in the community whom no one else recognized.

This ability was exercised frequently in the 26 years that Rabbi Greenwald lived in Monsey. During that time, he brought attention to some very sensitive issues that had been heretofore brushed under the rug. There were many incidents where Rabbi Greenwald stepped into the role of “peacemaker” when it came to disagreements among the different sectors of Monsey. He was instrumental in settling some ma-

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jor conflicts, especially amongst different sects of the Orthodox community. The beauty is that not many people even know about these “hidden” acts of chesed.

Ronnie, as he was familiarly known, had political (and spiritual) “pull” and therefore was approached with the most difficult situations that took place in the Monsey community. “My grandfather would lovingly give people the opportunity to feel understood and that they matter, because they did matter,” said one of Rabbi Greenwald’s grandsons. This is precisely who Ronnie was. A man who made every single person feel understood and heard. For over 25 years, there has been an eclectic minyan in his home, which everyone was, and still is, welcome to attend. Those who did not feel comfortable in other shuls knew they would find a warm ambience there.

Then there were his “Evergreen walks.” Ronnie witnessed and heard so much suffering that he would often stroll through the aisles of Evergreen simply to shep nachas by seeing people walking around, calmly involved in the perfectly mundane activity of shopping for food.

Rabbi Greenwald took pleasure from watching people lead “regular,” normal lives. He greeted his many acquaintances, inquired as to their welfare and walked out feeling refreshed. He maintained that anyone who was involved in servicing the emotional needs of the community should be sure to pay a yearly visit to the large yeshivos and religious communities so as to be reassured that the majority of klal Yisrael is functioning well.

One cannot do justice to Rabbi Greenwald without mentioning his tremendous in-

volvement in the special needs community at large, and specifically with Ohr V’Daas, Monsey’s only special needs Orthodox school. Rabbi Greenwald advocated for children with special needs and had a deep connection with the Ohr V’Daas students, of whom many were happily and constructively enrolled in his own special needs camps. He was the first to incorporate special needs programs into frum camps through the Mishkon and Kesher programs in Camp Sternberg.

He was active on the board of Ohr V’Daas for several years. As the MC at the 2014 dinner, he stated, “I’ve been involved in programs for spe-

Rabbi Ronnie Greenwald, East German spymaster Wolfgang Vogel and Congressman Benjamin Gilman in New York in 1978 (Hamodia)

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cial needs children for close to 45 years. Back then there was nothing around. If such a child was religious, he or she had to go to a Catholic institution. Nothing existed in our community.

But not anymore,” stated the rabbi. “Ohr V’Daas is an institution where the kids are happy.”

Rabbi Greenwald was a doer, a mover, a shaker, a get-it-done kind of man. It is no surprise, therefore, that of all his many acts of chesed, MAG might have been his trophy victory. The Monsey Academy for Girls opened in 1997 and functioned for 12 years. One of its students, who spent two years in the school and who is now married with children living in Israel, stated, “If it weren’t for Rabbi Greenwald, my children most likely wouldn’t have been Jewish. He was an amazing father figure, and guided me to where I am today. I owe my life to him.”

Rabbi Greenwald always called MAG an oxymoron. He said that he had opened a religious school for girls who didn’t want to be religious and didn’t want to go to school. It was a welcoming atmosphere for girls who didn’t have a place within the mainstream Monsey or religious schooling system. As guests in the Greenwald home, many students were lovingly welcomed by his rebbetzin and all the family members.

Having the school in Monsey was equally as important for the community members as it was for the students. Rabbi Greenwald’s girls were often tools for teaching the importance of including others in the community.

He would ask families to take in girls to board with them, feeling that both parties would benefit from the arrangement. Once, when a man in the community complained to Rabbi Greenwald that one of his students was dressed inappropriately, Rabbi Greenwald looked at him and said, “Yes, but did you see the smile on her face?”

That is the Rabbi Greenwald who taught us.

Although he is now in the olam ha’emes, he is still teaching us. May his neshama have an aliyah from the tremendous work he has done in the world, and especially in our community.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

MAZAL TOV

to the team behind Monsey.com on your inaugural edition!

We look forward to working with you and serving the interests of your community and Klal Yisrael for many years to come!

Teach NYS, a project of Orthodox Union Advocacy, is committed to ďŹ ghting for equal and fair government funding for non-public school and yeshiva students in NY State.

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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41

Rockland Community College to Break Ground on First-ever Dorm Â

CONTINUED FROM P. 12

About 4,200 full-time students attend RCC. Of that figure, 97 percent are from New York, but less than 20 percent are from outside of Rockland County.

Emma Connaughton, an Orange County resident who is at RCC four days per week for her graphic design studies, said on-campus housing would certainly be embraced by the students who have lengthier commutes to class.

Because she will wrap up her two-year degree a few months before the units are slated to open, Connaughton admits she’s “actually kind of jealous” of the students who will get to take advantage of the option. “It’s already an amazing school and brand-new dorms sound great. I’d definitely want to live in them,” she said.

On a good day, the drive from Florida to Ramapo takes her about 45 minutes. But, when there’s traffic or road work, the trip can take more than an hour. In order to make the trip worthwhile each day, Connaughton picked up jobs on campus tutoring and in the communications department.

“I think it’ll bring more students here who live far. … most students live 10 minutes away, so it’s a luxury for them. I think a lot of students will benefit because it’ll keep them from missing classes and events on campus because they’ll be right here,” she said. “Being on campus will help save

time for studying instead of driving around.”

In its five-year strategic plan, college officials identify trying to grow its population of students who come from outside of Rockland County, whether it be from across the Hudson River or from across the Atlantic Ocean, as one of its goals. Right now, about 125 international students study at RCC, but at the program’s height, almost 200 were enrolled, Hussain said.

Nearly 40 percent of the school’s $66 million operating budget is funded through student tuition while the balance of revenue comes from the state, the county and sponsor contributions.

Over the last three years, the amount of tuition collected decreased from $25.4 million to $24.6 million and aid dropped from $17.4 million to $17.2 million; however, the amount received for sponsors rose almost 3 percent to $17.2 million, according to the 2016-17 budget.

Across New York, more than two dozen of the state’s 30 community colleges have student housing and the list is growing. With less state aid, on-campus dormitories have allowed community colleges to raise enrollment, boost revenue, add diversity and provide students with a complete college experience.

The project is being privately funded through Consigli Construction, which will handle building and operations of the residence hall. Planning stretches back to 2014 after an idea pitched by the student government and supported by the Board of Trustees.

“It’s also a good way for students in community college to get the whole residential college experience. They’ll live there, work there and study there,” Hussain said. He added that “living on campus also gives parents a certain comfort level” because their children are close to — but not actually in — Manhattan.

Right now, students seeking housing generally rent rooms or apartments off-campus but have encountered difficulty at times locating affordable places to stay locally. RCC has two offices that help students seeking housing — international student services and the housing office, according to a college spokeswoman.

Though criteria is still being determined, Hussain said residents of Rockland County will be given “some kind of priority.” Hussain said the college believes there are “a good many students” that hail from Rockland County and “could actually benefit from living away from home and on campus” and “be able to pursue a degree without too much outside interference.”

Since its founding in 1959, the college, located on former farmland, has added buildings and programming to keep up with the needs of a growing student body.

The expected start of the residence hall’s construction comes about a month before longtime President Cliff Wood steps down from his post at RCC. Wood’s replacement will be named by the end of March, according to college officials.

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March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

CONNECT RECONNECT! Fairytale Endings or Magical Beginnings?

We are excited to have the opportunity to present a new bi-weekly series dedicated to enhancing and upgrading shalom in all its forms, and in a variety of relationships!

Mrs. Sara Berger, a well-known certified relationship coach and veteran educator, will be dealing with issues and topics derived from her years of experience—with practicality and a touch of humor. We invite you to follow her on her journey through the “A-B-C’s of Connection and Communication.”

Please feel free to write in with questions or comments, at sbreconnect@gmail.com.

By Sara Berger

Scenario One: Year 1 Welcome to the “World of the Wedded.”

In this world, you and your partner occupy center stage.

Everything and everyone else revolve around you.

Life is wonderful!

As you travel through this magical world, your husband can do no wrong. Obviously! He is perfect, you are perfect and your life together can be only perfect. The more you look through these wonderful rose-colored lenses, the more beauty, charm, midos tovos, superior intellect and qualities you find in each other.

Wait just one minute!!

Is that a sock on the floor? Was he just critical of me? Oh, no. Where are my glasses?

My world just got fuzzy, my world is…black?!

I’m so confused. I know some people claim that marriage isn’t always easy, that you’ve got to “work” at it. But that’s other people, not a couple as perfectly suited and perfectly happy as we are.

I wish I knew how to handle this…

This was not part of the script! Or was it? ...

Scenario Two: Year 18 He walks into the kitchen, depositing tefillin, briefcase, Gemara, car keys and cellphone in a tipsy-looking trail along the counter.

“Coffee ready?”

“Mmhmm, can’t you smell it? It’s been here since the timer went off five minutes ago. Fresh as usual.”

Filling his mug, he saunters over to the fridge, grabs his lunch and daily paraphernalia, making a beeline to the front door.

“Whose turn for carpool?”

“Yours.”

“OK, and don’t forget to pay the electricity bill. Boy, it’s sure been a hot summer!”

To his receding back, she sarcastically adds: “It’s been great schmoozing with you this morning, like every other morning for the past three weeks.”

I wonder if I can even remember a recent conversation when we actually conversed. Do we even know how anymore? Oh, well…

Oops! There’s Shevy shrieking again. Pinny can’t find his shoes. Why is the phone ringing off the hook? We’ve got to get going! Where are my glasses?

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Scenario Three: Year 36 It’s so quiet in the house. I guess this is the new reality. Either Dov’s following me around from room to room with “suggestions” on how to better organize the house, or he’s off to one of his chavrusas, and here I am…alone. I’ll just check on the kids.

“Shevy, hi, dear. Just checking on Baby’s ear infection. Did you get a chance— “Oh, sorry, I know you’re running to work. I’ll talk to you later. Listen, about Pinny’s chasuna video— “OK, OK. Yes. Sure. Later… Bye.” I really wish I could talk to Dov. He was always so good at understanding me. I mean, when we really communicated, it made me feel so much lighter. But what’s left to/I’m not so sure what to talk about these days? No carpools, no school, no sibling emergencies, no shidduch calls.

I wonder…Oh, well…Let me try that new recipe. Now, where are my glasses?

Almost anyone married can identify with variations of at least one of these scenes. But the difference will be in your interpretation of what took place.

In what we’ll call “end of the world” reaction, you might be thinking something like this: “Help! What did I get myself into? This is definitely not the kind of relationship I signed up for when we stood under the chupah. I feel like I’m living in a world parallel to my husband’s. Sure, we get along, converse, share meals, chores (and kids!), but do we really share a relationship? I’m lonely…and he’s really selfish/self-absorbed/insensitive, whatever! I wonder if there’s a name for this kind of behavior? Some syndrome or crisis or something…?”

On the other hand, in the “rose-colored glasses” reaction, you may be exercising your innate good nature, or ayin tova, and decide to ignore your feelings: “What am I supposed to do? I certainly don’t want to rock the boat at this point. He’s a good guy, so why waste time complaining? If I’m feeling bored or under-appreciated, it’s probably a sign I just need to work on myself. Why bother him with my pettiness? I’ll just…???”

Then there’s something called the “Connect reConnect/proactive” reaction, which goes like this: “We are both emotionally mature adults.

(OK, so maybe not always mature!) Even if we don’t always behave exactly like the other would want or expect, we understand that it’s totally normal to make mistakes in a marriage, or any other relationship, for that matter. So, let me see… What can I do to strengthen our connection? Is there a way I could happily overlook my temporary disappointment or respectfully express my thoughts and feelings? He may or may not be doing the best he can do in his situation. Am I? And how can I let him know so that we can reconnect to the way we really want to be with each other? I wish we both could learn how…”

As you read each of these reactions, you probably felt a tug toward one of the attitudes illustrated. Let’s call that reaction your “default mode.” Many of our reactions to situations of stress or satisfaction can be traced to the old nature-nurture dichotomy. But what if we were inspired not only to yearn for a better bonding with our spouse, and more shalom within and without…but to actualize that desire with practical, doable, result-oriented steps that are neither painful nor threatening?

What if we could actually learn to recreate the reality of Adam and Chava’s directive of “v’heyu l’basar echad”—to become truly two halves of a whole, with the distinctiveness and dignity of knowing our individual and combined missions? What if, in addition to this, we could understand the unique ways each of us strives to attain these goals, and strengthen one another with these techniques?

The message here is one of optimism and normalcy. The notion that one can actually train to bond and communicate effectively, empathetically and respectfully is finally beginning to take hold. Researchers, educators, couples, parents and rabbanim are voicing their concerns over the lost art of communication.

Whether the blame is placed on the increasingly impersonal technological world we live in, or any of the many other perceived causes, the need is the same! Viewing shalom bayis coaching as embarrassing or intimidating is counterproductive. Rather, it is a badge of honor. Just as it is accepted and lauded to be involved in shmiras haloshon or tznius groups, embarking on a quest for a great marriage should be celebrated!

Here is one example of proactive training: Shalva is a warm, productive 32-year-old in a good marriage with three children and a mid-level job. In most situations, she is rational and good-humored ... except when asked to drive on the highway! Then she turns into an illogical, ranting, emotionally-charged warrior.

No amount of gentle (or otherwise!) persuasion will get Shalva to take the wheel, no matter how urgent the matter at hand. Add to this a helpful, caring husband who desperately needs just this one favor. Dov certainly doesn’t “get” her obstinate refusal.

Now imagine immediately after this ill-fated scenario, Dov says something like:

“Remember the vacation we were supposed to go on next week…?”

“Were supposed to?”

“Um, yes, it’s just that I have to go out of town on business…alone.”

Now, instead of the expected outcome of this conversation, envision Shalva and Dov utilizing some of their learned skills.

Dov will remember that Shalva is normally loving and accommodating. In this case, she happens to have an emotional allergy to highway driving. This causes her to lose her cool.

But Shalva has learned that there is a way back from this road. From among her arsenal of repair attempts, Shalva can choose from several options: Apology: “I’m sorry for coming across so strongly. That was disrespectful.” Or: Humor: “Oops! Wait just a sec while I put that ogre back in her cage.” Or even something as silly as: Stopping mid-sentence, Shalva lets out what sounds very much their 2-year-old Shmuly’s wail. “What in the world…?” asks Dov incredulously. “Oh, nothing,” Shalva replies. “I’m just reconnecting to my inner child. I’m ready now!” Or: BMM (*Best Marriage Mate) Code Words: “Allergy alert! Allergy alert! Highway driving, code 101.” Or: Clues for the Clueless: “Listen, Dov. I never explained this to you, but…maybe let’s talk about my fear when you get home.”

Dov recognizes this and responds positively.

He drops the subject, and is about to launch into his “no-vacation” speech when he recalculates: Recalculation: “This piece of news doesn’t sound like such a good idea right now.” Bad timing!

He switches gears, issues an invitation to speak later, setting a convenient time for them both. They brainstorm a different solution to the driving problem, hang up the phone and actually look forward to seeing each other at the end of the day.

Do they live happily ever after?

It’s up to them.

Mrs. Sara Berger, a certified marriage and relationship coach, is the founder of Connect reConnect, a coaching and workshop service empowering kallahs, individuals and couples and fostering healthy communication in all relationships. She has presented her workshops in Canada and the U.S. Using tools and techniques that have proven highly successful, Mrs. Berger is available for individual and couple coaching sessions.

Mrs. Berger also specializes in the innovative Dissolving Negativity Tool, with an emphasis on lowering negative charges against others, and lowering negative charges against yourself! She also sends out emails to anyone interested in cultivating shalom in any area of life.

To book a private consultation or group workshop, call 1-866-738-1029, or email sbreconnect@gmail.com.

www.monsey .co m • info@mo nsey .com

43

Yeshiva University Community Celebrates RIETS Chag HaSemikhah “Today, Yeshiva celebrates continuity of our profound mission of advancing Torah and helping to guide, teach and lead our people,â€? said YU President Richard M. Joel. “Today, I celebrate men of extraordinary quality and character who I have seen grow in learning and middos and professionalism, prepared to serve as our ambassadors of nobility, spreading the warmth of Torah by kindling its ďŹ re.â€?

President-elect Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, looking out over the musmachim, said, “If you are to be rabbis, you must impart chachma and exude anavah ‌but you must live with ahava—with love. If you do so, you will make G-d’s Name more beloved in this world.â€?

The Chag HaSemikhah ceremony took place in the Nathan Lamport Auditorium at Zysman Hall, with video hookups in the Harry Fischel Beit Midrash and YU’s Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem and an online webcast. Approximately 1,800 people were on campus for the event, and close to 8,000 Rabbi Shlomo Amar, former chief rabbi of Israel and current chief rabbi of Jerusalem, greets people viewed it musmachim at the March 19 Chag HaSemikhah on YU’s Wilf Campus online.

(Credit: David Khabinsky/Yeshiva University) The class of

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and the Yeshiva University community gathered to celebrate the ordination of more than 130 musmachim at the March 19 Chag HaSemikhah on YU’s Wilf Campus.

Together with their families, friends and roshei yeshiva, the musmachim danced and sang together outside of Zysman Hall as they marked the continuity of a beloved mesorah being passed down to a new generation of spiritual leaders. In a day ďŹ lled with festivities and brimming with pride, the graduates of the 2014-2017 classes joined more than 3,000 rabbinic alumni who have gone on to become distinguished Orthodox rabbis, scholars, educators and leaders around the world.

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The RIETS musmachim listen intently to the speeches of their roshei yeshiva during the March 19 Chag HaSemikhah on YU’s Wilf Campus (Credit: David Khabinsky/Yeshiva University)

rabbis represents an internationally diverse group, hailing from ďŹ ve continents and more than 50 North American cities. While most of the musmachim will remain engaged in either full-time post-semicha Torah study or in religious work such as Jewish education, the pulpit, outreach or nonproďŹ t management, many will pursue careers in other professions, including medicine and law.

As they go on to build their careers, the new musmachim will beneďŹ t from the unique education they received at RIETS. In addition to intense religious study with renowned Torah scholars, the seminary oers an enhanced rabbinic professional education program designed to meet the communal and spiritual needs of today’s Jewish communities. Students receive extensive training in topics critical for public leadership positions, such as pastoral psychology, public speaking and community building, all taught by renowned experts and rabbis.

They’re also exposed to contemporary halachic issues in bioethics, technology and business to prepare them for real-world dilemmas they may face.

A new mental health emphasis also provides musmachim with critical self-care tools as they manage the stresses and challenges of a life of public service.

During the ceremony, RIETS honored Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Nathan and

Vivian Fink Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud, with the HaRav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik zt�l Aluf Torah Award. A renowned Talmudic scholar and posek (decisor of Jewish law), Rabbi Schachter has served at RIETS for 50 years. RIETS Chairman Emeritus Rabbi Julius Berman was also honored with the Eitz Chaim Award.

In addition, special acknowledgement was given to 10 grandfathers and RIETS alumni who watched their grandsons receive semicha at this year’s ceremony, as well as the musmachim celebrating their 50th anniversary. “The Chag HaSemikhah is a singular event celebrating Yeshiva, our community and our future,� said Rabbi Menachem Penner, the Max and Marion Grill dean of RIETS and Undergraduate Torah Studies at YU. “Our opportunity to honor Rav Hershel Schachter and Rabbi Julius Berman takes this excitement to an even higher level.�

Following the ordination ceremony, RIETS held a Gala Evening of Celebration honoring Rabbi Schachter and Rabbi Berman at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. In addition, philanthropist Dr. David Arbesfeld was presented with the RIETS Service Award. The dinner raised more than $1 million for RIETS. To learn more or to support RIETS, visit yu.edu/riets.

Photo credits: “David Khabinsky/ Yeshiva University�

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March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Tigger

FEATURES

By Dana Mase I started riding horses when I was about 6 years old. I remember I was on a summer family vacation and I rode a little old pony named Chiefy. I was led around in a tiny circle. I couldn’t get enough. I came back the next day. And the next. And the next. I was hooked for life.

I had turbulent teenage years. My parents got divorced when I was 12 and my father abandoned me. I had a hard time concentrating in school and I started acting out in ways that were frighteningly self-destructive. I had friends who were terrible influences and leading me in ways that make me cringe when I think about it now. But thank G-d for horses.

At that time, I decided to lease a horse named Tigger. He was a difficult quarter horse that was temperamental and mean. He was rejected and abandoned. Nobody wanted to deal with him. He would stand at the back of his stall and threaten anyone nearby. If someone would walk into his stall to try to get him out, he would charge the person with teeth bared and ears flat back. The owner of the stable would have to get him out of his stall with a broom in one

hand for self-defense. Tigger became my project. I wanted to show this horse that the world was not so bad. I wanted Tigger to trust me. I wanted to love and be loved by this rebellious

horse that seemed so out of control.

So I would spend hours brushing him until his chestnut coat would reflect the sun. I combed out his tail until it flowed like a waterfall. I would polish his hooves and wrap his legs. I would feed him carrots and apples. I would prove to him that the world was a kind and good place. There were people who were deserving of his trust.

Riding him was difficult. He was fast and hard to stop. All he wanted to do was go, go, go. He would race to the jumps and sometimes leap into the air about 20 feet before we would even get to the jump out of excitement. I felt like I was flying with the wind when I rode Tigger. He was pure energy. Pure exuberance. Pure boldness. He had the speed and the athletic ability. He also had the ability to humble me.

Like the many times when approaching jump at full speed, he would slam on the brakes at the base of the fence and I would go flying over his head and land on the obstacle or on the ground. But I would brush the dirt off my coat and get right back in the saddle to try again.

That’s how I learned. Through the falls and failures. Through repeating the lessons until I was able to accomplish my goals.

This is the way that Tigger helped me through these very difficult years. He was always there for me to nurture and care for. He would stand peacefully for me to brush when I was the one who needed to relax. He was quietly there for me to talk to when I didn’t want anyone else to hear my feelings because of the shame I felt. I remember the morning I was so upset that I cried hidden tears into his soft neck and he wrapped his big horse head around me as if he understood my sadness. That’s how I felt, and he gave me the solace and comfort that I needed. You see, Tigger and I were a lot alike. I was rebellious, he was rebellious. I was angry, he was angry. I felt unlovable, he was unlovable. I felt like an orphan, he was an orphan. I had potential that was locked away; he had potential that was locked away. At that time, I didn’t realize it, though. I didn’t understand that if I could find the key to unlocking him, I would unlock myself as well.

Sometimes the best way to help yourself is through helping someone else. Even if the someone else is a horse. The love I poured into Tigger came right back into me. When I was rehabilitating Tigger, all the time and effort I invested into this horse was priceless because it was healing me.

Dana Mase is the founder of Ride Kind Therapeutic Riding and the Equestrian Director for The Ranch at Bethel in upstate NY. To contact Dana, email her at Dana@Danamase.com.

Dana’s column, HorseTime - has been featured in multiple publications around the world and focuses on Life Lessons learned from working with horses and people.

monsey.com High Growth Opportunity Available for outgoing person who is good at networking and connecting with people. For more information please email info@monsey.com March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

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March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

The Top 10 Reasons to Get Your Spine Checked 10. The times that you need your spine the most will be the time that it will tend to give out on you If you neglect your spine and nervous system, you can be sure that when you need it the most due to stress, physical activity, business or pleasure travel, it can give out on you. Extra stress on a weakened spine and nervous system can overload your system and contribute to health problems. Lifestyle Care can keep you healthy and prevent these inconvenient episodes from putting a damper on your life.

9. Nerve pressure can exist without pain According to the research, pain is not a good indicator of how healthy or unhealthy your spine and nervous system are. Spinal examinations such as posture, weight balance, palpation, muscle testing, computer scans and x-rays are much better indicators. Pain is usually the last to show up and the first to be relieved when you begin chiropractic care.

8. Nerves supply your whole body Your spine protects your nerve system, the master control center of your body. Vital energy flows over your nerves and communications with every cell. Nerve pathways must be clear for the messages to get through. If you have an uncorrected spinal problem, it can cause a decrease in the function of vital organs and systems, and lead to unnecessary pain or health problems.

7. Deterioration can begin within 2 weeks Researchers found that when the spine is misaligned it can begin to deteriorate within 2 weeks.

Think about how many two weeks have passed since you were born, which is often when the first spinal injury or vertebral subluxation occurs. How many two weeks are there from a childhood fall to age 50? Is it any wonder why more than 15 million people are diagnosed with osteoarthritis each year?

Don’t wait another 2 weeks for a checkup.

6. Your quality of life depends on a healthy spine If you want to be healthy and active as you age, your spine and nervous system must be healthy. Period.

5. The straw will break the camel’s back We’ve all heard the expression “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” This is so true for too many people who ignore minor spinal problems. One day they do something simple, like bend down to tie their shoe, and they can’t get up. Major problems are much more painful and expensive to care for, and they can ruin your day, or even worse, your life.

4. Grandma and Grandpa didn’t get crooked overnight. They grew that way over time Over time, the spine and nervous system deteriorates, not because of age, but because of subluxations. Just like the tires on your car wear down unevenly when they are misaligned, the same can happen in your spine. You may have some areas in your spine that look and feel like they are 80 years old while you have other areas that are more like a 30 year old. You can keep your entire spine healthy with chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

3. Good posture keeps you young and attractive When your body becomes bent over and crooked, you will look and feel old and decrepit. If you

March 23, 2017 / 25 Adar 5777

Health

keep your posture and your spine straight and strong, you will stay healthier and feel younger and more attractive. People often use drastic measures to preserve their youthful appearance as they age.

Don’t you think a facelift would look silly on a person whose spine and nervous system were neglected?

1. Because you were born.

Everyone deserves to be healthy from the time they are born through their last breathe of life. This includes you. Too many people wait until they have intense pain and suffering before they make their health a priority. Don’t let this happen to you.

2. You can’t afford to get sick or injured Now more than ever, you cannot afford to get sick. Crisis care costs are astronomical and an unhealthy spine and nervous system can be the cause of many problems. Getting your spine checked and adjusted regularly can help you stay healthier and save you money in the long run.

Landi Family Chiropractic 777 Chestnut Ridge Road, Suite 102 Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977 845-356-4848 • www.LandiChiropractic.com

A 7– year study showed that patients who saw a chiropractor regularly experienced the above results.

Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapy, May 2007; 30(4): 263-269, Richard L. Sarnat, MD, James Winterstein, DC, Jerrilyn A. Cambron, DC, PhD

"The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease."

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T EST I MO N I A L S “The BEST thing that happened in our lives is finding out about Chiropractic five years ago. I wish, wish, wish we would have been under the care of Landi Chiropractic sooner, but I guess I should concentrate on the five years we are under Chiropractic care. I had been suffering from Vertigo for years, I would be out for days not being able to do a thing. But, BH, after coming to Dr. Landi, my vertigo has disappeared. I think talking to my kids will convince you to become a part of the happy Landi family/patients. Using our pediatrician is only for yearly well visits. Dr. Landi will take care of the rest, whether ear, sinus, cough, virus… helping your body work at it’s optimum.

Seeing is believing, it’s worth a shot my dear friends. Try it, you won’t regret it. You can reach me for more info 845-213-8832. The most grateful patient” - Miriam G. "Dr. Eric has been a miracle worker for me! He took me from practically immobile to healthy and energized. We still work together frequently to maintain progress or to bring me back on track when needed, but I want to thank him sincerely for improving my quality of life! After so many doctors and treatments, who would have known that the only one I needed was Chiropractic?" - Aly L.

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FOOT NOTES FROM DR. BALDINGER

Health

Finally, A Solution for Flat Feet

By Harry G. Baldinger, DPM Foot pain is a serious matter that is overlooked and downplayed by the medical community. Feet, in general, are at the boot of the totem pole of medical conditions, but at the bottom they serve as the foundation of the body.

The second most common conscious function of the body is walking and standing. If someone experiences pain when they are standing or walking, they avoid it as much as possible. This leads to decreased activity level, decreased metabolism and resulting weight gain. Therefore, every measure must be made to reduce foot pain to get people walking, exercising and staying healthy.

The misalignment of the bone structure in the feet is the cause of the majority of foot and ankle disorders. The common condition known as “flat feet” first manifests itself in children, making it more difficult to learn to walk, wear shoes and engage in normal play involving running and jumping. Later in life one may have bunions, heel pain, hammer toes, metatarsal pain, over-pronation and even pain in the back, hips, knees and shoulders. One may wear out shoes more on one side or be unable to wear shoes that one likes.

The root of the problem is usually the misalignment of two bones, the ankle bone (the talus) and the heel bone (the calcaneus), where they meet at the talotarsal joint. It is also known as the “foundation joint” because it determines how the rest of the body will react when standing, walking or running.

For generations, the treatment of choice for children and adults with flat feet has been either ready-made or custom-made arch supports or orthotics. While these remedies may provide temporary pain relief, they do nothing to eliminate the underlying foot-bone misalignment. Arch supports cannot change the shape of the foot or correct flat feet.

Today there is a powerful procedure that can internally realign and stabilize the ankle bone. It is a permanent solution that has been proven to be far superior to temporary measures such as arch supports. During the procedure, a titanium stent is inserted into a naturally occurring space in between the ankle and heel bones. Instantly, the excessive abnormal forces are reduced and the pathology of misaligned bones is fixed.

The FDA-approved procedure is safe for adults and children as young as age four. The procedure, which takes about half an hour per foot, is performed under a local anesthetic. An inch-long incision is made near the ankle for the insertion of the stent. The device will not penetrate or be implanted into your bones.

Patients can get up and walk immediately, without the need for a cast, cane or crutches.

They go home the same day, and typically require a mild painkiller for about 10 days. After six weeks, all restrictions are lifted because the stent has been locked into position by the ligaments that naturally grow around it. In 95 percent of cases, the stent can remain in place permanently.

This procedure can dramatically improve the quality of life of those suffering from flatfeet pain and other manifestations of footbone misalignment. Patients improve mobility and general health, resuming the activities they love.

Contrary to popular belief, children cannot “outgrow” this condition, which is likely to cause problems with their feet and other parts of their body throughout their adult lives. In most cases, the misalignment just gets worse over time, like bunion deformities.

Every day, thousands of patients undergo surgery for the secondary conditions caused by misaligned feet. For many years, the only way to permanently correct foot misalignment was through reconstructive surgery, requiring cutting and shifting foot bones, fusing joints and transferring tendons. The recovery took months and was so difficult that patients were advised to avoid the surgery unless their foot pain had become intolerable.

Just as a car with a misaligned front end will suffer uneven tire wear and other mechanical problems, every step a person takes on a foot whose bones are misaligned will create excess wear and tear on other parts of body. The damage from misaligned steps accumulates over years and decades of walking, and eventually can emerge as chronic knee, lower back and even neck pain in addition to deformities of the foot.

Dr. Harry G. Baldinger, DPM, is a podiatric surgeon who studied at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine and is board certified by the American Board of Podiatric Orthopedics. Dr. Baldinger has maintained a private practice since 1980, is on staff at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern and has offices in Suffern and Williamsburg. Learn more at www.drbaldinger.com.

Dr. Baldinger’s office can be reached at 845-4258686. Questions for future columns are welcome at office@drbaldinger.com.

Want your message to reach 40,000 members of our community? Email info@monsey.com for more information.

June Mandeville - Kamins, M.S.W., L.C.S.W PSYCHOTHERAPIST

MEDICINE & SURGERY OF THE FOOT

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Real Estate ASK YOUR REALTOR

By Shlomo Fuerst Homeownership has always been a paramount central focus of the American dream. It is a goal that many people speak about as they are starting their careers and building families. There is a great sense of pride in owning your home. A home is where you have the opportunity to surround yourself with the things you value most. It is the place you will probably spend the most time with family and friends.

The goal is to make this column informative to both buyers and sellers. Since you will probably be in both of those groups, possibly several times during your years of homeownership, the information provided should be helpful.

There are many topics I can choose from for each column. However, it would be even more interesting if you would submit topics

and questions that you’d find interesting and informative.

Using a real estate agent to assist you in the sale or purchase of a home provides you with a level of experience that is recommended, since there is a substantial amount of money involved. As a buyer, the real estate agent should assist you in making your own informed decision as to what and where you’d like to purchase, and as a seller, the real estate agent will assist you in the sale and guide you through the process.

Owning a home is a great financial responsibility. During the course of homeownership you have to pay real estate taxes, upkeep your home, determine what improvements should be made for your own personal use, what improvements will increase or decrease the value of your home, etc. These decisions will vary depending on your future plans, whether you’re selling to move into another home, whether you’re retiring or whether you just want to know your options.

Purchasing a home, whether for the first time, second time, third, etc., also involves considerations as to market-value timing, interest rates, neighborhoods, schools and more. It also involves technical things, such as inspections, contract negotiations, lawyers, lenders, contin-

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gencies and sometimes seller issues.

The process of buying or selling a home should be a pleasant experience. It is a relatively simple and straightforward process. As in life, there are usually several correct ways to achieve your goal. Working with an experienced real estate agent provides you with a strong advocate for reaching your goal. The level of experience will provide for informative ideas on how to navigate most situations as they arise.

You must also realize that the purchase or sale of a home is not just a business decision, it is an emotional one, which sometimes creates situations that a real estate agent can as-

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sist with. I have been to many closings that required a box of tissues.

Your purchase or sale of a home should be a pleasant experience. I look forward to answering your questions and providing you with informative information in future columns.

“Shlomo” Solomon A. Fuerst is a licensed real estate broker and the owner of Fuerst & Fuerst, Inc., a local real estate brokerage company serving the greater Monsey community for over 20 years. He can be reached at sol@fuerstandfuerst.com.

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