The Jewish Star

D

Take a Jewish Star home for Shabbos! • IN CENTERSPREAD: 2015 in review

STAR

LO N G

IS LA N

THE JEWISH Jan. 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776

Parshas Shemot • Candlelighting 4:20 pm • Luach page 13

Vol 15, No. 1 • TheJewishStar.com

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Deadly cost of working with Iran J

The voice of teenage writers will be heard this motzei Shabbos, at the Levi Yitzchak Library in Cedarhurst.

Young poets will share some of their work at a “writer’s block party� featuring spokenword poetry, starting at 8 pm, at 564 Central Ave. Levi Yitzchak Library Co-Founder and Director Lisa Hawk invites the entire community to this event, which will also feature exhibits by area youth. “Everyone needs some inspiration to bring in the new year,� said Mrs. Hawk.

For more information and sponsorship opportunities, call Mrs. Hawk at 516-374-2665 or email 5townswritersblock@gmail.com.

HANCsters in action for Israel 7KH HQWKXVLDVP RI +$1&œV ,VUDHO $FWLRQ &RPPLWWHH ZDV RQ GLVSOD\ DW )DUPLQJGDOH 5HSXEOLF $LUSRUW ZKHUH WKH\ VDQJ $P <LVUDHO &KDL DQG JUHHWHG ,') YHWHUDQV GLVDEOHG LQ *D]D ³3HUVRQDOO\ WKDQNLQJ WKH VROGLHUV IRU DOO WKH\ KDYH GRQH ZDV DQ DPD]LQJ H[SHULHQFH ´ VDLG MXQLRU 'DOLD .DIWDUL ³:RUGV FDQQRW GHVFULEH KRZ WKDQNIXO P\ FODVVPDWHV DQG , DUH IRU WKH XQEHOLHYDEOH ZRUN WKH\ KDYH GRQH DQG FRQWLQXH WR GR ´

'HEELH .DSODQ DQG 5DFKDHOL +DUWVWHLQ LQ WKH OL EUDU\ WUDLQ

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Close to heavenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on Mt. Kilimanjaro

By Rachel Gross Scaling the largest free-standing mountain in the world is an unbelievable accomplishment, a test of human endurance and tenacity. Raising a special needs child can require the same tenacity.

Thirty Jews from around the world climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise $300,000 for SHALVA, the Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Jerusalem, an organization that helps the parents and children of SHALVA scale their own personal â&#x20AC;&#x153;mountains.â&#x20AC;?

The climb attracted an eclectic group of trekkers from around the world, spanning the spectrum from secular to Orthodox. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What started as a U.K. initiative became a global effort as the unique opportunity captured imaginations around the world,â&#x20AC;? said trip coordinator Gaby Hirsch.

John Corre, 71, a Jerusalem resident and grandfather of nine, said the climb â&#x20AC;&#x153;was the

most wonderful Jewish experience, with a group of wonderful people, who became one big happy family.â&#x20AC;?

For 25 years, SHALVA has been helping children with special needs move beyond their limitations. SHALVA programs and services provide individual treatment for the child while also strengthening the fabric of the family. SHALVA has been accompanying each of 500 children from birth to adulthood, tailoring programs to help participants reach their full potential and integrate into the community.

Continued on page 18

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

By Ben Cohen an. 18 marks the ďŹ rst anniversary of the death of Alberto Nisman, the Argentine federal prosecutor who spent a decade investigating the 1994 Iranian-backed bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. In that massacre, 85 people were murdered and hundreds more injured.

Nismanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifeless body, readers will remember, was discovered in the bathroom of his Buenos Aires apartment the night before he was due to elaborate on his formal complaint against the government of President Cristina FernĂĄndez de Kirchner in front of the Argentine Congress. Nisman had concluded, based on the mountain of evidence that was available to him, that underpinning FernĂĄndez de Kirchnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Iranian regime, which paved the way for restored relations between Buenos Aires and Tehran, was the abandonment of a demand that six Iranian suspects in the AMIA bombing be extradited.

The Argentine president made one spectacular miscalculation in all of this.

At no point did it occur to her that Daniel Scioli, the candidate she chose to succeed her in the 2015 presidential election, would end up losing the ballot. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exactly what happened. The November victory of the pragmatic Mauricio Macri Continued on page 6

5T youth slam poetic on Sat. nite

2 January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

Kaddish for victims of genocide in Middle East ABRAHAM H. MILLER

801108

J

Meet Chef Daniel

Meet Chef Daniel. With his golden hands and vast culinary knowledge, he combines the flavor and flair of Mediterranean and American Cuisine. When you taste our new menu, you savor just the right amount of adventure cooked at just the right location!

come 128 Cedarhurst Ave, Cedarhurst, NY 11516 1 (516) 295-1800 1 11:00 am – 10:30 pm

in

811305

what would a meditarranean say about this? a typical american drama

ews might want to observe a day of remembrance for the Christians and Yazidis being exterminated in the Middle East. Lighting a yahrzeit candle and reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish would be an appropriate way to honor the memory of the righteous Christians who saved Jews from the flames of the Holocaust and to bring the Christian and Yazidi “genocide” (I use that word purposely) to the attention of the world.

I would nominate Oct. 20, 2016 as the date for such an observance. That is the day in 1943 when the Nazis captured Irena Sendler (nee Krzyzanowska), the Polish nurse and social worker who served in the Polish underground in German-occupied Warsaw during World War II, bringing her rescue efforts on behalf of Jewish children to an abrupt end.

Sendler was the head of the children’s section of Zegota, the underground’s department to aid Jews. With the assistance of other members of Zegota, Sendler smuggled approximately 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, saving them from certain death. Aside from diplomats, such as Sweden’s Raoul Wallenberg and Japan’s Chiune Sugihara who issued visas to aid Jews in fleeing occupied Europe, Sendler saved more

Jews than any single individual.

Sendler’s motivation, like that of many righteous gentiles, came in no small measure from her faith. The recitation of Kaddish would attest to the Jewish will to stand up for persecuted gentiles.

Throughout the Holocaust and after, the New York Times buried the story as inconsequential or not involving Jews. Laurel Leff extensively researched the Times’ coverage of the Holocaust and concluded, “You could have read the front page of the New York Times in 1939 and 1940 without knowing that millions of Jews were being sent to Poland, imprisoned in ghettos, and dying of disease and starvation by the tens of thousands.

“You could have read the front page in 1941 without knowing that the Nazis were machine-gunning hundreds of thousands of Jews in the Soviet Union.”

In 2001, former executive editor of the Times, Max Frankel, admitted that his paper’s coverage of the Holocaust was journalism’s biggest failure.

When it comes to the plight of Christians and Yazidis in today’s Middle East, the Times’ history seems to be repeating itself in the proverbial circle, first as tragedy then as farce.

Nicholas Kristof, writing in the Times, calls the Islamic State’s actions the religious version of ethnic cleansing but refrains from calling it genocide. This is not a simple parsing of words since, under U.S. adherence to the convention, genocide requires a response.

The Obama administration’s relucContinued on page 16

Yom Iyun study at White Shul With most people getting a day off work for secular New Year’s day on Friday, Far Rockaway’s White Shul is silver-plating an opportunity to put some of that time to good use.

A Yom Iyun, the day of study, begins with Shacharis at 8:30, followed by breakfast and: •9:30–10:15: A shiur by Rav Moshe Brown Shlit”a, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Far Rockaway and mara d’asra of Agudath Israel of West Lawrence.

•10:20–10:45: A shiur by Rabbi Neuburger on “E-Commerce on Shabbos.”

He is currently working on the case of Adolphe Rosenthal, a Jewish jeweler murdered in Paris in September 1941 under unclear circumstances.

Getting access to archives “will help some families but mainly, it will help them psychologically because it will tell them what really happened,” the historian told the AP while studying the 91-page police report about Rosenthal’s murder dating from October 1941. “Some people, as this man here, have been assassinated but we don’t know why, we don’t know what happened.

We might know it in 70, 80 more years.”

811162

#NN [QWT TGEQTFU CTG JGTG QP ƂNG s New Technology-Old-Fashioned Craftsmanship s Esoteric Eyewear s Vintage Eyewear s State-of-the-Art Lab on Premises

Larry B. Greenspan, Optician

138 Cedarhurst Ave., Cedarhurst r 516-569-2888 cedarhurstfashionopticians.com

(Adjacent to Cedarhurst RR Station) r

Use Your Flex Spending Here!

South Nassau Communities Hospital Respite Room

A HAVEN FOR HOSPITAL PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

SOUTH NASSAU AND ACHIEZER RECOGNIZE THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF THE LOCAL ORTHODOX JEWISH POPULATION AND ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE YOUR STAY MORE COMFORTABLE AND ENJOYABLE. We’re working with doctors, nurses and our entire hospital staff to raise awareness of the sensitivities and sensibilities of Orthodox Jews; and we are working closely with our Rabbinical consultants to anticipate our patients’ needs before they arise.

To highlight these efforts, we are pleased to provide the Kosher Pantry/Respite Room co-sponsored by South Nassau and Achiezer. This room offers a quiet haven for patients to relax, rejuvenate and enjoy a variety of kosher amenities provided exclusively for their use. Thanks to Gourmet Glatt, the pantry is fully stocked throughout the week and has hot meals for Shabbos and Yom Tov. And during the winter months (November-March), there is even a daily Mincha Minyan at 1:05 p.m. (Monday-Thursday).

For more information about the Respite Room or our other services, call 877-SOUTH-NASSAU, visit southnassau.org or call Achiezer at 516-791-4444.

South Nassau also offers a convenient Shabbos elevator, and comfortable overnight accommodations are available year-round at our kosher Shabbat Hospitality House, which is complete with beds, linen, durable kosher food items and a refrigerator. Electric Sabbath candles are available. Access to the Shabbat Hospitality House is arranged through South Nassau’s Spiritual Care Program.

When you find yourself in our hospital, visit the new Respite Room located on the Ground Floor G Wing adjacent to the Volunteer Office, and see for yourself why more and more Jewish families throughout the area are choosing South Nassau.

810662

By Steve Corbet PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of files on members of the French resistance, communists and Jews hunted by the collaborationist Vichy government in France during World War II are now accessible to the public.

The French government has opened police and legal archives, allowing free access to documents from the regime that collaborated with the Nazi German occupiers between 1940 and 1944, as well as to investigative documents from the post-liberation government.

The order, which was signed on Dec. 24 and came into force Monday, will not only help the work of historians. It will also bring more citizens into the archives’ lecture rooms to learn about what happened to their ancestors during World War II. For instance, families of people arrested under the Vichy regime as well as descendants of collaborationists prosecuted after the war will be able to consult police investigation documents and proceedings of military courts.

WWII archives are kept in different places all around France, depending on their geographical and administrative origin. Many were already available to researchers, but they first had to file complex request forms and it could take months before they got an answer.

Now, anyone can come into a reading room, ask for a document and get it “within 15 minutes, the time needed to go and get it from the shelves,” says the chief of Paris police archives, Pascale Etiennette.

Marshal Philippe Petain’s collaborationist government, which signed an armistice with the German occupiers in 1940, remains a sensitive issue in France. Some French people supported Petain’s government while others engaged in the Resistance movement led by General Charles De Gaulle.

The decision by the French government to open the archives came in response to a call

by French historians, including Gilles Morin, a WWII specialist.

“Many people who were doing research about their father or grandfather who had been deported for example, as we often see, were blocked by these administrative obstacles,” he said.

Historians don’t expect any major revelations, since the period has already been extensively studied, but hope to gain a more detailed understanding of events.

“Let’s be clear, there won’t be any revolution in what we already know about WWII but we’ll finally have the possibility to work, understand several things, the Franco-German relationships, between Vichy and the collaborationists, the people, the elites,” Morin stressed.

To the regret of the historians, documents classified as national defense are not covered by the new government order and most of the archives of the French intelligence services regarding the WWII period remain out of reach.

“Here we have a problem because everything, or almost everything, is top-secret,” historian Francois Le Goarant de Tromelin said.

Since 1982

"You're Wearing Our Reputation"

Welcomes Optics by Albert's Patients

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776

French get to see WWII Vichy terror archives

3

‘Mein Kampf’ returns to German shelves

$+/(-& 8.4

By Geir Moulson BERLIN (AP) — For 70 years since the Nazi defeat in World War II, copyright law has been used in Germany to prohibit the publication of “Mein Kampf” — the notorious anti-Semitic tome in which Adolf Hitler set out his ideology.

That will change next month when a new edition with critical commentary, the product of several years’ work by a publicly funded institute, hits the shelves.

While historians say it could help fill a gap in Germans’ knowledge of the era, Jewish groups are wary and German authorities are making it clear that they still won’t tolerate any new “Mein Kampf” without annotations.

Under German law, a copyright expires at the end of the year 70 years after an author’s death — in this case, Hitler’s April 30, 1945, suicide in a Berlin bunker as the Soviet army closed in. That means Bavaria’s state finance ministry, which holds the copyright, can no longer use that to prevent the work’s publication beyond Dec. 31.

The book has been published in several other countries; in the U.S., for example, Bavaria never controlled the copyright.

In Germany, many argue that holding back “Mein Kampf” merely created mystique around the book. The idea of at least a partial version with critical commentary for the German market dates back as far as the late 1960s. The Munich-based Institute for Contemporary History, which is behind the new version, sought and was denied permission to produce the book in the mid-1990s when

'$+/ .3'$ 12^

Clothing & Shoes, in ANY condition!

it published a volume of Hitler’s speeches.

Hitler wrote “Mein Kampf” — or “My Struggle” — after he was jailed following the failed 1923 coup attempt known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Millions of copies were printed after the Nazis took power in 1933.

The rambling tome set out Hitler’s ultranationalist, anti-Semitic and anti-communist ideology for his National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazi party, airing the idea of a war of conquest in eastern Europe.

“The book should not be underestimated as a historical source and also as a key to understanding the history of National Socialism,” the director of the Munich institute, Andreas Wirsching, said ahead of the new edition’s mid-January publication.

“Among serious historians in Germany, you won’t find one who is against a commented edition and hasn’t been calling for one for years,” said Sven Felix Kellerhoff, a journalist with the daily Die Welt and a historian who has written about “Mein Kampf” himself. “That goes from conservatives to the left.”

Jewish opinion varies. The head of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, says that knowledge of “Mein Kampf” is important in explaining Nazism and the Holocaust — so “we do not object to a critical edition, contrasting Hitler’s racial theories with scientific findings, to be at the disposal of research and teaching.”

One of his predecessors is more critical.

Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor Continued on page 16

SOHO Window Fashion AUTHORIZED DEALER Hunter Douglas U Graber U Comfortex U Lafayette Kravet U Robert Allen FEATURING Blinds U Shades U Curtains U Shutters U Cornices Austrian Shades U Roman Shades U Valances Upholstery U Headboards U Tablecloths FREE ESTIMATES

811157

<:;U>AAUBAA?

581 WILLOW AVE, CEDARHURST in Maple Plaza, next to David’s Pizza

SohoBlinds.com r 516-341-7600

811168

January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

4

STEPHEN M. FLATOW

S

tate Department officials and Middle East “experts” are always warning us that if the Palestinian Authority collapses, Israel will be harmed because IsraeliPalestinian security cooperation will come to an end. But an incident in Ramallah this week makes one wonder if that “security cooperation” really exists at all.

The Palestinian news agency Ma’an boasted on Dec. 22 that “Palestinian police ordered Israeli Border Police forces out of the Beituniya area of western Ramallah and threatened to use their weapons if they refused, said local security sources.” And indeed a YouTube video of the incident appears to confirm Ma’an’s characterization of the episode.

Ramallah is the capital of the Palestinian Authority, and under the Oslo accords, the city is under the complete security control of the PA— as opposed to some other parts of the territories, where Israel has the responsibility for security. So what were Israeli Border Police doing inside Ramallah’s city limits?

“Israeli forces had been chasing Palestinian schoolchildren in the area, when a number of Palestinian police officers led by Lieutenant Akef al-Shalan arrived,” Ma’an reported.

Here we have a textbook case of how “Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation” is supposed to work. Young Palestinians were throwing rocks—a time-honored method of execution in the Middle East—in an attempt to maim or kill Israelis. Last September’s murderby-stoning of 64 year-old Alexander Levlovitz, as he was leaving Rosh Hashana dinner with his family, is a grim reminder of how serious rock-throwing is.

So the Israelis were in hot pursuit of a group of Palestinian would-be murderers.

When the terrorists crossed into Ramallah, the Palestinian police should have arrested them.

Instead, the police turned against the Israelis, screaming and threatening them (as the You-

RCA condemns calls for revenge The Rabbinical Council of America issued a statement expressing its “outrage over the dancing, singing and celebration of the murder of Ali Dawabshe in the Duma arson and condemns the actions of these radical youth in the harshest terms.”

The statement applauded “the quick and decisive statements of Israeli religious and political leaders regarding the event.”

“The vigilante and lawless calls for revenge and dancing with machine guns and knives are anathema to Jewish morality and religious standards,” said RCA President Rabbi Shalom Baum.

The RCA statement echoed that of Chief Rabbi David Lau, that “acts like these are not the way of Judaism. This is a rejection and repudiation of the values of the Jewish people, the Torah and the uniqueness of the Jewish people.”

RCA First Vice President Rabbi Elazar Muskin said, “While extremely concerned about the issues of safety and security of innocent Israeli citizens, the RCA reaffirms that glorifying violence in any way is against the Torah’s ways of pleasantness.”

The RCA urged the Israeli government to take whatever measures necessary to protect the safety of all of its innocent citizens, and called on Israeli religious and educational leaders to nurture values in Israeli society that hold these despicable acts to be unacceptable and intolerable.

Tube video clearly shows) as they expel the Israelis from the area.

Writing on ForeignPolicy.com last March, Nicholas Heras and Ilan Goldenberg of the Center for a New American Security dramatically warned of “the West Bank’s potential transformation into an ungoverned space that could become a haven for terrorism” if the Palestinian Authority collapses.

And in April, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy issued a report titled “Preserving Israeli-Palestinian Security Cooperation” which claimed that “security cooperation [between the PA and Israel] and the positive dynamics it creates are one of the few hopeful spots in an otherwise grim arena…Washington should prioritize efforts to protect and

support security cooperation, and clearly convey this sense of priority to Palestinian and Israeli leaders.”

This perspective has clearly filtered down into policymaking circles. On December 5, Secretary of State John Kerry declared in a speech at the Brookings Institution that the collapse of the PA “would threaten the security of Israel” because it would lead to “chaos, lawlessness and desperation” and “Israel would be forced to assume all governance in the West Bank.”

If the current “governance” by the PA consists of protecting terrorists, then what kind of governance is that? How is it “hopeful”—as the Washington Institute put it—if PA security forces prevent Israeli soldiers from pursuing

rock-throwers? While the Center for a New American Security is claiming that the collapse of the PA could turn the area into “a haven for terrorism,” doesn’t the Ramallah incident show that, in fact, it has already become a haven for terrorism?

The PA’s security forces have, in effect, informed young Palestinians: Go ahead, try to cripple or murder Jews, and if the Israeli soldiers chase you, then come to us and we will protect you from them. If that’s what Secretary Kerry and the foreign policy wonks call ‘’security cooperation,” then I guess we’re speaking two different languages.

Stephen M. Flatow, an attorney in New Jersey, is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in a Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995.

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776

Myth of Palestinian security cooperation exposed

5

January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

6

TheJewishStar.com

THE JEWISH STAR The newspaper of our Orthodox communities

ESTABLISHED 2002 Proudly produced and printed on Long Island by The Jewish Star LLC 2 Endo Blvd, Garden City NY 11530 516-622-7461 Publisher & Editor: Ed Weintrob EWeintrob@TheJewishStar.com 516-622-7461 x291 • cell 718-908-5555 Advertising Director: Celia Weintrob CWeintrob@TheJewishStar.com 516-622-7461 x241 • cell 917-723-4500 Ad Sales Representatives •Yonah Lindner, 516-622-7461 x240 YLindner@TheJewishStar.com •Ethan Jerome, 516-622-7461 x290 EJerome@TheJewishStar.com Contributing writers: Rabbi Avi Billet, Jeff Dunetz, Rabbi Binny Freedman, Alan Gerber, Judy Joszef Editorial Designer: Stacey Simmons.

Photo Editor: Christina Daly.

Send us your news: General news, Newsroom@TheJewishStar.com.

Calendar@TheJewishStar.com by noon Friday.

Schools@TheJewishStar.com by noon Monday.

Health@TheJewishStar.com Comments to Letters@TheJewishStar.com.

Send photos as high resolution JPEGs. Content: The Publisher endeavors to insure that editorial content is within the bounds of normative halachah and hashkafah. A reader who feels anything we publish may be inappropriate in this regard is urged to bring the item in question to the attention of the Publisher.

Advertising is accepted at the sole discretion of the Publisher. The Publisher expects all advertising to conform to standards of content appropriate for distribution in an Orthodox community.

Kashrut: The Jewish Star is not responsible for the kashrut of any product or establishment featured in its pages. If you have questions regarding any establishment or product, including its supervision, please consult your rabbi for guidance.

Opinions: Views expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the position of the Publisher.

Submissions: All submissions become the property of The Jewish Star and may be edited and used by the Publisher, its licensees and affiliates, in print, on the web and/or in any media that now exists or will exist in the future in any form, including derivative works, throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional authorization or compensation. The individual or entity submitting material affirms that it holds the copyright or otherwise has the right to authorize its use in accordance with The Jewish Star’s terms for submissions.

Distribution: The Jewish Star is available free in kosher food establishments, stores, synagogues, and curb-side news boxes on Long Island, in New York City and elsewhere. To request free delivery to your location, write EWeintrob@TheJewishStar.com, with the word Distribution in the subject line.

Subscriptions: To receive The Jewish Star by standard mail in the continental United States, send $36 for one year, prepaid. Faster First Class subscriptions in the continental United States are $150 for one year, prepaid.

Employment opportunities: Visit TheJewishStar.com to view job and internship opportunities. Click “Star Jobs” at top right of the homepage.

Member American Jewish Press Association and New York Press Association.

This newspaper contains words of Torah; please dispose of properly.

Copyright 2015 The Jewish Star LLC.

Deadly cost of working with Iran…

BEN COHEN VIEWPOINT Continued from page 1 deposed all of Fernández de Kirchner’s bets regarding the future of the AMIA investigation.

The lesson here, which applies to politicians beyond Argentina, is that while colluding with Iranian terrorism may deliver short-term gains, in the long-term there are no benefits yielded and quite a few costs. In the case of Fernández de Kirchner and her principal cohorts, among them her foreign minister Hector Timerman, those costs could conceivably include a jail sentence. Securing the MOU with Iran required Argentina’s leaders to lie about the circumstances of the AMIA bombing. At the time, anyone with even superficial knowledge of the atrocity and its tortured aftermath knew that they were lying. Now it can be proven. ast week, previously unknown recordings of the foreign minister’s telephone conversations with local Jewish leaders were released into the public domain. It’s not certain how the recordings surfaced, but it’s reasonable to believe that with Fernández de Kirchner out of the presidential palace, and with President Macri’s new government declaring that it regards the MOU with Iran as null and void, whoever unveiled them has figured that doing so will not result in a knock on the door in the middle of the night — or a bullet in the back of the head.

One of the ugliest aspects of the MOU with Iran was that it left open the issue of the mullahs’ guilt for the AMIA bombing, a complete reversal of the stance adopted

by Fernández de Kirchner’s late husband, Nestor, during his time as Argentine President, in explicitly identifying the Iranians as the culpable party. Unlike Nestor, Fernández de Kirchner was under the sway of the Venezuelan tyrant, Hugo Chavez, as well as by a coterie of pro-Iranian radicals gathered around her. This was the political context in

L

were guilty, Timerman still pushed the MOU as a breakthrough, bitterly condemning anyone who questioned his or Fernández de Kirchner’s judgement.

Now that they are out of power, the Kirchneristas look distinctly vulnerable. Macri has made it clear that the investigation into the AMIA bombing needs to be revived. So too with the circumstances of Nisman’s death. If, as the forensic evidence suggests, Nisman was murdered, all eyes will be on Argentina’s former leaders and on their friends in Tehran.

As more evidence 7KH DIWHUPDWK RI WKH $0,$ -HZLVK FHQWHU ERPELQJ Wiki Commons regarding this shameful agreement emerges, the which the myth of Iranian innocence regard- underlying theme that the Iranian regime ing the AMIA bombing was cooked up. cannot be trusted will be resonate even more That’s why, on the recordings, Foreign strongly. More immediately, the AMIA scanMinister Timerman — even as he berates his dal gives us an important glimpse into how Jewish interlocutors for not appreciating that the Iranians negotiate. What they don’t do is it was in Argentina’s interest to surrender to compromise. Instead, they present a mixture Iran on AMIA — matter-of-factly states that of threats, ideological venom and faith in the it was indeed the Iranians who planted the reluctance of Western leaders to take milibomb. Despite that, Timerman, acting on the tary action as a negotiating strategy. instructions of Fernández de Kirchner, was That’s why any country that declares a willing to make a pact with the devil by aban- conflict with the Iranians satisfactorily redoning the struggle for justice of the families solved — whether that’s the AMIA issue or of the 85 Argentine citizens (not all of them Tehran’s nuclear ambitions — has reached Jews, incidentally) who lost their lives in that conclusion in spite of the facts, not beIran’s murderous attack.

Were it not so tragic, it would be almost cause of them.

So watch what happens in 2016. Iran is comic. When one of the Jewish leaders attempted to sympathize with Timerman’s going to start feeling some pressure. Ironipredicament by saying that he wished there cally, its source lies in Buenos Aires rather was someone other than the Iranians to ne- than Washington. How the Obama Adminisgotiate with, Timerman snapped back, “If tration assists or hinders the new resolve in there was someone else, they wouldn’t have Argentina to secure justice for the AMIA vicplanted the bomb. So we are back to the be- tims will be one of the more colorful foreign ginning. Do you have someone else for me policy stories of the coming year.

Ben Cohen is senior editor of TheTower.org to negotiate with?” Knowing the Iranians

A fleeting crown: Judaism’s view TEHILLA R. GOLDBERG VIEW FROM CENTRAL PARK

W

hen complex issues arise, we often turn to Jewish sources to understand what the Jewish perspective might be. Life decisions based on the definition of brain death, for example, are important to view though a Jewish prism.

Lately, though, current events trigger the same curiosity.

For example, a couple of months back, Edinson Volquez, a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, was pitching in the World Series. Sadly, his dad had died right before one of his big games. Volquez’s wife decided to withhold the sad news, and only share it after the game.

I suppose that is more of a personal emotional issue than an ethical or legal one, but still, I found myself wondering: “What would the ancient Jewish sources suggest in such a situation?”

This week again. Nothing as sophisticated as medical ethics or a scenario in the vein of a Sophie’s Choice. But that mix up at the beauty pageant made me think, “What would

Jewish sources advise in such a situation?”

By now everyone has heard the story.

Miss Colombia was announced as Miss Universe, only to be publicly deposed a few minutes later when her crowning was declared an error. It seems that Miss Philippines had been judged the true winner.

Setting aside that fact that I think a beauty pageant is not only archaic, ridiculous and demeaning, and setting aside the conspiracy theories that this “error” was all a PR stunt, what is the Jewish perspective on the debacle? What are the issues to be considered — public humiliation … honesty?

The incident reminded me of a Talmudic story, one that most of us are familiar with from the Passover Haggadah.

At the tender age of 18, Rabbi Elazar ascends to be the presidency of the Sanhedrin. The sage Rabbi Gamaliel had enjoyed this prestigious position. But one day an argument broke out between him and Rabbi Joshua. It escalated to the point that Rabbi Gamaliel embarrassed his colleague. The sages felt such treatment was unacceptable; so they suggested replacing Rabbi Gamaliel with Rabbi Elazar.

Rabbi Elazar was unsure as to whether he should accept this position. He consulted with his wife, who recommended that her husband should decline. Her reasoning was

that Rabbis Gamaliel and Joshua would reconcile, then promptly remove Rabbi Elazar from his new role.

Rabbi Elazar saw wisdom in this, but decided to go ahead and accept the position. “It is better to drink from a silver chalice once than never at all,” he thought. And so it was.

Rabbi Elazar presided over the Sanhedrin and the study hall. His educational philosophy was diametrically opposed to Rabbi Gamliel’s elitist approach. Rabbi Elazar opened the doors of the study hall to one and all; anyone who wanted to study was welcome.

Rabbi Gamaliel, despite being demoted, maintained his presence in the study hall. Sitting in the back row, he watched this new and different approach to scholarship unfold. He imbibed its purpose and even began to doubt himself and his more elitist approach. Soon, however, Rabbi Elazar’s wife’s intuition came to pass, and Rabbi Gamaliel was reinstated.

Rabbi Elazar was not totally removed; he and Rabbi Gamaliel shared the leadership.

What would the Jewish ethical or legal response be to this week’s Miss Universe mixup? I don’t know. But it did trigger a recollection of this Talmudic episode, when Rabbi Elazar chose a role he felt at the time would be ever so fleeting, as he said: “Better to drink from a silver chalice once than never at all.”

Copyright 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News

RABBI BINNY FREEDMAN THE HEART OF JERUSALEM

R

av Nosson Tzvi Finkel z”tzl, the famed rosh yeshiva of the Mir, once asked a small group of businessmen what they thought was the most important lesson of the Holocaust.

“Never forget,” suggested one; “always fight,” posited another.

With a sigh, the rabbi explained: “I learned the essence of the human spirit, of what really matters.”

During the Holocaust, human beings were treated like animals, transported in cattle cars with no food, no water, no bathrooms, not even a few feet in which to lie down. Thinking they were headed for work camps, when they finally arrived, and the doors slid open to blinding light, rifle butts, Nazi guards and dogs, men were separated from women, families broken apart, and children dragged away screaming. Finally, after the endless roll calls, they were allowed to enter the barracks for what was meant to approximate sleep.

As they entered the barracks, they were assigned one bunk for six men, and every sixth man was given a blanket. As they went to sleep, that sixth man had a moment to decide whether he would be well covered and stay warm, or would spread the blanket to all six men.

“And that was when we learned who we really were,” said Rav Nosson Tzvi, when every one of us with a blanket made sure, without thinking, to spread it to all six in the bunk. his week we begin the second book of the Torah, Shemot, which describes the birth of the Jewish nation. And in the midst of the tale of Egyptian servitude and the enslavement of the Jewish people, there is a fascinating story that we almost miss.

The focus of this week’s portion is clearly on the birth, coming of age and eventual leadership of Moshe. But Moshe might never have survived but for an incredible act from an unexpected source.

Seemingly terrified that the Egyptians would discover her baby and put him to death, Yocheved, Moshe’s mother, places him in a basket on the Nile River hoping that perhaps somehow he will be saved; at the very least she will not have to see his death. As the basket floated on the river, no less than the daughter of Pharaoh sees it, and seemingly without any hesitation, reaches out to grab it (or sends her handmaiden to fetch it, depending on which interpretation one chooses to accept). Think about it: this is the daughter of Pharaoh himself!

Think daughter of Hitler or Eichmann, seeing a Jewish baby in Berlin in 1942, or ISIS Commander Baghdadi’s daughter seeing a Jewish baby in ISIS-controlled Syria or Iraq. The verse (2:6) makes it quite clear that she knows this is a Jewish baby —

T

Israel values every act of kindness, and the importance of every individual.

Donate to Jewish National Fund and build a stronger, healthier, more secure Israel.

after all, who else would it be? It is safe to assume, given the Egyptian decree to murder every Jewish baby boy, that this was not a unique phenomenon. Yet the daughter of Pharaoh seems to have no hesitation whatsoever. Nor is she alone; her handmaidens are clearly with her, so the risk she is taking is significant. There were no trials for people who violated Royal decrees in those days.

Amazingly, she does not send the baby to be saved elsewhere, perhaps hidden with a sympathetic Jewish family or the like.

She will eventually bring the child up in the palace itself, as her own son! In fact, Moshe’s sister Miriam, watching from afar, approaches and suggests her mother as a nursemaid, to which the daughter of Pharaoh readily agrees! This itself is extraordinary: how a Jewish girl simply approaches the daughter of Pharaoh, and the princess agrees, with no hesitation and no remorse.

And most incredible of all, is that she actually names Moshe: “Ki min hamayim meshitihu” (“Because he was pulled forth from the water”) (2:10).

The most mentioned name in the entire Torah, the name of the person who would bring the Torah into the world, was named by an Egyptian princess! Moshe must have had a name given him by his parents Amram and Yocheved, yet it is not mentioned anywhere in the Torah. And even though Jewish tradition shares other names Moshe was known by, it is the name Moshe that the

Torah chooses to use! (Meses is indeed an Egptian name meaning “child,” as in Ramses, child of the god Ram.) Jewish tradition associates this daughter of Pharaoh with the Egyptian princess mentioned in Divrei Hayamim (Chroinicles 4:18) as Batya, meaning “daughter of G-d,” ascribing to her great righteousness.

Think about it: One of the most powerful figures in the mightiest empire on earth — an Egyptian princess — has a brief encounter with a slave girl who was six years old, yet it seems as though Bat Pharaoh does not even notice; she is too caught up in the moment to be held back by protocol.

What a powerful message: One simple, beautiful act of kindness will ultimately change the world. And as the Jewish Nation is about to be catapulted onto the world stage, we are reminded never to forget the power of one individual, and one simple act of kindness.

Just a short distance from us, across the border in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and even in the Sinai and the Gaza strip, our ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian enemies are trampling on the rights of individuals with unsurpassed cruelty, in pursuit of what they believe are the interests of their nations.

Meanwhile, Judaism and Israel continue to value every act of kindness, and the importance of every individual.

Spread your blanket.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

One simple, beautiful act of kindness will ultimately change the world.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE TODAY 800.542.8733

jnf.org

796095

#poweredbyJNF

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776

No act of kindness, however small, is wasted

7

Sale Dates: January 3rd - 9th 2016

Weekly Wesson Oil Canola, Corn, Vegetable - 48 oz

2

$

99

Arizona Brick Pack Iced Tea

Frescorti Marinara Sauce

Pam Cooking Spray

Dole Fruit Cups

Green Tea or Lemon 10 Pack

26 oz

3/$

5 oz/6 oz

2/$

5

5

2/$

......................................................

Red Pack Tomato Sauce 8 oz

All Varieties - 4 Pack

5

5

2/$

.................................................

.................................................

.................................................

.................................................

Ortega Salsa

Vitamin Water

Nestle Hot Cocoa

Bertolli Olive Oil

All Varieties - 16 oz

All Flavors - 20 oz

6 Pack

Extra Virgin or Classico Only - 17 oz

2/$

5/$

79¢

.................................................

.................................................

.................................................

.................................................

Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot, Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups

Gatorade or G2 s Energy Drinks

Green Mountain Coffee K-Cups

Gefen Cup-a-Soup

Glick’s Flour

4.5 oz/5.4 oz

5/$

3

1

3/$

......................................................

32 oz

Assorted - 4.8 ozz

EX\ onH JHt onH IUŸ!

Ronzoni Pasta Except Lasagna, Jumbo Shells, Manicotti,, Gluten-Free & 150 Calorie - 12 oz - 16 oz

................................................. ..... ....... ....

.................................................

.................................................

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars

Coke, Fresca, Sprite, Dr. Pepper

Bloom’s Square Corn Cake Thins

Gourmet Glatt Honey Glazed Pecans

All Varieties 6.7 oz - 8.4 oz

2 Liter

4.6 oz

6 oz

$

.................................................

.................................................

.................................................

Quaker Old Fashioned or Quick Oats

Mauzone Mania Fruit Tarts

Heinz E-Z Squeeze Ketchup

Assorted 10 oz

$ 99

3

$

99

20 oz

449

18 oz

$

1

Tropicana Orange Juice

Breakstone Whipped Axelrod Cottage Butter Cheese

Assorted 89 oz

2/$

399

Assorted - 64oz

3

2/$

5

Paskesz Teeny Bits Cookies

.................................................

899

4/$

Quaker Cap’n Crunch or Life Cereal

Lactaid Milk

4

by the case! .................................................

89¢

1

All Purpose or High Gluten - 5 lb

2/$

4

Assorted - 11 oz - 14 oz $ 99

Except Fat-Free & Whole Wheat 12 Pack

$

799

2/$

......................................................

499

$

$

5

......................................................

5

8 oz

5

5.5 oz

5

2/$

5

2/$

Assorted 16 oz

Philadelphia Cream Cheese 8 oz Cups

5

2/$

4

2/$

......................................................

$

Assorted - 6 oz

.......................................

.......................................

.......................................

.......................................

Sonny & Joe’s Dips & Spreads

Sabra Guacamole

7 oz

Ha’olam Shredded Cheese

Miller’s Sliced American Cheese

2/$

499

La Yogurt

1 ......................................................

2/$

4

2/$

Turkey Hill Iced Tea All Flavors-64 oz

8 oz

5

Except Reduced Fat - 8 oz

12 oz

349

$

5

2/$

3

2/$

Fresh & Frozen Gefilte Fish

Bodek Broccoli Florets 24 oz

20 oz

4

$

99

3

$

.........................................................

99

Haagen Dazs Ice Cream All Varieties - 14 oz

.......................................

Kineret Onion Rings

2

$

99

32 oz

.........................................................

4

$

Of Tov Chicken Nuggets, Shapes or Rings

99

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Cones, Bars or Sandwiches

McCain French Fries Ta’amti Potato & Vegetarian Cigars All Varieties

10 oz - 24 oz

2/$

$

.......................................

.......................................

4

$

Eggo French Dole Sliced Mango, Strawberry, Peaches Toaster Sticks 12.7 oz or Pineapple 12 oz - 16 oz

2

$

299

$

2 lb $ 99

9

399

5

99

....................................... ..............

14 oz

20 oz - 32 oz

99

Meal Mart Kishke 16 oz

399

$

New Items This Week!

Epic Seed Greek Yogurt + Chia

NOW 2 locations!

Cedarhurst STORE HOURS

137 Spruce Street

JlXten IUŸ pro-biotic

(516) 569-2662

SUN -TUE: 7 AM-9 PM WED: 7 AM-11 PM THURS: 7 AM-12 AM FRIDAY 6:30 AM-2 HRS. BEFORE CANDLE LIGHTING

Mendelsohn’s Pizza Cones

Assorted Varieties

Woodmere

1030 Railroad Avenue

STORE HOURS

SUN - THURS: 7 AM-9 PM

fun for kids!

(516) 295-6901

FRIDAY 7 AM UNTIL 2 HRS. BEFORE CANDLE LIGHTING

000000

January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

8

9 THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776

Specials .

extra lean Silver Tip $ 99 Shoulder $ 99 8 lb.

Roast L London $ 99 8 lb. Beef lb.

5 Stew ...................

Broil B Family Pack ...................

Boneless ...................

1st Cut 1 Turkey $549 lb. $ 99 Breast Brisket 11 lb.

B $ 99 Thighs lb.

6 of Veal ................... ...................

CORNED D BEEF DECKEL L

849 lb. b.

$

CHICKEN CUTLETS

369 lb.

$

...................

Seasoned Boneless B Boneless Dark Neck of Chicken $649 lb. $ 99 $ Veal lb.

8 1099 lb. Fillet Steaks Cutlets Roast Family Pack READY TO BROIL! (Pargiot) ...................

...................

Untrimmed Super Family Pack

99¢ lb. Chicken Wings

Chicken Bones

...................

Navel $ 39 1 lb. Pastrami $999 lb.

Kellogg’s 12 oz Rice Krispies; 14.7 oz Frosted Flakes or 15.3 oz Honey Smacks

5

2/$

......................................................

Arizona Iced Teas All Flavors - Gallon

1

$ 99 ......................................................

Poland Spring Water 24 Pack - 16.9 oz

499

$ Macintosh Apples

......................................................

Persian Cucumbers

Fage Greek Yogurt

Package

Jumbo Green $ 49 3 ea. Peppers

Yukon 99¢ lb. Potatoes 5 lb Bag

Gala Apples

All Flavors - 5.3 oz

5

2/$

89¢ lb.

89¢ ea.

10

10/$

......................................................

Sweet Onions

89¢ lb.

79¢ lb.

..........................

..........................

Red 3/$ Grapefruit

Red Romaine Bag $ 99 Clementines 3 ea. Lettuce $129 ea. Radishes 2/$ 3 lb Bag

Head

Bunch

..........................

..........................

..........................

..........................

Italian Kiwi

Sweet Potatoes

Red Onions

Cello Carrots

1 1

3/$

69¢ lb.

Original Only- 36 oz

..........................

..........................

49¢ lb.

1

19

1199lb. $ 99 7 lb. $ 99 3 ea. $ 99 4 lb. $ 99 6 ea.

1

Hot 18” Pizza

Swedish Meatballs

Caesar Salad

Spinach Pasta Salad Cream of Chicken Soup Quart

King Salmon $ 99 lb. b.

21

PoQday oQly! Chocolate or

Cinnamon Parve Danish

Tulips Bunch

Sunflowers Bunch

1399 $ 99 6

$

Container

Aliza Beer Nutritional Meals 24 VARIETIES! SPECIAL OF THE WEEK:

999ea.

$

Sliced Roast Turkey with 3 Side Dishes

Mahi Mahi $ 99 lb.

Tilapia with Seafood $ 99 lb.

9

749ea.

$

Package of 8

1

595

............................

Sweet Potato Roll $

Sushi Crisps

............................

............................

Kanoku Asian Crab Salad $

Black Dragon Roll $

QeZ!

495 550

QeZ!

Mushroom Dip

Hot Dog Buns

1

$ 49 ea.

450

$

............................

Matbucha Italian Bread

Spicy Tuna Avocado $ Roll

1095

$ 49 ea.

Pre-Packaged

Pre-Packaged

Pasta Tuna

Pre-Packaged

Salt & Pepper Kugel

Pre-Packaged

Diet Pizza la Zucchini Pre-Packaged

1499 $ 1999 $

order@gourmetglatt.com

Colorful Bouquets Floral Arrangements

995

$

aŹ our FabbaJe Ls JrŸQhouse JroZQ!

8

Assorted Meltaway Cake

99¢

order your shabbos platters early!

Vegetable Roll

Boneless Chicken Marinara $

Stuffed Large Portabella Mushroom

699

$

2/$

Deli & Takeout

/

Amnon Pizza

1999& Up $ 3499& Up

$

/gourmetglatt

Onion Soup

Pre-Packaged

checks. Not responsible for typographical errors.

Brown Rice

At the Counter

349ea. $ 99 2 ea. $ 99 5 ea. $ 49 3 ea. $ 49 4 ea. $ 49 4 ea. $ 49 5 lb. $

We reserve the right to limit quantities. No rain checks. Not responsible for typographical errors.

000000

Ripe Mangos

At a time when America is mourning two slain New York police ofďŹ cers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, some people have vented their anger and threatened Lynch.

By the twisted logic prevalent in the identity curriculum, Mael is being held responsible for these threats.

By the same logic, would Lynch be held responsible for the next policeman that takes a bullet?

Lynch and people like her represent what our universities have become, a corruption where leftist activism and ideology triumph over any pretense of reason.

Identity departments do not teach, they preach. Serious students try to avoid these programs. Consequently, universities have instituted diversity requirements, making these courses compulsory, and also creating an artiďŹ cial need for people to teach them.

Lynchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partisans would like to see Mael drawn and quartered on the campus green, and Frederick Lawrence, Brandeisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arbiter of the First Amendment, has conspicuously retreated into silence.

If your child is an average student without a ďŹ&#x201A;are for the sciences or engineering, just remember the same politically correct, bad education is available at commuter schools for a lot less money.

It is totally unnecessary for you to spend $60,000 a year for your children to learn to hate America, police, Zionism, and free markets.

Abraham H. Miller is an emeritus professor of political science, University of Cincinnati. This article was distributed by JNS.org.

Stung by a resounding defeat in the U.N. Security Council, the Palestinians said on Wednesday they would seek to join the International Criminal Court to pursue war crimes charges against Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The one who needs to fear the International Criminal Court in the Hague is the Palestinian Authority, which has a unity government with Hamas â&#x20AC;Ś which commits war crimes,â&#x20AC;? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

He called Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soldiers â&#x20AC;&#x153;the most moral army in the worldâ&#x20AC;? and said the country would take unspeciďŹ ed â&#x20AC;&#x153;retaliatory steps.â&#x20AC;?

U.S. State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said America strongly opposed the move and warned it would be â&#x20AC;&#x153;counterproductiveâ&#x20AC;? and will badly damage the atmosphere with the very people with whom they ultimately need to make peace.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D;AP

After UN loss, Palestinians bid intâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l court

study was discovered to be fraudulent and was withdrawn; its lead author was found to have acted â&#x20AC;&#x153;dishonestly and irresponsibly,â&#x20AC;? and his license to practice medicine in Britain was revoked. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Judaism places the highest value on preserving human life.

It is well known that those facing even a potential life or death situation are instructed to set aside the Sabbath and other key tenets of halachic (Jewish law) observance until the emergency has passed. Prayers for good health and for the complete and perfect healing of the ill are an ages-old aspect of Jewish tradition. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But prayers must go handin-hand with availing oneself of medical science, including vaccination. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are halachic obligations to care for oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own health as well as to take measures to

prevent harm and illness to others, and Jewish law defers to the consensus of medical experts in determining and prescribing appropriate medical responses to illness and prevention. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Therefore, the consensus of major poskim (halachic decisors) supports the vaccination of children to protect them from disease, to eradicate illness from the larger community through so-called herd immunity, and thus to protect others who may be vulnerable.â&#x20AC;?

During a measels outbreak in Boro Park and Williamsburg in 2013, Rabbi Aaron Glatt, M.D., assistant rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere and an infectious disease specialist, told The Jewish Star that refraining to be inoculated was â&#x20AC;&#x153;a mishigaasâ&#x20AC;? (craziness) with no basis in Jewish law.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The vaccination of children who can medically be vaccinated is absolutely the only responsible course of actionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Tzav â&#x20AC;˘ Shabbos Hagadol â&#x20AC;˘ Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

Z

STAR

F e un eďŹ n on L Lag B Ome

THE JEWISH

P

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

Fo Pe a h wa n ng abou keep ng a e

B a k and K ng o owa en e Jews as Dems ay

By The Jewish Star Staff Five Towns Jews were charged this week with performing a new mitzvah: Making friends for Jews.

Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks suggested that Jews should especially nurture relationships with people in India and Chin

Rabbi Sacks calls ďŹ nding allies, especially among Indians, Chinese and Catholics, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;biggest mitzvahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Vol 14, No. 13 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

3RSH %HQHGLFW ;9, JUHHWV /RUG 5DEEL -RQDWKDQ 6DFNV WKHQ FKLHI UDEEL RI %ULWDLQ DW D PHHWLQJ RI UHOLJLRXV OHDGHUV LQ /RQGRQ 5HXWHUV SRRO

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s make some friends!

March 27, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 7 Nissan 5775

Agudah Israel of the Five Towns said in a statement that its congregants repeatedly witnessed Mayor Parisiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;deep dedication and legendary work ethic for the public good [that] trumped all else. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Political afďŹ liation and personal needs were thrust aside when the issue was what was best for the people lucky enough to live in his village,â&#x20AC;? Agudah said.

The Jewish Starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bookworm columnist, Alan Jay Gerber, a resident of Cedarhurst, observed that Parise â&#x20AC;&#x153;stood up against those Archie Bunker bigots who sought to stem the growth of the Jewish community in the Five Towns.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a brave action that could have cost him, especially in those earlier years, his political career,â&#x20AC;? said Gerber. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I suspect that his war years experiences, especially his presence in Buchenwald at liberation, were a major factor in this regard.â&#x20AC;?

Mayor Parise recalled the liberation of Buchenwald: Page 16.

Friendship recalled

Andrew J. Parise, mayor of Cedarhurst for the last 20 years and lifetime Five Towns resident, died last Sunday, at age 90.

Deputy Mayor Ben Weinstock will serve as acting mayor through the end of the current four-year term later this year, said Village Administrator Sal Evola. A new election, previously scheduled, is set for Wednesday, March 18. The deadline for mayoral candidates to ďŹ le petitions to run was Tuesday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The mayor was the most wonderful man you could know, a fanContinued on page 16

WWII hero led village 20 years

Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;hurst Mayor Parise

STAR

0D\RU $QGUHZ 3DULVH D :RUOG :DU ,, YHWHUDQ VSHDNV RQ 9HWHUDQV 'D\ LQ &HGDUKXUVW ODVW 1RYHPEHU -HZLVK 6WDU SKRWR 0RQLFD 5]HZVNL

THE JEWISH

:KLOH \RXQJVWHUV GRQœW UHDOO\ QHHG D UHDVRQ WR HQMR\ D MXJJOHU DQG HDW SL]]D 7X %œ6KHYDW GHOLYHUHG RQH 'XULQJ D NLGVœ SDUW\ ODVW 7KXUVGD\ DW WKH <RXQJ ,VUDHO RI :RRGPHUH \HDU ROG <HKXGD %HUNRZLW] DQG \HDU ROG 5LYNDK 'XELQ SURFODLPHG WKH KROLGD\ ² WKH ³ELUWKGD\ RI IUHH´ ² D WDVW\ RQH -HZLVK 6WDU SKRWR 5HEHFFD 5RJDN

%LUWKGD\ RI WUHHV LV D UHDVRQ WR SDUW\

The Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America said this week that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the vaccination of children who can medically be vaccinatedâ&#x20AC;? is both â&#x20AC;&#x153;absolutely the only responsible course of actionâ&#x20AC;? and an halachic obligation.

In a statement, the groups afďŹ rmed that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Orthodox Jewish parents, like responsible parents across the United States, overwhelmingly vaccinate their children against measles, mumps, rubella, polio and the other childhood diseases for which inoculations are now almost miraculously commonplace,â&#x20AC;? but that â&#x20AC;&#x153;as in many communities, a small minority of parents chooses not to do so.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ongoing measles outbreak demonstrates how this could bear very serious consequences, not only for their own children but othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; too, especially those medically unable to be vaccinated,â&#x20AC;? the OU and RCA said, continuing: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Parents who choose to not vaccinate often cite a medical study that purported to link autism and the MMR vaccine. The

Vaccinate and live!

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no halachic wiggle room: OU, RCA

Vol 14, No. 7 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Mishpatim â&#x20AC;˘ Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

February 13, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 24 Shevat 5775

%URRNO\Q $VVHPEO\PDQ 'RY +LNLQG ULJKW UDLVHG IXQGV LQ /DZUHQFH RQ 0RQGD\ QLJKW $QRWKHU SKRWR LV RQ SDJH 7KH -HZLVK 6WDU 6XVDQ *UHLFR

(74.9 percent) are Jews, 1,719,000 (20.7 percent) are Arabs, and 359,000 (4.2 percent) are deďŹ ned as â&#x20AC;&#x153;otherâ&#x20AC;? by the CBS. Last year, the Israeli population was estimated to be 8.13 million, and in 2012 it was 7.98 million.

A decade ago, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population was an estimated 6.86 million. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;JNS.org

+LNLQG UDLVHV IXQGV

The population of Israel on the eve of 2015 stands at 8,296,000 residents, marking a two-percent increase over last year, according to the Jewish stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

During 2014, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population grew by 162,000, CBS reported.

Among the current population, 6,218,000

Israel pop hits 8.3 million

.LWDK %HW VWXGHQWV UHFHLYHG WKHLU ÂżUVW &KXPDVKLP DW D FHOHEUDWLRQ LQ WKH +HEUHZ $FDGHP\ RI 1DVVDX &RXQW\ÂśV 6DPXHO (OL]DEHWK %DVV *ROGLQJ (OHPHQWDU\ 6FKRRO LQ :HVW +HPSVWHDG

&KDJ +D&KXPDVK DW +$1&

THE JEWISH

Commentary by Abraham H. Miller After Brandeis University student Khadijah Lynch tweeted her hatred for the New York Police Department, America, and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zionistâ&#x20AC;? institution where she is getting an education, a fellow student, Daniel Mael, republished her words and set off a social media ďŹ restorm.

Mael, a professional blogger, didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to use much of his well-honed journalistic skills. Lynchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Twitter account provided a storehouse of live ammunition. Here is Lynch in her own words, as Mael recounted them: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have no sympathy for the nypd ofďŹ cers who were murdered today.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;lmao, all i just really dont have sympathy for the cops who were shot. i hate this racist fu king country.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;the fact that black people have not burned this country down is beyond meâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;a social justice themed institution grounded in zionism. word. thats a fu king fanny dooley.â&#x20AC;?

The Zionist reference is to Brandeis, an institution rooted in Jewish ideals and named after Louis Brandeis, the ďŹ rst Jewish associate justice of the Supreme Court, a man whose work for social justice became legendary and who established the right of privacy in a famous Harvard Law Review article.

At Brandeis and online, activists are not attacking Lynch but are instead calling for Mael to be expelled; he is being accused of everything from cyber bullying to harassment for the audacity of publicizing Lynchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweets.

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

After Brandeis student cheers killing of cops, some blame messenger

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES 3XEOLVKHG ZHHNO\ VLQFH Â&#x2021;

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

9RO 1R Â&#x2021; 7KH-HZLVK6WDU FRP

Vol 14, No. 8 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Terumah â&#x20AC;˘ Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

%

bu e o Rav L ch ens e n

Lo a k d ou Wa h ng on p omo e Jew h au e

Y W hos s 5 Towns

STAR

STAR

(LJKW VWXGHQWV IURP +$/%ÂśV 6WHOOD . $EUDKDP +6 IRU *LUOV LQ +HZOHWW %D\ 3DUN SDUWLFLSDWHG LQ D <HVKLYD 8QLYHUVLW\ 3$& OREE\LQJ WULS WR :DVKLQJWRQ 7KH\ MRLQHG VWXGHQWV IURP <8 DQG \HVKLYD KLJK VFKRROV WKURXJKRXW WKH WUL VWDWH DUHD WR SUHVV HIIRUWV WR SUHYHQW ,UDQ IURP EHFRPLQJ D QXFOHDU ZHDSRQL]HG QDWLRQ DQG WR VWUHQJWKHQ WKH IULHQGVKLS EHWZHHQ $PHULFD DQG ,VUDHO 6WRU\ LQ WKH VFKRRO VHFWLRQ SDJHV Âą

JEWISH

propertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth; these assessments (or revised assessments determined during a 13-month-long review process) are the basis for tax bills that wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start arriving until more than 10 months later. (The January 2015 assessment is effective for the 2016-17 tax year, starting with the October 2016 school tax bill.)

Homeowners who want to challenge their assessment through Maidenbaum should contact the ďŹ rm by Friday, Feb 27.

The 15 month review period provides for what Maidenbaum described as an administrative review process that may resolve most grievances; should the administrative determination be unsatisfactory, litigation may follow, prolonging the process he said Continued on page 8

THE JEWISH

5T ad pu h ďŹ a yad

By Ed Weintrob While paying real estate taxes may be inevitable, no one should pay more than their fair share. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about fairness,â&#x20AC;? said attorney Shalom Maidenbaum, whose Cedarhurst-based Maidenbaum Property Tax Reduction Group LLC challenges Nassau County property tax assessments that are the basis for future tax bills. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We work as aggressively as we can to have our clients pay the fairest amount,â&#x20AC;? he said.

With the March 2 deadline to appeal the current round of assessments just days away, many taxpayers are focusing on a system that is as inscrutable as it is straightforward.

Each January, property owners in Nassau County receive a proposed assessment of their

Tax time: Now or never for realty assessment appeals

and the U.S. Congress how strong American support is for Israel,â&#x20AC;? a YIW email urged.

Scores of prominent speakers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ranging from Prime Minister Netanyahu to South Shore Rep. Kathleen Rice â&#x20AC;&#x201D; are slated to discuss issues impacting on the Jewish state during the event on March 1 to 3.

Registration information is at aipac.org/pc.

The YIW is considering chartering a bus.

6WXGHQWV IURP 6KXODPLWK 6FKRRO IRU *LUOV ZDLWHG RXWVLGH 6W -RDFKLPÂśV FKXUFK WR SD\ WKHLU UHVSHFWV -HZLVK 6WDU 6XVDQ *UHLFR

6.$ JLUOV MRLQ OREE\LQJ HIIRUW

Hundreds of local dignitaries, residents, friends and relatives participated in memorial services on Friday for Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew J. Parise, who died on Feb. 8 at 90.

A funeral Mass was held inside St. Joachimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R.C. Church, across the street from Kulanu and HAFTR High School on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst. Members of the Jewish community gathered outside while the Mass was underway, and afterwards accompanied the funeral procession two blocks to outside the Levi Yitzchak Library, where it paused.

Continued on page 14

5 Towners set for AIPAC trek The Young Israel of Woodmere continued this week to encourage Five Towners to attend the upcoming AIPAC policy conference in Washington. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the events of recent weeks unfolding in the Middle East, Jerusalem, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northern border, and more recently on the Senate ďŹ&#x201A;oor, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s never been more important for our community to stand with Israel and show President Obama

ing forward to being surprised and pleased.

Of course, the thing about a surprise is that you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to ruin it by telling the gift recipient what is is that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re about to unwrap. So hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my guess at the outcome that will make us believe that Chanukah has come early.

1XPEHU RQH Iran will sign an international agreement conďŹ rming its intent not to develop nuclear weapons. Iran will submit to a permanent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Continued on page 16

Goodbye, Mr. Mayor

chamber for the Obama administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edicts, both foreign and domestic. So while thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s some reason to take this glowing optimism with a pinch of salt, given where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coming from, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth paying attention to what Cirincione had to say. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we get a deal that is close to the terms the administration has set out, and I believe we will, it is going to be a very good deal,â&#x20AC;? Cirincione said.. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One that will surprise and please even many of the critics.â&#x20AC;?

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be one hell of a deal! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a critic, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m look-

0HPEHUV RI WKH )LYH 7RZQV -HZLVK FRPPXQLW\ OHG E\ &KDEDG 5DEEL =DOPDQ :RORZLN DFFRPSDQLHG )ULGD\ÂśV SURFHVVLRQ IRU &HGDUKXUVW 0D\RU $QGUHZ - 3DULVH -HZLVK 6WDU 6XVDQ *UHLFR

Analysis by Ben Cohen, JNS.org Love, as the song goes, is in the air. If the latest media reports are accurate, the United States and the Iranian regime are rapidly closing in on a deal over the mullahsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nuclear ambitions.

Admittedly, the source of this nugget of hope was Joseph Cirincioneâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a former Capitol Hill operative who now serves as the president of the Ploughshares Fund, a liberal foreign policy think tank, having gotten there via the Center for American Progress, another think tank that serves as a reliable echo

Tick tock: Iran races the clock

February 20, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 1 Adar 5775

THE JEWISH

$Q ,VUDHOL ER\ MXPSV RQ VQRZ LQ WKH *RODQ +HLJKWV RQ :HGQHVGD\ DIWHU D SRZHUIXO ZLQWHU VWRUP VZHSW WKURXJK WKH UHJLRQ 6FKRROV DFURVV -HUXVDOHP FORVHG DKHDG RI D IRUHFDVW ZDUQLQJ RI LQFKHV RI VQRZIDOO $3 3K W E $ L O 6 K OLW

6QRZ FRYHUV WKH *RODQ +HLJKWV

5DGLFDO ,VODP HVFDODWHG LWV VLPPHULQJ ZDU LQ (XURSH RQ :HGQHVGD\ 0DVNHG JXQPHQ VFUHDPLQJ ³$OODKX DNEDU´ VWRUPHG WKH RI¿FHV RI WKH )UHQFK VDWLULFDO QHZVSDSHU &KDUOLH +HEGR NLOOLQJ DW OHDVW $IWHUZDUGV )UHQFK VROGLHUV WLJKWHQHG VHFXULW\ DW VXFK KLJK YLVLELOLW\ WDUJHWV DV WKH (LIIHO 7RZHU DV ZHOO DV KRXVHV RI ZRUVKLS VWRUHV PHGLD RI¿FHV DQG WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ ,Q VHYHUDO (XURSHDQ FLWLHV WKRXVDQGV UHDFWHG ZLWK D PL[WXUH RI VDGQHVV DQG RXWUDJH SRXULQJ LQWR WKH VWUHHWV SURFODLPLQJ ³-H 6XLV &KDUOLH´ ´, DP &KDUOLH´ LQFOXGLQJ LQ %HUOLQ LQ IURQW RI WKH %UDQGHQEXUJ *DWH 6HH FRPPHQWDU\ ³3DULV DWWDFN VKRZV )UDQFHœV DSSHDVHPHQW RI 3DOHVWLQLDQV DQG ,VODPLVWV KDV IDLOHG ´ S $3 SKRWRV 3DULV E\ &KULVWRSKH (QD %HUOLQ E\ 0LFKDHO 6RKQ

Islamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s European war explodes in Paris

-DQXDU\ Â&#x2021; 7HYHW Â&#x2021; 6KHPRV Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

)UDQFRLV 0LFKHO 6DDGD +\´'

<RKDQ &RKHQ +\´'

+\SHU &DFKHU NHGRVKLP S Â&#x2021; $EEDVÂś IDOVH GHIHQVH RI IUHH VSHHFK S Â&#x2021; :RUOG OHDGHUV VWLOO GHIHQG WHUURU DQWL 6HPLWLVP S Â&#x2021; 'D\ DIWHU 6KDEEDW LQ 3DULV S Â&#x2021; 0D\ * G VDYH -HZV RI )UDQFH S

Am Yisroel mourns

*DU\ 5DEHQNR SKRWR

bat mitzvah girl on how her day of joy transformed into a tragedy, saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wish I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a bat mitzvah.â&#x20AC;? Who can blame her for feeling vulnerable, alone and abandoned? Yet we cannot let this be the case! â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kol Yisroel Araivim Zeh Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Zehâ&#x20AC;? (we are all responsible for the wellbeing of one another.â&#x20AC;?)

When I mentioned the mission to my wife, Continued on page 14

+DQQDK %HQ 7RY DQG KHU IDWKHU VSHDN ZLWK +$)75ÂśV 5DEEL *HGDOLDK 2SSHQ LQ &RSHQKDJHQ WKLV ZHHN

PAGE 11

P

STAR

94

STAR

Remembe ng when Baghdad bu ned June

L ce ebrates srae on Sunday

MARCH ON NEW YORK

THE JEWISH

A

ae

Le s ea

oo a e

Leadup o dea San z ng an demon z ng

P

JEWISH

Rea h ou and ou h a u v vo be o e

MARCH 15

MEGA EVENT

By Judy Lash Balint Israelis take Purim seriouslyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;kids get the day off school, many towns put on a lively Purim parade, and the streets are ďŹ lled with people of all ages running about in costumes, delivering mishloach manot baskets of prepared food goodies to their friends and neighbors before sitting down to the seuda, a festive meal that includes plenty of spirits.

But these items add up, and Purim can expensive. For the one third of all Israeli children who live in poverty, Purim wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be Purim without the help of non-proďŹ t organizations that take the holidayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other mitzvah to heart.

According to Maimonides, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Matanot lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;evyonim (gifts for the poor) deserve more attention than the seuda and mishloach manot because there is no greater, richer happiness than bringing joy to the hearts of needy people, orphans, widows and proselytes.â&#x20AC;?

Despite Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image as the hi-tech â&#x20AC;&#x153;start-up nation,â&#x20AC;? there are plenty of needy people in the Jewish state. In 2012, according to Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Insurance Institute, there were 1.75 million poor people in Israel (out of a population than 8 million), among them 817,000 children.

Continued on page 14

Frum groups aid Israeli poor at Purim

By Leiba Chaya David Recent statistics indicate that approximately 1 million people in Israel have a disability, deďŹ ned as a health problem that interferes with their daily activities. This covers a wide range of challenges, including physical limitations, mental illnesses, behavioral disorders, and more. Yet perhaps the most important part of the deďŹ nition is â&#x20AC;&#x153;interferes with their daily activities.â&#x20AC;?

Ahiya Kamara, Commissioner for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities within the Israeli Ministry of Justice, says Israel has come a long way toward creating a more accessible society. Hearing impaired since childhood, Kamara worked for many years as a disability-rights advocate and has been an active partner in drafting relevant legislation. The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, originally passed by the Knesset in 1998, was recently revised to mandate â&#x20AC;&#x153;accessibility of services.â&#x20AC;?

The revised ordinance requires service providersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;bank tellers, bus drivers, government clerks, Israel Defense Forces soldiers, teachers, restaurant owners, museum guides, and virtually any person who serves the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to ensure that their staff is trained to relate to people with disabilities with sensitivity and respect. Any business or public institution with more than 25 employees must work with an â&#x20AC;&#x153;accessibility consultantâ&#x20AC;? to develop a strategy for adapting services to the needs of clients with disabilities.

Training seminars cover learning how to $ ZRPDQ GUHVVHG LQ D 3XULP FRVWXPH ZDONV E\ D KRPHOHVV PDQ VOHHSLQJ RXWVLGH Continued on page 4 WKH 0DVKELU PDOO LQ WKH FHQWHU RI -HUXVDOHP LQ 1DWL 6KRKDW )ODVK ULVH

Inclusionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up in Israel

=HY :ROIIÂśV UDUH FDQFHU GLDJQRVHG DW DJH PRELOL]HG RXU FRPPXQLWLHV DQG OHG WR WKH GHYHORSPHQW RI D 1HXUREODVWRPD ÂżJKWLQJ GUXJ $W DJH LWÂśV WLPH WR FHOHEUDWH 3DJH

Jordan Hiller of Woodmere organized a chizuk mission to Copenhagen this week and was joined by several other Five Towners, including Rabbi Gedaliah Oppen, principal of Judaic Studies at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway High School. They joined 2,000 people (including the Danish prime minister and other digitaries) at a memorial service for slain synagogue security guard Dan Uzan, Hyâ&#x20AC;?D, paid a shiva call, and delivered presents to bat mitzvah girl Hannah Ben Tov. Rabbi Oppen ďŹ led this report before they embarked.

On Feb. 14, Dan Uzan, Hyâ&#x20AC;?D, a 37 year old Jewish volunteer security guard, was murdered in cold blood by an Islamic terrorist, as he was protecting the synagogue in which the bat mitzvah of Hannah Ben Tov was being celebrated.

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who attended Dan Uzanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funeral, proclaimed â&#x20AC;&#x153;an attack on the Jews of Denmark is an attack on Denmark.â&#x20AC;?

I believe we should all be declaring clearly, emphatically and loudly that â&#x20AC;&#x153;an attack on any Jew, no matter where he or she is â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether in Israel, the United States, Paris or Denmark, or any place in the world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is an attack on all Jews and every Jew.â&#x20AC;?

When Jordan Hiller, a former HAFTR student of mine, advised HAFTR Director of Admissions and Communications Leslie Gang that he was organizing a chizuk mission to strengthen and encourage the Jews of Copenhagen, I could not help but offer to participate.

In announcing the mission, Jordan quoted the

Five Towners bring chizuk to Denmark

9RO 1R Â&#x2021; 7KH-HZLVK6WDU FRP

STAR

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

7HW]DYHK 6KDEEDW =DFKRU Â&#x2021; 3XEOLVKHG ZHHNO\ VLQFH Â&#x2021;

=HY :ROII¡V EDU PLW]YDK

)HEUXDU\ Â&#x2021; $GDU

THE JEWISH

Sign up for free trial class* at www.greatplay.com/woodmere odmere 1012 Railroad Avenue â&#x20AC;˘ Woodmere â&#x20AC;˘ (516) 341-0050 0050

IF BOOKED BY 1/31/15 AND HAVE PARTY BY 3/31/15

$50 OFF BIRTHDAY PARTIES

3KLOOLSSH %UDKDP +\´'

7ZR DPRQJ WKRXVDQGV ZKR PRXUQHG DW -HUXVDOHPÂśV +DU +D0HQXFKRW FHPHWHU\

Winter Is Here-Have Fun Indoors!

Interactive Kids Gym FREE TRIAL CLASS â&#x20AC;˘ Ages 6 Months - 12 Yrs & SPECIAL OFFERS â&#x20AC;˘ Awesome Birthday Parties

<RDY +DWWDE +\´'

7KH SHULRG RI PRXUQLQJ EHJLQV DV D JDUPHQW LV WRUQ

Vol 14, No. 3 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

3ULPH 0LQLVWHU 1HWDQ\DKX ZLWK WKH FRIÂżQV RI WKH IRXU PHQ VODLQ DW +\SHU &DFKHU LQ 3DULV *RYHUQPHQW 3UHVV 2IÂżFH

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

7KH WUDJHG\ RI ODVW ZHHNÂśV KRUURU LQ 3DULV LV UHĂ&#x20AC;HFWHG RQ IDFHV DW 7XHVGD\ÂśV OHYD\DK

January 16, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 25 Tevet 5775 â&#x20AC;˘ Vaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;era

STAR

HAFTR goes 3D 2 â&#x20AC;˘ More school news 18-19 â&#x20AC;˘ Girls night out 12 â&#x20AC;˘ Kosher Bookworm 7 â&#x20AC;˘ This week in Torah 15

THE JEWISH

749139 9139

STAR Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

The Staten Islander was known to thousands as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Facebuker rebbeâ&#x20AC;? with a page that encouraged Jews of all religious inclinations to consider the importance of their relationship to Hashem. In his ďŹ nal post before setting out for the American Jewish Outreach Professionals event, he is heard on a video studying with his young son and a friend. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us a gift for 49 years and he wanted his gift back,â&#x20AC;? his mother, Chaya Subar, said at Mondayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s levaya on Staten Island. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He ďŹ lled into these 49 years many lifetimes. That is the gift this neshama left us. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not waste it.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Winiarzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest son, Shaya, said his father was always planting seeds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not my job to decide if they grow or not,â&#x20AC;? Shaya recalled his father saying. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That will be Hashemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s job. I just have to plant seeds.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Winiarz leaves behind his wife Miriam and ten children, seven of whom are still single. Having devoted his life to helping others, now it is his family thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in need of help. A Winiarz Family Chinuch Fund has been established at www.youcaring.com/winiarz. Also, checks (payable to Bikur Cholim) can be sent to Bikur Cholim of SI 23 Niles Pl SI NY 10314

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

.L 7LVD Â&#x2021; 3XEOLVKHG ZHHNO\ VLQFH Â&#x2021;

9RO 1R Â&#x2021; 7KH-HZLVK6WDU FRP

STAR

m

Sun h ne o

THE JEWISH

W

HERES WHAT S HAPPEN NG

ae a ong 5 h Ave

STAR

420 unne s a se 30K o d sab ed s ae ve s

E

s ae ha e s c uc y p o s ae p o

THE JEWISH

Conference coverage pages 2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3, 15 â&#x20AC;˘ Text of Netanyahu speech pages 16â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17

INSIDE: More on AIPAC and Bibi

3ULPH 0LQLVWHU 1HWDQ\DKX VSHDNLQJ EHIRUH D MRLQW PHHWLQJ RI &RQJUHVV RQ 7XHVGD\ ZDUQV DJDLQVW WUXVWLQJ ,UDQ WR FXUE LWV QXFOHDU DPELWLRQV +RXVH 6SHDNHU -RKQ %RHKQHU RI 2KLR OHIW DQG 6HQ 2UULQ +DWFK 5 8WDK OLVWHQ $3 3KRWR $QGUHZ +DUQLN

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

0DUFK Â&#x2021; $GDU

STAR

ers to insist of the best Iranian nuclear deal possible, coupled with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s address to Congress on Tuesday, set the stage for their lobbying that afternoon of New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two Senators, enators Charles Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand.

SKA Principal Raizi Chechik told The Jewish Star that this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work was in line with the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ongoing Israel Action program.

Continued on page 15

THE JEWISH

By Celia Weintrob Fourteen of the 3,000 students attending AIPACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2015 Policy conference in Washington this week hail from Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach. It was an eye-opening experience that put the importance of political activism front and center for the Five Towners.

AIPACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts to convince U.S. lawmak-

AIPAC hears from SKA girls

Usually these things are scheduled along with an already planned foreign leader/POTUS meeting. This however was done without any set presidential meeting, or even a consultation with the White House or State Department.

The invitation is meant to be a diContinued on page 7

6.$ VWXGHQWV DW $,3$& SROLF\ FRQIHUHQFH )URP OHIW $KXYD 5RVV 6KRVKD QD /DXIHU =HKDYD *URV $\HOHW .ODKU 0LFKDO <DFNHU DQG +HQQD 6WRUFK

Commentary by Jeff Dunetz You could almost hear the smack across the bow of the Obama administration on Wednesday as Speaker John Boehner invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on Feb 11. Bibi has accepted.

Bibiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DC visit a slap to O and a bid to confront Iran

Rabbi Dovid Winiarz, zâ&#x20AC;?l, whose work in chessed and kiruv strengthened the Yiddishkeit of countless Jews, died motzei Shabbat on icy roads in Maryland enroute to a kiruv conference near Baltimore.

6.$ DOXPQD /HH]D DQG (VWL +LUW ² WZLQV ² DGGUHVV SHRSOH DW D SOHQDU\ VHVVLRQ

$ ZRPDQ FULHV DV VKH KROGV XS D FDQGOH WR SROLFH GXULQJ D SURWHVW RXWVLGH WKH JRYHUQPHQW SDODFH LQ 3OD]D GH 0D\R LQ %XHQRV $LUHV RQ 0RQGD\ 7KRXVDQGV UDOOLHG DIWHU WKH VXVSLFLRXV GHDWK RI VSHFLDO SURVHFXWRU $OEHUWR 1LVPDQ $3 3KRWR 5RGULJR

Ice storm claims â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Facebukerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rebbe

To the 85 people murdered in the never-prosecuted Iranian-linked bombing of Buenos Airesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jewish community center in 1994, another victim was added this week: Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor who was working to bring to justice both the killers and Argentinian ofďŹ cials linked to a twodecades-long coverup.

Nisman died of a single gunshot just hours before he was to testify in Agentinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s congress about his accusation ďŹ ve days earlier that President Cristina Fernandez and other top ofďŹ cials protected Iranian suspects in the case, considered Argentinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worst terrorist attack.

His body was found in his locked apartment, a friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gun by his side.

Thousands of Agentinians took to the streets in several cities on Monday. In Buenos Aires, they gathered in the iconic Plaza de Mayo and in front of the presidential residence; some protesters, in a twist on Franceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Je Suis Charlieâ&#x20AC;? movement, gathered under the slogan â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Am Nismanâ&#x20AC;? and chanted â&#x20AC;&#x153;Justice! Justice!â&#x20AC;?

Nismanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ex-wife, Judge Sandra Arroyo, was clear in answering reporters who asked on Tuesday whether her ex-husbandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death was a suicide. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Argentina has one of the largest concentrations of Jews outside of Israel, with estimates ranging around 200,000, mostly in Buenos Aires.

0RUH RQ SDJH

Truth assassinated in Jewish ctr probe

Again, Argentina cries

Vol 14, No. 4 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

)LUHÂżJKWHUV DQG UHVFXH ZRUNHUV VHDUFK WKH UXEEOH RI WKH $UJHQWLQH ,VUDHOL 0XWXDO $VVRFLDWLRQ FRPPXQLW\ FHQWHU DIWHU D FDU ERPE URFNHG WKH EXLOGLQJ LQ GRZQWRZQ %XHQRV $LUHV RQ -XO\ $3 )LOH 3KRWR $OHMDQGUR 3DJQL

January 23, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 3 Shevat 5775 â&#x20AC;˘ Bo

THE JEWISH Beshalach â&#x20AC;˘ Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

Ner Echad draws 5 Towns women

5HEEHW]LQ %DWVKHYD .DQLHYVN\ OHIW EHIRUH FDQGOH OLJKWLQJ LQ %QHL %UDN

Batsheva Kanievsky Archives

Awesome Birthday Parties

â&#x20AC;˘

$50 OFF BIRTHDAY PARTIES IF HAVE PARTY BY 3/31/15 SEE AD INSIDE

$KLH]HU ZKLFK GHPRQVWUDWHV WKRXJKRXW WKH \HDU WKDW )LYH 7RZQV )DU 5RFNDZD\ LV ³D FRPPXQLW\ RI NLQGQHVV ´ RQ 6XQGD\ KRQRUHG VRPH LI LWV RXWVWDQGLQJ VXSSRUW HUV 2Q WKH GLDV DW 7KH 6DQGV $WODQWLF %HDFK DV 6HQDWRU 6FKXPHU VSHDNV IURP

March 13, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 22 Adar 5775

Vayakhel-Pekudei â&#x20AC;˘ Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

3XULP VPLOHV

By Ed Weintrob Two political operatives told a Jewish political gathering in North Woodmere on Sunday that Jews should move past a traditional communal allegiance to the Democratic Party and its liberal politics.

Support should go to whoever supports Israel, said Jeff Wiesenfeld, a resident of Great Neck, former aide to Senator Al Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Amato, and a City University of New York trustee.

Hank Sheinkopf, a political consultant who estimates heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worked on 700 political campaigns in 44 states and 14 foreign nations over 35 years, said heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s found that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the 10th commandment for Jews was you must vote, and 10A was you must vote Democratic.â&#x20AC;?

This puzzled him. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I remember people talking to me as a youth about what a wonderful man President Roosevelt was,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is hard to imagine crying about somebody who stood by and watched six million of your brothers and sister go up chimneys and did nothing.â&#x20AC;?

Both Sheinkopf and Wiesenfeld explored the roots of the Jewish Democratic connection, and suggested that times have <,1: 6KXOV DQG WKRUXJKRXW /RQJ ,VODQG SDUWLHG KHDUWLO\ WKURXJKRXW changed.

They spoke, along with several Long Island elected ofďŹ cials, at a 3XULP ZHHN 7KLV JLUO EHFDPH DQ DGRUDEOH SXSS\ DW WKH <RXQJ ,VODQG RI 1RUWK :RRGPHUH RQ WKH 6XQGD\ EHIRUH WKH WK RI $GDU symposium titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Future of the Jewish Vote: A Bi-Partisan Grassroots Forum,â&#x20AC;? hosted by Temple Hillel as part of its ongoing 60th anniversary celebration.

Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century were workTemple Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s congregation must ing class people who â&#x20AC;&#x153;became

By Jeffrey Bessen vote to approve the sale. As required Democrats because they were The JCC of the Greater Five Towns and Temple Israel of Lawrence have signed a by New York state law, the organization involved in bettering their lives letter of intent for the Cedarhurst-based will submit the sale documents to the and the lives of those around JCC to buy the templeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s property on Cen- state attorney generalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ofďŹ ce for its ap- them,â&#x20AC;? Sheinkopf said.

Wiesenfeld referred to these proval, and ďŹ le the documents in state tral Avenue in Lawrence.

The tentative agreement calls for Civil Court for ďŹ nal approval. The at- immigrants as â&#x20AC;&#x153;MayďŹ&#x201A;ower Temple Israel to lease space from the torney general will also review how the Jewsâ&#x20AC;? who established comContinued on page 11 Continued on page 8 JCC. OfďŹ cials from both institutions

ba

L do Beach a h dden gem o

um L

Jew h Pha oah Shabbo w n

THE JEWISH

L ma k Yom Ha ka on

STAR m

STAR

Yom Haa mau

O

FRUMV LLE USA

THE JEWISH

W

Rav L ch ens e n z â&#x20AC;?

-&& RI WKH *UHDWHU )LYH 7RZQV SODQV WR EX\ WKH H[SDQVLYH VLWH RI 7HPSOH ,VUDHO RI /DZUHQFH WKH DUHDÂśV ODVW UHPDLQLQJ 5HIRUP V\QDJRJXH ZKLFK ZRXOG FRQWLQXH WR RSHUDWH OHDVLQJ LWV VSDFH EDFN IURP WKH -&& -HIIUH\ %HVVHQ

declined to disclose the purchase price, and the JCC declined to say how much rent it would charge Temple Israel.

In 2010, Temple Israel signed a letter of intent to sell half an acre of its property, including two Fulton Street homes owned by the temple, to the Peninsula Public Library for between $2.5 million and $3 million. The library decided not to buy the land

JCC is buying Temple Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lawrence site

By Ed Weintrob Senator Charles Schumer told Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gala on Sunday in Atlantic Beach the he would ďŹ ght any â&#x20AC;&#x153;bad dealâ&#x20AC;? with Iran and would continue his commitment to serve as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shomer Yisroelâ&#x20AC;? (guardian over Israel). â&#x20AC;&#x153;When Prime Minister Netanyahu comes to America and says that a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to the state of Israel, he means every word. Existential means the existence,â&#x20AC;?

Schumer said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palestinians are trouble, but Israel can handle it,â&#x20AC;? he continued. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hamas and Hezbollah are trouble, but Israel can handle it. But a nuclear Iran could wipe out the state of Israel.â&#x20AC;?

Schumer said he would support tougher sanctions if there is no agreement, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;if thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bad agreement, Congress should have the ability to undo it.â&#x20AC;?

Playing on his name, Schumer said his family had been shomrim of a ghettoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wall in Europe. His name, modiďŹ ed at Ellis Island, was â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shoimer.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will always will be shomer Yisroel,â&#x20AC;? he pledged. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will do everything I can to see that Am Yisroel chai.â&#x20AC;?

Schumer praised Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work and recounted how he helped Rabbi Yaakov Bender, the father of Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president, establish Hatzalah on East 7th Street in Flatbush in 1977.

Achiezer honored community leaders at its annual dinner at The Sands Atlantic Beach.

Political mavens urge Jews to break Dem tie

Vol 14, No. 11 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Schumer: Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll live up to my name and be â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shomer for Yisroelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

0RUH RQ SDJH to come back,â&#x20AC;? Lauder said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once again, young Jewish boys are afraid to wear yarmulkes on the streets of Paris and Budapest and London. Once again, Jewish businesses are targeted. And once again, Jewish families are ďŹ&#x201A;eeing Europe.â&#x20AC;?

The recent attack in Paris, in which four Jews were killed in a kosher supermarket, is not the ďŹ rst deadly attack on Jews in recent years. Last May a shooting killed four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels and in 2012 a rabbi and three children were murdered in the French city of Toulouse.

Europe also saw a spasm of anti-Semitism last summer during the war in Gaza, with protests in Paris turning violent and other hostility across the continent.

Continued on page 18

OHIW 'RYL :LVQLFNL <RHOL 6WHLQEHUJ /OR\G .HLOVRQ 6UXO\ 0LOOHU 6KXOLH :ROOPDQ 5DEEL %RUXFK %HU %HQGHU 5DEEL <DDNRY %HQGHU 5RQDOG /RZLQJHU 'U 6WHYHQ -DFN 6FKQHGHU DQG <DQNL 0XOOHU 0RUH RQ SDJHV 'RQRYDQ %HUWKRXG -HZLVK 6WDU

THE JEWISH

œ:H DUH DOO $FKLH]HU¡

Interactive Kids Gym Ages 6 Months - 12 Yrs

â&#x20AC;˘

Sign up for free trial class* at www.greatplay.com/woodmere odmere 1012 Railroad Avenue â&#x20AC;˘ Woodmere â&#x20AC;˘ (516) 341-0050 0050

FREE TRIAL CLASS & SPECIAL OFFERS

Winter Is Here-Have Fun Indoors!

<HV LW VQRZHG

By Vanessa Gera, AP BRZEZINKA, Poland â&#x20AC;&#x201D; A Jewish leader stood before 300 survivors of the Nazisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; most notorious death camp on Tuesday and asked world leaders to prevent another Auschwitz, warning of a rise of anti-Semitism that has made many European Jews fearful of walking the streets, and is causing many to ďŹ&#x201A;ee the continent.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder made his bleak assessment on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, speaking next to the gate and the railroad tracks that marked the last journey for more than a million people murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

He said his speech was shaped by the recent terrorist attacks in France that targeted Jews and newspaper satirists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For a time, we thought that the hatred of Jews had ďŹ nally been eradicated. But slowly the demonization of Jews started

$XVFKZLW] VXUYLYRU 5RVH 6FKLQGOHU DQG KHU KXVEDQG 0D[ YLVLW WKH IRUPHU GHDWK FDPS LQ 2VZLHFLP 3RODQG 0RQGD\ 7RJHWKHU ZLWK VHYHUDO RWKHU VXUYLYRUV WKH\ VDLG NDGGLVK QH[W WR WKH LQID PRXV ³$UEHLW 0DFKW )UHL´ VLJQ KDQJLQJ DERYH WKH HQWUDQFH WR WKH FDPS AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

World remembers Shoah, told Jews remain targets

70 years later

Vol 14, No. 5 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

By Celia Weintrob As women put a few coins or bills into the pushka just before lighting the Shabbos candles, they think of their family and friends who need a special blessing for health or peace, and of Jews facing difďŹ culties across the globe.

Ner Echad (One Light) seeks to magnify the power of those blessings 1,000 -fold, allowing the ladies to tap into a worldwide sisterhood that is giving tzedakah and lighting candles together at the same auspicious moment.

Ner Echad was founded this past Succos, on the third yahrzeit of Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky of Bnei Brak, by her husband, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita, an acclaimed Talmudic scholar, through the efforts of close family friends, Rabbi Ernest Rothman and his son Yehuda.

Many of the founding supporters of this new organization hail from the Five Towns.

By all accounts, this unassuming Rebbetzin greeted scores each day with )RU WKH )LYH 7RZQV WKH EOL]]DUG RI WKH FHQWXU\ WXUQHG RXW WR EH ÂŤ QRW VR PXFK $OWKRXJK DFFXPXODWLRQV ZHUH QRWKLQJ OLNH WKRVH LQ 6XIIRON WKH VQRZ cheer and respect, leaving a DORQJ &HQWUDO $YHQXH LQ &HGDUKXUVW KDG WR EH FOHDUHG QRQHWKHOHVV $V DOZD\V mark upon countless hearts Continued on page 10 $FKLH]HU KHOSHG SUHSDUH IRU DQ\ HYHQWXDOLW\ VHH SDJH 0RQLFD 5]HZVNL

SHEAR YASHUV â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Missiles ďŹ red by Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists struck an Israeli military convoy on Wednesday, killing two soldiers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would respond â&#x20AC;&#x153;forcefullyâ&#x20AC;? to the attack, and the military launched aerial and ground assault on Hezbollah positions, including at least 50 artillery shells according to Lebanese ofďŹ cials. A Spanish peacekeeper was killed in the border ďŹ&#x201A;are-up in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attack was its deadliest assault on Israeli forces since a 2006 war. It followed a Jan. 18 airstrike attributed to Israel that killed six Hezbollah ďŹ ghters and an Iranian general.

Hezbollah said its ďŹ ghters destroyed a number of Israeli vehicles and caused casualties among â&#x20AC;&#x153;enemy ranks,â&#x20AC;? and that the attack was carried out by a group calling itself the â&#x20AC;&#x153;righteous martyrs of Quneitra.â&#x20AC;?

Ever since, Israel has braced for a response to the strike, beeďŹ ng up its air defenses and increasing surContinued on page 17

Fighting on border

Northern exposure

January 30, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 10 Shevat 5775

THE JEWISH

742823 2823

Woodmere salutes fallen ďŹ reďŹ ghter 13 â&#x20AC;˘ Bookworm on Bible commentary 7 â&#x20AC;˘ Bess Myerson remembered 3

Yisro â&#x20AC;˘ Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

er been more important for our community to stand with Israel and show President Obama and the U.S. Congress how strong American support is for Israel,â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Billet said in a e-mail to YIW members.

Vayikra â&#x20AC;˘ Published weekly since 2002 â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

Vol 14, No. 12 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

civil litigation, in securing employment, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re maybe at a conďŹ rmation hearing for being a judge or a cabinet member.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Think before you hit â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;send,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; think before you hit reply, think twice before you hit reply all â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forever,â&#x20AC;? he cautioned. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The person who gets it can do whatever they want with it, they can forward it to the world.â&#x20AC;?

Continued on page 11

STAR

STAR

A

Loss When s ďŹ na he e may be no h ng o say

G adua on p e K and up

THE JEWISH

H R S WHAT S HAPP N N

A

Once aga n s ae ushes n w h he p ng hands

m

No. 5 pr ze goes to Shu am th

THE JEWISH

This Shabbat & Motzei Shabbat

$WWRUQH\ %HQMDPLQ %UDIPDQ DFFHSWV D W]HGDNDK ER[ DIWHU VSHDNLQJ DIWHU 7RXUR /DZ &HQWHU LQ &HQWUDO ,VOLS $W OHIW 'HDQ 3DWULFLD 6DONLQ DQG 6DPXHO - /HYLQH GLUHFWRU RI 7RXURÂśV -HZLVK /DZ ,QVWLWXWH 7KH -HZLVK 6WDU &KULVWLQD 'DO\

3ULPH 0LQLVWHU %HQMDPLQ 1HWDQ\DKX Ă&#x20AC;DQNHG E\ KLV ZLIH 6DUD JUHHWV VXSSRUWHUV DW WKH SDUW\ÂśV HOHFWLRQ KHDGTXDUWHUV ,Q 7HO $YLY RQ 7XHVGD\ QLJKW $3 2GHG %DOLOW\

By Jacob Kamaras After trailing in the polls leading up to Tuesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Israeli election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Likud party deďŹ ed those projections with a sweeping victory over the Zionist Union party, according to ofďŹ cial results released Wednesday. Netanyahu is in strong position to extend his current six-year run as prime minister.

Likud won 30 Knesset seats, a comfortable margin over the 24 seats for Isaac Herzogâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Zionist Union party. Totals for the rest of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parties were as follows: 14 seats for the Joint Arab List, 11 for Yesh Atid, 10 for Kulanu, eight for Jewish Home, seven for Shas, six for United Torah Judaism, six for Yisrael Beiteinu, and four for Meretz.

Israelis cast votes for entire parties, not for speciďŹ c candidates. The president (currently Reuven Rivlin) usually gives the leader of the party that won the most Knesset seats the opportunity to form a governing coalition with other parties. To create a government, that leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coalition must consist of at least 61 of the 120 Knesset seats.

The Jewish Home, Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Yisrael Beiteinu parties are seen as likely coalition partners for Likud, while Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon has been perceived as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;kingmakerâ&#x20AC;? in the coalition-building process because it is uncertain if his centrist party will support the right-wing Likud or the left-wing Zionist Union. With Kulanu in the fold, a Likudled coalition would have 67 Knesset seats. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Against all odds: a great victory for the Likud. A major victory for the people of Israel!â&#x20AC;?

Netanyahu tweeted after Tuesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s television exit polls were released. The ďŹ nal results were even more favorable for Netanyahu than the exit polls, Continued on page 12

Bibiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right wins Israel

Ben Brafman, in Touro talk, cautions future attorneys

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

The Five Towns Welcomes

By Ed Weintrob One of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preeminent criminal defense attorneys told students at Touro Law Center last week that the seeds of personal destruction lurk in ill-considered emails.

Benajamin Brafman also talked about what it means to be a member of the criminal defense bar, cautioning that not all lawyers were cut out for its rigorous demands.

On emails, the Five Towns resident told students on the Central Islip campus that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen lives destroyed by one stupid, errant, snide, interesting, humorous wisecrack that ends up as the centerpieceâ&#x20AC;? of criminal and

cially if the presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opponents enjoyed a majority there.

In 1975, the Democrats held 61 of the Senateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 seats. Rabin took his case to them. In just three weeks, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) persuaded 76 senators to sign a letter urging Ford to â&#x20AC;&#x153;stand ďŹ rmly with Israelâ&#x20AC;? and to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;responsive to Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urgent military and economic needs.â&#x20AC;? Taking direct aim at the administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;reassessment,â&#x20AC;? the senators emphasized that â&#x20AC;&#x153;withholding military equipment from Israel would be dangerous, discouraging accommodation

by Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighbors and encouraging a resort to force.â&#x20AC;? The letter also asserted that the U.S. should not seek any Israeli withdrawals without â&#x20AC;&#x153;meaningful steps toward peace by its Arab neighbors.â&#x20AC;?

Among the 76 signatories to the letter, 51 were Democrats and 25 were Republicans. It sent a strong message to the White House about the breadth of support for Israel on Capitol Hill. Naturally, Ford and Kissinger were furious. The president complained directly to Rabin that the letter was â&#x20AC;&#x153;very bad.â&#x20AC;? Ford assured Egyptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leaders that â&#x20AC;&#x153;half of [the senators who signed] didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t read it and a quarter didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand the letter.â&#x20AC;?

The senatorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; letters would have strengthened Rabinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position, had he chosen to stand his ground. But Rabin, prime minister for barely nine months, was not well prepared for the crisis and by midsummer, â&#x20AC;&#x153;simply caved in,â&#x20AC;? as Matti Golan of Haaretz put it. Israel accepted the Egyptian demands that it previously resisted.

There are similarities between Netanyahuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s situation today and what Rabin faced in 1975, most notably the depth of Congressional support for Israel. But there are also differences, the most important of which has to do with the two men themselves. Rabin, who was then a rookie in the prime ministerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ofďŹ ce; Netanyahu, now serving his third term, was raised in America and has a keen understanding of how American political culture and the media help shape U.S. foreign policy. The current crisis is not likely to end the way Rabinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s did.

STAR THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Your humorous email can land you in jail

Commentary by Ben Cohen There is no world leader more hated by bien-pensant liberals in America and Europe than Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Whereas once the bile was directed at former U.S. president George W. Bushâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for invading Iraq and Afghanistan, for identifying radical Islam in both its Shiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;a and Sunni variations as an existential threat, and for backing Israel â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now largely focused on Netanyahu, an alleged â&#x20AC;&#x153;racistâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;war criminalâ&#x20AC;? who just happens to have won a resounding vote of conďŹ dence from the Israeli electorate on Tuesday.

Two New York Times editorials speak to my point rather elegantly. The ďŹ rst, published on March 13, asked whether Turkey could still be considered a reliable North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally â&#x20AC;&#x201D; concluding, based on the Ankara governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stance towards international crises from the Islamic State insurgency to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. But while the substance of the editorial was basically correct, notable was the lack of any ad hominem attack on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Increasingly authoritarianâ&#x20AC;? was the best the New York Times could manage when it came to describing this boorish Continued on page 16

Key targetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Israel, not Netanyahu

March 20, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 29 Adar 5775

THE JEWISH

Rabbi Hershel Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere is encouraging Five Towners to participate at AIPACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Policy Conference in Washington on March 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the events in the recent weeks â&#x20AC;Ś itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nev-

5Towners urged: Attend AIPAC confab

7R KRQRU WKH PHPRULHV RI *LODG 6KDDU 1DIWDOL )UDQNHO DQG (\DO <LIUDFK 0RUDK 'DIQD DQG +$1&œV IRXUWK JUDGH JLUOV PDGH WUHDWV IRU WKHLU WHDFKHUV EULQJLQJ ³VZHHWQHVV LQWR WKHLU KHDUWV ´

6ZHHWQHVV DW +$1&

(GRQ DW VKXO

(LW] &KD\LP RI 'RJZRRG 3DUN LQ :HVW +HPSVWHDG KRVWHG $GLU 3LQFKRW DQG KLV EURWKHU IUXP $PHULFDÂśV *RW 7DOHQW EUHDNRXW (GRQ 3LQFKRW SLFWXUHG $GLU SUHVHQWHG D GYDU 7RUDK RQ 6KDEEDW DQG (GRQO SHUIRUPHG PRW]HL 6KDEEDW

)RUPHU 0D\RU 5XG\ *LXOLDQL WKLV ZHHN YRLFHG XQZDYHULQJ VXSSRUW IRU 3ULPH 0LQLVWHU 1HWDQ\DKXœV ULJKW WR VSHDN RXW DJDLQVW ,UDQœV QXFOHDU WKUHDW ³,I VRPHRQH WKUHDWHQV WR NLOO \RX \RX GRQœW JLYH WKHP WKH JXQ WR GR LW XQOHVV WKHUHœV VRPHWKLQJ ZURQJ ZLWK \RX ´ *LXOLDQL VDLG GXULQJ D YLVLW WR WKH 0HQDFKHP %HJLQ +HULWDJH &HQWHU LQ -HUXVDOHP 6DVVRQ 7LUDP

*DLO DQG 'DYLG :HLQVWHLQ RI /DZ UHQFH SLFWXUHG LQ 1HWDQ\D ZLWK PHPEHUV RI WKHLU IDPLO\ GHGLFDWHG D ZKHHOFKDLU DFFHVVLEOH YDQ WR <DG 6DUDK ,WÂśV RQH RI YHKLFOHV WKH RUJDQL]DWLRQ XVHV WR PHHW PRUH WKDQ GDLO\ UHTXHVWV IRU VSHFLDO QHHGV WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ LQ ,VUDHO 6RPH RI 'DYLG :HLQVWHLQÂśV IRUPHU VWXGHQWV IURP '56 DWWHQG HG WKH GHGLFDWLRQ *LYHQ WKHLU ORQJ KRXUV DQG URXWHV YDQV PXVW EH UHSODFHG HYHU\ IRXU RU ÂżYH \HDUV

:KHHO DLG

Commentary by Rafael Medoff The supposedly unprecedented step taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his plan to speak directly before Congress about the Iranian nuclear threat, rather than working exclusively with the White House o, has an interesting precedentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;established in 1975 by none other than Yitzhak Rabin and Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Democratic Party.

That spring, Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger undertook a round of shuttle diplomacy aimed at reaching a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. The negotiations quickly ran into trouble, when Egypt refused to offer anything more than a brief a period of â&#x20AC;&#x153;non-belligerencyâ&#x20AC;? in exchange for an Israeli retreat from strategic mountain passes and oil ďŹ elds in the Sinai desert.

In an attempt to force Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand, Kissinger arranged for President Gerald Ford to send Rabin a message expressing â&#x20AC;&#x153;profound disappointmentâ&#x20AC;? that Israel had not agreed to Egyptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s terms, and threatening a â&#x20AC;&#x153;reassessmentâ&#x20AC;? of U.S.-Israel relations unless Jerusalem gave in.

Rabin confronted Kissinger directly.

Kissinger responded by storming out of the meeting, claiming that â&#x20AC;&#x153;never, never had he been spoken to in a diplomatic meeting in such insulting terms,â&#x20AC;? according to Matti Golan, chief diplomatic correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The claim to have been insultedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; featured prominently in recent Obama administration criticism of Netanyahuâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; became one of the themes in Kissingerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arsenal as the crisis gathered steam, according to Prof. Arlene Lazarowitz of California State University-Long Beach, who recently examined Fordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s papers on this topic and wrote about the subject in the scholarly journal American Jewish History. When Rabin and his cabinet declined to give in to Fordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s threat, Kissinger told the president, â&#x20AC;&#x153;To have received a letter from you and not to change one iota is an indignity to the United States.â&#x20AC;?

U.S. arms transfers to Israel were halted, negotiations over future weapons purchases were suspended, and visits to the U.S. by Israeli diplomats were canceled.

Rabin had recently spent ďŹ ve years in Washington as Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ambassador. He knew the American political system well enough to understand that those who found themselves at odds with the White House sometimes turned to Congressâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;espe-

Rabin precedent set the path for Bibi Capitol talk

Vol 14, No. 6 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

5XG\ VWDQGV ZLWK 1HWDQ\DKX

February 6, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 17 Shevat 5775

THE JEWISH

760929

THE JEWISH

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

9RO 1R Â&#x2021; 7KH-HZLVK6WDU FRP

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

STAR

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

3XEOLVKHG ZHHNO\ VLQFH Â&#x2021;

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

-DQXDU\ Â&#x2021; 7HYHW Â&#x2021; 9D\HFKL

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

756144

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

THE JEWISH

2015: The Year In Review

January 1, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

10

Page 9

Page 14

Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the Kitchen

Rocket on the 4th!

Jerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gift keeps on giving

+$1& FKHHUV

Vol 14, No. 25 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

6HYHQW\ RQH VWXGHQWV JUDGXDWHG IURP WKH +HEUHZ $FDGHP\ RI 1DVVDX &RXQW\ +LJK 6FKRRO ODVW ZHHN FKHHUHG E\ DQ DXGLHQFH RI DW WKH +RIVWUD 8QLYHUVLW\ $GDPV 3OD\KRXVH LQ +HPSVWHDG

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

CHUKAT â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 8:12 pm â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

Page 15

Page 18

Happy 4th Of July!

Jw w

L sukkah com

Prime Minister Netanyahu surprised delegates at this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish Federation of North America General Assembly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and ignited a storm in Israel â&#x20AC;&#x201D; when, after praising a â&#x20AC;&#x153;pluralismâ&#x20AC;? in Israel that includes equality for women, opportunity for Arab citizens, the only thriving community of Christians in the Middle East, and a favorable environment for

7KHVH &KDEDG /XEDYLWFK UDEELV DUH DPRQJ UDEELV DQG FRPPXQDO OHDGHUV IURP FRXQWULHV ZKR ZHUH LQ %URRNO\Q ODVW ZHHN IRU WKH QG DQQXDO ,QWHUQDWLRQDO &RQIHUHQFH RI &KDEDG /XEDYLWFK (PLVVDULHV 7KH &KDVVLGLP FDPH IURP DV IDU DZD\ DV %DQJNRN DQG &RQJR DQG DV FORVH DV %URRNO\Q DQG /RQJ ,VODQG Eliyahu Parypa / Chabad.org

development and fostering of Conservative and Reform communities in Israel,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Reaction from Israel came swiftly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Reform and Conservatives split the Jewish people and it is forbidden to support them in harming the Torah of Israel,â&#x20AC;? said Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of United Torah Judaism.

The Jewish Star Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum developer Bruce Ratner was hailed as a visionary last week, as South Nassau Communities Hospital raised more than $700,000 at its annual Carnation Ball.

The hospital also honored Dr. Joshua Kugler, chair of the department of emergency medicine, with its Mary Pearson Award. And Yondeibi Espinal, lead environmental services aide at South Nassau, was surprised with the new Cupola Award. The cupola, which sits atop the hospitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original building, represents its tradition of caring.

Funds raised will be added to a ďŹ veyear, $10 million campaign to help pay for a $60 million renovation and expansion of the Oceanside Emergency Department.

$DURQ *ODWW 0 ' FOLQLFDO FKDLUPDQ RI WKH GHSDUWPHQW RI PHGLFLQH DW WKH 61&+ JDOD 'U *ODWW LV DVVLVWDQW WR WKH UDEEL DW WKH <RXQJ ,VUDHO RI :RRG PHUH The Jewish Star / Liliana Hecker

SNCH honors Ratner, nets 700G at gala

gay people, he announced that his government would support aid to non-Orthodox Jewish denominations in the Holy Land. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will always ensure that all Jews can feel at home in Israel â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Reform Jews, Conservative Jews, Orthodox Jews, all Jews,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now, for the ďŹ rst time, together with the Jewish Agency, we will invest directly in the

PM boosts Conservatives, Reform

there is only one Jewish state. Now more than ever we must work to unite the Jewish people and secure the Jewish state,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No matter what disagreements there have been within the Jewish community, maintaining the unity of our people is of paramount importance.â&#x20AC;?

Commenting on Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s values, the prime minister said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know that all of you are proud of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outstanding technological achievements, but I think we should no less be proud of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s values.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is democracy,â&#x20AC;? Netanyahu said, adding, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is truly remarkable is that Israel upholds these values in the darkest and most Continued on page 4

Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis convene

By The Jewish Star and JNS.org Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday moved beyond the war of words between his ofďŹ ce and the White House, publicly thanking President Obama for working to secure American support of Isrealâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s defense needs for the next decade.

Netanyahu told delegates to the Jewish Federation of North America General Assembly, in Washington, that on Monday in the White House he had a â&#x20AC;&#x153;wonderful discussion with President Obamaâ&#x20AC;? on defense aid.

He noted the importance of Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to bolstering Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s qualitative military edge, so that Israel can defend itselfâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;by itselfâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;against any threat.

Israel is reportedly seeking an increase in annual aid from $3 billion to $5 billion.

The U.S. and Israel â&#x20AC;&#x153;can and should work together nowâ&#x20AC;? to ensure that Iran complies with the agreement and to curb Iranian aggression throughout the Middle East, Netanyahu told the assembly, declaring that â&#x20AC;&#x153;no matter what disagreements there are between Israel and the United States, Israel has no better friend than America and America has no better friend than Israel.â&#x20AC;?

Just as America and Israel stand together, so too must Jews, he continued: â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is only one Jewish people and

Vol 14, No. 43 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

m

3ULPH 0LQLVWHU %HQMDPLQ 1HWDQ\DKX DGGUHVVHV WKH *HQHUDO $VVHPEO\ RI WKH -HZLVK )HGHUDWLRQV RI 1RUWK $PHULFD RQ 7XHVGD\ LQ :DVKLQJWRQ 5RQ 6DFKV

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Bibi, in Washington, thanks Pres. Obama

Nov. 13, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 1 Kislev 5776

Parshas Toldos â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 4:21 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 6

THE JEWISH

S

S

STAR

F

Sh ugg ng k p o n C d hu

THE JEWISH

D

G

Y

STAR

Cover Canary webs e exposes no or ous an srae provoca eurs

THE JEWISH

Pullout Flag In This Weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Centerspread

neighborhoods is often difďŹ cult for their Jewish inhabitants. A video screened at the dinner showed children in playgrounds behind metal bars. The rooftop succah of Beit Yehonatan has a heter that allows its schach to have an iron covering for protection.

$W WKH JDOD RI WKH $PHULFDQ )ULHQGV RI $WHUHW &RKDQLP IURP OHIW ([HFXWLYH 'LUHFWRU 6KDQL +L NLQG )RXQGHU DQG &KDLUPDQ 0DWL 'DQ +D.RKHQ ([HFXWLYH &RXQFLO 0HPEHU 'U 3DXO %URG\ 5DEEL 6KPXOH\ %RWHDFK WKH HYHQLQJÂśV JXHVW VSHDNHU ([HFXWLYH &RXQFLO &KDLUPDQ 'U -RVHSK )UDJHU -&&:DWFK &KDLUPDQ 5LFKDUG $OOHQ DQG ORQJ WLPH $WHUHW &RKDQLP VXSSRUWHU 6LPRQ )DOLF

The organization, formerly known as the Jerusalem Reclamation Project, legally purchases properties in Jerusalemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Muslim quarter â&#x20AC;&#x201D; once known as the Kotel quarter â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and its environs in order to grow the Holy Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish population. Life in the reclaimed

*XHVWV RI +RQRU 0DUN DQG 1DRPL 5XELQ RI /DZUHQFH DUH Ă&#x20AC;DQNHG E\ WKHLU IDPLO\ VWDQGLQJ DW OHIW DQG IURP ULJKW IRU PHU 8 6 DPEDVVDGRU WR WKH 8 1 -RKQ %ROWRQ WKH HYHQLQJÂśV NH\QRWH VSHDNHU DQG $WHUHW &RKDQLP &KDLUPDQ 0DWL 'DQ +D.RKHQ JXHVW RI KRQRU 6HDWHG IURP OHIW 2KHY <LVUDHO $ZDUGHHV ' %HUQDUG DQG $QQ +RHQLJ $PHULFDQ )ULHQGV RI $WHUHW &RKDQLP 9LFH 3UHVLGHQW 6KDQL +LNLQG DQG JXHVW RI KRQRU (W\D 'DQ 7KUHH6WDU3KRWRJUDSKHUV

American Friends of Ateret Cohanim marked its 36th year of reclaiming Jerusalemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Old City, with a gala at Terrace on the Park on Monday that honored founders Mati and Etya Dan, FiveTowns supporters Mark and Naomi Rubin, and D. Bernard and Ann Hoenig.

PINCHAS â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 8:09 pm â&#x20AC;˘ 516-622-7461

THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Vol 14, No. 26 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

Page 15

Parsha of the Week

On Tzlafchad: Is it a sin not to sire boys?

out World War II. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a total American story. I grew up in this working class neighborhood, and I was the only Jewish kid, and I experienced a lot of anti-Semitism as a kid.â&#x20AC;?

Yogi pleased all the people all the time Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the Kitchen

by Judy Joszef â&#x20AC;˘ P. 9

At Simchat Torah: When the end is the beginning From the Heart of Jerusalem

by Rabbi Binny Freedman â&#x20AC;˘ P. 19

Shabbos Project caps the holidays, Oct. 23

%5,1*,1* ,7 $// 72*(7+(5

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Vol 14, No. 38 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

In the eyes of Islamic jihadists, all Westerners are inďŹ dels: P. 5

Parshas Vayetzei â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 4:15 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 6

By Ed Weintrob A key to the ďŹ ght against the rise of anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses may be sitting at the Shabbos tables of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Orthodox Zionist families. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the gist of a warning voiced on Sunday by IDF Sgt. Benjamin Anthony to an attentive audience at the Young Israel of Woodmere.

Sgt. Anthony said that graduates of Jewish high schools were generally unprepared to advocate for Israel when confronted by determined Palestinian supporters.

In Jewish high schools throughout the United States, â&#x20AC;&#x153;there is next to no Israeli history curriculum as part of the required teaching,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is Jewish history [and] limudei kodesh,which is important, but Israel history is not taught with the rigorâ&#x20AC;? brought to other subjects.

As a result, when Zionist students face the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palestinian narrativeâ&#x20AC;? on campus, they often cannot counter it, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They either turn against the story of Israel, or

one particular sense of wrong. It was to terrorize people. It was to attack everything that we do stand for,â&#x20AC;? Kerry told reporters before entering a meeting with French President Francois Hollande.

Many in the U.S., including lawmakers and politicians, were quick to attack Kerry for legitimizing the January attacks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was absolutely nothing legitimate or rational about the slaughter of 10 newspaper staff and two police ofďŹ cers in Paris earlier this year,â&#x20AC;? said Rep. Edward Royce, R-Calif, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are pil-

lars of our free world, and we can never allow radical Islamists to use these fundamental rights to justify their evil acts. Secretary Kerry is plain wrong and needs to correct the record.â&#x20AC;?

State Department spokesman John Kirby responded on Twitter, saying Kerry â&#x20AC;&#x153;didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t justify Hebdo attacks, simply explained how terrorists tried to. As he said at time, it was a cowardly and despicable act.â&#x20AC;?

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Kerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remarks â&#x20AC;&#x153;offensiveâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;truly stupid.â&#x20AC;?

Kerry â&#x20AC;&#x153;needs to get some sleep and shut up is what he needs, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disgraceful,â&#x20AC;? Christie said.

Kerry ďŹ nds â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rationaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in terror Combined Sources Secretary of State John Kerry drew heavy criticism this week after he voiced a distinction between Fridayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s terror attack and the January attack against the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Kerry said â&#x20AC;&#x153;thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that,â&#x20AC;? noting there was â&#x20AC;&#x153;a sort of particularized focusâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;rationaleâ&#x20AC;? behind the Charlie Hebdo attack, which was followed by a murderous assault on a Parisian kosher supermarket. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t to aggrieve

Vol 14, No. 44 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

that was sponsored by Five Towns areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shuls and schools to discuss how to refute anti-Israel bias in the media and on campus.

Sgt. Anthonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s group, Our Soldiers Speak, has visited more than 370 campuses to defend the legality and morality of the IDF defense of Israel. Its speakers generally do not present their arguments at HilContinued on page 19

By The Jewish Star Orthodox youngsters who go off the derech (OTD) were the subject of a candidate discussion at Agudah Israel of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 93rd annual convention, last weekend in Stamford, Conn.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;no scientiďŹ c evidence or double-blind surveysâ&#x20AC;? pinpointing causes,â&#x20AC;? Rabbi Mordechai Becher, senior lecturer at Gateways and history professor at Yeshiva University, told Agudahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closing session.

He said it was important to allow children to pose questions without fear of retribution â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;acknowledge the question, even if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know

the answer.â&#x20AC;? He cited Rabbi Dovid Cohen as afďŹ rming that â&#x20AC;&#x153;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mutar to say itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good question.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Becher related the story of a friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 13-year-old son who was crying and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m scared. I had a question. I think Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m an apikores.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Where did that come from?â&#x20AC;? asked Rabbi Becher, â&#x20AC;&#x153;that a seventh grader should cry because he thinks heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an apikores.â&#x20AC;?

The problem is not new, although some of our assumptions are â&#x20AC;&#x153;not working automatically anymore,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Even Rishonim faced this chalContinued on page 19

$GGUHVVLQJ WKH FORVLQJ VHVVLRQ RI WKH $JXGDK ,VUDHO RI $PHULFD FRQYHQWLRQ RQ 6XQGD\ IURP OHIW 5DEELV 0RUGHFKDL %HFKHU $YL 6KDIUDQ DQG 0RVKH 7XYLD /LHII &RXUWHV\ $JXGDK

Annual confab told that rebellious kids challenged even the Rishonim

Agudah tackles OTD

they are rendered silent.â&#x20AC;?

Regrettably, he said, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;most powerful voice condemning the state of Israel on campuses today is the Jewish voice.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t educate ourselves, someone is going to do it in our stead,â&#x20AC;? he warned.

Sgt. Anthony was joined by Israeli journalists Yaakov Lappin and Amir Tibon, at Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s YIW event

IDF team urges 5 Towns: Teach your children well

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

+DYLQJ GHIHQGHG ,VUDHO LQ EDWWOH 6JW %HQMDPLQ $QWKRQ\ WRS QRZ ÂżJKWV YHUEDOO\ RQ FDPSXVHV +H GLVFXVVHG FKDOOHQJHV IDFLQJ WKH -HZLVK VWDWH RQ 6XQGD\ QLJKW DW WKH <, RI :RRGPHUH ZLWK MRXUQDOLVWV $PLU 7LERQ OHIW DQG <DDNRY /DSSLQ -HZLVK 6WDU (G :HLQWURE

Nov. 20, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 8 Kislev 5776

In Israel and America, Thanksgiving: P. 17â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18

STAR

Paris jolts world.

Now what? P. 6

THE JEWISH

Cedarhurst student and the guns of Hebron: P. 16

Arafat to Abbas: Madness at U.N.

/HDUQLQJ WKH PLQLP DW 'DUFKHL

3KRWR

actualizing the unifying theme of Succos.

By Celia Weintrob The Jewish Star urges its readers to share Shabbos Parashas Lech Lecha, Oct. 23 to 24, marks the third annual Shabbos Project, the wealth. One way to do this in our frum a worldwide movement that unites Jews â&#x20AC;&#x201D; communities is for each of us to invite less- or non-observant Jewish co-workers, including those who may not neighbors, friends and relatives to regularly be observing Shabbos experience Shabbos at our home. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in honoring the day and fulBeyond that, consider invitďŹ lling its mitzvos. ing Jewish female friends to the The unity experienced in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Great Challah Bake, Long Island bringing together the lulav and Style,â&#x20AC;? a ladies-only event at 8 esrog during Sukkos will be pm on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the replicated as Jews of all stripes Sands Atlantic Beach. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s braid challahs, learn and daven theme is â&#x20AC;&#x153;kneading it together,â&#x20AC;? together. a play on words reďŹ&#x201A;ecting the The minim of Sukkos repneed to unify and welcome all resent four different types of Jews. While the esrog, with its &KDOODK SKRWR E\ $P\ 5HLFKOLQ to observe Shabbos. Refer them to Challah Bake Long Island on fragrance and taste, stands for Jews who do both good deeds and study To- Facebook for information to register, or orgarah, the willow, with neither smell nor taste, nize a group to join you there.

Hundreds of Jewish women of all backsymbolizes those without the knowledge or conďŹ dence to do either. Shabbos Project en- grounds and levels of observance will be 5DEEL 1DFKXP 1DFKXPVRQ D VHFRQG JUDGH UHEEL DW )DU 5RFNDZD\ÂśV <HVKLYD 'DUFKHL 7RUDK courages us to bring Jews currently outside mixing, kneading and braiding their own JLYHV D KDQGV RQ OHVVRQ WR KLV VWXGHQWV DERXW WKH )RXU 6SHFLHV D IHZ GD\V EHIRUH WKH 6XNNRV the circle of observance into agudas achdus, dough, saying the brocha together, making KROLGD\ 0RUH VFKRRO QHZV RQ SDJH 3KRWR FRXUWHV\ <HVKLYD 'DUFKHL 7RUDK new friends, singing and dancing, plus taking home tips about how to keep Shabbos and a book called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jew Got Questions?â&#x20AC;?

Think of the people you know who might appreciate an excuse to unplug from their electronics for several hours (thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s likely to include almost everyone who does not already not let the olive branch fall from observe Shabbos!).

By Ben Cohen, JNS

By The Associated Press Consider acquaintances who have asked In November 1974, the late my hand. I repeat: do not let the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told world leaders on questions about Jewish or Shabbos tradiPalestine Liberation Organization olive branch fall from my hand.â&#x20AC;?

Wednesday that he is no longer bound by agreements that have deIn visual terms at least, the tions; colleagues who remember being at leader Yasser Arafat addressed ďŹ ned relations with Israel for the past two decades and are meant their grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house for the Jewish the entire world from the rostrum contrast between Arafat in Noto form the basis for a two-state solution to the Middle East conďŹ&#x201A;ict. holidays and happily recall those amazing of the United Nations General As- vember 1974 and Palestinian AuBut what sounded like a potentially explosive declaration was thority (PA) President Mahmoud meals, or neighbors who might enjoy a social sembly. blunted by the lack of any detail on how he plans to move forward. night of talking and singing with others inAlways a master of spectacle, Abbas on Sept. 30, 2015, couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Abbas stead of eating alone.

Arafat cut an arresting ďŹ gure as have been greater. stopped short of speciďŹ c threats that would irrevocably put him At the General Assembly rosBy doing so, you will share and spread he strode towards the podium in on a collision course with Israel, such as suspending security cothe beauty and joy of Shabbos to others, and a tieless black shirt and ďŹ&#x201A;owing trum, the portly, drab Abbas deoperation. Instead, he closed on a conciliatory note, saying that spark increased ongoing observance among cream jacket, with a perfectly- livered a speech so rhetorically eventual peace between Israelis and Palestinians is â&#x20AC;&#x153;in the interthose close to you. Which is the perfect manicoiffed kefďŹ yeh wrapped around labored and dull that I found myest of our future generations.â&#x20AC;? festation of Succos achdus as we move forhis head. A holster without its self wondering whether heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d had Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ofďŹ ce issued a ward from this season of our joy. gunâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;ďŹ rearms are forbidden in second thoughts about dropping statement in response, saying that Abbas had delivered a â&#x20AC;&#x153;speech Continued on page 21 Someone you know needs Shabbos now! the General Assembly Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;was of lies that encourages incitement and unrest in the Middle East.â&#x20AC;? draped by his side pocket, comNetanyahu called on Abbas to â&#x20AC;&#x153;act responsiblyâ&#x20AC;? and answer pleting the aesthetic effect of a his proposal for direct negotiations with Israel without any prePalestinian Che Guevara. conditions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fact that time after time he (Abbas) does not Arafat, however, wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going respond is the best proof that he has no intention of reaching a to let U.N. protocol ruin the drapeace agreement,â&#x20AC;? he said. matic impact of his speech.

If Abbas were to go through with his demand that Israel asâ&#x20AC;&#x153;Today I have come bearing an sume responsibility for the Palestinians as the occupying power olive branch and a freedom-ďŹ ghtin the territories, this arguably would require dissolving the Palerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gun,â&#x20AC;? he told the U.N. deleestinian Authority and Abbasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; resignation. He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mention any gates at the end of his speech. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do of this in his speech.

October 2, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 19 Tishrei 5776

Chol Hamoed Sukkos â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 6:17 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 6

THE JEWISH

STAR

Broken etrog: A timely tale

by S.Y. Agnon Tehilla R. Goldbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s View from Central Park â&#x20AC;˘ P. 22

Page 6

Viewpoint by Ben Cohen

y hu nv d BDS x

Syria: Between barbarism and civilization

So ong Ame can p e he o DF M

Fa Rock s Da che To ah w g ow on new and

STAR

book is an American Jewish Zionist story,â&#x20AC;?

Oren said in a phone interview with JNS.org. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about a young man who grows up in the post-Holocaust generation, whose father landed on Normandy and fought all through-

;))/ = 4)' %

memoirâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the memoir covers more than the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s four years as Israeli ambassador to the U.S. from 2009-13. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Very few people have actually read the book and seen whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the book, and the

THE JEWISH

By Jacob Kamaras, JNS.org Seemingly lost in all the debate over U.S.Israel relations is that Member of Knesset Michael Orenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide,â&#x20AC;? is a

Beyond po cs book e s O en s pe sona s o y

By Ed Weintrob Seven hundred people concerned with the future of Jewish education joined dozens of rabbonim, rebbetzins, educators and community leaders at the second annual Five Towns Community Education Conference, at the Young Israel of Woodmere on Sunday, June 28.

Simultaneously, a similar event was drawing 500 people to Congregation Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Yeshurun in Teaneck. Many of the same speakers shuttled between th

Confab tackles challenges in Jewish education

July 10, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 23 Tamuz 5775

THE JEWISH

From the Heart of Jerusalem

Kosher Bookworm

STAR

Pinchas: Fighting on the road to peace

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Dreams of Freedomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jews

Ateret Cohanimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gala celebrates reclaiming Jerusalem

The Five Towns will host a wide-ranging educational conference this Sunday, June 28, bringing together dozens of leading rabbis, teachers and psychologists from across the Orthodox spectrum in the United States and Israel.

Parents interested in the chinuch of their children are invited.

This second annual event, which is free and open to all, begins with breakfast and a keynote address by Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twersky (his topic is â&#x20AC;&#x153;We Have Torah and Mitzvos, What About Yiras Shamayim?), and concludes following concurrent workshops with an address by Rabbi Paysach Krohn at 1:50 pm.

A complete schedule appears on page 10.

All-day confab on Jewish Ed this Sunday

June 26, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 9 Tamuz 5775

THE JEWISH

Rabbi Hershel Billet

G

Summertime offers no break from Torah

D

D

D

N

LA

N

Page 16

N

LA

IS

IS

IS

G

N

N

View from Central Park

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

N

LO LO

Every week in

;))/0= 74)'-%07 773095

a y h s dea

w

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Parshas Vayishlach â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 4:11 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 6

Vol 14, No. 45 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

5DFKHO ZKR ZLWK KHU VLVWHU $QDW ZDONHG PRQWKV WR OHDYH (WKLRSLD DQG JR XS WR <HUXVKDOD\LP VSRNH ZLWK +$)75 VWXGHQWV DQG GLVSOD\HG FUDIWV IURP WKHLU QDWLYH ODQG 0RUH LQ 6&+22/6 VHFWLRQ SDJHV Âą

Ethiopia to Israel to Lawrence

The leadership of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America said last week that â&#x20AC;&#x153;while security concerns must be paramount, our focus as a nation should be on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;getting to yesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;? on permitting the entry of Syrian war refugees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We cannot be naive in our assessment of the determination of terrorists to exploit the refugee crisis. And we should limit immigration to those individuals who share our American ideals and aspirations,â&#x20AC;? the OU said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, we also must recognize that the majority of these refugees are ďŹ&#x201A;eeing terror themselvesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;violence like we have witnessed in Paris. They are families, women, and children who are running for their lives.

We cannot and should not blame them for the actions of an evil terrorist organization. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Jewish community has an important perspective on this debate. Just a few decades ago, refugees from the terror and violence in Hitlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Europe sought refuge in the United States and were turned away due to suspicions about their nationality. In fact, the

Jewish immigrants that ultimately came to these shores fully adopted American values and have contributed greatly to the fabric of our great nation of immigrants. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thus, we encourage a sensible process of reviewing and enhancing security. Neither partisan politics nor xenophobia can have a place in that debate. While security concerns must be paramount, our focus as a nation should be on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;getting to yes.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Congress and the Executive Branch should review the screening program for refugees and strengthen it as appropriate. The process under which individuals can enter the U.S. on tourist or student visas should be reviewed as well. America has both the creativity and compassion to successfully address the competing considerations and we urge our political leaders to work toward achieving this delicate balance.â&#x20AC;?

INSIDE: Columnist Jeff Dunetz takes a different view, in a column titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Keep them out!

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bogus to compare Syrian refugees to Jews ďŹ&#x201A;eeing Hitler.â&#x20AC;? Page 7.

OU urges: Keep the door open to Syrian refugees

By Deborah Fineblum JERUSALEM â&#x20AC;&#x201D; It was eerily quiet in the old Ben Gurion Airport building in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. Of the 500 people gathered, many were students spending the year after high school in Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s yeshivas, seminaries and assorted other programs. Others were former neighbors of the Schwartz family who made aliyah from the Boston suburb of Sharon, Mass., over the years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including this reporter.

The only sound heard was the slow singing of Ezra Schwartzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends, arms wrapped around each other. That was until Rabbi Seth Farber stepped up to the microphone. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were brought up on the Zionist dream,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is no young man or woman who is unscarred by what happened in the last 52 hours, but we cannot give up on the dream. The unspeakable anguish of Ezraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family and friends must strengthen our resolve here.â&#x20AC;?

Days ago, Ezra Schwartz, age 18, was just another one of the (]UD 6FKZDUW] DW IDU OHIW ZLWK KLV IRXU \RXQJHU VLEOLQJV LQ KLV KRPH 6DWXUGD\ QLJKWÂśV IDUHZHOO FHUHPRQ\ IRU (]UD 6FKZDUW] LQ WKH ROG %HQ Continued on page 4 WRZQ RI 6KDURQ 0DVVDFKXVHWWV )DFHERRN *XULRQ $LUSRUW EXLOGLQJ LQ 7HO $YLY 'HERUDK )LQHEOXP

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The unspeakable anguish of Ezraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family and friends must strengthen our resolveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Nov. 27, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 15 Kislev 5776

8

B ended ea n ng a new man a a HALB

THE JEWISH

w

O

E u s n he a a Gou me G a

F na push Sep

STAR

an dea 22 a yo e u n home

THE JEWISH

On mo n ng o

â&#x20AC;˘Long s and a s aga ns bad dea â&#x20AC;˘Commun y o um on Sunday n gh â&#x20AC;˘Huge T mes Sq a y on Wednesday

STAR

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEXT?

THE JEWISH

D

Judea-Samaria boycott and the Mark of Cain

N

LA

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

LO

Every week in 74099

STAR

w

Dec. 4, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 22 Kislev 5776

Parshas Vayeshev â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 4:10 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 19

<RQD /DYLH 7]LSS\ )HOGPDQ DQG 0HOD QLH 6RNRORZ ZLWK WKHLU DUW IRU ZHGGLQJ

school for the family of gap-year student Ezra Schwartz aâ&#x20AC;?h, who was killed in a terrorist attack. Last Friday, Emily and Eliana traveled to Sharon, Massachusetts, to deliver the card to the shiva house, hoping to bring some nechama to the

grieving family. Students Gabriella Spirgel and Tamar Hershberg went on Thanksgiving day to be menachem avel and show their support.

SKAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Israel Action Committee of SKA, is continuing its advocacy in these troubling times. Over 100 SKA students signed up for the AIPAC NGuage App to received updates on how to advocate for Israel.

The schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lev Echad group, founded by Zahava Gros, Henna Storch and Michal Yacker, has restarted the practice of reading a memorial bio before teďŹ lla and sending letters the families of the soldiers, letting them know that their children live on in our minds and hearts.

Students are planning to meet soon with South Shore Rep. Kathleen Rice to discuss issues related to the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Heartfelt SKA-Israel link Two weeks after the murder of her father and brother, Sarah Techiya Litman married Ariel Beigel in Binyanei Hauma in Jerusalem and invited the country to share in her simcha. A painting made

by Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls students Tzippy Feldman, Yona Lavie, Joyce Mishaan and Melanie Sokolow was hand-delivered at the wedding last Thursday.

Faculty member and Rebbitzen of Congregation Bais Ephraim Yitzchok, Paghit Ralbag, presented the painting, danced with the kallah and shared the good wishes of the SKA community.

Meanwhile, SKA students Emily Klein and Eliana Wienerkur, along with Miri Lieber, who coordinates the Artists for Israel Committee, created a card signed by most of the

Vol 14, No. 46 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

By Jeffrey F. Barken Although doctors cannot promise miracles, there is mounting evidence that a regimen of laughter â&#x20AC;&#x201D; applied pragmatically in diverse settings â&#x20AC;&#x201D; can heal.

Dr. Neal Goldberg, founder and executive director of Lawrence-based Lev Leytzan (He-

brew for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heart of a Clownâ&#x20AC;?), has helped train nearly 1,000 medical clowns â&#x20AC;&#x201D; some are volunteers as young as 12, others are paid professionals â&#x20AC;&#x201D; since he founded the organization in 2003.

Initially, the focus was to â&#x20AC;&#x153;work with Jewish youths in our Continued on page 21

Bedside clown can be great medicine

$V &KDQXNDK EHJLQV 6XQGD\ QLJKW \RXœOO ¿QG VXIJDQL\RW WKH GHHS IULHG GRXJKQXWV WKDW DUH D GHOLJKW RI WKH KROLGD\ DW NRVKHU EDNHULHV HYHU\ ZKHUH 7R PDNH \RXU RZQ VHH SDJH ZKHUH ³.RVKHU %DNHU´ 3DXOD 6KR\HU GHVFULEHV KRZ WR PDNH ERWK VXIJDQL\RW DQG WZR XQFRPPRQ KROLGD\ WUHDWV ² GHFRUDWHG EURZQLH ELWHV DQG WLH G\HG PLQL EODFN DQG ZKLWH FRRNLHV 6XIJDQL\RW DORQJ ZLWK IRRWEDOO LV RQ -XG\ -RV]HIœV SODWH SDJH

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Chanukahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oily treat

N

LO

D N

LA

IS

THE JEWISH G

Catch a rising Star! First in the 5 Towns! Fresh every Wednesday!

6HQD H FK H RX 7RZQ

on d a d ba

h hou NY a es on an

Bo d Eu op pa

A

L sukkah com

Shabbo P o un O 2

on

STAR

B b e a e h oppo

THE JEWISH

m w

H k nd mocks Shomer Schumer

THE JEWISH

;))/0= 74)'-%07 Every week in

5DEEL 6KDXO 5DSSHSRUW 5HEEHW]LQ 0LFKDO 5DSSHSRUW DQG WKHLU FKLOGUHQ OHIW WR ULJKW

6KDLQD 6DUD DQG (OLH]HU SLFWXUHG LQ WKH \HDU WKH\ DUULYHG LQ /LGR %HDFK

Rabbi Rappeportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weekly Talmud and parsha classes, and the many programs and special events that the shul hosts Continued on page 10

;))/0= 74)'-%07

clude Shop Glatt Mart, a butcher shop, mini-grocery and takeout; Lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A Bagel; Country Boy Bakery, and Dunkin Donuts.

In Lido Beach, there is a kosher ice cream shop called Marvel.

The Lido Beach Synagogue welcomed Rabbi Rappeport, his wife Michal, and their three children, ages four, six and eight, in 2013. Rabbi Rappeport origi-

STAR

w

m

AP

Shu am h opens n C hu s

D N LA

IS

Parshas Vayera â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 5:36 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 12

By Celia Weintrob Three exceptional things happened at last weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Great Challah Bake, Long Island Styleâ&#x20AC;? (in addition to the three loaves each

participant created).

The event, which drew over 1,400 women to the Sands Atlantic Beach, allowed less-observant Jewish women to renew their connection with Judaism and meet a â&#x20AC;&#x153;real liveâ&#x20AC;? Orthodox neighbor to whom they can direct practical, traditional or spiritual questions. Many invitations to future Shabbos meals were made that night.

The evening also energized the women and girls in Orthodox communities. The things we do daily, often without thought, were seen through fresh eyes, reminding us of their value.

Thirdly, a feeling of profound unity permeated the entire build-

Israeli pilots and ďŹ&#x201A;ight attendants will join Five Towners this Sunday in an entertaining evening of Chanukah festivities, refreshments and menorah lighting.

El Al staff, who do speaking engagements while on layovers, will present exciting, funny and personal stories about living in Israel and ďŹ&#x201A;ying with the Jewish stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airline, from 5 to 7 pm at the Goldstone home, 14 Wyckoff Place in Woodmere.

$V PHQRUDKV DUH OLW LQ SULYDWH KRPHV VKXOV DQG SXEOLF SODFHV WKURXJKRXW /RQJ ,VODQG (OQDWRQ &KDVVHU HQMR\V D SXEOLF PHQRUDK OLJKWLQJ ² DQG VXIJDQLRW ² LQ 2FHDQVLGH

JERUSALEM â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Secretary of State John Kerry has set off a furor by suggesting that Israel was destroying itself as a Jewish state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily, telling his cabinet that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israel will not be a binational stateâ&#x20AC;? and blaming the Palestinians for the failure of peace efforts.

Kerry told a conference on Israeli affairs in Washington on Saturday that through its continued occupation of the West Bank, Israel could make it impossible to partition the

This week on pages 8-9

land between Jewish and Palestinian states. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The one-state solution is no solution at all for a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel living in peace, it is simply not a viable option,â&#x20AC;?

Kerry said.

The U.S., along with most of the international community, has long argued that a â&#x20AC;&#x153;two-state solutionâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; establishing a Palestinian state and ending Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s control over millions of Palestinians in territories occupied in the 1967 war in which Israel foiled the atContinued on page 13

Kerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1 state comments are irksome in Israel

794)6 74)'-%07

The event is co-sponsored by the Israeli New York Flight Club, which ďŹ&#x201A;ew 14 wounded IDF soldiers on a joy ride last Thursday.

The group met at the Young Israel of Woodmere, took off from Republic Airport, and ďŹ&#x201A;ew over Jones Beach, Coney Island, by the Freedom Tower and up the Hudson River corridor. They were greeted and honored at Republic Airport by a group of students from the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County.

Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event is free and open to all.

For additional information, contact Robert Keleti at 929-500-8004.

By Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org JERUSALEM â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is returning to Israel next week, for four shows in Tel Aviv on Dec. 19 and 20. Although heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visited Israel previously, and even volunteered in Kibbutz Saâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ar when he was 15, he has never performed there before.

Seinfeld is coming with his friend of 37 years, fellow comedian Mark Schiff, who will open each show. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israel is the best,â&#x20AC;? Schiff tells JNS.org, saying of Seinfeld, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jerry loves Israel, tooâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that is for sure.â&#x20AC;? In October, Seinfeld performed at the Los Angeles Red Star Ball of American Friends of Magen David Adom, the U.S.-based support arm of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national ambulance, blood-services, and disaster-relief organization.

Continued on page 13

Seinfeld heading to Tel Aviv

El Al pilots celebrate Chanukah in Wâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;mere

-HUU\ 6HLQIHOG DW WKH /RV $QJH OHV 5HG 6WDU %DOO RI $PHULFDQ )ULHQGV RI 0DJHQ 'DYLG $GRP

twice. At one ďŹ re scene, someone left an encrypted note apparently intended to throw off investigators.

Police say they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have evidence suggesting that the arsons are hate crimes, but the fact that most of the victims have been Bukharian Jews, a group that ďŹ&#x201A;ed persecution in Central Asia, has the neighborhood on edge.

One theory is that the arsonist is targeting opulent, oversized homes that have been replacing the neighborhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s modest dwellings. Another holds that the person behind the ďŹ res is just disturbed.

Continued on page 13

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jerry loves Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

By Jake Pearson, AP Somebody has been burning down new homes in a neighborhood populated by Bukharian Jews, and police arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure whether the victims are being targeted for their religion, their architectural taste, or for no reason at all.

Over the past six weeks, an arsonist has torched six buildings in the same tight-knit section of eastern Queens, police say. Four of the ďŹ res hit new homes that were still under construction, including one house â&#x20AC;&#x201D; belonging to Rabbi Zalman Zvulonov â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that was burned

Vol 14, No. 47 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

Yum! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to light!

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

ARSON: 6 Bukharian homes are torched in Forest Hills

Dec.11, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 29 Kislev 5776

Parshas Miketz â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 4:09 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 19

THE JEWISH

First in the 5 Towns! Catch your rising Star every Wednesday

ing. The excitement of joining together with Jewish women from all walks of life and all points on the religious spectrum inspired everyone.

Rabbi Lawrence Hajjioff introduced each section of the eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities, and Rebbetzin Debbie Greenblatt directed the baking with warmth, wit and wisdom. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tonight we are discovering the joy of being a Jewish woman, like Sarah the ďŹ rst Jewish woman who we read about in the Torah portion this week,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The tradition of challah goes back 3,700 years! â&#x20AC;&#x153;So we are forging another link in the chain of Jewish women. CiviContinued on page 13

1,400 women join LI Challah Bake at Sands Atlantic Beach 75,3/( '26( 2) œ'5< %21(6¡

into todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headlines, deďŹ ning

By Ed Weintrob The war against Jews in the the conďŹ&#x201A;ict in which Israel ďŹ nds Middle East â&#x20AC;&#x153;will be forever,â&#x20AC;? and itself as primarily a religious one to survive, Israel must convince that â&#x20AC;&#x153;will be forever.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of course, there are newer her foes that she â&#x20AC;&#x153;is invincible forlayers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; nationalever,â&#x20AC;? Dr. Mordechai ism, territorial isKedar told the Rasues, legal issues chelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Children Reclaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; but the founmation Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dation is religious 21st annual beneďŹ t before it is anyon Sunday night. thing connected to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nothing is new territory, human in what we witness rights or political today,â&#x20AC;? he said, refreedom.â&#x20AC;? ferring to the reMuslims concent wave of terror sider that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve in Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It started supplanted both with their prophet Muhammad, who Judaism and Chrisslaughtered, with his tianity and the own hands, hundreds notion of Jewish of Jews in Medina, in 'U 0RUGHFKDL .HGDUÂśV PHV nationalism is inVDJH ZDV D VRPEHU RQH the oasis of Khaibar. comprehensive to 7KH -HZLVK 6WDU (G :HLQWURE It started 14 centuries them. ago and continues today.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The problem is Jews before it The killers in Israel sing of is Israelis or Zionists,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Khaibarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glory, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is not the occupation of Kedar spoke at the dinner of an 1967, it is the occupation of 1948â&#x20AC;? organization thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been working to which they object, Kedar continsince 1995 to preserve Rachelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ued. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jews have no right, accordancient tomb and to reclaim the ing to their view, to even a square midos of the matriarchs and patri- millimeter of Tel Aviv not to menarchs. The event was held at the tion Jerusalem [which] is most Manhattan Beach Jewish Center problematic because Jerusalem rein Brooklyn. sembles the revivalism of Judaism, With the perspective of some- the coming back to life of Judaism one who is ďŹ&#x201A;uent in Arabic, Kedar which they cannot fathom because traced Islam from its inception Continued on page 27

Vol 14, No. 41 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

,Q SHUVRQ DQG RQ ELJ VFUHHQV 'HEELH *UHHQEODWW SURYLGHG EORZ E\ EORZ LQVWUXFWLRQV WR FKDOODK PDNHUV DW 7KH 6DQGV

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Hateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too deep: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect peace with Islam

October 30, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 17 Cheshvan 5776

G N

THE JEWISH LO

ďŹ

L sukkah com

K

STAR

Best coverage of our schools! Open house ads and school news, pages 4â&#x20AC;&#x201C;12

m

RďŹ&#x201A; Dm

RAN WRAP

N P

U

B

THE JEWISH

1 :

Happy New Year

;))/ = 4)' %

F NALLY T mes Sq a y o d o obby Dems POLLARD FREEDOM

m

Huckabee n Queens No apo ogy

THE JEWISH

D

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

LO

%R\V DQG JLUOV JLYH LW \RXU DOO ² LWœV D /DJ %œ2PHU WXJ RI ZDU LQ :DQWDJK 6WDWH 3DUN 7KH -HZLVK 6WDU 'RQRYDQ %HUWKRXG

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

LA

IS

G

year member of the community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have all the same amenities as in larger Jewish communities, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s warmer and smaller here.â&#x20AC;?

The community of 150 families is complete with an active shul with daily minyanim, a mikvah, and an eruv. Under the supervision of the VAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;AD of the South Shore, Rabbi Chaim Wakslak of

N

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

;32*2 6WXQW 7HDP ZRZV WKH FURZG LQ &HGDUKXUVW 3DUN 7KH-HZLVK 6WDU 0RQLFD 5]HZVNL

N

LO

775905

Our goal is that when a woman in Long Is land is facing breast cancer or ovarian cancer in any way, she will know to call Sharsheret,â&#x20AC;? said Schwartz.

Schwartz recounted that one of the recurring themes mentioned at the funeral was, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Despite her personal battle, she thanked G-d for each day, and Continued on page 20

IS

LA

Every week in

I

Gma Cha ma Tovah

;))/ = 4)' %

m m

o n downp y ng o J w h ud n

D N

Parshas Chayei Sara â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 4:28 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 6

By Ed Weintrob Rebbetzin Tzirel Kamenetzky, aâ&#x20AC;?h, who with her husband of 68 years, Rabbi Binyamin Kamenetzky, brought Torah to â&#x20AC;&#x153;the midbar of Nassau county,â&#x20AC;? was niftar over Shabbos and was eulogized on Sunday at the school they built, the Yeshiva of South Shore in Hewlett.

An overďŹ&#x201A;ow crowd ďŹ lled South Shoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beit knesset and an adjoining room where the service was broadcast; kohanim assembled outside.

The Rebbetzin, 89, had been ailing for a number of years.

The Kamenetzkys were pioneers in the establishment and growth of Orthodox Judaism in the Five Towns and remained pillars of community. Woodmere did not have a daily minyan be-

By Judy Joszef little over two months ago, I wrote a column in honor of my dear friend, Debbie Shafranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father Harry Engelman, Aâ&#x20AC;?H. My husband Jerry and I met with Engelman to hear his stories of growing up in Czechoslovakia, and how well he and his fellow Jews were treated, due to the democratic constitution put into place under that countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst president, Tomas Masaryk. He spoke of the hakarat hatov to Masaryk.

Engelman was a holocaust survivor, a war hero who arrived in Israel on Aliyah Bet and navigated the ship he was on, The Hatikvah. In Israel, he was part of the Haganah and Golani Brigade.

While in a detention camp on Cyprus, after the war, he made two plaques, by hand with crude tools he made himself â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one was for Presi-

This week on pages 10-11

794)6 74)'-%07

$FKLH]HU VDOXWHG LWV YROXQWHHUV DW D &KDQXNDK FHOHEUDWLRQ LQ /DZUHQFH )URP OHIW $FKLH]HU 'HYHORSPHQW &RRUGLQDWRU (OL :HLVV $FKLH]HUÂśV +RVSLWDO 6XSSRUW 6HUYLFHV DQG 3K\VLFLDQÂśV /LDLVRQ 6KDORP -DURVODZLF] 51 RI 6RXWK 1DVVDX &RPPXQLWLHV +RVSLWDO 0RVKH 5DWQHU RI *RXUPHW *ODWW $FKLH]HU YROXQWHHU =YL %R NRZ DQG $FKLH]HU )RXQGHU DQG 3UHVLGHQW 5DEEL %RUXFK %HU %HQGHU 6WRU\ PRUH SKRWRV RQ SDJH

S

By Rabbi Binny Freedman omeone recently sent me this story about Moe Berg, the strangest Jew ever to play baseball: When baseball greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig went on tour in baseball-crazy Japan in 1934, some fans wondered why a third-string catcher named Moe Berg was included. Although he played with ďŹ ve majorleague teams from 1923 to 1939, he was a mediocre ball player. But Moe was regarded as the brainiest ballplayer of all time.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;In fact, Casey Stengel once said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;That is the strangest man ever to play baseball.â&#x20AC;?

When the baseball stars went to Japan and Moe Berg went with them, many people wondered why he went with â&#x20AC;&#x153;the team.â&#x20AC;? The answer was simple: Moe Berg was a United States spy, working undercover with the CIA. Moe spoke 15 languages â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including Japanese â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and he had two loves: baseball and spying.

In Tokyo, garbed in a kimono, Berg took ďŹ&#x201A;owers to the daughter of an American dip-

lomat being treated in St. Lukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital, the tallest building in the Japanese capital. He never delivered the ďŹ&#x201A;owers. The ballplayer ascended to the hospital roof and ďŹ lmed key features: the harbor, military installations, railway yards, etc. Eight years later, General Jimmy Doolittle studied Bergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ lms in planning his spectacular raid on Tokyo.

His father disapproved of his baseball career and never once watched his son play.

In Barringer High School, Moe learned Latin, Greek and French. He read at least 10 newspapers every day.

He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton, having added Spanish, Italian, German and Sanskrit to his linguistic quiver. During further studies at the Sorbonne and Columbia Law School, he picked up Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Arabic, Portuguese and Hungarian â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 15 languages in all, plus some regional Continued on page 18 dialects.

Sometimes, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not what we appear to be

6HQLRUV DW 6WHOOD . $EUDKDP +LJK 6FKRRO IRU *LUOV SDUWLFLSDWHG LQ D 6.$YHQJHU 6HIRULP +XQW RQ WKH IRXUWK GD\ RI &KDQXNDK $OL\DQD 7HLWHOEDXP OHIW DQG 0LFKDO <DFNHU VWXGHQWV LQ 0UV /HDK )HLQEHUJœV + FODVV VHDUFKHG WKURXJK PDQ\ ERRNV ² LQ FOXGLQJ VHIRULP WKH\ KDG QHYHU VHHQ EHIRUH ² IRU FKDOOHQJLQJ UHIHUHQFHV LQ 7DQDFK 7RUDK 6œEDO 3HK DQG 0XVVDU 0DFKVKDYD

A toast to Achiezer volunteers

A

dent Masaryk and the other, a memorial stone, was for the six million Jews who never had a matzevah. An image of that handmade plaque adorns the entrance of his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s burial society in the cemetery where survivors of his region are buried.

Last week, after a short illness, Harry Engelman Aâ&#x20AC;?H passed away peacefully, with his daughter Debbie by his side. t the levaya, Debbie spoke eloquently and beautifully about her father. She said that he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want her to cry, and that it shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be a sad day. After all, â&#x20AC;&#x153;he was blessed to have lived 91 years, which was 70 more than he ever thought he would ever live to see.â&#x20AC;?

Continued on page 4

Vol 14, No. 49 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

SKAvanager hunt, in the library

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

Hope and Hatikvah at survivorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s levaya

Dec. 25, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 13 Tevet 5776

Parshas Vayechi â&#x20AC;˘ Candlelighting 4:14 pm â&#x20AC;˘ Luach page 14

THE JEWISH A

fore they moved there from East New York in 1956, at the urging of her father-in-law, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky. Rabbi Herschel Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere began Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s service with a recitation of tehillim; Rabbi Kamenetzky was founding rabbi of the now 55-year-old shul.

At the lavaya, Rabbi Kamenetzky recalled that after the couple moved to the Five Towns, any thought of returning to the more familiar and yiddishe Brooklyn was pushed aside with the knowledge that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the Torah was given in the midbar [and we] have an obligationâ&#x20AC;? to bring Torah to a place where it was lacking.

Now that the Rebbetzin has gone to her menucha, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the world doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop, [it] continues with Continued on page 16

Rebbetzin was a frum pioneer in 5T â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;midbarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

5DEEL %LQ\DPLQ .DPHQHW]N\ DIWHU VSHDNLQJ RQ 6XQGD\ DW WKH OHYD\D IRU KLV ZLIH 5HEEHW]LQ 7]LUHO .DPHQHW]N\ 7KH -HZLVK 6WDU (G :HLQWURE

Take a Jewish Star home for Shabbos! â&#x20AC;˘ Now published every Wednesday

75,3/( '26( 2) œ'5< %21(6¡

Ravs say no to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Open Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

The Jewish Star Lawrence as part of a continuing discussion Rabbi Berel Wein and series sponsored by criminal defense attorthe Destiny Foundaney Benjamin Brafman tion and Five Towns agreed in a conversation shuls. They touched on on Sunday that Jews a range of subjects and should be less judgementlife experiences. al of each other.

They spoke about â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Chofetz Chaim media bias, presidenwas right,â&#x20AC;? Brafman said, tial politics, the growth â&#x20AC;&#x153;the biggest problem we of Orthodox Judiasm have is loshon hara.â&#x20AC;? in the United States, Referring to his expeand the safety of Jews rience with clients under around the world. legal attack, Brafman On that issue, Rabsaid â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a failing in the Jewish community 5DEEL %HUHO :HLQ OHIW DQG DWWRUQH\ %HQMDPLQ %UDIPDQ DW &RQ bi Wein expressed opthat doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give people JUHJDWLRQ %HWK 6KDORP RQ 6XQGD\ 7KH -HZLVK 6WDU (G :HLQWURE timism while Brafman was downbeat. the beneďŹ t of the doubt.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The menace we are living through now, the world Poor perceptions the larger community has of ethical failings among Orthodox Jews can be partly traced doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to care,â&#x20AC;? Brafman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am pessimistic.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Wein responded: â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the ďŹ rst time in 2,000 to the way we ourselves view such allegations, he said.

The two appeared at Congregation Beth Shalom in years that Jews are not defenseless. And anybody that is coming to stab a Jew is really on a suicide mission. That eventually sinks in.â&#x20AC;?

U.S. presidential candidates were not given a positive review.

It â&#x20AC;&#x153;is not a form of Torah JudaThe Jewish Star President Obama may be Leading rabbis in Agudath Israel ism,â&#x20AC;? they said. the smartest president ever, While the statement targeted of America moved Monday to furbut he is not a friend of Isther distance what has been referred three speciďŹ c institutions â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Yeshivat rael, Brafman said. Some to as Open Orthodoxy from norma- Chovevei Torah, Yeshivat Maharat, of the candidates â&#x20AC;&#x153;are not and International Rabbinic Fellowtive Orthodox Judaism. smart and say all the right The Moetzes Gedolei HaTo- ship â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it is not limited to them. words on cue, [but] can Open Orthodoxy is frequently asrah of America (Council of Sages), they deliver?â&#x20AC;?

Agudathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest rabbinic body, sociated with Rabbi Avi Weiss, who â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israel is my issue,â&#x20AC;? Brafproclaimed that Open Orthodoxy recently retired as spiritual leader of man said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nixon may have â&#x20AC;&#x153;reject[s] the basic tenets of our the Hebrew Academy of Riverdale been a real criminal, but faith, particularly the authority of and established the two yeshivot during the Yom Kippur war censured in Mondayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proclamation. the Torah and its Sages.â&#x20AC;? he saved Isreal.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Wein, lawyer Brafman, chat at Beth Shalom

Vol 14, No. 42 â&#x20AC;˘ TheJewishStar.com

STAR

Jewish Star schools: p. 7-9

THE NEWSPAPER OF OUR ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES

LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BE NICE!

Nov. 6, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 24 Cheshvan 5776

LA

IS

THE JEWISH G N LO

Forum eyes Jewish safety here and in Israel: p. 16

A

UC h

S

50 years ago Kou ax proud

STAR

Why t took 30 years or Po ard to go ree

THE JEWISH

m

No n To ah s name

we know how untrue this is.

We have the feeling that people died before their time, leaving the most painful legacy of all, exposing those we always want to protect and spare of any pain the most: little children, parentless.

This is one of those unnatural losses for which there are no words, for which we refer to Continued on page 15

STAR

tragedies of high proďŹ le Americans were highlighted in the news. One was in the private sector, the other, the public sector. Both clearly had a sense of calling and duty, of responsibility and kindness, of generosity and humility.

The ďŹ rst was Beau Biden, may his memory be for a blessing. As the song goes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;only the good die young.â&#x20AC;? Because above all else that I have read of his stellar accomplishments,

;))/0= 74)'-%07

Absalom and Amnon.

And so many scenarios in the later prophets after the Jewish people were exiled.

The Book of Ruth, as Naomi and Ruthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s characters grapple with their respective losses.

The melancholic and visceral book of Lamentations. And countless Talmudic narratives that insightfully address the searing questions and mysterious rhythms of the human condition.

THE JEWISH

Nadav and Avihu.

The ordeal with the tribe of Benjamin in the Book of Judges.

King Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moving and poetic eulogy for the loss of King Saul and Jonathan, with whom he shared a complex relationship and loved dearly.

King Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unusual coping with the illness and then death of his baby son from

D

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

G

N

LA

reports about non existent Jewish outrages in Palestine. Grobba, in conjunction with the Mufti, cultivated many Iraqis to act as surrogate Nazis.

By April 1, 1941, with WWII in full swing, a group of pro-Nazi Iraqi military men known as the Golden Square staged a coup, ousting the British-dominated government. Quickly, the Continued on page 19

N

G

IS

G

ler, the killer of insects and Jews.

By the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, and a coterie of transnational Palestinian agitators, had thoroughly permeated Baghdadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ruling circles.

For example, Taha al-Hashimi, Iraqi Chief of Staff, doubled as the head of the Committee for the Defense of Palestine.

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301 801096

N

installments of an Arabic translation of Hit lerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mein Kampf. Radio Berlin began beaming Arabic programs across the Middle East.

The Nazi ideology of Jewish conspiracy and international manipulation was widely adopted in Iraqi society.

As Arab Nationalism and Hitlerism fused, numerous Nazi-style youth clubs began springing up in Iraq. One pivotal group,

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301 801097

LO

7KH -HZLVK 6WDU 3HQQ\ )URQGHOOL

777678 809401

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

n Arabic, the word is Farhud means â&#x20AC;&#x153;violent dispossession.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a word the Jews of wartime Europe did not know, just as Holocaust was a word unfamiliar to the Jews of WWII Iraq.

The Farhud of June 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2, 1941, on the holiday of Shavuot, brought murder, rape and destruction to a Jewish community that had

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 20 Tevet 5776

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301 -HZLVK 6WDU 3HQQ\ )URQGHOOL

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

807900

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

I

11

January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

12

JEWISH STAR Schools Parents join HAFTR ‘day of learning’ Over 400 people participated in HAFTR Middle School’s first massive parent-child boker iyun, a morning of learning, on Dec. 25 This event, organized by Rabbi Judah Hulkower, began with a beautiful Tefillat Shacharit which was jointly attended by parents and the students. After breakfast, rabbeim and morot led grade-specific interactive, inspirational and thought provoking sessions on the topic of tefillah.

Torah tech apps at Manhattan school Learning Torah and other Jewish studies subjects is no longer limited to flipping the pages of a well-worn Chumash.

These days, apps, podcasts and video chats help Manhattan Day School students get excited about learning.

“Zaption allows me to interact with the students while they are at home, on their own time,” says Rabbi Avi Genack of the Manhattan Day School, on the Upper West Side. “I can highlight the important aspects of the class and what students should take away from the video. In addition, it creates accountability by letting me know exactly who has watched the video and how much time they have devoted to it.”

Nightly, Rabbi Genack creates Zaption videos that review pesukim and challenge students to read between the lines of the text.

The Class Dojo app creates a pie chart which can be viewed by parents to keep them informed of their child’s performance in class.

For students who do not wish to read aloud unless they are confident in front of their peers, Showbie “allows me to hear each child practice reading the shakla v’tarya (give and take) of the Gemara and provide feedback privately, making him comfortable and well-practiced,” says Rabbi Genack.

Inspiration Maps is also used in Gemara classes to help create a graphic organizer. Different rabbis’ points of view are illustrated via bubbles which can later be turned into a written organizer with a click of the button.

Apps like Oovoo turn learning into a social experience, allowing students to video chat with up to 12 friends, send text, picture and video messages, and more. Sudents use it “to practice reading from the Chumash, debate Rashi’s ideas with friends and encourage each other when they need help or make mistakes,” Rabbi Genack says. “Like social media, it enables kids to get into the conversation and connect to others. It also helps them feel more confident in expressing themselves.”

Shulamith girls are talking tefilla Middle School students at the Shulamith School for Girls attended an enlightening session on the topic of tefillah last week.

Teacher-panelists — Gila Goldstone of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, Mindy Futersak of Shulamith Lower Division, and Suri Weingot of Bnos Bais Yaakov — fielded students’ questions such as “Do you have a role model in Tefillah?” and “How do you maintain your concentration while davening?”

SKA: Father-daughter learning Ninth Grade fathers joined their daughters for a wonderful morning at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls, on Dec. 25.

After davening in the gymnasium, the fathers posed with their daughters on the auditorium stage for a photo which was given out at the end of the event as a memento in a frame with a tefillah.

The program, facilitated by Rabbi Yosef Zakutinsky, began with Head of School Helen Spirn, who applied Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ work on women leaders in Tanach to leadership and women in our time. Freshmen Elisheva Ismach, daughter of Dr. Malka Ismach, an alumna of SKA’s first graduating class, delivered a d’var Torah. The fathers-daughter pairs then learned from prepared handouts and heard a shiur from Rabbi Daniel Eisenbach, Mashgiach Ruchani.

The second half of the program divided participants into groups to play “Jeopardy.”

5DEEL /HZLV :LHQHUNXU DQG KLV GDXJKWHU .D\OD Ira Thomas Creations

Songs for Chumashim at HANC Kitah Bet students at the HANC Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School, in West Hempstead, joyfully performed songs about their love and enthusiasm for learning Torah, as they received their own Chumashim.

The packed house of parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and teachers couldn’t have been prouder.

The Kitah Bet morot, Morah Rebecca and Morah Wasser, with the help of Morah Zimerman and Morah Ahuva, did a wonderful job of preparing the children for this occasion.

Visiting Shoah memorial at museum HANC’s eighth grade girls traveled to the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, on Dec. 24, part of the Names Not Numbers program created by Tova Rosenberg.

Dr. Paul Radensky, manager of educational programs, reviewed a timeline of events leading up to, during and at the end of the Holocaust.

The students, ccompanied by docents, saw many interesting things, including a b’samim box saved by a Jew in his bag.

The docent explained how poignant this was because the Jews were only allowed to take one bag of items. That this b’samim box was one of those items was incredible. The students thought about what they would take if they were presented with the same scenario.

Another memorable item was the dress and bag that were sown after liberation, made from the pajamas/uniform she was given to wear during the Holocaust, an example of hope for the

future and never forgetting the past.

The students were given pictures and asked to come up with what they thought was the story behind them.

One of the items discussed was a little comb. During the Holocaust a girl made this comb out of whatever she could find even though the Nazis had shaved her head. She wanted to remember what it was like to comb her hair and to be prepared for when she would once again have that opportunity.

13

PARSHA OF THE WEEK

A

fter Moshe and Aharon are reunited and they convince the nation of Israel that they were sent by G-d to redeem them, they declare before Pharoah, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Send My nation to celebrate for me in the wilderness!â&#x20AC;? Pharaoh refuses, denying G-dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s divinity, causing Moshe and Aharon to say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The G-d of the Hebrews has called upon us, so let us go on a three day journey to bring offerings to our G-d, lest we be smitten by a plague or by the sword.â&#x20AC;?

The two verses which follow this show Pharaohâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response, but they are introduced with a subtle difference.

The King of Egypt said to them, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Moshe and Aharon, why are you distracting the people from their work? Get back to your own business!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (5:4) Pharaoh said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The peasants are becoming more numerous, and you want them to take a vacation from their labors!â&#x20AC;? (5:5) First the King of Egypt, then Pharaoh, each one says something different. It would not be farfetched for the king of Egypt to make two different statements; why does he need to be introduced twice, and each time a different way, after Moshe and Aharon do not respond to his words in verse 4?

Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch says verse 4 was the king speaking to Moshe and Aharon personally. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re using this â&#x20AC;&#x153;G-d-talkâ&#x20AC;? to disturb people. The king is having a premonition to the famous line uttered by Wesley at his capture in â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Princess Brideâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are men of action, lies do not become us.â&#x20AC;? Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bring some ridiculous unheard of G-d into a conversation on whom to worship. This is the king talking to those who have taken the role of leaders, it is a political conversation between the top diplomats of each nation.

As Pharaoh, on the other hand, he speaks to them conďŹ dentially, using the term Am Haaretz (which we deďŹ ned above as â&#x20AC;&#x153;peasantsâ&#x20AC;?) to describe his own nation that has multiplied, forcing an economy that can survive only if each subject works diligently at his occupation. You, Moshe and Aharon, are asking for the Hebrew slaves to get a week off (three days journey, 1 day of worship, 3 days return journey). Were the slaves to get a week off, you can only imagine what kinds of vacation the Egyptian population would demand.

Everyone needs to make their contribution to society! If they walk off the job, the economy would collapse!

The Alshikh views these verses similarly, in that one verse describes the Egyptians, while the other describes the Israelites. He switches

/XDFK

)UL -DQ Â&#x2021; 7HYHW 3DUVKDV 6KHPRW &DQGOHOLJKWLQJ SP +DYGDODK SP

)UL -DQ Â&#x2021; 7HYHW 3DUVKDV 9DÂś(LUD &DQGOHOLJKWLQJ SP +DYGDODK SP 7LPHV SHU &KDEDG &HQWHU IRU -HZLVK /LIH

M

Lenny Koegel

516-594-6010 www.distinctivewindowfashions.com

807930

RABBI AVI BILLET

from Hirschâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interpretation, however, saying verse 4 describes the Egyptians, while verse 5 describes the Israelites.

Alshikh describes the scene in very plain terms, that Moshe and Aharon approaching the palace would cause a stir amongst the Egyptian population, many of whom would follow Moshe and Aharon to witness their impertinence in asking the king for favors, thereby abandoning their own tasks and jobs for the day. The king of the Egyptians is therefore blaming Moshe and Aharon for causing Egyptians to take a day off.

As Pharaoh, who has caused the Israelites to be enslaved, he notes the impossibility of letting the Israelites take a day off, as they have increased manifold. Noting their increased numbers, Pharaoh then takes steps, in verses 6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;9, to increase their labor, making it more difďŹ cult for them to rebel because their responsibilities â&#x20AC;&#x201C; getting their own straw for the bricks instead of being supplied with it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; make their brick tally so much more difďŹ cult to achieve.

Malbim notes the distinction between â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why are you distracting the people (haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;am) from their work (maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;asav in Hebrew)?â&#x20AC;? (verse 4) and â&#x20AC;&#x153;you want the am haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;aretz to take a vacation from their labors (miâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sivlotam in Hebrew)?â&#x20AC;? (verse 5) Am refers to the tribe of Levi, who were exempt from labor, while Am Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;aretz are the poorest and lowliest of the nation, those whose labors are sivlot. The maasim of the Tribe of Levi refers to commerce, and work in the house and the ďŹ eld. Sivlot is the backbreaking slave labor of the rest of the nation.

Being distracted (verse 4) is also different than taking a vacation. A distraction is temporary, which is followed by the distracted person going back to work. But a vacation breaks the rhythm of never-ending labor, a rhythm which, once broken, is very difďŹ cult to return to. albim argues that when Moshe came to speak to the people to convince them of his being sent by G-d, there is no way he was able to communicate with the backbroken laborers, because they had no rest or respite from their slavery. He must have been speaking to his fellow tribesmen, Levi, who were not so consistently needed at their tasks, as they did not participate in the slave labor.

The king saying at the end of verse 4, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Go to your labors!â&#x20AC;? was his way of saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking to get your otherwise excused tribe of Levi involved in slave labor? Watch yourself!â&#x20AC;? And then Pharaoh (verse 5) checked himself thinking, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I employ the tribe of Levi and the elders, it will get the rest of the nation, who are many, to relax from their labors â&#x20AC;&#x201D; either in protest, or because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see an expansion of laborers which will cause them to take less responsibility for their own tasks.â&#x20AC;? In other words, the statement of Pharaoh was checking the hasty statement made by himself in his role as king, essentially negating it so the labor will continue.

These perspectives show that there were political considerations beyond just pure evil ascribed to the king. This does not excuse how Pharaoh viewed his role, nor how Egypt as a whole enslaved the Israelites. But it is interesting to think that the people we read of were real, and were looking at a world that was not just black and white.

Every situation on a world stage is complicated. Evil can be viewed in black and white terms, but until people on different sides are able to talk to one another, understand the other perspective, and come to a table in which real agreements can be made (with each side needing to bend a bit), negotiations between opposing sides will remain difďŹ cult, if not impossibly insurmountable.

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 20 Tevet 5776

Viewing Pharoah as a political king

Sweet thoughts, and treats, for the new year the streets. In Panama, effigies of popular celebrities and political figures—called muñecos—are burned.

No matter how odd they may seem to us, though, these customs share an optimism that’s hard not to appreciate. Out with the old, in with the new!

Danes ring in the new year by hurling old plates and glasses … against the doors of friends’ and relatives’ houses. They also stand on chairs and then jump off them together at midnight.

It’s a longtime Finnish tradition to predict the coming year by casting molten tin into a container of water, and then interpreting the shape the metal takes after hardening. A heart or ring shape means a wedding in the new year; a ship forecasts travel; and an animal shape signifies plenty of food.

In Colombia, hoping for a travel-filled year, residents tote empty suitcases around the block. In South Africa, in downtown Joberg, locals throw old appliances out the window.

In our house, I’ve adopted Jerry’s New Year’s Eve custom. For the last 35 years or so, he has gotten together with the same group of people on New Years Eve (or a day before if it fell out on a Friday night). I joined the party when I met Jerry, in 2005, and we’ve gathered each year at a different house (after we have all hosted, we start over again).

The men have been friends for over 40 years, some as long as long as 55 years. It’s quite a group. Lots of great food, fun and laughter — and, yes, always a good “Jerry story” or two or three.

A popular custom the world over is to sing Auld Lang Syne. In translation, the first verse asks, should old acquaintance be forgot

JUDY JOSZEF WHO’S IN THE KITCHEN

I

t’s that time of year, New Year’s Eve. Although not a Jewish holiday, many of us use it as a time to get together with friends, as most of us are off the next day.

I decided to check out some customs around the world to see how others celebrate. To my surprise, many countries have very different customs than we do.

In São Paulo, La Paz, and other spots, people wear brightly colored underpants to ring in the new year — red if they’re looking for love, and yellow for money.

It’s no wonder we all welcome the holiday with such enthusiasm. Here in the U.S. (and in lots of other countries), the event is celebrated with fireworks and parades, parties and toasts. Some cultures, though, have more unusual ways of ushering in the new year.

In the Philippines, wearing polka dots and eating round fruits is supposed to ensure a prosperous new year; in Spain, wolfing down handfuls of grapes as the clock strikes 12 (one grape at each stroke of the clock, each signifying good luck for one month of the coming year) is said to have the same effect.

In other countries, New Year’s customs are about driving away the bad spirits of the past year, so that the new one can arrive fresh and uncorrupted. The purifying power of fire is often used in such ceremonies. During the Scottish festival of Hogmanay, for instance, village men swing giant blazing fireballs over their heads as they march through

0LQL OHPRQ PHULQJXH WDUWOHWV

and never brought to mind. Which, I take to mean, should we perpetuate old friendships or should we move on.

The song refers to the complexity of maintaining close relationships, because of the evolution and challenges almost all of us go through in life for a myriad of reasons.

But the last verse says— And there’s a hand, my trusty friend!

And give us a hand of yours!

And we’ll take a deep draught of good-will For long, long ago.

This last verse confirms the richness of continuing to work and maintain our relationships and celebrate our commonality and love for one another, rather than focusing on our differences.

So this year, come midnight, we’ll remember our old friends, our new friends (quite a few who’ve we’ve become close to, in a short time), those dear friends who are no longer with us but remain etched in our hearts, and of course our dear family members.

For an easy elegant dessert to serve on New Year’s Eve or any occasion, try these.

They are great if you are making an assortment of mini desserts.

24 mini (almost bite size) tartlet frozen shells, baked /HPRQ &XUG Ingredients: 1 cup white sugar 3 eggs 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons) zest of 3 lemons 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted Directions: In a large microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth and thoroughly combined. Whisk in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in the microwave on full power for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute. This process will take about 3-5 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave. When it coats the back of a metal spoon, you know it’s done.

Remove from the microwave, push through a fine, mesh sieve and pour into a container.

0HULQJXH Ingredients: 4 large egg whites 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon granulated sugar Directions: Beat the whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form, then gradually add the sugar and beat to incorporate.

Place meringue in a pastry bag, and pipe out delicate peaks. If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can spoon the meringue onto he lemon curd, make sure it’s not smooth, form peaks with a spoon if you can.

Place into a preheated 350 degree oven until meringue starts to dry out and form golden brown peaks. Check every few minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

FRUM-EOLA Orthodox families in Mineola, Garden City and throughout Long Island have a newspaper…

[f

5904 13th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11219 www.Renewal.org

811362

809940

January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

14

JEWISH STAR

The newspaper of Long Island’s Orthodox communities.

T

here’s a gentleman’s agreement in politics that kids are off-limits. As vicious as the political discourse can sometimes get and as hard as politicians and would-be politicians go after each other, attacking someone’s children or family has always been considered a below-the-belt kind of punch. And that goes for the media also.

Attacks on kids are frowned upon for the simple reason that a candidate’s family, his or her kids in particular, are “non-combatants.” Also, a lot of times, they’re genuinely little children.

This controversy has jumped front and center since the Washington Post ran an editorial cartoon depicting the young daughters of Republican Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz (RTX) as monkeys. Among the questions asked are: 1. Since Cruz used his daughters in a political commercial where he slammed Democrats, are they fair game? 2. Would the reaction to the mocking of the senator’s kids be different if Cruz was a Democrat?

Actually the answers to these questions are readily available, since a similar incident happened in 2008 when a reporter who asked if Hillary Clinton was exploiting her adult daughter was suspended for two weeks.

The offensive Cruz cartoon, drawn by Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes, displayed the Texas senator in a Santa suit turning a Jack-inthe-Box that making his two daughters, shown as monkeys, dance. The cartoon’s headline said, “Ted Cruz uses his kids as political props.”

In reporting the incident, most of the media rightly said that a candidate’s children are off limits. But, then, in a passive-aggressive obscuration, they tried to soften the attack on the

I

MSNBC political reporter David Shuster was guest-hosting on MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson show on Feb. 7, 2008, when he mentioned how Hillary Clinton was using her 27-year-old daughter to make phone calls and pitches for her presidential candidacy. Shuster asked his guests, “Doesn’t it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?” The reaction was harsh and immediate.

Though not his intent, critics accused Shuster of calling Chelsea a prostitute.

A few hours later, Shuster appeared on the Morning Joe program to apologize.

He apologized again later that day when he continued guest hosting the Carlson show. Two days later, Howie Kurtz (now of Fox News) discussed the reactions of the campaign and the network in the Washington Post.

“Howard Wolfson, the campaign’s communications director, called Shuster’s remark ‘disgusting,’ ‘beneath contempt’ and ‘the kind of thing that should never be said on a national news network.’ Wolfson appeared to suggest that Clinton is reconsidering an agreement this week to participate in an MSNBC debate Feb. 26 in Cleveland, saying: “I at this point can’t envision doing another debate on that network.”

Even though Shuster, at the time, was a big part of MSNBC’s political coverage, and apologized twice on-air, the network announced an indefinite suspension of the reporter: “In a statement, MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines called Shuster’s language “irresponsible. …

NBC News takes these matters seriously and offers our sincere regrets to the Clintons for the remarks.”

As for the scheduled debate between Clinton and Barack Obama, Gaines said network executives

Even though Cruz put his kids on centerstage, Dunetz says they’re off-limits for parody.

Get the

were talking to the Clinton camp “and we are hopeful that the event will take place as planned.”

Actually, it could have been worse for Shuster since, as reported by Newsbusters, he almost got fired: “Big Head DC has learned from sources inside the MSNBC camp that Phil Griffin, senior vice president at the network, ‘screamed’ at reporter David Shuster for not agreeing to immediately apologize to Chelsea Clinton for saying on-air she had been ‘pimped out’ by her mom’s campaign. Griffin threatened to fire Shuster ‘on the spot,’ and it was only with intervention from Tim Russert that Shuster didn’t lose his position.”

Shuster was suspended and almost fired for his faux pas, even though Chelsea Clinton was an adult, two weeks short of her 28th birthday.

While the words Shuster used were out of line, at the time Chelsea was acting as a campaign surrogate for her mother, a role she also undertook two years earlier during Hillary’s campaign to be reelected to her Senate seat.

A more recent example involves Elizabeth Lauten, a former communications director for Rep. Stephen Lee Fincher (R-TN). In 2014, Lauten criticized Obama’s daughters on Facebook for how they dressed and acted during the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony.

“Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class,” Lauten wrote. “Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar.”

Elizabeth Lauten was forced to resign.

Of course, the biggest difference between the four incidents, and probably the reason for the different reactions, is the fact that Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin are conservative Republicans and the attackers of their children were not punished.

President Obama and Hillary Clinton are Democrats and their children’s attackers were punished by their employees.

Weekly!

Scan with your Smart Phone to Register & Subscribe*

* Scroll to the registration area to begin the registration process.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE! EVERGREEN PRICING Now Only $30 Go Green, Save Green. Save money, time and valuable paper by choosing to be automatically charged $30.00 once a year on your credit card.

BEST DEAL!

ONE TIME PRICING $36.00 for one year. A renewal notice will be sent by mail when your term is up.

To subscribe call 516-569-4000 press 7 or www.liherald.com/subscribe

774938

POLITICS TO GO

four- and seven-year- old girls by questioning the senator’s use of the incident for campaign fundraising, or by opining that the Washington Post cartoon was a gift to his campaign. Even the Washington Post, whose editor pulled the cartoon (saying it was their policy was not to go after a candidate’s children), ran a column explaining the incident away as a gift to Ted Cruz. n 2009, late night host David Letterman took a cheap shot at Sarah Palin’s 14-year daughter when he said, “One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game — during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” Palin was at the game with her daughter Willow and was not happy.

“Concerning Letterman’s comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he’d ever dare make such comments about anyone else’s daughter): ‘Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands — that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone’s daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others’.”

At the time Palin had resigned her governor’s job and wasn’t running for anything. Eventually Letterman apologized on air. But six months later he told Oprah that he only apologized because he wanted to “continue to make fun of” Sarah Palin and if he didn’t “sincerely express” his regret, he would “not be able to go forward making fun of her.”

811360

JEFF DUNETZ

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776

Cruz snaps: Don’t mock my campaigning kids

15

Continued from page 4 who heads Munichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish community, says she trusts the expertise of the instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s researchers but doubts that the new edition will achieve its aim of â&#x20AC;&#x153;demystifying and taking apart â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mein Kampf.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

It is likely to awaken interest â&#x20AC;&#x153;not in the commentary, but the original â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and that remains highly dangerous,â&#x20AC;? Knobloch said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It could still have an impact because both of the core ideas are timeless: ultranationalism and racism.â&#x20AC;?

Given that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mein Kampfâ&#x20AC;? is already widely available in university libraries and on the internet, â&#x20AC;&#x153;we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see a need to print more copies of it and thus ensure mass distribution, including of an annotated version,â&#x20AC;? said

Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress.

The publishers say they understand the objections, while noting that the book is already freely available secondhand and online, not to mention in other languages, without annotations. Christian Hartmann, who led the team putting together the heavily annotated version, says that â&#x20AC;&#x153;we are linking Hitlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s text and our commentary ďŹ rmly together â&#x20AC;&#x201D; we are practically encircling Hitler with our remarks.â&#x20AC;?

Hartmann said they have attempted â&#x20AC;&#x153;the most intensive examination and rebuttal that is possibleâ&#x20AC;? of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mein Kampf.â&#x20AC;?

Amid disagreement over the annotated editionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s merits, there is wide agreement that

dox LI o h rt O to y e k r u o y is r a t The Jewish S

Kaddishâ&#x20AC;Ś

Take a Jewish Star home for Shabbos! and Cedarhurst student 16 P. the guns of Hebron:

jihadists, In the eyes of Islamic dels: P. 5 all Westerners are inďŹ

Paris jolts world.

Now what? P. 6

LA ND

!

! "

m

eJewishStar.co

IS

NG

"

a, In Israel and Americ 18 Thanksgiving: P. 17â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

STAR

THE JEWISH

LO

" Th

S

OX COMMUNITIE OF OUR ORTHOD

wns: IDF team urges 5 To well Teach your children

PER THE NEWSPA

silent.â&#x20AC;? they are rendered the â&#x20AC;&#x153;most Regrettably, he said,mning the

By Ed Weintrob against the conde A key to the ďŹ ght ent on col- powerful voice today is sentim Israel on campuses rise of anti-Israel at the state of sitting be .â&#x20AC;? may voice the Jewish lege campuses te ourselves, Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Orthoâ&#x20AC;&#x153;If we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t educa Shabbos tables of our ies. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the gist someone is going to do it in famil st Zioni dox d on Sunday by ed. of a warning voice Anthony to an stead,â&#x20AC;? he warn joined by IsSgt. Anthony was Lappin and IDF Sgt. Benjamin the Young Isv audience at journalists Yaako tive raeli atten event YIW YHUEDOO\ RQ Tibon, at Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s \ WRS QRZ ÂżJKWV rael of Woodmere. that gradu- Amir 6JW %HQMDPLQ $QWKRQ RQ 6XQGD\ QLJKW DW WKH <, RI ,VUDHO LQ EDWWOH Sgt. Anthony said QJ WKH -HZLVK VWDWH WDU (G :HLQWURE +DYLQJ GHIHQGHG schools were VVHG FKDOOHQJHV IDFL IW DQG <DDNRY /DSSLQ -HZLVK 6 ates of Jewish high to advocate FDPSXVHV +H GLVFX QDOLVWV $PLU 7LERQ OH :RRGPHUH ZLWK MRXU generally unprepared onted by deconfr for Israel when supporters. termined Palestinian ls throughIn Jewish high schoo , â&#x20AC;&#x153;there is next out the United States curriculum as y to no Israeli histor teaching,â&#x20AC;? he red part of the requi h histor y [and] said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is Jewis is important, ch limudei kodesh,whi is not taught with but Israel histor y to other subjects. the rigorâ&#x20AC;? brought Zionist stuAs a result, when stinian narraâ&#x20AC;&#x153;Pale the face dents t they often canno tiveâ&#x20AC;? on campus, â&#x20AC;&#x153;They either counter it, he said. of Israel, or story turn against the

by Five Towns that was sponsored ls to discuss schoo areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shuls and srael bias in the how to refute anti-I us. media and on camp , Our SolSgt. Anthonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s groupmore than visited diers Speak, has defend the legal370 campuses to of the IDF defense lity mora and ity ers generally do of Israel. Its speak arguments at Hilnot present their 19 Continued on page

les OTD Agudah tatolck d that rebellious

Annual confab n the Rishonim kids challenged eve

â&#x20AC;&#x2122; in terror Kerry ďŹ nds â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rationale

, and we can of our free world of wrong. It lars l Islamists to one particular sense e. It was to never allow radica al rights to es these fundament to terrorize peopl Combined Sourc Secretary John Kerry was everything that we do stand use acts.

State evil of tary their Secre justify attack g and needs to reporters before sm this week afKerry is plain wron drew heavy critici ction between for,â&#x20AC;? Kerry told ng with French d.â&#x20AC;? correct the recor ter he voiced a distin and the Janu- entering a meeti sman Hollande.

Department spoke State Fridayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s terror attack French satir- President Francois ing includ nded on Twitthe Many in the U.S., John Kirby respo ary attack against ie Hebdo. â&#x20AC;&#x2122;t justify politicians, were saying Kerry â&#x20AC;&#x153;didn ical newspaper Charl â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something lawmakers and for legiti- ter, y explained Kerry said â&#x20AC;&#x153;there happened quick to attack Kerry Hebdo attacks, simpl said he s.

As to. attack ry what terrorists tried mizing the Janua different about rdly and deutely noth- how o, and I think â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was absol al about at time, it was a cowa from Charlie Hebd feel that,â&#x20AC;? notlegitimate or ration paper spicable act.â&#x20AC;? everybody would news of particu- ing Chris Christie 10 sort of Gov. â&#x20AC;&#x153;a hter was Jersey slaug New the ing there ofďŹ cers in rks â&#x20AC;&#x153;offensiveâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;rationaleâ&#x20AC;? staff and two police said Rep. called Kerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rema larized focusâ&#x20AC;? year,â&#x20AC;? ie Hebdo attack, â&#x20AC;&#x153;truly stupid.â&#x20AC;?

Paris earlier this behind the Charl some sleep if, the chair- and ed by a murderKerry â&#x20AC;&#x153;needs to get he needs, Edward Royce, R-Cal which was follow Parisian kosher e Foreign Affairs shut up is what and man of the Hous ous assault on a press the tie said. dom of disgraceful,â&#x20AC;? Chris Committee. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Free supermarket. ssion are pil- thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolutely inâ&#x20AC;&#x153;This Friday was and freedom of expre ve aggrie to t discriminate. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

6XQGD\ HULFD FRQYHQWLRQ RQ JXGDK ,VUDHO RI $P XYLD /LHII &RXUWHV\ $JXGDK QJ VHVVLRQ RI WKH $ 6KDIUDQ DQG 0RVKH 7 $GGUHVVLQJ WKH FORVL UGHFKDL %HFKHU $YL IURP OHIW 5DEELV 0R

cited Rabbi Dovid the answer.â&#x20AC;? He â&#x20AC;&#x153;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mutar n as afďŹ rming that

By The Jewish Star who go off Cohe ion.â&#x20AC;?

Orthodox youngsters the subject to say itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good questd the story of ) were Becher relate Rabbi the derech (OTD ssion at Aguar-old son who was of a candidate discu 93rd annual a friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 13-ye â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m scared. I had icaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dah Israel of Amer - crying and said, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m an apikores.â&#x20AC;? weekend in Stam a question. I think convention, last come from?â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Where did that ford, Conn. or nce evide r, â&#x20AC;&#x153;that a seviďŹ c Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;no scient asked Rabbi Beche cry because he d ysâ&#x20AC;? pinpointing double-blind surve echai Becher, enth grader shoul res.â&#x20AC;? apiko Mord an thinks heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s causes,â&#x20AC;? Rabbi not new, alGateways and hisThe problem is senior lecturer at s Yeshiva University, though some of our assumption tory professor at automatically g session. â&#x20AC;&#x153;not working told Agudahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closin tant to allow are ore,â&#x20AC;? he said.

He said it was impor anym ut this chalquestions witho Even Rishonim faced page 19 children to pose ge owled â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;ackn Continued on fear of retribution you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know if the question, even

'

Now published every Wednesday!

Available throughout frum Long Island

811358

January 1, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mein Kampfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; returns...

Kampf.â&#x20AC;? Authorities in Munich Hitler still shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be left to speak uncontradicted. subsequently ensured it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t In mid-2014, Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s republished, though there was federal and state justice no ofďŹ cial ban on the book. ministers agreed that new That use of the copyright â&#x20AC;&#x153;of editions without commencourse had its reasons,â&#x20AC;? Wirschtary should continue to be ing said. In the early years of prevented after the copyWest Germany, â&#x20AC;&#x153;there were right expires, likely using any number of Hitler admirers; laws against incitement. there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just neo-Nazism, It remains to be seen there was also old Nazism.â&#x20AC;? whether their resolve will But â&#x20AC;&#x153;this is a different genbe tested. There are cureration, a different political rently no known plans to 7KH ÂżUVW HGLWLRQ RI +LWOHUÂśV Âł0HLQ culture, a solid political depublish a Hitler-only â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mein .DPSI ´ DW DQ H[KLELW LQ %HUOLQ mocracy that in my view can Anton Huttenlocher via Wikimedia Commons Kampfâ&#x20AC;? in Germany. deďŹ nitely withstand an edition After the end of World with commentary.â&#x20AC;?

War II, the Allies turned over what remained The new edition of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mein Kampf,â&#x20AC;? which of Hitlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assets â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Nazi leader was ofďŹ - has expanded to nearly 2,000 pages with the cially registered as living in Munich â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to the Munich instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commentary, roughly douBavarian government. Those included the ble the length of the original, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t appear copyright of the German original of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mein likely to ďŹ&#x201A;y off the shelves. With a print run of up to 4,000 copies, it costs 59 euros ($64).

There wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be an e-book, since the editionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s layout canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be adapted to the format, but publishers are considering an online edition, perhaps in 2017.

Any proceeds will go to charity, Wirsching said, but given the costs of dedicating historians to the task and producing the voluminous tome, he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect any. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the end, I think this will be an entirely nonproďŹ t enterprise,â&#x20AC;? he said.

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

16

Continued from page 2 tance to call the Islamic Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions genocide mirrors the Clinton administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reluctance to apply the term to what was then happening in Rwanda and Bosnia.

One of the great moments of diplomatic â&#x20AC;&#x153;newspeakâ&#x20AC;? occurred in 1994 when State Department spokesperson Christine Shelley was asked whether the situation in Rwanda constituted genocide. Ms. Shelley pranced around the issue, ultimately blurting out the inane statement that she was unaware how many acts of genocide constituted genocide.

Our obligation under the genocide convention is to â&#x20AC;&#x153;prevent and punish.â&#x20AC;? We, however, have skillfully decided that genocide is in the eye of the beholder. The inďŹ&#x201A;uential Kristof further blurs that vision by going from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Kristofâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heartfelt sympathies for the victims of the Islamic State ďŹ nd their way to deny genocide and to remind us that few Christians really exist in the area under Islamic State control. This begs the question, what if the Islamic State will crucify all of them? Is that not genocide? After all, Jews constituted less than .75 percent of the preWorld War II population of Germany, so how could we possibly talk about genocide against Jews when they were such a small segment of Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population?

There is method to this indulgence in the absurd. If the inďŹ&#x201A;uential New York Times denies the commission of genocide, it buttresses Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s calculated decision to do nothing and to incur no obligation to respond to the genocide convention.

Meanwhile, the Christians and Yazidis will be rescued with the same alacrity as were the Rwandans or the people of Darfur.

To prevent the plight of Christians and Yazidis from being buried in the conscience of America the way Jewish death and tragedy were buried in the Times, Jews should say Kaddish for the souls of the Islamic Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s victims in the hope that honoring the dead might yet provide refuge to the living.

Abraham H. Miller is an emeritus professor of political science, University of Cincinnati, and a senior fellow with the Haym Salomon Center.

KOSHER BOOKWORM

T

his new year is the first one since 2008 where there is no incumbent running for president of the United States. Eight years ago I wrote an essay about a new book entitled, “How Would G-d Vote?” by the essayist David Klinghoffer. I will now reprise this work, for its relevance today is most telling.

Within this work I cited the author’s politically conservative views that governed his choices for public policy and elective office. This year, given the ever-more-relevance of Klinghoffer’s politically right-wing views, I will focus on his use of the views of Whittaker Chambers.

“Within the context of this piece, I was most taken by the quote by one of my all time heroes, Whittaker Chambers, who once said, ‘Political freedom, as the Western world has known it, is only a political reading of the Bible’,” I wrote in 2008.

This quote, in retrospect and in my opinion, is all the more relevant today as a philosophical backdrop to contemporary political events. The rest of this week’s essay will cite Klinghoffer’s take on Chamber’s continued relevance to the current political scene.

Klinghoffer starters with the following: “More than 50 years ago, Whittaker Chambers wrote his great memoire, ‘Witness’ about his break with the Communist Party, a story that culminates in his public accusation against a fellow communist, Alger Hiss. Chambers and Hiss were both agents for the Soviet Union, filching American state secrets and delivering them to a Soviet handler. Their espionage ring centered in Washington, D.C., where Hiss was a high official in the State Department.

“Chambers, unlike Hiss, became disillusioned with communism, an ideology that he ultimately understood as being merely a mask that another, deeper belief system — secularism — happened to wear for convenience. It was never about economics, really.

It was about man and G-d.”

This spiritual take described by Klinghoffer sends us on a spiritual and emotional journey that defines Chambers’ life forever more.

“In the 1940’s when Whittaker Chambers was an agent for the Soviet Union, the secular vision of man wore the mask of communism. Today, with the economics of communism having been revealed in all its horror and shame by the collapse of the Soviet Union, secularism wears another mask, that of left liberalism, which in a gruesome irony

& JY

Imperial Wood Flooring

ZDON RQ XV IRU D lifetime

'HVLJQ ,QVWDOODWLRQ +DUGZRRG )ORRUV %RUGHUV /DPLQDWH 5H´QLVKLQJ :RRG 6WHSV :RRG %DQLVWHUV 9LQ\O

)XOO\ OLFHQVHG DQG ,QVXUHG )UHH (VWLPDWHV

OFFBERG

7.2218 8.8041

(VW &RPPHUFLDO DQG 5HVLGHQWLDO

Robert 732.347.2218 / 718.309.5092 ZZZ LPSHULDOZRRGµRRU FRP LPSHULDOZRRGµRRU#JPDLO FRP

811555

ALAN JAY GERBER

has found it increasingly useful to express itself in pseudo religious language.”

In 2008, when Klinghoffer wrote his book, he concluded this segment with the following observation: “To affirm that truth in 2008 is a frightening prospect, even in our country with its abiding Judeo-Christian heritage, exposing the person who does so to abuse and condemnation by his ‘tolerant’ secularist neighbors.

But, America could use more citizens who openly advocate the politics of the Bible rather than fearing to say what they really think.”

Fast-forward to 2016, today’s political, as well as religious scene. The contrast is glaring. The new year suggests a far more hospitable climate for the recognition of a legitimate role for religion in the public sphere.

This is reflected in just about every Republican presidential candidate and, just give it time, in the final Democratic candidate’s stump speeches and ads as well.

The Whittaker Chamber’s legacy continues to be reflected in our community in the person of then-Senate Republican staffer, Nachama Soloveichik, a granddaughter of Rav Aharon Soloveichik zt”l, who in a profile with Jewish Action magazine in 2010 was cited by author Toby Bulman Katz as expressing that among “Soloveichik’s favorite writers are Norman Podhoretz and Whittaker Chambers. The former is a distinguished Jewish author and editor, an intellectual giant, but little known among the younger generation.

The later was one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, a once controversial figure whose name now languishes in obscurity.”

Hopefully, as time passes, Chambers’ legacy and message to future generations will be revived, rediscovered and read by our youth.

There is much wisdom to be learned from his autobiography, “Witness,” a work that was much appreciated by many of my friends and former students who survived the persecutions in the Soviet Union and came to these shores and who reinforced in me an even deeper appreciation of the anti-communist legacy of Whittaker Chambers.

A good reading is recommended of Klinghoffer’s work, coupled with that of Richard Reinsch’s work, “Whittaker Chambers: The Spirit of a Counterrevolutionary,” a work previously reviewed favorably in this column, as well as that of author biographer, Sam Tanenhaus’ classic, “Whittaker Chambers,” which I personally consider the best, fairest and most truthful work on the Chambers legacy.

In the new year, hopefully, the sad lessons of the recent past as well as those of the distant past will surely serve as watchwords for a much better future.

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776

At 2016, a quick look ahead as we look back

17

January 1, 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

18

2Q 0W .LOLPDQMDUR -HZV RI DOO VWULSHV MRLQHG WRJHWKHU WR VXSSRUW 6+$/9$ $W ULJKW \HDU ROG -RKQ &RUUH RI -HUXVDOHP XQIXUOV DQ ,VUDHOL Ă&#x20AC;DJ DW WKH VXPPLW RI 0W .LOLPDQMDUR WKH KLJKHVW SRLQW LQ $IULFD

SHALVA supporters raise 300K on Mt. Kilimanjaro Continued from page 1 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our ages ranged from 27 to 71 (me) but age differences didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter, because we all realized that, whatever challenge we faced on the mountain was insigniďŹ cant compared to the daily challenges faced by the children of Shalva, for whom we were delighted to have raised over $300,000 from our incredibly generous family and friends,â&#x20AC;? Corre said.

Each climber pledged to raise $10,000, ďŹ nding their own unique methods of raising money, from running an â&#x20AC;&#x153;Auction of Promisesâ&#x20AC;? to sponsored paragliding. The money raised is helping to fund SHALVAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Center due to open in the heart of Jerusalem next year. This stateof-the-art facility will enable SHALVA to offer treatment to four times as many children, making SHALVA a beacon of hope throughout the Middle East.

Organizers said the trip adhered to the highest possible standards of Jewish law, served vegetarian food with new cooking and eating utensils. The group rested for Shabbat on Mt. Kilimanjaro, allowing them to join millions of Jews around the world keeping Shabbat as part of the Shabbos Project.

Corre was moved by the level of Jewish observance possible while climbing the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest freestanding mountain.

He recounted that they had â&#x20AC;&#x153;a minyan three times a day; Chumash learning with Rashi every day given by a young rabbi; an eruv built at 4,200 meters so that we could carry on Shabbat, a Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat led by a young chazan from London, services on Shab-

$ FKLOG LV HQWHUWDLQHG DW 6+$/9$ÂśV -HUXVDOHP FHQWHU

6+$/9$ SKRWR

bat, a siyum and a shiur on Shabbat.â&#x20AC;?

The trekkers were not without their apprehensions before the climb, and for good reason: In the course of nine days they hiked approximately 100 km. Trekking through ďŹ ve different eco-systems, participants pushed their personal endurance to the limit.

One of the biggest risks was altitude sickness, a condition that occurs when the body responds badly to the reduced level of oxygen present at higher altitudes. Climbers were warned to watch out for headaches, dizziness and nausea. As the climb progressed altitude did prevent some of the climbers from reaching the summit, but all climbers were winners.

Helen Silverstein explained that the comraderie among participants was the real highlight of the trip. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The actual climb was amazing, and the scenery spectacular, however the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;one on oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interaction with the various climbers over the course of nine days was priceless and irreplaceable. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I could have handpicked our â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; it would have included each and every one of the players.â&#x20AC;?

Just as SHALVA brings together people from across Israeli society, united by a desire to give all kids the best start in life, the SHALVA Mt. Kilimanjaro climb brought together Jews from every walk of life to continue that vital work.

This trip demonstrates how we are all climbing mountains of one variety or another in our lives, and reminds us that it is incumbent upon each of us to reach out our hands and help the

ZIVAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TRAVEL Â&#x2021; &$5((56 ,1 $9,$7,21 Â&#x2021; 7+( %(67 )/,*+7 ,16758&7256 Â&#x2021; 2%7$,1 <285 3,/27 /,&(16( $7 7+( +,*+(67 /(9(/ 2) )/,*+7 75$,1,1*

SURPRISE YOUR KIDS!!! %,57+'$< 25 %$5 0,7=9$+ )/,*+7 352326$/ )/,*+7

WWW.BEST-PILOT.COM | s 917-767-9344

810951

CALL NOW â&#x20AC;&#x201D; You Wont Regret It! xÂŁĂ&#x2C6;Â&#x2021;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x17D;Â&#x2021;Â&#x2122;ÂŁÂ&#x2122;ÂŁĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160;<Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x203A;>J<Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x203A;>Ă&#x192;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x20AC;>Ă&#x203A;iÂ?° Â&#x153;Â&#x201C;

802910

UĂ&#x160;-ÂŤiVÂ&#x2C6;>Â?Ă&#x160;ÂŤĂ&#x20AC;Â&#x2C6;ViĂ&#x192;Ă&#x160;vÂ&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;Â&#x153;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;>Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x20AC;>Ă&#x203A;iÂ?Ă&#x160;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x160; Ă&#x192;Ă&#x20AC;>iÂ?

UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x192;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x192;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;VÂ?>Ă&#x192;Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;>Ă&#x152;Ă&#x160;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;iĂ?ÂŤiÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x192;Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x203A;iĂ&#x160;ÂŤĂ&#x20AC;Â&#x2C6;ViĂ&#x192; UĂ&#x160;-ÂŤiVÂ&#x2C6;>Â?Ă&#x160;Ă&#x192;iĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x203A;Â&#x2C6;ViĂ&#x160;vÂ&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;VÂ&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;ÂŤÂ&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;>Ă&#x152;iĂ&#x160;yĂ&#x17E;iĂ&#x20AC;Ă&#x192; UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x20AC;>VĂ&#x152;Â&#x2C6;Ă&#x203A;iĂ&#x160;ÂŤĂ&#x20AC;Â&#x2C6;ViĂ&#x192;Ă&#x160;vÂ&#x153;Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;iVÂ&#x153;Â&#x2DC;Â&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;VÂ?>Ă&#x192;Ă&#x192; UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x20AC;i>Ă&#x152;Ă&#x160;`i>Â?Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;Â&#x153;Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x160;V>Ă&#x20AC;Ă&#x160;Ă&#x20AC;iÂ&#x2DC;Ă&#x152;>Â?Ă&#x192;Ă&#x160;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x160; Ă&#x192;Ă&#x20AC;>iÂ?

19

ZZZ WKHLGHVLJQILUP FRP

THE JEWISH STAR January 1, 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 20 Tevet 5776

)T !LL #OMES 4OGETHER !T #!(!, iii

ENSURE SUCCESS FOR YOUR CHILDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FUTURE TODAY!

Participating schools: Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam / Bnos Bais Yaakov / HAFTR / HALB / HANC / MAY / Shulamith /

#!(!, WWW CAHAL ORG

804311

Siach Yitzchak / Torah Academy for Girls / Yeshiva Darchei Torah / Yeshiva Ketana of LI / Yeshiva of South Shore

Plaza Auto PAL Leasing

BS”D

CALL 718-975-9000 2750 Nostrand Ave Corner of Ave N Brooklyn NY 11210

WE SELL, LEASE & FINANCE

ALL MAKES AND MODELS www.PlazaAutoLeasing.com

THE CLOCK IS TICKING!

END OF YEAR BLOWOUT! Call 718-975-9000 To Secure Yours Today!

2015 HYUNDAI VELOSTER TURBO

WAS $249/mo

2015 NISSAN SENTRA SV

WAS $139/mo

NOW $199/mo NOW $119/mo

2015 HONDA CR-V EX-L WITH NAVIGATION

WAS $349/mo

NOW $299/mo

OR 2015 HONDA CR-V TOURING FOR $319 2015 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5S

WAS $179/mo

NOW $159/mo

2015 SONATA HYBRID LIMITED

WAS $299/mo

NOW $249/mo

MUST TAKE DELIVERY BY 12/31/15! NO EXCEPTIONS!

ARE YOU A PAL YET?

Lease Details: Hyundai & Nissan Leases are 36 months 10k miles per year. Honda Leases are 39 months 10k. Residency Restrictions May Apply. Due at signing: 1st month, bank fee ($595), applicable taxes, registration fees. DCA #1312589 DMV #7084665

807924

January 1, 2016 • 20 Tevet 5776 THE JEWISH STAR

20