March 15, 2013

Bookworm: The Nechama Leibowitz Haggadah Page 6 Who’s in the kitchen: what’s up Doc? Page 8 MTA claims Tier II Sarachek crown Page 11 Redistricting lines drawn Page 19

THE JEWISH

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VOL 12, NO 11 Q MARCH 15, 2013 / 4 NISAN, 5773

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Huckabee:

Fund brings “Pour the concrete, build the houses” Pesach to Israel

By Malka Eisenberg

By Malka Eisenberg Twelve years ago, Alan Hirsch saw the intense poverty and the inability of ten families in Maaleh Amos and 12 families in Hevron, to pay their Passover expenses.

“The following year there were twice as many and it grew to Gush Etzion,” he said. “The first year or two it was my money, then I was going to people to ask.”

Most years, Hirsch, president of Bnai Israel Matzoh Fund, and his associates, Jerry Pasternak, and his son Ari Hirsch, begin collecting from Rosh Chodesh Adar.

This year they started collecting Rosh Chodesh Shvat. “Yontif (the holiday) is either early or late, it’s never on time,” said Hirsch, paraphrasing comedian Jackie Mason. “This year it’s very early.” He said they concentrate on collecting funds on Purim. “It’s a long day—20 hours,” he said. Rabbi Hershel Schachter of Yeshiva University recommends the Fund in his class in the Young Israel of Midwood. He explains “what good work we do, that we go to places nobody else goes to and that it is a tzedokoh worthy of helping.”

A completely voluntary organization, the Matzoh Fund provides over-the-top Continued on page 3

Photo courtesy of Bnai Israel Matzoh fund

Matzoh Fund food distribution.

In the shadow of U.S. President Barak Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel, feelings of tension and unified purpose filled the room at the Gush Katif Museum Dinner in Crown Heights Saturday night, as speaker after speaker, recalling the pain of the expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes and the destruction of their communities, demanded that it not happen again.

Calling on Americans to send a message to Obama, keynote speaker former Arkansas Governor and 2008 G.O.P. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee declared that they should say, “Mr. President, Americans stand with Israel because they are a mirror image of our freedom and our democracy in this country. And, we suggest that before you make any demands of the Israelis to give anything, you sit down and look the Palestinians in the face and ask them ‘What have they given up?”

He continued, “Rather than say to the Israelis, “Stop building in Judea and Samaria,” I would suggest that you build as rapidly as you can, and as much as you can, and as many houses as you can! And tell the Palestinians that if they don’t like that, the way they can fix it is to sit at the peace table and sign an agreement that they recognize Isra-

Photo courtesy of Gush Katif Museum Dinner committee

Former Governor Mike Huckabee el’s right to exist, within the borders that G-d gave them and to exist with safety and security! That, my friends, will probably never happen! So I say, pour the concrete, build the houses and let Israel be strong! That is the message we need to give to the world!”

Close to 500 participants joined at the second annual dinner to support the museum established five years ago by Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo to remember and support the expellees from Gush Katif in Gaza and educate visitors to prevent further destruction of Jew-

ish homes. Organizers of the dinner included the International Committee for the Land of Israel, founded by Dr. Joseph Frager, Dr. Paul Brody, Rabbi David Algaze and Odeleya Jacobs, and Helen Freedman, Executive Director of Americans For a Safe Israel (AFSI).

Other speakers included Rabbi Yosef Y. Jacobson, representing the Rabbis of Crown Heights Synagogues, and Mrs. Rivka Goldschmidt, a refugee from Gush Katif. Rabbi Sholom Ber Drizin, philanthropist, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Rabbi Algaze, Rav of Congregation Havurat Yisrael in Forest Hills, and Helen Freedman were the guests of honor.

In a personal interview and in a speech, Rivka Goldschmidt, recounted meeting and marrying her South African husband Michael and their decision to leave their apartment in the center of Israel for a tiny house in the barren sands of the Gaza Strip.

They took up agriculture and, after various tries, began cultivating and ultimately selling amaryllis bulbs to America. They raised a family, building a comfortable home and a successful business in the tight-knit community of Ganei Tal, in spite of random acts of terrorism by the Arabs in the Gaza Strip.

After 28 years of growth, then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation of the 10,000 Jews in Gaza and the destruction Continued on page 3

Number Six School vote this Wednesday

By Malka Eisenberg As the March 20th referendum on the sale of the Number Six School approaches, community efforts to halt the development are intensifying along with acrimony, arguments and advertising campaigns.

Local community members formed a coalition to stop the sale and are coordinating door–to door and phone campaigns as well as mailed fliers and advertisements in all the local newspapers. A debate is scheduled at the Peninsula Public Library on March 12 comparing Simone development’s positions to those of the CC5T, the Community Coalition of the Five Towns.

Rumors have been circulating about Mt. Sinai’s and Simone’s pulling out of the deal.

“There are a lot of rumors about people puling out,” said Joshua Lewin-Jacus, a campaign organizer for the CC5T. “They are not true and we still have to vote.” “There is no truth to the rumors,” said Benjamin Weinstock, attorney for Simone Development.

“They are not withdrawing. We are continuing to the end of the referendum—the public vote; it will either be voted up or voted down.”

The 6.7-acre site with an 80,170 square foot building stands on the corner of Branch and Peninsula boulevards in Woodmere. The elementary school building was built in 1953

and was closed due to declining enrollment and has been vacant since it closed in March 2009. The sprawling, tan, L-shaped twostory structure abuts its paddle ball courts, a grassy baseball field and a park with climbing structures for children.

The Lawrence Board of Education weighed bids for the property from Shulamith school, the Jewish Community Center, the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach and others, ultimately accepting the highest offer from Simone Development. Based in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Simone is a commercial and residential real estate investment and development company. The company Continued on page 4

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THINK TRAFFIC IS BAD NOW ON ROCKAWAY TURNPIKE? YOU MUST VOTE NO ON THE MEGA-MEDICAL CENTER.

FOR OUR FAMILIES’ SAFETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE, VOTE NO ON MARCH 20.

Converting the Number Six School to a mega-medical center is a bad idea for our communities.

We all care about our Five Towns community. We value our families’ safety and our peaceful quality of life.

That’s why we’re very concerned about the proposal to put a mega-medical center on the Number Six School property, converting a quiet residential neighborhood into a healthcare complex open 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

OUR CHILDREN’S SAFETY FIRST The mega-medical center will attract thousands of out-of-town patients, employees, delivery drivers, repair teams and sales people from very early in the morning until late at night. How safe can our families be in their midst?

NOISE AND GRIDLOCK Our community already has trafďŹ c problems. The addition of the center its thousands of visitors will cause major disruptions, noise and frustrating gridlock on Peninsula Boulevard, Branch Boulevard and Rockaway Turnpike.

How low will our property values sink while we save $35 a year in taxes?

PARKS TO PARKING LOTS The project will take valued open space—safe places where our kids play—and turn them into a parking lot to accommodate the mega-center’s thousands of visitors.

March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773 THE JEWISH STAR

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Continued from page 1 of the Jewish towns there. “If that was said about any other area (no Jews) the country would be shocked,” said Goldschmidt. “We protested, we prayed, we made a human chain from Gush Katif to the Kotel. It didn’t help. Eventually the day came.” They were told not to raise a hand to the soldiers by the Rabbi of their town, that they are “our brothers and sons, victims of the system.” The day of the evacuation, a group of soldiers materialized between two majestic eucalyptus trees Rivka had planted in her front yard 28 years before. “I was in shock, speechless, I had soft knees. It was frightening. Instead of protecting us it looked like a duel. I thought that the IDF was a symbol of the unity of the people of Israel and their being used to expel us; that is a very bitter feeling.” She pointed to the Second Lebanon War in 2006 as directly connected to the pull out from Gaza in 2005. “When the Arabs see weakness,” she said, “they attack.”

After the evacuation, although her son had declared to the soldiers who came that he would no longer be a part of the reserves, when he was called up for Operation Cast Lead, he went. “I begged him not to go,” said Rivka. “We were human shields to the southern border, why endanger yourself now?”

“Someone has to do the job,” he replied, “and we might get home.”

The community of Ganei Tal has stayed together even after the evacuation, during its stay in the guesthouse of Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim and in temporary homes in Yad Binyamin. They are building once again, a new Ganei Tal, in spite of many setbacks, in what were once cotton fields by Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim near Gedara some 20 miles northeast of Gaza. “When a crisis comes along and a family is strong, they overcome it despite differences,” explained Rivka. “We had arguments but we dealt with the crisis.”

When asked before his speech about his

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support for Israel, Huckabee said that people wonder why he supports Israel as an evangelical. “People can be Jewish without having a relationship with Christianity but people can’t be Christians without a connection to Judaism,” he stressed. “Our spiritual roots” are in the Bible, in Judaism. “Every Christian believes and every Christian understands— that Israel is G-d’s Chosen Land, and we recognize that and respect it and understand that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed.”

Huckabee pointed out that his first visit to Israel was in 1973 after the Yom Kippur War. He has visited many times since, including to the Gush Katif Museum in 2009 and recently to Yad Vashem, calling them vital places for all government leaders to visit and learn from. He questioned why America is giving $250,000,000 and weapons to Egypt, a country rife with anti-Semitism, the judgment of leaders who make decisions against the good of Israel, the Arabs not acknowledging Israel’s right to exist and the importance of Israel’s true borders. “If our President makes the absurd suggestion that Israel should go back to the Pre ‘67 borders, I’m thinking “Well, if they are going to roll back, let’s just roll all the way back to Abraham and let’s let the borders be the borders that originally were established which goes as far back as we can go!”

He also condemned the president for demanding that Israel stop building bedrooms for their children in their own land instead of demanding that the “Iranians stop building bombs pointing at Israel and the rest of the free world!” He noted that Israel wants true peace and built the security wall to successfully protect its people from those who “strap bombs to their bellies and board a bus and kill innocent children and citizens.” No one would tolerate even one rocket fired into their communities, he said, yet Israel was expected to accept thousands of Katyushas

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Photo courtesy of Gush Katif Museum dinner committee

At the Gush Katif Museum dinner, Gov. Mike Huckabee, fifth from left, the featured speaker, received a Baruch Nachshon painting. On his right is Rabbi Sholom Dov Wolpo, and on his left is Dr. Paul Brody. From left are Dr. Joe Frager, Rivka Goldshchmidt, Gush Katif evacuee, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Rabbi Wolpo, Huckabee, Brody, Helen Freedman, Odeleya Jacobs and Rabbi David Algaze. shot into their schools, homes, hospitals, and synagogues.

Other speakers included Rabbi Jacobson, who emphasized that “the world will only come to respect the Jewish people if the Jewish people respect themselves, only when Israel cherishes itself, believes in itself and respects itself….(they) uprooted its most idealistic men, women and children”… that “Jews can live anywhere except in Eretz

Yisrael” and that “the Oslo agreement made peace synonymous with death.”

Rabbi Algaze recalled that “Gush Katif was a Gan Eden (paradise) that was destroyed’ because of a “virus, the apathy of the Jewish people.” “People who loved the Land were not there for Gush Katif,” said Hikind.

“Does anyone not realize today what a terrible tragedy that was? You gotta be involved, you gotta do the right thing.”

Matzoh Fund goes where no charity has gone before Continued from page 1 kimcha d’pischa, food and funds for Pesach for those struggling financially in Yehuda and Shomron, in Israel. This year, said Hirsch, there have been “crazy price increases on foods. Chickens are up 60%; we spent $15,000 more than last year. From 1 AM to 6 AM I do stuff that has to be done in Israel. I’m usually finished by Purim with purchasing, but this year it lingered on because it was hard to find chickens and meat. Matzoh is up 10% and grape juice 8%. The budget is much higher than before.” He pointed out that requests for assistance are up 10%. Last year, they helped about 1,500 families, but this year they will be helping about 1,650. Last year expenses were $190,000; this year $220,000.

“There’s less than two weeks to go,” he said. “We are less than halfway there. We really have to pull from all over.”

The four distribution sites are Kiryat Arba, Itamar, Ebay Hanachal and Beitar Illit. The yishuvim and the chesed organizations come and collect the food from the distribution sites. “Everything is done by volunteers,” Hirsch emphasized. Most of the time, the packages are delivered to the door at night, secretly, with an envelope with a check inside with a note in Hebrew that says “chazak vamatz meachaichem b’america,” “stay strong from your brothers in America.” The yishuvim that draw from the fund include Bat Ayin, Elon Shvut, Chavat Gilaad, Elon Moreh, Maaleh Amos, Maaleh Chever, Maaleh Levona, Nokdim, Shilo, Sussya, Tapuach, Yitzhar, Shvut Rachel, Adiya, Aday Ad, Eli, Karnei Tzur.

Most of the recipients work, he said, but they can’t afford the “crazy costs of Yom Tov.” Some of them are widows, orphans, victims of terror, or are ill. The communities send a brief history of the family so the fund is aware of their status and writes a check for them. “Each is checked out by the rav or representative of the rav of the yishuv before they are put on the list. No other organization helps in this area, plenty help in Yerushalyim, Bnei Brak, Tel Aviv, but in these areas nothing.”

“Seven years ago we started giving out meat besides chicken, grape juice and matza,” he added. “About half the people never had meat on Yom Tov before.”

He said that most of the money comes from America with “a little” coming from Israel. Hirsch spoke in West Hempstead last week; his son Ari Hirsch lives there and helps the organization “a lot.”

“We deal with more than 1,000 families,” explained Yisrael Bramson, the Mancal (director) of Hachnasat Orchim Hevron and a member of the Moaytza Mekomit Kiryat Arba. “And we distribute more than $250,000 in difficult places, the hilltops.

He (Hirsch) is a tzadik (a righteous person), he works for the sake of Heaven. He gathers $36, $50, $100, not like he has one big donor. Next week we distribute supermarket coupons, meat, chicken, produce, grape juice, matza, and closed packages of cookies for Pesach. There are people who call up, they wait all year for this. It’s not just the money it’s an issue of the connection, the caring. I am always surprised anew. So much difficulty. Olim from Bnai Menashe from India, from South America.

Many widows are without income and are embarrassed to ask for help. (This way) they will have for the Seder. They are given with a gracious hand; 90% of what we give out is from the Matzoh Fund. Alan sacrifices, he neglects his business, working on this even 2 AM. He waits for the morning to deal with all this. Kol hakavod, kol hakavod. He worries about the money--I buy and distribute the food.”

As far as the Bnai Israel Matzoh Fund, Hirsch explained, “We never say no to anybody. ‘Kol dichphin yasay vyaychol’ ‘whoever needs, come and get.’ You want to be yotzay every year. You are supposed to prepare 30 days before the chag. You want to sit at your table and know that you fulfilled that, know that every dollar you give will be used to help a family make Pesach.”

To donate, mail checks to: Matzoh Fund, Congregation Bnai Israel, 3190 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210. For more information call: 718 377-8016.

THE JEWISH STAR March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773

Remembering Gush Katif

Opinion

March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773 THE JEWISH STAR

4

VOTE ‘NO’: ‘Mega-medical center’ would destroy our community

By Joshua Schein

Number Six-Jeffrey Bessen/Herald, Medical center-Newman Design

Lawrence School District residents will vote on a public referendum on March 20 to sell or not sell the Number Six School, left, that could be turned into a medical center, right.

#6 School vote Wednesday Continued from page 1 has plans to lease the building to Mount Sinai Hospital for use as a multi-specialty medical practice.

Four members of the school board, termed the real estate committee, reviewed the bids and then brought their analysis of the bids to the rest of the seven-member board. On January 14th, the board voted 4 to 2, with one member absent, to sell the property, to Simone, subject to a public referendum to be held on March 20th. If the sale is rejected, the process starts all over again and bids have to be resubmitted; new bids can be submitted as well.

The current disagreement weighs the potential use of the property as a prime real estate space for development as a medical center providing the community with much needed tax funds on one side of the argument. On the other hand, members of the community see this development as an infringement on the residential nature of the neighborhood, paving over green space and increasing traffic in an already congested area.

A local resident who chose not to be identified called into question the wisdom of paving a grassy zone in an area that had recently

been submerged under feet of water in Hurricane Sandy. She pointed out that further down Peninsula Boulevard the highway has open drainage that allows water to flow away from traffic and homes. The proposed paving by the Number Six School could further exacerbate the flooding that is often a trademark of Peninsula Boulevard in Woodmere, she said.

Lewin-Jacus noted that the CC5T received a copy of the agreement signed by Joseph Simone, of Simone Development, and Dr. Asher Mansdorf. president of the Lawrence Board of Education. Lewin-Jacus said the agreement indicated that “Simone is going to apply for an abatement to be done on or before 60 days following the Referendum Notice, so they won’t have to pay the full amount of the taxes.” He also pointed out that Mount Sinai Hospital is not mentioned in the agreement.

As for their phone and door-to-door canvassing, stressed Lewin-Jacus, “We are seeing the tides change. More than that, that people are against it, especially after we explain the downside. They are changing from being unaware to aware and mobilized. (We are) making sure they are going to go vote.”

Voting places and hours Voting on March 20th is from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the four voting sites are Lawrence Middle School (195 Broadway, Lawrence), Number 2 School (1 Donahue Avenue, Inwood), Atlantic Beach Village Hall (The Plaza, Atlantic Beach) and Lawrence High School (2 Reilly Road, Cedarhurst). If you have any questions regarding where to vote, please call the Lawrence School District Clerk at (516) 295-7032.

Registered voters unable to vote in person on March 20 can appear in person at Lawrence Middle School on any school day prior to March 20 between 8 AM and 4 PM, and go to the District Clerk’s office (first office on the right, when entering the building), where one can fill out the absentee ballot request form, and vote by absentee ballot on the spot. The Board of Election’s official deadline for registrations for this election was March 11.

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On March 20, Lawrence School District 15 residents will be asked if the Number Six School in Woodmere should be sold to Simone Healthcare Development. Unlike most elections, in which the outcome can be reversed in two or four years, the results of this referendum could damage our community forever.

The first point to understand is what the community is actually voting for. The referendum is for a sale, free and clear, to a developer of mega-medical centers, who is then free to maximize the value of that property.

There are no restrictions on the number of doctors, the hours of operation or the size and height of the facility.

Voters should base their decision on the reasonable expectation that Simone will do everything it can to maximize profits by maximizing the number of patients. That is Simone’s right, but it is at direct odds with the interests of this community. Their full page color ads with architectural renderings and flowery descriptions (which keep changing) are meaningless, because the developer is in no way bound by them.

So how busy will this mega-clinic and urgent care center be? Let’s say the clinic has one hundred physicians, though this 6.7 acre property could incorporate several times that. If each physician treats five patients an hour, that’s 500 patients an hour. Fourteen hours a day would make 7,000 patients a day!

You don’t have to be a traffic engineer to see that 7,000 additional vehicles - plus employees, delivery trucks, laboratory pick-ups, service teams and salesmen – would create gridlock on Peninsula and Branch Boulevards and on Rockaway Turnpike. And these vehicles would seek alternate routes, spilling onto residential streets, endangering our children.

Importantly, this will be a large, regional clinic, drawing patients from all over. We will have thousands of strangers in our community, every day, from early in the morning until late at night – patients, employees, service workers – on our streets and around our schools.

This is the wrong location for a mega-medical center. It is the height of

insensitivity, in an area just devastated by Sandy, to drop this seven-day-a-week megaclinic into the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood. That may not be something the school board chose to consider, but the community certainly should. At a time when so much commercial real estate is available, is there any reason this facility has to be here?

As a parent, it pains me to see a plan that calls for blacktopping the ball fields and turning them into parking lots. When so many of our children attend schools with no recreational fields and when open spaces are so scarce, should we really be turning our schools and fields over to a commercial developer?

Shouldn’t this school and these ball fields be used for the benefit of our children? Let it be a community center, or another school, or a library, but please don’t squander this public space, permanently robbing our children of a precious asset and ruining a neighborhood in the process.

We know what we would lose. But, what would we gain? Additional taxes to the district would amount to about $35 per family per year. That’s it. And in a district that spends $250,000 a day, the entire annual tax payment would last just 36 hours. We would be giving this property away, and that does not include any offset for the cost of extra municipal services – police, traffic enforcement, sewage treatment, medical waste, road repairs – for which property owners will eventually have to pay.

What if the developer one day sells this facility to Mount Sinai Hospital? As a not-forprofit, Mount Sinai would pay no taxes whatsoever! Property taxes could actually go up, while property values will certainly go down.

These issues strike at our quality of life – traffic, crime, property values, taxes, and the safety of our families and children. But there is another, more historic point. The name “Five Towns” dates back to the Great Depression, when our neighborhoods banded together to support one another.

We have come together many times over the years, most recently following Superstorm Sandy. On March 20, let’s do it again.

Please take the time to vote NO - for our families, our friends, our children and our community.

VOTE ‘YES’: Medical facility would provide enormous benefits

By Joseph Simone Simone Healthcare Development Group Simone Healthcare Development and Mount Sinai remain firmly committed to the plan to provide the highest level of comprehensive and coordinated outpatient care to the residents of the Five Towns community.

We have listened very carefully to the concerns expressed at community forums and in the press over the past several weeks and we are seeking to better address the planning issues that have been raised by residents in the immediate vicinity of the site about potential traffic and the loss of open space.

We are very encouraged by the positive feedback the medical facility has received.

We continue to believe that the proposed medical center will provide enormous benefits to the community by providing enhanced, quality medical care, job opportunities, immediate and ongoing tax benefits, and an attractive adaptive re-use of the School 6 property that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. We believe the benefits to the community far outweigh any potential negative impact.

Contrary to persistent rumors, the project is not and will not be a “hospital” or “mega-

medical center.” In fact, the current building will not be enlarged under our proposal. Instead, it will be transformed from an abandoned school that drains public money through ongoing maintenance and insurance costs into a comprehensive outpatient medical office and urgent care center to be operated by the world renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. There will be a total of 60 physicians with about 100 support staff, offering patients better coordination of primary and specialty care, all in one convenient location.

Simone Healthcare Development Group and Mount Sinai remain dedicated to partnering with the community to create a top quality medical office practice that welcomes the participation of local physicians, reduces medical costs by eliminating hundreds of ER visits and significantly reduces the time it takes to receive quality medical attention, all under one roof. Instead of burdening taxpayers, our project reduces taxes. It provides millions of dollars to the school district in the short term and saves taxpayers millions more in the long term.

I thank you for allowing me to clear up some misconceptions about our project.

5 THE JEWISH STAR March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773

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The Kosher Bookworm

Nechama Leibowitz Haggadah and the Rav’s legacy

T

he Pesach seder is a ritual based upon questions. The evening’s proceedings begin with questions--four of them.

And, even before the holiday, the teachings leading up to the holiday are enveloped with questions concerning observance, ritual, diet, and other cognate matters that make this season a rabbi’s delight at being the one most sought after for the correct answers.

This question and answer methodology as taught in the classroom of Nechama Leibowitz, a”h, whose 16th yahrtzeit is this week, can now be found in print in a unique Haggadah entitled, “Studies on the Haggadah from the Teachings of Nechama Leibowitz” edited by Yitzhak Reiner and Shmuel Peerless [Urim Publications].

Within this work is a carefully gleaned collection of supplementary sources taken from the teachings of Alan Jay Gerber Nechama Leibowitz, who was among the most distinguished Torah scholars of our era and whose instructional methods are still utilized by many Torah teachers. According to the book’s editors, “The cornerstone of her approach is the presentation of questions on the biblical text and relevant commentaries that require the learner to independently analyze and draw conclusions…that presented textual comparisons, stylistic literary analy-

ses and commentaries with probing questions are designed to foster in-depth study of the sources. Nechama’s approach to Torah study is thus very compatible with the methodology reflected in the Haggadah.”

With that as prologue, this work utilizes Leibowitz’s works that relate to the Pesach story and the seder narrative and mainstream these readings and writings to fit in as a running commentary to the basic Haggadah text. This is especially germane to the Torah text and commentaries by Leibowitz from her commentary on the Book of Shemot, bringing together her question and answer method on Chumash to blend with the Haggadah narrative.

It should be noted that in just about each part of the section of Maggid, which is at the heart of this work, there is framed a “question” and “suggested answer” motif. That is what gives this work its uniqueness.

Special textual attention is given to the introduction dealing with “A Night of Vigil,” the four cups, the four children, especially that section dealing with the pedagogical principle as defined by Leibowitz. This section’s commentary leads to a detailed thematic treatment of “Pesach, Matzah, and Marror” from both a historical and ritual point of view.

The Leibowitz method is most evident and appreciated by this writer when used in interpreting the sections with biblical texts.

Utilizing her many famed gilyonot and her interpretive method surely helps enhance the texts’ purpose and meaning. This to me goes to the very heart of the importance and

religious worth of this work. If studied carefully prior to the seder, this section, containing over 100 analytical questions, can lend the seder much in terms of gaining for all in attendance a better understanding of the Exodus narrative.

Another work reflecting upon the teachings of another great master is entitled, “Vision and Leadership” edited by Rabbi Reuven Ziegler, Dr. David Shatz, and Dr. Joel Wolowelsky [KTAV Publishing, 2013] and based upon the teachings on Moses by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

In their introductory remarks, the editors cite a quote from the Rav that, in my opinion, just about sets the tone for the basic value of this work going right to the heart of the basic theme of the Pesach observance.

As the recently liberated Jewish people is about to enter the Land of Israel, the Rav gives its historic mission its purpose. He is quoted as follows: “From the viewpoint of human reason, the redemption in Egypt should have been the only one in Jewish history. The messianic era should have commenced with the Exodus….

Yet we believe that, at some point in time, all contradictions will be resolved and that the Almighty will purge the historical order of contradictions and antithetic elements….

The Exodus will finally be completely realized; the eschatological era will begin; only

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then will the redemption from Egypt be endowed with its final meaning.”

There is one essay further on in this work where the Rav, in dealing with Moses’ relationship with Pharaoh, cites a very interesting observation by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch “that it was only after the plague of darkness that Pharaoh and his people began to respect Moses. That was the critical moment, the turning point in the relationship of Moses and Pharaoh and the enti entire land of Egypt. In the history of wars, we have not come across a situation where one party acr is ccompletely enveloped in darknes ness and the second enjoys light.

During the three dark days, the Du Je Jews could have exterminated th the population, plundered the la land, and departed from Egypt.

Th old Pharaoh had argued The that if Egypt should get involved th in a war, the Jews would support its enemy. The three days p o of darkness proved this charge to be complet completely false. Suddenly, Moses appeared as a charismatic leader, a great man who actually wanted to reform his people and liberate them from slavery. He became great in their eyes.”

Consider this observation carefully, and learn from this the greatness of our heritage as taught to us by Moses, for that was and still is the basic lesson that we must learn from the Exodus, the triumph of light over darkness.

To learn more consider:“Studies in the Weekly Parashah” by Dr. Moshe Sokolow; “Torah Conversations” by Rabbi Benjamin S. Yasgur; “To Study and to Teach by Shmuel Peerless; and two stellar biographies, “Nechama Leibowitz: Teacher and Bible Scholar”

by Yael Unterman; and, “Tales of Nechama”

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If all hospitals treated women as well as Winthrop, nearly 40,000 lives could have been saved.

A recent landmark study* by Healthgrades®, the leading independent health care ratings organization, of women aged 65 years and older, 2008-2010, reveals some alarming facts. Following a heart attack, for example, women receive far fewer surgical interventions than men.

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Winthrop-University Hospital is the only hospital in NY State to simultaneously receive all three of these awards.

But women are not powerless. The study made it clear that a small percentage of hospitals is doing a far superior job for women. And saving thousands of lives. Only one of these elite institutions is located in Nassau and Suffolk counties – Winthrop-University Hospital.

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Who’s in the kitchen

Hey, what’s up Doc? I

might as well start getting ready for Shavuot. It seems Chanukah was just yesterday. How is it possible it’s almost Pesach??? Here we go again….the shopping, cleaning, preparing, cooking, serving and not to mention another Pesach article I have to come up with. Last year I came up with two really funny ones, not sure I can top those. I suggest you look them up on the Internet, seriously.

Those first feelings of panic started about two weeks ago when I was shopping at Gourmet Glatt. Whatever I looked for was in another aisle, due to all the Pesach items arriving. Not that I was in any way ready to start shopping, but I decided to stroll through the Judy Joszef aisles to have a look.

Not expecting anything to shout out to me, as I thought I had seen everything possible last year….but there it was, how was it we were able to do without it in the past? There in front of me, was marshmallow filled, chocolate covered “locusts.” Why is it no one ever thought of it before? What’s next, flavored ices in the shape of boils? Oy, I sound like those people who think having anything except the basics, as we had fifty years ago, is sacrilegious. Truth is, with the influx of in-

novative Passover products in the market today, it’s safe to say that we don’t have to subsist on just matzah, gefite fish, borsht, eggs, macaroons and potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes. I know I tend to make fun of all the newfangled products. But I have to admit, I also end up buying some of them in the end. When my kids were younger and the Pesach version of the cold breakfast cereals were unveiled, I thought “I can’t believe they have this for Pesach! It’s ridiculous.” Then I proceeded to place seven boxes into my shopping cart (hey they only contained about five ounces of cereal each). Good thing, as that first year they were sold out the week before the yom tov even started. At $5.89 a box it killed me to throw out six boxes after the chag. They did look like the real thing…until the milk hit the bowl. So, you’d think I’d learned my lesson, right? Um, no. Every year I fall for some new enticing item, and every year I say to myself “not going to fall for this next year.” And so it goes…..

OK, enough about shopping. Let’s figure out a good soup to make for one of your dairy lunches. I decided to add a soup that’s different from the usual French onion or the trusty potato soup I usually make. This year carrot ginger soup made it onto my menu.

Besides being healthy and delicious, carrots have a rather amazing history.

In ancient times, the root part of the carrot plant that we eat today was not typically used. The carrot plant however was highly valued due to the medicinal value of its seeds

and leaves.

The Romans believed carrots and their seeds were aphrodisiacs. As such, carrots were a common plant found in Roman gardens.

Before the 17th century, almost all carrots cultivated were purple. The modern day orange carrot wasn’t cultivated until Dutch growers in the late 16th century took mutant strains and gradually developed them into the sweet, plump, orange variety we have today.

English women in the 1600’s often wore carrot leaves in their hats in place of flowers or feathers.

The Anglo-Saxons included carrots as an ingredient in a medicinal drink against the devil and insanity. (I can think of a few leaders in the Middle East who might want to try it.)

Researchers at the USDA found that study participants who consumed two carrots a day were able to lower their cholesterol levels about 20 percent (Jerry, ignore this since you’re diet is already filled with oat bran for your heart, blueberries and a ridiculous amount of cinnamon for your brain and memory).

The average person will eat 10,866 carrots in their lifetime.

Howard Hughes always measured every carrot he ate.

Eating three carrots gives you the strength to walk three miles (actually seeing a picture of myself in a bathing suit gives me more strength to walk those miles) Carrots are one of the rare vegetables that are more nutritious cooked than raw.

One person not thrilled with carrots was Mae West. She was known to say, “I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.”

Oh, and wild rabbits don’t eat carrots--

you’ve been watching too much Bugs bunny!

Carrot and Ginger Soup ■ Serves

12 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ■ 1 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion ■ Kosher salt ■ 1 1/2 T minced garlic ■ 1 1/2 T minced peeled ginger ■ 3 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped ■ 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped ■ 9 cups parve chicken or vegetable stock, broth or flavor cubes and water to equal that amount A dollop of vanilla yogurt and a sprig of parsley or rosemary for each serving, optional.

Combine the olive oil and onion in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, 10 minutes, until just starting to caramelize. Add the garlic and ginger, stirring, 2 more minutes. Stir in the carrots, potatoes and the parve chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the carrots and potato are very tender, approximately 20 minutes. Keep warm.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender until very smooth. Top with yogurt and garnish if you wish. Enjoy!

■3

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Photo courtesy Five Towns Community Chest

HAFTR extends Hospitality The Five Towns Community Chest is once again planning its annual Youth Board basketball tournament. Lawrence High School has proudly hosted this great event for the past 15 years. Unfortunately the Lawrence

gym is not available due to Hurricane Sandy and is currently being renovated. This year HAFTR has come to the rescue and extended their hospitality by offering to host Chest’s tournament at their brand new, state of the

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From March 7-11, 20 yeshiva high school basketball teams from across the U.S. and Canada met at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Yeshiva Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wilf Campus in Washington Heights to battle it out for the top spot in the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 22nd Annual Red Sarachek Invitational Basketball Tournament. When the buzzer sounded, the Shalhevet High School Firehawks of Los Angeles, CA were crowned the tournamentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tier I champions.

In a thrilling championship bout, the Firehawks defeated the Frisch School Cougars of Paramus, NJ by the score of 62-53. Playing before a packed crowd and a broadcast audience in the thousands, Shalhevet shooting guard and Sarachek MVP Joseph Fallas held off a determined Frisch squad with an impressive 25 points. Cougar guard Judah Cohen kept the contest close by putting up 21 points of his own.

The tournament, named for legendary former YU Maccabees coach Bernard â&#x20AC;&#x153;Redâ&#x20AC;?

Sarachek, was established in 1992 to honor Sarachekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contributions to the sport of basketball and his dedication to the Jewish community. In addition to basketball, the long weekend included several off-court activities, including a lively Shabbaton and tours of the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ever-expanding campus, to help the young all-stars gain an early appreciation for YUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique educational environment and culture.

In addition to Shalhevet and Frisch, this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ eld included: Magen David (Brooklyn, NY); North Shore Hebrew Academy (Great Neck, NY); Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School (Woodmere, NY); RASG Hebrew Academy (Miami, FL); YULA High School for Boys (Los Angeles, CA); Weinbaum Yeshiva High School (Boca Raton, FL); Cooper Yeshiva (Memphis, TN); Valley Torah (Valley Village, CA); Beren Academy (Houston, TX); Maimonides School (Brookline, MA); Ida Crown Jewish Academy (Chicago, IL); Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy (Rockville, MD); Bnei Akiva Schools â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Or Chaim (Toronto, ON); Fuchs Mizrachi School (Beachwood, OH); Columbus Torah Academy (Columbus, OH); Akiva Hebrew Day School (SouthďŹ eld, MO); Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA) and Yeshiva University High School for Boys/Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (New York, NY).

The Yeshiva University High School Lions claimed the Tier II title with a decisive 53-27 win over the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars. The Lions retained

a commanding lead throughout the game thanks to a collaborative effort by forward Ezra Teichman (14 points), guard Zak Lenik (10 points), and forward Ben Zion Feld (10 points). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yeshiva Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red Saracheck Tournament is a top notch event comprised of many of the ďŹ nest Jewish High School Varsity Basketball programs from across North America and an annual highlight for all who participate,â&#x20AC;? said YUHSB coach Daniel Gibber. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are proud of the fact that for the second consecutive season our MTA team held its opponents to the lowest points per game average of all teams in the tournament.

Following a narrow loss to Beren-Houston,

we are pleased to have regrouped to win the tournamentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tier 2 Championship.â&#x20AC;?

Shai Kaminetzky, YUHSB Senior Point Guard said that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;While our initial goal was to win Tier 1, bouncing back to win three consecutive games convincingly and securing the Tier 2 Championship was a great way to end our season.â&#x20AC;?

Tier III went to Weinbaum Yeshiva High School and Tier IV to Fuchs Mizrachi School.

For the second straight year, the tournament was broadcast in high-deďŹ nition video provided by MacsLive. The broadcast was made possible with the support of Yeshiva Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s OfďŹ ce of Undergraduate Admissions and Center for the Jewish Future.

Photo by Yeshiva University

Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars defend against the YUHS Lions

Our graduates bring talent, drive and smarts. Yeshiva University brings a remarkable alumni network.

Meredith Weiss, M.D. Chief Resident of Research and Education Resident, Department of Psychiatry MonteďŹ ore Medical Center Stern College â&#x20AC;&#x2122;03 Albert Einstein College of Medicine â&#x20AC;&#x2122;09

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The YUHS Lions claimed the Tier II title with a 53-27 win over the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars

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The only thing more remarkable about our studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; accomplishments is how connected they are to Yeshiva Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distinguished alumni network. Graduates of Yeshiva College, Stern College and Sy Syms School of Business enjoy networking with a worldwide community of successful YU alumni that are ready to help them achieve their personal and professional goalsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and even help them land their ďŹ rst job. Call our admissions office at 212.960.5277 and start your journey today.

THE JEWISH STAR March 15, 2013 â&#x20AC;˘ 4 NISAN 5773

Tier II for MTA at YUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sarachek bball invitational

Shalhevet alumni in Israel meet menahelet Some of the Midreshet Shalhevet students currently in Midrashot in Israel met with Shalhevet Menahelet Mrs. Esther Eisenman (second from right, seated) in Yerushalayim one evening this past week. “It was wonderful to see the girls and see that even after close to a year after graduation they are still close as a group,” said Mrs. Eisenman upon her return to New York. “They’ve been seeing each other all year and even though only a few of them are in the same seminary, they were all sharing their experiences of the year in Israel together: you could tell by the way they were answering questions for one another! Each of them has grown so much and it was gratifying to see how much each of them is learning during this special year. They’ve each come to appreciate Torat Yisrael, Am Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael on a deeper level and have spent time incorporating these values personally.

The level of introspection I heard about was impressive. As a group and as individuals, they continue to impress me, and I look forward to continuing to hear about their decisions and their spiritual growth in the years to come.”

Shalhevet alumni in schools in Israel met with principal Mrs. Esther Eisenman for milkshakes in Jerusalem.

Photo by Courtesy Midreshet Shalhevet

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March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773 THE JEWISH STAR

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ON THE

Calendar Submit your shul or organization’s events or shiurim to jscalendar@thejewishstar.com. Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.

Mar.17

Chabad of the Five Towns On Sunday, March 17 at 11 a.m., the Hebrew School will conduct a model Seder. Call Rabbi Meir Geisinsky at (516) 295-2478 x19.

On Sunday, March 17 at noon, after Hebrew school, a family trip to the Ohel for personal prayer and marking the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s birthday. Call Rabbi Meir Geisinsky at (516) 2952478.

From Sunday, March 17 to Friday, March 22, meet the rabbi to sell your chometz. Call Rabbi Schneur Wolowik at (516) 295-2478 x11 for an appointment.

Mar. 19

Haggadah Shiur for Men

by Rav Yitzchok Knobel, Shlita Tuesday, March 19, 8:30 PM - 9:45 PM at the Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns 846 West Broadway, Woodmere

Chabad of the Five Towns On Tuesday, March 19 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Friendship Circle Passover program. Children with special needs with take part in a model Seder. $10 per child not in the Judaica Circle program. Contact (516) 295-2478 x13 or batsheva@ chabad5towns.com

Mar. 24

PASSOVER BULLETIN: OU KOSHER ANNOUNCES SPECIAL EXTENDED HOTLINE HOURS BEFORE PASSOVER: SUNDAY, MARCH 24 (10 A.M.-NOON), AND MONDAY, MARCH 25 (10 A.M.-1P.M.) OU Kosher announces special extended hours of the OU Kosher Hotline to assist with Passover preparations—from 10:00 a.m-12 noon on Sunday, March 24 and from 10:00 a.m-1:00p.m on Monday, March 25 (the night of the first seder.)

The OU Kosher Hotline is 212-613-8241.

Mar. 28

Join NCSY this chol hamoed at Six Flags Great Adventure For tickets go to www.ncsypesach.com $35 until March 21, $40 at the gate Standfour performing live at 3 pm For group sales call 917-494-7412 For individual tickets call 516 569-6279

One Israel Fund Chol

Photo courtesy of HAFTR

HAFTR celebrated their 35th Annual Dinner on Sunday night, March 10th, at Citi Field: (right to left) Laaura & Yaron Kornblum –Guests of Honor, Executive Director Reuben Maron, Cal & Janine Nathan-Yachad Awardees.

Hamoed Trip In the footsteps of the past Kfar Adumim and the snail secret of the Tchelet dye, resurfacing after 1500 years. Kasr al Yahud, where we crossed the Jordan river with Yehoshua into Israel on Pesach over 3,000 years ago, on to a ‘Regel’ from our earliest days in the Promised Land. Up to Shilo to workshops of ancient weaving and dyeing and the new Seer’s Tower sound and light show. Tour the Tel where the Mishkan stood during the Shoftim and then end at the award winning Shilo Winery.

Cost for the day-8:30 am—6:30 pm: $55/adult $45/student in Israel or child under 12. Bring your own Pesach lunch and snacks. Water is provided.

Reservations or info in U.S. Ruthie Kohn 516 239-9202 x10

In Israel Zahava Englard 052-484-6034

April 3

One Israel Fund Isru Chag trip Blooming in the Western Negev Netiv A’asara: a view into northern Gaza.

Café Cafe in Sderot for a dairy lunch, then to the Black Arrow Memorial, symbol of the region’s vast ‘battle heritage.’ Spring flowers, the fifth century synagogue mosaic at Hurvat Maon.

South to the Steel Tower in Kerem Shalom, then to Holot Halutza’s Gush Katif replants, Nave, Bnai Netzarim. Chemdat olive oil, pomegranates and tomatoes in the sand.

Cost for the day-8:15 am—7:00 pm, including lunch: $65/adult, $55/student in Israel or child under 12.

Reservations or info in U.S. Ruthie Kohn 516 239-9202 x10 In Israel Zahava Englard 052-484-6034

Apr 14

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County 60th Anniversary Dinner Crest Hollow Country Club Reservations or information 516-565-5640 x232 Email: dinner@hanc.org Website: www.hanc.org

The beginning of learning A

number of Midrashim pose the question (ascribed either to Rabbi Yoseh, Yosi, or Dosa), “Why do children begin learning the [Chumash] from the section about korbanot [offerings]?” And the answer is, “Because just as the korbanot are pure, so are the children pure.”

In recording the question at the beginning of Vayikra, Kli Yakar quotes the Yalkut Shimoni (Pinchas 786), who uses a play on words to demonstrate that one year old “k’vasim” (sheep) are used as korbanot, because they are “m’khabsim” (they launder or wash away) the sins of a person, making the person as clean (or pure) as a one-year old.

While there are many suggestions as to why the alef in “VAYIRabbi Avi Billet KRa” is small (Kli Yakar begins his commentary on the parsha with his own interpretation), the call to attention brought on by the alef in this first word of the book is a reminder that this is where children, who are small and who begin their learning with alef, should begin their Chumash studies.

Kli Yakar quotes another opinion, that the word “Alef” comes from a root which means to study, as in the verse in Iyov (33:33), when his friend Elihu tells him, “Va’Alefkha

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Hokhma,” – “If you have words, answer me… but if you don’t, then listen to me; be silent as I will teach you wisdom.” The point taken from there is that learning is only fulfilling when a person lowers himself, and accepts the role of student, like a child learning in a classroom.

Moshe indeed merited to be called in this manner – Vayikra El Moshe – because he had done this when G-d first called upon him. He belittled himself saying, “I am not a man of words” (Shmot 4:10), and he merited to become the epitome of being a man of words, the quintessential teacher of Torah.

Not only was he the greatest teacher, but he rose above everyone else of his time. Certainly G-d spoke to Adam, Noach, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. But there was no one else in their time worthy of being any kind of competition. But in Moshe’s day, there were 70 elders, Bezalel, Aharon and his sons, the princes, etc. and only Moshe merited to have the relationship with G-d he enjoyed.

And so the lesson is twofold: We learn from Moshe that one who never thinks “I have arrived” and who always thinks, “I have so much more to learn” is a person who will have much more success in learning.

Having played the role of instructor for advanced teacher education and training, I have found the most productive classes were those in which the teachers in the room played the role of students. Those who feel the need to reverse the roles in that context end up learning nothing themselves and ruin the class for everyone else.

And even the message shared by Rabbi Yoseh, Yosi or Dosa is equally important to bear in mind. There is a purity that beginning learners have, a curiosity, along with a desire to learn and to please others.

Our challenge is to teach things correctly, to make good choices, and to give learners information, skills, and the wings to think for themselves.

Instead of creating “Yes”-men-and-women and people who are afraid to get wrong answers, we must tap into the purity of Vayikra, combine it with the purity of the children, and promote an active kind of learning in which mistakes are encouraged, because we catch them on our own, learn from them, and grow from them. We create an environment in which those who have the drive, who have a similarly talented peer group (as did Moshe), are able to rise above because they raise themselves above through their commitment and dedication to learning and growing.

Hanokh L’naar al pi darko – Teach the child according to how the child learns, so that even when he grows old, he will not turn away from what he has been taught. (Proverbs 22:6)

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15 THE JEWISH STAR March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773

Parshat Vayikra

On the other hand, playing the role of student is something I cherish as well. It is a blessing to hear new ideas, see new things, be presented with different perspectives on things I don’t know well or even know very well. And the reminder of how much there is still to learn is ever humbling.

This leaves us with the second lesson: regarding children, of what and how they learn.

We are living in a time when information is out there, available and so easily accessible.

What is not out there, and what needs to be taught, learned and made available to children, is the ability to think. The answer to “what’s the answer?” is “I don’t know. Figure it out.” Or, “Perhaps if you use this rule or this information that you have, you may be able to come up with the answer.” “I am here to help, but not to show you or tell you.”

Of course there are things we must “tell” children. How to read, translation of words, and even some basic skills all come from a frontal sharing of “information you need to know.” But the book of Vayikra is a great place to start learning because the same words and shorashim (root words) appear over and over in the first seven chapters, creating a built in review of language, syntax, vocabulary, and structure.

March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773 THE JEWISH STAR

16

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Living up to life’s challenges

Pesach 1941 In 1941, the few children hiding in a cellar didn`t really know when Pesach occurred; they lost all touch of time after they lost their families....But when they saw a bit of green growing through the tiny window, they realized that spring was coming, and with it, Pesach. They asked the old man, who had agreed to look after them, to give them a bit of flour and water, matches and some paper. It was a very unusual Seder that year...

S

By Rabbi Noam Himelstein

Rabbi Noam Himelstein studied in Yeshivat Har Etzion and served in the Tanks Corps of the IDF. He has taught in yeshiva high schools, post-high school women’s seminaries, and headed the Torah MiTzion Kollel in Melbourne, Australia. He currently teaches at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem, and lives with his wife and six children in Neve Daniel, Gush Etzion.

ometimes, heroes are the most ordinary people, who rise to the most extraordinary occasions. Like Noam Apter.

Friday night: White tablecloths and china, the sweet light of the Shabbat candles, and the singing of Shalom Aleichem, a song of peace that begins every Shabbat dinner in every Jewish home. No matter where Jews have been, and how unwelcoming and challenging the world around them has been, they are still singing of peace on Friday nights. And this particular Friday night in the Yeshiva at Otniel was no different. Except that while the students of this yeshiva and their families were singing of peace, no one heard the silent click of wire cutters slicing through the security fence.

Smiling faces, Kiddush over wine, and the blessing of the children; every Friday night for thousands of years Jewish parents have taken a moment to appreciate the gift of FROM THE HEART children sitting at the OF JERUSALEM Shabbat table. It is a moment of dreams and joy, of potential and love. If we can bless the sweet delicious challot, and appreciate how blessed we are to have bread on our table when so many in the world can only imagine such a luxury, how can we not take a moment to appreciate what a blessing each Rabbi Binny child is, and how many Freedman dreams each of them represent? Except that this Friday night, while parents were blessing their children with light, and seeing in them the majesty of creation, two other ‘children,’ armed with M-16 automatic assault rifles and grenades, were making their way into the same dining hall bringing only darkness and destruction.

Otniel, a town in the Hebron foothills south of Jerusalem, is also home to a very special yeshiva, where boys add two years to their army service in order to combine army service with Jewish studies. While students and families sang and danced to traditional Shabbat tunes in the dining hall, Noam, along with Gavriel, aged 17, Tzvika, aged 19, and Yehuda aged 20, were in the kitchen getting the first course on to the serving plates.

In the blink of an eye, light became darkness and the sweet sound of Shabbat melodies was lost in the horrible sounds of gunfire.

Two terrorists, members of the Islamic Jihad organization, entered the kitchen wearing IDF army uniforms and began shooting immediately.

Under fire, Noam Apter ran towards the door separating the kitchen from the dining room where over a hundred unsuspecting people, young boys and families, were welcoming Shabbat.

Wounded and bleeding profusely, with his last strength, he managed to lock both locks and throw the key away. He locked himself in with the terrorists, preventing them from entering the dining hall, and raining death and destruction on all those inside.

Noam Apter paid for this act of heroism with his life. The terrorists murdered him, and the other three boys with him. It is difficult to imagine what pure terror such a moment must contain. To be at such close quarters, with no way of defending yourself,

facing evil in its purest form, the range of emotions that must inevitably sweep over a person is impossible to describe. Many experience pure fear, the fear of the unknown.

Some experience intense sadness, the sadness that comes with the awareness of endings; dreams that will never be realized, loved ones that will be left behind, goals never to be achieved.

And some, those rare few, experience challenge, the challenge that comes with the realization that life always means opportunity, and that we are always here for a purpose. How does a human being rise to such a level? How does one overcome every natural instinct of self-preservation, and so see his fellow human beings before him, that he is able to run towards danger, instead of away from it? If I ever get the chance, I will ask Noam Apter that question. There are those who, in a moment, achieve what most people strive for an entire lifetime to become.

This week’s portion, VaYikra, introduces what is essentially an entire book of the Torah almost completely dedicated to the concept of sacrifices in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and later the Temple. Nearly a quarter of the Torah is dedicated, apparently to the how, when, where and what of animal offerings.

It is interesting to note, therefore, that this topic is introduced with a rather unique occurrence. We often find in the Torah, that G-d speaks to Moshe, telling him what to say and teach to the Jewish people. At the beginning of this week’s portion, however, before speaking to Moshe, G-d decides to call him: “Vayikra el Moshe, va’yedaber elav me’Ohel Moed le’mor: “Daber el B’nei Yisrael ve’amarta a’lehem: adam ki yakriv mekem Korban la’Hashem, min ha’be’hemah, min ha’bakar, u’min ha’tzon takrivu et korbanchem.”

“And He called to Moshe, and He spoke to him from the tent of meeting (the Ohel Moed) saying: “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: a man who offers up (brings close) from amongst you a sacrifice to G-d, from animals from the cattle or from the flock (sheep) offer up (bring close) your sacrifice (offering).” (Vayikra 1:1-2) Why, here, does G-d suddenly decide to call Moshe before speaking to him? How often have we read in the Torah “G-d speaks to Moshe saying…”? So why does G-d suddenly feel the need to call Moshe before speaking to him? In fact, what exactly is the difference between speaking to Moshe and calling him?

After all, if G-d is calling Moshe, isn’t He by definition already speaking to him? Indeed, what is the purpose of G-d calling, or even speaking to Moshe at all? Can’t G-d simply choose what to put into Moshe’s thoughts?

Further, why does G-d specifically choose to call Moshe (as opposed to just speaking to him) here, just as the Torah is introducing the concept of sacrifices? Is there some connection between the sacrifices and the call of G-d?

Perhaps one way of approaching this topic is to draw from an interesting peculiarity that occurs at the beginning of the portion (Vayikra) in an actual Torah scroll: the word Vayikra is written with a small aleph. Jewish tradition explains this detail as the result of a fascinating dialogue between Moshe and G-d. It seems that Moshe, described in the Torah as “the most humble man on the face of the earth” (Bamidbar (Numbers) 12:3), was uncomfortable with the fact that G-d Continued on page 17

17

lieve that I am nothing, but in truth, humility is much more about recognizing that Hashem (G-d) is everything. As an example, one might think that if a great and yet humble artist was asked if he was great, he would answer that he was not because to be humble means to know you are nothing. But that is not true. To be humble is not to believe that you are not great; on the contrary, imagine that one night Leonard Bernstein falls ill and the New York Philharmonic is set for a performance in the White House. So Zubin Mehta is called to take his place because only a great conductor could fill such shoes. And imagine Zubin responds that he is not a great conductor at all, and declines. This is not humility; it is stupidity.

If you are a great conductor, then you should know you are great; the essence of

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humility is not believing that you are not great, or gifted, or talented, when you really are. Humility is recognizing that that greatness has nothing to do with you, it is a gift from G-d, and your challenge is what to do with it.

Imagine, at the end of last week’s portion (Shemot (Exodus) 40:35) we read that Moshe is not allowed to enter the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and now he is being called by G-d! In fact, this is not something which is new to Moshe; the first time Moshe is called

by G-d is way back at the burning bush (Shemot (Exodus) 3:4), when G-d calls Moshe forth to become the redeemer of the Jewish people, and ultimately of the world.

Vayikra is not just being called; it’s a calling.

Moshe, all alone, shepherding his flock in the deserts of Midian, sees a burning bush, but ultimately it is what he hears that is of paramount significance; he hears the voice of G-d, coming from deep within himself, calling him to stand up to the challenge of who he was meant to be.

In truth, the difference between a calling (Keriah) and a coincidence (Mikreh) is only in our minds; Everything that comes into our lives is a calling of one type or another.

Indeed, Moshe might easily have viewed the burning bush as a fascinating occurrence; but he understood that it was a calling. Indeed a close look at the verses there reveals quite clearly that Hashem does not call Moshe until after he approaches the burning bush. Perhaps how often we feel we are ‘called upon’ by G-d is really a function of whether we are able to recognize everything around us as a calling emanating from Hashem’s voice.

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Shabbat Shalom, from Jerusalem Binny Freedman Rav Binny Freedman, Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem’s Old City is a Company Commander in the IDF reserves, and lives in Efrat with his wife Doreet and their four children.

His weekly Internet ‘Parsha Bytes’ can be found at www.orayta.org

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So where does this ability to see the hidden calling in everything around us come from? Maybe it stems from the trait of Anavah, humility.

Ever notice how sometimes people lose faith with G-d because they prayed for something personal, and “it just didn’t happen; G-d wasn’t listening”? When was the last time you heard someone say: “I have been praying for world peace, and it just isn’t happening so I don’t believe in G-d”? This person is only praying for himself, and if the center of your universe is yourself, then obviously there is little room for G-d….

What was so incredible about Moshe was not that he was an Anav (humble person) but that, with all that he did, he stayed an Anav.

Perhaps this is the hidden essence of what the Korbanot, the sacrifices, were all about: Animal sacrifices represent the physical world and all that I am given in it, and taking the animal, representing both the physical world around me, as well as the role I am given in that physical world, is about how I succeed in offering it back up to G-d.

There is nothing more powerful, and more meaningful than the gift of hearing that voice that calls us to who we are meant to be, and living up to its challenges; may we all be so blessed.

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Continued from page 16 the Omnipotent was calling him. After all, the nature of humility is that Moshe felt he was unworthy of the honor of being called

by G-d, so he felt it more appropriate to write the word Vayaker, (without the aleph) meaning that G-d happened to appear to him, but G-d insisted on saying He called Moshe directly. So Moshe wrote the word, but with a small aleph, indicating his discomfort with this honor.

In other words, the book of Vayikra which introduces the concept of sacrifice and opens with the phenomenon of Moshe being called

by G-d , flows from the idea of humility as represented by Moshe, the most humble man to ever live.

Most people think that humility is to be-

THE JEWISH STAR March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773

Living up to life’s challenges

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19

ahackmack@liherald.com

There may be court challenges of Nassau Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new legislative map that was approved last week.

The County Legislature approved the controversial plan along party lines on March 5, with the 10 Republicans voting in favor of the new map and the nine Democrats voting against it. Redistricting was required to balance out the size of the countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 19 legislative districts following the 2010 census.

The new map plan drastically changes the look of most districts. Two Democrats would be merged into one district, and two Republicans would end up in another. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Legislature has fulďŹ lled its obligations pursuant to the county charter,â&#x20AC;? said Presiding OfďŹ cer Norma Gonsalves, a Republican from East Meadow. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Legislature must come together to work on the pressing government issues and ďŹ nances of the county. The focus now shifts from redistricting to those issues.â&#x20AC;?

However, Kevan Abrahams a Democrat from Hempstead who is the minority leader, said he does not believe this issue is settled. He said he expects the map to face several legal challenges. The nine Democratic legislators will likely ďŹ le suit, Abrahams said, claiming that the process by which it was created did not follow the county charter.

The new map does a disservice to the residents of Nassau County, Abrahams said, noting that several communities would be divided among more than one district. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The splitting of Hempstead, and Elmont and the Five Towns and Roslyn, among other areas, is wrong,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Several organizations have called for County Executive Ed Mangano, a Republican, to veto the map. Those groups include the Nassau County League of Women Voters, Common Cause NY, the Nassau County chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Long Island Civic Engagement Table and New York Communities for Change, among others. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are disappointed but not surprised that the County

Legislature passed this gerrymandered map along party lines â&#x20AC;Ś,â&#x20AC;? Daniel Altschuler, coordinator of the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, said the day the plan was approved. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have made our voices heard in the last weeks of community protest, but the map remains fundamentally ďŹ&#x201A;awed and the process is broken. County Executive Mangano must veto the map and demand a truly nonpartisan process for all future redistricting.â&#x20AC;?

Brian Nevin, a spokesman for the county executive, said that Mangano would review the plan, but did not say whether he would consider vetoing it.

Last year, a Temporary Districting Advisory Commission was created to redraw the districts and send a proposal to the Legislature. The ďŹ ve Republican commissioners submitted one plan, and the ďŹ ve Democratic commissioners submitted another. Ultimately, a modiďŹ ed version of the Republican plan went to the Legislature for adoption.

The Nassau United Redistricting Coalition, a collection of several good-government groups, drafted its own plan. Neither that plan nor the Democratic map were considered by the Legislature.

During several hours-long hearings hosted by both the commission and the Legislature, residents blasted the Republican plan, saying that it divided communities and was designed to protect those in power. Frank Moroney, who chaired the commission, argued that the map upholds all constitutional requirements, is consistent with the â&#x20AC;&#x153;one person, one voteâ&#x20AC;? principle and would survive any legal challenge.

Under the plan, Democratic Legislators Delia DeRiggiWhitton and Wayne Wink would be merged into one district on the North Shore, and Republicans Joseph Belisi and Michael Venditto would be combined in the southeast corner of the county. After much public outcry, Democrat David Denenberg, of Merrick, was restored to his district. He was initially to be merged into a district with Joseph Scannell.

Barring any successful legal challenges, the new map will be in effect for the November election, when all 19 seats on the Legislature are up for a vote.

Courtesy Nassau County

Nassau Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new legislative map could be the subject of an upcoming court battle.

By Andrew Hackmack

THE JEWISH STAR March 15, 2013 â&#x20AC;˘ 4 NISAN 5773

Legislature map may be challenged

20 March 15, 2013 • 4 NISAN 5773 THE JEWISH STAR

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