The JEWISH
STAR
TheJewishStar.com
Shemini • April 13, 2018 • 28 Nisan, 5778 • Torah columns pages 20–21 • Luach page 20 • Vol 17, No 14
The Newspaper of our Orthodox communities
The Jewish Star photos by Ed Weintrob
Thousands at Far Rock levayah mourn chassan and kallah in Pesach crash
SYRIA GOES BOOM
were killed in a horrific multi-vehicle crash on Rockaway Turnpike early Wednesday morning during Chol HaMoed. In a letter to Darchei parents, the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Yaakov Bender (pictured at left in right photo), reflected on the tragedy, writing about “this won-
derful couple-to-be” and of the need “to be nosei b’ol with the two families.” He urged parents to hug and spend more time with their children, and to “resolve unequivocally to appreciate the goodness of Hashem and how much He has given us” (see p. 25).
Satmar, Agudath laud Felder and his yeshiva rule
With the Syrian civil war having claimed an estimated half-million lives, the world has grown numb to the carnage there. But just days after President Trump vowed to end America’s modest involvement in the conflict, Syria was once again grabbing Washington’s attention after another chemical attack on civilians. Trump and his advisers were weighing what the New York Times described late Tuesday as “a more robust retaliatory strike against Syria than last year’s missile attack, reasoning that only an escalation of force would look credible and possibly serve as a deterrent against further use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians.” Meanwhile, in an action believed unrelated to the chemical attack, planes thought to be from Israel pounded an Iranian air base in Syria on Monday. It’s not the first time the Jewish state struck at Iran in Syria, but with Russia’s mounting involvement there this week’s action was seen as jeopardizing its relations with the Vladimir Putin regime. The Jewish Star political columnist Jeff Dunetz reports on the Israeli strike (“It had nothing to do with chemical weapons,” p. 22) and JTA’s Ben Sales considers the Russian connection (“Israel’s latest strike imperils its Russian relations,” p. 25).
The Jewish Star Satmar Rebbe Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum and Agudath Israel of America have praised state Senator Simcha Felder for forcing through legislation that modifies state-imposed secular curriculum requirements at yeshivot. “There are those who acquire their place in the world to come in just a single moment,” Rabbi Teitelbaum said during Chol Hamoed, according to a recording posted by VIN News (vosizneias.com). “In the name of all of the holy kehillos in all of the state of New York … everyone should say ‘yasher koyach Reb Simcha’.” “The Satmar Rebbe told me it was a life or death situation, that nothing could be more important than preventing government from interfering with religious freedoms, particularly a religious education,” Felder told VIN News. “He made it very clear to me that nothing was more important than this crisis that was facing yeshiva parents.” See Yeshiva on page 21
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Arons carrying Elisheva Kaplan a”h and Yisroel Levin z”l were carried out of Yeshiva Darchei Torah on Beach 17 Street in Far Rockaway last Thursday, following a levyah that was attended by an estimated 2,000 mourners. The recently engaged chassan and kallah