The Jewish Star

Rav Lichtenstein zt�l ‘We have lost the greatest of us’

By Rabbi Binny Freedman The Jewish Star columnist

JERUSALEM —A void that can never really be ďŹ lled; a loss that is much more than personal, it is generational. We have lost the greatest of us, and now we are, truly, an orphaned generation.

With the passing last past week of Harav ha’Gaon Aharon Lichtenstein, zecher tsaddik l’vracha, one of the great lights of our generation has passed from this world.

It is no accident that the double portion of Acharei Mot-Kedoshim (literally, “after the death of the holy ones�) was read last Shab-

bat in Israel and this coming Shabbat overseas, marking the Shabbat of his passing and then the Shabbat after the traditional seven days of mourning. His Torah and his teachings deeply impacted our generation both in Israel and abroad, but he had decided long ago that Israel came ďŹ rst.

I still vividly remember my ďŹ rst encounter with Rav Aharon: I was a 17 year old senior in high school and had applied to study the following year at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion (known affectionately as “Gushâ€?) and was invited to Gush’s Continued on page 14

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THE JEWISH May 1, 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ 12 Iyar 5775

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FRUMVILLE USA Lido and Long beaches pitch Orthodox movers

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By Ed Weintrob The Orthodox shuls in Lido Beach and Long Beach were the two Long Island towns that joined 46 communities from 22 states on Sunday in bidding to attract frum Jews looking for greener â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or at least different â&#x20AC;&#x201D; pastures.

More than 2,000 peple crowded the ďŹ fth annual Orthodox Union Communities Fair in Manhattan where they were pitched on the hospitality of a wide range of cities from throughout the country â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including the Silicon Valley, Seattle, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Memphis (represented by an Elvis) and more.

Many communities, hungry to attract new Jewish families, offered

ďŹ nancial incentives, including free shul memberships, real estate rebates, and day school tuition discounts.

They pitched amenities that are standard fare in the New York area but not universally known to exist in the heartland â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Orthodox shuls, mikvot, day schools and kosher restaurants.

For those seeking a more elevated move, the second ďŹ&#x201A;oor of the fair was given over to talk of aliyah.

While many of Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community-shoppers were looking for cheaper housing, less expensive yeshiva tuition and good job opportunities, others were simply seeking a change of scenery but within an ďŹ&#x201A;ourishing Orthodox environment.

Continued on page 15

LI marks Yom Hazikaron, celebrates Yom Haatzmaut A pause to remember those who fell for Midinat Yisroel morphed at sunset Wednesday into a day of celebration as Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) gave way to Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day).

The largest commemorative event in the Five Towns took place at the Young Israel of Woodmere.

Pictured from left: A HANC Middle School student held a memorial candle and spoke on Yom Hazikaron; at the Five Towns JCC Early Childhood Center, Tobie Kleiman, Naava Kuznicki and Ahuva Ungar built their own Israeli ďŹ&#x201A;ag, and Nate Berman was tickled blue to be wearing Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colors. More coverage inside.

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Rand Paul faces tough crowd in frum Brooklyn

By Jill Colvin, AP Looking to woo New York’s Orthodox Jewish community, Republican presidential contender Rand Paul faced tough questions Monday about his support for Israel and his approach to foreign policy in the Middle East.

The Kentucky senator spoke in front of a group of several dozen rabbis and other Jewish community leaders at Torah Umesorah (the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools) in Flatbush as part of an outreach effort to a community widely courted by his party.

“I think Israel is one of our best allies and best friends around the world,” Paul said.

“They’re the only democracy in the Middle East. And I’m very supportive.”

Paul’s past calls to eventually end all U.S. foreign aid, including to Israel, set him apart in the crowded field of GOP candidates for president, who all support such aid, and he has worked hard in recent months to broaden his appeal among those voters who are focused on foreign policy, especially in the Middle East.

His visit came the day before the Senate begins debate over empowering Congress to review and possibly reject any nuclear pact with Iran. Israel is strongly opposed to a proposed deal between the U.S., five other world powers and Iran, a country whose leaders have vowed to destroy Israel.

Paul spoke at length about his position on the ongoing negotiations, telling the crowd a letter sent by 47 senators to Tehran — which said any nuclear agreement with the Obama administration that lacks congressional approval could be unraveled by future presidents — actually strengthened the presi-

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dent’s hand at the table.

“I am for negotiations as opposed to war,” Paul said.

Regarding foreign aid to Israel, Paul said that his position is “the same as it’s always been: One day Israel should be independent.” But he added, “I’m also not saying that it has to end now.”

Asked whether he is an isolationist, Paul said that America’s interventions across the Middle East in recent years, including top-

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pling Saddam Hussein in Iraq, had had unintended consequences. Among them, empowering the Islamic State group that overran large parts of Iraq last year.

“Each time we topple a secular dictator, I think we wind up with chaos and radical Islam seems to rise,” he said, arguing that the first principle of American foreign policy should be “first, do no harm.”

Paul, who has traveled to Israel in recent years, enjoyed a Shabbat dinner at the Plaza

Hotel in January 2013 that was referred to repeatedly Monday by his backers. He began his appearance with brief remarks stressing the importance of faith in American life.

“You have to have religion. You need a religious backbone for a culture or for a civilization,” he said, adding that Dr. Richard Roberts, one of his most prominent Jewish supporters, had been teaching him about Jewish traditions, including sitting shiva after the death of a loved one and placing of rocks on grave sites, as he’d seen in the film “Schindler’s List.”

But when the floor was opened to questions, Paul was immediately confronted by a supporter, Pinchos Lipschutz, publisher of Yated, who asked Paul to address what he described as “the elephant in the room.”

“How,” in an age of sound bites and polltested answers, he asked, “do you explain your position in a way that they will stop writing that you’re an anti-Semite?”

“I’m not your campaign director, but you really have to do something to change that,” Lipschutz said.

Paul, referencing polling among Republicans in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, tried to downplay the concerns.

“Really we don’t see it as much of a problem as it might have been two or three years ago before people knew me,” he said, adding: “I think we’ve made great progress.”

In an interview afterward, Lipschutz said Paul has yet to do enough.

“I think that he has to come up with a soundbite that really convinces Jewish people that he doesn’t bear any animus toward them,” he said. “He’s going to have to do better.”

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THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

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Israeli and Jewish groups rush to assist Nepal

By Sean Savage, JNS.org After a devastating earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit the impoverished mountainous country of Nepal over the weekend, killing more than 4,000 people, Israeli and Jewish humanitarian and governmental organizations have assumed their traditional role on the frontline of relief efforts for a natural disaster.

The 260-member Israeli government mission to Nepal includes an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) field hospital, a trained rescue team, and a security team, with the objectives of assisting the Nepalese people and evacuating Israeli citizens who are stranded in the country. Paul Hirschson, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, told JNS.org that the conditions on the ground in Nepal have been “very difficult.”

“The rescue mission is headed up by the Israeli ambassador to Nepal and the foreign ministry’s deputy director general, who has already arrived in Kathmandu (Nepal’s capital) from Jerusalem,” Hirschson said Monday.

“You are being sent on an important mission,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, addressing the Israeli relief team, headed by IDF Col. Yoram Laredo. “This is the true face of Israel—a country that offers aid over any distance at such moments.”

Also sending rescue teams from Israel to Nepal were the humanitarian and emergency response organizations Magen David Adom (MDA), United Hatzalah, Zaka, F.I.R.S.T., IsraLife, IsraAID, and others, as well as the private insurance companies Harel and Phoenix.

Ravit Martinez, a member of the delegation from MDA, said that the organization’s main goal is to “help the injured Israelis and groups of disconnected Israelis,” but that MDA has also worked at a military hospital to treat Nepalese citizens at a military hospital who have sustained abdominal injuries, chest injuries, and broken legs and arms.

The Israeli government and MDA has also started evacuating surrogate-born babies and their parents to Israel. Nepal is a major destination for Israeli families seeking surrogate mothers for their children, since surrogacy is illegal in Israel for same-sex couples.

But due to the earthquake, Israel has waived the legal and bureaucratic hurdles to their return. Hirschson told JNS.org that five ba-

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bies have already been brought to Israel and that about 18 remain in Nepal, with efforts to bring them to Israel by Tuesday pending a medical assessment to determine if they can fly.

MDA’s Martinez said there were six babies “that couldn’t be treated” in a hospital in Kathmandu who were evacuated on Sunday, and that there are eight more currently in the Israeli embassy, where they are being fed and cared for by MDA staff.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which has provided relief to dozens of natural disaster zones over the last century and currently works in more than 70 countries, said it is partnering with the IDF field hospital in Kathmandu through providing equipment such as neonatal incubators. JDC said that while it provides immediate aid, it is also laying the foundation for our longer-term relief efforts in Nepal.

JDC’s director of communications, Michael Geller, said that reports on the ground in Nepal present a “dire situation” that has been exacerbated by Nepal’s challenging weather, difficult terrain, and deep poverty.

“This is the worst earthquake of its kind in 80 years for Nepal, and it is happening in a country that has other challenges

it was dealing with before the earthquake like poverty. So the combination of these factors can create a very harrowing situation on the ground,” said Geller.

JDC’s main goal during the emergency stage, Geller said, is to “ensure that aid is given to the people as quickly as possible.” The personnel at the IDF field hospital, he said, have “proven that they are effectively able to get into disaster zones quickly and treat people.”

In the longer-term, JDC’s mission the “restoration of livelihood,” which includes setting up schools, medical care, posttraumatic support, and disaster mitigation, according to Geller.

“We work with local communities, municipalities and volunteer organizations in countries where the disaster has happened to help them help themselves and ensure that when the next disaster happens, they can organize an effective response,” he said.

Geller praised the American Jewish community for “coming together to support the people of Nepal,” noting the outpouring of support and inquiries about JDC’s relief operations.

“I think that is one of the outstanding features of the Jewish community, its ability to come together and respond to crises and to show its dedication to tikkun olam (repairing the world),” he said.

The Jewish Federations of North America is raising funds for relief efforts in Nepal, as it has done in the past for natural and manmade disasters in locations such as the Philippines, Haiti, Japan, South Asia, and elsewhere. While humanitarian groups gear up to provide both short-term and long-term assistance, the Israeli government’s direct aid mission will last at least two to three weeks, according to the foreign ministry’s Hirschson. After that point, Israel will work on long-term relief with the international community.

“This is what we specialize in and are known for,” Hirschson said.

“Beyond that [two-to-three week] time frame [for the initial aid mission] begins an entirely different phase of rehabilitation and reconstruction,” he said. “Israel will participate to the best of our abilities together with the international community. The foreign ministry has already had an initial internal discussion as to what contribution we will be able to make, and a team is working on that, but for now the focus is on saving lives.”

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Tiran Attia, a former IDF commander of Sar-El, a volunteer classification unit, who is now the director of the Special in Uniform program, invited the Five Towners to see the Specials in Uniform program in person during their next visits to Israel.

Special in Uniform goes beyond the walls of IDF bases, helping its graduates integrate into the workforce and Israeli society in meaningful ways.

To date, 100 young people with special needs have been given the opportunity to learn these valuable skills while serving in the IDF through Special in Uniform. The new

partnership with JNF will expand programming across the country, to give hundreds more the same opportunity.

As part of its focus on improving quality of life in Israel, JNF is dedicated to ensuring that no member of Israeli society is left behind.

Through a variety of initiatives, JNF provides cutting-edge rehabilitative services, special education, and medical care for people with special needs and makes its forests, parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, nature trails, lookouts and recreational facilities “inclusive” for visitors of all ability levels.

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Wallach speaks at Emunah luncheon that will honor 5 Towners Septimus and Weg of Sangha Yoga Shala, a community yoga and wellness Emunah boutique in Manhattan, who is the daughter of Dr. MarFive Towners will play a big role at the spring luntin and Shaynee Kessler of Woodmere. cheon of Emunah, on Sunday, May 19 at Manhattan’s In Israel, Emunah operates programs for women in Prince George Ballroom. business, offering leadership lectures and opportuniMiriam Wallach of Woodmere, general manager of ties to network. This is in addition to its four awardthe Nachum Segal Network and host of radio program winning girls’ high schools and College of Art for “That’s Life,” will be the keynote speaker at the event young women. It operates crisis centers open to womthat focuses on “Empowering Women.” en in distress from every segment of Israeli society.

“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to pay Emunah’s 250 social welfare and educational protribute to role models, women who are successful programs across Israel strive to improve the lives of each fessionals, supporters of Jewish life and tradition, and child, family and senior citizen in the Jewish state. are actively involved in supporting Israel,” said Karen Luncheon chairs are Sora Grunstein and Tova Gerson.

Spitalnick, Emunah National President.

0LULDP :DOODFK Committee members include local, Cheryl Borenstein, Honorees include Lisa Septimus, Yoetzet Halacha Ronnie Faber, Lisa Schechter and Debbie Siegler, as well for the Five Towns and Manhattan communities and Rebbitzen of the Young Israel of North Woodmere; Susan T. Weg of as Debbie Joseph and Miriam Ellenberg. Proceeds will support educaLawrence, a specialist in speech-language pathology; dermatologist tional and vocational high schools and a college for young women in Dr. Micole Tuchman, and Alana Kessler, founder, owner and director Israel. For reservations and information call 212-564-9045 x315.

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JNS Seventy people from the Five Towns attended a breakfast on Sunday to learn more about the support being given by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to Special in Uniform, an initiative that integrates young people with disabilities into the Israel Defense Forces.

“I am very proud that our community supports JNF, a wonderful organization that is doing important work for the people in Israel,” said Rabbi Hershel Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere.

“I myself went to see this Special in Uniform program at an IDF base and I was extremely touched and moved to know that Israel’s great army also includes people with special needs and disabilities.”

The breakfast was hosted by Jodi and David Pollack in their Woodmere home.

It is difficult enough to raise a child with special needs, but it is absolutely wrenching to know that once that Israeli child reaches the age of 18 he will need to confront his limitations in the harshest of ways — it’s been unlikely that he would ever be a soldier. It is one more way that those with special needs are taught that despite the best of intentions, the reality of calling their limitations “special” means they have something less than, not just different from, others.

Yossi Kahana, director of JNF Task Force on Disabilities, thanked those attending and said, “Special in Uniform is all about focus on the ability, not the disability. This program uses the talents of people with disabilities to help them do a better job, and I believe that everyone belongs and has the right to reach his or her fullest potential with an independent life and integration into the society regardless of their disabilities.”

THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

JNF pushes to aid ‘special’ soldiers

Student took Israel advocacy to Binghamton U government at University of California, Los Angeles, and Stanford Univer-sity have been grilled about their religion. A Jewish professor at Connecticut College has been persecuted over false accusations that he called for the annihilation of the Palestinians.

Enter Hayet, who says that while many of his peers “run away and try to ignore” antiSemitism, he is “running toward it.”

“I want to fix it,” Hayet said.

On May 3, Hayet will receive the David Bar-Illan Award for Outstanding Campus Activism award at media watchdog CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) annual gala dinner.

“Justin Hayet—this is a guy who can really become a major leader in the pro-Israel

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May 10, 2015 First Yahrzheit of Shraga Feivel Hakohen

Dr. Paul Hoenig 7:30 am at Young Israel of Great Neck for Shacharit and Kiddush Anyone who says Tehilim for his Neshama or meets me at the entrance of Cedar Park Cemetery, 735 Forest Ave, Paramus, NJ, 1–2 pm, will be rewarded with my father’s trait of humility.

community,” Dershowitz said.

All this, and Hayet was not even raised in a particularly Zionist family, says his mother, Cheryl Hayet. But Cheryl says she “always encouraged my son to follow his dreams.”

In 2008, Hayet decided he wanted to visit Israel. He enrolled in a leadership development opportunity through the local Jewish Community Center. In 2009, he traveled to Israel with that group.

“When he got back, the next words were, ‘How do I get back’?” Cheryl Hayet recalls.

Justin Hayet found more than one way, traveling to Israel eight times between 2009 and today. His visits included one to Baltimore’s sister city, Ashkelon, as a Diller Teen Fellow. It was that trip that charted his course.

“Standing on the beaches of Ashkelon,

I said, ‘What can I do to help’?” Hayet reflects. “I was too young for the army, but I saw myself as part of Israel’s army—here in the States, to fight for Israel, to make Israel a little better, bigger, and more respected.”

Hayet looked for an organization that would give him a vehicle for his passion for Israel advocacy. CAMERA was that match, offering him the creative platform to be as expressive as possible on his campus. He later signed on as a recruiter for The Jewish Agency for Israel’s MASA (Israel Journey) program.

Amid the abundance of negative messaging about Israel on campuses, getting students interested in studying abroad in the Jewish state is no easy task, says Samantha Robins, recruitment manager for MASA. But Hayet has been among the program’s most successful recruiters. When the students don’t come to him, “he goes and finds them,” Robins says.

To be an Israel advocate, Dershowitz says, “You have to know everything.” He explains that pro-Israel activists are constantly bombarded with false information. A true voice for Israel needs to be on top of every news story, have the resources to respond to false allegations, and be a flexible thinker, according to Dershowitz. Moreover, there is an imperative to present the facts in a compelling way and with unbounded energy.

“For pro-Israel advocates, there is no vacation,” and they need a thick skin, says Dershowitz.

This summer, Hayet will intern for the Jerusalem Post. While working under the newspaper’s chief political correspondent and analyst, Gil Hoffman, Hayet says he hopes to gain a better understanding of how the Knesset legislature works and to deliver a message to Israeli leaders: “You have enormous support from so many young people, like me.”

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By Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org Jewish organizations and leaders have been racking their brains trying to address the issue of skyrocketing anti-Semitism on college campuses. But at least one prominent pro-Israel activist is reassured by the presence of a student more than five decades his junior.

“Justin Hayet lets me sleep at night,” says Alan Dershowitz, the 76-year-old former Harvard Law School professor, referring to Justin Hayet, a 21-year-old student at Binghamton University.

The laundry list of recent anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses isn’t pretty.

Swastikas were painted on the building of a Jewish fraternity house at University of California, Davis. Jewish candidates for student

768794

May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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TEHILLA R. GOLDBERG VIEW FROM CENTRAL PARK

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SKA PHOTO

Perhaps they stood on opposite sides of the cursed and infamous barbed wire, but the liberated and the liberator â&#x20AC;&#x201D; their life stories are forever braided in this crucible of time we call the Holocaust. re-war Yiddish songs sung by the Colorado Hebrew Chorale, conducted by Carol Ward, ďŹ ll the room with a beautiful melancholy â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vuy Ahin Zol Ich Geyn (Where Shall I Go)?â&#x20AC;?

Stepping up in front of the chorale, the accordion in his hands, Oscar Sladek, child survivor, shares: â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a song from my childhood. When persecution started in Slovakia,

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the government was telling us to leave. We would all have left, but the problem was, where to go. None of the countries would take us in. This song commemorates that.â&#x20AC;?

And with that, his accordion bellowed the music of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vu Ahin Zol Ich Geyn.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is there to say,â&#x20AC;? commented Major General H. Michael Edwards, adjutant general, Colorado National Guard. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We must continue to pray for courageous leadership, that Israel remains strong and that America remains AIsraelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strongest ally.â&#x20AC;?

Then, almost as if he was thinking aloud, trying to come to terms with the dark chapter

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hey stood side by side, the liberated and the liberators. The formal, brass-decked young uniformed military men and women from Coloradoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Guard â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from the same 157th infantry that, 70 years ago, were among the liberators of the Dachau concentration camp â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the elderly, tattered yet strong and proud Holocaust survivors. One held an accordion in his hands as part of the Colorado Hebrew Chorale. It was the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, an emotional Holocaust commemoration at the Hebrew Educational Alliance. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zachor, ve-lo tishkach; remember, do not forget,â&#x20AC;? urged Rabbi Bruce Dollin.

Survivors spoke.

Jack Welner: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ghetto was liquidated and we were put on the trains to Auschwitz.

After a while the train stopped and the doors slid open â&#x20AC;Ś and it was like the doors to hell had opened â&#x20AC;Ś immediately the screams started: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Raus!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Right! Left! Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when I was ripped from my mother.â&#x20AC;?

And Leon Tulper, a WW II liberator: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was April 13 ... Remember, we were all of 18, 19 â&#x20AC;Ś we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how to take what happened. It looked as though we came upon hell. We just sat there crying â&#x20AC;Ś GIs literally sick, vomiting â&#x20AC;Ś we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help but cry, it was impossible not to. Then in Morse code I quickly communicated: There is something crazy here, there is no way to explain it.

There is a pile of skeleton people here â&#x20AC;Ś better send jeeps â&#x20AC;Ś better send help.â&#x20AC;?

7 THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

Commemorating and never forgetting

in our recent history, he continued: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think America was so concerned about another war.

[In] WW I, so many nations lost so many soldiers, and so the feeling was perhaps to avoid war at all costs, AT ALL COSTS. We must pray for courageous leadership, no matter the cost.

Militarily we could never ever EVER let something like this happen. Now that we know the cost, we must, must act.â&#x20AC;?

Others spoke.

Gen. Felix Sparks: â&#x20AC;&#x153;By that time I was a battle-hardened veteran, but I was not prepared for what I saw â&#x20AC;Ś even after 500 days of continuous battle. â&#x20AC;Ś We were veterans, death was commonplace, yet we were sickened â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it was beyond the human mind to see such a scene.â&#x20AC;?

John Lee: â&#x20AC;&#x153;You tried to hold yourself together, but then you looked at your buddy â&#x20AC;Ś completely in tears.â&#x20AC;? here was more Yiddish singing, the deďŹ ant â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zog Nit Keyn Mol,â&#x20AC;? the hymn of the partisans, composed in 1943, a response to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. And Cantor Zachary Kutnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ani Hagever (I Am the Man)â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the central, pained character of chapter three of Lamentations, the eyewitness to the ancient destruction of Jerusalem.

This is how Cantor Kutner deďŹ nes himself in context of the Holocaust, his pain shimmering with every note of his shattering Kel Maleh prayer.

The program ended inspirationally. We were encircled by a stirring and ethereal rendition of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jerusalem of Gold.â&#x20AC;?

And, of course, the Kaddish.

Two days later, I am at a moving Yom Haziaron Israel Memorial Day commemoration at which Michal Peleg-Uziyahu crystalizes so much in one profound sentence: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Last week we commemorated Yom Hashoah because we had no State of Israel. Tonight we commemorate Yom Hazikaron for the fallen, because we have a State of Israel.â&#x20AC;?

May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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Yemen may be start of devasting MidEast war BEN COHEN VIEWPOINT

Y

emen may just be the start of a devastating Middle East war. Back in Roman times, Yemen went by the name “Arabia Felix”—Latin for “Happy Arabia.” It’s hard to think of a greater misnomer for this Arab state on the southern tip of the Persian Gulf, a few miles across the water from the Horn of Africa.

The Romans actually had a pretty miserable time there. Aelius Gallus, who was the Prefect of Egypt in 26 BCE, tried to conquer the territory and was roundly defeated.

Through the ages, Yemen maintained its warlike image, with its various tribes doing battle with the Ottoman Turks and the British Empire. The north won independence from the Turks on 1918, while the south remained under British rule. By 1967, there were two states in Yemen. In the north, you had the Yemen Arab Republic, and in the south you had the People’s Democratic Republic of South Yemen; the north was oriented towards the Arab states, while the south was a run by hardline communist government.

The two Yemens fought several brutal wars throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In May 1990, however, the communist south dissolved itself into a unified Yemen—interestingly, this took place just a few months before communist East Germany was dissolved into a unified Federal Republic.

Any similarity between the two situations, though, ends there. If unified Germany was an attractive combination of a dynamic

economy and robust democratic institutions, unified Yemen quickly became a failed state.

Political conflict between northern and southern leaders, often degenerating into full-scale violence, continued to plague the country.

By 1994, the country was consumed by another civil war. The international community, which signally failed to prevent genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda in the same year, barely noticed.

This admittedly potted and incomplete history should, nonetheless, give a flavor of the inherent risks involved with Yemen, which is now a battleground for Saudi Arabia on the one side, and Iran on the other. It is also the base of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, widely said to be the most ruthless and brutal of the terrorist group’s regional branches. In October 2000, Americans were given a taste of what lay in store for them in September 2001, when Al-Qaeda launched a suicide attack against the USS Cole in the port of Aden, killing 17 U.S. servicemen.

Yemen’s warring parties have been subsumed by the regional conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran. For more than a decade now, Shi’a rebels from the north known as Houthis (named after their leader, Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed by government forces in September 2004) have waged war against the Sunni-dominated south. In 2009, the conflict even spilled into Saudi Arabia, when the

Houthis briefly conquered a small area on the Saudi side of the border.

Come 2014, and the Houthis took over the Yemenite capital, Sana’a, which resulted in the resignation—later rescinded—of President Mansour Hadi. This year saw Yemen brought, in the words of the United Nations, to “the verge of total collapse.” In March, Islamic State entered the fray, in shocking attacks against Shi’a mosques that claimed the lives of more than 100 worshippers.

And last month, the Saudis launched “Decisive Storm,” ostensibly a bombing campaign against Houthi positions, but in reality a war against Iran’s growing influence.

This week, just as the Saudis announced that the bombing campaign was over, Iranian warships were spotted off the south coast of Yemen. The U.S. is already sending its own warships to the region, with the goal of preventing Iran from smuggling further weapons and other assistance to the Houthis.

A tense standoff potentially awaits.

Indeed, the Saudis have now resumed bombing, much to the satisfaction of President Hadi, who praised, from exile in Riyadh, his “Arab and Muslim brothers ... for supporting legitimacy.” Such rhetoric doesn’t mean very much at all. The political situation hasn’t exactly been transformed by the Saudi assault; its most tangible outcome has been the death of nearly 1,000 civilians, and the wounding of

We should be wary of any arrangement that gives Arab states a regional policing role.

more than 3,000 more. Those countries backing the Saudis, among them the U.S., have been silent on the civilian death toll, in marked contrast to the outraged condemnations that greeted Israel’s defensive operation against Hamas in Gaza during the summer of 2014.

At this moment, therefore, the conflict in Yemen is unresolved and could well expand.

The fact that 40 percent of the world’s oil ships pass through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, in the southern part of the Red Sea, gives some idea of the global impact a conflagration in this part of the world could have.

It is tempting to regard the Saudi intervention in Yemen as welcome, insofar as it targets Iran. But we should be wary of any arrangement that gives Arab states a regional policing role, and not just because of their dismal human rights records. Like other Arab states, Saudi Arabia has responded to Iran’s nuclear ambitions with similar ambitions of its own. In the long run, the military empowerment of the Saudis could be just as negative for Western and Israeli security as an Iranian nuclear bomb, not the least because of the Saudi kingdom’s historic role as an incubator of radical Sunni Islamism.

If Iran’s regional designs are to be rolled back, that has to be done from the outside.

Regrettably, there is very little chance of that happening while the Obama administration remains in the White House. Obama’s strategy of allowing Iranian power to fill the vacuum left by an American withdrawal from the Middle East is one key reason why Arab states like Saudi Arabia are opting for war over diplomacy. Consequently, Yemen could turn out to be only the latest chapter in the epic, bloody story of the civil war between the Sunni and Shi’a branches of Islam.

Ben Cohen is senior editor of The Tower.

9 THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

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Cash is ďŹ&#x201A;owing to NGO-fueled Israelis who hate State of Israel

By Yitzhak Santis, JNS.org While most Israelis celebrated 67 years of independence last week, a fringe Israeli nongovernmental organization (NGO) hopes this year will be the last for the Jewish state. Zochrot, a tiny radical anti-Zionist group, was established with the aim of â&#x20AC;&#x153;rais[ing] public awareness of the Palestinian Nakba (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Catastropheâ&#x20AC;? in Arabic)â&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;recognizing and materializing the right of return,â&#x20AC;? an agenda equivalent to calling for the abolishment of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. With no local support base or constituency, Zochrot operates only through generous funding from a coterie of foreign Christian aid organizations.

Using church funds, Zochrot promotes a â&#x20AC;&#x153;de-Zionized Palestine,â&#x20AC;? meaning free of Jews. The groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder, Eitan Bronstein, advocates for Jews to abandon Israel en masse. He dreams of a time â&#x20AC;&#x153;when the refugees return, Jews will become a minority in the country. â&#x20AC;Ś There may be Jews, most of them of European origin, who wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be able to adjust to a non-Zionist reality, and prefer to use their other passport to move elsewhere.â&#x20AC;?

Last month, together with Palestinian NGO BADIL, Zochrot embarked on a speaking tour across the U.S. to promote the â&#x20AC;&#x153;historical overview of the Nakba and the Right of Return.â&#x20AC;? Several years ago, BADIL awarded a prize to a blatantly antisemitic cartoon, featuring a grotesque caricature of a Jewish man standing over a dead Arab child and holding a pitchfork in the shape of a menorah dripping with blood. BADILâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anti-Semitic history apparently does not concern Zochrot or its funders.

Last year Zochrot commemorated Israel Independence Day by launching a smartphone app called â&#x20AC;&#x153;iNakbaâ&#x20AC;? to delegitimize the Jewish state. The app, an interactive map and photos of Palestinian Arab villages from pre-1948, was featured by The New York Times, proving the real inďŹ&#x201A;uence of a small fringe group armed with millions of shekels of foreign funds. A year before, in 2013, Zochrot hosted a costly Tel Aviv conference titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;From Truth to Redress: Realizing the Return of Palestinian Refugees.â&#x20AC;?

These activities would ordinarily be out of reach for a group its size. But, due to the largesse of nine European Christian aid agencies, Zochrot does not lack resources. Foreign funding for 2014 and ďŹ rst quarter of 2015 totals NIS 2,892,665 (about $740,000). Of that, some NIS 2,726,917â&#x20AC;&#x201D;about 93 percentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; comes from the Christian charities.

These charities, both Catholic and Protestant, receive funding grants from their respective governments, mostly European. The charities are BischoeďŹ&#x201A;iches Misereor (Germany), Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), Christian Aid (U.K.), Finn Church Aid (Finland), HEKSEPER (Switzerland), ICCO (Netherlands), TrĂłcaire (Ireland), the Mennonite Central Committee (Canada), and the United Church of Canada (Canada).

That these Christian groups support the abolishment of Jewish Israel is deeply troubling. The modern Zionist movement emerged in response to 19th-century anti-Semitic pogroms often caused by the anti-Jewish incitement of Christian clergy. Israel was subsequently established in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the road to which was pave by centuries of anti-Semitic Christian teachings.

Following the Holocaust, a number of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading Christian theologians began a comprehensive reconsideration of Christianityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attitudes toward Jews and Judaism. They undertook a process of renouncing and reformulating centuries of Christian teachings that led to much anti-Jewish violence.

Yet in the last two decades, some churches have partnered with anti-Israel activists to reverse these theological reforms, by introducing a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palestinian liberation theologyâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a fusion of Palestinian nationalism and Christian theology. This ideology seeks to undermine Jewish claims, religious or historical, to sovereignty in any and all parts of the Land of Israel.

Zochrot serves as perfect window dressing for this theological onslaught on the right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality. Without its Christian backers, Zochrot and its pernicious agenda would cease to exist.

Yitzhak Santis is chief programs ofďŹ cer of Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor.

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KUWAIT pop. 2.6M

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pop. 2.1M TUNISIA pop. 10.7M

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Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no lack of media coverage on Israel, the Middle Eastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sole democracy with civil rights and a free press. What is lacking is objective coverage. This tiny Jewish nation, the size of New Jersey, with less than eight million people, a quarter of them non-Jewish, generally receives inaccurate, harsh, even hostile coverage from the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s press.

The Jewish News Service (JNS.org) was created to correct that. Our weekly reporting, including exclusive distribution rights for Israel Hayom, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most popular daily, now appears in 31 Jewish weeklies. We invite you to join us in getting the truth out about Israel. To receive our FREE weekly newsletter go to jns.org/ subscribe-to-our-newsletter today!

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May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

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May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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Jewish Star Schools Color war caps Shalhevet week Shalhevet Midreshet Shalhevet prides itself on being dedicated to Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael by incorporating classes and programs focusing on the centrality of Eretz Yisrael to us as Torah Jews. Therefore, it came as no surprise when Shalhevet prepared an inspiring dedication to the fallen soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force on Yom Hazikaron.

The siren rang and each student stood in silence, to honor those who perished protecting Israel. Pictures and biographies of soldiers adorned the walls in the hallway so that each students could read about members of the IDF who gave up their lives protecting Israel.

The Committee for Israel Activism club arranged a screening of

“Beyond the Helmet,” a documentary that follows the lives of five Israeli soldiers and which gave the students a true understand of what it’s like to be a part of the army, and how much each soldier gives up in order to serve Israel. The footage was moving and uplifting, and gave an authentic feel to each soldier’s situation.

Following the movie, the Shalhevet choir, led by Mrs. Andrea Schulman, performed a beautiful rendition of Hatikva and other songs. The students walked away from the program feeling even more appreciative of the Israeli soldiers who risk their lives each day protecting Israel.

Yom Haatzmaut allowed for the activities to continue, celebrat-

ing Israel and all that it has to offer. Subsequent to davening, the students initiated the cheered of Israel’s 67th birthday with a daglanut, a traditional Israeli flag dance.

After the incredible performance, the G.O. broke out color war!

The school was divided between the freshmen and seniors, who were on the white team, and the sophomores and juniors on the blue team. The white team represented Yerushalayim, while the blue team represented Chevron.

There was a machanayim tournament, Apache race, See Run Build competition, blindfold puzzle tournament, scavenger hunt, obstacle course, and college bowl trivia, with festivities continuing on Friday with each team presenting an original song, stomp, banner, and everlasting gift.

Although it was color war, both teams displayed a tremendous amount of achdus and spirit. Congratulations to the blue team on their win!

HAFTR students get science win HAFTR David Fleschner, Maxwell Lent and Eric Wietschner of the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway were awarded medals for their outstanding research at the Long Island Math Fair on April 24 at Hofstra University.

David researched infinite sets and classified various subsets of the real numbers for their cardinality (bronze medal); Maxwell, recursion relationships of triangular numbers (silver); Eric, knot theory (silver).

All three students worked with their mentor, Mr. Neil Bernstein, chairman of HAFTR’s mathematics department chairman. They are pictured with HAFTR Principal Naomi Lippman.

Touro Law launches scholars program Touro Law Center Touro Law Center Dean Patricia Salkin is pleased to announce the Jewish Law Institute Student Scholars Program, providing unique opportunities for promising students with a strong interest in Jewish law.

“This is an exciting new opportunity for a prospective law student who wishes to study the Jewish legal system,” said Dean Patricia Salkin. “Touro Law Center is rich with resources including the Jewish Law Institute and is well known within the Jewish community. This scholars program furthers our commitment to those pursuing Jewish Law.” Following a competitive application process conducted by the Director of the Jewish Law Institute in conjunction with the Law Center’s Office of Admissions, highly qualified students will be accepted into the program and, upon enrollment at the Law Center, will receive tuition schol-

arships. Scholarship awards include at least one full tuition award for a highly qualified applicant.

Upon entering the Law Center, the Jewish Law Institute Student Scholars will meet with the Director of the Jewish Law Institute, who will assist them in developing an individualized plan for incorporating Jewish law as part of their legal studies and law school activities The students will meet regularly with the Director, who will continue to guide and mentor the students throughout their law school careers and beyond.

The students will have special opportunities to participate in the activities of the Jewish Law Institute, to meet with leaders in the field of Jewish law, including both scholars and practicing lawyers, and to conduct research in Jewish law under the supervision of the Director of the Jewish Law Institute.

Founded under Jewish auspices by its first

president, the late Dr. Bernard Lander, Touro College was chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1970.

Touro Law Center was established in 1980 as part of the College, a private, not-for-profit, coeducational institution based in New York City.

Samuel Levine, Professor of Law and Director of the Jewish Law Institute stated, “Touro Law is proud to have an active Jewish Law Students Association; we are home to an impressive Judaica Collection in our Gould Law Library; we have courses related to Jewish Law; and our Jewish Law Institute offers students the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities, including a Distinguished Lecture Series, conferences, scholarly publications, and programs in the Jewish community.”

Any student interested in the program should contact the Office of Admissions at (631) 760-7010.

Color war grips Shulamith MS Natalie Barbanel This week, Shulamith Middle Division students participated in Color War. The theme was Israel and the teams were Jerusalem (Blue), Hebron (Red) and Tzfat (Green).

In addition to the theme songs, banners, and cheers, each team had to make a timeline and a PowerPoint about their city and learn about the events that happened there over the last 200 years.

Each team also had to make a comedy skit about their city. One team’s skit was about making aliyah, another was about auditioning for the prime minister, and the third had to do with commerce in Israel. The teams also presented divrei Torah connected to the parsha and our team cities.

Color war at Shulamith is a major highlight of the year, and we all look forward to enjoying it again next year.

The team captains —in their colors — are pictured above.

13

HANC HANC High School imbues a love of Medinat Yisrael in each student, which was evident in the display of passion and love for Israel at the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;atzmaut events last week.

Beginning on Wednesday, the entire high school participated in a program to remember fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of terror. Students read poems and viewed a multi-media presentation that included a video about lone soldier Michael Levine and those who fell in the Second Lebanon

War. The program concluded with the boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; chorus leading the student body in singing the Hatikvah.

A program in honor of the 67th anniversary of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Independence on Thursday began with a Siyum Mishnayot on Zeraim by Ari Levine, who spoke about the laws of the Beit Hamikdash and how we should continue to pray for the coming of Mashiach in our time. The siyum ended with a singing of the Hatikvah and dancing.

Following the siyum, the students and teachers gathered for a spirited chagiga with an Eitan Katz concert.

Students and faculty sang and danced throughout the morning, culminating with a moving kumzitz with the senior class singing a Yerushalayimthemed song. Students also enjoyed an all-time favorite treat of blue and white Marino ices.

Following the chagiga, the stu-

dents gathered to create care-packages for IDF soldiers to show hakarot hatov toward those who ďŹ ght every day to protect our homeland. The Israel Action Committee organized the packaging of bags that will be sent to Israeli soldiers in the Golani Brigade.

Each bag contained tissues, socks,

snacks, a notepad and pen, candy, and other necessities.

Students and faculty viewed threeminute student- created videos in their afternoon classes called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bits of Israel in Math, Science, English, and History,â&#x20AC;? which discusses the impact that Israel has had on modern society.

2 days at SKA: Moving from darkness to light SKA â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have entered that sensitive period of time where we feel our historical journey as a nation during the Holocaust and its unfathomable destruction [were followed by] seeds of reconstruction and renewal through the miracles of the establishment of the State of Israel.â&#x20AC;?

With these words, Mrs. Helen Spirn, Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls head of school, addressed the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reďŹ&#x201A;ective program commemorating Yom Hazikaron on Wednesday and Yom Haazmaut on Thursday.

Yom Hazikaron at SKA was dedicated to the soldiers who gave their lives last summer in the battles of Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, Tzuk Eitan. As Ms. Raizi Chechik, principal of grades 9â&#x20AC;&#x201C;10, reďŹ&#x201A;ected at the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teďŹ la gathering, SKA students had been dedicating their learning and teďŹ llot each day since the beginning of the year to a different one of the soldiers killed during Tzuk Eitan, posting his picture and bio on the bulletin board and creating a day dedicated to his memory. Three SKA juniors, Henna Storch, Michal Yacker and

Zehava Gros, worked to spread this program to 27 schools throughout the country so that by its conclusion, 5,500 students were participating daily in the prayer and learning dedication.

The group they founded, Lev Echad, sent letters to each of the families of the soldiers, letting them know that their sons lived on in our minds and hearts.

The evening before Yom Hazikaron, many students joined in the Lev Echad conference call to hear from one of the Tzuk Eitan veterans who visited SKA earlier this year, and partici-

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pated in a group recitation of tehillim with students from many other schools.

We were privileged to hear from Panim el Panim visitor Amatzia Fensterheim, a young English-speaking soldier who fought valiantly in that battle, losing many of his friends in a sudden attack. His stirring speech left the students with a sense of pride in our Israeli soldiers and awe at how Jews from all over the globe came to Israel during that time period to show their unity.

Participants of the Shalva Marathon in Jerusalem shared their personal Tzuk Eitan memories after which a viewing of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Green Kippah,â&#x20AC;? a ďŹ lm that chronicles the lives and tragic deaths of three American Jews, reminded us that a great deal of gratitude is owned to the men and woman of the Israel Defense Forces, symbolized by a simple hand-crocheted yarmulke that was worn into battle.

With pride, joy and thanks to Hashem, SKA welcomed Israel Independence Day with TeďŹ la Chagigit, with the whole school joining in an inspiring morning davening together in the auditorium.

We then heard from Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, founder of Our Soldiers Speak, an organization which conducts informative seminars on the IDF, who shared his powerful personal story and offered insights into what we can do for Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;SKA at the Movies!â&#x20AC;? with popcorn and soda, offered students the choice of two ďŹ lms to view, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beneath the Helmetâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Crossing the Line.â&#x20AC;? Juniors and seniors had the opportunity to meet the producer of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Crossing the Line,â&#x20AC;?

Ms. Shoshana Palatnik, who ran a session on anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses and how to combat it.Both speakers conveyed the importance of standing up for the State of Israel. We have the opportunity, Ms. Palatnik noted, to â&#x20AC;&#x153;shape the narrative.â&#x20AC;?

THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

HANC High cheers for Yom Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;atzmaut

May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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Rav Lichtenstein: A Jewish communal tribute ALAN JAY GERBER KOSHER BOOKWORM

W

ith the passing of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, zt”l, this week’s essay will deal with a collection of tributes by several community, rabbinic and educational personalities who in one way or another had their lives touched by the spiritual leadership of Rabbi Lichtenstein.

First, a few biographical words as penned

by Rabbi Shlomo Zukier of the Slifka Center of Yale University and Rabbi Shalom Carmy of Yeshiva University in the current issue of Tradition: “Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in France in 1933, from which his family escaped in 1941 to the United States, finally settling in New York. At Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin he made his mark as a youngster. There he studied with, and was deeply influenced by, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik and Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner. Entering Yeshiva College at 16, he studied with Rabbi Moshe Shatzkes and, more fatefully, with Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.”

Rabbi Lichtenstein would receive his semicha from Rabbi Soloveitchik to assume over the next years several teaching and leadership positions at Yeshiva. He was also to garner a doctorate at Harvard in English literature in 1957.

By 1971, both he and his family moved to Israel where he assumed the position as co-rosh yeshiva at Yeshivat Har Etzion in the Gush at the invitation of its founder and rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Yehuda Amital. The two were to serve in these dual roles for the next four decades.

According to Rabbis Zuckier and Carmy, “The primary arena of Torah study, for Rabbi

Lichtenstein, as for the mainstream of Jewish thought, is the study of legal texts: Talmud, its commentators and codifiers. And when Rabbi Lichtenstein extols Talmud study, he has particularly in mind Talmud study pursued in the Eastern European tradition, and as developed in the past century under the flag of the Brisker school. To ignore or minimize the emphasis on Torah study, and on Talmud, in Rabbi Lichtenstein’s thought, just because he has championed broad universal concerns and advocated the study of the liberal arts as a vehicle to religious wholeness, is a distortion of his teaching to the point of making it unrecognizable.”

With the above as prologue, we now will consider a series of heartfelt tributes based upon the impact Rabbi Lichenstein had upon them.

Rabbi Reuven Ziegler, chairman of the editorial board of Koren Publishers, wrote the following: “Mori Verabbi, HaRav Aharon Lichtenstein, zt”l, was an extraordinary talmid chacham, an extraordinary teacher, and an extraordinary thinker. But, most of all he was an extraordinary human being. He liked to quote Rav Yechezkel Abramsky’s comment about Rav Isser Zalman Melzer: ‘Even if he

hadn’t known how to learn at all, he still would have been the most beautiful Jew in Jerusalem.’ Rav Abramsky, of course, was referring to the beauty of Rav Isser Zalman’s personality — his humility, his sensitivity, his refinement, his integrity, his piety, his moral uprightness, his spiritual yearning. The same can truly be said of Rav Lichtenstein himself.

And, as the Gemara in Berachot [5b] notes, it is for this lost beauty

that we weep most of all.”

Rabbi Yaakov Feitman of the Cedarhurst Red Shul made note of the following in his tribute: “I was privileged to be with Rav Aharon Lichtenstein on several occasions and to speak with him in learning on a number of subjects. His mastery of the entire range of

‘We have lost the greatest of us’…

Continued from page 1 New York office for an interview with the Rav. I was terrified.

I’d been told I would be quizzed on the Gemara I was learning, and had prepared a particular piece, but was never asked to let anyone know which folio and topic, or even which tractate I would like to read until I was actually sitting in front of Rav Lichtenstein.

As soon as I came into the office and sat down, seeing I was holding a volume of Talmud, he asked me to start reading and began to grill me on the ins and outs of the particular topic I had chosen to read, and very soon our discussion began to wander to various other folios, first in that same tractate and gradually in other tractates. And the entire time Rav Lichtenstein did not have a tractate in front of him, he simply quoted from memory.

It was an awe-inspiring experience; there was very little small talk — it was all Torah, and he was quoting entirely from memory. By the time the interview finished, I was drenched in sweat, and the message I got as a young 17 year old in 1981 was that if accepted, I needed to understand this was a serious decision to embark on a journey of intense Torah study, with no nonsense.

I had been blessed with some rebbeim with whom I was very close, some of whom I am still close with; but on that day I discovered a rebbe of whom I could be in awe.

Rav Lichtenstein’s principles both religiously in general, and with regards to the dedication one must apply to achieve proficiency in Torah study, were unbending, extremely demanding, and even legendary.

His shiurim could sometimes go on for hours and the effort to concentrate and follow his brilliant analyses and intricate organizational structures within the Talmudic exegesis at which he so proficiently excelled, produced a level of excellence in Torah study that remains unparalleled. Notably, he was particularly uncompromising with regards to the exhausting pursuit of a complete understanding of any topic, which often resulted in lengthy lectures and discussions that could go on for hours.

This was often a challenge for many of the students at his Friday morning classes. Often, students would have plans to travel for Shabbat, and would miss the bus to Jerusalem due to the long duration of his shiurim, causing some to slip out the back of the classroom to catch the bus while Rav Lichtenstein was peering into a commentary in front of him (ears later, in discussion with him, I discovered Rav Lichtenstein was quite aware of this phenomenon).

One week, on a winter Friday, word spread that one of the more senior students had bravely asked Rav Lichtenstein if he could perhaps end his lecture in time for students to make the 10:40 am bus (which would allow those traveling further than Jerusalem to catch connecting buses and arrive home with more time to spare before the earlier winter arrival of Shabbat).

Apparently Rav Lichtenstein, upon hearing the

request, smiled and nodded, so we were all waiting to see whether the shiur would end early; the student who had asked was already a hero!

I remember the exact moment, at precisely 10:30 am, when Rav Lichtenstein paused in the midst of his lecture and recalled the request: “One of the students approached me earlier to ask if we could finish the class by 10:30 to allow some of you to make an earlier bus; to be honest I did not understand the question.

The class will end when we are finished with the sugya (topic)!”

After which Rav Lichtenstein proceeded to give one of the longest shiurim I ever heard him give: over four hours! Message received.

In Rav Lichtenstein’s worldview there was absolutely no compromising in Torah; he succeeded in instilling in us, his students, an insatiable and uncompromising desire for excellence in Torah study, a principle he modelled for us in the way he taught, the way he learned, and the way he lived everything he did.

I recall during a shiur klali (lecture to the entire yeshiva) in June of 1982 seeing a phenomenal example of this ideal. Every Tuesday afternoon in yeshiva, one of the Roshei yeshiva (alternating between Rav Amital z”l and Rav Lichtenstein z”l) would give a shiur to the entire yeshiva after mincha.

This particular Tuesday was a couple of days after the start of the Lebanon War, and in the

His light will burn brighter, having illuminated the path for an entire generation of Torah scholarship.

Talmudic subjects, including such esoteric areas as Zera’im and Taharos was incredible.

Once, when he gave a shiur on a complex subject, his summation and conclusion elicited the following reaction. ‘It was as if lightning bolts illuminated the sky.’

“Further, his brilliance was mirrored by beautiful midos. He spoke with great humility and was respectful to everyone. I once heard an ideological opponent of his say that ‘ he is such a gentleman.’

“I remenmber a number of conversations we had about our beloved common rebbe and manhig, Rav Hutner, zt”l. He spoke with such reverence and derech eretz about him that one could just imagine that he was still a talmid in Yeshivas Chaim Berlin. Interestingly, he also spoke with great respect and adsmiration of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach with whom he consulted regularly about crucial issues. May his memory be a blessing.”

Rookie Billet, principal of the the Shulamith Middle School, wrote the following tribute: “A Torah giant who also earned a doctorate in English Literature, Rav Lichtenstein was the quintessential scholar, who not only taught Torah, but taught his students how to think. …

On a personal level, I was privileged to have had a relationship with him, since my husband had been his Talmid at Yeshiva University in his youth, and had maintained a relationship with Rav Lichtenstein over the years. …

“Over the years, he recommended important readings to me, gave wise and patient guidance regarding halachic she’alot and life questions, some of which had many facets and dimensions that needed to be considered. He was always a powerful voice supporting women’s Torah learning at the highest levels, and was an advocate for women to take leadership roles in Jewish education.”

I conclude with the following from Rabbi Continued on next page middle of the lecture a couple of F-16’s heading North streaked so low over the yeshiva that the building shook. I remember it seemed they were going to land on us, and it was so loud and so unexpected that I recall seeing Rav Lichtenstein instinctively stoop down and reach up to hold his kippah on his head as if the planes might hit us, but he did not even pause what he was saying; the lecture continued unabated without even so much as a pause or an acknowledgement; nothing could be allowed to interrupt Torah study.

Message received.

And then there was Rav Lichtenstein’s commitment to the respect of different points of view. I recall, in the aftermath of the Lebanon War (again, in the early eighties) Rav Lichtenstein and Rav Amital were both worried about the implications of a growing cacophony of voices in the national religious camp calling for expanding Israel’s borders to include portions of Lebanon historically considered part of Biblical Israel (and now captured by the IDF) without regard for the potential loss of life and sacrifice such decisions might entail militarily.

As such, they called for the community to desist from such calls and were involved in the founding of a political group advocating for peace with the Arabs, even at the expense of giving up Israeli territory.

A good number of students in the yeshiva were quite upset with this approach and were quite vocal about their opposition to this idea, even posting a petition on the bulletin board expressing their struggle.

This of course resulted in other students becoming quite vocal as well in their opposition to students daring to oppose the opinion of the roshei yeshiva.

So Rav Lichtenstein, in response gave a lengthy shiur on the merits of learning Torah in Continued on next page

Continued from page 14 an environment that promoted public discourse and encouraged a healthy dialogue and even disagreement on such issues, even and especially allowing for students to express a viewpoint different from their roshei yeshiva as long as all the opinions existed within the framework of Torah and a commitment to Jewish tradition. Again, I was in awe. Amazing: a rosh yeshiva who actually encouraged his students to disagree with him, and who valued their opinion and considered what they had to say! Message received.

There is so much more to share regarding our rosh yeshiva, but words will never suffice to convey the tremendous sense of gratitude we owe, and I owe personally, to our rebbe and rosh yeshiva who nurtured us on the mother’s milk of Torah and Talmudic excellence and whose life was a living model of what Torah living was meant to produce. It is impossible to comprehend that he is gone, and that I will never have the privilege of hearing a shiur from him in person again. And yet, the awe of Torah and pure yirat shamayim he modeled will stay with me forever, and will live on, in the hearts, actions, and especially the Torah study, of his thousands of students, forever.

Indeed, one of the great lights of our generation has passed from this world, but it is not extinguished; if anything, it is a light which will continue to burn brightly and even ever brighter, having illuminated the path for an entire generation of Torah scholarship and Jewish leadership.

Truly, we have lost the greatest of us; and we are now an orphaned generation, but we are and will forever remain the richer for having been blessed to bask in the glory of his Torah and his life.

Yehi nishmato tzrura be’tzror ha’chaim: May his soul be ever-entwined with the soul of life and in all of us, through whom his words will live on. Yehi zichro baruch.

Our morality embraces all people RABBI AVI BILLET PARSHA OF THE WEEK

V

ayikra 18 introduces the Torah’s list of forbidden relationships with the instruction to Moshe to tell the Israelites, “I am G-d. Do not follow the ways of Egypt where you lived, and as to the deeds of the land of Canaan to where I am bringing you, do not do [as well]. Do not follow their customs. Follow My laws, and be careful to keep My decrees, for I am G-d. Keep My decrees and laws, since it is only by keeping them that a person can [truly] live. I am G-d.”

There are many interpretations as to what the “ways of Egypt” and the “ways of Canaan” were, and what moral lesson the Israelites were supposed to take from these instructions.

The implication of what it means to “truly live” is perhaps a reference to how the Torah’s guidance is supposed to inform our existence and inject depth and meaning into our lives.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch distinguishes between the references to Egypt and Canaan and the general “do not follow their customs,” as he defines the former as “patterns of social behavior” and the generalization of “their customs” to be instructive regarding “private conduct in the lives of individuals and families.”

To cite one example in his lengthy exposition, he writes that “only a family life of moral purity can produce a people that will champion justice and righteousness; and only a people that practices loving kindness and justice can produce people who are morally pure.”

There is no question that he was preaching to the choir. But I don’t believe the Jewish people who live by the Torah’s precepts can claim moral superiority to non-Jews who follow the Noahide laws. The same morality laws apply to all of humanity. People who follow the rules are to be admired; those who do not follow basic moral standards of society are not good role models.

Some of the commentaries point out that the people who were living in the land merited to have Hevron settled for as long as it was (based on Bamidbar 13:22) because they were so respectful to Abraham and the forefathers in allowing their burial in the Land that

was not-yet-theirs. Surely not only the people of Israel are capable of contributing positively to the world.

There is no question that the moral standards of ancient Egypt and ancient Canaan were very low. The simple interpretation of the verse is to not learn from their corrupt ways. But what about their good ways? Was there no contribution to the world or society that the Jewish people could learn from, and apply to their experience?

Tosafos (Avodah Zarah 11a) forbids two kinds of non-Jewish influence: 1.

Customs and practices connected with nonJewish, idolatrous, or immoral purposes and beliefs. 2. Non-Jewish customs and practices for which there is no known reasonable and permissible basis.

Building, giving charity, providing aid, practicing medicine, living a life of loving kindness — if we copy the ways of non-Jews in any of these disciplines, we are blessed for it.

And if we live out our creed to be a light unto the nations in these arenas, modeling how to be the best at each of these, how incredible is our lot.

Watching the lead that Israel is taking in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Nepal, it is shameful that there might be Jews in the world who do not recognize the moral clarity that the State of Israel demonstrates when citizens of the world are suffering and in need of the humanitarian help Israel is at the forefront of providing.

We saw similar reactions in the wake of the tsunami of 2004, the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, and even near Syria and Gaza alongside military conflicts. Israel sets up field hospitals.

At its own expense. And Jews around the world collect money and send humanitarian aid.

This is the opposite of the ways of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Canaan, who at most cared only about their own people, and certainly did not celebrate diversity or other cultures.

I saw a disturbing post on Facebook by a rabbi who is involved in outreach, who often says outlandish things when he makes claims of understanding cause and effect in this world, particularly as to why tragic events unfold. He has claimed to know the reasons

The same morality laws apply to all humanity.

OU pushes Frumville…

Continued from page 1 For pricy Lido Beach and Long Beach, discount housing may not have been a big draw, although housing rebates and tuition discounts were on the table.

The first communities fair, in 2008, was the developed by then-OU President Stephen J. Savitsky, a resident of the Five Towns.

“The objective behind establishing growing communities as places for relocation was the excessive cost of housing and education in the large New York metropolitan market,” he said.

“As I visited these communities it became apparent that they offered desirable alternatives for the high cost of living an Orthodox Jewish life here.”

OU’s current president, Martin Nachimson, said his organization “recognizes that, despite the qualms, moving is a very important consideration for the Orthodox community.

“We recognize that for people living in the New York metropolitan area, Orthodox Jewish life is extremely expensive, sometimes to the point that the individual or family’s observamce is at rosk.

for why people suffer horrible illness, why the tragic fire in Brooklyn took seven lives, why the Holocaust happened, etc., claiming some kind of divine inspiration. He posted before and after photos of a now destroyed Temple in Nepal, saying “All the idols worshiping places in Nepal are now destroyed.” [sic] A few hours later he removed it from his Facebook page. (I took a screenshot of it.)

This is not who we are.

Maimonides (Laws of Idolatry 7:1) indicates that places of worship outside of Israel are not our business. And even in Israel, absent the arrival of the Messiah, places of worship are respected.

Perhaps if we reread the verses in our parsha, we can understand why this rabbi is wrong, and why the example of the State of Israel is spot-on.

“I am G-d. Do not follow the ways of Egypt where you lived,” who did not respect your right to live as Jews, and who did not honor your right to worship your G-d as you see fit.

“And as to the deeds of the land of Canaan to where I am bringing you, do not do [as well].”

After all, they do not respect your Divine-given rights to this Land, and will attack you despite your peace efforts.

“Do not follow their customs.” They can’t see past the bridge of their nose in recognizing that it’s a big world filled with G-d’s children, and that whatever can be done to advance the brotherhood of humanity is good.

“Follow My laws, and be careful to keep My decrees, for I am G-d. Keep My decrees and laws, since it is only by keeping them that a person can [truly] live. I am G-d.” True Divine Inspiration comes from living a moral existence that embraces that all of humanity are created in the image of G-d. Some people practice religion in ways that are foreign to us, and their religious practices are not to influence us in any way.

However, if we can make a Kiddush Hashem, sanctifying G-d’s name, through showing our care for G-d’s children because we follow the teachings of the One who declared “I am G-d,” then we are fulfilling our creed that exhorts us to “truly live” — to demonstrate what it means to live a life of meaning, of giving, and of embracing the real world.

The following communities — to which you are cordially invited — were represented at this year’s fair: Arizona: Phoenix California: Silicon Valley Connecticut: Stamford, West Hartford Florida: Boynton Beach, Jaclsonville, Orlando Georgia: Atlanta, Savannah Indiana: South Bend Kansas: Overland Park (Kansas City suburb) Massachusetts: Malden (Boston suburb) Michigan: Southfield (Detroit suburb) New Jersey: Cherry Hill, East Brunswick, Elizabeth, Fair Lawn, Linden, Livingston, Long Branch, Manalapan, Paramus, Springfield, Twin Rivers, West Orange Nevada: Las Vegas New York: Fleetwood, Lido Beach, Long Beach, Mt. Kisco Ohio: Cincinnati Pennsylvania: Allentown, Elkins Park, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, White Oak (Pittsburgh suburb), Wynnewood Rhode Island: Providence South Carolina: Charleston Tennessee: Memphis Texas: Dallas, San Antonio Virginia: Richmond Washington: Seattle Wisconsin: Milwaukee

Mendelevich YIW Shabbat Yosef Mendelevich, a modern Jewish hero, will be the Scholar in Residence at the Young Israel of Woodmere this Shabbat, May 2.

His morning drasha will consider “The Candle and The Wall: Keeping Shabbos in the Gulag.”

Before Mincha, at 6:30 pm, he will discuss “Confessions of a Jewish Hijacker.” Between Mincha and Maariv, his topic will be “Testing and Embracing Freedom: From Prisoner of Zion to Citizen of Zion.”

There will be a meet and greet, including book sale and signing, motzoei Shabbat at 9:45 pm.

Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

15 THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

Continued from page 14 Menachem Genack of the Orthodox Union, who shared with me the this most precious Torah vort: “The Daf Yomi on the day of Rav Aharon’s petirah, Ketubot 77, describes the death of R. Yehoshua ben Levi, the prime student of R. Yehudah Hanasi. Upon his entry into the Garden of Eden, he was heralded by Elijah proclaiming, ‘Make room for the son of Levi, make room for the son of Levi.’

“The Talmud explains that R. Yehoshua ben Levi merited his exalted position in the world to come because, in contrast to his peers, he did not disassociate himself from the sufferers of a highly contagious and debilitating disease. Instead, ‘R. Yehoshua ben Levi attached himself to these sufferers and studied Torah; for he said, Ayelet ahavim veya’alat chen, a lovely hind and a graceful doe (Proverbs 5:19). If the Torah bestows grace upon those who study it, would it not also protect them?’

“These words of R. Yehoshua ben Levi are a fitting epitaph for Rav Aharon, who was a prime disciple of the Rav Yehuda Hanasi of our times, the Rav. Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, with his humility, drew close even those that others isolated, those distant from his coterie, and always, through the Torah whose grace he radiated. And although this daf marks the end of the chapter Hamadir, the masechta goes on, just as Rav Aharon’s legacy will surely continue through the example of learning, humility and grace that he instilled in his extraordinary family and legions of students and admirers. …

“In his essay, ‘The Source of faith Is Faith Itself,’ we encounter Rav Aharon as one whose faith flowed from the example of his teachers in whom he saw the embodiment of the Jewish tradition — Rav Hutner, the Rav, and Rav Aharon Soloveichik — as well as from the divine encounter that Torah study itself provides. He was truly a remarkable fusion of mastery and simplicity, of vigor and humility and, above all, a pillar of radical integrity.”

May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

16

Anti-Semitism, Palestinian statehood in UK vote

By Alina Dain Sharon, JNS.org Rising anti-Semitism and the issue of Palestinian statehood will be among the factors in the equation for Jewish voters when the United Kingdom heads to the polls on May 7 to determine the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next ruling political party and prime minister.

The electionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two major contenders are the Conservative Party, led by current Prime Minister David Cameron, and the left-leaning Labour Party, led by Member of Parliament (MP) Ed Miliband. In the voting booth, British citizens will only choose an MP to represent their local constituency. After all votes are counted, the party that musters a majority of MPs in the House of Commons legislature will form the national government. That partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leader usually becomes prime minister.

Leading up to the election, different polls indicate that the Conservative and Labour parties are likely to ďŹ nish with a similar number of seats.

If neither party musters a majority of seats in the House of Commons, a coalition will be needed to form the government. The race also includes the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party (SNP), the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), the Green Party, and other parties.

In a recent poll conducted by Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish Chronicle newspaper, 69 percent of Jewish voters said they would support the Conservative Party, compared to 22 percent for Labour.

Only 13 percent of respondents expressed support for Miliband, who is Jewish, while 64 percent supported Cameron.

Dr. Daniel Staetsky, a researcher for the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), told JNS.org that while British Jews â&#x20AC;&#x153;are less right-leaning than what can be expected on the basis of their socio economic statusâ&#x20AC;Ś [their] right-leaning is not new.â&#x20AC;?

A 1995 JPR survey of the social and political attitudes of British Jews showed that 45 percent of Jewish voters supported the Conservative Party, 41 percent supported Labour, and 14 percent supported the Liberal Democrats.

Among the general British public at the time, 29 percent supported the Conservatives and 57 percent supported Labour.

Miliband has been heavily criticized by his own religious community due to Labourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stances on Israel, including introducing a non-binding

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legislation last year calling on the U.K. to recognize Palestinian statehood. The British parliament then voted symbolically, 274â&#x20AC;&#x201C;12, in favor of requesting that the U.K. recognize a unilaterally established Palestinian state. More recently, Miliband said he would support the recognition of a Palestinian state if that move would help bring about an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The British Labour Party historically had strong links with Israel and was a loyal supporter,â&#x20AC;? said Jonathan Walker, president of the U.K.-based Anglo-Jewish Association. But nowadays, he told JNS.org, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the political left has sided with the Palestinian cause and taken an aggressive anti-Zionist/anti-Israel position.â&#x20AC;?

Walker noted the â&#x20AC;&#x153;We Are All Hamasâ&#x20AC;? slogan during British rallies against Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza last summer, compared with a â&#x20AC;&#x153;conspicuous silence on other international mattersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;no rallies, campaigns, etc.â&#x20AC;?

Given this climate, Walker said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ed Miliband is not generally felt to be a reliable supporter of Israel by Jewish British voters we (the Anglo-Jewish Association) have spoken to.

In contrast, the Conservatives have been solid supporters of Israel, though not blindlyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;where they see place for criticism, they are vocal.â&#x20AC;? For instance, the Conservatives did criticize Israeli airstrikes that hit United Nations facilities during Operation Protective Edge.

Fiona Sharpe, an activist with Sussex Friends

of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a grassroots advocacy group with members across the political spectrum working to support Israel and combat anti-Semitismâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; told JNS.org that Jewish voters in the U.K. are concerned about Milibandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s views on Palestinian statehood. While supporting a two-state solution is an â&#x20AC;&#x153;admirable position,â&#x20AC;? Sharpe said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the notion that he would force a political solution on Israel is a little unfortunate.â&#x20AC;?

But Jim Murphy, who leads the Scottish Labour Party and is an MP for the East Renfrewshire constituency, earlier this month disagreed with the notion that a Miliband-led government would not be friendly to Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spoken to Ed about this and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any doubtsâ&#x20AC;Ś about his determination to set aside time to make sure thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a genuine effort for a two-state solution, which respects Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s security needs and honors the Palestiniansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; entirely legitimate and overdue right to a state,â&#x20AC;? Murphy told the Jewish Chronicle.

Sharpe, however, told JNS.org that for the Jewish community, â&#x20AC;&#x153;what is of greater concern and a much more immediate concern is the issue of anti-Semitism.â&#x20AC;?

A poll conducted by YouGov in January showed that nearly half of the British population agreed to one of four anti-Semitic statements relating to Jewish loyalty, common stereotypes about Jews, and Jewish use of the Holocaust as a means to gain sympathy. Addi-

Ed Miliband Flickr via Wikimedia Commons

tionally, a survey released in February by the British watchdog group Community Security Trust showed that anti-Semitic incidents in the U.K. reached their highest-ever levels in 2014.

Miliband recently vowed â&#x20AC;&#x153;to confront the scourge of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia head on with strong action on hate crimes,â&#x20AC;? the London-based Jewish News reported. Just days later, Cameron told The Atlantic that he would be â&#x20AC;&#x153;heartbrokenâ&#x20AC;? if â&#x20AC;&#x153;people in the Jewish community thought that Britain was no longer a safe place for them.â&#x20AC;?

Cameron further stated, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got the poisonous narrative of Islamist extremism, which is targeting Jews generally. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got speciďŹ c attacks in Europe. And you have the rise of anti-Semitism on campuses or in public life, including sadly in Britain in some cases. Plus, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got the issue of delegitimization being pushed, the boycotts of the state of Israel by universities and the like, and soon you add all these things up and you can see why some in the Jewish community are very concerned.â&#x20AC;?

Sharpe believes Miliband has â&#x20AC;&#x153;not been as forthcoming and outright in his condemnation of anti-Semitism as David Cameron.â&#x20AC;?

Meanwhile, the right-wing UKIP partyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; which had two House of Commons members prior to the dissolution of the U.K. Parliament on March 30 and is currently supported by about 13 percent of U.K. voters, according to recent pollsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;presents a conundrum for Jewish voters. The party advocates for the U.K. to leave the European Union and reduce immigration, and has been accused of racism, particularly against Muslims. UKIP won the most seats among British parties in the 2014 European Parliament election, the ďŹ rst time a U.K. party has outperformed the Conservatives and Labour in any British election.

UKIPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comments on immigration â&#x20AC;&#x153;should really make the blood of all Jewish people run cold, being that we are all a generation away from being immigrants ourselves,â&#x20AC;? Sharpe said.

In YouGovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s polling, UKIP voters were more likely to agree with anti-Semitic statements than Conservative and Labour voters, noted JPRâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Staetsky. On the other hand, UKIP voters showed the highest proportion of pro-Israel views in a different YouGov survey that focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conďŹ&#x201A;ict, said Staetsky.

Reverse Tower of Babel: Hebrew uniting Jews

By Jeffrey F. Barken, JNS.org When a united humanity speaking the same language tried to build a tower to reach the heavens, G-d confounded their speech. But in the early days of modern Israel, a clash of tongues made life difďŹ cultâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;until Hebrew became â&#x20AC;&#x153;the glue that brought the people together,â&#x20AC;? says Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, grandson of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Father of Modern Hebrewâ&#x20AC;? bearing the same name. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Imagine if David Ben-Gurion had delivered the 1948 Declaration of Israeli Independence in Yiddish. Israel would not only be a different country, but Israelis would know a different existence,â&#x20AC;? Rabbi Eliezer said last month in New York at the ďŹ rst event of a new initiative called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hagigah Ivritâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a cultural series and festival featuring educational lectures, ďŹ lm screenings, Israeli music, art, and social activities for children and adults.

A collaboration of the Israeli-American Council (IAC), the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, and the Council for Hebrew Language and Culture, Hagigah Ivrit provides a platform for individuals and families seeking to both learn the Hebrew language and deepen their connection with Israel.

Framing the cultural series thematically, Rabbi Eliezer describes how the life and times of his grandfather highlights the fundamental

magic of Hebrew. The elder Ben-Yehuda insisted that his wife speak only Hebrew around their children. He spent his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meager savings on a start-up newspaper in which he published articles in Hebrew and provided lists of newly invented words, eventually creating the ďŹ rst Hebrew dictionary.

Initially, Israelis were resentful of Ben-Yehudaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts to modernize Hebrew, yet curious to learn each neologism he published. His grandson sings verses from an Israeli folk song that pokes fun at his grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legacy: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, an amusing man, words upon words he invented in his feverish mind.â&#x20AC;? He notes that it was never easy growing up a â&#x20AC;&#x153;BenYehudaâ&#x20AC;? in Israel due to high expectations for his grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progeny. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of course Ben-Yehuda is going to write a good paper,â&#x20AC;? the rabbi recalls his jealous peers taunting him at school. His frustration hints at a larger controversy that originally surrounded his grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission to establish Hebrew as the ofďŹ cial language of Israel and the Jewish people. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The controversy was that Ben-Yehuda had the audacity to think that people would take up a godforsaken language,â&#x20AC;? Rabbi Eliezer says.

For all practical purposes, Hebrew was obsolete until his grandfather revived and modernized the lexicon. Rabbi Eliezer makes a distinction,

elevating the historical signiďŹ cance and originality of Hebrew. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My book is not a bible, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a tanakh,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People who read the New Testament think they understand the ďŹ rst words, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;In the beginning,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; but, in fact, they are reading a translation.â&#x20AC;?

Thanks to Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Jews today have unprecedented access to their shared heritage.

Hebrew is â&#x20AC;&#x153;organic, growing, and changing all the time,â&#x20AC;? but it is still the most enduring element of Jewish culture, Rabbi Eliezer observes.

The Hagigah Ivrit event shed light on many current Hebrew language and literary achievements. Israeli author Assaf Gavron presented his new book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Hilltop,â&#x20AC;? a novel depicting the complicated reality of life in the West Bank. Later, Reuven â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rubyâ&#x20AC;? Namdar, resident New Yorker and esteemed recipient of Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sapir Prize for Literature, spoke about the experience of writing in Hebrew while living in an English-speaking environment. The series also featured a Hebrew poetry contest involving students from 30 Jewish day schools across North America.

The IACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission statement calls for initiatives that â&#x20AC;&#x153;build an engaged and united Israeli-American community that strengthens our next generations.â&#x20AC;? Participants who attended the IACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shishi Israeli event, which ushered in a Shabbat during the culture series on Friday, March 27, could see that community taking

shape. Billed as an event in which â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israeli and Jewish Americans will create a shared experience around the Shabbat dinner table,â&#x20AC;? families of all ages and backgrounds were in attendance.

Numerous arts activities kept young children happily engaged, while actor, singer, and songwriter Shira Averbuch led a band, singing classic and popular Hebrew songs.

The IAC â&#x20AC;&#x153;didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to spend a lot on advertisingâ&#x20AC;? for Hagigah Ivrit, but rather word of mouth among the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Israeli American community was the primary marketing vehicle, says Yehudit Feinstein-Mentesh, the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s regional director in New York. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It becomes like a family,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everybody brings something and in this way weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re creating a community that takes care of itself.â&#x20AC;?

Sharon Eyny, IACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s director of programs and events, says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The idea, especially on the Upper West Side, where there is a big Israeli community, is to bridge Jewish American and Israeli communities. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually do things together.â&#x20AC;?

Eyny notes that second and third-generation immigrants from Israel are nostalgic for elements of the culture they left behind. American Jews, likewise, are curious about Israeli customs and desire an authentic experience. The IACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s monthly Kabbalat Shabbat dinners are successful, Eyny suggests, because the structure is unimposing.

17

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THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

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May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

18 Thursday April 30 /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave, Lawrence. 12:30 to 1:30 pm. $12 lunch. 516-398-3094.

5(%%( Rabbi Joseph Telushkin discusses his book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rebbe,â&#x20AC;? at an event co-sponsored by several Long Island Chabads (West Hempstead, Mineola, Great Neck, Roslyn, Oyster Bay, Brookville and Port Washington). Rabbi Telushkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book in an authoritative biography of Rabbi Menacham Mendel Schneerson. $18. 7:30 pm.

Sid Jacobson JCC, 300 Forest Drive, Greenvale. sjjcc.org/rebbe, 516-484-1545 x166.

JEWISH STAR

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Shabbat May 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2 .,'6 2) &285$*( 6+$%%$721 Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. Through Saturday. Kids of Courage seeks to improve the lives of medically fragile children and young adults and their families through adventure trips and community-based programs. 516-569-3324.

'(66(57 5(&(37,21 honoring Moshe Cohen, Congregation Beth Shalom of Lawrence; Shlomo Feldman, Young Israel of Hewlett; Eliezer Fuld, White Shul (Congregation Knesseth Israel); Alyssa Schechter, Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst; Rabbi David Beitler, Irving Place Minyan; Paul Silverstein, Young Israel of Woodmere; Isaac Nahon, Young Israel of Hewlett. $35. 7:30 pm. Congregation Beth Shalom of Lawrence, 390 Broadway, Lawrence. Irwin Gershon, 516-677-1818.

6+$/20 7$6. )25&( annual brunch, with Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski. $72. 10 am. Sephardic Temple, 775 Branch Blvd, Cedarhurst. 212-742-1478, stfbrunch@gmail.com ,65$(/, 7=)$7 $576 )$,5 at Lido Beach Synagogue. Arts, crafts, jewelry, Judaica, weeaving, wood. 12 to 6 pm. 1 Fairway Rd, Lido Beach. 516-889-9650.

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/RQJ ,VODQG OLJKWV XS QH[W 7KXUVGD\ 0D\ ZKHQ WUDGLWLRQDO /DJ %Âś2PHU FHOHEUDWLRQV LQFOXGH ERQÂżUHV SLFWXUHG ODVW \HDU LQ $QGUHZ - 3DULVH 3DUN LQ &HGDUKXUVW DQG RWKHU IXQ DFWLYLWLHV The Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob

)$5%5(1*(1 )25 0(1 marks Pesach Sheini. 8:15 pm. Chabad of the Five Towns, 74 Maple Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478

the bonďŹ re, smores, rafďŹ&#x201A;e, prizes, and more.

Kosher BBQ and food available for purchase.

5:30 to 7 pm. Fire Ring in Wantagh Park.

Chanie Kramer, 516-833-3057

Tuesday May 5

/$* %¡20(5 )81 ,1 &('$5+8567 BonďŹ re, games, activities. Featuring the amazing XPOGO stunt show. Food available for purchase. 5:30 to 8 pm. Andrew J. Parise Park at the corner of Cedarhurst Ave and Summit Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478

6+¡25 <26+89 $118$/ ',11(5 Buffet followed by program and dessert reception.

6:30 pm. The Sands Atlantic Beach, 1395 Beech St. 516-239-9002, admin@shoryoshuv.org $,3$& ),9( 72:16 &20081,7< (9(17 featuring Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. 8 pm. Young Island Lawrence-Cedarhurst, 8 Spruce St, Cedarhurst. 917-210-6333.

RSVP required to attend: AIPAC.org/FiveTowns 0217+/< :20(1¡6 &/$66 with Mrs. Chaya Franklin. Explore Torah as it relates to us on a psychological, emotional and spiritual level. $10. 8:30 pm. Chabad of the Five Towns, 74 Maple Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478.

Wednesday May 6 /$* %¡20(5 +,//28/$ &(/(%5$7,21 of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ai. Reception includes festive singing and the traditional selling of candles to commemorate great Jewish sages. $25 with reservation, $30 at door. 7 pm. Moroccan Jewish Organization, 112-21 72nd Ave, Forest Hills. 718-962-4872, info@mjony.org

Thursday May 7 /$* %¡20(5 )81 ,1 :$17$*+ hosted

by Chabad. Enjoy inďŹ&#x201A;atable bouncers, songs from guitarist Yossi Stem and stories around

3,7&+ 3(5)(&7 Practice your crucial 30-second-pitch in this interactive workshop.

11 am to 1 pm. Sid Jacobson JCC, 300 Forest Drive, East Hills. 516-484-1545 x214.

1875,7,21,67 '5 5,&. 6+,(/'6 discusses his latest book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Chaim, 18 Chapters To Live By.â&#x20AC;? Refreshments. Free. 2 pm. White Shul (Congregation Knesseth Israel), 728 Empire Blvd, Far Rockaway. 718-868-3853.

/2; /($51 Discussion led by Rabbinic Intern Joel Dinin. Topic: Making Aliya â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Can we, must we, should we? 9:30 am, after shacharit. Roslyn Synagogue, 257 Garden St, Roslyn Heights. 516-484-0697.

6(1,256 Cafting with Rachel Gabarsky includes includes exercise, crafts, music, discussions and a light brunch. Free. 11 am to 12 pm.

Chabad of the Five Towns, 74 Maple Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478.

Monday May 18

Tuesday May 19

Sunday May 3

-2+1 %2/721 +2125(' Event cosponsored by ZOA-Long Island-Queens Region and Great Neck Synagogue Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club. Free. 7 pm. Great Neck Synagogue, 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck. 212-481-1500, Martin@zoa.org

/2$9(6 2) /29( with Hadassah Geisinsky. Women and girls are invited to learn the art of baking challah and to experience the beauty of this important mitzvah. 8:30 pm.

Reservations required by May 12 at 5 pm. At Geisinsky Home, 234 Washington Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478.

/$',(6 1,*+7 287 Believe in yourself with Mrs. Jackie Bitton, dean at YDE Girls Yeshiva. Jackie will help you achieve your own â&#x20AC;&#x153;impossibleâ&#x20AC;? challenges and will have you laughing and crying with her inspiring tales. $18 per person; $36 sponsor; $100 event partner. 8 pm. At Home of Mrs. Becky Litvintchouk, 369 Clinton Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478.

5$%%, <26() 0(1'(/(9,&+ is Scholar in Residence this Shabbat and Motzei Shabbat at Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

+$7=$/$+ $118$/ %%4 saluting its families. 6:30 pm. 2 reservtions $360. The Sands Atlantic Beach, 1395 Beech St. 718-3375445, HatzalahRL.org/BBQ

vitch, Sharona Thall, and life-member awardee Helen Friedman. Boutiques 5:45 to 7 pm, followed by program. Congregation Beth Shalom, 390 Broadway, Lawrence. 516-569-3600.

/$* %¡20(5 ',11(5 &58,6( and ďŹ shing excursion hosted by Chabad of Roslyn.

Enjoy the evening aboard Island Curent III, including ďŹ shing equipment and bait, BBQ dinner and refreshments. $28 adult, $14 child (under 5). 6 to 8:30 pm. Town Dock, 347 Main St, Port Washington. 516-484-3500

Saturday May 9 ',6&866,21 2) 6(;8$/ $%86( in the Jewish community. Featured speakers include Rabbi Hershel Billet, Senior Young Israel of Woodmere rabbi; Dr. Michael Salamon, psychologist; Ms. Rena Gopin-Wolf, victim of childhood sexual abuse; Mr. David Cheifetz, advocate on the topic.

9:45 pm. Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere. dfrankelyiw@yiwoodmere.org

Sunday May 10 &$03 +$6& 581 Join the special campers, family, staff and friends for the Camp HASC Marathon followed by a celebration in Brooklynâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prospect Park. 718-686-2600.

Monday May 11 $118$/ <,: 6,67(5+22' 6833(5 (77( honoring three outstanding women: Giselle Hochsztein, Ruchi Kret, and Rivoli

Starr. Sephardic Temple, 775 Branch Blvd, Cedarhurst. 516-295-0950

Tuesday May 12 %$6,& /,)( 6833257 renewal course.

Learn CPR. $65. 6:30 to 10:30 pm. Albert Conference Room at South Nassau Hospital, 1 Healthy Way, Oceanside. 516-377-5333 635,1* %22. &/8% Join the Young Israel of Woodmere Sisterhood for a review and discussion of award-winning Israeli author Amos Ozâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Tale of Love and Darkness.â&#x20AC;? $10, $15 at door. 8 pm. At home of Enid Goldstein, 810 Hampton Rd, Woodmere. 516-295-0950, yiw_ofďŹ ce@yiwoodmere.com

Wednesday May 13 (9(1,1* 2) 75,%87( with Reb Dovid Sitnick. Recognizing 35 years of Siach Yitchokâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact on our community. White Shul, 728 Empire Ave, Far Rockaway. 718-327-6247. :20(1¡6 .5$9 0$*$ 6(/) '()(16( program for women 18 and over. Taught by Krav Maga certiďŹ ed instructor Judith Meer. Every Wednesday night starting May 13. Space is limited to 20 people. $200, checks made out to YI of Woodmere. 8 pm to 9 pm. YI of Woodmere Gym, 859 Peninsula Blvd, Woodmere.

516-295-0950, yiwkravmaga@gmail.com

Thursday May 14 /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave, Lawrence. 12:30 to 1:30 pm. $12 lunch. 516-398-3094.

6,67(5+22' $118$/ 6833(5(77( at Beth Shalom, honoring past presidents Gabrielle Berlyne, Judi Bernstein, Suzanne Gur-

Thursday May 21 /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave, Lawrence. 12:30 to 1:30 pm. $12 lunch. 516-398-3094.

Saturday May 23 725$+ 7+21 for men and women. Stay up late at Chabad of the Five Towns studying Torah before itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s given. Women, 11:30 pm to 1 am. Men, beginning at midnight. 74 Maple Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478.

Sunday May 24 7(1 &200$1'0(176 ,&( &5($0 party. The Ten Commandments read at 11 am followed by a delicious dairy luncheon and ice cream party. Chabad of the Five Towns, 74 Maple Ave, Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478.

6+$9827 ,&( &5($0 3$57< and dairy buffet with Chabad of Merrick-Bellmore-Wantagh. Preceded by a reading of the Ten Commandments. 5:30 pm. At home of Rabbi and Mrs. Kramer, 2083 Seneca Gate, Merrick. 516833-305.

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how to list your event in The Jewish Star Calendar of Events The Jewish Star is pleased to publish a comprehensive calendar of events for the Orthodox Jewish communities on Long Island. This is a free service.

Organizations are invited to send information to Calendar@TheJewishStar.com, including a brief description of event, name and address of venue, price of admission (or specify free), and a phone or email where readers can conďŹ rm the event or request more information. Submissions may also include a hi-res photo promoting the event (possibly featuring speakers or honorees). The earlier events are submitted, the more weeks they may run. Deadline is Friday noon.

JUDY JOSZEF WHO’S IN THE KITCHEN

W

hile on line in the supermarket this week, there was an adorable little girl and her mom. The mom was testing her daughter on the spelling for that week’s test.

The memories started flooding back to my days in Shulamith elementary school. Everyday we had a different assignment to complete using spelling words — one day it was writing each word five times, the next day incorporating them into sentences, and so on.

That night over dinner, I told my husband Jerry, about the little girl on line and how it brought back pleasant memories for me.

Spelling was my favorite subject as it was the easiest. Jerry disagreed, and said it was one of the most frustrating classes for him.

His parents were European and spoke no English at all when they arrived in America in the early 50’s. They spoke mostly Yiddish at home, as his mom didn’t speak Romanian as his father did, and his father didn’t speak Czechoslovakian as his mom did. As they learned English, they started to use it more often, but with a very heavy accent. Jerry and brother, thinking that was the way to pronounce words, each sounded like little old men on the Lower East Side with cigars in their mouths selling sour pickles. Jerry’s teacher in first grade asked his mom when he came to America; she was shocked to hear he was born here.

He went on to explain that although his mom wanted to help him study for the spell-

ings tests, and she did, the results weren’t favorable. It went something like this: Fire engine was pronounced fire renger; circus, tzurkis; stupid, stupitt. Jerry played ketch with his dad and brother, watched The Three Stugens on TV, or played in the park if it was a butiful day.

They had a parrot named birdee in the house, and his mom spoke of the tenor that lived upstairs — which impressed me. “Wow, an opera singer,” very cool. Then the next time I spoke to her, she said her brother’s tenor upstairs … and I thought that was way too much of a coincidence the they both had opera singers as tenants.

When Jerry was in his teens, his mom thought he took her for grantage (granted), as when she had to work hard to clean his room because he kept it like a pik. During times like those, she would tell him he was acting warri taeribil (terrible).

There were plenty of good memories though, like every Sunday night before traveling back to the City from the bungalow colony in the Catskills, his dad would take them for ice crame. They got to choose between chokolatt or wanella unless of course if they had weal dinner and couldn’t have dairy afterwards.

Before leaving on the three-hour ride up to kemp in the summer, they would always use the badrum first, because buses those days didn’t have any badrums on them.

The first time Jerry drove up to the ketskills on his own, his dad gave him directions, but for some reason he got lost. He stopped a police officer and asked sheer the Top and Center Bridge was. After insisting many times that it doesn’t exist in New York, Jerry asked, “OK, so how do I get to the mountains?” The officer

ing a beautiful family, always having an open home to any and all, and being contributors to schools, shuls and many other worthwhile organizations.

No matter how this week’s recipe is spelt, t’s great! Try it.

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asked which mountains, to which Jerry replied, “You know, the mountains that everyone goes to in the summer up in the country.”

Exasperated the officer asked which country he was talking about. Finally, he realized Jerry wanted the Tappan Zee Bridge.

So, you can see how frustrating it was for Jerry, when his mom helped him study for tests. When the text day arrived, he squirmed in his seat, not recognizing most words.

He thought it odd that the teacher mispronounced most of the words. Even everyday words as bersday, as in “heppy bersday,” and ukly, as in ukly duckling.

Laugh as I may at the way his parents pronounced and spelled words, there is no way I would have been able to travel to a foreign land after losing parents and siblings, start a new life not knowing a word of the local language, and succeed in business as they did, and live rich wonderful lives while rais-

Ingredients: yeast mixture 4 tbsp yeast 2 cups warm water a bit of honey Remaining Ingredients: 2 cups water 3/4 cup honey or agave nectar 6 eggs 1/2 cup oil 2 tbsp. salt 5 lbs white spelt flour I knead my challah dough by hand, I find it easier when using 5 lbs. of flour. In a bowl add the yeast, 2 cups warm water and a teaspoon of honey, let discovered.

In a large mixing bowl add 2 cups of warm water, the honey or agave nectar, eggs, oil and salt. Then add the yeast mixture and white spelt flour. Mix well, incorporating all ingredients. Then knead till the dough forms a silky ball.

Transfer the dough into a well greased bowl and rotate till he entire outside of the dough is slightly greased. Cover with warm, slightly damp towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft-free area about 1¼ hours or until nearly doubled.

Knead dough lightly in the bowl to knock out air. Cover and let rise again about 1 hour or until nearly doubled. Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes. All ovens are different so baking time might vary.

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THE JEWISH STAR May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775

However it’s ‘spelt,’ this challah is tasty SPELT

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May 1, 2015 12 Iyar 5775 THE JEWISH STAR

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