May 16, 2014

This week in Torah 4-5 Spring in the kitchen 7 Bookworm 9 Biggest 5 Towns Calendar 12 School news 15

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VOL 13, NO 19 Q MAY 16, 2014 / 16 IYAR 5774

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Tech cheers for Zion Cutting edge products, more than Sodastream

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5T, FarRock whirl for Chief Rav Lau

By Malka Eisenberg A crush of well wishers, rabbis and politicians coursed through the home of Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner on Monday, many posing in front of a phalanx of photographers with the draw of their attentions, Rabbi David Baruch Lau, Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel.

He later left to speak at the White Shul, Kneseth Israel, in Far Rockaway, after mincha.

In a session with local yeshiva and community rabbis at the Oliner home, the chief rabbi discussed his concern that many Jewish people are not connected to their roots. As an example, he recounted the disconnectedness of a man who wanted to get married and did not know that he was a Cohen, oblivious to Jewish laws pertaining to the marriage of Cohanim.

Continued on page 3

By Malka Eisenberg A swallowable camera, an exoskeleton to enable paraplegics to walk and a device that can see through walls were some of the incredible cutting-edge products showcased at an Israel technology fair at the Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Center. Sodastream, whose Superbowl ad with Scarlett Johansson made it a focus of the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions movement, was one of many products featured.

Israel is producing “ideas that can really transform the world as we know it,� said keynote speaker Nadav Kidron. Israelis traveling abroad are routinely asked, “What’s with the Palestinians, what is Israel doing to the Arabs?,� a comment that should be changed to, “Look what Israel is doing to help the world,� he said.

Kidron, CEO of Oramed Pharmaceuticals, pointed out that “most parts of the world are enjoying the technology of Israel. How does a small tiny country produce so much innovation?�

Even the head of Abu Dhabi’s “mossadâ€? shopped for security tech in Israel, ying to Europe and via private jet with no passport to get there, he said. “They will get the best — even if it’s made in Israel.â€?

Much of the technology made in Israel is not labeled as such since the companies “still pay a priceâ€? for that association, although in his ďŹ eld — health care — they “can say it’s made in Israel; if they (patients) need it they will get it anyway,â€? Kidron said.

He said that 2013 was an “excellent year with $2.5 billion raised by Israeli companies. With six million people, per capita that’s a lot of money invested.�

Two examples of Israeli hi tech, WAZE and Powerrmat, have already become established around the world. Kidron noted that Facebook wanted to close the Israeli ofďŹ ces if they purchased WAZE and WAZE refused. Google purchased WAZE, paid double for it and didn’t close the ofďŹ ces in Israel. A year ago,

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Kidron, a kipa-clad Jerusalemite, met a Los Angeles based Israeli genius engineer at a Shabbat lunch who was developing the ability to wirelessly charge cell phones and other hi-tech appliances. Kidron noted that in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, people were hungrier for power for their cellphones than for food. Powermat signed with Starbucks to enable charging on the tables, with GM to charge in a tray in the car and at home on your sofa. They signed an agreement with Duracell for marketing but with Continued on page 6

Lag B’Omer in Israel: Memories and mayhem

Yaakov Naumi/Flash90

Israel’s populace. Though it was once the exclusive purview of the Hassidic sects, the celebration has now grown to attract Israelis of every stripe. Think Times Square on New Year’s Eve—only without the snow or Dick Clark, and with bonďŹ res and sharp scissors.

These days tens of thousands of Israelis (estimated from 75,000 to 250,000 in recent years) turn out in Meron, just outside the northern city of Safed (Tsfat), each Lag B’Omer to mark the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the Talmudic sage

Shabbat candlelighting 7:47 pm. Shabbat ends 9:00 pm. 72 min. zman 9:21 pm. Parshat B’chukotai. Sunday is Lag B’Omer.

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By Deborah Fineblum, JNS.org One of Pnina Newirthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earliest childhood memories is of a trip to Mount Meron on Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer. But this was no ordinary family vacation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was very small, yet I vividly recall the huge ďŹ res and the immense crowds,â&#x20AC;? she says.

Despite the cacophony and the roaring bonďŹ res, the Raâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;anana resident insists she felt no fear that day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I knew my parents were there and would protect me. And we stood far enough back to give us a bit of distance,â&#x20AC;? Newirth recalls.

That moment was more than three decades ago, long before the tradition of spending Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer in Meron took a greater hold on

who is traditionally credited for Judaismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading source of Kabbalah and mystical wisdomâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Zohar.

But the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;marked by the bonďŹ res of Newirthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s childhood, along with singing and dancingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is more celebration than mourning.

In fact, the holiday also marks the end of the deaths of Rabbi Akivaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 24,000 students who, tradition has Continued on page 3

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May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

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By Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org On Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer and the 18th day of the month of Iyar, Jewish communities are aďŹ&#x201A;ame with celebration. People frolic around bonďŹ res in traditional festivities, marking the day with joy.

The tradition of lighting bonďŹ res on Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer started with the passing of the Rashbi â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai â&#x20AC;&#x201D; on the 18th of Iyar. The Rashbi imparted to the Jewish people mystical secrets, proclaiming that the 18th should be a day of celebration, explained Rabbi BenZion Friedman, director of the Torah Learning Center of Greater Kansas City.

Rabbi Friedman says that in â&#x20AC;&#x153;the olden days,â&#x20AC;? people celebrated by bringing candles to the grave of Rabbi Yochai in Meron, in northern Israel. Later, those candles became bonďŹ res and spread from the cave in which Rabbi Yochai is buried to throughout Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Before G-d created the world, there was darkness,â&#x20AC;? says Rabbi Friedman. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Then, G-d said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Let there be light.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; That light is the light

of Torah. On this day, the Torah that Reb Shimon Bar Yochai stood for â&#x20AC;Ś the light of the Torah is represented by the ďŹ re.â&#x20AC;?

This year, you could light your own bonďŹ re with the help of 12-year-old Boy Scout Abraham â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aviâ&#x20AC;? Brudoley. A member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 61 in Overland Park, Kan., Avi is a bonďŹ re pro. A descendant of a line of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Avi says he can get a bonďŹ re going with just one match. He offers JNS.org his advice so you can do that, too, this Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer, which begins this motzei Shabbat.

What you need: â&#x20AC;˘ About 100 (â&#x20AC;&#x153;enough to ďŹ ll your hatâ&#x20AC;?) small, dry twigs. â&#x20AC;˘ A handful or two of tinder (paper scraps, dryer lint, additional small twigs). â&#x20AC;˘ 30 to 40 large sticks of dry wood. â&#x20AC;˘ 1 match (or a box of matches, if this is your ďŹ rst try). â&#x20AC;˘ A bucket of waterâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just in case!

Directions: Step 1: Lay the Groundwork Take your tinder and place it in a loose pile,

leaving air between the ingredients. Then, lay your small sticks on top of the tinder. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The more sticks you have,â&#x20AC;? says Avi, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the better the ďŹ re will start.â&#x20AC;?

Step 2: Build Your Teepee Next, begin to build your bonďŹ re. There are two shapes to choose from: cabin or teepee. Avi recommends the teepee shape. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It works better and you can get more air into the ďŹ re,â&#x20AC;? he says.

Starting with the thinner sticks ďŹ rst, snap the sticks in half to build a circle around the twigs, forming them into a three-quarter circleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a teepee with a doorway. Always leave this entryway or air hole opposite the wind.

This, says Avi, enables you to light the bonďŹ re.

Step 3: Strengthen Your Structure Work your way out, placing the sticks on top of one another in a continuous circle, being careful not to place any sticks over the opening. As you get further along, the sticks should get both taller and thicker. Thicker sticks, says Avi, provide fuel.

Step 4: Light It Up

Take a lit match and hold it against or under the tinder in the opening until the small sticks catch ďŹ re. Slowly, the ďŹ&#x201A;ame will grow.

A 40-stick bonďŹ re will burn for about 20 minutes, Avi explains. To keep it going longer, add more sticks or place logs along the sides of your teepee. When the logs catch, they will burn longer and stronger.

Aviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Advice: â&#x20AC;˘ If you are building your ďŹ re on the grass or somewhere that might not be safe, surround the whole teepee or cabin with rocks, like a pit, so the ďŹ re wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spread. â&#x20AC;˘ Always keep a bucket of water nearbyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; just in case. â&#x20AC;˘ Make sure your wood is totally dry.

Green or wet wood wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t light well and â&#x20AC;&#x153;it will make a ton of smoke.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;˘ Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start fanning or blowing on your ďŹ re until the kindle catches ďŹ re or youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll blow it out. When blowing, blow in a steady stream. Quick bursts quell the ďŹ&#x201A;ame. â&#x20AC;˘ If your teepee collapses, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t panic.

Add some logs on top of the teepee and it will keep on burning, like a campďŹ re.

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Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer: Memories, mayhemâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 1 it, had been dying due to a lack of mutual respect. It is in this mood of joy that observant Jews take haircuts, listen to music, and hold weddings after more than a month of restrictions following Passover. Beginning on Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer, the 33rd day of counting the Omer and the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, joy continues to mount, culminating two weeks later when Jews around the world celebrate the receiving of the Torah on Shavuot. Many Sephardi Jews continue mourning practices through the 33rd day of the Omer and celebrate on the 34th day of the Omer, or â&#x20AC;&#x153;LaD BaOmer.â&#x20AC;?

Around Israel, there are parades, picnics, and bonďŹ res. But tiny Meron is the undisputed capital of all this happy Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer mayhem.

With this massive crowd gathered in a normally pastoral setting far from the nearest hospitals, along with the equally massive bonďŹ res and the sharp scissors (more on those later), more than 1,200 police ofďŹ cers are on hand. So, too, are countless paramedics, ďŹ reďŹ ghters, and ambulance crews for the inevitable incidents of smoke inhalation, burns from the bonďŹ res, and the usual warmweather crowding threats such as dehydration and fainting.

Three years ago, Richard Schabb of Kfar Adumim was among the throng making the Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer pilgrimage to Meron. He left at 1 a.m. to make it there in time for the festivities, bearing in mind expected trafďŹ c jams.

Arriving by bus at dawn, he found an â&#x20AC;&#x153;astonishing carnival atmosphere.â&#x20AC;? The sun was barely up but the crowds were already there, Schabb recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People were everywhere, taking up every square foot of space, talking, eating, davening or just taking in the show,â&#x20AC;? says Schabb, adding, â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was also a band whose Jewish dance music was booming over loudspeakers. Maybe it was a little like being at a Jews-only Woodstock.â&#x20AC;?

Only, unlike that storied 1969 rock extravaganza in Bethel, NY, here there was a giant bonďŹ re, in the middle of the roof between the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sections, stoked by a couple of Hassidic Jews in long black coats.

Soon Schabb was swept along with the growing crowd, â&#x20AC;&#x153;feeling like what a sardine must feel like inside a can.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had had enough, except there was no way out,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was wall-to-wall Jews.

Luckily, everybody was in a good mood, even me. And the music helped.â&#x20AC;?

After a few more minutes of struggling against the human tide, he was able to squeeze through into an open area ďŹ lled with kiosks supplying all kinds of food, free for the taking. The coffee, pastry, and scrambled eggs renewed him enough to try for Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tomb. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Squeezed so tight it was hard to keep both feet on the ďŹ&#x201A;oor,â&#x20AC;? Schabb describes, he made it to a larger room with a high ceiling, and was able to reach over and actually touch the velvet cover of the tomb. He says he worked

his way back out again, only after â&#x20AC;&#x153;communing with the rebbe (Bar Yochai) and thanking G-d that He had gotten me this far without being crushed.â&#x20AC;?

As for the scissors, each year, hundreds of parents bring them to administer ďŹ rst haircuts to their 3-year-old sons, a custom known as the upsherin or chalaka.

This ďŹ rst haircut is an ancient tradition marking the leap from babyhood into boyhood for the Orthodox, when the boy begins to learn the Hebrew alphabet and wear a yarmulke and tzitzit. As family members

Photos by Maayan Jaffe

and friends each take a snip of baby hair, the youngster is often distracted with sweets.

Would Schabb go again? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yeah, I would go again,â&#x20AC;? he says. When asked if she would consider taking her children today, however, Pnina Newirth answers with a laugh and a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mamash, lo!â&#x20AC;? (Really, no!) â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hear itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gotten much bigger and much crazier now,â&#x20AC;? she says.

Nevertheless, Newirth doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t deny her kids the spirit of Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer. Last year, for instance, the family went to Kiryat Sanz in Netanya, where there are also massive bonďŹ res and thousands of Hassidim jumping and singing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was an amazing, amazing sight,â&#x20AC;?

Newirth says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would absolutely do that again.â&#x20AC;?

8UJHQW QHLJKERUKRRG ZDUQLQJ The following notice was distributed on Tuesday by shuls in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway.

It has been brought to our attention that there were two very recent incidents in our neighborhood involving our children and strangers. On both occasions children were approached by strangers in the street. In one case the stranger was in a car. Thank G-d everyone is safe. Nevertheless, this is an opportunity to review safety precautions and to teach your children about them.

Please remind your children to try to walk in groups wherever possible. Children should never converse with strang-

ers and never accept an invitation to enter a strangerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car. If approached by a stranger, they should run away and yell for help.

We are told that the police have been notiďŹ ed in these cases but not promptly.

When a parent or any community member becomes aware of such an incident THE POLICE SHOULD BE CALLED IMMEDIATELY! We also believe that we live in a safe neighborhood in which children can walk without fear in our streets.

This note is just a precautionary reminder to review safety procedures with your children.

THE JEWISH STAR May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774

Boy Scoutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to lighting Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer bonďŹ res

3

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Vayikra wrap-up: Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what counts

T

he ďŹ nal chapter of the book of Vayikra delves into the topic of Endowments and Valuations, essentially answering the question of what value humans, animals and properties have if a person makes a pledge to the MishRabbi Avi Billet kan based on the value of another human being, etc. It is not to suggest that a direct monetary value can be assigned to any person, because human beings are priceless, but that a donation based on such a declaration carries with it a measurable value. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If a man consecrates a ďŹ eld from his hereditary property to G-d, its endowment value shall be calculated according to the amounts of seed (required to sow it), 50 silver shekels for each chomer of barley seed.â&#x20AC;? Chomer is a measurement of seed that might cover or plant close to four acres of farmland. (See the Living Torah) Rabbi Akiva Sofer asks a very simple question, and gives a very Hassidic style answer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you want to know the value PARSHA OF THE WEEK

of the person who sanctiďŹ es his property to G-d? Do you want to know if he is complete in his heart, in his fear and reverence of G-d? Then â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;his value should be calculated based on his seed.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Sofer takes the literal meaning of the text and takes a very simple alternative twist, utilizing another important translation of the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zera.â&#x20AC;?

Pay attention to his children! If he teaches them right, and they are raised to be mentchen, then his own value is afďŹ rmed and ascertained. But if he is a failure.

In our time, Rabbi Soferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s criteria seems a little unfair.

We all know people who are good people, who raised their children properly, who gave them the best education, who provided them with their every need and desire, who did everything they needed to create a solid foundation and Jewish identity, yet whose children have grown to a different path in life, whether on account of substance abuse, or purely and simply â&#x20AC;&#x153;going off the derekh.â&#x20AC;?

And so, while I like Rabbi Soferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea in a communal ideal sense â&#x20AC;&#x201D; if children turn out OK itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to the parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; credit â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fair to automatically declare the reverse to be true, that if children turn out poorly it is their parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fault.

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For better or for worse, we live in the 21st century. And the 21st century is loaded with all kinds of amazing amenities, but also new and extensive challenges. Perhaps our challenge is stronger than it was even 50 years ago.

But the tackling of the challenges remains the same. How do we go about keeping our children engaged and interested as we develop them to the point we are conďŹ dent that they will follow our choices, and live similar lives to the ones we brought them into and outlined for them?

We must put very serious thought into the task of engaging our children.

We must talk with them, speak with them, look at them, read with them, learn Torah with them, show them what is important to us, and try our best to always have these conversations so they will know.

Of course there are no guarantees. But, hopefully, we may be blessed that our children not only follow, but improve upon our ways, so that the question of our value will be followed by the obvious statement that our children are not only to our credit, but a credit to everyone around them..

If our â&#x20AC;&#x153;zeraâ&#x20AC;? ďŹ lls out that dream, our community will only be enhanced. May we be so lucky!

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

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included members who worked at a factory for making artillery shells and aided the uprising by smuggling gunpowder out of the factory on the bodies of the women who worked there. Despite the close watch of the Nazis, one of the members of the group, Rosa Rovota, succeeded in smuggling small amounts of gunpowder every time she returned from work.

On October 6, 1944, when the S.S. came to take the 300 members of the SonderKommando to their deaths, the crematoria workers launched their uprising. The workers at Crematoria 4 fell upon the guards with axes and hammers.

There are no precise details of this heroic uprising, which was the largest in the annals of Auschwitz. What is known is that the rebels succeeded in killing the S.S. company commander and in burning the crematoria.

At the same time, the rebels at Crematoria 2 threw the German overseer into the crematoria, killed three S.S. guards and wounded another 12. They cut the telephone line, panicked the guards, and 600 inmates escaped. A company of S.S. members was called up and all the escapees were either caught or shot after being recaptured. Crematoria 4 never returned to service.

Four days later, on October 10, 1944, four young Jewish women were caught: Rosa Rovota, Ella Gartner, Esteher Vichkablum and Regina Saperstein, and were accused of smuggling explosive material to the members of the SonderKommando. The youngest of them was 12 years old and the oldest (Rovota) was 16.

On January 6, 1945, following horrible torture, during which they did not break down, the four were hanged in front of all of the other female inmates. Less than two weeks later, on January 18, the approaching Soviet soldiers forced the S.S. to start to evacuate the camp. Just as she was being hanged, Rosa Rovota shouted to the rest of the female inmates, “Be Strong and

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Brave.” Theirs were the last executions carried out at Auschwitz. wo weeks ago, on Yom Hashoa, Mr. David Hollander, a survivor of Auschwitz, spoke to our students at Yeshivat Orayta in the old city of Jerusalem. Two things stood out for me amidst the entire incredible and unfathomable story he told.

Mr. Hollander’s father-in-law worked in the SonderKommando and had access to food and supplies. One day, he saw his daughter over the fence and succeeded in throwing her a canteen full of water which saved her life. When he saw she had caught it, he yelled out to her: “Tomorrow will be my yahrtzeit! (memorial day).” It was Hoshana Rabbah, Oct. 5, 1944. The next day they blew up the Crematoria and he was killed.

Mr. Hollander still has that canteen in his office.

This week’s portion, Bechukotai, contains some of the most difficult and painful verses in the entire Torah. Known as the Tochacha, it is a list of the terrible calamities and tragedies that will befall the Jewish people before they are finally, after a long exile, able to return home to the land of Israel.

One of these verses (Vayikra 26:3) says: “Ve’hayta artzechem shemama” (“And your land will be utterly desolate”) — a barren wasteland.

All will be destroyed. A painful and bitter curse; for 2,000 years the land of Israel remained utterly desolate.

The Ramban (Rav Moshe ben Nachman a 13th century medieval commentator) suggests however, that deep within this terrible prophecy lies a blessing: As long as the Jewish people are exiled from the land of Israel, the land will remain barren. No nation will succeed in cultivating the land of Israel until the Jewish people return home. And at that time, as the prophet Yishayahu (Isaiah) predicts: “Va’yasem midbara’ ke’Eden” (“The desert

T

will be transformed into the garden of Eden).

And indeed, no nation ever succeeded in cultivating the land of Israel. Even the Crusaders who tilled the soil for a hundred years left it as barren as it was when they arrived. Mark Twain, who visited Israel in 1867, described it (in Innocents Abroad) as “a silent, mournful expanse… A desolation… No landscape exists that is more tiresome to the eye than that which bounds the approaches to Jerusalem… It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land… Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes.”

After 2,000 years of dreaming, the land of Israel is blooming. Drive down to the Dead Sea and you will see magnificent orchards of palm trees blossoming in the desert; the land is flourishing. Jerusalem has become one of the most beautiful cities in the world, full of life and the majestic joy of return; the return of an ancient people to its homeland.

This year, Mr. Hollander, who lost most of his family in the ashes of Auschwitz, was called up to the Torah on the first day of Pesach, the fifteenth day of Nisan, the anniversary of the redemption of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage.

And after 69 years, David Hollander, looking around the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, finally made the HaGomel blessing: the blessing thanking G-d for all the good he had received, and for being saved from the fate of so many, in Auschwitz.

This year, as we read this painful Torah reading, just a week after celebrating Israel’s 66th Independence day, perhaps it behooves us to take the opportunity to appreciate how blessed a generation we are, and how far we have come.

Perhaps, at long last, it is time for the Jewish people to come home.

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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anuary 6, 1944. Snow on the ground; bitter cold; the sun hides behind the dark grey clouds over the harsh landscape of Auschwitz. Four gallows; four nooses, swaying in the wind.

The members of the SonderKommando (special units) were responsible for removing the bodies from the gas chambers and burning FROM THE HEART them in the infamous OF JERUSALEM crematoria.

The members of these units, early on, were made up solely of Jews, lived in better shacks, separate from the other inmates, and they received more suitable food than the rest of the inmates in the camp. After three or four months of this work, the Nazis would kill all of Rabbi Binny the members of the unit, Freedman who had seen and heard too much, and replace them with new inmates.

Since the members of the SonderKommando knew about this policy of the S.S. to kill them, they were subject to emotional stress beyond that of their daily work. During the time the unit operated, there were instances of attempted escape and uprising. In each instance, the Nazis exposed the perpetrators, thwarted their plans, and subjected those involved to brutal interrogation and torture, ultimately killing all of them.

Until the end of the summer of 1944. The members of the SonderKommando units operating at that time who understood that their days were numbered, and that they would soon all be killed, decided to rebel. The rebel Jewish group

THE JEWISH STAR May 16, 2014 • 16 IYAR 5774

The last execution at Auschwitz

May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

6

Tech cheers for Zionâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 1 Powermat in control of the company.

Explaining that there is â&#x20AC;&#x153;criticism in Israel of exit strategyâ&#x20AC;? regarding selling to a U.S. company, the feeling is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;better to keep it (the business and jobs) in Israel.â&#x20AC;?

In the near future, Kidron predicted that all electrical devices will be integrated on screens and we will use gesture control, mobile eye and motion technology to control everything. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no way out of it, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scary; Israel is playing a major part in this world.

Some ideas are so simple â&#x20AC;&#x201C; why havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t they been invented till now.â&#x20AC;?

Other interesting technologies he cited include Water-Gen, collecting water out of the humidity in the air, and RealView, where a doctor can see a live hologram of the internal imaging of a patient before an operation.

Oramed, Kidronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s company, is a technology that enables patients to swallow rather than inject medications. They are currently working on swallowing insulin for use in type II diabetes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a better physiological optionâ&#x20AC;? and delays the need for a patient to inject insulin for a better quality of life and holding off on some of the negative side effects of injecting insulin. The technology can be used for other medications as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very exciting time,â&#x20AC;? he said.

One of the co-chairmen of the event, Marty Abrams, credited a Westchester synagogue with the idea for a tech fair and made contacts with Israeli companies through the Israel Economic Mission to North America.

The goal of the fair, said Abrams is â&#x20AC;&#x153;to make people aware of the incredible innovation and technology in Israel. No one is selling; just let people be aware.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of people from the community came out across religious lines,â&#x20AC;? said Stephen Moelis, the other co-chairman. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kids had the best times with the seeing eye dog and they took pictures on the Hatzalah ambucycle.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;In our community we have a shuk, an

Israeli fair and sell Israeli products,â&#x20AC;? said Alice Kohanim, a visitor to the fair from Great Neck. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is intriguing, learning about Israel. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a nice event.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to communicate,â&#x20AC;? stressed Kidron to the Jewish Star after his talk. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I feel we have to be ambassadors, we can never win, we have to have an elevator pitch, to change a little bit.â&#x20AC;?

Some of the displays at the fair included TakaDu, software that monitors water systems and companies, enabling them to monitor the system and easily ďŹ nd leaks to help save water and save time in ďŹ nding leaks; NetaďŹ m, a drip irrigation system-Israel pioneered the concept of drip irrigation years ago-a technology being exported world wide in arid and non-arid areas to conserve water and aid agriculture; Argo Medicalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ReWalk is already in use for a few years in hospitals and rehabilitation centers and in Europe for personal use but is awaiting FDA approval in the U.S. It enables a paraplegic to walk using crutches and wearing a battery operated custom ďŹ tted exoskeleton.

Other technologies showcased include the pill cam, by Given Imaging, a camera that can be swallowed and eliminated to ďŹ lm the small intestine and colon, already in use world-wide; SolarEdge, showcasing Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well known solar harvesting technology for electricity also represented by Empower Solar in New York with their ability to bypass damaged solar panels to continue to harvest solar energy. Two other Israel technologies were Mobileye Collision Avoidance Systems, technology that monitors the road in front of the vehicle and warns the driver of potentially dangerous situations with audible and visual alerts, and their sister company, OrCam, using artiďŹ cial vision to assist the visually impaired. It is a smart camera mounted on the wearerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyeglass frame that can â&#x20AC;&#x153;readâ&#x20AC;? text, recognize objects and â&#x20AC;&#x153;whisperâ&#x20AC;? the information using bone conduction technology into the wearerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ear.

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One technology that drew gasps from observers is Cameroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s device that can see through walls showing images in real-time of stationary and moving objects hidden behind walls or barriers using micropower radar technology. It can be used, for example, to free hostages, allowing police or military to see within a terrorist hide out, visualize the terrorists and hostages, their movements and locations, giving forces a tactical advantage.

United Hatzalahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ambucycle was also showcased at the fair. Noting that they receive 200,000 calls a year in Israel, have 2,300 volunteers and still get to the scene in under three minutes, Michael Brown, vice president of U.S. operations of Friends of United Hatzalah, lauded the ambucycle. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really about getting to the scene as quickly as possible. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about ďŹ lling the gap between when someone needs help and the ambulance arrives.â&#x20AC;? He said they pioneered the idea of an ambulance on a motorcycle.

Founded by Eli Beer, they have 300 ambucycles countrywide, a few ambulances, some ambulance tractors and a boat on the Kinneret. They also have a â&#x20AC;&#x153;patented GPS tech-

5T, FarRock whirl for Chief Rav Lauâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 1 Rabbi Lauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comments were related to The Jewish Star by men who attended the session.

The ofďŹ ce of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has liaisons to different communities, said Lau, noting that they should have a liaison to the religious community as well.

The Jewish community in the United States has the same challenges as the Jewish community in Israel, he said. He enjoined the rabbis to have chizuk, strength, to try to confront the challenges. He said they should reach out to the people who are not religious and strive to build bridges and inspire them.

He ended the talk stating that we should all be worthy to live to see Mashiach tzidkaynu (our righteous redeemer).

Rabbi Lau, 48, accrued 68 out 147 votes cast, a majority, when he was elected chief rabbi on July 24, 2013. He and the Sephardic chief rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, will each serve ten years. They primarily deal with issues pertaining to kashrut, the rabbinical courts and social matters relating to marriage, divorce, conversion and death. Upon his election, Rabbi Lau said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I pray that I will be everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rabbi and the Chief Rabbinate will be everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rabbinate.â&#x20AC;?

The National Council of Young Israel congratulated both rabbis upon their election at the time and issued a statement that said, in part: â&#x20AC;&#x153;As the well-respected and popular chief rabbi of the city of Modiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;in and as the longtime host of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ask the Rabbiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; program on

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Israeli TV, Rabbi Lau has earned a reputation as a knowledgeable Torah scholar who has the unique ability to relate to a wide array of people in a very diverse community. We are certain that Rabbi Lau will follow in the footsteps of his father â&#x20AC;Ś who was a great ambassador for the State of Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rabbi David Lau is a devoted religious Zionist who recites Hallel with a blessing on Yom Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), a religious practice that highlights his Zionistic sentiments and pro-Israel tendencies. With his stated intention to unite Jews

both in Israel and in the Diaspora, and his proven track record of embracing Jews from all walks of life, Rabbi Lau will undoubtedly be an exceptional emissary for the State of Israel and for Jews worldwide.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Lau studied at Yeshivat Hayishuv Hahadash and Yeshivat Bet Matityahu, was the ďŹ rst rabbi of Shoham and then the chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Modiin. He is a major in the Intelligence Corps reserves.

His father Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, a Holocaust survivor, served as chief rabbi from 1993 to 2003.

nology connected to our dispatch system.â&#x20AC;?

Jeff Lambert, a volunteer for the Israel Guide Dog Center for the blind was caring for Shannon, a trained guide dog who is pregnant and breeding future guide dogs. Lambert said Israel has 27,000 blind people and many want guide dogs but there is insufďŹ cient supply. Each trained dog costs about $25,000.

Dogs used to be trained in the U.S. or England but are now trained in Israel. The dogs, said Lambert, â&#x20AC;&#x153;help the blind reclaim their lives.â&#x20AC;?

Other booths included JNF, Technion, Stylit- a free service to personalize outďŹ ts online, and an innovative form of physical therapy for adjusting ones balance, AposTherapy.

This tech fair is part of a year long program at the HERJC to dedicate each year â&#x20AC;&#x153;to something different,â&#x20AC;? explained Moelis. This year was dedicated to learning aspects of Israel â&#x20AC;&#x153;that they may not know about.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is so much innovation coming out of Israel,â&#x20AC;? said Kidron. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You have to speak to people who are critical of Israel and have to educate how much Israel gives to the world, focus on the good coming out of Israel. We all have to be ambassadors.â&#x20AC;?

Lau visits OU From the Orthodox Union As part of his whirlwind tour of New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish organizations and institutions, Rabbi David Lau, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel visited Orthodox Union headquarters to learn about OU Kosher and to be the guest of honor at a luncheon.

Rabbi Lau is in New York for a week, in his ďŹ rst ofďŹ cial visit as Chief Rabbi.

Rabbi Lau met with the OU Kosher staff and viewed the OU Direct online interface between OU Kosher and its clients. He was interviewed by Jewish Action Editor Nechama Carmel, met OU Board members and was introduced by OU Executive Vice President Allen Fagin.

Rabbi Lau stated that his relationship with the OU goes back 21 years, when he ďŹ rst met Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just in the shuls that you hear about the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Lau stated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In every corner of the world you hear people saying, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;OU.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

When OU Executive Vice President, Emeritus Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb mentioned the more than 1,000 teenagers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; half of whom do not have Jewish knowledge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who will be visiting Israel on NCSYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s summer programs, Rabbi Lau said that he has formed an organization of hundreds of young rabbis whom he will call on to visit with these groups.

Rabbi Lau pledged to work closely with the Orthodox Union.

7

S

pringtime, sunny days, spring showers.

And gardening. I love spring and all the shrubs and ďŹ&#x201A;owers that come to life after a winterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rest.

Last year after â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sandyâ&#x20AC;? visited, my backyard needed some serious renovations.

It all started when I heard a large booming WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S IN THE sound, which turned KITCHEN out to be a huge towering tree, no longer towering, but now sticking out of my pool cover, which it pierced. I ďŹ gured it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay to put a claim in for the insurance since I had a $5,000 deductible.

Then I was given a quote to replace my custom pool cover and decided to put in a claim.

What I thought was Judy Joszef a damaged pool cover ended up being a whole lot more than I could have imagined.

Now, mind you, although I am insured to the gills for ďŹ&#x201A;ood, my house was dry as a bone. What I incurred was the wrath of the wind. And, what I learned is that insurance companies are much kinder to wind damaged homes than they are to ďŹ&#x201A;ooded homes.

I actually felt guilty as, within a week of my claim, they were sending out an agent to survey the damage while people in my neighborhood were not even allowed back into their homes.

The agent asked if he could come out on a Sunday, which was ďŹ ne with me, although I had to hide my husband Jerry inside. You see, he would play down the damage and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d get half as much as we were entitled to.

I could just hear him telling the agent that the cover wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that new and that we could live without it. He would explain that it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fair that we were getting reimbursed and moving so quickly to repair while those less fortunate were having such issues. You know who the good one in this marriage is â&#x20AC;&#x201D; so Jerry was sequestered inside.

Sunday came and there I was outside with the agent. He surveyed the two trees that fell and allotted money to remove and cart them away. He then noticed one of the lounge chairs cracked when the tree fell and added the cost to replace all eight lounges as they would all have to match and the set was discontinued.

Hmmm, this was pretty easy, I thought, as I eyed the kitchen window and prayed that Jerry would stay put. The agent then looked at the cracked coping around the pool where the tree fell and the bluestone patio as well. A replace and restore fee were added to the list.

He said there could be cracks in the gunite pool that would have to be repaired and we could wait until spring, when the pool could be drained to check.

I told the agent I needed to run inside to take care of an emergency. As fast as I could, I ran into the kitchen and banished Jerry to the bedroom. When I returned, the agent asked if everything was ok, I responded with a smile, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t foresee any further problems.â&#x20AC;? He then said he noticed ďŹ ve shingles missing on my house and allotted money to replace them and then said I would have to re-stain the entire back of the house to match the new cedar shingles, and paint the ďŹ&#x201A;ashing. At that point I was looking for the hidden cameras or a microphone. I ďŹ gured I was on candid camera or I was going to be arrested for agreeing to all these repairs.

As he was leaving, he noticed the grape arbor in the corner had been pulled down and

damaged the fence, so I was able to replace the fence as well.

When spring came along, my pool, patio and fence were redone. It looked so beautiful we decided it was time to re-landscape.

I love my gardener John, or shall I call him a landscape artist. He drives cars that I can only dream about and goes on more vacations than I can count. I always tease him every time he comes up with a new plan for me. I ask if I should write my check out to a Las Vegas hotel. And when he comes up with a new plan after he gets back from vacation I ask him how much money he lost.

Every time I see him I start the conversation with, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, we are not planting anything else.â&#x20AC;?

If G-d forbid Jerry is around when the landscaper is, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in trouble. Jerry can be talked into anything. Now mind you, the landscaper and Jerry have nothing in common.

Jerry doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drink, gamble, play cards, or go to bars or clubs. Yet, whenever John and Jerry see each other, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like long lost friends. I warned John, that no matter what Jerry says, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m the one whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to decide what we do.

John always responds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nah, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not gong to talk business, I just love Jerry and want to talk to him.â&#x20AC;?

Later that day Jerry will say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;You know, I think we should widen the driveway a little and redo it. The black top is cracking a bit.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Really?â&#x20AC;? I respond. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you even know what blacktop is? I told you to stay away from John. Every time you talk to him it costs us money.â&#x20AC;? Then I realize Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m just as bad at times.

I love how the lawn and backyard looks in the spring and summer months. Maybe next year Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll start a vegetable garden.

Garden Vegetable Quiche Ingredients

1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust (homemade or bought) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 cup sliced onion 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced 1/2 cup chopped zucchini 1 large tomato, sliced 2 tablespoons all-purpose ďŹ&#x201A;our 2 teaspoons dried basil 3 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese, divided Directions Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini in hot oil until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove vegetables from skillet and set aside. Sprinkle tomato slices with ďŹ&#x201A;our and basil; cook in the skillet for 1 minute per side. Whisk eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Spread 1 cup mozzarella/ cheddar cheese in the bottom of the pie crust.

Layer vegetable mixture over the cheese and top with the tomatoes. Pour egg mixture into pie shell. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese atop the quiche. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand 4-6 minutes before serving. judy.soiree@gmail.com

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THE JEWISH STAR May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774

Springing forward for gardening

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May 16, 2014 • 16 IYAR 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

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T

he current issue of Yeshiva Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Alumni Today begins with the following: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rabbi Hershel Billet â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;71 YC was a premed major on the day he sat in a shiur taught

by Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, that changed KOSHER the course of his life.

BOOKWORM â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rabbi Lichtenstein had told his students that while he believes that Israel needs as many professionals â&#x20AC;&#x201D; doctors, lawyers, and accountants â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that it can get to make aliyah and contribute to Israeli society, what America really needs are people who are committed to Jewish communal work Alan Jay Gerber and lay leaders who have responsibility to serve klal Yisrael in the Diaspora. â&#x20AC;&#x153; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rav Lichtensteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s words made a deep impression on me and I really took his mandate to heart,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; said Rabbi Billet. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I decided to continue on to RIETS and the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies to eventually work in both the rabbinate and Jewish educationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.â&#x20AC;?

Rabbi Billet is not alone in his sentiments, or in his experiences with Rav Lichtenstein.

Below are a few samples from others.

Last Tuesday, on Yom Haâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;atzmaut, Rabbi Lichtenstein was awarded the Israel Prize in Jewish literature in tribute to his monumental contributions to the works and teachings on Torah and Jewish literature.

This marks the ďŹ rst time that a Gadol Hador, a Jewish sage, a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat

Lichtenstein in an essay in Mosaic last week: â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a talmudist, Rabbi Lichtenstein is a proponent of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Briskerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; method, for which his wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family [Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, his father in law] is renowned. In this pedagogical approach, legal disputes or contradictions within the Talmud may be understood by analyzing the logical or â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;conceptualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; underpinnings that account for the divergent rabbinic rulings under examination. In Rabbi Lichtensteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands, the method has been further abstracted so that it can be employed at the very outset of any exercise in talmudic analysis. â&#x20AC;Ś Brisker-type interrogations thus become hermeneutical keys, to be tested in a variety of settings.â&#x20AC;?

Fischer closes his essay with the following sentiment, a sentiment deeply shared by this writer, too: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fortunate the person who ďŹ nds strength through you.â&#x20AC;?

FOR FURTHER STUDY )URQ OHIW 5DEEL $KDURQ /LFKWHQVWHLQ 5RVK <HVKLYDW +DU (W]LRQ UHFHLYLQJ WKH ,VUDHO 3UL]H LQ -HZLVK /LWHUDWXUH KLV VRQ 5DEEL 0RVKHK /LFKWHQVWHLQ (GXFDWLRQ 0LQLVWHU 5DEEL 6KDL 3LURQ 3ULPH 0LQLVWHU %LQ\DPLQ 1HWDQ\DKX DQG 3UHVLGHQW 6KLPRQ 3HUHV

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, the mind of Rav Lichtenstein stretches across the entire Talmud, encompassing every single paragraph in Maimonidesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; code.

Yes, his creative touch transforms those lines and brings them to penetrating relevance, including for people trained in the idiom of philosophy, literature or law...beyond that, Rav Lichtensteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character, his personal qualities, his integrity, his humility, his scrupulous avoidance of gossip and slander, are themselves teachers and transformers of students thirsty for closeness to G-d.â&#x20AC;?

Elli Fischer, a writer and former student of Yeshivat Har Etzion, paid tribute to Rav

Har Etzion, received such recognition by the State of Israel in recognition of his â&#x20AC;&#x153;versatile biblical work characterized by its depth, scope, advanced logic, wit, sensitivity, and vision.â&#x20AC;?

Further, it was stated that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rabbi Lichtensteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s works are a wonderful combination of deep ďŹ&#x201A;uid familiarity with all aspects of Jewish scholarship, with an ability to take deep Torah concepts and make them palatable to the average Israeli.â&#x20AC;?

In an essay entitled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;And They Also Prophesied,â&#x20AC;? written in 2011 by one of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading journalists, Hillel Goldberg, note was made of the following:

To learn more of Rav Lichtensteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teachings, you will ďŹ nd the Virtual Beit Midrash website of Yeshivat Har Etzion to be a great source of his teachings. Of special note, may I bring to your attention his series, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Developing A Torah Personality,â&#x20AC;? based on addresses

by Rav Lichtenstein as adapted by Rabbi Reuven Ziegler. Among my favorites are those dealing with the universal duties of mankind, the centrality of Torah study, the challenges of the Holocaust, and Centrist Orthodoxy: a spiritual accounting. Rav Lichtensteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s literary legacy is extended with his anthologies â&#x20AC;&#x153;By His Light,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Leaves of Faith,â&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Varieties of Jewish Experience,â&#x20AC;? and especially this essay in the latter entitled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Talmud and Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;aseh in Pirkei Avot.â&#x20AC;?

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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THE JEWISH STAR May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774

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May 16, 2014 • 16 IYAR 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

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11 THE JEWISH STAR May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774

Take off the yarmulke!

Judge ďŹ nds a teacher faced discrimination, not retaliation

By Charisma L. Miller, Esq. Brooklyn Daily Eagle A Jewish physical education teacher who was told to remove his religious headwear can continue with his claim of unlawful discrimination but did not establish adequate facts for a retaliation claim, a Brooklyn federal judge ruled.

Russell Herling, a white Jewish male, taught physical education at the William Grady CTE High School in Brighton Beach since 2001. In 2007 Herlingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grandmother passed away, causing Herling to request bereavement leave. Herling returned with a note from the funeral director attesting to the grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death.

The schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s principal, Carlston Gray, an African-American male, rejected the note requesting instead a Mass card despite the fact that Jewish funerals do not include Mass cards. Gray also requested copy of Herlingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license and birth certiďŹ cate in order to approve the time off, as a substitute. Herling failed to meet these burdensome requests. Another instance of alleged discrimination occurred in 2008 when Gray demanded that Herling remove his yarmulke and replace it with a kuďŹ â&#x20AC;&#x201D;an African religious head garment worn by men.

Gray began writing Herling up for supposed infractions such as passing a student who had been absent 37 times. Herling argued that on many occasions, Gray would refuse to write up African-American teachers brought up on the same violations. For example, Herling claimed that the same absent student was given a passing grade by an African-American teacher and that teacher

was not reprimanded. Finally, Gray slapped the physical education teacher with an unsatisfactory rating for the 2009-2010 school year. The low rating caused Herlingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pay to be frozen and put him at risk of losing his teaching license.

Filing a discrimination claim in federal court is no easy feat, as federal judge John Gleeson displayed in his ruling on the case.

Herling would have to show not only discrimination but also that there was adverse action taken in connection or due to, in this case, the alleged religious discrimination.

Herling asserted that the repeated write-ups he received and the unsatisfactory evaluation rating amounted to adverse employment action sufďŹ cient to establish a discrimination claim. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In general, negative performance evaluations or ratings, written reprimands and disciplinary meetings do not constitute adverse employment actions,â&#x20AC;?

Gleeson wrote, advising that one would need to show that the negative performance evaluations were â&#x20AC;&#x153;accompanied by an adverse result such as a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;demotion, diminution of wages or other tangible loss.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Gleeson found that the unsatisfactory rating Herling received in the 2009-2010 school year amounted to an adverse result. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Herling alleges that the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Uâ&#x20AC;? rating he received from Gray for the 2009-2010 school year constitutes an adverse employment action because it was accompanied by a pay-freeze and served to bar Herling from earning per-session wages,â&#x20AC;? Gleeson summarized. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I agree,â&#x20AC;?

Gleeson succinctly stated. According to Gleeson, the denial of a raise or bonus that an individual is entitled to receive as a matter of

Note Holocaust on 26 of Iyar JNS.org Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Vice President German Zacharyev says that world Jewry should make the 26th of Iyar on the Hebrew calendar an annual celebration of the liberation of European Jews by Soviet forces at the end of the Second World War. In 1945, the 26th of Iyar fell on May 9, which was the day Nazi Germany surrendered to the Red Army.

Israel currently celebrates â&#x20AC;&#x153;Victory Dayâ&#x20AC;?

:LOOLDP *UDG\ &7( +LJK 6FKRRO LQ %URRNO\QÂśV %ULJKWRQ %HDFK QHLJKERUKRRG Courtesy of schools.nyc.gov

course constitutes a material adverse change in the terms and conditions of employment.

The same does not apply to all of the negative write-ups Herling received. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[T] he other write-ups and disciplinary actions taken against him do not constitute adverse employment actions because they were not accompanied by any negative consequences to the conditions of Herlingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s employment,â&#x20AC;?

Gleeson noted. As such, the only actionable negative review was the 2009-2010 negative evaluation.

Herling further asserted that Grayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s repeated discriminatory actions created an inference of discriminatory intent. In particular, Herling claimed that Gray made intolerant remarks and treated African-American teachers differently than he treated Herling. On one occasion, Herling claims that Gray sarcastically yelled at Herling â&#x20AC;&#x153;if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t eat

the kosher food, you will go to Hell.â&#x20AC;? Such remarks, Gleeson noted, do not sufďŹ ciently display discriminatory intent; however, as the remarks were made by Herlingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s immediate supervisor, Gleeson found it plausible that Gray possessed discriminatory intentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially as Gray could, and ultimately did, provide Herling with negative performance evaluations.

Herling did not fare as well on his retaliation claims. Fed up with the treatment he was receiving, Herling ďŹ led a complaint with the school superintendent and the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s union. There is no evidence, Gleeson found, to show that Gray knew of these complaints, thus reducing the likelihood that any negative action by Gray was in retaliation. Gleeson, therefore, had no choice but to dismiss the retaliation claim against Gray and the New York State Department of Education.

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on the secular date of May 9, in sync with the same holiday in the Russian Federation.

In order to promote the observance of the holiday on the Hebrew date, Zacharyev plans to write the ďŹ rst of several Torah scrolls at a ceremony next week.

It is important to honor the â&#x20AC;&#x153;quarter million Jews who risked their lives during the war as part of Allied armies and partisan units,â&#x20AC;? Zacharyev said in a letter to supporters, the Jerusalem Post reported.

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May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

12

Jewish Star Calendar â&#x20AC;˘ Compiled by Racheli Tuchman â&#x20AC;˘ Send events to Calendar@TheJewishStar.com â&#x20AC;˘Include a contact number or email â&#x20AC;˘ Deadline Thursday 5 pm 7+856'$< 0$< /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. $12 lunch. Alan Stern 516-398-3094. %(7+ 6+2/20 6833(5(77( will honor Lisa Feit, Ann Slochowsky and Leslie Wanderer.

Life Member Achievement Award will be presented to Nancy Hain. Boutique and hors dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;oeuvres at 5:45 pm, presentation and dinner at 7 pm. Congregation Beth Shalom. 390 Broadway, Lawrence. 516-569-3600. RSVP.Stern 516-3983094.

-&& )81'5$,6,1* ',11(5 will honor Inna Koppel, Oralee Sonnenblick, Syd Mandelbaum, Issac Wiesenfeld and Sonia and Meir Reichman. Show support for the growing and thriving JCC. 6:30 to 10 pm. Sephardic Temple.

775 Branch Blvd., Cedarhurst. 516-569-6733 x 202. %(5/,1 (;+,%,7 based on selections from the new book, Exit Berlin. Will be premiering

from now until Sept. 7, at Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County. 101 Crescent Beach Road, Glen Cove. 516-571-8040 ext. 107.

5(63(&7 ,1 02'(51 7,0(6 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and honoring those you disagree with. Talk followed

by Q&A. 9 pm. DRS HS, 700 Ibsen St., Woodmere. 516-733-0299.

)5,'$< 0$< )5,'$< 1,*+7 7,6+ Will the Third Temple come down to earth from the heavens? Listen to the shiur by Rabbinical Dean and Av Beit Din of Eretz Hemdah, Rav Yosef Carmel. 9:30 pm. 56 Maple Ave, Cedarhurst. 312-541-8555.

6$785'$< 0$< 6+$%%$7 0251,1* 6+,85 with Rav Yosef Carmel, on the new law in Israel on Egg Donation and its Halachic Implications. After davening, at the Irving Place Minyan. 111 Irving Place, Woodmere. 312-541-8555.

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Students can overcome math anxiety in critical test season From Five Towns Mathnasium Math anxiety can easily undermine the hard work students have put in throughout the year, lowering their scores on standardized tests and jeopardizing their chances to take advanced classes or enroll in the schools of their choice.

But reducing math anxiety, a well-documented phenomenon, can prevent this.

Daniel Karp, the owner of the Five Towns Mathnasium franchise, explains that students can reduce anxiety by reviewing the mistakes they make in homework assignments and practice exams and grouping these errors into three categories, easily remembered as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;three Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s:â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;˘Concept â&#x20AC;&#x201D; understanding the methods needed to solve speciďŹ c problem types â&#x20AC;˘Comprehension â&#x20AC;&#x201D; determining what individual problems you are asked to do â&#x20AC;˘Calculation â&#x20AC;&#x201D; solving the problem correctly without making errors or oversights â&#x20AC;&#x153;When faced with test questions for which they are not properly prepared or have had trouble with in the past, students can become gripped with math anxiety.

However, they can address the root cause by reviewing past assignments and practice tests.Often, the cause lies in difďŹ culties with one or more of the three Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s: Concept, Comprehension, and Calculation. After identifying where exactly a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weaknesses lie, adults can help address them. This allows students to move on from anxiety and perform at the level of their true potential,â&#x20AC;? Karp says.

As a ďŹ rst step, parents, teachers or private instructors can sit down with students and look at the types of errors theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made in homework assignments, regular tests and practice exams. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a process that can be helpful anytime during the academic year, especially when students become anxious

about math, and is particularly important when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to start preparing for standardized tests.

To address concept challenges, students can be asked to break questions down into a series of meaningful parts, resolve these parts individually, and then put them back together. Children struggling with both Concept and Comprehension can be asked to read troublesome questions aloud. This helps to strengthen the mechanics of understanding by invoking different parts of the brain.

Another helpful approach is to ask students to reframe questions in their own words.

To help students overcome Calculation difďŹ culties, Karp suggests that beyond rote practice, which is more appropriate in this situation than the others, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crucial to make sure a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s written work is neat and clear. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Neat penmanship makes a huge difference in kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ability to think clearly and follow their own good reasoning,â&#x20AC;? Karp says.

As test day approaches, children should also take some common-sense steps that can be applied to all types of tests, Karp notes.

First, avoid last-minute cramming by learning to pace yourself and structuring a daily study plan. Make sure to eat a healthy, high-protein breakfast the morning of the exam.

Then, in the testing room, STOP and close your eyes. Take a moment to inhale deeply.

When you exhale, open your eyes and envision the test with an â&#x20AC;&#x153;I can doâ&#x20AC;? mindset.

Studies have shown math anxiety to impact up to half of all students in various ways. However with the proper approach it can be effectively addressed and need not be a permanent hindrance to performance.

Five Towns Mathnasium is located at 414 Central Ave. in Cedarhurst, 516-569-1500, mathnasium.com/ďŹ vetowns

$)7(5 0,1&+$ 6+,85 with Rav Yosef Carmel, on the Halachic Approach of Eretz Hemdah. At 7:30 pm at Congregation Beth Sholom, 390 Broadway, Lawrence. 312-5418555.

35(6(59$7,21 2) +$5 +$=(,6,0 with co chairman, Menachem Lubinsky. The Young Israel of Woodmere. Shabbat morning.

859 Peninsula Blvd., Woodmere. 718-854-4450.

681'$< 0$< /$* %¡20(5 )5,(1'6+,3 &,5&/( 287,1* A social program for teens and young adults, with special needs, ages 14 and up. $10 per person. The place is to be announced. 516-295-2478 or Batsheva@chabad5towns.com. /$* %¡20(5 &(/(%5$7,21 Join the really big Five Towns show, the 19th Annual Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer Celebration, featuring a bonďŹ re, games and family fun, plus the amazing BMX Bike stunt show. Food will be available for purchase.

5:30 to 8 pm. Cedarhurst Park. 516-295-2478. &(/(%5$7,21 ,1 :$17$*+ Chabad Center presents its 4th Annual Lag Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Omer Family Fun Day. Sports, ďŹ eld games, relays with Winkie of Jumpbunch, Jewish crafts, music, songs and stories around the bonďŹ re, rafďŹ&#x201A;e prizes and more! BBQ and food will be available for purchase. Free. 4:30 to 8:30 pm. Fire Ring in Wantagh Park. 516-833-3057 or programs@ chabadjewishlife.org.

elrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. $12 lunch. Alan Stern 516-398-3094.

.$%%$/$7 +$725$+ in Modern Times, with Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt. 9 pm. DRS High School. 700 Ibsen St., Woodmere. 516733-0299.

681'$< 0$< 5&&6 %5($.)$67 to celebrate the lifesaving work of the Rofeh Cholim Cancer Society, with guest speaker Rabbi Daniel Glatstein. 9:30 am. Home of the Kurz family. 144-47 68th Road, Flushing. 718-RCC-2002.

:('1(6'$< 0$< ),') &(/(%5$7,21 in celebration of Yom Yerushalayim and to beneďŹ t the soldiers of the IDF. Tickets available at www.FIDF.org/FTGSS. Sephardic Temple. 775 Branch Blvd., Cedarhurst.

646-274-9661.

38568,7 2) +$33,1(66 Special lecture

by Rabbi Abraham Twerski M.D. On the Pursuit of Happiness and the Retreat from Happiness.

8:30 pm. Young Israel of Woodmere. 859 Peninsula Blvd., Woodmere. 516-295-0950.

681'$< -81( &(/(%5$7( ,65$(/ Parade along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. 11 am to 4 pm. 57th Street to 74th Street. celebrateisraelny.org

62/,'$5,7< 5$//< Ambassador Ido Aharoni and major Rabbanim rally for Har Hazeisim including a video presentation. 10 am.

Young Israel of Lawrence. 8 Spruce Street, Cedarhurst. 718-854-4450.

,65$(/ '$< &21&(57 with Lipa, Edon, Gad Elbaz, Benny Friedman Shlomi Dachs and many others Guest Stars! Including guest speakers Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Joe Lieberman.

Free admissions. 2:30-7:30 pm. Central Park Summerstage, Rumsey PlayďŹ eld. 917-650-5623.

021'$< 0$<

< 7$/.6 $1' 3$1(/6 Study the traditions, ideas and narratives of the holiday of Shavuot, including why we eat cheesecake.

Tickets from $30. 7:30 pm. 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave.. 212-413-8841.

63,5,7 ,1,7,$7,9( Stimulating Program Initiative for Retirees that Inspires Thought for men and women. Bonnie Giller and Rabbi Eytan Feiner on healthy eating and ways to improve health and weight. $10. Registration and lunch at 12 pm. Program at 12:30-2:30 pm. Young Israel of Woodmere. 859 Peninsula Blvd., Woodmere. 212-613-8300.

5(,75(0(17 6(0,1$5 explores topics such as making retirement dreams come true, prioritizing retirement savings and risks that could mess up retirement plans. Presented by Marshall I. Dumont, MBA. 7 to 8:30 pm. ChoSen Island. 367 Central Ave., Lawrence. 516479-5820.

+(%5(: 21 681'$<6 Israeliness Community Sundays for K-2nd grades. Through puppetry, art, music, ďŹ lm and TzoďŹ m activities, children will learn Israeli culture, increase their vocabulary and meet new Hebrew speaking friends. $20. 4-6 pm. 212-413-8841. $&+,(=(5 ',11(5 Honoring Rabbi Zev and Leah Bald, Dr Marcel Scheinman, and Yoni and Esther Novak at the Second Annual Tribute Dinner. 6:30 pm. The Sands at Atlantic Beach.

516-791-4444.

78(6'$< 0$<

021'$< -81(

(032:(5,1* :20(1 Luncheon with Guest of Honor, Dr. Ruth Gruber, the world renowned writer, journalist, and photographer.

Couvert $250, Young Leadership $150.

Reception and Boutiques at 11 am. Program at 12:15 pm. Prince George Ballroom. 15 East 27 St., Manhattan. 212-564-9045 x306 or www. emunah.org.

63,5,7 ,1,7,$7,9( Stimulating Program Initiative for Retirees that Inspires Thought for men and women. Neal Goldberg, Ph.D on humor and how to integrate it into our lives for a healthier lifestyle. Rabbi Kenneth Hain on the Hashkafic perspective on humor. $10.

Registration and lunch at 12 pm. Program at 12:30-2:30 pm. Young Israel of Woodmere. 859 Peninsula Blvd., Woodmere. 212-613-8300.

:('1(6'$< 0$< 3$5$',*0 6+,)7 Transformational Life Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe for men and women. Course that helps you see everything on a more spiritual and positive level, to enhance the quality of life and to realize your full potential. Courses will continues for the following ďŹ ve Wednesdays. $99, textbook included. 8:15 pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 9:30 pm. Chabad of the Five Towns. 74 Maple Ave., Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478 or Rabbi@ ChabadFiveTowns.com

7+856'$< 0$< /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Ax-

35(3$5,1* )25 .$%$/$7 +$725$+ with Rabbi Eli Mansour. 9:30 pm. DRS High School. 700 Ibsen Street, Woodmere. 516-7330299.

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By Sean Savage, JNS.org With the recent collapse of the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations, the Palestinian leadership has embarked on a broad plan of unilateral action to gain recognition of a Palestinian state and to isolate Israel internationally. Couple those developments with the Palestinian Fatah movementâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unity pact with the terrorist group Hamas, and Israel is facing a complex new reality.

Without peace talks, what options does Israel have left? Will Israel be forced to take its own unilateral steps? â&#x20AC;&#x153;If [an] agreement is unachievable, then moving independently to shape the borders of Israel is the better course,â&#x20AC;? Amos Yadlin, a retired Israeli Air Force general and former head of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence Directorate, told JNS.org. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While it is not the [ideal] alternative, it is better than the status quo or a bad agreement [with the Palestinians].

Yadlin, who now serves as director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), is among a growing number of respected Israeli leaders putting forth proposals for unilateral steps.

In a proposal posted Sunday on the INSS website, Yadlin argues that Israel has more than the two options usually discussedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a peace agreement and the status quo. According to Yadlin, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s four strategic options are as follows: â&#x20AC;˘a peace agreement along the parameters established by former U.S. President Bill Clinton at Camp David in 2000 â&#x20AC;˘an â&#x20AC;&#x153;unacceptableâ&#x20AC;? peace agreement on Palestinian terms â&#x20AC;˘a status quo in which the Palestinians can dictate their own terms, or â&#x20AC;˘a status quo in which the Israelis dictate their own terms.

Yadlin argues that while the Clinton parametersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which include the Palestinians agreeing to end the conďŹ&#x201A;ict and give up both the â&#x20AC;&#x153;right of returnâ&#x20AC;? of Palestinian refugees and dividing Jerusalemâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;are Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;best option,â&#x20AC;? it is â&#x20AC;&#x153;highly unlikelyâ&#x20AC;? that such an agreement will ever be realized.

Instead, Yadlin believes that Israel should promote an â&#x20AC;&#x153;Israeli optionâ&#x20AC;? that preserves Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s objectives to remain a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jewish, democratic, secure, and just state.â&#x20AC;? He said this move allows Israel to â&#x20AC;&#x153;independently shape its own bordersâ&#x20AC;? with a strategy towards â&#x20AC;&#x153;advancing a two-state solution.â&#x20AC;?

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In this scenario, Yadlin said Israel would â&#x20AC;&#x153;withdraw from heavily populated Palestinian areas to the security barrier, keeping the Jordan Valley for security reasons. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[This would leave] 70 to 80 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinians and allow Israel to keep 70 to 80 percent of the major settlement blocs,â&#x20AC;? Yadlin told JNS.org.

Unilateralism, however, has been a taboo subject in Israel for many years since former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, which many Israelisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially on the rightâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;look back upon as a failure due to the rise of Hamas there. Sharon suffered a stroke before he could implement plans for unilateral moves in the West Bank.

As such, Israel is likely to be cautious in considering any unilateral plans, especially given that the status quo still favors Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the Israelis necessarily making any unilateral moves at this moment. The collapse of the peace talks wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t prompt any immediate action from the Israelis, because there is no immediate threat,â&#x20AC;? Jonathan Schan-

zer, a Middle East expert and vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.org.

Nevertheless, with the ongoing unity talks between Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fatah Party and the terrorist group Hamas, along with recent unilateral actions by the PA through the United Nations and other international avenues, Israel may soon realize it does not have a viable partner for peaceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;possibly spurring a unilateral move. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those are the things that I think could prompt a response from Israel,â&#x20AC;? Schanzer said.

Other prominent Israelis have come out with their own unilateral plans of action.

Historian and former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren said in an interview in Februaryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;while peace talks were still ongoingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that Israel needs to have a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Plan Bâ&#x20AC;? like the Palestinians do. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The two-state solution is the preferred solution. And if we can reach a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians that is permanent, legitimate and assures Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s security, that is of course of the preferable choice,â&#x20AC;? Oren told

the Times of Israel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, the Palestinians have intimated that if they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t reach a negotiated solution with us they then have Plan B, and their Plan B is a binational state. And I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important that we also have a Plan B,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Economy Minister and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett recently wrote a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that urged him to annex a number of the major Israeli communities in the West Bank, including Gush Etzion, Maale Adumim, Ofra, Beit El, and several moreâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which are home to a total of about 440,000 Israelis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These areas enjoy a broad national consensus and have security, historical, and moral signiďŹ cance for the State of Israel,â&#x20AC;? Bennett wrote.

If Netanyahu does decide to pursue a unilateral course of action, one of his toughest sells might be with the international community, which has rejected previous Israeli unilateral moves such as the annexation of eastern Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.

In order to address this, Yadlin believes that Israel should offer the Palestinians a â&#x20AC;&#x153;fair and generous agreementâ&#x20AC;? before taking any unilateral steps. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The international community has to be convinced, as they were with [former Prime Minister Ehud] Barak in 2000 or [former Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert in 2008, that Israel really offers the Palestinians a fair deal,â&#x20AC;? Yadlin told JNS.org.

After nine months of negotiations that produced little results, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the U.S. will likely take a â&#x20AC;&#x153;pauseâ&#x20AC;? in its peace efforts.

Without peace talks holding back the Palestinians, it is clear that Abbas is seeking to shape his own legacy and futureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;one that may include reuniting the Palestinian people, which split under his watch during Hamasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bloody 2007 takeover of Gaza. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can make a very valid argument that all of these moves are designed to spook the U.S. and Israel and force them back to the table to yield more concessions. I would say that the trajectory is far from clear,â&#x20AC;? Schanzer said.

Yadlin believes that Israel must be proactive and not allow the Palestinians, or anyone else, to dictate their terms to the Jewish state. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[Unilateral action] is a move done out of a position of strength and the ability to shape your own destiny according to parameters that I believe are better for the state of Israel,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;empathyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop genocide

By Rafael Medoff, JNS.org In his May 7 remarks upon receiving an award for ďŹ ghting genocide, President Barack Obama explained why he is not ďŹ ghting genocide. He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean it to sound quite that way, of course. But that was the indisputable meaning of his words. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have this remarkable title right nowâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; president of the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and yet every day when I wake up, and I think about young girls in Nigeria or children caught up in the conďŹ&#x201A;ict in Syria, when there are times in which I want to reach out and save those kids, having to think through what levers, what power do we have at any given moment, I think, drop by drop by drop, that we can erode and wear down these forces that are so destructive, that we can tell a different story,â&#x20AC;? Obama said May 7 at a Los Angeles gala, during which he received the Ambassador for Humanity Award from Steven Spielbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Holocaust history foundation.

The president was referring to the approximately 300 girls kidnapped and enslaved by Islamist terrorists in Nigeria last month. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not clear why it took the president three weeks to ďŹ gure out which â&#x20AC;&#x153;leversâ&#x20AC;? the U.S. has with regard to the atrocity in Nigeria. Those girls were kidnapped on April 14, and the attack was reported around the world the next day.

It (unfortunately) wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t front-page news, but it was there for anybody, including the White House, to see.

Yet it was not until May 6 that the White House announced it was offering to loan a

â&#x20AC;&#x153;team of experts,â&#x20AC;? including hostage negotiators and psychologists, to the Nigerian government. The president was quoted as saying the U.S. would â&#x20AC;&#x153;do everything we canâ&#x20AC;? to help. But at the same time, â&#x20AC;&#x153;American ofďŹ cialsâ&#x20AC;? were quoted as emphasizing that â&#x20AC;&#x153;military resourcesâ&#x20AC;? are not being offered to Nigeria. How is it that nobody noticed the contradiction between â&#x20AC;&#x153;everything we canâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;no military resourcesâ&#x20AC;??

The whole tenor of Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remarks was the notion that America should not have a policy of actively intervening in human rights crises around the world.

He struck the same tone in remarks made in an interview with The New Republic on International Holocaust Remembrance Day last year. Asked about his reluctance to intervene against the Syrian governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mass killing of its citizens, the president replied, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How do I weigh tens of thousands whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in the Congo?â&#x20AC;?

The implication of Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement was that since there are so many human rights crises around the world, and the U.S. cannot address all of them, we should, therefore, not address any of them. In other words, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t save everybody, then we shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t save anybody.â&#x20AC;?

Which was, by the way, the same thing Roosevelt administration ofďŹ cials said when Jewish organizations pleaded for U.S. action to rescue Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;None of the tragedies that we see today may rise to the full horror of the Holocaust,â&#x20AC;?

Obama continued in his remarks at the May 7 award ceremony. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But they demand our attention, that we not turn away, that we choose empathy over indifference and that our empathy leads to action.â&#x20AC;?

Empathy is indeed importantâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if it leads to action.

But what happens when the presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;empathyâ&#x20AC;? doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lead to action?

Take Darfur, for example. The Darfur genocide may be out of the news, but atrocities by Arab Janjaweed militias against non-Arab civilians continue. The United Nations reported in March that in the ďŹ rst eleven weeks of this year alone, more than 200,000 Darfur residents have been displaced by the ongoing attacks.

Yet the Obama administration still refuses even to criticize governments that host visits by the mastermind of the Darfur genocide, Sudanese president (and indicted war criminal) Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Fear of angering Bashirâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s alliesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;China, Russia, and the Arab Leagueâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; takes precedence over combating genocide.

The presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s then-envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, even went out of his way to publicly emphasize that â&#x20AC;&#x153;we do not want to see the ouster of the [Bashir] regime, nor regime change.â&#x20AC;? How exactly does leaving perpetrators of genocide in power help deter genocide?

In his remarks at the award ceremony, Obama said we can â&#x20AC;&#x153;do our partâ&#x20AC;? to combat genocide by â&#x20AC;&#x153;keeping memories alive, by tell-

First Lady Michelle Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweeted photo of herself holding a sign, #BringBackOurGirls.

ing stories, by hearing those stories.â&#x20AC;?

Keeping memories alive is important. Raising public awareness is vital. First Lady Michelle Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweeted photo of herself holding a sign reading #BringBackOurGirls was the right thing to do, although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a shame that it took three weeks for her tweet reacting to the Nigeria kidnapping crisis to arrive.

When you have the luxury of time, you can think in terms of â&#x20AC;&#x153;drop by drop by drop,â&#x20AC;? to quote Barack Obama. But when teenage girls are being enslaved and villages are being torched, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time for something more substantial than hashtags and psychologists and empathy. Words alone will not â&#x20AC;&#x153;wear downâ&#x20AC;? terrorists or murderers or perpetrators of genocide.

Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.

THE JEWISH STAR May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 16 IYAR 5774

After collapse of talks, will Israel act unilaterally?

13

Benghazi won’t sleep: Keeping probe alive mie story about a You Tube video get into the mix? Who put it there? Did it have an iota of truth? Remember the President was still blaming the video for the attack when he spoke to the UN three weeks after the attack.

Was someone lying to the President?

When faced with that question while testifying, Hillary Clinton refused to answer asking, “What difference does it now make?” The difference is the families of the victims do deserve the truth, and even more so the American people deserve to know if their leaders lied to them. Outing it is the only way to keep the next leader on the straight and narrow.

Here’s another question. Why didn’t Benghazi get the protection it begged for?

The Democrats blame the fact that the State Department’s budget was cut. But Charlene Lamb, who was the person in the State Department charged with getting help for our mission in Benghazi, testified back in October 2012 that her decisions about security had nothing to do with budget.

Why were our people still in Benghazi on 9/11/12? The British had already bugged out and left the city because it was too dangerous. In April 2012, two former security guards for the consulate threw a homemade “fish bomb” IED over the fence and a terrorist group released a video of what it said was the detonation of an explosive device outside the gates on June 5. There were certainly enough “hints” from the unfriendly neighborhood ter-

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ven though they knew it was coming for over a week, when the House of Representatives voted to create a select committee to investigate Benghazi, the Democrats and the mainstream media went wild. “This is simply a political witch hunt,” the Democrats said, “after seven comPOLITICS TO GO mittees and 20,000 documents there is no reason for any more questions.”

“Benghazi,” the media opined, is the new Republican strategy because now that Obamacare has eight million plus enrollees they can’t campaign on the President’s healthcare plan anymore.

Putting aside Jeff Dunetz Obamacare and the number of signups for a different column, it is clear that the select committee is neither a political witch hunt or a new GOP strategy, indeed it is simply a search for the truth, and while the committee was formed by Speaker Boehner and the House Republicans, they were led there by the Obama administration.

For eighteen months John Boehner said he wasn’t going to form a select committee. That changed when a federal court ordered the Administration to turn over a memo by deputy national security adviser for strategic communication Ben Rhodes to an organization called Judicial Watch. The email was sent the Friday before then UN Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on five different Sunday news shows and blamed the 9/11/12 Benghazi terrorist attack on an Anti-Muslim You Tube video.

That one email was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The email’s subject was “RE: PREP CALL with Susan, Saturday at 4:00 pm ET.” indicating that Rhodes was dictating the political line that was used for the Ambassador Rice appearance. In the goals section of the email, Rhodes gave directions that the purpose of Rice’s appearance was “To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy.” That went against previous claims that the White House did not interfere with what Rice would say.

There is an even bigger issue. The House Committees requested the Rhodes and other correspondence, but were stonewalled by the by the Administration. After eighteen months of Administration stonewalling, and evidence that the White House has been withholding some facts, Speaker Boehner had no choice but to form a select committee.

When there are seven different committees investigating an issue as Congress was doing with Benghazi, each committee has its own turf. Now with everything under one roof, all the information can be shared by one committee that can then make a judgment on the totality of the evidence.

What kind of questions will they answer?

I can speculate.

For example, every CIA report, every military report, two State Department emails from Beth Jones and a phone call from Deputy Chief of Mission Greg Hicks, second in command of our Libyan operations to the late Ambassador Stevens, all blamed the attack on terrorism before the attack was over. So by the end of the day on 9/11/12, everybody knew it was an act of terrorism perpetrated by al Qaeda affiliate Ansar Al Sharia.

So the question is how did the cockama-

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rorists.

When Clinton found out the mission was under attack, I would like to know what the State Department did to get them help? Did she request help from the military? If the U.S. didn’t have any assets close enough to protect our people, which allies who had assets closer to Libya and did we call any of our allies and ask for help? Remember the attack didn’t end until about seven hours after it began.

How was it handled in the State Department and the White House? Former Obama aide Tommy Vietor said the President wasn’t in the situation room that night, and we have no idea where the Secretary of State was after she got off the phone with Gregory Hicks. In other words, who was running the show?

Since the individual terrorists have been identified, why haven’t they been arrested?

As of today, the only two people who have been punished for Benghazi are the nut that created the anti-Muslim video (he had his probation revoked because of the video and is back in jail) and Gregory Hicks.

The Democrats are right; this investigation should have been over a long time ago. But the only reason it’s not over is the administration put up roadblocks in front of the truth.

With the release of the Ben Rhodes email, we now know for sure that the administration has not been transparent with the American people or the seven congressional committees investigating the tragedy.

That lack of transparency turned Benghazi from a quick “what did we do wrong and how do we fix it” into an ongoing, “who came up with the lie and why.”

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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15 THE JEWISH STAR May 16, 2014 • 16 IYAR 5774

Jewish Star Schools For FREE publication email SCHOOLS @TheJewishStar.com. Copy may be edited for style and space and will appear at the discretion of the editor.

Stern College social media success story Students at YU’s Stern College raised $32,000 by using social media to help Sara Bezaley of Great Neck who suffered terrible complications after contracting swine flu at age 7. The fund raiser was a final class project for a course “Social Media to Drive Business Results.” The goal was to raise money for a charitable cause by crowdfunding, collecting small amounts of money toward a shared goal from a large group of donors usually via online platforms using the social media tools they learned in class.

For Bezaley’s family, the class’s experiment has life-changing implications. With the money the campaign has raised, it’s no longer just about renovating the bathrooms—the family is now planning to make the entire house fully accessible, a prospect that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago.

HALB nursery visits farm The weather could not have been more perfect for HALB Lev Chana Early Childhood Center’s pre Lag B’Omer trip to Green Meadows Farm.

It was an amazing sunny and breezy day as HALB’s four year old nursery children, Morot and parents boarded the buses to the farm. There, escorted by knowledgeable guides, they enjoyed an exciting, hands-on, educational experience.

The children rode ponies, fed sheep and goats, petted rabbits and chickens, milked a cow, observed reptiles, and even saw pigs; they learned many new and interesting facts about the animals as well.

One of our guides taught us that a cow has four stomachs and that a pig is the smartest animal on the farm! Of course, one of the highlights of the day was the hay ride on a big red wagon pulled by an even bigger tractor.

The trip to the farm is always a favorite spring activity for our children and an enhancement to the units of study — community helpers and animal habitats — that the children are presently involved in. A wonderful day was had by all.

Shulamith notes Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut Yom HaZikaron Yom HaZikaron: a day of solemn contemplation and reflection, a day of mourning for Chayalei Tzahal who gave their lives in defense of our Holy Land and for victims of terror who died al kiddush Hashem.

In the Shulamith Middle Division, the annual Yom HaZikaron commemoration began with a brief introduction by eighth grade student coordinators, Shoshana Farber and Michal Haas. They explained the significance of Yom HaZikaron, highlighting soldiers who died defending our land in the War of Independence, the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and in Lebanon.

They explained that in Eretz Yisrael, sirens blare for one minute at 8 pm on the evening of Yom HaZikaron, and again for two minutes at 11 am.

During this time, Israelis stop everything, including driving, and stand in silence to show their respect for the fallen soldiers. In keeping with this tradition, students and faculty watched a video of the Moment of Silence in the Central Bus Station of Yerushalayim, and stood quietly in deference to the fallen heroes.

Mr. M. Landau, father of fifth grader, Hodaya described his experience when he

honor of the kedoshim.

The eighth grade then performed two songs under the guidance of their music teacher, Mrs. Yehudit Markovich. The commemoration closed with the tefillah of Kayl Malay Rachamim and the singing of Hatikvah.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut

Rabbi Yaacov Weisenberg and the Rambam Mesivta Model Bais Din team, with their second place award from the Landers College Model Beis Din Tournament. served in the IDF and the special bond he still has with those who served with him.

He explained that chayalei Tzahal refer to each other as “Achi”— my brother.

Students and faculty were brought to tears as Mr. Landau described his friend and fellow soldier, Sgt. Oren Tzelnik, a’h, who

was killed in action in 2002. He told of how his brother in arms was so willing to courageously defend Eretz Yisrael and risk his life for our beloved Land and of how Oren asked to put on Mr. Landau’s tefillin before what turned out to be his final battle.

Six eighth graders lit memorial candles in

On Tuesday, May 6, the solemnity of Yom HaZikaron gave way to the joy and celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut! The day began with a united Tefila Chagigit, and recitation of Hallel, thanking Hashem for the miracle of Medinat Yisrael. Mrs. R. Billet, principal of the Middle Division, spoke to the students about the import of the day.

The Shulamith Women’s Organization provided donuts with white icing and blue sprinkles. The festivities continued with dancing and merriment as Mr. Jeff Neckanoff, of Azamra DJ, “rocked the house!”

After blue and white ices provided by the G.O., students created care packages for IDF soldiers, filled with basic personal items, which included a pair of warm socks, travel toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoos, conditioners, soaps, pens and other essentials.

Included in each package was a personal note of gratitude to the recipient.

May 16, 2014 â&#x20AC;¢ 16 IYAR 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

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