May 18, 2012

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THE JEWISH

STAR

VOL 11, NO 19 ■ MAY 18, 2012 / 26 IYAR 5772

WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM

Looking After Our Own

By Miriam Bradman Abrahams

Leor Bareli, of Woodmere

Local leaders’ often deliver emotional pitches for donations to Tomchei Shabbos, the Five Towns Food Bank and Hatzalah.

They say that although there are abundant worthy causes worldwide, it’s our obligation first to provide for our own neighbors. Impassioned pleas for aid to Israel have been made by UJA, Israel Bonds, Magen David Adom, Shaare Zedek and Hadassah. There is no conflict here; as Zionist Jews we view Israel as our ancestral home and Israelis as family. The only issue is choosing a worthwhile cause and giving what we can during tough economic times.

We consider Israel as a second home and Israelis as family, since between my husband and myself, we have cousins living from Na-

Matt Schneeweiss: Choosing the glory of the path of Torah

By Malka Eisenberg Matt Schneeweiss found himself facing a crossroads at the beginning of his sophomore year in high school and chose the path of Torah.

That year, he met a group of students from Northwest Yeshiva High School at a Shabbaton hosted by the Seattle kollel. “I was shy and didn’t talk to them very much,” he recalled. “They were talking excitedly about classes. They were normal kids, not super religious or nerdy.”

He said that he noticed “something profound” as he listened to their conversation, that they loved learning, both Torah and secular subjects. “They glowed about their teachers, they excitedly engaged in philosophical discussions and actually enjoyed telling me about their homework.”

That Rosh Hashana he confronted his parents with his decision to switch to NYHS, and that he would do it even if he would have to live away from home. But they joined him in his choice and uprooted themselves, replanting themselves into

hariya in the north to Beersheva in the south, and in between. They serve in the IDF, work as doctors, nurses and in hi-tech and live in vulnerable spots within missile range of Lebanon and Gaza. Israel is on our minds about as much as New York City.

On Wednesday, May 23, 7 P.M., we’ll give tribute to the Israel Defense Force at a dinner for Friends of the IDF at the Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst. Proceeds benefit Israel’s soldiers through educational, social, cultural and recreational programs and facilities. It also provides support for the families of fallen soldiers.

We will honor our local “Lone Soldiers” who have left their homes to serve in the IDF. I happen to know two of these brave, selfless Continued on page 6

They rented a Shabbat home Orthodox Judaism. there, spending Shabbat there And on May 21st Schneeweiss a few times a month. At age 16, will be valedictorian at the Schneeweiss realized that neither commencement of Yeshiva he nor his brother nor his mother University’s Azrieli Graduate were halachically Jewish. They School of Jewish Education and Administration, not only all decided to convert. When validating his path but also Schneeweiss chose to switch instructing his fellow graduates on schools, his family eagerly went his philosophy of education. along with him even though his Matt Schneeweiss was born father had to “start his career from in Hawaii to a Jewish father and scratch,” his mom “had to learn Catholic mother, both irreligious. how to create a Jewish home,” After a brief stay in Baltimore, and his brother “just didn’t want Photo courtesy of Matt Schneeweissx to change the status quo. But we they moved to Yakima, a small town in eastern Washington State. Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss did it, and never for a moment The family became involved in regretted our decision.” During the local Reform temple, but after studying their his two years at NYHS, he “learned Hebrew and theology, Schneeweiss’ father determined that it was rose to the top shiur. More importantly, I was “morally, spiritually, and intellectually bankrupt.” instilled with the love of learning I had seen in those When Schneeweiss was 14, his father met two students at the Shabbaton.” He gives credit to the Orthodox rabbis two hours from Yakima, near teachers there.

Seattle and began to learn with them, finding He said that he noticed a clarity in certain this “more stimulating and fulfilling than any teachers and sought out their education under other intellectual endeavor he had experienced.”

Continued on page 2

Shabbat Candlelighting: 7:51 p.m. Shabbat ends 8:59 p.m. 72 minute zman 9:23 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat B’har-Bechukotai. This Sunday is Yom Yerushalayim.

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Choosing the glory of Torah Continued from page 1

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Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Israel Chait at Yeshiva Bnei Torah (YBT) in Far Rockaway, New York. He learned there seven years, three full-time, three part-time while completing a BA in psychology from Touro College, and one year full-time in the smichah (Rabbinic ordination) program while enrolled in Azrielli. Starting in 2009, he taught part time at HAFTR High School, then in 2010 he taught full time, nine different classes, in HAFTR High School and Midreshet Shalhevet, a girls’ high school. This year he is teaching full time with four classes at Shalhevet, Navi, halacha (Jewish law) and Chumash, and a hashkafa (Jewish philosophy) class at Rambam Mesivta.

This will be Schneeweiss’ third stint as valedictorian. He said he was surprised and laughed when he found out. His first speech to his high school graduating class was about education as a tool for good or bad, his second when he was graduated from Touro dealt with the question of Torah learning for its own sake or for utility rather than love of knowledge. “Now I have the opportunity to formulate part three, my educational views, and present them to my peers and teachers.

I’m looking forward to it.”

He discussed his philosophy on education.

“How ironic. They don’t know that my dream is to overthrow the schooling system and start from ground zero. I really believe that human beings naturally love learning. I try to facilitate the exercise of freewill in the student, to use his or her own mind to learn. If you approach the Torah the right way it is the medicine of life, the wrong way it is the medicine of death. Torah means freedom if the right way; if the wrong way you are enslaved, it inhibits thought, learning by rote, animal as opposed to the image of G-d. The right way is freedom of choice the wrong way is locking in routine, habit and absence of thought.”

His passions, he said, are learning, teaching and writing. Schneeweiss said it’s a “fused process, you learn best when helping others understand. Talmud Torah is learning and teaching; it’s one mitzvah.”

He also pointed out that his most important accomplishment is “realizing the pitfalls of seeking accomplishment. It is one of the biggest causes of problems. I was very driven in high school. I learned to break that through Torah.”

His current goals, he said are “right now to teach, a possible doctorate and work on becoming a better teacher.” Earlier in his life, he said, he thought to “change the world through teaching; now not so much. I’m more interested in self-actualization rather than achievements, to understand myself and my potentials, rather than achieve a goal or certain image. Other than raising a family, I have no grandiose goals.”

His favorite books are Mishlei (proverbs)--“I would like to teach it all day,” he said--the Chumash (Torah) and Rambam’s Mishna Torah. His idea, he said, “is that Torah is one whole system; to dissect it and use the American educational model is wrong. I view Torah as a system; it has to be crossreferenced, it’s not one book. You can’t just learn about a leaf; you have to learn about a whole tree and its ecosystem.”

He noted that the current educational model where the bell rings and learning must stop and students are forced to take courses they don’t like is “oppressive.” The bais midrash, he said, fosters the act of “learning for the love of learning.”

Teaching has “to minimize schooling and maximize education. The best days are when kids forget they are in school and follow their minds, exploring chochmas Hashem, the paradigm of learning, appreciating knowledge.”

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May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772 THE JEWISH STAR

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Native comedian brings humor home to 5 Towns

By Karen C. Green A 2007 graduate of Hewlett High School and a life long resident of Woodsburgh, Tyler Gildin became a household name when his 2009 Nassau State of Mind youtube video( a parody of Jay Z’s Empire State of Mind) hit the internet and went viral. The 22-year old Five Towns native who earned a television, radio, and film degree in 2011 from the prestigious Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University will take his comedic talents to the stage locally to benefit UJA. The “Lighten Up” event, sponsored by the South Shore Division of UJA will take place on Wednesday, May 23, at 7:00 p.m. at Temple Beth El and will benefit a cause that Tyler’s maternal grandfather, Dr. Kenneth Berman, has been so committed to for many years. The event is focused on promoting awareness to area high school and college youth as to how UJA is making a difference through its gamut of program offerings such as internship programs in Israel, Taglit-Birthright and national tribefest conference in Las Vegas. Dr Berman, who for years has had a dental practice in the Five Towns, splits his time between Lawrence and Boca Raton, Florida and is credited by Tyler as being an early comedic influence. “My grandfather had always been mildly amusing.”

The Manhattan resident who does stand up four to five times a week in ad-

dition to video production inclusive of creating, writing, and starring, speaks fondly of growing up in the Five Towns, where he formed lasting friendships and held numerous leadership positions such as class president of Hewlett High School and sports editor of the high school newspaper.

Gildin and his family are active members of Temple Beth El and describes himself as one with a strong cultural Jewish identity.

“Jews are innately funny,” remarks Gildin, who speaks of how his Jewish identity is almost always referenced in his material.

The event, coordinated by UJA’s South Shore Development Executive Felicia Solomon, is already generating buzz amongst all ages and expects to attract a large audience. “We’re thrilled to be able to host an event that pulls together long standing leadership and the next generation of committed and devoted individuals from the South Shore. “We look forward to an great evening of laughter.”” said Solomon.

For more information please contact Felicia Solomon at 677-1856 or via email at solomonf@ujafedny.org Photo courtesy of Tyler Gildin

Woodsburgh native Tyler Gildin at a recent comedy gig.

Woodmere Fire Dept:

New York’s 2004 Kosher Israel laptop fire prompts Law approved local concern

By Malka Eisenberg

By Karen C. Green Israeli news has reported a tragic fire in Rehovot claiming the lives of six members of the Shaer family, Guy Shaer (38) and his children Eliav (11), Eviatar (8), Amitai (7), Shira (3) and Itamar (one year old). The wife and mother, Avivit, was the family’s sole survivor.

Israeli fire services attribute the blaze to a laptop computer that was placed on a bed.

Lenny Cherson, Assistant Chief of the Woodmere Fire Department stressed important safety measures. “In my tenure, we have never responded to a fire emanating from a laptop. It

would be the recommendation of any trained fire safety personnel not to go to sleep with any electronic equipment in bed. Equipment such as a laptop has numerous electronic components compressed in a small area and when it is on a bed theres limited required ventilation.”

The National Fire Prevention Association sets standards nationwide and lists recommendations on their website ( www.nfpa.org) in addition to information about numerous battery recalls.

Assistant Chief Cherson advises unplugging the laptop, and leaving it on a formica, granite or glass countertop.

metrocreativegraphics.com

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals last Thursday ruled that New York’s Kosher Law Protection Act was constitutional.

The case, going back to 1996, originally contested an earlier form of the Kosher Act. Commack Self-Service Kosher Meats, the plaintiffs, under Conservative supervision, stated that requiring inspection and labeling of food marketed as kosher used religious doctrine to determine its kashrut. They said that that violated the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. In 2002, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The New York State Legislature then passed the Kosher Law Protection Act of 2004 requiring that foods sold as kosher have to be labeled as such and the certifiers identified without defining its kashrut or allowing state inspectors to decide the product’s kashrut. Commack in turn challenged that, saying essentially that it is a church-state issue and that the law is vague. The court disagreed and upheld the law, citing that the law simply requires identification of the product as kosher and who and what process is behind the kashrut of the item thus leaving the decision of its kashrut in the eyes of the consumer. The law is primarily to protect consumers against fraudulent claims of kashrut.

“It helps the kosher consumer,” explained Nathan Diament, Executive Director for Public Policy of the Orthodox Union. “You have a

complement to kashrut certification organizations like the OU that are working from a halachik angle to ensure that food sold as kosher is kosher halachikly. It allows the state to back it up, not halachikly, but makes sure consumers are not defrauded; it’s a fraud protection statute. The new version is a disclosure statute. It requires you to make known to the customer who is certifying it kosher. It gives the consumer the ability to have more information to make an informed decision. It’s good for everybody, anyone who’s interested in kosher food.”

“I am pleased that the court upheld the 2004 Kosher Law Protection Act, which I supported,” said Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. “This ruling correctly interpreted the intent of the law, which is to protect against fraud and ensuring that products labeled as kosher are actually kosher. This is an important decision for people who adhere to a kosher diet or choose to purchase kosher products."

“We welcome the state oversight as a benefit for the kosher consumer,” said Yoeli Steinberg, General Manager of Gourmet Glatt in Cedarhurst. “If you are a kosher supermarket, that’s what it’s all about, making your consumers happy. It’s the essence of a kosher supermarket. It separates an all kosher supermarket from a supermarket that is not kosher but has a kosher aisle. When you walk in to Gourmet Glatt you know that every item in the store is certified kosher and that’s consumer protection on the highest level. Part of that is the consumer protection provided by the state.”

THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772

UJA presents:

May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772 THE JEWISH STAR

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Opinion The New Coalition Will Change Israeli Politics Forever

T

he first weekend in May, we learned that early Israeli elections were scheduled for September 4th. Those elections were cancelled last week, with the stunning announcement that Prime Minister Netanyahu and the head of the leading opposition party, Kadima, reached an agreement to bring the party into the government, forestalling an election till the official end of its term on October 22, 2013.

The inclusion of Kadima, the party formed by former Prime Minster Ariel Sharon, brings the ruling coalition to 94 seats, almost 80% POLITICO of the 120-seat KnesTO GO set and the largest coalition in the 64-year history of the modern State of Israel.

If you were to believe the mainstream media, the agreement has given Bibi Netanyahu royal powers so he can sabotage any possible peace agreement and bomb Iran into submission. Nonsense!

The reason for the deal Jeff Dunetz has nothing to do with foreign relations and everything to do with internal Israeli issues. As a result of the deal, there may be significant changes to the Israeli political system that will long outlive this coalition.

Israel has no constitution (they tried for two years and couldn’t come up with an agreement). They have Basic Laws dealing with the formation and role of governmental institutions and civil rights. Therefore, to make changes in the system, all that is needed is a new law. The basic law regarding the government was passed in 1968, changed in 1991 and then changed back in 2001.

Israel’s political system is great because of its inclusiveness. The 120 seats in the Knesset are handed out proportionally to each party that receives at least 2% of the vote. The lousy thing about the Israeli political system is its inclusiveness---there are thirteen different parties in the Knesset today.

There has never been a majority government in the Israeli Knesset; as a result the lead party has to make concessions to tiny parties in order to build at least 61 seats for a ruling coalition. Many of these small parties concentrate on a single-issue and have

brought down coalitions because the government has strayed from their particular issue.

This slows down the ability of any government to do what is necessary to move the country ahead on domestic issues.

A coalition the size of this new government will have the political legitimacy to change the Basic Law. Indeed, that is one of the stated goals of the new government. Israel will never trim down to a two party system like the U.S., but there will be fewer than thirteen parties in the Knesset and/or the vote for Prime Minister will be separated from the vote for the legislature as it was from 1991-2001.

What created the need for elections or a new coalition was a no confidence vote caused by the Tal Law, which allows Haredim (commonly described as Ultra-Orthodox) to permanently defer military service.

The law expires in August and the negotiations to replace it have been very contentious. The religious parties want the law renewed as is, and the more secular parties want it changed or eliminated completely. With the large coalition’s backing a new law can be negotiated making both sides happy (or happier).

Under the coalition agreement, Kadima Chair Shaul Mofaz becomes Deputy Prime Minister, standing in for Netanyahu when he is abroad and joining all closed sessions of the cabinet that “deal with security, diplomatic, economic and social issues.”

The new coalition has announced four priorities: The first priority will be “replacing the Tal Law with a historic, just and equal solution” to integrating the Haredim into army service (but not necessarily as soldiers).

The second is to develop a “responsible budget addressing security, economic and social issues.”

The third is “changing the structure of government” so that governments serving out their terms will be “the rule and not the exception.”

The fourth is to “move forward responsibly in the peace process.”

A claim by the religious parties is that the

THE JEWISH

new coalition and changes to the electoral system will diminish or even end their voice in Israeli politics, and they may be right, but only if they don’t learn to work together. Today, there are three religious parties in the Knesset with a total of 19 seats (Shas being the largest with 11). Look for the religious parties to find a way to consolidate to maintain and even increase their influence.

What will be the effect of the new coalition on the peace process? Not much.

If a deal is negotiated by this government it will be much easier to pass it through the Knesset. But it still takes two to Tango, and all parties in this government understand the Palestinian Authority has shown no interest in dancing.

All the major parties are pretty close on how to negotiate with the Palestinians and the importance of security, so don’t expect changes in position.

The most pressing security issue in Israel is Iran.

Here, too, there is little difference between the major parties. While some people believe that a broader coalition may make Israel more likely to attack Iran, I believe it makes it less likely (even before the coalition an attack right now was very unlikely).

Kadima head Shaul Mofaz becomes the

The coalition and the electoral changes it is sure to bring will make for a stronger Israel in the long run.

third former IDF Chief of Staff to join Netanyahu’s inner cabinet (the other two are Moshe Ya’alon and Defense Minister Ehud Barak).

Military leaders such as Ya’alon, Barack and Mofaz understand the horrors of war and will not support an attack without a total understanding of the consequences. If an attack will create only a six to twelve month delay in Iranian nuclear capability, these former chiefs will argue against any order. And because of their military backgrounds, they will be less likely to be swayed by political pressure for or against an attack.

In the end, the political shocker announced by Bibi Netanyahu and Shaul Mofaz last week will change Israeli politics forever.

It will result in stronger coalitions with greater legitimacy to deal with the major problems of the day, and unity on security issues that will allow the Jewish State to stand up to unfair pressure should Barack Obama be re-elected. Israel will still have a broad base of political parties in the Knesset, but governments will move ahead less encumbered by small and sometimes single-issue parties.

The coalition and the electoral changes it is sure to bring will make for a stronger Israel in the long run.

Jeff Dunetz is the Editor/Publisher of the political blog “The Lid” (www.jeffdunetz.com).

Jeff contributes to some of the largest political sites on the Internet. Jeff lives on Long Island.

Hearty congratulations to our own Miriam Bradman Abrahams

By Karen C. Green On having received the Woman of the Year award from Hadassah’s Devorah Group at the Nassau region conference which took place Wednesday, May 16. Miriam joined the Devora group as a life member in 1991 and brought in her family and many friends when she was membership vice president. She served as co-president with Karen Weinberg and with Susan Kaye and is currently Devora group’s email lady and advisor. She is Hewlett chapter’s bulletin editor and Nassau Region’s

One Region/One Book chairlady. She lives in Woodmere with her husband David, and children Ariel, Rafi and Nina. Miriam receivied the honor along with Randi Bernstein of Lido Beach who is active in the Hewlett Chapter.

Randi Bernstein joined Hewlett Hadassah as a life member in 1981 because of her mom, Phyllis Frischling who is a life member since 1969. She has served as certificates chairlady since 1984 using her calligraphy skills to beautify the Hadassah certificates she mails out in memory or in honor of others.

We wish them both Mazel Tov!

STAR

Independent and original reporting from the Orthodox communities of Long Island and New York City All opinions expressed are solely those of The Jewish Star’s editorial staff or contributing writers Publisher and Editor Assistant Editor Account Executive Contributors

Editorial Designers Photo Editor

Karen C. Green Malka Eisenberg Helene Parsons Miriam Bradman Abrahams Rabbi Avi Billet Jeff Dunetz Rabbi Binny Freedman Alan Jay Gerber Rabbi Noam Himelstein Judy Joszef Zechariah Mehler Michael Salamon, Ph. D Sean Doyle Alyson Goodman Christina Daly

2 Endo Boulevard, Garden City, NY 11530 Phone: 516-622-7461, Fax: 516-569-4942 E-mail: newsroom@thejewishstar.com The Jewish Star is published weekly by The Jewish Star LLC, 2 Endo Boulevard, Garden City, NY 11530.

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Photo courtesy of Miriam Bradman Abrahams

Miriam Bradman Abrahams and Randi Bernstein received Woman of the Year awards from Hadassah at May 16th gala.

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THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772

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Regional Hospitals in the NY Metro Region...

High-Performing Specialties.

We’re commited to meeting the needs of the Jewish Community: Winthrop-University Hospital has a Shabbos & Yom Tov House, a kosher home where families of patients may stay during the Shabbos Festivals and High Holy Days.

Glatt Kosher food is available in the coffee shop located in the main lobby of the hospital.

Shabbos candles and kosher refrigerators are available to patients.

Mincha minyan services are held in the hospital chapel, Monday through Thursday at 1:30 pm.

Siddurim and benchers are available in the chapel.

A shabbos elevator is located in the North Pavilion of the hospital.

Rabbi A. Perl of Congregation Beth Sholom Chabad is available to meet any religious needs patients and their families may have. He may be contacted at 516-739-3636. The Synagogue is located

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May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772 THE JEWISH STAR

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Looking After Our Own Continued from page 1 young people, Leor Bareli and Jacob Steinblatt, HAFTR alumni and exceptional students with bright futures ahead who are taking time out to serve Israel.

We befriended Mindy and James SteinMIRIAM’S MUSINGS blatt at HAFTR’s new parents’ open house in 1992. Our sons and Jacob shared many interests and fun times. We met the Bareli’s more recently when Davira became one of my yoga teachers and I realized Leor was a grade ahead of my daughter Nina. At HAFTR High School’s Yom Haatzmaut commemoration, Moriel Miriam Bradman read aloud a poignant Abrahams letter his sister Leor sent from Israel about one “Masa,” a mandatory grueling army hike she endured during her training, and what she learned from the experience. Here are short bios of two incredible (yet “normal”) local diasporans adapted from their moms’ words.

During his freshman year at Macaulay Honors College at Hunter, Jacob Steinblatt participated in Birthright. He returned to Israel the following year to do civilian volunteer work during the Gaza invasion and spent his junior semester abroad studying at Tel Aviv University. Jacob returned home in love with Israel and talked about wanting to live there “someday.” He volunteered in the IDF through MAHAL--overseas volunteer--as soon as he graduated. His decision to join the IDF was “surprising,” since his inclinations were always intellectual rather than physical and his political leanings were, and remain,

Photo courtesy of Miriam Bradman Abrahams

Jacob Steinblatt, of North Woodmere, HAFTR alumnus, Hunter College graduate, Israeli soldier. moderate/liberal. But Zionism was always a “front and center” value in the Steinblatt home and the necessity for a strong and independent Jewish state in Israel was an “article of faith.” Jacob majored in political science and Middle Eastern studies and is knowledgeable about the political and military history of Israel and the Arab World. He hopes to pursue advanced degrees in Middle Eastern studies and work in policy planning or research for a think tank. Jacob envisions doing that in Israel after making Aliyah.He will complete

his service in January 2013 after four and a half months of combat training and a year as an NCO--non-commissioned officer--for the Home Front General Command, serving as an IDF Liaison to Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services. He’s part of a new team assigned to analyze existing flaws and tighten coordination between armed services and civilian first responders to help save lives in emergency situations. Jacob observed and participated in training with 21 firefighter teams throughout Israel. The need for improved coordination

was recognized in the wake of the 2010 Carmel Fire disaster. Jacob’s decision to serve is a combination of his upbringing, education and the fact that he’s the grandchild of four Holocaust Survivors. He feels being Jewish implies personal responsibility for the Jewish homeland which he fulfils by serving in the IDF. Leor Bareli, a high achiever, was sure she’d attend a prestigious university right after high school. To her parents’ surprise, she decided, in her senior year, to join the IDF through Tzofim Garin Tzabar, one of 104 who made Aliyah together via a Nefesh B’Nefesh flight and live on Kibbutz Yiftach four hours north of Tel Aviv. They serve in the IDF in different assignments and have weekend immersions when the Tzabar friends become a support group.

Davira says Leor is an independent thinker who wasn’t influenced by her parents or the school she attended since first grade. Leor is thriving in the Search and Rescue unit as the top sharp shooter. Her friends from home are as proud of her as are her parents.

Commemorating her first Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haaztmaut as an Israeli soldier was an incredible experience in Leor’s life and she is ecstatic that she made the decision to join the IDF. Though she’s young and her plans may change “in the blink of an eye,” Leor is definite about making her home in the north of Israel which is “the opposite of New York.”

She wants to travel the world after her army service as is the Israeli custom. She’s very interested in science and medicine; her future career possibilities range from being a surgeon to a radiologist to a biomedical engineer.

I am humbled and “ferklemt” by Jacob and Leor’s selfless efforts for our people. The FIDF saying is “Their job is to look after Israel, Ours is to look after them.”

For more information go to: www.FIDF. org/FTGSS Miriam Bradman Abrahams is Cuban born, Brooklyn bred and lives in Woodmere. She can be reached at mabraha1@optonline.net.

Religion and Compassion There are always interesting studies coming out of some well known research centers that are worth reading and understanding.

Often they are fascinating because of the impact the reported results may have on day-today life. At times, research reports are worth a careful review simply because of the interest that the study generates even if the findings have no pragmatic application.

One recent report that is getting a fair amount of media attention suggests that religious people tend to act less on compassion than non-believers when acting charitably. This may be an Michael J. interesting finding but Salamon, Ph.D. whether or not it has practical applications is yet to be seen. In a series of three experiments conducted by a team of psychologists at the Universities of California, Berkeley, University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Oregon State University, research teams tested the notion that religious compassion is the motivator for devout people to provide assistance to the needy.

The studies included a survey of 1,300 adults and two direct experiments with a group of 101 adults and 200 college students. In all three experiments the researchers deter-

mined that less religious people, even people who report that they are agnostic, are more likely to assist strangers than individuals who report themselves as more religious. What triggers their desire to be charitable is what the researchers call compassion.

In understanding the findings of a study, one of the key tasks is to understand how the research team operationalizes, or defines, the variables that they are investigating. In this report, religiousness is selfdefined. People reported that they were either religious or not on a scale that measures religiosity.

Personal affiliation is often based upon self-report in survey research and this is the standard followed in these three studies.

Compassion, however, is a trickier variable to pin down. The researchers defined it as an emotional reaction that people have when seeing the suffering of others. This reaction motivates someone to act in a compassionate manner by offering assistance to others even at personal risk or cost. The three studies all indicate that the less religious people were more likely to be generous based upon their emotional reaction to the needs of others than religious believers.

The research team concluded that the link between generosity and compassion was more robust for those who were non-believ-

ers. Despite some media reports, the studies do not imply that religious people give less charity, are less compassionate overall, or are less charitable. What the report does indicate is that religious people are less likely to react to compassion, as defined by the researchers, than non-religious people are.

So what does motivate religious people to show generosity? After all, in absolute numbers, religious people tend to give more charity than nonreligious people. According to the research team, the best hypothesis may be that very religious people do their charitable giving based on a deeper sense of moral obligation or identification with those who are in need. Others have suggested that religious individuals are raised in an environment where giving is part of their sacred obligations, and still others believe that giving is motivated by the notion that G-d is above and always watching. All people tend to be generous when someone is watching.

I was raised in a home where I was taught that you never turn away anyone who is needy. Even if you give just a small amount, you are still behaving the correct way. Many of my co-religionists were raised similarly.

Psychologists speak of a phenomenon known as intrinsic motivation. The desire to do something when motivated not by a

Compassion is giving because it is the right thing to do.

reward but simply by the wish to behave a certain way tends to be associated with more long-term positive behavior. When a behavior is motivated by extrinsic motivation, for example, because it makes you feel good to give charity, then the behavior is likely to be subject to how good it makes you feel, not because charity is meant to help others. So while the researchers in this study define compassion as the desire to help others who are suffering, their definition is purely extrinsic and restricted to this particular study.

Compassion is giving because it is the right thing to do, on a regular basis and not simply because of a particular appeal for the suffering of others. Perhaps that is the lesson of giving that religious individuals have learned.

Dr. Michael Salamon, a fellow of the American Psychological Association, is the founder and director of ADC Psychological Services in Hewlett, New York. He is the author of numerous articles, several psychological tests and books including “The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures” (Urim Publications) and “Every Pot Has a Cover” (University Press of America). His newest book is called “Abuse in the Jewish Community: Religious and Communal Factors that Undermine the Apprehension of Offenders and the Treatment of Victims.”

Michael J. Salamon, Ph.D., FICPP is in private pratice in Hewlett. He can be reached at 516 596-0073 or www.psychologicalhelp.org.

7

and the Hebrew University Speech Controversy In a recent presentation at the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst, Brooklyn College professor and famed historian Dr. Shnayer Leiman discussed the controversy surrounding the speech and invocation given by Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook at the inauguration of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on April 1, 1925.

According to Dr. Leiman, “His very presence was an act of courage; indeed, many of his rabbinic colleagues viewed his presence as an act of treachery. Even more courageous was the message he delivered that afternoon, which minced no words about his true feelings regarding the Hebrew University and its place in the life of a revitalized Jewish yishuv in Jerusalem.�

Rav Kook was to be unfairly blasted by many from the so-called chareidi wing of Orthodoxy who saw in Rav Kook’s very presence as a chief rabbi and spiritual leader a challenge to their selfassuming roles as the sole legitimate spiritual Alan Jay Gerber leaders of the yishuv, bar none.

However, a close reading of the Rav’s remarks will reveal absolutely nothing to be found wrong with its ideological, as well as spiritual, content from a traditional Jewish perspective.

While Rav Kook’s leadership signature was an openness to all Jews, and that “ahavat Yisrael� was to be the hallmark to all his activities, he, nevertheless, based everything on firm spiritual grounding,

as to be demonstrated in a translation of the heart of his remarks below, provided by Dr. Leiman.

Consider the following: “It must be understood that the Hebrew University by itself cannot fulfill all the educational requirements necessary for the success of our national life. We must realize that, first and foremost, it is the great Torah yeshivot, those that now exist and those to be constructed, that are worthy of the name--including the Central Yeshivah which we are establishing in Jerusalem, which shall be a light onto Israel in all areas of Torah, whether halachah, aggadah, Jewish action, or Jewish thought--that uphold the spirit of the nation and provide for its security. Moreover, the Hebrew University must maintain standards so that the name of Heaven, Israel, and the land of Israel are sanctified, and never desecrated, by it.�

Nothing clearer could have been said by the Rav to assure all of his core beliefs and values when it came to what he viewed as the proper foundation for the governance of the soon to be Jewish state.

Nevertheless, the theological luddites of both the right and the left gave the Rav no rest in their common quests to undermine his rabbinical leadership and his firm belief in an open spiritual governance of the yishuv.

Yet, he was not to be given any peace anytime soon.

One commitment the Rav had from the university leadership was that bible criticism would not

be taught. This commitment was to be broken.

One young student was present when Rav Kook was informed of the content of the course in question. In a letter written many years later, on the 28 of Elul, 5722 / 1962, to Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neriyah, the following heartfelt sentiments were expressed: â€œâ€Ś..I will tell you exactly what transpired: I first arrived in Eretz Yisrael a few days before the opening of the Mount Scopus campus. This was when I first became acquainted with our teacher [Rav Kook] zecher zaddik vekadosh li’veracha. “In those days, he spoke with me extensively of his decision to be present at the ceremony. He clarified his decision by weaving from world to world, from celestial palace to celestial palace, as was his wont. The speech would pour forth. “One of the pillars of his talks was the promise given to him that there would be no chair in this university for bible criticism. “A long time passed, and I happened to be present in our teacher’s room when someone walked in and reported the content of Professor Torcziner’s lecture at the university the evening before. Of course, the whole lecture was full of bible criticism of the worst sort. “Our holy master gazed at me with a look of disappointment, bitterness, frustration, and piercing pain, such that to this day I feel this look like the sting of a hundred needles at once. I was astonished by this look. Then, without meaning to

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THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772

The Kosher Bookworm Yom Yerushalayim: Rav Kook

offend, my lips pronounced the words: ‘Evidently, in addition to knowing the soul, one must know the body.’ Ketivah vachatimah tova, With love, Isaac Hutner The source:�When G-d Becomes History� by Bezalel Naor.

Another far more radical reaction to Rav Kook’s remarks came from a young American rabbi who was actually present at the event. Read and please consider very carefully the contrast in attitude and its source. “But the splendid impression was lost because of Rabbi Kook who promised to speak about eight minutes but went on for half an hour and more.

When asked by Judah Magnes [the university president] to begin the opening prayer, Kook agreed only on the condition that he be allowed to continue speaking; but he tired out the audience. I do not know why but I felt that this man is a fakir; and this feeling grew today when I saw him and listened to him for the first time.�

The source, “The Journals of Mordecai Kaplan�

Mel Scult, editor, pages 204-205.

There is an old truism that states that we know a person from the enemies he makes. From what I just cited above we now can truly appreciate the real and genuine greatness of Rav Kook.

This coming Sunday we once again celebrate Yom Yerushalayim.

In honor of this day I wish to end this week’s essay with the following: In the concluding prayer, after the speech, Rav Kook invoked the following quotation from the Prophet Yeshayahu: “Torah shall come from Zion, and the word of G-d from Jerusalem.�

From this we can learn the true meaning of what the return of our people to Eretz Yisrael and to the wholeness of the City of Jerusalem truly means both to us, and to all the world.

Parshat B’Har-Bechukotai

The land I am giving you

By Rabbi Avi Billet

M

any who write about this parsha focus on the question that Rashi asks (quoting the Sifra on B’har), “Why are the rules of Shmittah (the Sabbatical year for the land of Israel) mentioned in the context of ‘Moshe at Mt. Sinai?’” The Hebrew phrase “Mah inyan Shmittah eitzel Har Sinai?” has taken on a life of its own, in that it has come to be the Hebrew idiom equivalent of “what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?”

Is the assumption behind the question even correct?

According to the Or HaChaim, the focus of the connection Rabbi Avi Billet to Sinai should not be on Shmittah, because Shmittah is not what is most immediately connected to Sinai in the verse.

“G-d spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, telling him to speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land must be given a rest period, a Sabbath to G-d.” (25:1-2) The real question should be, “What is the connection between the land being promised and Mount Sinai?”

The Or HaChaim says, “Perhaps, because it mentioned that the land is a gift – ‘that I am giving you’ – it mentions that it stems from Mount Sinai. This is to teach that on account of the events of Mount Sinai, in other words, what they received there [the Torah], the gift could be completed. It is on account of [their having received] the Torah that G-d gave them the land.”

Continuing along this line of thought, the Or HaChaim quotes Maimonides Laws of Possession and Gifts 3:11, who says, “An Israelite may not give an idolator (Aku”m) a gift for nothing. He may give [a free gift] to a stranger who lives in peace [‘ger toshav’].

To a total stranger (‘nokhri’) he must sell the item, but to a ‘ger toshav’ he may either sell it or gift it.”

As a brief aside, a simple difference between a ‘ger toshav’ and a ‘nokhri’ is that the former not only lives in peace with the Israelites, but formally accepts their autonomy and system of laws and is an adherent of the Noahide laws. The latter, on the other hand, might live in peace out of a personal conviction, but he is not part of a formal group who has conceded power to the local Israelite autonomy. He has also not accepted the Noahide laws and might personally be an idolator. [There are many more details associated with these laws, including debates over which non-Jews qualify for each category.]

Having made clear that an “Aku’m” may not be the beneficiary of a free gift accord-

ing to the Torah law, Or HaChaim suggests that until they received the Torah, the Israelites were considered to be idolators. Only after they received the Torah did their status change, and they were able to receive the land as a gift.

This, he concludes, is the reason why, in this specific context, the Torah adds the phrase “That I am giving you” when referring to the land. It is obvious that God is the One with ‘rights’ to the land, who can do whatever He wants with His land. He has decided that this specific land goes to the Israelite nation, and the action on the decision can be put in motion as soon as the Israelite nation is defined as gift-worthy after having received the Torah at Sinai.

Compare it to the verse we read two weeks ago (19:23), “When you come to the land, you will plant every fruit-bearing tree.” Why doesn’t it say, “…to the land I am giving you?” Because the land “is only given to you” as a direct result of the receiving and acceptance of the Torah at Sinai.

This is why the initial question should not be about Shmittah, because Shmittah is a mere by-product of the real focus in the verse, namely, the two great gifts G-d bequeathed to the Israelite nation, which are inextricably intertwined.

Without the Torah, it seems, there is no claim to the land of Israel. It was a gift for which G-d received nothing in return, a gift He gave because the recipients were now the Israelite nation, as defined by the

Sinaitic experience at which they declared “Naaseh V’nishma” – we will observe [the law] and we will hear [as in, learn what it’s all about].

The subtleties and nuances of the giftgiving that Maimonides discusses is open for discussion: what is a matnat chinam (free gift), how do we define each group and category, in what way does being or not being idolators change the possible benefits package?

What is clear, is that G-d chose the people who were to be observing His Torah to receive the land as well. And they, in turn, are allowed to give gifts to those who are “Ger Toshav” – who accept the law of the land and who live in peace with their Israelite neighbors, and do not present a threat to their mortal existence.

Politics and political correctness aside, this seems like sane advice – don’t give away anything if you do not receive something tangible in return. There are no freebies; there are only proper business transactions, where the cost of what you get is just about equal in value to what you are giving up.

From the other side of the coin, the Torah is the unequivocal key ingredient that makes the nation of Israel and the land of Israel a match literally made in heaven.

May we merit to see the day that all of Israel not only knows this to be true, but takes steps to live their Jewish lives guided by and in accordance with the precepts of the Torah.

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THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772

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THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772

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Who’s in the kitchen?

Say cheese...cake!

S

havuot? Already? How is that possible? Didn’t we just put away the last of our Pesach dishes, or, alternatively for some, unpacked our luggage? I’m actually still eating toasted coconut covered marshmallows because my son Jeremy always insists that we have more than enough to last through Pesach.

Can it be only one week left till Shavuot? And might I add a three-day Yom Tov. Three days, six huge meals to shop for, prepare, serve and clean up after and lots of company.

Are you sure you guys can handle three days of eating and napping? Start bracing for the event, you have a week to prepare. O.K., you guys do stay up all night learning, I’ll give you that. But let’s also remember that you take a quick nap after dinner before heading off to shul. Once there, depending on which shul you belong to, you’re Judy Joszef catered to all night long with either dairy goodies or barbeques. And let’s be honest, how many of you take catnaps in between your eating and learning? And then after davening you come home and sleep until we drag you out of bed for lunch.

Shavuot learning has certainly come a long way since I was kid! There was a table with some sponge cake, heavy marble cake (which I ate the top off of every piece) and soda. There weren’t four different types of cheesecakes, crepes, salads, wraps and coffee stations. Men did fall asleep, though, just as well back then. During the day when Yom Tov was

not on Shabbat (no eruv in Boro Park in those days) we all walked to 14th Ave and either set up a nut stand or participated in the games. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain. The owner of a nut stand would set up a game that you would play with filberts or almonds in their shells. You either had to roll the nuts and knock other nuts off the table or you had to throw it into a hole cut out of a box. If you won, you were rewarded with nuts, if you lost, the owner of that nut stand got to keep your nuts. Kids today don’t know what they’re missing.

Oh, and let’s not forget when all those products came out to help our hair look clean when you couldn’t wash your hair for three days. Remember that powder-like substance that was supposed to soak up the oil in your hair? Sure, it soaked up the oil, but you basically walked around with white hair.

Good times….

One thing that hasn’t changed: almost everyone will eat a piece or two of cheese cake this Shavuot.

Cheesecake has been around for a long time.

The earliest attested mention of a cheesecake is by the Greek physician Aegimus, who wrote a book on the art of making cheesecakes. Cato the Elder wrote De Agri Cultura which includes recipes for two cakes for religious uses. One of them is described as somewhat like the cheesecake known to us today.

Historians believe that cheesecake was served to the athletes during the first Olympic games held in 776 B.C.E. However, cheese making can be traced back as far as 2,000 B.C.E.; anthropologists have found cheese molds dating back to that period.

The Romans spread cheesecake from Greece to all of Europe. Centuries later, cheesecake appeared in America, the recipes brought over by immigrants.

In 1872, William Lawrence, while looking for a way to recreate the soft, French cheese Neufchatel, accidentally came up with a way of making an “unripened cheese” that is heavier and creamier.

In 1912, James Kraft developed a form of pasteurized cream cheese. Kraft acquired the Philadelphia trademark in 1928, and marketed pasteurized Philadelphia Cream Cheese, which is now the most commonly used cheese for cheesecake.

There are many styles of cheesecakes around today. These are the most popular: New York-style cheesecake relies upon heavy cream. Cheesecake is usually made from cream cheese, eggs and egg yolks to add richness and a smooth consistency.

Pennsylvania Dutch-style cheesecake uses a slightly tangy type of cheese with larger curds and less water content, called pot or farmer’s cheese.

Philadelphia-style cheesecake is lighter in texture, yet richer.

On the “The Golden Girls,” the cast consumed more than 100 cheesecakes (the characters’ favorite dessert) during the TV show’s seven-year run.

Ganache covered, Toblerone topped decadent cheesecake ■ 48 ounces of cream cheese, not whipped ■ 2 cups of sugar ■ 7 eggs ■ 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract ■ 20 ounces of sour cream ■ 1/2 cup orange juice reduced over a low

flame which will equal about 1/10 of a cup ■ Ganache ■ 20 ounces of semisweet chocolate ■ 20 ounces of heavy cream ■ 45 mini bars of Toblerone chocolate (15 dark, 15 milk, 15 white) they can be cut to fit any design you choose.

■ thin cigar wafers (Presidor for example) Directions Beat cream cheese till well blended, then add sugar and beat well. Add the sour cream, eggs, or-

ange juice and vanilla.

Line a 10” round 3” high pan with parchment paper and spray bottom and sides with Pam. Pour batter into the pan and place it inside a larger pan. Fill the larger pan with very hot water, making sure you don’t splash water into the batter.

Bake in a 350 F oven for about 11/2 hours or till the top is golden brown. Turn oven off and leave cake inside till totally cool (over night is fine).

To remove cake, run a sharp knife around the sides, move pan over a medium flame for a few seconds then invert onto a serving plate.

Melt chocolate in microwave and add heavy cream, mix well and heat till all is incorporated. Let cool a bit, then pour over top of cakes and down the sides. Smooth it out. You can add the Toblerone chocolate as I did in the picture or make any design you like. Each bar is divided into three pyramid like domes. They can be separated to fit any design you choose. Add cigar wafers to the side and tie a ribbon around the wafers.

Enjoy Shavuot and the cheesecake…and if anyone gets bored, come on over to my house, we can set up nut stands like we did in the old days.

She can be contacted at Judy.soiree@gmail.com.

May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772 THE JEWISH STAR

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story is told of a Jewish man who was riding on the subway reading a newspaper of the Klu Klux Klan. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon. Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader, “Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading a Klu Klux Klan newspaper?”

Moshe replied: “I FROM THE HEART used to read the JewOF JERUSALEM ish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to the Klu Klux Klan newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, and Jews rule the world. The Rabbi Binny news is so much better!”

Freedman Sometimes, it seems life is all about perspective.

This week’s portion, Bechukotai, contains one of the most difficult and painful sections in the entire Torah. Known as the Tochacha, or rebuke, (admonition), in these thirty verses (VaYikra 26:1443) the Torah describes the series of horrendous calamities that will befall the Jewish people should they fail to live up to their mission as a holy people and a light unto the nations.

The challenging implication of these verses is that all of the terrible events that the Jewish people have suffered through the ages are somehow the result or consequence of the mistakes we have made and the transgressions we have violated.

Why would G-d want such a relationship, where people obey or worship Him purely for fear of retribution?

Interestingly, before the Torah delineates what will go wrong when we do not heed the word of G-d, it first specifies all the blessings we will merit if we do live up to our responsibilities as a people.

“If you will follow in the path of my statutes, and safeguard my commandments, and fulfill them, then I will give your rains in their time, and the land will give forth its bounty, and the tree of the field will yield its fruit.” (26:3-4) In other words, if we do right by G-d, then G-d will do right by us. But is this really true? There are tragically no shortage of people who seem to live up to the way of life the Torah desires, and yet live lives far from prosperity and often with great suffering.

Further the Mishna in Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) teaches: “Antig’nos, a man of Socho… used to say: Do not be like the servant who serves the Master in order to receive reward, rather be like the servant who serves the Master not in order to receive reward, and may the fear of heaven be upon you.”

(Avot, 1:3) In other words, our relationship with G-d should not be out of a desire to be rewarded, nor out of fear of punishment, but rather simply because we desire a closer relationship with the Creator of the world. Which again leaves us wondering what the purpose of the entire recipe of blessings and curses in this week’s portion is all about?

It is interesting that Rashi, at the beginning of our portion suggests: “If you will follow in the path of my statutes”: This obviously cannot be speaking about the fulfillment of the commandments, because this is the next part of the verse: “and safeguard my commandments, and fulfill them,” rather, this means (quoting the Midrash here) you shall toil in the study of Torah …because this will allow you to keep and fulfill the mitzvoth.” (Rashi 26:3) In other words, the condition upon which the economic prosperity the Torah seems to promise is predicated, is not the fulfillment of the commandments, but rather the study of Torah, necessary in order to fulfill the mitzvoth. This would seem to imply that someone who fulfills the mitzvoth without studying Torah does not merit the rewards spoken of here. Why? It seems the key to understanding all of these issues is to understand the meaning of Torah itself.

What does it mean to study Torah? What, indeed, is Torah all about?

On a superficial level, the fundamental existential difference between a world created by G-d and a world without G-d that exists merely as some sort of cosmic accident is whether or not there is a purpose to our existence. If the world is an accident, then so are we, and while we can strive to give our accidental lives meaning, in the end, we are all random results of a random process.

But if Hashem (G-d) created the world, then creation implies purpose, and that means that everything and everyone in this world is created for a reason.

Holocaust survivor and creator of logo-therapy Victor Frankel, posits in his masterpiece Man’s Search For Meaning, that the essential ingredient that drives us in this world is our search for meaning. Fascinated by the way different people dealt with the hardships of concentration camp life in completely different ways, he noted one particular fellow who arrived in Auschwitz with one of his students and became determined to pass on to this youth a particular tractate of Talmud, which he knew largely by heart.

Whenever he would see this Rebbe (teacher), whether on work detail, or at night in the barracks, and often even at role call, when he thought no one was watching, he was always with his student whispering the sacred words of Talmud under his breath.

And even in Auschwitz, in the midst of all the death that surrounded them, this Rebbe always seemed so alive and so full of purpose. It seemed as though no matter what happened around them, he always had a spring in his step, and others seemed to take strength from being around him.

Until one day he actually completed the tractate he was teaching the boy, for which he had been living. And then Frankel watched as the weight of his reality broke him down and he became what was known as a musselman, one of the living dead who had given up on life. These inmates were immediately discernible by the vacant stare in their eyes and were avoided by other prisoners; one never knew when they would just stop what they were doing and walk over to one of the fences or defy the guards, no longer caring whether they lived or died. And when the guards started shooting they didn’t care where their bullets landed.

How could someone so full of life one day simply lose the desire to go on the next? Frankel conContinued on page 18

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Calendar Submit your shul or organization’s events or shiurim to jscalendar@thejewishstar.com.

Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.

May 18 Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story A FAVORITE OF AUDIENCES at major film festivals, FOLLOW ME: THE YONI NETANYAHU STORY is coming to New York during the week of May 18 through 24 at Lincoln Center and Quad Cinema.

Exclusive discounted tickets are being made available to groups in the region. Screening dates are expected to fill up soon so please contact us immediately if you are interested.

Filmmakers available to join your group for a Q&A following the screening.

Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center Film Society of Lincoln Center 144 West 65th Street, New York, NY Two theaters: 142 seats available Tickets are $13 & $9/sr. citizens Group sales price: $10/ticket Quad Cinema 34 W 13th St, New York, NY 145 seats available

Tickets are $11 & $8/sr. citizens Group sales price (when purchasing 15 or more): $9/ticket for Monday-Thursday screenings GROUP SALES CONTACT: Juda Engelmayer, 917-733-3561 juda.engel@gmail.com www.FollowMeTheMovie.com

May 19-20 HAFTR High School Drama Club presents Oliver OPENING NIGHT will be Saturday night, May 19th at 9:45 PM. A second performance is scheduled for Sunday evening May 20th at 7PM. Both performances will be at the HAFTR High School Auditorium, 635 Central Avenue, in Cedarhurst.

Music, Lyric and Book by Lionel Bart. Licensed by arrangement with Oliver Productions, Ltd. and Oliver Promotions, Ltd. For more information please contact Jennifer Winkler: jenlanter@aol.com.

Photo by Malka Eisenberg

UJA – Federation South Shore healthcare Professionals Dinner. Top Row: Dr. Neil Smith, Dr. Myron boxer, Dr. Miriam Slomovits, Dr. Jeffry Beer (Chair), Dr. Steven Mermelstein (chair), Dr. Mel Young, Dr. Abraham Herzberg, and Dr. Leonard Schiffman (chair) Bottom Row: Honorees:Rabbi Tzvi Flaum, Dr. Steven Kresch, Dr. Esther Lipstein – Kresch, Dr. Perry Stein.

May 20

May 23

Kulanu Annual Community Fair

Friends of the IDF Inaugural Community Event

GAME BOOTHS, PRIZES and gifts, refreshments, exciting rides for all ages, pony rides, crafts Cedarhurst Park. 12 p.m. – 5 p.m For more information please call 516-569-3083 or visit www.kulanukids.org. Email Rachael@ kulanukids.org.

SEPHARDIC TEMPLE, 775 Branch Blvd, Cedarhurst, 7 p.m. For more information, please contact Rebecca Feld at (646) 274-9649 or Rebecca.Feld@fidf.org

May 22

Habura at Cong Bais Tefilah of Woodmere To Celebrate Siyum of Sefer Hachinuch

North Shore Hebrew Academy Annual Dinner 57th Annual Dinner honoring Kathy and Arnie Flatow and Sarit and Shlomo Elias at Citi Field, 6 p.m. For more information please contact the business office at 516-487-8687, ext 2.

Community Chest & the JCC of the Greater Five Towns will be participating at the

Kulanu Fair Please come visit the Five Towns Community Chest and the JCC of the Greater Five Towns on Sunday May 20, 2012 at Cedarhurst Park.

Enjoy a day of Fun, Games, Prizes, Rides, Ponies, Crafts and Refreshments at The Kulanu Fair.

We invite you to stop by our Food Pantry Collection Booth and bring a non-perishable kosher food item and receive 2 attraction tickets for your donation compliments of the JCC & Community Chest For additional information please call 516-374-5800 Andrew J. Parise Park

Cedarhurst May 20, 2012 12:00 PM-5:00PM

May 22 Movie screening HAFTR 8TH GRADE STUDENTS have been working closely with Holocaust survivors to interview them and document their stories on film.

HAFTR High School Auditorium on 635 Central Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY 11516., 7:30 p.m.

The contact person for this event is Rinat Berko: fberko@hotmail.com.

May 26 Every Shabbos morning for more than ten years a determined group of ten to fifteen men have been learning the Sefer Hachinuch following the Hashkama Minyan. The Habura is finally about to reach the 613th mitzvah. Years ago, when the participants of the Minyan started to have a weekly Kiddush, the Morah D’Asra of Congregation Bais Tefilah, Rabbi Shaya Richmond, insisted that they learn a Mitzvah from the Sefer Hachinuch each week before the Kiddush.

While the Kiddush was not held weekly, the learning was and the Habura has scheduled the Siyum of the Sefer to take place after the 7:15 AM minyan on May 26th, erev Shavous. Each week a different member of the Habura takes the responsibility to lead the learning, a factor which has made the group somewhat unique. Whatever the background of the leader, whether a novice or an experienced learner, all are given the opportunity. The Habura will start a new cycle, learning Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, the second day of Shavuos. All are invited to come and join in the Siyum and to begin a new cycle of learning.

Congregation Bais Tefilah of Woodmere is located at 409 Edward Avenue.

The Jewish Star is looking for a few good people with a lot to say.

Freelancers: Write about your community, your school, Jewish life. See your name in print.

Contact kgreen@thejewishstar.com

15 THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772

Mazel Chabad of West Hempstead Celebrates

By Karen C. Green On May 22, 2012, Chabad of West Hempstead will host their Friendship Circle evening of recognition and awards ceremony at The Garden City Hotel at 7:30 p.m. The Friendship Circle provides services and support for Jewish children and teens with special needs through the help of trained teen volunteers and professional therapists. The evening will pay tribute to volunteers who have devoted themselves to the cause.

Nasser Samman, General Manager of The Garden City Hotel has enjoyed a fine working relationship with Rabbi Yossi Lieberman of the Chabad of West Hempstead for close to three years. “Chabad of West Hempstead is an outstanding organization and we take

great pride in taking part in their celebrations and fundraising events. Their annual dinner which took place on March 18th in our hotel’s grand ballroom, honoring County Executive Ed Mangano was a huge success, with over 300 people in attendance. The lavish setting enhanced the sumptuous menu offered by Mauzone. Its always a pleasure to serve my friend Rabbi Lieberman and the Chabad of West Hempstead organization and we look forward to hosting many more simchas.�

Rabbi Lieberman appreciates the fact that The Garden City Hotel is the only five star venue in Nassau. “The venue is so elegant and they worked within our budget. Our annual dinner is at the tail end of the dinner season. Everyone who attends, says ‘wow, how did they do this?’�

TOV The Garden City Hotel invites you to celebrate your simcha with us And our A-List of Preferred Kosher Caterers Joel Katz’s / Prestige Foremost RAM Lederman Mauzone Newman & Leventhal

6HYHQWK 6WUHHW *DUGHQ &LW\ 1HZ <RUN ZZZ JDUGHQFLW\KRWHO FRP Courtesy of Chabad of West Hempstead

Guests at the Chabad of West Hempsteadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual dinner enjoy a lovely dinner and the ambiance at the Garden City Hotel.

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May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772 THE JEWISH STAR

16

NCSY-Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst

Firing first salvo in struggle for spiritual solutions

By Malka Eisenberg Exhorting listeners to repossess Shabbat, create a relationship with G-d, and reconnect with family, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union, delivered the keynote and final lecture on May 6th at an NCSY community wide event at the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst, entitled Spiritual Solutions: Guiding Our Children Through Today’s Greatest Challenges.

Pointing out that we have to be “consciously aware” of the special gift of the Shabbat that G-d gave us, Weinreb said that it is a great gift that we don’t appreciate enough. He had the audience close their eyes and bring up images related to the blessing of Havdala: the difference between light and dark, Yisrael and the nations, the seventh day and the six days of activity, between holiness and the mundane. Part of the problem in reconnecting is 20th century man’s disconnect from nature, explained Weinreb, working in an office with only a clock to tell time. He said that nature is fundamental to our religion, that “our G-d is a G-d of nature,” with Mincha as the sun sets and Shacharit as the sun rises.

Weinreb also stressed that he doesn’t like the term “Hashem,” saying that it is a barrier. “You can get to G-d through His world,” he said. “It is difficult to connect to G-d with ‘the name.’”

Other terms for G-d foster closeness, he said, such as the Aibeshter (the one above), or other terms in Yiddish—the merciful One, sweet Father in Heaven, or in Hebrew—Av Harachamim (merciful Father), Avinu Malkainu (our Father our King). “Forget about (the term) ‘Hashem,’” he said. “It’s not a way to create a relationship.”

We distance ourselves from G-d that way, he explained.

Rabbi Weinreb stressed that the principal focus of Shabbat is not on the “nos”not driving, not turning on a light, not texting, but about G-d as creator of the Universe, all powerful, the Almighty. “That is why we make Kiddush,” explained Weinreb. That G-d created the world yesh mayayin–ex nihilo-out of nothing, and then stopped, “that’s why we stop,” he stressed.

“Friday night we have to get in touch with that majesty. The first thing G-d did that wasn’t creative was He stopped, blessed and sanctified.

Our essence as human beings is that we are created in G-d’s image. He created and we have powers to create. We can make fire, written languages, buildings, sew, we have 39 kinds of creativity. To continue to imitate G-d, we stop creating when He stopped. It’s a different perspective.”

He noted that at a panel discussion at Yeshiva University the question was asked, “When was the last time G-d was mentioned in your curriculum?” The assumption, he noted, is that all the learning we are studying is G-d’s will, and yet he points out numerous examples of hypocrisy, those who forgot about G-d and cheat the government, abuse children, beat their spouse. “If we don’t worship G-d in joy, with the goodness of our hearts, with youthfulness, we are open to terrible things,” he stressed. He said Shabbat should be observed with excitement and emotion; “the worst thing is to do it by rote, break through the horrible Shabbat imprisonment.” He already heard those complaining of the long summer Shabbatot and the upcoming three-day Yom Tov of Shavuot. He stressed the importance of learning Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) with children and in general on Shab-

Photo by Malka Eisenberg

Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, Regional Director of New York NCSY, speaking before the final session at an NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth) event, Spiritual Solutions: Guiding Our Children Through Today’s Greatest Challenges bat afternoons through the summer, noting that there are many creative books on Pirkei Avot geared to children.

Depending on the ages of the children and a family’s traditions, there are many strategies available to convey the appreciation of Shabbat. The most important: preparation. “Nobody gets a spiritual epiphany in a flash,” he emphasized. “It’s from toil, preparing. You get a spiritual high from Pesach after you clean your house, buy and cook the food, make matzoh, and when you sit at the Seder, with siyato dishmaya (help of Heaven) you have a spiritual experience.”

The preparation for Shabbat begins with Havdalah, Rabbi Weinreb explained, noting that on Sunday morning the prayers include a Psalm where we begin the count to the next Shabbat.

We start to prepare for Shabbat early in the week, putting aside special foods for Shabbat throughout the week. “The more you invest the more your reap,” he pointed out. “If you want a Shabbat experience, you have to prepare. The tactics are your’s to invent. There are millions of ways to prepare; part B is the children, part A is ourselves. One way of dealing with burnout of the entire weekday, as boring and painful as it is, it stops at TGIF. The Jew thanks G-d” for each day closer to Shabbat. The second step is making it special with things designated for Shabbat, a white shirt, a white tablecloth, favorite foods, special prayers. He noted that 120 years ago this same problem confronted Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch; in his book Foundations of Education, Hirsch mentioned the need to teach others the joy in doing mitzvoth (commandments).

Weinreb cited the story of a woman who only interacted on Facebook and had 87,000 Facebook friends, but her death at age 87 went undetected for five months; the police found her body after a neighbor notice a large pile of mail

”Nobody gets a

spiritual epiphany

in a flash. It’s from toil, preparing.

by her door. “The danger of technology is that it dehumanizes us,” said Weinreb, “we have a desperate loneliness, no hugging, kissing or crying on shoulders.” On Shabbat, in shul “we reconnect with family and our Creator, we have social connections, we rehumanize the dehumanized parts of ourselves, reclaiming Shabbos.”

“This was a good first step,” said Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, Regional Director of New York NCSY. He said that about 200 people attended the sessions. “People were very excited and inspired. We have an obligation to build on this. It can’t be the end. There are a lot of different challenges.”

When asked to describe the focus and purpose of the conference, Rabbi Lightstone said that they are “working together as a community for solutions and strategies to reconnect and reengage our teens and our families with practical steps for Shabbat, Tefilah and communication.

We are changing the paradigm from our kids being takers to being givers with chesed, Torah and Shabbat. It takes a lot to entertain a kid who just shows up. They need to have real ownership of the event. Learning can’t be passive, we can never beat movies—they are too good for us. We are empowering the kids. That’s the largest commonality that came through.”

Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, noted author and lecturer, and Rav of Khal Bais Yitchok in Brooklyn, pointed to the obligation of parents to be role models. When davening, he stressed, they should know the words and the nusach. We have to raise our game if we want out kids to follow in our footsteps, he explained.

Another speaker stressed the importance of having the children appreciate the Shema prayer as a basis, not to have a double standard between behavior in the home and outside, to show love and to communicate love continuously and live by example, said Mrs. Estee Lightstone. “You can’t expect kids to say thank you if you don’t say thank you to your spouse,” she explained.

Another session dealt with hypocrisy. “It turns kids off,” said Leah Pariser, a teacher of Jewish History at SKA High School. If the

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President, Emeritus of the Orthodox Union delivering the keynote address at YILC. words aren’t true, kids “don’t know how to navigate the world in and outside the home.”

Participants called the program “phenomenal,’ “beyond amazing,” and “inspiring.”

“It’s the follow-through,” stressed Rabbi Lightstone. “We are looking for a long lasting ramification for a cultural shift in the community.”

17

Touring Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cheesecake Factory nomenon, but I choose not to look a gift horse in the mouth and simply accept that there is no really solid halachic reason for eating dairy, it is simply a wonderful minhag (custom) that we developed at some point. The crowning achievement of this tradition is that (like so many of our other traditions) it decided to go for broke and take the single most dairy item in existence and add it as a staple to the Shavuot menu. I, of course, mean the glorious decadence that is cheesecake.

When I toured the Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s factory, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do it in my usual capacity as a food writer; I went with a friend as a civilian. My friend, Moshe, was visiting Chicago and, when I asked him what he wanted to see, he immediately asked that I bring him to tour Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, the house that cheesecake built.

Known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Most Famous Dessert,â&#x20AC;?

Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first began selling cheesecake in the seventies and eventually developed into a countrywide brand. The factory is a sixty-twothousand square foot behemoth that houses a cafĂŠ in the front end with a set of extrawide double doors behind which is a team of people who construct the actual cheesecakes.

I watched this small army furiously assemble cheesecakes and was then ushered to a room with a large screen that displayed a short film on the history of Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. I digress for a moment

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to mention the following fact. Normally the Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheesecake tour would take place with about twenty or so participants but the aforementioned foul weather had thinned the ranks of people who showed up for the factory tour. In fact, only Moshe and I were on the tour, but when the Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheesecake representative brought out the cart of cheesecakes, it was meant to be eaten by a full tour group.

I am not especially proud of what happened next, but I was young, and my constitution for cream cheese based desserts was much higher. What followed was a flurry of sampling; I tried every last kosher item offered

by Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

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have been I am now in the present able to call back on my experience when considering cheesecake options for this Shavuot. See,there is an entire world of cheesecake, not just the original plain flavor that is most often served. Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in particular makes a Blackberry Sour Cream Cheesecake that is particularly marvelous and would pair nicely with richer pasta dishes (if one was so inclined to make one for Shavuot). For those looking for a chocolate fix Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also makes a series of chocolate loverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s items like chocolate chip cheesecake or Heath bar Cheesecake not to mention their Dutch chocolate cheesecake. For my money, though, I would buy their cheesecake on a stick dipped in chocolate and frozen. That particular item comes individually wrapped and in boxes of six.

I walked away from Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cheesecake Factory stuffed to the gills and freezing, but feeling as if my life had been enriched by an overly decadent experience. As a result of that day years ago, I found myself amply prepared for company on Shavuot, after having walked out of Shoprite with several armloads and flavors of cheesecake.

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It was negative three degrees on the day that I went to tour the Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cheesecake Factory and though it was bitterly cold the frigid air did nothing to dampen my eagerness to tour a refrigerated factory. If anything, the cold weather had caused me to bundle up so that I was amply prepared to walk into the room-sized blast chiller where the cheesecakes THE KOSHER are placed and allowed CRITIC to set. I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t thought about this day for quite some time, but as I was roaming through the aisles of Shoprite the other day I caught a glimpse of an Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheesecake in the refrigerator section and it took me back to that brutally glacial day.

Then, like a blow to the chest came the crystalizing realization that, Zechariah Mehler even though it seems like Passover was just yesterday it was in fact two weeks ago and now I was looking down the barrel at Shavuot and I was woefully unprepared. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how it became clear to me that it was time to start thinking seriously about cheesecake.

Shavuot is easily one of my favorite holidays because it is the only Yom Tov that encourages us to eat ice cream at the end of a festive meal. Jewish culinary anthropologists will provide all sorts of reasons for this phe-

THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 â&#x20AC;˘ 26 IYAR 5772

The Kosher Critic

May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772 THE JEWISH STAR

18

Israel news analysis:

Hebrew only please!

Egypt’s gas supply halted

A united Jerusalem - if we`re united!

By Malka Eisenberg The Egyptian government recently unilaterally abrogated a contract to supply Israel with natural gas, thus breaking a long-term agreement and maybe breaching the peace treaty between the two countries.

Egypt reportedly supplied 40% of Israel’s natural gas needs, its principle source of energy. Israel only received 25% of the amount contracted in 2011 since the Sinai desert pipeline supplying the gas was blown up 14 times during this period.

Egypt claimed that it was just business and not politics, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed up the Egyptian claim apparently to diffuse a diplomatic crisis. MK Binyamin BenEliezer called the decision “very serious. The existence of the pipeline supported the peace treaty.”

Israeli Energy Minister Uzi Landau said, “At the end of the day it is not just a commercial deal between companies, it is an important deal between two countries.”

“Anyone saying this is a ‘business matter’ is naïve or flatly wrong,” pointed out Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff. A few weeks ago the Egyptian Parliament voted to stop transferring gas to Israel following the “repeated sabotage” by “Egyptian Islamic revolutionary terrorists.”

Bennet continued, “The Egyptian parliament recently issued a report that stated: ‘Revolutionary Egypt will never be a friend, partner or ally of the Zionist entity (Israel), which we consider to be the number one enemy of Egypt and the Arab nation. It will deal with that entity as an enemy, and the Egyptian government is hereby called upon to review all its relations and accords with that enemy.’

“We’re losing Egypt to revolutionary Islam be-

cause of President Obama’s mistakes,” he added.

“According to Obama and (New York Times columnist) Tom Friedman, the “new Egypt” was going to be this Facebook-Twitter state run by young and hip kids. In fact, it’s committed to suppressing women, going after Christians and blowing up their churches and wiping out Israel. The policy of calling a radical Islamic regime ‘moderate’ doesn’t work in the real world.”

“This is a welcome sign of the truth of the Arab peace spirit and it’s good to see it in action,” said Rabbi David Algaze, Rav of Havurat Yisrael in Forest Hills and President of the World Committee for the Land of Israel. “It’s only a piece of paper. Israel gave up territory and now we see the unraveling of the peace treaty; the illusion of peace is shattered.

Now we know whom we are dealing with and we have to take prudent and rational measures for the safety of the State of Israel. Rather than the utopian and illusory vision that Arabs want peace with Israel, the clamor of the nation, the majority of those who would vote the Moslem Brotherhood into power, want war to do away with Israel. It exposes us to the dangers of extermination and constant threats. It’s a dream that needs to be abandoned. I hope we never return to that dependence. Israel needs to be independent of foreign help, of oil, of defense. We need to be the giver not the taker.”

Landau said that Israel has been working towards energy independence and predicted the eventual cutoff of gas from Egypt.

In a related development, the Israeli and international developers of the Tamar natural gas field on Israel’s coast received $900 million in financial backing. They estimate that this will enable them to begin production by mid 2013 with this becoming Israel’s main source of natural gas.

A purpose to our existence Continued from page 13 cluded that what drives human beings above all else is our search for meaning.

If indeed we are created by G-d, then that purpose we so crave is not simply a random delusion we have created for ourselves, which can never stand up to the light of true introspection, rather, it is the purpose for which Hashem placed us in this world to begin with.

And if indeed G-d created us all for a reason, it makes no sense for G-d not to, at some point, communicate or reveal to us what that purpose is.

After all, what would be the point of there being a purpose to our sojourn in this world if we never learned what that purpose was?

This is why every religion that believes in a G-d, inevitably has a revelation, a point at which G-d reveals to the world their purpose.

For the Jewish people that point in time occurred three thousand years ago at Sinai, and the Torah is essentially the recipe of purpose for what we are meant to be doing, and who we are meant to become in this life.

Torah, then, is all about purpose. And the study of Torah is the opportunity essentially, to tap into the thought process of G-d. Torah is not meant to be merely an intellectual accruing of knowledge; it is meant to be an opportunity to experience G-d.

Indeed, it is the fabric of our relationship with G-d in this world. It represents our ability to find meaning in all that we do, and everything we see.

This then, may be what this week’s portion is all about. Perhaps the ‘reward’ that comes as a result of this toiling in Torah is that life becomes its own reward.

It is not that we can ever answer the question of how and why the Jewish people have suffered so

much over the millennium; it is that the question no longer challenges us in the same way.

The verse tells us: “Tzaddik Be’Emunato Yichyeh,” which we usually take to mean that the righteous live on faith alone. But Rav Kook (in his Midot HaRe’ayah’) points out that faith is the way we view the world. When we believe that everything has purpose, we are then seeing the world through completely different lenses. A tzaddik lives in a very different world, because he or she sees the world in a completely different way. Everything has meaning, and everything comes from G-d.

Perhaps this is the meaning of the Mishnah from Avot we quoted above. After all, if we should not serve the Master to get a reward, then obviously we should serve the Master without any desire to receive a reward! Why the need to repeat the sentence, instead of just saying we should not serve Hashem for reward?

Perhaps the point is not to expect that you will receive a reward for your efforts, because it is the effort that is in fact the reward.

And this is why the Mishnah there concludes: “and may the fear of heaven be upon you.” Because the word morah, mistranslated as fear, really means awe, from the root lir’ot, to see. Antig’nos of Socho was suggesting that the challenge and the essence of life in this world are to see heaven on earth, every day, in everything we do.

May we all be blessed to see the world through entirely different lenses, which see only blessing!

Shabbat Shalom, Binny Freedman Rav Binny Freedman, Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem’s Old City is a Company Commander in the IDF reserves, and lives in Efrat with his wife Doreet and their four children. His weekly Internet ‘Parsha Bytes’ can be found at www.orayta.org

In July 1948, a final attempt was made to recapture the Old City of Jerusalem. This failed; for 19 years Jerusalem remained divided, and Jews were prevented from praying at the Kotel. In 1967, the city was reunited in the Six Day war. Why did we

have to wait until then? Rav Neryah suggests that in 1948 we were divided, but in 1967 we were united: one government, one army, entering the city through one gate. On this Yom Yerushalayim, let us all strive for unity!

By Rabbi Noam Himelstein

,‫ מתנהלים סביב ירושלים‬2‫ קרבות עזים‬.1‫ ומלחמת העצמאות בעיצומה‬,‫ מדינת ישראל קמה‬.1948 ‫ ביולי‬.3‫ ותושביה נופלים בשבי‬,‫ למאי נופל הרובע היהודי בעיר העתיקה בידי הלגיון הערבי‬28-‫וב‬ (‫ חטיבת עציוני )של הפלמ"ח‬,"‫ ב"מבצע קדם‬.‫נעשה נסיון אחרון לכבוש בחזרה את הרובע היהודי‬ ‫ כוח של האצ"ל )ארגון צבאי לאומי( דרך שער‬,‫הייתה אמורה לפרוץ לעיר העתיקה בסמוך לשער ציון‬ ‫ אמנם האצ"ל‬:‫ המבצע נכשל‬.‫ וכוח של הלח"י )לוחמי חירות ישראל( בין שער החדש ושער יפו‬,‫החדש‬ ‫ )הם ניסו בעזרת‬.‫ אך הפלמ"ח לא הצליחה לפוצץ את חומת העיר ליד שער ציון‬,‫הצליחו להיכנס לעיר‬ ‫ ועליו כיתוב המתארת את‬,‫; היום ניתן לראות אבן המסמן את מקום הפיצוץ‬4"‫פצצה בצורה של "קונוס‬ .‫ ונאסר ביקור יהודים בכותל המערבי‬,‫ הירדנים פוצצו עשרות בתי כנסת‬,‫( הרובע נפל‬.‫הקרב‬ ....................................................................................................................................... ‫ מקים‬,‫ לוי אשכול‬,‫ ראש הממשלה‬,‫ מדינות ערב להשמיד את מדינת ישראל‬5‫ בעקבות איומי‬.1967 ,‫ ביניהם משה דיין שנהיה לשר הבטחון‬,‫ ומצרף אליו את מנהיגי האופוזיציה‬,6‫ממשלת אחדות לאומית‬ ‫ למרות‬.‫ ימים ספורים לאחר מכן פורצת מלחמת ששת הימים‬.‫ שהצטרף כשר בלי תיק‬,‫ומנחם בגין‬ ‫ בעקבות הודעות‬,‫ על ירושלים‬7‫ ירדן פותחת בהפגזות‬,‫בקשות ישראל מירדן לא להצטרף ללחימה‬ ‫ והצנחנים פורצים לעיר העתיקה דרך‬,‫ כתגובה צה"ל משיב מלחמה‬... ‫מצריות כי הם בדרך לתל אביב‬ ‫ ושוב יהודים יכולים לגשת‬,‫ יהודית חוזרת לעיר הקודש‬8‫ ריבונות‬.‫ ומשחררים אותה‬,‫שער האריות‬ .‫לכותל‬ ..................................................................................................................................... ‫ אך זה‬,‫ שנה לאחד את העיר? מדוע לא הצלחנו לשחרר את הרובע במלחמת השחרור‬19 ‫מדוע לקח‬ ?‫כן עלה בידינו במלחמת ששת הימים‬ (.‫ ירושלים לא נתחלקה לשבטים! )יומא יב‬:"‫ ב"מועדי הראי"ה‬,‫השיב על כך הרב משה צבי נריה‬ ,‫ הלח"י‬,‫ – האצ"ל‬9‫ היינו מפולגים‬1948-‫ לא מקור פירוד! ב‬,‫ירושלים צריכה להיות מקור אחדות‬ ‫ ושמא כל קבוצה‬,‫ כל אחד ניסה לפרוץ משער אחר‬.‫ אך לא היה אחדות‬,‫הפלמ"ח – כולם נלחמו‬ ‫ ורק צבא אחד – צה"ל‬,‫ קמה ממשלת אחדות‬1967-‫ ואילו ב‬... ‫הייתה גם טוענת שירושלים שייכת לה‬ ."‫ בשעה שכל ישראל נכנסין בשער אחד‬..." (:‫ וכדברי הגמרא )זבחים קיד‬,‫– פרץ לעיר דרך שער אחד‬ ‫ "עיר‬,‫ שהרי ירושלים היא עיר שחוברה לה יחדיו‬,‫אנו זוכים לירושלים רק כאשר אנו מאוחדים‬ .(‫ ה"ז‬,‫שמחברת ישראל זה לזה" )ירושלמי בבא קמא פ"ז‬ ..................................................................................................................................... ‫ אך כמה מצער‬."‫ ונודה לה' "המחזיר שכינתו לציון‬,‫ביום ראשון הקרוב ב"ה נחגוג את יום ירושלים‬ ‫ אנו צריכים להרבות בינינו את האהבה‬.‫שזה כמעט והפך להיות חג של הדתיים הלאומיים בלבד‬ ‫ "והיתה‬:(‫ יז‬,‫ ואז גם נזכה לדברי הנביא יואל )ד‬,‫ כדי שכולנו נהיה מאוחדים‬,‫ השלום והרעות‬,‫והאחוה‬ "!‫ וזרים לא יעברו בה עוד‬,‫ירושלים קודש‬ Rabbi Noam Himelstein studied in Yeshivat Har Etzion and served in the Tanks Corps of the IDF. He has taught in yeshiva high schools, post-high school women’s seminaries, and headed the Torah MiTzion Kollel in Melbourne, Australia. He currently teaches at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem, and lives with his wife and six children in Neve Daniel, Gush Etzion.

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THE JEWISH STAR May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772

CLASSIFIEDS

Liquor & Wine

WAREHOUSE HAPPY HOLIDAY SALE!

Johnnie Walker BLACK LABEL

$

35.99 $ 60.99

750 ML 1.75 ML

Glenrothes

FREE WINE TASTING Every Friday Kosher Wines PLUS A Wide Array Of SPIRITS

1994

$

69.99 75OML

W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

$

19.99

$

29.99

1.75L W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

750 ML

1.75 L W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

Glenlivet 12

$

39.99

750 ML

W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

Any Wine Purchase of $50 or more

57.99

1.75L

Capcanes Peraj Petit $ 17.99by the $ 14.99 Case

9.99 the $ 9.49 byCase

5 OFF

$

W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

Bartenura

$ 00

VODKA

VODKA

VODKA

$

Grey Goose

Absolut

Smirnoff

750 ML

W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

$

00

W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

$

00

10 OFF 20 OFF Any Wine Purchase of $100 or more

Any Wine Purchase of $200 or more

LIQUOR & WINE WAREHOUSE

LIQUOR & WINE WAREHOUSE

LIQUOR & WINE WAREHOUSE

Must present coupon. 1 coupon per person/visit. No photocopies.

Excludes Bartenura. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Offer expires 6/3/12.

Must present coupon. 1 coupon per person/visit. No photocopies.

Excludes Bartenura. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Offer expires 6/3/12.

Must present coupon. 1 coupon per person/visit. No photocopies.

Excludes Bartenura. Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Offer expires 6/3/12.

New York’s Finest and Largest Selection of Kosher Wines & Spirits 343 Rockaway Tpke. • Lawrence, NY 11559 Tel: (516) 371-1133 Hours: Mon-Wed 10am-8pm • Thurs-Sat 10am-9pm Sun 12pm-7pm NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL OR PRICING ERRORS.

Gilgal Cabernet & Merlot

$

12.99 per bottle $ 10.99 by case

750 ML

W/ Coupon. Exp 6/3/12. Not To Be Combined

May 18, 2012 • 26 IYAR 5772 THE JEWISH STAR

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