August 12, 2011 The Jewish Star

New local Friends of the IDF Page 3 Personal Tu B’Av thoughts Page 4 Mets fan’s Baseball Talmud Page 12 Making your own pizza Page 15

THE JEWISH

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VOL 10, NO 31 ■ AUGUST 12, 2011 / 12 AV, 5771

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Unpasteurized milk

Black market and Chalav Yisroel

By Sara Trappler Spielman While visiting friends in Sharon, Mass. a few weeks ago I went along with them one morning to buy milk. This was no ordinary milk. It came from a goat on a private farm raised by a caring woman who feeds her goats organic carrots and provides them with plenty of sunshine, fresh air and movement.

Not only was it milked right then and there by my friend and her children but also they drank it straight from the glass jars it had been pumped into without any further processing or pasteurization.

The woman on the farm explained that she used to pasteurize milk, which is the process of heating it to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds and then letting it cool in order to kill disease-causing bacteria. Then she discovered the benefits of keeping milk unpasteurized – or raw – such as beneficial bacteria, antibodies and enzymes, which aids better digestion and builds stronger immune systems. Many people have trouble tolerating milk or develop allergies to it but when the enzymes are present and not boiled out they can handle milk just fine.

The trend for unpasteurized milk has been climbing over the past few years and now it’s slowly becoming available for the chalav yisroel market but not without some legal complications. Raw milk in New York sells mostly on the black market and there’s an underground group of people buying chalav yisroel from upstate and selling it to Continued on page 3

A supreme question Place of birth: Jerusalem or Israel?

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Shabbat Candlelighting: 7:39 p.m. Shabbat ends 8:40 p.m. 72 minute zman 9:07 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Vaetchanan Shabbat Nachamu

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Raw milk and the kosher question Continued from page 1 friends in Brooklyn.

There’s a flyer that’s circulating the New York area for raw cow’s milk under the name Shmeel’s Milk, claiming that “most milk is pasteurized, killing good bacteria and vitamins, contains artificial preservatives to make it last longer, comes from cows fed grain and soy to increase production and comes from cows confined in pens with cement.”

Shmeel’s Milk, which comes from an upstate farm, boasts the opposite. Raw and unpasteurized, it “contains vitamins, no artificial preservatives, yet lasts four times longer, comes from cows fed grass and are free to graze on grass and use mashgichim who daven with a minyan and go to mikvah every day.” The non-homogenized milk, which comes with a layer of cream on top that proponents say tastes delicious, also comes with a heavy price: half a gallon for $7.50 and one gallon for $12.

I spoke with one of the distributors, who would only give his first name, Shaya. He helped start the company a few months ago and says, “It tastes unbelievable, almost like ice cream. It looks different, it smells different.”

Until now, Shaya has been delivering milk to people’s homes, mostly in Brooklyn. He reached the groups in Brooklyn who have been buying it on the black market for years and tell stories of their kids who stay healthy on this milk and never need to go to the doctor. Shaya estimates between 50 and 100 customers in Brooklyn for his product.

Although it’s very difficult to obtain a hechsher for cow’s milk, Shaya, who also sells bread, managed to get two hechsherim, including from Rabbi Yechiel Babad, the Tartikov Rav. “Milk is kosher from a kosher animal, whether it’s pasteurized or not,” said Rabbi Moshe Elefant of the OU Kashrus Department, expressing approval in theory, but with an extra requirement that goes beyond the Tartikov hechsher. “When it comes to pasteurization or adding vitamins, if it’s required by the government then it’s required by us,” Rabbi Elefant said. “It’s not a kosher issue but a legal issue, a health issue and a consumer issue. The consumer should make the decision.”

I visited a local gourmet shop in Brooklyn to see if they carried any raw milk. They had organic cow’s milk, which was pasteurized, often at a higher temperature since it’s less in demand and requires a longer shelf life. I had to ask the gentleman behind the counter if they carried any raw milk and he told me the order comes later in the week and he’ll put one aside for me. Although raw, this shop carries only goat’s milk. Quietly walking to the back of the store behind open view, he soon returned with a plain quart size bottle of milk with a red cover and completely unlabeled. I asked, “How do I know this is raw goat’s milk?”

“You just have to trust us,” he answered.

He then said it comes from a rabbi on a farm in Morristown, New Jersey. A friend of mine purchases the same milk, except she feels safer buying hers pasteurized for her children, and this rabbi sells his goat milk both raw and pasteurized.

My three-year-old loves it and I took a sip – it didn’t taste bad at all, despite the reputaContinued on page 11

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August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771 THE JEWISH STAR

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By Sergey Kadinsky In terms of foreign policy and diplomacy, Jerusalem has always been different. Proposed as an international zone by the United Nations in 1947, it was instead divided between Israel and Jordan, and completely annexed by Israel in 1967. Overwhelming majorities in Congress have reaffirmed its status as the Israeli capital, but for Americans born in Jerusalem, the line on the passport remains without a country, printed simply as Jerusalem. The omission of Israel’s name is a question now before the United States Supreme Court.

“The government claims that this is a political question, which is something that courts cannot decide. This case was never intended as a grant of recognition power,” said Alyza Lewin, the Washington-based attorney representing 8-year-old Menachem Zivotofsky, an American citizen born in Jerusalem, whose parents Naomi and Rabbi Ari Zivotofsky demanded that his birthplace be listed as “Jerusalem, Israel” instead of its present singular word, “Jerusalem.” Formerly from West Hempstead, the couple made aliyah 11 years ago.

In 2002, Congress passed a law requiring the State Department to include the country of birth, if requested to do so, by the applicant. President George W. Bush signed the bill, but with a major caveat. Arguing that foreign policy was up to the president, Bush’s signature came with a “signing statement” disagreeing with Congress’ power to force the Jewish state’s name onto the passport.

Lewin disagrees, citing a similar 1994 law passed by Congress and enforced by the president where Taiwan is listed as a place of birth, despite the island nation’s non-recognition by the United States, and the offense that it caused to China, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province. In addition, citizens born within Israel proper, who do not wish to have Israel listed as a place of birth, can simply write Haifa or any other city. Citizens born in British Palestine before 1948 can also list Palestine, even though it was

Photo courtesy www.sxc.hu

Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, will be decided in the United States’ highest court via a passport controversy. never an independent country. “The State Department also allows individuals to list the West Bank too, and it’s not a county,” Lewin added. “A passport does not recognize sovereignty. Countries can be taken off passports and citizens can self-identify as they choose.”

Eric Friedman, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra, argues the exact opposite, predicting defeat for Zivotofsky. “The power to receive ambassadors is the power to recognize a piece of land. Congress can control the funding in foreign policy, but recognition of countries belongs to the president,” Friedman said. “For example, President Nixon’s

recognition of Red China was also challenged in court and upheld.”

Friedman took on the president in 2008, successfully arguing before the Supreme Court for a Guantanamo detainee’s right to challenge his detention. Nevertheless, Friedman is not optimistic on Zivotofsky. “The court has sympathy for the executive branch.

Alito, Scalia and Roberts all worked for past presidents and the new justice Elena Kagan is a former solicitor general,” Friedman said.

As part of the brief to the highest court, Zivotofsky counts some 52,569 citizens who share Menachem Zivotofsky’s predicament.

“The purpose of a passport is for identification, and it is indisputable that Jerusalem is in Israel. The Supreme Court should insist that the State Department follow the law,” said ADL director Abraham Foxman, whose organization filed an amicus brief in support of Zivotofsky. The case will be heard in November before the Supreme Court.

“We are proud to have assembled the most significant and broad-based coalition of American Jewish organizations in recent memory,” Mr. Foxman said. “We are all united in the belief that this is an issue that transcends Israeli-Palestinian politics.”

Friends of the IDF starts Five Towns chapter

By Brigitte Fixler When an American teenager turns 18, he is able to put on a basketball uniform and play on a varsity team. When an Israeli teenager turns 18 years old, he is handed a gun and an IDF uniform and sent to go fight for his country.

“Their job is to look after Israel, ours is to look after them,” is the motto of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), a nonprofit started in 1981 by Holocaust survivors. FIDF provides social, educational, cultural and recreational programs for Israeli soldiers.

It also provides support and services to the families of fallen soldiers.

“I always had the dream that I would live in Israel, really learn Hebrew, and join the army,” said Sgt. Gidon Silverstein at an event to raise awareness and funds to create a Five Towns chapter of the FIDF. The kickoff event was held in Lawrence and was hosted by Jay & Malky Spector and Steven & Marilyn Garber.

Silverstein recently completed his army service as a lone soldier. Originally from Massachusetts, Silverstein had visited Israel as a child and teenager and always knew that he wanted to return. At 27, he left a prom-

Photo courtesy of Jay Spector

Local supporters of the IDF gather to start a new chapter in Lawrence. ising Wall Street career for Israel. The army initially told him that at his age, he could be either a cook or a driver. But Silverstein was persistent and was ultimately drafted into a combat unit, as he had wanted. He finished his service in May. Silverstein said that, as a lone soldier, he received much support from the FIDF, who gave him vouchers to help him purchase food, appliances and other necessary items.

Many of Silverstein’s friends in the army received full academic scholarships from the FIDF to attend universities after completing their service.

About 5,000 lone soldiers serve in the Israeli army every year, despite the financial and emotional challenges they face by not having any immediate family in Israel. Lone soldiers can be orphans or Israeli-born soldiers estranged from their families, but more

than 50% of lone soldiers come from outside of Israel.

Friends of the IDF provides a variety of programs that make sure lone soldiers have a place to stay on their days off, that they are remembered on holidays, that they receive financial support and that they are able to keep in touch with family and friends abroad.

Lt. Col. Chezy Deutsch, the IDF Military Attache to Washington, spoke on the topic of the shifting Middle East and its impact on Israel. He discussed the current security situation in Israel, and the relationship between Israel and its neighbors.

Deutsch said that Hamas is constantly working to smuggle in weapons that are manufactured in Iran. “The officers and soldiers of the IDF will not let them do what they want to do,” he said.

Deutsch was born in Brooklyn, and made aliyah in 1986. He joined the IDF as a lone soldier, and served in Jenin during the first Intifada. Now, Deutsch’s own son, who is 17 years old, is preparing to join the IDF himself.

“We need to protect our soldiers and we need to protect our population because that’s the most important asset we have,” said Deutsch.

THE JEWISH STAR August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771

Supreme Court, Israel and the passport case

Opinion Nachamu, Nachamu

Thoughts on Tu b’Av

“Comfort ye, Comfort ye” Isaiah writes, G-d rhymes.

The question is asked, “why ‘nachamu’ two times?”

By Sergey Kadinsky, age 27 With the Three Weeks of restrictions, the Nine Days of mourning, and the yearnings of Tisha b’Av behind us, a feeling of spiritual ascension is now upon us as we prepare for the Yamim Noraim. For those of us who are single, an early sign is Tu b’Av, a day celebrating matchmaking, hinting at the upcoming month of Elul, whose Hebrew acronym symbolizes the meaning of love for all Jewish couples.

Being a relative latecomer to the “shidduch scene,” I still feel a strong optimism in various strategies involved towards finding “the right one,” whether it’s Frumster, singles shabbatons, or the recommendations of my friends. I regard each of my dates as individuals unto themselves, with their own hashkafic, political, and social views. No two Jews will ever be “on the same page,” and I try my best to understand their views and my own, and visualize whether we can reconcile our differences enough to spend our lives under one roof.

I avoided dating while in college and grad school in order to focus on my studies, and I did not choose my shadhanim until I secured a small amount to finance a wedding and the first months of marriage. I then clicked for my options. Keeping an open mind, I am a Russian Jew living among Bukharian Jews, who attends a German shul, and my best friend has been described as yeshivish. I am the lone Orthodox Jew in my family, eager to pass down the mesorah of my ancestors, in an inclusive setting that highlights the unity of all Jews. My bashert could be Sephardi, Ashkenazi, baalat teshuva, a bit older, a bit younger, a bit taller, a bit shorter, a convert or divorcee. A Russian background would be a plus, but I am an idealist. A Jew above all else.

I love New York, but I am not rooted to this great city, and I see a world of opportunities keeping the option of relocation or aliyah in mind. I would prefer that her hair is covered, but how it is covered is of no difference to me. Neither is the potential baggage she may carry. If it is a health concern, we would discuss it candidly and reconcile whether we can handle it together.

I envision a world of love but also of great difficulties in employment and finance. Boruch Hashem I work in a likable local publication, while teaching history in the evenings and translating materials on weekends, in the process investing towards a secure future. Not being a Steinhardt or a Bronfman, my philanthropy is in my hands, as I volunteer in various causes. Never having attended a yeshiva, I try to

DAVID’S HARP

Not one singular answer is given, but some reckon, One for the first Temple, and one for the second.

Then there is the thought expounded over years, A consolation for the people, but also Hashem’s tears.

A word for galus and a word for the redemption, A pair for past and future generations to mention.

Saying something over and over repeatedly, Is a true sign of patience and sincerity.

David F. Nesenoff The two are needed to balance the duality and tone, Of “Hear” and “Give ear” in last week’s reading of Chazon.

208 is Nachamu times double, Equaling “Yitzchak,” the Zohar’s soul corrected from trouble.

One Nachamu for the heavens and one Nachamu for the dust of dirt, Maybe saying it both times doesn’t help… but it couldn’t hurt.

This Shabbat, in this difficult world, ‘comfort ye, comfort ye’ will be heard.

While many answers address the two words, a question remains, “Why not a third?”

Photo by Diana Nemtzov

The Jewish Star’s Assistant Editor Sergey Kadinsky seeks his bashert. include Torah learning in my week, mindful of the boundless potential in personal spiritual growth.

Things do not always work out. The lack of attraction could be physical, emotional, and unexplainable, but it should be for a good reason. When a relationship must end, it should end with kindness and support. A few of my exes saw the good and recommended me to their roommates. I have done the same on a few occasions as well, because we are all fighting for the same goal.

You will see me at Sinai (the website), and at a kiddush, on the opposite end of a dinner table, in the shopping aisle at Gourmet Glatt, at a shiur, and a pro-Israel rally. I will approach you and share my story, a narrative of building this world together and I would like to hear about you. (skadinsky@thejewishstar.com)

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August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771 THE JEWISH STAR

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Democrats ramp up personal attacks A famous hasidic tale teaches: A man once went around spreading lies about the rabbi. Eventually he began to feel remorse for the wrong he had done. He went to the rabbi and begged his forgiveness, saying he would do anything to make amends.

The rabbi said, “Take a feather pillow, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the winds.”

The man followed the request gladly. When he told the rabbi that POLITICO he had done the task, TO GO the rabbi said, “Now, go try and gather the feathers.” The man said, “But Rabbi I cannot gather the feathers they are all scattered to the wind.” The Rabbi replied, “Exactly! You cannot take back the damage your words have done; the same way you cannot then recollect the feathers.”

Jeff Dunetz According to a Rasmussen poll released this week, voter confidence in our federal leaders is at an all-time low. The survey finds that only 17 percent of likely voters think the federal government today has the consent of the governed. The government has the consent of the governed - a foundational principle contained in the

Declaration of Independence which has fallen to its lowest level.

Part of the reason for the low approval of the federal government is negative advertising. Studies have shown that voters hate negative ads but they are still used because, well, they work. But research has also shown that there is a boomerang effect, meaning negative political ads end up tarnishing the image of the candidate which the ad is supporting and the candidate’s desired office.

Sadly the news coming out of the beltway that Democratic Party operatives are already planning commercials designed to make personal attacks on candidates of the other party.

Politico.com is reporting: “Barack Obama’s aides and advisers are preparing to center the president’s reelection campaign on a ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character and business background, a strategy grounded in the early-stage expectation that the former Massachusetts governor is the likely GOP nominee… so the candidate who ran on “hope” in 2008 has little choice four years later but to run a slashing, personal campaign aimed at disqualifying his likeliest opponent. …The onslaught would have two aspects.

The first is personal: Obama’s reelection campaign will portray the public Romney as inauthentic, unprincipled and, in a word used repeatedly by Obama’s advisers in about a dozen interviews, “weird.”

Celebrating Our 24th Year

“First, they’ve got to like you, and there’s not a lot to like about Mitt Romney,” said Chicago Democratic consultant Pete Giangreco, who worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign. “There’s no way to hide this guy and hide his innate phoniness.”

Romney should not feel “picked on” because U.S. News and World Report writes that the Democrats are beginning a campaign trying to brand the Republican Party as tools of the Tea Party who they call extremists.

“Attempting to steal some thunder from their adversaries, Democratic leaders are trying to link the Republican presidential candidates with extremism in advance of the GOP debate and straw poll in Ames, Iowa this week.

To that end, the Democratic National Committee has announced a new campaign to define the 2012 Republican candidates as too closely tied to the conservative Tea Party.

Negative political advertising is as old as presidential politics itself. The first competitive presidential campaign was John Adam’ campaign against Thomas Jefferson in 1800.

During the campaign, Adams slammed Jefferson as an atheist and a “mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.”

Adams was condemned as a monarchist who sought to become a king, a fool and a hypocrite.

Now that is nasty. Just because negative advertising has been around for 211 years doesn’t make it right or desirable. Neither is nasty politics the exclusive purview of the Democratic Party, in the past both parties have engaged in the politics of personal destruction.

This election however needs to be different. The United States is arguably facing its biggest economic crisis in its history. Even during the Great Depression, full faith in the United States credit was never questioned. Voters are demanding a full and rational discussion of the important issues facing the country. Yet 15 months before the election and possibly a year before the GOP will pick a candidate, the Democratic Party has started early, already ignoring the issues and waging the politics of personal destruction. We need to fight this nonsense wherever it comes from. This election is just too important to be like the man in the hasidic tale, hopelessly chasing feathers blowing in the wind.

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 including American Thinker, Big Government, Big Journalism, NewsReal and Pajamas Media, and has been a guest on national radio shows including G. Gordon Liddy, Tammy Bruce and Glenn Beck. Jeff lives on Long Island.

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THE JEWISH STAR August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771

Opinion

August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771 THE JEWISH STAR

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Parshat Vaetchanan

Hebrew only please!

The merits of performance T

isha B’Av is a date on the calendar most noted by observant Jews. Differently affiliated Jews generally confine their annual Jewish fasting to Yom Kippur. The concept of sadness or a connection to the darker side of our people’s history is by no means exclusive to any group. History’s enemies of the Jewish people (some of whom continue to make history now) never differentiated between how people practiced their Judaism, as much as they obsessed over the fact that Jews identified as Jews.

The question is: how much longer will those who don’t know of Tisha B’Av identify as Jews?

The last verse in Devarim chapter 6 states: “It will be a merit for us if we are careful to perform this entire Rabbi Avi Billet commandment before the Lord our G-d, as He commanded us.”

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch spells out his understanding of this verse in simple language. “We can discharge the tasks of our life’s mission only if we keep the whole Torah as ‘mitzvah;’ only if we observe all the laws, without differentiation, as G-d’s commandment, our Divinely-ordained assignment to our life’s station; only if we do every mitzvah carefully, without diminishing from it or changing it, all in accordance with the content and manner prescribed by G-d. We do not have the right to abrogate or reform any of it.”

In Hirsch’s view, there is no question that an observance of Judaism that follows the letter of the Law, as described in Devarim and elsewhere in the Torah, is meritorious for the Jewish people. Obedience to divine dictates, as it were, is a lifestyle that is timeless and is not meant to ever be viewed as being outdated.

When Rabbi JH Hertz assumed the post of Chief Rabbi of England in 1913, his inaugural sermon invoked the message of the Men of the Great Assembly as recorded in the first mishnah in Avot, focusing on their three-tiered message which concludes with “make a fence for the Torah.”

His words are as relevant today as they were then.

“Ours will be no Platonic admiration of the Torah; ours no ‘fulfilling’ of the Torah by abolishing it. For well we know that, when the framework of the ancient Law falls away, when the immemorial rites, customs, and

ceremonies go, we are left without G-d in our lives. We may – for a time – remain an ethical, but we are no longer a religious, people. And then our days are numbered; for in our Religion alone lies the secret of our deathlessness. When Malachi’s contemporaries asked for proof of the love of G-d, he bade them contrast the history of Israel with that of the neighboring Bedouin tribes.

And verily, with all their outward similarity and kinship of blood, how different were the ultimate fates of Israel and of Moab, for example. ‘The history of Moab, loses itself obscurely and fruitlessly in the sand; that of Israel issues in eternity.’ Why? Israel had the Torah, statutes, judgments, ‘fences;’ ceremonies which in a world of maddening brutality, sweetened the life of the Jew; customs which linked generation to generation in filial piety; observances which in the face of countless cataclysms and dispersions unified, as nothing else could, the scattered atoms of the House of Israel – dykes built by inspired engineers to save us from all the waters of heathenism and animalism.”

Tisha B’Av is therefore a microcosm of a much larger concern facing our generation.

Through our history, the Jewish people were either ridiculed for not conforming to the standards of the majority of the population or were singled out as scapegoats and victims for the problems and aggression of their anti-Semitic tormentors, who detested the Jewish moral righteousness and high ethical standards to which the Torah demanded the Jews to abide by.

How long will Judaism without Torah remain Judaism? Which generation of Israeli politicians will drop their ‘standards’ because it doesn’t get them anywhere with the west and with the domestic problems that are aggravated by local enemies?

The time is right for all Jews to pursue an authentic Jewish education and to bring a dose of traditional Judaism back into the home and one’s lifestyle choices.

Ethics are beautiful, but they only work when the source of the ethics are understood as not only instructive to our lives, but as a small ingredient of a larger recipe that creates a fulfilling life. The other ingredients are not self-motivated or self-understood.

They come from thousands of years of a tried and true tradition that works when it is adhered to, and has proven disastrous time and time again when ignored.

As the verse says, “It will be a merit for us if we are careful to perform this entire commandment.” I hope we agree that we can use all the merits we can get.

The Jewish Star publisher and staff extends heartfelt condolences to Dr. Paul Brody and his entire family on the passing of his mother Bea Brody a”h. May they be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

A Jewish newspaper should have a Hebrew column. So here it is.

We will try to maintain a level of vocabulary so that it will be easy enough for students to read and interesting enough for those more fluent to enjoy.

Aharon Karov A Jewish hero

By Rabbi Noam Himelstein

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

Rabbi Binny Freedman’s From The Heart of Jerusalem is on a break this week.

■■■

Last week’s story on the Court hearing for Temple Israel property erroneously identified the Village of Lawrence Board of Zoning Appelas as a county agency. We regret the error.

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By Ariel Rosenbloom

“What’s a good ‘Mensch on the street’ question?”

“I would like to see everyone’s opinion on the recent fiasco with the budget.”

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AVERY RATZ Lander graduate, Woodmere, making aliyah

ARIEL ROSENBLOOM reporter, The Jewish Star, Lawrence

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THE JEWISH STAR August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771

Mensch on the street

BH

Silverstein Hebrew Academy Great Neck, New York

“stimulating the mind, warming the heart”

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The Marjorie and Mark Gershwind Campus 5 Old Mill Rd. Great Neck, NY Annual Tuition for Silverstein Academy- $9000 (Limited tuition assistance available) Silverstein Hebrew Academy is pleased to announce that in the spirit of Jewish Community, Temple Beth-El of Great Neck is leasing us space in their new educational wing for our Middle School. All functions of Temple Beth-El and its Religious School and Early Childhood Education Center will continue to remain the same.

Our new Middle School combines creative teaching with Torah and technology in a challenging and nurturing environment. In order to maximize their educational experience, all incoming students will receive an i-PAD. K-5 will remain at 117 Cutter Mill Rd. Transportation available from the Five Towns and West Hempstead

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky, Dean Rabbi David Leibtag, Educational Director Mrs. Gilda Tesser, General Studies Principal Rabbi Dovid Ezagui, Executive Director For more information call: (516) 466-8522 or email: info@silversteinhebrewacademy.com www.silversteinhebrewacademy.com

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9 THE JEWISH STAR August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771

The Kosher Bookworm

Tu B’Av and the coming of Elul cide how he wishes to exercise these rights.”

Further on, Rabbi Twerski states that the “Ramchal would fully agree with ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’

“Life, because the Torah says, ‘You shall observe My decrees and My laws which man shall carry out and by which he shall live.’

“Liberty, because the Torah says, ‘Proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants.’

“Pursuit of happiness, because the Torah says, ‘You shall be completely joyous.’

“These are inalienable mitzvoth, not rights” notes Rabbi Twerski, in an attempt to give the Declaration ideology the status of sacred writ.

This take on our Declaration of Independence brings into sharp focus the relevance of the writings of the Ramchal to the very foundational concepts of our republic.

In his second essay entitled, “Tu B’Av – The Greatest of Our Holidays,” Rabbi Twerski once again citing the Ramchal’s work states as follows: “Living a Torah life requires more than observance of Halachot. It requires that a person be driven by the will to do what G-d wants, and this is the all-important area of middot.”

Thus, Rabbi Twerski adds an essential element of morality to the concept of mitzvoth as they concern interpersonal relationships.

He further goes into great detail as to how this impacts human relationships, from casual friendships to marriage.

This view of Luzzatto’s intellectual legacy was shared by many including Rabbi Aryeh

Kaplan, of blessed memory, a noted scholar of Luzzatto’s works in his own right, who stated that: “Luzzatto was one of the most brilliant thinkers of the past several centuries. Both his depth of thought and systematic mind are evident in all his works.

“Over two hundred years ago, the Vilna Gaon declared that Luzzatto had the most profound understanding of Judaism that any mortal human could attain.

He furthermore stated that if Luzzatto were alive in his generation, he would go by foot from Vilna to Italy to sit at his feet and learn from him.”

To get a good idea as to what the Ramchal is all about, especially during the month of Ellul, when the study of Mesillat Yesharim is most appropriate, I suggest Rabbi Twerski’s truly lucid and most practical user friendly commentary based upon Mesillat Yesharim, entitled, “Lights Along The Way” [Artscroll 1995-2009] now in its eighth printing.

Also, from a variant point of view, there is “Mesillat Yesharim” [Jewish Publication Society, 2010] with a detailed and truly scholarly introduction and commentary by Dr. Ira F. Stone.

Still, as a work in progress, we have to date the five volumes in print of “Ascending

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ith the summer season nearing its end we now become ever more mindful of the upcoming season of the High Holidays and their themes and observances.

However, we first have coming up next week what Rabbi Abraham Twerski calls the greatest of our holidays, Tu B’Av. This festive signpost heralding our concern for the value of marriage in our society brings to mind the many other happy and festive observances that will hopefully fill the many days ahead for all.

One literary work that should be given its fair due at this time of year, is a book written over three hundred years ago and of increasing moral importance and relevence to this very day.

In two essays written by Rabbi Twerski in “Mesillat Yesharim,” a work written by Rav Alan Jay Gerber Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, the Ramchal, is given great prominence.

The first, “Declaration of Independence vs. Mesillat Yesharim” dealing with the rights of humanity, Rabbi Twerski cites Luzzatto’s work with the following observation: “Ramchal begins his epochal work with a chapter entitled, ‘The Obligation of a Person in His World.’ This sets the theme for the entire book. If a person has inalienable rights, then he is free, within accepted limits, to de-

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11

To be or not to be…

“To be or not to be” is not always the question. Sometimes the question is how to be? Should we be happy, or should we be sad? Should we be at war, or should we be at peace? Should we feel hate, or should we love?

While our intuition may tell us that experiencing these varied emotions should be as random as a roulette wheel, Judaism teaches LAWYER’S BRIEF otherwise. King Solomon advised there is a time for everything under the sun, including a time for joy and a time for pain. As we are commanded to increase our happiness in the month of Adar, we are likewise directed to reduce it in the month of Av. Moreover, as we have one special day for just for drinking Evan W. Klesztick and levity, Purim, we have another set aside to just for mourning, Tisha B’Av. So it’s even. It’s perfectly balanced. It’s like the yin/yang equation. Except, there is just one question that still lingers. Why build it into the cycle of Jewish life? Why legislate feelings, when to smile and when to cry?

Would it not be sufficient if it simply came on its own?

The Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “meaning” as “implication of a hidden significance”. In other words the meaning of a given word, or phrase, or event, or even of life itself, requires a search for that which

is underneath the surface, that which is hidden. Perhaps then Purim is not a day to just feel joy, but rather to uncover the deeper meaning of joy. Similarly Tisha B’Av may not be just a day to simply mourn the terrible tragedies that have befallen our nation, but rather to uncover the deeper meaning of why tragedy occurs. If the underlying purpose of Judaism is to give meaning to every moment of life, it would then make perfect sense to insure that we uncover the hidden significance of both joy and pain by devoting special days for experiencing them and hopefully uncovering their true meaning.

Which brings me to another disagreement I have with Shakespeare. Macbeth describes human existence as “… a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

This Tisha B’Av as I watched video testimony after testimony of holocaust survivors, I was struck by the opposite thought. While each survivor had a different story, from different parts of Europe, and suffered in different ways, their message was the same. There was no talk of depression, revenge, or hatred.

There was only talk of rebirth, and renewal, of faith and of hope, of children and grandchildren, and of the true meaning of life. And that true meaning is appreciating the goodness, the bounty, and the gift from above that lies in every breath we take.

Evan W. Klestzick, Esq. is a Senior Partner at McDonnell & Adels, PLLC, specializing in insurance law. He has been a guest lecturer at Manhattan College as well as CLE courses podcasts on the topic of insurance fraud. He is a resident of Far Rockaway.

Does raw milk and kashrut homogenize?

Continued from page 1 tion goat milk and cheese has for its strong taste. One of the advantages sited for goat’s milk over cow’s milk is that a calf is much larger than a human and therefore its mother’s milk has a much higher fat content than people can tolerate. Goats, however, are built smaller and their milk is found to be most similar to human milk.

Chaya Eidel Freeman, who usually doesn’t drink cow’s milk at all because she’s lactose intolerant, tried Shmeel’s milk recently. “It didn’t bother my stomach at all,” Freeman says. “My mother used to drink milk straight from the cow,” Freeman says.

The enzyme lactase, naturally found in milk that aids with digestion, is lost during pasteurization. This probably explains why people can handle raw cow’s milk better.

Routine pasteurization began during outbreaks in the 1920s that had more to do with unsanitary farming conditions that made the milk unclean, carrying diseases such as E Coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella and not because essentially there’s a problem with raw milk.

Although the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says harmful bacteria that might be present in raw milk poses a health risk, farmers have founds that the enzymes, acids and anti-microbial bacteria naturally found in raw milk actually prevent the growth of pathogens.

The sale of raw milk varies from state to state. According to the New York State Department of Health, producers who sell raw milk to consumers must have a permit from the Department of Agriculture and must sell directly to consumers on the farm

where the milk is produced. These producers must also post a notice at the point of sale indicating that raw milk does not provide the protection of pasteurization. Farms with permits to sell raw milk are inspected each month by the agency.

Shaya purchases his raw cow’s milk at the farm and is now in the process of selling cow shares to consumers so it will be considered their milk and therefore exempt from restrictions. According to Shaya, the milk is “very safe from a very small farm where they test the milk.”

“Only .05 percent of people who drink unpasteurized milk get sick, much less than in any restaurant,” Shaya said.

He hopes to expand to a broader New York City market and not only the kosher market.

An unnamed friend in Florida who purchases raw cow’s milk from a farmer says that farmers don’t advertize it so that it’s kept “under the radar.” It’s the kind of thing that’s available to those who seek it out.

Most farmers are not trying to convince people to drink raw milk.

Shmeel’s milk might change the chalav yisroel black market to a public market and may draw in a new market as well when people see his flyers promoting the benefits.

I recently asked Bassie, a grocery shopper in Brooklyn, whether she’d want to purchase raw milk if it was available. “I’d be scared to use it because I hear there’s a lot of bacteria and dirt and when things are pasteurized they are free of germs,” Bassie says. “But maybe if I learned more about it and saw people weren’t getting sick, I’d try it.”

It’s a religious war, local oleh says

Activist Shmuel Sackett speaks in Queens

By Judah S. Harris The ongoing conflict is not about land, says Shmuel Sackett of Manhigut Yehudit, the Jewish Leadership Movement, exemplified by numerous Palestinian references to the entirely of historic Palestine. “The war today is not over land as it used to be, it’s a religious war,” said Sackett, who made aliyah from Kew Gardens Hills in 1990, settling in Karnei Shomron. In 1998, he teamed up with activist Moshe Feiglin in creating Manhigut, a religious nationalist faction within the Likud Party. Speaking in his old neighborhood on Aug. 1, Sackett described his faction as a “real and viable plan” to the seemingly inevitable Palestinian state.

Sackett listed off Israel’s internal problems, its housing crisis, inability to rescue Gilad Shalit, negative world opinion, and an leadership too willing to acquiesce to political pressure, as all stemming from a lack of Jewish leadership.

In Manhigut Yehudit’s terminology, this type of leadership is more than having means having Jewish leaders at the helm of the country, but leaders that embody a strong Jewish identity. “It’s not Obama… not CNN, Jimmy Carter, The New York Times, the UN that are to blame for Israel’s situation,” Sackett said.

“Old time Israeli politicians knew Tanach cold,” Sackett reminded the nearly 40 listeners emphatically, implying that this infused their decisions and world outlook. “Today’s young Israeli identifies Jewishly.” Sackett cited a recent Yediot Ahronot poll where 65 percent of Israelis want to see the Beit Hamikdash rebuilt in their lifetimes. “Our leaders still think the fight is over land – the Israeli leadership doesn’t have the tools to fight a religious war” The “viable plan” presented by Manhigut Yehudit , which

it admits is their ongoing mission statement, is a return to what it calls “Faith-Based Leadership” as a way to rectify Israel’s problems. “98 percent of the problems in Israel today are due to the lack of strong, vibrant, Jewish leadership based on authentic Jewish values,” Sackett said. “Proud Jews don’t run away from their identity,” he stressed. When you’re proud, the world respects you. Since Oslo was signed in 1993, “we’ve done everything the world asked of the Jewish State, and they hate us,” Sackett told the audience. “When a Jew runs away from his identity there’s anti-Semitism.” The world is forcing a Palestinian state because there’s a lack of Jewish pride and Sackett, Feiglin, and their thousands of supporters are convinced that a strong, proud Jewish leadership would mitigate or eliminate plans for a Palestinian state.

Manhigut Yehudit hopes that Moshe Feiglin will one day soon become Prime Minister. Sackett shared a story of how in the earlier years as they were teaming up to start the movement, Feiglin offered him stake in a future position as something akin to Foreign Minister, but reconfigured as Diaspora Minister – charged with encouraging Jews to make aliyah (“NBN times 1000,” quips Sackett), or educating them in their places of residency.

The organization joined as a group within the Likud party in 2000. When Feiglin ran for head of the Likud in 2003, he attracted 3 percent of the vote, but in 2007, the last elections, he achieved nearly 24 percent. Manhigut Yehudit is now the largest group within the Likud Central Committee and able to exert influence on Likud policy. Their goal is for Feiglin to rise to a top leadership position within the Likud, which Sackett calls an “incubator for leadership in Israel.” Their decision to join the Likud was strategic. “If you come from the national camp and want to be the Prime Minister, you must

Photo by Judah S. Harris

Activist Shmuel Sackett speaks about the religious and political challenges facing Israel first rise to a leadership position within Likud.”

With internal Likud elections to be held on Jan. 31 next year- their biggest elections since 1985, with 172 local branches of Likud electing a total of 7,900 delegates on the national and local levels - Manhigut Yehudit is working hard to strengthen their representation. They’re embarking on an educational and outreach effort in 90 or so branches across the country where they feel they can gain more seats, and where their message will be best received. Stronger Manhigut Yehudit entrenchment at the local levels of Likud will have significant ramifications, and Sackett mentions Ashkelon, Jerusalem, Netanya, Haifa and Rishon LeZion as areas of interest. “This is an amazing opportunity to influence Israel’s leadership party for the next 25 years!”

Judah S. Harris is a photographer, filmmaker, speaker and writer. He publishes a popular email newsletter that circulates to thousands of readers. Sign up at www.judahsharris.com/ visit.

THE JEWISH STAR August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771

Opinion

Aug. 12-13

ON THE

Calendar

Shabbat Nachamu Happening LIDO BEACH SYNAGOGUE, at One Fairway Road in Lido Beach, is observing Shabbat Nachamu in the Carlebach tradition featuring cantor Eric Stern and choir. This event will include a festive Friday night dinner, complete with singing and dancing.

For more information, contact 516-889-9650.

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

Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.

Aug. 13 Nachamu Kumsitz & Chizuk UTOPIA JEWISH CENTER, at 64-41 Utopia Parkway in Fresh Meadows, is holding a motzei Shabbos Nachamu kumsitz & chizuk to support Yeshiva Madreigas HaAdam of Hillcrest, a popular local Torah institution. The event will feature a performance by Nochum Stark and comedian Marc Weiner. The event costs $20 and begins at 10:30 p.m. For more information, contact 718-539-6653.

Aug. 16 Revenge & Grudge Bearing GREAT NECK SYNAGOGUE, located at 26 Old Mill Road in Great Neck, is hosting Rabbi Daniel Feldman, who will be speaking on the topic “Revenge & Grudge Bearing.” Rabbi Feldman is an instructor of Talmud and Jewish Studies at the Stone Beit Midrash Program of Yeshiva University, and serves as the Director of Rabbinic Research at the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University. The lecture begins at 8:15 p.m. For more information, contact 516-487-6100.

Photo courtesy of Dan Halloran

Aug. 21

Halloran delivers for disabled children

Men’s night fishing YOUNG ISRAEL OF OCEANSIDE is holding a men’s fishing night at 6:45 p.m. at he Freeport Dock, located at 540 Guy Lombardo Avenue in Freeport. The fourhour event includes the boat, bait & tackle, drinks and food. The event costs $45. For reservations, contact Benji Alper at benji.alper@gmail.com.

Aug. 25 Hadassah comedy fundraiser THE WOODMERE/LAILAH CHAPTER OF HADASSAH will hold its annual summer luncheon at Bistro Grill French Steak House, located at 1034 Broad-

The budget belt is tight, but City Councilman Dan Halloran came through, delivering $7,500 to the Samuel Field YM-YWHA, which serves northeastern Queens. The funding will go towards the Connects Program for children with developmental disabilities. Receiving a plaque of support from the center’s Associate director Jeri Mendelsohn, Halloran spoke of his longstanding support for the center’s community-based autism initiatives. Alongside Mendelsohn, Steven Goodman, Executive Vice President and CEO of the Samuel Field YMCA also thanked Halloran last week. way in Woodmere. The cover charge is $28. And the event begins at 12:00 p.m. The program will feature the comedy of Dr. Stuart Rappaport, a comic who practices optometry. All proceeds will be donated to Hadassah’s cutting edge medical research projects. For more information, contact Binny Stein at 516-295-5140.

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Ongoing Project Child after-school SAMUEL FIELD YM-YWHA is offering Project Child, an after-school program for children ages 5-15 with ADD, ADHD, Asperger’s syndrome, learning disabilities, and high-functioning within the Autism Spectrum. This program operates during the school year at the Bay Terrace Center, at 21200 23rd Avenue in Bayside. Homework help and snack are provided daily, as well as educational and recreational activities. Events are held daily from 2:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. during the school year. For fees, registration and information, contact Meredith Zylberberg at 718-423-6111 ext.

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Roslyn Gemara class ROSLYN SYNAGOGUE, located at 257 Garden Street in Roslyn Heights, conducts weekly a weekly analysis and study of Tractate Sukkah, open to experienced learners and beginners. The class discusses the mitzvoth of the Sukkot festival and how it was celebrated in ancient times. The class is held each Tuesday from 8:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.

For more information, contact 516-484-0697.

Mets fan’s Baseball Talmud and other tales

By Brigitte Fixler The last few years have been painful ones for fans of the New York Mets. For sportswriter Howard Megdal, 31, the disappointment was tolerable—until his daughter was born. Wanting to spare his child the sadness of cheering on a losing team, Megdal did the only thing he could think of: he ran for general manager of the Mets. Megdal wrote a book about the experience, “Taking the Field: A Fan’s Quest to Run the Team He Loves,” which was published in May. “I realized that few other aspects of our lives impact us the way our favorite baseball teams do: 162 games a year, three hours at a time, not to mention all the time we spend talking baseball, thinking about it,” said Megdal. “Well, wouldn’t it be irresponsible not to do everything I could to make that experience better for my baby daughter?”

General manager is not a publicly elected position, and Omar Minaya occupied the position at the time. But Megdal plowed ahead with his campaign, built on the pillars of logic, transparency and passion. “In retrospect, all the years I didn’t run for general manager of the New York Mets seem absurd,” Megdal writes.

At the beginning of his campaign, in June 2010, the Mets were on a surprising winning streak. Because of this, the initial responses to Megdal’s campaign weren’t all favorable, as many fans saw no reason to change anything about their team. But Megdal understood that there is a big difference between a winning streak and a winning team, and he saw that there were deep structural problems within the Mets.

“I knew I’d have a more receptive audience for my campaign if the Mets lost more than they won,” wrote Megdal in his book.

“But I’d have happily sacrificed my general manager ambitions for the chance to see playoff baseball come to Flushing.”

Ultimately, Sandy Alderson was chosen to replace the previous general manager, Minaya. The experience taught Megdal a lot about the team and their fans. “Mets fans don’t want to be relentlessly negative. All we want is a positive vision to believe in,” Megdal said.

As a sportswriter, Megdal has been able to combine his love of baseball with his love of writing. He is Editor-in-Chief of The Perpetual Post, and has written for many other publications, including The New York Times and ESPN.com. “Ultimately, I love writing for a living, and right now, baseball is the area where I’m enjoying the most opportunity,” said Megdal.

Taking the Field was Megdal’s second book, following The Baseball Talmud, which was published in 2009. As its name implies, The Baseball Talmud deals with Jewish players throughout the history of Major League Baseball in America. “Baseball Talmud represents the idea that I wished to begin a conversation over the greatest Jewish players, not end one,” said Megdal.

The book shows people that there is more to Jewish baseball than Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. Megdal forms a Jewish All-Star team, and uses statistics to pit them against the greatest teams in baseball history.

Megdal plans to continue writing, and he is currently plotting his next book while sharing his Mets passion with Hudson Valley readers at LoHud.com’s Mets Blog, which is run by The Journal News. When he is not writing about his team, The Rockland County resident passes on the support to his baby Mirabelle. “I’ve taught my 16-month-old daughter to say base, ball, gee and bay,” said Megdal. “No luck yet on Isringhausen.”

13

Putting too much out there Dear Aviva, I’m fortunate to have a number of close relationships with friends, family, and colleagues. The depths of those relationships are the reward for my investments of emotional honesty. I find that in general, even with people I’m not close with, breaking through superficial politeness to be genuine goes a long way, whether with sincere thanks, a pointed compliment, or sharing something personal about me. It often takes relationships to a new level. It’s become easy for me to open up to people, but sometimes I feel like I over-share. Friends and family have told me I don’t need to put myself all out there all the time, and I get that it can be dangerous to be too vulnerable, but I think it won’t usually cause much damage. Should I back off more? How do I find a balance?

-T.M.I

Dear TMI, Ok, well you are off to a good start because you were able to tell me your problem without creeping me out. Great job!

Yes, being open is a good thing, an essential thing for an honest, flexible life, and a vital ingredient in any healthy relationship.

Too much openness is, well, as you called yourself, too much information.

Can this be dangerous? Definitely. If you are wearing your heart on your sleeve while you are tying your shoelaces, someone is bound to innocently step on it.

When my 6 year-old finds his younger sibling playing with his new prize in the living room, I tell him (in 6 year-old language), “Don’t leave personal items in a public domain.” Is the younger sibling to blame? We know that 2 year-olds will say “Mine!” and then proceed to claim (read: grab) any interesting item they spot. So let’s anticipate and protect those items that should not be grubbied up. I also tell my kids that if there is something that they don’t want to share with a guest, they should put it in the closet before the guest arrives.

My concern for you is that you are artificially getting close to people because you are not pacing it correctly. This will hinder your relationship-proprioception. And then, if a person let’s you down, you will be let

down hard. “But, I thought that we were so close! Why weren’t you there for me?” An honest response on the other’s part would be, “That’s right, you thought we were so close.” Really, you have imposed yourself on that person.

Basically, by opening up prematurely, you may be building a turbo-self-inflictingpain-machine . The sharing that you do can set you up for major disappointment.

Let’s recalibrate this engine. Smile while staying quiet. Let others open up and you follow their lead. You want to have a connection with strangers? Compliment their shoes. Brighten their day without putting you on the line. If this is not enough for you, continue doing what you are currently doing, but dilute it.

For example, your new colleague just impressed you with her strength of character. Your knee-jerk reaction may be to tell her how inspired you were and how it reminds you of your 2nd grade teacher. Try again, buddy. Nix the flashbacks and raise the tempo on the compliment. “Wow, you’re strong!” and “That was impressive,” are less heavy (also known as “less creepy”) than “I

was very impressed with what you did over there. It inspired me and helped me realize that I need to stick up for things in my personal life, like when my landlord neglects to fix my leaky faucet.”

Obviously, I speak hyperbolically. And I know the feeling of wanting to share something with others. But if you and your loved ones have noticed this is your default setting, it is time to fiddle with the dials.

So let’s hardwire your mechanics to display very warm and open body language.

And you know, that an overwhelming 53 percent of communication is given over by body language anyway, while a puny 7 percent of communication is made up verbally.

(The other 40 percent is from tone and feeling.) As time goes on and your relationships are progressing naturally, you can open up more.And that will be genuine, safe movement.

27. First ordained woman rabbi, who died in Auschwitz 28. “___ and Sing!” (Clifford Odets play about a poor Jewish family) 32. Midwest kashrut org.

33. Like many kibbutzim 34. Strictness in religion or moral code 36. New York ballplayer 38. Inheritors 42. ___ Avivian 45. The “Exodus” or the “Altalena”

49. Acting on ___ (capriciously) 50. Diner who wrote “Hungering for America” 52. Whence Reb Nachman 53. Musical mark 55. River to the North Sea 56. “Pshaw!”

57. Bit of genetic stuff 59. “Good” cholesterol

Aviva Rizel is a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice that can be reached at 347-292-8482 or AvivaRizel.MFT@gmail. com.

The Jerusalem Post Crossword Puzzle

By David Benkof

Across 1. World Service provider 4. “Father of American Anthropology” Franz 8. Author Mitch (“The Five People You Meet in Heaven”) 13. Carte start 14. “Al regel ___” (“On one foot...”)

16. “A Woman Called ___” (Emmy-winning TV movie) 17. Yiddish pioneer Max 19. Cosmetics company founder Lauder 20. He played Bialystock in Broadway’s “The Producers” 21. One wouldn’t be found in a foxhole, supposedly 23. Prominent 1920s writer Zweig 25. “You’ve got mail” co.

26. George’s brother 29. Difficult situation 30. Hidden means of support?

31. Teaneck, ___ Jersey 32. Schoolgirl ___ 34. It’s prayed for in the winter

35. Designer of the fountain in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square 37. “The Jewish Babe ___” (Hank Greenberg) 38. Takes on 39. NYC Mayor Bloomberg 40. Baby’s bed 41. Freudian topics 42. Article of faith 43. Advice-giver Landers 44. It’s not free of charge 45. Israel’s first “First Lady” Weizmann 46. Soap ingredient 47. Philadelphia clergy-training sch.

48. Biblical miracle worker 51. Mergers 54. Pepsi Max, e.g.

55. Violinist Zimbalist 58. Bean or Cardin 60. Group for Einsteins 61. Rationed 62. Bush spokesman Fleischer 63. Painter Ben 64. Black-Jewish actress Carter 65. Caribbean music

Down

Last week’s answers

1. Wails 2. Farm sound 3. With “The,” a 1951 Pulitzer winner by Herman Wouk 4. Supermodel Refaeli 5. Seas 6. “It’s ___!” (“Everyone loves it!”)

7. He’s set to play Freddie Mercury in an upcoming “Queen” film 8. The Golden one in Spain and others 9. 1985 Albert Brooks comedy 10. Non-kosher sandwich 11. Flowery verse 12. Wild West 15. Einstein output 18. Aliyah organization 22. Ramon and Halimi 24. Not Seph.

Answers will appear next week

THE JEWISH STAR August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771

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s daunting as the idea of nine solid days without meat may seem, I have always found the culinary challenge presented to be a test of creativity in the kitchen.

I break out the cookbooks, turn on the Food Network and log onto Allrecipes.com for inspiration. I gather dozens of recipes for things like fish tacos and fettuccine carbonera and after amassing this Alexandrian Library-like collection of parve and dairy culinary possiTHE KOSHER bilities, I inevitably deCRITIC velop an overwhelming sense of laziness and head to the local pizza store like everyone else. This year the pizza store was mobbed even more than usual.

Elbows were thrown and stamped feet as people howled for their orders. I dejectedly got back into my car and drove back home. As I drove I realized that I Zechariah Mehler still had a tremendous craving for pizza and that pizza isn’t really that hard to make. So instead of making a bline for home I stopped by my local Shoprite and purchased the making for pesto pizza with mushrooms and golden tomatoes. What follows is my recipe some of the best pizza I have ever eaten: You will need: ■ 1 bunch of Italian basil ■ 1 small bag of pine nuts

■ 2 cloves of garlic ■ 1 package mushrooms ■ 1 package golden tomatoes ■ 1 can of pizza sauce (I prefer

to use Don Pepino) ■ 1.5 bricks of cheese. I used Natural & Kosher’s Pepper Jack that has a nice flavorful spiciness to it as well as their cheddar, which has a wonderful sharpness to it.

■ 1 package pizza dough. You can find packages of kosher ready to make pizza dough at any Shoprite, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Often the dough is frozen so move it from it’s package to a bowl with some flower and let it thaw and rise before using it.

■ You will also need olive oil.

First make the pesto by putting the entire bunch of basil into a food processor with the two garlic cloves and the pine nuts. Chop thoroughly while slowly drizzling in the olive oil. Please feel free to make the pesto’s consistency to your liking.

Roll out your pizza dough on a flowered surface until it is to your desired thickness. I suggest making it as thin as possible and then use a pastry ring to cut miniature rounds from the dough so that instead of making one large pizza you will have 16 or so mini ones about the size of a palm. This helped keep cooking time down and insured that I had a crispy outer crust and a fully cooked middle rather then the underdone middle that is so common in home made pizza.

From their mixed the can of pizza sauce with your home made pesto and gave each pizza round a healthy dollop of the mixture. Shred a block and a half of your cheese and put as much or as little cheese is to your taste on

Photo by Zechariah Mehler

Homemade pizza created by The Jewish Star’s Kosher Critic. each pizza. Then add your toppings. I chose mushrooms and golden tomatoes because I really love the flavor combination that is created by the earthiness of the mushrooms and the sweetness of the golden tomatoes.

Place a flowered pizza stone in the oven and set to 375 degrees to heat.... What? You don’t have a brick oven? That’s ok. You can use a normal baking sheet but I definitely suggest you go out and get a pizza stone.

They are very inexpensive and fantastic for baking which is why I keep one both for milchigs and fleshigs in my house. Once the oven is heated carefully pull out your pizza

stone with oven safe mits and put the mini pizzas on it and place back in the oven.

In fifteen minutes you will have fresh pizza that has a crispy crust a gooey center and will challenge the fare of any pizza store. My only problem with having done this is that now I am keenly aware of how easily I can make my own home made pizza. But they say that with great knowledge comes great responsibility of exercising some restraint. At least for the sake of my waistline.

Zechariah Mehler is a widely published food writer and expert in social marketing. Follow him on Twitter @thekoshercritic

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Photo of the Week

New Middle School launches Great Neck resident Michael Leventhal, a contributor to local Jewish causes, stands by his inspirations, grandparents Stanley and Raine Silverstein. Mr. Silverstein arrived from Cuba in 1953 and cofounded the highend Nina Shoes firm. He is the namesake behind Silverstein Hebrew Academy in Great Neck. This fall, the Chabad-run school is opening a middle school on the campus of Temple Beth El. To include your day school in our annual Back to School guide, send us your information by Tues. Aug. 16.

THE JEWISH STAR August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771

How I learned to stop worrying and love the nine days A

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August 12, 2011 • 12 AV, 5771 THE JEWISH STAR

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