October 26, 2012

Page 1

Who’s in the kitchen dishes falafel Page 5 Labovitz on Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Page 6 Kosher Bookworm on Hoover and the Jews Page 7 The covenant of circumcision Page 11

THE JEWISH

STAR

VOL 11, NO 41 ■ OCTOBER 26, 2012 / 10 CHESVAN 5773

WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM

Election day jitters By Malka Eisenberg

B. Soloveitchik and my maternal grandmother,” said Riskin. “My first Rebbe was my grandmother. I watched my grandmother daven; she spoke to G-d like he was her friend. I learned Gemara with my grandmother. My model of a grandmother was someone who can teach Chumash and Gemara,” added Riskin. “I learned from her that Judaism is a religion that had to encompass everything.” Ohr Torah Stone, under Rabbi Riskin’s direction, has literally lived up to its name, “Torah is light,” as its work has illuminated and enlightened the world through its commitment and dedication to tikkun olam. Riskin has charted new educational, legal and social paths to ground-breaking change in the realms of women’s rights within Judaism. Specifically, Rabbi Riskin challenged Israel’s High Court on the laws which prevented women from serving as Toanot - advocates in the Rabbinic Courts. Riskin won the case and established the first program for the training of women advocates in the religious courts. Graduates of the program now defend the rights of Agunot in the re-

Sweaty palms and a racing heart may be part of the voting process on Election Day. A recent study found measurable increases in the levels of a stress-related hormone in people who were tested immediately before voting. In a study of voters on the way to the polling station published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology, those tested had almost three times the level of cortisol, also known as the “fight or flight” hormone, than the level of cortisol in a control group. The test was done on Israel’s Election Day in 2009. Subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire describing their emotional state and give a sample of their saliva at a stand thirty feet from the polling station. The control group was drawn from people from the same area who were tested on post-election day, and also asked for a saliva sample and to fill out the same questionnaire. The study was led by Professor Hagit Cohen from the Anxiety and Stress Research Unit at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Faculty of Health Sciences. The research indicated that people’s

Continued on page 14

Continued on page 3

Photo by Karen C. Green

(From left), Helene and Robbie Rothenberg , Rabbi Shlomo and Vicky Riskin, Michelle, Rebecca, and Jeff Klahr.

Woodmere welcomes Rabbi Riskin By Karen C. Green Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, founding chief rabbi of the Israeli city of Efrat, and founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, spent last Shabbos in Woodmere where he spoke at both Irving Place Minyan and Young Israel of Woodmere. Rabbi Riskin is also Chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone institutions, a network of high schools, colleges, and graduate programs in Israel. Hosted by Helene and Robbie Rothenberg of Woodmere, Rabbi Riskin spoke Motzei Shabbos at a Melave Malka at the home of Michelle and Jeff Klahr. Klahr’s eldest daughter Rebecca spent a post high school year at Riskin’s Midreshet Lindenbaum, one of the most prominent colleges for Orthodox Women. “Rabbi Riskin represents Achdut of Israel and Achdut of the world,” noted Robbie Rothenberg in his introductory remarks to those in attendance. “I had two Rebbes in my life that I learned from, Rabbi Joseph

Students meet Gilad Shalit and his unit By Malka Eisenberg After years of praying and hoping, letter writing and vigils, students from DRS, SKA and Rambam Mesivta were able to meet with Gilad Shalit and members of his army unit over the course of a ten-day visit to the United States. A year after his release from captivity in Gaza in exchange for 1,027 Arab prison-

ers, Shalit, 13 members of his platoon, his commanding officer, Captain Yoav Belkes, and three psychologists, came to the United States on a therapeutic mission: to heal and find closure for the severe and personal attack on their unit perpetrated on June 25, 2006. Early that morning, Hamas and Popular Resistance Committee terrorists infiltrated into Israel through a tunnel from Rafah and attacked Israeli forces with mortar and

anti-tank fire, killing an Israeli officer and a soldier, wounding four others and kidnapping Shalit. Gilad remained captive in Gaza by Hamas for over five years and was freed and returned to Israel on October 18, 2011. During that time, Dr. Chagit Hadar, chairman of the Hebrew Department at Magen David’s Celia Esses Yeshiva High School in

Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:40 p.m. Shabbat ends 5:58 p.m. 72 minute zman 6:39 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Lech Lecha

Stay up to date with The Jewish Star Receive our weekly newsletter. Sign up at newsroom@ thejewishstar.com

Like us on Facebook The Jewish Star newspaper (Long Island, NY)

Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ JewishStarNY

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301

Visit us on the web at www. thejewishstar.com

Continued on page 3


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
October 26, 2012 by The Jewish Star - Issuu