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THE JEWISH VOL 12, NO 44 Q NOVEMBER 15, 2013 / 12 KISLEV 5774
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Rambam students demand: Throw Nazi out! Rambam Mesivta students rallied on Nov. 10 — the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht — outside the Jackson Heights home of Jakiw Palij, the last-known Nazi war criminal living in the metropolitan area. The protest took place as Jews around the world commemorated Kristallnacht, known as “The Night of Broken Glass” on Nov. 9–10, 1938, in Germany and portions of Austria, where Jewish businesses, homes and people were damaged and attacked. It is considered the day the Holocaust began. “We will not be silent,” Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, Rosh HaMesivta at the Lawrence school, told the rally. Continued on page 14 7ZR +RORFDXVW VXUYLYRUV DUH LQWHUYLHZHG E\ 1< DV 5DPEDP VWXGHQWV DQG RWKHUV SURWHVW WKH FRQWLQXHG UHVLGHQFH RI D \HDU ROG 1D]L LQ -DFNVRQ +HLJKWV
By Malka Eisenberg Two men who risked their lives to save and insure the continuity of the State of Israel are the subject of a presentation this motzei Shabbat at the Young Israel of Hewlett, Congregation Ahavat Yisrael. “Most of the heroes we learn about died or were killed at a young age,” said Tuvia Book, a North Woodmere resident and author of “For the Sake of Zion,” who will present an audio-visual tribute to Eli Cohen and Avigdor Kahalani. Their stories, Book said, are “incredible and inspirational.” The free Nov. 16 program will begin at 8:30 pm, followed by The Skullcaps, the YIH Band; Israeli refreshments will be served. Cohen was a Mossad agent in Syria from 1962 until he was exposed and executed in 1965. He developed close ties with Syrian business, military and government leaders, touring strategic sites in the Golan Heights — then occupied by Syria, overlooking Israel — and transfer-
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ring the information he gleaned to Israel. Two years after he was hanged by the Syrians, the intelligence Cohen delivered to Israel assisted the Jewish state in capturing the seemingly impregnable Golan Heights in the Six Day War in just one day. Kahalani, a brigadier general, now 70, received the Medal of Valor, the highest Israeli military honor, for his heroic actions during the opening battles of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 on the northern front against Syria. Forty years ago, “he helped stem the tide in the first two days of the Yom Kippur War,” said Book. Kahalani was a 29-year-old lieutenant colonel and battalion commander in the 77th armored battalion on the Golan Heights which fought a fierce defensive battle “of 1,500 Syrian tanks against 280 Israeli tanks [and] had to hold the line for two days until reserves could come up [north], Book said. Continued on page 14
2 who were there recall Kindertransport Ellen Zilkha and Ellen Leiman, two women who, as children, were part of the Kindertransport rescue mission, spoke about their experiences and answered audience questions at Temple Hillel in North Woodmere on Nov. 10. Nine months before the outbreak of World War II, the United Kingdom took nearly 10,000 mainly Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig, placing them in foster homes, hostels, schools and farms. Most of them were the only members of their
families to survive the Holocaust. The first Kindertransport arrived in England on Dec. 2, 1938, Barely a month after Kristallnacht — the Night of Broken Glass — when Jewish homes and business were destroyed in Germany and parts of Austria Nov. 9-10. At least 91 Jews were killed and 30,000 were incarcerated. Pictured: Two women who were part of the Kindertransport rescue — Ellen Leiman (left) and Ellen Zilka (right), and moderator Barbara Spetalnick. Nassau Herald photo by Theresa Press.
Shabbat Candlelighting: 4:18 pm. Shabbat ends: 5:21 pm. 72 minute zman: 5:50 pm. This week’s Torah Reading: Vayishlach
From Jerusalem’s heart
Rav Binny visits to rejuvenate and recruit By Malka Eisenberg Rabbi Binny Freedman, The Jewish Star’s Israelibased inspirational columnist and Rosh Yeshiva and Dean of Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem’s Old City, is visiting the Five Towns this week to lead an alumni Shabbaton and recruit new students. More than half of Orayta’s 70 alumni on the east coast are expected to participate in this weekend’s Shabbaton, on the Kulanu 5DEEL %LQQ\ )UHHGPDQ campus in Cedarhurst. On Wednesday, he visited the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway to speak with students about his school. “I want the boy to fall in love with textual based learning of Gemarah, Chumash, Nach, to fall in love with Judaism and meet proud Jews, develop a comContinued on page 14
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Motzei Shabbat in Hewlett: Heroes