June 13 2014

This week in Torah 4-5 MSNBC bigots 6 Herzl and Pope 7 In the Kitchen 9 Calendar 12 School news 15

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VOL 13, NO 23 Q JUNE 13, 2014 / 15 SIVAN 5774

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Parise tells kids about WWII

By Malka Eisenberg “I’m no hero. I was one of thirteen-and-ahalf million soldiers that went to ďŹ ght. The heroes are there, they never came home, they are still there, buried.â€? —Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise Just before the 70th anniversary of DDay, when Allied forces landed in Europe to defeat the Nazis, a class of high school students trooped from Brooklyn to Cedarhurst Town Hall to meet the village’s 90-year-old WWII veteran mayor, Andrew Parise.

Parise sat at a table spread with clippings, copies of a map and booklets of his war history. World War II artifacts from his time in Europe were arrayed in front of him

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â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a bayonet from an M1 riďŹ&#x201A;e, a pin from a hand grenade, various Nazi knives and a framed case of Nazi paraphernalia. Another framed case held Pariseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own medals from his time in the U.S. Army.

The visitors accompanied their World History Regents teacher, The Jewish Starâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bookworm columnist, Alan Jay Gerber, from Yeshiva Derech HaTorah in Marine Park.

Rabbi Yaakov Feitman of Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi in Cedarhurst and Rebbitzen Cynthia Zalinsky, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Queens joined the class to thank Parise.

Continued on page 12

On Rebbeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 20th yahrtzeit, even critics admire his army

Fair links generations thru history

By Malka Eisenberg A sixth grade social studies fair tied great-grandsons to great-grandparents and united four families related to the same ancestor, at Far Rockawayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Yeshiva Darchei Torah.

The exhibit that brought four families together featured a 1955 Life Magazine cover photo of a woman dressed for Shabbat in an elaborate white apron lighting Shabbat candles. The woman and her extended family were the focus of an expansive story: Life tracked down a Torah-observant family that had been living in the same location â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Scranton, Pennsylvania â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for three generations, and reporters and photographers recorded their lives for two months, documenting family events.

When different parents in the same class viewed the exhibit they were startled to ďŹ nd Continued on page 2

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4 seeking McCarthyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seat

By Brian Racow, Nassau Herald Electoral upsets happen every so often in Nassau County. There was Republican Dan Frisa beating his partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s incumbent, David Levy, in 1994. Like Levy, Frisa became a oneterm congressman after a challenger, Democrat Carolyn McCarthy, unseated him in 1996. In 2005, a 31-year district attorney ďŹ nally met his match in Democrat Kathleen Rice, the ďŹ rst woman to hold the ofďŹ ce in the county. And many Nassau Democrats are still reeling after the 2009 victory of Ed Mangano, a Republican, over their standard-bearer, Tom Suozzi, in the county executiveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s race.

Could it happen again in 2014?

The political wisdom says that Rice

Shabbat candlelighting 8:08 pm. Shabbat ends 9:20 pm. 72 minute zman 9:41 pm. Parshat Shelach.

will likely outmuscle her opponent in the 4th Congressional Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Democratic primary on June 24, as will Bruce Blakeman, a former presiding ofďŹ cer of the County Legislature, in the Republican primary that day. Yet Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Continued on page 12

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By Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org Many questions surrounded the future of the ChabadLubavitch branch of Hasidism after the death of its seventh and ďŹ nal leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;&#x153;the Rebbe,â&#x20AC;? Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;on June 12, 1994 (3 Tammuz, 5754). Schneerson had no children, and no successor was named. But 20 years later, Chabad is not only alive and well, but increasingly receiving the so-called highest form of ďŹ&#x201A;attery: imitation.

Against the backdrop of last fallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much-discussed Pew Research Center survey of American Jews, many Jewish leaders across the denominational spectrum are turning to Chabad for ideas to strengthen their own movements. While admirers interviewed by JNS.org said they may not agree with Chabadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s religious outlook or practices, all said that when it comes to outreach, engagement, and Jewish leadership, Chabad is to be emulated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We all have what to learn from theirâ&#x20AC;Ś going out into the trenches to bring people in,â&#x20AC;? said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, exContinued on page 3

2 June 13, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 15 SIVAN 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

Fair linksâ&#x20AC;Ś

Continued from page 1 that three families, the Fischers, Finks and Frisches, were all related and the somewhat distant cousins sat together in the same class.

Rabbi Avi Taub, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been organizing YDTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish Heritage Museum for the last ďŹ ve years, noted that when he emailed the parents about this connection, another family, the Gladstones, responded that they, too, are related.

Additionally, Rabbi Taub said, his father was a classmate of one of the Fink relatives and that his father and grandmother visited the Scranton farm and she â&#x20AC;&#x153;reminisced about it till the end of her life. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a small world and we just made it that much smaller.â&#x20AC;?

Artifacts on display at YDTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campus on Beach 17th Street and Seagirt Boulevard included a dagger taken by Jonathan Rogoffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great-grandfather from a captured Nazi ofďŹ cer; a gold pocket watch (an engagement gift for Yitzchak Yehuda Platschekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatgrandmother who buried it before she was taken away to be murdered in a gas chamber â&#x20AC;&#x201D; his grandfather dug it up after the war). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only thing I have (from her),â&#x20AC;? said great-grandson Yitzchak. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It makes me think of her.â&#x20AC;?

Grandmother Roberta Bauer of Far Rockaway noted that she saw â&#x20AC;&#x153;the struggle it was to keep Shabbos,â&#x20AC;? pointing to her grandsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exhibit of his great grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advertising booklets for her furniture store. As a widow with young children, the greatgrandmother kept her store closed on Shabbat and was an inďŹ&#x201A;uence on her community causing others to say that if â&#x20AC;&#x153;she could be closed on Shabbos, we could be closed on Shabbos.â&#x20AC;?

Grandfather Sam Bergman pointed out his motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s numbered armband that she was forced to wear during her imprisonment at Halbstadt, a subcamp of the Nazi Gross-Rosen concentration camp, where she was transferred after Auschwitz. Yetta (Applebaum) Bergman was liberated on May 8, 1945.

Bergmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grandson, Pinchas Hirsch, â&#x20AC;&#x153;interviewed her and connects with her. (The project) gets them to connect with the still living. Young children through tangible items can connect to their history and what came before.â&#x20AC;? Mrs. Bergman, 91, was quoted on the display board that she saved the armband because, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s holy for me. I lived through this. It was my life. This happened to me because I committed a crime-the crime of being a Jew.â&#x20AC;?

Other displays held a lump of coal that a great grandmother keeps it in her china closet to remind her of when they ďŹ rst arrived in the U.S. from Europe and struggled to remain shomer Shabbat in a coal mining community in Pennsylvania. Another display held an American soldierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tin fork and knife given to a Holocaust survivor in a displaced personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s camp, kept to remind him of the kindness of the American liberators.

About ďŹ ve years ago, Rabbi Yitzchak Goldberg, junior high school principal at YDT, went with Rabbi Taub to the Jewish Heritage Museum in Battery Park for training to teach children the importance of artifacts and to learn how to create a museum. Rabbi Taub teaches ancient civilization, that of Egypt, India and Mesopotamia. The end of year project focuses on artifacts; each student has to bring their own Jewish oriented artifact and conduct interviews of the family member related to the artifact. Every year Rabbi Taub â&#x20AC;&#x153;changes something,â&#x20AC;? said Rabbi Goldberg and each board represents a different category.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s categories related to social, political, intellectual, religious or economic connections. The artifact had to tie to one of those themes.

Taub noted that the students â&#x20AC;&#x153;look forward to it; at the beginning of the year they are already thinking about it.â&#x20AC;? He said that he teaches â&#x20AC;&#x153;towards this, talking about our own culture, what is culture and how an artifact connectsâ&#x20AC;? to the different themes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every kid, even the least motivated, is very excited.

We did picture day when they brought in their artifacts, set up backgrounds and foregrounds (for the objects), how to hold the camera to minimize glare, worked on computers in the Gruss computer lab (at the school),â&#x20AC;? and the students entered their reports on a Power Point template. The project is â&#x20AC;&#x153;a culmination of skills; they learned to do observation and infer what the artifact was used for.â&#x20AC;? They interview great-grandparents or grandparents and have to â&#x20AC;&#x153;learn how to be investigative journalists and connect with family.â&#x20AC;?

Another part of the overall project connected language arts where each boy, under the direction of Mrs. Chaia Frishman, head of the YDT junior high English Language Arts Department, crafted a poem, based on George Ella Lyonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Where Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Fromâ&#x20AC;? poem, tying the artifact projects with their own personal history into a poem. The poetry boards bisected the artifact exhibit.

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By Jacob Kamaras, JNS.org Two well-known contemporary rabbis. Two prolific authors. Two personal journeys. One Rebbe.

Rabbis Joseph Telushkin and Adin EvenIsrael Steinsaltz have come out with new volumes on “the Rebbe,” Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, 20 years after the death of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement’s seventh and final leader. To these authors, Schneerson was no ordinary biographical subject—in fact, according to the subtitle of one of their books, he is “the most influential rabbi in modern history.”

Telushkin’s father, Shlomo, worked as an accountant for both the seventh Rebbe and his predecessor. When he was left paralyzed and disoriented by a stroke, Shlomo got two phone calls each day from the Rebbe. One day, the Rebbe’s secretary, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, conveyed an accounting question from the Rebbe for Shlomo to answer—and he answered successfully, despite being ill.

“I was very profoundly moved because I realized what happened was, the Rebbe was sitting there in Brooklyn, dealing with all these major issues, and he could empathize with the situation of my father, who suddenly had his whole life turned upside down and probably was feeling quite irrelevant, and the Rebbe was sort of bringing him back into the world,” Joseph Telushkin told JNS.org.

That story, also included in the introduction of Telushkin’s “Rebbe” (published by HarperCollins), is emblematic of the anecdotes infused throughout the 640-page book, providing a comprehensive history of the Rebbe’s hallmark focus on the individual—from heads of state to the everyman. Released June 10, the biography is the result of a five-year process in which Telushkin conducted hundreds of his own interviews and received unprecedented access to other interviews from Jewish Educational Media, Chabad’s video archive and multimedia arm.

“It was not easy to write a biography because the Rebbe was very unrevealing, didn’t talk about himself much, and didn’t leave behind many documents about himself, so I had to construct a biography to a large extent on people’s interactions with him,” said Telushkin, a renowned lecturer and the author of “Jewish Literacy,” which his website calls the most

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widely selling book on Judaism of the past two decades.

Three nights a week, starting at 8 p.m. and lasting until the early hours of the morning, the Rebbe would hold one-on-one meetings called yechidusen (singular, yechidus). While Telushkin details many yechidusen, he devotes special sections to the Rebbe’s meetings with philosopher Yitzchak Block; Yehuda Avner, an adviser to four Israeli prime ministers; novelist Harvey Swados; and Chana Sharfstein, who came to consider the Rebbe as a father figure after the murder of her own father when she was a teenager.

“I realized, this is a very unusual phenomenon, of a man who led a worldwide movement, and yet who always was able to remain very focused on the individual,” Telushkin said. “Obviously that’s at the heart of Judaism, because every human being is created in G-d’s image. We all acknowledge that, but people are not always so careful in carrying it out.”

Telushkin, who has written more than 15 books, said he did not begin working on “Rebbe” with the 20th anniversary of Schneerson’s death in mind, and did not believe the project would take five years until realizing that “there was an inordinate amount of material to assimilate.” Another realization Telushkin said he

had during his research was that the Rebbe “is probably the most well-known rabbinic figure since Maimonides, who lived 800 years ago.”

That is why Telushkin made what he called a “seemingly audacious claim” in the book’s subtitle, which identifies the Rebbe as “the most influential rabbi in modern history.”

There are few other rabbinic figures—if any— whose names would be recognized like the Rebbe’s by large percentages of Jewish audiences in the world’s largest Jewish communities, explained Telushkin.

Who else might be in the running for “most well-known rabbi”? Telushkin suggested the religious Zionist Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (“Rav Kook”)—but said that in the U.S., outside of the Orthodox world, “if you cite Rav Kook you have to introduce him.” The Reform movement’s Rabbi Stephen S. Wise might be the most famous U.S. rabbi of the first half of the 20th century, and there are two prominent synagogues named for him, yet “the percentage of American Jews who know much about him is small,” Telushkin said.

While Telushkin opted for “Rebbe,” he said Steinsaltz had the right to use the title “My Rebbe” (published by Maggid Books) because of his personal relationship with Schneerson.

Steinsaltz writes in the preface, “I enjoyed

Even critics praise Rebbe’s army…

Continued from page 1 ecutive vice president emeritus of the National Council of Young Israel. “If you want to accomplish stuff, you’ve got to leave the building. …

That is something [about Chabad] that has to be respected and emulated.”

Creating communities without walls has been a secret to Chabad’s success. The Chabad emissary “does not view himself as a rabbi of a congregation, as serving members of a synagogue,” but rather as a community rabbi, said Rabbi Steven Weil, former executive vice president of the Orthodox Union. “As the rabbi of a city he can have much greater impact than just being the rabbi for those who pay dues,” Weil said.

Weil noted that an additional upside presented by Chabad emissaries is that when a Chabad couple is sent to a community, the couple is “there for life.”

“When you look at a lot of communities— Reform, Conservative, Orthodox—the rabbis come for a period of time and their goal is to get a good job and then get a bigger pulpit in a bigger city,” said Weil, explaining if over a 30 or 40-year period, there are six or seven community rabbis, one never really becomes a part of the people’s extended lives.

Chabad emissaries “become a part of the

family, there at every stage,” Weil explained.

As Weil put it, in the modern Orthodox community, the best and brightest individuals become hedge fund managers. In the haredi community, those same men become heads of major yeshivas. In the Chabad movement, the best men become emissaries.

And those emissaries make life easier for all Jews. Since Chabad shluchim are positioned across the world, Jews know 7KH 5HEEH they can travel anywhere and still get a kosher meal or a place to pray, said Lerner. Chabad also feeds the Jewish future, according to Lerner, who said most Jews that become Orthodox later in life “somewhere along the line had involvement with Chabad.”

Those Jews likely stayed the course because of a combination of persistence, said Lerner, and the lack of judgment or pressure placed on them, said Wernick. They may have been brought in to the fold of religious life

because the barrier was low and accessible, perhaps even through the Internet or social media, both tools which many believe Chabad used earlier—and better—than other Jewish movements.

“We have to reach out to our fellow Jews with unconditional love,” said Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. “We don’t do enough of that and Chabad has taught us how.”

Yet even with Chabad’s open arms, the emissaries never compromise their Jewish values.

“You’ll never see a Chabad guy doing something wrong to accommodate someone else,” said Lerner, noting that the movement proudly promotes traditional Jewish culture in the public square.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, knew Schneerson personally and recalled that while he and the Rebbe did not always agree, the Rebbe always treated him with respect and love. “He took bold positions, he inspired,” said Hoenlein.

“The Rebbe clearly had a vision and he implemented it,” he added. “This is what Jewish leaders today need—they need to have a clearer sense of ultimately what they want to achieve.”

a warm and close relationship with the Rebbe.

He and I had long, private, one-to-one meetings, in which we discussed global Jewish questions. While this book reflects my own feelings, it is also a concerted effort to create an honest and objective work, one that strives to portray the man and his dreams.”

Like Telushkin, Steinsaltz—who has written 60 books and is perhaps best known for his translation of the entire Talmud from the Aramaic language to modern Hebrew—did not specifically write his book for the Rebbe’s 20th yahrzeit. He told JNS.org that “My Rebbe,” released May 1, took “many years” to complete and that it was “almost by chance” that it came out now. “It was, emotionally and intellectually, a very hard job,” Steinsaltz said.

An alternate title to the 250-page book, he said, could have been “Father, Teacher, King”—the roles any rebbe plays in the lives of his followers.

“The Rebbe was what basically a rebbe is, a focal point in which you try to adjust yourself,” said Steinsaltz. “In that sense, he has a unique position… the notion of a rebbe is that you accept that person as your guide.”

Writing on the topic of miracles, Steinsaltz explains that the Rebbe performed what might be considered modern-day miracles through his ability to perceive things others could not.

He said while biblical-era miracles were impressive, they “didn’t change much.” The Jews crossed the Read Sea with Moses, and a few days later they had enough chutzpah to complain about him, Steinsaltz noted—but those who met the Rebbe often truly internalized the encounters and changed their behavior.

“With some people it wasn’t a miracle,” he said. “With some people a deep and lasting connection was just an exchange of looks [with the Rebbe].”

Writing “Rebbe” was personally transformative for Telushkin. For instance, the Rebbe, due to his emphasis on using optimistic language, would refer to a hospital in Hebrew as “beit refuah,” meaning house of healing, rather than the widely used “beit cholim,” meaning house of the sick. Telushkin, likewise, said he now refrains from using the word “deadline” for a project because it connotes death; he now uses “due date,” which ironically connotes exactly the opposite—birth.

This principle of “optimism and careful choosing of words” is among the Rebbe’s “seven virtues” that make up Part Three of Telushkin’s book. Another one of those virtues that has influenced Telushkin is “anything worth doing is worth doing now.” He said that in the past he would often put off an unpleasant phone call he had to make for days, but now he tries to “be much better about taking care of things, both negative and positive things, and trying to do it now.”

While the Rebbe’s legacy is certain to be a topic of debate amid the 20th anniversary of his death, he actually left “marching orders” rather than a legacy, Steinsaltz writes in “My Rebbe.” Many Jews have “all kinds of books that are theoretical books to rely on, or to refer to, but that is not always something that makes people move in the same direction,” Steinsaltzsaid.

When the Rebbe became ill in the years before his death, people started to wonder about the continuity of the Chabad movement—but all doubts have been put to rest and then some, and according to Telushkin, that is to Schneerson’s credit.

“Instead [of Chabad being weakened], during the last 20 years, Chabad has tripled in size, it’s now in 80 countries, there are Chabad houses in 48 of 50 American states,” Telushkin said. “It has had this extraordinary vitality. The true test of leadership is what happens when a leader dies, and here’s an example of a when a leader died, the movement has been growing even stronger.”

THE JEWISH STAR June 13, 2014 • 15 SIVAN 5774

Rabbis write up the Rebbe on 20th yahrtzeit

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Spy stories: Not what we see, it’s how we see it with boulders and hard rock; completely untamable, the experts said. The winters were harsh, often making the meager roads impassable, and they found themselves between the very large Arab populations of Beit Lechem in the North and Hebron in the South. They saw the ancient Roman ruins; the caves, where tens of thousands of Jews had been forced to live in hiding, remained.

Against all the odds, the Etzion Bloc, four Jewish villages in the Judean hills, was born. They cleared the boulders with their hands, hauling dirt and rock with donkeys and leaving their families for an entire year, having decided that the land and the climate were too treacherous and difficult for mothers and children to join as yet. They were on a large and powerful mission, to see if the land their ancestors had left behind so long ago could become once again, their home. Where others saw only rocks and weeds, they saw a vibrant and living Jewish community in a modern State of Israel.

They were mad, of course, but they were right, and today a four lane highway with the largest bridge and tunnel system in Israel, connects nearly 30,000 people in the Gush Etzion and Hebron areas to Jerusalem, a mere 15 minute drive away. And this dream, along with all the other dreams that make up the totality of what is today the State of Israel, began with a small group on a fact-

finding mission to spy out the land that they would one day call home. his week’s portion, Shelach, is about just such a mission, which took place over 3,000 years ago, when a small band of men set forth from the desert to see if the land their ancestors had left behind so long ago could become once again, their home.

Only this time, it didn’t quite work out that way — or did it?

Nearly the entire portion this week speaks of this fateful mission, known as the “sin of the spies.” From the decision to send them out, to the description of what their mission was meant to be, to their return and the seemingly disastrous report they gave, this week’s portion is about a mission to spy out the land, which seems to have culminated in disaster.

The strangest part of this story is why the mission needed to take place at all.

There was a second famous spy-mission which the Rabbis chose as this week’s haftorah, which is always a clue to what Jewish tradition believed was the essence of the weekly Torah portion.

The Jewish people are again on the verge of entering the land of Israel, after 40 years of wandering in the desert. Only this is the second generation, most of whom were born in freedom and are thus no longer burdened with the mentality of a slave generation.

T

The princes, coming of age in Egypt, may not have been ready to see what Israel was all about. But the second generation was ready.

Poised on the banks of the Jordan River (Devarim 34:1), the mantle of leadership passes to Joshua, who is given the chance to make it right. In the haftorah, taken from the second chapter of the book of Joshua, the Jewish people are again sending men to spy out the land. Joshua was one of the original spies and has firsthand experience of what a mistake that mission turned out to be, this demands an explanation.

A closer look reveals that the mission initiated by Joshua was very different from that of Moshe sent in the desert. Considering that this second mission was successful, the difference between these missions may help us understand what was behind them, and what they really accomplished.

Moshe sends 12 men, one from each tribe, and the Torah takes a lot of time describing who they are and their high positions. In fact, they were the Nesi’im, the Princes of the tribes, and are listed by name. Joshua, on the other hand, sends only two men, and the text never tells us who they are.

Moshe’s mission, from beginning to end, was very public. The people know they are going and are involved in the initial request to send them (Devarim 1:22), and the spies return to give a report before the entire congregation (Bamidbar 13: 26).

In the book of Joshua, however, the entire mission was top secret, and there was another difference. Moshe’s spies toured the entire land (Bamidbar 13: 27-29) for 40 days. Joshua’s spies went only to Jericho, and did not even see the city itself as they were “discovered” before leaving the home of Rachav where they had just arrived (Joshua 2:2-3). After escaping from Rachav’s home Continued on page 14

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hey were a small group of pioneers with a mission. The year was 1940, and Jews by the tens of thousands were being herded into the ghettos of Nazi-occupied Europe. And while the Nazi hierarchy was meeting to determine the “final solution to FROM THE HEART the Jewish problem,” OF JERUSALEM this small group was preparing the groundwork for what they believed would be the influx of refugees who would need a home and a place to call their own.

It is hard to imagine the vision required for a group of Jews in 1940 to believe that there was a need to create Rabbi Binny new towns and villagFreedman es in the barren lands that were years away from becoming the State of Israel, but these young men and women believed, against all the odds, that they were on the threshold of the fulfillment of a 2,000 year old dream, and that at long last, after so many years of wandering, the Jewish people were ready to begin coming home.

The infamous British “White Paper” severely limiting Jewish immigration to the land of Israel was in full force, and a scant 7,500 Jews from the millions desperate to get out of Europe would be allowed into a country surrounded by hostile Arabs and facing a heavy-handed British mandate openly resistant to their efforts.

They discovered that the land was filled

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June 13, 2014 • 15 SIVAN 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

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T

owards the end of Shlach, the Torah gives us instructions for a case of what Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan entitles, “Communal Sin Offerings for Idolatry,” based no doubt on Rashi’s explanation of the phrase, “When [the collective] you err and don’t do all of these commandments.”

“If you inadvertently Rabbi Avi Billet [commit an act of idolatry]” (15:22), the community becomes responsible to “prepare one young bull for a burnt offering as an appeasing fragrance to G-d, along with its prescribed grain offering and libation. [They must also present] one goat for a sin offering.” (15:24) The Torah explains that on account of the inadvertence of the sin, the community has an easy time achieving atonement, as opposed to if the sins had been purposeful.

It is hard to understand how the entire nation would inadvertently commit an act of idolatry. Though maybe a case of Trudeaumania (or any similar hype), or a mistaken belief that a spiritual act of some kind is proper when it is in fact idolatrous, are possibilities.

In either case, the Torah depicts the sin offering in an odd way. The Hebrew word for this offering is a chatat – normally containing the letters chet, tet, alef, taf. In this case, however, for the only time in the Torah when chatat appears, the silent alef is missing.

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ter that is part of the word? Sure enough, a number of sources and commentators try to explain the missing Alef.

The sifrei (midrash) explains the lesson here, that the sin offering is for mistakenly committing an act of idolatry. Just as the alef is the first letter, idolaters rebelled against Gd’s oneness, the first of all existence.

Rashi suggests this sin offering is different from all others because with every other sin offering that accompanies an olah (burnt offering) the sin offering is listed first. Here the olah is listed first. The missing alef, therefore, is a call to attention to this anomaly.

Kli Yakar expands on Rashi, explaining that idolatry is unique in that a person who commits it is considered as having committed all the sins of the Torah. In every other “accidental” sin, the person commits an act of thought and action. If there is no thought or intent, it isn’t “inadvertent” any more – it is ohness (blameless). An example of ohness is if I am obeying traffic rules and my car breaks something that has been thrown in front of it with no way for me to avoid it. A sinner normally needs to bring two offerings for atonement — the olah for the thought process and the chatat for the actual deed. Thought is not normally punished if there is no subsequent action (see Tehillim 66:18).

Normally the chatat comes first because the action is the bigger sin, even though it came second.

However, when it comes to idolatry, the thought process (atoned through the olah) is the bigger sin, because that is where the denial of G-d and His role in the world be-

gins. The action is merely a manifestation of the misdeed of thought. “This is why chatat is written without an alef, because alef has the numerical value of one which teaches us about the Oneness of G-d. A person who commits an act of idolatry contradicts G-d’s Oneness. This is demonstrated through the missing Alef, because that [missing the Alef] is actually the person’s sin. Unlike other sins where the thought is meaningless without the action, the thought process of idolatry [is the source of the person’s problems].”

Basing himself on the Talmud (Horayot13), the Torah Temimah argues that the chatat offering here, is a lesser chatat offering than others – presumably because the main offering here is the olah, for the thought process.

While literal idolatry in the form of worshipping idols is not a mainstream problem, there are still proverbial idols that we tend to worship. And the missing alef is a reminder to us that when our thoughts wander from our heavenward goals, that is the bigger sin. For example, when we plan our lives around television shows instead of around our chavrusas and Torah learning opportunities, we are guilty of the thought process of idolatry.

In this post-Shavuos week, we need to remind ourselves that being the People of the Book does not only mean that we honor the Torah, or that we have libraries in our homes.

It means we must read our books and create homes in which G-d is at the forefront of our minds at all times. This will help prevent sins of thought and help us get closer to G-d. We don’t want any missing Alefs in our collective Jewish experiences.

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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Shlach’s missing alef: G-d’s place in our lives

THE JEWISH STAR June 13, 2014 • 15 SIVAN 5774

THE JEWISH STAR

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June 13, 2014 • 15 SIVAN 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

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MSNBC management: Thoughtless or anti-Semitic M

ay saw a series of tweets by POLITICS TO GO MSNBC hosts displaying a lack of sensitivity about the Holocaust which some would call antiSemitic. Beyond those tweets, the network has a history of hiring anti-Semites such as Al Sharpton, who led two anti-Semitic pogroms in New York City. Former political Jeff Dunetz reporter Pat Buchanan was fired from MSNBC because of racism, but the network ignored his anti-Semitism.

Jonah Goldberg was only one of many columnists who wrote about Chris Matthews’s tendency toward Jew-hatred. Put all together, there may be a systemic problem of antiSemitism at the progressive network.

MSNBC’s fortnight of strange Holocaust tweets began on May 12 with Ed Shultz’s ridiculous claim which he repeated on his pro-

gram: “Gay people were really the ones being persecuted in Hitler’s Germany.”

The next week on Friday night, Touré, co-host of The Cycle, minimized the postHolocaust suffering of Jewish survivors with the claim that they had an advantage because they were white.

“It’s obviously absurd and smacks of intense and disgusting anti-Semitism.

It’s reverse-racism basically,” Efraim Zuroff, Israel office director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center commented when he read the tweet. “There is no question that part of the anti-Semitism that we see has its roots in the form of jealousy. This is a perfect example: ‘Jews made it because they’re white and Jews’.”

The next Tuesday, Touré made a tepid apology saying he used a shorthand that was insensitive and wrong.

This was not Touré’s first brush with

anti-Semitism. The Daily Caller reported a year ago, “MSNBC host Touré founded a student newspaper dedicated to black liberation theology while he was a college student attending Emory University from 1989 to 1992. Touré’s flagship publication, The Fire This Time, lavished praise on famous anti-Semites, black supremacists, and conspiracy theorists whom Touré helped bring to campus.”

Capping things off on the next Sunday evening, MSNBC host Ronan Farrow tweeted out, “All my business meetings are like ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’ and all my dates are like ‘Schindler’s List’, am I doing something wrong.”

Granted, I’ve been married and out of the dating scene for almost 28 years, but I seriously doubt dating has gotten so bad that it is the equivalent of being rescued from the Plaszow slave labor camp, where prisoners starved or were worked to death, or sum-

Buchanan wrote of Treblinka, ‘Diesel engines do not emit enough carbon monoxide to kill anybody.’

marily shot just because some Nazi guard felt like it. valuating those tweets in the context of MSNBC’s record, which includes a primetime slot for Al Sharpton, the tenure of Pat Buchanan as political commentator, and Chris Matthews’ obsession with Jewish neo-cons, some could surmise anti-Semitism is systemic at the progressive network.

Sharpton incited two anti-Semitic programs in New York City: the Crown Heights riot and the firebombing of the Jewishowned Freddy’s Fashion Mart in Harlem. The supposedly repentant Sharpton has never admitted or apologized for either riot, even though in the case of Freddy’s much of the incitement was made on his radio program and transcripts still exist.

In 2012 MSNBC political commentator Pat Buchanan was fired for racist prose in his book “Suicide of a Superpower,” which had a chapter called “The End of White America.”

In 2010, when Elana Kagen was first considered for the Supreme Court, Buchanan wrote a column that complained, “Indeed, of the last seven justices nominated by Democrats Continued on page 14

E

Fatah-Hamas deal reflects American weakness T

he school of thought that describes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as “the Middle East conflict” is dangerously misguided, because it ignores other factors that are far more important, such as the historically violent schism between Sunni and Shi’a Islam, Iran’s renewed assertiveness in Syria and Lebanon, the shared strategic interests binding Israel and Ben Cohen, JNS the conservative regimes in the Arab Gulf in confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the fragmentation of the various jihadi groups in Sinai, Syria, Iraq, and other territories.

That’s why I want to preface my comments about the new Palestinian unity government, which brings together Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement with the Islamists of Hamas, by pointing to a political rally in Tehran where Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stood in front of a banner that declared, “America cannot do a damned thing” and proclaimed that a

VIEWPOINT

“military attack is not a priority for Americans now. … They have renounced the idea of any military actions.”

In other words, in the Middle East as a whole, America is weak, or is at least perceived to be weak. And weakness has a natural partner in the form of naïveté—the exact word used by Israeli government minister Gilad Erdan to describe the Obama administration’s acceptance of the new Fatah-Hamas coalition, but which could equally apply to the American approach to conflicts from Libya in the west to Afghanistan in the east.

After all, would Abbas have cut a deal with Hamas if he were dealing with an American administration with a tough and cogent Middle Eastern policy? Would Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, have been hoodwinked into believing that because the new Palestinian government’s ministries are largely run by technocrats, the American pledge to shun Hamas while it remains a terrorist organization has not been violated? I think not.

Still, Israel’s supporters are compelled to deal with this situation as it is, and not as we would like it to be. Hence, we have a choice.

We can lambast Secretary of State John Kerry for placing the lion’s share of the blame for the

recent collapse of peace talks on Israel, while ignoring Abbas’s pursuit of unilateral recognition for a Palestinian state and his reconciliation with the genocidal anti-Semites of Hamas.

We can laugh, bitterly, at Obama’s statement to Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg that Abbas is “sincere” about resolving “these issues in a diplomatic fashion that meets the concerns of the people of Israel”—a line worthy of a Monty Python scriptwriter.

But as therapeutic as doing all that might be, it is not a replacement for a political strategy. With more than two years to go before President Obama departs the White House, the best strategy we can work for now is damage limitation.

The first element of such a strategy is to point out that the Fatah-Hamas deal, which on the surface looks more secure when compared to previous agreements between these bitter rivals, still contains some serious holes.

Critically, as the Tel Aviv University security analyst Dr. Benedetta Berti argued in an interview with Fathom, a British magazine focused on the Middle East, “where the parties have not seen eye to eye so far is on their mutual desire to keep control of Gaza, in the case of Hamas, and the West Bank, in the case of Fatah.” Berti

Naïveté: partner of weakness.

further pointed out that the “core elements of Hamas’s ideology have not shifted, but there is an internal conflict in the organization about how to accommodate ideology with political interests and pragmatism.”

It is nigh on impossible to believe that Hamas will become so pragmatic as to surrender its formidable arsenal of weapons and materiel to the PA. Far more likely, as the Israeli journalist Ehud Yaari has observed, is that Hamas will increasingly mimic the “bullets and ballots” model followed by Hezbollah in Lebanon. Under this arrangement, 20,000 fighters and security personnel will remain under the Hamas banner. At the same time, these terrorists will be able to continue with the production of missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The possibility that the unity government will enable a fresh terrorist assault on Israel that provokes a sustained response on the part of the IDF is, therefore, a very real one. How, then, are we to avoid a repeat of the clashes over the last decade that resulted in Israel’s being smeared with false accusations of war crimes, from Jenin in 2002 to Gaza in 2009?

One avenue is to mobilize the U.S. Congress to frustrate the Obama administration’s determination to deal with the unity government. At present, American taxpayers are supContinued on page 14

7

H

istory has a unique way of both intruding on and inspiring current events. The recent trip to Israel by Pope Francis and his visit to the gravesite of Theodore Herzl is but one recent example of this phenomenon.

KOSHER In “Theodore Herzl: BOOKWORM A New Reading” (Gefen Publishing House, 2013), Dr. Georges Weisz details the historic meeting in 1904 between then Pope Pius X and Herzl. That meeting reflected, in its time, the negative attitudes that the Church and its leadership had toward the Jewish faith’s relationship to the Land of Alan Jay Gerber Israel, an attitude that was not fully explicated by the media during the recent visit. Below, you will find a summary of what Dr. Weisz relates to us of that encounter of 110 years ago, a visit that surely inspired and prompted this year’s actions by Pope Francis.

Just prior to Herzl’s meeting with the pope, Cardinal Merry del Val, the Vatican secretary of state, the Church’s senior diplomat, is quoted to have said the following to Herzl: “I do not quite see how we can take any initiative in this matter. As long as the Jews deny the divinity of Christ, we certainly cannot make a declaration in their favor. Not that we have any ill will toward them. On the contrary, the Church has always protected them.

To us they are the indispensable witnesses to the phenomenon of God’s term on earth. But they deny the divine nature of Christ. How

then can we, without abandoning our own highest principles, agree to their being given possession of the Holy Land again?”

Dr. Weisz continues: “Later, when Herzl had his audience with the pope, the latter expressed his vehement disapproval of the Zionist program, particularly the idea that Jerusalem might fall into the hands of the Jews.”

The following is a direct quote by Pope Pius X: “We cannot give approval to this movement.

We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem — but we could never sanction it. The soil of Jerusalem, if it was not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot tell you anything different. The Jews have not recognized our lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people.”

When viewed in the light of these quotes, the visit by Pope Francis to Herzl’s kever, in Jerusalem, takes on added significance.

The correspondences cited below represent a sampling of responses to this writer from three of the most distinguished scholars in the field of Jewish-Christian relations.

The first is from a letter by Rabbi Dr. Pesach Schindler of Hebrew University who stated that, “For me and numerous other historians with a long range recall, the visit of

a Jesuit, e.g. Pope Francis, visiting, standing at the grave of Theodore Herzl in Jerusalem, represents a 180 degree turn from previous Catholic and Papal policy. … This may not have been the pope’s specific intent — maybe just a courtesy call — but the photos tell its own narrative. It is revolutionary and clearly a Vatican kudos to Herzl.”

Dr. Susanna Heschel, whose late father, Rabbi Dr. Avraham Joshua Heschel, zt”l, was a leading player on behalf of the Jewish people during the Vatican II discussions, wrote the following: “I am constantly amazed by this pope. He is changing the atmosphere of the church, and Catholics I meet are filled with wonder and enormous optimism. I feel the same way.

Let’s keep history in mind and realize what an extraordinary development this is. When my father met with Pope Paul VI in 1971, he told the pope that he hoped they would meet in Jerusalem. That would never have happened with Paul VI, but can you imagine how extraordinary it would be if my father were alive today to join Pope Francis in Jerusalem? … I credit my father with accomplishing much of the change in the church. He was a Jewish theologian who made Catholics realize they have something to learn about G-d from Judaism.”

The last observation and teaching is from

Professor Adam Ferziger of Bar Ilan University, who wrote to me the following: “Taken independently, the pope’s placing a wreath at Herzl’s grave was a major act. Herzl symbolizes the renaissance of modern Jewry from a scattered religious tribe to a sovereign national entity with all the attributes that are common to such states: land, power, independence, the ability to defend, a usable, spoken and written language, political and economic infrastructure, international presence, along with folklore, customs, literature, history, and as is often the case, a common religious tradition. This renaissance stands in direct contradiction to long held Catholic beliefs regarding Jewish destiny known as ‘eternal witness’ theology that originated in the 4th Century [St. Augustine].”

“The rise of Zionism, the ingathering of millions of Jews from throughout the Diaspora, and particularly the ongoing growth and rigorous military, political, and economic development of the State of Israel, undermine the foundation of the historic Christian metahistorical understanding. By going to Herzl’s grave, the Pope was demonstrating that the Augustinian vision was obsolete and with it the pejorative perception of Jewish national existence.”

Thus, we learn from the above teachings and observations that the role of Herzl’s visit to the Vatican 110 years ago was not for naught. That historic visit served for all of us to learn and appreciate the role played by Herzl and the Zionist movement of his day, which served to reinvigorate both the Jewish faith and people and reinforced their direct connection to the Land and ultimately the State of Israel.

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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THE JEWISH STAR June 13, 2014 • 15 SIVAN 5774

The Saga of Herzl and the Pope

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June 13, 2014 • 15 SIVAN 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

8

9

A

few weeks ago, while driving my husband Jerry to the Valley Stream Station (after he managed to saunter and putter around, thereby missing the Woodmere train), I found myself stuck at a light at the intersection of Mill Road and Sunrise Highway. While WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S IN THE breathlessly waiting for KITCHEN the light to change (I had three minutes to get him there on time) a car in the opposite direction crossed the highway, cut in front of me and entered the park on my right, at full speed through an entrance not meant for cars, then onto the grass and sped ahead, stopping only when a body of water Judy Joszef got in its way. The driver jumped out of the car and into the water, trying to get across as fast as he could, as if to escape pursuers (who we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see).

Jerry and I looked at each other and realized we had to do something. As the light changed, I charged ahead toward the station while calling the police (hands-free of course). I explained the situation and they said they would send a squad car immediately. I basically threw Jerry out of the car and told him to run, not saunter up the steps and make that train! I then made my way back to the park, only two blocks away, and saw that the police were there. Not knowing if they caught the guy, I called back and described him, and gave a detailed account of what I saw. An hour later I remembered a few more

details and called again. The ofďŹ cer thanked me for my help and said they had caught the guy. SatisďŹ ed with my good deed for the day, I hung up with a smile.

That Friday night over dinner Jerry said those words Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard so many times before, â&#x20AC;&#x153;That reminds me of a storyâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;? As usual, Jerry managed to shoehorn his way into my column.

Over 30 years ago, while out for lunch with a colleague, Jerry saw an elegantly dressed older woman across the avenue. Suddenly, a teen ran over to her, ripped a pearl necklace off her neck and knocked her to the ground, leaving her shaking and stunned.

Jerry shouted to his colleague, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get him,â&#x20AC;? and ran full speed (probably the last time he ran!) to cut him off.

Although there were men chasing him from behind, Jerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brain, now in football mode, cut him off at the spot he anticipated he would end up at. Having played football in Marine Park with his best friends from Rambam â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Mike Halpern, Neil Stien, Sol Genuth, Stuie Stern and Irwin Shulkraut â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jerry launched at him and made the perfect open ďŹ eld tackle, and got the kid in a headlock. People shouted to the kid, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be ok.â&#x20AC;? Jerry shouted for the crowd to call the police.

He pleaded with them to understand that this kid just violently knocked an old lady down and left her shaking and injured on the ground while running off with her necklace.

Still they felt for the young kid who was held in Jerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headlock. Jerry, as only Jerry can, was trying to reason with these people, asking them, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can you want to let him go, look what he just did!â&#x20AC;?

Finally his colleague (not one to get involved), caught up to Jerry and went to a pay phone to call the police. Now Jerry, who was

quite the athlete in his day, and is still quite strong, didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how much longer heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be able to â&#x20AC;&#x153;tackle this kid.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the police cars arrive much quicker on TV?â&#x20AC;? Jerry thought. Eventually the cavalry (police) came to the rescue. Unfortunately, they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t initially determine who was the bad guy and who was the good guy.

After Jerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement as well as his friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, the police arrested the boy and returned the pearls to the woman.

Speaking of pearls, I just love pearl onions and I think you will enjoy this recipe.

&KLFNHQ %UHDVWV ZLWK SHDUO RQLRQV PXVKURRPV VKDOORWV

Tweaked from a recipe from The Mayo Clinic Healthy Dinner Recipes Ingredients: 1/4 cup all-purpose ďŹ&#x201A;our 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil

6 skinless, bone-in chicken breast halves, about 3/4 pound total weight, each cut in half crosswise equaling 12 pieces 1 shallot, chopped (about 1 tablespoon) 1 pound small white button mushrooms, brushed clean 1/2 pound peeled pearl onions 3/4 cup low-sodium vegetable stock, chicken stock or broth 1/2 cup dry red wine 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, plus sprigs for garnish 1/4 teaspoon salt Directions: In a shallow dish, stir together the ďŹ&#x201A;our and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned ďŹ&#x201A;our.

In a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a platter.

Add the shallot to the pan and sautĂŠ until softened, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and sautĂŠ until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the onions and sautĂŠ until they begin to pick up some brown color, 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in the stock and wine and deglaze the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and vegetables are tender, 45 to 50 minutes. Stir vinegar, chopped thyme, teaspoon salt and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

To serve, place the chicken on a serving platter and top with the vegetables.

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Vying for the spotlight: To catch a thief

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Achiezer Last Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Achiezer Tribute Dinner gave over 1,000 people from all neighborhoods of the Far Rockaway/Bayswater and Five Towns community a chance to set aside shul afďŹ liation, yarmulka type and personal interests, to join in support of one undisputed cohesive agent: chesed.

The upper level of The Sands in Atlantic Beach featured The Foundry, a spectacular walk-through of Achiezer solutions, as theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re forged, including crisis intervention, medical recommendations, behavioral health, health insurance and more. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I always knew that Achiezer had an organized and detailed infrastructure; but getting to see it close up was just eye opening,â&#x20AC;? one guest commented.

Master of Ceremonies Dr. Moshe Schlusselberg, a resident of Woodmere, opened the program with some personal reďŹ&#x201A;ections of Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s modest beginnings, followed by a brief synopsis of Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission and accomplishments. Mr. Shulie Wollman,

Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chairman of the Board, discussed Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s availability -â&#x20AC;&#x201D; literally 24/7/365 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and incredible determination to assist our community, despite all the odds. Achiezer senior board members Mr. Ronald Lowinger and Mr. Michael Krengel led the assemblage in Tehillim, after which Rabbi Boruch Ber Bender delivered the keynote address.

In a passionate account, Rabbi Bender shared the story of Ruth, an Achiezer volunteer whose regular visits to the nursing home were singularly responsible for bringing a woman back from the brink of depression. The story was a clear demonstration that no act of chesed can be considered small, and that even a small kindness can save a life and recreate a soul. Describing Achiezerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 24-hour emergency hotline, Rabbi Bender provided a true-to-life, behindthe-scenes view of the lifesaving work that Achiezer does on a regular basis â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in myriads of ways, both large and small.

Awards were presented to the eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s honorees: Dr. Marcel Scheinman (Physician

Appreciation Award); Yoni and Esther Novak (Hakoras Hatov Award); the Community Assistance Fund (Community Appreciation Award); and Rabbi Zev and Leah Bald (Kesser Shem Tov Award).

The feature video, entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our Communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s One Call For Help,â&#x20AC;? included personal and emotional anecdotes shared by community members, as well as messages of support from a variety of local Rabbonim and community leaders. Despite the relatively late hour on the Sunday evening just before Shavuos, the crowd stuck around to enjoy the lavish dessert spread and bask in the sheer enjoyment of the evening for just a while longer.

The evening was a celebration of the past and a commitment to the future, which left guests inspired and committed to joining this bastion of chesed.

Achdus and Achiezer. The two words go together, not just for one magical evening, but for every single day, of each and every year.

703572

June 13, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 15 SIVAN 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

10

11 THE JEWISH STAR June 13, 2014 • 15 SIVAN 5774

A Better Kind of Cancer Care

“I came to Winthrop because treating pancreatic cancer absolutely requires a collaborative, team approach.”

Dr. John D. Allendorf is head of Winthrop’s Pancreatic Cancer Program and Vice Chairman of the Department of Surgery. He joined Winthrop from the largest university hospital in New York City. A renowned pancreatic surgeon and innovator in robotic surgery, Dr. Allendorf and his team are giving new hope to pancreatic cancer patients.

“What’s important is to have a group of specialists that are expert in their respective fields and dedicated to a common problem. Physicians, nurses and other providers who work well together in an institution that encourages teamwork. Here at Winthrop we have six to eight physicians from different specialties all focused on each individual cancer patient. That is uncommon across the country and unique on Long Island.

259 First Street, Mineola, New York 11501 • 1.866.WINTHROP • winthrop.org

“I really believe that at Winthrop-University Hospital, we’re delivering a better kind of cancer care.”

June 13, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 15 SIVAN 5774 THE JEWISH STAR

12

Jewish Star Calendar â&#x20AC;˘Compiled by Racheli Tuchman â&#x20AC;˘Send events to Calendar@TheJewishStar.com â&#x20AC;˘Include contact phone or email â&#x20AC;˘ Deadline Thursday one week before cover date

6$785'$< -81( )5,(1'6+,3 &,5&/( 6+$%%$7 3$57< featuring a Shabbat Oneg for children with special needs and their siblings. Program includes stories, snacks and fun. 4 to 5 pm. Chabad, 74 Maple Ave., Cedar-hurst. 516-295-2478.

681'$< -81( 0$'5$,*26 Annual beneďŹ t breakfast. Rav Moshe Weinberger. 9:30 am. Bugayer home. 81 Neptune Ave., Woodmere. 516-371-3250.

021'$< -81( '(66(57 5(&(37,21 Honoring Esther Weinstein Krown, Michael Papilsky and Marvin Shanker for Long Island Tov Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Yachad. Couvert $25. 7:30 pm. Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. 8 Spruce Street, Cedarhurst. 516-677-1800.

78(6'$< -81( %5($67 &$1&(5 6&5((1,1*6 from

the NUMC Mammography Van. Appointments are required and are scheduled on a ďŹ rst come, ďŹ rst served basis. 8:45 am to noon. Waldbaumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shopping Plaza, East Park Avenue, Long Beach.

516-571-6204.

7+856'$< -81( /81&+ /($51 with Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of YI Woodmere. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Ave., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. $12 lunch. Alan Stern 516-398-3094.

681'$< -81( .8/$18 )$,5 Game booths, prizes, gifts, refreshments, exciting rides for all ages, pony rides and arts and crafts. Become a 2014 Kulanu Corporate Sponsor. Free admissions. 12:30 to 5 pm.

Andrew J Parise Park. Cedarhurst. 516-569-3083.

78(6'$< -81( :20(16 (9(1,1* &/$66(6 Monthly class with Mrs. Franklin, continuing to explore

the spiritual signiďŹ cance of the months. All women are invited to join. Suggested donation $10.

8:30 pm. Chabad, 74 Maple Ave., Cedarhurst.

516-295-2478

7+856'$< -81( :20(1 81,7( at Ohel. Erev Rosh Chodesh is also called Yom Kippur Katan and is an auspicious time to pray for the new month. Join for Shacharit prayer and Torah learning at the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. RSVP appreciated. 9:30- 11 am. Meet at Chabad, 74 Maple Ave., Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478 )$5%5(1*(1 )25 0(1 28th of Sivan.

Farbrengen for men commemorating the miraculous arrival of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and Rebbetzin to the USA in 1941. 8:15 pm. Chabad, 74 Maple Ave., Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478

6$785'$< -81( 3,&1,&6 ,1 7+( 3$5. Special Shabbat experience. All ages. Free admissions. 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 11 am.

Central Park. 212-413-8841

McCarthy hopefulsâ&#x20AC;Ś )URQWUXQQHUV %UXFH %ODNHPDQ 5HSXEOLFDQ DQG .DWKOHHQ 5LFH 'HPRFUDW -HZLVK 6WDU 6XVDQ *ULHFR

Continued from page 1 Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, said there are â&#x20AC;&#x153;scenarios that are short of political science ďŹ ctionâ&#x20AC;? in which Riceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opponent â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Kevan Abrahams, the County Legislatureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minority leader â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or Blakemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Frank Scaturro, a New Hyde Park attorney â&#x20AC;&#x201C; could win.

However, â&#x20AC;&#x153;everything would have to go right for [Abrahams and Scaturro], and almost everything would have to go wrong for [Rice and Blakeman],â&#x20AC;? Levy said. '(02&5$7,& 35,0$5<

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Rice has been the presumptive frontrunner to replace Carolyn McCarthy, who is not seeking another term, since she declared her candidacy in late January, with McCarthyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s endorsement and that of national Democrats.

McCarthy has kept the seat in the Democratic column for 18 years, and registered Democrats now outnumber registered Republicans in the 4th District by about 30,000. Most important, Rice has the most name recognition of anyone in the ďŹ eld, and she cruised to countywide re-election as district attorney by 18 percentage points two and a half months

5(% /(,%(/¡6 7(+,//,0 0,1<$1 Gather on Shabbat Mevorchim, before morning services to recite the book of Psalms. 7:45 am. Chabad, 74 Maple Ave., Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478 %,57+'$< 6+$%%$7 for children who celebrate their birthday in Tammuz. Cake included.

After morning services. Chabad, 74 Maple Ave., Cedarhurst. 516-295-2478.

78(6'$< -8/< (9(1,1* 2) 5()/(&7,21 honors Gimmel Tammuz. Men and women are invited to an evening of tribute marking the Yartzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Celebrate the life and vision of the Rebbe and perpetuate his legacy. Details to follow. 516-296-2478.

21*2,1* (;+,%,76 %%/$ *$//(5< presents Miriam Morsel Nathanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exhibition on â&#x20AC;&#x153;I ďŹ rst saw the world through a mosquito net..â&#x20AC;? Weekdays 10 am to 4 pm. Bohemian National Hall. 321 E. 73 St.,, 3rd ďŹ&#x201A;oor, Manhattan. 212-988-1733 to verify access.

earlier. But, as other Democratic contenders withered away, Abrahams, 39, forged ahead, holding fundraisers, making campaign stops and sharply criticizing Rice in the press. â&#x20AC;&#x153;How well can a credible black candidate do in a district where a substantial number of voters are people of color?â&#x20AC;? Levy asked. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be intriguing to see how well [Abrahams] can do, and whether a superior treasury and organization and name recognition can enable the white candidate to dominate.â&#x20AC;?

In the ďŹ rst quarter of 2014, Riceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign raised more than four times as much money as that of any other candidate, and she enjoys the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Working Families Party and many regional unions, among others. Rice declined an invitation to debate Abrahams before the primary.

dependence parties. Scaturro has never held ofďŹ ce, but he has earned the displeasure of Republican leaders by running time and again against their hand-picked candidates.

Nevertheless, Scaturroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outsider persona and strident, intellectual appeal to conservative principles has won him supporters among the Republican base, especially those who associate themselves with the Tea Party.

In 2012, Scaturro lost the Republican congressional primary to County Legislator Francis Becker, but he beat Becker for the Conservative Partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nomination through a write-in ballot campaign, which propelled Scaturro into the general election against Becker and McCarthy. And Blakemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s star power has waned since he lost a 1998 race for state comptroller. One year later, he lost his seat in the County Legislature, and the next time he campaigned, in a 2010 race for U.S. Senate, he ďŹ nished a distant third in the Republican primary. Blakeman declined an invitation to debate Scaturro.

The Republican primary looks to be even more lopsided. Bruce Blakeman is a well-connected political insider who has won elections in Nassau County before and is endorsed by the Nassau Republican, Conservative and In-

For more coverage of these races, as well as a Democratic primary contest in the 5th CD that includes the Rockaways, Inwood, North Woodmere and Valley Street, see this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nassau Herald.

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Parise recounts experiences in WWIIâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 1 Rabbi Feitman said his father was at Buchenwald, a camp liberated by Pariseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unit.

He noted that at liberation, American soldiers cried when they saw that the concentration camp prisoners were â&#x20AC;&#x153;walking skeletons,â&#x20AC;? some of whom subsequently died after eating food they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yet digest; others were killed by anti-Semites even after liberation.

The prisoners acknowledged that the soldiers were â&#x20AC;&#x153;sent by G-d to save themâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;made a bracha (blessing) on the liberators.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am here because he (Parise) was there,â&#x20AC;? said Rabbi Feitman, his voice choked with emotion. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wish him (to continue) his long productive life and continue to be our mayor to 120 years.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;They almost succeeded in wiping out the Jews,â&#x20AC;? said Zalinsky, blinking back tears, as she thanked Mayor Parise. As a result of saving her

father, Parise would see four generations, with Zalinsky, her son and his children in the room.

She told the students, â&#x20AC;&#x153;You need to bear witness [and say] I met someone who freed the Jews in Buchenwald.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to sit because Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m 90 years old and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all I can do,â&#x20AC;? Parise said, smiling. He thanked the speakers for their â&#x20AC;&#x153;kind remarks,â&#x20AC;? denied his heroism and brieďŹ&#x201A;y described his divisionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s record 154 days on the front lines under grueling conditions.

He was awarded a Purple Heart when he was shot by a sniper in the backs of his legs shortly before the end of the war. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was dismantling tank obstacles,â&#x20AC;? he explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Germans would cut huge trees [down] so the tanks wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pass.â&#x20AC;? He recalled ďŹ ghting 30 days in the forest, with snow four to ďŹ ve feet deep, that soldiers froze to death and they had to chop them out of the ice and carried them on

box springs they found to the trucks.

When he mentioned the difďŹ cult capture of the town of Metz in France, Rabbi Feiner pointed out that the Shaagas Aryeh, the noted Rabbi Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gunzberg, was there at the end of his life in the late 1700s.

Parise said that when his division entered Buchenwald, its prisoners and guards were not there, but he recalled the â&#x20AC;&#x153;trenches with remains, the beds â&#x20AC;&#x201C; boards, stacked four or ďŹ ve high with hardly any room betweenâ&#x20AC;? He said General Eisenhower sent the American troops to visit the camps â&#x20AC;&#x153;to tell folks back home.â&#x20AC;?

Parise grew up in Inwood and enlisted in the Army after graduation from Lawrence High School in 1942. Assigned to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Câ&#x20AC;? company, the 312th Combat Engineers of the 87th â&#x20AC;&#x153;Golden Acornâ&#x20AC;? Infantry Division, he landed with his division at Le Havre, France, in November 1944. Upon his return to the U.S. he recon-

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nected with his high school civics teacher and entered public service serving as legislative aide for the New York State Assembly in 1954, chief executive assistant, Town of Hempstead, from 1956 to 1991 and worked for the Village of Cedarhurst since 1971 ďŹ rst as Trustee, then Deputy Mayor and now Mayor since 1995.â&#x20AC;?My political afďŹ liations stop at the door,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am the mayor of everybody.â&#x20AC;?

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More than FD: celebrating the life of Philip Bach, aâ&#x20AC;?h

By Malka Eisenberg Although Philip Bach, aâ&#x20AC;?h, struggled with Familial Dysautonomia (FD) from birth and only lived to the age of 27, he managed to touch the hearts and lives of many in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway community.

On Thursday, June 19, FDNOW, the Familial Dysautonomia Now Foundation, a research organization, will hold a dinner at the Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst to raise funds to continue research to improve the lives of those with FD and honoring Philipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memory.

FD is a rare, genetic disease that impairs the autonomic nervous system; sufferers have difďŹ culty breathing and eating, their heart rate, blood pressure and temperature are erratic and unpredictable, and their pain sensors are affected. Those with FD can go into â&#x20AC;&#x153;autonomic crisisâ&#x20AC;? due to various environmental triggers, with surges in blood pressure, heart rate and violent retching.

Philip peacefully passed away in his sleep on Dec. 29, 2013. The oldest child of Mindy and David Bach of North Woodmere, he was diagnosed when he was 10 days old by an FD specialist at NYU Medical Center. Philip could not eat and was ďŹ tted with a nasogastric tube in his nose and a fundoplication to prevent reďŹ&#x201A;ux internally. From birth, he never tasted food. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The prognosis was not too promising,â&#x20AC;? recalls Mindy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was very afraid and it was overwhelming.â&#x20AC;? Philip was developmentally delayed but reached walking and talking milestones and had surgery at age 11 for scoliosis caused by FD, she said; he suffered from corneal abrasion, â&#x20AC;&#x153;lacked tears from day oneâ&#x20AC;? and was legally blind from infancy.

The family dealt with the many crisis and manifestations of the disease, the erratic blood pressure, nausea, extreme temperature and heart rate ďŹ&#x201A;uctuations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sensory illness, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know where their body is in space. There was always something to be done,â&#x20AC;? she said, regarding his care. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With all that, I wish he was here and I was doing all that stuff because he gave back a lot.â&#x20AC;?

He went to a school in Baldwin that offered medical care, but â&#x20AC;&#x153;he was a time bomb.â&#x20AC;?

His two siblings, a boy and girl twins, are seven years younger than Philip, now both in nursing school, and interacted very well with

him. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They were his friends and pals and were very tolerant and were never ashamed or embarrassed (by him). I always wanted him to be treated with dignity and I instilled that in them.â&#x20AC;? She said if he drooled they would wipe his mouth with â&#x20AC;&#x153;no fuss.â&#x20AC;?

But he was much more than his FD. He had a photographic memory and could do complex math in his headâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;he was able to tell someone the day of the week they were born when given a birthdate. He was inquisitive and thirsted for knowledge in spite of his limited vision. He was a Yankee fan and knew all the statistics, and loved game shows, explaining how much he learned from their question and answer format.

Mindy said that he loved Judaism, going to shul and he was bar mitzvahed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He would always amaze me with facts he learned and would teach himself. He was fun, funny and had a dry sense of humor.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;He never complained, he was a trooper,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He brought an amazing joy to the whole family. Now there is an empty hole.â&#x20AC;?

FDNOW is a research organization that developed supplements that affected and controlled some of the symptoms, said Mindy. She said that the supplements decreased the intensity and frequency of autonomic crisis and seemed to improve his concentration, awareness and alertness. The organization supports the research of Drs. Berish Rubin and Sylvia Anderson at the Laboratory for Familial Dysautonomia Research at Fordham University.

One in 27 Ashkenazi Jews are carriers of FD; genetic testing to detect the mutation is available. There are estimates of 600 individuals with the disease worldwide.

Philipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funeral at Boulevard Funeral Home in Hewlett was packed with supporters and friends of the family, with rabbis, politicians, principals and staff of local schools and his siblingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; classmates; people stood in the aisles for lack of space. Speakers recounted his joy and their love for him and his caring for others. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was very unique,â&#x20AC;? said Mindy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think there is another like him.â&#x20AC;?

May his memory be a blessing.

FDNOWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dinner: Sephardic Temple, 775 Branch Blvd., Cedarhurst, Thursday, June 19.

For more information go to fdnow.org.

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A Family Friendly Orthodox Shul Daily and Shabbos â&#x20AC;&#x201D; June 29 through Labor Day Rosh Hashana davening led by the Maccabeats Nearby cottages and hotels

13 THE JEWISH STAR June 13, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 15 SIVAN 5774

Summer Vacation on Cape Cod

Two spy storiesâ&#x20AC;Ś understood what Moshe his teacher was trying to say.

So, 40 years later, he does not need explorers to give this message over, nor does he need a command from G-d to begin the process. It is abundantly clear to him that if it is time to enter the land, he and the people along with him must be willing to ďŹ ght for it.

Why did Joshua, need a mission at all?

The only real information gleaned from the journey of his two spies to Jericho is that the people of Canaan are terriďŹ ed of the Jewish people and of their G-d. Perhaps Joshua knew they would enter the land, and had no doubt they would conquer it; his question was, is it time? That the nations of Canaan so feared their coming, told him it was time for the Jewish people, at long last, to go home.

Ultimately, the story of the spies is not about what we see, but about how we choose to see it.

The princes, born in Egypt and coming of age in the slavery of Pharaoh, may not have been ready to see what being in a place like Israel was all about. But the second generation, living on a dream they had nurtured in the desert for 40 years, were ready to put what they had learned to the test.

If you were to ask those men on that rocky barren hilltop in the Hebron hills what they saw that made them decide it was time to come home, I doubt they could tell you. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t something they could explain, it was and is something you have to experience.

Shabbat Shalom, from Jerusalem.

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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1990, syndicated column that claimed Jewish deaths in Treblinka were exaggerated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Diesel engines do not emit enough carbon monoxide to kill anybody,â&#x20AC;? Buchanan wrote.

Even Hardball star Chris Matthews has displayed anti-Semitism, especially during the Iraq war. In 2003, Jonah Goldberg wrote of Matthewsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; obsession with Jews as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;staple tropeâ&#x20AC;? of someone â&#x20AC;&#x153;who talks about Jews in the [Bush] administration the way Tailgunner Joe talked about Communists in the State Department.â&#x20AC;?

Ronan Farrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweet could be chalked up to insensitivity, Ed Shultzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s could be blamed on the fact that he gets paid to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;froth from the mouth crazy.â&#x20AC;? However, when you add those tweets to the one by TourĂŠ along with his track record, and to the histories of Sharpton and Buchanan, it indicated at best a trend of insensitivity toward Jews.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ironic that MSNBC, whose hosts claim to care about minorities, targets Jews. That targeting may be deliberate or just a result of being insensitive. The only way to ascertain if the accusation is true is to point it out to MSNBC management and see how they respond.

Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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MSNBC managementâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 6 JFK, LBJ, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, one was black, Marshall; one was Puerto Rican, Sonia Sotomayor. The other ďŹ ve were Jews: Arthur Goldberg, Abe Fortas, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.

If Kagan is conďŹ rmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats.â&#x20AC;?

Earlier in his MSNBC tenure, Buchanan made a similar â&#x20AC;&#x153;too many Jewsâ&#x20AC;? comment, but that time it was about the Senate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you want to know ethnicity and power in the United States Senate, 13 members of the Senate are Jewish folks who are from 2 percent of the population. That is where real power is at,â&#x20AC;? he said on the McLaughlin Group in February 2007.

Anti-Semitism didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cause Buchanan to receive as much as a slap on the wrist. In the case of Buchanan, his hatred of Jews was an issue when he tried to run for President in 1992 and 1996. It was well publicized that the late William F. Buckley, Jr. kicked Buchanan off The National Review masthead because he felt Buchananâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jew-hatred was hurting the Conservative movement. And there was his March 17,

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Continued from page 4 (where she hid them on her roof on the night of their arrival) they went directly to the hills above Jericho (clearly visible from across the Jordan in the Israelite camp) where they hid for three days before returning directly to Joshua (2:22-23). So in fact they saw absolutely nothing! What sort of spies were these? What exactly did they accomplish, and why did they bother going at all?

In Bamidbar, the spies of Moshe are never actually called spies. The Hebrew word for spies is meraglim, but these 12 men were called tarim (explorers). And despite the fact that the commentaries do describe them as meraglim, the text never does. In fact, their mission is described not as leragel, which would mean to spy, but rather latur (13:2), which really means to explore. In the book of Joshua, however, these men are not described as explorers but as meraglim (2:1), and their mission is not latur but rather lachpor, which means literally to dig, or to seek out (2: 2,3).

When Joshua sends his spies he is doing so as a military commander, so it is a secret mission, with a very clear and focused goal.

Moshe, on the other hand, is trying to send a message to the Jewish people, which is why he sent nesiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;im, the princes of the people.

The people had heard the stories of Israel but they had never seen it, much less experienced it; they knew about it in their heads but they needed to feel it with their hearts.

Moshe commands them to â&#x20AC;&#x153;see the land: how is it?â&#x20AC;? (13:18); he wants them to see how wonderful the land is by experiencing it. This lesson was not lost on Joshua, who was one of the two (of 12) original spies who

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Fatah-Hamas dealâ&#x20AC;Ś Continued from page 6 porting Abbas and the PA to the tune of $400 million a year. Now that Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, is part of the PAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s governing machine, we should be demanding that our congressional representatives work for an immediate suspension of this aid.

Also, just as the Palestinians have used â&#x20AC;&#x153;lawfareâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the invocation of international legal conventions against Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;so can we.

Abbas and his colleagues should be held accountable for breaching the 1998 Wye Memorandum, which obliges the PA to control the

arsenals of Hamas and smaller terror groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The fundamental problem remains: There is no credible Palestinian political force committed to an enduring peace deal with Israel.

Therefore, expect more violence, both among the Palestinians and against Israel, and expect, as a consequence, further international viliďŹ cation of Israel for taking the necessary measures to protect its population.

Like I said, from now on, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about damage limitation.

Ben Cohen is Shillman Analyst for JNS.org.

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Jewish Star Schools For FREE publication email SCHOOLS @TheJewishStar.com. Copy may be edited for style and space.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no fair like HANCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state fair The Fifth Grade State Project at HANCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School, in West Hempstead, culminated in a wonderful State Fair! Fifth Graders were very excited to display their research papers which included information about their stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy, natural resources, government and tourist sites, along with other materials representing their state.

From Massachusetts to Texas to New Jersey to California to Alaska and Hawaii, each state was well represented by the students.

Students dressed up in their stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team jerseys, wore ski parkas and leis and proudly wore â&#x20AC;&#x153;cheese hats.â&#x20AC;?

The studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; display tables were incredibly creative and included food grown and/ or produced in their state including strawberries, blueberries, pretzels, Coca Cola, chocolate, salsa, coffee and pineapple. They brought in key chains, pencils, brochures and many other items to represent the industries and tourism found in their states.

The parents, grandparents and students who visited the fair learned a lot and had a wonderful time.

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Rambam honors its masmidim More than 45 Rambam talmidim learn Torah at least an extra two and a half hours each week after school and during lunch to be part of the Rambam Mesivta Masmidim Program â&#x20AC;Ś however, the reality is that while that is the minimum requirement, most of the talmidim learn even more.

To recognize and celebrate the learning and the talmidim, the masmidim and their parents were invited to an evening of divrei Torah and delicious food at Hapina.

The night was MCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d by one of the architects of the program, Assistant Principal Hillel Goldman, who thanked not only the talmidim for learning, but for parents who made this possible through the carpooling and their inspiration. Night learning rabbeim, Rabbi Yaacov Weisenberg and Rabbi Yitzy

Publishing fun for HAFTRâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst graders First Grade students at HAFTR Lower School celebrated the end of their unit of study on Opinion Writing. Throughout the study, students learned how to express their opinions by supporting their feelings with details. Students had strong feelings about characters, food and school.

At their celebration, students worked in groups to create advertisements and commercials about favorite places and products. Students studied print ads including pictures, product placement and slogans.

They learned that television commercials often convince you to buy a product and that sometimes you are disappointed with the real thing.

Students learned how to read food labels, compared prices of similar products and discussed value. Students loved sampling a variety of products as well as creating their own commercials. By engaging in this study, young consumers were able to make educated choices while expressing their opinions in a variety of ways.

Werblowsky, shared words of chizuk and Torah, highlighting the centrality of learning in Judaism and appreciating that it is a beautiful thing to see people come together to celebrate Torah. Rabbi Avi Haar, one of the heads of masmidim, also spoke about how meaningful the learning was and how important it is that it should continue.

The rabbeim, Rabbi Yosef Ziskind, Rabbi Jonathan Muskat, Rabbi Ari Boiangiu and of course, Rabbi Haar, were also lauded for being available to learn with the talmidim Monday through Thursday during lunch.

It was a night of singing, divrei Torah, and a chevra created around a common bond of appreciation and love of learning that exempliďŹ es the Rambam Mesivtaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to Torah, Midos and Excellence.

HANCsters visit Green Meadows &255(&7,21 THE JEWISH

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VOL 13, NO 22 Q JUNE 6, 2014 / 8 SIVAN 5774

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Kindergarteners at HANCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Samuel & Elizabeth Bass Golding Elementary School, in West Hempstead, had a fantastic time at Green Meadows Farm!

The hands-on visit gave students a real taste of what it means to work on a farm. The students milked cows, fed sheep and held chickens. They were also very excited that they were able to ride on a pony and take a tractor ride.

They then had a delicious picnic lunch and a ventriloquist show.

The students and teachers all agreed that the trip to Green Meadows Farm was amazing!

15 THE JEWISH STAR June 13, 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 15 SIVAN 5774

CONGRATULATION GRADUATES! â&#x20AC;˘ DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T MISS COMMENCEMENT COVERAGE IN NEXT WEEKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JEWISH STAR

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