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VOL 11, NO 28 JULY 20, 2012 / 1 AV 5772 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, 102 Page 3 Another story from Rabbi (z”l) and Mrs. Labovitz Page 6 Bookworm: Rabbi Helfgot on Bamidbar Page 7 Who’s in the kitchen? dinner and dessert in one Page 10 THE JEWISH STAR Shabbat Candlelighting: 8:03 p.m. Shabbat ends 9:07 p.m. 72 minute zman 9:32 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Matot-Masei PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID GARDEN CITY, NY 11530 PERMIT NO 301 Stay up to date with The Jewish Star Visit us on the web at www. thejewishstar.com 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 By Malka Eisenberg A stunning medical breakthrough took the Orthodox community by storm when a rosh yeshiva in Jerusalem diagnosed with two muscle degenerative diseases was able to walk and speak clearly again following one injection of the experimental treatment, after being wheelchair bound and barely able to speak. Rabbi Rafael Shmuelevitz of Yeshivas Mir was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gra- vis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” and showed marked improvement following one injection of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics’ NurOwn Cell Therapy. The treatment was injected in 24 ALS patients to study its safety and patient tolerance. The rabbi received the therapy for “compassionate treatment,” according to Professor Dimitrios Karussis of the Neurology Department at The Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, and Principal Investigator of BrainStorm’s cur- rent Phase I/II clinical trial. “While we cannot draw scientific con- clusions based on the outcome of an in- dividual patient, these results are ex- tremely encouraging,” stressed Karussis. “We are moved by the remarkable results ob- served following treatment with NurOwn,” said Professor Avi Israeli, BrainStorm’s Chair- man of the Board. “We are hopeful that we will continue to see this kind of improvement in all the patients participating in our current and future clinical trials.” A biotechnology company based in Petach Tikva, Israel, BrainStorm Cell therapeutics works to develop adult stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative disorders including ALS, MS and Parkinson’s disease. ALS is a fast-moving ultimately fatal neu- rological disease that attacks the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles; it is classified as a motor neuron disease that involves the weakening and destruction of motor neu- Israeli firm cites breakthrough in ALS treatment Continued on page 3 By Karen C. Green A bill has passed the New York State legislature — and now awaits Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s signature — which could ease the way for religiously observant children with special needs to get state tuition assistance — even at parochial schools. Assembly bill 10722A/Senate bill 7722- A would include private and parochial schools among those considered to be ap- propriate education settings as required by federal law while streamlining a lengthy and costly annual tuition reimbursement battle faced by parents. “Parents and families of special needs children deserve to have reasonable and appropriate options that allow their chil- dren the best chance to learn and succeed,” said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rock- away). “In June, legislation I sponsored was passed by the legislature — this bill will ease the burden on parents by making the process of placement and reimbursement for special education easier while saving money for school districts by ending need- less legal battles. I urge the governor to sign this bill into law as soon as possible,” he added. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) sets forth the guidelines enabling all children in need of special education the right to a “free appropriate public ed- ucation.” In practice across the country, Courtesy Metro Creative Graphics New law aids ‘special needs’ parents Continued on page 3 By Malka Eisenberg Seven Israelis are confirmed dead with estimates of 30 wounded in a terrorist bombing of an Israeli tour bus at the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria. Nine Israelis are miss- ing. According to Haaretz, Burgas mayor Dimitar Nikolov said that the explosives were in the back of the bus, although wit- nesses said that the bus blew up after some- one stepped on. The bombing came on the 18th anniver- sary of the 1994 attack on a Jewish center in Argentina that killed 85 and injured hun- dreds. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- tanyahu said that, “all signs point to Iran,” and enumerated other recent terrorist at- tacks in Thailand, India, Georgia and Cy- prus. The bus carrying Israeli tourists, mostly youth, reportedly exploded 40 minutes af- ter a plane from Israel landed there. Two pregnant women and an 11 year old girl are among the wounded. ZAKA and Magen David Adom were preparing to send rescue teams to the area. Burgas is a popular Black Sea resort for Israeli tourists. Israel has been warning the government there of possible terror attacks. Bombing in Bulgaria, 7 Israelis dead
Transcript
Page 1: July 20, 2012

VOL 11, NO 28 ■ JULY 20, 2012 / 1 AV 5772 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, 102 Page 3 Another story from Rabbi (z”l) and Mrs. Labovitz Page 6Bookworm: Rabbi Helfgot on Bamidbar Page 7 Who’s in the kitchen? dinner and dessert in one Page 10

THE JEWISH STAR

Shabbat Candlelighting: 8:03 p.m. Shabbat ends 9:07 p.m. 72 minute zman 9:32 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Matot-Masei

PRST STDUS POSTAGE PAIDGARDEN CITY, NY

11530PERMIT NO 301

Stay up to date with The Jewish StarVisit us on the web at www.thejewishstar.com

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By Malka Eisenberg

A stunning medical breakthrough took the Orthodox community by storm when a rosh yeshiva in Jerusalem diagnosed with two muscle degenerative diseases was able to walk and speak clearly again following one injection of the experimental treatment, after being wheelchair bound and barely able to speak.

Rabbi Rafael Shmuelevitz of Yeshivas Mir was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gra-vis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” and showed marked improvement following one injection of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics’ NurOwn Cell Therapy. The treatment was injected in 24 ALS patients to study its safety and patient tolerance. The rabbi received the therapy for “compassionate treatment,” according to Professor Dimitrios Karussis of the Neurology Department at The Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, and Principal Investigator of BrainStorm’s cur-rent Phase I/II clinical trial.

“While we cannot draw scientifi c con-clusions based on the outcome of an in-dividual patient, these results are ex-tremely encouraging,” stressed Karussis.“We are moved by the remarkable results ob-served following treatment with NurOwn,” said Professor Avi Israeli, BrainStorm’s Chair-man of the Board. “We are hopeful that we will continue to see this kind of improvement in all the patients participating in our current and future clinical trials.”

A biotechnology company based in Petach Tikva, Israel, BrainStorm Cell therapeutics works to develop adult stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative disorders including ALS, MS and Parkinson’s disease.

ALS is a fast-moving ultimately fatal neu-rological disease that attacks the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles; it is classifi ed as a motor neuron disease that involves the weakening and destruction of motor neu-

Israeli fi rm cites breakthrough in ALS treatment

Continued on page 3

By Karen C. Green

A bill has passed the New York Statelegislature — and now awaits Gov. AndrewCuomo’s signature — which could ease theway for religiously observant children withspecial needs to get state tuition assistance— even at parochial schools.

Assembly bill 10722A/Senate bill 7722-A would include private and parochialschools among those considered to be ap-propriate education settings as required byfederal law while streamlining a lengthyand costly annual tuition reimbursementbattle faced by parents.

“Parents and families of special needschildren deserve to have reasonable andappropriate options that allow their chil-dren the best chance to learn and succeed,”said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rock-away).

“In June, legislation I sponsored waspassed by the legislature — this bill willease the burden on parents by making theprocess of placement and reimbursementfor special education easier while savingmoney for school districts by ending need-less legal battles. I urge the governor tosign this bill into law as soon as possible,”he added.

The Individuals with Disabilities Act(IDEA) sets forth the guidelines enablingall children in need of special educationthe right to a “free appropriate public ed-ucation.” In practice across the country,

Courtesy Metro Creative Graphics

New law aids ‘special needs’ parents

Continued on page 3

By Malka Eisenberg

Seven Israelis are confi rmed dead with estimates of 30 wounded in a terrorist bombing of an Israeli tour bus at the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria. Nine Israelis are miss-ing.

According to Haaretz, Burgas mayor Dimitar Nikolov said that the explosives were in the back of the bus, although wit-

nesses said that the bus blew up after some-one stepped on.

The bombing came on the 18th anniver-sary of the 1994 attack on a Jewish center in Argentina that killed 85 and injured hun-dreds. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu said that, “all signs point to Iran,” and enumerated other recent terrorist at-tacks in Thailand, India, Georgia and Cy-prus.

The bus carrying Israeli tourists, mostlyyouth, reportedly exploded 40 minutes af-ter a plane from Israel landed there. Twopregnant women and an 11 year old girlare among the wounded. ZAKA and MagenDavid Adom were preparing to send rescueteams to the area.

Burgas is a popular Black Sea resort forIsraeli tourists. Israel has been warning thegovernment there of possible terror attacks.

Bombing in Bulgaria, 7 Israelis dead

Page 2: July 20, 2012

Inside

The Jewish StarClassified Ads 15From the Heart of Jerusalem 13Hebrew Only Please! 14Kosher Bookworm 7Letters to the Editor 4On the Calendar 12Parsha 13Politico to Go 4Who’s in the Kitchen 10

How to reach us:Our offices at 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530 are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday, with early closing as necessary on Erev Shabbat. Contact us via e-mail or telephone as listed below.

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Joining the forceKeith Weinberg, son of Kar-

en & Eddie Weinberg of Cedar-hurst, graduated from the Suf-folk County Police Academy on Wednesday, July 11, along with 56 other recruits. Keith graduated from both HAFTR High School and Stony Brook University, and also attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Keith was also a sergeant in the US Marine Corps Reserve, from which he was honorably discharged this past May. Before joining the Suf-folk County Police Department, Keith spent 5 years as a member of the NYPD, working in Brook-lyn.

Talia Marguiles of West Hempstead and Davina Simhaee of Great Neck were among the participants on the disaster relief mission to Haiti.

Students help renovate a clinic in Port-au-Prince, as part of Yeshiva University’sdisaster refl ief mission to Haiti.

Center for Jewish FutureYeshiva University students traveled to

Haiti and Germany this summer on two con-current programs run by YU’s Center for the Jewish Future. Sixteen students participated in a disaster relief mission to Haiti, where they worked with other aid organizations to run educational programming for children, restore homes and renovate community facil-ities. Another program, “Germany Close Up,” an 11-day experiential education trip, took 18 students on an exploration of modern-day Germany, where they analyzed their own perceptions of the country that created the Holocaust, yet is now home to some of the fastest-growing Jewish communities outside of Israel.

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rons. Motor neurons are nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that link to the muscles of the arms, legs and other areas that a person consciously controls. With the withering of the nerves, the patient loses control of the muscles, the ability to move, and then breathe without ventilation. The patient’s mind, senses, and bladder and bowel functions are usually not affected, but they are unable to move. About 5,600 peo-ple are diagnosed with ALS yearly in the U.S. Once diag-nosed, most patients die within two to fi ve years, although some live longer. Stephen Hawking, the physicist, has had ALS for 49 years.

This is the fi rst clinical trial with this technology, said Cheryl Singer of BrainStorm. Information on the reactions of the trial participants will soon be released, she noted. They are hoping that the treatment will “repair degenerated tis-sues and cure the underlying pathology, rather than simply treat its symptoms,” she said. There are plans for this therapy

to be tested on multiple scle-rosis (MS) and other neuro-degenerative diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Admin-istration (FDA) has granted orphan-drug status to Nu-rOwn and the process of designing a phase II clinical trial is underway in the U.S. Dr. Robert Brown, an expert in neuromuscular genetics, specifi cally ALS, will lead the team at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Professor Merit Cudkowicz will lead the ALS human clinical trials at Mas-

sachusetts General Hospital.The research performed at Rabin Medical Center in Pet-

ach Tikva, Israel, initially with rats with stem cells turned into cells to rebuild nerve cells was published in 2009. The current study at Hadassah uses a trademarked technology, using a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells (Mesenchymal Stromal Cells) and strengthens and reprograms them into nerve assisting cells that can release proteins (neurotrophic factors) that assist in the growth, repair and maintenance of nerve cells (neurons). The cells are then transplanted back into the patient at or near the damage site. That the cells are derived from the patient has the added benefi t of bypass-ing problems of rejection and any controversy regarding stem cells.

Dr. Lucie Bruijn, chief scientist at The ALS Association, noted that, “we cannot make predictions from this one an-ecdotal case. As with all ALS clinical trials, we are hopeful that the strategy will be promising. However, until the data from the clinical trial is available and there is information about the impact of the treatment on a larger number of ALS patients, the impact it will have for ALS is unknown.”

“It sounds very exciting and potentially promising,” said Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt, executive vice president at Mercy Medical Center. “It has to be studied in a larger study to verify the results. If in fact they are true, it’s promising.” The disease, he said is an “inexorable trend to get worse and not get better. There is no cure as of yet.”

For more information go to: www.brainstorm-cell.com.

Israeli fi rm cites breakthrough in ALS Continued from page 1

We are hopeful that we will continue to see this kind of improvement in all the patients participating in our current and future clinical trials.

the reference to “public education” doesn’t apply solely to children en-rolled in public schools.

IDEA requires the school district to pay the cost of the child’s placement in an appropriate private school set-ting if there is no appropriate pub-lic school setting where the child’s special education needs can be met. But, parents have often faced diffi cult hurdles in getting school districts to cooperate and have either borne the cost of private schools themselves or paid for specialized lawyers to argue their cases.

Essentially the bill sets forth three salient changes:

(1) It sets clear and distinct guide-lines for tuition reimbursement, ulti-mately streamlining the lengthy and costly legal process for both parents and school districts. The bill requires school districts to grant or deny a par-ent’s request for tuition reimburse-ment within 90 days, and to provide such reimbursement within 30 days of the decision to reimburse.

(2) A student’s placement in a par-ticular school stays in effect until such time as the school district amends or modifi es the child’s individualized education program, (IEP).

(3) The school district must take into account, upon request by the child’s parents, accompanied by sup-porting professional documentation, whether the child’s home environ-ment and family background may have an impact on the child’s ability to learn in any proposed educational environment.

Locally, proponents of the bill, such as assembly candidate Dr. David Sussman, a Lawrence School Board member, believe such legislation is long overdue.

“I have felt, and I know my col-leagues on the school board agree, having believed in and acted on this philosophy for many years, that this legislation has to do with the com-mon dignity of individuals, and the common sense understanding of what it means to provide education in the least restricted environment.” he said.

Critics of the bill suggest that it will be too costly, and may result in a surge in the number of children seek-ing placement in private schools for special education services.

The New York City Mayor’s Offi ce has concerns that the bill will enable parents to use “a student’s religious background” as the primary factor to determine placement.

By Malka Eisenberg

Both Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union are stress-ing the need for the new special edu-cation bill to be signed into law.

“We want special education chil-dren to be appropriately placed so they can learn,” emphasized Leah Steinberg, Director of Special Educa-tion Affairs at Agudath Israel. “This is supposed to help them go through the process so they don’t suffer more than they have to.”

Steinberg explained that children in the United States have a legal right to a free and appropriate public education. When a child is unable to learn in a public school setting and the parents fi nd an educationally appropriate private program, they “go through due process and request tuition reimbursement,” she said. If the request is approved, the parents get the tuition reimbursed. “The bill streamlines the process for the pub-lic school district and the parents which will achieve a monetary sav-ing for the district. That is the goal, to save money and time for the dis-trict and the parents, so the commit-tees can concentrate on the children and spend less time on meetings and parents can be parents.”

Currently, parents have to assess the public schools every year and the private school has to be deemed appropriate every year. Steinberg noted that there are legal costs, ex-cessive paperwork, meetings with staff from the committee on spe-cial education, staff for hearings on these decisions and when a district loses a case it has to pay the parents’ as well as its own legal fees.

Steinberg stressed that the fi rst option is to have the child placed in an appropriate public school pro-gram. If the placement meets the child’s needs then there is no prob-lem, but in some instances, a private placement may be better for the child, enabling the child to learn. The only time the home environ-ment and family background is im-portant is if the child’s particular ed-ucational needs cannot be addressed in the particular place.

“It’s not just religious. It has to af-fect the child’s ability to learn. It’s not about yeshiva education, it’s about appropriate special education.”

Further, she pointed out, “It will not increase the number of children in the system. It will only help those in the system already and will stream-line the cost and process for children already in the system. “It’s a win-win for everybody,” Steinberg stressed.

The bill does have its opponents. In a letter to the Governor, Maria Fletcher, president of the New York State Congress of Parents and Teach-ers, cites this bill as a “legislative un-funded mandate.” Under the current system, she continued, home envi-ronment can be taken into account when “considering appropriate spe-cial education placement,” deeming adding new language “unnecessary.” She also cited “unilateral parental placement” without any “limitation to placements,” expressing concern that with this legislation, children may “be placed in inappropriate and unapproved settings.”

The New York State School Boards Association, stated in its newsletter that this bill “would heap new fi -nancial and administrative burdens on our school districts by requiring Committees on Special Education to, upon a parent request, take a stu-dent’s home life and cultural envi-ronment into account within 90 days when making a special education placement and require reimburse-ment of tuition within 30 days of an approved placement.”

Steinberg praised the senators and legislators who sponsored and supported the bill. She said that they have to “get word out to par-ents what we need from them and thank the elected offi cials.” She said that parents should write letters ad-dressed to the governor, but send them to Agudath Israel via email at [email protected] or by fax to 646-254-1650.

“This bill has rightfully been viewed by the special education community as a breakthrough,” said Michael Cohen, New York State Di-rector of Political Affairs at the Or-thodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs. “Parents should be the key decision makers in determining the appropriate educational environ-ment for their child. It is incumbent upon all members of our community to write, email, and call the Gover-nor’s offi ce to urge him to sign this into law.”

New law aids ‘special needs’ parentsContinued from page 1

Special ed parents urged to write to Cuomo

By Malka Eisenberg

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, a leading halachic decisor and Torah luminary of our generation, passed away Wednesday morning at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem at the age of 102.

He had been ailing since February. As he took a turn for the worse, prominent rabbis and the hospital’s senior phy-sicians gathered at his bedside and the sound of prayers

and psalms recited by students and rabbis could be heard throughout the hospital.

Rav Elyashiv, an only child, was born in Lithuania in 1910 and moved to Israel with his family in 1922. He served brief-ly as rabbi in Ramle and was appointed a Rabbinic Court judge (dayan). He married Shayna Chana, z”l, daughter of Rabbi Aryeh Levine. They had 12 children.

Rav Elyashiv was the leading voice in Lithuanian Haredi (Mitnagdim) Jewry, stepping into the leadership position of

Rabbi Elazar Shach, but being less vocal and trying to main-tain the old order, distancing from Nachal Haredi and otherinnovations in the Haredi community.

Israeli leaders praised him as a Torah genius, a great man and leader, modest, one who loved Torah and his fellow man,a bridge between varied streams of the Jewish people. Je-rusalem mayor Nir Barkat called his passing a “great loss forJerusalem and the Nation of Israel.

Obituary

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Torah luminary, 102

Page 4: July 20, 2012

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Tisha B’Av Mincha and Munich memorial

To the Editor:Jewish Star readers are invited to join our

annual Tisha B’Av mincha prayer service, complete with Torah reading, at the Isaiah Wall opposite the UN, First Avenue & 43rd Street, Manhattan, on Sunday, July 29th,

2 pm. The service will be led by Rabbi Avi Weiss, national chairman of Amcha-Coalition for Jewish Concerns.

This year, we will memorialize the 11 Is-raeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terror-ists at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The reason is that the International Olympic Committee has refused even a minute of silence for the Israeli victims at the July 27th opening cer-emony of the London Olympics. If they won’t remember, we will. For information, contact:

[email protected]; (212) 663-5784.Glenn Richter

Amcha-CJC

Kudos to the Jewish Star

To the Editor:Having noticed the Jewish star has a new

publisher and editor, I would like to wish youand your marvelous staff all the best in re-porting and writing for our great and diverse communities. Additionally, the newsletterthat I receive weekly with the preview of theupcoming edition is very refreshing and wel-come! Thank you to all for the hard workthat must go into this publication.

Robin M. GorenWest Hempstead

Opinion

“Y ou wanna know how to get Ca-pone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the

hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That’s* the *Chicago* way! And that’s how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I’m offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?--Sean Connery as Jim Malone in The Untouchables (1987)”

One of the (many) mistakes of the McCain campaign in 2008 was the candidate’s failure to realize the arena in which he was com-

peting. The Republi-can nominee thought he was competing in the traditional world of Presidential politics, but his opponent then-Senator Barack Obama was following the rules of Chicago politics, which is a much dirtier game. In Chicago, the political arena is in the gutter, names are called, lies are told, and no one cares, es-pecially when only one side is playing by Chi-cago rules. And rule number one is there are no rules.

Rather than talk about his policies vs. John McCain, Obama’s most effective com-mercials in 2008 cast the Arizona Senator as the second coming of George W. Bush. Mc-Cain’s highest-scoring commercial was about the future President’s twenty years in the Church of the racist/anti-Semitic Jeremiah Wright. The commercial was never released because McCain refused to play Obama’s game of Chicago-style politics.

2012 is turning out to be just like 2008, only dirtier. And once again the GOP candi-date is refusing to get down into the gutter and compete with Barack Obama the same way he is being attacked.

Witness the Bain Capital mess. The Presi-dent is still pushing the “when did Romney quit Bain, and did he outsource jobs” meme despite the fact that liberal outlets such as the Washington Post called it nonsense. When the Boston Globe published an already discredited story about Romney’s date of Bain departure, these outlets again said the story was nonsense. Even CNN said the Presi-dent’s claims were wrong.

The Obama campaign doubled-down on the nastiness, implying that Romney (and all the liberal media outlets backing him up) was either lying about his Bain tenure or committed a felony.

“Romney and Bain claim that he was not involved with Bain, but Bain and its portfolio companies in their required fi lings under the Securities Exchange Act continuously certi-fi ed to the Securities and Exchange Commis-sion say precisely the opposite — asserting without qualifi cation that he was a control-ling person, fully in charge of Bain, under the Federal securities law. Under normal circum-stances, the question of the truth of this rep-resentation would result in an investigation by the SEC into possible criminal, as well as civil, violations of the law.”— Robert Bauer, Obama campaign counsel, July 13, 2012”

Obama political strategist, David Axel-rod, cleared things up when he appeared on CNN’s State of the Union and said that the campaign would never accuse Romney of be-ing a felon, just potentially engaging in activ-ity that would be considered a felony.

Romney’s response was to demand an apology. He doesn’t understand that there

are no apologies in Chicago politics. In fact, Obama turned it all around and used the apology request for his advantage. Romney demanded an apology for Bauer saying the GOP candidate may have broken SEC laws. Obama answered to something totally differ-ent, that he would not apologize for making Bain an issue. It doesn’t matter that Obama wasn’t addressing what Romney was talking about; the liberal-leaning mainstream media would never call Obama out on it.

If Romney wants to become President, he must fi ght the President in his arena; it’s time for Romney to engage in Chicago politics.

If the President wants to make a false charge of outsourcing, ask him why he agreed to give Brazilian owned oil company Petrobras up to $10 billion dollars to look for oil off the Brazilian coast but prevented the Keystone pipeline from being built. Ask him if the fact that George Soros made a lot of money off the Brazil deal had anything to do with his decision.

If the President trumpets Obamacare, ask him why unions whose membership make up only 12-14% of the United States received 40% of the Obamacare waivers. Ask him why another big chunk was granted to businesses in Democratic districts.

Ask Obama why he signed an executive order, known as the “High Road Contracting Policy,” which gave preferential treatment to government construction contractors that pay their hourly workers a “union wage,” and provide additional benefi ts such as health in-surance, employer-funded retirement plans and paid sick leave. In other words even non-union shops had to pay money to the unions and increase benefi ts if they want to get federal projects. This further depressed the construction industry, and raised the cost of Federal construction projects between 10-

20%, increasing the federal defi cit.It’s time for Romney to make crony capi-

talism an issue, talk about Solyndra andother failing companies. Point out how heoffered Joe Sestak a White House job to dropout of the Senate race against Arlen Specter or offering Andrew Romanoff a White Housejob to drop out of the Senate Race againstMichael Bennett. Ask the POTUS about the no bid contract given to a company owned bya major Obama donor for a small pox vaccinethat doesn’t work. And isn’t it about time thePresident was made to face up to Fast andFurious?

Sure, it’s the economy, stupid, but fi rst you have to hit the President’s campaign theway he is hitting you. The only difference isthat Romney has truthful charges to make.

Hit Obama on the defi cit, how he has in-creased our national debt in less than fouryears more than all Presidents up to GeorgeW. Bush combined, and has already raisedthe debt more than Bush did in eight years.

And if the reelection campaign’s lies about Bain Capital are on the table, so should thetruth about Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers andRashid Khalidi.

No more weak-kneed responses. ThePresident is playing Chicago politics! If Rom-ney wants to have a chance in November, hemust be prepared to fi ght Obama the way Obama is fi ghting him.

Jeff Dunetz is the Editor/Publisher of thepolitical blog “The Lid” (www.jeffdunetz.com).Jeff contributes to some of the largest politi-cal sites on the internet including American Thinker, Big Government, Big Journalism, NewsReal and Pajama’s Media, and has beena guest on national radio shows including G.Gordon Liddy, Tammy Bruce and Glenn Beck. Jeff lives in Long Island.

Letters to the editor

THE JEWISH STARIndependent and original reporting from the Orthodox communities of Long Island and New York City

All opinions expressed are solely those of The Jewish Star’s editorial staff or contributing writers

Publisher and Editor Karen C. Green Assistant Editor Malka Eisenberg Account Executive Helene Parsons Contributors Miriam Bradman Abrahams Rabbi Avi Billet Jeff Dunetz Juda Engelmayer Rabbi Binny Freedman Alan Jay Gerber Rabbi Noam Himelstein Judy Joszef Editorial Designers Kristen Edelman Alyson Goodman Photo Editor Christina Daly Intern Bari Zund

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POLITICO TO GO

Jeff Dunetz

If Romney Wants to Win He Better Learn Chicago-Style Politics

CorrectionDue to a pagination problem , the last paragraph of the article entitled

“Bastille Day and the Jews of France” by Professor Joseph Sungolowsky ( July 13, 2012) was erroneously omitted.

“The creation of the State of Israel and the wars it had to fi ght for its survival gave rise to a wave of anti-Zionism which soon became a mask for old-fashioned anti-Semitism. It appears in various strata of French society including academia. The French Republic has vowed to do the utmost to protect its Jewish population. Yet, anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise and many French Jews nowadays fear them, especially in the aftermath of the Toulouse killings that occurred last March. A recent poll indicates that 96% of French Jews are profoundly anguished by the pres-ent situation.

When one considers the history of the Jews of France, one realizes that it follows the pattern of Jewish history in general. There are both bright and somber periods. French Jews want to hope for brighter days.”

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In about a week from now, the world will tune in to watch the opening ceremonies of the London Olympic Games. With all of

the fanfare it deserves, this event brings to-gether most of the world in harmony unseen

in almost every other part of international relations. In principle, the Olympics were founded with the goal of placing “sport at the service of the harmo-nious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of hu-man dignity.”

A sports event in-tended to bring people together in harmony where politics and poli-

cies often fail, is more than commendable, it merits deeper study to replicating its in-fl uence in all parts of life. What is it about competitive sports that inspires people to put aside political, religious and often deep seated hatreds and divides and just play the game, put in their all and walk away feeling camaraderie rather than enmity?

The opening games this year, however, come with a dark memory of 40 years ago in Munich. Not exactly the anniversary, as

those games began on August 26 in 1972, but as the summer series begins on July 27 this year, it is hard not to recall Black Septem-ber when 11 Israeli athletes and a policeman were killed by Palestinian terrorists trying to make a political point.

That day needs to be remembered at this year’s ceremonies, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that one of the basic prin-ciples of the Olympics – promoting peace and preserving human dignity – has not been crushed. Yet, the International Olym-pic Committee, in their very rejection of a moment of silence for fear that Arab nations may boycott the games, or that nations that are antagonistic to Israel might be offended, have violated that charter. They are putting the political agenda of nations and anti-Sem-ites ahead of the fundamentals they purport to believe in.

The politics of the Olympics is such that the IOC hides behind the tepid argument that it does not engage in politics. That is the very fi rst red fl ag as to their true political views. Throughout the history of the Olym-pics, the games have routinely been clouded by world politics and specifi c national inter-ests.

Finland was banned from displaying its own fl ag in 1908 because the Olympic offi -cials were worried about offending Russia, which is similar to not wanting to offend Israel’s enemies in 2012. Then, to satisfy

the “mood” of the world at the time, the nations defeated in both WW I and WWII were banned from the games. In 1936, no one called Hitler out when he used the op-portunity to promote his agenda – the Aryan race. Then, more recently, in 2008, the IOC allowed China to block Internet sites in the Beijing games.

Notwithstanding the past politics, the IOC responded to requests for a moment of si-lence during the opening ceremony by many nations, dignitaries and Ankie Spitzer, the wife of the Israeli team’s fencing coach, An-drei Spizter, who was killed in ’72, by saying that the IOC “has offi cially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions and will continue to do so in close coordina-tion with the National Olympic Committee of Israel.”

Jacques Rogge, the president of the IOC may as well have said, “Been there done that.” The response was not only insulting; his words - that we would have to believe were crafted by some of the best public rela-tions and communications people and vetted by a dozen set of eyes before they were pre-sented to the public – belie the stated senti-ment.

The whole point of the moment of silence is to show the entire world that the massacre in Munich was indeed a blight on the world, on the Olympic games and every nation that sends its athletes to compete under the fi ve

interlaced continental rings. The terror at-tack did not occur in Israel, but in Germa-ny, in the tightly protected Olympic Village,guarded by an Olympic managed security force and domestic law enforcement. The at-tack which was meant to strike Israel, struckthe symbol of peace and humanity and shat-tered the Olympic spirit, “which requiresmutual understanding with a spirit of friend-ship, solidarity and fair play.”

In Rogge’s rejection of a moment of si-lence, he referred to tributes in coordinationwith Israel’s National Olympic committee; he made it Israel’s issue, not his, not theirs, notours. In doing so, he revealed the dirty poli-tics where Israel is usually pitted against the world, even in places where they claim to beabove that.

Black September was a dreary day for Israel, but Israel uses each and every chal-lenge as a means to grow stronger, wiser andsharper. It was also a truly dark day for any Olympian and their sponsoring countries,who now know that the affairs affecting them at home can haunt them even in this“peaceful society concerned with the preser-vation of human dignity.” Yet, the IOC re-fuses to learn from it, and in fact, yields tothe very worst of humanity, from whom theOlympics were designed to defy.

Juda Engelmayer is a senior vice president of the New York public relations agency, 5WPR

Who will carry the torch for Munich? Not these Olympics!

Juda Engelmayer

Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai saves TorahBy Rabbi Eugene and Dr Annette Labovitz

The three year Roman siege of Yerusha-layim portended doom for Jewish national-ism. The inhabitants of the Holy City were divided; some were wearied from the hope-lessness of the situation; others, although refusing to surrender, fought among them-selves. Hunger and disease were rampant. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was among those leaders who determined to do some-thing about the impending destruction of Yerushalyim.

“The Jewish people are fi ghting among themselves,” he reasoned. “There are so many different political parties, so many dif-ferent opinions how to deal with the enemy. The Sicarii, or Biryonim, as they sometimes call themselves, are clandestine killers. Any-one they see speaking to a Roman fi nds his life endangered and becomes a target for their foul play. The Zealots want to fi ght the mighty enemy and restore Jewish indepen-dence; they think the situation is the same as it was in the days of the Maccabbees.” [Ed. Approximately two hundred years prior to the Roman siege, the Jewish people rebelled against pagan Greek / Syrian domination and overcame them. Mattathias and his fi ve sons (one was named Judah, and was called Maccabbee) organized the rebellion. The holiday of Chanukah is celebrated to com-memorate the victory over paganism and the restoration of Jewish life.]

“I, and the rest of the Perushim (Phari-sees) only want to live peacefully, so we can study and transmit Torah. The Tzedukim (Sadducees) want to become allied with the Romans. And the Romans? What do they do? They enforce the siege and wait patiently while brothers destroy brothers. Woe unto us! If the Holy Temple is destroyed, it will be because my people did not want to live together in peace. It will be because we hated each other for no reason. We are one people, but we act so differently. There are four polit-ical parties, each with its own agenda.” [Ed.

Why was the Second Holy Temple destroyed? Because needless hatred prevailed. Talmud Bavli Yoma 9b]

“I must do something, something spec-tacular, something that will save the Torah way of life. The Jewish people will be able to survive without the Holy Temple, but they will not survive without Torah. Hmm ... Maybe my plan will work. But, perhaps my nephew, Abba Sikra, will conceive an even better plan.”

The next morning, he called his nephew, who was the leader of the Biryonim:

“How long will you continue to kill your brothers?”

“What can I do to stop them? I am their leader, but they do what they want. If I repri-mand them, they will think that I have joined with you and the Perushim (Pharisees), and they will kill me too.”

“Listen, I have to escape from Yerusha-layim in order to try to save the Torah way of life.” He explained his plan. “What do you think of it? Is it possible for me to succeed?” “Let’s do it this way, uncle. I believe it will have a better chance. No one must know what we are planning except you and your two most loyal disciples, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua.”

“I want you to pretend that you are grave-ly ill. We will announce throughout Yerusha-layim that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai is dying. People will come to pay their respects. You will pretend to grow weaker and weaker. Finally, you will feign death. I will fi nd some decayed fl esh, that has a terrible odor, and I will place it on your bier. You must practice laying perfectly still, not moving a muscle, not even an eyelid. Eliezer, Yehoshua, and I will carry the bier to the gates of the city. We will demand that the guards let us pass, in order to bury you outside the walls.”

“What will you do once you are outside the walls?”

“Make sure that I get out of the city safely, and you will see!”

It did not take many days for Rabbi Eliezer

and Rabbi Yehoshua to announce the death of their revered teacher, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. A great procession followed the bier until the gates of Yerushalayim, where it was halted by the Jewish guards posted in-side the gates.

“Let us through,” Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Ye-hoshua and Abba Sikra demanded.

“The cemetery is outside the walls and we must bury our teacher with dignity.”

“We must check that you are not tricking us; that he is actually dead,” they insisted. One of the guards lifted his sword, preparing to stab the body.

“How can you do that?” they clamored.“The Romans will say that the guards at

the gates violated a body and thereby dis-graced their revered master.”

“Then we will just shove the body a little,” they continued stubbornly.

“Then all the Jews inside the city will also condemn you for not having respect for the dead.”

Ashamed, they opened the gates and al-lowed Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua and Abba Sikra to walk through with the bier. As soon as they reached a safe distance, out of sight of the gates of Yerushalayim, Rab-ban Yochanan ben Zakki jumped off the bier, bid farewell to his students, and ran toward the Roman camp. Once there, he demanded that the guards escort him to General Ves-pasian’s tent. Stunned to fi nd a Jew among them, they pointed to the place where Vespa-sian sat in war council with his lieutenants. “Peace to you, your majesty, King of Rome,” pronounced Rabban Yochanan, as he low-ered his head respectfully.

“You deserve to die twice,” ranted Vespa-sian. “First, you have

pronounced me king, while I am but a general; second, if I am the

king, why haven’t you come sooner to pay your respects?”

“I will answer your second question fi rst, your majesty,” whispered Rabban Yochanan. “You see, my people are sorely divided. Some

among them would surely have put me to death, had they found that I tried to contactyou. As it is, my escape from Yerushalayim ona bier is nothing short of miraculous.”

At that exact moment, a messenger fromRome arrived.

“Your majesty,” the messenger called out.There was a stunned silence all around.

“Nero has died. The Senate has sent meto inform you that they have proclaimed youemperor!”

Rabban Yochanan no longer had to an-swer the fi rst question.

“You are so wise,” continued Vespasian.“Before I return to Rome, and leave the siege of your holy city in the hands of Titus, my son, I will grant you any request.”

“Grant me, your majesty, permission to move the Sanhedrin (the Jewish court)and its scholars from the besieged city ofYerushalayim to Yavneh, a small town nearthe Mediterranean coast; allow the familyof Rabban Gamliel, descendants of the Da-vidic dynasty to live; and send a doctor to cure Rabbi Zadok, who has fasted so long forYerushalayim to be saved, that it is almostimpossible for him to digest food.”

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s requestswere granted.

Yavneh became a major center of Torahlearning, the fi rst of such cities where Torah was the focus of Jewish life. There, Jewishspiritual leaders prepared for a long andarduous exile that was to begin three yearslater when the Holy Temple lay in ruins. The precedent of moving the Torah center fromYerushalayim to Yavneh, and then to othercities in the Diaspora (lands outside of Eretz Israel) sustained the Jewish people in thecenturies that followed.[Ed. As the (fi rst) Holy Temple was burning, a group of youngpriests went to the roof. Their leader carriedthe keys in his hand. He prayed: “Master ofthe Universe! We were not worthy keepers ofYour House. Therefore, please take back yourkeys.” In the presence of the other youngpriests, he threw the keys heavenward. Im-mediately, a Heavenly Hand emerged and grasped the keys. Talmud Bavli, Taanit 29a]

Reproduced from “A Sacred Trust: Stories ofOur Heritage and History”

Page 7: July 20, 2012

With the onset of the annual commemora-tion of The Nine Days now upon us, I shall devote this week’s essay to a brief review of a major work that employs the literary-theologi-cal method focusing on a unique analysis from this week’s concluding chapters from the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar.

Two elements are dealt with herein, the war of vengeance against Midian, a rather poignant task for Moshe before his death, and the request for settlement in the trans-Jordan by two and a half tribes.

In an excellent work dealing with a de-tailed textual analysis of the Bible, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot writes in great analytical

detail of both chapters 31 and 32 of this week’s Torah reading, giving a thorough commentary which is developed to further inform us as to both motive and the historical reality of the events that inhabit this text.

In “Mikra and Mean-ing: Studies in Bible and Its Interpretation” [Maggid, 2012], Rabbi Helfgot notes the fol-lowing:

“In studying parashat hashavua, we some-times fail to give the ‘technical’ or seemingly ‘less important’ chapters their proper due. I would like to explore the second half of one such chapter, often ignored by both students and teachers alike, as an example of what can be gleaned from a careful and close reading and analysis.”

What follows is an absolutely astonishing in depth look at the narrative of the battle that took place between Midian and the Jew-ish People.

What attracts the rabbi’s attention is the following:

“Not only does the Torah describe the preparation for war and the actual battle in great detail, it devotes close to thirty verses to the detailed division of the booty, cattle, gold, etc., among the different sections of the people, as well as the ‘tax’ on this booty given to the Priests and the Levites. This detailed presentation stands in stark contrast to what we fi nd in almost all other battles described in the Torah.”

As if this was not to be the solely unique experience in this closing chapter of this book, we have in chapter 32 a further analysis of another strange event. This chapter notes a new phase in the history of our people: their settlement in the land. Right from the outset, we are faced with the request from two and a half tribes, Reuven, Gad, later to be joined by half the tribe of Menashe, who request settle-ment in the area won from Sichon and Og. The give and take between Moshe and these tribal leaders as detailed in the Torah nar-rative draw the sharp analytical attention of Rabbi Helfgot.

In a unique turn the author focuses our at-tention upon the following:

“The tribe of Reuven is made up of the de-scendants of Reuven, the fi rstborn of Leah, the fi rst wife of Jacob. As fi rstborn, Reuven was originally slated for leadership of the twelve tribes. Similarly, the tribe of Gad is made up of the descendants of Gad, the fi rstborn of Zilpa, maidservant of Leah.”

Further on Rabbi Helfgot makes note of the following:

“The third tribe in our story, Menashe, fi ts into this pattern as well. Menashe is the fi rst-born of Joseph who, along with his brother Ephraim, is elevated by his grandfather Jacob into becoming a tribe of his own.”

Now get this take in this analysis:“The connection goes deeper, however.

These tribes are not only fi rstborn – they are fi rstborns who lose that unique status. Young-er siblings supplant them in the grand hierar-chy of the Jewish people and its covenantal history.”

This observation serves as the foundation of the author’s further take:

“In light of our analysis, the story in Num-bers 32 takes on a rich and resonant charac-ter. The tribes of Reuven, Gad, and Menashe, the ‘fi rstborn’ sons who have been supplanted as leaders, approach Moshe and ask to re-main on the east bank of the Jordan, east of the Promised Land, in the territory of Refaim. Their request is motivated by the abundance of cattle, mikneh rav; their circumstances thus parallel the circumstances that led to the breaks between Abraham and Lot and be-tween Jacob and Esau.”

There is a lot more to the above for you to read and learn from.

Bamidbar through the pen of Rabbi Helf-got will never again read and mean the same to you after you read this work.

Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot was ordained by Yeshiva University’s RIETS and is the chair-man of the Departments of Bible and Jewish Thought, and teaches in the Talmud and Hal-acha Departments at Yeshiva Chovevei Torah.

In addition, he is the rav at Teaneck’s Con-gregation Netivot Shalom. Among his otherpublished works is the editorship of, “Com-munity, Covenant, and Commitment: SelectedLetters and Communications of Rabbi JosephB. Soloveitchik”. In addition, Rabbi Helfgotproudly serves on the board of Yeshivat HarEtzion in Israel.

FOR FURTHER STUDYMay I suggest the following for your edi-

fi cation:“Passages: Text and Transformation in the

Parsha” [Urim Publications, 2012] by RabbiMichael Hattin

“The Tent of Avraham” [Urim Publications,2012] edited by Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo

“City of David: The Story of Ancient Jeru-salem” [Ir Yerushalayim, Megalim] by AhronHorovitz

“Flags Over the Warsaw Ghetto: The Un-told Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising”[Gefen Publishing House, 2011] by Hon.Moshe Arens

“Stories of the Law: Narrative Discourseand the Construction of Authority in the Mish-nah” [Oxford University Press, 2012] by Dr.Moshe Simon-Shoshan

Alan Jay Gerber

The Kosher Bookworm

Learning As We Begin the Nine Days

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E ach year, during the nine days, I always marvel at the amount of people waiting on line at the kosher dairy restaurants

around town. Many of these people don’t tend to eat out often during the year and most would never choose a dairy restaurant. Yet during the nine days, even with a reservation, you can count on standing on line...sometimes out the door and down the block. For those who weren’t smart enough to make a reser-vation, they go from restaurant to restaurant

picking the one that has the shortest line. If that fails, the pizza store is the last resort.

And, how many of you normally rush home from work dur-ing the week to eat out. It’s a given, during the nine days. Owners of the dairy restaurants wait all year for this onslaught. Not to be outdone, the meat es-tablishments dream up every parve entree they can think of. There is no

way they’re going to miss out on the hordes of diners that forgot to make a reservation at the dairy restaurants.

I fi nd it kind of ironic that we are not sup-posed to wear freshly laundered clothes, take warm showers, listen to music, swim, etc. But there seems to be no issue with gong out in large groups of friends or family and enjoy-ing a dairy dinner out. There are certain loop-

holes, where, if you follow certain rules you can have meat. Remember those days in sleep away camp? There would be a siyum and then we were able to eat meat. Of course to some younger campers it seemed like a bunch of “Bar Puppa, Bar Puppa , Bar Puppa.” and then meat was miraculously on the menu that night. When Tisha B’Av came around and my husband Jerry realized there was a much bet-ter meal awaiting him if he were to fast, he did so even though he was only 12. Another of his favorite memories of camp was the night activity on Tisha B’Av when the entire camp was led down to the lake, by torch light, cul-minating in a spectacular burning of an edi-fi ce made to represent the Bait Hamikdash. The camp assumed that the younger campers understood what the symbolism meant. To my husband, Jerry, it was his favorite night at camp. Having totally missed the point of the meaning of the burning, he simply enjoyed what he thought was the second showing of July 4th, Jewish style.

While working as a pastry chef at the Ce-dar Club in the Five Towns, years ago, dur-ing the nine days, I had just fi nished fi lling 12 pans with carrot cake batter and had a decent amount left over. As I was trying to decide if I should try to fi ll another two pans and squeeze it into the oven, the chef, and a good friend of mine, Lew Levine, was trying to fi gure out the fi sh special for the evening. We looked at each other and I said, “Carrot cake batter encrusted salmon?” He dipped a piece into the batter, sautéed it on each side then placed it in the oven to fi nish cooking. I kid you not--it was excellent. Every person who ordered it loved

it. The last person to order it was an owner of a nearby restaurant. I happened to have been walking by his table when his waiter asked him how he enjoyed his dinner. He replied, “It was delicious. I see your chef copied our salmon recipe.” It took every ounce of self-control for me not say, “Really, do you always have extra carrot cake batter sitting around?” We all had a good laugh in the kitchen, almost as good a laugh as the staff got when I made myself an egg white omelet and sprayed the pan with oven cleaner....But that’s a whole different story--and yes I ate half of it before I realized why it tasted so strange. Thank G-d for those poison control centers.

For those of you who plan on dining in for at least one meal, try this one of a kind recipe.

CARROT CAKE BATTER ENCRUSTED SALMON■ 6 fi llets of salmon■ Carrot cake batter■ Canola oil to sauté the salmon■ Carrot cake batter recipe■ 1 cup fl our■ 1 cup sugar■ 1/3 teaspoon salt■ 1 teaspoon baking soda■ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon■ 1⁄2 cup corn oil■ 1 ½ beaten eggs■ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract■ 1/2 cup shelled walnuts, chopped■ 1/2 cup shredded coconut■ 1/3 cup puréed cooked carrots■ 3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Addthe oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Fold inthe walnuts, coconut, carrots, and pineapple.

Add canola oil to a large frying pan andplace over a medium fl ame. Brush the top andbottom of each fi llet with the batter. When theoil is hot, add half of the salmon fi llets, andcook for three minutes to sear the fi sh andbrown the topping. Carefully fl ip the fi sh overand cook on the other side for three minutes.Transfer the fi sh to a baking sheet, sprayed withPam. Repeat with the remaining three fi llets.

Place the baking sheet in the oven andbake until the salmon is just fi rm to the touch,about 2 to 4 minutes depending on the thick-ness of the fi sh (the fi sh is done when thethermometer registers 130 degrees F when in-serted into the thickest part of a fi llet.) Don’tover bake, the interior should be moist, unlessyou’re Rhea or Joe Grob, they like everythingwell done....as in leave it in the oven till thesmoke detector goes off....and then fi ve min-utes more.

In sharp contrast to the way we commem-orate the 9ninedays today, my mother-in-lawand her sisters, while in Auschwitz in 1944,insisted on fasting while real fi res inexorablyburned. There was no special meal awaitingthem at the end of the fast.

Judy Joszef is a pastry and personal chef aswell as a party planner. She spent 18 years as apastry chef at Abigael’s, The Cedar Club, Centroand T42 in the Five Towns, before launching hercurrent business, Soireé. She can be contactedat [email protected].

Who’s in the kitchen

Dinner and dessert in one!

Judy Joszef

By Nicole Kreizel

From gathering the grapes and learning about diverse types of wines to appreciating fi ne vintages and ensuring they’re kosher, “The Kosher Grapevine,” written by Lawrence resident Irving Langer, covers boundless information about wine.

Langer explains how to truly en-joy the taste of wine, by following a set of directions in the book. Drink-ers must swirl, taste and smell the wine in certain ways, as well as say the proper blessings. “People can follow the instructions, pick up knowledge and use it and feel more comfortable when they order wine at restaurants,” Langer said.

In the book published in Israel by Gefen Publishing House and re-leased earlier this year, Langer dis-cusses the specifi c wines to drink with certain foods in order for them to be particularly enjoyable, such as drinking Merlot with meat or Zinfandel with fi sh. He said his tips will enhance drinkers’ dining experience.

“There’s a piece of history as well,” said Langer, whose book includes portions of the Bible and descriptions of wines from the holy temple era, along with the infor-mation that only Jewish people who observe the Sabbath can be part of the wine making process in order for it to be kosher.

“The unique part of this book is

that it shows that although some consumers think kosher wine is “inferior to other ‘world’ wines-ac-tually there are many kosher wines that are a pleasure and have won many prizes,” said the book’s pub-lisher at Gefen Publishing House, Ilan Greenfi eld.

Israel and California are the “premiere areas where you get ex-cellent kosher wines,” said Langer, and Jerusalem has vineyards that produce great wine. The book also highlights the Galil, a popular area for wine making in the mountain-ous northern part of Israel, be-cause of its high altitudes, clear temperature shifts and rich soils.

Langer has acquired his knowl-edge about wines through about

two and a half years of intense re-search. “I feel I pretty much cov-ered endless information,” Langer said. The book “could have been thousands of pages, but I didn’t want it to be boring.”

Instead, the book has nine chapters and consists of text and pictures. “The editor and graphic designer had to do a lot of thinking and planning in order to produce an attractive looking book. The balance between the text and the photos was a work of art,” Green-fi eld said. There is even an index noting where customers can pur-chase wines in Israel and assorted vineyards and wineries, and a glos-sary of wine terms such as “estate bottled,” meaning “the winemaker is in control of the vineyards and oversees their cultivation.”

Langer has been to many vine-yards and wineries; he visited Cas-tel, in Jerusalem, and Yarden, in the Golan, to do wine tastings. The Golan is a volcanic plateau that is a key place for making wine, Langer said. He also visited Galil vineyards and Yatir Forest, where Langer said they make “excellent wine.”

His favorite wine is Katzrin, from the Golan Heights, however not that much is made. “It sells well and drinks well for many, many years,” he said.

“They make an extremely lim-ited amount of it [Katzrin]; it’s a great wine but I like wines more readily available, from a business

perspective,” said Moshe Fink, the owner of Chateau de Vin, a wine and liquor store in Cedarhurst.

It was Langer’s fi rst time writ-ing a book, and the process was a great experience for him. “Seeing it come together and having people call me up saying they enjoyed it gave me personal satisfaction,” he said.

Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, wine stores, kosher supermarkets, Judaic stores, Baker & Taylor and

Ingram are selling The KosherVineyard, and Langer said hehas been receiving positive feed-back from people who have readthe book. “It is quite popular andserves as a great gift for Shabbat orthe holidays,” said Greenfi eld.

It also can be found at FiveTowns Judaica in Lawrence. “Wesold seven out of 12 of the bookswe have; it sold very well,” saidHashi Gluck, the manager, “Peoplewho are into wine liked it.”

The manager of Judaica Plusin Cedarhurst, Chaim Chernikoff,said the book includes a lot of“[Langer’s] personal prefer-ences about wine” and it “shares[Langer’s] knowledge and appre-ciation for wine.”

In Hebrew, gefen means wine,so although Gefen PublishingHouse publishes books of manytopics, “I thought it was cute thatit’s a wine book published by GefenPublishing,” said Langer, who waselected last month to serve as a Vil-lage of Lawrence trustee.

What is most important toLanger is that people learn how todifferentiate the tastes of differentwines, know where they are from,and are able to thoroughly enjoydrinking wine.

“My favorite part is probablythe steps to enjoy wine tastingand going through the process,”said Langer, “It’s always nice to beknowledgeable about wine.”

Photo by Jeffrey Bessen

Lawrence resident IrvingLanger spent two and half years researching material for his book.

Irving Langer’s book, “The Ko-sher Grapevine” on the shelf with several kosher wines at Chateau de Vin in Cedarhurst.

Drinking in knowledge about kosher wines

Irving Langer’s book highlights domestic and Israeli vintages

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Keeping a child with learning disabilities in a mainstream class, when he or she needs the support of a professional special education program, greatly increases the risks of failure and isolation with the potential for at-risk behavior in the later grades.

Since 1992, CAHAL has helped hundreds of children in the Five Towns, Far Rockaway, Queens and greater Nassau County overcome their learning disabilities. CAHAL has a proven success rate of helping children rejoin mainstream classes and reach their full potential, while avoiding the shame and stigma of being singled out.

CAHAL’s success in the classroom adds up to a brighter future for our children!

To discuss placement of a child with learning disabilities contact CAHAL today at 516-295-3666 or visit us online at WWW.CAHAL.ORG.

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July 20 and on Mangano Announces Weekday Golf Specials at Nassau County’s 9-Hole Golf CoursesNassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced today that all four of Nassau County’s 9-hole golf courses will be offering a special week-day discount. Conveniently spread around the county park system, Nassau offers residents four executive-level 9 hole golf courses at Cantiague Park, Christopher Morley, North Woodmere, and Bay Park.

“With these lower green fee prices, golfers of all skill levels are invited to continue to enjoy our 9-hole County golf courses at an even more economical and low-cost rate” said Mangano. “Every course provides the perfect setting to enjoy a day of golf.”

The new special rates, which must be pur-chased in packages of 5 rounds and are valid for weekday play only, are as follows:Original Price Special Price Savings Senior/Discount with Leisure Pass $8.50 $7.50 $5.00*5 Rounds for $37.50*Resident Leisure Pass $15.00 $12.00 $15.00*5 Rounds for $60.00*Non-Resident No Leisure Pass $26.00 $21.00 $25.00*5 Rounds for $105.00*

For more information regarding Nassau Coun-ty’s four executive 9-hole golf courses, or the three 18-hole golf courses located in Eisenhower Park, please visit the Nassau County website at: www.nassaucountyny.gov/parks

July 21Scholar in residenceStephen J. Savitsky, Chairman of the Board of the Orthodox Union, a three-term OU Past President, and himself a Long Island resident, will be Scholar-in-Residence at Congregation Ohav Sholom in Merrick for Shabbat Parshat Matot-Masei. The synagogue is located at 145 South Merrick Avenue. Mr. Savitsky’s visit is the highlight of an OU Com-munity Weekend presented by the Orthodox Union Karasick Department of Synagogue Services. Shabbat morning, Mr. Savitsky will discuss “The OU and Ohav Sholom: A Partnership that Guarantees Jewish Continuity.” He will also speak following Kiddish, presenting“Israel Through the Eyes of One Prime Minister, One King, 15 Generals, 40 Members of the Knesset and a Few Taxi Drivers.” Finally, Mr. Savitsky will lead a Shabbat afternoon discus-sion on “Major Issues in Jewish Life with Possible Solutions. For further information, contact Alison Barnett of OU Synagogue Services at [email protected] or call 212.613.8155.

July 22Charlie Harary Live! Don’t Miss Out! CHAZAQ in conjunction with the Isaac Sasson Foundation, QJCC & Beth Gavriel Pres-ent an Inspirational Event with Charlie Harary LIVE! “Finding Redemption in Ourselves”. Refreshments Served at 8 PM. Lecture Scheduled for 8:30 PM Location: Beth Gavriel Community Center

66 - 35 108th St. Forest Hills, NY 11375 For More Info Call or Text 917-617-3636

Shalom Workshop: Mak-ing Good Marriages GreatYoung Israel of West Hempstead and the National Council of Young Israel present the highly ac-claimed Shalom Workshop, an evening for couples that focuses on improving communication with spouses, enhancing emotional connections, and gaining tools to express emotions in a construc-tive manner. The event will be at 7:30 pm and a light dinner will be served. The event will take place at YIWH-630 Hempstead Avenue. The work-shop is free for all YIWH members and 36 dollars per couple for non-members. For more informa-tion, contact 212-929-1525.

Free Family Fun Children’s Day Come to Eisenhower Park from 4-7 pm for a day of free day of fun sponsored by the Bethpage Federal Credit Union. Children of all ages will be able to enjoy a variety of activities, including the bouncy house and arts and crafts. Beginning at 6 pm, there will be a theatrical production of Cinderella at the Lakeside theater. Come and enjoy this exciting day!

July 23Long Island Job FairHosted by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of Nassau Community CollegeMultipurpose room 11 a.m-4 p.m. Vendors such

as Hofstra University, North Shore-LIJ, Nassau Community College, Molloy College, Stonybrook School of Health and Technology and Manage-ment, Winthrop University Hospital, South Nassau Communities Hospital, the Soldier’s Project of Long Island, AFLAC, the Visiting Nurse Association of Long Island, Sanford Brown and more. For more information, please contact Rep. McCarthy’s offi ce at 516-739-3008.

July 25Children’s Summer Workshop Series: Corn Husk Workshop and Chil-dren’s Garden Tour Children ages 5 and up are invited to participate in this activity. Fee: $15 per child per session. $40 per child for the session. Materials included. Space limited. Reservations required for all workshops. Reservations are only confi rmed with receipt of full payment. Sponsored by theFriends of Rock Hall. (Town of Hempstead Rock Hall Museum):10:30-11:30 a.m. Corn husks were used to fashion dolls for both Native American and Colonial children. This toy was popular in both Europe and America. Learn how to make this 18th-century toy. Learn to identify summer vegetables and herbs in Rock Hall’s Children’s Garden.Space limited. Reservations required. Rain date Thursday, July 26th.

July 29Tisha B’av video screeningThousands of Jews in more than 100 communities around the world will join together this Tisha B’Av to view an inspirational video presented byYeshiva University and the Orthodox Union (OU). The video, titled “Making Tisha B’Av Meaningful to Us Today,” is a project of YU’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) and the OU, and will be screened in some 250 synagogues across the United States, and internationally in Australia, Canada, Israel, Poland, South Africa and the United Kingdom. For more information on participating synagogues or to request a DVD, visit www.yutorah.org/tishabav/video. Tisha B’Av programming will also include live kinot webcasts featuring Rabbi Weinreb and Rabbi Weil at www.ou.org/tishabav and Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter atwww.yutorah.org/tishabav.

Tisha B’Av prayer service at UN’s Isaiah WallAnnual Tisha B’Av mincha with Torah reading at Isaiah Wall at the UN, led by Rabbi Avi Weiss. This year we will memorialize the 11 Israeli athletes slain by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics. First Avenue & 43rd Street, Manhattan New York, NY 10017, 2:00 pm

July 31One Israel Fund Five Towns Summer BBQEnjoy great food, awesome, award winning wines and a great atmosphere under the stars. What better way to support the bravest citizens of Israel who have made our Heartland fl ourish again?! At the home of Gary and Yael Mandel (281 Ocean Avenue, Lawrence NY), 8 p.m.For more information contact scott @ 516-239-9202, ext 12 or [email protected].

Social Justice Beit Midrash on Mental Illness and Addiction in the Jewish CommunityJoin Uri L’Tzedek for a thought-provoking talk and inner look at Mental Illness and Addiction in the Jewish Community with Paula Eiselt, director of the documentary-in-progress FOLLOWING BORUCH and a personal story from Boruch Hoffman, the documentary’s subject. The fi lm’s trailer and an exclusive sneak peak of the fi lm will be shown at this event. 7:00 pm at the Drisha Institute for Jew-ish Education. ( 37 West 65th Street, 5th fl oor)

One Israel Fund Summer Day Trips“The Northwestern Shomron”- Emek Dotan, where our Egyptian Saga begins with Joseph and his brothers- and the modern sheep farm of Maoz Tzvi. The Tanach comes to life in this rarely visited, breathtaking region, whose Reichan forest harkens back to the complaints of the tribe of Menashe. In this tour we will meet residents, tour communities, and deepen our knowledge to this meaningful part of the Shomron. The buses for these trips will leave at 8:30 am from the parking lot at the bottom of Liberty Bell Park (next to the Sonol gas station) and return at 6:30 pm. Cost for the day including lunch is 60 dollars an adult and 45 dollars a child under 12. For reservations or more information contact www.oneisraelfund.org/daytrips or call Ruthie Kahn (516-239-9202 ext. 10)

Dov Herzberg, a student at Rambam Mesivta High School in Lawrence, N.Y., was named grand prize winner of the 2011-2012 Lander College for Men (LCM) Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition held at LCM’s Queens campus in Kew Gardens Hills, N.Y. The competition, which gives students at yeshiva high schools an opportunity to create new inventions and potential business ven-tures to stimulate their ingenuity, is in its fourth year. Pictured, left to right: Moshe Berger, chief executive offi cer of Zenoradio and the former CEO of IDT entertainment; Seymour Liebman, executive vice president of Canon USA, board member of Canon Worldwide and graduate of Touro College’s Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center; grand prize winner Dov Herzberg; and Steve Brown, CFO of Cardis and chairman of the LCM board of overseers.

ON THE

CalendarSubmit your shul or organization’s events or shiurim to [email protected].

Deadline is Wednesday of the week prior to publication.

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R eading through Bamidar Chapter 22, one gets mixed feelings. The Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven (tribes of Gad and Reuven) look at the land the Israelites have recent-

ly conquered, East of the Jordan, and they realize they have a match made in heaven. The land is fertile, perfect for farm animals, and wouldn’t you know it--they have many farm ani-mals! (32:4)

Would it be possible, they ask, for these two tribes to settle there, without entering the land of Canaan?

Formalities need to be worked out. How could they sit back while the rest of the nation is fi ghting the inhabitants of Canaan?

Moshe instructs them to build homes for their families and animals, and then they are to lead the battles. And then he tells Yehoshua and Elazar that these tribes must lead the battles until all the land is conquered. Only when their mission is complete may they return home. And if they do not complete their mission, they may not settle East of the Jordan – they will have to be divided in the land amongst the other tribes.

Gad and Reuven agree, and their completion of their mission is con-

fi rmed in the book of Yehoshua 22.There are different approaches to understanding their re-

quest and the subsequent way in which they are viewed. Is it proper for them to specifi cally want to live outside of the land that will become Israel? Why would their “punishment” (were they to not fulfi ll their condition) be to live in the land?

Surely that is a good thing! How many times does the agree-ment need to be repeated and reworded and reemphasized? [At least three times!]

In halakha, the proper form of making a two-sided condi-tion is modeled in 32:29-30 (Talmud Kiddushin 61a). This would be a positive outcome of the exchange. The guarantee that these troops, often considered the best in the nation, would lead, is also a positive outcome.

But many point out that the tribes of Gad and Reuven requested, fi rst and foremost, to be able to build housing for their animals (32:16). Moshe only agreed if they put their number one priority on building homes for their families (32:24). In the following verses (25-26) they agree to Moshe’s condition, putting their families before their animals.

The main question, I suppose, running through everyone’s head at the time was, “Is this good for the Jews?”

Moshe was certainly not impressed. He felt that the desire to live outside the land echoed the mistake made by the spies and the people in the tale of woe that condemned the na-tion to their 40 years of wandering. And yet, their promise to lead the battles seems to suggest that it is not that they don’t appreciate the land. They just recognize a good thing when they see it, and the land East of the Jordan is good for their fi nancial needs. In this respect, while they do not feel that they specifi cally need to live in the land of Israel, they do recognize, and clearly plan to militarily support,those who will be living in the land. This is certainly good for the Jews.

The presumed fi nancial loss they will assume were they to break their promise is the reason why their “punishment” will be to live in the land if they do not fulfi ll their obligations. The punishment is not suggesting the land is no good. But it is aimed at hitting them in their pocketbooks. It is human

nature to want to do whatever one can in order to avoid los-ing the fi nancial windfall that will bring long-term economicsecurity.

The agreement is repeated over and over because it is im-portant that everyone understand what is expected and whatthe outcome is. While this did not pre-date the concept ofwritten documents, certainly the public nature of this Gentle-men’s Agreement would help assure that there would be no backsliding or reneging in the particulars.

The halakhic outcome of how to make a conditional agree-ment – “If you fulfi ll your responsibilities, the outcome will be X, whereas if you do not fulfi ll your responsibilities, theoutcome will be Y” – serves as a model for all time. It illus-trates how to make clear agreements without loopholes, soboth sides can avoid being cheated and can agree in a man-ner that everyone is clear as to what are the expectations.

Which leaves us with their lost sense of priorities: how could they think of their animals before thinking of their chil-dren?

I think that they viewed their fi nancial stability as themeans to be able to take care of their children. “If I can as-sure my income is set and stable, I know I’ll be able to providefor my children.”

Moshe set the record straight for them, that as much as fi nances are important, the homes for the children need tobe built before the homes for the animals. They “got it” rightaway, and proceeded accordingly.

All in all, I think the Gad and Reuven episode was “good for the Jews” on account of the lessons it contains.

Not every Jew needs to live in Israel, but every Jew shouldsupport its army. When a fi nancial windfall passes your way, take it. Make sure you take every precaution in business deal-ings to give something in order to get something – make all stipulations clear, follow through with your end of the bar-gain, and make sure that in the end, the other side of theagreement is fulfi lled. Lastly, we must recognize that our pri-orities are our families and children. Every deal, agreement,undertaking, venture must be considered for its repercussionsin advance, so we see that in whatever way possible, our chil-dren are taken care of, provided for, and always remain the

In 1986, an Israeli fi ghter-plane was shot down over Lebanon, and the pilot and navi-gator, safely ejected from the burning plane, found themselves trapped behind enemy lines. In one of the most daring missions of the war, an Israeli search and rescue team fl ew in under heavy fi re, and in a classic re-

trieval operation, with an Israeli commando suspended from a he-licopter by a cable, lit-erally plucked the pilot from the jaws of the ap-proaching enemy only eight hundred yards away. His navigator, already surrounded by an enemy that was only fi fty yards away, could not be rescued.

Ask any Israeli air force pilot what his ultimate nightmare is, and he will tell you of Ron Arad, the naviga-tor of that fl ight who watched his co-pilot

whisked away to safety, while he was left be-hind. So many years later, Ron Arad is still missing.

This mission raises one of the classic ques-tions in military operations: at what point is the individual expendable, for the sake of the many? Does saving the life of one Israeli air-man justify risking the lives of many others? The lives of a dozen men, not to mention tens of millions of dollars of vital and sophisticat-ed Israeli equipment in the form of helicop-ters and support, were all put at tremendous risk to bring one man home. No strategy or mission plan could ever justify such a deci-sion. And yet, if you ask any Israeli soldier, from the army’s commander in chief, all the way down to the infantry man alone in his

fox hole, they would all agree, that the IDF’s policy of never leaving a man behind makes that not only a justifi able, but even an essen-tial part of the Israeli military. Where does this insistence of the value of the individual, even at the expense of the many, hail from?

In this week’s portion, Matot, the Torah describes how the Jewish people came to-gether as one unit to wage war against their enemy Midyan. Each tribe sent its men for-ward to become one solid Israel defense force, over three thousand years ago.

So how did we get so fractured? The dream has always seemed so wonderful, and so obviously right:

“Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh La’Zeh” “All Is-rael are responsible one for another.”

We are meant to feel that when one of us is in pain, all of us are in pain. In fact, that is what the word “Arev” or ‘mixed in’ signi-fi es: we are all part of one great mixture. So where did it all go so wrong?

There is a message, hidden in this week’s portion, Matot, which may provide not only a clue as to the problem, but perhaps as well, a remedy for the possible solution.

When Moshe prepares to wage war on the nation of Midyan, in response to that na-tion’s attempt to destroy the Jewish people, he does not command the people to ‘rise as one’ in order to defeat the common enemy.

Instead, he tells the Jewish people: “… put forth men from amongst you for the army… a thousand from each Tribe…” (Bamidbar 31:3-4)

Why are we suddenly dividing Israel into separate tribes? Why isn’t there simply a command to the entire Jewish people to gather the ‘Israeli’ army together?

After all, when waging war, more is al-ways better, right? So if the Jewish people at this point have a standing army of six hun-dred thousand men (11:21), why would they only draft twelve thousand?

How could the Torah conclude the book of Bamidbar, dedicated to building a Nation that will be a light for the entire world, by fostering such a divisive, destructive force as tribalism?

In truth, there is something happening here that represents a fundamental change not just in the introduction of the individual identity of the tribes, but in the very way we perceive tribes at all.

In the book of Bamidbar we are intro-duced to an entirely new concept: the con-cept of ‘Mateh.’ Until now, the word used in the Torah for tribes is ‘Shevet.’ Only in the book of Numbers do we fi rst see the tribe as a ‘Mateh.’ In fact the concept of a tribe as a Mateh is not used once in the Torah outside the book of Bamidbar! (And in Bamidbar, the word Mateh appears nearly one hundred times….) Perhaps part of the purpose of the book of Bamidbar is the construction of a new model: the Mateh.

Rav Weinberg (in his Frameworks), points out that both these words are a form of stick. A Shevet is a club, which was actually used to great effect by the Shotrim (possibly the equivalent of Jewish policemen) and their Egyptian taskmasters, in effectively control-ling their slaves.

The Mateh, on the other hand is some-thing we are quite familiar with as the staff used by Aaron and Moshe.

And perhaps that is precisely the point: maybe the Jewish people (and through them the world) needed to change their perception from whatever Shevet represents, and dis-cover the beauty and the power of the Mateh.

A Shevet is, in the end, a weapon of war. It is a club, used for violence, to control and dominate, as well as to fend off would be at-tackers. (Indeed the English word for Shevet, club, is itself a group which is designed to exclude others, such as a frequent fl yers club which creates a culture of those that are ‘in,’

and those that are not….)A Mateh on the other hand, is a staff,

which is a stick used for support, represent-ing leadership and direction. (Here too, theEnglish word for Mateh is also a group of people, such as the staff of a camp. In thiscase, however, it is not an exclusive group,but rather one that comes to support thelarger whole. And of course this is exactly the function of the stick we call a staff or aMateh: it is a stick one leans on for support.)

Perhaps this distinction is the entire point.There is a movement in the world that seeks to do away with the value of the individualidentity. Communism suggested that there are no individuals, there is only the state.John Lennon in his Imagine, suggests howwonderful it might be if there were no peo-ples, no religions, no borders, and no differ-ences, “above us, only sky.” But Judaism begsto differ, because within the context of thenation, it is critical that there always be aplace for the individual.

Building a nation does not exclude the possibility of the tribe; rather, the book ofBamidbar is dedicated to creating a place foreach tribe (and alongside that, each individ-ual) within the nation.

The Jewish notion of a tribe as a Mateh,as opposed to a Shevet, teaches us to valuethe power and majesty of becoming one,with one dream and one purpose as a Na-tion, while never losing sight of the beauty and value of each and every individual.

To this day, in Israel, there is a powerfulexperience of national mourning over theloss of every individual, even while recogniz-ing the needs of the entire Nation.

All of which brings us back to the chal-lenges we face today.

We have allowed ourselves to becomeour own islands of theology and principle,

To unite as a nation, in spite of differences

FROM THE HEART OF JERUSALEM

Rabbi Binny Freedman

Reuven and Gad Priorities

What’s Good for the Jews?

Rabbi Avi Billet

Continued on page 14

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Hebrew only please!A Mother’s Tears.

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

On the 21st day of the Hebrew month of Tamuz, I celebrated my birthday. On that day, I was informed by one

of my patients that one could give brachot (blessings) to others on his Hebrew birthday. Now I’ve heard of Chassidic rebbeim giving

brachot, and Holocaust survivors, and brides and grooms on their wedding day giving brachot, but I had nev-er heard of an average person giving a bracha to others on his birth-day. I began refl ecting on what kind of bracha I would give to another person, and that re-fl ecting led me down an interesting path.

Recently, I watched baseball’s All-Star game in the Kansas

City Royals’ stadium. I lived in Kansas City while studying at Cleveland Chiropractic College, so I’ve always had an affi nity for

that team and their stadium. So while I was touched with nostalgia to watch the game, I was also intrigued to learn the biography of this year’s all-star game MVP, Melky Cabrera. Cabrera has bounced around to a number of teams. He began with the Yankees, but got into some trouble. He was traded and had to overcome his addiction to alcohol to gain his new team’s trust. Cabrera played for the Royals (called by one newspaper “the pur-gatory of baseball”) before being traded to the Giants and being selected as an MLB all-star and the game’s MVP. Cabrera’s unique voyage from baseball’s top to bottom to top again spun the gears of my mind.

Another recent experience got my wheels spinning. I reconnected, via Facebook, with a classmate of mine from Chiropractic College whom I had not spoken to since 1984. After catching up and hearing about his practice, his family, and his successes (including his meet-ing LeBron James during the Heat’s fi nals vic-tory), he said, “You know, Jeff, you’d be proud of me. Every Tuesday evening, I learn Torah with a Chabad Rabbi.” I was so touched that this long-lost friend’s recollection of me from

over twenty years ago connected me to learn-ing Torah; I was really pleased to see the effect I had on my classmates and colleagues.

In sharing these stories with my oldest son, who just ended his latest job search to secure a new position with a non-profi t orga-nization, he mentioned how much this con-nects to one’s job search. When building a resume and interviewing, he told me, a job seeker needs to “connect the dots” and make sense of all the stops along his career jour-ney. Interviewers, he said, want to see that one’s story makes sense and that a candidate has both confi dence and ownership over his individual story. We discussed the upcom-ing parsha of Matos-Ma’asei that delineates B’nai Yisrael’s 42 stops in the desert over their forty-year journey. Chazal teach that we can learn from this parsha the importance of knowing where we have been as we head to where we are destined to go. Furthermore, the Zohar teaches that when a soul reaches the celestial court at its life’s end, the soul is asked if it has achieved “shlaymut”—whole-ness; essentially, did the soul accomplish its mission on Earth.

These teachings, this parsha, these recentexperiences, and this discussion with my sonsolidifi ed for me what I would bless anotherwith on my next Hebrew birthday. Whole-ness, the quest for each soul on the planet, isrelated to “connecting the dots” and makingsense of the vastness of one’s personal experi-ences. Melky Cabrera could only regain his el-evated position after battling his demons; myclassmate from Chiropractic College connectswith his Judaism and with me by extension inorder to bring wholeness to his life; my sonand millions of job seekers make sense of theirexperiences as they procure new jobs; B’naiYisrael needed to refl ect on their many stopsin the desert before they could enter Eretz Yis-rael. My birthday bracha to others is this: maywe all be zoche (merit) to see very soon theinterconnectedness of our experiences, maywe understand how all of the different “pitstops” in our lives have led us to where we arenow, and may we gain the clarity to see howwhere we have been and where we are nowwill lead us to where we are meant to be. Ifyou like this bracha, make sure to fi nd me onthe 21st of Tamuz 5773.

My Birthday Wish for You

Recently, Israel has been em-broiled in a storm over the proposed draft of Charedi Yeshiva students. I was privileged to study in a Yeshiva and to serve in the Armored Corps; my two eldest are both serving in Combat Units after studying in a Mechina and a Hesder Yeshiva, re-

spectively. However, here I chose to convey the thoughts of my sister-in-law, who after seeing an article quot-ing a Rosh Yeshiva claiming that the desire to draft these students is born of hate of Torah and of Bnei Torah, felt the need to respond. Her son is about to enlist in a combat unit af-

ter studying for two years in a well-known Hesder Yeshiva. These are the feelings of an Israeli mother, born in the U.S., who raises her children ab-solutely committed to Torah - and to the security of the State - with all that that entails. May words which come out of the heart, enter the heart.

Dr. Jeffrey Ratz

as well as geography and beliefs. We live in our little island communities, be they ourhomes, our synagogues, or even our Jewish organizations, defi ned as religious or secular,Orthodox, Ultra-Orthodox, Conservative orReform, Right wing or Left wing, Labor orLikud, and of course Jewish or Arab.

We have, perhaps for many valid reasons,become cut off from one another, islands ofideals and philosophies. How many left wingIsraelis have close right wing friends? Howmany Jews who defi ne themselves as secular have close ‘religious’ friends, especially herein Israel? When was the last time you heardof Jews in black hats and coats sitting aroundsharing thoughts with their fellow Jews just back from the pub in Tel Aviv?

We are in the midst of the most pain-ful period in the Jewish calendar, the three weeks of mourning, a time when we all needto do some serious thinking.

Two thousand years ago, Josephus de-scribes why it took three weeks from thetime the Romans broke through the walls onthe seventeenth day of Tammuz until theyburned the Temple on the ninth day of Av inAugust of the year seventy. It only takes tenminutes to walk from the Old City walls tothe Temple Mount, but it took the Romansthree weeks, because during this month theypillaged, raped, looted and butchered theirway through the Jewish city of Jerusalem.In less than a month, they murdered overone hundred thousand Jews, and this before there were machine guns and mortars, car-bon monoxide vans and gas chambers; theydid it with their hands.

And here we are, two thousand years lat-er, still struggling with the intolerance andlack of understanding that, according to the Talmud, caused it all.

Today, just like two thousand years ago,we have only ourselves to blame, because ifthis is happening, then all of us, and eachone of us, have a lot of work to do.

Rav Binny Freedman, Rosh Yeshivat Oraytain Jerusalem’s Old City is a Company Com-mander in the IDF reserves, and lives in Efratwith his wife Doreet and their four children. His weekly Internet ‘Parsha Bytes’ can befound at www.orayta.org

To unite as a nation,in spite of differences

Continued from page 13

Rabbi Noam Himelstein

Page 15: July 20, 2012

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