VOL 11, NO 42 ■ NOVEMBER 2, 2012 /17 CHESVAN 5773 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM Hotovely speaks at Shalhevet Page 2 Election Day Endorsements Page 4 Bookworm on Carlebach’s 18th Yahrzeit Page 7 Marathon woman takes New York Page 10 THE JEWISH STAR Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:32 p.m. Shabbat ends 6:32 p.m. 72 minute zman 7:02 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Vayerah 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 Photo courtesy of Weinstock family Tamar and Allon Weinstock welcome new baby boy in the midst of Hurricane Sandy. By Karen C. Green Pregnant women and new mothers often have that glow. Tamar Weinstock, of Long Island City, had that special glow. She also had a phosphorescent glow, provided by glow sticks. Tamar and husband Allon, son of Ei- leen and Benjamin Weinstock, Deputy Mayor of The Village of Cedarhurst, welcomed a beautiful baby boy at 10:40 p.m. on Monday at NYU hospital — in the dark. The hospital, located on First Avenue and 34th street in Manhattan, lost power on Mon- day when the Con Ed generator blew due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Addition- ally, the hospital’s emergency generator sus- tained water damage, creating steam rushing into the hospital. As a result, patients had to be transported to Mount Sinai hospital. NYU hospital called in medical students to assist in the evacuation. Ambulances lined the streets adjacent to the hospital, ready to transport patients. Secured to a medi sled device, Tamar and baby were taken by hand down the stairs by two residents, while light was provided by a flashlight held by the baby’s grandmother, Eileen. Mom and baby were transported to Mount Sinai hospital and released at mid- night on October 30. We wish the Wein- stock mishpocha a hearty mazel tov! Baby born by storm Anatomy of a storm: ‘One for the books’ By Malka Eisenberg With the drumbeat of warnings echoing in our ears, The Jewish Star turned to Harvey Thurm, meteorologist, Woodmere resident, member of Congregation Aish Kodesh and Hurricane Program leader for the National Weather Service, Eastern Region. He works out of his office in Bohemia, Long Island, right across from Islip/MacArthur airport. We consulted with him both before and after the storm. Predictions: Before Sandy The Eastern region covered by Harvey Thurm is from south of Savannah, Georgia, up the coast through Maine and west to Ohio and West Virginia. That made the path of Hurricane Sandy “right in the middle of our area of responsibility,” he said. There are four regions in the con- tiguous United States and two more, one each for Hawaii and Alaska. Hurricane sea- son stretches from June 1st through Novem- ber 30th. The heart of the hurricane season is usually mid-August to mid-September and Photo by Malka Eisenberg Intersection of Peninsula Boulevard and Longacre Avenue, adjacent to the Young Israel of Woodmere becomes a river, necessitating National Guard assistance. Continued on page 3
Transcript
VOL 11, NO 42 ■ NOVEMBER 2, 2012 /17 CHESVAN 5773 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM
Hotovely speaks at Shalhevet Page 2 Election Day Endorsements Page 4Bookworm on Carlebach’s 18th Yahrzeit Page 7 Marathon woman takes New York Page 10
Like us on Facebook The Jewish Star newspaper (Long Island, NY)
Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/JewishStarNY
Photo courtesy of Weinstock family
Tamar and Allon Weinstock welcome new baby boy in the midst of Hurricane Sandy.
By Karen C. Green
Pregnant women and new mothers often have that glow. Tamar Weinstock, of Long Island City, had that special glow. She also had a phosphorescent glow, provided by glow sticks. Tamar and husband Allon, son of Ei-leen and Benjamin Weinstock, Deputy Mayor of The Village of Cedarhurst, welcomed a beautiful baby boy at 10:40 p.m. on Monday at NYU hospital — in the dark.
The hospital, located on First Avenue and 34th street in Manhattan, lost power on Mon-day when the Con Ed generator blew due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Addition-ally, the hospital’s emergency generator sus-
tained water damage, creating steam rushinginto the hospital. As a result, patients hadto be transported to Mount Sinai hospital.NYU hospital called in medical students to assist in the evacuation. Ambulances lined the streets adjacent to the hospital, ready totransport patients.
Secured to a medi sled device, Tamar andbaby were taken by hand down the stairs bytwo residents, while light was provided by afl ashlight held by the baby’s grandmother,Eileen. Mom and baby were transported to Mount Sinai hospital and released at mid-night on October 30. We wish the Wein-stock mishpocha a hearty mazel tov!
Baby born by storm
Anatomy of a storm: ‘One for the books’By Malka Eisenberg
With the drumbeat of warnings echoingin our ears, The Jewish Star turned to Harvey Thurm, meteorologist, Woodmere resident, member of Congregation Aish Kodesh and Hurricane Program leader for the National Weather Service, Eastern Region. He worksout of his offi ce in Bohemia, Long Island, right across from Islip/MacArthur airport.We consulted with him both before and afterthe storm.
Predictions: Before Sandy
The Eastern region covered by Harvey Thurm is from south of Savannah, Georgia,up the coast through Maine and west to Ohio and West Virginia. That made the path of Hurricane Sandy “right in the middle of our area of responsibility,” he said.
There are four regions in the con-tiguous United States and two more, oneeach for Hawaii and Alaska. Hurricane sea-son stretches from June 1st through Novem-ber 30th. The heart of the hurricane seasonis usually mid-August to mid-September and
Photo by Malka Eisenberg
Intersection of Peninsula Boulevard and Longacre Avenue, adjacent to the Young Israel of Woodmere becomes a river, necessitating National Guard assistance.
Continued on page 3
Inside
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MK Hotovely speaks to ShalhevetBy Malka Eisenberg
Stressing the importance of having Ortho-dox Jewish women in leadership roles, and noting that they “have the power to change things,” Likud Knesset member Tzipi Hoto-vely addressed all the students of Midreshet Shalhevet High School for Girls this past Fri-day in the shul there.
Speaking in English, the youngest Knesset member emphasized the importance of con-tributing to Israeli society, the importance of women in the growth of Israel, the need to strengthen Jewish Israeli ties to the Jewish religion and to the land of Israel.
Hotovely cited an explanation of the fi rst sentence of Parshat Shlach by the Kli Yakar (Rav Shlomo Ephraim Ben Aaron Luntschitz, a Torah commentator from the 1500s), that Moshe should have sent women rather than men as spies “because women love the land more, women have a stronger connection to the land than men.”
“Women have the power to bring chang-es,” continued Hotovely. “By giving birth they bring new things to the world,” she said, noting that the “spirit of women in leader-ship” is needed. She said that there are cur-rently 25 women MKs and that two babies were born during this Knesset session. “It’s a revolution,” she proclaimed, noting that women MKs used to be in their 50s before they entered politics, and that now they are young women.
After asking the students some questions, she said that she was “happy to hear that most visited Israel and that some want to live in Israel,” stressing that they “have to be in-volved.”
Responding to students’ questions, she noted that there is no clash between Ortho-dox life and politics and since there is no problem with men why should there be a problem with women in politics? She also pointed out that there are enough Orthodox
men in Knesset to supply the three ongoing minyanim in the Knesset. As far as equal-ity for women in Israel, she pointed out that Israel had a female prime minister years ago and America has still not had a woman presi-dent. “Women are appreciated if they have vision,” she said. When women in the Knes-set have babies, she said they either bring their babies to the Knesset, their “husbands do mommy work, or they try to reduce their activity, that it is their decision as to how to balance public life vs. family life. They are doing something important for the nation.”
Hotovely’s rise to politics is deeply rooted in strong family ties and a Zionist, religious and intellectual education. Her parents were from Georgia and she was raised in Recho-vot. Hotovely is a product of the religious public school system and studied in Ulpa-nit Bnei Akiva and Midreshet Lindenbaum. During her sherut leumi (national service), she was a shaliach (emissary) for the Jew-ish Agency in the United States, teaching in Jewish schools in Atlanta, Georgia. She also served in Bait HaRav Kook in Jerusalem, a museum that teaches the philosophy of Rav Avraham Yitchak HaCohen Kook.
Hotovely continued her education at Bar Ilan University in Jerusalem, earning a BA and MA in law and graduating with honors. She passed the bar in 2003 and was active in a student organization, the World Union of Jewish Students, and was an editor of Bar Ilan’s Journal of Law. She is studying for her doctorate in law at Tel Aviv University.
During her studies in Bar Ilan, a television producer called Hotovely and begged her to fi ll the position of a young religious Zionist woman on a debate. Hotovely didn’t want to, but, “no one was willing to interview on the issue,” she said.
Those three minutes on the television show, Hotovely explained, “changed my life.”
The host of the television show, Dan Mar-Continued on page 5
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then it slowly winds down, said Thurm. “By the end of November it’s offi cially over. This is extremely late. I don’t remember one this strong affecting our area this late.
“This is going to be historical, coming in with a pressure close to rivaling the 1938 hurricane,” Thurm predicted in a phone in-terview the Monday before the storm. “That was the lowest pressure ever recorded on Long Island. This system is coming on a dif-ferent path but the barometric pressure is similar, close to (that of) 1938.” He noted that we were discussing the storm before it happened. “As of now, it’s very similar, but the 1938 storm came up from the south to the north; this is coming from the southeast to the northwest, centering on the Jersey shore—’38 made landfall on central Long Is-land. (The 1938 storm created Shinnecock Bay).
Thurm explained that a hurricane is a warm core system, with warm air at its cen-ter, noting that a winter storm has cold air at its center. He pointed out that Sandy was unusual, “a hurricane embedded in a larger nor’easter, a hybrid-type storm,” he said. “You get two for the price of one—you’re get-ting your money’s worth.”
The hurricane formed “where they usual-ly form this time of year,” he said, east of Ni-caragua, south of Jamaica, in the northwest Caribbean Sea. He said that it moved north, killing people as it passed through Jamaica, Haiti and east Cuba, and then moved across the Bahamas.
“We saw this coming the end of last week,” he emphasized. “The computer models picked up a large event—this track is unique—we never had it coming in southeast to northwest—it’s extremely unusu-al. This evening’s storm surge will be very damaging-at least along the coast. This evening is the main show.” He predicted fl ooding in Pennsylvania and New York State. “The legacy of the system will be this evening’s storm surge and high tide.”
The worst of the storm will be the “in-undation” and the power outages caused by trees falling on power lines because of their roots weakened by rain and knocked over by wind. He noted that a 70 mile per hour wind in a winter storm doesn’t knock down as many trees as does a similar wind in the summer and fall because the leaves on the trees act as a sail, catching the wind.
“Historically, the main loss of life is 90% from storm surge, from fl ooding,” stressed Thurm. “The sea level rises and inundates the coast and people drown if they don’t get out of harms way. The wind is driving the ocean ahead of the hurricane towards the land.” He said that New York’s coastline forms a right angle with New Jersey and the water “funnels” into New York Harbor and gets trapped by the land.
Thurm’s work usually involves administra-tion and program management of the 23 of-fi ces in the region. But with the storm com-ing, it is “more hands on, more operational,” involving coordinating the forecasts. They gather the forecasts from the offi ces and all have access to the same computer models, discuss their predictions and meld the infor-mation into a unifi ed coherent forecast. He noted that the forecasts are “very good,” and much improved over those in the past. The computer models they use for forecasting are based on current conditions, twice daily worldwide weather balloon launches and in-formation from buoys. This information is “funneled into sophisticated computer mod-
els.” The meteorologist “knows the strength and weakness of the models and they take the average of the best models using an en-semble approach,” explained Thurm.
Post-mortem: After Sandy—“One for the books”
After almost 24 hours without electricity, and the prediction by the Long Island Power
Authority (LIPA) of the outage extending seven to ten days, pow-er began to come on in parts of Woodmere and Cedarhurst. The Young Israel of Woodmere was fl ooded, Beth Shalom had a gen-erator, and Aish Kodesh, on the high ground by the train tracks, was operational with three minya-nim for Shacharit. But with most without electricity, the discomfort of encroaching cold, darkness and no phones continued.
“This storm tied the low pres-sure record for the 1938 hurri-
cane—946 millibars—28 inches of mercury,” said Thurm. “Normal barometric pressure is around 30 inches; it was two inches below normal. How low the barometer gets is a measure of how strong the storm is.”
He said the storm had migrated to Pitts-burgh, “a huge, big rainstorm. Everything about the storm was meshuga (crazy). Maine was near 60 degrees today and there was el-evation based snow in the mountains of West Virginia. We had record low pressure. It was unique—it came from a direction that it nev-er comes in—from the east rather than the south. The water gets pushed in and trapped where New Jersey and Long Island meet. It was just about the worst-case scenario. You couldn’t easily come up with a worse scenar-io. It’s just about as bad as it gets.” He said that 1938 was a stronger storm, but this one “came in from the east, had high tide, a full moon—it was lined up for a very bad storm with no mitigating factors. Boruch Hashem, considering what happened, it could still have been a lot worse.”
And for those who asked, Sandy was fe-male, noted Thurm. She was “One for the books.”
Harvey Thurm studied meteorology at City College of New York and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology. “As a child I was always very interested in weather. I am fortunate that I knew from a young age that I always wanted to do this. My parents didn’t think I would follow through but I did, boruch Hashem (thank G-d).”
Anatomy of a storm: ‘One for the books’Continued from page 1
Photos by Rebecca Green
A boat from Keystone Yacht Club crashed into this Woodsburgh home on Woodmere Boulevard South.
(Above) Tree, downed power lines and car are casualties of storm on WyckoffPlace in Woodmere. (Below) Evergreen tree uprooted on Woodmere BoulevardSouth in Woodsburgh.
HARVEY THURM
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EndorsementsThere are many domestic reasons
to vote for Mitt Romney on election day, most of which have been covered on these pages over since he became the apparent GOP nominee.
There are also foreign policy is-sues, the one most relevant to the Jewish community is the future of Israel. Any Jew who believes in the State of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State and still votes for Barack Obama is committing Jew-i-cide.
Obama’s positions on Israel and terrorism during his fi rst term will only worsen in a second, when he would not need support from Jew-ish donors and Jewish voters, or (as he told Russian President Medvedev) when he will have more fl exibility. Let’s take a look at Obama’s fi rst term.
Obama is the reason there are no negotiations with the Palestinians.
While the Palestinian’s have never accepted Israeli settlements, halting of all settlement building has never been a precondition to talks. Israel had long ago agreed not to build new “settlements” in Judea and Samaria but would continue to add housing units to existing communities. They have never agreed to restrictions on building Jerusalem.
During the government of PM Ehud Barak (and the Bush Adminis-tration), there were direct talks and construction continued as above.
It was the Obama administration’s naiveté that made the settlements an issue. Hillary Clinton fi rst demanded the freeze in 2009 and was quickly backed up by Obama. What the Presi-dent and his advisers perceived as a minor concession, (a settlement freeze including no new housing units in existing communities) was, for Israel, a grave sacrifi ce. From the Israeli point of view, he was telling parents that their children could no longer live near them.
This was a major error by the Obama administration, and it was compounded by their inclusion of Jerusalem in the mix, and their con-stant public berating of the Jewish State. On top of all that was the rev-elation that his demand for a freeze of natural community growth broke a US/Israel agreement made during the Bush administration, an agree-ment confi rmed by former Assistant Secretary of State Elliot Abrams.
Obama has said Israel is the Jew-ish State and has called on the Pal-estinians to recognize Israel but has never called on the Palestinians to recognize Israel as the Jewish state—never (the UN partition which cre-ated Israel called it a Jewish State).
The real issue is where the Pales-tinian refugees go. While the number of Palestinian refugees in 1949 was about 800,000, today the number is over 4 million. This group of refugees is the only example in history where the number has grown without a pop-ulation shift (the UN counts the origi-nal refugees, their children, grand-children, fi rst cousin twice removed on their mother’s side, friends etc. as refugees) (The Jewish refugees from Arab countries, 900,000+ were ab-sorbed by Israel and other countries).
One of the stated goals of the Pal-estinians is to fl ood Israel (within the green lines) with Palestinians. Being a democracy, Israel would be voted out of being Jewish.
The previous president, George Bush, said that any resettlement of
Palestinian refugees must take place in a future Palestinian State.
The 2008 Democratic Party plat-form agreed, saying that they should resolve the issue of Palestinian refu-gees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel. This was re-moved from the 2012 platform by the President’s people along with the reference to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, refusal to recognize Hamas as terrorists, and the need for changes to the 1949 Armistice lines. The only one added back was Jerusalem (andthat was over the votes and boos of the convention attendees).
In August 2009, Prime MinisterNetanyahu announced a ten-month settlement freeze. It was approved and implemented on November 25, 2009 and ran till September 25, 2010. Despite pressure from the United States, the Palestinians wasted the fi rst 9+ months of the freeze and would not come to the negotiating ta-ble till September 2010, three weeks before the freeze ended. In October2010, Netanyahu made a simple of-fer to the PA. Recognize Israel as the Jewish State, and we will extend the freeze. Netanyahu’s proposal met with swift rejection from senior Pal-estinian offi cials.
“The whole world holds Netanya-hu responsible for what is happening in the region, after he chose to push ahead with the settlement projectat the expense of an advance in thepeace process. Settlement freeze is a commitment Netanyahu should re-spect,” Saeb Erekat, the chief Pales-tinian negotiator, told Al Jazeera.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior offi -cial of the Palestinian Liberation Or-ganization, described the settlement issue as “an aggression on Palestinianrights and land.”
“What Israel calls itself is an Israeli matter that does not concern us. Thetwo issues are not related,” he told Al Jazeera in reference to Netanyahu’scondition that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Nabil Abu Rudainah, the spokes-man for Mahmoud Abbas, the Pal-estinian president, said a return to peace talks required a freeze on set-tlement building by Israel.
“The issue of the Jewishness of the state has nothing to do with the mat-ter,” he told the Reuters news agency.
If Obama truly backed Israel asthe Jewish State, he would have pub-licly endorsed this Israeli offer that would have rid the Palestinians of the Obama-created excuse not to negoti-ate.
Jerusalem, wrote historian MartinGilbert, is not a ‘mere’ city. “It holdsthe central spiritual and physical place in the history of the Jews as apeople.”
The Obama policy is different from that of the Bush administration. The Bush administration recognizedJerusalem as the Capital of Israel, butdelayed the moving of the embassy till the borders of Jerusalem weredetermined through negotiations. Obama refuses to recognize any partof Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel.
During a press briefi ng at the endof July, Jay Carney refused to outline the President’s position on Jerusalem.
In 1995, Congress passed the Je-rusalem Embassy Act endorsing Je-rusalem as the capital of Israel and requiring the United States Embassy
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
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Scaturro, a strong voice in the 4th C.D.Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy,( Garden City-
D) who is campaigning for reelection to her 9th term has had a compelling story. Her entry into elected offi ce came on the heels of the tragic shooting of her husband and son; only her son survived. She has been a strong voice for gun control legislation and deserves accolades for her efforts in this regard. On foreign policy, the Mideast in particular, McCarthy shows no strength. Her support of Israel has been lackluster at best. She’s continually been late to the game in response to key issues.
Her challengers in this three-way race are Nassau County Legislator Francis Becker of Lynbrook and Frank Scaturro, an attorney in private practice from New Hyde Park. Becker, the Republican nominee, has been an active voice in local politics; he is a house-hold name in Lynbrook. His abilities in politics are best utilized locally.
Frank Scaturro, a Republican running on the Con-servative line, is the youngest of the trio and the only candidate in the race who has not held elected offi ce. By virtue of his legal education, and his experience as an aide to the late Senator Arlen Spector, Scaturro is the most qualifi ed to hold offi ce. He has an excel-lent command of issues. Without the support of his party leadership, Scaturro has shown the gumption to put up a good fi ght — a redeeming quality for a Congressman. This is an uphill battle for Scaturro, but we believe he will be the strongest voice for the Fourth C.D. The Jewish Star endorses Scaturro.
Sussman for Assembly it’s time for a changeAssemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach)
has been in offi ce since 1989. During that time, he worked with his colleagues in Albany to pass many bills, sponsored legislation to create tougher drunk-driving laws such as Leandra’s Law, and been a strong advocate people with special needs. He’s de-livered assistance to the district with the benefi t of discretionary funds, much like a checkbook, that is readily available to one in elected offi ce. Most nota-ble is the law he helped pass which yielded an enor-mous benefi t — to himself. Legislation he supported precludes most state employees from receiving salary
and pension for the same job—but not Weisenberg and his colleagues in the legislature. While “double dipping” — collecting two paychecks for the same job—Weisenberg was absent for over 30% of the votes this past term. This ethically questionable ma-neuver deems Weisenberg unsuitable to hold public offi ce and advocate for fi scal responsibility for his constituents.
It would have been prudent for the Democrats to choose and groom a successor following Weisenberg’s challenge by Josh Wanderer in the last election.
Dr. David Sussman (R) of Lawrence, a urologist, has served on the Lawrence school board for 18 years, from 1996 – 2000 as president. He is one of the few board members whose children attended the public schools. He battled discrimination in District 15 by being part of the effort to provide special edu-cation services to non-public school students in their own school environment—the fi rst district to do so. He has served on a school board that has streamlined the budget while maintaining (extracurricular) pro-grams, so much so that over the last fi ve years hous-ing demand in the Five Towns has made a dramatic shift from District 14 to District 15. Sussman has earned a reputation for standing up for what’s right regardless of whether it’s popular. The Jewish Star endorses Sussman.
Reelect Skelos in the 9th Senatorial District
It’s important for Long Island to have a voice in Albany to speak up for our unique needs. As current Senate majority leader, Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) has been an exceptional voice and advocate for his district and for the overall region. Skelos is running for his 15th term against Democratic chal-lenger Thomas Feffer. Calling Feffer a “challenger,” however, is a bit of an overstatement. The 24-year-old intern for the Nassau County Democratic Committee has not campaigned at all and hasn’t been available to answer any questions. He’s clearly taking one for the team.
Skelos is obviously the right choice for the 9th Dis-trict. During his tenure as majority leader, the state government has actually functioned, something that seemed an unobtainable dream just a few years ago. Not only were the last two budgets passed on time — something that hadn’t happened for decades —they were passed early. Skelos helped to eliminate a $13 billion defi cit without raising state taxes. The Jewish Star endorses Skelos.
newJewicide
Continued on page 12
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galit, was impressed and asked her to join the left-leaning secular panel on “Moetzet Hachachamim” (Council of the Wise), repris-ing her role as right-wing female voice.
She wrote a column for Maariv and, af-ter consulting with her on various issues, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recruited Hotovely to join the Likud list on the run-up to the 18th Knesset. She came in at the 18th slot.
She maintains a hectic schedule, rising at 6 am, davening Shacharit, meeting with journalists, and is in her offi ce by about 8. She tours Israel to keep in touch with all the Likud offi ces on Sundays and Thursdays, and meets with committees on Mondays Tuesdays and Wednesdays, often ending at midnight.
When asked regarding Migron, she said that she felt that it is “a small story” but that she felt that it should be allowed to remain. Discussing the recent joining of Likud with Yisrael Beitainu she said that “most people don’t want to repeat the mistakes of Oslo and the Pinuy, most are sympathetic to the Jew-ish communities in Yehuda and Shomron.”
“I got into politics to make a difference,” said Hotovely. “In 2005, the government of Israel committed, I think, a crime, the dis-engagement. They uprooted 8000 people from their homes, not for peace or an agree-ment but so that in Gaza there would not be a mixed population. It is a nightmare, with rockets on the head for the last seven years. (Then PM) Sharon went against the demo-cratic rules in the party and changed ideol-ogy to commit a crime.”
“The problem,” she continued, “is not un-derstanding the relationship with the land of Israel—it’s not just real estate. The result is playing with peoples’ lives.” Noting that she is against a two-state solution, she said that the “big question is if the Jewish people feel connected to those areas or consider it ‘oc-cupying.’” She said that they are not learn-ing the history and halacha (Jewish law), citing the fi rst Rashi in the Torah, “we need to know our connection.” She also quoted Is-rael’s fi rst prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, that the Jews are and have to be a “’light for the nations,’” promoting justice and values like Shabbat, Yovel, Shmittah--economic jus-tice.” She stressed the need to interact with the secular in society, that 20% are Orthodox and that 80% of the population spans the gamut between religious and secular. With-out connecting with the land, she said, they won’t understand its importance, and that as religious people, she stressed that it is impor-tant to build a society based on justice, as the neviim, prophets, called for.
Hotovely said that as students, they should get information from Israeli websites, that they should be informed and “know the facts.” She exhorted the girls to build their homes in Israel and asked them, “what is your contribution to the enterprise,” and in-vited the seniors to visit her at the Knesset when they are studying in Israel next year.
MK Hotovely speaks at Shalhevet High SchoolContinued from page 2 MK Tzipi Hotovely,
center, with RabbiZev Friedman, andMrs. Eisenman, principal.
Courtesy of Midreshet Shalhavet
The Jewish Star newspaper
(Long Island, NY)
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The “Binding of Isaac” is a defi ning chap-ter in the story of the Jewish people. It in-spires much of our liturgy (High Holidays, etc.). In some respects it represents what it means to sacrifi ce for one’s children. In some of the darker annals of Jewish history, some took it as the inspiration to literally sacrifi ce their children as Jews to avoid death or the loss of Jewish souls at the hands of others.
It is not for us to judge those who chose the latter path, but it is noteworthy that they viewed Avraham’s “sac-rifi ce” as inspiration for such choices, even though Avraham did not ultimately harm his son.
“The Akedah” has inspired millions of hours of study and discussion, as well as countless pages of anal-ysis, feeding conversa-tions that will continue
forever.It is hard to stomach the idea that G-d
“tested” Avraham through a riddle. Rashi is quick to note that he was never told to slaughter his son. He was told “to raise” him. Is the purpose of the test to see how far Avra-ham will go before being told to stop? Is it to see if Avraham unquestioningly does G-d’s will? Could Avraham have misunderstood what G-d wanted? Is it possible that G-d did not give him enough information, and he drew his own conclusions?
What took so long for an angel to stop him, calling his name twice to tell him “Don’t send your hand to the lad?” How did it even get that far, especially when just about every interpretation (following the line of “through Yitzchak you will be said to have offspring” – 21:12) understands that G-d never intended for Avraham to kill his son (Talmud Taanit 4a)?
The study of any Biblical subject as deep as the Akedah is incomplete without reading Abravanel’s commentary, simply because he is so thorough, organized, and comprehen-sive. Here he poses 25 questions, which he answers in his lengthy analysis. Some of his thoughts are summarized here as a conver-sation opener – not so much to understand what Avraham’s test was, but what the task was meant to teach father and son.
“None of Avraham’s ‘tests’ are introduced as tests. They were ‘tasks,’ and they were only derived to be ‘tests’ later. Borrowing money from a friend, for example, is a request that may indirectly test friendship.
“The ‘Lekh Lekha’ missive’s goal was to get Avraham to the Holy Land, to establish roots there, and to become a model (banner) to all. Avraham’s dedication in the Akedah strongly affi rms his inspiring role.
“The Torah opens the segment saying, ‘After all these things (22:1) AND G-d [hav-ing] tested Avraham…’ – all of the preceding tales had been G-d testing Avraham. He has already passed with fl ying colors.”
“This ‘nisayon’ was not a ‘test’ for G-d to see if Avraham could pass muster. ‘Nisah’ is from the word ‘nes,’ as in “Raise up (‘nisah’) over us the light of Your countenance.” (Te-hillim 4:7) Avraham’s doing G-d’s will is raised as a banner/fl ag for the nations to look to for inspiration. For us, it is a charge to serve G-d with all our heart and soul as did Avraham.
“Rav Yonah the Grammarian notes
the vague nature of the command issued “V’ha’a’layhu sham l’olah” – which could be understood as “raise him as an offering.”
“The “lamed” prefi x in “l’olah” could also mean “in place of” – as if to say “he’ll be con-sidered an olah offering [in place of one] even though he won’t actually ‘be’ an olah offering.”
“G-d purposely led Avraham to believe that He wanted Yitzchak to be an offering so that Avraham would dedicate his heart and soul to the task. Thus he literally binds
Yitzchak and full-heartedly reaches for the knife. The actions Avraham does before be-ing stopped, are considered before G-d “as if” he has actually brought the sacrifi ce. This elevates Yitzchak spiritually – it confi rms his uniqueness and readiness to be the sole “line” of Avraham that carries the promise of G-d.
“Therefore, G-d did not ‘change His mind,’ as it were, because He never commanded him to slaughter his son in the fi rst place. And Avraham did not make a mistake or mis-understand, for it was G-d Himself who was purposely vague.
Abravanel rejects a notion presented by the Ralbag (which must be read in context), that the entire episode of the Akedah is meant to be a “chinuch experience” of father teaching son important life lessons. But it is nonetheless most noteworthy that this tale contains the only interaction of Avraham and Yitzchak in the Torah, where father and son
relate to one another and converse. [Theirconversation is worthy of its own analysis.]
G-d will never ask us straight up or vague-ly to sacrifi ce our children. But for us to haveany notion of success with them, we must beprepared to bring them along, to show themwhat we do, to engage them in conversation, and to bind them – in a sense – to our way oflife. Abravanel suggests that Yitzchak did notstruggle as his father bound him because hethought his father was demonstrating howan olah is prepared – almost like they were playing charades.
Maybe if we play charades with our chil-dren, they will have the best opportunity tolearn from us, to understand why we do the things we do as Jews, as they become boundto the eternal chain that is the lifeblood ofour people.
Parshat Vayerah
Binding Our Children
Rabbi Avi Billet
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“In 1959 Shlomo Carlebach released his fi rst album – Haneshoma Loch [Songs of My Soul], -- which was an instant hit [selling 5,000 copies the fi rst week] and completely revolutionized Jewish music. ‘The fi rst record caused a mu-sical furor both in the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds,’ recalls musicologist Velvel Pasternak, the foremost authority on contemporary Jew-ish music in the United States. ‘Rather than the Eastern European gestalt that had char-
acterized Jewish music up until then and with which American Jew-ish youth couldn’t iden-tify, Shlomo Carlebach’s music was written in an American idiom. He seemed to cut complete-ly with the past. His fi rst record was arranged by Harry Belafonte’s ar-ranger, and appeared to bear the imprint of American folk music. His genius was that the ordinary guy on
the street could relate to his music and sing it with passion. Thus his music became the cor-nerstone of American Jewish music, known to every single Jewish bandleader in America, sung in Orthodox synagogues, Conservative havurot, Reform summer camps, and Chassidic shtiebels. He was a musical visionary, very ad-vanced, and his infl uence on Jewish music has been immeasurable and everlasting.’”
[Holy Brother, Jason Aronson, 1997, edited by Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum ].
This quote by Velvel Pasternak, of Ce-darhurst and member of the Young Israel of Woodmere, just about sums it all up. The im-pression given here can be found upon the lips of just about every one whose has ever heard the voice, song and soul of the late, great Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, whose 18th yahrtzeit was commemorated this past Thursday.
And there are others……..Among, for me personally, the most memo-
rable of legacies of Reb Shlomo was the fol-lowing, quoting from Mandelbaum’s eloquent biography of Reb Shlomo:
“Shlomo became the ‘troubadour of the So-viet Jewry movement’ in 1965, when he was asked by Yaakov Birnbaum and Glenn Richter, leaders of SSSJ [Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry] to compose a song for the struggle. The result was the Carlebach classic Am Yisrael Chai, which became the anthem both for the Jews of Russia in particular, and the rallying cry for oppressed Jewish communities in gen-eral. It was played and sung at thousands of worldwide Jewish rallies and demonstrations held in the ‘60s,’70s, and even ‘80s, until the massive Soviet Jewish exodus was fi nally ef-fected.”
No other Jewish singer in modern history has ever had such an impact upon the welfare and wellbeing of our people.
His spiritual impact is detailed in a re-cently published autobiography by Rabbi Zal-man Schachter-Shalomi. In that era, Reb Zal-man was a budding shaliach in the Chabad movement and Reb Shlomo was a student of Rav Aharon Kotler and a follower of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe. It was during a visit that the two made in 1949, on the 19th of Kislev when they met the Rebbe.
Reb Zalman relates the following:“My name and that of my friend Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach were suddenly called. Sh-lomo and I had known each other in Austria and later studied together at the Lubavitcher yeshiva. We approached the Rebbe’s table, and he warmly gave us a big L’chayim and said the time was right for us to begin Jewish outreach on college campuses.” [My Life in Jewish Re-newal, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter – Shalomi,
Rowman & Littlefi eld, 2012]With this word from the Rebbe, these two
young rabbis became the fi rst two shelichim of the Chabad movement. While neither of them were to last for much longer in Chabad, the in-spiration that they received from both the sixth and seventh Rebbes was to defi ne their valued life’s work in kiruv, for the rest of their lives.
Each in their own way was to have a spiritu-ally immeasurable impact upon thousands of Jews, thus helping these otherwise lost souls from falling away from their birth religion.
Among the most lasting musical legacies of the Carlebach tradition was the mainstreaming of the niggun into the American Jewish musi-cal tradition. In his recent book, “Davening,” Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi noted the following:
“If you look at all the tunes Reb Shlomo
wrote, the words are prayer words. He tried to show people, through example: you think you’re singing, but you’re really davening!”
“He began on piano in those early years, singing subtle and beautiful things. His Mim-komcho, on his fi rst album, Haneshoma Loch, is a truly lovely niggun. His Eshet Chayil …. I could go on and on. Later he picked up a gui-tar; he couldn’t shlep a piano with him, and keyboards were not yet widely available. He poured all the neshomeh of the old world into a simple tune and a few folk chords. Maybe that was why his niggunim captured so many: they spoke to the old world and the new. Sh-lomo was a remarkable bridge…….becoming the most famous exporter of niggunim from the Chassidic world.”
I conclude with two observations, fi rst by
Reb Zalman and second from Elie Wiesel:“When Shlomo davened, you stopped think-
ing about yourself. Even if you didn’t knowanything else, even if you knew next to nothingabout Yiddishkeit, you would be thinking aboutG-d when Shlomo davened. He would lead,would lead people in a few niggunim and thentell a story in between; that’s why I called himthe genius of virtuous reality, because he madeyou want to live like those righteous people inhis stories.” [“Davening: A Guide to MeaningfulJewish Prayer”, Jewish Lights, 2012]
“He would suffer with those who suffered.A lover of loving, he would never offend theperson with whom he was speaking….I neveronce heard him speak ill of another, even ofthose who cared a little less for him….Travel-ing across the world in search of lost souls, hewould sing of the love that everyone shouldhave for his fellow man, for all creation, andnaturally for the creator Himself.”
Alan Jay Gerber
The Kosher Bookworm :The Carlebach Legacy at his 18th yahrtzeit THE
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Hebrew only please!
Over this past weekend, there was heavy traffi c on Derech Chevron towards Beit Lechem; thousands were coming to pray at Rachel’s tomb - her yahrtzeit traditionally is the 11th of Cheshvan. And indeed, a tra-dition more than 1700 years old identifi es the site as Rachel’s tomb, and certain verses in Breishit support this as well. However, other vers-es in Shmuel, and the famous Midrash explaining that she was buried there in order to comfort the exiled Jews, seem to place her tomb to the north of Jerusalem. In fact, some researchers claim to have found the very site between Chizmeh and Adam! Either way, the site has tremen-dous spiritual signifi cance for the Jewish people, and we are fortunate that the site was retained under Israeli sovereignty with the Oslo ac-cords, despite earlier intentions.
Rachel’s Tomb
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 Jerusa-lem, and lives with his wife and six children in Neve Daniel, Gush Etzion.
By Rabbi Noam Himelstein
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Paid For By Sussman for Assembly
The small room wasn’t much to look at, with its old, tired-looking walls and cracked fl oor tiles. And yet, a man had died here in this room.
They had been looking for him for quite some time, scouring the country and wak-ing entire neighborhoods every time rumor had it that he was somewhere in the vicinity.
To judge by the heav-ily armed troops that were smashing down doors in the middle of the night, he must have had a fi re to him, to in-spire such a determined manhunt.
He had been afford-ed many opportunities to escape and fi nd ref-uge overseas, in Europe or America, and even in England, yet he could not leave the dry sands and swamps of Pales-tine, the land he loved so much.
His name was Avra-ham, and like his name-sake four thousand
years earlier, he was willing to pit himself against the entire world if need be, rather than give up on the beliefs he held so dear.
Those were dark times for the Jewish people; millions of Jews were being herded into the barbed wire camps and ghettos of Europe, and even those few who managed to escape the hell of the Holocaust had no-where to go. For two thousand years the Jews had dreamed of returning home to Israel, the ancient land of their ancestors, now known as Palestine. But the British, who now ruled that part of the world, refused to let them in, invoking the infamous ‘white paper’ whose quota allowed only fi fteen thousand Jews a year into Palestine, while millions clamored to be let in.
Avraham Stern was one of those individu-als who fi nally decided enough was enough. If G-d was not going to send the messiah to bring the Jewish people home, the Jews would have to do it on their own.
To be sure, there were many who dis-agreed with his violent methods and his abso-lute refusal to make peace with the British in Palestine, even while the British were fi ghting the Nazis across the seas.
“The enemy of my enemy is still my en-emy,” he claimed, and nothing was more im-portant than removing the British and estab-lishing an independent Jewish State as a safe haven for the Jews of Europe.
And while you could disagree with his pol-itics, and certainly his methods, you had to admire his burning love for the Jewish people and their land.
When Jews were denied entry into Pales-tine, and the refugee boats full of Jews who had escaped the camps and the ghettos were turned away and sent to internment camps (and more barbed wire) in Greece, he was one of the masterminds of the infamous ‘night of the bridges’ when 14 bridges were blown up overnight, severely hampering Brit-ish control of the borders.
Forced from hiding place to hiding place, he fi nally found refuge literally under the noses of the British, in a small roof-top apart-ment in Tel Aviv. The small room he slept in had a clothes-closet with a false back, which allowed him to squeeze in between the wall and the closet and hide whenever snooping eyes came to visit. The widow whose room he was renting believed in his cause and had suc-cessfully managed to pretend she was actually using the room whenever the British came by.
In the end, it was the little things that gave
him away. British soldiers acting on a tip, burst in the door as part of a midnight search of the apartment buildings in the area, and were about to leave the apartment when one of them noticed a man’s shaving brush, which might have passed as her deceased husband’s, but for the fact that it was still wet from Avra-ham’s shave a few minutes earlier. A more aggressive search soon produced Avraham Stern, who was captured alive as attested to by witnesses, but was mysteriously shot and killed while trying to escape. He was shot twice in the back while supposedly trying to leap out a sixth story window, after the high-ranking offi cer in charge who arrived after Avraham’s capture fi rst demanded that every-
one else present leave the room….I have always detested violence and be-
lieve it always to be the last resort, and am not at all sure I would have agreed with many of Avraham Stern’s decisions. Yet, to sit in that lonely room in Tel Aviv, reading the beautiful poetry and magnifi cent writings of this schol-ar-turned-warrior, one has to be in awe at the pure dedication and willingness to sacrifi ce everything for the love of one’s people, and things greater than one self.
Just how important is the place we hap-pen to be, and how much is where we are a statement about who we are? Avraham Stern preferred to live in hiding in a small room in a dingy Tel Aviv apartment, rather than es-
cape to the beautiful mountains of Switzer-land, simply because this was the land that heloved; the place he had made his own.
Interestingly, this week’s portion, Vayera,contains the source for a very important tra-dition regarding the power of place: the ideathat a person should ideally return to a ma-kom kavua, a set place whenever he or sheprays.
The Torah tells us that on the morningthat G-d destroyed the wicked cities of S’domand Amorah, Avraham returned to the sameplace he had stood in the day before (when heargued with G-d to save S’dom):
“And Avraham arose early in the morn-
FROM THE HEART OF JERUSALEM
Rabbi Binny Freedman
A dream worth pursuing
Continued on page 11
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“I like to look at miles as if they have per-sonalities, First 6 miles…starter, mile 13, half way, mile 18… reminds me of a previous tune-up race, mile 26… let’s go, let’s get this done. They are literally milestones, they are all trying to tell me something,” says Eliza-beth (Lizzy) Luxenberg.
The 19-year-old Great Neck native, who is currently a student at NYU, is gearing up for her debut run in the New York City mara-thon on Sunday, November 4. Lizzy, who is running in support of Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, has raised over $8,000 for the cause. And she’s got the support of her par-ents, sister and the community at large.
What started in 8th grade as a fi tness routine to get in shape has evolved over the years into a passion. Lizzy fi rst got acclimat-ed on a treadmill but became bored with the routine. “It was boring. I wanted to take on something specifi c, I wanted something to be my thing. I wanted my goal to be more than just a focus on the scale,” stressed Luxenberg.
“I wasn’t happy with my time, so with the help of my trainer Diana at Equinox fi tness in Great Neck, I started making distance my goal.”
Luxenberg, who spent her post high school year at Midreshet Amit, ran two marathons while in Israel. “It took me four years to real-ize that it’s (running) not a lifestyle until you have something specifi c. I wanted to be a runner.” Luxenberg recently was the featured student at the Amit Dinner in the Five Towns, where she delivered a dvar Torah.
“In December 2011, I ran the Beit She’an half marathon up in Northern Israel and in 2012 I ran the Jerusalem half marathon. I spent two hours in the middle of the day and two hours after night seder training. I was ‘the’ American girl at the Body Line fi tness gym in Gilo. My school was very support-ive.”
Since returning from her year in Israel, Lizzy has tested her body through the rigors of a very extreme running regimen in prepa-ration for her fi rst full 26.2-mile marathon. Her training has consisted of a daily 20 mile run through out Great Neck in the wee dark hours of the morning.
“I’d go to bed early in order to get up early, 3 a.m. I’d get out in the pitch-black darkness of the middle of the night, and un-dertake four loops of four miles. I consumed four bottles of water during the routine, stra-tegically putting two bottles at the end zone. I wore a refl ective traffi c vest to be safe while I ran along side the dark roads leading into Kingspoint and back. I even ran in different weather conditions to be prepared for any-thing.”
Lizzy’s routine wasn’t without setbacks. She suffered a tear to her Achilles tendon and underwent surgery for it. She had to re-alistically modify her expectations as a result. “Previously, I would have been happy with a completion time of four hours.” Now with the Achilles injury, which she treats with physical therapy and acupuncture, her goal is a more realistic 4 ½ hours.
Time is something of interest and rel-evance to Lizzy outside of running. A student at NYU’s Gallatin School of Independent
Study, Lizzy is concentrating on the study of the essence of time and is driven by the fact that so much is centered around time in Jewish life. “Live every moment. The past, present and future are all intertwined and in-terdependent,” noted Luxenberg.
Lizzy has developed a love of running. With her recent injuries, she’s running on empty, but forges forward and works through the pain as she’s running for tzeda-kah. Sharyn Goldwyn, Director of the New York region of the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center said, “We are thrilled to have Lizzy run as part of the Shaare Zedek team. We appreciate all of her help and support for the new next generation children’s facility that is being completed in Jerusalem at Shaare Zedek. She has done a superlative job in getting sponsors to make our team a huge success. Lizzy is number one. “
With the support of her adoring parents, Randi and Arthur,(who was raised in Wood-mere), sister Jacqui and friends, Lizzy is fo-cused on the last 6.2 miles that she will be running for the fi rst time. “For the last 6.2 miles, I will be thinking of my friends and family. I am compiling their audio messages that I can listen to for the last hour of the race and uploading it on my Ipod,” explained Luxenberg. She encourages anyone wanting to be included to go to Garageband, save to Itunes, and send it to her as an email.
Lizzy plans to see her Dad three times during the race. She’s confi dent that her father will be able to monitor her race and locate her using trackrunner.com. She looks forward to seeing her family and celebrating
with them at the fi nish line. For those in-terested in donating to the race please visitwww.acsz.org/lizzy.
Having the time of her life
Courtesy Elizabeth Luxenberg
Lizzie Luxenberg keeps pace throughJerusalem on a recent marathon run.
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ing to the place where he had stood before Hashem.” (Bereishit 19:27)
Why was it important for Avraham to re-turn to the exact same place he had stood in on the previous day? Isn’t Hashem every-where?
The Talmud (Tractate Berachot 6b) sug-gests that ‘standing’ here is a language im-plying tefi llah (prayer), and that this verse teaches us that Avraham set a place for his prayers (“kava makom le’tefi lato”).
Indeed, from this verse we learn that a person should always pray in a place set aside for prayer (the source for praying in a Syna-gogue) and many suggest that the need for a particular place goes beyond having a par-ticular synagogue one calls one’s own, and requires a person to have a particular seat or spot.
Why does it make a difference where I pray? Isn’t why and how more important?
Furthermore, what does having a set place for prayer have to do with the story of S’dom? Why does the imminent destruction of S’dom, the most wicked place on earth, raise the is-sue of a makom kavua, a set place for prayer in the fi rst place?
A closer look at the unfolding saga of S’dom (Genesis 18: 20-33) reveals a rather strange dialogue between Hashem (G-d) and Avraham: G-d wants to destroy S’dom and ac-tually seems to consult with Avraham, where-upon Avraham questions whether it is fair to destroy a city if there might be fi fty righteous people in it. G-d acquiesces, and Avraham bargains with G-d to agree to save the city if there are even ten righteous people there, even though G-d already knows that there aren’t. So what was the point of the entire discussion?
Obviously, this dialogue was not for G-d, but for Avraham. Hashem presents Avraham with the reality of the world, and Avraham has to struggle with it. This, in fact, is the es-sence of what tefi llah (prayer) is all about.
In Judaism, prayer is all about our strug-gles. And this is precisely what Avraham is doing: he is struggling with the world as G-d has presented him with: how can I accept, says Avraham, a world where the righteous, and maybe even the innocent die along with the wicked?
Here we come to the essence of tefi llah: Avraham is struggling with what Hashem re-ally wants: of him, and the world in general. And this is what Jewish prayer is all about: the struggle of my role in the world, and the attempt to come to terms with what G-d truly wants of me. But in the end, Avraham accepts Hashem’s will, and this may often be the hardest thing we can do in this world.
Perhaps this is why Avraham returns to the exact same place. Because the place is the same; it is only Avraham who has changed by accepting and seeing a different reality.
Maybe this is why tefi llah experienced reg-ularly in the same place is valuable: because if the place is the same, it forces me to con-sider whether I have changed. And if I am not changing every day then something is wrong.
Four thousand years ago a great man, the fi rst Jew, taught us all that it was not who you were, but whether you could make a differ-ence. And whether for a tragic man all alone in an apartment in Tel Aviv, or for any one of us every time we wake up in the morning and walk out the door, the desire and the struggle and every so often the gift of being able to make that difference is a gift worth cherish-ing and a dream worth pursuing.
A dream worth pursuingContinued from page 9
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RE-ELECTJUDGE ANDREW M. ENGELDISTRICT COURT JUDGE
VOTE NOVEMBER 6TH, 20126AM - 9PM
• Presently presides over more than 1,000 DWI cases in Nassau County.• Trial and Appellate Attorney for 25 years.• Jewish Lawyers Association Board Member.• Dean, Nassau Academy of Law 2010-2011.• President, Nassau County District Court Judges’ Association 2011-2012.• Found ‘Highly Qualified’ by NYS Independent Judicial Election Qualifications Commission
• Found “Well Qualified” (highest rating) Nassau County Bar Association.
Paid By The Committee to Re-Elect Judge Andrew M. Engel
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*Paid For By The Committee to Re-Elect Judge Sullivan
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Senator Jack Martins
has been successful in
getting New York on
the right track.
Working together with Governor Cuomo, Senator Jack Martins:
• Capped property and school taxes• Repealed the MTA Payroll Tax• Cut income taxes for the middle class• Helped create jobs for NY• Closed $13 billion in budget deficits with no new taxes or fees
*Paid for by Friends of Senator Jack Martins
Young Israel of Woodmere Hurricane Relief
We would like to be of assistance towards these families, many of whom will not even be aware of this email. We therefore ask that if you are in any need or if you know of in-dividuals who require assistance of housing, food or other basic necessities, to please let us know. We are also asking at this time for those members who have been spared from the effects of the hurricane to volunteer to open their homes and make themselves available to help in our hurricane relief ef-forts. Please make an effort to help spread the word especially to those who you know are in need of assistance.
A special email address has been set up to be used for this effort. If you are in need of assistance or would like to participate in the relief effort, please email yiw.assist@ gmail.com or call 516-295-2728.
Achiezer Updates: The Achiezer 24 hour call center can be
reached at 516 791-4444.
Shabbos Plans:We understand that many people are fac-
ing the prospect of sitting through shabbos with no lights and no power.
We have reached out to the Queens com-munity and they been beyond gracious in launching a major effort of preparing homes
to accept our community residents for shab-bos.
We are now offering that if anyone would like to be put up for this shabbos, they should call our hotline, and we have shabbos coor-dinators available who will make the connec-tion and have you put up for shabbos.
We have been informed that the JEP orga-nization has a shabbaton available this shab-bos for a nominal fee. All those who would like to utilize such a service should call JEP at 516-369-5202
For all those who will be lacking food for shabbos, we will post plans tomorrow for dis-tribution of prepared foods throughout the neighborhood.
We have been given a major update by the eruv staff. The Eruv will be DOWN this shab-bos. Please factor this important information into your weekend plans.
We understand that there is still so much information that is unclear, and we will do our best to keep the information forthcom-ing.
We have also been in direct contact with the Department of Homeland Security and they are working closely with us in coordinat-ing all safety issues. They will also compile all the necessary FEMA claim and recovery information available, and make it available to the community.
Thank you again for your patience, and if you have any sort of medical emergency please call Hatzolah at 718-387-1750 or 718-230-1000.
Important hurricane info newJewicideto move to Jerusalem. But Congress gave the executive branch an out: every six months the State Department/President can request and receive an automatic waiver, a waiver that President Bill Clinton issued to congress every six months as required.
President Bush continued the policy every six months, but in Bush’s case, he inserted into the legal jargon a sentence stating, “My Administration remains committed to begin-ning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.” The phrase appeared in all 16 Bush waiver notifi cations. The Obama ad-ministration removed that phrase from their waiver requests.
All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of fi nal status negotia-tions to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949. Obama walked away from that big time last May when he called for Israel to begin negotiations by agreeing to return to the 1949 lines. At the time the Democrats said it was no change from previ-ous policy—which is a lie.
Final borders of Israel and a Palestinian state were to be negotiated and not to be an Israeli concession before negotiation. It was Bush’s position and it was the way Bill Clin-ton handled negotiations. Obama’s position is a big change from previous administrations and it undercut Israel’s negotiation position.
Iran: There is a wide space between Is-rael and the Obama administration on the is-sue of Iran. During a recent interview, Long Island Congressman and Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Pete King, told me Obama’s failed foreign policy was hurting Israel and strengthening the will of her enemies.
The congressman added Israel doesn’t trust Obama on Iran. On one hand, Obama
says the U.S. will protect Israel should Iranget on the precipice of nuclear weapons; onthe other, he ties Israel’s hands. King pointedout the issue of a nuclear Iran is one thatshould not only concern Israel, but the entireWestern world.
He said: “We have had disagreementswith Israel before, but they have always been on subjects such as settlements or boarders. This is the fi rst time in our history where anadministration disagreed with Israel on an is-sue of basic survivability.”
Romney said: “Over the past three years,President Obama has instead chastened Isra-el. In his inaugural address to the United Na-tions, the President chastised Israel, but said little about the thousands of Hamas rocketsraining into its skies. He’s publicly proposedthat Israel adopt indefensible borders. He’sinsulted its Prime Minister. And he’s been timid and weak in the face of the existentialthreat of a nuclear Iran.
These actions have emboldened Palestin-ian hard-liners who now are poised to form aunity government with terrorist Hamas andfeel they can bypass Israel at the bargainingtable. President Obama has immeasurablyset back the prospect of peace in the MiddleEast.
As President, my policies will be very dif-ferent. I will travel to Israel on my fi rst for-eign trip. I will reaffi rm, as a vital national interest, Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.I want the world to know that the bonds be-tween Israel and the United States are un-shakable. I want every country in the regionthat harbors aggressive designs against Israelto understand that their ambition is futileand that pursuing it will cost them dearly.
The choice for Jews on November 6th is also clear—you can vote for Mitt Romney, oryou can commit Jew-i-cide.
Continued from page 4
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FIVE TOWNS SUPERMARKET
is open and fully operational for all your shopping needs
There will be generators available for sale in our parking lot.
11 Lawrence Lane, Lawrence NY516-239-1030
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SAVE $100* OR MORE WITHqualifying purchases of Hunter Douglas window fashions.
* Manufacturer’s rebate offer valid for qualifying purchases made 9/15/12 – 12/15/12. Ask a sales representative for information on qualifying purchases. All rebates will be issued in
Fully supports Israel in her fi ght against threats from a hostile, nuclear Iran and regional terrorist groups like
Hamas and Hezbollah
Supported $12.5 billion in military and security-related funding to Israel over the last four years — the most
assistance Congress has provided to Israel at this juncture of a presidency
Supported funding the “Iron Dome” missile defense system and is a cosponsor of legislation that would
authorize the President to provide further fi nancial assistance to Israel for future “Iron Dome” projects
Secured over $1 million for local programs such as Kulanu, OHEL, LIFE and the Five Towns Community Center
Believes that the U.S. must continue to work to cripple Iran’s nuclear capabilities to keep Israel, America and
the entire Middle East region secure
Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy:
Carolyn McCarthyWorking to reinforce the unbreakable alliance between the U.S. & Israel
Congresswoman
Paid for by Friends of Carolyn McCarthy To volunteer, call 516-493-9774 or visit www.VoteMcCarthy.com
“ I will continue my long-time support for Israel, our closest and most important ally in the Middle East.”
— Carolyn McCarthy
Democrat/Row A Working Families/Row D Independence Party/Row E
VOTE TUESDAY, NOV. 6, FOR CAROLYN McCARTHY
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REAL ESTATE
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AIRLINES ARE HIRING- Train for hands on Aviation Career. FAA approved pro- gram. Financial aid if qualified- Job Place- ment Assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance (866)296-7093
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ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE from home. *Medical, *Business, *Criminal Justice, *Hospitality, Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if quali- fied. SCHEC certified. Call 888-201-8657www.CenturaOnline.com
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Health & Fitness
ATTENTION DIABETICS WITH Medi-care. Get a FREE Talking Meter and dia- betic testing supplies at NO COST, plus FREE home delivery! Best of all, this me- ter eliminates painful finger pricking! Call 888-903-6658
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Child-centered general and religious studies program for Kindergarten through 6th grade
Challenges students to academic and social excellence
Differentiated instruction designed to infuse a love of learning and provide the tools to succeed
Commitment to instilling Torah values and midot tovot
Supportive and engaging environment which fosters creativity, imagination, exploration and curiosity
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Physical Therapy in Hewlett• Specializing in Sports and Orthopedic Injuries (including pediatric cases),
• Neurological and Rheumatological Disorders and Geriatrics• We treat: Back and Neck Pain, Vertigo/Dizziness, Walking Difficulty, Balance Disorders,
• Post Surgical Procedures/Joint Replacements TMJ, Poor Posture.• Strong emphasis on Therapist: Doctor Communication
• Private treatment & exercise rooms• Experienced Male and Female Therapists
• Late evening hours and free on site parking• Most health insurances accepted, including Workers Comp. and No-Fault
1490 Broadway, First Floor • Hewlett, New York 11557Telephone (516) 593-4530 • Fax: (516) 593-4518
