Five Towns Jewish Home 2-6-14 by Yitzy Halpern

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– See pages 5, 56, 57 & 101 –

THEJEWISHHOME A PUBLICATION OF THE FIVE TOWNS & QUEENS COMMUNITY

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FEBRUARY 6 -FEBRUARY 12, 2014 | DISTRIBUTED Weekly IN THE FIVE TOWNS, QUEENS & BROOKLYN

The Jewish Mom in the Corner Office

Starting on Page 105

Around the Community Shulamith Students Make “Sense” of the Shivat HaMinim

PAGE 53

Bringing Harmony to the Community

CAHAL Class in TAG Celebrates Their Chumash Siyum with a “Slice” of Torah PAGE 61

Page 78

HAFTR College Bowl Team Strikes Again PAGE 46

Page 66

Short Story: Footsteps, by Andrea Eller

Page 89

– See pages 32 –

– See pages 64 –

T H E J E W I S H H O M E n FEBRUARY 6, 2014

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THE JEWISH HOME n F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

6 F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

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THE JEWISH HOME n

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this week

yeshiva of far rockaway

forty-fifth annual dinner dinner chairman mr. irving langer

journal chairman mr. daniel wolfson

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Guests uests of Honor Hon n

E steemed Estee Esteemed eemed ee med Alu Alumni Alum mnii Aw A Awar Award Awardees

dinner committee mr. chaim balter mr. roberto flegmann mr. mayer gold

alumni committee yaakov aber shmuel backenroth yochanan bodner yossi deutsch ARTECH 732.961.3091

binyomin ganz assemblyman phil goldfeder dovid klein

rabbi yehoshua kalish Harbotzas Torah & Rabbinic Leadership Awardee

I derive much personal nachas from observing the Yeshiva's continued growth for close to a half-century. Talmidim emerge well-rounded, with a wealth of knowledge, and geshmak in their learning, anchored by a sense of achrayus for the tzibbur. My wife and I are very proud of how our four sons have grown from learning in the yeshiva. We are sure that our grandson, who recently joined, will continue in their ways. Mazel Tov to the yeshiva on the purchase of their new dormitory; I join the many admirers who pray that we continue to go from strength to strength.

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>>Letters to the Editor

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

>>Community Readers’ Poll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Community Happenings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Cover Story: Bringing Harmony

>> News Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Odd-but-True Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

>> Israel Israel News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

>> People Jews During the Texas Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Cover Story: The Jewish Mom in the Corner Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Wishing you a warm, wonderful week,

>>Parsha

Shoshana

The Shmuz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

>> Jewish Thought

Yitzy Halpern

Rabbi’s Musing and Amusings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 The Driving Test, by Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz. . . . 73

PUBLISHER

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classifieds@fivetowns jewishhome.com text 443-929-4003

Toddler Mealtime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 What is a Marriage and Family Therapist?,

Yosef Feinerman

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MANAGING EDITOR

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EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Nechama Wein COPY EDITOR

Rachel Bergida Berish Edelman Mati Jacobovits DESIGN & PRODUCTION

by Deb Hirschhorn, PhD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

EDITOR

P.O. BOX 266 LAWRENCE, NY 11559 PHONE | 516-734-0858 FAX | 516-734-0857

Friday, February 7 Parshas Tetzaveh Candle Lighting: 5:02 Shabbos Ends: 6:04 Rabbeinu Tam: 6:34

Natural Appetite Suppressants, by Aliza Beer, MS, RD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

>> Food & Leisure Recipes: What’s for Dinner?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

>> Lifestyles Short Story: Footsteps, by Andrea Eller. . . . . . . . . . 89 Ask the Attorney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Your Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Love from Israel, by Rivki Rosenwald. . . . . . . . . . . 108

FRI. Feb 7

SAT. Feb 8

MOSTLY SUNNY

CLOUDY

WEEKLY WEATHER SUN. Feb 9

MON. Feb 10

TUES. Feb 11

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SNOW SHOWER

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MOSTLY CLOUDY

SCATTERED SNOW SHOWER

SNOW SHOWER / RAIN

>> Humor Centerfold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

>> Art From My Private Art Collection: The Art of Charcoal Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

>> Political Crossfire

HIGH

Notable Quotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

LOW

>> Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The Jewish Home is an independent weekly magazine. Opinions expressed by writers are not necessarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

to the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Dear Readers, It’s often said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Sometimes, it’s not just greater…it’s magical. Magic will be happening next week as almost 500 performers will unite onstage in the community’s tenth Harmony production. Women and girls from almost every school and area in the neighborhood will harness their special kochos to contribute to a worthy cause. And it’s not just the performers who will be uniting for a special cause; it’s the audience as well who will be playing a major part in the production. The beauty of Harmony is more than just external. Of course, the songs and ensembles in the performance are exceptional. The tunes will bring some to tears and some to laughter. The dances will inspire and enthrall. But if you step back and think about what it does for the community and the individuals involved you will be moved. Harmony unites women of all ages—from girls in just third grade to women with families of their own—and gives them a common goal. It brings people from all different walks of life together and connects them in their desire to share with the community. And it shows what can be done when we work together as one, in harmony, regardless of our outer differences. This week, Sara Glaz wrote an article featuring the Jewish women entrepreneur. She spoke with many Jewish business owners about their challenges and successes. One thing that resonated with me is the fact that she noted that all successful businesswomen she spoke with mentioned that it was because of their parents’ encouragement throughout their younger years that they were able to have the confidence to start their own businesses. They were always told that they were the best at what they did and could do anything they attempted to do. I found that fascinating and intimidating. As parents, we have the power to instill the deep confidences within our children that will help them succeed in the many challenges they encounter as they grow. As always, we love hearing from our readers. Feel free to reach out to me at editor@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

THE JEWISH HOME n

CONTENTS

Letters to

THE JEWISH HOME n

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

8 Dear Editor, I am a weekly Jewish Home reader and collecting the Five Towns papers is part of our Shabbos routine. I enjoy the variety of articles and weekly contributors. This past Shabbos I was very dismayed when I read the Letters to the Editor, not due to any letter present but due to a letter that was missing – whether not sent in or not published. A few weeks ago the Centerfold Commissioner included in his humor section a derogatory joke equating Nascar fans as hillbillies. A Nascar fan wrote in the following week pointing out the commissioner’s derogatory and inconsiderate comments against race car fans. The Centerfold Commissioner did not address this letter until the following week, where-in, he does not apologize; he only accepts that his trivia question provided the wrong answer. Further, he insults the Nascar fan by asking if he was on the trip in that week’s joke, where-in hillbillies are featured. Yet, the Commissioner’s lack of middos does not end there. In his centerfold, he wrote descriptions of certain hotel advertisements (i.e. “old world charm” = no working toilets.) His last example was #1 Nascar hotel and implied, once more, that Nascar fans are hillbillies who do not brush their teeth. I am a working mom and did not have

the time to sit down and write a letter to the editor last week hoping that somebody else would. This week, after not seeing any reference to the above in the letters to the editor, I am forced to write in. Is this the humor and entertainment – inconsideration for fans of a sport, continuous mocking of individuals – that we are providing to our children? The Jewish Home portrays itself as a kosher magazine for the Orthodox population. How could the editor approve of such content for publication for our children? Perhaps the commissioner should be impeached. Thank you, A mother trying to instill middos in her child Dear Editor, I live in the Five Towns and I love to see the beautiful swans in the lakes here and around the island. However, there is a plan by the Department of Environmental Conservation in Albany to kill the whole species of mute swans in Long Island and all over NYS. The D.E.C. is taking comments via email and written statements about this plan until February 27, 2014. Please look into this and publicize this. This seems like a ridiculous waste of taxpayer’s money. It also is unbelievable that this agency would take it upon themselves to eradicate a beautiful species. I and some of my neighbors have

Readers Poll Compiled by Toby Bobker

Groundhog Day was on Sunday. Do you think that Punxsutawney Phil can really predict how long winter lasts? 23% Yes, there is true science involved 77% No, it’s just a cute story

the Editor emailed the fwwildlifef@gw.dec.state. ny.us type in SWAN PLAN in the subject line, and we got a generic automatic email response that was not useful or helpful. Most people have no idea about this and would be outraged if they knew. I hope you will report about it and maybe we can help these defenseless creatures from extermination. Regarding the extermination of the swans: the excuse is they are non-native to NY and they are aggressive to people, and what about the Canadian Geese that are walking around the community and are 100 more plentiful than the swans? They are not native to NY. They can be aggressive. Something makes no sense here; why are the swans are being targeted? Thank You, L. Cohen Dear Editor, I am writing this to you on Monday, yet another day when it is snowing in our beautiful neighborhood. Every time it snows I have the same question: where, oh where, are the snowplows? The streets (and I’m talking about the main streets, like Central Avenue) are full of snow. I skidded a few times already and it seems like the only tracks in the snow

on these streets are from the other cars on the road. We pay a very nice chunk of our taxes to the village and to the county. Where are the plows that we pay for? Besides for being an annoyance, it is extremely dangerous to both drivers and pedestrians. Are they waiting for a major accident ch”v before cleaning our streets? Sincerely, Chaim Waldner Dear Editor, Even though I am only in 8th grade, I wanted to point out a flaw in your calculation of the odds of correctly picking the winning bracket in the NCAA college basketball tournament. While there are 9.2 trillion possible brackets, the odds of picking the correct one is not 1 in 9.2 trillion as stated in your article. Since the teams are not all of equal ability, the games are not even and the odds of choosing the winner in each game are not equally likely, therefore the teams that are seeded higher are more likely to win their games and each of the 9.2 trillion possibilities have different probabilities. They are not independent events. I love your paper and read it every week. Chaim Goodman

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

The Week Global Mandela Leaves $4.1 Million to Family

On Monday, the reading of former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela’s will revealed that the late leader left his $4.1 million estate to family members, the ruling African National Congress, former staff and several local schools. Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke said that when the will was read to family earlier the mood was “charged with emotion.” “I am not aware of any contest of any type and the will has been duly lodged

and accepted,” Moseneke pointed out. Under South African marital law, Mandela’s third wife, Graca Machel, is entitled to half the estate but could waive her claims and opt for specified assets that include properties in her native Mozambique. As of now, Machel has not made a decision on whether to waive her rights, Moseneke said. Some of the estate will be split between three trusts set up by Mandela, including a family trust designed to provide for his more than 30 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Each of the Mandela children and some of his grandchildren received $300,000. His upscale Johannesburg house, where he spent most of his life after being freed from apartheid jails, is set to be the home to his deceased son Makgatho’s children. The ANC, which was Mandela’s political home, could receive a portion of his royalties from books and other commercial outlets using his name and image. Mandela staff, including his longtime personal assistant Zelda Le Grange, also shared in the fortune with 50,000 rand each. Mandela, who died in December at the age of 95, left an estate that also

In News included a modest dwelling in his rural Eastern Cape home province and royalties from book sales, including his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Additionally, his legacy includes a potent political and moral brand that some of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren have already used to market everything from clothing to reality TV. Some of his grandchildren have started a line of caps and sweatshirts that feature his image under the brand “Long Walk to Freedom.” Two of his U.S.-based granddaughters starred in a reality television show called “Being Mandela.”

Two Killed in Shooting in Moscow On Monday, a tenth grade student burst into a Moscow school and killed a geography teacher and a policeman. The murders took place in front of around 20 students but thankfully, none of the 400 children in the school were hurt. Eventually, the boy was taken into custody and the children were freed from the school.

School shootings are rare in Russia. Even so, a shooting like this brings back memories of the Beslan school siege in 2004, when Islamic militants from Russia’s North Caucasus took about 1,000 people hostage, most of them children. More than 300 hostages were killed when Russian security forces stormed that school. Monday’s attack did not seem to be linked to terrorism. Witnesses say the gunman entered the school after threatening a security guard and then fired several shots at the teacher, Andrei Kirillov. Officials say that Sergei Gordeyev was an excellent student who apparently

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The Week had an emotional breakdown. Gordeyev fired at least 11 times from a small-caliber rifle, also killing one police officer and wounding a second. During the attack, the gunman’s father was called to the school in an effort to persuade him to let the 20 students leave the classroom. After speaking on the phone with his son for 15 minutes, the boy refused his father’s pleas. Even-

tually, Gordeyev’s father donned a bulletproof vest and entered the classroom. The children were then freed, and the father and his son were left alone until special forces stormed in. In response to the attack, President Vladimir Putin said Russia should do a better job at providing a cultural education for its children. “We have to raise a new generation of theatergoers with

In News good artistic taste who can understand and value theatrical, dramatic and musical art,” he said at a televised gathering of cultural figures. “If we had done this in a proper way, then perhaps there would not have been a tragedy like today’s in Moscow.” The president believes that teaching children the beauty of culture will give them the strength of goodness.

Castaway: Adrift at Sea for Thirteen Months

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. On Monday, Jose Salvador Alvarenga greeted the civilized world sporting a bushy beard, sandals and clutching a can of Coke. The former fisherman was living as a castaway for more than a year adrift in the Pacific Ocean. It was true relief when he reached dry land in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro. On December 24, 2012, Alvarenga set sail from Mexico with a teenage boy, Xiquel, on a shark-fishing expedition. But they did not reach their intended destination as strong winds blew them off course and they became lost. After a few weeks of trying to survive the seas, the youth died of starvation because he could not eat raw bird meat. Upon his rescue, Alvarenga communicated with rescuers through pictures and gestures since he does not speak English and explained that he survived his 13-month, 8,000 mile ordeal by eating turtles, birds and fish and drinking turtle blood when there was no rain. Because he was a trained shark and shrimp fisherman, he was able to survive the elements. “He looked better than one would expect,” U.S. ambassador Thomas Armbruster said. Even so, a male nurse had to help the survivor down the gangplank from his rescue boat. Last week, Alvarenga’s fiberglass boat floated onto a reef and it was from there that police were able to come to his rescue. “I feel bad,” Alvarenga told an interpreter. “I am so far away. I don’t know where I am or what happened.” Despite the miraculous story of survival, Alvarenga is not the first castaway to survive the Pacific waters in recent years. In 2006, three Mexicans made international headlines when they were discovered drifting, also in a small fiberglass boat near the Marshall Islands, nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition. They survived on a diet of rainwater, raw fish and seabirds, with their hopes kept alive by reading the Bible.

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Kenneth Bae Sentenced to 15 Years Hard Labor

Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. From Within Despite the newfound diplomatic relationship between the Iranian government and the Obama administration, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard remains suspicious of the U.S. and warned that

Two weeks ago, the chief commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Jafari, made a similar declaration in response to Secretary of State Kerry’s insinuation that if diplomacy does not work America may take military action against Iran. “Your threats to revolutionary Islam are the best opportunity,” Jafari had said. “Muslim leaders for years have been preparing us for a decisive battle…Do you know how many thousands of revolutionary Muslims at the heart of the Islamic revolutionary groups around the world are awaiting for you to take this [military] option from the table into action?” Of course, a good and “scary” Iranian threat would not be whole without a shout-out to Israel. To that end, Salami inquired, “Can they preserve their vital interest in the region in the face of endless attacks by Iran? Can they keep their naval assets and the Zionist regime [Israel] secure?”

Bloomberg Tapped as U.N.’s Climate Change Envoy U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon announced last week the appointment of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change to galvanize urban action to reduce greenhouse emissions ahead of the United Nations’ climate summit this coming September.

ing aging water mains, fostering greater support for mass transit, putting limits on vehicular congestion and creating more energy-efficient buildings. For his post, Bloomberg will be paid $1 a year.

“Mr. Bloomberg will assist the Secretary-General in his consultations with mayors and related key stakeholders, in order to raise political will and mobilize action among cities as part of his longterm strategy to advance efforts on climate change,” the announcement said. Bloomberg currently serves as the President of the Board of the C40 Climate Leadership Group, a network of large cities from around the world committed to implementing meaningful and sustainable climate-related actions locally that will help address climate change globally. During his twelve years as mayor of New York City, Bloomberg took action to reduce the strain on natural resources such as water, air and land by instituting a more energy-efficient city by rebuild-

Vodka Killing Russian Men

Russian men have one of the lowest life expectancies in the world. But it’s not guns that are killing these comrades. Believe it or not, it’s Russia’s drink of choice that is driving them to the grave in droves. According to a new study, Russian

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In a rare interview with a North Korean diplomat it was revealed that North Korea will not be commuting American missionary Kenneth Bae’s sentence of fifteen years of hard labor. Bae was leading a tour group in the secretive state in November 2012 when he was arrested and jailed for so-called anti-government acts. North Korea’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hyun Hak-bong, said that Bae was being treated well but suggested that he would not be pardoned before his sentence was complete. “I cannot interfere into the legal system,” Hyun said. “When the judgment is done, then it is done. “Sometimes there’s occasions for a pardon but I don’t know and I cannot predict that Kenneth Bae will be pardoned or not. He should finish his term – that is all – according to crimes against DPR [Democratic People’s Republic of] Korea,” Hyun continued Bae was moved to a hospital last summer after his health deteriorated. Hyun denied Bae was being kept in a labor camp, despite describing his sentence as “hard labor,” and said he had been given access to medicine. Additionally, the ambassador insisted that there are no labor camps in North Korea. He added that if the media and United States continued to spread “misinformation” it would make Bae’s detention “more difficult.” Earlier this month, Bae held a press conference under guard in which he appealed to the United States government to do more for his release.

it has plans in place to attack the United States from within, should the U.S. attack Iran. “America, with its strategic ignorance, does not have a full understanding of the power of the Islamic Republic,” Revolutionary Guard Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said in a televised interview. “We have recognized America’s military strategy, and have arranged our abilities, and have identified centers in America [for attack] that will create a shock.” Salami warned, “We will conduct such a blow in which they [America] will be destroyed from within.”

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The Week men who drink three bottles of vodka a week double their risk of dying over the next 20 years. “Vodka [or other strong alcoholic drinks] is a major cause of death in Russia,” the team of Russian and British researchers report in the Lancet medical journal. Thankfully, the study points out that limiting alcohol consumption helps to curb early deaths. “Russian death rates have fluctuated wildly over the past 30 years as alcohol restrictions and social stability varied under Presidents Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin, and the main thing driving these wild fluctuations in death was vodka,” British cancer expert Richard Peto of the University of Oxford, who worked on the study, said in a statement. David Zaridze of the Russian Cancer Research Center in Moscow and colleagues interviewed 200,000 people in three Siberian cities—Barnaul, Byisk, and Tomsk—over 10 years from 1999 to 2008. These cities reflect the average Russian population, they said. They asked them about drinking habits and health, and then looked to see who died and when. The clearest pattern was among male smokers, who also happened to be the

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heaviest drinkers. Men aged 35 to 54 who drank less than a bottle of vodka a week had a 16 percent chance of dying of anything over the next 20 years. But this rose to 20 percent for men who drank one to three bottles a week and to 35 percent for those who admitted drinking three or more bottles a week. According to the study, most men drank a bottle or less a week, but 2,842 said they drank three or more bottles every week. “Since 2005, Russian consumption of spirits and male mortality before age 55 both decreased by about a third but are still substantial,” the researchers noted. Heavy drinking can cause cancer, heart disease, stroke, liver failure and other diseases, and drinkers are more likely to die in accidents or to be murdered. People who consume alcohol and smoke are stirring a deadly cocktail.

Vatican Goes Kosher For A Day When a delegation of rabbis from Argentina visited the Vatican last week “they got to have their cake and eat it too” because the kitchen of Pope Fran-

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The kitchen was kashered by Rabbi Yaakov Spizzichino of Rome, who blasted the oven with heat, boiled utensils, and covered countertops to assure compliance with dietary laws. The meal was catered by Ba’ Ghetto, a popular Roman kosher restaurant. The delegation was led by Rabbi Abraham Skorka, head of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, who is good friends with the pope. When the pope was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, he and Skorka co-wrote a book of dialogues on Judaism and Roman Catholicism titled, “On Heaven and Earth” and had a similarly themed TV show called, “Bible, A Dialogue for Today.” Bergoglio kept a framed photo of the two of them in his study. When he became pope, Francis gave Rabbi Skorka an email address to use so they could stay in touch, and they exchange emails almost every week.

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North Korea is trying to enter the twenty-first century. The regime curbs its citizens’ internet freedom to the point that there essentially isn’t any. In fact, many North Koreans have been told—and believe—that the internet is a dark, dangerous territory. But despite the fact that the internet is seen as the monster in the closet, the regime is aware that it’s time for some of its citizens to use this powerful phenomenon. Recently, the country revealed its own intranet called Kwangmyong or

“Bright.” It is a self-contained internet and chats and emails are monitored. The content on Bright is so restricted, though, that it hardly needs to even be overlooked by officials. Its operating system, known as Red Star, is now available in version 3.0 and looks very much like the Microsoft operating system, although it is only available in the Hermit Kingdom. Red Star has audio and video players, and even a game — Korean chess. There’s a Firefox-style search engine called “Our Country” that helps users navigate around an estimated 1,000 to 5,500 websites, mostly for universities, government offices, libraries and state-run corporations. Most North Koreans have no access to the Internet at all. “The goal is to reap the benefits of information technology, while keeping out potentially corrosive foreign influences,” said Scott Bruce, a North Korea IT expert and analyst at the Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit CRDF Global. “I haven’t had a time when I’ve been allowed to use the Intranet — since the point is that it is not open to foreigners,” said Will Scott, a computer sciences instructor at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology who has worked about as closely with North Korea’s attempt to get wired as any other foreigner. Through daily interactions with North Korean students at his university, however, Scott has been able to glean a general outline of what Bright is all about. “The Intranet provides a connection between industry, universities and the government. It seems to be focused on information propagation, rather than commerce, entertainment or communication,” he said. “Given the limited resources in the country, where computers are likely not to be owned by individuals and are a valuable resource, this has a striking resemblance to the uses first made of the Internet in the U.S. when it was introduced in the ‘80s.” Graduate students and North Korean professors at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology are allowed to access the real Internet from a dedicated computer lab. They receive the same speed and unfiltered access that foreign instructors do, although everyone’s access is monitored. Scott said the graduate students don’t use the Internet nearly as much as Americans would, treating it more like the way Western students might visit a library to find books. Students’ emails must be reviewed and approved by one of the vice presidents of the university before they can

Amanda Knox Found Guilty Again A court in Italy last Thursday has reinstated the guilty verdicts against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of Amanda’s roommate in 2007 and sentenced her in absentia to 28 ½ years in prison.

Amanda was originally arrested days after the murder and was convicted along with Sollecito in November 2009. In 2011, an eight-member jury cleared both defendants of the murder after doubts were raised over procedures used to gather DNA evidence. Amanda, who had spent four years in prison, was allowed to return home to the U.S. But the Italian Supreme Court ordered a retrial last year after an appeal by prosecutors, who argued that important DNA evidence had been disregarded. Knox, who remained in her hometown of Seattle for the trial, watched the verdict with her family live on television. After the verdict was handed down, Amanda’s father said, “We will obviously fight it because it is not justified and there is no way she’s going back over

there.” Knox’s parents told ABC News that the ordeal has cost them everything, devastating them financially, but they are prepared to keep fighting. Amanda spoke with Good Morning America the day after receiving the verdict and said, “It really hit me like a train. I did not expect this to happen. I really expected so much better from the Italian justice system. They found me innocent once before.” She vows to appeal the verdict once again to the Italian Supreme Court. Italy and the U.S. have an extradition treaty. However, many experts believe that the U.S. could deny the request because under American law “double jeopardy” bars a defendant from being tried again for a particular offense after being cleared. In this case, Amanda was cleared in 2011. However, famed criminal lawyer and Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz told NBC News that double jeopardy will probably not protect Amanda in this case because she was initially found guilty and her acquittal was heard at an intermediate appeals level. “If that happened in the U.S., it wouldn’t be double jeopardy.”

Amanda vowed that she will fight extradition. “I will never willingly go back. . . Legally, I’ll be a fugitive,” she said.

Israel Kerry Criticized Again for Treatment of Israel

Since becoming secretary of state one year ago, John Kerry has made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict one of his main points of focus. Kerry’s efforts have caused him to be a thorn by Israel’s side, not because they are strangers to U.S. diplomatic efforts, but because Kerry’s combination of arrogance and penchant for verbal gaffes has caused him to

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be sent, which, Scott said, means they rarely use email. “There is some resistance to providing Internet access to students because it requires some level of political capital, and is generally discouraged by higher-up ministries as not worth the potential danger,” he said. “I think you would find a surprising lack of technical surveillance on the Intranet, due largely to the high level of self-censorship built into the collective psyche in the country.” Because of the general population’s lack of experience with the Internet — and the perception that it is dangerous, forbidden territory — there is no grassroots clamor in North Korea for change.

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The Week make several damaging statements about the State of Israel. In November 2013, Kerry warned that Israel could face terrorism if it did not reach an agreement: “The alternative to getting back to the talks is the potential of chaos. I mean, does Israel want a third intifada?” Israelis recoiled at the implication that they alone bore the burden of peace, and that terrorism would be an expected, or even legitimate, response. Last week at a Munich security forum, Kerry once again poked a thorn in Israel’s eye when he brought up the possibility of a boycott against Israel. “The risks are very high for Israel,” Kerry said at the conference. “People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure. Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community?” Israel’s Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz accused Kerry of “holding a gun to [Israel’s] head.” He told reporters, “The things Kerry said are hurtful, they are unfair and they are intolerable.”

Israel’s Economy Minister Naftali Bennett slammed Kerry’s statements and said, “We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their amplifier.” Prime Minister Netanyahu also responded, albeit indirectly, dismissing the threat of boycotts: “Firstly, they only serve to make the Palestinians become more entrenched in their stance of refusal. Secondly, no pressure will make me abandon the State of Israel’s vital interests, of which security of the civilian population is foremost.” The U.S. State Department attempted to clarify Kerry’s remarks on Sunday, saying that Kerry’s remarks were a warning, not a threat, and that the Obama administration did not support boycotts. “His only reference to a boycott was a description of actions undertaken by others that he has always opposed,” said Jen Psaki, a state department spokeswoman. “[Kerry] expected opposition and difficult moments in the process, but he also expects all parties to accurately portray his record and statements.”

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In News Singer Ariel Zilber Receives Less of an Award because of Political Views

On Monday, well-known Israeli singer and composer Ariel Zilber received a prize from ACUM (Union of Composers, Writers and Publishers in Israeli Music) for his contribution to Israeli music. Originally the singer was supposed to have received a lifetime achievement award, but the ACUM reversed its decision and instead awarded the prize to Dalia Rabin, daughter of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin who is a member of ACUM’s board of directors, and who is opposed to Zilber because of his rightwing political stance. Apparently, everything in Israel is political. The saga surrounding Zilber’s award started last week, when leftist singer Achinoam Nini announced she would not accept a prize from ACUM so long as Zilber was being honored as well. On Monday, as he got up on stage to accept his prize, Zilber said that ACUM should be shut down and a new union be established that respects anyone, regardless of their political opinion. “I thank the members of ACUM who wanted to give me a lifetime achievement award,” he began. “I am the son of singer Bracha Tzfira, who was one of the founders of modern Israeli music, I come from this country and I am grateful for it every day. The gaps are not easy for me. I express myself through music and it’s not easy for me. Let’s stay connected to one another, with the values of love thy neighbor. The feeling is that I have become the punching bag of interest groups and frustrated artists who are constantly trying to make up my extremism.” Zilber continued, “If it were up to me, I would shut down ACUM today and establish a new ACUM which says there is room for anyone, regardless of his opinions, and ACUM today does not fulfill

its destination. I’m Jewish, I’m Israeli, I’m one of you. Thank you G-d, thank you my dear wife.” Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman criticized ACUM’s decision to change Zilber’s prize, writing on his Facebook page, “The capitulation of ACUM and the decision to give Ariel Zilber a prize only on his contribution to Israeli music instead of a lifetime achievement award is a dangerous submission and flattery of the Bolshevism of radical leftists.” Economy Minister Naftali Bennett also criticized ACUM, saying, “We were informed today that ACUM intends to prevent Ariel Zilber from winning a lifetime achievement award because of his political views. And it joins the same thought police which prevented Nobel Laureate Prof. Yisrael Aumann from receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa.” “ACUM’s decision goes against all cultural and creative values, and I suggest that they change it now. I say to the University of Haifa and to ACUM – the shame is on you. It’s an honor not to be honored by you,” added Bennett. Zilber, a one-time “bad boy” of Israeli pop music, became frum over the last decade and is vocal about his religious and political views.

Abbas Says NATO can Stay

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas suggested that NATO would be left in charge of the future Palestinian state instead of an army. The Arab leader said that he would agree to let Israeli troops remain in the Palestinian state for five years to help with the transition and to reassure the Israeli public about the Israeli safety. But after Israeli forces leave, Abbas stated that NATO forces would be allowed to stay to help police the territory. The NATO forces could stay “for a long time, and wherever they want, not only on the eastern borders but also on Continued on page 22

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The Week the western borders, everywhere ... For a long time, for the time they wish. NATO can be everywhere, why not?” said Abbas. Such a force, he said, “can stay to reassure the Israelis, and to protect us. We will be demilitarized. ... Do you think we have any illusion that we can have any security if the Israelis do not feel they have security?”

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Abbas told The New York Times that he could not possibly accept a lengthy Israeli military presence in a sovereign Palestinian state, saying, “At the end of five years my country will be clean of occupation.” “The Israelis do not want the third party,” he said. “[Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert, he welcomed this idea. Mr. Netanyahu told me direct-

ly, when we were in his house, ‘I cannot rely on anybody to protect my security except my army.’ He doesn’t want to leave the borders to us. I told him, ‘If you will not trust your allies, so whom do you trust? I am not bringing for you Turkey and Indonesia.’ He said, ‘I trust my army only.’ The Israelis are occupiers and they want to stay forever. When they say they want to stay for 40 years,

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it means they will not go out from our territory.” “We have to address, first of all, Mr. Netanyahu,” Abbas told The Times. “Mr. Netanyahu is the key. If he does believe in peace, everything will be easy.” While the PA previously declared that peace talks will not be extended by even one day, Abbas also told The Times that April is “not a sacred date.” “Suppose by the end of nine months we got something promising. Shall I stop? I will not stop. If, after nine months, we didn’t get anything, if there is nothing on the horizon, we will stop,” he said. Referring to Kerry’s framework for peace, Abbas distanced himself from it, saying, “He has the right to do whatever he wants, and at the end we have the right to say whatever we want.” Asked about Netanyahu’s insistence that he recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abbas said, “This is out of the question.” He added that Jordan and Egypt were not asked to do so when they signed peace treaties with Israel.

SodaStream Becomes Piñata for Bash Israel Crowd

Israeli company SodaStream, which sells home soda-making machines, showed its marketing prowess in 2013 when its ad was banned from the Super Bowl because it directly challenged Pepsi and Coca-Cola, two of the major advertisers. The result was that millions of people took to the internet to see the ad and it became a water cooler topic of conversation for weeks. Now, SodaStream’s Super Bowl ad has once again become a topic of conversation, not because its ad was banned, but because the anti-Israel crowd is offended that the ad features a highly acclaimed Hollywood actress. The anti-Israel crowd claims that the company, which is located in the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, does not treat its Palestinian workers fairly. In response to that criticism, the actress wrote on Huffington Post, “So-

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The Week daStream is a company that is not only committed to the environment but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine, supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights. That is what is happening in their Ma’ale Adumim factory every working day.” Despite mounting criticism, the actress stuck to her guns. In fact, last week she announced that she was ending her relationship with the humanitarian organization Oxfam, after the group criticized her decision to sign on as the first global brand ambassador for athome soda-maker SodaStream . Former Pink Floyd front man Roger Waters, one of the more prominent celebrity faces of the boycott Israel movement, took to Facebook to decry the actress’s decision. The result is that more people are talking about SodaStream. Which means more people will likely watch the commercial. Which means that more people will likely buy SodaStream machines. So much for a boycott.

National Bridgegate Part II: Is Christie Cooked?

In News presidential election. But, they added, if it comes out that he actually did know about the bridge closures and spent 109 minutes lying, then he is “cooked.” Now, David Wildstein, who was the Christie appointee at the Port Authority who actually closed the lanes, is claiming that the New Jersey governor was aware of the closures as they were happening. According to a letter from Wildstein’s attorney, “Evidence exists…tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly.” In response to this letter and a story about it in The New York Times, Governor Christie’s office sent out an email with the subject line, “5 Things You Should Know About The Bombshell That’s Not A Bombshell.” The email states, “A media firestorm was set off by sloppy reporting from The New York Times.” The email seems to save its best punches for Wildstein. “In David Wildstein’s past, people and newspaper accounts have described him as ‘tumultuous’ and someone who ‘made moves that were not productive,’” the email says. To show just how shady of a character Wildstein is, the email says, “He was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior.” The email concludes: “Bottom line — David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein.” It is too early to know who is right and who is wrong here. But one thing I can say with certainty: If deceptive behavior in high school leads to bridge closures, every bridge in this country would be shut down.

Get a Grip de Blasio After it was disclosed that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s team ordered the closure of several lanes on the George Washington Bridge as political retribution, Christie spent 109 minutes at a press conference denying that he knew about the bridge closure when it was happening. “I had no knowledge of this — of the planning, the execution or anything about it — and that I first found out about it after it was over,” he said. He blamed it on several staff members, who he summarily fired once the scandal came to light. After the press conference, political pundits were generally of the view that due to his emphatic denial and seemingly heartfelt apology Christie would still be a viable 2016 GOP candidate for the

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s first official Groundhog Day ceremony took a dive when Staten Island Chuck squirmed out of his arms, causing the furry critter to fall, amid gasps from the crowd. It’s not that Mayor de Blasio came

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Escaped Murderer Captured

On Monday evening, a convicted killer who escaped from a Michigan prison was captured once again after a chase with police. On Sunday night, Michael David Elliot, who always displayed good behavior during his 20 years behind bars, escaped from jail wearing a white kitchen uniform. He peeled a hole in two fences with his hands and abducted a woman before fleeing to Indiana. Residents were warned of the escape and advised to stay inside. At least one school went into lockdown as police went door-todoor looking for the felon. Police managed to capture the fugitive after they received a report of a stolen car. Elliot was serving life in prison without parole for fatally shooting four

people and burning down their Gladwin County house in 1993 when he was 20 years old, according to court records. Elliot and his accomplices were trying to steal money from a drug dealer, police said. One of the accomplices testified that he was laughing at the time of the crime. Elliot was convicted of first-degree murder in 1994.

Joan Mondale Dies at 83

On Monday, Joan Mondale, the wife of former Vice President Walter Mondale, died at 83. He husband and children were by her side at the time of her demise. Mondale earned the nickname “Joan of Art” while her husband was vice president under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. Carter appointed her honorary chairwoman of the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities, a role that led to frequent visits to museums, theaters and art studios on the behalf of the administration. She also lobbied Congress and states to boost public funding for art programs. Her passion for the arts was evident in the Mondale’s home. In the vice-presidential house, she showcased famous American artists, including outdoor photographer Ansel Adams, sculptor David Smith and painter Georgia O’Keeffe. Joan’s husband – who also served 20 years in the Senate – ran for president in 1984, but lost to incumbent President Ronald Reagan.

State of the Snooze-ion As President Obama prepared for his State of the Union speech on January 28th, he faced abysmal approval ratings. According to a CNN poll compiled the day before the address, Obama’s approval rating stood at 44%, with 51% of Americans giving a thumbs down to Obama’s performance in the White House. If he planned on using the yearly address to change Americans’ perception of him, it was a futile effort because barely anyone watched. According to Nielson Ratings, fewer

than 33.3 million Americans watched the State of the Union address this year, the lowest turnout since President Clinton’s final State of the Union address in 2000. The most of America who didn’t watch the address did not miss much. Whereas in previous years the president used this yearly address to put forth a bold agenda and sell big ticket items such as Obamacare, this year Mr. Obama steered clear of any sweeping new initiatives. Although he called on Congress to pass an immigration bill, his overall theme was that where Congress doesn’t act, he will act through executive orders. Although the president’s address did not make much news, a bizarre exchange right after the State of the Union address between NY1 reporter Michael Scotto and Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) was captured on TV and went viral. When interviewing Rep. Grimm right after the address, Scotto suddenly switched topics and asked Rep. Grimm about an ethics investigation he is entangled in. After the interview was over, but when the cameras were still rolling, an angry Rep. Grimm—who says that he agreed to go on the show to talk about the State of the Union address, not about

the investigation— could be heard saying to Scotto, “Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I’ll throw you off this … balcony.” After some additional back and forth between the two, Rep. Grimm said to Scotto, “I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.” Now that’s what you call a real Staten Island congressman. Badda bing, Badda bam. Ya know what I’m sayin’?!

Trapped in a Blizzard— in the Aloha State Being trapped in a snowstorm doesn’t seem crazy to too many New Yorkers who have been pummeled by winter storms these past few months. But last week, a New York hiker was trapped by a snowstorm for two days in an unusual place—in Hawaii.

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under-prepared; the problem was that he came over-prepared: In 2009, his predecessor Michael Bloomberg was bitten by the furry creature. “Chuck and my predecessor didn’t always get along, let’s be honest about that. But I’m hoping we can start a new day, a new relationship here,” said Mr. de Blasio before the encounter. “I’m reaching out a hand to Chuck, and I hope he will consider shaking it rather than doing other things.” But Mayor de Blasio’s problem was that he actually did not “reach out his hand.” Instead, he was wearing massive elbow-length fisherman’s gloves. When he was handed the rodent, he was unable to get a grip on it and it fell to the ground. Zookeepers quickly scooped up the fuzzy forecaster and handed it back to the mayor. The second time around he maintained control and declared, “We’re making peace. We’re making peace here. We’re all getting along. It’s all good, Chuck.” Those present were disappointed when the little whistle-pig saw a shadow, meaning there will be at least 6 more weeks of winter. To me it’s disappointing that Mayor de Blasio dropped the groundhog; that signals that we are going to have at least four more years with this guy.

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Alex Sverdlov, 36, set out on the 18-mile trek to the top of Mauna Loa at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Sunday. On Tuesday, the Queens native reached the 13,677-foot summit after dropping off his heavy gear at a lower elevation and was beginning his descent when the snowstorm hit, blasting the volcano with heavy snow and whipping winds. After trying unsuccessfully to locate his pack in the blinding, snowy conditions, Sverdlov hunkered down as night fell. All he had were the clothes on his back and a frozen bottle of water. In the sunlight of the next day, Sverdlov was able to find his pack but unable to travel down the mountain due to the

deluge of snow. He spent another frozen night in the wilderness. Finally, on Thursday morning, Sverdlov was rescued by search crews after hearing their helicopter. “I’ve done many crazy hikes, but this one pretty much tops the bill,” Sverdlov admits. Park rangers knew Sverdlov was on the mountain because he got a backcountry permit before taking the hike. The volcano was closed on Tuesday when the snow hit, and park rangers went up to the base of the trail on Wednesday morning to check on Sverdlov’s car. When it was still there that afternoon, park rangers decided to send a helicopter to look for the hiker the following morning. “What saved Alex is that he had a backcountry permit so we knew he was up there,” park ranger John Broward pointed out. “He is extremely fit and he stayed calm. We’re all fortunate this had a happy ending.” The ordeal apparently hasn’t diminished Sverdlov’s passion for hiking. He applied for another backcountry permit for the park’s coast. “This time I’m going to the sunny part of the park,” he wisely said.

In News NBA Commissioner David Stern Retires

Out with David Stern, in with Adam Silver. No, we are not talking about your shul’s presidency— we are talking about the NBA Commissioner. Stern, age 72, retired on February 1st, exactly 30 years after he took charge, making him the NBA’s longest-serving and most successful commissioner. Stern and Silver, who are both Jewish lawyers from New York, have been working together since 1992 when Silver became Stern’s assistant. Stern—the relatively small, whitehaired man seen grinning and congratulating victors on every NBA stag, from championship ceremony to player drafts—presided over the NBA’s growth from a financially strapped sport to a global commercial powerhouse. Stern was by far the most powerful presence in the NBA even though he was technically employed at the will of the owners while having to keep hundreds of multimillionaire superstar players happy. He implemented numerous controversial rules, such as the dress code he implemented in 2005 which banned players from wearing headphones, chains, shorts, sleeveless shirts, indoor sunglasses, T-shirts, jerseys and headgear such as baseball caps during NBA-related public appearances. Stern is known to have imposed harsh fines on players who violated or embarrassed the NBA. He once said, “I sort of acknowledge that there is no free speech when you agree to work in the NBA.” Despite Stern’s strong hand, he also often exhibited a lighter side. At every NBA draft, each time he would step onto the stage, the crowd would enthusiastically boo him. Stern seemed to relish the scorn and would respond with his trademark smirk…which only made the crowd boo louder. Stern announced he would retire on October 25, 2012, and owners unanimously chose Silver as his successor. The NBA will now begin using balls with Silver’s signature in games. From Stern to Silver. Who is next— Cohen?

Obama and O’Reilly Duke It Out in PreSuper Bowl Interview

In a prelude to the biggest football game of the year, President Barack Obama sat down with Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly for a pre-Super Bowl interview. This was Obama’s sixth straight pre-Super Bowl interview and the second one conducted by O’Reilly. The tone of the testy interview was set early when O’Reilly inquired about the botched roll out of Obamacare and pointed out that as a taxpayer he is “paying Kathleen Sebelius’ salary and she [messed] up. And you’re not holding her accountable.” The president showed that he was willing to strike back at the self-proclaimed hard-hitting O’Reilly. When O’Reilly asked, “Was it the biggest mistake of your presidency to tell the nation over and over, if you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance?” President Obama responded, “Oh, Bill, you’ve got a long list of my mistakes of my presidency.” O’Reilly spent a considerable amount of time trying to determine when the president learned that the Benghazi killing of four Americans was a terror attack. During the exchange, the president and O’Reilly talked over each other and each dug into their positions. O’Reilly then said, “Your detractors believe that you did not tell the world it was a terror attack because your campaign didn’t want that out.” The president responded, “And they believe it because folks like you are telling them that.” O’Reilly declared, “No, I’m not telling them that.” Perhaps echoing President Obama’s sentiment about Fox News, once the Super Bowl—which aired on Fox— started, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent out the following tweet: “It’s so much more fun to watch FOX when it’s someone else being blitzed & sacked! #SuperBowl.” In a lighter moment, O’Reilly asked Mr. Obama what his Super Bowl prediction was. “I can’t make a prediction. I don’t know,” replied the pres-

America’s Top Dog For the 23rd straight year, the Labrador retriever is the pooch that touches the hearts of most Americans. Even so, the French bulldog gained ground in popularity by leaps and bounds this year, the American Kennel Club said on Friday. Labrador retrievers enjoy the longest consecutive reign of any dog in the annual ranking compiled by the American Kennel Club, or AKC, which bases its list of the most popular breeds on the number of dog registrations across the country. This year, the German shepherd took second place, followed by the golden retriever and the beagle, respectively. Breeds pulling ahead in the pack included the Doberman pinscher, which scurried past 20 other breeds to 12th place and the Great Dane, which made an 11-place jump to 16th.

In a testament to their growing popularity, large breeds dominated the list. “Owning bigger breeds – an economic indicator of sorts – has been on the rise during the past five years,” said Lisa Peterson, a spokeswoman for the AKC. Bigger dogs are indicative of American’s larger purses. “As the economy has improved, people are turning back to the big dogs they love, which cost more to feed and care for than the smaller breeds that saw a rise in popularity in 2007 and 2008” during the financial crisis, she pointed it. New Yorkers favor the English bulldog; it’s the most popular breed in New York City, while the French bulldog rose three spots to No. 11 on the national list, its highest ranking. “That’s a big jump. I haven’t seen anything like that in any breed,” Peter-

son said. French bulldogs require minimal grooming and exercise, making them an ideal choice for owners in apartments and suburbs. “It’s a wash-andwear, easy to care for companion dog,” Peterson said. After a decade in decline, rare breeds made a comeback. Giant schnauzers, the largest of the schnauzer breeds, climbed 13 places in the rankings. The keeshond, a medium-size dog with a plush silver and black coat, scrambled up 17 places.

Need to See a Doctor? Wait A recently released survey conducted by Merritt Hawkins, a national physician search and consulting firm, regarding average doctor appointment wait times found that Bostonians experience the longest wait times in the nation’s 15 largest cities. In Boston, it takes an average of 72 days to see a dermatologist, 66 days to see a family physician, 46 days to see an ob/gyn, 27 days to see a cardiologist, and 16 days to see an orthopedic surgeon.

The shortest wait times were in Dallas, where it takes approximately 10 days for all specialties, and just five days to see a family doctor. According to the survey, in New York the average wait time to see a family physician is 26 days. (Yes, you read that correctly.) The survey also noted that in Boston 73% of doctors accept Medicaid whereas in Dallas only 23% of doctors accept Medicaid, which may explain the disparity in wait times between the two cities. “We have too few providers, which is creating a significant access problem,” says Travis Singleton, senior vice president of Merritt Hawkins. He added, “If no one will take your insurance, you’re going to end up in the same place, and that’s probably the ER.” And with more patients covered both by Medicaid and private insurance, he says, wait times are likely to get worse. As they say, “time heals all wounds.”

Americans Live Payday to Payday

Despite reports that the economy is looking brighter, Americans are still living paycheck to paycheck. A recent report released on Thursday from the Corporation for Enterprise Development noted that nearly half of Americans are living in a state of “persistent economic insecurity” that makes it “difficult to look beyond immediate needs and plan for a more secure future.” The CFED calls these folks “liquid asset poor,” and its report finds that 44% of Americans are living with less than $5,887 in savings for a family of four. The plight of these folks is compounded by the fact that the recession ravaged many Americans’ credit scores

to the point that now 56% percent of us have subprime credit. That means that if emergencies arise, many Americans are forced to resort to high-interest debt from credit cards or payday loans. This bleak picture is not reserved for just the lower classes. According to the report, one-quarter of middle class households also fall into the category of “liquid asset poor.” Geographically, most of the economically insecure are clustered in the South and West, with Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Nevada, and Arkansas being the states with the highest percentage of financially insecure.

Nadella Named Microsoft CEO On Tuesday, Microsoft named Satya Nadella, an executive in charge of the company’s small, but growing business of delivering software and services over the Internet, its new CEO. Company founder Bill Gates is leaving the chairman role for a new role as technology adviser.

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

ident. “These guys are too evenly matched. I think it is going to be 24-21, but I don’t know who’s going to win.” Turns out Obama’s prediction was way off …much like every other sports fan in the country was. (But, then again, does it indicate that he was actually born in Kenya? Hmm…)

In News

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The Week

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

The Week

The software company announced that Nadella will replace Steve Ballmer, who said in August that he would leave the company within 12 months. Nadella will become only the third leader in the software giant’s 38-year history, after Gates and Ballmer. Board member John Thompson will serve as Microsoft’s new chairman. Nadella, who is 46 and has worked at Microsoft for 22 years, has been an executive in some of the company’s fastest-growing and most-profitable businesses, including its Office and server and tools business. For the past seven months, he was the executive vice president who led Microsoft’s cloud computing offerings. That’s a new area for Microsoft, which has traditionally focused on software installed on personal computers rather than on remote servers connected to the Internet. Nadella’s group has been growing strongly, although it remains a small part of Microsoft’s current business. “Satya is a proven leader with hardcore engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together,” Gates said. “His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.” This announcement comes at a time of turmoil for Microsoft. The company has been late adapting to developments in the technology industry. It allowed Google to dominate in online search and advertising, and it watched as iPhones, iPads and Android devices grew to siphon sales from the company’s strengths in personal computers. Its attempt to manufacture its own devices has been littered with problems, from its quickly aborted Kin line of phones to its still-unprofitable line of Surface tablets. But some see hope in what Nadella has been doing. Microsoft’s cloud computing offering, Azure, and its push to have consumers buy Office software as a $100-a-year Office 365 subscription are seen as the biggest drivers of Microsoft’s growth in the next couple of years. Both businesses saw the number of customers more than double in the last

In News

three months of the year, compared with a year earlier. Those businesses, along with other back-end offerings aimed at corporate customers, are the main reason why investment fund ValueAct Capital invested $1.6 billion in Microsoft shares last year. “Satya was really one of the people who helped build up the commercial muscle,” said Kirk Materne, an analyst with Evercore Partners. “He has a great understanding of what’s going on in the cloud and the importance of delivering more technology as a service.” Nadella is a technologist, fulfilling the requirement that Gates set out at the company’s November shareholder meeting, where the Microsoft chairman said the company’s new leader must have “a lot of comfort in leading a highly technical organization.” Born in Hyderabad, India, in 1967, Nadella received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and a master’s of business administration from the University of Chicago. He joined Microsoft in 1992 after being a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems.

of other vehicles and the threat or hazard they present; calculate risk; issue driver advisories or warnings; or take pre-emptive actions to avoid and mitigate crashes. According to federal transportation officials, this technology will likely lead to less collisions, deaths and injuries. In fact according to the Transportation Department, once all cars are equipped with this technology, it may prevent 76% of all collisions.

Moving on Up

Feds to Seek Death Penalty for Boston Bomber

Penske Truck Rental’s annual list of its top moving destinations in the United States is out and for the fourth consecutive year, the Atlanta metro area remained the number one destination. Aside for nice weather and Georgia peaches, the Atlanta area has a thriving economy. The median household income is approximately $46,000 and the average home price is approximately $450 thousand.

Government to Mandate Talking Cars

The Justice Department announced on Thursday that it would seek the death penalty against 20-year-old Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. “The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a short statement. In the government’s formal notice of its intent to seek the death penalty, prosecutors noted, “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received asylum from the United States; obtained citizenship and enjoyed the freedoms of a United States citizen; and then betrayed his allegiance to the United States by killing and maiming people in the United States.” A trial date has not yet been set. If Tsarnaev is convicted, prosecutors would still have to present their arguments for the death penalty to a jury in a separate sentencing trial. The eventual trial is expected to last for three months and the sentencing phase could last an additional two months. According to a Boston Globe poll conducted several months ago, 57 percent of Massachusetts respondents supported a life sentence for Tsarnaev and 33 percent wanted him to get the death penalty. Governor Deval Patrick said, “One way or another, based on the evidence, Tsarnaev will die in prison.”

This is not an episode of Knight Rider, but it may be coming to a roadway near you. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at a news conference last week that in order to advance roadway safety, President Obama may propose regulations requiring vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems in new cars. “Vehicle-to-vehicle technology represents the next generation of auto safety improvements,” said Foxx. Vehicle-to-vehicle technology is the wireless exchange of data between nearby vehicles. By exchanging vehicle-based data regarding position, speed, and location, the technology enables a vehicle to sense threats and hazards with a 360 degree awareness of the position

The other cities on the list are: 2. Tampa, Fla./Sarasota, Fla. 3. Dallas/Fort Worth 4. Orlando, Fla. 5. Phoenix 6. Houston 7. Seattle 8. Chicago 9. Denver 10. Las Vegas Time to start packing your bags!

That’s Odd Hospital Bills are Venomous

Last week, a snakebite victim underwent treatment at a North Carolina hospital. But it wasn’t the serpent’s fangs that made him dizzy. It was the $89,227 bill he received for his 18-hour stay. Like a good husband, Eric Ferguson, 54, was taking out the garbage one fine day when a snake bit him on the foot. He was rushed to the hospital and received excellent care. Part of his treatment was

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Dedicated by Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein

GRYFE EDITION OF SEDER MOED

H HASHAN [27] MISHNAH ROS

Einan Makirin AH / Chapter 2: Im — ‫— רע"ב‬

2/6

‫ולאין‬

‫היה נ‬ ֶ ‫ וּלְ ַאיִ ן ָה�יה‬.‫וטה‬ ‫ראשי הפגימה לאיזה צד‬ .‫ וְ �כ�מּה ָה�יה�ר�חב‬,‫נוֹטה‬ ִ ‫א‬ ‫ם‬ � ‫א‬ ַ ‫ לצד צפון או‬,‫נוטין‬ ‫מ‬ ‫ר‬ ‫לצד‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ ‫פ‬ ֵ‫נ‬ ‫י‬ � ‫ה‬ � ‫ח‬ � ‫מּ‬ ,‫ה‬ .‫ל ֹא �א ַמר ְכּלוּם‬ .‫ וכמה היה רחב‬:‫דרום‬ ְ ְ‫ו‬ � ‫א‬ ַ ‫ח‬ ‫ר‬ � ‫כּ‬ ‫ך‬ ָ ‫ה‬ ‫יוּ‬ � ‫מ‬ ְ ִ ִ‫כנ‬ ‫שהלבנה משתנה שעורה‬ ְ ‫יסים ֶאת �ה ֵשּׁנִ י וּ‬ ‫בוֹד ִקין‬ ‫ ִאם‬.‫כפי מה שהיא רחוקה מן אוֹתוֹ‬ ִ‫נ‬ ְ ‫מ‬ ְ ‫צ‬ ‫אוּ‬ ִ ‫ד‬ ְ ‫ב‬ ֵ ‫ר‬ ֶ ‫יה‬ ‫ם‬ ְ ‫מ‬ ֻ ‫כ‬ � ‫וּ‬ ִ‫נ‬ � ‫ ֵע‬,‫ים‬ ‫דוּתן‬ .‫ ַקיֶּ ֶמת‬:‫החמה או קרובה אליה‬ ְ ‫וּשׁ ָאר �כּל �הזּוּגוֹת‬ ֲ � ‫שׁוֹאלִ ין‬ ֵ ‫אוֹתם �ר‬ ִ ‫ְצ ִר‬ ‫ ל ֹא ֶשׁ ָהיוּ‬,‫אשׁי ְד ָב ִרים‬ ‫יכין �ל‬ ֶ ‫ה‬ ,‫ן‬ ֶ ‫א‬ � ‫לּ‬ ‫א‬ ְ ‫כּ‬ ֵ ‫ד‬ ‫י‬ ֶ ‫שׁ‬ ‫לּ‬ ‫ֹא‬ ֵ‫י‬ ְ ‫צ‬ ְ ‫אוּ‬ ‫ ִבּ ְשׁ ִביל ֶשׁיְּ הוּ‬,‫בּ�פ ֵחי נֶ ֶפשׁ‬ .‫ְרגִ ילִ ים �לבֹא‬ n) pointing, lit crescent of the moo way was it (i.e., the [the cresֶ ‫ — וּלְ �איִ ן ָהיָ ה‬Which ‫נוֹטה‬ ‫ — וְ �כ ָמּה‬How wide was that the ָ ‫ה‬ [5] ָ‫י‬ ‫ה‬ ָ ‫ר‬ ָ ‫ח‬ ‫ב‬ h? sout If [the witness] said to the north or the ‫— ִאם ָא �מר לִ ְפנֵ י �ה �ח ָמּה‬ ‫ל‬ ‫ֹא‬ that is, his ָ ‫א‬ � [6] ‫מ‬ ‫ר‬ ing; ְ ‫כּ‬ noth ‫לוּם‬ cent]?” sun, he has said ְ turned toward the ִ ִ‫וְ �א �חר ָכּך ָהיוּ �מ ְכנ‬ [7] ‫יסים ֶאת �ה ֵשּׁנִ י‬ Moon’s unlit part was mony is rejected. second testi the his in g and brin false answer is witness, they first the ine exam asked the ְ — After they e questions that they ‫וּבוֹד ִקין אוֹתוֹ‬ ent, asking him the sam , sist him con ine are ds exam wor their witness and ֶ ‫ — ִאם נִ ְמ ְצאוּ ִד ְב ֵר‬If their ָ ‫יהם ְמ ֻכוָּ נִ ים ֵע‬ ‫דוּתן �קיֶּ ֶמת‬ the two witnesses, first. tradictions between es] con judg us [The serio — no ְ ‫וּשׁ‬ ָ ‫א‬ ‫ר‬ are i.e., there ֲ ‫ָכּל �הזּוּגוֹת‬ ָ ‫שׁוֹאלִ ין‬ ֵ ‫אוֹתן ָר‬ their ‫אשׁי ְד ָב ִרים‬ the main points of testimony is valid. of witnesses about ‫ל ֹא‬ s ֶ ‫שׁ‬ ָ ‫ה‬ pair ‫יוּ‬ ְ r ‫צ‬ ִ ‫ר‬ ִ ‫יכ‬ othe ‫ין‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֶ ‫ה‬ the ‫ן‬ ֶ ‫א‬ then ask all ‫לָּ א ְכּ ֵדי ֶשׁלּ ֹא יֵ ְצאוּ‬ y of going into detail. ed (for the testimon testimony, without because they are need but only so they will not e don is This ‫— ְבּ �פ ֵחי נֶ ֶפשׁ‬ been accepted), ‫ִבּ ְשׁ ִביל‬ esses has already judges. the first pair of witn not testify before the has been ened that they did ng that their journey not leave disheart feeli from them prevent that they will be ‫ — ֶשׁיְּ הוּ ְרגִ ילִ ים לָ בֹא‬To some testimony, so future. s are asked to give the new Moon in the wasted, the witnesse ut abo fy testi to e regularly encouraged to com NOTES

5. The Beis Din asks s whether the horn (i.e., the tips of the crescent) were pointing north or n SUN south (Rav). Whe NORTH SOUTH the new Moon ap© 2013, MPL pears to the left of s the sun, its horn DIAGRAM F point south (Dia gram E), and when it appears to the right of the sun, its SUN north NORTH horns point SOUTH (Diagram F). © 2013, MPL the ate estim asked to 6. The witness is

DIAGRAM E

, which is very narwidth of the crescent of the month and g row at the beginnin month progresses gets wider as the they ask him wheth(Rav). For example, ared as wide as a appe er the crescent ] certain distance away barleycorn [held a (Yerushalmi). or two barleycorns of the any ered answ 7. In fact, if he inly, his testimony is questions incorrect er speciﬁes this answ valid. The Mishnah of the Moon part unlit the that (namely, always is that use beca faced the sun), d in note 2), whereas wrong (as explaine to the other ques the correct answers time of the year and the on nd tions depe . Tov) Yom . (Tos other calculations

‫ו‬/‫ב‬

W! E N � ‫ֵכּ‬ ‫יצד‬

Seder Moed dedicated by Daniel and Dena Gryfe

Volume dedicated by Norman and Cecily Davis

‫[ משניות ראש ה‬26]

/ ‫שנה‬ ‫ אם אינן מכירין‬:‫פרק ב‬

— ‫— רע"ב‬

‫)ו( לפני החמה או‬ ‫ פגימתה‬.‫לאחר החמה‬

[‫]ו‬ ְ ‫בּוֹד ִק‬ ‫ זוּג ֶשׁ�בּא‬,‫ין ֶאת �ה ֵע ִדים‬ ִ ‫ר‬ ‫א‬ ,‫שׁוֹן‬ ְ .‫בּוֹד ִקין אוֹתוֹ ִראשׁוֹן‬ ִ ִ‫�וּמ ְכנ‬ ְ ְ‫יסין ֶאת ַהגָּ דוֹל ֶשׁ�בּ ֶהן ו‬ ,‫ ֱאמֹר‬:‫אוֹמ ִרים לוֹ‬ ַ ‫ֵכּ‬ ‫יצד�ר ִא �ית‬ ֶ ‫א‬ ‫ת‬ � ‫ה‬ ְ‫לּ‬ � ‫ב‬ � ‫נ‬ ,‫ה‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ ‫פ‬ ֵ‫נ‬ ‫י‬ � ‫ה‬ � ‫ח‬ � ‫מּ‬ ‫ה‬ ‫אוֹ לְ �א ַחר‬ �‫�ה‬ ‫ח‬ � ‫מּ‬ ,‫ה‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ ‫צ‬ � ‫פוֹנ‬ ‫הּ‬ ‫אוֹ‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ ‫ד‬ � ‫רוֹמ‬ � ‫ �כּ�מּה ָה�יה�ג‬,‫הּ‬ ‫בוֹהּ‬

,‫של לבנה לפני החמה‬ ‫ או לצד‬,‫נוטה לצד החמה‬ ‫ ועלה קתני סיפא‬.‫אחר‬ ‫אם אמר לצד החמה לא‬ ‫ שמעולם לא‬,‫אמר כלום‬ ‫ דלעולם החלק המאיר ממנה‬,‫לבנה‬ ‫ראתה חמה פגימתה של‬ ‫נוטה לצד השמש והחלק הפגום‬ ‫ שה‬.‫בדרומה‬ ‫ בצפונה או‬:‫החשבון ש לבנה מתרחקת מן השמש פעם לצד צפון פעם לצד נוטה לצד האחר‬ ‫באותו זמן ראויה‬ ‫ ואם ידעו בית דין בדרך‬,‫דרום‬ ‫כמה שתהיה לצד צפון ואמרו ה‬ ‫עדים‬ ‫ש‬ ‫ראוה‬ ‫בידוע שעדי‬ ‫שקר‬ ‫נוטה‬ :‫הן‬ ‫לצד‬ ‫דרום‬ ‫היה‬ ,‫או איפכא‬ ‫ מן הארץ לפי ראות עי‬.‫גבוה‬ ‫גבוה שתי‬ ‫ אם אמר אחד מן העדים‬.‫ אחד אומר שלשניכם‬.‫ עדותן קיימת‬,‫קומות והאחד אומר שלש‬ ‫ואחד‬ ‫אומר‬ ,‫חמש‬ :‫עדותן בטלה‬ witnesses?

es] examine the � ‫ — ֵכּ‬How do [the judg of witnesses that arrives ְ ‫יצד‬ [6] ‫בּוֹד ִקין ֶאת ָה ֵע ִדים‬ ‫ — זוּג ֶשׁ ָבּ‬The pair ‫א‬ ִ ‫ר‬ ‫אשׁוֹן‬ ְ ‫בּוֹד‬ ִ ‫ק‬ ‫ין‬ � — [The judges] ִ ִ‫וּמ ְכנ‬ ‫יס‬ ‫אוֹתוֹ ִראשׁוֹן‬ [1] ְ ְ‫ין ֶאת �הגָּ דוֹל ֶשׁ ָבּ ֶהן ו‬ ‫אוֹמ ִרים לוֹ‬ . him from his partner, ﬁrst is examined ﬁrst esses], separating witn the [the of one r “Tell us how you saw — ֱ ‫א‬ bring in the olde ‫מ‬ ‫ֹר‬ ֵ ‫כּ‬ � ‫יצ‬ ‫ד‬ ָ ‫ר‬ ִ ‫א‬ ָ ‫ית ֶאת �הלְּ ָבנָ ה‬ t part of the Moon and say to him: � ‫ — לִ ְפנֵ י‬Was the unli ‫ה �ח ָמּה אוֹ לְ �א �חר �ה �ח ָמּה‬ [2] ָ ‫ — לִ ְצפוֹנָ הּ אוֹ לִ ְד‬Was ‫רוֹמהּ‬ new moon: the sun? sun or away from the thern side of [the ard sou tow the ed turn [4] sky] or horizon? northern side of [the [the Moon] from the the Moon on the ‫ — �כּ ָמּה‬How high was ָ ‫ה‬ ָ‫י‬ [3] ‫ה‬ ָ‫גּ‬ ַ ‫בוֹהּ‬ ? sky] NOTES

he is lying or misthe judges know that (by leaving their te- taken, as the Mishnah states below. desecrate Shabbos the for ) chah mela g n always chum, or even doin sunset, the new Moo but they are granted the 3. Close to the western horizon, of sake of saving life, in the town and appears above side right to go anywhere even for purposes it may be either on the southern it (Diagrams C 2,000 amos beyond or the northern side sky the callife. ical g of astronom unrelated to savin and D). On the basis which side it [6] , the cour t knew on ]. - culations that time of the year are questioned sepa should appear [at 1. The witnesses not match to y, does t mon s of testi ess’ statemen y is rately, as in all case ing the answers of If the witn ulation, his testimon calc t’s copy cour from the one prevent d r witness is privilege (Rav). the other. The olde age rejected is of respect for his 4. The witness to testify ﬁrst out DIAGRAM B RAM A . asked how high (see Sanhedrin 3:6) DIAG appeared n Moo the n on 2. Since the Moo above the horiz of reﬂects the light (Rav); for example: SUN the sun, the lit part SUN her it seemed whet (the n of the Moo © 2013, MPL as high as a build ys © 2013, MPL in crescent) is alwa ing [at a certa DIAGRAM D nearer the sun and DIAGRAM C distance from the alis part unlit the witness] of two stoes ways farther from ries or three stori the sun (Diagram Rambam, Hilchos NORTH (Ram SOUTH sh A). Therefore, if the SOUTH NORTH Kiddush HaChode the that DUE WEST says ess witn DUE WEST 2:4-5). er © 2013, MPL unlit part was near © 2013, MPL the sun (Diagram B),

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The Week receiving four vials of anti-venom medication. When the bill came, the Fergusons went into shock. “It was just the sticker shock,” Eric says. The same four doses of anti-venom that Eric received retails online for just $750. The hospital defended its overblown invoice, saying it has to charge higher prices because of discounts given to insurers. (There’s something called

In News

covering costs and then there’s something called taking a bite out of an innocent victim.) Eventually, the hospital reduced Eric’s bill to $20,227. He ended up paying $5,400 out of his own pocket. Eric, we feel bad for you, but don’t think for a second this exempts you from future garbage duty. Just watch where you step.

Goodwill Find is More than Good

to Goodwill was rewarded handsomely when employees found his precious items and returned them to him safe and sound.

Donating clothes to Goodwill is a generous gesture. You get rid of old clothing and hopefully can help others who are down on their luck. In this story, the roles are reversed, and a donor

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The manager of the Goodwill store in Monroe, Michigan, regularly checks the pockets of donated clothes. Tyler Gedelian relates that he generally finds receipts or tissues or even a dollar or two. But what he and his staff found on Wednesday was more than just junk. After searching through some old suits and a bathrobe, Gedelian and his coworker, Laura Pietscher, found blue envelopes filled with mounds of cash. “We were getting lots of donations, and as I sorted through it, I saw a blue envelope sticking out of a bathrobe. I took it out, figuring it was garbage,” Gedelian recalled. “But when I opened the envelope, lo and behold, it was several bands of $100 bills. We might normally find a dollar, or 25 cents, but mostly it’s old Kleenexes and grocery lists.” The cash totaled a whopping $43,000. The good employees immediately called the police to report their find. “My biggest concern was getting the money back to the rightful owner,” Gedelian related. “I certainly can’t imagine losing that kind of money. I was so nervous having so much of someone else’s money.” Police were able to track the cash to a man who was cleaning out an elderly relative’s closet. He had donated the clothes without even knowing the money existed. I guess you can say these employees were willing to do more than good.

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Last week, fisherman Stephen Garnett went fishing in the placid waters of Lake Tahoe. But instead of reeling in a carp, he pulled out a camera from the lake’s deep waters! Amazingly, the camera was still intact and he brought it home to show his wife his interesting find. Garnett’s wife, Jamie Clark, is a photography hobbyist and she had a keen interest in the unique catch. “It has water in the little viewfinder where you see the

THE JEWISH HOME n F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

The Week pictures and it’s rusty,” Jamie recalled. When she looked closer, she found a functional memory card and excitedly said, “Oh my gosh! There’s 1,065 photos on there.”

Clark knew how important these memories would be to its owner. The

In News

shots spanned from 2006 to September 2011. Using Facebook, Clark posted two photos from each year in the hopes that a friend would recognize the mystery photographer. Well, Clark’s perseverance paid off. It seems that Jana LeVitre lost her digital memories on a fishing trip back in 2011. When her waterproof camera fell into the 200-feet deep waters, she said, “I realized I’d just have to remember [the pictures] in my mind. I never expected to see them again.” Her daughter was the one who noticed the photos that Clark

posted online. Now photographer and camera are reunited and the memories are no longer just in her mind. “What are the chances that she could find something, the owners of something like that?” LeVitre said. “It’s just surreal. I just can’t believe it and to think that it wasn’t found by scuba divers. It was actually reeled in by a guy who thought he caught a fish. That just makes it even cooler.” That’s what we call a really good catch.

A Colorful Name

When Matthew Whelan was growing up, he was a typical teenager growing up in Great Britain. But now the 34-yearold has made a name for himself in the

country. He has spent over $40,000 on body art, covering 90 percent of his body in tattoos. He has even tattooed his left eyeball black. But even so, Whelan wanted to become even more unique, and in 2009, he changed his name to King Of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-Ite. Yes, that is now his official name. Luckily, his friends call him Body Art for short. But this week, the most colorful man in England was refused a passport renewal, not because he is multihued but because of his lengthy and unusual name. Body Art was offered to work overseas and cannot do so because he has been denied a passport. But he is fighting back. He says the denial is a breach of his human rights to demand that he use his birth name on his passport. “That is not my name anymore,” he insists. His driver’s license even has his new moniker on it. The passport office’s official policy on names states: “Where an applicant changes his or her name to a string of words or phrases that would not normally be recognized as a name, this should not be entered onto the personal details page of the passport…For example, the names ‘New Year’… or ‘Good Bye’ are

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unacceptable as, when put together, they became a recognized phrase or saying.” How about the name How Can You Do That To Yourself? Would that be acceptable?

First class can get you a lot of things. For one man in China, it got him free gourmet meals for 300 days. According to the Chinese newspaper Kwong Wah Yit Poh, a unidentified Chinese man purchased a first-class ticket aboard Eastern China Airline. The ticket entitled him to a free meal at the Shaanxi province airport’s VIP lounge. There was no fee for re-booking the ticket. The man simply re-booked his ticket over and over again to enjoy the free meals the lounge offers. To get his food gratis, the man would simply show his ticket to lounge staff before his “trip,” eat a meal and then change his departure to the following day. The next day he would show up with his newly issued ticket for the revised date, eat and then again change his ticket date. He did this over and over again. Eastern China Airlines officials only recently figured out the man’s scheme after noticing his single ticket being rebooked 300 times over one year. Now that’s what you call a “frequent diner.”

Twins Attempt to Finally Resolve Fat v. Sugar Debate

With the obesity rate being what it is, we are pretty much all experts on what we need to do to lose weight (implementation is another story). So, what is worse for your diet: fat or carbohydrates? For years, it was thought that was

Riding Off to Heaven on a Harley

his sons, the casket was in Bill’s garage for 5 years and “if you stopped by his house, he showed you his casket…He was proud of it.” Bill’s daughter explained that the family was eager to make sure the funeral went as Bill planned. “He was a quirky man,” she said, “But when it comes to us kids, he loved us, he raised us well and, of course, we wanted to help him.”

Wet Diaper Detector

Billy Standley of Ohio loved to ride his 1967 Harley Davidson motorcycle. In fact, he loved it so much that he wanted to be buried on it. Not only that, he wanted the whole world to see him do it in a see-through coffin. When Bill died at the age of 82 last week he got his wish. His body was secured to his Harley with braces and straps, and it was towed by a trailer to his final resting place. Hundreds of buddy motorcyclists joined the funeral procession. Bill started preparing for his funeral 18 years ago when he purchased three burial plots near where his wife was buried so that his motorcycle would fit in it. Along with his two sons, he made a casket out of Plexiglas, reinforcing the bottom with wood and steel rods to handle the extra weight. According to one of

Nothing is less natural to a young father than determining whether their toddler has a wet diaper. If the wife is within a half-hour distance, the investigation usually is placed on hold until she returns home…which only leaves the doting father with the guilt that he may be causing his child to get a rash. Well, soon enough, dad, your problems may be resolved. Michigan-based engineer— and father of a toddler— Eric Schuh created a detector that takes the guesswork out of your baby’s diaper. Simply press the button and hold it up to the diaper. A light will indicate when the diaper needs changing. The device, which looks like a USB stick and fits on a key chain, has a sensor which detects the moisture and causes the top of the stick to light up. Sounds great! But, I’m preserving my excitement until they come out with a device that actually changes the dirty nappy.

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

First Class Scammer

bad for you: it made you pile on the pounds, so low-fat food was good. But the “fat is bad” dogma is being widely challenged. Carbohydrates, including sugar, are increasingly viewed as the evil, fattening, toxic ingredient nowadays. Twin brothers Chris and Alexander van Tulleken, 35, set out on a monthlong experiment to try to put the debate to rest. Chris adopted a super low-fat diet, allocating only 2 percent of his total daily intake to fat, the minimum required to maintain his health. Alex went on a high-protein diet that ditched all forms of carbohydrates, from table sugar to flour to fruit. The brothers, who both work as physicians, shared similar daily routines and stuck to the exact same fitness regimen. Alex was the weight loss winner, dropping a total of 9 pounds, but he says his high-protein, low-carb diet caused his body to go into ketosis — a state in which the body burns fat but doesn’t effectively provide the brain with the glucose (sugar) it needs for energy. The brothers concluded that searching for “one toxic ingredient” was fruitless, and we should instead be watching calories and portion size and eating whole foods whenever possible. I have another idea: Eat what you want, when you want, how you want… you only live once.

In News

THE JEWISH HOME n

The Week

THE JEWISH HOME n

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

Around the

LOCAL NEWS

Community

OHEL Runs Another Successful Season of Winter Camps During the last week in December, many of the schools attended by members of OHEL Bais Ezra had winter break. This left many of the children serviced by OHEL at home with nothing to do. In order to fill this need for parents, the Special Projects department of OHEL Bais Ezra has created what is lovingly referred to as Winter Camp. Each day, over 40 children and young adults,

ages 5-21, were able to go on an exciting day trip with the caring staff of OHEL Bais Ezra. The Winter Camp program was run by OHEL’s dedicated staff, in addition to over 200 volunteers, consisting of girls from 16 different schools spanning Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. With the help of the staff and volunteers, over 150 children with disabilities were able

to take part of in OHEL’s Winter Camp program. They went on incredible trips including the New York Hall of Science, Laser Bounce, Woodmere Lanes and the Long Island Children’s Museum. Throughout each day’s trips and events, many different people kept coming over the OHEL group, and shared how impressed they were with the staff. After spending the day at the New York Hall of Science, the security guard at the entrance informed the OHEL staff that he has a brother with special needs, and when he found out that the majority of the staff on their trip were volunteers, he was extremely impressed and thanked everyone profusely for the incredible work that they do. The program was a great success, and in the words of Kuti Roberg, Senior Manager of OHEL’s Special Projects, “At the end of each day both our campers and staff headed home with smiles on their faces and a bounce in their step. Seeing the smile on a child’s face and hearing from the parents how appreciative they are that we are able to run these programs, are what make working and volunteering for OHEL Bais Ezra so rewarding.”

Rambam: Blood Drive Winners Drive Forward The Long Island Blood Services committee has awarded the “Hero-Globin Award” to Rambam Mesivta every year since 2008 in recognition of their valiant commitment to the people of Long Island. The Rambam Mesivta Blood Drive Committee held their second blood drive of the year on January 29th. With an eye toward giving back and under the leadership of senior Eli Lava, junior Netanel Muskat and sophomore Jonathan Wiesel, the students, parents, and alumni of Rambam came out in full force to help those in need. Rambam Mesivta has long been known for its commitment to Torah, academic excellence and activism. Making blood drives a priority and, in the words of senior Eli Lava, recognize that “we are saving lives,” make it clear that Rambam’s mission to the world is to bring light to the darkness, go where they are most needed, and to show that chesed is in their blood.

NEWS

Community

Bais Yaakov of Queens Second Graders Research Animals

YKLI Hosts JEP Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island teaches their students the concept of achrayus in the best way possible: by acting the part. Last month, the yeshiva building hosted two JEP Shabbatons – one for girls and one for boys. The participating JEPers enjoyed the yeshiva’s beautiful facilities while enjoying a Shabbos consisting of learning, playing, davening, and eating. They even got to sleep there! While the regular talmidim of the yeshiva were home enjoying a typical Shabbos, many of these visiting Jewish children kept their first Shabbos ever. On every Shabbaton, different veteran Shabbaton attendees receive various forms of honors, such as saying a dvar Torah and holding the havdala candle. This year, the honor of holding

the havdala candle at the girl’s Shabbaton was given to Rachel K. Rachel, who had been attending the Suri Schwartz JIL program in Roslyn for many years, switched from attending public school to yeshiva this year. At the boy’s Shabbaton, the honor of holding the havdala candle was given to Netanel K. Netanel attended Camp Nageela this past summer, and since then has been wearing tefillin. All in all, some 75 children, mostly public school attendees, were fortunate enough to taste the kedusha of Shabbos. This was made possible due to the fact that Yeshiva Ketana was gracious enough to open its doors in an act of chessed and ahavas Yisroel. The lesson of achrayus for all Jewish children was well taught.

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

BYQ’s second grade is delving into research on animals. This project begins with the students’ visits to their school library, reading and checking out its vast collection of books on animals. Mrs. Rochie Elias, the school librarian, helps the girls at the first stage of the project. “I share the girls’ love of reading when they have regular library time to choose and explore what they might like to read, but I love seeing the girls enthusiastic in their academic pursuit of this project!” The girls choose an animal of interest to research. They gather information from several sources, but what better way is there to learn than handson experience? This week, The Nature Company visited them with classroom workshops. Students were able to have an ‘up close’ look at the animals’ innate abilities to protect themselves through

their natural colors and camouflage. Through discussion, they learned about the animals’ environments, their habits, likes and dislikes. Some of the girls pet or held the animals, too! Mrs. Miri Fixler, Mrs. Rifka Dena Rodkin, Miss Shulie Stern and Miss Devora Wangrofsky, second grade general studies teachers at Bais Yaakov, then guide the girls through a writing project that culminates into published, illustrated books. All of the work is designed, authored and created by the children. The work is magnificent but even more, the students master research skills, scientific observation, and authoring and illustrating another book. Mrs. Sarah Bergman, principal, and Mrs. Karen Reisbaum, assistant principal, take special pride in their students’ accomplished skills and knowledge. “Our girls absorb our teachers’ enthusiasm of learning and exploring. The units of study are reflections of the staff’s ability to infuse the best learning techniques with their objectives of the unit while creating an environment of student growth and success. This is what Bais Yaakov is all about!”

41 THE JEWISH HOME n

Around the

LOCAL

HANC Early Childhood Center is celebrating Health Awareness Month. This week, Dr. Jay Ritter, DDS, visited the school and reviewed the importance of dental hygiene with the children of Nursery Bet.

Students’ Artwork Selected for Albany Exhibition We congratulate Tamara Heller and Alexandra Feder for having their artwork selected to be exhibited in the 24th Annual Legislative Student Art Exhibition sponsored by the New York State Art Teachers’ Association. The exhibit can be viewed from February 24-March 6, 2014 in the Legislative Office Building in Albany, NY. Both students and their families have been invited to an opening reception and can meet with their state legislators. Tamara’s piece is a marker drawing titled “My Cousins” and Alexandra’s ink drawing is titled “Isolation.”

Tamara Heller (left) and Alexandra Feder

Both students are members of HAFTR High School’s Art Institute program under the direction of Mrs. Dale Malekoff.

Students at Kulanu Academy Participate in National School Choice Week National School Choice Week is an annual celebration featuring special events across the country. Kulanu Academy took part in National School Choice Week (1/27-1/31). It is an opportunity for our students’ to showcase

school spirit. The students and staff participated in many activities (crafts, writing workshops, cooking) during the week. Everyone was given a yellow scarf in honor of School Choice Week. It was a great week at Kulanu!

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

Around the

LOCAL NEWS

Community

Rabbi Grossman of Migdal Ohr Awarded Presidential Medal Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, Founder and Dean of Migdal Ohr Institutions, was awarded the Presidential Medal by President Shimon Peres. Rabbi Grossman was one of eight recipients who were cited for their outstanding contribution to Israel and humanity. President Peres said during the special ceremony, “You are the proof that it is

Dr. Paul Brody, member of Migdal Ohr’s founder’s board, with his daughter, Liat, and Rabbi Grossman

President Shimon Peres presenting the honor to Rabbi Grossman

possible to believe and dream on a large scale, and that occasionally reality surpasses even the greatest of dreams. The President’s Medal comes to commend sparks of inspiration. I believe you serve as role models for many. You uncover the hidden treasures within man; encourage the younger generation to contribute to the State of Israel and the world. You, dear recipients, are worthy of the deepest gratitude the nation can express.”

The honorees

Addressing Rabbi Grossman personally, the president said: “My friend, Rabbi Grossman, you are the tower of light that shines rays of hope to hundreds of thousands of children at risk. The Migdal Ohr Institutions which you have established have been in many instances, the last chance of these youth to realize their hidden potential.” President Shimon Peres enacted the Presidential Medal Award in 2011 as a civilian award which is custom in

many countries. The medal is awarded to individuals or organizations that have made in outstanding contribution to Israeli society, to its image in the world, and serve of a positive example for innovativeness, inventiveness, creativity, vision and world embitterment. Other laureates are Henry Kissinger, President Barak Obama, Former President Bill Clinton, Rabbi Adin Steinsalz and Elie Wiesel.

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Around the Community Assemblyman Goldfeder Secures Millions in Funding for Yeshiva Security Improvements Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Far Rockaway) announced that $4.5 million in security funding for private schools has been released and is now available to be distributed to our yeshivas. “This important security funding is imperative to keeping our children safe,” Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder says. “Yeshivas remain a target and we must ensure that every measure is taken to protect the schools without placing a higher financial burden on tuition paying parents.” The funding being distributed by the New York State Education Department was included as part of the FY 2013 state budget. Similar funding was granted to public schools in the SAFE Act; however, private schools were initially left out in the cold. It was only after intense efforts, that additional funding was made available for our local yeshivas to be funded, Goldfeder added. “I want to thank Assemblyman Goldfeder for his tireless leadership on behalf of every yeshiva and parent,” said Jeff Leb, New York Director of Political Affairs for OU Advocacy. “OU Advocacy is committed to working with Jewish day schools to ensure they maximize every dollar of government

funding available to them. I urge every yeshiva to apply for this funding as soon as possible.” This security funding will allow private schools to be reimbursed for any safety equipment they purchased between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. Each school will receive approximately $9.70 per child attending the school—which translates to several thousands of dollars, depending on a school’s enrollment. “I want to thank the OU Advocacy Center and Agudath Israel for their partnership and constant advocacy,” said Goldfeder. “As a tuition paying parent, I will continue to look for creative ways to alleviate the skyrocketing costs.” Historically, only the federal government provided funding to yeshivas for security and safety through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NGSP) which has secured hundreds of thousands of dollars for nonprofit organizations, including shuls and yeshivas. “It’s about time the state step up to help our schools with security funding and I will continue to fight for continued and increased allocations,” concluded Goldfeder.

HAFTR College Bowl Team Strikes Again at Third Regional Meet by Russell Charnoff The HAFTR college bowl teams journeyed again on January 8 to Valley Stream South High School for their third regional Long Island meet. The varsity team, although they were short one player, outscored the Freeport varsity team by 55 in an impressive 97-42 win. The short-handed team of Captain Chaviva Freedman, Sean Bokor, and rookie Michael Weissman played beautifully. The JV team, consisting of captains Ju-

dah Weinerman, Josh Lederer, Russell Charnoff, and rookies David Fleschner and Deena Kopyto, scored an outstanding 110 points, easily defeating the opposing team. As a result of the team’s outstanding performance, the JV and Varsity teams are now in first place in the Western Nassau Division. Congratulations to both teams and good luck on upcoming competitions.

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A New, Weekly Interactive Shiur for Singles By Daniel Weiss When I moved to the Five Towns area shortly after Hurricane Sandy, I discovered a wonderful community filled with generous, caring people. A plethora of batei midrashim and shuls span the area, from Bayswater to Hewlett. However, the benefits of a flourishing and spread out community, means that many people daven in different shuls and shop in different stores. There is not a large cross-over and a person who lives in one neighborhood may never need to speak to someone from another area. So when I looked around, I realized that there was no place where singles could meet other singles. You can get to know the singles in your shul and immediate area but may never meet anyone beyond that. There are singles events, of course, but those are all too infrequent. There are also many nice and helpful shadchanim who try their utmost to help, but singles are busy in school, work or yeshiva and there isn’t an opportunity for shadchanim to meet them all. I frequently have heard from people with

two or three single children at home, or have met a single young man or woman who lives on their own or is in a local yeshiva or seminary. I asked why nothing was being done for them on a more regular basis, and I was told it was a nice concept, but it needed someone to organize it. After much thought, I decided that maybe I should be the one to do it. I discussed it in detail with Rabbi Eytan Feiner of The White Shul and together we formed a plan to start a regular program for singles in the area. A committee of singles and shadchanim was also created to help bring these concepts to reality. We brainstormed and came up with ideas, many of which are new or different from the typical event for singles. And thus was born The Dvash Project. Many people have asked where the name came from. The answer is that when the Torah refers to the seven minim, it refers to tamar as dvash. The reason for this is that dvash is the

outcome of tamar. Since we are a marriage-minded organization, our goal is not to get someone a date (“tamar”) but to get them to “dvash.” We are happy to announce that our first event will take place this Monday, February 10 at 8 PM featuring Rabbi Paysach Krohn at 9 Beechwood Drive in Lawrence. Our events will be held weekly, taking place every Monday night. They are not “singles events,” but weekly shiurim that are for singles. The difference is subtle but important. The goal is to create an appropriate yet open and relaxed environment where people can meet and interact with others who are fitting for them. This will be a different type of event. We hope that people will come to experience it themselves. The project has been reviewed and endorsed by Rabbi Feiner. We have also spoken to many other rabbanim between Bayswater and West Hempstead, and they have responded very positively. Our committee is volunteering their time because we want this to be success-

ful and help the community. If you are single, please join us. If you agree this is an important initiative, please help make it a success by letting others know. Dvash: It Starts Here. Spread the word and see you there! *** Beginning on February 10th with Rabbi Paysach Krohn, there will be a new interactive shiur for single men and women in their 20s and 30s. Each week will feature a rabbi or speaker on a topic of interest. Dinner and refreshments will be served. Facilitators/shachanim will be on-hand for those who want to use them. The event endorsed is by Rabbi Eytan Feiner. To RSVP and for more information, see www.dvashproject.com. Daniel Weiss is the founder and director of The Dvash Project, a weekly shiur for singles in the 5 towns/ Far Rockaway area. For questions or more information please e-mail dvashproject@gmail.com or RSVP at our website www.dvashproject.com.

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At the Kids of Courage Super Bowl party at the Moradis’ house on Sunday night

Remembering Dr. Bernard Lander on His Fourth Yahrtzeit The Touro College community gathered at Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim on Motzei Shabbos, Jan. 25th to commemorate the fourth yahrtzeit of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander, founder and first president of the Touro College and University System. Dr. Lander was a remarkable scholar and community leader whose great strides and foresight in the arena of education allowed Touro to become the venerable and successful institution it is today, with 32 schools in five countries. For the better part of seven decades, Dr. Lander met and advised mayors, governors and presidents. Of his countless accomplishments, he was most proud that not only did he provide opportunities for those who lacked, but that he was able to create mosdos that strengthened limud ha’Torah. Featured speaker Rabbi Nosson Scherman, shlit”a, the general editor of Artscroll/Mesorah Publishing, discussed a story in Bereishis to illustrate the ac-

complishments of Dr. Lander. He said that when Pharaoh asked Yaakov Avinu how old he was, the 130-year-old Yaakov answered, “Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life and they have not reached the life spans of my fathers.” Rabbi Scherman said that, according to Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Yaakov responded in this way to demonstrate that even one who has lived for many years may not have many days in his life in which he’s made a difference. “Every day of his life mattered to Yaakov Avinu,” he said. “Rabbi Dov Baer Lander lived every day of his life, a long, long life, and to the last day he was dreaming and thinking and planning and doing and building and accomplishing. No day was wasted.” Rabbi Scherman noted that Dr. Lander established Touro so that the Jewish community could operate within the secular world without having to sacrifice their Yiddishkeit.

Rabbi Shmuel Marcus at Bnos Malka Academy One of the special opportunities that the girls in Bnos Malka have each month is to hear from a distinguished speaker in our community. This month, the girls were privileged to hear from Rabbi Shmuel Marcus, the Rav of Kehilas Ishei Yisroel in Kew Gardens Hills. Rabbi Marcus is also a rebbe in Yeshiva University’s Stone Beis Medrash Program. The theme of his discussion was the incredible opportunity we each have, to develop a personal relationship with Hashem through tefilah. He related a story of a twelve-year-old student in an art museum who is disenfranchised by the masterpieces before him. This attitude, he said, is analogous to the feelings that

we may feel at times towards our relationship with Hashem; we may not realize the priceless value of this opportunity. As we enter the months of Adar, Rabbi Marcus stressed that we celebrate the victory of the Jewish People over the nation of Amalek which was accomplished through tefilah. In the same way, today, through our tefillos, we can overcome all that separates us from connecting to Hashem.

“He was here to provide Jewish men and women with a dignified parnassa so that they could remain shomrei Torah and mitzvoth without compromise. That was his goal,” said Rabbi Scherman during his speech entitled, “Dr. Lander: A Man Shaping an Era.” Rabbi Doniel Lander, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim and Dr. Lander’s son, talked about the principles involved with “Im kesef talveh,” “If you should lend money,” which was read from Parshas Mishpatim that morning. He said that lending money is considered a greater form of chesed than tzedakah because it spares the poor person from embarrassment. The Torah, he said, is teaching a lesson that the true mitzvah is not in the amount of money one gives to a poor person, but rather the rachamim that motivates him in the first place. Rabbi Lander said that it was that rachamim that pushed his father to create Touro. “My father, alav hashalom, devoted his life to the needs of klal Yisrael,” he said. “Although he was a very generous man personally, his greatest form of tzedakah was to offer the gift of dignity to thousands of mishpachos that could not obtain parnassa in the system before the establishment of Touro.” Rabbi Lander recounted a story about his father, saying that several years ago Dr. Lander met a Jewish man while he was on a trip to Moscow. They talked for some time and at the end of the conversation Dr. Lander asked the man to call him when he came to the U.S. 15 years later the man approached him and Dr. Lander immediately asked why he never called. “This is not simply to say that my father had a good memory, although he did,” said Rabbi Lander. “But it was because he cared. This fellow needed his chesed and my father cared about him.” To commemorate Dr. Lander’s third

yartzheit a year ago, Touro released Dr. Lander’s biography, “The Lander Legacy: The Life Story of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander,” by Peter Weisz (Ktav Publishing House, Inc.). The book begins with the story of David and Goldie Lander, both European immigrants to the U.S. The book describes the Touro founder’s early years as a young rabbi in Baltimore, his numerous accomplishments and the experiences which convinced him of the need to create great yeshivos and academic institutions under Jewish auspices. Speaking just after Shabbos Mevarchim Adar, Rabbi Moshe Krupka, executive vice president of Touro College, said that Haman HaRasha wanted to, chas v’shalom, destroy the Jewish people in the month of Adar because it is a time of hester panim. Rabbi Krupka quoted Rabbi Gedaliah Shore, who said that Haman did not realize that there are certain shepherds in every generation who see the adversity and inspires them to motivate klal Yisrael and bring about a yeshua. “This evening we are here to remember such an individual who saw choshech and brought light to klal Yisrael,” he said. At the time of his passing in 2010, Dr. Lander had achieved more in one lifetime than most could in ten. While advocating for and working on behalf of klal Yisrael, he too was able to impact on so many diverse communities, cultures and causes across New York and the country, he helped Touro evolve from a tiny school with 35 students in the first graduating class to a flourishing international institution serving over 19,000 students worldwide. At the start of the evening Moshe Lander, Dr. Lander’s grandson, was mesayim Masechet Yevamos as a tribute to his grandfather.

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There’s No Greater Gift than the Gift of Giving! this toy drive and everyone’s chessed, we all hope that each and every one of the patients being treated at Maimonides hospital has a refuah shelema. Chazaq is so grateful to have been given this opportunity, and to have been able to share it with all of our community members Thanks to everyone who participated; this toy drive was definitely a successful one! It was the first one, and it definitely won’t be the last. To get involved in future toy drives, please email Info@Chazaq.org.

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In the last few months, the Chazaq organization has given members of the community a chance to take part in a beautiful mitzvah. They held a toy drive, encouraging everyone to give in hopes of making even the smallest difference. This is the first time that they’ve done something like this, and thank G-d they received well over one hundred toys! After much planning, they were able to arrange a meet and greet on Tuesday, January 28th, with the Child Life Specialist at Maimonides hospital, Ms. Kimberly Mason. She was kind enough to give them a tour of the beautiful facility and she introduced them to some of their lovely staff members. Although they weren’t able to meet with the children and personally hand them the toys, it is known that Chazaq’s efforts were not left unnoticed. In the merit of

Technion Institute Comes to Rambam Members of Rambam Mesivta’s Science and Math Institute under the leadership of Mr. Gerald Bass were invited to hear from representatives of the Technion Institute in Israel. They were joined by almost 20 upperclassmen who participated in the Garcia Center Summer Internship Program in Stony Brook as well as members of Rambam’s Audio/ Visual Club and AP Computers class. The Technion Institute STEP is a five week summer program that takes participants on a firsthand journey of

the innovative technological and scientific spirit of Israel. In Israel, they take courses at the Technion which include business strategies, industrial design and robotics, and become creators and developers, within a religious framework and while experiencing some of the amazing opportunities which a summer in Israel affords. A number of Rambam students have expressed interest in the program and were excited to be invited on board.

Seasons Grand Opening Brings Lots of Smiles

Lander College Junior Wins Stock Market Challenge with 28 Percent Return Aaron Benia, a junior at the Lander College for Men (LCM), won the school’s fall semester Stock Market Challenge, his third victory in the last four contests. A psychology major with a minor in marketing management, Benia had an incredible 28 percent return on investments. The bi-annual contest, organized by senior Avraham Weiser and junior Shlomi Landesman, is an opportunity for students at LCM to try their hand at investing like real-time stock traders. Each of the 45 contestants received “$1 million” to invest in any shares available on the New York Stock Exchange (within certain restrictions: contestants cannot purchase penny stocks and a maximum of 20 percent of one’s credit can be invested in one company). “This

competition enables students to apply the sophisticated theories they learn in class to the practical realities of investment,” said to Dr. Moshe Sokol, dean of LCM. A native of Toronto, Benia said his strategy was relatively simple: Each day he would note which stocks were down 15 percent or more and then check out the performance over the prior three months. If it was at the lowest price over that time he would buy. If it continued to fall, he doubled it. It didn’t always work—the one time he didn’t win he lost $80K—but more often than not he’s made a profit. In his two previous victories he finished with very impressive returns in the mid-teens. “It’s a pretty well-known strategy,” he said. “Obviously there’s no easy way

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or some people would [consistently] be making a lot of money on the stock market.” He said that a few of his friends had jokingly accused him of insider trading. Benia said that despite his apparent financial talent he plans to pursue a masters in psychology after he graduates next January. Although he’s tempted to see if his success in the contest would translate to the real market, he said that the pressure of losing actual dollars might take away the fun. “It’s risky with real money. With real money it would consume more of your life.” The Lander College Investment Group, which meets every other week to discuss matters related to the financial world, oversees the contest and has its own entry as well. The members col-

laborate on its investments and should it win, whichever member suggested a stock with the highest return would receive the $100 cash prize. “And the bragging rights. You can’t forget about the bragging rights,” said Weiser. Like Benia, most members of the Investment Club are not finance majors. Weiser said this reinforces one of the goals of the contest, to demonstrate that investing isn’t just for the fast-moving bankers and brokers. “The point is to get rid of the scariness of investing and get people comfortable with the process,” said Weiser, himself a marketing major and the lone investor to unseat Benia in the last four contests. “We want to create an interest in learning about companies and teach people to look at them from a financial point of view.”

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Developing Closeness from “Couple Time” By David Steiner, MD Life has a tendency to get very busy; between work and home, children, parents and in-laws, bills and errands it can seem that there’s no time to stop and breathe. Sometimes, in all the busyness of everyday life and the effort involved in trying to juggle all the different parts of life, the “couple piece” gets left behind. A common result of the couple part of our life not getting enough attention is a feeling of decreased closeness between the couple. One of the most common suggestions that marriage professionals offer couples who are experiencing a decrease in closeness is “date night.” While this is in fact a very powerful and very effective suggestion there is an even easier and more powerful suggestion. The suggestion is to build “couple time” into one’s schedule to ensure that the relationship never experiences a lack of closeness. A couple’s relationship is commonly compared to a plant. While a plant can exist for a long time with minimal atten-

tion, in order to really grow and flourish it needs continued attention and consistent care. When couple time is built into the schedule it ensures that the relationship is getting consistent care and attention that it needs. This results in a relationship that continues to grow and doesn’t stay static or decrease. While “couple time” doesn’t have to be anything big or dramatic, and doesn’t have to cost money or require a lot of effort, it does require consistency. In the beginning, as with any new endeavor, it takes more effort to make it happen. However, as time goes on and it becomes a “fixed” calendar event it will take less time and energy. The Schwartz’s go out to eat every Rosh Chodesh. The Miller’s take a walk every Motzei Shabbos, rain or shine. The Freidman’s drink tea and schmooze together after the kids are sleeping Friday night. The Goldfarb’s learn a sefer together every night for ten minutes. The Cohens’s celebrate the 17th of each month, their monthly wed-

ding anniversary with an ice cream “party” either at home or at the ice cream store (they are up to 149 months). The Fisher’s listen to a shiur-lecture together every Motzei Shabbos Mevarchim. The Berger’s eat a leisurely breakfast together every Sunday morning. Many couples build “couple time” into their calendar. This couple time gives continued freshness and increased closeness to the relationship. It only takes one or two repetitions for a nice “one time occurrence” to become a “fixed calendar date.” Let us try this week to make a commitment to create one “couple custom”

with our spouse. May Hashem grant us the ability to create a calendar that has couple time built in and may our relationship grow and flourish from the continued attention that we give it. Five Towns Marriage Initiative provides educational programs, workshops and referrals to top marriage therapists. FTMI will help offset counseling costs when necessary and also runs an anonymous shalom bayis hotline for the entire community Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 10:0011:00 p.m. For the hotline or more information, call 516-430-5280 or email dsgarry@ msn.com.

SKA Welcomes Eighth Graders Over 120 eighth graders from several metropolitan elementary schools recently got a taste of what their high school experience at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls would be like. On Thursday, January 30, with SKA students serving as welcoming ambassadors, girls from HALB, Shulamith, YCQ, Bnos Malka, HANC and others got a glimpse of some of the highlights the school has to offer along with the warmth and energy it projects. After refreshments, the eighth graders heard from Mrs. Helen Spirn, Head of School, and Ms. Raizi Chechik, principal grades 9-10, followed by student panelists from different grades and varying elementary schools, who answered questions about SKA and discussed their own high school experiences. Ms. Erica Chaimowitz, Admissions Liaison who helped plan the day’s events, personally greeted all the girls she had met during the interview process.

Can you see yourself at SKA? The visitors were placed into various groups and had the opportunity to “spend an

hour at SKA” by attending Tanach, art, math, and dance classes. They even played Panapoly, giving them a chance to meet girls applying from other schools and experience the creative and unique programming SKA has to offer. The hallways thronged with current and hopeful students making their way to their various classrooms. SKA binders filled with SKA paraphernalia were among the souvenirs the eighth graders took home. It was a wonderful way to end a very informative day.

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Shulamith Students Make “Sense” of the Shivat HaMinim

their favorite honey from among these exotic varieties: orange blossom, clover, mesquite, blueberry, and date syrup. The clear winner was blueberry honey, receiving over 70 votes. Date syrup, while very delicious, was an acquired taste. It came in at last place. Fascinating video presentations of how honey is made and how dates are harvested were available for viewing. A sample of a real honeycomb was also at the honey station for the students to inspect. Many of the girls were amazed at how each of the cells is shaped like hexagons. “I didn’t know

bees knew geometry,” said one enthusiastic first grader. Next came the fig investigation. With magnifying lenses, the girls inspected the figs for bugs, which we are happy to report that none were found! They also compared the seeds in size, shape, and color to the seeds of the pomegranate. More popular than grape juice and more fun to make, using rolling pins, the girls pressed the pomegranate seeds to make fresh, squeezed pomegranate juice. Pomegranates, they learned, are high in anti-oxidants. More important, they are delicious to eat. Some of the students even tried to count the seeds to see if there are truly 613. A valiant attempt was made, but most gave up to nibble on the seeds instead. Many students were enlightened to the process of making olive oil by a fantastic video from the show How It’s Made. From the growth of the trees, harvesting and sorting of the olives, to the pressing and bottling of the oil, each step was explained in only five minutes! Oils, including olive oil, play an important role in our health. Aside from giving us soft skin, shiny hair, lubricated joints, fats and oils help keep us warm by insulating our nerves. To prove this, the students tested out a “Blubber Glove.” By placing one hand in a plastic bag “glove” insulated with oil (the Blubber Glove) and the other hand in a plastic bag without insulation into an ice bath, the girls had to predict which one would keep them warmer. They also learned that Arctic animals keep warm with a layer of blubber under their skins.

Devori’s Salon: Event Styling from Head to Toe There’s a new salon coming to town! Right about now you’re all probably itching for some pampering…perhaps a little escape from this freezing, claustrophobic winter. Well, Devori’s salon is opening just in time! Devori Tyrnauer, owner of Devori’s salon, knows all about how important it is for a woman to look and feel her best. Ever since she was little, she loved beauty and fashion and understood that a woman’s desire to look beautiful is not a negative, but rather a way for her to feel her best. And when we feel our best we can be the best we can be. Devori wanted to create a warm and intimate environment for women to es-

cape to; a one stop oasis to take care of every beauty need for every type of woman. Devori’s salon will be the destination for all of your simcha styling needs too. Imagine having all your appointments...wig and hairstyling, manicures, makeup, and more...all booked at one spot. And you get to choose if you want your services done at the salon or a different location of your choice. What sets Devori apart from other stylists is that she uses her creative flair to create unique and artistic one-of-akind hair and wig designs you haven’t seen on everyone else. She will take the time to give you the care you deserve, all in an understanding and fun atmosphere.

Barley, not the egg barley pasta, but the actual grain, was available to taste and smell and touch. The students in grades 3 and 4 learned that when barley, as well as grape juice and flour is mixed with yeast, fermentation takes place. To show how yeast cells give off gas during the process, we had the yeast cells blow up balloons! To highlight the min of chittah, wheat, the girls engaged in the most creative activity – making pasta from scratch.! Assistant teacher and nutrition specialist Sarah Miller and parent volunteers helped the girls mix a little wheat flour, eggs, olive oil and water and presto, pasta! Then they rolled out and cut shapes from the pasta dough. The girls took home fresh pasta that cooks in 3 minutes Often, the Chag HaIlanot is overshadowed by the shivat haminim. Here at Shulamith, we made sure not to forget the importance of the trees. At the fair, the girls were given tree trunk samples to determine how old the tree was and what kind of weather conditions it had during the years. Prior to the event, all

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What do you get when you mix a little science and nutrition education with the Shivat HaMinim and trees? At Shulamith School for Girls Lower Division, teachers and parent volunteers put together an unforgettable Tu B’Shvat total sensory experience. Focusing on science and nutrition, the students in grades 1 - 4 spent time tasting, touching, smelling, seeing, and hearing about the Shivat HaMinim. The students participated in seven separate activity/exhibits,for the minim and trees. Starting with the sense of taste, students sampled and voted for

the classes had science lessons about the purpose of trees in our environment: a shelter for animals, a resource for humans as providers of food, materials, and oxygen, and a necessity to preserve the earth from erosion. To further emphasize and celebrate trees, the classic book, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and the movie, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss were presented to the students. Even though these were familiar stories, they were more meaningful when tied to Tu B’Shevat. So what do you get when you mix science, nutrition education, the shivat haminim and trees? An awesome Tu B’Shevat fair!

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Pesach: Flour-Free and Fabulous By Sharon Beck of Kosher Private Chef Chinese vegetables. Serve it with a little duck sauce and chopsticks to have Asian-themed night at home, just like at the hotels! Crepes are most popular, because they present beautifully as a plated appetizer or main course. Some nice fillings are: shredded bbq beef, creamed spinach, chopped liver or chicken in cream sauce; serve them with mushroom gravy for that elegant touch. We even make crepes for dessert with sautéed peaches, apples and berries; they are heavenly served with ice cream, whipped cream & chocolate sauce! Other tasty ideas for Pesach include pareve eggplant Parmesan made with fried eggplant dipped in potato starch batter and marinara sauce, “breaded” cauliflower coated in Pesach crumbs, zucchini pancakes or portobellos in balsamic garlic sauce. Pesach will be here before you know it! Time to get in the kitchen and experiment. I hope these ideas will inspire you to broaden your menus and try some new dishes. If just thinking about Pesach overwhelms you, please give us a call. We offer luxury hotel dining…with all the comforts of home—enjoying your family around the table, sleeping in your familiar bed, with none of the hassles of shopping, cooking, and cleaning. You can sit back and enjoy the ultimate yom tov gift to yourself. Enter this Pesach relaxed knowing that the entire yom tov is already cooked and ready! Sharon & Jay Beck are the owners of Kosher Private Chef. Together they have been preparing gourmet Pesach menus for over 15 years. Their menus are prepared with the finest ingredients and a homemade touch. They are also available for dinner parties, travel meals, low fat meal replacement & outstanding Shabbos food. Their designated Pesach kitchen is non-gebrokts and under strict hashgacha. Kosher Private Chef delivers throughout the tri-state area, Miami & Orlando vacation rentals, as well as Chicago, LA and many other states. Visit them on the web at: kosherprivatechef.com; ‘like’ them on Facebook to receive updates: https:// www.facebook.com/kosherprivatechef. Enter their Facebook contest today to win for a Seder meal for 10! They can be reached at 917-734-1659 or at info@kosherprivatechef.com. References are available upon request.

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

For many of us, Pesach is a holiday full of delicious foods and decadent desserts. Most resorts offer five course meals, unlimited buffets, round the clock tearooms and poolside dining. For those of us who are not fortunate enough to travel to a deluxe hotel for Pesach, the challenge is creating original and satisfying dishes your family will love, while being able to spend time with your yom tov company. The complaints we hear most often are, “We feel like the meal is missing something” or “There are only so many ways to cook a potato.” So how do we come up with dishes that excite and satisfy with limited ingredients? For those of you who eat matzoh meal (gebrokts), the ideas are limitless. Finely ground matzoh meal can substitute flour in most dishes. I was once in a friend’s kitchen who was cooking for Pesach and out of her oven came a batch of blueberry muffins, followed by a heap of pancakes and even hamburger buns! Didn’t taste like Pesach to me. Cooking free of matzoh meal is a whole other story. Potatoes are an extremely versatile food that can be mashed, baked, fried and boiled. But what to do when you’re potatoed out? One of the “hot” new items used on Pesach is quinoa. It actually grows on a plant in soil. (The bracha is ha’adomah.) It has a wonderful chewy, grainy texture and is very versatile. It can be cooked like a pilaf or served cold in a tasty salad. I like to sauté lots of onions and exotic mushrooms and cook it like farfel or it can be used as a stuffing for poultry and meat. Then there are noodles made out of potato flour available for Pesach. While terrible when eaten plain, with a little creativity you will be shocked at how delicious they taste. Pineapple upside down kugel is a favorite. It’s noodles mixed with lots of brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, vanilla and eggs baked in a pan lined with pineapple slices and cherries. When you flip the kugel, it looks fabulous, as the sugar caramelizes and the pineapple forms a beautiful pattern. I also like sautéed cabbage with onions and bowtie noodles. It tastes even better if you add a little shredded cooked brisket. Believe it or not, we also make Pesach lo mein, made with wide noodles, sliced veal, chicken or beef and sautéed

m i s a s y Be ll

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Around the Community

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Around the Community

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

PHOTO CREDITS: IRA THOMAS CREATIONS

Embarking on the Final Bricks

TAG’s Annual 51st Dinner

EPA Certified

Yisroel Chervony Elisha Brecher, Dinner Chairman, speaking at the event

Rabbi Meyer Weitman, Dean, speaking at the event

Rabbi Boruch Lovett, Director of Development

Rabbi Moshe Weitman z’l Memorial Award presented to Rabbi Yaakov Feitman

The Generations Award was presented to Mr. Alan & Dr. Wendy Gerson

Guest of Honor, Mr. & Mrs. Avrumi Schwartz

Kesser Torah Award, Rabbi & Mrs. Yechezkel & Anat Hartman

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U O Y

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t a h w s This i

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Around the Community OHEL Launches “Devoted Dads” Support Group The problem of divorce in the Jewish world has gained much attention during the past several years. With divorce rates climbing at a significant rate in the Jewish community, there is a good chance you or someone you know needs guidance in the post-divorce world. Various community seminars have addressed numerous divorce-related topics, including the increasing rate of divorce, the possible reasons for it, and potential solutions to an amicable separation. However there is a dearth of services that address the specific needs of the post- divorce, non-residential parent – which for most Jewish divorced families, is the father. OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services is running a new workshop dedicated to meet this need – called “Devoted Dads”. This important parenting workshop for divorced, non-residential

fathers will address the numerous concerns of those in this situation, such as how to enrich the visitation experience, how to stay connected to your own children from a distance and confronting stigma. The workshop will be presented by Dov Wilkes, a therapist at OHEL’s Tikvah Center. Dov says about the event, “This workshop will speak to the specific concerns of non-residential fathers and will provide them with the necessary skills and techniques that they can utilize in their parenting role.” OHEL’s Devoted Dads workshop launches on Wednesday, February 12, in the main OHEL office, located at 4510 16th Ave in Brooklyn. For more information or to register, simply visit www.ohelfamily.org/devoted, or call 800-603-OHEL.

Development Work of More Than $30 Million Begins in Ramat Givat Zeev The development work for the upscale Ramat Givat Zeev neighborhood recently began with an unprecedented investment of more than $30 million. No Israeli neighborhood has ever invested such a sum in development. The tremendous investment is part of the concept of “green neighborhoods” that the developers have declared to be their goal. It is apparent in every corner, from the spacious green parks with thousands of trees, to the landscaped gardens and playgrounds for children, wide roads and walking paths with LED lighting, tennis and basketball courts, and beautiful central squares with large fountains. There is also a rainwater stream that flows at the bottom of the neighborhood. A short trip through the neighborhood makes it obvious that it is an elegant, tranquil place to live. It is no wonder that the authorities have nicknamed Ramat Givat Zeev the “Caesarea of Jerusalem.” Once the authorities signed the plans for the project, the hewing of roads has begun. Indeed, heavy machinery is on site around the clock working on the various aspects of the development. Ramat Givat Zeev is Chish Nofei

Israel’s flagship project; the company is a leader in real estate industry, with a solid record of developing housing solutions for the chareidi sector and specializing the projects to the needs of the target population. The company’s offices report that as building permits have been issued, more than 250 families who have registered to purchase either private homes or apartments are signing their contracts to guarantee their slots in this desirable neighborhood. Chish Nofei Israel emphasizes that the neighborhood is in the midst of the massive development work, and the goal is to begin construction on the private homes in six months time. Real estate agents working on the project report that the high demand among olim from the United States proves that the news of this new neighborhood designed to meet the needs of the American community is being very well-received. More and more people are taking advantage of this opportunity, knowing that this neighborhood is offering everything they are looking for, from comfortable homes and surroundings to a full range of communal facilities.

CAHAL Class in TAG Chumash Siyum

presentation about their commandment using the pizza box. Each team stood

before the class, explained their commandment and showed the class two examples of it in their pizza box. They also composed and presented a paragraph about how Matan Torah changed their lives and the world. One student presented her project beautifully and even adapted a song she learned in mainstream to the topic of Matan Torah. She composed her own lyrics for the song and sang it to the class. The morah and students were all impressed with her creativity and talent. The girls were treated to cupcakes and chocolate milk. The event was heartwarming and demonstrated the special talents of the girls in the CAHAL class at TAG.

Community

Bnot Yaakov of Great Neck’s Edible Maps Miss Wolfson’s third grade decided to not only color code their U.S. maps, but decided to add a little “flavor” to their understanding of American geography! To get a “feel” of the country’s landscape, they chose chocolate chips for the mountain chains, marshmallows for the hills, grains of rice demonstrated the deserts, licorice showed the rivers and they placed jelly fish on either coast to show where the oceans were. In the process, they munched a little and mapped

a little and fortunately, most of the girls ended up with complete assignments but some did have to ask for a second supply of licorice! They implemented their map skills and wrote a “map key” on the bottom so everyone would understand the geographic landforms each item signified. Miss Wolfson wanted to transform their geography lesson from another desk lesson they might forget into a sweet creative activity they’ll always remember!

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The CAHAL 6-7 grade class at Torah Academy for Girls held a beautiful Chumash Siyum on Parshas Yisro. The focus was on the Aseres Hadibros, the Ten Commandments. The girls were paired up, two to each team, and were given one commandment and a pizza box. Their assignment was to make a

NEWS

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LOCAL

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You Gotta be

Riddle!

Kidding!

Mujibar was trying to get a job in India. The personnel manager said, “Mujibar, you have passed all the tests except one. Unless you pass it you cannot qualify for this job.” Mujibar said, “I am ready.” The manager said, “Make a sentence using the words yellow, pink and green.” Mujibar thought for a few minutes and said, “Mister Manager, I am ready.” The manager said, “Go ahead.” Mujibar said, “The telephone goes green, green, green, and I pink it up, and say, ‘Yellow, this is Mujibar.’” Mujibar now works as a technician at a computer company call center. No doubt you have spoken to him.

Tom is connecting phones in his house. He connects a 10-foot wire to two phones in the kitchen. The center of the wire dips down 5 feet from where each side of the wire is connected to the phones. How far are the two phones from each other? Answer on next page

Classic Answering Machine Messages Note to those born after 1990: There used to be a type of phone commonly referred to as a “land line.” If nobody picked up the phone, they would usually have message machines where people could leave messages. When the phone’s owner would get home at the end of the day, he or she would listen to those messages. At times, people thought of clever greetings to leave on their message machines. The following are some samples of such messages:



A is for academics, B is for beer. One of those reasons is why we’re not here. So leave a message.



Hi, this is Danny: If you are the phone company, I already sent the money. If you are my parents, please send money. If you are my financial aid institution, you didn’t lend me enough money. If you are my friends, you owe me money. If you are a calling about a shidduch, don’t worry, I have plenty of money.



Hi, Bob’s answering machine is broken. This is his refrigerator. Please speak very slowly while I write down the message and I’ll stick it to myself with one of these magnets.



Hello, you are talking to a machine. I am capable of receiving messages. My owners do not need siding, windows or a hot tub and their carpets are clean. They give to charity through their office and do not need their picture taken. If you’re still with me, leave your name and number and they will get back to you.



Hi, I’m not home right now but my answering machine is, so you can talk to it instead. Wait for the beep.

If you are a burglar, then we’re probably at home cleaning our weapons right now and can’t come to the phone. Otherwise, we probably aren’t home and it’s safe to leave us a message.



Hello. I am David’s answering machine. What are you?



Hi. I am probably home; I’m just avoiding someone I don’t like. Leave a message and if I don’t call back, it’s you.

63 T H E J E TWh IeSJHe w H Oi sMhE hno m Fe EnB RmUay A RY2 46,, 2012 2014

Telephone Trivia 4. On the busiest day ever recorded for long-distance calls, 431 million calls were placed. (That is 100 million more than the second busiest day in history). What day was that? a. The day Kennedy was killed b. Sept 11th c. D-Day d. Feb. 2, 1980, which was the day that the “Miracle on Ice” took place, during which the U.S. beat the USSR in Olympic hockey

1. Why was the first answering machine invented? a. Because Orthodox Jews were not able to pick up the phone on Shabbos and therefore could miss important calls. b. The inventor owed lots of credit card debt and didn’t want to pick up the phone until he knew who was calling. So he would wait until the person started talking and then would decide whether to pick up or not. c. Because a practical joker realized that answering machine greetings would be a lot of fun. d. Sorry. There is no one here to answer that question right now. Please try again later. 2. Alexander Graham Bell’s notebook entry on March 10, 1876 describes his successful experiment with the telephone. Speaking through the instrument to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in the next room, Bell utters these famous first words: a. “One small call for man, one great communication for mankind.” b. “Thank G-d this day has arrived.” c. “May this be the dawn of a new era of communication.” d. “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” 3. The first cell phone call was made on April 3, 1973 from a mobile phone that weighed two pounds. Who made that call and who did he call? a. An Army engineer called President Richard Nixon to tell him about the great achievement. b. The CEO of Nokia called his wife and told her he was calling from “the backyard.” c. A VP at Motorola called a competitor at Bell Laboratories and told him that he was calling from “the sidewalk.” d. The first cell phone was made in Russia. Russian engineer Vladimir Klashenisky called Borris Tetrikoleshvili. They had both been working on the project and stood on opposite sides of a lake when the call was made.

5. What is the best definition of the word “cell” as it relates to cellular phones? a. A nearby base station b. A radio device c. An electrical current d. Cellulitis Answers: 1. A- In 1935 the answering machine was invented by Willy Müller. It was a three-foot-tall machine. He invented it because he saw that Orthodox Jews couldn’t answer phones on Shabbos and were therefore missing important phone calls. 2. D 3. C 4. B 5. A-A cell phone operates by communicating with a “cell,” which is a nearby base station, which connects it to a large phone network. Wisdom Key: 4-5 correct: You are a modern day Alexander Graham Bell 2-3 correct: You are 2G correct: “There appea[r]s to be a receive[r] off the hook. Please hang up and try your call again.” 0-1 correct: “There appea[r]s to be a receive[r] off the hook. Please hang up and try your call again.”

G ot fu n n y?

Comm Let the ission er dec Send your s tuff

Answer to riddle: The phones are right next to each other, side by side. In order for the 10 foot wire to dip down 5 feet it must dip 5 feet down and 5 feet up, totaling the length of the wire.

ide

o fivetow centerfold@ nsjewis hhome. com

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Cover Story

Bringing Harmony to the Community

Joining Together in Song

“You must always sing. Bring the gift you have to others.” These words of inspiration by the late Rebbetzin Sara Freifeld z’l still have Mrs. Batya Travis singing three decades later. Throughout our history, Jewish women have always turned to song as an expression of their feelings and gratitude. A song is much more than just words; it’s the language of the soul. Serach’s harp, Miriam’s drums, lullabies to soothe and rock our infants to sleep—song has given us a voice to connect with Hashem, to connect with ourselves, to connect with

others. In the Five Towns today, women of all ages join together in song on behalf of a local institution. Harmony is a bi-annual production by women, for women in the Far Rockaway/Five Towns area. The production unites women of all ages, from all schools and hashkafas in a cohesive performance to raise money for a local tzedakah. It is produced under Kol Rayus Production Company; rayus–friendship–and connection are key components of the performance. Started twenty two years ago, almost 500 women and girls will be performing this

February in Lawrence High School.

An Idea Blossoms

Batya Travis of Far Rockaway, NY, is officially the artistic director, but she is much more than that. The production is her brainchild and she is the mastermind behind all that goes on. One of her co-directors calls Batya the “visionary leader for this valuable forum for chessed.” In a recent conversation with TJH, Batya relates that the idea for this type of performance percolated in her mind twenty six years ago. “Everybody

Susan Schwamm

has a voice,” she says. “Some of us had it nurtured.” She credits her parents for nurturing her talent. “The truth is, this production is a celebration of my parents.” For three years, Batya took part in productions run by Penina Klaver and Rochelle Miller and felt that she wanted to produce a show that was both professional and “comfortable” for the performers and audience. Twenty two years ago, in February, she put on her first Harmony show. “This was a shot in the dark. It was never done before but it was embraced by the schools and

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67 School of Jewish Song, Lev Tahor, from the “older” Miami Boys Choir will be performed. Some women in the audience will be taken on a trip down memory lane while others will be introduced to songs they never knew. Some tunes will be upbeat, others will be nostalgic and meaningful. After a five year hiatus, the next Harmony took place and raised money for Yad Yeshaya. “We wanted to support a community organization that works for the community.” And indeed the recipients of Harmony, local organizations such as CAHAL, TOVA, and Camp Extreme, are organizations that span the community and give back to the community.

TOVA—Reaching out to All

This year, just like two years ago, TOVA is the recipient of Harmony’s production. The local organization will receive all proceeds from the performances and TOVA is responsible for certain logistical aspects of the production. For example, ticket sales go through

TOVA, and videos of the production will be sold through them as well. TOVA, Torah-Viable Alternatives, was started seventeen years ago and was run by Andrea Borah. Currently, Yehuda Klinkowitz is the program director of TOVA. I spoke with him in the TOVA offices on Willow Avenue in Cedarhurst. He explained to me that TOVA is a preventative program for the youth in our community. Mentoring is important for many children who need an extra ear and a special role model in their life. “Mentors are there as role models, an extra person in their life. They are not there to take the place of parents or teachers or rebbeim,” he said. The mentoring program spans all the schools in the Far Rockaway/Five Towns community. Currently, nearly 100 children benefit from TOVA’s program and there are 46 mentors who are involved. It seems as if the concept behind Harmony and the idea behind TOVA are in sync with one another. Both Harmony and TOVA reach out to all the different groups in the community; everyone is included and accepted. Additionally, both Harmony and TOVA connect children and adults—Harmony in their performance

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and TOVA in their mentoring program. Batya says that Harmony and TOVA enjoy a wonderful partnership. She points out that both of them have similar missions: to work with children to help them excel. She says that she sees the unbelievable value that TOVA offers the community. Personally, Batya has witnessed the importance of mentoring and how it can help a child. She remembers her father who owned a grocery in Virginia. He had a 12-year-old black girl, Ruby, working for him in the store. Batya recalls that her father made a deal with his young worker: if she stays in school, he’ll teach her all about the grocery business. Ruby stayed in school throughout high school and even ended up in college after she stopped working for Batya’s father because of his encouragement. Amazingly, our world is very small and one day when Batya’s mother had to go into a local office, she met Ruby once again, this time working as an office manager. It was even from that young age that Batya saw the value in mentoring and encouraging the younger generation. Mentoring brings out a special pride and helps children believe in themselves.

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the women in the community.” The proceeds of the show went to raise money for a local mikveh. Batya explains that she wanted to bring all different types of music to the performance. Her parents, she recalls, would provide them with music from so many sources and she feels that we can benefit from listening to the many genres available. Indeed, this year, some of the songs that will be sung will be old and some will be new. Of the many songs in the production, songs from Yigal Salik and London

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77 Selling Out

Ticket sales this year were unprecedented. The first show’s seats were completely sold out within ten days of being on the market. Each performance takes place before 800 audience members. It’s almost unknown to have a performance in the Orthodox community sold out in less than two weeks. Keep in mind that this event is for women and girls only. That means that only half the community has the opportunity to watch the performance and yet they are signing up in droves, eager to participate. Richard Altabe, executive director at TOVA, explained that so many children and people from all schools in the community are participating. The community is eager to join in their performance to witness the achdus amongst all those women. So much work goes into the production and the professionalism is evident to the audience. Yehuda Klinkowitz mentioned that even in the summer people were asking him about Harmony and wonder-

ing about the performance this year. “There’s so much ‘hype’ in the community about Harmony,” he explains. “One father told me in June that his daughters had already started practicing for tryouts.” Additionally, the ticket ordering process has become more streamlined due mainly in part to TOVA’s new website. With just a few clicks, tickets can be bought for any performance in almost no time.

An Energy of Achdus

I spoke with Mrs. Ricki Molinsky, the technical director of Harmony, and asked her about what she feels sets this year’s performance apart from others years. “It’s the energy,” she said. “The excitement and desire of the performers to participate and use their kochos for a worthy tzedaka is breathtaking.” Hundreds of children came to tryouts and vied for the opportunity to spend

so much of their time for a good cause. “It’s not easy,” Ricki says, “the effort involved, the rehearsals, the challenge of balancing practice with schoolwork… And yet, each of these girls—from a range of so many schools in the neighborhood—are eager to use their talents and their time for this worthy organization.” The truth is, Harmony is about connection and unity across ages, hashkafas, and communities. Every person has a talent, whether it’s with song or dance, or with organization or writing. In order to produce a performance of this magnitude, everyone is needed. One sings, one dances, one sews costumes, one organizes performances, one watches the performance. Yes, the audience is a big component of the production as well. They are not just coming to be entertained. Those who come to watch the performance are giving the performers a conduit to express their talents. They are also coming to support a very important tzedaka in our community. Even with hundreds of individuals involved, the message of Harmony is one of unity and it clearly showcases the power of many joining together as one. A choir with over eighty singers sings a song that moves the soul; a dance, performed by many, brings out one powerful message. In this year’s performance song and dance are melded together in a unique way. During one dance, a group of singers will be singing on stage as the dancers interpret their song.

Girls and Women Together

The production is essentially divided into two components—the girls’ and women’s divisions respectively. Elementary school-age girls, from 3rd grade and up, are eligible to audition. They can be placed in the choir, dance or ensemble. This year, there are almost 400 girls in the production, a huge jump from last performance. Because so many wanted to be involved, there are three children dances as opposed to the usual two. Being in the production is fun, but it is hard work and requires commitment. Girls have to show up at practice every week, and as production

gets closer, practices take place a few times a week. When I spoke with one of the heads of dance, she mentioned how excited she was for this year’s performance. The girls in her dance are from a wide range of schools, yet, “everyone is so friendly. There is a wonderful connection between the performers,” she related. They are working together despite their external differences and uniting for a great cause. Friendships are born and the unity between them is apparent. The girls see themselves as part of something bigger; there is a spirit of using their talents for the greater good. There are around 100 women in the production—most of them are in the choir. For a woman who has a family to be in the production is a huge commitment—on her behalf and on the behalf of her children and spouse. Ricki says that being in the production generates a different type of harmony, a special shalom bayis. When mommy joins the performance, husband and kids take over some of the responsibilities of running the household. It shows the woman of the home that her talents are appreciated and recognized by her family. Even so, there should be no compromise for the greater good. A woman’s responsibility is to her family. But if she is supported by her family, and her family shows her that they value her talents and her outlet of expression, a special unity is developed. Batya says that throughout all the years she has worked on the production she was able to dedicate so much time to the event because of her devoted husband and children. Her husband understood the enormity of the task and appreciated the effort it entailed. Her children were also supportive throughout the years and in fact, her daughter, Rivka, who was always very enthusiastic, has taken on the role this year of assisting Karen Daitchman, the choir director. Mrs. Shelley Winkler is the production manager. She oversees all the logistics of the production. It’s a huge task to keep track of all the performers, practices and pieces of the production. One of Shelley’s responsibilities is to accompany the “Rebbetzin Committee” that oversees the production. This group, which includes Rebbetzin Fai-

gie Horowitz, Rebbetzin Brown, Rebbetzin Feiner, and Mrs. Debbie Greenblatt, shows up at practices to ensure that the moves and nuances within the performance are within tziniusdik guidelines. Even though the performance is by women, for women, there is a tzinius that one must have in how one acts and performs. In accordance with the theme of Harmony, this ensures that everyone, from every background, feels comfortable with the performance. For over twenty years, Harmony has been unifying women and girls with the ultimate goal of uniting the community with song and dance. Song and dance are expressions of communication that transcend the written word. Because everyone is unique, each person senses a different lesson and message from what they see and hear. But ultimately, the message for all of us is the same: it is a message of friendship, of connection and of Harmony. There will be three Harmony performances: Motzei Shabbos, February 15th at 8pm, Sunday night, February 16th at 7pm, and Motzei Shabbos, February 22nd at 8pm. Performances will take place at Lawrence High School, 2 Reilly Road, Cedarhurst, NY. Tickets can be purchased online at www.tovamentoring.org, through email at harmony@tovamentoring.com, or by phone at 888-718-4253.

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New in North Woodmere

The

North Woodmere Morning Kollel

Save the Date! Sunday Night, March 30th, 2014

The Big

Invites men of all ages to join us for the daily Early Morning Learning Seder and Shachris Minyan

New! Sunday Morning Learning Program 7:30 am

Inyanei Teffila by Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Halpern 8:00 am

Lavish

Schachris

will be

Shiur by Rabbi Yisroel Hirsch Inyanei Bein Adam L’Chaveiro

Breakfast

Event II

8:45 am

Served

Mon. – Fri.

Learning

6:00 am –7:00 am

At Congregation Ohr Torah 410 Hungry Harbor Road

Chavrusa learning And shiurim available

Schachris 7:00 am

For more information please call Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Halpern at 347-415-6686

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71 R’ Ben Tzion Shafier

Parshas Tetzaveh

A Diamond with a Flaw

Moshe was commanded to make garments for the Kohanim. Included in these was the ephod, a piece of clothing similar to an apron, with two shoulder straps on top holding the avnei shoham, gold settings that contained precious stones. Hashem told Moshe to engrave the names of the twelve shvatim (tribes) onto these stones as a remembrance. Rashi explains that this was so that the memory of Reuvain, Shimon, Levi, etc. would be invoked when the Kohain Gadol did the avodah, and Hashem would then remember their righteousness. This Rashi seems to be difficult to understand. The avodah (service) of the Kohain Gadol is vital and highly sensitive; the world’s very existence depends upon it. As a result, there are many items that are avoided in the avodah so as not to bring up even the faintest memories of sin. While there is no question that the shvatim were men of extraordinary greatness, that greatness was also taint-

ed with the sin of selling their brother. Didn’t that sin permanently affect who they were? Shouldn’t that be reason enough not to mention their names in such a critical situation? Every Diamond has a Flaw The answer to this is based on an issue of perspective. Imagine that there are two large diamonds in front of you, one a beautifully cut jewel with a minor flaw, and the other the same as the first, but flawless – a perfect diamond. If we were to ask a diamond expert to appraise the two, there is no doubt that he would tell us that the difference between them is huge. He would say that the diamond with the minor flaw is worth a fortune while the

completely flawless diamond is almost worthless — because it is a fake. One of

but I’m no tzaddik. I’ve also done plenty wrong, and I can’t even say that I did te-

less. While the blemishes will be there, so too will the shining brilliance of a jewel. One doesn’t cancel out the other. The flaw isn’t eliminated, nor is the brilliance eradicated. Both are there. I will be a diamond with a flaw. My work now, as long as I have time left, is to improve the quality of the diamond and to eliminate its faults. By learning Torah, doing mitzvos, and working on my middos, I change the weight, color, and clarity of the stone. Who I will be for eternity is in my hands. If I focus my attention and energies on growth, my reward will be perfection more valuable than the finest diamonds ever mined.

MAN HAS TO BE TEMPTED TO CHOOSE EITHER GOOD OR BAD AND BE GIVEN THE ABILITY TO MAKE MISTAKES. the signs that a diamond is real is that it has a flaw. While it may be a very minor imperfection and almost unnoticeable, all genuine diamonds have flaws. The only perfect diamonds are made of cubic zirconium and are costume jewelry. When Hashem formed man, it was not for him to be perfect. Perfection rests in the realm of the malachim. A malach will spend its entire existence without sin. Malachim are perfect. But malachim aren’t man. Man and man alone was given the unique opportunity in all of Creation: to determine his destiny, either becoming the greatest of all, or sinking below the animals. To allow man to create who he would be for eternity, Hashem gave him free will. However, free will doesn’t mean the theoretical ability to choose; it means being put into situations where either choice is viable and either option is real. Man has to be challenged. To allow for that, man has to be tempted to choose either good or bad and be given the ability to make mistakes. Every man has and every man will make mistakes. Some are large, and some are small, but the idea of man living without sin isn’t part of the picture. The answer to the question on Rashi seems to be that the shvatim were in fact men of unimaginable greatness, but they also had flaws and sinned. Each would be compared to a 200-carat diamond – with an imperfection. They were huge, beautiful diamonds, with flaws. When viewing a diamond, you don’t see the flaw. To perceive it, you need to look through a jeweler’s loupe that magnifies the stone by a power of ten times or more. Only via direct scrutiny does the flaw become noticeable. It is always present, but the eye doesn’t see it. All the eye sees is glimmer and reflected light in an object of extreme beauty. This concept has great relevance to us. People often wonder, “What will it be like for me in the World to Come? I’ve done many good things in my life,

shuvah for everything.” =“For eternity, I will be exactly what I made myself into. So what kind of Olam Habbah am I going to have? Forever I will walk around with my faults permanently part of me. How will I ever enjoy eternity when I am sullied – This Chazal tells us that our imperfections are what they are, and unless we remove them with the process of teshuvah, they will be on our permanent record. However, all that means is that I will have flaws, like a diamond. Maybe I’ll be a two-carat diamond, maybe a four-carat – but a precious gem nonethe-

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“You shall place both stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, remembrance stones for the Children of Israel.” -Shemos 28:12

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Rabbi's Musings [& Amusings]

Rabbi Dani Staum

Silence: Twice as Valuable

here is an old rule in education that you have to choose your battles. If we want to have any chance that our words will have an effect on our children without them immediately tuning us out we cannot afford to make a big deal out of every little thing our children do. Rabbi Mordechai Finkleman, Mashgiach in Yeshiva Ohr Hachaim in Queens, often relates that to be a

successful and efficacious counselor/ rebbe/parent, etc. sometimes you have to be able to “not see/hear.” Of course an educator must be wise enough to know when he/she must intervene. But there are many situations when disciplining a child will end up having a severe backlash, and saying something to the child will be ineffective. At times such as those it is best for the educator to pretend that he did not notice what happened.

There were many times over the years when I have employed the wisdom of “hear no evil/see no evil,” and it is indeed an invaluable piece of advice. Last year while preparing a shiur for Shavuos evening, I found a source for this idea in a responsa of the Noda B’Yehuda. At the end of a letter regarding a certain matter, the Noda B’Yehuda (Oh’c, Tinyana, 24) concluded that he was aware that his halachic ruling was not being upheld. He wrote, “And I hide my eyes from this [practice] because it is better that they should be considered inadvertent [transgressors], than malicious.” As parents and teachers we often do not realize just how critical we are of our children. Although children (by definition) require constant guidance and education, if we pick on every little thing they do wrong they will feel that they are under attack. Consequentially, they will only listen to our tirades with half an ear at best. For example, eating dinner together as a family is incredibly important, and studies show that it has a very important effect on the family unit and on a child’s sense of belonging. But we have to ensure that the dinner table does not become a battleground replete with orders and shouting. Recently a father told me that he came to the realization that he and his wife were being too critical at the dinner table. He said that he and his wife sat down to discuss which behaviors they would be particular about and which other ones they would overlook. He reported that although it was/is hard for him to bite his tongue, since he has begun doing so his dinner table has a more pleasant atmosphere. The gemara in Megilla (18a) quotes a sagacious expression, “If a word is worth one coin, silence is worth two.” Many times despite our best intentions we would be wise to remain silent. As we all know, how often do we have to use a lot more words to rectify the damage caused by a few quick witted words said without forethought?!

Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW, is the Rabbi of Kehillat New Hempstead, and Guidance Counselor/Rebbe at Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch & Ashar in Monsey, NY. He is the author of Stam Torah and can be reached at stamtorah@gmail.com. His website is www. stamtorah.info.

73 Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz

The Driving Test

by hitting the gas? There’s no way of knowing what your license examiner will want to see. Well, today I’m talking about a driving test I had recently. One morning, I got a text message from a single mom I know. She doesn’t have much family in the area and she doesn’t have a car. “My daughter missed the bus and I really need a ride for her. Can you help?” Ouch. As much as I wanted to help, I hadn’t even davened yet, and would not be done at shul for over an hour. My father had just discussed with me that it’s OK to say no when you really can’t do something, so I texted her back that I apologized but couldn’t help. But then, as I was getting dressed, a thought kept playing in my mind. I had recently listened to a shiur which touched on the topic of widows and

orphans. R’ Moshe Meir Weiss pointed out that the woman’s husband need not be deceased for her to be a widow. If she’s divorced or if her husband is uncaring or abusive, she’s like a living almana. As long as she doesn’t have someone to turn to, she’s like a widow.

texted me and I was finally able to tell her, “Just call this number; your ride has been arranged.” I was so glad that I had found a solution for her. That’s why her response through me for a loop. “Thanks anyway. Someone just

IN A SENSE, IT WAS A DRIVING TEST TO SEE WHAT MOTIVATES ME AND WHAT I’D BE DRIVEN TO DO TO HELP ANOTHER JEW.

The same goes for kids. If they can’t speak to their parents or count on them for support and encouragement, they are like orphans. I toyed with the idea of driving the child to school instead of going to shul. I tried to estimate how long it would take me and if I could find a different minyan afterwards. Then I hit upon an idea. I texted Raphi Ziegler, a friend in Monsey who runs Emunah Car Service. I asked him how much it would cost to take the girl from her home to school and he gave me a price. I asked if they could take her and I would pay for it. He explained that his drivers would not lay out the money for someone as they are independent drivers who work for themselves. I laid out the facts – single mom, no car, kid missing school, and I offered to bring the money to his office. A few moments later he replied, “No problem. I arranged it; all she has to do is call us.” Excitedly, I texted the woman that I had a ride for her daughter and she just had to call Emunah. She replied by saying that she had a ride to take her to a doctor’s appointment and had given that up to drive her daughter to school. Now she needed to get to the doctor’s office herself. Reeling from the change of plans, I texted Raphi again with the update. “No worries,” he replied. “I’ll alert the dispatcher.” By now, thirty-five minutes had elapsed since the woman first

offered me a ride in five minutes.” What??? I was going to skip shul to drive her kid; then I was going to pay a car service to take her. Then I took advantage of a friendship to change the destination and now she didn’t even need my help?! The truth hit me like a Mack truck. I was never supposed to drive her child, and Hashem never intended me to actually have a car service get her. It was a test to see if I’d be willing to help her. In a sense, it was a driving test to see what motivates me and what I’d be driven to do to help another Jew. It was a test of my putting into practice what I’d learnt, and I hope that I passed the test. (It’s still tricky because even though I know generally what the Examiner wanted to see, I can’t be 100% sure in the specific moment.) I recall a story of a Rav who was asked a shaila about a business deal that seemed fishy. He told the fellow

that it did not seem proper, and the man had to grapple with himself a while before he decided to give up a large potential windfall and do the right thing. A few weeks later, he came to the Rav to tell him the deal had fallen through. Not because he dropped out, but because the whole thing would never have been able to get off the ground. In essence, the Rav pointed out, the whole deal was orchestrated to test this man’s mettle, and he passed. Sometimes in life we have situations which come about and for one reason or another, things don’t work out as we imagined. We could think of these as failures. Better yet, though, we can view the matter as a test, and reflect on whether we think we’ve passed, or need to go back and study again. The nice thing about this Examiner, however, is that He gave us a Book that has all the answers. We just need to follow it.

Jonathan Gewirtz is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications around the world. He also operates JewishSpeechWriter.com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion. For more information, or to sign up for or sponsor the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF Dvar Torah in English, e-mail info@JewishSpeechWriter.com and put Subscribe or Sponsor in the subject. © 2014 by Jonathan Gewirtz. All rights reserved.

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o you remember when you got your driver’s license? Maybe you knew all the road signs, you’d taken practice written tests, and you were pretty sure you would do well on the written part. What was nerve-wracking was the actual driving part. You’d be driving with someone you probably never met before, had no idea what temperament he might have or what he would ask you to do. Would you get lucky and just have to do a K-turn in a parking lot or would you have to parallel park on a crowded street? Would he deduct points if you moved your hands from the wheel or perhaps had them at 3 and 9 instead of 10 and 2? What about when you have to pull into traffic and you’re not sure whether it’s better to wait for five minutes until there are no cars coming or if you should try to pull out quickly

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Forgotten Heroes Jews During the Texas Revolution

he military history of Jews in the American military dates back to the Revolutionary War (17751787). There have been other conflicts on North American soil that involve patriots and other heroes fighting for a cause. The Texas Revolution against Mexico in 1835-1836 was the struggle for Texas to gain independence. Eventually, Texas was annexed by the U.S. and the conflict culminated in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). There were several Jewish men fighting for

The Alamo today

Texan independence including heroes at the Alamo and a surgeon who joined the revolutionaries at a critical time. Mexico was originally a Spanish colony and gained independence in 1821. Texas was part of the new country but many of the settlers resented sovereignty to Mexico. They were white and from English-speaking areas and wanted nothing to do with another country. Mexico had many problems of its own, mainly Native Americans attacking civilians and the fact that the war against Spain made them poor. The country was so poor that it couldn’t afford a big 

Avi Heiligman

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army and therefore many militias were formed. The sparsely populated Texas was soon populated by American-born settlers who were ignoring laws that were set by Mexico to stop immigration to Mexico. (Yes, there was a time when Americans wanted to immigrate to Mexico!) But then Mexico outlawed slavery and imposed tariffs and taxes on American goods. Before long, many Texans, who were outraged by laws making slavery illegal, began forming militias to not just fight Indians but to break off from Mexico altogether. This uprising was called the Texas Revolution and the most famous battle was at the Alamo. At the start of the uprising, the call went out for recruits in the region and several volunteer regiments were raised. A Jewish surgeon, Dr. Albert Levy, joined the New Orleans Grays which joined other units at the siege of the Mexican fort, the San Antonio De Bexar. The defenders had very little ammunition, food and the morale was low but the presence of the surgeon helped. He was praised for his actions in December 1835 by one of the Texan commanders. Levy joined the Texas Navy a year later, and his ship was captured by two Mexican warships but he managed to escape. After Bexar, the Mexicans surrendered, and about 300 Texans prepared to take the fight over the Rio Grande River into Mexico. A hundred men were left at the Alamo and nothing became of the expedition. The Texans were finally free

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

  

of Mexican rule and created their own San Jacinto River on April 20. After miconstitution with Henry Smith as gov- nor skirmishes on the first day of the baternor and Sam Houston as command- tle, the Mexicans were reinforced on the er of the regular army. Stephan Austin second day and had about 1,200 men. They were exhausted was the commander of from prolonged marches the revolutionaries but and were meeting a Texstepped down as the siege an Army that was out for at Bexar was winding revenge. In eighteen mindown. However, the war utes, all of the Mexican was far from over as the warriors were killed and Mexicans prepared 6,000 captured with the loss of soldiers to go to San Annine Texans. Finally, the tonio under General Santa superior training of the Anna. Texans paid off, and Santa 1,500 Mexican were Anna was captured. sent to reoccupy Bexar After the battle, there and the rest surrounded was a prisoner exchange the Alamo for a thirteen Dr. Albert Levy, a Jewish and the Mexicans promday siege. A few skirsurgeon who joined the fight ised never again to fight mishes led the way to the the Texans. Texas finally full scale battle on March 6, 1836. All of the estimated 176 Texans had its independence and the settlers were killed in the heroic stand that would were able to go back to their farms in make Texas famous. Frontiersmen like peace. Despite the treaty, there were Sam Bowie, William Travis and Davie clashes between the two countries until Crockett gave their lives in order to save the Mexican-American War in 1846. Texas from the invaders. A French Jew, Texans (and Americans for that matLouis Moses Rose, is believed to have ter) always love war heroes, and Sam been the only survivor having left the Houston was elected president twice. Alamo three days prior to the battle. His The country of Texas was short-lived as presence during the siege is debated by they were annexed by the U.S. who sent historians. There have been reports that say up to four Jews were at the Alamo on March 6, but only one has been accepted to actually have been there and was one of the last to be killed. A young Englishman, Private Anthony Wolf, was one in a small group of men to have been captured but A painting of the Battle of the Alamo was supposedly executed on Santa Anna’s orders. Over 500 Mexicans were killed but San- troops to fight in the Mexican American ta Anna continued his invasion into Tex- War. There has always been a Jewish popas and on to his objective of defeating ulation in Texas and when their country the Texan Army. Subsequently, the Mexicans split asked them to pick up arms they did so into three groups and several battles valiantly. The efforts of men like Dr. Alwere fought, including the surrender bert Levy and Anthony Wolf will stand of 342 Texans at Goliad. Under Santa as a testament to the rest of Texas who Anna’s orders, all of the Texans were won independence from Mexico. There massacred and the hatred for the Mex- is an Albert Levy Memorial Day to honican invaders ran deep. However, Hous- or the Jews that fought in the Texas Revton’s army was small and for a month olution. they were on the run. On the other hand, even though he had the larger army, San- Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The ta Anna was terrible strategist and had Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments no clue where the Texans were camped. and suggestions.for future columns and can Finally, Houston met Santa Anna at the be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

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Cover Story

The Jewish Mom in the Corner Offce Exploring FEmalE EntrEprEnEurship in thE orthodox World

by Sara Glaz

any Orthodox Jewish women begin their adult life working—whether it’s in an office, law firm, school, or even out of their home. Sometimes the income is a necessity, while other times it’s “extra” and simply creates a little more breathing room for the couple. Yet, as the family grows, holding down a full-time job—even the most lucrative—can become all but impossible for many women. This predicament has led an overwhelming amount of frum women to go down the path of entrepreneurship—running their own business, whether with an informal babysitting group or tutoring or a formal company like that of well-known entrepreneur and Orthodox woman, Talia Mashiach, founder and CEO of Eved, a web-based platform which connects buyers and suppliers in the meeting and event industry. While the excitement of entrepreneurship can be

Sarah Lipman, founder and CTO of Power2B, and mother of seven

a big draw for many women, the main benefit is simply the flexibility it offers with family-life while simultaneously allowing women to still make a decent income. Profiles of Female Entrepreneurs Let’s take a look at three successful frum women entrepreneurs, their journeys into business ownership, as well as their struggles and advice for others. Initially, Hinda Mizrahi, local Long Beach resident, found fulfillment in her finance career. After completing her MBA, Hinda spent many years in the world of finance, which included working for a bank as well as a hedge fund. When her position required her to travel to China for eight weeks which would mean a huge disruption to her then-6-year-old’s life, she realized that it was time to start looking for another career path. This led her to open two Koko FitClubs in the area. Ultimately, she loved the idea and challenge of running her own business, as well as helping improve peoples’ lives at the same time. Unlike Hinda, Suzannah Raff’s adventure into entrepreneurship was a more natural progression. A former Five Towns resident now residing in Monsey, Suzannah found a common denominator between her seemingly unrelated college degrees in business and social work. After taking some time off to raise a family after getting her degrees, she decided to jump back into the professional world. Her first stop: networking events. She found that many people who called themselves “business coaches” at these events weren’t so qualified. In fact, she realized that she had so much more background and experience than the business coaches she met. As a business coach, she reasoned, she would be able to utilize her business degree, as well as her background in social work which gave her strong communication, problem-solving and people skills. So she decided to “hang up a shingle,” create a top-notch website and began marketing herself as a business coach specializing in small businesses under

the company name, Raff Business Consulting, LLC. As the founder and owner of Raff Business Consulting, she was able to do what she loved and was talented at helping small business owners define their strategy and marketing plan, organize and streamline their business processes, as well as advise, guide and help make businesses more successful. Think that a frum woman can’t be the next tech genius like Steve Jobs? Think again. Meet Sarah Lipman, founder and CTO of Power2B, Inc., a 3D touchscreen technology company. The initial idea of Power2B, Inc. came to Sarah and her company in 2002, when they realized that “if this Palm could see me coming, it could bring me the options I want a lot faster.” They quickly came to the conclusion that the future of computers was that they would be able to see and read body language and intention, just like people do. Managing the Family/ Work Balance While entrepreneurship allows frum women the flexibility to attend to their family, it also creates a tricky situation: how to optimally balance family commitments and needs with those of their work. All three entrepreneurs mentioned above had to manage this balance and sometimes find innovative ways to make the balance best for both worlds. According to Hinda, “Family comes first, but sacrifices ultimately happen on both sides. It’s just impossible to have it all.” However, what has helped lead to her success is “having a strong support system” with her parents being nearby in case she needs a few extra hands at home. When Suzannah confronted the family/work challenge, she discovered an easy solution that also fit with her business schedule: she went tech-free from when her kids came home from school until it was their bedtime, which was basically 4 to 8pm. During this time every day, she powers-down her computer, puts her cell phone away, and focuses on her family.

likE all good things, it takEs a lot oF hard Work and Will bE both hardEr and morE WondErFul than you ExpEct it to bE.

backgrounds— including women from Kiryas Joel, the Five Towns, Teaneck, Monsey, Brooklyn, just to name a few. As the JWE continues to expand, city chapters are popping up around the country. Within their local chapters, JWE members have the opportunity to meet in small groups and help each other tackle problems and challenges relating to their businesses.

Bringing Entrepreneurship to Orthodox Women Chaya Appel-Fishman (daughter-in-law of Five Towns resident Yale Fishman) discovered her own entrepreneurial talent in high school. Growing up in Cleveland, she noticed a host of teen girls with nothing to do in the summer—sleep-away summer camps were out of the question for financial reasons, and backyard camps were more geared towards younger girls. She used this opportunity to create Appel Adventures LLC, a fully licensed summer camp for preteens girls. With a yellow legal pad to take notes and a budget of “more money than I’d ever seen,” she rented part of the local university’s campus, employed an accountant and attorney, and paid insurance—everything a business owner would need to do. Yet, even still a high school student herself, Chaya recalls, “Older women started reaching out to me, asking me how I did it. I realized that if they were coming to me—a kid—for guidance, then there was a need for a network of frum women business owners.” And thus, the idea for The Jewish Woman Entrepreneur (“the JWE”) was born. While many business networks and resources exist, none do what the JWE set out to do: support Jewish women. The goal of the JWE is to promote financial stability by providing business education, individualized mentoring, and skills training which reflect the needs of Jewish businesswomen. In order to fulfill their goal, the JWE offers educational resources, including various webinars throughout the month and other opportunities for all different levels of entrepreneurs—from those who have an idea and need help launching it, to the intermediate entrepreneur who wants to bring better and bigger success to their company, to even the most advanced CEO. One of the most influential aspects of the JWE is the mentor program which pairs women up by their family type and industry. According to Chaya, “We try to match women up with the least amount of nuances as possible.” The mentor and mentee are encouraged to meet either in-person, through Skype or via e-mail. Recently, the JWE was proud to host the first ever Jewish women entrepreneurship conference. Hosted out of the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in May 2013, 300 women gathered for a full day of workshops, networking, and influential speakers including Talia Mashiach, CEO of Eved, and Saki Dodelson, Lakewood kollel wife and CEO of Acheive 3000. The conference brought Jewish women of all

My Daughter, the Businesswoman Interested in raising a female entrepreneur? One of the main things to keep in mind is how you talk to your budding businesswoman. Everyone from Chaya Appel-Fishman to Sarah Lipman to Hinda Mizrahi all said the same thing— they had their parents’ encouragement and support from a young age. Ultimately, this gave them the confidence they needed to be successful businesswomen. But what else can parents do (or not do!) to create future entrepreneurs? According to Mary Mazzio in “The Secret to Raising Entrepreneurial Kids” (Forbes, 2012), make room for inspiration. “When a kid comes to you and says ‘I’m bored,’ that’s not the time to jump in the car and drive to Toys ‘R Us. They have to think of ways to entertain themselves. In the process, kids will learn how to solve their own problems and take initiative—traits every entrepreneur needs.” Additionally, allow your kids to fail and then teach them how to learn from their failures. Most entrepreneurs know that failure is just a part of the game. However, what makes someone successful is being able to turn those negative experiences into learning moments. In fact, according to Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and perhaps the most famous cartoonist of all-time, “Failure is where success likes to hide in plain sight. Everything you want out of life is in that huge, bubbling vat of failure. The trick is to get the good stuff out.” Thinking of Starting a Business? While Suzannah believes that entrepreneurship is a great option for frum women because it offers flexibility and a degree of autonomy, it also behooves women to be cautious about running their own business. Business owners can often find themselves working for a few months, if not a few years, without making a substantial income. Her advice? Do your research, know your product, know what you’re doing, and be careful not to get taken advantage of. Sarah also offers a degree of caution. “Starting a company is a huge commitment. Like all good things, it takes a lot of hard work and will be both harder and more wonderful than you expect it to be. Only do it if you love what you’re doing—there is no other way to make it work.” She adds, “It’s really important to have great advisors, coaches and outstanding partners who are in it for the long run — they provide the balanced view you need, and keep things moving forward. Generally, I think teamwork is a lot more productive

most EntrEprEnEurs knoW that FailurE is just a part oF thE gamE.

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Networking at the Jewish Women Entrepreneur event last year

(and more fun!) than trying to do everything on your own. Sharing success with others is a lot better than having the whole thing to yourself.” Whether you have a great idea blooming in your head or a strong desire to “be your own boss,” entrepreneurship can be both highly rewarding and sometimes quite risky. However, as Sarah Lipman pointed out, “It’s not necessarily about the destination, but the process. Entrepreneurship is about the work, the people, the growth, the excitement, the challenge, the vision and ultimately, the lessons you learn along the way.” For more information about the JWE or in joining the local Far Rockaway/Five Towns or Queens chapters, go to www.thejwe.com. Suzannah Raff can be contacted via her website at www.raffbusiness.com. Small business owners, freelancers, and sales professionals can currently take advantage of her webinars that are free until Pesach.

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For Sarah, her business required her to do extensive world traveling. Her solution: bring the baby along. For three years, Sarah traveled almost constantly with a baby in tow (and sometimes, a babysitter, too). In fact, her youngest daughter had been in nine countries by the time she was nine-months-old, many of them twice! Ultimately, now that all her children are in school, it’s much easier for her to work during the day and be home for her children in the evenings.

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1 WEEK SUIT SALE, ENDS 2/14/14

456 Central Ave., Cedarhurst, NY 11516 (516) 791-1925 Sun: 11-6 | Mon-Thurs: 11-7 | Fri: 10-1

THE JEWISH HOME n F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

TJH Staff

What is a Marriage and Family Therapist?

Are you Sick? You Don’t Look Sick to Me The field of psychology sprang up as a need for identifying people going to war who would develop “battle neurosis.” Psychology is based on the same model of looking at people as medicine. It’s called the medical model; that’s why psychologists call the people who come requesting help from them “patients” the way medical doctors do. In the 20th century, the field of psychology developed fascinating and complex texts to measure personality problems of all sorts. If you want testing, see a psychologist. Even when not testing, psychologists think in terms of “What is the diagnosis for this person?” When they refer to diagnosis, they are talking about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, now going into its fifth incarnation. Psychologists think of the patients that come to see them as having some sort of mental problem. That is not how Marriage and Family Therapists think. The field of Marriage and Family Therapy arose out of anthropology. Gregory Bateson and his wife, Margret Meade, went to the Pacific islands studying the cultures of the inhabitants. Naturally, when you are totally out of your own element, you don’t think, “What’s wrong with these people?” Rather, you think, “How can I understand these people?” Bateson realized that the approach he was using in his research on foreign soil was very fitting for trying to understand American people, too. But – here comes the second difference between the two fields – once your lens is the culture of the people, you are no longer

looking inside them. Our Environments Shape Us The Wall Street Journal recently had an interesting column by a scientist who suggested we get rid of the nature vs. nurture argument. Her logic was that nature and nurture are so deeply affected by one another that it is impossible to tease apart which has the greater influence on the outcome. So, for example, there is a relatively new field called epigenetics which explains how the environment can turn off or on the action of genes – and once that happens, the result can be inherited. That’s pretty amazing. We can say, roughly, that when it comes to human behavior and emotions, the field of Marriage and Family Therapy also has abandoned the nature vs. nurture argument. It recognizes that there is something inborn that is unique to each person but whatever that something is is also shaped by the environment in which we find ourselves. So, for example, a person might be a famous celebrity who has fans screaming for him. But when he goes home to his parents, he’s just their child. He’s not famous anymore. In fact, it could be that they aren’t even nice or appreciative of him. And he becomes different when he’s with them. MFTs therefore recognize the powerful role of the environment outside of us to make us who we are. To MFTs, it is not helpful to look at the person and pin a diagnosis on them. That diagnosis doesn’t take into account the circumstances that led up to the behavior. Psychologists would argue that people do have a certain consistency from one environment to the next and they call that consistency their “personality.” Labels Can Get you Stuck I wouldn’t dispute the truth of that statement. However, it comes with a problem: The label can get a person stuck in a bad place. Take, for example, the word “depressed.” A person labeled with this tag thinks of himself as a depressed person rather than thinking, “I am feeling depressed at this time.” One is a personal label; the other is a flash in the pan – something that can change over time. If a person came to me and said, “I’m depressed,” I would wonder what the factors are that influence this per-

son’s life rather than assuming the depression arose inside of him. I would also be searching for strengths in that person. Has he overcome depression before? What is good that is going on in his life? Is depression a useful way that he learned to cope with an intolerable situation? This last question is a great example of how MFT thinking is different from psychological thinking. What people call “symptoms” are useful coping mechanisms. That is, at one time, the so-called symptom was a brilliant way of adapting to an impossible situation. Let’s take depression for example. Imagine a little girl who is bullied in school; the dominant clique makes a point of excluding her. Not only does she feel sad, but when she is depressed, that very act of depression validates to herself that she was mistreated. Let me put that another way. Suppose she instead became a bully herself – which some victims of bullying do – so as to not feel like the person in the one-down position. In doing that, her behavior is telling her that bullying is right and good. The depressed child is affirming that it is not good and that her spirit has been assaulted. In doing that, she is supporting herself and she keeps a handle on reality. That is, she knows what is right and what is wrong; her awareness of the morals of the world has not been injured. This is good reality-testing. The child who becomes a bully has also found a great – albeit anti-social – coping mechanism. By “joining” the winners rather than being a loser, she avoids feeling depressed and might even feel happy. She is not reality-testing very

well but you can’t have everything when you’re put in a difficult situation without tools. I am not recommending either of these coping mechanisms. Obviously, they’re not healthy and helpful to carry through life. What I am saying, though, is that MFTs would look at these ways of responding and recognize that they were useful to help a child without other resources to get through a very tough time. In spite of how unhealthy we may think of such coping mechanisms, they actually have their advantages. The depressed person, for example, may grow up to be more sensitive to others’ pain. The bully may be a happy person who manages to be a winner in life. As I said, neither is good in an absolute sense, but each is the best that child could do given what she had to work with. Neither is thought of by the MFT as “sick,” and both are seen in the context of the family, school, and other forces at play. To give the field of psychology credit, not too many years ago, Martin Seligman, the then-president of the American Psychological Association, made a strong case for positive psychology which is quite similar to the approach that I have been describing as inherent in an MFT position. Dr. Deb Hirschhorn, a Marriage & Family Therapist and best-selling author of The Healing Is Mutual--Marriage Empowerment Tools to Rebuild Trust and Respect--Together, is proud to announce that readers of The Jewish Home will receive a $50 discount on every visit to her Woodmere office. For more information, call 646-54-DRDEB or check out her website at drdeb.com.

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he nice lady introduced herself and I did likewise: “Hi, I’m Dr. Deb.” “What kind of doctor are you?” she asked “I’m a Marriage and Family Therapist,” I replied. “I see,” she said, looking confused. “So that’s a kind of psychologist?” she queried. “Actually, my doctorate is in Marriage & Family Therapy,” I explained. “It is a completely different field.” Since this happens to me on average six times a week, I thought I would write up the whole thing for you because the differences matter. There are two main differences between the two fields.

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Notable

Quotes

Compiled by Nate Davis

“Say What?” Earlier tonight President Obama gave his State of the Union address. Or, as Fox News called it, “Lame Duck Dynasty.” - Jay Leno It’s so much more fun to watch FOX when it’s someone else being blitzed and sacked! #SuperBowl. - Tweet by Hillary Clinton during this year’s Super Bowl

Iran says they want to encourage more tourism from the United States. They might want to change that “Death to America” slogan. A lot of families are not comfortable with that. - Jay Leno I am the son of Jericho. I’m 10,000 years old. I celebrated last year the birth date of my city. I’m the proud son of the Natufians and the Canaanites. I’ve been there 5,500 years before Joshua bin Nun [son of Nun] came and burned my hometown Jericho. - Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat at the Munich Security Conference, wrongly arguing that the Palestinians were present in Israel before the Jews

After appearing in a commercial during last night’s Super Bowl, people are accusing Bob Dylan of selling out. Today Dylan responded by saying, “Everyone needs to calm down, have a Bud Light, and relax at a Sandals Resort.” - Conan O’Brien

Poor Broncos. Experts said they haven’t seen something crushed like that in New Jersey since Chris Christie’s beanbag chair. - Craig Ferguson

We were broken down to part time to avoid paying health insurance. We can’t survive. - Darnell Summers, who works as a chef, complaining about the effects of Obamacare during a Google-hosted online town hall meeting with President Obama I am working to encourage states, governors, mayors, state legislators to raise their own minimum wage. Obviously, the way to reach millions of people would be for Congress to pass a new federal minimum wage law. So far, at least, we have not seen support from Republicans for such a move. - President Obama “responding” to Darnell Summers’ complaint I hate football. - Text message sent by Peyton Manning’s father, Archie, to Mike Lupika during half time at the Super Bowl

This week, in New Orleans, Hillary Clinton said she still doesn’t know if she’s running for president in 2016. Isn’t that unbelievable? With 315 million Americans, what are the odds she’s the only one in the country who doesn’t know she’s running for president in 2016? - Jay Leno

People think it’s the census or something. This has gotta represent the actual pie chart of America? Who cares? Funny is the world that I live in. You’re funny, I’m interested. You’re not funny, I’m not interested. I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that. It’s more about PC nonsense than ‘Are you making us laugh or not?’ - Jerry Seinfeld on CBS’s This Morning responding to criticism that his online comedy series features mostly white males, much like his popular show in the ‘90s reflected life of white people and not the diversity that exists in NY

I think I did three rounds of shoveling and three rounds of salting yesterday. This is really getting obnoxious. – New York Mayor de Blasio talking about the barrage of snowstorms the city has seen in recent weeks

Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I’ll throw you off this … balcony…I’ll break you in half like a boy. - Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) after an interview with NY1 News to the reporter who asked him about a federal investigation into his campaign finances when the interview was supposed to be about the State of the Union address The Super Bowl was on Fox, so the traditional pre-game sit-down with President Obama went to Bill O’Reilly. The interview got off to a rocky start. O’Reilly asked Obama, “Where you were born was football played with your feet?” And it went downhill from there. - Jimmy Kimmel At the end of the interview O’Reilly said he thinks Obama’s “heart is in the right place.” What does that mean? That’s basically saying that I don’t think he’s destroying America intentionally. - Ibid.

We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their amplifier. - Israel’s Economy Minister Naftali Bennett in response to Kerry’s comments Personal attacks in Israel directed at Sec Kerry totally unfounded and unacceptable. - Tweet by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice For one thing, a large number of the people killed under Soviet Communism weren’t the kulaks everyone pretends to care about but themselves Communists. -From an article on the popular left-wing website “Salon,” titled, “Why you’re wrong about communism: 7 huge misconceptions about it (and capitalism)” Communism is an aspiration, not an immediately achievable state. - Ibid.

It seems that England’s royal family is running out of money. They are down to just $1.6 million. Well, sure, that’s what happens when nobody in your family has had a job for the last thousand years.

I haven’t made a decision to run and I haven’t made a decision not to run. In my heart I’m confident I could make a good president. It’s a very different decision to decide whether or not to run for president, and there’s plenty of time for that. - Vice President Joe Biden on The Today Show House Republicans unveiled a new plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to become citizens if they learn about American history. Which will be great, because then they can teach it to Americans. - Jimmy Fallon

- Jay Leno In a lot of ways, Richard Nixon was more liberal than I was. - President Obama when asked by Bill O’Reilly if he is the most liberal president ever

Did you all see that game yesterday?...The Broncos couldn’t move the ball. The last time I saw a Bronco going that slow, OJ was driving it through L.A. - Jay Leno

The fur on your massive coat was meant for ANIMALS, Please consider FAUX! - Tweet by PETA to Joe Namath after he appeared for the Super Bowl coin toss wearing a rather large fur coat

I will never willingly go back…I’ll be a fugitive. - Amanda Knox to Good Morning America after an Italian court once again found her guilty of murder This strikes me as a train wreck. This strikes me as potentially a huge obstacle because the Iranian conception of what the deal is going to look like and the American conception now look like they are miles apart. The Iranian conception seems to be they produce as much nuclear energy as they want, but it is a civilian program and you can have as much monitoring and inspections as you want. The American position is that they have to very substantially scale back the enrichment of uranium and the production of centrifuges. - Foreign policy analyst and informal advisor to President Obama, Fareed Zakaria, discussing the Iran deal

You are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again…It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again, in time of war. It’s no justification but it is the reality. - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at University of Hawaii law school discussing the Supreme Court decision which allowed internment camps during World War Two

I’m off the grid. I move about with my TV show so that the drones can’t find me so you won’t know exactly where I am. - Former wrestler and governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura when asked during a CNBC interview why he is at an undisclosed location in Mexico

The world is literally about to blow up. The world as I know was not remotely described by the president. - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R- S.C) to Roll Call, critiquing the foreign policy portion of President Obama’s State of the Union address

From House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s appearance on the Jon Stewart show last week: Jon Stewart: … Why is it so hard to get a company to execute [the Obamacare website] competently? Nancy Pelosi: I don’t know… Stewart [laughing]: Let me get the House minority leader, I can ask her. Hold on. What do you mean you don’t know? How do you not know? Pelosi: It’s not my responsibility. But I will say this. We worked very hard to honor our responsibility to pass a bill that honors the beliefs of our founders, life, a healthier life, liberty, the pursuit of your happiness -Stewart: Really. Pelosi: Yeah. If you want to be a writer, if you want to be a comedian, if you want to be a camera person, if you want to start a business …

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The risks are very high for Israel. People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure. Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community? - Secretary of State Kerry at the Munich Security Conference last week

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Health & Fitness

any a patient has asked me from time to time if there is a pill that could help suppress their appetites. Over-the-counter drugs have dangerous side effects, and I don’t recommend taking any of them. There are several foods, however, that can increase a person’s satiety and cut down on hun-

ger. Try incorporating some or all of the following foods into your daily diet, and watch those Chanukah and yeshiva

Natural Appetite Suppressants break pounds melt away! Almonds: Just a handful of almonds are a rich source of antioxidants, vitamin E, and magnesium. Almonds have been shown to increase feelings of fullness in people, according to a study presented at the 2006 Obesity Society Annual Scientific meeting. Warning, keep your serving size small, about 10 pieces, because almonds are high in fat. Ginger: For centuries, many cultures have used ginger root to improve digestion. Ginger works as a stimulant that energizes the body and improves digestion, also making you less hungry. Try incorporating it into a smoothie or a chicken dish. Avocado: Full of fiber and fat, it will suppress your appetite when eaten in moderation. The fat in avocado will send signals to your brain to tell your stomach that it’s full, but remember, listen to these signals! Cayenne Pepper: Let’s get spicy! Research has shown that just ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper can boost metabolism and cause the body to burn an extra 10 calories on its own and up to 60 calories from the next meal. If you use it in two meals a day for a month, you can lose up to 4 pounds! Apples: They help suppress hunger

for several reasons. One is that they are full of soluble fiber and pectin, which help you feel full. Apples also regulate your glucose and boost your energy level. Finally, apples require a lot of chewing time, which helps slow you down, and gives your body time to realize you are no longer hungry. Water: Studies have shown that if you drink 1-2 glasses of water before every meal, you will lose weight. The water fills you up and you will eat a little less at each meal. Soup: A hot broth-based vegetable soup will fill you up with minimal calories. Try having a cup of soup as your first course at dinner, and you will eat less of your main dish. Green Tea: The catechins in green tea help to inhibit the movement of glucose into fat cells, which slows the rise of blood sugar and prevents high insulin and subsequent fat storage. When your blood sugar is more stable, so is your hunger. Green Leafy Vegetables: From kale to spinach to Swiss chard, green leafy vegetables are very nutritious and low in calories and keep you feeling full for hours. Salmon: Fish like salmon are high

Aliza Beer MS, RD

in omega 3 fatty acids, and they help your body increase the amount of lepitin in your system. Lepitin is a hormone known for suppressing hunger. Cinnamon: Like ginger, it helps lower your blood sugar levels, which help control your appetite. Sprinkle it onto your oatmeal, cereal, baked apples, etc.

Hot Sauce: The hotter you go, the more your appetite will be suppressed. Dash some onto your eggs, chicken, or even soups; the spiciness keeps you from overeating, and helps you stay full longer. Flax Seeds: Contain a mix of soluble fiber and essential fatty acids that keep you satiated and fueled. The foods that we just discussed are not only natural appetite suppressants, but healthy foods with good nutritional benefits. Over-the-counter appetite suppressants are unhealthy and possibly dangerous to your body. Portion control is key to any weight management/ loss diet. When you cut down on your portions and lose weight, your stomach will shrink and less food will be required to satisfy you. Incorporating these foods into your diet will help you achieve your goal and maintain an appropriate weight in the future. Aliza Beer is a registered dietician with a Master’s degree in nutrition. She has a private practice in Cedarhurst, NY. Patients’ success has been featured on the Dr. Oz Show. Aliza’s new line of prepared, healthy meals-to-go are available at Gourmet Glatt. Aliza can be reached at alizabeer@gmail.com.

87 Devorah Gerber Schmeltz

Toddler Mealtime Dear Devorah,

The Therapist Responds: Training a toddler to use a utensil can be exciting and messy. Here are some tips to help your girl transition from finger feeding to using a utensil. 1. C h i l d - s i z e Spoons. Use a childsize plastic spoon with a chubby grip. Not only are most metal spoons too heavy and too big for little hands but also biting down too hard on the metal can cause injury. There are many child-friendly

include thick pudding, yogurts (e.g. Greek yogurts) and lumpy mashed potatoes. Thin liquids like applesauce

and leben may fall off the spoon before it even gets to her mouth causing her much frustration (and a big mess!). 3. Fork Usage. She may not be ready to pierce her food by herself, so pierce the food for her and leave it on the fork. You can also pierce the food with a fork using hand over hand assistance, which will provide her with practice of this task. 4. Be a Role Model. Your daughter watches what you do and imitates your actions. Provide opportunities for her to see you eating using utensils. 5. Cheer her On. Praise your daughter when she uses a utensil. 6. Consistency. Always place a utensil next to her food during mealtime. Finally, you’ll need lots of patience. Utensil usage is a skilled activity that will take time for your daughter to master. She will likely continue to finger feed or have you feed

her to some extent for a period of time before she fully transitions to utensil use. Many toddlers don’t use utensils consistently when they eat until the age of two or three. Wishing you and your daughter much success!

Devorah (Gerber) Schmeltz, MS OTR/L is a 2003 alumnus of Downstate Medical Center’s OT Program. She worked as a senior occupational therapist at United Cerebral Palsy’s Brooklyn Children’s Program for 9 years. Currently, Devorah runs a private practice, Bumble & Tumble Occupational Therapy P.C in Far Rockaway. Your questions and comments are welcome. She can be reached at BumbleTumbleTherapy@ gmail.com or 917-971-5327.

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In Memory of Mrs. Rose Edelman

A 7 Part Series presented by

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

I’m trying to train my 17-monthold daughter to use a spoon when she eats. It has not been too successful. Do you have any tips to help us?

spoons to choose from; stores like Babies ‘R Us and Burlington carry a large variety in many fun colors. 2. Think Thick. Initially try to use thick foods to scoop on a spoon that won’t fall off easily even when the spoon is tilted; examples of such foods

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Health & Fitness

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T h e J e w i s h h o m e n m ay 2 4 , 2012

Andrea Eller

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Short Story

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he pit-bull jump-starts my day. Makes me do a double, then a triple take. I’m in the middle of my usual morning beat-the-clock, catchthe-bus-to-the-Big-City routine, smoothing my sheitel, hoping my lipstick isn’t on my teeth, telling my husband via cellphone when to pick up the boys, all while hobbling along in pumps a quarter size too small. It’s early spring – too early for those purple crocuses muscling through grey snow, but there they are. As usual, I cross the street in our neighborhood to avoid Sumo. Sumo is a local’s American Staffordshire Pit-Bull. Sumo has a chest as wide as a small VW. Sumo’s dead red eyes are spaced way too far apart, giving him the look of a mutant demon. Sumo hates me. Sumo would like to tear me asunder, then separate my limbs from whatever is left. But I’m not special. Sumo hates all humans. If he could, Sumo would rip apart the 7.11 billion on Earth, chew them, swallow them, and lick his dripping chops. Sumo the Pit-Bull is usually locked into a face mask, usually body-bashing himself against his barred gates, bellowing and thundering thunder that echoes in my rib cage. When not, he is devouring anything within his reach. Today he is in front of the gate. Maskless. Quiet. Tail a-wag as much as a docked stub can wag. Today his red eyes are mildly pink. Laying down, clipped sharp triangle ears at-ease, head resting on tree-trunk legs, Sumo is licking something in between his gargantuan paws. A white puff-ball of kitten. Breakfast. I am sorry, little puffy thing, but I cannot sacrifice my life for you to live. But wait. Kitty is whole. Sumo is nuzzling the kitten with his wide, endless mouth, as the kitten bats Sumo’s

nose. And... a sparrow sits on Sumo’s head, gently pecking, perhaps to rid him of whatever pestilence proliferates there. I stand for two minutes to memorize the impossible – long enough to miss my hour-long bus ride to the city. When I rouse myself from bewilderment and drag myself to the bus-stop, resigned to a half-hour wait, a bus, my bus, pulls up. Plenty of seats. I can say my Tehillim in peace. Ah. Now I understand. I’m dreaming. I get to Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street with fifteen minutes to spare. Another impossibility, even on a good day. The snow-removers must have been hard at it last night; none of yesterday’s copious dirty slush remains in front of the building where I work even though it’s still cold. I look around. There’s no dirty slush anywhere. I show my badge to the receptionist who for a pleasant change is not snapping gum while yakking on her cellphone. In fact she winks at me. She is apparently not well, because this is the first time since she’s been here – two and a half years – that we’ve made eye-contact. I sail upwards to the 12th floor and disembark at the offices of Chumley, Higgsworth and Awkwright. There I paralegal for Screamer One, Screamer Two, an Incompetent, and a slew of Wet-Behind-The-Ears law-school grads who’ve just passed the Bar. “Good morning,” says Screamer One. He is smiling a tentative smile. Good morning? Smiling? I never imagined he had facial muscles equal to the task. Even he looks surprised at his outburst of raw emotion. I reach my cubicle, and Barrister Non-Compos-Mentis hands me a cup of mocha latte – my favorite. I’m so startled I almost spill the coffee on him – and he apologizes. We are both confused.

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Now Screamer Two, in an unrecognizable, modulated voice calls me into his office. Ah. Here it is. The reason I have been treated so implausibly as a human being. The others feel sorry for me. Steady, steady. With G-d’s help I can get always another job. I call upon my bitachon: Hashem is in charge and can help me “One, Two, Six” as my mother used to say. “You know,” he begins, and coughs, avoiding my eyes. “We know you want to keep working for Chumley, Higgsworth, and Awkright as a paralegal, but...” I’m starting to feel light-headed and feel for the chair behind me. Goodbye, tuition money. “But because your work is exceptional we feel you should be managing the paralegal department. This would of course entail quite a nice increase in salary.” His eyes widen and dart about as if looking for who has just spoken. My own mouth tries to form something intelligent. “Wamaba, vrobi, hnviyt.” He wipes his forehead with a handkerchief. Now he’s the one to feel for the chair behind him. “Things are unusually slow this morning so why don’t you take a few hours off to enjoy the sunshine in the Park.” Wait’ll I tell my husband about this one when I wake up. I float into the lobby, tossing Winky a sweet kiss. Oh my. Next I’ll be skipping down the corridors. But I’m feeling so good that even my tight shoes don’t bother me. Once outside I look up to the heavens to thank the Creator for that alone. I can smell the green from Central Park and practically skip across Fifth Avenue. Now that’s funny. It’s smack-dab rush hour and people are sauntering rather than speed-walking and dodging one another on the sidewalks. They seem as surprised or perhaps as puzzled as I am. Traffic is smooth and steady; cars are not changing lanes or jockeying for position. It could be my imagination, but the drivers look slightly disoriented as well. I cross the street and enter the Park, Tehillim in hand. I have some joyful thanking to do. The walkways are thick with grass – unusual for this early in spring, although the park’s landscapers do take their work seriously. Besides. The sun is now deliciously warming. But... how have they forced the trees into a June leafiness? And so much is in bloom. Everything is in bloom as birds sing, throwing their hearts at the sky, to quote O. Hammerstein. The joggers are off their rhythm today. This one jerks his head around, and his running partner is running backwards, taking in the yellow daffodils, pink cherry blossoms, red tulips, purple and vermillion azaleas – and grass enough to comfort the most blistered of feet. I don’t blame them. I take it all in as I walk to the other side of the Park, breathing deeply of this extraordinary day. I reach a small pond and can see clear to the schools of tiny fish and the pebbled bottom. I’m so

moved at the beauty of the world that my eyes fill and blur. I seat myself on a bench facing the pond and open my Tehillim. My bookmark is at Perek 104, a description of G-d’s splendid gift to man. With wet eyes I softly chant Dovid HaMelech’s words. Suddenly, I want my husband to be here with me, seeing what I see. Good Heavens. Here he comes. He’s somewhat abashed. “I got to the hospital this morning and ER was desolate. Do you believe it? And then a crazy thing...All of a sudden I needed to see you.” “I’m thrilled! And flattered! How did you know I was here?” “Chumley told me about your raise. ‘Bout time after six years. He said you’d be in the Park and I figured you’d be right here. Such a sap for sentiment!” He’s teasing. And he’s right. The pond is where we went on our first date. So we sit and watch the life around us. The green, the pond, the flowers, the morning – together they emit a fragrance we can taste at the back of our throats. He pushes me, roughly, off the bench. A skateboard careers toward us delivering a fifteen-year-old with a black and orange Mohawk and a safety pin that looks to be clamping his nostrils closed. My husband braces himself. Mohawk-boy hops off a tenth of a second in time. He’s shaken. But not because of his deathdefying speed. “Whassup wif all dis bein’ so diff’ent? Why is ev’ythin’ so... so... diff’ent? You know wha’ I’m sayin?” He remounts and pushes off before we can answer – which we couldn’t have anyway. “Check out the dogs!” says my husband, laughing, pulling me up and helping me brush myself off. I look around. All the dogs – there must be seven or eight within view – are digging, frenzied, spraying dirt behind them as if possessed. “Dogs? Look at the squirrels!” I point to three slinking close to the ground with their little rodent ears pressed back flat. My husband says, “Mom’s cats would slink like that five minutes before a whopping California earthquake. Think we’re in for a whopping New York earthquake?” We head to Central Park West and walk a few blocks northward to the Museum of Natural History, another of our dating sites. We don’t get very far.

“IT’s The end of The world, and we aIn’T ready.”

It’s the sun. It’s setting. At 9:00 in the morning. The two of us goggle at the sunset of sunsets. Flame-shaped clouds, yellow tipped, then pink with red coriolis – in motion – lick the blue. The sky is burning! Gorgeously. Everywhere. And we can see everywhere. Skyscrapers and the park’s trees block nothing. In synchrony, up and down the avenue, all traffic lights turn red. And stay red. Yet no one leans on his horn. But plenty are vocal as they empty their vehicles: taxi drivers, fares, businessmen and women, truck drivers and their hitchhikers, bus drivers. “Look at that!” “What in the world?” “Is this a hoax?” “...special effects for a movie,” we hear. Inhabitants of buildings trickle, then stream, then gush out onto the

95 T h e J e w i s h h o m e n m ay 2 4 , 2012

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I am and

ty! Pretty!” All nearby turn northward, looking to where he points. A wave of turning rolls up the avenue. His binky points to brilliant stars – five of them – a whole constellation – moving in concert across the sky. “Cassiopeia. The crown. The ‘W’ in the sky. It’s moving.” My husband’s voice breaks as the crown moves in formation to the upper right quadrant of our vision. The dreadlocked musician says softly, “Fierce, man. There goes Cygnus, too.” Why there is no mob panic or flight I cannot understand. Why I don’t panic or flee I don’t understand. Fear, yes. Panic, no. It’s too big to panic. Nor is there anywhere to hide and we know it. We can just watch the heavens, fascinated and afraid. We are tethered in place. People standing by their cars turn their radios on, and we hear WABC live, in sen-surround. “Reports are coming in to this station that it’s night the world over,” says Geraldo Rivera in a voice he tries to control. “People are petrified, frozen in their spots TakIng a deep accounTIng of who I am. who I am outside and inside as constellation after constelmoves to gather in some kind of formawho I have wanTed To be – who I could have been. lation tion. Astronomers, physicists – Steven Hawking himself has nothing to... Wait. This just breaking: The Pope has issued a statement that now his religion will reign, but that it is not too late to Like a fist to the belly, his question in the midst of the cosmic-ness of come on board....” what we see hits me. I stiffen, then cautiously yet thoroughly check my People in the streets begin to genuflect, and when Rivera announces insides. that Evangelist Billy Sunday is calling for repentance, thousands fall to “They’re safe.” And I know within my molecular structure that they their knees. are. My husband looks hard at me. Then his face relaxes. He believes what “Abdullah Al Turki has just claimed that the infidels will now suffer I know. vengeance,” he continues, and innumerable others fully prostrate themA burly, helmeted construction worker yells, “The Communists have selves. won! The Russians are coming!” A woman of about forty in a mink coat The Jews, at least those I can recognize with variant yarmulkes, peyos, responds. “It’s Iran, you fool! We’re under attack!” and a man wearing an hats, and tichels just watch. And wait. Islamic robe and turban begins a wobbly cry, “Ajja Akbah.” I hear a soft Fear and joy have gathered in my throat for a strange mix. Tears crust scuffle. The Muslim is quieted. on my face as I watch stars and more stars journey to the east quadrant. News cameramen walk through the crowds filming the burning sky. Pegasus arises from where earth seems to meet sky, and moves, followed “Mass hallucination,” claims a mannequin anchorman into a microphone by Lacerta and Cepheus. My husband and I now weep quietly. My eyes in round, resonant tones. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the midst of a meet those of a woman in a wig. She nods. She knows. mass hallucination.” I am taking a deep accounting of who I am. Who I am and who I have “No,” claims a toothless bag lady pushing a broken granny cart. “It’s wanted to be – who I could have been. I fall short. I know that my dear the end of the world, and we ain’t ready.” Everyone within earshot turns husband is doing the same. We pray for mercy. to her, wordless as she wipes old hands on an old dress. She laughs, then The heavens are wheeling, thick with stars, the brightest of the constelsing-songs, pointing to the anchorman. “It’s the end of the world, and you lations collecting in the right quadrant of our view. And those stars glow ain’t ready. It’s the end of the world, and you ain’t ready.” brighter and brighter...like diamond flashes but thousands of times more “Shut that woman up!” says the newsman, still on-air. The bag lady dazzling. disappears into the crowd, laughing coarsely. We hear a sob from the anchorman. “I’m not ready. I’m not ready,” but I touch my husband’s hand surreptitiously. They are shaking as are he joins the crowds when they cry in one voice, “It’s G-d! It’s G-d!” mine. As if in response, the flaring, fiery, fulgent stars that have collected G-d is afoot. move to outline shapes that together stretch right to left across the sky. The sky blushes, and continues to blush and blush until all there is Then, from all around us, “What is that?” “Are they letters?” “Chileft of the yellow flames is a deep rose. My heart tries to jump out of my nese?” “Arabic?” mouth as the rose deepens to maroon, to navy, to black. We, the crowds, And at precisely 12:00, a midday lit by moon and stars in a black sky, have hushed, as have all the sounds of the city. The birds no longer sing. the world sees: Even the anchorman is silent. Some grasp their children tight. Still others Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu, grasp themselves tight. And we all look upwards. The ambient street light Hashem Echad does nothing to obscure the full moon in its pitted glory, nor does the moon Hear, O’ Israel! Hashem Our G-d, obscure stars in the thousands. It’s a sky sugared with more stars than I’ve Hashem is One seen in my lifetime, collectively. All on a morning in early spring. The G-d of the Jews has unveiled His Presence. And 7.11 billion are A toddler in his mother’s arms yanks his binky from his mouth. “Pret- witness.

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

street. We are in the middle of a Manhattan avenue flooded with men, women, girls, boys and children looking to the sky. Some are frightened. A window washer with bucket and squeegee covers his face with a towel and whimpers. A natty “suit” drops his briefcase, paralyzed. “Ions,” says a guitar-slinger with dreadlocks. “Negative ions create positive vibes, man. Dig it.” Many film the lit sky with their cellphones. It will be on the internet within moments. A fire engine sounds in the distance – are they trying to put out the sky? I myself am awestruck, dizzied by the magnificence until my husband, with an urgency I’ve never heard, says, “The boys. Where are they?”

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T h e J e w i s h h o m e n m ay 2 4 , 2012

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F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

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95 Shlomo Steiman, Esq.

FBAR / Foreign Bank Account Voluntary Disclosure I have maintained a bank account in Israel for many years without a problem, until the bank informed me that I would need to fill out a Form W-9. When I asked them why, I was told that the bank would be turning over the names of its U.S. account-holders in 2014 to the U.S. government. I am now concerned and want to know what can happen and what are my risks, since I never reported the account or any interest I may have earned on any tax return. The Attorney Responds: Although this is similar to a question I dealt with about a year ago, I feel it is important to revisit this topic since various clients have been told by their Israeli banks that they may begin turning over the names of their U.S. account holders this year. However, before going into the specifics of your dilemma, let me first recap the general foreign bank reporting requirements and potential penalties when those requirements are not met. FBAR Requirements The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (Form TD F 90-22.1, commonly referred to as “FBAR”) was instituted as a tool to help the U.S. government identify individuals who may be using foreign financial accounts to circumvent U.S. law. It must be filed annually and be received by the IRS on or before June 30th. Government investigators use FBARs to “help identify or trace funds used for illicit purposes or to identify unreported income maintained or generated abroad.” The FBAR started gaining notoriety because it is being used by the federal government as a tool to prosecute individuals, both civilly and criminally, for offshore tax evasion following the prosecution and disclosure of Swiss bank account holders, and the IRS has confirmed that it has expanded its investigation of banks large and small, in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Information regarding taxpayers is now also more readily available to the government through tax treaties, informa-

tion provided by whistleblowers and the recently enacted Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). As a result, there is now a heightened risk that the IRS will discover taxpayers’ noncompliance. Who Must File and Potential Penalties U.S. citizens or residents with either a financial interest in, or signature authority over foreign financial accounts whose total value exceeds $10,000 at any time during the previous calendar year must generally file the FBAR by June 30th of the following year. Foreign financial accounts include bank or brokerage accounts, mutual funds and trusts. This is in addition to the general tax requirements of reporting all interest and income from these accounts on one’s income tax return. Failure to file FBARs and/or failure to report the income generated by the foreign financial accounts can subject the responsible parties to significant civil and/or criminal penalties. For the FBAR alone, the current civil penalty may be as high as the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the total balance in the foreign financial account for each year’s failure. As such, if a responsible party failed to file the FBAR for several years, the potential civil penalty can significantly exceed the full value of the accounts. This is in addition to any unpaid taxes on unreported income from such accounts, and civil penalties, which typically start at 20% and can be as high as 75% if the IRS can prove that the underreporting was due to fraud. Prosecution, the Voluntary Disclosure Program and the Importance of Tax Counsel The IRS started prosecuting individuals of all ages, whether their accounts are large or small, to force compliance and cooperation. In order to make it more palatable for those who have not yet cooperated to become fully compliant, it also instituted its third offshore voluntary disclosure program. However, in order to incentivize par-

ticipation sooner rather than later, it has retained the right to end this program or to have its penalties increased at any time. Participation is not cheap and can equal 27.5% of the highest bank account balance, in addition to underreporting penalties and interest for failing to disclose the interest earned on those accounts. Furthermore, tax returns going back several years would have to be amended and all remaining aspect of those returns would need to be accurate in order not to be subject to prosecution for filing false tax returns. Nevertheless, the peace of mind associated with the removal of potential criminal or civil prosecution and/or the ability to pass one’s assets to one’s children without the threat of confiscation may be worth a great sum to many of those reading this article. In certain instances, the cost of participation may be greatly reduced if the facts warrant it, something which a tax attorney could help you determine. Please note that these penalties usually only apply if in addition to failing to file the FBARs, the account holders failed to disclose interest earned from those account(s) on their income tax returns. If income was either not earned from the foreign bank account(s), or the income earned from those account(s) was already included on the prior tax returns, then that omission can generally be corrected by merely filing the delinquent FBARs for those years and attaching a statement explaining why the reports were filed late. There would be no need to enter the voluntary disclosure program since the account holder would not be subject to any penalties. The IRS has stated it will not impose a penalty for the failure to file the delinquent FBARs if there are no underreported tax liabilities and the taxpayer has not previously been contacted regarding an income tax examination or a request for delin-

F E B R U A RY 6 , 2014

It’s Not too Late!

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Ask the Attorney

quent returns. As a general rule, it is more favorable for individuals to voluntarily approach the IRS before the IRS approaches them, since doing so greatly reduces the risk of criminal or civil prosecution, and might offer the opportunity for a negotiated settlement. What further issues to consider, including whether and how to approach the IRS, is dependent on one’s individual circumstances. As the matter is complex and the risk of criminal and civil prosecution is real, it is imperative that you consult a tax attorney to thoroughly analyze your options while ensuring that your discussions remain protected by attorney-client privilege. I would be happy to discuss your matter further to see how I can help. This article is published for informational purposes only. It is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. Shlomo Steiman, Esq., a former Justice Department Auditor, is a Queens attorney with an office in Manhattan. His practice focuses on taxation, businesses and non-profit organizations, as well as workers’ compensation and social security disability. He can be reached by phone at 917-838-5923 or by email at ssteiman@steimanlaw.com. No column is a substitute for competent legal advice. Please consult with the attorney of your choice concerning specific legal questions you may have.

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From My Private Art Collection

Rebbetzin Naomi N. Herzberg

The Art of Charcoal Drawing

harcoal drawing is an ancient art. In ancient times, drawings were done with charcoal made out of pieces of charred wood. Unfortunately, very few of the ancient pictures still exist due to the flaking properties of charcoal drawing. It was not until a fixative was created and applied that charcoal drawings remained intact. The fixative is used to set the charcoal permanently thereby preventing the finished work from smudging. Famous artist such as Georgia Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keeffe, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo were well-known for their renderings in charcoal. Charcoals come in thin sticks called vine charcoal which is a favorite by artists when doing a basic composition, as they make light lines and are easier to erase. Compressed charcoals

are formed in a block or stick form. Charcoal pencils are made from compressed charcoal and are then wrapped with a thin coat of wood, making it far less messy to handle. Charcoal cray-

ons are enjoyed by caricaturists. Charcoals are easy to use but do make a mess. Before beginning any project using charcoal, make sure to line your surface with newspapers. The hardiness of the stick deter-

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mines the intensity of the shade. The softer the charcoal, the more intense the shade becomes. The harder the charcoal, the lighter the shade becomes. The blending of the charcoal is done with a stump. A stump is a special tool created just for this purpose. Some people prefer using their finger, and it is considered an acceptable practice. A kneaded eraser can be used to remove some of the charcoal and create highlights. All you need for a charcoal drawing is a piece of plain white charcoal paper, a piece of charcoal, or a charcoal pencil, charcoal crayon and erasers. One type of eraser that you will need is a kneaded eraser which will easily erase smudge marks. The other is a plain pencil eraser which is great for making drawing marks on the dark black charcoal. By using the pencil eraser you will be able to remove the color from the charcoal drawing one line/section at a time. All charcoal drawings must be sprayed with a fixative so that they do not smear. Hairspray can definitely be used as a second choice. They must be sprayed either outdoors or by an open window with plenty of ventilation present in the room. There are many papers available to use with charcoals. If the texture of the paper is rougher, it will make it better for the charcoal to adhere to the surface. There are also papers available which come in various tones. These papers work wonders with charcoal. Charcoals have the ability to be used on many surfaces. They are sometimes used by artists to make sketches onto their stretch canvas or panel canvas for the preliminary sketch before doing an oil painting. Charcoal is a wonderful medium to use when simulating a wooden surface, the bark of a tree, an animals fur skin, a head of hair, eyes, eyelashes, pupils of the eyes, dark lines between the lips, nose and nostrils, any type of coarse fabrics, and for making shadows. The most beneficial feature of this medium is the flexibility it provides for sketching purposes. It is easy to use and erase with an eraser

or with a little water on a rag. The use of charcoal supplies the beginner with endless experimentation possibilities with drawing techniques. Remember: The opportunities for self-expression are priceless. Sketching in any medium can become frustrating but do not be too hard on yourselves. Most important is to believe in yourself, have confidence in yourself and develop a style of your very own. Think of your picture the same as you would the foundation and planning of a structure. First work out your plans, then apply them step by step. Nothing is considered complete until the finishing stages are taken and all the fine details for your finished project are executed.

Helpful tip:To begin experimenting with charcoals, try working from a black and white photo. Rebbetzin Naomi N. Herzberg is a professional art educator, artist and designer. Among her known artwork is a floral sculpture presented to Tipper Gore, Blair House, Washington, D.C. Presently she is the Director of Operations at Shulamith School for Girls. Please feel free to email nherzberg@optonline.net with questions and suggestions for future columns.

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