Five Towns Jewish Home - 2-4-21

February 4, 2021

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44 Rav Yitzchok Kolodetsky Speaks to Local Students

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Vote #1 District 31: Laurelton • Rosedale • Springfield Gardens • The Rockaways Including the Far Rockaway and Bayswater area.

Pesach Osina has spent the past decade demonstrating for the citizens of our district his ability to get things done. He leads with civility and dignity, working closely alongside people of all backgrounds, in order to get the job done.

Any registered voter can vote in this:

A Record of Fighting for You Paid for by Osina 2020

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

PESACH OSINA WILL FIGHT FOR YOUR: Education Pesach has school age children, so he understands the importance of educating the next generation. Pesach will ensure that our schools have the infrastructure they need, including access to PPE and masks so they can remain safely open.

Public Safety Remember when kids could play in the yard without supervision? Pesach Osina does, and he wants to bring that back. Public safety is a top priority in Pesach’s agenda.

Unity Pesach is bringing civility back to politics – at a time when civil discourse is so necessary for America. Pesach Osina is a uniter. He connects with people from all backgrounds.

If you n eed babysi tting o ra ride to the po lls, please call 347-972 -9555

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Ohel has transformed!

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers,

Y

em, you don’t have that challenge, and so it’s hard to truly relate to what she’s facing. But you dig deep and logically put yourself into her shoes so you can connect with her and hear her pain.

Or your child comes to you with a fear that she has that’s been concerning her for the past few days. As an adult, that concern doesn’t bother you but you want to help your child, and so you take a few moments to think about what’s truly bothering her. You picture yourself in that challenge so you can help her navigate her fear.

Or your neighbor shares a financial predicament that he and his wife are facing.

Thankfully, you don’t suffer from monetary struggles, but you picture yourself and imagine the dread of unpaid bills and not being able to fill a shopping cart to the brim every time you shop. You try to feel his pain so you can be there for him in his time of stress and struggle.

Yes, it’s truly hard to understand what someone is going through until you walk a mile in their shoes. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t feel their pain or share in their happiness. If you take the time to picture yourself in their sorrow or in their joy, you can walk with them and help them navigate along the way – whether you’re wearing flipflops or snow boots.

ou know, they say that it’s hard to truly understand someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. This week, I saw this adage in a different light.

As this year has felt a bit “longer” than others, we decided to head to warmer climes for a few days. But packing proved to be a bit tricky. The truth is that packing for a warmer or colder destination always presents problems. Because, while you’re sitting in your home packing and the weather outside is a frigid 30 degrees, it’s hard to imagine that in a few hours you’ll need to wear t-shirts and slap on sunscreen. You want to pack your sweaters and sweatshirts because you can’t imagine a hot day in the middle of the winter. And so, you end up packing “logically” instead of “emotionally.” You logically look at the weather reports and pack bathing suits because it’s supposed to be 80 degrees outside.

On the flip side, as the storm blew more than a foot of snow into New York, it was hard for me to imagine the icy, slippery sidewalks while I was hundreds of miles south.

In my mind, I knew how bitter and cold it could be when the temperatures drop and the snow hits the city, but I couldn’t really feel the iciness in my bones.

This sort of situation happens daily on different scales throughout life.

Your friend talks of a troubling circumstance with her child, and you can’t really feel what she’s going through. Baruch Hash-

Wishing you a wonderful week, Shoshana

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Shabbos Zemanim

Weekly Weather | February 5 – February 11

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Yitzy Halpern

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Friday, February 5 Parshas Yisro Candle Lighting: 5:00 pm Shabbos Ends: 6:02 pm Rabbeinu Tam: 6:32 pm

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Contents LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

8

COMMUNITY Readers’ Poll Community Happenings

8 42

NEWS

100

Global

12

National

25

Odd-but-True Stories

38

ISRAEL Israel News

18

Israel Today

86

JEWISH THOUGHT Rabbi Wein on the Parsha

68

Learning to Fly by Rav Moshe Weinberger

70

Parsha Ponderings

72

Delving into the Daf

74

Cultivating Optimism by Rebbetzin Rookie Billet

76

PEOPLE Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, zt”l by Zvi Gluck

78

My Uncle Shia by Yaakov Ganz

80

My Time with Uncle Shia by Batshi Bergida

82

Remembering Rabbi Yehuda Kelemer by Elana Jacobs

84

The Wandering Jew

88

Chava Willig Levy and a “Breathtaking” Exploration of Music

92

Jewish Medics in World War II by Avi Heiligman

112

HEALTH & FITNESS What You Need to Get Through This by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn 100

104

Dinner for Two, Please by Cindy 102 Weinberger MS, RD Parenting Pearls

104

Dear Editor, I love to read your dating column. I love the questions that are posed and the different answers given by the panelists.

This week’s question struck me, as I felt that it brought up two points: Firstly, the person writing in said that, after she found the unpaid parking tickets, she noticed that her date was driving wildly and said that he doesn’t care about paying the tickets and seemed very reckless. And yet, she didn’t take note of anything reckless about him before.

It could be that this specific incident – of finding the unpaid parking tickets – is coloring her perception about her date. Now, she is looking at him through “unpaid tickets” glasses. Perhaps, he is truly is reckless or perhaps she’s now biased against him – I don’t know. But do know, that, at times, when we have a friend or know a person and are told something about that person, we sometimes see that person in that light. And then, subsequently, we only see that person – in every scenario – as “reckless,” or “immature,” or “stubborn,” or “inappropriate.” What didn’t bother us before takes on a new role as we see them in a biased light.

It can happen to us in many situations, and certainly when we are dating.

Back to this week’s letter, I have one other point I’d like to make.

It could be that, intuitively, this

girl is not interested in this boy any longer. And so, her gut is seeing his actions in a “reckless” manner. He may not have driven faster or more recklessly now than before; she just instinctively is turned off by him and is seeing his actions in a jaundiced way.

In any way, regardless of the intent or reason behind his perceived recklessness, it’s time these two called it quits.

All the best, Chana Ahuva Weingarten Dear Editor, We are struck with the word kaved in two of its basic conjugations in this week’s parsha. We find the cloud by Har Sinai described as kaved (heavy), and we confront the powerful mitzvah of kabed (glorify, honor) et avicha v’et imecha. Also, G-d’s Shechinah is referred to as Kavod.

It seems the connection would have to between the meanings of glory (Kavod, kibbud) and weightiness (kaved). Their meanings are interlinked. Anything of glory carries weight and anything weighty is of consequence. When you are asked to glorify your parents, who are also “glory,” as G-d partnered with them, you are being given a “heavy” task.

Giving honor to others goes against one nature and therefore when a continual mandate exists to offer respect, which the Gemara often reContinued on page 10

FOOD & LEISURE The Aussie Gourmet: Blizzard Soup

106

LIFESTYLES Dating Dialogue, Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW

96

Your Money

118

Which Way Do I Go? by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

119

HUMOR Centerfold 66 POLITICAL CROSSFIRE Notable Quotes

107

Haunting Putin from Prison by David Ignatius

110

Russia is Trying to Set the Rules for the Internet by David Ignatius

111

CLASSIFIEDS

114

Do you shovel your own snow?

83

%

YES

17

%

NO

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

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fers to in financial terms, the weight is extraordinarily heavy. It is against this challenge that the Kli Yakar notes that G-d’s name is mentioned by honoring one’s parents and not by all of the others mitzvos that are bein adam lechavero. Because when you engage in such a demanding mitzvah to honor your parents who physically created you, it follows that your neshama will recognize G-d and then you will have a piece of G-d Who is forever, and you will live long days.

Steven Genack Dear Editor, President Joe Biden promised he would unite America again and appoint the most diverse cabinet and administration in history, representing the gorgeous American mosaic. Republicans continue to represent a significant portion of America. Why has he failed to appoint any to serve in his Cabinet and administration? Mr. Biden has failed in following up on this public

commitment on this issue. Actions speak louder than words. His call for bringing America together appears to just be campaign rhetoric.

Biden practices to the victor belongs the spoils. Quid pro quo is alive and well in the White House under his watch. It is business as usual at the expense of taxpayers.

Even former Democratic President Barack Obama appointed Ray LaHood – Republican Congressmember from Illinois – as his Secretary of Transportation.

Sincerely, Larry Penner Dear Editor, As a daf yomi learner for the past twelve years, I noticed that you recently added a new column to the paper, “Delving into the Daf.” This surely is appreciated by the many readers who have been participating in daf yomi.

Thank you!

Sincerely, Robert Gordon Kew Gardens Hills, NY

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

5TFR rosh chodesh LECTURE series

The Week In News

PARTICIPATING SHULS: Cong. Beth Sholom, Cong. Kneseth Israel, Cong. Shaaray Tefilah, YI of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, YI of Woodmere

Invites you to a ZOOM shiur

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maltreat us.”

Thousands of Nigerians commonly work in Saudi Arabia in order to escape the poor economic conditions back home. But while most countries repatriated their citizens from the Gulf States after the initial COVID-19 outbreak last March, Nigeria refrained from doing so until now.

Nigeria Repatriates Hundreds

Military Coup in Burma

Last week, Nigeria evacuated hundreds of its citizens who were stuck in Saudi Arabia after overstaying their work visas.

Photos published on Friday showed the first batch of returnees walking across the runway after their plane landed in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja. The group totaled 800 Nigerians, including 342 women and two infants.

“Many of you travelled, expecting to return at a particular time but COVID-19 came in, and during this B”H IN OUR ST SEASON! period, movements were restricted and that is how many of you were stranded,” aviation ministry official Bolaji Akinremi told the arrivals.

“Many of you went in search of greener pasture – jobs and different experiences. You are back home with an opportunity to start another life.”

The Nigerians had been working in Saudi Arabia in a variety of low-paying jobs but had been stranded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic after their visas ran out.

Nigeria’s government decided to rescue them after a video showing the migrants suffering from squalid conditions went viral on social media.

Upon arrival, the migrants spoke of being physically abused by their employers in Saudi Arabia, with stories of being denied food and water and made to sleep in the mud.

“If you can ask so many of us here, this is what they are going to tell you, maybe some will tell you worse than what I said,” recounted Mustapha Zubairu.

“Those that entered with valid documents are not supposed to be treated like this, even those that entered with Umrah documents, because we are all human beings. But they gathered us as animals. They

Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday following months of tension with the country’s civilian leadership.

Residents of the capital of Yangon woke up on Monday to find soldiers fanning out across the city, erecting barbed wire barriers, and setting up checkpoints. Local television stations were taken off the air, and banks were shuttered across the country.

On Sunday evening, Myanmar’s military-owned television channel returned to the airwaves, announcing that the country was now being run by army chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Claiming widespread irregularities in November’s parliamentary elections, the military confirmed that it arrested political leader Suu Kyi and senior National League for Democracy (NLD) officials.

The military has since forced the removal of the 24 NLD ministers and deputies from the government. They will be replaced by 11 representatives selected by the army.

Kyi released a statement on Monday evening calling on the citizenry to prevent the coup from succeeding.

“The actions of the military are actions to put the country back under a dictatorship,” the statement said. “I urge people not to accept this, to respond, and wholeheartedly to protest against the coup by the military.”

The coup occurred hours before Myanmar’s new parliament was slated to be sworn in and followed months of political turmoil over alleged voter fraud. The ruling National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in November, getting another five-year term in office with

Replacing conflict with harmony one year later

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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83% of the vote.

However, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party suffered a devastating defeat, earning only 33 seats out of a total of 476. The army has since put forward claims of widespread voter fraud and called for a rerun, demands which have been rejected by Myanmar’s civilian leadership.

The military’s seizure of power led to condemnations from around the world along with threats of sanctions by the Biden administration and the European Union (EU).

In a statement on Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden urged the international community to “come together in one voice to press the Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials they have detained, lift all telecommunications restrictions, and refrain from violence against civilians.

“The United States is taking note of those who stand with the people of Burma in this difficult hour,” he said.

camp and made his way to Chambon-sur-Ligson, a small village nestled on a mountain in southern France. There, he was saved by villagers who went to extraordinary lengths to defy the Nazi war machine.

Throughout World War II, villagers in the area provided a safe haven for thousands of Jewish refugees. The town was recognized by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum as “Righteous Among the Nations” in 1990, and a garden at the site is dedicated to the townspeople.

“This sum is, of course, much greater than others received in similar bequests, from former hidden children or their descendants,” read the village newsletter about Schwan’s bequest. “But this act of generosity is part of the same desire for discretion. Like an echo of the modesty and discretion of those who took in the refugees during the war.”

Churchill’s Art

Millions in Appreciation

A Jewish Austrian man bequeathed more than two million Euros to the French village that sheltered him from the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Eric Schwan, a European Jewish businessman, had passed away in late December at the age of 90. A large portion of his estate was earmarked for Chambon-sur-Lignon, a remote French hamlet that saved thousands of Jews during World War II. “It is a considerable sum for the village,” said Mayor Jean-Michel Eyraud, adding that Schwan requested that the funds be used for education and youth activities.

An only child born to an Austrian couple, little is known about Schwan or his wartime experiences. According to reports, Schwan and his parents spent a part of the Holocaust at Camp de Rivesaltes, a French-run Nazi internment camp that sent 2,500 Jews to their deaths.

In 1943, Schwan escaped the

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is known for many things, although art may not be what he is most famous for.

And yet, soon a painting by Churchill, “Tower of Koutoubia Mosque,” which the British leader painted during World War II, will be up for auction, expecting to fetch up to $3.4 million.

Churchill painted the work in Marrakech, Morocco, after attending the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, during which he and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt formulated the next stage of their strategy to defeat Nazi Germany.

Churchill gave the painting to Roosevelt. An actress ultimately bought the painting, and she is now putting the piece up for sale.

“It is the only work that Churchill painted during the war, perhaps encouraged by the recent progress made by the Allies in what he considered to be one of the most beautiful countries he had encountered,” Nick Orchard, head of modern British art at auction house Christie’s, said in a statement.

The painting was made after the two leaders agreed to only accept an

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

“unconditional surrender” from the Axis powers, a strategically significant statement of intent from the two wartime figures. “‘Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque’ is therefore arguably the best painting by Winston Churchill due to the significance of the subject matter to him, and the fact that it highlights the importance of the friendship between the two leaders,” Orchard said.

“The gifting of the work to Roosevelt underlines the fact that Churchill held the American President in such high regard and points to their joint efforts in guiding the Allied powers to the outcome of the Second World War.” The artwork is due to go on sale on March 1.

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According to Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine and his party, around 3,000 of Wine’s supporters have been detained or abducted by state agents since November, when protests flared over his arrest during a presidential election campaign.

The police said they were investigating all reports of disappearances. They have previously said they arrested nearly 600 people in connection with the November unrest and accused protesters of rioting and looting.

Wine, who is also a pop star, filed a court challenge this week to the results of the January 14 presidential election, which handed victory to Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986.

Officials in Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) told a news conference that squads of state security personnel had appeared around Uganda in unmarked minivans and had taken supporters to unknown locations.

“The state started conducting operations across the country, picking people and taking them away,” NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya said.

Fifty-four people were killed as the army and police used bullets and teargas to quell the riots, which be-

gan after Wine was arrested for alleged violation of social distancing rules.

Oryem Nyeko, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said he was aware of many such reports and that they raised “very serious concerns.”

Wine has said he defeated Museveni but that the election was rigged by ballot stuffing, pre-marking of ballots, intimidation of voters by security agencies, and other tactics.

Police said last month that at least 110 polling agents from Wine’s party had been arrested since January 13. During the election itself, 223 people were arrested for offenses including assault, intimidation and voter bribery.

“Captain Tom” Dies

Captain Sir Tom Moore, a World War II veteran who raised millions for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), died on Tuesday after being hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus.

Moore’s daughter, Hannah-Ingram, announced on her father’s Twitter account that the 100-year-old had been infected with the disease and was rushed to the hospital after requiring “help with his breathing.”

A veteran of the UK’s military effort in Burma and Italy during World War II, Moore was knighted after raising 38 million pounds for the NHS last April. In a now-viral video, Moore committed to completing 100 walking laps in his garden before his 100th birthday, leading to a wave of donations to the UK’s national health system.

“Please always remember, tomorrow will be a good day,” Moore said in an interview during his walk, uttering the words that became his trademark.

A song Moore recorded as part of his fundraising effort soon topped the UK charts, making him the oldest person to ever get a No. 1 single.

Moore also broke Britain’s record for the largest-ever fundraising haul and published his autobiography this past summer.

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Blast at Israeli Embassy in India

Israel believes that Iran is likely responsible for last week’s explosion next to its embassy in India.

No one was hurt in last Friday’s explosion, which detonated a few feet away from the Israeli embassy in New Delhi. The bomb blew out the windows of several cars and caused minor damage to a storefront.

Hours after the blast, investigators found a crudely handwritten note in English threatening Ambas-

sador Ron Malka, who was called “the terrorist of a terrorist nation.”

Warning that Israel’s envoy to India “is always under supervision,” it told Malka that “you cannot stop anyway no matter how hard you would pick, we can end your life anytime anywhere.”

The missive went on to threaten Israelis around the globe, writing that all “participants and partners” of Israeli “terrorist ideology will be no more in existence.”

“Now get ready for a big and better revenge for our heroes,” wrote the attackers, who identified as “India Hezbollah,” a group unknown to Western intelligence agencies.

It ended by referencing “martyrs” killed by the U.S. and Israel, such as former Quds Force General Qassam Sulemeini and assassinated Hezbollah Commander Imad Mughniyeh.

The reference to slain Shi’ite terror leaders led Israel to blame Iran for the attack, which has a long history of targeting Israel’s overseas missions. In 1993, an Iran-sponsored attack on Israel’s embassy in Argentina killed 29 people while another bombing in Thailand in 2012 seriously injured the wife of an Is-

raeli diplomat.

The Mossad intelligence agency is said to be probing the recent explosion and dispatched an explosives team to New Delhi within hours after the blast. Indian police say that initial findings suggest that the “very low-intensity improvised device” utilized an explosive known as PETN and was packed with ball bearings.

Investigators are currently probing the thousands of Iranian students studying in New Delhi and believe that the operation likely involved multiple people. Indian police also say that the use of PETN suggests that the blast may have been the work of al-Qaeda, which is known to have used the material in the past.

“Here, too, the suspicion is on some Iranian group. But involvement of the Islamic State or al-Qaeda cannot be ruled out. Access to PETN suggests involvement of either a trans-national terror group or a group sponsored by a State.

The blast was deliberately kept low intensity as the aim, it appears, was to send a message,” a security establishment officer said.

Ya’alon Quits Politics

Former Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon announced early this week that his Telem party will not run in the upcoming elections in March.

Acknowledging that Telem had little chance of crossing the electoral threshold, Ya’alon said on Monday that he would leave the race to avoid wasting votes that could go to other parties. The decision to leave politics came after all of the surveys commissioned over the past week showed Ya’alon far behind the 3.35% needed to make it into the Knesset.

“I believed that by running independently with Telem, we could increase the power of the [political] camp pushing for change,” Ya’alon

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said in a statement. “This working assumption turned out to be wrong.

In the political circumstances that have arisen, the battle for change requires me and Telem not to run in the upcoming elections.”

Ya’alon’s announcement came only a month after he left Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party for an independent Knesset bid. Ya’alon’s Telem had partnered with Yesh Atid ever since the two parties dissolved their alliance with Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan last May. Previously, Ya’alon had been a senior Likud lawmaker and was often spoken of as a potential heir to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But Ya’alon left the Likud after a bitter falling out with his former political patron and returned to politics in 2018 as part of the Kahol Lavan alliance.

Since rejoining the Knesset, Ya’alon has been renowned for his bitterness towards Netanyahu, accusing him of corruption and of endangering the country more than Iran. Prior to Monday’s announcement, Ya’alon recruited social activists leading the weekly anti-Netanyahu protests in Jerusalem for Telem’s Knesset list and referred to the prime minister as “the accused criminal.”

IDF, Mossad Chiefs at War?

A militant anti-Iran speech delivered by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi led to a sharp war of words with Mossad head Yossi Cohen.

Last week, Kochavi delivered a blistering speech in which he warned President Joe Biden not to reenter the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Calling such a move “a serious mistake,” Kochavi declared that he had ordered the military to prepare multiple plans to attack Tehran.

Kochavi’s militant address raised eyebrows in Israel and around the world. Unlike Israel’s elected leadership, the IDF’s senior brass generally favors the Iran deal and criticism of the U.S. is usually kept behind

closed doors.

According to reports, Kochavi’s speech led to a deep disagreement with Mossad chief Yossi Cohen. The veteran spymaster, who is leading Israel’s effort to prevent Biden from returning to the Iran deal, reportedly told confidants that the IDF chief was “irresponsible” for publicly bashing the Biden administration.

Cohen added that any such criticisms should be voiced via diplomatic channels and not in televised speeches, alleging that Kochavi hurt Israel’s effort to influence the Biden administration. Cohen also stressed that Kochavi’s address was not coordinated with neither him nor Netanyahu and did not reflect official Israel policy.

Kochavi rejected the accusations, telling Army Radio that he was not required to coordinate strategic policy moves with the Mossad chief.

“It is a shame that there is someone in the defense establishment who chooses to publicly defame the chief of staff,” a source said.

“The chief of staff relayed his position to the Israeli public and is not required to update the head of the Mossad before he speaks. The Iranian issue doesn’t belong to Yossi Cohen, and even if there are differences of opinion, it is better that they stay behind closed doors.”

Israel and Kosovo Establish Ties

On Monday, Israel and Kosovo formally established diplomatic ties, with the Muslim-majority territory also recognizing Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital – putting it at odds with the rest of the Islamic world.

In a ceremony held over Zoom in Jerusalem and Pristina, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and his counterpart from the Republic of Kosovo, Meliza Haradinaj Stublla, signed a joint declaration establishing ties.

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Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which was announced by Haradinaj in September.

The decision on mutual recognition between Kosovo and Israel was achieved last September at a summit of Kosovo-Serbia leaders at the White House in the presence of then-U.S. president Donald Trump.

At the meeting, Belgrade also agreed to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which it has not yet done .

“I thank the United States for its efforts to advance world peace and to advance Israel’s relations with countries that we did not have diplomatic relations with until recently,” Ashkenazi said Monday.

When Kosovo opens its embassy in Jerusalem it will become the third country after the U.S. and Guatemala to open an embassy in Israel’s capital. Other countries, like Honduras, have pledged to move their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as well.

Lockdown Until Friday

tablished relations with a country virtually.

Ashkenazi said he had approved Kosovo’s “formal request to open an embassy in Jerusalem.”

“The establishment of relations between Israel and Kosovo is an important and moving historical step that reflects the many changes the region has experienced in recent months,” Ashkenazi said. “Today, Kosovo officially joins the circle of countries that aspire to peace and stability and recognize Israel and

Jerusalem as its capital.”

The foreign ministers signed two cooperation agreements – one to establish their diplomatic relations and the other relating to the activities of Israel’s international development agency Mashav.

The ceremony was broadcast live on the Foreign Ministry’s Facebook page.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price praised the sides for the “historic day.”

“When our partners are united,

the United States is stronger. Deeper international ties help further peace and stability in the Balkans and Middle East,” he said.

During the virtual event, Ashkenazi unveiled the sign that will be placed at the entrance to the Kosovo embassy when it opens. Ashkenazi said he believed the embassy would be inaugurated by the Passover holiday at the end of March.

Ashkenazi also lauded Kosovo for adopting the definition of anti-Semitism written by the International

Israel’s Knesset voted to extend its lockdown until Friday as infection rates continue to climb despite a month-long lockdown.

The final government approval for extending the closure came on Sunday evening, only 15 minutes before the current lockdown expired, and extended the lockdown until 7 A.M. on Friday morning. Almost all of the current restrictions remained in place, including a ban on indoor dining, schools for all age groups, and prohibiting all non-essential businesses.

As part of the new lockdown, all incoming arrivals from overseas will be forced to quarantine at a government-run facility. The decision comes amid reports of hundreds of thousands of travelers purposely shirking the regulation mandating them to remain at home for 14 days.

Ministers also approved keeping Ben Gurion Airport shut for an additional two weeks to prevent COVID-19 mutations such as the South African variant from entering

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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Israel. However, an ad-hoc committee of senior officials from the Health and Justice Ministries was established to debate special requests from Israelis wishing to fly abroad.

Preceding the cabinet vote was hours of stormy debate between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the lockdown’s length and severity. While Netanyahu wanted the lockdown extended until next Sunday, Gantz refused to approve what he called “a fake closure” and demanded to begin reopening the economy.

Pointing to two massive charedi funerals that occurred in Jerusalem on Sunday in defiance of the regulations, Gantz vowed not to “punish everyday Israelis” with a selectively enforced lockdown. Gantz, who heads the Kahol Lavan party in the national unity government, demanded the lockdown end on Wednesday with the entire education system reopening on Sunday.

Netanyahu blasted Gantz for his

“populist” arguments he alleged were making it harder to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

“We must extend the lockdown by a week and not politicize it, to focus on the violations of one public group or on other communities. Gatherings in every sector must be prevented,” Netanyahu said.

“To be clear: a gathering is a gathering is a gathering. It doesn’t matter if it’s ultra-Orthodox, secular people or Arabs. Unfortunately, there are gatherings on all sides, in all these public groups. We need to stop this immediately and stop politicizing it.”

Israel to Vaccinate 1K Palestinians Israel will vaccinate over a thousand Palestinian medical workers in Judea and Samaria amid rising inter-

national pressure.

The decision was made last Thursday following consultations by the Health and Defense Ministries along with the National Security Council. The first batch of vaccines were transferred to the Palestinian Authority on Monday and will be followed by another delivery in mid-February.

In early January, Israel sent 1,000 doses of the vaccine to the Palestinian Authority to inoculate senior political figures, including President Mahmoud Abbas. A PA request for an additional 10,000 doses was denied.

Security officials have been warn-

ing that the Palestinian health care system is nearing collapse due to the overload of COVID-19 cases. Major General Kamil Abu Rukun, the IDF’s liaison to the PA, issued a memo last week urging Israel to vaccinate Palestinian doctors and nurses in order to combat the shortage of trained medical personnel.

The skyrocketing COVID-19 infections amongst Palestinians is also threatening Israel’s effort to combat the virus from spreading, as an estimated 100,000 Arab laborers are employed over the Green Line. With the aforementioned workers crossing from the West Bank into Israel daily, the high transmission rates amongst the PA could lead to an outbreak in Israel.

While Israel currently leads the world in inoculations, the 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik IV vaccine the PA ordered will only arrive by March. The disparity has led to international pressure on Israel to take responsibility for vaccinating West

Monumental Losses

Rav Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik, zt”l

This week, Klal Yisroel was plunged into mourning twice on the same day, with the passing of Rav Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik, zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Brisk, and Rav Yitzchok Scheiner, zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Kaminetz.

Thousands attended the levayas despite coronavirus restrictions, which took place in Yerushalayim.

Rav Scheiner passed away at the age of 98. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents, who came from Galicia, did not have a way to formally give their son a Jewish education. As such, Rabbi Scheiner went to public school.

Rabbi Avrohom Dovid Bender, who came to the Scheiner home to fundraise, convinced the Scheiners to send their young son to New York to learn in a yeshiva. Rav Yitzchok’s parents jumped at the idea.

Rabbi Scheiner once recalled, “In general, he [Rabbi Avrohom Dovid Bender] would go to another neighborhood where he had relatives but once he came to our neighborhood and stayed with us, since we were one of the few families that ate Kosher. Hashem organized it in this way.

“Most meshulachim would come to their lodg-

Levaya of Rav Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik, zt”l

ings, eat and sleep and would not take notice of the kids in the family where they were staying. But Rabbi Bender was different. I was 16 then, and he asked me what I was learning so I told him that I had finished school. He was interested in me and asked my parents, ‘Why don’t you send him to a yeshiva in New York?’ My parents responded: ‘Yeshiva? What’s a yeshiva?’ They were very devout, kept Shabbos and kashrus, maybe they heard of yeshivos in Poland but had not idea that there could be such institutions in America.

“He said: ‘I’ll take him there.’”

Rabbi Scheiner learned at Yeshiva College and at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas. He married a granddaughter of Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz, the Rosh Yeshiva of Kaminetz.

During the 1960s, Rabbi Scheiner taught at a Yeshiva in Montreux, Switzerland. When Rabbi Scheiner’s father-in-law passed away, Rabbi Scheiner took over the position of rosh yeshiva along with his brother-in-law.

Rav Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik passed away this week at the age of 99.

Rabbi Soloveitchik was the fifth of twelve children born to the Rav Velvel Soloveitchik, the

Rav Yitzchok Scheiner, zt”l

Brisker Rav, and was the grandson of Rav Chaim Brisker. He was the last surviving son of his father.

Rav Meshulam Dovid was born in Europe and managed to escape to what was then called Palestine with his father and some siblings. Three of his younger siblings, along with his mother, perished in the Holocaust.

Rav Meshulam Dovid married the daughter of Rabbi Asher Sternbuch and was a brother-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, one of the leaders of the Eda Chareidis. Rabbi Meshulam Dovid was close with the heads of the Eda Chareidis and shared their ideological opposition to Zionism and the state of Israel.

In the 1970s, with Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel’s encouragement, Rav Soloveitchik opened up a yeshiva, leading the talmidim with great dedication and saying shiur up until very recently.

Rav Meshulam Dovid was the epitome of Bais Brisk. As such, he was medakdek in many matters of halacha. Learning Torah and delving into its depths was important to him. Mesorah and halacha were paramount.

His son, Rav Yitzchok Zeev, was appointed to succeed him in the Brisk yeshiva.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Bank Palestinians despite the 1993 Oslo Accords giving the PA the responsibility for providing healthcare.

In January, the Palestine Liberation Organization called for nations worldwide “to hold Israel to account” and force it to inoculate West Bank residents.

Pfizer Vaccine 92% Effective

A new Israeli study has found that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is 92% effective in stopping transmission of the virus.

Conducted by Maccabi, Israel’s largest health insurer, the study tracked 168,000 of its customers after they received both shots of Pfizer’s vaccine. The results found that only 31 people were infected within 10 days of being inoculated, while 6,500 people in a sample group of unvaccinated Israelis developed the disease.

The 31 people infected with COVID-19 post-vaccination showed only mild symptoms, ranging from coughs to slight fatigue. Despite the majority being over age of 55 and half suffering from chronic diseases, none were hospitalized and only two needed medical care.

Researchers say that the results are encouraging as it is the largest independent study of the vaccine’s efficacy rate to date. While the 92% efficacy rate shown in the study is slightly lower than the 95% seen in clinical trials, the slight difference is within the standard deviation.

In addition, those who were infected did not require urgent medical intervention despite their age and having suffered from chronic diseases, suggesting that the vaccine both guards from infection and protects against adverse health effects.

“This is very, very good news,” noted Anat Ekka Zohar, Maccabi’s chief statistician. “It is the first study in the world that looks at such a large number of fully vaccinated patients.”

Highlighting the diverse makeup of Maccabi’s customer base, Zohar said that the results show that Pfiz-

er’s vaccine is effective among all swaths of society. “The fact that the infected patients came from different profiles is consistent with Pfizer’s trial results,” she said.

Israel currently leads the world in vaccinating its population, with 3.1 million Israelis having gotten the first shot and 1.8 million receiving the second dose as of Monday. However, reports say that the vaccination drive has slowed down in recent days as health insurers find it difficult to convince people to be vaccinated.

If upwards of 150,000 Israelis were being vaccinated daily as of mid-January, only 87,000 people received the jab on Monday. The slowdown has resulted in thousands of doses being thrown out every day and has led two major healthcare companies to open their inoculation programs to the general population.

Cuomo Covers Up Deaths

New allegations claim that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo covered up the deaths of thousands of nursing home residents who died after contracting COVID-19 due to his actions.

According to a report released by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Cuomo deliberately undercounted nursing home deaths. While the official tally stands at 8,711, the 76-page report puts the true number of deaths at 13,000, the highest in the United States.

The allegations center around New York’s unusual method of counting COVID-19 fatalities. Unlike the rest of the U.S., the state only counted those who died on nursing home property and not those who died after being transported to a hospital.

“Preliminary data obtained by [the Office of the Attorney general] suggests that many nursing home

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Please join Beis Medrash L’Talmud of Touro’s Lander College for Men, New York Medical College & Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine for this special shiur (online via ZOOM)

HaGaon HaRav Asher Weiss

Malley Named as Envoy to Iran

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residents died from COVID-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in [Department of Health’s] published total nursing home death data,” reads the report.

The probe was based on a survey of 62 nursing homes and came after James received over 1,000 complaints from families of nursing home residents.

If accurate, the findings question Cuomo’s claims of his strong pandemic response. Defining his perfor-

mance “as the finest in the nation,” Cuomo frequently lauded his handling of COVID-19 and even received an Emmy Award in November for his televised COVID-19 briefings.

James also faulted Cuomo for causing thousands of needless deaths by forcing nursing homes to take in patients infected with COVID-19.

The directive, which was intended to free up hospital space, is said to have caused the deadly virus to spread throughout nursing homes and devastate their vulnerable residents.

While Cuomo rescinded the order after a public outcry, he never took responsibility for the 4,000 nursing home deaths that followed the controversial directive. Cuomo has since denied ever promoting the policy and scrubbed the Executive Order from the New York State website.

“The admissions may have contributed to increased risk of nursing home resident infection and subsequent fatalities,” the attorney general wrote.

President Joe Biden has picked longtime diplomat Robert Malley to be his special envoy to Iran.

The decision was announced last Thursday evening and was confirmed by the State Department on Friday. Speaking with the Associated Press, a State Department official said that Malley will be tasked with leading the Biden administration’s negotiations vis-a-vis Iran over its nuclear program and will lead “a dedicated team” of “clear-eyed experts with a diversity of views.”

The official added that Malley has “a track record of success negotiating constraints on Iran’s nuclear program” and “will be able to do that once again.”

Malley will play a key role in coordinating the Biden administration’s stance when it comes to Iran regarding a possible return to the nuclear deal. Under the terms of the agreement, which is formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran had reduced its nuclear enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.

While former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, Biden has reiterated his willingness to return to the deal if Tehran keeps to its commitments.

The selection of Malley as Biden’s arbitrator is controversial, as the longtime diplomat is renowned for his dovish and pro-Tehran views. A State Department veteran, Malley previously served in the Obama administration and played a key role in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.

Malley has frequently condemned Israel for what he calls “its obsession” with stopping Iran, considering the Islamic Republic “a strategic partner” for the U.S. in the Middle East. The approach conflicts with the anti-Iran stance espoused

by America’s traditional allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt.

Speaking with the AP, a senior

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official said that Malley “wants to rejoin the Iran deal at any cost and may be willing to sacrifice the security of Israel and the Gulf Arab states to do so.”

In 2008, Malley was fired by then-President Barack Obama after he met with the Hamas terror group without authorization. While he later returned to the administration, he never retracted his support for working with terror groups to advance U.S. interests.

“Today the U.S. does not talk to Iran, Syria, Hamas, the elected Palestinian government or Hezbollah,” Malley once wrote. “The result has been a policy with all the appeal of a moral principle and all the effectiveness of a tired harangue.”

Winter is Here to Stay It will be six more weeks of winter, according to Punxsutawney Phil, who saw his shadow on Groundhog Day on Tuesday.

The famous groundhog made his prediction at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday before 16 members of the Punxsut-

awney Groundhog Club at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania.

“Now, when I turn to see, there’s a perfect shadow cast of me. Six more weeks of winter there will be,” announced one of his handlers.

In November, Punxsutawney Groundhog Club President Jeffrey Lundy penned an open letter confirming that the event would take place virtually.

“The health and safety of our faithful followers and everyone associated with Phil’s prognostication has been our number one priority,” Lundy wrote.

Fatal Nitrogen Leak in GA As legend has it, seeing his shadow and then returning to his hole means that winter will last for an additional six weeks. The tradition dates back 135 years, in which Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow 106 times.

Groundhog Day looked different this year as organizers worked to hold the traditional festival in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The annual event was closed to the public for the first time in history, and only Phil’s “Inner Circle,” men in top hats who oversee the happenings, were able to attend the ceremony.

Six people were killed and another 11 were hospitalized following a nitrogen leak at a Georgia poultry plant northeast of Atlanta last week.

A key component for the refrigeration systems used at poultry plants, nitrogen displaces oxygen when released into the air. The gas then be-

comes deadly by reducing available breathable air.

Hall county fire department division chief Zach Brackett told reporters that firefighters were summoned on Thursday morning after getting reports of an accident at the plant.

Upon arriving, they found hundreds of employees waiting outside, some with severe breathing problems.

“Once the units arrived, they found a large contingent of employees that had evacuated, along with multiple victims that were in that crowd that were also experiencing medical emergencies around the facility,” Brackett said.

Five workers were declared dead on the spot, while another was pronounced dead after being transferred to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. Four firefighters were also evacuated to the hospital after suffering from respiratory difficulties.

“First, we just thought there was something wrong with the freezer, then they started saying, ‘Get out,’” recounted Jameel Fareed, who had been on the production line when the chaos began. “I just saw the fog, and when I couldn’t see down the steps, I turned around. But I didn’t

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feel anything.”

Federal and state law enforcement personnel opened an investigation into what caused the deadly leak. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board sent a special team to examine the site on Friday morning but cautioned that it will take time until investigators can determine what went wrong.

“It will be a lengthy process,” admitted Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch. “It’s not something that’s quick.”

Robinhood Investigation

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has opened a probe of online trading platform Robinhood after it restricted the sales of certain stocks.

Robinhood had taken the unusual

step of freezing trading for companies including GameStop, BlackBerry and Nokia after millions of Reddit users bought up the shares en masse.

The stock trading app justified the move as a means to prevent “market volatility” caused by Redditers artificially boosting the share price.

But according to James, Robinhood may have run afoul of laws prohibiting market manipulation.

The Attorney General is now investigating if Robinhood’s actions constituted an illegal attempt to game the stock market.

“We are aware of concerns raised regarding activity on the Robinhood app, including trading related to the GameStop stock. We are reviewing this matter,” James said.

Robinhood’s decision to prevent trading shares of the aforementioned companies was controversial, with many customers accusing it of acting to protect large hedge funds from collapse. The unexpected stock rally caused losses in the tens of billions of dollars to a series of renowned money management firms, including Citadel and Melvin Capital.

Criticism of Robinhood came across the political spectrum, as both Democrats and Republicans charged that freezing trading showed there

was a different standard for hedge funds and small retail traders. The decision also caused tens of thousands of Robinhood customers to flee the app, forcing the trading app to quickly raise more than $1 billion from its own investors.

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) promised to continuously monitor “the extreme price volatility of certain stocks’ trading prices over the past several days” and warned that it would act against any signs of market manipulation.

The SEC statement referred to both established trading platforms such as Robinhood, and people working on online forums such as Reddit to engineer spectacular gains in small stocks such as GameStop.

“We will act to protect retail investors when the facts demonstrate abusive or manipulative trading activity that is prohibited by the federal securities laws,” said the SEC. “Market participants should be careful to avoid such activity.”

What prompted so many to purchase so many stocks all at once?

Some on Reddit said the stock rally was payback for the 2008 financial collapse. Whatever the motive was, GameStop, which had nearly died in 2019, ended the trading week with a market cap of about $22.67 billion.

No Vaccine at Gitmo

The Pentagon said that it would pause plans to vaccinate al-Qaeda prisoners imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay following a nationwide outcry.

Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said that jailed terrorists would not be given the coveted vaccine after news of the expected inoculation programs caused an uproar.

“No Guantanamo detainees have been vaccinated. We’re pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols. We remain committed to our obligations to keep our troops safe,” Kirby tweeted.

Located on the U.S.-controlled half of Cuba, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp is a military deten-

tion facility home to 40 senior terrorist leaders. Current detainees include 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed along with other al-Qaeda bigwigs.

All of the imprisoned terrorists were slated to be inoculated by Monday in order to enable legal proceedings that were halted by the pandemic to resume. But the news that senior terrorists would be given the in-demand vaccine before American citizens caused blowback across the political spectrum, leading the Pentagon to reconsider.

The outrage was particularly fierce amongst first responders on 9/11 and the families of the victims, who questioned why those responsible for killing their loved ones should be prioritized.

“You can’t make this up. The ridiculousness of what we get from our government,” tweeted Tom Von Essen, who headed New York City’s Fire Department on 9/11.

“That they will run the vaccine down to those lowlifes at Guantanamo Bay before every resident of the United States of America gets it is the theater of the absurd.”

California Highway Caves In

A massive part of California’s scenic Highway 1 collapsed into a nearby valley after days of torrential rain caused the underlying cliff to cave in.

The collapse occurred on Thursday 20 miles south of Big Sur and came after four straight days of heavy rain. Photos of the highway show a gigantic stretch of roadway missing, leaving lanes in both directions disconnected.

The damage was discovered on Friday morning by motorists making the scenic drive on California’s coastline. No one was on the roadway at the time of the collapse.

While engineers are still examining the extent of the ruins, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) says that the road will

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The book is made with such cute and fun illustrations and the food pictures are so not intimidating like some other cookbooks. besides for recipes there are many great foodie tips and my favorite section is the 9x13 recipes!!!! - Avigayil R Just received this last night and already planned my suppers for the week. Easy and practical recipes that DO use ready made condiments, sauces and the like, however, that’s exactly what a working mother of young children needs. Can’t wait to work my way through this cookbook! - Rochel J I own almost Available at your local Hebrew bookseller or at www.artscroll.com • 1-800-MESORAH (637-6724) every kosher cookbook that's come out in the last 10 years. I hardly use any of them. But...this one is just so practical with basic ingredients and little prep. Easy, wholesome dishes for families with little kids and working mom/dad work for me. The pictures are great.

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likely cost millions to repair. Caltrans Spokesperson Jim Shivers told reporters that the destruction was the result of a “slip out,” or “where we lose a part of the highway, and now we’re facing a project to clean and repair that stretch.

“This is the only location we’re aware of where this happened in the storm. Our maintenance team is patrolling the highway now to look for other damage,” Shivers added.

Big Sur, a rugged stretch of California roadway, is prone to mudslides that have worsened in recent years due to erosion of its cliff face.

In 2017, a landslide dumped 1 million tons of rock on Highway 1, closing it for a year and adding 13 acres to the coastline.

“Anyone familiar with the history of Highway 1 knows that once we get into the rain season, slides of various degrees, slip outs, rock slides is what we face and what we know will happen,” Shivers said.

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ate because the information shared was not available to all potential applicants,” said Health Department Spokesperson James Garrow. “While these actions may have been intended to help advance the City’s vaccine distribution effort, the Health Commissioner has accepted her resignation in the best interest of the city.”

Johnson’s resignation is just the latest twist in a scandal that has people asking why Philadelphia entrusted its vaccine distribution effort to a company with no prior experience.

Founded last March by Andrei Doroshin, a 22-year-old college student, PFC nevertheless received a million dollar contract to operate a mass vaccine program at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Philadelphia’s ties with PFC came under renewed scrutiny after press reports alleged that Doroshin handed out the in-demand vaccines to four personal friends. PFC also changed its corporate structure from a nonprofit to for-profit but never notified city officials.

The expose led Philadelphia to sever ties with PFC last week entirely, saying that “it lost trust in them as an organization.” City Council is now demanding a public hearing in wake of the scandal into why one of America’s biggest cities trusted a start-up with administering its inoculation program.

Philadelphia’s deputy health commissioner resigned amid fallout from a scandal surrounding the city’s COVID-19 vaccine provider.

Dr. Caroline Johnson stepped down on Saturday after emails showed that she was responsible for choosing Philly Fighting COVID (PFC) to manage the city’s vaccine distribution program. Philadelphia’s ties with PFC have since caused an uproar after media reports showed that the startup was run by a 22-yearold CEO with no experience.

A Philadelphia spokesperson said that Johnson was asked to resign after records showed that she gave an advantage to PFC over other vendors during the bidding process.

City officials say it was “improper” for Johnson to favor one company over another.

“These actions were inappropri-

Former President Donald Trump hired two new lawyers to defend him before the Senate in his impeachment trial next week.

Trump announced on Sunday evening that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor Jr. will head his legal team.

Both are experienced trial lawyers and have previously defended key Trump surrogates; most recently, Schoen represented longtime confidant Roger Stone on obstruction of

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ary 6. The hearing marks the first-ever impeachment trial for a president that is no longer in office and comes after Trump was impeached by the House on January 13, 2021.

Advance Questions at the WH?

justice charges in 2019.

“Notably, Schoen has already been working with the 45th President and other advisors to prepare for the upcoming trial, and both Schoen and Castor agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional – a fact 45 Senators voted in agreement with last week,” said Trump’s office.

Trump was referring to last week’s Senate vote in which 45 Republicans voted in favor of dismissing the charges on grounds that it is unconstitutional to remove a former

president. While the measure failed to dismiss the charges by a margin of 55-45, it indicated that the Democratic Party is likely well short of the 67 votes needed to convict.

“It is an honor to represent the 45th President, Donald J. Trump, and the United States Constitution,” Schoen said in a statement. Castor added, “I consider it a privilege to represent the 45th President. The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history.”

Trump’s hiring of the two aforementioned attorneys came a day after his entire legal team resigned only a week before the trial was slated to begin. The five lawyers quit following professional differences over strategy; while the team sought to highlight the legal difficulties of impeaching a former president, Trump wanted to highlight claims of voter fraud.

Trump will appear before the Senate on February 9 for charges of “incitement of insurrection” relating to his role in the Capitol riot on Janu-

A new, eyebrow-raising report suggests the White House communications team has attempted to screen questions for press secretary Jen Psaki in advance of daily briefings.

Reporters have reportedly gotten so frustrated by the practice that they’ve complained to colleagues.

“This is a totally normal procedure if you live in a banana republic. It’s absolutely unheard of in this country,” conservative strategist Chris Barron told Fox News.

A White House spokesperson chalked the Daily Beast’s report up to making the daily press briefings “as useful and informative as possible for both reporters and the public.”

Psaki is a former CNN pundit who is typically praised by the mainstream media.

Media Research Center vice president Dan Gainor believes most White House reporters go easy on Biden and his team already but knowing questions in advance is another way the administration could benefit from a cozy relationship with the media.

Back in 2009, then-CBS News White House Correspondent Chip Reid and columnist Helen Thomas got into a heated confrontation with then-press secretary Robert Gibbs when it was revealed that President Obama’s White House selected questioned for an online town hall.

“It just feels very tightly controlled,” Reid said at the time. “This sounds like a very tightly controlled audience and a list of questions.

Why do it that way? Why not open it up to the public?”

Thomas chimed in, “I’m amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency.”

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Chicago Carjackings Spike Carjackings in the Windy City have spiked, and police are pointing fingers at young adults and teenagers, many of whom are out of school due to the pandemic.

Chicago saw more than 180% more carjackings in January than during the same month in 2020.

The police department recorded 218 carjackings in the first month of the year; last January saw 77 in the city.

Carjackings rose about 135% last year to 1,415 and continue at a high pace this year, police statistics show.

The startling pattern has grown to be cause for concern among police brass, who, on January 21, announced the creation of a team dedicated to finding those people responsible.

According to data, most of the perpetrators are between the ages of 15 and 20, although some are even younger.

“We’re having 12-year-olds commit these acts now,” Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said, “and we gotta do something together as a city to stop these actions.”

CPD’s new carjacking team consists of 40 police officers and four sergeants assigned to work across CPD’s five detective bureaus. The program extends beyond just manpower to include public programs and collaboration with community groups and local, state and federal partners.

Deenihan said pandemic-driven changes, such as civil unrest and the lack of fully-functioning school and court systems have contributed to the surge. He noted the lack of fear on the part of the carjackers, pointing to one involving a 12-year-old that occurred on January 15, when a woman was parking her car in a garage.

“She came back out and a 12-year-

old was getting in her car with a gun,” Deenihan said. “She stood in front of the car to say, ‘Get out of the car.’ The 12-year-old pointed a gun at her and said, ‘Move or I’ll shoot you.’”

The boy took off with the car and was eventually arrested.

“This shows the brazenness of these carjackers,” Deenihan pointed out. “And it shows what we’re up against.”

Amazon’s New Helix

Amazon’s new site in Virginia will dazzle the eyes.

An outdoor amphitheater, public plazas for farmer’s markets and a 350-foot-tall tower inspired by a double helix are all among the latest design proposals for Amazon’s new headquarters.

The plans, made public and submitted to authorities for approval on Tuesday, will form the second phase of the tech giant’s $2.5 billion HQ2 project in Arlington County, Virginia.

More than three years after Amazon announced that it was expanding beyond its current Seattle headquarters, construction at the Virginia site – located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. – is now well underway. Dubbed PenPlace, the newly unveiled proposal for the project’s second phase will provide a further 2.8 million square feet of office space across three 22-story buildings.

The site’s focal point will be The Helix, a tree-covered glass structure where a series of “alternative work environments” will be set amid indoor gardens and greenery from the nearby area, tended to by a team of horticulturalists. According to the architecture firm behind the project, NBBJ, a spiral “hill climb” will allow employees and visitors to ascend the outside of the structure.

“We’re doing a lot on the site to connect people to nature,” said lead architect and NBBJ principal, Dale Alberda, adding that the design aims to symbolize both nature and sci-

ence. “But with the Helix we really take that to the extreme,” he added.

“We’re building a series of indoor atriums and gardens that are not a conservatory or a place you just visit, but a place you can actually go and work.”

The new proposal includes 2.5 acres of public space, offering art installations, communal grassy areas and a 250-seat amphitheater.

“If we do this right, you won’t necessarily even know that you’re on an Amazon headquarters property,” said Alberda, adding that the “vast majority” of the site will be accessible to the public, including office buildings’ lobbies.

If Amazon’s PenPlace proposal is approved, the project’s second phase would break ground in 2022, with construction projected to complete by 2025.

Six Time’s a Charm

Bryan Moss is a very, very, very, very, very, very lucky man.

Last week, the Idaho man won the first $250,000 jackpot on the Idaho Lottery Scratch Game $250,000 Crossword.

But Moss is no stranger to winning. This is the sixth time that he won a large prize from the state lottery. Thursday’s win, though, was his largest jackpot and the first time he’s ever won a top prize.

“This is a remarkable run of good luck for Mr. Moss,” David Workman, the Idaho Lottery spokesman, said.

“While he has had success winning, he also truly understands that playing wisely benefits our local businesses as well as Idaho public schools and buildings.”

Since 1990, the annual lottery dividend has benefited Idaho Public Schools and the Permanent Building Fund, which supports state-operated facilities like colleges and universities.

“I’m proud to help support Idaho public schools,” Moss said in a statement. “That’s really why I play.”

With his new $250,000 jackpot winnings, Moss told lottery officials he plans on using the money to pay for his daughter’s future education.

“Bryan Moss is someone who has a positive outlook toward life and today, he has an additional 250,000 reasons to be happy,” the lottery said.

If only money could buy happiness.

Lost & Found

One good deed leads to another.

A city worker in Taiwan found more than $10,000 when he was sorting through donated clothes and returned the bundle of cash to its owner.

Huang Chi-lung, a member of the Taichung Nantung District Environmental Protection Bureau cleanup team, was sorting through clothes at a collection site when he found $10,140 in cash that had been stored in red envelopes and placed in pockets in the clothing.

Officials took the bag that contained the money to a local police station, where officers found receipts and other documents that identified the owner.

The owner, a 72-year-old woman, said her husband had gathered the clothes to be donated without realizing one of the items contained the envelopes of money she had been saving for retirement and a wedding gift for her daughter.

The grateful woman brought the cleanup team a basket of apples to show her appreciation to them for returning the money.

Hope they were expensive apples.

Sleeping Beauty If you love to sleep, this job is for you.

A mattress reviewing platform said it is seeking “a real-life Sleeping

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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Israel’s in a state of emergency as it faces its third lockdown

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cost them around $46 to transport the oranges back home.

It took them around a half hour to consume the box of fruit.

“We just stood there and ate the whole thing up. It took about 2030 minutes,” said Wang, one of the travelers, who spoke with the Global Times.

The four men were coworkers who had hoped to bring the fruit back home to split between themselves.

After gorging on the citrus fruits, though, they were left with painful sores in their mouths.

“We never want to have any oranges again,” Wang declared.

Fruit for thought…

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Beauty” to get paid $3,000 to test out mattresses.

SleepJunkie.com said the chosen candidate “will be paid to sleep on the job” by trying three top-rated

mattresses in a two-month period and writing detailed reviews of each experience.

The “Sleeping Beauty” will be paid $3,000 for the mattress testing job, as well as being allowed to keep the mattress of their choice at the end of their duties.

“To be the right fit for the role you will need to be a self-starter, available to work immediately and independently, have clear writing skills, good evaluation skills and be exceptionally good at sleeping,” the

website said.

That’s one company that won’t penalize you for sleeping on the job.

Oranges All Around Orange you glad they didn’t pack more?

Four men gobbled down 66 pounds of oranges at a Chinese airport after they learned that it would

A Canadian man with a love for spicy food broke a Guinness World Record by eating three Carolina reaper chili peppers – the hottest chili peppers in the world – in under 10 seconds.

Mike Jack scarfed down the three peppers in 9.72 seconds during his attempt in London, Ontario.

According to Guinness, each pepper needs to weigh at least 0.18 ounces.

This achievement is too hot to handle.

Did you know?

Snowflakes have six sides

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Around the

Community HAFTR Celebrates Tu B’Shvat

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hile we are in the midst of the cold winter here in America, in Eretz Yisrael they are getting ready for the spring.

Before vacation, the children of HAFTR’s Early Childhood learned about Tu B’Shvat, the birthday of the trees. It’s a special time to plant trees in Israel and marks the blossoming of many of Israel’s most beautiful trees – the olive, date, fig, and, of course, the shkediyah or almond tree. The students

made their own spectacular shkediyah trees to decorate their homes.

The Pre-K students had a seder led by the Chalav U’dvash teacher Morah Yael. It featured foods to help taste the Shivas HaMinim. The yeladim can name all seven minim in Hebrew and English: wheat, barley, grape, olive, pomegranate, date, and fig.

In conjunction with the holiday, the children learned about the parts of the tree, how trees help us, and how they grow. We compared the parts of

the tree to people. Roots = feet, trunk = body, branches = arms, and leaves and flowers = head. They spoke about how we start with a seed and end with the plant and learned words like sprout, bud, blossom, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. They discussed all of the essential items we get from trees such as food, paper, shade, and wood. Their favorite fun fact is knowing how to find out how old the tree is by counting the number of rings on a tree stump!

The children also enjoyed reading Tap the Magic Tree by Christine Matheson and predicting what action would come next. After, they created their own “magic tree” designs using brown construction paper strips, leaves, and pink tissue paper puffs.

Lastly, no birthday goes without cake – even the trees’ birthday!

Each class enjoyed baking a birthday cake for the trees and decorating it as a tree with green, white, and pink frosting.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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Around the Community

Jack Tabbush Named Director of Camp Simcha Without Borders

C

hai Lifeline welcomes Jack Tabbush as the inaugural director of Camp Simcha Without Borders. Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, Camp Simcha Without Borders was developed to safely and innovatively deliver the magic of Camp Simcha to children and communities across the country.

Camp Simcha Without Borders operates day camps and hosts special events in cities across the United States and across the globe, providing children who are unable to travel the opportunity to enjoy Simcha in their own hometowns.

In 2020, more than 1,200 children took part in the inaugural summer of Camp Simcha Without Borders. Camps, programs and special events took place in Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Lakewood, Monsey, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Philadelphia, Canada, England, and Israel.

Tabbush has been part of the Camp Simcha family since 2014, when he first joined as a specialty staff member. In 2016, he was named division head for both Camp Simcha and Camp Simcha Special, Chai Lifeline’s respective summer programs for children with life-threatening and chronic illnesses.

“Jack brings experience, excitement, and energy to this unique

Rav Yitzchok Kolodetsky of Bnei Brak, a son-in-law of Maran Rav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita, addressing the Yeshiva Darchei Torah Middle School talmidim on Wednesday morning

role,” said Nachman Maimon, director of Camp Simcha. “His creativity and passion will help Chai Lifeline continue to grow and strengthen the Camp Simcha Without Borders initiative to reach more children and impact more lives than ever before.”

Throughout the year, Tabbush volunteers with the children and families of Chai Lifeline. He resides in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife, Patricia, and their two children.

To learn more about Camp Simcha, visit www.campsimcha.org.

This Purim, Send Something Meaningful, Convenient and Safe

W

ith Purim fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about mishloach

manos.

This year, Purim falls out on Erev Shabbos, February 26. No doubt, we will all be busy getting the kids into their costumes, running to megillah leining, preparing for the seudah, and so much more. In addition, this year we are confronted with celebrating Purim during a pandemic.

To help keep the day safe, stressfree and truly full of simcha, consider sending Purim cards in lieu of mishloach manos. Purim cards are a great way to support a tzedakah you care about, while including the recipient in the mitzvah – all in a safe, meaningful, and convenient way.

Chai Lifeline, the leading chil-

dren’s health support network, offers its popular Purim cards in a variety of beautiful design options.

Each card you order will help support thousands of children and families living with serious illness in our community. Cards are available in packages of ten for a suggested minimum donation of $30. Order two or more sets and receive them for just $25 each. For your convenience, Chai Lifeline also offers the option to mail the cards out for you, as well as digital e-Cards to ensure timely delivery.

Avoid the Purim day frenzy. Send a Chai Lifeline Purim Card and send a message of hope. Order your cards at www.chailifeline.org/purim or call 212-699-6655.

Did you know?

Chionophobia is the fear of snow.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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The SBA is making the Þrst 6 months payments of principal and interest on all new 7a and 504 loans approved through September 30, 2021, capped at $9,000 per month (subject to funds available).

Also the SBA has ELIMINATED the main fee on SBA loans called the ‘’SBA GUARANTEE FEE’’, which was roughly 2.5% of the loan amount.

This might be the time to buy that building that you always wanted for your business, or other business ideas you had in the past but conditions were not right!

This will only be available for businesses NOT impacted by Covid-19 or business that are back to being fully operational in line with pre-pandemic levels.

• To purchase owner-occupied commercial real estate where your business occupies at least 51%, with as little as 10% down and there are also options with NO MONEY DOWN • SBA loan funds could also be used for inventory and working capital • You need good credit • Based on the cashßow of your last tax return We are NOT doing PPP or EIDL loans at this time Mendy (347) 409-0101

mendy@sbaloangroup.com

Yankie (718) 744-7459

yankie@sbaloangroup.com

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

,

Embrace More

Possibilities

“Touro’s values support religious women like me, ensuring we succeed in the workplace and beyond. I truly believe that Touro undergrad was a huge driving factor for me being able to thrive in my master’s program. The classes are rigorous, but the teachers are there to help every step of the way. Now, my favorite part about being a Physician Assistant is when patients tell me I am helping them lead a better life. What more can you ask for in a career?”

Learn more about Tamar’s journey at touro.edu/more

TAMAR MERMELSTEIN, PA-C Physician Assistant, Advanced Dermatology PC Touro’s Lander College for Women  Touro School of Health Sciences

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

Despite the snowfall, men davened Shacharis on Monday, February 1, at the outdoor COVID sensitive, concerned and preventive minyan (which has been continuous Shacharis, Mincha, Maariv since after Purim 2020) on Meehan Ave (nicknamed Minyan Ave) in Far Rockaway, New York, under the gabbai-ship leadership of Reb Avrami Slansky

Mishkon Celebrates Tu B’Shvat

8th Day to Headline NSN “Kosher Halftime Show”

T

M

ishkon, the division of The Jewish Board serving people with developmental disabilities, believes in celebrations. Thanks to a collaboration with IAC, who collaborated with Ramaz School, the individuals in Mishkon day hab and homes were able to use all their senses to celebrate. They had such fun decorating flower pots with the markers and stickers, coloring in the books, making and wearing the flower wreaths, and planting the

plants. Each bag had a picture drawn by a Ramaz student, and these were hung up in the homes. The day naturally included a Tu B’Shvat feast of fruits and singing. Despite the cold weather, our hearts were warm.

Next up: Purim! Mishkon will be selling Mishloach Manot cards designed by the winners of the Purim card contest. For more information about the cards or Mishkon in general, please call Faye Wilbur, LCSWR at 718-851-7100 x 471376.

op Jewish radio personality Nachum Segal and NSN (The Nachum Segal Network) will present its eighth annual “Kosher Halftime Show” on Sunday, February 7 during America’s Super Bowl LV. The show will include a highlight reel of the moments when the Jewish community rose to the challenges of 2020, along with sketches from Nachum Segal, entertainer Meir Kay, and recording duo 8th Day. NSN’s “Kosher Halftime Show” will again present a series of unique commercials from Kosher.com, Touro and Lander Colleges, HASC – A Time for Music 34, and Saymazeltov.com.

“The regular Halftime Show is an iconic American event and true spectacle,” said Segal, president and host of NSN. “The Kosher Halftime Show has become very popular for families who are looking for an appropriate show to watch and enjoy with their families. This year, we reimagined the show in order to highlight the moments of 2020 where our community shined despite a year that was overshadowed by a global pandemic and created a

show that is enjoyable and shareable for all.”

The show, hosted by Segal, debuts on www.nachumsegal.com and the network’s Facebook platform at 8 p.m. ET February 7. Sponsored

by The Rothenberg Law Firm LLP, Meir Kay Productions, 8th Day, and Steinreich Communications, the show can be followed on social media using #KHS2021.

The Nachum Segal Network is committed to providing motivating, essential, and timely content to an international Jewish audience on a daily basis. The principles of its founder, Nachum Segal, guide the network and its staff by providing quality programming that appeals to a sophisticated and informed audience. Nachum Segal uses the network as a platform to show unity, support, and care for Jews throughout the world. NSN proudly features content that is dedicated to family values and that encourages a life committed to spiritual growth and the love of Israel. For more information and live coverage visit: www. nachumsegal.com and download the NSN app.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

The Friedberg JCC celebrated Tu B’Shvat last week

Tu B’Shvat at Siach Yitzchok

HAFTR Teacher Selected for Prestigious Fellowship

M

r. Jason Gelman, chairman of Humanities at HAFTR High School, has been selected to participate in an exciting new initiative, the Abraham Lincoln Teachers Fellowship, an advanced seminar on American history and civilization created by the Tikvah Fund.

The Abraham Lincoln Teachers Fellowship is aimed at creating a community of exceptional Jewish day school and yeshiva educators interested in strengthening how we teach American civilization. A selected group of teachers of American history and related disciplines will spend time in intensive study together with their peers and with world-renowned guest speakers – reading about and discussing the great themes of American history, with a special emphasis on Jewish themes, taught with imagination and spirit.

The program began this month and runs through May 2021, with advanced seminars every other week on Zoom and guided independent study on subjects of special interest to each individual teacher. The process was a competitive one, with 200 applicants competing for 36 spots. The fellowship culminates with a research pa-

per where participants work closely with a faculty advisor.

Mr. Gelman, a highly respected department chair and revered social studies teacher, is excited to participate in the Fellowship.

“I spend my days teaching history and loving every minute of it,” said Mr. Gelman. “It is not a job but a way of life, one that brings me a great amount of happiness and fulfillment.

I’m truly grateful to work with smart and insightful students who help me create an environment where ideas and intellectual curiosity are celebrated.”

He looks forward to sharing what he learns with teachers and students at HAFTR High School.

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For the First Time, Matzah Bakery Established at the Home of Hagaon Rav Chaim Kanievsky

S

pecial Matzos Being Sent by Hagaon Rav Chaim to Supporters of Hagaon Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin’s Yeshiva Ateres Shlomo, with Rav Chaim’s Blessings of Abundance and Eternal Salvation For the first time ever, Maran Hagaon Rav Chaim Kanievsky is baking matzos for the supporters and donors of Yeshiva Ateres Shlomo, the renowned network of mosdos haTorah headed by the venerated rosh yeshiva, Hagaon Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin. Until Pesach, Rav Chaim will be sending these special matzos to those who assist Rav Sorotzkin in his harbotzas haTorah.

As is well-known, since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the olam haTorah at large and kollelim in particular have experienced severe economic hardships, causing a significant reduction in the support of mosdos haTorah. During the last few weeks, Rav Sorotzkin, one of to-

day’s most prominent marbitzei Torah, delivering shiurim each week and leading Eretz Yisroel’s largest Torah empire, has discussed the fi-

nancial challenges with Rav Chaim, who serves as the nosi hayeshiva of Ateres Shlomo. Rav Chaim expressed his desire to reciprocate

for the support of those who have stepped up to assist Yeshiva Ateres Shlomo by sending them matzos from the special chaburah that he

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

bakes in every year before Pesach.

Due to the current difficulties involved in transporting matzah from Eretz Yisroel to the United States, Rav Sorotzkin asked Rav Chaim if he would advance the baking of his matzos in order to allow for them to be shipped to the United States in time for the yom tov of Pesach. Rav Chaim happily agreed to the request.

In recent weeks, despite major logistical challenges, it was arranged for a matzah bakery to be built in Rav Chaim’s very home on Rechov Rashbam in Bnei Brak.

This “bakery” includes the traditional “water room” and “flour room,” as well as tables for the dough to be rolled on and a proper matzah oven. The matzos are being prepared by a select group of men, all close talmidim of Rav Chaim, with the operation being carried out under the supervision of the She’airis Yisroel hashgachah.

Before the start of the baking,

Rav Chaim inspected the entire bakery to ensure that it is in accordance with the strictest level of hiddur. Rav Chaim then poured the water into the flour to begin the process, later rolling out the dough himself. After each matzah emerges from the oven, Rav Chaim himself examines them. They are then placed in special boxes and prepared to be transported overseas for use on the leil haSeder, sent to a select group of outstanding Torah supporters in appreciation of those who have come to the aid of Rav Sorotzkin.

Rav Chaim has bentched all the supporters and donors of Yeshiva Ateres Shlomo, blessing them with the brachos assured to those who are machzik Torah. Rav Chaim likewise expressed his heartfelt brachahto Rav Sorotzkin that he have the koach to continue shepherding the citadel of Torah that operates under his aegis.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

PURIM CARDS!

Math Moments

CAHAL is offering beautifully designed and colorful cards!

Send Purim greetings to family and friends while supporting this vital program educating children in our local yeshivas in the Five Towns, Far Rockaway, West Hempstead and Greater Nassau County

Pick up your cards today at CAHAL: 516-295-3666 540-A Willow Avenue sheldon@cahal.org Cedarhurst NY 11516

(entrance in municipal parking lot)

Pack of 10 cards - $18

3 packs (30 cards) - $50

D

ivision, denominators, decimals, digits…and dreidels!

The month of December gave HAFTR Lower School students the perfect opportunity to apply their mathematical thinking to Chanukah.

Students and their families stepped up to the challenge by creating Math Moments. Students created budgets for making latkes, used mathematical tools for measuring ingredients, doubled recipes, and divided their latkes evenly among their family. Others

played dreidel, assigning different amounts to each of the letters and adding their total winnings at the end of the game. A popular activity was figuring out the total number of hours the candles or oil burned each night and then over eight nights in total.

All participants proudly shared their Math Moment with their classmates and picked up some maththemed prizes for their efforts. Stay tuned for making more family moments.

Welcome Back, Shulamith

S

tudents and teachers of Shulamith Middle Division came together on Monday for a very different “Welcome Back From Vacation” program. Alhough the snowstorm prevented everyone from heading back to school, it was fun to get together on Zoom after midwinter break. Mrs. Danyel Goldberg, Assistant Principal of Shulamith High School, and Morah Chana Schwartz, Judaic Studies Coordinator for the Middle Division, prepared a variety of activities for students to enjoy, including “Minute to Win It” and “Snow Bingo.” We were privileged to be joined by Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner who shared words of wisdom about the importance of being careful about what we broadcast to others.

After the Zoom meeting, students had the chance to enjoy additional activities ranging from “Escape the Digital Room: Yitro Style,” to baking cookies with a recipe provided by Atara from Atara Sweet Gourmet, to participating in the “Chesed Chal-

lenge” by sending in photographs of themselves helping others during the rest of their snow day.

Emma (8th grade) and Rina (6th grade) Rosenberg, captured the thoughts of so many when they wrote to Morah Chana to thank her for creating a fun-filled event. “We really had a great time!”

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Purim Preparation Just Got A Little Easier

SEND A CARD. SEND HOPE. SAFE. CONVENIENT. IMPACTFUL.

When you send a Chai Lifeline Purim card, you send a message of compassion and hope.

Each card helps support close to 6,000 seriously ill children and their families through a variety of yearround programs and services.

This year, Purim falls out on Erev Shabbos.

Send an e-Card to ensure timely delivery!

Cards are available in packages of ten and come in various options for a suggested minimum donation of $30.

Order two or more sets and receive them for just $25 each.

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e-Card options available!

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

COVID-Related Unemployment in Israel Hits Women Twice as Hard as Men

NY Office of American Friends of Sheba Medical Center Welcomes Brian Abrahams as New National Director

By Marlene Goldman

By Ken Stevens

A

s a third nationwide Covid lockdown weighs on Israel’s economy, the Employment Service reported that twice as many working women were laid off or put on furlough, as compared to their male counterparts.

More than two-thirds – 68.5 percent – of Israel’s unemployed, as of the third lockdown, are women. Already, 84,493 women have lost their jobs since the beginning of the lockdown, which began December 27 and has already been extended into February with no end in sight.

Figures from one year ago, two months prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, indicate that the percent of unemployed men (49.4%) was nearly identical to that of women (50.6%).

In families where single women are the household heads the impact of losing income is devastating, immediately plunging the already struggling family below the poverty line.

That’s precisely what Meir Panim’s Restaurant-Style Soup Kitchens encounter daily. As COVID lockdowns continue to take their toll on Israeli society and its economy, more and more single-parent families suffering from food insecurity are finding themselves at Meir Panim’s doors for the first time in their lives.

Meir Panim has done an impressive job keeping up with this ever-increasing influx of families who are new to the world of poverty...but

S

there’s more to the problem. The economic crisis is not only increasing the demand for Meir Panim’s services, it is also straining its financial resources to keep up with the higher costs of meal production.

That’s why Meir Panim is now turning to friends of Israel around the world to open their hearts and take action for their brothers and sisters abroad.

Can you take a moment to support Meir Panim’s efforts?

If the answer is yes, make your donation online at www.mpdonate.org, through our toll-free number (877) 736-6283, or by mail to American Friends of Meir Panim at 88 Walton Street.

heba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer is proud to announce the appointment of Brian Abrahams as the new CEO of the American Friends of Sheba organization. American Friends of Sheba comprises a growing number of branches across the U.S., including in New York, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and South Florida.

Abrahams, who is based in Chicago, has over 35 years of experience as an executive in fundraising, communications, and marketing in both the private sector and the world of non-profits. He has devoted extensive energies to promoting issues relevant to Israel as well as matters of local import.

For 15 years he worked with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), including 12 years as the organization’s Midwest Director.

He also spent 11 years with the Jewish Federations of North America and its predecessor organization, the United Jewish Appeal.

In the private sector, Brian has worked in national marketing and sales management roles with a number of technology companies.

His many volunteer roles include serving as a board member and Development Chair for a Jewish day school in Chicago. He was also founding board member of a new synagogue in Chicago directed at millennials that now serves a congregation of 3,500.

“It’s a great privilege to welcome Brian Abrahams to Sheba Medical Center during one of the most challenging times in our hospital’s history,” remarked Yoel Har-Even, Director of Sheba International. “Sheba Medical Center has been a global leader in innovation and research for over 70 years. During the current COVID-19 crisis, Sheba has been assisting hospitals, healthcare systems and state governments across America to thwart this devastating disease. I am confident that Brian, with his vast experience in many arenas, will help us accelerate our outreach to the business, healthcare and philanthropic communities across the country.”

Abrahams acknowledged, “Israel is viewed as a global leader in technology. I am confident that because of Sheba Medical Center, Israel will also be viewed as a leader in healthcare innovation, providing ideas, breakthroughs and treatments that will help people around the world.

“And I’m proud to lead the American organization that will support that work.”

Sara Schenirer Hosting a Unique Virtual Open House for Parents

By Shira Perlstein

W

ith thousands of seminary students in Israel under lockdown, educating them on their future degree options is more difficult than ever.

“Students need this information, and they need it now,” explains Mrs. Batsheva Shonek, director of Sara Schenirer. “Many of them will be looking for jobs for next year when they return home for Pesach, and a

lot depends on which degree program they will join. Under normal circumstances, we would travel to Israel to host open houses and visit seminaries, but this year, that has proven impossible.”

Students, however, are not the only ones reaching out for help. Parents are also making phone calls, sending emails, and chatting with advisors, seeking to understand their daughters’ options.

“With so many undergraduate

options such as psychology, business, accounting, and social work, parents and seminary students need personal guidance, and we’re committed to providing it,” shares Mrs. Shonek.

To help parents understand their options and prepare their daughters for the coming year, Sara Schenirer will be hosting a unique Virtual Open House for parents only on Monday, February 15 at 8:00 PM.

The one-hour program will cover topics such as financial aid, credit transfers, student support, academic integrity, and a review of available degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The program is free and will be online via Zoom Webinar, but pre-registration is mandatory.

To register, please visit sarasch.com or email openhouse@sarasch.com.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Around the Community

GIVE

2

Give this Purim card to your friends!

Give a neighbor in need Shabbos and Yom Tov food!

To:

On Thursday, January 28, Senator Todd Kaminsky met with AIPAC activists to update them on the work he is doing in the State Senate to combat the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement and foster New York’s integral bonds with Israel

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Halftime for Torah

Y

es, it has already been a year.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back to defend their title in Super Bowl 55 as they face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In a year of firsts, the Bucs will battle it out for the Lombardi Trophy in their very own Raymond James Stadium. The incredible quarterback Tom Brady will make his tenth Super Bowl appearance as he takes on Patrick Mahomes, a force to be reckoned on the Chiefs.

When halftime rolls around, the Jewish world is encouraged to join an all-star roster of premier Torah authorities! Tune in live to hear the awe-inspiring words Rav Gav Friedman, Rabbi Yoel Gold, Charlie Harary, and Rabbi YY Jacobson for a halftime show that is as entertaining as it will be stimulating to children and adults alike.

Halftime for Torah, originally developed by Rabbi Eytan Feiner of the White Shul in Far Rockaway, was devised to give those partaking in the spirit of the game with a riveting dose of Torah as a kosher alternative to the typical distractions.

This year has certainly been one filled with its struggles, and while many would normally spend their Super Bowl Sunday afternoon with family or friends, this year many

will be confined at home. Take comfort and relax for the sensational presentation.

This year, Halftime for Torah will once again feature a fascinating account delivered by Rabbi Yoel Gold, world renowned orator Charlie Harary whose inspiring persona is unmatched, and the vibrancy and energy of the illustrious Rabbi YY Jacobson. The program also welcomes the heartwarming enthusiasm of Rav Gav and his closeness to Eretz Yisrael.

The project is spearheaded by the Chazaq Organization headquartered in Queens, NY. Robbie Aboff, Chazaq’s events coordinator, said, “We thank the local and national organizations, respectable media sponsors, and all who have agreed to partner in streaming Halftime for Torah. We understand the excitement of the game, and we acknowledge everyone who has chosen to help ignite the fire of Torah in their homes.”

This Sunday, during halftime, visit www.TorahAnytime.com/halftime for the streaming event or dial-in at (718) 298-2077 ext. 46 to experience Halftime for Torah and take part in the revolution of Torah.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

Around the Community

SKA Art Student Wins Honorable Mention

C

ongratulations to SKA 10th grader Aliza Zilberberg for receiving honorable mention in the 2021 New York State Art in Month Flag Design Contest on the high school level. Sponsored by the New York State Art Teachers Asso-

ciation, this contest fosters student growth in art. There were over 200 submissions!

Thanks go to Mrs. Suzy Libin, Head of SKA’s very popular Art Academy, for her encouragement and support.

Yeshiva Nishmas Hatorah recently ran a fabulously successful three-part series on “Positive Connections and Technology.” Presenters were Rav Heshy Blumstein, rav of Yismach Moshe; R’ Asher Halpert, Solutions Architect at Google; and R’ Nachi Gordon, founder of Meaningful Minute and an alumnus of the yeshiva

LinkedIn or Left Out? JCCRP Provides New Service

D

uring COVID-19, the community and world underwent many changes. Relying on technology was certainly a significant one. Zoom, WebEx, Amazon, Instacart and the like became household names as their use skyrocketed during the pandemic. The demand for businesses, professionals, services and job candidates to pivot from in-person to online platforms has never been greater.

LinkedIn is among the most popular online platforms to utilize during this culture shift. LinkedIn has evolved from being a mere platform for job searchers into a social network which allows users a chance to create a personal brand. The platform is mainly used for professional networking and allows job seekers to post their resumes and employers to post jobs.

LinkedIn needs no introduction to many of us. It is a great resource to network, find new clients, explore new job opportunities and stay upto-date with the latest news in your industry. However, maximizing LinkedIn to its fullest is a challenge

and a crucial skill.

Enters Chaim Shapiro and the JCCRP. Chaim Shapiro, M. Ed is the director of the Office for Student Success at Touro College, a freelance writer, public speaker and social media consultant specializing in Linke-

dIn. Chaim has guided hundreds in the creation, enhancement, and optimization of their LinkedIn profiles.

Chaim educates his clients on the best practices for a successful LinkedIn journey. His hands-on approach (over Zoom, of course) methodically

and strategically assists each client in their own career path and industry.

The JCCRP is proud to partner with Chaim in providing these services to community members free of charge. Due to a generous grant from the UJA Federation of NY, these services are now more accessible. The UJA’s mission is dedicated to helping community members improve their employment and financial situations leading toward financial freedom.

Moshe Brandsdorfer, JCCRP executive director, expressed, “We are so excited to have Chaim on board to help people with their parnassah goals. At my first meeting with Chaim, he helped me improve my LinkedIn profile in an instant. His skills are really impressive. I implore you to take advantage of these services.”

Stay tuned for upcoming LinkedIn webinars and other career-related services.

For more information or to make an appointment with Chaim Shapiro, please email info@jccrp.org or call 718-327-7755.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

65

Around the Community

A Mezuzah on the Israel Diamond Exchange’s Office in Dubai

L

ast Thursday, Rabbi Elie Abadie, senior rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE), and Alex Peterfreund, co-founder and cantor of the JCE, installed a mezuzah on the new representative office of the Israel Diamond Exchange in Dubai’s Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). They were joined

by Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman of the DMCC. “The mezuzah is a constant reminder of G-d’s presence and installing it on the doorframe of the Israel Diamond Exchange’s office in the DMCC reminds epitomizes just that.

It is with G-d’s help that these new Jewish and Israeli businesses moving into the UAE will flourish,” said Rabbi Abadie. “We look forward to placing many more mezuzot for Jewish-owned businesses throughout the Emirates in the days and months to come.”

“The placement of a mezuzah on the doorframe of the representative office of the Israel Diamond Exchange here in Dubai is an homage to our founding father, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, whose fundamental belief in inclusiveness has been a driver of our country’s strength and significance on the global stage, ultimately leading to the signing of the Abraham Accords,” said Executive Chairman of the DMCC Ahmed Bin Sulayem.

“Yesterday, I accompanied Rabbi Abadie for this very special event.

When I opened my own office for Espeka in DMCC seven years ago, I would not have dreamed that in 2021, I would have the honor to assist in putting a mezuzah on the doorframe of the representative office of the Israeli Diamond Exchange in the same building. It is truly remarkable,” said Alex Peterfreund.

The Power of Positivity An Interactive Event to be Held in 18 Shuls Across the Community

W

hat a year it has been! We have been challenged in so many ways! Wouldn’t you love to put the “Power of Positivity” back into your everyday life? Well, now you can by joining a unique and wonderful program on Motzei Shabbos, February 13, 2021.

“The Power of Positivity: Finding peace through our hidden strengths” is a special program in which 18 shuls from our community will be hosting simultaneous workshops on the power of finding positivity within an era of challenges facilitated by the shul’s rebbetzin or a volunteer facilitator of the congregation.

The workshop will feature psychological insights and tools that can generate discussion among members, along with interactive activities and exercises for each participant’s personal growth. They’ll laugh and enjoy while fostering bonds within the group. Guaranteed fun with practical insights!

The host rebbetzin/facilitator will be trained in advance by Rachel Pill, LCSW, who will provide the outline and materials in a short educational session. Rachel Pill is a therapist in

the Five Towns who has been practicing for over 30 years. Rachel lectures nationally and internationally on all areas of relationships and positivity.

Early registrants from each shul – those who sign up for this free event

by February 9 – will receive a complimentary gift bag from the Jewish Women’s Leadership Council of the Five Towns (JWLC).

This exclusive event is presented by the JWLC, which is comprised of local Orthodox rebbetzins and community leaders. The UJA Federation of New York and the Marion and Aaron Gural JCC are coordinating and sponsoring this event. There is no charge for the event but registration is required at www.guraljcc.org/jwlc.

Sign up today!

The JWLC was created to help strengthen the Jewish community in the Five Towns by uniting the women leaders to collaborate and address issues, trends and concerns impacting our community. So far, they have sponsored two highly successful events. The first was an evening of “Love and Laughter” with comedian Ashley Blaker, Dr. David Pelcovitz and Rachel Pill, LCSW. The second

was a special Erev Rosh Chodesh Elul program with renowned speaker Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi. Both programs were extremely well attended.

This program, on February 13, continues JWLC’s goal of strengthening our connections, bonds and the power of positivity amongst the women of the Five Towns.

Members of the JWLC include: Rebbetzin Ruchy Axelrod, Rebbetzin Rookie Billet, Suri Lenore Davis, Rachayle Deutsch, Dr. Debbie Dienstag, Rebbetzin Aviva Feiner, Stacey Feldman, Rebbetzin Makli Feigenbaum, Rebbetzin Corrine Fuchs, Rebbetzin Margie Glatt, Debbie Greenblatt, Rebbetzin Nancy Hain, Rebbetzin Sara Hopkovitz, Rebbetzin Chansie Horowitz, Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz,

Elisheva Kaminetsky, Ina Kupferberg, Rebbetzin Elana Lebowitz, Rebbetzin Shani Lefkowitz, Rebbetzin Nava Orlian, Rachel Pill, Rebbetzin Tova Polakoff, Rebbetzin Pagit Ralbag, Rebbetzin Lisa Septimus, Shoshana Soroka Halpern, Leanne Taylor, Rebbetzin Sori Teitelbaum, Rebbetzin Malka Trump, Mindi Werblowsky, Rebbetzin Myrna Weinberger, Rebbetzin Tzipora Weinberger, Debra Weinrib, Rebbetzin Chani Wolowik, Rebbetzin Yael Willig, and Myrna Zisman, along with Sepi Djavaheri, community mobilizer at the UJA-Federation of New York.

If you have any questions about the upcoming event on February 13, 2021, please contact Sori Teitelbaum at soriteitelbaum@yahoo.com.

Did you know?

According to the Guinness World Records, the largest snowflake in the world was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick, recorded by Matt Coleman at Fort Keogh, Montana, on January 28, 1887.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

1. *

TJH

Centerfold

Types of Annoying Football Watchers D The Salsa Guy: The whole game he is busy with the salsa. For some reason, the salsa bottle always seems to levitate away from him, because every two minutes he is poking you to “pass the salsa.”

Hey, I have an idea, why don’t you cool it with the chips a little!

D The Watcher Non-Watcher: The guy who claims that he is not watching the game but stands there the whole game slightly to the left of the screen and watches every second of the game but keeps reminding you that he is not watching.

Slick move – with two minutes to play and the winning team up by 3 touchdowns, you announce that you’re leaving. Interesting.

You were supposed to leave an hour and a half ago. What

happened then?

D The X’s and O’s Guy: Sure, you know so much about football. You should be a coach. That’s right, they are “bringing in the nickel package.”

You spotted it! Bill Belichick would definitely hire you if he knew you.

D The Volume Guy: He loves to turn up the volume whenever there’s a big play so he can hear the analysis.

Dude, you don’t have to turn up the volume. You can hear the announcers just fine on the blasting volume that we had the game on the whole time! Big play does not equal big volume!

D The See-Nothing Person: He or she keeps wondering why people watch football. “I don’t get it. They just seem to be standing around doing nothing the whole time!”

That’s right. All they do is stand around. So, I have a good idea – don’t waste your time watching!

D The Refs Are Cheating Guy: He’s throwing projectiles, slamming his hands on the couch cushions, grabbing his yarmulka…. “That was the worst call I ever saw!!”

Hey, listen buddy, the ref can’t hear you, OK? Settle down; don’t pop an artery – or my eardrums!

D The You Think They Are Happy Guy: He’s the guy who reminds you the whole game that these sports players are really miserable, jacked up on steroids, and have no lives.

OK. I get it. They are horrible, miserable people. Guess what? I really don’t care. I enjoy watching them play.

You Gotta be Kidding Me! Three guys from LA, Boston and New York meet an angel.

The guy from LA starts crying and says to the angel, “It was the highlight of my life when the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series; when will they win it again?”

The angel replies, “In two years.”

The guy from Boston then has a chance to talk to the angel and recalls all of the Patriots’ Super Bowl victories. “But now we don’t have Tom Brady anymore,”

he cries. “Will we ever get back to the big game?”

The angel responds that he should not worry; a new quarterback will come along and they will win the Super Bowl again within five years.

Finally, the guy from New York gets to talk to the angel and says, “When will my beloved Jets win a Super Bowl?”

The angel starts to cry.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Tom Brady Trivia 1. Which number pick was Tom Brady in the 2000 draft? a. 1st b. 29th c. 42nd d. 199th 2. Which baseball team was Brady drafted by (as a catcher) in the 18th round? a. Mets b. Red Sox c. Montreal Expos d. Cincinnati Reds 3. In the Super Bowl, Tom Brady will be going up against Kansas City’s sensational quarterback Patrick Mahomes. What grade was Mahomes in when Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl? a. Kindergarten b. 3rd grade c. 7th grade d. 9th grade 4. Tom Brady did not make it to the Pro Bowl this season, in what many are calling “The Pro Bowl snub.” (I’m sure he will get over it.)

How many Pro

Bowls did he make it to, though? a. 6 b. 8 c. 11 d. 14 5. Which one of the following companies was in existence when Tom Brady started his NFL career? a. Tesla b. Amazon c. Facebook d. Twitter 6. Who is the oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl and what age was that player when he won (in other words, at age 43, whose record is Brady trying to break)? a. Tom Brady, age 41 b. Payton Manning, age 39 c. John Ellway, 42 d. Bret Favre, 40

Answers: 1. D 2. C 3. A 4. D 5. B 6. A 7. H 8. C 9. B

7. Which of the following is not one of Brady’s nicknames that other players call him? a. TB12 b. Tom Terrific c. Touchdown Tom d. GOAT e. The Pharaoh f. Comeback Kid g. Sir h. Giant Slayer 8. After the 2007 season, when the Patriots went 16-0, what did Brady give each of the 5 starting offensive linemen who protected him that season? a. Tickets to a cruise of their choice b. An autographed winning game ball c. An Audi Q7 SUV d. A brand new Samsung TV

Wisdom key: 7-9 correct: Let me guess, you are one of those guys who walks around with a No. 12 jersey because “Me and Brady wear the same number.”

4-6 correct: Not bad – not as good as

9. What is Brady’s Super Bowl record? a. 4-4 b. 6-4 c. 4-6 d. 8-2

Brady’s Super Bowl record, though. (By the way, if you think I am a Tom Brady fan, uh, yeah, he is the best at what he does. I like Michael Jordan, too.)

0-3 correct: J-E-T-S JETS, JETS, JETS!

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

3

Torah Thought

Parshas Yisro

By Rabbi Berel Wein

O

ne of the basic lessons learned from this week’s Torah reading, though barely discussed by the commentators, is that there is no perfect system of justice if it involves human beings and judges. After the granting of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, our teacher Moshe allows himself to become the sole judge regarding disputes that arise in the camp of the Israelites. He is besieged by claimants and litigants from early morning until sunset. Naturally, anyone who had the ability to appear before such a judge as Moshe would wish to take

advantage of that opportunity.

Though Moshe possesses supernatural wisdom and insight, he is known to be incorruptible, fair, equitable and decisive. What other qualities can one expect or hope for in a human judge? None. Nevertheless, as his father-in-law Yisro points out to him, the judge may be as perfect as can be, but the judicial system that Moshe has instituted is far from perfection. Yisro warns that by being the sole judge and having everyone wait their turn to have their claims adjudicated by him alone, both Moshe and the people will eventually become

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exhausted and wither away. What is needed is a tiered system of judges, courts, police, and other officials of the judicial system that must be appointed and empowered.

This signifies the creation of a bureaucracy, with all the attendant fields that it contains and necessarily entails. But it is the only practical way of dealing with this issue of sustainability that will allow Moshe and the people of Israel to continue to function. In effect, we are being taught that attempting to achieve perfection

Moshe aspired to give every Jew who came before him a perfect answer, a judgment that would harmonize with ultimate truth and nobility. He realized that this could not be done through the establishment of a bureaucracy. Within that system, there would be many cooks in the kitchen, and power would be diffused. Personal interests could govern all decisions, no matter how noble the intent of the persons involved. His father-in-law agreed with Moshe’s goal, but Yisro told Moshe, based

Moshe aspired to give every Jew who came before him a perfect answer, a judgment that would harmonize with ultimate truth and nobility.

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in this instance will lead to exhaustion and eventual destruction.

One of the great lessons of the Revelation at Sinai was and is a simple basic understanding of the true nature of human beings, both individually and in society. The L-rd is perfection, while humans are doomed to operate within an imperfect and frustrating world. Sometimes better is the enemy of good, in the attempt to achieve perfection, and only leads to greater imperfection, frustration, and even violence.

upon his own life experience as being the chief executive priest of Midian, that Moshe’s goal was unachievable in this world.

In this world one can only deal with practicalities, and practicalities always spell imperfection, compromise, and the possibility for error and wrong decisions. But that is the human condition, and one must operate within that condition and accept imperfection as one of the basic tenets of human life and society.

Shabbat shalom.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

From the Fire Parshas Yisro

Learning to Fly

By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

W

e know that the hakdama, the introduction, to a sefer is the neshama, the soul, of the sefer. Therefore, the pesukim that introduce Kabbalas HaTorah, the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Torah, are the essence of what it means to receive the Torah. They teach us what we need to know to personally receive the Torah.

The hakdama of Kabbalas HaTorah are the pesukim (Shemos 19:5-6), “And you shall be a treasured nation to me from all of the nations... and you shall be to me a kingdom of kohanim, a holy nation.” But the neshama of the neshama, the soul of the soul, of our acceptance of the Torah is (Shemos 19:4) “And I will lift you up on eagle’s wings and bring you to me.” We know how Rashi says that that this means that just as an eagle carries it babies on its back to protect them from arrows, Hashem protected us from the Egyptians’ arrows with the Cloud of Glory, but there is also a deeper message as well.

There is a seeming contradiction between the Navi Yeshaya’s description of the angels in our Haftara and Yechezkel’s description. In Yeshaya 6:2, it says, “The Seraphim stand above Him with six wings for each one, he covered his face with two, he covered his feet with two, and he flew with two.” In Yechezekl 1:6, however, it says about the angels, “And each one had four wings.” How do we reconcile the four-winged angel of Yechezkel with the six-winged angel of Yeshaya?

The Gemara in Chagiga 13b answers this apparent contradiction by saying, “These [the six-winged angels of Yeshaya] were at the time when the Beis Hamikdash stood and these [the

four-winged angels of Yechezkel] were at the time when the Bais Hamikdash no longer stood, because the wings of the Chayos had been diminished.”

The angels had lost their wings.

The Gemara continues by discussing which of the three sets of wings were lost. The mekubalim accept the opinion that it was the wings that allowed the angels to fly which were lost. It was this set of wings that they used to say shira, their song, to Hashem.

In seforim hakedoshim, we find that this teaches us not only about the status of the angels since the Churban, the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. It also teaches us that, since that time, we have also, for the most part, lost the ability to fly, to soar above physicality and elevate ourselves above the world.

There have been certain tzaddikim, however, who have managed to get their wings back and soar. Rav Uri of Strelisk was known as the “Seraph,” the fiery angel. Rav Mendel of

Kotzsk was also known as the “Seraph,” the fiery angel. In fact, there is a story that when Rav Mendel of Kotzsk’s son-in-law, the Avnei Nezer, lost his wife (the Kotzker’s daughter), the chevra kadisha brought him a sample text for her matzeivah, headstone, which read, “daughter of the Seraph.” The Avnei Nezer told them to make one change. He said that the headstone should say, “daughter of the flying Seraph.” As the Gemara in Sanhedrin 93a says, “Tzaddikim are greater than the ministering angels.”

Human beings, therefore, can fly even higher than angels, if they guard their wings.

The Mishna in Avos (5:18) commands us: “Be as brazen as a leopard, as light as an eagle, run like a deer and be strong like a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven.”

Why does it say to be as light as an eagle? There are many other birds, like the sparrow, which are lighter than an eagle. It must mean that, de-

spite the heaviness of the eagle, it is considered lighter because it has the strongest wings. The Mechilta D’Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai explains, “Just as the eagle goes from below to above in a very short time, so, too, the Jewish people go from below to above in a very short time.”

Hashem says, “I will lift you up” from the lowest point at the forty-ninth level of impurity to the point of receiving the Torah on Har Sinai in just a few weeks. This is the introduction to our acceptance of the Torah. Hashem is telling each one of us: “You are a Jew! You can fly! Despite all of the heaviness of the world, you have powerful wings and you can fly above everything. There is no website in the world that can tie you down.

“You chose us from all of the nations, you loved us, you wanted us, and you lifted us up from among the nations.”

The Alshich makes the following point: The eagle flies much higher than all other birds. But who told it that it could or should fly higher than everything else? It must be, therefore, that it possesses the innate knowledge and confidence that it cannot rest until it is flies higher than every other bird. You, too, must learn from the eagle, and must not be satisfied until you rise up above everything around you.

The Ramchal explains that because a person comes from dust and earth, there is a natural heaviness to a person. He feels weighed down and doesn’t want to trouble himself or do any hard work. So, Hashem calls out to us, “Be as light as an eagle! Even though it is heavy, it has strong wings and it shakes off the dust and rises straight up to the heavens. You have wings and you must use them.”

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Rav Chaim Vital wrote in Shaarei Kedusha that the rectification for the element called “earth” is to be (Avos 4:1) sameach b’chelko, happy with one’s life. When a Jew rejoices in the mitzvos, these are the wings that will lift him out of the heaviness and allow him to fly.

My children once had a story book about an eagle’s nest high on a mountaintop. Something happened, and the eagle’s egg rolled down to the bottom of the mountain to a chicken coop. One of the chickens sat on the egg until it hatched. The little eagle was different from the other chickens and didn’t quite fit in. He tried to peck at the ground and do what the other chickens were doing, but he just could not become like them. He was having a difficult time getting along with his adopted parents and siblings, until one day, when he met an eagle family. Essentially, they asked him what he was doing hanging around with chickens pecking at the ground.

“You’re an eagle! Why aren’t you fly-

ing to the highest heights?” Ultimately, he discovered that he could fly and left with his fellow eagles.

We are Jews. We must realize that we are not chickens. We do not need to peck around in the dust. Every

yourself, “How is it possible to make such an elevated person out of me?

Not only that, how can it be that while I am still young, I will become Hashem’s special, beloved child like they’re telling me? My parents and grandpar-

Even now, today, in your heart and in the hearts of all Jewish children, there lies a spark that came from the Nevi’im.

adult should read Rav Kalonymous Kalmish Shapira’s introduction to Chovas Hatalmidim before becoming a parent. And every boy should read the first perek of Chovas Hatalmidim to learn what it means to be a Jew. There, the Rebbe writes, We know that you’re still not quite sure about everything we’re saying here. We know that you’re still asking

ents were not like that and I’m just a plain, ordinary child.” But this way of thinking is also mistaken, and we can’t leave you with it, either... If you feel discouraged because your parents and grandparents were simple people, then elevate your viewpoint and look farther back. Who were your forefathers? The holy ones, the Nevi’im, Tanna’im, Amora’im, the Geonim

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and [many other] tzaddikim. The Gemara (Pesachim 66a) says, “If the Jews are not prophets, they are the children of prophets.” The Gemara is not talking about the distant past. It is teaching us that even now, today, in your heart and in the hearts of all Jewish children, there lies a spark that came from the Nevi’im. All you have to do is search for it and discover it in yourself.

Always remember that you can rise above the world around you and become great because you are a Jew and you have wings. Don’t be a chicken pecking around on the ground. Set your sights high and become great.

We should all be zocheh to return to Eretz HaKedosha on eagles’ wings, b’viyas go’el tzedek she’yavo b’mheira b’yameinu. Amen.

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.

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Parsha Ponderings Parsha Yisro

On Your Mind

By Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky

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ashem gave the Torah to the Jews, and with a thunderous voice, called out the first of the Ten Commandments, “I am Hashem, your G-d, Who has taken you out of Egypt.”

The century-old question is asked by a variety of commentators: Why did the Al-mighty attribute His power over the world with this particular fact?

Why not declare, “I am Hashem, Who created Heaven and Earth, along with everything in it”?    The Gerrer Rebbe, Rav Yisroel Alter, known as the “Beis Yisroel,” had a chassid who came to him to bid farewell and receive his blessing before he departed on a business trip to France. The Rebbe gave him his blessing and wished him much success, and then asked of him an unusual request.

“In France,” the Rebbe said, “There is a unique brand of cigars that is sold. Please find out where they sell those cigars and bring me back a box.”

The Rebbe then described exactly which cigars he wanted.

The chassid, although taken aback by the Rebbe’s strange request, readily accepted his mission, and promised the Rebbe that he would do his best to bring back the cigars.

When he arrived in France, the chassid tried to locate those cigars, yet he was unsuccessful.

He went from store to store, and even traveled to a few different towns to find those cigars, yet no

one carried them. He even skipped a few scheduled meetings in order to spend more time fulfilling his Rebbe’s request, yet he was still unsuccessful.

After spending two weeks in France, with the majority of his time and efforts spent on locating those said cigars, he was forced to return home, disappointed that he had nothing to bring his Rebbe.

Upon his return, he went back into the Rebbe, and cried out, “Rebbe!

I looked all over, and even searched

My grandfather Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, would often quote the answer of Rav Aaron Baskt, zt”l, (known as “Rav Archik”) the Rav of Shavel, a small village in Lithuania near the town where he, as a young student, attended yeshiva. Rav Binyamin would eat a weekly meal at the home of the Rav Archik and would often talk about his brilliance in Talmudic knowledge, kindness, and distinguished and saintly way of life.

Rav Bakst answered the above

The child, in turn, gains confidence in his own abilities, while trusting that his father is still protecting him.

in many towns, yet I don’t have the cigars! I’m terribly sorry!”

Rav Yisroel looked at his chassid, and asked him, “Do you think I needed those cigars? I don’t need those cigars. But I knew that you were entering into a foreign country where their values contradict the values of the Torah. I was afraid that during your stay in France, you would be influenced by the temptations that await you there. So, I told you to look for those cigars, and I knew that you would be thinking about your Rebbe the entire time!

“That is was saved you from spiritual downfall!”   

question with a parable. A father teaches his son to walk and holds onto him, lest he fall and hurt himself. As the son adapts to his newfound abilities, his father lets go of him, yet he remains close to watch and ensure that the child remains safe. The child, in turn, gains confidence in his own abilities, while trusting that his father is still protecting him, albeit from afar.

Hashem treated the Jews in Egypt like infants. They were, indeed, a newborn nation. Hashem held onto them, showing them open miracles, one after another, enabling them to completely feel His presence. But as the Jewish nation traveled to their

own destiny, they matured as a nation, and Hashem “loosened His grip” and no longer allowed his miracles to be unrestricted and easily noticed. Despite that, the Jewish Nation is expected to know and to feel the presence of Hashem, through the disguise of nature. He is watching us and every move we make, ensuring our safety.

Hashem taught us this lesson at Sinai. The generation of Yetziyas Mitzrayim was not alive at the creation of the world, and therefore could not connect to it to relive that inspiration. Yet they all remembered the miracles of the Exodus. Hashem wanted to remind them of those great miracles as a lesson for us all in the future.

For down the road of life, we will always need to look back at those miracles which we experienced in order to realize and appreciate the small miracles. Those small miracles are the hints of Divine intervention in our lives, about which we must think constantly.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky is the Director of Advancement at Yeshiva of South Shore – Yeshiva Toras Chaim Beis Binyamin. He is currently compiling the Torah thoughts from his grandfather, Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt”l, into print, in Hebrew and English. If you have any stories or divrei Torah to share from his grandfather, or to subscribe to receive a weekly dvar Torah from Rav Binyamin Kamenetzky’s teachings, you can email him at skamenetzky@yoss.org.

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Delving into the Daf

Made to Order

By Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

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n the English language there is an order for descriptive words. Most native English speakers have acquired an innate feel for the right way to express a sentence. However, if one would be put on the spot to express the rule, it would be exceedingly difficult. Mark Forsyth put the rule to text in his book, The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase. He writes, “Adjectives, absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that order in the slightest, you’ll sound like a maniac.” Another shorter example is little green monsters. No one would say green little monsters.

However, the order of those words is just based on convention. When it comes to sacred texts, however, every word belongs in its exact place for a reason. Therefore, this article and much of Torah has been written about the reversal of two words.

At the end of Maggid, we recite a blessing. We ask Hashem to help us observe other holidays with the Beis Hamikdash already built, and we will eat there from “hazavachim u’min hapesachim – we will eat there from the sacrifices and the Passover sacrifices.”

One understanding of this phrase is that we are asking Hashem that we should be able to observe Pesach properly in the future with the Korban Chagigah and a Korban Pesach.

The Korban Pesach was offered on the 14th on Nissan. Often, the Korban Pesach was accompanied by a Korban Chagigah as well.

There is a halacha that the Korban Pesach has to be eaten when mostly full. (Stated in another way, one should be full after eating the Korban Pesach.) There are two primary reasons for this halacha. One is that

this manner of eating is considered the most respectable for the Korban Pesach. We don’t want the Korban Pesach to be consumed like an appetizer or side dish. The Korban Pesach should be the mainstay of the Pesach meal, and one should be full after eating it.

The Yerushalmi offers a different reason. There is a special injunction in the Torah against breaking the bones of the Korban Pesach. If someone would consume the korban while he was very hungry, he may come to break the bones to get to the meat more quickly. Therefore, the rabbis instituted that the Korban Pesach be eaten when mostly full, so that one is less likely to break the bones to get to the meat.

In order to ensure that the Korban Pesach was consumed on a mostly full stomach, a Korban Chagigah was offered in conjunction with the Korban Pesach. The Chagigah was eaten first, and only afterwards was the Korban Pesach eaten.

We can now readily understand the phraseology in the Haggadah.

We hope that next Pesach we will be in Yerushalayim and eat the Chagigah sacrifice and only afterwards eat the Pesach sacrifice. That is why the word zevachim precedes the word pesachim. However, the Mishnah in Pesachim (69b) states that the Korban Chagigah was not brought on a year like this year, when the 14th of Nissan, erev Pesach, fell out on Shabbos.

While the Korban Pesach is always brought on the 14th, Shabbos or not, the offering of the Korban Chagigah did not override Shabbos. Therefore, this year, if Moshiach comes before Pesach, we will not offer a Korban Chagigah. We will have to eat other food to fill ourselves up before partaking of the Korban Pesach.

The Bach, therefore, rules that this year we should change the order

of the aforementioned words when said on Motzei Shabbos. When we recite the blessing after Maggid, we should ask Hashem that He should enable us to eat from “hapesachim u’min hazavachim.” The first Passover-related sacrifice that we will eat when the 14th of Nissan falls out on Shabbos is the Korban Pesach and not the Chagigah. We will, b’ezras Hashem, eat a Korban Chagigah as well but not on the first night of Pesach. There will be time during the rest of the holiday to offer a Korban Chagigah.

The Knesses Yechezkel disagrees.

He says it is irrelevant what could have happened this year. If, unfortunately, Pesach comes around and we are still in exile, we are asking that next year we should be able to offer the sacrifices. So even if this year we could not have offered the Chagigah because of Shabbos, we are praying that next year we should be able to offer actual sacrifices. Most often, erev Pesach does not fall out on Shabbos.

So most likely next year, we will bring a Chagigah first and eat it before the Pesach.

If anything, one could argue that we should have changed the text last year, because we knew that this year erev Pesach would fall out on Shabbos based on the calendar instituted by the great amora Hillel. However, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav disagrees with that as well. We are praying for Moshiach to come and the Beis Hamikdash to be rebuilt. B’ezras Hashem that should happen soon, and we will no longer use Hillel’s permanent

calendar. The calendar will be fluid.

The start of every month will depend on Beis Din and witnesses. Therefore, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav rules that we should always leave the text unchanged.

Moreover, the Nimukei Orach Chayim disagrees with the entire premise of the Bach. We are not asking Hashem to be able to eat from the Korban Chagigah that is slaughtered on the 14th of Nissan. We hope Moshiach comes way before that! We, b’ezras Hashem, hope to eat the sacrifices that we will offer on Shavuos and Sukkos. That is what is meant by the term zevachim. After those two holidays pass, we will get to eat the Korban Pesach. That is why the term zevachim precedes pesachim, because it is referring to the sacrifices we will b’ezras Hashem bring on the other holidays that precede Pesach. It is totally irrelevant whether the 14th of Nissan falls out on Shabbos or not.

Many Haggados say to switch the order of the words this year on Motzei Shabbos, and everyone should follow their custom. Regardless, one can certainly gain an appreciation into the preciseness of every word of the Haggadah.

Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow is a rebbe at Yeshiva Ateres Shimon in Far Rockaway. In addition, Rabbi Sebrow leads a daf yomi chaburah at Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead, NY. He can be contacted at ASebrow@gmail.com.

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The Power of Positivity CULTIVATING OPTIMISM Why, and More Importantly, How?

BY REBBETZIN ROOKIE BILLET

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jumped at the chance to write about optimism when invited to do so because it’s been such an important feature in my own life. Among my earliest memories of my father, of blessed memory, is a handsome young man with a beautiful smile. Although he was American born and bred, he would always reassure my anxious (and equally wonderful) mother with the Yiddish words “zvet zein gut” – meaning “everything will be alright.” When I asked him regarding his military service in the European theater in World War II, “Were you afraid?” he replied, “Every soldier thinks he’ll come home, because if not, there would be no armies.”

In addition to Dad’s natural positivity, I grew up with the lyrics of Broadway shows playing on the family phonograph. I probably learned the word “optimist” from the lyrics

of “A Cockeyed Optimist” from South Pacific, where U.S. army nurse Nellie sings these lyrics to reassure her charming leading man Emile that despite people’s fears about the war, things will be OK. When the sky is bright canary yellow I forget every cloud I’ve ever seen So they called me a cockeyed optimist Immature and incurably green...

I have heard people rant and rave and bellow That we’re done and we might as well be dead But I’m only a cockeyed optimist And I can’t get it into my head.

I could say life is just a bowl of Jello And appear more intelligent and smart But I’m stuck like a dope

With a thing called hope And I can’t get it out of my heart….

Another personal memory that had a strong effect on my own attitude was a quote whose author I don’t know that was shared at the funeral of a wonderful woman I greatly admired: “Happiness is much more a function of disposition than it is a function of circumstances.”

It made me think about people I knew who were happy and hopeful in crowded apartments and unpleasant workplaces, and others who were far less than happy residing in beautiful homes with enviable jobs. It’s not about where you are and what you are going through but who you are and how you view what you are enduring!

Optimism is often thought of as an innate trait; in this view, one may incline naturally toward optimism or to pessimism. While this may be

true, optimism is surely something that we can pursue, simulate, and actually manufacture in our lives. A simple Google search of optimism reveals 10 reasons to pursue and embrace optimism: It can help you change your life. ...

It can strengthen immunity and defend against stress. ...

It’s good for your relationships. ...

It can help you be a successful innovator. ...

It can make you a better leader. ...

It’s good for your heart. ...

It will help you age well. ...

It can help you on the job hunt...

It’s contagious...

So what are a few simple steps to boost our optimism?

Eva Gregory suggests eight concrete steps that each of us can take right now to boost our optimism: The subject lines are hers and the elabora-

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tions are mine: Avoid getting hung up on one thing: Sometimes we encounter a challenge – a job that is frustrating and unfulfilling, a rejection from a dream job or school, an unmet goal, a relationship that goes sour, a challenge in our children’s lives, whether a learning or a mental health issue, and we allow that issue to become the center of our lives and our mood director.

Reject that attitude! Embrace a positive mindset; abandon the notion that the negative thing has to be what defines our lives and our thinking! Every challenge is only a small part of a bigger life story, and optimism helps us put everything we face in a larger narrative of a good life.

Remember that there’s always a silver lining: If people who have been through the Holocaust (look around your shul), cancer treatments (anyone you know), debilitating accidents (Charles Krauthammer), or long, undeserved prison terms (Natan Sharansky) can emerge from these yissurim (sufferings) and build happy, fulfilling lives, then we, too, can hold onto the hope that we can emerge from the yissurim we suffer, glean something positive, and build a better life.

Get over the past: One of my favorite sayings is: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” Great thinkers like Dr. Abraham Twersky have suggested that harboring feelings of guilt or anger over past mistakes or events is a very destructive practice that prevents healing and moving forward. We can’t always forget the past, but we need to let go of the painful edge that negative feelings harbor. Letting go isn’t the same as forgetting, and we should work on letting go!

Be thankful: We teach our children to adopt an attitude of gratitude, to keep a gratitude journal that documents our thankfulness. We need to be thankful to G-d for giving us life; to our parents and grandparents for giving us values to live by; to our teachers for giving us the skills to think, read, and therefore learn more about everything and anything. In these troubled times, we are grateful to doctors, nurses, police and firefighters and all frontline workers.

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is about focusing on the blessings in our lives. Keep a list of things and refer to it when you need reminding. Say

thank you frequently! Write a heartefelt note to someone who did you a good turn. Pay the kindness forward!

Use positive affirmations: Words are powerful. They can hurt and discourage, but more importantly, they can mend, heal and give chizuk. Each of us can learn a few encouraging words, or carefully recount some amazing stories or divrei Torah that can serve our friends and listeners (and ourselves) in times of challenge.

Surround yourself with positive people: We can impact our personal optimism and our daily lives greatly when we make sure the people around us are hopeful, optimistic, strengthening, and encouraging.

Watch your language: Each of us can choose the words we use that define our public persona. We can smile and put on a happy face even though we are hurting inside. We can say “Baruch Hashem yom yom” (bless G-d on a daily basis) or “Gam zu l’tova” (this too is for the good) or “Gam zeh ya’avor” (this too shall pass) even when we really would rather complain.

me nurture optimism and positivity, despite setbacks of many kinds: Redefining our challenges: My family has undergone many personal challenges, among them: loss of a child, loss of a grandchild, long-term illnesses of loved ones young and old.

It took over 20 years from the time our first child was married until we walked our youngest down the aisle.

Like many families, we have known infertility and pregnancy loss, struggles for parnassah, mental health issues, and more. Any of these challenges is enough to get you down.

But when I learned to redefine my challenges, and say to myself that all of these will help me to help others who are undergoing similar setbacks, instead of the challenges feeling like random “punishments,” I was able to reframe these difficult chapters into events to learn from, to grow from, to be strengthened from, and to help others with.

I like the term moving forward, instead of moving on. Moving forward means our challenges remain a part of who we are – we can’t erase them from our personal history and

Every challenge is only a small part of a bigger life story, and optimism helps us put everything we face in a larger narrative of a good life.

Remember, even a positive life has ups and downs: The practical advice I take from this point is to have the perspective that even if we, or members of our family or others we love or are acquainted with, experience downtimes that doesn’t mean we don’t have an overall happy life.

Inevitably, there are highs and lows, and our mission is to capitalize on the highs; navigate the lows with determination, fortitude, strength and hope; dig ourselves out of the pits when we find ourselves there; accept help from caring people; and resolve to pay that help forward and define our lives as basically good, despite the challenges we inevitably face.

Closing personal reflections: A few central ideas have helped

leave them behind entirely. But we can define moving forward from the worst times in our lives as “avodat Hashem,” the service of Ged, in the sense of keeping the commandment of “u’vacharta ba’chaim,” choosing life! When we do that, we can see our difficulties as a conduit to better fulfill our ultimate purpose in life, living in a way that sanctifies Hashem’s name.

“Acharei hape’ulot nimshachim halevavot.” This teaching of the Sefer HaChinuch reminds us that “our hearts follow our actions.” You might think this is anti-intuitive.

Many would counter: “The way I feel directs what I do!” But thinking that it is our actions that can direct our feelings is a better way!

The laws of mourning in Judaism

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emphasize this attitude. After the burial of a loved one, are we ready to say “Yitgadal v’yitkadash shmei Rabbah (praised and exalted be G-d’s name)”? Seven days after we lose a significant loved one, are we ready to take off our torn clothing and go back to life and work? Thirty days later (except for a parent), are we ready to dance at weddings and celebrate others’ milestones? Not at all – but we have no choice! The halacha tells us to resume life, to go back to the minyan, to get up and go to work, to go out there, smile, wish mazal tov.

While it isn’t easy to be genuinely happy for another’s simcha when we are in pain, these actions help us get to that place again, in time. Our concrete actions, the Chinuch tells us, positively influence our hearts and our feelings. When we put on a happy face and a positive demeanor, we allow a little joy to enter our hearts and minds and are more ready to face our public and do what we must do to live a better life.

Finally, I’d like to re-emphasize several important thoughts: An optimistic personality can be a gift of G-d, but it also can be pursued, cultivated, nurtured and synthesized.

Research shows that manufactured happiness can be as real as natural happiness. Optimistic people enjoy more meaningful relationships, are more effective leaders, better innovators, get more job offers and promotions, more dates, and live longer.

Optimists are more heart healthy, have stronger immune systems, take fewer sick days, and they don’t “sweat the small stuff.”

Optimism, as well as recognizing and maximizing our own strengths and those of our children and our friends, help us to make a meaningful and lasting contribution to our own lives, the lives of our loved ones, and the lives of everyone we know.

This article is the fourth in a series of articles that will be published in TJH in a lead-up to a community-wide initiative, “The Power of Positivity,” to be held on Motzei Shabbos, February 13 in 18 shuls across our community. Stay tuned for more information on this interactive workshop run by JWLC, the Jewish Women’s Leadership Council of the Five Towns, and sponsored by UJA Federation of New York.

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M E M O R Y

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, zt”l A Brilliant Torah Scholar and a Mental Health Giant

By Zvi Gluck

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t Amudim, we know all too well just how hard it has been to get the Jewish community to accept the realities of mental health challenges, and we have been humbled to see how the tide has turned in a positive direction in recent years.

But we also know equally well that none of what we do today would be possible without the groundbreaking work of a giant of a man who blazed the trail that we follow today – Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, zecher tzaddik l’vracha.

There is no doubt that Rabbi Dr. Twerski deserves to be remembered as a tzaddik, a title that he rightfully earned in his lifetime. While it would be relatively easy to be blinded by his impressive years of work as a psychiatrist, or even as the author of dozens of books, not to mention a brilliant talmid chacham, but Rabbi Dr. Twerski was so much more than that. He was a man who positively impacted countless families and individuals in so many ways, a point that was abundantly clear to anyone from his tzavaa, which specifically stated that no eulogies be made upon his passing.

Instead, Rabbi Dr. Twerski asked that his well-known composition, Hoshia Es Amecha, be sung, in the hopes that the melody that brought joy to so

many for decades would weigh heavily in his favor as he stood before the heavenly court.

My father and Rabbi Dr. Twerski shared a close relationship that spanned 60 years, and when I became involved with those in danger of slipping through our societal cracks, it was a privilege to be able to reach out to the man who was known simply in our family as “Reb Shia.” I will never forget the time I reached out to him to discuss the suitability of 12 step meetings, trying to ascertain how I could send anyone to a meeting that more often than not was being held in a church. Explaining to me that cases that had reached that level were clearly dinei nefashos, he told me straight out, “When a patient has cancer, do you look for the best doctor or a Jewish doctor?” His thoughts on that particular matter were published in one of his many books, and he made it clear to me that he was more than happy to have a discussion on the matter with anyone who saw the issue differently.

In addition to being available to offer guidance on specific cases or emergencies as they arose, Rabbi Dr. Twerski was helpful to me in many other ways. Nearly 15 years ago, I found myself dealing with a crisis involving a family that had multiple

children living in an abusive environment. With numerous rabbonim weighing in with different views, I reached out to Rabbi Dr. Twerski for an outside opinion and he introduced me to someone who he felt could get to the heart of the matter, Dr. David Pelcovitz. Not only had Rabbi Dr. Twerski put me in touch with an individual who was perfectly suited to help me navigate the complexities of this particular case, he opened up a golden opportunity for me, and Dr. Pelcovitz has been a tremendous inspiration to me personally and an invaluable asset to Amudim since the day we first opened our doors in 2014.

Over the years, Rabbi Dr. Twerski became a guiding light for Amudim.

While he wasn’t able to join us for our 2015 mental health conference, he worked with us every step of the way to create the program’s different elements. He spent hours on the phone with Mendy Klein, a”h, and me in order to maximize the event’s potential and, with his help, it was a groundbreaking two days that gave mental health professionals the opportunity to share their feedback from the trenches, helping us focus our efforts to help as many people as possible in their personal struggles.

Rabbi Dr. Twerski also taught me

the importance of recovery, explaining that while there are those who go through recovery with a goal of how to live their lives and typically fare well in the long run, there are others who live just so that they can be in recovery and they keep repeating the same destructive patterns over and over again. Rabbi Dr. Twerski brought home the lesson that you need to proactively end the vicious cycle haunting those in the latter group by giving them the tools to approach life and its sometimes-daunting circumstances in a healthier way.

But perhaps one of the most incredible lessons I learned from Rabbi Dr. Twerski came during a Zoom conference for high level mental health professionals, community leaders, and philanthropists that took place approximately two years ago. One participant voiced their opinion that a person can only be helped once they have hit rock bottom, and when I disagreed wholeheartedly with that statement, another person jumped in, saying that Rabbi Dr. Twerski had said exactly that in one of his books.

Wasting no time, Rabbi Dr. Twerski explained that while he had made that statement 30 years ago, it no longer applied in today’s world, where hitting rock bottom typically means death.

And that was vintage Rabbi Dr. Twerski. He was someone who could balance Torah, medical knowledge and practical life skills, while still being able to adapt his expertise and advice to contemporary times to be consistent with changing realities. I have tried to model my own approach at Amudim after the example that Rabbi Dr. Twerski se,t and when it has sometimes seemed awkward and embarrassing to do an about-face, I remind myself that if Rabbi Dr. Twerski was comfortable enough to publicly state that change is appropriate and healthy when needed, then surely, I can do the same.

Throughout my life, whenever I hit a speed bump, I knew I could always count on Rabbi Dr. Twerski. In addition to Amudim having been blessed by the ability benefit from his insight, he was there for us when we opened our Israel office, offering to do whatever he could as we, like him, put down new roots on holy soil. I treasure the moments I spent with him, particular-

ly the time he sat me down at a family wedding and told me that he truly believed that Amudim’s work over the last several years to promote awareness and destigmatize mental health challenges had surpassed anything he had done in his lifetime. Surely it

was an exaggeration and was meant as a form of encouragement, but it was meaningful and touched my heart all the same.

That was Rabbi Dr. Twerski. Always uplifting. Always inspiring. And always there, not just for me, and not just for Amudim, but for the entire Jewish community. I remember the

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times when people would try to convince him to give his stamp of approval for one organization over another and he would have none of it, saying only, “I do what is best for Klal Yisroel.

Don’t get me involved in politics and games.”

He would have none of it, saying only, “I do what is best for Klal Yisroel. Don’t get me involved in politics and games.”

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During his 90 years on this earth, Rabbi Dr. Twerski made a tremendous impression as a talmid chacham, a psychiatrist, a rav, a clinician and a mentor, a man whose sage advice was a godsend to so many, empowering individuals and families and giving them strength even during their darkest moments. His ability to integrate

his seemingly boundless knowledge of mental health with an equally vast ocean of Torah values was unparalleled, and even with his incredible erudition, he had the ability to inspire every person – his kindness, humility and sensitivity shining with every word and on every page.

Still, despite his many professional accomplishments, I can’t help but remember Rabbi Dr. Twerski as someone who spent his days and nights sowing seeds of happiness. As I close my eyes, the words and notes of his iconic Hoshia Es Amecha echo in my mind, a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life to making the world a better place.

Zvi Gluck is the CEO of Amudim, an organization dedicated to helping abuse victims and those suffering with addiction within the Jewish community and has been heavily involved in crisis intervention and management for the past 21 years. For more information, go to www. amudim.org.

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M E M O R Y

My Uncle Shea Remembering Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, zt”l

By Yaakov Ganz

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abbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, or Uncle Shea as he was known in the family, was an unusual person.

This is not news to anyone.

The rabbi doctor part is less uncommon than it sounds. Every community has its handful of dual discipline Torah scholar/professionals.

I always thought of him in my own mind as my Modern Orthodox chassidishe uncle. I think he would have liked that. I think that reflects something more unusual about him than his diverse erudition. He wore a shtreimel, a beard and peyos, but he saw himself and the world around him with a subtlety and depth that greatly transcended such superficialities as uniforms, materials of head coverings, traditions of study or prayer, minhagim, and the like. He was not greatly impressed by titles or club memberships.

He saw each person really as a tayereh neshama and a chelek Elokim mimaal. What else could matter? This went for old and young, men and women, the learned and the pedestrian, Jews and nonJews. He is probably the only person in the world who, besides for other singularities, had a close personal relationship with the Steipler Gaon, zt”l, and with a bishop of the Catholic church.

He talked to children with respect. This is not a platitude. When we spoke, I always felt like he thought I had something genuinely useful to say, and I would rack my brain for the bright thing he seemed to be expecting. In retrospect, I think this is simply the way he saw everybody. He was very smart and knew many things, but his mind was always hungry for new learning, for new experiences, for knowledge or understanding that could come from anywhere or anyone. He wore techeilis in his tzitzis because it was presented to him and it made sense. He wasn’t concerned with who else was or wasn’t wearing them.

I worked with him for a time at a drug rehabilitation facility in Long Island, and he told me this story:

I was standing outside of my house in Pittsburgh one morning, and I was feeling very depressed. I can’t remember anymore what it was that had gotten me down that day. In any case, some people from the hospital were walking by, and they were on their way to a meeting.

They said, “Good morning” to me and they could tell that I was out of it and one of them said, “Hey, Twerski” [in his stories his interlocuters were always calling him by his last name only, though I never myself heard anyone address him that way]. “Twerski, you look lousy. Come with us to the meeting.”

So I thought, OK, why not? I went with them, and this fellow gets up

at the meeting and says, “When I came here, I had lost everything in my life. My job, my family, my money, my home, my friends, my health. Everything. Some days I feel like I just can’t go on. But then I think, ‘G-d brought me this far. He’s not going to leave me here now.”

And then my uncle turned to me and, with a certain bashful self-deprecation, said, “That really picked me up.”

You cannot imagine the respect and admiration Rabbi Twerski had for the people our society considers to be its least respectful and admirable members. I think part of the reason he was drawn to addicts is because, when you’ve lost everything, all that’s left is you. The real you. No pretensions, no airs,

no pursuit of prestige or recognition or other material things. Your existence becomes quite a bit more spiritual, essentially by default.

He wanted to connect to real people. He wanted to touch your soul and be touched by your soul. That was something in which he found indescribable value.

More than anything, I think he was a baal chessed.

He consulted and counseled and, when there was nothing else, listened and empathized with the pain of a near constant stream of people who sought his help from all over the world.

I was not a little aware of the celebrity of my famous uncle, and I took some pride in dropping his name when the opportunity presented itself. I said hello to him at family simchas like any of the dozens of other nieces and nephews and relatives and friends and students who would gather around him when he walked into a room, but still, he hardly knew me. But when I once asked him to introduce me to a certain prestigious person with whom he was acquainted, I got an email from this person I think around five minutes after I asked my uncle to make the introduction. When I emailed him a question about a client I was struggling with just a few months ago, at which time, confined to a wheelchair, he

was quite old and frail and I’m sure was still receiving constant emails and calls for help, he responded almost instantly. In his typical fashion his diagnosis was that my client suffered from low self-esteem, which made me laugh a little. But it was clear from his response that he had spent time reading my email carefully and his advice about how low self-esteem was affecting my client and what I could try to do to help him work through it was very particular to the case and not a boilerplate in any way.

When Rabbi Twerski’s first wife, my Aunt Goldie, a”h, was nifteres, he brought her to be buried in Eretz Yisroel. I was learning there at the time, and I came to the kevurah, as did many other people. Rabbi Twerski had grandchildren and relatives

and talmidim and friends living in Eretz Yisroel and quite a large crowd came to pay their respects. I remember standing in that throng as the slight form of my un-

was providing him some vital support. Of course, this could not have been the case. In a state of such pain and despair, barely being aware of his surroundings and acting,

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good thing I’m here for him!”

I would lament that they don’t make his kind very much anymore, but I don’t think there were ever that many people like him. For

I think part of the reason he was drawn to addicts is because, when you’ve lost everything, all that’s left is you.

cle stood among us brokenhearted and consumed with his loss. He hugged every single person and thanked them for being there. I think there must have been over fifty of us. When he hugged me, I doubted if he even knew who I was and yet I felt like I

I think, not even with real consciousness, he wanted each of us to feel that we were valuable, that our presence there was significant. The feeling I had after hugging him I saw mirrored on the faces of everyone else there when their turn came: “It’s a

those of us who were fortunate to know him, to learn from him through his lectures, his books, or his teachings, we know what a singular soul he was. We know of his exceptional mind and his even bigger heart, a heart of insight and a heart of deep

feeling. He believed in the greatness of all people.

In his memory, we can look at our friends and our neighbors, our family and community, all the people of the world we live in, and instead of seeing people we compete with or disagree with or are different than, we can see souls that are special and have something unique and valuable to contribute to the world and to us personally. This would be a great zechus for his neshama. (And more so for ours. I think we need it more than he does.)

Yaakov Ganz learned for many years in Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim. He has a marriage therapy practice in Queens and Long Island.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER OCTOBER 29, 29, 2015 2015 || The The Jewish Jewish Home Home

My Times with Uncle Shia

RABBI DR. ABRAHAM J. TWERSKI, ZT”L

By Batshi Bergida, LCSW-R

S

ince hearing the words of the passing of my Uncle Shia, I have been devastated and feel the loss most keenly. I was not overly close with Uncle Shia, and I did not spend much time with him. However, I felt his influence in my life constantly and he was an important part of my family and my family’s legacy.

Uncle Shia was my grandfather’s brother. My grandfather, Reb Shlomo Twerski, the Hornisteipler Rebbe, died before I was born. As such, his brothers were our connection to him and to my mother’s family and chassidus.

I remember as a young child, once or twice, he came to our large Twerski cousin family gatherings at my aunt and uncle’s house in Baltimore.

I remember being fascinated with his blue tzitzit. I also remember hugging him as often as I could, and when I did so, closing my eyes tightly and feeling that I was in the presence of something holy when I hugged him.

My cousins and I discussed this at the time: “How many times did you get to hug Uncle Shia?” “Didn’t it feel like hugging a malach?” Looking back,

I can’t imagine how much time we distracted him from whatever he was doing, asking for hugs, but he was always only sweet and generous to us as children.

When I was in seminary in Israel, Uncle Shia was there for part of the year, each year. I went out to eat with him each year, once in Shana Alef and once in Shana Bet. My first cousin Esti came with me for one of these outings. I do not recall the specifics of what we spoke about at either of these times. We were not there to get wisdom or be taught; we went to spend time with our uncle whom we knew was very special and whom we knew we wanted to be close to.

I recall at the first outing, when we were looking at the menu, Uncle Shia mentioned that he should get the fish as it is more healthy. Then he jokingly said, “Oh well, I might as well be a chazer” and ordered penne a la vodka and enjoyed every bite. We discussed his childhood memories of being in public school, memories about my grandparents when they were younger, and psychology in Torah, all in general ways, not as an intense dis-

cussion.

It was impossible to be with him without being interrupted every three minutes by a fan or someone who loved his books. He jokingly told us a story of a vacation that he and Aunt Gail went on to a very remote destination. He said that, when they landed, they excitedly discussed that they would finally be able to vacation without interruption. Before leaving the airport, they heard a call from behind them, “Rabbi Twerski! Rabbi Twerski! Is it really you?” The plan was clearly foiled.

He greeted people who interrupted our meals with graciousness, kindness and humility. One of the things that I recall the most about spending time with him was that, despite his vast knowledge and greatness in Judaism, he did not behave as though he was better or smarter than anyone.

He was happy to share his wisdom, and he did so humbly, without any airs, without thinking that he was superior to anyone else.

I recall a time that I was going to a camp to give speeches on Tisha B’Av. As I am not a famous speaker

in any way, the camp compensated me somewhat for my travel expenses but did not compensate me for all of the tolls and gas. My husband asked his rav if we were allowed to use my maaser money to cover the extra expenses that this was going to cost us, as we did not have money to spare at the time. His rav told him that speaking alone would not be a reason to use maaser money, however, if I was going to make personal connections with people and discuss their personal issues with them and help them work on themselves in a personal manner, using masser would be permitted.

This story makes me think of Uncle Shia. I recall going to one of his speeches in Israel when I lived there while married. A friend of mine had recently been divorced and had a young child. She struggled with her life in certain ways and was very excited to come to his speech and be uplifted. She asked if she could speak to him after the speech. We chose a good spot near the front and, after the speech, went to talk to him. Despite being swarmed by an overwhelming amount of people, when he saw me

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with my friend, he smiled and asked my friend’s name. She began to tell him about her struggles, and it was as if they were the only two people in the room, despite the masses pressing in on us. He spoke to her kindly, calmly and with focus, and he gave her chizuk and advice. It had a strong effect on her and on me as well, simply by watching.

When Uncle Shia spoke to a crowd, you felt as if he was speaking to you, in a way that I’ve never experienced from another speaker. He managed to speak in a way that was relevant and moving to every individual listening. I believe this is because he said what he believed: that we are all equal and that everyone needs to work on understanding themselves and their growth regardless of where they come from. And that speaks to our base nature.

As word of his passing spreads, stories are coming through to our family of those who say that he moved them with a simple story or a simple word. A story just reached the family of a person who became religious from hearing him speak, because the way that he spoke reached him individually. I believe that amongst his many, many talents, skills and all his brilliance, this trait was one of the primary ones. He moved people by speaking to them as individuals, by looking at them as equals.

There’s so much going around about the great loss and how Klal Yisroel is suffering from losing him, and it is not to be diminished. I personally am having a hard time getting these words onto paper without weeping. I feel the loss so strongly despite the fact that, as I have said, I was not overly close with him. I believe that people felt he was close with him because he felt he was close to people.

He did not feel that he was better than others; he did not feel that he was in a place surpassing others, although, of course, he was.

At the beginning of my career as a therapist, twice I went to his house in New Jersey to discuss my career with him and the path that I should take. I regret very much not having written down notes of these meetings so that I could remember them better.

I recall being enamored with how much knowledge he had in fields other than addiction. I recall how relaxed he was, shmoozing with me on his front porch. He steered me on

the path of becoming a specialist in eating disorders (which, because of his recommendation, I now am). He knew so much about the field, about the books to read, about the ins and outs of how it works, and discussing

did not come up in our conversation at all. He jokingly said to me, “Tattela, I’m getting on in years,” (he was almost 80 at the time) “and if I were to go to every single great-niece’s graduation ceremony and speak, I would

I ALSO REMEMBER HUGGING HIM AS OFTEN AS I COULD, AND WHEN I DID SO, CLOSING MY EYES TIGHTLY AND FEELING THAT I WAS IN THE PRESENCE OF SOMETHING HOLY WHEN I HUGGED HIM.

these matters seemed to be as easy as breathing to him. He was a baki in every way. Though my knowledge of therapy at the time was minimal, he treated me kindly and with patience and was happy to give me his time.

In one of these meetings, we got into a lively debate about addiction: if addictions are inherently bad or good.

His argument was that it can be good, and mine was that it is only bad. The fact that I had the chutzpah to argue with him, considering that he was one of the foremost experts in the field of addiction in the world, is not something that occurred to me because he did not take any issue with it. In fact, he appeared to sincerely enjoy it. He wrote me a beautiful letter of recommendation afterward, which helped me get my first job as a therapist in a clinic.

I recall when I went to the second meeting with him, that although I very much wanted his guidance, I so much more wanted the opportunity to speak with him and enjoy his company and influence. He was simply fun to talk to.

When I graduated from my master’s program, I called him and asked him if he could speak at our graduation ceremony. The program that I went to was new and had very little funds. I asked if he could come speak as a favor to me. I did not consider that this was one of the primary focuses of his profession or that this might be something rude to ask. That

never go home.” We laughed together, and he gave me a few ideas of what I should do instead.

Although I can’t specifically point to every single thing that we spoke

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about, I can say that those four times of spending one-on-one (or two-toone) time with him have stayed with me all of these years since. I believe they will stay with me for a lifetime.

I am truly uplifted by having known him. I am truly happy for the time that I spent with him. I feel blessed that he knew who I was.

He lived a beautiful and full life filled with accomplishment. I always looked forward to family simchas where I would see him and be able to share a few words with him (most of which were joking and happy). I remember the times that we spent together, and I am uplifted having known him and feel blessed and lucky to be part of his family. I am so grateful that we, as a collective, were able to be influenced by his greatness, his kindness, his positivity, and his insight.

May we only know simchas and may his memory encourage us to strive to be more like him. May we grow as people from his influence, and may that be a zechus to his neshama and his family.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Remembering

Rabbi Yehuda Kelemer On His Shloshim

By Elana Jacobs

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his Sunday, marks the shloshim of the mara d’asra of the Young Israel of West Hempstead and more specifically, my rav, Rabbi Yehudah Kelemer, zt”l.

The loss is profound. Rabbi Kelemer’s gadlus encompassed so many areas. His persona bespoke warmth and caring. His smile radiated true simchas ha’chaim. He spoke to every person with admiration and respect.

He had a wonderful sense of humor, injecting a funny comment into regular conversation as well as deep discussions, lightening the mood and bringing laughter and joy. His chessed was legendary. His commitment to Torah and Torah ideals propelled others to greater heights.

Throughout the years, I would call Rabbi Kelemer often with many varied shailos. He always had time for me as if he had all the time in the world. Never did I feel rushed. If he ever had to hang up the phone, it was always with an assurance that he would call me back.

Since I started teaching at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, HANC, ten years ago, it was a new tekufah where Rabbi Kelemer treated me like a partner in his avodas hakodesh. He knew I was “hands on” with the children of West Hempstead and HANC at large. He wanted me to reach them, teach them, prioritize their needs and treat them with great love, second only to the love and care I had for my own family.

Often on the phone, he would remind me that a mother needs to be well rested for her children and that I really should be going to sleep earlier.

If my kids were yelling in the background, he would gently tell me, “It sounds like you have other obligations to take care of. They are your top priority. We don’t have to talk now.

When’s a good time to talk?”

His clarity in knowing how to answer people in where they were holding was unique. He would tell me one thing but he didn’t expect the same of someone else and wouldn’t have even told them that answer. When he would tell me a machmir psak, he would gently motivate me to do it by saying, “We should always try to take the higher road.”

On the other hand, he did not push his psak on those who had not asked him. There was a situation in which someone did something I felt was highly inappropriate. I called Rabbi Kelemer and asked him his opinion. He told me what they did was wrong. I then asked him if I could tell the person how wrong they had been and he responded, “Absolutely not!” It seemed that since they had not asked me, I had no right to get involved.

I wanted to teach my students at HANC how great their rav was and that they could ask him shailos, too!

Throughout the year, if a difficult question was raised, I would write it down, promising the girls at the end of the year we would have a question-and-answer session with Rabbi Kelemer. Rabbi Kelemer loved listening to their questions. He would

turn every question into the greatest question ever asked, citing different sources and mefarshim to back up how incredible their shailos were.

And, of course, he would insert his favorite refrain. This was a refrain I remember as a teenager from Rabbi Kelemer’s Q and A sessions with us.

He would say, with a smile on his lips, and nachas in his heart, “Doesn’t anyone have any easier questions?”

At the end of each of these Q and A sessions, he would ask the children a thinking question usually based on the parsha. Asking thinking questions to the children was something he did for as long as I can remember.

He wanted to encourage them to become thinkers. He wanted to hear their thoughts and ideas. I also felt he asked questions so the students would see how he cared for them, related to them, and wanted to engage them in meaningful conversation in Torah.

Rabbi Kelemer was a true ish chessed. Every person who knew him was touched many times by his unbelievable love, unwavering and deep commitment to his community members, their families and beyond.

His chessed was a Toras chessed,

stemming from his great appreciation and love for Torah and the mitzvos therein as well his natural ahavas Yisroel that radiated outwards to all fortunate enough to come within his daled amos.

He was at every simcha, and every sad occasion as well, offering words of sincere happiness at the good moments and comforting consolation in harder times. My husband is one of five brothers and one sister, ka”h.

Getting to dance in front of the chosson and kallah at our wedding was no small feat as one had to “take on” the other brothers who were all dancing with vigor and enthusiasm. Watching the wedding video carefully, I noticed Rabbi Kelemer standing in the center of the circle, ready to be m’sameaich chosson v’kallah. After a few failed attempts to get in the middle, he was at last successful, dancing for us and giving us joy at that happy moment.

When my Bubby, a”h, sat shivah for her sister in my parents’ house, due to circumstances of a very short shivah on erev yom tov, she did not have a single visitor to be menachem avel. Except for Rabbi Kelemer. When my grandmother, a”h, passed away two years ago, Rabbi Kelemer’s guidance helped us with every small step along the way. When he came to be menachem avel my mother, I sat enraptured as he was able to get to the heart of my grandmother. He knew her well, my parents having been members of the West Hempstead community for over thirty years.

Here again was another testament to his great dedication. A community is comprised of people with families and family histories that are complex.

Rabbi Kelemer knew all of the stories, understood deeply where people were coming from, and was able to guide them based on all of these sensitive factors.

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Rabbi Kelemer lived a life of chessed as was apparent to one and all who knew him. He also taught me the importance of chessed through the following teachings: During Hurricane Sandy, when I asked him why Hashem caused it to happen, he answered that it was so that people could do chessed for each other. (As was indeed the case in West Hempstead. Chessed abounded.) At the height of Corona, last March/April, when I asked him what our hashkafa should be, one of the answers he gave me was so that we should s-t-r-e-t-c-h ourselves to do more chessed towards others. He once said to me forcefully, though of course in his calm, even tone, “WE ARE HERE TO DO CHESSED!!” This was how he lived his life.

His true caring: A teenage relative of mine who lives in Eretz Yisrael disappeared. No one knew where he was, and a search party had been organized. When I got word about it, I was filled with fear, imagining the worst. In distress, I called Rabbi Kelemer to beg him to daven for the boy

to be found. Rabbi Kelemer’s concern was immediately apparent when I told him the story. He said he would daven for the boy and would pass the name on to gedolim in Eretz Yisrael. He explained to me, “A gadol is someone who has a pocket for every Jew inside his heart.” That was who he was.

I learned from the Rav throughout the years was how impressionable young children are and how I make an important roshem as their teacher.

He stressed that the most important things in teaching are treating students like they are one’s own children and setting an example to them of the

He once said to me forcefully, though of course in his calm, even tone, “We are here to do chessed!!”

This was how he lived his life.

Of note: Within a half hour of my calling Rabbi Kelemer and giving him the name, the boy was found. To use Dr. Yossie Weisel’s words, was it a coincidence? Or did Rabbi Kelemer have a line directly to the Ribbono Shel Olam? I prefer to think the latter.

On teaching: One of the themes

bnei/bnos Torah they can become.

On family: I loved seeing the Rav together with his Rebbetzin, yblc”t.

What a special couple. The two smiling together, attending simchas, wishing mazel tovs. Though small in physical stature, their spiritual stature towered above us all. When they

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attended a simcha, it truly elevated the whole occasion. What a zechus to have had both of them at so many of our simchas, bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings.

One of my students once asked Rabbi Kelemer why we still have the Kosel. Why did Hashem leave it standing? He answered that we should have a feeling, a taste of what the Mikdash is, and still be connected. It’s like an heirloom gem reminding us that Hashem has not disappeared. This idea gives me comfort as I mourn the loss of Rabbi Kelemer.

I wonder, who will I go to? Who can answer me? I feel like a lost child searching for their brilliant and loving father to answer their questions and guide them through life.

It is my hope that the memories and lessons taught by Rabbi Kelemer, zt”l, will remain with me throughout my lifetime like a precious heirloom gem. I hope to be able to convey these lessons to my children and students as we work together to take the higher road.

Yehi zichro baruch.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Israel Today

Behind the Closed Doors of Sheba’s COVID Wards

By Sharon Gelbach

T

he so-called “third wave” of COVID-19 has hit the Israeli population especially hard, many speculate due to the especially contagious variants and mutations.

The overworked doctors and nurses can only do so much for the hundreds of patients hospitalized in the corona wards at Sheba Medical Center, and where their duties end, the volunteer work begins.

“Anyone who has experienced corona knows that the suffering from the basic symptoms is compounded by the loneliness and despair caused by the isolation,” explained Noa Pakter, community relations coordinator at Sheba who organizes a weekly roster of volunteers from morning till night.

“Our volunteers enter each room and check what’s needed. Disabled patients will receive practical, handson assistance – with eating, sitting up in bed, and making video calls to their loved ones. We might play music and dance with a patient, or just sit with them and talk. Beyond the physical help, it’s more about the emotional support,” she explained.

The 35 volunteers are all “corona

survivors” who take monthly serology tests to ensure that they have immunity. Those whose numbers fall past a certain index are no longer allowed into the wards, relegated instead to the outer rooms where they help other volunteers and family members of patients “suit up” in the special protective gear.

ternity ward, psychiatric ward and a corona ER. Pakter observed that certain volunteers get attached to one particular ward, but she makes it a point to cover all the wards, so that no patient is forgotten.

The volunteers develop a close relationship with the patients, becoming like a second family, sharing in

“Beyond the physical help, it’s more about the emotional support.”

Pakter describes the charedi and religious volunteers as “wonderful people who lead full lives, working, studying and raising families, and who consider it their mission to help COVID patients.

“The medical staff do all they can, and we fill in by keeping the patients company and lifting their spirits,” she said.

Sheba has five COVID internal wards, as well as a corona ICU, ma-

the elation when the patient is healed, or tragically, in the grief when a patient passes away.

Pakter recalls the patient who was hospitalized last summer, forced to miss his own daughter’s wedding.

The volunteer helped the father get dressed up and then set up a laptop with Zoom, so that he could feel as if he’d been present at the wedding. The following day, to the father’s delight, the bride and groom came to visit him

in the ward. By the time the couple celebrated their first month together, the father had recovered and was back at home.

Some stories end differently. A husband and wife who had been admitted together to the Sheba corona ward were separated when, after a long battle, the husband succumbed.

The wife was inconsolable. Chen, a volunteer, arrived just in time to show her the funeral on Zoom, while holding her close and crying together with her.

“Chen provided the wife with closure and a measure of comfort that no one else could,” said Pakter.

“People who weren’t there could never understand what it’s like,” said Tzion, a corona survivor in his early 40s. After he left the Sheba corona ward, recovered and felt strong enough, he joined Pakter’s corps of volunteers.

“I try to bring things that will help them feel better, such as their favorite food for Shabbat. But the main thing isn’t the food; it’s the smile, the company, the presence.

“When people come to visit, they literally bring life!”

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The Wandering

Jew

From Vienna to Arosa Part II

By Hershel Lieber

The palace of the Prince of Liechtenstein

W

e took our time on this Wednesday morning in July; we just didn’t rush.

The weather was rainy, and there was a light fog in the air as we headed out from Innsbruck, Austria.

We started our climb to the higher elevations of the Alps on curving roads with over a dozen tunnels carved into the formidable mountains. The fog started to dissipate, and we were able to see the ice peaked mountain tips. As the sun started to appear, every exit from a tunnel brought another stunning vista of Hashem’s handicraft. We made an hour stop in Feldkirch near the Austrian border. The town was picturesque, and we took a self-guid-

ed tour of the castle and museum.

From there, it was only a short drive to Triesenberg across the border in Liechtenstein.

Liechtenstein is not a well-known country. In fact, it is one of the smallest countries in the world. You can cross the width of this country in less than two hours. The population of this German-speaking nation is small, yet it is one of the richest countries of the world. It is known for its Alpine landscapes and medieval castles, and, by stamp collectors, for the beautiful postage stamps it regularly issues.

We took a walk in the tiny capital Vaduz, a city with under five thousand residents. We visited the city museum

and, of course, the post office. We ate our dinner of food we brought along from Vienna sitting on the veranda of our hotel. There, we were able to view the calming waters of the Rhine River as it snaked through the valley dotted with cottages, against a background of the magnificent Alps.

The next morning, we toured the grounds of the Prince’s palace.

The palace is open to the public only once a year on the Prince’s birthday when many well-wishers come by to wish him a long healthy life. From there, we headed into neighboring Switzerland. The scenes we passed were beckoning our camera, and we obliged by making many photo stops.

We had our sandwich lunches at a

waterfall overlooking the lush valleys and small villages below. As we were heading to our destination, we spoke by phone to all our children.

Our daughter, Chavi, told us that her in-laws, Volvi’s parents, Shloma and Hindy Feldman, would be in the same hotel as us that Shabbos.

We arrived in Arosa at three in the afternoon and checked into the Metropol Hotel. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw the beautiful fruit basket that our mechutanim sent to our room. The hotel itself had probably seen better days and, despite our tiny room, we were complacent. After dinner, we went out to the lake where we were treated to a concert by the players of the Alpenhorn. The music

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that came out of this long, weird instrument left a lot to be desired, but we were compensated by the dancing, colorful fountains and the fireworks.

It was way past midnight when we finally went to sleep.

Friday after breakfast we took a hike to the next neighboring town.

We returned on the famed red scenic train that ran along the mountainside. After lunch, we ascended Mount Weisshorn by cable car. At the summit of this mountain, we were able to see Arosa and its lake, which seemed straight out of a fairytale. Though we were stepping on snow, the sun basked us with her warmth and we sat out there for quite a while.

We returned to the hotel to get ready for Shabbos. I was honored to daven kabbalas Shabbos, and we met many people from around the globe.

Among the distinguished personalities who were with us was Harav Yehoshua Neuwirth, the author of Shmiras Shabbos K’Hilchoso. Also present was Harav Shloma Zalman Ulman from Bnei Brak. The seudah was inspiring with zemiros and divrei Torah, and the food was ample and delicious.

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With Rabbi Yehoshua Neuwirth, author of Shmiras Shabbos K’Hilchoso

Shabbos was very nice at the hotel. After davening, there was a lavish kiddush and we had a chance to mingle with the guests, who were mostly from Europe or Israel. We shared a table with our mechutanim, the Feldmans, for the day seudah and enjoyed their company. In general, we meet them only by simchos where there is little opportunity to have a good conversation. Being together and alone for a seudah is a rare occasion, which we cherished.

In the afternoon, I went to a shiur given by Rav Neuwirth on Hilchos Shabbos, while Pesi went to a lecture given by his rebbetzin. On Motzei Shabbos, we took a walk and came back for a Melave Malka seudah.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home NOVEMBER4,12, FEBRUARY 2021 2020 | The | The Jewish Jewish Home Home

A view of Graz

The Swiss Alps near Arosa

Grazing cows on a snow-blanketed mountain near Davos

We left Arosa on Sunday at noon.

We took a different route as we headed back to Austria. We passed the famed ski resort Davos and then slowly climbed Mount Weisshorn. It was actually snowing in the upper echelons of the mountain. We passed a herd of cows grazing between patches of snow and heard the ringing of the Swill bells they wore around their necks. When we descended the mountain, we headed into the Romansch cantons of Switzerland. There are only about 45,000 people who still speak this Latin language. The landscape was pastoral with unsurpassed beauty. The drive back to Innsbruck was heavenly with a shining sun and a deep blue sky scattered with puffy clouds.

We stayed overnight in Innsbruck and headed out early to our final destination, Graz. We loaded up our car, which was in the hotel’s underground garage. As I was backing up, I heard a crackling sound from the rear hatch window and realized that I hit a protruding pipe. The glass crumbled into thousands of splinters. I was at loss of what to do and went up to the reception desk, which was mobbed with dozens of Japanese tourists checking into to the hotel. I realized that my whole day could be lost by waiting, so I brushed off the glass and reloaded the car and set out on my way. The blowing air and the noise was unbearable, but I needed to move on.

As we were exiting Innsbruck, I saw a mirage in the form of a Mercedes Benz dealership with an auto repair shop! I quickly got off the highway and drove into their parking lot.

The manager told me he could order a new back window, but it will take a day until it arrived from Germany. I did not have the time to wait. I asked him if he could tape up a thick plastic on the rear window so I could drive on the highway without the rushing air and noise. He said he could do it for a hundred dollars. I readily agreed, and the repair was finished in less than an hour. When it came to paying, though, he waved his hand and said that he wanted to do it as a favor and that there would be no charge. We were in

The gravestone of the Jewish merchant Rabbi Nissim in Graz

awe at the chessed that Hashem granted us so that our five-hour trip to Graz would be a pleasant drive.

We arrived late Monday afternoon in Graz. The city dates back to the Middle Ages with a historic center of over one-thousand buildings dating from the Gothic to contemporary periods. Between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, we walked around for hours to view the architecture with an audio tour to become familiar with the city’s history. We took the funicular up a steep hill to Schlossberg to see the remains of the fortress and castle.

There are few traces of Jewish life in Graz, though Jews made up ten percent of the population before World War II. There is a synagogue and community center for the few thousand Jews who remained there. Even so, we saw a monument of a Jewish merchant in the historic center.

We left Graz in the afternoon and arrived in Vienna, where we stayed overnight before returning to New York. We were away for two weeks, of which the family chasunah kept us in Vienna for four days. The rest of the time we traveled and learned about many historic cities. We also appreciated the magnificent natural wonders that Hashem created for our enjoyment.

Hershel Lieber has been involved in kiruv activities for over 30 years. As a founding member of the Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel he has traveled with his wife, Pesi, to the Soviet Union during the harsh years of the Communist regimes to advance Yiddishkeit. He has spearheaded a yeshiva in the city of Kishinev that had 12 successful years with many students making Torah their way of life. In Poland, he lectured in the summers at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation camp for nearly 30 years. He still travels to Warsaw every year – since 1979 – to be the chazzan for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the Jews there. Together with Pesi, he organized and led trips to Europe on behalf of Gateways and Aish Hatorah for college students finding their paths to Jewish identity. His passion for travel has taken them to many interesting places and afforded them unique experiences. Their open home gave them opportunities to meet and develop relationships with a variety of people. Hershel’s column will appear in The Jewish Home on a bi-weekly basis.

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Chava Willig Levy

and a “Breathtaking” Exploration of Music A Soundtrack of Spirituality, Strength & Survival

BY MICHELLE ZIMMERMAN

“W

hat are the three most important things I should know about you?”

It’s a question Chava Willig Levy often leads with during her popular motivational speeches. It’s a question she posed in her days giving corporate training seminars. It’s a question that broke the ice on her first date with her husband, Michael, almost 40 years ago.

When asked the same question, her answer now is the same as it was then: “I love music, I love words, and I love children.”

Her disability? “That,” she explains, “is the fourth most important thing you should know about me.”

The 2015 The Jewish Jewish Home Home || OCTOBER FEBRUARY29, 4, 2021 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

For

a woman who is known as an accomplished writer, editor and singer, music has been a constant chorus in her life.

As a childhood polio survivor and an advocate for people with disabilities, music has been a lifeline and a lifeforce.

A self-described “kosher ham,” Chava is no stranger to sharing her inspirations and insights.

Her 2013 memoir, “A Life Not with Standing,” is a coming-of-age story that details her journey to overcome obstacles and fulfill her dreams.

Chava’s words are made more compelling by the lyrics interwoven throughout, giving the book a veritable “soundtrack.”

Chava now brings her passion for music to the masses with a captivating podcast called Breathtaking. In her debut episode, she welcomes the listener by explaining that the podcast is “celebrating all the things that take my breath away, including (but not limited to) music, words (particularly lyrics), children, Judaism, womanhood, parenting and living life with a disability.”

The timing of Chava’s latest endeavor couldn’t be more apropos.

“The current pandemic has left so many of us feeling isolated and unsettled. Music has been a very therapeutic part of my life, sustaining me through challenging times,” she said. “It has given voice to my bitachon in Hashem. This podcast is a way for people to connect with music, and with one another, at a time when we need to find gratitude for all that is beautiful in the world.”

A Bar Mitzvah Bracha

Breathtaking began because of a bracha. When Chava was invited to speak at her great-nephew’s bar mitzvah celebration last February, it was natural for her to mark the milestone with music. Because she does not sing in front of men, she enlisted the bar mitzvah boy’s three uncles to illustrate her words with snippets of music. The first two parts of this musical bracha were slightly different renditions of the opening line of the song “Try to Remember,” composed

by Harvey Schmidt. The hall was quiet as first one and then another uncle sang “Try to remember the kind of September/When life was slow and, oh, so mellow.” Chava had them each repeat their portions and then guided the crowd to pinpoint the difference in the two deliveries, which was the note in which the word “slow” was sung.

She explained that while the first version is the universally recognized one, when given another listen, the rare second version can be not only appreciated but admired.

With the crowd enthralled by this musical observation, it was on to parts three and four of Chava’s bracha, which opened with an uncle singing the first nine notes of Mozart’s 40th Symphony’s third movement, composed in 1788. It was followed by another uncle singing the first nine notes of “Sunrise, Sunset” from “Fiddler on the Roof,” composed by Jerry Bock in 1964. Cha-

va pointed out that the first nine notes of these compositions are identical but with different rhythms. She even facetiously speculated that while Mozart may not have intended for his symphony to be modified 176 year later for a musical set in a shtetl, he, too, would have grown to see the beauty in the differences.

The stage was now set for the actual bracha, and Chava delivered a heartfelt one: “When music – or life – takes you by surprise, may you be willing, may you be open to take a second listen or a second look. May you discover beauty in the things that at first seemed all wrong.”

“This bracha not only showcased my appreciation for music, but it also encapsulated my view of life,” she said. “Life is not always easy, but sometimes we need to adjust our perspective to realize that variations from our original plan can still be fulfilling.”

Chava had no idea that her message would take on greater relevance a few weeks later with the arrival of COVID-19. With the encouragement of her family, she set out to share her music appreciation with a larger audience, and the podcast was born.

A Musical Legacy

Before Chava and Michael filled their home with music for their children Tehilah and Aharon, Chava’s musical roots began in the home of her parents, Rabbi Jerome and Ella Willig, z”l. Family legend has it that, at 18 months, Chava stood on the coffee table and sang Franz Lehar’s “Merry Widow Waltz.”

The music originated with her mother, born in Oswiecim, Poland, and raised with chassidic melodies. Under the tutelage of her older sister Chatcha, Ella was also introduced to classical composers like Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Chopin. When Ella immigrated to the United States with her parents and unmarried siblings in 1934, Chatcha stayed behind with her own family. Tragically, Chatcha perished in the Holocaust.

Chava is her namesake.

“I definitely feel that I inherited Tante Chatcha’s love for music and that my mother upheld her sister’s legacy by making music central to our home,” Chava said.

The Willig family treasured their records and their prized RCA Radio-Victrola. Along with her siblings Mordechai, Temi and Dovid, Chava was surrounded by all types of music. Ella exposed them to contemporary American songs as well as tunes from around the globe. There were albums of Jewish music and children’s songs. Of particular fondness was a series of albums by Gladys Gewirtz, each devoted to a different Jewish holiday. The family also enjoyed singing and was known for their lively renditions of zemiros and Broadway showtunes.

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Tante Chatcha and her daughter, Bracha Temma

“When music – or life – takes you by surprise, may you be willing, may you be open to take a second listen or a second look.”

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 OCTOBER 29, 2015 || The The Jewish Jewish Home Home

Erwin Frankel

Ella took guitar lessons, and Chava’s siblings took piano. Because her paralyzed arms prevented her from playing the piano, Chava pursued her singing talent.

While not as musical as his wife, Chava’s father Jerome was an enthusiastic supporter who sang along and treated the family to records. On one occasion, he “moved mountains” to ensure a stretcher-bound Chava could attend an Enrico Macias concert at Carnegie Hall.

Entertainment aside, music became a critical companion for Chava during her childhood and adolescence, when her disability necessitated frequent hospital stays. She recounts in her memoir, “I didn’t know it then, but music, reassuring or terrifying, was medicine for me, a vehicle for facing vulnerability… The record player’s needle and the hospital’s hypodermic needles: both kept me alive.”

Inspiration on the Airwaves

“I didn’t know it then, but music, reassuring or terrifying, was medicine for me.”

One of the most anticipated musical moments for Chava and her family was the nightly radio program, “Music from Around the World.” Hosted

by Erwin Frankel on WABC-FM from 1959-1972, this hour-long program showcased an eclectic array of international music. In his New York Times obituary from 2012, Frankel, who was also a concert promoter, is credited with broadening “the American cultural palette.” In Chava’s estimation, his broadcast led her to many musical discoveries and made her “a citizen of the world.”

More than his musical influence, Frankel brought Chava a personal dose of encouragement and validation. In the days before Instagram or Twitter made it simple to connect with a celebrity, there were handwritten letters. Over the years, Chava would correspond with Frankel about his shows, requesting songs and updating him on her life. It was a time when reading a letter on-air and mentioning Chava’s name was a thrill. What started as a fan/host relationship eventually became a mutual friendship that extended beyond music. Frankel even attended Chava’s wedding in 1983 and her daughter Tehilah’s in 2011.

“Erwin Frankel left me with such an indelible example of kindness. He drew me in with his velvety voice and taught me so much about music,” Chava said. “As I host my podcast, I feel like he’s on my shoulder.”

A Sophisticated Symphony of Sounds

When discussing Breathtaking, Chava shared two anecdotes. One is that she has what a friend jokingly called a “melody malady,” where “everything in life makes me think of a song.”

The other is a drasha she once heard from Rabbi Norman Lamm, z”l.

“Rabbi Lamm was explaining that the word ‘enthusiasm’ comes from the Greek ‘en theos,’ which means G-d is in you,” Chava recalled. “In my case, I think that maybe Hashem gave me this tremendous enthusiasm for music so I can disseminate that joy – and, in a way, an appreciation for Hashem’s gift of music – to the world around me.”

Breathtaking offers a sophisticated symphony of sounds. Chava’s elegant hosting style is reminiscent of an earlier, simpler time when people would gather for an evening radio show and just focus on the music – without other distractions.

At the basic level, listening to her podcast is like attending a music appreciation class led by a wellversed expert who provides a poetic analysis of the lyrics and a rich historical background.

Chava’s carefully-curated playlists make the listener pay attention and discard any preconceived musical notions. Her selections are not cookie-cutter hits. Following Erwin Frankel’s example, she chooses songs from around the world – and many are obscure.

Chava takes a thematic approach to her podcasts, and each theme fills three episodes. Those themes include relationships, feelings, nature, faith, legal holidays, and Israel. There are also explorations of lesser-known composers, and even a tribute to her high school music appreciation teacher, Mr. Inniss.

Chava juxtaposes unexpected musical styles within the same theme, and her execution offers an element of surprise. In her “Good Vibrations” series, she begins by informing the listener that she “will not be featuring any Beach Boys tunes.”

In the perfect embodiment of her wit and originality, this series actually opens with a selection from Sesame Street: a duet by Kermit the Frog and Aaron Neville. “Vibrations,” actually refers to “vibrato,” which is a shimmering quality in vocals or instruments. She points out that when it comes to vibrato, “you can hear the pulsating air passing through the vocal cords,” illustrating this with a few seconds of a Handel flute sonata, followed by John Langstaff’s “The Tottenham Toad.” Chava closes out this podcast with Nancy LaMott singing with her trademark vibrato “Help is on the Way,” a song that she says “helps any despair that I feel magically evaporate.”

These are imaginative and unique playlists that even the most seasoned listener would never anticipate.

Providing Culture and C onnection

Chava explains her approach to music from a religious perspective. “As a religious Jew who loves music, I’m grateful that I’ve been able to find secular songs expressing spirituality, a spirituality that many (not only Jews) are blessed with and that can connect us all.” There are, of course, Hebrew songs as well, and she always translates the lyrics so that they will “speak to whoever is listening.”

The Jewish Jewish Home Home || OCTOBER FEBRUARY29, 4, 2021 The 2015 The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Chava’s podcast has garnered a steady following, appealing to friends and captivating new acquaintances from around the world.

Larry Dachslager, a theater teacher and lyricist from Las Vegas, NV, originally connected with Chava as part of a Broadway showtunes group on Facebook.

“I was first attracted to Breathtaking because Chava focuses on lyrics, which is rare,” he said.

“Chava’s master stroke as a host is that she keeps each episode short so the music can really be absorbed. She encourages the listener to shift focus away from aspects we think we know and to hear the songs differently.”

Mindy Sussman, a resident of Inwood who has been friends with Chava since their Stern College days, said, “The podcast really shows Chava’s creativity and originality. I’m a musical person, but she is an absolute connoisseur with a vast knowledge and an incredible collection that includes a lot of hard-to-find music. Before Corona, her home was a gathering place to enjoy music and now she continues to share her talents over the airwaves.”

“Breathtaking has provided a safe, enriching activity for people to still experience the arts and enhance their taste in music,” said Laurie Adler, a long-time friend from Woodmere. “During such an isolating time, Chava has created a community of followers who are connecting not only with her music but also with one another. I personally enjoy listening with my mother, and it is a gift right now to be able to share the music.”

According to Chava, one of the most gratifying parts of hosting Breathtaking is interacting with listeners. “If I know that I want to feature an Israeli song that relates to the theme of the week, and I’m having trouble thinking of one, I’ll post a query to an Israeli music Facebook group.

Same if I’m searching for a Broadway song. And, of course, I also reach out to my Breathtaking

WhatsApp group.”

One such loyal contributor is Moshe Silberschein of Jerusalem, who used to sing with Michael in the Zamir Chorale and also serenaded the couple under their chuppah.

“I’ve gone from friend to fan, and I look forward to the podcast because it’s calming, eclectic and fun,” Moshe said. “I get a kick out of being one of Chava’s ‘regulars,’ and she gives me a mission, like translating Hebrew lyrics.

“Chava really delves into the nuances of the language. Two weeks ago, we pieced together a Kabbalistic insight into an Israeli song which she shared with her listeners. A few months ago, Chava even had me record part of a Hebrew round and then added other friends and played the finished song on the podcast. I’m glad to be part of the music.”

Each three-part series of Breathtaking airs Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Listeners can enjoy all episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Chava closes all her podcasts with the warm refrain, “Signing off for now, with a song in my heart.”

Listeners will understand that her bracha is in fact for everyone: “When music – or life – takes you by surprise, may you be willing, may you be open to take a second listen or a second look. May you discover beauty in the things that at first seemed all wrong.”

Creating the podcast

C h a v a c an b e r e ac h e d at breathtaking.podcast@gmail.com for musical or life connections!

For f urther informat ion about Chava’s memoir, visit a-life-not-with-standing.com.

“For Heaven’s Sake” P laylist: A Work in Progress Calling all TJH music enthusiasts! Please help Chava compile songs about heaven for three upcoming podcasts.

Here are Chava’s initial selections: “The Farthest Field” — Cindy Kallet, Ellen Epstein and Michael Cicone “Through Heaven’s Eyes” (from “The Prince of Egypt”) — Brian Stokes Mitchell “From a Distance” — Bette Midler

“Neshomele” – Abie Rotenberg, Journeys II “Conversation in the Womb” — Abie Rotenberg, Journeys I Please send any recommendations to: breathtaking.podcast@gmail.com

Thanks!

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Dating Dialogue

What Would You Do If… Moderated by Jennifer Mann, LCSW of The Navidaters

Dear Navidaters,

It was the night before my sister’s engagement when I got the call from a shadchan who had an amazing idea for me. Because things were set for my sister’s engagement, my mother agreed

for me to start dating and go out. Little do I know what was about to unfold. A week later, I had my first date with Avromi*. At this point, my sister had been engaged for all but a week when havoc wreaked in my house. A wedding date could not be decided because “the other side” was so nervous about Covid. They refused to meet my parents in person. When it came to talking monetary things, they were extremely stingy and stubborn. It seemed like they were using Covid as an excuse to make the most bare bones wedding. Long story short, my sister couldn’t take the pressure and the family and broke the engagement.

I’m still dating Avromi and one thing I have learned from my sister’s situation is to get to know his family. This is so not how things were supposed to work out. I feel so guilty every time I go on a date, when I leave hearing my sister cry in her room. My mother is tempted to tell me to break it off until my sister finds the right one. I think that would be a grave mistake. I figured I would write in… Any thoughts would be helpful Thanks.

Talia*

Disclaimer: This column is not intended to diagnose or otherwise conclude resolutions to any questions. Our intention is not to offer any definitive conclusions to any particular question, rather offer areas of exploration for the author and reader. Due to the nature of the column receiving only a short snapshot of an issue, without the benefit of an actual discussion, the panel’s role is to offer a range of possibilities. We hope to open up meaningful dialogue and individual exploration.

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The Panel The Rebbetzin Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz, M.S.

T

alia, things are hard at home.

Your sister is upset. Your mother and you feel for her deeply and consider your actions in the light of her own sadness.

You need your own support and sounding board. Sorting through your growing feelings for Avromi, fears about his family, and guilt about getting serious while your sister’s future didn’t work out as planned is very important right now. You need to have a clear head and help to ask the right questions so that you have more clarity about Avromi, his family, your relationship with your sister, and your mother’s response to the broken engagement. You cannot get this at home right now so it’s best to talk to someone who knows you a long time as well as a professional.

Your sister needs time to mourn the broken engagement. So do your parents. You need to come to terms with the fact that breaking off a relationship with Avromi will not help your sister.

You need to revisit and study the topic of mazal. And you need to look into yourself and ask yourself why you feel it’s your role to fix things at home.

Agency in your own life is achievable. Agency in the life of your sister is not. You can write little notes and show support with many small gestures and direct supportive talk. Ultimately, she needs to travel the journey past the broken engagement herself. She could use a professional and a mentor right now, too.

But the focus of this query is on you. You need to get support and learn to make decisions and take action for yourself. How to independently learn about Avromi and his relationship with his family with maturity and skill is another thing to learn. If you are ready for adult life, you must learn to be empathetic to close people without shutting off your brain.

Relationships are an ongoing seesaw. Sometimes hearts must prevail.

Sometimes the head must prevail.

And the skill is to know which comes first and when. Like all life skills, this is something that can be learned only with awareness, coaching, and practice. You can access the first two. The third is up to you.

The Shadchan Michelle Mond

M

y heart goes out to you and your sister at this challenging time.

Everything happens for a reason, and we must succumb to this reality.

We could spend life preparing for one outcome and then another occurs; such is life, and this just one example.

Your sister is going through a trauma no one should be familiar with. Do not add your breakup to her list. Contrary to what your parents are tempted to do, I think it would be hasty to make you end this shidduch based on your older sister’s predicament. There are many who say that, in an ideal world, the older sister should get married first.

There are exceptions to this, and you are a walking example of one. Hashem guides all scenarios – don’t forget this.

He ordained and orchestrated your sister’s relationship the way it occurred for a reason. Perhaps the sole reason for this was that it was your time to meet your bashert.

My advice to you is focus on your relationship with no guilt, acknowledging that Hashem is in the driver’s seat.

If your parents put pressure on you, get a rav whom they trust involved. Brainstorm with this boy on your next date and together try and think of an idea for your sister. What a wonderful ending this would be if that was the end to this incredible story.

The Single Rivka Weinberg

W

ow, Talia, I am sorry to hear that you are going through this difficult situation. It sounds like you’re

really stuck between a rock and a hard place. Although every circumstance is different, I can relate in the sense that I’m a younger sister, too. I started dating a while after I was ready, with the hopes that my older sister would find someone before me. Multiple rebbeim and mentors advised against what I was doing, but I convinced them, and myself, that it was the right decision.

My sister was dating someone seriously, and I, too, got a call from a shadchan with an amazing idea for me. At the rate things were going, I figured it was an OK time to pursue the idea. It was all fine and dandy until my sister broke up with the boy she was dating, and I was still in a serious relationship. The strong feelings of guilt and remorse would overwhelm me day and night. I felt as if I was on her turf and invading her territory. How could I possibly be dating someone if my sister wasn’t? I was reminded multiple times that Hashem has a plan, and that I shouldn’t try to control the world and play G-d. Everyone in my house mentally prepared for the inevitable: I was going to get married before my sister. It wasn’t easy, and there were many tears and heartfelt tefillos.

Well, as they say, man plans and G-d laughs. My relationship ended, and the ending we all feared didn’t come into fruition. However, one of my rebbeim went as far as to say that I subconsciously self-sabotaged my relationship to prevent what could have occurred.

Talia, from one younger sister to another, I beg you not to follow in my footsteps. Most people don’t understand the pain the younger sister experiences in this situation. It’s not as simple, exciting, and carefree as most believe it to be. This comes with a lot of guilt and self-condemnation. Please remember that you’re not doing anything wrong. This is not in your hands to control, and ending your relationship will result in two single and unhappy individuals. As difficult as it is, it’s important for all parties involved to remember that there is a Divine plan. Although we may not be zocheh to see what the plan is – now or ever – we must take the time to strengthen our emunah and

How does the younger woman who barely has it together, but has a sheitel on her head, receive more respect than a woman significantly older than her without one? bitachon muscles.

Now, for the community at-large, how did we allow ourselves to get to a point where we prevent a shidduch because we want to be the picture perfect family and not the pity case with an older unmarried child? How does the younger woman who barely has it together, but has a sheitel on her head, receive more respect than a woman significantly older than her without one? Rather than giving unsolicited, and usually unhelpful, advice to the next “older” single you come by, take the time to think of an idea and suggest the shidduch. Because, yes, she probably has already tried that shadchan and knows that singles’ events exist.

The Zaidy Dr. Jeffrey Galler

T

here is a lot of sadness and hurt in your household right now. Let’s address three different wounded parties here: For your parents: It’s not productive or helpful for you to continuously re-live and re-visit what has happened. Please don’t make yourselves miserable by wondering if there was anything you could have, or

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should have, done differently.

What happened here is definitely not the norm. Most folks find their machatanim to be helpful, flexible, and eager to work together and agree upon mutually acceptable solutions. In the future, you might wish to consider how, in some circles, machatanim try to come to some preliminary understandings about weddings and finances BEFORE the children get engaged.

Be proud that you helped your daughter escape from a potentially catastrophic marriage.

For your sister:

It might sound like a trite cliché, but remember that time is the healer.

Consider how things would have been much more catastrophic if the breakup happened after getting married or after having children.

In future dating relationships, please accept as gospel how very, very important it is to spend a lot of time with each other’s families. Spend Shabbosim at each other’s homes and have dinners with his parents and siblings.

In this age of COVID, there aren’t too many different places to go on dates,

anyway.

For you: You’re in a tough spot here. You want to be sensitive to your parents’ and sister’s heartache, but, at the same time, want to get on with your life.

If you are already dating someone whom you seem to like, keep dating.

Ending that relationship prematurely would simply add to the existing household angst. However, it would be sensitive of you to postpone starting any new dates for a month or so, until things start to return to normal at home.

You sound

Pulling It All Together

the world was created for each The Navidaters of us. How do we re c onc i le Dating and Relationship Coaches and Therapists such different ideas? I’m not sure, and I don’t pretend to have the answer. I will share that we have all be you ear Talia, been in situations where can’t even believe I would Thank you for writing into our we were faced with choosing the make such a suggestion. column. What a tough spot you are “other” or “myself.” These situaJust notice your feelings and in. You really care for your sister and tions are never easy, and most peothoughts on the matter. Those don’t want to hurt her any further, ple suffer through the decision. will be important to hold onto and and at the same time you have found In my small opinion, I believe explore in this and every situation Avrumi, someone whom you are enwith my full heart that you need to in your life when you need to choose joying dating and whose company choose yourself and to do so without yourself. you enjoy. It almost seems like you one stitch of guilt. Guilt is what we This isn’t fair to you. And I am so feel you are being forced to choose feel when we believe we are doing sorry things transpired this way for between your sister’s happiness and something. And what exactly are everyone involved. Your sister is in your own. And maybe your family you doing wrong? If you were to stop pain. Your parents are in pain. And dynamic is actually making you feel seeing Avrumi, your parents would you are suffering, too. In our culture that way. I can’t imagine that anyone have two tortured daughters instead we put family above all else. And in your family is purposely trying to of one (temporarily...this too shall that is simply beautiful. Family is hurt you, but still... let’s acknowledge pass). What does that accomplish? at the forefront of our customs and you and your position here for a moYou are entitled to find love, just as traditions, and respect is paramount. ment. your sister is, and just as all of us are.

We have rules and order that serve a Sometimes we are raised to It’s nice when the older daughter marbeautiful function and perhaps are believe that there is something inries first, as it gives us a sense of orpart of what have kept us alive as a herently wrong with recognizing der. As a parent, one doesn’t have to nation for thousands of years when ourselves and making ourselves a priworry about the emotional wellbeing there is simply no rational explanaority, so try to notice whatever may be of the older child. As the oldest child, tion for our existence. And yet, there coming up for you at this suggestion. he/she is spared from many unpleasis the individual. We are taught that Perhaps you feel guilty, bad, or may-

D

You feel you are being forced to choose between your sister’s happiness and your own. like a sensitive soul who will make a wonderful soulmate to some lucky young man. Best wishes to you, your sister, and your folks.

ant feelings. And the younger child feels comfortable with the notion of “and now it’s my turn...” That’s a nice space to be in because everything feels as though it is in perfect order.

But we all know that most of the time life isn’t perfect. There is no “order.” And we simply cannot control every bumpy wave or wait for smooth sailing to start rowing (aka living).

This will be hard for all parties; make no mistake. And if yours is a communicative, open family, I hope there will be a lot of talking and sharing and working through uncomfortable moments instead of stifling or trying to un-ring this bell. It’s been rung.

You’re dating. Have a heart-to-heart with your parents and your sister separately. Tell them all that you don’t want to hurt anyone. If this approach doesn’t work, might I advise getting a trusted family rabbi and/or a therapist involved to help you maneuver through this delicate situation.

You are allowed to be happy, Talia.

You’re allowed to date. In my opinion, you aren’t doing anything wrong and you can stop punishing yourself with this guilt. You are allowed to live your life.

All the best, Jennifer Mann

Jennifer Mann, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist and dating and relationship coach working with individuals, couples, and families in private practice at 123 Maple Avenue in Cedarhurst, NY. She also teaches a psychology course at Touro College. To set up a consultation or to ask questions, please call 516-224-7779, ext. 2. Visit www.thenavidaters.com for more information. If you would like to submit a dating or relationship question to the panel anonymously, please email thenavidaters@gmail.com. You can follow The Navidaters on FB and Instagram for dating and relationship advice.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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An evening of tribute H O N O R I N G : guests of honor

ARI AND ROCHEL SIMA MUNK parents of the year

YOSSI AND LEORA HAMMER keser shem tov

CHAIM SHOLOM AND RIVKY LEIBOWITZ in memoriam

MRS. REMA OLSHANSKY A”H ALON GOLDBERGER dinner chairman

YERUCHUM BRAZIL journal chairman

DOV ZAUDERER

campaign chairman

03 . 0 6 . 21

mazdesign 718.471.6470

A Virtual Event

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Dr. Deb

What You Need to Get Through This

By Deb Hirschhorn, Ph.D.

N

o matter which side of the political or medical aisle you happen to live on, it’s hard to get through the days.

Unless, of course, you just don’t care. Which may be an option since there isn’t much we can do about either one.

But assuming you do care, even a little, it’s been more than challenging.

Add to that how the pandemic has affected our health, livelihood, and relationships. How can we get through it?

• Breathe Simple, right? We breathe anyway.

But – there’s that “but” – we generally breathe too fast. When we lose track of our breathing, it tends to come in short, shallow bursts that are the first indication of stress. For stress to overtake us, the process starts in the amygdala, a part of the brain that Bassel van der Kolk, the father of trauma research and repair, calls the “smoke alarm.”

The amygdala is very sensitive, very reactive. It doesn’t take much to get it flaring up. It’s meant to be that way; this is not some kind of “kink” in the system. Being aware of a saber-toothed

tiger was the difference between life and death for early man. (That’s why one of the nissim of yetzias Mitzrayim was that there were no wild animals always ready to attack. There should have been, and we should have been petrified of them.)

So, when we perceive what might be danger, the amygdala gets going. But here’s the interesting thing: a thought could stir up the amygdala as well. It seems that our brains can’t always tell the difference between an experience in the present moment and what we visualize.

The amygdala warns the hypothalamus which, in turn, signals the pituitary gland, which then sends hormones to the adrenal glands. The amygdala also suppresses the cortex, the thinking part of our brain, by the way. (This is so we run or fight more quickly. We can’t afford to waste time thinking.)

In turn, cortisol and adrenaline are released throughout our bodies from our adrenal glands.

Adrenaline and cortisol give us energy by speeding up our heartbeat and blood pressure. Blood is sent to mus-

cles to run (from the saber-toothed tiger). Blood is also directed away from digestion, reproduction, and other non-essential parts of the body. (Yes, they’re essential in the long-term but not when you need to run or fight.) That is why long-term stress leads to digestive problems.

It is perfectly normal to go over in one’s mind a problem that stresses us.

That’s the way we try to figure out how to get out of the problem. But as you may have experienced, this method very often doesn’t work. All we do is stress ourselves some more. And we can’t seem to get our brains to stop thinking about the problem.

When we over-stress ourselves this way, we can be in for a host of medical and emotional problems like diabetes, suppressed immune system, heart disease, obesity, even memory problems, anxiety, and depression.

So how does breathing turn that around?

When you breathe slowly and deeply, it stimulates the vagus nerve located above your diaphragm. In fact, the exhale is the important part of stimulating the relaxation response. The

part of the vagus nerve that is near the lungs picks up the message from your slowed breathing to signal the heart to slow down. A cascade of improvements takes place from there – reduced blood pressure, increased blood flow to the cortex, stomach, and other organs. Researchers suggest trying to simply take only six breaths for a minute instead of the usual 10 to 14. Just using that one minute to slow down breathing creates the relaxation response. Interestingly, this process also positively affects mood. It creates calmness, optimism, and energy.

• Force Your Focus You know how they say don’t bring the cellphone to shul? Well, there’s a reason for that which goes beyond “it’s not respectful.” True, it’s not. But to whom isn’t it? Really, the answer is: to ourselves.

There are huge benefits to forcing your focus on what is good, meaningful, positive, and helpful in your life and forcing them off of things that are toxic. I absolutely don’t believe you can do this step without the breathing, so go back to that if you haven’t yet.

I remember decades ago when I was

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preparing my dissertation, I had interviewed people about their traumas and abuse. One guy said that he looks at life through [dirt]-colored glasses. He used a stronger term than “dirt.”

He didn’t have to.

He could have made a decision to look at something else.

Someone not so long ago told me he was sitting by a riverbank with an abundance of greenery on either side.

And all he would notice was the building across the way with graffiti on it. A client years ago said, “Dr. Deb, I’m in your office and all I notice is that the desk is sitting there on a slant.” Well, I cannot correct the balance of the floor or the building. But he could notice his own heartbeat slow down as he breathes if he wanted to.

When life presents with almost nothing good, find something good anyway. A line stands out in my mind from Viktor Frankel’s experience in the concentration camps: He would recall being at a picnic with his family, and

he absolutely immersed himself in that scene. That is how he survived.

If you believe that you may solve your problem or somehow get relief by venting, I understand. So here is what you can do: select a time of the day to do exactly that: vent in a journal or into

rice. I potchke’ed with the seasoning for the “rice” until I had it right. I’ve made chocolate pudding using avocados, and it is creamy delicious.

I must have exercise, of course, but going out is out of the question for me.

Too cold. So I not only jog around my

When life presents with almost nothing good, find something good anyway. the recorder app on your phone for just 20 minutes. Or 30 if you must. But not one second at any other time.

• Do Wonderful Things I’ve been stuck with an unusual mouth problem which led me to change my diet. So I find it enormously enjoyable to try out crazy recipes. I recently substituted sorghum for sushi rice since the diet I’m on doesn’t permit

apartment, but I use that time to work out problems for myself, such as “what will I write about for my next article?”

I will have a whole conversation with myself over whatever the topic is that is under consideration.

What do you enjoy? Writing, painting, weight-lifting, reading? Visiting over video apps?

Today I was looking for a picture

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for a post for my blog, and I decided to look in the camera archives that I had put on my computer a long time ago.

I started watching old videos of my grandchildren, and I was nearly rolling around laughing at how cute they were. Then I noticed the background “music” from many of them: “Savta!”

“Savta!” “Savta!” Over the years, they must have demanded my attention a thousand times. What a bracha! How lucky I am!

You don’t always know what will be wonderful until you “force your focus” onto what’s good about it. There are a lot of opportunities for joy, after all, and you can go one more than focusing on the good by actually engaging in it.

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn is a Marriage and Family Therapist. If you want help with your marriage, begin by signing up to watch her Masterclass at https://drdeb. com/myw-masterclass.

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Health & F tness

Dinner for Two, Please Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN

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ne of the many challenging parts of eating healthy is food preparation. Finding the time to exercise and choosing the right foods can be easier for some than others, yet food preparation is the challenging part for most. A common complaint I hear is that, “My kids won’t eat those foods. I don’t have time to cook two different dinners.” Or, “My husband doesn’t want to go on the diet with me. How can I cook just for one person?” My response to these complaints is to get your spouse, or someone else in your household, on board. Dieting, or healthy eating, is a lot easier when you have a partner and the proper support. It definitely makes it easier to cook for two than to cook for one.

Of course, try to get your kids to eat what you are having too, but that’s a whole other battle.

Following this suggestion, clients often ask how to cook for only two people. Many people are used to cooking for a big family and don’t know how to portion for just two people. This results in a lot of waste and the disposal of the uneaten food.

Aside from food wasting, this puts all of your hard work and time to waste.

Below are some ways to properly cook for two.

Firstly, plan a menu. Find suitable foods for the both of you. This includes finding foods that fit into each of your diets and that you and your healthy eating partner each enjoy.

Cooking for two is useless if one of you dislikes the dish. Meal planning is vital. If you have time, go through recipes and cookbooks together to get

both parties involved in the process.

Your husband might have some good ideas, too!

Something else to keep in mind when looking through recipes: look for one-dish meals, especially if you’re cooking this meal in addition to one for the rest of your family.

This will make it easier to prepare and clean up. The simpler the recipe is, the more likely you are to make it.

Some great options are one-pot din-

grilled chicken and grilled salmon.

Use the leftovers for a sandwich or to add to a sandwich for lunch. When you make brown rice or quinoa as a side dish for dinner, throw the leftovers into your salad for lunch the next day, too.

Leftovers are a great option when cooking for two. If you prefer to cook in larger quantities, and you don’t mind eating leftovers, cook as much as you want and eat it throughout the

Meal planning is vital.

ners such as chicken with brown rice and zucchini. There are many easy options for one-pot dinners. You don’t even need a recipe. Be creative and throw your favorite foods into a pot with some spices and, voila, an easy, delicious, healthy dinner!

When shopping for foods, look for foods that you will be able to use for two dishes. For example, if you buy broccoli, you can roast half the bunch and make the other half into broccoli salad. Or, you can cook one meal and, after you cook it, you can transform it into something else. For example, if you make chicken burgers with a whole wheat bun for dinner one night, cut up the leftover burgers and throw them into a salad for lunch the next day. This way, even though the meal you cook is in a larger quantity, it still won’t go to waste. The same goes for

whole week. However, some people don’t like eating the same thing every day. Another option would be to cook meals that you love in the beginning of the week, let’s say Sunday and have the leftovers on Wednesday. Or cook it Monday and have it again on Thursday. This way, it doesn’t feel like you just had it, yet the leftovers don’t go to waste and you’re free from cooking that night!

Another method that many people feel works for them is to cook in large quantities and freeze the meals in smaller portions once it is cooked and completed. Label the food with the date, the food item, and the serving size to make it easier to recognize and pull out of the freezer on a later date. This way, you can simply pull a prepared meal out of the freezer and pop it in the oven for a fresh meal.

If you prefer not to freeze food, there are a lot of cookbooks featuring recipes for two, and many websites have a feature to change the amount serving to adjust the recipe measurements.

If you prefer not to have leftovers, buy chicken and meats in small packages, just enough for one meal. Yes, it is more expensive to buy many food items in small packages, but it’s worth it if you will end up throwing out the rest of the food that you don’t end up eating.

Another tip is to buy a family pack (since it’s cheaper to buy in bulk), clean the chicken, and separate the family pack into small portions. Store the small portions in Ziploc bags and freeze them. This way, you can easily take one portion out of the freezer in the morning, let it thaw out in the fridge, and make a fresh meal for two for dinner.

There are many ways to cook for two without the headache and without the waste. Find a way that works for you and support each other on the diet journey.

Cindy Weinberger MS, RD, CDN, is a Master’s level Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist. She graduated CUNY Brooklyn College receiving a Bachelor’s in Science and Master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Sciences. She is currently a dietitian at Boro Park Center and a private nutrition consultant. She can be reached at CindyWeinberger1@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @EatBetterandFeelBetter.

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Parenting Pearls

Creating an Environment for Growth

By Sara Rayvych, MSEd

A

s parents, we all want our children to grow and reach their potential. It’s a challenge to create the correct environment that is conducive for each child. There are many children who sometimes need a gentle push to get them going; even adults sometimes need a little fire lit beneath them. It’s important to maintain a proper balance so our children feel encouraged and not pressured.

A few months ago, upon the encouragement of a healthcare provider, I joined a women’s fitness class. I showed up punctually that Thursday morning in front of Warren Levi Karate and hurriedly got ready for a kickboxing class. I enjoyed the class immensely but couldn’t help noticing how much more fit the other women were than me. I will confess to feeling a little inadequate (read: pathetic) but it didn’t take long for me to realize that while I felt frustrated by what I couldn’t do, others weren’t judging me. There was an understanding that everyone was at their own level and that everyone encouraged each other. Recently, it struck me how powerful a motivator it is to be accepted where you are while still being encouraged to reach further.

One of my children had trouble learning to read. As he was homeschooled, he never had someone else to compare himself to and he never felt inadequate as a person. He did learn to read despite his many struggles but he never lost his self-esteem. Too often, children (and adults) judge themselves using those around them as a guideline. This can easily leave a struggling child without confidence and without their self-worth. Well-meaning adults can push a child down even further by pointing out the child’s failure with the hope that it’ll fuel his/her will to succeed.

Avoid comparisons Each child is unique and has their

own strengths and weaknesses. It’s usually counterproductive to compare children, especially in front of the child. If you see your friend’s similarly-aged infant is babbling and yours isn’t, then by all means contact your pediatrician and ask if you should be concerned. If you see your third grader struggling in math but their classmate isn’t, then feel free to reach out to their teacher and mention your concerns.

But don’t comment in front of your third grader. It’ll only make him/her self-conscious. Even young children will often notice when they’re struggling, and commenting in a judgmental way is simply salt in their already sensitive wounds. It can be helpful to ask your child if they need help or what is difficult for them in math but avoid mentioning their classmate. I’m not suggesting you can’t discuss the issues but to caution you to think carefully in advance how you want to word it.

There is a very fine line between helpful and hurtful.

It’s too easy to comment on how their sister is better at something or ask why they can’t do it if their brother can. These comparisons are easy to make and very common but still

hurtful. We also don’t want to create friction between our children. In these situations, we can easily imagine feeling hate towards our sibling rather than love and inadequacy rather than encouragement.

Everyone develops at their own pace, and most children will reach each milestone. It’s helpful to bear in mind that some kids do need more time than others. As an example, while most kids start walking around 12 months, some start as young as nine months while others wait till closer to 18 months.

There is a wide range of normal, and it’s important to remember that as our children are continuously growing and reaching each exciting new stage.

Again, if you have any doubts as to whether or not your child is on target for development, you should certainly mention it to the appropriate professionals. I only mention it as a reminder for parents to take a step back. You want to first see if it’s a fair expectation and whether or not you should be concerned. Only then can you make an appropriate game plan.

Encourage success Too often, we focus on what our

children (and ourselves) can’t do but not on what they can do. Especially when children are struggling, it’s important to allow them to taste success in their strengths.

“Success breeds success” isn’t just a cute line. The capable-feeling child is the one that has the drive to push themselves. You only aim for where you hope you can reach. When you see yourself as someone who can accomplish great things, you will continue even when it’s hard. Someone who sees themselves as a failure has no reason to challenge themselves because they don’t feel they can do more.

Feeling successful is important for another crucial reason. So much of a child’s self-worth is tied to their academic accomplishments. It’s no exaggeration that school is a major part of their young life and is their main occupation during that time. A child that has academic difficulties can too quickly label themselves as “the dumb kid” or worse. Sadly, kids in a class usually know who is ahead academically and who is behind. This is a real challenge for students.

Having self-esteem is so crucial for everyone, and it’s truly hard to regain after losing. Without a healthy dose of self-esteem, children can become susceptible to other issues. The importance of recognizing one’s own worth and value is beyond the scope of this article but it’s definitely worthwhile to look into more in-depth.

Build your child up. Recognize their other successes, whether it’s music, sports, or art. Encourage their strengths. It’s the struggling child that needs those strengths built the most.

We often limit our praise to academics and don’t acknowledge outside accomplishments. This is not to deny the importance of education. I firmly believe in education – enough that I spent extra years studying it and over a decade practicing it. Respect-

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ing your child’s other successes won’t take away from your value in their academic accomplishments. When you and your third grader both feel your child’s other successes, then you have a healthier place to bring up their math struggles. They will be better capable of realizing that they’re not defined by their math struggles.

Limit competition I will not say all competition is bad because most things are tools that can be used for the good. Unfortunately, too often, competition is encouraged in an unhealthy manner.

It’s important to be mindful of how and when you’re encouraging competition. Most of the time, we don’t even realize we are creating a competitive environment.

It’s in our hands to create a home environment that is conducive to growth and limits painful competition. As an example, my fitness class mentioned above allowed me to see the capabilities of others without

creating a toxic environment for me.

I could see where to reach without thinking less of myself. I’m able to be encouraged based on how much I’ve personally improved over time. Unfortunately, if done incorrectly, the

changed the way children can earn points for competitions. Rather than requiring each child to do the same thing or reach the same goal, they now allow each child to earn points based on a variety of criteria. For example,

“Success breeds success” isn’t just a cute line.

same type of class could create unhealthy expectations and feelings of inadequacy. In a toxic environment, I could feel bad about myself or risk injury trying to prove my worth.

Younger people are no different, and they can go to unhealthy levels to feel accepted or respected.

You may have noticed that many schools and learning programs have

rather than requiring each boy learn the same number of lines of Gemara, boys can pick from a preset amount of Gemara, Chumash or Mishnayos.

This allows each child to compete and accomplish on their own level. Two boys may earn the same number of points but learn vastly different subjects. Each child is given the chance to taste success at their level rather

.

EdelweissKosherRental@gmail.com EdelweissRental (443) 540-4337

than the same overachieving students winning again and again.

Competition, when used appropriately as mentioned above, can be a tool to encourage resistant learners.

But it’s important to ensure realistic and fair goals for each child. You want to encourage, not discourage. Truthfully, it’s a hard balance, and it takes a lot of thought and knowledge of your child to set the stage properly.

By allowing our children the freedom to be themselves, feel successful in their various talents, and showing them healthy goals to aim for we can create an environment for children to reach for their potential and realize their own immense value.

Sara Rayvych, MSEd, has her master’s in general and special education. She has been homeschooling for over 10 years in Far Rockaway. She can be contacted at RayvychHomeschool@gmail.com.

.

7 Bed. 4 Bath. Gour met Kosher Kitchen, Theater Game Room. Fireplaces. And Much More!

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

In The K

tchen

Blizzard Soup Freezer-friendly

By Naomi Nachman

I wrote this blizzard soup recipe made from

ingredients I found in my fridge and pantry about eight years ago in the middle of a

blizzard. Today, as I am preparing this

week’s recipes, we are in the midst of another blizzard and I just had to share it again.

My house smells so good when I make this soup. I will serve it

when the kids come in from the snow to warm their bodies and souls.

Ingredients

Preparation

b1 tablespoon olive oil b1 cup large onion, diced b1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded, with ribs removed b3 stalks celery, diced b1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed b3 gala apples, peeled and chopped b1 package (6 ounces) dried, cooked sausage cut in ½ inch rounds b1 bunch kale, chopped, about 6 cups b2 cloves garlic, minced b1 teaspoon cumin b1 can of great northern beans b4 cups chicken or vegetable broth b1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained b1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste b1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper bDash of sriracha (optional)

1.

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, pepper, celery, sweet potato, apples, and sausage. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add kale, garlic, cumin, and can of great northern beans; cover and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add stock, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper; cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

4.

Add a dash of sriracha to the bowl just before serving.

Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

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Notable Quotes

We just stood there and ate the whole thing up. It took about 20-30 minutes. We never want to have any oranges again.

- One of a group of four travelers who ate 66 pounds of oranges in about 30 minutes at a Chinese airport, when they were told that they would have to pay a large fee to transport the fruit to their hometowns

“Say What?!”

It feels so good but hurts so bad.

- Mike Jack, after setting a new Guinness World Record by eating three Carolina Reaper peppers (the world’s hottest chili pepper) in 9.72 seconds

If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive. When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention.

Right now, I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition.

- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, announcing that he will be stepping down from his role as CEO

All of those skilled workers who are in the coal industry and transferring those skills to what we need to do in terms of dealing with reclaiming abandoned land mines.

- Vice President Kamala Harris in a TV interview suggesting that West Virginia workers laid off from the coal mining industry, due to President Biden’s executive order, should deal with abandoned land mines

Now let’s talk about grossThis margins – I paid $67.22 Agent for this.Orange I’m president, President gonna guess she lands this basically for, I don’t know, sixinbucks?

[Donald Trump], will go down historyAnd five bucks for shipping. That’s 85% gross margin.

That’s spectacular! with the likes of Hitler.

Listen, you know what this proves?

Inside of every there’s a - Spike Lee, while accepting a film socialist award, comparing President Trump to the monster who killed 6 million Jews capitalist screaming to get out.

– Shark Tank star and businessman Kevin O’Leary, in a video post while wearing a “tax the rich” sweatshirt that he bought from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s (Dem/Socialist-NY) website

We recognize that those who stormed Every Floridian has the right to earn a living. the Capitol on January 6 trying to stop Florida is open, and we’ve got your back.

Nobody would have predicted that from I and fulfilling Dr. Faucitheir would be so You look at the consequences of black lung for a miner, for Congress constitutional - instance, Florida Governor DeSantis that (R) prominent evil theories. they were acting as andRod measure against the fastest-growing jobin inthese the really responsibilities, - Billpower Gates to technician.

Reuters, when askeddomestic if he is surprised to learn that people believeour that he wants United States, [which] before COVID was the solar terrorists undermining to use the COVID-19 vaccine to put microchips into Americans IfThe yousame work people in a restaurant, we have your can do those jobs, but the choice of doing the Constitution. But let us be clear: those like back.

If you’re a hairstylist, we protect your solar power one now is a better choice.

John Brennan, Adam Schiff and others are right to earn a living.

And if you are a parent, - Biden climate czar and former Secretary of State John Kerry also acting as domestic terrorists because we ensure your kids have the right to attend they are also undermining our Constitution school in person. do not work. for a centimillionaire to What an arrogant,Lockdowns out-of-touch statement by trying to take away our civil liberties and School closures have little beenpeople, disastrous, say. You know, “You you yet know, I don’t like the choices rights that are guaranteed to us. even today, we see our country you’re making, andacross so your jobs go away.”

- Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) on Fox News, talking businesses livestoruined, and about the left’s effort to cancel and silence any voice that - Sen Ted Cruzshuttered, (R-TX) responding Kerry’s statement does not agree with their agenda schools closed.

- Ibid.

I don’t know many poor, or working class, or female, or strugglingto-be-taken-seriously folk who would show up at the inauguration Who cares if president they died dressed in the hospital, died of our 46th like Bernie. in- From a nursing home?

They died. an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle by public high school teacher Ingrid Seyertalking about Sen.Cuomo Bernie Sanders’ mittens - Ochi, New York Gov. Andrew responding to theand casual coat that he wore at the Biden inauguration state attorney general’s report that revealed that his administration downplayed the total number of nursing home residents killed by COVID-19, after he required This is white supremacy; this is white privilege. It can be hard to nursing homes to take back COVID-19 positive patients, thus infecting but manywhen others we see, it, we know it. pinpoint, - Ibid.

Calling someone an animal as an insult reinforces the myth that humans are superior to other animals & justified in violating them. Stand up for justice by rejecting supremacist language.

– From a tweet by PETA

MORE QUOTES

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

27

We just stood there and ate the whole thing up. It took about 20-30 minutes. We never want to have any oranges again.

- One of a group of four travelers who ate 66 pounds of oranges in about 30 minutes at a Chinese airport, when they were told that they would have to pay a large fee to transport the fruit to their hometowns

It feels so good but hurts so bad.

- Mike Jack, after setting a new Guinness World Record by eating three Carolina Reaper peppers (the world’s hottest chili pepper) in 9.72 seconds

If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive. When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention.

Right now, I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition.

- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, announcing that he will be stepping down from his role as CEO

Every Floridian has the right to earn a living.

Florida is open, and we’ve got your back.

- Florida Governor Rod DeSantis (R)

If you work in a restaurant, we have your back. If you’re a hairstylist, we protect your right to earn a living. And if you are a parent, we ensure your kids have the right to attend school in person. Lockdowns do not work.

School closures have been disastrous, yet even today, we see across our country businesses shuttered, lives ruined, and schools closed.

Now let’s talk about gross margins – I paid $67.22 for this. I’m gonna guess she lands this basically for, I don’t know, six bucks? And five bucks for shipping. That’s 85% gross margin. That’s spectacular!

Listen, you know what this proves? Inside of every socialist there’s a capitalist screaming to get out.

– Shark Tank star and businessman Kevin O’Leary, in a video post while wearing a “tax the rich” sweatshirt that he bought from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s (Dem/Socialist-NY) website

Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr. Fauci would be so prominent in these really evil theories.

- Bill Gates to Reuters, when asked if he is surprised to learn that people believe that he wants to use the COVID-19 vaccine to put microchips into Americans

- Ibid.

Who cares if they died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died.

- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo responding to the state attorney general’s report that revealed that his administration downplayed the total number of nursing home residents killed by COVID-19, after he required nursing homes to take back COVID-19 positive patients, thus infecting many others

MORE QUOTES

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

109

There are many people who feel, you know if you really wanna have an extra little bit of protection “maybe I should put two masks on.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s no data that indicates that that is going to make a difference. and that’s the reason why the CDC has not changed their recommendations.

- Dr. Fauci clarifying a previous statement that he made which seemed to endorse double-masking

I really wish Dr. Fauci would say something in terms of evidence. He never quotes any studies. It’s hard to know if he has any evidence.

- Dr. Harvey Risch of Yale University, on Fox News

OK, everyone go home, we’ve got the worst take of the day. No need to write anymore.

There were lots of great submissions but none that captured the bar’s irresistible characteristics while still paying homage to the beloved Whatchamacallit brand quite like the name Whozeewhatzit.

- National Review’s Jeff Blehar responding to CNN’s Chris Cillizza’s assertion that Trump is behind the artificially inflated GameStop stock price

– Hershey Chocolate’s brand manager, while unveiling the name of a new Hershey’s bar, the Whozeewhatsit

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Political Crossfire

Haunting Putin from Prison

By David Ignatius

A

lexei Navalny combines two qualities that Russians admire: a mordant sarcasm toward the country’s leaders and great personal bravery. Together, they make him the most potent political threat that President Vladimir Putin has ever faced.

Navalny’s latest riposte is a wickedly funny video posted January 19 on YouTube, documenting the corruption that surrounds what he calls “Putin’s Palace,” a billion-dollar project on the Black Sea that includes mansions, vineyards, a private casino, even an underground hockey rink.

The video alleges a network of payoffs for Putin’s friends and family, as well as for two girlfriends and their relatives.

The mocking video had been seen by more than 90 million people as of last Tuesday. And its message of defiance helped bring thousands of protesters onto the streets last weekend in 100 Russian cities to protest Putin’s corrupt and authoritarian regime. Russian security forces arrested more than 3,000 protesters Saturday, and Putin on Monday denied that he owned the “palace.” But his aura of invulnerability has been cracked.

Navalny showed his courage by traveling back to Russia on January 17 from Germany, where he had been recuperating from an assassination attempt that he says was organized

by Putin’s security service, the FSB. Navalny decided to release the video only after he had come home. When he arrived at the Moscow airport, he was immediately arrested and taken to prison. Two days later, the video appeared on YouTube.

“We came up with this investigation [of the palace] while I was in intensive care, but we immediately agreed that we would release it when I returned home to Russia, to Moscow, because we do not want the main character of this film [Putin] to think

we are afraid of him and that I will tell about his worst secret while I am abroad,” Navalny says in a haunting introduction to the video.

Leonid Volkov, the manager of Navalny’s 2018 presidential campaign

ly called for Navalny’s release. But Volkov argued that the United States should do more, working with European countries to identify and freeze assets held outside Russia for Putin’s benefit. Biden’s press secretary, Jen

Even after the Black Sea estate was revealed back then, Putin’s pals allegedly continued to shovel money into the complex.

and his chief of staff, spoke with me Tuesday in a telephone interview from Lithuania. He said the goal of Navalny’s movement is to make Russia “a normal European country with rule of law and independent courts and free media.” Navalny should be released, and Putin, who extended his term as president through a special constitutional amendment, should “talk about transition of power,” Volkov demanded.

Navalny’s battle with Putin presents an early test for President Joe Biden and his foreign policy team.

The new administration immediate-

Psaki, said Biden discussed Navalny and other issues with Putin in a phone call Tuesday, but she didn’t provide details.

Putin’s opulent Black Sea retreat was first exposed by a whistleblower named Sergey Kolesnikov, in an open letter to then-President Dmitry Medvedev, which I revealed in a December 23, 2010, column. Kolesnikov explained that the palatial estate had been paid for by contributions from Russian oligarchs gathered by a St. Petersburg business crony of Putin’s.

The money was channeled through a medical supply business that Kole-

snikov ran. He told me that, for eight years, he provided regular summaries for Putin about his investments, through the St. Petersburg businessman.

In the new video, Navalny interviews Kolesnikov, who confirms on camera the story that he told me 10 years ago. What’s amazing is that even after the Black Sea estate was revealed back then, Putin’s pals allegedly continued to shovel money into the complex. Navalny said the value of the complex was more than $1 billion and called it “the world’s biggest bribe.”

Using architectural designs, invoices, drone footage and 3-D visualizations, Navalny offers a hilariously scathing account of the palace built for Putin’s pleasure: In addition to the gambling den and hockey rink, it has a hookah bar, a stage with a…pole and an ornate toilet-paper holder that cost more than $1,200.

Navalny also describes payments made to the families of two women he says were…involved with Putin, who is divorced from his wife, Lyudmila.

He quotes a well-known Russian folk song that he says applies to Putin: “Three wives are wonderful, what can you say, but on the other hand – I’ve got three mothers in law.”

This combination of sarcasm and political outrage is what drives Navalny’s movement and seems to give it resonance with Russians. In the video, he quotes the novelist Leo Tolstoy: “The villains who robbed the people gathered together, recruited soldiers and judges to guard their orgy, and are feasting.”

Navalny now sits in prison. But his words at the end of the video echo across Russia: “The future is in our hands. Do not be silent. Don’t agree to obey the feasting villains.”

(c) 2020, Washington Post Writers Group

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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Political Crossfire

Russia is Trying to Set the Rules for the Internet

By David Ignatius

R

ussia is engaged in a brazen but little noticed effort to set new rules for cyberspace – even as it flouts the existing ones.

Last week, in an encouraging step, a United Nations telecommunications body pushed back.

Russia had asked the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to have the group’s 193 member states “discuss the status of global governance system for…Internet domain names, addresses, and critical Internet infrastructure.” In a curt statement last Thursday, the ITU said simply that it had “noted the contribution” of Russia. In other words, thanks but no thanks.

One European delegate to the conference said the opaque official language meant that no further action would be taken. He noted that the Russians tried again by attaching a similar proposal to an ITU measure involving protection of children online, but it was also rejected. The ITU operates by consensus, so opposition from the United States and key European and Asian allies was enough to scuttle the Russian moves.

This seemingly obscure bureaucratic debate matters because it’s a rare moment when an international body rebuffs Russia’s growing ambition to steer the Internet. Russia has tried to set the rules for what it calls “information space” – either by writing new protocols or hacking the ones that exist. This time, it didn’t work.

The Internet may indeed need new informal rules of the road, developed by the world’s tech companies, that make it more robust and resistant to hackers. But the United States and other democracies have a huge stake in maintaining the existing free and resilient structure, largely without

government dictates, which in a few decades has transformed global business and culture. Internet pioneers fear that Russia and other autocratic governments will use worries about

ICANN has been a Russian target for years. The consortium coordinated the system under a Commerce Department contract until 2016, when it became private. It’s now a

A year ago, with little public notice, Russia won backing from the U.N. General Assembly to begin drafting the new cyberspace pact.

online security to impose policies that restrict freedom and democracy.

Governance of the Internet operates under an improbable but wildly successful private consortium known as ICANN, which stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It was founded in 1998 to privately manage the system of domain names and addresses that had been created by the Defense Department’s ARPANET messaging system.

crowdsourced collection of software engineers and other technicians from around the world; its legitimacy stems from transparency and lack of affiliation with any government.

The Russian campaign against ICANN and other existing governance measures is outlined in a January 19 report by the group. It notes a dozen statements by senior Russian officials over the past 18 months pressing Moscow’s argument for a

new U.N. treaty that would create new “rules of the road” for the Internet that would protect against what President Vladimir Putin warned in a September 2020 address were threats from “various radicals and extremists.”

Moscow’s most explicit claim that the current ICANN-led governance system favors the United States came in an August 12 statement from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev: “At this time the U.S. fully controls the Domain Name System used to resolve IP-addresses. That’s how it happened historically, but simply and bluntly put, it shouldn’t be this way.”

Russia has refused to sign the 2001 Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which went into force in 2004, arguing that its provisions are too intrusive. Since at least 2017, Russia has pressed instead for a new U.N. treaty that would govern cyberspace.

A year ago, with little public notice, Russia won backing from the U.N. General Assembly to begin drafting the new cyberspace pact. The issue got little high-level attention during the Trump administration, but that may be changing. President Biden raised U.S. concerns about Russian hacking and Internet manipulations last week during a call with Putin, the White House said.

It’s a grotesque irony that Russia – which is among the world’s leading saboteurs of open dialogue on the Internet – is promoting itself as the new guardian of responsible Internet security. Fortunately, the telecommunications experts gathered at last week’s ITU meeting saw through the ruse.

(c) 2020, Washington Post Writers Group

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Forgotten Her es

Jewish Medics During World War II

By Avi Heiligman

Captain Ben Salomon

M

edical personnel are key components of a military unit. Medics are integrated in the frontline soldiers, and doctors, surgeons and nurses facilitate aid stations and hospitals that treat wounded and sick soldiers. During World War II, the medical staff worked tirelessly to save countless lives and their hard work was recognized by the soldiers. Thousands of Jewish servicemen and women served in the medical field while in uniform for the American military.

The stories of these men and women are numerous, as they served with distinction and pride.

The highest honor that could be achieved on the battlefield is the Medal of Honor. Ben Salomon received this honor posthumously for actions on Saipan, Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific.

Ben Salomon was born in Milwaukee in 1914. He graduated from the USC Dental College in 1937 and began a dental practice. Three years later, he was drafted into the army and worked his way up the ranks.

President George W. Bush shakes the hand of Dr. Robert West in 2002 after presenting him with the Medal of Honor on behalf of U.S. Army Captain Ben Salomon

When his superior officers discovered that he was a dentist, they ordered him to become an officer in the dental corps. In 1942, he was commissioned as an officer, and in May 1943 he was assigned to the 105th Infantry Regiment, 27 th Infantry Division. Even though he was a dentist and was exempt from combat, Salomon chose to join the regiment in their field exercises. Right before the regiment was to land on Saipan, Salomon was promoted to captain.

After the initial landings on Saipan, the 105 th advanced. When the battalion surgeon was wounded, Salomon volunteered to take his place. The battle was going badly for the Japanese, so General Saito ordered the remaining soldiers to carry out a banzai charge on the morning of July 7, 1944. The enemy gathered in front of the 105th’s line of defense. Early in the morning, the Japanese came out of the brush and advanced past the foxhole perimeter. The enemy began to advance on the aid station where Captain Salo-

mon was treating wounded soldiers.

Soon he saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting a wounded American soldier and saw many more enemy soldiers crawling under the tent into the aid station. He killed the enemy soldier and killed two more at the entrance of the tent.

Salomon received the Medal of Honor for his heroics. The citation for his medal reads: Four more crawled under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, shot another, and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear. Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and

rushed out of the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it‌ Captain Salomon was killed while manning the machine gun. In front of the gun, 98 enemy soldiers were found by other American soldiers.

The fighting in Burma was intense, and the mountainous terrain made movement difficult. Battalion surgeon Captain Benjamin Leavitt of Massachusetts received an urgent call that a soldier was stuck on a mountain fifty miles away. The soldier needed an emergency appendectomy and was too ill to move from the mountain. Captain Leavitt then asked who the patient was and was told it was his own medical assistant, Sgt. Klepey. Since there was no landing area for a small plane, the captain took a jeep and then trekked up the mountain. It was getting dark but Klepey was in such a bad predicament that the surgery had to be done immediately. A signal corpsman held a flashlight while

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015 The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Leavitt worked on his assistant. The surgery was successful, and the sergeant was soon back in action.

The first large land action the American military saw against the Germans was in North Africa in late 1942. Staff Sergeant Max Warshaw was attached to the 1st Infantry Division when they landed at Oran, Algeria. He was born in Poland, and his family moved to the U.S. ten years later. As a medic, he never carried a gun but was always with the soldiers on the tough missions. At Oran, he exposed himself to enemy fire while treating wounded American soldiers lying in the open. A few days later, he was wounded by shrapnel from an artillery shell.

Warshaw received the Silver Star for actions in El Guettar, Tunisia.

The citation reads: When a heavy enemy artillery barrage had compelled two drivers to abandon their vehicles, Sergeant Warshaw fear-

lessly entered this area and removed the vehicles, thereby saving valuable equipment from destruction.

Warshaw was with the division when they landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy and was awarded for

sent hundreds of thousands of Allied troops to penetrate the Nazi defenses in Normandy, France. There were five beach landings, although the American soldiers invaded the Omaha and Utah Beaches. The carnage at Omaha Beach was vast, and

The two doctors performed lifesaving surgeries even through earth-shaking mortar fire.

bravery. In November 1944, he was captured and spent five months as a prisoner of war before being liberated. In total, he received eleven medals for bravery in combat.

D-Day was the start of the famous amphibious operation that

the first waves struggled to gain a foothold. Two Jewish doctors, Major Benjamin Cohen from Brookline Massachusetts and Captain Samuel Horowitz of New York, set up a temporary field hospital while under enemy fire. Badly wounded

33 113

soldiers were brought in by medics while the two doctors performed lifesaving surgeries even through earth-shaking mortar fire. They worked through the night by the light of just one flashlight.

Many stories are told of medics and doctor risking their lives to save the life of another. From braving enemy gunfire to working in terrible weather conditions and tough terrain, medical teams are there to answer the call.

The heroism of the medical teams under fire and challenging conditions during World War II make it history that deserves to be remembered.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.

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HOUSES FOR SALE

CAN’T AFFORD YOUR PROPERTY TAXES? MORTGAGE? Must sell for any reason?

Call for FREE Consultation.

Call now 212-470-3856 Cash buyers available!

HOUSE FOR SALE BY OWNER: Located on Cedar Hill Road off Reads Lane Best Block in Far Rockaway!

Text 516-360-0205 for more details PRICE REDUCED: Sprawling 4BR, 4BA Exp-Ranch, Oversized Rooms, LR W/Fplc, Formal Dining Rm, Large Den, Master Suite, Full Finished Basement, Storage Room & Office, Deck, Fabulous Property…$1.078M Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000 www.pugatch.com

Don’t Get Stuck With a Two Story House Ya Know, It’s One Story Before You Buy It But a Second Story After You Own It! Call Dov Herman For An Accurate Unbiased Home Inspection Infrared - Termite Inspection Full Report All Included NYC 718-INSPECT Long Island 516-INSPECT www.nyinspect.com

COMMERCIAL RE INVESTORS WELCOME GREAT DEAL IN WOODMERE, amazing location, double lot, low taxes ,SD 14 Asking $599, won’t last 25 CONKLIN AVE, WOODMERE Call Alexandra at Realty Connect 1-516-784-0856

Spring season is here! Call us for your free, no strings attached, market analysis of your home! (516) 374-4100 CEDARHURST Mint condition expanded split level home with 7 total bedrooms, 4.5 baths including master suite on separate level. Many upgrades throughout.

80x100 property. District 15, beautiful secluded block $1.49M

WOODMERE Exceptionally hi-end gut reno. S/H col. loc. on desirable block in SD14.

5 large brs & 3 baths upstairs, beautiful bsmnt w/ playroom, A Must See! Bruria (718)490-7791 Moshe (516) 455-5364 $1.85M

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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Classifieds classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com • text 443-929-4003

COMMERCIAL RE

APT FOR RENT

APT FOR RENT

SF MEDICAL OFFICE SPACE Available, Reception Area, Waiting Room, Kitchenette, 2 Consult, 4 Exam Rooms, 2 Bathrooms, 30 Car On-Site Parking, For Lease …

Call Ian 516-295-3000 www.pugatch.com

KEW GARDENS HILLS: Beautiful 1 BR apt with terrace and granite kitchen, located in a 2 family home for maximum privacy/quiet, fantastic location $1800/ month.

Call or text 718-253-2400

WOODMERE: BEST BUY Spacious 2BR Apartment, Washer/Dryer In Bldg, Elevator Bldg, Open Floor Plan, 1st Floor, Close To All...$199K Call Carol Braunstein (516) 295-3000

INWOOD OFFICE SPACE LOWEST PRICES IN TOWN! 500-7000 Square feet gorgeous office space with WATERVIEW in Inwood! Lots of options.

Tons of parking.

Will divide and customize space for your needs! Call 516-567-0100 EAST ROCKAWAY: Retail Stores on Busy Corner, 1000SF& Up Available, Great High Visibility Location, For Lease…

Call for More Details Broker (516) 792-6698

Large 2bd/1bathprivate entrance 1st floor 2 fam house w/ living room, dining room & updated kitchenwasher dryer hook upParking available-$2100 call or txt 516-351-3061 INWOOD Brand new bright and airy basement apartment near LIRR . Never used kosher kitchen , 2 bedrooms , LR/DR central air /heat ,full bathroom washer/dryer $2000 a month Call/text Yitzi (929) 225-3616

VACATION RENTALS VACATION IN JERUSALEM: Beautiful Short-term rentals in Jerusalem (Sharei Chesed, Romema, Hanevi'im – City Center) Contact today for great service: Shisha Realty 718-408-8070 vacation@shisharealty.com

HELP WANTED Bais Yaakov in Far Rockaway seeking afternoon assistant teachers for elementary school.

Email resume to teachingpositions1@gmail.com Far Rockaway school seeking third and fourth grade general studies teachers for the '21-'22 school year, Monday through Thursday afternoons. Supportive, warm environment.

Please send your resume to teachersearch11@gmail.com

VACATION IN JERUSALEM: Beautiful 3 bedroom apartment with porch and view available for short term in the Kaduri – Jerusalem Heights project on the 8th floor.

Shisha Realty 718-408-8070 vacation@shisharealty.com

Job Title: Executive Director of Young Israel of Woodmere The Executive Director facilitates and supports the activities of the elected officers, board of trustees and administrative committee, religious and educational staff, membership committees, and directs the administrative and facilities management staff in the preparation and dissemination of all documents, preparation and other materials necessary for these purposes. The Executive Director is directed by the Rabbis, the President and their designees in carrying out the following duties and responsibilities, including but not limited to the following: • Oversee day-to-day operations including supervision of administrative and facilities management staff • Create welcoming and collaborative inviting atmosphere for members, guests and employees • Create and implement systems to maximize operational efficiency • Manage facilities staff to ensure that the maintenance and operation of the premises are keep at high standards • Coordinate all shul events with Security personnel and oversee the administrative requirements of the shuls security efforts • Supervision of contractual relationships with tenants, vendors, lessees and suppliers • Create and support fundraising and revenue generating programs including but not limited to supervision of the annual dinner, Yom Kippur appeal, and other special events so they meet expectations • Oversee maintenance and operations of the all shul communications including website and all information systems whether in electronic, print and other media • Oversee member services, including life-cycle events and management of the Simcha/event rentals and relationship with caterers and party planners • Manage the annual budget and streamline productivity and identify trends by monitoring actual financial results compared to budget • Identify trends by monitoring actual financial results compared to budget • Manage capital improvement projects Qualified candidates may submit a resume to: yiwemployment@gmail.com

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

Looking to hire an experienced, mature office employee.

Duties include financial data entry, fundraising database management, academic record keeping. Candidates should be detail oriented, and excellent communication, computer and organizational skills are required.

M-T 9-5; Fri 9-1 Good pay, sick days, Yom Tov off, etc. Please email resume to FTJOB999@gmail.com

ASSISTANTS NEEDED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AFTERNOON SESSION. Email: fivetownseducators@gmail.com

Looking to hire sales people to train as NY & NJ Public Adjusters.

No experience necessary, flexible hours.

Call 973-951-1534 SHEVACH HIGH SCHOOL is seeking a Global Studies teacher, Algebra teacher.

Please email resume to Office@shevachhs.org SHULAMITH EARLY CHILDHOOD is looking to hire a full time teacher assistant for the current school year.

Please email resume to earlychildhood@shulamith.org

TJH Classifieds

Post your Real Estate, Help Wanted, Services, Miscellaneous Ads here.

Weekly Classifed Ads

Up to 5 lines and/or 25 words 1 week....$20 2 weeks...$35 • 4 weeks...$60 Email ads to: classifieds@fivetownsjewishhome.com.

Include valid credit card info and zip code

Deadline Monday 5:00pm

BAIS YAAKOV IN FAR ROCKAWAY seeking permanent substitute for Preschool and Elementary school.

Please call 718-868-3232 ext 211 Seeking full time OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST for Special Education school located in Brooklyn. Experienced preferred. Competitive salary.

Room for growth. resumes@yadyisroelschool.org CAHAL is seeking AM, PM or FT Assistant Teachers for special ed classes in yeshivas in 5-Towns/ Far Rock.

Send your resume to Shira@cahal.org or call 516-295-3666 for more information.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

SPECIAL ED DIRECTOR Responsibility: Curriculum Designer Individual curriculum as needed Staff training Innovative, visionary Requirement: Masters Special Ed and Education Administration or SLP Backgroup Email Resume: specialedresume2018@gmail.com

CATAPULT LEARNING Teachers, Title I Boro Park, Williamsburg and Flatbush Schools *College/Yeshiva Degree *Teaching experience required *Strong desire to help children learn *Small group instruction *Excellent organization skills Competitive salary.

Send resume to: Fax: (212) 480-3691 ~ Email: nyteachers@catapultlearning.com

SPECIAL ED DIRECTOR Responsibility: Curriculum Designer Individual curriculum as needed Staff training Innovative, visionary Requirement: Masters Special Ed and Education Administration or SLP Backgroup Email Resume: specialedresume2018@gmail.com 5 TOWNS BOYS YESHIVA SEEKING ELEM GEN ED TEACHERS Excellent working environment and pay. Only lic/exp need apply.

Email resume to yeshivalooking@gmail.com

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MISC Gemach Zichron Yehuda In memory of R’ Yehuda Aryeh Leib ben R’ Yisroel Dov We have a library of books on the subjects of loss, aveilus, grief, & kaddish. We have sets of ArtScroll Mishnayos to assist with finishing Shisha Sidrei Mishna for Shloshim or yahrtzeit.

Locations in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway, & Lakewood.

Email: zichronyehuda@yahoo.com

S H a lO m Ta S k FO r C e

You Are NoT ALoNe Confidential 888.883.2323 Call. Text. Whatsapp Hotline Call our Confidential Hotline to discuss any issues about relationships or domestic abuse. We provide a listening ear to all.

Our referrals help our callers gain access to helpful resources, including legal assistance, counseling, and safe shelters. For more information and to speak with a trained advocate, please visit www.shalomtaskforce.org.

No oNe Deserves To Be ABuseD

Cabinet Hinge Repair

646-661-1388 info@nadlercabinet.com

Hinges | Tracks | Drawers | Soft Close | Alignment

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015

Your

15

Money

It’s All Fun and Games…

By Allan Rolnick, CPA

L

ast week, all [chaos] broke loose on Wall Street as an online flash mob of mostly-rookie traders took on the hedge fund elite – and won. Their target: GameStop (GME), a struggling retailer selling used video games, often out of shabby strip centers surrounded by check-cashing joints and tattoo parlors. Shares soared from about $17 at the beginning of the month to as high as $483, swinging hundreds of points in days. Suddenly GME was worth more than household names like Nissan and Kellogg’s.

The bizarre saga is the product of a classic “short squeeze,” the nightmare scenario for short sellers making bets on stocks going down. How does it work? Let’s say you buy a dress at Nieman’s for $200. Your friend says “I’ll pay you $10 to borrow it for a month.” She takes it back to the store and pockets the $200, hoping to find it somewhere else on clearance for $80 before the end of the month.

Two weeks later, Julia Roberts wears it to the Oscars. It sells out, and now your friend has to pay $300 for it on eBay. In this case, your friend is the hedge fund, and the eBay sellers are the traders bankrupting them.

Many of the greenest players

trade on Robinhood, a controversial app that “gamifies” trading. (Critics accuse them of “overserving” naive customers in much the same way as Sénor Frog’s overserves naive sophomores on their first spring break.) On Thursday, Robinhood halted buying in GME and even sold out positions without bothering to ask owners. Fri-

college kids who’ve never even filed taxes before. They’re not going to know what to do with the 1099-Bs they get next January, and many will find themselves short come April 15, 2022.

Of course, what goes up often comes crashing back down. Most GME winners would be smart to treat

First, any profits GME’s dollar-store moguls make when they catch this sort of lightning in a bottle are taxable

day, the price soared again, meaning Robinhood’s abused traders sure would like their stock back. Lawyers are already on the case, and the SEC won’t be far behind.

Where do our friends at the IRS come in? First, any profits GME’s dollar-store moguls make when they catch this sort of lightning in a bottle are taxable. They’re mostly shortterm capital gains, taxed as ordinary income. Many of the lucky winners who bought GME are high school or

their windfall like a lottery, pay their tax, and escape before the bubble bursts. But we all know they won’t.

Some will get greedy, try to ride their gains to the moon, and stubbornly ride it back down into obscurity. Or they’ll make the classic mistake of confusing a bull market for genius, throw their gains into “the next GameStop,” and get wiped out by what grownup Wall Streeters blandly call “regression to the mean.” At least those losses will wipe out any tax on

their original gains.

Second, last week’s trading has renewed calls for a financial transaction tax – a tiny fraction of a penny levied on every share of stock or option contract. This would be a shot across the bow for the amateurs driving GME prices but a direct hit on those much-maligned high-frequency traders who shell out enormous sums for high-speed data feeds to give their computers a fraction of a second jump on price movements.

Somewhere in Hollywood right now, a coked-up screenwriter is pitching the story to a bored producer: “It’s Wall Street meets Fight Club!” (First rule of stock club is you don’t talk about stock club.) Nobody knows how the story ends. By the time you read these words, GME could be trading for pennies. Or it could be the new Bitcoin. Either way, we’re here to help you keep as much of your gains as possible. So, call us before you buy, and buckle up for the ride!

Allan J Rolnick is a CPA who has been in practice for over 30 years in Queens, NY. He welcomes your comments and can be reached at 718-896-8715 or at allanjrcpa@aol.com.

The Jewish Home | FEBRUARY 4, 2021

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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

Life C ach

Which Way Do I Go? Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., LMFT, CLC, SDS

M

ost of the time it’s really important to be positive.

But not this year!

I mean yes, this year, especially.

But, also not this year, at all.

What I think I’m trying to say is: yes to a positive outlook! But say no to a positive result.

In a year where people were downtrodden, stuck in their homes, discombobulated, and exposed to much trauma, finding a positive outlook to get oneself through it was a definite plus.

However, in a year of unknown outcomes, potential contagion, or challenging health, positive results were definitely not what you were going after.

simply open/closed. They’d probably say their setup was the best amusement place around!

Sometimes in life, when we are trying to find perspective, we have a really hard time. This is because we are too confused about what we are grappling with.

If I get “it,” and have a good case, then I’d rather get it and be done. But, if I don’t know my experience with it, then I’d rather avoid it.

If I get the vaccine and it works, then I’m glad I got that. But, if it’s better to get the real thing and have natural immunity maybe that’s better.

The good news is everything here is more or less an unknown. There-

you may see it differently tomorrow.

You might have read it too quickly today. It seems the overnight result can be different from the rapid one.

So, try reading this again tomorrow. And see if you get more positive, I mean negative – let’s just say you

should have a better, more satisfying outcome!

Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach.

She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com.

Miriam Jacobovits Photography

They’d probably say their setup was the best amusement place around!

Listen, I don’t mean to be negative! Rather, I’m glad to be negative!

What I mean is, I don’t mean to sound negative. But I’m happy to test negative.

Gee, I feel like I’m being confusing. But, then again, hasn’t all of this been that way?

We’ve all been on a real rollercoaster ride this year.

Wait, I take that back. I’m not sure we could have. I think amusement parks were closed. Or were they open?

I can’t recall. Perhaps, we can ask restaurant owners in their vicinity if the amusement places were open.

Though, they don’t even know if they themselves were open, or closed, or

fore, it’s not worth eating your kishkas up trying to figure out.

Best case: - Triple mask. And keep washing your hands, packages, and car.

Why your car? That’s the one thing we know for sure does have a good effect. You get a clean car!

-Social distance, but stay connected, any way you can. Human interaction is what keeps us sane. And nothing else about this feels very sane!

-And stay healthy – at least of mind. No matter what happens, seek ways to be negative but ultimately stay positive!

Or do I mean? Seek ways to be positive but negative.

I guess whatever my message is,

CALL OR TEXT 347–572–8973 INSTAGRAM: MIRIAMJACOBOVITSPHOTOGRAPHY

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FEBRUARY 4, 2021 | The Jewish Home

MARGARET TIETZ Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

Short-Term Care | Long-Term Care | Hospice Care

Back Feet on your

Quick recoveries - from a pandemic to your rehab is where we excel.

In our newly established Synagogue, renovated and expanded gym, recreation center and cafe, you’ll rehab in a beautifully modern, traditionally Kosher setting. And our bright rehabilitation gym, cutting-edge equipment, and focused one-on-one staff will help you recover quickly with optimal results.

New modern look.

Same tradition of care.

85% Private Rooms

State of the art Meat and all Cholov Yisroel Dairy Kitchens (VHQ) Full time Rabbi On-Staff Special Shabbos & Holiday Meals Beautiful Outdoor Gardens Shabbos Elevator Community Eruv To resume as guidelines are revised: Daily & Shabbos Minyanim Full High Holiday Schedule Shabbos Hospitality Apartment

Call our friendly admissions team to discover how we are well-prepared to get you back on your feet and back home quickly.

q718-298-7806

P 164-11 Chapin Parkway, Jamaica Hills, NY 11432

amargarettietz.org