Jewish Home LA - 9-29-16

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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

$1000 SpONSOrS A CHILD FOr A yeAr! Free Jewish classes are now being offered in your area These classes are open to all Jewish children, ages 5-11, regardless of religious affiliation.

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Classes run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

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Please contact Chana Leah Margolis for enrollment or further info at 310-867-5290 or Director@Nageljewishacademy.org

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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

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The Week In News

CONTENTS

COMMUNITY

Community Happenings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

JEWISH THOUGHT Hoarders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 A Good Year Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

FEATURE

California and the Global Fight against BDS. . . . . . . 22 A Vision of Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Dear Readers, #neverhillary! #nevertrump! The cynical name calling brings out the worst in us. It’s all about what the other person is doing, never about us. “You think I’m bad? Wait till you see them! They are so…”

Maybe this works in politics, but in the real world, we have to face the Creator. He’s only interested in our behavior.

How can we escape this downward spiraling temptation to feel smug and

ENTERTAINMENT

“better than them?” The sound of the shofar can lend us a hand. Our pure soul

Quotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

longs to connect with our Father in heaven. Sure, our neshamah has collected

LIFESTYLES Travel Guide: Buenos Aires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

dust and, perhaps, even became stained this past year, but the blowing of the

Get Your Rewards Cards Before They’re Gone!. . . 43

shofar gives it a chance to break free and cry out, yearning for the G-dliness

NEWS

it once knew.

Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

“K’ayal ta’arog al afikei mayim ken nafshi ta’arog eilecha Elokim, as a deer thirsts for a brook of water so does my soul thirst for you, G-d.”

Lakol zman, there’s a time for everything. Elul is the time to deal with negativity and focus on its destructive force. Rosh Hashanah is the time to come home. We’ve made mistakes, and got lost here and there, but here we are, ready to enter the King’s chamber.

“Ubikashtem m’sham es Hashem Elokechah, you shall search for Hashem there,” in the same place you lost Him. A complete teshuvah means finding the place within ourselves that was pure even while we were doing wrong –

The Jewish Home is distributed bi-weekly to:

for the inner soul was never separated from Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the first

ANAHEIM AGOURA HILLS BEVERLY HILLS BURBANK CALABASAS CAMARILLO COSTA MESA ENCINO GLENDALE HUNTINGON BEACH IRVINE LONG BEACH LOS ANGELES -BEVERLY HILLS

place.

LOS ANGELESFAIRFAX LOS ANGELESLA BREA LOS ANGELESS. MONIA LOS ANGELES-PICO LOS ANGELES -WESTWOOD MALIBU MANHATTAN BEACH MARINA DEL REY MISSION VIEJO MOORPARK NEWBURY PARK

NORTH HOLLYWOOD PALM SPRINGS PACIFIC PALASADES PASADENA REDONDO BEACH SHERMAN OAKS SIMI VALLEY STUDIO CITY TEMECULA THOUSAND OAKS TORRANCE VALENCIA VAN NUYS WOODLAND HILLS

This is who we are.

May we be inscribed for a happy healthy and sweet year!

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos,

Shalom

T H E P R E M I E R J E W I S H N E W S PA P E R H I G H L I G H T I N G L A’ S O R T H O D OX C O M M U N I T Y The Jewish Home is an independent bi-weekly newspaper. Opinions expressed by writers are not neces­sarily the opinions of the publisher or editor. The Jewish Home is not responsible for typographical errors, or for the kashrus of any product or business advertised within. The Jewish Home contains words of Torah. Please treat accordingly.

FOR HOME DELIVERY, OR TO HAVE THE LATEST ISSUE EMAILED TO YOU FREE OF CHARGE, SEND A MESSAGE TO EDITOR@JEWISHHOMELA.COM

TheHappenings Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Anti-BDS Mission To Washington Attorney Andrew Friedman and Stanley Treitel co-chaired the recent Anti-Boycott Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Mission sponsored by the U.S.-Israel Security Alliance held on Capitol Hill and attended by 25 Jewish leaders from throughout the country. The BDS movement comes in the form of an academic Jihad against Israel, including anti-Israel protests calling for boycotts and divestment from Israeli products and companies that deal with Israel. The anti-Israel BDS sentiment is seeping into major corporate headquarters and trade unions.

The most recent Federal legislative effort to combat BDS is the Combating BDS Act of 2016 by Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) in the Senate and Robert Dold (R-IL) and Juan Vargas (D-CA) in the House. If passed, the Act will protect the right of both state and local governments to disassociate contracts from entities that engage in boycotting Israel.

The delegation of Jewish leaders urged members of both Houses of Congress to oppose the BDS movement and impressed upon them the importance of fighting BDS both on the state and federal levels. California Governor Jerry Brown just signed into law the California Anti-BDS Bill, which was approved by a vote of 34-1 in State Senate and 61-1 in State Assembly.

The new law prevents companies that boycott or discriminate against any sovereign state (mentioning specifically Israel) from doing business with the state.

The following members of Congress met with the delegation and agreed that the BDS movement is nothing more than racism and anti-Semitism and must be defeated because it is an attempt to delegitimize the State of Israel. Private meetings were held with the following elected representatives: U.S. Senators: Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Richard Burr (R-NC), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Susan Collins (RME), Steve Daines (R-MT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Bill Nelson (D-FL) House Members: Steve King (R-IA), Scott Tipton (R-CO), Rick Allen (R-GA), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), Billy Long (RMO), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Chris Gibson (R-NY) The mission to Washington was organized by Ezra Friedlander of the Friedlander Group.

Andrew Friedman & Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)

Andrew Friedman & Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CON)

Andrew Friedman & Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Stanley Treitel, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) & Andrew Friedman

Andrew Friedman & Senator Steve Daines (R-MT)

Stanley Treitel & Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)

Stanley Treitel & Senator Richard Bluementhal (D-CON)

Andrew Friedman, Senator Ben Cardin(D-MD), Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) & Ezra Friedlander

Andrew Friedman & Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Andrew Friedman & Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)

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TheHappenings Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Lifesaving Efforts of Hope4Adam Yehudis Litvak

For many people suffering from blood cancer, the only hope for survival is a bone marrow transplant from a donor whose bone marrow is very similar to the pa-

tient’s. When a close match is found, with Hashem’s help, the patient is likely to recover. The challenge is finding a match – and the first step might be a cheek swab.

Adam Krief is a local 31-year-old father of three children under four who was recently diagnosed with myelofibrosis – a rare form of blood cancer. Unfortunately,

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the disease is progressing quickly, and Adam needs a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible. Currently, among the potential donors in a worldwide database of two million people, no one is a match for Adam.

Adam’s family and friends launched a campaign, Hope4Adam. They are setting up bone marrow drives all over the world, where anyone can get tested with a simple cheek swab to determine if they are a match. Moreover, their information will be entered into the worldwide bone marrow database, and even if they are not a match for Adam they might match another patient and save their life.

As Adam is of Moroccan Jewish descent, the most likely candidate for a match would be another Moroccan Jew. Therefore, the campaign is especially focusing on the Jewish community. In the past few weeks, thousands of people were tested and added to the database. A country-wide drive in Israel this week is expected to add tens of thousands.

Betty Braun, a close family friend who is very involved in the campaign, says, “Adam is bringing out the best in the world. Hundreds of people are involved, all over the world – people who don’t know Adam, who never met him.”

Lia Krief, Adam’s wife, explains that while they began the campaign out of necessity, “it developed into an emotional and spiritual support system.” She tells of a drive in the Times Square in New York City, where the participants spontaneously broke into a dance. “This is one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives,” she says. “The achdut, the way everyone has rallied.” She adds that Adam will be spending the yamim tovim in the hospital, and the love and support he is receiving gives him strength and comfort.

In the United States, the testing is sponsored and conducted by the Gift of Life and Be the Match programs. In other countries, however, the drives are expensive to conduct. Part of the Hope4Adam campaign involves fundraising to cover the testing expenses outside of the U.S. More information on both testing and donating is available at hope4adam.com.

Several drives will be conducted in the Greater Los Angeles this week. In addition, one can register online at http:// www.giftoflife.org/hope4adam. A testing kit will be mailed free of charge to anyone who registers.

TheHappenings Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

LA Community Eruv in Crisis Rebecca Klempner The LA Community Eruv is currently undergoing a financial crisis which threatens to shut down the eruv. While the eruv’s management has been warning Angelenos of the impending disaster for months, their requests for funding have not received the response necessary to keep this crucial community service running.

Los Angeles’s eruv is one of the world’s largest. Approximately 8000 – 10,000 Orthodox families live within its boundaries.

Presumably, most of those people rely on it weekly, yet only 1000 families have been contributing yearly to the eruv. Just under 300 responded to the recent appeal.

In order to stabilize the situation, so that no crisis of this kind happens again, those who run the eruv ask that each family in the Jewish community send in a check for $54.

They urge those who can afford larger contributions of $250 to $2000 a year to commit those amounts. 100-120 of those larger donors would go a long way.

The eruv prevents every Jew within it from violating Shabbos when they carry outside their home, whether they know about the eruv or not. Howard Witkin – one of the founders of L.A.’s eruv – stresses

this ahavas yisrael angle. “The very idea of eruv is that I don’t have to build one for my sons and [myself] in my backyard. But if a stranger moves in, we have to make an eruv to gather him into our family... We are uniting us all together as a community. We are looking out for each other.”

In fact, Temple Beth Am and other Conservative organizations and individuals contribute to the eruv, because they recognize it is a communal responsibility and realize they benefit from it.

The LA Community Eruv needs to raise $220,000 to cover annual operations, pay for a new truck (the current truck used to check the perimeter is 45 years old), and replenish the Emergency Reserve Fund. The eruv’s managers have been dipping into that Emergency Reserve Fund in order to keep things going during the fiscal crunch, but the account has been cleared out. One of the managers paid for a recent eruv-related bill with a personal check. Obviously, he cannot continue to do that.

As Angeleno Laura Weinman insisted to me, “Everyone [who] utilizes the eruv should support it with whatever they can contribute.”

Why, then, do so many people living within the eruv fail to contribute? With many Jewish Angelenos struggling to pay exorbitant rents and day school tuition, perhaps some people feel they can’t afford it. Others think of it as tzedakah – one more charity on a list of many worthy causes. They view contributions to the eruv as optional.

One person I spoke to pointed out, “Our checks towards eruv maintenance aren’t

really donations – they are user fees.” He suggested that if we reframed our contributions that way, as payments for an essential service like we use weekly rather than as charitable donations, maybe we’d feel more obligated to write a check. “Just as we pay for roads of a city, this is sort of a communal tax.”

After some people questioned the size of the money requested by the eruv’s managers, they sent out an email detailing how they spend the $120,000 yearly budget. “We have a crew of three rabbinical inspectors with drivers that check the eruv every week.

We also have a crew with our own dedicated lift truck that spend[s] hours every Thursday night and often Friday making repairs.

Then we have insurance, special insurance for Caltrans, D&O liability, auto insurance, etc. We also spend several thousand dollars each year on truck maintenance and repairs to keep it safe and usable.” They added other expenses relate to trees and road/housing construction which interfere with the perimeter.

While running Los Angeles’s eruv costs a lot of money, the human cost of losing our eruv would be immense. Resident Cookie Richards explains, “Not having it means… that me and my husband and our baby can’t all go outside at the same time. We can’t take walks [on Shabbos]… I can’t bring a book with me to shul so that I can give a dvar Torah over at the women’s service [at the Community Shul]. It means that we can’t invite friends over who have children, and it means that we can’t go out to eat either.”

Jennifer Shofet shares the same concern.

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“I will be depressed sitting at home with three toddlers and a newborn not being able to leave the house the entire Shabbat, like many other mothers here in the city.”

Even those without small children at home would suffer without an eruv, says Gila Sacks. “I have [a] special needs son who often has me walking back and forth

from home to shul on Shabbat, carrying various things he needs.” The frail and the elderly use the eruv for walkers, to carry medicine or other essentials, and eruv use greatly expands the ability to do hachnossas orchim.

To those who don’t use the eruv, Mr. Witkin says, “If you don’t have it, other people can’t participate in Shabbos. Picture a community where young mothers can’t go to a simchah… Maybe you don’t use it now.

Picture you hit 70 and need a wheelchair.”

Mr. Witkin hopes increased eruv awareness, and understanding of its role in oneg Shabbos, will motivate people to send in their contributions by check or via the eruv’s website, www.LAERUV.com.

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TheHappenings Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Torah Dedication Celebration at Adas Torah Rabbi Arye D. Gordon

On Sunday morning, September 25, 2016, the Jews of Los Angeles converged on the home of Mr. Yossi and Bella Essas to fulfill the mitzvah of adding a letter to the new sefer Torah that the Essas Family was donating to Adas Torah. This joyful celebration accompanied the completion of the synagogue’s new building in the heart of Pico-Robertson.

The story of Adas Torah warms the heart, although it’s the story shared by most “new” shuls: A group of baalebattim gets together and decides they need their “own shul,” either because those running the shul consist of older baalebattim with different needs or they want a different type of rav or they just want to do their own thing. Knowing that their group at this point is small and the available funding to go out on their own is limited, the group realizes it must start with a modest, rented facility. They may start without a hired rabbi and hope for a part-time volunteer, for starters.

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With time the group grows, available funding increases, and the search for a “real” rabbi begins. After finally hiring the right candidate and attracting more people, the need for a larger building becomes the next step. The search for a new home begins.

That is pretty much the lifecycle of almost every new shul.

For a while, Adas Torah was bursting at its seams. From its humble beginnings at the Marriot Hotel, it moved to a storefront located across the street. Within a few years, the shul grew to two full minyanim on Shabbos, weekday minyanim, daf yomi, and an array of shiurim for men and women. Space got even tighter. Thanks to siyatta dishmaya and generous donors, the shul found an appropriate location nearby and entered the building phase.

Neighbors in Pico-Robertson admired the sleek, modern building that rose from the construction site in recent months. Just about a month ago, Rabbi Revah notified

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shul members that the congregation would of the parshah for the week [to indicate soon move into the new building. “We are when] they would be arriving. Because I mispallel that we be worthy of continued would sometimes answer the phone, I had brachah and are able to build a shul whose to learn all the parshos, so if they said, beauty beckons people to walk in, and the “Vayelech,” I would know what week they equally beautiful inside encourages them were coming. It was as an outgrowth of to stay.” this and other related experiences that my Rabbi Revah thanked the many shul family survived as Jews.” He then invited members contributed to the construction everyone to partake of elegant foods, lavof the building. ishly prepared for all the guests.

Not long after, Adas Torah distributed The community hopes this wonderful flyers announcing the Torah dedication ar- start leads to continued success for the ranged by the Essas Family in honor of the shul and its families. chanukas sabayis of Adas Torah.

People danced through the streets and converged at the new shul, joyously dancing and absorbing the wonder of the moment. Included in the simchah was the family of Frank and Kerri Lee, parents who donated the ornate and beautiful aron kodesh in memory of their daughter, a young mother taken long before expected.

As the sifrei Torah were returned to the Rabbi Boruch Gradon, Yossi Essas and Rabbi David Revah aron kodesh, following the recitation of tehillim, Yossi Essas stood to tell his amazing story as to how he came to this place in his life, and explained why he and Bella dedicated this sefer Torah in memory of his parents.

“This is how we survived as a Jewish nation.

We celebrate what is really important. I was born in Russia, and my father was one of the starters of the baalei teshuvah movement. My father had students, and he would bring many rabbanim to come and give shiurim. In order to contact [them] and not arouse the suspicion of the KGB, he developed a code system to know when they arrived in Russia. It had to change every week.

“It was decided that they would use the name

Photos: Arye D. Gordon

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TheHappenings Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Yavneh Celebrates Shabbos with Rav Yissachar Frand Rabbi Arye D. Gordon dvar Torah, a Shabbos morning drashah, a Shabbos afternoon halachah shiur, and the aforementioned pre-selichos teshuvah drashah on Motzei Shabbos, attendees had been injected with enough “Frand” med-

Hundreds of chairs covered the playing field to accommodate the crowd.

The yearly visit of Rabbi Frand is hosted by the Rabbi Jacob Friedman family and Mr. David and Mrs. Gittel Rubin. As per tradition, Rabbi Frand spent Shabbos at the home of Rabbi Aron Dovid Friedman and his family. The pre-selichos shiur concluded the annual shabbaton at Yavneh with Rabbi Frand. After a Friday night

ication to heal them and keep them until next year.

Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn, Dean of Yeshivat Yavneh, did the honors of introducing Rabbi Frand. “What makes the great darshanim? What makes Rabbi Frand’s words so electrifying?” asked Rabbi Einhorn. “It is the X Factor, the urgency of his message. The feeling you get when you walk out tonight that something must change.

tell us about our lives.”

After discussing the various deleterious effects and stranglehold that the smart phones have on users, Rabbi Frand said, “Cell Phones are not the source of our problems. Cell phones are symptomatic of how trivialized our lives have become.

We could not become so obsessed with our phones if we lived more serious lives.”

Rabbi Frand presented a list of no-nos we should incorporate into our lives and those of our family members: Don’t take your cell phone to bed with you. Don’t let your kids go the bed with their cell phones, otherwise they will be texting all night

I hope tonight, all of us, including myself, will change some of their behavior.” Rabbi Frand went on to say, “This drashah is about ‘smart phones.’ It is not about the inappropriate content nor about smart phone use in shuls, which are certainly important issues worthy of a drashah. It is about the pernicious effects that smart phones are having on us. And about what cell phones

long instead of sleeping. No cell phones at the table. No cell phones when learning, no cell phones during davening.

When one realizes how enslaved we have become to our cell phones and how we must free ourselves, we can appreciate the brachah we say every morning, “Shelo asani Aved. Thank you Hashem for not having made me a slave.”

Photos: Arye D. Gordon

On Motzaei Shabbos, Parshas Ki Savo, over 700 people packed into the Nagel gymnasium – not to attend a home game, but to hear Rabbi Yissachar Frand’s pre-selichos shiur at Yeshivat Yavneh.

Whatever it is, it can’t be the same anymore. And that is what makes this annual shiur so mesmerizing and life changing…

Let us remember tonight and let us walk out of here changed forever.”

While the audience anticipated a fireand-brimstone drashah to awaken the sleepers among us (uru yesheinim), Rabbi Frand headed in a different direction.

“Let me begin with a warning. This is not going to be your typical teshuvah drashah,” began Rabbi Frand, “Harav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l explained that teshuvah doesn’t mean to become better.

Teshuvah means to become different. And

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TheHappenings Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Shaatnez Testing in Los Angeles Yehudis Litvak The prohibition of wearing shaatnez – a garment made of a mixture of wool and linen – comes straight from the Torah and is even more severe than the laws of kashrus. A local shaatnez tester, Yosef Stolz, explains that in kashrus, a small amount of a forbidden substance is considered nullified if it doesn’t exceed a sixtieth of the total mixture. In shaatnez, however, even a tiny linen thread woven into a wool garment makes the whole garment forbidden to wear. Moreover, every moment of wearing such a garment is a transgression of a Torah prohibition.

The occurrence of shaatnez in our clothes is a relatively new phenomenon.

In the olden days, when in need of a new garment, a Jew would go to a local tailor, who would know how to avoid shaatnez in a custom-tailored garment. Now, due to mass production and a global economy, many ingredients go into a single garment, and they can come from all over the world.

As a result, shaatnez testing has become an essential component of Jewish life.

Shaatnez testing in America began with Mr. Joseph Rosenberger of Williamsburg, New York. A Holocaust survivor who worked as a tailor in Vienna before the war, Mr. Rosenberger promised himself that if he survived the concentration camps he would do something that would make a difference in the Jewish community. When he came to America after the Holocaust, he began to research shaatnez testing. Eventually, it became his life’s mission.

For decades, Mr. Rosenberger was the only shaatnez tester in America. Jews living outside of the New York area would mail him fabric samples from their clothes,

and he would inform them if they were permissible to wear. Then, in the 1980s, Rabbi Yoel Schocket of Lakewood, New Jersey learned the skills and set up a training program which began training shaatnez testers all over the country. Currently, Rabbi Yosef Sayagh of Lakewood, NJ still maintains an email list where the shaatnez testers can obtain the latest information in the field.

Mr. Stolz trained under Rabbi Schocket and become the first West Coast shaatnez tester in 1986 under the auspices of Rabbi Avrohom Teichman of Kehillah Kosher. Currently, there are four testers in the Greater Los Angeles area who were trained in the same program.

Unfortunately, says Mr. Stolz, there are others who claim to know how to test for shaatnez, but they never attended the training program and are missing some of the information necessary in this day and age, when continuous updates are a must.

Mr. Stolz strongly recommends using the services of certified testers.

Another pet peeve of Mr. Stolz is that some Jewish storeowners claim that their products do not need to be tested for shaatnez. Given the logistics of today’s garment industry, no manufacturer can possibly guarantee that any of their product lines are shaatnez-free. Often, people ask Mr. Stolz if they need to test more than one suit when they bought several identical ones. Mr. Stolz’s answer is always yes. He recalls a case when a community member brought in two suits that looked almost exactly the same. On closer examination, Mr. Stolz noticed that one of them was manufactured in China and the other one in Thailand. He checked both, and found that

while the former was shaatnez-free the latter contained shaatnez. “I can bet that I can show the differences between any two suits,” says Mr. Stolz.

There have been attempts by shaatnez checkers to work with the manufacturers and provide a certification, similar to a kashrus certification, before the product hits the stores. However, as of now, all the attempts have failed. There is no such thing as a suit that does not need to be checked.

Speaking of Jewish store owners, Mr. Stolz says, “Why discourage somebody from checking? There is no advantage to that. Just like a restaurant needs a mashgiach, and we don’t just rely on the owner so does a suit need to be tested, even if bought from a Jew.” Besides suits, every garment that contains linen or wool, or that looks like linen, needs to be tested. Mislabeling on garment labels is very common, says Mr. Stolz. Moreoever, the manufacturer is not required to list any fabric that constitutes less than 5% of all the fabrics used. Some-

times shaatnez is found in ornamentation, such as a linen flower appliqué on a wool sweater. In addition, even fabric items that are not clothing but that give a person pleasure, such as a blanket, also fall under the halachos of shaatnez and need to be tested. The most surprising occurrence of shaatnez, says Mr. Stolz, was a pair of Dr. Scholl’s shoes, which had wool on the outside and linen lining on the inside Fortunately, in most cases, if shaatnez is found in a garment, it can be taken out by a qualified shaatnez tester. Problematic suits, says Mr. Stolz, usually have shaatnez in the collar, which can be removed.

In some cases, however, when shaatnez is found in the fabric itself, the garment cannot be used.

Press Release:

Sign Up to the Hazkarah List of the Devout Chatzos Talmedei Chachamim!

The selichos days are mesugal for nighttime tefillah. Kollel Chatzos introduces a new offer wherein the talmidei chachamim will be mispallel for supporters from today until after Yom Kippur.

The yemei rachamim v’ratzon are fast approaching, and all of Klal Yisroel seeks to garner as many zechusim as possible.

The office of Kollel Chatzos is abuzz with activity. Yidden from all over the world

are calling, asking to have the holy chatzos talmidei chachamim daven for them during the auspicious hours after chatzos halayla, when the gates to heaven are wide open and Hashem is accepts our tefillos b’rachamim u’veratzon.

Now, in the selichos days, all of Klal Yisroel arises before the sun to be mispallel in the holy night hours when our tefillos are more readily answered. The talmidei chachamim at Kollel Chatzos awaken at midnight each night of the year to learn and daven during the auspicious time, ef-

fecting refuos and yeshuos in Klal Yisroel.

During these holy days, many seek to secure a partnership with Kollel Chatzos in order to declare their oneness with the talmidei chachamim. They select the talmidei chachamim as their representatives to beseech heaven on their behalf and secure them a sweet new year.

It is worthy to note that during the current Elul days there has been much participation from the tzibbur at the kollel.

Yidden takes the opportunity, during these days of closeness to Hashem, to awaken

early and join the talmidei chachamim of Kollel Chatzos in their Torah study.

It is our hope that the power of Torah and tefillah at chatzos halayla will bring an abundance of blessing to all of Klal Yisroel, and that we should all be granted a sweet new year when we will finally be zocheh to greet Moshiach.

Kollel Chatzos wishes all Chatzos Partners and all of Klal Yisroel a sweet and happy new year!

The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

‫בס"ד‬

"‫"אבינו מלכינו נא אל תשיבנו ריקם מלפניך‬

We all say it on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur Many of our neighbors, friends & relatives say it every day!

There are hundreds of families, widows, orphans and sick people right here in our community, people you would never guess, who are literally going hungry.

These Aniyei Ircho have no money for food, clothing or rent. They are people you might know very well -- or at least think you know very well ...

... They could be in your Daf Yomi shiur ... They could be your tenant, your neighbor, your cousin, or your brother. They put up a brave front. They act as if everything is normal. They are too proud or too frightened to reach out for help.

Ezras Yisroel has only one purpose - to identify these people and give them the

help they need.

Right now we all strive to do 100% Teshuvah and Tefilah.

Through Ezras Yisroel you will be doing

100%

Tzedakah too.

1.800.601.4644 Tax-deductible contributions payable to "EZRAS YISROEL"

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The Week In News

Happenings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

YION Elul Yom Iyun Event: An Inspiring Message from our Communities Chava Shields Sleep is a funny concept. Why would G-d design a world whereby 6-8 hours of a day (if we’re lucky) are spent unconscious, unproductive, and perhaps slightly drooling?

If Olam HaZeh is the world of action, then sleeps seems antithetical to the essence of our goal here.

There are probably many, profound Torah insights on the topic of sleep, delving into the elevated whereabouts of the soul during this time. But without getting too esoteric, sleep has a simple function – the opportunity to put the past behind us.

Can you imagine life being one long, continuous 876,000 hour day? Think about it. When we make a mistake, we’re able to say “Tomorrow is a new day. I’ll be better.”

The you from yesterday stays with yesterday.

At the very core of the average day, Hashem endorses second chances. He puts us to sleep, detaching us from regretted misdeeds, letting us aspire to improvements with a clear conscience. And with G-d, we’re not confined to a single second chance. There are third and fourth and fifth chances…culminating in the epic chance we are given on Rosh Hashanah. Our job, then, is to latch onto this opportunity, to prepare for the big day as if our life depends on it – because it does.

It’s not that easy of course, since after all, there isn’t anything quite like the Rosh Hashanah experience in our physical realm.

To be guilty and pardoned…as if it never happened at all? This opportunity is hard to relate to, which is why the sincere efforts of our communities are so inspiring.

Our emails are overflowing with Rosh Hashanah pledge cards and chessed notices.

People are rallying to shiurim. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re a yid in the heart of Jerusalem or the suburban outskirts of LA – opportunities for growth are at our fingertips.

Just a few weeks ago, over 30 people gathered for an Elul Yom Iyun learning event

organized by Rabbi Nachi Klein, Rav of Young Israel of Northridge. It took place on a Sunday, and despite the catered lunch incentive, one might expect that our gorgeous L.A. weather and ongoing football season would take our interest elsewhere. But not so. It seems that the hidden message of the shofar is reverberating in our shuls, causing those “spiritually asleep to awaken…and remember our Creator,” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 3:4).

For the Northridge Community, a fourhour lecture series was a perfectly good way to spend a Sunday. With Rabbi Avi Stewart, Rabbi Yisrael Majeski, Rabbi Avraham Stulberger, and Rabbi Dovid Horowitz at the lead, the event delved into the essence of shofar, the power of forgiving, the opportunity of prayer, and overall how to come away this Rosh Hashanah with a strengthened relationship with Hashem. The turnout was inspiring – men, women, teens. Attendees came away uplifted, encouraged to evaluate their year, clarify their values, and formulate goals for the future.

It is important to note that as much as these individuals left with an inspiring message, they conveyed a powerful one as well.

Their attendance testifies to the beauty of the Jewish people, their undying dedication to making spiritual strides. If we solely focused on introspecting into our failings, we would approach the King with less than half of the full picture. It is comforting, and crucial, to know that communities large and small are maintaining their dedication to growth and that spiritual sleep has not crept into our waking hours.

For although sleep has its function – as it introduces the promise of a new day – there is still much to do, and the clock is ticking.

Every day is a fresh start, a clean slate, a second chance. May Hashem grant us all the strength and resolve to greet every day with as much enthusiasm as there is potential!

Rabbi Yisroel Majeski

Rabbi Avrohom Stulberger

The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Be Included In the

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‫צון״‬ ֹ ‫״יְ ִהי ָר‬

Of Maran Hagaon

Harav Chaim Kanievsky

Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, shlit”a, will pray on behalf of contributors to Kupat Ha’ir in the Yehi Ratzon prayer recited upon completing sefer Tehillim, daily throughout the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

That they merit a

!‫ומתוקה‬

‫טובה‬ ‫שנה‬

Maranan Harav Karelitz, Harav Steinman, and Harav Kanievsky, shlit"a, in a unique and historic letter:

"The greatest zechus one can do with one's money in anticipation of the Yom Hadin is

Tzedakah to Kupat Ha'ir" CALL OUR 24 HOUR TZEDAKAH HOT LINE

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Donations can be sent to: American Friends of Kupat Ha'ir, 4415 14th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11219

www.kupat.org ‫ר' חיים צבי בן ר' דוד יחזק'ל‬ ‫גיטל בת ר' מאיר‬

‫לזכר נשמות‬

‫ר' חיים מרדכי צבי בן ר'אשר לעמעל ע"ה‬ ‫פרומא בת ר' אברהם צבי ע"ה‬

‫קו‬ ‫העפת‬ ‫יר‬

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The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

The Week In News

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Torah Musings The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Hoarders Sarah Pachter

I recently watched a clip of the television show Hoarders, and I must admit that it shocked me. At one man’s apartment, there were boxes, papers, and random items piled up to the ceiling, turning the small living areas into mazelike structures.

The family had so much clutter in their kitchen that there was no counter space anywhere. Dirty pots, pans, and utensils were piled high in the sink. When it came time to do the dishes, they had to be placed all over the floor, since there was no space elsewhere. The child of the hoarder acknowledged that he felt like a dog living in a cage. The members of the families featured on the show were constantly fighting with each other because of the hoarding.

Seeing how extreme other people’s behaviors can get truly normalized the slightly annoying habits of the “hoarders” I know. Watching the show actually brought a sense of relief: At least we aren’t that bad.

If hoarding can destroy a home, and clutter creates chaos, then why do people do it?

According to Dr. David Tolin, director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital, research1 has found three basic reasons for hoarding tendencies: the need to retain objects for potential future utility, perfectionism (yes, you read that right), and oversentimentality.

The simplest reason that people do not want to toss or give away their clutter is a fear that they will someday need those items. People fear missing out on the opportunity to have something potentially useful at hand. I compare this to what I like to call “Fleishephobia:” the fear of spontaneously desiring dairy immediately after eating meat. Similarly, if I give away tennis racquets that I have not used in three years, I’ll of course want to play tennis just after they are gone.

Perfectionism, although counterintuitive, is a basic reason people hoard. When faced with the dilemma to keep or not to keep, a perfectionist may delay making a decision until he or she can choose correctly at a later time. However, sometimes that “later” becomes “never.”

The most obvious reason is the person’s emotional attachment to the items, no matter how silly it may seem to others.

We all, to some degree, hold onto seem1. “Why Do People Hoard?” www.oprah.com, May 5, 2005, http://www.oprah.com/home/Why-PeopleBecome-Compulsive-Hoarders

ingly useless items for the memories that they represent. A friend of mine kept all of her children’s Chanukah projects, displaying them when they lit the Chanukah candles each year. It showed the passage of time, and was a beautiful tradition that her family looked forward to enjoying together each year.

Yet, there are times when holding onto items becomes no longer about the sentiments they represent, but more about the object itself. Rose spent years collecting

We sometimes connect so strongly with our possessions because we mistakenly believe that they define us. However, it is only our soul that makes us who we are.

Some may look at this story and scoff.

How could someone who is so attached to her objects prefer a landfill to hold her belongings than a loved one? The truth is, we also define ourselves by externals. It may not be silver objects, but we define ourselves through our own status, intellect,

silver objects, picking them out on her various travels across the world. She purchased random items: sombreros, mini Bonsai trees, even large sewing needles, all made of pure silver. The assortment of objects took up prime real estate in her home: her breakfront in the entryway.

Years passed, and she eventually moved into a nursing home. She regretted that she could not display the silver items in her room there.

Gathering her children together, she made the following offer: “I will hand the silver over to any one of you on one condition – you must display it in your living room, front and center.”

The silver, although somewhat eccentric, was worth a tremendous amount of money, and could have been sold for a huge profit. Everyone stood silently looking around at each other, because they could not honestly agree to keep the collection.

Rose was devastated, yet rather than donating or selling the silver, she had every last piece thrown into the garbage. She could have given her heirs a substantial gift, but she was too hurt; the rejection of her silver felt like a rejection of herself.

age, and even by our children and their accomplishments.

No matter how much we love a piece of art or clothing, it can never become us.

Eventually, it will wither away with time, just as our bodies do at the end of our days. Possessions can only do so much for us, but our souls are the eternal part of who we are.

I must admit, I’ve kept the sweater my husband wore on our first date – even though he has not worn it in years. If I gave that away to an organization and a stranger used it, they would find no meaning or nostalgia attached to it. To that person, it would just be a sweater – no more, no less.

When we try to satiate an inner need with objects, we usually end up disappointed. My friend loves Minnie Mouse designs, even as an adult. She mentioned to me once that whenever she sees something with Minnie Mouse on it, she has an urge to buy it, despite the fact that she only has boys at home. As a child, her family immigrated to the United States with just the shirts on their backs. They struggled for every penny, and could never afford the Minnie Mouse items that all her friends had. To this day, every time she sees the

Minnie Mouse logo, it creates a pang of desire in her.

Although she longs to buy these items, doing so never truly satiates the longings of her inner child. She still desires the Minnie Mouse designs, but she feels the longing as a child would. Acquiring Minnie Mouse years later as an adult can never really fill the void. In purchasing such things for herself, she is mourning the pain of the past, and hoping to heal it in the present.

Giving away our possessions to those in need helps to lessen the pain of such longing as my neighbor experienced. Although counterintuitive, it refocuses us on all that we do have. When we see how much we have to spare, we rekindle an inner feeling of satiation.

As adults, we intuitively feel that holding onto clothing and other items will satiate that inner desire for nostalgia and comfort, but the converse is true. Giving away these things feeds our soul, because rather than collecting dust in a closet or box, we know that our possessions will be happily used by someone who needs them.

Lucky for Los Angeles residents, there are a plethora of organizations which make dropping off our belongings easy. The following have great reputations for serving the community: Beit Teshuva: 10409 Washington Blvd, CA 90232 (310) 204-4058 Goodwill: 2502 S. Robertson Blvd (310) 559-5806 Global Kindness: 8568 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 (310) 286-0800 NCJW: 8520 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035 or 360 N. Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323) 651-2930 Donating our gently used belongings is a great activity for kids, and helps to develop their own empathy and organizational skills. Plus, it clears up the house, giving a fresh and light feeling to your surroundings.

People hoard because of emotional, utilitarian, and perfectionism reasons.

Although hoarders hope to assuage these feelings by keeping belongings, giving them away is actually far more helpful.

Letting go of our possessions can heal us on an emotional level, and it is incredibly useful for others. Since it is a form of tzedakah, giving away things we no longer need helps to perfect the world – tikun olam.

If you have trouble getting started, I recommend watching an episode of Hoarders.

The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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Living with In theNews Times The Week

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz Publisher of the Yated Ne’eman

With Rosh Hashanah in the air and so many speeches heard and articles read, a person says to himself, “I think I’m basically a good person and want to be judged favorably for the coming year, but where do I start? I’ve heard all about Elul and teshuvah, but now what? What do I do?

Where do I begin and how do I go about it?”

My grandfather, Rav Eliezer Levin, zt”l, learned in the famed yeshiva of Kelm for seven years. He once told me that during Elul, a sign stating, “Ein Melech belo am – There is no King without a people,” was affixed to the wall. It came up in conversation and I never asked him what the sign meant or signified.

I took it for granted that the message referred to the need of the Jewish people to affirm Hashem’s Kingship on Rosh Hashanah. As Chazal say (Rosh Hashanah 34b), we recite the pesukim of Malchiyos in Shemoneh Esrei, “kedei shetamlichuni aleichem,” in order to accept Hashem’s dominion over us.

On Rosh Hashanah, we blow the shofar and declare, “Hayom haras olam. Today is the birthday of the world. Today is the anniversary of Hashem’s meluchah.”

The avodah of Rosh Hashanah is to declare Hashem our Melech on the day His Kingship is celebrated and reaffirmed.

Later, I found that the Alter of Kelm writes (Chochmah Umussar 2:152) that the avodah of shetamlichuni aleichem necessitates that the king’s subjects be united and work together, for the king’s rule is weakened if they are divided.

The premise of Elul and Tishrei is that we must be united, not divided. We must be respectful of others and accepting of people who are different than us, with different minhagim and a different mesorah that can also be traced back to Har Sinai.

This is signified by the sign that hung for the month of Elul in that cauldron of mussar and growth known as Kelm.

However, we still need to understand something. We often talk about achdus.

What does it mean? What does it entail?

And why is it a prerequisite for the months of Elul and Tishrei?

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

A Good Year Together Achdus means that we respect and care for each other despite our differences. It means that we are all heirs to a glorious tradition, and each one of us contributes an important part of a brilliant and multi-faceted mosaic. Achdus means that we recognize that there were twelve shevatim, each distinct, with its own mission and shelichus. Together, the twelve different shevatim formed Am Yisrael.

Soldiers focused on victory, on the ultimate glory of the kingdom, aren’t challenged by different roles and different ranks. They are members of a united team, an agudah achas.

Great men see beyond their own honor. They are perceptive enough to remain focused on kevod shamayim. They don’t see themselves as central, but are happy to fade into the background and allow His glory to shine.

Rav Nochum Zev of Kelm, the Alter of Kelm’s son and sagacious leader of the Kelmer yeshiva, was invited to address a large gathering. The previous speakers were introduced and stepped to the podium to address the crowd. When his turn came, he ascended the podium, apologized that he was unable to speak, and returned to his seat. He later explained to his daughter that although he had prepared a drashah, he noted that the rav who addressed the gathering before him spoke poorly. The Kelmer gadol feared that his own speech would reflect negatively on the previous speaker. Rather than cause embarrassment to another Jew, he sat down.

No doubt, the message he prepared was laden with depth and inspiration. He certainly spent much time and effort in its preparation and believed that it held important lessons for the people in the crowd, or he wouldn’t have arrived to deliver it.

Yet, the giant of Kelmer mussar sacrificed his drashah for the kavod of another Jew, because he was part of an agudah achas, sensitive to the feelings of that other rav. If it would involve causing someone embarrassment, then it wasn’t worth delivering.

It wasn’t about him, but about Him. So where do we start our task of doing

teshuvah? There is so much to cover, but what is it that underlies our failures? What is the one thing that we can do to improve our lives, make us better people, make us feel better about ourselves, and hopefully allow us to find favor in the eyes of Hashem?

The Vilna Gaon writes in Even Sheleimah (1:1,3) that at the root of all sin is bad middos, and the task of a person is to break those middos and seek to improve his character. Someone who wants to repent and do teshuvah for sins he committed should begin by rectifying his middos. The key to change involves examining middos and perfecting character traits.

At the root of the teshuvah process is becoming a better person. At the root of becoming a better person is perfecting your character. It’s not just so that you will get along better with other people. It is so that you will be able to join b’achdus and be part of something great.

One of the most integral elements of teshuvah is seeing ourselves as part of the group, as a member of Am Yisroel, and appreciating what that means. Teshuvah involves us not seeing ourselves as superior to others, or more important or better than they are, but appreciating the goodness in everyone.

Humility is the underlying ingredient of self-improvement, getting along with people, influencing people and living b’achdus. Someone who is conceited cannot lower himself in order to blend in with the rest of the pack. He is always looking to stand out or go it alone.

People who are consumed with themselves don’t give to others, don’t bend for others, and don’t compromise for others.

It’s all about them. People driven by superficiality are selfish and consumed by self-gratification. They don’t bring Hashem into their lives. Life becomes a long expedition of pleasure-seeking and power-grabbing, without thought of communal responsibility or a serious examination of life.

Achdus is imperative for malchus to happen.

The cleansing process of Elul and the yemei hadin, the honesty and self-awareness brought about by the awesomeness of these days, coupled with proper reflection, brings us to a level where we can do our part in being mamlich Hashem.

Rav Yisroel Salanter advised that to be zocheh in the din of Rosh Hashanah, it is vital for a person to be part of the klal.

His advice is usually understood to mean that if we wish to be granted life, health, and happiness, we have to make ourselves needed. If we live for others, then the more that people need us, and the more goodness and happiness we bring into the world, the more reason Hashem has to keep us here.

The merit of performing important functions for Am Yisrael helps us when we are judged for the coming year.

But there is another way to understand his admonition. In order to be a person who is involved with the klal, you have to have sterling middos, appreciate other people get along and working with others b’achdus. Someone who is caught up with himself, lacking depth and humility, cannot be involved with the klal. A klal mentch, a person who assumes responsibility to help others because he is interested in helping people, is a person who refines his middos and character.

These days, referred to as the yomim noraim, Days of Awe, demand seriousness. Somehow, everything in our world is becoming cloaked with casualness. Serious times are preceded by a kumzitz, because we can’t seem to handle the weighty nature of selichos. Dancing and singing are easier than honest self-reflection.

To lessen the severity of the judgment, we would do better to recognize that some occasions demand contemplative thought.

We need to take a break once in a while and think about our position in life. We must ponder what we have achieved so far and what our ambition is. Life is perplexing and demands thought and depth.

Seriousness brings us to accept the rule of Hashem. Recognizing our place in the world leads us to care about other people and seek to improve their lives by utilizing our talents. Introspection leads to achdus and to becoming an integral part of a klal.

That is what Rav Yisroel Salanter was referring to.

When we are alone, we are vulnerable and isolated. Uniting with others allows us to benefit from their support. We then have people with whom to celebrate and lighten sadness. If you live only for yourself and by yourself, then your life is as small as you are. You never allow the strengths you have been blessed with to develop and flourish as they would have had you been involved with others. You wallow and de-

Living with In theNews Times The Week

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

cline because Hashem endowed us with strengths in order to use them for communal benefit and for causes of Torah.

Just like the shevatim, we each have our own distinct missions to carry out.

We are interconnected with others, and to the degree that we touch others’ lives and become indispensable, we become more a vital integral part of Klal Yisrael.

One of the most central nuscha’os for the tefillos of these days is the special nusach of Yeshivas Chevron. The hauntingly beautiful nusach has spread across the world and heavily influences the tunes and sounds of Rosh Hashanah.

The nusach is largely the innovation of Rav Shalom Schwadron, the legendary baal tefillah and maggid. The master communicator cobbled together different nuances from many others and formed a nusach that touched the soul, stirring and inspiring people who davened with him to seek great heights and perfection. One of the Chevron classics is the niggun that Rav Shalom adapted for the pizmon of “Omnom Kein…Salachti.”

Chevroner talmidim asked the beloved baal tefillah the source of the tune. He explained that this song was unlike all the others that originated from baalei mussar and Chassidic greats. He related that as an orphaned child, he stayed at the Diskin Orphan Home for a period of time.

“There,” he recalled, “a young boy, orphaned of both parents, sat next to me. He was so sad, a broken young boy. He would sit and hum a pitiful tune comprised of notes of longing and pain. That tune emanated from the boy’s wounded soul and always touched me. Every year I use the niggun, and every year I remember that boy.”

Rav Shalom, a man with a vast heart, who was easily touched and touched many, didn’t just find a tune to beautify his tefillos. When he davened, he was b’achdus with everyone in the crowd. He thought about them and their needs, and he did his best to help corral the prayers on high.

He thought of that little boy, the broken orphan, from way back when, singing to himself a haunting tune, seeking to somehow overcome his loneliness and depression.

A humble man full of love for everyone, Rav Shalom connected with that boy and his soul, channeling that emotion into the tefillos as a master representative, a “shliach tzibbur,” attaching himself to his brethren, bringing them all together as one.

Their voices rose along in unison, marshaling their strengths and bringing them to the level of holiness the days call for.

The more we realize that we are part of a group ruled by Hashem, the closer

we will be to realizing our goal. When we grasp that kol yisrael areivim zeh bazeh and comprehend that we are small when we stand alone; but can achieve much when we are united, we will find favor in Hashem’s eyes and in the hearts of our fellow Jews.

“Useshuvah, usefillah, utzedokah maavirin es ro’a hagezeirah.”

One who seeks to improve himself and chart a better course for the new year cleanses himself of his prior wrongs and silliness. He turns to Hashem in tefillah and asks to be returned to His good graces along with the rest of Klal Yisrael. He rises above his selfishness and apathy, accepting others, caring about his fellows, contributing to their welfare and the betterment of mankind. Tzedakah tatzil mimovess, for the more we give, the more we share with others, the more unselfish and humble we are, the more we live b’achdus with everyone, and the greater our chances of a favorable outcome.

Chazal say, “Eizehu chochom? Halomeid mikol odom. Who is wise? One who learns from everyone.” The isolationist is myopic, deprived of the understanding and scope he could have achieved had he been humble enough to learn from others.

Now is the time for cheshbon hanefesh, perceiving what we did right, what we did wrong and what we can do to correct those errors. The process of teshuvah involves charatah al he’ovar and kabbolah al he’osid, regret for the past and positive resolutions for the future. The two must be linked. Engaging in charatah over past failings must bring us to undertake specific kabbalos to better ourselves in the coming year and conscientiously carry them out.

The Rambam states in Hilchos Matnos Aniyim (10:1) that Am Yisroel will merit to be redeemed in the zechus of the mitzvah of tzedakah. Perhaps we can say that the Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed because we lacked achdus and were consumed by sinas chinam. For us to overcome that deficiency and merit the redemption, we have to not judge people cynically and belittle those who are superficially different. We have to make room for them in our hearts, homes, and schools. There is no better way to “put your money where your mouth is,” to show real achdus, than to invest tzedakah money in the dreams and hopes of another.

One who has perfected his ethical conduct to the degree that he can be a productive and harmonious member of the klal is one who can appreciate the oneness and unity of Klal Yisrael and thus fulfills his obligation of shetamlichuni aleichem.

What did that sign hanging in Kelm mean? It meant “Be a mentch, a klal men-

your gaavah so that you can work with others for the common good.

Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel once rose in front of the Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim bais medrash packed with talmidim and issued a plea: “There are many different types of talmidim here, following many different mesoros. There are Sephardim, Chassidim, and immigrants from Russia, along with typical Israeli, American, and European bnei Torah. I urge you all to form minyanim so that you can honor your mesorah and maintain your minhagim.”

The rosh yeshiva paused. “But when seder starts, when it comes time to learning, I want all those groups to merge into one. The olam should all learn together!”

When we see the realization of the tefillah, “Veyei’asu kulam agudah achas,” from all corners of the world, Jews uniting together, “la’asos retzoncha beleivav shaleim,” we will know that we are on the path toward a shenas geulah veyeshuah.

Kesivah vachasimah tovah.

tch, and refine your middos so that you are b’achdus with everyone else.” It meant to accept Hashem’s rule over you and recognize that shetamlichuni aleichem is serious business for serious people in a serious time.

We are entering a month when achdus is the central avodah.

On Rosh Hashanah, we plead for the chance to be an agudah achas. Before Yom Kippur, we ask mechilah from each other.

On Sukkos, we grasp four minim, symbolizing all sorts of Jews. Then, finally, on Simchas Torah, we dance as one, with no more barriers between us.

That’s the avodah of Malchiyos.

Achdus brings to malchus. Recognizing that our roles, distinct as they may be, are part of a single unit, focused on the same goal. Making yourself part of a community doesn’t mean that you have to surrender your personality and individuality. You can be who you are without letting that compromise your loyalty to the community.

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Aaron Feigenbaum September 25th marks a historic day for those fighting against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), which encourages individuals and businesses to shun Israeli companies, organizations, and universities. Thanks to the efforts of the Israeli-American Coalition for Action, which led the anti-BDS push, Governor Jerry Brown officially signed AB 2844 into law. This comes about a month after it was approved by both houses of the California legislature.

Measure AB 2844 adds to the growing list of state bills designed to punish government contractors that refuse to do business with Israel. In California’s case, the language of the bill was toned down to refuse tax dollars only to those contractors that violate the state’s civil rights law while in the process of boycotting a country recognized by the U.S. government. In other words, companies are free to boycott whomever they wish but the state cannot contract with them if their boycott is discriminatory and out of line with state law.

Thus, the language of the bill is designed to avoid any potential First Amendment lawsuits on the part of BDS activists.

Notably, Israel is the only country mentioned by name in the bill. Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), who first proposed the bill, sums it up by

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

saying, “The bottom line is that the state should not subsidize discrimination in any form.” Groups supporting the bill include the Simon Wiesenthal Center, American Jewish Committee, and Agudath Israel of California. In addition to approving this new law, in 2014, Brown had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirming the special relationship between California and Israel, as well as denouncing the BDS movement as “rooted in anti-Semitism.” Reacting to Brown’s

California wants no part of the goals and tactics of the BDS movement. Thanks to this legislation, those who wish to target Jews and Israelis for discrimination will not be doing business with the state of California.”

California was not the first to implement anti-BDS legislation, nor is it likely to be the last. Many other states have quite recently enacted similar legislation. Tennessee’s legislature started the movement in April 2015 with a very strongly worded resolution in which it states that the BDS

signing, Janna Weinstein Smith, director of the American Jewish Committee’s L.A. branch, said “The bill sends the clear and unmistakable message that the state of

platform “undermines the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, which they are fulfilling in the State of Israel.” However, unlike California’s bill, the Tennessee version has no legal weight. Earlier this year, the Virginia legislature passed a similar symbolic resolution denouncing BDS as “inherently antithetical and deeply damaging to the causes of peace, justice, equality, democracy, and human rights for all peoples in the Middle East.”

Other states like Illinois, New York, and New Jersey have passed measures this year that explicitly punish companies that support BDS. New Jersey in particular targets these companies in a way that no other state does by divesting state pension funds from them. Florida’s bill, passed in February of this year, goes a step further than its counterparts by calling for the repeal of the federal Customs and Border Protection’s “West Bank country of origin marking requirements,” which prohibits settlement products from being marked

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as “Made in Israel.” Including California, there are currently 15 states that have passed, if not enacted, anti-BDS legislation.

At the federal level, Congress early this year passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, a huge trade and customs bill that includes a provision that conditions free trade between European countries and the U.S. on the rejection of BDS policies. However, in his signing statement, President Obama opposed the bill’s rejection of boycotts against Israeli businesses in West Bank settlements, noting that the U.S. is officially opposed to the existence of these settlements. While the signing statement has no actual effect on the law itself, it does touch upon a huge point of contention in the BDS debate: Is boycotting only those Israeli products made in West Bank settlements a form of discrimination?

Official European Union and U.S. policy is that labeling products as originating from West Bank settlements is not a form of discrimination and not the same as a boycott of Israel itself. Justifying the U.S. position on labeling, a State Department representative said, “construction, planning, and retroactive legalization of settlements” is illegitimate. The labeling requirement elicited a forceful reaction from members of the Israeli government.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel is “unwilling to accept the fact that the E.U. labels the side being attacked by terror.” Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked went so far as to call the E.U.’s move as “anti-Israel and anti-Jewish.” Israeli officials also argued that the move was a slippery slope that could lead to a ban of all Israeli products.

The E.U. is Israel’s largest trading partner and accounts for about a third of Israel’s total trade. Although settlement goods amount to just over 1% of total exports to the E.U., the labeling requirement has had a very real impact on West Bank settlement businesses. For example, European sales at Shiloh, one of the West Bank’s largest wineries, have virtually dried up since the new policy as European importers are afraid to risk alienating their customer base. Many of these wineries and other West Bank settlement businesses are looking to Switzerland (a non-E.U.

Feature The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

country), countries outside Europe, and the internet for new opportunities.

The E.U. has also targeted companies based in pre-1967 Israeli land for allegedly supporting settlement activities. For example, Luxembourg’s state pension fund targeted Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi and several other Israeli firms for “financing” or “supporting the construction of illegal settlements in occupied territories.” Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark, announced it would boycott Bank Hapoalim for funding settlements. The Norwegian government said it would no longer invest in two Israeli companies due to their funding of East Jerusalem settlements.

On the other hand, some European officials at the state and local levels have helped to hinder BDS. For example, the U.K.’s Cabinet Office Minister issued a measure intended to block extremist anti-Israel city councils from engaging in BDS activities. The mayors of Vienna and Munich both announced a ban on hosting BDS events in city-funded venues. Even Spain, just last year a bastion for BDS supporters, has turned against the movement. Thanks to the work of the Spanish pro-Israel non-profit ACOM, Spain has issued 24 rulings against BDS stretching across the local and federal levels. One of the most notable of these came in January when Spain’s Council of State ordered the government to compensate a West Bank Israeli university $107,000 for excluding it for political reasons from a state-funded science competition. In next-door France, many BDS activists have been convicted of hate crimes; Britain plans to pass its own BDS-related hate laws in the future.

Nevertheless, support for BDS in Europe remains extremely high. The Irish foreign minister recently said that BDS holds a “legitimate political viewpoint” and that the Irish government “does not agree with attempts to demonize those who advocate this policy.” Some stores such as KaDeWe in Berlin have refused to stock Israeli goods. At last year’s Rototom Sunsplash music festival in Spain, organizers cancelled the performance of Jewish-American rapper Matisyahu after he refused to sign a statement supporting a Palestinian state.

Where support for BDS remains even higher, though, is on college campuses, which are increasingly seen as the prima-

Milan Chatterjee

Letter sent by student association president

ry battleground between BDS supporters and pro-Israel activists. Academic boycotts of Israel are especially popular in the U.K. The British Association of Student Teachers voted to boycott Bar-Ilan University and the University of Haifa. (The AUT later rescinded the boycott. Reasons cited included damage to academic freedom and stifling dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.) Last year the School of Oriental and African Studies, considered one of Britain’s most prestigious schools, voted to boycott all Israeli academic institutions. Jewish students at the school say they feel increasingly isolated in a “hostile” anti-Israel environment. In 2013, under pressure from BDS groups, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking announced he was backing out of the Israeli Presidential

Shiloh Winery Vineyards

an Milan Chatterjee

Conference in Jerusalem.

The story repeats itself across many American campuses. Earlier this year, the City University of New York passed a resolution supporting BDS. Weeks before the vote, a professor at the college claimed that killing Palestinians in Gaza “reflects Jewish values.” There are reports of Jewish students there being harassed, including one incident where a student was called a “Zionist pig.” Campus supporters of BDS, including the nationwide Students for Justice in Palestine, frequently rehash old anti-Semitic tropes and dress them up in the cloak of anti-Zionism.

For example, in a case of what might be termed the “Blood Libel 2.0”, a Rutgers University professor accused Israel of harvesting Palestinian organs. At Michigan’s Grand Valley State University this year, swastika graffiti was found on doors of residence halls. The NYU branch of Students for Justice in Palestine hosted the extremely controversial Israeli academic Ilan Pappe, who has been widely criticized by his fellow academicians for his rabidly anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic views. Protestors at SJP rallies are frequently known to compare Israel with Nazism, Jim Crow segregation, and South African apartheid.

BDS on college campuses has created a climate of fear and hostility where honest, civilized discussion about Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are drowned out by loud and abusive propa-

ganda. Such was the case when Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat came to speak at San Francisco State University and was interrupted by protesters shouting, “Intifada, intifada!”

BDS supporters routinely slander university professors who show the slightest support of, or even objectivity, about Israel. Take the case of University of Texas – Austin professor Ami Pedahzur, who was accused of starting a physical confrontation during a lecture about the origins of the IDF when it was actually the protesters who initiated it. Or take Professor Andrew Pessin at Connecticut College, who had to take a year’s absence after students misconstrued his comments about Hamas as being a smear against all Palestinians and reported him to the administration.

Pessin says the students’ actions cost him a promotion.

On the other hand, Professor Steven Salaita was denied a job offer from the University of Illinois because of anti-Israel tweets he made, specifically one where he said, “If you’re defending Israel right now you’re an awful human being.” Supporters of Salaita argue that the university acted against the interests of academic freedom, but his opponents say his tweet shows that were he to be hired by the university, he would have created a hostile climate for pro-Israel students. In a statement, the university said, “Hate speech is never acceptable for those applying for a tenured position, incitement of violence is never acceptable, [and] yes, there must be a relationship between free speech and civility.”

BDS’s reach extends all the way to our own backyard. At UCLA and other local colleges, it has intimidated pro-Israel students and staff. Milan Chatterjee, a pro-Israel Hindu and former president of UCLA’s Graduate Students’ Association, left the university last month to continue his law studies at NYU. Last November, Chatterjee had threatened to pull funding from a student town hall if pro-Palestinian groups used it to promote pro-BDS views. Chatterjee claims he was trying to maintain the association’s neutrality, but he was reprimanded by school officials and has been harassed by BDS supporters since then.

In one of the most egregious examples of BDS discrimination and harassment

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The Week In News Feature

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

at UCLA, when Jewish student Rachel Beyda was questioned during her confirmation hearing for the Student Council’s Judicial Committee, board member Fabienne Roth asked her, “Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”

(Roth later apologized but this line of questioning nevertheless reflects a widespread view amongst anti-Israel groups that Jews hold “dual loyalties.”) The event caught national attention and came a few months after UCLA’s student government voted to boycott Israel. In all, there have been at least 70 testimonials from Jewish students across the UC system describing intimidation and hatred from BDS groups.

However, the influence of BDS on

campuses is starting to wane. A recent report by the Israel on Campus Coalition notes that overall BDS activities across American campuses are on the decline while pro-Israel campus activity is significantly increasing. Anti-Israel activists are now turning to more visceral tactics such as heckling and disrupting pro-Israel rallies and guest speakers. In addition to legal pressure, the BDS movement is now faced with increasingly organized and passionate opposition. Just this past April, a huge international conference of over 50 pro-Israel groups as well as students, professors, and other interested parties came together in L.A. to discuss strategies against BDS. Much talked about during the conference was the unprecedented string of legal victories at the state and

as well as criticized BDS for making dubious connections between racial discrimination against African-Americans and the suffering of Palestinians. Wrapping up the conference, keynote speaker Alan Dershowitz, one of the country’s most famous lawyers and Israel supporters, had this to say: “I feel rejuvenated and optimistic that we will win this battle against BDS, when I see the passion, intelligence and love of Israel here.”

Indeed, if there is any hope of winning the ideological war against BDS, it lies in education, organization and effective strategy in the media, on campus, and in the legislature. California’s new ruling is just one more step on a long road towards an antidote for the poisonous atmosphere BDS has created.

federal levels against BDS. In the words of Noah Pollak, director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, “Showing campus BDS activists that they can’t win on the higher level, that no universities will endorse BDS lest they end up losing state funds or otherwise break the law, demoralizes them.”

Another important theme of the conference was the need to maintain and forge alliances with non-Jewish groups.

One of these groups is Christians United for Israel, who was represented at the conference by campus outreach director David Walker. Walker, an African-American, recently led a group of 35 African-American leaders on an investigatory trip to Israel. He reminded the audience of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s strong support of Israel,

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Quotes The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Notable Quotes “Say What?!”

Fox News has forbidden Sean Hannity from appearing in any more campaign ads for Donald Trump. Fox said, “We want to appear neutral while covering the race between Mr. Trump and that Sickly Lying Witch.”

– Conan O’Brien

Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is working on an autobiography. You can buy it full price at any of his stores or just wait until it is half price in a bin at T.J. Maxx.

– Jimmy Fallon

I look at the accused and see a human being. It is a shame that when he looks at me, he sees the image of a monkey or pig which must be mercilessly destroyed. What a shame.

- Jerusalem magistrate Judge Shmuel Herbst upon sentencing Sheikh Omar Abu Sara for inciting violence against Jews on the Temple Mount

Tonight the main event from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York: Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton in the first of three presidential debates. It was a long 90 minutes. But the results are in and not a single voter changed their mind. A huge waste of time. It’s very hard to believe that there are still undecided voters. The choice is pretty orange-and-white.

– Jimmy Kimmel

I wouldn’t debate the fact that there’s the potential for ISIS terrorists to try to insert themselves, and we see that in some of the refugee camps in Jordan and in Turkey, where they try to insert themselves into the population.

So, Katherine, what do you do?

– Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D- Mass.) when she went over and was chatting with him at a Washington airport

House Speaker Paul Ryan was at the airport and didn’t recognize a three-year congresswoman from Massachusetts and even asked her, “So what do you do?” Ryan realized she was a congresswoman when she answered, “Nothing.”

- Jimmy Fallon

No doubt.

- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on CNN when asked whether he thought Trump would make a strong leader

- State Department spokesman John Kirby on Fox News, acknowledging that there is no real way to vet refugees coming into the U.S.

MORE QUOTES

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Feature The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home

A Vision of Hope On September 22, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the 71st sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Here are his words.

M

r. President, ladies and gentlemen.

What I’m about to say is going to shock you: Israel has a bright future at the UN. Now I know that hearing that from me must surely come as a surprise, because year after year I’ve stood at this very podium and slammed the UN for its obsessive bias against Israel. And the UN deserved every scathing word – for the disgrace of the General Assembly that last year passed 20 resolutions against the democratic State of Israel and a grand total of three resolutions against all the other countries on the planet.

Israel – twenty; rest of the world – three.

And what about the joke called the UN Human Rights Council, which each year condemns Israel more than all the countries of the world combined. As women are being systematically raped, murdered, sold into slavery across the world, which is the only country that the UN’s Commission on Women chose to condemn this year? Yep, you guessed it – Israel. Israel. Israel where women fly fighter jets, lead major corporations, head universities, preside – twice – over the Supreme Court, and have served as Speaker of the Knesset and Prime Minister.

And this circus continues at UNESCO. UNESCO, the UN body

charged with preserving world heritage. Now, this is hard to believe but UNESCO just denied the 4,000-year connection between the Jewish people and its holiest site, the Temple Mount. That’s just as absurd as denying the connection between the Great Wall of China and China.

Ladies and gentlemen, the UN, begun as a moral force, has become a moral farce. So when it comes to Israel at the UN, you’d probably think nothing will ever change, right? Well think again. You see, everything will change and a lot sooner than you think. The change will happen in this hall, because back home, your governments are rapidly changing their attitudes towards Israel. And sooner or later, that’s going to change the way you vote on Israel at the UN. More and more nations in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, more and more nations see Israel as a potent partner – a partner in fighting the terrorism of today, a partner in developing the technology of tomorrow.

Today Israel has diplomatic relations with over 160 countries. That’s nearly double the number that we had when I served here as Israel’s ambassador some 30 years ago. And those ties are getting broader and deeper every day. World leaders increasingly appreciate that Israel is a powerful country with one of the best intelligence services on earth.

Because of our unmatched experience and proven capabilities in fighting terrorism, many of your governments seek our help in keeping your countries safe.

Many also seek to benefit from Israel’s ingenuity in agriculture, in

health, in water, in cyber and in the fusion of big data, connectivity and artificial intelligence – that fusion that is changing our world in every way.

You might consider this: Israel leads the world in recycling wastewater. We recycle about 90% of our wastewater. Now, how remarkable is that? Well, given that the next country on the list only recycles about 20% of its wastewater, Israel is a global water power. So if you have a thirsty world, and we do, there’s no better ally than Israel.

How about cybersecurity? That’s an issue that affects everyone. Israel accounts for one-tenth of one percent of the world’s population, yet last year we attracted some 20% of the global private investment in cybersecurity. I want you to digest that number. In cyber, Israel is punching a whopping 200 times above its weight. So Israel is also a global cyber power. If hackers are targeting your banks, your planes, your power grids and just about everything else, Israel can offer indispensable help.

Governments are changing their attitudes towards Israel because they know that Israel can help them protect their peoples, can help them feed them, can help them better their lives.

This summer I had an unbelievable opportunity to see this change so vividly during an unforgettable visit to four African countries. This is the first visit to Africa by an Israeli prime minister in decades. Later today, I’ll be meeting with leaders from 17 African countries. We’ll discuss how Israeli technology can help

them in their efforts to transform their countries.

In Africa, things are changing.

In China, India, Russia, Japan, attitudes towards Israel have changed as well. These powerful nations know that, despite Israel’s small size, it can make a big difference in many, many areas that are important to them.

But now I’m going to surprise you even more. You see, the biggest change in attitudes towards Israel is taking place elsewhere. It’s taking place in the Arab world. Our peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan continue to be anchors of stability in the volatile Middle East. But I have to tell you this: for the first time in my lifetime, many other states in the region recognize that Israel is not their enemy. They recognize that Israel is their ally. Our common enemies are Iran and ISIS. Our common goals are security, prosperity and peace. I believe that in the years ahead we will work together to achieve these goals, work together openly.

So Israel’s diplomatic relations are undergoing nothing less than a revolution. But in this revolution, we never forget that our most cherished alliance, our deepest friendship is with the United States of America, the most powerful and the most generous nation on earth. Our unbreakable bond with the United States of America transcends parties and politics. It reflects, above all else, the overwhelming support for Israel among the American people, support which is at record highs and for which we are deeply grateful.

The United Nations denounces Israel; the United States supports

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Israel. And a central pillar of that defense has been America’s consistent support for Israel at the UN. I appreciate President Obama’s commitment to that longstanding U.S. policy. In fact, the only time that the United States cast a UN Security Council veto during the Obama presidency was against an anti-Israel resolution in 2011. As President Obama rightly declared at this podium, peace will not come from statements and resolutions at the United Nations.

I believe the day is not far off when Israel will be able to rely on many, many countries to stand with us at the UN. Slowly but surely, the days when UN ambassadors reflexively condemn Israel, those days are coming to an end.

Ladies and gentlemen, today’s automatic majority against Israel at the UN reminds me of the story, the incredible story of Hiroo Onada. Hiroo was a Japanese soldier who was sent to the Philippines in 1944. He lived in the jungle. He scavenged for food.

He evaded capture. Eventually he surrendered, but that didn’t happen until 1974, some 30 years after World War II ended. For decades, Hiroo refused to believe the war was over.

As Hiroo was hiding in the jungle, Japanese tourists were swimming in pools in American luxury hotels in nearby Manila. Finally, mercifully, Hiroo’s former commanding officer was sent to persuade him to come out of hiding. Only then did Hiroo lay down his arms.

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates from so many lands, I have one message for you today: Lay down your arms. The war against Israel at the UN is over. Perhaps some of you don’t know it yet, but I am confident that one day in the not too distant future you will also get the message from your president or from your prime minister informing you that the war against Israel at the United Nations has ended. Yes, I know, there might be a storm before the calm. I know there is talk about ganging up on Israel at the UN later this year. Given its history of hostility towards Israel, does anyone really believe that Israel will let the UN determine our security and our vital national interests?

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We will not accept any attempt by the UN to dictate terms to Israel. The road to peace runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not through New York.

But regardless of what happens in the months ahead, I have total confidence that in the years ahead the revolution in Israel’s standing among the nations will finally penetrate this hall of nations. I have so much confidence, in fact, that I predict that a decade from now an Israeli prime

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throughout the developing world?

The sooner the UN’s obsession with Israel ends, the better. The better for Israel, the better for your countries, the better for the UN itself.

Ladies and gentlemen, if UN habits die hard, Palestinian habits die even harder. President Abbas just attacked from this podium the Balfour Declaration. He’s preparing a lawsuit against Britain for that declaration from 1917. That’s almost 100

The sooner the UN’s obsession with Israel ends, the better. The better for Israel, the better for your countries, the better for the UN itself.

minister will stand right here where I am standing and actually applaud the UN. But I want to ask you: Why do we have to wait a decade? Why keep vilifying Israel? Perhaps because some of you don’t appreciate that the obsessive bias against Israel is not just a problem for my country, it’s a problem for your countries too.

Because if the UN spends so much time condemning the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, it has far less time to address war, disease, poverty, climate change and all the other serious problems that plague the planet.

Are the half million slaughtered Syrians helped by your condemnation of Israel? The same Israel that has treated thousands of injured Syrians in our hospitals, including a field hospital that I built right along the Golan Heights border with Syria.

Are the gays hanging from cranes in Iran helped by your denigration of Israel? That same Israel where gays march proudly in our streets and serve in our parliament, including I’m proud to say in my own Likud party. Are the starving children in North Korea’s brutal tyranny, are they helped by your demonization of Israel? Israel, whose agricultural knowhow is feeding the hungry

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years ago – talk about being stuck in the past. The Palestinians may just as well sue Iran for the Cyrus Declaration, which enabled the Jews to rebuild our Temple in Jerusalem 2,500 years ago. Come to think of it, why not a Palestinian class action suit against Abraham for buying that plot of land in Hebron where the fathers and mothers of the Jewish people were buried 4,000 years ago? You’re not laughing. It’s as absurd as that.

To sue the British government for the Balfour Declaration? Is he kidding?

And this is taken seriously here?

President Abbas attacked the Balfour Declaration because it recognized the right of the Jewish people to a national home in the land of Israel. When the United Nations supported the establishment of a Jewish state in 1947, it recognized our historical and our moral rights in our homeland and to our homeland. Yet today, nearly 70 years later, the Palestinians still refuse to recognize those rights – not our right to a homeland, not our right to a state, not our right to anything. And this remains the true core of the conflict, the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize the Jewish state in any boundary. You see, this conflict is not about the settlements. It never was.

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The conflict raged for decades before there was a single settlement, when Judea Samaria and Gaza were all in Arab hands. The West Bank and Gaza were in Arab hands and they attacked us again and again and again. And when we uprooted all 21 settlements in Gaza and withdrew from every last inch of Gaza, we didn’t get peace from Gaza – we got thousands of rockets fired at us from Gaza.

This conflict rages because for the Palestinians, the real settlements they’re after are Haifa, Jaffa and Tel Aviv.

Now mind you, the issue of settlements is a real one and it can and must be resolved in final status negotiations. But this conflict has never been about the settlements or about establishing a Palestinian state. It’s always been about the existence of a Jewish state, a Jewish state in any boundary.

Ladies and gentlemen, Israel is ready, I am ready, to negotiate all final status issues but one thing I will never negotiate: Our right to the one and only Jewish state.

Wow, sustained applause for the Prime Minister of Israel in the General Assembly? The change may be coming sooner than I thought.

Had the Palestinians said yes to a Jewish state in 1947, there would have been no war, no refugees and no conflict. And when the Palestinians finally say yes to a Jewish state, we will be able to end this conflict once and for all.

Now here’s the tragedy, because, see, the Palestinians are not only trapped in the past, their leaders are poisoning the future.

I want you to imagine a day in the life of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy; I’ll call him Ali. Ali wakes up before school, he goes to practice with a soccer team named after Dalal Mughrabi, a Palestinian terrorist responsible for the murder of a busload of 37 Israelis. At school, Ali attends an event sponsored by the Palestinian Ministry of Education honoring Baha Alyan, who last year murdered three Israeli civilians. On his walk home, Ali looks up at a towering statue erected just a few weeks ago by the Palestinian Authority to honor Abu Sukar, who detonated a bomb in the center

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of Jerusalem, killing 15 Israelis.

When Ali gets home, he turns on the TV and sees an interview with a senior Palestinian official, Jibril Rajoub, who says that if he had a nuclear bomb, he’d detonate it over Israel that very day. Ali then turns on the radio and he hears President Abbas’s adviser, Sultan Abu al-Einein, urging Palestinians, here’s a quote, “to slit the throats of Israelis wherever you find them.” Ali checks his Facebook and he sees a recent post by President Abbas’s Fatah Party calling the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics a “heroic act.” On YouTube, Ali watches a clip of President Abbas himself saying, “We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem.” Direct quote.

Over dinner, Ali asks his mother what would happen if he killed a Jew and went to an Israeli prison. Here’s what she tells him. She tells him he’d be paid thousands of dollars each month by the Palestinian Authority.

In fact, she tells him, the more Jews he would kill, the more money he’d get. Oh, and when he gets out of prison, Ali would be guaranteed a job with the Palestinian Authority.

Ladies and gentlemen, all this is real. It happens every day, all the time. Sadly, Ali represents hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children who are indoctrinated with hate every moment, every hour.

This is child abuse.

Imagine your child undergoing this brainwashing. Imagine what it takes for a young boy or girl to break free out of this culture of hate. Some do but far too many don’t. How can any of us expect young Palestinians to support peace when their leaders poison their minds against peace?

We in Israel don’t do this. We educate our children for peace. In fact, we recently launched a pilot program – my government did – to make the study of Arabic mandatory for Jewish children so that we can better understand each other, so that we can live together side-by-side in peace.

Of course, like all societies, Israel has fringe elements. But it’s our response to those fringe elements, it’s our response to those fringe elements that makes all the difference.

Take the tragic case of Ahmed Dawabsha. I’ll never forget visiting

Ahmed in the hospital just hours after he was attacked. A little boy, really a baby, he was badly burned.

Ahmed was the victim of a horrible terrorist act perpetrated by Jews.

He lay bandaged and unconscious as Israeli doctors worked around the clock to save him.

No words can bring comfort to this boy or to his family. Still, as I stood by his bedside I told his uncle, “This is not our people. This is not our way.” I then ordered extraordinary measures to bring Ahmed’s assailants to justice and today the Jewish citizens of Israel accused of attacking the Dawabsha family are in jail awaiting trial.

Now, for some, this story shows that both sides have their extremists

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world today offer a unique opportunity to advance that peace.

I commend President el-Sissi of Egypt for his efforts to advance peace and stability in our region. Israel welcomes the spirit of the Arab peace initiative and welcomes a dialogue with Arab states to advance a broader peace. I believe that for that broader peace to be fully achieved the Palestinians have to be part of it. I’m ready to begin negotiations to achieve this today – not tomorrow, not next week – today.

President Abbas spoke here an hour ago. Wouldn’t it be better if instead of speaking past each other we were speaking to one another? President Abbas, instead of railing against Israel at the United Nations in New

This conflict rages because for the Palestinians, the real settlements they’re after are Haifa, Jaffa and Tel Aviv.

and both sides are equally responsible for this seemingly endless conflict.

But what Ahmed’s story actually proves is the very opposite. It illustrates the profound difference between our two societies, because while Israeli leaders condemn terrorists, all terrorists, Arabs and Jews alike, Palestinian leaders celebrate terrorists. While Israel jails the handful of Jewish terrorists among us, the Palestinians pay thousands of terrorists among them.

So I call on President Abbas: you have a choice to make. You can continue to stoke hatred as you did today or you can finally confront hatred and work with me to establish peace between our two peoples.

Ladies and gentlemen, I hear the buzz. I know that many of you have given up on peace. But I want you to know – I have not given up on peace.

I remain committed to a vision of peace based on two states for two peoples. I believe as never before that changes taking place in the Arab

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York, I invite you to speak to the Israeli people at the Knesset in Jerusalem. And I would gladly come to speak to the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah.

Ladies and gentlemen, while Israel seeks peace with all our neighbors, we also know that peace has no greater enemy than the forces of militant Islam. The bloody trail of this fanaticism runs through all the continents represented here. It runs through Paris and Nice, Brussels and Baghdad, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Minnesota and New York, from Sydney to San Bernardino. So many have suffered its savagery: Christian and Jews, women and gays, Yazidis and Kurds and many, many others.

Yet the heaviest price, the heaviest price of all has been paid by innocent Muslims. Hundreds of thousands unmercifully slaughtered.

Millions turned into desperate refugees, tens of millions brutally subjugated. The defeat of militant Islam will thus be a victory for all humanity, but it would especially be a victory

for those many Muslims who seek a life without fear, a life of peace, a life of hope.

But to defeat the forces of militant Islam, we must fight them relentlessly. We must fight them in the real world. We must fight them in the virtual world. We must dismantle their networks, disrupt their funding, discredit their ideology. We can defeat them and we will defeat them.

Medievalism is no match for modernity. Hope is stronger than hate, freedom mightier than fear.

We can do this.

Ladies and gentlemen, Israel fights this fateful battle against the forces of militant Islam every day. We keep our borders safe from ISIS, we prevent the smuggling of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, we thwart Palestinian terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, and we deter missile attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza.

That’s the same Hamas terror organization that cruelly, unbelievably cruelly, refuses to return three of our citizens and the bodies of our fallen soldiers, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin. Hadar Goldin’s parents, Leah and Simcha Goldin, are here with us today. They have one request – to bury their beloved son in Israel. All they ask for is one simple thing – to be able to visit the grave of their fallen son Hadar in Israel. Hamas refuses. They couldn’t care less.

I implore you to stand with them, with us, with all that’s decent in our world against the inhumanity of Hamas – all that is indecent and barbaric. Hamas breaks every humanitarian rule in the book, throw the book at them.

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest threat to my country, to our region, and ultimately to our world remains the militant Islamic regime of Iran. Iran openly seeks Israel’s annihilation. It threatens countries across the Middle East, it sponsors terror worldwide.

This year, Iran has fired ballistic missiles in direct defiance of Security Council Resolutions. It has expended its aggression in Iraq, in Syria, in Yemen. Iran, the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism continued to build its global terror net-

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work. That terror network now spans five continents.

So my point to you is this: The threat Iran poses to all of us is not behind us, it’s before us. In the coming years, there must be a sustained and united effort to push back against Iran’s aggression and Iran’s terror.

With the nuclear constraints on Iran one year closer to being removed, let me be clear: Israel will not allow the terrorist regime in Iran to develop nuclear weapons – not now, not in a decade, not ever.

Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today at a time when Israel’s former president, Shimon Peres, is fighting for his life. Shimon is one of Israel’s founding fathers, one of its boldest statesmen, one of its most respected leaders. I know you will all join me and join all the people of Israel in wishing him refuah shlemah Shimon, a speedy recovery.

I’ve always admired Shimon’s boundless optimism, and like him, I too am filled with hope. I am filled

The Jewish Home | OCTOBER 29, 2015 SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

with hope because Israel is capable of defending itself by itself against any threat. I am filled with hope because the valor of our fighting men and

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Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, everyone. And I am filled with hope because despite all the naysayers, I believe that in the years ahead, Israel

I am ready, to negotiate all final status issues but one thing I will never negotiate: Our right to the one and only Jewish state.

women is second to none. I am filled with hope because I know the forces of civilization will ultimately triumph over the forces of terror. I am filled with hope because in the age of innovation, Israel – the innovation nation – is thriving as never before.

I am filled with hope because Israel works tirelessly to advance equality and opportunity for all its citizens:

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will forge a lasting peace with all our neighbors.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am hopeful about what Israel can accomplish because I’ve seen what Israel has accomplished. In 1948, the year of Israel’s independence, our population was 800,000. Our main export was oranges. People said then we were too small, too weak, too isolated, too

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demographically outnumbered to survive, let alone thrive. The skeptics were wrong about Israel then; the skeptics are wrong about Israel now.

Israel’s population has grown tenfold, our economy fortyfold. Today our biggest export is technology – Israeli technology, which powers the world’s computers, cellphones, cars and so much more.

Ladies and gentlemen, the future belongs to those who innovate and this is why the future belongs to countries like Israel. Israel wants to be your partner in seizing that future, so I call on all of you: Cooperate with Israel, embrace Israel, dream with Israel. Dream of the future that we can build together, a future of breathtaking progress, a future of security, prosperity and peace, a future of hope for all humanity, a future where even at the UN, even in this hall, Israel will finally, inevitably, take its rightful place among the nations.

Thank you.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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MIRYAM’S HOUSE

Communicated

SHABBATONS

YOM TOV PROGRAMS EVENING EVENTS

CAMP EXTREME BOYS

HELPLINE

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Project Extreme Enjoys a Successful Summer 2016

CAMP EXTREME GIRLS

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Project Extreme is tremendously thankful to our summer 2016 sponsors, program supporters, and loving staff for allowing us to complete another highly successful summer! Camp Extreme for Boys took place this year during the month of July in the Canadian Rockies, while Camp Extreme for Girls was held in August on our beautiful and serene Midwest campus.

The Project Extreme 2016 summer programs were successful for a myriad of reasons. Each one of the therapeutic programs was led by Director and Founder, Rabbi A.Y. Weinberg. Simcha Lebowicz, LMSW, Project Extreme’s Clinical Director attended both programs as well.

Boys and Girls Division Head Counselors Laizer Shtundel and Leora Reichenberg supported all programs, as well as 13-17 additional counselors and staff members who were required to attend a six-day intensive training session before the program started. Additional staff meetings took place every morning and provided appropriate guidance and supervision.

Each program boasted a 1:1 staff to participant ratio.

While many participants in the 2016 Boys program originated from New York, others traveled from as far away as Israel, England, and Australia. The Girls Division included participants from Brooklyn, Lakewood, Detroit, Miami, and Providence.

Each Camp Extreme day included learning groups, known in Camp Extreme as QTIPS: Questions, Thoughts, Ideas, and Perceptions. QTIPS were an opportunity for campers to individually learn a topic of their choosing. Campers were paired with staff and had the option to discuss Jewish philosophy and values, specific mitzvos, or even focus on their kriyah (Hebrew reading) skills. Campers had selected their topic and explored it at their desired level. Questions were encouraged and applauded.

High ropes courses, horseback riding, white water rafting and more, filled the bulk of each day. Through challenging team-building activities, the group further developed their personal connection and sense of belonging within the Camp Extreme culture. These exhilarating activities increased the camaraderie in the Project Extreme programs and enabled the participants to work together towards a mutual goal. Strong group dynamics was apparent and essential in allowing each participant to feel comfortable, safe, and welcome.

Processing took place after each main activity or as needed throughout the day.

For example, a regular camp activity such as swimming could cause much anxiety

for those with a poor body image, basketball and team sports stressed out those that feel they are always picked last. Each activity in Camp Extreme was digested by the group in order to teach healthy life tools and positive ways to overcome stressful or uncomfortable situations. Processing was also done with situations that affect the group such as instances of bullying, theft, or lying.

Group sessions took place around a serene evening camp fire. The darkness freed participants from their inhibitions and allowed them to talk openly and publicly about their feelings. Session topics included identifying methods for positive change, why bad things happen to good people, making Shabbos meaningful and relevant, Torah basics, and overcoming past trauma.

Technology often prevents people from connecting with others in meaningful ways. For this reason, cell phones, internet, video devices, and access to all social media were banned during Project Extreme programs. The lack of technology was a significant change for the participants, however, they relearned how to interact with their peers and live in the present. Additional lifestyle changes included early wake-up and a strict lightsout time. This sleep schedule change was significant for many, but a reset of the group’s internal clock was integral to the participants’ growth.

Challenges that some dealt with in the beginning of the program, gradually improved over the summer and it was wonderful to see how the campers enjoyed themselves, got along well with the other participants and staff, cooperated, and were in positive spirits. This was never taken for granted. Each of our participants struggled with individual conflicts and pain. Of course, not every minute was smooth, and not every camper was agreeable at every moment, but both groups discovered that Camp Extreme 2016 was a place for growth, security, and longterm friendship.

Project Extreme is now creating the 2016-2017 program calendar. Before the summer 2017 therapeutic programs begin, Project Extreme will host quarterly holiday programs, monthly weekend retreats, weekly evening events, crisis and guidance hotline, and continue Miryam’s House, our transitional living shelter for young women.

For more information about Project Extreme’s lifesaving programs, including our upcoming Girls Division Sukkos program, please visit www.projectextreme. org or contact 516-612-3922, info@projectextreme.org.

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Travel Guide: Buenos Aires Aaron Feigenbaum Sometimes referred to as the “Paris of the South,” Argentina’s capital has a distinctive mix of Latin and European culture that has made it one of South America’s most exciting travel destinations. With its winding cobblestone streets, the tree-lined Avenida de Mayo and picturesque cafes, it’s hard not to see a Parisian resemblance.

Similarly, the grand Plaza de Mayo square would not be out of place in Madrid, while the opulent Teatro Colon looks like it was transplanted from Vienna. At the same time though, you can tell this is a South American city by the leather shoe stands, tango salons, and parades of victorious soccer fans. From its world-class art museums to its beautifully manicured parks to the hip Palermo shopping area to its thriving nightlife, Buenos Aires is a city that exudes passion and an appreciation for culture. If you’re interested in seeing one of the world’s most vibrant and creative cities, then be sure to make Buenos Aires your next travel destination.

History Originally populated by nomadic hunter-gatherers, the first attempt by Westerners at settling the area now known as Buenos Aires was made by Spanish explorer Pedro de Mendoza in 1536. However, despite arriving with a force almost three times the size of the one Cortes used to conquer the Aztecs, Mendoza’s expedition was poorly planned and the Spanish explorers went to war with the indigenous Querandi tribes just to get enough food.

Mendoza fled back to Spain.

The next attempt occurred in 1580, when the much better equipped Juan de Garay brought forces from Asuncion (now in Paraguay) to finally establish a Spanish foothold in the Rio de la Plata region (now Buenos Aires). He succeeded and established a small colony. As Spain’s northern settlements grew and as the empire increasingly found itself at war with indigenous populations, Buenos Aires soon grew economically to meet the increased demand for resources. Buenos Aires was made the capital of the Rio de la Plata region.

This increased economic importance and political power for the city also meant that calls for independence would grow louder. After Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808 and put his brother on the throne, Buenos Aires declared its independence in 1810. Juan Manuel de Rosas became the governor of Buenos Aires and soon became known as a strongman who required all trade to come through the city rather than the provinces and who instituted torture and heavy-handed police tactics.

De Rosas was overthrown in 1852 and the city re-stabilized. The economy continued to grow and waves of immigrants poured in from across Europe. These immigrants helped give Buenos Aires its rich

multicultural heritage as evidenced today through the city’s museums, avenues, and tango culture. The city entered a golden age of commerce and culture in the early 1900s. The election of the Radical Party in 1916 meant that Argentina’s middle class had a voice for the first time. However, after the Wall Street crash of 1929, things took a dramatic downturn as the economy plummeted and martial law was instituted.

In 1946, Juan Peron, who believed in a watered-down version of Mussolini’s fascism, came to power through the support of the working class. He quickly nationalized many key industries, and his reign was marked by crackdowns on his political opponents and economic failure.

Peron was overthrown and the country underwent a series of military coups over the next two decades. In 1976, Peron’s third wife, Isabelita, had been serving as president and was overthrown by Jorge Rafael Videla, who would prove to be the most ruthless leader in the country’s history.

Videla killed tens of thousands of alleged left-wingers in what were known as “disappearances.”

Eventually economic corruption and popular resentment took down the dictatorship, and the country returned to de-

mocracy in 1983. Since then, Buenos Aires (and Argentina as a whole) has had to deal with systematic corruption and economic hardships. Nevertheless, Buenos Aires is one of South America’s most sophisticated and booming cities. It remains Argentina’s cultural heart and is one of the continent’s prime tourist attractions.

Attractions Jewish Buenos Aires: The city of Buenos Aires is home to about 250,000 Jews, making it the sixth-largest Jewish population in the world and largest in Latin America. After the country’s independence, massive numbers of Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews immigrated to Argentina.

Many became gauchos (farmers). Despite the tragic 1992 Israeli embassy and 1994 Jewish cultural center terrorist bombings, the Jewish community of Buenos Aires remains strong and has contributed in countless ways to Argentine society.

Historically, the Jewish community here has been centered in the Once district.

Start your walking tour at the Gran Templo Paso, one of Buenos Aires’s oldest and most beautiful shuls. Founded in 1930 and located on Paso Street, it has been designated a heritage site by the city and besides having daily services also offers a variety

Buenos Aires’ Holocaust Museum

Colonia del Sacramento

El Ateneo Grand Splendid

Israeli Embassy bombing, 1992

San Antonio de Areco

Plaza de Mayo

Ushuaia

Tigre Delta

of cultural activities including a tango orchestra. Just off Paso Street is Lavalle Street, where you’ll not only find some of the city’s best general shopping stores (including the massive Abasto Shopping mall) but also many other shuls and kosher restaurants.

The Byzantine-styled Templo Libertad, located just off Lavalle, is the city’s oldest shul and has a Jewish history museum located right next door. The museum was founded by Dr. Salvador Kibrick, who donated pieces brought to Argentina

by Jewish agricultural settlers from their homeland in the late 1800s. These include exquisite menoros, spice holders and Jewish art. For security reasons, a passport is required to enter the museum.

Continue your exploration of Jewish Buenos Aires by visiting the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina or Jewish community center that was the site of the 1994 bombing which took 85 lives. The center continues to be the heart of Jewish cultural activity in the city, putting on everything from plays to films to ballet. Buenos Aires has one of the world’s four remaining daily Yiddish newspapers. You can find a list of publishers of the newspaper at the community center. A monument by artists Yaakov Agam to the victims stands nearby the center. Also nearby (located near the Retiro train station) is the Israeli embassy building and a memorial to the victims of that attack.

Buenos Aires’s Holocaust Museum provides a look at the Holocaust through an Argentine lens. You can hear and see not only a general account of the Holocaust but the stories of Jewish refugees who found a new home in Argentina, as well as hear the shameful legacy of Argentine leader Juan Peron providing safe haven to Nazi war criminals such as Adolf Eichmann. (Ironically, Peron was also the first Latin American leader to recognize Israel and allowed Jews to hold public office in Argentina for the first time.)

Lastly, if you feel like it, you can visit the former home of top Nazi Adolf Eichmann. Located at 4261 Garibaldi Street, Eichmann was abducted here by the Mossad under the leadership of Isser Harel and sent to Israel for trial and later execution.

Harel later wrote an account of the operation called “The House on Garibaldi Street,” which was later made into a movie of the same name.

Teatro Colon: Considered one of the world’s best theaters by many, the luxurious Teatro Colon is the only building of its kind in Argentina. It’s renowned for its spectacular opera, classical music and ballet performances with excellent acoustics to match. From Pavarotti to Stravinsky to Strauss, the Teatro Colon has hosted some of the biggest names in traditional music.

The seven-story building is decorated with Italian marble, Venetian mosaics, French stained glass, 24-karat gold leaf, and more opulent furnishings to put it on par with the most beautiful opera houses in Europe.

Beneath the main building is the Centro Experimental, a small theater used for avant-garde performances. Even if you’re

Travel The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Patagonia, Argentina

not a fan of the music, a trip to Buenos Aires would not be complete without a tour of this majestic building. Guided tours take visitors through the rehearsal rooms to the costume and scenery workshops and then to a box seat where you get a great view of the stage.

Plaza de Mayo: Since its construction in 1580, the Plaza de Mayo has witnessed some of Argentina’s most turbulent events including the one that gave it its name – the rebellion against Spanish rule on May 25, 1810. In the center of the square is the Piramide de Mayo, which was constructed to mark the first anniversary of the revolution and is the country’s oldest monument.

An equestrian statue of General Manuel Belgrano, the designer of Argentina’s flag, sits nearby. The square remains the traditional site for protests, rallies, and ceremonies. It was here that anti-Peron planes bombed pro-Peron demonstrators in 1955 and where bloody rioting broke out in 2001. On a more positive note, it was also where the country celebrated its bicentennial in 2010. Every Thursday afternoon the “Mothers of the Disappeared” march to demand justice for the thousands of people who “disappeared” during the military junta of 1976-83.

Centro Cultural Kirchner: Established by the late Argentine president Nestor Kirchner, this massive complex is one of Buenos Aires’s premiere museums. Located inside the former main post office, the center holds art galleries, auditoriums, and event halls and the massive La Ballena Azul, a concert hall that is home to Argentina’s national orchestra and sits almost 2000 people. The people behind its construction say, “The idea is to count with a modern space dedicated to artistic manifestations, as part of a democratic political project that seeks to promote inclusion, popular participation, and to facilitate the access of cultural assets to the community.” In line with that philosophy, entry to this world-class institution (the largest of its kind in Latin America) is free.

Recoleta Cemetery: A cemetery might not sound like the best attraction but in

fact Recoleta is perhaps the most popular sight of all in Buenos Aires. This labyrinth of elaborately designed tombs is the final resting place for some of Argentina’s most wealthy and powerful. It has been ranked one of the world’s most beautiful cemeteries. Among the famous people buried here are Eva Peron (the wife of president Juan Peron popularly known as Evita), boxer Luis Firpo, and Admiral William Brown (founder of the Argentine Navy), as well as numerous presidents of Argentina.

Free tours in Spanish are offered Tuesday through Friday. The surrounding neighborhood of Recoleta is one of Buenos Aires’s most picturesque sites. It’s here that find the city’s best architecture, hotels, and shops.

Museo Nacional de Belles Artes: This museum is undoubtedly the world’s largest and most important collection of Argentine art. It houses an impressive international collection spanning the Middle Ages to the present. The famous battle scenes of one-armed painter Candido Lopez and the peaceful landscape portraits of Eduardo Sivori are just some of the celebrated works on display. Of particular note is the “Panels of the Conquest of Mexico,” where Latin American and European blend seamlessly. Also exhibited are pieces from the traditional European masters such as Monet, Picasso, and Rembrandt. A wing for contemporary Argentine art, some of which is little known outside the country, comprises the single largest section of the museum. Free tours are offered on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

MALBA: If modern art interests you, then be sure this museum where you’ll see a collection of over 200 works from the private collection of the museum’s founder, Eduardo Constantini. The permanent collection spans the whole of the 20th century up to the present. Influential art movements such as the surrealism of the 1940s and 50s and the minimalist and pop art of the 1960s and ‘70s are represented through well known artists like Frida Kahlo and Alejandro Solar.

Casa Rosada: As the building housing

the official offices of the President of Argentina, this pink-red mansion is one of Argentina’s most recognizable landmarks.

It sits at the eastern side of Plaza de Mayo and it’s from the balcony that Eva Peron rallied crowds of enthralled Argentines.

The palace is open for free guided tours.

Just behind it you’ll find a glass wedge marking the location of the underground Museo del Bicentenario, a museum dedicated to Argentina’s tumultuous political

history. Each room covers a different section of that history and includes artifacts such as Evita’s gown as well as impressive local art exhibits. Also behind Casa Rosada are the little known 18th century catacombs of Fuerte Viejo.

Parque Tres de Febrero: The center of outdoors life in Buenos Aires, this spacious park is perfect for an afternoon of fun and relaxation. It’s filled with lakes and paddleboats, gazebos, a monument

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Travel The Week In News to Argentina’s famous writers and a rose garden. Also located on the park grounds are a museum dedicated to artist Eduardo Sivori, the Buenos Aires Zoo, a planetarium and one of the world’s largest Japanese gardens outside Japan.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid: If there’s one place where printed books aren’t going out of style, it’s Buenos Aires. The city has more bookstores per person than any other city in the world. One of its most renowned and beautiful bookstores is El Ateneo. Housed in a former theater, the grandeur and opulence of this store manages to attract over a million customers per year.

The store also holds book fairs, which are usually packed to capacity. The store has been ranked one of the world’s best bookshops by The Guardian newspaper.

Day trips: For a look at the life of gauchos (who are somewhat akin to American cowboys), visit San Antonio de Areco, located 70 miles north of Buenos Aires. Ranches offer public tours where you can ride horses and see the gauchos demonstrate their expert ridership. Back in town, you’ll feel like you’re in a Latin Old West as you step into the silversmith shops selling spurs, belt buckles, and other gaucho souvenirs. The Museo Gauchesco Ricardo Giraldes is where the history and traditions of the gaucho community. If you come here in November, you can witness a gaucho festival that includes folk dancing, music, and horse riding demonstrations.

Colonia del Sacramento, located an hour away by ferry in the neighboring

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country of Uruguay, is a charming colonial town filled with cobblestone streets and buildings dating back to Spanish rule. The town has been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its historical and cultural significance. Head to the nearby lighthouse for a panoramic view of the town and the Rio de la Plata region, or to the great beaches.

Another excellent stop in Uruguay is the nation’s capital, Montevideo. Located about three hours across the Rio de la Plata, you’ll catch spectacular views of Uruguay’s coastline on your way in. The city itself is another one of South America’s premier cultural centers. Visit the stunning Teatro Solis and explore the activity-packed Plaza Independencia. Montevideo also has world-class museums, shows, street festivals, and parks that are worth checking out.

The lush, green countryside of Tigre Delta is a perfect place to get away from the big city and take a relaxing river cruise.

You’ll learn how this former swamp became a developed area with fresh water canals and grass paths. You’ll pass by beautiful waterfront homes, yacht clubs, and a museum dedicated to former Argentine president Sarmiento.

La Plata is the capital of the province of Buenos Aires. Like the city of Buenos Aires, La Plata has a very rich culture and history. Explore the city’s charming colonial buildings and the Natural Science Museum. The latter boasts over two million artifacts including many fascinating ar-

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chaeological discoveries from Argentina’s Patagonia region. The city is also home to the Teatro Argentino de la Plata, one of the country’s leading opera houses.

Although it’s not really a trip that can be completed in a day, if you’re interested in an unforgettable outdoors adventure and have the time and resources to do it, a visit to the breathtaking Patagonia is a must. From glaciers to soaring mountains to vast, green fields, Patagonia is a wild and beautiful land that’s like no other on Earth. Hiking, river rafting, horseback riding, mountain climbing, you name it – virtually every desire can be fulfilled in this pristine outdoor wonderland. The centerpiece of the region is the Torres del Paine National Park, ranked as one of the most beautiful places in the world by National Geographic. Hang out with friendly penguins on Isla Martillo. Continue to the awe-inspiringly large Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park at the Argentine-Chilean border. Set in Patagonia’s alpines, San Carlos de Bariloche is one of the world’s best ski resorts, and the nearby lake is truly postcard-worthy. End your adventure at Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world and the main port of departure for cruises to Antarctica. Take a boat trip to Cape Horn, the southernmost point in South America.

Daven and Eat Buenos Aires has an abundant selection of shuls to choose from including the magnificent Gran Templo Paso, the Templo Libertad (the city’s oldest shul), and

Chabad (jabadrecoleta.com).

Similarly, there is no shortage of kosher restaurants. Buenos Aires is world-famous for its cuisine, in particular its legendary steaks. These can be found at Asian, an upscale kosher steakhouse, or at the popular Al Galope restaurant – both also serve an excellent selection of locally produced kosher wine. If you’re in the mood for sushi try Sushi Ko in the Arturo Segui district, or if you fancy pizza try the well-reviewed Romini pizza shop in the Tucuman district.

If you’re in a rush, stop by Abasto Shopping, one of the country’s largest shopping centers, to eat at the only kosher McDonald’s outside of Israel.

Getting There and Around Plane tickets from LAX to Buenos Aires currently run at around $800 per person round trip. From the airport, you can catch a taxi, public bus, coach bus, Uber or limo.

Public transportation in Buenos Aires is generally quite good although it can be very crowded during rush hour. The metro, called the Subte, stops near most of the major tourist attractions. The SUBE card works with all forms of public transportation although you inconveniently can’t buy it at stations; instead you must look for stores that sell them. Taxis in the city are also cheap but not quite as fast. Renting a car is not recommended due to the unpredictable nature of traffic and the tendency of locals to ignore traffic laws. Overall though, Buenos Aires is a very walkable city given its easy-to-follow grid system and centrally located attractions.

PEYD The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Get Your Rewards Cards Before They’re Gone!

Recently, several prominent credit cards had a makeover in terms of regulation and application restrictions, leaving longtime customers high and dry. Both Chase and CitiBank have introduced new guidelines regarding eligibility for new cards, specifically irking travel gurus who utilize their cards and points to maximize on rewards and travel.

Chase is one of the most accessible and well-known banks in the U.S. It should come as no surprise that with great cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred, it has become fairly common for people to apply for several of their rewards cards simultaneously for ultimate value. To the dismay of Chase loyalists everywhere, the 5/24 rule has taken over. The company has told customers, “Chase will not issue you a new Chase credit card if you have opened five or more credit cards over the past 24 months.” To add insult to injury, this includes any card in which the applicant is considered an authorized user. Theoretically, a person with outstanding credit and years of customer loyalty would be duly denied without reprieve. Ouch.

On August 28th, CitiBank updated their rules regarding rewards, effectively limiting what customers will be able to receive in the future as “sign up bonuses.”

They now only allow their customers to receive a sign up bonus every 24 months, per “type” of card.

What does this mean? That you won’t be able to earn a Citi ThankYou credit card signup bonus if you opened or closed ANY Citi ThankYou cards within the past 24 months. In addition, this rule also applies to Citi’s other co-branded cards, such as Citi AAdvantage cards and Citi Hilton cards.

For clarity, let’s look at the evolution of the coveted Citi Prestige card “Bonus Rules:” Old rules – Bonus ThankYou Points are not available if you have had a Citi Prestige card opened or closed in the past 24 months.

New Rules – Bonus ThankYou points are not available if you have had ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier, or Citi Prestige card opened or closed in the past 24 months.

What this means for the mile-churning and savvy 21st century credit card user is that keeping up with the credit card companies’ rules and regulations is a constantly changing task which can make a big difference on your wallet. In order to stay on

top of all updates and amendments, tune in to our follow up article, where we’ll give you tips on which cards are still available and worth signing up for as well as potential loopholes around these new rules.

Remember, don’t let your points/miles sit idle! They might be devalued or altered when it comes to value and reward.

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The Week In News

A Long, Fulfilled Life

According to him, the secret for his long life was a bracha he received from the Chofetz Chaim when he was just fouryears-old. On Wednesday morning, Shimon Peres, one of Israel’s most eminent politicians, died. He was 93.

Peres was the last of the founding generation of the State of Israel to wield power.

He was the end of an era. Peres was the only person to have served as Israel’s president and prime minister. Although his political career was riddled with controversies and ri-

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

valries – after all, this is Israel, where everyone has three opinions – he died a beloved figure at home and abroad.

Peres, who never won a popular election — his accession to the presidency in 2007 was a result of a secret ballot among Knesset members — was one of Israel’s most successful, shrewd, divisive and, ultimately, cherished politicians. A man of many stripes — a lifelong Labor leader who defected to the free market center of the Kadima party; a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who, according to foreign sources, gave a scarred and threatened state the ultimate deterrent weapon; and a signatory to the Oslo Accords who years earlier, as defense minister, helped lay the foundations of the settlement movement — he was considered by many to be one of Israel’s strongest assets, an erudite politician unblemished by corruption.

On the world stage Peres was lauded for his drive for peace. At home, though, many derided him for his naiveté when it came to Israel’s Arab neighbors.

“The Palestinians are our closest neighbors,” he said often. “I am sure they can become our closest friends.”

Peres was the country’s eighth prime minister, serving from September 1984 until October 1986, and again from November 1995 to June 1996 in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of his greatest rival-turned-ally Yitzhak Rabin. In 2007, he became Israel’s ninth president. He served

in the Knesset for nearly half a century, from 1959 until 2007, holding virtually all senior ministerial positions over the years. In 1994, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his Labor party colleague, then-prime minister Rabin.

Peres was born in 1923 as Shimon Perski in Poland in a city that was later decimated by the Nazis. His grandfather took him under his wing, teaching him Talmud, although Peres’s parents were not Orthodox.

His grandfather sent him off to Palestine when he was 11. “I remember the last words and the order that I heard from his mouth: ‘My boy, always remain a Jew!’” Peres recalled once. The Nazis later locked Peres’s grandfather in the town’s synagogue and burned him, along with many others, alive.

Peres went to school in Tel Aviv and Ben Shemen and later co-founded Kibbutz Alumot, where he worked as a farmer and shepherd. He married and joined the Haganah. After the War of Independence, he became the director of the Defense Ministry’s delegation in the U.S. In 1953, the then-29year-old Peres became the ministry’s youngest-ever director-general. In this position, he helped form strategic alliances that would prove crucial to Israel’s survival, and established the country’s nuclear program in Dimona.

In 1959, Peres entered the Knesset for the first time. In 1974, then prime-minister

Rabin made Peres his defense minister. He eventually became prime minister for the first time in 1986.

In 1993, when the Rabin government signed the Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization, Peres – who was the foreign minister at the time – and PLO leader Arafat won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for “their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.”

“We are leaving behind us the era of belligerency and are striding together toward peace,” Peres said in his acceptance speech.

In 2007, Peres was elected president of Israel and began a journey away from the tumultuous partisan politics that dominated his past. His speeches focused on the need to achieve peace in the Middle East, the dangers of a nuclear Iran, and the miracle of Israel’s high-tech success. He was energetic in his position and proved to be a qualified statesman. He used technology to help broaden his reach and endeavored to show the world how advanced the Jewish State is.

“We used to be the people of the book.

Now we’ve become the people of the Facebook — much better,” Peres said in a video clip.

On September 13 of this year, the Israeli politician’s energy seemed to wane and he was admitted to the hospital after suffering a stroke. Just two weeks later, he left this world.

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

Israeli CEO is One of Top 50 in the World Another list from Fortune and this one ranks the 50 most influential women in the world. Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, president and CEO of Israeli banking giant Leumi, made the prestigious list at number 43. Most of the spots on the list were held by citizens of the United States, the UK, China, and Switzerland.

The annual ranking focused on how Russak-Aminoach responded to Israel’s tightening of its banking regulations.

“Russak-Aminoach, whose bank posted

a 73% increase in profits to $730 million, responded by announcing the early retirement of 700 of its more than 12,000 employees. The bank will also shutter some branches and launch a fully-mobile bank called Pepper later this year,” the magazine wrote. Despite the recent esteem for the banking businesswoman by the paper, the mass firing was heavily criticized by labor groups in Israel.

The article also mentioned that though she had to work within a law that caps the salaries of those in the banking industry, her $2.1 million paycheck is the highest of the country’s top four banks.

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The list also includes several American Jews. Among them are Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg at number 6, Modelez International CEO and Chairman Irene Rosenfeld at number 8, Israeli-born Oracle CEO Safra Catz at number 10, and Google and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat at number 13.

Hamas Leader Stepping Down The head of the Hamas terror organization will not be running for reelection in 2017. Khaled Mashaal is graciously allowing Hamas’s youth to “assume leadership roles.” “It is not right for Islamic and non-Islamic movements to allow their leaderships to grow old without providing an opportunity for internal vigor and pushing the youth forward to the top of the leadership,” he declared. Mashaal, 60, became chief in 1996 while he was living in Jordan.

It is not yet known who will run for the position. Many Palestinian news sources are speculating that former prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, deputy politburo chief Mousa Abu Marzouk and politburo member Imad al-Alami are the three most likely candidates.

Mashaal made his announcement at a seminar on “The Transformation of Islamic Movements,” hosted by the Al Jazeera Center for Studies. Mashaal also said at the convention that Hamas’s weapons stash has grown many times since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

This claim is in very stark contrast to what former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has said. According to Ya’alon, the IDF destroyed 80% of Hamas’s mortars and rockets in the war, and Israel has restricted items entering the Gaza Strip it believes can be converted into weapons. Additionally, Egypt has destroyed many of the tunnels going into Gaza that were formerly used to smuggle in weapons.

Hopefully he’s wrong about the weapons and right about him never leading again.

Is Israel Halting Certain Citizenships?

Since 1967, when Israel captured East Jerusalem, it has formally offered residents in that area the option of applying for Israeli citizenship. Until around a decade ago, very few did, as the vast majority identified, and still do identify, as Palestinian. But recently, more Palestin-

The Week In News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

ians have been seeking Israeli citizenship.

Israel, though, has been reluctant to accept them. Between 2003 and 2013 about half of citizenship applications from East Jerusalem have been denied or delayed. According to The Times of Israel, the denials and delays have become even more common lately.

Currently, there are some 350,000 Arab East Jerusalemites, around 37 percent of the capital’s population. As permanent residents, they pay taxes and are entitled to state benefits like healthcare and social security. However, they cannot vote in national elections, apply for an Israeli passport, nor run for mayor in their own city.

They can vote in municipal elections, yet most choose not to, in protest of what they consider Israel’s illegal occupation of their land. Around 80% of East Jerusalemites live under the poverty line, according to the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.

Over the past three years, the processing of citizenship applications for East Jerusalemites has come to an almost complete halt. Between 2014 and September 2016, of 4,152 East Jerusalemites who applied for citizenship, only 84 were approved and 161 were rejected. The rest of the applications are pending – formally, still being processed.

Some East Jerusalemites and the lawyers who deal with their citizenship requests say the government deliberately

makes the application process itself difficult in order to discourage East Jerusalemites from even requesting citizenship.

This includes the long-standing demand they have proficient Hebrew, even though Arabic, their native tongue, is an official language of the Israeli state, and proof that East Jerusalem is the “center” of their life.

The Population and Immigration Authority, which is responsible for the process, strongly denies this accusation, and contends that it is carrying out its responsibilities under the law. “The claim of allegedly posing obstacles is unfounded and each request is examined in its own right,” the authority’s spokesperson told The Times of Israel.

In a response to the question of why, in the past three years, the number of applications processed has so greatly decreased, the authority argued: “Since there is a great number of requests for naturalization, processing them takes time. The requests that are dealt with in these years are usually not those submitted in the same year. This situation has existed for many years.”

East Jerusalemites, like all permanent residents seeking Israeli citizenship, must give up any other citizenships, passports, or residency statuses upon gaining Israeli citizenship. (Different rules apply to those seeking citizenship under the Law of Return, who may retain foreign passports.)

In the case of most East Jerusalem applicants, that means renouncing Jordanian citizenship. The area was under Jordanian control between 1948-1967.

Jail Time for Sheikh’s Hate Speech

An Islamic preacher has been sentenced to eight months of prison for incitement of violence and racism. The ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s court comes after Sheikh Omar Abu Sara delivered a speech at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located on the Temple Mount, in which he compared

Jews to pigs and monkeys and urged his followers to act violently against them.

The November 28, 2014 sermon was recorded and uploaded to YouTube. “I say to the Jews loud and clear: The time for your slaughter has come. The time to fight you has come. The time to kill you has come,” said Abu Sara, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute. “Please do not leave in our hearts a single grain of mercy toward you, oh Jews, because when the day of your slaughter arrives, we shall slaughter you without mercy.”

Judge Shmuel Herbst said in his final remarks, “I look at the accused and I see a man. It is a great shame that he looks at me and sees a monkey or a pig who should be destroyed without mercy. What a shame.”

The sheikh tried to defend himself by saying that his sermon was not incitement and that he was just teaching the Koran.

The court rejected his defense, as there was no evidence that his speech was quoting any other sources. They concluded that Abu Sara should have known his words would be heard as a call to action.

Along with the eight month sentence, the Muslim leader was handed a six-month suspended sentence, which will be enforced if he commits similar offenses within three years.

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ADVERTORIAL Ramat Givat Zeev Project Lures Hundreds of Families from USA A rapidly growing number of Orthodox families from Los Angeles and New York are purchasing homes in the luxurious Ramat Givat Zeev project, located on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Ramat Givat Zeev, which is being erected by Chish Nofei Israel at a fast clip, is anticipating providing the keys to its first residents within the next 18 months.

This unique private community has already been dubbed the “Five Towns of Jerusalem” by the hundreds of buyers who have already purchased a property. The new neighborhood is designed to mimic the popular Long Island, New York, Jewish community by providing a wide range of services. A synagogue, mikvah, and educational facilities will cater to the residents’ spiritual needs.

At the same time, Ramat Givat Zeev’s lifestyle infrastructure is also being constructed, highlighted by lush green parks, as well as tennis and basketball courts and a plush country club. All of these features have transformed Ramat Givat Zeev into one of the most sought-after real estate projects in the Jerusalem metropolitan area.

Recently, a significant number of

Los Angeles residents purchased dozens of homes in the project, which testifies to the growing popularity of Ramat Givat Zeev amongst potential olim to Israel.

According to a company spokesperson for Chish Nofei Israel (Ramat Givat Zeev’s real estate entrepreneurs), “We are especially proud of the fact that we have had a direct impact on the massive

aliyah of American families to Israel.”

They added, “Newcomers will find assistance in their integration into Israeli society by helping them find jobs and deal with various aliyah issues, something that is almost unheard of today in Israel.”

The soaring interest in the project is such that Chish Nofei Israel anticipates selling out all of its homes in Ramat

Givat Zeev within a year. Chish Nofei Israel anticipates that demand will outstrip the supply of homes available, thus creating a lucrative market for the project’s original buyers, making it an excellent investment opportunity.

For more information about the project: email office@nofei.com or visit their website at http://nofei-israel.co.il.

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 | The Jewish Home

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