Keeping Jewish - Chanukah 2022

Football player Sam Salz wears his faith with pride Cheesy latkes

Football player Sam Salz wears his faith with pride Cheesy latkes

A dairy holiday recipe and inventions that don’t exist

Aramaic comeback

A dairy holiday recipe and inventions that don’t exist Aramaic comeback

The ancient language from Babylon to New Jersey

The ancient language from Babylon to New Jersey

Arizona’s

Arizona’s newest Chanukah display pays tribute to the Jewish frontiers

E 4th Street, Tucson, AZ 85719

REBBETZIN Chanie Shemtov

OUTREACH

PROGRAM

Affiliates: Congregation Young Israel, Chabad at the University of Arizona, Chabad on River, Chabad of Oro Valley, Chabad of Sierra Vista, Chabad of Vail and Lamplighter Chabad Day School of Tucson

Four spiritual lessons on a cold Chanukah night

By Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin

EDITOR Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Feigie Ceitlin, Libby Herz, Menachem Posner, Lorne Rozovsky, Mordechai Schmutter, Chana Scop, Mendel Super, Yaakov Ort, Selah Maya Zighelboim

PHOTOS

RODNAE Productions

SPECIAL THANKS Chabad.org

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES OR ADVERTISING

Phone: 520-955-9680

Email: info@ChabadTucson.com

Keeping Jewish is published in print periodically by Chabad Tucson and is distributed free in Tucson and around Southern Arizona

Chabad Tucson does not endorse the people, establishments, products or services reported about or advertised in Keeping Jewish unless specifically noted. The acceptance of advertising in Keeping Jewish does not constitute a recommendation, approval, or other representation of the quality of products or services, or the credibility of any claims made by advertisers, including, but not limited to, the kashrus of advertised food products. The use of any products or services advertised in Keeping Jewish is solely at the user’s risk and Chabad Tucson accepts no responsibility or liability in connection therewith.

Note: “G-d” and “L-rd” are written with a hyphen instead of an “o .”This is one way we accord reverence to the sacred divine name. This also reminds us that, even as we seek G-d, He transcends any human effort to describe His reality.

On December 27, 1951, a group of Yeshi va students was granted a special audience with the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory. It was a particularly cold night, but those gathe red at Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY, felt warm.

After all, it was the fifth night of the holi day of Chanukah and the Rebbe had invited the students who had been showing up for the early morning studies of Chassidus— the mystical Jewish concepts of the Kabba lah—for a private meeting.

These were the days early in the after math of the Holocaust and the devastation of European Jewry. The survivors and Jews worldwide strove to rebuild, but the road ahead was filled with challenges. They would need the young people to step up, to try and fill the shoes of the giants and lu minaries that had been lost in the fires of Auschwitz. The Rebbe called on these stu dents to aspire to be the leaders that the generation needed; to be “lamplighters,” as the Rebbe referred to them that night in the spirit of the holiday.

He then took a few instructional passa ges from the Talmud (Shabbos 21b and 22b) on how the Menorah is to be lit during the eight-day festival, infusing these passages with a spiritual application that would gui de these rabbis-to-be in the decades that followed.

Here are those meaningful lessons, accor ding to my understanding:

1. Project an alternative to evil.

“The Mitzvah of kindling the Chanukah lights is from sunset,” our sages said. Once darkness descends on the world, we take out our Menorah and shine it bright. “These lights are sacred,” we recite in the lighting prayer. Indeed, these humble flames of truth are meant to project an alternative to the lies, injustice and corruption prevailing in the world. They’re needed more than ever when it is darkest outside.And they are em bodied in our positive actions.

2. Be virtuous in all of your dealings.

“It is a Mitzvah to place the Chanukah lamp at the entrance of the house, on the outside,” our sages said. Many religious practices are performed privately. The ins truction to shine the light outward teaches us that we are meant to be virtuous in all our interactions—not just those in our home or place of worship. As the biblical commen tator Abraham ibn Ezra taught (commen tary on Proverbs 3:6), follow G-d “in all of your ways,” including your business dea lings. Shine the light out; shine it wherever you go.

3. Share the inspiration with others.

“Place the Chanukah lamp within the handbreadth of space adjacent to the en trance ... so that the Chanukah lamp will be on the left and the Mezuzah on the right,”

our sages said. The Rebbe said that inspi ration should be shared with others and not limited to one specific group —but instead shared with all. Chanukah is thus celebra ted with public Menorah-lighting ceremo nies and festivities, spreading the holiday’s message far and near.

4.Always increase your spiritual value.

“On the first day, one kindles one, and from there on, gradually increases,” our sa ges instructed. On each night of Chanukah, another candle is added until eight candles are lit on the final night. This practice is a basis for the Jewish rule, “one increases ho liness - one does not diminish it.” (Talmud Megillah 9b). Spiritual matters should be pursued with a growth mindset, focused on increasing value. Stay put, and you risk being on the decline.

With those lessons, the Rebbe gave bles sings to the students and sent them off with a Chanukah gift. He later commented that the above lessons were not limited to these students but applied to every Jewish per son, and the Rebbe wished everyone success in their spiritual journey.

These students would go on to form the nucleus of the network of Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis, which today is present in more than 100 countries and territories around the world. This year, an estimated 15,000 public Menorahs will shine forth into the dark.

- Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin is the Outreach Director of Chabad Tucson

The Jewish outreach and education network of Southern Arizona 2443

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Rabbi Yossie Shemtov

DIRECTOR Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin

DIRECTOR Feigie Ceitlin

COPY EDITOR Suzanne Cummins

A new Chabad every three days

Conference held for the fastest-growing Jewish movement

By Mendel Super

In November, 6,500 Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis and their guests from all 50 states and more than 100 nations and territories around the world participated in the annual International Conference of Chabad-Luba vitch Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchim) in Brooklyn, New York.

Three days of Torah study, prayer and workshops from morning to night were held in various languages, including English, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Russian and Yiddish. They focused on education, adultlearning programs, creating unity in an in creasingly divisive environment, and coun seling people in times of crisis.

This year’s conference carried added signifi cance as Jewish communities celebrate the once-in-seven-year observance of Hakhel, a time to promote Jewish assembly, unity and learning. Throughout this year, synagogues and Jewish organizations are hosting com munal gatherings for men, women and chil dren, encouraging the observance and study of Torah.

Following a two-year absence for many due to the coronavirus pandemic, rabbis at the

Kinus welcomed hundreds of young rabbis who have joined their ranks. The Times of Israel reported that Chabad established 120 new centers over the past year, about one every three days. New international posts include Zambia and Iceland.

While the Chabad expansion is indeed worldwide, a great deal of it is taking place in the United States. The population shift underway in America, partially accelerated by the pandemic and changes in the work place, means people have been moving to suburban or rural areas, particularly in the West.

U.S. Census data from 2021 shows small towns across the West and Southwest are growing faster than in any other region. Phoenix was the second-fastest growing city in the nation, all owing to domestic migra tion.

Arizona added six new Chabad Rabbi and Rebbetzin couples to their growing team, now numbering 46 across the Grand Can yon State. Four of the six have moved to the greater Phoenix area, one to Tucson and another to Lake Havasu City—a town on the California state line picking up some of the exodus from Southern California.

In Phoenix, a new Chabad center for the Israeli ex-pat population has just been es tablished by Rabbi Shneor and Chanie Fei gin. Rabbi Levi and Chaya Minsky have recently founded Chabad of Ahwatukee in the East Valley.

Las Vegas native Louis Shulman, 23, re cently moved to Scottsdale for its vibrant young professional scene. “I’d been swit ching jobs, working remotely and trave ling,” says Shulman. “Once I had decided that travel was over, I wanted to live so mewhere new.”

Once in Arizona, Shulman attended a Sim chat Torah party hosted by Rabbi Shmuli and Mushkie Bronstein, who opened the new Chabad of Downtown—South Scotts dale, catering to young professionals.

“For someone like myself, it matches my interest level. It’s about the practice of Ju daism, not merely being a spectator in a synagogue,” Shulman says about his expe rience at Chabad.

Scottsdale wasn’t his first encounter with Chabad: In college, he’d been a regular at Chabad at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. “My frat was loyal to Chabad; we went all the time. Chabad was more

wholesome and family-oriented, more ge nuine and personal” than other Jewish groups on campus, feels Shulman.

People’s experiences with Chabad as they progress through life often drive their in volvement with their local Chabad center. Teens who have engaged with Chabad’s CTeen program become involved with Cha bad on Campus, move on to Chabad Young Professionals in the big cities and eventua lly move to a family-oriented Chabad center in a suburban neighborhood and enroll their children in Chabad schools. People who be come involved with Chabad in one area of the country continue that involvement after they move, or when a new Chabad opens up in their city.

According to the 2020 study of Jewish Ame ricans by the Pew Research Center, two in five Jewish adults (38%, or 2.2 million people) engage with Chabad each year, a number that has been growing annually for decades. In 2021, a survey of synagogues in America found that the number of Cha bad centers has more than doubled since 2001 and is today the largest network of synagogues. Chabad has 5,646 Rabbi and Rebbetzin couples active around the world; a women’s conference for Chabad rebbetzins will be held in February.

At the conference, from left: Rabbi Shmuly Shanowicz of Chabad at University of Arizona, Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman of Chabad of Oro Valley, Teddy Pollak of New York, Handmaker CEO Ellie Pollak, Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin and Rabbi Yossie Shemtov of Chabad Tucson, Rabbi Sruly Shemtov of Chabad of Vail, Rabbi Benzion Shemtov of Chabad of Sierra Vista and Rabbi Boruch Zimmerman of Chabad of Oro Valley

THE TUBAC MENORAH

Last year, Jennifer Tougas drove over an hour from Tubac to Benson, Arizona, to participate in Chabad’s Menorah lighting ceremony at the town’s visitors center. She doesn’t plan on going there again this Cha nukah holiday, which begins on the evening of Sunday, December 18, and ends on the evening of Monday, December 26.

And there’s a good reason for it.

After last year’s event in Benson, Tougas re ceived a phone call from Rabbi Yossie She mtov, Regional Director of Chabad Tucson and Southern Arizona. He called to thank her personally for attending. Tougas says that thoughtful call touched her and got her thinking.

“It blew the spark and lit a coal in me. By golly,” she thought, “let’s light the Menorah every night here in Tubac as well.”

The eight-day festival celebrates the Mac cabees’ recapture of the second Temple in Jerusalem from the Syrian Greeks, and the

By Libby Herz

miracle that occurred during its rededica tion. It is marked by the kindling of lights on a menorah or chanukiah, the eight-bran ched candelabra.

Tougasmentionedtheidea to a fewacquain tances. One of them, Garland Smith, agreed to help and began studying both structures of menorahs and video clippings of lighting ceremonies around the world about the meaning of Chanukah.

“After studying the options and consulting with a Chabad rabbi, the handy and crea tive Garland collected scrap metal and re cycled a three-legged surveying tripod to provide it with a stable foundation. He was able to craft a beautiful one-of-a-kind meno rah,” Tougas says.

Tougas, meanwhile, started gathering lamps, mason jars, tiki torches, and enough oil for the eight nights of Chanukah. With the Menorah and all the lighting materials ready, she only needed to secure a locationand she wanted a special one.

In the past, Tougas had volunteered at the Tubac Presidio. The presidio is a state park that preserves the ruins of the oldest Spa nish Colonial fort in Arizona, San Ignacio de Tubac, established in 1752. The park is the home of Arizona’s first fort, first Euro pean settlement, first mining community and the first printing of a newspaper.

Tougas suggested that it also be home to Tubac’s first public Chanukah Menorah, standing with the backdrop of three buil dings listed on the National Register of His toric Places. The management of the park liked the idea, but asked that a historical connection be made.

Determined, Tougas sifted through Arizona archives until she landed on some exciting discoveries. She learned that the charming neighboring city of Nogales in Mexico, which is just a jaunt across theArizona bor der, was founded by two Jewish brothers.

The story of Isaac and Jacob Isaacson was

a surprising one. Records show that the duo was born in Russia and worked in San Francisco before arriving on the border of Arizona and Mexico in 1880. They establis hed a little settlement and trading post and named it Isaacson.

Because the name Isaacson was difficult for locals to pronounce, the name was changed in 1883 to Nogales after the black walnut (Nogal) trees that grew in the mountain pass between the cities of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Tougas then found the story of Jewish pio neer settler Nathan Benjamin Appel. Born in Germany, he arrived in the Arizona Te rritory in 1856. A wagon master and a mer chant,Appel opened a store providing goods to the troops in Tubac. He later became Representative to the 1st Territorial Le gislature, the Tucson Police Department’s Deputy US Marshall of Pima County, and Deputy Sheriff.

There are many other Jewish pioneers (in cluding Tucson’s first Jewish mayor Charles

Jennifer Tougas and the new Menorah at the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park

Arizona’s newest Chanukah display pays tribute to the Jewish pioneers

Strauss who served in 1883), and leaders hip at the Tubac Presidio was convinced that there was a significant historical ba sis for the Menorah’s presence at the state park.

Tougas said the Jewish historical roots of the area will be a focus during the Meno rah lightings. With the park management giving the green light, the Tubac Menorah will pay homage to the past generations of Jews who helped contribute to the develop ment of Southern Arizona.

“Like the Jewish families of Nogales and Tubac historically would have done, we ce lebrate the Jewish tradition of Chanukah with the lighting of the Menorah,” she said.

For Tougas, the Jewish faith has been an evolving choice. A medical massage the rapist by trade, born in New Mexico and raised in Arizona, she met her future hus band when he came to Arizona from Ohio. “He was an advanced flight instructor and the guru of the Rotax engine,” she said. “He taught me basic flight instruction, and af ter we married, for many years, we traveled the country giving basic flight instructor re fresher courses.”

Daniel’s interest in Jewish studies grew in his later years, and Tougas followed along.

“I started studying with him every morning, and I began becoming more observant,” she said. For 12 years, the two started each day by watching the online classes on Chumash, Tanya, and Rambam presented by the late Rabbi Josh Gordon on Chabad.org. She wit nessed faith helped her husband through his physical problems and she continued to study herself after his passing from a heart attack in 2021.

Tougas is dedicating the Menorah to her husband’s memory and hopes that the lights will provide hope and warmth to others. “Imagine you’re in a dark room and there’s no light. You can’t see anything and you stumble around trying to find the exit. Someone walks in and lights one candle. Suddenly you can see where things are. You can find your way. I want to be there to light the Menorah and help people find their way. I want to spread hope.”

The Tubac Menorah will be lit every day of Chanukah at 5:00 PM, December 18 through December 25, at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, 1 Burruel St, Tubac, AZ 85646. There is no charge to attend. Headlining the ceremony on Wednesday, December 21, will be Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin of Chabad Tucson andArizona State Repre sentative Consuelo Hernandez. Refresh ments and hot drinks will be served.

How to light a Menorah

Chanukah is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods. It begins Sunday evening, December 18, 2022 and continues through Monday, December 26, 2022.

Kindle the Chanukah menorah on each of the eight nights using olive oil or candles large enough to burn until at least half an hour after nightfall.

Use a “shamash” (service candle) to kindle the lights and place it in its special place on the menorah. Each night we add an additional light (one on the first day, two on the second and so on).

All members of the household should be present at the kindling of the Chanukah lights. Chanukah lights are kindled in the front window or by a doorway.

Before kindling, recite the following blessings:

1. Buh-rookh ah-tuh ah-doh-noi, ehloh-hay-noo meh-lech huh-oh-luhm, ah-shehr kee-deh-shuh-noo beh-mitzvoh-suhv, veh-tzee-vuh-noo leh-hahd-

leek navr khah-noo-kuh.

Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe. who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.

2. Buh-rookh ah-tuh ah-doh-noi, ehloh-hay-noo meh-lech huh-oh-luhm, sheh-uh-suh nee-sim lah-ah-voh-saynoo, bah-yuh-mim huh-haym biz-mahn hah-zeh.

Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.

The following blessing is said only on the first evening (or the first time one kindles the lights this Chanukah):

3. Buh-rookh ah-tuh ah-doh-noi, ehloh-hay-noo meh-lech huh-oh-luhm, sheh-heh-kheh-yuh-noo, veh-kee-vehmuh-noo, veh-hee-gee-uh-noo lizmahn hah-zeh.

Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

For more information about the holiday, visit Chanukah.org

A reenacting on the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition 247th Anniversary Walk on History at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, March 2021 * Photo: A Frey

Isaac and Molly Isaacson and their children, Nogales, AZ * Photo: Jewish Museum of the American West

Chanukah myths and misconceptions

1.

by RODNAE Productions

Myth: The Bad Guys Were the Assyrians

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the identity of the foreign forces routed by the Maccabees. Some have even erroneously identified them as Assyrians, the ancient kingdom that invaded Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah.

Fact: They Were Syrian-Greeks

After the death of Alexander the Great, the Greek Empire was divided. Located along the route from Asia to Africa, the Land of Israel was in the thick of the action between warring Greek factions in Egypt and Syria. The wicked King Antiochus was the ruler of the Syrian Greeks. (Assyrians are not Syrians.)

2. Myth: Chanukah Is the Primary Jewish Holiday

Perhaps due to the time of year, many in the West believe Chanukah to be the main Jewish holiday.

By Menachem Posner

Fact: Chanukah Is the Only Holiday NOT Mentioned in the Bible Yet, neither would it be fair to refer to Cha nukah as a “minor” holiday. The fact that the Maccabees placed their trust in G-d, even when all the cards were stacked aga inst them and were then rewarded with a miracle, was major. Miracles happen!

3. Myth: The Maccabees Lit a Chanukah Me norah in the Temple

The commonly told, oversimplified version of the story is that the Maccabees (heroes of the Chanukah events) lit the same type of Menorah in the Temple that we light on Chanukah.

Fact: The Temple Menorah Was Not a Cha nukah Menorah

A seven-branched candelabra, called the Menorah, was lit daily in the Temple before the Chanukah story took place. The Cha nukah Menorah has eight branches to com

memorate the miracle of a little oil lasting eight days after the Maccabees retook the Holy Temple from the Greeks.

4.

Myth: It’s a Mitzvah to Give Chanukah Pre sents

Everyone from the mom-and-pop shops to the giant online retailers are trying their hardest to have you believe that you must give gifts to everyone you know on Cha nukah—the bigger, the better.

Fact: Chanukah Is Primarily Observed By Lighting the Menorah

While there’s nothing wrong with gifts, it is a recent phenomenon. The essential Mitzvah of the holiday is to light the Me norah.

5.

Myth: Gelt=Chocolate Coins

Grocery stores and Judaica shops sell little sacks of wrapped chocolate coins, universa lly known as Chanukah gelt.

Fact: Chanukah Gelt Is Cash

There is a time-honored custom to give gifts of cash (called Chanukah gelt in Yiddish) to children (and others) during Chanukah. So metime in the 1920s,American chocolatiers had the bright idea of making edible gelt, and Chanukah has never been the same since.

6.

Myth: You Can Use an Electric Menorah

Not wanting to deal with wax drippings or purchasing extra supplies every year, people may be tempted to use an electric menorah. Light is light, after all, isn’t it?

Fact: Better to Use Actual Flames

The sages instituted that we kindle a ner, a flame, every night of Chanukah. This is de fined in Jewish law as a fire created by fuel burning on a wick. (Consult with a rabbi if you are in a circumstance where you can’t light a fire.)

Photo

7.

Myth: Blue and White Candles Are Ideal

A quick trip to a Judaica shop would have one think that the most traditional Cha nukah candles are slender blue and white tapers made in Israel.

Fact: Oil Lamps Are Ideal

Even though candles are perfectly accep table, it is preferable to use olive oil, remi niscent of the original Chanukah miracle. In fact, skinny candles can be problematic because the flames need to burn for a halfhour after nightfall. Little candles may not burn long enough, especially when lit before Shabbos.

8.

Myth: The Shammash Is the Most Impor tant Candle

The ninth candle on the Menorah is often taller than the others, leading people to believe that it is more important than the others.

Fact: The Shammash Is the Only Flame That’s Not Sacred

The shammash serves two purposes: a) it is often used to kindle the other flames; and b) it is there so that one does not accidentally come to “use” the light of the menorah fla mes, which are sacred and may not be used as a source of light.

Fact: The Term is Barely 100 Years Old In Hebrew, the word menorah simply means “lamp” and can refer to any number of lamps, including both the Temple meno rah and the Chanukah menorah. In the Tal mud, the Chanukah light is simply referred to as a ner, but it is widely referred to as a menorah in rabbinic literature. The word hanukkiah is a modern invention, attribu ted to Hemda Ben Yehudah (1873-1951).

11.

Myth: Latkes are More Traditional Than Doughnuts

The two foods commonly consumed on Cha nukah, doughnuts and latkes (potato pan cakes), are both fried in oil, reminding us of the miracle of Chanukah. Many Ashkenazi Jews believe that latkes must be the origi nal custom since that is what their bubby made, while doughnuts are a Johnny-comelately iteration.

Fact: We Have Been Eating Doughnuts Sin ce the 12th Century.

Rabbi Maimon, the Spanish-born scholar and father of the great Maimonides, records the custom of eating sufganin, dough fried in oil, to commemorate the Chanukah mira cle. Potatoes, on the other hand, were unk nown in Eurasia until the late 16th century. Score for doughnuts!

12.

9.

Myth: It’s Enough to Go to a Party, or Light Once

Our lazy side works overtime with this one. Even if we lit candles at a party, or did it the night before, we have to light at home, each night.

Fact: You Need to Light Your Own Menorah 8 Times

The primary Chanukah celebration is lighting your own Menorah at home each night. Every night, we add another candle, making our universe that much brighter. Sure, a single candle was good for yester day, but today you have the potential to light two lights, so how can you possibly settle with just one?

10.

Myth: Hanukkia Is the Proper Term for the Chanukah Lamp

Every so often, you hear a person insist that we do not light a Menorah - we light a ha nukkiah on Chanukah.

Myth: We Play Dreidel Because Kids Did So While Hiding From the Greeks.

The commonly told story is that children used these tops as a decoy when they were secretly learning Torah during the Greek occupation. Whenever Greeks would disco ver their hideouts, they would hide their Torah scrolls and pretend to be playing an innocuous game of dreidel.

Fact: Dreidels Have Other Sources

While this reason is indeed mentioned in several works, the game is laden with in ner significance, much of it mystical. Here is one beautiful insight (from among many others): On Chanukah, we spin a dreidel from the top. On Purim, we swing a gra gger from the bottom. On Purim, the mira cle came from prayer as we asked for G-ds help. On Chanukah, G-d intervened from above with openly revealed miracles. Thus, on Purim, we swing the gragger from below and on Chanukah we spin the dreidel from above.

Sam Salz is an uncommon football player

Jewish running-back proudly wears a kippah on field

By Selah Maya Zighelboim

When college sophomore Sam Salz runs out onto the football field, he does so wea ring a kippah and the No. 39 emblazoned on the back of his jersey. He chose 39 as a reminder of the lamed tet melachot, the 39 categories of work that are forbidden on Shabbat.

Salz, a running back on Texas A&M University’s football team, is believed to be only the second Shabbat-observant NCAA Division I football player in history, and the first in about 15 years.

“I want to teach other Jewish kids that they don’t have to give up on Shabbat, they don’t have to give up on kashrut, in order to do the things they want to do in life,” Salz told Chabad.org.

Off the field, Salz is an active participant at Chabad-Lubavitch at Texas A&M, where he attends morning services, Torah classes, and Shabbat dinners. He is also a fellow at Chabad’s Sinai Scholars program and last year attended Pegisha, the Chabad on Cam pus International Shabbaton.

“He really instills Jewish pride in other students,” says Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff, who directs the Chabad center at Texas A&M University with his wife, Manya. “They see someone like him who is very much into his athletics and his classes, but at the same time, is proudly Jewish, always wearing a yarmulke and tzitzit.”

As an observant Jew, Salz’s football ex perience is a bit different than how it is for most of the players. He keeps a Chumash and a volume of the Talmud in his locker. As a running back on the scout team, which acts as the opponents during practices, Salz doesn’t travel for away games, but scout team members do attend home games, du

ring which they have an opportunity to run onto the field during halftime. When games fall on Saturday nights, he spends part of the games in the players’ lounge, studying Torah and reciting Maariv, the evening pra yer, then runs out to the game.

“Because of kids like Sam walking strong and walking proud, another kid will walk on stage at their graduation wearing a kippah,”

says Manya Lazaroff. “Another young man could put on tefillin at the heart of campus and be OK with it.”

Salz grew up in Philadelphia, where he had his bar mitzvah at Chabad’s Congrega tion B’naiAbraham, was involved in CTeens and went to Kohelet Yeshiva, an Orthodox day school in Merion Station, Pennsylvania.

He says it was only natural that when he got to Texas that he would get involved with Chabad on Campus. “We are very blessed that Sam is a part of the family,” says Man ya Lazaroff. “My kids know him. He makes sure the weekly minyans happen. He learns with other students. I have a cute video clip of him sitting around the kitchen table at Chabad just studying Talmud with a kid who never studied Talmud before.”

One person Salz has inspired is Brendan Rippner, a 22-year-old Texas A&M event coordinator who met Salz through Chabad earlier this year.

Rippner had played football in high school. He and Salz made an agreement to help each other out. Salz would help Ripp ner become more in touch with his Judaism, and Rippner would teach Salz everything he knew about the game.

Rippner would answer Salz’s questions about football and join him in practices. Meanwhile, Salz would head to Rippner’s office a few times a week so they could wrap tefillin together.

“He kept coming, and we would wrap te fillin over and over and over again,” said Rippner. “It strengthened my neshama (soul).” Rippner now puts on tefillin every day on his own.

Partway through the current semester, the opportunity arose for Salz to join the football team. However, the first practice he was supposed to attend was during Yom Kippur.

“Right off the bat, I had to explain that I wasn’t going to be able to be at the first practice because of Yom Kippur. They were fine with it,” Salz says

Sweet ricotta latkes

By Feigie Ceitlin

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs - yolk separated

¼ cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of kosher salt

Oil for frying

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks, then fold them into the cheese mixture.

Heat oil in a 9-inch pan till oil is hot (ap prox 360).

Drop 1/8 cup worth of batter into pan, lower the heat to medium and fry on both sides until brown (about 2 minutes per side).

Suggestion: Serve with berries, jam or sour cream.

*

The blessing:

Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam shehakol nihiyah bed’varo.

DIRECTIONS:

Place ricotta, milk, vanilla extract and egg yolks in a bowl and mix well.

Stir in sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix gently until smooth.

Blessed areYou, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be.

Enjoy!

— Feigie Ceitlin is the program director of Cha bad Tucson.

A book for the brokenhearted

A personal perspective on reconciling G-d’s goodness and human suffering

By Yaakov Ort

Rochel Leah Schusterman was a 36-yearold mother of 11 and Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbetzin in Huntington Beach, California, when she passed away three decades ago. Her husband, Rabbi Gershon Schusterman, a religious leader and educator, struggled to understand - and then explain to his chil dren and his community—how it was possi ble for a loving, all-powerful Creator to take his wife so soon.

There is one question that is asked in one form or another, millions of times a year, in every corner of the globe when terrible things like these happen to good, innocent people: “G-d, how could You let this hap pen?”

Living a meaningful, productive life of ten requires a high degree of selective in attention to the tragedies that surround us. We are built to keep things at a distance, even, or perhaps especially, when our job is to counsel people who are trying to cope with suffering and loss—as is the case with psychologists, social workers, and rabbis.

Yet no matter how much training and ex perience we have, when the people we love become the victims of a tragedy, our feeling of connection to G-d is challenged.

After decades of study, conversation, and consultation with experts following his wife’s passing, Schusterman wrote the book, “Why God Why?: How to Believe in Hea ven When It Hurts Like Hell” (Providence Press). It is an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to maintain and deepen their faith and trust in G-d when recovering from per sonal tragedies or witnessing the painful

suffering of others.

The book brilliantly weaves classic Jewish philosophy and contemporary posi tive psychology to give the reader new pers pectives on the age-old question of theodicy, the study of the incompatibility of G-d and evil.

Some of the perspectives the author analyzes for G-d’s permitting the existence of suffering are: The refinement of charac ter, punishment for sin, testing of faith, the result of deeds done in previous incarna tions, and the idea that ultimately, every bad thing that happens is a Divine decree that will remain beyond the understanding of any human being.

While it’s never possible to identify the spiritual cause of any individual tragic event, Schusterman convincingly demons trates the value of having a general unders tanding of each of these often-contradictory perspectives in Jewish thought.

The richly detailed theodicies presented in the book do not appear as dry intellectual exercises but as urgently essential tools in helping people who are coping with loss to navigate the five stages of grief: denial, an ger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

The author points out that questioning G-d’s goodness is not only permissible but important, even when done in anger and despair. As he writes, “A human being only cries out passionately to someone with whom that person is truly and intimately engaged. Turning to G-d, even with a criti cal and angry tone, brings G-d into the con

versation and opens the door for meaningful dialogue with the Creator.”

At the book’s heart is the notion that the perception of evil and the experience of su ffering have their purposes, and an ongoing relationship with G-d is vitally essential to overcome negative feelings and emotions and, wherever possible, transform them for the good.

He writes, “Based on everything I have experienced in life, including the traumatic loss of my own dear wife at a young age, and based on all that I have studied and learned to be true, I believe that there is no such thing as an absolutely bad occurrence. How bad something is will depend on our pers pective, and that perspective is likely to be limited.”

“Yes, evil does exist, and it is not just the absence of good,” he explains. “Instead, evil is its own entity, one that was put into this world in order to give us the opportunity to fight it. Human beings must battle aga inst it every day. It may be the most mixed blessing possible in life because what may be seen as a curse is actually our blessing. Our opportunity—our challenge to overri de evil—contributes to our life’s purpose. Without evil, we would not have had the ability to exercise our free choice to choose goodness.”

Yet whatever the benefits of evil, there is never an excuse for it, and there is never an explanation for human suffering that we can be certain of. In an important addition to the Holocaust literature, Schusterman discusses the question of how a loving G-d could countenance the quintessence of evil embodied by the Nazis.

In approaching this ever-timely challenge to faith, he draws on the perspective of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. “The Rebbe was one of the wisest men of our generation, yet even with his staggering level of knowledge and wisdom, he could not offer a definitive res ponse about the reasons for a specific trage dy,” he writes.

“The Rebbe affirmed that there is more to human existence and what happens to us

than the here and now. There’s also a befo re and an after. Life’s mysteries, including its tragedies, often defy full understanding while we are still in the here and now. We do know that each soul comes into this world for a purpose, and the soul also lives on af ter the body’s death. It may go on to heaven and even go through another incarnation.

“Life in this physical world is just one part of an individual’s total existence. Within our limited frame of reference during this life time, the pains and losses we suffer may be doubly painful because we can’t see the reasons for them … so, we perceive them as bad. This may be a new and difficult con cept for many people. What we can see and understand in this lifetime is very limited. Much more will be revealed in theAfterlife.”

As rooted as we are in this world and this lifetime, no true understanding can come during this lifetime, but only in the next one, presented in fascinating detail in Chapter 9, “The Afterlife: Heaven, Hell and Seeing the Light,” which provides much information and insight about the world to come.

Since the ultimate answers cannot be provided in this lifetime, we see that the most valuable answer to the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” is another question: “What can I do now that this bad thing has happened to this good person?” In fact, it can be said that G-d does not want us to know the answer to the ques tion of why the bad thing happened in the first place.

“As we now understand, if this ultima te question about why the innocent suffer were answered, we would be able to make peace with the suffering of innocents,” he concludes. “We would no longer be bothered by their cries or feel their pain because we would understand why it is happening. And that is unthinkable.”

Replete with the author’s heartfelt perso nal reflections, positive anecdotes of those who have successfully coped with tragedy and loss, and the timeless wisdom of Chas sidic masters from the Baal Shem Tov to the Rebbe, “Why God Why?” is an extraordina rily accessible contribution that is sure to provide an invaluable perspective to every reader interested in developing a deeper connection with G-d and the world under even the most difficult circumstances.

Rabbi Gershon and Rochel Leah Schusterman with seven of their 11 children. She passed in 1986

Of all the Jewish languages that have become extinct or been dropped by Jews as a spoken language, Aramaic is proba bly the most important. In truth, Aramaic cannot be accurately described as a “Jewish language”; for unlike Yiddish, for example, which was spoken only by Jews and some gentiles with Jewish connections, Aramaic was the spoken tongue in a number of com munities, including Jewish ones.

Nevertheless, it’s definitely a language with strong Jewish ties. While nearly no

HISTORY

From Babylon to New Jersey

The history of Aramaic - the Yiddish of the Middle East

By Lorne Rozovsky

Jews still speak it or a modern version of it, Aramaic is an important part of Jewish lite rary and liturgical tradition. The Talmud or Gemara, primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology, is almost entirely in Aramaic.

Most of the Book of Daniel (chapters 2:4 through 7), describing events that occurred in Babylon in the 4th century BCE, and parts of the Book of Ezra are also in Ara maic. The Book of Zohar, other kabbalistic and halachic works, and sections of the

Dead Sea Scrolls are written in Aramaic.

The traditional ketubah (marriage con tract) and get, the Jewish divorce document, are also in Aramaic. The same is true of many hymns and prayers, such as the first paragraph of the Passover Haggadah, “This is the bread of our affliction”; the wonderful song about the goat at the end of the seder, Chad Gadya; the Kaddish prayer recited multiple times at every Jewish service, in cluding funerals and memorials; and va rious other prayers and synagogue liturgy.

Jewish Aramaic texts, both ancient and modern, are written using Hebrew letters with phonetic spelling.As with other Jewish languages, such as Yiddish, many terms are borrowed from Hebrew.

The Long History ofAramaic

Linguistic scholars believe that Aramaic arose somewhere between 900 and 700 BCE and was originally used by the Aramaeans, a Semitic semi-nomadic people who lived in upper Mesopotamia and Syria.

Talmud fans: 90,000 Jews fill the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for the Siyum Hashas completion celebration on 1 January 2020 * Photo: Shemtov613

(The Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b) asserts that Adam conversed in Aramaic. But con sidering that the Midrash (Tanchumah Deuteronomy 2) records the tradition that Adam was fluent in seventy languages, this doesn’t necessarily imply that it was a pre valent language in Adam’s day.)

Aramaic is part of the Semitic family of languages which includes Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic and the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian languages of Akkadian. It is clo sely related to Hebrew, with the script being very similar. In fact, the Talmud (Pesachim 87b) tells us that, after the destruction of the First Temple, G-d specifically chose to exile the Jews to Babylon because of the si milarity of languages to ease the transition process.

During the period of Assyrian domina tion, the language was used for the admi nistration of the empire. This practice was continued by the Babylonian and Persian empires, which ruled from Ethiopia to In dia. The Jews who returned to Israel from Babylonian captivity and established the Second Jewish Commonwealth in the 4th century BCE brought Aramaic with them. During this time, Hebrew lost its place as an everyday language among Jews, who adop ted Aramaic instead. Hebrew was known as the Lashon Hakodesh, or the “Holy Ton gue,” and was reserved for matters such as prayer, and not for ordinary social and com mercial activities. (Asimilar situation deve loped centuries later with Yiddish.)

During this period, knowledge of Hebrew was limited among the masses to the extent that the public reading of the Scripture in Hebrew had to be accompanied by a trans lation in Aramaic. Some of these targums, as they were known, also incorporated in terpretation. Aramaic was so dominant in Jewish life that both the Jerusalem and the

Babylonian Talmuds are dominated by Ara maic.

The dominance of Aramaic continued well into the 9th century CE when it was replaced by Arabic. Though there were poc kets of Aramaic speakers, especially among the Jews, Islamic persecution in Arab cou ntries significantly reduced the number of Aramaic speakers throughout the Eastern world.

Different Dialects

During the period of about 200 BCE to 200 CE, which scholars call the Middle Ara maic period, Aramaic began to split into an Eastern Branch and a Western Branch, each with a number of dialects (many of the various Jewish texts written inAramaic use different dialects.)

The Western Branch was largely used in the area which had been under Roman and later Byzantine rule. The Jerusalem Tal mud is in Western Aramaic. The Eastern Branch was under Persian Empire influen ce, and as a result the Babylonian Talmud is in Eastern Aramaic. The Western Branch of the language was called Syriac (distinct from Syrian) by the Greeks. This term is still used today.

Aramaic Today

Aramaic has, in fact, not completely died out as a spoken language. Both Jews and Christians have continued to use Eastern Aramaic up to modern times in Kurdistan. There are villages in Syria in which Wes ternAramaic is spoken. There are even poc kets ofAramaic speakers in the United Sta tes with two schools in New Jersey actually

teaching Aramaic!

The so-called Neo-Aramaic-speaking Jews largely emigrated to Israel in the 1950s where the language had largely died out in preference to Hebrew.

Even though Aramaic is generally no longer a spoken language among Jews, Jewish usage of Aramaic has certainly not ended. In yeshivahs around the world, many thou sands of students labor over ancient Tal mudic and other Aramaic texts. And the preoccupation with these texts doesn’t end at graduation. According to Jewish tradi tion, Torah study is a lifelong pursuit—and many of the most basic Torah texts are in Aramaic.

Apart, however, from university centers specializing in near eastern classical lan guages, as a general rule, yeshivah and rabbinical students study Aramaic only in conjunction with the Jewish texts on which they are concentrating. Aramaic is seldom studied separately as a classical language.

Case in point: Daf Yomi, an international movement to study one page of Talmud per day, has attracted what some think may be as many as 100,000 followers. Madison Square Garden and the Nassau Coliseum were both sold out a few years ago to cele brate the siyum, the completion, of the stu dy cycle. It took seven and a half years to complete the study of the Babylonian Tal mud in Aramaic. Assuming that these figu res are correct, this would mean that there aremoreJewsstudyingAramaic texts today than there have been since the majority of Jews lived in Babylon over 1000 years ago...

- Lorne E. Rozovsky (1943-2013) was a lawyer, author, educator, a health management consultant and an inquisitive Jew.

The Talmud on display in the Jewish Museum of Switzerland brings together parts from the first two Tal mud prints by Daniel Bomberg and Ambrosius Froben

As a nation, we’re great at creating great holiday products. In the past, I’ve written about helpful Chanukah products such as Chanukah-shaped cookie cutters, a “My First Chanukah” coffee mug, dreidels fi lled with nosh, dreidel-shaped ice cubes, Chanukah-print napkins, Chanukah-print juggling balls, and Chanukah-print stress balls (for when people are using the Cha nukah-print juggling balls near the cand les).

There are even pre-made cups of oil, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of pouring oil into a cup like some kind of cave man. You just put out a cup of hard oil that looks like the top of the chicken soup when you take it out of the fridge, and you’re done.

But there’s always room for more.

So last year, I reached out to readers with my greasy, oily hands and asked them to write in with ideas for more Chanukah pro ducts that don’t exist but that we need. Not that we don’t need Chanukah print-stress balls, especially at family get-togethers, but

Greasy inventions

By Mordechai Schmutter

still there are other things we could use.

Many readers wrote in with great respon ses, which I’m printing here in case you are in the mood to make one of these inventions.

-One reader, J.S.S., writes that we need a self-flipping latke pan. How great would that be? I personally usually use a spatu la and also a fork, because I’m not so dex terous with the spatula. I brace the latkes against the fork and flip them over.Actually, what I really need is something to help me flip omelets. Whenever I try flipping them, I later need to fetch a ladder to clean the ceiling...

-C.C. suggested colored kids’ candles that don’t break so easily. Since there are exactly 44 candles in a box, there is no margin for breakage. Are we supposed to just melt the broken candle back into one piece when one inevitably breaks? Or will that make them too small to last even 30 minutes? Do I have to buy an entire second box because at least one candle in each box will be cracked?

Not that it matters. I have to buy more than one box per kid anyway because ever yone wants specific colors each night. I don’t know why. It’s not like the different colors taste different. I don’t think. Maybe one of the younger kids once tried and then passed the secret to siblings.

-Y.E.B. suggested a colored candle that automatically expands or contracts at the bottom to fit into any size holder, so we don’t have to melt it in each time. Or at least a candle menorah that actually accommoda tes the size of most candles. My kids keep coming home from school with menorahs they made themselves that use metal nuts to hold the candles. The teacher knows they make bigger nuts, right? They come in all different sizes. You can bring a Chanukah candle to Home Depot and figure out what fits. Is there no nut that is exactly the same size as a candle? Am I supposed to physi cally screw the candle into the nut? This is how you break candles!

- E.H. points out that we need a selfcleaning menorah. We need some way to

cut through the grease. Hands down, the worst part of Chanukah is the part where you have to wash down the menorahs. You’ll be cleaning oil for the next 8 days.

-C.C. also thinks we should invent some kind of dreidel detector that will collect drei dels from all over the house. Dreidels just naturally roll around and under furniture and migrate around the house and down the stairs and into the laundry, and you’re still finding dreidels while cleaning the house for Passover. The fifth question at the Seder can be, why on earth do we have so many dreidels?

But there are options. Many toys nowa days have features so that you won’t lose them, such as lights and sounds that make noise the entire Shabbos. Actually, we will also need some kind of locator for our latkes if we get the self-flipping latke pan. Maybe something that will make them spin and also glow in the dark!

I’ll check back in time for Chanukah next year.

Photo by Rodnae Productions

Holiday products that don’t exist and we could really use

ou’ll

Jewish history true or false

By Menachem Posner

Glittery dreidel snow globe Fun craft to make for Chanukah

By Chana Scop

not jutting out over the edge of the lid, so it fits in the jar. Then use hot glue to attach the second dreidel to the first one. This will be the dreidel that will be visible, so posi tion it carefully.

3. Place some stuffing around the base dreidel. Use the hot glue to attach it to the lid.

4. Set the lid aside to dry. Do not conti nue if the glue isn’t fully dry.

5. Fill the jar with water. Add 1–2 ta blespoons of glycerin. Pour in some glitter. Mix. (The glycerin will make the glitter fall more slowly.)

1. Decide if you’d like to use plastic or wooden dreidels. Wooden ones will get moldy from the water as time goes on, so if you’re using wooden dreidels, coat them with clear nail polish first.

2. Use hot glue to attach the first drei del to the inside of the jar lid. The dreidel should be lying down flat. Make sure it is

6. Make sure the jar is filled to the very top. Then screw the lid on tightly. Turn over and watch the glitter fall.

Optional: Decorate the rim with ribbon or Washi tape. Decorate the outside of the jar with Chanukah stickers.

Shake and enjoy watching the glitter fall. Happy Chanukah!

King David welcomes the Ark * 1896 illustration / Providence Lithograph Company

Light with Chabad

Celebrating Chanukah across Southern Arizona

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18

4:30 PM - Sierra Vista Veterans Memorial Park: Public Menorah lighting with latkes, donuts & music

5:00 PM - El Presidio Park: Annual lighting of Tucson's tallest Chanukah Menorah with light show by Cirque Roots & Kosher pizza truck

5:00 PM - Gaslight Music Hall of Oro Vally: Menorah lighting featuring a fire show & firetruck gelt drop

5:00 PM - Purple Heart Park: Chanukah celebration for residents of Vail with Menorah lighting

5:00 PM - Casa Grande City Hall: Public Menorah lighting with latkes, donuts, music & raffles

Monday, December 19

4:30 PM - Benson Visitor Center: Public Menorah lighting with latkes, donuts & music

5:00 PM - SaddleBrooke HOA #1: Menorah lighting & joyous ceremony celebrating Chanukah

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20

5:00 PM - Marana Town Hall: Community Menorah lighting with greetings by Mayor Ed Honea, latkes & donuts

Wednesday, December 21

4:30 PM - Grassy Park of Bisbee: Public Menorah lighting with latkes, donuts & music

5:00 PM - Oro Valley Public Library: 11th annual Menorah lighting event with music, hot cocoa & refreshments

5:00 PM - Tubac Presidio State Historic Park: Menorah lighting with greetings, music & refreshments

Thursday, December 22

4:30 PM - Main Post Chapel, Fort Huachuca: Public Menorah lighting with latkes, donuts & music

For more information about the holiday and events, call 520-881-7956 or visit Chanukah.org