ISSUE#42 – 7/17/2024

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LETTER EDITOR from the

It’s interesting that it oftentimes takes a catastrophe for unity to prevail.

It sometimes takes disaster for appreciation to kick in.

For a fighting and energetic spirit to be restored and replenished.

One needn’t look any farther than the events of this past week to see that the above is true.

Trump’s assassination attempt. The photo of him waving his fist, blood dripping from has ear, which has been splashed all over the news is iconic now and will be legendary in the future.

Trump shouted “Fight” three times while blood spurted from his ear. He’s been regarded as extreme and active in the past, but when zero hour arrived it was his fighting spirit that immediately came to the fore.

That willingness and desire to do battle to make things right again. If “fight”, “flight”, and “freeze” have long been regarded as a person’s way of responding to trauma, then Trump’s automatic response is proof positive that this is true.

“Fight,” said the former president.

Fight…It’s superior to flight and freeze.

Fighting is a trauma response, but it’s also reflective of leadership qualities. One can’t run away or freeze up when in a position of authority.

On the other hand, when not faced with immediate danger, when one only hears of it and about it, that immediate response to trauma — that blood boiling desire to respond with combat — is unnecessary.

When one is away from the area of immediate danger, and not in the moment, the correct response is not one of fight, flight, or freeze but of self-reflection. Of taking stock and seeing what needs to be done next. “We must stand together,” President Biden said in his speech following the assignation attempt. “Hate must have no safe harbor.”

The political temperatures are indeed past

the boiling point in America and by and large, across the globe, there is a feeling that things might explode at any moment.

On July 13 they did. In a way.

But we weren’t forced into a fighting stance then, because we weren’t in the immediate vicinity of the attempt.

We were some distance away from it.

Location-wise. Status-wise. Perspectivewise.

From the vantage point of distance and detachment the least we can do is take a moment to self-reflect.

To tone things down.

To realize the importance of unity and of standing together.

In other words, we can recognize the importance of being b’achdus. Within our own kreizen and community.

Shivah Asar B’Tamuz is next week. For nearly 2,000 years we’ve been mourning the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash.

We weren’t present at the Churban, but the gemara tells us that each generation in which the Beis HaMikdash is not rebuilt, it is as if we are guilty of its destruction.

Let’s be a part of the rebuilding. Of geulah.

The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of sinaas chinam. Ahavas Yisroel — in as broad a manner as possible — is what will bring Mashiach and the third Beis HaMikdash.

Let’s move away from “fight” and unite.

May it be a month of revealed goodness and kindness.

The Lakewood Vibes Editorial Team

P.S.: In case you missed last weeks’ Vibes and were wondering about it, please note that this wasn’t an error. Vibes will print every other week during the summer, until Shabbos Nachmu

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Prayer and the Quantification of Quality

In the long and seemingly never-ending list of murderously villainous Jew-haters, Balak certainly ranks pretty high. The King of Moab made it his supreme mission to annihilate the entire Jewish people: every man, woman and child. He employed horribly evil tactics to ensure our demise. He tried witchcraft. He tried adulterous seduction. He tried using dark magic emanating from the astrological interpretations of the constellations. All to wipe us off the face of the earth. In short, Balak was patently evil for typical Jew-hating standards.

So it seems rather strange that such a ruthless person would be rewarded by Hashem with a reward so great it is spiritually incalculable. The Gemara (Horios 10b) says that because Balak, in his attempt to beseech Hashem to kill the Jewish people, brought korbanos and passionately pleaded his case before Hashem, he was rewarded with having a granddaughter named Rus, one of the greatest Jewish women of all time and the eventual grandmother of Dovid, the greatest king in the history of our people.

Why would a man who wanted nothing more than to see us all die get rewarded by Hashem for pleading for our deaths?

And this phenomenon isn’t limited to Balak. Moshe, while battling the traitorous Korach, davened earnestly to Hashem that He not accept Korach’s prayers. Why did Moshe need to ask Hashem not to accept Korach’s tefillos? Korach was on a rebellious campaign against Toras Moshe, for which he would end up getting swallowed up by the very earth he was standing on. Hashem considered this movement so bad that He ground the systems of nature to a halt and opened up the earth at its core to swallow the man alive. Why was Moshe concerned about the prayer of a man such as Korach?

We again see this strange phenomenon in parshas Masei. The Torah states that one who murders by accident must run for his life to the ir miklat/city of refuge, lest the victim’s relative kill the murderer. The murderer must remain in that ir miklat until the death of the Kohen Gadol, and then and only then may he leave. The Gemara (Makos 11a) says that the mother of the Kohen Gadol would go from time to time to the ir miklat and bring the murderer cookies, in order to lessen the likelihood that he pray for the death of her son the Kohen Gadol. She ensured that his living conditions were comfortable to the point that he wouldn’t feel the need to pray for her son’s demise.

Now, why would this woman be afraid of the murderer’s tefillos? Did she really think that the mighty and holy Kohen Gadol in his full spiritual glory would get affected by some outcast locked up in a prison city for killing someone?

Intercontinental Spiritual Missiles

All these questions point to a powerful answer. All

Parshas Balak קלב תשרפ

Hillel Eisenberg

these questions point to the power of an earnest prayer. Prayer uttered in sincerity can turn Hashem away from the stature of the person talking. It can overshadow previous deeds and external scenarios. The passion and meaning injected into those prayers, the fire burning in the soul of the one davening, can pierce the very heavens.

Balak, in a horribly gruesome way, genuinely wanted the Jews out of the way. When he was praying to Hashem and offering Him korbanos, he was doing so with one hundred percent of his heart and his soul. He was as sincere as a man could be. Hence, in a backhanded way, he developed a spiritual connection with Hashem. He was seeking Hashem out. He lifted his eyes towards the sky and relied on Hashem’s help. He used every cell in his heart to sincerely plead with Hashem. He raised his arms to Heaven and begged Hashem to help him. Hence, he was rewarded. He recognized Hashem’s presence. He understood Hashem’s power. He thrust his burden on Hashem and therefore connected himself spiritually to his Creator. He, in turn, merited to have Dovid come out of him: Dovid Hamelech, who would teach the world how to truly connect to Hashem through prayer.

Moshe knew that Korach was wrong. He knew he was power-hungry, misguided, and selfish. He knew that all of Korach’s claims were worthless. Yet he also knew that Korach was unquestionably sincere in his prayer to Hashem. That, although making a gross and selfish miscalculation, Korach still poured his heart out to Hashem. His victory over Moshe was such a desperate need that he would plead for it from the depths of his heart. And therefore, Moshe feared Korach’s prayers. He feared that his prayers were so sincere and heartfelt that they might actually be listened to. Moshe, more than anyone, knew the secret of prayer: sincerity. And Korach had lots of it.

A man who, in one grievous moment of error, lost his freedom and is now languishing in a prison city, has one thing that the average person might not have. He has an aching heart that day in and day out pleads with Hashem to save him from his plight. He turns to Hashem every minute of the day with a soul on fire and prays. With nothing else left in his life, the only thing he resorts to is prayer, and therefore, the words that pour out of his mouth ascend straight to the Throne of Hashem.

The Kohen Gadol’s mother was acutely aware of this. She was petrified of this. She therefore made it her business to make his life as comfortable as possible, and in turn limit his need to pray for the death of her son. For she knew that if he would, in fact, pray, those prayers would be infused with unimaginable spiritual energy, powerful enough to climb the highest of staircases in Heaven.

There is nothing more cherished by Hashem than the sincere prayer of a soul aflame. Often, pressing and difficult predicaments in life are the ultimate

catalyst for lighting the soul on fire. The prayers that such souls exude reach heights that words uttered by others in more calm environments would never reach.

It’s easy to stand in shul and daven to Hashem when life is great and you are coasting along. But one runs the risk of having one’s prayers ensnared by the dangerous world of monotonous word-uttering, with little to no meaning in the words coming out of one’s mouth. Sometimes the greatest match to light those words on fire is a challenge that Hashem places in our lives. Suddenly, daydreaming during prayer is not an option. Suddenly, the welfare of one’s life rests on those prayers, and the words take on an entirely new significance. Those words then burst into flames, ascending heavenward.

Nothing is more powerful than the prayers of one in distress. One should not think that one’s predicament, history, upbringing or plight will ever hinder the power of those prayers. This parshah proves the very contrary. Those tefillos aren’t loved by Hashem despite one’s scenario and plight. Those tefillos are loved by Hashem specifically because of it.

Tefillin On Shabbos

My grandfather, Reb Mordechai Glick, a former rabbi, teacher and psychologist, suffered in his later years from a painful case of dementia. Sadly, it was severe enough to prevent him from remembering his grandchildren’s names or how to knot a tie, but not severe enough to blind him of the fact that he had the disease in the first place. It pained him deeply. I used to spend Shabbos with him from time to time to keep him and my grandmother company. One Shabbos afternoon, he came down from his afternoon nap and walked into the kitchen, wishing me a “good morning”. He then made himself a cup of coffee and proceeded to put on his tallis and tefillin, and began davening the shacharis prayers for Sunday morning. He swayed and he shuckled, he sang and he cried. He stood firm as a rock while angelically saying Shemoneh Esrei, tears rolling down his cheeks. He prayed for his children and prayed for his former students. He davened for his patients who were often too helpless to daven for themselves. He prayed for Klal Yisrael and for Eretz Yisrael. He davened for all the childless couples that he had helped and all the marriages that he had saved. He davened for all the special needs children in HASC and all the people he knew suffering in psychiatric wards. He thanked Hashem for the wonderful gifts he had and requested that Hashem should give health to his aging mind. With that, he finished his prayer, put away his tallis and tefillin and sat down to read a book.

Did he say the correct tefillah? No. He said shacharis for Sunday instead of minchah for Shabbos. Was he wearing the correct attire? No, he was wearing tefillin on Shabbos when halacha tells us not to.

Did his tefillos ride on the wings of angels and pierce the heavens, bringing on heavenly tears?

A resounding one hundred percent yes. For those were tefillos of a broken man. Those were tefillos in their most sincere form. Those were tefillos of a man whose entire unadulterated connection to Hashem was wholly infused in those prayers. Such prayers burst through the gates of Heaven and rest at the very feet of Hashem’s Throne.

Quality Oil

The Gemara in Shabbos 23a says that Abayeh originally used sesame oil while lighting his chanukah menorah, for it lasted a long time. One year he saw Reb Yehoshua Ben Levi using olive oil. He explained that although it doesn’t last nearly as long as sesame oil, it is still better in the sense that its light is clearer and brighter. Abayeh was inspired and switched to olive oil, which he lit for the rest of his life.

Hashem isn’t looking for quantity in prayer. He is looking for quality. Better to use a great flame with a short lifespan than a dull flame that lasts awhile.

The Cardiac Arrest

On May 16th, 2005, my father was walking up a flight of stairs and collapsed. He had a terrifying

Parshas Balak קלב

cardiac arrest and his heart stopped working completely. He was given a five-percent chance of living out the rest of that day. Five. Percent. Chance.

Two weeks later, he was released from the ICU, and days after that, he walked out of the hospital a completely healthy man.

A few days after coming home, he was taking a walk around the block and bumped into our nonobservant Jewish neighbor, who despite being Jewish himself, had less than pleasant views on Jews and Judaism. He ran over to my father and said, “Dr. Eisenberg, you owe me a thanks.”

“Why’s that?” my father asked.

The man looked at my father with a smile and said, “For it is because of me that you are alive.”

“Really!” my father said. “How so?”

The man continued: “When I heard that you collapsed with a cardiac arrest, I whispered a powerful prayer to God for your recovery. He must have been so utterly shocked, flabbergasted and

must have listened to my powerful prayer.”

Tens of thousands of people davened for my father’s recovery. Dozens of Rabbis, Roshei Yeshivah and holy people around the world pounded on Heaven’s door on his behalf. Hundreds of thousands of prayers emanating from pure and sacred lips were thrown God’s way for him. Yet this nonobservant disgruntled man believed it was his prayer that kept my father alive. Incredible!

What is even more incredible is that the man –might even be right!

Hillel Eisenberg, originally from Rochester NY, teaches courses on the fundamentals of Judaism at Princeton University as well as in Torah Links Yeshiva in Lakewood NJ. He is the author of the newly published book THE PARSHAH ON FIRE as well as the host of a podcast with the same name. His dynamic and passionate style of teaching the joy of Judaism has made him a sought-after teacher and lecturer throughout the United States. Feel free to reach out to Hillel by email Hilleleisenberg613@gmail.com or

Hillel Eisenberg

Told to the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh

Reb Chaim Ben Attar (1696 -

July 7,

1743)

Once, for the Pesach Seder, the Ohr Hachaim ended up in the house of simple, unsophisticated people who read the Haggadah with reverential enthusiasm.

The Ohr Hachaim saw that the husband’s face shone with a great light, and that his wife was even more radiant. When he asked them to explain why such kedushah could be felt in their home, the husband recounted their life story:

The family had always been careful to say all the berachos and tefillos out loud, slowly and clearly, with kavanah. Their home was a pleasant, calm place filled with yiras shamayim. Money and intellectual sophistication were in short supply, but emunah and simchah were never lacking. They were especially happy to see their dear children growing up as fine, G-d fearing Jews.

The Satan saw all this and was not happy. He was determined to extinguish the light which shone from the simple, unassuming home. One day the Satan appeared in their home in the guise of an old, wealthy Jew with a long white beard. He became friendly with the family and supported them generously. Then, after establishing himself as their patron he started giving them “advice.”

“Hashem can hear you just fine if you daven quietly and calmly,” he told them. “You don’t have to scream all the time.”

The husband was sincere but naïve. When he heard these “wise words” from the “distinguished talmid chacham” who had saved them from poverty, he was slowly swayed.

His “kind benefactor” continued to shower him with generosity. He plastered and repainted his old, peeling wall, and replaced his shabby furniture. But along with the flow of material benefits came a constant flow of “well-meaning advice.”

Gradually, the family’s enthusiasm and

yiras Hashem dampened. They didn’t have the same bren they used to have.

The wife, too, was a simple woman. At first, she too innocently swallowed the old man’s smooth words. But soon she realized that something was wrong. The atmosphere in the house had changedHer greatest joy had been

hearing her children make berachos, daven, and learn. Their sweet voices were a pleasant distraction from her constant work, but there was a lot less of that now. The family was better off materially, but their home had lost its warmth, chiyus, and simchah shel mitzvah.

“I don’t like this,” she told her husband. “We have to stop with this old man and go back to the way it was before.”

As soon as the wife pointed out the spiritual decline which the old man’s presence had wrought, the husband saw it as well.

But how could he rebel against his benefactor?

“It’s very simple,” his wife replied. “I don’t need this strange man’s favors. I’d

rather live very frugally than rebel against Hashem. We lived in poverty before, and we can do it again.”

The husband followed his wife’s lead. When the old man came back to them with gifts, as he usually did, instead of welcoming him, the husband declared, “We’re not listening to you anymore!”

The old man tried to convince them that they were ruining their children’s future with their strange behavior. But for once, the couple was not swayed by his smooth talk. They might not have been able to refute his arguments, but they knew that he was wrong.

“If you don’t listen to me, I’ll take everything back!” the old man told them.

But the couple stood firm. “We care more about our children’s yiras shamayim than about your presents.”

The old man was enraged. In no time at all he hired laborers to carry off everything not nailed down in the house. The new furniture disappeared, along with the silver becher, menorah, Seder plate, and candlesticks that he’d given them. The man left behind a newly impoverished family, but one with a re-ignited sense of yiras shamayim and ahavas Hashem. Gradually, the home regained its former atmosphere.

Now the Ohr Hachaim understood why the house was filled with such spiritual light, and why both husband and wife shone so brightly.

The Ohr Hachaim’s yahrzeit is Tes Vav Tammuz.

This story is recorded in “Ish Chasid Hayah,” in the book Zichronam Livrachah by Reb Aharon Perlov.

(Adapted from Nifla’os HaTzaddikim by Reb Yaron Amit)

Shira Yael Klein

Reb Tzvi Hirsh Eichenstein of Ziditchov

The Ateres Tzvi (1763 –

June 22, 1831)

Reb Meir Eisenstadt is also known Reb Mendel was a chassid of Reb Tzvi Hirsh of Ziditchov and was known as a big machnis orchim. One time, a poor man passed his house and Reb Mendel invited him in to eat and sleep.

“I’ll only come to your house if you give me 100 golden rheinish*!”

Reb Mendel started bargaining to be allowed to host the man for less, but the man refused.

Eventually, Reb Mendel gave up on hosting the man and he went to tell his wife about the strange man who refused to be hosted unless he was paid a small fortune.

“How much did you agree to give him?” asked his wife.

“I went all the way up to 50 rheinish, but he still refused,” Reb Mendel said.

“If you’re willing to give him 50, you may as well give him 100,” she retorted.

Reb Mendel figured that his wife was right. The situation was already so ridiculous and backwards. It wouldn’t make less sense to give the poor man the full amount that he’d demanded.

Reb Mendel ran outside to invite the man in, but the man was already standing quite a distance away.

“You want me to schlep all the way to you?” the man said.

Reb Mendel shrugged and trudged off to toward the poor man to hand him the golden coins. Then, Reb Mendel brought the poor man into his house and sat him down at his table to offer him food. But nothing was good enough for the unreasonable guest. At his wits end, Reb Mendel asked him, “So what would you like to eat, sir?”

“I don’t want the garbage you’ve been

trying to force on me — you’d never eat this stuff. I want to eat with you!”

Reb Mendel breathed a sigh of relief at knowing what the man wanted him to do. He sat down to eat together with the poor man, but when they were both served, the poor man grabbed Reb Mendel’s plate and banged it in front of himself. Reb Mendel then ate the poor man’s portion, which he so generously shoved in Reb Mendel’s direction instead.

When Reb Mendel offered the poor man a bed, he again raised a hue and a cry and refused to sleep there.

“So where would you like to sleep?” Reb Mendel asked.

“I’ll look around and tell you.”

The poor man wandered through the house until he reached the room with Reb Mendel’s moneybox. “I think this room will do,” he said.

Reb Mendel tried to convince the man to sleep elsewhere. Anywhere but the room with the money. Even his own bed….

“If you won’t let me sleep someplace normal, I won’t sleep in your house at all!” the man said. “I’ll sleep in the shul. Is that what you want?!”

Reb Mendel resigned himself to having the poor man sleep with the cashbox. But even Reb Mendel had his limits. He

decided to wait until the poor man fell asleep, lock him in the room together with the money, and re-open the door before dawn. The strange guest would never know the difference, but at least he wouldn’t be able to make off with Reb Mendel’s money...

The next morning, when Reb Mendel came to open the locked door, he was shocked to see it wide open.

The strange guest was nowhere to be seen.

Reb Mendel rushed to his cashbox, but it was just as he’d left it. Then he noticed something gold glint up at him. He lifted the guest’s pillow and found 100 golden rheinish beneath it.

Reb Mendel immediately went to his rebbe, Reb Tzvi Hirsh of Ziditchov, to tell him what had happened.

Before Reb Mendel had the chance to say a word, Reb Tzvi Hirsh said, “Eliyahu Hanavi was by you, and he’s very impressed with you.”

*The rheinish, a.k.a. the Rhenish gulden, was a gold coin of central importance to the German monetary system until modern times. It was also used as an “international trading currency” in much of Europe. Based on historical gold prices, it seems that one gulden was worth roughly $40 in today’s dollars.

. ***

Reb Tzvi Hirsh’s yahrzeit is Yud Aleph Tammuz.

(Adapted from Nifla’os HaTzaddikim by Reb Yaron Amit)

Shira Yael Klein

The Guy Next Door

Chapter 40

You know how, no matter how long you get ready for something important, when it’s suddenly sprung on you, you’re not ready? That’s how I felt when Xavier Roberts said he wanted the Nakamura Project (as I’d named it) to kick off that afternoon.

First I thought of a million reasons why it wasn’t convenient. Like I had work to do, an office to go to, a chavrusah to attend…

But all those reasons dissipated like smoke when I remembered it was Sunday. Nothing of any importance happened on a Sunday afternoon. Sundays were for relaxing with the family, taking them on fun trips by sitting in a lengthy traffic jam, having a barbecue, Brent Cross Mall opened at 12 on Sundays.….

Oh, and saving the world.

The best time for saving the world was definitely Sunday afternoons.

It was comforting to know I wouldn’t be saving the world all by myself. Xavier had said I’d have a backup team.

“My man with the dolly will be around at about 5 pm, is that okay?” Xavier’s voice whittered on somewhere in the background of my panicked consciousness. “He’ll come here first, and you’ll go next door to Nakamura together.”

“Okay, I’ll be ready!” I lied. I’d never felt less ready for anything in my entire life. Xavier left, leaving me alone.

I nervously wondered where everyone was.

I saw Debbie, halfway up the stairs.

“Hey, where are you off to?” I called to her.

“I’m going for my nap.” She continued up.

“A nap? Now?!”

Debbie paused and looked at me. “Nachman, you don’t need me. Even if I could do anything which I can’t, I have every faith in you to get the job done. You are

much more capable than you give yourself credit for. This is the only day I get to nap, and I’m going to nap. See you!” She turned back to the stairs, made it to the top, and a second later, I heard the bedroom door close. A bit too loudly for my liking.

I stood, stunned, for a while. Then I paced the house for a while, looking for someone, anyone, to support me. But I was on my own.

“Arrrgh!!” I yelled at the unresponsive walls. And I paced some more.

Then I caught sight of the clock on the wall and skidded to a halt, cartoon-style.

Five p.m. was just two hours away. I decided to practice my ten second ladder climb meanwhile to get it tip top.

I shook out the ladder and put it by my hapless light fixture which was, by now, giving me a baleful glare whenever I approached it. It was no doubt fed up with constantly having things attached and unattached to its innocent parts.

My panicked brain was feeding me bad scenarios. What if Mr. Nakamura had only spotlights fitted into the ceiling and no light fixtures? Many modern homes had that kind of lighting.

I couldn’t shake that fear, so I called Xavier and offloaded it onto him.

“My dear Nachman,” he said soothingly, “I told you we have many previous surveillance videos of the interior of Mr. Nakamura’s house. We are not an amateur operation. We know that his furnishing and lighting are out of the 1970s, and he has several central chandeliers of a particularly hideous design. As he is renting, I’m not blaming him for his lack of interior design and am grateful that he has these awful chandeliers. There are multiple locations for you to affix the camera.”

I practically shook with relief. I hung up and then I thought, what if he did some interior work since Xavier Roberts’s surveillance and now the house is festooned with built-in spotlights?

I almost called Xavier back but decided that even my

Recap: Nachman continues to practice installing the hidden camera until Xavier Roberts comes by. Xavier tells Nachman that he needs to head over to Mr. Nakamura’s house that afternoon.

Ruthie Pearlman

Designed by:Lakewood Vibes

paranoia had its limits. Then I thought that if I did drive Xavier crazy with my paranoia maybe he’d give up and find someone else. That would be wonderful. It would let me off the hook so that someone else could save the world.

To my surprise, my head told me: No. You don’t want to hand this over to someone else. You want to prove you can do it and be a hero.

I was stunned at my head. I wondered if somewhere along the line, I’d had it swapped with someone else’s because it didn’t seem like my usual head.

With no time to lose I got practicing.

Up and down the ladder, fix the camera in record time, do it again and again and again.

Make sure it’s not visible from floor level. Make sure the batteries are fresh and long-lasting.

I did it twenty times. I never got it down to ten seconds, but I did do a reliable eighteen.

That would have to do.

At five o’clock my doorbell rang.

The guy at the door looked like he’d stepped out of one of those “send food to our soldiers” videos. So Israeli, so soldier like. And then there was me. What a pair.

His name was Gadi. He smiled disarmingly at me, showing a perfect set of pearly whites. He turned out to be American Israeli. Armed and in uniform, he’d have surely had enough medals to cover one of the potholes in our street.

“C’mon, Nachman, let’s do this,” he said. He had a large dolly, containing a bubble-wrapped appliance of some kind.

“What’s that?”

“A brand-new smart fridge,” Gadi said. “Our man’s gonna love it.”

I put my jacket on, folded up my ladder, put on my Hero’s persona — which didn’t fit me too well — put the camera in my pocket, and off we went.

“You ring his door. You’re the one who’s supposedly his best friend,” Gadi said when we got there. “I’m just the schlepper.”

I rang the doorbell. I was hoping Nakamura wouldn’t be in. Anything to postpone this hero thing. But he was.

As soon as Nakamura saw me, he smiled broadly and shook my hand with both of his. “Mr. Feld, my good friend!” he said, stepping aside. “Come in! Will you have a drink with me?”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I knew I had to find him something distracting to do so I could do my hero act, but I wasn’t sure yet what that would be. “I’ve actually come to bring you a thank you present from the institutions you donated so generously to,” I said, pointing at Gadi and his dolly.

“Oh my!” Nakamura said. “What is that? And why are you carrying that thing under your arm?”

“It’s your brand-new smart fridge!” I said, hoping I sounded at least two or three times at as enthusiastic as I felt. “And this is a folding ladder in case my worker here needs to do some electronic wizardry to set it up. He couldn’t push the dolly and carry the ladder at the same time, so I volunteered to help. I presume you have

an internet connection he can connect the fridge to?”

“How could you possibly have known?” Nakamura said excitedly. “The fridge I have in this rental here is on its last legs! This is such a perfect gift! And yes, of course, I have internet here. Come in, both of you, come in!”

How could Xavier possibly have known? I thought, as I stepped into the house. Gadi followed behind, heaving the heavy dolly up the slope to the front door and then over a single step so that we were both inside.

“Please, “Nakamura said apologetically. “Take off your shoes. It’s considered impolite to wear shoes in someone else’s house.”

Gadi and I both struggled a bit with our lace- ups, but we complied. We put our shoes tidily by the door as Nakamura indicated.

We both looked around. Xavier was right. The furnishings and fittings were straight out of the 1970’s, and even that was being generous. Old, dark, and plenty of chandeliers that just itched to have me attach something to them. I could almost hear them call to me.

“Why are you looking at my lights?” Nakamura asked, as we moved through his living area.

“Oh,” I improvised, “I was admiring them. They’re quite vintage, aren’t they?”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Nakamura said. Then he turned to Gadi. “I’m so excited about this new fridge. Can you disconnect and take away my old one?”

“All part of the service,” Gadi beamed, flashing his teeth again. “But if this is a rental, is that allowed? Shouldn’t you ask your landlord?”

Nakamura looked thoughtful. “Yes, you’re right. How about putting the old fridge in my garage then please, and I’ll speak to my bosses back in….” he almost stumbled. “Japan, to find out what they want me to do with it.”

Gadi complied by taking the new fridge into the kitchen and disconnecting the old one. “Can you show me where the garage is, please?” He asked a few minutes later, winking to show me this was my opportunity to attach the camera.

“It’s round the back,” Nakamura said. “I’m going to have a drink with my friend here while you do that.”

Gadi made a “what now??” gesture at me. I raised both my eyebrows in lieu of a shrug.

Nakamura wasn’t leaving me to do my ten-second trick. Well, eighteen.

“Mr. Nakamura, you can show this man where the garage is, It’s fine. I will wait here.”

“It is not polite to leave a guest on his own,” Nakamura said. “Come with me as I show him the garage, that way you’re not left alone.”

He was impassive, certain of his ground, whilst my ground slipped and slid beneath me.

What now?

Was he suspicious?

To be continued…

STRATEGIES FOR OPTIMUM SUCCESS S S

Rifka Schoenfeld

TOO MUCH STUDYING?

Q: I am writing because my daughter is struggling in school. She is not doing poorly – actually she gets mostly Bs on her report cards. However, she studies much, much more than her peers. Sometimes she spends hours studying for a vocabulary quiz. For some reason, only part of what she studies seems to stick. Is there some way I can help her better remember what she studies?

A: Study skills are essential tools for elementary school and beyond. Even adults need memory strategies to remember important details in their personal or work lives.

A great way to ensure successful studying is to provide your daughter with a RIP toolbox. RIP stands for Repetition, Imagery, and Patterns. These three strategies can help your daughter better recall the information she is studying:

Repetition:

Repetition and rehearsal of information enhance a process called consolidation, the process by which memories are moved from temporary storage in the hippocampus (a small structure within the brain) to more permanent storage in the cortex (the outer layer of the brain). Multiple repetitions can be boring – and therefore children might turn their brains off, negating the positive effects of repetition. Therefore, here are some tips for repetition:

•Set the information to music. Singing a song can make the material easier and more fun to recall.

•Develop silly mnemonics to help remember the information. For instance, if you are working on state capitals, for Ohio, sketch a picture of a person saying, “oh, hi, oh Columbus.” This associates the word “Columbus” with the word “Ohio.

•Use flashcards. Creating the flashcards provides another opportunity for repetition and then flipping through them links the information to a motor skill.

Imagery:

Creating or studying images can help your daughter’s brain better store the information. Some types of images can even include motor images which translate the information into muscle memory. Here are some tips for study strategies that include imagery:

•Use graphic organizers. Graphic organizers can use key words, pictures, or icons. These mental images can help arrange the information in a coherent and streamlined manner.

•Develop motor images. Using air writing or imagining seeing letters can be a powerful memory tool for students learning to read. For some, these visual or motor images are easier to recall then the simple words on the page.

Patterns:

Our brains seek meaning through patterns. As we receive new information, we need a system to organize it – and patterns are an excellent resource for this.

•Utilize rhymes. Because rhymes rely on rhythms, they have built in patterns. Using this rhythm to integrate important information will help the material stick in your daughter’s brain.

•Invent mnemonics. Mnemonics, or a short sequence of letters or words that help your child remember the information can be very helpful. For instance, if your child is learning the order of the planets in the social system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto), she could use the sentence: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.

Your daughter might simply need to understand the way memory works in order to develop more efficient study habits. Just remember to praise her effort and persistence – even a hug and smile can do wonders for her morale.

An

CHAPTER 10

“What about me ?” Zaidy West said with a little chuckle as he came into the kitchen, wiping his forehead and cheeks with a damp towel. “Ah, that’s much better.”

Mommy looked up from tossing the salad, her forehead all wrinkled. “Well, Ta…”

“It’s best that we talk a little bit later.” my father said, nodding at Ari and me.

It so annoying when adults do that.Ari and I were the ones who’d been there! We were the firsthand witnesses to the chaos at the supermarket. Hey, that sounded like a good title for a story, “Chaos at the Supermarket.”

Zaidy shrugged. “If this is about our shopping trip, it’s fine for the kinderlach to hear.”

Yes, Zaidy West!

“But,” Zaidy winked at my mother. “Let’s schmooze while eating your delicious schnitzel.”

“I second that,” Tatty said. He put Dini down and took his place at the table.

After the plates were filled, Mommy put her hand on Zaidy’s. “Tatty, the kids said you bought a lot of things at the store, and we were just wondering…well. Why?” She giggled and blinked a few times, and I saw her eyes

Recap: Liora and Ari are surprised when Zaidy takes them to his old house instead of the ice cream parlor that he promised them. When they come home, they tell their mother about their strange experiences with Zaidy that day.

get a little glassy,which made my stomach do a little somersault.

Zaidy took a couple of bites, then put down his fork. “I wasn’t quite ready to tell you. Things are still in the works. But I guess I must fill you in.”

Mommy bit her lip and stared hard at Zaidy and the room suddenly got super quiet, even Shaya stopped babbling, I kid you not.

“I met with this investor today, and he and a colleague…”

“Investor?” Tatty took a slow sip of water and carefully put down his glass.

“Yes, and he owns one of those hi-tech companies in San Diego.” He smiled wide and looked around the table at all of us. “A wonderful Israeli man, he drove all the way down here to do a gevaldig chessed .”

My father’s eyebrows shot up from behind his glasses. “Zaidy, you mean ‘drove up,’ right? Because San Diego is south.”

“Right. Wait, no, he drove down. Not San Diego, I meant San Jose.” Zaidy shook his head quickly. “Whatever, San something. It’s not important. What’s important is that he and his business partner are funding the whole trip, including donating the money for the necessities…”

Devorah Talia Gordon

My mother shook her head and whispered, “What trip?”

“A trip!? I can come, Zaidy?” Dini said.

“Not this time, maidele .” Zaidy West laughed. “I’m going to see what’s happening, firsthand.”

“Excuse me?” Mommy said.

Tatty sat back in his chair and stroked his beard. All I heard was Dini clinking her fork on her plate and Ari tapping his foot against the leg of his chair.

Money for the necessities? Was that the large amount of cash Zaidy had had in his wallet at the supermarket? What had he said the other day, when we were playing Scrabble? Talking on the phone is not the same as looking someone in the eye, and them feeling that you care about them, and are right there. And then he’d rushed to call Uncle Yonason. He’s the one who can do this!

I jumped up and said, “You’re going with Uncle Yonason, right Zaidy? That’s why you bought all those things: the snacks and granola bars and sponges and toothpaste… It’s for all of the families who still can’t go home! For soldiers!”

My father smiled at me. “Is that what this is all about, Tatty?”

“She’s got it, the whole story. And when I come back with Uncle Yonason, I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on in our country.” Zaidy folded his arms on the table in front of him and slowly shook his head. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with tears. “I must see for myself. I must see our people up close.”

My mother balled up her napkin and squeezed it tight. “Ta, how long would you be gone? Where would you stay? And Uncle Yonason, can he just take off from work? Anyway, I don’t think your passport is up to date.”

Shaya whined and kicked in his highchair, and my mother tugged a little too hard on the tray, which came loose with a jolt. Bits of food went flying everywhere. Mommy whisked Shaya up, stepping on the pieces of chicken and potatoes. “This is too much!”

“Raizy,” my father began. “Let’s just calm down and hear the details.”

“Thank you, Ezriel. Everyone, listen. This is a two-week trip. We’ll stay with Yonason’s kids in Yerushalayim for a few days. Then we’ll travel south, and Dr. Schneider will meet us at the kibbutzim. We have a tour planned, and visits to many of the Ki Ata Imadi families, of course. Up north, we’ll meet more families, stay in Tzfas…Yonason is working out the details. Baruch Hashem, my passport is always current. Raizy, Yonasan can work remotely. This is 2024.”

shake of her head, then she wiped Shaya’s cheeks and carried him out of the room.

“Ari, let’s have a geshmake game tonight!” I said, after we’d both finished homework. It was a warm night, and after all that had gone on today, it felt good to run up and down the cement outside. I didn’t even care that the ball kept getting away from me, or that I’d forgotten to put on my sneakers and was still wearing my loafers.

Ari snagged the ball from me and ran toward the basket, “Hey! Good steal!” I whooped.

He raced toward the basket, stopping a few feet away, then threw. Swoosh!

“Yay!” I yelled.

Ari fist-pumped the air, then dribbled back toward me. I didn’t even try to get the ball, but just ran along beside him as he made his way up court. I kept thinking about Zaidy, and that weird shopping trip, and that I’d been so worried – all for nothing! Zaidy was buying all those things for a reason – such a good reason!

He tossed the ball again, hit the backboard, and sank it. “I’m getting it, I’m getting it!”

A flock of birds made its way across the light purple sky, calling, caw, caw, caw as they soared. I let out my breath and thought, everything is going to be just fine .

Ari threw the ball to me, and I tossed it back to him, and we went back and forth for a couple of minutes before he said, “Do you think Zaidy meant to go to the old house?”

“Yes. I mean, no. I…I don’t know.” I held the ball and took a deep breath.

My father looked at my mother who gave him a tiny

“Well, I don’t. It’s totally out of the way, and he seemed like…he wasn’t really thinking. Just driving. Hey, pass.”

“Maybe he hadn’t planned it, but so what? He missed Bubby. He wanted to tell us about the house. And sometimes, y’know, you’re used to going a certain way, and you just drive that way…Tatty said that before.” I tossed him the ball, a little too hard, and it bounced off his shoulder and rolled away.

“Come on!” Ari called, and we both made a run for it, but he got to the ball first. Then he raced to the basket, stretched his arms high overhead, and threw the ball as hard as he could.

“Oh, no!” I yelled, and I shut my eyes, just as the loudest crash ! I think I’ve ever heard, filled the backyard.

To be continued…

Devorah Talia Gordon is a freelance writer, editor, and creative writing teacher. Her first book, The Impossible Project, a middle-grade novel, has recently been published by Menucha Publishers.

SUN 11am-6pm | MON - THURS 11am-6pm WED NIGHTS 11am-8pm | Closed Fridays

Before the arrival of Moshiach, the final nation to rise to world power will be Yishmael.

“לפנ

- over his brothers, he (Yishmael) dwelt (Chaya Sarah 25:18). “םהרבא

“ These are the offspring of Yitzchok the son of Avraham (Toldos 25:19). קחצי

(The juxtaposition of these two pesukim teaches us that) when this one falls, Moshiach shall rise from the children of Yitzchok.

Feuling the Enemy

What great merit does Yishmael possess to rule over Eretz Yisroel and oppress the Jews?

רהוז )ב:ח”נ

: for 400 years the angel of Yishmael complained to Hashem- “One who has bris milah, does he deserve to inherit Eretz Yisroel?” Hashem answered, “Yes”. The angel countered, “Yishmael has bris milah, why does he not have Eretz Yisroel?” Hashem answered that Yishmael will rule the land when she is empty – הקיר

A sign of kedusha, a boundary on one’s actions representing an elevated lifestyle, limiting one’s desires, subjugating impurity, channeling our energies towards a higher, modest lifestyle.

הקיר הלימ תירב: The children of Yishmael perform a bris milah, but their lifestyle is empty, devoid of holiness and modesty. Gemara states )ב:ט’’מ ןישודיק ( 10 measures of z’nus (immorality) descended to the world. The Yishmaelim took 9 measures of z’nus

Therefore, they will rule the land of Eretz Yisroel, only when it is הקיר, empty- devoid of the Bais Hamikdosh, the avodah and the Sanhedrin, when the Shechina is in Galus

Empty Mitzvos!

“ונישאר תרטע הלפנ“ - The glory of our head has fallen (kinos of Tisha B’Av)

Today, there is a mosque where we should have had the kodesh hakodoshim. It’s ,לכ

It’s Yishmael that is taking over the glory that we should have really had in makom hamikdash

“הראפתב לארשי רטוע” who adorns Klal Yisrael with glory (Birchos Hashacher).

A woman’s tznius and specifically the covering which adorns a Jewish married woman’s head are her tefillin, her objects of glory that bind her to Hashem.

(Rav Schwab on the siddur)

Rebbetzin Rina Tarshish

Did you know that Jewish women possess the power to cause the downfall of Yishmael?

Our Ammunition: Fueling Am Yisrael

As women, our Tznius limits our desires and brings kedusha to our lives, parallel to bris milah. For a married woman, the manner she covers her head is her primary display of modesty. The following factors must be present in order for her to truly fulfill the purpose of the mitzvah:

1- Her hair is completely covered. None of her hair is exposed in public.

2- Her head covering is recognized as a covering, serving to lessen the natural attraction of her hair. It makes a statement that she is a married woman and therefore not available for anybody else.

3- Her head covering bespeaks modesty and refinement, more than a single girl. It does not attract attention, due to length, color or style.

Downing the Enemy Q:

If a woman wears a sheitel that is overly natural or has the power to cause attraction to other men, even if her hair is technically covered, is she fulfilling the essence of the Torah’s mitzva to cover her hair once married? Or is her covering considered a

Yishmael remains in power when our mitzvos are empty, devoid of true meaning and kedushah.

Meaningful Mitzvos overpower the empty lifestyle of Yishmael and are our strongest protection from them.

תשרפ

1) Why did ןידמ and בואמ make peace?

2) In what way did בואמ compare the Yidden to a

Hatzolah of Central Jersey Stations

First Ambulance in Pine Lake Park, Manchester Township, NJ

Central Jersey, [July 13, 2024] – Hatzolah of Central Jersey proudly announces the strategic placement of an ambulance in the Pine Lake Park area of Manchester Township, NJ. This marks a significant milestone in our continued commitment to providing rapid and high-quality emergency medical services to the growing kehillos in Central Jersey.

The decision to station an ambulance in Pine Lake Park is a direct response to the substantial growth of our kehillos in the area and Hatzolah’s dedication to meeting the needs of the expanding population.

3) Why did Hashem make םעלב into a איבנ?

4) Which type of םיאיבנ only had their האובנ at night?

5) Why did Hashem ask םעלב, ‘who are the people with you’?

6) What did the donkey hint to when he told םעלב,

’?

7) Where do we find in the השרפ that, ?’םדאש

This week’s questions are until יעיבר If you would like to submit answers and be entered into a raffle for a $25 gift card, please call 848 373 5489. To get this Parsha sheet emailed to you every week, send a request to torahshleimah@gmail.com.

Sponsored

Last week’s winner: Moishe Gibber Initiative for boys ages 8-13 Yeshiva: Lakewood Cheder רוש?

The increased presence in Manchester Township reflects our ongoing efforts to, b’syata dishmaya, enhance accessibility and ensure timely response to emergency calls.

In recent years, Hatzolah of Central Jersey has not only expanded its fleet but has also significantly increased its membership, particularly in the growing areas. This growth is a testament to our commitment to recruiting and training highly skilled volunteers who are dedicated to serving theircommunities.

The newly stationed ambulance in Pine Lake Park joins our current fleet of 17 ambulances and a total of 35 vehicles servicing Lakewood, Toms River, Manchester, Howell, Brick, and Jackson.

In addition, Hatzolah of Central Jersey will be accepting the delivery of four additional brand new ambulances in the coming months. Some of these new ambulances will replace aging vehicles within the fleet, while others will be deployed to new posts to keep pace with community expansion.

Hatzolah of Central Jersey remains committed to, b’syata dishmaya, providing world-class emergency medical services. Our focus on quality care involves rigorous vetting of potential new members, continuous education for our current membership, and the acquisition of the latest medical equipment available on the market. With over 200 members, including EMTs, paramedics, MDs, PAs, NPs, and psychologists, all highly trained and respected members of our kehillos, we are proud to deliver rapid, high-quality emergency services to our residents.

Writing Contest Writing Contest

It was Thursday night when we heard the “ding a ling a ling” of the phone ringing. “Hi”, said my aunt, “We were supposed to go to Cleveland for Shabbos, but our plans fell through. Is there any way that we can come to you?” My mother wasn’t sure what to say. “We’d love to have you, but where will you all sleep?” My aunt has nine kids, and our house is small. “Just make some phone calls,” pleaded my aunt. “I’m not really comfortable asking my neighbors to host a couple with nine children”, said my mother, “but I’d be so happy to have you!” My mother hung up the phone, thinking that it would never happen. After all, she was too shy to make phone calls! Then, my mother went outside, and our NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR started schmoozing to her. She said that she had just had a cleaning crew and her house was spotless and her mother-in-law just invited her for Shabbos. “If you’d like to invite someone for Shabbos, you could totally have my house”, said my neighbor. My mother was shocked! Never in her life did a neighbor offer something like that! And it was right after my aunt had called! What hashgocha pratis! My cousins came for Shabbos and we all had a blast!

10

We were supposed to go to the country for shabbos and I was really excited to go. Friday morning when I woke up my mother told me that our plans were canceled because there wasn’t enough room for our family in the bungalow and we’d have to stay home. I was very disappointed but she said we would go to chuckee cheese instead that day. I came home from school and our family went to chuckee cheese and we met our cousins there also and had tons of fun! Our cousins who were there also live right near us. They told us that our Bobby and elter Bobby were coming to their house for shabbos. I was so so excited to get to spent shabbos with my grandmother and great grandmother and although I was disappointed that Shabbos in the country didn’t work out, I got to spend it with them!

Gross,10

A few years ago, on a Friday morning, in the summer. I was walking to a corner where my friend's mother was going to pick me up and take me to camp. Right before I left my mother said that it looked like it may rain. I didn't really want to schlep along an umbrella, but I decided to take one just in case. I was walking a few blocks, and my sister came along with me. We didn't want to get stuck in the rain. Halfway there it suddenly started pouring! Not just any kind of rain, but a big downpour! We quickly opened our umbrella. We had a hard time walking because it was raining so hard. We were walking in massive puddles. My friend's mother was running a little late, so we had to wait. Because we only had one umbrella, we got halfway soaked. When my friend's mother came, the rain slowed down so that my sister could continue walking. We were so grateful that we took an umbrella, so we didn't have to go to camp soaked!

Kids, tell us your stories of hashgacha pratis in 300 words or less and have your story featured in Lakewood Vibes!

B.S.

Chuma K.,15

Heshy

to our winner!

$50

Parashas Balak

Down:

1. How many animals did Balak sacrifice at each location?

2. Who blocked Bilaam’s path?

3. Bilaam’s donkey tried to enter a ___________ to avoid harm.

4. Who killed a nasi and Moavite woman?

7. Who was Balak’s mother?

8. What type of words came out of Bilaam’s mouth?

9. What did Bilaam hit his donkey with?

11. Bilaam saddled his donkey for an aveirah unlike ___________ who saddled his donkey for a mitzvah

14. Which of Balak’s neighbors did the Yidden destroy?

17. Who was Pinchas’s father?

Across:

5. What animal did Bilaam ride?

6. How many altars did Balak build at each location?

10. Which nasi sinned with a Moavite woman?

12. How many times did Balak send messengers to Bilaam?

13. How many times did Bilaam try to curse the Yidden?

15. Who was the king of Moav?

16. How many thousand Yidden died in the plague?

18. Who did Balak call upon to curse the Yidden?

19. Hashem appeared to Bilaam at ___________ to tell him not to curse the Yidden.

20. What is the name of the avodah zarah that Moav influenced the Yidden to serve?

21. What weapon did the angel before Bilaam hold?

Mrs. T. Gailer

Reviewed by Rosally Saltsman

Name of Book:

Chevron

Author:

Meir Uri Gottesman

Publisher:

Israel Bookshop Publications

We are privileged, in our time, to have many different genres of writing to sate the literary appetite of every type of frum person. In the books of Meir Uri Gottesman, we are exponentially privileged to find many genres coexisting in literary harmony: history, fantasy, suspense, science fiction, and most of all holiness and a soupcon of Olam Habah. These elements all intertwine to make Gottesman’s books unique, memorable, and deeply uplifting.

Actually, I would venture that Gottesman’s work is a genre of its own. A genre which I would call Soulrealistic.

Chevron is Gottesman’s new masterpiece.

To paraphrase Gottesman, the [book is] a living thing, a breathing thing, a holy thing, every inch.

Like all Gottesman’s books, this one is a page-turner. You want to see what happens next. And, it can be anything. Really.

Yossel Shamas, the gabbai of Beit Leo shul in New Jersey, discovers a strange and mysterious visitor who has been hiding out in the shul. The

Number of Pages: 224

Category: Fiction

Age Group: Young adults - 120

mysterious stranger has a strange claim and an even stranger request, which causes turmoil in the shul. But Meir Chevroni turns out to be founder of the shul and he has come to tell the congregants his remarkable story.

The author shares his name – Meir – with his protagonist. This is because Chevron is a semi-autobiographical book and Meir Chevroni, the mysterious man with a powerfully magical cane, is based on Gottesman’s persona.

Meir Chevroni has come to tell his life story to his children, his congregation. His story is interwoven with the stories of Jewish history, past, present, and future, and their lessons, which are eternal.

There is no real time and space in the history of the Jewish people. We are as close now to the time of Mashiach as we have ever been. We are as close now to the watershed events of Jewish history as we have ever been. We are as close to each other as we wish to be.

Let Reb Meir wave his cane over your heads and enter with him into the magic that is the mesmerizing story of the Jewish people.

Submit Your Stories Submit Your Stories

Dear Vibes of Gratitude, I was recently in Israel — and had the unfortunate occasion to be in the ER there. Unfortunate, but fortunate, as Baruch Hashem everything turned out to be fine and was really just a scare. Still, I was fortunate to see the greatness of Yidden coming together to be mevaker cholim while spreading simchah and joy. From the chocolate and candies that were distributed at six o’clock, to the drinks distributed at seven, to the musical interlude — with prizes — at seven thirty, my threeyear-old son came back from the hospital on a high note — so different from the state of fear that enveloped him on the way there. As for me, I was simply grateful to belong to a nation that has so many people who set out every day, on a volunteer basis, simply to bring joy and light to others. The chocolate and candy came from a Yid of one kind, the drinks from Yidden of a different kind, and the music from still a different kind — but the feeling of achdus and ahavas Yisroel that they all exuded was one and the same.

Mi ke’amchah Yisrael.

Though this didn’t happen in Lakewood, I still hope you can print it.

-S.S.

Dear Lakewood Vibes,

This is really a shoutout to the producers of your magazine for putting together such quality articles alongside beautifully attractive ads. The articles are clearly human-interest, in the full sense of the word, and contain no “news” which I, for one, am very grateful for. We’re bombarded with so much news and information in today’s day and age of seemingly endless information, hock, and knowledge — it’s a pleasure to know that I’ll be able to relax with my cup of morning coffee without being bombarded by anything taxing to read while I peruse some ads of stores in the area.

Yasher Koach to your team for a job well done. I especially love the Vibes of Interest and Vibes of Humor — I wish they didn’t need to rotate. Keep the articles coming, you have at least one (and surely many more) grateful fans!

- A Very Pleased Reader

In Vibes of Gratitude we are proud to showcase acts of chessed in our community.

To submit your own story of thanks to anyone from drivers, to grocers to your next door neighbors, please send an email to editor@lakeweoodvibes.com

In this week’s Parsha, Bilam tried to curse the Jewish people. On his way to the mountaintop, his donkey saw an angel in front of him, got scared, and refused to continue walking. Bilam hit the donkey and miraculously, the donkey began to speak! As Bilam tried to curse the Jews, Hashem changed his words and turned the curses into Brachos.

PARSHAS BALAK

DELVING DEEPER DID YOU KNOW?

STORY

There was once a poor man named Yosef. Every week he saved his few coins to buy the best food for Shabbos. He was known as Yosef Mokir Shabbos (Yosef who honored Shabbos). One day, a star gazer told his wealthy neighbor that he would lose all his money and go to Yosef Mokir Shabbos. The rich man was shocked to hear this and made a plan so that Yosef would never get the money. The rich man decided to use all his money to buy a huge diamond and sewed the diamond safely into a hat. He wore this hat all the time, making sure that Yosef Mokir Shabbos would not get that diamond. One day the rich man was walking over a bridge and a gust of wind came and blew off his hat. He watched as the diamond floated into the water, and got swallowed by a large fish. The wealthy man was devastated as all his wealth was now gone. A few days later, on Erev Shabbos the fisherman caught a huge fish. He asked Yosef Mokir Shabbos if he would like to buy the fish. Of course he agreed and went to prepare the fish for Shabbos. When Yosef cut open the fish, he could not believe his eyes! Inside the fish was a huge diamond! The very diamond from the rich man’s hat. Yosef sold the diamond and became a wealthy man. Just the way Hashem had planned.

BRING IT HOME

Think of a time when something was really challenging for you, and you thought it wouldn’t turn out well. Then you realized that with Hashem’s help, it turned out way better than you expected.

Balak the King of Moav hires the well-known sorcerer and prophet Bilam to curse the Jewish people. However, Hash- em had a different plan and changed Bilam’s curse into a beautiful Bracha – the famous phrase that we say each morning – Mah Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov. From here we see everything comes from Hashem. Even when something seems so terrible, if Hashem wants a different outcome, anything is possible and Hashem can change something so evil into beautiful brachos.

Marbling Doneky Art PARSHA

Take a big tray and fill its surface with a thick layer of shaving foam, then smooth it out.

Place the canvas back in the shaving foam. ¾ should be covered with blue and ¼ with green and yellow. Press the canvas down, then take out.

Color the donkey with a silver maker, then take a pencil and color over the nose, hair and tail. Using blue and green sharpies add details to the sky and grass.

Add drops of green and blue liquid watercolors as shown.

Take the scraper and scrape all the foam, moving from the green side to the blue. Let it dry.

Your marbling donkey art is ready!

Take a stick and make swirls on the blue side. Clean up the stick and make upward strokes on the green side as shown.

Place the donkey template on top of canvas. Take a pen and trace the donkey, by pressing hard, a colorless outline of the donkey will be left. Next, take a black sharpie and trace over outline.

SUPPLIES

Liquid Water Color (or food coloring)

A Scraping Tool (can be cardboard)

Donkey Template

Permanent Markers (Black, Silver, Dark Green & Blue)

Pen and Pencil

Shaving Foam

A Flat Canvas

Thin Stick

Big Tray

Pipets

*We would love to see how your Parsha Studio Project came out! Send us pictures to, info@jcm.museum 1 2 3 4 5 6

TEXTREME CLIMATES

he Earth is divided into two halves called the Northern Hemisphere, where we live, and the Southern Hemisphere, which is on the opposite side of the equator. When we have summer, the Southern Hemisphere (countries like Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) has winter. This means that while we're enjoying warm days, others are bundling up against the cold. But people living right next to the equator have hot weather all year round and people living closest to the North and South Poles (the Arctic and Antarctic regions) have cold weather all year long. In those places it's extremely hot or extremely cold most of the year.

Join me as we explore some of the hottest and coldest regions of the world.

Hottest Places ON Earth -Living In-

Death Valley, California, USA

Death Valley, located in Eastern California, is one of the hottest places on Earth. It holds the record for the highest air temperature ever recorded on the planet, which was 134°F in 1913. To give you an idea of what that means, think of cracking an egg on the sidewalk and having it start to cook in front of your eyes! At that temperature the ground becomes scorching, and metal objects that temperature can burn your skin. It's much hotter than the hottest summer day you’ve ever experienced!

For thousands of years, the Timbisha Shoshone tribe has called Death Valley home. The harsh environment caused the tribe to developed unique ways to survive. Tribe members built homes out of willow branches and mud to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. (Yes, Death Valley can get cool in the winter, especially at night. Winter daytime temperatures are mild, often ranging from 60°F to 70°F, but nighttime temperatures can drop to around freezing.) The Timbisha Shoshone were skilled hunters and gatherers, relying on local plants and animals for food. In the 1960’s the tribe began modernizing. They moved into regular houses with modern amenities like air conditioning. Today there are about 300 Shoshonis living in Death Valley.

The Story of Furnace Creek

Furnace Creek is a town in Death Valley and, as the name implies, it’s boiling hot there! In the early 1900s, Furnace Creek was a busy mining town. Borax, a mineral used in laundry detergent and glassmaking, was mined here. The miners used "20-mule teams" to transport borax across the desert. These teams were made up of 18 mules and 2 horses, and they hauled heavy wagons filled with borax for up to 165 miles to the nearest railroad.

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Dallol, Ethiopia

Dallol, located in the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, is another one of the hottest places on Earth. Temperatures here can average 94°F year-round, making it the hottest lived in place in the world.

Dallol is famous for its stunning landscape, filled with colorful hot springs, acid pools, and salt formations. These brilliant colors are caused by minerals like sulfur, iron, and salt. Despite the tough conditions, Dallol attracts adventurous tourists and scientists who come to study its unique geology (rocks).

The Afar people have lived in the Danakil Depression for hundreds of years. They are known for their resilience, as evident by their ability to survive in one of the most extreme environments on the planet. The Afar are traditionally nomadic shepherds, raising livestock such as goats and camels. They also mine salt from the nearby salt flats, which they sell or trade for other goods.

Coldest Places oN Earth

Oymyakon, Russia

Oymyakon, located in Siberia, Russia, is one of the coldest inhabited places on Earth. In 1933, the temperature in Oymyakon dropped to a bone-chilling -89.9°F. To give you an idea of how cold that is, if you went outside in that weather without proper clothing, you would get frostbite in just a few minutes. At this temperature, your breath would turn into ice crystals, and even boiling water would instantly freeze and turn into ice particles. It's colder than any freezer at home and much colder than the coldest winter day you can imagine!

In places like Siberia or parts of Alaska, the ground is permanently frozen, which is known as permafrost. If people were to build houses directly on the ground, the warmth from the houses would melt the top layer of the permafrost. Melted permafrost can cause the ground to become unstable, leading to houses sinking or tilting. To prevent this, people in these regions build their homes on stilts. The stilts elevate houses from the ground, allowing air to circulate underneath and preventing the ground from warming up and melting the permafrost. Also, because of the freezing temperatures, the people living in these areas generally don’t have water pipes running through the ground, so they depend on outdoor pumps or wells for their water. Cars are kept in heated garages, and they often run all day to stop the engines from freezing. team perished trying to make it home. Their final camp was just 11 miles from a supply depot, but they were unable to reach it because of a blizzard.

The School That Never Closes

One of the most fascinating facts about Oymyakon is that the local school only closes when temperatures drop below -61°F. This shows just how tough and resilient the children of Oymyakon are. Students bundle up in thick layers of clothing and brave freezing temperatures to attend school. I’m sure you can think of many reasons you wouldn’t want to live in Oymyakon but having more school than everybody else in the world probably tops the list!

Antarctica

Antarctica is the absolute coldest place on Earth, with temperatures reaching as low as -128.6°F at the Soviet Union's Vostok Station in 1983. While no one lives permanently in Antarctica, scientists from around the world visit and work at research stations to study this icy continent.

The early 20th century was known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Explorers by the names of Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott led daring expeditions to Antarctica, in the South Pole, in 1911. Amundsen and his team were the first people to reach the South Pole and Scott and his team reached the South Pole a month later. Tragically, due to extreme cold, starvation, and exhaustion, Scott’s team perished trying to make it home. Their final camp was just 11 miles from a supply depot, but they were unable to reach it because of a blizzard.

Today, Antarctica is home to many research stations where scientists study everything from climate change to penguin populations.

The Emperor Penguin

The emperor penguin is the largest penguin species and can only be found in Antarctica. These incredible birds survive the harsh winter by huddling together in large groups to stay warm. Interestingly, it’s the male emperor penguins that incubate the eggs, while the females go to the sea to feed. The males incubate eggs by balancing them on their feet and covering them with a flap of skin called a brood pouch to keep them warm. They group together with other males to keep warm.

Svalbard, Norway

Svalbard is a distant archipelago (a group of islands) located in the Arctic Ocean, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It is one of the farthest north inhabited places in the world.

Svalbard is home to more polar bears than people. These 10-foot-tall, huge animals are amazing swimmers and can travel long distances in search of food. While polar bears are fascinating, they can also be dangerous, so residents and visitors to Svalbard must always be careful and carry protection when leaving their town.

Longyearbyen is the largest settlement in Svalbard and one of the northernmost towns in the world. During polar night — a period from mid-November to late January — the town remains in darkness as the sun does not rise above the horizon at all then. It’s just the opposite during the summer months; the sun shines for 24 hours a day and is known as the midnight sun.

Svalbard offers stunning views of the Northern Lights, a natural light display, also known as the Aurora Borealis. This display occurs when particles from the sun collide with the Earth's atmosphere, creating vibrant colors in the sky. You can most clearly see the Northern Light during the winter months when the nights are long and dark.

The Global Seed Vault

One of the most fascinating places in Svalbard is the Global Seed Vault, also called the "Doomsday Vault." The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was established by the Norwegian government in 2008. This underground facility stores over one million different seed samples from around the world and was created to make sure that the world can continue to grow crops in case of a global catastrophe. The vault is built deep into a mountain to protect it from natural disasters and the effects of climate change.

Surviving the Heat

To survive extremely hot temperatures, you need appropriate clothing, food and shelter. For example, in deserts, people often wear long, loose clothing to protect their skin from the sun and keep cool by allowing air to circulate. Light colors reflect the sun's rays and dark colors absorb them so people living in desert climates will usually wear only light colors. Traditional desert homes have thick walls made of mud or clay to keep the inside cool during the day and warm at night when the desert temperature drops.

Water is precious in the desert. People collect it from oases (rare fertile spots in the desert where water is available), wells, and sometimes from the moisture in the air. Getting it from the air involves placing a container under a plastic sheet that collects droplets as the air cools and the vapor turns into liquid on the plastic. Today, modern pipelines help transport water to desert towns. Desert dwellers rely on animals like goats and camels for milk and meat and grow crops that can survive in extreme heat like dates, barley, and millet.

To avoid the hottest part of the day, in these areas many people work early in the morning or late in the evening and rest during the hottest hours.

TSurviviNg the Cold

In cold climates, like the Arctic, people wear lots of layers of clothing to trap body heat and cover every part of their bodies when outside. Wool and down are great insulators, and waterproof outer layers keep out the snow and wind. Traditional shelters like Eskimos’ igloos were designed to conserve heat. Today, however, most people in cold regions live in modern homes that are well-insulated and have heating systems. Food in the Arctic traditionally comes from fishing and hunting animals like seals, whales and caribou. To get around in extremely cold areas, people use snowmobiles, dog sleds, and vehicles specially designed to move around in the snow and ice. People in extremely cold places must ensure that they always have enough supplies for snowstorms.

here you have it. A sampling of some of the hottest and coldest places on Earth. From the searing heat of Death Valley to the icy cold temperatures of Oymyakon, we see the incredible ways people have found to adapt and thrive. These tales of survival remind us of the strength and creativity of the human spirit. And just remember: the next time you say 90 degrees is way too hot, think of people who live in Death Valley in 134 degrees! (Not that I advise anybody to live anywhere near a place that gets so hot!) Or when you kvetch about going to school with an inch or two of snow on the ground, think of your fellow Earth mates living in Siberia! As the saying goes, “There’s no place like home”—the best temperatures for us are exactly the temperatures that we live in!

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Remember the giant buzzing dragonflies we used to see in camp, near lakes or brooks? For starters, they don’t sting! Now, Let’s get to know this fascinating insect, that shouts out: Ma Rabu Masechu Hashem, up close.

There are more than 3,000 kinds of dragonflies! The Southern Hawker Dragonfly is quite large and can reach a length of 3 inches and a wingspan of 4. They can fly forward, backward, sideways, and even hover in one spot like a helicopter!

Southern Hawker Dragonfly

The southern hawker dragonfly is one of the speediest insects in the world. Sometimes - especially when chasing an insect to capture for food - they can reach a speed of over 25 miles per hour! When they are born they are small in size and stay mostly in a body of water. In this stage of life they are called ‘larva’, this phase lasts approximately 2-3 years, in which their body changes 10-15 times! When the right time comes, the larva perches on a tree branch, their entire outer shells peels off and a completely new creature is created: the dragonfly whose lifespan is only a few weeks.

In the 12 pictures below, snapped one after the other in the same spot in a duration of 3 hours, you can clearly see how the larva transforms to the dragonfly. The wet wings dry up until they spread out and it can fly. (see the identical process in the clear picture left.)

Once an adult, time is of essence, since his lifespan is up to a mere 4 weeks. The mother will search for a small lake, or sometimes wet decaying leaves, and lay approximately 1,000 eggs! (see picture left).

The eggs stay asleep for the length of the winter, and only in the summer the babies will hatch, alas, bereft of their father and mother…

The southern hawker dragonflies’ eye is a mind boggling creation for itself. Each of his huge eyes (see picture left - according to the size of it’s body, they have the largest eyes of every living thing!) is constructed of thousands (!) of lenses which cover most of it’s head, and have a very sharp and colored vision (many animals can only see in black and white, i.e. lions).

The eyes are a major aid in catching their prey. They eat mostly insects, for example mosquitoes. With their keen eyesight they can spot a tiny insect even 30 feet away, chase it and catch it! In the larva stage, they eat primarily water insects, frogs, and sometimes even small fish. With the pointed spikes Hashem created on it’s mouth, it attacks it’s prey and devours it.

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1. A SH dragonfly mommy searching for a spot in or near water to lay her eggs.

2. A SH dragonfly just finished peeling free from the larva (on the leaf below).

3. A SH dragonfly patrolling around her territory over which major conflict can occur.

4. A SH dragonfly sitting on a berry bush. They only eat insects, no fruit or leaves.

5. A SH dragonfly mommy laying her approximately 1,000 eggs concealed within wet leaves.

6. A SH dragonfly resting near the water.

TIDBITS

Habitat: All of Europe, a little of Asia and the tip of Africa.

Weight: unknown

Length: adults 2.5-3 inches, larva 1.5-2 inches

Wingspan: 3.5-4 inches

Eggs: up to 1,000

Food: insects

Predators: birds

Lifespan: adults up to 4 weeks; larva 2-3 years

Population: in the high millions

רעשעלפ ןיא רעדניק

לאַנאַק-ףיולפּאַ םעניאַ :38 לטיפּאַק

אָ – 'אָיסאָז' ךרוד ןראָוועג טראָוועגפּאָ יז טאָה עכלעוו – ןעמאָנ-דואָק רעשלאָפ

ראָי ןצפופ יוו רעמ טשינ ןייז וצ ןעזעגסיואָ ןגאָרטעג טאָה יז עכלעוו

ןצנאָג ןטימ ,סעיצקאָ המקנ" :טריפעגסיואָ ".ןרעוו טריפעגסיואָ ןלעוו ,טייקבראָה

-רעשידיאָ רעד ראָפעב גאָט אָ

יד טגיילעגסיוראָ טאָה טנורגרעטנואָ

-עציוו רעשידיאָ רעד זיאָ ,גנונעראָוו

ןסאָשעג ,ןיקייל בקעי ,ייצילאָפּ טפּיוה

ןופ םייהאָ געוו ן'פיואָ ,טיוט םוצ ןראָוועג

יד ןופ רענייאָ ,ןיקייל .עיצנאָטס-ייצילאָפּ

עכלעוו ןטנאָיצילאָפּ עשידיאָ ענלצנייאָ

זיאָ ,ןראָוועג טריטראָפּסנאָרט טשינ ןענעז

רעטעבראָטימ

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SEPTEMBER 15

GUEST PERFORMANCES

IDAN RAICHEL EVIATAR BANAI

Leek & Basil Pasta

4 Servings

ingredients

1 cup Brown Rice Spaghetti

1/2 cup Vegetable Broth (divided)

1 Leeks (large, trimmed, chopped) Sea

Salt & Black Pepper (to taste)

2 Garlic (clove)

1/3 cup Basil Leaves

1/4 cup Plain Coconut Milk

directions

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, add half of the vegetable broth, leeks, salt, and pepper to a pan over medium heat.

Sauté for eight to ten minutes or until the leeks become soft and slightly brown. Add the garlic halfway through. Add a splash of broth if needed.

Add the cooked leeks and garlic to a blender along with the basil, remaining vegetable broth, and coconut milk. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Pour the blended sauce into the pot

with the cooked pasta and gently mix to combine. Divide into bowls and season with salt and pepper if desired. Enjoy!

Liatt Ehrman is a Certified Nutrition Coach,

Bar mitzva

Vort

Sheva Brochos

Leek & Potato Soup

6 Servings

4 cups Vegetable Broth (divided)

1/2 Yellow Onion (medium, chopped)

2 Leeks (medium, chopped)

1 stalk Celery (chopped)

2 Garlic (clove, chopped) Sea Salt & Black Pepper (to taste)

3 Yellow Potato (peeled and cubed)

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 tbsps Chives (optional)

Heat a splash of broth in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, leeks, celery, and garlic and sauté for three to five minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper.

Add half of the remaining broth and use a wooden spoon to lift off any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Add the potatoes, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine, then add the remaining broth.

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low.

Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth.

Divide evenly between bowls and garnish with chives. Enjoy!

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Spinach Quiche

INGREDIENTS

1 frozen pie crust

2 Tbls of butter

1 onion chopped

1 bag of frozen spinach

1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of pepper

3 eggs

3/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of grated cheese

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter in frying pan 1. Add onions and saute until golden 2. Add spinach, salt and pepper and cook for five minutes 3.

Transfer to a bowl and let cool 4. Add eggs, milk and cheese and mix well 5. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes 6.

Ingredients

Cookies

Serving

1 cup of margarine

2/3 cup of sugar

2 tsp of vanilla

1/2 tsp of salt

2 eggs

2 cups of flour

Black and white cookies

Directions

Cream margarine and sugar in mixer

Add rest of ingredients and mix well

Form into balls and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart

Bake for 15 minutes.

Chocolate Icing

3/4 cups of confectioners sugar

4 tsp of cocoa

2 Tbls of hot water

1 Tbls of oil

White Icing

1 cup of confectioners sugar

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

2 Tbls of hot water

1 Tbls of oil

Mix icing ingredients together in separate bowls

When cookies are slightly cooled turn cookies over to flat side and spread half with chocolate icing and half with white icing

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

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POOL WITH GAZEBO Serene setting. Large, gets great sun. Pristine. Minutes from Gourmet Glatt North. $40/ hr wkdy $50/hr wknd. Call/txt 973-986-9592

Services

Professional seamstress is available for all your alteration needs. Call/ text 848525-6619. Now offering embroidery service!

Female Lifeguard Available

One time or steady. Many years of experience, call or text 732-961-0395

Music Lessons

Professional Music Lessons by Mr Wertzberger now for just $10 per week, limited time special. Tel: 718-435-1923

ez ride transport: Airports, nyc, upstate. Luxury suv.

Reasonable prices. Call/text 848-251-4736

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!

Get a 20-30% discount on your electric bill! 100% FREE and easy to sign up! text 845-600-0430

Day & Evening Babysitting

Possibly in your House also - 732-367-5369

Lost and Found

Found

Watch found at maso ras avos Hall men’s room Sunday night at the zoldan bar mitzvah 908 278-1144

Library

Book library-adult & children’s book library. Over 1,000 books. Located near Segull Square plaza. Call /text(848) 525-5909.

Gemachs

New tznius hospital gowns in Oak and Vine. Please call: 347-4862994 or 347-633-6329

Vort Dress Gemach

If you have a perfect condition Simcha dress that you would like others to benefit from, please call/ text (848) 245-2633.

The Pickup Gmach-Picking up your current last season’s kids clothing in good condition and passing it on to local Lakewood families who appreciate it and wear it right. We keep outfits and matching together as sets. For pickups email pickupgmach@gmail. com

Deja New Clothing Home Pickups. We pickup your excellent clothing so others can enjoy them too! Text ‘pickup’ to 732702-3352.

Huge buckets of lego and duplo for your shabbos simcha. Call 732 370-2572 to reserve

New tznius hospital gown gemach in Oak and Vine. At no cost. Please call: 347-4862994 or 347-633-6329

Speaker System for Small Events (with mic) 7320-510-3917 call/text Jackson, Bates Area

Gemach Zichron Feige Stunning childrens gowns- matching collection from sizes 9 months untill size 18 for appt call 908-4610058

If you have up-to-date, beautiful childrens gowns in all sizes you’d like to donate to our gemach please call 908-461-0058

Gemach zichron Gittel ladies gown gemach.

Beautiful gowns size 0-20 (732) 908-8263

Simcha Toy Gemach Keep children busy, happy so the adults can enjoy the Simcha! Borrow toys for yourSimcha, Phone:732-730-9127 (notext)

Email:GemachNefeshChaya@gmail.com

Bris set Gemach for your simcha: Poya, pillow, beautiful outfit with accessories. please call 732-994-5887

BRIS PILLOW/OUTFIT GMACH: 848-245-3347

Free Giveaway

Up-Collar Dickies Free! Avail in black, off white and white. While supply last. One per person. 732-9945887

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