Le'covid Y u! Issue 7 Parshas Nossoi 13th Sivan 5780
New Serial Have a go at the Family Crossword Collector's collectables continued... Smus's in pictures Have a laugh!
Meeting with a Minister
Contents
3 Editors Letter 4 Diluted - Torah thoughts
5
The International Shoicet
8
Serial New Series by Shmully Weisfish
6 Collectors Collectables 8 International Shoichet 10 Serial 11 Story 13 Jokes and Games 15 Learn Ivrit 16 17
Family Puzzle Photos
15 16
Learn Ivrit Thsis week: Colours
Family Puzzle
Dear Readers, עמו''ש Shavuos has passed so quickly, however I'm sure we all feel what an amazing brocha Hashem has given us with the beautiful weather we have experienced of late. We all seem to have made the most of it and have gone on trips to the beach, forest, Peaks etc. Refuah Shelaima to the Lewis's camera, we are missing your pictures! To those who have returned to school/Yeshiva, the Epstein's in Eretz Yisroel, Mordechai Lewis, Eli and Motty Weisfish, we would love to hear from you! How is it going? What changes have your moisad made? etc. Next week is about the 'Good Old Days' when 'us adults' were young. Please send your articles, comments and pictures about this topic and specifically about the things that no longer exist! Wishing you all Gut Shabbos and a pleasant week ahead. Aunty Cha
Letters to the editor: Dear Aunty Shifra Nussbaum Thanks for your masking tape idea - we had such fun doing it, even our Mummy made one! And then we made them into box files (out of cereal boxes,) to keep all our mounds of home-cheder papers in! Family Smus
Dear Readers, Thank you for all your ideas you keep on sending. We made the Lewis’s flower for Shevous and put it in a paper Mache vase – an idea we got from the Smus’s and we made a rose like Chani Ehrentreu’s! It’s also fun to see other people copying our ideas! Best wishes, Family Weisfish
Mazal Tovs Mazal Tov to Tzvi Smus on his 5th birthday! Dear editors Thanks a million for all your hard work to produce this fabulous magazine! It is a Shabbos treat for children and adults alike, and it definitely takes priority over any Binah/Ami/Mishpacha!! Keep going - you have us all hooked! Family Smus
Dear editor THANK you for the making of the Lcovid You magazine. Thanks from Yitzy and Shmully Weisfish
Mazal Tov to Uncle Yisroel on his birthday!
PLEASE NOTE: Baruch Hashem our magazine is growing each week. In order to minimise the workload submissions will only be accepted as follows: Photos: Please send all photos in one ZIP file by email Documents: Please send in Word format by email All submissions should be sent to lcovidyou@pweiss.co.uk Should you have any issues with the above please call 0330 354 5321 Due to requests we are happy to announce, back issues are available at issuu.com/lcovidyou
DILUTED!
BY SHMULLY WEISFISH
ONE DAY… …There was a mother who had three children; the oldest who was 10 years old was named Esther, the next child was 7 years old and named Moshe and there was the baby of 1 year old. The mother was very health conscious and only gave her children healthy food but her children started to feel deprived so the mother would buy coke and when no one was looking she poured out half the coke and poured in water and the children really enjoyed it because they knew of nothing better as they rarely ate out.
A few years later… …it was time for Esther to get married. She met a boy named Yitzy who took her to the Holiday Inn on a date. When they met, Yitzy offered to buy Esther a drink. He asked Esther if she would like a coke but she said, “no thanks”. “Pepsi?” “No” “Lemonade?” “No” “Orangeade?”
“No” “So, what do you like?” “Diet Dr. Pepper,” she replied. “O.k.” said Yitzy. So Yitzy tried to order Diet Dr. pepper, but when they answered in the negative, he returned to his place and asked Esther why she only liked Diet Dr. Pepper. She responded that whenever she went to her aunty, her aunty would serve her Diet Dr. Pepper (which was not diluted) which tasted delicious and nothing like the coke at home. Yitzy thought about her comment and had a hunch. He went to the waiter to order a glass of regular Coke and gave it to Esther. Esther asked if it was Diet Dr. Pepper so Yitzy told her just to drink it and see. She drank it and she thought it was so sweet, and really liked it. “Wow, this is so sweet. What is it?” commented Esther. Yitzy explained to her that she probably always got diluted drinks at home.
“Wow, this is so sweet. What is it?” THAT EVENING… …Yitzy was thinking about the events of the day and thought how his life could relate to this. He had never really felt like he was in a learning mood or had the energy to daven with kavonoh. Maybe it was because he was “tasting the diluted version”. So that night he sat down to learn a bit of “undiluted Gemoroh” and then he felt the sweetness of the Torah.
More from the Collector’s Collectables…..
From up North, Down South As told by Shloime Lewis Gateshead is well-known for its many yeshivas. How many Yeshivos can you think of in Gateshead? Well, I was in a Yeshiva in Gateshead also – but a different one! It’s not open any more. The Yeshiva I was in, was called Mishkan HaTorah. It was actually just outside Gateshead, in Lo Fell and the Rosh Yeshiva was Reb Shloime Hershkowitz Shlita. We were a small group of Bochurim and we had very big grounds. The Yeshiva was in an old listed building at the bottom of a forest-coveredhill, surrounded by acres and acres of grassland and bushes; the building itself accessed by a long, winding path. There was always something exciting happening at Mishkan Hatorah! One typically snowy, Winter Friday afternoon we were all ready for Shabbos when we heard the Rosh Yeshiva come into the building. He was followed by a tall, dark, clean shaven man with a stylish, choppy haircut. Mr Hamucha was here to experience Shabbos with Reb
Shloime and ‘his boys’ – he was just beginning to experience the beauty of Yiddishkeit. At around 25 and still single, he was young enough to be one of us but old enough that it was cool to be with him. We enjoyed a light-hearted discussion and gave him a tour of the building – but then it was time to go; we’d see him again plenty times over Shabbos. Just a couple of minutes later we heard the familiar call of Reb Shloime from out in the deep, Northern snow; he needed help to get his car started and get it going back up the path and out of Yeshiva grounds. Only too eager for a bit of exercise, we all raced outside in our Shabbos best and pushed and heaved until we got the Rosh Yeshiva’s cranky, blue car on its way up the steep, whitened path. As we clapped and cheered, we saw Mr Hamucha’s glitzy 4x4 race by as it scaled the hill in less than 10 seconds with graceful ease. That Shabbos was a fascinating one with Mr Hamucha asking us endless questions while we were more than happy to supply him with answers.
He had plenty stories and fun facts to tell us so that the short Winter shabbos passed quicker than ever and became one of the outstanding memories of our Yeshiva days in Lo Fell.
Kappel? How did he know who I was? He wouldn’t let me get away lightly and insisted that I knew him and I should guess He gave me endless hints until eventually I recognised him. Mr Hamucha!!!
Mr Hamucha came back several times over the 2 years that I was in Yeshiva and despite the ten plus year age difference we hit it off and enjoyed a comfortable friendship.
Wow! What a reunion that was! I told him all about Yeshiva and Eretz Yisroel while he filled me in on his life; he was married now with a baby and learnt regularly with Zeide Fagil. What can I say? Our friendship picked up right from where we had left off back up North in Lo Fell over 2 years before. And it has continued ever since. Whenever I’m on a collecting trip in London he writes me out a generous cheque for Kollel. My brother Yossi teaches his son and in fact even made his Bar Mitzva pshet’l.
Then came the time for me to go to Eretz Yisroel where I was zoiche to learn under Reb Dovid Soloveichik Shlita. Yerushlayim brought with it its own set of adventures- both in the Gemoro and beyond. New people, new places and new norms replaced the old and I was thriving on the pulse and pace of Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh. Each Bein Hazmanim I’d return home to London, only to return to my new found home in Yerushalaym at the beginning of each Z’man. On one of my trips home when I visited my grandparents, Zeide and Bobbe Fagil, they had another visitor there. I didn’t recognise him but politely said, “hello!” The man looked deeply at me and jumped up and shouted, “Shloime!” I honestly didn’t know what was happening. Did I have my name written on my
What a small world! What a BIG world Hashem Made – and yet He Chose to Bring us together in the most fascinating of ways!
International Shochet Continued.... By Uncle Avraimy
History has taught us that wherever we live in the world, even in modern-day western countries such as the United Kingdom, the basic tenets of Yiddishkeit can be at threat. Ofsted (Department for Education) has threatened our chinuch as all children in Britain know. But besides this, bris mila and shechita are two mitzvos that have been on the agenda in governments many a time and in fact currently, Switzerland and more recently parts of Belgium, have banned shechita and Sweden has been threatening to ban bris milah. A few years ago, a group of people who claimed they were protecting the animals (animal welfare) wanted to bring a law into effect that all meat sold, that had been shechted should be labelled as not-stunned. When animals are shechted, we do not use the hind quarter nor those that are found to be treif. These are sold by the abattoir to non-Jewish factories and then go on sale to the regular supermarkets. If people see that the meat is labelled unstunned or ritually slaughtered, they generally won’t know what it means but will avoid it. This would mean that we wouldn't be able to sell the parts we don’t need to the abattoir which will threaten the entire Shechita. The story today took place a few years ago when the issue of labelling was raised again in Parliament and in the European Parliament. One day at work, the manager of the abattoir by the name of David Cooper asked me if I would be able to speak about Shechita to the Minister of Agriculture who would be expected some time soon to visit the abattoir. He told me the date, but it slipped my mind (English dates don’t mean much to me!) and I therefore did not prepare myself in any way. As I arrived one morning to the abattoir, David met me and told me that the Minister was here and if I could come with him. I expected meet with just the Minister and him but was surprised to see a large boardroom filled with about 12 vets and an empty seat at the head. You guessed! That was for me. The Minister started to explain that Parliament wanted to begin labelling shechted meat and that he really had no knowledge about shechita and was hoping I could enlighten him. I began by listing all the animals that are kosher the minister was unaware of this. Some vets joined in the conversation at that point and surprised me by how much knowledge they had about the halochos of shechita e.g. that the Chalof has to be twice the length of the animal’s neck. They also explained that the animals become unconscious very quickly when shechted. I then showed him how we badken a chalof and demonstrated how sharp it is by slicing a piece of paper. This fascinated the minister. I explained that when one cuts oneself with such a sharp knife, it only hurts once the nerves on the skin touch each other again. When the two sides of the cut skin on the animal go together again, the animal is already long dead and so doesn’t feel anything.
He then asked me about my opinion on labelling. It sounded like a good idea to him and would give consumers informed choice. Hashem gave me Siyata Dishmaya and I answered as follows: Shechita has always used labelling, I explained, to determine if a particular piece of meat is kosher or not. However, the intentions of those who want to label the meat as not-stunned are doing this for anti – Jewish and anti-Muslim reasons and that I have proof. I told him that I have often seen the non-Jewish slaughtering. At times an animal can be shot at the head ten or twelve times before it dies. This is very painful for the animal. Let them write this on the packaging and then they can write about shechita. Furthermore, they claim that the animal that are shechted, bleed to death and are not shot. This is sensationalism at its best. When shechted, the animals bleed straight away and they feel no pain whereas the animals that are shot are first stunned so can’t fight back but are hung upside down and left to bleed further along the line, meaning they don’t die straight away. The minister listened and asked the vets if this is true. They agreed with me. I then continued, telling him that a goyshe abattoir nearby slaughters about a million chickens a week. I once asked one of the hygiene inspectors that work in both places about the system there. He told me that they put the chickens live upside down on a conveyor belt and then their head goes into electrocuted water which kills them. I asked him if all the chickens’ heads go in the water or do some try to avoid it. He said that some avoid the water. What percentage? I asked him. Around 2 per cent was his reply. Making my calculations, I extrapolated that 60,000 chickens per week are being plucked alive. I made it sound really dramatic. I told the minister “each chicken that is shechted is killed instantly. Compare this to the 60,000 beheaded and plucked alive”. The minister was shocked and asked the vets if this was true. They hung their heads and nodded in embarrassed agreement. The meeting concluded. The minister asked for a picture to be taken with me and chatted to me telling me that he lived right next to Buckingham Palace. One of the vets wrote to the manager to say how impressed he was with my speech and since then often contacted me asking my opinion on different matters of shechita Boruch Hashem the labelling didn’t go through in the end, though this was not only because of me of course but also a lot of input from askonim in shechita.
CHAPTER 1 T h e
U n e x p e c t e d
M a r r i a g e
A new serial by Shmully Weisfish
In a little town in Poland, by the name of Strefketch, a small Jewish community thrived. Their beloved shul was the centre of their life, where the townspeople gathered three times a day to daven. However, that was not the only thing they did there. It was the place where all the important matters were decided, Chasunahs took place (in the shul hall) as well as many other simchos and unfortunately levayos too. One of the important people who spent a lot of time there at the shul, helping people and discussing town matters was Reb Mordche, the Parnes. Though he was was wealthy, he was also very generous, giving of his time and money to those in need. He was admired and looked up to by all the townspeople and was truly deserving of his position as Parnes. Reb Mordche and his wife Charna lived together with their children in a spacious manor. Nearby, lived Reb Mordche’s brother, Reb Itche with his only daughter, Miriam. When Miriam was but five years old, her mother was niftar after contracting coronavirus tuberculosis. The child was the apple of her father’s eye and he tried to protect her from any mishap or discomfort. Yet alas, one morning, Miriam found her father deathly ill in bed. To be continued…….
DISTRACTIONS BY SHMULLI WEISFISH
ONCE UPON A TIME… There were 2 boys named Moshe and Ephraim. They had won a worldwide raffle for 15 minutes in a ToysRus, a massive toyshop, and could take what ever they want for the allotted time.
They were clever boys… and mapped out the entire store. They chose which toys they were going to take and in which aisle they were going to take them from and how many trolleys to bring in and the route they were going to take.
“Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing” it was time to go. MEANWHILE AT TOYSRUS The ToysRus staff were getting worried as to how much the boys would take, so they decided to do whatever they could to stop them taking too much. Then they came up with a plan.
ON THE DAY, Moshe left his house and went to pick up Efrayim. Efrayim was ready by his door and came to the car where Moshe’s father whisked them off to Toysrus. They both took 4 trolleys each and went in. They started to go down the first aisle and took a pair of roller blades each. Then Efrayim felt a shot of ketchup hit his face and he cried, “ewwwwwwwwwww that’s disgusting!” as he cleand his face with his shirt. “Sorry for that,” said a member of staff, “here is a wipe.” He then looked for Moshe and couldn’t find him so he reckoned that Moshe was in the bathroom trying to get the ketchup off. As Efrayim walked on, he took a tennis ball and….. “splat” he was sprayed with yogurt. As he tried to wipe it off , he went to the next aisle. In the next ailse the sprinkler system
had gone off and every thing got wet so he skipped that aisle and then he skipped the next aisle because it was so smelly because of an old dustbin. As he took a card game, he heard “briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing”. It was time to go.
OUTSIDE… Ephraim met Moshe and Moshe had 4 trolleys full of toys. He had a pair of roller blades he had a Segway and a hover board and a scooter and a game of Monopoly and 10 card games. He had Payday and Stratego; he had the Game of Life to mention a few. Ephraim only found himself left with a pair of roller blades a tennis ball and a card game. Ephraim then looked at Moshe again and saw he was full of ketchup, yogurt and was drenched to the bone. Ephraim asked Moshe how he wasn’t disturbed by the ketchup, yogurt and water. Moshe asked what he was talking about so Ephraim told Moshe to check for himself. Moshe then proceeded to wipe his face with his shirt and he saw all the mess. Ephraim asked Moshe again, “how did you not get disturbed by the mess.” Moshe replied I wanted to get the toys so much, I was so into the toys I did not realize the mess. Q: What is the connection between this story and Shavuos? A: On shavous Hashem gave us the Torah but so many people get caught up in other things and other distractions that they waste their lives away. Let us not be like them and use our lives carefully
BRAIN TEASERS Which scooter will get petrol?
Which one is a bird's eye-view?
Quick! Count the number of times that the letter F appears in the following sentence: “Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.�
How many lego blocks?
LEARN IVRIT Pink ורוד varod Green ירוק yarok
Orange כתום katom Blue כחול kachol
Yellow צהוב tzahov Red אדום adom
FAMILY PUZZLE By Aunty Tirza Citrus fruit Also colour ↓
First name family shochet ↓
relax ↓
Aunty? ↓
Our Grandma →3,4
Aero_____ ↓ Unle aron’s birthplace
Where Zeyde Epstein from ↓ Oma’s old cleaner↓
→
Bows and ------→
Pkts of paper→ Lewis purim name↓ Trump’s Country
Mr ? books→
→ White In winter↓
Uncle da,s planet↓
Minhag ↓
What tzvi drove→ Homonymn For see
Layer Over earth→
↓
Where Refoel
Smus Purim Theme (cat in
works↓
hat)→
--your boat→
---- for the nhs↓ Oma’s Best drink↓
Sneeze (→noise)
Bicher muesli base→
Do,ray Me,fa,so,?
→ post→
Not yes →
3.14 →
Hello from USA
Fruit With pip→
Aunty Soroh’s Favourite food↓
Smus Diary - preparing for ,shevous, planting and relaxing!
MAZAL TOV TZVI FOR YOUR 5TH BIRTHDAY!
Family Smus at the Beach (The perks of home-chedering!)
e ...and th s Nussbaum
Shevous table Wa ll Ha ngi ng
!
hts g i l d e r lowe
F
Shevuos at Weisfishes....
pap er m
ach
FL O W ER C H A LL A H
Wall Hang ing #2
.....and crafting this week!
a sock snake
a desk tidy with a real drawer!
e va
se
AHeron!
Canal Walk in the Peaks
view at the summit
springwood forest walk