The Local News 396 by The Local News

22nd November 2018

Issue 396

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22nd November 2018

Issue 396 ‫בס“ד‬

INSIGHTS INTO CONTEMPORARY CHOSHEN MISHPOT ISSUES Monday 26th November at 8pm

Insurance: Am I entitled to claim? Dayan Y Y Posen

at Beis Hamedrash Nishmas Yisroel, 4 Brent Green, London NW4 2HA Maariv 7.40pm

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LARGE CROWDS GATHER FOR OFFICIAL OPENING A large group gathered for the official opening of the new RCUK showroom and headquarter offices on Stamford Hill on Sunday. These landmark premises, home to the largest independent telecommunications retailer in the area, enable the company to offer an even wider range than before of the latest phones and accessories, and the best contract deals available to the whole community. Maxi Rose, CEO of RCUK said “We are delighted to see so many loyal customers and important members of the community come to support us at this landmark event in the company’s development.” RCUK, who have achieved double digit sales growth for several years have been planning this move for almost a year. “Finding the right location at the heart of the community was a top priority for us” said Aryeh Marks, Branch Manager of the showroom, “we have needed more space for some time to be able to provide our traditional high level of service to our rapidly growing customer base.” Community has always been important to the company who have a proud tradition of local charitable donations, which have shown tenfold growth in the last 5 years. All of RCUK’s team travelled from the company’s other retail locations in Golders Green and Manchester to be at the event. 8

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The

22nd November 2018

‫ב”ה‬

ConfeRenCe 5779

You are invited to an evening with

Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson Celebrating

Yud Tes Kislev

on Monday 26th November 2018 18th Kislev 5779 at 8:00pm venue: The Prince & Princess Banqueting Hall 4 Princes Road, Edmonton London, N18 3PR Book online at www.chabadwimbledon.com/inspire men & women welcome (separate seating) tickets: £25 full meal served Anash Community Project For more information call Getsel Itzinger on 07768 007 447 or email: getsel@anash.org.uk

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‫עצמה‬

Luxury GLatt resort

The Leading Pesach Program of the World Is In Elounda Bay Palace. In Elounda Bay Palace

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22nd November 2018

4:00 PM 6:00 PM LONDON

JERUSALEM

As you’re lighting your Chanukah candles, hundreds of avreichim are learning Torah in Yerushalayim’s Har Nof Kollel As we watch our Chanukah candles

“The time of Chanukah ligh ting is an

and experience the beautiful aura of this very special time of miracles,

eis ratzon

Hashem is with us, desiring our precious tefillos

in Shamayim – Hashem’s Middas Hadin is annulled, and His Middas Harac hamim is aroused!”

and Torah learning.

Harav Chaim P alachi

Don’t miss this auspicious

TIMING Partner with us and Adopt a Minute

for £

‫הכולל של הר נוף‬

‫בהכוונת מרן שר התורה הגה”ר ר’ חיים קנייבסקי שליט”א‬

DON’T LOSE OUT ON THIS EIS RATZON OPEN THE DOOR TO YOUR CHANUKAH MIRACLES TODAY! To to the the Har Nof please call 03300-432-613, or e-mail harnofkollel@gmail.com 35 DOdonate YOU HAVE A SHAILA? ASKKollel THE federation SHAILATEXT 07403 939 613 TEXT

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22nd November 2018

Pessach

At the White Palace Hotel Crete Greece

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22nd November 2018

Issue 396

ATERES BNOS YERUSHALAYIM INVITES HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS AND MOTHERS TO AN OPEN HOUSE

Thursday, Nov. 29 PILLAR HOTEL 19 Brent Street 5:15 PM Meet Mrs. Tamar Sokol, Menaheles & Mrs. Adina Maryles, Administrator EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ATERES‫ץץ‬...

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PIRCHEI AGUDAS YISROEL MANCHESTER

‫פרחי‬ ‫אגודת ישראל‬ ‫מנשסטר‬

We are pleased to announce that the Siyum HaMishnayos will ‫ אי"ה‬take place

‫מוצש"ק פרשת שמות תשע"ט‬ MOTZEI SHABBOS 29TH DECEMBER ‘18 at the Beis Yosef Hall, Bury New Road, Prestwich Pirchim will leave their hometown on Thursday 27th December and return on Sunday 30th December

To receive your ‫ משניות‬please contact

R’ M. Chissick 0208 458 8863

To enter the competition please contact

R’ Yaacov Greenberg 07956 101 134

To receive a registration form by email, please send an email to pirchimsiyum@gmail.com and you will receive an auto-response. 50

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Villa Altol

Upgraded

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Plan your upcoming getaway with us: Couples - Family Trips Friend Reunions - Shabaton Sheva Bruchos - Bar Mitzvah Yeshiva & School Trips - Etc.

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Build It

• General building (and renovations) • Plastering and Rending • Home extensions • Bathroom and kitchen remodelling • Drives and patios • Flooring • Painting and decorating

FREE ESTIMATE AFFORDABLE PRICES AND THE BEST QUALITY REFRENCES AVAILABLE

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Bespoke hotel style accommodation in the heart of Golders Green

Close to Shuls, Mikvaos, Kosher Bakeries, Grocers, Restaurants, Transport and more Suitable for Choson & Kallah , Mechutonim, Business Travellers or just for a Break En-Suite Twin Rooms with Mini Fridge, Laptop Safe, Free Wiﬁ & Air Con PLEASE CALL FOR LAST MIN AND ADVANCED BOOKING DISCOUNTS

Please contact Markus on

07468 905 657 www.kipaccom.com info@kipaccom.com

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Issue 396 ‫בעזהשי”ת‬

373 Edgware Road T 020 8905 9590 London NW9 6NQ F 020 8200 7130 admin@beisyaakov.barnet.sch.uk

Kodesh Teacher Required for Immediate Start

The successful candidates will be enthusiastic teachers, knowledgeable and passionate about their subjects and devoted to maintaining and raising the high standard of their departments within the school. Join a remarkable team of teachers in a warm and caring environment, with well-developed Kodesh, Chol and Extra- curricular programmes. Both experienced and newly qualified teachers are welcome to apply. We provide excellent support for new staff. Application forms are available from hd@bjgs.org or by calling the school office. 0208 203 4322

hd@bjgs.org

To request an application form and information pack including a full job description and person/skills specification, please email admin@beisyaakov.barnet.sch.uk Closing date for applications: Wednesday 5th December 2018

Stratford Road, London NW4 2AT Beth Jacob Grammar School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staﬀ and volunteers to share this commitment.

Beis Yaakov Primary School is looking to appoint a dynamic and enthusiastic Kodesh teacher. The ideal candidate will have Kodesh teaching experience, and a passion for teaching and learning. The successful candidate will have the opportunity of joining our outstanding and supportive Kodesh learning team. Applicants are welcome to visit the school which can be arranged through the School Office.

Our School and all its personnel are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children. This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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E V A H E W T N E ! M R O O F M G N I THE T I A W N E E ALL B The children of Noam Primary Schoool invite you to our

Ground-Breaking Ceremony Sunday 25th November, 10am East Road, Burnt Oak, HA8 0AJ RSVP to noamgb2018@gmail.com view our project plans online http://www.noamprimary.org/our-school/new-home-project 74

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ADVERTS - LOGOS - CORPORATE IDENTITY - WEBSITES - BROCHURES - B

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DARK TAPESTRY by Ruthie Pearlman

Chapter Four cont.

hedonism, and he smiled despite the beginnings of a nasty hangover. Somewhere inside him the words floated like golden feathers on a summer breeze. “Be free, man. Be free.” He drifted to sleep fully clothed, until the smell of smoldering bedclothes brought Rifka running in. She batted out the flames and woke her recalcitrant son, her fear for him overcoming most of her anger, but not all. He gazed groggily and uncomprehendingly at her as she stood at his bedside and yelled at him. “You could have been killed! Bad enough to be smoking at all, but smoking in bed...” She hurled the cigarette out of the window. “Burn the house down, would you?” She switched the bedroom light on to make sure she hadn’t missed any stray sparks. She patted and batted and pulled his bedclothes off the bed just to be on the safe side, ranting at him. All the while, Chaim lay there, watching her passively, stupefied, blank. Rifka stopped in mid-rant and stared at him. “I smell alcohol. Have you been drinking, Chaim?” she said sharply. “Of course not. What do you take me for?” Chaim said. Well, it wasn’t really a lie. “I wish I knew, Chaim Sommers,” Rifka said sadly. “I honestly wish I knew.” “Why don’t you just get off my case?” Chaim muttered and turned over on the scorched under sheet so his back faced his mother. Rifka stared at his humped back, wondering whether to go around to the other side of the bed and force him to gaze at her. But she knew it would be fruitless. He was too large and strong for her to use force, and he would only turn away again or, God forbid, turn abusive. It would not be the first time that her beloved son had turned on her, face purple with suppressed rage, fists raised as if to strike her, although that ultimate act of aggression he had not yet reached. Rifka knew part of his aggression stemmed from his stage in life. He seemed uncomfortable in his own skin, unhappy, confused, and Rifka loved him but knew not how to help him. To walk out now and leave the matter unresolved, would that not be an act of apathy unworthy of a Jewish mother? Was giving him his “space” tantamount to not caring enough? Torn asunder by guilt and quandary, she stood there until at last he said, “Go on, say it, why don’t you.” Cruelly he mimicked her higher pitched voice. “Are you drunk, Chaim?” and turned to face her at last. Eye to eye, mother and son gazed at each other. His eyes were

“Nothing,” giggled Chaim, taking another deep gulp of beer. “He didn’t even have Space Invaders!” The idea of playing Space Invaders on an ancient Biblical computer made Chaim and Shake totally lose control, and they rolled around the floor, giggling helplessly. The room spun and whirled. The strobe lighting made Chaim’s brain curdle. The heavy metal music pounded in his skull. He began to feel nauseous and swallowed hard. “Be free, man, be free.” “Glad you’ve lightened up. Pleased you came?” Ben’s face came briefly into focus. “Yeah,” Chaim managed, trying to control the upsurge of nausea. He looked at Ben’s figure, which seemed to be floating like a balloon. Shake elbowed him in the ribs painfully. “Free from all that binds you down, man,” he told Chaim in a slurry voice. “Yeah,” Chaim agreed, feeling the beginnings of an awful headache but choosing to ignore it for now. The pair rolled and giggled and felt so free, man, so very free. And they had decided on Very Important Matters, indeed. Yes, indeed, they had. After a few moments, Chaim’s newfound freedom manifested itself in a dive to a quiet corner in a room where he freely, and rather painfully, threw up. He knelt on the floor, trying to recapture the elusive magic that Shake had spun. He could not remember ever having felt this dreadful, even when he had the flu. The sour taste of the alcohol made him retch again and again. Eventually he staggered to a sink, washed his face thoroughly, and looked at his reflection in the mirror hanging above it. A bleary-eyed stranger gazed back, a stranger with wild, tousled hair and red eyes in a pale face. He excused himself from the party, saying he had an early class the next day, and went home alone. Lying on his bed now, the effects of the evening beginning to wear off, Chaim found it hard to remember all those important matters he and Shake had discussed, earth-shattering though they had undoubtedly been at the time. He was left feeling headachey, sick, irritable, and bereft, as if there was something he needed that was being withheld from him. This he largely attributed to the archaic practices of his environment, where people followed a religion that had been out of date for millennia. He thought of Ben and Shake and the youth club, which seemed to be dedicated to the pursuit of enjoyment and 82 TEXT MAASER TO 07800 006 913 to use the Federation ‫ מעשר‬coin

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22nd November 2018

Issue 396

bloodshot and his face had a greenish tinge, as if he’d been sick. She knew. “If you tell Dad, I’ll…I’ll…” “You’ll what, Chaim? What?” He was not used to his mother like this, and it stopped him in his tracks for a moment. Rifka Sommers was usually an easily manipulated softie of a mother, desperately unhappy at what she thought was happening to her son but unable to put her foot down about it. It was his father’s rages he feared the most. He used the one weapon left in his armory, the one weapon he knew would wound her mortally. Speaking slowly, deliberately, all the while looking straight at her, he said, “If you tell Dad, I’ll leave home, and you’ll not see me again as long as you live.” A deep intake of breath told him his barb had met its mark. “But it’s so wrong, Chaim. It can lead to worse things...” Her voice trailed off. Her knowledge of those “worse things” was confined to dark rumors and hearsay. She knew she was on shaky ground. He snorted again. “Mother.” He only called her “Mother” when he was at his most contemptuous. “It was just a few beers. That’s it. And it was only the once. Some guy gave me some at the club.” “Club? What club? Not Pirchim, I’ll bet.” He laughed scornfully. “Pirchim?” He spat the word out as if it disgusted him. “No, not Pirchim. Chevrat No’ar, actually. Ben invited me along.” “Chevrat No’ar? But isn’t that…” “Mixed? Not so frum? Yes to both.” “Your father would have a heart attack if he knew you’d gone there.” “Which is,” Chaim said lazily as he sat up, “exactly why we aren’t going to tell him. Now, do you mind? I’d like some privacy while I get undressed.” Rifka left his room without a word. Guiltily she stuffed the burned bedclothes into a black garbage bag to dispose of them before Moshe smelled the scorching. Why am I doing this? she asked herself. Why am I being party to a deception I have no wish to condone? Why am I hiding my son’s misdemeanors from his father? Why? Even as she asked the questions, she knew the answers. Because he’s my son, and I don’t want to lose him. I want to hang on to him at all costs, whatever the price I have to pay. Would it be better to tell Moshe all and risk Chaim leaving home? No. I must try to work things out

myself. Downstairs, in the study, Moshe sat over a Gemara. He looked up when Rifka came in. “Chaim okay? You were up there a long time.” “He’s okay. We had a little talk, that’s all.” The less I say, the fewer the lies. Moshe raised an eyebrow. He knew if his wife and their son had a “little talk” it would hardly be about the weather. “Talk? What about?” Rifka smiled enigmatically. “Oh, just things.” She knew Moshe would deduce wrongly but did not choose to enlighten him. She smiled at him and left the room, carrying the black garbage bag casually, swinging it. She’d almost made it out when Moshe sniffed. “I smell something burning.” Her heart thumped. She turned to face him. “I burned some toast. Sorry!” Do white lies count? I’m sorry, Hashem. I’m so sorry for telling lies. But I dare not tell the truth. As it turned out, her lies were in vain. The next morning Chaim Sommers came downstairs with a backpack on. He was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt. “I’m sorry, Dad, Mum. I can’t live this lie anymore.” Rifka stood like a stone. Moshe gazed at his son, openmouthed. “What lie? What are you talking about, son?” “I have to leave home for a while to sort my head out. I am having a lot of problems. I can’t deal with them under this roof. Please try to understand.” “No, I don’t understand,” Moshe said, desperately trying to hold on to reality. He indicated the chair opposite him at the kitchen table. “Please. Sit down. Explain.” Chaim, standing, looked desperately uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, Dad, I can’t. Just try to accept that I love you both, but I can’t stay here.” “Where will you go? What will you do?” Rifka cried out. “Ben said I can doss down at his place till I sort out what and where.” Seeing their puzzled expressions, he added, “You don’t know Ben. He goes to a goyishe school. I’ll call you from there.” “You going to carry on going to school?” Moshe couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with his sixteenyear-old son. Sixteen! He was only a baby! “No, well, not that school. I can legally leave school now. I’ve done my GCSEs. You’ll get the results soon. I’ll get a job, maybe. I dunno yet. Got to sort things. I’ll be in touch. Really.” With that Chaim Sommers walked out of his family home, and out of his own life.

To be continued....

You’re reading Dark Tapestry. Get the rest of Ruthie Pearlman’s gripping thrillers either in your local Judaica store, or check out her website at www.ruthiepearlman.com to link to Amazon. Also two books are in audio book format at www.mostlymusic.com

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